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 Consensus to avoid humanitarian disaster in Gaza direly needs to be implemented: Global Times editorial 08:04, October 16, 2023 By Global Times ( Global Times 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: Xinhua) Over the past weekend, the escalating crisis and potential new humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip have deeply concerned the world. Despite Israel's postponement of the "evacuation order" for all residents in the northern Gaza Strip to relocate south within 24 hours, Israel's military continues to prepare for ground offensives. Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is rapidly deteriorating, with the risk of a major disaster quickly accumulating. UN agencies have reported that an estimated one million people have now been displaced in the Gaza Strip. The World Food Programme is running out of reserves in Gaza, and the water crisis is "a matter of life and death." The World Health Organization has described the evacuation order as a "death sentence" for wounded and sick. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is causing wider divisions and chaos globally. Due to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, and other prestigious American universities have seen intense confrontations between supporters of both sides. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in support of Palestine and in opposition to the US and Israel in various Middle Eastern nations, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Several European nations are concerned about the rise of internal anti-Semitism and conflicts within diverse communities. The new round of Israeli-Palestinian conflict is demonstrating a destructive power beyond the "storm in a teacup." People's views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts have become polarized on social media, and the spread of false information and hate speech has further widened the gap between the two sides. The Palestinian issue has always been seen as a wound to human conscience. Behind every outbreak of conflict, there are intricate causal relationships that are difficult to sever and untangle. Beyond the specific attacks, there may be a relationship between one victim and another. The cooling of the situation and the search for possible solutions are not only a test of the international community's multilateral cooperation but also a query for humanity's morality. The chaos caused by the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Middle East and even globally serves as a further warning to the world. In this age of rising conflict and turmoil, it is especially crucial to avoid moral relativism and selective fury. If we allow mutual hostility, and revenge to fester, the wound to humanity's conscience will not only fail to heal but may also become a deadlock for human conscience, sowing the seeds of longer-lasting and more widespread conflicts. The urgent task facing the international community is to prevent a new severe humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip and avoid further casualties among innocent civilians. It can be said that on this point, most major countries and members of the international community have a consensus. Once ground attacks are launched, the humanitarian consequences faced by the Gaza Strip will be extremely painful. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Francesca Albanese, warned that "There is a grave danger that what we are witnessing may be a repeat of the 1948 Nakba, and the 1967 Naksa, yet on a larger scale." This is why even the US is urging Israel to exercise restraint, and the European Union has stated that Israel's right to self-defense has to be done in accordance with international law and humanitarian law. The latest reports indicate that the UK has also urged Israel to show restraint. The reality that must be acknowledged is that there is currently no powerful force internationally that can substantially promote a ceasefire and end the war. This requires joint efforts from all countries in this direction, and major powers with greater international influence should set an example. As the Chinese side said, when dealing with international regional hotspot issues, major powers should adhere to objectivity and impartiality, maintain calm and restraint, and take the lead in abiding by international law. It should be said that when it comes to implementing the consensus on preventing a humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip, Washington bears a special responsibility. However, we observe that while the US wants to cool down the situation and avoid the escalation of conflicts, it is being hindered by "political correctness." The US State Department is even unwilling to let its diplomats use words such as "de-escalation/ceasefire;" "end to violence/bloodshed" and "restoring calm." This is truly shocking. Regardless of what strategic interests Washington wants to achieve, it should first uphold the bottom line of morality. Over the past few days, the Chinese side has had phone conversations with officials from the US, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and other countries to communicate their positions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The special envoy of the Chinese government on the Middle East issue will also visit relevant countries in the region in the near future to make active efforts to promote a ceasefire, end violence, and cool down the situation. We hope to see more and more countries stand on the side of peace, justice, international law, the common aspirations of the majority of countries, and human conscience. This is not only to avoid exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip as much as possible, but also a responsible attitude toward peace and security in the Middle East and the world. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) 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. United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Monday, the second time within a few days, to pledge support for the country as it prepares a major military offensive in Gaza, the Washington Post reported. Blinken who was in Israel on Thursday returned to the country after a tour in which he met with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and King Abdullah II of Jordan. The visit comes amid reports in Israeli media that during a phone call on Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invited Biden to Israel, the US daily reported. In Jerusalem Blinken is scheduled to meet Netanyahu, his war cabinet and President Isaac Herzog. He is then slated to travel back to Tel Aviv, for meetings with Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and opposition leader Yair Lapid, the Washington Post reported. On Sunday, the Israel Defence Forces chief said that the army will soon enter the Gaza Strip to decimate the Hamas terror group, reported The Times of Israel. Israel ordered some 1 million Gazans in the northern part of the Gaza enclave to decamp for the southern half after the deadly October 7 attack by Hamas which has resulted in the loss of hundreds of Israeli civilian lives and the capture of more than 100 hostages. Israel swiftly retaliated with airstrikes on Gaza that have killed hundreds of Palestinians. In an interview with CBS News the US president Joe Biden on Sunday called Hamas a "bunch of cowards" hiding behind civilians. He expressed confidence that Israel would do everything in their power to avoid the killing of innocent civilians. Biden said that Hamas must be eliminated. However, he stressed that there needs to be a path called the "two-state solution." Biden said that he thinks Israel understands that a significant portion of Palestinian people do not share the views of Hamas and Hezbollah. He also termed Israel's occupation of Gaza a "big mistake." (ANI) Tel Aviv [Israel], October 16 (ANI/TPS): The opening of the Knesset's winter session was interrupted by rocket sirens on Monday. Lawmakers and Knesset staff were forced to go to bomb shelters. The afternoon rocket barrages fired by Gaza terror groups reached Tel Aviv. MK Merav Ben-Ari of the opposition Yesh Atid party was addressing the plenum when the sirens were first heard. Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana was heard saying "Siren?" Ben-Ari responded, "I think there's a siren." Ohana then told the plenum, "Ok, everyone evacuate to the hallway." With a widely expected ground invasion of the Gaza Strip appearing to be imminent, speeches at the opening session stressed national unity and resolve, and paid tribute to the victims. More than 1,300 people were killed in the Hamas attacks and the death toll is expected to rise further. "The brutal attack of our enemies was aimed at the Jewish people but did not distinguish between blood and blood. There is almost no home in Israel and the ripples of the painful tragedy we experienced did not reach it. Families and communities that were mortally beaten, and reflect a beautiful and grief-stricken Israeli mosaic," said President Isaac Herzog. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to investigate how Hamas was able to catch Israel's security off-guard with a devastating attack on Gaza-area communities. After calling for international solidarity to rally against Hamas, Netanyahu warned Hezbollah and Iran against opening another front. "Don't try us, you will be severely harmed," he said. A wartime unity government was sworn in shortly after the Hamas attacks. Religious Zionist Party MK Ohad Tal told the Tazpit Press Service on Sunday that the Knesset winter session would focus on supporting the government's war effort and managing economic issues such as the cost of living. "We're all working together, coalition, opposition, zero politics, zero politics, zero egos, zero shtuyuot [nonsense]," Tal said. Meanwhile, a second siren was also heard in Tel Aviv and rockets were intercepted by Iron Dome. (ANI/TPS) During the interaction, PM Modi and Pichai discussed Google's plan to participate in expanding the electronics manufacturing ecosystem in India. Prime Minister appreciated Google's partnership with HP to manufacture Chromebooks in India. Prime Minister acknowledged Google's 100 languages initiative and encouraged efforts to make AI tools available in Indian Languages. He also encouraged Google to work on AI tools for Good Governance, according to the Prime Minister's Office statement. Prime Minister welcomed Google's plans to open its global fintech operations centre at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) in Gandhinagar. Pichai informed the Prime Minister regarding Google's plans to improve financial inclusion in India by leveraging the strength and reach of GPay and UPI. He also emphasized Google's commitment to contribute to the development trajectory of India, the release said. Prime Minister also invited Google to contribute to the upcoming Global Partnership on AI Summit, which will be hosted by India in December 2023 in New Delhi, it added. (ANI) Spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Tal Heinrich has announced that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has extended an invitation to US President Joe Biden to visit Israel and hopes to host the president soon. "Prime Minister Netanyahu invited US President Joe Biden to Israel, and we hope to host the president soon. We are truly grateful for the support of the united front against the commons," the Spokesperson for the Israeli PMO said. She said the IDF continues to target those responsible for the massacre in Israel. "Over the last few hours, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) carried out dozens of airstrikes in the Gaza Strip. The targets included Hamas headquarters, mortar launching positions, and a number of terrorists at a military compound," she said. She further said that the IDF had struck the command centre of Ali Qadhi, a commander in the Hamas commando forces who was killed in an Israeli strike two days ago. "As the IDF Chief of Staff told our frontline troops, 'attack them everywhere, every commander, every operative'..." She said Israel appreciates the unconditional and unwavering support of its allies. CNN recently reported that Netanyahu has invited Biden to visit Israel soon, and both countries are discussing the possibility, a source familiar with the matter revealed. It wasn't clear how advanced the discussions were, or when a possible trip might occur. The White House on Sunday said it didn't have any new travel plans by the president to announce. "We have no new travel to announce," National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said. As per CNN, if the visit did materialize, it would amount to a dramatic show of support by Biden for Israel as the country responds to last weekend's devastating attacks by Hamas. A Biden visit would also amount to a message to other players in the region, including the Iran-backed Hezbollah, that they should not escalate the conflict further, as per CNN. Biden recently said that there is a "fundamental difference" between Israelis killed in the Hamas attack and Palestinian civilians and Hamas terrorists killed in Tel Aviv's counter-attack as the terrorist group Hamas has engaged in barbarism "that is as consequential as the holocaust." Speaking to CBS News in a 60-minute interview, Biden called Hamas a "bunch of cowards" who are hiding behind the civilians. He expressed confidence that Israel would do everything in their power to avoid the killing of innocent civilians. Asked whether there was a time for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Biden said, "Look, there's a fundamental difference. Israel is going after a group of people who have engaged in barbarism that is as consequential as the Holocaust. And so I think Israel has to respond." "They have to go after Hamas. Hamas is a bunch of cowards. They're hiding behind the civilians. They put their headquarters where civilians are and buildings and the like. But to the extent they can separate out and avoid, I'm confident the Israelis are gonna do everything in their power to avoid the killing of innocent civilians," he said. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Monday, the second time within a few days, to pledge support for the country as it prepares a major military offensive in Gaza, the Washington Post reported. Blinken who was in Israel on Thursday returned to the country after a tour in which he met with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and King Abdullah II of Jordan. The visit comes amid reports in Israeli media that during a phone call on Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invited Biden to Israel, the US daily reported. (ANI) A Georgia man got the shock of his life when received a $1.4 million speeding ticket. Fortunately for him, the figure was just a placeholder. Connor Cato told Savannah-based WSAV-TV that the Georgia State Patrol pulled him over for driving 90 mph in a 55-mph zone on Sept. 2. Though Cato was expecting to get a "super speeder" ticket, never in his wildest dreams did he think it would be for over $1 million. When he called the court thinking the figure was a typo, he was told he should either pay the fine or appear in court in December. "'One-point-four million dollars,' the lady told me on the phone," Cato told the station. "I said, This might be a typo, and she said, No sir, you either pay the amount on the ticket or you come to court on Dec. 21 at 1:30 p.m.'" ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Semi-truck driver killed: Train derailment closes down I-25 in Colorado Just a placeholder Savannah city government spokesman Joshua Peacock told USA TODAY on Monday that Cato's fine was just a placeholder. "A speeding ticket can only be set by a judge in a court appearance and cannot exceed $1,000 plus state-mandated cost," he said. While Cato still has to appear in court and is considered a "super speeder," he will not have to pay a $1.4 million fine. Under Savannah law, "super speeders" are anyone caught driving more than 35 mph above the speed limit. Super speeders have to appear in court, where a judge will determine the actual fine. Peacock explained that because super speeders are required to go to court, the e-citation software automatically puts in a $999,999 base amount plus state-mandated costs. That ended up coming to $1.4 million for Cato. Watch: Motorcyclist pushes Mass. trooper into road running from traffic stop The court is adjusting the placeholder language to avoid any future confusion, Peacock said. "The city did not implement the placeholder amount in order to force or scare people into court," the City of Savannah said in a statement to WSAV-TV. "The programmers who designed the software used the largest number possible because super speeder tickets are a mandatory court appearance and do not have a fine amount attached to them when issued by police." Contributing: The Associated Press Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X, formerly Twitter, @saman_shafiq7. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Georgia man gets $1.4 million speeding ticket; told it's not a typo A manhunt was underway Monday morning after a shooting took place near Arizona State University's Tempe campus, which left one person injured. Around 6 a.m., Tempe Police said they responded to the area of Seventh Street and Forest Avenue, north of University Drive, for a call about someone with a gunshot wound. When they arrived, police said they found a man, around 30 years old, with a gunshot wound. Police gave the man medical attention until emergency services took him to a hospital. His condition was unknown as of Monday morning. Around 6:30 a.m., ASU police said they sent out an emergency safety alert to university personnel about the shooting. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Around 8:15 a.m., ASU police posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, that the area was clear but the suspect remained at large and was considered armed and dangerous. Tempe Police said that the suspect was described as a Black man, 5'10", and was last seen wearing a gray or blue windbreaker and long pants. Police said what led up to the shooting remained unclear and investigators were on the scene conducting additional follow-up. The agency said that the victim and witnesses were not affiliated with ASU. This is a developing story. Check back for updates. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 1 injured in shooting near ASU Tempe; armed suspect at large Rock Hills Alice Walker said Monday that someone knows who killed her son, Daniel Ervin, 10 years ago. The answers are out there, Walker said at a news conference about the unsolved cold case. I just pray that God touches hearts. In a new push to close the case that has so far eluded an arrest, police in Rock Hill created a task force and are asking for the publics help to find those answers in the 2013 case. Ervin, 29, was shot outside his familys home on Pebble Road in southern Rock Hill in October 2013. Despite years of investigation, no one has ever been charged. Ervins mother and one of his children, a daughter now age 18, said at the news conference they wanted closure in the death. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Ervin was confronted by an unknown subject outside the family home when he was killed, Capt. Brent Allmon of the police departments criminal investigation division said. Ervin had been at a family gathering before the shooting, Allmon said. The Rock Hill Police Department has teamed up with South Carolinas State Law Enforcement Division and the York County Coroners Office to create a task force aimed at solving the case. Rock Hill, South Carolina police are seeking the publics help in solving the cold case killing of Daniel Ervin, 29, from 2013. Andrew Dys Police seek publics help Rock Hill police detective Tayler Tucker said police are looking for people to come forward in the case. The news conference was held outside a business on Saluda Street, about two blocks from where Ervin was slain. Investigators are looking for any additional information that may help them understand why anyone would want to hurt Daniel, Tucker said. Police declined to say if they have any suspects in the case, but Tucker said the investigation with Rock Hill and state police remains ongoing. Critical evidence has been collected, Tucker said. Police did not give details about what evidence has been collected in the decade since Ervin died, citing the ongoing investigation. Almost two dozen Rock Hill detectives and top command staff were at the news conference Monday, then a team of officers did a canvass of the neighborhood afterward. Anyone with information is asked to call the task force at 803-329-5596. A Delaware man was arrested and charged with kidnapping an 11-year-old girl he met and communicated with on several online gaming forums, including Roblox, a popular platform, authorities said. Darius Matylewich, 27, is charged with kidnapping and endangering the welfare of a child after he allegedly lured an 11-year-old girl from Wayne, New Jersey, away from her home, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes announced on Thursday. According to prosecutors, the 11-year-old was reported missing on the morning of Sept. 10 and was found the same day in Bear, Delaware, about 140 miles away from her hometown. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Matylewich was taken into custody by local police and since then, authorities extradited him to New Jersey, where he is currently held. Investigators said Matylewich had met the 11-year-old playing online video games and took her from her home without her parents knowledge or consent. If convicted, Matylewich faces a maximum of 30 years in state prison, prosecutors said. In an email to HuffPost on Tuesday, a spokesperson for Roblox emphasized that Matylewich and the 11-year-old did not meet on their platform. Based on our internal investigation, the suspect and the victim did not meet on Roblox, the spokesperson said. We have not been contacted by law enforcement but we take the safety of our users, particularly our youngest users, incredibly seriously. We have reached out to law enforcement and are offering our help. The spokesperson told HuffPost that the company has a strict zero tolerance community standard regarding sexual content of any kind. The platform offers features such as blocking chat with inappropriate content or personal information, as well as parental controls to limit or turn off the chat feature. Users can also mute or block players that they come across in games and report inappropriate content or behavior using our Report Abuse system, the spokesperson said. In an email to HuffPost on Monday, Jennifer Fetterman, chief assistant prosecutor with the Passaic County Prosecutors Office, confirmed that Matylewich and the 11-year-old girl had communicated on several online gaming forums, including Roblox. Roblox is one of the largest metaverse-based platforms, where users can create their own games or play games created by others. In 2020, the company told the Verge that more than half of kids and teens under 16 in the U.S. had played it. Since its initial launch in 2006, it has amassed millions of active users and collaborated with well-known organizations including the NHL. Related... Theodore Temple said his 12-year-old son was in art class earlier this month when the attack happened. Without warning, another student at the Denver middle school stormed into the classroom wielding a knife, which Temple said he used to stab his son repeatedly. Teddy Temple did what he could to fend off his assailant, but his father said the unprovoked attack sent the boy to the hospital with wounds to his head, neck and shoulders. But the assault wasn't the end result of a school yard scuffle that had escalated too far. The boys, who had once been friends, "never had a verbal altercation, never had a physical altercation," said Temple, who told USA TODAY in a phone interview that the attacker's motivation was much more sinister. Temple believes and the charges against the juvenile suspect seem to support that his son was attacked because of the color of his skin. Last week, the 12-year-old boy suspected of carrying out the attack on Oct. 5 at Marie L. Greenwood Early 8 school was charged with attempted murder and a "bias-motivated crime," the Denver District Attorney's office confirmed to USA TODAY on Monday. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement District attorney's spokesman Matthew Jablow told USA TODAY that the student attacker was also charged with weapons possession on school grounds and impeding school staff. The Denver Police Department, which arrested the boy the same day, referred all questions to the district attorney's office on Monday. Kansas: 1-year-old child among 3 killed when commercial building explodes in southwest Kansas Father says son's attacker embraced Nazi ideology Temple said he was there Thursday for the suspect's first juvenile court hearing, which the judge closed to the media and the general public. It was there where Temple had an up-close seat as he said prosecutors outlined all the ways in which the investigation revealed the extent to which the 12-year-old suspect had become fascinated with Nazi paraphernalia and ideology. Prosecutors claimed that among the boy's online research interests included school shootings, hate crimes and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, Temple said. At the hearing, Temple said he learned that the accused attacker had a list of people who he was going to kill, along with their race. The first name on it, Temple said, was his son's. Jablow declined to specify what led prosecutors to determine that the crime was "bias-motivated" and did not respond to USA TODAY's requests about what happened during court proceedings. The student has been charged as an aggravated and violent juvenile offender, which are specifications that could increase the penalties if he is convicted, Jablow said. "It was painful enough that my son was injured in that way, but to learn that he had 100% intention of killing him for racial motivation, that's been the hardest pill for us to swallow," said Temple, who has six children with his wife ranging in ages between 7 and 16. "I am pleased with the extent and severity of the charges; it lets the community know how close we all were to something much more devastating happening." Victim's father said attacker had hurled racial slurs before Temple said it had been no secret that the boy accused of attacking his son harbored apparent racist beliefs. Just a week prior to the attack, Temple claims that the student had been disciplined for calling another Black student a racial slur. His own son was also the target of the boy's racist vitriol, Temple said, some of which was hurled at the boy online and some of which was said right to his face. The boys had once been friends, but Temple said Teddy distanced himself from the other student during the summer. "There had a been a history of racial slurs or racial bullying from this child," Temple said. After the attack, Temple said his son only spent a short time at the hospital before he was able to return home. The family has created a GoFundMe page to raise money for Teddy's medical expenses after he was treated for a head fracture and required stitches. "He was fearful at first, there was terror in his face when I first got to the hospital," Temple said. Since then, "we're kind of surprised at how well he's doing emotionally and physically." Denver school district declines to comment It's unclear whether the student has or will face any disciplinary action within the school district. Scott Pribble, a spokesman for the Denver Public Schools, told USA TODAY that the district has not issued a statement about the incident. Pribble declined to offer additional details, citing both the ongoing police investigation and federal privacy laws shielding juvenile students. Teddy was able to return last week for two half-days, but Temple said his son and his other children at the school will soon be transferring to a new school within district. The father lamented that his son had to experience so young the hatred and racism that exists in the world, but Temple said he impressed on all his children one uplifting message. "We've had conversations about race and how they present themselves, how they're perceived," Temple said. "But I tell them there's way more good people in this community, there's way more good people in the world." Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Denver father says son's race a factor in stabbing attack at school BROCKTON Police are asking for the public's help in locating a 17-year-old who is wanted for the fatal shooting of a 33-year-old man in Brockton earlier this year. Massachusetts State Police have added Kahmari T. Price, 17, to the State Police Most Wanted list in connection with a shooting homicide on Feb. 26. That day, Brockton police received multiple reports of a shooting on North Main Street. "Responding officers discovered an unresponsive male suffering from a gunshot wound to his head; the victim, Mark A. Boyd, 33, did not survive," State Police said in a written statement. How violent is Brockton? We compared it to 8 other cities to get the real answer. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement An investigation by Brockton police and State Police detectives assigned to the Plymouth County District Attorney's Office commenced. Police say they identified Price as the suspected shooter. Investigators obtained an arrest warrant out of Brockton District Court charging Price with murder. A judge authorized nationwide extradition if he's arrested, meaning he can be returned to Brockton to face the charges. Police say Price has ties to the greater Fall River area and is "actively avoiding law enforcement." "The firearm used in this incident has not been recovered and PRICE should be considered armed and dangerous," State Police said. 'Untraceable' Ghost guns increasing at 'alarming rate' in Brockton Police described Price as being approximately 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighing about 140 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes. "Anyone who sees PRICE or has information regarding his whereabouts is urged to call the Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section at 1-800-KAPTURE (1-800-527-8873) or call 911," State Police said. Enterprise senior reporter Cody Shepard can be reached by email at cshepard@enterprisenews.com. This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Brockton fatal shooting: 17-year-old added to State Police Most Wanted When MyKayla Whitehead was entering her senior year of high school, her future looked uncertain. She cared deeply about finding the right skin care products for her unique skin, but she struggled connecting her passion to a viable career. She, then, learned about the Georgia Foundational Leadership and Entrepreneurship Experience (FLEX) Competition, which helps promote entrepreneurship in high school students through mentorship and funding. She decided to enter the competition with her new business Brittinique - Be Unique, and after winning the Bibb County competition, she became the runner-up in the state competition. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement I just really appreciate it because I know that I will get somewhere with this, Whitehead said. Im gonna come back down and give everybody that helped me a good gift of love and whatever they want. I just want to give back really. At 18 years old, Whitehead hosted the grand opening of Brittinique on Oct. 6 at 11 a.m. at her storefront located in the Bibb County Schools office at 484 Mulberry St. Her store currently sells candles and soap, but she plans to sell other skin care products in the future. My whole brand is about self love and just self care period, she said. Military or scholarships When the coronavirus pandemic hit Macon-Bibb County, Whitehead, who has asthma, attended Bibb County Schools VIP Academy, which is an online school. Whitehead grew up in a low-income family and is the oldest child on her dads side. She saw two options for people like her: the military or receiving a lot of scholarships. Her family, specifically her father, encouraged her to join the military. Although she thought the military was a good option for some, Whitehead wanted the opportunity to find her passion and make a career out of it. However, she had a difficult senior year and did not receive many scholarships. The military began to look like the only option for Whitehead to eventually reach her goals. Thats when she learned about the FLEX Competition. Finding her passion When she first started to develop an idea for a business, she thought she would design clothes because she knew how to sew. It was something I thought was my passion, but it was just something I knew how to do, she said. In order to create a business plan to submit to the competition, Whitehead was connected to people of business in the Macon-Bibb County community, and one woman gave her memorable advice. She told me to find something that aligns with my passion, something that I wont get tired of, Whitehead said. After listening to the feedback she received from local business owners, she decided to scrap her idea of making clothes and create a self-care brand with candles and skin care products. She changed her entire business plan three hours before the competition deadline, she said. Maybe it was a sign from God, she said. When she became the runner up for the state competition, she received $10,000 in seed money to start her business as well as scholarship opportunities, according to a news release from Bibb County Schools. I was really excited. I was really surprised because there was like a lot of people, a lot of other contestants, she said. It was just a blessing really. She is enrolled in Fort Valley State University, but she plans to take a gap year in order to get her business started. She will start her degree program in the fall of 2024 with the goal of becoming an esthetician, a skin care professional. Im really grateful about the competition because if I didnt do it, I would definitely be in basic training right now, she said with a laugh. She appreciates everyone who has supported her, including the school system and the Griffith Foundation. They dont know how much they really helped me and I can say it like a million times, but I dont think they really understand, she said. Overall, Whitehead said her main goal is to build generational wealth. She worked at Ballard Middle School through Bibb County Schools Youth Apprenticeship Program, and the experience made her want to eventually start a foundation in order to help young people like herself in Macon-Bibb County. It was so sad that these kids are going through so much, she said. Look at how the future will be. We are the future. All of these kids are the future, and if we dont have them, its going to be pretty messed up. When you feel good, you look good. Whitehead has experienced sensitive skin since she was in middle school. She couldnt use any name brand soaps without breaking out in a rash, she said. She did research and tried different products before finding soap that works for her. When she started making products to sell, she let some of her teachers and friends try them, and they loved them. They told her that her products helped their skin better than any products a dermatologist recommended, she said. The name for her business comes from her middle name, Brittinique, and the idea that everyone has unique skin. Whitehead has worked all summer perfecting her formulas so that everyone can find a product in her store that works for them, she said. Thats all I really want to do, just help people because I know how it feels, Whitehead said. Two Iranians who are "raising red flags that they could pose a significant security threat" have been captured over the past two weeks at the American border, sources with U.S. Customs and Border Protection tell Fox News. The identities of both Iranians appeared on the Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB), the sources confirmed. Meanwhile, an Iranian man in his 40s was taken into custody around 3 a.m. Sunday in Eagle Pass, Texas, becoming the fourth individual from the country to be captured since Oct. 1 in the Del Rio sector. In fiscal year 2023, which began at the start of last October, there were 151 total hits on the TSDB through the period ending on Aug. 31. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement HONDURAN MAN, TWICE DEPORTED FROM US, CHARGED WITH MURDERS IN NASHVILLE AFTER 2 BODIES FOUND Border Patrol officers process migrants after they crossed the Rio Grande into the U.S. in May 2022 in Eagle Pass, Texas. Four Iranians have been captured since Oct. 1, 2023, in the Del Rio sector. That figure is more than the total of the previous six fiscal years combined. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP In the first two weeks of this fiscal year, the CBP sources told Fox News that agents have apprehended more than 30 Iranians, nearly 60 Syrians, 35 Pakistanis, more than 100 Russians, 285 Afghans and nearly 2,000 Chinese migrants at the southern border. The Department of Homeland Security previously warned that an increasing amount of people on the U.S. terrorist watch list are being encountered at the border. DESANTIS SAYS US SHOULDNT TAKE IN REFUGEES FROM GAZA A Border Patrol agent looks over the Eagle Pass area in February 2003. In its 2024 Homeland Threat Assessment report released last month, the agency said that although "encounters with migrants have declined from record highs in December, migrants seeking entry to the United States are still arriving at a rate that is on pace to nearly match 2022 total encounters." "As part of this increase, we have encountered growing numbers of individuals in the Terrorist Screening Data Set (TSDS), also known as the watchlist," the report said. "During the next year, we assess that the threat of violence from individuals radicalized in the United States will remain high, but largely unchanged, marked by lone offenders or small group attacks that occur with little warning," the DHS also said. "Foreign terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and ISIS are seeking to rebuild overseas, and they maintain worldwide networks of supporters that could seek to target the Homeland." The ongoing Israel-Hamas war also has put law enforcement across the U.S. on alert. FBI Director Chris Wray noted that there has been a spike in recent domestic threats. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has also gone on record saying that the U.S. should not take in any potential refugees from the Gaza Strip due to security concerns. Original article source: 2 Iranians who 'could pose a significant security threat' captured at US border, sources say DENTON, Texas - Denton police are investigating a fatal shooting that happened in a high school parking lot early Sunday morning. The shooting was outside Fred Moore High School on Cross Timbers Street. Police said they got multiple calls around 2:30 a.m. about shots fired in the schools parking lot. When officers got there, they found two adult gunshot victims who were taken to local hospitals. One of the victims, a 30-year-old male, did not survive. The second victim, a 26-year-old male, is still hospitalized with life-threatening injuries. Police are still trying to determine a motive. Theyre looking for tips to determine what led up to the shooting. Anyone with information is asked to contact Denton County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-388-TIPS. Voters in the Canton Municipal Court district will select a pair of judges, while those in the Massillon Municipal Court district decide who will be clerk of court. Eary voting in this general election has already begun and will culminate on Nov. 7 at the polls. Although the three races are nonpartisan you won't find a political party next to their names on the ballot each of the six candidates got to this point by winning their respective Democratic and Republican primaries on May 2. They are: Democrat Kristen Donohue Guardado vs. Republican Dennis Barr for a Canton municipal judge seat, which begins on Jan. 1. Incumbent Republican Curt Werren vs. Democrat Earle Wise Jr. for a Canton municipal judge seat, which begins a day later. Incumbent Democrat Johnnie Maier vs. Republican John Paquelet for the Massillon clerk of court position. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement All three positions are six-year terms. A judge's annual salary will be $151,378 in 2024. The clerk of court salary will be $128,671 next year. Municipal courts handle criminal and traffic cases and civil actions, such as evictions and small claims cases. Canton's district covers Canton, North Canton and Louisville, along with Lake, Plain, Nimishillen, Osnaburg, Canton, Pike and Sandy townships, the villages of Hartville, East Canton, Meyers Lake, East Sparta, Waynesburg, Magnolia and the Uniontown police district. Massillon's court area is Massillon and Canal Fulton, as well as Bethlehem, Jackson, Lawrence, Perry, Sugar Creek and Tuscarawas townships, and the villages of Beach City, Brewster, Hills and Dales, Navarre and Wilmot. A new judge will emerge from this race: Kristen Donohue Guardado vs. Dennis Barr Guardado or Barr will become a first-time judge, replacing John Poulos, who did not seek reelection. The 52-year-old Guardado is senior trial counsel at the Canton city prosecutor's office. She's worked there in multiple roles for the past three decades. She said a judge's post is a logical next step. "I do like helping the downtrodden," Guardado said. "We are probably too hard on people who aren't really criminals and not hard enough on those who are." Also a private practice attorney, Guardado's city duties have included supervising prosecutors, interns and trials, overseeing domestic violence cases and preparing search warrants. "Kind of the Swiss army knife of the office," she said. Guardado said she worked with city Treasurer Kim Perez on a program to resolve unpaid income taxes from non-filers before the cases clog up the court docket. "I send them a personal letter," Guardado explained. In it, she states a warrant has been issued. But rather than going straight to court, she urges the taxpayer to contact her to fix the problem because often non-filing is an oversight. "In 2022, we were able to dismiss 220 cases that way," Guardado said. Guardado's last general election bid for judge failed; she was toppled by Curt Werren in 2015. But she's no stranger to winning elections, either. She was elected to the Plain Local Schools Board of Education five times in a row, from 2001 to 2017. Her opponent this time, Barr, is chief of the criminal division in Stark County Prosecutor Kyle Stone's office. The 64-year-old Barr has worked there, under four different prosecutors, for the past 34 years. He's generally handled many of the most serious criminal cases. "I don't like to lose," he said. And it hasn't happened much. He's been involved with 118 homicide crimes. Of the 75 which proceeded to trial, Barr said he won convictions in 70. If you've read about, listened on the radio or watched coverage on TV of a high-profile Stark County case, odds are Barr prosecuted it. That's included trials of Bobby Cutts Jr., James Mammone, Jason McDermitt and Jeremy Morlock, to name a few. "I know the criminal side of the law very well," Barr said, adding he's confident he also knows enough to handle the type of civil cases that land in municipal court. Barr said he possesses three qualities a good judge needs: Be respectful of everyone; be firm but fair; and be impartial. "The most important thing you have is your integrity," he said. Barr said he donated $10,000 of his own money to his campaign to make it easier to ask others for support. Guardado said Barr actually worked some on her 2015 campaign, when he was a Democrat. Barr indeed was a Democrat under former Democratic prosecutors. However, he said he's always held conservative views. He switched to the GOP after Stone, a Republican, was elected in 2020. Barr added the judge's race is nonpartisan, anyway. "And the law is nonpartisan," he said. Incumbent Judge Curt Werren vs. former judge Earle Wise Jr. The 56-year-old Curt Werren seeks a second full term. He previously was appointed common pleas judge, but lost the seat in an ensuing election. In 2015, he was appointed municipal judge, after Judge Stephen Belden resigned. Werren has proceeded to win two elections he toppled Guardado in the 2015 general election for the remainder of the unexpired term, then he ran unopposed in 2017. "I believe I've earned my position ... through my abilities and my passion," he said. As presiding and administrative judge, Werren said he manages a docket of 2,800 cases each year. He's proud of founding the Recovery Court docket, a collaborative substance abuse program with Stark County Mental Health & Addiction Recovery and CommQuest. "In municipal court, you have the ability to be more flexible ... a little more leeway (than in common pleas, for example)," Werren said. "You can work with people." Earl Wise Jr., 63, is chief counsel for the Massillon law department a job he took after he lost his seat on the 5th District Court of Appeals in the 2022 general election. His father, Earle Wise Sr., was a longtime local attorney and former appeals court judge, too. "I know how municipal court works," Wise said. His career included stints as a common pleas bailiff, deputy director of the Stark County Board of Elections, assistant Stark County prosecutor, North Canton city administrator, private practice attorney and Carroll County public defender attorney. All that before he was elected to the appeals court. "All of my experience ... can make me a very good muni court judge," Wise said. He said a judge must be respectful and polite to everyone, while at the same time exerting the court's authority. "And you have to be prepared to make the call quickly sometimes," Wise explained, noting that's one of the key differences from work at an appeals court. Veteran Johnnie Maier vs. the newcomer John Paquelet for Massillon clerk The Massillon clerk is legal guardian and keeper of records for everything in municipal court. It's a job Johnnie Maier has held since winning office in 1999. The former state legislator seeks his fifth straight term. He said his record shows he's done the job well. "I want to continue serving alongside judges (Edward) Elum and (Joel) Fichter as a key part of the team ...," said the 72-year-old Maier. He touted technological and customer service improvements; his office's early use of the Ohio eWarrant system; his leadership roles in state and Northeast Ohio clerk associations; and a 2010 honor that named him Ohio clerk of the year. "I come from a family with deep law enforcement roots," Maier said. His dad was a Massillon police officer and Dalton police chief. His brother, Chuck, was a longtime Massillon police sergeant. His brother, George, is Stark County sheriff. "People deserve a choice," said Maier's opponent, John Paquelet, son of Dr. Charles Paquelet, a longtime local orthopaedic surgeon. Paquelet, 54, said he's proud of work he and his colleagues on the Massillon Board of Education have done. Most notably, he pointed to $80 million in district improvements during the past five years without asking taxpayers for more money. Paquelet said he oversees a staff of about 25 people in his job as an environmental specialist with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. Heading the clerk's office, he said, should be about providing customer service. "Always try to put myself in their shoes," he said. Reach Tim at 330-580-8333 or tim.botos@cantonrep.com.On X: @tbotosREP This article originally appeared on The Repository: Voters to select two Canton Municipal judges, Massillon clerk of court Hawai'i DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife via the Center for Biological Diversity Hawai'i DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife via the Center for Biological Diversity Twenty-one species found across 16 states and in the U.S. territory of Guam are officially extinct, federal wildlife officials declared on Oct. 16. The species several birds, mussels, two species of fish and the Little Mariana fruit bat last seen in Guam in 1968 have been listed as endangered for decades, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Now, because of extinction, they are being removed from their Endangered Species Act listings after rigorous reviews, the agency said in a news release. Federal protection came too late to reverse these species decline, and its a wake-up call on the importance of conserving imperiled species before its too late, FWS Director Martha Williams said in a statement. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The agency proposed delisting the 21 species from the ESA in September 2021 because of their likely extinction, according to the release, which says the ESA has been in effect for the past 50 years. The majority of the species were considered endangered in the 1970s and 1980s when they were in very low numbers or likely already extinct at the time of listing, the release said. A total of 650 species in the U.S. have already been deemed extinct, according to the Center for Biological Diversity, a national U.S. nonprofit wildlife conservation organization. My heart breaks over the loss of these 21 species, Noah Greenwald, the centers endangered species director, said in an Oct. 16 statement. Species that are now extinct Ten birds are officially considered extinct, including the Bachmans warbler, which was known to inhabit Florida and South Carolina and was last seen in the 1980s, according to FWS. Eight of the extinct bird species were found in Hawaii, including the Po`ouli, which was last seen in 2004. The Po`ouli is the most recently seen species of all 21 animals on the list. Another bird on the list, the Bridled white-eye found in Guam, became extinct from being hunted by brown tree snakes on the island, according to the Center for Biological Diversity. Two species of fish the San Marcos gambusia from Texas and the Scioto madtom found in Ohio were also declared extinct, FWS said. Eight species of mussels are now extinct, according to FWS: Flat pigtoe found in Alabama and Mississippi Southern acornshell found in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee Stirrupshell found in Alabama and Mississippi Upland combshell found in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee Green-blossom pearly mussel found in Tennessee and Virginia Tubercled-blossom pearly mussel found in Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia Turgid-blossom pearly mussel found in Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee Yellow-blossom pearly mussel found in Alabama and Tennessee In September 2021, the FWS also proposed delisting two other species from the ESA because of likely extinction, including the ivory-billed woodpecker, according to the release. However, FWS will continue to analyze and review the information before deciding whether to delist this bird, the agency said. The proposal to delist the other species a Hawaiian perennial herb formally named Phyllostegia glabra var. Lanaiensis has been withdrawn because there may be potentially suitable habitats for the herb to grow, according to the release. The rule that delists the 21 species from the ESA will be published in the Federal Register on Oct. 17, according to FWS. As we commemorate 50 years of the Endangered Species Act this year, we are reminded of the Acts purpose to be a safety net that stops the journey toward extinction, Williams said. The ultimate goal is to recover these species, so they no longer need the Acts protection. Mysterious large feline seen in eastern Pennsylvania ignites talk of ghost cats Mythical creatures existence was debated for 30 years then it appeared on camera Man smuggled butterflies of exceptional size into US and sold them online, feds say Spotted creature hiding in plain sight in Great Barrier Reef is new species. See it Ahmed al-Mandhari, WHO regional director for the eastern Mediterranean, told AFP that Gaza is now barrelling towards 'a real catastrophe' (Mohamed el-Shahed) The Gaza Strip has only "24 hours of water, electricity and fuel left", the regional head of the United Nations' World Health Organization told AFP on Monday, as pressure mounts for assistance to arrive. If aid is not allowed into the besieged territory, doctors will have to "prepare death certificates for their patients," WHO regional director for the eastern Mediterranean, Ahmed al-Mandhari, said in an interview with AFP. Monday marked 10 days of relentless Israeli air strikes on targets in the Palestinian enclave, in retaliation for an October 7 attack by Gaza-based Hamas militants who killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, in southern Israel. Gaza is now barrelling towards "a real catastrophe", Mandhari said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza said around 2,750 people have been killed and 9,700 wounded while, according to the UN, one million have been displaced. Power outages threaten to cripple life-support systems, from sea water desalination plants to food refrigeration and hospital incubators. Even everyday functions -- from going to the toilet, showering and washing clothes -- are almost impossible, locals say. With emergency responders overwhelmed, doctors working around the clock and a dire lack of space, "bodies cannot be properly taken care of", Mandhari said. Overcrowding has paralysed hospitals, where "intensive care units, operating rooms, emergency services and other wings" are all on the brink of collapse, he said. Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz on Sunday said water supplies to southern Gaza had been switched back on, a week after Israel announced a "complete siege" cutting water, power and fuel supplies to the territory where it wants to crush Hamas. Depriving civilians of goods essential for survival is banned under international law, the UN human rights chief has said. - Left to die - During the air and artillery bombardment, the WHO has recorded 111 medical facilities targeted, 12 health care workers killed and 60 ambulances bombed -- in violation of both "international law and the principles of humanity", Mandhari said. A total of 22 hospitals in nothern Gaza are treating more than 2,000 patients, including "some on ventilators, some who need regular dialysis, in addition to children, infants and women". The enclave's hospitals have run out of clean water, while "fuel shortages threaten electricity supply," he said. As medical resources dry up, Mandhari said doctors -- who know they cannot save everyone -- are having to make impossible choices. "They have to triage the patients who are coming in. They have no other choice. There are too many people, so some are left to die slow deaths." Aid must be allowed to enter the Gaza Strip within one day before the situation becomes completely unmanageable, Mandhari said. Convoys of international aid are waiting just across the border with Egypt, but they have been allowed no closer than the Egyptian town of El Arish, 50 kilometres (31 miles) away from the Rafah border crossing -- the only passage in and out of Gaza not controlled by Israel. Cairo has refused to allow foreign nationals to exit without humanitarian aid coming in. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry accused Israel of blocking the aid, despite "repeated requests" from Cairo. Under a joint Israeli-Egyptian blockade in place since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, Israel has a say in the passage of all goods and people coming in and out of the territory. United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned to Israel on Monday after shuttling between Arab states, hoping to coordinate efforts against Hamas while finding ways to alleviate Gaza's humanitarian crisis. He announced in Cairo on Sunday that the US had appointed veteran former diplomat David Satterfield to work on aid to Gaza. The UN's humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said he would be heading to the Middle East on Tuesday "to try to help in the negotiations" for aid access. "We are in deep discussions with the Israelis, with the Egyptians and with others," Griffiths said. sbh/bha/it Three attorneys have been disbarred from the State Bar of California, including one who was convicted of possessing child pornography and another who was convicted of distributing illegal narcotics. The Bar announced the punishment levied against three California lawyers on Monday. The most high-profile incident involves Raymond Joseph Liddy of Coronado, a former Deputy Attorney General in the California Department of Justice. Liddy was convicted on Feb. 5, 2020, for possessing child pornography. He was arrested in July 2017 and was found to have sexually explicit images of prepubescent minors on his personal devices. He was sentenced to five years of probation following his conviction. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Notably, Liddy is also the son of former FBI agent and key Watergate figure G. Gordon Liddy , who was arrested as part of the most infamous American political scandal of all time. Raymond Liddy was officially disbarred on Oct. 15. L.A. attorney could be disbarred for encouraging violence against BLM protesters Two other California attorneys were disbarred in recent weeks, including former Long Beach lawyer Jackie P. Ferrari. Ferrari was convicted on felony drug charges related to the distribution of oxycodone. She was convicted in June 2019 after pleading guilty to one count of distribution. Ferrari was the subject of an investigation following the overdose death of an unnamed 22-year-old woman. That woman was in contact with Ferrari, according to the California Bar, and had arranged a sale of drugs before she died. Though the victim likely received the drug from someone other than Ferrari, the DEA discovered that Ferrari had been selling oxycodone pills on Craigslist, using coded names such as foxy roxy doll,' the release from the Bar states. Ferrari did not file a timely response to her possible disbarment, and it officially went into effect at the end of September. And Redding attorney Michael Ralph McCabe was disbarred for unauthorized practice of law and other counts related to misrepresentation. McCabe represented a couple in a civil case that involved a dispute with their landlord. He failed to serve the defendants with a complaint, didnt file proper paperwork related to the case and missed two separate court appearances, which resulted in the case being dismissed. He also allegedly failed to comply with court orders to keep his clients updated and informed with the status of his case. He also apparently practiced law for a period in 2018 during a time in which he was on administrative inactive status. He made four separate court appearances and filed multiple court documents while technically ineligible to practice, the Bar said. McCabe did not cooperate with the Bars investigation, the release states. The State Bar of Californias Office of Chief Trial Counsel investigates allegations of misconduct by Bar-certified attorney on behalf of the public. Attorneys are presumed innocent of the allegations unless the State Bar Court finds [them] culpable by clear and convincing evidence. The Bar can recommend if an attorney is simply suspended or disbarred. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. Law enforcement in Georgia are searching for four inmates who escaped from the Bibb County Detention Center. Deputies said the four inmates left the jail through a damaged window in a common space area and a cut fence on Monday morning. At around 3 a.m. on Monday, a blue Dodge Challenger pulled up to the jail and helped the inmates escape from the property. The sheriffs office identified the inmates as: 52-year-old Joey Fournier, who was being held in jail for murder. Fourner is a white man with blue eyes and gray hair. He stands 5 feet, 9 inches tall. 24-year-old Marc Kerry Anderson, who was being held in jail for aggravated assault. Anderson is a black man with dreads. He stands 5 feet, 9 inches tall. 37-year-old Johnifer Dernard Barnwell, who was being held for the United States Marshals. Barnwell is a black man with braids. He stands 5 feet, 9 inches tall. 29-year-old Chavis Demaryo Stokes, who was being detained for possession of a firearm and drug trafficking. Stokes is a black man with black hair. He stands 5 feet, 7 inches tall. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Several law enforcement agencies including the Bibb County Sheriffs Office, the Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force, FBI, and United States Marshals Office are currently looking for the inmates. Anyone with information in reference to the location of the inmates or the vehicle is asked to contact the Bibb County Sheriffs Office at 478-751-7500 or Macon Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-877-68CRIME. TRENDING STORIES: [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: There are 40% more women serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine than in 2021, and over the past 2 years, the number of women in the army has increased by 12,000. Now almost 43,000 servicewomen serve in the Ukrainian army, reports the countrys Ministry of Defence. The ministry talked about changes on the way to gender equality in the army in recent years. In particular, Ukraine abolished official restrictions on the access of servicewomen to all positions. "If earlier women could only serve in positions mainly of medical specialties, signalmen, accountants, clerks and cooks, now a woman in the army can be a driver, a grenade launcher operator, a deputy commander of a reconnaissance group, an IFV commander, a repairman, a machine gunner, a sniper, etc.," the representatives of Ukraines Defence Ministry say. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement A contract for military service can be concluded by women aged 18 to 60 years, just like in the case with men (previously the age threshold for women was up to 40 years). Additionally, women were given the opportunity to receive military education at all levels. "Since 2019, the government has allowed girls to enter military lyceums. Women who in the future see themselves as officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have access to all levels of military education. They are allowed to master the same jobs as men, and subsequently serve in a wide list of positions," the Defence Ministry reports. Among other changes, the Armed Forces of Ukraine introduced training sessions and seminars on the equality of the Ukrainian army, gender expertise for documents developed by the Ministry of Defence, the position of a freelance gender adviser in the system of the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces of Ukraine, etc. "Work continues on the logistics and provision for servicewomen in particular, the creation of new models of military uniforms and personal protective equipment, taking into account the anthropometric parameters. Regular work is underway to prevent sexual harassment and other human rights violations," the ministry reports. Earlier, military uniform for servicewomen was officially approved in Ukraine. Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron! We may earn a commission if you make a purchase through one of our links. McClatchy newsrooms were not involved in the creation of this content. If youre considering assisted living, theres no place like Lawrence, KS, to take this major life leap; the city has a welcoming ambiance thats unmistakably Midwestern. A quintessential college town situated between Kansas City and Topeka, Lawrence is home to charming shops, restaurants and attractions, with an affordable cost of living and a sizable population of retirees. An estimated 11.6% of residents are 65 and older, making socialization easy at any age. In addition, Lawrence has earned a reputation as one of the best small towns to retire in America by HGTV. Not only is it pedestrian and bike friendly, but affordable housing, lack of estate taxes and lively arts and culture make Lawrence a lovely place to call home. Assisted living is an excellent option for seniors who can no longer reside independently. A great way to stay involved in local life while receiving support with everyday tasks, such as bathing, dressing and managing medications, these top-rated communities offer something for everyone. According to the 2021 Genworth Cost of Care Survey, seniors in Lawrence, KS pay an estimated $4,538 for assisted living every month, which is on par with the national average of $4,500. If youre considering this small town for your own retirement, this is a figure to keep in mind. Designed for seniors who want to maintain active lifestyles, todays assisted living communities combine state-of-the-art amenities with vibrant social calendars and around-the-clock care tailored to residents needs and interests. Weve narrowed down the best assisted living communities in Lawrence to help simplify your long-term care search. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Speak to a Family Advisor Monterey Village Senior Living - Best Continuing Care Community Key Features: Offers independent living, assisted living and memory care Diverse activity schedule Flexible meal offerings Located in a peaceful residential neighborhood, Monterey Village Senior Living offers a full spectrum of care for older adults. Experienced caregivers lend a hand 24 hours a day, including helping with bathing, dressing and medication management. A maintenance-free lifestyle ensures that you can relax without the stress of cooking, cleaning or laundry. At Monterey Village, you enjoy access to a robust schedule of life-enrichment activities, including pet therapy, chair exercises, Bible studies and movie nights. Fresh, made-to-order meals are served daily in the community dining room, and the always available menu features an impressive selection. Reviewers compliment the communitys easy-to-navigate layout, compassionate staff members, social ambiance and diverse selection of activities. What Residents Are Saying Visiting family members value the compassionate caregivers. The staff is top-notch. They are caring and very willing to listen to us with our concerns, says one relative. They seem very professional and willing to do whatever they need to for the best care for my parents. Other reviewers echo that sentiment, with one adding, Its a beautiful and lovely place, super clean dining area, easy for our mom to access, [and] awesome and kind nurses, administrators and staff who have been phenomenal. Read more reviews on Caring.com Pioneer Ridge Assisted Living - Best Medium-Sized Community Key Features: Convenient central location Nurse on call Three home-cooked meals daily This 60-bed community is the ideal middle ground between small homes and expansive assisted living. If you want to receive discrete support with personal tasks such as bathing, getting dressed and managing medications, a team of certified staff members is available to help. Diabetic care and incontinence management are also available. Licensed nurses are on call 24/7 to meet your health needs, and the around-the-clock emergency communication system puts you in rapid contact with staff. Each day, you can enjoy three meals prepared fresh from scratch. An active calendar includes options for learning, exploring your hobbies and connecting with peers. Reviewers frequently compliment the helpful and professional staff. What Residents Are Saying Current residents compliment the dedicated team. The staff there was exceptional. They acted like they cared about you, says one reviewer. They knew each patient by name and would visit with you and talk to you as they were working. It was just a very delightful situation to be in. Read more reviews on Caring.com Lawrence Presbyterian Manor - Best Faith-Based Community Key Features: Continuing care community Spiritual values and programming Wide range of activities and event options If youre seeking a faith-based community that honors your values, consider Lawrence Presbyterian Manor. This continuing care community offers a full spectrum of support, so you can remain on campus as your needs change. Seniors can enjoy an active lifestyle filled with spiritual programming, cultural opportunities, educational lessons and day trips. Scheduled transportation helps you stay active, with convenient shopping and dining venues located within minutes. Useful amenities include a chapel with worship services, a bumper pool table and an ice cream machine. Seniors also have use of a library, fitness center and arts and crafts room. Reviewers appreciate the communitys faith-based approach to care, vibrant programming, weekly chapel services and lively atmosphere. What Residents Are Saying Residents love the cleanliness and caring staff. One reviewer says of her husbands experience, I would describe it as very clean ... they gave him excellent care. The people who worked with him were outstanding, they were compassionate, and I have nothing bad to say about the place. Read more reviews on Caring.com Brandon Woods at Alvamar - Best Ambiance Key Features: Lush 30-acre property Heated indoor pool Restaurant-quality dining Nestled within a lush 30-acre campus, Brandon Woods at Alvamar offers senior care in a striking setting. Three restaurant-style meal choices are served daily, and youll have access to a 24/7 front desk concierge, nursing staff and medical resources tailored to your needs. Staff encourages residents to stay engaged through trips to cultural attractions, happy hours, community events and watch parties. Amenities include a fitness center, beauty salon/barbershop and an agility gym that offers speech, physical and occupational therapies. Reviewers enjoy the wide range of on-site activities, including music on Fridays and exercise classes. What Residents Are Saying Residents highlight both the staff and activities. Wonderful staff! They interact with all their residents. When Moms alert button battery gets low, they show up at her room to replace [it]. They check to make sure her door is locked at night. She has so many activities to choose from! I ate several meals with her ... Facility is clean and well maintained. Read more reviews on Caring.com The Windsor of Lawrence - Best Location Key Features: Central location Intentional design features On-site salon and spa The Windsor at Lawrence is conveniently located between Kansas City and Topeka, putting you close to the states biggest cities. Care is highly personalized, with staff tailoring service plans around every residents distinct needs and preferences 24/7. Every feature within the community was designed to maximize independence and decrease falls, from intentional color selections to non-glare lighting and low-pile carpet. Programs, trips and activities are scheduled throughout the week, and youll access upscale amenities including a bistro, enclosed courtyard, salon and spa. Reviewers appreciate the attentive staff and personalized care, as well as the close-knit ambiance where everyone knows everyone. What Residents Are Saying Visitors appreciate the welcoming ambiance. One reviewer says, ... the place was spotlessly clean. The air was fresh and smelled good. All of the clients were well-groomed, and looked content and happy. We toured the facility and were impressed with the layout, and the relationship between the staff and clients ... The overall energy was positive and caring. Read more reviews on Caring.com The Bottom Line If you want to experience the best that Lawrence has to offer while receiving assistance with your daily routine, consider giving one of these assisted living communities a go. Not only are they conveniently located for easy access to city amenities, but they also offer everything from indoor swimming pools and spas to active social calendars and engaging on-site events. Speak to a Family Advisor Rachel Lustbader is a writer and editor with a decade of experience working in and writing about health care, the last five of which she has focused on senior health and senior living. Before joining Caring.com, Rachel worked with websites including HealthCare.com, BiteSizeBio.com, MedicareGuide.com, and BetterHelp.com. She studied health science as an undergraduate at Boston University and continued her education in health communication at BU in 2019. She can be reached at editorial@caring.com. FILE - Yiannis Habaris, the lawyer for three of five Israelis who are accused of raping a British woman, speaks on his cellphone outside the Famagusta District Courthouse in Paralimni, Cyprus, on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. Five Israelis accused of gang raping a British woman in a Cyprus hotel room wont plead to charges including rape, sexual assault and abduction until prosecutors hand over key material including DNA tests, fingerprints and eyewitness testimony, lawyer Yannis Habaris said Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) Five Israelis accused of gang raping a British woman in a Cyprus hotel room pleaded not guilty on Monday to all charges against them, including rape, sexual assault and abduction, an official said. The Famagusta District criminal court in Cyprus scheduled the trial to resume on Dec. 18, when police investigators will testify for the prosecution. Three of the five defendants appeared at Monday's hearing with one lawyer instead of the two who had previously represented them, the official said on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak about the case publicly. The other two defendants changed attorneys earlier this month. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The defendants entered their pleas after the prosecution handed their lawyers key material including DNA tests, fingerprints and witness testimony. A police investigator said last month that the 20-year-old British woman picked the five Israelis three aged 19 and two aged 20 out of a lineup as having raped her during a hotel pool party in the coastal resort town of Ayia Napa. The woman told police that one of the five men had forcibly taken her to his room after grabbing her hand while she was partying with friends around the pool on Sept. 3. She said the man tried to remove her bathing suit while she pleaded with him to let her leave. The other suspects then entered the room and one had intercourse with her against her will and another forced her to perform oral sex, while two others held her down on the bed, she said. She said one suspect also held her against a wall and had intercourse with her. She said she managed to lock herself in the bathroom and began shouting for help. She was able to flee the room by pushing the suspects aside and rejoined her friends, who went with her to report the incident to police, she said. Ayia Napa is popular among young tourists from across Europe who enjoy its nightclubs, bars, white-sand beaches and lively nightlife. When it comes to Thanksgiving events, you can keep your football games and parades. For classic-car lovers, the highlight of the holiday weekend at the Worlds Most Famous Beach is always the mammoth buffet of chrome, carburetors and custom cars at the annual Fall Turkey Run at Daytona International Speedway. Daytona Turkey Run at Daytona International Speedway, Friday, March 24, 2023 This years edition, the milestone 50th annual, unfolds Nov. 23-26 in the Speedways massive infield. Heres what you need to know: When does the fall Turkey Run happen? The Turkey Run rolls throughout Thanksgiving weekend in the infield at Daytona International Speedway, 1801 W. International Speedway Blvd., Daytona Beach. Hours are 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday. Whats admission for the fall Turkey Run? Admission at the gate is $20 daily Thursday-Saturday; $15 on Sunday. Ages 11 and younger are free. Daily admission tickets, as well as multiple day passes, also can be purchased in advance (for an additional fee) by visiting turkeyrun.com. How many cars are at Fall Turkey Run? Over 5,000 collector cars will be on display at the events car show in the eastern portion of the Speedway infield. In addition, another 1,500 collectible vehicles will be showcased for sale or trade in the events Car Corral. What about accessories and merchandise? More than 2,000 vendors will be selling every imaginable classic-car part or accessory in the events daily swap meet, everything from crankshafts to towlines. Out from under the hood, an array of handcrafted decor, trinkets, T-shirts and other fashion statements will be for sale in the Artisan Alley. Will there be celebrities? Absolutely. Joe and Mandi Martin, of MotorTrend TVs Iron Resurrection, will stop for meet-and-greets during the event at times to be announced on the turkeyrun.com website. In addition to thousands of collectible vehicles, the 50th anniversary edition of the fall Turkey Run classi-car show also will offer an array of vendors and artisans with every imaginable accessory for car buffs. The event returns Nov. 23-26 at Daytona International Speedway. There also will opportunities to meet Chad Hiltz and Jolene Macintyre, hosts of Discoverys Bad Chad Customs custom-car show. In addition, this years event also will feature appearances by the original Batcopter that appeared in the classic 1966 Batman movie, as well as the TV-era Batmobile and Batbike. Where can I get more Turkey Run information? Visit turkeyrun.com for the latest updates on the schedule and events. This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Fall Turkey Run ready to return Thanksgiving weekend in Daytona Beach A 6-year-old boy and his mother were stabbed over a dozen times late Saturday morning in an anti-Muslim hate crime, according to police. The child, Wadea Al-Fayoume, was killed. Landlord Joseph Czuba, 71, was charged on Sunday with murder and hate crime for allegedly stabbing Wadea and his mother, Hanaan Shahin, 32, who were his tenants in Plainfield, Illinois. Czuba was charged with two counts of hate crime alongside first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis, the Plainfield Township homicide department said in a statement. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Shahin was stabbed over a dozen times but is expected to survive, according to officials. Her son, Wadea, was remembered for his passion for life, Ahmed Rehab, the executive director of the Chicago office for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said. CAIR-Chicago is a nonprofit Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization. He loved everything, he loved everybody, loved his toys, anything with a ball basketball, soccer. He loved to color; he loved to swing around. He loved his parents. He loved his family and his friends. He loved life, Rehab said. He has no clue about these larger issues happening in the world. But he was made to pay for it, Rehab added. At approximately 11:38 a.m. on Saturday, police say, the mother opened the door for Czuba and he proceeded to choke her and attempted to stab her. According to written text messages reportedly sent to the father of the boy by the mother from the hospital and shared with CAIR-Chicago, the landlord had shouted, You Muslims must die! before he proceeded to attack her with a 12-inch serrated military-style knife. The mother then ran to the bathroom and dialed 911, according to police. By the time she came out, Czuba allegedly had stabbed her son 26 times. This all happened in seconds, said Rehab. Wadea Al-Fayoume just turned 6 years old earlier this month. Czuba was found Saturday outside the home and sitting upright outside on the ground near the driveway of the residence with a cut on his forehead, authorities said. He is currently in custody and awaiting a court appearance. To take a six-year-old childs life in the name of bigotry is nothing short of evil, tweeted Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. Wadea should be heading to school in the morning. Instead, his parents will wake up without their son. This wasnt just a murder it was a hate crime. Wadeas parents immigrated from the West Bank 12 years ago, according to CAIR-Chicago. The family rented the ground floor of a house from Czuba for two years, and Wadea turned 6 years old two weeks ago. Todays attack, which left a mother critically injured and an innocent child (her 6-year-old son) stabbed to death in his home, is a result of the rising islamophobia and hateful rhetoric spewed about carelessly and recklessly this week, said Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) in a statement. We can grieve without betraying our shared humanity, she continued. We must reject all forms of dehumanization, scapegoating, and collective punishment. In the name of Wadea Al-Fayoume and every child put at risk by bigotry, we must unequivocally stand against islamophobia and antisemitism in all their forms. Related... A 6-year-old Illinois boy on Saturday was killed and his mother was wounded by a landlord because they were Muslim in an attack linked to the violence in Gaza and Israel, police say. Joseph Czumba, 71, was arrested on charges of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of a hate crime and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon after police say he attacked his tenants with a serrated knife at the suburban Chicago home, according to The New York Times. Police say the man stabbed 6-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume 26 times, killing him, and stabbed the boys mother more than a dozen times. The mother, 32, is in serious condition at a hospital. The Will County Sheriffs Office said in a statement on Sunday that detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Relatives said the family is Palestinian American, according to the Times. Lets be clear. This was directly connected to the dehumanizing of Palestinians that has been allowed over the last week by our media, by our elected officials who have lacked the moral compass and lacked the courage to call for something as simple as de-escalation and peace, Abdelnaser Rashid, a Palestinian American Democratic Illinois state representative, said Sunday. Officials at the Council on American-Islamic Relations told the Times that they reviewed text messages that the boys mother sent his father, indicating that the landlord was angry with what he was seeing on the news. He knocked on the familys door and tried to choke her and attack her with a knife, yelling, you Muslims must die, according to CAIRs account of the messages. When she ran to the bathroom to call 911, she came out to find that he had stabbed her son. It all happened in seconds, she wrote, according to CAIR. The boys father, Oday El-Fayoume, told The Daily Beast he could not believe what happened because his ex-wife and son had a good relationship with the landlord. It is hard to picture this man holding a knife about to stab my son. I keep thinking that my son was probably running towards him before getting stabbed, trying to give him a hug, he told the outlet. The Department of Justice said in a statement on Sunday that it has "opened a federal hate crimes investigation into the events leading to the tragic death of Wadea Al-Fayoume and the serious injuries suffered by his mother, Hanaan Shahin. "This incident cannot help but further raise the fears of Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian communities in our country with regard to hate-fueled violence," the DOJ added, according to Axios. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden on Sunday condemned the brutal attack late Sunday. The childs Palestinian Muslim family came to America seeking what we all seeka refuge to live, learn, and pray in peace, they said in a statement. This horrific act of hate has no place in America, and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are. Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course. As Americans, we must come together and reject Islamophobia and all forms of bigotry and hatred. I have said repeatedly that I will not be silent in the face of hate. We must be unequivocal. There is no place in America for hate against anyone, the statement added. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said in a statement that taking a six-year-old childs life in the name of bigotry is nothing short of evil. Wadea should be heading to school in the morning. Instead, his parents will wake up without their son. This wasnt just a murder it was a hate crime, he said. The 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy stabbed and killed in an alleged hate crime in Plainfield, Illinois Saturday morning will be buried in a Muslim funeral service on Monday. According to the Will County Sheriffs Office, Wadea Al-Fayoume and his mom were stabbed by their landlord, Joseph Czuba, because of their religious beliefs. Al-Fayoume was stabbed 26 times with a military knife, and his mom, who is still hospitalized, was stabbed 12 times. In an exclusive interview with The Daily Beast, Wadeas father revealed that the boy likely ran toward Czuba to give him a hug before being killed. Ahmed Rehab, the Chicago president of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, spoke with the mom and asserted that Czuba, 71, had attempted to choke her and said, You Muslims must die. Czuba has been charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and two hate crime counts. The Department of Justice, Chicago FBI, and U.S. Attorneys Office also announced a federal investigation into the alleged murder. Czuba will be held at Will Countys Adult Detention center until his scheduled court appearance on Monday afternoon. Read it at ABC 7 Read more at The Daily Beast. Seven activists representing the Sami Indigenous people arrive at the Royal Castle in Oslo for a meeting with Norway's King Harald and Crown Prince Haakon, in Oslo, Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. Seven of the activists who repeatedly have demonstrated against a wind farm in in central Norway they say hinders the rights of the Sami Indigenous people to raise reindeer, were Monday received by the Norwegian king. At the center of the dispute are the 151 turbines of Europes largest onshore wind farm. (Gorm Kallestad/NTB Scanpix via AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) Seven of the activists who repeatedly have demonstrated against a wind farm in central Norway that they say hinders the rights of the Sami Indigenous people to raise reindeer met with the Norwegian king on Monday and his son who is heir to the throne. It was a very strong moment for us emotionally charged, activist Ella Marie Htta Isaksen told the VG newspaper after the meeting with King Harald and Crown Prince Haakon at the royal palace in Oslo. We experienced not only being believed, but a human meeting with someone who really meets people with compassion and sympathy. It makes a world of difference in the face of this state, which is so strong and arrogant and difficult to talk to, she told the daily. Before the meeting, another activist told Norwegian news agency NTB that we have nowhere else to go. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement We hope his majesty will listen to us and remind the responsible state of its responsibility, Elle Nystad said. At the center of the dispute are the 151 turbines of Europes largest onshore wind farm, which is located in Norways Fosen district, about 450 kilometers (280 miles) north of the capital, Oslo. The activists say a transition to green energy shouldnt come at the expense of the rights of Indigenous people. They have protested several times since the Supreme Court of Norway ruled in October 2021 that the construction of the turbines had violated the rights of the Sami, who have used the land for reindeer for centuries. The activists, many dressed in traditional colorful garments, have sat down inside parliament, outside the building in Oslo of the state-owned company that operates 80 of the wind turbines at Fosen, outside the offices of Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stre and the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy for four days in February. They also have temporarily blocked the entrances to 10 ministries. They had asked for the meeting with the Norway's monarch, who has a ceremonial role as the country's head of state. They said they know that the king has no political power. But they have said that we just want to be listened to." The palace confirmed the meeting took place and they presented their view" to the monarch and his son. 7 high-profile hospital prisoner escapes you won't believe: Was 'undergoing a medical procedure' At least seven people in police custody have escaped from hospitals since August, and some including a suspected murderer and an accused carjacker are still on the loose. Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Justice to see if these figures were unusually high. In 2019, Bureau of Justice Statistics indicated that over 2,000 prisoners escaped from federal and state prisons, though it's unclear as to how many of these escapes were from hospitals. Carlton Bradford Gillis, 37, was captured recently in Georgia, five days after he escaped from police custody in a hospital in Albany, Georgia. WISCONSIN POLICE OFFICERS RESCUE YOUNG WOMAN WHO SCREAMED 'I WANNA DIE!' IN LAKE MICHIGAN ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Dougherty County Police Department of Georgia wrote on its Facebook page that Gillis "overpowered a guard and escaped on foot" after he was transported to the hospital on the morning of Oct. 7. Gillis had pending charges against him in multiple Georgia counties. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP Mother Trudy Sellars, 63, and stepfather Randy Doral Williams, pictured far right, are both facing criminal charges for helping Carlton Bradford Gillis, 37, escape police custody on October 7. Gillis was recaptured on October 12. At the time of his escape, he was jailed for burglary, criminal damage to property, interference with government property, obstruction of a law enforcement officer, disorderly conduct and violation of probation. Since his escape, he's now been charged with kidnapping, forcible robbery, fleeing a police officer, reckless driving and driving with a suspended license. Authorities announced on Wednesday that Gillis' mother and stepfather were charged with assisting his escape. MICHIGAN K-9'S MUGSHOT GOES VIRAL AFTER POLICE ACCUSE PUP OF STEALING OFFICER'S LUNCH The two turned themselves in. In mid-September, two prisoners from different parts of the country escaped from a hospital and were re-captured within 24 hours. One man was arrested after he escaped from a Massachusetts hospital while undergoing a medical procedure, police said. He was quickly recaptured. Isaac Rivera, 24, escaped from UMass Marlborough Hospital in Massachusetts on Sept. 23. Rivera escaped while "undergoing a medical procedure," the Marlborough Police Department shared on Facebook. Further details were not provided by the department. POLICE IN MAINE SHOW UP TO BOY'S HOUSE FOR MOST SURPRISING REASON: 'CAN'T EVEN ARTICULATE' "Isaac Rivera was under arrest for numerous charges including but not limited to domestic assault and battery, strangulation, assault and battery on a police officer, and illegal possession of a firearm," said the Marlborough Police Department. Rivera was recaptured on September 24. Additional details were not released. On September 21, convicted child sex offender Tommy Wayne Boyd, 45, escaped from Mercy Hospital South in St. Louis, Missouri. Boyd was serving a 30-year sentence for statutory sodomy. Unlike Gillis, who overpowered a guard, Boyd simply walked out of the hospital shortly before 4 a.m. Tommy Wayne Boyd, 45, was reported missing after he was transported from the Potosi Correctional Facility to the Mercy Hospital South in St. Louis, Missouri, for treatment and then escaped the hospital. He was re-arrested less than 24 hours later. A statement from the St. Louis police said that Boyd "should be considered dangerous." Boyd was re-captured less than 24 hours after his escape. "Tommy Boyd was located and taken into custody without incident in the 7300 block of Watson Road a short time ago," the St. Louis County Police Department posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on the evening of Sept. 21. "St. Louis County Police Departments Special Response Unit was following up on leads when they located Boyd and took him into custody," the department said. In an escape that sounds ripped from an action movie, Yenchun Chen, 44, of New York, spent more than a month on the lam after he made a rope out of hospital linens and rappelled out of a fifth-floor hospital room at Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital. Chen was hospitalized on August 4, five days after he was taken into custody on drug charges. He made his escape on August 9. Yenchun Chen, 44, spent more than a month on the run after he rappelled out of a fifth-story hospital room in New York while in police custody. Police re-arrested Chen on September 12. Fox News Digital reported at the time that Chen was asleep on a friend's sofa in a Queens apartment when he was taken into custody. The two correctional officers guarding Chen when he escaped were suspended for 30 days without pay, Fox News Digital previously reported. Meanwhile, Naseem Roulack, 21, who uses the alias "Lil Nas," escaped from Bon Secours St. Mary's Hospital in Virginia early in the morning of August 12. He has not yet been captured. IN LOUISIANA, 28-YEAR-OLD WOMAN ARRESTED, ACCUSED OF POSING AS 17-YEAR-OLD HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT At the time of his escape, Roulack was serving a 13-year sentence for aggravated malicious wounding, grand larceny and hit-and-run. In the two months since his escape, Roulack has been suspected of committing other crimes. On October 2, the Montgomery County Police Department in Maryland said that Roulack was the main suspect in a September 1 carjacking and kidnapping of a woman in Gaithersburg, Maryland. A poster released by Virginia State Police in the search for Naseem Roulack. Roulack; he is wanted in multiple states after an August 12 escape from a hospital. Roulack faces additional charges related to that incident, Fox News Digital previously reported. The U.S. Marshals Service is offering a cash reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to his arrest, Fox 5 DC reported. Montgomery County, MD, Department of Police is also offering a cash reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to his arrest. ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, JUNE 13, 1966, SUPREME COURT DECISION CREATES MIRANDA RIGHTS FOR THOSE UNDER ARREST "This is a significant reward and one that we hope compels people to share additional, actionable information," said Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) Director Chadwick Dotson in an October 6 press release. "Bringing Roulack back into custody is our departments top priority and I continue to appreciate the collaboration from local, state and federal partner agencies," he said. The two officers who were supposed to be guarding Roulack at the time of his arrest had fallen asleep, Richmond-area media reported. They are no longer employed with the VADOC. Two separate homicide suspects also managed to escape from police custody in while in the hospital in recent weeks and one has still yet to be re-captured. On September 12, Christopher Haynes, 30, escaped from The George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C., shortly before 4 p.m. Security camera footage of an escapee walking through a backyard. Christopher Haynes remains on the run more than a month after he escaped from a D.C. hospital. Haynes had been arrested earlier that day in connection with an August homicide. He was taken to the hospital after he complained about ankle pain. Officers were handcuffing Haynes to his hospital bed when he suddenly assaulted one of the officers and ran, Fox News Digital previously reported. Classes and events at nearby George Washington University were canceled that evening. DOGS CAN HELP KEEP OUR NEIGHBORHOODS SAFER AND REDUCE CRIME: NEW STUDY The Metropolitan Police Department is offering a $30,000 reward for information leading to Haynes' arrest. Lastly, homicide suspect Christopher Lee Pray, 39, was re-arrested days after his escape from Oregon State Hospital on the evening of August 30. Oregon State Hospital is a public psychiatric hospital, according to its website. Christopher Pray, 39, was charged with a list of violent crimes, including attempted aggravated murder, robbery, assault and a felon win possession of a firearm in connection with a March 2022 incident. He escaped from the hospital only to be re-arrested after getting stuck in the mud. An Oregon State Hospital official spokesperson told Fox 12 Oregon that Pray had been admitted to the hospital earlier that day, and was taken to a local emergency department after he got into an "altercation" with another patient at the hospital. While he was returning to Oregon State Hospital later that night, Pray gained control of the van and drove it away. Despite being in full restraints handcuffs, leg shackles and a belly chain Pray was able to jump into the driver's seat when the hospital employee exited the van to let him out of the back seat, said Fox 12 Oregon. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER Pray's time on the run did not last very long. On the morning of Friday, September 1, the Portland Fire & Rescue received reports that someone was stuck in a pond. When crews arrived on the scene, they found the person still alive but stuck in mud up to the armpits about 75 feet from the pond's shore, said Fox 12. Pray was rescued after an hour, then was taken to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland. A hospital employee recognized Pray, who had given a fake name and he was taken back into custody. For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health. Original article source: 7 high-profile hospital prisoner escapes you won't believe: Was 'undergoing a medical procedure' A 911 call and search of court records have revealed more about the suspect in Tuesday's bomb threat at the Social Security Administration building in Augusta. On Tuesday morning, Richmond County deputies responded to a bomb threat at the Social Security Administration office on Robert C. Daniel Jr. Parkway, according to previous reporting. A 911 call from the Social Security Administration building detailed the incident. "[A man] called and said that he was going to shoot up the building, that he was going to come bomb the building," the caller said. "Apparently he's banned from the office, but our guard just told me he walked in with a piece of paper saying that he has a bomb and walked right back out." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The suspect was identified as Keyon Tishaye Dickens, 38, of Blake Drive in Augusta, according to an incident report. As the dispatcher gathered information from the caller, fear was growing inside the building. "Ma'am, I'm in the office right now. I have to get my people out," the caller said. "I need you to hurry because I need to get everybody out. ... The guy is standing right in front of the building ma'am. ... I have a lobby full of people." When deputies arrived, they saw Dickens walking along the side of the building and ordered him to drop the bag, according to the report. He was detained and a white paper towel with the words "I have a bomb" written on it was found in his possession. While the bomb squad responded, Dickens "requested if he was going to be on the news and that we should loosen his handcuffs so that he looks good for the news," according to the report. Dickens was transported to the Richmond County Sheriff's Office at the request of FBI and the note on the paper towel was turned over to the bureau, which is investigating the incident. The sheriff's office confirmed a suspicious package was located, but the FBI has not offered any details on its contents, according to previous reporting. The Charles B. Webster Detention Center did not have Dickens listed as an inmate as of late last week. Dickens' criminal history in Augusta Augusta-Richmond County Clerk of Court records reveal Dickens was convicted of numerous felonies in Augusta prior to the latest incident. In 2018, Dickens pleaded guilty to three counts of felony aggravated assault, felony criminal damage to property in the first degree, and three counts of criminal trespass, according to court records. He was sentenced to four years in confinement plus 10 years of probation on Nov. 7, 2019, according to court records. That would have set his release date at Nov. 7, 2023, not accounting for time served. In April 2021, Dickens was charged with criminal trespass and theft by taking, according to court records. It appears the case has not been settled, with the latest action in April 2023. In June 2021, Dickens was charged with criminal trespass again, according to court records. It appears the case is also still open, with the latest action in April 2023. Kelly Williamson, the public defender representing Dickens in the aggravated assault case, did not immediately respond to inquiries about why he was released within two years of his sentencing. Suspect identified: Suspect ID'd in Augusta Social Security building bomb threat, contents of note released This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: 911 call released from inside Social Security building in Augusta A vehicle that was found abandoned at a beach on Cape Cod late Sunday night led to the discovery of a dead body, law enforcement officials said. Troopers responding to a report of an abandoned vehicle in the Sagamore Hill area of Scusset Beach Reservation in Bourne shortly before midnight launched an investigation, according to Massachusetts State Police. A subsequent search of the area by troopers, Department of Conservation and Recreation officials, and the Plymouth Sheriffs Office led to the discovery of a mans body, state police said. The deceased individual is believed to be connected to the abandoned vehicle, investigators noted. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Foul play wasnt believed to be a factor as of Monday morning. The state police detective unit for the Cape and Islands District Attorneys Office and the state police crime scene services section are leading an investigation. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW This article was originally published in Texas Tribune. Just hours after the Texas Senate approved its priority school voucher bill, Gov. Greg Abbott said he would add teacher raises and public school funding to his special session agenda if the Texas Legislature passes vouchers. Abbott, who spoke Thursday at a parental rights event organized by the conservative think tank Texas Public Policy Foundation, so far has listed education savings accounts, a voucher-like program, as the only education item in his agenda for the special session. Though lawmakers have already drafted a bill on public school funding which was also cleared by the Senate on Thursday it cannot pass unless Abbott adds the issue to his agenda. The school vouchers and funding bills now head to the Texas House. I want to make sure we provide a carrot to make sure this legislation gets passed, Abbott said of vouchers. Once [education savings accounts] are passed, I will put on the legislative agenda full funding for public education, including teacher pay raises for teachers across the state. Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter During the regular session, lawmakers failed to pass a number of policies to support teachers amid a standoff over school vouchers. The stalemate came despite policy recommendations to better teachers working conditions from a task force assembled by Abbott last year to examine the states worsening teacher shortage. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Teachers were the only state employees to not receive a raise in the regular session and have said they feel their raises are being held hostage to a vouchers bill. Many have said theyd prefer to forgo a salary bump than see school vouchers implemented in the state. Abbott, who took the stage at the summit just a few blocks from the Texas Capitol, said he thinks the House is at the one-yard line from passing education savings accounts. A coalition of Democrats and rural Republicans have historically blocked voucher legislation in the House. Since before the special session, the governors office has been working with a group of House Republicans to draft a voucher bill that currently stands at 181 pages, Abbott said. I will not stop until we get [education savings accounts] passed in the state of Texas, he added. Earlier in the daylong event, several pro-voucher, Republican representatives laid out paths to passing the proposed bill in the House. Rep. James Frank, R-Wichita Falls, said previous legislation has failed because voucher opponents, particularly teachers and superintendents, are highly motivated to stop the program. Some of the Republicans that arent voting for it are very scared to go against the school, principal, superintendent, Frank said. These are very well-connected people in every district in the state. Those are not people that you want to cross, if you can help it politically. I dont like crossing them. Frank said hes also spoken to rural representatives who argue that private schools either dont exist in their district or are more expensive than the proposed $8,000 voucher. But if residents had access to money to specifically pay for private school, the market would respond by establishing schools that more closely fit their budgets, Frank said. He added that he would support a voucher closer to $10,000 to reflect the average cost of private schools in Texas. To garner public support for vouchers, Rep. Ellen Troxclair, R-Lakeway, said advocates need to frame the program as giving taxpayers who opt out of the public school system their dollars back. Voucher opponents have often voiced concerns that an education savings account program would siphon away public school funds. I had a superintendent yesterday tell me, How can you support public dollars going into private schools? And I said, I just dont agree with the premise of your question because it is parents dollars to begin with, Troxclair said. Disclosure: Texas Public Policy Foundation has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribunes journalism. Find a complete list of them here. This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune, a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org. ZANESVILLE Dance has been a huge part of his life since he was a toddler. Growing up, recalled Butch Theisen, I played baseball, mowed lawns, enjoyed swimming, traveling, fishing, bailing hay, working in our garden. I spent many hours at the dance studio preparing for recitals and TV shows along with band practices and performances. I didnt ever think about being a dance instructor. My dream was to perform on Broadway in shows and musicals. Today, Theisen owns and operates Marjorie & Butchs School of Dance. Our studio is solely based on technical dance training, he explained. We are certified teachers through Dance Masters of America. At times weve participated in dance competitions, but our main goal is to codify dance through history, technique, application, and performance. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The original name of the studio was Holzschuher Dance Arts Center until the late 1990s, he continued. Marjories husband passed in 1995 and she was left with no living relatives. It was around that time Marjorie changed the name to Marjorie and Butchs School of Dance. As she got older, I became her caregiver and upon her passing I inherited the studio, the house attached and her home at Riverside Airport. I sold the river house and remodeled the house next to the studio and now reside there. In other words, I get to walk to work. Theisen, now 71, grew up in Zanesville, graduated from Maysville High School in 1970, then Muskingum Area Technical College in 1972 in applied science. My mom put me in dance at the age of 3 with Marjorie Holzschuher Sellers, he said. As I got older, I realized how much I loved the art and took as many lessons as my parents could afford. I also found a great interest in baton twirling. In high school I was drum major 1966-1970 for the high school band under the direction of Harry Gardner. I think it was his encouragement that made me want to share my dance and baton abilities with others. I started teaching baton and acro for the late Joan Garrett Wine when I was 16, he added. Joan was a past National President for Dance Masters of Ohio and had an excellent studio in Newark. She too was a student of Marjories. By 1973 I was teaching for both studios and full time teaching for Marjorie. By 1977 I passed the tests to become a member of Dance Masters of America and Ohio Dance Masters. After working on many committees for ODM I was elected president in 1991. That was the beginning of my interest in the operational side of DMA. Little did I know where that would lead. By 2005 Theisen served on more than 30 committees for Dance Masters of America. He was DMA member of the year in 2002, member of the year for Ohio Dance Masters in 2013, and DMA lifetime achievement award recipient in 2022. Jeff Ungemach works with Theisen at Marjorie and Butchs School of Dance, from teaching swing dance to mixing music to managing backstage. Knowing Butch for many years, Ungemach said, Ive seen him grow into the dancer, teacher, father, friend, and colleague that he is today. Im proud to say I was in attendance at National Dance Convention in Nashville when Butch received the lifetime achievement award. Hes an inspiration to all as he teaches from his heart, while his feet do all the talking. My dream was Broadway, Theisen responded. God had another plan. I have no idea in the past 56 years of teaching how many thousands of children, adults, and colleagues Ive had the opportunity to share a talent that started 68 years ago. Having had the opportunity to study with instructors whove taught such names as Savion Glover, Gregory Hines, and many more, its my passion to share those experiences with as many as possible. I love my job. Marjorie and Butchs School of Dance is located at 51 S. Seventh St. in Zanesville. For more information, call 740-453-6076 or look on Facebook. Aces of Trades is a weekly series focusing on people and their jobs whether theyre unusual jobs, fun jobs or people who take ordinary jobs and make them extraordinary. If you have a suggestion for a future profile, let us know at trnews@zanesvilletimesrecorder.com. This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Dance instructor Butch Theisen helps others showcase their talents Rep. Adam B. Schiff, center, has raised millions more than his Democratic rivals Reps. Barbara Lee , left, and Katie Porter , in the 2024 Senate race in California. (Associated Press / Los Angeles Times) In the race to replace the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein , Rep. Adam B. Schiff continues to hold a strong lead over his rivals in fundraising, bringing in nearly $6 million in campaign contributions in the last three months, according to federal reports released Sunday. Rep. Katie Porter, an Irvine Democrat, raised more than $3.3 million in July, August and September and has brought in about $11 million since joining the race. Rep. Barbara Lee, a Democrat from Oakland, raised about $1 million in the third quarter and has brought in about $3.2 million overall, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission. All three Democrats have raised far more than the Republican contenders for the open Senate seat. The March primary election is about five months away. Fundraising numbers are a hint at the viability of candidates running for a rare open Senate seat in California, home to some of the most expensive media markets in the nation. Airing an effective television advertising campaign, which can cost millions of dollars per week in the Los Angeles market alone, is essential for any statewide campaign courting the Golden State's 22 million registered voters. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Read more: Who will replace the late Sen. Feinstein in 2024 election? Meet the potential candidates "It's super expensive to reach voters in California, including in areas where voters aren't as familiar with you," said Democratic strategist Bill Wong, who is not working for any of the Senate candidates. "Good, persuasive TV ads are going to be very expensive." Porter and Schiff, of Burbank, both have national profiles, he said, and "it's possible that Democratic voters will be aware of them, but the question is: How do you persuade voters to choose? That's going to take a lot of effort and money to differentiate them." Schiff and Porter are among the House's most prodigious fundraisers. But Porter spent $29 million to defend her House seat in Orange County last year, while Schiff easily won reelection without having to put a major dent in the money he raised cash he banked and can now use in the Senate campaign. Schiff reported spending $4 million in the third quarter, and ended the period with about $32 million in cash on hand. Porter's campaign reported spending $1.8 million and has about $12 million in cash on hand. Lee's campaign reported more expenses than income in the last three months, with $1.1 million going out between July and September, about $77,000 less than she raised. The campaign has $1.3 million on hand, filings show. "If she can't raise enough money to reach all the other crossover voters to differentiate herself, it's going to be very difficult for her to make it," Wong said. Lee's burn rate how quickly her campaign is spending the cash that comes in is high, Wong said, a metric that campaigns watch closely. It could be a sign that her campaign realizes that she "has to spend early to build a fundraising base and to reach new donors" as she competes against Democrats with national profiles and more robust fundraising operations, Wong said. Read more: Will she run or won't she? Laphonza Butler's appointment could scramble California Senate race How successfully the existing candidates are raising money may also be a factor in determining whether Laphonza Butler, Gov. Gavin Newsom's appointee to Feinstein's seat, will enter the race. Butler's decision has the potential to significantly reshape the race. "I genuinely don't know," Butler told The Times earlier this month of whether she will run. "I want to be focused on honoring the legacy of Sen. Feinstein. I want to devote my time and energy to serving the people of California." The competition to replace Feinstein is further complicated by California's "jungle" primary system. The two candidates who receive the most votes in the March 5 primary will advance to the Nov. 5, 2024, general election, regardless of political party. If two Democrats secure the most votes in the primary, the election will most likely be competitive, and expensive, through November. If a Republican secures one of the top two spots, the Democrat they face will have a seemingly insurmountable advantage because of California's progressive politics. California last elected a Republican to statewide office in 2006, and has grown more liberal since then. As of February, the most recent data available from the secretary of state's office, Democrats accounted for nearly half 47% of registered voters, Republicans for 24% and voters who did not express a party preference for 22%. Silicon Valley executive Lexi Reese, a Democrat, reported raising about $712,000, of which she contributed about $250,000, filings show. The Reese campaign reported spending $655,000, and had about $682,500 cash on hand as of Sept. 30. Republican attorney Eric Early reported raising $275,608 through Sept. 30. Republican James Bradley, a Coast Guard veteran and former healthcare executive, reported raising $11,437. Republican former Dodgers All-Star Steve Garvey, who announced he would run last week, has not made any campaign finance disclosures. Get the best of the Los Angeles Times politics coverage with the Essential Politics newsletter. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Chapel Hill voters will elect a new mayor and four Town Council members this year, potentially charting a different course for the towns future growth. Adam Searing and Jessica Anderson, two council members with a history of quarreling over town issues and decisions, are running to replace Mayor Pam Hemminger, who declined to seek a fifth term leading the town. Andersons council seat, along with three other council seats, is on the November ballot. Council member Amy Ryan is the only incumbent council member seeking re-election. Council members Michael Parker and Tai Huynh declined another run and will leave their seats in December. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Ryan is running alongside nine others: Melissa McCullough, Renuka Soll, David Adams, Elizabeth Sharp, Breckany Eckhardt, Jeffrey Hoagland, Erik Valera, Theodore Nollert and Jon Mitchell. Adams, Soll, Sharp and Eckhardt are running as a bloc that backs Searings vision for the town. Searing would remain on the council until December 2025 if he loses the mayoral race. Early voting in the nonpartisan Nov. 7 election starts Oct. 19 and runs through Nov. 4.. To find polling places and full details on early voting, visit co.orange.nc.us/1720/Elections or contact the Board of Elections at 919-245-2350 or vote@orangecountync.gov. Name: Adam Searing Age: 56 Occupation: Public interest attorney, professor Education: Bachelor of Arts, University of California, Santa Cruz; JD, UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law, Master of Public Health, UNC-Chapel Hill School of Public Health Political or civic experience: Ive been a public interest attorney and health advocate for over 30 years. My work has meant millions of people in our country have finally gotten decent, affordable health care. I helped pass both the N.C. Childrens Insurance Program and the Affordable Care Act. After my election to the Chapel Hill Town Council two years ago, I have worked with residents on issues from bringing Duke Energy to the table to fix a neighborhoods power problems to being a strong voice for parks and green space. Campaign website: adam4chapelhill.com What do you think the towns top three priorities should be? Choose one and describe how you will work to address it. Listen to the residents of Chapel Hill Clean up the budget Focus on building a modern college town Lets not become another generic urban municipality of luxury apartments and office buildings. We can balance healthy growth with other needs fostering local character, ensuring quality parks/green spaces, and tackling housing affordability in innovative ways like turbocharging our partnership with UNC to build real affordable housing options for staff, faculty and students. We can join with other UNC System towns like Boone, Asheville and Greensboro and combine forces in Raleigh for a group funding proposal to create a new UNC System housing construction commitment across the state. What do you think the town is doing right to create more affordable housing? What would you do if elected? I voted for our new comprehensive affordable housing plan just a few weeks ago. Over the last year, I also voted for $9 million in new taxpayer funding for multiple affordable projects with hundreds of new units across town, from Habitat for Humanitys Weavers Grove to our new development at Trinity Court near Umstead Park and downtown. I also voted to streamline our affordable housing development process to make projects easier to build. Going forward we need to encourage more partners to help our efforts like the St Pauls AME plan for a large senior and affordable housing project, getting more state and federal funding, and turbocharging our housing partnerships with UNC. Do you support keeping Orange Countys rural buffer, where the lack of water and sewer limits growth? How do you see the town growing with or without the buffer? Yes. The rural buffer has been a successful part of our land-use planning and discouraged sprawl. Much of the rural buffer is, by design, not public land and has become home not to farms or parks, but has been turned into residential use. While this does prevent sprawl, it also presents challenges to us in Chapel Hill as some people point to the rural buffer as a sort of public green space and park. The vast majority of the rural buffer is, of course, not a park or public green space and so the existence of the buffer should not be used as a reason to eliminate the need for residents of Chapel Hill to create their own new parks and open spaces, especially to redress historic inequities. Would you consider a tax increase to pay for rising costs and delayed public projects? If not, what specific changes to the towns budget would you support? This year we passed a 10% increase in our property taxes. This is on top of Chapel Hill residents as part of Orange County paying the highest average county property taxes in NC and the Southeastern U.S. Despite this, Chapel Hill cannot afford to even build a new police station to replace our substandard, deteriorating facility. Lets stop our current practice of paying $2 million to $5 million a year for expensive consulting firms to create plans that sit on a shelf and shift that money to finally building things like the splash pad and more in our 2013 parks plan, while also laying the groundwork for critical new infrastructure, like our police and fire stations. How can the town bring people together who have different viewpoints to find workable solutions? Listen respectfully, consider other views, and then respond. Currently we often discount, belittle and ignore those who disagree with us. I believe all residents deserve to be listened to with respect and equal treatment. Recognize Do as I say, not as I do is a terrible practice for elected officials. When a controversial rezoning proposal is passed where the majority of the council members themselves are exempt, this creates distrust. Give residents faith the town wont spend millions of dollars creating unworkable plans, but will actually start building the infrastructure we need. Tangible results create more faith that a future process will work to produce good outcomes. The Orange Report Calling Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough readers. Check out The Orange Report, a free weekly digest of some of the top stories for and about Orange County published in The News & Observer and The Herald-Sun. Get your newsletter delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday featuring stories by our local journalists. Sign up for our newsletter here. For even more Orange-focused news and conversation, join our Facebook group "Chapel Hill Carrboro Chat." Nearly four decades after a nurse was found dead in her Florida home, deputies have identified the suspected killer, thanks to an illicit affair, according to a sheriffs office. On Oct. 27, 1986, 29-year-old Teresa Lee Scalf was found dead by her mother after she didnt show up for work, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said during an Oct. 16 news conference. She had been brutally attacked, the sheriffs office said in an accompanying news release. Judd said Scalf was covered in defensive wounds, and her neck had been cut to the point where her head was almost detached. It was violent, and it was horrible, Judd said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Scalfs unknown killer had left some blood on her body, Judd said, but without the technology to analyze it, her case went cold. In the early 2000s, the blood sample was entered into the Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, in the hopes the accused killer had been arrested at another point in time or by another agency and their DNA collected, Judd said. The sample sat for decades without a match. An illicit affair In 2022, an investigator with the sheriffs office began working with Othram Inc., a DNA genealogy company that works with law enforcement agencies to create genetic profiles to help solve cold cases. With a genetic profile in hand, investigators began looking through genealogies and family histories. Investigators tracked people related to the profile, all the way to a third cousin who had a child outside of her marriage in 1949 with a neighbor, Judd said. Her illicit affair pointed investigators toward a new line of the family tree, and they tracked the line up to the time of her killing to a man named Donald Douglas, a former neighbor of Scalf, Judd said. Douglas died of natural causes at age 54 in 2008, the sheriffs office said, but the investigators reached out to his son and asked for a DNA sample to confirm the suspected killers identity. He agreed, Judd said, and after 37 years of searching, investigators confirmed the blood on Scalfs body belonged to Douglas. Douglas, who was 33 years old at the time of Scalfs death, operated an electrical company with his brother and lived behind Scalf in the same neighborhood, Judd said. During his life, Douglas was never arrested, so his DNA was never entered into CODIS, Judd said. We believe it was a sexual rejection, Judd said during the news conference. We saw a lot of defensive wounds. She never had a relationship with him. So we believe that he was angry and upset because she wouldnt have a relationship with him. Judd said Douglas was interviewed during a neighborhood canvass immediately after her Scalfs death, but he was not considered a suspect at the time. Tell your sisters Teresa had told us about some creepy neighbor that had showed up at her house with what looked like he had yanked a flower up out of the ground and slapped it into a pot, her sister Lynn Scalf said during the news conference. He was sort of stalkerish, and she had told us about him, but she never described him. So anybody, but especially ladies, if someones being creepy, dont just tell your sisters, tell them what he looks like. Teresa Scalf was a trauma nurse at a Lakeland hospital and encouraged her family to go into the medical field, her sister Pam Shade said in the news conference. Teresa was a wonderful person, the most loving person, Shade said. She didnt deserve this. My family didnt deserve this. Scalf was killed about a month after receiving her registered nursing license, Shade said. Ive been a nurse (for) 38 years now, Shade said. My brother is a trauma nurse, my sister works in mental health, my mother worked at the hospital for 25 years, all due to her. It was all due to her. Lynn Scalf said Teresa Scalf had two bumper stickers on the back of her car, one advocating for the creation of 911 in Florida and another encouraging organ donation. Lakeland is about 35 miles east of Tampa. Nurse of 15 years killed in senseless act of domestic violence, Minnesota cops say Man arrested in connection with 2017 birthday party killing cold case, CT officials say Woman found beaten to death 40 years ago, CA cops say. Now, 65-year-old arrested Remains found in Florida hurricane cleanup may solve 28-year-old mystery, cops say With affirmative action virtually dead in the water for many higher education institutions, conservative groups have set their sights on eliminating race-conscious policies at other educational and corporate entities in recent months. Since the Supreme Court declared certain affirmative action policies unconstitutional over the summer, that means that colleges and universities can no longer take race into consideration as a specific basis of admission. Conservative Edward Blum attacks a venture capital fund that provides grants to Black women. (Photo: MSNBC/ YouTube/screenshot) The conservative activist group, Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), introduced the legal battle to end those college admission policies effectively. Now, theyre working to break new ground at both corporate entities and, more recently, other non-traditional higher education institutions. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Trending Today: The group sued the U.S. Naval Academy this month over their race-based admissions practices. The suit spans 28 pages and alleges that the academy has no justification for using race-based admissions. They filed a similar complaint against the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in September. SFFA has run with its considerable win in the nations highest court since the summer ruling and started releasing suit after suit against corporations implementing DEI programs and even venture capital funds that help Black and underserved entrepreneurs access funding. In August, the group sued two international firms for offering diversity scholarships, claiming they are expressly refusing to contract with certain applicants based on their race and ethnicity. One of those firms released a statement asserting it would maintain its support for inclusion initiatives and fight the lawsuit vigorously. The group also went after Fearless Fund, an Atlanta-based venture capital firm that works to connect Black women entrepreneurs with major capital investments for their businesses. In that suit, they alleged the firm ran a racially discriminatory program. The fund was founded by Arian Simone, Ayana Parsons, and The Cosby Show actress Keshia Knight Pulliam. While SFFA may be getting a lot of credit and name recognition off of these efforts, theyre not exactly at the vanguard. The pioneer behind the student organization is a 71-year-old conservative legal strategist named Edward Blum, who oversees both the American Alliance for Equal Rights and The Project on Fair Representation. Blum has been battling race-conscious policies on several fronts for decades. Because that battle reached its pivotal climax in the Supreme Court back in June, it emboldened other conservative operatives and signaled that the endeavors to take down diversity and inclusion efforts could make significant headway at this point in time. No one is suggesting diversity is a bad thing, Blum told CNN last year, but just treating people differently because of their race and ethnicity, thats a different element in the quest for diversity. Now, other conservative organizations are taking aim at well-known corporate and commercial brands. America First, an activist group run by former Trump administration speechwriter Stephen Miller, filed lawsuits against Nordstrom, Kellogg, and Amazon. Nordstrom was targeted for its goal to increase representation of Black and Latino people in manager roles by at least 50 percent by the end of 2025. Kellogg was sued for its diversity programs, and the group sued Amazon on behalf of a Texas woman who alleged that the company discriminates against white entrepreneurs seeking start-up grants. Read the original story here. Former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, who died Monday aged 86, was a mediator who brokered peace around the globe, winning a Nobel Peace Prize for a formidable career spanning over 40 years. Ahtisaari had battled Alzheimer's disease, which forced him to retire from public life in September 2021. The former UN diplomat was credited with overseeing the 2005 talks between the Indonesian government and Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels, which brought an end to a three-decade conflict in which some 15,000 people were killed. Both sides described Ahtisaari, who was president of his native Finland between 1994 and 2000, as steely but with a sense of humour and warmth. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "I have enormous amounts of patience. I don't usually get angry, but I can be tough," he said later, adding that he felt the key to his success was an ability to understand people. Ahtisaari also helped lead Kosovo down the path toward independence, even though his intense efforts failed to clinch an agreement with Serbia before Pristina unilaterally declared independence in 2008. - Wartime childhood - Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari was born on June 23, 1937 in Viipuri -- now Vyborg -- in Finland's eastern Karelia province, which his family was forced to flee at the end of World War II after it was annexed by the Soviet Union. He said his childhood experience of war and being a refugee "gave me sensitivity... Perhaps that made me a peace negotiator." An academic career led him to a teaching post in Pakistan in the early 1960s, before entering the diplomatic service. Ahtisaari was appointed ambassador to Tanzania in 1973 at the age of 36. Transferring to the UN, he was a special envoy to Namibia, where he helped lead the country towards independence from South Africa in 1990. "Perhaps the most traumatic experience was on April 1, 1989 when SWAPO (rebel) troops came from Angola and more than 300 people were killed," he recalled. "If I could manage to sort out that, I have the feeling there is no problem I can't solve," he said. - Fling with politics - In 1994, Finland's Social Democratic Party nominated him to run for the presidency and Ahtisaari became the country's first directly-elected president. "He was a transitional president who guided Finland into the global EU era," current President Sauli Niinisto said after Ahtisaari's passing. Yet the man of action, who limped as a result of rheumatism, found himself ill at ease with the largely ceremonial role. His true passion remained foreign affairs and Ahtisaari later likened his six-year diversion into domestic politics to "an extramarital affair". In 2000 Ahtisaari got involved in the Northern Ireland peace process, inspecting the IRA's arms dumps with current South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. He was appointed the UN special envoy for talks on the status of Kosovo in 2005 and recommended independence for the breakaway province, only to be repeatedly accused of bias by the Serbs. His inability to persuade the two sides to agree before Kosovo unilaterally declared independence rankled with him. - Elder statesman - In 2008, aged 71, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts "on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts." Old age did little to dampen Ahtisaari's drive. He insisted retirement was "not yet on the cards" as he continued to travel the world promoting peace as part of a group known as the "Elders", including former US president Jimmy Carter, former UN chief Kofi Annan and South African archbishop Desmond Tutu. After turning 80, Ahtisaari stepped down as chairman of the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) peace institute he founded 17 years earlier, but continued to be involved in their mediation work. ehu/po/fg A recent research paper revealed a new way to help AI models ingest way more data. "Ring Attention" removes a major memory bottleneck for AI models. Soon, you'll be able to put millions of words into context windows of AI models, researchers say. Right now, ChatGPT can ingest a few thousand words at most. Bigger AI models can handle more, but only up to about 75,000. What if you could pump millions of words or whole codebases or big videos into these models? A Google researcher, along with Databricks CTO Matei Zaharia and UC Berkeley professor Pieter Abbeel, have worked out a way to do just that. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The advance, revealed in a recent preprint research paper, promises to radically change how we interact with these powerful new tech tools. The current approach can't handle huge inputs due to memory limitations of the GPUs that train and run AI models. In the industry, this stuff is measured and discussed based on "tokens" and "context windows." A token is a unit that might represent a word, or a bit of a word, a number or something similar. The context window is the space where you plop a question or text or other inputs into a chatbot or AI model so it can analyze the content and spit back something smart. AI startup Anthropic, and its chatbot Claude, has a context window of up to 100,000 tokens, which works out roughly to 75,000 words. That's basically one book that the system can take in at once and do clever things with. OpenAI's GPT-3.5 model has a context length of 16,000 tokens. GPT-4's is 32,000. A model created by MosiacML, owned by Databricks, can handle 65,000 tokens, according to the recent research paper. Pay attention to Ring Attention Hao Liu, a UC Berkeley PhD student and part-time researcher at Google DeepMind, is co-author of the paper, titled "Ring Attention with Blockwise Transformers for Near-Infinite Context." I interviewed him via video chat soon after the paper came out. He looks really young, and he's whip-smart and capable of explaining some of the complex technology behind his idea. It's a riff on the original Transformer architecture that revolutionized AI in 2017 and forms the basis of ChatGPT and all the new models that have come out in recent years, such at GPT-4, Llama 2 and Google's upcoming Gemini. The basic idea is that modern AI models crunch data in a way that requires GPUs to store various internal outputs and then recompute them before passing this along to the next GPU. This requires a lot of memory and there just isn't enough. This ends up limiting how much input an AI model can process. No matter how fast the GPU is, there's a memory bottleneck. "The goal of this research was to remove this bottleneck," Liu told me. The new approach he created with Zaharia and Abbeel forms a kind of ring of GPUs that pass bits of the process along to the next GPU while simultaneously receiving similar blocks from their other GPU neighbor. And so on. "This effectively eliminates the memory constraints imposed by individual devices," the researchers wrote, referring to GPUs. A previous research papers showed that self-attention can be computed block by block. "Ring Attention generalizes it to a distributed setting for extremely large context size," Liu explained. I boiled that explanation down to a basic level. Here's how Liu put it to me in full: "Each GPU holds one query block, and key-value blocks traverse through a ring of GPUs for self-attention and feedforward computations in a block-by-block fashion," he wrote in an email. "As the attention for the current block is being computed, each host sends key-value blocks to the next host while receiving key-value blocks from the preceding host. The communication is overlapped with the computation of blockwise self-attention and feedforward. In sum, this approach uses the same model architecture as the original transformer but reorganizes the computation, allowing context size to scale with the number of GPUs." The end result is really interesting. Massive context windows This Ring Attention method means that we should be able to put millions of words into the context windows of AI models, not just tens of thousands. Liu goes further, saying that, in theory, many books and even videos can be dropped in one go into context windows in the future, and AI models will analyze them and produce coherent responses. "An AI model could read an entire codebase, or output an entire codebase," Liu said. "The more GPUs you have, the longer the context window can be now. I'm GPU poor, I can't do that. The big tech companies, the GPU rich companies, it will be exciting to see what they build." This chart shows some of the results of tests from the "Ring Attention" AI research paper. Hao Liu, Matei Zaharia, Pieter Abbeel, UC Berkeley The researchers tested this in real-world experiments. I asked Liu if he was worried the approach might not work. His response was very Googley. "I didn't worry," he said. "You can compute this mathematically." With the current way of doing things, if you have a 16,000 token context window, with a 13 billion parameter AI model that relies on 256 Nvidia A100 GPUs, the context length is limited to 16,000, he explained. With the Ring Attention approach, that same setup would be able to handle a 4 million token context window, he said. That's the math. In reality, when you train AI models, you need some GPUs to do other tasks, so 4 million wouldn't be the actual size of the context window. But it would be millions, according to Liu. Nvidia GPU demand These findings beg an important question: If you can do more with fewer GPUs, will that mean weaker demand for Nvidia's AI chips? No, according to Liu. Instead, developers and tech companies will just try bigger and bolder things with this new technique, he said. "Ring Attention won't discourage the sale of GPUs," he added. "If you need GPUs, you need GPUs." Read the original article on Business Insider Israel struck the Rafah crossing the border checkpoint between Gaza and Israel again Monday, according to The Wall Street Journal , as efforts at a temporary ceasefire in southern Gaza fell through . Meanwhile, Egypt said Israel was not cooperating with the delivery of aid into Gaza and evacuations of foreign passport holders via the only entry point from Gaza, and one that it does not wholly control, Reuters reported . "Just before sunset, a parking lot near the Rafah border crossing on Gazas southern border, where hundreds had gathered hours earlier at the urging of the U.S. Embassy in Israel, was hit by a blast," according to the Journal. "The blast hit an empty area, hurting no one but causing damage that could prevent the use of the crossing, officials from Egypt and Gaza said. An Israeli military spokesman said he didnt immediately have any information about the attack." The scene earlier at Rafah crossing. (Photo by Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Israel Defense Forces spokesman Amnon Shefler said Israel has long had concerns about arms smuggling through the Rafah crossing by militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the Journal reported. He said Israel wouldnt target a civilian convoy. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement https://twitter.com/Alqaheranewstv/status/1713934034491896095 The lack of cooperation over aid by Israel has left hundreds of tons of supplies stuck, Egyptian officials said, according to Reuters. Israel had agreed to allow water trucks to enter the Gaza Strip via Egypt's Rafah Crossing, but as of Monday that has yet to happen, Haaretz reported . https://twitter.com/haaretzcom/status/1713926284005560404 Cairo says the Rafah crossing is not officially closed but is inoperable due to Israeli air strikes on the Gaza side. "There is an urgent need to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza," Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told reporters, adding that talks with Israel had not been fruitful, Reuters reported. "Until now the Israeli government has not taken a position on opening the Rafah crossing from the Gaza side to allow the entrance of assistance and exit of citizens of third countries." Additional Egyptian troops reportedly arrived at the crossing recently. https://twitter.com/ytirawi/status/1713934034651193754 U.S. officials were still hoping that Rafah would operate for a few hours later on Monday, White House spokesman John Kirby said, noting that earlier hopes had been "dashed." The U.S. Embassy in Israel, anticipating an opening of the Rafah crossing, urged Americans trapped in Gaza to head that way. "According to media reports, the Rafah crossing will open at 9 a.m. local time on October 16," according to the embassy. "We anticipate that the situation at the Rafah crossing will remain fluid and unpredictable and it is unclear whether, or for how long, travelers will be permitted to transit the crossing. If you assess it to be safe, you may wish to move closer to the Rafah border crossing there may be very little notice if the crossing opens and it may only open for a limited time." All this has apparently caused a great deal of confusion at the Rafah crossing. https://twitter.com/AJEnglish/status/1713944015576379754 https://twitter.com/AJEnglish/status/1713915819128713719 As we reported yesterday , there was some indication that aid in the form of fuel trucks and other vehicles, which were flying the UN flag or painted with UN markings, was moving through Rafah crossing into Gaza. The actual status of those vehicles was murky last night as Israeli officials denied they approved the crossing open for any reason. https://twitter.com/Nrg8000/status/1713827494984589792?s=20 https://twitter.com/clashreport/status/1713827494594244994?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1713827494594244994%7Ctwgr%5E814305bb690f0394be310210a6f6342c814b8090%7Ctwcon%5Es1_\u0026ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedrive.com%2Fthe-war-zone%2Ftit-for-tat-escalation-on-the-israeli-lebanese-border Now the IDF claims Hamas stole fuel and medical equipment from the The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). This very well could have been the vehicles that prompted may to assume the cross had been opened, even for just a very limited delivery at first. https://twitter.com/IDF/status/1713927599028576530 In Gaza, the death toll continues to rise as Israel maintains its ferocious bombardment ahead of an expected ground offensive into the densely populated Palestinian enclave. Residents said overnight air strikes were the heaviest yet, and the bombing carried on through the day, according to Reuters . "We were inside the house when we found bodies scattering, flying in the air - bodies of children who have nothing to do with the war," Gaza resident Abed Rabayaa told Reuters. His neighbor's house in Khan Younis, the main city in the southern part of the enclave, was hit overnight, according to Reuters. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,670 Palestinians have been killed and 9,600 wounded since the fighting erupted, more than in the 2014 Gaza war, which lasted over six weeks, according to The Associated Press . That makes this the deadliest of the five Gaza wars for both sides. https://twitter.com/Timesofgaza/status/1713869631063052568 https://twitter.com/muslimdaily_/status/1713873171865125047 https://twitter.com/Beltrew/status/1713939696110149896 The IDF claims the strikes are against military targets. "In the last few hours, dozens of operational headquarters and mortar bomb launching positions were destroyed," the IDF said. "In addition, the military headquarters of Ali Kachi, one of the commanders in the Najaba force of the terrorist organization Hamas, which was eliminated a few days ago, was destroyed." https://twitter.com/idfonline/status/1713864501391421823 https://twitter.com/IAFsite/status/1713939421114872163 https://twitter.com/IAFsite/status/1713862538956242987 Gaza health officials say the death toll will grow even larger due to a lack of medical supplies as well as the ongoing shutoff of utilities ordered by Israel. Medics in Gaza warned Sunday that thousands could die as hospitals packed with wounded people ran desperately low on fuel and basic supplies, the AP reported . Palestinians in the besieged coastal enclave struggled to find food, water and safety. Despite repeated airstrikes Israel says is aimed at Hamas leadership and their ability to continue attacking Israel, Hamas continued to launch rockets and missiles across Israel. On Monday, Hamas said it launched attacks on Ashkelon, Beersheba, Ben Gurion Airport, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. https://twitter.com/ESSA_A1I/status/1713951523774902752 More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed as well, the vast majority of them civilians, in Hamas Oct. 7 assault . At least 155 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza, according to Israel. Its also the deadliest war for Israel since the 1973 conflict with Egypt and Syria. The head of the Shin Bet on Monday took responsibility for the intelligence failures that let to the attack. In a message sent to Shin Bet workers and their families over the weekend, Ronen Bar wrote that despite a number of actions we took, unfortunately, on Saturday we were unable to create enough early warning to prevent the attack, AP reported . https://twitter.com/AmichaiStein1/status/1713940990061375918 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned to Israel on Monday and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog. Blinken discussed continued U.S. security assistance to Israel as well as the need to provide humanitarian for Gazans and ongoing effort to seek the release of some 150 hostages being held bye Hamas, according to official readouts. "The Secretary underlined his firm support for Israels right to defend itself from Hamas terrorism and reaffirmed U.S. determination to provide the Israeli government with what it needs to protect its citizens," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement Monday morning. "The Secretary discussed with Prime Minister Netanyahu the United States close coordination with the UN and regional partners to facilitate the provision of humanitarian aid to civilians. The Secretary also discussed our commitment to the safe and speedy release of those held hostage by Hamas." https://twitter.com/SecBlinken/status/1713941111670964738 Blinken and members of the Israeli war cabinet were reportedly evacuated to a bomb shelter under Tel Aviv during a massive Hamas missile attack. https://twitter.com/EdKrassen/status/1713976117701317075 The Pentagon has selected about 2,000 troops to prepare for a potential deployment in non-combat roles to support Israel, U.S. defense officials told The Wall Street Journal . The troops are tasked with missions like advising and medical support, the officials said, adding they are from across the U.S. armed services. They aren't intended to serve in a combat role, the officials said. No infantry have been put on prepare-to-deploy order. The troops are currently stationed both inside the Middle East and outside, including Europe, the officials said. It isn't clear under what circumstances the U.S. could deploy the troops or to where, but the Pentagon decision signaled it is preparing to support Israeli troops should Israel launch a ground incursion into Gaza. https://twitter.com/ben_0207/status/1713956950239543489 The IDF posted video Monday of its newest missile ships in action. The Sa'ar 6 class ships Ahi Oz and Ahi Magen "carried out attacks from the surface of the sea towards the Gaza Strip as part of the fighting," the IDF reported. "As part of these attacks, a facility for the production of weapons, an outpost and an observation post of the naval force of the terrorist organization Hamas were attacked." You can read more about these ships and what they bring to the table in our story here . https://twitter.com/clashreport/status/1713905313873572002 Israeli police say they have "arrested 63 suspects since the beginning of the war on suspicion of offenses of incitement and support for terrorism - indictments are expected in the coming days. The Jerusalem district police continue the increased operational preparation, while dealing with incitement to terrorism and violence." https://twitter.com/IL_police/status/1713905173251199087 As we noted would happen yesterday , Israel officially ordered residents of nearly 30 communities close to the border with Lebanon to evacuate as the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) continue to trade fire with Hezbollah . The plan, implemented by the National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) of the Ministry of Defense and the IDF, calls for the evacuation of residents of northern Israel who live in the area up to 2 kilometers from the Lebanese border to state-funded guesthouses. The 28 communities included in the plan are: Ghajar, Dishon, Kfar Yuval, Margaliot, Metula, Avivim, Dovev, Maayan Baruch, Baram, Manara, Yiftach, Malkia, Misgav Am, Yiron, Dafna, Arab al-Aramshe, Shlomi, Netua, Yaara, Shtula, Matat, Zarit, Shomera, Betzet, Adamit, Rosh HaNikram, Hanita and Kfar Giladi, the IDF said on its Telegram channel Monday. After the order was issued, the IDF said its soldiers operating along the Lebanese border were fired at. No IDF injuries were reported. The IDF is responding with artillery fire toward the source of the attack. The IDF also said that "an anti-tank missile was fired at an IDF tank. No IDF injuries were reported. The IDF is responding with artillery fire toward the origins of the fire." https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1713953735817175057 The continued cross-border firing comes a day after Israel said Iran had ordered Hezbollah to escalate its attacks against Israel. https://twitter.com/JasonMBrodsky/status/1713845489790009474?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1713845489790009474%7Ctwgr%5E814305bb690f0394be310210a6f6342c814b8090%7Ctwcon%5Es1_\u0026ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedrive.com%2Fthe-war-zone%2Ftit-for-tat-escalation-on-the-israeli-lebanese-border The Lebanese army on Monday said search operations have led to the discovery of 20 rockets launchers near the Lebanon-Israel border, The Times of Israel reported Monday. "The army says in a statement that four of the launchers discovered had rockets inside them and were ready to be fired at Israel," the publication reported. "The army says military experts are working on dismantling the launchers, which were discovered near the village of Qlaileh, south of the port city of Tyre." Russian President Vladimir Putin is weighing in on the Israel-Hamas war. Putin told Netanyahu on Monday that Moscow wanted to help prevent a humanitarian disaster in Gaza as he waded into the Middle East crisis with a flurry of calls to key regional players, Reuters reported . Putin spoke to several other leaders in the region as well. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi told Putin in their conversation that supporting the Palestinians was Iran's foreign policy priority but "resistance" groups made their own independent decisions, Iranian state media said according to Reuters. They quoted Raisi as saying: "There is a possibility of the conflict between Israel and Palestinians expanding to other fronts." Putin also spoke to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Palestinan President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, whom he asked for assistance from Cairo in evacuating Russian citizens from Gaza, the Kremlin said. https://twitter.com/MarioNawfal/status/1713894169809232077?s=20 This is a developing story and we will update it when there is more news to report. Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com The Russians attacked Ukraine with six missiles and 12 Shahed drones on the night of 15-16 October, with two missiles and 11 drones shot down. Source: Air Force of Ukraine on Telegram Quote: "In total, a ballistic Iskander M missile, five Kh-59 guided missiles and 12 Shahed-136/131 attack UAVs have been launched by the Russians." As a result of combat work by assets and forces of the Air Force, two Kh-59 guided missiles and 11 Shahed-136/131 UAVs have been destroyed." Details: The Russians have reportedly attacked the northern and eastern regions of Ukraine with air-launched cruise missiles. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Shahed drones were launched in different directions, including towards the west. Background: Russian forces attacked Dnipropetrovsk Oblast with missiles at night, where one missile was downed and another hit Dnipro district. Two adults and a 10-year-old child were injured in Poltava Oblast as a result of a Russian attack. Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron! The Air Force is entering what leaders say could be its most transformational period in a generation, as the service looks to position itself as a global powerhouse for decades to come. If their vision comes true, the Air Force would enter the 2030s as a smaller but more flexible force that is better positioned to win Americas wars, with sharper leaders and savvier airmen. Just give it time. Youre going to see more change in the next four to six years than Ive seen in my entire over-30-year career, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne Bass told Air Force Times Aug. 28. Facing its first period of relative stability since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks kicked off more than 20 years of U.S. military involvement in the Middle East and Southwest Asia, the Air Force is seizing the opportunity to overhaul everything from how it trains and promotes its members, to the jobs they hold and how they deploy overseas. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Those updates come amid a historic downturn in recruiting, which saw the Air Force miss its annual goal across all three components for the first time since 1999, and growing concerns that Chinas bid to outpace America as a global superpower could lead to war. We want China to succeed, but to succeed by working within the rules that benefit all nations, including China, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said in a Sept. 11 keynote address at the Air and Space Forces Associations annual Air, Space and Cyber Conference outside Washington. If our power projection capability and capacity are not adequate to deter Chinese aggression, against Taiwan or elsewhere, war could occur, he said. If it does, and we cannot prevail, the results could cast a long shadow. Restructuring the force Understanding the big picture starts with numbers. After plunging to around 311,000 active duty troops in 2015, the Air Force has rebuilt its workforce to hover around 325,000 members far below its Cold War peak of around 608,000 airmen in 1986. Service leaders say thats enough to handle todays largely peacetime mission. But fighting another country whose military capabilities rival that of the U.S. will require something better. We are asked to do a mission [that] we are not able to, based on our workforce, Lt. Gen. Caroline Miller, the Air Forces personnel chief, told Air Force Times Sept. 8. But neither Miller nor Bass said they buy the argument that the Air Force doesnt have enough people. Instead, they said, the service needs to use its manpower differently. Im not convinced that we dont have enough airmen, Bass said. We need to make sure that were focused on what the Air Force needs to look like and [if] we have the programs in place to win our nations wars. Last year, the Air Force began an intensive effort to undo its top-heavy enlisted corps that it believes lacks enough experience in middle management and has too few lower-level troops for daily grunt work. Ideally, the Air Force says, the project will create a robust corps of midlevel enlisted to manage a larger pool of younger airmen. If the plan works, half of the enlisted Air Force will occupy the ranks of E-4 or below. In its first year, the effort has shrunk the number of master sergeant and technical sergeant jobs by 0.5% each, and 0.6% of staff sergeant jobs shedding several hundred of those billets in total, according to figures provided to Air Force Times. Conversely, the E-4 corps grew by 2.2%, or about 1,300 senior airmen. Master Sgt. Deana Heitzman, an Air Force spokesperson, said that because of higher than expected retention, the service ended up with more noncommissioned officers staff sergeants and technical sergeants than planned in 2023, despite plummeting promotion rates to those grades. The service still needs to cut 0.2% of its senior airmen airmen jobs; 1.4% of its staff sergeant jobs; and 1.5% of its technical sergeant jobs, to meet its goals in fiscal 2025. The Air Force has continued to make progress towards the desired grade structure and restoring noncommissioned officer experience, Heitzman said Aug. 30. The Air Force continues to advance toward the FY25 target. On the officer side, tailoring the promotion system to be more responsive to the needs of each career field has helped higher-caliber airmen stand out from their peers and started to even out manning across fields, Miller argued. How airmen are judged for promotions is changing, too. The Air Force has begun emphasizing interpersonal skills and technical expertise and stopped considering how long someone has been in the service, among other tweaks to the software they use and when they file job reviews each year. Leaders want to know: Can you communicate? Can you set a strategic plan? Can you make sure that your airmen are ready? Miller said. Previously, it was whatever you wanted to say, she said of performance reviews. You did great at the chili cookoff, or whatever. It did not matter. Now it should be easier for supervisors to see if an airman is lacking a particular skill, or missing crucial job experience. We can have a much more robust conversation based on what we value, Miller said. Time will tell whether well-rounded airmen begin moving up the ladder more often. But the transition has not been easy. Some enlisted airmen have taken to social media to grumble about failing to meet a higher bar for promotion, despite studying for the battery of tests on which midlevel troops are judged and compiling what they believe are impressive resumes and performance reviews. Some said theyll consider separating from the Air Force instead of being stuck at lower ranks. Others encouraged their wingmen to stick it out and focus on personal goals, whether they earn another stripe or not. One Reddit user argued that low promotion rates demoralize airmen who are passed over despite a promote now or must promote recommendation from their supervisors. You end up with dudes with promote now and years of solid service being told you still are not good enough, user FlyingThrowAway2009 wrote in August 2022. It is straight up insulting. Bass urged airmen to consider the broader needs of the service and their field instead of making rank. More experience is a good thing, Bass said. I think that we will see the fruits of our labor as time goes on. The next generation The militarys recent recruiting slump further complicates that process. Billets that move to the lowest enlisted ranks can sit empty without a steady flow of airmen through boot camp and technical school. About 39,000 new enlistees joined the Air Force in fiscal 2023. More than 3,800 of them came in under a program that offers thousands of dollars in bonus pay for entering the services most in-need fields, like special warfare and cyber operations, Heitzman said. Recruiters will try to improve on that performance as they drive toward a loftier goal of 25,900 active duty recruits in fiscal 2024. Its unclear how the services failure to bring nearly 48,000 enlisted airmen into the active duty Air Force, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve this year will affect operations at home and abroad. Missing the goal this year is likely to stress communities that are already chronically undermanned and may hinder some of the Air Forces broader force management initiatives. Bass indicated it will place further burden on noncommissioned officers to pick up the slack of a smaller cadre of newcomers something else to juggle amid the other effects of enlisted force restructuring. We are looking for what impacts were going to have and how to lessen that impact at the most tactical level, Bass said. What its going to mean is that our NCO corps shoulders the challenges. Air Force Recruiting Service leaders warned in April that lagging recruitment would exacerbate a shortfall of 1,800 maintainers, 700 security forces, 300 munitions specialists, 100 fuel experts and more. Airmen will almost certainly be asked to work longer hours, cover more shifts and make sacrifices in their personal lives to meet the mission demands essential to our national security, Maj. Gen. Ed Thomas, who retired in June as the services recruiting chief, wrote to the force. The nation is depending on us. Get in, stay in Once Americans join the Air Force, its up to the military keep them. The Air Force retained about 93% of its officers and 90% of enlisted airmen in fiscal 2023, Heitzman said. Those numbers are on par with retention rates over the past several years. Thats a bright spot in an otherwise gloomy personnel outlook, leaders said: When people join the Air Force, they tend to stay. The service is trying to ward off any sharp dips in those numbers by offering bonuses to stay in uniform and multiple programs to improve airmens quality of life. Around 900 airmen have opted to reenlist since April under the latest enlisted retention bonus program, Heitzman said. More than 870 aviators have signed new contracts to extend their time in service under a pair of programs created to keep pilots in uniform. Nearly 7 in 10 officers who are in their last year of the time they promised the Air Force after finishing flight school have opted to stay longer. Gen. David Allvin, the Air Forces current vice chief of staff who is nominated to lead the service, told lawmakers Sept. 12 the service has issued waivers to allow enlisted airmen to remain in uniform past their high year of tenure, or the year they must retire if they are not promoted to the next rank. The Air Force has also asked outside researchers to identify other ways to retain airmen. Service leaders acknowledge that tackling tough problems, like ensuring that troops have sufficient pay, health care, child care and food, are part of that solution. Katherine Kuzminski, a military personnel expert at the Center for a New American Security, raised the possibility that a now-resolved funding snafu, which caused the Air Force to pause airmens moves to new bases and bonus pay programs, could have a chilling effect on retention. The service must offer airmen and their families stability through effective forecasting and the predictable and consistent application of policy and process, especially in stressful situations like moving, she said in an email. Keeping people in uniform is one step toward making the militarys workload more bearable. Another is ensuring that people are effectively distributed across those jobs, whether at the national or local level. Speaking to reporters Sept. 12, Air Force Reserve boss Lt. Gen. John Healy recalled a recent town hall where airmen complained about their growing list of duties. That typically happens in units that have a glut of people in certain roles but too few in others, he said. But its a problem he cant control. I was like, Youre 113% manned right now. You have overages in the spots that you dont need them, Healy said. What do you want me to do? Balance the units. Break the AFSC structure Now the service must make the most of the people it has. Leaders see the mid- to late-2020s as a crossroads at which the Air Force needs to embrace the digital age or lose its future wars. On top of bolstering the NCO corps and training airmen to think strategically, that means taking a critical look at what tomorrows jobs entail. Air Force officials are considering what the overall pool of jobs should look like, and how to distribute troops among them. Those talks come as the service plans to retire hundreds of its stalwart airframes, some without direct replacements, and repurpose airmen into new missions. Other aircraft that are replacing older models, like the C-130J Super Hercules airlifters and EC-37B Compass Call, require fewer crew members onboard. What to do with those troops? Bass argues the Air Force could stand to lose some specialties. She believes there are too many Air Force Specialty Codes overall, and too few in areas like information warfare and cyber operations. The service should look decades into the future to decide what skills will be most important and start building those career fields now, she said. Asked what success would look like, Bass said its too early to tell. The working groups that we have set up right now that incorporate some of our futurists, and the people who are thinking deeply about the mission sets and the weapon systems that we have, are all doing some of that homework, she said. Bass has also asked the Air Forces career field managers to consider what their jobs might look like in 10 years or if theyre still needed at all. Miller suggested airmen could see the types of careers being offered begin to change in the next two to three years. Assignments could become less specialized, she said, or require airmen to hold different certifications. The goal is to shrink the Air Forces overseas footprint by packaging a smaller number of airmen with a greater set of skills into a deployed unit. Thats part of a larger push to turn the Air Force into an organization that prioritizes support to combatant commanders around the world over staffing home bases. I dont know where were going to end, Miller said. It may be that we completely break the AFSC structure. Airmen will also start to see new career opportunities within specialties as well. The Air Force will test the possibility of splitting career fields into two tracks: one to build commanders of operational squadrons and one to build subject matter experts. The experiment will begin with cyber operations officers, or the 17D field, Miller said. Its unclear how widely airmen will embrace the idea. In 2018, the service tried a similar approach with mobility pilots that offered airmen the chance to spend their career in the cockpit or to transition into leadership roles. Just two people applied for the flying-only track. The Air Force hasnt considered bringing back that program, Allvin told Congress in September. Whether the services ambitious slate of reforms lead to the outcomes it wants remains to be seen. But officials say theyre already starting to see airmen more fully embrace the call to service to deter enemies and fight when needed. I think we have a better sense of why we wear this uniform, and what we have to do to make sure that every single airman is prepared appropriately to defend our nation, Bass said. The strategic IQ has absolutely increased and thats probably what I will be most proud of as the chief master sergeant of the Air Force. Around midnight on 16 October, an air-raid warning was issued in several oblasts of Ukraine due to the threat of missile attacks. Source: air-raid warning map; Ukraines Air Force on Telegram Quote from the Air Force: "Danger of missile attacks in Chernihiv, Sumy and Poltava oblasts!" "Danger of missile attacks in Cherkasy, Kirovohrad and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts!" Details: At 23:56 the air-raid warning was announced in Poltava Oblast; at 23:57, it spread to Sumy Oblast. After midnight, an air-raid warning was issued in Kharkiv Oblast. At 00:17, sirens sounded throughout Kherson Oblast. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement At about half past midnight, the air-raid warning was issued in Cherkasy, Kirovohrad and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts. The Ukrainian Air Force reported at around 01:00 that several groups of Shaheds were heading towards Mykolaiv Oblast from Kherson Oblast, where a warning had also been issued. A warning was issued in Zaporizhzhia Oblast after 01:00. The all-clear was sounded in some oblasts after 01:30. Updated: An air-raid warning was issued at 02:47 in Vinnytsia Oblast, as the Ukrainian Air Force reported the presence of Shaheds from Kirovohrad Oblast heading towards Vinnytsia Oblast. Meanwhile, the all-clear was given in Mykolaiv and Kherson oblasts. A warning was issued in Kyiv Oblast at 02:57. "Shaheds are moving towards Kyiv Oblast from Cherkasy Oblast," the Air Force said. The warning was re-issued in Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts at 03:10 due to the threat of Russian UAVs. The warning was also issued again in Kharkiv Oblast. Later, the warning was extended to Khmelnytskyi, Chernivtsi, and Zhytomyr oblasts. An air-raid warning was again issued at 03:34 in Poltava Oblast. Furthermore, the warning was extended to Ternopil Oblast. Meanwhile, a warning was once again issued in Kherson, Kirovohrad and Mykolaiv oblasts. An air-raid warning was issued in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast after 04:00. Power outages commenced at 04:46 in some of the oblasts where the warning had been issued. The Ukrainian Air Force reported the all-clear had been given in all oblasts at 05:10. 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! Simon Calder, also known as The Man Who Pays His Way, has been writing about travel for The Independent since 1994. In his weekly opinion column, he explores a key travel issue and what it means for you. A sudden flight cancellation is an odd experience. One moment you are preparing to fly hundreds or thousands of miles: perhaps to a fresh and exciting destination, or simply keen to get home because of family or work commitments. Emotionally, you are almost there, with just a few hours of eating, napping or looking out of the window in idle contemplation ahead of your arrival. The next moment after that fateful announcement that the plane is going nowhere you realise that you will not now be ticking off the distance at nine miles per minute. You have no idea how the next few hours, or days, will turn out. And, like it or not, you are in competition with every other passenger on your flight for available hotel rooms and replacement flights. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement At Luton airport last Tuesday evening, five planes all boarded and ready to go were cancelled before take-off due to a serious fire in a car park a couple of hundred metres away from the terminal. Most of the many hundreds of passengers discovered that they would be obliged to try to sleep on the floor of the airport terminal. Next morning, they learnt Luton would remain closed for most of the day and they must begin the long and complicated business of trying to reschedule their trips. Jack, who was trying to fly home to Dublin, told me of his experience asking at a series of local hotels for a room. Weve been sold out for hours, was the refrain. So I just came back here and Ive been trying to sleep on the cold floor since, Jack said. When we talked, he was waiting for the airline desk to open to try to figure out his options. It seems like youre in sort of some sort of weird limbo, he told me. I hope its swifter than Im thinking it might be. Now imagine that experience shared by a quarter of a million people on a single day. That is what happened on bank holiday Monday, 28 August 2023, when the main UK air-traffic control computer system, and its back-up, failed for several hours. Disruption ripples very quickly through aviation, especially at busy airports. London Heathrow and Gatwick, the two biggest UK airports, are particularly susceptible. Cancellations began immediately. By the time engineers working for the air-navigation provider, Nats, solved the problem, the outage had led to 1,600 cancelled flights with around 400 more to follow over the next couple of days, due to planes and pilots being stranded out of position by the air-traffic control shutdown. The episode is the subject of a session of the transport select committee this coming Wednesday, 18 October. Martin Rolfe, the chief executive of Nats, will be grilled by MPs about what went wrong and, crucially, whether he can guarantee it wont happen again. The session will also examine how airlines were affected, and how effectively they communicated with and made arrangements for their passengers. A brace of airline bosses Michael OLeary of Ryanair and Jonathan Hinkles of Loganair will face questions, along with Sophie Dekkers, chief commercial officer for easyJet, Britains biggest budget airline. Probably like you, I am keen to learn more about the causes of the meltdown and its effect on the airlines. But I am even more interested in the carriers communication with, and care of, passengers. The first casualty of aviation chaos is communication. I cut the airlines some slack on this: if the incredibly complex three-dimensional chess game that keeps us moving through the skies suddenly gets disrupted, it inevitably takes time for airline duty offices and flight crew to work out what to do with each of hundreds of flights. On the day, most of those decisions were cancel. Immediately that happens, European air passengers rights rules kick in, requiring the airline to provide: Alternative transport as soon as possible to the travellers destination Hotels and meals as appropriate until that journey takes place That prospect is tricky enough when a single flight goes tech. When planes are being grounded in their hundreds, it is terrifying. By all accounts staff performed some miracles in finding hotels for stranded planeloads during one of the busiest weeks of the summer. But too often passengers were left to fend for themselves. We consider that professional diligence requires airlines to have in place reasonably appropriate organisation and support staff to source replacement flights and complete the booking if consumers wish to take up this offer. Such services should also be provided with reasonable care and skill, as required by Part 1 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Likewise, airlines should organise appropriate care, including overnight accommodation, for those who need it Experienced travellers might well be comfortable enough using a smartphone and a credit card to find accommodation and a fresh flight. But infrequent passengers, especially those who have mobility issues or dont possess a robust credit card need extra care. It would help if airlines were transparent about their obligations. I have lost count of the number of friends, colleagues and readers who said they had been told no flights until Friday by their airline which unaccountably failed to spell out that it was responsible for paying for a flight on a different airline. In a letter sent to airlines ahead of the peak summer season in 2023, the Civil Aviation Authority said: We consider that professional diligence requires airlines to have in place reasonably appropriate organisation and support staff to source replacement flights and complete the booking if consumers wish to take up this offer. Likewise, airlines should organise appropriate care, including overnight accommodation, for those who need it. Airlines nnow need to be challenged about whether they took the slightest bit of notice of this instruction and how they intend to comply the next time the aviation system seizes up. Fortunately, I can do just that on Wednesday, because the transport select committee has kindly invited me to be the warm-up act before the proper aviation people are questioned. I shall let you know what happens. FILE - Albanian novelist Ismail Kadare arrives at the Elysee Palace to receive the France's Legion d'Honneur medal by French President Francois Hollande, in Paris, on May 30, 2016. Kadare was awarded the Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor title by French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday Oct. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) TIRANA, Albania (AP) Albanian novelist Ismail Kadare was awarded the Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor title by French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday. Macron arrived in Tirana after a summit of European Union leaders with Western Balkan countries earlier in the day. He didn't attend the talks because of the attack in which a teacher was fatally stabbed and three other people were wounded at a school in northern France. In a long speech describing Kadare's different novels throughout his writing career and how he had resisted Albania's communist government, Macron awarded the title for his works, his courage to rise up against a dictatorial system ... and a defender of freedom, a great writer of humanity. Kadare, 87, has long been mentioned as a possible contender for the Nobel Literature Prize. He has been well-known internationally since his The General of the Dead Army novel was published in 1963 when Albania was governed by the communist government of late dictator Enver Hoxha. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Before Albania installed political pluralism after a students protest in December 1990, Kadare flew to France asking for political asylum. He lived in Paris and recently returned to Tirana. France has made him a foreign associate of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences and also Commander of the Legion of Honor. Kadare has been awarded a number of international prizes for his works, which include more than 80 novels, plays, screenplays, poetry, essays or story collections translated into different languages. ___ Follow Llazar Semini at https://twitter.com/lsemini From top to bottom, left to right: Mikaela Harrell, Kaila Spires, Kylie Horne, Kylann Harper (Credit: National Center for Missing and Exploited Children) COLUMBUS, Ga. - A 4-year-old and 11-year-old were abducted from a Burger King in Columbus Sunday morning. A second suspect has been identified. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children issued an AMBER Alert, saying the girls are in "extreme danger." Two adult female suspects have been identified in the case as 49-year-old Mikaela Harrell and Kaila Spires. According to the NCMEC, Spires is the girls' mother. Kylann Harper, 4, is 3 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 35 pounds. She has red hair and green eyes. She was last seen wearing a long-sleeved shirt and pants. Kylie Horne, 11, is 4 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 75 pounds. She has brown, straight shoulder-length hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a white t-shirt, gray sweatpants and, white Croc shoes. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Originally, the NCMEC said authorities were searching for a 2011 blue or gray Honda CR-V with Georgia license plate #TGS7835. The Georgia Bureau of Investigations later reported the suspects may have switched cars and could now be traveling in a 2004 Gold Lexus with Georgia license plate #SBZ8631. Police believe they may be headed toward Ocilla, also in south Georgia. The connection between the two suspects has not been made clear yet. If you see the suspects and the girls or have any information on their whereabouts, please call the Columbus Police Department immediately at 706-225-4366. This story is breaking. Check back for details. If you have additional information, pictures, or video email newstipsatlanta@fox.com. The Middle East is going to start getting more complicated for Joe Biden this week. In the aftermath of Hamass monstrous attacks on October 7, and given everything we learned about their savagery, it was simple enough for Biden and other world leaders to say emphatically that we stand with Israel and support its right to defend itself. So far, Americans have been broadly sympathetic with Israel, as wed expect. CNN released a poll Sunday morning showing 70 percent of respondents agreeing that Israels response to the attacks is fully or partially justified. Only 8 percent said not at all justified. That poll was conducted last Thursday and Friday. This week, though, the focus is likely to turn, at least in part, from the crimes of Hamas to Israels offensive, as Israeli tanks line up and prepare for a massive ground incursion into Gaza. The size of the call-up, 360,000 reservists, is unprecedented in four decades. Well continue to learn new details about the horrendous nature of what Hamas did. But in time, those revelations will probably be overpowered by new ones about Israels operation. Biden will face increasing pressure to be critical of any examples of retributive aggressiona reflection of the changing perceptions in recent years of Israel among Democrats and even many independents. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The number of Palestinian dead is already greater than the number of Israeli civilians killed by Hamas. In addition, over the weekend, as Israeli officials said things like you wanted hell, we will give you hell, there were numerous calls for Israel to allow a humanitarian corridor to ensure Gazans access to food, water, and medical care (the IDF did start supplying water to southern Gaza Sunday). Biden made such a call Saturday night at a human rights dinner in Washington. Also, the White House, in describing the fifth call between Biden and Bibi Netanyahu since October 7, said that the president affirmed his support for all efforts to protect civilians. NBC News reported over the weekend that Biden and other administration officials have been privately urging restraint on the Netanyahu government. Those urgings are going to have to get more public soon, Im guessing, if U.S. public opinion turns from complete and utter sympathy for Israel over Hamass barbarism to impatience at Israel for what may broadly be seen as overreaction. The reason to think this is that American views of Israel have taken a dramatic turn for the worse in just the last couple of years. This is being driven mainly by Democrats, but by no means entirely. Independents are a lot closer to Democrats than they are to Republicans. Consider this Gallup poll from March of this year. It led with the news that for the first time, Democrats sympathies had shifted from Israelis to Palestinians. Back in the Obama years, it wasnt closein 2011, for example, the numbers were 57-24 in favor of the Israelis. By 2022, Democrats were more sympathetic to Israelis than to Palestinians by just 40-38. And by this year, the edge went to the Palestinians by a substantial 49-38an overall 13-point swing in just a single year. Independents are tracking far closer to Democrats than to Republicans. In this years Gallup poll, independents still favored the Israeli side over the Palestinian side, by 49-32. But thats a substantial shift away from Israel just since 2022, when independent support for the Israelis was 54-26. And its a long way from Republican support for the Israeli side, which is polling off the charts in this years survey at 78 to 11. In other words: Among the Americans whose votes Biden might get next November (Democrats and independents), support for the two sides in this conflict is about evenly split, with just a modest edge to the Israelis. Even in that CNN poll, taken at a time of maximum sympathy for Israel, there are some numbers that show the limits of Americans sympathy. On the fully justified question, the overall level of support there was 50 percent, but that was fueled mainly by Republicans (68 percent), while only pluralities of independents (45 percent) and Democrats (38 percent) went along with fully justified. So as this wears on, Biden wont be able to just defend Israel and leave it at that. Moderate and liberal Americans know that what Hamas did is unspeakable. But they also know that the occupation is a horror, that Netanyahu is corrupt, and that the current Israeli government is extreme and anti-democratic. Biden must defend Israels right to exist and to defend itself without being seen as also defending all that. (Biden may receive an avenue for moderation from Netanyahu himself, who is under serious attack at home, where Israelis in large numbers are protesting his rule and blaming him for the assault.) The best things Biden can do are to stand for universal values, insist that even in war there are rules, push for the release of all hostages, and try to persuade Israel, privately and publicly, to refrain from engaging in the kind of excessive response that Hamas wants it to waltz into. Israel was the victim here of a heinous mass murder, and Americans understand that this has made the world worse and are broadly unsympathetic to the perpetrators. Their sympathy for Israel is high at the moment. But that wont last forever. Maybe Israel will surprise us all and find a way to decimate Hamas with a brief incursion that results in fewer casualties than feared. But if, in a months time, Israel is seen as overreacting? Well, the reservoir of goodwill for Israel in the United States is not nearly as deep as it was 20 or 10 or, as the Gallup numbers show, even three years ago. All politics is local, and Biden, who will need young Democratic voters to flock to him next year, will stick his neck out here as far as domestic political considerations dictate. ARLINGTON, Texas The Rev. Jared Wellman took the stage Sunday morning at Tate Springs Baptist Church, 7,000 miles west of Jerusalem, to talk to his congregation about Israel. Neutrality isnt an option, Wellman told the crowd, to murmurs of Amen. He traced the history of aggression and oppression against the Jewish people through ancient Egypt into the Roman Empire and then from Nazi Germany to the attacks on civilians last weekend by Hamas terrorists from Gaza, which he described as acts conceived in the darkest pits of hell. American evangelicals are among Israels most ardent advocates, compelled in part by their interpretation of Scripture that says Gods ancient promise to the Jewish people designating the region as their homeland is unbreakable. Some evangelicals also see Israels existence connected to biblical prophecy about the last days of the world before a divine theocratic kingdom can be established on Earth. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Now, one week after at least 1,300 people in Israel were killed in Hamas attacks, and as the number of dead in the Gaza Strip soared past 2,400 in Israeli airstrikes, evangelical leaders across the United States are voicing that support in sermons, public statements and calls to action. Theres probably no greater friend to the state of Israel than American evangelical Christians, said Daniel Darling, director of Land Center for Cultural Engagement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. Conservative evangelicals have long formed the backbone of the Republican Partys support of Israel. (Evangelicals cheered when President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israels capital in 2017, announcing that he would move the U.S. Embassy there.) That support is not just abstractly political. American Christians flock to Israel as pilgrims, sometimes on trips sponsored by churches such as Tate Springs, or led by guides who specialize in Christian history. Some tourists memorialize their trips with tattoos, or get baptized in the Jordan River, where Jesus is said to have been baptized by John the Baptist. At Tate Springs on Sunday, Wellman, after pointing to a new page on the church website directing prayers and donations to Israel, led the congregation in prayer: for peace, for justice and for innocent people in Gaza, in the West Bank and in Israel. In a pew toward the back of the church, Brandy and Brian Johnson welcomed the message. But their minds were also on more practical concerns: Just last week, they paid more than $10,000 for a bucket list trip to Israel sponsored by the church and scheduled for January, which is now unlikely to take place. Brandy Johnson had been looking forward to walking through historical sites there, just to know that its his land, she said, referring to Jesus. At Sunnyside Baptist Church in Kingsport, Tennessee, on Sunday, the congregation cheered the return of a tour group of about 50 people from the church who had gotten stuck in Jerusalem for several days after the attacks. This has been a week unlike any week that I have ever experienced, the churchs associate pastor, the Rev. David Luster, said from the stage, noting that he had been praying constantly for the travelers and for Israel. Many evangelical pastors condemned the assaults by Hamas, and urged their congregations to pray for a country to which many of them feel intense spiritual, cultural and political connections. Others took a more apocalyptic tone. At Radiant Church, which has several locations in southwest Michigan, the pastor, the Rev. Lee Cummings, preached a sermon about the escalating war between Israel and Hamas, describing the Jewish peoples right to the land as an inheritance from God. Peace between the Palestinian and Israeli people is not possible right now because of Hamas, he said, speaking ominously about future violence. When theyre done with the Jews, theyre coming for Christians, he warned. Prepare your hearts for the rising storm because this isnt calming down. An Evangelical Statement in Support of Israel was signed by about 90 pastors and other leaders last week, including the president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Bart Barber, and the editor-in-chief of Christianity Today, Russell Moore. The statement condemned the attacks by Hamas and affirmed Israels right and duty to defend itself against further attack, citing Christian just-war tradition and a passage from the New Testament book of Romans on governmental authorities as agents of Gods justice. The intensity of American evangelical attachment to the state of Israel is impossible to disentangle from popular beliefs about the role of the state of Israel in the end times. Books such as The Late Great Planet Earth, an overheated tour of apocalyptic predictions published in 1970, and the Left Behind series of novels reinforced the appeal for many evangelicals of interpreting contemporary global events as the culminations of prophecies recorded in the Bible. In Plano, Texas, the pastor at Prestonwood Baptist Church, the Rev. Jack Graham, who advised Trump when he was in office, evoked the specter of the end times. The last days are coming and are here, when you will come again, for your church and for your people, he prayed. More than 60% of American evangelicals believe humanity is living in the end times, according to a 2022 survey by the Pew Research Center. (For comparison, 39% of American adults overall shared that belief.) And many evangelicals see Israel as a key setting for those events. Four out of five American evangelicals say that the creation of the modern state of Israel in 1948 and the return there of millions of Jewish people were fulfillments of biblical prophecy, according to a survey conducted in 2017. Almost half of respondents said the Bible is the primary influence of their opinions on Israel. The survey was conducted by LifeWay Research, which is associated with the Southern Baptist Convention, and it was co-sponsored by an organization that evangelizes to Jewish people. Joel Rosenberg, the surveys other co-sponsor, was born in the United States but has lived in Israel for almost a decade. He hosts The Rosenberg Report, a show broadcast on the conservative evangelical Trinity Broadcasting Network that offers a biblical perspective on Middle East news, often with an eye to how news events line up with biblical prophecies. In an interview, he described American evangelicals support for the country as primarily theological, not political. God has laid out his love and his special plan for Israel and the Jewish people, starting in Genesis 12 and going right through to the book of Revelation, he said. Other Christian groups have taken a more circumspect approach, condemning violence against all civilians and stopping short of outright support for either side of the conflict. Many evangelical leaders, while firm in their support of Israel, acknowledged the Palestinian Christian population and prayed for them, and emphasized that not all Palestinians are responsible for the actions of Hamas. Though the Palestinian population is largely Muslim, a segment of the population is Christian and has long been part of Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant traditions. But the grip of apocalyptic prophecies on the evangelical imagination is declining in some corners. At least one Protestant denomination has removed assertions about the end times from its statements of core beliefs in recent years. And younger evangelicals are distinctly less likely to view news events in Israel through the lens of biblical prophecy. Like their generational peers, they are less likely to support Israel overall. Wellman, pastor at Tate Springs Baptist Church, who is 40, once endorsed a theological framework that sees contemporary events in Israel as ushering in the end times. But a few years ago, he began to rethink that piece of his theology. These days, he said, its really hard to find people my age in my circles who interpret every event in the Middle East as correlating with specific biblical prophecies. His message at Tate Springs on Sunday asked his congregation to think about the situation historically, rather than purely eschatologically or prophetically. But the shift in his theology hasnt changed his affections, he said. As a pastor, you give your whole life to studying a small piece of real estate about the size of New Jersey, he said. I love this nation and these people. c.2023 The New York Times Company (FOX40.COM) American Idol stars Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken are reuniting at the Harris Center for the Arts 20 years after being on the singing competition show. Studdard and Aiken captivated audiences during their historic run on the second season of FOXs American Idol in 2003. Both were plucked from the relative obscurity of their hometowns in the South and became audience favorites. Ring of Fire brings out hundreds of locals to the Sac State Campus The two were instrumental in helping propel American Idol to the top of the Nielsen ratings, nearly tripling the viewership of the previous season, and securing its place as one of the most consequential TV series in American history, according to multiple reports. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Over 38 million viewers tuned in to hear the results of more than 124 million votes cast during their finale making it the most watched American Idol episode in history and the highest rated regularly scheduled, live, non-sporting television episode of the 21st century. Studdard and Aiken combined have recorded twelve albums, sold more than eight million albums worldwide, toured the country 14 times, starred together on Broadway, won four Billboard Music Awards, an American Music Award, and have been nominated for two Grammys. Ruben Studdard rose to fame as winner of the second season of American Idol and received a Grammy Award nomination in December 2003 for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for Superstar. In the years following American Idol, Studdard released six studio albums, including his platinum-selling debut, Soulful, and the top-selling gospel follow-up, I Need an Angel. He is most well-known for his recording career, which has produced hits including Flying Without Wings, Sorry 2004, and Change Me. Clay Aiken was the runner-up against Studdard in American Idol and most recently starred on Broadway in Ruben & Clays First Annual Christmas Carol Family Fun Pageant Spectacular Reunion Show at the Imperial Theater. The New York Times called the production A Christmas Miracle. This came ten years after Aikens critically lauded Broadway debut in Monty Pythons Spamalot. After 75 years, Sacramento Zoo says goodbye to chimpanzees Catapulting to fame on season two of American Idol, he reportedly became the first idol alumni in history to have his first single debut at number one on Billboards Hot 100 chart, to have a single certified platinum, and to have an album certified triple platinum. The duo is scheduled to perform at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 10 at Harris Center for the Arts, 10 College Parkway, Folsom. For more information or to purchase tickets call (916) 608-6888 or visit www.harriscenter.net. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego. This will be a shocker, I know, but with rare exception, Americans don't think very highly of the federal government. When asked their opinions of 16 different prominent federal agencies, members of the public are more likely to voice negative sentiments than positive ones for about three-quarters of them. Can you guess who gets the most hate? (Hint: it has something to do with April 15.) Years of Low Ratings for Federal Agencies "Of 16 federal government agencies and departments included in the latest Gallup survey, just four receive positive job-performance ratings from a majority of Americans, making 2023 the third consecutive year of relatively low readings," reports Gallup. "The U.S. Postal Service (62%), the Secret Service (55%), the Department of Defense (53%) and NASA (52%) are each evaluated as 'excellent' or 'good' by more than half of U.S. adults." As with most matters in modern America, opinions vary based on partisan affiliation. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents view 15 of the 16 agencies and departments more positively than Republicans and Republican-leaning independents do," notes the polling agency. "Only the VA is rated similarly by both party groups. About one in three of each group views the VA positively." Consolation Prizes That said, those four agencies getting a thumbs-up represent consolation prizes, at best. The Department of Defense gets 53 percent "excellent" or "good" assessments in this survey, but in separate results released in July, Gallup noted: "At 60%, confidence in the military was last this low in 1997, and it hasn't been lower since 1988, when 58% were confident." That helps fuel a military recruiting crisisthe Army fell short of recruitment goals again, this month. This is a positively rated agency. Likewise, the Postal Service wins top spot with 62 percent "excellent" or "good" assessments. You have to wonder if that reflects the service's largely successful efforts to put behind it that unpleasant "going postal" period when, as Vice noted, "in the late 80s and early 90s, a spate of shootings by disgruntled postal workers became the primary way most Americans thought of the post office." Way to go, mail carriers; you shifted your public image to stolen mail from blood spatter! The Secret Service gets a 55 percent positive assessment, though it's difficult to know whether that's despite or because of agents' hard-partying reputation from Cartagena to Amsterdam to D.C. Who doesn't like a good time? And NASA, with 52 percent approval, continues to capture Americans' high-flying imaginations. Truthfully, though, it has largely become an office that contracts out the actual space work to private companies such as Northrop Grumman and (especially) SpaceX. Those are the agencies to which Americans are, on average, favorably inclined. What about the others? "Majorities of Americans rate the other 12 government agencies as 'only fair' or 'poor,'" adds Gallup. "The IRS is viewed in the lowest regard, with 30% positive and 70% negative ratings, while the Veterans Administration (VA), Department of Justice, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Federal Reserve Board, and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are not far behind, with 32% to 38% rating them positively." Fundraiser for the Unpopular That the IRS is widely despised is hardly news. Its role, after all, is to forcibly extract funds from the population for agencies like the Veterans Administration (66 percent negative), Department of Justice (66 percent negative), Environmental Protection Agency (66 percent negative) and, should you get on the government's bad side, Homeland Security (57 percent negative) and FBI (53 percent negative). An arm-twisting fundraiser for unpopular causes is destined to be unloved. Beyond that, the IRS sullies its name with incompetence, criminal activity, and politicization. In August, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration revealed "the IRS cannot account for thousands of microfilm cartridges containing millions of sensitive business and individual tax account record." Last year, the Government Accountability Office found IRS employees are constantly engaged in "willful unauthorized access of tax data." This summer, IRS whistleblowers claimed superiors "slow walked" the investigation into Hunter Biden and that "Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf told us prosecutors had decided to conceal some evidence from the investigators." That's after the scandal of a decade ago, confirmed by the Inspector General, over targeting of Tea Party groups. "Since the advent of the federal income tax about a century ago, several presidents or their zealous underlings have directed the IRS to use its formidable police powers to harass or punish enemies, political rivals, and administration critics," The Christian Science Monitor reported in 2013. "A Series of Withering Federal Watchdog Reports" The FBI has also developed a reputation among conservatives for hostile partisanship. Truthfully, its political interference dates back decades and is less consistently ideological than protective of the powerful. "The FBIhas placed more emphasis on domestic dissent than on organized crime and, according to some, let its efforts against foreign spies suffer because of the amount of time spent checking up on American protest groups," the U.S. Senate's Church Committee complained in 1976. The law enforcement agency is a mess. In March of this year, Politico pointed out that "a series of withering federal watchdog reports have faulted the bureau for slipshod compliance with everything from national-security surveillance procedures to its own rules limiting contacts with the media." Another mess is the universally loathed Veterans Administration. The VA has a history of offering poor care to veterans, gaming waiting lists to conceal the number of patients denied treatment, and retaliating against whistleblowers. Uniting Democrats, Republicans, and Independents in contempt, somewhere in the VA is a lesson on how not to build trust. With controversial authoritarian policy responses to the pandemic an ongoing matter of public debate, low regard for the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (58 percent negative) and Food and Drug Administration (61 percent negative) is no surprise. Public health figures are being called out for suppressing discussion of the likely lab-leak origin of COVID-19, and the CDC, in particular, has shed credibility with many Americans. All things considered, it's a bit surprising that any federal agency enjoys the trust and support of significant segments of the public. Perhaps it's just the triumph of low standards. But as overwhelmingly negative opinions for most agencies of the government attest, the most consistent accomplishment of the U.S. government is in its ability to disappoint the American people. The post Americans Don't Much Like Federal Agencies appeared first on Reason.com. By Andrea Shalal and David Lawder MARRAKECH, Morocco (Reuters) - Global finance leaders' paralysis in addressing the fallout from the Hamas attack and Israel's response last week exposed deep geopolitical divisions hampering the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, even as they advanced new funding plans aimed at easing more-frequent economic shocks. Hamas launched its unprecedented attack on Israel on Oct. 7, just as top finance officials arrived in Morocco for the IMF and World Bank annual meetings, upending the gathering's carefully crafted script calling for new resources and steps to revive flagging global growth. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva did not mention the new conflict at opening events. Later, as Israel's retaliatory strikes mounted, she struggled to address it, initially describing it as a human tragedy but a vague source of economic uncertainty. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement In private conversations at the meetings, the Israel-Gaza conflict's implications were front and center, from a new refugee crisis to trade impacts and the threat of fighting in Lebanon and the West Bank, participants from finance groups to non-profits told Reuters. "In the face of a major global shock like this thats human created, that's not a climate shock, these institutions are impotent to do anything about it, which is why theyre not even talking about it," said Rachel Nadelman, a senior research fellow at American Universitys Accountability Research Center, who attended civil society and official events at the meetings. The inability to respond extended to chair's statements issued by the Group of 20 major economies and the IMF and World Bank steering committees, which failed to mention the conflict. These bodies were again unable to issue joint communiques, reflecting deepening geopolitical tensions, most recently over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but also disputes between the United States and China, which have long sparred over communique language. A G20 official said that body has been riven for two years by the Ukraine war, with a communique only possible after a meeting of U.S. President Joe Biden and China's Xi Jinping in Bali last year. "The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is even more controversial - almost impossible to reach consensus," the official said. ACCOMPLISHMENTS OVERSHADOWED World Bank President Ajay Banga acknowledged on Sunday that the Israel-Gaza conflict, along with the Ukraine war and fighting in Africa, were "casting long shadows" over the meeting's accomplishments and adding to economic challenges. "You know, without peace, it's hard for people to get stability, growth, look after their children, get jobs," he said. The World Bank's governing body approved a new vision statement "to create a world free of poverty on a livable planet" to incorporate its new mission to fight climate change, pandemics and fragile states, along with new steps to expand lending. The IMF's steering committee agreed to boost quota funding by year-end, leaving the door open to doing so without adjusting its shareholding structure to give China more votes, while a $3 billion fundraising goal for its poor-country trust fund was met. But conflicts remain the biggest challenge to the global economy, said Josh Lipsky, a former IMF official who directs the Atlantic Council's GeoEconomics Center. "If these institutions are going to be legitimate and fit-for-purpose for the coming decade, they're going to have to respond to geopolitical crises in close to real time," he told Reuters. "Geopolitical shocks are economic shocks now and economic shocks are geopolitical shocks - and they're trying to detach the two." (Reporting by Andrea Shalal and David Lawder; editing by Giles Elgood) FILE PHOTO: Donald Tusk, the leader of the largest opposition grouping Civic Coalition (KO), attends meeting with women during election convention in Lodz Analysis-Polish opposition faces challenges in undoing nationalist reforms if it takes power FILE PHOTO: Donald Tusk, the leader of the largest opposition grouping Civic Coalition (KO), attends meeting with women during election convention in Lodz By Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk and Karol Badohal WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland's opposition looks likely to return to power following Sunday's high-stakes election, ending eight years of nationalist rule, but it will face an uphill struggle to undo reforms that have sorely tested Warsaw's ties with the European Union. Partial official results and exit polls suggest the incumbent Law and Justice (PiS) party will remain the biggest party but short of a parliamentary majority. A late exit poll by Ipsos published on Monday afternoon gave PiS 196 seats in the 460-member lower house of parliament, against 249 for the main opposition bloc led by the liberal Civic Coalition (KO). Since sweeping to power in 2015, PiS has feuded with its EU partners over media freedoms and judicial reforms that critics say politicised the courts. A near total abortion ban also set Poland apart from most of Europe. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement PiS said its goal has been to rid Poland of the vestiges of its communist past, make it more secure in its borders and protect traditional Catholic values. Critics accuse it of a power grab and of putting Poland on an authoritarian path. Any legislative efforts to reverse those changes could run into opposition from President Andrzej Duda , a PiS ally elected in 2020 for a second and final five-year term. Though parliament has more power in Poland, the president enjoys veto powers. "Remedying the rule of law damage ... will be very difficult as the president may veto legislation or involve the discredited and captured 'Constitutional Tribunal'," said Laurent Pech, dean of law and head of the Sutherland School of Law in Dublin, in an emailed message. Critics say PiS contravened the constitution by appointing three judges to the Constitutional Tribunal early in its term. Duda has not said whether he might veto legislative changes and Reuters could not reach his press office for comment. At the heart of PiS's judicial reforms is a disciplinary body for judges, which Brussels says violates EU law. Tackling the issue will be key to unfreezing billions of euros in EU aid. "In addition, each of Poland's top courts and the body in charge of nominating judges have been corrupted and individuals who benefited from unlawful appointments cannot be expected to start complying with the rule of law on their own volition," Pech said. The opposition also plans to dismantle a politicised body responsible for appointing judges and to separate the functions of justice minister and prosecutor general. "I suspect President Duda does not want to be remembered as the president blocking solutions good for Poland," said KO spokesman Jan Grabiec. REFERENDUM While there is little disagreement among Poland's mainstream opposition over the need to scrap PiS's judicial reforms, abortion may prove much more divisive. KO, led by former European Council president Donald Tusk, says it will seek legislation to allow for abortion up to 12 weeks without limitations, in a major turnaround for the party which long avoided taking a clear stance on the issue. But its likely coalition partner, the more conservative Third Way, wants Poles to decide the matter in a referendum. PiS says it opposes abortion but argues that a 2021 ban, which makes an exception for terminations only in the case of rape, incest or a threat to the woman's health, is a result of a Constitutional Tribunal ruling it had no power over. Its rivals say the court is politicised, which PiS denies. Addressing what critics say is biased reporting by public television could also prove awkward, observers say. On the campaign trail, Tusk said he needed 24 hours to implement legal changes to remove PiS loyalists from the public broadcaster TVP. KO says they have turned TVP into a propaganda outlet. "That's the first thing to show, something that demonstrates a change that public TV has to be public, not party TV," said Ewa Kulik-Bielinska, executive director at the Batory Foundation, a democracy watchdog. The key challenge will be finding a legal way to fire the head of TVP - who is formally responsible for all personnel decisions - without the approval of the PiS-dominated National Media Council. "It's not easy to change the Media Council," said Kulik-Bielinska. "There has to be, again, a reform of the bill and that has to be adopted by the parliament." Last month, KO said it would convene a state tribunal to consider allegations that leading figures in PiS as well as allies including the president and the governor of the central bank had violated Poland's constitution. (Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; Editing by Gareth Jones) Editors note: Peter Bergen is CNNs national security analyst, a vice president at New America, a professor of practice at Arizona State University, and the host of the Audible podcast In the Room With Peter Bergen, also on Apple and Spotify. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion at CNN. Kobi Michael, a leading Israeli expert on Palestinian issues, says his countrys policymakers have misunderstood the aims of Hamas for the past several years. Michael also predicted that Israels military operations in Gaza might take months and that Hezbollah in Lebanon will probably avoid a full-scale war with Israel. Peter Bergen - CNN A senior researcher at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies, Michael has worked as an Israeli intelligence officer, government official and academic focused on Palestinian issues for around three decades. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Michael was an Arabic-speaking intelligence officer when he was appointed in 1994 as the first commander of the Israeli-Palestinian Security Coordination Apparatus in the Gaza Strip. Michael then served on Israels National Security Council as the head of the Palestinian Division and in a similar position as the deputy director-general in the Ministry of Strategic Affairs at the prime ministers office between 2009 and 2013. Kobi Michael - Courtesy Kobi Michael In a conversation Friday with Peter Bergen, he explained the likely goal of the Hamas attack and talked of how peace could ultimately be made between Israelis and Palestinians. Their conversation has been edited for clarity and length. Peter Bergen: Who oversees Hamas military operations, and what is the role of Mohammed Deif? Kobi Michael: Mohammed Deif is the commander of the Qassam Brigades. Bergen: Was he in charge of this operation in Israel last weekend? Michael: He certainly is deeply involved. Hes one of the planners, together with Marwan Issa. There is no doubt because both are senior commanders of the military establishment of Hamas. Bergen: Can you tell us who Mohammed Deif is? What is his background? Michael: Mohammed Deif, hes a cat, not with seven lives but with nine lives. Hes a terrorist from the first days of al Qassam Brigades in the Gaza Strip. Israel tried to target him several times, and he was injured. He lost a hand, an eye and other organs, but hes still alive. Hes very wise, very determined and very charismatic. And hes totally dedicated and determined about his mission on earth. Hes willing to die. Deif has almost no connections with the outside world. Hes the most influential figure in Hamas from the military point of view, and hes also influential with the political leadership of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But we have to understand that such an operation cannot be realized without two crucial abilities that Hamas is not capable of producing. The first is the intelligence factor, and the second ability is the technological factor. Only specific states can provide such abilities, and the only state that is capable and is willing to provide such capabilities to Hamas is Iran. And this is the reason that I do believe that Iran is deeply involved in this operation. (Irans government has praised the Hamas attack but denied that it was involved in it.) The general strategy of Hamas which is very similar to the broad strategy of Iran is to launch a multifront war against Israel. And Hamas has worked in the last few years to realize this strategy on the one hand, they kept things calm in the Gaza Strip, getting economic benefits from Israel, Qatar and Egypt to enable prosperity and the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip but all of these were an umbrella for rebuilding their military capacities and preparing themselves for the big day, which was last Saturday (October 7), unfortunately. Bergen: Why did Hamas launch this attack now? Michael: What was the strategic aim of such an operation, considering that they knew for sure that the price tag would be very high and they were endangering their very existence? Im sure that Hamas was sure that the shock and horror of this operation and the casualties that they would cause would be interpreted by all the Palestinians, that this was a sign from God that this was the time to open all the battlefronts and to fight Israel and this will be the end of the state of Israel. They were sure about it. I believe this was the rationale behind this operation because we have to understand this operation was conducted by more than 2,000 terrorists from the special unit of Hamas, the Nukhba. Do you know how long it takes to train and to prepare such a force? Now, all the Nukhba manpower is something around 3,000 to 4,000 people. (By comparison, the Israeli military, including reservists, is more than 600,000.) This attack last weekend was not intended to release Hamas prisoners held in Israeli jails. The objective was much bigger, and I think this was to encourage the Palestinians in the West Bank and all over Israel to open other battlefronts against Israeli targets. Hamas succeeded much more than they believed they would succeed because this was a huge catastrophe. We lost so many people. Hamas, with their brutality, became what we saw as an upgraded ISIS. Bergen: Youre a former intelligence officer. Many people are saying this is an intelligence failure. Often policymakers say its an intelligence failure when its a policy failure because its hard for the intelligence agencies to publicly defend themselves. They work for the policymakers, and they deal in the classified realm. Was this an intelligence failure, a policy failure, or both? Michael: This is a failure of the political echelon and the decision-makers because the decision-makers accepted the intelligence assessments about Hamas. They are responsible. They didnt ask the right questions. But the problem is not only intelligence. The problem is also policy. I was very critical of the Israeli policy in the last three years because I thought that we were providing Hamas with a comfortable zone and with too many degrees of freedom of action that enabled them to fortify themselves, to strengthen themselves militarily and at the same time to fuel Hamas terror campaign in the West Bank. And we enabled them to continue doing that by providing Gaza with economic benefits that would supposedly make Hamas more moderate or more pragmatic, and they would lose their motivation to attack Israel; this was a mistake. I warned about this publicly in my writing in recent years. We have to understand that Hamas are very religious people. They are very determined, radical and extreme, and therefore, it is very hard for Western people to understand that they believe that they will be able to collapse the state of Israel. But this is what they believe. Bergen: How does their religious view affect how they see the world? Michael: Hamas was established as a religious and social movement and is the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, which originated in Egypt. This is the basic essence of Hamas. The religious ideology is the most important component of their ideology, belief and existence. Bergen: How does Hamas impact the more secular Palestinian Authority, which controlled Gaza until 2007 before Hamas violently pushed them aside? Michael: We have to go back to 2007 to understand that Hamas came to be the essential challenge to the Palestinian Authority because Hamas endgame is to control the entire Palestinian system, which means the Palestinian Authority and the PLO. Hamas perceives the Palestinian Authority as a collaborator with Israel and wants to undermine it. They want to collapse the Palestinian Authority, and therefore, Hamas is the most severe threat to the survival of the Palestinian Authority. Bergen: Palestinian Islamic Jihad is reportedly part of this attack on Israel, yet we dont hear much about them. Were they part of this, and who are they? Michael: Palestinian Islamic Jihad was established in 1982, whereas Hamas was established in 1987. But the Palestinian Islamic Jihad is a pure terror organization. All the raison detre of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad is to slaughter as many Jews as possible, and they dont have any political aspirations. They are much smaller than Hamas. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad participated in this operation, and they still have an arsenal of rockets, some thousands of rockets, and they still have some thousands of terrorists that are active in the Gaza Strip. But this is a much smaller and less sophisticated organization. They dont have any other aims like Hamas because Hamas is a religious, social, political movement and terror organization at the same time. And they are the rulers of the Gaza Strip. Bergen: You mentioned the social services Hamas provides. What are they? Michael: Everything. They are a semi-state entity from education to garbage, energy, infrastructure, health, tax collection, industry, agriculture, everything. They have run the Gaza Strip since 2007, and they went through an institutionalization process because they knew that if they wanted to effectively rule the population, they had to use some practices of a state. They had to collect taxes. They had to provide people with education and health services. Bergen: Hamas in Gaza now: They are well-armed. They are hiding in tunnels. They have hostages. They have human shields. Theyve had years to plan. Urban warfare is very difficult. Do you anticipate Israeli intelligence really understands Gaza well enough to conduct a successful operation? Michael: Yes. This is a huge frustration. We have such intelligence control over the entire Gaza Strip, and how come we failed to get an early warning of the attack last weekend? We have very accurate intelligence. We know exactly where the tunnels are and where any Hamas facility is located. In a building of 15 stories, we know in each story where Hamas is sitting; there is no intelligence problem in this regard. The problem is that to accomplish the mission of annihilating Hamas and denying all of its military capacities, we will need to have not only an air force war, but also a ground force operation, and we have to prepare it very well because Hamas is waiting for us, and they prepared traps, and they have more than a general idea of how the (Israel Defense Forces) is going to operate there. We have no illusion that the cost isnt going to be high. And we are going to have casualties, but this is the price that we have to pay if we want to remain living here in this neighborhood. Israel follows the laws of war and international law and is trying to evacuate all the northern parts of the Gaza Strip and mainly the area of Gaza City, because this is the most crucial center of gravity of Hamas. Most of their assets are located there, and Israel doesnt intend to harm innocent people, and we dont want to have collateral damage. And therefore, we are trying to convince the population to leave because the area is saturated with Hamas assets. The reason that Israel must bomb and demolish so many buildings is because Hamas is everywhere where their basic organizing rationale is to use their people as human shields. They do it in the most cynical and brutal manner, and they wish to have many casualties to use the international media and international tribunals in order to demonize Israel and gain empathy and support. It is the ultimate absurdity when those barbarians who do not respect any international law or norms are using these platforms to make their case. We have to clear the area and prepare the best conditions for the ground forces to enter to accomplish the mission to deal with all the underground infrastructure and to finish the job. Bergen: How long will that take? Michael: Itll take months. Bergen: Do you think Hezbollah in Lebanon will stay on the sidelines during this war? Michael: It looks like now they have an interest in staying out of a full-scale war, because Israel is on full alert in the north. And now Israel is a wounded lion. They know that the Israeli retaliation will be very aggressive if it comes to a full-scale war. I dont think that they are interested now in a full-scale war. Bergen: So, the day after the war is over in Gaza, what does that look like for Israel? In the past, Israel has chosen to withdraw from Gaza. Do you anticipate a permanent occupation of Gaza? Michael: No. Israel does not intend to remain in Gaza and to rule the population there. It might begin with an international mission force or an Arab mission force, and it will end with the return of the Palestinian Authority to the Gaza Strip. I think the Palestinian Authority cannot return immediately to the Gaza Strip. Otherwise, it will be perceived by the Palestinian constituency as a traitor, as someone who collaborated with Israel to topple Hamas. But I think that after a while and with the right preparations, it might be a reasonable model that the Palestinian Authority will return to rule the Gaza Strip. But I think that we have to be very sober and to understand that even if the Palestinian Authority will return to the Gaza Strip, it doesnt mean that we will reach a final status agreement with the Palestinians. This is not the situation. Bergen: Why would the Palestinians make a final deal with Israel without getting something in return, when the settlements are expanding on the West Bank? Michael: The settlements were never the issue. Israel dismantled all the settlements in the Gaza Strip and North Samaria (in 2005). Yasser Arafats response to the Camp David offer (brokered by US President Bill Clinton in 2000) was the Second Intifada. Israel demonstrated twice that it is able and willing to evacuate settlements for peace. The Palestinians need to cross the Rubicon and to understand that the only way to live peacefully here in this region is to find a way to do it together with Israel and as part of the new regional architecture that will be based on the normalization process between Israel and the Arab countries with American support. And this new architecture will be able to defeat any efforts of the Iranians to be more influential or to reach hegemony in the broader Middle East. There is a clash between the Iranian radical extreme resistance axis, which is led by Iran and is composed of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah and all the other Iranian proxies all over the Middle East, and the Arab Sunni pragmatic axis, which is led by Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The Palestinian Authority in Israel should be part of this camp, which is supported by the United States of America. If the Palestinians will be part of this camp, then we will be able to talk about peace between Israel and the Palestinians. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com HOPEWELL As expected, the mother of a Hopewell woman killed by a city police officer almost five years ago has refiled a $25 million wrongful death lawsuit against the officer who pulled the trigger. In court papers filed Monday, De. Emily Grant Decarlo is also asking for $350,000 in punitive damages, plus court costs and attorneys fees, and further other relief as the Court may deem just, proper, and appropriate. Emily Decarlo is also demanding a jury trial in the case. The suit comes on the heels of a Hopewell grand jurys decision not to indict the officer following a lengthy investigation into Angel Viola Decarlo's case. Angel Decarlo was shot to death Dec. 18, 2018, at the intersection of Elm and Westover streets in a residential area behind the Cavalier Square shopping center. She died at the scene. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Police said she was a suspect in the armed robbery of a Winston Churchill Drive convenience store just minutes before she died. The lawsuit names Cameron List as the officer who killed Decarlo. He is being sued both individually and in his official capacity. The 18-page lawsuit, filed in Hopewell Circuit Court by family attorney Brian Telfair, accuses List of three counts of unlawful search and seizure including excessive force and denial of proper medical care; and one count each of false imprisonment, battery and gross negligence. The shooting set off an investigation of more than four years that brittled the nerves of family members and some within the law-enforcement community because of its excessive length. A special prosecutor, Portsmouth commonwealths attorney Stephanie Morales, claimed the delays were due to requests for more investigation into the shooting and the COVID-19 pandemic. Morales finally presented evidence Oct. 10 to a Hopewell grand jury, who refused to indict List. The prosecution never released the charge for which it was seeking indictment, but Emily Decarlo said in a Facebook post early Monday morning that it was voluntary manslaughter. What is in the suit? The lawsuit provides the most extensive details of the events that led to Angel Decarlos shooting and refutes some earlier claims made in the police investigation. The initial police report said Decarlo had fled from a car and pointed a handgun at List that made him fear for his life. It also said body-camera footage from the scene showed Decarlo turned and pointed the gun. The lawsuit claims Decarlo was in fact walking on Westover Street carrying a purse and a gun toward Elm Street, and was in the midst of a psychological episode when List and another detective rolled up on her in an unmarked police car, got out and began following her on foot, ordering her repeatedly to stop. When she did not, the suit claimed List shot her in the chest. The whole incident took about 15 seconds, according to the suit. It alleges that List was at police headquarters when the robbery call came in and went with a more senior detective to check out the scene. En route, they heard that officers were tracking the suspect, identified as Decarlo. During this time, the Defendant unilaterally decided that he would try 'to get close enough to Ms. DeCarlo to tackle her, the suit read. He did not discuss this idea with anyone not the more senior detective he was working with and not any of his superiors. That decision, according to the lawsuit, violates Hopewell Polices general training plan and general orders, and principles of common sense. This 'plan' to take Ms. DeCarlo down was reckless, wanton and showed a conscious disregard for Ms. DeCarlos life, the suit stated. Not the first encounter with her The suit claims that the encounter was the second between the police and Decarlo that morning. Around 2 a.m. on Dec. 18, 2018, it said, Decarlo was stopped by traffic patrol at an unnamed location. The officer who stopped her said he noticed she was sweating profusely and was a known drug user, but a search of her vehicle turned up no weapons. Decarlo was let go, but the suit said the officer threatened to issue a warrant against her later. About nine hours later, Decarlo lay dead in the middle of Elm Street with a bullet wound in her chest. The suit claimed after she was shot, the officer did not attempt any sort of emergency medical attention or call for medical assistance, and might have even kicked Ms. DeCarlo as she lay bleeding in the street. At the request of Hopewell Police, the Virginia State Police took over the investigation. VSP turned over its findings to Hopewell commonwealth's attorney Rick Newman, who subsequently recused himself and asked for the special prosecutor. Another in a long line of cover-ups The lawsuit called Decarlos death just another in a long line of police shootings across our country where Africans Americans are left searching for justice as investigating officers protect their own, e.g., the Blue Wall, instead of fully and fairly investigating 'fellow officers. Quoting data from a 2020 article in The Washington Post, it cited an epidemic of police shooting people of color nationally, stating that while Black people make up around 13% of the U.S. population, almost 23% of people killed by police officers since 2016 were African American. According to data cited by the suit from the online police department tracker policescorecard.org, Hopewell has had three officer-involved killings. The suit claimed List was involved in two of those three killings, Decarlos and one in 2016. In the other one, as reported by The Progress-Index six years ago, List shot and killed a knife-wielding suspect who charged him at the Twin Rivers apartment complex on Winston Churchill Drive in 2016 as he was investigating a disturbance. According to the article, List received the Medal of Valor, the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Polices highest award, for his actions. The Defendant received an award for his first killing, the lawsuit stated. The police department and the city have not commented on the lawsuit. However, in an earlier report by The Progress-Index, police chief Greg Taylor called the grand jurys decision not to indict an important milestone in the case and said it now was time to shift toward healing. At the time of Decarlos shooting, Taylor an almost four-decade veteran of the police department was in his first stint as interim chief in Hopewell. Taylor retired soon after but was brought back on an interim basis earlier this year. He got the job permanently in September. Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI. This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Mother of shooting victim files lawsuit against Hopewell officer This is Mr Blinken 's second trip to Israel in a week US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held talks on Monday in Israel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the escalating conflict with Hamas. It's the top US diplomat's second trip to Israel in just a week. During the meeting, Mr Blinken received an update on the situation on the ground, the State Department said. He reaffirmed his support for Israel to defend itself from Hamas and the willingness of the US to aid the country, the department added. They also discussed US coordination with the UN and regional partners to help provide humanitarian aid to civilians. The meeting comes as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is reaching a critical point, with water, food and medical supplies running low. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement More than 2,700 Palestinians have been killed and 9,700 wounded in Gaza in Israel's retaliatory strikes since the Hamas attacks. Hamas is a Palestinian militant group which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007. More than 1,400 people were killed in Israel when Hamas militants crossed into Israel from the Gaza Strip to attack civilians and soldiers. More on Israel Gaza war At least 30 Americans are among the dead while 13 are still unaccounted for, according to the latest numbers from the US State Department. The missing are thought to have been abducted by Hamas and Mr Blinken discussed with Israeli President Isaac Herzog how they might secure their release. The US has chartered a ship and several flights to evacuate Americans out of Israel to safe nearby locations this week, according to US officials. Last week, Mr Blinken held meetings in Tel Aviv before making several other stops in the region, including to Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. During his tour of Arab countries, Mr Blinken pledged his support for the Israeli government, while arguing that Israel must affirm "shared values for human life and human dignity". President Joe Biden, meanwhile, told CBS News in an interview on Sunday that Hamas should be eliminated. "Israel is going after a group of people who have engaged in barbarism that is as consequential as the Holocaust. And - so I think Israel has to respond," he said, while also promising to supply aid to Israel. The president warned, however, that an Israeli occupation of Gaza would be a "big mistake" and said there should be a "path to a Palestinian state". Mr Biden is also said to be weighing a trip to Israel in the coming days. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a strong supporter of both the environment and American unions, Electrek reported. Thats why she wants to trade in her Tesla Model 3 for a union-made EV. Just one problem: she cant find one. The issue came up in a recent interview on Face The Nation, Electrek revealed. In the clip, AOC speaks about her need for a vehicle with the range to safely travel between Washington, D.C., and Queens, New York, a distance of 240 miles. At the time that she bought her car in 2020, a Tesla was her best option. Teslas five million EVs arent union-made. In fact, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been outspoken against unions, even interfering with unionization efforts, Electrek explained. However, at the time she bought her car, most other EVs werent, either, Electrek said. The only exception that was manufactured in the U.S. was the Chevy Bolt. The Bolt is an outstanding vehicle, Electrek said but with a maximum range of 247 miles and slow charging speeds, it wouldnt have been ideal for AOCs situation. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Today, as she says shes looking into trading in our car now, the selection is only slightly better. While many foreign manufacturers use union labor, in the U.S., aside from the Model 3 and the Bolt, AOC would be limited to the Ford F-150 Lightning, the Hummer EV, the Cadillac Lyriq, or the E-Transit none of which are a good fit for her range needs. The upcoming Chevy Blazer and Equinox could be what AOC is looking for, however, as both reportedly have build options that reach about 300 miles per charge. As her appearance on Face the Nation highlights, AOCs support for union-made electric vehicles is more relevant than ever right now. Recent strikes by the United Auto Workers against major manufacturers have put a spotlight on several issues, not the least of which is the industrys transition to electric vehicles, Electrek explained. Commenters on the Face the Nation YouTube clip were split between accepting her answer and feeling as though she was caught out for making a big non-union purchase. Do as I say, not as I do, said one. Said another, Asked & answered! We need all jobs to be unionized! The simple truth answer is that the Tesla is one sweet ride! said a third. Electric vehicles dont take as many hours of labor to make as gas-powered ones. Union workers are concerned this will mean lower pay and fewer jobs in an industry already feeling the squeeze. The UAW hasnt called to halt the industrys evolution the union has only said that it should be a just transition with fair contracts for the workers. As Electrek pointed out, it needs to happen soon. Otherwise, the companies at the heart of the U.S. auto industry wont be able to provide all the affordable and eco-friendly cars that American buyers are starting to look for. Join our free newsletter for cool news and actionable info that makes it easy to help yourself while helping the planet. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is expected to arrive in Beijing on Oct. 16, in a visit that signals the importance of Chinese economic support for Russia as it wages its war against Ukraine, the Associated Press (AP) reported on Oct. 15. Putin told reporters on Oct. 13 that he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will discuss their nations' deepening economic ties during the Belt and Road Forum. The forum is meant to highlight China's work building infrastructure overseas and its role as a global leader. In September, Moscow confirmed that Putin was planning to attend the forum in his first international trip since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against him over war crimes in Ukraine. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement China has yet to address the ICC's arrest warrant for Putin. Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, told the AP that in Beijing's view, "Russia is a safe neighbor that is friendly" and "a source of cheap raw materials." For Russia, however, "China is its lifeline." Gabuev said that while Russia relies on China to fund its war in Ukraine, a full military alliance is unlikely. There will be no military alliance, but there will be closer military cooperation, more interoperability, more cooperation on projecting force together," Gabuev told the AP. While China has denied providing Russia with military aid for use in Ukraine, U.S. intelligence reports showed that Beijing has exported significant amounts of military equipment and technology by classifying the shipments as "dual-use" goods. Read also: Russia, China and North Korea have new dynamics. And its bad for Ukraine Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Between 20 to 40 House Republicans may vote against House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan's, R-Ohio, speaker bid, a senior Republican lawmaker told CNN. Jordan eked out an internal win from House Republicans on Friday after finishing behind Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., earlier in the week. Scalise won a GOP majority in a caucus vote but elected to withdraw on Thursday after realizing his chances at winning the speakership were fruitless. An unidentified senior Republican told CNN that there could be up to 40 "no" votes if Jordan's bid is put to a floor vote on Tuesday. The approximately 20 Ive talked to know we must be prepared, the Republican said. We cannot let the small group dictate to the whole group. They want a minority of the majority to dictate and as a red-blooded American I refuse to be a victim. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement I know of many hard nos," the lawmaker added. "We cant reward this behavior. We cant let a small group be dictators. Rep. Wily Nickel, D-N.C., told the publication Semafor that Jordan's attempt to secure the speakership will likely "go down in flames." I think theyre going to go down in flames on that because theres just no way that Jim Jordan, with Donald Trumps support, gets to 217 or 218 votes in the House," Nickel said. "Wiley is backing a plan that would temporarily expand McHenrys authority in the House for 15-day increments, and direct him to only bring legislation to the floor that would avoid a government shutdown in November, provide aid to Israel and Ukraine, and deal with the remaining 2024 appropriations bills," Semafor's Kadia Goba reports. "Theyre also asking McHenry be allowed to introduce so-called suspension bills which are allowed to head straight to the House floor 'evenly distributed' between Democratic and Republican priorities, to avoid legislation being held up in the GOP-led Rules Committee." However, another Republican source familiar with the matter indicated that Jordan's chances at winning the election are favorable, asserting that the Ohioan has had constructive chats with other House members. Jordan allies sought to twist the arms of reluctant Republicans over the weekend. Axios reporter Juliegrace Brufke, on Sunday shared an email she was given that showed how a representative from Fox News host Sean Hannity's show asked officials to explain why they weren't in favor of Jordan. "Sources tell Hannity that Rep xxxx is not supporting Rep Jim Jordan for speaker," the correspondence reads. "Can you please let me know if this is accurate? And, if true, Hannity would like to know why during a war breaking out between Israel and Hamas, with the war in Ukraine, with the wide open borders, with a budget that's unfinished why would Rep. xxxx be against Jim Jordan for speaker? Please let us know when Rep xxx plans on opening the People's House so work can be done. Lastly, are there any conditions Rep xxxx will work with Democrats on the process of electing a new speaker? The deadline for comment is 11 AM tomorrow 10/16. Thank you." Moderates are growing increasingly irritated with the tactics Jordan allies are using to pressure them into voting for him, with one member noting the Hannity show has gotten involved in the efforts sending potential defectors the email below. One lawmaker said the push is pic.twitter.com/ulOn0ZEbts Juliegrace Brufke (@juliegraceb) October 15, 2023 Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, is supporting Jordan's bid for speakership but warned on CNN's State of the Union with Jake Tapper, that the "high-pressure campaign" strategy used by other House Republicans who are supporting Jordan could backfire. "What I would really recommend to Jordan's allies too, is a lot of them have mounted this high-pressure campaign," Crenshaw told Tapper on Sunday. "They're going to whip up Twitter against the people who are against Jordan." "That is the dumbest way to support Jordan, and Im supporting Jordan," Crenshaw added. "Im going to vote for Jordan. And as somebody who wants Jim Jordan, the dumbest thing you can do is to continue pissing off those people and entrench them." PHOENIX Federal prosecutors wont file charges against U.S. Border Patrol agents who shot and killed a member of the Tohono Oodham Nation just steps outside his home earlier this year, sparking outrage from the tribe who called the decision a travesty of justice. In a statement released last week, the U.S. Attorneys Office said its employees met with Raymond Mattias family and their lawyers to inform the family of their decision not to prosecute on Sept. 19. Representatives from the U.S. Attorney's Office declined to share substantive details about their investigation into the shooting and did not factually answer why they chose not to prosecute, according to Ryan Stitt, a San Diego-based attorney representing the Mattia family. Going forward, the family has "little choice" but to file a civil lawsuit in order to get answers about what happened to Mattia, Stitt said. "The governments decision to not prosecute the agents involved is not surprising," Stitt said in a written statement. "Law enforcement officers are rarely prosecuted, even for killing unarmed people." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Three Border Patrol agents shot Mattia nine times on May 18 after he lobbed a sheathed machete in front of a Tohono Oodham Nation Police Department officer. Body-camera footage released in June revealed that the agents who fatally shot Mattia were concerned he may have been carrying a firearm but none had been found. Mattia, 58, was shot in the Menagers Dam Village within the Tohono Oodham Nation, about a mile north of the U.S.-Mexico border. Agents and officers involved in deadly use-of-force incidents along the U.S.-Mexico border rarely face charges. The system in place to help victims families seek criminal charges and financial recourse has only become more difficult to navigate in recent years. Raymond Mattia case: What we know about deadly Border Patrol shooting of Arizona tribal member Mattia's family left with unanswered questions During the September meeting, the family wanted to understand why agents and officers fired so many shots at Mattia. Tucson TV station KVOA reported that there were approximately 38 total shots fired. The U.S. Attorney's Office acknowledged that Border Patrol agents made statements to the FBI but refused to reveal details of the statements. The family also had questions about what agencies the shooters worked for. The office further refused to answer the familys questions, stating that the meeting was not the appropriate time. When the family asked about an appropriate time to get the answers, there was no response. The governments response to the familys questions further compounds their grief, Stitt said in a written statement. They are victims of a tragedy and they deserve answers and compassion from the government. Justice Department employees explained to the family that the agents use of force under the facts and circumstances presented in the case does not rise to the level of a federal criminal civil rights violation or a criminal violation under Arizona law, according to Zach Stoebe, public affairs officer with the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Arizona. "We decline to comment more specifically on the meeting between the family and the Department employees: the victims do have an inherent right to speak with the press, and to criticize their government," Stoebe added in a written statement. Tohono Oodham Nation protests decision In a statement Friday, the tribes chair Verlon M. Jose and vice-chair Carla L. Johnson called the U.S. Attorneys decision to not file charges 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," Jose and Johnson said. "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." "There are countless questions left unanswered by this decision. As a result, we cannot and will not accept the U.S. Attorneys decision," they added. The statement said the tribe's executive office will also look at other opportunities to seek justice, including potentially requesting congressional inquiries. What happened on May 18? Mattia had called authorities earlier in the day after migrants had come to his door asking to use his phone. It remains unclear if Mattia called the Border Patrol for assistance. The Tohono Oodham Nation Police Department had requested assistance from Border Patrol to respond to a "shots fired" call west of the community. Agents shot Mattia several times after he took his hand out of his jacket pocket while he was holding something, according to the edited body-camera footage released June 22 by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Agents appeared to believe that Mattia had a gun in his hand in the video as they searched for a gun after shooting him. One agent said Mattia still had a gun in his hand as the agents and officer approached him on the ground. After the shooting, a Border Patrol agent could be heard threatening to shoot Mattia again if he didnt put his hands out as the agent approached him lying motionless face down on the ground. "Put your hands out, bro. Youre gonna get shot again," an agent yelled at Mattia in the video as he was approaching him. Mattias cell phone and case could be seen lying next to him in the video. Despite agents' concerns, no firearm was found. At least 10 Border Patrol agents were present for the shooting alongside one police officer. Contributing: The Associated Press This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Raymond Mattia case: Border Patrol agents not charged in shooting Armenian Church of Our Saviour in Worcester will host its annual fall Armenian Festival, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Oct. 21 in the Armenian Church of Our Saviour Cultural Center at 34 Boynton St., Worcester. The event is free to the public. This years festival will provide an exciting experience and vibrant collection of events, according to Father Tadeos Barseghyan, newly-assigned pastor in July. We look forward to sharing our heritage, faith and culture with the Greater Worcester community, said Father Barseghyan. This years festivities include various presentations, church tour, musical and video productions, handmade souvenirs from Armenia, and of course, delicious food. Jay Kapur, Parish Council Chairman, said the festival for the first time will offer a revised menu of traditional food for eat-in and takeout. Theres variety and affordable a la carte sides, some of them especially geared for families with children, he said. Vegetarian meals, too. Father Barseghyans recipe for authentic Armenian Pork Kebab, marinated with herbs and spices from Armenia, will be featured alongside other specialties, such as grilled Armenian kebab sandwiches; Losh Kebab (Armenian spiced burgers); Lamb, Chicken and Beef Kebabs; Kheyma (Armenian version of steak tartare); Rice Pilaf and Armenian Cabbage Salad. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement On the Bake Table: Lahmajun, wood-fired Armenian meat pizza; Manti, Armenian meat dumplings; Jingyalov Hats, Armenian flatbread stuffed with a variety of greens and herbs (arugula, cilantro, parsley, dill, scallions) Unique to the region Artsakh; Sweet Gata, Armenian-layered sweet pastry; Choreg, Armenian sweet rolls (similar to challah); Cheese Boreg, a flaky puff pastry with cheese filling. Armenian wines (red and white) will be available. Also, Armenian coffee. The pastor recently spent an evening with church volunteers as they prepared Jay Kapurs family recipe for Manti. Kapur said he first made the meat dumplings with his grandmother when he was 10. Many happy memories, he said. Longtime parishioner Rose Aslanian watched as volunteers prepped food. She couldnt recall how many years she had been a festival volunteer, saying she probably started helping out in her 20s. Aslanian will soon turn 90. Festival volunteers provide necessary support and help drive the events success, according to Father Barseghyan. Among volunteers to help serve food will be WPI students, members of the Armenian Student Association at the college, he said. Father Barseghyan shares love of cooking with family and parish, according to Kapur, who said, Father is a terrific cook. The priest explained how his parents, who live in Armenia, keep him supplied with commonly used spices to season his cooking. Some spices are only grown in the mountains of Armenia, he said, admitting hes a home cook who likes spicy food and loves to grill. He and his wife, with their three children, moved from Saint Paul, Minnesota and currently live in Shrewsbury. The family is getting to know their way around Worcester, a city with so much to offer, he said. A few fun facts that will be shared at the festival: Armenian Church of Our Saviour in Worcester is reported to be the first Armenian church in the Western Hemisphere, dating back to 1891. A presentation of the Oldest Discoveries in Armenia includes the archaeology find of the earliest leather shoe (5,500 years old) in an Armenian cave in 2008. The Vayots Dzor region claims to be home to the oldest winery in the world. Evidence of large- scale wine production and the likely domestication of vines was discovered in 2007. The mystery of the Armenian Stonehedge also will be part of a video presentation. Visit https://accos.org, or connect on Facebook for more festival information. We are proud to be part of the rich ethnic Worcester community, said Kapur. The fourth Sunday of every month, Armenian Church of Our Saviours Outreach Ministry makes and delivers sandwiches to Veterans Inc. on Grove Street in Worcester, he said. The church also will host the Acyoa Juniors New England Fall Retreat, Overcoming the Pressures of Life Through Our Faith, on Nov. 11. Food brings people closer through shared experiences, whether trying new foods or cooking together. The Armenian festival is a well-attended cultural celebration. Father Barseghyan said he plans to share a meal with volunteers when the festival ends. He might be surprised when there are no leftovers! This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Cultural favorites on the menu at Armenian Festival The Army has dropped charges in the case of an Army colonel accused of sexual assault, the Armys III Armored Corps confirmed Monday. Col. Jon Meredith, who was relieved as commander of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Cavazos, Texas, in October 2022, was formally charged earlier this year. Meredith was accused of violating UCMJ Articles 120 and 133 abusive sexual contact and conduct unbecoming of an officer, respectively for alleged actions at Fort Cavazos, according to a copy of his charge sheet obtained by Army Times. But last month, III Corps commander Lt. Gen. Sean Bernabe dropped Merediths charge of abusive sexual contact. Now, the charge for conduct unbecoming of an officer has also been dismissed. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Sexual contact charge dismissed for ex-Fort Cavazos brigade commander Based on newly discovered evidence, the III Armored Corps Commanding General withdrew and dismissed the criminal charges against Col. Jon Meredith, III Corps spokesman Brian H. Harris told Military Times. This decision was made in coordination and consultation with the Office of the Special Trial Counsel. It was based on an assessment of multiple factors which guide every commander in deciding the appropriate means of addressing allegations of misconduct. The decision came about due to evidence that emerged in a related Army Criminal Investigation Division probe, Harris said. The prosecution was not aware that this evidence contained any information relevant to the Meredith court-martial, he added. Sherilyn A. Bunn, Merediths attorney, told Task & Purpose that the defense found text messages between the alleged victim and her husband that showed the couple conspiring to make the assault accusation because the womans husband did not like an officer evaluation report from Meredith. Harris said that, while criminal charges have been dropped, prior disciplinary action taken against Meredith stands. The newly discovered evidence was unrelated to the question of whether Col. Meredith engaged in conduct unbecoming an officer, Harris said. While Col. Meredith will no longer face a court-martial for conduct unbecoming an officer, there is still sufficient evidence to support the Commanding General taking appropriate administrative action on the misconduct. PHILADELPHIA (AP) A suspect has been arrested in an airport parking garage shooting that killed a Philadelphia police officer and injured another last week, authorities said. Police have scheduled a Monday afternoon news conference to release further details. Authorities said the two officers had just arrived at work at about 11 p.m. Thursday when they heard breaking glass and saw some people breaking into a parking garage at Philadelphia International Airport. A confrontation ensued, and the two officers and one of the suspects were shot. Fifty-year-old Officer Richard Mendez, who had been on the force for more than two decades, was shot four times and was pronounced dead at a hospital. Officer Raul Ortiz, a 20-year veteran of the force, shot once in his arm, was released from the hospital Saturday. Authorities in Philadelphia have made an arrest after a police officer was shot and killed and a second was wounded while responding to an incident at Philadelphia International Airport. Veteran officers Richard Mendez and Raul Ortiz had confronted two people breaking into a car at the airport before the attack late on Thursday. Both officers were taken to hospitals, but Mendez who was shot multiple times was pronounced dead about 30 minutes later. Ortiz who was shot once in the arm was released from hospital on Saturday. More follows Australia has fined X (formerly Twitter) for failing to answer all its questions about child exploitation. The countrys government levied a penalty of AUD 610,500 (around $387,000) for the Elon Musk-owned companys non-compliance with a national law requiring social platforms to disclose how theyre combating online child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Companies can make empty statements like Child exploitation is our top priority, so what were saying is show us, Julie Inman Grant, Australias eSafety Commissioner, told The New York Times in an interview. This is important not only in terms of deterrence in the types of defiance we are seeing from the companies but because this information is in the public interest. Australian officials said neither X nor Google fully complied with the questions. While Google received a formal warning for giving generic or aggregated information across multiple services where information regarding specific services was required, Xs violation was more serious. Inman Grant said X failed to reply adequately to questions while leaving other boxes blank. In other instances, Twitter provided a response that was otherwise incomplete or inaccurate, she wrote. X CEO Linda Yaccarino (Jerod Harris via Getty Images) The official says her department sent a notice to X (then Twitter) on February 22, asking it to fulfill its report by answering mandatory questions; she gave the company 35 days to reply. The company responded on March 29. Inman Grant wrote that she identified 14 questions (including sub-questions) where the firm failed to provide the required info. Her office sent follow-up questions on April 6. Musks company responded on May 5, leading Inman Grant to conclude the company had held back info in its initial response. She wrote, It is evident from many of X Corp.s subsequent responses that it held information required by the Notice and was capable of providing that information at first instance. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Inman Grant wrote that the nation can seek civil penalties through the courts if X doesnt pay the fine. And more compliance tools are on the way. We also have more powerful systemic tools coming online next year in the form of industry codes and standards which will ensure companies are living up to their responsibilities to protect children, she wrote. As highlighted by The NYT, X told the Australian regulators, Children are not our target customer, and our service is not overwhelmingly used by children. However, CEO Linda Yaccarino recently said in a forum that Gen Z was the platforms fastest-growing demographic, with 200 million unique monthly visitors among teens and young adults in their 20s. By Alasdair Pal SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday he accepted his share of blame for the failure of a referendum question on Indigenous recognition that could weaken his authority. More than 60% of Australians voted "No" in the landmark referendum on Saturday that asked whether to alter the constitution to recognise the country's Indigenous peoples, and create an advisory body that would have advised parliament on matters concerning the community. Albanese staked significant political capital on a "Yes" vote, pushing ahead despite the opposition Liberal party opposing it. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Only eight of 45 referenda have been successful in Australia's history as a nation, none without bipartisan support. He faced Liberal leader Peter Dutton during parliamentary question time on Monday for the first time since the referendum failure. "We know that referendums are hard, that is why only eight of 45 have passed," Albanese said. "I certainly accept responsibility for the decisions that I have taken." Dutton, who had backed a second referendum solely on recognising Indigenous people in the constitution, appeared to row back on the pledge on Monday, saying there would be no appetite for a second vote "for some time". Albanese still leads Dutton as the country's preferred leader, and the governing Labor party is polling above the level at which it won power in the May 2022 election, regaining ground on the eve of the referendum. Political analysts have said the unpopularity of the referendum has not yet shown a significant adverse impact for Labor in polls. The referendum outcome is seen as a major setback for reconciliation efforts with the country's Indigenous community and risks damaging Australia's image in the world regarding how it treats people in that community. "The damage from Saturday's vote will be extreme," an editorial in the Sydney Morning Herald said on Monday. "This will set back the cause of reconciliation, despite what politicians are saying." The country's main business newspaper, the Australian Financial Review, called the result "heartbreaking" for the country's Indigenous community, who make up about 3.8% of the population and have suffered from centuries of neglect and discrimination since colonisation by Great Britain in 1788. Remote areas dominated by Indigenous communities voted strongly in favour of the referendum question, Albanese said, in contrast to the rest of the country. (Reporting by Alasdair Pal in Sydney; additional reporting by Kirsty Needham. Editing by Stephen Coates and Gerry Doyle) Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev raised the flag of Azerbaijan in front of the presidential palace in Khankendi (known by Armenians as Stepanakert), the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, on Oct. 15, the president's office reported. "Today, all the people of Azerbaijan are genuinely rejoicing," he said in a speech in front of the presidential palace formerly used by the Armenian authorities that de-facto ruled Nagorno-Karabakh for more than 30 years. Aliyev also visited a number of other towns and cities in the recently re-captured territory in Nagorno-Karabakh and raised the Azerbaijani flag. On Sept. 20, Nagorno-Karabakh authorities capitulated to Azerbaijani forces after a lightning offensive on Sept. 19 left them with no choice but to cease hostilities." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement One week later, the president of the self-declared Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Samvel Shakhramanyan, signed a decree on Sept. 28 dissolving all official institutions of the breakaway state from Jan. 1, 2024. After Nagorno-Karabakh's surrender, around 100,000 Armenians, the majority of the population, left the region for Armenia. Azerbaijan fought against ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh and forces from the Republic of Armenia from 1988-1994. The war ended in an Armenian victory and the creation of the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh Republic within the territory of Azerbaijan that is recognized by international law. In 2020, Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a war in which the latter's forces successfully reclaimed a large portion of the territory before a ceasefire was mediated by Moscow, which sent a "peacekeeping" force of several thousand Russian troops to the region. In the following years, tensions did not subside, with Azerbaijan blockading the Lachin corridor, the only road connecting Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, leading to a humanitarian crisis widely condemned by UN member states and international organizations. The situation culminated in Azerbaijans 24-hour successful offensive on Sept. 19, 2023. Read also: Russias peacekeeper act crumbles as Azerbaijan overwhelms Nagorno-Karabakh Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. SPRING VALLEY, Calif. A stabbing suspect was arrested after barricading himself inside a Spring Valley motel room on Monday, prompting a five-hour SWAT standoff. Roger Bell, 38, was booked on multiple charges including assault with a deadly weapon and false imprisonment, Detective Guadalupe Catano with the San Diego County Sheriffs Department. A stabbing suspect involved in a SWAT standoff is facing multiple charges including assault with a deadly weapon and false imprisonment, (San Diego County Sheriffs Department) A stabbing suspect involved in a SWAT standoff is facing multiple charges including assault with a deadly weapon and false imprisonment, (San Diego County Sheriffs Department) Around 11 a.m., authorities received a call about a stabbing at Crown Inn & Suites in the 9600 block of Campo Road, San Diego County Sheriffs Department said to FOX 5. When law enforcement arrived, a man was found with an injured hand was taken to a hospital, SDSO said on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter. The victim told authorities he was stabbed in the hand with a 10-inch knife by a roommate. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The victim and a friend were reportedly threatened with a gun and held against their will by the suspect for two hours, Catano said. Eventually, the men were able to escape the motel room and call 9-1-1. The stabbing victim was taken to a hospital, where he is expected to be okay. Female migrant dies after crossing the border in California Deputies surrounded the motel and attempted to contact the suspect with multiple phone calls and announcements, but the man refused, according to authorities. Authorities announced in another post several hours later that suspect was arrested without incident just after 4 p.m. The Chula Vista Police Departments SWAT team and the SDSO Crisis Negotiation Team were also at the scene. During the standoff, authorities had motel guests stay in their rooms and closed Campo Road at Hollyhock Lane, Rogers Road and Kenwood Drive and the state Route 94 on-ramp from Kenwood Drive. All roads have since been reopened. Investigators obtained a search warrant, finding three handguns and numerous parts and tools to build AR-15 rifles, Catano said. Authorities did not immediately know the relationship between the suspect and the victim, or what led up to the stabbing. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego. The claim: Israel defense minister announced Israel has abolished all the rules of war An Oct. 10 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) claims an Israeli government official made a stark comment amid the Israel-Hamas war. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant: The Israeli army is launching a full-scale offensive on the Gaza Strip, reads the post. We have abolished all the rules of war. Our soldiers will not be held accountable for anything. There will be no military courts. It was shared more than 40 times in four days. Other versions of the claim accumulated thousands of additional shares across Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Fact check roundup: Israel-Hamas war sparks many misleading claims online. Here's what's true and false. Follow us on Facebook! Like our page to get updates throughout the day on our latest debunks Our rating: False There is no evidence Gallant said this. Versions of the claim reference Gallant's message to Israeli troops along the Gaza border, but media accounts of those remarks include no mention of abolishing the rules of war. Gallant's remarks describe 'full offense' amid Hamas war, not ignoring rules of war Some versions of the claim include a lengthier quotation attributed to Gallant. It says Israel is moving to a full offense and Hamas wanted a change in Gaza, it will change 180 degrees from what it thought. Those comments roughly match Gallants message to troops along the Gaza border on Oct. 10, as reported by the Times of Israel. He says: There is no reference to Israel abandoning the rules of war in the remarks. Though some versions of the claim attributed the supposed quote to Russian state-owned news agency Sputnik, there is no such quotation in any of the outlets articles on Gallant. Fact check: Historic Gaza church open for services, undamaged by Israeli airstrikes Both Israel and Hamas have been criticized for possible violations of the rules of war, including killing civilians and taking them as hostages, Reuters reported. Israel has also been criticized for preventing food, water, medicine and fuel from entering Gaza following Hamas Oct. 7 attack. A United Nations commission said it has been collecting and preserving evidence of war crimes committed by all sides, the Associated Press reported. President Joe Biden has also urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to observe the rules of war in retaliating against Hamas, according to outlets including CNN, the Hill and PBS. USA TODAY has debunked an array of false claims about the Israel-Hamas war, including that a video showed Russian President Vladimir Putin warning the U.S. to not interfere in the conflict, that the Department of Defense evacuated the U.S. embassy in Beirut and told Americans to leave Lebanon immediately and that a video shows Israel fabricating a childs injuries. USA TODAY reached out to several users who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response. Lead Stories also debunked the claim. Our fact-check sources: Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or e-newspaper here. Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No basis for claim Israel said it abolished rules of war | Fact check Finding votes in Louisville can be an uphill climb for Republicans. But party officials backing Attorney General Daniel Cameron in his run for governor believe Jefferson County could actually be the spot that helps swing the election in his favor. As the South End goes, so goes this election on Nov. 7, Cameron told attendees late last month at a campaign event in Fairdale. No one is expecting all of Jefferson County to flip to red on Election Day, when Cameron faces off with incumbent Gov. Andy Beshear . Beshear, a Democrat who also served as attorney general, won Louisville by nearly 99,000 votes in the 2019 race against then-Gov. Matt Bevin . ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement And the city put another Democrat in the mayors office less than a year ago, with about 52% of voters propelling political newcomer Craig Greenberg over GOP challenger Bill Dieruf. But some Cameron supporters believe small gains in some red-leaning parts of Jefferson County could help sink Beshear and put a Republican back in the governors office. Beshears margin of victory was just 5,136 votes when he won the race against Bevin, a uniquely unpopular GOP figure in a state with a Republican supermajority in the legislature. And Cameron is the first to note he landed over 100,000 more votes than Beshear that same fall as he ran for attorney general. Everything measures up in our favor, Cameron told the crowd in Fairdale, pointing toward voter registration trends. Cameron isn't the only Kentucky Republican who sees a path forward in the city. Don Fitzpatrick, chairman of the Jefferson County Republican Party, told rally attendees if Beshear is held to no more than 70,000 votes in Jefferson County, the Democrat's time in office will end after one term. But with Beshear holding a significant lead in most statewide polls, questions remain with the election less than a month away. Reasons for Cameron optimism When discussing Cameron vs. Beshear, local GOP supporters are quick to point out their gains last year in the state House of Representatives. Republicans flipped three Louisville seats from blue to red, including two in southwestern Jefferson County. And in that mayor's race: While ultimately losing to Greenberg, Dieruf, a Republican who had served as Jeffersontowns mayor for a dozen years, did land 46% of the vote, outperforming his opponent in most precincts in the South End and along the countys eastern edge. Dan Seum Jr., who represents Fairdale in Metro Council after defeating Democrat incumbent Mark Fox in last year's election, told local voters those results show Republicans are in a position to swing another election this fall. "I want you to think of Charlie Daniels words the south is going to do it again," Seum said at last months rally. "... We're going to flip this seat, and we're going to put (Cameron) in the governor's seat." Dieruf said South End voters concerned about a lack of investment in their area have shown theyre more inclined to support new leadership. The reason why the southwest did bring so many votes for the Republican mayor is because they feel like they've been neglected and promised for so many years, Dieruf said. Theyre also looking to Frankfort for a change, because they still havent gotten anything out of Frankfort with all the economic development in the state. University of Louisville political science professor Dewey Clayton said Cameron has a key factor working in his favor he isnt Bevin. The former Republican governor had "alienated practically everybody and specifically teachers of all parties" by the time he was up for reelection in 2019, Clayton said. Those teachers turned out on Election Day, and Jefferson County Public Schools alone employs 6,735 teachers. "That was a big help for Beshear, because they mobilized, and they turned Bevin out, as well," Clayton said. "I don't think that type of animus exists toward Cameron." Hard-line abortion stance and the Breonna Taylor case Still, Clayton said Camerons push into divisive social issues could alienate more moderate voters. The areas where the Louisville GOP won last year arent overwhelmingly red on paper. Just 39.5% of voters in the three House districts won by the party last year are registered Republicans. The "unapologetically pro-life" candidate has waffled at times on his stance about adding exceptions for rape and incest to current state law restricting abortion under almost all circumstances. More than 70% of Jefferson County voters last November were against a proposed amendment to eliminate the right to abortion from the constitution. Cameron's abortion position may play well in some parts of the state, Clayton said, but it could backfire with voters around Kentuckys largest city. "His stance on so many issues and particularly his sort of culture war, playing that so hard that might actually motivate people who may have just kind of skipped it to say, 'No, this is too important for us to skip. We need to get out here and make sure Beshear gets the turnout he needs in Jefferson County,'" Clayton said. And then theres the Breonna Taylor case, which made Cameron a household name in 2020. The case exploded in Camerons first year as attorney general, with months of protests calling for action against the Louisville Metro Police officers who fired their weapons at Taylors apartment the night she was killed. Although it's been more than three years since he announced just one officer would be indicted (Brett Hankison was accused and later acquitted on wanton endangerment charges over bullets that entered a neighbors apartment), he still frequently faces criticism over his handling of the case. Clayton said while it hasnt been a central point of Beshears campaign, local voters haven't forgotten, especially after the U.S. Department of Justice filed federal charges against Hankison and three other LMPD officers. "The way he handled it, I think a lot of people felt that was heavy handed and was not really a fair and appropriate process," the professor said. "And subsequent to that, the Feds had to come in and actually file charges. That was a clear sign that it probably wasn't handled as effectively or efficiently as it should have been." Cameron has repeatedly called Taylors death a tragedy but has argued he followed the law. And the effect of the case on Jefferson County voters three years later remains to be seen. Rachel Roarx, a South End Democrat elected to the legislature last year to represent District 38, said while many people south of downtown Louisville followed developments in 2020 and beyond, the case and related protests didnt have a daily effect on the area like it did in other parts of Jefferson County. In some ways, its probably not on the top of the southwest Jefferson County voters mind, she said. Now, for some households, I would say that probably is one of the issues they would point to for why they made a decision, but overwhelmingly from the masses out here, its not talked about in great volume. Dieruf believes voters who arent backing Cameron due to the Taylor case probably didnt support him in the first place. His handling of the case, he added, may have helped him shore up support in the law enforcement community the Kentucky State Fraternal Order of Police, which endorsed Beshear in 2019, is backing Cameron this year. "I dont think hes lost a voting bloc. I think hes strengthened the voting bloc he has," Dieruf said. Issues for Louisville's South End voters Roarx isn't on the ballot this year, but the lifelong South End resident has spent recent months campaigning in her district for Beshear. Democrats have traditionally had a strong foothold in the South End, she said, but shes seen a change over the years as voters have strayed from straight tickets to voting based on the person. She credits her win to knocking on doors and showing up for my community in a way that they wanted to be showed. She said South Enders "want you to earn their vote. They want you to be present. They want to feel like they have a connection with you and that you're responsive." The U.S. Census reports Black residents make up 23.2% of the citys total population, but that figure is significantly lower in most South End neighborhoods, which tend to have a higher white population. Clayton said despite Camerons status as the states first Black attorney general, he expects the citys African American population to vote overwhelmingly for Beshear, based on not simply because hes a Republican but based on his stance on a lot of the issues, and particularly the Breonna Taylor incident. Cameron's supporters say finding common ground with voters who may be undecided between the two candidates is critical. Emily Callaway, a Jefferson County Republican who won a seat in the state House last year, said shes found voters on both sides of the aisle most concerned about "allowing boys in girls' locker rooms, boys in girls' restrooms" during her time canvassing in the South End an issue Cameron has put at the center of his campaign, and one she believes will resonate in the upcoming election. "When I was on porches, that was a problem for almost everyone I met. Whether they wave a blue flag, a red flag or a purple flag those three flags they were not OK with their granddaughter or their daughter walking into a locker room and being exposed to boys," Callaway told attendees at the Fairdale rally in September. "... That is a common ground we can find with our neighbor next door who may be on the fence." Roarx said shes seen her share of voters concerned about the buzz topics of the year. But the No. 1 issue in the South End that people want to hear you talk about is public safety, she said. No. 2 would be economic development. Those are things that people here really care about. Roarx won her race last year by 376 votes. She knows turnout can make all the difference on Election Day. Your vote absolutely matters. Theres so many people who dont feel like it does anymore, she said. Jefferson County could very easily decide this election. We all know that. Its really important that Jefferson County shows up and votes this election. Correction: An earlier version of this story included an incorrect figure for the percentage of Black residents living in Louisville. Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com. This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Daniel Cameron looks to south Louisville for votes vs. Andy Beshear The BBC issued an apology for the way it characterized demonstrations supporting Palestinians amid the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel. Earlier we reported on some of the pro-Palestinian demonstrations at the weekend, Maryam Moshiri , the chief presenter at BBC News, wrote in a statement posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. We spoke about several demonstrations across Britain during which people voiced their backing for Hamas. We accept this was poorly phrased and was a misleading description of the demonstrations. The apology was also read on the BBCs air live Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Since the attack on Israel carried out by Hamas last weekend, news organizations have deployed dozens of journalists to the region to cover the breaking news of the daily shelling and fighting between the two sides. Hundreds of Israelis were killed in the initial attack by Hamas militants, who stormed a music festival and border villages. Hundreds of Palestinians, including civilians, have since been killed by intense Israeli retaliatory airstrikes. The violence has sparked public demonstrations across the world, some in support of Palestine or Israel, and others calling for peace, as well as controversies over how public institutions like universities respond to the crisis. News organizations have also grappled with the complicated dynamics involved in covering the fallout from the violence, and concerns about the bloodshed that lies ahead. In an essay last week, a top editor at the BBC defended the outlets use of the word militant instead of terrorist to describe Hamas, which the U.S. government has for years designated as a terrorist organization. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Prime Minister of Belize Juan Antonio "Johnny" Briceno meets with reporters during the World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) High-Level Event "Nature and People: Ambition to Action" in New York (Zak BENNETT) When Covid hit Belize, its economy nosedived: closed borders meant fisheries and farmers had no export markets, and tourism centered on the tiny Central American nation's warm waters and wonders of biodiversity came to a halt. "We lost approximately 14 percent of GDP," Prime Minister John Antonio Briceno told AFP in an interview. Nearly a third of the workforce of the country's 400,000 people were unemployed and there wasn't enough money "to keep the lights on," let alone maintain onerous debt repayments. Then came a lifeline: environmental nonprofit The Nature Conservancy (TNC) offered to lend Belize money to pay off creditors if it promised to put part of the savings into marine protection. So-called "debt-for-nature-swaps" are being hailed as an innovative financial tool for preserving ecosystems from climate change and overexploitation, even as critics warn their generosity is overstated and they are far from a cure-all. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Finalized in November 2021, a year after Briceno took office, the deal involved TNC buying back a $553 million "superbond" which held the government's entire commercial debt, negotiating a discount of 45 percent. This was converted into a $364 million loan "blue bonds" in a sale arranged by Credit Suisse, unlocking $180 million for marine conservation over 20 years. "For us, it was a win-win, it gave us a breather," said Briceno. Notably, the buyback reduced the country's debt-to-GDP ratio by more than 10 percent. - Old idea, bigger scale - Belize's coastline is home to the largest barrier reef in the northern hemisphere, providing significant habitat for threatened species including manatees, turtles and crocodiles. But warming oceans from climate change, excessive fishing, and coastal development all pose major challenges. Under the terms of the deal, Belize agreed to expand protection to 30 percent of its territorial waters, and spend $4.2 million annually on marine conservation. Since then, TNC signed similar agreements with Barbados and Gabon. Ecuador negotiated the biggest swap of all in May, reducing its debt obligations by about $1.1 billion to benefit the Galapagos Islands under an arrangement overseen by Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy Project. Slav Gatchev, managing director of sustainable debt at TNC, told AFP that although the first debt-for-nature swaps happened in the 1980s, now they operate at a far larger scale. "A third of the outstanding commercial debt to lower and middle income countries is in some form of distress," he said, meaning environmental ministry budgets are stretched and it's hard for governments to invest in nature. He sees an opportunity to refinance up to $1 trillion of the commercial and bilateral debt, in turn generating $250 billion for climate and nature. - Paper parks? - Andre Standing, a researcher for groups including the Coalition for Fair Fisheries Arrangements, told AFP the Belize deal was only possible because the country was about to default and it was therefore better for creditors to accept a lump sum -- rather than the altruistic act it was portrayed as by some. Moreover, he added, such deals do nothing to address the debt crisis plaguing developing countries. "That's true, but it's not intended to," Esteban Brenes, who leads conservation finance for the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), which is also looking to organize new debt swaps, told AFP. "We're going to take a piece of the debt and use some proceeds for something better, but by no means are we going to solve the big problem," he said. Another concern has been that countries might agree to lofty commitments to secure concessions but then fall to "paper park syndrome" where protections exist only in theory. But Gatchev said the commitments are legally binding and governments could incur fees for breaking them. "Our reputation as the world's largest conservation organization is on the line here, and we have no incentive to sugarcoat lack of compliance," he stressed. Briceno, for his part, said the high-profile deal had increased environmental consciousness among his people, who were now quick to report illegal mangrove dredging, for instance. The debt restructure was "a very good start," he continued, but his country needed far more assistance from the Global North. "Developed countries destroyed their environment to be able to have development: high-rises, big vehicles, nice fancy homes," said Briceno. "Now we want the same and you're telling us 'we can't afford you to destroy what we have destroyed' -- then pay us." ia/st The untimely deaths of a prominent heart doctor and his wife in a car crash Friday night have left the Fresno community in shock. Dr. Alfred Valles, 50, and Selina Valles, 46, were killed at 9:30 p.m. Friday when they were traveling north on Friant Road and crashed into a tree in the middle divider of Friant near Rice Road, north of Champlain Drive. Police confirmed Monday the vehicle involved was a Tesla. At the scene Friday night, police said the Valles were traveling at a high rate of speed and that a small fire was sparked near the site; it was extinguished quickly by the fire department. The Valles were pronounced dead at the scene, according to authorities. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Alfred Valles had worked at St. Agnes Medical Center in Fresno since 2012 while Selina Valles was a real estate agent for London Properties in Fresno. St. Agnes on Saturday sent a memo to staff informing them of the incident, noting that Valles a Kerman High School and Fresno State graduate before going on to medical school was loved by many: A Central Valley native, Dr. Valles was regarded by nurses and colleagues as a kind, compassionate and exceptionally intelligent physician. He constantly encouraged others to strive for perfection and continuous improvement, and always engaged with his patients care teams. Dr. Usman Javed worked alongside Valles for the past 12 years. Javed said he was stunned when he heard the news about his friend and his wife. Fred was just this amazing individual, he said. I just had this utmost respect for this guy because, not only that hes a colleague as an associate of the same practice but its just his work ethics, his caring for the patients in general and just like his availability for everybody, whether its for his patients, for colleagues alike. Hes one of those you could reach out to at any time and he would be really a selfless guy who wanted to do the best for everybody. Cardiac surgeon Dr. Peter Birnbaum also worked closely with Valles. Birnbaum described his friend as an exceptional doctor. So beloved by his patients, he said. So highly regarded and respected by his colleagues. Hes going to be deeply missed and the whole medical community will grieve his loss. Valles was named Saint Agnes Champion in Care in 2019 after demonstrating a team spirit and a desire to work collaboratively with Saint Agnes nurses and clinical staff, the hospital said. He established the Saint Agnes Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement program in 2016, the hospital said. Valles was board certified in internal medicine and cardiovascular disease and was practicing with The Heart Group, a prominent cardiology group in the Central Valley. Our thoughts go out to the Valles family and friends during this difficult time, the hospital wrote. We ask that you join us in praying for the Valles family and all those affected by the crash. The Valles family has requested privacy at this time. As additional details are shared, we will be sure to communicate. Neurologist Dr. Alan Birnbaum called the death of Valles an immense loss. Birnbaum shared a time when Valles stepped in to help after another doctor had to drop out of a symposium. Very short notice, he said. Came in and gave an excellent talk on the role of atrial fibrillation and its relationship to stroke management. Highly respected, very empathetic. Ive had a number of my own family and close relatives who have become his patients. Were really going to miss him. Longtime patient remembers Dr. Valles A patient who didnt want to be identified said Valles looked out for his patients, especially when they needed extra care. He was taken by surprise when Valles told him he needed to go to Stanford for a heart transplant. I didnt even know I had anything wrong with me, the man said. I thought I would just go in for a routine angiogram-type thing. The patient was taken to Stanford the next morning and had surgery and recovered. Hes so knowledgeable, he said. Going to miss him. Im sure that everybody that works with him is going to miss him, and his patients are going to miss him. Others took to social media to remember Valles. London Properties remembers Selina Valles London Properties president Patrick Conner said Selina Valles was a light and a joy. Valles was with the company for the past four years, Conner said. She always had a smile and always had a positive attitude, he said. She had just so many strengths. She was positive and enjoyable to be around and she was also extremely thorough and dedicated to her work. She just had a real knack of both being personable and being thorough and conscientious with her paperwork. Services are pending. Disney is celebrating its 100-year anniversary with a special auction to support the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The auction will include fashion, art and music pieces created by some of the worlds biggest stars. Beyonces Black Is King Catsuit is available at the auction, along with a 6-foot Mickey Mouse Sculpture donated from Virgil Abloh Securities design firm, a Lilo and Stitch-inspired record cover, a life-size Yoda sculpture by NIGO and more items. 100 years of storytelling, 100 special contributions by renowned creative visionaries, Disney states on the auctions page. For 100 years, Disney stories have inspired creators, influenced pop culture and connected generations across the world. To mark its 100th anniversary, Disney invited world-renowned creative visionaries across fashion, film, music and art, to make special contributions inspired by their personal connection to Disneys stories and characters. Each participant could also nominate an emerging talent representing the future of creativity to be part of the program. The auction will be held in 18 countries from Oct. 12- Oct. 30, Disney said in a statement to Blavity. The company also announced that its donating $1 million to Make-A-Wish. Disney, which has been partnering with Make-A-Wish for more than 40 years, said the two partners have been granting wishes for more than 150,000 children with critical illnesses worldwide. The life-changing wishes include shopping sprees, studio visits, theme park and resort vacations, cruises, talent meet-and-greets, sports-themed experiences and more, the company stated. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Beyonces catsuit, taken from her Black is King musical film, is selling at the auction with a starting price of $1,500. The auction also includes a Tommy Hilfiger-inspired polo gown donated by artist Clarence Ruth. Its a true honor to be a part of this remarkable celebration, which embodies the essence of blessing, inspiring, and supporting others, Ruth wrote on Instagram. The influence of iconic brands like @disney and @tommyhilfiger has been a continuous source of inspiration, empowering me to foster ambitious dreams. These brands have played a pivotal role in shaping my vision. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Clarence Ruth (@clarenceruth) Check out a partial item list below: Black is King catsuit, worn by Beyonce CACTUS BUDDY! GOOFY FAN CLUB sculpted artwork by CACTUS PLANT FLEA MARKET Un Nino En La Tierra Del Olvido jacket by Carlos Vives and Gusi Portrait of Kate Moss inspired by Disneys Tinker Bell by David Downton by Charlotte Tilbury The Sea Queen Shoe by Christian Louboutin Disney Mickey Mouse [Archival] Sweatshirt by Marc Jacobs Portrait inspired by Mufasa from Disneys The Lion King by Meji Alabi and Mayowa Alabi Life-size hariko papier-mache YODA by NIGO The Pink PP Hulk by Pierpaolo Piccioli, Valentino Creative Director NAMASTE MICKEY by Sabyasachi Mukherjee The Boy and the Bird wearable crystal sculpture by SCHIAPERLLI BY Daniel Roseberry Together Forever painted oil guitar by Sebastian Yatra and Roberta Lobeira Disney x TH Varsity Jacket by TOMMY HILFIGER For Arts Sake archival inkjet print of a collage of Mickey Mouse by Vik Muniz Structural Sorcerer- a Sorcerers Apprentice Mickey sculpture commissioned by Disney and designed by Virgil Abloh Securities design firm, ALASKA ALASKA And many more The Biden administration said the construction of a road that would be expected to facilitate mining operations in Alaska would impact more tribal communities than previously thought. The administration on Friday afternoon issued a supplemental draft environmental review of the project, known as the Ambler Road, that was approved during the Trump administration. The draft review found 66 communities that could be impacted, while the Trump administration identified 27, the Biden administration said in a press release. These communities include those that depend on local caribou and fish, and almost all of them are associated with a tribe. The latest draft includes additional data and analysis informed by robust Tribal consultation and cooperation, on-the-ground perspectives, and public input, said Steve Cohn, Alaska State Director for the federal Bureau of Land Management. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The road in question would run through the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, a currently pristine and roadless location. According to the National Park Service, it contains rugged peaks, glaciated arctic valleys, wild and scenic rivers, and many lakes as well as forests, caribou, wolves, grizzly bears and black bears. The road would seek to connect the Ambler Mining District in northwest Alaska and the Dalton Highway. When it approved the project in 2020, the Trump administration cited the potential for the road to provide access to areas with significant copper and cobalt deposits. These minerals are used in various clean energy technologies. The International Energy Agency has projected meeting the Paris Agreements goals could increase demand for copper and rare earth elements by more than 40 percent and nickel and cobalt demand by 60 percent to 70 percent. The draft assessment did not say whether the Biden administration was planning to ultimately block the road or allow it to move forward. But it is yet another choice Democrats face on mining, weighing environmental impacts and the potential for extraction of minerals that could be used in renewable energy. At least one environmental group urged the administration to block the project. You cant bulldoze through millions of acres of wilderness, migration routes, rivers and a national park without causing major destruction. The Biden administration should revoke the permits for this harmful road and keep Alaskas wild places intact, said Cooper Freeman, Alaska representative at the Center for Biological Diversity, in a written statement. The draft environmental review comes after the Biden administration indicated last year that it wanted to take a second look at the project, citing significant deficiencies in Trump-era analysis. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The Biden administration reached a settlement Monday in a class-action suit filed against the federal government in 2018 over the separation of families at the southwest border between 2017 and 2021. The Justice Department (DOJ) announced its proposed settlement agreement, which will codify and strictly limit the cases in which federal officials can separate families in immigration proceedings. The practice of separating families at the southwest border was shameful, Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. This agreement will facilitate the reunification of separated families and provide them with critical services to aid in their recovery. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Under the settlement, family separations will essentially be banned for the next eight years, with exceptions for national security, safety of the child, medical emergencies and some criminal warrants. The settlement will also provide mental health, medical and housing assistance to affected families, as well as legal immigration services. This agreement helps family members reunify with their loved ones in the United States and receive services to help them address the trauma they have suffered, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement. The agreement will also allow eligible family members to remain in the United States. As part of the agreement, the government has agreed to extend the ongoing parole processes for class members that allow them to reunify with their separated parent or legal guardian or child in the United States. The settlement will also give certain additional family members an opportunity to live with the unified parent or legal guardian and child in the United States, an administration official said. The plaintiffs had sought financial compensation from the government, but the Biden administration has resisted that claim, which is not part of the settlement agreed to Monday. When we brought this lawsuit, no one thought it would involve thousands of children, take us to so many countries searching for families, or last for years. While no one would ever claim that this settlement can wholly fix the harm intentionally caused to these little children, it is an essential beginning, said Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Unions Immigrants Rights Project and lead attorney in the lawsuit. The settlement must be approved by U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw of the Southern District of California before going into effect. Administration officials lauded the agreement between the government and plaintiffs in the case known as Ms. L, while censuring the Trump administration for its zero-tolerance policy that led to family separations. The Justice Department, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Health and Human Services have been leading the effort to reunify families separated by officials in 2017. The settlement agreed upon today is the culmination of three years of negotiation efforts and is a key milestone and the efforts of the DHS-led family reunification task force, a senior administration official told reporters on a call Monday. It reflects the Biden-Harris administrations unwavering commitment to reunify families who suffered because of the prior administrations cruel and inhumane policy and our steadfast adherence to our nations most dearly held values. Former President Trumps zero-tolerance policy was spearheaded by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions early in the Trump presidency, but it was blocked by courts amid widespread condemnation of the forced family separations. Under Sessionss vision, adult migrants including asylum seekers who crossed the border without permission were criminally prosecuted and forcibly separated from any minors they were accompanying. The agreement has the dual purpose of setting bureaucratic guardrails against any future administrations potential attempts to recreate the Trump-era policy and to speed up the reunification of families. There are still many families that remain separated. We have been working to conduct outreach and inform the remaining families of the options that they have and the services available to them. So far, weve contacted approximately 1,300 families, an administration official said. Were hopeful that with this agreement going forward that the word will get out and well be able to reach more families and begin that reunification process. Among the 4,000 children identified by the departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Health and Human services were 290 U.S. citizen children separated from their parents who had not previously been identified. But not all families have come forward to request reunification, and federal officials are allowing individuals to set the pace. The settlement comes after years of negotiations backed by civil society groups ranging from human rights advocates to medical organizations. We also recognize the important work of non-governmental organizations that have stood by the families and continue to support their reunification, Mayorkas said. Our partnership is unified in condemning the cruelty of the past. The Department of Homeland Security has taken steps to ensure that the prior practice of separating families does not happen again, and we are continuing the work of reuniting children with their parents. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. People who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border are held at a border patrol processing center located below the Eagle Pass International Bridge in Eagle Pass, Texas. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times) Government policies that cause widespread separation of migrant children from their parents would be banned under a proposed legal settlement filed Monday by the Biden administration and American Civil Liberties Union. If approved by a judge, the settlement, filed after three years of negotiation in federal court for the Southern District of California, would prevent the federal government from using prosecutions of adults who enter the U.S. illegally to separate them from their children. Under former President Trump's so-called zero tolerance policy, the government regularly prosecuted and jailed migrant parents who crossed the border without authorization. Because children couldn't go to jail with their parents while their parents awaited trial, federal officials placed the children in federal custody or with foster families. From May 5 to June 20, 2018, more than 3,000 children were forcibly separated from their parents, many of whom were ultimately deported. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The practice of separating families at the southwest border was shameful, said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. This agreement will facilitate the reunification of separated families and provide them with critical services to aid in their recovery. The ACLU said that under the proposed settlement, people who were separated from their families would qualify for lawful entry and three-year, renewable work permits, and housing, health and legal services benefits. They would be able to apply for asylum, regardless of previous denials, and wouldn't be subject to the usual one-year application deadline. Future separations would be allowed only in cases of abuse or if the parent has committed serious crimes, according to the ACLU. Separations would also have to be documented in a database shared among government agencies, and family members' attorneys would have to be notified quickly and allowed to challenge the separations. Monday's agreement expands the number of people covered by the lawsuit currently about 3,900 children by at least 500 to cover the entire four years of the Trump administration, according to the ACLU. Also included are adults who can prove they were the child's legal guardian, as well as non-citizen parents who were separated from their U.S. citizen children. The agreement creates an appeal process for hundreds of families that were previously excluded from the class because parents had committed minor crimes, were erroneously accused of child abuse or alleged to not be the child's real parent, the ACLU said. About 700 families have been reunited since Trump left office, but Gelernt believes that 500 to 1,000 children remain separated from their parents. At least 200 children under age 5 were separated from their parents; the youngest was 6 months old, he said. Advocates said they have not found the families of about 75 children, despite years of searching. In other cases, families they had previously made contact with moved, changed phone numbers or are in hiding. In my 30 years doing this work, the family separation policy was by far the worst thing Ive ever seen, said Lee Gelernt, lead counsel of the ACLU, which filed a class-action lawsuit against the U.S. government over the separations. Nothing can ever erase what the Trump administration deliberately did to these little children, but this settlement is a critical step forward, barring future administrations from engaging in this brutality and providing parents with the right to reunify with their children and the possibility of remaining in the United States. The Biden administration previously halted settlement talks after the Wall Street Journal reported that officials had considered paying each person who was separated from their family $450,000. The government has since settled a handful of individual cases for smaller amounts, Gelernt said, while others remain ongoing. The Biden administration has repeatedly criticized the Trump-era policy, and in 2021 launched a task force that helps reunite families separated at the border. A 2021 report by the Department of Justice inspector general criticized the governments handling of the families, concluding that "the Departments single-minded focus on increasing immigration prosecutions came at the expense of careful and appropriate consideration of the impact of family unit prosecutions and child separations." Last month, an independent federal court monitor said Border Patrol agents had separated migrant children, some as young as 8, from their parents for several days to avoid overcrowding in a Texas holding facility. The separated children were kept in areas typically reserved for unaccompanied children, with most unaware "of any protocols that would allow them to request a visit with their parents," Dr. Paul Wise, a pediatrician, wrote in the 71-page report. Wise raised concerns that the children faced significant emotional distress related to the separation, but stressed that the separations were different from those under Trump's policy because the families were reunited upon release. Earlier this year, Trump was asked about potentially bringing back the family-separation policy. Well, when you have that policy, people dont come. If a family hears theyre going to be separated, they love their family, they dont come, he said in a town hall on CNN. The ACLU has asked the court to enforce the settlement. Gelernt said that under the agreement reached with the federal government, the court would have jurisdiction for six years to enforce provisions about Tump-era separations and eight years to enforce provisions about future separations. Gelernt said the ACLU is prepared to file a new lawsuit after eight years if necessary. The federal government has also agreed to continue funding a family reunification process and to update the ACLU when it discovers information that could help reunify families, the group's lawyers said. People who believe they are class members can submit claims via the website together.gov. Get the best of the Los Angeles Times politics coverage with the Essential Politics newsletter. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. US President Joe Biden 's reelection campaign has set up an account on Donald Trump 's Truth Social network (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS) US President Joe Biden is taking on likely 2024 election rival Donald Trump in his own backyard -- at least virtually. The campaign team for the 80-year-old Democrat on Monday made its first post on Truth Social, the conservative social network set up by Republican frontrunner and former president Trump. "Well. Let's see how this goes. Converts welcome!" the verified @BidenHQ account said, using as its avatar the "Dark Brandon" meme featuring the president as an animated super hero with red laser eyes. The Biden reelection campaign followed up with a series of posts showing criticisms of Trump by his trailing Republican rivals Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "We just joined Truth Social, mostly because we thought it would be very funny," Biden's campaign said in a separate message on X, formerly known as Twitter. Biden's campaign team separately confirmed that the account was genuine. Trump set up Truth Social in 2021 after being permanently suspended from the then-Twitter for glorifying violence after the January 6 attack on the US Capitol by his supporters. The Capitol assault came after Trump falsely claimed that he, and not Biden, won the 2020 election. The pair look increasingly set for a rematch in November 2024. Tech tycoon Elon Musk reinstated Trump to Twitter in late 2022 but the ex-president has mainly stayed away, apart from briefly returning to post his police mugshot following his arrest in an election interference case in Georgia. dk-aue/des At the 2023 Human Rights Campaign National Dinner held at the Washington Convention Center on Saturday, President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden passionately spoke in support of the LGBTQ+ community, emphasizing their continued commitment to combat discrimination and violence. The occasion marked the fourth time Biden has spoken at the annual gala, but his first as president. The first lady spoke first. During her speech, she was met with chants of Four more years! from the audience. For more than one minute, the crowd cheered and chanted as the standing ovation continued. Responding with gratitude, Jill Biden said, Well, I can certainly say we feel the love from you. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement She praised the transformation of the political culture of politics in Washington, D.C., saying, Im so proud that this community has made D.C. such a thriving, welcoming home to LGBTQ+ people. Reflecting on darker times in the mid-20th Century during the Lavender Scare when queer federal employees were fired, Jill Biden added, Its a remarkable departure from where we had been when D.C. was a place where outing was used as a political weapon. She did not shy away from highlighting ongoing challenges. Across the country, in places like Texas and Florida and Alabama, LGBTQ individuals dont have the freedom to be honest with their family or embrace their gender identity at work, the professor, who holds a doctorate in education, said. Jill Biden firmly stated the commitment she and the president share. Joe and I stand firmly and proudly with you in these fights, she said. Upon taking the stage after Dr. Jill, President Biden began with appreciation, declaring, Folks, let me begin with a sincere thank you. He highlighted the global impact of the LGBTQ+ community, saying, You are the beacon of light around the world, not a joke. He continued, Its all about hope. Think about it. How do you live without hope? And this community in the United States of America is leading the world in giving people hope. Joe Biden drew attention to his administrations achievements, particularly noting, As Commander-in-Chief, I ended the ban on transgender Americans serving in the military. He also emphasized the significance of global human rights, mentioning Ugandas draconian anti-homosexuality law. Weve made human rights for LGBT [people] around the world a top priority in our foreign policy, Joe Biden said. However, he also addressed challenges and opposition to the rights of LGBTQ+ people as a whole and transgender people in particular by MAGA Republicans. Over 600 600 hateful laws introduced across the country, more than 70 of them becoming law just this last year, denying the existence of transgender people, silencing teachers, banning books, threatening parents with prison for getting their children healthcare, the president said. He further condemned attempts to reverse progress. In the United States Congress, extreme MAGA Republicans are trying to undo virtually every bit of progress weve made, he said. Toward the end of his speech, Joe Biden emphasized unity against all forms of hate. He took a moment to acknowledge the tragedy of the recent Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel, noting the Americans killed in the massacres. A week ago, we saw hate manifest in another way in the worst massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust, he said. More than 1,300 innocent lives lost in Israel, including at least 27 Americans. He said of the victims, Children and grandparents alike kidnapped and held hostage by Hamas a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Innocent Palestinian families and the vast majority of them have nothing to do with Hamas. Theyre being used as human shields. Recalling his conversation with families affected by the tragedy, Biden remarked, Yesterday, I spoke for over an hour with the family members of those Americans who are still unaccounted for on a Zoom call. Theyve endured an agony of not knowing what has happened. Drawing a personal connection, he spoke of the tragedies he persevered when losing loved ones. Its one thing to lose someone who you know youre to lose and be there with them and hold their hands like I was able to do with my son. Its a very other thing to get a phone call, like I got years ago, saying, Theres been an accident. Your wife and daughter are dead. Im not sure your boys are going to make it. The uncertainty of those two or three hours trying to get back to find out. Its the worst feeling in the world. Its gut-wrenching, he said. Jill and I came to the HRC National Dinner to say thank you for your courage, your hope, and your pride. The Biden-Harris Administration has LGBTQI+ Americans' backs. Together, we'll continue defending and advancing equal human rights across the country and the world. President Biden (@President Biden) 1697336446 Tying hatred in all forms, including against the LGBTQ+ community, Biden continued, And its yet another reminder that hate never goes away. It only hides. It hides under the rocks. I thought, being so deeply involved in the Civil Rights Movement, when I was able to convince, of all people, Strom Thurmond to vote for the Voting Rights Act in his last year, changed his mind I thought, Well, you can defeat hate. But guess what happened? Hate just hides under the rocks until theres a little oxygen blown under, like what happened in Charlottesville. Just a little bit. And then it comes roaring out again. The antidote to hate is love, he said, adding, Thats why laws that actually protect equality matter to every single American no matter who you are, who you love, or where you come from. The president concluded with a rallying cry for collective action. Were the United States of America. And there is nothing beyond our capacity when we do it together, he said. Toward the beginning of Joe Bidens speech, an audience member interrupted him by yelling something difficult to hear because of the acoustics in the large room. "I dont know whos hollering back there, but I cant hear you, Biden said, causing the audience to laugh as the person continued yelling. Image: Kent Nishimura/Getty Images I cant hear her. Whats she saying? Well, thank you. Whatever youre saying. Im going to say thank I cant hear you, he said as the audience applauded, drowning out the interruption. According to a White House transcript, the person yelled, Let Gaza live! Ceasefire now! Let Gaza live! Ceasefire now! US president Joe Biden has condemned the horrific murder of a six-year-old Palestinian boy in Chicago that police say was linked to the Israel-Hamas war. Wadea Al-Fayoume, was stabbed 26 times inside his home in an incident that police are investigating as an anti-Muslim hate crime. His mother, 32-year-old Hanaan Shahin, was stabbed at least 12 times and is in a serious condition in hospital, but is expected to survive. Police have arrested 71-year-old Joseph Czuba, who was found sitting outside the home, and have charged him with murder. They responded to the address after Shahin called 911 and said she was being attacked by her landlord. Mr Biden and first lady Jill Biden said they were shocked and sickened by the alleged hate crime. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Jill and I were sickened to learn of the brutal murder of a child and the attempted murder of the childs mother yesterday in Illinois. Our condolences and prayers are with the family, Mr Biden said on X. As Americans, we must come together and reject Islamophobia and all forms of bigotry and hatred. I have said repeatedly that I will not be silent in the face of hate. The attack took place in Plainfield Township outside Chicago on Saturday morning. Will County Sheriffs Office said investigators determined that the victims were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis. It comes as the Israeli government, backed by the US, unleashed a ground and air offensive in Gaza in retaliation for an unprecedented terror attack by the Hamas militant group that killed some 1,300 people in southern Israel. Ahmed Rehab, left, executive director of the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, embraces Odey Al-Fayoume, father of Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6 (AP) The Israeli forces are supported by a growing deployment of US warships and jets in the region, and have called up some 360,000 reservists in their offensive after Mr Biden said Israel has a right to defend itself and its people. The Gaza health ministry said 2,670 Palestinians have been killed and 9,600 wounded since the Israeli airstrikes began, already counting more deaths than the 2014 Gaza war, which lasted over six weeks. Israel says 126 people were taken hostage by Hamas and brought back across the border into Gaza during the 7 and 8 October assault. Following the escalation in the Middle East, US cities and authorities are on high alert for violence driven by antisemitic or Islamophobic sentiments as FBI officials reported a rise in hateful and threatening rhetoric. Oday Al-Fayoume, father of Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, attends a news conference at the Muslim Community Center on Chicago's Northwest Side, Sunday (AP) In a news conference, the boys paternal uncle, Yousef Hannon, said Palestinians are not animals, we are humans. We want people to see us as humans, to feel us as humans, to deal with us as humans, because this is what we are," said Mr Hannon, a Palestinian American who emigrated to the US in 1999 to work, at a news conference hosted by the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The Muslim civil liberties organisation said the killing of the boy was "our worst nightmare" and said it was part of a disturbing spike in hate calls and emails since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. The group said the family received text messages from the attacker who made disparaging remarks about Muslims. "Palestinians basically, again, with their hearts broken over whats happening to their people," said Ahmed Rehab, the groups executive director, "have to also worry about the immediate safety of life and limb living here in this most free of democracies in the world." Mr Biden, who also raised concerns for innocent Palestinians dying in Gaza, said there is no place for hate crimes in America. People march during a pro-Palestinian rally that began at Harry Bridges Plaza on Saturday (AP) I have said repeatedly that I will not be silent in the face of hate. We must be unequivocal, he said. Joseph M Czuba, 71, who was arrested for the alleged murder, was charged with one count each of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder, and two counts of a hate crime and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, the sheriffs office said. Illinois Democratic governor JB Pritzker condemned the hate crime. To take a six-year-old childs life in the name of bigotry is nothing short of evil, Mr Pritzker said. Wadea should be heading to school in the morning. Instead, his parents will wake up without their son. This wasnt just a murder it was a hate crime. And every single Illinoisan including our Muslim, Jewish, and Palestinian neighbours deserves to live free from the threat of such evil. A 6-year-old boy was killed in an alleged hate crime attack in Illinois near Chicago on Saturday. The boy and his mother, who was injured in the stabbing attack, were allegedly targeted for being Muslims. The suspect now faces a federal hate crime investigation and President Biden released a statement on Sunday condemning the attack. "Jill and I were shocked and sickened to learn of the brutal murder of a 6-year-old child and the attempted murder of the child's mother in their home yesterday in Illinois," the president said. "The child's Palestinian Muslim family came to America seeking what we all seek a refuge to live, learn, and pray in peace." The mother and child were allegedly attacked by their landlord, Joseph Czuba, 71, who has been charged with two counts of hate crime, one count of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder and one count of aggravated battery, according to CBS Chicago. Czuba allegedy came at them with a knife and the mother ran to the bathroom and called 911, authorities said. She was stabbed more than a dozen times and her son, identified as Wadea Al-Fayoume, was stabbed 26 times, according to the Will County Sheriff's Office, CBS Chicago reports. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Justice Department, which has opened a federal hate crimes investigation into the incident, has identified the mother as Hanaan Shahin. The attack "cannot help but further raise the fears of Muslim, Arab and Palestinian communities in our country with regard to hate-fueled violence," according to a DOJ statement, and the department is focused on protecting every person in the country. The attack came as the FBI warned of rising threats of violence in the U.S. amid the war between Israel and Hamas, the terrorist organization that governs Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. With tensions high across the U.S. and threats on the rise, the FBI is most concerned about lone-wolf-style attacks. "These things are gonna be very tough to stop," Tom Warrick, a former Department of Homeland Security counterterrorism official, told CBS News. "At least, though, we can try to discourage them." The landlord is awaiting an initial court appearance on Monday afternoon. President Biden said the attack goes against the American values of "freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are." "As Americans, we must come together and reject Islamophobia and all forms of bigotry and hatred," the president said in his statement. "I have said repeatedly that I will not be silent in the face of hate. We must be unequivocal. There is no place in America for hate against anyone." Hundreds of mourners gathered at a mosque near Chicago on Monday to remember Wadea. The Council on American-Islamic Relations in Chicago said in a news release the stabbing was "our worst nightmare." "Our hearts are heavy, and our prayers are with the darling boy and his mother," Executive Director Ahmed Rehab said in a statement. "As we await the official investigation of the local authorities, what we can confirm at the moment is that we have a murdered child in his own home, a six-year who had just celebrated his birthday a couple of weeks ago, and a mother lying in the hospital in serious condition, both stabbed over a dozen times. And we have testimony from the mother as to the harrowing moments that unfolded in terms of what was done and said and it is our worst nightmare." Shahin texted the father of the boy from the hospital, telling him the landlord was angered by what he was seeing on the news and knocked on their door, according to CAIR-Chicago, which says it obtained the text messages. When Shahin opened the door, Czuba allegedly tried to choke her and yelled "you Muslims must die." He then allegedly stabbed them, killing her son. "It all happened in seconds," she texted, according to the organization. Jeff Pegues contributed to reporting. President Joe Biden: The 2023 60 Minutes Interview Ret. Gen. Frank McKenzie reacts to Trump's claim that Israel pulled out of mission to kill Soleimani If GOP won't unite, Rep. Mike Turner says a deal "will have to be done" with Democrats for speaker President Biden on Monday issued a message to Americans concerned over potential violence in the United States amid the Israel-Hamas war, saying he asked his team to prioritize handling any emerging threats. To those Americans worried about violence at home, as a result of the evil acts of terror perpetrated by Hamas in Israel, we see you. We hear you, Biden said in a statement. And I have asked members of my team, including Homeland Security Secretary [Alejandro] Mayorkas and Attorney General [Merrick] Garland, to prioritize the prevention and disruption of any emerging threats that could harm Jewish, Muslim, Arab American, or any other communities during this time. My Administration will continue to fight Antisemitism and Islamophobia, he added. The presidents message comes after the FBI released annual statistics that showed antisemitic hate crimes rose 25 percent from 2021 to 2022 and that antisemitism accounted for more than half of all reported religion-based hate crimes last year. It also showed that anti-LGBTQ hate crimes rose, and that Muslim Americans and African Americans were also victims of hate crimes. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The data is a reminder that hate never goes away, it only hides. Any hate crime is a stain on the soul of America, Biden said. FBI Director Christopher Wray has warned that a rise in violent extremism could be incoming amid the ongoing fighting after Hamas launched its deadly attack on southern Israel last week, prompting Israel to declare war. Garland announced earlier Monday that he will open a hate crimes investigation into the killing of a 6-year-old Muslim boy in Illinois that police say was motivated by the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. The sheriffs office said investigators determined the child and his mother were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis. Biden condemned the attack Sunday night, saying he is shocked and sickened by it. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. US President Joe Biden abruptly cancelled a domestic political trip to meet with his national security team Monday as he weighed an invitation to go to Israel to show support as it wages war against Hamas. Biden, 80, was due to visit Colorado but stayed at the White House at the last minute for briefings amid mounting fears the conflict could escalate into a wider Middle East war. The White House confirmed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had invited Biden following the deadly October 7 Hamas attack on Israel that killed more than 1,400 people, but said there were no travel plans yet. The timing of any visit would be highly sensitive, with Israel gearing up for a ground invasion of Hamas-ruled Gaza and pummeling it with air and artillery strikes that have killed at least 2,750 people. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were "briefed by their national security team on the latest updates in the wake of Hamass abhorrent attack in Israel and the resulting conflict in Gaza," the White House said. CIA chief Bill Burns, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan led the briefing, which was also joined by Biden's chief of staff, Jeff Zients, it said, releasing a picture on social media of the group sitting in the Oval Office. Several news outlets including Axios and CNN have reported that US and Israeli officials are discussing a possible Biden trip to Israel this week. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is already in Jerusalem, his second visit to Israel in the space of less than a week. - 'Extremists' - Biden has repeatedly pledged strong support for close US ally Israel, saying in a interview released on Sunday that "taking out the extremists" is a "necessary requirement." But Biden has also increasingly stressed the need to protect civilians amid the Israeli bombardment and siege of Gaza. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told CNN that Biden will "stay focused on what's going on between Israel and Hamas." "With respect to Israel, there was an invitation from the prime minister, but again -- no travel to speak to right now," Kirby said. Biden had been due to travel to Colorado to visit a wind turbine plant to tout the economic revival and pro-environmental messages at the core of his 2024 reelection campaign. The last-minute cancellation was unusual as presidential trips are tightly choreographed, and was so abrupt that White House officials had just hours earlier released details about Biden's program. The visit would be rescheduled, the White House said. Fears have grown that Lebanon's Hezbollah or Iran, which backs both Hamas and Hezbollah, could get involved in the conflict after some fighting across Israel's northern border. Asked in by CBS news program 60 Minutes what his message to Iran and Hezbollah was, Biden replied: "Don't. Don't, don't, don't". The United States has dispatched two aircraft carrier groups and a host of warplanes to the region to deter other parties from getting involved. The United States has repeatedly said that it has no plans to put boots on the ground to support Israel, but it has been boosting its displays of support as the situation escalates. Biden visited another war zone -- Ukraine -- in a high-risk trip in February that was prepared in total secrecy. He last visited Israel in July 2022. dk/sms U.S. President Biden attends a dinner hosted by the Human Rights Campaign at the Washington Convention Center in Washington WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Joe Biden said he is "confident" Israel will act under the rules of war in its conflict with Palestine, and added deploying U.S. troops is not necessary. In an interview with "60 Minutes," Biden said that while he believes Hamas must be eliminated entirely, there must be a path for a Palestinian state. And he cautioned that the threat of terrorism in the United States had increased due to unrest in the Middle East. (Reporting by Pete Schroeder; Editing by Jacqueline Wong) A ball of fire and smoke rise above buildings during an Israeli strike on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on October 15, 2023 (SAID KHATIB) Any move by Israel to occupy the Gaza Strip again would be a "big mistake," US President Joe Biden said in an interview released on Sunday, as Israeli troops prepared for a ground invasion. Israel, seeking vengeance for an attack by Hamas on October 7, has declared war on the militant group, launching a relentless bombing campaign and warning more than a million people in northern Gaza to move south ahead of the operation. Asked by CBS news program 60 Minutes if he would support any occupation of Gaza by the American ally, Biden replied: "I think it'd be a big mistake." Hamas "don't represent all the Palestinian people," he continued. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement But invading and "taking out the extremists" is a "necessary requirement," he added. The Hamas attack saw fighters shoot, stab and burn to death more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians. Israel's reprisal attacks in the days since have flattened neighbourhoods and killed at least 2,670 people in Gaza, the majority ordinary Palestinians. Israel has faced grave warnings about the implications of putting boots on the ground in Gaza, with aid groups warning of a humanitarian disaster, fears of the conflict escalating, and the challenges of separating militants from civilians in the impoverished, densely occupied territory. Israel first occupied Gaza during the 1967 Six-Day War, and it was only fully returned to Palestinians in 2005. A year later, Israel imposed an air, land and sea blockade on the 140 square mile (362 square kilometer) strip of land, which is also bordered by Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea. In 2007 Israel tightened the blockade after Hamas took control of Gaza from the secular Fatah movement of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. When asked if Hamas -- whom Biden described as "a bunch of cowards" -- must be eliminated entirely, he replied: "Yes I do." "But there needs to be a Palestinian authority. There needs to be a path to a Palestinian state," he continued, reiterating the long-standing US call for a two-state solution. 60 Minutes journalist Scott Pelley also asked Biden if he could foresee US troops joining the war. "I don't think that's necessary," Biden, who pulled US troops out of Afghanistan and has insisted that none will be sent to aid Ukraine as it holds off a Russian invasion, replied. "Israel has one of the finest fighting forces in the country. I guarantee we're gonna provide them everything they need," he said. The United States has already deployed two aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean in a powerful show of support for Israel. bur-st/mtp President Biden in a new interview dismissed the idea that the United States could not simultaneously support Israel in its war against Hamas and Ukraine in its war against Russia. Were the United States of America for Gods sake, the most powerful nation in the history not in the world, in the history of the world, Biden said in a 60 Minutes interview that aired Sunday. We can take care of both of these and still maintain our overall international defense. Biden argued that the two conflicts overwhelmingly relate to the safety of the American people. In Ukraine one of my objectives was to prevent [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, who has committed war crimes himself, who from being able to occupy an independent country that borders NATO allies and is on the Russian border, Biden said. Imagine what happens now if he were able to succeed. Have you ever known a major war in Europe we didnt get sucked into? We dont want that to happen. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement We want to make sure those democracies are sustained. And Ukraine is critical in making sure that happens, Biden added. Biden sat down with 60 Minutes at the White House days after Hamas, the militant group that controls Hamas, launched terrorist attacks against Israel that left 1,000 Israelis dead. Thousands morePalestinians have been killed during ensuing fighting in Gaza. More than two dozen Americans were killed in the attacks, and more than a dozen remain unaccounted for. The Biden administration has moved military assets closer to Israel in support of the Jewish state and has sent munitions and interceptors for Israels Iron Dome defense system. At the same time, Congress has provided billions of dollars in military and financial assistance to Ukraine in the roughly 20 months since Russia launched an unprovoked invasion in February 2022. The White House is expected to ask Congress to provide additional aid to Israel in the coming days, and officials are likely to try and package that request with an ask for more assistance for Ukraine. The House however, which currently sits without a Speaker, is unable to pass any legislation before someone is officially elected to the post. While there is bipartisan support for both Israel and Ukraine in Congress, some House Republicans have voiced opposition to continued aid for Ukraine, questioning how it benefits the U.S. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. US President Joe Biden has stated that the United States is able to provide support to both Ukraine and Israel at the same time while maintaining an international level of defence capability. Source: Biden in an interview with CBS News, as reported by European Pravda Details: Biden said the United States has the opportunity to do this and is obliged to do it because "the United States is a great nation". Quote: "We're the United States of America for God's sake, the most powerful nation in the history not in the world, in the history of the world. The history of the world. We can take care of both of these and still maintain our overall international defence. And if we don't, who does?" ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The president stated that both wars are mostly related to the American people because, in Ukraine, one of its goals was to prevent Putin, who has committed war crimes, from occupying an independent country that borders NATO allies and is on the border with Russia. "Imagine what happens now if he were able to succeed. Have you ever known a major war in Europe we didnt get sucked into? We dont want that to happen. We want to make sure those democracies are sustained. And Ukraine is critical in making sure that happens," Biden emphasised. Background: Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron! Crowds of mourners in a Palestinian Chicago suburb paid respects on Monday to a six-year-old Muslim boy killed in an alleged anti-Islamic hate crime, hours after authorities revealed new details about the evidence used to charge the familys landlord with stabbing the child and his mother. Wadea Al-Fayoume, who had recently had a birthday, died on Saturday after being stabbed dozens of times in a brutal attack that drew condemnation from local elected officials to the White House. Authorities said the familys landlord, Joseph Czuba, was upset over the Israel-Hamas war and attacked them after the boys mother proposed they pray for peace. Related: Landlord kills six-year-old Muslim boy and stabs mother in Illinois hate crime Joe Biden condemned Wadea Al-Fayoumes fatal stabbing, which authorities say was fueled by the Israel-Hamas war. The president, in a statement issued on Sunday, said he was shocked and sickened by the horrific killing. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The childs Palestinian Muslim family came to America seeking what we all seek a refuge to live, learn, and pray in peace, Biden said. This horrific act of hate has no place in America and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are. Family members of Wadea Al Fayoume bring his casket into Mosque Foundation in Bridgeview, Illinois. Photograph: Nam Y Huh/AP In Bridgeview, which is home to a large and established Palestinian community, family and friends remembered Wadea as a kind and energetic boy who loved playing games. His body was carried in a small white casket which was at times draped with a Palestinian flag through packed crowds. The Mosque Foundations Imam Jamal Said reflected on the boys death during the janazah, or funeral service, but also the wider loss of life in the war between Israel and Hamas. Wadea is a child, and he is not the only one under attack, he said. He added that many children are being slaughtered literally in the Holy Land, unfortunately, which is very sad. The suspect in the killing, 71-year-old Joseph Czuba, appeared in court on Monday, charged with murder, attempted murder and hate crime charges after being arrested and held in custody. A resident of Plainfield, Illinois, he replied yes, sir, when asked if he understood the charges, and he was subsequently returned to jail in Joliet, 50 miles south-west of Chicago. A Will county judge granted him the assistance of a court-appointed lawyer. Investigators alleged Czuba stabbed Wadea and his mother because the family was Muslim. He was their landlord. The boys mother, who was identified by family members as Hanaan Shahin, 32, though authorities used a different spelling, told investigators that she rented two rooms on the first floor of the Plainfield home while Czuba and his wife lived on the second floor, the assistant states attorney Michael Fitzgerald said in a court filing. He was angry at her for what was going on in Jerusalem, Fitzgerald said. She responded to him, Lets pray for peace ... Czuba then attacked her with a knife. Mourners place flowers at the grave of Wadea Al-Fayoume at Parkholm Cemetery where the burial took place in LaGrange, Illinois. Photograph: Jim Vondruska/Reuters In Bridgeview, the boys father briefly spoke to reporters in Arabic, saying he was trying to make sense of what happened to his son and the boys mother. He hoped it would be a bullet to solve the issue in his homeland. Im here as the father of the boy, not as a politician or religious scholar. Im here as the father of a boy whose rights were violated, he said. In a statement, the Illinois governor, JB Pritzker, specifically denounced the killing as a hate crime. To take a six-year-old childs life in the name of bigotry is nothing short of evil, Pritzker said. He added: Wadea should be heading to school in the morning. Instead his parents will wake up without their son. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair) shared a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, expressing shock over Wadeas killing while also denouncing anti-Palestinian, Islamophobic rhetoric. The Islamophobic rhetoric and anti-Palestinian racism being spread by politicians, media outlets, and social media platforms must stop, the organization said. Now. Abed A Ayoub, national executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, lamented the increase in hate crimes against Palestinians which stemmed from racist rhetoric. When networks give airtime to racist Israeli leaders to demonize our people, and push the talking points of a rightwing foreign government, this is the result, Ayoub said on X. You have vilified the entire population of Arabs. This didnt have to happen. The sad reality is that it may happen again. Czuba choked and stabbed the childs mother, according to text messages from the 32-year-old woman that were shared by Cair, the USs largest Muslim civil rights organization. As he entered the apartment, Czuba allegedly shouted: You Muslims must die! Czuba allegedly stabbed Wadea with a military-style knife as the boys mother attempted to call 911. The child was stabbed a total of 26 times, the Will county sheriffs office said in a statement, the Washington Post reported. The boys mother also allegedly suffered more than a dozen stab wounds to the chest, torso and arms before authorities arrested Czuba. Police found Czuba with a cut on his forehead, sitting on the ground outside the home. The public defenders office did not immediately return messages seeking comment about the charges against him. Czubas wife, Mary, told police that her husband feared they would be attacked by people of Middle Eastern descent and had withdrawn $1,000 from a bank in case the US grid went down, Fitzgerald said in the court document. The justice department said it opened a hate crime investigation into the attack. Associated Press contributed to this report. The Biden administration is considering a presidential visit to Israel as a sign of support for the country following the brutal attack by Hamas. Two U.S. officials, granted anonymity to detail sensitive internal discussions, said President Joe Biden could land in Israel as early as this week. But they stress a trip might not happen any time soon, or at all, depending on the security situation in Israel and the state of a war that is quickly spiraling out of control. Israel is on the verge of ordering a ground invasion of Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invited Biden to visit when the two men spoke on Saturday, the officials said, with one of them saying the administration was weighing the offer. Biden has told aides hes interested in going, as his presence would demonstrate strong U.S. support after Hamas killed more than 1,300 Israelis and took around 150 hostages, including Americans. But the likelihood of escalating hostilities could mean that any future trip occurs during a particularly precarious point in the developing war. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the National Security Council, said "we have no new travel to announce, but never denied that a trip was in the works. White House aides note Biden has made daring trips before, namely his visit to Kyiv in February, as the war with Russia raged. That visit was considered by many aides to be one of the highlights of his presidency. The 80-year-old Biden has also traveled elsewhere to the region visiting both Poland and Lithuania as demonstrations of the United States commitment to defending democracies worldwide. But while the trip to Ukraines capital involved a secret 10-hour train ride, one to Israel would, in some ways, be even more complicated. Back in February, the U.S. communicated to Russia to not interfere with the trip and Moscow, perhaps mindful of an American reprisal, did not try to stop the president, though air raid sirens did go off as Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskyy walked the streets of Kyiv. Hamas, a group the United States has designated a terrorist organization, would be more likely to take a provocative strike at a traveling president, according to one of the officials. And a visit of U.S. senators to Tel Aviv this week underscored the danger. The group of lawmakers, which included Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, had to seek refuge in a bomb shelter when warning sirens blared. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, however, did visit Israel in the last week without significant complications. The debate about the trip would also come against the backdrop of the Biden administrations growing worry over the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza amid Israel's heavy bombardment and siege of the enclave. There is an expectation that Israel will mount a ground offensive in the coming days, with experts predicting that weeks of urban warfare would inevitably lead to the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians. Officials in Gaza say that more than 2,600 Palestinians were killed in Israels retribution strikes over the past week. In announcing a deal to acquire shale driller Pioneer Resources for $60 billion, ExxonMobil last week initiated the years biggest corporate buyout, which is also the companys biggest such transaction since 1999. Pioneer Resources exists for a single reason: to drill for oil and gas. Exxons purchase is an indication that it intends to keep doubling down on exactly that, continuing the trend of major oil and gas companies walking back climate commitments made when they were making less money on their core business. By 2027, according to Bloomberg, Exxon now plans to produce two million barrels per day in the Permian Basin. The takeover could be the start of a long-awaited wave of consolidations in the U.S. shale sectors, where smaller producers who made their name in the shale booms last decade of spending binges are being pressured to cut costs, pay down debts, and deliver more money to their shareholders. The Exxon-Pioneer deal, though, still needs to receive the blessing of the Federal Trade Commission, charged with policing antitrust violations. The agency has yet to put a stop to smaller consolidations in the energy sector. It has pushed back timelines and set some conditions for previous mergers and acquisitions, like requiring some companies to sell off certain assets or give up board seats. Antitrust experts interviewed by Reuters were skeptical that the FTC would try to block the deal, which would turn Exxon into the largest driller in the Permian Basin. Legality of corporate consolidations aside, the buyout is a troubling indication that the industry sees little reason to change course. Despite the rapid growth of solar power, especially, global fossil fuel usage hasnt really budged. Even as renewables expanded by 13 percent last year, emissions from the power sector continued to rise. Fossil fuels still account for roughly 82 percent of global energy consumption. The United States, meanwhile, has never produced more crude oil: Domestic production reached a record high during the first half of 2023, and global prices continue to climb. (One of the reasons Exxon was able to make the Pioneer purchase, which was an all-stock deal, was because it posted record profits last year.) As a recent Oil Change International report found, the U.S. is also responsible for one-third of all global fossil fuel expansion planned through 2050. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The fact that oil and gas companies have little reason to fear that policymakers are about to crack down on their business model doesnt mean they dont see threats on the horizon. Legal challenges against the industry over its role in fueling the climate crisis have mounted over the last several years. Last month, California became the worlds largest economy to take on oil producers in this way, alleging in court that Exxon, Chevron, Shell, ConocoPhillips, BP America, and the American Petroleum Institutea trade associationmisled the public about the dangers of burning fossil fuels. As investigative journalists and academics have shown, Exxons corporate forerunners sponsored research into global warming as early as the 1960s before going on to fund efforts undermining the scientific consensus on climate change. Oil companies are now battling to get climate liability suits thrown out entirely. Last week, federal prosecutors found that documents recovered through a five-year hacking operation that targeted climate activists were used to undermine investigations into ExxonMobils knowledge of the climate crisis. In 2022, the U.S. Attorney Generals Office charged Israeli private investigator Aviram Azari of taking $4.8 million from unnamed corporate clients to carry out an intelligence gathering operation against individuals and organizations; hackers Azari hired used spear-fishing operations to gain access to the private accounts of environmentalists and other Exxon critics. ExxonMobil wasnt accused of hiring Azari, and the company has denied any knowledge of his activities. As the Center for Climate Integritys Emily Sanders reported, the company this week did quietly take down a web page rebutting critics, which accused them of attempting to delegitimize ExxonMobil by misrepresenting our position on climate change and related research to the public. Much has been made in the business press of what oil companies will do with their excess profits. The White House instructed the FTC in 2021 to look into whether there was evidence that they were price gouging, pointing to Exxon and its record profits, in particular. Since then, price gouging has become less of a focus for the administration as its focused more on encouraging companies to ramp up production. For the last few years, the trend for U.S. producers has been toward fiscal discipline: to stop burning through investor cash, deliver big payouts, and look toward the long-term stability of corporate balance sheets. To the administrations ire, thats meant pouring excess cash not into boosting production so as to lower prices, but to keeping shareholders happy. If consolidation becomes the norm, ever-growing companies will also have deeper pockets to keep fighting off their critics andpotentiallyfind it even easier to coordinate political influence among a smaller cast of top executives. The national legend of Sasquatch birthed local lore of pranksters tricking tourists that became comical coffee-shop fodder. Joe Civiletto, who lived in Durango, Colorado, for 16 years and still has ties to the city, couldn't help but chuckle after a "Bigfoot sighting" went viral last week. A married couple believed they saw Bigfoot meandering down the side of a mountain while they rode a train between Durango and Silverton and shared their blurry, far-away pictures that quickly spread from social media to news outlets. Readers and social media users zoomed in on the fuzzy photos and pointed out what appears to be sunglasses and a hunter's camouflage ghillie suit. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement BIGFOOT CAUGHT ON CAMERA DURING COUPLE'S ROMANTIC GETAWAY IN COLORADO Shannon and Stetson Parker, who were celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary, claim they saw Bigfoot. "(I) Never knew Bigfoot wears shades. At least hes cool," one reader said in an email. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP "Did Bigfoot stop by Walmart first to pick up sunglasses he was wearing in the pictures?" another reader said. CONGRESSMAN HAS GRIM TAKE AFTER ACCESS TO UFO FOOTAGE: THIS TECH COULD TURN US INTO A CHARCOAL BRIQUETTE These funny reactions are typical for local residents in the western U.S. Civiletto said he remembers reading about sightings like this for years in the local paper. It brought back memories of tricksters pretending to be the elusive, mythical creature to stoke excitement from out-of-towners. "We would be in coffee shops and reading the local paper and see stories about Sasquatch sightings and laugh," Civiletto told Fox News Digital. "We knew there was at least one guy who was playing tricks on tourists." He said he nor his buddies ever met the guy pretending to be Bigfoot or learned his name, but he heard the man dressed like the creature and timed his appearance near the train and specific spots. RUSSIAN UFO ENGAGEMENTS, SECRET TIC TAC REPORT AND 3 KEY FIGURES SLIP UNDER RADAR AT CONGRESSIONAL HEARING "As the train would move away, he would be in the river dressed up so tourists would purposely get a bad angle or blurry photos like what that couple got," Civiletto said with a laugh. "It was done in good fun." The married couple said they saw a creature that they believe is Bigfoot wandering down the side of a Colorado mountain. Shannon and Stetson Parker, who were celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary in Colorado, point out blurry, far-away photos that they believe is Bigfoot. Reminiscing about his times in Durango and the viral "Bigfoot sightings" was a fond memory and a good distraction from the gory images and horrific acts of violence in Israel and Gaza, which has dominated the news cycle, he said during his chat with Fox News Digital. "It's something different and adds levity to what's going on in the world," he said. UFO WHISTLEBLOWER TESTIFIES HIS LIFE WAS THREATENED OVER SECRET ALIEN TECH RETRIEVAL Blurry pictures of the elusive mythical creature are part of Sasquatch's national folklore, which includes a "MapSquatch" that pinpoints sighting locations. The state of Washington's National Guard provided a description of the creature in a blog post titled " Legend of Bigfoot ." "Mapsquatch.com" has a map that includes locations of Bigfoot sightings, among other reports of occurrences like UFOs and hauntings. "The legends of Bigfoot go back beyond recorded history and cover the world," the Washington National Guard wrote. "In North America and particularly the Northwest you can hear tales of seven-foot-tall hairy men stalking the woods, occasionally scaring campers, lumberjacks, hikers and the like." The National Guard explained the creature goes by a number of different names, including Sasquatch. "Those who claim to have seen Bigfoot have described everything from a large, upright ape to an actual hairy human, sometimes standing over eight feet tall and described as powerfully built," it wrote. "The debate and research continue. Entire organizations exist to study and document Bigfoot and prove its existence and groups regularly search the Northwest woods, looking for that ultimate proof." Original article source: Bigfoot and Sasquatch: Longtime resident reveals legends, pranks after latest 'proof' Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford called on the United Auto Workers (UAW) union to end the strike against Ford and the other Detroit automakers, arguing their competitors like Toyota, Honda and Tesla are loving this strike. This should not be Ford versus the UAW it should be Ford and the UAW versus Toyota, Honda, Tesla and all the Chinese companies that want to enter our home market, Ford said in livestreamed remarks Monday morning. Toyota, Honda, Tesla and the others are loving this strike because they know the longer it goes on, the better it is for them. They will win, and all of us will lose. Sunday marked one month since the UAW began its historic strike against the three major Detroit automakers: Ford, General Motors (GM) and Stellantis. The union is demanding wage increases, cost-of-living pay raises, a 32-hour work week with 40 hours of pay, union representation of workers at new battery plants and the restoration of traditionally defined pensions for new hires. Ford argued Monday that the strike will impact the future of the American automobile industry. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement A strong manufacturing base is critical to our national security. Building things in America matters now more than ever, especially in these uncertain times, Ford said. And we cant take that for granted. In my lifetime, Ive watched countries lose their auto industry and then virtually all industries after that. And today as the UAW strike against Ford continues, were at a crossroads. Choosing the right path isnt just about Fords future and our ability to compete, this is about the future of the American automobile industry, Ford said. Ford, the great grandson of company founder Henry Ford , warned the automaker losing to the competition will prompt a loss of jobs, future investments and some factories. This is why Fords ability to invest in the future isnt just a talking point its the absolute lifeblood of our company, Ford said. And if we lose it, we will to the competition. America loses. Claiming to be the most pro-union leader in the industry, Ford touted that the company builds more vehicles in America and employs more UAW employees than any other, while acknowledging these choices have added costs. Ford employs 57,000 UAW workers, while GM has 46,000 workers and Stellantis has 43,000, The Associated Press reported. Many of our competitors moved jobs to Mexico as we added jobs here in the U.S., Ford said. As we added jobs here in the U.S., Ford is their strongest partner the UAW has ever known. Last Wednesday, around 8,700 workers walked out at the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville Fords largest and most profitable plant where F-250 and F-550 trucks are built along with some SUVs. Ford claimed the shutting down of the Kentucky plant harms tens of thousands of Americans right away. The union said the expanded strike came after Ford refused to negotiate further bargaining demands. A top Ford executive told reporters last week that Ford reached a limit in how much it was willing to spend to end the strike, the AP reported. Kumar Galhotra, president of Ford Blue, the companys internal combustion engine business, reportedly told the media last Thursday that Ford stretched to get to its current offer to the UAW, per the AP. We need to come together to bring an end to this acrimonious round of talks, Ford said. I still believe in a bright future, one that we can build together. Last week, UAW President Shawn Fain said Ford hasnt gotten the message about what workers want. If they cant understand that after four weeks, the 8,700 workers shutting down this extremely profitable plant will help them understand it, he said in a statement last Wednesday. Fain said he sat down with Ford executives at the companys headquarters earlier last Wednesday and demanded a new offer. While the company signaled it could include battery plants in a future union contract, Fain said no progress was made on economic terms. UAW workers initially began picketing at one assembly plant from each company, but have since expanded to 38 parts warehouses at GM and Stellantis in hopes of adding pressure on the manufacturers to offer a union-friendly contract. The UAW later added another assembly plant at both GM and Ford. With the several expansions of the strike over the past four weeks, an estimated 34,000 of the unions 146,000 employees at all three automakers are now on strike. The striking autoworkers have garnered wide support from the public along with President Biden, who joined members on the picket line in Michigan last month. The UAW, Honda, Toyota and Tesla did not immediately respond for requests for comment from The Hill. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The Jewish philanthropy founded by the retail billionaire Les Wexner has severed ties with Harvard. The Wexner Foundation accused Harvard of a "dismal failure" to condemn the Hamas attacks last week. Other wealthy alumni and donors have criticized elite schools over their posture toward Israel. Les Wexner, the billionaire retailer known for brands including Victoria's Secret, is the latest to pull funding from an elite school in the wake of the Hamas attacks last week. The Wexner Foundation, the Jewish leadership philanthropy founded by the retailer, has severed ties with Harvard, citing the university's response last week to the terrorist attacks by Hamas in Israel. Investors, CEOs, and donors have called on Ivy League schools to be more vocal in standing with Israel and condemning antisemitism. "Harvard's leaders were indeed tiptoeing, equivocating," the statement said, posted on X. It was signed by Leslie and Abigail Wexner; Rabbi B. Elka Abrahamson, the Wexner Foundation president; and Ra'anan Avital, the foundation's director general for Israel. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement A foundation representative confirmed the statement's authenticity to Insider. "In the absence of this clear moral stand, we have determined that the Harvard Kennedy School and The Wexner Foundation are no longer compatible partners," the statement said. "Our core values and those of Harvard no longer align." Beyond the developments of last week, the statement said that the Kennedy School of Government's tolerance of diverse perspectives had diminished "slowly but perceptibly" in recent years and that Wexner fellows had experienced their "voices and views even shouted down." "Many of our Israel Fellows no longer feel marginalized at HKS," the statement said. "They feel abandoned." The foundation supports a fellowship for government and public-service professionals from Israel who pursue a one-year degree from the Harvard Kennedy School. A representative for the Harvard Kennedy School pointed Insider to statements issued by both Harvard's president, Claudine Gay, and the Kennedy School's dean, Doug Elmendorf, last week in which the representative said the university "made clear our rejection of the terrorist atrocities perpetrated by Hamas." "Our university rejects terrorism that includes the barbaric atrocities perpetrated by Hamas," Gay said separately in a video statement. Elmendorf condemned the attacks in his Friday statement while adding he was "very concerned about the threats, vitriol, doxxing, and other menacing actions directed at members of our community," which he said was primarily coming from people outside Harvard. "We are grateful to The Wexner Foundation for its very long-standing support of student scholarships," a Kennedy School representative said. Wexner built his fortune as the CEO of L Brands , leading companies including Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works. He launched The Wexner Foundation in 1983 with the goal of "strengthening leadership for the Jewish people," according to the foundation's website. The mogul stepped down from leadership at the retail brands following scrutiny over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier who killed himself in jail while facing sex-trafficking charges. A spokesperson for Wexner said in 2019 that the businessman had cut ties with Epstein years before. Monday's announcement ends a partnership that spanned more than three decades and provided management and leadership training for Israeli government workers at the Ivy League public-affairs school. Correction: October 17, 2023 An earlier version of this story misstated Les Wexner's role at Victoria's Secret. He was the company's owner and CEO but did not found it. The story also incorrectly described Jeffrey Epstein's criminal history. He was never convicted of sexual assault. October 16, 2023: This story was updated to include comments sent by a Harvard Kennedy School representative. Read the original article on Business Insider The lawsuit says 40 West members subjected Black colleagues and other employees of color at Maryland Correctional Training Center to racial slurs and kept them from promotions and shifts. A group of correctional officers in Maryland launched a lawsuit alleging a gang of their white peers created a culture of racism against Black and immigrant staffers. According to The Daily Record, Black employees and other correctional officers of color at Maryland Correctional Training Center filed the lawsuit in Baltimore City Circuit Court in July, alleging members of the 40 West gang subjected them to routine racial slurs and caused them to lose out on promotions and overtime shifts. Officials moved the case to federal court in Baltimore last week. Black correctional officers at Maryland Correctional Training Center in Hagerstown filed a racial discrimination lawsuit in July citing a gang of their white peers that was recently moved to federal court. (Photo: Screenshot/YouTube.com/DC News Now) Upon information and belief, a group of caucasian COs organized to engage in illegal behavior and to take administrative control of MCTC by creating a race-based gang called 40 West, 40 West boys, and/or 40 West gang decades prior to the present, wrote attorney Edith Thomas, one of the plaintiffs lawyers. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Thomas said they look forward to getting justice for their clients. One of the big goals is to reform the department so this doesnt happen to anyone else, she added. A spokesperson from Marylands Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services said in an emailed statement that the office is aware of the complaints and is investigating the serious claims. According to the lawsuit which asserts discriminatory allegations and civil claims under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act several classes of correctional officers were damaged by the white correctional officers coordinated activities. The complaint alleges the white 40 West members worked to help each other earn promotions, receive training that benefited their careers and pick up overtime shifts ahead of Black or immigrant correctional officers. It also asserts department leaders targeted people of color for discipline over minor infractions while white officers misconduct sometimes went ignored by the DPSCS hierarchy. The lawsuit notes that MCTC is the reception center for male inmates from Garrett, Allegany, Washington, Frederick, Montgomery and Carroll Counties. It typically houses medium- and minimum-security male prisoners for relatively short stays. The suit claims 40 West gang members have included some high-ranking correctional officers at MCTC and that they use Masonic imagery to identify each other. One allegedly has a swastika tattoo. The plaintiffs also say they were exposed to significant racial abuse, including the use of the N-word and other slurs, being ordered to Go back to your country and told We dont want Blacks here, plus hearing other officers make monkey noises over the prisons intercom system. According to the lawsuit, DPSCS ignored the plaintiffs allegations of racism, instead retaliating against them for reporting issues. Thomas Eiler, another lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the name 40 West seems to derive from U.S. Route 40, which runs across the top of Maryland and through Hagerstown. This is clearly a situation where many, many people have been affected by the discrimination and unlawful choices of a select group of people in power, Eiler noted, The Daily Record reported. TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and Android TV. Also, please download theGrio mobile apps today! The post Black correctional officers file racial discrimination suit citing gang of white peers, RICO activity appeared first on TheGrio. Lamar Berko, CEO of LB Jewellery, said a door attendant blocked the group from entering 100 Wardour Street claiming there were too many men among them but they watched as he waved multiple white people through the doors. A Black millionaire has accused a popular London bar of denying him and his friends entry but allowing white patrons. According to The Independent, celebrity jeweler Lamar Berko, 30, and eight Black friends tried to enter 100 Wardour Street in Soho, West End, last week but were turned away and given conflicting reasons as to why. Berko said a door attendant blocked the group from entering the restaurant, claiming there were too many men among them but they watched as he waved multiple white people through the doors. A Black celebrity jeweler accuses a door attendant at 100 Wardour Street in west London of denying him and his friends entry but allowing white patrons. (Screenshot/YouTube.com/100 Wardour Street) In my field, Im used to dealing with racism, Berko said, according to The Independent. In this country, its always indirect and never direct. For example, Ive been stopped by the police so many times for no reason other than the car I drive. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Berko said he questioned the door attendant about why he denied the group entry but allowed others. He said they were initially informed there were too many males and subsequently told the place was packed despite the bar being nowhere near capacity. Berko stated that when he told the employee he felt racially profiled, he was told, I dont judge by race, just by the person. Berko, CEO of LB Jewellery, has reportedly worked with celebrities including David Beckham, Stefflon Don, Burna Boy, Wizkid, Joey Essex and Callum Hudson-Odoi. He said he felt forced to explain his profession and even Googled his name to show the door attendant. The jeweler reportedly offered to purchase tables for 10,000, or $12,202 USD, but the staff member still rejected the group. Ben Cavila, 33, who was among the group, said hed gone through this before where someone turned him away at the door of a Central London event, so he wasnt surprised. Berko posted about his negative experience on Snapchat, igniting criticism on 100 Wardour Streets Instagram page. The restaurant later posted photographs of Black women on their stories, a move Berko found to be such a mockery. I want them to understand that what theyve done is mad, he added, The Independent reported. I am speaking out because theyre not going to make me feel like Im crazy. The only difference between my friends and I, and everyone else who was let in was our ethnicity. 100 Wardour Street didnt immediately respond to requests for a comment. TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and Android TV. Also, please download theGrio mobile apps today! The post Black millionaire says bar let white people in but not him appeared first on TheGrio. On the conversation of how technology has been screwing over Black folks, lets take Madeline-Michelle Carthen for a perfect, decades-old example. The Missouri woman had been fighting to prove to the government that she is in fact alive and not dead thanks to an error by the Social Security Administration. Carthen has been explaining her story to various news outlets, including laying down what the issue is behind this bizarre yet haunting scenario. Read more ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement It messed up my whole life, Carthen said. ... Its impacted my life, financially. If I wanted to buy a house, that wont happen. She said she cant get a mortgage, and even keeping a job is nearly impossible. Its just a matter before my Social Security number catches up with me, and then they have to let me go H.R. cant process payroll, she said. The Death Master File Turns out Carthen isnt the only one facing this problem. In a 2019 report released by the Social Security Advisory Board, the agency found that between 7,000 to 12,000 people are wrongfully recorded as dead by the SSA nnually. Though the number of reports has generally decreased over time, as the board wrote, that doesnt help cases like Carthen who is still trying to get back on grid nearly two decades later. She received little to no help after seeking the Executive Branch and various government officials, per PEOPLEs report. She filed a lawsuit the same year the SSAB report came out. However, it was dismissed due to the governments sovereign immunity (the government cant be sued without its consent). New Name, New Problems By 2021, she decided to change her name from the original Madeline Coburn and was able to obtain a new SSN but even more sloppy mistakes got in the way of that too. She told PEOPLE her name is spelled incorrectly on the court order and her SSN is incorrect on an online hub for employee verification. She also cant sign off on her sons FAFSA papers or vote in any elections. Theres still no answer as to how the SSA decided she was dead. According to the agencys report, it could be as easy as a spouse or neighbor reporting her death to the SSA. Yet, theres no clear solution to how the problem can be fixed despite her exhausting every resource. I just know Im alive. I dont care what A.I. says or software says, but Im alive. But its hard to prove that, she told NBC News last month. More from The Root Sign up for The Root's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. TEL AVIV (Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sheltered in a bunker for five minutes on Monday when air raid sirens went off in Tel Aviv during their meeting, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said. All the meeting participants have since moved out of the bunker, resumed their meeting and were going to a command center at Israel's defense ministry to continue their discussions, he said. The incident occurred as President Joe Biden weighs a trip to the region himself amid an Israeli bombardment of Gaza after Hamas' deadly attack on Israel 10 days ago. "During the Secretary's meeting with PM Netanyahu and the war cabinet, the air raid sirens went off and they sheltered in bunker for five minutes," Miller said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Blinken returned to Israel after an intense series of visits with regional leaders to try to contain the Israel-Hamas conflict and secure humanitarian aid and safe passage for U.S. citizens and civilians in Gaza. (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Susan Heavey and Sandra Maler) Decoding Xi Jinping Thought on Culture through his inspection visit to Jiangxi Xinhua) 08:05, October 16, 2023 BEIJING, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- During a recent inspection trip to east China's Jiangxi Province, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the Yangtze River National Cultural Park, a historical and cultural block, and an ancient village. The three places all bear notable hallmarks of Chinese culture. The visit came after Xi Jinping Thought on Culture was formally put forward at a recent national meeting on the work of public communication and culture. Rooted in China's 5,000-year civilization, the Thought places a profound emphasis on the preservation and development of fine traditional culture. During his sojourn in the city of Jiujiang, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspected an urban section of the Yangtze River National Cultural Park, which was officially launched in late 2021 for the revival of the rich historical culture along the mother river stretching over 6,300 km long. National cultural parks serve as a concrete embodiment of Chinese culture. The CPC Central Committee, with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, has made the decision to build national cultural parks dedicated to the Yangtze River, the Great Wall, the Grand Canal, the Long March, and the Yellow River, all of which epitomize Chinese culture and national ethos. The parks under construction will provide the public with more destinations to experience the legacy of Chinese culture and enhance their understanding of Chinese civilization. Since becoming general secretary of the CPC Central Committee in November 2012, Xi had visited multiple places along the basin of the Yangtze River, stressing the importance of cultural preservation and inheritance. In Jiujiang, he emphasized that all work to protect the Yangtze River must be undertaken from the perspective of a community of life featuring harmony between humanity and nature and the sustainable development of the Chinese nation. To Xi, preserving the mother river is a way to leave a visible, tangible, memorable, and narratable Chinese civilization for future generations. While inspecting Jingdezhen City, known as the "porcelain capital," Xi visited a historical and cultural block, where he learned about the efforts to maintain the inheritance of ceramic culture. Noting that fine traditional Chinese culture has survived uninterrupted since ancient times, Xi stressed that porcelain is both a treasure and a calling card of the Chinese nation. The fire from kilns in Jingdezhen has burned for some 2,000 years, serving as a testament to the enduring legacy of Chinese civilization. Inspecting the block, Xi learned about the craftsmanship and procedures of porcelain making and talked with the inheritors of intangible cultural heritage, encouraging them to pursue their craftsmanship with dedication and devote themselves to passing down their craft and making innovations. Similar interactions had taken place in his previous inspection tours. Today, the porcelain city is also a window for the world to perceive China and understand Chinese culture. The cultural industry it has formed achieved prosperity in both improving people's lives and promoting Chinese culture. As the third stop in his trip to Jiangxi, Xi visited an ancient village in Wuyuan County in Shangrao City to learn about ecological conservation at a local wetland park and progress in rural revitalization. Over the years, Xi had inspected multiple traditional villages in the country, making instructions on the preservation of such villages. In Xi's eye, rural civilization is the mainstay of the history of Chinese civilization, and villages are carriers of the civilization. Prominent hallmarks of Chinese culture, such as the solar terms, the ethics of harmony between humanity and nature, and folk customs in rural areas, are brought together in China's traditional villages. The village retains a large number of Huizhou-style mansions, with every household having a classic on family instructions. It is a gathering place for local culture. Upon departure, Xi expressed the hope that villagers could protect nature, integrate the flavor of traditional villages with modern elements, maintain the aesthetic taste of the Chinese nation, and make the countryside even more beautiful. The Yangtze River rolling for thousands of miles, the colorful ceramic culture, the ancient village that has stood for thousands of years.... They all carry the codes of Chinese civilization in different forms. Xi has called for efforts to build stronger cultural confidence and promote the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture. In doing so, solid ideological guarantees, powerful inspiration, and favorable cultural conditions can be formed for building a modern socialist country in all respects and advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday claimed Hamas has disrupted the departure of foreign nationals from the Gaza Strip, adding that Egypt is prepared to help with getting people out and aid into the area. Blinken was interviewed by Randa Abul Azm of Al-Arabiya on Sunday, who asked the secretary about efforts to get civilians out of harms way in Gaza, as Israel stages a ground offensive. Azm prefaced a question to Blinken about getting humanitarian aid into Gaza and evacuating foreign nationals by saying, "The efforts to evacuate foreign nationals from Gaza Strip has been blocked by Israelis." ISRAEL GIVES PAELESTINIAN CITIZENS DEADLINE TO FLEE GAZA AS TROOPS AMASS ON BORDER U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference with Qatars Prime Minister and Foreign Minister following their meeting in Doha on October 13, 2023. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on October 13, 2023, 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. Blinken had a different take on the matter. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "Israel is not blocking the departure of foreign nationals," he said. "The problem has been Hamas has disrupted that, and of course, we have to make the necessary arrangements." READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP He went on to say Egypt authorities are ready to help with the departure of citizens and foreign nationals. ISRAEL TELLS GAZA CITIZENS TO EVACUATE TO 'MINIMIZE CIVILIAN CASUALTIES' IN WAR AGAINST HAMAS Palestinians displaced from their homes as a result of Israeli raids 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. On October 7, the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel from Gaza by land, sea, and air, killing over 1,300 people and wounding around 2,800. Israeli soldiers and civilians have also been taken hostage by Hamas and moved into Gaza. The attack prompted a declaration of war by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the announcement of an emergency wartime government. "At the same time, Egypt is fully prepared and were working with them to get assistance in," Blinken said. "And were putting in place a system working with the United Nations, working with Egypt, working with other countries to make sure that the assistance can get into Gaza, get to the people who need it." The secretary accused Hamas of putting civilians in harms way, knowing its actions would bring "a strong reaction," but went ahead with its attack anyway. "And the fact of the matter is this: What does Hamas do? Hamas makes sure that all of its critical leaders, that its command centers, that its weapons, its ammunitions are all located in residential areas, in residential buildings or buried underneath hospitals, schools, and supermarkets," Blinken said. "They know they are using Palestinians of Gaza as human shields, and that, too, is disgraceful." SAUDI ARABIA SWITCHES FOCUS FROM ISRAEL TO IRAN TO COOL TENSIONS FOLLOWING HAMAS TERRORIST ATTACK: REPORT Smoke rises after an attack of Israeli aircraft in the east of Gaza City on July 29, 2014. The home of Hamas Gaza political leader Ismail Haniyeh was among the locations targeted by air, sea and land strikes overnight in the heaviest bombardment of Gaza since the start of the conflict in July, local health officials say at least 100 people have been killed in Gaza within just 24 hours. (Photo by Sameh Rahmi/NurPhoto) (Photo by NurPhoto/Corbis via Getty Images) Several countries have started to raise concerns about the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza as Israel prepares to invade the territory after falling victim to a surprise attack by Hamas-led terrorists. Discussions about getting humanitarian aid to Gaza have taken place at various levels, with an urgency to move as "quickly as possible on the critical issue of humanitarian access in Gaza." At least 3,200 people have been killed since Hamas launched thousands of missiles into Israel last week, including at least 1,300 Israeli civilians and soldiers and 27 Americans. Palestinian health authorities say at least 2,215 Palestinians have been killed, and more than 8,700 wounded. FIRST CHARTERED FLIGHT LANDS IN GREECE WITH EVACUATED US CITIZENS FROM ISRAEL On Friday, Israel issued a warning for residents in northern Gaza to evacuate the area within 24 hours as a "humanitarian step" that aims to "minimize civilian casualties" during its planned ground offensive into the territory. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that the cumulative figure of displaced individuals has exceeded 338,000, "of whom over two-thirds are taking shelter in schools run by the UNRWA," referring to the Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Relief in the Near East. The U.S. urged Israel to delay the start of the operation to allow the 1.1 million people living in the north to relocate. President Biden and Blinken have both repeatedly stressed the need for Israel to adhere to the "rules of war." COLLEGE CAMPUS PROTESTS ERUPT ACROSS US AHEAD OF ANTICIPATED ISRAEL OPERATION IN GAZA Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi listens during the 5th mid-year coordination meeting of the African Union, at the United Nations (UN) offices in Gigiri, Nairobi, on July 16, 2023. The U.S. has reiterated that Hamas is responsible for the current atrocities and do not reflect the Palestinian people, who must be protected. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi called for access through Rafah in a speech Thursday, but he also warned against letting in large numbers of Palestinians. "The threat there is significant because it means the liquidation of this (Palestinian) cause," el-Sissi said at a military college graduation ceremony in Cairo. "Its important for its people to stay steadfast and exist on its land." The Egyptian Foreign Ministry later called the evacuation order a "grave violation" of international law. Egyptian officials have long feared that Israel seeks to make their country responsible for Palestinians in Gaza, which Egypt ruled between the 1948 and 1967 Mideast wars. Egypt has joined Israel in its blockade of the Gaza Strip since the Hamas takeover, tightly controlling entry of supplies and the exit of people. Peter Aitken of Fox News Digital contributed to this report. Original article source: Blinken says Hamas to blame for foreign nationals not being able to leave Gaza; Egypt ready to help By Humeyra Pamuk TEL AVIV (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken took shelter with Benjamin Netanyahu in a bunker during an air raid alert, a U.S official said, as the U.S. top diplomat returned to Israel on Monday in hopes of securing progress on the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Blinken is also seeking to prevent the conflict spreading as he travels around the Middle East in the aftermath of Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks that killed 1,300 people. Israel has responded with an intense bombing campaign and has amassed tanks at the border of the Hamas-controlled Gaza in preparation for a ground offensive, amid rising concern for civilians who are unable to leave the besieged strip. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Hamas has frequently launched rocket attacks at Israel. During a meeting at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, Blinken and Prime Minister Netanyahu were forced to shelter in a bunker for five minutes after sirens rang out, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said. Speaking to reporters after an earlier meeting with Blinken, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said, "This will be a long war; the price will be high. But we are going to win for Israel and the Jewish people and for the values that both countries believe in." Blinken was in Egypt on Sunday, where he said the Egyptian-controlled Rafah border crossing into Gaza would soon reopen, but a deal to allow aid in and for some foreign citizens to leave had not yet materialized. Miller said Blinken discussed humanitarian coordination with Netanyahu at an earlier meeting. Washington has moved an aircraft carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean and is set to move another carrier to the region in coming days, moves Blinken has said are meant as a deterrent, not a provocation. The United States has told some troops, potentially 2,000, to be ready to deploy within 24 hours if notified instead of the usual 96 hours to the region and could include units that provide assistance like medical aid if needed, a U.S. official said. (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Writing by Jasper Ward and Simon Lewis; additional reporting by Idrees Ali and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Lisa Shumaker) About one month after a niece reported her aunt missing, a convicted felon faces a murder charge in connection to the womans disappearance, according to authorities in Texas. The Liberty County Sheriffs Office was called to Sheryl Ann Siddalls home at about 11:30 a.m. Monday, Sept. 18, McClatchy News previously reported. Family members said they last talked with her on Sept. 12, but then the 57-year-old woman stopped answering phone calls. When deputies went to her home to check on her welfare, they found blood on the kitchen floor and on cabinets that made them suspect foul play in her disappearance, the sheriffs office said in an Oct. 13 news release. Investigators previously said they found evidence of something being dragged into Horseshoe Lake behind Siddalls home. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement To this date, and despite exhaustive searches, she has not been found, authorities said. Searches around her community and in the lake behind her home have turned up no sign of her. Investigators do not believe Siddall left her home on her own, Capt. David Meyers said in the release. Her wallet, purse, ID and vehicle have all been found at her house. Her phone was last pinged by a tower near her home on Sept. 11, officials said. It has not been found. An arrest warrant has now been issued for Donald Lee Hassler, 57, on a capital murder charge. Authorities said the convicted felon was at Siddalls home when deputies first arrived. He consented to a search of the home, officials said. Hassler told investigators he is purchasing the home from Siddall and he (claimed) that she told him she was leaving to visit her sister in Oklahoma, the sheriffs office said on Sept. 19. The man was initially arrested and booked into the the Liberty County Jail on a charge of felon in possession of firearms, authorities said, as eight firearms were found during the investigation. Since his earlier arrest, Hassler pleaded the fifth and has not been forthcoming with information about Siddalls disappearance, according to the release. Hassler is being held without bond, records show. We still want to find Siddall, and we will not give up until we do! Meyers said in the release. We want to help bring some sort of closure to her family. They are already in talks of having a memorial service for her soon. Siddall is a grandmother, and all the kids in the family are her pride and joy, her niece, Amanda Turner, told KTRK. Horseshoe Lake is about 70 miles northeast of Houston. Something was dragged into lake behind missing womans home, Texas sheriff says Trail of blood leads cops to severed head in bathtub of Texas home, police say Man reports roommate missing in Alabama, deputies say. Now hes charged with murder HEMPSTEAD COUNTY, Ark. (KTAL/KMSS) Deputies are investigating after a body was discovered in a train car that was carrying corn in Hempstead County Monday morning. According to the Hempstead County Sheriffs Office, deputies were called to the Tyson Feed mill outside of Fulton at approximately 4:20 a.m. in reference to a body found in one of the train cars. Upon arrival, deputies were told by employees of the feed mill that during the unloading process of one of the train cars, they discovered what they believed to be the arm of a human body in the unloading chute underneath the train car. Deputies investigated and found a body part protruding from the bottom of the train car hopper. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Man found dead in West Memphis, Arkansas After opening the top of the grain car, they discovered a human body was wedged in the bottom of the empty car. They worked to retrieve the body through the bottom of the car but were unable to do so. Deputies eventually gained access through the top of the car and successfully retrieved the badly decomposed body. Railroad officials say the 100-car train dropped off beans in Mexico and then proceeded empty to Missouri where it was loaded with corn on October 14. The train was then sent to Hope, where the Kiamichi railroad transported the train to the Tyson feed mill for unloading. The body will be sent to the Arkansas State Crime Lab for identification and manner and cause of death. The case remains under investigation by the Hempstead County Sheriffs Office, The Hempstead County Coroner, and the Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com. Police on Monday identified a man killed in a brazen daytime shooting on Corona Street in Boston on Friday. James Jones, 30, of Dorchester, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. At approximately 2:06 p.m. on Friday, officers responded to a radio call for a person shot at 46 Corona St. When officers arrived, they found Jones suffering from life-threatening gunshot wounds, police said. Our office in law enforcement will do everything we can to bring the perpetrator of this incident to justice, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said Friday. Video from the scene showed a massive emergency response with dozens of cruisers, crime tape, and detectives scouring the neighborhood for evidence. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement No arrests have been made. Hayden on Friday urged the public to reach out to law enforcement with any information that may help investigators. We need the communitys help. If anyone knows anything about what has happened here, we need help, we need assistance, Hayden said Friday. Anyone with information on the fatal shooting is strongly urged to contact the Boston Police Homicide Unit ay 617-343-4470. Community members wishing to assist in this investigation anonymously can do so by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494-TIPS or by texting the word TIP to CRIME (27463). Anyone in need of emotional support or simply needing to talk to someone about the distressing events in the Boston community may reach out to the Boston Neighborhood Trauma Team, which provides free, private support 24/7 at 617-431-0125. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW The Boston Police Department is mourning the loss of a retired K-9, Dexter. The department paid tribute to Dexter in a social media post on Monday. Dexter served alongside Boston Police officers for more than 7 years, police said. It is with deep regret that the BPD announces the passing of retired K-9 Dexter, police said. He proudly served for over 7 years, and retired in January, 2022, police said. Dexter will be missed by all at BPD and we send our condolences to his former handler & family during this sad and difficult time. It is with deep regret that the BPD announces the passing of retired K-9 Dexter. He proudly served for over 7 years, and retired in January, 2022. Dexter will be missed by all at BPD and we send our condolences to his former handler & family during this sad and difficult time. pic.twitter.com/0hEPT3X6QA Boston Police Dept. (@bostonpolice) October 16, 2023 Dexters passing was announced Monday, the same day the Somerville Police Department announced the passing of its K-9, Lobo. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement According to the National Police Dog Foundation, a police dog, also known as K-9, is a dog specifically trained to assist members of law enforcement. Police K-9s, which are used widely across the United States, usually serve in the force for 6 to 9 years. The most commonly used breeds are German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois, but several other breeds are represented having some unique talents, according to the foundation. Basset Hounds, Bloodhounds, and Labrador Retrievers, for example, are known for their tracking, trailing, and detection skills. When they die, police K-9s are often given full police honors and are saluted by the officers who serve alongside them. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW A man has been charged with murder and hate crimes after allegedly stabbing a six-year-old boy to death because he was Muslim. Joseph Czuba, 71, is accused of killing Wadea Al-Fayoume and seriously wounding his mother in Plainfield, Illinois. The landlord allegedly targeted the pair, who were his tenants, because of their religion and the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel. President Joe Biden said he was "sickened" by Saturday's attack. "This horrific act of hate has no place in America, and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are," he said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Hanaan Shahin, 32, was attacked by her landlord, who had a military-style knife with a seven inch (18cm) blade, and ran to the bathroom to call the police, authorities said. She suffered more than a dozen stab wounds but is expected to survive. Her son, Wadea, was stabbed more than two dozen times in the attack and later died in hospital. He celebrated his sixth birthday just a few weeks ago. "He loved his family, his friends. He loved soccer, he loved basketball," the executive director of the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Ahmed Rehab, said. When officers arrived at the scene, about 40 miles (64km) south-west of Chicago, they found Mr Czuba sat on the ground outside the property with a cut to his face. The victims, who were Palestinian-Americans, were found in a bedroom. Mr Czuba was taken to hospital for treatment before being questioned by detectives. He was later charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, hate crimes and aggravated battery. While he did not make a statement, detectives said they were able to determine a potential motive. "Both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis," the Will County Sheriff's office said. The US Justice Department has also opened a federal hate crime investigation into the attack. At a news conference on Sunday, CAIR said Wadea was born in the US while his mother - originally from Beitunia in the West Bank - came to the country 12 years ago. "[Wadea] paid the price for the atmosphere of hate and otherisation and dehumanisation that frankly I think we are seeing here in the United States," Mr Rehab said. The boy's father, Oday al-Fayoume, was at the news conference and was in a state of shock, Mr Rehab said. Neighbours such as Eva Case expressed disbelief at the violent attack. "I don't care what the situation was," she told the BBC's US partner CBS. "Don't take it out on somebody that innocent of life." Others who lived nearby said the pair had moved into the home four years ago. "It's sickening. I can't even imagine how anybody could do that to a little child," one neighbour said. More on Israel Gaza war More than 1,400 people were killed in Israel when Hamas crossed the border from the Gaza Strip to attack civilians and soldiers. In Gaza, nearly 2,700 people have been killed by Israel's bombing, Palestinian authorities say, with an estimated 1,000 missing under rubble. On Sunday, the FBI said it had seen an increase in reported threats in the US since Hamas launched its attack more than a week ago. Most have been deemed not credible, a senior FBI official said, but both Jewish and Muslim institutions have been targeted. Sign up for our morning newsletter and get BBC News in your inbox. A 6-year-old boy was being buried Monday and his mother was hospitalized with stab wounds after their 71-year-old landlord attacked them because of their Muslim faith and high emotions over the Israel-Hamas war globally and nationwide, police said. Jewish and Muslim groups have reported an increase of hateful rhetoric in the wake of the war, and Chicago-area landlord Joseph Czuba had made disparaging remarks about Muslims to the Palestinian American family, according to the local Council on American-Islamic Relations. On Saturday, the 32-year-old mother called 911 to report that her landlord had attacked her with a knife. She ran into a bathroom and kept fighting him off, the Will County Sheriffs Office said. Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis, the sheriffs statement said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The man suspected in the attack was found sitting upright outside on the ground near the driveway of the residence with a cut on his forehead, authorities said. This undated photo provided on Mon., Oct. 16, 2023, by the Chicago chapter of the Council On American Islamic Relations, shows Wadea Al-Fayoume. The 6-year-old boy was being buried on Monday and his mother was hospitalized with stab wounds after the Will County Sheriffs Office said their 71-year-old landlord attacked them in Plainfield, Ill., because of their Muslim faith and high emotions over the Israel-Hamas war. (CAIR-Chicago via AP) AP Czuba, of Plainfield, was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crimes and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. He was scheduled to appear Monday in a court in Joliet. Attempts to reach Czuba or a family member were unsuccessful Sunday, and the sheriffs office and county public defenders office did not immediately return messages about Czubas legal representation. Wadea Al-Fayoume had just turned 6, his paternal uncle Yousef Hannon said. Hannon spoke at a news conference Sunday hosted by the Chicago chapter Council on American-Islamic Relations where the boys father was in attendance. We are not animals, we are humans. We want people to see us as humans, to feel us as humans, to deal with us as humans, said Hannon, who migrated to the U.S. in 1999 to work as a public school teacher, among other jobs. Wadea should be heading to school in the morning. Instead, his parents will wake up without their son, lllinois Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker said. The Justice Department opened a hate crime investigation into the events leading up to the attack, Attorney General Merrick Garland said. President Joe Biden said in a statement: This horrific act of hate has no place in America, and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are. FBI Director Chris Wray said on a call with reporters Sunday that the FBI is also moving quickly to mitigate the threats. A senior FBI official who spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Bureau said the majority of the threats that the FBI has responded to were not judged to be credible, adding that the FBI takes them all seriously nonetheless. Oday Al-Fayoume, right, the father of Wadea Al-Fayoume, rubs his face while Wadeas uncle Yousef Hannon speaks at the Muslim Community Center on Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023, about the stabbing death of 6-year-old Wadea in an anti-Muslim hate crime, according to the Will County sheriffs office and the familys relatives. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune via AP) Brian Cassella/AP The Muslim civil liberties organization in Chicago called the crime our worst nightmare and part of a disturbing spike in hate calls and emails since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. The group cited text messages exchanged among family members that showed the attacker had made disparaging remarks about Muslims. Palestinians basically, again, with their hearts broken over whats happening to their people, said Ahmed Rehab, the groups executive director, have to also worry about the immediate safety of life and limb living here in this most free of democracies in the world. In response to the increased threats, the Illinois State Police are communicating with federal law-enforcement and reaching out to Muslim communities and religious leaders to offer support, according to a Sunday press release from Pritzker. The agency also is reminding the public to be vigilant. Everyone in Illinois- both law enforcement and community members alike- must remain on guard against both terrorism and hate crimes during this period of volatility, said ISP Director Brendan F. Kelly. If you see something, say something, before its too late. Associated Press reporters Jesse Bedayn in Denver and Eric Tucker in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report, as did the Belleville News-Democrat. Two Swedes were killed in Brussels after a gunman opened fire in the city centre, police have said. Footage shared online showed a man dressed in an orange jacket unloading several shots, using a large weapon. The bearded man was reportedly seen leaving the crime scene on a scooter. The violent incident came ahead of a qualifier game for the UEFA Euros between Sweden and Belgium at the Heysel Stadium, some three miles away. Local outlets reported a nervous atmosphere near to the arena following reports of the shooting, and extra security measures were added. The second half of the match was later called off after players reportedly refused to return to the field. A message from the Swedish FA, sent to supporters advised fans to remain inside the stadium. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Footage showed security personnel ushering supporters back inside the stadium and closing the gates. Nearby Metro stations were also reportedly closed. Key Points Gunman at large after fatally shooting two people in Brussels Macron expresses solidarity with Belgium Threat level raised to highest level 4 in Brussels and nearby region Belgium v Sweden Euro 2024 qualifier called off Sweden call for stronger border control as they say attack was aimed at Swedes' 13:30 , Athena Stavrou Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson called on the European Union to bolster border controls and internal security after a gunman killed two Swedes in Brussels on Monday, saying the region could not afford to be naive. Two Swedes were shot dead and a third wounded in central Brussels on Monday night as Belgium hosted Sweden for a football match. A man who identified himself as a member of the Islamic State claimed responsibility and said he had killed three Swedes so far in a video posted online. All indications are that this is a terror attack aimed at Sweden and Swedish citizens only due to them being Swedish, Kristersson told a news conference. Sweden raised its terror alert to its second-highest level in August after Koran burnings and other acts in Sweden against Islams holiest text outraged Muslims and the government warned that the country had become a priority target among jihadists. Swedish authorities have also said the country has been the target of disinformation in social media about issues such as the Koran burnings and social services handling of Muslim families and Swedens embassies urged nationals to exercise increased vigilance abroad. The threat assessment against Sweden has gradually changed and the threat of attacks by above all violent Islamist extremism has increased, security police SAPO said in a statement following the attack on Monday. It is a serious situation and the Security Police estimates that it will remain for a considerable period. Ukraine stands with Sweden and Belgium against terrorism, Zelensky says 18:04 , Alexander Butler Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine stands firmly alongside Sweden and Belgium against terrorism. Following yesterdays attack in Brussels, my thoughts are with Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson, the Swedish people, and all those affected, he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. I am also expressing solidarity with Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo and the Belgian people. Ukraine stands firmly alongside our Swedish and Belgian friends against terrorism. Following yesterdays attack in Brussels, my thoughts are with @SwedishPM, the Swedish people, and all those affected. I am also expressing solidarity with @AlexanderDeCroo and the Belgian people. Ukraine stands firmly alongside our Swedish and Belgian friends against terrorism. Volodymyr Zelenskyy / (@ZelenskyyUa) October 17, 2023 Pictured: The cafe suspect was shot dead in 17:00 , Athena Stavrou Belgian police on Tuesday shot and killed a 45-year-old Tunisian suspected of killing two Swedish football fans in Brussels, Belgian media said. Following an overnight manhunt, the suspect was found by authorities in a cafe in the Schaerbeek area of Brussels on Tuesday. Local media reported he was shot in the chest and later died in hospital. Swedens PM issues warning to all nationals abroad after Brussels terror attack 16:30 , Athena Stavrou The killing of two Swedish citizens in an attack ahead of a football match in Brussels has shocked the country, although the government has been warning for months that Swedes were at greater risk since a recent string of public desecrations of the Quran holy book by a handful of anti-Islam activists. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Tuesday noted that the government in August had raised the terror alert to the second-highest level following threats against Sweden by Islamic extremists. Belgian prosecutors have said they cannot exclude the possibility that Mondays attack is related to the Israel-Hamas war. Read more: Swedens PM issues warning to all nationals abroad after Brussels terror attack No indication suspect was a terrorist, neighbours say 16:05 , Alexander Butler After an overnight manhunt, police fatally shot the suspect at a cafe in the Schaerbeek district of northern Brussels on Tuesday morning, a day after his deadly attack, which prosecutors are treating as an act of terrorism. In a video claiming responsibility for the attack, he said he was a member of the Islamic State militant group and gave his name as Abdesalem Al Guilani. Authorities have not named the man but Belgian state broadcaster RTBF named him as Abdesalem Lassoued. At the yellow-brick apartment block in Schaerbeek overlooking a small park where the suspect lived, uniformed police stood guard on Tuesday morning while investigators searched for evidence inside. The suspect had lived with a partner and their daughter in an apartment one floor up from the ground floor, neighbours said. The partner worked in a womens hair salon, according to one neighbour, who declined to be named. He was the sort of person you would say said hello to, but not much more. He kept himself to himself, said one woman, standing opposite a door smashed in by police in the apartment above the suspects. He was polite, there was no indication that something like this might happen, A male neighbour told Reuters. Brussels gunman suspect was known to police but not on watchlist 15:41 , Athena Stavrou A man suspected of shooting dead two Swedish football fans and wounding another in Brussels was a 45-year-old Tunisian who had an asylum application rejected in 2020 but continued to live in Belgium illegally, according to Belgian officials. In 2016, a foreign police service passed on an unconfirmed report that the man had a radicalised profile and wanted to go to a war zone to wage jihad, Minister of Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne said. But he said that there had been no concrete indication that the man had been radicalised in the time he was known to the Belgian security services, so he was not on any watchlist. After his asylum application was denied in October 2020, Belgian authorities said he disappeared from the radar. This year, Belgian authorities received a tip that the man had been convicted of terrorism in Tunisia but the information proved to be false as the man had only been convicted of common law offences, Van Quickenborne said. Nevertheless, apparently out of an abundance of caution, security authorities had convened a meeting to discuss his case, the minister said. The meeting had been due to take place on Tuesday - the day he was fatally shot by police. Sweden and Belgium to mourn victims together 15:33 , Athena Stavrou Belgiums Prime Minister said Sweden and Belgium will commemorate the victims of Monday nights attack together on Wednesday. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Alexander De Croo said: Sweden and Belgium mourn the victims of yesterdays attack together. I have invited @SwedishPM to Brussels tomorrow to commemorate the victims and pay tribute to the police services. We wish the people of Sweden strength and courage to get through these difficult times. Sweden and Belgium mourn the victims of yesterdays attack together. I have invited @SwedishPM to Brussels tomorrow to commemorate the victims and pay tribute to the police services. We wish the people of Sweden strength and courage to get through these difficult times. Alexander De Croo (@alexanderdecroo) October 17, 2023 No concrete and immediate risk of terrorism in Italy, minister says 15:14 , Athena Stavrou There is no concrete and immediate risk of a terrorist attack in Italy, the interior minister said on Tuesday. He added that the current situation does require a high level of attention. The terrorist threat often presents itself in an intangible, fluid and not always definable manner, Matteo Piantedosi told parliament after a self-proclaimed Islamist militant shot dead two Swedish citizens in central Brussels late on Monday. Macron says Islamist terrorism rising in Europe 14:52 , Athena Stavrou Europe is seeing a rise of Islamist terrorism and all states are threatened, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday during a visit to Albania, after Islamist killings of a teacher in France and two Swedish football fans in Belgium. We saw it again yesterday in Brussels. All European states are vulnerable, and there is indeed a resurgence of Islamist terrorism, Macron said after talks with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama in Tirana. Here, we reiterate our solidarity with our Belgian friends, Macron said. He added that in the coming days or weeks he might visit Israel, who is at war with the Islamist group Hamas. Pictures: Aftermath of deadly shooting 14:30 , Athena Stavrou Pictures showed forensic experts working, after a police operation against a deadly shooting suspect in Schaerbeek, Brussels. Swedish security police arrests two suspected of unauthorized possession of secret information 14:00 , Athena Stavrou The Swedish security police arrested Tuesday two people suspected of gross unauthorized possession of secret information following an early morning police raid where several houses were searched in the greater Stockholm area. Swedens SAPO domestic security agency said in a statement the suspects are now being questioned. It declined to give details on the case or say whether they were Swedish citizens or foreign nationals. It was an operation that was carried out calmly and in connection with these arrests. House searches were also carried out in a number of places where seizures have been made, SAPO spokesman Fredrik Hultgren-Friberg told Swedish public broadcaster SVT. According to the security agency, Tuesdays raid is not connected to previous cases but is tied to a separate preliminary investigation. Swedish prosecutors will decide whether to detain or release the suspects by midday Friday. Is it safe to travel to Brussels after fatal shooting? 13:00 , Athena Stavrou Following the fatal shooting of two people in Brussels on 16 October, the Foreign Office (FCDO) has updated its advice for travel to Belgium. The FCDO put the Brussels-Capital Region at threat level 4 of 4: avoid all non-essential travel following the attack. The advice reads: Avoid the area and follow the advice of local authorities and This is a developing situation follow the advice of local authorities. Travel seems to be going ahead as normal. All Eurostar services from London to Brussels Midi / Zuid are running on time on 17 October, other than one early morning train (7.04am) that was cancelled. Read more: Is it safe to travel to Brussels after fatal shooting? How Quran burnings in Sweden have increased threats from Islamic militants 12:29 , Athena Stavrou The killing of two Swedish citizens in an attack in Brussels has shocked the Scandinavian country, although the government has been warning for months that Swedes were at greater risk since a recent string of public desecrations of the Quran holy book by a handful of anti-Islam activists. Read more: How Quran burnings in Sweden have increased threats from Islamic militants Sweden tells Swedes abroad to be extra cautious 12:06 , Athena Stavrou The Swedish government on Tuesday called on the Nordic countrys citizens abroad to be cautious after two Swedes were shot dead in the capital of Belgium on Monday. The threat picture against Sweden and Swedish interests abroad was already heightened, it said on its website. Due to the fact two Swedes were killed in Brussels in a suspected terrorist act, Swedes abroad are urged to observe increased caution and increased vigilance and to follow local authorities advice, it said. Attacks aimed at Swedish citizens' 11:34 , Athena Stavrou Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told a press conference that Monday nights attack in Brussels was aimed at Sweden and Swedish citizens. Two Swedes were shot dead and a third wounded in central Brussels on Monday night as Belgium hosted Sweden for a football match. A man who identified himself as a member of the Islamic State claimed responsibility in a video posted online. He was later shot by police and died in hospital. All indications are that this is a terror attack aimed at Sweden and Swedish citizens only due to them being Swedish, Kristersson told a news conference. These terrorists want to scare us into obedience and silence. That will not happen. Kristersson added that Sweden and the European Union needed to better protect their borders and ensure that dangerous individuals could not stay illegally within the region, adding: This is a time for more security, we cant be naive. Sweden 'need to increase security 11:09 , Athena Stavrou Sweden and the European Union need better border controls, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told a press conference on Tuesday. He spoke after a gunman killed two Swedes in Brussels late on Monday and added that Sweden needs to increase its own security. I understand that many Swedes are afraid and angry, Kristersson said. This is a time for more security, we cant be naive. Watch: Moment gunman opens fire killing two people in Brussels 10:14 , Athena Stavrou Two Swedish nationals were shot dead and a third one was wounded in central Brussels on Monday night and a man who identified himself as a member of the Islamic State claimed responsibility in a video posted online. The suspect fled the scene after the shooting as a football match between Belgium and Sweden was about to start, triggering a massive manhunt and prompting Belgium to raise its terror alert to the highest level. Watch: Suspected Brussels attack gunman filmed moments before police shot him in cafe 09:51 , Athena Stavrou A suspected gunman who allegedly shot and killed two Swedes in Brussels was caught on CCTV just moments before he was shot by police in a nearby cafe. A man opened fire in the city centre on Tuesday evening, shooting two people dead. Footage shared online showed a man dressed in an orange jacket unloading several shots, using a large weapon. The bearded man was reportedly seen leaving the crime scene on a scooter. Suspected Brussels attack gunman filmed moments before police shot him in cafe LIVE: Police search property after Brussels gunman arrested 09:16 , Athena Stavrou Watch live as police search property after gunman was arrested in Brussels. Terror suspect dies in hospital from wounds 09:11 , Athena Stavrou Belgian police on Tuesday shot and wounded a 45-year-old Tunisian suspected of killing two Swedish football fans in Brussels, Belgian media said. The man was shot by police in a cafe on Tuesday and died in hospital from his wounds, media said. The perpetrator of the Brussels terrorist attack was identified and has died, Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden told POLITICO. Our thanks to the intelligence and security services and the public prosecutors office for their quick and decisive action last night and this morning. Two Swedish nationals were shot dead and a third one was wounded in central Brussels on Monday night and a man who identified himself as a member of the Islamic State claimed responsibility in a video posted online. The suspect fled the scene after the shooting as a football match between Belgium and Sweden was about to start, triggering a massive manhunt and prompting Belgium to raise its terror alert to the highest level. The weapon with which the attacks were committed has been found this morning where the man was apprehended in (the Brussels borough of) Schaerbeek. That makes the likelihood that the perpetrator has been caught bigger, Verlinden told VRT broadcaster. We are checking fingerprints to be 100% sure. Brussels shooter dead, local media say 08:46 , Athena Stavrou The perpetrator of Mondays lethal attacks in Brussels is dead, Belgian public broadcaster RTBF said on Tuesday. The suspected assailant who shot to death two Swedish nationals and wounded a third person in central Brussels on Monday night was shot in a cafe in the Schaerbeek neighborhood of the Belgian capital, Belgian media reported on Tuesday. Earlier, it was reported that the man was in intensive care in hospital. Authorities confirm terror suspect shot by police 08:26 , Athena Stavrou Belgian police on Tuesday shot and wounded a 45-year-old Tunisian who killed two Swedish citizens in Brussels on Monday, local broadcaster RTBF radio said on its website. Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden said earlier the wounded man was suspected of being the gunman. The weapon with which the attacks were committed has been found this morning where the man was apprehended in Schaerbeek. That makes the likelihood that the perpetrator has been caught bigger, Verlinden told VRT broadcaster. We are checking fingerprints to be 100% sure. She said the man was in intensive care in hospital. Schaerbeek is on the border of Brussels. The Belgian capitals mayor Philippe Close told BFM TV: It seems indeed the suspect has been neutralised. Terrorist attacks shakes the foundations of peaceful society - Belgian PM 08:15 , Athena Stavrou Belgians Prime Minister has offered unwavering solidarity, after two Swedes were shot dead in Brussels. Alexander De Croo wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter that terrorist attacks shake the foundations of our peaceful societies. Belgium sends its sincere condolences to the people of Sweden. This terrorist attack shakes the foundations of our peaceful societies. We offer our unwavering solidarity in the face of this blind hatred. We will counter terrorism together with even greater determination. Alexander De Croo (@alexanderdecroo) October 17, 2023 Police and forensic officers man the scene of the shooting in Brussels 07:57 , Mike Bedigan Pictures: Brussels attack 07:47 , Athena Stavrou Belgium was searching on Tuesday for a 45-year-old Tunisian gunman who killed two Swedish citizens and wounded a third on Monday in Brussels in what Prime Minister Alexander De Croo called a brutal terrorist attack. Belgian media said the attacker was found and shot in a cafe in the Belgian capital, but prosecutors said they were awaiting confirmation that it was the suspect. Belgium was hosting Sweden in a Euro 2024 qualifying match on Monday evening. The match was abandoned at halftime. The country has raised the security alert status of its capital city to the highest level, with increased police presence, particularly for Swedish people and institutions, and warned the public to be extra vigilant and avoid unnecessary travel. suspect shot in cafe' 07:30 , Rich Booth The suspected assailant who shot to death two Swedish nationals and wounded a third person in central Brussels on Monday night was shot in a cafe in the Schaerbeek neighborhood of the Belgian capital, Belgian media reported on Tuesday. Belgiums federal prosecution office confirmed the information, telling Reuters it was still uncertain if the person shot is indeed the assailant. Watch: Emergency services on scene after two people shot dead in Brussels 07:15 , Maroosha Muzaffar Threat level raised to highest level 4 in Brussels and nearby region 07:03 , Mike Bedigan Shortly following the attack the National Crisis Centre said that it had increased the threat level in the Brussels region to level 4. The organisation requested active vigilance from civilians and advised against unnecessary movement. It added that the threat level across the rest of the nation would raised to the second-highest. Earlier, the NCC urged members of the public not to share pictures or videos of the victims on social media, out of respect for their families. Emmanuel Macron: Europe has been shaken 06:45 , Maroosha Muzaffar After two Swedes were killed in a terrorist attack in Brussels, French president Emmanuel Macron said that Europe has been shaken. Belgian police earlier said that the gunman had suspected terrorist motives. A spokesman for the Belgian federal prosecutor, Eric van Duyse, requested locals to go home and stay at home as long as the threat has not been eradicated. Security tightened at a friendly match between France and Scotland 06:30 , Maroosha Muzaffar After the terrorist attack in Brussels that killed two Swedes, France tightened security measures at a friendly match between France and Scotland in Lille on Tuesday evening, French newspaper Le Monde reported. Federal prosecutors in Belgium have launched a terrorism inquiry over the shooting on the Boulevard dYpres in Brussels. Perpetrators application for asylum was rejected in 2020 06:29 , Maroosha Muzaffar State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor told reporters on Tuesday that the suspected perpetrator applied for asylum in Belgium in November 2019. However, in October 2020, his application was rejected and shortly afterwards he disappeared from the radar. Belgian royal palace issues statement over shooting 06:15 , Maroosha Muzaffar The Belgian royal palace said it was shocked by the shooting. Our thoughts are first and foremost with the victims, their families and loved ones. We support the security forces who are currently doing their utmost to track down the perpetrator, the palace said on social media. Perpetrator identified as a man of Tunisian origin who was illegally staying in Belgium 06:13 , Maroosha Muzaffar Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo told reporters today that the perpetrator is said to be a man of Tunisian origin who was staying illegally in our country. He also said that security would be increased in sensitive areas including those belonging to the Swedish community. The perpetrator targeted Swedish supporters. It was said to be a man of Tunisian origin who was staying illegally in our country, he said. Two lives were cut short, mown down by the most extreme cruelty. Our thoughts go out to the victims, their loved ones, their relatives. We offer our condolences, he added. Brussel schools to remain open on Tuesday, PM says 06:12 , Maroosha Muzaffar Schools in Brussels will remain open today despite the suspect still being at large. HLN reported that schools are not staying closed due to the heightened terror threat following Monday nights attack in Brussels. According to prime minister Alexander De Croo, who addressed a press conference, there is no reason to close schools. Everyone is now looking for a foothold. In any case, with our country, with our excellent security services, we are doing everything we can to track down the perpetrator, Belgian minister of the interior Annelies Verlinden said. European leaders condemn cowardly attack 06:00 , Mike Bedigan European political leaders sent their condolences to Sweden and its leaders following the attack in which two Swedish nationals were killed describing it as cowardly. President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said: I want to express my deepest condolences to @SwedishPM Kristersson and the Swedish people who have lost two of their compatriots tonight in the cowardly attack in Brussels. Our thoughts are with you at this difficult time. French president Emmanuel Macron added: We are thinking of the victims of this cowardly attack, as well as our Belgian and Swedish friends, whose shock we share. Belgian prime minister says shooting victims cut down by extreme brutality 05:56 , Maroosha Muzaffar Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo addressed a press conference this morning and said Monday night was meant to be a wonderful soccer party and the victims had been cut down by extreme brutality. Terrorism is directed against people everywhere, he said. Terrorists will never defeat us and we are fighting it together with our Swedish friends. Moments like these are a heavy ordeal but we are never going to let ourselves be intimidated by them. Suspect claimed to be a member of Isis 05:45 , Maroosha Muzaffar Dutch-language newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws (HLN) reported that the gunman had released a video on Facebook in which he claimed to be a member of Isis. He said he had shot people to avenge the Muslims. The suspected perpetrator is from Schaerbeek a municipality in Belgium and is believed to be radicalised, HLN added. In a video posted on social media, a man identifying himself as the attacker said he was inspired by the Islamic State, the spokesman for the federal prosecutors office, Eric Van Duyse, said on the LN24 news channel. Eyewitness describes horror of Brussels attack 05:41 , Maroosha Muzaffar An eyewitness has described being frozen in shock at the moment the gunman discharged his weapon. Speaking with the Belgian LN24 channel, the witness who was identified as Sulayman said: I stood there frozen, I didnt move. I was shocked by what happened, even now I am still in shock. It was a man who came, pushed me, told me to start running if I wanted to stay alive. Meanwhile, Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, said: The heart of Europe is hit by violence. My heart goes out to the families of the victims of the deadly attack in the centre of Brussels. Swedish prime minister urges Swedes in Belgium to stay vigilant 05:30 , Maroosha Muzaffar Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson urged Swedes in Belgium to be vigilant after the attack by a gunman left two Swedes dead. Mr Kristersson was quoted as saying by the Swedish TT news agency: The Swedes on the ground are asked to be vigilant and to follow the instructions of the Belgian authorities with attention. My thoughts tonight are with the dead, the wounded and their loved ones. Swedish foreign minister Tobias Billstrom wrote on X/Twitter: Devastated by the news of two Swedish football supporters murdered in Brussels tonight and a third person being seriously wounded. All my thoughts are with their families and loved ones. He assured that the Swedish authorities are working closely with their Belgian partners to find the murderer. Police and lawmakers try to assuage residents fears after attack 05:15 , Maroosha Muzaffar The citys mayor Philippe Close posted on X: Following the shooting in Brussels, police services are mobilising to guarantee safety in and around our capital, in collaboration with the minister of the interior. I am at the crisis centre to ensure coordination. Belgiums prime minister Alexander De Croo also expressed his condolences to the relatives of the shooting victims. He wrote on X: My deepest condolences to the relatives of this cowardly attack in Brussels. I am closely following the situation, together with the ministers of justice and home affairs from [the Belgian Crisis Centre]. We are monitoring the situation and ask the people of Brussels to be vigilant. The suspect is still at large, hours after the attack. Watch: Emergency services at scene of Brussels shooting 04:56 , Mike Bedigan Horrified by the terrorist attack, says Belgian foreign minister 04:30 , Maroosha Muzaffar The country is in shock after a gunman with suspected terrorist motives shot dead two Swedes in Brussels. Horrified by the terrorist attack that claimed two victims in the heart of Brussels, Belgian foreign minister Hadja Lahbib posted on X/Twitter. All necessary means must be mobilized to combat radicalism. Our thoughts go out to the victims, their families, and our police forces, she added. Soon after the attack, the terror threat level for Brussels was raised to 4 the highest level. Belgium was previously level 2. Football fans put on lockdown inside Belgium stadium before evacuation 03:53 , Mike Bedigan Emmanuel Macron: Europe has been shaken 03:45 , Maroosha Muzaffar After two Swedes were killed in a terrorist attack in Brussels, French president Emmanuel Macron said that Europe has been shaken. Belgian police earlier said that the gunman had suspected terrorist motives. A spokesman for the Belgian federal prosecutor, Eric van Duyse, requested locals to go home and stay at home as long as the threat has not been eradicated. Suspected terror attack forces Euro 2024 qualifier to be cancelled 03:13 , Mike Bedigan The attack caused the second half of the Euro 2024 qualifier match between Belgium and Sweden to be cancelled, after players reportedly refused to return to the field. Reports from the ground described a nervous atmosphere near the stadium, which was later locked down before supporters were safely evacuated. A statement from Uefa said that the decision to cancel the remaineder of the match had been made following consultation with both teams and the police, following the suspected terrorist attack. Following a suspected terrorist attack in Brussels this evening, it has been decided, after consultation with the two teams and the local police authorities, that the UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying match between Belgium and Sweden is abandoned. Further communication will be made in UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) October 16, 2023 Motivation behind Brussels attacks unkown 02:15 , Mike Bedigan The motivation of the violent attacks that left two people killed and one injured, are still unkown. In a video posted on Facebook, the alleged gunman claimed to have been inspired by the Islamic State and intended to avenge the Muslims However, Belgian federal prosecutors have said that they do not believe the motive related to ongoing conflict in the Middle East, despite rising tensions in major European cities following the attacks on Israel by Hamas. Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs: We will find the murderer 01:34 , Mike Bedigan Swedens Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tobias Billstrom, said that along with their Belgian counterparts, authorities would find the murderer. Devastated by the news of two Swedish football supporters murdered in Brussels tonight and a third person being seriously wounded, he wrote on X. All my thoughts are with their families and loved ones. Swedish authorities work closely with their Belgian partners to find the murderer. Devastated by the news of two Swedish football supporters murdered in Brussels tonight and a third person being seriously wounded. All my thoughts are with their families and loved ones. Swedish authorities work closely with their Belgian partners to find the murderer. Tobias Billstrom (@TobiasBillstrom) October 16, 2023 Major police operation underway in Brussels commune reports 01:11 , Mike Bedigan According to Het Laatste Nieuws, a major police operation is underway in Schaerbeek, with officers there in large numbers. The alleged gunman is reported to have being stying in the Brussels commune illegally. No information about the suspect has been released by authorities. Gunman still at large after almost five hours Monday 16 October 2023 23:54 , Mike Bedigan No new information has emerged about the suspected gunmans location, almost five hours on from the initial attacks in which two Swedish nationals were killed. The incident took place around 7.15pm local time, with authorities unable to share further information since then. Fans at the King Baudouin Stadium have been evacuated, with some telling Dutch-language newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws that the process had gone smoothly. Brussels police cordon off an area near to the shooting Monday 16 October 2023 23:40 , Mike Bedigan Von der Leyen sends condolences to people of Sweden Monday 16 October 2023 23:32 , Mike Bedigan President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said her thoughts were with the people of Sweden following the attack. Writing on X, she said: I want to express my deepest condolences to @SwedishPM Kristersson and the Swedish people who have lost two of their compatriots tonight in the cowardly attack in Brussels. Our thoughts are with you at this difficult time. I want to express my deepest condolences to @SwedishPM Kristersson and the Swedish people who have lost two of their compatriots tonight in the cowardly attack in Brussels. Our thoughts are with you at this difficult time. Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) October 16, 2023 Watch Live: Police cordon scene after two people shot dead in Brussels Monday 16 October 2023 23:30 , Mike Bedigan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm4LMfMt_cg Suspected claimed to be inspired by IS in online video Monday 16 October 2023 23:20 , Mike Bedigan Violent footage circulating on social media appeared to show the suspect, wearing a bright orange jacket, firing a large weapon in the centre of Brussels. Later and in a separate post, a man in a similar jacket, claimed to be the attacker said he had been inspired by the Islamic State (IS) and said he had shot the people to avenge the Muslims. The National Crisis Centre said the message cited the victims Swedish nationality as a possible motive for the act. Supporters in the stands following the Euro qualifier suspension Monday 16 October 2023 23:10 , Mike Bedigan King Baudouin Stadium evacuated by authorities Monday 16 October 2023 23:00 , Mike Bedigan Fans at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels are being evacuated, as the gunman remains at learge. The National Crisis Centre announced the evacuation, but urged supporters to follow the instructions of the emergency services and return home immediately. Fans watching the Euro 2024 qualifier between Belgium and Sweden had previously been told to remain inside the stadium and await further information. Police on the ground in central Brussels Monday 16 October 2023 23:00 , Mike Bedigan Uefa statement Monday 16 October 2023 22:53 , Mike Bedigan Following a suspected terrorist attack in Brussels this evening, it has been decided, after consultation with the two teams and the local police authorities, that the UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying match between Belgium and Sweden is abandoned. Further communication will be made in UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) October 16, 2023 Swedish FA advises fans to stay inside the stadium Monday 16 October 2023 22:50 , Mike Bedigan A statement shared by the Swedish FA, advised football fans to stay inside the stadium for security reasons. We will return when the Belgian authorities provide us with new information. Keep calm and take care of each other, the statement read. A statement from UEFA read: Following a suspected terrorist attack in Brussels this evening, it has been decided after consultation with the two teams and the local police authorities, that the Uefa Euro 2024 qualifying match between Belgium and Sweden is abandoned. Macron expresses solidarity with Belgium Monday 16 October 2023 22:45 , Mike Bedigan Writing on X, French president Emmanuel Macron expressed solidarity with Belgium, and shared his shock at the violent attack. I have just spoken with Prime Minister Alexander De Croo to express the solidarity of the French in this terrible moment that Brussels is going through, he said. We are thinking of the victims of this cowardly attack, as well as our Belgian and Swedish friends, whose shock we share. Threat level raised to highest level 4 in Brussels and nearby region Monday 16 October 2023 22:40 , Mike Bedigan The National Crisis Centre said that it had increased the threat level in the Brussels region to level 4. The organisation requested active vigilance from civilians and advised against unnecessary movement. It added that the threat level across the rest of the nation would raised to the second-highest. Earlier, the NCC urged members of the public not to share pictures or videos of the victims on social media, out of respect for their families. Niveau de menace 4 pour la region de Bruxelles-Capitale. Une vigilance accrue est demandee. Eviter les deplacements inutiles. CrisisCenter Belgium (@CrisiscenterBE) October 16, 2023 Monday 16 October 2023 22:33 , Mike Bedigan Belgian federal prosecutors have confirmed that one other person has been injured in the Brussels attacks, on top of the two dead. The prosecutors office said that although the man claimed to be inspired by the Islamic State (IS) there was so far no link between the attack and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Belgium v Sweden Euro 2024 qualifier called off Monday 16 October 2023 22:25 , Mike Bedigan The second half of a qualifier game for the 2024 Euros between Belgium and Sweden at the Heysel Stadium, some 3 miles away, was called off. Local outlets reported a nervous atmosphere near to the arena following reports of the shooting, and extra security measures were added. Footage showed security personnel ushering supporters back inside the stadium and closing the gates. Belgian politicians condemn cowardly attack Monday 16 October 2023 22:21 , Mike Bedigan Belgian Minister of the Interior Annelies Verlinden condemned the terrible shooting on X, and said the shooter would be tracked down. An investigation by the police and the public prosecutors office is underway. I am monitoring the situation and the measures to be taken from the National Crisis Centre, she wrote. Prime Minister Alexander De Croo described attack cowardly and asked citizens to be vigilant. Mijn diepste medeleven aan de nabestaanden van de laffe moordaanslag in Brussel Ik volg de ontwikkelingen samen met ministers van Justitie en Binnenlandse Zaken op vanuit nationaal crisiscentrum We volgen de situatie en willen de inwoners van Brussel vragen om waakzaam te zijn. Alexander De Croo (@alexanderdecroo) October 16, 2023 Watch live: Police cordon scene after two people shot dead in Brussels Monday 16 October 2023 22:17 , Mike Bedigan https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/brussels-belgium-shooting-police-b2430761.html Emergency services on scene after two people shot dead in Brussels Monday 16 October 2023 22:12 , Graeme Massie Police quick to arrive Monday 16 October 2023 22:09 , Mike Bedigan Police spokeswoman Ilse Vande Keere said officers arrived soon at the scene, and sealed off the immediate neighborhood, though were able to provide further information. Dutch-language newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws (HLN) reported that the perpatrator of the crimes had released a video on Facebook, in which he claimed to be a member of IS. The man said he had shot the people avenge the Muslims. It comes at a time of heightened politcal and religious tension around the world, following the recent attacks on Israel by Hamas, and ensuing conflict. Belgium stadium on lockdown with thousands of fans held inside after Brussels shooting Monday 16 October 2023 22:05 , Graeme Massie The Euro 2024 qualifier between Belgium and Sweden was suspended after a fatal shooting in Brussels. Jack Rathborn has all the details. Belgium stadium on lockdown with fans held after Brussels shooting Gunman still at large in Brussels Monday 16 October 2023 22:03 , Mike Bedigan A man suspected of shooting two Swedish nationals in Brussels as of around 11pm local time. Footage shared online showed the man, who was wearing a bright orange jacket and white helmet, speeding away from the crime scene on a scooter. The violent incident took place at around 7.15pm local time, according to authorities. Gunman at large after fatally shooting two people in Brussels Monday 16 October 2023 21:57 , Graeme Massie Authorities raised the terror alert to the highest level in the capital following the killing of two Swedish nationals. Mike Bedigan has the story. Gunman at large after fatally shooting two people in Brussels Brussels shooting Monday 16 October 2023 21:56 , Graeme Massie This is a live blog covering the fatal shooting of two Swedes in Brussels, Belgium. By Alexandra Valencia QUITO (Reuters) -Business scion Daniel Noboa will fulfill a long-held family ambition when he takes office as Ecuador's president, after winning election on Sunday on promises to create jobs and bring crime gangs under control. Noboa, 35, who quit a job at his family's sprawling conglomerate when he was elected to the national legislature in 2021, won more than 52% of the vote, beating leftist challenger Luisa Gonzalez, who had about 48%, with the initial tally nearly complete. "Tomorrow we start work for this new Ecuador, we start working to rebuild a country seriously battered by violence, by corruption and by hate," Noboa told supporters in the seaside town of Olon after clinching victory in a campaign marred by the murder of anti-corruption candidate Fernando Villavicencio . ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "From tomorrow Daniel Noboa starts work as your new president," he added. Gonzalez conceded defeat to her rival and congratulated him. Noboa grew up accompanying his banana baron father Alvaro during the latter's multiple failed bids to become president, and was a surprise qualifier for the second round run-off. His campaign was a shift away from his father's populist rhetoric and the cries from his rival to return to the social policies of her mentor, former President Rafael Correa. Noboa, a native of Guayaquil, has pledged to attract foreign investment and develop Ecuador's business sector. His victory will be an immediate balm to markets, analysts have said, but his cabinet picks are still unknown and are likely to influence long-term market outlook. Noboa has also promised job creation, particularly for young people, and his supporters have touted the married father-of-two's fresh perspective on the country's problems. Ecuador's economy has struggled to recover since the coronavirus pandemic, contributing to soaring crime - which outgoing President Guillermo Lasso blames on disputes between drug-trafficking gangs - and a sharp rise in emigration. Noboa has promised to create a new intelligence unit to tackle gangs, supply security forces with tactical weapons, and house the country's most dangerous convicts in prison ships out at sea. The next president is due to assume office in December. (Reporting by Alexandra ValenciaWriting by Julia Symmes Cobb. Editing by Gerry Doyle) Friday night, Fox News discussed the United Nations standing toward Hamas, and CNN spoke to Israel Defense Forces on active duty. Fox News The U.N. has not labeled Hamas a terrorist group The U.N. is so out of touch with reality, Sean Hannity said, that they refuse to label Hamas or Hezbollah terrorist organizations, which they are. ... But apparently, Iran-backed militants that want to wipe Israel off the map, some of the worst atrocities weve ever seen, they get a free pass. On Hannity Friday night, former Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon and Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., joined Hannity to discuss the issue. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Hannity asked Issa why it is that America funds the United Nations when it has historically been antisemitic and anti-American. The basic existence of the U.N., good idea. The various pockets we continue to pay, ridiculous, Issa said. Danon said that the attacks by Hamas are atrocities not seen since the Holocaust and that with all due respect to the U.N., Sean, we dont really care about the U.N. right now. We care about defeating the enemy, and we will do it. Related CNN Israel Defense Forces in Gaza CNNs Nic Robertson spoke to soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces, or IDF, and what their plan of action is against Gaza on Anderson Cooper 360. We expect to go to war, Givati Brigade Cmdr. Maj. Ofek told Robertson. We expect to destroy the terrorist organization Hamas, kill its government, and kill every last terrorist. Thats what we plan to do, and thats how it will be. According to Robertson, in 2014, the IDF attempted to destroy Hamas leadership. In many ways, Israels actions are playing out just as they have in the past. And in Gaza, the civilian death toll, according to Palestinian health officials, is already higher than in 2014, he added. This is because IDF wants the civilians in Gaza to leave, but Hamas has told them to stay, Robertson said. Although the IDF will do everything it can to avoid civilian death, Ofek said it won't be easy. Ofek added, Were concerned with overthrowing the Hamas regime and killing the terrorists who are currently in Gaza. If it will be difficult, it will be difficult, not easy. For over a decade, local activists, reporters, and attorneys have been sounding the alarm about habitual civil rights violations by police in the Bay Area town of Vallejo, California. Now, California Attorney General Rob Bonta has announced that the state has reached a binding settlement with Vallejo to attempt to reform its troubled police department. Bonta said in a press conference today that the California Department of Justice has entered into a stipulated judgment with the city of Vallejo and the Vallejo Police Department (VPD) to implement over 45 specific reforms meant to improve oversight, policies, and training in the VPD. "The people of Vallejo deserve a police department that listens to them and guarantees their civil rights are protected," Bonta said. "We'll accept nothing less." Reason reported in 2019 how the relatively small Vallejo Police Department had generated an outsized number of lawsuits for wrongful deaths, brutality, and misconduct over the past decade, resulting in millions of dollars in settlements. There had been semi-frequent local protests for years, but only recently had cellphone videos and body camera footage started capturing the reality of policing in Vallejo for the world to see. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The agreement stipulates a five-year plan to overhaul the VPD, building on 45 recommended reforms that the city agreed to undertake in 2020. Among the reforms are measures to hold officers accountable for not reporting or investigating excessive force, define and limit pretextual stops, and conduct an audit anytime an officer points or brandishes a firearm. Bonta said that Vallejo is currently in compliance with 20 of those recommendations. Compliance with the settlement will be overseen by both a judge and an independent evaluator. Melissa Nold, a Vallejo civil rights attorney, says Bonta's announcement is welcome, although just a starting point. "Oversight of VPD has been promised to Vallejo's impacted families for over a decade," Nold says. "We hope this increased oversight will save lives so there will be no more Willie McCoy, Ronell Foster, or Angel Ramos." Since Reason's story was published in 2019, the large settlements have continued apace, and things have only gotten more chaotic within the department. In 2020, the city agreed to a $5.7 million settlement with the family of Ronell Foster, who was fatally shot by a Vallejo officer in 2018. That same year, a police whistleblower, John Whitney, told the outlet Open Vallejo that there was a tradition among some Vallejo officers of bending the tips of their badges to mark fatal shootings. Whitney also filed a lawsuit alleging he was fired from the Vallejo Police Department in retaliation for reporting misconduct, including badge bending. The then-police chief admitted the tradition was real, and several officers testified in court about it. The city settled with Whitney this September for close to $1 million. Last year, Vallejo paid out $300,000 to a Marine veteran who was tackled on his own porch for filming a police officer. In 2021, the city paid $270,000 to settle another excessive force lawsuit against the same officer, who, while off-duty, held a man at gunpoint outside of a pizzeria for mouthing off to him and then savagely beat him while two other officers held the man down. The head of the Vallejo police union was fired from the department for sending a threatening email to a reporter but later won his job back, with backpay, through arbitration. Earlier this year, a court ruled that Vallejo illegally destroyed public records regarding several fatal police shootings. Open Vallejo also reported that the department attempted to conceal records on four in-custody deaths that all involved Tasers, claiming the deaths were accidental and unrelated to being tased. In one of those cases, a man was tased for nearly three minutes. He was dead by the time paramedics arrived. (The Appeal previously reported that one VPD lieutenant with a long history of excessive force allegations was so trigger-happy that he was known as "Captain Taser" among local prosecutors.) There is also an ongoing lawsuit against the city by the family of Willie McCoy, who was shot 55 times by Vallejo police officers after falling asleep in a Taco Bell drive-thru with a gun in his lap. The viral videos have not stopped either. On Friday cellphone footage of a Vallejo officer punching a struggling woman, who was suspected of shoplifting $2,000 of merchandise, in the head. "For decades the Vallejo Police Department has trampled on its citizens' constitutional rights with near impunity, its only accountability coming from civil rights cases," says Ben Nisenbaum, a partner at the law firm of Burris, Nisenbaum, Curry & Lacy. "Vallejo officers who have beaten and slaughtered people have been allowed to continue being Vallejo police officers. Officers who have lied in their police reports and been proven to have done so have gone unpunished. Now, with a consent decree between the city and the attorney general, it looks like that horrific era may be history. We certainly hope so, but it all depends on how thorough the consent decree is, and how committed the city and the attorney general is to the long road ahead in fully rebuilding this department." The post California Attorney General Announces Settlement To Stop Civil Rights Abuses by Vallejo Police Department appeared first on Reason.com. SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law Friday to make low-income Mexican residents living near the border eligible for in-state tuition rates at certain community colleges. The legislation applies to low-income Mexicans who live within 45 miles (72 kilometers) of the California-Mexico border and want to attend a participating community college in Southern California. It is a pilot program that will launch next year and run until 2029. Some people travel frequently between Mexico and California to work or visit family. The law will help make education more accessible for those residents and prepare them for jobs, Assemblymember David Alvarez, who authored the proposal, said at a Senate Education Committee hearing in June. This pilot program can unlock a significant untapped resource to prepare a more diverse population among our workforce, Alvarez said in a statement. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Mark Sanchez, president of Southwestern College in Chula Vista, a California city about 7 miles (11 kilometers) from the border, said many students at the school split their time between the two countries. Without this pilot, we risk everything in terms of loss of talent, he said at the hearing. The new law will require community college boards to submit a report to lawmakers by 2028 to show the attendance rate and demographics of students who received in-state tuition rates under the program. A similar law passed in 2015 allows some Nevada residents living near the California border to attend Lake Tahoe Community College at in-state tuition rates. ___ Sophie Austin is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter: @sophieadanna For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego. When Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Laphonza Butler to fill Sen. Dianne Feinsteins seat, he didnt just praise her character and her credentials. He also called attention to her youth. You in some ways cant even make all of this up. If I had to literally design from the mind of imagination, put pen to paper someone I would like, including the time of life shes just 44 years old, he said. The governor touched on an issue many voters are considering as we head into an election year: Will the candidates they choose be able to serve at least a full term, if not multiple terms? Its a fair question, given that Californians recently witnessed Feinstein grow increasingly frail both physically and mentally in the months preceding her death. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Add to that Sen. Mitch McConnells two on-camera freeze-ups and speculation about President Joe Bidens health much of it coming from MAGA Republicans and its understandable that voters are hyper-aware of age. Where advanced age once was synonymous with wisdom and experience, some now see it as a red flag and worry that the U.S. is now a gerontocracy a nation ruled by old people. Several of Californias lawmakers are among the oldest in Congress: Rep. Grace Napolitano is 87, though she has announced she wont seek reelection. Rep. Maxine Waters is 85, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, 83, Rep. Anna Eshoo, 80, and Rep. Doris Matsui, 79. How much should age matter? Scientists say that when it comes to age, especially older age, we shouldnt generalize. Nor should we judge someones competence based on a few isolated incidents. Theres no simple way to say how someone is doing, said Dr. William Jagust, a professor of public health and neuroscience at UC Berkeley. Its tempting to look at one event and say, Oh, wow, theyre losing it. But you just dont know that. Age alone isnt disqualifying, in my opinion, he added. Jay Olshansky, a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Illinois, warns of armchair gerontologists who are evaluating candidates through partisan lenses. The suggestion that everyone who is old is feeble, experiencing loss, decline and decay this completely ignores the radical transformation in the last 20-30 years of the population thats survived to older ages, he told the Wall Street Journal. The Journal also reported that, based on actuarial tables, Biden can be expected to live nine more years after Election Day, and Trump, 11 more years. But many voters arent buying it. (Theres a) large difference between life span and the ability to function at the level required to be president, one WSJ reader posted. Only 3% of Americans want a president whos 70 or older So how old is too old? That depends on the job. The Pew Research Center found that 49% of respondents preferred a president in their 50s; 24% chose 60s; and 17% picked 40s in a poll conducted in June. Just 3% of Americans say they prefer a president to be in their 70s or older, the survey found. Nevertheless, its all but certain that 80-year-old Biden and 77-year-old Trump will be our choices, as most voters are disregarding age in the presidential race. For all the MAGA noise were hearing about Bidens decrepitude, age will likely wind up playing a small role or none at all in voter decision-making, at least if Biden and Trump do wind up on the November ballot. Age is a factor in Senate race In other races where voters do have more choices, age could indeed matter. In California, the race for U.S. Senate is a prime example. Many voters are doing the math: figuring out how old candidates will be not only on Election Day, but at the end of two or three terms. No more 80-year-old politicians please. Period, one San Luis Obispo County resident wrote in a letter to The Tribune, in response to the candidacy of 77-year-old Rep. Barbara Lee. Not as caretakers. Not as potentially viable candidates. ... This is a major critical issue right now. Lee is the oldest of the three top Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate. (Former Dodger and Republican Steve Garvey is 74, but he is not considered a viable candidate.) Age is not an issue for Rep. Adam Schiff, who is 63, and the relatively young age of Rep. Katie Porter shes 49 helps make her attractive to younger voters. In an L.A. Times/Berkeley poll, Porter was the No. 1 choice of voters under 50, though Schiff did significantly better with voters over 65. Porter could lose that edge however, should Butler decide to enter the race. Should there be age limits ... or maybe competency tests? The new focus on age has led to renewed calls for term limits or age ceilings for various federal offices, including Supreme Court justices. The public likes the idea; 79% of Americans surveyed by the Pew Research Center in July favored maximum age limits for federal officials. There also has been talk of a competency test for older, high-ranking office holders something presidential candidate Nikki Haley, 51, has been promoting for politicians over 75. Im not saying that to be disrespectful, she said Sept. 3 on Face the Natiom. Here you have Mitch McConnell, whos done great service to the country. ... Youve got Nancy Pelosi, whos been there a long time. At what point do they get its time to leave? They need to let a younger generation take over. Lets sit with that a moment. A mental acuity test would give voters more information, but only if its sufficiently thorough. Typical dementia screenings you might get at a doctors office they include tasks like drawing a clock and repeating a list of words dont provide adequate information. Dr. Jagust says it can take hours and hours in a lab setting to conduct a thorough examination. Then theres the question: What happens if a sitting president or a senator doesnt pass? Are they immediately shown the door even if they have been functioning well in office? Theres also an issue of ageism here. Would mandatory testing for older officials reinforce the idea that older people arent mentally competent and lead to more discrimination in the workplace? Sure, candidates can voluntarily release medical test records and many have but are we then to assume that older candidates who dont do so have something to hide? Thats exactly the type of broad brush scientists are warning against. Of course, once were in a voting booth or sitting at a kitchen table, marking a ballot were free to choose based on whatever criteria we want to use. We can vote for or against candidates for purely superficial reasons such as how attractive they are, or the clothes they wear, or how many times theyve stumbled in public. But if were to be thoughtful, conscientious, well-informed voters, some criteria should take precedence over all others, including age. The candidates who most align with our values the ones who will, in our opinion, thoughtfully and consistently lead in a way thats best for everyone are the candidates who should get our vote. A California prison inmate died after being attacked by three other inmates at a facility in Monterey County on Sunday, authorities said. Cory Benton, 40, who was serving a 25-year sentence for assault with a deadly weapon with gang enhancements, was stabbed multiple times at the Soledad Valley State Prison. According to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, three inmates, all of whom are serving life sentences, attacked Benton with an inmate-manufactured weapon also known as a shiv or shank. Benton died when en route to a medical facility, prison officials said. No prison staff or other inmates were injured. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The three suspects, Alberto Valades, 54, Jose Valle, 33, and Jimmy Martinez, 32, were moved into restrictive housing as authorities investigated the stabbing. Martinez is serving a life sentence for a murder committed in Los Angeles County. Valades is serving life for an L.A. County robbery conviction that was his third strike. Valle was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole on a first-degree murder conviction in Kings County, California, officials said. Bentons crimes were committed in Santa Barbara County. Soledad Valley State Prison houses 2,687 inmates and employs approximately 1,500 people. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. A California prison inmate died after being attacked by three other inmates at a facility in Monterey County on Sunday, authorities said. Cory Benton, 40, who was serving a 25-year sentence for assault with a deadly weapon with gang enhancements, was stabbed multiple times at the Soledad Valley State Prison. According to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, three inmates, all of whom are serving life sentences, attacked Benton with an inmate-manufactured weapon also known as a shiv or shank. Benton died when en route to a medical facility, prison officials said. The three suspects, Alberto Valades, 54, Jose Valle, 33, and Jimmy Martinez, 32, were moved into restrictive housing as authorities investigated the stabbing. Martinez is serving a life sentence for a murder committed in Los Angeles County. Valades is serving life for an L.A. County robbery conviction that was his third strike. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Valle was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole on a first-degree murder conviction in Kings County, California, officials said. Soledad Valley State Prison houses 2,687 inmates and employs approximately 1,500 people. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com. JACUMBA, Calif. (Border Report) Gerry Shuster migrated from the former Yugoslavia to this country in 1969 and bought 17 acres of land in Jacumba, California, about 75 miles east of San Diego. Shuster says he fell in love with the solitude and has called it home ever since. But in recent weeks, he has seen thousands of migrants come through his property, which is adjacent to and just north of the border barrier. If you stand there long enough, you can see smugglers on motorcycles and SUVs dropping off people along a dirt road on the south side of the fence. The migrants then walk about a quarter mile to where the wall suddenly ends and enter the U.S., making their way around to Shusters property. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Hundreds of migrants crossing border daily, gathering in mountains east of San Diego What I have been seeing more and more the last few months has been more and more people coming in, says Shuster. Gerry Shuster owns 17 acres of land in Jacumba, California which he says are being trampled and damaged by migrants crossing the border. (Salvador Rivera/Border Report) He says the migrants are destroying his property when walking through and camping out while waiting for Border Patrol agents to pick them up. We have a very difficult situation here, theyre knocking our fences down, they dont obey the rules, theyre burning down our trees, theyre burning down our fence poles, they are coming near our homes, we dont know who these people are, we really dont. Thousands of asylum-seekers are again crossing into Brownsville, Texas According to Shuster, he and his wife live in a home not too far from where the migrants congregate after crossing the border. Migrants walking and camping out in Jacumba, Calif. (Salvador Rivera/Border Report) When you call border patrol they say Mr. Shuster, we cannot do much about this our hands are tied, if you call the Sheriff, they dont even bother to come over. Shuster says if this continues, his land will never be the same. Visit the BorderReport.com homepage for the latest exclusive stories and breaking news about issues along the United States-Mexico border There will be more and more damages done to our properties all over this area. Im not the only one, there are quite a few other people out in the same shape I am over here. Shuster told Border Report he doesnt wish anything bad on the migrants, but he did say he hoped they would stop coming or at the very least be more respectful and mindful of his property. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego. A surfer in California suffered a leg injury last week in a reported shark attack, according to authorities. First responders were called to Linda Mar Beach just before 4 p.m. on Friday to a report that a shark had bitten a surfer, the Pacifica Police Department said. Officers arrived and found a 52-year-old man with an injury to one of his legs. The surfer told officers that he had been in the water when something bit his lower leg, according to police. The surfer was able to swim back to shore and call for medical help. SHARK WITH MASSIVE JAW CIRCLES NERVOUS PADDLEBOARDER IN EERIE FOOTAGE In this photo taken by witness Evan Barbarick, a gash wound can be seen on the leg of 52-year-old surfer. He was treated at a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP "The victim could not see what bit his leg and could not confirm if it was a shark," police said. Another surfer at the beach told FOX2 KTVU that he was just feet away from the victim in the water when the apparent attack happened. "So my friend and I were surfing next to the guy that got attacked," witness Evan Barbarick told the station. "And he basically mentioned something along the lines of, Hey, I got bit,' and was sort of struggling in the water. And my friend asked him if there was a bad bite and he said yes." SHARK BITES SOUTH CAROLINA SURFER'S FACE AT POPULAR FLORIDA BEACH, OFFICIALS SAY Barbarick snapped a photo of the bloody leg once he got back to shore. "And then we were all able to get on our boards and get out of there and yeah, when we got back, he had a pretty good-looking bite around the side of his leg," he said. CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Authorities asked anyone with information about this incident to contact the Pacifica Police Department at 650-738-7314. Original article source: California surfer suffers bite to leg in reported shark attack Human rights activists are sounding the alarm over an impending humanitarian crisis in Gaza, fueled by Israels blockade of aid and life-saving supplies to the besieged strip. Egypt on Monday said that Israel was not cooperating with an international aid effort agreement and that dozens of trucks carrying essential supplies like food and medicine were stuck at a northern Gaza checkpoint. The Rafah crossing from Gaza into Egypt is now inoperable because of Israeli air raids, Cairo said. WHO said Monday that Gaza has 24 hours of water, electricity and fuel left before a real catastrophe occurs. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said he is working with Israeli, Egyptian, and UN officials to re-open the Rafah crossing, though no timeline has been given. Blinken also urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow for the delivery of foreign aid in order to maintain international support for Israel and prevent the conflicts expansion to a regional war. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Some countries and advocates are accusing Israel of war crimes for its efforts to block aid to Gaza. The United Nations previously warned Israel that blocking aid in a war zone is considered collective punishment, which is a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention the international doctrine on protecting civilians during wartime. Some of Israels already-precarious partners in the region, such as Jordan, have called Israels actions a war crime, with Jordans foreign minister saying, Why is that denying access to food and water and energy and fuel to Ukraine a war crime, and were not hearing the same narrative there? Gazas entire health system has collapsed, Lynn Hastings, the UN coordinator for humanitarian aid to Palestine, told CNN. Healthcare in Gaza was already severely impacted prior to the war, Hastings said, but that situation has worsened as hospitals are deprived of medicine, supplies, and fuel necessary to keep doors open. Israels evacuation order for 1.1 million Palestinians to flee south is also presenting an ethical dilemma for healthcare workers: whether or not to risk personal danger by staying in the north and taking care of patients. Hastings confirmed that Israel has resumed delivering electricity and water to Gaza, but because of such extensive infrastructure damage, the supply will be unusable for many civilians. The European Union, conflicted over support for Israel, has ordered an independent humanitarian air bridge for Gazans, pledging nearly $80 million in aid. That service will be delivered via an EU body used to typically provide aid during natural crises, essentially circumventing red tape as bloc members battle over whether to pull or increase developmental funds to Palestine. But the success of the EUs mission will be entirely dependent on whether the Rafah crossing can reopen, Middle East news site Al-Monitor reports. FILE -In this Sunday, Dec. 31, 2017, photo, tourists line up for stepping up Angkor Wat temple outside Siem Reap, Cambodia. Commercial operations have begum at Cambodias newest and biggest airport, designed to serve as an upgraded gateway to the countrys major tourist attraction, the centuries-old Angkor Wat temple complex in the northwestern province of Siem Reap. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith, File) PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) Commercial operations began Monday at Cambodias newest and biggest airport, designed to serve as an upgraded gateway to the countrys major tourist attraction, the centuries-old Angkor Wat temple complex in the northwestern province of Siem Reap. A Bangkok Airways flight from Thailand was the first to land, with 16 additional flights scheduled for the first day of operations at the Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport. The airport, which was built at a cost of about $1.1 billion on 700 hectares (1,730 acres) of land about 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of Angkor Wat, boasts a 3,600-meter (11,810-foot) long runway. Construction began in 2020 to replace the old airport, about 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) from the temple site, which is being retired in part because of fear that vibrations from frequent flights were damaging the temples foundations. The new airport can handle 7 million passengers a year, with plans to augment it to handle 12 million passengers annually from 2040. It was constructed under a 55-year build-operate-transfer (BOT) program between Cambodia and China. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement According to the Ministry of Tourism, Cambodia received some 3.5 million international tourists in the first eight months of 2023, while for the whole of 2019 the last year before the coronavirus pandemic it received some 6.6 million foreign visitors. Tourism is considered one of the main pillars supporting Cambodias economy. Deputy Prime Minister Vongsey Vissoth, who headed the ceremony marking the start of operations, said the new airport will be officially inaugurated on Nov. 16 by Prime Minister Hun Manet and top Chinese officials. Another Chinese-funded airport is being constructed at a cost of $1.5 billion to serve the capital Phnom Penh. The new Phnom Penh international airport, formally known as the Techo International Airport, is set on 2,600 hectares (6,425 acres) and scheduled for completion in 2024. FILE - Fishermen work on nets as they spend time on the shores of their coastal village in Cavite province, south of Manila, Philippines, on May 7, 2020. Canada will help the Philippines detect illegal fishing with its satellite surveillance system under a new agreement, Philippine officials said Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) MANILA, Philippines (AP) Canada will help the Philippines detect illegal fishing with its satellite surveillance system under a new agreement, Philippine officials said Monday. The arrangement gives the National Coast Watch Center of the Philippines access to data from Canadas Dark Vessel Detection System, which harnesses satellite technology to track illegal fishermen even if they switch off their location transmitting devices, the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila said. Illegal and unregulated fishing is a problem across the Philippine archipelago, including in disputed areas of the South China Sea. The Philippine coast guard has accused Chinese coast guard ships and fishing vessels of switching off their location-transmitting devices to avoid detection and surveillance. Canadian and Philippine officials signed the agreement last week on the sidelines of talks held in the Canadian capital of Ottawa to discuss ways to strengthen relations between the two countries, the Foreign Affairs Department said without providing other details. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement China claims virtually the entire South China Sea on historical grounds but this was invalidated by an arbitration tribunal ruling in 2016. China refused to participate in the arbitration sought by the Philippines, rejected the ruling as a sham and continues to defy it. Aside from China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have had overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea, which straddles one of the world's busiest sea lanes. Canada is among several Western countries that have recognized the 2016 arbitration ruling and called on countries, including China, to respect it. People walk into Jerusalem's Old City via Jaffa Gate, as the conflict wreaks havoc across the tourism sector By Joanna Plucinska, Steven Scheer and Doyinsola Oladipo BETHLEHEM/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Early this month, the main square and streets around Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity were bustling with tourists. Now they are empty after a devastating attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas in Israel on Oct. 7. "Business is at a standstill since the war started," said Essa Abu Dawoud, a tour guide in the Palestinian city. "The roads were cut off, no one is coming." Across Israel and the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank, hotels have emptied and at least six companies have stopped trips to top destinations like Jerusalem and Tel Aviv as the conflict escalated. Two tour operators have called off trips until next year. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Cruise ships are avoiding Israel's once-bustling shores and major airlines have stopped flying to and from Israel, while governments have scrambled to get their citizens home. easyJet says it has cancelled all packages to Tel Aviv due to depart before Oct. 22, while Virgin Atlantic Holidays has let holidaymakers rebook for later dates or get a refund if they're travelling before Oct. 18. The assault by Hamas - designated a terrorist organisation by the United States, European Union and other governments - on Israeli communities on Oct. 7 killed at least 1,300 people. Most were civilians, including children. Israel has intensified its strikes on Hamas' stronghold Gaza in retaliation. InterContinental Hotels said two of its hotels, Six Senses Shaharut and Hotel Indigo Tel Aviv Diamond District, were temporarily shut. It has seen some cancellations and some customers moving bookings to later in the year. With most of its hotels empty, one of Israel's top chains, Isrotel, was "on the verge" of temporarily closing some, a spokesperson said. The exodus of foreign visitors is a big blow to Israel's lucrative tourism industry, one of the country's biggest, as it was recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. The sector accounts for 2.8% of GDP and about 3.5% of total employment. The coming months are the busiest of the year for Christian pilgrimages arriving from the United States, Britain and elsewhere in Europe. "We rely on tourism for living. We had the COVID crisis and we were still recovering and slowly waiting for the tourists to come back," said Khader Hussein, 30, a souvenir seller in Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Jesus. "Now the tourism sector is dead." Drawn by historical sites in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, and Tel Aviv's white sandy beaches, some three million tourists flocked to Israel in the first nine months of this year, according to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. That's close to pre-pandemic levels, and included about 800,000 Americans. PROLONGED CONFLICT A day after the attack, Israel's ministry of tourism said tours should be avoided and tourists should stay in their hotels or on cruise ships. It said on Wednesday tourists could move around the country if needed. Over 90,000 tourists were in Israel, and thousands had visited national sites during the past week, it said. On the same day, though, the U.S. government raised its travel warning for Israel and the West Bank to Level 3 or "reconsider travel", its second-highest level. Britain advises against all but essential travel to Israel and Palestinian territories. Elias al-Arja, the head of the Arab Hotel Association, said most hotels in the West Bank had spent last week helping tourists flee after the violence began. Around 90% of hotels in the West Bank are empty, he said. Dan Hotels and Isrotel said they were providing rooms for people fleeing the Gaza border. Dan is also offering 50% discounts off rooms for locals. With no resolution to the conflict in sight, it's unclear when foreign visitors might return. Tour group Authentic Israel has asked tourists who were booked on their cancelled trips to donate $150 each to support its staff during the crisis. Australian tour operator Intrepid Travel has called off tours to Israel and Palestinian territories until the end of the year. Odysseys Unlimited has suspended its Israel trips until March 31. The U.S. company said it would continue tours in Egypt and Jordan but it has given guests the option of moving to a later date or another destination. Some are rescheduling to next year, it said. (Reporting by Joanna Plucinska in LONDON, Steven Scheer in JERUSALEM and Doyinsola Oladipo in NEW YORK; Additional reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Josephine Mason and Mark Potter) The job of being a secretary of state has become more complicated in recent years as critics have cast doubt on election integrity using debunked claims often echoed by former President Donald Trump . That position will be on Kentuckys ballot in November. In the commonwealth, the secretary of state works with county clerks and the state Board of Elections to oversee voting on Election Day. The job is also responsible for keeping the states paperwork in order, including official acts of the governor, business records and land records. The job pays just under $150,000 a year. On Nov. 7, the Republican incumbent, Michael Adams, faces a Democratic challenger, former state Rep. Charles Buddy Wheatley of Covington. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Adams and Wheatley recently agreed to answer some questions from the Herald-Leader related to the secretary of states office. Who is to blame for the recent hostility toward election officials in the U.S. and Kentucky and the angry denial of election outcomes? Adams: The former president bears primary responsibility, but unfortunately, there is a bipartisan recent history of misinformation about elections and harassment of election officials. Polarization has contributed to fringes on both sides of the political spectrum refusing to accept election outcomes as legitimate. I worked with a Democratic state legislator to pass a law to improve protections for our election workers and have earned a national reputation for courageously telling the truth and defending our election process, against both the left-wing All Eyes on Kentucky movement in 2020 that falsely alleged voter suppression and the frivolous recount efforts of far-right candidates in 2022 that falsely alleged voter fraud. I paid a price for the latter by being challenged with a primary, but I always put voters first and always will. Wheatley: No single person is to blame, but rather partisanship in general. Government works best when elected officials can demonstrate that theyre willing to reach across the aisle to solve issues with the best interests of their community in mind, not their political future. I will be a Secretary of State who works on behalf of all Kentuckians, regardless of party. Protecting our democracy and increasing civic engagement are not partisan issues, and I plan to work in step with the governor and the General Assembly to move our democracy forward. What can you do as secretary of state to restore public confidence in elections? Adams: Foremost, Ive restored public confidence in elections by restoring public confidence in the chief election official. As the Herald-Leader extensively reported and the Executive Branch Ethics Commission later ruled, my Democratic predecessor made a mess of the office, violating ethics laws to help her party win elections. Her father was sent to federal prison for election corruption for her campaign. Ive restored decency and integrity to this office, and my opponent should not be permitted to bring back the shady practices and personnel that previously embarrassed our state. Beyond that, Ive been a brave voice, often to my political detriment within my party, not just to protect and defend our election process but also to improve it, with more voting days and increased transparency. Finally, everything Ive achieved in office has been done in bipartisan fashion, and leaders across the political spectrum, from Andy Beshear to Rand Paul, have roundly praised my performance. Wheatley: Unlike Michael Adams, Ill be a full-time secretary of state who communicates with county clerks and Kentucky voters year-round. I plan to restore public confidence in our elections by being a transparent secretary of state and by advocating for additional funding to run our elections more effectively. Many counties are left with outdated voting machines, and Ill work to secure federal and state funding to get those replaced. Ill also protect our elections by staying in the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) system, which is a bipartisan agreement between states to protect from voter fraud. Michael Adams is caving to pressure from extremists to remove Kentucky from ERIC when there is no replacement available. Im ready to commit today that, if Im elected, Kentucky will remain in the ERIC partnership. Voter turnout in Kentuckys 2022 general election was 42%. What should we do to get more people to vote or should we leave matters as they are? Adams: I took on my own party and the insincerity of the other party, which purported to support voter access but controlled Frankfort for a century and never lifted a finger to expand it to pass Kentuckys first early voting law, quadrupling the number of days Kentuckians have to vote. Turnout since I introduced early voting has not increased. My goal is to increase convenience for voters, not to hit some arbitrary threshold. Studies show that turnout percentages correlate more with particular states civic cultures active volunteering, charitable giving, etc. than with how many voting days they have. Tennessee has two weeks of early voting, yet lower turnout than Kentucky has. Also, people who do not vote tend not to be informed about issues and candidates, and thus not motivated to participate. Thats why they dont vote. My administration is addressing the root of the problem by developing a Civic Health Index, to be released soon, starting a conversation about civic disengagement, polarization, and vulnerability to misinformation. Wheatley: The 2022 election was the first election in which Michael Adams was the Chair of the Board of Elections, and we saw a drastic reduction in the number of polling locations. Members of both parties have since called this election voter suppression. Thats just wrong, and I would never allow for a repeat of that election. Im ready to work year-round with our county clerks to assess their needs to bring back those neighborhood polling locations. Additionally, I want to make it easier for Kentuckians to vote by keeping our polls open until 7 p.m. Our Constitution allows it, but we continue to close the door on working Kentuckians at 6 p.m. Ill fight for two full weeks of early voting. Im also in favor of allowing Independents and other third-party voters to participate in primary elections. Independents are the fastest-growing voter bloc in Kentucky, and so many of our veterans are Independents. This will increase civic engagement and voter turnout in both the primary and general elections, and help to reduce partisanship. Whats an important duty of the secretary of state that nobody knows about and why is it important? Adams: I sign constitutional amendments and bills that the Governor has vetoed but on which his veto has been overridden. Gotta admit, kinda cool. Wheatley: The secretary of state is also responsible for overseeing the commonwealths business filings. Ive heard from small and large business owners across the state that there is a backlog and often a 30-day delay in business filings. Under the leadership of Gov. Andy Beshear, our state is experiencing record-breaking economic growth. The secretary of states office needs to update their business filings program to keep up with the growing needs of the business community and support Kentuckys prosperity. The mother of one of three inmates abused by two former Lee County Jail deputies is calling for justice and accountability after both were sentenced to probation. Lee County Judge Josephine Gagliardi on Monday sentenced Enzo Finamore, 24, to six months of probation and ordered no contact with the inmate he injured, Keith Lamza, 44. During a phone call, Lamza's mother, Carolyn Sammis, said her "entire body started shaking" after she learned the deputies' fate. "Those officers tortured my son and those other men," Sammis said. Carolyn Sammis Lamza, along with two other inmates, suffered first- and second-degree burns caused by hot water poured on them. Two deputies pleaded no contest to downgraded charges Gagliardi had sentenced jail guard Casey Howell, 27, to one year of probation and ordered no contact with victims Yunier Graveran-Gonzalez, 26, formerly of Cape Coral, and Rickey Rumph, 57, of Fort Myers. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Court records indicate that the charges against Howell and Finamore were downgraded from felony offenses to misdemeanor cases on March 10. The two former deputies caused first- and second-degree burns after they poured hot water on several inmates, authorities said. Finamore was charged with injuring Lamza. Lamza's injuries included redness and discoloration to his right palm, which appeared to be healing. He was housed at the Lee County Sheriff's Office Core facility when the injury occurred. Finamore admitted to throwing hot water on Lamza in response to his alleged misbehavior in the cell, according to the report. The inmates allegedly kicked their cell door and window. Calls for help unheeded, mother says Sammis, who lives in Pennsylvania, said she had been trying for weeks to get help for her son. She said she called the State Attorney's Office and the Florida Attorney General on several occasions inquiring about her son's case. "The officers get a slap on the wrist and off they go," Sammis said. Lamza lost "a lot of weight" while he remained in custody for about three months, Sammis said, adding that her son was afraid to use his hands to eat, fearing others would observe his injuries. "My son was in jail for battery three months," she said. "Where's the justice in that?" At the time, Lamza was in custody, charged with criminal mischief, court records indicate. The records indicate he admitted to the offense on May 16. He's since relocated to Pennsylvania. Jail records indicate he was booked Feb. 3 and released Feb. 21. Sammis said Lamza sometimes has inability to control himself and called for reform in corrections officers' training. "It happened for months," Sammis said. "Nobody even noticed this happening? That's why I'm flabbergasted." Sammis expressed sympathy for the other victims in the case. "I have to feel for the moms of the other inmates, too," Sammis said. "You're supposed to be looking to policemen for protection." She said she can't think of a word that "accurately" describes her frustration and to head to Thesaurus.com and go with the "strongest possible word." A mother's plea for jail reform Sammis said nothing is changing in the system to help inmates like her son, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. "He was under their protection, and they neglected that job," Sammis said. "It just disheartens me." Sammis said mental stability "is not being approached appropriately." "It's a major problem in this country," Sammis said. "(The deputies) got no punishment for what they did." Graveran-Gonzalez and Rumph were in custody on several charges. Graveran-Gonzalez was booked Feb. 2 and released April 4 on charges of fraud and loitering. His trial is scheduled Oct. 31. Rumph was charged with assault and battery on a person aged 65 or older. He was booked Sept. 12, 2022, and pleaded no contest July 6. He was sentenced to 364 days with credit for time served, court records indicate. Throughout the investigation, authorities determined Howell injured Graveran-Gonzalez Rumph. According to the report, Rumph's injuries included redness and irritation to his upper body, while Graveran-Gonzalez showed signs of extreme redness and irritation, coupled with pin-sized pustules that developed into what appeared to be blisters. Howell admitted throwing hot water on Rumph and Graveran-Gonzalez after they kicked on the cell door and window, the report says. Has the family been updated on the case? Sammis said Lamza was subpoenaed "months ago," alerted he might have to testify in court should the case go to trial, but he hadn't received any updates. She added he doesn't have enough money to make the trip down. "He's living by a thread right now," she said. Abuse charges prompted immediate changes at jail Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said they removed hot water dispensers from the officers in the wing and added cameras at the location. They also added a supervisor to observe the unit directly. Both deputies were placed on administrative leave. The Lee County Sheriff's Office declined comment on the sentences Monday afternoon. Not the first, and not the last, mom claim of jail abuse Sammis said her son since moved to Pennsylvania in September and is living off Social Security. "He's not the first one," Sammis said of her son's abuse at the jail. "He's not the last one." Sammis said she's hopeful Lamza's case will spark change. "You can't change the world, but you can change one prison," Sammis said. Tomas Rodriguez is a Breaking/Live News Reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. You can reach Tomas at TRodriguez@gannett.com or 772-333-5501. Connect with him on Threads @tomasfrobeltran, Instagram @tomasfrobeltran, Facebook @tomasrodrigueznews and Twitter @TomasFRoBeltran. This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Florida jailer sentenced to probation for pouring hot water on inmate The future of Sacramentos staple broadcasting stations, Capital Public Radio, is in jeopardy due to financial mismanagement and mass resignations. Known as CapRadio, the nonprofit station has two networks in Sacramento for news (90.9 KXJZ) and music (88.9 KXPR). Heres what to know about whats going on at CapRadio: 1. CapRadio has millions of dollars worth of debt CapRadios financial crisis resulted in layoffs for 15 employees and four canceled music shows in September, but its woes have a higher price tag, The Bee reported. The NPR member station owes vendors including NPR $3.3 million in unpaid bills, according to a budget presentation in August. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement That figure doesnt include the unpaid rent the station owes California State University, Sacramento for its headquarters in East Sacramento, which has been mounting since September 2022. Rent was $17,787 per month as of 2022, Bena Arao, former treasurer for CapRadio and the chair of the Finance Committee, told The Bee. An audit released in early October revealed further mismanagement of funds, The Bee reported. This includes more than $1.1 million in loans for equipment and furniture, which didnt have CapRadios board approval; unreviewed credit card charges, overcharges and late fees; non-documented vehicle donations; and an improperly executed loan of $8 million from the university. CapRadio also owns a Lake Tahoe-area timeshare with an unauthorized endowment fund. Sacramento State said the audit findings detail long-standing issues, including a lack of financial and governance processes and protocols, lines of credit and loans secured without campus approval or CapRadio Board of Directors awareness, submission of inaccurate or incomplete financial information to the board, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, external auditors, and the University, and much more. The audit shows that as of June 2022, CapRadio is liable for more than $27.2 million. 2. The radio stations board of directors has been stripped Eighteen members of CapRadios board of directors have resigned over the last 10 days, leaving just six still in place. Nonprofit boards typically help govern and oversee the organizations strategy, operation and compliance. On Oct. 5, 13 members of CapRadios board resigned due to disagreements on how to address its financial issues. That group included prominent area business leaders and lawyers. (T)he board was working at all times with the university and the university has access to all the financial documents, as is their responsibility, local attorney and one of the resigned members Roger Dreyer told The Bee. At no time did anybody from the university come to the board and say, Were seeing problems. Theres no malfeasance. This audit is not going to turn up anybody lining their pockets. The radio boards treasurer, Bena Arao, stepped down in a separate resignation. He is also Sacramento States senior director for resource and organizational management. Then on Thursday, four more members resigned. Their reasons for doing so are not yet clear. As of Thursday, only six board members remained at CapRadio, The Bee reported, including the student representative, the radio stations interim general manager and two business owners. According to CapRadios website, it is working with Sacramento State to fill the open seats and an updated calendar will be posted soon to announce new board members and committee meetings. 3. Sacramento State is undergoing a multimillion-dollar endeavor to save CapRadio Sacramento State President Luke Wood told The Bee in an Oct. 5 story that the university had spent $12 million to keep CapRadio from closing. And it may spend another $5 million to continue propping the radio station up. My understanding is if the university had not come in they would not have made payroll...,Wood said. If it wasnt for Sacramento State, Capital Public Radio would already be gone. Thats how big this is. Since CapRadio is a nonprofit, it cannot file for bankruptcy, Wood told The Bee in a September story. ... Any debt accumulated is the ultimate responsibility of Sacramento State, its fiduciary, he said. Following the audit, Sacramento State announced it was taking over the stations accounting, financial and other operations except content. 4. The future is unclear, and employees and listeners are worried Its not certain if Sacramento States attempt to save the station will be enough. The future of CapRadio, I think, is unclear, Wood told The Sacramento Bee on Oct. 4. Weve had a chance to look at their finances and come the first quarter of next year theyre going to run out of fiscal resources. CapRadio employees are sad, worried and exhausted; and listeners of the station are angry and frustrated, workers told The Bee. I thought the layoffs were the worst day, said Aram Sarkissian, the managing editor of CapRadios news and talk formats. This is as tough, if not (a) tougher week. He told The Bee that some reporters are avoiding staff meetings and communication with Wood and Tom Karlo, the stations interim general manager. Programming at the stations continues, despite operating on bare bones and old equipment. Engagement member coordinator Rachael Cowan said shes gotten calls from supporters upset about canceled programs and listeners who are confused and frustrated about recent events. What other questions do you have about CapRadios current situation? Email reporter Hanh Truong at htruong@sacbee.com. The Bees Sam Stanton and Ishani Desai contributed to this story. What do you want to know about life in Sacramento? Ask our service journalism team your top-of-mind questions in the module below or email servicejournalists@sacbee.com. One of the Israeli soldiers killed during the war lived here in Atlanta. He participated in a program called ShinShinim. Its a year of service program that offers Israeli high school graduates an opportunity to meet young Israel ambassadors in the United States before serving in the Israel Defense Forces. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Dekel Swissa, 23, was a member of the Golani Brigade in Israel. He was killed last week while fighting in the war in Israel. Marcy Kalnitz and her family hosted Swissa in 2018 during his stay in Atlanta. He just graduated high school. He was genuine and with a good heart and sweet and kind and loving and caring. He cared for us and loved us, and we loved him, and we have an amazing time with him in our house, she said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Kalnitz said Swissa was in Atlanta and a part of the Year of Service program. That program offers Israeli high school graduates an opportunity to delay mandatory service in the Israel Defense Forces. He stayed with both the Kalnitz and Hass families, before returning to Israel to join the military. TRENDING STORIES: Cheryl Haas said Swissa was like a part of her family. We were his first host family when he came to America, so we had the opportunity to kind of introduce him to America and American culture and Atlanta. Hes such a genuine, sweet, good nature person always. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] Haas still cant believe that hes gone. She recalls the moment that she got the news. It was awful. Its just so tragic to think that someone who had such incredible potential and was really a lover of all people, Haas said. In some ways, its amazing that he died defending his country and saving so many people in his own unit. In other ways, its impossible to comprehend that hes no longer with us. IN OTHER NEWS: FRESNO, Calif. (KGPE/KSEE) The Career Tech Expo returns to the Central Valley on Wednesday, and more than 2,500 high school students and their families are expected to attend. The Office of the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools says this is a career-inspired event that allows students to explore and discover various opportunities available throughout the Central Valley. Organizers say students will have an opportunity to speak with industry professionals about their experiences and gain insight into future employment opportunities. More than 100 industry professionals are expected to participate, as well as local trade schools, apprenticeship programs, and colleges. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The event is said to focus on career pathways in industries, such as medical careers, automotive and transportation, building trades and construction, early childhood education, agriculture, energy and utilities, hospitality and tourism, manufacturing, public safety and engineering and architecture. Organizers say admission to the expo is free and will take place on October 18th from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Chuckchansi Park. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com. Faithful gather in front of the Vaticans Basilica of St. Mary Mayor in Rome, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023, to lead a prayer for peace in the Middle East. | Alessandra Tarantino, Associated Press A top Catholic leader in Jerusalem is willing to put his own life on the line to save Israeli children being held hostage by Hamas, according to multiple news reports. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Catholic patriarch of Jerusalem, told journalists Monday that he would take part in an exchange for child hostages after specifically being asked if he would. I am ready for an exchange, anything, if this can lead to freedom, to bring the children home. No problem. There is total willingness on my part, he said, according to Reuters. Related ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Cardinal Pizzaballa added that a release of hostages would be a key step toward de-escalating the Israel-Hamas war. The first thing to do is to try to win the release of the hostages, otherwise there will be no way of stopping (an escalation). We are willing to help, even me personally, he said, per Reuters. Since fighting broke out on Saturday, Oct. 7, more than 1,400 people in Israel have died, as well as around 2,800 in Gaza, according to The Associated Press. The Israeli military says that Hamas is currently holding at least 199 Israelis hostage. About a dozen of the hostages are thought to be children, Reuters reported. Before Cardinal Pizzaballas remarks on Monday, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin had already spoken about the Vaticans willingness to help the hostages and help broker a peace agreement between Israel and Hamas, according to Catholic News Agency. The Holy See is ready for any necessary mediation, as always, Cardinal Parolin said. Cardinal Pizzaballa has called for a day of prayer and fasting on Tuesday in pursuit of peace. This is the way we all come together despite everything, and unite collectively in prayer, to deliver to God the Father our thirst for peace, justice, and reconciliation, he said to explain the need for a day of prayer. As Catholics and others in the region pray for peace, religious organizations and other nonprofits are working to provide food, water and other forms of help to people in Gaza who are in need of supplies or who are working to leave amid Israels counterattack on Hamas. Hospitals are expected to run out of generator fuel in the next 24 hours, meaning life-saving equipment like incubators and ventilators will stop functioning, The Associated Press reported Monday. Israeli leaders have instructed civilians in Gaza to leave the area for their own safety. Israel has urged exhausted Gazans to evacuate to the south, which hundreds of thousands have already done in the enclave that is home to more than 2 million people, according to The Jerusalem Post. A former Stanton police officer is accusing the city he worked for of discriminating against him in a federal lawsuit. Michael Townsend, of Clay City, alleges the city of Stanton violated the Americans with Disabilities act, forced him to retire and violated his civil rights in a lawsuit he filed last week. Townsend said in the suit he was terminated from his position as a high school resource officer because of his age, and the city replaced him with younger candidates who were paid a greater salary. He said in the lawsuit he was alienated by members of the police department who prevented him from being invited to lunch, not allowing him to get food and attempting to prevent him from working special shifts. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Townsend is requesting his position be reinstated with the city and he be awarded compensatory damages. When asked for comment Monday, Mayor Willie Means referred the Herald-Leader to the city attorney, Scott Graham, who was not immediately available. Means was not serving as the citys mayor at the time of the alleged discrimination. Means said he believed the matter had been resolved. Court documents show that a summons had been sent to the city on Wednesday. Townsend began work as a part-time school resource officer in August 2019, and was granted reasonable accommodations for his disability including flexible workdays, flexibility in wearing his uniform, standing and sitting, and no heavy lifting. Townsends disability wasnt stated in court documents, but it is certified by the ADA. Over the course of the next year, Townsend was advised by city officials that he was going to be replaced by another candidate for the job who was younger and not disabled, court documents allege. The other candidate wasnt working as a police officer at the time and didnt have up-to-date certification to serve as a resource officer. Townsend was told the other candidate would make three times what Townsend was making, despite Townsend having been told the city could not afford to pay more. Townsend was told that police officials made comments that he was old and needed to retire and go home, according to the lawsuit. Townsend was highly qualified, court documents say, and was recognized as School Resource Officer for the Eastern Region of Kentucky at the 2022 Kentucky Association of School Resource Officers annual conference. On June 30, 2022, Townsend met with the mayor and told the mayor he would be able to work the newly-created school resource officer position full-time. Townsend sent this in writing to the office, according to court documents. He was later informed the school was choosing to not have an office for the school resource officer for the next school year, and he needed to clean out his office. When he arrived to do so, someone appeared to have already gone through his office and removed some of his belongings. According to court documents, a police sergeant admitted they had already gone through everything and taken some of Townsends belongings to the police department. But Townsend ran into the schools principal who asked why he was cleaning out his office, making it apparent that it was the city and police department that wanted him to remove his belongings not the school, according to court documents. Townsend received a letter from the city stating he would be laid off on Aug. 1, 2022, but was encouraged to apply for one of two full-time positions, and was thanked for his service. Both Townsend and another candidate submitted applications. Townsend soon noticed that on his paychecks, his retirement deduction was not included in July, indicating his benefits were stopped before he was laid off, according to the lawsuit. According to court documents, Townsend was informed shortly thereafter by police Chief Grant Faulkner that another candidate was hired as the resource officer and the other position would be used for officers who needed overtime. Townsends lawsuit alleged the city of Stanton terminated him to replace him with a less qualified candidate who was not disabled, despite him clearly being the most-qualified candidate for the position. Townsends lawsuit asserts the city conducted itself with malice or with reckless indifference to (Townsends) federally protected rights. The U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission said Townsend had a reasonable claim to sue, according to court documents. Townsends attorney, James OToole was not immediately available for comment on Monday morning. A California prison contractor who shipped cellphones, drugs, saw blades and other items into two prisons for the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang was sentenced to 10 years and 10 months Monday as part of federal prosecutors sprawling racketeering case against the gang. Justin Rune Petty, 42, who prosecutors say concealed the contraband inside Little Debbie snack cakes and other food parcels, was sentenced in Sacramento by Chief U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller following a plea deal made last February. Petty was accused of planning the shipments during phone calls with Aryan Brotherhood member Ronald Yandell that were intercepted by prison officials investigating the gang for allegedly ordering hits on inmates and people outside prisons, dealing drugs and smuggling cellphones. Obviously, it was a bad, bad decision, Petty defense attorney Dina Santos said before Petty was sentenced. Thats how he came into this case. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement He was contacted at the time he was selling drugs and he sold them to this gang. Petty, who appeared for sentencing by a Zoom video hookup from custody, declined to offer a statement to the judge before sentencing. But court documents and Santos say Petty was trying to earn money to support his two teenage children and that he has a long criminal history and drug addiction. When hes on drugs he makes very poor choices, Santos said. At the end of the day, he is somebody who has a drug problem and made some very bad choices. The judge noted that Petty has a series of tattoos including a swastika and may have been a skinhead. But she said Petty denied being a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, a violent organization that the Southern Poverty Law Center says is the nations oldest and largest white supremacist prison gang. Its the swastika that popped out, Mueller said. I would just note that tattoos can be removed, and Mr. Petty may want to think about that if hes not affiliated with the Aryan Brotherhood. A June 2019 federal indictment charged 16 defendants in and out of prison with racketeering and other offenses that included ordering murders and selling drugs and cellphones. Petty has a criminal history dating back to 2001, court records say, and was working at a firm called Golden State Overnight in 2016 that contracted with California prisons to ship packages to inmates. Investigators intercepted more than 1,800 phone calls among inmates and alleged accomplices during their yearslong probe of the Aryan Brotherhood. Court records say a series of calls between Petty and Yandell tipped authorities to the smuggling plan to ship packages into California State Prison-Sacramento and High Desert State Prison. In one call, Petty described how he was going to place cellphones, batteries, chargers, mini-hack saw blades, drill bits, er pieces and other items inside Little Debbie snacks, including Honey Cakes, court records say. Petty also described other contraband items, which were later confirmed to be drugs. Petty said that the box would be sealed as if it were straight from the vendor, court documents say. Ultimately, the contraband was concealed inside the honey cakes, fudge brownies and oatmeal boxes, court records say. On Sept. 2, 2016, investigators at CSP, Sacramento, near Folsom intercepted a package mailed to an inmate and discovered three cellphones, two USB charging cables, six grinding discs, seven lighters, a cellphone battery, seven small screwdrivers, two Bluetooth ear pieces, 10 metal blades, 24.5 grams of methamphetamine and 15.26 grams of tar heroin, court records say. The contraband was concealed in a manner designed to avoid detection by prison staff who would have searched the boxs contents before giving them to the inmate, Court records say. Four days after that package was intercepted, officials at High Desert State Prison near Susanville opened a package from Golden State overnight that had 10 cellphones and methamphetamine and heroin hidden inside boxes of brownies and Oatmeal Creme Pies, court records say. Petty was facing a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years as part of his plea deal, and his attorney argued for that sentence while prosecutors asked for 130 months. Probation recommended a 145-month sentence, arguing that Pettys crimes represented a serious threat to the safety and well-being of prison employees and inmates, court records say. Pettys conduct introduced weapons into the prison with the potential of harming or killing other inmates or correctional officers and staff, court records say. The Aryan Brotherhoods access to contraband through Petty created the ability for additional crimes to be committed and the seriousness of his conduct cannot be minimized. In addition to his sentence, Petty faces five years of supervision following his release. MODESTO, Calif. - A Modesto mother was arrested and charged for the murder of a child of hers Saturday, police said. Modesto police charged 34-year-old Mina Nazari for the death of her child. A second child was found to be unharmed at the scene. The incident unfolded at the Crown Ridge Apartments in the 3900 block of Scenic Drive. Officers first arrived around 1 p.m. over a potential assault where they found the dead child in an apartment home. It's unclear if Nazari is the mother of the second child too. Police did not give the name, gender, or age of the child. CHEBOYGAN COUNTY A 41-year-old Cheboygan man was arrested earlier this month following an investigation by the Michigan State Police into the alleged sexual assault of a minor. According to a release from the Michigan State Police, a referral was sent to the Gaylord Post in September regarding the alleged sexual assault of a minor. The assaults took place on several occasions beginning in early 2013. The suspect, 41-year-old Michael Angus Walters from Cheboygan, was interviewed. An arrest warrant was authorized by the Cheboygan County Prosecutors Office on Oct. 6. Walters was arrested at his residence later that day and lodged in the Cheboygan County Jail. Walters was arraigned on Oct. 9 in the 89th District Court in Cheboygan County on two counts Criminal Sexual Conduct First Degree (Victim Under 13), three counts Criminal Sexual Conduct Second Degree (Victim Under 13), one count Criminal Sexual Conduct Fourth Degree (Victim 13-16), two counts Criminal Sexual Conduct Third Degree Incest, three counts Criminal Sexual Conduct Fourth Degree Incest, one count Child Abuse First Degree, and one count Surveillance Unclothed Person. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement He was given a $75,000 bond. His next scheduled court appearance is on Oct. 26. This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Cheboygan man arrested on multiple criminal sexual conduct charges Members of the Chevy Chase Community Center are asking for the publics help after a mass shooting left their facility unusable. It has been a week since one person was killed and eight others were hurt during a shooting at the Chevy Chase Community Center in Indiana. The building where that shooting took place is still not available for public use. PHOTOS: Pennsylvania State Police investigate mass shooting in Indiana County Usually, volunteers gather at the building to prepare food for families in need. Those volunteers are facing challenges in achieving that goal as police continue to investigate. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The community center said on Facebook that the volunteers typically use the center to make over 100 meals a day for families. The volunteers paid Aging Services to provide the meals this week. Next week, local restaurants are providing the meals but the volunteers say resources run out after that. RELATED COVERAGE >>> Volunteers continue community centers mission to feed neighbors following mass shooting In order to make up for those lost resources, S&T Bank, IndiGO Bus and the Chevy Chase Community Center are holding an event at the S&T Parking Lot at 8th Street and Water Street. The goal of the event is to fill a bus with supplies that can be used to provide the food that is usually given to the community. Canned goods, condiments, boxed foods, toiletries and cleaning supplies are all being asked for. The drive will be held on Thursday and run from noon to 7 p.m. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW TRENDING NOW: Its disgusting: Several tenants in a New Castle apartment say theyre living among roaches Man arrested for overnight stabbing in Pitcairn Steelers T.J. Watt hit with multiple fines from Ravens win VIDEO: WATCH: Innamorato, Rockey face of in final Allegheny County executive debate DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts Landlord Joseph Czuba has been charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two hate crime counts and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon - Will County Sheriff's Office A six-year-old Muslim boy has been killed and a 32-year-old woman seriously injured in an attack linked to the Israel-Hamas conflict. Police were called to a home on the outskirts of Chicago by a woman saying she was hiding in the bathroom after fighting off her landlord. By the time police arrived they found the victims both seriously injured in a bedroom and their alleged assailant sitting in the driveway. The child had been stabbed 26 times, sustaining wounds to his chest, torso and arms. He was rushed to hospital where he later died. A forensic pathologist removed a 7-inch serrated blade from the boys abdomen. Police said the woman, who was stabbed more than a dozen times, was in a serious condition. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) identified the victims as Palestinian-American Hanaan Shahin and her son, Wadea Al-Fayoume. Wadea Al-Fayoume was born in the US - Family handout Joseph Czuba, 71, was arrested and has been charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two hate crime counts and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Mr Czuba did not make any statement about the attack. According to local media reports detectives believe they were attacked because they were Muslims. They described the attack as a senseless and cowardly act of violence. One neighbour, Jim Stein, told CBS Chicago that they had been concerned at signs Mr Czuba allegedly placed outside the house. He always had signs around times of elections and that were pretty angry about what was going on politically and locally here. Security has been stepped up in several US cities in the aftermath of the Hamas invasion. Already supporters of Israel and Hamas have taken to the streets, with police keeping both sides apart. Fears have been heightened after Khaled Meshaal, former Hamas leader, released a video message encouraging the Muslim world to show anger. 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. Southside Chicago native and CEO Robiar Smith is breaking barriers in the pest control industry by becoming the first Black woman to have her bug spray product on shelves in Home Depot. In an interview with The Chicago Defender, Smith talked about her parents and how they taught her the value of an education. A Chicago Public Schools system graduate, she earned multiple business and information technology degrees and held several corporate America roles. However, in 2015, Smith wanted more for her life and turned to her father, Michael Benton, for advice. He was an independent pest control technician in Southside Chicago for 40 years but never owned a pest control company. For years, Benton encouraged his daughter to take the necessary steps to be part of the pest control industry. View this post on Instagram A post shared by R.B. Pest Solutions (@r.b.pestsolutions) A year later, Smith took the extermination exam multiple times until she passed it. She then founded R.B. Pest Solutions, and her passion for pest control inspired her to do groundbreaking work in the business venture. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement When we started the company, and wed go out on jobs, people were surprised to see me actually doing the work, Smith told the newspaper. While the pest control industry is male-dominated, Smith couldnt understand why being a woman was a big deal. She relied on her corporate background and education, turning R.B. Pest Solutions into a successful business. Like everything you see, from the websites to the logos, everything I designed. I didnt go to someone else. I did those things myself, and Im a product of Chicago Public Schools and the urban city of Chicago, Smith said. She also expressed the importance of representation for Black women in this field. More people need to understand that we [Black women] can be in this space, and we can dominate it as well, Smith stated. Seven years later, R.B. Pest Solutions became the fastest-growing pest control company in the Midwest. Smith released her first product, Bug Strike, appearing on the black carpet at the BET Awards and several other media outlets. Smith also secured government, city, commercial, restaurant and facilities contracts, making history with a pest control company as a Black woman. In addition to serving Chicago, the company is now in Indiana and plans to open a third location in the city, per the Chicago Defender. The entrepreneur hopes to inspire young Black girls to enter the pest control industry. It really is a confirmation to continue going because my purpose for it was legacy,s he said. My family, me being able to be a representative for little dark-skinned Black girls from urban areas, to see how I could have on a pest control uniform doing the work, and then shift to a power suit and run the company. The representation drives me, and as a result, these accolades confirm that Im doing Gods work. They let me know Im doing the right thing. St. Rest Country Kitchen, Chicagos oldest Black-owned soul food restaurant, is celebrating its 50th year anniversary. The late Rev. Larry Hopkins and his wife Sophia Hopkins founded the restaurant in 1972. Hopkins daughter Daniella Coffey is now leading the eatery with her husband John, her mother and general manager Angela Chatman. Great customer service, sanitation and great food. Those are our pillars here, and of course, faith, Coffey said in an interview with Fox 32 Chicago. St. Rests wide selection includes turkey legs, short ribs, smothered pork chops, cabbage, black-eyed peas, succotash and candied yams. The restaurant has attracted some of Chicagos biggest celebrities, including Michael Jordan. When Coffey inherited the restaurant in 2021, the business was $600,000 in debt and facing foreclosure. Over the next year, however, the family restructured the business and paid off their debt. Coffey and her team say their business tells a story of resilience. They also take pride in the comfort they provide to customers. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement As soon as you walk through the doors, everyone is family. Thats just how it is down south back in the day, Chatman told Fox 32. Coffey said its especially important for her to inspire women to chase their dreams. You dont need another person to validate you. You have everything that you need in your hands. The only thing left is for you to use it, she said. In a Facebook video she posted in 2021, Coffey said the family calls the restaurants food heart food. Because we know what comes from the heart reaches the heart, she said. When you walk in here, its almost like walking into grandma and grandpas house, you know youre gonna get some good food, youre gonna get some wisdom, youre gonna get good service, you may get a hug. Thats just how we roll here. Faith is especially key for the family. We are a Christian-based family, Coffey said. This business was built off of faith. My father, pastor Larry Hopkins is the founder, and when I tell you he was a hard-working, he was a man of faith. He was a man that believed God. He has been through many challenges. His legacy has lived on. CHICAGO - Chicago police are warning South Side residents about three armed robberies that happened during meet-ups scheduled on Facebook Marketplace. In each incident, the victim made arrangements to meet the suspect to buy a motorcycle/dirt bike that was listed on Facebook Marketplace, according to a CPD community alert. When the victim arrived, they were approached by three-to-five people who demanded their property at gunpoint. In one incident, the suspects pushed the victim to the ground and beat him before stealing his belongings. All three of the robberies took place over a three-day period in the 7200 block of South Langley Avenue in Park Manor. They happened Thursday, Friday and Sunday morning. Anyone with information on the robberies is asked to contact Area One detectives at (312) 747-8384. A foster parent who worked as a seasonal bus driver for a Missouri childrens program took sexual photos of a 2-year-old girl to trade for child porn, authorities said. Now, the 42-year-old man from Springfield has been sentenced to 17 years in federal prison without parole, according to an Oct. 13 news release from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Western District of Missouri. McClatchy News is not identifying the man to protect the identity of the child. Authorities did not provide his connection to the toddler. Authorities said an investigation into the man began in June 2021 after the Springfield Police Department received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement MeWe, a global social networking service, had reported that the man uploaded four sexual photos of a young girl, according to the probable cause statement. Investigators executed a search warrant at the mans home on June 16, 2021, according to court records. During an interview, the man told authorities he had a sexual interest in children since he was in his mid-20s, authorities said. (He) admitted he had participated in a chat group on MeWe where the group members traded child pornography, prosecutors said. (He) explained that he had no images of child pornography to trade and needed some to remain in the chat. The man then said he took sexually explicit photos of the 2-year-old girl to trade in the chat group, according to court records. The photos were taken at his home. His defense attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News on Oct. 16. The man pleaded guilty on Sept. 22, 2022, to sexual exploitation of a minor. When the man was arrested, he was employed by the Springfield-Greene County Park Board as a childrens program seasonal bus driver, authorities said. He worked the job every summer from 2014 to 2019. The man also said he and his wife had been foster parents for the last few years, according to court records. Authorities said he previously worked as a bus driver for Springfield Public School District and an area Catholic school. McClatchy News reached out to the Springfield-Greene County Park Board and the Springfield Public School District for comment on Oct. 16. A spokesperson for the Springfield Public School District said the man worked for the district from Nov. 1, 2013 until he resigned Sept. 29, 2017. A Springfield-Greene County Park Board spokesperson said the man worked as a summer bus driver from 2014 to 2021. If you have experienced sexual assault and need someone to talk to, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline for support at 1-800-656-4673 or visit the hotline's online chatroom. Child porn shared by elementary students leads to 65-year-olds arrest, Alabama cops say Man published stories of child rape online with computer-generated photos, feds say Day care worker filmed children going to bathroom and shared videos online, feds say Girls begged man to stop demanding increasingly sexual images, but he persisted, feds say China began welcoming on Monday representatives of 130 countries for a conference that will be overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas war, as an increasingly assertive Beijing is asked to help de-escalate the violence. At the top of the invitation list to China's Belt and Road Initiative forum is Russia's President Vladimir Putin , on his first trip to a major global power since the Ukraine invasion threw his regime into international isolation. Leaders have begun to pour into the Chinese capital for a gala event marking a decade of the BRI, a key project of President Xi Jinping to extend China's global reach. While China hopes the forum will help boost its international standing, Israel's war with Palestinian militant organisation Hamas will continues to dominate the headlines. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Israel declared war on the Islamist group after waves of its fighters broke through the heavily fortified border on October 7, shooting, stabbing and burning to death more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians. More than one million people have fled their homes in scenes of chaos and despair under heavy Israeli bombardment of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Israel's bombing has killed at least 2,750 people in Gaza, mainly civilians, and flattened entire neighbourhoods. China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi condemned Israel's actions for going "beyond the scope of self-defence" and called for it to "cease its collective punishment of the people of Gaza". "(Israel) should listen earnestly to the calls of the international community... and cease its collective punishment of the people of Gaza," Wang said Sunday, in China's strongest response to the conflict so far. Western officials have criticised Beijing for not naming Hamas in statements on the Israel-Gaza conflict. Wang spoke on Sunday with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who called on China to use its "influence" in the Middle East to push for calm. China has a warm relationship with Iran, where the clerical leadership supports both Hamas and Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group that could open a second front against Israel. This year, China brokered an entente between former regional foes Iran and Saudi Arabia. Beijing's special envoy Zhai Jun will visit the Middle East this week to push for a ceasefire and peace talks, China's state broadcaster CCTV said on Sunday, without specifying which countries he would visit. The BRI summit would allow Beijing to frame attendance as a gesture of support for its position on the Israel-Hamas war, said Niva Yau, a non-resident fellow with the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub. "Any head of state that attends the summit, it's almost as if they agree with Beijing's positions on these global issues," she said. - Strategic dependence - Several leaders are already in Beijing ahead of the two-day forum, which starts Tuesday. Among them are the prime ministers of Hungary, Ethiopia and Cambodia, and the presidents of Kenya, Chile and Indonesia. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov flew into Beijing on Monday and within hours held talks with his Chinese counterpart. Lavrov thanked China for inviting Putin as the summit's "chief guest", according to a readout from Moscow, which later said the top diplomat would head to North Korea after Beijing. Putin and Xi will meet on Wednesday "on the sidelines" of the BRI forum, the Kremlin said. Relations between China and Russia are "on the rise", Lavrov told Wang Yi, adding that their two leaders "will discuss them in their entirety when they meet". Wang, in turn, said China "appreciates" Russia's support for the Belt and Road Initiative. The top Chinese diplomat also discussed the Israel-Hamas conflict, with Wang stressing Beijing "condemns all acts that harm civilians and opposes any violation of international law". "It is necessary for the UN Security Council to take action, and major countries should play an active role," he added. Putin is expected to arrive overnight. Trade between China and Russia this year has soared to levels not seen since the beginning of Moscow's war in Ukraine, with Chinese imports of Russian oil offering Moscow a critical lifeline as international sanctions bite. China has refused to condemn the Ukraine war in an effort to position itself as a neutral party, while offering Moscow vital diplomatic and financial support. Xi and Putin, who have described each other as "dear friends", each rely on the other to help counter Western dominance. Putin hailed ties with Beijing in an interview with state broadcaster CGTN ahead of his visit, praising Xi's "highly relevant and significant" initiatives. bur-oho/aha (Bloomberg) -- Chinas top diplomat used a meeting with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to call for stronger ties with the Labour Party, in a sign Beijing is preparing for a possible election win by the UK opposition. Most Read from Bloomberg Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Blair on Monday in Beijing that the Communist Party is prepared to boost its relationship with Labour, according to a statement from the Asian nations Foreign Ministry. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The overtures to the UK opposition highlight how the current Labour leader, Keir Starmer, has turned around the partys fortunes since taking over from Jeremy Corbyn in 2020 in the wake of the partys worst electoral defeat since 1935. Out of power since 2010, Labour has enjoyed a double-digit polling lead over the governing Conservatives for more than a year, ahead of an election Prime Minister Rishi Sunak must call by January 2025. China and the UK should boost cooperation and push the world to develop in a right direction, Wang said, according to the statement. China hopes the UK government adopts a rational, practical and proactive China policy, he said. Separately, Chinese Vice President Han Zheng told Blair in a meeting Monday that the two countries should boost cooperation in international affairs, clean energy, biomedicine, finance and education, according to a report by the official Xinhua News Agency. Both the Foreign Ministry statement and Xinhua highlighted Blairs role as a former Labour Party leader. Sunak is trying to chart a pragmatic relationship with China while being wary of risks posed to British interests by the Asian nation. In September, his government warned China was seeking to headhunt Britons in sensitive positions, taking action that in some cases crosses the line from influence to interference. The prime minister raised the issue with Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the G-20 meeting in India in September, calling it an unacceptable interference in democracy. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. (Bloomberg) -- Chinas latest investments in South Americas lithium triangle show the challenges for US efforts to counter the dominance of the worlds second-largest economy in key parts of battery metal supply chains. Most Read from Bloomberg On Monday, Chile unveiled a deal that gives Tsingshan Holding Group preferential lithium prices for a project to make value-added products in the South American nation. It was announced as part of President Gabriel Borics trip to China, where he met with Xiang Guangda, the metal groups billionaire owner. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement On the same day, Argentine President Alberto Fernandez was also in China, where he met with the head of Tibet Summit Resources Co. to discuss the firms $2.2 billion in lithium investments in Salta province. China is making further inroads into the so-called lithium triangle of Argentina, Chile and Bolivia, which accounts for more than half of global resources. In doing so, the Asian giant is helping those countries propel themselves further down the electric-vehicle supply chain by leveraging their vast mineral wealth. The race to unearth more South American lithium is throwing open a new front in the global tug of war between China and the US. Washington is pushing EV makers globally to produce more vehicles in North America and secure the key minerals for them outside of the worlds second-biggest economy. But while Chile and Argentina are keen to participate, they continue to woo Chinese investors. Read more: Chile Looks to China to Upgrade Its Economy Beyond Commodities Tsingshan agreed to invest $233 million in a plant in Chiles Antofagasta region to produce as much as 120,000 tons a year of lithium iron phosphate for rechargeable batteries. Yongqing Technology, Tsingshans new energy unit, will source feedstock for its plant from Chiles biggest lithium producer, SQM, at preferential prices through 2030. Work will start in 2025. Chile entered into a similar arrangement with Chinese EV juggernaut BYD Co. in April. Additional lithium offtake from Albemarle Corp.s mine in Chile will become available next year. Meanwhile, Chinas Zijin Mining Group Co. is looking to develop a similar project in Argentina as it completes construction of a mine there. Among other Chinese investments in Argentina, Ganfeng Lithium Group Co. is the majority owner of Minera Exar SA, which recently became the South American countrys first lithium project in years to enter production. Ganfeng also spent almost $1 billion last year to acquire another Argentine project. Read More: Lithium Heavyweight Chile Woos Japan to Develop Local Industry Argentina authorities are drawing up a proposal to implement a similar incentive program to the one used in Chile, where producers set aside a portion of output for local value-added projects. Tsingshans cathode plant in Chile will also source lithium carbonate from the firms venture with Frances Eramet SA in Salta, Argentina. Earlier this month, BYDs chairman and founder Wang Chuanfu met with President Boric in Chile, where they discussed accelerating electrification and developing the local lithium industry. In Bolivia, a Chinese consortium led by Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. plans to spend $1.4 billion to build lithium extraction plants. --With assistance from Eduardo Thomson and Jonathan Gilbert. (Adds details on Mondays meetings starting in third paragraph) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. When Angel Amankwaah traveled from Denver to North Carolina Central University for incoming student orientation this summer, she decided she had made the right choice. She had fun learning the chants that fans perform at football games. But she also saw that there are students who look like me, and professors who look like me at the historically Black university, said Amankwaah, 18, who is Black. I knew that I was in a safe space. This has in the past two years become an important consideration for college-bound students from all backgrounds and beliefs. With so much attention focused on these issues, USA TODAY and The Hechinger Report present the first-of-its-kind College Welcome Guide showing state laws and institutional policies that affect college and university students, from bans on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and critical race theory to rules about guns on campus and whether student IDs are accepted as proof of residency for voting purposes. The digital tables also list, for every four-year institution in the country, such things as racial and gender diversity among students and faculty, the number of student veterans enrolled, the incidence of on-campus race-motivated hate crimes, free-speech rankings and if the university or college serves many students from rural places. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Test our new College Welcome Guide: These tools offer a new lens on campus life. Students have long picked schools based on their academic reputations and social life. But with campuses in the crosshairs of the culture wars, many students are now also taking stock of attacks on diversity, course content and speech and speakers from both ends of the political spectrum. Theyre monitoring hate crimes, anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, state abortion laws and whether students like them Black, rural, military veterans, LGBTQ+ or from other backgrounds are represented and supported on campus. Theres no question that whats happening at the state level is directly affecting these students, said Alyse Levine, founder and CEO of Premium Prep, a private college admissions consulting firm in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. When they look at colleges in various states now, she said, There are students who are asking, Am I really wanted here? Chaotic new world of American colleges and universities For some students on both sides of the political divide, the answer is no. In the chaotic new world of American colleges and universities, many say they feel unwelcome at certain schools, while others are prepared to shut down speakers and report faculty with whose opinions they disagree. Its too early to know how much this trend will affect where and whether prospective students end up going to college since publicly available enrollment data lags real time. But there are early clues that its having a significant impact. One in 4 prospective students has already ruled out a college or university for consideration because of the political climate in its state, according to a survey by the higher education consulting firm Art & Science Group. Among students who describe themselves as liberal, the most common reason to rule out colleges and universities in a particular state, that survey found, is because its too Republican or has what they consider lax gun regulations, anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, restrictive abortion laws and a lack of concern about racism. Students who describe themselves as conservative are rejecting states they believe to be too Democrat and that have liberal abortion and gay rights laws. Sixty percent of prospective students of all backgrounds say new state restrictions on abortion would at least somewhat influence where they choose to go to college, a separate poll by Gallup and the Lumina Foundation found. Of these, 8 in 10 say they would prefer to go to a state with greater access to reproductive health services. (Lumina is among the funders of The Hechinger Report, which produced this story.) We have many young women who will not look at certain states, said Levine. One of her own clients backed out of going to a university in St. Louis after Missouri banned almost all abortions following the Supreme Courts Dobbs decision, she said. Institutions in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Texas are the most likely to be knocked off the lists of liberal students, according to the Art & Science Group survey. Theyre generally most likely to steer clear of the South and Midwest, while conservative students avoid California and New York. One in 8 high school students in Florida say they wont go to a public university in their own state because of its education policies, a separate poll, by the college ranking and information website Intelligent.com, found. With 494 anti-LGBTQ+ laws proposed or adopted this year, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, prospective students who are LGBTQ+ and have experienced significant harassment because of it are nearly twice as likely to say they don't plan to go to college at all compared with students who experienced lower levels of harassment, according to a survey by GLSEN, formerly the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. You are attacking kids who are already vulnerable, said Javier Gomez, an LGBTQ+ student in his first year at Miami Dade College. And its not just queer students. So many young people are fed up. Its not yet evident whether the new laws are affecting where LGBTQ+ young people are choosing to go to college, said Casey Pick, director of law and policy at The Trevor Project, which supports LGBTQ+ young people in crisis. But LGBTQ+ adults are moving away from states passing anti-LGBTQ+ laws, she said. And if adult employees are taking this into account when they decide where they want to live, you can bet that college students are making the same decisions. Since DeSantis takeover, surge in dropouts at New College of Florida 'An attack on the feeling of belonging' Meanwhile, in an era of pushback against diversity, equity and inclusion policies in many states, and against affirmative action in college admissions nationwide, Amankwaah is one of a growing number of Black students choosing what they see as the relative security of an HBCU. Enrollment at HBCUs increased by around 3% in 2021, the last year for which the figure is available, while the number of students at other universities and colleges fell. The real attack here is on the feeling of belonging, said Jeremy Young, who directs the Freedom to Learn program at PEN America, which tracks laws that restrict college and university diversity efforts and teaching about race. What it really does is hoist a flag to say to the most marginalized students, We dont want you here. More than 40% of university and college administrators say the Supreme Court ruling curbing the use of affirmative action in admissions will affect diversity on their campuses, a Princeton Review poll found as the school year was beginning. College students of all races and political persuasions report feeling uncomfortable on campuses that have become political battlegrounds. Those on the left are bristling at new laws blocking programs in diversity, equity and inclusion and the teaching of certain perspectives about race; on the right, at conservative speakers being shouted down or canceled, unpopular comments being called out in class and what they see as an embrace of values different from what they learned at home. More than 1 in 10 students at four-year universities now say they feel as if they downright dont belong on their campus, and another 2 in 10 neither agree nor strongly agree that they belong, another Lumina and Gallup survey found. It found that those who answer in these ways are more likely to frequently experience stress and more likely to drop out. Military veterans who use their GI Bill benefits to return to school say one of their most significant barriers is a feeling that they wont be welcome, a survey by the DAniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University found. Nearly two-thirds say that faculty and administrators dont understand the challenges they face, and 70% say the same thing about their non-veteran classmates. Colleges should be safe and affirming spaces, said Pick, of the Trevor Project not places of isolation and alienation. Yet a significant number of students say they dont feel comfortable sharing their views in class, according to another survey, conducted by College Pulse for the right-leaning Sheila and Robert Challey Institute for Global Innovation and Growth at North Dakota State University. Of those, 72% say they worry their opinions would be considered unacceptable by classmates and 45%, by their professors. Conservative students are less likely than their liberal classmates to believe that all points of view are welcome and less willing to share theirs. Is that really an intellectually diverse environment? asked Sean Stevens, director of polling and analytics at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE, which has launched a campus free-speech ranking based on students perceptions of comfort expressing ideas, tolerance for speakers and other measures. Anecdotally and from personal experience, theres certainly a pocket of students who are weighing these factors in terms of where to go to college, Stevens said. Grappling with freedom of expression on campus Eighty-one percent of liberal students and 53% of conservative ones say they support reporting faculty who make comments that they find offensive, the same survey found. It used sample comments such as, There is no evidence of anti-Black bias in police shootings, Requiring vaccination for COVID is an assault on individual freedom and Biological sex is a scientific fact. A professor at Texas A&M University became the subject of an investigation when a student accused her of criticizing the states lieutenant governor during a lecture, though she was ultimately exonerated. An anthropology lecturer at the University of Chicago who taught an undergraduate course called The Problem of Whiteness said she was deluged with hateful messages when a conservative student posted her photo and email address on social media. More than half of all freshmen say that colleges have the right to ban extreme speakers, according to an annual survey by an institute at the University of California, Los Angeles; the College Pulse poll says that sentiment is held by twice the proportion of liberal students as conservative ones. A group of Stanford students in March disrupted an on-campus speech by a federal judge whose judicial record they said was anti-LGBTQ+. When he asked for an administrator to intervene, an associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion confronted him and asked: Is it worth the pain that this causes and the division that this causes? The associate dean was put on leave and later resigned. Today it is a sad fact that the greatest threat to free speech comes from within the academy, pronounced the right-leaning American Council of Trustees and Alumni, which is pushing colleges to sign on to its Campus Freedom Initiative that encourages teaching students about free expression during freshman orientation and disciplining people who disrupt speakers or events, among other measures. I have to imagine that universities that have a bad track record on freedom of expression or academic freedom, that it will affect their reputations, said Steven Maguire, the organizations campus freedom fellow. I do hear people saying things like, Im worried about what kind of a college or university I can send my kids to and whether theyll be free to be themselves and to express themselves. Colleges shift to attract students Some colleges are now actively recruiting students on the basis of these kinds of concerns. Colorado College in September created a program to ease the process for students who want to transfer away from institutions in states that have banned diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives; Hampshire College in Massachusetts has offered admission to any student from New College in Florida, subject of what critics have described as a conservative takeover. Thirty-five have so far accepted the invitation. Though many conservative critics of colleges and universities say faculty are indoctrinating students with liberal opinions, incoming freshmen tend to hold left-leaning views before they ever set foot in a classroom, according to that UCLA survey. Fewer than 1 in 5 consider themselves conservative. Three-quarters say abortion should be legal and favor stricter gun control laws, 68% say wealthy people should pay more taxes than they do now and 86% that climate change should be a federal priority and that there should be a clear path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Prospective students say they are watching as new laws are passed and controversies erupt on campuses and actively looking into not just the quality of food and available majors at the colleges they might attend, but state politics. Once I decided I was going to North Carolina Central, I looked up whether North Carolina was a red state or a blue state, Amankwaah said. (North Carolina has a Democrat as governor but Republicans control both chambers of the legislature and hold a veto-proof supermajority in the state Senate. Floridas anti-LGBTQ+ laws prompted Javier Gomez to leave his native state and move to New York to go to fashion school. But then he came back, transferring to Miami Dade. People ask me, Why the hell are you back in Florida? said Gomez. The reason I came back was that there was this innate calling in me that you have to stick around and fight for the queer and trans kids here. Its overwhelming at times. It can be very mentally depleting. But I wanted to stay and continue the fight and build community against hatred. This story about choosing colleges was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for our higher education newsletter. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How to choose a college: This guide to campus culture can help A super PAC affiliated with GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie took aim at former President Trump for praising Iran-backed Hezbollah last week. The Tell It Like It Is PAC released a new campaign ad titled Fool on Monday that highlighted Christies criticism of Trumps remarks on Hezbollah. The video included an interview Christie gave with CNN last week, where he repeatedly called Trump a fool for making such comments. The video included the clip from Trumps Wednesday speech, in which he said Hezbollah is very smart, theyre all very smart. Hes a fool. Only a fool would make those kinds of comments, Christie said to CNN. Only a fool would give comments that could give aid and comfort to Israels adversary in this situation. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement But he cares about one person, one person only: the person he sees in the mirror when he wakes up in the morning. We cannot once again nominate a fool like this and get him anywhere near the presidency of the United States. And having a fool like Donald Trump, who would make those comments in the tone that he made them is proven to folks that he has no business being president United States. Trump has faced blowback for his comments on Hezbollah, including from other GOP presidential candidates, like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence. The Trump campaign has attempted to walk back the remarks, arguing that just because the former president called Hezbollah smart does not mean he was praising the group. 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, read a tweet from the campaigns War Room account. Tensions between Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon, and Israel have risen since Hamas launched its deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7. Hezbollah has fired rockets numerous times at Israel, which has returned fire and struck multiple Hezbollah targets. The U.S. has labeled Hezbollah, like Hamas, a terrorist organization. The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday that nine rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel, but Israels air defense intercepted five of them. It also confirmed it was striking the launch site in Lebanon as retaliation. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Churchgoers duck during an earthquake drill Sunday at St. James' Episcopal Church in South Pasadena. (Ringo Chiu / For The Times) Text messages began to circulate about five minutes after an earthquake warning sounded for celebrants at St. James Episcopal Church in South Pasadena on Sunday morning. About 80 congregants, clergy and choir members lay in the pews and covered their heads as a simulated earthquake hit the sanctuary. After about 20 seconds, parishioners rose and exited the church, heading to a designated meeting spot in the adjacent open parking lot. Most church members texted designated cohort leaders, letting them know they were safe and outside the building. Some parishioners did not respond, though. And others who gathered in the parking lot stood directly in the path of a telephone pole and overheard power lines, which could have caused severe bodily harm had Sundays drill been a powerful earthquake. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Seismologist Lucy Jones, Californias earthquake expert and the chief architect of Sunday's drill, took note of the final tally. Six of seven cohorts responded that their parishioners were safe and no one was hurt or lost. "Actually, this worked out better than I thought it would," Jones, a parishioner at St. James', said through a laugh. "I thought we were going to be having a comedy of errors, to be honest, and this was a nice surprise." St. James was one of six Episcopal parishes, out of the 135 that make up the Los Angeles Diocese, to take part in Sundays disaster resiliency event. Drills also took place at All Saints of Riverside, St. Andrews in Irvine, St. Edmunds in San Marino, St. Lukes in Monrovia and St. Peters in San Pedro. Churches, temples, mosques and other faith-based institutions could serve as key places to help communities prepare for natural disasters, Jones contends. Seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones gives instructions to church goers at St. James' Episcopal Church during an earthquake drill after the conclusion of the Sunday service on Oct. 15. (Ringo Chiu /For The Times) In 2016, after more than 30 years with the U.S. Geological Survey, Jones launched the Dr. Lucy Jones Center for Science and Society, and she's created a Connected Communities Resilience Program intended to help community- and faith-based organizations as well as local governments and nonprofits create a community-resiliency action plan to prepare for earthquakes or other disasters. In a program established for the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, churches are called on to understand the risk their parishioners face whether from earthquakes, extreme heat, flooding or wildfires and then create a disaster-resilience program. "When we talk about earthquake preparedness, that gets everyone's attention," Jones said. "But it's also about preparing and becoming resilient for other disasters that also happen." Potential steps in these preparedness plans could include reducing earthquake vulnerability in the church as well as members' homes, stocking emergency supplies of water and food or creating a cooling center for intense heat waves. Churches may also decide to organize parishioners into groups who are assigned to text mobility-impaired parishioners to see whether they need help. Other action items could include having the church's building evaluated for structural safety and securing bookshelves and electronics to walls. Jones classified the fight to stop climate change as a "moral imperative" but also said it was necessary to understand that "facing more disasters" is unavoidable. The best way for communities to survive is to "shorten what is needed for recovery" after a disaster, she said. The two methods to accomplish that are mitigation checking retrofitting and evaluating flood risks, for example and building community bonds. With the latter, Jones said that communities that share resources and stay in communication have a better chance of recovering. Read more: Lucy Jones says this is the most important thing you can do to prepare for a quake The Rev. Melissa McCarthy, canon to the ordinary of the Diocese of Los Angeles, emphasized that proximity is not always an advantage in community building. The diocese's first cohort includes three San Gabriel Valley parishes within minutes of one another, along with churches in Irvine, Riverside and San Pedro. She said an earthquake centered in the San Gabriel Valley would probably leave the three neighboring parishes in need, while the damage would be less severe in other areas. "In that instance," she said, "a parish like the one in Irvine could come through with aid and vice versa if there was a fire in Irvine, which has happened before." The potential for earthquake damage is a non-theoretical pursuit at St. James'. In 1987, the Whittier Narrows magnitude 5.9 thrust fault earthquake rocked the church on Oct. 1 while a 5.3 aftershock struck three days later. St. James 75-foot bell tower was scarred with fissures, popping bricks and pieces of cornice. While the church and bell tower underwent repairs, the structures were also earthquake-retrofitted . "Some of the tower had collapsed, and plaster covered everything inside the church," said 92-year-old Jan Arenz, who was a congregant at St. James' in 1987. "For two years, we met in the parish hall, so earthquake safety is wonderful and necessary." Arenz admitted she didn't "entirely lie down" on the pew, leaving her feet still on the ground because the position wasn't entirely comfortable. Read more: L.A.'s Green New Deal didn't get much done and needs a reboot, city controller says When Jones announced an earthquake was happening, 81-year-old Pasadena resident Judy Barbatoe immediately covered her head. The retiree, who uses a wheelchair, hoped to avoid hypothetical falling ceiling plaster. At that moment, Barbatoe became aware of all the dangers and shortcomings of her surroundings: nearby hanging chandeliers and stained-glass windows along with exits that are not wheelchair-accessible. "Sometimes you need events like these," she said, "to realize all the dangers around you and how best to get ready." Sunday's earthquake drill comes days before the annual Shakeout. At 10:19 a.m. Thursday, people across California and other states will drop, cover and hold on the best advice for dealing with shaking during an earthquake. Officials encourage residents to download MyShake, the free earthquake early-warning app available on iOS and Android and developed by UC Berkeley. MyShake will be sending out a test drill alert during the ShakeOut drill Thursday. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. CHICAGO - A Cicero kidnapping suspect was arrested and his victim was rescued after a pursuit by Illinois State Police early Monday in Chicago. Cicero police were called to the 5000 block of 29th Street around 11:43 p.m. for a reported parental abduction of a 3-year-old girl. The girl's mother told police her ex-boyfriend and father of her children, forced his way inside her residence, abducted the 3-year-old and drove away. There was an active order of protection against the father. Police informed other surrounding law enforcement agencies of the suspected vehicle. Around 12:39 a.m., state troopers saw a vehicle that was wanted in connection with the kidnapping on I-57 northbound near 167th Street. They tried to initiate a traffic stop but the vehicle did not stop for police and a chase began, according to ISP. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The pursuit continued onto I-94 northbound before spilling into the city streets. The vehicle eventually stopped near 31st Street and Poplar Avenue in the Bridgeport neighborhood where the suspect was taken into custody. The 3-year-old girl was found unharmed in the vehicle and was returned safely to her mother. Cicero police are investigating the kidnapping. No further information was immediately provided. The claim: Emir of Qatar threatened to cut off world's natural gas supply if Gaza bombing continues An Oct. 11 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows a photo of Qatar's head of state along with a warning he supposedly made about his countrys energy exports. The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, has threatened that if the bombing of Gaza does not stop, he will cut off the supply of gas to the world, reads both the caption and the text in the post. The post was shared more than 60 times in five days. Fact check roundup: Israel-Hamas war sparks many misleading claims online. Here's what's true and false. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Follow us on Facebook! Like our page to get updates throughout the day on our latest debunks Our rating: False A disinformation expert in Qatar says the emir has not made such a threat, and there are no credible reports of one. No credible reports of threat from Qatari emir The claim is 100% false, a Qatar-based expert on Middle Eastern studies and disinformation campaigns told USA TODAY. The emir has not said anything of the sort, Marc Owen Jones, an associate professor at Hamad bin Khalifa University in Doha, the capital of Qatar, said in an email. Qatar was the worlds third-largest liquefied natural gas exporter during the first half of 2023, behind the U.S. and Australia, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Fact check: False claim that Qatar rejected German plane for LGBTQ symbol So a legitimate threat that one of its leaders would shut off its natural gas valve certainly would have made global headlines. But no credible news outlets have reported it. In fact, on the same day the post was made, France said it would buy up to 3.5 million tons of liquefied natural gas from Qatar each year through 2050. A day later, the emir visited Germany which last year said it would import up to 2 million tons each year amid criticism of Qatars ties to the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Politico reported. Hamas attack on southern Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7 led to the start of its latest war with Israel. The conflict has left more than 4,000 dead on both sides, including 30 Americans, as of Oct. 16. Qatar is seen as being a major sponsor of Hamas, Politico reported, but Qatari officials deny that, saying aid for Gaza is intended to improve life for Palestinians. Any threat about withholding gas was not discussed during a joint news conference held Oct. 13 by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the Qatari prime minister. The claim originated in an Oct. 11 post on X from an account purporting to cover Qatari affairs, but it attributed the threat to the state of Qatar, not the emir. The account has since been suspended. It is not an official channel, and Jones said another version of the account was suspended previously. USA TODAY reached out to both the Qatar embassy in Washington and the emir but did not immediately receive responses from either. Qatar vowed in 2017 to not cut the gas supply to the United Arab Emirates even as that nation and others in the region severed diplomatic ties with Qatar and accused it of harboring terrorists, charges it has repeatedly denied. The CEO of state-run Qatar Petroleum, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, said the country would not halt supplies to its brothers, Al Jazeera reported at the time. During that diplomatic crisis, which lasted until 2021 and included a blockade, a number of accounts also appeared on the platform and spread misinformation about Qatar, Jones said. USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the post but did not immediately receive a response. Our fact-check sources: Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or e-newspaper here. Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No threat from Qatar emir to cut off world's natural gas | Fact check On the face of it, the crossfire on Lebanons border with Israel appears marginal, dwarfed by the scale and intensity of the Hamas-Israel war further south. The fighting has stayed within a roughly 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) radius of either side of the demarcation line, with at least 13 people killed since last Saturday. Yet this barely populated swathe of mountainous terrain could be the launching pad of a regional war, drawing in a myriad of actors, including Iran and the United States. Hezbollah an Iran-backed armed group that is also a regional force in its own right dominates south Lebanon. It also operates alongside Irans elite Revolutionary Guard Corps in Syria, where the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights separates Israel from Tehran-aligned fighters. Smoke rises from Israeli artillery shelling in Dahaira, in southern Lebanon, at the border with Israel on October 16. - Hussein Malla/AP Israeli soldiers patrol a road near the border with Lebanon, on Monday, amid threat of a regional conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah. - Francisco Seco/AP Irans Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian on Monday raised the specter of expanded fighting after talking to counterparts in Tunisia, Malaysia and Pakistan. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Underlined the need to immediately stop Zionist crimes & murders in Gaza & to dispatch humanitarian aid, he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. I stressed that time is running out for political solutions; probable spread of war in other fronts is approaching unavoidable stage, he added. It is a scenario that has gained more currency across a restive Arab and Muslim world as images of dead Palestinian civilians, including more than 500 children, flash on television screens and social media posts, reflecting a civilian death toll rapidly rising at a rate not seen in decades. Meanwhile, the US has deployed two of its largest aircraft carriers including the nuclear-powered USS Gerald Ford to the eastern Mediterranean. It is an ominous sign of what may come if the situation on the Lebanon-Israel border combusts into a full-scale war. Both countries are bracing themselves. Israel turned the 4-kilometer area near its border into a closed military zone. It also evacuated residents from 28 communities within 2 kilometers of the Lebanese border. In Lebanon, the national airline carrier Middle East Airlines said it parked five of its planes in Istanbul as a precautionary measure due to the security situation. Beiruts international airport is normally one of the first places to be hit by Israel after the eruption of war between the two countries. Swiss Air and Lufthansa have also suspended flights to Beirut. On Tuesday, at least four Lebanese were killed in an exchange of fire between the two countries, according to the Lebanese Red Cross. Hezbollah said it attacked several Israeli locations, including two gatherings of troops. The Israeli military said Tuesday two reservists and a civilian were injured in an anti-tank missile attack from Lebanon. Skirmishes escalate into serious clashes For most of last week, the skirmishes were a low-rumbling exchange of fire between Lebanon-based militants and Israeli forces. Palestinian militants fired the first shots from Lebanon, hours after Hamas surprise attack of October 7, launching rockets that were intercepted over Israel. Israel responded by shooting into Lebanese territory, including at Hezbollah positions. Hezbollah then launched missiles into Israels northern-most territory. That cycle repeated for several days. By Friday morning, three Israeli soldiers and three Hezbollah fighters had been killed in the exchanges across the border. But then the tit-for-tat escalated. At around 5 p.m. on Friday, Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah, who was also a south Lebanon native, was killed in an Israeli strike that wounded at least six other international journalists. A CNN video analysis found that the journalists were wearing vest jackets clearly marked as press. An Israeli Apache helicopter was flying over their location, according to a Lebanese security source as well as video seen by CNN, when they were fired upon by what Lebanese army and Israeli statements indicate was artillery. Israel said it was investigating the incident. In an Israeli military statement that was released around the time of the attack, it said it was shelling Lebanese territory with artillery fire in response to an explosion at a border fence in Israels Hanita, near to where Abdallah was killed. The situation at the border spiraled further the next day. On Saturday, Hezbollah launched a series of strikes at Israeli targets in the disputed Shebaa farms, which was followed by a barrage of artillery fire from Israel. On Sunday, the Lebanese militants fired at several Israeli locations at the border, killing one civilian and one soldier. In Hezbollahs statements on Sunday, the group said its cross-border attacks were in response to Abdallahs killing and the killing of two elderly civilians in Sundays Israeli attacks in the border region. Unlike low-tech rockets that are fired by Palestinian fighters in Lebanon and are mostly intercepted by Israel Hezbollah uses Russian anti-tank guided missiles known as Kornets. Every Hezbollah attack over the last week was followed by a video released by the group that demonstrated precision. They were direct hits that seemed to blindside Israeli troops seen in the videos. These videos are key to the psychological warfare that underpins this flare-up. It shows clearly how much more sophisticated the groups arsenal had become since its last conflict with Israel in 2006, when it relied largely on inaccurate Soviet-era Katyusha rockets. Back then, the 2006 Lebanon-Israel war ended 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. In the intervening years, Hezbollah has dramatically built up its arsenal, and its fighters are far more experienced in urban warfare. Theyre battle-hardened from fighting in Syria against ISIS, the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, and armed opposition groups that tried to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has repeatedly evoked a hypothetical scenario where his fighters would conduct an incursion into northern Israel in case war erupted between Lebanon and Israel again. Israel and US officials have repeatedly expressed alarm about Hezbollahs precision-guided missiles, which were used against Israel for the first time this month. Nasrallah has also said that his group boasts more than 100,000 fighters and reservists. Historically, Israeli and US officials have been reluctant to dismiss claims by the paramilitary leader, who oversaw a surge in the size and power of the group in the 32 years of his leadership. Yet Nasrallah, known for his fiery televised speeches, has been noticeably silent since October 7. Observers dont know what to make of this. In addresses he delivered in recent months, Nasrallah lauded the growing alliance between his group and Hamas, though they were on opposite sides of Syrias bloody civil war. He has also indicated that the loose rules of engagement between Hezbollah and Israel may soon change, with the Lebanon-based group possibly intervening on behalf of the Palestinians. This has led many observers to speculate that Hezbollah may expand its fight against Israel in case of the much-anticipated Israeli ground invasion into Gaza. Yet what happens from now is anyones guess. World leaders will continue to watch this border with bated breath. CNNs Ben Wedeman, Sarah El Sirgany and Charbel Mallo contributed reporting from southern Lebanon. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Climate change is global but the actions we take here in Sacramento play a role in shaping our environmental future. The Sacramento Bee has spent the past six months writing stories that examine and celebrate bold climate actions that are taking place in our community or have been tried by communities facing similar challenges. We wrote about communities in our region that have contracted goat herds to graze down overgrowth in parks, schools and other open spaces. And about how Sacramentos R Street corridor offers a model for what a mass-transit-oriented neighborhood looks like. We explored how the worlds whitest paint, developed by researchers at Purdue University, could help the homeless and homeowners in the Sacramento region. We looked at efforts to make Sacramentos neighborhoods safer and more inviting to cyclists and pedestrians. And we reported on what efforts are underway, and what more must be done, to support lawn care workers as they adapt to the states upcoming ban on gas blowers. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement And our reporting continues. The goal with this project is to engage you and your neighbors in a hopeful discussion about how we can face climate change with urgency and equity. Now, we are taking it one step further: The Sacramento Bee, with support from the Solutions Journalism Networks Climate Beacon Initiative, will offer three $5,000 grants to fund your idea for a project in the Sacramento region that would address climate change. Anyone living in Sacramento or its surrounding communities is welcome to apply. You may apply as an individual, a classroom, an organization or a business. Your idea could be as simple as adding solar panels to your home and sharing the process with curious neighbors or as complex as organizing a new initiative that involves other individuals or organizations. The application process is simple. All you have to do is come up with an idea and create a 10-slide slideshow that can be presented in no more than 3 minutes 20 seconds. Heres the how-to: You will create a 10-slide presentation that follows this template. (You can copy this slideshow template and fill it out in your own way.) These slideshow presentations are intended to be visual. Remember that each slide will only be up for about 20 seconds. Using pictures rather than words on the slides can be helpful. (See this example to get an idea of what wed like to see.) Rehearse. Practice your presentation a few times and make sure that you can get through all the slides within 3 minutes 20 seconds. Record. You will need to record a video that captures your slides and your presentation. You can use any presentation recording software you like. If you decide to use Google Meet, keep in mind that you will need to have at least one other person in the meeting with you in order to record your voice. The video cannot exceed 3 minutes 20 seconds. 5. Fill out this form and upload the video. If you have a Google account, you will be able to upload the video while filling out the form. If you do not have a Google account or have trouble uploading, you can email the video to climatesolutions@sacbee.com or use that address to ask for help. We are accepting submissions now through Nov. 20. The Sacramento Bees 2022 Change Makers will review the submissions and will select the three $5,000 recipients. Awards will be announced on Dec. 6. The Sacramento Bee will follow up with the three recipients in April and report a story on how each project worked. You can stay up to date on our local climate solutions reporting and on this project by signing up here for our monthly newsletter. Electricity is passed through carbon dioxide and water to make ethylene, a key ingredient in the type of plastic used to make bottle tops Coca-Cola has unveiled plans to make its bottle tops from carbon dioxide taken out of the atmosphere. The firm - one of the world's biggest users of plastic - is funding a three-year trial at Swansea University as part of the company's target of net zero by 2040. Its current plastic packaging is made cheaply, from fossil fuels. But it aims to "capture" CO2 from the air, or from factory emissions, to produce a key ingredient for plastics. "The plastic we make today releases a lot of carbon dioxide into the environment," said the project's principle investigator, Professor Enrico Andreoli. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "Our starting material is carbon dioxide," he said, "so we entirely de-fossilise the process and make plastic free from fossil fuels and fossil carbon." Prof Andreoli, an industrial chemist, said the "magic happens" in a small black electrode where an electric charge passes through a mixture of CO2 and water, producing ethylene, a key ingredient in the flexible type of plastic used in bottle tops. "We want to prove the technology in the laboratory works," he said, explaining how "success" would suggest ways to scale up the process. Coca-Cola says it will have to make "radical bets" on new technologies to try to reach its net zero by 2040 goal Coca-Cola's goal is to use "captured" carbon dioxide as resource, taking it either from the air near its factories or directly from its own smoke stacks. Ethylene is currently made as cheap by-product of refining petrochemical, with fossil fuels heated to more than 800C (1472F), "cracking" off the molecules needed to make plastic. The process produced more than 260 million tonnes of CO2 emissions, or nearly 1% of the world's total carbon emissions in 2020, according to the climate tracking group the Global Carbon Project. Craig Twyford, director of Coca-Cola's venturing division for Europe and the Pacific, said the company's promise for a 30% reduction in its carbon footprint by 2030 will mostly come from using more recycled plastics. Prof Enrico Andreoli wants to show others that plastic can be made from from carbon dioxide "From 2030 to 2040 we need to start making the more radical bets... looking at lots of different technologies. "If the human race starts drawing down CO2 in large quantities, what useful things can we do with it? "We could potentially use it to carbonate our drinks. Or, we could use it - as we are with Swansea - to make some of our packaging." In a similar project, the company is funding research in California to turn carbon dioxide into an artificial sugar. Re:David Buckna's letter Questions about city's AAP (Oct 4, 2023) "Three groups spend other people's money: children, thieves, politicians. All three need supervision." Dick Armey, American economist and politician Kelowna city council can now proceed with borrowing $241.3 million for its mega-project because less than 10 per cent of Kelowna electors (4,153 of a needed 12,160) voiced their opposition to the proposal through the Alternative Approval Process (AAP). The megaproject consists mainly of a new Parkinson Recreation Centre ($180 million, plus $62 million to build it north of the present location, for a total of $242 million); community activity centres for Glenmore and Mission ($18 million each); Rutland Recreational Park ($4.5 million) and setting up a UBCO/Okanagan College partnership ($4 million). The city didn't do enough to advertise exactly what the AAP is. Susan Ames, leader of the Concerned Kelowna Residents For Financial Accountability, told the media on Oct. 14: "I think it wasn't advertised very well. The [city staff] had three sessions during the summer during working hours. In one session we were outside, it was 39 C. " Ames added (she felt) the AAP form was hard to find on the city's website and "had a lot of deficiencies." My own surmise is only about 30% of Kelowna's eligible electors were even aware of the AAP, let alone fully understood it because most people these days live online in their own news, sports, and "infotainment" bubbles. Developer Les Bellamy was also interviewed by the media on Oct.14: "It's an astronomical amount of money, and I'm disappointed that our elected officials would use the AAP process for this. ... Six out of eight councillors who were elected in the last election didn't even receive 12,000 votes, and that's when they've spent tens of thousands of dollars on campaigns. Theyve got campaign teams, they're knocking door-to-door and they couldn't even get 12,000 votes." Bellamy added, "To expect the average citizens to go out and collect 12,000 votes, it's impossible." If the AAP deadline had been extended to the end of November, I have no doubt that well over 12,160 electors would have returned the form because public awareness and momentum was growing. What follows are a few more questions about Kelowna's AAP, or as I like to call it, the Alternate Reality Process: 1. Why did the previous city council not vote to (include) a referendum question about borrowing funds for a new Parkinson Recreation Centre on the Oct. 2022 municipal election ballot? 2. In 2022, (mayoral candidate) Tom Dyas included the words "transparency and accountability" as part of his campaign platform against then incumbent Mayor Colin Basran. In a news release issued Sept. 27, 2022, Dyas said: "Kelowna is no longer a small town. Its time we modernize our systems to ensure that city hall has the transparency and accountability that residents expect from their decision-makers." Does the AAP exemplify transparency and accountability? 3. The City of Kelowna's May 2023 City Views newsletter stated: "...the City is making strategic investments in centrally-located recreation facilities". Does it make sense to build one opulent Taj Mahal-like centrally-located recreation facility, which forces the public, particularly parents and children, to travel far outside their own neighbourhoods? 4. The same newsletter mentioned the six approved council priorities for 2023-2026crime and safety, affordable housing, homelessness, transportation, agriculture and climate and environment. Why wasnt a new PRC listed among the council priorities, since it would be the most expensive (municipal) project in Kelowna's history? 5. What is the projected 2023-2026 funding for each of the following council priorities? 6. Why did council initially vote to designate the AAP period as mid-June to mid-September? 7. What's the total cost (not including interest) of the plan to build a new PRC and other facilities? 8. What is the proposed borrowing period for the loan? 9. The H2O Adventure and Fitness Centre (2009) was delivered on time and on budget because PCL Constructors signed a fixed-price design-build contract for the project. Will city staff and council promise the public the builders of a new PRC must also sign a fixed-price design-build contract? 10. On Oct. 11, Kelowna city manager told the media that for the average Kelowna (taxpayer), "it's about $20 a year... to fund this project for five years. Over the next five years, taxes for recreation will go up $20 per year, on average, but by 2029 the average homeowner will be paying $100 more than they did this year. 11. What is the estimated average Kelowna business tax to fund this project per year, for five years? 12. The Kelowna city manager also said: "There's actually a Union of B.C. Municipalities resolution right this year that went to the conference to actually abolish the AAP and referendum for borrowing, that once a council is elected, that they make decisions on behalf of the citizens, so in fact some of the municipalities in our province are going the other direction rather than what you're suggesting." The UBCM resolution was specific to long-term borrowing for fire apparatus acquisition. 13. Regarding the AAP form, Kelowna deputy city clerk Laura Bentley wrote in an email: "The legislation requires the elector's full name, though it doesn't define full name." Contrary to Bentley's claim, the latest version of the B.C. governments 48-page document, "Alternative Approval Process: A Guide for Local Governments in British Columbia" (Updated: July 2023) defines "full name" as only the electors first and last name.So, was the requirement for electors to include their middle name on Kelowna's AAP form lawful? 14. Bentley wrote in a different email: "The [AAP] report will include the number of valid and invalid forms received and a news release will go out to media with the results." Only the number of valid forms (4,153) were mentioned in the Oct. 13 news release. Will the number of invalid forms be made public? Why were (any) AAP forms rejected? That 4,153 Kelowna residents took the time to fill out and return the AAP form sends a clear signal to council, unless it members are tone-deaf, they shouldn't go forward with the current megaproject. Is it necessary to build a new PRC to the north end (of the property), for an additional cost of $62 million? At Monday's city council meeting (Oct. 16) it would be prudent for council to do the right thing and press pause on advancing the accompanying loan authorization bylaw. Instead, go back to the drawing board. David Buckna, Kelowna (Editors note: This letter had to be edited for clarity and brevity. The original AAP deadline was extended by a month due to the wildfires in the summer.) A Marine Corps fighter jet had a close call in September with a private jet in Texas, prompting the private aircraft to take evasive action, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. At around noon on Sept. 23, the pilot of a Cessna Citation business jet at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport received an onboard alert that the single-seat F/A-18C Hornet fighter jet was close by, the FAA said in a Thursday emailed statement to Marine Corps Times. Its unclear exactly what the pilot of the private jet did in response to that alert. That same day, the F/A-18 also flew close to a different civilian aircraft that was preparing for takeoff, according to the FAA. Archived radio traffic indicates an air traffic controller in Austin was not clear about what the military jets pilot intended to do. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Cessna private jet had been cleared to land as the F/A-18 approached the airport, according to The Washington Post, which broke the news of the close call. The fighter jet received permission from air traffic control to execute a break, which involves turning sharply to slow down before landing, the Post reported. In a recording of the air traffic control radio obtained by the local ABC affiliate KVUE, an air traffic controller at the Texas airport can be heard expressing surprise at the Marine pilots descent, after another voice says, Thatd have been nice to know, guy. I requested opposite air speed at my discretion before the break, the F/A-18 pilot, with the callsign Snake 2-1, can be heard saying. Misunderstanding, I suppose. After landing, the F/A-18 pilot asked for a phone number to contact the air traffic control office, and a controller replied, Yeah, I was going to give you the number here because I guess there was a miscommunication. I misunderstood what was requested, I guess, according to the Post. The FAA said it is investigating the incident, including how close together the aircraft came. The administrations safety experts follow up on all events, even when a collision wasnt imminent or even possible, according to the FAA. The F/A-18 also conflicted with another civilian aircraft, flying near a runway while a small Piper PA-28 was preparing for takeoff, according to the FAA. The fighter jet came from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 323, which is based out of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California, Marine spokeswoman Capt. Stephanie Leguizamon said Thursday via email to Marine Corps Times. As of a few days after the Sept. 29 deactivation of the Marine Corps only F/A-18 training squadron, Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 323 is home to both seasoned and student F/A-18 pilots, Leguizamon said. But that transition took place more than a week after the close call. The squadron had been involved in routine training in the Brownwood Military Operating Area northwest of Austin and was doing refueling operations at Austin-Bergstrom Airport, according to Leguizamon. A preliminary assessment of the event at the Austin-Bergstrom airport indicates that the pilot complied with air traffic control direction, Leguizamon said. The Marine Corps is cooperating with the FAA and is investigating the incident itself, the Marine spokeswoman added. The incident was the third known close call in 2023 at Austin-Bergstrom Airport, in the Texas capital. In June, an Allegiant Air flight came within 200 feet of a small aircraft, KVUE reported. In February, a FedEx cargo plane and a Southwest Airlines jet carrying 128 people were seconds away from colliding because of an apparent mistake by an air traffic controller, according to The New York Times. A New York Times investigation in August found close calls involving commercial airlines were happening, on average, multiple times a week, often because of mistakes by understaffed air traffic control. But there hasnt been a fatal plane crash involving a major U.S. airline since 2009, the outlet reported. One close call is one too many, the FAA said in the statement to Marine Corps Times. The FAA and the aviation community are pursuing a goal of zero serious close calls, a commitment from the Safety Summit in March. The FAA said it relies on several layers of anti-collision measures, including commercial aircrafts collision avoidance systems, runway surface safety technology at big airports and robust procedures. Air traffic controllers and pilots also play critical roles, the FAA said. The Coast Guard said Monday it has launched a formal investigation into the dismasting of the commercial passenger vessel Grace Bailey off the coast of Maine in which a mast fell and killed one person and injured three others. The main mast of the schooner Grace Bailey splintered and fell onto the deck on October 9. The collapse killed Dr. Emily Mecklenburg, 40, a physician from Rockland. There were 33 people on board the Grace Bailey when the mast collapsed. The other three injured people, who suffered head and back injuries, were transported to hospitals afterward. Coast Guard officials said the formal inquiry is intended to determine what led to the collapse and identify anything that can help improve maritime safety in the future. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement As a member of a lifesaving service, I am deeply saddened by this tragedy, said Capt. Amy Florentino, commander of Coast Guard Sector Northern New England. The Coast Guard is committed to conducting a thorough investigation aimed at identifying causal factors that will prevent an accident like this from reoccurring. The owners of the vessel, the Grace Bailey Navigation Company of Rockland, have no comment on the investigation, said Nicole Jacques, a spokesperson for the company. The vessel carries tourists off the Maine coast and was returning from a four-day trip when the mast snapped late in the morning of Oct. 9. While the Grace Bailey was old, built in 1882, there are several older vessels that carry passengers off the Maine coast. The Lewis R. French and Stephen Taber were both built in 1871, Jacques said. All of those vessels have been refurbished multiple times over the years, and most of the planks and other components have been replaced, Jacques said. The mast that splintered was not Grace Baileys original mast, she said. The schooner was about 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) east of Rockland harbor, the Coast Guard said. The schooners full length is 118 feet (36 meters) and it was in compliance with requirements when it underwent an annual inspection in May, Coast Guard officials have said. For additional questions, please contact D1PublicAffairs@uscg.mil This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW Yellowstone actor Cole Hauser is saddling up to a new business venture. Hauser, who portrays cowboy Rip Wheeler on the Paramount Network show, launched a new coffee brand this week called Free Rein Coffee Company. Inspired by the promise of the American dream, the coffee brand pays tribute to hard-working cowboys everywhere. As a nation built on dreams and aspirations, we want to inspire the go-getters, the dreamers, and the believers to fuel their pursuits, Hauser said in a press release. Just as the American Dream knows no boundaries, we aim to exceed expectations and create a legacy of our ownone that is deeply connected to our roots and the core values that shaped us. Hauser partnered with three friends on the project Karl Pfluger, Aron Marquez and Paul Anderson who all purchased a roasting facility in San Angelo, Texas. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Free Rein has six different coffee blends available now: American dirt- Dark roast Heavy spur- Medium roast Homestead- Medium roast Branded- Medium roast Mesteno- Medium roast Prospect- Light roast All six blends are available now for $15.99 per 12-ounce bag and $11.99 per box of 12 coffee pods. Additionally, Free Rein has Texas pecan and pumpkin spice seasonal blends available now as well. And thats not all. Fans can also shop Free Rein branded coffee cups, shirts and hats on their merchandise store. Free Rein is donating a portion of its sales to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, which a nonprofit that empowers families of fallen and severely wounded special operations personnel. Hauser has been acting for over 30 years, landing roles in movies such as Dazed and Confused, Good Will Hunting and Pitch Black. The actor has been one of the major characters on Yellowstone since it launched in 2018, portraying fan favorite cowboy Rip Wheeler. Hauser is no stranger to Fort Worth, stopping by the Stock Show and Rodeo the past few years to meet fans, along with wishing his son well in college at Texas Christian University. Hauser now joins Yellowstone creator and North Texas native Taylor Sheridan in the coffee world. Sheridan launched a new craft coffee brand this summer called Bosque Ranch Craft Coffee. Theresa Scalf and Donald Douglas, the man the Polk County Sheriff's Office says killed her in 1986. LAKELAND, Fla. - An illicit affair in the 1940s was the key in solving the cold case murder of a Polk County mother and nurse, according to the Polk County Sheriffs Office. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd says he vividly remembers when 29-year-old Theresa Scalf was discovered viciously murdered on October 27, 1986, in her duplex at 1305 Fairway Drive in Lakeland. According to PCSO, Theresa Scalfs mother, Betty Scalf, grew concerned when she received a phone call that her daughter, who was a registered nurse at Lakeland Regional Medical Center, did not show up to work. Betty Scalf discovered her daughters body about 10 hours after detectives believe she had been killed. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Sheriff Judd said she had defense wounds she fought her attacker off, but the suspect aggressively stabbed her and cut her head almost off. "It was violent, and it was horrible," Sheriff Judd stated. READ: Jennifer Odoms killer caught 30 years after she was kidnapped, murdered walking home from school bus: HCSO Theresa Scalf lived at the duplex with her young son who was staying with Betty Scalf at the time of the murder. Detectives investigate in 1986. Sheriff Judd said detectives at the time were able to gather blood from Theresa Scalf and blood from an unknown person at the scene, but DNA and DNA genealogy did not exist at that time. The sheriff added that detectives never gave up on the case and continued interview people over the years. In the 2000s, he said detectives entered the blood samples into the CODIS, or Combined DNA Index System, but did not get a match. Detective Matt Newbold took over the cold case in 2015. He kept a photo of Theresa Scalf on his desk and vowed that he would not retire until the case was solved. READ: What happened to Sabrina Aisenberg? Babys disappearance still a mystery after 25 years On Monday, Sheriff Judd announced that Donald Douglas, who was 33 at the time of Theresa Scalfs murder, is her killer. "Hed dead. He died of natural causes when he was 54 years old," Sheriff Judd stated. The sheriff added, "At the end of the day, we can only hope that he suffered mentally for his horrible, horrible acts against this beautiful lady who went to work every day to save lived and to care about folks. This is a classic example of how evil should never prevail, and we all have to work together to keep that from occurring." Pictured: Nurse and mother Theresa Scalf courtesy of the Polk County Sheriff's Office. According to Sheriff Judd, Douglas and his brother, who is also dead, owned D and D Electric, and he lived behind Theresa Scalf. Detectives say they talked to Douglas at the time of Theresa Scalfs murder, but there was nothing out of the ordinary at the time. READ: 'Judd Java': Coffee company names brew after Polk Sheriff Grady Judd Detective Newbold traced the case back to 1949 when a third cousin of Douglas had an affair and had a child not by her husband. "So we traced DNA back to 1949 and an illicit affair that led us in the direction of ultimately Donald Douglas," the sheriff said. Crime Scene Unit outside of Theresa Scalf's home in 1986. The detective ended up meeting with Douglas son and asked for a blood sample. The son agreed. Sheriff Judd said the son was cooperative and in horrible shock. "His dad, and heres the key to it, had never, ever, ever been arrested," Sheriff Judd said. "Donalds son was certain that Matt Newbold, Detective Newbold was just chasing another dead end because he was certain there was no way in the world his dad would murder anyone. He cooperated because thats what good Americans do." According to Sheriff Judd, the lab results came back and stated that the blood belonging to the son, is the son of the person who did the murder. READ: Son of 95-year-old viral Israeli reservist watches dad suit up from Auburndale "If it werent for modern science, we still would wonder how in the world, who in the world, murdered this beautiful, registered nurse who worked in the trauma unit saving lives, making people better, and died that fateful night," Sheriff Judd shared. On Monday, Theresa Scalfs family thanked Sheriff Judd, Detective Newbold and the Polk County Sheriffs Office for their persistence on the case and for keeping them informed of progress over the years. Pictured: Theresa Scalf "I lived to see this done," stated a tearful Betty Scalf, who is now 84 years old. "I think thats why I lived so long." Theresa Scalfs sister said almost their entire family went into healthcare because of her. She added that in 1986, 911 was not universal in Florida and Theresa Scalf was an advocate for the emergency line and organ donation. She stated that her mother had to find the phone number to the sheriffs office after discovering her daughters body. Though her family says Theresa Scalf was unable to donate her organs, 911 is now universal across the state and they feel she would be proud of how far technology has come over the decades to help solve her case and help others receive emergency assistance. Colombian President Gustavo Petro (L) and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas (C) at the G77+China summit in Havana in September (ADALBERTO ROQUE) Colombia on Monday demanded that Israel's ambassador leave the South American country amid a worsening spat over President Gustavo Petro's remarks on the war with Hamas. Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva said the envoy, Gali Dagan, should "at a minimum, apologize and leave" after criticizing Petro's comparison of Israeli attacks on Gaza with the Nazi persecution of the Jews. Leyva lashed out on social media at the "rudeness" of Israel's response to Petro, adding: "Shame." Petro, in one post on X, formerly Twitter, accused Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant of using language about the people of Gaza similar to what the "Nazis said of the Jews." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Israel declared war on Hamas after fighters with the militant group streamed across the Gaza-Israeli border in a surprise attack on October 7 and assaulted Israeli towns, settlements and army bases, killing more than 1,400 people. Israel has responded with bombardment that has killed at least 2,750 people in the Gaza Strip, most of them ordinary Palestinians. Colombia's first leftist president asserted that "democratic peoples cannot allow Nazism to reestablish itself in international politics." On Sunday, Israel, one of the main providers of arms to Colombia's military, said it was "halting security exports" to the South American country as the diplomatic feud escalated. Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Lior Haiat said Colombia's ambassador, Margarita Manjarrez, had been summoned over Petro's "hostile and anti-Semitic statements." The president's statements were received with "astonishment," said the spokesman. He accused Petro of "expressing support for the atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists, fuelling anti-Semitism, affecting the representatives of the State of Israel and threatening the peace of the Jewish community in Colombia." - 'Genocide' - In response to Haiat's statement, Petro said his country does not support "genocide." "If we have to suspend foreign relations with Israel, we suspend them," he added. Colombia's armed forces, engaged in a decades-long conflict with leftist guerrillas, rightwing paramilitaries and drug cartels, uses Israeli-made weapons and aircraft. The country has a history of strong diplomatic and military relations with Israel and the United States. Petro has also engaged in an online war of words directly with the ambassador, Dagan, who had urged the president to condemn a "terrorist attack against innocent civilians." In his response, Petro said: "terrorism is to kill innocent children, whether it be in Colombia or in Palestine." Dagan then invited Petro to visit the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem and the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, which the president retorted he saw being "copied in Gaza." "No democrat in the world can accept Gaza being turned into a concentration camp," Petro added. Initially, Colombia's foreign ministry had issued a statement to "vehemently condemn the terrorism and attacks against civilians that have occurred in Israel" and expressing solidarity with the victims of Hamas. The link to that statement was later disabled, with a new one making no mention of "terrorism." ag/lv/ll/mlr/dw Colombias President Gustavo Petro is threatening to cut diplomatic ties with Israel after Israeli authorities froze security exports to the South American country over his comments comparing Israels government to the Nazis and his failure to quickly condemn the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas militants on southern Israel. If we have to suspend foreign relations with Israel, we suspend them. We do not support genocides, Petro said on Sunday evening on X, formerly known as Twitter. You dont insult the president of Colombia, he said, replying to a statement on X by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Lior Hiat, criticizing the Colombian presidents remarks as antisemitic and announcing the halt of security cooperation. Hiat announced that as a first measure, Israel decided to stop security cooperation with Colombia. Israel has provided Colombia with missiles, drones, military planes, helicopters and other security material. The two countries also have a free trade agreement since 2020. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement On Monday, the Colombian foreign affairs minister, Alvaro Leyva, told the Israeli ambassador, Gali Dagan, to apologize for his senseless loutishness in dealing with Petro. Shame. Minimum make excuses and leave, he said on X. He later clarified Colombia was not expelling the Israeli ambassador and that diplomatic relations would continue if that country so wishes it. Shortly after Hamas militants launched a murderous rampage on towns, kibbutzim and military bases in southern Israel on the morning of Oct. 7, killing at least 1400 people and taking another 199 hostages, including women and children, Petro, an avid social media user, started sharing comments in support of what he referred to as the Palestinian cause. He published photos of Palestinian children killed by Israels military response in Gaza and said: Terrorism is killing innocent children, whether in Colombia or Palestine. In the first 24 hours after the attack, he did not condemn Hamas deadly assault. The United States lists Hamas as a terrorist organization. Speaking of Israel, he said that democratic peoples cannot allow Nazism to reestablish itself in international politics and that no democrat in the world can accept Gaza being turned into a concentration camp. Israel called in Colombias ambassador for consultations on Sunday to deliver a reprimand concerning the hostile and antisemitic statements against the State of Israel made last week by the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, Hiat said. Israel condemns the Presidents statements, which constitute support for the horrific acts of Hamas terrorists, inflame antisemitism, harm representatives of the State of Israel, and threaten the safety of the Jewish community in Colombia, the spokesperson added. Petro has not been alone in voicing concerns about a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where Israels bombing campaign following Hamas attack has killed at least 2,808, most of them women and children, according to a statement by the Gaza Government Press Office on Monday. While vowing full support for Israel, the Biden administration has increased calls on Israel to respect international war law and is pushing for ways to deliver urgent aid to about two million civilians caught in Gaza without food, water and medical supplies as the bombing intensifies and Israel gets ready to launch an invasion. Critics of Petro But critics both inside and outside Colombia say Petro, a leftist president with a guerrilla past, has failed to condemn Hamas attacks in stronger terms, in the process sparking a diplomatic crisis with one of the United States closest allies. The most important fallout from his social media remarks, at times filled with obscure references to Hitler when speaking about Israel, is that it risks damaging Colombias close partnership with the United States, said Francisco Santos, a former Colombian ambassador to the United States. Petros radical remarks directly affect relations with our first trading partner and our biggest ally, the United States, Santos said. We have seen a president who tweets as an activist without taking into account international relations and the importance of the moment, and who is showing a lack of sensibility in the face of all the deaths and the massacres. Petros remarks have already drawn condemnation from the United States. 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, with the office of the U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism said on X. Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio accused Petros rhetoric of inflaming antisemitism. Israels embassy in Bogota, Colombias capital, was vandalized last week with offensive graffiti, including a swastika. Now must be a time of moral clarity, not drawing false equivalencies to justify an unjustifiable position, said Florida Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, who heads the House subcommittee that allocates funding to the State Department. It is shameful that the Colombian presidents sympathies seem to lie with the terrorists rather than their victims. Domestically, Petro is also fielding intense criticism for his position on the conflict, which he addressed on social media on Monday, saying he does not support Hamas and calling for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He also said Colombia will send humanitarian aid to Gaza. FIRST ON FOX: House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer is demanding answers from Special Counsel Robert Hur on whether the sensitive, classified documents President Biden retained were related to specific countries countries that were involved in his familys lucrative foreign business deals. Comer, R-Ky., is investigating the Biden familys foreign business dealings as part of the House impeachment inquiry, as well as Bidens alleged mishandling of classified documents. Comer, in a letter to Hur, who is investigating Bidens alleged improper retention of classified records, said his committee has "developed significant evidence regarding President Bidens retention of classified materials at Penn Biden Center." Rep. James Comer, left, and President Biden. BIDEN INTERVIEWED BY SPECIAL COUNSEL ABOUT CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "As detailed in the Oversight Committees bank memoranda and Impeachment Inquiry Memorandum, evidence suggests President Biden may have used certain members of his family particularly his son, Hunter Biden to accumulate millions of dollars from foreign individuals and entities for the benefit of his family and himself," Comer wrote to Hur. "Indeed, the Biden family received millions of dollars from foreign sources while President Biden served in public office and afterwards." Comer added, "If any of the classified documents mishandled by President Biden involved countries or individuals that had financial dealings with Biden family members or their related companies, the Committee needs access to that information to evaluate whether our national security has been compromised." READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP Chairman James Comer, R-Ky. Comer noted that Biden family members, their business associates and their "related companies" received "significant payments from individuals and companies in China, Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Romania." He also referred to "other evidence recently released by the Ways & Means Committee identified over 20 different countries with ties to the Biden familys influence peddling schemes." DOJ ORDERED HUNTER BIDEN INVESTIGATORS TO 'REMOVE ANY REFERENCE' TO JOE BIDEN IN FARA PROBE WARRANT: HOUSE GOP Comer said the House Oversight Committee has learned throughout its investigation that the Biden family and their business associates brought in more than $24 million between 2014 and 2019 by "selling Joe Biden as the brand around the world." "The Committee is concerned that President Biden may have retained sensitive documents related to specific countries involving his familys foreign business," Comer wrote. President Biden speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Friday, Sept. 15, 2023. Meanwhile, Comer also questioned Hur on information to help the committee to "understand whether the White House or President Bidens personal attorneys placed any limitations or scoping restrictions during the interview that would have precluded a line of inquiry regarding evidence (emails, text messages, or witness statements) directly linking Joe Biden to troublesome foreign payments." "President Bidens retention of certain classified documents begs the question as to why he kept these particular materials," Comer wrote. "Of the many classified documents he reviewed over his lengthy career, why did President Biden keep these specific documents in his home and office?" He added, "The sensitive nature of the information contained in the documents may answer that question for the Committee, which is why we seek to review those materials." HUNTER BIDEN'S $250K WIRE FROM CHINA LABELED AS A 'PERSONAL INVESTMENT' Comer requested that Hur determine a "mutually agreed upon secured location" and provide information without redactions to the committee, including "any terms, agreements or scoping limitations" related to his offices review of the president. Comer also requested a list of the countries named in any documents with classification markings recovered from Penn Biden Center, Bidens residence, including the garage, in Wilmington, Delaware, or elsewhere; and a list of all individuals named in those documents with classification markings; and all documents found with classified markings. Comer is also asking if Hur was "permitted" to ask about evidence obtained by the U.S. Attorneyss Office for the district of Delaware which has been investigating Hunter Biden and on any information released by IRS whistleblowers related to the Biden familys business dealings. Comer also asked for the copy of the report and agents notes following the special counsels interview of the president and any interview with former White House counsel Dana Remus. Comers letter comes just days after President Biden was interviewed by Hur. The White House Counsels Office confirmed the voluntary interview took place earlier this month at the White House over the course of two days last Sunday and Monday and concluded Monday. HUNTER BIDEN RECEIVED $250K WIRES ORIGINATING IN BEIJING WITH BENEFICIARY ADDRESS LISTED AS JOE BIDEN'S HOME "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," White House spokesperson for investigations Ian Sams said. Hurs investigation comes after a batch of records from President Biden's time as vice president, including a "small number of documents with classified markings," were discovered at the Penn Biden Center by the president's personal attorneys on Nov. 2, 2022. Additional classified records were discovered at President Bidens Wilmington home in January. After that discovery, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Hur as special counsel to investigate the matter. Special counsel Robert Muellers team negotiated with lawyers for then-President Trump for an interview, but Trump never sat for one. His lawyers instead submitted answers to written questions. President George W. Bush sat for a 70-minute interview as part of an investigation into the leak of the identity of a CIA operative. President Clinton in 1998 underwent more than four hours of questioning from independent counsel Kenneth Starr before a federal grand jury. Original article source: Comer demands answers on whether Biden classified records mention countries related to family business deals Salt Lake Shoreland manager Mike Kolendrianos looks over irrigation pipes being installed to replace ditches on the New Harvey pastures in Davis County on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. The Nature Conservancy in Utah is improving the flood irrigation system on the 200 acres that is part of the Great Salt Lake Shorelands Preserve. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News The Great Salt Lake is a mystery everyone is trying to solve. A problem waiting for an answer. Enter Mike Kolendranios who has hope and visions of the future in his eyes. He can see it in the birds who have returned to the Great Salt Lake uplands. Take the American white ibis. It hangs out in the Great Pacific Flyway. This is the man in charge of the Great Salt Lake Shorelands Preserve run by The Nature Conservancy. Related It is the last piece of unspoiled land in western Davis County, a buffer between development and nature. It is where the ibis flies, it is where the snowy plover finds its nest and millions of migratory birds find home. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement We are seeing the bird numbers go up, he said. The Nature Conservancy embarked on a project with collaboration from the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food to enclose ditches. It saves water and gives more to the Great Salt Lake. It means concrete and closing ditches. It seems like a little thing, but with water, everything counts. This installation involves 3,000 feet of pipeline to replace ditches. Every 20 feet there will be a watering riser that is above ground. Thats how the water will be dispersed. Related Kolendranios is no stranger to the problems of the lake. He was a baby, he said, when the lake reached a low in 1964. He saw it rise in the 1980s with the flooding. It ebbs and flows. The idea now is to pipe the ditches and save water for a lake that is always changing its personality. The Nature Conservancy roams cattle on its expansive spread to help take care of phragmites, wild root reeds that suck up the water. This project is focused on 260 acres that will boost water delivery to the Great Salt Lake by as much as 5% to 10%. Related The nonprofit organization is engaged with Kaysville for this restoration project designed to not only protect the environment, but help with quality of life. It is the drop of water that counts. My heart breaks at the rise in anti-Muslim rhetoric and I urge all leaders and people to reject bigotry and embrace tolerance, Rep. Ilhan Omar , D-Minn. told theGrio. The Biden-Harris Administration and members of Congress are condemning the slaying of a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy in Illinois over the weekend. U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., told theGrio, I want to express my deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Wadea Al-Fayoume. His tragic death is a sobering reminder that Islamophobia and hate have no place in our society. BRIDGEVIEW, ILLINOIS OCTOBER 16: Six-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoumes casket sits on the floor during a funeral service at the Mosque Foundation on October 16, 2023 in Bridgeview, Illinois. According to reports, Al-Fayoume was killed and his mother seriously wounded when her landlord, Joseph Czuba, attacked them because they were Muslim. Czuba has been arrested and charged with murder and hate crimes. (Photo by Kamil Krzaczynski/Getty Images) Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., told theGrio, My heart goes out to his family, his mother who is still in critical condition, his friends, and to his community. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement This violence and act of pure hatred is inexcusable. It is proof that dehumanizing the Palestinian people has horrible consequences; that when we plainly push forward one-sided, Islamophobic and bigoted rhetoric, it can serve as a death sentence, said Bush. She added, It is shameful and it is deplorable. And it must stop. President Joe Biden issued a statement following the incident expressing he and first lady Jill Biden were shocked and sickened to learn of the brutal murder of a six-year-old child and the attempted murder of the childs mother in their home yesterday in Illinois. The president continued, As Americans, we must come together and reject Islamophobia and all forms of bigotry and hatred. Vice President Kamala Harris also denounced the attack, saying in a statement, hate has no place in America. We unequivocally condemn hate and Islamophobia and stand with the Palestinian, Arab and Muslim American communities, she said. On Saturday, 71-year-old Joseph Czuba allegedly stabbed Wadea Al-Fayoume and his mother Hanaan Shahin, 32, in Plainfield, Illinois, a village located 40 miles southwest of Chicago. The stabbing is reportedly because of the Muslim faith. Al-Fayoume, 6, was pronounced dead at a local hospital and Shahin, who was critically injured after sustaining over a dozen stab wounds to her body, is currently being treated at a medical facility and is expected to survive. For the past two years, the Muslim family lived on the ground floor of Czubas home and reportedly resided there without incident until this past weekend. Czuba faces several charges, including first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and two counts of committing a hate crime. Officials investigating the crime believe the attack is connected to the Israel-Hamas conflict. During a recent virtual press conference about the Israel-Hamas conflict Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., the only Palestinian-American in Congress, told reporters that this tragic ordeal comes on the heels of the Middle Eastern conflict and the medias dehumanization of Palestinians. It is heartbreaking and infuriating to watch the dehumanization of Palestinians in the media and by prominent figures which is leading tohate crimes here at home, she said. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) attends a panel at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images) Congresswoman Tlaib told reporters that her constituents in Michigan are now incredibly worried about being targeted. I represent a large concentration of Muslim-Americans in the U.S. and weve already had to make an arrest of a person who threatened to come and hunt so-called, quote, Palestinians, she added. Rep. Omar told theGrio, We must come together as a nation to condemn violence and discrimination against Muslim Americans or any group. Just as we learned from the tragedy of 9/11, we cannot blame an entire religion for the actions of a few extremists, said Omar. My heart breaks at the rise in anti-Muslim rhetoric and I urge all leaders and people to reject bigotry and embrace tolerance. TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, and Android TV. Please download theGrio mobile apps today! The post Congresswoman condemns dehumanization of Palestinians after boy, 6, is fatally stabbed appeared first on TheGrio. Prosecutors on Monday alleged that Joseph Czuba, the 71-year-old white man accused of fatally stabbing a Palestinian mother and boy in a Chicago suburb over the weekend, had become paranoid listening to conservative radio segments about the war between Israel and Hamas. Czuba was arraigned on Monday, making his first court appearance in an orange jumpsuit with matted hair, The New York Times reported. He faces charges of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of a hate crime, and an aggravated battery charge for allegedly stabbing his tenants, 6-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume and his mom, Hanaan Shaheen, inside their home. In court documents obtained by the Times, prosecutors allege that Czuba had become fearful that their Palestinian background made him a potential target for violence. Impaled Palestinian Mom Posted About Dead Son Just After Chicago Attack ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Czubas wife told investigators that her husband listens to conservative talk radio on a regular basis and had become obsessed with the Middle East war, NBC reported. Prosecutors reportedly said Monday that Czuba had texted Shaheen on Wednesday and demanded that she move out of the home she was renting from him. Czubas alleged hate took a violent turn on Saturday. Prosecutors say he confronted the mother and son outside their home and said he was enraged by the situation in Israel. Shaheen tried to plead with Czuba, prosecutors said, but it was to no avail: Just seconds after she said lets pray for peace, prosecutors claim she was chased into her home and stabbed repeatedly. A judge denied a request for bail by Czuba on Monday, saying he remains a threat to Shaheenwho is still recovering from stab wounds in the hospitaland the community in general. His next court date is on Oct. 30. Czubas arraignment took place the same day mourners gathered at a funeral for Al-Fayoume. The boys body was placed in a small white coffin that was draped in a Palestinian flag. Nazmi Hannon, a close family friend who described the father as a brother to him, spoke to The Daily Beast from the site of a funeral service on Monday. I just remember all the little things. How he smiled, how he played, how he ran around, he said. He was running around playing just last week, and now hes in a casket. 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. Master taquero Juan Monarrez stacks slabs of al pastor onto a spit for roasting at Tacombi, 126 N. Peoria St., in Chicago on Sept. 14, 2023. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune) How much are you willing to pay for a taco? Three recently opened Mexican restaurants in the West Loop are, perhaps unintentionally, testing the publics appetite $4.98 tacos are the minimum here, and youll find some going for much more. If you believe that great tacos always need to be cheap, brace yourself for disappointment. I understand the thought. Most of my favorite tacos are found outside of downtown and cost less than $5. Odds are good that your neighborhood taqueria serves cheaper and tastier tacos than most West Loop and River North taco spots. Advertisement But I strongly reject the idea that tacos have to be cheap. This view disregards the effort poured into them and the costs of ingredients. If you dont believe me, try the phenomenal fried oyster taco at Mi Tocaya Antojeria ($9.60) or the duck carnitas taco at Taqueria Chingon ($7). Plus, some tacos are simply bigger than others, explaining why youll pay $8 for the massive campechano taco (featuring a mix of carne asada and chicharron) at Rubis Tacos, the excellent Pilsen taqueria. Where do Bodega Taqueria y Tequila, Tacombi and Texan Taco Bar fall? Lets find out. Advertisement Bodega Taqueria y Tequila Tacos from Bodega Taqueria y Tequila. (Nick Kindelsperger/Chicago Tribune) Amble up to the first Midwest location of this South Florida taco chain, and you wont find a counter, but a gleaming Airstream trailer. To place an order, you chat with an employee through the front window, just like at a taco truck. Its a neat bit of design work. Too bad I hate nearly everything else about this place, from the indifferent service to the quote plastered on the wall encouraging everyone to become a functioning alcoholic. (The quote changes often, but both times I went it had something to do with ignoring your problems by drinking more tequila.) But what I hate the most are the tacos. These are thoughtless creations with brittle tortillas, weak salsas and mushy meat. The carnitas ($5) look like pulled pork made in a crockpot, while the carne asada ($6) tastes like its been sitting in a steam tray for an eternity. Even worse is the barbacoa ($6.25), which was so dry and stringy that its like someone in the kitchen had a vendetta against the meat and wanted it obliterated. If I were king, Bodegas version of al pastor ($5.50) would be a punishable crime. Just look what theyve done to my favorite taco on earth. Instead of juicy nuggets of marinated pork, Bodega serves mealy, stringy pieces of underseasoned meat with way too much sweet pineapple mixed in and then has the gall to top it with a creamy salsa. Bodega seems to intentionally want to botch the basics. When I ordered a side of salsa verde, I received a small plastic cup pulled straight from the fridge. Instead of a pourable consistency, the salsa had solidified into a mass that plopped out of the container like Jell-O. What kind of bush league nonsense is this? Glance at Bodegas website, and youll see that the taqueria is mostly just a clever front for the speakeasy located in the back. It might be a gorgeous place to hang out, but as for the tacos, youve been warned. Rating: No stars Texan Taco Bar Tacos from Texan Taco Bar. (Nick Kindelsperger) Opened last summer after several delays, Texan Taco Bar looks like a supersize version of Big Star, taking the honky-tonk-with-tacos concept and stretching it out over a cavernous first floor and a rooftop patio. This is the work of Michael Bisbee and Tim Hendricks, best known for Parlor Pizza Bar. That tremendously popular concept now has three locations, though it also ran into some legal issues in the past few years. Advertisement But unlike Big Star, Texan Taco Bar doesnt seem to have any ambition to serve great tacos. While theres a competency here that avoids any Bodega-level taco travesties, youll also spend a lot of money on some middling tacos. The Baja-style fish taco arrives looking pale and sad, though it has a decently crunchy crust. The al pastor is moderately juicy, though the salsa cruda on top needs at least some kick. But a lot of the tacos feel like they are expensive for no real reason. Perhaps to make you feel better about spending $7 for a carne asada taco, each one comes with some completely unnecessary crispy leeks and a creamy mayonnaise spiked with barely a hint of chile de arbol. But if the restaurant really cared it wouldnt serve such dry beef. The biggest disappointment is actually the crunchy beef taco, which looks like a bog-standard crispy taco from Taco Bell, but with half the flavor. You might think Im kidding, but this oft-reviled taco style honestly deserves better. In fact, Chicago has a small but proud fried taco tradition mostly located on the far South Side that blows the Bell away. Order a gorgeous golden-hued crispy corn taco at Mr. Taco Mex in South Deering to see what I mean. Even with the many caveats, I was about to give Texan Taco Bar a pass until I asked for some salsa. As is common with spots downtown, all of the tacos arrive with some salsa already on top. I definitely prefer when taquerias have options out for customers to customize the spice level to their liking, but I realize salsa costs money and giving it away doesnt always make financial sense. But when I asked my waitress if I could purchase some extra salsa, she said all she could do was bring over some bottled hot sauce. Automatic fail. Rating: No Stars Advertisement Tacombi A Baja crispy fish taco at Tacombi, located at 126 N. Peoria St., in Chicago's West Loop. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune) Tacombi is also a chain with multiple locations in New York, Washington, D.C., and Florida. Tacombis West Loop outlet looks so much like an actual Mexican taqueria that you might think theres a portal to our southern neighbor somewhere on Peoria Street. Its startling. From the shiny white countertops to the colorful collection of tables and chairs, you can tell someone with actual experience working in Mexico was involved in the design. Workers move around the kitchen area after the lunch rush at Tacombi, 126 N. Peoria St., Chicago, on Sept. 14, 2023. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune) That man is Dario Wolos, who founded Tacombi in 2006 in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Though born in upstate New York, he grew up in Monterrey, Mexico. My mom is from Mexico, and after I was born she decided she wanted to raise a family back in Monterrey, Wolos said. My formative years were there. A job opportunity eventually took him to Boston and then London, where he started pining for the food of his youth. That led him to buy a small bus, called combi in Spanish, so he could sell tacos outside a nightclub in Playa del Carmen. After years of work, Wolos opened his first permanent restaurant in New York City in 2010. (If you hadnt guessed, the name combines the words tacos and combi.) You might be seeing a lot more from Wolos soon. In 2021, Tacombi received $27.5 million in funding from Enlightened Hospitality Investments, a growth fund cofounded by Danny Meyer, the man behind Shake Shack. A massive expansion is in the works, with as many as 75 potential locations, including more in Chicago. (Look for a Wicker Park outlet next.) Freshly-fried tortillas are placed in a bin at Tacombi. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune) Tacombi seems legitimately concerned about the fundamentals. All of the tacos start with some good corn tortillas, which are currently being made in Tacombis own tortilla factory in New York. (Wolos said he hopes to soon send fresh masa to Chicago for the staff to make the tortillas here.) A small salsa bar hides in the back, offering a solid salsa cruda, made with fresh tomatillos and chilies, and a complex and legitimately spicy salsa roja. Advertisement Instead of offering a dozen different fillings, Tacombi focuses on just a few. Im not thrilled with the al pastor, but its at least cooked on a trompo, the traditional vertical rotisserie. The pork gets a solid red chile marinade but has also been dry both times Ive visited. A carne asada taco is shown at Tacombi, 126 N. Peoria St., Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023, in Chicago. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune) But the carne asada is freshly grilled so it arrives juicy with a nice dollop of creamy avocado tomatillo salsa on top. The Baja taco features a crispy piece of battered fish with pickled cabbage and a creamy roasted poblano mayo. The pollo Yucateco features chicken slathered in a rusty red achiote marinade and roasted until tender. Make sure to order at least one birria taco, Tacombis version of the quesabirria taco. Each one arrives with a cup of brick-red consomme for dunking. Ive eaten more versions of this taco in the past few years than I care to admit, and Tacombis offering gets the balance of spicy beef to gooey cheese right on. Though most of the tacos are around the $5 range, they are on the smaller side, so be prepared for the bill to add up quickly. While service is prompt, its still a chain focused on feeding as many people as quickly as possible. Its not a place where youll want to linger for a long time. Whether or not the chain can maintain the quality, especially if it opens more Chicago locations, remains to be seen. But theres real cooking going on at Tacombi, and the approachable atmosphere makes it ideal to grab a quick taco. Rating: 1 1/2 stars. Advertisement nkindelsperger@chicagotribune.com Bodega Taqueria y Tequila 912 W. Randolph St. 312-340-0201 bodegataqueria.com/location/chicago-west-loop Tribune rating: No stars, unsatisfactory Open: Sunday to Wednesday, 11 a.m. to midnight; Thursday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.; Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3 a.m. Advertisement Prices: Tacos, $5 to $6.50 Noise: Conversation-friendly Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible, with bathrooms on first floor Texan Taco Bar 942 W. Randolph St. 312-291-8133 texantacobar.com Advertisement Tribune rating: No stars, unsatisfactory Open: Monday to Thursday, 4 p.m. to 12 a.m.; Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m.; Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m.; Sunday, 10:30 a.m. to 12 a.m. Prices: Tacos, $5 to $7 Noise: Conversation-friendly Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible, bathrooms accessible by elevator Tacombi 126 N. Peoria St. Advertisement Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy > 312-600-7039 tacombi.com Tribune rating: 1 1/2 stars, between good and very good Open: Every day, 11 a.m to 11 p.m. Prices: Tacos, $4.98 to $6.98 Noise: Conversation-friendly Advertisement Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible, with bathrooms on first floor Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) is leading a coalition of progressive representatives in calling for President Biden to work toward an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hamas amid mounting concerns over an Israeli invasion into the Gaza Strip. Israel has promised to eliminate Hamas in response to a surprise attack earlier this month that left more than 1,400 Israelis dead, and has already pounded the Gaza Strip with missiles while telling residents of northern Gaza to flee for safety. Bush introduced the Ceasefire Now Resolution on Monday, urging Biden push for and facilitate a cease-fire and de-escalation of the conflict and promptly send and facilitate the entry of humanitarian assistance into Gaza. Joining Bush as co-sponsors are Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), Jamaal Bowman (N.Y.), Bonnie Watson Coleman (N.J.), Jesus Chuy Garcia (Ill.), Jonathan Jackson (Ill.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.) and Nydia Velazquez (N.Y.). ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Hamas also took almost 200 hostages during its attack across Israels border, during which militants slaughtered attendees of a music festival and raided border villages. From Oct. 7-12, Israel dropped 6,000 bombs into Gaza, according to CNN. Israeli leaders have also blocked fuel and water from entering Gaza and closed all shared border crossings. By Monday, more than 2,700 Palestinians had been killed in the violence, according to Gaza health authorities. I am grieving for every Palestinian, Israeli, and American life lost to this violence, and my heart breaks for all those who will be forever traumatized because of it, Bush said in a statement introducing her resolution. War and retaliatory violence doesnt achieve accountability or justice; it only leads to more death and human suffering, she added. The United States bears a unique responsibility to exhaust every diplomatic tool at our disposal to prevent mass atrocities and save lives. We cant bomb our way to peace, equality, and freedom. With thousands of lives lost and millions more at stake, we need a ceasefire now. The lawmakers join the United Nations and other humanitarian groups in calling for more humanitarian aid to be sent to the Gaza Strip and warning of the dire consequences of an Israeli ground offensive on Gazas civilian population. Speaking on CBSs 60 Minutes this weekend, Biden said Israeli occupation of Gaza would be a big mistake and that Hamas and the extreme elements of Hamas dont represent all the Palestinian people. Tlaib, who is of Palestinian heritage and has faced death threats for her unwavering support of Palestinians, said she is proud to be a co-sponsor for Bushs legislation. We need legislation that saves as many lives as possible, no matter ones faith or ethnicity, Tlaib said in a statement. She added that legislation around the Palestinian-Israeli conflict needs to prevent devastating civilian casualties. Bushs resolution comes after the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), which includes her and several other co-sponsors, also issued a statement calling for immediate humanitarian relief. Though the CBC said it stands firm behind Israels right to defend itself, it added that there are millions of innocent Palestinians who are not responsible for the brutal attacks and atrocities of Hamas terrorists. Its unclear if Bushs resolution will make it far. Apart from Republicans struggling to elect a new Speaker, putting all legislation on hold, Republicans and Democrats alike have largely avoided any statements or actions that could be perceived as critical of Israel. Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) said calls for a cease-fire were disgusting before Israel has been able to mount an offensive. Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), wore his Israeli Defense Forces uniform on the House floor last week, comparing it to the Palestinian flag outside Tlaibs office. As the only member to serve with both the United States Army and the Israel Defense Forces, I will always stand with Israel, Mast wrote on X. Tlaibs got her flag. I got my uniform. Pressley said the shared humanity of all is at stake if humanitarian aid is not sent swiftly to the Gaza Strip. The loss of every Palestinian, Israeli, and American life we have seen in the past week is absolutely devastating and the grief and trauma in our communities is palpable, Pressley said in a statement. The murder of innocent Israeli civilians by Hamas is horrific and unacceptable. And the murder of innocent Palestinian civilians is a horrific and unacceptable response. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Scholar and activist Cornel West, who is running for president, gives the keynote address at the "#BLM Turns 10 People's Justice Festival" on July 15, 2023, in Los Angeles. Credit - Damian DovarganesAP Photo Cornel West knows what most Democrats think of him. Since he launched his presidential bid four months ago, the progressive, media-savvy academic has heard the accusations that hell prove a spoiler and hand the 2024 election to Donald Trump. He doesnt think that will be the case. But he also cant imagine four more years of Joe Biden as President would be much better. I mean, it's a good question, West says. Is World War III better than Civil War II? West and I first spoke the day before Hamas launched a stunning attack on Israel that killed more than 1,200 people. In the days since, he has pushed for restraint, and urged Biden and other leaders to avoid retaliatory rhetoric. For West, a charged moment like this is why he's running for president. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement It just reveals the moral bankruptcy of both parties when it comes to foreign policy, he tells me. We see that so clearly now. More From TIME West has long been known as one of the countrys most prominent Black scholars and activists, the architect of a post-civil rights philosophy of black liberation, as TIME put it in a 1993 profile. Now, as Biden struggles to inspire the left, Democrats are getting nervous that West could peel off just enough votes to matter in a close election. Lost in much of that discussion is how much West is making foreign policy a centerpiece of his longshot bid. To be sure, Wests campaign remains a shoestring operation that may never get off the ground. He lacks the movement infrastructure and specific policy platforms that helped past left-wing presidential candidates like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, or Bernie Sanders, outperform expectations. Given Wests recent decision to run as an independent, even getting on the ballot in every state will be challenging. But theres a reason that West has managed to stay in the public eye for more than three decades. His keen intellect and eloquence mean he stands to draw interest, particularly from voters on the left who remain unexcited about the idea of another Biden term. And as the economic fallout of the pandemic drags on and wars abroad pick up, a distinguished thinker calling for radical change has an openingif not to win, at least to alter the course of the 2024 race. There's still pushing that we need to do, and we have been doing, and we support him in that analysis, Cliff Albright, the co-founder of Black Voters Matter, told me over the summer. But the strategy that he's chosen is one that has the potential for more harm than good. Days before the attack on Israel, I visit Washington, D.C.s historic True Reformer Building to watch West rally for peace in Ukraine. Many of the roughly 150 people there are wearing fuschia in honor of Code Pink, the anti-war group hosting the event. But I also spot some attendees in "Cornel West '24" T-shirts and hear the room buzzing about him. I know West has arrived before I see him, because the crowd breaks out in applause. Several attendees give him a standing ovation as he takes a seat in the front row. For the next hour, he listens attentively. When Claudia De La Cruz, who is running for president with a fringe anticapitalist party, demands the dissolution of NATO, West claps. He smiles along with the audience at her comment about threats to national security sleeping in the White House. Later, as Code Pink circulates fundraising buckets, co-founder Medea Benjamin observes West putting money in. Finally, its Wests turn, and its clear this is the moment many in the room had been waiting for. He steps onstage and launches into something more like a spoken-word poem than a political speech. Its short on policy prescriptions and long on lyrical demands for peace, justice, and change to a flawed system. Anytime everyday people straighten their backs up, they're going somewhere, because the ruling class cant ride your back unless its bent, he says. He references groundbreaking Black leaders like W.E.B Dubois and Malcolm X and James Cone. His forehead glistens. When West mentions President Barack Obamas Nobel Peace Prize, the crowd boos. His words elicit the kind of response one might hear in a Black church: Right! Yes! Come on! Elena, a 25-year-old math tutor at the event who asked I not publish her last name, tells me she grew up watching West as a regular pundit on CNN. She says conversations about politics can often feel very sterile, but West doesnt have that problem. He makes it more approachable, she says. He makes it more humane, more human. The whole audience seems to agree. As the event wraps up, Benjamin asks the crowd who will join Code Pink for a day of advocacy in Congress the next morning. A smattering of people raise their hands. She quickly pivots to the biggest attraction on the stage. Raise your hand if you looovvveee listening to Dr. Cornel West! All the hands go up and a cheer breaks out. So you can listen to him again tomorrow, she says. West launched his presidential campaign in early June as a member of the Peoples Party, which was founded in 2017 by a former Sanders staffer. Less than two weeks later, he decided to seek the Green Party's nomination instead, even bringing on its 2016 presidential nominee, Jill Stein, as an interim campaign manager. Then, at the beginning of October, he changed course again to run as an independent. He tells me he realized running under a partys ticket means devoting too much of his time to party activities, instead of speaking directly to the people. A lot of people know me and never heard of the Green Party, he says. Its true that a lot of people know West after more than three decades as a public figure. After growing up marching in Civil Rights demonstrations, he went on to teach religion and African American studies at universities like Harvard, Princeton and Union Theological Seminary. He authored more than a dozen books on race and economic inequality. For a time, he was honorary chairman of the Democratic Socialists of America. Through it all, he exhibited a media savvy rare among academics, becoming a fixture on news programs, as well as appearing in several documentaries and as a character named Councillor West in sequels to The Matrix. Even the 1993 profile in TIME highlighted his ability to cultivate celebrity, noting, The message on West's answering machine at Princeton refers those interested in arranging a speaking engagement to a high-powered New York booking agency. West understands the way his star power bolsters his presidential bid. He says he saw an increase in his fundraising after he announced he was no longer running as the Green Partys candidate. He held his first fundraiser earlier this month at Washington progressive hub Busboys and Poets and says that he has more on the books. But marshaling the resources to get his name on ballots in every state will be a challenge, as will sustaining a national campaign over the next year. I have respect for Dr. West, Karen Finney, a political consultant who worked on Hillary Clintons 2016 campaign, told me in August. But it's unclear to me what he's trying to accomplish with his candidacy, and I say that because he says he wants to win, but I think if we look at the facts, that's extremely unlikely. Sen. Bernie Sanders, then a presidential candidate, campaigns with Cornel West on February 10, 2020 in Durham, N.H. Joe RaedleGetty Images Let me put it this way, West says when I ask him if hed still be running if someone other than Biden were likely to be the Democratic Partys nominee. If Martin Luther King Jr. came back from the dead and ran for the Democratic Party ticket, I would not run. But that will never happen in a corporate-dominated Democratic Party. Though West has long been critical of the party, there was a time when he operated closer to it. In 2016, he campaigned heavily for Sanders, who tapped West to help draft the Democratic Partys platform that year. West backed the Vermont independent again in 2020, but ultimately stumped for Biden once he became the partys nominee. West says he decided to fully break with the Democratic Party because it has repeatedly failed to embrace its progressive wing like he hoped it would. He would have been happy with the Biden presidency, West says, if the administration had preserved the pandemic-era expanded child tax credit, which studies showed significantly reduced child poverty. Biden had supported maintaining the program past 2021, but could not muster enough support for it in Congress. West expresses frustration that Biden had no such trouble convincing Congress to continue to pour billions into wars abroad. I was hoping they cut back massively with military spending, but he has no record of that, so I guess I shouldn't be disappointed, West says. The current situation in Israel and Gaza embodies Wests problems with the party. You can hardly get a Democrat to say something about the apartheid-like conditions on the West Bank under the ambitious Israeli occupation, he tells me the day before the Hamas attack. There's no courage there. Many of them know that that's wrong. When we speak again several days later, he stands even firmer in that belief. Jewish security and Palestinian security, they have equal weight, he says. For those of us who believe that, we find ourselves relatively marginalized and always pushed to the side, and then this major catastrophe comes, and the response is more catastrophe piled on more catastrophe. Read more: How the Activist Left Turned On Israel While he insists that the prospect of inadvertently helping Trump win next year does not worry him, West does concede that its hard to think of any ways a Trump presidency would be preferable to a Biden one. I'm not saying they're identical, he says. At least Biden does believe in transfer of power during election time. But voters want more than that. Thats especially true of young voters, and particularly young voters of color, among whom Biden has seen his support soften. Democrats typically need 60% of the youth vote to win elections, and youth enthusiasm has been falling off since 2018, John Della Volpe, the director of polling at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics, wrote in a Substack post in June. Those troubles are amplified among young Black voters, he noted, with those identifying as Democrats dropping 15% compared to four years ago. It's not enough to just present Trump as the boogeyman and expect Black voters to just fall in line because we paint such a dire picture, says Albright. That's not enough. If Biden is unable to convince young voters he can use another four years in office to improve their lives, West could stand to gain. Elena, the attendee I talked to at the Peace in Ukraine event, says it feels natural for her to be a Democrat, but that the past few years have exposed to her the corruption in the party. We thought, once Trump was gone, things could go back to normal, she says. Normal wasn't great, but there was a sense where we could kind of press a restart button. But as Bidens term wore on, she says she began to understand the problems were much more systematically entrenched. Oh shit, we cant actually move on, she realized. Wests rejection of the party system coincides with a similar decision by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who last week announced he was leaving the Democratic Party to run for president as an independent. I ask West what he thinks about the move. I love my brother and I would want him to do his thing, West says, noting that he agrees with Kennedy on not letting pharmaceutical companies have undue influence, but that the two have deep disagreements on several issues, including vaccines and Israel. West doesnt seem at all worried about competing with Kennedy or Biden or Trump for votes. Instead, hes reveling in his newfound independence. "I'm freed up, West says. I'm a jazz man getting out of a party band." Write to Mini Racker at mini.racker@time.com. A Florida couple was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a woman who they invited to their home after meeting earlier that night, police said. The couple, 34-year-old Alec Farwell and 26-year-old Gracie Mowery, were in downtown St. Petersburg on Friday, Oct. 13, when they encountered a group of young women, according to an Oct. 16 news release posted on Facebook by the St. Petersburg Police Department. The pair befriended the women and invited them to their nearby apartment around 1 a.m. to continue socializing and swim in their pool, police said. While most of the group was in the pool, Farwell carried one of the women into the couples apartment, according to the release. In the apartment, Farwell sexually assaulted the woman as Mowery restrained her, police said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The woman escaped and called police to report the assault, the release said. Farwell was charged with sexual battery, and Mowery was charged with sexual battery and false imprisonment, police said. If you have experienced sexual assault and need someone to talk to, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline for support at 1-800-656-4673 or visit the hotline's online chatroom. Police rescue teen after accused kidnapper drives her 70 miles, California cops say Woman killed, 6 others hurt in possibly intentional crash, California police say Affair in 1949 leads to accused killer of nurse found dead in 1986, Florida cops say Civil rights advocates and family members say theyre alarmed by the decision this month of Georgia officials not publicly to release evidence related to the death of activist Manuel Paez Teran, who was shot by a group of state police officers in January while protesting a controversial proposed $90m Atlanta-area police training centre dubbed Cop City by critics. On 6 October, the special prosecutor investigating the incident dubbed officers actions objectively reasonable and announced no charges would be filed against the six officers involved in the shooting. Officials say a group of state police SWAT troopers encountered Paez Teran in a tent on the forested site of the future training centre and ordered the activist, who used they/them pronouns, to surrender. Police claim Paez Teran did not comply with instructions, and officers fired into the tent with less-lethal pepper ball rounds. Officials say Paez Teran then fired at officers with a pistol, and that the SWAT team returned fire, fatally hitting the activist 57 times. In the course of the gunfight, officers say they witnessed an explosion inside the activists tent, which they believed was an improvised explosive device. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement As part of the charging announcement, officials added that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation would not release evidence related to the shooting, owing to the ongoing prosecution against 61 members of the Stop Cop City movement. Officials indicted members of the movement last month for alleged violations of Georgias organised crime Rico statue, citing alleged offences like money laundering and arson. The evidence being witheld, according to the GBI, includes photographs, audio witness interviews, crime scene drawings and reports, forensic lab reports and body camera (video and audio). Civil rights advocates said the decision not to release the files, even after the investigation into Paez Terans death, marks a worrying precedent for those seeking to investigate potential police misconduct. The message that it communicates is that police officers can kill you and hide details, because youre a member of a movement, Jon Feinberg, incoming president of the National Police Accountability Project, told The Guardian. He called the development unique and chilling. The precedent this sets is alarming and the lack of transparency is frightening, Jeff Filipovits, an attorney for Paez Terans family, added in an interview with the outlet. If you can kill someone and then refuse to provide any evidence from your determination about that killing, where does that leave us as a country? The Independent has contacted the GBI for comment. Family members and Cop City activists have spent month asking for an independent investigation of the shooting and for the public release of evidence surrounding the encounter. The officers involved in the shooting itself were not wearing body cameras, and critics of the investigation argue there are evidentiary holes and remaining questions in the states case. According to their friends and family, Paez Teran was a pacifist who wouldnt shoot someone for any reason but self-defence. A county autopsy of Paez Teran released in April found no gunfire residue on the activists hands, which some have argued suggests they didnt fire on police at all. In February, body camera footage from officers in a nearby area captures police discussing whether the shooting actually began with friendly fire between police, rather than the activist firing on officers. Kamau Franklin, one of the organisers of the Stop Cop City movement, told The New York Times earlier this month the story painted by Georgia officials is just outrageous. Teran somehow now is some Rambo figure in a cloth tent, able to take multiple gunshots, fire back and launch an explosive device, Mr Franklin said. Concerns about the evidence in the shooting are part of a larger set of criticisms against how the state has prosecuted the movement. Civil rights advocates say they were alarmed by Georgias decision in September to prosecute a large group of activists under a statue usually reserved for violent street gangs and organised crime syndicates. Of the 61 people named in the indictment, only eight people are charged with the core criminal offences in the alleged conspiracy, arson and money laundering, and the latter charge was applied to bail fund organisers who helped fundraise for Stop Cop City activists legal expenses. Others named in the indictment had far more tenuous alleged links to the movement, such as handing out flyers, buying food for activists, reimbursing protesters for supplies, and writing the anti-police slogan ACAB. Taken together, these disproportionate charges send a clear message: Think twice before voicing your dissent. Unfortunately, punitive intimidation tactics against civil rights, social justice, and environmental activists is not new, the ACLU wrote after the charges were announced. We do not forget that civil rights movement leaders like Rep. John Lewis and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were labeled security threats and investigated, monitored, and often arrested including in Georgia based on their organizing and civil disobedience in the pursuit of equality. If you come to our state and shoot a police officer, hurl Molotov cocktails at law enforcement, set fire to police vehicles, damage construction equipment, vandalize private homes and businesses, and terrorize their occupants, you can and will be held accountable, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said last month announcing the charges. As The Independent has reported, the Stop Cop City movement comprises a diverse array of individuals, groups and tactics. Critics of the training centre argue it was imposed on the community with little public input, violates environmental law, and will train police in military-style policing tactics that will be used on people of colour. Some see it as a hard-line response to the 2020 racial justice protests and their criticisms of police. This project, from their own words, theyre planning on practicing high-speed car chases, bomb deployments. Theres going to be a shooting range. Theyre going to be training on how to bust though peples doors, Kwame Olufemi of Community Movement Builders, a grassroots organisation in Atlanta that opposes Cop City, told The Independent earlier this year. Theyre training on how to arrest and imprison and brutalise people. Its not an accident that this has taken place in the aftermath of 2020. It was introduced in 2021. We had uprisings to resist the exact police repression that has been going on. Protests against the development have ranged from peaceful marches and occupying the Atlanta-area forest where the centre will be built, to a group allegedly setting fire to police motorcyles. Opponents of the project are hoping to initiate a public referendum on the the training centre. Ultra Orthodox Jews arrive to board the Rhapsody of the Seas cruise ship in Haifa Port, northern Israel, on Monday, deployed to help evacuate Americans. Photo by Abir Sultan/EPA-EFE Oct. 16 (UPI) -- A Royal Caribbean cruise ship helped evacuate Americans from Israel on Monday amid fighting. Deployed at the behest of the U.S. Embassy in Israel, the Rhapsody of the Seas offered Americans the chance to depart from Haifa en route to Cyprus on a first-come, first-served basis. Thousands raced to make the boarding call, which began at 8 a.m. local time. "Royal Caribbean Group is actively supporting the U.S. Department of State in the assisted departure of American citizens," Royal Caribbean said in a statement to Cruise Industry News. The State Department said about 500,000 American citizens live in Israel. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters last week that chartered flights for U.S. citizens fleeing the country would be made available, as well as other options. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Monday his government had not reached a cease-fire agreement to allow aid into the Gaza Strip and for civilians to leave safely as the Israel Defense Forces prepare for a possible ground invasion. U.S. officials said 27 U.S. citizens were killed in the Oct. 7 surprise attack in Israel by Hamas militants, and 14 remain unaccounted for. Colin Allred, a Democratic state representative running for the chance to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz, stashed away $4.7 million in donations during the third quarter, according to records his team filed Sunday with the Federal Election Commission, outstripping Cruz by nearly $2 million. Allred, a third-term House member, reported a cash-in-hand total of $7.9 million, having raised a total of $10.9 million since announcing his bid for Cruzs seat in early May. The Republican two-time incumbent, on the other hand, took in just over $3 million in receipts. He had $5.4 million in the bank at the third quarters close, a sum he told Fox News last week consisted of donations to both his Senate campaign and two joint fundraising committees. Allreds third quarter haul, funds donated by roughly 150,000 voters, were first reported on Wednesday by The Texas Tribune. Texans enthusiasm to retire Ted Cruzand to elect Colin Allred to the Senateis reflected in this quarters amazing outpouring of grassroots support, Allreds campaign manager told the outlet in a statement. Ted Cruz was outraised by nearly two million dollars last quarter, with Democratic challenger Colin Allred pulling in $4.7 million pic.twitter.com/SPa7vdfgg1 Roger Sollenberger (@SollenbergerRC) October 15, 2023 Read it at Dallas Morning News Read more at The Daily Beast. With a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip expected soon, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal called Monday for billions more in military and humanitarian aid to Israel. Blumenthal will be working this week on a bipartisan package in Congress to provide weapons for both Israel and Ukraine as they fight wars simultaneously. The ongoing aid of $3.8 billion per year to Israel has allowed for the assistance to keep flowing now without delay. With Ukraine funding opposed by some Republicans, Blumenthal said he would forge ahead for a standalone bill, if necessary, for Israel. In addition, he said he would continue advocating for more money even though the process has been delayed because the U.S. House of Representatives does not have a Speaker after the ouster of Rep. Kevin McCarthy amid Republican infighting. As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Blumenthal is heavily involved in crafting the legislation that calls for a variety of military aid, including artillery, precision-guided missiles, body armor and night-vision goggles for the Israeli forces. The package will also include additional funding for equipment and support for the Iron Dome, which protects Israel by detecting incoming missiles fired by the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement We know what Israel needs, he said. It needs more interceptors for the Iron Dome. It needs more artillery. Lawmakers are also working on providing humanitarian aid, including medical supplies for both Israel and the Palestinians who live in the Gaza Strip that stretches for 25 miles along the Israeli border. This war is not against the Palestinians, he said. It is against Hamas. Blumenthal has attended a series of pro-Israel rallies in West Hartford, Woodbridge, Westport, Stamford, Cheshire, and Wilton, among others. I stand with Israel, Blumenthal said. I grieve with Israel. I pray for Israel. Ukraine At the same time that a bipartisan group in Congress is pushing for more aid to Israel, lawmakers also want to help Ukraine in the ongoing war that was started with an invasion by the Russian army. Both [Israel and Ukraine] are beleaguered, brave nations, under attack from tyrants and terrorists and both are determined to protect their independence and need American support, Blumenthal said. If there is opposition we can proceed on separate tracks and immediately meet Israels need in light of the dire threat to its very existence and later provide a package of increased aid for both Ukraine and Israel. While Blumenthal is seeking federal funding, others are working to raise money privately. Carolyn Gitlin, who serves as the co-chair of the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartfords Israel Emergency Campaign, said her group has a goal of raising $5 million toward a national goal of $500 million. On Monday, they had already raised more than $3 million to help victims of terror, help rebuild damaged infrastructure and address the unprecedented levels of trauma caused by this horrific act, she said. At 77, Blumenthal has been following developments in Israel for his entire lifetime. The president gave probably the strongest speech in support of Israel Ive heard in my lifetime from any president, Blumenthal said. I talked to a senior Israeli diplomat who said to me: Ive never heard a president talk like that. Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com A Dorchester man accused of strangling his own mother to death while she was on the phone trying to get him help pleaded guilty Monday afternoon. 25-year-old Zackery Grandy pled guilty to second-degree murder in Suffolk Superior Court for the murder of his mother, 51-year-old Gisel Thomas, in their Dorchester home on February 26, 2020 On that day, Thomas was on the phone with a clinician from the Boston Emergency Services Team seeking mental health help for the then 22-year-old Grandy, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney. When the clinician allegedly heard Grandy attack Thomas, the clinician immediately called 911. Officers flocked to the Columbia Road home but received no answer at the door. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Officials say Thomass brother discovered her body the next day. Judge Robert Ullman sentenced Grandy to life in prison with the possibility of parole at 20 years. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW MILWAUKEE - Dia de los Muertos has been celebrated for more than 3,000 years. It is a holiday to remember ancestors who have passed on and the Milwaukee Art Museum celebrated with families on Sunday, Oct. 15. "The Mexican altar Im building today is an ode to Mexican artists," said Gabriela Marvan, guest artist. Altars are a Day of the Dead tradition as a way to connect with the spirits of family members that have passed on. "They come here and I put out some meals and drinks. So its a way to remember them, sharing with them through spirit a meal that they like," Marvan said. Gabriela Marvan Marvan is one of many artists that filled the Milwaukee Art Museum Sunday for the annual Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead celebration. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News "Dia de los Muertos is one of my favorite traditions from Mexico and I want to share this with the people," Marvan said. "That was something that I was missing from where I come from so every time I can celebrate this I am very passionate about it." Guests enjoyed crafts like sugar skulls, traditional Mexican embroidery and monarch butterfly paintings. "It really has been a partnership with the community. All these 26 years weve worked with many artist community groups performers, some who continue some new each year," said Amy Kirschke of the Milwaukee Art Museum. FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX6 News app for iOS or Android. You can celebrate the Day of the Dead holiday on Nov. 1 and Nov. 2. The Capitol is about to be plastered with postcards some drawn by celebrities including Alyssa Milano , Olympic diver Greg Louganis and Justice League director Zack Snyder as part of an art exhibit with a message. The goal of the global art campaign, dubbed the Dear Dyslexia Project, is to change perceptions of dyslexia and inspire lawmakers to champion policy changes that support students with dyslexia, according to organizers. The effort features the illustrations of more than 1,000 students, leaders and performers who were asked to put on a postcard one word that best describes their experience with dyslexia. The most common words chosen by the participants include superpower, hard, different and creative. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement In her rainbow-colored postcard, former Charmed star Milano wrote, Dyslexia helps me see things that other people cannot see. Snyder described dyslexia as a point of view, drawing an image of a squid. The project is poised to be unveiled on Tuesday morning in room 2044 at the Rayburn House Office Building at an event with Dear Dyslexia creator Gil Gershoni, Rep. Larry Bucshon (R-Ind.) and dyslexia advocates, hosted by Rep. Julia Brownley (D-Calif.), the co-chair of the Congressional Dyslexia Caucus. Other postcards include the artwork of childrens authors Dav Pilkey, Sally Gardner and Carmen Agra Deedy, Nobel Prize winner Jacques Dubochet and comedian Liz Miele. Our goal is to get lawmakers to think about a more complex definition of dyslexia. Yes, dyslexia makes a few things like reading and writing more challenging, Gershoni told ITK in a statement. But it also supercharges our abilities in other areas. In many ways, its a hyper-ability, Gershoni said. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. WASHINGTON The federal judge overseeing the 2020 election interference case against Donald Trump in Washington imposed a narrow gag order on him on Monday, barring the Republican former president from making statements targeting prosecutors, possible witnesses and court staff. The order from U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan marks a milestone moment in the federal case that accuses Trump of illegally conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Its the most serious restriction a court has placed on Trumps incendiary rhetoric, which has become a centerpiece of his grievance-filled campaign to return to the White House while fighting criminal charges in four cases. Advertisement The order may end a line of attack that Trump has made central to his campaign for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. But it may be only the beginning of an unprecedented fight over what limits can be a placed on the speech of a defendant who is also campaigning Americas highest public office. In a social media post shortly after the hearing in Washingtons federal court, Trump vowed to appeal. Advertisement Speaking from the bench, Chutkan said Trump is entitled to criticize the Justice Department generally and assert his belief that the case is politically motivated but cant mount a smear campaign against prosecutors and court personnel. No other criminal defendant would be allowed to do so, and Im not going to allow it in this case, Chutkan said. Chutkan, who was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama, said she would impose sanctions as may be necessary if the gag order is violated, but she wasnt more specific. Judges can threaten gag order violators with fines or jail time, but jailing a presidential candidate could prompt serious political blowback and pose logistical hurdles. While ending the stream of Trumps harsh language may make the case easier to manage, it could also fuel Trumps claims of political persecution. Trump had already seized on the proposed gag order in fundraising appeals, and he falsely characterized it as an attempt to prevent him from criticizing Biden, who became president in January 2021. At rallies and in social media posts, Trump has repeatedly sought to vilify Smith and other prosecutors, casting himself as the victim of a politicized justice system working to deny him another term. His disparaging remarks have continued since prosecutors requested the gag order last month, including in a media post on Sunday in which he called Smith deranged and called Chutkan highly partisan. Gag orders are not unheard of in high-profile cases, but there is little legal precedent for court orders limiting the speech of defendants running for public office. Legal experts have said the issue may end up before the U.S. Supreme Court. Trumps lawyer John Lauro fiercely opposed any gag order, saying Trump is entitled to criticize prosecutors and speak truth to oppression. He is allowed to make statements the prosecution doesnt like. Thats part of living with the First Amendment, said Lauro, who declined to comment on the ruling after the hearing. Advertisement The ruling came as Trump was onboard his plane traveling to early-voting Iowa for a pair of campaign events. It is unclear whether Trump will abide by the new restrictions, and for how long. In a statement, a Trump spokesperson called the judges decision an absolute abomination. Smiths team argued that Trump knows that his incendiary remarks calling the justice system rigged, Chutkan a Trump-hating judge, and prosecutors a team of thugs could inspire his supporters to threaten or harass his targets. Prosecutors said it is part of Trumps effort to erode the publics faith in the judicial system just like they say he sought to undermine confidence in the 2020 election by spreading lies of fraud after he lost to Biden. What Mr. Lauro is saying is the defendant is above the law and he is not subject to the rules of this court like any other defendant is, prosecutor Molly Gaston told the judge. All this order would do is prevent him from using the campaign as an opportunity to make materially prejudicial statements about this case. The judge repeatedly pushed back against claims from the defense that prosecutors were seeking to censor the Trumps political speech. Chutkan said Trump does not have a right to say and do exactly as he pleases. You keep talking about censorship like the defendant has unfettered First Amendment rights. He doesnt, Chutkan told Lauro. Were not talking about censorship here. Were talking restrictions to ensure there is a fair administration of justice on this case. She also cut off Trumps lawyer when he suggested the case was politically motivated, telling him: Obviously, you have an audience other than me in mind. And she rejected a defense bid to delay the trial, currently scheduled to begin in March, until after the 2024 election, saying this trial will not yield to the election cycle. Advertisement Lauro said Trump had not violated his pretrial conditions, and those were enough to keep him in check for the future. He told the judge, What you have put in place is working. Chutkan burst out laughing. Im going to have to take issue with that, the judge said. Reading aloud a slew of statements from Trump, Chutkan repeatedly raised concerns that his remarks could inspire violence. If you call certain people thugs enough times doesnt that suggest, Mr. Lauro, that someone should get them off the streets? she asked Trumps lawyer. Prosecutors said Trumps litany of attacks was already having consequences. They noted that a top prosecutor on Smiths team received intimidating communications after being singled out by Trump, and a Texas woman was charged in August with making racist death threats against Chutkan, who is of Black and Asian descent, in a phone message left at her chambers. Its the second gag order imposed on Trump in the last month. The judge overseeing Trumps civil fraud trial in New York earlier this month issued a more limited gag order prohibiting personal attacks against court personnel following a social media post from Trump that maligned the judges principal clerk. KINSHASA (Reuters) - The bodies of at least 52 people have been recovered from the Congo River after their boat capsized late last week, a provincial minister said on Monday, warning that the death toll could rise further with many still missing. The boat was carrying over 300 people when it overturned near the town of Mbandaka in northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo during the night on Friday. Over the weekend 30 were confirmed to have drowned with 167 missing. Didier Mbula, provincial health minister for Equateur Province, told Reuters the number of dead had since risen. "We have recorded 52 bodies that were pulled out. The search teams are still in the field, working. This is still a provisional toll, and it may increase further," he said by phone. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Deadly boat accidents are frequent on Congo's rivers and lakes, where vessels are frequently loaded well beyond their capacity. The country has few tarred roads across its vast, forested territory, and river travel is common. On Monday, Transport Minister Marc Ekila said the boat that capsized should not have been navigating at night, was overloaded, and had not properly identified its owners or the number of passengers on board. In a statement, he promised to implement rules to improve the safety of river transport and "minimise the recurring tragedies." (Reporting by Sonia Rolley and Ange Kasongo,; Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Sandra Maler) Greenville Countys roads are deteriorating. The issue is expected to worsen as more people relocate to all segments of a growing county and region. At the September county communication forum, with all council members present, Tee Coker, assistant county administrator for community development and planning, and Hesha Gamble, assistant county administrator for engineering and public works, gave a presentation regarding Greenville Countys roads. They said the county lags behind in its investment to roads, especially in comparison to other South Carolina counties. "Basically, we just havent kept up with the pace of investment and development throughout the county as a whole," Coker said during the meeting. "We're dealing with not just years, but decades, of underinvestment." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The most recent paving list, detailing which Greenville County-owned roads will be paved in 2024, showcases which roads need paving the most, as the list operates on a "worst-first" basis. County Council approved the list in September. Here's how Greenville County's road funding compares to other counties Greenville County owns 1,800 miles of roads, more than any other county in the state. Only 28 to 32 roads can be paved each year, according to Gamble. The spending for county roads, around $78 million per year, encompasses different methods of funding. SC Department of Transportation (DOT) contributes $27 million, with the County Transportation Committee (CTC) fund from state gas taxes, supplying $4 million. Greenville County commits $12 million from its annual budget for the funding, spending the least compared to other South Carolina counties. For example, Charleston County commits a little over $100 million for roads from its budget. Per capita, Greenville County spends less than $50 on its roads. To compare, Spartanburg spends approximately $75 per capita with Charleston spending a little more than $350 per capita. Some counties have a penny tax a 1 percent sales tax used for county projects, such as road paving. In Aug., Spartanburg County Council voted unanimously to approve a six-year penny sales tax to repair roads. It will be on the ballot in November. Right now, Greenville Countys sales tax rate is 6%, which comes from South Carolina's state sales tax., representing one of three counties in the state that do not have a local sales tax. This would have to be voted on by citizens to pass, only after a referendum is passed by Greenville County Council. Steve Shaw, Greenville County Councilman (District 20), said he does not support a penny sales tax. I think our county has proven that theyre not transparent with the money, Shaw said. Recently, Greenville County passed a contentious $785 million budget, which raised county taxes by $28 for every $100,000 in value. Councilman Ennis Fant (District 25) said he was open to all ideas except for one: doing nothing. I think it's important that the public understands the massive hole that we're in with regards to our roads, and let the public have some input and what they want to do to fix them versus me saying what I think we should do, Fant said. More funding for Greenville County roads is not only solution More funds are not the only solution to the problem, according to county staff. Leveraging the funds is also important. The most recent example is the Woodruff Road Project, which will work to provide a 5-lane limited-access alternate parallel route to Woodruff Road according to the projects website. The $120 million project is being jointly funded by Greenville-Pickens Area Transportation Study (GPATS), South Carolina State Infrastructure Bank and Greenville County. The News previously reported the cost breakdown between the three entities: GPATS will provide $42 million, 35% of the project's funding Greenville County will provide $30,336,733, 25% of the project's funding The South Carolina State Infrastructure Bank will provide $49,010,199, 40% of the projects funding. Coker says this is the most recent example for Greenville County leveraging funds for road improvements. Savannah Moss covers Greenville County politics and growth/development. Contact her via email at smoss@gannett.com This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Greenville County roads deteriorating. Potential fixes, solutions. As the nation continues to battle the opioid epidemic, the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services has launched the newly redesigned HelpIsHereDE.com, a website for those struggling with addiction and mental illnesses. The website, announced on Oct. 10 by state and health care leaders, comes as Delaware is experiencing a year of high drug overdose deaths. As of Oct. 5, 387 people have died from a suspected drug overdose this year, according to Delaware.gov. Heres what we know about the remodeled website. So, what is new about the website? HelpIsHereDE.com features a more user-friendly website, designed for the general public to help people identify available resources for substance abuse disorders or mental illnesses. It was designed after months of listening sessions and focus groups, according to the state. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement While HelpIsHereDE.com has a new look, the focus of the website remains the same: to be Delawares central online resource for addiction prevention, intervention, treatment and recovery information. The website first launched in Oct. 2014, according to Delaware.gov. Attacking the crisis in Delaware In 2022, the Division of Forensic Science reported that at least 537 Delawareans died from drug overdoses. This is the most yearly overdoses on record for the state, with the majority of deaths involving the highly potent drug fentanyl. The Delaware Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health also found that the number of Black Delawareans dying from drug overdose rose by 21% last year, from 2021 and 2022. In response to the rise of the demographic's fatal overdoses, the DSAMH has launched a project to develop strategies for addressing rising opioid overdose deaths among Black American communities in Delaware. Ways HelpIsHereDE.com will help those in need HelpIsHereDE.com aims to give Delawareans the resources they need to find help for themselves or their loved ones. The upgraded website features a list of treatment providers and facilities, according to the state, and information on where people can find an open bed nearby. HelpIsHereDE.com will also provide free access to Narcan, a lifesaving over-the-counter drug that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, along with training on how to use it, the state said. For more information about this website, visit www.helpisherede.com. More: 2022 overdose deaths follow troubling pattern as state, advocates struggle to catch up Contact local reporter Cameron Goodnight at cgoodnight@delawareonline.com, or by calling or texting 302-324-2208. Follow him on Twitter at @CamGoodnight. This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware announces effort to combat opioid crisis with updated website A Delaware man has been arrested and charged with the kidnapping of an 11-year-old New Jersey girl who authorities say he met on an online gaming platform. The girl was found and recovered from a small Delaware community on Sept. 10 after being reported missing the same day, according to a Thursday news release from the office of Passaic County prosecutor Camelia Valdes. Darius Matylewich, 27, is charged with kidnapping and endangering the welfare of a child. He's accused of luring the girl after meeting her while playing an online video game and taking her from her hometown of Wayne, New Jersey, about 140 miles southwest to his hometown of Bear, Delaware. It was unclear whether Matylewich has an attorney. He was expected in court Monday for a hearing to determine whether he's eligible for release or should be held while awaiting trial. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The New Castle County Police in Delaware arrested Matylewich in Bear and extradited him to New Jersey, where he could face more than 30 years in prison if convicted of the charges. Hate crime: Stabbing death of 6-year-old Muslim boy in Illinois to be investigated as hate crime 'Playing with a handgun': 10-year-old Illinois boy found dead in garbage can may have 'accidentally' shot himself, police say TV station reports that Matylewich met the girl on Roblox Police did not say where Matylewich allegedly met the girl, but WPVI-TV in Philadelphia reported that the two interacted on Roblox. Roblox said in a statement to the station that they have reached out to law enforcement agencies and are offering help. "We work tirelessly to prevent grooming on our platform and have a team of thousands of moderators who enforce a strict set of community standards," Roblox said in the statement. On their website, Roblox has listed several resources for parents concerned about their children's safety. "Safety and civility are foundational to everything we do," the company says. "Weve built a platform with industry-leading safety and civility features. We continuously evolve our platform as our community grows and evolves." 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. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Delaware man charged in Jersey girl's kidnapping after online gaming Ames is celebrating 30 years as a sister city of Koshu, Japan by hosting a delegation this week. The sisterhood of cities started as a humanitarian effort, morphed into a cultural exchange, and has evolved into an opportunity for retail businesses in both communities. For decades, delegations from Ames have been visiting Koshu in the summer, and residents of Koshu have visited Iowa in the fall. The delegations alternate half the time with middle school students as representatives and the other half with city leaders, Cindy Hicks, Ames International Partner Cities Association (AIPCA), explained. A fruitful trip west In June, 10 Ames reps, including Mayor John Haila and Eric Smidt from the Ames Chamber, flew to Koshu. The trip allowed locals to meet with Japanese dignitaries, students and business owners. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement As Haila, Smidt, Hicks, and the rest of the Ames group visited vineyards, a candle maker and other small businesses, an idea for a retail exchange grew. Small business owners in Japan focus on small batches and are not interested in mass production, Haila said. This is going to involve smaller, niche-type businesses, Haila said. We have that unique ability to share certain things to benefit our local retailers and to showcase things in Japan that are made here in Ames. It will help celebrate that relationship that were wanting to promote. While visiting Ames this week, the delegation from Koshu will visit Downtown Ames, the Ames Chamber of Commerce, Iowa State University and the Ames Community School District. How did Koshu become Ames sister city? Back-to-back cyclones devastated the Yamanashi area in 1959, the prefecture where Koshu is located, Cindy Hicks, Ames International Partner Cities Association (AIPCA), said. Iowan and Master Sgt. Richard Thomas was stationed with the Air Force in Tokyo then and heard about the agricultural devestatioin in Yamanashi. He thought he could help. Thomas spurred an airlift of 35 breeder hogs and some corn to Yamanashi by working with the United States government and officials in Iowa. Within three years, those 35 breeder hogs were 500," Hicks said. "Today, nearly all of the pork in Japan it has a genetic connection to those original hogs from Iowa." When the AIPCA began 30 years ago, it was originally a cultural and educational exchange. We would send students from Ames Middle School there. At this point, hundreds of students from Ames Middle School have visited Koshu. Every other year, we would send about 20 kids, Hicks said. They would stay with families there and live in a home just like the Japanese people did. Children from the Japanese host families then visited Ames in the fall. On alternate years, adult delegations would visit each other in the summer and fall. It's been a really good, reciprocal relationship, Hicks said. Ronna Faaborg is a reporter for the Ames Tribune. Reach her at rlawless@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Humanitarian effort spurs Ames' decades-long Japanese sister city bond CONCORD, N.H. New Hampshire Democrats arent happy with their party over a move to strip the state of its first-in-the-nation primary status, but theyre not necessarily looking for a new one. With the incumbent Democratic President Joe Biden unlikely to compete in the states contest amid the dispute, several national organizations urged Democratic voters in New Hampshire to drop their party affiliation before an October deadline so that they could vote in the states Republican primary early next year. Both the Tell It Like It Is PAC, a group supporting former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, and the nonprofit organization American Leadership Today mailed flyers to registered Democrats encouraging them to change parties prior to the states Oct. 6 deadline in hopes of preventing former President Donald Trump from winning the election, Politico reported. Some flyers displayed scenes of rioters outside of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 , exclaiming in bold type, This cant happen again, while others showed photos of Trump and impressed on recipients the importance of their votes, stating that its up to New Hampshire to save our democracy. A small group of Democrats, who are based in Washington, D.C., say they canvassed in New Hampshire, too, and texted registered Democrats and unaffiliated voters in the state. The volunteer organization with minimal funds that popped up over the summer, PrimaryPivot, says it texted 38,000 registered Democrats in New Hampshire before the deadline. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement But few Democrats appear to have made the switch only about 4% changed their party affiliation since August, according to data provided by the New Hampshires Secretary of States office. We saw no significant movement. We were monitoring in a few key locations, and we didn't see anything of any significance, New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley said in an interview. That could be good news for Trump, who maintained an over 20-point lead in the latest USA TODAY/Boston Globe/Suffolk University poll in New Hampshire. His next nearest rival Nikki Haley polled at 19%, followed by Ron DeSantis at 10%. Christie was at 6%. The small drift of Democrats may not impact the results of the primary. The percentage of voters in each party held at roughly 30%, with 40% registered undeclared. Overall, the state says it has 879,512 voters, including 265,113 registered Democrats, 269,779 Republicans and 344,620 undeclared voters. The total number of registered voters in New Hampshire has shrunk since the beginning of August by about 17,000. But residents of New Hampshire who are not currently registered to vote can still sign up. New Hampshire residents can register to vote and cast a ballot at their polling place in January on the day of the expected primary. Enough to bump Trump? Many Democratic voters who spoke to USA TODAY said they hadnt heard of initiatives encouraging Democratic voters to switch affiliations, though some considered it. Charlotte Wallace, a lifelong Democrat who moved to Durham, New Hampshire in 2020, chose to drop her Democratic Party affiliation so she could vote in the Republican primary, citing concerns about Bidens age. She hasnt decided who shell cast her ballot for yet, but said shes considering Christie, former Vice President Mike Pence and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. I am very grateful to Christie for standing up to Trump in the debates. I am grateful to Pence for standing up to Trump when it really mattered and saving our democracy, and I would love to see a woman president, Wallace said. Elliott Kane, a resident of Exeter, New Hampshire, similarly considered becoming an undeclared voter for the primary but said it ultimately felt like cheating. I'm not a Republican, and it feels sort of like a moral betrayal to identify as one for even a split second, Kane said, noting that he would have cast his ballot for Christie on the Republican side. Originally from New Jersey, Kane, who is transgender, said that while he didnt support Christie as governor and didnt have a lot of generous feelings for the candidate, he believes Christie is the most level-headed" in the Republican field. He actually had some trans neutral comments which made me have some respect for him, which is weird, because I'm from New Jersey, Kane said. PrimaryPivot says it is looking to set up a ground operation in New Hampshire ahead of the primary in an effort to convince more unaffiliated voters to cast a ballot against Trump. The organization released a flyer on Friday promoting an Oct. 28 event for undeclared voters at New England College in Henniker that it said former New Hampshire attorney general Tom Rath, the campaign manager for Biden challenger Marianne Williamson and an unnamed Christie campaign surrogate would be participating in. If Trump underperforms in New Hampshire, and then he underperformed in a number of states on Super Tuesday, then you would have very much talk of a competitive primary, said Robert Schwartz, a foreign affairs professional who is spearheading the effort with a few of his friends. Democrats who do opt to vote in their partys primary are unlikely to see Biden on the ballot. Last year, the president recommended a change to the Democratic primary calendar that ripped New Hampshire of its first-in-the-nation status, pushing the states primary to Feb. 6, on the same day as Nevada and three days after South Carolina. State law requires New Hampshire to hold the countrys first primary, and its GOP-run legislature refused to change the statute to accommodate the Democratic National Committee effort. The state still has not set a date for the primary, though Secretary of State David Scanlan has indicated that it will take place at the end of January. Current and former Democratic officials in the state are exploring a write-in campaign to keep Biden from losing the first contest of his reelection campaign, and the state party chair, Buckley, poured cold water on the effectiveness of the party-switching campaigns. I think for those 200, maybe, people, that do that, you know, good luck to them. They got punked, he said. But I don't see it of any significance at all. This article originally appeared on Aberdeen News: Some New Hampshire Dems opt to vote in GOP primary to defeat Trump The first of several planes carrying Americans fleeing the violence in Israel and Palestine touched down in Florida Sunday nightpart of an evacuation program financed by Gov. Ron DeSantis administration that his supporters have taken to calling DeSantis Airlines. The governor and his wife, Casey, personally met those arriving in the U.S. at Tampa International Airport, using the opportunity to hit out at President Joe Biden, who he said was devoid of leadership on the issue, according to The Messenger. In all, DeSantis claimed that the plane was carrying around 260 people. We are getting ready to welcome hundreds of people who were stuck in Israel back to the United States of America. pic.twitter.com/4gYyDI09DK Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) October 16, 2023 Read it at The Messenger Read more at The Daily Beast. Florida governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis and his wife, Casey DeSantis , welcomed hundreds of Americans who flew home from Tel Aviv on Sunday evening after getting stuck for days in Israel by the Israel-Hamas war. The flight, carrying 270 Americans, landed at Tampa International Airport, the governor's office said in a news release. Seven additional evacuees landed in Orlando. "Once the plane landed in Tampa, evacuees were able to access resources from multiple state agencies. Additionally, the governor is sending medical supplies, hygiene products, clothing and children's toys to Israel to help impacted Israelis," the news release said. In a video posted on social media, DeSantis said, "We're here at Tampa airport. We are having our first flight of people being rescued from Israel and it's landed. Over 260 people that wanted to get back to the United States and couldn't do it ... so we stepped up and led. We're happy to be able to deliver this." Bryan Stern, CEO and founder of Project DYNAMO, the search and rescue non-profit organization that facilitated the flight, told reporters that 270 people were on board the plane. The rescuees included 91 children and four dogs, Stern said. Many people on the plane cried when it touched down in Tampa, he added. We are getting ready to welcome hundreds of people who were stuck in Israel back to the United States of America. pic.twitter.com/4gYyDI09DK Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) October 16, 2023 Getting Americans out of Gaza was "complicated," Stern said, though he wouldn't comment on future rescue operations. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Major airlines canceled flights in and out of Tel Aviv after Hamas' attack on Oct. 7. In recent days, U.S. officials began organizing charter flights for the thousands of trapped Americans, the first of which landed in Athens, Greece, on Saturday. The flights are departing Ben Gurion International Airport. Other families arriving in New York and New Jersey Sunday boarded flights on the Sabbath, the Jewish day of rest, when travel is typically forbidden. In this case, the Israeli airline El Al made an exception for the first time since 1982. The U.S. State Department said more than 20,000 U.S. citizens stuck in Israel and Gaza have reached out for departure assistance. DeSantis signed an executive order on Thursday to allow flights to transport Florida residents in Israel back to the state. The order enabled the Florida Division of Emergency Management to bring Floridians home and transport necessary supplies to Israel, the news release said. Appearing on Fox News on Friday, DeSantis said that hundreds of Floridians were stranded in Israel and that the state was coordinating rescue efforts with Israel's government. "I want to bring them back to the state of Florida, so we have planes ready," DeSantis said. "I am proud of how quickly we have been able to activate resources and do what the federal government could not get Floridians and other Americans back home, reunited with their families, free of charge," DeSantis said in Sunday's news release. Astrid Martinez contributed to this report. Ret. Gen. Frank McKenzie reacts to Trump's claim that Israel pulled out of mission to kill Soleimani Saturday Sessions: Robert Finley performs "Nobody Wants To Be Lonely" If GOP won't unite, Rep. Mike Turner says a deal "will have to be done" with Democrats for speaker Republican presidential primary candidates Ron DeSantis and Asa Hutchinson will both be interviewed Friday afternoon on NewsNation in front of a live audience at the 2024 Presidential Forum at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C. The cable news channel announced Monday it will present interviews with the pair of 2024 GOP hopefuls that will air on its politics and current affairs table talk program The Hill and be moderated by NewsNations chief Washington correspondent Blake Burman. Topics will include the presidential campaign trail, the economy, border security, the state of the Republican Party, and the current Israel-Gaza war, the network said in a press release announcing the forum. It noted Fridays interview will mark NewsNations first interview with DeSantis, Floridas governor, during the 2024 presidential election cycle. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement NewsNation is a cable news channel launched in 2021 by Nexstar Media Group, which owns and operates dozens of local television stations across the country and purchased The Hill in the fall of 2021. DeSantis and Hutchinson, the former Arkansas governor, both currently trail far behind former President Trump, who holds a double-digit lead in most national primary polls. DeSantis is battling for second place with former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, while Hutchinson continues to poll in the low single digits. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Sunday that a flight carrying 270 people, who were stranded in Israel following flight cancellations amid the country's war against Hamas terrorists, has landed in the Sunshine State. The flight landed at Tampa International Airport from Tel Aviv, the governor's office said in a news release. The partnership with the search and rescue non-profit group Project DYNAMO also brought seven additional evacuees to Orlando. The travelers' arrival in Florida comes after the governor signed an executive order last week authorizing logistical, rescue and evacuation operations through the state's Division of Emergency Management, allowing flights to bring Floridians stuck in Israel back home to escape the ongoing war in the Jewish State. "I am proud of how quickly we have been able to activate resources and do what the federal government could not get Floridians and other Americans back home, reunited with their families, free of charge," DeSantis said in the release. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement GOV. DESANTIS SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER AUTHORIZING RESCUE OF FLORIDIANS STRANDED IN ISRAEL: HELP IS ON THE WAY Project DYNAMO CEO Bryan Stern told reporters the flight included 91 children and four dogs. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP "We have a dedicated team of volunteers who work tirelessly to ensure the well-being of Americans caught in crisis situations all over the world," Stern said in the release. "It's truly heart-wrenching to watch the destruction unfolding in Israel. Were so grateful to Governor DeSantis for partnering with us on this mission, to save every American in need." Once the flight landed in Tampa, evacuees were able to access resources from state agencies, according to the release. DeSantis is also sending medical supplies, hygiene products, clothing and children's toys to Israel to assist impacted Israelis. More than 3,600 people have been killed since Hamas launched its attack against Israel on Oct. 7, leading to retaliatory action from Israeli forces. Thousands more have been wounded, and many others have been abducted by Hamas and raped, tortured and murdered. NEARLY 20 GOP GOVERNORS URGE BIDEN TO PROJECT AMERICAN STRENGTH BY UNEQUIVOCALLY SUPPORTING ISRAEL DeSantis signed an executive order last week authorizing logistical, rescue and evacuation operations through the state's Division of Emergency Management. The Florida Division of Emergency Management will lead efforts for additional flights, which will continue to transport Floridians back to the state and move more supplies to Israel. Major airlines canceled flights into and out of Tel Aviv after Hamas launched its largest attack against Israel in decades more than a week ago. U.S. officials began organizing charter flights in recent days for the thousands of Americans still stranded in Israel. American citizens on those flights must sign promissory notes agreeing to repay the U.S. government for the cost. CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The U.S. State Department said more than 20,000 American citizens stuck in Israel have reached out for evacuation assistance. "Following last weeks unprovoked and heinous attacks by Hamas, Governor Ron DeSantis took immediate action to help Floridians in Israel," Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez said in the release. "Our administration will continue to work to safely bring Floridians home and support the people of Israel as they fight back to defend themselves." Original article source: DeSantis says nearly 300 Floridians returned to Sunshine State after being stranded in Israel The weekend stabbing death of a 6-year-old Muslim boy and wounding of his 32-year-old mother allegedly at the hands of a landlord upset about the escalating war between Israel and Hamas drew swift condemnation from politicians across Chicagoland and the nation. Hours after the charges were announced Sunday, President Joe Biden said he was sickened to hear of the fatal stabbing of Wadea Al-Fayoume and the serious wounding of his mother, Hanaan Shahin. Advertisement This act of hate against a Palestinian Muslim family has no place in America, Biden wrote in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter. As Americans, we must come together and reject Islamophobia and all forms of bigotry and hatred. I have said repeatedly that I will not be silent in the face of hate. We must be unequivocal. Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, was stabbed to death at his Plainfield Township home on Oct. 14, 2023. (Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations) Joseph Czuba, 71, of Plainfield, was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crimes and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon in a senseless and cowardly act, the Will County sheriffs office said in a news release Sunday. Advertisement Detectives were able to determine that both victims in the Saturday morning attack were targeted by Czuba due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis, the release said. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that hes heartbroken over the attack and said the Justice Department has opened a federal hate crimes investigation into the incident. Garland said Czuba attacked the family with a military-style knife. The Justice Department is investigating the attack and will use every legal authority at our disposal to bring to justice those who perpetrate illegal acts of hate, he said. [ FBI opens investigation into fatal stabbing of Palestinian boy in Plainfield as alleged attacker faces charges ] This incident cannot help but further raise the fears of Muslim, Arab and Palestinian communities in our country with regard to hate-fueled violence. The Department of Justice is focused on protecting the safety and the civil rights of every person in this country, Garland said in a Sunday statement. We will use every legal authority at our disposal to bring to justice those who perpetrate illegal acts of hate. No one in the United States of America should have to live in fear of violence because of how they worship or where they or their family come from. The attack is also being investigated by the Chicago FBI Field Office. Noting the Justice Department investigation, Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement that we unequivocally condemn hate and Islamophobia and stand with the Palestinian, Arab and Muslim American communities. The Biden-Harris Administration will continue working to protect our communities against hate and senseless violence. Following news of the stabbings, Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who is Jewish, released a statement condemning the stabbings and saying that the Illinois State Police had reached out to the Muslim community and other religious leaders. To take a 6-year-old childs life in the name of bigotry is nothing short of evil. Wadea should be heading to school in the morning. Instead, his parents will wake up without their son. This wasnt just a murder it was a hate crime. And every single Illinoisan including our Muslim, Jewish and Palestinian neighbors deserves to live free from the threat of such evil, Pritzker said in the statement. Advertisement Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson was expected to attend the boys funeral at 1 p.m. Monday at Bridgeviews Mosque Foundation. This despicable hate crime is a shameful reminder of the destructive role Islamophobia plays in our society, Johnson wrote in a statement. State Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid, the first Palestinian American state representative in Illinois, said the stabbings were the result of the dehumanizing, one-sided media coverage of Palestinians and irresponsible statements from elected officials. I call on President Biden, elected officials and all people of good conscience to condemn this heinous killing and to call for immediate cease-fire in Gaza so that no more of our children are killed here in Illinois or in Palestine and Israel, Rashid said in a statement on X. Illinois House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch said in a statement on X that reports indicating that the crime was motivated by a bigoted misinterpretation of world events makes this tragedy a reprehensible act of hate. Our diverse state of many faiths and backgrounds is united in condemning this hateful violence and praying for the safety of all of our neighbors. 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 > State Rep. Bob Morgan, chair of the Illinois Legislative Jewish Caucus, said on X: This is devastating news and must be universally condemned by all. Our Jewish and Palestinian communities in (Illinois) are already broken after this week. Illinois will never, ever accept this evil, and (we) must all do our part to keep our neighbors safe. Advertisement U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood, whose district includes Plainfield Township, where the stabbing occurred, described Wadea in a statement on X as a beautiful Palestinian American boy who was taken from our community in an unacceptable attack rooted in bigotry and hate. We are a community that thrives because of our diversity, and every one of our neighbors deserves to feel safe, she said. Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant said Illinois State Police officers are working with local law enforcement to monitor any potential extremist activities following the hate crime. At a time when tensions in the community can run high, I am asking residents to remain on alert. If you become aware of anyone who is threatening others, please contact law enforcement immediately, she said. Tribune staff reports. Collin Fleck, an architect with Bockus Payne, gathers notes left by residents on the project site map for the upcoming Clara Luper Civil Rights Center during a listening session at the Ralph Ellison Library in northeast Oklahoma City. When project leaders invited Oklahoma City residents to share their thoughts on the construction of a museum honoring civil rights icon Clara Luper, they heard decades' worth of stories. Collin Fleck of Bockus Payne Architecture, one of the design team members, said he most enjoyed hearing how Luper impacted residents and what the neighborhood surrounding the new site location looked like in the past. "So much of it's being torn down now, or has been torn down, and so the only space that those places exist anymore is in their memories," Fleck said. "I think that (the center) becomes the conduit for keeping those stories alive," he said. "Those stories aren't necessarily written down in any history books; they're just passed on through word of mouth, but (Thursday night) was the forum for collecting some of these stories." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The future Clara Luper Civil Rights Center, planned for NE 25 and Martin Luther King Ave., is being developed through the city's taxpayer-funded MAPS 4 program, with more than $17 million budgeted for the project's design and construction and nearly $10 million for operations and long-term maintenance. The center's design team includes Atelier Cory Henry and Bockus Payne Architecture. What MAPS projects will start in 2024? Everything to know about ongoing OKC projects During the listening session held Thursday at the Ralph Ellison Library, planners with the city's MAPS 4 program and staff with the Freedom Center of Oklahoma City asked residents to write down memories they had of former landmarks around the neighborhood. Fleck showed The Oklahoman sticky notes posted on a wall where the new center's location map had been projected, with locations like a Dairy Queen soft-serve shop, a Humpty Dumpty grocery store, and popular chicken restaurants like Krispy King and Jim Dandy. "It starts to paint this picture of what this very vibrant area used to be, and now everything's all torn down or blighted," Fleck said. "But I think it's really interesting to think about how we can reimagine that and carry that legacy forward. I mean, obviously Clara Luper's legacy, but how do we bring that legacy of the local neighborhood and community into the design? How do we bring that into the future now?" Making change possible Notes with memories and suggestions from residents are seen along a wall next to a painting of Clara Luper inside the Ralph Ellison Library during a listening session for the upcoming Clara Luper Civil Rights Center. In 1958, Luper successfully led many of her students in conducting nonviolent sit-ins at Oklahoma City drugstores to protest segregation preceding by almost two years the more nationally publicized sit-ins for desegregation at department stores by hundreds of students in Greensboro, North Carolina. The new center is meant to honor Luper's legacy and Oklahoma's civil rights movement, with the goal of highlighting how local organizers helped shape nationwide efforts to fight racism. To people overseeing Thursday's listening session, ideas on how to continue honoring those efforts were already becoming apparent as the night continued. Marilyn Luper Hildreth, one of Luper's daughters who also participated in the sit-ins, said she was happy to see work on the upcoming center progressing, believing it will be another sign of revitalization for northeast Oklahoma City. "We tried so hard for so many years to make a difference, and it's really hard to make a difference, but we didn't give up we just kept trying," Hildreth said. "And I'm so proud my mom hung in there to do the best she could, because what she had to work with she had nothing, but she hung in there and made the change. The civil rights movement in Oklahoma City was built on the have-nots, but we went on with the struggle and we made the change possible." Staff operating the Freedom Center, the historic building where Luper oversaw the city's NAACP Youth Council for nearly 40 years, also are expected to run the new museum once construction has completed. "We were especially glad to see an intergenerational crowd," Christina Beatty, project director at the Freedom Center, told The Oklahoman. "We've got some really great interviews, and so that will be really informative for the design process as we think about both the building and the site and think about what used to be there." More: 65 years after OKC's sit-in, Clara Luper's 'radical love' still reverberates today An intergenerational approach Cory Henry, whose studio will act as lead designer for the project, said the anecdotes people shared about the neighborhood's various connections with Luper would be vital in how they approach implementing plans for the new museum. "It's easy for a younger generation to not know who these civil rights leaders are because they feel like they're so far removed," Henry said. "But the fascinating thing about Oklahoma City is that Clara Luper is so present in everything here, and it's been inspiring." Henry said he was stunned by how different each story he heard Thursday seemed, and yet each anecdote pointed to Luper's prominence as an educator who helped foster a love of self and of learning. "She was a guardian to a lot of members of the community, and then the amazing thing is that they then became guardians of the community as well, because a lot of those people were the organizers of (Thursday's) event," Henry said. Opinion: The Freedom Center of Oklahoma City's much more than just a restoration or museum Design architects and community leaders met this past Thursday with residents of northeast Oklahoma City to share information and gather feedback on the upcoming Clara Luper Civil Rights Center as plans enter the early design phase. Planners hope to create opportunities for next generation Jordan Broiles, newly hired to coordinate programs for the Freedom Center, said he has plans to boost youth involvement at the new center by working with designers to incorporate a cafe where young professionals can feel welcome to frequent. He also is looking forward to seeing a dedicated venue space at the new center that local organizations can use as a gathering hub. "Here (at the library) we saw a lot of opportunity for kids to get engaged," Broiles said. "And I think it's important that we keep creating those opportunities for kids and for young people, because one of my fears is that we take a lot of this history now for granted." Construction on the Clara Luper Civil Rights Center is scheduled for next year, but the Alliance for Economic Development of Oklahoma City already has begun site work and demolition of an old post office at the planned location. Bockus Payne architect Collin Fleck and other designers speak with community residents during a listening session for the upcoming Clara Luper Civil Rights Center in northeast Oklahoma City. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Future Clara Luper center in OKC a 'conduit' for civil rights legacy A six-year-old Palestinian-American boy who was fatally stabbed by his landlord in an anti-Muslim hate crime linked to the Israel-Hamas war was likely trying to give his attacker a hug when he was murdered, according to his devastated father. Joseph Czuba, 71, was arrested on Saturday morning after allegedly stabbing six-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume 26 times and the little boys 32-year-old mother Hanaan Shahin more than 12 times in a shocking attack at a property in Plainfield Township, outside Chicago. Police said that the boy and his mother were targeted due to their Muslim faith and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis. Mr Czuba was charged with a hate crime, as well as first-degree murder, attempted murder, and aggravated battery. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Now the boys heartbroken father, Oday El-Fayoume, has spoken out about his sons horrifying death, claiming his ex-wife and son had a good relationship with their landlord and that his son was likely running towards Czuba to give him a hug when he was attacked. It is hard to picture this man holding a knife about to stab my son, he told The Daily Beast. I keep thinking that my son was probably running towards him before getting stabbed, trying to give him a hug. He said Mr Czuba lived on the ground floor of the home the six-year-old and his mother lived in, and he had even built a treehouse and an indoor play area for the child. Mr El-Fayoume added that he cannot believe how his sons murder could have happened, describing the six-year-old as a small angel in the form of a person. Little Wadea never yelled out during the stabbing, his father said, with his last words offering reassurance to his mother that Im fine, said Mr El-Fayoume. The devastated father added that he found out about the death of his son after receiving a call from police. Wadea Al-Fayoume stabbed to death outside Chicago (CAIR-Chicago) The way I found out wasnt the right way to tell a parent. I got a call from the police department, and they gave me three sentences exactly: Are you Oday El-Fayoume? Are you Wadeas father? He has been killed. Thats how I found out, he said. It was such a shock that I thought maybe I misheard. So I asked them: He died? And they said No, he had been killed. He added: It all felt like torture. The reasons that led to the killing we had no information about that for four hours. Those four hours felt like 40 years. Will County Sheriffs Office said that the boys mother called 911 on Saturday morning saying she was being attacked by her landlord. According to Ms Shahin, Mr Czuba knocked on the door and attempted to choke her, before shouting You Muslims must die and stabbing her. Deputies arrived at the scene and found a military-style knife and the suspect sitting on the ground near the home. The six-year-old was rushed to hospital but later died. His mother remains in a serious condition but is expected to survive. Joseph Czuba has been charged with one count each of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and aggravated battery, and two counts of hate crime (Will County Sheriff) The suspect was transported to the Will County Adult Detention Facility and is awaiting his initial court appearance. The Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago), the nations largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organisation, identified Wadea as being a Palestinian-American. The organisation claimed the mother sent the boys father text messages during the attack, in which she said that the suspect shouted You Muslims must die before stabbing her and her son. What we have is a murdered Palestinian child by someone who is radicalized by the environment in which we live right now, that casts Palestinians as human animals, Ahmed Rehab, executive director of CAIR-Chicago told reporters in a press conference on Sunday. CAIR-Chicago said it has seen a spike in hate calls and emails since the violence in the Middle East broke out on 7 October. The boys father said he wants his son to be remembered as a symbol for the Palestinian people. Oday Al-Fayoume, father of Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, attends a news conference at the Muslim Community Center on Chicago's Northwest Side, Sunday (AP) People know that we, too, get discriminated against, he said, referring to Palestinians in Gaza and abroad. I want this to open a door for the freedom of the Palestinian people. In a statement released on Sunday, President Joe Biden said that he was shocked and sickened by the little boys killing. The childs Palestinian Muslim family came to America seeking what we all seeka refuge to live, learn, and pray in peace, the statement said. This horrific act of hate has no place in America, and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are. The Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish anti-hate organisation, has also strongly condemned the incident. Were disgusted and horrified that a 6-year-old boy was murdered and his mother was severely injured in #Plainfield, IL, allegedly because they are Muslim. We express our condolences to the Muslim community and categorically reject all anti-Muslim hate, the group said in a statement. On Oct. 16, 2023, a user on X named Matt Wallace (@MattWallace888) created a post that began, "BREAKING NEWS: China sides with Hamas and calls for Israel to back down saying, 'Israel's actions have gone beyond self-defense.'" As of Oct. 16, China had not specifically announced in any public statements that it sided with Hamas an Islamist group that's considered to be a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department, the European Union and other Western countries. In fact, China had yet to mention Hamas by name following the group's surprise attack in Israel on Oct. 7. The attack led to a new war with the numbers of dead and injured Israeli and Palestinian civilians reportedly rising every day. In an Oct. 13 call with China, Israel's foreign ministry expressed "deep disappointment" regarding the absence of any such condemnation of Hamas. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Meanwhile, ABC News reported that China was using the war in Israel and Gaza in order to ensure its own interests were met, according to at least one researcher in Tel Aviv: Tuvia Gering, a researcher at the Israel-China Policy Center at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, described Beijing's position as pro-Palestine neutrality, much like its position on Russia's invasion of Ukraine has signaled support for the Kremlin. You cannot be neutral in something like this. Silence is acquiescence, Gering said. The problem, I think, the biggest one we have, is that China, instead of being the responsible major power that it claims to be, it is exploiting this conflict for geopolitical benefits. He said China was looking to win the support of Arab countries on contentious issues such as Beijings treatment of the Muslim ethnic Uyghurs in the northwestern region of Xinjiang. Axios also cited other sources who said much the same about China looking to secure its own interests. As for the second part of the supposed "breaking news" in the X post, it was true that a high-ranking Chinese government official had reportedly criticized Israel's self-defense actions. The remark was said to have occurred during an Oct. 14 call between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud. In a summary of the call that was published on the website for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yi spoke out against harm being brought to civilians, but again, did not mention Hamas by name: Wang Yi said that China opposes and condemns all actions that harm civilians because they violate basic human conscience and basic norms of international law. Israel's actions have gone beyond the scope of self-defense, and it should seriously listen to the calls of the international community and the United Nations Secretary-General to stop collective punishment of the people of Gaza. All parties should not take any action to escalate the situation and should return to the negotiating table as soon as possible. China is communicating intensively with all parties to promote a ceasefire and an end to the war. The top priority is to make every effort to ensure the safety of civilians, open humanitarian relief channels as soon as possible, and safeguard the basic needs of the people of Gaza. China believes that the historical injustice against Palestine has lasted for more than half a century and cannot continue. All peace-loving and justice-loving countries should speak out and clearly demand the implementation of the "two-state solution" as soon as possible. China is willing to work with Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries to continue to support Palestine's just cause of restoring national rights and push the Palestinian issue back on the right track of the "two-state solution" to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting solution. Yi's remarks were similar to those previously issued by China days earlier. This story will be updated if more details come to light. Sources: Allen-Ebrahimian, Bethany. In Claiming Neutrality, China Picks a Side in Israel-Hamas War. Axios, Oct. 15, 2023, https://www.axios.com/2023/10/15/china-israel-hamas-war. Areddy, James T. In Chinas Calls for Mideast Peace, Hamas Assault Goes Unmentioned. WSJ, Oct. 16, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/in-chinas-calls-for-mideast-peace-hamas-assault-goes-unmentioned-b4e0c382. China Condemns Attacks in Middle East After Criticism From Schumer | WSJ News. YouTube, WSJ News, Oct. 9, 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAXhQhD8nPg. Chinese, Saudi Arabian FMs Hold Phone Talks on Palestinian-Israeli Conflict. Xinhua, Oct. 15, 2023, https://english.news.cn/20231015/fbceeb84a1e5401283c127ac9425dd50/c.html. El Deeb, Sarah. What Is Hamas? The Group That Rules the Gaza Strip Has Fought Several Rounds of War with Israel. The Associated Press, Oct. 9, 2023, https://apnews.com/article/hamas-gaza-palestinian-authority-israel-war-ed7018dbaae09b81513daf3bda38109a. Federman, Josef, and Issam Adwan. Hamas Surprise Attack out of Gaza Stuns Israel and Leaves Hundreds Dead in Fighting, Retaliation. The Associated Press, Oct. 7, 2023, https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-gaza-hamas-rockets-airstrikes-tel-aviv-11fb98655c256d54ecb5329284fc37d2. Gaza and West Bank Death Toll Reaches 2,383 Palestinians - Ministry. Reuters, Oct. 15, 2023, https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/gaza-west-bank-death-toll-reaches-2383-palestinians-ministry-2023-10-15/. Israel Says deeply Disappointed over Lack of China Condemnation of Hamas Attack. Reuters, Oct. 12, 2023, https://www.reuters.com/world/israel-says-deeply-disappointed-over-lack-china-condemnation-hamas-attack-2023-10-13/. Mogul, Rhea, et al. Confirmed US Death Toll in Israel Rises to 30. CNN, Oct. 15, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/israel-news-hamas-war-10-15-23/h_5ffdc1e34bd73b76bcf13bed20d3a5c8. Tan, Clement. China Says Israels Actions in Gaza Are beyond Self Defense as U.S. Races to Avert Wider Conflict. CNBC, Oct. 15, 2023, https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/16/china-says-israels-actions-in-gaza-have-gone-beyond-self-defense.html. Tang, Didi. Israel-Hamas War Upends Chinas Ambitions in the Middle East but May Serve Beijing in the End. ABC News, Oct. 15, 2023, https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/israel-hamas-war-upends-chinas-ambitions-middle-east-103993000. Wang Yi Spoke on the Phone with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Peoples Republic of China, Oct. 15, 2023, https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/wjbzhd/202310/t20231015_11161058.shtml. Did a Fayetteville woman break the law when she shot and wounded a neighbor who appeared at her front door one Easter afternoon? Or was the woman lawfully defending herself? A Cumberland County jury in May 2022 concluded that the woman, Angela Benita Phillips, was wrong and convicted her of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury. Her prison sentence was a minimum of two years and one month to a maximum of three years and six months. This was the maximum possible punishment, the trial transcript says. But last week, the North Carolina Court of Appeals overturned the conviction and awarded Phillips, 42, a new trial. A new jury could find her not guilty. The three judges on the Court of Appeals panel voted 2-1 that the trial judge gave an incorrect instruction to the jury on how to apply self-defense law to the evidence. The majority said that instruction led the jury to a guilty verdict when it might otherwise have found Phillips not guilty. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The issues involve North Carolinas Castle Doctrine and Stand Your Ground laws, which specify when a person is legally allowed to use force to defend herself, and when she may legally escalate that force to deadly force. Unneighborly conduct Phillips shot her neighbor who lived across the street, Latonya Terrell Dunlap, with a Glock handgun shortly before 2 p.m. on April 4, 2021, Easter Sunday. This was on the front porch of Phillips home on Longhorn Drive, in the Ponderosa area off Yadkin Road and Bonanza Drive near Fort Liberty. Dunlap had not known Phillips before she went to Phillips' door, Phillips lawyer said in a legal brief. She had crossed the street to confront her neighbor because she believed that Ms. Phillips had complained to the landlord about her, the lawyer wrote. Documents say Dunlap was unarmed. The states brief said there was conflicting testimony from witnesses as to whether Dunlap was drunk and whether she was angry when she went to Phillips door. Some people said she knocked and others said she loudly banged on the door. Phillips testified she took her gun to the door because she did not know who was there. The states brief says another neighbor who saw the shooting, Tracey Marsh, testified that when Phillips came to the door, the women briefly argued and Phillips slapped Dunlap. Dunlap fell backward, Marsh testified, then moved forward as though she were trying to regain her balance and avoid falling off the porch. Then Phillips fired three shots, he said. Dunlap never physically attacked or tried to grab the gun from her hand, he said. Dunlap testified, the brief says, that when she first saw Phillips and tried to talk to her about the landlord, Phillips said, Ive been waiting on you, (expletive), and shot her. Philips testified in her own defense. Her lawyers brief says she told the jury that after she hit Dunlap, Dunlap streaked over to jump on her. And thats when she shot Dunlap. One of the shots grazed Dunlaps head, a police document says, and the others hit her torso. She suffered injuries to her spleen, colon, pancreas and kidney, it says. The states brief said Dunlap needed multiple surgeries to treat the wounds. Did the judge get it wrong? In the majority opinion of the Court of Appeals ruling, Judge Jeffery Carpenter said Cumberland County Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Jim Ammons gave an improper instruction to the jury on the concept of excessive force in self-defense cases. Self-defense law generally allows a person standing her ground and defending herself to use only enough force to eliminate a threat. Deadly force may be considered excessive if it is used to counter nondeadly force. For example, in the early 2000s in Cumberland County, a woman was convicted of manslaughter for shooting to death a man who was punching her husband. However, a person is allowed to use deadly force if she reasonably believes someone is illegally trying to break into her home. This is known as the Castle Doctrine (as in, your home is your castle). Ammons in his jury deliberation instructions told the jurors, a defendant does not have the right to use excessive force. This was a mistake, Carpenter said, because the jury could have decided Phillips was defending herself from Dunlap under the Castle Doctrine, which allows deadly force. So Phillips is entitled to a new trial, Carpenter wrote. Court of Appeals Judge Michael Stading concurred with Carpenter. Or did the judge get it right? Appeals Court Judge Toby Hampson dissented, saying that Ammons included the Castle Doctrine in his instructions to them, so there was no error and the jurys conviction should stand. Ammons told the jury, If the defendant assaulted the victim to prevent a forcible entry into the defendants home or to terminate the intruders unlawful entry the defendants actions are excused and the defendant is not guilty, Hampson wrote. Since the Court of Appeals was not unanimous, the case may be reviewed by the North Carolina Supreme Court, which could overrule the Court of Appeals. Senior North Carolina reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at 910-261-4710 and pwoolverton@fayobserver.com. This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Fayetteville NC woman who shot neighbor wins new self-defense trial A Medway family is desperately trying to escape the Gaza Strip after their vacation to visit relatives turned into a nightmare. Abood Okal, Wafaa Abuzayda and their one-and-a-half year old son Yousef have been trying to flee since the war broke out last Saturday. They had been staying with family members in Jabalia in northern Gaza. The escalating violence forced them to scramble more than 20 miles south to Rafah. Theyre now anxiously waiting to cross the Egyptian border and are running out of essential supplies. Theyre trying to stay strong for their one year old because he doesnt understand whats going on, said friend Sammy Nabulsi. Theyre trying not to cry, not to freak out in front of him. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Nabulsi, whos a Boston attorney, has been trying to assist in the familys evacuation with no luck so far. They ran out of drinking water today. Theyve already been short on food. There arent fuel supplies so they cant really fill up the car, he said. This is a do or die situation. He shared the following message from the family whos frantically waiting for word on when they can cross the border. Even though were all exhausted and sleep-deprived, there is no room for being burnt out. Were kicking in survival modeTons of people have moved south from northern Gaza Strip causing a real pressure on whatever supplies are remaining. Theyre no longer counting the shelling by the minute. Its by the seconds, said Nabulsi. An estimated 500 to 600 Palestinian Americans are in Gaza with no way out. The State Department says its working to secure a safe exit of U.S. citizens from Gaza. A spokesperson with Senators Markeys Office told Boston 25 News that theyve been trying to help the Okal family. The Senator and his office will continue to do everything we can to assist Massachusetts families who have been unable to return home, it said. Were encouraged by the Administrations progress on evacuations however there needs to be heightened efforts on those in Gaza trying to return. Senator Markeys spokesperson said that his office continues to stay in close touch with the State Department. LATEST ISRAEL NEWS: Grateful and blessed: Mass. church group returns home after being near violence in Israel Israel-Hamas War: Chuck Schumer, Mitt Romney forced to shelter during rocket fire in Israel Israel-Hamas war: Biden considering trip to Israel This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW While there is no debate on the atrocities inflicted by Hamas on Israelis last week, Claire Atkinson writes, the work of reporters trying to verify each specific, ghastly claim is difficult. KARRASTOCK/ Getty Images The following from The Media Mix newsletter by Claire Atkinson was republished with permission. A report of "40 beheaded babies" in Israel made the rounds last week as journalists worked to verify it. For news consumers, figuring out reality has become even harder with the tumult at X. Last week, I was watching CNN and heard a someone describing the Hamas attacks on a kibbutz referencing 40 beheaded babies. After the interview concluded, Cooper said the claim had not yet been independently verified. Later on air, Cooper asked CNN correspondent Nic Robertson about the assertion. Robertson told him a general at the kibbutz had confirmed that, "Babies were killed. He said that heads were cut off. He didn't say of whom, of what age or what gender and we didn't see anybody with their heads cut off and we didn't see any babies with their heads cut off." He added that Hamas was, however, executing people that way. Then on Wednesday morning, I saw a clip of a Fox News reporter following Rep. Rashida Tlaib down a corridor repeatedly asking for comments about, "Hamas terrorists chopping off babies' heads." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement There is clearly no debate on the atrocities inflicted by Hamas on Israelis last week, and you might say "Who cares?" about the precise specifics, given the horror. But I wondered how reporters might verify such claims Fox News and many others referenced the information from an Israeli outlet @i24newsEnglish, which shared on X, formerly Twitter, that 40 babies had been butchered (on October 10.) The i24news' online story references "40 babies and young children" taken out on gurneys from the town of Kfar Aza. Marc Owen Jones , the author of "Digital Authoritarianism in the Middle East," noted on X that the i24news, "40 babies" post got 25 million views and was shared by author JK Rowling's account with 13.9 million followers. Other outlets needed more evidence before repeating the claims Chief international correspondent for The Independent newspaper Bel Trew deleted a post on X, that appeared to back-up the reporting. "I just wanted to clarify that I did not tweet 40 babies had been beheaded. I tweeted that foreign media had been told women and children had been decapitated but we had not been shown bodies which was my response to reports which had gone viral about the 40 babies." Her tweet is here. Sky News host, Anna Botting , said the Comcast owned broadcaster hadn't been able to verify the information despite asking Israel's IDF for confirmation three times. You can see that discussion on Sky News here and a list of the media outlets that shared the claim. War reporters know they must try to bear witness to what they are reporting in war zones, and also attempt to corroborate official statements by either side It's no easy task Even columnists far from the action can repeat claims that their editors decide need more evidence. The LA Times appended a note to an October 9 column that described rapes, stating: "An earlier version of this column mentioned rape in the attacks, but such reports have not been substantiated." For news consumers, figuring out reality has become even harder with the tumult at X. Wired has a good story on the disinformation problem drowning out reality. "This is the hardest time I've ever had covering a crisis on here," Justin Peden , a disinfo researcher, told the outlet. "Credible links are now photos. On the ground news outlets struggle to reach audiences without an expensive blue check mark. Xenophobic goons are boosted by the platform's CEO. End times folks." The BBC's Verify division is a good place to see a list of what's being debunked. The corporation's Shayan Sardarizadeh identifies all kinds of fake content including clips from video games being passed off as Israel/Gaza region news. One TikTok of a video game masquerading as war footage has been shared 3.5 million times. This isn't just an Elon Musk problem. How many fact checkers is TikTok employing? If you're keeping up with disinformation discussions, corporate tracking company Creopoint has lifted the paywall to let anyone see links to questionable content surrounding the Israel/Hamas war, here . Meanwhile the EU is demanding X owner Elon Musk get control of the fake news flood Here's the letter from the EU's Thierry Breton complaining about violations. It prompted an intriguingly transparent back and forth between the two men yesterday, with Musk asking the commissioner to detail the infringements. Clearly fed up with the mess, BBC's Sardarizadeh, wrote on X, "War is not a game for retweets and likes on social media." This article was originally published on October 11 on The Media Mix newsletter, which covers media, technology and marketing around the globe. Claire Atkinson is currently writing a biography of Rupert Murdoch, and is the founder of The Media Mix newsletter. She's also a contributing editor at The Ankler. Previously Atkinson was Insider's chief media correspondent. Read the original article on Business Insider Gaza is being strangled by Israels week-long siege and aerial bombardment, UN experts have warned, as concerns grow that further escalation and a lack of safety for fleeing civilians risks drawing regional foes into the long-running conflict. The Israeli military launched a barrage of airstrikes and a complete blockade on the Palestinian enclave in response to Hamas large-scale deadly incursion on October 7, which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said left at least 1,400 people killed and scores taken hostage. In over a week of Israeli bombardment, at least 2,808 people, including hundreds of children, have been killed, and more than 11,000 wounded, the Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said on Monday, according to the official Palestinian press agency, WAFA. In the occupied West Bank, 58 people have been killed and more than 1,250 injured, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said. Casualties in Gaza over the past eight days have now surpassed the number of those killed during the 51-day Gaza-Israel conflict in 2014. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Human rights groups have said Israels complete siege on essential goods entering Gaza is in violation of international law, as Palestinian civilians warn food, water and fuel supplies are running out. A Palestinian woman reacts to people wounded by Israeli airstrikes, at al-Aqsa hospital, in central Gaza, on October 15. Relief workers warn the bombardment is destroying the health care system. - Adel Hana/AP Palestinian paramedics cry outside al-Shifa hopsital, in Gaza City, on Monday. Humanitarian groups say the Israeli blockade and airstrikes on the Palestinian enclave are in violation of international law. - Dawood Nemer/AFP/Getty Images US President Joe Biden called Hamas rampage in Israel the worst massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust. Biden will visit Israel on Wednesday in a show of US support, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced in the early hours of Tuesday from Tel Aviv. Hamas is believed to be holding 199 Israeli and foreign nationals hostage in Gaza, the IDFs spokesperson Rear Adm. Dan Hagari said on Monday. That number was revised up from the previous figure of 155, with many believed to be held in the warren of tunnels underneath Gaza. In a video statement late Monday, a spokesperson for Hamas militant wing Al-Qassam Brigades said the number of hostages was between 200 and 250. Diplomatic efforts to establish a humanitarian corridor to send desperately-needed supplies into Gaza are ramping up, before the Israeli blockade causes the 2.3 million people there to completely run out of clean drinking water, food, fuel and medicine. Aid agencies have warned the siege will result in an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe inside the Palestinian enclave. Gaza is being strangled and it seems that the world right now has lost its humanity, said United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, in an urgent plea for critical aid to be allowed in. We all know water is life Gaza is running out of water, and Gaza is running out of life. Lazzarini said that not one drop of water, not one grain of wheat, not a liter of fuel has been allowed into Gaza for the past eight days and people trapped in the densely-populated blockaded strip are desperate. Limited water supply in Gaza has put the lives of more than 3,500 patients across 35 hospitals at immediate risk, the World Health Organization said on Monday, warning of an imminent public health crisis. The Israeli Prime Ministers office denied there were any arrangements for the opening of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt the only entry point into the enclave that Israel does not control. At the moment there is neither a ceasefire nor humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip in return for the exit of foreigners, the Prime Ministers office told CNN. The UN would need to coordinate the movement of fuel trucks with Israel. TOPSHOT - Smoke billows after an Israeli air strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on October 16, 2023. The death toll from Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip has risen to around 2,750 since Hamas's deadly attack on southern Israel last week, the Gaza health ministry said October 16. Some 9,700 people have also been injured as Israel continued its withering air campaign on targets in the Palestinian coastal enclave, the Hamas-controlled ministry added. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP) (Photo by SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images) - Said Khatib/AFP/Getty Images Double nightmare Hospitals in Gaza under constant barrage from Israeli airstrikes face imminent shutdown due to a lack of fuel to run generators that pump water and keep lifesaving equipment such as ventilators and incubators operating, Palestinian Red Crescent Director General Marwan Jilani told CNN. Fuel, he said, would run out by Monday or Tuesday. On the brink of collapse, hospitals have run out of painkillers and many Gazans are beginning to suffer from severe dehydration due to lack of drinking water, according to medical NGO Medecins sans Frontieres. Multiple aid agencies have said fuel and other necessities could run out in hours, not days. People walk amid the destruction of houses and streets in Khan Younis, located in the southern Gaza Strip. - Mohamed Zaanoun/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images Palestinians look for their belongings in the rubble in Gaza City, on Monday. Attacks by the Israeli military have destroyed entire neighborhoods inside the strip. - Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu/Getty Images The 50,000 pregnant women currently in Gaza 5,000 of whom are due to give birth in the coming month face a double nightmare, said UN Population Fund (UNFPA) representative Dominic Allen, and face having their babies in unsanitary conditions, risking health complications while under the threat of bombs. Dozens of unidentified bodies have been buried in mass graves in Gaza City, including children, babies, women, men and elderly people, according to the head of the Hamas-controlled government media office Salama Marouf. Social media videos verified by CNN show dozens of bodies wrapped in white plastic brought from Gazas Shifa hospital to a burial site where they were laid to rest in neat rows. Compounding the critical situation are the hundreds of thousands of people fleeing their homes in northern Gaza and attempting to head south through the battered streets ahead of an Israeli offensive that the IDF said would include widespread strikes and significant ground operations. UNRWAs Lazzarini said at least 1 million people were forced to flee their homes in one week alone and at least 400,000 displaced people are taking shelter in UN schools and buildings, but there is little space to cope with the numbers of displaced. Shtayyeh, the Palestinian prime minister, urged the international community to stop Israels shelling and end the blockade. He warned against displacing people in Gaza and creating a new Nakba or catastrophe, WAFA reported on Monday. The Nakba refers to the period after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, when about 700,000 Palestinians were expelled or fled from their homes in what is now Israel. Israels President Isaac Herzog on Sunday described the horrific scenes he saw from the Hamas assault on Israeli homes and communities, including a booklet he claimed contains tactics used by the militant group to kidnap and torture people. My nation is bleeding, my nation is in pain. My nation is in sorrow. And we are faced with an extremely cruel, inhumane enemy which we have to uproot with no mercy, he told CNN. The Palestinian Health Ministry accused the Israeli military of direct targeting of medical staff and their families. Mammoth diplomatic efforts Frantic calls to open humanitarian corridors into Gaza have grown in urgency and number in recent days, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Pope Francis and several nations and international aid agencies among them. UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said mammoth diplomatic efforts are underway with Guterres and many member states exercising what leverage they can. We are looking at potentially thousands of deaths if this aid doesnt get through, Shamdasani told CNN. President Herzog said Sunday he was meeting again with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discuss establishing a humanitarian corridor but further plans to execute such a route would need to include Israeli cabinet and government under Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu and the new national unity emergency government. The top US diplomat has been visiting Israel and neighboring countries in recent days, meeting with various regional leaders. On Sunday Blinken promised the Rafah border crossing will be open and that the United States was working with the UN, Egypt, Israel and others to coordinate aid efforts. Chinas top diplomat Wang Yi accused Israel over the weekend of going beyond the scope of self-defense. Chinas Middle East envoy Zhai Jun said he would visit the region this week. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to members of the media before leaving Cairo, Egypt, on October 15, en route to Jordan. - Jacquelyn Martin/Pool/Reuters Aid has been piling up on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing; Egypt says that airstrikes on the Gaza side have made roads inoperable, and Jordan has said it is seeking assurance that aid convoys will not be targeted by Israeli warplanes. The UNs emergency relief chief, Martin Griffiths, reiterated the desperate need for aid to get into Gaza, earlier on Monday. Griffiths will travel to Cairo on Tuesday for a several day long mission that will include a visit to Israel, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. France said it will give 10 million euros ($10.55 million) to UN agencies and NGOs to help humanitarian efforts in Gaza. French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told reporters on Monday the aid is ready. It is unclear how the aid will cross the border amid airstrikes on Gaza. Israeli ambassador to the US Michael Herzog told CNN Israel is in the process of creating a humanitarian zone in Gaza while the spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, Stephane Dujarric, said he could not confirm whether the UN is working with the Israeli government to establish such a zone. It is also unclear if water is now flowing into southern Gaza. Prime Minister Netanyahus office told CNN Sunday that Israel has restored water to the south of the strip, but the director of Gazas water authority disputed that Monday. IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus later said Israel has opened taps on its side to allow water to enter southern Gaza, but he said he doesnt have visibility on exactly how much is actually flowing where it should. Hamas releases hostage video Hamas released a video on Monday of a French-Israeli woman being held hostage in the Gaza Strip. It is the first hostage video released of any person believed to be held in the territory. In the video, 21-year-old Mia Schem says she suffered an arm injury and was taken to Gaza. A representative for the family of Schem told CNN they had approved the publication and broadcast of the video. It is unclear when the video was taken or whether Schem is still alive. In a statement Monday night, the IDF said it had informed Schems family about her kidnapping last week and are keeping in touch with them. An undated image of Mia Schem, who is being held hostage by Hamas. - Jerusalem Post Earlier on Monday, Abu Obaida, a spokesperson for Hamas Al-Qassam Brigades, said there were between 200-250 hostages held in Gaza. Abu Obaida said Al-Qassam Brigades held 200 hostages, while the rest are with other militant formations in the territory, adding that they cannot determine the exact number due to constant Israeli bombardment. Abu Obaida also said 22 of the hostages were killed in Israeli airstrikes, including an Israeli artist whom he said lost his life on Saturday. CNN cannot independently verify those claims. Abu Obaida added that the Al-Qassam Brigades will be releasing hostages holding foreign citizenship when the opportunity arises on the ground, and said Al-Qassam is committed to protecting them. He also warned that any foreign national serving with the Israeli military will be considered a direct enemy. In its statement, the IDF said it is using all intelligence and operational means to return the abductees, which it says number 199 Israeli and foreign nationals. Regional concerns grow As Israel battles Hamas, it also faces the threat of a wider conflict on new fronts, with hostilities with Lebanons powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah in the north, and Syria, being potential flash points. Early Tuesday morning, the IDF said it was striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. A regional conflagration has Western powers concerned: French President Emmanuel Macron warned his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi against an escalation of the Gaza crisis on Sunday and the US has been increasing its defense posture in the Middle East to deter any Iranian aggression or an expansion of the fighting beyond Israels borders, according to a US official. Additional US attack aircraft including A-10 Warthogs arrived in the Middle East Sunday joining squadrons of fighter jets already deployed as well as two US carrier strike groups deployed to the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The White House said on Monday Biden will postpone a trip to Colorado for national security meetings. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told MSNBC the president is laser-focused on this war against Hamas. Israeli soldiers gather on and around a tank near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel on October 15. - Ronen Zvulun/Reuters Speaking to CBS Sunday, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that while there is no new intelligence the threat level from Iran has changed, there is a risk of an escalation of this conflict. Iran has warned of the consequences of a possible larger escalation if Israel continues to attack Gaza. CNNs Amir Tal, Richard Allen Greene, Ben Wedeman, Hamdi Alkhshali, Jasmine Wright, Nikki Carvajal, Sehar Ahmed, Chloe Liu, Niamh Kennedy, Mostafa Salem, Duarte Mendonca, Xiaofei Xu, Radina Gigova, Zachary Cohen, Yong Xiong, Sharon Braithwaite, Teele Rebane, Mihir Melwani, Manveena Suri, Pierre Meilhan, DJ Judd, Nadeen Ebrahim, Richard Roth and Joseph Ataman contributed reporting. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA (Reuters) -A Gaza health ministry spokesman said hundreds were killed in a blast at a Gaza City hospital on Tuesday that Israeli and Palestinian officials blamed on each other and that ignited protests in the West Bank and around the Middle East. Health authorities in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip said an Israeli air strike caused the blast while Israel's military attributed it to a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group. The health ministry spokesman, Ashraf Al-Qudra, said early on Wednesday that hundreds were killed and rescue workers were still removing bodies from the rubble. In the first hours after the blast, a Gaza civil defence chief said 300 people were killed, while health ministry sources put the figure at 500. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Reuters could not independently verify who was responsible for the blast or how many people were killed. Before Tuesday's blast, health authorities in Gaza said at least 3,000 people had died in Israel's 11-day bombardment that began after a Hamas Oct. 7 rampage on southern Israeli communities in which 1,300 people were killed and around 200 were taken into Gaza as hostages. Gaza, a 45 km-long (25-mile) enclave home to 2.3 million people, has been ruled since 2006 by Hamas, an Islamist group that is a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization. The blast took place on the eve of a visit by U.S. President Joe Biden to Israel to show support for the country in its war with Hamas and to hear how Israel plans to minimize civilian casualties. One U.S. aim is to keep the conflict from spreading. Regardless of who is found responsible for the explosion, which Hamas said had killed patients and others left homeless by Israeli bombardment, it will complicate efforts to contain the crisis. In one sign of this, Jordan's foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, cancelled a summit his country was to host in Amman with Biden and the Egyptian and Palestinian leaders. In another, Palestinian security forces fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse protesters in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah who were throwing rocks and chanting against Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as popular anger boiled. The blast drew condemnation across the Arab world, and protests were staged at Israel's embassies in Turkey and Jordan and near the U.S. embassy in Lebanon, where security forces fired tear gas toward demonstrators. Television footage showed protests in Yemen's southwestern city of Taz, as well as in the Moroccan and Iraqi capitals. Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group denounced what it said was Israel's deadly attack on the Al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital in Gaza, run by the Anglican church, and called for "a day of unprecedented anger" against Israel and Biden's visit. CLAIMS AND COUNTER CLAIMS There were competing claims and denials from Israeli and Palestinian officials over who was responsible. Abbas said that targeting the hospital was a "hideous war massacre," adding that "Israel has crossed all red lines." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Palestinian militants for the explosion. "The entire world should know: It was barbaric terrorists in Gaza that attacked the hospital in Gaza, and not the IDF," he said, referring to the Israel Defense Forces. "Those who brutally murdered our children also murder their own children." Briefing reporters early on Wednesday, Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari cast doubt on the Palestinian death count, asserted that there was no direct hit on the hospital, and said Israel had intelligence proving its claim that Gaza militants were responsible. The IDF blamed Palestinian Islamic Jihad which, like Hamas, is viewed by the United States as a foreign terrorist organization. "The IDF did not strike the hospital in Gaza," Hagari said in a video statement. "The hospital was hit as a result of a failed rocket launched by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization." Another IDF spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, told CNN Israel had intercepted conversations among militants showing "they understand that it was a rocket that misfired." He said the Israeli government would share its intelligence with Biden and would make the intercepts public. Speaking earlier, Daoud Shehab, a spokesman for Islamic Jihad, denied his group was responsible. "This is a lie and fabrication, it is completely incorrect. The occupation is trying to cover for the horrifying crime and massacre they committed against civilians," he told Reuters. During the last Israeli-Hamas conflict in 2021, Israel said Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other militant groups fired about 4,360 rockets from Gaza of which around 680 fell short of Israel and into the Gaza Strip. Clashes with Palestinian security forces broke out in a number of other cities in the West Bank, which is ruled by Abbas' Palestinian Authority, late on Tuesday, witnesses said. After Hamas officials initially blamed Tuesday's hospital blast on an Israeli air strike, Arab countries, Iran and Turkey swiftly condemned it. (Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi, Bassam Massoud and Nuha Sharaf in Gaza, Ari Rabinovitch, Dan Williams, Henriette Chacar, Dedi Hayun, Maayan Lubell, Emily Rose, James Mackenzie and John Davison in Jerusalem, Humeyra Pamuk in Tel Aviv, Parisa Hafezi in Dubai, Hatem Maher, Ahmed Tolba and Omar Abdel-Razek in Cairo, Trevor Hunnicutt, Nandita Bose, Rami Ayyub and Katharine Jackson in Washington, Michelle Nichols at the United Nations, Writing by Peter Graff, Angus Macswan and Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Mark Heinrich, Howard Goller and Cynthia Osterman) A doctor in a southern Gaza Strip hospital told The Daily Beast that he and his colleagues would continue to work on patients despite a call from the Israeli military to evacuate and his own home being reduced to rubble. The hospital is in the supposedly safe zone of Gaza where Israel has told civilians to seek shelter as it attacks Hamas targets in the north. Dr Suahib Al Hamss told The Daily Beast via a voice message on Monday that his wife and children had been extracted alive from the wreckage of their house and taken to another hospital for treatment. Even though my family are safe, all the people in Gaza are our family, and theyre all dying. And those dying are still our family, our wives and our children, he said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement We are still working at the hospital. We have scores of injured on a constant basis. Yesterday, we received scores of injured and many killed. The medical staff have not left the hospital for any length of time. The hospital is full of patients. Al Hamss, who went public with Israels apparent threat to strike the hospital on Sunday, said he did not believe his home had been targeted directly. Al Hamss said the order to evacuate on Sunday was issued by a direct phone call to the hospitals management, despite the fact that the hospital is in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, the portion of the territory to which Palestinians have been advised by Israel to flee. The Kuwaiti Specialist Hospital raised the alarm on their Facebook page Sunday, saying that Israel had issued them a two-hour warning to evacuate the hospital. Dr Jamal Hams, medical director of the Kuwaiti Hospital in south Gaza, told the BBC that they had been ordered to evacuate. Twenty-two hospitals in northern Gaza have been warned to evacuate, the New York Times has reported. However, this is believed to be the first incident of a hospital in the southern zone being ordered to do the same. The World Health Organisation has condemned the orders given to hospitals to evacuate. On Sunday, the doctor told The Daily Beast in an audio message that there were warplanes in the skies above the hospital, adding, You can probably hear them. A clearly distressed Al Hamss accused the Israeli forces of breaking all international laws by targeting hospitals. The messages will be seized on by critics of Israel as further evidence that the country is threatening to attack hospitals, which would be in violation of the Geneva Convention. Israel is preparing for what is expected to be a massive ground assault on Gaza in retaliation for last weeks horrific terror attacks on Israel by Hamas, which saw over 1400 people, including many women and children, brutally murdered and at least 199 taken hostage. Israel has argued that by warning people in areas due to be bombed and attacked, it is taking unprecedented steps to minimize civilian casualties. Dr Khalid Dawas, the director of gastro-intestinal surgery at University College London Hospital, passed the messages from Al Hamss to The Daily Beast. I met Dr Suhaib personally in June, he said. I have been sending him messages over the past week, just asking if he is OK, to which I have received some quite emotional replies. But the message he sent today (Sunday) was completely different, very panicky, saying they had been given two hours to get out. The hospital is in Rafa, which is where people have been told to go. The Daily Beast approached the Israeli Defence Forces office for comment. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. A limited gag order has been placed on former President Donald Trump by the federal judge overseeing his impending trial on charges of trying to subvert the 2020 election outcome via the Jan. 6 insurrection. The court felt the need to censor Trump because of his repeated attack on people connected to the case, including court officials, special counsel Jack Smith, and members of the judges staff. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued the gag order on Monday, Oct. 16, saying this has nothing to do with the vileness of what the former reality star says but rather that his comments could potentially impede justice from being served. U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan is presiding over Donald Trumps federal criminal case. (Photos: Getty Images/ U.S. District Court ) This is not about whether I like the language Mr. Trump uses. This is about language that presents a danger to the administration of justice, Chutkan said, CNN reported. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Trending Today: With this order, Trump is restricted from taking to his social media or speaking about special counsel Jack Smith, his staff, court personnel, and/or potential witnesses. Smith, who is representing the Justice Department, requested the gag order in September because of Trumps repeated inflammatory public statements about the case. Taking note of the former presidents history of pushing the limits of the law, he asked if the order could be narrowly tailored in a fashion where Trump would not put out extrajudicial statements that present a serious and substantial danger of materially prejudicing this case. He cited the multiple times Trump has tweeted or made public statements about the 2020 election that targeted people who disagreed with him or aimed to hold him accountable for the alleged crime of election interference. The defendant knows that when he publicly attacks individuals and institutions, he inspires others to perpetrate threats and harassment against his targets, prosecutors said in court documents, CBS reported. Smith told the court comments are a way to prejudice the public and the venire (the jury pool/ public) in advance of trial. His concerns are rooted in very real instances, as the former president has publicly attacked Chutkan herself. Chutkan also has concerns about him just being disrespectful to federal employees working on the case. Trumps legal team countered, arguing that there are rights that he has because he was the head of the country. His presidential candidacy does not give him carte blanche to vilify public servants who are simply doing their jobs, she added. In debate over gag order for Trump before Judge Chutkan this AM, Trump's lawyer is LITERALLY arguing since Trump is a presidential candidate he can NOT have any limits on what he says! Trump's lawyer argues Trump is above the law. Time to treat Trump like any other criminal! (((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) October 16, 2023 The judge did not go as far as to call him a criminal but noted he has criminal charges leveled against him. Mr. Trump is a criminal defendant. He is facing four felony charges. He is under the supervision of the criminal justice system, and he must follow his conditions of release, the judge said at the hearing regarding the gag order. He does not have the right to say and do exactly what he pleases. Do you agree with that? she asked John Lauro, who represents Trump. 100%, Lauro responded. The judge was clear to Lauro and the court that if Trump violates the orders, he will face severe penalties or sanctions. While the gag order does not place limitations on disparaging or negative remarks concerning Washington, D.C., where the jury will be convened, or specific comments about the Justice Department as a whole, many believe it will be a challenge for the brash New Yorker to oblige. How long before Trump violates the gag order? one person asked. How long before Trump violates the gag order? S. Chad Enfreude (@Hells_Cowboy) October 16, 2023 Oh no, Trump can't threaten or harass people in his trial, that's going to cause people not to vote for him. Really? Are you being serious right now? If anything this gag order would help him. Over Dark (@PlaysGames61856) October 16, 2023 In October, the New York judge, Arthur Engoron, in Trumps civil fraud trial, issued a gag order against Trump due to his attack on a member of the judges staff. Read the original story here. Former Cook County Assistant State's Attorneys Nicholas Trutenko, left, and Andrew Horvat listen during their trial on misconduct charges related to the Jackie Wilson prosecution on Oct. 16, 2023, at the courthouse in Rolling Meadows. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune) A Cook County assistant states attorney concealed a decadeslong friendship that he forged with a British con man from whom he secured testimony against Jackie Wilson, prosecutors said Monday, a man who was later exonerated of killing two Chicago police officers after he said he was tortured by detectives working under notorious ex-Chicago police Cmdr. Jon Burge. The strange friendship between a prosecutor and his witness close enough that the prosecutor later became godfather to the witnesss child was front and center as an unusual trial unfolded at a northwest suburban courthouse Monday. Advertisement Two former Cook County assistant states attorneys stood trial on allegations of misconduct connected to a 2020 murder trial for Wilson that imploded when special prosecutors handling the case dropped the charges shortly after learning of the extent of the friendship and the contact between the two men. The former assistant states attorneys, Nicholas Trutenko and Andrew Horvat, are so eager to prove their innocence their attorneys have said, that they demanded a speedy trial at arraignment despite nearly 290,000 pages of evidence in discovery. Advertisement The pair were charged in connection with the prosecution of Wilson who the courts have said was wrongfully convicted, continuing the 40-year chronicle of the case against him, who was charged along with his brother Andrew with killing Officers William Fahey and Richard OBrien in 1982. A court later declared Jackie Wilson innocent after he said he was tortured into a false confession by detectives working under Burge. The brothers allegations against Burges crew were among the first to be documented, helping expose systematic torture of Black men that took place for decades at Area 2 police headquarters. Trutenko, 68, who prosecuted Jackie Wilson more than three decades ago, is charged with perjury, official misconduct, obstruction of justice and violating a local records act in relation to his testimony at Wilsons third trial, in 2020. Horvat, 48, represented Trutenko in that proceeding and is accused of official misconduct. The trial is being held before Lake County Judge Daniel Shanes, who was appointed after a Cook County judge ruled that local judges should be recused due to conflicts of interest. The defendants opted for Shanes, rather than a jury, to decide the case. In his opening statement, special prosecutor Lawrence Oliver II alleged that during Wilsons third trial in 2020, Trutenko hid his 30-year friendship with the con man, William Coleman, who testified against Wilson in his 1989 trial prosecuted by Trutenko. The prosecutor then lied on the stand during that 2020 trial when defense attorneys asked if he discussed Coleman in prep sessions with special prosecutors, Oliver said. Most disturbing is when public officials who are sworn to be guardians of people as well as processes ... fail in their obligations and operate above the law, Oliver said. The case blew up during that third trial amid allegations that Trutenko committed perjury while being asked about Coleman. Special prosecutor Lawrence Oliver II speaks as former Cook County Assistant State's Attorneys Nicholas Trutenko and Andrew Horvat stand trial, Oct. 16, 2023, at the courthouse in Rolling Meadows. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune) Oliver alleged that Horvat, who represented Trutenko, failed to take obligatory and rudimentary steps to avert continued concealment of information about Trutenko and Coleman. Advertisement He argued that this concealment meant that attorneys were not able to locate Coleman, which deprived Wilson of his right to access potentially exculpatory evidence because a judge had ruled that trial transcripts with Colemans 1989 testimony could be read into the record. Trutenkos defense attorneys, though, countered that he was walking into a snakepit of a perjury trap conceived of by Wilsons attorneys. There was a perfect storm forming against him, said Brian Sexton, who represents Trutenko. Sexton said his client misunderstood the question while on the stand, having to recall details about an old case. Instead of attempting to clear it up, Sexton said, the special prosecutors dropped the case. They are throwing the kitchen sink at him, Sexton said. Terry Ekl, who represents Horvat, said during his opening statement that the assistant states attorney, who was assigned by the states attorneys office to represent Trutenko, was bound by attorney-client privilege. Advertisement He owed his undivided loyalty to his client, he said. Late Monday morning, prosecutors called the first witness, Lawrence Rosen, who served as the special prosecutor handling Jackie Wilsons 2020 trial. Rosen was on the stand for hours Monday, fielding heated cross examination from Trutenkos attorneys. A witness for the prosecution, Rosen testified that he sought to call Coleman as a witness, but couldnt locate him after reaching out to Interpol, calling the U.S. Marshals Service and using a private investigator, among other methods. Rosen said he spoke to Trutenko before the then-prosecutor testified during the 2020 trial, and noted in that conversation that they planned to introduce transcripts of Colemans testimony in 1989 because they couldnt locate him. Rosen said most of the roughly 40-minute call concerned Coleman. Rosen testified that Horvat instructed him not to ask about Trutenkos relationship with Coleman, saying its nothing illegal, its nothing unethical, but its just weird. Later, on the stand, Trutenko said he remained friends with Coleman, and spoke to him recently. Advertisement I was stunned, shocked and absolutely could not believe what I was hearing for the first time on the stand, Rosen said. Trutenkos attorneys, though, questioned the competence of the special prosecution team, asking Rosen how dutifully he pursued Coleman and other witnesses. Were you trying to win this case? Jim McKay, one of Trutenkos attorneys, asked Rosen, who replied: Of course. Lawyers have debated how much of the Wilson cases long, tangled history will be allowed during Trutenko and Horvats joint trial. Although Oliver said some related evidence is needed for context, defense attorneys have fought against allowing it, seeking to distance Trutenko and Horvat from the decades-old police misconduct allegations. Jackie Wilsons story saga, whatever you want to call it is absolutely irrelevant here, defense attorney McKay said at a recent court hearing. (Oliver) wants to put on a mini-trial to distract your honor from the charges here. Lake County Circuit Judge Daniel Shanes presides as former Cook County Assistant State's Attorneys Nicholas Trutenko and Andrew Horvat stand trial on misconduct charges, Oct. 16, 2023, at the courthouse in Rolling Meadows. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune) The judge has said he plans to hold the trial on intermittent days because of his busy Lake County court schedule and other judicial responsibilities. The trial will be held just two days this week, then likely wont pick up again until Nov. 6. Advertisement Jackie Wilsons case has taken many twists and turns over its more than 40-year lifespan, beginning with the fatal shootings of Fahey and OBrien, who were shot by Wilsons brother Andrew during a traffic stop. The patrol officers had just attended the funeral of a slain Chicago police officer that morning. Jackie Wilson, then 21, was behind the wheel of the car and was accused of being the getaway driver. He has said he did not know his brother would shoot the officers. In 1989, at Jackie Wilsons second trial, Coleman, the British con man with a long criminal history testified that Wilson had admitted his role in the crime while they were locked up together in the county jail. A judge later determined Wilsons attorneys were not fully informed about a deal given to Coleman in exchange for his testimony. The same judge also ruled that Jackie Wilsons confession had resulted from torture and vacated his conviction, paving the way for him to be tried a third time. Wilson, now 63, spent about 36 years in prison. He was issued a certificate of innocence in December 2020 and has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Chicago, several law enforcement agencies and related parties, including Trutenko, Horvat and the Cook County states attorneys office. Dozens of current and former law enforcement officials have rallied behind Trutenko, raising more than $16,000 for his defense in a GoFundMe campaign, since his indictment was made public. McKay has said Trutenko was a dedicated and honest public servant who is being wrongfully accused. Ekl called the indictment baseless. Advertisement The trial will not have the transparency typically associated with Cook Countys highest-profile cases. Judge Shanes rejected Olivers suggestion that it take place in the Leighton Criminal Court Building, where the case was originally assigned and which has typically hosted the most significant Chicago proceedings. Instead, Shanes is holding the trial at a satellite Cook County courthouse in Rolling Meadows, more than 30 miles from the Leighton Building. The defense teams did not object to moving the trial out of Chicago, but they did not lobby for it either. The move is unlikely to affect the trials outcome, as a jury will not be seated, but it removed the proceeding from the neighborhood in which the alleged crimes took place, making it less accessible to those in Chicago who may have long followed the case. Shanes also has denied repeated media requests to record audio during the trial, another departure for Cook County cases involving criminal charges against law enforcement officials. He has said he will allow a still camera in the courtroom for the first two days of the trial, though he can rescind that permission at any time. The grand jury returned indictments against Trutenko and Horvat in December, but they werent unsealed and made public until March. Wilson on Monday attended the trial of Trutenko and Horvat, despite the long drive from Chicago. Advertisement I think its only fair, Wilson said before the trial began. They came to court for me. I should be there for them. Chicago Tribunes Christy Gutowski contributed. mabuckley@chicagotribune.com sstclair@chicagotribune.com Rudy Giuliani is under legal siege, and apparently doesnt have the money even to pay his lawyers in the cases currently pending against him. And yet, for some reason, Giuliani nonetheless decided to file a new defamation and invasion of privacy lawsuit in New Hampshire against President Joe Biden and several Biden fundraising committees. Can Giuliani possibly win this lawsuit? Giuliani's lawsuit says that during the 2020 presidential debate held in Nashville, Tennessee (and broadcast nationally), Biden accused Giuliani of (1) being a Russian pawn and (2) having lied about the Hunter Biden laptop. On this second point, I dont quite understand how Biden supposedly defamed Giuliani, but you can decide for yourself. Broke Lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis Prove Trump Will Never Run Out of Marks to Con ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The lawsuit says Bidens defamatory statement came during comments with regard to his now famously disproven manufactured claim that the abandoned laptop of Defendant Bidens son contained Russian disinformation. The suit quotes Biden as saying during the debate, hey look, there are 50 former national intelligence folks who said that what this (sic) he is accusing me of is a Russian plant four five (sic) former heads of the CIA both parties (sic) say what he is saying is a bunch of garbage. Nobody believes it except the his (sic) and his good friend, Rudy Giuliani. Biden may soon realize that, when accused of defamation, incoherence can be a potent defense. In any event, where will this lawsuit go, and how should Biden defend it? Giuliani and Biden will almost surely wrangle about procedural stuff before they get to the merits of the lawsuit. Theyll fight about jurisdiction, and venue, and whether the case belongs in state or federal court. But lets forget about those arguments and get to the good stuff: Who will win on the merits of the lawsuit? Did Biden defame Giuliani or did he not? I Testified at the Biden Impeachment Inquiry Hearing, But Found Myself on Trial A court will analyze each supposedly defamatory statement separately. First, was Giuliani actually a Russian pawn? As others have noted, there is some evidence that Giuliani was in fact being manipulated by the Russians during the 2020 election. Just a week before the presidential debate, The Washington Post had reported that U.S. intelligence agencies warned Trump in 2019 that Giuliani was the target of an influence operation by Russian intelligence. Moreover, when Giuliani traveled to the Ukraine, he met with Andriy Derkach, who the Treasury Department later sanctioned for having been an active Russian agent for over a decade, maintaining close connections with the Russian Intelligence Services. I suspect that Biden will find enough evidence to convince a jury that Giuliani was arguably a Russian pawn, and truth is a defense to defamation claims. Bidens statement about the Hunter Biden laptop is word soup, so its hard to say there was anything defamatory tucked in there. Even if a court decided that Bidens words meant something, Biden might have simply inadvertently misstated a fact. First Amendment protections of free speech are at their greatest during presidential debates, so Biden is hardly defenseless. Trumps Overrated Peace Plan Helped Enable the Horrors in Israel and Gaza But parties to a lawsuit don't think only about liability, they also think about the money they'd recover if they won in court. What damages did Biden's alleged defamation cause Giuliani? Giuliani was once a proud figure in American politics, but his reputation has plummeted in recent years. Hes been suspended from practicing law in New York, although no final order of disbarment has been entered. A committee in Washington, D.C., has recommended that Giuliani be disbarred in D.C., although the final decision will be made by the D.C. Court of Appeals. Giuliani has 13 felony counts pending against him in Georgia, and he's an unindicted co-conspirator in the special counsel's case in D.C. And that's just the start. Giuliani has been sanctioned and found liable for defaming two election workers in Georgia. (We'll learn the amount of damages that Giuliani owes those election workers shortly.) A former associate has accused Giuliani of sexual harassment and assault. (She apparently has audio tapes.) Both Dominion and Smartmatic have claims pending against Giuliani for his alleged lies about the 2020 election. Hunter Biden has sued Giuliani for invading his privacy. Giulianis lawyers have sued him for unpaid legal bills. Even Giulianis condo in Florida is now subject to a tax lien. In light of all that, just how badly could Biden have injured Giuliani even if Bidens two statements in the presidential debate were inaccurate and defamatory? If I were defending the New Hampshire case on behalf of Biden, Id take a page from the Trump playbook: Stall the New Hampshire case for as long as possible. Everyone Indicted With Donald Trump in Georgia First, stalling is likely to reduce the amount of damages that anyone would think Biden owes Giuliani for defamation. Within a couple of years, Giuliani may either be forced into bankruptcy or prison (or both) by the cases pending against him. How much money would any jury award a person who had been bankrupted or imprisoned by misconduct independent of what Biden said during the presidential debate? Second, if the New Hampshire case is stalled, the lawyers representing Giuliani may realize that theyre on a fool's errand. Giuliani is apparently not paying his current lawyers. Id guess he isnt paying the lawyers in the New Hampshire case, either; theyre probably handling the case on a contingency fee. Over time, as civil liability or a criminal conviction likely rain down on Giuliani, and the costs of pursuing the New Hampshire defamation case rack up, the lawyers may choose not to pursue the case any further. Here's my prediction: Bidens lawyers will stall the New Hampshire case for a couple of years, and Giuliani will later decide to dismiss that case, both because the case has little value and because Giuliani has more important things to worry about. The final score will be: Biden 1, Giuliani 0. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. A dog recently attacked and seriously injured its owner after being fed a THC-infused gummy in Michigan, an animal control official says. The attack was not provoked, and the owner almost died, Melissa FitzGerald, director of Otsego County Animal Control, told McClatchy News. The owner had the dog for at least three years without any issues, she said. Its a large dog but not a breed commonly responsible for attacks. When animal control responded to the scene and took custody of the dog, they learned the owner had given it a THC gummy, FitzGerald said. My whole reason for getting this out there is to make people more aware of what could happen, she said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Michigan is one of a growing number of states to legalize recreational marijuana, and as it becomes more commonplace, FitzGerald wants pet owners to be aware of the potential risks. THC is the psychoactive component of marijuana that makes users feel high. Pet owners who use cannabis products might think that because using THC feels good for them, it will probably feel good for their dog, too but its not that simple. Marijuana is toxic to many pets, dogs included, according to the Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Exposure to THC can have seemingly harmless effects on dogs, but it can also cause aggression, as well as restlessness, fast heart rate and a variety of other symptoms. The whole point is theres not any warning labels. You hear all about chocolate, you hear all about grapes and raisins, FitzGerald said. Nowhere does it say, Hey, you know what, THC and dogs dont mix. How THC could affect one dog is different than how it might affect another, FitzGerald said. Its not a chance worth taking. You dont know what youre going to get. What it comes down to is they should be kept securely away from pets and kids, she said. Unless your vet says its OK to give something to your pet, dont do it. Otsego County is roughly 240 miles northwest of Detroit. Neglected husky puppies tossed over shelters fence, group says. Now they have a home Mule deer buck attacks woman on basketball court in Colorado park, officials say Dogs bite man more than 30 times as he delivers food to a friend, Mississippi cops say Couple killed by grizzly bear took the proper precautions. Why didnt it save them? In war, truth is the first casualty. Aeschylus, ancient Greek playwright, often described as the father of tragedy. In the midst of conflict, analysts and policymakers should always be aware that words have meaning, and impact on real life events. At home in America, as well as within Israel/Palestine, we have seen how that happens, with disastrous effect. The Islamophobic murder of a young boy in Illinois over the weekend only reminds us how our rhetoric about events happening far away can have deleterious consequences at home. Dad of Palestinian Boy Stabbed 26 Times in Chicago Reveals Last Words ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Against the backdrop of Hamas brutal attacks on hundreds of mostly Israeli civilians this past weekend, Israel is gearing up for an invasion into Gaza, having begun bombardments that have already led to the killing of thousands of mostly Palestinian civilians. Israeli journalist Lisa Goldman described the environment as, the country is going into war psychosis. No thought, no plan beyond revenge So many people will die. But Hamas is not on a remote island in the sea; it is in the Gaza Strip, one of the most densely populated areas in the world. The Israeli military advised Palestinians there to flee in anticipation of bombardment; of course, they had nowhere to flee to. As Israeli and international rights groupsas well as groups such as the Norwegian Refugee Council have notedGaza is an open-air prison, and even UN shelters have been targeted in the Israeli bombardment. But the impression Palestinians could flee provides for disastrous policy prescriptionsfor example, expressing full support for Israeli bombardments, under the understanding Palestinians would be safe elsewhere. Theres no shortage of other base rhetoric that supports yet more abuses and infringements of international law. As Israels president put it, It is an entire nation out there that is responsible (for Saturdays massacre of Israeli civilians). It's not true this rhetoric about civilians not aware, not involved. It's absolutely not true. Palestinians look for their belongings among the rubble of their destroyed houses in Gaza on October 16, 2023. Mustafa Hassona / Getty That kind of discourse merely lays down the ground for complete collective punishment of all Palestinians, no matter where they are, but particularly in Gazaand, thus, a disregard of the line between fighting armed combatants, and safeguarding innocent civilians in one of the most densely populated, and blockaded, areas in the world. Israeli cabinet ministers like Bezalel Smotrich insist that Palestinians with Israeli citizenship are in Israel by mistake, arguing that Israels first prime minister blundered by not expelling them in 1948. Israels defense minister announced Israel will eliminate everything in Gaza. The rhetoric isnt just noise, it leads to actionand that is deeply concerning. It is tempting in Washington and other western capitals to ignore the impact of such rhetoric on policy; but it would be a mistake to provide Israel carte blanche to do your worst. An Israeli soldier near Israels border with Lebanon, October 16, 2023. Lisi Niesner / Reuters British and American politicians consistently disregard the supremacy of international humanitarian law with regards to the targeting of civilians, and redirect to Israels right to defend itself, so Palestinian civilians are no longer really civiliansand inevitably, dehumanized. Early on Oct. 13, Israeli forces informed the United Nations that Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip should relocate some 1.1 million peopleto the south of the territory, in the space of 24 hours. As the United Nations said in response, it is impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences. But to make that kind of policy possible, it is not simply in Israel that we hear dangerous discourse; it is much closer to home, in the U.S. and the U.K., and there are consequences to that rhetoric. Israelis Were Slaughtered, Now Jews Are Threatened Worldwide We are fortunate that in the U.K. and the U.S., anti-semitism has been more or less stamped out of acceptable discourse from our nations politicians and opinion. But anti-Arab bigotry and Islamophobia does not attract the same kind of vehement opposition. A British journalist and newspaper editor, James Simons, declared much of Muslim culture is in the grips of a death cult, confirming that, as a former senior Portuguese politician wrote, Islamophobia has become, morally mandatory for much of the European elite. Indeed, following his outrageous comments, the journalist was invited onto the BBCs Question Time. Palestinians wave the national flag during a march in the West Bank city in Ramallah on October 16, 2023. Jaafar Ashtiyeh / Getty American politicians like Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) declared, this is a religious war level the place (Gaza), while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (a presidential frontrunner) unilaterally labeled all Gazans as anti-semitic, which he argued should bar them from being admitted as refugees into the U.S. It is hard to disassociate that kind of rhetoric with the murder of a Palestinian boy in Illinois this past weekend, where police said his familys landlord murdered him in relation to the ongoing crisis in Israel/Palestine. The six-year-old child was stabbed 26 times. Writer David Klion asks, have we learned nothing, from how rhetoric led to the tragic, ill-advised wars, torture, and other violations of human rights in the aftermath of 9/11, its a poignant question. There is a clear connection between the rhetoric we see, and the policies we uphold. International humanitarian law applies to human beings; when such human beings are dehumanized, as Israeli and Palestinian civilians have been, it is a precursor to their being treated inhumanely. Collective punishment of the Palestinians in Gaza is thus seen as legitimate, including the cutting off of electricity, food, and fuel into Gaza. Israels War Isnt Against HamasIts on the Palestinian People When you tell yourself the lie, it leads to the wrong policy, as former advisor to Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, Daniel Levy, put it. If we hope to have peace and security in this region, and at home, its imperative for policy makers to exhort and demand an adherence to international law, and to disavow any rhetoric that would lay down the grounds for its rejection. President Joe Biden condemned the Islamophobic attack that led to the death of the Palestinian child earlier this weekend, as he should have: but he, and all of us, have to go after the background music that gives fuel to that kind of atrocity, and worse. 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. Former President Donald Trump arrives at a rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. | Charlie Neibergall, Associated Press On Monday, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan imposed a partial gag order on Donald Trump as part of his federal election interference case, prohibiting him from making public statements that target special counsel Jack Smith, his staff, Chutkans staff, and other D.C. court personnel staff, per ABC. Chutkan also extended the gag order to bar him from making statements about potential witnesses in the case and the substance of their potential testimony. Politico reported that Chutkan declined restricting Trumps ability to criticize Washington, D.C., or its residents and his claims the prosecution against him is political. Chutkan commented on the gag order, saying, His presidential candidacy does not give him carte blanche to vilify public servants who are simply doing their job, per Politico. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement In a speech in Iowa Monday, Trump called the gag order unconstitutional. He said, Today a judge put on a gag order. Ill be the only politician in history that runs with a gag order where Im not allowed to criticize people. Can you imagine this, Im not allowed to criticize people. So well see. Well appeal it. And we will see. Its so unconstitutional. The Guardian reports prosecutors have argued Trumps statements about the trial could intimidate people from testifying against him at trial and poison the jury pool. With the gag order, Trump will be able to only say whether he denies charges or not, without further comment. Trumps lawyer, John Lauro, opposed the gag order and deemed it unconstitutional, accusing prosecutors of censoring a presidential candidate in the middle of a campaign, per Time. Chutkan responded, You keep talking about censorship like the defendant has unfettered First Amendment rights. He doesnt. Were not talking about censorship here. Were talking restrictions to ensure there is a fair administration of justice on this case. Trump responded to the gag order on Truth Social, saying in all caps, Will appeal the gag order ruling. Witch hunt! He continued, A terrible thing happened to democracy today gag order! President Joe Biden kicked his once-sleepy campaign into gear. Donald Trump doubled up his GOP competitors. And Ron DeSantis started watching his wallet. The final Federal Election Commission filing deadline of 2023 passed early Monday morning, with the candidates providing a last peek behind the curtain of their campaigns until January. For Trump, DeSantis and the other Republican hopefuls, that will be after Iowa and New Hampshire have voted and likely knocked some of them out of the field if they have the money to make it that far. The reports reflect a critical stretch of the campaign from July through September, a period that includes two GOP primary debates, two new Trump indictments and the start of a Biden battleground-state ad blitz that began in late summer and has continued apace into the fall. Here are five key takeaways from a fundraising period that showed us whos up, whos down and whos barely hanging on: 1. President Joe Bidens campaign ramped up quickly Three months ago, people in Bidens orbit touted their lean campaign, bragging about spending only $1.1 million in the second quarter of this year and having only four staffers on the payroll. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Things have changed quickly. Bidens campaign spent $12.7 million in the third quarter a more than tenfold increase much of it to pay for an early advertising effort to boost his sagging poll numbers. Biden spent nearly $9 million to make and air his campaign spots from July through September, and that spending has continued unabated since. His campaign is still spending more than $1 million a week, on average, to run ads in battleground states, with more than a year to go until the election. The president is also building out his staff, going from four people at the end of June to 38 paychecks issued in the final round of payroll last month. For the quarter, Bidens campaign raised $24.8 million, though his team claimed a combined $71 million haul across his various fundraising vehicles and the Democratic National Committee. That was slightly more than Trump raised last quarter, but the best apples-to-apples comparison comes up short of what Trumps campaign raised ($41 million) and spent ($14.5 million) in the third quarter of 2019, the year before he ran for reelection. 2. Trump has tons of money, but it costs a lot to raise those funds Trumps campaign reported $24.5 million raised in the third quarter, more than double any other candidate in the GOP primary. The former president maintains his commanding lead over the field in just about every way, including fundraising. But the number on his latest FEC report is much smaller than the $45 million figure his campaign touted earlier this month that was raised by his joint fundraising committee, which is his primary fundraising entity. The joint fundraising committee sends 90 percent of its net proceeds the leftover money after covering fundraising expenses to Trumps campaign, while 10 percent goes to Save America, his leadership PAC. For the campaign to receive only about 54 percent of what the joint fundraising committee said it raised, the joint fundraising committee must be spending a lot on fundraising expenses. That tracks with what we already knew: Over the first six months of the year, 38 percent of what the joint fundraising committee raised went toward its own expenditures, not Trumps campaign or his leadership PAC. The joint fundraising committee does not have to file with the FEC until January, so the specifics of its expenses will be murky until then. But the former presidents latest filing suggests that while his team touted strong fundraising driven by merchandise around his Georgia mugshot he continues to have to spend a lot to raise a lot. 3. DeSantis cut back on spending. Will it help him sway donors and voters? The Florida governor was burning through cash in the first few months of his campaign, but appears to have cut back as the quarter went on. No more spending on private jets in the final weeks of September, and the number of staff on payroll dropped 30 percent from the beginning of the quarter to the end. The leaner campaign could appeal to big donors who may be contemplating cutting checks to DeSantis and want to ensure their money will go to good use. But it is also a recognition that his campaign overextended in the early going. Downsizing will help balance the books, but DeSantis is still looking to win votes. There is still no shortage of money supporting his candidacy. The super PAC behind him, Never Back Down, had $97 million in the bank a few months ago. But for DeSantis operation, the past few months were a time of change without obvious polling gains. The question is whether the adjustments will start to pay electoral dividends in the coming months. 4. Three GOP candidates have similar cash on hand but they are trending in different directions Cash on hand, the amount of money in a campaigns bank account, is an important sign of candidates longevity. Those running low on cash, like former Vice President Mike Pence who had just $1.2 million at the end of September risk not having enough money to sustain a campaign through to the Iowa caucuses. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina leads the rest of the pack in terms of cash on hand, with $13.3 million, while DeSantis reported $12.3 million and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley reported $11.6 million in the bank. But each of those come with caveats. Perhaps the biggest is for DeSantis only $5 million of his cash can be used for the primary. The rest, from big donors, is reserved for the general. The South Carolinians are hurt a bit by that, too, but less so: Scott has about $11.7 million available for the primary, while Haley sits on $9.1 million she can use. That would seem to give an advantage to Scott. But his cash total is not exactly the result of prodigious presidential fundraising; the South Carolina senator had $21 million cash on hand at the outset of his campaign, thanks to a massive transfer from his previous well-funded Senate campaign. But he spent $7.8 million more than he raised in the third quarter, which does not suggest financial sustainability. On the flip side, Haley has steadily grown her cash on hand number every quarter since her campaign launch. Her campaign spent only $3.5 million over the past three months while taking in more than $8 million. 5. Democrats have the early money edge in Senate races, but will it last? Democrats 51-49 Senate majority is in grave danger next year, but the partys incumbents are building extensive cash reserves to defend seats in difficult territory. Two of them Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio ($5.8 million) and Jon Tester of Montana ($5 million) raised more than $5 million for races in states Trump carried in the last presidential election by significant margins. Sens. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania ($3.2 million) and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin ($3.1 million) raised over $3 million each in states Biden closely won. And the partys likely nominee in Michigan, another perennial battleground state, Rep. Elissa Slotkin, also raised just under $3 million. In fact, except Arizona, where Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is still deciding whether shell seek a second term after changing her party affiliation from Democrat to independent, the leading Democratic incumbent or candidate in every competitive seat the party currently holds has a cash-on-hand advantage of at least $4 million over the top-funded GOP hopeful. In Michigan, Slotkin has about $4.4 million more than former GOP Rep. Mike Rogers. In Nevada, first-term Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen has $8.8 million to Republican Sam Browns $938,000. But some of those on-paper numbers may overstate the partys financial edge. For example, Casey ended September with $7.4 million in the bank but Republican Dave McCormick just burned through $14.4 million of his own money in his unsuccessful bid for Pennsylvanias other Senate seat last year and could self-fund again in this race. Republican challengers got off to an uneven start. Tim Sheehy, the partys top recruit in Montana, had a good quarter, raising $2.9 million, with $653,000 of that coming from his own wallet. But Sheehy still trails Tester by nearly $12 million, and he could face a costly primary against Rep. Matt Rosendale, who is undecided on the race but was the partys 2018 nominee against Tester. Similarly, Republicans have two self-funders in Ohio, Bernie Moreno and Matt Dolan, who each have at least $5 million in the bank to take on Brown. But theyll likely use a good chunk of that in next springs primary, in which Secretary of State Frank LaRose is also running after raising $1 million last quarter. Democrats most vulnerable seat is undoubtedly in West Virginia, where incumbent Sen. Joe Manchins fundraising slowed. He still has $11.3 million in cash on hand if he chooses to run for another term. Thats way more than either of his Republican opponents, though GOP Gov. Jim Justice may have the capability to self-fund. A brutal attack on a woman last week in downtown Myrtle Beach has raised questions about the citys crime and how police notify residents about such incidents. Myrtle Beach Police posted on its Facebook page Oct. 12 an incident alert that officers had responded to an assault about 4:09 a.m. Oct. 11 in the 800 block of Nance Street and that a victim had been transported to the hospital with injuries. Then on Oct. 13 a plea for the publics help by Crime Stoppers of the Lowcountry and posted to the Myrtle Beach Polices Facebook page identified the incident as a brutal assault on a female victim in a vehicle. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Myrtle Beach woman Starlet Renae Jackson, 59, died Oct. 13 from her injuries, according to the Horry County Coroners Office. The case has been ruled a homicide. No arrests have been made in the case. When asked if people should be concerned about their safety downtown and whether this was an isolated incident, spokesperson Cpl. Christopher Starling responded by email, Currently this is still an active investigation. Starling said if there is any additional information that can be shared with the community, I will put it out as soon as possible. Additional information or details about the case have not been released. A police incident report with scarce details indicated that a knife or cutting instrument had been used in the attack. Myrtle Beach spokesman Mark Kruea did not immediately respond to an email. A phone message left with Jason Greene, president and CEO of Myrtle Beach Downtown Alliance, which has a clean and safe committee, was not immediately returned Monday. Police response to public limited at times There have been previous incidents in which Myrtle Beach Police have not been quick to provide information to the public. A shooting caught on video along the citys busy Ocean Boulevard in April led to a police investigation, but nearly a week after the shooting, a police incident report wasnt filed and police did not release a statement regarding the shooting. Basic information such as if anyone was injured was not released. The incident occurred on a Saturday evening and the boulevard was lined with people, as seen in the video. It wasnt until a Freedom of Information Act request of an email from Police Chief Amy Prock to city leaders with updates on the case that basic information was received. A North Carolina man was arrested about a month later in the case. Myrtle Beach Police also didnt respond to a request from The Sun News for information on the diversity of its police department after several requests spanning more than a month. The information still hasnt been received and the story was published in August. Crime reported in the city Myrtle Beach Police reported in November 2022 that violent crime in the city had decreased by 22% between 2017 and 2021. However, Myrtle Beach has continually been reported as one of the most dangerous cities in America over the years based on FBI crime statistics. Myrtle Beach reported six homicides in 2022, compared to nine in 2021, according to FBI statistics. For all violent crimes, police reported 386 incidents for 2022 and 455 in 2021. For 2020, 496 incidents of violent crime were reported. Boat accidents are frequent in DR Congo due to overloading and a lack of maintenance Rescue workers are searching for 167 people still missing after their boat capsized in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday, officials have said. More than 40 bodies have been recovered while 189 survivors were rescued after the boat sank in the Congo River. The boat was overloaded with more than 300 passengers and cargo, said a civil society group involved in rescue and recovery efforts. Boats are a common mode of transport in DR Congo because of few roads. However, boat accidents are frequent due to overloading, a lack of maintenance and travelling at night. Many passengers also do not wear life jackets. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Officials say that the boat was sailing at night in breach of safety regulations. Prominent DR Congo opposition leader and presidential candidate in December's election, Moise Katumbi, said he was saddened by "this tragedy". He said it was a "direct consequence" of the government "which tolerates the overnight navigation of dilapidated and overloaded boats". UN-linked Radio Okapi reports that the provincial government of Equateur, where the accident happened, said it would provide psychological support for children who were injured in the accident and lost their parents. The radio station said that more than 40 bodies had been so far recovered but the local civil society organisation, Conscious Generation, said that the number was 50. A survivor told Radio Okapi that the boat, which had left the city of Mbandaka for the Bolomba area in north-west Equateur province, stalled and lost balance due to overcrowding. While the crew attempted to rebalance the boat, it overturned with the passengers and cargo before sinking, the survivor added. On Sunday, the vice-governor of Equateur province provided body bags and coffins for the burials of some of the victims. Removing a muffler is one of the first things many car enthusiasts do when they get a new ride. Taking a muffler off a vehicle can improve its performance by slightly increasing its horsepower by allowing higher levels of exhaust fumes to leave the engine. Muffler deletes can also lead to excessive noise, which has been an issue in many areas of North Carolina. A Charlotte resident posted to Reddit earlier this year about loud vehicles causing a disturbance while driving around uptown. I was just eating dinner outside in uptown and it would have been really pleasant if it wasnt for constant extremely loud cars, motorcycles, and those 3 wheeled things circling around uptown, the pose reads. These people arent even going anywhere, just driving up and down the same [expletive] streets. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Heres what state law says about driving without a muffler. Can you drive a car or motorcycle without a muffler in NC? North Carolina state law requires all vehicles (including motorcycles) driven on highways to have mufflers to prevent excessive or unusual noise, annoying smoke and smoke screens. Muffler cut-outs, or openings in exhaust systems that release more noise, are also illegal in North Carolina, state law says. Are mufflers checked during car inspections in NC? Inspectors are trained to look for signs of tampering in exhaust systems, including mufflers, according to Chapel Hill Tire. Cars with any signs of tampering will not pass inspection. The check is part of the states emissions inspection, an initiative designed to limit the amount of pollutants released from motor vehicles. What is the penalty for driving without a muffler in NC? If your car is excessively loud, you could be fined for violating your local noise ordinance, which varies by city. In Charlotte, a $100 fine can be issued after the first noise ordinance violation, according to the city. Fines of $500 and $1,000 can be issued for the second and third violations, respectively. Raleigh residents can be fined $100 for their first noise violation, and $300 for each violation that occurs within a year after the first citation is issued, city law says. A supporter of the presidential candidate Daniel Noboa celebrates his victory during the 2023 presidential elections in Guayaquil, Ecuador, on Sunday. The young businessman Daniel Noboa was proclaimed the winner of the extraordinary presidential elections in Ecuador by winning the second round over Luisa Gonzalez. Photo by Jonathan Miranda/EPA-EFE Oct. 16 (UPI) -- Daniel Noboa, a center-right politician and scion of a banana empire, has been voted Ecuador's next president in an election that was marred by violence and security concerns. According to the National Electoral Council of Ecuador, Noboa of the National Democratic Action Alliance party secured 52.08% of the vote compared to the 47.92% of his rival, leftist politician Luisa Gonzalez of the Citizen Revolution Movement party. At 35 years old, he will be the South American nation's youngest-ever leader. "Today, we made history," Noboa said in a statement on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, after he was announced as winner of the election. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "Ecuadorian families chose the new Ecuador, they chose a country with security and employment. We are pursuing a country of realities where promises do not remain on the campaign and corruption is punished." Gonzalez, who was picked by President Guillermo Lasso to succeed him, has conceded defeat. "To the candidate how president-elect, we offer deep congratulations because it's a democracy; we have never called for a city to be set on fire, we have never come out to shout fraud," she said. Lasso had been elected to a second term in 2021, but resigned in May to avoid impeachment through a constitutional provision that also dissolved congress. Sunday night's election was a runoff that followed Gonzalez and Noboa besting six other candidates in an election held in August. "Today, we must be proud of the country we are," Lasso said in a statement after the election was called. "We exercised our right to vote in peace, demonstrating our determination to protect democracy and advance within the legal framework. And with the same tranquility, the proclaimed results have been accepted, aware that the popular will is what defines the destiny of our country." Noboa, who will now finish the remaining 15 months of Lasso's second presidential term, was a national assembly member until it was dissolved. He is Harvard educated, and comes from a banana empire that includes the Bonita banana brand. According to the electoral council, more than 10 million people in the country of fewer than 18 million voted in the election, representing 82.33% of the voting public. The high turnout occurred despite security concerns, as this year has seen several Ecuadorian politicians killed, with the most notable being the August assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. Six Colombian nations were arrested for his assassination, and authorities earlier this month said all six of them were found dead in their cells. Manta City Mayor Agustin Intriago and Puerto Lopez city mayoral candidate Omar Menendez were also killed since January. Donald J. Trump is a criminal defendant four times over. But hes also, lamentably, the front-runner in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination a contest in which the former president has made his supposed victimization by prosecutors a key issue. Faced with those complexities, U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, who is presiding in Trumps federal case involving attempts to overturn the 2020 election, had to move carefully in deciding whether and how to order Trump to control his outbursts. She seems to be doing so. Read more: Editorial: Trying to overturn an election must have consequences, even for former presidents On Monday, the judge announced that she is imposing a limited order to prevent Trump from attacking prosecutors, witnesses and court officials involved in the case. Chutkan said the order allows the former president to continue to campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination and claim that the case against him is politically motivated. However, he wouldnt be permitted to launch a pretrial smear campaign to intimidate or discredit witnesses or court staff. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The judge was responding to a real concern. In their request for an order, prosecutors cited several inflammatory comments by Trump on social media. They included Trumps description of the special counsel Jack Smith as deranged, a reference to thug prosecutors and a claim that Chutkan was a biased Trump-hating judge. Read more: Editorial: Trump should never return to the White House I cannot imagine any other criminal case where a defendant is allowed to call a prosecutor deranged or a thug, Chutkan said Monday. No other defendant would be allowed to do it, and Im not going to allow it in this case. Of course, Trump isnt any other defendant; hes a candidate for president who is entitled to some latitude in making his case, such as it is, to voters. But neither the 1st Amendment nor Trumps status as a candidate gives him a license to intimidate witnesses or bully court personnel. The possibility that his rants might poison the jury pool is also a legitimate concern, though it can be addressed in other ways, such as careful questioning of prospective jurors. Chutkan wouldnt have had to balance Trumps free-speech rights and the integrity of the judicial system if Trump had kept a civil tongue in his head and refrained from making outrageous accusations. But then he wouldnt have been Donald Trump. Updates: 9:39 a.m. Oct. 17, 2023: This editorial was updated to include a reference and link to the written order. If its in the news right now, the L.A. Times Opinion section covers it. Sign up for our weekly opinion newsletter. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Nation to recruit 39,600 civil servants in 2024 annual intake 08:07, October 16, 2023 By Du Qiongfang ( Global Times People who will take the 2023 national civil service exam, commonly known as guokao, make their last reviews before entering an exam site in Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan Province on January 8, 2023. Some 2.6 million applicants will contend for 37,100 civil servant posts at the organs of and institutions directly under the central government this year. Photo: cnsphoto The application period for China's national public servant exam in 2024 started on Sunday. With the recruitment quota expanding for multiple years in a row, next year is set to reach a new high of 39,600 vacancies available at central agencies and their directly affiliated institutions. Candidates can apply for the exam between Sunday and October 24. The written tests for the general subjects are scheduled to be held simultaneously in municipalities, provincial capitals, autonomous region capitals and some larger cities across the nation on November 26. According to the recruitment announcement released by the National Civil Service Administration, preference for recruiting fresh college graduates will continue. According to the requirements and deployment of the Communist Party China Central Committee and the State Council regarding the employment of college graduates, 26,000 positions will be designated for fresh college graduates to promote their employment. The administration will further strengthen the construction of grassroots civil servant teams with nearly 27,000 posts available at directly affiliated institutions at the county or district level and below. Application conditions for positions in remote and hardship areas have been adjusted appropriately in terms of educational background, major and work experience based on actual conditions. Meanwhile, more than 3,000 positions have been designated for college graduates who have served in the military for over five years or longer and personnel recruitment for grassroots project, in a bid to encourage and direct talent flow to the frontlines and actively promote national defense careers. Over the past three years, the recruitment numbers for national public servants have been continuously increasing from 25,700 in 2021 to 37,100 in 2023, according to thepaper.cn. This expansion in public servant recruitment is the result of increasing demand for public servants as well as adjustments in government responsibilities, which needs more civil servants, Xiong Bingqi, director of the 21st Century Education Research Institute in Beijing, told the Global Times on Sunday. Meanwhile, it also aims to alleviate the current problem of comparatively low employment among fresh college graduates, Xiong said, explaining why the recruitment policy stresses preferential treatment for fresh college graduates. The number of fresh college graduates in China has been continuously increasing over the past few years, breaking the 10 million mark for the first time in 2022 and reaching 11.58 million in 2023. It is expected fresh college graduates will reach a record high of 11.87 million in 2024, according to media reports. In 2023, the Chinese youth unemployment rate rose from 19.6 percent in March to 21.3 percent in June for the 16-24 age demographic, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The NBS has suspended the release of unemployment data by age since July. Compared with applying for positions at companies, the civil servant exam is probably easier for fresh graduates, Xiao Lei, a postgraduate student who majors in Korean translation at a university in Beijing, told the Global Times on Sunday. Xiao has been preparing for the national civil servant exam since August and she will decide which position to apply for based on the ratio of exam participants to recruitment positions for 2024. According to Xiao, all her classmates will apply for the exam and at least half will focus on the civil servant exam wholeheartedly. Even if they fail the national civil servant exam, they will continue to try civil servant exams at local levels, even though their chances may be slim. In 2023, China planned to recruit 37,100 personnel through the national civil servant exam. A total of 1.94 million candidates confirmed their registration, and 1.52 million actually participated in the exam, resulting in a participation rate of about 78.3 percent. The ratio of exam participants to available recruitment positions was approximately 41:1. In 2022, the national civil servant recruitment had 31,200 vacancies. A total of 1.42 million people took the national civil servant exam, resulting in a participation rate of about 81.6 percent. The ratio of the number of exam participants to available positions was approximately 46:1. In 2021, a total of 1.01 million people took the national civil servant exam, through which China planned to recruit 25,700 people, with a participation rate of about 81.3 percent. The examinee-position ratio was approximately 40:1. The fierce competition in the national civil servant exam results from the fact that civil servant positions tend to be more stable, Xiong said, noting that fierce competition also exists in company recruitment which lacks a unified platform to count numbers. Thus, expanding the recruitment of civil servants can create more job opportunities for fresh college graduates and jointly alleviate employment difficulties. Civil service teams can also be optimized through this expansion and provide more services at a higher quality to society, the expert said. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, shakes hands with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant as they arrive to make brief statements to reporters at The Kirya, Israel's Ministry of Defense, on Oct. 16, 2023, in Tel Aviv. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP) On Oct. 7, Hamas, the terrorist group governing Gaza, started a war against Israel with a barbaric attack targeting civilian communities across southern Israel. More than 1,400 civilians were gruesomely slaughtered, including 260 young people attending a peace concert and entire families hiding in their homes, many burned alive. Bone-chilling stories of rape, torture, kidnappings and beheadings have been reported, and, according to U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, were worse than what I saw with (the Islamic State). At least 27 American citizens are confirmed killed, and another 14 remain unaccounted for. Families have been torn apart, including in our community. I have heard from many friends in Israel who have lost loved ones and seen unspeakable horrors. Advertisement Oct. 7 has been called Israels 9/11, but Hamas is not halfway around the world like al-Qaida. Rather, it is entrenched on Israels border. There can be no peace for the Palestinians and Israelis as long as Hamas controls Gaza and remains a threat to Israel. Its important to recognize that Hamas has oppressed the Palestinians over whom they rule for decades before this unspeakable attack. Rather than building schools, hospitals and industry to lift up their own people, Hamas built a terrorist army to destroy Israel and kill Jews. Israel is at war with Hamas, not with the Palestinian people. Advertisement And let me be clear. Israel has not only the right but also the obligation to defend itself. Israel must protect its citizens, secure its borders and rescue its captives, no matter how long it takes. And Israel must destroy Hamas ability to ever again attack Israel like it did on Oct. 7, the worst day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. [ Bob Dold: We cannot forget or forgive Hamas atrocities ] The United States, Congress and the American people stand resolutely with Israel. That has been clearly and beautifully articulated by President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Austin. It has been demonstrated by the immediate assistance the United States has provided Israel, including munitions and Iron Dome interceptors and positioning U.S. ships in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Our relationship with Israel is ironclad. Support for Israel in Congress is steadfast. 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 > I was supposed to be in Israel this past week for a conference to talk about the Abraham Accords. We were supposed to be exchanging ideas for expanding the normalization of relations between the Jewish state of Israel and Arab nations. We planned to be celebrating the beautiful idea codified in the Abraham Accords that Jews and Arabs belong to the land and that by embracing each other, Jews and Arabs can live together in peace. I remain committed to that idea, just as I remain committed to maintaining bipartisan support for Israel in Congress. With several colleagues, I helped introduce a bipartisan resolution in the House (gaining 423 co-signers) condemning this attack and underscoring our deep commitment to Israel. I am leading bipartisan legislation to provide Israel with additional security assistance to support its military in this challenging time. I am pushing to create a humanitarian corridor for safe passage for Palestinian civilians, especially women, children and the elderly. Finally, Ive joined my colleagues to make sure Americans in Israel who need to return to the U.S. have the required assistance from the State Department and that Israelis have early access to the visa waiver program slated to begin at the end of November. Im a founder and co-chair of the Abraham Accords Caucus, and one of my top priorities in Congress has been to work with all parts of our government, as well as Israel and the Arab states, to promote peace in the region. Iran-backed terrorist groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad view peace and normalization in the region as an existential threat to their attempts to destroy Israel and sow chaos throughout the Middle East. Those who cheer Hamas, PIJ and Hezbollah, dance in celebration of the coldblooded massacre of civilians and mock kidnapping, rape and torture, they cast their lot with the barbarians, with the terrorists. It is Hamas that attacked Israel and Hamas that started this war. Israel, with the support of the United States and other democracies such as Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Italy, will make sure Hamas does not win. U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider has represented Illinois 10th Congressional District since 2017. Advertisement Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com. Los Angeles residents would be wise to keep an eye on New Orleans, where saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico is creeping up the Mississippi River and threatening the drinking water supply. Officials are tracking the daily movements of the saline wedge, which was predicted to reach some of the citys water intake valves by Thanksgiving. More recent forecasts hold out hope that most intakes will escape saltwater contamination. The central United States baked in record-breaking heat and suffered through below-average rainfall this summer, dropping the usually mighty Mississippi to extremely low levels for the second year in a row. The greatly diminished flow to the gulf currently lacks the volume to push back the heavy, salt-laden gulf water, which sneaks upstream along the river bottom. Read more: Editorial: Newsom's delta tunnel plan could work but only as part of a more comprehensive water effort At first blush, there might seem few similarities between semi-arid L.A., with its average of just under 15 inches of rainfall a year, and soggy New Orleans, with its annual 62 inches and its setting on one of the worlds greatest waterways. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement But in fact, the two cities have challenges in common because they both get their water from deltas interfaces between fresh river water and salty bays. Parts of Californias delta, east of the San Francisco Bay, look so much like the Mississippi that they were used in movies such as "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." The famous Delta Queen steamboat that now plies the Mississippi was built in Stockton to move passengers and freight in California. Read more: Dead dogs and toxic fish: Welcome to Stockton, a city choking on California water policy Delta water bound for L.A. is pulled by giant pumps into the California Aqueduct to make its way south. When drought or agricultural diversions diminish the flow into the delta from either the Sacramento River to the north or the San Joaquin River to the south, brackish bay water can push its way up the delta toward the pumps. Californias advantage is that the pumps can simply be switched off, so that bay water never comes to L.A.s taps the way gulf water may contaminate New Orleans supply in a few weeks. When the pumps are off, though, Southern California doesnt get any delta water at all. Read more: Editorial: If not this California delta plan, then what? One proposed solution is a bypass a giant tunnel that would take pure Sacramento River water directly to the aqueduct without passing it through the delta. But if some of the river flows through the tunnel, there would be even less freshwater in the delta to push bay water back. Much as salty Gulf of Mexico water currently threatens southern Louisiana, intruding San Francisco Bay brine could wreck groundwater supplies and make cities in the middle of the state, including Stockton, unlivable. Read more: Editorial: Why are we sending precious water downstream for fish in the middle of a drought? Here's why. A common slogan in California agribusiness and among politicians who support it is that water flowing through the delta that could be siphoned off for crops is instead flushed out to sea. The term invokes the ultimate waste as if good, useful water is instead flushed down the toilet in order to protect delta smelt or migrating Chinook salmon. To the contrary, though, healthy rivers keep the sea in its place. Diminish the flow, and saltwater contaminates the drinking water supply and the entire natural system that sustains human populations, not just wildlife. River water that moves downstream while farms go dry and lawns go brown is not waste. New Orleans would be glad to have more water to flush downstream right now. It would keep gulf water in the gulf. Read more: Editorial: When California needs to flush its stormwater out to sea and when it doesn't California water officials in recent weeks released proposed updates to a plan to sustain the delta amid unpredictable climate patterns and rising sea levels. Meanwhile, the delta bypass (state officials prefer to call it a conveyance) is in the midst of complex environmental review. The battle between competing interests is often framed as north versus south, or farms versus fish. Californians should remember that its also a matter of rivers versus the sea. Any state water project or policy worth its salt must permit enough river water to move through the state to ensure that the ocean stays in its place, and that Los Angeles and Stockton, and every place in between never faces the problem that currently confronts New Orleans. If its in the news right now, the L.A. Times Opinion section covers it. Sign up for our weekly opinion newsletter. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. EDMOND, Okla. (KFOR) A local World War II and Korean War Veteran has passed away at the age of 102. Those who met him said they will always remember his captivating stories. And youve heard of Monte Cassino, havent you? You can look 260 degrees downhill. You couldnt get around them, said Lt. Col. Oren Lee Peters during a 2018 interview. Peters, a WWII and Korean War Veteran from Edmond, was doing what he did best, storytelling. Im Sir Knight Lt. Colonel Oren Lee Peters, retired, said Peters. The French made me a knight. Oklahoma World War II veteran receives distinguished medal on 100th birthday ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement After he joined the Oklahoma National Guard when he was still in high school, Peters served in the 45th infantry under General George S. Patton. Specifically, he was in the 179th infantry regiment, which was based out of Edmond, said Denise Neil, the Executive Director of the Oklahoma National Guard Museum, formerly the 45th Infantry Museum. Peters participated in eight major campaigns and four amphibious operations in Italy, France, and Germany. Family-owned bakery in Stillwater delivering free soup to sick OSU students His brother, Art Peters, was also a soldier and the man in the iconic picture of the U.S. soldier laying on Adolf Hitlers bed reading Mein Kampf. [Oren Peters] was heavily involved in the early days of the formation of the museum and helping set up exhibitions, said Neil. His loss is really significant. All of his medals, including two purple hearts, weighed down his uniform. What medals? Silver star, bronze star, commendation, said Peters. However, his most precious trophies are his four children. He was an awesome dad, said his son, Mike Peters. Perfect example for us. Oklahoma teen, officer on scene of major wreck reunite at the hospital; the teen calls him her guardian angel His sons said they didnt hear about their fathers war stories until they became adults. I think it wasnt important for us to know the details, just the results, said Shan Peters, another one of Peters sons. The two men said Peters practiced what he preached. He always said, volunteer,' said Mike Peters. He was a boy scout leader, he was in the rotary club, he was in Kiwanis, hes a mason. Peters died on Saturday from pneumonia and heart failure. He was surrounded by family. Absolutely a full life, at 102, how could you not live a full life? asked Mike Peters. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City. Some parents in Effingham County have grown concerned over law enforcements handling of a student who was arrested for terroristic threats on Sept. 29. But Effingham County Sheriff Jimmy McDuffie said he had no legal authority to detain the youngster, according to guidelines set by the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice. Juvenile services said to take him to the office, fingerprint and take him to his mom, said McDuffie. The only way that we can detain a juvenile is through juvenile services and they make that call whether he is detained. The students whereabouts are unknown and it is unclear if he is on house arrest or was told to stay away from school property. Effingham County Superintendent Yancy Ford said he is not permitted to give out information regarding the juvenile because they are governed by the Georgia Performance Standards. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement More: Administrator for Mary Crocker's estate files lawsuit against Effingham school district Threatening Posts: Effingham County student arrested for terroristic threats Another student arrested for having pocketknife on campus Another student at the same high school was arrested in a separate incident on Sept. 28, after having been found with a pocketknife on the schools property, but according to McDuffie, the 16-year-old who was arrested for terroristic threats was never on campus with a weapon. McDuffie said it is unclear whether the teen had a gun and that he would need to verify the information. However, last week, Brian Bailey, public information officer for the sheriffs department, confirmed that a photo that surfaced online of a young man holding a gun was indeed the student who was arrested for the terroristic threats. Those online threats prompted a concerned parent to contact the Effingham County Sheriff's Department at 5:42 a.m. on Sept. 29, after her daughter expressed concern about attending school. A redacted police incident report stated that the post was made in a Snapchat group page called Effingham County High School 2025. It read, "Y'all didn't seem to get the memo and a bunch of mfs think it's a (blank) or (blank) but it's neither I'll just handle both of em myself" with a picture of an AR-15-style rifle. Another post in a similar group stated, "school being shot up tmr try and stay home." According to the report, the individual was shown the Snapchats and confessed to posting them. He stated he received other texts from other kids that made him mad. When asked how the school plans to crack down on bullying, Ford said, We have a bullying protocol flowchart in accordance with Georgia law that we follow in all cases reported to administration as potential bullying. Sheriff said no gun was found, student made no direct threat To my knowledge they didn't find a gun, said McDuffie. He had a picture of a gun that he sent to a friend but to my knowledge, he never had a gun. All we had was a picture of a gun. He went on to say the students language did not indicate he would carry out what was written online. We don't have any reason to believe that he intended to harm anybody. He just made a comment that the school was going to get shot up. To the best of my knowledge, he never told anyone he was going to shoot or hurt anybody. He did not say he was going to do it or that Johnny or Sally would do it. That's part of the reason he was just detained. There was no direct threat. Still, McDuffie said the incident was dealt with because of the times we are living in. There was never a direct threat to shoot or hurt anybody but even that 10 years ago nobody thought twice about it, said McDuffie. Momma would have been told to tell him to calm down and quit, and that would have been the end of it. But today, you can't do that. School shootings have been a cause for concern for since April 1999, when two 12th grade students killed 12 students and one teacher at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado. According to usafacts.org, there have been more than 750 shootings at K-12 schools that resulted in injuries or death since 2000, including West Nickel Mines Amish School in 2006, Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018 and Robb Elementary School in 2022. According to Sandy Hook Promise, a national nonprofit dedicated to combating gun violence, 80% of all school shooters tell someone or post online about their plans, but in the majority of cases, the people and authorities around them thought they were "joking." Latrice Williams is a general assignment reporter covering Bryan and Effingham County. She can be reached at lwilliams6@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: effingham county sheriff mcduffie breaks silence on school incident The Egyptian authorities have received lists of Ukrainian citizens for evacuation from the Gaza Strip. Source: Dmytro Lubinets, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, on air of the national joint 24/7 newscast Quote: "The evacuation of Ukrainian citizens will be a priority for the Egyptian authorities. These are the direct words of Deputy [Foreign Minister for Protection of Human Rights] Khalid El-Bakli. I spoke to him yesterday. Today, at 12:00, our ambassador handed him the lists, where he once again confirmed that the Egyptian authorities are now working to open the Rafah checkpoint as quickly as possible, for civilians to be evacuated through it. But as of now I spoke with our ambassador 10 minutes ago there is currently no official information about the opening of the crossing point. And the Egyptian authorities have not yet permitted evacuation groups to approach this crossing point. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Ukrainian side has already made all the technical points, completing the list of necessary means for evacuating our citizens. As for the lists, they are growing, and the number of Ukrainian citizens who are asking for help to be evacuated from the Gaza Strip is growing. Additionally, men who are also citizens of Ukraine, who seek help, began to appear on the list." Details: Lubinets added that more than half of all Ukrainians who asked for evacuation know that evacuation will occur through the Rafah crossing point, and more than a half of them are already close to this crossing point. First and foremost, these are citizens whose homes have been destroyed, and sometimes, they just walk to this crossing point with their children. The rest of the Ukrainians were informed that as soon as there is information about the checkpoint opening, they need to find an opportunity to get there as quickly as possible. According to Lubinets, the evacuation will occur exclusively through one crossing point. Background: On 12 October, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) told the residents of the northern part of the Gaza Strip they had 24 hours to evacuate further south for their safety and warned it would continue strikes against Hamas militants in Gaza. The Rafah crossing is situated on the border between Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and Hamas-controlled Gaza, in the south of the enclave. Earlier, the media wrote about its closure due to Israeli strikes. However, Egypt claims that the Rafah crossing is open, and evacuation is impossible due to Israeli bombing. The Israel Defence Forces have claimed that Hamas militants are blocking the evacuation of Palestinians from the northern Gaza Strip. On 14 October, Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraines Human Rights Commissioner, has arrived in Cairo, Egypt, to help organise the evacuation of Ukrainian citizens from the Gaza Strip. 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! French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna and her Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry both called for aid to be delivered to the Gaza Strip (ALAIN JOCARD) Egypt and France's foreign ministers urged Monday the delivery of humanitarian aid and the exit of foreign nationals from the bombarded Gaza Strip, on the tenth day of war between Israel and Hamas. "Those who want to leave Gaza must be able to do so," France's Catherine Colonna said, urging the opening of crossing points. Egypt controls the Rafah border crossing, the only passage in and out of the Gaza Strip not controlled by Israel. A US official had told AFP Saturday that Egypt and Israel had reached an agreement for American citizens to leave through Rafah. But Cairo's top diplomat Sameh Shoukry told reporters Monday that Egypt had "repeated its request to Israeli authorities for humanitarian aid to pass through". ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Shoukry said there was "nothing new, which is a dangerous matter considering the new needs that the Palestinian people in Gaza are being exposed to". Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement Monday that "there is currently no ceasefire and humanitarian aid in Gaza in return for removing foreigners". By Monday afternoon, the crossing remained closed, locking convoys of aid on one side of the border, and fleeing Palestinians and foreigners on the other, according to AFP correspondents and witnesses. AFP correspondents also reported that the area of the crossing was hit by another military strike on Monday. The UN has repeatedly warned of the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, where Israel has declared a "complete siege", cutting off basic supplies to the territory's 2.4 million people. Since October 7, some 2,750 people in Gaza have been killed by Israeli air strikes, launched in retaliation for a Hamas militant attack that killed 1,400 in Israel. According to the United Nations, a million people have been displaced inside Gaza, where Colonna said "civilians must be protected and their essential needs met". She announced that France "is going to mobilise 10 million euros ($10.5 million) for the people of Gaza". As diplomatic overtures yield little success, she said Paris "welcomes Egypt's initiative" for an international summit on the conflict. She said it would "show that there is a political horizon that can take into account Israel's right to security and the Palestinians' right to a state". Egypt was the first Arab state to forge a peace deal with Israel in 1979 and has historically played a key role in mediating between Israeli and Palestinian officials, particularly during conflicts with Hamas. Colonna said the "weight of the conflict must not fall on Egypt", which has faced calls to accept refugees from Gaza. Cairo has rejected such calls, warning of a fresh forced displacement of Palestinians and instead urging restraint and diplomatic efforts for deescalation. dt/sbh/bha/it/phz Gaza aid stuck as Egypt says Israel not cooperating A view of trucks carrying humanitarian aid for Palestinians By Yusri Mohamed, Nadine Awadalla and Tala Ramadan ISMAILIA, Egypt (Reuters) - Egypt said on Monday that Israel was not cooperating with delivery of aid into Gaza and evacuations of foreign passport holders via the only entry it does not wholly control, leaving hundreds of tonnes of supplies stuck. Cairo says the Rafah crossing, a potentially vital opening for desperately-needed supplies into the Israeli-besieged Palestinian enclave, is not officially closed but is inoperable due to Israeli air strikes on the Gaza side. As Israel's bombardment and siege of Gaza has intensified, the territory's 2.3 million residents have been left without power, pushing health and water services to the brink of collapse, with fuel for hospital generators running low. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "There is an urgent need to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza," Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told reporters, adding that talks with Israel had not been fruitful. "Until now the Israeli government has not taken a position on opening the Rafah crossing from the Gaza side to allow the entrance of assistance and exit of citizens of third countries." U.S. officials were still hoping that Rafah would operate for a few hours later on Monday, White House spokesman John Kirby said, noting that earlier hopes had been "dashed". Gazans have been under siege since Israel launched its most intense bombardment and blockade ever following a devastating cross-border assault by Islamist Hamas militants on Oct. 7. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been displaced within Gaza, with some taking cars and suitcases south towards the Rafah crossing but others heading back north after failing to find refuge. "On our way to the crossing they shelled Rafah Street and we started screaming," said one resident near the crossing, Hadeel Abu Dahoud. "Nowhere is safe in Gaza." DISPLACEMENT FEARS Like others, Egypt has spoken out against any mass exodus of Gaza residents, reflecting deep Arab fears that the latest war could spark a new wave of permanent displacement for Palestinians from lands where they have sought to build a state. Early on Monday, two Egyptian security sources had told Reuters a temporary ceasefire in southern Gaza to last several hours had been agreed to facilitate aid and evacuations at Rafah. However, Egyptian state TV later quoted a unnamed, high-level source as saying that no truce had been agreed. Hamas official Izzat El-Reshiq told Reuters that reports of a deal to open the crossing were untrue, and Israel also denied them. On the ground at Rafah, one source said the Egyptian side of the crossing was ready. Shoukry said Egypt aimed to restore regular access through Rafah, including for Palestinians seeking medical treatment or normal travel. Hundreds of tonnes of aid from NGOs and several countries were waiting on trucks in the nearby Egyptian town of Al-Arish for conditions to allow entry to Gaza, according to two sources there and a witness. "We are waiting for the green light for the aid to enter and dozens of volunteers are ready at any time," a Red Crescent official in northern Sinai said. Separately, Reuters video showed U.N.-flagged fuel trucks appearing to leave Gaza for Egypt through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing. Movement of goods and people through Rafah has been tightly controlled under a blockade of Gaza imposed by Israel and Egypt since 2007, and only registered travellers can cross. (Reporting by Ahmed Mohamed Hassan in Cairo, Dan Williams in Jerusalem, Yusri Mohamed in Ismailia, Nidal Al Mughrabi in Gaza, Nadine Awadalla and Tala Ramadan in Dubai; Additional reporting by Aidan Lewis in Cairo; writing by Nafisa Eltahir; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Toby Chopra and Andrew Cawthorne) The weekend stabbing death of a 6-year-old Muslim boy and wounding of his 32-year-old mother allegedly at the hands of a landlord upset about the escalating war between Israel and Hamas drew swift condemnation from politicians across Chicagoland and the nation. Hours after the charges were announced Sunday, President Joe Biden said he was sickened to hear of the brutal murder of Wadea Al-Fayoume and the serious wounding of his mother, Hanaan Shahin. This act of hate against a Palestinian Muslim family has no place in America, Biden wrote in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter. As Americans, we must come together and reject Islamophobia and all forms of bigotry and hatred. I have said repeatedly that I will not be silent in the face of hate. We must be unequivocal. Joseph Czuba, 71, of Plainfield, was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crimes and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon in a senseless and cowardly act, the Will County sheriffs office said in a news release Sunday. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Detectives were able to determine that both victims in the Saturday morning attack were targeted by Czuba due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis, the release said. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that hes heartbroken over the attack and said the Justice Department has opened a federal hate crimes investigation into the incident. Garlandsaid Czuba attacked the family with a military-style knife. The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the attack and will use every legal authority at our disposal to bring to justice those who perpetrate illegal acts of hate, he said. This incident cannot help but further raise the fears of Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian communities in our country with regard to hate-fueled violence. The Department of Justice is focused on protecting the safety and the civil rights of every person in this country, Garland said in a Sunday statement. We will use every legal authority at our disposal to bring to justice those who perpetrate illegal acts of hate. No one in the United States of America should have to live in fear of violence because of how they worship or where they or their family come from. The attack is also being investigated by the Chicago FBI Field Office. Noting the Justice Department investigation, Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement that we unequivocally condemn hate and Islamophobia and stand with the Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim American communities. The Biden-Harris Administration will continue working to protect our communities against hate and senseless violence. Following news of the stabbings, Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who is Jewish, released a statement condemning the stabbings and saying that the Illinois State Police had reached out to the Illinois Muslim community and other religious leaders. To take a six-year-old childs life in the name of bigotry is nothing short of evil. Wadea should be heading to school in the morning. Instead, his parents will wake up without their son. This wasnt just a murder it was a hate crime. And every single Illinoisan including our Muslim, Jewish, and Palestinian neighbors deserves to live free from the threat of such evil, Pritzker said in the statement. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson was expected to attend the boys funeral Monday at 1 p.m. at Bridgeviews Mosque Foundation. This despicable hate crime is a shameful reminder of the destructive role Islamophobia plays in our society, Johnson wrote in a statement. State Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid, the first Palestinian American state representative in Illinois, said the stabbings were the result of the dehumanizing, one-sided media coverage of Palestinians and irresponsible statements from elected officials. I call on President Biden, elected officials, and all people of good conscience to condemn this heinous killing and to call for immediate ceasefire in Gaza so that no more of our children are killed here in Illinois or in Palestine and Israel, Rashid said in a statement on X. Illinois House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch said in a statement on X that reports indicating that the crime was motivated by a bigoted misinterpretation of world events makes this tragedy a reprehensible act of hate. Our diverse state of many faiths and backgrounds is united in condemning this hateful violence, and praying for the safety of all of our neighbors. State Rep. Bob Morgan, chair of the Illinois Legislative Jewish Caucus, said on X: This is devastating news and must be universally condemned by all. Our Jewish and Palestinian communities in (Illinois) are already broken after this week. Illinois will never, ever accept this evil, and (we) must all do our part to keep our neighbors safe. U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood, whose district includes Plainfield Township, where the stabbing occurred, described Wadea in a statement on X as a beautiful Palestinian-American boy who was taken from our community in an unacceptable attack rooted in bigotry and hate. We are a community that thrives because of our diversity, and every one of our neighbors deserves to feel safe, she said. Tribune staff reports. CHICAGO The weekend stabbing death of a 6-year-old Muslim boy and wounding of his 32-year-old mother allegedly at the hands of a landlord upset about the escalating war between Israel and Hamas drew swift condemnation from politicians across the nation. Hours after the charges were announced Sunday, President Joe Biden said he was sickened to hear of the fatal stabbing of Wadea Al-Fayoume and the serious wounding of his mother, Hanaan Shahin. This act of hate against a Palestinian Muslim family has no place in America, Biden wrote in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter. As Americans, we must come together and reject Islamophobia and all forms of bigotry and hatred. I have said repeatedly that I will not be silent in the face of hate. We must be unequivocal. Joseph Czuba, 71, of Plainfield, was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crimes and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon in a senseless and cowardly act, the Will County sheriffs office said in a news release Sunday. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Detectives were able to determine that both victims in the Saturday morning attack were targeted by Czuba due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis, the release said. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that hes heartbroken over the attack and said the Justice Department has opened a federal hate crimes investigation into the incident. Garland said Czuba attacked the family with a military-style knife. The Justice Department is investigating the attack and will use every legal authority at our disposal to bring to justice those who perpetrate illegal acts of hate, he said. This incident cannot help but further raise the fears of Muslim, Arab and Palestinian communities in our country with regard to hate-fueled violence. The Department of Justice is focused on protecting the safety and the civil rights of every person in this country, Garland said in a Sunday statement. We will use every legal authority at our disposal to bring to justice those who perpetrate illegal acts of hate. No one in the United States of America should have to live in fear of violence because of how they worship or where they or their family come from. The attack is also being investigated by the Chicago FBI Field Office. Noting the Justice Department investigation, Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement that we unequivocally condemn hate and Islamophobia and stand with the Palestinian, Arab and Muslim American communities. The Biden-Harris Administration will continue working to protect our communities against hate and senseless violence. Following news of the stabbings, Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who is Jewish, released a statement condemning the stabbings and saying that the Illinois State Police had reached out to the Muslim community and other religious leaders. To take a 6-year-old childs life in the name of bigotry is nothing short of evil. Wadea should be heading to school in the morning. Instead, his parents will wake up without their son. This wasnt just a murder it was a hate crime. And every single Illinoisan including our Muslim, Jewish and Palestinian neighbors deserves to live free from the threat of such evil, Pritzker said in the statement. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson was expected to attend the boys funeral at 1 p.m. Monday at Bridgeviews Mosque Foundation. This despicable hate crime is a shameful reminder of the destructive role Islamophobia plays in our society, Johnson wrote in a statement. State Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid, the first Palestinian American state representative in Illinois, said the stabbings were the result of the dehumanizing, one-sided media coverage of Palestinians and irresponsible statements from elected officials. I call on President Biden, elected officials and all people of good conscience to condemn this heinous killing and to call for immediate cease-fire in Gaza so that no more of our children are killed here in Illinois or in Palestine and Israel, Rashid said in a statement on X. Illinois House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch said in a statement on X that reports indicating that the crime was motivated by a bigoted misinterpretation of world events makes this tragedy a reprehensible act of hate. Our diverse state of many faiths and backgrounds is united in condemning this hateful violence and praying for the safety of all of our neighbors. State Rep. Bob Morgan, chair of the Illinois Legislative Jewish Caucus, said on X: This is devastating news and must be universally condemned by all. Our Jewish and Palestinian communities in (Illinois) are already broken after this week. Illinois will never, ever accept this evil, and (we) must all do our part to keep our neighbors safe. U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood, whose district includes Plainfield Township, where the stabbing occurred, described Wadea in a statement on X as a beautiful Palestinian American boy who was taken from our community in an unacceptable attack rooted in bigotry and hate. We are a community that thrives because of our diversity, and every one of our neighbors deserves to feel safe, she said. Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant said Illinois State Police officers are working with local law enforcement to monitor any potential extremist activities following the hate crime. At a time when tensions in the community can run high, I am asking residents to remain on alert. If you become aware of anyone who is threatening others, please contact law enforcement immediately, she said. ____ Chapel Hill will elect a new mayor and four Town Council members this year, giving voters a chance to check or continue the towns current management and growth. Council member Amy Ryan is the only incumbent seeking re-election. Council members Michael Parker and Tai Huynh will vacate their seats in December. Council member Jessica Andersons seat is also open, as she runs against Council member Adam Searing to replace outgoing Mayor Pam Hemminger. Searing is supported by a bloc of four council candidates who have pledged to reverse some town decisions about housing and development. Searing will remain on the council until December 2025 if he loses the mayoral race. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Searing-aligned candidates David Adams, Renuka Soll, Elizabeth Sharp and Breckany Eckhardt are competing against Ryan and five others Melissa McCullough, Jeffrey Hoagland, Erik Valera, Theodore Nollert and Jon Mitchell to fill four council seats. Early voting in the nonpartisan Nov. 7 election starts Oct. 19 and runs through Nov. 4.. To find polling places and full details on early voting, visit co.orange.nc.us/1720/Elections or contact the Board of Elections at 919-245-2350 or vote@orangecountync.gov. Name: Elizabeth Sharp Age: 45 Occupation: Restaurant owner Education: Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, University of Virginia; Master of Arts in English Literature, Tulane University; Associate in Occupational Studies in Culinary Arts, California Culinary Academy. Political or civic experience: Activism and volunteerism with Lillians List, Neighbors on Call, and Planned Parenthood. School PTA President, School Improvement Team member, and school fundraising. I am also a small, local, brick-and-mortar business owner who understands the needs of these kinds of businesses in our community. Campaign website: elizabethsharp.org What do you think the towns top three priorities should be? Choose one and describe how you will work to address it. Re-adjust our budget priorities to make sure maintenance of core services like our police and fire departments and parks is never neglected. Push developers to give us well-designed spaces that incorporate affordability, address the needs of small business, and is actually better than what was there before. Work with the university to address our towns housing needs. The university is our biggest employer and a major landowner, but the fact that they pay no property tax to the town leaves a major hole in our fiscal resources to fund things like permanently affordable housing. They MUST play a larger role in providing housing for students, faculty and staff. What do you think the town is doing right to create more affordable housing? What would you do if elected? Because I believe that we have to address housing affordability OUTSIDE the market, I think the best thing the town currently does is work with nonprofits like EmPowerment, Habitat for Humanity, and the Community Home Trust. Our efforts should be concentrated on organizations like those and other non- and limited-profit solutions. If the structure of the towns recently passed single-family zoning text amendment was applied solely to organizations like these, so that it would guarantee an increased supply of affordable, workforce housing, it would have been a good measure. As it is, it will only provide more market-rate student housing that is out of reach for the people who need it. Do you support keeping Orange Countys rural buffer, where the lack of water and sewer limits growth? How do you see the town growing with or without the buffer? I am very much in support of the rural buffers goal of limiting sprawl and preserving green space. In the 40-plus years since it was enacted, however, our housing needs have changed dramatically. I think in the future we will need to find a middle ground, where we allow water and sewer access for dense housing to be built along well-serviced transit corridors, in conjunction with regulation to restrict suburban sprawl. However, that should be secondary to measures to densify land already served by our existing utilities with affordable housing options. Would you consider a tax increase to pay for rising costs and delayed public projects? If not, what specific changes to the towns budget would you support? Chapel Hill has the highest taxes in the region and has just approved a historically high tax increase. I dont oppose tax increases, but we should be seeing more value for our money. Neighboring cities have lower taxes and better amenities, and their core services are in better shape. You wouldnt build an addition on a house if you couldnt pay the mortgage. Similarly, we absolutely need to ensure that we are stabilizing our basic town needs, like emergency services and road maintenance, before we attempt to fund other projects, as much as we might want to solve the problems those projects address. We just have to take care of the basics first. How can the town bring people together who have different viewpoints to find workable solutions? Our elected town representatives need to be a model for compromise. They must listen to and genuinely try to understand the needs of the residents who come before them without judgment. Right now, our established majority is entrenched in their own specific ideology and goals. Leaving the question of rightness aside, its imperative to understand that everyones different perspective comes simply from their own life experience. If we can be gracious about that, we might be able to explain ourselves, understand each other, and arrive at mutually beneficial solutions. Stonewalling and vilifying gets us absolutely nowhere. The Orange Report Calling Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough readers. Check out The Orange Report, a free weekly digest of some of the top stories for and about Orange County published in The News & Observer and The Herald-Sun. Get your newsletter delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday featuring stories by our local journalists. Sign up for our newsletter here. For even more Orange-focused news and conversation, join our Facebook group "Chapel Hill Carrboro Chat." Multi-hyphenate billionaire Elon Musk has once again signaled his love for novelist George Orwell without, it seems, realizing the author's well-known far-left political stance that directly contradicts his own worldview. In a Friday the 13th post, the owner of the social network formerly known as Twitter who blames communism for why his daughter won't talk to him anymore said that he is "loving" a new shirt that featured the all-seeing "Big Brother" eye from "Nineteen Eighty-Four," the British author's best-known work that serves as a cautionary tale against totalitarianism and surveillance. Underneath the eye on the shirt are the words "What would Orwell think." What he'd probably think, if he was alive today? That it's weird that an industrialist as anti-communist as Musk would be promoting his work, since Orwell himself was such an avowed democratic socialist that he literally fought fascists in the Spanish Civil War and wrote a book about it. Orwell's socialism is so well-known, in fact, that earlier this year Stanford University Press published a book about his views titled "The Socialist Patriot." Socialism was pretty much Orwell's main thing but for whatever reason, that seems to have been lost in translation for Musk. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement By contrast, Musk's politics which are sloppy at best and self-serving at worst would by any definition be far to the right of Orwell's. Just look at his regressive thinking on issues ranging from transgender rights and race relations to union busting and the unfettered capitalism he practiced to become the world's richest person. https://twitter.com/dieworkwear/status/1713018209828528216 This isn't the first time the South African-born billionaire has broadcasted his Orwell fandom. In July, he posted a photo, sans caption, of himself wearing a green hat that says "Make Orwell Fiction Again," another idiomatic reference to a very different cultural meme. In an astute read on the situation, one Reddit user observed that Musk seems to have adopted 1984 as part of his personal brand as part of his turn towards right-wing culture wars and conspiracy theories. It's not the first time Musk seems to have broadly missed the point of one of his favorite books. As the New Yorker pointed out in an excoriating essay, Musk's cherished "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" books by Douglas Adams aren't a celebration of his galaxy-conquering dreams but a "razor-sharp satiric indictment of imperialism." Political science has often seemed to beguile Musk, especially when he invokes leftist vocabulary in ways that make him sound confused. Back in the summer of 2018, for instance, when he was worth a mere $21 billion and his desire to buy Twitter was just a twinkle in his eye, Musk claimed on the social network that he was "a socialist." "Marx was a capitalist," he quipped in followup "He even wrote a book about it," he added, presumably referring to Karl Marx's searing indictment of capitalism titled "Das Kapital." "By the way, I am actually a socialist," Musk continued in the 2018 thread. "Just not the kind that shifts resources from most productive to least productive, pretending to do good, while actually causing harm. True socialism seeks greatest good for all." Is that good for all served by buying one of the world's largest social networks and letting it become a cesspool of right wing extremism and misinformation? We'll let readers decide. But the reality, of course, is that anyone who's really understood "Nineteen Eight-Four" knows that George Orwell wouldn't be able to stand a control freak power tripper like Elon Musk. More on Musk: Elon Musk Is in Big Trouble Over the Israel-Palestine Violence Tom Skilling, longtime WGN-TV chief meteorologist, at his Edgewater home on Jan. 16, 2021. He announced his retirement recently during the evening news. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune) The singular popularity of Tom Skilling, WGN-TVs chief meteorologist for 45 years and long also a fixture on this newspapers weather page, has been discussed in our newsroom for years. There have been many theories. Did it flow from his genuine meteorological expertise in a field where many come and go and just read from scripts? Was it a consequence of his weird love of big weather events, even as most of us desperately try to stay away from them? What role did his benign goofiness play? His joy in answering questions from his fans? Advertisement All of the above, for sure. But well add his journalistic integrity to that list, including a willingness to note the impact of climate change, when his forecasting showed it was merited. Whatever changes happen in the fields of newspapers and television, the trusted, friendly expert whose words youve read, or whose face you have seen, for decades remains a media companys core asset. Advertisement People are upset that Skilling announced his retirement Thursday because they worry they will see less of a friend. We wish Tom fair winds and following seas and note that his decision to exit at the end of February is very apropos of the man we know. He gets to describe another Chicago winter and help us to the other side. 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. The Energy Ministry refuted social media reports alleging that scheduled blackouts have been introduced in Ukraine, a practice widely used last winter during Russias campaign of mass strikes against the countrys energy system. In its Oct. 16 Telegram report, the ministry said that power cuts are not planned anywhere in Ukraine as the current level of electricity production is sufficient for the population. The blackouts are possible only in case of massive Russian attacks resulting in damage to the countrys energy infrastructure, technical issues, or adverse weather conditions, according to the report. Read also: With winter approaching, is Ukraines energy system ready for renewed Russian attacks? ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Energy Ministry appeals to citizens to be vigilant and use only official and reliable information. Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said on Oct. 12 that Russian mass attacks in the coming winter may lead to blackouts, but they will be only short-lasting. On Oct. 8, the Ukrainian Air Force warned that Russia would likely launch a record number of drones against Ukraine as it seeks to destroy the country's energy infrastructure. Moscow attempted such a strategy during the fall and winter of 2022-2023, which led to frequent blackouts and a lack of heating across the country. Read also: Ukrainian energy company on Russias attacks on infrastructure: No system in the world has faced the same Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Many LGBTQ+ people of a certain age dont look back fondly at the 80s, but there was one bright spot then lesbian bars were ubiquitous among the urban landscape, with well over 200 operating in 1987. Now, only a few dozen remain. Journalist Krista Burton, creator of the blog Effing Dykes, embarked on a post-COVID mission to visit some of these remaining oases of queer community and what she was found, professionally and personally, was profound. Her new book on the experience, Moby Dyke, takes lucky readers on the trip; read an excerpt below. Its ok, I said aloud, my breath puffing into the icy night air. Its going to be fine. It was Saturday night, and I was in Bloomington, Indiana, walking to the Back Door, the states only lesbian bar, by myself. I was going to a drag show there; Id seen a poster advertising the event. I was both excitedmy first drag show in two years!! I hadnt seen one since before the pandemic!and being a little stuck up about it. Really, my first drag show was going to be in Bloomington? What would this be like? I was tired. Id spent the last four consecutive nights at lesbian bars across the Midwest. I also felt nervous to go to the Back Doors drag show alone. And I knew why I was nervous: college students. Bloomington was nothing but college students. I hadnt yet seen a person over twenty-two years old, unless they owned a shop in town. And while Im not actually that old, you have to understand: in queer culture, especially in the bars, Im definitely considered an elder queer. I was going to be the oldest person at the Back Door by a large margin. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement And so far, on the lesbian bar trips, Id been OK with the fact that I was thirty-eight and few others were, wherever I was. But that night, venturing out alone, I felt suddenly almost forty, which hits different, walking with no friends under the streetlights in a dress that was too tight maybe, too dressed up, too not-right. Almost forty, I thought, tugging on my dress. What am I doing here? And then, on top of feeling self-conscious and old and inappropriately dressed, I felt bad for age-shaming myself. Theres no such thing as age-appropriate, I scolded myself as I walked. Its not a thing. Just me and my thoughts, heading to a lesbian bar near you! People were smoking on the patio at the Back Door. Music thumped from inside. Masked and steeling myself for a sea of very! young! faces!, I walked in. And there was a mixed bag of people in there! Of course there was! People older than me, younger than me, people about my age. It was also racially diverse, which was a nice change for the Midwest. I looked around, smiling under my mask, suddenly feeling stupid for worrying about being too old for the Back Doorwho cared? This was a dyke bar. I felt like I belonged there; that everyone in the bar belonged there. I headed to an open back table and set down my winter coat, feeling happy. The Back Door looks cute at night. The walls are black and white, spray-painted zebra stripes, and the decor is tacky-on-purpose, all black velvet paintings of unicorns and pictures of Dolly Parton surrounded by feather boas and famous drag queens in glitter frames. In the bathroom, I noticed my stall had the word FAGS scratched into the paint in a heart shape. I was home. I went to get a drink. The Back Door has the best drink names Ive ever seen. There was a drink called Two in the Pink and another called One in the Stink, which contained Skyy Cold Brew Coffee Vodka & Kahlua & Cream. Another was called Citron My Face. I ordered it immediately. The place was filling up. A large group of sorority-looking students with uniformly long, loosely curled hair came in with what looked like a single token gay boy in tow. Several nervous-looking babyqueers nabbed the last few high-tops. I smiled at one, and they looked startled, and then smiled back bashfully and slid their hand to the back of their hair. A drag queen wearing an enormous blond beehive sailed out of the stage wings. Clearly the emcee, dressed in a tight, champagne-colored, crushed velvet floor-length dress with a matching stole, she began making her rounds, being careful to get to every table, a good sign she was out for blood for tips. I love that energy. Nothing like a little warm eye contact and friendly gay chitchat with each table to make every patron feel like theyre personally responsible for tipping. She came up to my table and tapped my notebook with her nails. You ready to have a good time tonight? she purred. No more homework, OK? Im writing about this show, I stammered, looking at her in the worshipful way everyone looks at drag queens, helpless in the face of a deity on earth. OK, honey. Her cheekbones gleamed with gold shimmer highlighter. She glided to the next table, and I let out a breath I didnt know Id been holding. The two full years since Id last seen a live drag show were a long time to wait, I realized. Two YEARS! Id missed this! A queen, Miss Thang, came out onstage to Rihannas Love on the Brain and the show began. And holy cow, did it feel fantastic to sit in the dark watching a drag show in Bloomington, Indiana. Ten seconds into the song, Miss Thang flipped her high, shiny, black ponytail over her shoulder and slipped out of a fur coat, winking at the audience. I teared up. It was instant. She was beautiful, lip-synching perfectly, and went around collecting tips, air-kissing people, touching their outstretched fingers full of dollar bills. Jesus. I hadnt realized how much Id missed Normal Gay Stuff during the pandemic. But this drag show wasnt normal, I was realizing. The second number was just as good, and the third was even better, and every seat was full, with more and more people streaming through the door and packing the line at the bar and calling to their friends and cheering wildly for each performer. This was a great drag show! Most drag shows are pretty fun at their base level. There are always one or two performers who are the obvious stars, crowd favorites, and the filler acts are usually fine-verging-on-meh. But this drag show was different. This one was seamless, almost tangibly smooth, every performer a star, each expertly handling the audience. Every song had been chosen with care and exhaustively practiced. Every costume entrance made people gasp. A queen named Aria Amethyst appeared in a robe printed all over with dollar bills and stripped down into ripped fishnets and a bodysuit dripping with rhinestones, and a gay boy near me practically burst into tears about it, red-faced and screaming, clapping with his fists full of money. Id never seen queens work so hard. They were flirting with the audience and humping the floor and doing splits and sissy-walking and grinding on peoples faces; there was a long line snaking around the ATM full of people trying to get more money out to throw. I wished I was so rich I could tip with hundred-dollar bills! After the show, I headed over to a nearby table, where I met a lesbian named Ally, who told me it was her thirtieth birthday. She loved the Back Door. Having an open and accepting space in a conservative space like Indiana is mind-blowing, she said. Her friend, Andy, nodded. Its a very safe queer space, and they work really hard at that, he said. If you go up to any person working hereat the bar, security, anywhereand tell them that youre having a problem with someone here, theyll take care of it. I love it here. I went from table to table, asking how people felt about the Back Door, and all the answers were like that. Unprompted. People just loved this bar. I did, too. Especially after I realized Id drunkenly left my entire unzipped clutch on my table, with forty dollars in ones hanging out of the front of it, my phone, and all my IDs (including my passport!!!) and credit cards in there, while I chatted with people around the bar for a full twenty minutes, and nothing happened to any of it. The money was still hanging out the front of my clutch when I got back to my table. Get in, bitch, were moving to Bloomington. From Moby Dyke: An Obsessive Quest To Track Down The Last Remaining Lesbian Bars In America by Krista Burton. Copyright 2023 by Krista Burton. Reprinted by permission of Simon & Schuster, Inc. When EU finance ministers meet, there will be one major issue at the top of their agenda: reforming the EU's budget rules (PHILIPPE HUGUEN) The clock is ticking, the debts are racking up but the EU still remains far from a deal on new budget rules. When EU finance ministers gather in Luxembourg this week, there will be one headache at the top of their agenda: reforming the EU's fiscal rules. The current rules, known as the Stability and Growth Pact, are scorned by many EU countries -- some of which often fell afoul of the strict stipulations -- because of the one-size-fits-all approach. If ministers do not agree by the end of the year, the old rules will be back in force in 2024. The EU first suspended the pact in March 2020 as coronavirus ran rampant in Europe, forcing the bloc's 27 member states to pour billions of euros into their economies to keep households and businesses afloat. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Then just as Europe reached the light at the end of the tunnel, Russia invaded Ukraine last year, sending energy prices spiralling and forcing another suspension. Supporters of greater fiscal discipline argue that tough rules are needed to control national budgets from ballooning, while critics say they curb member states from investing just as Europe needs to fend off challenges from China. Today the pact says a country's debt must be 60 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), while its deficit must be three percent of GDP. The reforms published in April would keep these objectives, but allow a more tailored, country-specific approach to debt reduction, with greater flexibility. Member states are, however, divided over whether the reforms should keep some blunt rules to lower debts and deficits every year. The current rules suffer from many shortcomings, according to Bruegel think tank senior fellow Zsolt Darvas, who said the reforms would be a "major improvement". He pointed to "many different targets" and "sometimes conflicting rules within the current framework", adding there is too much focus on budgets on a year-on-year basis. "The main issue is whether in the medium and long term, the public debt is sustainable," Darvas told AFP. - Debt discipline - The European Commission's reforms propose that member states work with the EU's executive arm to formulate a debt-reduction plan for their country over four years. The plan can even be extended to seven years in exchange for reforms and investments. Every government accepts the need for reform, but some countries, including Germany, want to maintain certain targets to ensure discipline over debts and deficit. The stickiest subjects include common safeguards on debt and deficit reduction that has pitted France against Germany. In a concession to Germany, the reforms demand countries reduce their deficit by a minimum of 0.5 percent every year until they no longer exceed the three percent limit. France, however, argues that automatic and uniform rules do not work and risk hurting Europe more than helping. "The member states' positions are so far apart, it is almost impossible to have a political agreement in October," an EU diplomat said. There have been talks about a budgetary exemption for green and digital investments to support the EU's focus on clean energy, though some member states oppose this since "that would be a massive chunk of budgets," another EU diplomat said. But with war raging in Ukraine, ministers will likely agree on a defence exemption as member states plough money into their militaries, the diplomat added. - Market risks - With their eye on the hourglass, real work began last week with intense talks to prepare the outline of a deal, but diplomats cautioned against expecting a final agreement on Tuesday. Even if no accord was struck in October "there could be a deal before the end of the year," said an EU diplomat. Another diplomat said there could be a deal in November. The fear is that if there is no agreement before 2024, the issue will lose its urgency and get put off as the EU prepares for elections in June. "If we can't get a deal, markets won't like this. It will show the political impotence of the EU," an EU diplomat said. aro-raz/rmb/cw The passenger list totaled 270 people, including 91 children, all but one of whom was a U.S. citizen. There were four dogs in tow, as well. They spent 17 hours in the air traveling from Tel Aviv to Portugal to Tampa on a chartered EuroAtlantic Airways jet adorned with the motto anytime, anywhere. Sunday night, they departed the plane to walk a gauntlet of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol security. Standing further back on the tarmac at Tampa International Airport were the official greeters: Gov. Ron DeSantis shook hands and posed for photographs. His wife, Casey, offered hugs. Positioned behind them were American and Israeli flags. The passengers were among the first evacuees to arrive in Florida from Israel after DeSantis signed an order Thursday directing the Florida Division of Emergency Management to charter flights for stranded Florida residents. A separate flight took seven people to Orlando earlier Sunday. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement At the time of the executive order, the governor estimated 20,000 U.S. citizens remained in Israel. Sunday night, he said the number of Floridians might be 700 to 1,000. They were stranded because of canceled commercial flights amid the latest Israel-Hamas war that has already claimed the lives of thousands. The state partnered with Project Dynamo on the evacuation. The nonprofit agency has conducted 602 rescue missions to relocate 6,700 people since it formed in 2021 amid the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. Founder and CEO Bryan Stern of Tampa spoke with DeSantis last week shortly before he issued the executive order. Stern said that the governor told him, I buy. You fly. Floridas financial assistance, the amount of which wasnt available Sunday night, is the first government subsidy Project Dynamo has received, Stern said. And DeSantis appearance marked the first time a public official had been on hand to greet evacuees. It is not a Republican thing. It is not a Democratic thing. Its a respect for America thing, Stern told reporters. The bottom line is these are American citizens. I dont care if theyre Jewish or Christian or Muslim. We rescue everybody. Additional flights are planned over the next several days. All will land at Tampa International Airport, DeSantis said. The state of Florida stepped up and answered the call, DeSantis said Sunday. Some of the evacuees who landed in Tampa are from Florida, Stern said. One woman, who walked her beagle named Kai near a gaggle of reporters, said she was originally from New York, but now lived in Israel. DeSantis repeated his prior criticism of the federal government for not moving fast enough to evacuate Americans to the U.S. Future flights could include stops in Greece to pick up evacuees who had been relocated there instead of to the U.S., the governor said. We want to be helpful. I think everybody there felt very relieved. ... They were telling me ... bombs were going off. Rockets are going off, DeSantis said. They were saying, We want to go to Florida. We want to go to Florida. Well, now theyre in Florida. Former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has dismissed the false testimony accusation levelled against him, saying he is keen to prove his innocence in court (GEORG HOCHMUTH) Austria's former chancellor Sebastian Kurz goes on trial this week for allegedly giving false testimony, the highest-profile figure implicated in wide-ranging corruption scandals that have rocked the EU member. The case marks the first time in more than 30 years that a former chancellor has stood trial. Once hailed as a "wunderkind" of Europe's conservatives, Kurz stepped down as chancellor in 2021 following a string of graft accusations, including spending public money for favourable media coverage. It marked the spectacular fall of the charismatic hard-liner, who became the world's youngest democratically elected head of government in 2017 at the age of 31. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Kurz, together with two others, will go on trial on Wednesday for providing false testimony to a parliamentary committee probing numerous graft allegations. Kurz, 37, has repeatedly dismissed the accusation levelled against him, saying he is keen to prove his innocence in court. "Like many of the (corruption prosecutors') accusations, this one will turn out to be false," Kurz said in a statement in August. Both Kurz and his lawyer declined to provide new comments when contacted by AFP. He could face up to three years in jail if found guilty. - 'High risk' - The case is being closely watched not only because of Kurz, but because prosecutors have so far failed to land convictions linked to the scandals that have rocked the Alpine country of nine million people since 2019. The current case stems from a statement Kurz made in 2020 to a parliamentary committee probing corruption. He is accused of having downplayed his influence in appointing the head of a state-run company. Chat messages leaked to the media suggested that Kurz discussed the matter with the official, Thomas Schmid, who in one message says, "I'm so happy. I love my chancellor." Co-accused with Kurz are his former chief of staff Bernhard Bonelli and Bettina Glatz-Kremsner, a former deputy head of Kurz's conservative People's Party (OeVP). The presiding judge is expected to hear statements from the accused this week after which further trial dates will be set, according to a court spokeswoman. Prosecutors have said they plan to call 18 witnesses, including Schmid, as well as Kurz's former finance minister and other high-profile officials. About three quarters of cases involving false testimony have ended in convictions, according to justice ministry statistics. The case poses a "high risk" above all for the prosecution, Austrian daily Kurier journalist Martin Gebhart said in a commentary. "They can't afford to lose another glamorous case -- especially not this one," he added. Former far-right leader Heinz-Christian Strache, who was vice-chancellor under Kurz until 2019, has been acquitted in two separate corruption cases. - Return of the far-right - Numerous probes are still pending. In a separate case, prosecutors are investigating Kurz on suspicion of embezzling public funds to pay for polls which were skewed to boost his image and for favourable coverage to help his political rise. After leaving politics, Kurz is now involved in numerous private international enterprises. The graft allegations have also had vast implications for Austria's political landscape. The OeVP continues to govern in a coalition with the Greens, but their approval ratings have plummeted, playing into the hands of the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe). With a new leadership, the FPOe now has around 30 percent support, according to polls, ahead of elections next year. The party has managed to overcome the so-called "Ibizagate" scandal that engulfed it in 2019 and brought down Kurz's first government. The scandal involved a video, filmed secretly on the Spanish resort island of Ibiza, which showed then far-right leader Strache offering public contracts to a woman posing as a Russian oligarch's niece in exchange for campaign help. bg-jza/acc/bp ST. JOHNS A former city of DeWitt police officer who was charged with felonious assault after following and pulling a gun on a newspaper delivery driver in a 2021 off-duty incident was sentenced to a year of probation on Monday. 29th Circuit Judge Cori Barkman also ordered Chad Vorce, 46, to do 40 hours of community service and gave him 30 days in jail, to be held in abeyance upon completion of his probation, court records indicate. Vorce pleaded no contest in September to misdemeanor counts of willful neglect of duty and aggravated assault. He resigned from the city police force and surrendered his police officer certification. We prioritized the victims wishes along with the officers resignation and the surrender of his MCOLES certification, state Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a news release. The city and township of DeWitt are safer communities because of this plea. Todays sentencing ensures that Vorce will not wear another badge in another town without considerable scrutiny from The Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The incident involving the delivery driver, Alexander Hamilton, then 19, happened in January 2021 after Vorce saw a "suspicious" man in a van driving erratically in Vorce's DeWitt Township neighborhood, according to police reports. Vorce followed the van out of the neighborhood and drew his gun on the man, who was delivering the Lansing State Journal, on Driftwood Drive near Airport Road, Nessel's office said. He pulled a gun on the man a second time in a gas station parking lot, the attorney general said. Vorce was fired the following May but was later reinstated by an arbirator, although he didn't immediately resume law enforcement duties because his license hadn't been reactivated, the State Journal reported in January 2022. He was ordered to stand trial on charges of felonious assault, misconduct in office and felony firearm possession after a preliminary hearing in July 2022. Vorce told police during the investigation he thought Hamilton was trying to ram him with his van. An attorney who represented him in that hearing said Vorce was acting as a private citizen but was unable to turn off the training he had as a police officer. No-contest pleas are not a formal admission of guilt but are treated as a conviction for sentencing purposes. As part of his sentence, Vorce cannot possess a weapon, badge or anything else identifying him as law enforcement. Contact Ken Palmer at kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBPalm_lsj. This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Former cop sentenced in off-duty incident involving newspaper delivery driver Editors note: This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Former Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid has been among the most vocal supporters of Ukraine since the beginning of Russias full-scale invasion in February 2022, just four months after her term came to an end. From public talks at global conferences to behind-the-scenes advocacy, Kaljulaid has been rallying for international aid for Ukraine, as well as for the countrys integration into both the European Union and NATO. Her President Kaljulaid Foundation (PKF) has raised 340,000 euros to aid journalists in Ukraine and more than 50,000 euros for education in war-torn areas. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Kaljulaid just recently returned to Estonia from Ukraine, where she spoke at the Yalta European Strategy (YES) conference on Sept. 8-9 in Kyiv. She sat down for an interview with the Kyiv Independent in Tallinn on Oct. 10, right before joining the Kyiv Independents Deputy Chief Editor Toma Istomina for a public discussion about the role of Ukrainian media during war. The Kyiv Independent: Were speaking at what seems like a very uncertain time regarding the future of Western support for Ukraine in its struggle against Russias war of aggression. Theres the recent election in Slovakia favoring a party with a pro-Russian stance, the growing frustration toward supplying Ukraine with military aid in the U.S. Republican Party, and then, of course, the quarrel with Poland, which until recently was one of Ukraines most reliable allies. Do you think Ukraine should be concerned? Kersti Kaljulaid: You described it in quite dark terms but I would also like to make a few other points. I was at the Yalta European Strategy Conference (YES) where a German general said without any hesitation, Free Ukraine and victory means the 1991 borders. Thats big coming from a German general. Similarly, if we look at the French reactions and French people's feelings, for example, about EU enlargement, they always used to be negative about it, however, public opinion had shifted towards Ukraines membership. There are negatives, too, which is that politics in some European states interferes with people's stance on Ukraine help. In Slovakia, public support for Ukraine has been wavering. But in big EU countries like Germany and France, it is strong, which is very positive because politicians have much explaining to do to their people, but at the end of the day, they do what people support. This is how politics in democratic nations works. Therefore, as long as French or German populations dont waiver (in their support for Ukraine), then I think you have absolutely no worries about European support. But it's constant work to react to the risks as they emerge. And another significant risk that we now see is connected to the escalation between Israel and Hamas. Many people in Ukraine are concerned that maybe this will divert some help from Ukraine and toward Israel. If you take a position that it is a separate conflict then yes. But its actually quite easy to see that it suits the non-free world to join forces Iran, Russia, China. I mean all those countries stick together like we stick together. And therefore it's not a separate conflict. It's the same. I agree, but still, if some aid will go to Israel, does it mean that the West will have to cut their budgets for supporting Ukraine? I don't think the risk of cutting the budget because of Israel is too big. The U.S. has been supporting Israel for a while. And if we need to add more capacity to produce ammunition, this kind of optics was already ongoing anyway, and it needs to continue, frankly speaking, because the capability of the defense industry in the free world is not enough. Its not enough to cover Ukraines needs, it is not enough to cover additional needs, and it is not enough to cover the NATO alliances own needs. Everybody now realizes that the main threats are mostly economic. Russia is a big economy. The forces Israel is facing arent too powerful. Israel will most probably be able to overcome the situation themselves or with limited help from outside. Former Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid speaks at the Yalta European Strategy (YES) conference on Sept. 8-9, 2023, in Kyiv. (Yalta European Strategy/Twitter) Speaking of the Wests defense industry capabilities, there has been a lot of frustration regarding the pace of military supplies to Ukraine, which had evidently affected Ukraines ability to counterattack Russia before it managed to build massive defensive lines, which are now extremely difficult to break through. At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, you once said that Europe can't move faster than Germany and France. Do you think they are still the bottleneck in providing aid faster? They havent been a bottleneck, they have been in quite big drivers of what (Ukraine) has been getting. Yes, they were slow to get into gear but they got into gear. And again, quoting the YES conference, Germany said (they) are doing this at an accelerated speed. This is much more than the U.S. today sends. And if you think of Storm Shadows vs. ATACMS Storm Shadows are there, doing damage, and these are provided by Europeans. I'm quite confident right now that the EU has also realized that with the unpredictability of American support, it's on us to take the responsibility. And I clearly see that this responsibility has been taken. I think Europe is doing what it can. It's still haggling with the private sector about the exact guarantees that need to be given to the companies to increase production. And I'm really sorry that it is taking time. But I would say that European aid is in full gear now. I think we can be even positively surprised that this happened, but that doesn't mean that it shouldn't have happened quicker. Yes, (taking time to) give Ukraine tanks gave the Russians time. This certainly has a role in this problem that we are not seeing quick advances now and many lives are lost because of that. There is no getting away from that (now). I really hope that we move quickly and speak less in the future. Read also: Investigation: EU inability to ramp up production behind acute ammunition shortages in Ukraine Another way that the EU supports Ukraine is through sanctions aimed at weakening the Russian economy and defense capabilities. But foreign components, banned from entering Russia long ago, continue to be found in Russian weapons. And that's just one of the examples of sanctions ineffectiveness. You have been saying that you have no illusion that sanctions applied five years ago, or even a year ago, are still effective. What should the EU do to make them work? First and foremost, you observe the flow of goods and if you notice that circulations go through some countries that are very close to Russia, you need to talk to them. Then either you apply sanctions on them or they stop this flow of goods into Russia. This is one thing that needs to be done. Sanctions are a wonderful tool if you adapt them constantly. The sanctions that were applied in 2014, when the aggression broke out, nobody can even remember what they were because the economy is so powerful, and it always adapts. And then there are whole groups of goods that have not been sanctioned yet. There are maybe some for which there is no replacement, but for some, if you put them under sanctions, then a replacement could be found. But you cannot expect the private sector to turn away from Russian goods all by themselves. Because those who make principled decisions will lose out the market power, they will lose clients. So I think Europe should see whether there are goods and services groups that are not sanctioned and that should be sanctioned to keep people from trading with Russia. There was a lot of frustration about the NATO summit in July because Ukraine did not get the concrete roadmap for membership that it was hoping for. Why did NATO decide against granting it? In NATO, decision-making mechanics depends on member states. So if in 2008, it was the U.S. who was supportive of roadmaps for Ukraine and Georgia, then this time that support was not forthcoming. The support came instead from France. So the situation has changed but the outcome was more or less still the same. I can see that NATO was strenuously trying to achieve something for Ukraine. But because member states were not supportive, we couldn't move further. That's the problem with multilateral bodies. If one party doesnt agree, you cant move. Read also: Overcoming setbacks, NATO-trained brigade breaches Surovikin line in Zaporizhzhia Oblast So what we will now do is continue to convince everybody that the only guarantee to Ukraine, and by the way the safest and cheapest from the U.S.s viewpoint, is NATO. Because all of us contribute to NATO as well. In all alternative models, we have to rely heavily on the U.S. That must have played a role in Frances calculation. If we speak about the actual criteria that Ukraine is supposed to meet... Ukraine doesn't need any military roadmap to join NATO. Somebody jokingly said that we should have a roadmap to join Ukraine. Do you agree with that? I do to a certain extent because the Ukrainian army will be an asset, as will Ukrainian knowledge and the library of tools (Ukraine) has been using in this war. Some experts from Ukraine said that when the war is over actually the countries who oppose giving Ukraine membership at the moment might be the first ones to invite Ukraine. I agree, but I don't think we should then wait and do nothing diplomatically until the war is over. I think we should keep pushing. As for the membership itself, not just the roadmap, there is a consensus among experts that it's out of the question that Ukraine will be granted membership while the war goes on. Is there any possibility it could happen before the war is over? I still hope that this aggression will end in a year or year and a half. This means that we only have one NATO summit to go before that (timeframe). So let's not concentrate on Can we join while it's not over. First, we need to get the Russian army out of Ukraine. That's the first objective, and then we will see about all the rest. Right now let's concentrate on getting as much support as quickly as possible to get the Russians out. If it was clearly said, for example, that the war has to be over (for Ukraine to join NATO) but that was never said. You want to be more ambiguous because Russia is your neighbor and will keep shelling once a month into your territories far too easily. If you stipulate that there cannot be any (military) activities before you can join, then this is exactly what (Russia will do). So we want to be ambiguous about the conditions that would allow for membership. Note from the author: Hi there. This is Toma Istomina, deputy chief editor at the Kyiv Independent. Thank you for reading this interview. You don't see my byline often because I mostly edit other journalists' stories you read on our website, but I have been working tirelessly since day one of the Kyiv Independent and even more tirelessly since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It has been incredibly difficult to live in a country at war and see all the atrocities Russian forces brought here. This war is a matter of existence for Ukrainians, which is why we continue to fight. But it means the world to have international support and not feel alone in this fight. Please consider supporting the Kyiv Independent by becoming our memeber. Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. A longtime Columbus YMCA worker serving as chief financial officer blew more than $207,000 of the organizations money on personal purchases through Amazon, Walmart and Netflix, plus season tickets to the Chatt-A-Hoots and River Dragons and a trip to Universal Studios, police said. Thats what financial crimes investigators have found so far while tracing Donna Fiquetts expenditures between July 2020 and July 2023, Sgt. Jane Edenfield testified Monday in Columbus Recorders Court, where the 57-year-old suspect faced one count of felony theft by taking. Edenfield said Fiquett as CFO had two YMCA credit cards, one a Capital One card for Walmart, in her name, and the second a Sams Club Mastercard in the YMCAs name. Fiquett also had control of a YMCA bank account at Synovus, and used funds from that to pay off the Capitol One card, the sergeant said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The illicit charges on the Capitol One card totaled around $116,000, and those on the Mastercard came to about $91,000, said Edenfield, who said the exact estimate of the losses was $207,408.65. Fiquett could produce no invoices or receipts for the transactions, the officer said. She said the YMCA fired Fiquett in August, and got a September audit from the accounting firm Robinson, Grimes & Co., which confirmed the suspected misuse of funds. Police got a warrant on Oct. 3, and U.S. Marshals arrested Fiquett at her home in Russell County on Oct. 13, she said. Fiquett had been working for the YMCA for more than 10 years, Edenfield said. Fiquett was represented Monday by LaGrange attorney Tyler Moffitt, who asked Judge Susan Henderson to set a bond that would permit his clients release from jail. Prosecutors objected to any reduction in bonds, saying authorities had to track Fiquett down to arrest her out of state, 10 days after her warrant was issued. Henderson sent the case to Muscogee Superior Court, and left Fiquetts bond at $207,000, based on the amount of money she is alleged to have stolen. Rockets are launched from the Gaza Strip into Israel, as seen from Israel's border, in southern Israel By Jason Lange and Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bipartisan majority of Americans wants the U.S. to help get Palestinian civilians out of harm's way in Gaza amid Israel's war against Hamas militants, but the American public's support for Israel in the conflict appears stronger than in the past, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found. The results of the two-day poll, which closed on Friday, showed 78% of respondents - including 94% of Democrats and 71% of Republicans - agreed with a statement that "American diplomats should actively be working on a plan to allow civilians fleeing fighting in Gaza to move to a safe country." Twenty-two percent of respondents disagreed. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Hamas fighters burst across the Gaza barrier fence into Israel in a stunning assault on Oct. 7, killing 1,300 and abducting dozens more, including Americans. Israel has responded with the most intensive air strikes of its 75-year-old conflict with the Palestinians, killing at least 2,670 and sparking a humanitarian crisis. U.S. and global media have been awash with images of massacred Israelis, including graphic accounts of Hamas atrocities, as well as Palestinians in the Gaza Strip searching for survivors after Israeli airstrikes leveled neighborhoods. Support among Americans for Israel's position in the conflict was higher in the new poll than it was in a survey in 2014, when Israeli ground forces surged into coastal enclave in a clash with Hamas aimed at stopping rocket fire into Israel. The current war has escalated into a much more serious, far-reaching conflict. Forty-one percent of respondents in the new poll, which closed as Israel, Washington's closest Middle East ally, was preparing a ground invasion into Gaza, said they agreed with a statement that "the U.S. should support Israel" in its conflict with Hamas, while 2% said "the U.S. should support the Palestinians." In a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted during the 2014 conflict, 22% of respondents said the U.S. should support Israel's position, and 2% wanted support for Palestinian's position. Support for Israel's position in the new poll was strongest among Republicans, with 54% of the party backing Israel's position compared to 37% of Democrats. In recent years, Democrats have grappled with internal friction between pro-Israel moderates and a faction of progressives increasingly critical of Israel, especially for its treatment of the Palestinians and expansion of Jewish settlements by the country's far-right government. YOUNGER AMERICANS LESS SUPPORTIVE OF ISRAEL Large shares of respondents in the poll backed other stances in the conflict, including 27% who said the U.S. "should be a neutral mediator" and 21% who said the U.S. shouldn't be involved at all. Some 40% of respondents under age 40 said the U.S. should be a neutral mediator, roughly double the 19% of people age 40 and above who said the same. Those under 40 were also less likely to back supporting Israel than were older Americans, a potentially worrisome sign for Israel, which has long counted on Washington for weapons aid and international diplomatic support. Some 20% of respondents under 40 backed supporting Israel, compared to 53% of older respondents. The poll results illustrated a high level of concern among Americans over the plight of ordinary Palestinians in the Hamas-ruled territory of more than 2 million people. Eighty-one percent of respondents agreed with a statement that "Israel should avoid killing civilians in its retaliatory strikes against Hamas," compared to 19% who disagreed. U.S. officials have urged Israel to protect civilians while pointing the finger directly at Hamas, which Washington designates a terrorist group, for what they describe as using Gaza residents as human shields. Israel has insisted its military takes every precaution to minimize civilian casualties. As the deaths mount, no neighboring state or other third country so far has shown any willingness to take in large numbers of Gaza refugees. But U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday the Egyptian-controlled Rafah border crossing in southern Gaza would reopen and the U.S. was working to get humanitarian assistance through it to ease the crisis. The U.S. on Saturday advised its 500 to 600 dual-nationals in Gaza to move closer to the crossing for possible safe passage into Egypt. Israel has imposed a blockade around the rest of the strip. The Israeli military sparked an international outcry last week when it ordered all residents of Gaza City to evacuate, but hundreds of thousands have already fled south. Some 69% of poll respondents said they were following news about the fighting "very closely" or "somewhat closely." When presented with a list of options for who is most responsible for the current conflict, 49% of respondents picked Hamas, far more than the 9% who picked Israel. The war, which threatens stability in a region that is critical for global energy supplies, could be a significant political issue as U.S. President Joe Biden seeks re-election in 2024. While Biden has offered staunch support for Israel, he has also urged it to follow the laws of war. On Sunday, he said on social media that "the overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do with Hamas' appalling attacks." Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination to challenge Biden in the election, criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a lack of preparation for the Hamas attack, saying "they've gotta straighten it out." The Reuters poll showed Americans have little faith in the ability of either Biden or Trump to solve the crisis. Just 26% of respondents said they trusted Biden more "to broker peace in the Middle East," compared to 32% who picked Trump. The rest said they didn't trust either or didn't know who would be better. The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online and nationwide, gathering responses from 1,003 U.S. adults. It had a credibility interval, a measure of precision, of about four percentage points. (Reporting by Jason Lange and Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Scott Malone, Diane Craft and Lincoln Feast.) By Karen Freifeld (Reuters) -The U.S. will take steps to prevent American chipmakers from selling semiconductors to China that circumvent government restrictions, a U.S. official said, as part of the Biden administration's upcoming actions to block more AI chip exports. The new rules, details of which Reuters is reporting for the first time, will be added to sweeping U.S. restrictions on shipments of advanced chips and chipmaking equipment to China unveiled last October. The updates are expected this week, other people familiar with the matter said, though such timetables often slip. The new rules will block some AI chips that fall just under current technical parameters while demanding companies report shipments of others, said the official, who provided information on condition of anonymity. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Commerce, which oversees export controls, declined to comment. The latest crackdown on tech exports to China coincides with U.S. efforts to thaw difficult relations between the world's two largest economies. Several senior members of the Biden administration have met their Chinese counterparts in recent months, and the latest round of rules risks complicating the diplomatic effort. The Biden administration has said it designed the export curbs to keep U.S. chips and equipment from strengthening China's military. Beijing has accused the United States of abusing export controls to suppress Chinese companies. The restrictions marked a historic shift in U.S.-China tech policy. "The U.S. needs to stop politicizing and weaponizing trade and tech issues and stop destabilizing global industrial and supply chains," China's foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Monday. "We will closely follow the developments and firmly safeguard our rights and interests." Last year, government restrictions kept Nvidia, the world's most valuable chipmaker, from shipping two of its most advanced AI chips to Chinese customers, chips that have become the industry standard for developing chatbots and other AI systems. But Nvidia soon released new variants for the Chinese market that were less sophisticated and got around the U.S. export controls. One, named the H800, has as much computing power at some settings used in AI work as the company's more powerful but blocked H100 chip. Still, some key performance aspects are limited, according to a specification sheet seen by Reuters. NEW RESTRICTIONS The U.S. now plans to introduce new guidelines for AI chips that will restrict certain advanced data center AI chips that are not currently captured, the U.S. official said. While the official declined to identify which additional chips will be effectively banned, Nvidia's H800 is a semiconductor sources have suggested the administration has wanted to block. A spokesperson for Santa Clara, California-based Nvidia declined comment. In June the company's chief financial officer said that if the H800 and a related chip called the A800 were restricted, they did not anticipate it "would have an immediate material impact on our financial results." Chips meant for consumer products like laptops will be exempt from the new curbs, the official said. But companies will need to tell the Commerce Department when they are filling orders for the most powerful consumer chips to make sure they are not being used in ways that threaten national security, according to the official. In order to keep AI chips the U.S. views as too powerful from China, the official said the U.S. planned to stop taking into account one of the parameters - the "bandwidth parameter" - it has been using to determine which types of AI data center chips to restrict. A bandwidth, or interconnect, parameter is a measure of how fast chips talk to each other. Under the current thresholds, a chip had to exceed both a performance speed and a bandwidth threshold to be restricted. By removing the bandwidth parameter, a chip will soon be restricted if it exceeds a certain performance speed alone in other words, how powerful each chip is. It will also be restricted if it exceeds another measurement, a certain performance density, to help prevent future workarounds, the official said, declining to elaborate further. EVOLVING TECHNOLOGY The updated rules also are meant to cover AI chips as technology evolves. The U.S. will require companies to notify the government about semiconductors whose performance is just below the guidelines before they are shipped to China, the official said. The government will decide on a case-by-case basis whether they pose a national security risk but they can be shipped unless the chipmaker is told otherwise. The updates to the October 2022 rules may also close a loophole that gives Chinese companies access to American artificial intelligence chips through Chinese units located overseas, as Reuters reported last week. The rules are not expected to include restrictions on access to U.S. cloud computing services, or those of allies, but the U.S. will seek comments on the risks of such access and how they might be addressed, the official said. The Biden administration told Beijing of its plans to update the contentious rules this month, Reuters reported earlier in October, as part of a policy aimed at stabilizing relations between the superpowers. (Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Additional reporting by Max A. Cherney; Editing by Chris Sanders, Lisa Shumaker; Deepa Babington, Shri Navaratnam and Andrea Ricci) Mayor Brandon Johnson orders Chicago police officers to clear City Council chambers of spectators after a disturbance during the meeting to consider Ald. Debra Silverstein's Israeli Solidarity Resolution on Oct. 13, 2023. (Trent Sprague/Chicago Tribune) Mayor Brandon Johnson announced Monday he is not attending his administrations trip to the U.S.-Mexico border later this week, a reversal he said stems from having to address the urgency of the growing migrant population in Chicago. Instead of Johnson heading the group, Beatriz Ponce de Leon, Chicago deputy mayor of immigration, will lead a delegation, which is scheduled to leave Tuesday for the Texas cities of El Paso, San Antonio, McAllen and Brownsville, according to a statement from the mayors office. Advertisement The announcement came as another discussion about asylum-seekers unfolded in City Council chambers, with increasingly frustrated aldermen discussing Johnsons budget plan for next year and noting the pressures the new migrants have placed on the citys social safety net. [ A not-so-warm welcome for thousands of migrants now sleeping outside in Chicago ] The Mayor, along with senior aides and key operations personnel, will stay in Chicago to address the immediate urgency of adding shelter space to house thousands of new arrivals sleeping in police stations, airports or outside, the statement on the border trip read. Advertisement Johnson had said he would visit the border himself during previous remarks to reporters but declined to say when, noting he had a busy schedule as mayor. I am going to the border as soon as possible, he said two weeks ago in a post-City Council news conference. As recently as last week, his deputy chief of staff, Cristina Pacione-Zayas said the mayors trip was still on, with the No. 1 goal to clinch tighter bus coordination with Texas officials. 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 told reporters in a briefing last Thursday. Thats our objective, is to say to them: Look, heres what were managing up here. [ Illinois leaders tepid about more quick funding for Chicagos migrant crisis ] Chicago has welcomed more than 18,500 migrants since August 2022, when the first bus of asylum-seekers from Texas arrived in the city after they made the dangerous trek across Central America. Since then, with the support of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, along with other officials in Texas and southern border states, more than 400 buses of migrants have arrived in Chicago. Chicago police stations are bursting with more than 3,300 of asylum-seekers sleeping in their lobbies, with another 550 at OHare International Airport, as well as many outside. Johnson is in a race against time before temperatures drop significantly to prop up tents across the city as part of his strategy of establishing giant base camps to house new arrivals instead of the police station and airport floors. One spot on the Southwest Side is now being prepped to as a possible location. Meanwhile, the city is fast running out of funding to keep up with the escalating crisis while state and federal partners have not provided more quick access to funds. Besides Ponce de Leon, a small group of city, state, faith and philanthropic leaders will join her to learn more about the sites where migrants are being sent to Chicago and hold talks on how the burden on Chicago can be lifted. The mayors senior aides will stay behind, however. Some facts the delegation plans to share include the extreme housing and weather conditions, as well as the challengers of getting a verified sponsor. Advertisement A point of emphasis will be establishing better lines of communication and collecting migrant data to expedite work authorization processing and the transition to self-sufficiency, the statement read. Meanwhile, questions about the cost to mitigate the migrant crisis dominated the first day of hearings on Johnsons proposed 2024 budget, where the mayors top finance officials seemed to acknowledge a high unlikelihood about extra state funding being approved during the fall veto session. As it stands, Johnsons proposed $150 million budget for migrant services spending in 2024 will be paid for with money from the citys corporate fund. Budget director Annette Guzman said the plan is to continue lobbying state and federal officials for more money and other resources. They expect the full spend on migrant services by the end of this year to top at least $300 million. We are still going after both state funds and federal funds. Were actually in contact with the federal government right now for additional funding this year, Guzman said, a request they plan to continue to make into next year. Since buses began to arrive from the border to Chicago last year until August of this year, we have spent over $150 million in aid of this mission, with over $130 million of that spent in this year alone. But the majority of the costs have been reimbursed through funding received from other sources to date, Guzman said. This year, the city has received resources totaling just over $170 million to cover costs associated with the new arrivals mission. My concern and a lot of my colleagues concern is, really, what will we do if we dont have the funds? I think weve been fortunate thus far to be able to get reimbursed for some of the stuff that weve already been spending. It doesnt feel very responsible of us to continue to do that, said Ald. Nicole Lee, 11th, noting there were 200 to 300 people sleeping at the 9th District police station near her home. Advertisement Ald. Emma Mitts, 37th, asked more bluntly: Whats the plan? To continually go after additional resources at the federal and state level, Guzman replied. Representatives from the citys Council Office of Financial Analysis and some aldermen asked that the city create a dedicated migrant services fund to allow the public to track spending. All this new arrivals stuff is in lots of different places, right? asked Ald. Pat Dowell, 3rd, and chairwoman of the Finance Committee. I want you to give us a new arrival budget. I want to know the program, I want to know the amount, I want to know staffing, and the source funding, so its all in one place and were not searching under rocks to find where all this money is. Guzman pledged to provide those details. Ald. Walter Burnett, 27th, said he worried the 13 new positions created to work on the new arrivals mission in the Department of Family and Support Services were coming at the expense of positions dedicated to helping residents returning from prison or jail. Advertisement How are you going to put 13 permanent positions in for new arrivals and no permanent positions in for returning residents? he asked, noting the staffing for the latter would be paid for with federal American Rescue Plan Act money, which will run out by 2026. Guzman said there were two budgeted positions for returning residents and a lot of funding going to delegate agencies. The new arrivals positions will report to the managing deputy of homeless services to build capacity across the board, not just for new arrivals but for all of our services that are provided to the unhoused, she said. We need some positions for returning residents so we can have a full operation to be able to help deal with these people and help them to get reincorporated into our society, more so than these new people coming to our society who havent been here, right? Burnett said, threatening to withhold a yes vote if more wasnt dedicated to returning residents. We need to help ours too. ayin@chicagotribune.com aquig@chicagotribune.com FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden welcomes leaders from the U.S.- Pacific Island Country Summit to a dinner at the White House in Washington FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden welcomes leaders from the U.S.- Pacific Island Country Summit to a dinner at the White House in Washington By David Brunnstrom and Michael Martina WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States signed a new 20-year agreement on Monday on economic assistance to the Marshall Islands worth $2.3 billion to the strategic Pacific island nation, chief U.S. negotiator Joseph Yun told Reuters. The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) is one of three sprawling but sparsely populated nations that have U.S. ties governed by so-called Compacts of Free Association (COFAs), under which Washington is responsible for their defense and provides economic assistance, while gaining exclusive military access to strategic swathes of ocean. After decades of relative neglect, the nations have found themselves at the center of a U.S. battle for influence with China in the Northern Pacific and the Biden administration agreed new deals with the two other states, Palau and Micronesia, earlier this year. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement It had been haggling for months over details with the RMI, which had called on Washington to better address the legacy of nuclear testing there in the 1940s and 1950s. Yun said he signed the agreement with RMI Foreign Minister Jack Ading in Honolulu, Hawaii, at a ceremony also attended by Marshallese President David Kabua. "All signed," he said "This is the last of the three compacts that we have been doing. The other two have been done." He said the next step was for all three COFA agreements to go to the U.S. Congress for approval, adding: "I hope they will be enacted soon." Yun, appointed last year by President Joe Biden to negotiate the COFA agreements, said Washington would be providing the Marshall Islands with $2.3 billion over the next 20 years, made up of grant assistance and trust-fund contributions. He said the grant assistance would go to areas such as education, healthcare, environment and infrastructure, and added: "In terms of trust fund, the money, where it goes to, the new trust-fund money is determined by the Marshallese government." Analysts and former officials had blamed a delay in finalizing the Marshall Islands COFA on U.S. State Department lawyers wanting to control how new funds were spent and objecting to their being earmarked to address the nuclear legacy, fearing this could lay the U.S. open to more claims. A person familiar with the deal said all current federal programs, including education programs and the U.S. Postal Service, are set to continue. The outlays also include money for long-neglected civilian infrastructure around the crucial U.S. missile test range on Kwajalein Atoll, the source said. The Biden administration had hoped to see Congress endorse new funding for the three COFA totaling $7.1 billion over 20 years by Sept. 30, but that did not prove possible amid budget haggling in the U.S. Congress. A 45-day stopgap funding measure passed by Congress last month averted a U.S. government shutdown but has left potential funding shortfalls for the COFA states until their deals can be endorsed by the U.S. legislature, which analysts and former officials said makes the U.S. allies economically vulnerable and possibly more receptive to Chinese approaches. (Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Michael Martina; Editing by Sandra Maler and Raju Gopalakrishnan) Rupert Murdoch announced in September that he would step down as chairman of Fox Corp and News Corp. The Australians impact on the media landscape since the 1950s has had far-reaching and damaging consequences. Speaking to the Guardian, climate scientist at Australian National University Joelle Gergis said: Its hard to think of another person who has single-handedly done more to muddy the publics understanding of climate change. Other scientists did not give Murdoch particularly glowing reviews upon the news of his decision to hand over control of the media empire to his son, Lachlan. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Climate scientist and University of Pennsylvania professor Michael Mann added, per the Guardian: He has wielded his global media empire as a cudgel to sow confusion and doubt about the science and the solutions. He will go down in history as one of the greatest climate villains. Murdochs role in climate science denial is nothing new. In 2013, the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism studied 602 articles across 10 newspapers in Australia and found that 32% either dismissed or questioned whether human activity was responsible for global heating. The findings were summarized by the Guardian, and the contribution of Murdochs News Corp to that figure was shocking. The Guardian said that 97% of comment pieces in the Herald Sun, under Murdochs media empire, published climate-skeptic views. Syndicated columnist Andrew Bolt was responsible for a number of these articles, with similar work also published in The Advertiser, NT News, and Daily Telegraph. Murdoch was also criticized for inaccurate statements regarding climate science in the past; a 2014 Sky News interview contained misguided comments, as reported by the Guardian. The Conversation has detailed several troubling or inaccurate stories News Corp pushed in Australia as part of a Mission Zero 2050 campaign, which was supposed to encourage the country to move toward a net-zero future. There were articles about how renewable sources are an unreliable source of power, while another praised Australias coal industry as cleaner than coal industries in most other countries. Hes a true villain on a global scale, one Redditor said of Murdoch when commenting on the Guardians unflattering review of his climate impact during his career. This dude will be responsible for the deaths of millions, added another. Join our free newsletter for cool news and actionable info that makes it easy to help yourself while helping the planet. BEIRUT (Reuters) -Lebanon's Hezbollah has been exchanging fire with Israel across the border for days in the deadliest escalation since they fought a major war in 2006, threatening to expand a conflict between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas. Backed by Iran, Hezbollah has said it is ready to help when the time comes in the war between Israel and Hamas, which is also backed by Tehran. Sources said last week Hezbollah's attacks so far had been designed to be contained and so avoid another major war. Israel's defence minister said on Oct. 15 that Israel had no interest in waging war on its northern front, and that if Hezbollah restrained itself then Israel would also keep the situation along the border as it is. WHAT ARE THE ORIGINS OF HEZBOLLAH? ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Iran's Revolutionary Guards founded Hezbollah in 1982, the middle of Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war. It was part of Iran's effort to exports its 1979 Islamic Revolution around the region and fight Israeli forces after their 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Sharing Tehran's Shi'ite Islamist ideology, Hezbollah recruited Lebanese Shi'ite Muslims. The group has risen from a shadowy faction to a heavily armed force with major sway over the Lebanese state. The United States, some Western governments and others deem it a terrorist organisation. HOW POWERFUL IS HEZBOLLAH'S MILITARY? While other groups disarmed after Lebanon's civil war, Hezbollah kept its weapons to fight Israeli forces that were occupying the predominantly Shi'ite south of the country. Years of guerrilla warfare led Israel to withdraw in 2000. Hezbollah demonstrated its military advances in 2006 during a five-week war with Israel, which erupted after it crossed into Israel, kidnapping two soldiers and killing others. Hezbollah fired thousands of rockets into Israel during the conflict, in which 1,200 people were killed in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 158 Israelis were killed, most of them soldiers. Hezbollah's military power grew after it deployed into Syria, another of Iran's allies in the region, to help President Bashar al-Assad fight mostly Sunni Muslim rebels. Hezbollah boasts weapons including precision rockets and drones, and says it can hit all parts of Israel. In 2021, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the group had 100,000 fighters. Iran gives Hezbollah weapons and money. The United States estimates Iran has allocated it hundreds of millions of dollars annually in recent years. WHAT'S ITS ROLE IN THE ISRAEL-HAMAS CONFLICT SO FAR? Hezbollah has deep ties to Hamas, which controls Gaza, and Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian faction backed by Iran. Hezbollah said it was in "direct contact with the leadership of the Palestinian resistance" on Oct. 7, the day Hamas militants carried out an unprecedented assault from Gaza into Israel, killing 1,300 people. In Israel's intensive air strikes on Gaza in response, more than 2,750 people have been killed. Since Oct. 7, Hezbollah has exchanged cross-border fire with Israel numerous times. Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which both have a presence in Lebanon, have mounted attacks on Israel from Lebanon for the first time, including an Oct. 10 cross-border infiltration into Israel by Islamic Jihad. Tzachi Hanegbi, the national security adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Oct. 14 that the hostilities appeared to be restrained. Hanegbi warned Hezbollah not to take action that could lead to Lebanon's "destruction". WHAT REGIONAL SWAY DOES HEZBOLLAH HAVE? Hezbollah has been a source of inspiration and support for other Iranian-backed groups across the Middle East. It has trained armed groups in Iraq and taken part in fighting there. Saudi Arabia says Hezbollah has also fought in support of the Iran-allied Houthis in Yemen. Hezbollah denies this. WHAT IS HEZBOLLAH'S ROLE IN LEBANON? Hezbollah's influence is underpinned by its sophisticated arsenal and the support of many Lebanese Shi'ites who say the group defends Lebanon from Israel. Lebanese parties opposed to Hezbollah say the group has undermined the state and accuse it of unilaterally dragging Lebanon into armed conflicts. Hezbollah has ministers in government and lawmakers in parliament. It entered Lebanese politics more prominently in 2005 after Syria withdrew forces from Lebanon following the killing of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, who symbolised Saudi influence in the country. A U.N.-backed court convicted three Hezbollah members in absentia over the assassination. Hezbollah denies any role, describing the court as a tool of its enemies. In 2008, a power struggle between Hezbollah and its Lebanese political adversaries, who had the backing of the West and Saudi Arabia, spiralled into a brief conflict. Hezbollah fighters took over parts of Beirut after the government vowed to take action against the group's military communications network. In 2016, Hezbollah-allied Christian politician Michel Aoun became president - in Lebanon's sectarian political system the presidency is held by a Maronite Christian. Two years later, Hezbollah and its allies won a parliamentary majority. This majority was lost in 2022, but the group continued to exercise major political sway. The group campaigned against a judge investigating the 2020 Beirut port explosion, which devastated swathes of the capital, after he sought to question Hezbollah's allies. The standoff prompted deadly clashes in Beirut in 2021. HAS HEZBOLLAH BEEN ACCUSED OF ATTACKS ON WESTERN TARGETS? Lebanese security officials and Western intelligence have said groups that were linked to Hezbollah carried out suicide attacks on Western embassies and targets and kidnapped Westerners in the 1980s. One group, Islamic Jihad, which is not related to the Palestinian organisation, was thought to be led by Imad Moughniyah, a top Hezbollah commander who was killed in a car bomb in Syria in 2008. The United States holds Hezbollah responsible for a suicide bombing that destroyed U.S. Marine headquarters in Beirut in 1983, killing 241 servicemen, and a suicide attack the same year on the U.S. embassy. A suicide bombing also hit a French barracks in Beirut in 1983, killing 58 French paratroopers. Referring to those attacks and hostage-taking, Hezbollah leader Nasrallah said in a 2022 interview that they were carried out by small groups not linked to Hezbollah. WHAT DO WESTERN GOVERNMENTS OR OTHERS SAY ABOUT THE GROUP? Western countries including the United States designate Hezbollah a terrorist organisation. So do U.S.-allied Gulf Arab states including Saudi Arabia. The European Union classifies Hezbollah's military wing as a terrorist group, but not its political wing. Argentina blames Hezbollah and Iran for the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires in which 85 people were killed, and for a 1992 attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires that killed 29 people. Iran and Hezbollah both deny responsibility. (Writing by Tom Perry; editing by Mark Heinrich) With eye on U.S., Turkey in no rush to back Sweden's NATO bid -sources Turkish, Swedish leaders discuss membership bid ahead of NATO summit By Jonathan Spicer, Huseyin Hayatsever and Tuvan Gumrukcu ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey is willing to hold off ratifying Sweden's bid to join NATO this month as it awaits signs of U.S. support for its own request to buy F-16 jets, sources said, potentially disappointing bloc allies hoping to end 17 months of delay. President Tayyip Erdogan elated a NATO summit in July by promising to send the bid to Turkey's parliament for ratification when it reopened in October, appearing to green-light Sweden after having raised objections over its alleged harbouring of terrorists. However since parliament opened on Oct. 1, its foreign affairs commission, which would debate the NATO bid, has received almost 60 international agreements to review - excluding Sweden's, official data shows. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Two people familiar with the situation said Ankara wanted to move in tandem with Washington, where the State Department is expected at some time to seek congressional approval for a $20-billion sale of F-16 fighters to Turkey and dozens of modernisation kits. "Given the lack of trust over the issue of F-16s and Sweden, Turkey is not rushing to ratify the NATO bid and looking for a sign that the United States is taking steps at the same time," said an official from Erdogan's ruling AK Party. A second person familiar with U.S.-Turkish talks said a rough proposal - in which each side would take steps toward ratifying the NATO bid on the one side, and the F-16s purchase on the other - had been delayed. Erdogan's office did not immediately comment on a time frame for Sweden's ratification or on any U.S. talks. The U.S. State Department looked forward to Sweden joining NATO "in the near future", a spokesperson said, and that President Joe Biden backed the F-16s sale in the interest of the alliance, the United States and its relationship with Turkey." "(W)e should do both of these things," the spokesperson said. IN NO RUSH Turkey, NATO's second-biggest military, is still expected to ultimately endorse Sweden's bid and could rapidly move on it. But Turkish officials and foreign diplomats say Erdogan is in no rush, especially after a bomb attack in Ankara on the day parliament opened and, days later, the downing of an unmanned Turkish drone by the United States in northern Syria. Addressing the drone incident, which occurred near U.S. troops on Oct. 5, Erdogan said last week: "Isn't Turkey a NATO ally of the U.S.? ...How can we explain this? Only when it suits them, they call themselves partners". Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO last year after Russia invaded Ukraine. Finnish membership was sealed in April, marking an historic expansion of the Western defence bloc, but Sweden's bid remains held up by Turkey and Hungary. Turkey says Sweden must take more steps at home to clamp down on the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which the European Union and United States also deem a terrorist group. After meeting NATO counterparts in Brussels on Friday, Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler told reporters Sweden was expected to implement new counter-terrorism measures, adding parliament "would have the final say" on ratification. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Friday he was convinced the process to join NATO will be resolved "reasonably soon," given Stockholm has fulfilled all commitments in a deal signed last year with Ankara and Helsinki. LEVERAGE But Erdogan appears willing to leverage the situation for other gains. Last month, he openly floated exchanging Sweden's ratification for the U.S. go-ahead to upgrade Turkey's F-16 fleet. With Washington keen to expand NATO, senior U.S. and Turkish officials had sketched out a plan in which Erdogan would send the NATO proposal to parliament and the State Department would ask leaders of the U.S. Senate and House foreign affairs committees to review the F-16 deal, the second source said. But hopes for a swift approval took a blow on Oct. 1 when the PKK claimed responsibility for the bomb attack near Ankara government buildings. In response, Turkey redoubled strikes on militant targets in Iraq and Syria, where the United States is allied with some Kurdish fighters, leading to the drone incident. After that, the second source said, discussions quieted down on the U.S.-Turkish proposal to move roughly in parallel. While the White House endorses the sale of the Lockheed Martin Corp F-16s, there are objections in Congress over Turkey delaying NATO enlargement and its human rights record. Another potential strain in U.S.-Turkish ties emerged last week in Israel's war against Palestinian militant group Hamas. Erdogan - long supportive of Palestinians and a two-state solution - said that a U.S. aircraft carrier that arrived in the eastern Mediterranean was meant to commit "serious massacres" in the Gaza Strip. (Additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk in Riyadh and Simon Johnson in Stockholm; Editing by Bernadette Baum) The Air Force announced F-15E aircraft arrived in the Middle East on Oct. 13 as the U.S. looks to bolster its position in the region amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas. The advanced tech of the 494th Expeditionary Fighter Squadrons F-15E Strike Eagle will allow U.S. forces to respond to any crisis or contingency, and if necessary, engage and defeat adversaries, Air Forces Central said in a statement. The aircraft were refueled, armed with munitions and flew their first combat sorties immediately upon arrival, the command said on social media. The U.S. military is committed to the enduring safety and security across the Middle East, AFCENT commander Lt. Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich said in the statement. By posturing advanced fighters and integrating with joint and coalition forces, we are strengthening our partnerships and reinforcing security in the region. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The increase in American military assets in the area follows the outbreak of violence between Israel and Hamas, which has already claimed more than 4,000 lives, according to the Associated Press. The U.S. State Department said Sunday the number of Americans killed since the start of the war has risen to 30, the AP reported. The U.S. is also aware of 13 missing American citizens. Arrival of the Strike Eagles comes after the deployment of American A-10 Warthog attack planes to the region. The 354th Fighter Squadron and their A-10 Thunderbolt IIs arrived in the region to support the U.S.'s increased posture. These aircraft are in addition to the A-10s from the 75th Fighter Squadron already in the region. pic.twitter.com/h3LhEwyeJ4 U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) October 12, 2023 The move also came just ahead of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announcing that he directed the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower and its carrier strike group to the Eastern Mediterranean to join the Ford Carrier Strike Group in offering support to Israel. Claim: The official X account for the state of Israel posted a promotion with mental health services company BetterHelp, offering 6 months of free therapy to those affected by the war in Israel. Rating: As violence escalated in Israel and Palestine in early October 2023, many online readers noticed an unusual promotion posted on the official X account for the state of Israel: six months of free mental health services with the company BetterHelp for people in Israel affected by the war. In a viral TikTok, user pearlmania500 shared a screenshot of the post from X, expressing surprise at the announcement: Israel declared war, and then they declared a collab with BetterHelp. [...] What the f*ck is next? HelloFresh for Ukraine? UberEats for Syria? ; ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement This was indeed a real post on X, published by the verified account of the state of Israel. The full post, published on Oct. 10, 2023, stated: Thank you to all of the incredible Israeli companies, volunteers and individuals who are coming together to help as many people during this horrific time. @betterhelp, a company which offers therapy is providing 6 months of free therapy to those affected by the war in Israel. Thank you to all of the incredible Israeli companies, volunteers and individuals who are coming together to help as many people during this horrific time.@betterhelp, a company which offers therapy is providing 6 months of free therapy to those affected by the war in Israel. pic.twitter.com/bc5d2RrgET Israel (@Israel) October 10, 2023 The conflict began on Oct. 7, 2023, when the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel from Gaza, resulting in the deaths of 1,400 Israelis, as of the time of this writing. Israel subsequently declared war and attacked and blockaded Gaza, actions that resulted in the deaths of more than 2,000 Palestinians, as of this writing. There are at least 200 known Israeli hostages taken by Hamas militants. Experts, according to The New York Times, believe the hostages are being held in underground tunnels in the Gaza Strip. Hamas' attacks came after months of surges in violence against Palestinians by the Israeli military. Gaza is presently facing a humanitarian crisis as a result of Israeli strikes. We looked up BetterHelp's "Israel Support" page. There is no restriction on who receives therapy from the service, which states on the website that it "is available to anyone impacted, regardless of location and nationality." The company does, however, require users to submit a valid payment method to prevent abuse, adding that the card will not be charged. The website directs users to a questionnaire asking them to put in their identifying information, including marital and economic status. (Screenshot via BetterHelp.com) Chris Stenrud, a spokesperson for Teladoc Health, a telemedicine company that acquired BetterHelp in 2015, reached out to us to emphasize, "This is an independent initiative, and we have not worked with the Israeli government on this or any other organization. The support is not limited to Israelis and applies to anyone affected by the war, anywhere." We should note that Alon Matas, the founder and president, according to his profile on Teladoc, has led product development and strategy for startups, enterprises and the Israeli Defense Forces. We should also note that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said that BetterHelp had previously shared customers health data which it had promised to keep private, including information about mental health challenges with companies like Facebook and Snapchat. In March 2023, BetterHealth agreed to settle with the FTC by returning $7.8 million to customers, and an FTC order restricted how they could share consumer data in the future. Given that this was a real post from the verified account of the state of Israel, we rate this as a Correct Attribution. Sources: "Alon Matas, President BetterHelp." Teladoc. https://www.teladochealth.com/about/leadership/alon-matas/#:~:text=Alon%20Matas%20is%20the%20president,operations%2C%20partnerships%20and%20product%20development. Accessed 17 Oct. 2023. "2021 Investor Day." Teladoc, 18 Nov. 2021, s21.q4cdn.com/672268105/files/doc_presentations/2021/Teladoc-Health-2021-Investor-Day-Final.pdf. Al-Mughrabi, Nidal, et al. Israeli Strikes on Gaza Intensify as Humanitarian Crisis Deepens. Reuters, 16 Oct. 2023. www.reuters.com, https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/gaza-border-crossing-set-reopen-israeli-troops-prepare-ground-assault-2023-10-15/. Accessed 16 Oct. 2023. BetterHelp Shared Users Sensitive Health Data, FTC Says. AP News, 2 Mar. 2023, https://apnews.com/article/betterhelp-ftc-health-data-privacy-befca40bb873661d1f8986bb75d8df07. Accessed 16 Oct. 2023. "Israel-Hamas War News. CNN, 15 Oct. 2023, https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/israel-news-hamas-war-10-15-23/index.html. Accessed 16 Oct. 2023. Gaza and West Bank Death Toll Reaches 2,383 Palestinians - Ministry. Reuters, 15 Oct. 2023. www.reuters.com, https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/gaza-west-bank-death-toll-reaches-2383-palestinians-ministry-2023-10-15/. Accessed 16 Oct. 2023. Gettleman, Jeffrey, and Tamir Kalifa. For Hostages Families, an Endless Loop of Hope and Despair. The New York Times, 16 Oct. 2023. NYTimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/16/world/asia/israel-hostages-families-hamas-gaza.html. Accessed 16 Oct. 2023. Ibrahim, Nur. Were Israeli Babies Beheaded by Hamas Militants During Attack on Kfar Aza? Snopes, 12 Oct. 2023, https://www.snopes.com/news/2023/10/12/40-israeli-babies-beheaded-by-hamas/. Accessed 16 Oct. 2023. Israel, Oct. 10, 2023. X (Formerly Twitter), https://twitter.com/Israel/status/1711683167986327901. Accessed 16 Oct. 2023. Netanyahu, Gantz Agree to Form Emergency Unity Govt and War Cabinet. France 24, 11 Oct. 2023, https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20231011-%F0%9F%94%B4-live-israeli-airstrikes-on-gaza-continue-death-toll-mounts-on-both-sides. Accessed 16 Oct. 2023. Two Palestinians Killed during Israeli Military Raid in West Bank Refugee Camp. PBS NewsHour, 24 Sept. 2023, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/two-palestinians-killed-during-israeli-military-raid-in-west-bank-refugee-camp. Accessed 16 Oct. 2023. Updates: Oct. 17, 2023: The story was updated to include a statement from Teladoc Health that offers BetterHelp services and that emphasized it did not have a partnership with the Israeli government. Oct. 17, 2023: The claim at the top of this story was clarified to state this was a promotion, not a collaboration. We also included more details on the founder of BetterHelp in the body of the story. Claim: South African anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela was on the U.S. terrorism watch list until 2008. Rating: Context: The Reagan administration placed Mandela on the list due to the African National Congress ties to communist parties. Decades later, U.S. President George W. Bush signed a bill to remove him. On Oct. 10, 2023, writer Fatima Bhutto shared a post on X stating, Nelson Mandela was on the United States Terrorist Watch List until 2008, in case youre wondering how neutral the U.S. is with regard to apartheid. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The above post is accurate in that Mandela was indeed on the U.S. terror watch list until 2008. The post was in response to the ongoing violence in Israel and Palestine, and sought to criticize the United States for its support of Israeli policies, many of which human rights organizations say amount to crimes of apartheid. Many online expressed outrage over the crisis, with numerous posts online comparing Palestinian resistance to Israels occupation of Gaza to Mandelas fight against apartheid in South Africa in the 1950s and onwards, pinpointing the historic ties between Black South African and Palestinian activists. In the 1970s, during Mandelas imprisonment, the African National Congress (ANC), in which Mandela was a prominent leader, was designated a terrorist group by the white South African apartheid government. And in 1988, the administration of then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan followed suit, when the State Department listed the ANC among "organizations that engage in terrorism, while also saying the group disavows a strategy that deliberately targets civilians even though civilians had been victims of incidents claimed by or attributed to the ANC. Reagan himself said in a 1986 address (emphasis, ours): Night after night, week after week, television has brought us reports of violence by South African security forces, bringing injury and death to peaceful demonstrators and innocent bystanders. More recently, we read of violent attacks by blacks against blacks. Then there is the calculated terror by elements of the African National Congress: the mining of roads, the bombings of public places, designed to bring about further repression, the imposition of martial law, eventually creating the conditions for racial war. The most common method of terror is the so-called necklace. In this barbaric way of reprisal, a tire is filled with kerosene or gasoline, placed around the neck of an alleged collaborator, and ignited. The victim may be a black policeman, a teacher, a soldier, a civil servant. It makes no difference. The atrocity is designed to terrorize blacks into ending all racial cooperation and to polarize South Africa as prelude to a final, climactic struggle for power. In defending their society and people, the South African Government has a right and responsibility to maintain order in the face of terrorists. But by its tactics, the Government is only accelerating the descent into bloodletting. Moderates are being trapped between the intimidation of radical youths and countergangs of vigilantes. And the Government's state of emergency, next, went beyond the law of necessity. It, too, went outside the law by sweeping up thousands of students, civic leaders, church leaders, and labor leaders; thereby contributing to further radicalization. Such repressive measures will bring South Africa neither peace nor security. One of the biggest reasons for this terrorist designation was the ANCs ties to communist groups. At the time, Reagans primary concern was battling the spread of communism and fighting the Cold War. In the 1980s, even as the U.S. imposed sanctions on South Africa due to its apartheid policies (after initially dragging its feet on imposing sanctions), anti-communists in the U.S. government were still promoting relations with the South African government, who defended their system as a bulwark against communism. By the end of World War II, South Africa had occupied Namibia, and in the 1970s used it as a base to fight the communist party in Angola, with support from the U.S. A 1987 report by the U.S. State Department described how South African communists had "exercised considerable influence" through its ANC allies. The report described how South African communists viewed the ANC as "the main hope" in winning over South Africans and turning the country into a state loyal to the Soviet Union. They did note, however, that the South African Communist Party (SACP) "is only one element, although a very important one, of the coalition of interests represented in the ANC." The report said: The A.N.C. is deeply beholden to the S.A.C.P. and the Soviet Union for the arms and training that made possible the upsurge in guerrilla activity that has boosted its prestige in South Africa in recent years. [...] Dependence on Moscow for military assistance will continue to entrench Party influence in the A.N.C. and its strong representation in the A.N.C. hierarchy.' A 1988 report released by then-Vice President George H.W. Bush detailed more information about the ANC's operations, saying it started out as a forum "to express black African opinion, wherein protests against discriminatory practices could be voiced." But in 1960, after an incident in which police "fired upon demonstrators," the ANC was outlawed. After this, the report said, "The ANC decided in 1961 violence would be the only tool that could force the South African government to negotiate." Further, ANC members would "receive the majority of their training at camps in Angola." The U.S. government also believed that Mandela, though imprisoned, was also a communist, according to accounts detailed by The Washington Post. When he was freed, Mandela was feted by U.S. presidents. But he also praised and met with leaders like Cuba's Fidel Castro, who was affiliated with communism, and Libya's Moammar Gadhafi, who was a member of the Non-Aligned Movement in the Cold War era and labeled a pariah in the West. In 2008, then-President George W. Bush signed a bill removing the ANC and Mandela from the terrorism watch list, giving the State Department authority to waive travel restrictions against members of the ANC coming to the U.S. H.R. 5690 stated: H.R. 5690 removes the ANC from treatment as a terrorist organization, and grants the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security the discretionary authority to determine that certain criminal and security-related grounds of inadmissibility do not apply to an alien with respect to activities undertaken in opposition to apartheid rule in South Africa. The bill also requires the Secretary of State, in coordination with other agencies, to take all necessary steps to ensure that databases used to determine admissibility to the United States are updated so that they are consistent with the exemptions provided in the bill. Before the bill was signed, then-Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice had informed legislators that her department had to issue waivers for Mandelas travel and found the situation embarrassing. She said: This is a country with which we now have excellent relations, South Africa, but it's frankly a rather embarrassing matter that I still have to waive in my own counterpart, the foreign minister of South Africa, not to mention the great leader Nelson Mandela. We thus rate this claim as True. Sources: Blinken and Austin Bolster US Support for Israel as Potential Ground Offensive in Gaza Looms. AP News, 13 Oct. 2023, https://apnews.com/article/israel-us-hamas-austin-blinken-c4a39169dc5ee7256f20bc1534c4f0cb. Accessed 13 Oct. 2023. Dewey, Caitlin. Why Nelson Mandela Was on a Terrorism Watch List in 2008. Washington Post, 26 Nov. 2021. www.washingtonpost.com, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2013/12/07/why-nelson-mandela-was-on-a-terrorism-watch-list-in-2008/. Accessed 13 Oct. 2023. Goshko, John M. STATE DEPT. DESCRIBES ANCS COMMUNIST TIES. Washington Post, 10 Jan. 1987. www.washingtonpost.com, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1987/01/10/state-dept-describes-ancs-communist-ties/783ac8e4-5fd6-41e4-bdb6-61c1eb8bc943/. Accessed 13 Oct. 2023. House Report 110-620 - REMOVING THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS FROM TREATMENT AS A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRPT-110hrpt620/html/CRPT-110hrpt620-pt1.htm. Accessed 13 Oct. 2023. Ibrahim, Nur. Were Israeli Babies Beheaded by Hamas Militants During Attack on Kfar Aza? Snopes, 12 Oct. 2023, https://www.snopes.com/news/2023/10/12/40-israeli-babies-beheaded-by-hamas/. Accessed 13 Oct. 2023. Lewis, Neil A. U.S. SAYS SOUTH AFRICA REBELS ARE OBLIGATED TO COMMUNISTS. The New York Times, 9 Jan. 1987. NYTimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/09/world/us-says-south-africa-rebels-are-obligated-to-communists.html. Accessed 13 Oct. 2023. "Mandela off U.S. Terrorism Watch List." CNN.Com, 2008. https://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/07/01/mandela.watch/. Accessed 13 Oct. 2023. "Milestones: 19891992 - Office of the Historian." State.gov. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1989-1992/apartheid#:~:text=In%20the%201980s%2C%20hard%2Dline,Cold%20War%20conflict%20in%20Angola. Accessed 13 Oct. 2023. Myre, Greg. Now Praised By Presidents, Mandela Wasnt Always Admired In The U.S. NPR, 9 Dec. 2013. NPR, https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2013/12/09/249708436/now-praised-by-presidents-mandela-wasnt-always-admired-in-the-u-s. Accessed 13 Oct. 2023. "Profile: Muammar Gaddafi." Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2011/8/22/profile-muammar-gaddafi-2. Accessed 13 Oct. 2023. Remarks to Members of the World Affairs Council and the Foreign Policy Association. Ronald Reagan, https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/remarks-members-world-affairs-council-and-foreign-policy-association. Accessed 13 Oct. 2023. Shakir, Omar. A Threshold Crossed. Human Rights Watch, Apr. 2021. Human Rights Watch, https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27/threshold-crossed/israeli-authorities-and-crimes-apartheid-and-persecution. Accessed 13 Oct. 2023. "Terrorist Group Profiles." The Vice President, Washington, Nov. 1988, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Terrorist_Group_Profiles.pdf. Accessed 13 Oct. 2023. US Government Considered Nelson Mandela a Terrorist until 2008. NBC News, 7 Dec. 2013, http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/us-government-considered-nelson-mandela-terrorist-until-2008-flna2D11708787. Accessed 13 Oct. 2023. "U.S. Has Mandela on Terrorist List." USATODAY. https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-04-30-watchlist_N.htm. Accessed 13 Oct. 2023. FBI Director Christoper Wray has warned of an increase in terror threats to the US amid the Israel-Hamas war. Speaking at the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference in San Diego, California, on Sunday, Mr Wray warned of the increased risk of lone actors carrying out terror attacks in the US in the vein of those carried out by Hamas in Israel. In this heightened environment, theres no question were seeing an increase in reported threats, especially for lone actors who may take inspiration from recent events to commit violence of their own, he said. He also urged people to remain vigilant and said the bureau is committed to confronting threats both in the US and overseas. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement His remarks come as tensions have been mounting on US soil since Hamas launched its surprise attack on Israel on 7 October, prompting Israel to carry out strikes on Gaza. Over the weekend, a six-year-old Palestinian-American boy was stabbed to death in a Chicago suburb in what police say was an anti-Muslim hate crime linked to the Israel-Hamas war. Wadea Al-Fayoume was stabbed 26 times and his 32-year-old mother, Hanaan Shahin, more than 12 times in the shocking attack at a property in Plainfield Township, outside Chicago, on Saturday morning. Joseph Czuba, 71, was arrested in connection with the attack and charged with a hate crime, as well as first-degree murder, attempted murder, and aggravated battery. The suspect, who lived on the ground floor of the home the six-year-old and his mother lived in, allegedly knocked on their door and attempted to choke the mother, before shouting You Muslims must die and stabbing her and her son. The six-year-old was rushed to hospital but later died. His mother remains in a serious condition but is expected to survive. Police said that the boy and his mother were targeted due to their Muslim faith and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis. Wadea Al-Fayoume was stabbed to death outside Chicago (Wadea Al-Fayoume stabbed to death outside Chicago in alleged anti-Muslim attack) What we have is a murdered Palestinian child by someone who is radicalized by the environment in which we live right now, that casts Palestinians as human animals, Ahmed Rehab, executive director of The Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago) told reporters on Sunday. The organisation also said they have seen a spike in hate calls and emails since the violence in the Middle East broke out. Hamas militants stormed into Israel early on the morning of 7 October, killing hundreds of people and taking dozens captive across the Gaza border in a devastating attack that caught Israels security forces by surprise. More than 1,400 Israelis were killed in the assault, with thousands more believed to be injured and nearly 200 people taken hostage by Hamas. At least 29 Americans are among the dead, the White House confirmed. Meanwhile, at least 2,750 Palestinians have been killed in airstrikes by Israeli forces since Prime Minister Netanyahu declared a state of war on Saturday and promised mighty vengeance. Joseph Czuba has been charged with one count each of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and aggravated battery, and two counts of hate crime (Will County Sheriff) Last week, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered the complete siege of Gaza as authorities cut off electricity and blocked the entry of food and fuel. Four days later, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) ordered all Gaza civilians to leave the area and head southward as it prepared to launch a ground invasion in retaliation for Hamas attacks, forcing at least one million people to flee their homes. On Sunday, international mediators appeared close to striking a deal for Egypt to open the southern border to allow foreign citizens to escape the Israeli bombardment and feared ground offensive. But hospitals in Gaza remain overwhelmed, with medics on the ground warning that thousands could die as the wounded cannot be moved and they are running out of critical supplies. According to the United Nations, hospitals in the region are expected to run out of generator fuel within two days. By Ju-min Park SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korean authorities cited the risk of Chinese economic retaliation when they charged marine technology firm SI Innotec last year with violating trade laws for its work on Taiwan's new military submarine program, according to a police document seen by Reuters and two people familiar with the matter. In a Feb. 17, 2022 affidavit to a judge seeking the arrest of SI Innotec executive director Park Mal-sik, police said authorities feared a repeat of the sweeping sanctions imposed by Beijing in 2016, after Seoul decided to install THAAD, a U.S. anti-missile system. China agreed to lift those measures in late 2017. The affidavit said SI Innotec's deal to supply Taiwan with submarine manufacturing equipment "directly impacts the overall security of South Korea" and police, who had consulted with the country's arms sales regulator, were "concerned about a crisis similar to a second THAAD deployment, such as economic retaliation". ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA)regulator had told an unidentified subcontractor that the government had "export concerns" regarding Taiwan, and "takes a very cautious stance" on such approvals, the affidavit said. The judge ordered Park's arrest on Feb. 28 on grounds that he posed a flight risk and might destroy evidence, according to a person familiar with the matter. In the sealed affidavit reviewed by Reuters, police cited China's furious reaction in a 2021 Reuters report about defence contractors and experts from South Korea and six other countries working on Taiwan's submarine program. SI Innotec, which was fined in August 2022, and Park, who received a suspended prison sentence, deny wrongdoing and have appealed. Through a company lawyer, Park declined comment. In a sign of a broader crackdown, two other South Korean companies that allegedly supplied Taiwan were also charged in November with breaking trade laws, and one of their chief executives was accused of industrial espionage, according to court records and four people familiar with the matter. The identities of defence engineering subcontractors Keumha Naval Technology (KHNT) and S2&K, and the charges facing the co-defendants in their closed-door trial, have not been previously reported. Reuters could not determine if geopolitical tensions were discussed in those ongoing proceedings. A KHNT official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to media, confirmed an ongoing criminal case. The company declined further comment. S2&K had no comment. Amid rising military tensions with China, Taiwan unveiled its first homegrown submarine on Sept. 28 in the southern port city of Kaohsiung. The vessel will soon enter sea trials. The SI Innotec affidavit and interviews with seven people with military, shipbuilding and legal ties show how political considerations about an economic rupture with China, Seoul's largest trading partner, have weighed on South Korea's investigations into the three companies. The people spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing legal proceedings with national security implications. Seoul's foreign ministry was "completely against" KHNT's work with Taiwan and signalled its disapproval to DAPA, according to a person familiar with the subcontractor. The affidavit said many firms with submarine expertise avoided helping Taiwan because they did not expect government approval given the risk of "bigger damage to (the) economy than benefits", including a possible Chinese ban on South Korean exports. Police declined to comment, citing national security concerns. The prosecutors' office that charged the three subcontractors declined to comment on ongoing legal proceedings. Reuters attempted to reach then-president Moon Jae-in through the office of a former aide. The office referred questions to the foreign ministry. The foreign ministry said it was aware the trials were underway and referred detailed questions to DAPA. DAPA said it follows the law when making decisions on exports, but had no further comment. A police investigator, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing legal matters, said that there was no pressure from Moon's liberal government, which left office in May 2022, to get tough on SI Innotec. Reuters could not determine whether Beijing pressured Seoul to clamp down on the companies. Asked by Reuters for comment, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson accused Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party of "colluding with external forces". The spokesperson did not address a question on whether Beijing pressed Seoul about the subcontractors. Beijing told Reuters in 2021 that countries involved in Taiwan's project were "playing with fire". Taiwan's foreign and defence ministries had no comment. Seoul has no formal diplomatic ties with Taipei and has avoided arming the democratically ruled island over which China claims sovereignty, even as its companies ink weapons deals with other Asian neighbours. FOREIGN EXPERTISE Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen initiated the Indigenous Defense Submarine program in 2016. The new vessels, which complement two delivered by the Netherlands in the 1980s, are a "strategic deterrent" that make it more challenging for China to project naval power in the Pacific, the Taiwanese admiral leading the project told an internal briefing in September. Many military experts say that an expanded Taiwanese submarine fleet could complicate a potential invasion by Beijing. U.S. officials, however, warn that such assets should not come at the expense of smaller weapons that would help Taiwan wage "asymmetrical warfare" against China's far-larger arsenal. Taiwan drew on the expertise of retired South Korean naval officers - including managers at SI Innotec and KHNT - who are not required by defence ministry regulations to seek permission before working overseas. SI Innotec is accused of violating the Foreign Trade Act, which requires DAPA's approval to transfer abroad many "strategic goods" for military use. The regulator is also tasked with promoting exports, a role that requires officials to make hard decisions on otherwise profitable deals that might irk China, said four people familiar with the criminal cases. In 2019, SI Innotec agreed a deal with Taiwanese shipbuilder CSBC to supply and install $12 million in welding and assembly equipment for submarine pressure hull manufacturing, according to contracts presented at trial. The equipment was not designed solely for military purposes and did not involve sensitive technology, SI Innotec told Reuters. SI Innotec said the contract, at CSBC's request, listed the equipment's primary use as for wind power generation. It told Reuters it is "customary" for dual-use equipment contracts to be "signed for industrial use, not exposing military use" and Taiwanese clients are discreet about defence work. CSBC, which leads construction for the submarines, has an offshore wind power business. It declined to comment on its contracts. In April 2020, DAPA suggested SI Innotec check with it whether the equipment could be categorized as military goods and require export approval, according to court documents. In response to Reuters questions, the subcontractor said it told DAPA it was exporting dual-use goods, which can undergo a self-certification process that the regulator does not oversee. The results of that self certification showed export approval was not needed and DAPA was informed, SI Innotec said. In August 2022, the Changwon District Court fined SI Innotec 14 billion won ($10.42 million). "The accused were fully aware that the subject equipment would be used to manufacture a military submarine", the court ruled. SI Innotec said police designated its equipment as military goods after a "subjective and opaque" consultation with DAPA reliant on "limited data". It said it had "strong doubts" about whether its exports would be considered military grade if they had not been sent to Taiwan. SI Innotec CEO Park Moo-sik who was not personally charged continues to work in Taiwan on the project, said two people familiar with his movements. He declined comment through a company lawyer. QUESTION OF PERMISSION KHNT and its chief executive, retired naval officer Yang Hyang-kweon, are alleged to have illicitly transferred a submarine component to Taiwan, said two people familiar with the subcontractor's agreement. Yang - who did not respond to requests for comment - was detained last year and released on bail in March, court records show. The component was related to a torpedo launching tube, according to two people familiar with KHNT's work. KHNT's co-defendant, S2&K, specializes in such systems. KHNT initially went through DAPA's process, according to three people familiar with the matter. But it received no response when it wanted to send detailed designs and went ahead to meet a deadline, two of the people said. It was at this point that Seoul's foreign ministry told DAPA it disapproved of the deal, one of them said. "There are many things that South Korea can help Taiwan with but can't in reality", said defence diplomacy researcher Cho Hyeon Gyu, who served as military attache in Taipei and Beijing. Relations with China and the difficulty of secretly supporting Taiwan severely narrowed Seoul's ability to help, he added. ($1 = 1,343.1000 won) (Reporting by Ju-min Park; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard and Faith Hung in Taipei, and Yew Lun Tian in Beijing; Editing by Katerina Ang and Josh Smith) By the end of the month, two Alabama hospitals will stop delivering babies. A third will follow suit a few weeks later. That will leave two counties Shelby and Monroe without any birthing hospitals, and strip a predominantly Black neighborhood in Birmingham of a sought-after maternity unit. After that, pregnant women in Shelby County will have to travel at least 17 miles farther to reach a hospital with an OB-GYN. And because the county, one of Alabamas largest, is bordered by another whose hospital also lacks an obstetrics unit, some of those residents are also losing the closest place they could go to deliver their babies. Theres a sense of dread knowing that theres going to be families who are now not only driving to the county over, but driving through three counties, said Honour McDaniel, director of maternal and infant health initiatives for the March of Dimes in Alabama. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement People in Monroe County, meanwhile, could face drives between 35 to 100 miles to a labor and delivery department. Trekking that far to give birth is not unheard of in Alabama, in which more than a third of the counties are maternity care deserts, according to the March of Dimes meaning they have no hospital with obstetrics care, birth centers, OB-GYNs or certified nurse midwives.The state has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country; only three others had higher rates between 2018 and 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Alabama also had the nations third-highest infant mortality rate in 2021, the latest data available. Physicians currently or formerly affiliated with the Alabama maternity units about to close fear the consequences for pregnant women and babies, especially if people are not able to reach birthing hospitals quickly enough in emergencies. People are going to show up delivering in the ER, and youre going to have bad outcomes, said Dr. Jesanna Cooper, an OB-GYN who formerly worked at Princeton Baptist Medical Center, the Birmingham hospital closing its maternity services. If you show up with a very premature baby and deliver in the ER, and you dont have a NICU and you dont have an obstetrics team, things arent going to go well. The closures come as the need for obstetrics care in Alabama is anticipated to rise as a result of its abortion laws. The state has banned almost all abortions since June 2022. Theres something broken The hospitals losing obstetrics departments in Birmingham and Shelby County are both part of Brookwood Baptist Health, a health care network with five hospitals in Alabama. A spokesperson for the network declined NBC News request for an interview but said in a statement that the decision came after careful consideration. We will support a smooth transition of care for patients and Brookwood Baptist Health remains committed to providing outstanding maternity care within our network, the statement said. Monroe County Hospital, meanwhile, attributed the closure of its labor and delivery unit to a staffing shortage. The department has just one physician, and at least two are needed to keep labor and delivery services running. It seems no amount of money provided by the hospital board for the support of Labor and Delivery has been sufficient to maintain this service. We have supported, and would continue to support, Labor and Delivery if there was someone who could provide the service, the hospital said in a statement. In some cases, keeping maternity units open is a financial challenge, since the departments arent always profitable, several Alabama physicians said. Around 9% of the states residents have no health insurance, according to a report from the Census Bureau, and almost half of the births in Alabama are covered by Medicaid. Reimbursements for that program can be substantially lower than for private insurance plans. Nobody wants women and children to do poorly, but you also cant lose money year over year on a service line, said Dr. John Waits, CEO of the nonprofit Cahaba Medical Care, which runs medical clinics that take patients regardless of their ability to pay. Several of Cahabas physicians deliver babies at Princeton Baptist and Shelby Baptist. Theres something broken about the funding stream that helps us take care of our women and children, Waits said. Such challenges are not isolated to Alabama. Nationally, fewer than half of rural hospitals have labor and delivery services, according to the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, a policy-focused nonprofit. And so far this year, obstetrics departments have also closed in California, Idaho, Massachusetts and Tennessee. The stakes of losing these services are high. A 2018 study found that rural counties that lost obstetric services reported more preterm births within the following year than those that maintained such care. Preterm birth is associated with low birth weight, which was the second leading cause of infant death in 2021, according to the CDC. Dr. Rowell Ashford, an OB-GYN with Cahaba who practices at Princeton and Shelby, said that living far from a hospital with obstetrics care can discourage patients from getting health issues checked out. If patients have blood pressure issues that theyre not tending to because they dont want to be bothered with the extra 45-minute drive to go be evaluated, then therell be times where patients truly have life-threatening issues, but due to the distance and difficulty in getting to the hospital, they may choose not to be evaluated, he said. That just feeds into the problem relating to neonatal morbidity and mortality and maternal morbidity and mortality. A long drive might also deter some people from going to the hospital early in labor, Ashford added, which could lead babies to be born en route. People were coming there because of how well they were treated. Although Princeton Baptist isnt the only place to go to deliver a baby in Birmingham, its unique approach has gained a reputation. The hospital located in an area in which 40% of the residents live in poverty welcomes doulas, boasts a diverse obstetrics team, has staff specially trained to support moms in breastfeeding and provides water tubs to patients in labor. It also had the lowest cesarean section rate in Jefferson County as of 2020. Dr. Heather Skanes, an OB-GYN at Princeton, said that some of her patients have traveled there from as far as Selma. We didnt have a fancy unit. We didnt have anything really fancy about the hospital, she said. People were coming there because of how well they were treated. JohnQueta Bailey Archie, 43, delivered her son, Jayce, at Princeton in 2021, under the care of Ashford. It had been almost 20 years since shed given birth to her older son, and her second pregnancy was high-risk, because she had developed blood clots and fibroids. Plus, as a Black woman, she was aware of the racial disparities in maternal and infant health outcomes. At Princeton, she said, I felt like I was heard, I was seen. Ahna Frye, 32, has delivered two babies at Princeton: her older son, Holland, in 2020, and another son, Hutton, in May. During her first pregnancy, she said, she had hoped to give birth at home but went to Princeton on her midwifes advice after learning that her blood pressure had climbed dangerously high. Skanes eventually delivered Holland via C-section, but Frye said she never felt rushed into surgery. Frye, a resident of Shelby County, said she chose Princeton because the hospital respected her birth plan. But she knew that if anything went wrong and it could have, given her risk of pre-eclampsia Shelby Baptist was right nearby. If she gets pregnant again, neither option will be available. For our family personally, were not done having kids, Frye said. But she doesnt want to do that without a place like Princeton, she added, and also knows that the distance shed have to drive in an emergency is about to jump from 10 to 35 minutes. Thats the difference in life and death, she said. This article was originally published on TODAY.com Police investigate the scene where authorities say 23 people were shot, one fatally, at a strip mall parking lot near Willowbrook in the early hours of June 18, 2023. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune) Even now, more than 100 days later, the terrifying scenarios play on a loop in Twanda Carrolls mind. What if her apartment hadnt been empty that night in June? What if her three young grandchildren had been staying with her like they did every summer? What if she and her daughter had decided not to spend an extra night with family in Wisconsin? Advertisement I still get emotional, Carroll, 51, said recently. Im just so hurt I start crying. What if something would have happened to my grandbabies, or my daughter, or me? Shortly before 12:30 a.m. on June 18, in a strip mall parking lot across from Carrolls apartment off Illinois Route 83 near Willowbrook, a mass shooting killed one person and injured at least 22 others gathered for what had been billed as a Juneteenth celebration. Advertisement One of the bullets fired that night shattered Carrolls patio window and lodged in the wall next to her living room couch. A second broke her bedroom window and tore through her closet into her kitchen wall. When I come home and think about how the bullets came through my house, Carroll said, I dont see how we could have made it. Four months later, Carroll and others say the response to the mass shooting has only reinforced long-simmering feelings of neglect among the 3,000-plus residents clustered in apartment and condominium complexes in an unincorporated area on DuPage Countys southeastern edge. Some question why DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick has made no public comments about the investigation, which thus far has yielded only one arrest. Others wonder why they havent received the same outpouring of support typically seen after mass shootings. Twanda Carroll lives across the street from the Willowbrook strip mall parking lot where 23 people were hit by gunfire, one fatally, during a Juneteenth celebration. Two bullets entered her apartment, leaving her feeling unsafe. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune) The Willowbrook strip mall parking lot where 23 people were hit by gunfire, one fatally, during a Juneteenth celebration. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune) It kind of seems like they swept us under the rug, Carroll said. Thats how we feel, that we dont get the same attention as elsewhere. There are signs thats changing. In recent weeks, DuPage County Board members have pledged more than $1.5 million for infrastructure improvements and to bolster the efforts of nonprofit organizations already working in the community. Now that the spotlight is shining on this community, weve got more momentum and I want to keep it up, said Lucy Evans, a DuPage County Board member whose district includes the unincorporated neighborhood where the shooting took place. [ Previous coverage: Woman shot at strip mall near Willowbrook recounts chaos ] His absence is noticed Mendricks office has said little about its investigation. His office has not held any news conferences and has instead issued sporadic news releases over the last four months. A spokesperson did not respond to emails seeking an interview with the sheriff for this story. Advertisement As we have stated throughout our investigation, the DuPage County Sheriffs Office is fully committed to attaining the most comprehensive understanding of what happened and why this tragedy occurred, read an Aug. 29 release. We appreciate and support the publics right to know and intend to be fully transparent with the media and the public. Transparency, however, is a double-edged sword and we must be careful to safeguard the integrity of our investigation. His apparent unwillingness to talk about the case has raised eyebrows among some DuPage County Board members. I find it concerning that our sheriff has not issued a statement or held a press conference, board member Elizabeth Chaplin said during a Judicial and Public Safety Committee meeting two days after the mass shooting. As the person responsible for the unincorporated areas of DuPage County, his absence is noticed. While the county board has limited oversight of the elected sheriff, Chair Deborah Conroy said shes repeatedly encouraged Mendrick to communicate with the public and with the family of Reginald Meadows, the 31-year-old father and fiance killed in the mass shooting. Im very disappointed there was no public comment, no press conference addressing it, Conroy said. Its incredibly frustrating. In news releases, Mendricks office has said investigators are working with federal, state and local agencies. More than 100 shell casings and multiple firearms were collected at the scene, the releases read, and investigators have reviewed hundreds of hours of video footage from businesses, cellphones and social media. Advertisement Warning: Graphic content. In a video released by The Fakhouri Firm LLC, shots ring out at a Willowbrook strip mall resulting in the death of Reginald Meadows. (The Fakhouri Firm, LLC.) A 41-page incident report obtained by the Chicago Tribune through a Freedom of Information Act request offers a brief glimpse of the chaotic moments that night. Four deputies were on foot patrol near the parking lot the night of the celebration, which they estimated to be attended by around 200 people, maybe more. They were dispatched a little before 12:30 a.m. to investigate a battery in progress inside an apartment building just north of the parking lot, across Honeysuckle Lane. As they ran toward the building, they heard gunfire lasting around 20 seconds. Screaming could be heard from the large crowd, the report read. People began running in all directions and vehicles were speeding from the scene. The deputies rushed to the parking lot, where they and others started caring for the injured as paramedics arrived. The incident report includes brief mentions of people being detained immediately after the shooting. But the only charges came earlier this month. Anthony Mothershed, 19, of Aurora, is accused of shooting in the direction of other people at the celebration and faces felony charges of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and aggravated discharge of a firearm direction of another person. Advertisement Its unclear who organized the celebration, which neighborhood residents said took place last year as well. This years event did not have permits, county officials have said. Its also unclear whether the strip malls owners allowed the celebration to happen on their property. A registered agent for the company listed as the owner previously declined to comment when reached by the Tribune. Those questions are among the many that remain unanswered, four months later. We still dont have answers. I still dont know where some of his property is, said Meadows fiancee, Ashley Miller, tears streaming down her cheeks as she stood at a podium during public comments at last months county board meeting. And I just want answers. Ive never seen a mass shooting of such caliber take so long to get answers. My kids deserve answers. So, Im here today to not only be the voice for Reginald, because his life was taken that night. But Im the voice for my two children, because if Im not their voice, then who will be? [ Read more: Willowbrook shooting victim's family 'trying to pick up the pieces' ] New hope for a lost and forgotten community Hinsdale Lake Terrace Apartments across from the Willowbrook strip mall parking lot where 23 people were hit by gunfire. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune) Around 20 years ago, Wendy Williams and her family left their south-suburban neighborhood and moved to the Hinsdale Lake Terrace apartments, one of four apartment complexes that make up the unincorporated pocket of DuPage County known to some as Willowbrook Corner, or Willowbrook Corners. The long brick buildings encircling a retention pond and running along the west and north sides of the strip mall offered residents affordable, government-subsidized housing in one of the states wealthiest counties. Advertisement It was a very nice community, Williams, 63, remembered. It had its problems but nothing major. But as time went on, I saw the lack of resources in the community. Williams eventually moved from the complex. But she started a nonprofit organization, Youth 4 Excellence Inc., that works with families in the community. Hers is one of a handful of nonprofits that have tried to fill in the service gaps in a neighborhood that Williams called a desert, its residents many living at or below poverty isolated by a lack of public transportation and afforded limited access to amenities enjoyed by their affluent neighbors. It is a lost and forgotten community, Williams said. At least part of that isolation is due to the area being unincorporated. Though Willowbrook and Hinsdale are found in the names of the neighborhood and some of its residential complexes, it has no affiliation with either town. Instead, its part of the countys 3rd District, which covers portions of at least 10 communities and is represented by three county board members. A week after the mass shooting, those three board members and the county board chair met with a group of community service agencies called the Willowbrook Corner Coalition to discuss ways the county could help residents. Since then, the county board has pledged more than $1.5 million for services in the community over the next three years. About half that total is earmarked for two nonprofits, The Community House and the YWCA, to add social workers and counseling services for neighborhood residents. Another $750,000 will be used on sidewalks and lighting in the community, officials said. Advertisement More is in the works, officials said, including asking residents to choose a new name to replace Willowbrook Corner. The residents really do not like that name, Evans said. They have never been a part of Willowbrook, and they feel like theyre being tucked away in a corner. Solving the transportation issue could be a harder problem to fix. Around the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pace discontinued a weekday bus route that once took residents to and from the Clarendon Hills Metra station three times in the morning and three times in the evening. Since then, former District 3 board member Julie Renehan spearheaded efforts to bring public transportation back to the area. Transportation is a barrier to economic development. It prevents people from getting to jobs or school, said Renehan, who left the county board last year. Its one of those things that could be a springboard to a positive circumstance. Transportation is such a hinge. The county is looking to find a company willing to operate a shuttle that would take residents to work or medical appointments. But Evans thinks there might be few companies with the ability to do that work. Instead, she thinks the county should look to partner with nonprofits and ride-sharing companies to offset some of the cost of those services. Advertisement Twanda Carroll lives across the street from the Willowbrook strip mall parking lot where 23 people were hit by gunfire, one fatally. Two bullets entered her apartment. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune) Two bullets entered the apartment of Twanda Carroll, who lives across the street from the Willowbrook strip mall parking lot where the mass shooting took place. Holes in her curtains are visible signs of that night. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune) Those efforts might not be enough to keep residents like Carroll from leaving. Five years ago, she moved to the Hinsdale Lake Terrace complex (now called Acclaim at Hinsdale Lake) to be closer to her mom and grandmother. With three jobs, she wasnt home much. But when she was, it was mostly quiet and peaceful. I enjoyed my stay here, she said, until the massacre. The bullets were collected by investigators, the windows and drywall repaired by maintenance staff. Two holes in her curtains are all the visible signs of that night. A police car is now regularly posted in the strip mall parking lot, which looks to have new lights and landscaping and pavement. But still, Carroll said she doesnt feel safe. That first month after the shooting, she could barely sleep. She said she heard about counseling services offered after the shooting but the sessions were all booked up when she inquired. Advertisement Her children want her to move. Shell probably stay in DuPage County, if she can. But where? I know anything can happen anywhere, she said. Im just trying to stay safe. Her goal is to be gone by next summer, before her grandkids come to visit. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) declared 21 species extinct Monday, including 10 birds and two freshwater fish. The species, which the agency removed from the list of those protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) due to extinction, are part of a list of 23 that were proposed for delisting two years ago. At the time, the proposed list included the ivory-billed woodpecker, which at the time had its last commonly accepted sighting in 1944. However, the woodpecker was not among the final list. The Service will continue to analyze and review the information before deciding whether to delist the ivory-billed woodpecker, the agency said. Earlier this year, ornithologists from the National Aviary in Pittsburgh, Pa., said they had seen an ivory-billed woodpecker, the latest of several officially unconfirmed sightings since the last commonly accepted one in 1944. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement FWS outright withdrew the delisting proposal for another species in the original list of 23, the Hawaiian perennial herb Phyllostegia glabra var. lanaiensis. Species included in the final delisting include the Bachmans warbler a bird species previously found in Florida and South Carolina as well as several Hawaiian species, including the large Kauai thrush, the Molokai creeper and the poouli. FWS also delisted the little Mariana fruit bat and two fish species the San Marcos gambusia and the scioto madtom and eight mussel species. Of the delisted species, all but two were first listed as endangered before 1990, and none had a confirmed sighting in the 21st century. Federal protection came too late to reverse these species decline, and its a wake-up call on the importance of conserving imperiled species before its too late, FWS Director Martha Williams said in a statement. As we commemorate 50 years of the Endangered Species Act this year, we are reminded of the Acts purpose to be a safety net that stops the journey toward extinction. The ultimate goal is to recover these species, so they no longer need the Acts protection. The advocacy group Defenders of Wildlife said the delistings illustrated the need for FWS to increase its funding for endangered species conservation. The group has called for the service to increase its ESA budget from $331 million to $841 million. Many of these species were added to the Endangered Species Act when they were too far gone to truly benefit from its life saving protections, said Lindsay Rosa, vice president of conservation research and innovation at Defenders of Wildlife, in a statement. This announcement reinforces the need for fully funding the Act so that future species listings arent delayed or falling through the cracks. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Prosecutors in special counsel Jack Smith's office will call on U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan to impose limited restrictions on what former President Donald Trump can say publicly in an effort to stop repeated verbal attacks on court officials and potential witnesses. Pool Photo by Angela Weiss/UPI Oct. 16 (UPI) -- A Monday court hearing in Washington is set to determine whether former President Donald Trump should be placed under a gag order ahead of his federal election fraud trial due to inflammatory remarks he's made on social media about the case. Special counsel Jack Smith's office will call on U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan to impose limited restrictions on what Trump can say publicly in an effort to stop his repeated verbal attacks on court officials and potential witnesses. The potential for silencing Trump raised immediate legal questions about what consequences the former president would face if he defied the judge's orders, considering Trump's penchant for rhetoric and political bravado. Before now, the former president has defended his commentary as protected free speech, but prosecutors plan to argue that Trump is attempting to contaminate the jury pool and incite the public with phony claims as he seeks the 2024 Republican nomination for president. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The gag order would prevent Trump and his attorneys from making statements that were likely to stain public perception about the case, while Trump would still be allowed to proclaim his innocence on the campaign trail. "The defendant's conduct presents a 'substantial likelihood of material prejudice' to these proceedings, and the court can and should take steps to restrict such harmful extrajudicial statements," said senior assistant special counsels Molly Gaston and Thomas Windom in a motion to the court. In court papers, Trump defense attorney John Lauro called the gag order an "unconstitutional prior restraint" by the Justice Department, which was designed to derail Trump's 2024 campaign. However, prosecutors argued Trump's rhetoric was serving to stoke violence and called attention to the arrest of a Texas woman who allegedly made death threats against Judge Chutkan following Trump's indictment in August. Since being charged, Trump has taken to social media to lash out at the "biased" judge, "deranged" prosecutors, while claiming the justice system is "rigged" against him -- leading the judge to warn that she would move up the March trial date if it would limit the damage from the continuing rancor. The case before Chutkan involves his failed efforts to overturn the 2020 federal election results, which Joe Biden won but Trump falsely claimed to his followers that the process was rigged. Separately, Trump was indicted this past summer by the same special counsel on 37 counts for his alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving office. In May, Trump was barred from posting evidence to social media about the criminal case in which he faces 34 felony charges related to falsifying records in a hush-money scheme. In that case, Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Juan Merchan declined to issue a gag order against Trump, but did impose restrictions on what Trump could say online about any new information he gleaned through his attorneys before the trail, adding that the court's ruling did not violate the former president's First Amendment rights as a 2024 candidate. In early October, Trump was put under a gag order in his ongoing civil fraud trial, in which New York Judge Arthur Engoron found the former president guilty of inflating the values of his state real estate properties. During the penalty phase of the case, Engoron scolded Trump after the former president posted false claims about his law clerk on social media, warning, "Personal attacks on members of my court staff are unacceptable, inappropriate, and I will not tolerate them under any circumstances." Trump, who is the first president in history to face federal criminal charges, was also indicted with 19 co-defendants under Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law for conspiracy to commit fraud in the 2020 election. Washington The federal judge in Washington overseeing the case against former President Donald Trump related to the 2020 election agreed Monday to impose some limitations on what he can say publicly about the case, restricting the former president and his attorneys making statements that target special counsel Jack Smith, his staff, court personnel, and possible witnesses who may testify in the proceedings. The decision from U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan followed a lengthy hearing in federal court in Washington, D.C., regarding a request from Smith and his team to limit what Trump can say about the case brought against him by the Justice Department. Prosecutors asked D.C. District Judge Tanya Chutkan last month to impose a "narrowly tailored" order to prevent the former president from making "extrajudicial statements that present a serious and substantial danger of materially prejudicing this case." Citing numerous tweets and other public statements dating back to the 2020 presidential election, the special counsel argued that Trump has an "established practice" of targeting those who challenge him. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "The defendant knows that when he publicly attacks individuals and institutions, he inspires others to perpetrate threats and harassment against his targets," prosecutors said in court documents, adding that Trump had publicly lambasted potential trial witnesses and the special counsel in an alleged attempt "to prejudice the public and the venire in advance of trial." The "venire" is the jury pool. Smith's prosecutors argued a limited gag order should be imposed over all parties involved in the case to prevent the former president from potentially tainting the jury pool ahead of trial, since court rules usually require certain limitations on what jurors know about a case before being seated at trial. "The defendant should not be permitted to continue to try this case in the court of public opinion rather than in the court of law, and thereby undermine the fairness and integrity of this proceeding," the special counsel wrote in court documents. In a supplemental filing, prosecutors cited Trump's social media post in which he accused former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley who was also a witness in the grand jury investigation of treason. In a social media post last Sunday ahead of Monday's hearing, the former president slammed Smith as "deranged," accused him to trying to "silence" Trump and called Chutkan "highly partisan." "They want to take away my First Amendment rights, and my ability to both campaign and defend myself," Trump wrote. Scott Fredericksen, a former federal prosecutor and independent counsel, said that while the request from prosecutors is a reasonable one, the factors the judge will have to consider are far more complex and prosecutors likely know they won't get everything they're asking for. "It is reasonable for a prosecutor to make a motion like this when there is legitimate concern over both the sanctity of the trial, witnesses, jurors, and the process," he said. He pointed out, however, that Chutkan must consider the First Amendment issues raised by Trump's attorneys. Trump's defense team pushed back against Smith's request for a restriction in court filings last month, calling the special counsel's motion "transparent gamesmanship." The former president's attorneys argued that the reasoning behind the proposed gag limitations was not substantiated by evidence and that the public statements in question actually posed a danger to the administration of justice and were an attempt to "silence" Trump during his presidential campaign. "The prosecution may not like President Trump's entirely valid criticisms, but neither it nor this Court is the filter for what the public may hear," Trump's defense attorneys argued, pushing Judge Chutkan to reject the gag order request on First Amendment grounds. Judge Chutkan has "a difficult balancing to do between exercising appropriate control to make sure witnesses are not intimidated, jurors feel safe, without violating the president's first amendment rights," Fredericksen said. According to Fredericksen, Chutkan a former public defender is likely not only weighing the unprecedented issue before her, but also the impact her ruling may have on any future appeal. If convicted, Trump may pursue an appeal. "She is not a prosecutor's judge. She is her own judge. She is very strong and smart and savvy, and she is not going to issue any order that leaves the case open to being reversed later," Fredericksen predicted. Prosecutors said that the restrictions they seek limit public statements pertaining only to the identity or credibility of potential witnesses and "statements about any party, witness, attorney, court personnel, or potential jurors that are disparaging and inflammatory, or intimidating." Trump's attorneys say the proposed order is "sweepingly broad" and alleged the conditions sought by Smith's team would be expanded and therefore hamper the former president's ability to campaign freely. The former president was indicted by a federal grand jury on four charges related to his alleged attempts to reverse the 2020 election results and has pleaded not guilty. Chutkan previously rejected a motion by Trump's attorneys to recuse herself from the case and has in recent rulings mostly rebuffed attempts by the defense to substantially delay or upend proceedings. The trial is currently set for March 2024, in the middle of the presidential primary elections. President Joe Biden: The 2023 60 Minutes Interview Ret. Gen. Frank McKenzie reacts to Trump's claim that Israel pulled out of mission to kill Soleimani If GOP won't unite, Rep. Mike Turner says a deal "will have to be done" with Democrats for speaker SAN DIEGO (Border Report) Migrant advocates took a short break from handing out bottles of water and small meals to migrants stranded between two border walls in San Ysidro, California, to build a small Dia de los Muertos altar in honor of a female migrant who died early Wednesday morning. The woman reportedly died after being taken from an area known as Whiskey 4, about a mile west of the San Ysidro Port of Entry according to Pedro Rios, director of the American Friends Service Committee. He says the woman had been waiting for agents to take her to a processing center when she developed some sort of medical emergency. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement There isnt a lot of information except that she was 29 years old from Guinea, that she was traveling with a cousin and another companion, said Rios. 2 migrants die in US hospitals after falling in desert areas near border Rios stated that, while not much is known about the woman herself, details about her death are few. Pedro Rios is the director of the American Friends Service Committee. (Salvador Rivera/Border Report) The Border Patrol has issued a statement saying agents were approached by an individual in medical distress. First aid was immediately initiated, and the individual was subsequently transported to a nearby hospital by local emergency medical services where they passed away, read a Border Patrol statement. Rios told Border Report this was bound to happen considering the number of people now waiting to be picked up by agents without food or water. For months, weve been saying that when people are held under these conditions between border walls without having necessary water or food, that it would likely cause injury or possibly death, said Rios. Vigil held for migrants who drowned crossing from Mexico into Eagle Pass Rios fears this will happen again as migrants all along the southern border are being exposed to many dangers while waiting for agents to pick them up. He wants the Border Patrol to prioritize the safety and well-being of asylum seekers. They need to prioritize and make sure that people seeking asylum are welcomed with dignity so that they are properly processed and not be forced to make a difficult decision of having to come through these dangerous areas, Rios said. The Border Patrol has said in the past it doesnt have the enough processing space to take in all of the asylum seekers that are now coming across the border, and that this necessitates the need for the migrants to remain outside along the border until space opens up at Border Patrol stations or processing sites. Visit the BorderReport.com homepage for the latest exclusive stories and breaking news about issues along the United States-Mexico border For now, the womans death is being investigated by Customs and Border Protections Office of Professional Responsibility. The cause of death has yet to be determined. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego. A female British Army staff sergeant accused of yanking up a colleagues knickers and licking her face has been cleared of abuse at an appeal hearing. Staff Sergeant Kayleigh Preston, who was originally demoted to sergeant, has now won her bid to have her rank restored at a summary appeal court. It had been claimed SSgt Kayleigh Preston pulled down the lower-ranked soldiers trousers at work while she was on a Skype video call. She was also accused of then grabbing Sergeant Louise St Louiss underwear and pointing out it matched the colour of her trousers. And it was said that at another meeting SSgt Preston licked her junior colleagues forehead, but claimed it was just banter. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement She was 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. However, SSgt Preston appealed the finding and the punishment at Bulford Military Court, Wilts. A panel of officers found in her favour. By winning her case, the original finding and sentence was quashed and was instead replaced with a fine. 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 man was shot and killed outside a YouTube influencer party in downtown Houston, Texas authorities say. The Saturday, Oct. 14, shooting broke out in the parking lot of the venue at 1:30 a.m. as the party was wrapping up, Houston police said in a news briefing streamed by KHOU. Between 50 and 100 people were at the party, which was held at Samman photography studio, KPRC reported. A fight broke out between multiple partygoers, including a woman who was holding her boyfriends backpack. Police said someone stole the backpack and fired shots as the boyfriend chased the accused thief. The man chasing the suspect was shot, and he died as he was being taken to the hospital, according to police. Officers have not identified the victim, only saying he was a man in his 20s. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement A second victim, who was also believed to have been at the party, showed up to a hospital having been shot in the legs, according to police. He is expected to survive. Officers said quite a few people (were) involved in the shooting, and there may have been more than one shooter. No arrests have been announced as of Monday morning Its unclear who attended the YouTube influencer party, which are often held so influencers can connect with one another and create content. Some TikTok creators fear total US ban. Heres where restrictions on app stand TikTok star and mom killed in crash on way to Juneteenth event, Texas family says The U.S. Department of the Interior announced on Monday that the final visit for The Road to Healing will take place in Bozeman, Montana on Sunday, November 5, 2023. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo) will be accompanied by Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Wizipan Garriott (Rosebud Sioux Tribe). The final stop of The Road to Healing tour will be its 12th stop in a journey that began in Anadarko, Oklahoma in July 2022. The Road to Healing has gone across the country to provide Native survivors of the federal Indian boarding school system and their descendants an opportunity to share their experiences. Never miss Indian Countrys biggest stories and breaking news. Click here to sign up to get our reporting sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Secretary Haaland launched the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative to shed light on the troubled history of Federal Indian boarding school policies and their legacy for Indigenous Peoples. In May 2022, the Department released Volume 1 of an investigative report as part of the Initiative, which calls for connecting communities with trauma-informed support and facilitating the collection of a permanent oral history. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Trauma-informed support will be available on-site during the events, which will be memorialized as part of the effort to capture first-person stories. The listening session will began at 10 am - MT. Since July 2022, Haaland and Newland made stops in Anadako, Oklahome; Pellston, Michigan;Rosebud, South Dakota; Gila River Indian Community, Arizona; Many Farms, Arizona; Tulalip Indian Reservation, near Seattle, Washington; Onamia, Minnesota; and Riverside and Rohnert Park, California. Upcoming The Road to Healing Tour Stops Sunday, October 22, 2023 | Anchorage, Alaska, Sunday, October 29, 2023 | Albuquerque, New Mexico Sunday, November 5, 2023 | Bozeman, Montana 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 Finland's former president Martti Ahtisaari attends 2009 World Leaders Forum at Columbia University in New York HELSINKI (Reuters) - Nobel peace laureate Martti Ahtisaari , who served as Finland's 10th president between 1994 and 2000, died on Monday at the age of 86, the Finnish president's office said in a statement. Ahtisaari was celebrated around the world for brokering peace in conflict zones in Kosovo, Indonesia and Northern Ireland. Known by diplomats for his willingness to engage with all parties and ability to wait patiently for the right moment for a compromise, Ahtisaari refused to accept that wars and conflicts were inevitable. "Peace is a question of will. All conflicts can be settled, and there are no excuses for allowing them to become eternal," Ahtisaari said when he accepted the Nobel award in 2008. (Reporting by Anne Kauranen and Ritsuko Ando; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall, Alex Richardson and Nick Macfie) Firefighters battled flames at a house in Carrick. Allegheny County dispatchers say the emergency crews were called to the 1900 block of Westmont Street at 5:25 p.m. on Sunday. Brownsville Road was closed as firefighters responded. A large hose was laid across the road. The house appeared to be abandoned. Investigators say no one was injured. Crews had the fire under control at around 6:45 p.m. Channel 11 has reached out to Pittsburgh Public Safety for more information and is waiting to hear back. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW TRENDING NOW: Its disgusting: Several tenants in a New Castle apartment say theyre living among roaches Man arrested for overnight stabbing in Pitcairn Steelers T.J. Watt hit with multiple fines from Ravens win VIDEO: WATCH: Innamorato, Rockey face of in final Allegheny County executive debate DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts RIO RICO Frank Granados was training with the Tucson Fire Department when a new firefighting product was introduced at the site. After igniting a pool of JP-4 jet fuel, the crew deployed the product, a type of foam, and extinguished the fire in about 40 seconds, nearly twice as fast as anything theyd used before. It put out fire like nobodys business. Incredible stuff, said Granados, now a senior advisor for the Rio Rico Medical and Fire District, which serves the town about 15 miles north of the Arizona-Mexico border. It also smelled better than the protein-based foam they were using before, which had animal blood in it. After that trial in the 1980s, the department kept both foams on hand, but in Tucson and across the country, Aqueous Film Forming Foam, or AFFF, became the standard for handling flammable liquid fires, known as Class B fires, for half a century. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement But across the world, fire districts and air bases are now replacing AFFF because of its high levels of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, a class of manufactured chemicals. Awareness of their threat to firefighters health helped activate statewide cancer screening efforts and changes within Arizona fire departments. The chemicals are also at the center of many occupational cancer research efforts. Arizona scientists are doubling down on exposure science and prevention, and spearheading research that could inform future treatment in the state and beyond. For people in the service, making change happen is personal. Granados lost most of the colleagues of his first crew to cancer, something that moved him to act and seek a federal grant to replace all AFFF in the Rio Rico Fire District three years ago. Accepting cancer as part of the job is not an option, said Brad Pitassi, Maricopa's fire chief. If we continue down the same path that we were in the 80s and 90s with the information that we have now, then shame on us, he said. Our men and women, they deserve every ounce of energy and effort we can put into protecting them like they protect the communities that we serve. How chronic exposure can lead to health issues The cancer risk to firefighters was established long ago, but the connection gained more attention last year when the International Agency for Research on Cancer reclassified the occupation as carcinogenic to humans, because of workplace exposure. How much of the increased cancer risk comes from PFAS is something scientists and oncologists dont know. There are hundreds of toxic chemicals that can contribute to the disease. However there is evidence that chronic exposure to these chemicals can cause severe health effects and that firefighters have higher levels of PFAS in their blood than the general population. Fire departments and scientists in Arizona are collaborating to deepen knowledge on this issue and establish prevention measures. About nine years ago, Jeff Burgess, a professor and associate dean of research at the University of Arizonas College of Public Health, started a program with the Tucson Fire Department to identify and reduce carcinogen exposure, taking biological samples before and after a fire, and following crew members health, both of recruits and veteran firefighters. Arizona wildfire updates: Cecil and Still fires burn near Flagstaff The results were promising, producing new information on the mechanisms behind how exposure can lead to higher cancer risk. Over the first two to three years of a firefighter's career, they could see changes in their gene expression, Burgess said. The process they had established in Tucson could help answer questions in fire departments across the country, he added. The team formed a partnership with University of Miami researchers and fire departments, and used a federal grant to expand research to other cities, to create the Fire Fighter Cancer Cohort Study. The long-term goal is following 10,000 U.S. firefighters exposure and health, including that of new recruits, over three decades. Arizona firefighters also urged new research on other fronts. They called out the need, and funding source, to replicate a study that suggests plasma donation can reduce the level of PFAS levels in firefighters blood. The research project, led by the new UAs Center for Firefighter Health Collaborative Research, is still ongoing. But the main focus is preventing exposure. AFFF is not the only source of concern about PFAS; protective gear has it too. Experts still don't know how and to what extent the chemicals in the gear get into first responders' bodies, Burgess said. Firefighters use the turnout gear for extended periods of time, often daily. They train wearing the 75-pound equipment to make sure they are fit and agile to respond to emergencies when lives are on the line. Fire departments have long had protocols to decontaminate the gear. But fire chiefs say awareness of PFAS exposure made them increase precautions. They establish mobile washing stations to rinse after responding to an emergency, keep extra sets of gear, and load them into the back of the trucks, instead of riding with it. They are also looking at gear alternatives for training, a heavy welders outfit of sorts, said Scottsdale Fire Chief Tom Shannon Something that gives you the weight and the feel of the gear but is basically cotton," he said. "Zero chemicals. Surprisingly, there aren't many alternatives on the apparel industry yet, even if the demand and profit opportunity is huge, he said. Early screening helps detect cancer In Arizona, there are many diagnoses of thyroid, kidney and testicular cancers in the fire service, said Vershalee Shukla, a radiation oncologist at Vincere Cancer Center. The center, based in Scottsdale, runs a free statewide early cancer screening program for first responders. The program started in Phoenix in 2018 and grew to cover most of Arizona in 2020, funded by cities, FEMA grants and workers compensation insurance. Participation is voluntary, but encouraged for members with at least five years of service, with priority to those age 40 and above. Certain types of cancer seem to have stronger associations with PFAS exposure. Higher levels of PFOS in the blood of Air Force service members were tied to a higher risk of testicular cancer, one study suggests. "PFAS is actually an endocrine disruptor, so you tend to see issues in thyroid, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, said Shukla. These cancers, along with many others, are now included in first responders' work compensation benefits, thanks to 2021 law changes. Through the early-screening program, Shukla said the center has detected almost 30 cases of kidney cancer and three of thyroid cancer in the last three years. Pitassi, Maricopa's fire chief, was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer in May. A surgeon removed part of his thyroid in June to get rid of the tumor, and Shukla suggested they send a tissue sample to a lab for a PFAS test. PFAS use: Groundwater near old Williams Air Force Base in Mesa contaminated by same 'forever chemicals' as Luke Air Force Base The reading was 920 ng/g for a mix of PFAS. There are few studies about PFAS concentrations on organ tissue, let alone thyroid tissue. For blood, a concentration of 20 ng/mL PFAS translates into increased health risks that require screening. Results came from a single tissue sample but support the need for a large-scale study, said Dhimiter Bello, associate dean of the University of Massachusetts Lowells College of Health Science, who collaborated with Shukla to study the tissue. Four Scottsdale fire members were also diagnosed with cancer recently, Shannon said. Three of them worked at the airport, where AFFF is still used, he added. Pitassi, on the other hand, said he never used AFFF, but did wear turnout gear almost every single day, creating a potential route of exposure. The eight-inch scar across his neck always reminds him that, because of the high PFAS levels in his blood, he is at higher risk of having another cancer, he said. It's a tragic diagnosis," he said. "However, thankfully it's me because I can enact change. Foam contaminated soils, water and people AFFF was, and still is, used to control aircraft and tanker truck fires, along with other emergencies where fuel can likely spread. The foam creates a film that spreads and seals all the burning vapors, suffocating the fire by not allowing more oxygen in. Every military base, and municipal and international airport had it, as did many fire districts. Effective and fast-acting, it was a lifesaver. But it came at a cost: The foam washed into drains and ditches, contaminating soil and water, and crews took the contaminated gear back to their stations and their homes. Lawrence Burry, a retired military firefighter living in Peoria, estimates he used the foam easily some 500 times during his two decades of service with the U.S. Air Force. Unsuspecting, crews also used the diluted product as a degreaser to wash trucks and scrub the floors, he said. Then theyd hose it out into the street and drainage, let their gear dry and use it again. What I dislike the most is my children being exposed to it, Burry said. Sometimes he would go home after shift, wearing the gear, and hug his family. At some point, the U.S. Air Force instructed firefighters to avoid letting the foam get into streams and lakes because it would kill fish, he said. But there was nothing more to it. The Department of Defense suspected the products toxicity since the 1970s, and in 2000, the EPA warned some PFAS in the foam were persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic, according to official records compiled by the Environmental Working Group. By law, DOD is required to stop using AFFF by Oct. 1, 2024. Since September, airports have approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to use PFAS-free alternatives but are not obligated to make the replacement. Military PFAS use: Some homebuyers near Luke Air Force Base can't close and move in because of water contamination Arizona fire departments are ahead To protect the health of firefighters and the public, fire departments across Arizona are replacing the foam with a PFAS-free alternative. Arizona is one of about 12 states that have a program to take back AFFF. The state Department of Environmental Quality invested $406,000 to safely dispose of nearly 10,000 gallons of AFFF across 52 fire departments and replace it with F500, a product the EPA has long used to neutralize oil spills. Some cities made the change years earlier using part of their budget, grants or money from their cancer mitigation program. The Rio Rico Fire District took AFFF off its trucks three years ago using FEMAs Homeland Security grant funds, then received additional support from ADEQ. Granados, who also works at the Santa Cruz County Office of Emergency Management, led the initiative. He was persuaded by the new product when they lit a bar of magnesium, which heated to 5,000 degrees, and in 45 seconds F500 cooled it enough to be held. Its not only that the F500 is PFAS-free, Granados said. The product works on every class of fire and cools the scene so quickly that it can reduce off-gassing and the exposure of firefighters to other carcinogens, he added. In 2020, Arizona prohibited use of AFFF for training and test purposes, though AFFF is still used in many hazmat and fuel fire emergencies. Shannon, the Scottsdale fire chief, says his department rarely used it for training because the foam is too expensive. If they have a big fuel spill, they will contain it and use AFFF. Large spills are cleaned and safely disposed of by a contractor. The fire crews will alert city and state agencies of the AFFF emergency discharges, Shannon said. But there are no federal or state laws that require them to do so, an ADEQ spokesperson said. There are also no requirements to contain and safely dispose of the product after use. AFFF is suspected to be the main source of groundwater contamination with PFAS in Arizona. Sonoran departments lack information about PFAS By contrast, in Nogales, Sonora, fire departments haven't been informed by any government agency about the dangers of PFAS contamination. Legislation in Mexico around the manufactured chemicals only limits imports of certain PFAS, but there are no information campaigns on the increased health risks of being exposed to them. Gilberto Saavedra, commander and firefighter chief in Nogales, Sonora, said he hadnt heard about negative health effects coming from the PFAS-laced foam. Cancer risk is undeniable, especially as construction materials and homes have an increasing number of toxic chemicals that first responders are exposed to, he said. Crews always respond to fires using protective equipment and respirators, but foam and gear has not been on their list of concerns, he added. They have some AFFF, at 6% concentration, most donated by fire stations in Arizona. PFAS contamination: Not just Luke: Water in 9 other Arizona places has tested high for firefighting foam toxins Crews seldom use the foam, it's too expensive and they cannot afford it, said Lt. Cesar Ramon Velez, who is in charge of the downtown fire station. Stations run on donations, earnings from first responder training for companies and fees from license plates, but receive no budget from the city or county, he said. They don't use it on all car fires. Only when there are large fuel spills will they use AFFF to stop the fire from running in streams, he added. The border communities are connected in many ways. A dumpster fire a couple of months ago a mile south of the Arizona border blanketed nearby communities with smoke, said Granados. Stormwater and sewage from the border city flows northward into Arizona through the International Outfall Interceptor, the cross-boundary pipeline, and into the international water treatment plant and washes. AFFF could also get into stormwater or wastewater and make it across the border, Granados suggested. So far that is unknown. The international wastewater treatment plant does not test for PFAS. Cultural changes are needed Putting new prevention measures in place has not been easy. Even replacing AFFF for F500 was a steep slope at first. Change in the fire service is really voodoo, Granados said. The fire service is 200 years of tradition unhampered by progress, because that's the way we've always done it. Arizona fire chiefs say it will take more than prevention measures to address PFAS exposure and the high rates of cancer risk the crews face. Fire departments have made progress on changing protocols and behaviors around turnout gear, using it less often, taking it off with precautions and decontaminating it after shift. We have firefighters that are more aware, and the old philosophy of dirty gear as a sign of valor," Pitassi said, "we're not accepting that anymore. Shannon said much of the exposure crews go through is unnecessary, and departments will need to change how they fight fire. There is a slew of toxic chemicals, including PFAS, that transform with fire and that firefighters breathe and absorb when they walk into a burning building. Its like every fire was a hazmat scene, Shannon said. He believes there needs to be a shift on what firefighters risk and for what. There is a cultural ethos that makes firefighters run into buildings, but once there is no one in harms way inside, they should stop doing so, Shannon said. It's an unpopular opinion, he admitted. We have to stop exposing our firefighters to things that are lost, he said. Clara Migoya covers environmental issues for The Arizona Republic and azcentral. Send tips or questions to clara.migoya@arizonarepublic.com. Environmental coverage on azcentral.com and in The Arizona Republic is supported by a grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust. Sign up for AZ Climate, our weekly environment newsletter, and follow The Republic environmental reporting team at environment.azcentral.com and @azcenvironment on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can support environmental journalism in Arizona by subscribing to azcentral.com today. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Firefighters and scientists collaborate to reduce PFAS exposure Savannah, left, and Nia Johnson outside Roaster's Savory Tasting in downtown Park Forest. They will have a grand opening Oct. 21. (Hank Sanders/Daily Southtown) Savannah Johnson, a 22-year-old Park Forest resident, has always loved to bake. Her sister, Nia, also a of Park Forest and a year older, has worked several jobs as a barista. Both grew up making each other a variety of breakfast sandwiches to enjoy on the way to school. So opening a breakfast and coffee spot where the two can excerise their skills professionally has always been their dream, albeit far-fetched. Advertisement Then, in August, their mother, Gale Snead-Hart, did something shocking. Just one random day, she was just like Let me take you by the shop. And I was like What shop? Savannah Johnson recalled. And she just pulled up here. Advertisement For several months, Snead-Hart, who works for the Illinois Department of Human Services, and her business partner and co-investor Ken Curry, talked with their families about their plans to open a breakfast joint. Savannah and Nia, along with Kens daughter Arriane, began planning a menu and marketing strategy. But the kids thought for sure Snead-Hart and Curry would turn the store over to outside employees once it became a reality. She thought she was just helping, being an aid, Snead-Hart said of her daughter Savannah, who is now the store manager, fulfilling a lifelong goal to run her own business. Arriane is working the marketing side of the business. Aside from a few doughnuts, all the baked goods at Roasters Savory Tasting, 319 Main St., in downtown Park Forest, are homemade, either by a Savannah, an in-house chef or a baker who runs the locally owned bakery Cookies and Conversations. All of the breakfast sandwiches, lunch plates, smoothie bowls and drinks are also all made by hand and made to order. We want people to start the day off in a good mood, said Savannah, who quit her Amazon warehouse job to work at the store. None of our food is premade. We take time to put it together. We make it with care. Savannahs favorite item is one of the breakfast sliders or the avocado toast. Roaster's Savory Tasting specializes in breakfast sandwiches like this order of sausage and bacon breakfast sliders. (Hank Sanders/Daily Southtown) As the store began to close at 3:30 Oct. 11, a man walked in and said he wanted another cookie. As he approached the counter, Savannah told him the cookie was on the house. She explained that while she didnt know him, he had just bought a bunch of sandwiches and she wanted to thank him for his order. Roasters, a family owned, Black-owned and women-run business, will have its grand opening Oct. 21. Its hours will be 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Advertisement Being a barista here is exciting because I am coming up with my own ways of doing my drinks, said Nia, who still works as a nurse on the side. The creativity in me is coming out. Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy > She recommends the mint lemonade and the blended coffee drinks, called frappes. While Curry and Snead-Hart will work at the store weekends and outside of their day jobs, the three daughters run the place. We all have a part, Snead-Hart said. We all pool together and try to make it work. Roasters opened for three days recently as part of a soft launch. Were learning a lot of new things and were also teaching each other a lot of new things, Nia said. Its super exciting. Advertisement The sisters say business was good to start, but look forward to the real deal Oct. 21. hsanders@chicagotribune.com Two Roswell firefighters are being recognized for their heroic act in saving a womans life. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] According to the Roswell Fire Department, the incident happened on April 27. Firefighters James Laudermilk and Andrew Riley reportedly jumped into the Chattahoochee River to help save a drowning woman. On Monday, the department announced that the Georgia State Firefighters Association (GFSA) will present Laudermilk and Riley with the 2023 Life Saving Valor Award. Recognitions like the Life Saving Valor Award not only spotlight individual acts of heroism but also underscore our teams commitment to public safety. The continued support from our elected officials, City leadership, and the Roswell community empowers us each day, said Roswell Fire Chief Joe Pennino. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement TRENDING STORIES: The department states that Laudermilk and Rileys heroic act exemplifies the dedication and commitment they display every day in the line of duty. Their bravery, dedication, and unyielding commitment to public safety in the Roswell community embody the essence of the Roswell Fire Department. We appreciate all the brave men and women that protect our community each day, Roswell Mayor Kurt Wilson said. The award ceremony will take place at the Roswell City Hall during the city council meeting on Nov.13 at 7 p.m. Firefighters Laudermilk and Riley will be recognized at the 2024 Firefighters Recognition Day at the Georgia State Capitol on February 6, 2024. Laudermilk has been with the fire department since 2014 and Riley joined in 2015. They both serve at Fire Station 24. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: A political consulting firm working to elect presidential candidate Nikki Haley is being sued by a woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted by a superior and that top officials at the firm did nothing about it. Mark Harris, a cofounder of the Pittsburgh-based firm ColdSpark, is mentioned in the lawsuit, which was filed in August in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Harris is the lead strategist for Haleys super PAC, SFA Fund Inc. ColdSpark is also consulting for Dave McCormick, the GOP Senate candidate in Pennsylvania. A former ColdSpark junior employee alleged in the suit that at a work dinner in late 2021 she was groped by Ryan Reynolds, a vice president of the firm who left about a year later. She asserted that senior management was made aware of the incident but did not address it. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The woman said that after claiming she was discriminated against and harassed, she was constructively discharged, meaning that the work environment became so hostile that she had no choice but to resign. It is the womans understanding, according to the lawsuit, that both Harris and another ColdSpark co-founder, Mike DeVanney, were informed of the harassment. DeVanney is named as a defendant in the suit, while Harris is not. The woman, whom POLITICO is not naming because she is alleging she was a victim of sexual assault, did not respond to a request for comment. Jeremy Neuhart, a spokesperson for ColdSpark, Harris and DeVanney, said the firm and the defendants deny her allegations and that many of them fail as a matter of law. ColdSpark Media and its owners only became aware of the allegations after [the plaintiff] resigned. ColdSpark Media and the other defendants believe that the court or a jury will find in their favor, Neuhart added. In a statement, Reynolds said: "The frivolous allegations against me have zero merit, and the facts will bear that out. With the full support of my family and friends, I will defend my character and reputation and look forward to the day this sad episode is behind us all." Timothy Prol, a lawyer for the plaintiff, said the complaint speaks for itself and expressed confidence the case would establish the wrongdoing alleged in the complaint. Spokespeople for Haleys campaign and super PAC, as well as a spokesperson for McCormicks campaign, did not respond to requests for comment. Haley has numerous ties to ColdSpark. The Haley-launched leadership PAC Stand for America and the joint fundraising committee Team Stand for America has paid ColdSpark more than a half-million dollars since March 2021 for consulting on digital, fundraising and communications, and list rentals, according to FEC records. Since it started, Haleys presidential campaign also has paid ColdSpark more than $30,000 in communications consulting, printing and graphic design work, according to FEC records. Her campaigns communications director, Nachama Soloveichik, is a partner at Coldspark. On a Coldspark website about their work for Haley, the firm touts an endorsement from Haley: When I decided to launch Stand For America, ColdSpark was there every step of the way. We wouldnt be nearly two million members strong without their help. The firm said its efforts to help set up the group included naming the organization, designing the brand materials, creating hundreds of pieces of content and launching a digital fundraising operation. McCormick is a client of ColdSparks, according to a September post by the firm on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. His campaign paid ColdSpark nearly $115,000 during his unsuccessful 2022 bid for the Senate, per FEC reports. DeVanney and Harris were also spotted huddling with McCormick at a recent state GOP meeting, said a person in attendance. The first armoured ambulance purchased with funds from the United24 government initiative has arrived in Ukraine. Source: website of Ukraine's Health Ministry Quote: "The first armoured ambulance purchased by Medical Procurement of Ukraine with funds raised under the United24 initiative is already in Ukraine." Details: The vehicle costs UAH 9,532,000 (roughly US$262,050). A total of 13 such ambulances have been purchased. Their total cost is UAH 124 million (roughly US$3.4 million). The Ukrainian Ministry of Health reported that the vehicles serve to evacuate the wounded from the battlefield to the nearest medical facility. Each car is armoured and meets NATO ballistic standards, namely STANAG 4569 Level II. PHOTO: WEBSITE OF UKRAINIAN HEALTH MINISTRY ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement In addition, these vehicles can drive with flat tyres, as in case of pressure loss, thanks to a special design, their speed varies from 50 to 150 kilometres per hour (depending on the weight of the vehicle and road quality). Thus, if shrapnel punctures a tyre, the ambulance will not remain out in the open under fire. Besides, these vehicles are four-wheel drives, so they are capable of driving on war-torn roads. The armoured ambulances were specially produced to order in Canada. Once the rest of the vehicles in the batch are ready, they will be transported to Ukraine. Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron! MIAMI The first round of flights organized by Gov. Ron DeSantis , carrying Americans stranded in Israel, arrived in Florida Sunday night, highlighting his states response to the war in the Middle East. The flight carrying 270 people landed in Tampa, where DeSantis and Florida first lady Casey DeSantis greeted passengers. Another flight carrying seven people landed in Orlando. DeSantis is offering transportation to Floridians who cant make it back to the U.S. because of flight cancellations after Hamas attack on Israel. DeSantis signed an executive order on Thursday that authorizes Floridas Division of Emergency Management to deliver flights to Israel and deliver needed supplies, including medicine and clothes. Florida partnered with Tampa-based nonprofit rescue organization Project DYNAMO to arrange the flights. The governors office didnt immediately respond to a question about the flights cost and whether the state will be providing more help to get people home if they live in another part of the state. A statement sent by the governors office did say that passengers werent being charged for the flights. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement DeSantis, whos running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has said President Joe Biden hasnt done enough to help stranded Americans. There was a devoid of leadership so we stepped up and led, DeSantis said Sunday night in a video posted on X. The Biden administration announced it too was sending flights to Israel, though the State Department is bringing people to European countries not to the U.S. and asking passengers for a refund. The first flight organized by the State Department taking Americans out of Israel landed in Athens on Friday, according to news reports. Floridas evacuation efforts also gave DeSantis an opening to contrast himself with former President Donald Trump, who remains the frontrunner in the Republican primary. The governor lashed out at last week Trump after he criticized Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and called Hezbollah very smart. DeSantis said this weekend that the U.S. should refuse to take refugees from Gaza, claiming during a campaign event in Iowa that, They are all anti-Semitic and that Palestinians should go to the Arab states. DeSantis last week called on the Legislature to prohibit local governments from contracting with Iranian businesses and issued a memo reminding police officers about Floridas laws punishing antisemitism. Bostons New Years Eve celebration is moving from Copley Square to City Hall Plaza. The change in location is due to construction happening in Copley Square, according to Mayor Michelle Wu. City Hall Plaza was designed for events like First Nightopportunities for the community to come together and celebrate our shared love for Boston, Wu said in a statement. First Night Boston will feature a wide range of local musicians, artists, and performers at City Hall Plaza, the surrounding area, and Boston Common. A big draw every year is the ice sculptures which are illuminated at night. Fireworks will go off at 7 p.m. over Boston Common and at midnight over Boston Harbor. The entire celebration will run from noon on Sunday, Dec. 31 to 12:30 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 1. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Its free and open to all. Meantime, Copley Square renovations began in July of this year. According to the city of Boston, renovations include updates to the fountain, new lawn and planting areas, a raised seating area, refurbished memorials and art, new seating, and lighting, along with paved pathways and plaza space. The project is expected to take 16 months to complete, reopening in the fall of 2024. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW LAKE COUNTY, Fla. - Five men were taken into custody for trying to meet up with who they thought were children online for sex in Florida, according to deputies. The Lake County Sheriff's Office arrested the following suspects on various sex-related crimes during its four-day undercover operation, dubbed Operation: Nightcrawler, which targeted subjects online attempting to meet children for sexual activity: Musa Sawaneh, 25, traveled from Temple Terrace, Florida Jason Spencer, 40, traveled from Tavares, Florida Kahili Amilivia Rodriguez, 25, traveled from Groveland, Florida Bhaveshkuma Vekaria, 46, traveled from Orlando, Florida Nahuel Humeres, 20, traveled from Dundee, Florida Deputies said the alleged crimes happened between Oct. 4 and 7. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement MORE HEADLINES: The five men unknowingly spoke online with undercover detectives and then traveled to a predetermined location with the intent to have sex with a child, authorities said in a news release. They were arrested upon arrival. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, along with multiple Central Florida agencies, assisted with the operation. Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, in 2018, warned the United Nations Security Council about the terror threat the Iran-backed Hamas posed to Israel, while also seeking to label it a terror group both in the chamber and the General Assembly -- but the efforts were snubbed or shut down by other members. Haley, serving as the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. in 2018, told the body that Hamas "has been inciting violence for years," long before the U.S. moved to shift its embassy to Jerusalem as it did in 2018. She sounded the alarm about media reports of plans Hamas made to invade Israel if rioters could break through. "They have reported that Hamas maps and social media show the fastest routes to reach Israeli communities in case demonstrators make it through the security fence. They have reported on Hamas messages over loudspeakers that urge demonstrators to burst through the fence, falsely claiming Israeli soldiers were fleeing, when in fact, they were not," she told the Council. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement She noted incidents where Molotov cocktails were put on kites and flown into Israel, and how key crossing points had been attacked. She also rebuffed calls for additional restraint by Israel by some on the Council -- calls that have been echoed in recent days since the terror attack by Hamas. UN STILL DOES NOT LABEL, SANCTION HAMAS AS TERROR GROUP DESPITE MURDEROUS ATTACKS READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley delivers a speech during Security Council meeting on the situation in Gaza at United Nations Headquarters in New York, United States on May 15, 2018. "I ask my colleagues here in the Security Council, who among us would accept this type of activity on your border? No one would. No country in this chamber would act with more restraint than Israel has. In fact, the records of several countries here today suggest they would be much less restrained." Israel was hit by a devastating terror attack last week that has left more than 1,300 Israelis dead. It has sparked a retaliation from Israel, which has then drawn more calls for restraint from U.N. officials. Hamas is not labeled or sanctioned as a terror group by the United Nations Security Council, unlike ISIS and Al Qaeda. ISRAEL AMBASSADOR SLAMS UN COUNCIL'S STATEMENT CRITICIZING ISRAEL: HOW MANY MURDERED JEWS DOES IT TAKE Haley, who is now running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, also introduced a resolution in the Security Council in June 2018 that would have labeled Hamas a terror group. The U.S. was the sole vote in favor, with other countries either abstaining or voting against. Russia, which backs Iran, has veto power on the council. The Council has still failed to sanction Hamas or label it a terror group. Haley would that same year go on to push for a vote in the General Assembly to condemn Hamas and its rocket attacks against Israel. She succeeded and the vote took place. The amendment then passed with a slim majority -- only to then fail on procedural grounds when the president changed the rules to require a two-thirds majority. Critics of the U.N., including Haley, have accused it of having an anti-Israel bias, both on its General Assembly and the Security Council as well as in its various agencies. During the Trump administration, the U.S. pulled out of or withdrew funding from a number of agencies citing those agencies anti-Israeli bias. SENIOR HAMAS OFFICIAL ADMITS ISRAEL ATTACKS HAD BEEN PLANNED FOR YEARS UNDER GUISE OF GOVERNING GAZA This week, the UN's top human rights official called for both Israel Defense Forces and Hamas to "respect international humanitarian law" and defuse tensions. He also criticized Israel's "full siege" of Gaza. "They must immediately cease attacks targeting civilians and attacks expected to cause disproportionate death and injury of civilians or damage to civilian objects," Turk said. Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan took am at how the U.N. had handled the crisis. CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP "The U.N.'s response to Israel's early warning to the residents of Gaza is shameful," Erdan told Fox News Digital. "For many years, the U.N. 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. "Now, instead of standing by Israel, whose citizens were slaughtered by Hamas terrorists and who tries to minimize harm to those not involved, it preaches to Israel. It is better for the U.N. to focus now on returning the the hostages, condemning Hamas, and supporting Israel's right to defend itself." Original article source: FLASHBACK: Nikki Haley warned United Nations of Hamas threat to Israel, sought to label terror group A recent Florida-bound flight diverted when an adult nappy in the onboard toilet was mistaken for a bomb. The Copa Airlines CM393 service had departed Panama City for Tampa on the morning of Friday 13 October when the decision was made by cabin crew to turn back to the airport of origin. Panamas national police shared details of the mistake on X, formerly known as Twitter, posting: The Special Forces units activated the emergency protocol, and verified it turned out to be a disposable adult diaper. Luego de una alerta por el @aacivilpty, de un objeto extrano en una aerolinea las unidades de Fuerzas Especiales activaron el protocolo de emergencia y al ser verificado resulto ser un panal desechable de adulto. #Prevencion pic.twitter.com/n3pBqQZki9 Policia Nacional (@ProtegeryServir) October 13, 2023 The statement said that police were alerted by the local civil aviation authority of a foreign object on an airline, alongside pictures of the offending item on top of a black plastic bag. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Passengers had to disembark at Panama Citys Tocumen International Airport while authorities did a full sweep of the plane to check for explosives. The nappy was found in one of the aircraft toilets, Jose Castro, the airports head of security, confirmed to the Associated Press. We had it on a secure runway where police special explosives canine units and special forces examined the object, and found it to be an adult diaper, ruling out any risk, he said. Its not the first time a bomb scare on a plane has scuppered travel plans. In July this year, a Southwest flight from Las Vegas to Maui was diverted after a passenger used Apples AirDrop feature to send threatening images to fellow travellers and imply there was a bomb on the plane. The flight departed from Vegas at 9.21am, 3 July, but was forced to make the U-turn to Oakland just an hour into the flight as passengers were alerted to mechanical issues. Passenger Valerie Maluchnik, who was travelling on the flight with her 15-year-old daughter and eight-year-old son, said she thought they were all going to die. In my mind, Im like, Is this thing going down? and then it just kind of spiralled from there, she told Insider, adding that she overheard a flight attendant repeatedly muttering, Get me the f*** off this plane. Im like, Oh my God, this is it. This is the end for me and my kids, she said. TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) Florida is infamous for having some of the craziest events and stories, but one of the strangest things to come from the state might be its slang. While some states around the country have their own variations of strange phrases, like a tavern in South Dakota is a sloppy joe, not a bar. In Mississippi, to carry doesnt mean having a gun on you; it means driving someone. Map: These Missouri counties are home to the most excessive drinkers, study finds But this Florida phrase, created in and around the Jacksonville area, seemed to stump respondents on a recent survey that sought to find the hardest to understand states by measuring how confused the rest of the country was by the states phrases. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement According to a survey conducted by the language learning app Preply, the Sunshine State ranked in the top 20 states with the hardest-to-understand slang with the phrase jiffy feet. Do you recognize this phrase? If you dont, youre not alone, as 43% of respondents who took the survey thought jiffy feet meant that you have talented dance moves. However, thats not the case. What does jiffy feet mean? The phrase jiffy feet is used to describe the black layer of dirt and dust that accumulates on the bottom of ones feet after walking around driveways, streets, dirt roads or really anywhere barefoot. FOX4 newsletters: Get the latest news delivered to your inbox For example, if youve ever spent a summers day walking around barefoot as when youre making a trip to your neighborhood convenience store youve probably had jiffy feet by the time you got home. Where did the phrase jiffy feet come from? Jacksonville locals suggest the term originated from the area around the 1970s when the Huntleys Jiffy chain was at its height. According to writer Bill Delaney, the Orange Park-based business grew to have 342 stores, with a bulk of its locations in the Jacksonville metropolitan area. A jiffy or jiffy store refers to gas stations or grocery stores. Download the FOX4 News app to stay updated on the go. Sign up for FOX4 email alerts to have breaking news sent to your inbox. Find todays top stories on fox4kc.com for Kansas City and all of Kansas and Missouri. By the 80s and 90s, the term was in use in other parts of Florida as well, including Daytona, Ocala, and the Panhandle as far as Pensacola, and even in some other Southern states, Bill Delaney explained in an article for The Jaxson on the history of jiffy feet. At least initially, the terms geographical range likely correlated with the presence of stores named Jiffy. Other colloquial or regional names for the concept exist; elsewhere and at other times, dirty feet have been known as Kmart feet, grocery store feet, Winn-Dixie feet, and gypsy feet. The chain was bought out twice, and any store that used to be a Huntleys Jiffy is now a Circle K, Delaney reported. While there havent been any Jiffy stores around in years, the quick-stop shops legacy lives on through jiffy feet. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. - A woman was killed in a crash in Flagler County early Monday after her car struck a tree and burst into flames, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Troopers said the crash happened shortly after midnight at Old Kings Road, about a mile and a half south of Town Center Boulevard. The 21-year-old Palm Coast woman was driving south on Old Kings Road when she traveled out of the southbound lane across the northbound learn and struck a tree, officials said. The car then caught fire. Firefighters responded to the scene and put out the fire where the woman was found dead. The crash is under investigation. WGN-TV meteorologist Tom Skilling sits at his desk in his home, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021, in Chicago. Skilling, long time WGN-TV meteorologist and a well-known local personality, will retire next year after 45 years at the station. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune via AP) (Brian Cassella/AP) Hollywood may have big- and small-screen idols. We have weather stars. If there was any doubt about our adoration for weather folks, it was proved by the outpouring of affection following the announcement last week of Tom Skillings retirement. Advertisement Chicagoans can name their favorite forecasters before they can identify those manning TV anchor desks. Well-known weather guys and gals are drivers of station ratings and ad revenue in a business fraught with competition. It is in our Midwestern grain to fret about weather events, whether rain, snow, wind or sun. Our crops dont grow without that mix of foul and fair weather. Then theres climate change. Advertisement We need to know if an umbrella is needed, and what the kids need to wear while at the bus stop or walking to school. Or, if we need to slip on mukluks when snow is forecast for that morning and evening commute; and what the driving conditions will be like. The Washington, D.C.-based Pew Research Center found in one recent study that four in 10 newscasts led with weather stories. We focus on whats happening the next day in our weather future, which is why weather segments often are the most-watched portions of the evening news. Who among us isnt interested in the weather and its effect on us? Which is where the regions weather fraternity comes in. Folksy Skilling was the dean of the trusted group that has included P.J. Hoff, John Coughlin, Jim Tilmon, John Coleman, Jerry Taft, Roger Triemstra and Harry Volkman. Then there are his successors, Brant Miller, Cheryl Scott, Larry Mowry and others. And dont forget the national weather folks, like Ginger Zee, who left Chicagos WMAQ for Good Morning America on ABC; Al Roker and Willard Scott of the Today show on NBC; and Jim Cantore of the Weather Channel. Add to the mix central Illinois Lee Davis, the former chief meteorologist at WAND-TV in Springfield. Skilling announced on the air Oct. 12 he would be stepping down early next year as the longtime chief meteorologist at WGN-TV after 45 years, since 1978, at the one-time Tribune Media flagship station. He spent even more years as a TV weatherman at a few other stations, including Chicagos WLS-TV and at WITI in Milwaukee, where he exchanged weather banter with Albert the Weather Cat. At least Skilling, 71, a fixture on WGN news, knows when to retire. Unlike some of our elected officials. Even with cable weather channels, Chicagoans and suburbanites turned to Skillings forecasts in a business where chances are meteorologists might only be half right in predicting the next days weather. Before the rise of social media, it was said Skillings evening weather forecasts had the power to move commodity prices when traders still roamed the floors of the boards of trade. Advertisement They considered his weathercasting to be that accurate. Prior to cable and streaming services, weather segments were so important that a Lake County states attorney sued to make sure over-the-air broadcasts could reach viewers. In the early 1970s, Republican States Attorney Jack Hoogasian, who later would become a Lake County Circuit Court judge, unsuccessfully sued Sears, Roebuck and Co., on behalf of county TV viewers. He wanted to block construction of Sears Tower, now Willis Tower. Hoogasian alleged that if construction of the 110-story building were allowed, the high-rise in Chicagos Loop would interfere with television reception in Lake County. The argument was that because antennas of Chicago broadcast stations were lower than the tower, its size would block programming. Lake County News-Sun Twice-weekly News updates from Lake County delivered every Monday and Wednesday By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy > An Illinois appellate court ended up rejecting the Hoogasian suit in 1972. Following completion of the structure in 1974, many Chicago stations transferred their antennas to the cloud-reaching tower. While Skilling is leaving his long career, jobs for meteorologists across the board in various industries are expected to grow by 12% from now until 2026. News operations are expanding their investments to keep pace with forecasting technologies. The use of Doppler radar, VIPIR (Volumetric Imaging and Processing for Integrated Radar) which gives real-time data in three-dimensions, satellite usage and storm-chasing vehicles has grown. Some broadcasters have invested millions of dollars in better equipment to out-forecast the competition. A few years ago, WLS-TV dedicated its own radar facility in western Kane County. Advertisement 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. Certainly, Skilling elevated the milieu while at the same time pushing his fellow forecasters to get the weather right for us on a daily basis. Charles Selle is a former News-Sun reporter, political editor and editor. sellenews@gmail.com. X @sellenews Florida works with nonprofit group to help bring Americans stranded in Israel back to U.S. More than 270 Americans who were stranded in Israel are now back in the U.S. Many were seen Sunday night getting off a charter plane at Tampa International Airport. Gov. Ron DeSantis and his wife, Casey, greeted them as they stepped foot back on American soil. Watch: Orlando rabbis hold Stand with Israel event at Lake Eola The state partnered with the nonprofit group Project Dynamo to get them home. So a lot of these people were in a real pinch. They had no help, DeSantis said. They were not able to get out of Israel and the state of Florida stepped up and answered the call. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Read: Israel-Hamas War: Israeli military says hostage count is now at 199 The governor said he expects more of these flights to happen in the coming days. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. The director of the countrys top public health agency visited a Westchester pharmacy to encourage vaccinations as the country braces for another possible tripledemic of COVID, flu and RSV during the fall and winter months. While COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations are on the decline again following a late summer uptick in cases, flu and RSV infections have begun to circulate, although those cases remain lower then last year, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Last year, we did see a high number of cases of flu, COVID and RSV circulating at the same time, which really not only made people very sick, but strained our hospital system at the time, CDC Director Mandy Cohen, an internal medicine physician, told the Miami Herald in an interview. We really have the power in our hands to know whats going to happen this season and for the first time in history, we do have vaccines against all three. The 44-year-old Cohen took the reins of the CDC after Rochelle Walensky, who led the agency during the height of the pandemic, resigned earlier this year. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The CVS y mas store at 10660 SW 40th St. was one of the stops on Cohens national tour to promote vaccinations ahead of the colder winter months. The visit to the store, which has a large Hispanic customer base that the agency wants to reach, comes just weeks after the CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave the OK for a newly updated COVID vaccine. The shots were formulated to target omicron variant XBB.1.5, the dominant strain in the U.S. earlier this year, in preparation for the 2023-2024 fall and winter season. CDC Director Mandy Cohen, back left, talks to pharmacy workers during a visit to CVS Pharmacy on Monday, Oct. 16, 2023, located on SW 40th Street in Miami. Alie Skowronski/askowronski@miamiherald.com And while the federal government is no longer paying for the vaccines, adults who are uninsured or underinsured can still get the shots free through December 2024 at CVS, Walgreens and several other healthcare providers participating in the CDCs Bridge Access program. Most insurance, including Medicaid and Medicare, are expected to cover the vaccine cost. Children eligible for the Vaccines for Children program can also get the vaccine from enrolled providers. Eduardo and Mary Corcharo, who have been married for more than 50 years, got their flu shot at the pharmacy during Cohens visit and were in and out of the vaccination booth within minutes. The couple, who are in their 70s, said in Spanish that they receive the flu shot every year to help avoid getting sick, though they opted not to get the newly updated COVID-19 vaccine after speaking with their doctor about reactions they had with previous doses. In the Herald interview, Cohen said some of the health concerns the agency is focused on include the countrys mental health and opioid overdose crisis, as well as ensuring that communities have the resources and tools needed to manage respiratory viruses. We have these respiratory viruses that are here and can make you really sick so lets do what we can to use all of the tools that we have, Cohen said. Vaccines is certainly one but its also testing and treatment and common sense solutions that weve all learned over the course of the pandemic on how to protect ourselves. Heres what else to know about Cohens visit to Miami and the discussion about health and disease: COVID-19 Forecast: COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations are on the decline again in the country and in Florida, though health officials expect it will likely tick up again as the country enters the holiday travel season. COVID alphabet soup: The current dominant strain in the U.S. is EG.5, also known as Eris, which is estimated to make up about 24% of infections, CDC data shows. In the Southeast region, including Florida, HV.1 has taken the lead and is estimated to make up about 22% of infections, followed by Eris with 20%. Both are descendants of omicron. Federal health officials say the updated shots should still provide good protection against the circulating variants. Quote: Were always watching to see how this virus can change. Thats what it wants to do. It wants to evade our immune system and it wants to spread, Cohen said during her Miami visit. So we are constantly watching that at the CDC. We are sequencing many, many, many viruses in order to be able to watch and know how it changes. Vaccine eligibility: The FDA authorized the updated COVID shots for people 12 and older, with the vaccine under emergency use authorization for kids as young as 6 months. How many shots you need will depend on your age and the timing of your previous dosages. The CDC is recommending everyone 6 months and older receive at least one dose of the new vaccine. Visit vaccines.gov to find providers, including community health centers, that offer no-cost COVID-19 vaccines through the CDCs Bridge Acccess Program. READ MORE: New COVID vaccines are here. Who can get the shots in Florida and where? Eduardo Corcharo receives his influenza vaccine from Pharmacist Ivan during CDC Director Many Cohens visit to CVS Pharmacy on Monday, Oct. 16, 2023, located on SW 40th Street in Miami. Alie Skowronski/askowronski@miamiherald.com Flu In the U.S., flu season runs through the fall and winter, with peaks typically occurring between December and February, according to the CDC. Influenza activity is starting to tick up though overall it remains low in the country, as of the CDCs most recent weekly influenza surveillance report, which looked at data through Oct. 7. Influenza activity remains low in the country, as of the CDCs most recent weekly influenza surveillance report, which looked at data through Oct. 7. CDC U.S. health officials look to countries like Australia in the Southern Hemisphere to get a forecast on what type of flu season could be coming our way. Their verdict: Were expecting the vaccine to do pretty well against flu this year so go out and get it, protect yourself. It doesnt mean youre never going to get flu, but it means it will be much more mild, Cohen said. So far, more than 116 million doses of flu vaccine have been distributed in the U.S. for the 2023-24 season, the CDC says. Altinay helps a Spanish speaking customer during a visit to CVS Pharmacy on Monday, Oct. 16, 2023, located on SW 40th Street in Miami. CDC Director Mandy Cohen talked of the importance of reaching the hispanic community with the new RSV COVID-19 vaccine. Alie Skowronski/askowronski@miamiherald.com RSV Respiratory synctial virus, or RSV, is a common childhood virus almost all kids will have an RSV infection before age 2 that causes cold-like symptoms such as coughing and fever. Anyone can get RSV, and while most infections are mild, some babies, young children and older adults can get severely ill, particularly those born premature or who have weaker immune systems or a medical condition such as asthma and chronic lung disease. RSV is the most common cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia in children younger than 1. And for the first time ever, the U.S. has a RSV vaccine available. The CDC is recommending the vaccine for people who are pregnant or are 60 and older. RSV antibodies are also available for babies up to eight months old and kids through 19 months who are considered to have an increase risk for severe RSV disease. Speak with your doctor if you have any concerns or questions about the vaccines. Bill Ford, executive chairman of Ford Motor Company, called on striking workers to come together and reach a deal with automakers (JEFF KOWALSKY) Auto giant Ford's executive chairman on Monday urged workers to end their month-long strike, warning a prolonged stoppage could have a major economic impact. The remarks by Bill Ford came just days after the head of the US auto workers' union said its strike had entered a new stage involving last-minute walkouts. Nearly 34,000 United Auto Workers (UAW) members are now on strike -- a number that has grown since the initial September 15 move to shut down one plant at each of the "Big Three" automakers: Ford, General Motors and Jeep maker Stellantis. "The supply base is very fragile, and will start collapsing with an expanded strike," Ford said at his company's Rouge assembly plant in Michigan. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement He urged them to "come together to bring an end to this acrimonious round of talks." Ford, the fourth member of his family to lead the company, also warned about the potential loss of future investments, factories and jobs as the impasse continues. - 'All-American wages' - In a written response, UAW President Shawn Fain countered: "If Ford wants to be the all-American auto company, they can pay all-American wages and benefits." In September, President Joe Biden noted that workers had not been able to benefit from enormous corporate profits, which exceeded $20 billion for the three giants in just the first half of 2023. "Record corporate profits which they have should be shared by record contracts for the UAW," he said at the White House. Days later, Biden joined striking workers on the picket line in Michigan -- becoming the first sitting president to do so. Temperatures have risen at the negotiating table, with the UAW announcing last week an immediate walkout at Ford's Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, where some of the company's most profitable models are built. The Kentucky action came after Ford spoke of sweetening its economic offer "for two weeks," UAW's Fain said last Friday. But when both sides met, Ford offered the same terms as before, he added. On Monday, Ford appealed to workers to band together against competitors like Japanese carmakers Toyota and Honda, as well as Chinese automakers -- in asking for an end to the strike. But Fain said: "It's not the UAW and Ford against foreign automakers. It's autoworkers everywhere against corporate greed." "Workers at Tesla, Toyota, Honda, and others are not the enemy -- they're the UAW members of the future," he added. The industrial action marks the first joint strike at the three major automakers, as workers push for higher wages and other improvements. In particular, these relate to the transition to making electric vehicles. bys/sst Foreign passport holders trapped in Gaza will be allowed to cross into Egypt via the Rafah border starting on Oct. 16 at 9 a.m. local time, a Palestinian official told NBC News. When the border opens to allow evacuating foreign nationals into Egypt, humanitarian aid will also be able to enter Gaza through the crossing. The announcement comes immediately after a meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in Cairo on Oct. 15. Around 260 Ukrainian nationals are still located in Gaza and have not been able to evacuate from the besieged territory. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Just two hours before a planned evacuation of foreigners via the Rafah crossing on Oct. 14, Israeli authorities withdrew permission to open the border, Ukraine's Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubynets said. Israel has complete control over the other two crossing points into Gaza and declared a siege of the territory following a devastating Hamas attack on Oct. 7, which killed 1,400 people. Israeli authorities ordered a mass evacuation of Gaza just days ahead of a planned ground operation, triggering a logistical and humanitarian crisis. President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address on Oct. 15 that the evacuation of Ukrainians from Israel is ongoing, and that officials have been working to help Ukrainian citizens trapped in Gaza. The U.N. estimates that about 1 million people have already been displaced as a result of the conflict. More than 2,600 people in Gaza have been killed as Israel continues to hammer the densely-populated region with air strikes, Palestinian officials said. Read also: Ukrainians trapped in besieged Gaza: We are constantly bombed Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Marcia Kester Doyle, or "Nonni," with her grandchildren. When Marcia Kester Doyle unexpectedly became a grandparent at the age of 52, she was not thrilled, she told HuffPost. In fact, I was terrified because it made me feel old, Kester Doyle said. But this feeling quickly dissipated upon the arrival of her granddaughter. I realized how fortunate I was to be a grandmother while I was still fairly young more time to watch my grandbabies grow up! Kester Doyle, now 64, has three grandchildren and another on the way. I cherish the role, she said. However, becoming a grandparent didnt mean adopting the traditional moniker. To Kester Doyles grandkids, she is Nonni. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement My daughter came up with the name. Ive never cared for the name grandma because it just sounds so... old. Visions of elderly grandmothers in rocking chairs come to mind knitting blankets, baking bread and wearing orthopedic shoes to shuffle around the house. Her own mother was Nana to Kester Doyles children, so that option was taken. Nonni just felt right, and the grandkids love it, she said. Alternate names for grandparents solve a logistical problem. Most kids have two sets of grandparents some even have more and names can help differentiate relatives from one another. My own kids, for example, who are visually oriented, went with Brown-haired Grandma and White-haired Grandma, saving us all the bother of asking Which one? whenever a grandmother was mentioned. While there are lots of names families use to indicate grandparent status among their members, a recent survey by Preply, a service that matches people with language tutors, found that some names are used more often than others. Many of these names have two syllables with a repeating sound, echoing classic baby first words mama and dada. The survey results show that the most common alternative names for grandmothers in the U.S. are: Gigi Nana Mimi Gran Bibi Momo For grandfathers, the most-used alternative names are: Poppy Pops Papi G-Pa Grandude Papa The survey also looked at the top names in each state (excluding Grandma and Grandpa), revealing regional variations. Mamaw was a top choice for grandmothers in Alabama, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin, while Pop-Pop for grandfather was most common in Pennsylvania, Maryland, North Carolina, Missouri, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Abuelo (Spanish for grandfather) and Abuela (Spanish for grandmother) were the most popular in states with large Spanish-speaking populations, including Florida and California. From our perspective, it sounds like todays grandparents dont want to be seen as old people, but rather as active, productive citizens who play a critical role in the lives of their grandchildren, Sylvia Johnson, head of methodology at Preply, told HuffPost. We asked members of the HuffPost Facebook community what names they use for the grandparents in their families. Their responses below highlight how often it is grandchildren who end up naming their grandparents. My daughter called my dad Pop Pop and calls my mom Buela (short for Abuela). Pop Pop because my daughter could not say Grandpa when she was smaller and would say Pa that of course turned into Pop Pop. Buela because Grandma was a bit hard for my daughter to say, and using Buela was easier for her. Evelyn Reagan, Texas I am May and my husband is Pea. The names came from my daughter calling us Gammy and Gampy, but May and Pea stuck. Amy Stegen My grandkids call me TuTu and my husband TuTu Jeff. My husband Is Hawaiian, and TuTu is Hawaiian for grandparents. Angelia L Mason, Virginia My daughter constantly heard my mother-in-law call my father-in-law Honey (as in, Honey, please pass the butter), so thats what my daughter calls her grandfather! Kate Forsha, Maryland My son invented Aba for my mother (from Abuelita), and it inspired us to refer to my deceased father as Abo. Naomi Raquel, New York My daughter calls her maternal grandfather Papa Cupcake. He has the biggest sweet tooth and gives her treats. Becky Turner, California GreGre and her granddaughter. My mom wanted to be Grammy, but my son (her first grandchild) couldnt pronounce it and instead called her GreGre. Thats what she is to her four grandchildren, and shes still the only GreGre weve ever met! Paige Abramson Hirsch, California My girls call my mother Monkey. My oldest started it. Her third word was Gamma, which my mom didnt care for, but accepted since she said it so early. A couple months later she randomly started calling her Monkey, and the name has stuck. My daughters are 6 and almost 10, and every year I have to explain to teachers, club leaders, and after-school staff that we dont actually have a pet monkey. Krystal Donnelly, Tennessee Diana "Monkey" Steelman (left) with her daughter and grandchildren. My daughter calls my mom Bop because, as a toddler, she couldnt pronounce Babchi, the Polish word for Grandma. Ive never heard of another Bop, and shes certainly one of a kind and incredible! Laura Kole Simmons, Ohio I live in Washington, D.C., but I am originally from South Carolina. My kids call my dad Granddaddy, which is not unusual in South Carolina. I called my own paternal grandfather Granddaddy. However, it is unusual in D.C., and both of my kids are proud to be the only ones with a Granddaddy. Amanda Potts Ruthven "Granddaddy" with his grandchildren. My son started calling his maternal grandmother Shark at about a year old during the height of the Baby Shark popularity. It stuck, and now he and his brother both refer to her as Sharkie. April Upshaw, Arizona My oldest son called my mom Grandma Boo Boo. One of his first memories of her was after she sustained an injury and had a wrap around her forehead. Jillian Kalbaugh Maternal grands are Grandma and Grandpere. My dad often wears a sport coat, and so does Daniel Tigers Grandpere so my dad donned that name! Jennifer Buchanan, Arizona My granddaughter calls me Duckie. My dad called his favorite grandmother Duckie, and since it was a family name and I also wanted to be the favorite, I figured Id increase my chances by having my granddaughter call me Duckie, too. Susan Cody Call My mother is Granny-Mom because I kept saying, Granny, I mean Mom. My partner is a stepparent, their parents are called Farmor and FarFar, which is Swedish for fathers mother and fathers father. Adrienne Anderson, Ohio My kids call their grandma Abby (short for Abuelita). Melanie Jaque, New Jersey My parents are Mimi and Geezer. Mimi because she didnt feel like Grandma or any other variation fit. Geezer because it was a nickname growing up and went well with Mimi! Andrea Schulken, California Mamani and Baba. Those were chosen because my father-in-law is Persian. We live in the greater Seattle area. My kids love that its different than most grandma and grandpas and that they get an open opportunity to explain their heritage. Lindsay Kulp Kamal All the grandkids call my dad Wawa. He meant to be Granddad, but my eldest couldnt say that, so Wawa it was and now is for all of them! Julie Butler, Bermuda My name is Rainelle and my grandson calls me RaiRei, which he coined at age 2. I was supposed to be Rainey, but he came up with his own version! Rainelle Mishoe, North Carolina My kids call my mom Bluema. It all started when my son was about 3 and noticed that my grandma, his great-grandma, often wore head-to-toe blue outfits. He differentiated between my mom, his grandma, and my grandma, whom he referred to as Blue Grandma. Years later, when our daughter was around 2, she heard us saying Blue Grandma and just assumed it was my mom. She couldnt say it all so started just saying Bluema. Now both my kids refer to my mom as Bluema, and she even has it as her license plate now! And my grandma is still Blue Grandma to my son. Erin Rusling, Texas I am Lolli, my husband is Papa (Pop for short). Nancy Benoit, Vermont My kids call my mom Gaga (pronounced guh-guh) because when my oldest was trying to say Grandma, I said, Thats grandma, guh-guh-grandma, and just the guh-guh stuck. Brittany Huddleston, Illinois My 18-year-old daughter was the first grandchild, and she attempted to say Grampa and it came out Dopa. Hes been called that ever since by every grandchild. He remarried when the grandkids were all little, and his wifes name is Lee. We collectively started calling her the kids Leema, and it stuck: Dopa and Leema.James RF, Michigan Responses have been lightly edited for style, length and clarity. Related... Corrections & Clarifications: A previous version of this article incorrectly listed the counties included in Arizonas 2nd Congressional District. The district includes Apache, Coconino, Gila, Navajo and Yavapai counties with portions of Graham, Maricopa, Mohave and Pinal counties. Former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez is planning a Democratic challenge to incumbent Republican Rep. Eli Crane in Arizona's 2nd Congressional District, he announced Monday. Nez, 48, was born in Tuba City and grew up in Shonto, both on the Navajo Nation. He was vice president of the Navajo Nation from 2015-19 and became president in 2019 and served one term. He has a bachelor's degree in political science and a master's in public administration from Northern Arizona University. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement He also served as a Navajo County supervisor and in other tribal government roles. He and his wife, Phefelia Herbert-Nez, have two children and live in Flagstaff, and he held his deep ties to the region over Crane, who lives in Oro Valley, which is Arizona's 6th Congressional District. One of the biggest differences is Im a native of the district, Nez said Sunday in an interview with The Arizona Republic. I didnt move here to run for office. Ive been here. My family has been here. I was born and raised in the district and Im still in the district. Nez said he was inspired to run because of the "craziness" he's seeing in Washington, D.C. among "MAGA" Republicans. The last straw is what is happening now in Congress, Nez said. We have got a war against Hamas in Israel. We have a war in Ukraine right now. But the House of Representatives cant do anything unless there is a speaker. Crane has been front and center in the dispute among House Republicans over who should serve as House Speaker since January when he was among the last holdouts to name Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. speaker. Crane also was among the eight Republicans who recently joined with Democrats voting to oust McCarthy. Is it for the best interests of the country? Nez asked. Or is it for himself and this group he is beginning to follow a lot more in D.C. The Navajo Nation previously was represented by Rep. Tom O'Halleran, D-Ariz., as part of Arizona's 1st Congressional District, before redistricting realigned the map, which made it part of the Republican-leaning 2nd District that Crane won easily. O'Halleran had served three terms but lost to Crane with about 46% of the vote to Crane's 54%. The sprawling district now includes Apache, Coconino, Gila, Navajo and Yavapai counties with portions of Graham, Maricopa, Mohave and Pinal counties. It covers parts of the low desert south of Phoenix, widening east to the New Mexico border, then north to Utah and curving back west over Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon. And within that area are 14 of Arizona's 22 tribes, including the Navajo Nation. The Navajo Nation has the biggest land base of any U.S. tribe and its population of about 400,000 is rivaled only by the Cherokee Nation. More than half of the Navajo people live off the reservation. The most dramatic part of Crane's first campaign for Congress was the crowded 2022 GOP Primary. Aided by the endorsement of President Donald Trump, Crane, 43, edged out Republican Walt Blackman in that race. Nez lost his own bid for reelection in 2022 as Navajo Nation President, getting edged out by Buu Nygren by about 3,500 votes. Nez told Indian Country Today late last year, after Crane's cruise to victory, that it would be difficult for a Democrat to win the district. There's just a different party that's in control in terms of votes for that district, Nez told the publication. I hate to say it, but it's going to be very difficult for any Democrat to run for that position. Unless there's a change in the election. But on Sunday he said he is more optimistic about his chances. I can see a path to victory because I am able to work both sides of the aisle, Nez said. Nez's entrance to the race sets up a possible showdown over COVID-19 policies. Crane's 2022 campaign used a slogan of "No vaccine mandates, no lockdowns, no tyranny." Meanwhile, Nez as president of the Navajo Nation supported the tribe's notably aggressive response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which included a mask mandate, weekend lockdowns, checkpoints and other measures beyond those seen elsewhere in the state. "I probably lost the (Navajo presidential) election because of those pretty tough protocols," Nez said. "But knowing what I know now. I step back and say I would do the same thing the same way. I wanted to save lives. It was not about my next election. It was for the health and well-being of our residents." Nez and Crane also have widely divergent views regarding uranium mining near the Grand Canyon. Nez has supported a ban on new mines in the area. President Joe Biden earlier this year created a new national monument in the area that will do just that. Crane opposed the Biden move. "Biden is shamelessly politicizing the Grand Canyon to appease the radical left. Uranium is critical to national security and this action makes us more reliant on foreign nations," Crane said on social media after the announcement. Nez disagrees. Weve seen the horrible effects of uranium mining to many of our people in Arizona in terms of high cancer rates, Nez said. Thats because the federal government allowed for uranium to be extracted but they never cleaned it up So when it comes to uranium extraction, its not good for the environment and its not good for the people that live in the area. He added a bill that would increase the compensation for people who lived downwind of nuclear testing is another example of something being held up in Congress because of Washington gridlock. But tribal energy issues don't always break along traditional Republican-Democrat party lines. Crane, with Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., introduced the Energy Opportunities for All Act, which would nullify the Interior Department's land withdrawal created around Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, preventing oil and gas leases, which some tribal members opposed. Crane has been involved in multiple issues assisting Native American tribes in his district since taking office. He reintroduced legislation to create a reservation for the San Juan Southern Paiute people, which first was proposed by O'Halleran. The tribe won federal recognition in 1989 and in 2000 signed a deal with the Navajo Nation to create a 5,400-acre homeland, but the treaty needs to be ratified by Congress. Crane also was involved in helping the Navajo Nation access badly needed gravel pits to shore up dirt roads. Crane wrote to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland about the issue. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Jonathan Nez to challenge Eli Crane in 2024 Former U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman slammed the University of Pennsylvanias response to the ongoing fighting between Israel and Hamas, and pledged to stop giving money to the institution where he and his family have been prominent donors. To the outsider, it appears that Penn has become deeply adrift in ways that make it almost unrecognizable, Huntsman, who graduated from the university in 1987, wrote to the schools president, Liz Magill, according to an email obtained by the student newspaper The Daily Pennsylvanian. The former Utah governor told Magill that the Huntsman Foundation will close its checkbook on all future giving to Penn, ending years of giving that, according to The Daily Pennsylvanian, has amounted to tens of millions of dollars. Huntsman did not immediately respond to POLITICO's request for comment. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The controversy on campus began before the Oct. 7 Hamas-led surprise attack on Israel. In September, the school hosted the Palestine Writes Literature Festival, a multiday event that included some speakers who had a history of making antisemitic remarks. The event received pushback from prominent donors and trustees at the university, including billionaire Marc Rowan and Law & Order creator Dick Wolf. Administrators including Magill issued a statement condemning antisemitism ahead of the event. While the Festival will feature more than 100 speakers, many have raised deep concerns about several speakers who have a documented and troubling history of engaging in antisemitism by speaking and acting in ways that denigrate Jewish people. We unequivocally and emphatically condemn antisemitism as antithetical to our institutional values, the administrators wrote at the time. In the days following the Oct. 7 attack, Magill and Penns Provost John L. Jackson Jr. condemned the assault as abhorrent. Many members of our community are hurting right now. Our thoughts are especially with those grieving the loss of loved ones or facing grave uncertainty about the safety of their families and friends, the pair wrote. That didnt stop Huntsman from criticizing what he said was the universitys silence on the issue. The Universitys silence in the face of reprehensible and historic Hamas evil against the people of Israel (when the only response should be outright condemnation) is a new low. Silence is antisemitism, Huntsman wrote in the email. In response to the backlash over the initial statement, and the resignation of one of the university's trustees, Vahan Gureghian who said in his resignation that the school community had been "failed by an embrace of antisemitism," according to CNN Magill followed up with an email addressed to members of the Penn community on Sunday morning that more explicitly condemned Hamas. The University has made public statements denouncing acts of antisemitism on our campus and the terrorist attacks in Israel, Magill wrote. I want to leave no doubt about where I stand. I, and this University, are horrified by and condemn Hamass terrorist assault on Israel and their violent atrocities against civilians. There is no justificationnonefor these heinous attacks, which have consumed the region and are inciting violence in other parts of the world. The University of Pennsylvania is one of several elite universities across the country mired in controversy over leaders' responses to the current fighting in the Middle East. Students, alumni and supporters at Harvard, Columbia, and Stanford, among other schools, have been bitterly divided by the fighting. A former top Westinghouse executive who oversaw construction on SCANAs doomed $10 billion nuclear project in Fairfield County will be sentenced Tuesday in federal court for lying to a federal agent who was investigating why the project failed. Carl Churchman, 72, will appear at 10 a.m. at the Columbia federal courthouse before U.S. District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis, who will issue the sentence. He faces up to five years in federal prison. But because he pleaded guilty in June 2021 and agreed to become a government witness against others involved in the scandal, Churchmans sentence will likely be less than five years. His lawyer, Lauren Williams of Charleston, is asking for a non-prison sentence, according to documents filed on the federal court public records database. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Despite his guilty plea, Churchman is highly respected in the nuclear industry and will be able to be employed, Williams wrote to Lewis. Allowing Mr. Churchman to immediately return to gainful employment in the nuclear industry benefits not only Mr. Churchman, but the community at large, as Mr. Churchman brings with him decades of nuclear safety knowledge and expertise that is sorely lacking in many current nuclear projects, Williams wrote. Because of his attitude and work ethic, Mr. Churchmans reputation in the nuclear industry was simply stellar. Like two top SCANA officials who have pleaded guilty in the case and already been sentenced to prison, Churchman was involved in a cover-up to keep secret from regulators and thousands of investors the looming business failure at the V.C. Summer nuclear site, according to evidence in the case. The scandal broke after SCANA pulled the plug on construction of two reactors at the Fairfield County site. At first, the July 2017 failure of the nuclear project was attributed to cost overruns and mismanagement, but an FBI investigation established that there was a criminal conspiracy to hide major problems at the site from the public and thousands of investors who owned SCANA stock. The companys shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange and were highly regarded. Plus, hundreds of thousands of customers who under an arrangement approved by the S.C. General Assembly were billed monthly for ongoing construction costs as the project went along ended up paying billions for a failed project. Had news of the woeful lack of progress on the nuclear reactors leaked out, SCANAs stock price might have tumbled, along with the hefty dividends the shares were known for. Westinghouse was involved because SCANA had hired the company, known for building nuclear plants, to oversee construction at the site. Westinghouse hired Churchman in 2015 to be the onsite nuclear project manager. At that time, the project was long behind schedule and ... was already sliding into failure. Despite the absolute mess he walked into, Mr. Churchman put the full force of his knowledge and work ethic towards trying to right the ship, impressing both his Westinghouse colleagues and the contractors on the project, Churchmans lawyer wrote. A federal investigation established that Churchman lied to an FBI agent about aspects of his relationship with SCANA officials. Specifically, Churchman told the agent he was not involved in communicating how the project was going to SCANA officials, according to evidence in the case. An email chain easily disproved Churchmans assertions, according to evidence. Up until news of nuclear projects failure became public in August 2017, SCANA, which provided power to much of South Carolina, was a Fortune 500 firm and one of the states most successful companies. SCANAs decision to abandon the project turned out to be one of the states biggest business fiascos ever. It not only threw some 4,000 construction workers out of their jobs, it led to the collapse of SCANA and its absorption into Dominion Energy, a major Virginia-based publicly traded utility. The two former SCANA executives sentenced to prison are: Kevin Marsh, former SCANA CEO, was sentenced to two years in prison in October 2021 for his role in the cover-up. He also forfeited $5 million to the government. He has been released. Stephen Byrne, a former SCANA top executive, in March was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison, hit with a $200,000 fine and ordered to pay $1 million in restitution. In asking for mercy, Churchmans lawyer wrote, The spectacular fall of the V.C. Summer project and the resulting case against Mr. Churchman have rendered him almost unemployable in the industry to which he has devoted the last 50-plus years. However, those in the industry who have worked with Mr. Churchman or know him personally are eager to draw him into future projects once his sentencing is complete, as his historical and vast nuclear knowledge are without peer in todays nuclear industry. In asking for a non-prison sentence, Churchmans attorney also filed information under seal that contains intimate information about Mr. Churchmans life, health, personal history, the decisions that have led him to his current predicament and the steps he has taken to rectify his situation. In August, Judge Lewis threw out criminal charges against a fourth defendant in the SCANA scandal, former Westinghouse executive Jeffrey Benjamin. Federal prosecutors have indicated they will seek to re-indict Benjamin, who was accused of helping former SCANA officials hide major workplace problems from 2015 to 2017 at the nuclear site. Four inmates who broke out of the Bibb County jail early Monday were gone for roughly three hours before authorities knew they escaped, according to Bibb sheriff David Davis. Davis said Monday morning over the phone that deputies found the cut fence where the four men escaped at about 6:30 a.m., Monday, and backtracked from there to discover the missing inmates. The breakout happened at about 3:30 a.m., he said Monday afternoon. The sheriffs office did not tell the public about the jailbreak until a press release was issued at 11:20 a.m. Obviously this is an all hands on deck situation. Patrol, investigators, our intel unit is in on this, the FBI, Davis said. One of these inmates had federal drug charges. Everyone is involved. Four inmates escaped from the Bibb County jail in downtown Macon early Monday morning. Clockwise from left, the inmates are Joey Fournier, Johnifer Barnwell, Chavis Stokes and Marc Anderson. Photos courtesy of the Bibb County Sheriff's Office Davis said the sheriffs office also has video of the escape, which involved four inmates fleeing from the Oglethorpe Street jail in a blue Dodge Challenger, according to a press release. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The breakout stemmed from a combination of poor staffing, old facilities and crafty inmates, Davis said later at a press conference Monday afternoon. Less than 10 people were staffed at the jail between 3 and 6 a.m., he said. He added that the jailbreak happened in one of the oldest parts of the building when the four inmates pried a metal plate of a day room window to escape. The men had some way of communicating with someone outside the jail, Davis said. Someone tampered with the fence the night before, then gave the inmates the tools to cut the hole in the fence. One of the men, Joey Fournier, 52, was in the jail on murder charges. The full relationship between the four men was unclear Monday, Davis said, though they were all in the same cell block at the jail. Davis said at the press conference that the media notification was delayed because the sheriffs office wanted to get the information right, explaining that the gap between the breakout being discovered at 6 a.m. and the public learning of it at 11:20 a.m. happened because they were verifying who escaped and how. Fournier ran from police when he was first wanted for allegedly killing his former girlfriend at her home in Macons Barrington Hall neighborhood last year, Telegraph archives show. He fled to northwest Georgia before police apprehended him. We remember, I think, his brother had been involved in trying to harbor him, when we were looking for him one time before, Davis said. Really nothing is off the table right now. Right now you try to take in information from wherever you get it and follow those leads. The sheriffs office issued photos and a BOLO for Fournier and the other three inmates Monday morning. The other escapees are Marc Kerry Anderson, 24, Johnifer Dernard Barnwell, 37 and Chavis Demaryo Stokes, 29. Workers fix a fence at the Bibb County jail in downtown Macon Monday afternoon after four inmates used a hole in the fence to escape early Monday morning. Jason Vorhees Four inmates escaped the Bibb County jail in Macon early Monday through a broken window and damaged fence, the sheriffs office said in a press release. The four men, one of whom was in the detention center for murder charges, escaped at approximately 3 a.m. Monday and were still missing at around 11:30 a.m., according to the statement from the sheriffs office. A blue Dodge Challenger pulled up to the jail and acted as the getaway vehicle, the statement read. The sheriffs office identified the inmates as Joey Fournier, 52, Marc Kerry Anderson, 24, Johnifer Dernard Barnwell, 37 and Chavis Demaryo Stokes, 29. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Fournier was charged with killing his former girlfriend in 2022. He evaded police at the time, fleeing to northwest Georgia before police arrested him. Bibb County schools were placed on lockdown at around 11:45 a.m., according to a text sent out by the school system. This is a developing story. The Telegraph will add more details when they become available. Niles Library Board still needs help, action Niles-Maine District Library has not been saved. Problems could not be solved by an election alone, and the challenges facing our beloved library persist. For too long, our dedicated library workers have toiled without the security of a contract, while we watch our staff slowly dwindle. There is still no permanent full-time Facilities Manager, several other vacant positions continue to go unfilled, and the library is run by a part-time interim director. Board members who, as candidates, promised to reduce spending on legal fees and work swiftly for a union contract with increased staff salaries, now argue with constituents who remind them of their unkept promises. Some trustees repeatedly interject throughout public comments to make excuses for their lack of urgency in finalizing a contract. Advertisement While the trustees ask for more patience, they continue to pay the huge legal bills associated with their strategy of dragging out negotiations with the union. As October 18th approaches, another monthly board meeting looms with no resolution on a union contract. This meeting, where the annual tax levy is discussed and voted upon, will be pivotal. Over the past two years, the levy has been reduced significantly, and now, it demands an increase. The meetings board book only includes two levy options: 0% and 5% increases. We have called for transparency, requesting the presentation of the complete set of levy options to the public before the meeting. Let us not be bystanders in this narrative; instead, lets be active protagonists in protecting our library. Join us in the#SaveNilesLibrary campaign at the Niles Coalition. Advertisement Rene Sutherland Organizer, Niles Coalition Even now, more than 100 days later, the terrifying scenarios play on a loop in Twanda Carrolls mind. What if her apartment hadnt been empty that night in June? What if her three young grandchildren had been staying with her like they did every summer? What if she and her daughter had decided not to spend an extra night with family in Wisconsin? I still get emotional, Carroll, 51, said recently. Im just so hurt I start crying. What if something would have happened to my grandbabies, or my daughter, or me? Shortly before 12:30 a.m. on June 18, in a strip mall parking lot across from Carrolls apartment off Illinois Route 83 near Willowbrook, a mass shooting killed one person and injured at least 22 others gathered for what had been billed as a Juneteenth celebration. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement One of the bullets fired that night shattered Carrolls patio window and lodged in the wall next to her living room couch. A second broke her bedroom window and tore through her closet into her kitchen wall. When I come home and think about how the bullets came through my house, Carroll said, I dont see how we could have made it. Four months later, Carroll and others say the response to the mass shooting has only reinforced long-simmering feelings of neglect among the 3,000-plus residents clustered in apartment and condominium complexes in an unincorporated area on DuPage Countys southeastern edge. Some question why DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick has made no public comments about the investigation, which thus far has yielded only one arrest. Others wonder why they havent received the same outpouring of support typically seen after mass shootings. It kind of seems like they swept us under the rug, Carroll said. Thats how we feel, that we dont get the same attention as elsewhere. There are signs thats changing. In recent weeks, DuPage County Board members have pledged more than $1.5 million for infrastructure improvements and to bolster the efforts of nonprofit organizations already working in the community. Now that the spotlight is shining on this community, weve got more momentum and I want to keep it up, said Lucy Evans, a DuPage County Board member whose district includes the unincorporated neighborhood where the shooting took place. His absence is noticed Mendricks office has said little about its investigation. His office has not held any news conferences and has instead issued sporadic news releases over the last four months. A spokesperson did not respond to emails seeking an interview with the sheriff for this story. As we have stated throughout our investigation, the DuPage County Sheriffs Office is fully committed to attaining the most comprehensive understanding of what happened and why this tragedy occurred, read an Aug. 29 release. We appreciate and support the publics right to know and intend to be fully transparent with the media and the public. Transparency, however, is a double-edged sword and we must be careful to safeguard the integrity of our investigation. His apparent unwillingness to talk about the case has raised eyebrows among some DuPage County Board members. I find it concerning that our sheriff has not issued a statement or held a press conference, board member Elizabeth Chaplin said during a Judicial and Public Safety Committee meeting two days after the mass shooting. As the person responsible for the unincorporated areas of DuPage County, his absence is noticed. While the county board has limited oversight of the elected sheriff, Chair Deborah Conroy said shes repeatedly encouraged Mendrick to communicate with the public and with the family of Reginald Meadows, the 31-year-old father and fiance killed in the mass shooting. Im very disappointed there was no public comment, no press conference addressing it, Conroy said. Its incredibly frustrating. In news releases, Mendricks office has said investigators are working with federal, state and local agencies. More than 100 shell casings and multiple firearms were collected at the scene, the releases read, and investigators have reviewed hundreds of hours of video footage from businesses, cellphones and social media. A 41-page incident report obtained by the Chicago Tribune through a Freedom of Information Act request offers a brief glimpse of the chaotic moments that night. Four deputies were on foot patrol near the parking lot the night of the celebration, which they estimated to be attended by around 200 people, maybe more. They were dispatched a little before 12:30 a.m. to investigate a battery in progress inside an apartment building just north of the parking lot, across Honeysuckle Lane. As they ran toward the building, they heard gunfire lasting around 20 seconds. Screaming could be heard from the large crowd, the report read. People began running in all directions and vehicles were speeding from the scene. The deputies rushed to the parking lot, where they and others started caring for the injured as paramedics arrived. The incident report includes brief mentions of people being detained immediately after the shooting. But the only charges came earlier this month. Anthony Mothershed, 19, of Aurora, is accused of shooting in the direction of other people at the celebration and faces felony charges of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and aggravated discharge of a firearm direction of another person. Its unclear who organized the celebration, which neighborhood residents said took place last year as well. This years event did not have permits, county officials have said. Its also unclear whether the strip malls owners allowed the celebration to happen on their property. A registered agent for the company listed as the owner previously declined to comment when reached by the Tribune. Those questions are among the many that remain unanswered, four months later. We still dont have answers. I still dont know where some of his property is, said Meadows fiancee, Ashley Miller, tears streaming down her cheeks as she stood at a podium during public comments at last months county board meeting. And I just want answers. Ive never seen a mass shooting of such caliber take so long to get answers. My kids deserve answers. So, Im here today to not only be the voice for Reginald, because his life was taken that night. But Im the voice for my two children, because if Im not their voice, then who will be? New hope for a lost and forgotten community Around 20 years ago, Wendy Williams and her family left their south-suburban neighborhood and moved to the Hinsdale Lake Terrace apartments, one of four apartment complexes that make up the unincorporated pocket of DuPage County known to some as Willowbrook Corner, or Willowbrook Corners. The long brick buildings encircling a retention pond and running along the west and north sides of the strip mall offered residents affordable, government-subsidized housing in one of the states wealthiest counties. It was a very nice community, Williams, 63, remembered. It had its problems but nothing major. But as time went on, I saw the lack of resources in the community. Williams eventually moved from the complex. But she started a nonprofit organization, Youth 4 Excellence Inc., that works with families in the community. Hers is one of a handful of nonprofits that have tried to fill in the service gaps in a neighborhood that Williams called a desert, its residents many living at or below poverty isolated by a lack of public transportation and afforded limited access to amenities enjoyed by their affluent neighbors. It is a lost and forgotten community, Williams said. At least part of that isolation is due to the area being unincorporated. Though Willowbrook and Hinsdale are found in the names of the neighborhood and some of its residential complexes, it has no affiliation with either town. Instead, its part of the countys 3rd District, which covers portions of at least 10 communities and is represented by three county board members. A week after the mass shooting, those three board members and the county board chair met with a group of community service agencies called the Willowbrook Corner Coalition to discuss ways the county could help residents. Since then, the county board has pledged more than $1.5 million for services in the community over the next three years. About half that total is earmarked for two nonprofits, The Community House and the YWCA, to add social workers and counseling services for neighborhood residents. Another $750,000 will be used on sidewalks and lighting in the community, officials said. More is in the works, officials said, including asking residents to choose a new name to replace Willowbrook Corner. The residents really do not like that name, Evans said. They have never been a part of Willowbrook, and they feel like theyre being tucked away in a corner. Solving the transportation issue could be a harder problem to fix. Around the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pace discontinued a weekday bus route that once took residents to and from the Clarendon Hills Metra station three times in the morning and three times in the evening. Since then, former District 3 board member Julie Renehan spearheaded efforts to bring public transportation back to the area. Transportation is a barrier to economic development. It prevents people from getting to jobs or school, said Renehan, who left the county board last year. Its one of those things that could be a springboard to a positive circumstance. Transportation is such a hinge. The county is looking to find a company willing to operate a shuttle that would take residents to work or medical appointments. But Evans thinks there might be few companies with the ability to do that work. Instead, she thinks the county should look to partner with nonprofits and ride-sharing companies to offset some of the cost of those services. Those efforts might not be enough to keep residents like Carroll from leaving. Five years ago, she moved to the Hinsdale Lake Terrace complex (now called Acclaim at Hinsdale Lake) to be closer to her mom and grandmother. With three jobs, she wasnt home much. But when she was, it was mostly quiet and peaceful. I enjoyed my stay here, she said, until the massacre. The bullets were collected by investigators, the windows and drywall repaired by maintenance staff. Two holes in her curtains are all the visible signs of that night. A police car is now regularly posted in the strip mall parking lot, which looks to have new lights and landscaping and pavement. But still, Carroll said she doesnt feel safe. That first month after the shooting, she could barely sleep. She said she heard about counseling services offered after the shooting but the sessions were all booked up when she inquired. Her children want her to move. Shell probably stay in DuPage County, if she can. But where? I know anything can happen anywhere, she said. Im just trying to stay safe. Her goal is to be gone by next summer, before her grandkids come to visit. OCEANSIDE, Calif. Four people were rescued by crews Sunday morning after their boat capsized about a mile outside the Oceanside Harbor. Around 11 a.m., Oceanside Fire and Lifeguard crews responded to a incident after the occupants aboard the vessel, a 22-foot Striper, called 911 to report they were taking on water approximately 1.5 miles southwest of the harbor. Moments later, the occupants then reported that the ship had capsized and all four were stranded in the ocean, according to the Oceanside Fire Department. Only two had personal flotation devices when the vessel went down. The first responding lifeguard, who arrived on a personal watercraft, was able to secure all four victims in the water until the Oceanside Fire and Lifeguard Marine Safety Unit (MSU) boat arrived, OPD said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Man arrested after machete attack, SWAT standoff in Oceanside Crews with MSU were able to pull the four people out of the water and assessed them for injuries. Fortunately, none of the occupants were hurt and they were transported back to the launch ramp dock. The capsized vessel was turned over to TowBoat U.S. for the salvage operation. The U.S. Coast Guard and San Diego County Sheriff ASTREA helicopter unit also assisted OPDs response, according to the department. In their release on the incident, OPD stressed the importance of complying with the state law that requires each person on board a vessel to have a life jacket. Under this law, children under 13 years old are required to wear Coast Guard-approved life jackets suitable to the conditions and the activity. Life jackets save lives, OPD said in their release on the incident. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego. FRESNO, Calif. (KGPE/KSEE) The Fresno Police Department is getting ready to host two trunk-or-treat events in Fresno this coming weekend. The Central Policing District says they are partnering with the Manchester Center Mall for a free Not So Scary Halloween Trunk or Treat along with the Southeast Policing District hosting one as well. The Central District Trunk or Treat encourages visitors to dress up and join the fun. It will be on Saturday, October 21st, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Manchester Mall, 3502 N Blackstone Avenue (the parking lot near Shields Avenue and Blackstone Avenue) in Fresno. Organizers encourage everyone to dress up and come out for a night of fun. Organizers of the Southeast Policing District say their event will include candy, hot dogs, raffle prizes, cotton candy, and snow cones while supplies last. Its on Saturday, October 21, from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. at the Southeast Police Station at 224 South Argyle Avenue. For more information visit the Fresno Police Departments Facebook page. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com. PARIS French defense firms have boosted production of self-propelled guns, artillery shells, fighter jets and anti-air missiles, the countrys armed forces minister said Monday. The announcement by Sebastien Lecornu comes as France aims to boost the delivery of weaponry to Ukraine, which is fighting off a Russian invasion, and more than a year after French President Emmanuel Macron called for the country to embrace a war economy. France plans to increase its monthly deliveries of 155mm shells, from 1,000 per month in January 2023 to 3,000 per month in January 2024, Lecornu said. Concrete results of a shift to a war economy, Lecornu wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, following a visit to a local Nexter Systems facility in Roanne, which manufactures the truck-mounted 155mm howitzer Caesar. To replenish our capacities transferred to Ukraine and to continue to supply all of our allies. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Nexter has raised production of the Caesar to six per month from two at the start of 2022, Lecornu added, and the pace will increase to eight systems per month from the start of next year. The company is providing operational support for all Caesar systems in service in Ukraine, using virtual reality to guide Ukrainian engineers through maintenance operations, Nexter CEO Nicolas Chamussy told Defense News at an industry forum outside Paris this month. He said a total of 49 Caesar systems were sent to Ukraine, including 19 from Denmark. Lecornu had said last month that Nexter will supply an additional six Caesar weapons to Ukraine, in addition to 18 already supplied from French Army stocks and 12 that Ukraine acquired directly from Nexters parent firm KNDS. Meanwhile, MBDA has doubled its production of the Mistral short-range surface-to-air missile to 40 per month; Dassault Aviation has tripled production of the Rafale fighter aircraft to three per month; and Thales has doubled its radar production capacity, according to Lecornu. Russias ongoing war against Ukraine has meant France must shift to a long-term war economy, Macron said at the Eurosatory defense show in June 2022, while the country needs land-based weapon systems and sufficient funding for national security. France passed a military budget in August for the 2024-2030 period that boosts defense spending next year by 7.5%, to 47.2 billion (U.S. $49.6 billion). Editors note: This story was updated on Oct. 17 to correct Lecornus statement regarding radar production rate at Thales. Police officers escort children outside the Gambetta high school during a bomb alert Monday, Oct. 16, 2023 in Arras, northern France. French authorities say the high school where a teacher was fatally stabbed in an attack last week has been evacuated over a bomb alert, as France's President cut short travel plans abroad to host a security meeting Monday.(AP Photo/Michel Spingler) ARRAS, France (AP) French President Emmanuel Macron held a special security meeting on Monday amid heightened alert against feared terror threats, as a high school where a teacher was fatally stabbed in an attack last week has been evacuated over a bomb threat. Several hundreds of students and teachers went back into the high school in the northern town of Arras after what appeared to be a false alert. All French schools held a moment of silence on Monday afternoon in homage to the teacher who was killed in Fridays attack by a former student suspected of Islamic radicalization. The homage also paid tribute to another teacher, Samuel Paty, killed exactly three years ago near his Paris area school. He was beheaded by a radicalized Chechen later killed by police. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Macron cut short travel plans abroad to hold a security meeting at midday with the prime minister and other key government members as well as top military and counterterrorism officials. He initially planned to attend a summit on the Western Balkans in Tirana, Albania. Speaking at the end of the meeting, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that 102 people have been arrested in relation with antisemitic acts or inciting terrorism since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7 that led French authorities to reinforce security measures especially around Jewish sites. Darmanin also said there are currently 193 foreigners considered dangerous by French intelligence services who will be sent back to their countries of origin as part of security measures. Education Minister Gabriel Attal said that 168 bomb threats in French schools have been reported since the beginning of September. This is inadmissible and unacceptable, he said. The Louvre Museum in Paris and Versailles Palace evacuated visitors and staff Saturday after receiving bomb threats. The French government heightened the national threat alert and ordered up to 7,000 soldiers to be deployed by Monday night and until further notice to bolster security and vigilance around France. In a message to teachers and other school workers posted on X, formerly Twitter, Macron said we took action, we are taking action and we will continue to take action to ensure that school remains a sanctuary for our students and for all those who work there." To blind hatred, we will always oppose the inextinguishable thirst for teaching. The thirst for knowledge. The thirst for living free," he added. Counterterrorism authorities are investigating Friday's stabbing, and the suspected assailant and several others are in custody, prosecutors said. The suspect had been under recent surveillance by intelligence services for radicalization. Court documents viewed by The Associated Press show he is from the Ingushetia region in Russias Caucasus Mountains. The prosecutor said the alleged assailant was a former student there and repeatedly shouted Allahu akbar, the Arabic phrase for God is great, during the attack. Prosecutors are considering charges of terrorism-related murder and attempted murder against the suspect. The dead educator was Dominique Bernard, a French language teacher in the northern city of Arras at the Gambetta-Carnot school, which enrolls students ages 11-18. Another teacher and a security guard were in critical condition with wounds from the stabbing, police said. The counterterrorism prosecutor said a cleaning worker was also injured. FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) A Fresno City College professor who was arrested Friday after he allegedly made shooting threats against college officials and students has since been released on bail, according to the State Center Community College District Police Department. A warning was sent out from college police on Friday about 51-year-old Edward George Madec, the faculty member who made the threats. In the public warning, the State Center Community College Police Department says they are deeply concerned that the alleged suspect may pose a serious and ongoing threat to Fresno City College students and staff and ask anyone who sees him on campus to contact law enforcement immediately. Edward George Madec, 51 On August 15, officials say Madec made threats against college officials and students in general, stating that he would shoot them prompting an arrest warrant to be issued for him. On October 13, Madec was arrested in Merced County and no weapons were in his possession. He was later booked into the Fresno County jail, has since posted bail and has been released. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Officials say Madecs threats included one to shoot and kill the State Center Community College District Chancellor. Officials urge if students or staff encounter Madec on the FCC campus to call SCCCD PD at (559) 244-6140 or dial 911 to report his presence and let law enforcement handle the situation. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com. (Bloomberg) -- The Sam Bankman-Fried trial resumed Monday with more prosecution witnesses, including Nishad Singh, the former director of engineering at FTX. Most Read from Bloomberg Like previous witnesses, Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang, Singh has pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy counts and has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Singh is another witness with close ties to Bankman-Fried. He was a childhood friend of Bankman-Frieds younger brother, Gabriel, and lived with Bankman-Fried in the Bahamas. Here are a few stories to catch up on the trial last week: SBFs Friends Force Him Into Hail Mary Choice on Testimony Group Chats, Tweets and Audio Tape: The Evidence Against SBF Caroline Ellison Says Sam Was the One Who Caused FTX Collapse The Key Players at Sam Bankman-Frieds Historic Fraud Trial Heres the latest from court (all times are NY): SBF Lawyers Revisit Access to Adderall (5:30 p.m.) After the jury was sent home, Mark Cohen, one of Bankman-Frieds lawyers, again raised the issue of his clients access to Adderall, the drug prescribed to treat his ADHD and depression. Bankman-Frieds team said in a letter late last night that he may not be able to meaningfully participate in his own defense because he hadnt been receiving his full dose of Adderall. Bankman-Fried has continually raised this issue since Kaplan revoked his bail in August. As we approach the defense case and the critical decision of whether Mr. Bankman-Fried will testify, Cohen said in the letter, the defense has a growing concern that because of Mr. Bankman-Frieds lack of access to Adderall he has not been able to concentrate at the level he ordinarily would and that he will not be able to meaningfully participate in the presentation of the defense case. Read More: SBF Lawyers Say FTX Co-Founder May Need Adderall to Testify (2) Kaplan rejected two solutions proposed by Cohen, a half-day delay to work out the issue and the possibility that Bankman-Frieds legal team could bring his medication to court for him. The judge said he hadnt been given information from a doctor on the issue since August and that hes not professionally competent to make medication decisions or allow lawyers to administer drugs. I cant write the prescription, he said. The judge also said he hadnt observed a problem with Bankman-Fried and is inclined to push ahead with the trial. Bankman-Fried was paying close attention to the discussion, but appeared dejected when the judge denied the request. His lawyers will begin cross-examination of Singh in the morning. Singh Describes Crazy, Blame Game in Final Days (5:15 p.m.) Singh said that in the days leading up to FTXs demise there was a crazy, blame game going on and people were not being productive. Singh says he spoke to Daniel Friedberg, FTXs former chief regulatory officer, and that he was mad about Alamedas borrowing. The attorney, who he described as FTXs chief legal decision maker, blamed Singh, Bankman-Fried and Wang for the companys problems. Singh testifies that the accusations left him in severe emotional distress and that he had been suicidal for some days. Because of this, Singh testified that he asked Bankman-Fried to clarify everyones role in the fraud scheme, saying he wanted it made clear that hed only been aware of the misuse of customer funds since September 2022. Singh said he wanted Bankman-Fried to take the blame for orchestrating everything. FTX Bahamas, US Arms More Intertwined Than Suggested (4:45 p.m.) At times, Bankman-Fried, Wang and Singh would receive loans from Alameda that would be used to fund investments and acquisitions for FTXs US unit. Singh testified that they would work with company lawyers to set the transactions up. The testimony suggests that the Bahamas-based company and US arm were more intertwined than what was suggested publicly and that money for the latters investments may have come from customer funds. Political Donations Made for Advantageous Optics (4:00 p.m.) Singh said that a lot of the money for FTX-related political donations went through his accounts. He said that funds were often taken from Alamedas account, and then would be wired to Singhs Prime Trust account. From there, Ryan Salame, the former CEO of FTXs Bahamian unit, had access to the account to make donations and the contributions would be made in Singhs name. Salame has pleaded guilty to one campaign finance violation and one charge of operating an illegal money-transmitting business. Similarly, Singh would sign blank checks for Gabriel Bankman-Fried, Sam Bankman-Frieds younger brother, who was head of a political action committee called Guarding Against Pandemics, which also made political donations. Singh said he wasnt comfortable with his name being used for political donations and tried to find someone who could replace him in that capacity. But he said donations were made in his name for advantageous optics. Singh was friends with Gabriel Bankman-Fried before joining FTX. The younger Bankman-Fried hasnt been charged with a crime. We Came, We Saw, We Researched Memo on Alameda (3:30 p.m.) Singh said, like other witnesses, that there were serious discussions about shutting down Alameda in September 2022. There was a memo called We Came, We Saw, We Researched that looked at the issue. Singh suggested keeping Alameda open, but shut down Alamedas account on FTX. That was first proposed inside a chat with himself, Gary Wang, Caroline Ellison and Bankman-Fried. But Ellison said, thats impossible, Singh recalled. Wang said theres $13 billion that couldnt be paid back. Bankman-Fried said that FTX was short on deliverables in 24 hours if pressed, $5 billion, substantially more. I said something like Jesus fing Christ. I think this is going to be doing a lot more damage to me, Singh said. I understand its not productive for me to react emotionally. Singh Tried to Stop Crazy Spending on Endorsements (3:10 p.m.) As late as September 2022 as Alamedas debts piled up, Singh said he was fighting to stop spending on endorsements and other expenses. Singh said he complained about spending about $1 billion on endorsement deals. This is crazy, we need to cut this, Singh said. But Bankman-Fried didnt think these were bad spends, Singh recalled. After September, spending was necessarily digging the customer deficit hole deeper, Singh said. Singh Thought About Quitting Company Every Day (2:55 p.m.) Singh said that he considered leaving the company every day. I was blindsided and horrified, he said about FTX and Alamedas worsening financial condition. I felt really betrayed. He thought he was working five years for something good, but it turned out so evil. The only reason he didnt quit was because he didnt want to trigger a collapse. FTX Latest: Judge Seeks Explanation of Blockchain, Crypto Mining (12:40 p.m.) Judge Lewis Kaplan was unusually active during Singhs testimony, asking him to simplify technical matters and asking his own questions to amplify the testimony. The judge asked Singh to explain terms including venture investing, blockchain and algorithmic failure. When the topic turned to crypto mining, the judge again intervened, noting that in his day, mining meant digging things out of the ground. At one point, he asked questions to clarify what Singh knew about the ability of Alameda to borrow FTX customer funds early on. Kaplan, who was a litigator before being appointed to the bench, nudged the prosecutor, Nicolas Roos, several times for failing to elicit background testimony - or lay a foundation - for some of his questions. The court is taking a lunch break until 2 p.m. Singh Knew About FTX Customers Transfers to Alameda at an Early Stage (12:05 p.m.) Singh said he knew that FTX was accessing customer funds very early. He described an FTX OTC system that supported transferring FTX customer funds into Alamedas bank account. Singh said he was told by Bankman-Fried that the reason was the difficulty for FTX to open a bank account. The setup allowing FTX customers to deposit funds into Alamedas bank account in order to trade on FTX was from FTXs inception, Singh said. Bankman-Fried Attended Star-Studded Dinner in LA (11:40 a.m.) Singh recalled a star-studded dinner that Bankman-Fried attended in LA at the home of Michael Kives, co-founder of K5 Global investment firm and a former Hillary Clinton aide. After the dinner, Bankman-Fried was impressed by Kivess connections and decided to invest in K5. Singh said he told Bankman-Fried that he was worried that partnering with K5 and giving them this amount of money would be really toxic to FTX and Alameda culture. He explained the investment would go against their corporate culture, in which politicking and social climbing shouldnt be rewarded. Bankman-Fried went ahead with the K5 investment and subsequently made his way into the celebrities and politicians circle, allowing FTX to gain major endorsement deals. The prosecutor showed Bankman-Frieds notes from after the dinner: In LA met with Michael Kives and his firm K5. He is, probably, the most connected person Ive ever met. In attendance at the dinner at his house were: Hillary Clinton, Doug Emhoff, Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom, Kate Hudson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jeff Bezos, Ted Sarandos, Kendall Jenner, Kris Jenner, Corey Gamble, etc. Asked to identify each person on the list, Singh quickly pointed out Clinton as a presidential candidate, and Bezos as the chief executive officer of Amazon. When asked about Kendall Jenner and Kris Jenner, Singh said, I honestly could not tell you what they do, prompting laughter. FTX Seeks $700 Million From Bankman-Frieds Celebrity Connector SBF Lashed Out When Confronted About Spending (10:40 a.m.) Singh described Bankman-Frieds approach to spending as excessive. When he confronted Bankman-Fried about spending, Singh said the company co-founder lashed out and said people like Singh casting doubts on FTX were the real insidious problem here. It was pretty humiliating, Singh said. In late 2021 and 2022, there was lots of spending on real estate and endorsement deals, Singh said. From 2021: NBAs Steph Curry Seals FTX Crypto Pact Similar to Tom Bradys Singh Testifies He Was Always Intimidated by SBF (10:30 a.m.) Singh told the court that he had always been intimidated by Bankman-Fried, drawing an objection from defense lawyers, which was overruled. Sam is a formidable character, brilliant, Singh said. So I had a lot of admiration and respect for him. Over time a lot of that eroded. Bankman-Fried stayed focused on his laptop during the exchange. Singh also said that he had the third-largest equity stake in FTX, had a base salary of $200,000 and collected bonuses of about $1 million each through 2020. Singh Says He Committed Crimes With SBF, Ellison (10:15 a.m.) Nishad Singh took the stand, held the microphone, and said Am I coming through clear? My name is Nishad Singh. He quickly said that he committed crimes with Bankman-Fried and other FTX and Alameda officials including Gary Wang, Caroline Ellison and Ryan Salame. I defrauded customers, investors, Singh said, wearing a dark suit and red tie. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Lies can cause damage in almost any situation, but falsehoods by one dirty energy company have ignited a firestorm in Ohio. The Oil and Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) allegedly received dozens of pieces of mail from supposed Ohio residents in support of expanding fracking in parts of the state. However, many of those residents whose names were on the letters shockingly said they had never written a single one nor expressed support for fracking. The letters were originally sent from the Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA), a nonprofit partly funded by dirty energy industry interests, according to the watchdog Energy and Policy Institute. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The CEA submitted more than 1,000 letters to the OGLMC, with the general sentiment that permitting energy development would increase investment in state parks. What is fracking? Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is a method of oil and gas exploration that involves shooting pressurized water and chemicals into rock formations to crack them and reveal the dirty fuels inside. It takes between 1.5 million and 9.7 million gallons of water to frack a single well, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, and wastewater can leach out and contaminate groundwater and land. Fracking also contributes to air pollution via flaring, venting, and accidental release of planet-warming methane gas. Why is this case important? Many residents who allegedly sent letters to the commissions shared that they didnt even know what fracking was nor supported exploration into the land beneath Ohios state parks. Fracking destroys the water table, the land, it destroys everything, said Charles Leftwich, a Cleveland resident whose name appeared on one of the letters. It doesnt need to be taking place anywhere near a state park, thats why its a state park. This is not OK, said Brittany Keep, mother of a 9-year-old girl who allegedly submitted a letter to the commission. She definitely did not submit that draft. Opponents of fracking in Ohio are demanding that the fraudulent letters be taken off the record in deciding if the commission should look into fracking in the state. Many opponents also expressed that falsifying support letters undermines the legal system of public comments. This isnt the first time the CEA has come under fire. In 2014, the organization submitted 2,500 public comments to the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin supporting a rate hike for electricity. However, several alleged signees said they were misrepresented and opposed the rate hike. In 2016, the company submitted 347 supporting letters in favor of the Nexus Gas Transmission pipeline. Fourteen individuals came forward claiming that they never signed a letter nor gave anyone permission to use their names. What is being done to fix the situation? Opponents of fracking are outraged by the findings and the effort to undermine the public comment process. The public commenting process is critical to decisions that will determine the fate of our Ohio state parks, wildlife areas, and other public lands. Where does the buck stop in ensuring that Ohioans whose names are on these comments actually submitted them? commented Cathy Cowan Becker, a Save Ohio Parks steering committee member. Other individuals are asking for a legal inquiry into the CEA and its processes. Molly Jo Stanley, the Southeast Ohio Regional Director for the Ohio Environmental Council, called on the OGLMC to investigate all public comments to determine their authenticity. This is yet another attempt by fossil fuel interests to undermine our democratic processes for their own financial gain, Stanley said. Ohioans deserve to know that the public record of comments accurately reflects what the people of Ohio want for their public lands. Join our free newsletter for cool news and actionable info that makes it easy to help yourself while helping the planet. A sheriffs department is coming together for one of their own involved in a serious car crash. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] According to Georgia State Patrol, the wreck happened Saturday, just before 8 a.m. on GA 122 at GA 333 in Brooks County. When troopers arrived, they reportedly noticed two pickup trucks side by side on the southwest shoulder of the intersection. Authorities determined that Laurens County Capt. Chris Bracewell was driving the Toyota Tundra going westbound on GA 122 and a Ford F350 was traveling southbound on GA 333. GSP states that Bracewell failed to yield after stopping at the stop sign at the intersection of GA 122 and GA 333. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement TRENDING STORIES: The Ford F350 hit the Toyota Tundra on the passenger side of the truck, officials said. After being hit, both vehicles moved toward the southwest shoulder of the intersection, where they came to a complete stop. GSP said Bracewell sustained serious injuries and was airlifted to Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Florida for treatment. The Laurens County Sheriffs Office wrote on its Facebook page, asking for prayers for Bracewell. There is power in prayer and our great physician is at work. Pray specifically for the surgeons and the medical staff that are providing care for Chris. Pray specifically for comfort for Chris family, the sheriffs office said. The office continued to thank everyone for their outpouring of care, love and prayer. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] As support continues to pour in, the sheriffs office has created two options to help with Bracewells recovery. CLICK HERE for the GoFundMe and an account has been opened up at Farmers State Bank in Dublin. The sheriffs office is holding a prayer vigil Monday at 1 p.m. at the flagpole at the Laurens County Sheriffs Office. IN OTHER NEWS: Attorney General Merrick Garland is opening a hate crimes investigation into the killing of a six-year-old Muslim boy in Illinois that police say was motivated by the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Authorities say Wadea Al-Fayoume was stabbed 26 times throughout his body by Joseph M. Czuba, 71, who also stabbed the boys mother, Hanaan Shahin, a dozen times. She is now hospitalized but expected to survive, police said. I am heartbroken by the abhorrent killing of Wadea Al-Fayoume, a six year old child who died after being stabbed 26 times with a military-style knife. On behalf of the entire Justice Department, I want to express my deepest condolences to his family and his community as they grieve his loss, Garland said in a statement. Czuba, who was the landlord of the residence, was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of a hate crimes and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The sheriffs office said investigators determined the child and his mother were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis. In a news release, the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), shared text messages Shahin sent to her sons father from the hospital, where Shahin says that the landlord knocked on their door, and when she opened, he tried to choke her and proceeded to attack her with a knife, yelling, you Muslims must die. When she ran into the bathroom to call 911, she came out to find that he had stabbed her six-year-old son to death, CAIR-Chicago said in its news release. It all happened in seconds, she texted. President Biden condemned the act of violence in a statement Sunday, saying he and the First Lady were shocked and sickened by news of the attack on the Muslim boy and his mother. The childs Palestinian Muslim family came to America seeking what we all seek a refuge to live, learn, and pray in peace, Biden said. The investigation comes just days after FBI Director Christopher Wray warned that a rise in violent extremism could be incoming amid the ongoing fighting between Israel and Hamas. Hamas launched its deadly attack on southern Israel more than a week ago, prompting Israel to declare war on the group. Israel has said more than 1,400 Israelis have been killed so far. At least 2,750 Palestinians have also been killed and another 9,700 wounded by pounding Israeli air strikes, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Park Ridge businesses and residents have complained about the way young people behave in the citys Uptown business district, from boys wrestling on sidewalks to crowds of kids shooting off fireworks in Hinkley Park. A Park Ridge civic organization held a meeting Oct. 11 to discuss that behavior and how youth get disciplined. Police Chief Robert Kampwirth told Pioneer Press a day after being inaugurated last month that the police department would want to help provide solutions. Advertisement Some members of the civic organization, called Action Ridge, want to expand those conversations to try restorative practices. Police Officer Carlos Panizo, a Maine South High School student resource officer who patrols Uptown during summer months, spoke to members of Action Ridge at their monthly meeting. He said that in the summer months, middle school students seventh and eighth graders are the ones who congregate in Uptown near Northwest Highway and Euclid Avenue. Advertisement Generally, they clump in groups of 20 to 50, said Panizo. He said in those scenarios, groups of girls gather to talk; boys, on the other hand, get a bit more rowdy and their behavior can fall under disorderly conduct. They start to want to have to do something and just be physical, said Panizo. At the Action Ridge organization's October meeting, Carlos Panizo, from left, Evan White and Richard Lyon discuss what they are doing to curb youth misbehavior in Park Ridge using restorative practices. (Richard Requena) Panizo described a situation where he saw a young man carving his initials into a table at Panera in Uptown. He said in order to right the wrong, he gives the victim, in this case the manager of Panera, four options to obtain justice. The first option would be to call the childs parents, have them come to Panera and work out restitution for the damage with the manager. The second option would be to charge the child criminally, which would go one of two ways. Panizo could charge the child with a city ordinance violation, much like a ticket the city gives for overgrown lawns. Because Park Ridge adopts state of Illinois laws to its city ordinances, the child could be charged with vandalism or criminal damage to property. The child and his parents would need to go before a judge at the Skokie Courthouse, and a fine or community service might be the consequence. The other way of criminally charging a child would be going through juvenile courts, where Panizo would have to petition for the juvenile to be charged. Panizo said the Cook County States Attorneys Office would examine the petition to decide if they would like to pursue charges. Panizo, however, said that might not be an effective way to get justice. To be honest in Cook County, our juvenile court system is very taxed with actual carjackers and murderers. Unfortunately.... something like a criminal damage (to) property at Panera would never come back [as something the States Attorney would want to pursue], said Panizo. The fourth option that Panizo could give to the Panera manager in this scenario would be to send the child to Peer Jury, a program run by Maine Townships MaineStay Youth and Family Services department. In the program, the offenders peers, made up of teenagers from ages 14 to 17, would decide on an appropriate amount of community service after asking the child questions about what they did and taking time to reflect. Advertisement Evan White, the agency and program coordinator for MaineStay, went into detail about what Peer Jury is like for someone going into the program. Its a pretty calm environment, described White. Its not as scary as going to [a courthouse]. He added that the jury does not give out fines, which can also be appealing to parents. Offenders can only participate in the program by admitting guilt to the infraction, said White. Jurors will ask the offender what they did before and after to get a complete picture of the motive of their misbehavior. After that, the jury will ask questions like, How did you feel afterward? Did you get an adrenaline rush? How has this affected your relationships with other people? White said the jury asks those questions in that order so that the offender can relive what they did and then reflect on it with the jury. After the conversation, the jury decides how many hours of community service the offender must complete. White said the only instance in which an offender did not complete their community service was when the offender moved away. White said jurors participate on a volunteer basis, and 22 are signed up for the program. He said a good number of Maine South High School students participate as jurors and some of them have a general interest in criminal justice and may want to pursue legal or law enforcement careers. In circumstances where an offender and a juror know each other, the juror is excused to prevent a biased community service recommendation. Peer Jury is only available for first-time offenders and non-violent offenses. White said the most severe case he ever saw was when a 17-year-old girl was caught stealing credit cards. If the girl had been over 18, she would have been charged criminally, which would have gone on her criminal record. She could have gone to jail and (had to) pay a very serious fine, said White. It could feel like youre about to go to college and start your career, and it could have been immediately over because it would have been on her record. Advertisement Peer Jury meets once a month, skipping over July, August and January. White said when the jurors meet, they typically go through one to three cases involving one to eight individuals. Panizo said that on most occasions when he goes over options with a victim, he hears things like I dont want to ruin their lives, meaning that victims dont want to press charges that will go on a childs criminal record. When a child is charged with a city ordinance or is sent to Peer Jury, their record is sealed, Panizo said. In recently signing an executive order, Gov. Gavin Newsom has established a path for state government to realize the benefits of artificial intelligence while governing its real and worrisome risks. But the state has a steep learning curve ahead and could use some help from Californias vast higher education system to manage this fast-emerging technology. Were neither frozen by the fears nor hypnotized by the upside (of AI), declared Newsom. Yet, unless we fix the governments ability to understand technology, California agencies may well be frozen by what the executive order requires. Modern AI, or machine learning, is essentially a set of tools that extract patterns from vast quantities of data. Cutting edge AI models, for instance, can be trained on the entire internet. The focus of the executive order is Generative AI, which uses very big models to generate things, like imagery, text and audio. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The language model ChatGPT, for instance, provides detailed answers to human questions is based on a Generative AI model that can generate highly realistic text in a wide range of different styles (think letters, blog posts, essays and even computer code), captivating the imagination of an estimated 100 million active users. Generative AI has also set off alarm bells for its potential to cause a wide range of serious harms. AI models can, for instance, spew out toxic and racist content, leak confidential or private information, displace workers and create substantial misinformation. While the executive order itself runs a mere seven pages, it requires a lot from state government: State agencies have to compile a report on how they should use Generative AI to assess the technologys threats to energy infrastructure; to consider Generative AI pilot projects for service delivery; to conduct an inventory of high-risk uses of Generative AI; and to train state employees on AI skills. The only problem? Government lacks the people power to carry out such an ambitious agenda. Doing any of these things requires technical expertise. And especially in areas of emerging technology and, acutely for Generative AI government is woefully behind. People working on Generative AI technology are generally not going into government. One report shows, for instance, that three-fifths of recent AI PhDs go into the private sector, a quarter go into academic positions and less than 2% consider a career in the public sector. Opinion This dearth of technical talent means that big aspirations are too often met with failures of implementation. Consider the Newsom orders requirement, for instance, for agencies to submit inventories of Generative AI use cases. When the federal government required something similar, only 50% of agencies were able to comply, and implementation was all over the place. How do we fix this? The order itself has the solution within sight: There is a unique opportunity for academic research and government collaboration. Much AI expertise resides in universities, and a compelling solution lies in creating a talent pipeline between the academy and state government. The federal government has such a pipeline, which has enabled it to rapidly patch the urgent need for talent in science and emerging technology. Indeed, the first director of the White House National AI Initiative Office was appointed under this mechanism. As we have spelled out in a Stanford policy brief, California should create such a mechanism for state agencies to draw on the expertise that resides across its public and private universities. Universities should be training AI talent not just for private companies, but for government, too. A simple change could create such a talent pipeline and secure the future of how the state grapples with such technology. Newsom deserves much praise for this landmark set of commitments. And just as the federal government has drawn on academic expertise in AI, so should California. Daniel Ho is a professor of law and political science at Stanford University, a senior fellow in the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research and director of Regulation, Evaluation and Governance Lab (RegLab). He is also a member of the National AI Advisory Commission, which advises the White House on AI policy. Ho previously met with Gov. Gavin Newsoms team on the states approach to Generative AI. Speed cameras will be authorized to ticket California drivers in select cities as soon as next year, after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a pilot program bill into law Friday. While this is the eighth try to authorize speed cameras in the state since 2005, it is the first time the proposal made it to the governors desk. Assembly Bill 645 passed the legislature with bipartisan support. This has never been about speed cameras. This is about saving lives, but the reason this bill was the first iteration to be passed into law is because of the extensive equity measures we worked to ensure were in AB 645, the bills author Assemblymember Laura Friedman, D-Glendale, said in a news release. How will AB 645 work? The Speed Safety Pilot Program would mean drivers who are caught speeding by the cameras would receive an automatic ticket without ever talking to a police officer. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Unlike red light cameras, the systems authorized in this bill will not take pictures of the driver. They will only capture the license plates. There will be no points applied against someones license, according to the news release. A first-time ticket on the speed cameras is only a warning. After a written warning, tickets will only be issued to drivers exceeding the speed limit by over 11 miles per hour and will begin at $50, with fines increasing due to repetition and velocity. What California cities will this affect? Friedmans office previously told The Bee that pilot programs could begin next year. Until January 2032, this bill will authorize speed cameras in the following California cities: Los Angeles San Jose Oakland Glendale Long Beach San Francisco What do you want to know about life in Sacramento? Ask our service journalism team your top-of-mind questions in the module below or email servicejournalists@sacbee.com. Civilians in Gaza have resorted to drinking sea water and dirty water as the supply of clean water has run out almost everywhere, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) saying the enclave is less than 24 hours from real catastrophe. The UNs Palestinian refugee agency told The Independent about the severe lack of fresh water, while medics say hospitals in Gaza have just hours left of generator fuel, while other critical supplies have either run out or will do so soon. The UN and rights groups have pleaded for supply lifelines to be fully opened with Egypt, warning that Israels total siege of the enclave means that food, water and medical supplies are running perilously low. Since Gazas only power plant shut down five days ago, many fear that intensive care units will be plunged into darkness, with doctors having to switch off incubators and ventilators as their supply of diesel to power back-up generators runs out. that some civilians have resorted to ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement It comes as: Thousands of Palestinians flee towards the southern border between Gaza and Egypt to escape an impending Israeli ground invasion in the north while hundreds of foreign nationals also gather at the Rafah crossing Rishi Sunak confirmed that six Britons had been killed and 10 were missing after the pogrom carried out by Hamas in Israel Israels prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to do all he can to free hostages, as Israel said the number of those taken by Hamas is 199 Mr Netanyahu also warned Hezbollah and Iran not to test his nation with attacks on the northern border with Lebanon, amid fears that the conflict could spread to another front US president Joe Biden said Israel has to go after Hamas, but it would be a big mistake for Gaza to be occupied by its forces Palestinians with dual citizenship gather at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters) Despite the mounting humanitarian catastrophe and an impending Israeli ground invasion, Egypt said vital aid was stuck at its border, blaming Israel for not cooperating. Egypts foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, pointed the finger of blame at Israel, saying: It has not taken a position to open the crossing from the Gaza side. The Israeli government did not comment. It is critical that life-saving assistance is allowed to move through the Rafah crossing without delay, UN humanitarian agency OCHA said in a statement, announcing that its chief, Martin Griffiths, would travel to Cairo on Tuesday. In total, at least 2,808 Palestinians have been killed and 10,850 injured since Israel unleashed its heaviest ever bombardment of Gaza just under a week ago. Included in that figure are more than 1,000 children, according to Defense for Children Palestine, an international monitoring group, who said that this means one child is killed approximately every 15 minutes. The ferocious attacks are in response to the deadly attack carried out last week by Hamas militants, who crossed into southern Israel and killed more than 1,400 people, wounding thousands more and taking hostages. The Israeli military has vowed an unprecedented response to an unprecedented attack by Hamas, admitting in a number of interviews with The Independent that these have been the most ferocious airstrikes ever recorded. They have also stated that a ground invasion is imminent. Smoke billows after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip (AFP via Getty) In Gaza, the UNs Palestinian refugee agency said the death toll from the onslaught was so high that Gaza was running out of body bags. In the enclaves largest city, meanwhile, doctors told The Independent that morgues were overflowing and bodies were being stacked against walls. They shared videos showing the authorities using bulldozers to hastily dig emergency mass graves in which to bury dozens of corpses. At the al-Aqsa Hospital in the centre of the country, medics described storing the excess bodies in refrigerated food trucks. One young man, who asked not to be identified as he was evacuating south, said he had witnessed the authorities burying the dead without family or friends present, as there was no time and no one left to bury them. The problem is people are too afraid to go to cemeteries, said Ghassan Abu Sitta, a prominent British-Palestinian surgeon who works for Doctors Without Borders at Gazas largest hospital, al-Shifa, which is also sheltering 35,000 people. Around 50 families have been completely wiped out because people are seeking refuge with their relatives during the heavy deployment, he said. And so there is no one left to bury anybody. Palestinian citizens inspect what remains of their home, which was destroyed during Israeli raids on the southern Gaza Strip (Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images) Ahmed al-Mandhari, the WHOs regional director for the eastern Mediterranean, told reporters that Gaza has around 24 hours of water, electricity and fuel left and that the enclave is barrelling towards real catastrophe. Israel has ordered Palestinian civilians to evacuate south ahead of an imminent ground offensive, an action that the UN and rights groups have warned could amount to the war crime of forcible transfer. More than a million people are now displaced, with towns in the south now at more than double their capacity, while thousands have tried to head all the way to the border with Egypt. In the Kuwait Hospital in the southern city of Rafah, chief doctor Suhaib al-Hams said he had had to order his staff to ignore orders from Israel to evacuate the facility, as they were over capacity and had nowhere to take the patients. In total, 22 hospitals in Gaza have been instructed by Israeli military forces to evacuate, according to the WHO, which may amount to a violation of international law. The hospital is the largest one in the region, there are dozens of medical staff and patients. How can we move? Dr Al-Hams asked, adding that he had spent eight straight days at the hospital. He could not even visit his three children who had been injured in a recent bombing attack, because there were so many wounded. Never before in my entire life have I witnessed anything like this, and I am unable to articulate what I have seen. I am left speechless. We have a continuous flow of patients. I beg the world, do not abandon us, he implored. Diplomatic efforts to enforce a ceasefire to allow foreign citizens, including Britons and Americans, to leave, and to enable aid to be brought into Gaza have failed. Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari reiterated in a briefing that there was no Gaza ceasefire plan. We are continuing our fight against Hamas, this murderous organisation that carried [the assaults on Israelis] out. Earlier on Monday, Egyptian security sources had announced an agreement to open the crossing to allow aid into the enclave. But Mr Netanyahus office later said: There is currently no truce and humanitarian aid in Gaza in exchange for getting foreigners out. Gaza hospitals were running dangerously low on fuel on Sunday, jeopardizing the lives of thousands of sick and injured patients as an expected ground offensive by Israeli forces looms. The United Nations humanitarian office, OCHA, said that its monitors expected fuel supplies could be totally depleted by Monday. The hospitals will be unable to operate without fuel to power their generators. Other basic supplies, like food, water, and medicine, are also dwindling. Gaza is running dry, Juliette Touma, a spokesperson for the U.N.s Palestinian refugee agency, told the Associated Press. Israel has placed Gaza, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, under siege after a series of deadly incursions by Hamas militants last weekend. Ahead of a widely expected full-scale invasiontroops are currently amassing along the countrys borderIsrael advised more than a million people in the northern part of the Gaza Strip to immediately evacuate south. Around half a million Palestinians had fled for the south as of Sunday, an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson told CNN, with many of them having taken refuge in UN shelters, which are straining to accommodate the influx. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Israeli government said on Saturday night that it would cut off Gazas electricity, fuel, and access to food. President Benjamin Netanyahu said that the blockade and offensive would continue without reservation and without respite. Around 22 hospitals caring for 2,000 patients were able to evacuate their mobile patients to relative safety, a Gaza doctor told the AP. But many patients, including those seriously injured or on ventilators, cant be moved, and hundreds of new patients are arriving every day. The World Health Organization said in a statement on Saturday that forcing patients and health workers to relocate to southern Gaza, where health facilities are already running at maximum capacity and unable to absorb a dramatic rise in the number of patients, could be tantamount to a death sentence. Hospital directors and health workers are now facing an agonizing choice: abandon critically ill patients amid a bombing campaign, put their own lives at risk while remaining on site to treat patients, or endanger their patients lives while attempting to transport them to facilities that have no capacity to receive them, WHO said. Reuters quoted Hussam Abu Safiya, a doctor at Gazas Kamal Edwan Hospital, as saying, If you want to kill us, kill us while we continue working here, we will not leave. We need days and weeks to secure another place. The situation is really dangerous, he continued. Some of the hospitals younger patients are attached to ventilators, he said, and transferring these children from this place means handing them a death sentence. Dr. Muhammad Abu Salima, the director of Gazas largest medical complex, told The New York Times on Sunday, Its absolutely impossible to evacuate the hospital. There is nowhere in Gaza that can accept the number of patients in our intensive care unit or neonatal intensive care unit or even the operating rooms. The Hamas attacks on Oct. 7 resulted in the deaths of 1,400 Israelis, most of them civilians. More than 150 others are believed to have been taken hostage. Roughly 2,670 Palestinians have been killed since the conflict erupted, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, and nearly 10,000 more wounded. 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. Palestinian kidney patients lie on hospital beds as health officials say they are running out of fuel to operate dialysis devices, amid the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, at Naser hospital in Khan Younis Gaza hospitals struggling to cope with air strikes, blockade Palestinian kidney patients lie on hospital beds as health officials say they are running out of fuel to operate dialysis devices, amid the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, at Naser hospital in Khan Younis By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA (Reuters) - As Gaza residents brace for an Israeli ground offensive, after days of intense air strikes and a blockade, in response to the attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, health ministry official Ashraf Al-Qidra wonders how hospitals will cope. Doctors have been scrambling to help a rising number of patients, including children injured in the air strikes, in overcrowded hospitals that are running short on medicines and fuel due to the blockade. Only the most acute cases are getting surgery because there are not enough resources, doctors say. Hospitals across the enclave have only 24 hours more of fuel reserves, putting thousands of patients at risk, the U.N. humanitarian office (OCHA) said on Monday. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement At least 2,750 Palestinians have been killed and 9,700 wounded since Oct. 7, the health ministry said on Monday. Another 1,000 people were missing and believed to be under rubble. Qidra appealed to people to head to the Shifa hospital, the largest of the territory's 13 public medical facilities, to donate blood. "If the hospital stops working, the whole world will be responsible for the lives of hundreds and thousands of patients who rely on our services, especially from Shifa," said Qidra. Shifa serves the entire Gaza Strip but more directly the around 800,000 people who live in Gaza City. Israel is conducting its heaviest ever air strikes and is expected to launch a ground offensive in Gaza, one of the most densely populated areas in the world with 2.3 million people. It has vowed to annihilate Hamas in retaliation for a rampage by its fighters in Israeli towns nine days ago in which its militants shot men, women and children and seized hostages in the worst attack on civilians in the country's history. About 1,300 people were killed in the surprise onslaught, with graphic mobile phone footage and reports from medical and emergency services of atrocities in the overrun towns and kibbutzes. 'THIS IS SO HARD' Some Palestinians have fled their homes in Gaza City after the Israeli military warned them to head south. But some people have said they were in danger of Israeli air strikes on that journey, and some are returning north due to insecurity and a lack of anywhere to stay in an increasingly overcrowded south. The Israeli military was not available for comment. Palestinians in Gaza said Israel's bombing campaign overnight was the heaviest since it launched its retaliatory attacks. Bombardment was especially heavy in Gaza City, with air strikes hitting the areas around two of the city's main hospitals, they said. Saeed Al-Abdala was lying on a hospital bed hooked to a dialysis machine. He escaped bombing at his home in Khan Younis. "I am getting kidney dialysis, and this process is very challenging, we suffer a lot. We suffer from transportation and moving around," he said. "And now we are under war, war is destruction and death and torture. We are displaced from our houses and we are no longer in our homes. This is so hard." Diplomatic efforts are underway to try to open an Egyptian-controlled border crossing into Gaza, with foreign aid donations being delivered to the Egyptian side. In Khan Younis's Nasser Hospital, in the southern Gaza Strip, where ambulances carrying casualties continue to arrive, patients with chronic diseases face the prospect of medical devices failing. "We have 220 (kidney) patients. Half of the devices will go out of service tonight and we will not be able to do dialysis for all of them," said doctor Mohammed Zaqout. "This is a human catastrophe." Kidney patient Nahed Al-Khuzundar, who was forced to flee with his family from Gaza City to Khan Younis, said he had to take three dialysis sessions per week but has so far had none. "My legs began to swell, I feel suffocated, and I need dialysis urgently," Khuzundar told Reuters as he waited outside the kidney department at Khan Younis hospital, where dozens of wounded have been arriving, along with the bodies of the dead. (Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Janet Lawrence) Embattled Rep George Santos (R-NY) raised a negative amount of money in the most recent fundraising quarter, due to having to refund multiple campaign contributors as he faces legal battles. Mr Santoss campaign filed his most recent quarterly campaign finance disclosure to the Federal Election Commission on Sunday, the deadline for doing so. The filing showed that his campaign had a negative cash flow of $16,526.09. The loss of money is mostly due to making campaign refunds. Some of the refunds were for as much as $3,300, while others were for as low as $15. At the same time, Mr Santos spent about four times as much money as he lost between July and the end of September. His campaign reported $42,086.42 in fundraising. His campaign spent $20,000 on legal fees to the firm Dickinson Wright PLC. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Mr Santoss campaign also has a large amount of debt. While he paid Dickinson Wright PLC, he still owes the firm $68,727.79. He also continues to owe Italian restaurant Il Bacco $10,000 for catering for his election night party. Last week, federal officials charged Mr Santos with stealing the identities of his donors to make $44,000 in credit card purchases. As alleged, Santos is charged with stealing peoples identities and making charges on his own donors credit cards without their authorization, lying to the FEC and, by extension, the public about the financial state of his campaign, US Attorney for the East District of New York Breon Peace said. Santos falsely inflated the campaigns reported receipts with non-existent loans and contributions that were either fabricated or stolen. The accusations were part of a superseding indictment that said Mr Santos used the cards of his donors to make multiple unlawful transactions without their knowledge, including moving a vast majority of a $12,000 transfer to his personal bank account. The indictment comes on top of the original charges Mr Santos faced for wire fraud, money laundering and theft of public funds, for which he pleaded not guilty in May. Last week, his campaign treasurer Nancy Marks pleaded guilty to falsely inflating his campaign fundraising as a means to qualify for a Republican fundraising programme by using the names and identities of family members without their knowledge. Despite this, Mr Santos has said he will seek re-election and has defiantly refused to resign. In the current race among House Republicans to become Speaker of the House, Mr Santos adamantly refused to support House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, saying he had no contact with the leader. Rather, he said he would support House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan for the speakership. On Friday, Mr Santos engaged in a heated exchange with a pro-Palestinian rights activist whom he called human scum for supposedly being anti-Israel. -Gustaf Kilander and Josh Marcus contributed to this report The Constitutional Court of Georgia has declared President Salome Zourabichvili 's working tour of Europe without the government's permission a violation of the Constitution, and allowed impeachment procedures to begin, Radio Libertys Ekho Kavkaza reported on Oct. 16. Six members of the Constitutional Court supported the constitutional appeal for impeachment put forward by members of the Georgian parliament. Three were against it. Now the legislature has two weeks to consider and put to a vote the issue of Zourabichvili's impeachment. This requires 100 votes of lawmakers. The publication notes that the parliament is unlikely to support the president's removal from office, as the ruling Georgian Dream party may not have enough votes, and opposition members have vowed to vote against it. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Before the decision, the Constitutional Court held a hearing on the case. Zourabichvili was not present at the hearing; her interests were represented in court by former Georgian Dream MP Tamar Chugoshvili and former Georgian Constitutional Court judge Maya Kopaleishvili. The defense pointed out that according to Article 49 of the Constitution, the President of Georgia represents Georgia in foreign relations. The document also states that "the constitutional bodies shall take all measures within their powers to ensure Georgia's full integration into the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization" (Article 78). Zourabichvili began a tour of Europe on Aug. 31, during which she planned to meet with European leaders to support Georgia's EU candidate status. The first country she visited was Germany. She also visited France and Estonia. She plans to visit other countries, including Israel and the UAE, during the fall and winter. Read also: Georgian president calls Russias lifting visa ban for Georgian citizens another provocation Zourabichvili said that she wanted to visit Ukraine on its Independence Day on Aug. 24, but the government did not allow her to. According to the leader of Georgia's ruling Georgian Dream party, Irakli Kobakhidze, the refusal to go on tour is "justified both legally and politically." He also initiated an appeal to the Constitutional Court of Georgia to impeach Zourabichvili. The head of state herself has criticized the government for its rapprochement with Russia amid the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine A man is behind bars after officials say he set several buildings on fire. Hardeeville police said on Saturday at 3:50 p.m., officers received reports of a structure fire at a location on Whyte Hardee Blvd. When crews arrived, they quickly put out the fire. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Detectives determined that the cause of the fire was arson. On Sunday at 1:07 a.m., authorities said crews with the City of Hardeeville received reports of a large fire at a mobile home and a business previously known as Papa Joes Fireworks that was in the same area as the fire the day before. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement After putting out the fire, detectives determined that arson was the cause. While investigating the fire scene, Jasper County Dispatch received reports of a burglary in progress at a different fireworks store, Crazy Joes Fireworks, on Hummingbird Lane. TRENDING STORIES: When officers arrived, they found signs of a break-in and an attempt to start a fire inside the store. After receiving a description of the suspect from a witness, officers located 42-year-old Joshua Poole of Savannah. At the time of his arrest, officials said Poole had suspected burglary tools and methamphetamine. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] Poole was charged with possession of methamphetamine, possession of burglary tools, second-degree burglary and third degree arson. The case remains under investigation. IN OTHER NEWS: Two men were indicted last week for trafficking protected birds, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Both 74-year-old John Waldrop, of Cataula, Georgia, and 53-year-old Toney Jones of Eufaula, Alabama were indicted after officials said they illegally imported hundreds of taxidermy bird mounts and thousands of eggs into the United States. The men are charged with conspiracy, smuggling, violation of the Endangered Species Act and money laundering charges. The indictment alleges that Waldrop and Jones trafficked these birds between Jan. 1, 2016, and Dec. 10, 2020. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Officials said Waldrop and Jones allegedly used online sales sites such as eBay and Etsy to buy birds and eggs from around the world, from places like Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Russia, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Uruguay. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Officials said the two men did not import any live birds. The Endangered Species Act is a vital law in the fight against international trafficking of protected wildlife, said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Departments Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD). Rare and endangered birds have important roles in their habitats, and we are committed to preventing and deterring their unlawful removal. TRENDING STORIES: Waldrop and Jones imported and collected different protected birds like a canary, dipper, duck, eagle, falcon, grouse, gull, hawk, heron, hoopoe, kestrel, kinglet, lapwing, murre, owl, parrot, pochard, rail, teal, snipe, spoonbill, vulture and woodpecker. The indictment also charged Waldrop and Jones with importing three packages with birds and eggs in 2020 through John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. The packages had a Levant sparrowhawk, a grasshopper buzzard-hawk, two gull eggs, two murre eggs and one unidentified bird egg. The indictment also seeks forfeiture of 779 bird mounts and 2,594 eggs alleged to have been illegally imported into the United States. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: A Braselton financial advisor has been sentenced to prison for stealing millions of dollars from a COVID-19 relief program intended for small businesses. According to U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan, the charges, and other information presented in court, Paul Kwak, 65, conspired with others to submit fraudulent applications to the U.S. governments COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. Buchanan said Kwak and others submitted the applications in the names of shell companies that had no employees and conducted no business activities. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] The EIDL program is an emergency relief program run by the Small Business Administration that provided millions of Americans with economic relief during the COVID-19 pandemic. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Kwak was convicted on June 20, 2023, after he pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to three years and four months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,198,300. Kwak conspired with others, including Joosoo Choi-Bang, Jon Sun Hun, and Sook Hee Kim, each of whom previously pleaded guilty and were sentenced. Choi-Bang was sentenced to one year and six months in prison, followed by one year of supervised release. Huh and Kim were sentenced to two years in prison, followed by one year of supervised release. TRENDING STORIES: Kwak has agreed to forfeit three homes and a Mercedes GLS 580 that were purchased with fraud proceeds. According to the U.S. Attorneys Office, in addition to filing fraudulent EIDL applications, Kwak recruited and taught others to file fraudulent applications, totaling over $2 million. Kwak posted a video on his YouTube channel where he explained, in Korean, that applicants could receive tens of thousands of dollars in assistance. Not only did Kwak defraud the government by applying for relief funds for companies that did not exist, but he also recruited and taught others how to do the same, said Keri Farley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. Let this sentence be a message that the FBI will continue to hold accountable anyone who abuses taxpayer dollars and diverts them from people that actually need them. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN RELATED NEWS: A Schererville man faces decades behind bars after he was charged Thursday with Level 1 felony child molesting. Kerin Adiel Banegas-Ramos, 39, was also charged with rape, a Level 3 felony, child molesting, a Level 4 felony, and dissemination of matter harmful to minors, a Level 6 felony. Advertisement Judge Salvador Vasquez entered a not guilty plea in a court hearing Monday. Banegas-Ramos bail is set at $6,000 cash surety. A bail hearing is set on Oct. 23. Schererville Police reported the mother took the victim on Oct. 4 to the police station. Advertisement The child told investigators Banegas-Ramos started touching her earlier that year and it progressed to rape. It happened more times than I can count. In one incident, a week earlier, Banegas-Ramos raped her, while she told him to stop. Afterward, he walked out without saying anything. As she talked, the girl tensed up. How many more questions, she asked. The police officer stopped the interview. She added more details in a later Lake County Sheriffs Office Special Victims Unit interview. The child said Banegas-Ramos started hugging her inappropriately earlier that year and he later started raping her. He made her watch disgusting stuff on his phone, then tried to reenact it with the girl. He made her watch pornography at least three to four times in August and September, according to the affidavit. Advertisement One video appeared to show a girl around her age and a grown man, she said, according to court documents. Banegas-Ramos admitted to police he did something bad to the girl, touching the child with his genitals, but denied raping her. It happened 10 to 20 times, he claimed. Court records state he is originally from Honduras and lived in Georgia and Illinois before moving to Schererville. A witness said they were afraid hed leave the country. mcolias@post-trib.coms German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said it's essential the U.S. continues to provide Ukraine with financial support alongside European commitment, calling the U.S. aid "indispensable," the German broadcaster ARD reported on Oct. 16. His statement comes as the U.S. assistance for Kyiv is facing opposition in Congress from a hardline faction of the Republican Party. While a recent legislative battle led to the ousting of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the White House has assured that the U.S. can continue providing aid until Congress returns to session. Lindner took part in a meeting between European finance ministers and U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who briefed the ministers on the country's domestic political debate, according to ARD. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Yellen said, cited by Reuters, that support for Ukraine remained a "top priority" for the U.S. and the European Union. Read also: Poll: Majority of EU citizens favor continued support for Ukraine She also reportedly pledged that President Joe Biden's administration would fight to ensure that a bipartisan majority in the US Congress approved "robust" and uninterrupted aid to Kyiv. "We cannot allow Ukraine to lose the war for economic reasons when it has shown an ability to succeed on the battlefield," the U.S. treasury secretary added. On Oct. 15, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan confirmed that Biden's administration was preparing a funding package worth significantly more than $2 billion, which would include military aid for Ukraine and Israel. Earlier, Sullivan said that the U.S. was more than capable of simultaneously providing aid to both Ukraine and its long-time ally Israel, currently embroiled in a war with Hamas in Gaza. Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Palestinians search for casualties under the rubble of a house destroyed in Israeli strikes in Khan Younis BERLIN (Reuters) -German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will visit Israel on Tuesday and then Egypt as Western nations try to forestall a spread of the Middle East conflict, according to sources familiar with the plan. Scholz is to depart following his meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah in Berlin on Tuesday, the sources said, though a government spokesperson declined confirmation "This is really a sign of solidarity," Ron Prosor, Israel's ambassador to Germany, told German TV channel Welt, of the reported visit. "He is the first prime minister to visit Israel (since the Hamas-Israel war erupted) and we see that as incredibly important." Germany has rallied round Israel since at least 1,300 people were killed and dozens taken hostage in an unprecedented, cross-border infiltration by Hamas militants on Oct. 7. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Israel has responded with its heaviest ever bombardment of the Gaza Strip, which Hamas authorities say have killed at least 2,750 people, in preparation for an expected ground invasion. Israel's relentless air strikes have complicated diplomatic efforts to allow foreign passport holders to leave the besieged, densely populated enclave while allowing in aid for Gaza via the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. Heightening international fears of the conflict expanding, Lebanon's Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, has been exchanging fire with Israel across the border for days in the deadliest escalation since they fought a major war in 2006. Last week, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock held talks in Israel and Egypt on how to defuse the crisis. British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly also visited Israel last week, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Tel Aviv again on Monday as part of an extended Middle East trip. (Reporting by Rachel More and Maria Martinez, writing by Miranda Murray; editing by Mark Heinrich and Andrew Cawthorne) The grave of a Ukrainian soldier killed in the war with Russia. U.S. support for Kiev has fractured along party lines. (Alex Babenko / Associated Press) In normal times domestic political fights over foreign policy break down more or less along a conventional left-right divide. These are not normal times. The right is largely united around the need to support Israel in its war with Hamas, but increasingly divided about backing Ukraine in its war with Russia. The left is largely united around the need to help Ukraine, but more divided about siding with Israel. Read more: Goldberg: Who's to blame for the Hamas attack on Israel? That debate is already going off the rails Its not perfectly symmetrical. Democrats are more unified on Israel, in part because of President Bidens unequivocal support. But its early. After all, the history of the Democratic Party resisting campus radicals and the antiwar left is not a tale of heroic resolve. And that the response on campuses to a terrorist pogrom was to immediately express support for Palestinians does not suggest the left-wing fringe will come around to a more nuanced stance. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Meanwhile, even though the GOP is unified in its support for Israel to the point where even many America-firsters have abandoned all foreign policy consistency to show solidarity with Israel on the fringes, especially on social media, skepticism over support for Israel is already growing. Read more: Opinion: Hamas barbarity broke my heart. Some of my friends are breaking it a second time In some of the swampier quarters, outright antisemitism is breaking into the open . And Donald Trump, who has long boasted of doing more for Israel than anyone since Moses, is suddenly celebrating how very smart Hezbollah is and berating Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (which is not to say he doesnt deserve criticism, though not from Trump). Given the hothouse of a presidential election, it doesnt seem far-fetched to imagine support for Israel melting away on the new right and the anti-Zionist left as Biden becomes more identified with support for Israel. In short, inside the waters edge of domestic politics, its a two-front war. What I think a lot of people are missing is that its a two-front war outside the waters edge too. Read more: Opinion: Invading Gaza, but to what end? Netanyahu's incompetent government has no answers Theres been an intense and bizarre debate over Irans complicity in Hamas attack. Iran has supported Hamas for decades. Whether it officially ordered, or approved, the invasion beforehand hardly erases its culpability. If you keep assassins who vow to kill Israelis on a retainer, its hardly an outrageous slander to say you have some responsibility when they do. The more vital question is of Russias involvement. Russias disastrous war on Ukraine has drawn it ever closer to Iran, which supplies it with drones and other weapons. Both of these heavily sanctioned pariah-states depend on oil revenue to stay afloat. Global instability keeps the petrodollars flowing. Theres no evidence that Russia greenlighted the attack, but it's clear that Putin benefits from a Middle East war that diverts Western attention and resources. Why give him the win he wants? Read more: Calmes: House Republicans should stop following Netanyahu's chaotic example Ukraine, which has expressed its support for Israel, certainly sees the stakes clearly. President Volodymyr Zelensky even wants to visit Israel as a show of solidarity. Opponents of aiding Ukraine dismiss any linkage legislatively, strategically or morally between Israel and Ukraine. Forty-eight hours after the Hamas attack, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) insisted : Israel is facing existential threat. Any funding for Ukraine should be redirected to Israel immediately. The populist Heritage Foundation declared: Lawmakers need to resist attempts to link emergency military support for Israel with additional funding for Ukraine. These conflicts are separate and distinct. Not really. Seeing both conflicts through a partisan lens just demonstrates how domestic partisanship can blind you to the bigger picture. These are two fronts in broadly the same fight. Israel and Ukraine alike are flawed but decent democracies facing enemies who seek to erase them from the map. Israel may be more of a historic ally than Ukraine, but their enemies are allies with shared interests. Putting all other obvious moral and strategic considerations aside, America simply has a vital interest in maintaining its credibility to keep its commitments not just to Ukraine and Israel, but to our broader coalition of allies. After 9/11, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization got our back. Now NATO needs us to help deal with the threat on its doorstep. And we may need NATO if Iran opts to join the fray in Israel. Lord knows China is watching to see if we buckle. None of this requires American boots on the ground in Israel or Ukraine. Both countries are willing to do the fighting and dying. What they want is help in what amounts to the same war on two fronts. @JonahDispatch If its in the news right now, the L.A. Times Opinion section covers it. Sign up for our weekly opinion newsletter. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. In this photo illustration, Google logo is seen on a smartphone and United States Department of Justice (DOJ) logo on a pc screen. Credit - Photo Illustration by Pavlo GoncharSOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) In the ongoing court battle between Google and the U.S. Justice Department over whether the company has violated an antitrust law, the stakes are high. The outcome of the 10-week trial, which will be decided by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta , could fundamentally change the way people search the internet and reduce revenue for the company that has the most common search engine for online users. The civil antitrust lawsuit is the first to go to trial in a series of cases targeting other big tech companies like Meta and Amazon. But this particular suit, brought forward by the Justice Department and eleven other states, alleges that Google illegally monopolizes search engine servicesspending billions to do so making it the default company through which advertising companies and website publishers purchase and sell ads. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The question is whether [Google] is entrenching its monopoly and closing off avenues for competitors to try to develop a competitive search engine, says Eleanor Fox, professor at New York University School of Law. More From TIME Google has contracts with numerous cell phone providers to ensure that it is the default search engine on devices, making it difficult for competitors like Duck Duck Go and Microsofts Bing to make a dent in the industry, the Justice Department alleges. Google, however, argues that they are not a monopoly, instead testifying that users choose Google because it performs the best. The corporation also says that even though they pay to be the default search engine, that does not guarantee that they would be the top competitor. It's true that other users can certainly download other search engines. But what is problematic is that the statistics show that when a company gets to be a default, users very rarely change, says Fox. Heres what to know about the case. What is the trial about? In January, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Google, claiming that the company acted in violation of the Sherman Act, an antitrust law that outlawed monopolistic practices. The act helps ensure that no single company or firm has control of a particular market. In the case of United States v. Google, the Justice Department argues that Google has unjustly monopolized control of the ad tech stack, which is used by advertisers and publishers to buy and sell ads. According to the case filing, Google has paid billions to cellular device manufacturers and browser developers to ensure that it is the default general search engine for laptops, computers, and cellphones. Googles contract with Apple, for instance, costs the big tech company an estimated $15 to $20 billion annually. That money also ensures that those companies do not work with Googles competitors. The contract has helped Google account for nearly 95% of all search queries on mobile devices, according to the court filing. Google is worth around $1.7 trillion and has control for some 90% of the American search engine market. The Justice Department argues that these sort of practices prevent other search engine companies from having a real chance to compete in the industry. Google is so dominant that Google is not only a noun to identify the company and the Google search engine but also a verb that means to search the internet, the filing complaint says. Google alleges that it did not monopolize the ad industry, instead arguing that it is just getting the benefit of a bargain, says Fox. The companys attorneys allege that customers simply prefer their search engine as opposed to alternatives. And Google has argued that because it has so much data from existing users, it can provide a better experience for everyone. It's arguing that the default [search engine] position is pro competitive and pro efficiency and pro innovation pro giving a better product to consumers, she says. The contract has helped Google make hundreds of billions in revenue and has also helped increase profits of cell phone manufacturers that engage in these contracts with Google. How this could impact the future of search The trial is at its midway point, but it is still unclear how Mehta will rule. Fox notes that the Department of Justice has a strong case on its hands. The last major case against big tech was the 1998 legal battle between the Department of Justice and Microsoft for packaging its Internet Explorer web browser with its Windows system. The Justice Department argued that the company was illegally monopolizing their role in the computer industry; and ruled that Microsoft violated antitrust laws. But if Mehta does rule against Google, Fox says that Mehta could decide that the contracts Google has signed to make it the default search engine on mobile devices and computers are illegal. That means that cellphone users could have the liberty of picking their own default search engine, or that manufacturers could decide to work with other competitors. David Olson, a professor at Boston College Law School, told NBC News that the remedy could cause an increase in the cost of devices to make up for loss of contracts with Google. He adds that Google could still have an advantage over competitors if users still choose to use it. But despite the strengths in the Justice Departments case, Fox points out that previous lawsuits against big tech have generally favored companies like Google. The Supreme Court has ruled on a number of antitrust cases in the last two decades and has indicated that it has a lot of trust in the market and sympathy with monopoly firms to act responsibly to consumers, Fox says. This has made it very hard for plaintiffs to win and that's why this is a complicated case. Contact us at letters@time.com. Republican state lawmakers are drawing new election districts with the aim of locking themselves into the majority and padding the slim GOP majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. With the new district maps expected to be unveiled within a week, voting rights advocates are bracing for an extreme gerrymander that cant be stopped. Redistricting bills are not subject to the governors veto. The U.S. Supreme Court has punted the issue, saying its up to state courts to rule on partisan gerrymanders. And the North Carolina Supreme Court, which previously rejected partisan gerrymanders, switched to a Republican majority in the last election. The new Republican justices have said redistricting is a matter for legislators, not judges. Whats made the secret map drawing even more ominous is that Republican lawmakers slipped a provision into the state budget that exempts all communications regarding redistricting from being subject to a public records request. That will make it harder for opponents to challenge the maps that emerge. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The seat belts are off, said Sam Wang, a professor of neuroscience at Princeton University who serves as director of the Princeton Gerrymandering Project. The court is not inclined to restrain a legislature of the same party and theres no sunshine law. Republican mapmakers, he said, have a lot of latitude. Michael Li, senior counsel for the Brennan Centers Democracy Program at New York Universitys School of Law, said fair elections are about to be further undermined in North Carolina. The outlook seems very dark. The only question is how dark it is, he said. It could be quite dark for Democrats. Anderson Clayton, the North Carolina Democratic Party chair, expects the new maps to produce election results that will flip the states congressional delegation from a 7-7 Democratic-Republican split to a 10-4, or even 11-3 Republican advantage. Meanwhile, new legislative maps will protect the Republican majority in the state House and Senate. Those bracing for the impact of even more blatant gerrymandering have a cause for hope. Its what Li and others who study redistricting call a dummymander. The term refers to an overly aggressive gerrymander. It happens when a majority partys redistricting uses thin favorable margins in an effort to gain more seats. An uptick in support for the opposing party can then result in a loss of seats for the majority party. You can have more seats, or you can have safer seats, Li said. If you draw 52 percent Republican districts, you can get swamped in a wave. Republican map drawers are aware of the risk of getting too greedy and creating too many vulnerable districts. But there are three factors that offset that caution. One, they are too greedy. After more than a decade in power, Republican legislative leaders keep pushing the envelope of public tolerance. Last week, they happily overrode five of Gov. Roy Coopers vetoes in one day. Dont count on this crowd to practice moderation. Two, North Carolina is changing rapidly. Despite computer programs that enable precise gerrymandering, people are moving into and around North Carolina at a pace that is shifting the political landscape faster than voting data can keep up. State Demographer Michael Cline reported last week that the pattern of population growth being largely confined to major urban counties has changed. Cline said that contrary to the previous decade when 51 of 100 counties lost population, 78 counties added population between July 1, 2021 and July 1, 2022. Three, Donald Trump. No amount of political calculation can account for the unpredictable effects of the former president. If Trump is the Republican presidential nominee, there could be a surge among voters opposed to him. An anti-Trump wave could overturn districts where the margins favoring Republicans are not particularly high. The best hope for democracy in North Carolina may be that Republicans overreach is their effort to subvert it. Associate opinion editor Ned Barnett can be reached at 919-404-7583, or nbarnett@ newsobserver.com Republican attorneys general from across the country and major medical organizations are trying to help sway a federal appeals court as it considers Florida restrictions on treatments for transgender people. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< Briefs filed Friday at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals offer clashing views of treatments such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy, particularly for adolescents with gender dysphoria. The state this summer went to the Atlanta-based appeals court in two cases after U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle ruled against a prohibition on Medicaid coverage for such treatments and blocked rules preventing minors from receiving the treatments. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Republican attorneys general from 18 states signed on to a friend-of-the-court brief Friday urging the appeals court to overturn Hinkles ruling in the Medicaid case. The Republican attorneys generals argued that a Florida Agency for Health Care Administrations decision to block Medicaid coverage for the treatments should receive due deference and disputed arguments from many medical organizations supporting the use of puberty blockers and hormone therapy. As with other institutions, American medical organizations have become increasingly performative, treated by their leaders as platforms for advancing the current moments cause celebre, the attorneys general brief said. Add to this a replication crisis in scientific literature and the ability of researchers to use statistics to make findings appear significant when they are not, and it is no wonder that medical organizations find it easier to just go with the zeitgeist. Science is hard, and there is no reward in the current climate for any organization that questions the safety and efficacy of using sterilizing gender-transition procedures on children. READ: Kicked out of public life: Transgender Floridians say new laws are forcing them to leave the state But 23 medical organizations, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association and the Endocrine Society, filed a brief Friday in the case about rules for minors and said that denying such evidence-based medical care to adolescents who meet the requisite medical criteria puts them at risk of significant harm. Gender-affirming health care for transgender individuals is supported by most major accredited medical organizations. The widely accepted view of the professional medical community is that gender-affirming care is the appropriate treatment for gender dysphoria and that, for some adolescents, gender-affirming medical interventions are necessary, the medical organizations brief said. This care greatly reduces the negative physical and mental health consequences that result when gender dysphoria is untreated. With Gov. Ron DeSantis making the issue a priority, Florida regulators and lawmakers in 2022 and this year approved restrictions on treatments for people with gender dysphoria. The moves came amid politically charged debates across the country about transgender issues, with GOP-controlled states passing similar restrictions. The issue centers on treatments for gender dysphoria, which the federal government defines clinically as significant distress that a person may feel when sex or gender assigned at birth is not the same as their identity. The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration last year adopted a rule banning Medicaid reimbursements to health-care providers for treatments such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy. The agency, which runs most of the Medicaid program, based its decision on a report that concluded such treatments were experimental and not medically necessary, and thus did not meet the threshold for Medicaid coverage. The report was by researchers who oppose the treatments. The state Board of Medicine and the Board of Osteopathic Medicine also approved rules blocking puberty blockers and hormone therapy for minors. DeSantis and the Legislature this spring effectively enshrined those rules in law. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] Hinkle, however, ruled against the restrictions in two decisions in June. In the case about blocking treatments min, for example, the judge said the statute and the rules were an exercise in politics, not good medicine. The statute and rules at issue were motivated in substantial part by the plainly illegitimate purposes of disapproving transgender status and discouraging individuals from pursuing their honest gender identities, Hinkle wrote. This was purposeful discrimination against transgenders. However the state and the Republican attorneys general dispute the positions of the major medical organizations that say the treatments are proven and needed. Also on Friday, the American College of Pediatricians, which says on its website that it is leading the charge against the harms of transgender interventions on minors, filed a brief supporting the state in the Medicaid case. The attorneys general brief was led by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, and Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and joined by the chief legal officers in Georgia, Montana, Idaho, Nebraska, Indiana, South Carolina, Iowa, Texas, Kansas, Utah, Kentucky, Virginia, Mississippi, West Virginia and Missouri. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker forcefully condemned the killing of a 6-year-old Muslim boy in a community southwest of Chicago on Sunday, calling the alleged slaying, which police have labeled a hate crime, nothing short of evil. To take a six year old childs life in the name of bigotry is nothing short of evil, Pritzker said in a statement Sunday evening. This wasnt just a murder it was a hate crime. According to police, a 71-year-old Illinois man fatally stabbed a 6-year-old boy and seriously wounded a 32-year-old woman, targeting the pair for their Muslim faith amid the ongoing fighting between Israel and Hamas. The suspect, Joseph M. Czuba of Plainfield, was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crimes and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, according to the Will County Sheriffs Office in Joliet. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The boy, who Pritzker identified in his statement as Wadea Al-Fayoume, was stabbed 26 times and pronounced dead at the hospital, according to the sheriff's office. The woman, who Pritzker confirmed in his statement was the boys mother, was also stabbed several times but is expected to recover. In the wake of the Hamas-led surprise attack on Israel last week, police and federal authorities across the U.S. have been on high alert for antisemitic- or Islamophobic-driven violence. Jewish and Muslim groups have reported an increase of hateful and threatening rhetoric on social media. Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, described the attack as "our worst nightmare," in a statement Sunday afternoon, ahead of Pritzker's condemnation. TAMPA, Fla. - Hundreds of Americans who flew home from Tel Aviv were home safe Monday after landing at Tampa International Airport where they were greeted by Governor Ron DeSantis and his wife, Casey, hours earlier. A group of 270 American passengers, including 91 kids and four dogs, flew in after getting stuck for days in Israel as the Israel-Hamas War began. They went through Portugal and landed at the Tampa International Airport. Nearly a third of the passengers were Floridians. Governor DeSantis and state emergency management officials worked to support the efforts of local non-profit, Project Dynamo, which is a veteran-led group of volunteers who dedicate their time to leading rescue missions in war zones and disaster areas. CEO & Co-Founder Bryan Stern said he and his team left for Israel the day after the attacks from Hamas, launching what they call 'Operation Promised Land.' He added that they've had a few smaller planes of evacuees come back to the United States over the last week, but this was their biggest charter yet. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "Theres more to do in a rescue. This isnt just go to the airport, get on a charter flight, and fly. We got there the day after the massacre, and weve been moving people around the country, we have a whole ground movement," Stern said, who described what it was like being on the ground in Israel. "It's not just going to the airport. We have a free plane. It's incredibly dangerous. It's incredibly scary. All these people are taking missile fire. It's dicey. And they're not soldiers." Ron and Linda Neumann of Melbourne spent 18 months in Israel working on a dual citizenship before the terror attacks. They were desperate to get out of the country. Governor Ron DeSantis greets hundreds of Americans who were evacuated from Israel after they landed in Tampa on Sunday. "I was just so concerned we wouldn't get on that plane, and they got us on a plane. It was like, amazing. Amazing. I mean, I can't tell you how good it feels to be home," said Ron Neumann, adding they had two other flights canceled at the last minute. "We love Israel. It's our people, and we just pray for protection for Israel after this terrible attack. And we're thankfully back home, and we're safe. But yet this dual feelings of our friends...they're there right now. We just pray for their safety." RELATED: We must stand with Israel: Gov. DeSantis wants to increase Floridas sanctions on Iran This was Project Dynamo's 602nd mission and their fourth time going to a war zone within the last year. Stern told FOX 13 its funding is entirely donor-based and this was the first time an American, or state politician, aided in one of its international rescue missions. It came after the governor signed an executive order last Thursday that enables the Florida division of emergency management to bring Floridians home and transport supplies out to Israel. "When we do executive orders, it frees up the ability to access funds, since I have been governor, we have established a disaster find every year that we replenish, so you just go, you use what you need to do and then, if you get reimbursed, you do, I dont think the feds will reimburse us for this, but thats fine we want to do whats right," DeSantis explained. There were not just Floridians on this plane, but people from all over the country and even a man living in the Czech Republic. According to the governor's team, once the plane landed in Tampa, evacuees were able to access resources from multiple state agencies. Additionally, they're sending medical supplies, hygiene products, clothing and children's toys to Israel to help. The Florida Department of Emergency Management says three more flights are expected to be landing in Tampa within the next week or so. LANSING Dollars and cents and sometimes just common sense are at the heart of some ballot proposals area voters will see on the Nov. 7 general election ballot. Here are the ones that are pertinent to voters in Greater Lansing: Ingham County Lansing Lansing voters will be asked whether they want to see "a general revision of the Lansing City Charter." The request loops back to the charter's present language, which asserts the question of whether there shall be a general revision of the City Charter shall be submitted to the voters of the City of Lansing at the November general election held in 1987 and every 12 years thereafter and may be submitted at other times in the manner provided by law. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Denial means "nothing changes, and no additional costs are incurred," according to the city clerk's website. Approval would mean special elections, election of a Charter Commission, and the process of submitting a proposed new city charter in subsequent special elections, which could rack up a hefty bill for Lansing. According to the City Clerks website, each citywide special election costs nearly $150,000, and the city is supposed to cover reasonable expenses of the Charter Commission. To cover the first stages of the process, the administration would move toward appropriating an initial $500,000, according to the city clerk's website. Leslie Voters in the city are being asked to amend and update the city charter's language. There are six separate questions regarding non-discriminatory practices, moving council elections to even years starting in November 2024, removing a 30-day requirement for council vacancies, establishing that the city will draft or review ordinances and amendments, and establishing in the charter that city council regularly meets once not twice a month and posting of board of review meetings. Find the ballot language here: https://clerk.ingham.org/departments_and_officials/county_clerk/. Eaton County Bellevue Community Schools Voters in the school district will be asked to renew an 18-mill levy on non-homestead residential properties, business, commercial industrial properties for 2024 to 2032. The millage applies to all property, except principal residences and other property exempted under Michigan law, and is required for districts to obtain their per pupil funding from the state. Approval of the renewed millage would raise $603,135 for the district in 2024. Eaton Regional Education Service Agency Residents in Ingham, Eaton, Clinton and Ionia counties who are in the Eaton RESA district will decide on a special education 0.9-mill, 10-year levy to support students with disabilities. The cost to a homeowner with a taxable value of $100,000 is estimated to be $7.50 a month or $90 a year. If approved, the millage would restore 0.32 mills to a special education millage reduced by a Headlee rollback and provide an additional 0.57 mills for a total of 0.9 mills. Its expected to generate about $3 million per year for 10 years to support students, purchase equipment and decrease the general education funds being used to fund special education. Clinton County Eagle Township Eagle Township voters will be asked to recall Supervisor Patti Jo Schafer, and decide whether they would like Tony Stroud or Charles Truesdell to replace her for a term that would conclude in November 2024. Fulton Public Schools For property owners in Gratiot Countys Middleton-Fulton Public Schools boundaries, the district is placing two ballot questions before voters to restore money lost due to Headlee rollbacks. The first question will ask for a 10-year levy of sinking fund millage of no more than 3 mills. The districts current sinking fund levy now stands at about 2.8 mills, and the increase will mean an annual collection of approximately $34,961 in its first year. The district wants to levy 18 mills for an operating millage for 2023 to 2026. It now levies a 17.74-mill operating millage due to Headlee rollback, but wants to increase it by 0.5 mills, with the understanding that no more than 18 mills will be collected. If voters approve this question, the new annual levy will collect approximately $14,433. The millage applies to all property, except principal residences and other property exempted under Michigan law and is required for districts to obtain their per pupil funding from the state. The millages are on the ballot for a second time, with similar proposals for the sinking fund failing 232 yes to 293 no and the operating millage failing 256-268 in May. Ionia County City of Ionia Votes will decide whether the city clerk will go from being an elected officer to an appointed officer. According to the ballot language, the amendment would take effect upon the termination of the term of the City Clerk duly elected at the 2021 odd-year November election, or upon a vacancy in that office, whichever occurs first? Ionia Public Schools Voters in the Ionia Public Schools district will consider an 18-mill levy on non-homestead business, industrial and rental properties. Set for 2025 to 2034, it would replace a 17.398-mill levy set to expire in December 2024. According to the ballot language, the school district stands to lose $2.8 million annually if the levy isn't approved. As with the proposals in Bellevue and Fulton, the millage applies to all property, except principal residences and other property exempted under Michigan law and is required for districts to obtain their per pupil funding from the state. This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Greater Lansing ballot proposals: What you need to know A Wisconsin man is accused of choking and gouging the eyes of a Crown Point police dog during a traffic stop Sunday night. Tyler Lee Pollard, 32, of Kenosha, Wisconsin, was charged with battery against a public safety official, a Level 6 felony; intimidation, a Level 6 felony; resisting law enforcement, a Level 6 felony; striking a law enforcement animal, a Level 6 felony; and misdemeanor operating a vehicle while intoxicated, resisting law enforcement, disorderly conduct, and reckless driving charges. Pollard also was cited by Crown Point Police for exceeding the posted speed limit and having an open alcoholic beverage container in a vehicle. Advertisement At approximately 2:37 a.m., Officer Joe Osiecki observed a 2006 black Maserati driving 86 in a posted 45 mph zone in the 2100 block of North Main Street and attempted to initiate a traffic stop near 93rd Avenue and Main, according to a news release from the City of Crown Point. As Osiecki activated his emergency lights at the intersection, the driver allegedly continued to accelerate at a high rate of speed and did not immediately pull over, eventually stopping after a mile in the 8600 block of Taft Street, police said. Once stopped, Officer Osiecki ordered Pollard to roll down the car windows. Advertisement The driver rolled down the window just enough to show his hands, the release stated, and turned off his vehicle and placed the key fob on the car, but he refused to open the door and exit the vehicle. Officers warned the driver if he did not exit the car, a police K-9 would be released, but the driver remained in the vehicle, police said. Two Crown Point officers attempted to enter the passenger side of the vehicle, but it was locked. An officer deployed a department-issued baton to break the passenger window glass to enter the vehicle and unlock the doors. Cpl. Dave Wilkins then deployed K-9 Jack into the vehicle, the release stated. The driver allegedly gouged K-9 Jacks eyes and grabbed him around the throat with both of his hands, leaving him briefly incapacitated and causing his eyes to roll to the back of his head. Wilkins ordered the driver to release the dog, but when the suspect refused, he began to struggle with the driver in an attempt to free the dog from the suspects grip, police said. Another officer used a stun gun to prevent further injury to the dog, and the suspect then took his hands off dogs throat. Police reported that they had to forcibly remove the suspect from the vehicle as he continued to resist until he was handcuffed, the release stated. Pollard was transported to Franciscan Health Crown Point where he was treated for minor injuries and released. He was then taken to the Lake County Jail for processing where he posted a $2,500 bail and was released from custody, according to the news release. After a thorough exam with his veterinarian, K-9 Jack has a clean bill of health and he is currently in the care of his handler. The Crown Point police officers treated on scene for minor injuries have been cleared for duty. Advertisement Crown Point Police noted that they were assisted on scene by Indiana State Police and the Merrillville Police Department. Green Mountain Power has set an ambitious goal for itself to create an energy grid that is impervious to outages. They call it the Zero Outages Initiative, and the utility is the first in the country to aim so high. GMP plans to achieve outage invulnerability by burying and "storm-hardening" power lines, combined with building out its network of storage batteries and so-called microgrids, which operate independently of the main grid and can provide power on a smaller scale to a town or region if the main grid goes down. In 2021, GMP piloted a solar-powered microgrid project in Panton, the first of its kind in the country. Josh Castonguay, chief innovation and engineering executive for GMP, told the Burlington Free Press in 2021 the site generates 5 megawatts of solar power, enough to provide electricity for just under 1,500 homes for a year. Tesla batteries were installed to store power, making the microgrid a giant, solar-powered backup battery to be used during outages. All the work to make the Zero Outages Initiative a reality will be done by 2030, if everything goes according to plan. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "We all see the severe impacts from storms, we know the impact outages have on your lives, and the status quo is no longer enough," Mari McClure, GMP president and CEO, said in a statement. "We are motivated to do all we can to combat climate change and create a Vermont that is sustainable and affordable, but we must move faster." What will Zero Outages cost? What will this cost? Quite a bit. The Zero Outages filing with regulators calls for an investment of $280 million over the next two years, $250 million of which is for undergrounding and storm-hardening lines, and $30 million for energy storage. And that's just Phase 1. "The second phase of the initiative will involve another filing with regulators and will seek approval to accelerate and expand beyond 2026, while outages and associated repair costs start to drop off," GMP states. Offsetting the costs of the Zero Outages initiative, according to GMP, are the costs associated with fixing the damage from major storms, which GMP characterizes as "escalating and not sustainable." More: State regulator lifts cap on home battery storage systems in response to climate change "Since 2014, major storms caused $115 million in damage across GMP's service area, with 60% of that in the last five years, 40% of that in just the last two years, and the $45 million in 2023 was the most yet," GMP stated. "That is money spent to repair the existing system and get customers reconnected after storm damage, and it does not prevent future outages." Zero Outages called a game-changer for customers and line workers This is where climate change comes in. "We know that we will continue to see an increase in extreme weather events, and research shows that every dollar invested in disaster preparedness and mitigation ultimately saves several times more in avoided response and recovery costs, while also preventing health and safety impacts," Jeff Schlegelmilch, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University's Climate School, said in a statement. On the subject of health and safety, Rutland-based GMP Lineman Mike Tyler called the Zero Outages Initiative a "game-changer." "For customers, the lights stay on for them, and then for us in the field, it increases safety," Tyler said in a statement. "Every line worker I know has had a close call, and being up on a pole when there is a big gust of wind isn't a great feeling. Our exposure to the most severe elements will be reduced with Zero Outages, and our neighbors stay powered up." Contact Dan DAmbrosio at 660-1841 or ddambrosi@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanDambrosioVT. This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Green Mountain Power proposes plan to prevent power outages Two people were killed in Brussels after a gunman opened fire in the city centre, police have said. Footage shared online showed a man dressed in an orange jacket unloading several shots, using a large weapon. Local media outlets said the two victims were Swedish nationals. The violent incident came ahead of a qualifier game for the UEFA Euros between Sweden and Belgium at the Heysel Stadium, some 3 miles away. Police spokeswoman Ilse Vande Keere said officers arrived soon at the scene, and sealed off the immediate neighborhood, The Associated Press reported, though no further information was made immediately available. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Dutch-language newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws (HLN) reported that the perpatrator of the crimes had released a video on Facebook, in which he claimed to be a member of IS. The man said he had shot the people avenge the Muslims. It comes at a time of heightened politcal and religious tension around the world, following the recent attacks on Israel by Hamas, and ensuing conflict. More follows U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz became visibly emotional Monday when she described what she heard and saw on her most recent visit to Israel just three days after the Hamas attacks that sparked the war in Gaza. Wasserman Schultz was part of a congressional delegation in the Middle East when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7. Despite what she described as State Department resistance, she insisted on traveling to Israel. She and three other members of the delegation spent Oct. 10 in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. I cant even begin to describe to you how sickening it was, and horrifying, Wasserman Schultz said. It was important for me to be there, not just as a member of Congress who expresses our support, our countrys support for Israel, but as a Jew, as a Zionist, it was just absolutely critical for me to be there. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Wasserman Schultz, a Broward Democrat, is the first Jewish woman elected to Congress from Florida. Obviously that devastating, horrific savage attack was a gut-wrenching punch, Wasserman Schultz said. Its hard to describe the conversations that we had when we got to Israel. The lawmakers met with the prime minister and opposition leader, military leaders, and affected families. She delivered the message that we are not going to allow vicious terrorists to end the dream and vibrancy of Israel. Wasserman Schultz briefly described the trip as she kicked off a Cancer Survivorship summit she sponsored at Nova Southeastern University on Monday and later amplified on the visit speaking with reporters. I have dealt with a lot of difficult deaths and the agony of families and youve lost loved ones and not knowing where they were, said Wasserman Schultz, whose district included Surfside when Champlain Towers South condominium collapsed in 2021, killing 98 people. She wasnt prepared for the scope of the attacks on Israel in which at least 1,400 people were killed. (Israel has responded with airstrikes in Gaza that Palestinian health authorities report have killed at least 2,600 people.) Related Articles To see the vicious savagery, the brutality of the atrocities that were perpetrated on Jews in Israel, simply because they are Jewish because the Hamas charter this vicious terrorist organization exists only to eradicate Israel and to kill Jews and to be on the ground the immediate aftermath was so important because its one thing to talk about support for Israel, its another thing to demonstrate the United States stands with Israel and will not stand idly by and just allow that kind of carnage and viciousness to occur. The night before the attacks, Wasserman Schultz was part of a slightly larger delegation that had met with leaders in Saudi Arabia, where she said there was broad optimism about a normalization of relations with Israel and continuation of the Abraham Accords. It was very clear that this attack was intended to end the momentum of that peace process, the momentum of that normalization process. That was absolutely unacceptable to the terrorists whose only mission is to kill Jews, which they did and, and eradicate Israel which they will not do. The delegation then traveled to Bahrain and Jordan. She said there was resistance from the State Department to some of the lawmakers continuing on to Israel. But there was no way that I was going to go back to the U.S. before making sure that I could touch down in Israel and meet with their leadership (and) hear firsthand from families, which we did, she said. I will tell you, it just felt so poignant and important to be there in that moment, to be able to express the United States solid solidarity. Once the House Republican majority elects a speaker and Congress can function again, Wasserman Schultz said there is no doubt money would be appropriated for humanitarian assistance and to replenish Israeli defenses. Anything thats going to be necessary to make sure that Hamas can be eradicated, that the threat to, the existential threat to, Israel can be terminated is essential. Anthony Man can be reached at aman @sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Facebook, Threads.net and Post.news. FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz became visibly emotional Monday when she described what she heard and saw on her most recent visit to Israel just three days after the Hamas attacks that sparked the war in Gaza. Wasserman Schultz was part of a congressional delegation in the Middle East when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7. Despite what she described as State Department resistance, she insisted on traveling to Israel. She and three other members of the delegation spent Oct. 10 in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. I cant even begin to describe to you how sickening it was, and horrifying, Wasserman Schultz said. It was important for me to be there, not just as a member of Congress who expresses our support, our countrys support for Israel, but as a Jew, as a Zionist, it was just absolutely critical for me to be there. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Wasserman Schultz, a Broward County Democrat, is the first Jewish woman elected to Congress from Florida. Obviously that devastating, horrific savage attack was a gut-wrenching punch, Wasserman Schultz said. Its hard to describe the conversations that we had when we got to Israel. The lawmakers met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Yair Lapid, military leaders, and affected families. She delivered the message that we are not going to allow vicious terrorists to end the dream and vibrancy of Israel. Wasserman Schultz briefly described the trip as she kicked off a Cancer Survivorship summit she sponsored at Nova Southeastern University on Monday and later amplified on the visit speaking with reporters. I have dealt with a lot of difficult deaths and the agony of families and youve lost loved ones and not knowing where they were, said Wasserman Schultz, whose district included Surfside when Champlain Towers South condominium collapsed in 2021, killing 98 people. She wasnt prepared for the scope of the attacks on Israel in which at least 1,400 people were killed. (Israel has responded with airstrikes in Gaza that Palestinian health authorities report have killed at least 2,600 people.) To see the vicious savagery, the brutality of the atrocities that were perpetrated on Jews in Israel, simply because they are Jewish because the Hamas charter this vicious terrorist organization exists only to eradicate Israel and to kill Jews and to be on the ground the immediate aftermath was so important because its one thing to talk about support for Israel, its another thing to demonstrate the United States stands with Israel and will not stand idly by and just allow that kind of carnage and viciousness to occur. The night before the attacks, Wasserman Schultz was part of a slightly larger delegation that had met with leaders in Saudi Arabia, where she said there was broad optimism about a normalization of relations with Israel and continuation of the Abraham Accords. It was very clear that this attack was intended to end the momentum of that peace process, the momentum of that normalization process. That was absolutely unacceptable to the terrorists whose only mission is to kill Jews, which they did and, and eradicate Israel which they will not do. The delegation then traveled to Bahrain and Jordan. She said there was resistance from the State Department to some of the lawmakers continuing on to Israel. But there was no way that I was going to go back to the U.S. before making sure that I could touch down in Israel and meet with their leadership (and) hear firsthand from families, which we did, she said. I will tell you, it just felt so poignant and important to be there in that moment, to be able to express the United States solid solidarity. Once the House Republican majority elects a speaker and Congress can function again, Wasserman Schultz said there is no doubt money would be appropriated for humanitarian assistance and to replenish Israeli defenses. Anything thats going to be necessary to make sure that Hamas can be eradicated, that the threat to, the existential threat to, Israel can be terminated is essential. _____ House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffies (D-N.Y.) on Sunday said his party is having informal discussions with House Republicans as the speakership stalemate continues in Washington. The GOP has nominated Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) for the speaker position, but its unlikely he can get the 217 votes required on the House floor. The vote could reportedly take place as early as Tuesday. As Democrats have remained united in their opposition to the candidates the GOP has put forward, Jeffries said its time to formalize discussions about potentially forming a bipartisan governing coalition. Its time to end the Republican civil war so we can get back to doing the business of the American people, Jeffries told NBCs Meet the Press. And we as House Democrats are committed to finding that bipartisan path forward in a meaningful way. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Since the ouster of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Republicans have been unable to rally around a candidate to replace him. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) was nominated by his colleagues last week, but dropped out of the race after he failed to secure enough votes to win the speakers gavel. Now Jordan, an ally of former President Donald Trump, is facing similar challenges, with more than 50 members of his caucus opposing him in the secret ballot. Supporters of Jordan over the weekend reportedly pressured their fellow Republicans to get behind him, warning that they would face the wrath of the Trump wing of the party if they voted against him, according to Punchbowl. Meanwhile, GOP House members who strongly oppose Jordans candidacy told Politico the Ohio congressman will face a challenger, though they did not specify who it might be. Asked what it would take for Democrats to work with Republicans, Jeffries said a priority for his members would be a rule change to allow bills with bipartisan support to get on the House floor so that the extremists arent able to dictate the agenda. The current rules of the House have facilitated a handful of Republicans being able to determine what gets voted on in the House of Representatives, and that undermines the interests of the American people, Jeffries said. Related... FILE PHOTO: People walk into Jerusalem's Old City via Jaffa Gate, as the conflict wreaks havoc across the tourism sector By Steven Scheer JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Half of Israeli hotel rooms are being used to house families evacuated from communities near the Gaza Strip, where an Oct. 7 rampage by Hamas gunmen triggered a cross-border war, the head of the Israel Hotel Association said on Monday. Israel has 56,000 hotel rooms and 28,000 are being provided to evacuees with the state footing the bill, said association chief executive Yael Danieli. She told a parliamentary panel debating compensation for residents impacted by the war that an additional 27,000 from border towns near Lebanon were expected. The Israeli-Lebanon border has seen an increase in hostilities as the Gaza war rages. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement These citizens need meals and other welfare support from the state, Danieli added. Foreign tourism has dried up since Oct. 7 with many countries operating flights to repatriate their citizens after most commercial airlines suspended flights to Tel Aviv. The Dan Hotel chain said its hotels in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Herzliya were being used for evacuees while rival Isrotel said its hotels in the Red Sea resort of Eilat were housing displaced families. Yogev Gardos, Israel's budget director, said the country's initial response was to finance the military's needs and now it would turn to the economy as a whole. "Within a few days we will give very sweeping grants to the entire economy, with an outline that will not provide full compensation for 100% of the economic damage because the state cannot withstand this," he told the committee. (Reporting by Steven Scheer; Editing by Kirsten Donovan) The ties between South Florida and Israel run deep. As we watched in horror Israelis being murdered and kidnapped last weekend, Gov. Ron DeSantis did the right thing afterward. On Sunday night, 270 evacuees landed at Tampa International Airport, the result of an executive order DeSantis signed on Thursday to charter flights for Florida residents stranded in Israel. Another flight carrying seven people landed in Orlando earlier in the day. DeSantis, whos running for president, and his wife greeted the evacuees in Tampa, where they shook hands posed for photos. Hostages taken The Herald Editorial Board has criticized DeSantis for exploiting politically fraught moments, as he did with the Southern border crisis when he flew migrants to Marthas Vineyard. This time, however, the governors actions have real consequences and benefits for Floridians and Americans caught up in the unprecedented attacks by Hamas, which the United States rightly labels a terrorist organization. The group murdered entire families, children the elderly and music festival goers, hunted down and executed in cold blood. Almost 200 others were taken hostage, the Israeli military said Monday. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The attacks feel personal for South Florida and other areas of the country with large Jewish populations who contribute to every facet of our communities and whose traditions have made our melting pot more vibrant. Hollywood Mayor Josh Levy lost five relatives a mother, father and three children killed as they tried to flee after terrorists set their home on fire. A Miami-Dade County family lost a father of four, a commander in the Israeli military. Local synagogues have been collecting donations to ship to Israel. The Herald Editorial Board stands in solidarity with them, and we share their pain. Unfortunately, the threat to their communities isnt only coming from overseas. Antisemitic incidents have been on the rise across the United States, growing at an even faster pace in Florida, according to an Anti-Defamation League report released last year. Between 2020 and 2022, there were 400 instances of white supremacy propaganda distribution in the state. Fliers containing hateful messages have been dumped in peoples yards in Miami Beach, and swastikas have been projected on the side of buildings in West Palm Beach and Jacksonville. A new law DeSantis signed a public-nuisance law this year that police used to arrest a Cape Canaveral man in September who hung swastikas and other antisemitic banners on a bridge. The law prohibits the display of messages on a property without the written consent of its owner. But the governor failed to condemn neo-Nazis who marched in Orlando last year, and the Republican Party as a whole has not rooted out extremism from within its ranks. In the week after Hamas attacks, the Anti-Defamation League said that reports of antisemitic incidents have spiked almost 300% year over year in the United States, NBC News reported. White-supremacist groups have openly celebrated the Hamas attacks, and the ADL has flagged several instances of misinformation and conspiracy theories spread online. How our leaders react to expressions of hatred within our own communities is crucial at this moment. We urge them to use their platforms wisely. Hatred of all forms must be condemned. When DeSantis said over the weekend he wouldnt accept Palestinian refugees from the Gaza Strip into the United States because they are are all antisemitic, he painted 2.2 million civilians, including children, with the same brush. Their suffering cannot be ignored as many desperately try to evacuate their homes ahead of an expected invasion by the Israeli military. Generalizing entire groups of people risks further inflaming the heated, decades-long debate over Israels relations with Palestinians. A Chicago-area landlord has been charged with fatally stabbing a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy, triggered by the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, authorities said. This, more than ever, is a moment for Americas leaders, including Floridas governor, to soothe and unite the nation, both through their words and deeds. Click here to send the letter. Israeli Defense Forces announced Sunday that they had killed a Hamas commander they believe is responsible for an attack on a planned community near the Gaza border, called a kibbutz. A statement released by the military said Billal Al Kedra, the a commander of Hamas southern Khan Yunis Nukhba commando forces, was neutralized in Gaza on Saturday following intelligence reports of his location. The army claimed Al Kedra led the attack on Kibbutz Nirim on Oct. 7, and while the numbers of dead is unclear, a witness who survived the attack told CNN: They just slaughtered everyone. They killed kids, babies, grandmothers. Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist operatives were also neutralized during the operation, the IDF said. In a separate strike Sunday, the commander of the Hamas Southern District of National Security Muetaz Eid was also killed, the Israeli Air Force said. Read it at Israel Defense Force Read more at The Daily Beast. Hamas militants could launch a "provocative strike" during U.S. President Joe Biden 's likely visit to Israel, U.S. news website Politico reported on Oct. 15, citing an unnamed official. Two other sources said that Biden could arrive in Israel as early as this week. However, the trip may not take place soon or at all, depending on the security situation in Israel and the development of the conflict. One of the representatives of the U.S. presidential administration said that Washington is "weighing" a proposal for Biden to visit Tel Aviv. The recent visit of U.S. senators to Israel highlighted the danger that Hamas militants could be preparing a strike during Biden's visit. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Read also: US plans to bundle aid to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan in one bill report A group of lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, was forced to take refuge in a bomb shelter when air raid sirens sounded. However, last week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin visited Israel without significant complications. Earlier, Reuters reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had invited Biden to visit the country during a recent phone conversation about the response to the Hamas attack on Israel. However, National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson later said there were no new presidential trips to announce. The United States has already sent two carrier strike groups to Israel. On Oct. 10, the first transport plane with "advanced" U.S. ammunition landed at the Nevatim air base in southern Israel. The United States is also urgently sending air defense equipment and ammunition to Israel, offering assistance in planning special operations and intelligence support for rescue operations. War in Israel What is Known Large-scale hostilities in Israel began on Oct. 7. From the early morning, the Palestinian militant group Hamas repeatedly targeted the country with thousands of rockets and missiles. Armed Hamas militants then invaded southern Israel, killing people and taking hostages. Over 1,300 people have lost their lives in recent attacks by Hamas. Over 100 are thought to have been taken hostage by Palestinian militants on Oct. 7, and video evidence shows some of the hostages have since been murdered. So far, seven Ukrainians have been reported dead due to the fighting. Six more are missing, and six have been reported injured. It was revealed on Oct. 8 that Palestinian militants may have killed approximately 260 people on Oct 7 at an electronic music festival near the Kibbutz Reim, 30 kilometers from the Gaza Strip. Efforts are currently underway to identify the bodies of the murdered festivalgoers. Read also: Sullivan says US can simultaneously back Ukraine and Israel against aggressors In response to the Hamas attack, the Israel Defense Forces launched Operation Iron Swords, striking the Gaza Strip. During the night of Oct. 8, Israel announced the restoration of control over the majority of the populated areas that had been penetrated by Palestinian militants. Palestinian authorities say at least 2,329 people have been killed and another 9,714 injured in Gaza due to Israeli retaliatory attacks, U.S. television channel ABC has reported. Israels Cabinet has declared a state of war for the first time since 1973, and the countrys prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has warned that the war will be long and challenging. The Israeli defense minister ordered a siege of the Gaza Strip on Oct. 9. In his address to the nation, Netanyahu said that Hamas militants would be destroyed after their atrocities, kidnappings, and murders of children and women. Hamas and other enemies of Israel will pay a price they will remember for decades to come, he said. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Irans Foreign Ministry claimed that the militant group Hamas is prepared to release the hostages its holding in Gaza if Israel ceases its airstrikes. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said Hamas officials stated that they are ready to take necessary measures to release the citizens and civilians held by resistant groups, but their point was that such measures require preparations that are impossible under daily bombardment by the Zionists against various parts of Gaza, The Associated Press reported. Israel said Monday that Hamas is believed to be holding 199 people hostage, which is up from the previous estimate. This includes children and the elderly and is also believed to include U.S. citizens. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters last week there was a very small number of Americans believed to be held as hostages, but he wasnt aware of proof of life and couldnt provide details about their whereabouts or condition. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Speaking at a news conference, Kanaani said that Hamas has stated that they have no problem to continue resisting. They said the resistance holds military capability to continue resisting in the field for a long time, he said, speaking of Hamas. The State Department is also warning Americans not to travel to Gaza and is asking Americans to reconsider traveling to Israel and the West Bank. Hamas launched its deadly attack more than a week ago, prompting Israel to declare war on the group. Israel has said more than 1,400 Israelis have been killed so far. At least 2,750 Palestinians have also been killed and another 9,700 wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. As US fans the flames of war, China exports peace and development with BRI 08:11, October 16, 2023 By Global Times ( Global Times Illustration: Tang Tengfei/GT The world seems to have been set ablaze by the flames of war that have broken out in the Middle East. The re-emergence of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict demonstrates that the world is still in a transitional phase between the old and new epochs and has not yet moved beyond the post-World War II "order." The ashes left behind by the old Cold War are beginning to rekindle, and the footsteps of the "new cold war" are clearly audible. The conflict in the Middle East has already reopened old wounds and may lead to larger-scale religious, ethnic, ideological and geopolitical disputes. As peace and stability become more precious, what is the US doing as the prescriber and dominator of the post-war order? And what can it do for peace? Despite the deployment of two carrier strike groups by the US, it appears unlikely that the nation, often referred to as the "world's policeman," will succeed in extinguishing the turmoil in the Middle East. Washington has even gone so far as to avoid saying terms like "de-escalation/ceasefire," "end to violence/bloodshed," and "restoring calm." According to the US media, the US State Department has asked diplomats not to use these terms. Additionally, the legislators, are eager to expedite the restoration of Congress' normal functioning to promptly facilitate the provision of additional weaponry to the "front line" of global conflicts. Neither the US nor Europe can extricate themselves from a conflict that has deep historical roots in their expansion in the world. They face the resulting deep divisions in their societies and public opinion. Most countries around the globe, especially in the South, in general, need stability and development and more solid forces to support peace. Looking ahead from this perspective, the rise of China and the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative are clearly of extraordinary significance. The Third Belt and Road Summit Forum on International Cooperation to be held in Beijing will give the world a clearer understanding of peaceful development. As a force for joint development and an anchor of stability for global peace, China shoulders the responsibilities of an emerging power in this era of transition between the old and the new. China does not have the historical burden of Western colonist powers' expansion. China remains impartial, refrains from fueling the fire, maintains neutrality and strives for peace. It encourages conflicting parties to escape the cycle of confrontation and conflict. This stance aligns with China's choice and is consistent with the universal concept of human rights. Outsiders primarily view the Belt and Road through an economic lens. However, China's proposal of this initiative is not solely due to its financial strength but also because China has consistently pursued stable domestic growth and remained committed to the path of peaceful development. Only when all three are added together can it give the world's peaceful development a more decisive impetus. Even if the world is in chaos, China has the strength to maintain stability. China's domestic political and social stability starkly contrasts the US' domestic political chaos, social division and polarization of public sentiment. People can explain the Belt and Road from a geopolitical perspective, discussing Chinese manufacturing's global reach and China's domestic and foreign affairs. However, one core aspect is China's exportation of development and peace, resulting in a win-win situation. When Washington does not mention the term "ceasefire" and tries to impose its own political choices on other nations, can it still be seen as the power prioritizing global peace and development? The world cannot always dance to the tune of the US. When more countries view the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) through the lens of the US perspective and take into account the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, as well as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it is expected that more countries will align their choices with the development trend of the new order. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) Dunes Learning Center environmental education fellow Alex Burdsall answers questions in character as a French fur trader from Union Center fifth-graders during the "Walk Through Time" event on Wednesday, October 11, 2023. (Kyle Telechan for the Post-Tribune) (Kyle Telechan/Post-Tribune) Union Center Elementary School in Wheeler was one of the first schools to participate in programming put on by The Dunes Learning Center when it first opened in Porter 25 years ago. They are still bringing their students out for an overnight experience at the facility in Indiana Dunes National Park a quarter of a century later. Union Center teacher Samantha Allen and her fifth graders were spending the night Wednesday and Thursday. After settling into their cabins and having lunch they set out on an educational hike, A Walk Through Time, to familiarize themselves with the nearby landmarks the camp has to offer. Advertisement At Chellberg Farm they met up with Ida, a 25-year-old Swedish farm hand from 1909. She told them about her day, which began when she got up at 4 a.m. on her parents neighboring farm and walked over to begin her work feeding the various animals at Chellberg by 5 a.m. Union Center fifth-grader Easton White asks questions to environmental education fellow Margo Taylor during the Dunes Learning Center "Walk Through Time" event on Wednesday, October 11, 2023. (Kyle Telechan for the Post-Tribune) (Kyle Telechan/Post-Tribune) Environmental educator Margo Taylor, who dresses up in period garb as Ida, doesnt start her day quite that early for the three-day Frog in the Bog program. The main question were trying to get them to ask is how has the land been used? explained fellow environmental educator Hannah Chamberlain, who was leading Allens fifth graders from landmark to landmark, including a maple sugar shack and the Bailly Homestead. Advertisement Taylor had just finished talking about the crops grown when she pulled out a pair of short stilts. We have apple trees here and to help us reach up and grab the apples, we use these, she said. Do you think you could pick an apple on those? Oh God, no, replied 10-year-old Wyatt Learman. Then Ida gave any of the kids who wanted a turn a chance to try the stilts. Theyre all enthusiastic, as you can imagine a bunch of 10-year-olds would be, said Wyatts dad Frank Learman, of Valparaiso, who was chaperoning. Northwest Indiana has a rich history. I came to Bailly Homestead when I was a kid, he said. It would be nice for them to learn about the history of the region before the steel mills and the casinos and all the other things that support life here now. Union Center fifth-grader Wyatt Learman tests his balance on apple-picking stilts with help from environmental education fellow Margo Taylor, dressed as a Swedish farmer, during the Dunes Learning Center "Walk Through Time" event on Wednesday, October 11, 2023. (Kyle Telechan for the Post-Tribune) (Kyle Telechan/Post-Tribune) Thats exactly the goal of Frog in the Bog: To teach kids about land use over time, as well as local ecosystems, and scientific legacy. All on-site programs are overnight. Were part of a broad network of overnight camp schools at national parks, said Dunes Learning Center Executive Director Heather Hahn Sullivan. Other overnight programs include Winter in the Dunes and Dunes Adventure Academy. We will offer custom programs for basically any age third through 12th grade, but our sweet spot is fourth through sixth grades for overnight programs, she added. While the center serves 3,000 overnight students per year, they serve another 6,000 through other on-site and community outreach programming. As the Learning Center moves into its next quarter century, the goal is to reach every fourth grader in Lake, Porter, and LaPorte Counties. Day programs include watershed education with a paddling experience. There is a focus on Title I and Environmental Justice Communities a designation bestowed by the Environmental Protection Agency. Much work is done with schools in Gary, East Chicago, Hammond, and Whiting where there is more focus on urban nature and the Lake Michigan Watershed. As a nonprofit we do a lot of fundraising to make these experiences accessible to all kids, Hahn Sullivan said. Advertisement Dunes Learning Center executive director Heather Hahn Sullivan speaks about the Dunes Learning Center "Walk Through Time" event on Wednesday, October 11, 2023. (Kyle Telechan for the Post-Tribune) (Kyle Telechan/Post-Tribune) Back at Chellberg, another group of Union Center fifth graders are bombarding Ida with questions. Have you ever had to kill an animal? Do you have a pharmacy? How did your farm progress through the years? Has there been any pollution here? I dont know what pollution is, Ida replies. Food for thought on land use indeed. Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune. NEWARK Worry, stress and canceled flights were just some of the things described by passengers coming off of an over 10-hour flight from Athens, Greece Sunday night after leaving Israel. Jersey City resident Michal Schnaider Beeri anxiously waited at Newark Liberty International Airport for her daughter and 4-month-old grandson to deplane without issue. She said waiting for her daughter to come home "was just horrible in every possible way." On the morning of Oct. 7, Hamas attacked Israel by land, air and sea killing more than 1,300 people, including 30 Americans, and kidnapping almost 200 hostages, some of them grandmothers, teenagers and young children. The Israeli military called more than 300,000 reservists in response, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his country to brace for a long war after the most shocking infiltration of the Jewish state in a half-century. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Since the attack, Israelis have killed at least 2,200 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 9,000 more, as entire neighborhoods are leveled demolished in airstrikes. Israel has also banned deliveries of food, fuel, water and medical supplies, which international authorities say is worsening the humanitarian crisis. Schnaider Beeri said her daughter, Tamar Uriel-Beeri, is the managing editor of the website for The Jerusalem Post and was living in Ramat HaSharon. Ramat HaSharon borders Tel Aviv to the south. She said there is constant fear and a layer of "horrendous sadness" that she said is hard to explain. "The ambivalence of being here and knowing what's going on there and then wanting to bring her out," Schnaider Beeri said. "And she feels really like a lion, protecting her little baby." She said they decided that Uriel-Beeri, who is an American citizen, and her son, Lavi, would come to New Jersey but ran into some problems as her grandson did not have a passport. "We never ever imagined that something like this was going to happen," Schnaider Beeri said. "So she wasn't rushing around and getting a passport for him." Schnaider Beeri said her husband and son-in-law were able to get the pair to the airport where Lavi was issued an Israeli passport immediately. She said there was a representative from the American Embassy at the airport and her daughter filled out a form allowing Lavi to have a waiver because of the war. They were rushed on to a plane to Athens. But the mother and son ran into issues trying to board the United flight from Athens to Newark when they told Uriel-Beeri they weren't aware of any waiver for Lavi. Schnaider Beeri said they allowed them on the plane anyway. NJ news Check out these new businesses opening in North Jersey She was worried that Uriel-Beeri wouldn't be allowed off the plane because of Lavi's lack of a passport. "It is likely because she is an American citizen, they can't send her back and he is her baby, that they will figure out something to allow him into the country," Schnaider Beeri said. "But we are just waiting and hoping that it's going to be OK." She said her daughter had been up for over 48 hours and was likely going to get off the plane exhausted. Not long after her interview with NorthJersey.com, Schnaider Beeri said they allowed Uriel-Beeri and Lavi to get off the plane. Marvin and Rosalyn Zweig said they had four canceled flights before they were able to get on the Athens flight. Marvin Zweig said they had to spend Shabbat in the Greecian capital. Another passenger, Daniella, who declined to provide her last name, said their flight was scheduled originally for Monday night after the second set of Jewish holidays but it got canceled. She said Turkish Airlines was still flying out of Israel at the time and were able to book tickets until that flight got canceled as well. Daniela said they were finally able to fly from Tel Aviv to Athens before flying into Newark. She said they were staying the night in New York before heading home to Chicago. "The airports are crazy," Daniela said. "You had to pay for like the VIP service networks to even make it through security. It takes like six hours to get through security." She said she had cousins who were at the airport in Tel Aviv that had to run into bomb shelters with their children and luggage, which she said was "pretty traumatizing" for them. Schnaider Beeri still worries for the family that is still in Israel. Her youngest daughter is in the army in the Iron Dome. She said she is stationed in the south and there is a lot of bombing in the area. "We're just around the clock communicating with each other to make sure that everybody's OK," she said, noting they've established a network to know that everyone is safe. Her daughter lost three friends in the bombings and said life is not easy, constantly having to hide in bunkers as bombs fall overhead. Schnaider Beeri said she doesn't know where her daughter gets her inner strength to stay strong but she said it helps her continue on. Schnaider Beeri said she feels for the people in Gaza and they "live in no less fear than us." "I just want my people to be well," she said. "I don't know how long it is going to take." This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: More Americans land at Newark Airport after fleeing Israel war FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Monday morning calling for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate potential financial ties between anti-Israel student groups on college campuses and the Islamic militant group Hamas. "In the wake of the brutal terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israel, we have witnessed an alarming rise in support for violence against the Jewish people," Hawley wrote. "Public reports indicate that several far-left student groups have lined up to effectively cheerlead Hamass genocidal war against the people of Israel." Among those universities include Harvard, University of California, Los Angeles, Columbia University and the University of Virginia. Harvard alone had 34 student groups write in a letter the "Israeli regime" was "entirely responsible" for the "unfolding violence" in Israel. The Harvard student organizations' statement, released on the day of the Hamas attacks, also said the events did not occur "in a vacuum." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement BIDEN: US WORKIN LIKE HELL TO FREE GAZA HOSTAGES Sen. Josh Hawley, left, and Attorney General Merrick Garland. Columbia University was forced to close its campus to the public after an Israeli student was attacked by an alleged pro-Palestinian student. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP "Other examples are legion. These student organizations are seemingly lobbying in support of the murder of innocent people, including children and babies," Hawley wrote. "They are menacing Jewish Americans within our cities. And they are doing so in what appears to be a coordinated fashion." Sen. Josh Hawley sent a letter Monday to the US attorney general. A chapter at the University of California, Berkeley also said they "invariably reject Israels framing as a victim." HEZBOLLAH POSES 'REAL RISK OF ESCALATION' AT ISRAEL NORTHERN BORDER, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER SULLIVAN WARNS People protest for and against Israel in Times Square on Friday, Oct. 13, 2023 in New York City. "Whereas to demonize and condemn indigenous resistance is to overshadow the decades of oppression, ethnic cleansing, and destruction of the Palestinian people," they said. The University of Virginia chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine also announced that the attacks on Israel was "a step towards a free Palestine." Hawley wants the DOJ to investigate how many student groups are receiving funding from third-party groups, and of those third-party groups, "which pro-Hamas student organizations conduct fundraising, how many have financial or ideological ties to Hamas." "The First Amendment protects the right to protest," Hawley said. "But it does not protect the provision of material support to terrorist organizations. Nor does it insulate financial transactions that threaten our national security." ISRAEL ACCUSES IRAN OF ORDERING HEZBOLLAH ATTACKS ALONG NORTHERN BORDER WITH LEBANON Demonstrators attend an "emergency rally for Gaza" outside the Israeli Consulate in New York City on Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. The call comes just a week after Hamas launched one of the most deadly attacks on Israel in decades, and just a few days after the Israel on Campus Coalition a group of national Jewish groups sent a letter demanding universities rescind their support and funding for activist group Students for Justice in Palestine. Fox News Digital reached out to the attorney generals office and Students for Justice in Palestine for comment. Original article source: Hawley taps DOJ to investigate pro-Palestinian student groups' potential ties to Hamas PALMDALE, Calif. - A hazardous-materials team was sent to Lockheed Martin's aerospace facility in Palmdale Monday to handle a problem involving a big rig. Firefighters went to the 1000 block of Lockheed Way shortly before 9 a.m., according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The big rig was "isolated" by fire crews, and no injuries were reported, according to the fire department. The nature of the problem was not immediately disclosed. SkyFOX images from the scene showed multiple firetrucks and crews near the facility. City News Service contributed to this report. JERUSALEM The head of Israels Shin Bet security service has taken responsibility for the bloody Oct. 7 Hamas attack that killed over 1,400 Israelis. In a message sent to Shin Bet workers and their families over the weekend, Ronen Bar wrote that despite a number of actions we took, unfortunately, on Saturday we were unable to create enough early warning to prevent the attack. The letter was obtained by The Associated Press on Monday. The Shin Bet leads Israels efforts to track and monitor Palestinian militants. The Israeli news site Ynet has reported that on the eve of the attack, Bar was summoned to the office because of abnormal activity detected in Gaza. But officials believed that only a limited attack would take place, according to the report. BOSTON The Massachusetts emergency shelter system is predicted to be at capacity by the end of October, when some 7,500 families, roughly 24,000 people, will be housed in temporary quarters, more than half of them migrants. Gov. Maura Healey announced new steps the state will be taking to mitigate the problem and move people out of the emergency shelters into more stable housing and into communities. She has already appealed to the Biden administration for additional funding and called for expediting the work authorization paperwork. Healey has also asked the federal government to open a congregate care site in the Bay State to house those migrants arriving in Massachusetts once the emergency shelter system reaches capacity in 15 days. She pointed out that once it reaches capacity, the state cannot guarantee housing for anyone else at the same level it has been sheltering those first 24,000 people. Republicans in the legislature have been calling to end the states blanket right-to-shelter law and limiting assistance only to those families who have lived in the state for at least three years and find themselves in need of emergency housing. Rep. Peter Durant, R-Spencer, along with 11 other House Republicans last month filed a bill to limit the emergency housing assistance program to "residents of the commonwealth who are citizens of the United States." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement While Healey said her administration is mindful of those residents, she did not say there would be any spaces set aside for them. We are telling the public that the emergency shelter system is reaching capacity, Healey said. She said the state is not contemplating ending the right-to-shelter law. Healey said she expects a recent visit to the state by a team of federal overseers will result in more funds for the state to support the incoming migrants and hasten the processing of paperwork and the location of a federal shelter in the state. New steps Massachusetts is taking include the appointment of former Massachusetts National Guard Commander Lt. Gen. Scott Rice as the states new emergency assistance director. Healey has also recruited the MassHire Regional Workforce Boards and career centers and other work force building organizations to work with businesses and companies seeking employees and connect those housed in shelters with work opportunities. The boards will assess skills and work readiness of residents who have received their federal work permits. Migrants whose federal paperwork has been completed will be moved into employment as soon as possible. She also announced a new job-training measure being developed by the Commonwealth Corporation Foundation to teach shelter residents skills needed by prospective employers. Healey illustrated the two job prep programs when speaking of the work with South Shore MassHire office. Dunkin has 30 openings that it plans to fill with migrants currently at local shelters. She called the partnerships and the training program a win-win for Massachusetts, for local businesses seeking to fill openings and for the migrants streaming into the Bay State. The governor called the steps an exit strategy, a plan to get people moving out of the shelters and into permanent housing. Once we get people working, if they are working, and they want to work, they can exit the shelter system, Healey said. Included in the tactics for moving families into communities is the expansion of the rapid rehousing and rental assistance initiatives: HomeBASE and the Department of Transitional Assistance to help with security deposits, first and last months rent, moving costs, furnishings and necessities like diapers, hygiene products and formula. The state will also ensure connections with service providers, faith-based and community groups to ensure migrants and Massachusetts families can access assistance. Massachusetts has dispersed migrants to 90 communities statewide, placing people in the state-run shelters, into motels and hotels and even into university dormitories. Lt. Gov. Kimberly Driscoll said it is akin to a small city, and noted that managing the system is key because it cannot continue to expand. We will manage the system according to Massachusetts values," Driscoll said, describing these as family-centered and people-oriented. Rice, a Southampton resident, said working with community leaders, nongovernmental agencies and service providers is key to meeting the challenges posed by the influx. We will ensure the safety and well-being of the families in Massachusetts, Rice said. Of the 7,500 families in state shelters, administration officials calculated that about half are recent arrivals to Massachusetts. More than half are children. Healey has already allocated $2 million to support the shelter system and has requested $250 million more from the legislature in the states close-out budget. So far the legislature has balked at approving the ask. House Speaker Ronald Mariano, D-Quincy, said the changing daily numbers of people coming into the state and the lack of a framework for how many migrants the state can expect in the future is part of the reason for the lack of response from lawmakers. In an appearance on WCVBs On The Record, Sunday, Mariano told reporters he still has questions about the crisis. "We have people coming in daily, different times of the day, from different regions, entering our state from different locations," the Quincy Democrat said, according to the Statehouse News Service. "We're trying to get them all organized, and we have no idea how many we're going to get, when they're coming, and what they need to survive here." One of the fundamental questions the legislature is posing is how are we going to pay for this?" said Mariano. "And how do we keep this from eating up the money we already put to the homeless folks that were born here, that have difficulty surviving in this economy?" With winter fast approaching, the Healey administration is adamant about getting the federal government to respond to the requests for faster paperwork, additional funding and a federally funded and run care center. This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Massachusetts migrant crisis: Healey says shelter system near capacity In the 1973 sci-fi movie "Soylent Green," the year 2022 is depicted as a world so ravaged by pollution that the temperature never drops below 90F (32C). Food is scarce; millions of people are homeless and crowd together in hallways just to sleep; the government has become overtly authoritarian. While things are not currently that bad (at least not yet), studies on climate change repeatedly indicate that the heat-based premise of "Soylent Green" is rapidly becoming close to reality. Why is this not universally regarded as the biggest news story in the world? Consider a study published last week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), which studied wet bulb temperatures (meaning the temperature measured by a wet thermometer in the shade as water evaporates off it). If wet bulb temperatures exceed 31C (88F), people cannot consistently perform physical labor without endangering their lives; in temperatures that exceed 35C (95F), a healthy human can die within a few hours without access to water or shelter. The authors of the PNAS study analyzed "wet-bulb temperature thresholds across a range of air temperatures and relative humidities" using bias-corrected climate change models. Their conclusions were sobering. "Some of the most populated regions, typically lower-middle income countries in the moist tropics and subtropics, violate this threshold well before 3C of [global] warming," the authors write. "Further global warming increases the extent of threshold crossing into drier regions, e.g., in North America and the Middle East. These differentiated patterns imply vastly different heat adaption strategies." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Put bluntly: If global temperatures increase by 1 degree Celsius or more above their current levels, billions of people will face wet-bulb temperatures every year so intense that their bodies will not be able to naturally cool themselves. Indeed, if global temperatures exceed 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels, 4 billion people will encounter intolerable heat and humidity on a yearly basis, often in regions where air conditioning and other forms of relief are not widely available. That could include more than 2 billion people in Pakistan and India, 1 billion in eastern China and 800 million people in sub-Saharan Africa. Once global temperatures rise 3 degrees above pre-industrial levels, much of the U.S. Northeast, Southeast and Midwest will also regularly experience unlivable wet-bulb temperatures. Want more health and science stories in your inbox? Subscribe to Salon's weekly newsletter Lab Notes. The term "misery" is, if anything, an understatement here. There is no universe in which this development will not lead to millions of deaths. "It is important to understand that wet-bulb temperatures of 95F (35C) are not conditions we can just get used to," Dr. Peter Reiners, a professor of geosciences at the University of Arizona, wrote for Salon in 2021. "Human bodies have fundamental physiological limits; our planet's perturbed, angry climate doesn't care about them. Air conditioning may save some, but increased demand and likelihood of outages in already strained power grids makes this a risky bet at best." The recent PNAS study is hardly the only one to point to a heat-based apocalypse in humanity's near-future. A July study in the same journal analyzed decades of climate and precipitation data and found that by the late 21st century, large sections of the world will regularly experience so-called compound drought and heatwaves, or CDHW events. These events will happen roughly twice a year, each one lasting approximately 25 days, in many of the same areas impacted by intolerable wet-bulb temperatures: from eastern North America to East Africa and Central Asia, among other regions. "Compound drought and heatwaves severely threaten socio-ecological systems, leading to greater impacts e.g., wildfires, crop failure and heat-related mortalities than individual extremes," study co-author Dr. Ashok Mishra, a professor at Clemson University's Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth's Science, told Salon at the time. Co-author Dr. Michael Mann, a professor of earth and environmental science at the University of Pennsylvania, warned that this overheated future is already visible, given that summer 2023 was the hottest recorded in human history. "It's a 'new abnormal' and it is now playing out in real time the impacts of climate change are upon us in the form of unprecedented, dangerous extreme weather events. It will only get worse and worse as long as we continue to burn fossil fuels and generate carbon pollution," Mann told Salon. If humanity wants to avoid a future in which much of the planet becomes unbearably hot, in other words, it is crucial to reduce the use of fossil fuels and drastically cut down emissions of other greenhouse gases. While hotter summers seem inevitable at this point, scientists largely agree that the worst-case scenario can be avoided through prompt and decisive action. For that to happen, however, we have start by paying attention. Our overheating planet is without question the biggest news story in the world. So why don't we treat it that way? An earlier version of this article originally appeared in Salon's Lab Notes, a weekly newsletter from our Science & Health team. We write to express our wholehearted support for the designation of the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Central California. As former U.S. Representatives and as co-founder and a member of the National Marine Sanctuary Caucus in Congress, we understand the importance of safeguarding our nations coastal and marine environments for future generations. The Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary is a vital step toward preserving the rich biodiversity and cultural heritage of Californias coastline. This area is home to a remarkable diversity of marine life, including whales, dolphins, sea otters and countless species of fish and seabirds. These waters also hold immense cultural significance for the Chumash people, whose ancestral connections to the ocean stretch back millennia. One of the most significant pieces of legislation that underscores the importance of marine sanctuaries is the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972. This landmark legislation, passed in the wake of the devastating Santa Barbara oil spill, aimed to bring attention to and safeguard our precious marine ecosystems. It served as a turning point in our nations commitment to preserving the marine environment by allowing the creation of national marine sanctuaries to protect areas of the ocean with special national significance such as coral reefs, historical and cultural sites and unique habitats, all of which are present within the proposed sanctuary ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Working side-by-side in Congress, our bipartisan caucus worked tirelessly to support the designation and expansion of marine sanctuaries across the United States. We firmly believe that protecting these vital ecosystems is a shared responsibility, one that extends beyond party lines and political affiliations. The Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary represents an opportunity to continue this legacy of environmental stewardship. The sanctuary would provide essential permanent protections for marine life, strengthen the resilience of coastal communities and support education programs, sustainable recreation and tourism. Furthermore, it would honor the Chumash Tribes cultural heritage and their deep connection to these waters. By protecting this area now, we will know that our children and all future generations will be able to experience the many special elements within the sanctuary, from the largest animal on earth, the blue whale, to the cute and furry sea otters that inhabit our coastal waters and delight us with their antics. We encourage all members of our community to join us in supporting the designation of the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary and urge the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to adopt the Initial Boundary Alternative and the Gaviota Coast Extension as the sanctuary boundaries. This alternative is the only option that would connect the two existing National Marine Sanctuaries in Monterey Bay and the Channel Islands, providing contiguous protection for whales and other species that migrate along the Central Coast. The public comment period is open until Oct. 25 and your voice matters. Email www.regulations.gov/commenton/NOAA-NOS-2021-0080-1228 We urge everyone who values the unique beauty and significance of our coastal waters to submit their comments to NOAA in favor of this sanctuary. As members of Congress, we were honored to represent many hundreds of miles of the California Coast, including those areas currently up for sanctuary consideration. Let us continue to work together to protect and conserve our oceans for current and future generations. The Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary is an important step forward in this ongoing effort, and we stand united in our support Congresswoman Lois Capps represented the Central Coast from 1997 to 2017. Congressman Sam Farr served from 1993 to 2013. College decisions used to depend mostly on an institutions academic reputation and its social life. Today, many other factors influence a prospective students thinking. Weve gathered those into this interactive College Welcome Guide, to help you assess how receptive colleges are to students from a variety of backgrounds, and to map state laws that affect college students. If you have a question about the information here, or would like to share your perspective with us, email us: editor@hechingerreport.org. The table below has data for more than 4,000 colleges and universities about enrollment and graduation rates by race and income, faculty demographics, freedom of speech, incidence of hate crimes and services for veterans and students with disabilities. It also shows students by age, gender and the proportion who are first in their families to go to college. You can explore this data by clicking the buttons at the top of the table. After selecting a category, enter the name of a college or university in the search bar. The table resets when the data type is changed, so if you change the category, you need to enter your college name again. If you search for a college that shares its name with other colleges, only one of them will show up in the table. You can view the data for each of them by clicking on the page arrows in the bottom center of the table. Colored dots under some college names indicate whether the institution is religiously affiliated and/or serves a significant portion of particular types of students, including those who are Black, Hispanic, Asian-American and Indigenous. We also mark institutions that are in rural places or serve students from those areas. A key at the bottom of the table describes what each colored dot represents. Look up laws and policies that affect students The map below shows laws and policies that affect students across nine categories in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Choosing a college is harder than ever. Students want more information about campus culture. You can explore categories by clicking on the buttons. (By default, the map shows which states restrict the teaching of critical race theory, or CRT, in higher education.) Click on any state to see additional information for particular categories. The sources of information for each category are noted at the bottom of the map, and linked so you can learn more. Among other things, these maps show whether states offer resident tuition or free tuition to veterans even if they arent using GI Bill benefits. (The federal government requires that veterans qualify for in-state tuition if theyre on the GI Bill, regardless of where they live.) In addition to constraining or banning the use of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, some states have ordered that public universities disclose how much they spend on DEI efforts a step that has historically served as a precursor for legislatures to cut public institutions budgets by those amounts. Anti-trans laws shown here are those passed since 2022 and include measures restricting trans athletes or medical procedures for people including those of college age. State laws allowing or restricting the use of student IDs to vote can also affect students. In Georgia, for example, students at public universities can use a student ID to vote, but those at private universities including several historically Black institutions cannot. LGBTQ+ profile scores from the Movement Advancement Project reflect the proportion of adults in a state who are LGBTQ+ and state policies and laws around LGBTQ+ issues. After the ruling on affirmative action: What prospective college students should expect In addition to the reproductive rights laws listed in our maps, total or near-total abortion bans have been signed into law but are so far enjoined by courts in these states: Iowa, Ohio, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming. Compare graduation rates Prospective students from various backgrounds might also care about how likely they are to succeed at a given college. The graphic below shows graduation rates, both for the entire student body and broken out by race or ethnicity, and you can compare up to five colleges on any of these measures. Choose a category from the dropdown at the top of the graphic and then enter a college or university in the search bar; institution names will appear as you begin to type. You can learn more about all our data sources. Design and development for this story about choosing a college by Fazil Khan The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Additional reporting by Meredith Kolodner, Jon Marcus, Olivia Sanchez, Amanda Chen and Sarah Butrymowicz. Illustration by Camilla Forte. Sign up for our higher education newsletter. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Picking a college? These tools paint a picture of many campuses KEANSBURG - For the first time in the more than six years since her 11-year-old daughter was raped and murdered by a neighbor in Keansburg, Carol Bennett said she has something to laugh about that her daughter's killer thought he should get less time in prison because of the mean things the victim's family said about him in court. "I find it hilarious," Carol Bennett, mother of murder victim Abbiegail Smith, said of Andreas Erazo's argument for a shorter prison term. Erazo, 24, argued in a recent appeal that his life sentence is excessive and constitutes cruel and unusual punishment because the judge who imposed it relied upon "denigrating" statements made about him at his sentencing by the victim's family, including Bennett, court papers said. "I was mean to him," Bennett said. "The words that were said to him, he doesn't think he deserved to be called those words. "I find it very funny," Bennett said. "Yes, I find it funny because I guess it's my time to laugh, Mr. Erazo. Yes, it's my time now to laugh." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement A panel of appellate judges, while not saying it found any humor in the situation, issued an opinion last week rejecting Erazo's argument and upholding the life sentence imposed on him in May 2019 by Superior Court Judge David F. Bauman in Monmouth County for the child's murder and rape. Judges Michael J. Haas, Greta Gooden Brown and Arnold L. Natali Jr. of the Appellate Division of Superior Court also rejected Erazo's argument for a lesser term based on his youthful age when he committed the crimes in 2017, months after his 18th birthday. The judges, in their unanimous ruling, noted that when Bennett addressed the judge at Erazo's sentencing, she referred to her daughter's killer as "wicked" multiple times, including saying he was "a wicked, cold-hearted pedophile and murderer." She also called him a "disgusting person and cold-hearted killer," and "an evil monster," the judges noted. While Erazo's defense attorney asked Bauman to disregard statements made by the victim's relatives that could be considered "ridicule or a verbal attack," the judge responded, "I'm not going to disregard a single word that was spoken in this courtroom," the appellate decision noted. The sentencing judge went on to say, "I took those statements in the context of the circumstances from the grieved victims." The appellate judges said they saw no evidence that Bauman gave "undue weight or consideration to the pointed remarks made by (the victim's) survivors in determining the sentence." Bauman's analysis was "sober, dispassionate and in accord with the sentencing guidelines in the New Jersey Code of Criminal Justice," the judges wrote. Bennett said she stands by the words she said about Erazo at his sentencing. "I said it at the trial and I'm saying it again to you he needs to go and rot in hell," Bennett said of her daughter's killer in a telephone interview with the Asbury Park Press, in response to the appellate court ruling. "He is a monster, and he needs to be kept in a dungeon right where he belongs," she said of Erazo. "I'm not going back on my word." Bennett said she was pleased with the court's ruling, but said "it is just a salve on a very big wound." Abbigail went missing from her apartment in the Hancock Arms complex in Keansburg on July 12, 2017. Her body was discovered the next day, wrapped in a futon cover, on a rooftop outside Erazo's bedroom window, upstairs from the victim's apartment. She had been stabbed to death and raped, her hands and feet were bound with computer cords, and most of her clothing had been removed. Erazo was being questioned by detectives when the victim's body was discovered. He eventually confessed to stabbing the child, claiming he thought she was an intruder in his apartment. He also told detectives he blacked out and didn't know if he had sexually assaulted the girl an act that was later confirmed through DNA evidence. With his trial looming in February 2019, Erazo pleaded guilty to murder and aggravated sexual assault in a deal that took a sentence of life without the possibility of release on parole off the table. Despite his guilty plea, Erazo appealed his convictions and sentence, claiming detectives should have read him his Miranda rights when he first went to the Keansburg police station in 2017 to give a witness statement about the girl's disappearance. A panel of appellate judges in 2022 agreed that Erazo should have been read his rights before police questioned him, ruling he should be allowed to take back his guilty plea. However, the state Supreme Court in June reversed that decision and upheld Erazo's convictions, saying there was no requirement for detectives to read the defendant his rights when he was not yet a suspect in a crime. The high court did not consider the defendant's claim that his sentence was excessive and instead sent that issue back to the Appellate Division to consider. The sentence upheld by the appellate court requires Erazo to serve 63 years and nine months in prison for the murder before he can be considered for release on parole. It includes a concurrent, 50-year term imposed for the rape. The victim's aunt, Cecille Bennett, also reacted to the appellate decision, standing by what she said at the sentencing. "I just don't know what else they expected us to say at the sentencing hearing, considering what he (Erazo) did to my niece and what it has done to our family" Cecille Bennett said. "I said that he's a hardened, cold-blooded sexual predator and that he's a very dangerous criminal with a sick twisted mind," the victim's aunt said. "I stand by that statement. "I described him as being wicked and heartless and that he does not deserve to have anything close to a normal life in prison, and I stand by that as well," she said. "I also said that he deserves the death penalty, but since that is not an option, he must spend the rest of his miserable life in one of this country's toughest prisons, and I stand by that. He deserves everything he gets and then some." Carol Bennett said Erazo's lawyers "are a disgrace" and should be embarrassed for the argument they put forth on his behalf in attempt to lesson his sentence. Jennifer Sellitti, spokesman for the state Public Defender's Office which represented Erazo, issued the following statement in response: "The criminal legal system depends upon the public defenders who, every day in courtrooms across this state, safeguard the rights of people who have been accused or convicted of crimes. It is the defense attorney's role to advocate for people by arguing the law and other factors relevant to the court in sentencing, just as attorney (Morgan A.) Birck did in this case." But, the victim's mother said justice has prevailed, and now the appeals need to stop. "They just need to let this little girl's soul rest in peace once and for all," Carol Bennett said. She noted Abbiegail would have been turning 18 later this month on Oct. 25. "I guess it's over now," she said of the criminal case. "I pray that this is the end of it so Abbie can finally rest in peace," Cecille Bennett said. "The family sincerely thanks the Keansburg police, the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office, the dedicated staff and the Supreme Court of New Jersey for ensuring we got justice for Abbie," Cecille Bennett added. "We are eternally grateful to everyone who has stood by us and lovingly supported us throughout this ordeal. It has been a long, tortuous journey, but I believe our family will overcome by God's grace." Kathleen Hopkins, a reporter in New Jersey since 1985, covers crime, court cases, legal issues and just about every major murder trial to hit Monmouth and Ocean counties. Contact her at khopkins@app.com. This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Murdered Keansburg girl's mother reacts to ruling in killer's case SAN DIEGO New funding from the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) will support five initiatives to speed up home construction in the region. According to the City of San Diego,$4.8 million is being allocated for these efforts through SANDAGs Housing Acceleration Program. Officials say the money will be used to support local governments, developers, tribal nations, and transit agencies to develop policies that will help quicken home production. San Diego finished handing out green composting bins. How have they done? This funding will help us build off the work weve done, and continue to do, to produce more homes, reach our climate goals and engage with the community about the importance of addressing our housing crisis, said Mayor Todd Gloria. We are thankful to the state and SANDAG for recognizing and supporting our efforts to create homes that San Diegans can afford. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The funding will go toward the following five City Planning Department initiatives: Affordable Homes Development Impact Fee Assistance Pilot Program: The city says a $2.5 million capital grant will used in the form of fee waivers or fee reductions, as well as for the payment of Development Impact Fees for affordable homes within the city that meet certain criteria like closeness to public transit and job opportunities. Affordable Home Development Master Plan: The city says $650,000 will help to provide a comprehensive plan to utilize city-owned property to develop homes for people of all incomes in all communities that are best served by transit and amenities. It will also reduce development costs and expedite home construction on public land, among other things. This San Diego hotel is one of the best budget stays in the US: study Mid-City Communities Plan Update: The city says $650,000 will be used to develop a long-range vision for land use, mobility, urban design, public facilities and services, natural resources, historic and cultural resources, and economic development for the Mid-City communities. Inclusive Public Engagement Guide: The city says $500,000 will help to create a framework to assure inclusive community participation on city plans, policies, projects, and initiatives. It will also be used to assist in creating a foundation for a meaningful public engagement program that provides guidelines for how city decisions consider input from community members. Missing Middle Housing Design: This refers to townhomes, rowhomes, triplexes, fourplexes and small-scale multiple-home buildings that are built to the same scale as surrounding traditional single homes. The city says $500,000 will go toward designing guidelines to provide sample plans and layouts that could be incorporated into the development of these homes. The City Planning Department is committed to finding ways to accelerate the construction of new homes for San Diegans, said City Planning Director Heidi Vonblum. We are grateful for this funding, which will help us to comprehensively plan for more homes that families across San Diego can enjoy, thrive in and that they can afford in areas served with good public transit and other vital public spaces and infrastructure. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego. A Gary man is facing multiple charges after alleging driving drunk and causing a serious three-car crash. Wayland C. Johnson, 30, was charged Friday with two counts of causing serious bodily injury when operating a vehicle while intoxicated, Level 5 felonies; neglect of a dependent, a Level 5 felony; operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person with a passenger less than 18 years of age, a Level 6 felony; and misdemeanor operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person. Advertisement He is being held on a $6,000 cash surety bond. He made a court appearance Monday where a judge ordered a public defender appointed. His next court date is Oct. 25 before Judge Gina Jones. Advertisement Gary Police responded Oct. 11 to a reported accident near 3rd Avenue and Grand Boulevard in Garys Miller section. Three cars were severely damaged a 2023 Ford Edge with California plates, a grey 2015 Ford Taurus and blue 2022 Volkswagen Tiguan, both with Indiana plates. The Taurus driver said he was driving north on Grand Boulevard when the Edge crossed over the median and hit him head-on. Court documents are not clear on how the Tiguan was hit. Johnson admitted he was driving the Edge, but refused to say what happened. Officers smelled an overwhelming stench of alcohol. He was unsteady and had watery eyes and dilated pupils. He said his son, 1, was in the back seat along with male passenger who said neither he, nor the child, were strapped in. Johnson went in the ambulance to Methodist, before the boy was transferred to a Chicago hospital. The child had a cut and swelling under his right eye. Johnson declined a chemical test. He was arrested and taken to the Gary Police station. Police tried to give him an intoximeter test, but he didnt follow the instructions properly, the affidavit states. Advertisement The childs mother, who was in the front passenger seat, was ejected and found lying on asphalt, court records show. She had severe face cuts, a fractured neck vertebrae. She was transferred to an Illinois hospital. The Taurus driver had chest, back and knee pain, plus a cut on his left heel. The man in the backseat of Johnsons car had back and chest pain. The Volkswagens driver had scratches and brain bleeding. He was also transferred to an Illinois hospital. Across California and the western U.S., more cities are erecting tiny home villages for unhoused people to quickly get people indoors and connect them to basic resources like electricity. Last week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that 300 tiny homes planned for Sacramento will be placed in an abandoned office park and the state fairgrounds. Another 900 tiny homes from the governor will go up on a parcel of land in San Jose and to-be-determined locations in Los Angeles and San Diego. Newsom first announced the plan for the 1,200 homes in March. The structures which are about 100 square feet are one of the latest solutions to America's homeless crisis, in which local leaders across the country are trying to get tens of thousands of people from the streets indoors to homeless shelters, temporary hotel rooms or apartments paid for by government vouchers. But the problem is enormous: More than 580,000 Americans live without adequate shelter, and about a third of them are in California. Those numbers also are growing, because a rising tide of evictions and sharp increases in rents in booming markets push more people into homelessness every day. In Los Angeles, hundreds of residents have moved from the streets into tiny homes as part of Mayor Karen Bass' housing push in recent months. But some say they feel coerced because they're forced to give up belongings, like tents, before they can be taken to a tiny-home neighborhood. Some are required to pair with random roommates and some couples are separated, said Carla Orendorff, a homeless advocate in Los Angeles' Van Nuys neighborhood. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "They call it housing pretty confidently, but once people are put into tiny homes, there aren't many services that are being offered," Orendorff said. "They're kind of being put in a waiting room." Tiny homes planned in Sacramento After delays, Newsom announced this week that 175 tiny homes will be placed in a 13-acre abandoned office park in South Sacramento, and 175 will be placed on state fairgrounds. But those homes havent been built, and the state has yet to award any contracts for builders, The Sacramento Bee reported. The announcement comes one month after Sacramento's top prosecutor sued the city over its failure to clean up homeless encampments. Sacramento County had nearly 9,300 homeless people in 2022. In his announcement of the lawsuit, Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho said the city's unhoused population has "exploded to over 250%" over the past seven years. The planned tiny homes are an important piece of the state's broader push to reduce homelessness because the structures allow government officials to shelter large numbers of people quickly, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg told USA TODAY. "When you can produce housing faster and much less expensively, we ought to be doing a whole lot more of it," he said. Sacramento County opened its first tiny-home village, consisting of 100 structures, as part of its Safe Stay program in August. Steinberg said ground should be broken on the abandoned office park site along South Sacramento's Stockton Boulevard corridor by the end of this year. At the site, which will be "intended as transitional housing," people can access mental health and substance use services and "vocational rehabilitation," Steinberg said. "People who have been out on the streets for a long time often need a transitional place to achieve stability before they're ready for permanent housing not everyone," he said. In San Jose, 200 tiny homes are planned to go on a 7.2-acre lot owned by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. Newsom's administration has not said when it will begin work on the state-gifted tiny homes planned for Los Angeles and San Diego. Hundreds placed in tiny homes in LA Homeless people have moved into tiny homes in Los Angeles for more than two years after the county opened one of its first villages in North Hollywood in early 2021. This year, Los Angeles ramped up construction as part of the mayor's Inside Safe program, which aims to get 17,000 unhoused people off the streets by December, which marks one year since Bass took office. Across Los Angeles County, an estimated 75,500 people live without proper shelter, sleeping outside in vehicles or in unsafe buildings, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. Orendorff said she has long felt the city's tiny-home program allows officials to "criminalize people more easily," because the homes were erected while municipalities passed ordinances across Los Angeles County criminalizing tents and sleeping or lying outside. Curfews and special enforcement zones surrounding tiny-home neighborhoods can make the communities feel "carceral," Orendorff said. Though the villages come with rules and restrictions, they are better than leaving people on the streets, Steinberg said. "We want everybody to have a full opportunity to live in whatever kind of housing they choose to live in, but we have a crisis, and we're not producing enough conventional housing fast enough to meet the need." Denver expands tiny-home program This week Denver broke ground on a site that will include 120 tiny homes for people experiencing homelessness. The groundbreaking comes after Denver Mayor Mike Johnston announced plans this year to house 1,000 homeless people by the end of 2023. Each of the homes will be 70 to 120 square feet, ABC 7 in Denver reported, and the site is on land owned by the state transportation department. Arizona group makes tiny homes from shipping containers In Tucson, Arizona, a faith-based nonprofit is making tiny homes out of shipping containers from Arizona Governor Doug Ducey's makeshift border wall. The homes will be assigned to young people aging out of foster care a time when many new adults become homeless as they exit child protective services without having housing lined up. Bryan Benz, founder and CEO of Wholistic Transformation, said each home will be a one-bedroom house, with a full kitchen, bathroom, and washer and dryer. The residents will choose what it will look like inside, from the style of cabinets to the color and fabric of the couch cushions. Austin has had tiny homes for almost a decade Austin's Community First Village opened in 2015 for formerly homeless residents, and tiny-home projects have expanded in the Lone Star State's capital since. This years, Travis County approved a $35 million contract with the nonprofit Mobile Loaves and Fishes to create nearly 500 tiny homes and other forms of shelter. Contributing: Thao Nguyen, Minnah Arshad, USA TODAY; Sarah Lapidus, Arizona Republic; The Associated Press This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tiny homes as a homelessness solution? More cities are giving it a try Homicide investigation underway after teenager shot, killed in Atlanta, officials say The Atlanta Police Department is investigating a homicide that occurred Sunday afternoon, officials told Channel 2 Action News. While details are limited, police say the shooting occurred in Southwest Atlanta in the 500 block of Lynnhaven Drive. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Police said when they arrived on scene, they found a 17-year-old girl who had been shot multiple times. She was taken to the hospital in critical condition where she died from her injuries, police said. Homicide investigators are on scene to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident. TRENDING STORIES: Officials say their investigation is ongoing. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: Hong Kongs airport authorities have arrested a man with mobility issues after 11kg of suspected cocaine was seized from his motorised wheelchair. Customs officials at Hong Kong International Airport seized the haul with an estimated street value of $1.5m (1.26m) that had been stitched into the cushions of the wheelchair. The 51-year-old man, who has not been identified but is not believed to be from Hong Kong, arrived in the Chinese city from the Caribbean territory of Sint Maarten via Paris on Saturday. He told customs officials he was the director of a car rental company, and that the wheelchair had been lent to him by a friend, according to the South China Morning Post. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement He was using crutches and brought the electric wheelchair into Hong Kong as one of two pieces of check-in baggage, the customs officials said. During customs clearance, customs officers found the batch of suspected cocaine concealed inside the interlinings of the cushions and the back of his check-in electric wheelchair, a release from the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department said. Officials reportedly spotted something was amiss when the wheelchair went through a routine X-ray. Upon closer inspection they found signs that the chairs seat cushions and backrest had previously been opened up and restitched. The customs officials said an investigation has been launched into the incident. The department said they will increase checks on visitors from high-risk regions to fight international drug trafficking activities, noting that these have increased after Covid pandemic-era travel restrictions were lifted. If found guilty the man could face life in prison and a fine of up to 5m Hong Kong dollars (530,000). Incidents of transnational drug trafficking increased from 906 in 2021 to 931 in 2022, according to Hong Kong government statistics. In August, a 65-year-old passenger from Ethiopia was arrested for attempting to smuggle 2kg of cocaine hidden in three book covers. It is not the first time drugs concealed in a wheelchair were found by airport authorities. Last November US customs officials arrested a woman in New York after cocaine with a street value of $450,000 was found in the wheels of her wheelchair. The woman travelling from Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. Cliimate change is making it hard to enjoy the California State Fair. So Cal Expo is wisely looking to move the fair to a cooler time of the year. Surrendering to our hotter summers and finding another time that meets the fairs many missions is the right thing to do. In a recent meeting with the Sacramento Bee editorial board, Cal Expo leadership detailed the next steps and the complexities of finding another time than 19 days in July. Plan on at least a few more summer fairs, because changing the dates could take at least three years. The sooner Cal Expo can make the change, the better. The very survival of the fair is likely at stake. Nearly 600,000 people attended this years fair. That is down 9 percent from 2022 and 43 percent from the peak attendance in 2001. Opinion ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement It is almost as if Mother Nature saves the hottest stretch of the year for the fair. This July 13, the day before the fair was 84 degrees, said Cal Expo Chief Executive Officer Tom Martinez. The day of the fair, it jumped to 105. The 17-day run of the fair averaged 101 degrees. The high was 108. The temperature was in the double digits only eight days. People stayed away. Admissions revenue was down from $4.6 million in 2022 to $3.6 million. The fairs share of food and beverage concessions plummeted from $2.1 million to $1.4 million. The heat was so hot that people at certain times could not get on rides because it was just hot, Martinez said. We hadnt had that happen before like that.. It was too hot for the horses as well, with only 48 races this year compared to 69 in 2023. Cal-Expo is a wing of the California Department of Food and Agriculture with its own Board of Directors and is usually self-funded, with some noted exceptions of legislative assistance such as during Covid. The fair was budgeted to raise nearly two-thirds of Cal Expos revenues this year, other events throughout the calendar providing less than a quarter of funds. Cal Expo has little choice but to hold a fair at the most inviting time of the year. Cal Expo in 2010 moved the fair from its traditional end-of-August run to the middle of July because school districts throughout the state were beginning their sessions earlier and earlier. Students have to remain a big consideration given how the fair showcases livestock competitions with high school students who first won their 4-H competitions at their local county fair. Moving the dates of the state fair would create a potential domino effect for county fairs. And any new date would require availability of the carnival concessioners and their schedules. Expect something more than a minor schedule change whenever a decision is finally made. Its going to continue to get warmer, not just in July, but other times of the year, said Cal Expo Board Director Jess Durfree of San Diego, a former high school agriculture teacher. Were going to carefully study it before making any changes. One of Sacramentos summer traditions feels destined to come to an end, while another one is beginning. But there isnt a month in the calendar when weather will not be a factor. Sacramentos wettest day ever, for example, came in an October. When a carnival ride gets too hot to the human touch because of the scorching sun, however, its time for some climate change adaptation. You just cant compete with whats going to happen from above, Durfree said. Hes right. So is Cal Expo for looking to move the fair to a cooler time on the calendar. This is climate change adaptation, pure and simple. The Scoop The Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee is preparing to subpoena State Department documents and to call as a witness the Biden administrations suspended special envoy to Iran, Robert Malley , as part of a broad review of U.S. policy towards Tehran. The Committee, senior aides told Semafor, believes the administration has stonewalled repeated efforts by Congress to learn why U.S. Diplomatic Security pulled Malleys security clearance last April, two months before he was placed on unpaid leave. U.S. officials have since told Semafor that the FBI is investigating Malley for the alleged mishandling of classified information. Concerns about the Biden administrations Iran policy have grown in the wake of this months terrorist attack on Israel by the militant Palestinian group Hamas, which is armed and funded by Iran, these aides said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement What is the truth of the matter, and thats what were trying to understand, a senior aide said of Malleys departure and his role in shaping overall Iran policy. The Committee has a few different levers through which to provide these pressure points. The Committee is also seeking clarity on the security clearance provided in 2021 to Ariane Tabatabai, a Pentagon official whom the Biden administration initially brought in to serve on Malleys nuclear negotiating team with Iran. A report last month by Semafor documented Tabatabais participation in an Iranian government-backed program, called the Iran Experts Initiative, which Tehran used to try to promote its views on the nuclear negotiations in Western capitals beginning in 2014. The story was based on a large cache of Iranian Foreign Ministry documents obtained by the Persian-language channel, Iran International. Oversight Committee aides said they could also subpoena Tabatabai as part of their investigation, which was announced last Wednesday in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Malley and Tabatabai didnt respond to inquiries about the committees plans. The View From the Biden administration A State Department spokesperson told Semafor Sunday that it doesnt comment on Congressional correspondence as a matter of policy. The spokesperson said Malley remains on leave and the Biden administration wont comment any further due to privacy considerations. Tabatabais status also remains uncertain. The Pentagon last week informed members of Congress in writing that her initial employment and clearance were carried out in accordance with all appropriate laws and policies. But the Defense Department indicated Tabatabais position and security clearance were going through a new round of vetting. The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency process, the Pentagon wrote, involves regularly reviewing a cleared individuals background to ensure they continue to meet security clearance requirements and may continue to hold positions of trust. Jays view Malleys status remains one of the great mysteries on the international stage, and Congresss focus on his and Tabatabais activities is only intensifying in the wake of Hamass attack on Israel. But it seems unlikely that any clarity will emerge soon. The House Oversight Committee also wants to understand Malleys role in negotiating an agreement reached last month to release $6 billion in frozen Iranian oil revenues to Tehran. The deal was part of a broader prisoner-swap agreement that involved trading five American prisoners for five Iranian ones. The Biden administration indicated last week, however, that its refreezing the funds due to Irans support of Hamas. Congress is also seeking more information on the Iran Experts Initiative and the role Tabatabai and other members of the program played in shaping U.S. policy towards Iran. Malley and Tabatabai have both staunchly supported engaging the Iranian regime and voiced skepticism, in their writings and public appearances, that financial sanctions and military pressure could alter Tehrans calculations and activities. Tabatabai, through the Pentagon, has declined to talk about the IEI. But Malleys former employer, the International Crisis Group, has publicly disputed that the initiative was controlled by Tehran or that its members were seeking to advance Irans interests. The IEI was a project in which a loose network of analysts from European and U.S. institutions participated, meeting with Iranian officials, as well as officials from the rest of the P5+1, Crisis Group said in a statement this month. House Republicans are barreling toward a floor vote on their Speaker nominee Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) this week, even as the Judiciary Committee chairman remains far from the 217 votes needed to win the gavel on the House floor. Jordan clinched the nomination for Speaker in a 124-81 vote Friday, beating his last-minute challenger, Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.). But when the conference members were asked if they would support Jordans nomination on the floor, the vote was 152-55 leaving Jordan well short of the 217 votes needed to win the Speakership on the House floor. The planned vote Tuesday is setting the stage for another public clash over the gavel, similar to the four-day, 15-ballot election that former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) went through in January. Some Jordan backers are hoping that bringing his nomination to the floor and forcing Republicans on the record will increase the Ohio Republicans support and put him within reach of the gavel. Jordan will be up against House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), whom Democrats unanimously nominated to be Speaker. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement On Wednesday, all senators will receive a briefing on the situation in Israel and Gaza, after Hamas launched an attack on Israel earlier this month. House GOP eyes Tuesday floor vote on Speaker The office of House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) advised members Sunday that the first floor votes of the week are expected at noon Tuesday despite Jordan having fallen short last week of the 217 votes needed to win the Speakership on the floor. Some Republicans had aimed to ensure that the conference had enough support behind their Speaker nominee before a floor vote in order to avoid another public, drawn-out floor fight like McCarthy now ousted from the post endured in January. But the conference rejected internal proposals to require 217 votes for nomination, and last week, it saw its first Speaker nominee, Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), drop out a day after getting the nomination, when it became clear that holdouts would not give him the support he needed to win on the House floor. Now, hard-line GOP supporters of Jordan say the House should move on to a floor vote without delay and some have been urging voters to call their congressmen to support Jordan. Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) said on CNNs State of the Union that while he is supporting Jordan, the high-pressure campaign is the dumbest way to get people to support Jordan. And as somebody who wants Jim Jordan, the dumbest thing you can do is to continue pissing off those people and entrench them, Crenshaw said. There is some bad blood and hurt feelings in the GOP conference over Scalise not getting swift universal support last week. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), who had been whipping votes for Scalise, pointed to Jordans hard-line conservative allies withholding support for Scalise despite Jordans public endorsement last week as a reason to not support him. If you cant get your own people to follow you, on a very simple thing like this, then I think you have an issue of leadership, Diaz-Balart said. Politico reported Sunday night that a group of House Republicans who do not support Jordan are vowing to have a challenger up against the Judiciary Committee chairman Tuesday, which they say will deny Jordan the gavel. The House GOP conference is scheduled to meet behind closed doors at 6:30 p.m. Monday. Supporters of Jordan are aware of the reality that the Ohio Republican, as things currently stand, does not have the votes to win the gavel on the House floor. But they are hopeful that work over the weekend will help get him to the subsequent 217 votes needed. McCarthy told Fox Newss Sunday Morning Futures that Jordan has been speaking with holdouts to try and get them on board. As we walked away, he did not, McCarhy said when asked if Jordan had the votes Sunday morning. But thats why we have time, walking away this weekend. I talked to Jim last night. Hes talking to every single member, assessing what their challenges are. I think Jim Jordan can get the can get the votes, he later added. But some members are already eying other nominees if Jordan, like Scalise, cannot secure the votes or even options such as empowering Speaker Pro Tem Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) to move legislation or cutting a deal with Democrats to pick a Speaker. I think hell be able to get to 217. If not, we have other leaders in the House. And certainly, if there is a need if the radical, you know, almost just handful of people in the Republican side, make it unable to be able to return to general work on the House, then I think obviously, there will be a deal [that] will have to be done, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-Ohio) said on CBSs Face the Nation. Potential next-round GOP candidates include Republican Study Committee Chairman Kevin Hern (Okla.), or House Republican Conference Vice Chairman Mike Johnson (La.) who is supporting Jordan but has been getting calls from colleagues about a Speaker bid if Jordan cannot win. But McCarthy shot down those two names. I dont I dont think either of them could would come very short, McCarthy told Sunday Morning Futures when asked about Hern and Johnson. Biden administration officials to brief Senators on Israel/Gaza Biden administration officials will brief all senators on the situation in Israel and Gaza on Wednesday from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m., a Senate source confirmed to The Hill, as the upper chamber reconvenes in Washington this week for the first time since war broke out in the Middle East. Briefers include Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. C.Q. Brown. At least 30 U.S. citizens have died in Israel since war broke out Oct. 7, a State Department official told CNN on Sunday. Thousands more have died amid the airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, according to CNN. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the highest-ranking Jewish official in U.S. history, traveled to Israel in recent days and pledged that Washington would continue to support Tel Aviv. We say this to the Israeli people: We have your back. We feel your pain. We ache with you. And we and our country will stand by you in these difficult times. Israel is a strong nation, and at this moment we say to Israel: You are not alone. The United States stands alongside you as an unrelenting partner, Schumer said at a press conference in Israel. But Congresss ability to support Israel amid its battle against Hamas has come into question as the House remains without a Speaker. Without a permanent Speaker in place, the House is unable to conduct legislative business. That fact has added to the increased focus on the Speakers race. We want to reopen the House and get to a place where we can tackle the challenges that are in front of us domestically as well as make sure that we can stand with our close friend, Israel, during her time of need in terms of ensuring Israels ability to decisively defeat Hamas, a brutal terrorist organization, Jeffries told NBCs Meet the Press on Sunday. Jordan, for his part, is emphasizing the need for the House GOP conference to unite so Congress can support Israel. Chairman Jordan has made it clear that he wants to unite the conference in order to pass the bills that the American people expect by giving Israel the resources they need to destroy Hamas, securing the border, and reforming FISA. He is looking forward to working with the entire conference to do so when hes speaker, Jordan spokesperson Russell Dye said in a statement Sunday night. Al Weaver contributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) said a vote to select a new Speaker of the House is expected Tuesday at noon, Reuters reported. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) secured the Republican nomination for the seat Friday, after House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), who had won the Republican nomination for the role, dropped out of the race the day prior. But with the GOP holding just a slight majority in the House, its unclear if Jordan will gather enough votes to secure the position. Republicans can only sacrifice four votes to win and some Republicans are staunchly against a Jordan Speakership. And after clinching the nomination from his GOP colleagues, a second vote Friday asking members if they would support Jordan as the nominee on the House floor tallied at 152-55, falling far short of the 217 votes needed to win the gavel. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has emphasized the need for bipartisanship as the race for Speaker develops, arguing Jordan was a defender in a dangerous way of dysfunction, and an extremist extraordinaire. Jeffries said Sunday that informal conversations are taking place to find a bipartisan solution to the Speakership. We want to ensure that votes are taken on bills that have substantial Democratic support and substantial Republican support, so that the extremists arent able to dictate the agenda, Jeffries said. Democrats unanimously put Jeffries forward to be Speaker last week, but the minority leader is even less likely than Jordan to rally enough votes, given the GOP majority. The top House position has been vacant since the House ousted Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Oct. 3, the first time in history that a Speaker has been removed from the role. Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) is serving as acting Speaker, but the House cannot vote on legislation without a confirmed leader. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. HOUSTON - Harris County Sheriff's Office is investigating a fatal crash on 10660 Eastex Freeway on Monday. Around 10:00 pm, Deputies responded to calls of a major crash at the intersection of Eastex Feeder Rd and Little York in Northeast Harris County. SUGGESTED:Houston traffic: I-45 North Freeway southbound lanes shut down due to fatal auto-pedestrian crash Eyewitnesses told authorities that a woman was driving northbound on the feeder road in a black Chevrolet sedan. According to investigators, the woman may have run the red light, crashing into the Ford Expedition driven by a 19-year-old man. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Deputies described the driver of the ford as a Hispanic man. RELATED:Houston Crash: Passenger dies after car flips multiple times; Driver accused of drunk driving The force of the Sedan's impact caused the Ford Expedition to rotate clockwise and flip over. Deputies say the Ford Expedition's driver was not wearing a seat belt and ejected after impact. Medical personnel responding to the scene pronounced him dead. The woman driving the sedan, remained at the scene and cooperated with law enforcement. Police say she did not have any major injuries. DOWNLOAD THE FOX 26 HOUSTON APP BY CLICKING HERE Sheriff's deputies say the woman didn't seem drunk when they did a Field Sobriety Test on her. Officials did not give the results of her sobriety test. In the event she is found to not have a disability, she could be charged with murder or intoxication manslaughter, according to officials. Officials say there is still an investigation underway into the circumstances surrounding the crash. FOX 26 Houston is now on the FOX LOCAL app available through Apple TV, Amazon FireTV, Roku and Google Android TV! In an ideal world, the U.S. should be pressuring Israel to respect the laws of warbut its not, said Ahmed Benchemsi, Human Rights Watch communications director for the Middle East and North Africa. Human Rights Watch and other human rights organizations are calling on the Biden-Harris Administration to condemn both Israel and Hamas for war crimes after President Joe Biden and some congressional members have only denounced the Palestinian militant group. Ahmed Benchemsi, Human Rights Watch communications director for the Middle East and North Africa, told theGrio that the White House should do more to crack down on Israel and stop blindly supporting the Middle Eastern nation. A demonstrator waves the flag of Palestine as police officers guard outside the Federal Building during a protest against Israel and in support of Palestinians, Saturday, May 15, 2021, in the Westwood section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu) We would like [the Biden-Harris administration] to pressure Israel to abide by its legal responsibilities. To not violate the laws of war. To not commit war crimes. To not bomb the civilian areas indiscriminately. To care for civilian lives, he said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement In an ideal world, the U.S. should be pressuring Israel to respect the laws of war, and it should be pressuring all its allies to support but its not. Israel declared war on Hamas after the Palestinian militant group attacked the Middle Eastern nation, killing hundreds of civilians and taking others hostage. Hamas called its operation against Israel Al-Aqsa Storm and said that the group attacked Israel for many reasons, including war crimes against Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank and to free Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Following the war announcement, President Biden said, There are moments in this life and I mean this literally when the pure, unadulterated evil is unleashed on this world. The people of Israel lived through one such moment this weekend. The bloody hands of the terrorist organization Hamas a group whose stated purpose for being is to kill Jews, he said. This was an act of sheer evil, he continued. In recent days, congressional members have followed the presidents lead and pledged their support for Israel and their disdain for Hamas actions. Houses Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., released a statement following Israels war declaration on Hamas, stating, America stands firmly and unequivocally with Israel. I strongly condemn the violent and ghastly attack by the terrorist organization Hamas on the Jewish people and the State of Israel, he wrote. The loss of life in Israel as a result of the violent, calculated and unprovoked attack by Hamas is heartbreaking. Sen. Cory Booker, D-NJ, who was in Israel during the time of the attack, took to X to share his thoughts. US President Joe Biden delivers remarks on democracy, while honoring the legacy of late US Senator John McCain, at the Tempe Center for the Arts in Tempe, Arizona, on September 28, 2023. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images) My team and I are now safe, but like many we are shaken, angered, and heartbroken by the hundreds killed, the thousands injured, those taken hostage, and all who are directly affected by these sickening terrorist attacks, he wrote. After this experience, more than ever, I am committed to working with my colleagues in the Senate to continue supporting Israels security and ensuring stability in the region and I hope one day soon, a long-term and just peace in the region, Booker added. Benchemsi told theGrio that war crimes have been committed at the hands of both Israel and Hamas, and they both need to be held accountable. First, when Hamas attacked civilians, killed civilians and abducted them and to make hostages of them [over the weekend], he said. On the other end, when Israel announced brazenly and openly that theyre cutting food, water, supplies, electricity, everything basically from Gaza, which is a very crowded enclave, two million persons. This is called collective punishment, he said. Its called starving the population as a means of warfare. Earlier this week, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., took to X and wrote, Reminder, Gaza doesnt have shelters or an iron dome and to please pray for them. Palestinians are human beings who have beenbesieged and are deserving of protection from the international community, she continued. Benchemsi told theGrio the recent war comes as no surprise and that, in 2021, the Human Rights Watch issued a report stating that Israel is committing apartheid against Palestinians, thus invoking the current war. TEL AVIV, ISRAEL APRIL 16: (ISRAEL OUT) Israeli flags wave on the beach in the Mediterranean sea as a military air show marks the 65th anniversary of Israels independence on April 16, 2013 in Tel Aviv, Israel. The day marks when David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz- Israel. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images) There are two sets of laws in Israel, one that applies to Israeli Jews and another one that applies to Palestinians, he said. Depending on your ethnicity and your religion, you are governed by a different set of laws. This is the very definition of apartheid, and apartheid is a crime against humanity, he continued. Apartheid is being applied by the Israeli government to Palestinians. Benchemsi told theGrio that the U.S. should stop blindly following Israel and hold its ally responsible for its actions. TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, and Android TV. Please download theGrio mobile apps today! The post Human rights groups says Biden must also hold Israel accountable for apartheid war crimes appeared first on TheGrio. RAFAH, Gaza Strip Truckloads of aid idled at Egypts border with Gaza on Monday, as residents and humanitarian groups pleaded for water, food and fuel for dying generators, saying the tiny Palestinian territory sealed off by Israel after last weeks rampage by Hamas was near total collapse. Hospitals full of wounded were on the verge of losing electricity, and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced from their homes searched for bread. Israel maintained punishing airstrikes across Gaza as a ground invasion loomed, while Hamas militants kept up a barrage of rocket attacks and tensions mounted near the Israel-Lebanon border. More than a week after Israel stopped entry of any supplies, all eyes were on the Rafah crossing, Gazas connection to Egypt. Mediators were trying to reach a cease-fire that would allow aid in and trapped foreigners out. Israeli airstrikes forced the crossing to shut down last week, and local media reported Israel struck the crossing again Monday. Israel evacuated towns near its northern border with Lebanon, where the military has exchanged fire repeatedly with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israels defense minister, and President Joe Biden weighed whether to visit Israel after an invitation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Speaking to the Israeli Knesset, Netanyahu warned Iran and Hezbollah, Dont test us in the north. Dont make the mistake of the past. Today, the price you will pay will be far heavier, referring to Israels 2006 war with Hezbollah, which operates out of Lebanon. Soon after he spoke, the Knesset floor was evacuated as rockets headed toward Jerusalem. Sirens in Tel Aviv warning of incoming rockets prompted U.S. and Israeli officials to take shelter in a bunker, officials said. This has become the deadliest of the five Gaza wars for both sides. At least 2,778 have been killed and 9,700 wounded in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry there. More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed, the vast majority civilians massacred in Hamas Oct. 7 assault. The Israeli military said Monday that at least 199 hostages were taken into Gaza, more than previously estimated. The head of Israels Shin Bet security service, in charge of monitoring militant groups, took responsibility for failing to avert Hamas surprise attack. As agency head, the responsibility for that is on me, Ronen Bar said. There will be time for investigation now is a time for war, he wrote in a letter to Shin Bet workers and their families. The combination of airstrikes pulverizing neighborhoods, dwindling supplies, and Israels mass evacuation order for the north of the Gaza Strip has thrown the tiny territorys 2.3 million people into upheaval and increasing desperation. More than 1 million have fled their homes, and 60% of them are now in the approximately 14-kilometer-long (8 mile) area south of the evacuation zone, according to the U.N. The Israeli military says it is trying to clear away civilians for their safety ahead of a major campaign against Hamas in Gazas north, where it says the militants have extensive networks of tunnels and rocket launchers. Much of Hamas military infrastructure is in residential areas. Those fleeing northern Gaza still faced airstrikes in the south. Before dawn Monday, a strike in the town of Rafah collapsed a building sheltering three families who had evacuated from Gaza City. At least 12 people were killed and nine others remained buried under rubble, survivors from the families said. The strike reduced the house to a vast crater blanketed with wreckage. Hospitals are expected to run out of generator fuel in the next 24 hours, meaning life-saving equipment like incubators and ventilators will stop functioning, the U.N. said. Thousands of patients lives were at risk, the U.N. said. People grew increasingly desperate in their search for food and water. With taps dry, many have resorted to drinking dirty or sewage-filled water, risking the spread of disease. More than 400,000 displaced people in the south crowded into schools and other facilities of the U.N. agency for Palestinians, UNRWA. But the agency cant provide them any supplies. UNRWA said it has only 1 liter of water a day for each of its staff members trapped in the territory. Gaza is running out of water, and Gaza is running out of life, said UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini, calling for a lifting of the siege. We need this now. The few operating bakeries had long snaking lines of people. Ahmad Salah in the city of Deir al-Balah said he waited 10 hours to get a 2 pounds of bread to feed 20-30 family members. In northern Gaza, unknown numbers remained, either unwilling or unable to leave. UNRWA said 170,000 people were sheltering at its schools in the north when the order to leave came. But it couldnt evacuate them and doesnt know if they remained. More than 40,000 have crowded in the grounds of Gaza Citys al-Shifa Hospital and surrounding streets, hoping it will be safe from bombardment. Hamas urged people to ignore the evacuation order. The Israeli military on Sunday released photos it said showed a Hamas roadblock preventing traffic from moving south. Doctors and many hospital staff have refused to evacuate, saying it would mean death for critically ill patients and newborns on ventilators. The medical aid group Doctors Without Borders said many of its personnel decided to stay in the north to treat wounded. They had run out of painkillers, and staff reported wounded screaming in pain, it said. Israel has said the siege wont be lifted until Hamas releases all the captives. The countrys water ministry said water had been restored at one specific point in Gaza, outside the southern town of Khan Younis, but aid workers in Gaza said they had not yet seen evidence the water was back. On the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing, crowds of Palestinians with dual citizenship waited anxiously, sitting on suitcases or crouched on the floor, some comforting crying infants. They are supposed to be a developed country, talking about human rights all the time, Shurouq Alkhazendar, whose two kids are American citizens, said of the United States. You should protect your citizens first, not leave them all alone suffering and being humiliated in front of the crossing. After increasing cross-border exchanges with Hezbollah in the north, the Israeli military ordered residents to evacuate 28 communities within 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) of the Lebanese border. Israel is ready to operate on two fronts, and even more, said Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, a military spokesman. Hezbollah released video showing snipers shooting out cameras on several Israeli army posts along the border, apparently to prevent Israel from monitoring movements on the Lebanese side. The U.S. government began evacuating some 2,500 American citizens by ship from the Israeli port city of Haifa to Cyprus. Commercial airlines have largely stopped flying into Israels Ben-Gurion International Airport. Blinken returned to Israel for a second time in less than a week after a six-country tour through Arab nations aimed at preventing the fighting from igniting a broader conflict. While Biden is also considering a trip to Israel, no plans have been finalized. Israeli forces, supported by a growing deployment of U.S. warships in the region and the call-up of some 360,000 reservists, have positioned themselves along Gazas border and drilled for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle Hamas. Israel said it has already struck dozens of military targets, including command centers and rocket launchers, and also killed Hamas commanders. This image shows the cover of the picture book "First Man". (Beijing Science and Technology Press/Handout via Xinhua) Authorized by Yang Liwei, China's first astronaut to enter space, the Beijing Science and Technology Press (BSTP) published the picture book "First Man" on Sunday, marking the 20th anniversary of the country's first manned space travel. The book relives the whole process of Yang's historic flight in October 2003, including the liftoff, in-orbit flight and return to Earth of the Shenzhou-5 spaceship, using vivid pictures. This book is an opportunity for science publishers to introduce the story of Yang Liwei and the Shenzhou-5 mission to readers, allowing them to get to know the Chinese space hero better. The content of the picture book is based on Yang's autobiography, "Long March to Space," which was published in 2010. Part of the book's content was included in the country's middle school textbook in 2021, which soon became a trending topic on social media networks. "My department director asked me to do some research about the book. So I bought the autobiography and was moved by the detailed stories in it. Thus, I decided to turn it into a picture book," said Wu Xiaoxi, editor of the BSTP. Her idea won support from Yang, who later accepted an interview with a BSTP editorial team for the new picture book. "When I was a student, I learned about Yang from the news and thought he was great and admirable," said Wu. But it was just an abstract feeling, Wu added. After reading his autobiography, Wu realized that Yang remained as real and interesting as an ordinary person. "When I talked with him face to face, I found that he was exactly the same as depicted in the autobiography, with active and clear thinking, while also being broad-minded, tenacious and fearless," Wu said. Jin Xing, illustrator of the picture book, also secured a fresher and clearer impression of the country's first space traveller. After Shenzhou-5 re-entered the atmosphere, Yang saw what he believed were cracks in the portholes, and the temperature outside was between 1,600 and 1,800 degrees Celsius. Once back on Earth, he found out that it was the anti-burning coating covering the portholes instead of the windows that had burned and cracked. "I have repeatedly imagined those thrilling moments in my mind, amazed at how hard this space journey was and how marvelous the astronaut was," Jin said. When Jin submitted the sketch paper, Wu was touched by the pictures illustrating Yang's actions in orbit, such as stretching out his hand as if to touch the floating dust and waving goodbye to the quiet immensity of space. Twenty years after the space mission, Yang reviewed the development of China's manned spaceflight in the afterword of this picture book. The country's manned spaceflight missions have been lengthened from one day to multiple days, and are performed simultaneously by multiple astronauts and not just one, which reflects the rapid development of China's space technology. "Every astronaut and every aerospace worker is proud of this spirit of continuous innovation and pursuit of perfection," Yang said. Yang has not conducted another flight mission since 2003. In the afterword of the picture book, he said that he has gradually changed from a trainee to an instructor and administrator, but he still insists on participating in spaceflight mission training as a professional astronaut. "What remains unchanged is that I still keep the original aspiration of an astronaut, and always stay ready to be selected by the motherland," he said. Besides, Yang often attends science popularization events. "The space lectures from the Tiangong space station, favored by many students, was initiated by him," said Wu. Yang said in the afterword that science popularization is missioned to light up children's curiosity and to stimulate them to explore science and the unknown. Hoping the new picture book will prove a good science popularization work, Wu and her colleagues reminded readers that there is a surprise in the book -- a page showing a rabbit staring at the moon. "We are all looking forward to the next leap of China's manned space program -- the manned lunar landing," said Wu. "We expect to produce more high-quality picture books at that time," Wu added. Protesters wave Israeli flags at a protest outside the headquarters of the BBC in London, urging the broadcaster to call Hamas 'terrorists' (Daniel LEAL) Around 250 protesters gathered outside the BBC's main headquarters in London on Monday over the British broadcaster's "continued refusal to call Hamas terrorists". Demonstrators at the event, organised by Jewish groups, chanted "Hamas, terrorists" and "Shame on You" at the broadcaster for making the editorial decision to refer to Hamas as militants, or a militant group. Many waved Israeli flags and others held posters carrying pictures of Israeli children kidnapped by Hamas. Organisers, the National Jewish Assembly, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that "this is no time the BBC to call Hamas anything but terrorists". ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement UK defence minister Grant Shapps also said last week that the BBC should follow the "law" and call Hamas a terrorist organisation, with the government having proscribed it as such in 2021. But veteran reporter John Simpson, the BBC's world affairs editor, said that the corporation would be "taking sides" if it called Hamas terrorists. The BBC said in a statement on Monday that it had given "careful consideration" to its coverage of conflict. "Careful consideration has been given to all aspects of our coverage to ensure that we report on developments accurately and with due impartiality in line with the BBC editorial guidelines, which are publicly available. "The BBC, along with many other UK and global news organisations, does use the word 'terrorist', but attributes it. We have made clear to our audiences that Hamas is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK and other governments," it added. Pro-Palestinian groups have also targeted the BBC, covering Broadcasting House headquarters in red paint last week and accusing it of having "blood on its hands". jwp/giv WASHINGTON While grappling with gun charges and a tax investigation, Hunter Biden faces potentially a third set of charges: His decision not to register as a "foreign agent" while working with companies in Ukraine and China. The inquiry comes as the Justice Department recalibrates its enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) for people to report their work for foreign governments trying to influence U.S. policy. An inspector generals report in 2016 found prosecutions and other enforcement actions were rare" and consisted mostly of civil requests to register retroactively. But after Russian interference in the 2016 election, the department ramped up criminal enforcement with maximum penalties for violations of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., was indicted Thursday for an alleged conspiracy to violate FARA as a foreign agent for Egypt. The results of criminal prosecutions have been mixed. Several high-profile associates of Donald Trump were convicted and he pardoned them. Other defendants accused of being foreign agents had charges dismissed or won acquittals. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement In this highly politicized atmosphere, Justice Department special counsel David Weiss is investigating whether Hunter Biden should have registered his overseas work. Congressional Republicans argue Biden is getting preferential treatment as the presidents son. And one of Hunter Bidens lawyers, Abbe Lowell, won the acquittal of another defendant charged with acting as a foreign agent. What is the Foreign Agents Registration Act? Congress adopted the Foreign Agents Registration Act in 1938 and updated it many times to reduce the influence of foreign propaganda. "Foreign agents," who are defined as operating under the direction or control of a foreign government that seeks to influence U.S. policy, must register with the Justice Department to disclose their efforts. A related statute prohibits acting as a foreign agent. The problem with FARA, according to legal experts, is determining when somebody is just advocating for another country and when the person is acting under the foreign government's "direction or control," as the statute states. Part of the problem is that the law is very vague. Nobody knows what it means to be an agent, said Michael Schachter, a former federal prosecutor and now a partner at Willkie Farr and Gallagher, who won an acquittal for a defendant charged with being a foreign agent. Its a very vague statute and its capable of being misused by the Justice Department. For example, Schachter opened a trial noting that McDonald's closed 850 restaurants in Russia days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Congress that U.S. businesses "must leave" that country. McDonald's did the right thing, but not under Ukraine's direction, Schachter said. Likewise, people might advocate for Israel in its war against Hamas, but don't need to register with the government, according to William Taylor, another lawyer who won the acquittal of a defendant in a case related to FARA. A lot of people do things for the benefit of a foreign country, said Taylor, a founding partner at Zuckerman Spaeder who won the acquittal of a defendant in a case related to FARA. Its not always easy to distinguish between what somebody does because hes in favor of a particular policy or wants to do something to benefit a country he likes and somebody whos got an agreement with the country to advocate on its behalf for money. Exemptions to registering were made for diplomacy, news gathering and commerce. The statute says any person engaged in legal commercial transaction is exempt, but should register if operating in the U.S. subject to the direction or control of a foreign government or official. The statute also has a five-year limit on prosecutions. "It has to be lobbying or public relations," said Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and founder of West Coast Trial Lawyers. "If it's just commercial activity, that's exempt." What did Hunter Biden do for Ukrainian, Chinese businesses Hunter Biden served on the board of Burisma Holdings Ltd., an oil and gas company in Ukraine, from May 2014 and left in April 2019, from the time his father served as vice president until he began running for president. The arrangement raised concerns about potential conflicts because the Obama administration was trying to influence Ukraine policy. Congressional Republicans have also alleged Hunter Biden and his associates received millions of dollars from Chinese entities such as State Energy HK Ltd. and CEFC China Energy Co. Ltd. GOP lawmakers called CEFC "an extension of the Chinese government." A document filed with Hunter Biden's rejected plea agreement said in 2017 he earned "just under $1 million" from a company he formed with a Chinese CEO, $664,000 from a Chinese infrastructure company and $500,000 in director's fees from Burisma. We will continue to follow the Bidens money trail to determine whether foreign actors targeted the Bidens, President Biden is compromised, and our national security is threatened, said Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., head of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. But Devon Archer, a business associate at Burisma, told the committee there was no business conversation when Hunter Biden put his father on the speaker phone about 20 times during a 10-year partnership. "It was, you know, just general niceties and, you know, conversation in general about the geography, about the weather, whatever it may be, Archer said. The top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, said at an impeachment inquiry hearing Republicans had no evidence linking Hunter Bidens business deals to Joe Biden. "Back in the reality-based world, the majority sits completely empty-handed with no evidence of any presidential wrongdoing, no smoking gun, no gun, no smoke, Raskin added. Prosecutions under FARA were 'rare' historically: inspector general The departments Justice Manual, which offers written guidance about how to pursue cases, directs inquiries about FARA to the registration unit. In past decades, if authorities notice a potential violation, the department traditionally sent a letter asking the person to register retroactively, according to congressional testimony and legal experts. No prosecution is to begin without the authorization of the National Security Division, the manual says. Michael Horowitz, the Justice Departments inspector general, reported in September 2016 that prosecutions and other enforcement under FARA was rare. From 1966 to 2015, the department prosecuted seven FARA cases that resulted in five convictions, but only three on FARA charges, Horowitz found. FBI agents expressed frustration with a perceived reluctance to pursue, although the National Security Division denied the criticism. Revelations about foreign attempts to influence U.S. policy shined a spotlight on FARA enforcement and criminal prosecutions ramped up. Investigations by special counsel Robert Mueller and agencies in the intelligence community found Russia interfered in the 2016 election by hacking Democratic Party emails and spreading favorable information about Republican nominee Donald Trump while discrediting Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Mueller's team and other prosecutors won several convictions under FARA. Trump allies Paul Manafort, Elliott Broidy were convicted of FARA violations and pardoned Criminal prosecutions under FARA targeted several of Trump's allies: Some FARA cases dismissed; defendants won acquittals Bijan Rafiekian, who was director and vice chairman of Flynn Intel Group, was charged in 2018 with failing to register as an agent for Turkey aiming to win the extradition of a cleric living in the U.S. But the Justice Department dropped the charges in September, after two trips to the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Tom Barrack, who was chair of Trumps 2017 inauguration, was acquitted in November 2022 of charges he was a foreign agent who used his access to Trump to promote interests of the United Arab Emirates. Others who called UAE an "important ally" included Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, Schachter said at trial. Greg Craig, a former White House counsel in the Obama administration, was acquitted of FARA related charges in September 2019. He was charged with making false statements to federal investigators about whether he was required to register under FARA for his work on a report about a Ukrainian opposition figure. But Craig testified in his own defense saying he didnt view himself as doing the bidding of Ukraine. The case was about Gregs trying to correct the statements about a report hed written, said Taylor, his lawyer. "But he wasnt doing it for the benefit of the government of Ukraine, he was doing it to protect his own reputation. Schachter, who was Barrack's lawyer, said the defendant was jailed for four days under charges a jury ultimately rejected. Of course they overstepped, Schachter said of prosecutors. They charged an innocent man with a crime and took away his liberty. An assistant to Barrack, Matthew Grimes, was also acquitted of charges he was a foreign agent. Grimes was represented by Lowell, a lawyer now representing Hunter Biden. Lowell told CNN after Grimes' acquittal the case represented "overreaching and overcharging." "The system needs more supervision to prevent these kinds of cases from being filed," Lowell said. Lowell declined to comment on the Grimes case or the Hunter Biden investigation. Hunter Biden's scuttled plea deal revealed FARA inquiry The long-running federal investigation of Hunter Biden has touched on FARA issues, as revealed by House Republicans and during the court hearing over his abandoned plea deal. But he has not been charged with any violations. House Republicans released an email Lesley Wolf, an assistant U.S. attorney in Delaware, House Republicans released an email Lesley Wolf, an assistant U.S. attorney in Delaware, wrote Aug. 7, 2020, about a draft search warrant. Please focus on FARA evidence only, Wolf wrote. In July, Hunter Biden was expected to plead guilty to two misdemeanors for not paying taxes in 2017 and 2018, and entering a pretrial program for a gun violation. But U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika rejected the agreement because of disputes between prosecutors and defense lawyers. One dispute was over whether the agreement protected Hunter Biden from future prosecution under FARA. Could the government bring a charge under the Foreign Agents Registration Act? Noreika asked at the hearing July 26, noting that the facts section of the deal referred to foreign companies. Yes, replied Leo Wise, one of the prosecutors. But Christopher Clark, one of Hunter Bidens lawyers, disagreed. As stated by the government just now, I dont agree with what the government said, Clark said. GOP lawmakers question of lack of FARA charges against Hunter Biden Republican lawmakers have questioned the lack of FARA charges against Hunter Biden for years: Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., released a report in September 2020 saying CEFC was an extension of the Chinese government and that CEFC intended to alter U.S. policy and public opinion to its benefit and that the Chinese government would be the principal beneficiary of those actions. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., who heads the Ways and Means Committee, released more documents Sept. 27 about Hunter Bidens business deals. Even more alarming, the Biden family foreign influence peddling operation suggests an effort to sway U.S. policy decisions, Smith said. Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., who heads the Oversight and Accountability Committee, commended Noreika for refusing to rubberstamp the plea deal. Today, the Department of Justice revealed Hunter Biden is under investigation for being a foreign agent, Comer said July 26. The charges against Trumps inner circle combined with the lack of charges against Hunter Biden is why some Republicans contend there is a two-tier system of justice. What infuriates people is the uneven application of the law, said Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Ill., a former federal prosecutor. Without mentioning foreign registration specifically, Attorney General Merrick Garland has said the investigation of Hunter Biden will be handled fairly. Weiss will produce a report about what charges he chose to pursue or decline as special counsel. "The Justice Department treats everyone alike regardless of party, regardless of ethnicity, regardless of wealth," Garland told the House Judiciary Committee on Sept. 20. "I understand that people may not understand why particular investigations are conducted in particular ways until all the facts come out. That's what we have a court for." Not enough evidence to impeach Joe Biden yet: House witnesses House Republicans have tried for years to tie Hunter Biden's overseas business deals to President Biden, but witnesses at a Sept. 28 House Oversight hearing said there was not enough evidence for charges yet. They're merely allegations and they should not become presumptions of impeachable conduct, said Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University. Bruce Dubinsky, a forensic accountant, said he wouldnt prejudge the information. I am not here today to even suggest that there was corruption, fraud, or any wrongdoing, Dubinsky said. White House spokesperson Sharon Yang called the hearing a "baseless stunt" by Republicans and waste of time for "peddling debunked lies." "This flop was a failed effort to distract from their own chaos and inability to govern that is careening the country towards an unnecessary government shutdown that will hurt American families," Yang said. A few days later, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said in arguing to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., it is difficult to champion oversight when House Republicans havent even sent a subpoena to Hunter Biden. It is hard to make the argument that oversight is the reason to continue when it sort of looks like failure theater, Gaetz said. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hunter Biden investigated as possible 'foreign agent' for DOJ registry The Huntsman family halted donations to the University of Pennsylvania over its response to Hamas' terrorist attacks. The family, which has donated tens of millions to Penn, is the latest to "close its checkbook." Tensions have spilled over, as alumni and employers react to colleges' and students' response to the war. The Huntsman family has halted donations to the University of Pennsylvania due to its response to Hamas' terrorist attacks on Israel and the resulting war. It's the latest indication of the growing friction between elite colleges and their rich alumni over the conflict. Jon Huntsman Jr. the former governor of Utah and US ambassador to China, Russia, and Singapore penned a letter to Penn's president Elizabeth Magill, alerting her of the Huntsman Foundation's decision. "The University's silence in the face of reprehensible and historic Hamas evil against the people of Israel (when the only response should be outright condemnation) is a new low. Silence is antisemitism, and antisemitism is hate, the very thing higher ed was built to obviate," he wrote in the letter, which was published by the student newspaper. "Consequently, Huntsman Foundation will close its checkbook on all future giving to Penn." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Huntsman family, which includes three generations of Penn graduates, has donated tens of millions of dollars to the school over the past three decades, including a $10 million gift in 1997 and a $40 million gift to its business school, Wharton, in 1998. The family has donated at least $25,000 annually to Wharton in recent years. The late Jon Huntsman Sr. attended Wharton on scholarship and went on to become the billionaire CEO of chemical giant Huntsman Corp. Huntsman Jr. has had two stints on Penn's board of trustees. Huntsman's letter was reportedly written before an email from Penn's president Magill went out to the Penn community on Sunday. "I want to leave no doubt about where I stand," she wrote in the email, which was viewed by Insider. "I, and this University, are horrified by and condemn Hamas's terrorist assault on Israel and their violent atrocities against civilians." The Huntsmans are the latest megadonors to pull back from from donations to the school: Last week, Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan announced he would donate $1 rather than his typical annual contribution unless Magill and the chairman of its board of trustees, Scott Bok, stepped down. Rowan and his wife donated $50 million to Wharton in 2018. The campus has been mired in tensions over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since September, when the Palestine Writes Literary Festival, which some said gave antisemitism a platform, was hosted at the university. "The University did not, and emphatically does not, endorse these speakers or their views," Magill wrote in her email on Sunday. "While we did communicate, we should have moved faster to share our position strongly and more broadly with the Penn community." Penn did respond to a request for comment regarding Huntsman's letter. The Huntsman family did not respond to requests for comment ahead of publication. Across the country, campus conversations have boiled over into the real world, as alumni donors and prospective employers follow student and school leadership responses to the war between Israel and Hamas. For the past week, Harvard has been grappling with the ramifications of a joint statement signed by more than 30 student groups, together dubbed the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups, that said the Israeli government was "entirely responsible for all unfolding violence." The statement launched a series of hostilities: Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, a Harvard alum and donor, called on the university to release the names of students in the groups that signed the letter so he could avoid hiring them. A Harvard alum, who seemingly had nothing to do with the letter, said they were doxxed. Ackman's call for the list of names was likened to McCarthyism. The joint statement was eventually deleted, but the fallout continues. Idan and Batia Ofer, Israel's richest man and his wife, stepped down from the board of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. "Unfortunately, our faith in the University's leadership has been broken and we cannot in good faith continue to support Harvard and its committees," the Ofers said in a statement. Yale, NYU, and Stanford have also been caught up in the escalating tensions, which have no signs of slowing down or staying on campus behind ivy-covered gates. Read the original article on Business Insider DALLAS - NorthPark Centers iconic Santas helper has passed away. Carl Anderson was a child psychologist from Austin who first started coming to Dallas to be the face of St. Nick at NorthPark in 1989. For 32 years, he was a treasured member of annual family traditions. He was even inducted into the Santa Claus Hall of Fame and was called Central Texas best storyteller. "Carl had an enthusiastic and gregarious personality. He made friends wherever he went and was always kind and generous. Carl was a talented storyteller, and his great passion was sharing special moments with children as Santa for 30 years at the NorthPark Mall in Dallas," his obituary states. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Anderson took off the red suit and retired after the 2022 holiday season. He died Friday in Austin. He was 70 years old. A celebration of life is being planned for him for a later date. Andersons family asked for donations to animal rescue groups or a charity of choice in lieu of flowers. An Idaho judge has signed an order releasing the body of JJ Vallow to his next of kin more than three years after the 7-year-old was smothered and found buried in a shallow grave still wearing his red pyjamas, according to court documents. The bodies of JJ and his 16-year-old sister Tylee Ryan have been in the custody of the State of Idaho since June 2020 when they were found buried in the backyard of Chad Daybells Fremont County property. JJs grandparents, Larry and Kay Woodcock, have been waiting for years to be able to lay him to rest and give him a proper burial. Finally, Ms Woodcock tweeted in response to the news on Monday. Praise Jesus. Finally. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Earlier this year, following a gruelling six-week trial, the Woodcocks celebrated the guilty verdict handed down to JJs mother Lori Vallow. Ms Woodcock beamed through her tears and her husband Larry sang JJs favourite song, Queens We Will Rock You at the top of his lungs as they left the Idaho courthouse. Vallow was found guilty and later sentenced to life in prison for the murders of her children and conspiracy to commit the murder of her husbands former wife, Tammy Daybell. On Monday, Judge Steven Boyce, who presided over Vallows trial, issued an order for the release of JJs body. JJ Vallow on the day he was last seen alive (Ada County Court) Fremont County Prosecuting Attorney Lindsey Blake and Madison County Prosecuting Attorney Rob Wood in Mr Daybells case filed a stipulation authorizing JJs body to be released to his next of kin. It was also signed by Mr Daybells attorney, John Prior. Mr Daybell appeared via video from the Fremont County Jail for a status hearing last week where Judge Boyce set a date to determine whether to amend his previous camera ban that was put in place last year. While the defence is requesting cameras in the courtroom, prosecutors Lindsey Blake and Rob Wood maintained their position on Tuesday to not have cameras in the courtroom. Judge Boyce scheduled an in-person hearing on the matter for 930am on 29 November at the Fremont County Courthouse. Mr Daybells highly-anticipated trial is set to start on 1 April 2024 and is expected to last at least eight weeks. It will be held at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho after the judge granted a change of venue motion filed by Mr Daybells attorney. The case drew nationwide attention when Vallows children went missing in September 2019. Lori Vallow during her sentencing hearing at the Fremont County Courthouse in July 2023 While they were still unaccounted for, Vallow was on a beach in Hawaii marrying Mr Daybell, a self-proclaimed religious leader. Nine months later, in June 2020, the childrens bodies were found buried in Mr Daybells backyard. JJ, who had autism, had been smothered with a plastic bag taped over his face. Tylees cause of death was impossible to establish as the teenagers dismembered, charred bones and body parts were found scattered in the ground on Mr Daybells pet cemetery. Chad Daybell appeared via video from the Fremont County Jail for a status hearing last week (Judge Steven W. Boyce livestream) Prosecutors in Idaho accused Vallow, Mr Daybell and her brother Alex Cox of conspiring to kill people who were obstacles to Mr Daybell and Vallows relationship. Both Vallow and Mr Daybell were both charged with murder and conspiracy in the death of her children and conspiracy to kill Tammy and after three years of delays and weeks of harrowing testimony, Vallow stood trial in April and May of 2023. Vallow was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole. A federal judge on Thursday refused to extend his stay on an Idaho law denying trans and gender-nonconforming K-12 students from using multi-occupancy bathrooms, locker rooms, and sleeping facilities aligned with their gender identity. The law, S.B. 1100, requires schools and districts to base usage of such facilities based upon a students biological sex rather than gender and had been challenged by an anonymous 12-year-old transgender girl, the states superintendent of public instruction, and a student support group. The law also allows students to sue schools for up to $5,000 for every violation. The law will now take effect next month. Chief U.S. District Judge David Nye issued a stay on the law in August to better examine the case after both sides provided more evidence to support their claims. On Thursday, Nye declined to extend the stay beyond an additional 21 days, and only then to provide schools and districts the time to ensure their facilities comply with the new law. He found the plaintiffs had failed to provide enough evidence to suggest their case would win at trial. For years, transgender students have been able to use restrooms consistent with their gender at many schools across Idaho, without causing harm to anyone else, This law was always a solution in search of a problem, Peter Renn, senior counsel for Lambda Legal who argued the case, said in an emailed statement reported by the Idaho Capital Sun. The vast majority of courts ruling on similar discriminatory laws have struck them down, and the courts decision here is an outlier that fails to respect the equal dignity of transgender students. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement This is a significant win for our office. SB 1100 is a law designed to protect students, Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador said in a statement after the ruling. Society has separated these intimate facilities for time immemorial, and it is particularly important that the safety and privacy interests of minor students are protected. SB 1100 strikes the necessary balance in protecting those interests for all students. Related: Idaho Gov. Signs Anti-Trans 'Bathroom Bill,' Other Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation Nye described the case as difficult because both parties sought to protect important individual rights while gender-inclusive policies are constitutional and sex-separate policies are constitutional. The question before the court, Nye wrote, was what happens when those rights compete rather than co-exist. The plaintiffs had argued the law was unconstitutional because it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and their right to privacy. Idaho argued a similar defense, saying the law did not discriminate against the plaintiffs because the common sense law was based on what it termed biological sex. They further argued the law was protecting the privacy of students as well. Each of the parties before the Court seeks to protect important individual rights, Nye wrote. The critical question, however, is what happens when individuals rights converge and those rights struggle to co-exist? Nye also said this area of law (and societal policy) is evolving but that his task was to rule only on the legality of the law after weighing the evidence presented by both sides. In the end, the court ruled in favor of the state and S.B. 1100 on all three claims. The Court, however, must stay in its lane, Nye wrote. It cannot provide guidance on how elected officials should navigate these difficult situations. It can only decide whether the action they have taken withstands constitutional scrutiny. Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, was stabbed to death and his mother, Hanaan Shahin, was injured in a knife attack over the weekend in suburban Chicago. Federal officials announced Monday they have joined the investigation of a suspect identified as their landlord, Joseph Czuba. Photo courtesy Council on American-Islamic Relations/Facebook Oct. 16 (UPI) -- Federal authorities announced Monday they have joined an investigation of a 71-year-old Chicago-area landlord charged in the slaying a 6-year-old boy and the wounding of his mother over their Muslim faith. The FBI's Chicago field office, civil rights investigators for the Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois said they will assist the local sheriff's office in its probe of a suspect charged with slaying 6-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume and wounding his mother, Hanaan Shahin, at their Plainfield, Ill., home over the weekend. The suspect, identified as Joseph Czuba, was arrested by police Saturday in Plainfield, located about 40 miles southwest of Chicago in Will County, Ill. The federal authorities said they will "work closely" with the Will County Sheriff's Office and Will County State's Attorney's Office in prosecuting the case. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "The FBI takes the investigation of hate crimes extremely seriously and encourages members of the community with information regarding this incident -- or other potential hate crimes -- to contact us at 1-800-CALL-FBI," the agency said. Joseph Czuba, 71, has been arrested in charged in the fatal stabbing of a 6-year-old boy and wounding a 32-year-old woman. Photo courtesy of Will County Sheriff's Office/Release Will County authorities said they found Czuba sitting on the ground near the driveway of a residence officers were sent to shortly after 11:30 a.m. over a stabbing between the landlord and his renters. Inside a bedroom in the residence, officers found the boy and his mother suffering from multiple stab wounds and were transported to a local hospital. Authorities said the boy was transported in critical condition and succumbed to his injuries at the hospital, while the woman was transported in serious condition and is expected to survive. An autopsy was performed on the boy Sunday, which discovered that he had been stabbed 26 times with a 12-inch serrated military-style knife that was removed from his abdomen by the performing doctor, authorities said, adding that the woman was stabbed more than a dozen times. Czuba was found with a laceration to his forehand and was transported to the hospital for treatment. After being released, he was taken to the Will County Sheriff's Office Public Safety Complex for questioning, during which authorities said he did not make any statements. Despite staying mute, sheriff's officials said in a statement Sunday that it has gathered enough evidence to charge him "in this senseless and cowardly act of violence." He has been charged with first-degree murder, first-degree attempted murder, two counts of committing a hate crime and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. "Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis," the sheriff's office said. The brutal attacked occurred as Israel wages war against Hamas over the militant group's surprise Oct. 7 attack that killed more than 1,300 Israelis. More than 120 others were also taken hostage. Israel has responded with incessant bombing of the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, killing more than 2,670 Palestinians and wounding 9,600 others. President Joe Biden on Sunday issued a statement stating he and first lady Jill Biden were "shocked and sickened" to learn of the attack. "The child's Palestinian Muslim family came to America seeking what we all seek -- a refuge to live, learn and pray in peace. This horrific act of hate has no place in America, and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe and who we are," the president said. "As Americans, we must come together and reject Islamophobia and all forms of bigotry and hatred. I have said repeatedly that I will not be silent in the face of hate. We must be unequivocal. There is no place in America for hate against anyone." The Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group in the country, said the mother and child rented a floor in Czuba's house. CAIR said that according to text messages that Shahin sent to the boy's father -- her ex-husband -- from the hospital, Czuba allegedly had become angry with what he had seen on the news about the situation in Israel and knocked on their door. When she opened the door to him, Czuba allegedly tried to choke her and proceeded to attack her with the knife. CAIR said she ran to the bathroom to call 911, and when she re-emerged, she found her son stabbed to death. "This all happened in seconds," Ahmed Rehab, CAIR-Chicago's executive director, said in a Sunday press conference. Al-Fayoume had just celebrated his birthday weeks before and was a boy who "loved everything," Rehab said. "And he paid the price for the atmosphere of hate and otherization and dehumanization that, frankly, I think we're seeing here in the United States as a result of the irresponsible leadership and lopsided, one-sided statements and comments that were seeing in the media, elected officials -- all across you see it in the comment sections in social media," he added. He said Shahin and the boy's father were originally from a West Bank village. CAIR has been calling on officials to consider how they discuss the conflict out of worry of fueling an atmosphere of hate and dehumanization, not seen since the aftermath of 9/11. This booking photo provided by the Will County Sheriffs Office, in Joliet, Ill., shows Joseph M. Czuba. Authorities say Czuba has been charged with a hate crime, accused of fatally stabbing a young boy and seriously wounded a woman because of their Islamic faith and the Israel-Hamas war. (Will County Sheriffs Office via AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) CHICAGO (AP) An Illinois landlord accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old Muslim boy and seriously wounding his mother was charged with a hate crime after police and relatives said he singled out the victims because of their faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas. In recent days, police in U.S. cities and federal authorities have been on high alert for violence driven by antisemitic or Islamophobic sentiments. FBI officials, along with Jewish and Muslim groups, have reported an increase of hateful and threatening rhetoric. In the Chicago-area case, officers found the 32-year-old woman and boy late Saturday morning at a home in an unincorporated area of Plainfield Township, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) southwest of Chicago, the Will County Sheriff's Office said in a statement on social media. Relatives and a Muslim civil liberties and advocacy group identified the slain boy as the wounded woman's son. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The boy was pronounced dead at a hospital. The woman had multiple stab wounds and was expected to survive, according to the statement. An autopsy on the child showed he had been stabbed dozens of times. Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis, the sheriff's statement said. According to the Will County sheriffs office, the woman had called 911 to report that her landlord had attacked her with a knife, adding she then ran into a bathroom and continued to fight him off. The man suspected in the attack was found Saturday outside the home and sitting upright outside on the ground near the driveway of the residence with a cut on his forehead, authorities said. Joseph M. Czuba, 71, of Plainfield was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crimes and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, according to the sheriff's office. WLS-TV reported that Czuba was scheduled for an initial hearing on Monday afternoon at the county courthouse in Joliet, according to the Will County States Attorney Office. Attempts to reach Czuba or a family member were unsuccessful Sunday. His home phone number was unlisted. Messages left for possible relatives in online records and on social media were not immediately returned. The sheriffs office and county public defender's office did not immediately return messages about Czuba's legal representation. Authorities did not release the names of the two victims. But the boy's paternal uncle, Yousef Hannon, spoke at a news conference Sunday hosted by the Chicago chapter Council on American-Islamic Relations where the boy's father was in attendance. There the boy was identified as Wadea Al-Fayoume, a Palestinian American boy who recently had turned 6. The organization identified the other victim as the boy's mother. We are not animals, we are humans. We want people to see us as humans, to feel us as humans, to deal with us as humans, because this is what we are, said Hannon, a Palestinian American who emigrated to the U.S. in 1999 to work, including as a public school teacher. The Muslim civil liberties organization called the crime our worst nightmare and part of a disturbing spike in hate calls and emails since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. The group cited text messages exchanged among family members that showed the attacker had made disparaging remarks about Muslims. Palestinians basically, again, with their hearts broken over whats happening to their people, said Ahmed Rehab, the group's executive director, have to also worry about the immediate safety of life and limb living here in this most free of democracies in the world." In response to the increased threats, the Illinois State Police are communicating with federal law-enforcement and reaching out to Muslim communities and religious leaders to offer support, according to a Sunday press release from Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker. To take a six-year-old childs life in the name of bigotry is nothing short of evil," Pritzker said. "Wadea should be heading to school in the morning. Instead, his parents will wake up without their son. This wasnt just a murder it was a hate crime. And every single Illinoisan including our Muslim, Jewish, and Palestinian neighbors deserves to live free from the threat of such evil. President Joe Biden echoed that sentiment Sunday, saying in a statement: This horrific act of hate has no place in America, and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are. The Justice Department opened a hate crime investigation into the events leading up to the attack, Attorney General Merrick Garland said. FBI Director Chris Wray said on a call with reporters Sunday that the FBI is also moving quickly to mitigate the threats. A senior FBI official who spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Bureau said the majority of the threats that the FBI has responded to were not judged to be credible, adding that the FBI takes them all seriously nonetheless. The official also said that agents have been encouraged to be aggressive and proactive in communicating over the last week with faith-based leaders. The official said the purpose is not to make anyone feel targeted but rather to ask clerics and others to report to law enforcement anything that seems suspicious. ___ Associated Press reporters Jesse Bedayn in Denver and Eric Tucker in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report. Marleen Zambrano didnt know what TikTok was until the outside of her South Holland home was going viral. Look at that. Can you all believe that? This is live, uncut, unedited, a man who goes by Chicago Crime Chaser Martin G. Johnson said in a post on the video sharing app. What does that represent? Thats symbolic, people. As Johnson flipped the camera around, the viewer sees a human figure in a black trash bag, wrapped in duct tape, hanging by its feet from a tree next to Zambranos home. In the comment section, hundreds of people remarked with shock and awe, many alluding to racism and calling the installation offensive. It has been shared almost 1,000 times. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Alongside the hanging human figure were a smattering of other Halloween decorations: a bloodied Michael Myers doll; a few ghosts; a jack-o-lantern. Some other creepy figures lay about, but the human figure hanging from a tree reignited a conversation about the line between festive decorations and harmful messaging. In one of these videos, Zambranos home address is shown and shared in an example of doxxing. Shortly after Johnsons video went up Wednesday, police officers came to the home and alerted her some neighbors complained after seeing the social media posts. They asked me if I knew what TikTok was and what lynching was, Zambrano said. I didnt at the time. I dont have TikTok. When her children showed her the videos, Zambrano said she was shocked by comments calling her out for sending a threatening and harmful message. I wasnt trying to offend anybody, she said. I wasnt aware of anything. Some commenters told Johnson to go to the home and cut down the figure. He declined, saying he would not step onto another persons property. All of Zambranos immediate neighbors declined to comment or did not answer their door Wednesday. Johnson did not respond to several requests for comment. But just as quickly as social media got wrapped up in calling out the homeowner, South Holland police were able to sense Zambranos confusion and remorse as she apologized and immediately took down the figure. They were mortified that it was perceived as offensive, South Holland Mayor Don De Graff said after learning Wednesday about the communications between the police and Zambrano. We were able to explain to them that that particular Halloween decoration was inappropriate based on the reaction. The same inflatable dummy with a black plastic bag, tape and rope is available on Amazon for $15.99. This is not the first time that a south suburban town has struggled to pull off Halloween without some drama. In 2018, a Lansing home made news for a similar decoration. A quick examination of the subject also brings forward news stories in other areas of the country. In South Columbus, Ohio, residents spoke to NBC4 about a hanging figure as part of a residents autumn lawn decorations. One of the reasons decorations so frequently cause problems among community members is because almost all are protected speech, said Janet Brewer, an assistant professor of criminal justice at Governors State University. Private property owners have wide discretion in their choice of lawn decor on Halloween, even when the decorations are considered offensive, Brewer said. There is no perfect solution because the Constitution favors your neighbor, however offensive. Further complicating the situation is the history of South Holland, a community with different rules than most towns. With its motto of Faith, Family and Future, religion is a large part of the community. Businesses historically close on Sundays and there was no alcohol sold in city limits for over a century until August 2023. Brewer said communities may have their own guidelines which restrict an individuals decorations. De Graff said the town would consider a change to laws if decorations continue to cause problems. We are also open to the idea of legislation but we also want to make sure we dont over legislate something that could be intended to be just for fun and not harmful, he said. De Graff says a conversation, like the one with Zambrano which led to a swift resolution, is still ideal. You are here: Business This aerial photo taken on Aug. 31, 2023 shows Fuxing bullet train G4308 running in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. [Photo/Xinhua] A total of 1,402 kilometers of new railway lines were put into use across China in the first three quarters of 2023, data from the China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. showed. Among them, 1,276 kilometers of high-speed tracks were put into operation, according to the group. A batch of major projects in rail infrastructure construction have been advanced during this period. Fixed-asset investment in China's railways went up 7.1 percent year on year to 508.9 billion yuan (about 70.9 billion U.S. dollars). China plans to launch new rail lines totaling more than 3,000 km in 2023, including 2,500 km for high-speed trains, said the group. The mother of Wadea Al-Fayoume, the 6-year-old Palestinian-American who was stabbed to death in a Chicago suburb this weekend, posted about the attack on Facebook just hours after it took place on Saturday. Hanaan Shaheen, Wadeas 32-year-old mother, was stabbed 12 times during the attack, local authorities in Plainfield, Chicago, said. The familys landlord, 71-year-old Joseph Czuba, has since been arrested in connection with the stabbings, with police saying Czuba was likely motivated by the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis, and the Muslim faith of the family, according to a statement from the Will County Sheriffs Office. Despite being in critical condition at the time of the attack, Wadeas mother appears to have taken to Facebook that same afternoon to share her sons last words. My sons last words were: (Im fine). May God have mercy on him and let him dwell in the highest paradise. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0rL78rv4UcvjQkGRs9qR1LYraGi3UmDe78oLDzLj8ERFasCbwWVNuBajUZzCB5hj2l&id=100011668610959&__cft__[0]=AZVQlwzVZcq1XgZeM4h4wOYxgG0zcpBXK7GQCFTitfCx3h6KM6NXPmuQAlVqnu_0wYX3mqigTfEkjxJaHLO4GyN2tixrhyOkmgbBV9sMF8cNsrSgRv_JmVha-D1C52RLNMljjd7AZXb72RXwnd9CuU2R&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R The Daily Beast first reported on Wadeas final words Sunday, after interviewing Oday El-Fayoume, the childs father and Shaheens ex-husband. Oday told The Daily Beast the family had gotten along well with the landlord, who lives on the top floor of their home, ahead of the attackand hed even built the child a treehouse before his death. Dad of Palestinian Boy Stabbed 26 Times in Chicago Reveals Last Words He is an angel. Basically a small angel in the form of a person. To this minute, I cannot believe how this could have happened, the father told The Daily Beast on Sunday. It is hard to picture this man holding a knife about to stab my son. I keep thinking that my son was probably running towards him before getting stabbed, trying to give him a hug. The head of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Ahmed Rehab, said that the suspect had yelled out You Muslims must die, while attacking Shaheen, according to a conversation he had with the mother, who is still recovering in the hospital in the aftermath of the attack. Police reported that the attack was carried out with a military knife that had been recovered from the scene of the crime. Other posts on Shaheens Facebook page include videos of the Palestinian mother and her son, including on his birthday on Oct. 6, just 10 days before his brutal killing. The video shows Wadea with his mother playing in a bedroom, as the 6-year-old blows kisses toward the camera. In other videos, the mom-and-son duo are playing outside together, doing workouts and running around a playground. The little boy is set to be buried in Plainfield, Illinois, on Monday. Nazmi Hannon, a close family friend who described the father as a brother to him, spoke to The Daily Beast from the site of a funeral service on Monday. I just remember all the little things. How he smiled, how he played, how he ran around, 28-year-old Namzi, also a Palestinian-American, told The Daily Beast. He was running around playing just last week, and now hes in a casket. He said that when the Israel-Hamas conflict first began, some in the local Palestinian and Muslim community had been afraid that it would spur attacks and threats against them. But the murder of Wadea has inspired them to stand together. We will not retaliate. We hope nothing like this happens to another child. No Palestinian, no Jewish child. No family should go through this kind of pain, he said, adding this will not stand in this community. Others spoke during a press conference outside the boys funeral, pleading for no more violence on American soil. You want war? Its overseas, said a man identified only as Wadeas uncle. Its not our war. Its not the United States war. Dr. Omar Suleiman, the founder of the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, insisted that we can not ignore the greater environment of hate that has been enabled by every single structure around us right now. Theres more than just the man that stabbed a 6-year-old boy here, he said. I want you to think about what was in his head. What type of hate has to be manufactured in the head of a man for him to stand over a 6-year-old boy and stab him 26 times. In a statement on Sunday, President Joe Biden called the crime a horrific act of hate that has no place in America, and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are. Czuba has been charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, hate crimes, and aggravated battery. The U.S. Justice Department has also launched a federal hate crime investigation into the stabbing attacks. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. It wasnt love at first sight when Aditi Anand met Susan Dias at a book club in Mumbai. We didnt get along with each other at all, Anand, a filmmaker, said with a smile as she recalled the encounter. We were always antagonistic toward each others views on the books we were reading. Weeks later, when the two women bumped into each other at a phone shop, Dias even ignored Anand. She tried so hard not to acknowledge me. But unfortunately, or rather fortunately for both of us, we found each other at the phone counter, Anand said. We said hi and exchanged numbers. More than a decade later, Anand and Dias have built a life together. They have co-founded their own companies, are raising a son, own a home and have adopted a dog. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement But theres one thing they have not been able to do in their home country: marry. Aditi Anand, left, and Susan Dias, right, are among 18 petitioners challenging the law. - Courtesy Susan Dias India, the worlds largest democracy and most populous country, does not recognize same-sex marriage, effectively barring millions of LGBTQ couples from accessing some of the legal benefits attached to matrimony in relation to issues like adoption, insurance and inheritance. In Dias and Anands case, for instance, under the present law only one of them is recognized as their sons legal parent, which affects issues like who can make medical decisions on his behalf. However, things could be about to change. In a landmark case being live-streamed to the public and watched by tens of thousands of people every day, Indias Supreme Court has since April been hearing submissions from activists challenging the law. Advocates acting on behalf of 18 petitioners say its time for India to treat the countrys LGBTQ community as equal citizens under its constitution. But theyre up against a tough opponent: the ruling government of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which argues that same-sex marriage is a Western concept without any basis in the constitution. It told the court in a recent submission such unions were an urban and elitist concept, and therefore not welcome in the country. A ruling by the court is expected soon. If the activists are successful, it could change the fabric of what is traditionally a deeply conservative country. I want my son to have two legitimate, lawful parents, said Dias who, like Anand, is among the 18 petitioners. And thats why this petition is important to us. Members and supporters of LGBTQ community holld rainbow flag while taking part in the annual LGBTQ Pride Parade. - Dipa Chakraborty/Eyepix Group/Future Publishing/Getty Images A complex relationship Indian attitudes to LGBTQ issues are complex. Hindu mythology dating back centuries features men transforming into women and holy texts feature third gender characters. But same-sex intercourse was criminalized and marriage rights limited to heterosexual couples under a penal code introduced by Indias British former colonial leaders in 1860. Since then, Indias LGBTQ community likely one of the worlds largest given its population of 1.4 billion people has faced widespread marginalization from society. Both those elements of the colonial-era penal code remained in force even 70 years after India gained independence in 1947 (and years after they were abandoned by the former colonizer with England and Wales legalizing same-sex intercourse in 1967 and same-sex marriage in 2013). During nearly a decade in power, Indian leader Narendra Modi and his ruling BJP party have been keen to shake off Indias colonial baggage, renaming streets and cities and championing an India in charge of its own destiny. But Victorian laws governing same-sex marriage are one throwback to the colonial past his party has fought to retain. In 2017, when the couple Vishwa and Vivek got married, homosexuality was still a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison. They held an intimate Hindu ceremony at Vishwas parents apartment just outside of New Delhi, inviting only some of their closest friends and family. We had to do it very quickly. It had to be brief, said Vivek, who works for an NGO. My family was not present. Vishwa and Vivek on their wedding day in 2017. - Courtesy Vivek Kishore That same year, award-winning Indian filmmaker Karan Johar wrote about what it meant to be gay in India. Everybody knows what my sexual orientation is, he wrote in his memoir An Unsuitable Boy. I dont need to scream it out. I wont, only because I live in a country where I could possibly be jailed for saying this. But there are signs attitudes are beginning to change. In 2018, after a decade-long battle, the Supreme Court struck down the colonial-era law that criminalized same-sex intercourse though it left intact the legislation limiting marriage to heterosexual couples. In recent years same-sex relationships have been increasingly embraced both by Bollywood, the countrys highly influential Hindi-film industry, and major cities like Mumbai and Bengaluru, which celebrate pride month with parades and large-scale events. Vishwa says these are big wins for the community and have encouraged efforts to change the law further, even in the face of strong government opposition. Even a ruling against the petitioners might have a silver lining, he said. It might not be a win. Most of us have made peace with it, Vishwa said. But we know that any positive statement made by the Supreme Court will benefit us in the future and we are very ready to continue fighting. Fighting for those who cannot Whatever the court decides, its ruling will affect millions of people in India for generations to come. Advocates say a positive ruling will give legitimacy and more influence to the countless Indians who presently struggle to come to terms with their sexuality and face harassment on the streets, in schools and in the workplace. Celebrity chef and LGBTQ activist Suvir Saran is among those critical of the governments stance, saying it is sending a message that India doesnt accept people the way they are. In rural pockets of the country, where discrimination is widespread, the ramifications of coming out can be particularly dire, Saran says. If youre coming from a place with no access to quality education, or just any of the basic amenities of life, youre broken. Youre broken even before you get to your sexuality, Saran said. Anish Gawde, founder of Pink List India, an organization that tracks the LGBTQ views of Indian politicians, said many people without support have been driven from their homes and forced to live a life of seclusion. Marriage equality is in fact more important to these tens of thousands of queer people in India, Gawde said. They love and continue to love despite social stigma and oppression. Vivek hopes a positive ruling would legitimize his relationship with his husband in the eyes of the wider public. I want to be known as the partner of Vishwa in the eyes of the law, he said. Marriage is a social contract. Its also a financial contract. The rights given to heterosexual couples are so significant for people like us to build a life together. Since petitioning the top court, Dias said she has realized that they are not doing this for themselves, but for the millions of people who dont have the means to fight. Its really become a collective action now. Im doing this for those who cannot, as much as Im doing it for myself, she said. Anand agreed, adding that what started off as a conversation in their home has morphed into a movement that has united Indias LGBTQ community. We are asking can we be equal? she said. CNNs Manveena Suri, Vedika Sud and Sania Farooqui contributed reporting. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com FILE PHOTO: Barbed wires are seen outside Indonesia's constitutional court during the hearing on the opposition's challenge of April's presidential election result in Jakarta Indonesia court clears path for Jokowi's son to run for vice presidency FILE PHOTO: Barbed wires are seen outside Indonesia's constitutional court during the hearing on the opposition's challenge of April's presidential election result in Jakarta By Stanley Widianto and Ananda Teresia JAKARTA (Reuters) -An Indonesian court issued a ruling on Monday on the eligibility criteria for the country's top posts that will pave the way for the eldest son of outgoing leader Joko Widodo to run for vice president in next year's election. In a controversial decision that outraged critics of the president, the Constitutional Court ruled that candidates under the required age of 40 could seek the presidency or vice presidency in the Feb. 14 ballot, providing they have previously held elected regional office. The decision adds weight to speculation that Indonesia's president of nearly 10 years is moving to retain influence by backing Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto as his successor, with his eldest son and a Surakarta city mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka, 36, as running mate. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Deciding on a petition that challenged the minimum age for running for the presidency and vice presidency, Judge M Guntur Hamzah said an age restriction would be an "injustice" against younger Indonesians with experience in government posts. "A minimum age of 40 not only hampers but hinders the development of the young generation," he said, noting leaders of France and New Zealand both rose to the top jobs in their 30s. The ruling just three days out from registration for the election could deepen concern about the perceived influence of Jokowi, as the president is popularly known, over Indonesia's democratic institutions, including his brother-in-law Anwar Usman's role as the court's chief justice. A court spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Anwar's involvement in the ruling. Gibran has yet to publicly declare an intention to run for vice president and did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the court's decision. 'DECLINING LEGITIMACY' An entrenchment of patronage and dynastic politics would be at odds with the democratic reforms the world's third-largest democracy has achieved since the end of the rule of nepotistic strongman Suharto a quarter of a century ago, some analysts say. "The judicial institution has somewhat legalised dynastic politics in Indonesia," said Bivitri Susanti, of Indonesia's Jentera school of law. The hugely popular Jokowi, who is not allowed to run for a third term, is keen to preserve his legacy after ushering in a series of reforms and a major push to attract big-ticket investment to Southeast Asia's biggest economy. Prabowo, a former special forces commander and Jokovi's rival in presidential races in 2014 and 2019, is neck-and-neck in opinion polls for the top job with Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo, with ex-Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan a distant third. Jokowi has not formally backed Prabowo and last week brushed off a question about whether he was seeking to create a political dynasty. In an opinion piece on Monday in the Jakarta Post published before the court ruling, Ary Hermawan, its editor at large said the court's decision could have a wide-reaching impact. "Concerns have been raised over whether the Constitutional Court can truly function as an impartial referee in the political race," Hermawan wrote. "We are entering uncharted territory here." (Reporting by Stanley Widianto, Ananda Teresia and Fransiska Nangoy; Writing and additional reporting by Kate Lamb; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor, Martin Petty and Tomasz Janowski) JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) Indonesias top court on Monday ruled against lowering the minimum age of presidential and vice presidential candidates as the country gears up for election in 2024. The courts decision is final and can't be appealed. In August, seven politicians including from the Indonesian Solidarity Party chaired by the youngest son of current President Joko Widodo filed a petition against the current age limit for candidates, asking it to be lowered to 35 instead of 40, arguing it was discriminatory. The 7-to-2 decision by the nine-judge panel of the Constitutional Court rejected the arguments, saying it wasn't the court's role to change the age limit for candidates and that it was up to the parliament to set such laws. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Two judges argued that while the court should uphold the age limit as is, it could add a special exception to those who "served or been elected as regional leaders. Widodos eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, currently serves as Mayor of Surakarta and has not announced that he would run, but politicians publicly backing former general Prabowo Subianto running for the 2024 presidential election have called for Gibran to become his running mate. Gibran is currently 36. Indonesia, the worlds third-largest democracy, is set to vote in simultaneous legislative and presidential elections in February 2024. Infamous death row inmate 'Sunset Strip Killer' dies in prison A death row inmate dubbed the "Sunset Strip Killer" died in prison 40 years after hunting women on Los Angeles' Sunset Boulevard. Douglas Daniel Clark, 75, was responsible for the gruesome murders of at least six women, including one victim whom he decapitated and whose head he kept in his refrigerator. Clark, a former factory worker from Burbank, died of natural causes on Wednesday in the San Quentin State Prison, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. His girlfriend and partner in crime, Carol Bundy, died in prison in December 2003 at the age of 61. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement BODYCAM CAPTURES DRAMATIC SHOOT-OUT WITH MAN ACCUSED OF SLAUGHTERING FAMILY BEFORE VANISHING Douglas Daniel Clark, half the duo dubbed the "Sunset Strip Killers," was on death row when he died of natural causes in prison on Oct. 11, 2023. Clark and Bundy typically targeted young prostitutes or teenage runaways who were working "The Strip" at night. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP The victims were sexually assaulted and slaughtered, often by a gunshot with .25-caliber to the head. SAN FRANCISCO BAY BOATERS FORCED TO FIGHT OFF PIRATES WHO ARE STEALING SHIPS Some of the victims were decapitated so Clark could keep their heads as mementos, and he was found guilty of performing sex acts with their corpses. The dangerous duo was arrested in August 1980, and Clark infamously tried to act as his own lawyer. He ultimately lost the case. Douglas Clark pictured here during his original mugshot after his arrest in 1980. Testimony at his 1983 trial showed that Clark had an obsessive interest in necrophilia and had sex with some of his victims' corpses before dumping them in the San Fernando Valley, according to Fox 11. Bundy sometimes accompanied Clark on his murderous forays. She told police she had been "overwhelmed" by his dominance and charm and had fallen in love with him, the outlet reported. WILD BODYCAM FOOTAGE OF FUGITIVE DARING COPS TO SHOOT HIM BEFORE HIGH-SPEED CHASE He was sentenced in March 1983 to six consecutive death sentences for six counts of first-degree murder, as well as prison time for mutilation/sexual contact with human remains and attempted first-degree murder. He was later condemned to death on March 24, 1983, but spent the next four decades in prison until he died Wednesday. Bundy avoided the death sentence by agreeing to testify against Clark as part of a plea deal. As many true crime cases involving heinous serial killers that seize audience's fascination, the victims could be forgotten. These are Clark's and Bundy's known victims. A layout of the known victims of the "Sunset Strip Killers," who murdered at least six women in the 1980s. Gina Narano and Cynthia Chandler, both teenagers at the time, were sexually assaulted and fatally shot in the head before they were dumped in a Los Angeles garage. They were found on June 1, 1980. Karen Jones, 25, was shot in the head and raped. Her body was found in a wooded area on June 24, 1980, off the Ventura Freeway. CLICK HERE FOR MORE TRUE CRIME FROM FOX NEWS Exxie Wilson, 20, was sexually assaulted and shot in the head on July 11, 1980. Her body was found the next day, and investigators said her body was mutilated post-mortem. Marnette Comer, 17, was sexually assaulted, fatally shot in the head and dumped near the Forest Lawn Cemetery, where she was found on July 12, 1980. A still unidentified body was found in Newhall, California, on Aug. 26, 1981, according to Los Angeles Magazine. Original article source: Infamous death row inmate 'Sunset Strip Killer' dies in prison Egypt, Israel and the United States have agreed to a temporary ceasefire in southern Gaza, where the Rafah crossing is located, effective as of 09:00. Israel has denied this information. Source: Reuters, citing two Egyptian security sources; The Times of Israel, citing a statement by the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Quote from Reuters: "Egypt, Israel and the U.S. agreed to a ceasefire in southern Gaza beginning at 06:00 GMT [09:00 Kyiv time ed.] coinciding with the re-opening of the Rafah border crossing, two Egyptian security sources said on Monday. The sources said the ceasefire would last for several hours but they were not clear on the exact duration. They also said the three countries had agreed that Rafah would be open until 1400 GMT on Monday as a one-day initial re-opening." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Details: Salama Marouf, Head of the Hamas government's press office, claimed they had not received any confirmation from the Egyptians of their intention to open the crossing. The US Embassy in Israel stated that the situation in Rafah will be "fluid and unpredictable and it is unclear whether, or for how long, travellers will be permitted to transit the crossing". The embassy stated that citizens who feel safe enough are free to move to the checkpoint. Updated: Meanwhile, Israel has denied reports that it has agreed to a ceasefire in southern Gaza to allow the Rafah border crossing to be opened to deliver aid to the Strip. Quote from the Israeli PMs office: "At the moment there is no ceasefire for humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip and the exit of foreigners." For reference: The Rafah crossing, located on the border between Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and Hamas-controlled Gaza, is the only crossing point into territory not controlled by Israel. Background: The Egyptians control the Rafah crossing on the border between Gaza and Egypt, through which civilians can potentially evacuate from Gaza. The media reported that it had been closed due to Israeli strikes. Meanwhile, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry claims the crossing is open and has not been closed at "any stage of the conflict" [war ed.]. The reason for the challenges in its operation on the part of Palestine is Israeli bombing. Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron! The News After Instagram users reported that their stories showing support for Palestine were effectively hidden from their followers, Meta said a bug that affected accounts equally around the globe was responsible. Know More Several accounts claimed they were shadow-banned for posting stories from the Palestinian perspective, meaning the visibility of the posts was reduced without the users knowledge. After posting an Instagram story about the war in Gaza yesterday, my account was shadowbanned. Many colleagues and journalists friends have reported the same, journalist Azmat Khan wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Its an extraordinary threat to the flow of information and credible journalism about an unprecedented war. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Other users, including the founder of the news and culture accounts @muslim and @muslimnews on Instagram, posted screenshots showing reduced view counts for their stories related to the war. In a statement Sunday, Meta said it identified a bug that impacted all Stories that re-shared other users Reels and posts. That bug caused those stories to not show up as they normally would, leading to significantly reduced reach. This bug affected accounts equally around the globe and had nothing to do with the subject matter of the content - and we fixed it as quickly as possible, Meta said. Step Back Instagram and its parent company have faced criticism before over how the platform handles pro-Palestinian content. In 2021, amid fighting between Israeli police and Palestinians at Al-Aqsa Mosque, Instagram removed posts and blocked hashtags that mentioned the mosque. The platform's content moderation system mistakenly associated the site with terrorism, BuzzFeed News reported. An external audit commissioned by the company later found that Meta had denied Palestinian users their freedom of expression and censored Arabic-language posts more heavily than Hebrew posts during the 2021 conflict between Israel and Hamas. Meta said it was implementing several of the recommendations from the audit. Journalists, activists, and celebrities have spoken out over the years about perceived censorship of pro-Palestine posts. Model Bella Hadid, whose father is Palestinian, said last year that "when I post about Palestine I get immediately shadow banned and almost 1 million less of you see my stories and posts." An Action News Jax investigation found we are quickly running out of 904 area code phone numbers. Northeast Florida is on pace to run out of prefixes by the summer of 2024. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< Up until now, it was unclear when next year our area would run out of the area code synonymous with the region and welcome in a new numeric neighbor 324. Im just used to 904. Its been with me for quite some time, Jacksonville resident Elaine Fernandez told Action News Jax Ben Becker. Its coursing through your veins? asked Becker. Yeah exactly. Action News Jax first reported in June 2023 about the addition of 324 coming in 2024. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Florida Public Service Commission says the new area code is needed because of the growing number of people moving to Duval, St. Johns, Nassau, Baker and Clay Counties. Telephone numbers are governed by the North American Numbering Plan Administrator. The agency tells Becker there are 330,000 904 pre-fixes remaining - mostly among three carriers Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. While it might seem like a lot, its not. Becker found out firsthand that Xfinity Mobile is virtually out of 904 numbers when he tried to change a number on his account. So why does an area code matter? Its more than just a number. You ever watch Seinfeld, Becker asked Fernandez. Oh, my goodness yes, she said. Becker showed Elaine from Jacksonville, a TV clip of Elaine from Seinfeld. The character Elaine was turned down for a date because she didnt have the prestigious 212 New York area code. It was also part of a storyline in the HBO show Sex And The City with Sarah Jessica Parkers character Carrie Bradshaw. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] Why do you think people are so attached to their area codes? Becker asked Dr. Tracy Packiam-Alloway who is a professor of Psychology at the University of North Florida. I think theres a sense of community, a sense of belonging. She said research shows a new area code can change someones perception of you. It is a way to indicate that you are not a local, that youre not part of the existing community. Youre joining the community. And that itself creates a different narrative for the person that they may not wish for that story to be told, said Packiam-Alloway. Today, you can even go on eBay and buy 904 sim cards from a few hundred dollars to more than $1,000 thousand depending on how memorable the numbers are. Whats your message to these people making area code decisions? Becker asked Fernandez. Think twice; you are making it more challenging for us. The new area code also means you will have to use ten digits when you make a call. That includes the area code plus the seven-digit phone number. So, you better get started on updating your contacts. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live. A man in Bourbon County was injured Sunday when he was shot by a police officer, according to Kentucky State Police. The shooting happened at approximately 10:45 p.m. on North Middletown Road in Bourbon County, KSP said. A man was shot by a Paris police officer and was transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. State police are investigating the shooting, which is routine with shootings involving law enforcement agencies. KSP said specific details about the shooting wont be released until vital witnesses are interviews and facts are gathered. A timeline for the investigation is unknown. KSP also wasnt immediately available for additional comment on the shooting. KSP is committed to being transparent while ensuring the integrity of the investigation, KSP said in a press release. This is a developing story and may be updated. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird (R) endorsed former President Trump during a campaign rally in Adel, Iowa, on Monday, making her the second statewide elected official in the Hawkeye State to wade into the 2024 GOP primary. We need a new president in the White House. I am so glad to get to be here today to introduce Donald Trump because he will secure our border. Who supports that? she said to a crowd of Trump supporters. He will fight the terrorists. He will fix the economy. He will stand up for agriculture, and he will uphold our Constitution and our way of life, she added. Birds announcement, which was first reported by The Des Moines Register, makes her the second Iowa statewide official to endorse in the GOP primary after Iowa Treasurer Roby Smith (R) backed biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy in August. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The endorsement comes as Trump seeks to shore up support in the Hawkeye State after sparking backlash last month with his criticism of six-week abortion bans like the one in Iowa. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) defended moves by herself and others, such as Trumps 2024 rival Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis , to enact stricter abortion laws, saying, Its never a terrible thing to protect innocent life. 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 Campaign and Election News newsletter Reynolds has not yet made an endorsement in the 2024 GOP primary but has appeared alongside DeSantis at events, drawing the ire of Trump. The former president criticized her approach to the primary in July, writing in a post on Truth Social, I opened up the Governor position for Kim Reynolds, & when she fell behind, I ENDORSED her, did big Rallies, & she won. Now, she wants to remain NEUTRAL. I dont invite her to events! DeSanctus down 45 points! Bird, who was elected last year and is the first Republican to hold the attorney generals office since 1979, said during a debate ahead of the November midterms that she was pro-life and that she would defend the laws that are passed by the Legislature, according to the Des Moines Register. Trump continues to lead in national and local polling, with DeSantis placing second in the RealClearPolitics polling index of Iowa surveys, while former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley places second in RCPs polling averages of New Hampshire and South Carolina. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. You are here: Business This aerial photo taken on April 17, 2023 shows a capsule-shaped bulk cargo warehouse at Chenglingji Port in Yueyang, central China's Hunan Province. [Photo/Xinhua] China's bulk commodity imports expanded in the first nine months of 2023, data from the General Administration of Customs (GAC) showed. During this period, the country's imports of energy products including crude oil, natural gas and coal surged 31.8 percent from a year earlier to 860 million tonnes, the GAC data revealed. Imports of metals, including iron and aluminum, grew by 7.8 percent year on year to about 1.09 billion tonnes in the first nine months, according to the GAC data. Iran's Foreign Ministry says Hamas is potentially ready to release nearly 200 hostages it is holding if Israel stops airstrikes on the Gaza Strip. The terrorist group has not acknowledged making such a proposal. Source: Nasser Kanaani , Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman, speaking at a press conference in Tehran, quoted by The Times of Israel Details: As Kanaani stated, Hamas officials "said they were ready to take the necessary steps to free citizens and civilians held by the resistance groups, but their view was that such steps required preparations that were not possible in the face of the daily bombardment of various areas of Gaza by the Zionists". Hamas has said it would swap prisoners for thousands of Palestinians held by Israel as part of unilateral swap deals that have been reached in the past. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "We heard from the Resistance that they have no problem with continuing the resistance," Kanaani said, referring to Hamas. "They said they have the military capacity to continue resistance on the ground for a long time," the Iranian official added. The Times of Israel notes that "Iran is the main sponsor of Hamas in its fight against Israel." Background: On 7 October, Hamas attacked Israel and took hostages. The Israeli army retaliated by attempting to destroy the terrorist group's infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli authorities stated that it would be a protracted war. On the morning of 16 October, reports emerged that Egypt, Israel and the United States had agreed to a temporary ceasefire in the southern part of Gaza effective 09:00, where the Rafah crossing is located, but the Israeli Prime Minister retracted this information. 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! DUBAI (Reuters) - The United States is already heavily involved in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and must be held to account, an Iranian official said on Monday. The U.S. is bolstering its firepower in the Middle East in response to war between its ally Israel and the Iranian-backed Palestinian militants Hamas amid fears of regional spillover. Asked if Tehran would engage if the U.S. weighed in, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said: "Iran considers that the United States is already militarily involved in the conflict between Israel and Palestinians." "The crimes of the Zionist regime are carried out with the support of the United States and Washington must be held accountable," he added at a news conference. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The newest U.S. aircraft carrier - also the world's largest - is already in the eastern Mediterranean and is due to be joined by a second U.S. aircraft carrier in coming days. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday the aircraft carriers are not a provocation but a deterrence. (Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne) Aine Davis joined Islamic State in Syria and later spent seven years in prison in Turkey Dame Priti Patel, the former home secretary, begged the United States to prosecute a British national accused of being a member of the Islamic State death squad dubbed the Beatles, it can now be revealed, after he pleaded guilty to fresh terror charges. Aine Davis, from Hammmersmith, west London, converted to Islam before leaving the UK to join the terror organisation in Syria in 2013. He was captured following the groups collapse and served a seven-and-a-half-year sentence in Turkey before being deported to the UK in August last year where he faced new charges. Appearing at the Old Bailey on Monday, the 39-year-old pleaded guilty to three charges including the funding of terrorism and possession of a firearm. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement During the 20-minute hearing Davis spoke only to confirm his name and that he wished to plead guilty. The charges centred on a plot to smuggle 20,000 out of the UK to a contact in Turkey through his then-wife, Amal El-Wahabi, in January 2014. She helped him carry out a plan in which her friend, Nawal Masaad, 36, unwittingly acted as courier for the terrorist funds. But Ms Masaad was stopped at Heathrow as she was about to board a flight to Istanbul with the cash stuffed inside her tights. Aine Davis appearing in court from prison via videolink El-Wahabi was found guilty of funding terrorism and jailed for 28 months, while Ms Masaad was cleared of wrongdoing. The firearms charge relates to an image on El-Wahabis phone showing Davis in November 2013 alongside a man holding a Kalashnikov. Following the guilty pleas, it can now be reported that Dame Priti made a personal intervention as home secretary to try and get the US to prosecute Davis for his actions in Syria and connived to get him to return to the UK after serving his sentence in Turkey. Mark Summers KC, defending, claimed during legal argument earlier this year that Dame Priti made one phone call to the US attorney general that veered into Alice in Wonderland territory. Visit from MI5 Davis was long suspected of being a member of the Beatles group, responsible for the murders of several European and American hostages. The group were given the nickname by hostages because of their British accents. Two members, El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey, are serving eight life sentences each in the US. Another, Mohammed Emwazzi, known as Jihadi John, was killed in a drone strike in 2015. In 2019 British MI5 officers visited Davis in a Turkish prison to ask him about his involvement, the court was told. Following the visit, Davis claimed his treatment inside the prison got worse and he was allegedly forced to share a cell with seven other people in a possible deliberate attempt to break his will. He continually resisted deportation and asked to travel to a third country, or stay in Turkey, but was allegedly told that would not be possible. On June 18 last year, British officials learnt that prosecutors in New York were seeking to extradite Davis to the US and charge him with providing material support to IS. However, the prosecutors later clarified they were not looking to put him on trial as a member of the Beatles cell, saying there were only three members. Davis has always denied being a member of the unit and the US eventually decided not to pursue any charges against him. Patel accused of irregular approach Shortly afterwards, Mr Summers suggested, Dame Priti called the US attorney general and begged them to take over the prosecution of Mr Davis. He said that this was seriously irregular, adding that the proper cause of action would have been extradition from Turkey directly to the US. Mr Summers said: The personal involvement of the home secretary trying to persuade a foreign country to prosecute a UK national is frankly extraordinary Its difficult to overstate the illegality and irregularity of what was under contemplation for some time. In mid-July Davis was offered the option to return to the UK voluntarily and given the chance to use a private plane that would avoid any media storm upon his arrival. After landing at Luton airport, he was detained by British counter-terrorism police and charged with three offences. Davis will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on November 13. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer. The Israeli military said Monday that 199 people are being held hostage in Gaza by Hamas and other Palestinian militants, an increase from previous estimates. Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces, told reporters that the families of those being held hostage have been notified, The Associated Press reported. He did not say whether the latest number includes foreigners or who was responsible, but most are believed to be held by Hamas the militant group that infiltrated southern Israel more than a week ago. The nearly 200 estimated hostages, which is up from the previous estimate of 150, includes children and the elderly. It is also believed that some of these hostages are U.S. citizens. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters last week that there was a very small number of Americans believed to be held as hostages, but that he wasnt aware of proof of life and he couldnt provide details about their whereabouts or condition. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The State Department confirmed Sunday that 30 U.S. citizens have been killed in the fighting. The department also said that it is aware of 13 missing citizens, and officials are in contact with their families. The State Department is also warning Americans not to travel to Gaza and is asking Americans to reconsider traveling to Israel and the West Bank. Hamas launched its deadly attack more than a week ago, prompting Israel to declare war on the group. Israel has said more than 1,400 Israelis have been killed so far. At least 2,750 Palestinians have also been killed and another 9,700 wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The Associated Press contributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. An Israeli tank is positioned near Israel's border with Lebanon JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The Israeli military accused Iran on Monday of having ordered attacks by Hezbollah at the Lebanon-Israel border on Sunday. "Hezbollah carried out a number of shooting attacks in order to distract from our war efforts in the south (Gaza), under Iranian instruction and with (Iranian) support," chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a briefing. (Writing by Dan Williams) (Bloomberg) -- Israel announced another safe corridor in Gaza as it urges civilians to move to the south of the territory from the north, where its concentrating the bulk of its military activities. Most Read from Bloomberg The Israel Defense Forces said it would refrain from targeting a designated axis between 8 a.m. and midday local time on Monday to allow safe evacuation from north Gaza to the area south of Wadi Gaza and Khan Yunis. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Israel Latest: Biden Considers Israel Trip in Bid to Contain War Israel has made similar daily announcements since Saturday. Its unclear if there will be another on Tuesday. The military is urging civilians to move for their own safety and last night said that 600,000 people had left northern Gaza. Israel is blaming Hamas for trying to stop civilians evacuating. It has emphasized that the safe corridor does not amount to a ceasefire. Over one million people, around half the total population of Gaza, have already been displaced, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which serves Palestinian refugees. It said 400,000 have taken refuge in UNRWA facilities, much exceeding our capacity to assist in any meaningful way, including with space in our shelters, food, water or psychological support. According to the United Nations, the IDF initially set a 24-hour deadline for the evacuation when it was first called for on Friday. The UN said that would involve the movement of 1.1 million people, most of them in and around Gaza City, and would be impossible. Israel denies it ever gave a deadline of 24 hours. A Million Gazans Have Nowhere to Hide From Coming Israel Troops Israel is widely expected to launch a ground assault on Gaza as it looks to wipe out Hamas following the groups Oct. 7 attacks, which killed at least 1,300 Israelis. More than 2,650 people have since been killed in Gaza because of Israeli airstrikes. The enclave, which is ruled by Hamas, is now under a near-total blockade. Israel isnt allowing people or goods in or out and has cut power to it. Convoys of trucks with food and medical supplies are lined up in Egypts Sinai peninsula waiting to cross into Gaza, according to the head of the Egyptian Food Bank, an aid organization. Thats in anticipation of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt being opened for a short while to allow aid deliveries, though none of the Egyptians, Israelis or Hamas have confirmed that will happen. Why Gaza Is Epicenter of Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: QuickTake Israel said that 199 people are confirmed to have been taken as hostages to Gaza during the Oct. 7 attacks, when Hamas and other militants swarmed into southern Israel and rampaged through communities and military bases. Read more: Your Guide to Understanding the Roots of the Israel-Hamas War Hezbollah Tensions Separately on Monday, the IDF said it would evacuate residents of northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon. Tensions there are rising with Hezbollah and the Israeli military exchanging fire frequently. Israeli residents living within 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) of the border will be moved to state-funded guest houses. Israel has already evacuated communities and towns near Gaza in the south. Hamas and Hezbollah are both backed by Iran and designated as terrorist groups by the US. The IDF said its response to a more aggressive action from Hezbollah, one of the most powerful militias in the Middle East, would be lethal. Iran Warns Expansion of Israel-Hamas War Becoming Inevitable Iran reiterated its warning that a ground attack on Gaza will lead to the war spreading. The possible expansion of the war on other fronts is approaching the inevitable stage, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said Monday in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. The time for political solutions is running out. (Updates with latest details.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. The Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli Defense Ministry announced Monday that they will be evacuating 28 communities along the northern border with Lebanon. Northern Israeli residents who live in the area up to 2 kilometers, or about 1.2 miles, from the Lebanese border will be evacuated to state-funded guesthouses, according to the plan approved by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. As cross-border fire between Israel and the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah in Lebanon has increased in recent days, the plan to move Israelis will be implemented by the heads of the local municipalities, the Ministry of Interior and the National Emergency Management Authority of the Ministry of Defense. The 28 communities are: Ghajar, Dishon, Kfar Yuval, Margaliot, Metula, Avivim, Dovev, Maayan Baruch, Baram, Manara, Yiftach, Malkia, Misgav Am, Yiron, Dafna, Arab al-Aramshe, Shlomi, Netua, Yaara, Shtula, Matat, Zarit, Shomera, Betzet, Adamit, Rosh HaNikra, Hanita and Kfar Giladi. "Israel is ready to operate on two fronts, and even more," Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said, according to The Associated Press. Hagari said the evacuation would allow Israeli forces to operate with greater latitude, according to The Associated Press. "If Hezbollah makes the mistake of testing us, the response will be deadly," he added. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement HEZBOLLAH POSES 'REAL RISK OF ESCALATION' AT ISRAEL NORTHERN BORDER, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER SULLIVAN WARNS Israeli armored personnel carriers move in formation near the border with Lebanon on Oct. 15, 2023 in Amiad, Israel. Israel has sealed off Gaza and launched sustained retaliatory air strikes. Hezbollah released video showing snipers shooting out cameras on several Israeli army posts along the border that had been monitoring movements on the Lebanese side. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP "Hezbollah carried out a number of shooting attacks yesterday in order to try and divert our operational efforts from the south, this under the direction and backing of Iran while putting the state of Lebanon and its citizens at risk," Hagari wrote on X Monday. "The IDF is strongly deployed and organized in the north. We have increased our strength and we react offensively to any activity against us in a determined way." In the northern Israeli port city of Haifa, the U.S. government began evacuating some 2,500 American citizens by ship to Cyprus. Commercial airlines have largely stopped flying into Israels Ben-Gurion International Airport, making it extremely difficult to get out of the country. Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned to Israel for a second time in less than a week after a six-country tour through Arab nations aimed at preventing the fighting from igniting a broader conflict. President Biden is also considering a trip to Israel, though no plans have been finalized, according to AP sources. Israeli armored vehicle moves near the border with Lebanon on Oct. 15, 2023. ISRAEL ACCUSES IRAN OF ORDERING HEZBOLLAH ATTACKS ALONG NORTHERN BORDER WITH LEBANON Meanwhile, Israeli forces, supported by a growing deployment of U.S. warships in the region and the call-up of some 360,000 reservists, have positioned themselves along Gazas border and drilled for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle the Hamas militant group. Israel said it has already struck dozens of military targets, including command centers and rocket launchers, and also killed Hamas commanders. At a news conference in Tehran Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said that Hamas potentially was ready to release the nearly 200 hostages it is holding if Israel stops its campaign of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip. The terrorist group has not acknowledged making such an offer. Israeli armored personnel carriers near Lebanon border on Oct. 15, 2023. "We heard from the resistance that they have no problem to continue resisting," Kanaani said, referring to Hamas. "They said the resistance holds military capability to continue resisting in the field for a long time." The Associated Press contributed to this report. Original article source: Israel evacuating 28 communities near Lebanon border This story contains a graphic image. The Israeli government and many of its high-profile supporters have falsely claimed that Hamas published footage of a doll and suggested it was a child killed by Israels military, according to a Palestinian journalist who published the video. Hamas accidentally posted a video of a doll (yes a doll) suggesting that it was a part of casualties caused by an IDF attack, Israels main Instagram page claimed Friday. That post received more than 52,000 likes, and a similar post from the countrys page on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, received more than 1.3 million views, according to both sites public-facing metrics. Other social media accounts controlled by Israeli officials, including those for the Israeli embassies in France and Austria, have made similar claims. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement However, Momen El Halabi, the journalist who published the video on Oct. 12, says the footage did indeed show a dead child. In messages to HuffPost, El Halabi said he filmed the scene himself, and that his footage showed a child victim and not a puppet like the occupation claims. On Sunday, El Halabi posted an Instagram Story that included a link to the Jordan-based website Misbar, which had confirmed with him that the video showed a childs body and not a doll. The post was written in Arabic and translated by HuffPost. El Halabi separately told the Indian website Alt News that the child in the video was a 4-year-old boy named Omar Bilal Al-Banna who had been killed in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City. Alt News published further footage and photos that it said El Halabi had provided to back up the claim. The video the Israeli government posted which they claimed had been published by Hamas included a watermark of El Halabis name. Alt News pointed to photos from the Agence France-Presse photographer Mohammed Abed, published on the same day, that appeared to show the same childs body outside the morgue of al-Shifa hospital, in Gaza City. One of those photos appears below. Neither El Halabi nor the Israeli government returned HuffPosts requests for comment. Abed directed HuffPost to an AFP corporate email address, which did not immediately respond to questions. A photo by Agence France-Presse photographer Mohammed Abed shows a Palestinian man in Gaza City holding what appears to be a child wrapped in a shroud, Oct. 12, 2023. The website Alt News has cited the photo as evidence that contested footage posted last week by journalist Momen El Halabi is authentic. More than 2,700 Gazans have been killed since Hamas launched a surprise military incursion in southern Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel responded with heavy airstrikes in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials. The claim that Hamas, the militant group with governing power in the Gaza Strip, had suggested that a doll was a dead child has spread across the internet since El Halabi posted the original footage on Thursday. The next day, the Israeli activist Yoseph Haddad appeared to post the same footage on X, claiming, Its not a real baby; its a doll. Haddad also claimed that his source for the footage was Hamas, and that Hamas had deleted the footage. But his video carried El Halabis watermark, and El Halabi has not deleted the footage. As of Monday afternoon, Haddads post had 3.7 million views. Several other high-profile accounts including those of Israel War Room, the pro-Israel group StopAntisemitism, Israeli historian and journalist Edy Cohen, Saudi journalist Abdul Aziz Al-Khamis, Israeli author Hen Mazzig and Saudi-based Indian writer Zahack Tanvir all shared the same footage with El Halabis watermark, and all claimed that the footage showed a doll. Some referred in their posts to Pallywood, the concept that some footage of the deaths and injuries of Palestinian people is actually faked to engender sympathy. Altogether, their posts received more than 5 million views, according to metrics on X. StopAntisemitism told HuffPost in a statement, We cant comment further on the doll story. And Tanvir told HuffPost that hed seen the doll claim from a Saudi researcher. [I] trust their research, not the journalist from Gaza, as Hamas has been infamous for such propaganda tactics, added Tanvir, referring to El Halabi. None of the other accounts responded to HuffPosts request for comment on El Halabis assertion that the video shows a human child. Brian Krassenstein, an X user with some 785,000 followers, published a post about the footage that declared FAKE BABY CONFIRMED. Krassenstein appears to have since removed that post. An archive of the post captured by Alt News shows that it received more than 3 million views. Rowaida Abdelaziz contributed reporting. Related... Speakers: Mr. Cong Liang, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission Ms. Guo Tingting, vice minister of commerce Mr. Li Kexin, director general of the Department of International Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Chairperson: Mr. Chen Wenjun, director general of the Press Bureau of the State Council Information Office (SCIO) and spokesperson of the SCIO Date: Oct. 10, 2023 Chen Wenjun: Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Welcome to this press conference. Today, the State Council Information Office (SCIO) has organized this press conference to release a white paper titled "The Belt and Road Initiative: A Key Pillar of the Global Community of Shared Future." In line with the guiding principles of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the white paper systematically lays out the historic origin, concepts and vision, realistic pathways, practical achievements and global significance of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It also comprehensively introduces the fruitful outcomes of BRI cooperation since its inception 10 years ago, and sets forth China's determination and actions to promote high-quality BRI collaboration and jointly build a global community of shared future. The white paper is around 28,000 Chinese characters long. Its main body consists of five sections: "Proposed by China but Belonging to the Whole World," "Paving the Way Towards Shared Development and Prosperity," "Promoting All-Round Connectivity in Multiple Fields," "Injecting Positive Energy into World Peace and Development" and "Pursuing Steady and Sustained Progress in High-Quality BRI Cooperation." The white paper is published in eight languages Chinese, English, French, Russian, German, Spanish, Arabic and Japanese by the People's Publishing House and Foreign Languages Press. It is available at Xinhua Bookstores across the country. To help you better understand the document, we have invited Mr. Cong Liang, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC); Ms. Guo Tingting, vice minister of commerce; and Mr. Li Kexin, director general of the Department of International Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to attend today's press conference. They will brief you on and interpret related contents of the white paper, and then take your questions. Now, I'll give the floor to Mr. Cong for his introduction. Cong Liang: Friends from the media, good afternoon. I'm very glad to join my colleagues from sister departments at today's press conference, as we release and interpret the white paper titled "The Belt and Road Initiative: A Key Pillar of the Global Community of Shared Future." The white paper systematically lays out the principles, concepts, objectives and practices over the past decade of BRI cooperation. It exemplifies the thorough implementation of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, Xi Jinping Thought on Economy, and Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy. I hope the release of the document will help people from all walks of life and the international community to understand BRI collaboration in a deeper and more comprehensive manner. This year marks the 10th anniversary of President Xi Jinping's proposal of BRI cooperation. In 2013, President Xi Jinping creatively proposed jointly building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road based on his acute insights into the unprecedented global changes unseen in a century. BRI collaboration is rooted in history, responsive to reality and oriented towards the future. Promoting the BRI is not a solo endeavor by China, but a collaborative effort involving all stakeholders. The initiative has provided a critical platform for building a global community of shared future. Over the past decade, under President Xi Jinping's personal planning, deployments and advancement, joint construction of the BRI has consistently adhered to the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, and upheld concepts of open, green and clean cooperation. In line with the initiative's objectives of high standards, sustainability and better lives, solid historic results have been achieved. These outcomes can be summarized in the following four respects: In terms of "hard connectivity" in infrastructure, a number of signature projects including the China-Laos Railway, Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway, Hungary-Serbia Railway and Piraeus Port have been built and put into operation. The China-Europe Railway Express service has provided a new Eurasian land transport route. The Silk Road Maritime Network has extended across the globe. A connectivity framework comprising "six corridors, six routes, and multiple countries and ports" has taken shape. In terms of "soft connectivity," we have deepened cooperation with other BRI partner countries on establishing rules and standards. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement has come into effect among its 15 participating countries. China has signed 21 free trade agreements with 28 countries and regions, 107 standardization cooperation agreements with standardization bodies and international organizations in 65 countries, and conventions for the avoidance of double taxation (including arrangements and agreements) with 112 countries and regions. In terms of "people-to-people connectivity," we have deepened cooperation in education, culture, sport, tourism, and archaeology with participating countries. We have signed agreements with 45 BRI partner countries and regions on the mutual recognition of higher education degrees and cultural and tourism cooperation documents with 144 BRI partner countries. We have carried out a series of "small but beautiful" brand activities, such as the establishment of the Chinese Government Scholarship - Silk Road Program, Luban Workshops, the Brightness Journey program, and the Juncao program. In terms of trade and investment, we have collaborated with other BRI partner countries to foster a mutually beneficial trade and investment partnership. The fifth China International Import Expo (CIIE) was successfully convened. We have advocated the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the Silk Road Fund, creating a long-term, stable, sustainable, and risk-controlled investment and financing system. From 2013 to 2022, the cumulative value of imports and exports between China and BRI partner countries reached $19.1 trillion, with an average annual growth rate of 6.4%. The cumulative two-way investment between China and other BRI partner countries reached $380 billion, including $240 billion from China. In the past decade, the BRI has transitioned from concept to action and from vision to reality. It has led to the creation of a new form of global connectivity, pioneered a new path towards development and prosperity for all, and explored new methods for the reform of a global governance system. The BRI has facilitated the smooth flow of goods, fostered political stability and social harmony, achieved mutual benefits and win-win cooperation, and promoted development for all. It has become a popular international public goods and international cooperation platform. More than 150 countries and 30 international organizations joined the BRI family, increasing the sense of gains and happiness among the people in the BRI partner countries. It is a remarkable innovation that benefits all of humanity. Looking ahead, the future of BRI cooperation holds great promise. China remains committed to working with other BRI partner countries to forge stronger partnerships in health, connectivity, green development, opening up, innovation, and clean government. Together, we will promote high-quality BRI cooperation in a sound and sustained manner, gathering stronger momentum and vitality to accelerate the building of a global community of shared future. That concludes my introduction. Next, my colleagues and I will answer your questions. Thank you! Chen Wenjun: Thank you, Mr. Cong. The floor is now open for questions. Please identify the news outlet you represent before asking your questions. A group of Democratic legislators and White House protesters called for a ceasefire in the Middle East on Monday as Israeli forces prepared for a ground invasion of Gaza in response to last weekends attacks. Thirteen progressive members of Congress introduced a resolution Monday afternoon calling for an immediate de-escalation and cease-fire in Israel and occupied Palestine, citing hundreds of thousands of lives being at "imminent risk" due to deteriorating conditions in Gaza. They are running out of body bags Activists at the White House call for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters) The leader of the group sponsoring the resolution, Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri, said in a statement that I am grieving for every Palestinian, Israeli, and American life lost to this violence, and my heart breaks for all those who will be forever traumatized because of it. War and retaliatory violence doesnt achieve accountability or justice; it only leads to more death and human suffering. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The United States bears a unique responsibility to exhaust every diplomatic tool at our disposal to prevent mass atrocities and save lives, Bush added. We cant bomb our way to peace, equality, and freedom. On a press call, Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan the only Palestinian member of Congress said, They are running out of body bags. We all know collective punishment of Palestinians is a war crime. The answer to war crimes can never be more war crimes. The White House was critical of the initial statements by Bush and Tlaib in the wake of Hamas attacks that killed more than 1,400 Israelis, with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre calling the comments repugnant and stressing there were not two sides. On Friday, dozens of members sent a letter to Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken after Israel issued an evacuation order to roughly a million residents of Gaza who are without power, fuel or a place to go in advance of an expected ground assault. As both the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights said, imposing a complete siege on Gaza and depriving 2.3 million Palestinian civilians who have nowhere else to go half of whom are children of food, water, and electricity, would be a violation of international humanitarian law, read the letter. Blinken initially supported a cease-fire on social media following the Hamas attack, writing that he encouraged Turkeys advocacy for a cease-fire and the release of all hostages by Hamas immediately. He then deleted that post and wrote, Israel has the right to defend itself, rescue any hostages, and protect its citizens. HuffPost reported that the State Department circulated emails telling staffers to not use the terms de-escalation/ceasefire, end to violence/bloodshed and restoring calm in regard to the situation in the Middle East. At least 2,800 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and another 10,950 injured, the Palestinian Health Ministry said on Monday as the humanitarian crisis in the densely populated area deepens. The Israeli government said that 199 hostages, higher than initial estimates, remain detained by Hamas. Simply not enough Demonstrators near the White House call for a cease-fire. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters) A group of Jewish protesters also gathered at the White House on Monday afternoon to block doors and call for a cease-fire, led by the groups IfNotNow and Jewish Voice for Peace, leading to more than 30 arrests. The group of progressive Jews has been critical of the Israeli government, saying after the evacuation order of Gaza that, We are still mourning but our grief is not a weapon, our pain is not an excuse. We refuse to let our grief be used to justify the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. The group sent a letter to White House officials calling for the U.S. government to use every available tool to deescalate the situation, writing, We commend the Administrations recent move on pushing the Israeli government to resume water supply to Palestinians and expression of concern about civilian casualties but that is simply not enough. Thousands of Americans and people around the world are looking to President Biden to continue to use his leverage and to force a ceasefire and negotiate the release of hostages. Calls for a cease-fire have not been frequent among elected U.S. officials. Last week, Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts was booed for calling for a deescalation of the current violence. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, on the other hand, gave the green light for Israel to level Gaza if they felt it necessary; Rep. Max Miller of Ohio called for the area to be turned into a parking lot and called for Tlaib to stop displaying the Palestinian flag outside her office. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, has also rejected calls for a cease-fire and said Congress will move quickly to confirm additional funds for Israel. Israel currently receives $3.8 billion in aid per year from the United States. Much like the war in Ukraine, the conflict between Israel and Hamas is splitting global superpowers into two competing camps: the U.S. and its allies versus China and Russia. But the conflict has also revealed some unexpected shifts in alliances from countries that typically support Palestinians. One of the big surprises is India a longtime Palestine supporter strongly backing Israel. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis statement of solidarity offers a signal to the United States about its willingness to support a critical U.S. ally, two experts wrote in Foreign Policy. India only established diplomatic ties with Israel in 1992, but the countrys resistance to allying with Israel drastically changed in 2014 with Modis election. Days after Modis initial response to the Hamas attack, the countrys external affairs ministry reiterated Indias long-held position calling for an independent Palestine state. However, given Modis foreign policy guided by ruthless pragmatism, his bromance with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the expanding scope of Indo-Israeli relations, its highly unlikely that India will adopt a more nuanced position on the Israel-Gaza war without pressure from Arab states, the FP experts wrote. The growing casualties, particularly among Gazans, is proving a boon for the U.S.s main geopolitical rivals, the Wall Street Journal reports, and is tilting the power balance in favor of Russia, China, and Iran. The U.S. and European countries are backing Israel and only mildly criticizing Israeli actions in Gaza, the Journal reports, leaving room for authoritarian leaders to fill the power vacuum. China has rushed humanitarian aid to Palestine while calling for an independent Palestinian state, while Russian President Vladimir Putin relishes the fact that the Middle Eastern conflict has drawn attention away from the Ukraine war. The Russians have a huge interest in prolonging the conflict in Israel as long as possible, Lithuanias foreign minister told the Journal, adding that it would strategically strengthen Moscows narrative against the West. Hundreds of people were reportedly killed in a blast at a hospital in Gaza where thousands of Palestinian civilians had been sheltering Tuesday hours before President Biden was set to visit Israel amid its war with Hamas. The Palestinian Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas, said the hospital was hit in an Israeli airstrike; the Israel Defense Forces said the blast was caused by a rocket that was misfired by a Palestinian armed group. Biden was due to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Amman, Jordan, after his visit to Israel, but the blast caused Abbas to pull out of the meeting, which was then cancelled. More than 4,000 people have been killed on both sides since the war began, with tens of thousands of others injured. U.S. officials have said at least 30 Americans are among the overall death toll, with another 13 missing. Our live coverage has ended for today. Map of Israel and Palestinian territories (Yahoo News) (Cover photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu via Getty Images) The Israeli military on Monday ordered evacuations of residents in northern Israel who live near the Lebanese border to state-funded guesthouses. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that the plan was approved by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and will be implemented by local authorities. It will affect 28 communities within 2 kilometers, about 1.2 miles, from the border. This comes as tensions between Iran-backed Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon, and Israel have risen in recent days. Hezbollah has fired rockets numerous times at Israel, which has returned fire and struck multiple Hezbollah targets. The U.S. has labeled Hezbollah, like Hamas, a terrorist organization. The IDF said Sunday that nine rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel, but Israels air defense intercepted five of them. It also confirmed that it was striking the launchsite in Lebanon as retaliation. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The World Health Organization (WHO) said that it delivered medical supplies to Lebanon as a result of escalating violence and said that it is preparing for more casualties. WHO reiterates its plea for the protection of civilians, health workers & health infrastructure and ultimately for an end to hostilities and violence, WHO said in a post on X. Strikes from Lebanon have reportedly killed one Israeli soldier and one civilian, and Israels strikes on Lebanon have killed three civilians, including Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah, and four Hezbollah members. Hamas launched its unprecedented, deadly attack in southern Israel more than a week ago, prompting Israel to declare war on the group. More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed with at least 199 being captured by Hamas and brought into Gaza, according to Israel. At least 2,750 Palestinians have been killed and another 9,700 wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The Associated Press contributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Israel has rejected a request from the Ukrainian President's Office to allow an official visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to this country in the wake of the Islamist group Hamas attack. Source: The Times of Israel, citing Hebrew-language media Details: The Israelis reportedly explained their refusal by saying that "the time is not right" for Zelenskyy's visit. Previously: On 11 October, the Axios portal, citing sources in the Ukrainian and Israeli authorities, reported that the Ukrainian President's Office had sent a request to Israel to approve an official visit by Volodymyr Zelenskyy. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Ukrainian president's visit was expected to express solidarity with Israel, which had been attacked by the Islamist group Hamas on 7 October. Background: On 7 October, Hamas attacked Israel and took hostages. The Israeli army retaliated by attempting to destroy the terrorist group's infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli authorities stated that it would be a protracted war. On the morning of 16 October, reports emerged that Egypt, Israel and the United States had agreed to a temporary ceasefire in the southern part of Gaza effective 09:00, where the Rafah crossing is located, but the Israeli Prime Minister retracted this information. 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! BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) Israel has suspended security exports to Colombia in an escalating diplomatic spat over online messages by Colombia's president comparing Israel's siege of Gaza to the actions of Nazi Germany. Colombian President Gustavo Petro has doubled down on his criticism of Israel and suggested that his country may need to suspend diplomatic relations with Israel, while his foreign minister has suggested Israel's ambassador should leave the country. In a statement published Sunday, Israel's foreign ministry said that Petro's recent statements on X, previously known as Twitter, inflame antisemitism" and "threaten the safety of the Jewish community in Colombia." The Israeli government said it called Colombia's ambassador to a meeting in which she was informed that defense cooperation between the countries would be suspended. Colombia currently has diplomatic relations with both Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and over the past two decades it has been one of Israels closes partners in Latin America. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The South American nation uses Israeli-built war planes and machine guns to fight drug cartels and rebel groups and both countries also signed a free trade agreement in 2020. But the two nations have been less aligned since Petro took office last year as Colombias first leftist president. The war of words between Petro and Israel's Ambassador Gali Dagan started a week ago when Petro refused to condemn the Hamas raid on Israel, in which militants killed hundreds of civilians in their homes. When Dagan urged Petro to speak about the terrorist attack, Colombias president replied with a message that terrorism is killing innocent children in Palestine and followed up with messages in which he accused Israel of turning Gaza into a concentration camp. The comments comparing Israels military to the Nazis sparked criticism from Colombias Jewish community and also triggered a response from the U.S. State Department, which said last Thursday through its Special Envoy to Combat and Monitor Antisemitism that it was shocked to see Colombias president comparing the Israeli government to Hitlers genocidal regime. Over the weekend Petro wrote on X that Hamas had been invented by Israels intelligence services in order to divide Palestinians and have an excuse to punish them. He provided no proof to back his claims. Dagan mocked Petros message with a sarcastic reply in which he wrote that his nations intelligence services had also created Colombias largest paramilitary group and that Jews with big noses" still rule over the group. On Monday, Colombian Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva wrote on his X account that Dagan should leave the country and apologize for his messages. Later however he wrote that Israels ambassador had not been expelled and that relations between both countries would be maintained if Israel so desired. Respectful relations between states are always welcome Leyva wrote. Petro doubled down on his critiques of Israel over the weekend, describing its military campaign in Gaza as genocide and threatening to break off relations with the Jewish state. If we must suspend diplomatic relations with Israel, then that is what we will do he wrote on X on Sunday. You cannot insult the president of Colombia. Israeli Merkava tanks have emerged with metal armor screens on top of their turrets as the country continues to prepare for a major ground assault into the Gaza Strip. The Russian military was the first to employ this kind of add-on armor, often derisively referred to as "cope cages," on tanks and other armored vehicles. It has now become a fixture on both sides of the conflict in Ukraine, primarily to provide extra protection against drones , one of the many threats Israel's forces will also face in Gaza. The first Merkavas to be seen sporting their own cope cage-like armor appeared in images of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) massing in the southern end of the country around Gaza in the past day or so. A massive Israeli ground operation into the strip has been expected for days now in the wake of an unprecedented wave of attacks carried out by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas just over a week ago. You can read more about the ongoing crisis in our rolling coverage linked here . https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1713881210135441544 Israeli forces on the ground in Gaza will face a plethora of threats, as The War Zone has previously explored in detail . This includes many dangers from above particularly weaponized drones. In this context, it is not surprising that the Israelis have taken note of how both sides in the conflict in Ukraine have been helping to protect tanks and other ground assets against armed uncrewed aerial systems of the low-end variety. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Russian tanks first began to appear with cope cage armor in the lead-up to the all-out invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Since then, a wide array of different cope cage designs, including ones with explosive reactive armor (ERA) tiles on top, have emerged. There continues to be much debate over exactly how much protection this kind of top-mounted add-on armor provides and against what kinds of threats . https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1654930572463026179 https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1648124035442819072?s=20 https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1656410521489272832 https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1656631600996548609 However, the extensive use of top-mounted armor screens by both Russian and Ukrainian forces shows that it has at least some value, especially against lower-end drones, including small improvised kamikaze and bomblet dropping types. There have been multiple instances where Ukrainian units have claimed to have defeated Russian Lancet kamikaze drone attacks on vehicles using armored screens, as well. https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1691515969653346305 https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1676312665763770397 https://twitter.com/OSINTua/status/1617152860940107776 https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1684673727579947008 For Israeli Merkavas, the additional armor on top of the turrets should be most useful in disrupting attacks from the aforementioned smaller drones dropping improvised munitions . Hamas used drones like this against Israeli tanks and other vehicles, as well as remotely-operated gun turrets , in its initial wave of attacks on October 7. https://twitter.com/CalibreObscura/status/1710595943664329027 https://twitter.com/ashoswai/status/1710629628837007481?s=20 https://twitter.com/ytirawi/status/1710622183670608064?s=20 Weaponized commercially available drones, especially quad and hexacopter types modified to be able to drop grenades and other payloads have, of course, been a very real threat for years now . Back in 2017, The War Zone highlighted how a video showing an ISIS drone dropping a grenade on an Iraqi M1 Abrams tank during the Battle of Mosul was a sign of things to come. Both this type of weapon and kamikaze drones largely emerged on the world stage the fight to tear Mosul away from ISIS. It is worth noting that in the fighting in Ukraine, so-called "first-person view" (FPV) kamikaze drones, typically highly-maneuverable commercial quadcopter types armed with a warhead of some kind and that are designed to smash directly into their target and explode, have demonstrated an ability to get around these kinds of add-on defenses. https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1676773459085647872 https://twitter.com/warinukraineua/status/1702002883275661724 The add-on armor on top of the turret could also provide an additional layer of protection for the Merkavas against other threats from above, including grenades and other explosive charges dropped on top of the tank from the upper stories of nearby buildings. The top-mounted screens might be able to defeat certain infantry anti-tank weapons, such as rocket-propelled grenades, fired down from above, as well. Much of the expected fighting in Gaza is likely to take place in very dense urban environments where Israeli forces will be at significant risk from these kinds of top-down attacks. https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1713725792599838940 It is interesting to note that the Merkavas that have been seen with these screens so far are all late model types with the latest variation of the Trophy active protection system installed. Trophy uses an array of small radars to detect and track incoming threats and then uses kinetic 'hard-kill' projectiles to neutralize them. Israeli defense contractors have been pioneers in active vehicle defenses and continue to be leaders in this space. Trophy has a very wide and flexible engagement envelope, but has limitations when it comes to engaging targets at very high elevations respective to the vehicle on which it is mounted. The manufacturer Rafael says that the system "provides 360 protection in azimuth as well as extensive elevation coverage," not total 360-degree coverage in all directions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmvx430HJlo Cope cage-style armor may create some added risks, such as making it harder for personnel in a tank's turret to escape in an emergency. The Merkava, which has a unique core configuration among modern main battle tanks, renders this somewhat moot in that it has a hatch at the rear of the hull through which the crew can egress if necessary. That hatch also gives the tank limited secondary troop-carrying and medical evacuation capabilities. You can read more in-depth about the Merkava and its design here . A view of a Merkava tank from the rear showing the open hatch leading to the internal compartment in its hull, which can also be used by the crew to escape in an emergency. IDF Whether or not add-on top-mounted armor screens become more commonplace on Israeli Merkavas or other armored vehicles remains to be seen. The images that have emerged so far show that not all Merkavas now in position around Gaza have this additional protective feature. It is possible that tanks equipped in this way could be intended to serve as lead vehicles in the initial incursion. Israeli Merkava tanks and other vehicles in Ashkelon, Israel, near the Gaza Strip on October 16, 2023. Note that not all of the Merkavas have armor cages installed on top of their turrets. Saeed Qaq/Anadolu via Getty Images What is clear is that the cope cage concept has moved beyond the fighting in Ukraine. Many foreign armed forces, including the U.S. military , pay close attention to what the IDF does, especially when it comes to vehicle protection . Russia has already begun offering armored top-mounted armored screens as a from-factory option on various tanks and other armored vehicles. A Russian T-80BVM tank with factory-made 'cope cage' style armor on display at the Army-2023 defense exhibition in August 2023. Michael Jerdev/@MuxelAero In the end, how Israeli Merkavas fare in Gaza with their new add-on armor on top of their turrets could have interesting impacts beyond this particular conflict. Contact the author: joe@thedrive.com Even before the onset of war, public support for a two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was falling, with only 35 percent of Israelis believing both states could coexist peacefully, down from 50 percent in 2013. So what does one of the two-state solutions most famous proponents and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus predecessor think about the prospects for peace now that war has begun? Ehud Olmert served as Israels prime minister between 2006 and 2009. While he was in office, he presided over the 2006 Lebanon War, watched as Hamas took power in the Gaza Strip in 2007 and dealt with frequent rocket attacks from Hamas over the course of the summer of 2008. At the same time, Olmert remained committed to finding a path to a two-state solution and remained interested in negotiating with Palestinians. I interviewed Olmert last week on Zoom during a WORLD.MINDS gathering. This interview has been edited for clarity. Rolf Dobelli: Why did Hamas attack now, not a year ago or in a year from now? ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Ehud Olmert: This is a very hard question to answer. I can only speculate. I think that the possible alliance between America, the Saudis and Israel may have uplifted the Palestinian Authority into a much better position to represent the Palestinian people for possible peace negotiations between them and the state of Israel. Hamas is not interested in this. The planned alliance is made in order to oppose the potential penetration of Iran and the Chinese into that part of the Middle East, which is a threat to the strategic interests of America, of the Saudis and also of the state of Israel. So, the partnership would have uplifted the Palestinian Authority into a much better status than they have now. The only interest of Hamas, however, is to be the sole power that speaks for the Palestinians. Dobelli: Do you think Israel will be able to completely eradicate the terrorists, the Hamas? Olmert: Look, we were quite successful in eradicating the terrorists from the West Bank. That was a terrible, terrible time. I was mayor of Jerusalem in the years 2000 to 2002. I had to deal almost on a daily basis with suicidal attacks in coffee shops, in buses, in schools, in the streets, everywhere. This was one of the most difficult times in my life and in the history of the city of Jerusalem. And we stopped in a forceful manner, in a very, very smart and sophisticated way. But we stopped it. So you can sometimes reduce terror. If you do it in a big war, it's more difficult, but I think it can be done. It may be very costly. It may be very costly to them and equally to us. Dobelli: You've been a proponent of the two-state solution for a long time. Do you think the time has arrived to finally implement it? Olmert: First of all, I think that it is the only real political solution for this lifelong conflict between Israel and Palestinian states. There is no other. Therefore, I have to believe that this is possible. Assuming that the Israeli operation in Gaza will be quick, decisive, powerful, and reasonable in terms of the price paid by the civilian population in Gaza, I think that the international community will be united against Hamas, which can give an opportunity for the Palestinian Authority to step in and to start serious negotiations. It also requires cooperation from the Israeli side. Dobelli: If Donald Trump gets reelected, how will this change things the Middle East? Olmert: I very much hope he will not. By the way, he made a terrible mistake which will cost him the 20 percent of the Jewish community that traditionally voted for Republicans. A few days ago Trump said that Hamas is a very smart organization. To have said this in these days is the ultimate manifestation of the brutality and the narrowmindedness of the guy who was president of America and wants to be reelected again. I hope he will not. Nothing good will come to America or to the Middle East or to the world if he's being elected again. Dobelli: Will Iran, the power behind Hamas, ever get the nuclear weapon? Olmert: I'll tell you something. Biden said that he swears that America will never allow Iran to have nuclear power. I am not certain that it will be enough. So there might be a situation where actions will have to be taken. Who will take these actions, how it will be done and what will be the possible ramifications remains to be seen considering the circumstances. But I'm afraid that something must be done. I wish I could tell you what I was planning to do, but I think it will be too sensitive. ROME (Reuters) - Italy will reduce the compulsory licence fee that helps finance public TV and radio broadcaster RAI from 90 to 70 euros ($73.70) per year, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said on Monday. The change, expected to kick in next year as part of the 2024 budget approved by the government, amounts to a cut of around 22%. Salvini, whose hard-right League party has long promised to completely abolish the subsidy for RAI, presented the cut as a first step. Italian consumer groups welcomed the move, while Vittorio Di Trapani, the head of journalists' union FNSI, said it further undermined RAI's independence. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The public broadcaster will have to downsize or become a government mouthpiece in order to receive the missing funds from general taxation, Di Trapani wrote on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. In Italy, the TV licence fee is paid automatically via a surcharge in electricity bills, introduced in 2016 to curtail widespread evasion. According to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), several countries in the wider European region have recently dropped the licence fee system, including France and Turkey in 2022. ($1 = 0.9498 euros) (Reporting by Alvise Armellini, editing by Gavin Jones and Bernadette Baum) JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) A Jackson State University student has died after a shooting at University Point Apartment Complex, JSU said Monday morning. In a notice to students, JSUs Acting President Elayne Hayes-Anthony identified the student as Jaylen Burnes, who was an industrial technology major from Chicago, Illinois. Our thoughts and prayers are with Jaylens family, friends and all those who knew him, the university said in a statement. He was an ambitious and bright young man, who believed in being of service as a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and president of the C100 Chapter at JSU, an affiliate of the 100 Black Men of America. We grieve the tragic loss of his life due to this senseless act of violence. Teens crash into squad car after robbing McDonalds ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Jackson police and Capitol police are assisting in the investigation to arrest the suspect. Additional security is on site to ensure the safety of students, faculty and staff. Everyone is encouraged to carry their JSU identification at all times. Classes on Monday, October 16 have been suspended. Students, faculty or staff in need of grief support can contact the Latasha Norman Center for Counseling Services at 601-979-0374 or email latashanormancenter@jsums.edu. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com. Jada Pinkett Smith has said she and Will Smith are "working very hard" on their marriage after revealing last week that they separated in 2016. They have been living separately, she said, despite regularly appearing together. Pinkett Smith told NBC they were really concentrating on "healing the relationship". The couple made headlines last year when Will Smith stormed the stage at the Oscars and slapped host Chris Rock. He yelled "keep my wife's name out of your [expletive] mouth". Pinkett Smith's revelation around the Hollywood actors' relationship made headlines across the world. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Speaking to NBC's Today Show, she said: "We are in a place now that we are in a deep healing space. "And we are really concentrating on healing the relationship between us... "We are working very hard at bringing our relationship together back to a life partnership." She explained: "He can't be this perfect idealised husband. I have to be able to accept him for the human he is. "He has to accept me for the human I am. And we want to love each other there." When asked if the couple might live in the same house again, she agreed they might. On Wednesday, as part of a book launch, she said she had considered a legal divorce but could not go through with it because she was determined to work through it. She put the relationship breakdown to "a lot of things" and by 2016 they were "exhausted with trying". Previously there had been speculation about the couple's marriage in 2020 after the pair discussed on her Facebook show Red Table Talk that Pinkett Smith had been in an "entanglement" with artist August Alsina. The actors met in 1994 when she auditioned for The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and later married in 1997. The pair have two children together - Jaden Smith and Willow Smith - along with Trey Smith, Smith's son from his first marriage. Jada Pinkett Smith and her mom Adrienne "Gammy" Banfield-Norris have been putting it all on the table for years. Since they began co-hosting " Red Table Talk " with Pinkett Smith's daughter, Willow Smith , in 2018, the mom and daughter have delved deeply into their own relationship through finding space to heal while tackling some tough issues from their past. "Red Table Talk" was Banfield-Norris' first real foray into the entertainment industry, having previously worked as a nurse. Read on to learn more about Pinkett Smith's mom, Banfield-Norris, who turns 70 on Oct. 18. She co-hosted Red Table Talk with her daughter and granddaughter Banfield-Norris began co-hosting the Facebook series Red Table Talk with Pinkett Smith and granddaughter Willow in 2018. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Throughout the shows five seasons, the three generations of women had raw, vulnerable discussions on topics ranging from love, motherhood and infidelity to addiction, prejudice and generational trauma. "Red Table Talk" was canceled earlier this year, but Pinkett Smith recently mentioned the possibility of the show returning. She worked as a nurse Banfield-Norris graduated at the top of her nursing school class at Coppin State University in Baltimore, Maryland, according to The New York Times. Her interest in medicine was sparked by her fathers career as a doctor, she said in a 2013 interview with Minority Nurse. My father was a doctor, and as a child I would go to the hospital with my dad, she said. I just loved being in the hospital with him. That was our special time together. Banfield-Norris told Rolling Stone in February 2021 that she no longer worked as a nurse due to "Red Table Talk" being her "primary occupation" at the time. During the 2013 interview with Minority Nurse, Pinkett Smith expressed how her mom's medical expertise has come in handy in their personal lives. Just watching her, it amazes me, Pinkett Smith said of her mom. She was there with me a couple of times where weve had some medical emergencies in the house with (my) kids and (it amazes me) how automatically she goes into this analytical mode of focus. She just is a great problem solver. She gave birth to Jada Pinkett Smith in high school Banfield-Norris had Pinkett Smith, her only child, when she was a teenager. She opened up about the challenges of being a young mom in a 2018 episode of Red Table Talk. They were the worst years of my life. Worst years of my life, she said. Because I was just so confused, so in a rebellious state, I wasnt getting along with mommy and daddy, just being really uncomfortable in my own skin, and just doing whatever I thought I needed to do to be popular, and be part of the popular crowd. So thats not an easy thing for someone as young as I was. Banfield-Norris married Pinkett Smiths father while still in high school, and they were divorced about a year later. She is married to Rodney Norris Banfield-Norris married Rodney Norris in 2016. Norris is the president and CEO of Positive Pathways, a nonprofit organization that supports people with developmental disabilities in Baltimore. Banfield-Norris celebrated their seventh anniversary in August 2023 with a sweet message about her husband on Instagram. Thank you for always being the voice of reason, my rock, my husband, lover and most importantly, my partner! she wrote, in part. I still get giddy when you walk in the room! Heres to life! Heres to love! Heres to us! Good times and the rough times, back to back and side by side! I LOVE YOU, RODNEY WILLIAM NORRIS. Banfield-Norris was married three times previously, she shared on the Dr. Jackies Point of V podcast in 2021 first, briefly, to Jada Pinkett Smiths father in high school, then to another man for four years. Banfield-Norris said she married her third husband while in recovery from her addiction, and was with him for more than 20 years before they split. I lost my sister, my oldest sister, I lost a niece who was much younger than I was. I was unhappy in the marriage and I just really started thinking that, you know, I have more years behind me than I do in front of me, and Ive got to be happy, she said, reflecting on parting ways with her third husband. I cant just stay in a marriage because youve been here for 20 years. She has been open about her sobriety Banfield-Norris has spoken candidly about her 20-year heroin addiction, and her journey to recovery. In December 2021, she celebrated 31 years of sobriety in an Instagram video. So Im outside and I just wanted to take a few minutes to be peaceful and still, she said in the video. Today is my anniversary, my clean date, she continued. 31 years, one day at a time. Ive spent so many years in that insanity of active addiction, running in and out and just that revolving door, trying to get my life back together, she added. That surrender was a struggle, but it was the surrender that was the beginning of the change in my life. This article was originally published on TODAY.com As the ongoing Israel-Hamas war raises fears of anti-religious discrimination and hate worldwide, new FBI statistics paint a picture of hate crimes against Jews, Muslims, Black people and other US minorities. In 2022, there were at least 11,634 hate crime incidents reported to the FBI by law enforcement agencies, with anti-Black/African-American hate crimes the most common, comprising nearly a third of the reported total. Anti-Jewish incidents were the most common religion-related hate crime, totalling 1,124 incidents. Arabs, Muslims and Sikhs in the US, who faced a wave of post-9/11 discrimination and hate violence, experienced 431 hate crimes in 2022, according to the data. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The most common forms of hate crimes in the data were intimidation, property destruction, vandalism, and assault, while white people were the group most likely to commit the hate crimes on record. Community leaders say Jewish and Palestinian communities in the US and beyond are already suffering hate-based incidents amid the ongoing war in Israel and Gaza. The Department of Justice has opened a federal hate crimes investigation into the 14 October death of Wadea Al-Fayoume, a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy who was allegedly stabbed to death by a landlord yelling anti-Muslim statements. The boys mother was also injured in the incident. This incident cannot help but further raise the fears of Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian communities in our country with regard to hate-fueled violence, Justice Department officials said in a statement. No one in the United States of America should have to live in fear of violence because of how they worship or where they or their family come from, the statement added. Last week, a group of three men in New York waving Israeli flags and allegedly yelling anti-Palestinian remarks reportedly assaulted three men in a Brooklyn neighourhood with a large population of Yemeni, Syrian and Egyptian families, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). This moment is different, Corey Saylor, research and advocacy director at CAIR, told The Guardian. Right now there is an unusually vicious targeting of students that support Palestine, and the volume and intensity is something I havent witnessed before. Jewish communities in the US have also faced alleged hate-based violence and intimidation since the outbreak of the war. A protester in New York was spotted holding up the image of a swastika, while another was seen holding the flag of a US-designated terror group, according to the Anti-Defamation League, which monitors anti-semitism and other forms of hate-based violence. Jewish people have also been harassed outside of their synagogues in the US over the war, according to the group. In Fresno, California, police are investigating a stone thrown at a local synagoue. Internationally, many were alarmed as Star of David graffiti appeared on the doors of homes in Berlin in recent days, in what was seen as a chilling reference to Germanys Nazi past and an attempt to intimidate its present-day Jewish population. Despite Western intelligence saying that Ukraine would fall within days of the Russian invasion, Boris Johnson , former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, believed that Putin had made a mistake and the Ukrainians would fight. Source: new episode of Ukrainska Pravdas podcast 24.02: Reconstruction (English translation to follow shortly) Details: Johnson says that UK intelligence was absolutely sure that Putin was planning something ridiculous. On 23 February, the United Kingdom intercepted many signals and conversations in which Russian commanders told commanders of tactical battalion groups about moving into position. Johnson also recalls receiving a message about the attack from the UK national security adviser. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Quote from Johnson: "They said Putin attacked, an invasion had begun. And I must have said something terrible in English, I won't repeat it verbatim here, but I let profanity escape my lips. Later, I spoke with President Zelenskyy. He said that the Russians were approaching from all sides, he described what was happening in the east, in the north. You have to remember that people really thought that Ukraine would not last very long at this stage." Details: Johnson also says that he did not believe in the information from military intelligence that Ukraine would fall in a few days. Quote: "Military intelligence told me and our friends in Washington that Ukraine would be unable to hold out very long. But I want to tell you something. I didn't think they were right. Because I didn't understand how they could be right. I have visited Ukraine and knowing that it is a huge country, I knew that Ukrainians would not want to be conquered by the Russians. It is obvious that I am not a general, I am not a tactician, I am not a military. But my instinct told me that they had made a mistake. So I was desperate to ensure we got you everything you needed as soon as possible." For more information about how the fronts arose and moved on 24 February, who and how heroically stopped the advance of the Russians, how Ukrainian cities and the country as a whole recovered from the first shock and went on the defensive, listen to the podcast "24.02: Reconstruction" (English translation to follow shortly) 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! Jon Huntsmans family has donated tens of millions of dollars to the University of Pennsylvania over the yearsbut he says their foundation will close its checkbook in protest of the schools response to antisemitism. The former Utah governors move comes after billionaire Marc Rowan and Law & Order creator Dick Wolf blasted the Ivy League school for a Palestinian literary conference that featured controversial speakers. Huntsman decried what he believes was a weak response to Hamas attack in Israel. Moral relativism has fueled the universitys race to the bottom, he said in a letter, according to The Daily Pennsylvanian. Read it at The Daily Pennsylvanian Read more at The Daily Beast. Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. speaks at a Hatch Center symposium at The Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2020. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman will stop making donations to the University of Pennsylvania over its lack of a response to Hamas attack on Israel, he said in an email sent Saturday. News of the email was first reported by the Daily Pennsylvanian, the student newspaper at Penn, which is a member of the Ivy League. Huntsman, who also served as a U.S. ambassador to Russia and China, sent the email to Penn President Liz Magill. He wrote the university had become deeply adrift in ways that make it almost unrecognizable. The Universitys silence in the face of reprehensible and historic Hamas evil against the people of Israel (when the only response should be outright condemnation) is a new low, he wrote. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Related Consequently, Huntsman Foundation will close its checkbook on all future giving to Penn something that has been a source of enormous pride for now three generations of graduates. My siblings join me in this rebuke, he wrote. Magill released a statement Sunday, stating she and the university are horrified by and condemn Hamass terrorist assault on Israel and their violent atrocities against civilians. Multiple donors have withdrawn their support from the university over its lack of response to reported incidents of antisemitism on campus, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The donors may also have been responding to a call from Marc Rowan, the CEO of Apollo Global Management and chair of the Board of Overseers at the Wharton School, the universitys business school, who said donors should close their checkbooks until Magill and other university officials resign. Rowan made the comments on CNBC and in The Free Press. Huntsman graduated from Penn in 1987, as did his father, the late Jon M. Huntsman Sr. The family has made sizable donations to the school, including a $40 million donation to the Wharton School in 1998. Huntsmans decision received support and accolades on social media from academics and prominent writers. Former Yale professor Nicholas Christakis wrote on X, Its not so much about condemning Hamas. Its about the rank hypocrisy of these elite institutions, which have alienated themselves from their actual mission, losing all credibility in the process. Its not so much about condemning Hamas. Its about the rank hypocrisy of these elite institutions, which have alienated themselves from their actual mission, losing all credibility in the process. https://t.co/9AXkoD3yQT Nicholas A. Christakis (@NAChristakis) October 15, 2023 Well done, wrote Seth Mandel, executive editor of Washington Examiner Magazine. A federal judge said Monday that she would impose a gag order barring former President Trump from attacking future witnesses in his election interference case, as well as prosecutors, court staff and their families. Judge Tanya Chutkan said Trumps status as a candidate did not give him carte blanche to level a smear campaign against those involved in the case, saying that First amendment protections yield to the administration of justice and to the protection of witnesses. She declined however, to grant an order with the breadth requested by the Justice Department in September, declining to limit any speech attacking her or the District of Columbia, saying the court would use the jury selection process to ensure it does not pick jurors swayed by Trumps repeated attacks on the city. The extent of Chutkans order was not entirely clear, saying she would describe only the contours of her decision Monday, while drafting a formal ruling later. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Still, she clarified the order would not stop Trump from attacking President Biden or claiming over the course of his campaign that the prosecution is politically motivated an assertion the Justice Department again denied during the hearing. This is not about whether I like the language Mr. Trump uses, Chutkan said. This is about language that dangers the administration of justice. The decision came after a request by the Justice Department to limit attacks that included disparaging, inflammatory and intimidating remarks about the case. Its something prosecutors said was needed to block Trump from using his reach as a former president to influence the case, while Trumps team said it was overly broad and would chart new ground in impinging on the free speech rights of a presidential candidate. Chutkan said her ruling reflected the realities of being a criminal defendant at one point noting Trumps four different criminal cases and saying release conditions allow for restrictions on speech and that Trump does not have the right to say and do exactly as he pleases. During the more than two-hour hearing, Chutkan in particular took issue with Trumps statements calling special counsel Jack Smith a deranged thug. I cannot imagine any other criminal case where a defendant is allowed to call a prosecutor deranged or a thug, she said. I will not permit it here simply because the defendant is running a political campaign, Chutkan added. Trump was charged with four criminal counts in August stemming from his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. He pleaded not guilty, as he did in his three other indictments, portraying them all as a political witch hunt. It was a swift decision on a thorny issue that Trumps team has pledged to appeal, one that came after a shift in the tone of the hearing. Chutkan repeatedly chastised Trumps attorney, John Lauro , accusing him at turns of repeating Trumps rhetoric from the campaign trail while failing to answer direct questions about legal arguments. I do not need to hear any campaign rhetoric in my court, Chutkan said, adding that politics stops at this courthouse door. At another point, Chutkan told Lauro, obviously you have an audience other than me in mind. Lauro repeatedly suggested during the hearing that the only way to avoid the sticky issues presented was to bump the case and hold the trial after the election. This trial will not yield to the election cycle, and were not revisiting the trial date, Chutkan said. The trial is slated to begin March 4, one day before Super Tuesday. Chutkan opened the hearing noting that Trump had lobbed insults at her and the prosecutors on the case just the night before. He also made a high profile attack on a court staffer in New York shortly after the Justice Department first made the request a comment that led to a gag order in that civil trial. Chutkan said she was less concerned about shielding myself but that the statements pose tremendous risk to court staff who are just doing their jobs. She said that without clear guidance from the court, Trump would continue to make similar remarks. Im not confident that without some kind of restriction, we wont be in here all the time, Chutkan said. Lauro, Trumps attorney, said all of the speech issues in his cases are inextricably intertwined with the campaign given the timing of the prosecution. Mr. Trump is allowed to say things like this is a politically motivated prosecution. He is entitled to say things he is being treated unfairly. He is allowed to speak truth to oppression, Lauro said. Chutkan at various turns asked Lauro about Trumps attacks on Smiths wife, as well as various different witnesses, warning that they could spur violence. But Lauro dismissed those concerns, noting that the First Amendment shields speakers from being held liable for the actions of others but also said it was obvious such comments were not threats. I disagree, I dont think its obvious, Chutkan responded. That was a central line of the prosecutors arguments. He knows and understands the effects of these statements. It is that they are amplified; it is that they motivate people to threaten others. And it not only prejudices the jury pool but in the case of witnesses it threatens and chills witnesses too, DOJ prosecutor Molly Gaston said during the hearing. Prosecutors also focused on Trumps strategy of trying this case in the media, saying his comments could undermine how a future jury perceives the case and the integrity of those involved in the proceedings. Its not because were trying to defend the special counsels office or the court its because a juror will come to jury selection and not be able to follow the courts instruction, Gaston said. We cant just allow the jury pool to be prejudiced and then try to confront it on the back end. Though Chutkan did issue the gag order, she narrowed its scope after raising concerns about the breadth of prosecutors proposal. Chutkan highlighted several carve outs to her order, in particular noting that one potential witness is former Vice President Pence, now a campaign contender in the 2024 primary. Chutkan said though her order will ban Trump from attacking Pence when it concerns facts underlying the case, the order wont ban Trump from otherwise chastising his former running mate. If Mr. Trump wants to criticize his political rival, Mr. Pence, he may do so, Chutkan said. Chutkan also rejected prosecutors ask to limit attacks on Washington, D.C. which Trump has called a filthy and crime-ridden embarrassment. Gaston said Trumps attacks on the city were two-fold: an effort to drum up resistance in the D.C. jury pool to back an eventual argument he has floated that the case should be tried in another city. But Chutkan said those issues would be addressed either during jury selection or evaluated when Trump moves to change the venue of the case. Shortly ahead of Chutkans decision, Lauro sought to highlight the high stakes involved with such an order. Is your honor going to put President Trump in jail until after the election? Lauro said. Look what theyve opened here, its a massive can of worms. Updated 1:54 p.m. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City. What comes next is anybody's guess. The odds that Fulton County (Ga.) Inmate No. P01135809 will abide by the order issued on Monday by Judge Tanya Chutkan are far off the boards. The question before the country now is that what, if anything, will happen to him when he does. From the New York Times: Mr. Trumps free speech rights do not permit him to launch a pretrial smear campaign against those people, said the judge, Tanya S. Chutkan. No other defendant would be allowed to do so, Judge Chutkan added, and Im not going to allow it in this case. But the narrowly tailored order explicitly left Mr. Trump free as he pursues his presidential campaign to continue disparaging the Justice Department and President Biden. It even allowed him to assert that he believed his criminal prosecution was politically motivated. Judge Chutkan apparently left Mr. Trump leeway to attack her as well. That's certainly open-minded of Her Honor. It also would warn off any thinking human being coming before her for trial. In fact, the order is carefully tailored and judicious enough that any thinking human being could be a criminal defendant and still abide by it. Of course... ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement A Trump campaign spokesperson connected the decision to President Biden, who had no role in the decision or in Trumps court cases, and called the ruling an absolute abomination and another partisan knife stuck in the heart of our Democracy. President Trump will continue to fight for our Constitution, the American peoples right to support him, and to keep our country free of the chains of weaponized and targeted law enforcement, the spokesperson said in a statement shared by the campaign. And, from that same report in The Hill, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene explained her theory of politics: Her orders don't make a lot of sense. The boundaries of disparagement and inflammatory are the standards by which to judge President Trump's speech, gagging him and censoring him while he's running for president. He's the top presidential candidate for the Republican party for 2024. But politics, all of politics, is disparaging and inflammatory. That's the nature of politics and campaigns. So the judge has just made her courtroom the Ministry Of Truth. Leave aside the obvious evidence that some staffer slipped her the Cliff's Notes to 1984, all of campaign politics is disparagement and inflammatory? Geez, and people say I'm cynical. Apparently, given the performance of his counsel, John Lauro , the former president* should count himself lucky. Much of the hearing was given over to heated sparring between Judge Chutkan and John F. Lauro, a lawyer for Mr. Trump. Cutting Mr. Lauro off several times and even laughing at him when he maintained that the pretrial release conditions imposed on Mr. Trump were working Judge Chutkan staked out a position that was largely in keeping with the governments. She repeatedly said that Mr. Trump should not enjoy any special privileges as a presidential candidate. She added that she was simply seeking to protect people involved in the election interference case from being threatened, and to keep Mr. Trumps bullying remarks from spiraling into violence. This trial will not yield to the election cycle, Judge Chutkan said. Time out for fauxtrage. Mr. Lauro, often using exaggerated language, sought to portray Mr. Trump as the victim of the governments tyranny and totalitarianism. He tried to reframe the former presidents public statements, saying they were merely examples of speaking truth against oppression, and he baselessly portrayed President Biden as having directed the case against Mr. Trump. At one point, the tensions nearly boiled over as Judge Chutkan noted that Mr. Lauro was speaking as much to his client, Mr. Trump, as he was to her, and warned him to tone this down a bit. Mr. Lauro responded by accusing the judge of trying to censor his own speech. Judge Chutkan was vague about what she might do when the former president* commits the inevitable violation. Which does not surprise me. Nobody knows what comes next. The next step is always a leap in he dark. You Might Also Like GT Voice: US chip firms cant endure more limits on China sales 08:12, October 16, 2023 By Global Times ( Global Times Illustration: Liu Rui/Global Times While US politicians appear determined to continue the strategy of seeking a "decoupling" from China in the high-tech sphere, continuous layoffs by American tech giants clearly show why the export limits on chip sales to China are unsustainable and self-defeating for the US industry. The Biden administration is likely to announce soon new controls on artificial intelligence (AI) chips and equipment that can be sold to China, US media outlet Axios reported on Saturday, citing administration officials. This is not the first time foreign media outlets have reported that the Biden administration is likely to add curbs on AI chip sales to China. Last week, a Reuters report said that Washington is mulling ways to close a loophole that gives overseas subsidiaries of Chinese companies access to American AI chips, while the Axios article claimed that the new rules may be applied to chips that are slightly less powerful than those covered under the initial guidelines, but still have advanced capabilities. Whatever the eventual rules are, one thing is certain: they will serve as a new blow to US chip companies that are already facing difficulties amid shrinking demand. Just recently, Qualcomm, the world's largest maker of smartphone chips, announced a plan to cut 1,258 positions in the California cities of San Diego and Santa Clara, starting in mid-December. Chief Financial Officer Akash Palkhiwala told analysts that Qualcomm would "proactively implement additional cost actions." The direct cause of Qualcomm's layoffs is a poor performance. According to its third-quarter earnings report, net income fell to $1.8 billion, a staggering 52 percent year-on-year drop. Intel also announced layoffs after a sharp drop in profits in the first quarter. With global chipmakers seeing weak demand due to factors such as the sluggish economic outlook, the Chinese market is not something they can afford to lose. In sharp contrast to continuing US efforts to cut off the American chip industry from China, US chip giants have been trying to find ways to continue doing business with China by circumventing the US chip bans. For instance, Nvidia modified its flagship A100 and H100 chips to versions that are not prohibited from being sold to China under the US rules, after US regulators banned the company from selling those chips to Chinese customers. Also, chief executives of major US chip companies - Intel, Qualcomm and Nvidia - urged a halt to more curbs on chip exports to China when meeting with top Biden administration officials in July, according to media reports. Their opposition and concerns are totally justified. The global semiconductor industry and supply chains are shaped by the laws of market dynamics and the choices of businesses. China is the world's largest market for chips, with imports amounting to $415.6 billion in 2022. If politicians in Washington continue to choose the wrong way to keep their strength in technology, turning a blind eye to calls from the industry, one likely outcome is that US chip companies will face greater risks. Not only will they lose a huge market, but they will see the rise of competitors, because the US chip war has served as a reminder of the importance of independent innovation, and it has enhanced China's resolve to pursue technological innovation and progress. While the US chip ban may cause some difficulties for the Chinese semiconductor industry in the short term, in the long run, it will offer domestic industry players the time and market space needed for growth and thriving in the future competition. Judging from the achievements of Chinese semiconductor companies over the past few years, especially the breakthrough by Huawei, there is already clear awareness that only with sufficient technological progress by China can the US technological war see a failure. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) Flash People remove the body of a victim from a building destroyed in Israeli airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, Oct. 15, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua] Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday held a phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, at the latter's invitation, exchanging views on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Noting that the situation in the Middle East is currently dangerous and the war is constantly expanding, the Iranian foreign minister urged immediate actions to stop attacks on the civilians in Gaza and alleviate the humanitarian situation in the region. The Iranian side hopes to resolve the issue through political means and stands ready to strengthen communication with China in this regard, he stressed. For his part, Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that the pressing task is to cool down the situation and prevent a serious humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip from causing more innocent civilian casualties, thereby undermining regional peace and ruining the Middle East peace process. The exercise of the right to self-defense should comply with international law and international humanitarian law, including ensuring the safety of civilians and detainees, he noted, warning that countering violence with violence would only cause more damage and bring about more serious crises. Wang said that China supports Islamic countries in strengthening unity and coordination and speaking with one voice on the Palestinian issue, urging the international community to act against the harm done to civilians by any party. The United Nations, especially the Security Council, should earnestly shoulder its responsibilities and play its due role, he added. The Chinese foreign minister stressed that the fundamental reason for the development of the Palestinian-Israeli situation today is that the Palestinian people's right to statehood has been put on hold for a long time, their right to existence has not been implemented for a long time, and their right to return has been ignored for a long time. This historical injustice should end as soon as possible, he continued, noting that China will continue to stand on the side of peace and justice, and support the just cause of the Palestinian people in safeguarding their national rights. U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler addresses a gathering celebrating the second year of the Roybal School of Film and Television Production Magnet in downtown Los Angeles. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) As then-Sen. Kamala Harris presidential bid was collapsing in late 2019 amid factional infighting, her campaign badly needed a trusted person who could close the operation down pay off bills, terminate contracts and counsel staff members who needed jobs. Internal backbiting and lackluster support from voters had undone a two-year effort, and Harris, once seen as a top-tier contender, was now bowing out a full two months before the Iowa caucuses, the first contest of the Democratic primary season. Newly appointed Sen. Laphonza Butler attends a news conference after attending her first Senate Democratic policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on Oct. 4, 2023. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images) At that moment, one of the lowest in her political career, Harris turned for help to someone she had worked with for nearly a decade Laphonza Butler. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Everyone else was gone, said Nathan Barankin, a senior campaign advisor. She was the person trusted by all sides. The role was the sort of behind-the-scenes job at which Butler has excelled during her rapid rise in Democratic politics in California. Arriving in the state in 2009, Butler moved up through the ranks of its powerful labor unions, along with later stints in corporate lobbying and national politics. She wielded her clout quietly, forging connections with politicians and mentors whom she impressed, including Harris and Gov. Gavin Newsom. She is an individual who doesnt pound her chest, said Wendy Greuel, a former Los Angeles city controller who serves on the board of Emilys List, a Democratic group that helps fund political campaigns by women who support abortion rights a group that Butler led from 2021 until a few weeks ago. An unexpected call from the governor's office on Sept. 30 suddenly changed Butler's role. No longer a behind-the-scenes operative, she's now a front-facing principal, serving the final 15 months of the late Sen. Dianne Feinsteins term, and potentially she has not yet announced a decision a candidate to keep the job. Laphonza Butler and then-California Democratic candidate for governor Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom take a selfie. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) Harris, who rose from the wreckage of her presidential run to become vice president, swore Butler in on the Senate floor earlier this month. Butler and Harris met during the 2010 election, when Harris, then the San Francisco district attorney, faced six Democrats in a contested primary for state attorney general. Harris had struggled to stand out in the field and was eager to make inroads in Los Angeles, where she was virtually unknown. Butler, just 31, had spent less than two years in Los Angeles. But she had already established herself as a significant political figure. The Service Employees International Union had recently installed her as the head of a major local based in Los Angeles, replacing Tyrone Freeman, who had stepped down after a series of articles in The Times documented allegations of stealing from the low-income workers he represented. He would subsequently be convicted on 14 counts of embezzlement, fraud and tax violations. Butler said in an interview that she had sought out the L.A. job after seven years of working as an organizer and staff member for SEIU based in Baltimore and Washington, because she wanted to help the women of color who dominated the local. "They reminded me of my mom," who worked as an unarmed security officer, with low pay and no benefits, and in a nursing home on the overnight shift, she said. "And you know, she was dog-tired when she came home, but she always wanted to make sure that she was home in time enough to walk me and my two brothers to the crossing guard to go to school," Butler said. "And so I saw in these women and this opportunity a chance to offer what my mother never had the opportunity for. Butler was raised in Magnolia, Miss., where her mother struggled to take care of her father, who had heart problems and died when Butler was 16. She attended Jackson State University, a historically Black public school just over an hour away from her home, graduating in 2001 with a degree in political science. Soon after, she took a job with SEIU, working at a salary of just under $30,000 organizing hospital and healthcare workers. Over the next several years, she worked her way up through the union's ranks. In 2007, she took a senior position in one of the union's major divisions, the one that represented janitorial workers. Along the way, she attracted the attention of a powerful mentor, Andy Stern , the president of the 1.9-million-member union. Stern was initially skeptical when the young organizer, just a few years out of college, asked him to meet. "Part of me was like, why does she want to have dinner with me?" he recalled. "Is it a hustle?" She quickly won him over during near-monthly dinners in Washington that also included Anna Berger, Stern's second-in-command at SEIU, and Neneki Lee another young staffer who eventually became Butler's wife. The couple have a daughter, Nylah, now 9. Butler, Stern said in an interview, asked incisive questions about how union leaders decided on political endorsements, what qualities Stern looked for in an organizer and whether people who want to advance their careers should seek a high-ranking job at headquarters or branch out to run a union local. "Laphonza has a very straightforward, no-nonsense approach to things. It's not hard to figure out what she's thinking," he said. "That was very helpful to me most people were trying to cultivate favors and say what they thought I wanted to hear." "She decided that my engagement with her my mentorship was really helpful for her to learn," Stern recalled. "And it couldn't hurt to know the president of the union." Butler decided she wanted to run a local, and in 2008, she asked Stern whether he would send her to Los Angeles. Stern said no. After the scandal surrounding Freeman, Stern said the union "needed someone to clean house and get to the bottom of things," and deal "with all the residue of a disaster" a job that would see its fair share of acrimony and recriminations. But when the time came to restore the union, he called Butler in. There was a lot to overcome. There was a big hangover of negativity because of Tyrone's behavior," he said. "She took it over, rebuilt it, and rebuilt our standing with the community." Laphonza Butler, left, then-president of SEIU ULTCW, the United Long Term Care Workers Union, joins workers on May 19, 2015, demanding the Los Angeles City Council vote to raise the minimum wage. (Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press) Butler forged bonds across L.A.'s civic structure, developing close ties with Greuel, then the city controller; Holly Mitchell, then a state legislator and now an L.A. County supervisor; and Mark Ridley-Thomas, the veteran lawmaker who was then a county supervisor. The bond with Ridley-Thomas has endured. This year, after a jury convicted him of bribery, conspiracy and fraud in a federal public corruption case, Butler was among more than 130 people who wrote letters to the judge before his sentencing. Ridley-Thomas' help in rebuilding the union "meant the world to the members," she wrote. Butler met Harris at a labor event. The two women clicked. They shared the challenges of being Black and female in a political world dominated by white men. Both had also gone to historically Black colleges Harris to Howard University and Butler to Jackson State. Butlers father had urged her to become a lawyer when she was younger, and she saw union work as another path to social justice. Harris often spoke of her legal work in similar terms. Harris asked her top consultant, Ace Smith, to reach out to Butler for help in her primary campaign for state attorney general. I thought it would be one of these things where I need to do a lot of persuasion, Smith recalled. Instead, she was all in, ready to go, literally ready to turn tables over for us the support you always hope to get in a campaign that you rarely get. The alliance helped Harris overcome the advantage of labor ties held by Democratic state legislators who were among her chief opponents. It cemented a level of trust. Its easy to jump on the bandwagon, said Sean Clegg, Smiths partner. You always remember the people and value the relationships with people who were there when it was a twinkle in the eye. Butler remained in Harris inner circle of advisors and provided political backing of another sort in 2011, when Harris, then California's attorney general, walked away from a national settlement with banks that had foreclosed on millions of Americans during the mortgage crisis. Harris had been under pressure from the Obama administration to accept the settlement. There weren't a whole lot of people that said Yeah, Kamala, you go, recalled Barankin, who was then Harris chief of staff. Most people were like, Do you know what you're doing?" "Laphonza was one of a small group of important people out there who supported Kamala 100% on that, he said. Harris ended up securing a much bigger payment for Californians $20 billion which became a central talking point in her presidential campaign. Butler continued her rise in the labor movement. In 2015, the SEIU consolidated several union locals into a new, statewide unit representing more than 325,000 long-term care workers. Butler was appointed president of the new local, making her one of the states most influential labor leaders. She was a frequent presence in Sacramento, where she played a major role in increasing the state's minimum wage. Her salary climbed, too: In 2018, her final year with the SEIU, she earned $243,249, just $13,000 less than Mary Kay Henry, who had succeeded Stern as the union's president, according to union filings with the Labor Department. By the time Harris launched her presidential campaign in early 2019, Butler had joined Smiths political firm, now known as Bearstar Strategies, and became a senior advisor to Harris. On the campaign, Butler spent the bulk of her time courting and tending to college groups, volunteers and high-level endorsers in early primary states, said Jalisa Washington-Price, South Carolina state director and deputy national political director for Harris' campaign. In her role, Butler often served as a surrogate speaker at events, and when Harris traveled she was usually by her side on the plane. The hybrid position fused Butlers ability to relate to people as a girl from Mississippi with her experience in brokering internal debates over where to divert limited money, staff and other resources, Washington-Price said. As the campaign faltered, Harris sister, Maya Harris , and campaign manager Juan Rodriguez began to quarrel over strategy and control. Butler managed to stay out of the fray, though everybody came out of that with a bunch of scars, according to one former Harris advisor. The job with Smith's firm has proved controversial for another reason. While there, Butler advised the ride-hailing company Uber on its dealings with organized labor during a contentious time in which lawmakers were deciding whether drivers and other gig workers should be treated as employees with minimum wage and overtime protections. The stakes were large. For Uber alone, making drivers employees could cost as much as $500 million per year, according to a study by equity research analysts at Barclays. Uber, Lyft and others desperately attempted to cut a deal with labor unions as Assembly Bill 5 moved through the California Legislature. Officials from the SEIU and the Teamsters met with ride-sharing company executives behind closed doors to try to hash out a pact that would provide some labor protections for drivers but avoid making them employees. Those negotiations angered advocates for the drivers, some of whom remain incensed at Butler for her part in them. There were no drivers in the room as our rights were being negotiated away, and drivers were very mad, said Nicole Moore, president of Rideshare Drivers United and herself a driver. It was very disturbing. These are the people who are supposed to defend worker rights. Laphonza has her own path that started solidly in labor and then switched sides to one of the worst labor violators in the world, Moore said. You cant do that. I mean, what are your principles then? Emily's List President Laphonza Butler speaks during the organization's 2023 Pre-Oscars Breakfast at the Beverly Hilton on March 7, 2023. (Araya Doheny / Getty Images for Emily's List) A year later, Butler took a job with Airbnb, a company that has been seen as a threat by hotel union workers. When she left the company the following year to take the job heading Emily's List, she cashed out stock worth at least $1 million, according to government filings. When I decided to join Airbnb, I knew there would be judgment from the labor movement about me going into a corporate environment, Butler wrote in a passage for a 2022 book called Take a Lesson: Black Achievers on How They Made It and What They Learned Along the Way. The move was a conscious choice to avoid losing out on opportunities and to pursue this role from a place of curiosity, she wrote. I think about my journey as one of empowering others, and I saw Airbnb as just another expression of that, she wrote, citing the high number of women renting out their homes and the need to rebuild wealth for Black and brown families who lost homes during the Great Recession. Actor Kelly McCreary and Emily's List President Laphonza Butler onstage during the 2022 MAKERS Conference on Oct. 25, 2022, in Dana Point. (Emma McIntyre / Getty Images for The MAKERS Conference) Some in the union movement say Butler has nothing to apologize for. We should all focus on her years in the trenches with workers, said Tia Orr, the current state SEIU director, who worked closely with Butler. And the life-changing victories she championed to lift up the most marginalized workers in the country not a short stint on her resume. Butler's move in 2021 to head Emily's List, one of the most influential groups in Democratic politics, returned her to the electoral arena. It also allowed her to spend more time in Washington and more closely align her day job with her informal role in Harris cadre of outside advisors. The advisory group spoke regularly with Harris and her staff about strategy and messaging, who should be invited to events and where the vice president should travel. Butler became a regular guest at Harris' Sunday dinners. She was also part of a group of close supporters who would get regular emails on Harris public appearances and news releases so they could amplify Harris message and improve her reputation, said Jamal Simmons, Harris former communications director. The [vice president] often wanted us to check in with her, Simmons said. She was one of the people that I talked to fairly regularly. The two women's political priorities were brought more directly into alignment after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the right to abortion last year. Harris had been scheduled to speak at an Emily's List fundraising gala the day the decision was leaked. She delivered a fiery rebuke of the court, launching herself into the role of the Biden administration's main player in the effort to campaign on the issue in 2022 and 2024. George Clooney, Don Cheadle, U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler and Gov. Gavin Newsom sit together during a celebration of the second year of the Roybal School of Film and Television Production Magnet in downtown Los Angeles. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) In June, Emilys List told Politico it would spend tens of millions of dollars promoting Harris, whose approval ratings among Republicans and Democrats have sagged below President Biden's. But Butler will no longer be leading that effort to boost her ally. Instead, the political future she'll be tending will now be her own. Hamilton and Mehta reported from Los Angeles and Luna from Sacramento. Times staff writers Courtney Subramanian in Washington and Nathan Fenno, Melody Gutierrez and Benjamin Oreskes in Los Angeles contributed to this report. Get the best of the Los Angeles Times politics coverage with the Essential Politics newsletter. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. The Biden administration has significantly expanded its loans to Latino-owned businesses, who face an uphill battle to obtain credit from traditional lenders. The Small Business Administration (SBA) in fiscal 2023 backed 7,746 loans to Latino businesses, amounting more than $3 billion, according to official figures obtained by The Hill. Thats up from an average of just over 5,000 loans to Latino businesses over the previous five fiscal years, including a pandemic dip in 2020 when the SBA only backed 3,877 such loans. While the SBA in 2006 backed a record 9,951 loans for Latino businesses, it only doled out about $1.3 billion that year. Dollar amounts for Latino business loans have ballooned under the Biden administration, rising from $1.6 billion in fiscal 2020, to $2.8 billion in FY21, to $2.6 billion in FY22 and $3 billion in FY23. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Americas more than five million Latino-owned small businesses create jobs, deliver over $800 billion to our economy every year, and add to our nations global competitivenessand they could do even more if we invested in them equitably, said SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman. We are seeing a small business boom and the fastest creation rate of Latino-owned businesses in over a decade. Hispanic entrepreneurs have posted higher-than-average growth numbers over the past 15 years from 2007 to 2019, the number of Latino-owned businesses grew 34 percent, while the number of white-owned businesses decreased by 7 percent, according to a Stanford Graduate School of Business survey in its eighth year. [Latino-owned businesses] outpaced [white-owned businesses] in revenue growth during the same period and their annual payroll grew over twice as fast, reads Stanfords 2022 State of Latino Entrepreneurship report. Researchers found that even during the pandemic, from 2019 to 2022, the median growth rate in revenue for Latino-owned businesses was 25 percent, compared to 9 percent for white-owned businesses. Yet Latino-owned businesses are finding their success is often not reciprocated by traditional lenders. Latinos start and grow businesses at higher rates than our white counterparts. However, the traditional financial system fails to provide Latino businesses adequate or fairly priced capital, said Marla Bilonick, president and CEO of the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB). Despite applying for assistance at similar rates as white business owners, Latinos are less likely to receive it. A 2021 Federal Reserve Small Business Credit Survey report on firms owned by people of color found that 31 percent of Hispanic and Asian-owned businesses had their credit needs met in the 12 months prior to the report, while only 19 percent of Black-owned businesses had their financing needs met. The report found that 50 percent of white owned businesses had their financing needs met. In the case of Hispanic-owned businesses, those numbers come despite firms seeking credit. In 2022, according to the Stanford report, Latino-owned businesses were 50 percent more likely to seek out credit than white-owned firms. In 2022, three out of ten Latino firms requested loans. Among those who didnt request loans, only 36 percent did so because they did not have a need for more capital, compared to only 50 percent of white-owned firms. And while 64 percent of Hispanic firms that requested under-$50,000 bank loans in 2022 received them in full compared to 49 percent of white-owned firms Latino-owned firms trailed in receiving over-$50,000 loans, with only 40 percent of Latino firms receiving the full requested amount in loans from $50,000 to $100,000. Thats despite Latino-owned firms reporting, on average, gross revenue three times larger than similar white-owned borrowers. The disparity between Latino business growth and loan stagnation has prompted greater SBA participation in the space. The agency reported 47 percent growth in Community Advantage (CA) loans going to Latino businesses, by dollar amount, from fiscal year 2022 to fiscal year 2023, raising the share of CA loans going to Latino firms from 14 percent in 2022 to 19.7 percent in 2023. Three quarters of the SBAs reported growth in lending was attributable to Latino firms, which now represent 12 percent of the agencys total guaranteed lending portfolio. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. You are here: World Flash The first batch of earthquake relief supplies donated by the Chinese government arrive at Herat International Airport in Herat province, Afghanistan, Oct. 15, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua] The first batch of earthquake relief supplies donated by the Chinese government arrived at Afghanistan's Herat International Airport on Sunday morning and was handed over to the Afghan side. Relief materials, including tents and rollaway beds, were unloaded from two Chinese cargo planes at the airport. Two deadly quakes, each with a magnitude of 6.2, followed by several aftershocks, rocked west Afghanistan with an epicenter in the Zanda Jan district of Herat province on Oct. 7, and left at least 2,000 dead and thousands more injured. Since Oct. 7, Herat has been experiencing a series of tremors, forcing locals to stay and sleep on the public ground to escape possible devastating aftershocks. The Chinese government has pledged emergency humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan to help the country with earthquake relief work. According to the needs of the Afghan side, China's aid supplies mainly include tents, rollaway beds and thick blankets. Chinese mining firm MCC-JCL Aynak Minerals Company Ltd. (MJAM) donated 2.27 million Afghani (30,000 U.S. dollars) to the quake-affected families in Herat on Thursday. Afghanistan-based Chinese citizens donated more than 17,000 dollars to the quake-affected people in Herat on Wednesday. It is exactly 100 years since Walt Disney founded his famous film studio, which has made some of the world's best-loved movies. What's less well known is the story of the founder's links to a tiny English village. A shooting star flies around Sleeping Beauty's castle to the soaring strings of When You Wish Upon a Star, as multi-coloured fireworks explode and a perfect arc of light is formed in the sky before disappearing. That is the title sequence at the start of every Disney movie since 2006 - meaning that whether it is the live action Little Mermaid or the latest animated release Elemental, a tribute has just been paid to a Lincolnshire village with a population of 242. To find out how and why, I arranged to meet Disney historian Sebastian Durand at St Peter's Church in Norton Disney, Lincolnshire, a building that dates back to the 11th Century. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "This is the oldest place in England where you can find a trace of Disney, of Walt Disney's history and his family tree and even his coat of arms," the French Disney expert explains, while gazing up at Norman pillars and arches. This is also a church that Walt Disney himself visited on 7 July 1949. By that stage of his career, the company that Walt founded with his brother Roy had just celebrated its 25th anniversary. Walt had already won 12 Oscars for films including Fantasia and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. That summer, he was in the UK supervising the filming of a live action Treasure Island when his daughters, Diane and Sharon, convinced him and his wife Lillian to spend a few days in Scotland. He agreed, but only if they could make a detour on the way. "He heard there was a village named after Disney," says Durand. "He was intrigued as he only knew that his great-grandfather was Irish. He didn't know his history earlier than that." Accompanied by a photographer and with a cine camera to make a home movie, the Disneys descended on the tiny village. The Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco has allowed the BBC to show that rare footage as part of Disney's 100th anniversary celebrations. The British Broadcasting Corporation The family can be seen posing for photos by Norton Disney signs, walking down the main road, and inspecting gravestones. "He came with a convoy of cars and they stopped here to spend an afternoon in Norton Disney," says Durand. "He was from a rural village in America. He grew up in Marceline, Missouri - so when he was here, he met with stockmen and could discuss with them about raising pigs, because that's what he did as a child. He connected with the people here and connected with his own history here." It was in St Peter's Church that Walt Disney made his most significant discovery. The minister at the time, Rev RK Roper, explained to the animator how the De Isignys had come over from France to England with William the Conqueror after the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and had settled in the area. Over centuries, the name had changed to d'Isigny, then D'Iseny, eventually becoming Disney around the 13th or 14th Centuries. Walt also saw the rather grand 14th Century tomb of Sir William d'Isney on which there was the family crest, with three lions facing left, the symbol of Normandy. It clearly made an impression. In 1965, for the 10th anniversary of the Disneyland theme park in California, Walt decided he wanted to add a coat of arms to Sleeping Beauty's castle. He was asked if there was a Disney crest. "He said, 'Yes, I remember I saw it in Norton Disney in 1949 when I was in England filming Treasure Island. I went to that little town and saw the coat of arms,'" Durand explains. "So they took photographs of it and they reproduced it on the castle in Disney, California, and since then it is on every Disney castle in all Disney parks. It even appears now at the beginning of every Disney movie." So, since 2006 at the start of every Disney film, three lions can be seen flying on the flag at the top of Sleeping Beauty's castle - a tribute to Norton Disney. Darts with Disney There is still one resident who remembers the day Walt Disney visited. Appropriately, Hilda Kinnersley lives on Disney Court. She is 94 but was 20 and sitting in the St Vincent Arms pub (now called the Green Man) when her younger brother Jim arrived with the American visitors. "I thought who's that he's bringing in?" remembers Hilda. "And then I thought, he's not a bad looking man. They all come in with his daughters. And they were chatty, and they played a game of darts, because we were already playing darts when Walt came in." London Illustrated magazine dedicated two pages to the visit, saying: "The man who has invaded the world's screens hopes to prove he is descended from a Norman invader of 1066." What proof is there that Walt Disney really is related to the Disneys of Norton Disney? "You can never be totally sure," Durand says, "because nobody can trace a direct history over 1,000 years except if he is from a royal family. "We know that the Disney name began in France, continued in England and went to Ireland and then to America, so obviously all people who share that name Disney, including Walt Disney, share that same history. "The name comes from here. The exact possibility that Walt Disney is related to that is, I would say, 99%." Disneyland is 600 years old One other rather interesting historical Disney link, which is kept in the Lincolnshire Archives, can be seen in a charter signed in 1386. It shows that the name of the estate of the Disney family was Disnayland, albeit with an A. Durand cannot hide his glee. "So the first appearance of the name Disneyland is not in California at the park or at Disneyland Paris, but here in Lincolnshire more than 600 years ago." When Walt visited in 1949, he presented the village with three prints of Disney characters, which he kept on him at all times in case of autograph hunters. For the company's 100th anniversary, rather more thought has gone into a gift from Disney to the village. Durand handed over a specially commissioned picture of Mickey and Minnie Mouse walking through Norton Disney, drawn by Disney illustrator Kim Raymond. Thanks to a visit in 1949, the person who holds the record for winning the most Oscars ever and a tiny Lincolnshire village will forever be linked - a fairytale worthy of Disney himself. Flash Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Monday held talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Beijing. Li said the mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Hungary has achieved fruitful results in recent years and set a good example for fostering a new type of international relations. Li pointed out that China is willing to align the Belt and Road Initiative with Hungary's "Opening to the East" policy more closely and make joint efforts to promote the continuous upgrade of pragmatic cooperation in trade, investment, finance and other fields. China will step up the Budapest-Belgrade Railway project and expand innovative cooperation in the fields of new energy, digital economy and artificial intelligence, the premier said. China stands ready to work with Hungary to make global governance more just and equitable, Li said, adding that China's development is an opportunity rather than a challenge, and a driving force rather than a risk for Europe. Orban said Hungary will continue to actively participate in Belt and Road cooperation, support connectivity and open cooperation, and oppose decoupling and isolation. After the talks, Li and Orban witnessed the signing of a number of bilateral cooperation documents in sectors including Belt and Road cooperation, education, supply chains, development policies, digital economy and green development. A Liberian-flagged oil tanker hit a mine in the Black Sea off the Romanian coast on Oct. 15, Sky News reported, citing Reuters news agency. The vessel Ali Najafov sustained only minor damage, and the crew was unharmed, sources told Reuters. The ship was sailing near the Sulina channel when the explosion occurred, Yoruk Isik, head of the Bosphorus Observer consultancy, reportedly said. The incident was independently confirmed for Reuters by an undisclosed Ukrainian source. By 6 p.m. Kyiv time on Oct. 16, marine traffic tracking sites show Ali Najafov moving through one of the branches of the Danube Delta. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement This is the second reported incident of a cargo ship hitting a mine in the Black Sea this month. On Oct. 5, Reuters reported that a Turkish-flagged ship sustained minor damage after hitting a sea mine. The security in the Black Sea deteriorated following Russia's unilateral withdrawal from the grain deal. The Russian military has tried to block trade routes and targeted Ukraine's ports with strikes. The U.K. Defense Ministry warned earlier in October that Russian forces may use sea mines to strike civilian shipping targets in the Black Sea. Read also: Media: UK Minister says Ukraine has practically defeated Russias Black Sea Fleet Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. A metro Atlanta high school student is finally home after she and more than 100 American students escaped the war zone in Israel. Channel 2s Michael Seiden spoke exclusively with her and her family on Monday. Lyla Caplan, 17, recorded the terrifying moments as she, along with more than 100 American high school students ran for safety as Hamas launched its terrorist attack on Israel. We were on a field trip in Jerusalem and we woke up to sirens, Caplan said. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] The Starrs Mill High School junior was participating in a study abroad program with other Jewish students from around the United States when they found themselves trapped in a war zone. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement People banging on our doors telling us to go to the bomb shelter and to just like, run as fast as we could to get to safety, Lyla said as she described being in the war zone. Back home in Fayetteville, Lylas parents stayed in close contact with their youngest daughter but as the war intensified, and as major airlines began shutting down their operations they became concerned with how she would get out. That was until they heard about Cheri Levitan, an Atlanta-based travel agent who happened to be in Israel on a business trip. Levitan was in the process of securing a plane to get the kids out. We had no idea that all this work was taking place behind the scenes to try and get the kids out of Israel, Brad Caplan told Channel 2 Action News. There was a lot of comfort in knowing that she was in good hands and the school was in constant contact with us. TRENDING STORIES: Before the students headed to the airport, they came together to make care packages for more than 1,500 Israeli soldiers engaged in battle. Lyla flew from Israel to Italy and then to Boston where cameras captured an emotional reunion. Lyla will head back to Starrs Mill High School Tuesday morning with a heavy heart, but memories that will last a lifetime. She also told Channel 2 Action News that she plans to go back to Israel. Her family and so many others are so grateful for Levitan who helped get them out of Israel. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: A woman faces two counts of kidnapping after being accused of abducting her daughters from a fast food restaurant in Columbus, according to police. Police say Kaila Spires, 39, was arrested in Tift County in Georgia on charges of kidnapping. Columbus police say they responded Sunday to a report of an abduction of Kylie Horn, 11, and Kylann Harper, 4, from a Burger King in the 7300 block of Veterans Parkway. Both children were located in south Georgia and are safe, according to a release. Authorities say Spires will be extradited to Columbus in the near future. A court date has not been set at this time. A 36-year-old Alabama mother charged with killing her daughter at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola was sentenced to one year in prison last week. Jessica Bortle reportedly "obliterated" the liver of her 14-year-old daughter, Jasmine Singletary, in 2021 when she hit the bed-ridden teen with a hospital table. State prosecutors argued Bortle had snapped and hit her daughter in a fit of anger, but Bortle told investigators it had been a tragic accident. After a two-day trial in July 2023, an Escambia County jury opted for less severe charges than those sought by the state, convicting Bortle of the lesser included offense of misdemeanor battery rather than manslaughter. She was also charged with aggravated child abuse, but the jury found her guilty of the lesser-included offense of child abuse, a third-degree felony rather than a first-degree felony. Bortle not guilty of manslaughter: Mother who crushed child's liver found not guilty of manslaughter, guilty of child abuse Jessica Bortle appears before Circuit Judge Linda Nobles on Thursday, July 27, 2023. Bortle is accused of killing her 14-year-old daughter by smashing a table into her abdomen on July 13, 2021, crushing her liver. Now, court records show she was sentenced to one year and one day in a Florida prison followed by three years of probation. She already had 212 days of credit, per court records, in the Escambia County Jail, making her sentence 154 days in prison. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Bortle must also complete parenting classes, court records indicate. Jessica Bortle's mother witnessed the incident at Sacred Heart Bortle's mother, Rose Mathis, testified that she didn't see or hear anything out of the ordinary and was playing games on her phone "the whole night." However, in Bortle's arrest report, investigators wrote that Mathis said she witnessed Bortle slam Jasmine with the table after the girl threw her crayons around the room. A few minutes after Bortle's outburst, the grandmother said she heard Singletary say, "Grandma," and then her eyes rolled back in her head, an arrest report stated. Singletary then lost consciousness and stopped breathing. Story continues The initial arrest report also indicated Jasmine was admitted into the hospital with a "suspicious" head injury, but testimony at trial indicated the injury was from a fall related to a preexisting medical condition. Jessica Bortle maintains the incident was and accident Bortle told investigators that she didn't think she hurt her daughter after shoving the table toward her since Jasmine asked Bortle if they could color together. "After this catastrophic injury that (the state) is saying the shove of the table caused, (Jasmine) said, 'Ow, that hurts,'" Bortle's attorney Marci McCoy told the jury during the trial. "That's not reasonable ladies and gentlemen. "And then she wanted to color, and so Jessica colored with her again," McCoy added. "If there was that kind of injury, think about what kind of pain that would cause. You wouldn't want to color." This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Alabama mom who crushed child's liver in Pensacola hospital sentenced A mysterious big cat has been documented in eastern Pennsylvanias Lehigh County, leading some to speculate a species long believed locally extinct has returned. Pennsylvania State Police say photos of the creature were taken Sunday, Oct. 15, in Lower Macungie Township, about 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia. Upon further investigation it was determined that the image captured a large feline, possibly a mountain lion, in the fields behind Hanover Drive, police said. If seen, do not approach. The Pennsylvania Game Commission has been alerted, police said. Mountain lions, also known as cougars, panthers and pumas, are considered extinct in Pennsylvania, the Penn State Extension reports. Troopers responded to @LowerMacungie and confirmed a large feline was seen in the fields behind Hanover Dr. If seen, do not approach, contact PSP Fogelsville or @PAGameComm. @69News @mcall @lehighvalley @LVNewsdotcom pic.twitter.com/6QAZuJu0Z0 Trooper Branosky (@PSPTroopMPIO) October 15, 2023 The last wild cougar in Pennsylvania was killed in 1871 and the last cougar born on the East Coast was killed in 1938 in Maine, the extension says. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement However, occasional sightings of so-called ghost cats have been reported for decades, leading skeptics to equate them with reports of aliens and supernatural manifestations, JSTOR Daily says. The need to see cougars may stem from the fact that they symbolize the wild like few other animals. Cougars can, after all, eat you, although that contingency is a remote one, JSTOR Daily reports. Story continues Mountain lions, which can grow to 200 pounds and eight feet in length, are able to leap as high as 18 feet vertically and cover 40 feet horizontally in one bound, the National Park Service reports. News of a possible mountain lion living in Lower Macungie Township quickly led to additional reports of sightings in the region on social media. However, some commenters argued it was likely just a bobcat, which are reclusive and much smaller than mountain lions (about 30 pounds). So they kept saying there are none (mountain lions) and people are crazy if they think they saw one and now theyre reporting that one has been spotted, Nikki Zepp-Fickus posted on Facebook. They call them ghost cats because they are very good at hiding out of sight, Alley Heist said. Bob cat or mountain lion its still something to worry about, Dean Gombert noted. Since there isnt a lot of wooded areas and as much food for them in the area ... they will be after pets. Watch mountain lion turn into kitty cat when it discovers a tree swing in Colorado Cougar grabbed dog taking potty break in yard. Owner joined brawl outside Canada home Video shows sliding doors open for mountain lion as it passes luxury hotel in Arizona Oleksii Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, believes that Russian secret services are making active attempts to create a new agent network in Ukraine with the help of various fake experts. Danilov has also called on Ukrainians to preserve information hygiene. Source: Danilov on X (Twitter) Details: The secretary said that Russia's only chance to defeat Ukraine is to cause a split in the country and make Ukrainians dive into internal confrontation, which the Kremlin has been doing successfully for the past decades dividing Ukraine into sorts, creating Russian proxy political parties, corrupting politicians and distorting history. Due to the active work of Ukrainian law enforcement agencies, the largest-scale purge of Russian agents has been carried out in recent years. However, Russia will continue to try to grow several new heads in place of one severed one, he said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Danilov said that today, by all indications, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) is making active attempts to create a new agent network, having far-reaching hopes for it. He added that in the long run, it is a political project aimed at the remnants of the pro-Russian population, and an information intervention is being carried out simultaneously to try to initiate the process of internal destabilisation in Ukraine. Quote: "The signs of such activity are the sharp intensification of various experts, intelligence actors and other kinds of scammers in promoting the Russian agenda in Russian. They are the ones who are currently ranting about the failure of the counteroffensive, hinting at the need to revise the goals of the war (and this is no longer a push to the 1991 borders), giving advice on how to fight the Ukrainian Armed Forces, issuing fake insights about conflicts among the military and political leadership, calling for the acceptance of good Russians and ultimately hinting that it is necessary to negotiate with Russia. Story continues Ukrainian law enforcement agencies are closely monitoring such hostile actions, detecting and suppressing them. In turn, Ukrainians must show a high degree of information cautiousness in order not to get contaminated with the products of Russian information activity." Background: Oleksii Arestovych, blogger and former non-staff adviser to the Presidential Office, criticised the actions of the official authorities on his Telegram channel, particularly in the context of the counteroffensive. He described the current Ukrainian leadership as having "exhausted the limits of competence" and called for elections in Ukraine. The latter, however, is forbidden to take place in conditions of martial law. Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron! NATO begins its annual nuclear deterrence exercise Steadfast Noon on Monday. Aircraft of 13 member states will take part in the training. Source: European Pravda with reference to the NATO press service Details: The Alliance emphasises that the Steadfast Noon exercise is "a routine training activity that has been conducted annually for over a decade." This year, manoeuvres over Italy, Croatia and the Mediterranean Sea will involve various types of aircraft, including modern fighter jets and American B-52 bombers, which will arrive from the United States. The Steadfast Noon exercise involves fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear warheads, but does not use live bombs. NATO emphasises that the manoeuvres take place "at least 1,000 kilometres from Russias borders" and are "not linked to current world events." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The training is expected to last until 26 October. Reminder: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said last week that Steadfast Noon will help ensure the "credibility, effectiveness and security" of the Alliance's nuclear deterrent forces. "It sends a clear message that NATO will protect and defend all Allies," he added at the time. Stoltenberg also called Moscow's threats to withdraw the ratification of the nuclear test ban treaty irresponsible, and noted that there were no changes in the deployment of Russian nuclear forces. Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron! NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has spoken with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Stoltenberg stressed the importance of continued support for Ukraine. Source: European Pravda with reference to Stoltenberg's post on X (Twitter) Quote: "Spoke with Hungarys Prime Minister Viktor Orban on the situation in Ukraine and the importance of our support. At a time of increased instability and global competition, we must continue to stand strong together in NATO. We also addressed Swedens pending membership in the Alliance." Spoke with #Hungarys @PM_ViktorOrban on the situation in #Ukraine & the importance of our support. At a time of increased instability & global competition, we must continue to stand strong together in #NATO. We also addressed #Swedens pending membership in the Alliance. Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) October 16, 2023 Details: Hungary is one of the two countries that has not yet ratified Sweden's membership in NATO. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Background: Turkiye will hold off on ratifying Sweden's NATO membership application this month as it awaits signs of support from the US for its request to buy F-16 fighter jets. In July, at the NATO Summit in Vilnius, Turkiye agreed to unblock the process of ratification of Sweden's accession to the Alliance in exchange for assistance in rapprochement with the European Union. Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron! The Navy is offering big bucks to some explosive ordnance disposal officers if they remain in the service for a few more years. Under a new policy, the Navy is now breaking up its incentives into two-year increments, while also offering larger amounts of cash to those who agree to four more years of service up front, according to a message to the fleet issued Friday. Under the new EOD bonus system, eligible lieutenants can sign a four-year contract to score a $72,000 bonus, or agree to $12,500 annually for two more years of service, according to the naval administrative message, or NAVADMIN. Those who sign on for another two years after that can receive another two-year incentive, totaling $50,000 over four years. Lieutenant commanders could also rake in $100,000 if they agree to four more years of service. Also on the table: a two-year contract for a total of $30,000. The two-year option also allows officers to sign on for another two years at the same rate, totaling $60,000 over four years of service. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Service Members will receive their initial bonus amount upon agreement acceptance and then in annual anniversary payments through the term of the agreement, the NAVADMIN states. Navy reveals bonuses its offering to retain surface warfare officers Eligible lieutenants must complete six years of service for the two or four-year bonuses, and eight years of service for the additional two-year incentive. Eligible lieutenant commanders must complete 10 years of service. Those within one year of eligibility may apply through their commanding officer, who must also provide officers with a written endorsement. All must be medically and physically qualified to serve on sea duty. Should an officer become ineligible for the bonus, payments will stop, but officers will not need to return past payments, according to Fridays NAVADMIN. The retention bonus is a departure from the traditional incentives offered to explosive ordnance disposal lieutenants and lieutenant commanders. Story continues Previously, lieutenants were offered $20,000 annually to commit to an additional four years of service, or $15,000 annually for another three years of service. Both options were available after seven years of service. Additionally, lieutenant commanders were eligible for an initial payment of $22,000 after twelve years of service, and then two subsequent annual payments of $12,000 if they committed to another three years. EOD officers are tasked with detonating and demolishing hazardous munitions or outdated explosives, and neutralizing ordnances like sea mines and torpedoes. NBC News announced Monday it will host the third GOP presidential primary debate in Miami on Nov. 8, giving candidates another opportunity to set themselves apart and make a dent in former President Trumps considerable lead ahead of the Iowa caucuses in January. The debate will take place at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County from 8-10 p.m. Eastern, NBC News said. The Republican National Committee (RNC) selected Salem Radio Network and the Republican Jewish Coalition as debate partners, while Rumble will stream the debate live. The partners for our third debate will offer our candidates an excellent opportunity to meet the moment and contrast their plans and vision with the failures of the Biden White House, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The RNC raised the threshold for 2024 GOP candidates to participate in the third debate. Republican candidates will have to show two national polls that have them at 4 percent or higher, or they will need to garner 4 percent support in one national poll and two early state polls. Candidates also must meet a donor threshold of at least 70,000 unique donors, including at least 200 from 20 or more states each. The first two debates, in Milwaukee and Simi Valley, Calif., were hosted by Fox News. Trump notably did not attend either debate, citing his strong lead in the polls. He is reported to be skipping the third debate as well. Trump has maintained his spot as the front-runner by a wide margin, with recent polling showing the former president with 61 percent of primary support. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is trailing behind with 12 percent, while the other candidates have garnered less than 10 percent each. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Bodies are lain in thick black plastic bags and numbered before delivery to the centre for identification (AHMAD GHARABLI) The stench of death is overwhelming in Israel's National Center of Forensic Medicine, where experts have been trying to identify the remains of hundreds of people slain in the Hamas attacks. Most of the bodies are riddled with bullets, mutilated or charred beyond recognition, say those performing the harrowing examinations. Medical experts in pale green scrubs carefully study the remains and use DNA samples, fingerprints and dental records to try to identify the victims. In some cases, they attempt to piece together severed body parts like macabre puzzles. "We decided to show this horror because there are people who accuse us of lying, of telling stories and of actually showing dog bones," said the centre's director Hen Kugel, who was reduced to tears. More than 1,400 people died when the Islamist militant group Hamas launched its devastating attack on Israel, which has traumatised and enraged the nation and plunged it into a new war. Hamas has celebrated the attack while denying committing abuses and torture. Israel has launched a devastating bombing campaign that has reduced vast parts of the Gaza Strip to rubble and killed at least 2,700 people. It has besieged the crowded enclave ahead of a looming ground invasion. At the forensics centre in Tel Aviv, the bodies lie on trolley stretchers, wrapped in thick black plastic bags, each marked with a number. Some are just infants. Most of the volunteers wheeling them through the halls are male Orthodox Jews whose faith dictates that a body must be buried whole. - 'Tied up and burned alive' - Israelis have struggled to find words for the scale of the attack on towns, kibbutzim and a music festival, calling it "Israel's 9/11" and comparing its savagery to that of the Islamic State group. Kugel pointed at a tangle of bones and shreds of flesh held together by an electrical cable that was caked in molten plastic. "On the scanner," he explained, "we clearly see two spinal columns. That of a man or a woman, and that of a child. "The posture of the two bodies shows that the adult tried to protect the child. They were tied up then burned alive." As he spoke, more bodies were being unloaded from a truck, with other vehicles waiting in the car park outside. Nurit Boublil, head of the genetic identification unit, said more than 500 bodies had been identified out of the hundreds brought to the centre since October 7. "Everything is made more difficult by the fact that often those who were tortured were tied together," Boublil said. "It is therefore possible that in a single bag there are two bodies or even three." "I've been doing this job for 31 years," Kugel said. "I've never seen such barbarity, such cruelty, such relentlessness. It's just atrocious." The institute has seven forensic doctors, an anthropologist, a radiologist and eight geneticists, now assisted by about 30 volunteers. Some victims had their hands pierced by blades or projectiles, suggesting hand-to-hand struggles. "We don't know how many babies died, or how many elderly people," said Kugel. "There are also a lot of headless bodies. It will take a little more time to identify everyone." - 'Abused, raped, tortured' - Similar work has been ongoing at four other sites in Israel. One of them is the Shura military base near the central town of Ramla, where refrigerated containers are lined up, each holding up to 50 bodies. One of the team leaders, Rabbi Israel Weiss, a former chief military rabbi who came out of retirement to take part in the harrowing work, showed the site to a group of journalists. "I open the door to the cooling containers, I see the bodies, I smell the odour," said the rabbi. "I let it fill my lungs and my heart, but what I feel is their pain and the loss." Doctors, dentists, forensic experts and volunteers have been working around the clock as bodies have kept arriving. Psychologists and social workers are on hand to speak to the staff at the end of each day. Weiss and other staff said there were signs that many of the victims had been tortured or raped. "Never in my life have I seen the horrors that lie behind us today," he said. "I have seen babies, women and men beheaded. I have seen a pregnant woman with her belly torn open and the baby cut out. "A lot of the women who were brought here were raped." Senior Staff Sergeant Avigayil, who gave only a first name, told reporters there were indications some of the bodies had been booby-trapped. "Nothing has prepared us for this," she said. Captain Maayan, a dentist and reservist taking part in the identification, broke down in tears as she told of the harrowing process. Maayan said one victim she had identified had been a patient at the Tel Aviv clinic where she works. "We see horrific sights," she said, describing how, in their minds, "we hear the screams and the cries of the babies losing their parents". pa-tw/fz/phz OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) Longtime Oklahoma radio/TV personality Ronnie Kaye announced in a Facebook post Saturday that he was terminated due to an on-air comment on his October 9th show on 92.5 KOMA. | Two shot and killed in NW Oklahoma City shooting > To all the listeners who have supported me on radio through the years I regret to tell you that my career has been terminated over a comment I made on October 9 Columbus Day which is also Indigenous Day. I had no intentions of offending the Native American heritage. Some of my best friends are Native American. I would have preferred to do this on air but I wasnt given the opportunity to do so. Thank you listeners. Mr Rock and Roll. Ronnie Kaye in an October 14th Facebook post Kaye was removed from the KOMA website when it was checked on Saturday night. According to a post from Larry Stein the County Assessors office, Kaye was terminated after saying Its Columbus Day and Indigenous People Day. I dont know what Indigenous means and I dont care. My friend Ronnie Kaye was fired from KOMA. If you were listening, heres what he said. Its Columbus Day and Indigineous People Day. I dont know what Indigineous means and I dont care. In this politically correct world sometimes words can offend. Thats too bad. God bless you Ronnie! Larry Stein, Chief Deputy at Oklahoma County Assessors Office KOMA is owned by the local media company Tyler Media, KFOR reached out to them Sunday for comment. As it is the weekend, they have yet to get back. | SSI charges 9-year-old with disabilities $20,000 > An employee of Tyler Media said in an email sent out Friday to employees, it was announced that Kaye retired after 64 years in broadcasting and had his final show on KOMA that day without doing a farewell show. Kaye had spent decades being on-air with a 19-year run on WKY/Channel 4 in Oklahoma City. He first started in 1962 and eventually achieved a loved dance show called The Scene which ran across the airwaves nationally. Ronnie Kaye It would be in the early 1990s Kaye made his way over to the station KOMA where he was known for being the disc jockey for the oldies. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City. A court in India has acquitted two men who spent years on death row for the rape and murder of 19 women and children in 2005. Surinder Koli and his businessman employer Moninder Singh Pandher were convicted in 2009 in a gruesome case that shocked the country. They were held in 2006 after body parts were found near their home near Delhi. On Monday, the Allahabad High Court acquitted Koli in 12 cases in which he had been sentenced to death. The court also ordered Pandher to be freed in the two cases in which he'd been found guilty. The two men were acquitted due to "lack of evidence", their lawyer told the media. The full court judgement has not been released. The murders came to light in 2006 after body parts and children's clothing were found inside a sewer in front of Moninder Singh Pandher's house in a wealthy suburb of the capital called Noida. At least 19 young women and children had been raped, killed and dismembered. Police alleged at the time that the murders took place inside Pandher's house, where Koli worked as a servant. Police alleged that the children, remains of whom were found hidden in bags, were lured to their deaths by Koli, who offered them sweets and chocolate. They alleged that during the investigation, Koli had confessed to cannibalism and necrophilia. He later retracted his confession in court saying it had been beaten out of him. India's top investigation agency CBI registered 19 cases against the two men. While Koli was charged with murder, abduction, rape and destruction of evidence, Pandher was charged with immoral trafficking. The murders caused national outrage, with many accusing the police of negligence. The media had dubbed it the "house of horrors" because of the shocking nature of the crimes. Local residents said that police failed to act because many of those reported missing came from poor families. They lived in a nearby slum called Nithari and the case has also been referred to as the "Nithari killings". BBC News India is now on YouTube. Click here to subscribe and watch our documentaries, explainers and features. Read more India stories from the BBC: As speculation mounted in early October about the winner of the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize, South Koreans began sharing a false claim that a top Nobel official had tipped President Yoon Suk Yeol as a "leading contender" during a seminar in the United States. But footage of the event shows Norwegian Nobel Committee vice-chair Asle Toje made no mention of Yoon, and the committee's secretariat has told AFP it never divulges the names of nominees. "During a lecture in the United States, the Nobel Committee's chairman praised President Yoon's accomplishments," reads a Korean-language Facebook post from October 5, 2023. It features a photo of Toje, wrongly identified as committee chair, next to a speech bubble that says: "Yoon Suk Yeol is a leading contender for the Nobel Peace Prize for realising the Washington Declaration and putting an end to Moon Jae-in's fake peace." A screenshot of the false post shared on Facebook. Captured October 6, 2023 The Washington Declaration is a joint statement from Yoon and US President Joe Biden that was issued during a visit by the South Korean leader to the White House in April 2023 (archived link). ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement It expands the American security shield that protects Seoul against any attack from nuclear-armed North Korea. In return, South Korea reaffirmed its commitment to an international treaty aiming to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons (archived link). Yoon has been rolling back the policies of his predecessor Moon Jae-in, who struck a more conciliatory tone towards Pyongyang. The current president has labelled Moon's approach "fake peace" (archived links here and here). Critics say the Washington Declaration has shackled any South Korean ambitions to develop its own nuclear arsenal. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by the five-person Norwegian Nobel Committee, which is appointed by Norway's parliament. On October 6 the committee announced Narges Mohammadi as the winner for 2023 in recognition of her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and other work promoting human rights (archived link). Story continues University seminar The false claim about Yoon and the peace prize has been shared elsewhere on Facebook including here, here and here. Comments left under these posts indicated some social media users were misled to believe Toje had genuinely named Yoon as a nominee. "I am so proud of President Yoon," wrote one. "Yoon Suk Yeol is following in the footsteps of Kim Dae-jung," said another, referring to a former South Korean president who won the peace prize in 2000. However, footage of the seminar in California shows Toje did not mention Yoon or any nominees. The Norwegian Nobel Institute, which acts as a secretariat for the Nobel Committee, has told AFP that it never releases names. A reverse image search on Google found the same photo of Toje was published on the website of the Soka University of America on February 14, 2023, in a report about a seminar he attended at the institution (archived link). According to the report, Toje took part in a discussion on January 31 with a university professor about the need for a concerted global effort to control nuclear arms. A video of the entire seminar was published on the university's YouTube channel on February 28 (archived link). In the hour-long video, Toje delivers a speech on the role of the Nobel Peace Prize before taking questions from the audience. While North Korea's nuclear arsenal is mentioned in one exchange with an audience member, Yoon is not brought up in any way throughout the event. Secrecy rule The Norwegian Nobel Institute previously told AFP it "never confirms or comments upon who has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. The names of the nominees are only released after 50 years". The selection criteria are outlined here on the institute's website (archived link). But people eligible to put forward nominations -- including former laureates, lawmakers and cabinet ministers from any country -- are free to reveal the name of the person or organisation they have proposed, according to an AFP report (archived link). AFP did not find any report or announcement that Yoon had been nominated for the Nobel honour. AFP previously debunked a similar false claim that Toje had named Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the number one contender for the peace prize. To safely fly Americans from Israel to Tampa on Sunday, Gov. Ron DeSantis administration partnered with a nonprofit that specializes in bringing U.S. citizens home from conflict zones around the world, covering the cost of air travel that the organization priced out at millions of dollars. The Republican governor has said the state is planning more flights in the coming days, but has not said whether the state will continue to partner with Project Dynamo, a Tampa-based organization that has been criticized by U.S. government officials for being too willing to take risks. Project Dynamos co-founder, Bryan Stern, told reporters on Monday that his organization had successfully extracted 270 people on Sunday night who had sought to leave Israel as the war with Hamas erupted. It was one of five private flights funded by the DeSantis administration through Floridas Division of Emergency Management, Stern said. Of the first four flights, two carried eight people and two carried twelve, transferring fewer passengers because they took off over the Jewish sabbath. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement This is the first time where any government agency has assisted us financially. The governor of the state of Florida paid for the plane, Stern said. DeSantis involvement in the foreign policy conflict has amplified the Republican governors role in what generally would have been outside the states purview. DeSantis, a presidential candidate, was able to help in the international conflict after issuing an emergency declaration Thursday that gave the executive branch broad powers to spend money and act. Kevin Guthrie, the executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said in an interview with NewsNation on Tuesday that Florida spent about $4 million to fly Americans from Israel to Tampa. All in all, were probably sitting right around $4 million on that particular flight with all of the services, hotel stays, rental cars anything that we had to get to help the people get back to their homes, Guthrie said. Story continues The average cost of each chartered flight from Israels Ben Gurion Airport to Tampa International is roughly $2 million, Stern said, based on quotes received by Project Dynamo as it initially planned to charter the planes themselves. Stern noted that insurance costs can vary to fly an airplane into a warzone, and said he did not know how much the state government ultimately paid since it handled the contracts directly. He also did not know whether the Florida government would be funding future flights. Thats a government question, he said, adding that he feared Israels airspace would soon be closed. The governors office did not respond to questions from the Herald/Times about the cost of the missions, or whether it plans to fund any additional flights. It has also not explained how the state picked Project Dynamo and has not said whether it required the nonprofit to abide by any rules in exchange for the funding. DeSantis has direct access to a $500 million Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund that the Florida Legislature approved last year to give him spending flexibility when he declares emergencies. While it is unclear if the fund was used to pay for the Israel flights, DeSantis has historically tapped into the fund to pay for his priorities, including border security initiatives in Texas. Stern said the nonprofit took the lead on all the logistics. Essentially, we did the ground piece and the manifesting and the case management and all the hard stuff in the war zone, Stern said. They [the state] funded the aircraft and we landed and got to meet Governor Ron DeSantis. Stern said last week that Project Dynamo had been facing logistical barriers as he was on the ground preparing to help Americans leave Israel when his team was put in touch through friends and associates with the Florida administration. For example, he said that it was extremely difficult to get out of Israel. There are plane tickets going for $25,000 a seat in some cases, he said. I think that Gov. DeSantis wanted to do something. But before he issued the executive order, he needed to know that he had partners, Stern said on Monday. Stern got in touch with his friend. Republican state Sen. Jay Collins, a veteran from Sarasota, and then had a conversation with officials in Floridas Division of Emergency Management, including its director, Kevin Guthrie. Kevin and I and some others had a kind of in-depth conversation about Dynamo, about us, the idea that we were on the ground, already there, deployed, already had people everything was basically lined up except for the planes, made us a very good solution that the governor could trust, Stern said. Obviously weve done a lot of high-profile media stuff, so its very easy to do due diligence on us. I think that happened. And about 20 minutes later the executive order came out and we were in business. When DeSantis directed the Florida Division of Emergency Management to charter flights for stranded Florida residents, it was not clear how the state planned to fly people from Israel to Florida. On Saturday, the governor told Fox News in an interview that Florida was working with the Israeli government to be able to get clearance for the flights to take off. We are an emergency response state, we have a lot of tools at our disposal, we have a lot of relationships, and so this is our Department of Emergency Management leveraging those relationships in a variety of ways. We have contractors, we have relationships with airlines, DeSantis said in the interview. DeSantis did not mention Project Dynamo in the interview. Project Dynamos history Project Dynamo was successful at conducting private rescues of Americans in Afghanistan at the end of the war there in 2021. After the U.S. military departed in September, with Taliban forces in full control, Dynamo chartered an aircraft that flew over 120 U.S. citizens and green card holders to the United States. The group, founded by three Florida men, expanded its operations after Afghanistan, rescuing U.S. citizens in Ukraine in 2022 and aiding in the evacuation of Maui in the wake of devastating wildfires there this summer. But some in the U.S. government expressed concern that the group took risks that other nonprofits would not. One of their flights out of Afghanistan in September had to be grounded in the United Arab Emirates en route to the United States, after Project Dynamo failed to share the manifest with U.S. authorities in advance. One individual on the flight was ultimately not allowed to enter the United States. In an email on Monday, DeSantis spokesperson Jeremy Redfern said that all of the 270 passengers aboard the 17-hour flight from Tel Aviv to Tampa were American citizens. (Stern said passengers included 269 Americans, a Czech dude and four dogs.) Project Dynamo can only do one plane at a time, Stern said, thanking DeSantis for being the first American politician ever to greet their evacuees. It just means so much to us. Usually we show up and there is nothing. There is no welcome home, there is nothing, Stern said. On social media, staffers with DeSantis presidential campaign reposted mock logos of DeSANTIS AIRLINES featuring star-spangled eagles and amplified news about the flights to showcase what they believe to be emblematic of DeSantis leadership style. This is what leadership looks like. DeSantis delivers for Americans, Christina Pushaw, the rapid response director for DeSantis presidential campaign posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. Tampa Bay Times staff Jay Cridlin and C.T. Bowen contributed to this report. Xylazine is often mixed into fentanyl, and it can cause devastating skin ulcerations and necrotic wounds if injected repeatedly. A Northern Kentucky doctor saw a patient who was hospitalized for weeks as caregivers removed all the skin from her forearms to save them from amputation. Dr. Mike Kalfas said the woman had been using the opioid drug fentanyl tainted with an animal sedative that caused tissue death, a situation that's becoming more and more common in the Cincinnati area. Ive been educating my patients, Kalfas said. Ive been telling them, look, theres some bad stuff that may be in your drugs that Narcan wont save you from. That stuff is xylazine, often called tranq dope, and its the newest challenge in the opioid epidemic. The drug is cheap and easy to get, so sellers add it to their fentanyl supplies to multiply their profits. It lengthens the euphoria effects for people who use drugs but causes chaotic health conditions. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Xylazine started appearing in the northeastern United States several years ago but exploded around 2020, with Philadelphia as the hub. And while some amount of xylazine has been found in nearly every state, the hot spots are spreading west. Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky are besieged. The trend is following the same path fentanyl did a decade ago. "It's called tranq, said AmandaLynn Reese, chief program officer for Harm Reduction Ohio. We call it tranq because it is one. It's a tranquilizer that's used for livestock." Sharona Bishop, harm reduction specialist and advocate at the Butler County Health District Safer Drug Use Site in Fairfield, Ohio. The Cincinnati area is a trouble spot for tranq As addiction doctors, harm reduction workers, public health and crime lab officials witness the manifestation of xylazine in the Cincinnati area, experts watching xylazines part in the opioid crisis caution there arent enough tests across the country to understand its impact. In September, a San Diego-based drug testing laboratory called Millennium Health issued a report showing the drugs prevalence in drug tests that doctors ordered throughout the United States. The researchers looked for xylazine in more than 160,000 fentanyl-positive specimens starting April 12, the day the White House issued a nationwide warning about the drug, and ending July 20. Then they ranked states with the most xylazine-positive tests. Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky ranked Nos. 3, 5 and 7, respectively. Story continues Dr. Roberto Soria, CEO and medical director of the Crossroads Center, a methadone and addiction clinic in Corryville, suspected xylazine was causing complications for some of his patients and first ordered tests for the drug in April. He said the analyses showed 1 in 4 of the tests that were positive for fentanyl were also positive for xylazine. He followed these results, averaging more than 500 tests each month. In September, he said the ratio jumped to more than 1 in 2. The Hamilton County Coroner and Crime Lab also reported a jump in xylazine-positive items from 1,541 in 2022 to 1,594 from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30. The same office saw a jump in xylazines presence in overdose deaths, from 48 between April and December of 2022 to 86 between January and September of this year. Its another evolution of this fentanyl crisis, said Eric Dawson, vice president of clinical affairs at Millennium Health, and an author of the report. Tranq dope: Animal sedative xylazine made a controlled drug in Ohio A man from Delaware shows his bandaged arms and scars on his hands from using xylazine. Horrifying health threats follow animal sedative xylazine Health threats from xylazine are sweeping, from a slowing heart rate, low blood pressure and amnesia to devastating skin damage. A person can ingest the drug without knowing it, leading to an agonizing withdrawal that may prompt people to recoil from getting medical care. Dr. Richard Ryan, an emergency medicine physician at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, said his department is seeing an uptick of patients suffering from xylazine-related health crises. Dont assume its safe, he said. Inhaling it, ingesting it, does not prevent you from getting the complications. The drug is often used to sedate cattle, sheep, horses or dogs, and is very complicated, Ryan said, as it attacks the body in multiple ways. Xylazine decreases adrenaline, he said, causing sedation. That drop may lead to a dangerously slow heart rate, low blood pressure, respiratory depression and more. It can also narrow the microscopic arteries in the skin, decreasing blood supply to the skin and creating open sores, which can become gaping wounds. The sores may appear anywhere on the body, according to medical articles. Unlike injection sores that intravenous drug users may suffer from, xylazine wounds are a systemic effect of the drug itself. And as the open wounds progress, the tissue affected can die. Brandi McNamee, a nurse for the Butler County General Health District, has noticed more clients with xylazine sores at the countys safer drug-use sites. She offers to clean the wounds, and the site provides wound care supplies. But sometimes skin around a wound is hard and black, she said. It's dead tissue. When McNamee sees that, she urges the client to go to a hospital. Doctors have to remove all of the dead skin. Soria, too, said he's seeing a significant increase in skin wounds and mixed fentanyl and xylazine withdrawal. This makes it that much more difficult for my patients to stop using illicit street opiates, he said. Withdrawal from the animal sedative is harrowing, Ryan said. Sufferers experience high levels of anxiety, a rapid heart rate, and high blood pressure, among other symptoms. One of the biggest problems, as xylazine sweeps the country, is its under-recognition, said Dr. Kelly Ramsey, chief of medical services for the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Support. People may not know theyve used xylazine. Medical examiners dont always test for it, and crime labs often don't have the tools. We lack best practices to treat xylazine wounds, treat xylazine withdrawal, and manage xylazine use disorder, Ramsey said. A xylazine overdose is harder to reverse because it does not react to naloxone, and bystanders who try to revive someone might not realize whats going on. Ryan said people still should use naloxone if they see someone who appears to be overdosing. They have often ingested fentanyl, too. If that doesnt work, call 911, Ryan said. Start CPR. What is xylazine? What you need to know if someone you know uses fentanyl A box of xylazine test strips. Xylazine test strips are available, but often illegal There is a simple way to check for the animal sedative in a personal drug supply: xylazine test strips, which became available in March. But most states consider them illegal drug paraphernalia. Soria, from the Crossroads Center, said he can't provide xylazine test strips to patients because theyre considered paraphernalia. He said that has to change. In the Cincinnati area, Hamilton County, Butler County and Northern Kentucky health departments are handing out the strips at safer drug-use sites, regardless of their legal status. We encourage all our clients to test all their opiates, said Sharona Bishop, a Butler County General Health District harm reduction specialist and advocate. Ohio in April changed its drug paraphernalia law to make it legal for people to test their drugs for fentanyl. But Bishop said there needs to be a blanket law that allows testing, so whenever a testing strip comes out, it is legal to have and use. A federal bill introduced in July would stop states from prohibiting the distribution or use of fentanyl and xylazine strips. The bill has not received a vote in Congress. Nationwide warning: Federal Drug Enforcement Administration warns of xylazine threat Dr. Richard Ryan from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. For now? Triage. In the meantime, those watching the xylazine crisis evolve in the Cincinnati area say theyre trying to keep people safe and alive. Most of my patients are still trying to avoid xylazine, but this will pass as they lose their fear, just like the fear passed with fentanyl use, said Soria. For her part, McNamee is vigilantly watching for people who come to Butler Countys sites with unusual ulcers or discolored skin. I just want to help anyone I can, so the sores dont worsen, McNamee said. I would hate to see anyone lose a limb. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Animal 'tranq' embedded in Ohio and Kentucky fentanyl supply William Chrestman, the Kansas City-area Proud Boy charged with multiple felonies in the Jan. 6 riot including threatening to assault a federal officer and carrying an ax handle inside the Capitol pleaded guilty Monday to two counts. Chrestman, 49, of Olathe, entered guilty pleas to obstruction of an official proceeding and threatening a federal officer. The hearing was held before Judge Timothy J. Kelly in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The Army veteran and former sheet metal worker has been held without bond since his arrest in February 2021. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 12, 2024, and faces a maximum 20 years in prison, $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. He also must pay $2,000 restitution for damage to the Capitol, which the government says totaled about $2.9 million. The federal sentencing guidelines will likely recommend around 5 years in prison and a fine between $20,000 and $200,000. He has already spent more than two-and-a-half years in jail. Its been a long process, your honor, Ed Martin, one of Chrestmans attorneys, told the judge. Hes been here for a while and hes come to this conclusion with a lot of thought. Chrestman, who prosecutors allege was a key player in the attack, could be seen on numerous videos alongside other Proud Boys on Jan. 6, 2021, dressed in tactical gear, leading chants and at one point using the ax handle to obstruct metal barriers that had been deployed to prevent the mob from advancing further into the Capitol. Chrestman was indicted by a federal grand jury on Feb. 26, 2021, along with three other Kansas City-area Proud Boys Christopher Kuehne, who at the time lived in Olathe; Ryan Ashlock, of Gardner; and Louis Colon, of Blue Springs and Arizona siblings Cory and Felicia Konold. The Proud Boys is an organization of self-described Western chauvinists, known for street-level violence and confrontations with anti-fascists at protests. Its members, with the help of another right-wing extremist group called the Oath Keepers, played a pivotal role in the attack on the Capitol, overwhelming Capitol Police and breaking windows to let throngs of Trump supporters into the building. The six with the Kansas City group were charged with conspiracy, obstruction of an official proceeding, civil disorder and entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds. Chrestman also was charged with threatening to assault a federal law enforcement officer and carrying a wooden ax handle while in the Capitol building and on the grounds. Chrestman could be seen on numerous videos alongside other Proud Boys during the riot, dressed in tactical gear, leading chants and at one point using the ax handle to obstruct metal barriers that had been deployed to prevent the mob from advancing further into the Capitol. In denying Chrestmans request to be released on bond at a July 2021 hearing, Kelly went through a laundry list of Chrestmans alleged actions on the day of the riot that the judge said were captured by dozens of photos and videos. The actions, Kelly said, included Chrestman wielding an ax handle, encouraging the crowd to storm the Capitol and confronting law enforcement, telling an officer that You shoot and Ill take your f------ ass out! Kelly said that Mr. Chrestman was much more much, much more than someone who merely cheered on the violence or who entered the Capitol after others cleared the way. Chrestman is the eighth of the 10 Kansas residents charged in connection with the Capitol riot to plead guilty. Six of those eight have been sentenced, and the cases of the other two are ongoing. All members of the Kansas City Proud Boys group except Chrestman were released on personal recognizance bonds pending trial. Colon pleaded guilty in April 2022 to one count of civil disorder, a felony. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Ashlock was sentenced to 70 days in jail and 12 months of supervised release in November 2022 after pleading guilty to one count of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, a misdemeanor. Kuehne pleaded guilty on Sept. 7 to obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder, a felony. He is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 23. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. The Konolds are scheduled to plead guilty on Nov. 1. A statement of offense signed by Chrestman and filed Monday described him as a second-degree member of the Proud Boys Kansas City chapter. In December 2020, it said, he and other members of the chapter began planning to travel to Washington to show their support for then-President Trump and protest Congress certification of the Electoral College vote. The group sent electronic communications that included discussions about engaging in violence with Antifa and Black Lives Matter supporters, bringing two-way radios, medical supplies, weapons and concealing their identities, the document said. Upon being advised that firearms could not be carried in Washington, D.C., the defendant replied, OKBut wood flag staffs are cool!? Chrestman drove to the Washington area on Jan. 4 and 5, 2021, and stayed at a house the KC Proud Boys group rented in Arlington, Virginia, the statement said. On Jan. 6, the group met with other Proud Boys at the Washington Monument, then marched with them to the Capitol. Chrestman wore a tactical vest and protective gloves and carried a gas mask and wooden ax handle with a flag attached to it. Chrestman moved forward with other Proud Boys during the initial breach of barriers outside the Capitol, it said, which allowed the crowd to push past multiple lines of barricades and make its way onto the Lower West Plaza. Chrestman moved to the front of the crowd, encouraging rioters and shouting, Go! Go! Go! He eventually entered the Capitol through the Senate Wing Door about 12 minutes after the initial breach, the document said. Upon entering, he led rioters in a chant of Whose house? Our house! and used his ax handle to block a metal barrier that was being lowered from overhead, allowing more rioters to enter. In a subsequent recorded phone call, it said, the defendant described this episode as follows: We had the cops running through the (f------) State Building, dude, trying to slam the emergency doors, like, the big garage door-type ones that segregate off the rooms, and we were throwing f------ chairs under there to block it dude, to keep going downThe cops were legitimately scared for their f------- lives. Chrestmans family and other supporters have long complained that he continues to be held without bond. He and other Jan. 6 inmates in the District of Columbia jail are referred to as political prisoners by former President Donald Trump and other GOP hard-liners. A fundraiser set up by Chrestmans family on the Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo continues to bring in donations, but the $71,359 sent from more than 1,200 donors is far short of the $450,000 goal. Chrestman was originally scheduled for a status conference on his case on Sept. 18. But four days before it was to take place, the conference was converted to a change-of-plea hearing. The notice of Chrestmans change of plea came one week after Kuehne pleaded guilty. Just days before Kuehnes guilty plea, Kelly a Trump appointee who has handled numerous Proud Boys cases sentenced the organizations former national chairman Enrique Tarrio, of Miami, to 22 years in prison for seditious conspiracy and other charges involving his role in organizing a mob of Trump supporters to attack the Capitol on Jan. 6. Tarrios sentence is the longest to date in connection with the riot. Three other Proud Boys leaders found guilty of seditious conspiracy Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl were sentenced shortly before Tarrio to prison terms of 15 to 18 years. Another member, Dominic Pezzola who broke a Capitol window with a stolen police riot shield was acquitted of the seditious conspiracy charge but sentenced to 10 years for other felonies. Members of the far-right group have been prime targets of the federal investigation into the Capitol attack. Authorities rounded up dozens from around the country on charges including assault of law enforcement officers, civil disorder and sedition. The group received national attention in September 2020 when, during the first presidential debate, Trump was asked if he was willing to condemn white supremacists and militia groups. Trump responded that the Proud Boys should stand back and stand by. During a CNN town hall with Trump in New Hampshire in May of this year, the former president called Jan. 6 a beautiful day and said many of the detainees are just great people. If elected in 2024, Trump said he would be inclined to pardon many of the rioters convicted of federal crimes. Chusri Kaewkhio, 73, lives with her 75-year-old husband Suchart in Bangkok's Klong Toey slum. She has called for the government to provide more support as the cost of living soars (Lillian SUWANRUMPHA) Unless she lines up in the hot sun for a free meal, ketchup on bread is the only food Thai widow Noi can afford on her small government pension. Her payout of around 82 US cents a day makes cooking at home near impossible. "If it's too wet to come, I eat 7-Eleven bread with ketchup," the 73-year-old told AFP at a Bangkok Community Help Foundation meal delivery tent that feeds 500 of the city's homeless and poor daily. Thailand is one of the world's fastest ageing societies, according to the World Health Organization -- but its economy is ill-prepared. Research from major Thai lender Kasikorn Bank estimates that by 2029 the kingdom will join a list of super-ageing societies where more than 20 percent of the population are older than 65. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement But Thailand has not reached the same level of wealth as some other ageing societies such as Japan and Germany. "We've become old before we've become rich," said Kasikorn Bank chief economist Burin Adulwattana. "We're not ready." Currently, Thailand is home to more than 12 million over-60s -- around 18 percent of the population. Low incomes, limited savings and inadequate government pensions will mean many endure extreme poverty, while fewer taxpayers and a healthcare spending bill expected to triple will be a huge fiscal burden. - 'Ticking time bomb' - "It's definitely a ticking time bomb," said Kirida Bhaopichitr from the Thailand Development Research Institute. Poverty among older adults is already widespread, with 34 percent of Thai seniors living below the poverty line -- surviving on less than $830 a year, according to Kasikorn. To retire well in Bangkok at least $100,000 in savings is needed, Burin said, but many Thais are retiring with less than $1,300. In August, the outgoing government announced it was restricting a previously universal pension of between $16 and $27 a month to low-income earners, cutting off six million people. Story continues Thai PM Srettha Thavisin has vowed to eradicate poverty by 2027 and "leave no one behind". His party made an election pledge for an $8.1 billion elderly welfare package but the government has not announced any pension boost. Last month Social Development Minister Warawut Silpa-archa dismissed calls to raise the pension to $81 a month, saying the kingdom could not afford it. "I wish the government could provide more support because right now the cost of living is skyrocketing," said 73-year-old Chusri Kaewkhio in Bangkok's Khlong Toei slum. Her 75-year-old husband Suchart Kaewkhio lies on a bed, in an adult diaper, staring up at the peeling paint and water-damaged ceiling but Chusri said they had no money for repairs. They borrow cash each month to buy expensive milk for her husband's feeding tube and are five months behind on their electricity bills. There is a cultural expectation in Thailand that adult children will look after their parents as they age. But economist Burin said this is unsustainable in the long term as the economy grapples with a smaller workforce, lower growth and consumer spending. - 'The pension is not enough' - While men work until about 65, Thai women start dropping out of the workforce around 50 to care for ageing parents and in-laws, researcher Kirida noted, adding that there needs to be an increase in affordable elderly daycare centres. Orn Keawwilat, 57, faces a difficult juggling act -- caring for her sick elderly parents while running a small general store to support her household of 12. Her bedridden father Arj, 88, recently had a fall trying to get to the bathroom and has lost the ability to speak because of motor neurone disease. "He has to be hand fed and supervised all the time because sometimes he chokes," Orn told AFP. Thailand's demographic shift requires major physical and cultural changes and investment. The labour ministry is considering lifting the retirement age beyond the current 55-60 years old. A future government may be required to lift the value-added tax from seven to 10 percent as well as consider taxing wealth and inheritance, Burin said. Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt is ramping up senior activity centres and health clinics. But for many, retirement with dignity is a pipe dream. A former teacher for 30 years, Aew never married, lost her home during the pandemic and now sleeps on seats at the Bang Sue Grand train station. "The pension is not enough. I also make plastic flowers to sell on the street... But I want a job," the 70-year-old said. ci-lpm/pdw/dva BRI provides clear path for world in turbulence to restore peace, development 08:13, October 16, 2023 By Yang Sheng and Zhang Changyue ( Global Times Amid turbulence as conflicts and bloodshed continue around the globe in countries like Palestine, Israel, Ukraine and Russia, members of the international community have never stopped seeking hope and solutions to make development sustainable, and maintain or restore peace and stability, with leaders and representatives from more than 140 countries as well as 30 international organizations arriving in China to participate in the upcoming Belt and Road Forum (BRF) for International Cooperation to be held in Beijing from Tuesday to Wednesday. Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the opening ceremony of the forum where he will deliver a keynote speech, and later hold a welcome banquet and bilateral events for guests attending the forum, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. The BRF this year will be held under the theme "High-quality Belt and Road Cooperation: Together for Common Development and Prosperity." Kenyan President William Ruto on Sunday arrived in Beijing to attend the BRF, and Chilean President Gabriel Boric, who will also attend the forum, arrived in Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan Province, to start his trip in China, the Xinhua News Agency and CGTN reported. China Central Television aired an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday, with TASS reporting that this is an interview ahead of Putin's visit to Beijing. TASS said on Sunday that the Russian leader will visit China to attend the BRF as well as a China-Russia summit. Great significance "In 2008-2011, the world had just experienced the global financial crisis, and the developed economies had stagnated," Huang Renwei, executive director-general of the Fudan Institute for Belt and Road and Global Governance, told the Global Times on Sunday. "The flow of funds in the global economy as well as the mainstream of globalization had changed, so China had to search for new markets to change its old system that was heavily reliant on developed Western markets. This was the background against which China proposed the BRI in the first place," Huang said. Through the BRI, China used its investments, technologies and infrastructure projects to link more and more developing countries which had been marginalized in the West-dominated globalization, Huang noted. "The initiative [BRI] is not just about building bridges and roads, but inevitably a phenomenon based on the changing of the world and China's economic structure." Huang said that "the BRI is a historically significant, innovative and far-sighted move proposed by China. If the BRI hadn't been proposed 10 years ago, the recession in the global economy and market would have been severer, the economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic would have been heavier, and the US launched trade war against and 'decoupling' from China will be more destructive." To bring hope Chinese analysts said the BRF will provide a thorough summary of the achievements and lessons of the past decade, and will discuss and conclude with a consensus and a significant plan about how to keep pushing the construction of the Belt and Road in the future. It seeks to improve and reform globalization and global governance, especially when world peace and development are facing serious challenges and global post-pandemic recovery is fragile. The third BRF is the most important diplomatic event hosted by China this year, and the most significant celebration for the 10th anniversary of the proposal of BRI, said Chinese Executive Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu on Friday. Shen Yi, a professor of international relations at Fudan University, told the Global Times on Sunday that he hopes the upcoming BRF will be an event that "continues with the past and opens up the future." "The world is in persistent unrest, as the ongoing Ukraine crisis and the latest Palestine-Israel conflict are bringing more uncertainties and bloodshed. After the COVID-19 pandemic, global economic growth lacks new impetus," he said. The disadvantages and problems of the old US-dominated unipolar world order and West-dominated globalization have been exposed, and the world is asking for new solutions and more contributions from China, experts said. "The BRF is expected to produce substantial outcomes, both in the form 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," Ma said. "In this world of change and volatility, the 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. It will send a message of solidarity and win-win cooperation of countries around the globe, and add positive energy and stability to the world," Ma told the media. Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Sunday that the joint construction of the Belt and Road is a key part of China's idea of building a global community of shared future, and in the future, China will keep invest and promote the BRI to make it a better public good for the world, so that more countries are able to benefit from it. 'Don't be jealous' Some Western media and politicians have always tried to badmouth and stigmatize the BRI, and very recently they said the forum has not seen participation by Western developed countries. Chinese experts said the arrogance of the West makes them fail to understand the BRI and fail to provide any meaningful alternative to compete with the BRI. The China-proposed initiative has changed the world significantly, and compared to 10 years ago, more countries have participated in this initiative, so the BRI is successful and will keep being successful with or without the participations or the compliments from the US and its allies, analysts noted. Huang said the US-led West's attitude toward the BRI was different according to the phase of the initiative: In the first two to three years after the BRI was proposed, the West downplayed and looked down on it as they did not believe China could afford to or effectively promote such a huge plan with so many uncertainties and risks. From 2018 to 2019, the West realized the influence and achievements of the BRI, so they started to badmouth and stigmatize the BRI, with the rumors like it being a "debt trap" and a manifestation of "China's neocolonialism." "Since 2021, in order to compete with the unstoppable BRI, the US, the EU, Japan and India proposed global infrastructure initiatives as well. It's just like plagiarism. These attempts are mainly lip-services. They lack funds and they don't have enough investments. In some cases they have political conditions for their partners, or their infrastructure projects get delayed again and again," Huang noted. Build Back Better World (B3W) is an initiative undertaken by the G7. Launched on June 12, 2021, it would provide "an alternative" to the China-proposed BRI for infrastructure development of "low- and middle-income countries," Reuters reported in 2021. However, the B3W has not been mentioned by international mainstream media in the past two years. In 2022, the US and its allies created a new term "the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII)" and US President Joe Biden unveiled "a proposed corridor linking India, the Middle East and Europe" at the G20 summit in New Delhi in September - and pledged there would be more corridors to come. Due to the outbreak of war in Palestine, and the different stances among the West, India and the Islamic countries on the Palestine-Israel conflict, analysts said prospects for Biden's ambitious initiative is not optimistic at all. China and the world welcome more participants to make joint efforts to boost global recovery and improve globalization, but those strategies which are exclusive and prioritize major power competition will never serve the demands of the world and will fail to win support from the majority of the international community, experts noted. A foreigner is being interviewed by Chinese journalists in the media center for the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF). The center started a trial run at the China National Convention Center on October 15, 2023. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) A person was arrested in Tarrytown on Monday after a police chase related to a late night burglary. New York State Police said it investigated a suspicious vehicle Monday morning near a gas station in Ossining. The vehicle was believed to be connected to a burglary on Sunday night at the Sinclair gas station on Route 6 and the Bear Mountain Parkway. Police said the vehicle fled and sideswiped a car in Tarrytown, which led to a police chase. The vehicle crashed near the Lyndhurst Estate and the passengers fled on foot. One suspect was arrested, and police are still looking for two others. The New York State Police encourages anyone with information about the two remaining suspects to call (914) 769-2600. This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Tarrytown NY police chase, car crash leads to arrest Who will be onstage at the next Republican presidential nomination debate? The Republican National Committee (RNC) made it official on Monday, announcing its partners and venue for their third GOP presidential nomination debate, which will be held in Miami on Nov. 8. The RNC said it selected NBC News, Salem Radio Network, the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), and Rumble as partners for the debate, which will take place at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County. RNC chair Ronna McDaniel emphasized that the showdown "will offer our candidates an excellent opportunity to meet the moment and contrast their plans and vision with the failures of the Biden White House." STATE OF THE RACE: DID TRUMP STEP IN IT OVER CONTROVERSIAL MIDEAST COMMENTS? GOP presidential candidates onstage at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Aug. 23, 2023, for the first debate. And RJC chair and former Sen. Norm Coleman noted that "as the horrific events of the last week have unfolded in Israel, the issue of American foreign policy has taken on an even greater role. American strength and American resolve and our candidates vision for Americas role in the world are more important than ever." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The big question going forward is which candidates will be on the stage at next month's debate. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP FIRST ON FOX: RNC RAISES THE BAR FOR CANDIDATES TO QUALIFY FOR THIRD DEBATE Former President Donald Trump, who remains the commanding polling and fundraising frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination as he makes his third straight White House run, pointed to his large lead over his rivals as he skipped the first two debates. And late last month, Trump campaign adviser Chris LaCavita said Trump wouldn't take the stage at the third debate. Trump's campaign has called for all future debates to be canceled, and that the RNC should "refocus its manpower and money" on defeating Democrats in next year's election. Former President Donald Trump speaks to supporters at a campaign event in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, on Oct. 9, 2023. As first reported last month by Fox News, the RNC raised the polling and donor thresholds that 2024 primary candidates must reach to make the stage at the third debate. Story continues To participate, each candidate must have a minimum of 70,000 unique donors to their campaign or exploratory committee, including 200 donors in 20 or more states. The White House hopefuls must also reach 4% support in two national polls, or reach 4% in one national poll and 4% in two statewide polls conducted in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada or South Carolina the four states that lead off the Republican presidential nominating calendar. Additionally, candidates are also required to sign a pledge agreeing to support the eventual Republican presidential nominee. They must agree not to participate in any non-RNC sanctioned debates for the rest of the 2024 election cycle and agree to data-sharing with the national party committee. The thresholds have been rising for each ensuing debate. To make the first showdown, a Fox News-hosted event in Milwaukee on Aug. 23, the candidates needed to hit 1% in polling and have 40,000 donors. Eight candidates ended up facing off in Milwaukee. The criteria were raised to 3% in the polls and 50,000 donors for the second debate, a FOX Business-hosted showdown that took place on Sept. 27 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California. Seven candidates traded fireworks at the second debate. Multimillionaire biotech entrepreneur and first-time candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said he's reached the criteria for the third debate but may join Trump in opting out. His campaign has been having internal discussions regarding whether he should participate in the Miami showdown. "We're taking a look at what's going to best foster debate in party. I think the second debate was totally useless. I do not think it served the voters well. And so I'm looking at how are we going to be able to best inform voters and communicate with voters," Ramaswamy told Fox News' Deirdre Heavey earlier this month on the campaign trail in Keene, New Hampshire. Ramaswamy was joined on stage at the second debate by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, former Vice President Mike Pence, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum. Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who qualified for the first debate, fell short and failed to make the stage at the second showdown. The third debate will be held with just over two months to go until the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses, which is the lead off contest in the 2024 GOP presidential nominating calendar. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub. Original article source: Who will be onstage at the next Republican presidential nomination debate? A photo of Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin In the wake of the pandemic and its devastating impact on student learning, tutoring has been having a moment. The National Student Support Accelerator at Stanford University has found that students can go further faster in the classroom when schools follow a proven tutoring model. The blueprint includes groups of no more than four students who meet the same tutor consistently, during the school day, three times a week for 30 minutes each session, over the course of a semester or more. Tutors should use a structured curriculum that helps students learn grade-level material while filling in individual gaps in knowledge and skills. According to the Stanford researchers, when tutoring follows that blueprint to the letter, elementary students gain more than four months worth of learning in reading and high school students gain more than 10 months of learning an entire additional school year in math. It is in this environment that Virginia is launching a statewide high-dosage tutoring effort called All in VA, part of a $418 million package of academic recovery measures. The Virginia Department of Education recommends that districts put 70% of those funds toward tutoring and plans to award contracts to Ignite Reading and Zearn to provide tutoring in reading and math, respectively. Districts are expected to launch these services by Oct. 16. Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter All districts are expected to offer tutoring to students in grades 3-8 who have failed or are in danger of failing their Standards of Learning exams. Theres flexibility for districts to decide who gets the tutoring within that group of students. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Related With New Grants, 5 States Could Lead the Way to Widespread, Effective Tutoring Virginia is joining the ranks of states like Tennessee and Ohio that have already invested money in tutoring. But its not always easy for educators to follow researchers tutoring guidelines. Many districts have struggled to hire tutors, shift mindsets away from tutoring as a voluntary, before- or after-school supplement and toward integrating it within the school day, and find enough money to pay for the time, training and materials that high-quality tutoring demands. As a result, Virginia would do well to study the lessons policymakers in other states have learned through launching their own tutoring initiatives. Here are three big ones. Story continues First, without clear communication from the state to districts to principals that spells out how to do high-dosage tutoring, why it works and how it connects to classroom learning, principals and teachers may get the recipe wrong, weakening tutorings effectiveness. The common, outdated image of tutoring can prevent districts from following the research-backed recipe for success, and retooling school schedules to make time for tutoring can be complicated. Teachers can be possessive of their students and reluctant to give up time with them unless they understand how it will help them succeed back in their regular classroom. Related Analysis: Texas & Tennessee Get Tutoring Right and Model How to Expand it Nationwide Contracts with virtual tutoring vendors, while a fast way to hire many tutors at once, may be ineffective without a solid plan to connect vendors with schools. Over the summer, Ohio hired Zearn for math tutoring. Although the state spent more than $7.5 million in COVID relief money on the program, teachers arent required to use it, and as of early September, some didnt even know it was available. Communication is key. Second, when state education officers sit down to write contracts with vendors, they should link pay to student performance. Richmond Public Schools, one of the largest school systems in the state, is doing just that after taking part in the Southern Education Foundations training to help districts write outcomes-based contracts. This ensures that schools and taxpayers are getting their moneys worth from tutoring investments. The approach has worked in Duval County, Florida, which also participated in the foundations training. There, a contract with FEV Tutor helped nearly 225 eighth graders get back on track to take algebra in ninth grade. Related Tutorings New Game: Better Academic Results Yield Bigger Payoffs for Providers Third, for the many students who were struggling even before the pandemic, a quick jump-start from a semester of intensive tutoring will not be enough. Those deep learning gaps will take more time to address. For these students, and for those with a combination of academic and social-emotional issues, on-site rather than virtual tutoring would be a much better long-haul strategy. Chicago Public Schools offers lessons that could prove useful to Virginias many small and rural schools. For one thing, most of the districts tutors are retired teachers, parents and other community members who have received special training, a model that many Virginia communities could use. Principals say connecting with local people fosters strong student-tutor relationships and helps build a hiring pipeline for office staff and teacher assistants. Chicago Public Schools has also established a productive division of labor with its outside tutoring partners. Vendors Amplify and Saga Education provide curriculum and tutor training, but the district does all hiring in house. That allows the district to combine part-time tutors at a reasonable price $20 to $22 per hour with curriculum and tutor training from proven providers. Virginia, like all states investing in tutoring with federal pandemic relief funds, will soon face a fiscal dilemma: whether to cut elsewhere to sustain tutoring or stop tutoring when the funds run out next year. Most will likely be looking for ways to sustain their investment. Related With More Teachers & Fewer Students, Districts Are Set up for Financial Trouble How can schools keep tutoring going when the COVID relief funds run dry? Other federal sources are one strategy. School districts can use well-established funding streams like Title I for low-income students, Title II for training and professional development, and IDEA early intervention funds. It adds up to a lot of money for a proven strategy to help students succeed in the classroom and beyond. Editors Note: Mukesh Kapila is a former UN official who is Professor Emeritus of Global Health and Humanitarian Affairs at the University of Manchester. He is the author of Against a tide of evil: How one man became the whistleblower to the first mass murder of the 21st century. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. Read more opinion on CNN. It took me a second to realize that the pinging was from bullets. It took longer to get over the shock that the United Nations lettering on the vehicle was making me a target. Mukesh Kapila - Courtesy Mukesh Kapila This mad drive through Sarajevos infamous sniper alley was followed by an even more dangerous moment. An open dash into the hospital where I was triaging the sick and injured for evacuation. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Again, the huge Red Cross flag on the hospital roof did not stop our windows shattering into lethal shards that killed several around me. We were not the target but we were in the way of artillery from a neighboring hilltop. The siege of Sarajevo in the 1990s was my first exposure to urbanized warfare. It was to be followed with others in cities as far-flung as Kabul and Kigali, Huambo and Goma. All of which come to mind as some 2.3 million residents of Gaza living in one of the most densely-packed places in the Middle East endure Israeli bombardment and siege, in response to massacres by Hamas. Elsewhere across the globe, the bloodshed continues. There are daily Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities, epitomized by the 90% destruction of Mariupol. Sudans internal war has turned Khartoum into a living nightmare, and gangs in Port-au-Prince have created their own hell. Wars in cities are not new. Jerusalem, by some estimates, has been attacked 52 times, besieged 23 times and destroyed twice over its long history. Britain and Germany pulverized each others cities in the Second World War while its most brutal battle over Stalingrad became stuff for movies. Beirut is still scarred by Lebanons civil war. Story continues Palestinians carry a person wounded in Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 16. - Fatima Shbair/AP However, modern urban warfare sets new records of ruination because more than half of us live in built-up areas. Cities generate 80% of global GDP. Urban lifestyles depend completely on infrastructure for energy, water, healthcare, food supply, transport and communications. Therefore, disrupting, destroying or controlling cities is central to war-making. This is not illegal under the UN Charter but the concept of just war in international law requires protecting non-combatants. In urban war, fighters and civilians intermingle Often, the frontlines of urban conflicts cannot be clearly demarcated when fighters and civilians are intermingled. Protecting the latter is easier said than done amidst the general pandemonium. Besides, civilians whether politicians and strategists, or cheerleaders on the sidelines are implicated in wars, directly or indirectly. Also, in the digital era of intelligence-led cyber warfare, distinctions between civilian and combatant is lost. As words are powerful weapons to provoke or disinform the other side, social media warriors proliferate. Such belligerents are not at physical frontlines in military uniforms. They direct armed drones or unleash destructive computer viruses from nondescript apartments in ordinary communities. Then there are activists and agitators seeking media attention to rally support or embarrass the enemy in the court of public opinion. War has changed since the Geneva Conventions These new-style warriors were unknown when the Geneva Conventions emerged over a century ago. In todays whole-of-society conflicts, unarmed, non-uniformed combatants are unlikely to be accorded the traditional Geneva protections. Prevailing geopolitical fractures make it impossible to agree to new conventions. So, when, for instance, Russian missiles hit residential blocks in Ukraine, which may host drone assembly, or Israeli jets demolish Gaza buildings with Hamas tunnels underneath them, the understandable outrage over the collateral killing of innocents could be equally directed towards those waging conflicts under civilian cover. Explosive weapons in urban settings The problem with rules prohibiting the disproportionate use of force is with titrating the violence. Over the decades, technology has improved targeting precision, but not at the pace of development of more powerful munitions with wide-area effects. These types of explosive weapons were designed for traditional open battlefields and cause ferocious indiscriminate impact when unleashed in built environments. That violates international humanitarian law and is contrary to a UN political declaration on explosive weapons in populated areas. However, with fast-moving multiple targets in a chaotic cityscape, overwhelming force to achieve a quicker victory has compelling, if perverse, logic: to prevent the considerably greater casualties that occur in protracted warfare. Especially in asymmetrical conflicts where militias such as Islamic State and Hamas prefer the tactics of drawn-out violent attrition with even less respect for the rules of war. Surgical strikes aimed at military targets with intent to minimize collateral damage to the surrounds are theoretically feasible. But mistakes often happen as with hospitals hit in Afghanistan and Yemen. Prosecution for war crimes a rarity Besides, who is doing the reckoning for war crimes? This is so rare that when Britain and Australia prosecute their soldiers for excesses in Iraq and Afghanistan, it makes headlines. Justice via the International Criminal Court is so slow that it makes no practical difference to ongoing wars. Thus, impunity rules. Meanwhile, humanitarians are increasingly in the crossfire. Partly because trust is at an all-time low with the same nations funding aid as those providing the weapons to hurt. Humanitarian agencies struggle with neutrality and impartiality when coerced by one side or other. Aid is often a tool of war to be looted or diverted as in Ethiopia and Somalia. Strong values-driven agencies such as the International Committee of the Red Cross and UN World Food Program struggle in Ukraine, Sudan and countless other places to balance principles with pragmatism. When they compromise to access those in desperate need, as in Syria or Libya, criticism is usual. That will also come in Gaza if humanitarian pauses and corridors are allowed. The dilemma at the heart of urban warfare What can urbanites do in such impossible circumstances? There is much talk of resilience, but this has limits when stockpiles do not outlast increasingly lengthy blockades as Gazans know, and safe rooms and bunkers cannot withstand direct assaults as Israelis discovered. In 2021, after previous tensions around the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, at least 250 people in Gaza and 13 in Israel, died in 11 days of targeted Israeli air raids on Gaza. That figure was quickly eclipsed by this latest round of less-restrained bombardments. The final toll will be much greater. In truth, there are no good ways to conduct urban wars but short ones are preferable. Unfortunately, that makes for high intensity warfare and heavy casualties In Gaza, it means wishing success to external peacemakers. And courage to Gazan residents to resist the fanatic Hamas amidst them. Both the just Palestinian cause and Israels rightful security will benefit. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com The vast majority of prospective homebuyers, 83%, consider climate related risks when looking for a new home, a recent survey released by Zillow found. But, only 23% of those questioned said they were looking to move to a safer area. In a series of five separate surveys, analysts asked almost 12,000 people who intended to buy a home in the next 12 months if climate risks would impact their decisions. Results were variable based on age of the buyer and region of the U.S. they lived in. File: Damage from Hurricane Michael is seen in the Mexico Beach, Florida, in November 2018, a little more than a month after landfall. Almost half said that they were looking in areas with similar climate risks. Only 23% said they would move to minimize climate risks. And over a quarter said they were considering buying in an area with more risk. HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHER "We're seeing the highest rates of prospective buyers reporting that climate risks impacted where they shop for a home in the western United States, especially on the West Coast, think basically Washington to California." Manny Garcia, Zillow Senior Population Scientist told FOX Weather. "Then also, to a similar extent, in the Northeast." File: Two wildfires burned nearly 600 homes near Boulder, Colorado on December 30, 2021. "A majority, pretty much 77% in the Midwest and 79% in the South, so still a really large share, also said that at least one climate risk impacted where they shop," he continued. But about a third of the shoppers from the Midwest and South said they wouldn't consider climate risk when shopping/moving. 2023 CLAIMS ALL-TIME HIGHEST NUMBER OF BILLION-DOLLAR DISASTERS, NOAA SAYS DO YOU HAVE FLOOD INSURANCE? DO YOU NEED IT? Younger buyers were also more sensitive to the risk. "Across generations, we see that majorities of prospective buyers are considering climate risk. It is higher for those Gen Z and especially for millennial prospective buyers," Garcia said. "So we see that 86% of prospective buyers in their thirties reported considering at least one climate risk versus only 69% of those in their sixties and older." File: Flooding in Sumas, Wash. Flood topped the concerns of the 59+ buyers. Gen Z and Gen X found wildfires most concerning. Millenials identified extreme temperatures as a major consideration. Hurricanes and drought were at the bottom of the concern list. The median age of a homebuyer is 39. Millennial and Gen Z buyers make up 54% of all home buyers. And first-time buyers make up half of all buyers. TOP 5 COSTLIEST HURRICANES IN US HISTORY CLIMATE CHANGE ROCKING THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY HOMEOWNERS FEEL THE HEAT But climate risk is not the first and foremost deciding factor, that is price. "We know that 84% of successful buyers say that their highly important criteria for a home was staying in budget. The only other home characteristic to come close was air conditioning," Garcia said. "Everything else, like bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage, floor plans trail that highly important staying within budget.," He also pointed out that the areas with the highest levels of climate consideration were also those with the highest home prices, the West Coast and the Northeast. The most affordable sale markets are in the Rust Belt and the Midwest. Original article source: Over 80% of homebuyers factor extreme weather, climate risk into decision, survey finds One in 10 residents of Mississippi is owed unclaimed money and the state treasurers of Mississippi and Louisiana are hosting an open house event to help Coast residents find their cash. Mississippi Treasurer David McRae and Louisiana State Treasurer John Schroders Unclaimed Property Team will be in Bay St. Louis Friday, Oct. 20. The event will be from 2-7 p.m. at Bay St. Louis Community Hall, 301 Blaze Ave. Also attending will be representatives from College Savings Mississippi to provide information how families can save for their childrens education. Mississippi and Louisiana residents will be able to search for unclaimed money and get assistance claiming any cash owed. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement McRae said residents of Mississippi may have lost track of funds left behind in Louisiana, and vice versa. Together, Im hopeful that Treasurer Schroder and I will be able to return this money to their rightful owner, infusing our neighboring economies with a financial stimulus that can make both states a little stronger, McRae said. Those who want to check on money possibly owed them in Mississippi can begin the search at Treasury.MS.gov/Search or in Louisiana at louisiana.findyourunclaimedproperty.com. The search in Mississippi shows if the amount of money owed is under or over $100. Palestinians inspect the damage to their homes caused by Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, Gaza. Many Gazan citizens have fled to the south following warnings from the Israeli government to do so. Tarunjit Singh Butalia is a Sikh interfaith activist who has lived in central Ohio for more than 30 years. Friday was my birthday. I did not celebrate it. The recent brutal attacks by Hamas militants on Israeli civilians, including women and children, have no moral or ethical excuse in a civilized world and are deeply condemnable. Israel, in return, has launched counter-attacks into Gaza on Hamas targets also killing innocent civilians, including women and children. Israel has a right to defend itself but not at the expense of significant civilian casualties. Violence, whether by state or non-state participants, can never serve as a pathway to peace and security. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The call of a Hamas senior leader to attack every Jew possible in all the world and kill them and the comments of the Israeli defense minister, We are imposing a complete siege on [Gaza]. No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel all these remarks are abhorrent and smack of collective punishment. Why did Hamas attack Israel? Terrorists continue Hitler's murderous tradition against Jews Dr. Tarunjit Singh Butalia The United States was reportedly negotiating a peace agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel. It seems that the attack by Hamas on Israel may have been timed to derail this potential pact. At the same time, over seven decades of attrition of Palestinian land and resources (water, electricity, food, movement) has led to an open-air prison and apartheid state for Palestinians. Israel's apartheid on Palestinians has no path to peace. Supporters of Israel face supporters of Palestinians during a protest in Times Square in New York on Oct. 13, 2023. The decade-and-a-half apartheid-like containment program implemented by Israeli security forces in the Palestinian Territories has resulted in open-air prisons, blocking food, and control of electricity, leading to disturbing malnutrition and mortality rates this, too, has no moral or ethical excuse in a civilized world and is deeply condemnable. Tactics towards ethnic cleansing, akin to apartheid tactics used in South Africa, can also never be a pathway to peace and security. Story continues Today, people of faith and conscience worldwide are deeply concerned over the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Israel and Palestine. Over 1,300 Israelis and more than 1,800 Palestinians have been killed in the last few days. Thousands of civilians have been injured on both sides. Missile and air strikes by both sides abound. Israel on Friday ordered more than 1 million residents of northern Gaza to move out within 24 hours, further deepening the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Now there are talks of an impending ground invasion of Gaza by Israeli security forces. Hamas continues to launch rockets into Israel, with a population of over 9 million spread over 8,600 square miles, and holds Israeli and U.S. hostages. Israeli security forces continue decades of occupation and apartheid, launch counter-rockets into Gaza, and have announced a complete blockade of Gaza with no electricity, food, or water for a population of over 2 million in about 140 square miles (which has already been under a blockade for 15 years by the Israeli army). When will the world intervene in battle between Hamas and Israeli? How long will the world allow these heinous acts of Hamas and Israeli security forces to continue? Just as Israeli citizens and Jews cannot be held responsible for the actions of the Israeli security forces, Palestinian citizens and Muslims cannot be held accountable for the actions of Hamas. Furthermore, the brutal acts of Hamas do not represent Palestinians, just as the inhuman acts of the Israeli security forces do not represent Israelis. The asymmetry of the conflict in Israel and Palestine needs to be recognized. Since 2008, over 3,700 Palestinian civilians have been killed by Israeli security forces and state-sponsored settlers, and over 300 Israelis have been killed by Hamas and other militant groups, as per the United Nation Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance. With the backing of Western nations, the military power of Israel far exceeds that of the Palestinian territories. The U.S. government has provided much-needed assistance to Israel with the anti-missile Iron Dome system, saving thousands of innocent Israeli civilians from the heinous attacks by Hamas. More: A look at Gaza, the 140-square-mile strip at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict More: See how US Navy ships in the Mediterranean are positioned to support Israel Israel's license to kill Palestinians must be revoked. However, the United States governments dog whistle of letting Israeli security forces do all it wants to do in Gaza further fuels the loss of innocent Palestinian lives. This licenses Israeli security forces to kill Palestinians under the pretext of defending themselves against Hamas. Such morality by our government is akin to the treachery of Palestinians. The land of the free and the home of the brave must do better to live up to its moral authority of standing up for righteousness and all those who are oppressed. All parties must work towards the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages taken by Hamas. We must call upon the U.S. government to aid all those suffering on both sides of this conflict and use diplomacy for a ceasefire so civilians can be saved from further suffering and death despite political posturing by American politicians that have left us unable to respond to an urgent need. And we must call upon all stakeholders in the conflict to work towards a just peace through diplomatic means rather than war which will provide much-needed security to Israelis and Palestinians. The governments of the United States, France, United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy issued a joint statement on October 9, expressing much-needed solidarity with the suffering of Israelis. Still, they failed even to mention the suffering of Palestinians in the current conflict. Such double standards need to end. Are Palestinians not as human as Israelis? Are Palestinians the children of a lesser God? Jews, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, and many others believe in the same God. At this time, faith communities must come together as peacemakers so that just peace can prevail in Israel and Palestinian Territories. Our common God values the lives of Jews, Muslims, and Christians equally may we honor this in our everyday lives, especially during these times of conflict in Israel and Palestine. Tarunjit Singh Butalia is a Sikh interfaith activist who has lived in central Ohio for more than 30 years. This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Israel war. Has US 'dog whistle' licensed Israel to kill Palestinians? CAMDEN - Philadelphia police have found the body of a man who was shot to death in Camden on Oct. 6, authorities say. The remains of Jody Spence, 31, of Camden, were found on Oct. 11 on the 400 block of North 5th Street, according to the Camden County Prosecutor's Office. Spence had been fatally shot around 10:25 p.m. on Oct. 6 on the 800 block of Princess Avenue in Camden's Parkside section, the prosecutor's office said in a statement. Daniel King suffered a medical incident Videos capture Millville man's actions with trooper before he died in custody The statement did not give a reason for the gap between Spence's shooting and the discovery of his body. An investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call Prosecutor's Detective Tanner Ogilvie at 856-650-6398 and Camden County Police Detective Jake Siegfried at 609-820-3537. Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email: Jwalsh@cpsj.com. This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Jody Spence of Camden found dead in Philadelphia MANILA (Reuters) -The Philippine military has demanded China stop "dangerous and offensive" actions in the South China Sea, after a Chinese navy ship shadowed and attempted to cut off a Philippine navy vessel conducting a resupply mission late last week. A Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessel came as close as 350 yards (metres) as it tried to cross in front of the Philippine ship near Thitu island, Manila's biggest and most strategically important outpost in the South China Sea, according to Philippines armed forces chief Romeo Brawner. "These dangerous and offensive manoeuvres by China's PLAN not only risk collision but also directly endanger the lives of maritime personnel from both sides," Brawner said in a statement on Sunday. China on Monday claimed sovereignty and defended its presence near Thitu, which is calls as Zhongye Island. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "The Philippine side's illegal occupation of Zhongye Island has seriously violated China's sovereignty," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a regular press conference on Monday. "It is reasonable and lawful for Chinese warships to patrol the waters near Zhongye Island." It was the latest in a series of attempts by China to monitor and block Philippine resupply missions to personnel in Manila-occupied features in the South China Sea. China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, through which more than $3 trillion of trade passes each year. Ties between Manila and Beijing have soured since Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos pursued closer ties with Washington, in sharp contrast to the pro-China stance of his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte, who sought to court billions of dollars of investment from Beijing. Marcos, however, has maintained pursuing economic relations with China is important, and his government is sending a representative to China's third Belt and Road Forum this week. (Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales, Additional Reporting by Liz Lee; Editing by Gerry Doyle) The centrist Third Way coalition, coming up third in the parliamentary elections, ruled out any talks with the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party on forming a new government, the Polish Press Agency (PAP) reported on Oct. 16. With most of the votes counted, conservative-populist PiS is expected to win the highest number of votes after the Oct. 15 elections but not enough to form a new government on its own. According to the most recent count results, the Third Way, composed of the agrarian Polish People's Party (PSL) and the Poland 2050 movement, will win a little over 14% of the votes, ending up behind the liberal-centrist Civic Coalition (KO) with around 30%, and PiS with roughly 36%. "We built our campaign and political positions on criticism of what PiS is doing in the economy, in healthcare, in education, and on how it destroyed our international relations and our position within the EU," PSL's vice president Dariusz Klimczak told PAP. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement He added that "there are a million arguments for anybody who is serious in politics not to talk with PiS ever again after what they had done in their two terms (in power)." When asked whether the Third Way will hold coalition talks with KO and the New Left the social-democratic, progressive party with around 8% of votes Klimczak responded that the first meetings will take place "within hours after the official results." PSL's leader, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, and Poland 2050's vice president, Michal Kobosko, also rejected the possibility of talks with PiS. Without the Third Way's backing, PiS is unlikely to secure a majority in the Parliament, having little hope of winning the support of its chief rival, KO, or the progressive New Left. Even if the ruling party managed to ally with the far-right Confederation, which is coming up fifth with around 7%, they would not have enough mandates to form a government. Donald Tusk, KO's leader, declared victory shortly after the exit poll predicted that the three opposition parties would secure a majority in the Polish Parliament. He has previously vowed to return Poland on a pro-EU, liberal trajectory and assured Ukraine of continued military and political support. While the PiS-led government has been a staunch ally of Kyiv since the start of the full-scale invasion, the past few weeks were marked by diplomatic spats and trade disputes over grain imports. Read also: Whos who in Polands election, and where they stand on Ukraine, Russia, EU Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Police cordon off house in Hartlepool believed to be occupied by asylum seekers - Raoul Dixon / NNP Counter-terrorism police investigating the fatal stabbing of a man near a migrant centre in Hartlepool have named the victim as 70-year-old Terrence Carney. Mr Carney died after allegedly being attacked at random shortly after using a cash machine in the town, early on Sunday. Another man who was attacked at a property around half a mile away, where asylum seekers are housed, was taken to hospital with non life-threatening injuries. Ahmed Alid, 44, was arrested at the scene and charged with murder and attempted murder on Monday night. He will appear before Westminster Magistrates Court on Tuesday morning. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement A spokesman for Counter Terrorism Policing North East said: The thoughts and deepest sympathies of Cleveland Police and Counter Terrorism Policing North East are with the family and friends of Terrence at this extremely difficult time. Early enquiries suggest that Terrence was a passer-by at the time of the incident, having recently used a nearby ATM. Officers from Cleveland Police were called to a house in the town just before 5.20am on Sunday following reports that a man had been attacked. When they arrived they found a man suffering from non life-threatening stab wounds. Mr Carney was initially found injured in Tees Street around half a mile away. Attempts were made to treat him at the scene but he was pronounced dead a short time later and police confirmed they were linking both incidents. Specialist counter-terrorism officers initially said they were supporting the investigation but on Monday confirmed that due to the circumstances surrounding the incident they had now taken charge of the inquiry. Police sealed off a property in Wharton Street, in Hartlepool, County Durham, which is understood to house a number of asylum seekers. Detective Chief Superintendent James Dunkerley, Head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East, said: This evenings charges follow a thorough investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing North East and Cleveland Police. We are satisfied that this was an isolated incident and are not seeking anyone else in connection with this matter. Residents in Wharton Terrace said four men from different ethnic backgrounds had been living at the property and were believed to be asylum seekers. Recent concerns They had recently been concerned by the behaviour of one of the four men, who had been living at the property since the turn of the year. One local said: Its a real shock to find that place is being searched by the police because there has never been any trouble there before, they live together and live quietly. I didnt hear a thing on Sunday morning but woke up to find the street swarming with police. Al Devon, a barber on Tees Street close to where Mr Carneys body was found, said there has been a large influx of asylum seekers being housed in the area. Mr Devon said: No one has any issue with asylum seekers coming into Hartlepool but there has been a huge influx of young men coming here from other countries that are nothing to do with the current conflict. Its concerning with incidents like this happening. The town is already rife with unemployment and homelessness, its not equipped at all. 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. Ian Critchley, the national police lead for child protection, says he wants any victims who may not have been believed in the past to come forward Victims of child rape and sexual abuse must be believed by police from the start, but officers would be failing in their duty if they blindly believe them, says Britains top police investigator for child protection. In an exclusive article for The Telegraph, Ian Critchley, the national police lead for child protection, said the polices approach to belief when victims made allegations of sexual crimes had been weaponised, criticised and misunderstood. In the 1990s, before the Jimmy Savile scandal in 2013, there had been an approach to police investigation known as ABC: Assume nothing, believe nothing and check everything, he said. This had resulted in only one in 20 victims saying they had been believed when they reported allegations, according to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). It meant as few as one in six victims of child sexual abuse felt able to come forward and report their abuse to police. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement However, the pendulum had swung such that police were often portrayed as guilty of blind belief, a criticism that came to a head with Operation Midland, in which a series of high-profile figures were investigated after false allegations of child abuse by fantasist Carl Beech. If we are undertaking an investigation with blind belief we are not fulfilling our public service duty. It is a failing of our public service, said Mr Critchley, former deputy chief constable of Merseyside Police. Informed and open belief He said the distinction between the two approaches had been most clearly set out by clinical psychologist Dr Elly Hanson. There was ideological belief, where a victim was believed 100 per cent no matter what other information may come to light. The second was informed and open where an officer believed a victim based on their current knowledge but would reassess their view depending on new and emerging evidence. What we train our staff in is informed and open belief to believe victims at points of contact and referral, unless there is something that would give a clear view that whats been told is not right, but to then follow a very open and informed investigation to establish the facts, he said. We know how important this is for victims of sexual abuse. And we know the difference that this makes for victims who take tremendous courage in making that complaint. Speaking to mark the first anniversary of the IICSA report into child abuse, Mr Critchley said he wanted any victims who may not have been believed in the past to come forward. Where mistakes have been made by policing or the CPS pre 2013, I want to give confidence to victims to come back to us if they feel they have not had justice. We will work with them, he said. Threefold approach He revealed one in five (20 per cent) of reviews of historic sex abuse cases had led to a perpetrator being charged. And about 25 per cent of the 106,000 child sex abuse crimes were historic. The 106,000 represents a five-fold rise since 2013. My approach is threefold. One, our duty is to prevent child sexual abuse happening in the first place because it has lifelong impacts, he said. Secondly, we must give confidence to victims to come forward, whether that abuse happened today or yesterday, or 40 years ago. And thirdly, I want to see more offenders being brought to justice. He warned, however, that among his biggest concerns was a rise in children as young as 10 sharing indecent images of themselves, a trend that had become part and parcel of relationships. What were seeing is a normalisation of behaviour, of sharing self generated images, he said. It had been fuelled by the ease of access to violent pornography which was driving harmful behaviour against women and girls among boys and young men. That is why the advocacy of the Online Safety Act for me is the most important legislation for many years in the protection of children from abuse, he said. The law places a legal duty on the social media companies to prevent and remove any child abuse content and bar under aged children from accessing porn. Failure to do so can lead to fines of up to 10 per cent of their global turnover and two years jail for bosses who persistently breach their duty to protect children. We want to increase victim confidence by Ian Critchley Belief. Such a short word, but when applied to policing and survivors of child abuse? It becomes a concept that is weaponised, criticised, and misunderstood. Belief matters. Not just in a theoretical sense but in a way that changes peoples lives. I will never forget sitting with the Deputy Childrens Commissioner in 2013 listening to a female survivor who described the most appalling acts of abuse she had suffered over many years. In the next sentence she then described how the work of the specialist team made up of police, childrens social care, NHS safeguarding nurses and others saved her life. If it wasnt for the team, I would be dead, she said. Now I have my self-worth, my family, a degree and a job. This team had believed her, and this act gave her hope. Belief matters to policing and it matters to me and is why I am writing this now as policings National Lead on Child Protection and Abuse. If what I say here means that even one more person feels able to come forward and talk to us, knowing they will be believed, then it will be a success. The way policing approaches and investigates child sexual exploitation has come a long way in the past decade. It has been a journey, one Ive been part of and reflected on to ensure we do the very best we can for victims and survivors, those people whove taken the huge step of coming forward to tell us their stories with the hope of protecting others. Following revelations about Jimmy Savile, the horror of which we are reminded of in the latest BBC drama series, we saw a surge in the number of adults coming forward to report having been the victim of child sexual abuse. It highlighted survivors had the confidence to speak to the police, knowing that they would be listened to and believed. This was a good thing. In the past, this has not always been the case and quite rightly we in policing have been held to account for this. Belief is often going to be an issue that we see reflected negatively, however, we in policing needed to make an even bigger change in light of NSPCC research that victims had previously feared not being believed and that is why they did not report abuse at the hands of Savile and others. This underreporting is supported by estimates which indicate that one in six girls and one in 20 boys experience child sexual abuse before the age of 16. In March 2020, the Office for National Statistics estimated that 3.1 million adults in England and Wales had experienced sexual abuse before the age of 16. I read an incredibly powerful paragraph in the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) final report: Often victims and survivors were accused of lying when they told someone that they were being sexually abused. This was emphasised by the Truth Project too, which ran alongside IICSA. Only five per cent of those participants who disclosed child sexual abuse to an institution at the time of the abuse said that they were believed. One participant, J, mentioned in front of the police that he was being raped regularly in his childrens home and the police officer responded by saying we dont need to hear your fing lies. I dont write with any halo around my head. As a young response officer in Accrington in the 1990s I would regularly come across young children reported missing from childrens homes and be quick to label them, rather than listen carefully to what they were saying to me about the abuse and harm they were suffering. But this is what we were taught in society and in policing. When being trained as an investigator we were all taught that the golden rule of investigation was the ABC of serious investigation: assume nothing, believe nothing, and check everything. It was the culture in which I worked and grew up in and the culture that many people reading this will have experienced. Its absolutely right to not assume and check everything within an investigation, but I am confident that policing has moved forward in the right direction from one of believe nothing when applying it to our current approach to victims of child sexual abuse. But there is still much more to do. We want to increase victim confidence, so policing starts from the position that victims are believed. This ensures that those reporting crimes are treated with empathy and their allegations are taken seriously. Any investigation which follows is then taken forward with an open mind to establish the truth. Academic evidence relating to victim confidence has noted that a fear of disbelief or being blamed for what has happened is a barrier to people coming forward and reporting their crimes, especially for sexual offences. Dr Elly Hanson is a clinical psychologist and researcher whose work focuses on preventing abuse, harm, and injustice. She published a paper in 2016, stating belief is usually not an all-or-nothing entity though, for shorthands sake, we usually treat it as if it is. It typically has many nuances. In this paper Dr Hanson made a distinction between two approaches to belief. Ideological: I believe 100 per cent no matter what other information may come to light often referred to as blind belief. Informed and open: This is what I believe based upon my current knowledge and will reassess my view based on new and emerging information. Blind belief is often the one policing is portrayed as using by the media and if applied is a failing of our public service. So it is the second approach that policing has adopted, belief of victims that is informed and open. One that begins from taking the account seriously whilst being open to what a professional investigation may reveal following all reasonable lines of enquiry. Gabrielle Shaw, chief executive of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC), nailed it for me when writing about Gary Nevilles interview with the footballer Dele Alli: A great model for how to receive a disclosure of childhood abuse. Supportive, believing, non-judgmental and sensitive. Justice is important to victims, and I have led many successful investigations of child abuse. But research with victims and survivors shows that for them, the right support is even more important. One case as a senior investigating officer I took to court for sexual abuse of seven complainants. The defendant was acquitted. I felt like I had failed until I listened carefully to three of the complainants, all of whom I spoke to in person after the case to apologise. They said to me you believed us, your team treated us with care and compassion, and we thank you for all you have done for us. They had tremendous courage in making their complaints. In recent times we have seen appalling acts from police officers who swore an oath to protect and serve but instead became offenders. What is less reported is the considerate acts of policing call centre staff, initial response officers or specialist child protection officers whose caring, compassionate, and dedicated actions every day across the country ensure children or adult survivors feel believed, trusted, and cared for. This response allows these survivors to start to move forward with their lives. We know they will never be able to undo the appalling abuse that they suffered, but it allows for hope as to their future ahead. Many people talk about policing across the decades and the old-fashioned approaches that were taken. Quite frankly this is not a place we want to go back to when we deal with child abuse and rape. I prefer the phrase excellence in the basics, which includes treating children and adult survivors with care, compassion, and empathy so that yes, they feel believed and trusted and have hope. There are still too many times where we get it wrong and there is much for us to do, but I am proud of the hundreds of police colleagues that get it right, dedicating their lives to helping and protecting children and bringing offenders to justice. That must be our commitment to past, current and sadly the future children who will be sexually abused until we can eradicate these appalling acts from our society. 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. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department honored retired K-9 Baca who died on Saturday. It is with great sadness we announce the passing of retired CMPD K-9 Baca. He served with the department from 2012-2018 as a dual purpose patrol and narcotics dog. pic.twitter.com/yo0awQUy7b CMPD News (@CMPD) October 14, 2023 Baca served as a patrol and narcotics dog from 2012 to 2018 finding and apprehending narcotics and criminals with his handler, Officer Acker-Estes. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement ALSO READ: https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/cmpd-attempts-reestablish-sense-security-crime-ridden-community/575UGC7KBBHQTPVJZB2HBEJGFE/ After Baca retired, he spent the rest of his time with his family. (WATCH BELOW: Retired CMPD officer creates nonprofit inspired by acts of kindness during pandemic) Police: Investigation underway after 2-year-old found with mother in Bostons Mass and Cass area Police are investigating after they say a toddler was found with his mother around a notorious drug-use zone without a coat on Friday morning. A Boston Police report says they were informed by an outreach worker around 8:15 a.m. that a woman was spotted with her baby on Southampton Street. The street and its surrounding areas are known for the avid use of drugs, illegal drug sales, human trafficking, and violence. Arriving officers quickly found the mother and her 2-year-old son outside 115 Southampton Street. The mother allegedly said she had been staying in her car in the McDonalds parking lot on Massachusetts Avenue Thursday night when the car was towed due to an expired registration, according to the police report. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement She claimed she then spent most of the night at Boston Medical Center to stay warm and charge her phone and left around 6:30 a.m. to get dosed at the Boston Comprehensive Treatment Center. However, officers say they werent able to corroborate that story and couldnt confirm the child spent the night in an adequate shelter. It was also noted in the police report the child was only wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt, a pair of pants, and two pairs of ankle socks while the temperature outside was between 40 and 45 degrees. Officers on scene provided a blanket to the baby and EMS checked him, out. Despite the conditions, police say he was in good health. The mother and child were given a courtesy ride to the Boston Comprehensive Treatment Center and a 51A was filed, which is the Massachusetts form used to report suspected child abuse or neglect with the Department of Children and Families. The childs alleged father was also arrested on active warrants for operating while under the influence of a controlled substance and possession class A later that afternoon, according to the report. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW A police standoff ended Sunday night in Kansas City after a victim declined to cooperate with an investigation. Officers responded just before 8:30 p.m. to the 1100 block of East 65th Street, where shots were reported, according to Officer Alayna Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for the Kansas City Police Department. Police found a man who had been grazed by a gunshot, and emergency medical services took him to a hospital with minor injuries. During the initial investigation, police believed there was a female subject of interest inside a nearby home who they attempted to contact multiple times. The woman didnt come out, so a standoff began, which included bringing negotiators to the scene. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Detectives met with the man in the hospital, but he didnt want to cooperate with the investigation. At the scene, officers heard varying information from people in the area about the situation. Around 11 p.m., the standoff ended. Supporters and leaders of the largest opposition grouping Civic Coalition (KO) react to exit polls By Karol Badohal and Anna Koper WARSAW (Reuters) -Poland's liberal, pro-EU opposition on Monday looked on track to form the next government after official partial results and exit polls showed the ruling nationalists losing their parliamentary majority in the nation's most pivotal election in decades. The incumbent Law and Justice (PiS) party has repeatedly clashed with the European Union over the rule of law, media freedom, migration and LGBT rights since it swept to power in 2015. Opposition parties have vowed to mend ties with Brussels and scrap reforms they say have eroded Polish democracy. A late exit poll by Ipsos published on Monday afternoon gave PiS 36.1% of the vote, which would translate into 196 lawmakers in the 460-seat lower house of parliament. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Opposition parties, led by the former European Council President Donald Tusk's liberal grouping Civic Coalition (KO), were projected to win a combined 249 seats, with the KO seen winning 31.0% of ballots cast. Official results after 90% of voting districts had been counted put PiS on 36.4%, KO on 29.7% and its ally the centre-right Third Way on 14.5%. Generally more conservative rural areas and small towns report their results faster than large cities where liberal parties are strongest. Victory for the opposition in a vote seen by analysts as the most significant election for Europe in years could potentially redefine the relationship between Brussels and the largest EU member state in central and eastern Europe. Polish financial markets surged on the prospect of a government led by Tusk. The blue-chip WIG 20 share index was up 6.2% at 1320 GMT, while the zloty currency was 1.3% firmer. "The ousting of the nationalists will help to restore damaged relations with the EU," said Lee Hardman, a senior currency analyst at MUFG bank. "The zloty should continue to strengthen further in the near-term in anticipation of improving relations with the EU that will help to support growth and attract capital inflows." Tusk has said he would seek to unblock some 110 billion euros of EU funds earmarked for Poland but frozen over rule-of-law concerns. 'WAITING CALMLY' President Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally, has said he would give the first shot to the winning party. On Monday, Duda urged patience until the full election results were known. "We are waiting calmly, democracy in Poland is stable," he said. However, with the far-right Confederation seen winning just 6.8%, below expectations, according to the late exit poll, PiS will struggle to forge a new government. Even though they likely will have a wait before their turn to form a government, Third Way leader Szymon Holownia said late on Monday the opposition parties will begin coalition talks this week, and Tusk is a natural candidate to become a new prime minister, The leader of the Polish Peasants' Party (PSL), part of Third Way, ruled out joining a PiS-led coalition. "People who voted for us wanted change, they wanted PiS removed from power," Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz told private radio RMF FM. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), a rights watchdog, said Poland's election had not been entirely free and fair. "... The ruling party enjoyed clear advantage through its undue influence over the use of state resources and public media," said Pia Kauma, head of the OSCE's Parliamentary Assembly. Poland's electoral commission put turnout in Sunday's vote at 74%, based on 96% of polling stations, the highest since the fall of communism in 1989, underlining the high stakes of this election. Turnout in the last parliamentary election was 62%. In an aggressive campaign, PiS had cast the election as a choice between uncontrolled illegal migration under the rule of leaders it said were beholden to foreign interests and a government that would protect Poland's borders and traditions. However, PiS faced accusations of democratic backsliding and undermining women's rights after the government enforced a near-total abortion ban in 2021. PiS was also accused of using lucrative positions in state-controlled firms to reward supporters. "I expect that women will now have more rights, that they will feel safer," said Iga Frackiewicz, 43, a banking administrator. "I also hope that the nepotism will end, for example in state companies and in other places." (Reporting by Warsaw and Gdansk Newsrooms, and Lidia Kelly in Melbourne, writing by Alan CharlishEditing by Gareth Jones and Cynthia Osterman) WARSAW, Poland, and MILAN As Poland awaits the first units of its 2020 order of 32 F-35 fighter jets, Warsaw is considering further expanding its combat aircraft fleet with a purchase of 32 additional warplanes, according to Polish defense officials. We own 48 F-16s. We have ordered 32 two squadrons of F-35s. Next year, the first units will be in the hands of Polish pilots. We have ordered 48 FA-50s, National Defense Minister Mariusz Baszczak told local broadcaster Radio Dla Ciebie last month. But it is not enough, we need at least two more squadrons of multi-role aircraft. What kind of aircraft will they be? We are working on this. In line with many other countries across the region, Poland has boosted its efforts to buy new gear for the nations armed forces in the aftermath of Russias invasion of Ukraine which began in February 2022. Local defense experts have pointed out that for the Polish air force to secure sufficient operational capabilities, its pilots must be capable of countering Russian Sukhoi Su-34 fighter bombers and Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets. That puts aircraft designed to establish air superiority on top of the wish list. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement In that category, realistically, only two options are available on the market, Tomasz Smura, program director at the Warsaw-based Casimir Pulaski Foundation, told Defense News. He was referring to the Eurofighter Typhoon, manufactured by a European consortium jointly run by Airbus, BAE Systems UK and Italys Leonardo, and the F-15EX Eagle II, made by Boeing. Boeing, for its part, is using the promise of air superiority, which neither side has in Ukraine, as a selling point for its offering. Tim Flood, the companys senior director for global business development for Europe and Americas, told Defense News at last months DSEI defense expo in London that the need to control the skies is one of the lessons from the war in Ukraine. Should Poland decide to acquire F-15EX fighters for its armed forces, the aircraft could become a perfect combination with the F-35s, according to Flood. The American aircraft has a good shot given Polands procurement history of preferring U.S.-made systems and the political ties that they bring, though the possibility of a more pro-European Polish government following Sundays national election could change that calculus. Earlier this year, the country placed orders for 116 M1A1 Abrams tanks as part of a deal nearing $1.4 billion, on top of an earlier purchase of 250 M1A2 Abrams tanks. Additionally, in August, Washington approved the sale of 96 AH-64E Apache helicopters to Poland for an estimated $12 billion. Regarding previous procurement decisions and the fact that the Polish government is keen on U.S. cooperation, I would rather consider the F-15 as a front runner, Smura said. Competing against the American defense giant is the Eurofighter. The manufacturer consortium has been marketing the aircraft in Poland for over half a decade without much chance previously, but the situation may change as the Polish government appears to be ready to pick a fighter. Speaking at the Polish Radom Air Show 2023 in August, Costa Panvinirosati, head of marketing for Eurofighter at Leonardo, said the country represented a really good opportunity for future sales of the aircraft. The company appears to be banking on its existing ties with Warsaw and potential benefits a European fighter could offer over a U.S. one. The country already operates sixteen M-346s, the second largest fleet of Leonardos jet trainers in Europe. Leonardo is often seen as an Italian defense company, but in fact has had a large presence in Poland for many years. It has around 3,000 employees there and this level is increasing thanks to new programs, like the AW149 helicopter that will be produced here, Panvinirosati was quoted as saying in a press release. Smura agrees that the Eurofighter may be more interesting from an industrial point of view for Poland, as Europeans are usually more open for the transfer of technology, and it could facilitate cooperation over future projects like the Tempest. Leonardo was unavailable to comment on its Polish campaign and whether any formal bid would entail local production of some components of the Eurofigher. DAVENPORT, Fla. - Deputies with the Polk County Sheriffs Office are searching for a suspect who shot a man as he exited I-4 onto US 27 in Davenport early Sunday morning. Deputies say the victim, who was found near his white Dodge truck, appeared to have been traveling westbound on I-4 and just exited to go onto US 27. The man was taken to an area hospital for treatment of his injuries. Investigators believe he was shot by someone in another vehicle who fled the scene. Anyone with information is asked to contact PCSO and reference case number 23-42221. READ: Son of 95-year-old viral Israeli reservist watches dad suit up from Auburndale Tipsters who want to remain anonymous and be eligible for a cash reward can contact Heartland Crime Stoppers by calling 1-800-226-8477, dialing **8477, visiting www.heartlandcrimestoppers.com and clicking on "Submit A Tip," or by downloading the free "P3tips" app on your smartphone or tablet. FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Biden meets with Israel's President Netanyahu during UNGA in New York City By Trevor Hunnicutt and Jarrett Renshaw WASHINGTON/TEL AVIV (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden 's White House is wrestling with a host of thorny security and political challenges as officials plot a potential trip to Israel that may hold longer-term diplomatic advantages for Biden. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invited Biden, who has been outspoken in his support for Israel, Washington's closest Middle East ally, still reeling after a devastating cross-border assault by Palestinian Hamas militants on Oct. 7. The White House declined to comment on any planning for the trip. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement that "we have no new travel to announce." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Biden's trip could be interpreted as support for Netanyahu's political and military choices, but it could also give Biden fresh leverage to influence events on the ground. Biden and Netanyahu, uncomfortable allies in the best of times, have joined forces despite being at odds over the path forward in the Middle East with Biden frequently stressing support for independent Israeli and Palestinian states. A meeting in person would allow Biden to privately discuss concerns and possible red lines in a looming Israeli ground invasion of Gaza. Air sirens went off in both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on Monday, highlighting the security dangers in the two cities where presidents have visited dating back to Richard Nixon in 1974. The armed wing of Hamas said it fired a "barrage of missiles," including toward Ben Gurion Airport, Israel's main international gateway. Israel is planning a ground offensive in Gaza expected to intensify the humanitarian crisis there, missiles have been exchanged between Lebanon and Israel, and Israelis throughout the country continue to take shelter from Hamas-fired missiles. A potential trip to the region presents the White House with more complex questions than even Biden's February trek to wartime Ukraine, which was debated and planned with far more lead time. Other Western leaders including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and lawmakers are planning similar Israel visits, as are members of Congress. U.S. presidents rarely visit allies shortly after the outbreak of conflict, typically leaving the job to a senior diplomat or defense official. "Presidential visits try to be tightly choreographed and wars are never tightly choreographed," said Jon Alterman, a senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. In recent days, the Democratic president has tried to thread a needle by publicly lending unconditional support for Israel's response to Hamas attacks while showing humanitarian concern for Palestinians in Israeli-bombarded Gaza. Biden "ultimately thinks all politics is personal and believes that if you're going to have any influence over Israeli decision making over the next several months they have to feel you are in it with them and understand their anger and pain," Alterman said. Biden could pair the visit with a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank, as he did on the sidelines of his one prior visit to Israel as president last year, said Alon Pinkas, a longtime foreign policy adviser in Israel who served former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak. "It's very, very sensitive and the White House is working through very sensitive areas," Pinkas said. Biden has visited Israel 10 times, first as a senator in 1973, before the Yom Kippur War involving Israel, Egypt and Syria. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Jarrett Renshaw in Washington; Additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk in Tel Aviv and Steve Holland and Matt Spetalnick in Washington; Editing by Heather Timmons and Howard Goller) Louisville workers at Ford's Kentucky Truck Plant through their union, the UAW, have joined the historic strike against the Detroit Big Three automakers. Labor laws are tilted against workers. They prohibit workers from striking across industries, permit employers to replace workers who strike for economic reasons and also allow employers to down the plant to build one in another country. Because of this, workers generally stand to lose a lot when they strike. Workers in the U.S. have been through a lot in recent years. They've endured health risks at work during a pandemic, seen their wages plummet relative to inflation and observed the ever increasing wealth inequality. UAW workers have decided to take a stand, not only for themselves, but also for those in the communities in which they work. The Stand Up Strike is a savvy move on the UAWs part, and the workers who are on strike have exhibited crucially high levels of solidarity. UAW Strikes Are Working. Ford Kentucky Truck Plant picket line could shape the outcome Ford and the UAW are likely continuing to move closer together, and the strike will bring long-term benefits to Kentucky workers by raising industry wages not only for union members but for all those in the automotive industry. Kentucky doesnt pay striking workers unemployment benefits, so the workers at Kentucky Truck Plant will rely on the UAW strike fund, and make due with less pay than if they continued working. Kentucky should change the law to pay strikers unemployment benefits. Their sacrifice benefits us all. Kentucky provides unemployment for both locked-out and laid off workers Even with the law as is though, if Louisville Assembly Plant workers are laid off by Ford, they can collect unemployment. Even if Ford doesnt automatically file for them, as they normally would when laying off their workers, the workers themselves can file for unemployment. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The governing statute in Kentucky provides unemployment for both locked-out and laid off workers. If an employee strikes, benefits are not paid. Also, benefits are not paid if an employee leaves their employment because a bona fide labor dispute is in active progress at the plant where they are employed. A labor dispute at the LAP did not cause the workers to leave their jobs. It was an active dispute at another establishment, KTP, that caused the layoffs. Faithfully continuing work under an expired contract is not an active labor dispute at the particular establishment. Moreover, if it is, then the dispute has been active for longer than the requisite seven days. Unless Ford notified the Office of Unemployment Insurance in writing by September 21, seven days after September 14, the day the contract expired and the strike immediately followed, benefits should be paid. Biden proved the strike is also political The situation is political, as exhibited by President Bidens historic appearance on the picket line in Michigan, and it is likely that Ford along with Gov. Beshear's administration will resolve this without need for a protracted dispute over benefits. In 2022, Kentucky saw legislative changes to unemployment benefits. These are certainly not good for workers because they cut off benefits after a shorter time period and because they require those unemployed to seek an overwhelming number of new positions. However, the statute is clear about layoffs. Employees who are laid off do not have to search for other employment. Doing so would sever their existing employment relationship. Therefore if Ford decides to lay off workers at LAP when KTP cannot supply the parts needed to their job, the job search requirement will not apply. Does the UAW strike concern you? Submit a letter to the editor. Even if the Office of Unemployment Insurance denied LAP workers unemployment, unfairly classifying them as striking when they are willing to work, the UAW has a strike fund. Either way, LAP workers are sacrificing their short-term wages. The good news is that the short term hit to the workers pocketbooks and the local economy will result in a long-term lifting of all boats due to higher wages, better working conditions and more successful unionization campaigns. Ariana Levinson is a Professor of Law at the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law. Her scholarship and teaching focus is on Labor and Employment Law. This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville laid off Ford workers get unemployment not UAW strike fund Prison sentences of less than a year will be scrapped for most criminals under government plans to tackle the prison overcrowding crisis. Alex Chalk, the Justice Secretary, announced on Monday there will be a new legal presumption that offenders facing jail sentences of under 12 months will instead be punished in the community by doing unpaid work such as cleaning up our neighbourhoods and scrubbing graffiti off walls. They will be fitted with electronic, GPS, alcohol or drug tags and placed under curfews of up to 20 hours a day at weekends. Any repeat offender breaching their suspended sentence will be returned to court where they will face having to serve the full term in a prison. Mr Chalk has stopped short of a ban on one-year sentences as proposed by his predecessor David Gauke but it is expected to cover most of the 37,000 offenders jailed each year for 12 months or less. It will include burglars, thieves, shoplifters, drug dealers and drink drivers but exclude criminals convicted of any sex, violent or terror offences. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement In a statement to the Commons, the Justice Secretary also confirmed hundreds of prisoners will be freed up to 18 days before their scheduled release date halfway through their sentence. It will be targeted at the most overcrowded jails with the first eligible prisoners expected to be out by the end of the week. The moves have been forced on the Government after jails in England and Wales ran out of space. Last week, the prison population hit a record high of 88,225 with just 557 places left across all 120 jails in England and Wales. It beat the previous record of 88,179 after the riots in 2011. Mr Chalk said it was an opportunity to reform the penal system by locking up the most dangerous offenders for longer but ensuring more lower-level offenders got tough community sentences which, evidence showed, cut the reoffending rate by more than half to around 22 per cent. The taxpayer should not be forking out for a system which risks further criminalising offenders, and trapping them in a merry-go-round of short sentences, Mr Chalk told MPs. He said the number of GPS tags will be doubled to 1,000 to track offenders in the community but warned that prolific offenders who were unable or unwilling to comply would continue to face the full force of our justice system. For some offenders, the proper sanction is, Im afraid, the clang of the prison gate, he said. The early release scheme for serving prisoners will be similar to one run by the Labour government in 2007, the last time the jails overflowed, but more tightly controlled. Anyone serving a life sentence, extended determinate sentence, or jailed for a serious violent, terror or sexual offence will be excluded. Some violent offenders could be released early if they are serving less than four years in jail. They will be under licence that could require an electronic tag, restrictions on contacting named individuals, living at a prescribed address, attending appointments and conditions on entering certain postcode areas. Breach of these conditions could lead to the offender being recalled to custody for the entire second half of their sentence, said Mr Chalk. He confirmed that the Government would also introduce measures to reduce the 10,500 foreign prisoners, including transferring them back to their home country 18 months instead of 12 months before the end of their sentence and deporting low-level offenders to their home nation rather than jailing them in the UK. Mr Chalk said he would also consider giving suspects more incentives to plead guilty by offering them more than a third off their sentences if they admitted their offence at the first opportunity. The aim is to reduce the record 15,000 prisoners held on remand, a sixth of the prison population and up 6,000 on pre-pandemic levels. He promised a review of the use of recall to jail for offenders on release who infringe the terms of their licence, effectively reducing the time at which they are at risk of being sent back to jail. He is also drawing up plans that would halve the period in which offenders sentenced under the controversial Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) regime can be recalled to prison. He described IPP sentences where offenders face potentially unlimited sentences as a stain on our justice system. The Government has pledged 4 billion to build 20,000 new cells by the mid-2020s to help cope with an anticipated rise in the prison population to around 106,000 by 2027. However, fewer than half of these places will have been delivered by March 2025. Yesterday, Mr Chalk announced an extra 400 million for 800 new cells, backed up by 30m to identify new sites for jails. Plans for three new mega-prisons in Lancashire, Leicestershire and Buckinghamshire are in limbo, mired in planning objections by local councils, MPs and residents. The Justice Secretary will also be required every year to explain how his department will meet the demand for prison places. This will include the impact of measures like Mondays announcement that all rapists will be required to serve their full sentence, without any chance of parole. Since the summer, judges have already been sparing offenders jail because of the overcrowded conditions. Yesterday, a gang caught in a sting trying to sell a stolen 2m Chinese Ming Dynasty vase to undercover police were told they will serve less jail time because of overcrowding. A judge sentencing the trio at Southwark Crown Court said each will serve six months less because of conditions inside HMP Wandsworth. Reforming way we use prisons is right thing to do By Damian Hinds Over the last 13 years, this Conservative Government has prioritised public protection above all else. You only have to look at our record to see that being tough on crime is in our DNA. Since 2010, weve cut violent crime by almost half. The most dangerous criminals are being locked up for longer. Average sentences are up, and weve scrapped halfway release for the most serious offences, so that these criminals must serve at least two-thirds of their overall sentence behind bars. This summer, the Prime Minister announced that we were extending the use of whole life orders, so that in more cases depraved sexual and sadistic murderers will die in jail. And yesterday in Parliament, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk set out how we will go even further, ensuring that vile rapists serve their full custodial term in prison. But as a responsible government, if we are going to continue to put the worst offenders away for longer, we must think again about how we make the best use of our prisons. Thats why weve set out plans to reform the way we use prisons because its the right thing to do for the British public. As prisons minister, I see so much of what prisons do well. But put simply, short prison sentences generally dont work. Like putting a plaster on a deep wound, they might hide the problem temporarily, but they dont heal it. In reality, short prison sentences often store up trouble for the future failing to tackle the root causes of crime and perpetuating its destructive cycle. Because putting someone behind bars for a few weeks or months leaves little time to turn a life around. Rehabilitation is critical, but instead, lower risk offenders on short stints in jail can end up trapped in cycles of crime and become hardened criminals themselves. Often, thats because they are drug or alcohol addicted or have mental health problems or a combination of the two. Short prison sentences amplify these problems, with offenders losing their homes, breaking contact with support networks, and crucially, being locked up with other criminals who can steer them in the wrong direction. When they leave the prison gates a short time later, they all too often fall back into offending sometimes committing more serious crimes fuelled by the addictions or mental health issues that havent been addressed. There are alternatives to custody for these kinds of offenders. Instead of going to prison, they can be punished in the community, repaying their debt to society by cleaning up our neighbourhoods and scrubbing graffiti off walls. There is plenty of evidence that this can be a much better way of dealing with lower-risk offenders. While the overall adult reoffending rate is 25 per cent, for those on sentences under 12 months it rockets to over 50 per cent. All that achieves is a revolving door in and out of our prisons and more misery for our communities. Not only that, prison costs money. Society doesnt just suffer the crime, it pays the price of bed and board for every prisoner in our jails to the tune of about 47,000 a year for each adult male prisoner. In this country we lock up more people per capita than any other country in western Europe, and at a time when our prisons are fuller than ever we have to have a grown-up conversation about what prison is really for and follow the evidence about what works. Thats why we are introducing a presumption that all custodial sentences of less than 12 months in prison will be suspended, and offenders will be punished in the community instead repaying their debt to society by cleaning up our neighbourhoods and scrubbing graffiti off walls. Thanks to advances in technology like hi-tech GPS tags, its now much easier to supervise offenders in communities so they dont lose homes, jobs, and family connections all things that help to keep them on the straight and narrow. And through robust community sentences with mandatory drug and alcohol treatment we can address the root causes of offending so that offenders turn their backs on crime for good. There are no two ways about it: for those who blight communities and shatter lives, the punishment must fit the crime. The British public expects no less. This is about public protection at both ends of the spectrum. Its absolutely right that we lock up the most dangerous criminal for longer. But we must also make sure that the prison system doesnt further criminalise the redeemable. These are tough decisions, but this is a government that isnt afraid to take them, for the future of our justice system, and the good of the British public. Damian Hinds is the Prisons and Probation Minister and Member of Parliament for East Hampshire 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. Property owners throughout Polk County will see higher-than-normal increases in the amount of property taxes theyll be paying when they receive their statements for the 2023-2024 tax year. Between levies and bonds passed in recent elections, people in cities including Monmouth, Independence, Dallas and West Salem will have their taxes rise more than the typical 3%. Tax statements were mailed Oct. 13 in Marion County and Oct. 20 in Polk County. Property owners receive a 3% discount if they pay by the Nov. 15 due date. Measure 5 limits tax rates to $10 per $1,000 for general government operations and $5 per $1,000 for schools, while Measure 50 restricts the increase to 3% per year unless a bond or operations levy is passed. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement That means property taxes in Oregon are based on the assessed value rather than the real market value. Polk County Assessor Valerie Patoine said the real market value of all property in the county is $16.9 billion while the assessed value is $7.73 billion. In Marion County, the real market value of all property is $69.7 billion while the assessed value is $31.6 billion. Meanwhile, the state announced earlier in the week that it had a revenue surplus of $5.61 billion and will be returning that through the states kicker on peoples income taxes. Why taxes are going up Most property owners in Polk County, including West Salem, will see an increase in their taxes since voters in May passed a five-year county public safety levy that increased taxes to 49.5 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, up from $42.5 cents per $1,000. Taxes on those in and around Monmouth and Independence who live in the Central School District saw their taxes increase to $3.69 per $1,000 from $2.41 per $1,000 as part of a bond that passed in 2008 that paid for major work that was performed on Central High School. And in Monmouth, residents are also paying for a city hall bond voters passed in the 2021 election that taxes property owners at 19 cents per $1,000. In Independence, taxes are going up 9.5%, or about $319 per year for an average property owner. And in Monmouth, taxes are going up 12.7%, or about $455 per year. In Mt. Angel, taxes are increasing 9% due to a voter-approved school bond levy, which is increasing property taxes by $1.12 per $1,000. Thats an increase of about $575 per year. Those who live in the unincorporated area of Monitor will see an increase after the Monitor Rural Fire District passed a 50 cent per $1,000 levy in the May election, or an increase of about $107 per year. In Aurora, people will see their taxes decrease by about 3% after the failure of a levy for the Aurora Rural Fire Protection District in May. Highest and lowest tax bills in the region City Average assessed value Tax rate Average taxes Woodburn $178,030 19.78 $3,522 Salem $224,430 19.62 $4,404 Gervais $165,660 19.17 $3,176 Independence $192,024 19.13 $3,674 West Salem $258,056 18.84 $4,864 Mt. Angel $216,070 18.28 $3,951 Monmouth $222,080 18.21 $4,046 Mill City $106,960 17.00 $1,818 Silverton $217,540 16.63 $3,617 Keizer $229,570 16.58 $3,891 Stayton $216,810 16.38 $3,552 Idanha $49,270 16.08 $792 Aumsville $166,110 15.57 $2,587 Aurora $255,580 15.37 $3,929 Willamina $131,325 15.27 $2,006 Hubbard $246,800 15.22 $3,757 Detroit $115,780 14.73 $1,720 Jefferson $170,160 14.65 $2,493 St. Paul $211,760 14.54 $3,079 Dallas $215,484 13.97 $3,011 Gates $138,500 13.82 $1,914 Scotts Mills $180,970 13.12 $2,375 Falls City $113,799 12.90 $1,475 Sublimity $294,530 12.75 $3,755 Turner $256,450 12.75 $3,270 Donald $188,680 12.20 $2,302 Property owners in Woodburn are paying the highest rates in the area, according to Marion County Property Tax Assessor data, at 19.78. The lowest rate in the area is in Donald, which is 12.20. People in West Salem are paying the highest average amount in taxes, at $4,864 per year. The lowest average amount of taxes is in Idanha, where owners pay $792. The highest assessed value in the area is in Sublimity, where the average assessed value is $294,530, but residents there pay at a rate of 12.75, one of the lowest in the county. The lowest assessed value is in the eastern most city of Idanha, where property has an average assessed value of $49,270. How to correct a tax rate error in Marion and Polk counties Property owners in Marion County who feel their tax amount is incorrect can call the Assessors Office at 503-588-5144. In Polk County, they can call the Assessors Office at 503-623-8391. Bill Poehler covers Marion and Polk County for the Statesman Journal. Contact him at bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Property taxes rise more than normal in some Polk County cities David Brian Lucier was two days out of prison when he got drunk in downtown Columbus and killed another sometimes homeless man outside a First Avenue church, police said. Then he walked to a Veterans Parkway gas station, bought a beer and told the clerk that he had been attacked and might have killed his assailant, a detective said. When police later told Lucier they had found Willie Fosters body outside Trinity Episcopal Church, he replied, Good. Im glad hes dead, Detective Ryan Vardman testified Monday in Columbus Recorders Court. Vardman said that was one of several remarks Lucier made to investigators questioning him after the Sept. 30 incident the gas station clerk reported shortly after midnight. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement After finding Foster dead, police tried repeatedly to get Lucier to detail what had occurred, the detective said. He would just continue to say that he was attacked, Vardman said., He added that during the interview that Lucier also remarked, I choked that SOB out, and I put him to sleep. The suspect also said he stood over the unconscious man and kicked him several times, Vardman testified. He said Lucier described drinking at an outdoor Broadway concert before going to the church grounds to sleep, then being awakened by Foster attacking him. Arrest after autopsy Because Lucier claimed to have acted in self-defense, and the cause of Fosters death was not immediately clear, police released him without charge, that night. They questioned him again on Oct. 4, and got a report from Fosters autopsy on Oct. 10, Vardman said. The state medical examiner decided Foster died from strangulation that fractured his neck bone, and had trauma to his head and torso, including a three-inch laceration of his liver, Vardman said. The examiner also saw that both of Fosters feet partially were amputated, and learned the 44-year-old had a heart condition, which could have impaired his ability to fight back, the detective said. Foster had been sleeping regularly near an air-conditioning unit outside the church, where investigators found his backpack and blankets, Vardman said. Police decided to charge Lucier with murder after consulting District Attorney Stacey Jackson, and arrested the suspect on Oct. 13, the officer said. He stated the victim needed killing, Vardman said of Lucier. He told Judge Susan Henderson that Lucier had come to Columbus after being released Sept. 28 from a prison in Valdosta, but did not say what offense Lucier had served time for. Henderson found sufficient evidence to send the case on to Muscogee Superior Court. Lucier, 59, is being held without bond. Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas War, the Times of Israel reported on Oct. 16, citing Netanyahu's office. According to the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, Putin "strongly rejected and condemned" any violence against civilians and claimed that Moscow is ready to work toward ending the Gaza conflict. The Kremlin said that Putin also spoke earlier with other Middle Eastern leaders, namely with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Egyptian President Fattah el-Sissi, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas . On Oct. 16, the Israeli media reported that Tel Aviv had rejected a request by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky to make a solidarity visit to Israel, saying that the "time is not right." However, Ukraine's president held a phone call with Netanyahu shortly after the outbreak of the hostilities on Oct. 8. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement While Ukraine has expressed full solidarity with Israel in the wake of Hamas' attack on Oct. 7, Putin has been critical of Israel's conduct in the conflict, even drawing up comparisons between the Israeli army and the military of Nazi Germany. The Kremlin leader's criticism of civilian causalities in the Gaza war stands in contrast with the violence unleashed by Moscow against Ukraine in the full-scale invasion, which has already cost thousands of military and civilian lives. Read also: Israels reluctance to choose sides strains relations with Ukraine Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. President Vladimir Putin has arrived in China, Russia's most important ally, for a key trip that will seek to shore up an alliance against the West and celebrate ties between Beijing and Moscow. But how strong are relations between the two countries? The small city of Heihe sits along China's border with Russia. Local tourists come here to peek into neighbouring Blagoveshchensk, just across the river, but there are not many of them. A tour boat sits idle on the water, pumping out happy-sounding Chinese songs in an attempt to attract customers, but with nobody buying tickets it doesn't look like it's going to move all day. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Across the water, a Russian coastguard ship is parked, and officers pass the time doing exercises on deck in the autumn sun. When Vladimir Putin visited Beijing for the opening of the Winter Olympics at the beginning of last year, he and Xi Jinping announced a new "no limits" partnership between their countries. Now, with Russia's leader back in the Chinese capital, China's state media has been hailing the fruits of this relationship. In one way, it has been beneficial for both governments. They can reassure one another when they are frozen out on the world stage, and images of their handshakes are useful to try to show their own people that all is normal, with such powerful friends standing together. However, business activity in their border zones does not appear to live up to the political rhetoric. A newly-built bridge into Blagoveshchensk from Heihe was celebrated as the symbol of a new era in cross-border trade yet you can observe it for an hour and not see a single vehicle driving in either direction. In the heart of the city, behind the small clusters of tourists taking photos across the river, two large multi-storey shopping centres have been closed due to a lack of patronage. One shut just months ago, and we're told the other has been empty for seven years. Some of the former stallholders are parked in front of the first building selling Russian gifts and gadgets out of the backs of their cars. "Business isn't good. There aren't enough tourists," one woman says. "After Covid, the borders haven't been open for long. There aren't enough Russians coming across. They're poor and they're at war." Others selling goods nod along as she says this. In a street nearby, a woman in a small shop is selling hats made in China, using Russian fur. She says they were once very popular with both Russian and Chinese customers but that recently her business has been struggling. "You can't compare now to the past," she says. "Just take a look at the streets. They're empty. In the past they were filled with potential buyers." There is however, one group which is more upbeat about Russia-China trade: the lorry drivers waiting to enter the riverboat port. "I'm carrying soybeans, wheat and barley, all from Russia, and it's busier than before," says one driver. "I'm transporting sand and coal from Russia. Others are moving containers with food," says another. And the entrance to the port does look busy, with all manner of materials being hauled in and out. Cranes are lifting steel frames, coal and sand off ships and lowering them on to the waiting lorries. The drivers say that crossing between the countries by boat is cheaper than using the new bridge, which could partly explain why it's more used. Other businesspeople in Heihe say that new Russian tariffs on some Chinese goods have dampened the trade atmosphere. And yet China has been helping out its partner, hit by sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine, by piping more Russian natural gas into its north-eastern province of Heilongjiang. In addition, Xi Jinping's administration has swung most of the Chinese population behind Vladimir Putin's war effort. It has done this via state-controlled media, which do not speak about an "invasion" or even a "war" in Ukraine but rather a Russian operation that is justified to counter the expansionary tendencies of Nato and, in particular, the United States. To gauge the success of this propaganda strategy, you only have to speak to people on the street in Harbin, the regional capital of Heilongjiang. A century ago, it was dominated by Russian people and Russian culture, but even the descendants of these families have now left. It is a completely Chinese city these days with only remnants of its Russian past. In front of the beautiful Russian Orthodox cathedral, tourists arriving from other Chinese provinces pose for pictures. "Russia and China have a good friendship," one woman says. The man next to her adds: "Putin is a responsible leader. A man with a sense of justice." Another, visiting with his friend, says: "Putin is a man with iron fists. He's tough, and tough is good." But does he know why Russia's leader is at war with Ukraine? "Ordinary people like us shouldn't comment on that," he replies. Russia's war could be assisting Beijing's geostrategic aims by eating up Nato resources and - in the eyes of some - promoting a view that association with the US brings potential danger and even chaos. The flip side of this is that the Ukraine conflict could also lead to an increase in Nato's power, while degrading an already struggling Russian economy. What's more, it has also given China's Communist Party a taste of the personal misery and economic pain which might come with a move to take Taiwan by force. It is Mr Putin's first trip outside the ex-USSR since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him Officially, Vladimir Putin is in China this week to attend the forum considering the progress of Xi Jinping's pet project, the Belt and Road Initiative. It is a global transport infrastructure programme linking China with countries to its west, but which has been criticised for, at times, locking poorer nations into debt traps. When the leaders of China and Russia meet on the sidelines of this conference, they will celebrate the strengthening of their ties, as they attempt to build a broader coalition against the West with other like-minded governments. And you can see the benefits of this, for them. However, there is still a long way to go for China's trade with Russia to match its trade with many of the same Western countries that are decried as ideological enemies. Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) have noticed that the Russians, including their dictator Vladimir Putin , have changed their rhetoric about the Russian army's offensive on the city of Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast and "temper expectations" about their advance. Source: ISW report Details: Analysts say Russian President Vladimir Putin may be trying to reduce expectations of a significant Russian advance around Avdiivka. In an interview with Russian state-controlled TV, Putin claimed that Russian troops were conducting "active defence" on the Avdiivka, Kupiansk and Zaporizhzhia fronts. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Experts believe that Putin's description of Russian offensive operations near Avdiivka as "active defence" rather than "active combat operations" may be an attempt to reduce expectations of a significant Russian advance. "Russian forces are unlikely to make significant breakthroughs or cut off Ukrainian forces in the settlement in the near term, and potential advances at scale would likely require a significant and protracted commitment of personnel and materiel," the reports stated. The ISW reports that the Russian information space, in general, is also tempering its initial optimism about the prospects for Russian offensive operations around Avdiivka. The review noted that Russian troops pursued the offensive operations aimed at encircling Avdiivka on 15 October but have not made any further progress so far amid a likely slowdown in Russian operations in the area. Both Ukrainian military observers and Russian sources said Russian troops had failed to achieve the desired hasty breakthrough and faced heavy casualties and likely a slower-than-expected pace of advance. However, Russian troops are likely to carry on their offensive at this reduced pace in the near term and remain a threat to Ukrainian forces in the area, although they are unlikely to achieve a decisive breakthrough or encircle Avdiivka. Analysts also point out that the slowdown in Russian offensive operations may result from a temporary adjustment to the tactical situation, and the Russians may intensify their attempts to surround Avdiivka in the coming days. To quote the ISWs Key Takeaways on 15 October: Russian President Vladimir Putin may be trying to temper expectations of significant Russian advances around Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast. The Russian information space writ large is also metering its initial optimism about the prospects of Russian offensive operations around Avdiivka. Russian forces continued offensive operations aimed at encircling Avdiivka on 15 October but have yet to make further gains amid a likely decreasing tempo of Russian operations in the area. Russian forces will likely continue offensive operations at this decreased tempo in the near term, however, and will remain a threat to Ukrainian forces in the area despite being unlikely to achieve a decisive breakthrough or encircle Avdiivka at this time. Ukrainian forces continued offensive operations near Bakhmut and in western Zaporizhia Oblast on 15 October and slightly advanced south of Bakhmut. Russian forces conducted offensive operations along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line, near Bakhmut, along the Avdiivka-Donetsk City line, in the Donetsk-Zaporizhia Oblast border area, and in western Zaporizhia Oblast on 15 October and advanced in some areas. The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) is sending a reportedly Kremlin-affiliated priest to Crimea, likely as part of continued Russian efforts to persecute religious communities in occupied Ukraine. Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron! Vladimir Putin will hold talks in two formats with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on 18 October, during his visit to China. Source: RIA Novosti, a Kremlin-aligned Russian news outlet, with reference to Russian presidential aide Yuriy Ushakov Details: Ushakov said that first, Putin and Xi Jinping will communicate in an expanded group, and then in the format of a business breakfast. "It is possible that the leaders will also talk one-on-one even outside this narrow group," Ushakov said. He added that a representative delegation of senior civil servants and businessmen will travel from Russia to China. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement During his visit to China, Putin will speak at the One Belt, One Road forum, where he will promote the idea of the so-called Greater Eurasia. Background: Chinese leader Xi Jinping flew to Moscow and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on 20 March 2023. On 17 March 2023, the Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin in connection with the deportation of children from the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine. Putin hardly ever travels anywhere in order not to be arrested abroad, as the member states of the International Criminal Court are obliged to detain and bring him to trial. China is not a signatory to the Rome Statute governing the International Criminal Court. This means that the Court's jurisdiction does not apply to its territory. Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron! Russia has agreed to return four children it abducted from Ukraine after talks mediated by Qatar, U.S. newspaper the Washington Post reported on Oct. 16, citing a representative of the Qatari government. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the negotiations, said that Moscow had agreed to return four Ukrainian children aged 2 to 17 to their families in Ukraine. Two children have already returned to their relatives, and two more are expected to be reunited with their families in the coming days. Read also: Save Ukraine brings back another 19 children abducted by Russia ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Qatar took part in the negotiations, which lasted several months, at the request of the Ukrainian government. The children passed through the Qatari embassy in Moscow and headed home via different routes. Some of them were traveling or were supposed to be traveling from Russia to Ukraine via Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. Others were traveling through Belarus. Read also: Ukraine returns ten children deported by Moscow According to the official, several modes of transportation were involved in the trip, including a diplomatic convoy, a train, and a private jet chartered by Qatar. Doha said it welcomed the positive news about the reunification of children with their families in Ukraine thanks its mediation efforts, Qatar's minister of state for international cooperation Lolwah Al-Khater said that in recent weeks Qatari officials were in "continuous dialogue with our Ukrainian and Russian counterparts." On March 17, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on suspicion of committing war crimes in connection with the abduction of Ukrainian children to Russia. On April 27, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution recognizing the forced transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia as genocide. According to the Ukrainian state platform Children of War, as of Sept. 27, at least 19,546 children had been abducted or forcibly displaced by Russia. Read also: Over 2,000 Ukrainian children abducted to Belarus, says Belarusian opposition In total, according to the European Parliament, the number of Ukrainian children illegally taken to Russia could be between 16,000 and 300,000. MEPs believe that Russians began taking Ukrainian children back in 2014, after the occupation of Crimea and parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. In July, the head of the Red Cross of Belarus, Dzmitry Shevtsov, admitted that he was involved in the abduction of Ukrainian children. The International Red Cross disassociated itself from his statements and announced the launch of an investigation. Since September 2022, approximately 2,150 Ukrainian children over the age of six have been abducted to Belarus, UK newspaper the Telegraph reported in July. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Three Ukrainian children who were illegally deported to Russia are in the process of being released to Qatari diplomats in Russia, who will then facilitate their return to Ukraine, an unnamed Qatari official told Reuters on Oct. 16. In addition, the source revealed that Qatari diplomats had assisted in the repatriation of a seven-year-old boy on Oct. 13 through Estonia. The boy was able to reunite with his grandmother and is en route back to Ukraine. Two boys, ages two and nine, and a 17-year-old girl will be accompanied by Qatari officials on their journey back to Ukraine, either over land to Latvia, Estonia, or Belarus, or by plane via Qatar. The return of the four children was the result of months of high-level talks involving Moscow and Kyiv, facilitated by Qatar, and should be considered "only a first step," according to Lolwah Al Khater, Qatar's minister of state for international cooperation. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The children were returned after Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia's Commissioner for Children's Rights, shared a short list of deported children with Qatari diplomats, who then verified their identities and worked with Ukrainian officials to locate their parents. The unnamed Qatari official said that Kyiv had originally approached Qatar to help mediate the repatriation process, and that "both Ukrainian and Russian officials have been cooperative." It is unclear how many more children Moscow will allow to be reunited with their familes. According to the Ukrainian government, more than 19,500 children have been confirmed as being illegally deported, and 386 have been returned. However, Lvova-Belova claimed that more than 700,000 children had been deported. The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants in March 2023 for Lvova-Belova and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on war crimes charges for their role in the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children during the full-scale invasion. Read also: This Week in Ukraine Ep. 13 How, and why, Russia kidnaps thousands of Ukrainian children Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Ukrainian boy released under mechanism Qatar has set up with the goal of repatriating children from Russia to Ukraine Qatar helping four Ukrainian children go home from Russia, seeks to recover more Ukrainian boy released under mechanism Qatar has set up with the goal of repatriating children from Russia to Ukraine By Andrew Mills DOHA (Reuters) -Qatar is helping four Ukrainian children return home from Russia this week under a new mechanism Doha has set up with cooperation from both sides, aiming to return more in the future, a Qatari official told Reuters on Monday. A 7-year-old boy returned to Ukraine on Monday via Estonia after he was reunited with his grandmother in Qatar's Moscow embassy last week, the Qatari official said. A two-year-old boy was also handed over to Qatari diplomats in Moscow on Monday, and a 9-year-old boy and a 17-year-old girl are due to be handed over later this week, the official said. Kyiv has identified 20,000 children as having been taken to Russia or Russian-held territory without the consent of family or guardians, which it calls a war crime meeting the U.N. treaty definition of genocide. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Moscow, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year and claims to have annexed around a sixth of its territory, denies any crime and says it has protected vulnerable children from the war zone. The return of the first four children tests a system the Gulf Arab state established after months of secret talks with Moscow and Kyiv, according to the Qatari official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the process. Qatar's minister of state for international cooperation, Lolwah Al Khater, confirmed the mediation in a statement and described this week's repatriations as "only a first step". Russia's Commissioner for Children's Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, shared a short initial list of Ukrainian children to be returned with a team of Qatari diplomats who verified each child's identity, the official said. It is not clear how many additional children Russia will authorize to return to Ukraine via the Qatari mechanism after the first four, the official said. About 400 children have been returned to Ukraine since Moscow's invasion began in February 2022, but the United Nations human rights agency raised concerns last week that there was no system to facilitate the return. The first four children "were the first ones verified and (Russia and Ukraine) agreed they found their parents," the official said. Qatari diplomats will accompany the children over the border with Estonia, Latvia or Belarus or to Qatar by chartered jet before returning them to Ukraine, the official said. "Both Ukrainian and Russian officials have been cooperative," the Qatari official said, adding that Ukraine approached the Gulf Arab state to mediate with Russia over the children. Qatar, a tiny but wealthy energy powerhouse that holds ambitious foreign policy goals, has recently been under the global diplomacy spotlight for brokering a U.S.-Iran prisoner swap and mediating between Israel and Hamas militants over the potential release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza. The 7-year-old boy who was reunited with his grandmother on Friday had been in Russia at a children's home "as a result of being separated from his mother who was in Russia when the war broke out," the official said. The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants in March for Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian children's commissioner, Lvova-Belova, accusing them of the war crime of illegally deporting children from Ukraine. Lvova-Belova, who denies the war crime allegations against her, told reporters in Moscow on Monday that the ICC indictments were based on "a massive campaign of disinformation (that) has been launched by the Kyiv regime". She said the Ukrainian list of nearly 20,000 children in Russia included some who had already been reunited with parents. "Unfortunately, we see how Ukraine is politicising the situation - creating a mythical system and an informational bubble around our activities," she said. (Reporting by Andrew MillsAdditional reporting by Guy FaulconbridgeEditing by Sandra Maler, Peter Graff) The altercation between David Boyles and Turning Point USA. Two members of a conservative group followed and harassed a queer Arizona State University professor who founded a drag story hour, starting an altercation that ended in the two people shoving the professor down and bloodying his face, the university president told faculty and staff on Saturday. Security footage from the altercation last Wednesday shows two people one with a camera from the right-wing group Turning Point USA following and questioning professor David Boyles. After the professor appears to try to grab the camera or push it out of one of the mens hands, the other knocks Boyles to the ground. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Boyles is the co-founder of Drag Story Hour Arizona, which features drag performers reading childrens books to kids. Drag story hours across the countryhave become a frequent target of right-wing attacksand anti-LGBTQ+ misinformation. In video of the incident posted by Turning Point USA, the two men confront Boyles on campus and pepper him with questions implying that his work with Drag Story Hour makes him a groomer. If I ask you how long youve been attracted to minors, or how long youve fantasized about minors having sex with adults and why you write about it in childrens books, what are you going to tell me? asked one of the Turning Point USA members. ASU police did not respond to a request for comment, but they told KPNX that the assault is being investigated as a potential bias or prejudicially motivated incident. Turning Point USA, which was founded by then-19-year-old Charlie Kirk, told KPNX that the person with the camera plans to press charges against Boyles for assault. Both Turning Point USA and Boyles did not immediately respond to a request for comment from HuffPost. On his Facebook page, the professor spoke out about the incident and said he was shoved down after he moved to block the camera. My physical injuries are relatively minor and Im doing ok, Boyles wrote the post alongside a photo of his face with a large cut. But Im also feeling angry, violated, embarrassed, and despairing at the fact that we have come to normalize this kind of harassment and violence against anyone who tries to support LGBTQ+ youth (ironically the topic of the class I had just finished teaching) or just LGBTQ+ people and other marginalized groups in general. Arizona State University President Michael M. Crow wrote in his email to faculty and staff that Boyles is part of an academic community that appropriately engages students across the entire spectrum of human experience and expression. He called the two Turning Point USA members cowards. It is astounding to me that individuals from Turning Point USA would wait for an ASU instructor to come out of his class to follow him, harass him and ultimately shove him to the ground, bloodying his face, Crow wrote. Cowards that they are and so confident in the legality and appropriateness of their actions, the Turning Point USA reporter and cameraman then ran away from the scene before police arrived. A 2019 HuffPost investigation revealed that Turning Point USAs national organization hired several racists to its national staff, including former national field director Crystal Clanton, who once texted a fellow employee: I HATE BLACK PEOPLE. Like fuck them all . . . I hate blacks. End of story. A queer professor at Arizona State University was allegedly left bloodied after an altercation broke out last week between him and two members of a conservative group, in what authorities are investigating as a hate crime. David Boyles who teaches English and is the co-founder of Drag Story Hour Arizona was confronted on ASUs campus by two men with the right-wing group Turning Point USA on Wednesday. The next day the group posted online a 96-second video showing Boyles being followed by a cameraman and a personality named Kalen DAlmeida firing contentious questions regarding his work with Drag Story Hour. Drag Story Hour is a national group with local chapters across the country that organizes events where drag performers read childrens books to kids at bookstores, libraries, LGBTQ centers and other public venues. You cant run, DAlmeida said. Its best if you just talk to me on why you want to push sodomy to young people. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Turning Point USA video shows Boyles ignoring the men until the end of the clip, when Boyles appears to strike the camera and the video cuts out. Security footage released by law enforcement shows Boyles striking the camera and DAlmeida subsequently pushing Boyles to the floor, causing him to hit his face. A spokesperson for the Arizona State University Police Department, Adam Wolfe, said in an email that police are investigating the confrontation as a potential bias or prejudicially motivated incident. Wolfe also confirmed Boyles' injuries, adding that he did not require additional treatment. Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet told KPNX-TV, an NBC affiliate based in Mesa, Arizona, that the cameraman plans to file a police report because of the altercation. Boyles posted a photo on Facebook last week showing the left side of his face bloodied. My physical injuries are relatively minor and Im doing ok, Boyles wrote. But Im also feeling angry, violated, embarrassed, and despairing at the fact that we have come to normalize this kind of harassment and violence against anyone who tries to support LGBTQ+ youth (ironically the topic of the class I had just finished teaching) or just LGBTQ+ people and other marginalized groups in general. He added, Whether it is bomb threats against childrens hospitals and libraries, a store owner being killed for her pride flag, or the now standard rhetoric that anyone who supports LGBTQ+ youth is a groomer, it has to stop. On Saturday, ASU President Dr. Michael Crow condemned the altercation in a letter posted on the universitys website. It is astounding to me that individuals from Turning Point USA would wait for an ASU instructor to come out of his class to follow him, harass him and ultimately shove him to the ground, bloodying his face, Crow said. The ASU incident comes as anti-LGBTQ demonstrations and attacks have spiked in the last year across the country. From June 2022 to May, there was an average of 39 anti-LGBTQ protests per month, compared with just three per month from January 2017 through May 2022, according to a recent report by the Crowd Counting Consortium, a research group that tracks political protests. Additionally, there have been several high-profile acts of violence allegedly incited by anti-LGBTQ sentiments in recent months, including multiple bomb threats. In July, the fatal stabbing of a 28-year-old gay professional dancer, OShae Sibley in Brooklyn, New York, made national headlines. Police later deemed the stabbing hate crime. Similarly, the killing of Laura Ann Carleton, a California business owner and mother of nine, sent shock waves around the nation. Carleton was fatally shot during an altercation over a Pride flag displayed in her clothing store. Last month, police in Salt Lake City, Utah, New York City and New Haven, Connecticut, all responded to separate bomb threats to LGBTQ spaces or events within the same weekend. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Palestinian American Jason Shawa, 55, heard the news that the Rafah crossing, on Gazas southern border with Egypt, will be opened Monday, giving him hope of possible escape from the war. But it was fleeting, as airstrikes rained down on Gaza and he confronted the uncertainty of whether he, his wife, Najla, and their two daughters would be able to flee. The translator's wife and children still dont have U.S. passports, and he has received no official word to indicate that the border will actually be opening. And even if it is, he said, it is highly risky to travel amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza strip. There are no guarantees. Theres not like a safe corridor offered to foreign nationals when they leave. Its every man for himself, said Shawa, who is staying in a small two-room cabin in central Gaza, about 40 minutes from the border, with his family and 50 neighbors after they had to evacuate their homes. Mai Abushaaban, a Palestinian American, is also fearful. She said that her mother and sister would try to cross into Egypt on Monday. They became trapped in Gaza while visiting her sick grandfather. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement If it is true and its open, theyre going to go, said Abushaaban, 22, a Houston native, referring to the lack of details from the embassy or the State Department that led to false hopes last week. Were hoping its for real this time. But late Sunday, Abushaaban received an email from the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem saying embassy officials anticipate the situation at the Rafah crossing will remain fluid and unpredictable and it is unclear whether, or for how long, travelers will be permitted to transit the crossing. The message left Abushaaban feeling worried that it might not work out, like when they tried to cross days ago but still hopeful. Up to 600 Americans remain in Gaza, according to the State Department, amid an increasing humanitarian crisis as clean water, food, fuel and medical supplies dwindle. There hasnt been electricity in the territory for days after the Israeli government established a blockade in retaliation for Hamas brutal terror attack. More than 2,450 people have been killed in Gaza and 9,200 have been injured. In Israel, 1,400 people have been killed and 3,500 have been wounded. The toll of American deaths from Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent war stands at 30, a State Department spokesperson said Sunday. A series of automated emails from the State Department and inconclusive phone calls have left Palestinian Americans dubious about the likelihood of their safely getting out. Since the war broke out, the Rafah crossing has been closed, and it has also sustained physical damage from Israeli airstrikes on Gaza. Asked Sunday on NBC News whether there will be no shelling near the crossing as people try to leave and humanitarian assistance comes in, Israel Defense Forces Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said, Its very much up to Hamas to decide if they are going to allow and what is going to happen. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Rafah crossing will be opened for U.S. citizens and their immediate family members but provided no details about timing to reporters Sunday in Cairo. The State Department didnt immediately respond to requests for comment. A Palestinian Embassy representative told NBC News that officials at the Rafah crossing said foreign national Palestinians will be able to cross the border starting 9 a.m. local time. Shawa, who was born in Seattle to a Palestinian father and an American mother, said the U.S. government isnt offering any other tangible assistance to citizens in Gaza other than orchestrating the opening of the Rafah crossing. Cairo is an arduous six- to eight-hour drive from the border crossing, through the Sinai Peninsula and through several Egyptian military checkpoints. The double standard Abushaaban, who has crossed the Rafah border 10 times during past trips to visit family in Gaza, said opening up the border doesnt necessarily guarantee passage through it. There are two parts to the land crossing first, a security check manned by the Palestinian Authority and then a bus ride to the Egypt-controlled part of the border. She said the Egyptian side is usually chaotic, with long wait times. If anything goes wrong from point A to point B, they will turn the buses around and turn everyone back without any notice, she said of her previous experiences crossing the border. The long drive to Cairo from Gaza is risky, with multiple military checkpoints along the Sinai. The first automated email Abushaaban got from the State Department on Tuesday included information about how Americans in Israel would be evacuated, but the messaging for those in Gaza wasnt as helpful. Given the dynamic security situation in Gaza, U.S. citizens should assess their own security when deciding whether to travel. U.S. government personnel are not able to travel to Gaza or the Gaza periphery to assist at this time, read the email, which was reviewed by NBC News. The State Department then followed up a couple of days later acknowledging its most recent message, sent to a large list of U.S. citizens located in Gaza and Israel, may not be applicable to you, because it detailed options for Americans in Israel who have access to Ben Gurion Airport which those in Gaza dont have. The email added that the State Department was working on solutions but that the situation is incredibly complex. It is very frustrating for me as someone with one foot in Palestine and one foot in the United States, the State Department saying that Americans in Israel will be evacuating them via boat and plane to either Germany, Cyprus or Greece and that Palestinians in Gaza should just kind of, you know, wait, Abushaaban said, referring to the State Departments communications. Emilee Rauschenberger, who was in Khan Yunis with her husband and five children visiting her in-laws when the war started, echoed Abushaabans sentiments of feeling neglected as an American citizen in Gaza by the U.S. government. I feel the government kind of feels absolved of it as a responsibility because of the politics of it all, Rauschenberger said, adding that she doesnt feel theres been an attempt to save American lives in Gaza. The double standard is incredibly harsh, she said. Blinken has been on a dayslong tour of the Middle East, where he has met with leaders from Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Qatar. The effort was meant to prevent the war between Israel and Hamas from spreading and to encourage Israel not to target civilians. Second-class citizens The lack of guidance from the U.S. government cements a feeling Palestinian Americans say they are familiar with. Palestinian Americans are almost, like, I personally feel like we were treated as second-class citizens in the country where we hold citizenship and, you know, just as lawfully as anyone else, Abushaaban said. Shawa said that over the years living in Gaza with his family, he has never felt prioritized by the U.S. government. I mean, Gaza has to 2.2 or 3 million citizens. The vast majority of us are not affiliated to Hamas or any other political, Palestinian faction, Shawa said, referring to U.S. politicians speaking about Gaza as if it is a Hamas block. We have children, we go to schools, we have birthdays, we have restaurants, we have, I mean, everything that makes up a normal community, Shawa said. His eldest daughter, Zayneb, turned 9 on Sunday. They found some kind of, you know, packaged donut-y thingy and stuck a candle in it and sang Happy Birthday, Shawa said, referring to the impromptu gesture some of the children organized for her. For Shawa, trying to cross the border with his family is not only dangerous but also emotionally taxing, and it could mean they will never see their loved ones again. I mean, we are with people, friends, neighbors, relatives who dont have this privilege, Shawa said. Its really, really, really hard to make the decision to leave them behind. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Thousands of people in Gaza have gathered at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, as diplomatic efforts continue to open it before Israel starts its expected ground operation. But the United Nations said there had been no progress in negotiations on reopening of the crossing. Cairo blames Israel for "not co-operating". All routes out of Gaza are closed, as Israel continues its air strikes in response to Hamas' attack of 7 October. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Monday for the second time in less than a week. After his tour of six Arab states in the region, he returned to the country in an attempt to push for the reopening of the crossing to let in humanitarian aid and evacuate foreign passport holders. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Both Mr Blinken and UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said they were working with Israel, Egypt and "other leading political voices in the region" to re-open the crossing. The Israeli military ordered a blockade of Gaza and cut off the supply of water, food and fuel last week before launching a wave of air strikes in retaliation to Hamas' deadly attack on Israel during which militants raided communities, kidnapped civilians and soldiers and killed more than 1,400 people. On Monday morning, thousands of civilians rushed to the Rafah crossing following reports that it would be temporarily re-opened during a brief ceasefire on Monday. Both Israel and Hamas swiftly denied that any such agreement had been made. Later, a BBC correspondent in southern Gaza confirmed an air strike had hit the area around the crossing, damaging a building on the Palestinian side of the crossing as well as the road. Video analysed by BBC Verify appeared to show a strike on the crossing on Monday. Israel has hit the area around the Rafah crossing point at least three times since it began its air campaign on Gaza. The crossing represents the only potential exit point from Gaza while the Israeli siege of other entry points to the Hamas-controlled territory continues. Dozens of lorries carrying fuel and aid supplies remain on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing, waiting for permission to enter, as the humanitarian situation in Gaza deteriorates. Israel says the siege will not end until Hamas releases the hostages it seized from Israel on 7 October. The Israelis believe 199 people are being held in Gaza, up from an earlier estimate of 155. Around 2,750 people have died in Gaza since the Hamas assault and more than one million people have been displaced. "There is an urgent need to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza," Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said on Monday morning, adding that talks with Israel had been fruitless. Cairo has been focusing on getting humanitarian aid for civilians into Gaza. Mr Shoukry said Egypt could allow medical evacuations and let in some Gazans with permission to travel. A number of countries, including the US and the UK, have recommended that its citizens head towards the Rafah crossing, ready for its possible reopening. Although Egypt appears to be prepared to re-open the Rafah crossing to allow foreign passport holders out and humanitarian aid in, it fears a massive influx of Palestinian refugees fleeing the war. Egypt and other Arab states say a this would be unacceptable because it would amount to the expulsion of Palestinians from their land. More on Israel Gaza war Palestinians with dual citizenship have been waiting to cross into Egypt The first civilians from the Gaza Strip have crossed the Rafah border into Egypt since the Israel-Gaza war started. Dozens of severely injured Palestinians were taken in ambulances and hundreds of foreign passport holders made the crossing on Wednesday. Egypt said it would initially allow in more than 80 injured and more than 500 foreign and dual nationals in total, in a deal said to have been brokered by Qatar. This is the first such evacuation since the conflict began more than three weeks ago. It is not clear how long the border will stay open. It has already been open for more than 10 days to allow aid into Gaza. So far, more than 200 trucks have crossed the border, but much more is needed. What is the Rafah crossing? It's the southernmost post of exit from Gaza and borders Egypt's Sinai peninsula. There are only two other border crossings from and into the Gaza Strip - Erez, a crossing into Israel in northern Gaza, which is for people, and Kerem Shalom, a solely commercial goods junction with Israel in southern Gaza. Both are shut. Why is it important now? Gunmen from the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which governs Gaza, attacked the Erez crossing on 7 October during an unprecedented assault on southern Israel which killed more than 1,300 people. Days later, Israel declared Erez and Kerem Shalom closed until further notice, leaving the Rafah border as the only way into and out of the Strip for people. Rafah is now also the only crossing point for humanitarian aid. Limited aid crossed into Gaza on 21 October What is going on at the crossing? Hamas and Egypt exercise control over who can pass through, but operations have been disrupted since Israel began conducting waves of air strikes on Gaza in retaliation for Hamas's assault. Egyptian media said the crossing was shut down following three Israeli strikes on 9 and 10 October, which it said left injuries on the Egyptian and Palestinian sides of the border. On 12 October, the Egyptian government asked Israel to halt strikes near the Rafah border crossing so it could serve as a "support lifeline" for people in Gaza, and made it clear that it would not open the passage until there were guarantees for the safety of its staff. Three weeks later, people are gathering at the border following reports that Qatar has mediated an agreement to allow some people out of Gaza. Reuters news agency says the Gulf state has been holding talks between Egypt, Israel and Hamas, in coordination with the US. It is this deal that is allowing some critically injured people and foreign passport holders out of the Gaza Strip. Qatar is home to the political leadership of Hamas - which has had an office in the capital, Doha, since 2012. Map showing route of evacuation in Gaza Why have the crossings been shut? Israel and Egypt have restricted the movement of goods and people in and out of Gaza since Hamas took control of the territory in 2007. The two countries say their blockade is needed for security reasons. As part of its response to Hamas's deadly attack, Israel's defence minister ordered a "complete siege" of Gaza on 9 October, adding: "There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed." Meanwhile Egypt fears a massive influx of Palestinian refugees fleeing the war. Egypt's president warned on 12 October that an exodus from Gaza risked "liquidating" the Palestinian cause and called on Palestinians to "remain steadfast on their land". It is also concerned about the possibility of Islamist militants coming into the country, having faced a jihadist insurgency in Sinai for almost a decade. How is the Rafah crossing normally used? It is not easy for Palestinians to leave Gaza via Rafah. Palestinians wishing to use the crossing must register with the local Palestinian authorities two to four weeks in advance and may be rejected by either the Palestinian or Egyptian authorities with little warning or explanation. According to the UN, in August 2023, the Egyptian authorities allowed 19,608 exits from Gaza and denied entry to 314 people. More on Israel-Gaza war Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi speaks during a meeting with the cabinet in Tehran DUBAI (Reuters) - Supporting the Palestinians is Iran's foreign policy priority but the "resistance" groups make their own independent decisions, President Ebrahim Raisi told his Russian counterpart in a phone call on Monday, Iranian state media reported. They quoted Raisi as also telling Russia's Vladimir Putin : "There is a possibility of the conflict between Israel and Palestinians expanding to other fronts." (Writing by Parisa Hafezi; editing by Mark Heinrich) Ramaswamy campaign hauls in $7.4M during the past three months FIRST ON FOX - Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy hauled in $7.4 million during the third quarter of 2023, according to the Ramaswamy campaign. The funding includes an in-kind $1 million contribution the biotech multimillionaire made to his campaign in the third quarter. Ramaswamy now has more than 130,000 unique donors, nearly doubling the 70,000 requirement for entry into the third debate. According to his campaign, Ramaswamy in the third quarter received over 143,000 individual donations from over 78,000 unique donors averaging a $38 contribution in the past three months. He saw a 198% increase in gross raised over the past three months and a 121% increase in the number of donations compared to the second quarter. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Among the donors, his campaign touts that nearly 40% of them are first-time Republican donors while pointing to low single-digit averages for other candidates. VIVEK RAMASWAMY, DEM REP. RO KHANNA FLOAT DEBATE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP Republican presidential candidate and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy speaks at the Republican Partys First in the Nation Leadership Summit in Nashua, New Hampshire, U.S., October 13, 2023. The fundraising period included the first two Republican debates, where Ramaswamy made his first impression on millions of voters and was a major target by his GOP rivals on the debate stage. Ramaswamy's numbers come as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's campaign touted a $15 million raised in the third quarter while former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley's campaign says it brought in $11 million. However, their numbers pale in comparison to the $45.5 million former President Trump's campaign raised during the same period. All four of the candidates have already met the RNC's polling and donor requirements for third primary debate set for Nov. 8 in Miami. Ramaswamy's campaign told FOX News Digital he has exceeded 130,000 total unique donors, nearly double the 70,000 donor requirement. GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES DECLARE SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL AFTER HAMAS ASSAULT: JOE BIDEN FUNDED THESE ATTACKS Ramaswamy's campaign told FOX News Digital the GOP hopeful has already exceeded 130,000 unique donors nearly double the requirement for the third RNC debate set for Nov. 8. Ramaswamy has put a spotlight on border security in recent days following the horrific attacks against Israel by the terrorist group Hamas. The political outsider recently visited both Eagle Pass, Texas and the New Hampshire-Canadian border to call out vulnerabilities. He also teased a potential debate with Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., following the announcement of DeSantis' Nov. 30 showdown with Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, to be moderated by FOX News' Sean Hannity . RAMASWAMY FIRES BACK AT MEXICAN PRESIDENT IN BORDER SPAT: NEW DADDY IN TOWN GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., teased a potential debate on social media. CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The latest FOX News poll released last week showed Ramaswamy with 7% support among GOP voters, placing him fourth behind Haley at 10%, DeSantis at 13% and Trump, who maintains a commanding lead at 59%. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub . Original article source: Ramaswamy campaign hauls in $7.4M during the past three months Five dark-colored predators torpedo through the water. A flash of white flanks their right side. It was an amazing sight a white orca named Frosty swimming with five other killer whales in California, according to an Oct. 16 Monterey Bay Whale Watch Facebook post. Frosty possibly has leucism or a syndrome called Chediak-Higashi. Leucism causes white coloration on the skin, according to the National Park Service. Chediak-Higashi is a syndrome that causes reduced pigment in the skin and eyes, experts with the National Organization of Rare Disorders said. The whales hunted an elephant seal and at least one California sea lion, breaching and prey sharing with the carcass, the tour agency wrote in its post. What an incredible and rare encounter! ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Frostys mom was among the group of sea creatures, according to the post. Frosty is about 4 years old, and the last time it was spotted with its mom in Monterey Bay they were with the same group of killer whales. Photos shared by the agency in a separate Facebook post show Frosty and its mom swimming together. The duo have similar dorsal fins and huge eyepatches, the post said. Frosty is such a beautiful little whale and we are so lucky we got to see him/her, the agency wrote in the post. Social media users shared their excitement about the sighting. So special out there today! What a tremendous amazing gift, one person wrote on Facebook. So beautiful and amazing, another commenter said. Predator attacks sea creature in incredible act of nature in CA. See the shredder Humpback whales surround boaters in Iceland. Then black fins appear, photos show Chunky sea creature and its family gave tourists a show in California, photos show A rattlesnake was found coiled behind a toilet in a Phoenix park, and the resulting photo ignited an unusual debate on social media. Whats worse: To see a rattlesnake while sitting on the toilet, or to hear a rattlesnake while sitting on the toilet? Can you imagine sitting on the bog then suddenly hear a rattling that sounds very close? one commenter asked on Facebook. I can only imagine seeing a damn rattlesnake looking at you funny with your pants down, another posted. Its not clear how the nearly 3-foot snake was found, but a park ranger reported it to Rattlesnake Solutions, an Arizona-based snake catching service. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Snake wrangler Bryce Anderson found the misplaced viper snuggled against the back of the toilet, like a little Peeping Tom. This snake ... likely wouldve rattled at any incoming visitors before they made it to the toilet, notifying them that they were entering what he could only perceive as his perfect little cave hideout, Anderson told McClatchy News. While this may seem like a shocking event in many cases and two worlds that should never mix this bathroom was located in the middle of the (drainage area) and had an open layout, allowing easy access for wildlife to flow in and out of. The snake was understandably not too thrilled at being removed from the shade, which is an important resource in the Arizona desert, he said. It likely would have left on its own at nightfall, when the heat was less threatening, he said. Ive been doing rattlesnake relocation over the course of the last 8 years or so (and) this is the first rattlesnake that Ive encountered within a bathroom, Anderson said. It is a very rare occurrence. The snake was released unharmed in a wilderness area, which is standard for Rattlesnake Solutions. Hundreds have reacted to the companys Facebook post, including some wondering what it was like from the snakes perspective. Many offered jokes, calling it a constipation cure and odd type of bidet. Thats gonna sting, Glen Nowak wrote. Everyone on earths worst nightmare! Angie Guetschow posted. This would be a bad bite, Danny Zeller said. Amazon driver hospitalized after rattlesnake bite during delivery, Florida cops say Snake taunts homeowner by hiding in toilet for days. It was a toilet diva, she says Python sneaks into bathroom while homeowner is showering and hogs the toilet paper With the states emergency shelter limit reaching capacity, Gov. Maura Healey on Monday put pressure on federal officials to address the growing migrant crisis, saying state officials can no longer guarantee shelter placement for new families arriving in the state. Healey also appointed a new emergency assistance director, Air Force Lt. Gen. Leon Scott Rice to oversee management and coordination of the emergency shelter system. Rice, a former director of the Air National Guard, led emergency management teams under former Governors Deval Patrick and Charlie Baker. The state will not be able to accommodate more than 7,500 families, or approximately 24,000 people, in emergency shelter and will likely hit this number by the end of the month, officials said. Beginning Nov. 1, the state will no longer be able to add new shelter units. At this time, families seeking shelter will be assessed and those with high needs, such as health and safety risks, will be prioritized for placement, officials said. Families who are not immediately connected with shelter will be placed on a waiting list. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement We do not have enough space, service providers or funds, Healey told reporters on Monday. Mass. National Guard being deployed to help thousands of migrant families at emergency shelters Healey declared a state of emergency in August amid the rapidly rising numbers of migrant families arriving in the state. We need everyone to understand that we are entering a new phase of this challenge. We can no longer guarantee shelter placement, Healey said. Just over 23,000 people are staying in emergency shelters in Massachusetts right now, and about half are families that are new arrivals to the state, Healey said. About half of the people in emergency shelter are children. I want to be absolutely clear about who these folks are. They are families, some expecting Moms and children. They are here lawfully allowed in with the knowledge and consent of our federal government, Healey said. Newly-arrived families are being housed in hotels and college dorms throughout Massachusetts. In August, Healey asked Massachusetts residents to house migrant families amid the growing shelter crisis. Officials said for months, the states emergency family shelter system has been expanding at an unsustainable rate, driven by increasing numbers of newly arriving migrant families and slower exits of families in long-term emergency shelter stays. Healey called on federal officials to expedite work authorizations for new families amid the record influx of migrants arriving in Massachusetts, and to provide federal funding and federal sites in this state to address the crisis. BMC staff instructed to send away migrant families seeking shelter in hospital lobby This is a federal problem that demands a federal solution, Healey said. Families are coming in through the federal system and the federal government must step in to support them. Healey said shes made multiple requests to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for federal funding and improvements to the work authorization process. The governor met with the White House Chief of Staff last week and with Secretary Mayorkas in August. Last week, a Homeland Security consultant team visited Massachusetts to evaluate the situation, holding extensive meetings with administration officials over two days and visiting shelters and a Family Welcome Center. Officials said through its 1115 waiver, MassHealth is requesting federal funding for up to six months of temporary housing assistance and medical, social, and educational services for families and pregnant individuals, including newly-arrived migrants, who are enrolled as MassHealth members in emergency shelter, officials said. The goal is for homeless families who have been in the states emergency shelter system long-term to find permanent housing, officials said. The state will boost efforts to assist families with transitioning to stable housing, including assessing families who have been in shelter long-term over 15 months and prioritizing helping them exit the shelter system, which is intended to be a short-term, emergency option, officials said. Officials will be expanding support for rapid rehousing and rental assistance initiatives, such as HomeBASE, to support these transitions. The HomeBASE program helps eligible homeless families pay their first/last months rent and security deposits, moving expenses, stipends to help with ongoing housing costs, and other costs that can help families stabilize an existing housing situation or stably rehouse. The state is also calling on the federal government, faith-based organizations and other non-government organizations to help support homeless families. Other services will still be provided for families seeking emergency shelter, including at the Family Welcome Centers, officials said. Families will be assessed for basic needs and offered the opportunity to apply for public benefits through the Department of Transitional Assistance, receive goods including diapers, hygiene products, and formula, and be referred to community-based resources. Healey said state officials are working to help connect new arrivals with potential employers so they can find work. We need the federal government to more quickly process work authorizations for new arrivals. They want to work. They want to support their families, Healey said. State officials are launching a new pilot program in partnership with Commonwealth Corporation Foundation to develop a new job skills training program to connect businesses to individuals in shelter who are still waiting for their work authorization but looking to gain on-the-job training and skills development, Healey said. This new program will start in Salem. A second program connects MassHire Regional Workforce Boards and careers centers to shelters statewide with the goal of assessing skills and work readiness of residents who have their work authorization. The initial phase of this new program is focused on 14 shelter sites across the state, representing approximately 1,500 families. According to state officials, the program is already showing results. MassHire South Shore is working with Dunkin Donuts to fill 30 employment openings and coordinating with Plymouth Area Coalition shelter provider to connect shelter residents to jobs, officials said. MassHire North Central started working with a local shelter that connected one individual with employment at a retail store in Leominster. Both programs are looking for employers and businesses who want to be partners in these efforts that will help them meet their workforce needs. Interested employers and businesses should contact LWDBusinessinfo@mass.gov. Rice, who called the migrant crisis a humanitarian challenge, said he will work across the incident command structure to manage the issue. He previously led emergency response and post-disaster recovery efforts for Hurricane Sandy, Hurricane Irene, the Boston Marathon Bombing and ice storms. We will be responsive. We will be transparent and trustworthy in everything we do, he said. The United Way Migrant Relief Fund is also supporting migrant families, including temporary accommodations, food, clothing, diapers, hygiene items, transportation, health screenings, translation services, ESOL classes and legal assistance. The fund has raised $1.2 million since it was launched in August. More information can be found at unitedwaymassbay.org/migrantrelief. Partnership is needed in this next phase of what we are doing, Healey said. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW Nearly three dozen U.S. citizens were killed when Hamas terrorists executed a sneak attack on Israel on Oct. 7, according to the U.S. State Department. A spokesperson for the State Department confirmed to Fox News Digital that 35 Americans were killed in the attacks. "At this time, we can confirm the deaths of 35 U.S. citizens who were killed in the October 7 attacks," the spokesperson said, adding that an additional U.S. citizen died as a result of continued violence after the attacks. IM NOT LEAVING': AMERICAN-BORN ISRAELI SAYS HIS COUNTRY IS RESILIENT AND WILL PREVAIL OVER HAMAS SAVAGES As far as the number of Americans who have died in Gaza, the State Department spokesperson said they are not aware of any, but information about U.S. fatalities in Gaza is "extremely limited" because of the situation. "We extend our deepest condolences to the victims and to the families of all those affected," the spokesperson said on behalf of the department. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP Of the 35 U.S. citizens the State Department said have died, 26 have been confirmed. Ilan Troen, a professor who lives in Israel, said during a televised interview earlier this month, that his daughter, Deborah Martias, and her husband, later identified as Shlomi Martias, were both killed when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and attacked the communities surrounding the Gaza border. Troen said he was on the phone with his daughter, who was born in Boone County, Missouri, when the terrorists made their way to Kibbutz Holit, where his daughter and son-in-law were living. He said he heard the terrorists breaking into the home and heard gunshots. The professor said their 16-year-old son was shot but survived the attack after hiding for several hours. Kibbutz Holit is located about a mile from the Gaza border. WHAT AN AMERICAN-BORN ISRAELI PEACE ACTIVIST ON THE FRONT LINES FEARS MOST ABOUT HAMAS American student Hayim Katsman has been identified as another victim of the Hamas violence after terrorists entered his home on Kibbutz Holit and shot him dead in a closet, where he was hiding, according to his family. American student Hayim Katsman has been identified as another victim of the Hamas violence after terrorists entered his home on Kibbutz Holit and shot him dead in a closet, where he was hiding, according to his family. Noy Katsman, a sibling of Dr. Hayim Katsman, told Fox News that he heard about the Hamas insurgency and texted his brother asking if he was OK. Hayim responded on Saturday morning, saying that he heard terrorists invading the kibbutz, but he was all right. Hours later, the family learned that he was shot and killed. Katsman was living in Israel after he received his doctorate at the University of Washington in Seattle. Eyal Glisko, a North Jersey native, confirmed his cousin, 20-year-old Itay Glisko, an Israeli American serving in the IDF, was killed while fighting in Israel, according to the Times of Israel. THIS ISNT ABOUT LAND': AMERICAN IN ISRAEL DEFIANT AGAINST BARBARIC HAMAS, DECLARES SHE'S NEVER LEAVING Israeli evacuees from kibbutzim near the Gaza border receive clothing donations at a hotel in the Dead Sea area on October 9, 2023. Kibbutz residents of Israel's south have been evacuated to safety after Palestinian militants on October 7 launched a multi-pronged offensive, killing hundreds of people, many in areas near the border with the blockaded Gaza Strip. Itay, who lived in Paramus, was an "amazing kid" who was "loved by everybody" and who "fought with courage to the end," another relative, Glisko Kaufman, told the outlet. "He was doing his duty, thats it," Eyal added. The 20-year-old was born in New Jersey before his family moved to Israel. Once he turned 18, he joined the IDF for mandatory service. He was two years into the three-year requirement. Ran Ben-Senior said her cousin, Daniel Ben-Senior, 34, was shot and killed as she was attending the music festival, where Hamas terrorists killed at least 260 civilians, according to the New York Times. According to Ran, her cousin was initially believed to be among the missing but Israeli officials notified the family that she had been killed. Adrienne Neta, 66, was previously reported missing by her son, Nahar Neta, but according to The Times of Israel, her name was listed on a memorial page for 27 nurses and relatives who were murdered by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7. HAMAS ATTACK SURVIVOR PLEADS FOR RELEASE OF 11-YEAR-OLD HOSTAGE Adrienne Neta Neta, who was born and raised in California, moved to Israel in 1981. She had a lengthy career as a nurse and midwife, her family said. Abbey Onn, an American whose family has been living in Israel for eight years, said her 80-year-old cousin, Carmela Dan, was taken alongside her son-in-law and three of her grandchildren who were living with her at the time. They were later identified as Ofer Kalderon, 50, Sahar Kalderon, 16, Erez Kalderon, 16, and Noya Dan, 12. Noya, whose picture of her dressed as a character from the wizarding world of "Harry Potter" went viral on social media, was found dead next to her grandmother Carmela Dan in Gaza. GOP SENATORS DEMAND ENHANCED BORDER SECURITY PLAN FROM BIDEN OVER THREATS BY 'GLOBAL TERRORIST GROUPS' Onn spoke with NBC News Lester Holt and confirmed the death. "There was an operation by the Israeli army some days ago at this point to retrieve bodies, and we believe that it took them time to run what we know to be three DNA tests and to identify that it was both of them," she told Holt. Ofer, Sahar and Erez are still presumed to be missing. Nadav Kipnis told The Associated Press that the missing Italian-Americans include Eviatar Moshe Kipnis, 65, and Lilach Lea Havron, 60, and their health care aide, who were last heard from Saturday morning. PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTERS SCALE PART OF BROOKLYN BRIDGE, FORCE SHUTDOWN OF ICONIC NYC ARTERY The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation issued a press release on Oct. 17, confirming that Israeli authorities certified, through DNA testing, that Eviator Moshe Kipnis had died. Reuters reported that Lilach Lea Havron was also killed, as well as an uncle of Nadavs. On Oct. 12, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy posted to the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that 20-year-old Lior Abramov was killed in the attack. "Devastated to learn that 20-year-old Hopewell native Lior Abramov was tragically killed during the Hamas terrorist attack," Murphy said. "Lior had moved to Israel to follow in his father's footsteps & become a successful DJ. Our prayers are with his family as they grieve this unimaginable loss." AT THE ARMY BASE WHERE ISRAEL IDENTIFIES ITS DEAD: 'THEY WENT FROM HOUSE TO HOUSE BURNING FAMILY AFTER FAMILY' The Messenger reported that Lotan Abir, 24; Cindy Flash, 67; Yannai Kaminka, 20; Jonathan Rom, 23; Carol Siman Tov, 70; Johnny Siman Tov, 36; Tamar Kedem-Siman Tov, 35; twins Arbel and Sachar Siman-Tov, 5; Omer-Siman-Tov, 2; Danielle Waldman, 24; Roy Weiser, 21; and Aryeh Shlomo Ziering, 27 also died in the attacks. Fox News is working to confirm their deaths. Additionally, The Times of Israel reported that 52-year-old Igal Wachs and 48-year-old Amit Wachs were killed defending their town of Netiv Haasara. There are still several U.S. citizens who have been missing since Oct. 7. Of those reported missing originally, Judith Raanan and her daughter Natalie, 18, who were held captive by Hamas have been released. US, GERMANY, AUSTRIA URGED TO GIVE CITIZENSHIP TO HOSTAGES HELD BY HAMAS TO SAVE THEIR LIVES Still missing, though, are people like Omer Neutra, a 21-year-old Israeli American citizen who was born in New York and joined the Israeli Defense Forces after war broke out between Israel and Gaza. Neutra was captured by Hamas along the Israel-Gaza border on Oct. 10 while serving in the IDF. "He's a born leader and a great son, friend, and a passionate, giving person. After graduating from high school, he decided to defer his college acceptance and spend a gap year in Israel connecting with our family's roots," Neutra's parents Ronen and Orna Neutra said in a statement posted to Facebook by the Plainview Volunteer Fire Department. "This experience impacted his decision to stay in Israel and do what he believed in serving and protecting the people of Israel," the statement added. ISRAEL FENDS OFF AGGRESSION AT LEBANON BORDER AS IT PREPARES TO INVADE GAZA Omer Neutra, an Israeli American citizen born in New York, was captured by Hamas on Oct. 10 while serving in the Israel Defense Force (IDF), his family said. His family said they have not heard from him since he joined the war. On Oct. 11, New York City Mayor Eric Adams met with Neutra's parents. "The war hits home. Ronen and Orna of Long Island are waiting news on their son Omer, who was kidnapped by Hamas this weekend," the mayor said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. "This fight is our fight. It just is. We #StandWithIsrael. And we must bring every hostage home." Four Israeli American families held a news conference last week, where they revealed a family member who was being held hostage in the Israel-Hamas war. SEE THEIR FACES: ISRAELI VICTIMS OF HAMAS VIOLENCE INCLUDE A DANCING DAUGHTER, A JEWELRY DESIGNER, OTHERS Ruby Chen, the father of missing American, 19-year-old Itay Chen, has demanded the White House do more to find his son, who was serving in the IDF when he went missing last week. Ruby Chen told Fox News his son informed him that he was responding to the Hamas rocket attack and was "active in the field" but then "contact was lost." He said the IDF confirmed their son was missing but said he has not been confirmed dead. He was last seen Saturday morning, Oct. 7. The father said he was glad to hear President Bidens commitment to supporting Israel but called on the president and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to "think of the missing Americans as citizens" and be supported as such. CONGRESS URGES STATE DEPARTMENT TO USE CHARTER FLIGHTS TO EVACUATE AMERICANS FROM ISRAEL He also said he wants the U.S. leadership "to do what they can to make this end and for us, as soon as possible, to become family, whole again." Jonathan Dekel-Chen said at the press conference last week that Sagui Dekel-Chen, 35, a married father of two daughters, helped fight off the militants who stormed Kibbutz Nir Oz on Saturday, but has not been heard from since. Jonathan Dekel-Chen, a U.S. citizen who grew up in Connecticut and has lived in Israel since the early 1980s, told Fox News Digital that about 240 of the communitys 400 residents are dead or missing. AMERICAN WOMAN SAYS FAMILY HAS BEEN TAKEN HOSTAGE BY HAMAS IN ISRAEL: 'ANY PARENTS WORST NIGHTMARE' "Sagui was born in Israel," Dekel-Chen said. "We both live on Kibbutz Nir Oz, near the Gaza border and our kibbutz was attacked at 6 a.m. on Saturday. As a result of that attack, several dozen members of our community were taken or are now missing; among those is Sagui." "They vanished without a trace," he said, adding that the missing Americans wife, who is pregnant, and his sons two young children survived the attack. He also urged U.S. officials to do more to find and rescue his son. "Sagui was born in Israel and has lived his life here but has always maintained his U.S. citizenship," said Dekel-Chen. "I hope that it will make a difference and I think it will definitely help if the U.S. government gets engaged." STATE DEPARTMENT EXPLORES OPTIONS TO GET US CITIZENS OUT OF ISRAEL WARZONE At the same press conference in Tel Aviv, Rachel Goldberg told reporters that she has not heard from her son, Hersh Golberg-Polin, 23, since he attended the Tribe of Nova music festival in Israel on Saturday, Oct 7. Hersh Golberg-Polin's mother said the last time she heard from her son was on Saturday morning when he sent two text messages. She said as Hamas terrorists attacked the desert rave, her son sent her a text message that read: "I love you." Moments later, the missing Israeli American said: "Im sorry." She has not heard from him since. DEADLINE EXPIRES FOR PALESTINIANS TO FLEE GAZA AS ISRAELI TROOPS AMASS AT BORDER "I knew immediately, wherever he was, it was a terrible situation," Goldberg said. "I took it to mean I love you and I'm sorry because whatever is going to happen is going to cause you tremendous pain and worry." She added: "Since that time, I, of course, tried calling him right back. There was no answer. I texted him a couple of times. Are you OK? I've not heard from him since the text I received at 8:11 on Saturday morning." The mother went on to say she spoke with witnesses and survivors of the attack, where at least 260 civilians were killed. Several recalled seeing Hersh. CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP They said her son took cover in a bomb shelter and ended up losing his arm after Hamas terrorists fired into the shelter. They then forced everyone to evacuate. "We are told that he was completely calm. I think he was probably in shock," Goldberg said. "And he got up and he walked out with five other people, young people from the music festival, two young women, three other young men. They were put on a pickup truck and driven away by Hamas. Then the police told us one thing they knew is that the last known cell signal from his phone was on the border with Gaza." Jon Polin, his father, described the 23-year-old as a "smiley, fun-loving guy." Hersh was born in Berkeley, the family said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Original article source: Remembering US victims killed and missing in the Israeli-Hamas war A reporter and an anchor in Columbus, South Carolina, went viral for hilariously exchanging glances during a live report, prompting user reactions about Black people communicating without words. In the video, WIS 10 reporter Jalen Tart was about to try a Polish sausage from a vendor at the South Carolina State Fair. Im going to take a bite of this Polish dog and see what this is all about. Let me get a bite of this, Tart said to start the 41-second clip. After biting into the sausage, Tart chewed aggressively before nodding and saying pretty good several times to the vendor as he thanked him for participating in the live report. Oh that sausage dog was trash lol.he wanted that camera out his face pic.twitter.com/uZnGywQWvp Simply Mark (@AustinMD2011) October 15, 2023 As Tart tossed it back to the studio (Back to everyone, back to you, he said), he was still chewing, and his facial expressions before the camera cut to anchor Judi Gatson were priceless. Her grinning at his reactions was an unspoken language between Black people without having to say anything. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The clip has since made its rounds on X, formerly known as Twitter, and users did not hesitate to share their thoughts and reactions to the pairs on-air exchange. Oh that sausage dog was trash lol.he wanted that camera out his face @AustinMD2011 shared in the videos caption. The way we all understood what was going on in that moment he continued in the comment section. The way we all understood what was going on in that moment Simply Mark (@AustinMD2011) October 15, 2023 They played on his head back at the station , @tenderoniTONY wrote. They played on his head back at the station CyberPONK 2077 (@tenderoniTONY) October 15, 2023 This look right here Yeah she knew he was having a bad time! Lol. Hahahahaha, @AONCruzy wrote with a screenshot of Gatson. This look right here Yeah she knew he was having a bad time! Lol. Hahahahaha pic.twitter.com/Gsuadc83Ur Cruzy Rivera (@AONCruzy) October 16, 2023 Here are additional reactions from Black Twitter users in the thread: When they cut the cameras pic.twitter.com/i9bIu4VkB3 Voldemort (@ib_2cute) October 16, 2023 My man didn't close his eyes, made zero sound, and talked with his mouth full of glizzy That thang was strait up ashtray BlackMANthurr (@BlackManThurr) October 16, 2023 All our reaction looking at him struggle pic.twitter.com/hSmuoJ0bSd Top Boy (@TBTaughtyou) October 16, 2023 Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy on Sunday as the company struggles with more than 1,000 lawsuits over its alleged role in the opioid crisis alongside mounting debts and declining sales. The pharmacy, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New Jersey, said it raised $3.45 billion to provide liquidity to support its operations throughout the process. It also claimed the funding would allow the business to resolve the lawsuitswhich have accused Rite Aid of illegally filling prescriptions in an equitable manner. Aside from the litigation, Rite Aid had amassed debts of $3.3 billion as of June, while sales have fallen amid growing competition from bigger rivals including CVS and Amazon. Its stock has fallen by almost 80 percent since the beginning of the year. Read it at The New York Times Read more at The Daily Beast. Its hard enough to put a price tag on road improvement projects, and weigh them against each other to decide which ones should happen. But what about roads where there is no obvious fix? Consider the intersection of Celanese and Mt. Gallant roads in Rock Hill. The juncture averages 64,000 vehicle trips daily and the city forecasts that figure likely will surpass 91,000 in coming years. By traffic modeling standards, it nearly earns failing grades. The city ranked the intersection No. 6 on its request list for Pennies for Progress funding. A citizen commission met Wednesday, Oct. 11 to decide which countywide road projects would make the short list for a public Pennies vote fall 2024. Members did not advance Celanese and Mt. Gallant and instead chose others for pricing details. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Making the short list isnt a final decision. But it can be seen as a strong indication how the commission thinks after holding public meetings throughout York County this year. Another Rock Hill intersection, at Cherry and Mt. Gallant roads, nearly missed the pricing list for the same reasons as Celanese and Mt. Gallant. The commission added it late despite more having questions than answers on how to fix it. It seems like a problem this region needs to solve, said commission member Chris Leonard. A lot of good projects: Panel cuts York County road projects list, seeks price details Built environment Pennies, the voter-approved cent sales tax set to hold its fifth referendum next year. It began in 1997 with a massive list of road needs that included new roadways or rural highways in need of widening. Communities grew. Traffic followed. Many of the roads that could be widened were among more than $1 billion in Pennies, state, federal or matching grant road funding. Rock Hill-Fort Mill Area Transportation Study director David Hooper often talks about a built environment now. Road planners cant simply widen their way out of congestion issues, and how they have to deal with whats already on the ground in busy areas, he said. Cherry and Mt. Gallant, which is No. 4 on the city request list, is a good example of how a simple solution may not work. Tightened up against the four corners of that intersection are the city water filter plant, the Loves Plaza shopping center, an express oil change and car wash site and a car dealership. A traditional improvement isnt going to do anything at this intersection, said Patrick Hamilton, Pennies program manager. The Celanese and Mt. Gallant ntersection has a similar issue. It splits McDonalds, Walgreens, Circle K and church properties on its corners. Widening either those large intersections would involve buying some commercial properties. Pennies could probably complete projects like the No. 5 Ebinport Road and Marett Boulevard intersection upgrade (estimated at $5 million-$9 million) for what right-of-way acquisition alone would cost at the built-up intersections, Hamilton said. York Countys 5th Pennies for Progress road work list will likely be the most expensive Superstreets, overpasses If widening wont work, planners would need to get creative. A concept thats picked up steam in recent years for busy areas like U.S. 521 in Indian Land or the S.C. 160 corridor in Fort Mill is the superstreet. A superstreet takes out left turns, typically from a smaller highway onto a larger one, by routing traffic right and creating turnaround space for traffic that traditionally would have gone left. Superstreets tend not to work as well when both intersecting highways bring their own large traffic counts. I dont even know if that would work with the amount of volume, Hamilton said of Mt. Gallant and Celanese. Another concept, though costly, is grade separation. One route would be elevated above the other, with ramps used to turn. It would almost be like an interstate intersection, said citizen commission chairman Britt Blackwell. The one noticeable, local example of that setup is at Anderson Road and Dave Lyle Boulevard in Rock Hill. Grade separation is higher priced than widening, and assumes space somewhere near the grade change for ramps to allow turn access. Without a clear option for the built up intersections or others that may present the same challenges in the future, the Pennies commission even floated the idea of a new element to the 2024 vote. That would be money on the referendum ballot just to study and design upgrades at difficult intersections. It wouldnt be the first time Pennies broadened its scope. Most notably, the last Pennies campaign in 2017 added money for road resurfacing that hadnt been part of earlier campaigns. Yet money for study and design, without being tied to construction funding, didnt sit well with the Pennies commission. Blackwell said he tries to think like a voter would in crafting the roads list. Anything that creates questions is a bad thing for voters, Blackwell said. Record Pennies budget Even with a budget thats expected to be well higher than than any to date the current Pennies 4 campaign could generate more than $300 million there will be more road needs than whats in the Pennies 5 funds to complete them. The commission focused largely on Rock Hill projects Wednesday, having held a public meeting there since the last meeting to short list projects this summer. The commission sent a five-lane widening of Porter Road from Firetower to Long Meadow roads on for more detailed pricing. It was the citys top priority and ballpark figures put it at $45 million or more. Other projects sent for pricing include White Street improvements from Charlotte to Jones avenues, Neely Road upgrades from Crawford to Robertson roads, the Cherry and Mt. Gallant intersection, the Ebinport and Marett intersection, a Bates Street extension and the Black Street intersection with Albright Road. Commission member Zachary Zapack noted certain upgrades, like problematic intersections along Cherry or Albright Road, are important not just to neighboring properties. Those are main thoroughfares for the county, Zapack said. Its not just Rock Hill. Fort Mill, Lake Wylie Two new projects since the summer short list session also came up Wednesday in other high-growth, high-traffic areas. Only one made the pricing list. Widening of S.C. 49 in Lake Wylie between the Five Points intersection and Daimler Boulevard will go on the list for pricing. Its likely to be costly. At several miles that project could be more than $40 million. Commission members say they wouldnt likely recommend it for the final list ahead of S.C. 49 upgrades between Buster Boyd Bridge and the Three Points intersection, which already made the short list. But they heard enough from the Lake Wylie community to price it. The commission went the other way with the third of three prioritized projects submitted by Fort Mill. The town asked for a roundabout in front of Elisha Park to clean up the intersection of North White Street and Old Nation Road. The town reasoning is that area backs up with left turns on two-lane roads, and would benefit existing residents compared to larger Fort Mill projects the two highest priorities already sent for pricing. The commission chose not to price that project since it wouldnt likely be included at the expense of the towns top two priorities, each likely to cost in the $40 million range. They are about two miles each of widening on U.S. 21 Bypass from Sutton Road to S.C. 160 and Fort Mill Parkway, and along Fort Mill Parkway from Holbrook Road to a railroad overpass at US Foods. Hamilton said 95% of what he hears from Fort Mill residents involves those two large projects, and there is a drastic difference in concern about the park-front roundabout. Commission member Chad Williams said the only likely way the roundabout job makes the final list is if Pennies is unable to put both the two higher priorities on the ballot. Both those other projects are clearly important, Williams said, and not just to Fort Mill. Road resurfacing Communities throughout York County submitted roads for resurfacing, too. Pricing for resurfacing is a little smoother than for new or reconstruction projects. Hamilton will create a list at whatever amount the commission chooses, and select roads based on public feedback and scoring of existing conditions. Public input brought in 220 miles along 125 roads for resurfacing. The referendum amount may be $80 million to $100 million for resurfacing. Roads can cost $800,000 per mile now but Hamilton also has to consider how long it would take to get to the projects with a successful vote late next year. Five years from now it might be $1 million a mile, Hamilton said. So we have to plan for that. ROCHESTER The City Council on Tuesday will consider whether to approve construction of a $34 million new elementary school, including about $15.5 million from the city. The project to build the 66,000-square-foot school for students in grades K-5 planned for 753 Salmon Falls Road has been approved for more than $15.7 million in state building aid, plus $1.4 million in additional state funding in the form of adequacy aid. Plans in Rochester call for nearly $1.3 million in capital reserve funds. The council will be asked to approve an $8 million bond and use of just over $7.5 million from the city's unassigned fund balance. The fund balance is currently about $38 million, according to officials, which some residents have criticized. Mark Sullivan, deputy finance director for the city, explained the unassigned fund balance as being a healthy ratio between the city's assets and liabilities. He said it is healthy to have $1.50 in liabilities (expenditures) to $1 of assets (revenue). ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "$38 million is basically four months of our operating budget," said Sullivan. "What we have is a mix of cash and cash equivalents like revenue from water, sewer and community center revenue. We look at what we have and look to 2024 budgets." More local news: Willand warming center has no operator for 2023-24. Tri-Cities start late bid to find one. Also on the agenda for the City Council is another $750,000 for three city projects, at $250,000 each. If approved by the council, those expenditures are for the public works large vehicle capital reserve fund, the fire department apparatus capital reserve fund, and the public building capital reserve funds. At a city finance committee last week, state Rep. Tom Kaczynski Jr., R-Rochester, as he has in the recent past, took city leaders to task over the $38 million fund balance. "I call it a slush fund," Kaczynski said. "At $38 million, in a city of 31,000 to 32,000 people, that represents 33% of our expenditures. This much money seems to me to be a way to evade the city's tax cap. Our residents desire low tax rates but you just raised the rate 82 cents. Departments come and ask for things and how do you say no when you have $38 million. It's like a kid asking their parents for something when they know they are loaded. Spending here is out of control." In an effort to better explain an unassigned fund balance, councilors sought a letter from the New Hampshire Municipal Association. It defined the purpose of such a fund as: "In government accounting, fund balance is the difference between assets and liabilities resulting in a surplus or a deficit. A common misconception is that fund balance is a cash account, associated with or correlated to a governments bank account balance. But unlike a personal bank account, a general fund balance is not a 'cash-account;' it is a measure of equity between revenues and expenditures." The NHMA letter goes on to state "in government finance, the retention and use of unassigned fund balance assists in measuring the financial health of an individual fund, such as the general fund. A municipalitys ability to use unassigned fund balance can be seen as a driving factor behind maintaining stable tax rates. As a financial tool, the main objective of establishing and maintaining fund balance reserves is to create a strong fiscal position that will allow a local government to weather negative economic trends and unforeseen circumstances." This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: Rochester NH council set to vote on funds for $34M elementary school SPRING VALLEY Nearly two dozen men and women sat in a classroom at Konbit Neg Lakay one recent morning, carefully surveying job applications. New arrivals to the country, they listened carefully as instructions were provided in Haitian Creole so they could fill out the sheet that could lead to a job. Gov. Kathy Hochul in early October announced new initiatives to get migrants ready to enter the workforce and no longer need government support. That's what Konbit, a nonprofit, has been doing for weeks now, said CEO Renold Julien. In early October, Uneeda Enterprizes, a Spring Valley-based industrial product manufacturer and packager, partnered with Konbit, coming to its community center on East Church Street in the immigrant-dense village to interview potential job candidates. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Uneeda was the second employer to tap into Konbit's network with a job fair. More are planned. Finding migrants work: NY announces new job openings for asylum seekers. Which fields have open jobs? Migrants need work and companies like his need workers, said Bruce Fuchs, CEO of Uneeda. He heard about the program from Julien. The two serve together on the Workforce Development Board of Rockland County. Fuchs said Uneeda was started by his parents, both immigrants, so he understands that most have strong work ethics and just want the chance to earn a decent living. New immigrants know and trust Konbit, a nonprofit thats recognized and accredited by the U.S. Department of Justice. The organization offers support for immigrants, including language classes and help with paperwork. With some pathways to the U.S. opening for certain migrants and asylum seekers, and crises in many countries pushing people out, Konbit has seen the demand for help climb. Julien said already this year, the small agency has helped more than 800. Former police technician had to leave Haiti Renel Ilorme was among those holding a Uneeda application, waiting for his interview. The 35-year-old former police technician had come from Grand Goave, Haiti, to Rockland in April. The violence in Haiti poses particular risk to police, and he knew he was a target. He's working at a nearby Mcdonald's, has gotten a Social Security card and driver's permit. He wants to earn more and build a career. "I like learning," Ilorme said. He's taken English classes at Konbit, and listens to music and watches movies to brush up his language skills. "I'm doing my best." According to Hochul, some 18,000 private-sector jobs are available to migrants with new working papers; 2,900 are reportedly in the Hudson Valley. The state Department of Labor website has an "Asylum Seeker Employment Efforts" page with links to a "job opportunities" form for migrants seeking work and a "business inquiries" form for potential employers. "Migrants and asylum seekers came here to work so let's put them to work," Hochul said when announcing the program Oct. 2. "Right now, we have a migrant crisis and a workforce crisis. By connecting work-eligible individuals with jobs and opportunity in New York, we can solve them both and secure a brighter future for all New Yorkers." Julien said the Hochul administration's efforts were good. But he believed that local immigrant organizations like his could help boost those state efforts. And though the state DOL site uses the term "asylum seekers," the newest immigrants to New York are coming here in various ways and would qualify for job help as long as they have permission to work. Paths to NY and to work Asylum seekers crossing the southern border get a lot of attention, as does the wave of people being bused up north to New York City and other cities. But many new arrivals to the Hudson Valley are coming to the area because they have a connection here and already have a clear pathway to working papers. Most immigrants who visit Konbit have come to Rockland via a humanitarian parole program established by President Biden last year that allows up to 30,000 sponsored people each month to enter the U.S. from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. These new immigrants are qualified to quickly receive work permits and Social Security cards. Those who qualify for Temporary Protected Status also can get work permits in weeks or months. Asylum seekers are coming too, often on their own. They follow a work-permit process that is designed to take around six months but takes much longer. The process is overwhelmed by the number of people flowing over the southern border. But it's also laborious and complex. Legal help is often needed for asylum seekers to successfully file and win the designation, Julien said, and it can cost thousands of dollars. His agency can help with these processes, but Julien said more access to legal support is needed. So is a basic understanding of why immigrants leave their homelands and what they can contribute here, he said. "Immigrants, all they are looking for is the opportunity to work," said Julien, who came to the U.S. 37 years ago. "Just look at me." Nancy Cutler covers People & Policy for lohud.com and the USA Today Network New York. Reach her at ncutler@lohud.com. This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Rockland NY nonprofit connects immigrant job seekers with employers Here's a roundup of recent incidents and announcements from Ventura County agencies: Pedestrian killed in Thousand Oaks while walking in bike path A man was struck and killed Sunday morning in Thousand Oaks while walking in a bicycle lane, county sheriffs officials said. The pedestrian was walking in the vicinity of Kimber Drive and Baxter Street, when he was hit by a vehicle, Capt. Peter Frank said late Sunday afternoon. The man was pronounced dead at the scene, Frank said. The female driver of the vehicle stopped and did not attempt to flee after the crash reported shortly before 10 a.m., Frank said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement He initially had no details on the age or city of residence of the victim or the driver. On Tuesday, sheriff's officials said the driver was a 16-year-old juvenile. Man arrested on multiple charges after fleeing police, crashing on freeway A motorcyclist was arrested Sunday on suspicion of multiple felonies after fleeing police in an incident that started with an attempted traffic stop near Ventura's Ivy Lawn Memorial Park and ended with a crash on nearby Highway 101. The man allegedly failed to yield to an officer's emergency lights and siren when Ventura police tried to stop him for a traffic violation at midafternoon in the vicinity of Valentine and Portola roads. He drove recklessly, police said, eventually entering the on-ramp to southbound Highway 101 from Valentine Road, where he encountered heavy traffic and rode at a high rate of speed on the shoulder of the freeway. Police said they canceled the pursuit because they deemed it too risky, but that callers soon alerted them about a multi-vehicle crash involving a motorcycle on the southbound 101 freeway just south of the Victoria Avenue on-ramp. Ventura police said they finally stopped the man with the help of officers from the Ventura County Sheriff's Office, the California Highway Patrol and additional officers from their own police department. The motorcyclist is a resident of Ventura, according to police. The man and a passenger riding on the rear of the motorcycle were transported to Ventura County Medical Center for treatment of moderate injuries received in the crash. The motorcyclist was arrested on suspicion of possession of narcotics, possession of narcoticsparaphernalia, felony evasion of law enforcement and felony hit-and-run. His passenger was not arrested. He was still awaiting a medical clearance Sunday evening and had not yet been booked into county jail. These items may be updated. This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Roundup: Pedestrian killed in T.O., motorcyclist nabbed The husband of disgraced Utah parenting blogger Ruby Franke sought to have his eldest daughter arrested for burglary two days after police broke into their family home to serve a search warrant, according to a police report. Mother-of-six Ms Franke was arrested along with her business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, in August. The two women, who ran a parenting and lifestyle YouTube channel together, were charged with six counts of child abuse each after two of Ms Frankes children were found malnourished and neglected. Authorities allege the two children were under Ms Hildebrandts direct care at her home when the incident happened. Ms Frankes estranged husband, Kevin Franke, who started a separate now-deleted YouTube channel with her in 2015 showcasing their strict parenting techniques and punishments, has denied any knowledge of child abuse and was not living with Ms Franke and his children at the time of the arrests. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement But now a September police report has revealed Kevin Franke tried to have his oldest daughter arrested for burglary two days after the child abuse arrests. I responded by phone to the complainant [Kevin Franke] on the report of a burglary at the home, a Springville police officer wrote in the report from 1 September, obtained by Fox News. Kevin Franke told police the front door of his home had been kicked in and damaged, and some of his electronics were missing, according to the report. He also named his oldest daughter, Shari Franke, as a suspect. Kevin stated that Shari is not allowed in the home, and that he believes she entered unlawfully and he wants her charged with burglary, the officer wrote. Police told Kevin Franke his home had been broken into after police served a search warrant and his daughter was not a suspect. Kevin Franke wanted to have his daughter charged with theft for taking some hard drives out of the house, the report said, but the responding officer informed him that his daughter wasnt aware she wasnt allowed to have them and offered to bring them back. The electronics which included three tablets, three cellphones, three cameras, a stack of written journals and three passports were returned to police by Shari and given back to Kevin Franke. Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt (Instagram/Moms of Truth) Police then informed Kevin Franke that they would not be charging his daughter, as her intent was not to deprive him of any items, she had previously been allowed in the home, and he had not been in the home admittedly for 13 months, the police report states. Kevin Franke then allegedly threatened to sue the police department, the police report says. The father-of-six was separated from his wife for 13 months before her arrest, and had no contact with his children during that time, according to his lawyer. Ms Franke allegedly told her husband that they both needed to work on their marriage, but that it would be better if he moved out and did not communicate with the children. Kevin Franke previously claimed Ms Hildebrandt manipulated him and destroyed his family, and said the dynamic of his and his wifes marriage completely changed when Ms Franke became business partners with Hildebrandt. Allegations were made about Ms Franke as early as 2020 with an online petition, while her husband was still in the picture. Ms Franke was arrested after her 12-year-old son escaped through a window and ran to a neighbors home pleading for food and water, according to authorities. Kevin Franke had not had any communicating with his children over the past 13 months, according to attorney (8 Passengers/YouTube) The boy was severely malnourished and had deep lacerations from being tied up with rope and from his malnourishment, according to court documents filed by law enforcement. The condition of the child was said to be so severe that he was transported to a local area hospital. Following this encounter, police received information that other children may also be at risk at a nearby home. Officers arrived at the home and carried out a search, where they found another 10-year-old girl in a similar physical condition of malnourishment. That child was also transported by EMS to hospital for treatment. Santa Clara-Ivins Public Safety said that the Department of Child and Family Services was contacted and four minor children were taken into the agencys care. Ms Franke ran a popular YouTube channel called 8Passengers. In one video, she said she and her husband had decided to withhold Christmas presents from their two youngest children as punishment for what she described as selfish behavior. In other videos, Ms Franke discussed withholding food from her children, as well as making her son sleep on a beanbag chair instead of his bed for an extended period of time as punishment for pulling a prank on his younger brother. Ms Franke had told Business Insider at the time that this sleeping arrangement was Chads choice after he stopped sharing a room with his younger brother amid behavioural concerns. Meanwhile, court documents revealed Hildebrandt allegedly used cayenne pepper and honey on wounds on Ms Frankes childrens bodies. Disgraced Utah parenting blogger Ruby Franke's husband, Kevin Franke, allegedly wanted his eldest daughter arrested for burglary two days after police broke into their family home in August to serve a search warrant, according to a September police report. Franke and her business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt who together ran a parenting and lifestyle YouTube channel were charged with six counts of child abuse each after police rescued two of Franke's six children, who authorities said appeared to be malnourished and neglected, from Hildebrandt's residence on Aug. 30. Police then served a search warrant at Franke's address in an effort to locate her other children, who were not at Hildebrandt's home at the time. "I responded by phone to the complainant [Kevin Franke] on the report of a burglary at the home," a Springville police officer wrote in the report for the Sept. 1 incident obtained by Fox News Digital. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement 911 CALL REVEALS SHOCK OF UTAH MOMMY BLOGGERS' ALLEGED CHILD ABUSE: SHES A BAD LADY' Most families in the area were aware that Franke had a YouTube channel called 8Passengers, her neighbor told Fox News Digital. When she started another vlog called "Moms of Truth"/ ConneXions on Facebook with Hildebrandt, "a few" neighbors became "very concerned" with the content, the neighbor said. Kevin Franke apparently told police that the front door of his home had been "kicked in and damage," and some of his electronics were missing. He also named his oldest daughter, Shari Franke, as a suspect in what he thought was a burglary. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP "Kevin stated that Shari is not allowed in the home, and that he believes she entered unlawfully and he wants her charged with burglary," the officer wrote. UTAH MOMMY BLOGGER ACCUSED OF CHILD ABUSE HOSPITALIZED AFTER LIFE-THREATENING ISSUE IN JAIL: COURT DOCS The officer then told Kevin Franke that his door had been broken in after Springville Police Department served a search warrant at the home, and his daughter was not responsible for the damage, the report said. Blogger Ruby Franke is facing two counts of child abuse following an Aug. 30 incident in Utah. Kevin Franke "wanted to have his daughter charged with theft for taking some hard drives out of the house," but the responding officer informed him that "his daughter wasn't aware" she wasn't allowed to have them and offered to bring them back. MOMMY BLOGGER SUSPECTED OF CHILD ABUSE MADE VIDEO ABOUT WITHHOLDING CHRISTMAS PRESENTS Shari Franke reportedly returned the electronics which included three tablets, three cellphones, three cameras, a stack of written journals and three passports to the Springville Police Department, and the responding officer "gave them to the complainant who arrived a short time later." Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt ran a joint YouTube page called ConneXions, previously known as Moms of Truth, that aimed to teach some 4,650 followers how to "successfully navigate life." Police informed Kevin Franke that they would not be charging his daughter, "as her intent was not to deprive him of any items, she had previously been allowed in the home, and he had not been in the home admittedly for 13 months," the police report states. YOUTUBE MOMMY BLOGGERS ARRESTED ON ALLEGATIONS OF CHILD ABUSE: FINALLY Kevin Franke, in turn, allegedly threatened to sue the police department, according to the report. Ruby Franke and her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt were arrested and charged on Aug. 30 after Santa Clara police received a dispatch call around 10:50 p.m. asking for help. Kevin Franke's attorney, Randy Kester, has not responded to multiple emailed inquiries and phone calls from Fox News Digital. UTAH CHILDREN'S BOOK AUTHOR WHO ALLEGEDLY POISONED HUSBAND ACCUSED OF ASKING BROTHER TO TESTIFY Ruby Franke ran a popular video blog, or "vlog," called 8Passengers in reference to herself, her husband and their six children, for years before she stopped posting on the page amid backlash stemming from some of her controversial videos. In one such video, Franke told her followers about her and her husband's decision to withhold Christmas presents from their two youngest children as punishment for what she described as selfish behavior. After Ruby Franke's arrest, one of her daughters, Shari Franke, posted a photo to her Instagram story showing a police car parked on a suburban street with the word, "Finally." In other videos, Franke discussed withholding food from her children, making her son sleep on a beanbag chair instead of his bed for an extended period of time as punishment for pulling a prank on his younger brother, and other forms of discipline for what she deemed bad behavior. CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Once she ceased her 8Passengers channel, she and Hildebrandt started their own joint parenting YouTube channel called ConneXions Classroom. In police reports obtained by Fox News Digital, Shari Franke and the Franke's neighbors told police that Ruby would leave her children alone in her Springville home while visiting Hildebrandt in St. George for extended periods of time. Original article source: Ruby Franke's husband wanted oldest daughter charged with burglary after mother's arrest Russia has added two additional missile-launching vessels to its Black Sea Fleet, military authorities in southern Ukraine reported on Telegram. Two new Russian naval frigates are already present and on active combat duty in the Black Sea, along with a submarine. These vessels could launch a volley of up to 20 Kalibr cruise missiles, the report estimates. Authorities warned that the threat of missile strikes is very high and urged residents to pay attention to warnings and head to shelters if necessary. Russia had a total of seven warships on combat duty in the Black Sea on Oct. 14, the Ukrainian Navy reported. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "As of 11:30 on October 14, 2023, there are seven enemy warships on combat duty in the Black Sea, including a Kalibr cruise missile carrier. There is also an enemy ship on combat duty in the Sea of Azov, and four in the Mediterranean," the report reads. On Oct. 14, the U.K. Defense Ministry reported that Russia was doubling down on defense in the Black Sea after suffering losses in Ukrainian strikes. Read also: Ukraine war latest: SBU attack on energy facility in Russias Belgorod Oblast causes blackout Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Five Russian Sukhoi attack planes carried out an attack against four settlements in Kherson Oblast's Beryslav district on Oct. 16, dropping nine guided aerial bombs, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported. The governor wrote on his Telegram channel that details on the consequences of the attack are being established. The city of Beryslav lies on the Kyiv-controlled west bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast, some 70 kilometers east of the regional capital. Ukraine's Armed Forces liberated Kherson and other regional settlements on the river's west bank in November 2022. On Oct. 15, Russian forces dropped 13 guided bombs on Kherson Oblast, hitting critical infrastructure and causing partial blackout and water supply interruptions. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Read also: SBU: 57 collaborators involved in the torture of Ukrainians in Kherson Oblast identified Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Russian forces fired missiles on the Izium district of Kharkiv Oblast. Source: Serhii Melnyk, head of the Kharkiv military garrison, on Telegram Details: Information on casualties and possible damage is being established. Melnyk said that the missiles were launched from the direction of the Russian town of Valuyki. The Russians targeted a settlement in Izium district. Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron! Russian attacks overnight on Dnipropetrovsk Oblast damaged apartments, shops, and other civilian buildings, Governor Serhii Lysak said on Oct. 16. One missile was shot down by Ukraine's air defenses. Another hit the area around the regional capital of Dnipro, Lysak said, without providing further details. In Nikopol, a number of shops and buildings were damaged by strikes, as well as a five-story building and several houses. Energy infrastructure, including a gas pipeline and four power lines, was also damaged in the overnight attacks, leaving almost 1,500 families without electricity. In the Marhanets community, homes, energy infrastructure, and a church were also damaged. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement No casualties were reported, according to Lysak. Nikopol and the surrounding area is a regular target of Russian attacks. On Oct. 11, four people were killed by a Russian missile strike on a school in the city. Read also: The dead villages: Hope and despair side-by-side in the liberated south Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing on Monday, ahead of a summit between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping later this week. The pair discussed the Israel-Hamas war, and Russias ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Putins visit will become just the second international trip taken by the Russian president since the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest earlier this year. Russia is likely aligning its policies to suit Chinas interests, Stefan Wolff, a professor of international security at the University of Birmingham, wrote in The Conversation. The partnership has become one-sided," Wolff notes, because the war in Ukraine has chipped away at Moscows standing on the world stage. But the trip still signals that Russia and China share a common agenda when it comes to ending a western-dominated international order, he writes. Russia keeps emphasising alignment with China, not least because it has few other options except international pariah states such as North Korea and Iran. Lavrov will visit Pyongyang following the summit in Beijing, a month after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited Russia. Moscow has increasingly relied on North Korea as a partner, and analysis from the Washington Post suggests that Pyongyang may be supplying arms to Moscow for its war in Ukraine. The growing ties between the two nations poses a problem for Xi, one expert told The New York Times: While Russia could benefit from North Korean arms, Russian tech could bolster Pyongyangs nuclear program. All this activity would come on Beijings doorstep but outside its control or influence, John Delury, a professor of Chinese studies at Yonsei University, told the paper. Beijings closeness with Moscow likely comes from a lack of policy alternatives rather than a diabolical strategy to destabilize Western world order, China expert Lyle Morris told the South China Morning Post. I think China is worried about Russian collapse, said Morris, adding that Beijing was not too worried about last months Putin-Kim meeting, which it viewed as symbolic. Ukrainian soldiers have repelled over 50 Russian attacks on the Kupiansk, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Marinka, Shakhtarsk and Zaporizhzhia fronts over the past 24 hours. Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, information as of 06:00 on 16 October Quote: "About 70 combat engagements occurred over the past 24 hours. Furthermore, the Russian Federation launched another missile and air strike on Ukraine, using Kh-59 guided missiles, Iskander-M ballistic missiles and Shahed-136/131 attack UAVs. Information on the aftermath of this terrorist attack is currently being investigated." Details: The Russians launched air strikes against 30 settlements and deployed artillery to attack 110 settlements in Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement In the area of responsibility of the Khortytsia Operational Strategic Group on the Kupiansk front, Ukrainian soldiers repelled 15 Russian attacks near Synkivka and Ivanivka (Kharkiv Oblast). On the Bakhmut front, Ukrainian defenders repelled five Russian attacks near the settlements of Klishchiivka and Andriivka in Donetsk Oblast. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Defence Forces pursued assault operations south of the city of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast, inflicting losses on the Russians in military personnel and equipment and consolidating their positions. In the area of responsibility of the Tavriia Operational Strategic Group on the Avdiivka front, the Russians, supported by aircraft, conducted unsuccessful assault operations near the settlements of Avdiivka, Keramik, Stepove, Tonenke and Sieverne in Donetsk Oblast. Ukrainian soldiers repelled more than 15 Russian attacks there. On the Marinka front, Ukrainian Armed Forces repelled over 15 Russian attacks near the settlement of Marinka in Donetsk Oblast yesterday. On the Shakhtarsk front, Ukrainian defenders repelled Russian attacks in the area north of the settlement of Pryiutne in Donetsk Oblast. On the Zaporizhzhia front, the Russians attempted to regain their lost position in the area of the settlement of Robotyne in Zaporizhzhia Oblast four times, but to no avail. In the area of responsibility of the Odesa Operational Strategic Group on the Kherson front, the Ukrainian Defence Forces are conducting counter-battery operations, successfully hitting Russian storage points and rear. Ukrainian Defence Forces continue to lead an offensive operation on the Melitopol front, inflicting losses in military personnel and equipment on the Russian occupying forces and exhausting them along the entire contact line. The Russians did not conduct offensive (assault) actions on the Lyman front. In the area of responsibility of the Pivnich (North) Operational Strategic Group on the Volyn and Polissia fronts, the operational situation remains without significant changes. On the Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna fronts, Russian forces are maintaining a military presence in the border areas and undertaking active sabotage activities to prevent Ukrainian troops from being deployed to vulnerable areas. Over the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian Air Force carried out 15 strikes on clusters of Russian military personnel, weapons and equipment and another on a Russian anti-aircraft missile system. Ukrainian defenders also shot down a Russian Mi-8 helicopter. Ukraine's Rocket Forces and Artillery hit 2 clusters of Russian military personnel, weapons and equipment, 2 air defence assets and 5 artillery pieces. 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! As of the beginning of October, there were about 2,000 Russian military personnel in Belarus, the monitoring group Belarusian Hajun reported on Oct. 16 on its channel on the Telegram messenger app. In September, the situation with the Russian military in Belarus remained virtually unchanged. In addition, no increase in the number of Russian troops was observed and there are currently no prerequisites for a significant increase, Belarusian Hajun said. At the same time, some Russian military personnel continue to be stationed at the following military facilities in Belarus: Mozyr (Bokov) and Zyabrovka airfields up to 600 people; The Baranovichi radio technical hub and the 43rd Vileika communication hub up to 1,450 people. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Read also: Russia keeps trying to drag Belarus into its war on Ukraine, hopes for large-scale ground operation Earlier, Belarusian Hajun reported that between July and August 2023, the Russian military contingent in Belarus decreased to about 2,100 people. Before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the regime of dictator Alexander Lukashenko provided the territory of Belarus to the Russian invasion forces, from where they, in particular, tried to attack Kyiv. The Russian army also launched missile attacks on Ukrainian cities from Belarusian territory. Belarusian troops are not directly involved in the fighting, but Ukraine fears that Minsk could still use its armed forces to re-invade from the north. On June 22, the spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, Andriy Demchenko, said that the number of Russian troops in Belarus did not exceed 1,500. On July 14, Demchenko announced the complete withdrawal of the Russian contingent from Belarus as part of the rotation. On Sept. 7, a spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service said that Russia had also withdrawn the current contingent in Belarus on a rotational basis. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine By advancing on Avdiyivka, Russia wants to draw off Ukrainian forces from other parts of the front, Defense Intelligence of Ukraine or HUR spokesman Andriy Yusov said in an interview with the We Are Ukraine TV channel on Oct. 15. Read also: Russian propaganda retreats as its Avdiyivka offensive stalls, ISW speculates on what comes next Despite this, Ukrainian forces are continuing offensive operations and advancing in several areas, Yusov said. "All the same, the enemy is not just waiting for us to liberate our territories, but is trying to take action," Yusov said. Take developments around Avdiyivka. Theyre trying to deconcentrate, disperse, and regroup our forces, in order to force our units to move there. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "The HUR will not comment on the immediate plans of (Ukraines) Security and Defense Forces, but the strategy is to de-occupy the south, in particular to sever the land corridor to Crimea, and liberate the east, Yusov added. Russia's offensive on Avdiyivka - What is known Russian troops intensified their offensive on Avdiyivka on Oct. 10, launching massive attacks on the Donbas town. The head of the Avdiyivka town military administration, Vitaliy Barabash, said that Oct. 10 saw "probably the largest attack on the city in the entire full-scale war," but the situation was under control. The Ukrainian Armed Forces said that the Russian military wants to surround Avdiyivka, and is throwing a large amount of equipment and personnel into battle. Read also: The representative of the Joint Press Center of the Tavria Defense Forces, Oleksandr Shtupun, said that the Russian occupation forces are continuing active offensive actions in the area of Avdiyivka and consider the town as an opportunity to gain at least some kind of a significant "triumph" and turn the tide of hostilities. NV Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Russian forces ongoing efforts to advance on the Ukrainian city of Avdiyivka have hit a roadblock, with the desired swift breakthrough proving elusive, U.S-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War or ISW has said in its latest report on the situation in Ukraine. ISW said the failed Russian assault on the frontline Ukrainian-held city raises questions about the next steps in Russias campaign. Russian troops resumed offensive operations in an attempt to encircle Avdiyivka on Oct. 15, but failed to make significant progress, seemingly encountering a slowdown in their operations in the area. More than 15 Russian assaults near Avdiyivka, as well as to the northwest and southwest of the town, were successfully repelled by Ukrainian forces, the Ukrainian militarys General Staff has reported. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Read also: ISW has been unable to verify claims made by Russian sources regarding the advancement of occupation forces in the region. There is also a lack of geolocated video evidence confirming any significant Russian achievements. Even Russian sources themselves have conceded that, as of Oct. 15, Russias advances near Avdiyivka have substantially diminished compared to earlier days, describing the latest developments as minor. ISW Notably, a Russian war correspondent admitted that Ukrainian troops still control the Avdiyivka coking plant, contradicting prior Russian claims of its occupation. Both Ukrainian military observers and Russian sources confirm that Russian forces have fallen short of their desired immediate breakthrough toward Avdiyivka. Their advance has come with heavy casualties, and it appears to be slower than anticipated. Read also: What went wrong with Russia's major offensive on Avdiivka Vitaliy Barabash, Head of the Avdiyivka City Military Administration, disclosed that on Oct. 12, Russian forces launched assaults with air support on multiple fronts around the settlement. However, on Oct. 15, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that fighting was concentrated near only six populated areas. Oleksandr Shtupun, spokesperson for the Tavria Task Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, also noted on Oct. 14 that the pace of Russian offensive actions near Avdiyivka had slowed. Reportedly, Russian forces have lost over 300 units of military equipment and 3,000 personnel since the intensification of offensive actions in the area on Oct. 9. ISW analysts believe that Russias current operations in the Avdiyivka region, marked by intense artillery and airstrikes, may be aimed at exhausting Ukrainian forces. They consider it improbable that Russian forces will achieve a substantial breakthrough or isolate the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Avdiyivka in the immediate future. Achieving such large-scale advances would require a significant and prolonged commitment of personnel and resources by the occupiers. There is a noticeable shift in Russias objectives, with efforts to downplay their initial goals in the Avdiyivka offensive. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin described Russian forces as being engaged in active defense rather than active combat actions, as previously reported. This change in rhetoric suggests a lowering of expectations regarding a significant advance in the Avdiyivka area. Read also: Russia's use of Storm-Z units, expected focus of Putin's upcoming re-election campaign messaging The Russian information space has also toned down its initial optimism about the prospects of Russias offensive around Avdiyivka. Initially, Russian war correspondents made maximalist and unconfirmed claims about occupiers advancing more than 10 kilometers. However, these claims are now being reevaluated, with reports of difficulties in the advance and a decrease in the pace of offensive operations around the town. Looking ahead, Russian forces are expected to continue their offensive operations around Avdiyivka, according to ISW. While the pace has slowed, these operations will remain a threat to Ukrainian forces in the region, even if a decisive breakthrough or encirclement of Avdiyivka is unlikely. ISW analysts warn that any reduction in the tempo of Russian offensive actions may be a result of a temporary adjustment in the tactical situation, and in the coming days, Russia may intensify efforts to encircle Avdiyivka. Read also: Occupiers recommending that Russian soldiers bring their own body bags to failed blitzkrieg at Battle of Avdiyivka Ukrainian military observers have observed a significant concentration of Russian forces on the front between Avdiyivka and Donetsk. This force includes units from the 15th Motorized Rifle Regiment and the 11th Rifle Regiment, and has already undertaken concerted offensive actions, surpassing most attacks in this stage of the conflict. The sustainability of these offensive operations depends on Russian commanders willingness to bear relatively high costs. Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces continue offensive actions near Bakhmut and the western part of Zaporizhzhya Oblast. They have made slight progress to the south of Bakhmut, and geolocated images show advancements near Klishchiyivka. Ukrainian officials have yet to comment on advances along the Robotyne-Novoprokopyvka-Verbove line. In conclusion, the situation in the Avdiyivka region remains fluid, and both sides appear to be weighing their options as they navigate this volatile and ongoing conflict. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Russian troops conducted unsuccessful offensive actions with the support of aviation in the vicinity of Avdiivka and Pervomaiske in Donetsk Oblast; Ukraines Armed forces repelled seven attacks. Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, information as of 18:00 on 16 October Quote: "53 combat clashes were recorded during the day. In total, the enemy inflicted six missile- and 39 airstrikes, carried out 16 attacks from multiple-launch missile systems on the positions of our troops and settlements." Details: On the Kupiansk front, Ukrainian soldiers repelled 12 Russian attacks in the areas of Synkivka and Ivanivka, Kharkiv Oblast, and four more attacks near Stelmakhivka and Nadiia, Luhansk Oblast. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Ukrainian soldiers repelled three Russian attacks on the Bakhmut front in the area of Andriivka. On the Avdiivka front, the Russians conducted unsuccessful assault actions with the support of aviation in the areas of the settlements of Avdiivka and Pervomaiske, Donetsk Oblast. Here, Ukraines forces repelled seven attacks. On the Marinka front, 16 attacks of the Russian forces were repelled in the area of Marinka, Donetsk Oblast. On the Shakhtarsk front, Ukrainian soldiers repelled Russian attacks south of Zolota Nyva and Prechystivka, Donetsk Oblast. On the Zaporizhzhia front, Ukrainian defenders repelled all Russian attacks southwest of Novodanylivka, Zaporizhzhia Oblast. In addition, the Russians tried to restore the lost position west of Robotyne and west of Verbove in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, but had no success. Quote: "At the same time, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are continuing their offensive operation on the Melitopol front, inflicting losses in manpower and equipment on the Russian forces, and exhausting the Russians along the entire front line. Over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian Air Force aircraft inflicted four attacks on the clusters of Russian personnel, weapons and military equipment. Ukrainian Rocket Forces and Artillery units struck one artillery piece." 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! US House in limbo regardless of new nominee 08:14, October 16, 2023 By Zhang Yuying and Deng Xiaoci ( Global Times Representative Jim Jordan won the Republican nomination to lead the US House of Representatives on US local time Friday, after Steve Scalise announced Thursday that he was dropping out of the speaker's race. However, Chinese analysts on Sunday predicted that Jordan would continue to face great obstacles in winning the position, citing the ongoing internal power struggles between the two US parties, as well as the vicious rivalries within the party. Experts pointed out that members of the US Congress placing partisan struggle as their highest priority will greatly hinder the effectiveness of US policymaking, and that will influence all aspects of US society, creating more confusion and uncertainty for the country. Citing a Republican aide who spoke on condition of anonymity, Reuters reported that Jordan won the endorsement over Georgia lawmaker Austin Scott with the vote of 124-81. Jordan made a name for himself as a staunch ally of former US president Donald Trump, and Scott was an ally of ousted speaker Kevin McCarthy, CNN reported. Jordan then called a second vote asking members if they would support him on the floor, in an effort to see if that could shrink his opposition. However, Jordan did not pick up much more support in the vote, as he won only by 152-55, according to lawmakers, meaning that about one in every four House Republicans cast a ballot against Jordan, media reported on Friday. According to Reuters, Republicans control the chamber by a narrow 221-212 margin, meaning they can afford to lose more than four votes if Democrats vote against Jordan, as the latter are expected to do. When the Speaker vote will head to the House floor remains unclear, but multiple lawmakers said that the earliest the vote could take place was Monday local time, the BBC reported. Chinese analysts noted that Jordan would meet great obstacles in winning the election for House Speaker. That is due to the ongoing competition within the two major US political parties, as well as the ruthless internal struggles within the Republican Party, where the election will be used as a battlefield for stakeholders with different agendas, they said. Given that Democratic lawmakers are unlikely to vote for Jordan, whether he can win the votes of Republican lawmakers depends on if Jordan can satisfy them through an exchange of interests, such as accommodating some of their policy agendas, Xin Qiang, deputy director of the American Studies Center of Fudan University, told the Global Times on Sunday. "Even after he is elected, he will be subject to such constraints," he said. The conflict between the two parties in the US may lead to the US' legislative process being paralyzed or at least make it extremely inefficient, Xin said. "US lawmakers who put partisan party struggles ahead will undoubtedly undermine the effectiveness, and the possibility cannot be ruled out that the government may face another shutdown in November," Xin noted. With the recent escalating Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, hindered House operations would create more confusion and uncertainties for the US, such as its direction in foreign aid, Lu Xiang, a US studies research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday. When it comes to major international issues, it involves how the national resources of the US are allocated, Lu said. "Since the House of Representatives has significant control over the budget, different interest groups within US politics will engage in intense row over funding such as weapon investment and manpower investment, based on their own interests," he said. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) In this photo released by the Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attends the talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during their meeting in Beijing, China, on Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) MOSCOW (AP) Russia's foreign minister will visit North Korea this week, the Foreign Ministry said Monday, days after the United States claimed Pyongyang had delivered munitions and military equipment to Russia for use in the fighting in Ukraine. Sergey Lavrov will be in North Korea on Wednesday and Thursday, the ministry said in a brief statement that did not specify whom he would meet or the aims of the trip. The White House said Friday that more than 1,000 containers of equipment and ammunition have been sent to Russia from North Korea. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un traveled to Russia last month to meet President Vladimir Putin and visit key military sites, triggering speculation about a possible North Korean plan to refill Russias munition stores that have been drained by the protracted conflict with Ukraine. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement 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 Koreas 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, according to the White House. MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed the worsening conflict in the Middle East with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing, Lavrov's ministry said on Monday. "A thorough exchange of views took place on a wide range of international and regional issues, including the sharply aggravated situation in the Middle East," Russia's foreign ministry said. During the bilateral talks, Lavrov and Wang Yi also discussed the military conflict in Ukraine and efforts to resolve it through "political and diplomatic methods", the ministry said. (Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge) AUBURN, N.Y. A revolution in the way Americans eat salmon is quietly being fomented inside a former factory building on the industrial edges of Auburn, a small city in the Finger Lakes region of New York. At LocalCoho, one of the countrys few sustainable salmon farms, 50,000 silvery coho salmon glide through concrete tanks filled with freshwater that recirculates through biofilters every half-hour. To mimic a marine environment, the lights are kept a dim, deep aqua blue that makes the salmon seem to glow. In this eerie twilight, Andre Bravo, the chief operating officer, has carefully tended these fish since they first arrived, as a mound of glistening orange roe large enough to top 1,000 blini if they hadnt been destined for piscine adulthood. It takes them 18 months to reach full size about 6 1/2 pounds at which point they can be sold to high-end restaurants and retailers such as FreshDirect, where fillets sell for about $17 a pound. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement That LocalCoho is able to raise these complex creatures on land is a radical change, one poised to turn an industry rife with environmental concerns on its head. Salmon is the second-most-popular seafood in the United States, where the average American consumes more than 3 pounds a year. (Shrimp is No. 1, with average annual consumption reaching nearly 6 pounds in 2021.) About 10% to 20% of this is wild Pacific salmon, most of which comes from well-managed fisheries in Alaska. But the rest is imported farmed fish raised in open net-pens in the ocean, a much-criticized system made even more problematic by rising water temperatures and other climate challenges. Now, several land-based farms across the country are beginning to offer a more climate-stable alternative to traditional salmon aquaculture one thats cleaner, more ecologically responsible and potentially has a lower carbon footprint. So far, their fish is available only in local markets, most of them in Florida, New York and Wisconsin. But experts say that land-based farming is the future of salmon aquaculture in America and the world, as similar businesses gain footing in countries such as Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Poland and Japan. In the next two decades, they say, land-raised fish will become a significant part of Americas salmon supply. Worldwide, the field is drawing investments from companies involved in ocean farming, including the industry giants Grieg Seafood and Mitsubishi (which owns Cermaq Global, a company that has salmon farms in Norway, Chile and Canada). About 99% of the worlds salmon farming takes place in open net-pens, which allow water to flow between farms and the marine environment. This free exchange has been at the heart of many of the industrys issues, worsened by severe crowding that pollutes the surrounding ecosystem with excrement and other effluvia, and promotes the spread of diseases and pests like sea lice, resulting in the need for antibiotics and pesticides. In the 2022 book Salmon Wars: The Dark Underbelly of Your Favorite Fish, Douglas Frantz and Catherine Collins compare this kind of aquaculture to factory farming. (Frantz is a former staff reporter and editor at The New York Times; Collins has contributed to the Times.) Most salmon farms are like floating feedlots, Collins said. The system is also susceptible to large-scale escapes, she said, which can wreak havoc on the fragile population of wild fish. The 2017 escape of at least 250,000 fish from a Cooke Aquaculture farm in Puget Sound led Washington state to join California and Oregon in banning ocean-based aquaculture of nonnative species, like Atlantic salmon. And this past August in Iceland, a Norwegian-owned farm lost thousands of Atlantic salmon, whose escape carries the added threat that the farmed fish will interbreed with the endangered local wild Atlantic salmon. Studies have shown that the spawn of interbred fish have a compromised ability to survive in the wild. Every place where Atlantic salmon is raised in net-pens, the wild population has declined by as much as 70%, Collins said. Because of warming ocean temperatures, the number of feasible sites to build new ocean-based salmon farms is decreasing; even though the industry wants to expand its open net-pen operations, theres limited space to do so. Another major concern is the industrys carbon footprint. Because its most valuable when sold fresh, most of Americas farmed salmon, imported from Chile and Norway, is flown in. Only 2% is farmed domestically. (Wild Pacific salmon, which is flash-frozen and shipped by boat, has a much lower environmental cost.) Brian Vinci, the director of the Conservation Funds Freshwater Institute, a nonprofit conservation program that works with the federal Department of Agriculture, said land-based farms were the most realistic way forward to increase food security and provide high-quality protein to Americans without increasing dependence on imported seafood. A 2016 study he co-wrote compared the carbon emissions of Norwegian salmon raised in ocean net-pens and flown to the United States with that of land-raised salmon sold within 250 miles of production. The local salmons total carbon cost was less than half of the Norwegian imports. This percentage shrinks even more when the energy-intensive recirculating aquaculture systems, or RAS, at the heart of these farms runs on a renewable energy source, such as hydropower or perhaps one day, biogas made from fish feces. But these farms face steep challenges to making a profit. You need to get everything 100% right to make money, Vinci said, and thats a tall order when new technology is involved. Atlantic Sapphire, the nations largest land-based salmon farm, has been plagued with setbacks since it built its $250 million farm in Homestead, Florida, in 2017. Despite this, the company, whose salmon is marketed under the brand Bluehouse and sold in Publix Super Markets, has managed to raise $120 million so far this year. Damien Claire, the chief sales and marketing officer, estimates that Atlantic Sapphire will break even in 2024, with an expected harvest of 10,000 metric tons of salmon, assuming no new big problems arise. It plans to scale up to 220,000 metric tons within the next decade. If this does come to pass, it will go a long way in meeting U.S. demand for farmed salmon: 500,000 to 700,000 metric tons per year. Vinci believes this goal is very attainable: The federal government, he noted, has invested tens of millions of dollars in researching recirculating aquaculture systems. Land-based technology is already viable, he said. We are 25 to 30 years away from replacing 50 to 70% of our imported farmed salmon with domestically raised fish. Until then, what should salmon-loving cooks look for? Paul Greenberg, the author of Four Fish and American Catch, said wild Pacific salmon caught in the United States is always a good bet if someone could persuade Americans to buy more of it. Much of our wild catch is exported to Japan and Europe. Thats because the Pacific salmon species available (king, coho, sockeye, pink and chum) are different from the Atlantic salmon that dominates the market. For the most part Pacific salmon is leaner, with a more intense flavor. Farmed salmon is fattier and blander, which the American consumer prefers, he said. For the most environmentally responsible farmed salmon, the Monterey Bay Aquariums Seafood Watch recommends land-based, RAS-farmed salmon from the United States like LocalCohos and Bluehouse, if you can find it and farmed Chinook salmon from New Zealand (Ora King is one brand), which are rated green (best choice). Those rated yellow (good alternatives) include salmon from the Faeroe Islands and Maine. As for farmed salmon from Chile and Norway, which make up the vast majority of whats available, the results are mixed. About half of the salmon from those countries is on the red avoid list, and it can be almost impossible to figure out exactly what youre getting at the fish market or supermarket. Corbett Nash, a spokesperson for the Monterey Bay Aquarium, said to look for fish that have been certified by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council, which has standards comparable to Seafood Watchs. He also suggests finding a fishmonger you trust and asking questions, no matter what youre buying. When you ask, Nash said, you put pressure on your supplier to make good choices. Then again, if you really want to eat clearly responsible, sustainable seafood, you can turn to bivalves. Mussels and scallops are delicious, he said, and Americans dont eat enough of them. c.2023 The New York Times Company Maya Sharma is one of the petitioners seeking marriage equality in India With India's Supreme Court due to rule on legalising same-sex marriages in the coming days, Maya Sharma is waiting with trepidation for the verdict. An LGBTQ+ activist, the 73-year-old lives with her female partner in the western city of Vadodara. She is among the 21 petitioners, including same-sex couples, trans people and organisations, who are seeking marriage equality. Her plea, filed along with nine others, also wants the right for LGBTQ+ people to choose their families, even outside of marriage. Ms Sharma doesn't want marriage for herself - in fact, she "despises the concept" and walked out of a heterosexual marriage three decades ago. "The term marriage comes with a lot of associations," she says, preferring to call her relationship a "partnership". ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement But the verdict, she told the BBC, could play an important role in highlighting the violence faced by LGBTQ+ couples and give them a chance to "choose" their families on their own terms, along with allowing them to marry. "Hopefully after the petition, people would also start thinking of a more equitable institution than marriage." Ms Sharma was in school when she first discovered her attraction for women and shared "deep and intimate friendships" with some of them. But "the world was too heterosexual" at the time to accept a lesbian relationship, she said. This changed when she moved to Delhi in the 1960s after college and began working for a women's rights collective. There, she encountered several women who were either stuck in abusive marriages or were secretly in love with other women. The experiences "reminded her of her own desires". Same-sex relations are still a taboo in India At that time, lesbian relationships were still a taboo and considered highly unusual in India - they still are. Ms Sharma said there were ripples of change every now and then: for instance, in 1988, two policewomen made headlines after they married each other. A few lesbian couples also entered into "partnership agreements" or informal contracts, vowing to stay together. But the community continued to face backlash. Even the female constables, Ms Sharma pointed out, were eventually suspended from their services without any notice or explanation. One of the first pivotal moments, she said, came in 1991 when non-profit Aids Bhedbhav Virodhi Andolan released a 70-page report, which is widely believed to be the first document on gay rights in India, to counter stigma around same-sex relationships. Titled Less Than Gay, and popularly known as "the pink book", the document made a list of demands, including decriminalisation of gay sex, marriage equality and certain civil and sexual rights for trans people. The pink book did not get much public support but it did give Ms Sharma courage in her own life to end her marriage of 16 years. She said it was not her sexuality, which she was still coming to terms with, that drove her to make the decision but the fact that she could "not digest how unequal and oppressive marriage was". "So I packed a small suitcase and left without informing my husband." A few years later, when she fell in love with a woman, she found herself wishing once again that "the world was different" and more accepting of same-sex relationships. "It is one thing to know yourself. But when you fall in love, then it is one step forward," she said. She continued to wrestle with her feelings until 1998, when the film Fire released in India. Starring renowned actors Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das, the film was one of the first in Bollywood to portray a lesbian relationship, and sparked huge protests. Political parties vandalised theatres and those who went to watch the film were attacked by protesters. The backlash sparked counter-protests from LGBTQ+ groups. Ms Sharma made a poster, which said "Indian and Lesbian", and stood in front of the iconic Regal Cinema in Delhi along with others. She was initially scared that people would recognise her, but was later emboldened by the impact the protests had on the country. "For the first time, the word lesbian was making newspaper headlines. Slowly, my fear was not mine alone. We had reached a point where we could say, 'Yes, we exist, what can you do about it'." The Supreme Court's verdict will affect millions of LGBTQ+ people in India However, her activism had repercussions - she had to quit her job at a trade union after it accused her of "spoiling their image". She moved to Vadodara and joined another grassroots organisation working on women, lesbian, bisexual and trans people's rights. Ms Sharma believes that court battles have played an important role in expanding the rights of LGBTQ+ people and "what went behind the battle has often mattered more than the final outcome". For instance, before the Supreme Court decriminalised gay sex in 2018, she says the LGBTQ+ community had been "scattered and divided". This was a rare moment when the entire community "came together with an understanding". Other judgements along the way also helped the movement. In 2014, the Supreme Court recognised transgender people as a third gender in a landmark ruling, granting certain rights to them and giving them the power to "advocate with the government". Ms Sharma says if the Supreme Court legalises same-sex marriage, it would spark further change. But no matter what the judgement, the movement will still have more work to do, she adds. "The quest for law is on one side and societal change is on the other. But it is a beautiful thought that the two could ever meet." BBC News India is now on YouTube. Click here to subscribe and watch our documentaries, explainers and features. Read more India stories from the BBC: On Tuesday, India's Supreme Court is set to give a ruling on petitions seeking to legalise same-sex marriage. The petitioners say not being able to marry violates their constitutional rights and makes them "second-class citizens". The government and religious leaders have strongly opposed same-sex unions, saying they are against Indian culture. If the court okays marriage equality, it will give India's tens of millions of LGBTQ+ people the right to marry. It would also set off momentous changes in Indian society as a lot of other laws, such as those governing adoption, divorce and inheritance, will have to be reimagined. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement A five-judge constitution bench - which is set up to consider important questions of law - heard the case in April and May. Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, who is heading the bench, called it "a matter of seminal importance" and the deliberations were "livestreamed in public interest". The court reserved its order on 12 May. Justice Chandrachud had said they would not interfere with religious personal laws but look at whether a special law - that governs inter-caste and inter-faith marriages - could be amended to include LGBTQ+ people. The debate is important in a country which is home to an estimated tens of millions of LGBTQ+ people. In 2012, the Indian government put their population at 2.5 million, but calculations using global estimates believe it to be at least 10% of the entire population - or more than 135 million. Who are the petitioners and what do they want? The court heard 21 petitions filed by same-sex couples - including some who are raising children together - LGBTQ+activists and organisations. Lawyers for the petitioners have argued that marriage is a union of two people, not just a man and woman. They say that laws should be changed to reflect changing concepts of marriage over time and that same-sex couples also desire the respectability of marriage. The Indian constitution, the petitioners have repeatedly insisted in court, gives all citizens the right to marry a person of their choice and prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Same-sex couples say not being able to marry means they can't hold joint bank accounts or co-own a house They point out that not being able to marry means they can't hold joint bank accounts, co-own a house or adopt children together. During the hearing, the judges appeared sympathetic to the concerns of same-sex couples and asked the government what it intended to do to address them. What did the government say? The government began by questioning the court's right to hear the matter at all, saying it was an issue that only parliament could decide. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who represented the government, urged the top court to reject the petitions, saying that a marriage could take place only between a man and a woman who were heterosexual. The authorities also criticised the same-sex petitioners, saying that they "merely reflect urban elitist views". In a rare show of unity, leaders from all of India's main religions also opposed same-sex unions, with some insisting that marriage "is for procreation, not recreation". Disregarding the opposition from the government and religious leaders, the judges decided to take on the case. They said they would not wade into religious personal laws but look at whether the Special Marriage Act (SMA) of 1954 could be tweaked to include LGBTQ+ people. What is the Special Marriage Act? In India, an overwhelming majority of marriages are held under religious personal laws such as the Muslim Marriage Act and the Hindu Marriage Act. But they recognise weddings only between couples from their religion or caste. So, earlier if a Hindu and a Muslim wanted to marry, one of them had to convert to the other's religion. "This was a very problematic concept," says lawyer Akshat Bajpai, "as it defeated the concept of personal liberty - that includes the right to practise your religion - guaranteed by the Indian constitution." So, after independence, the government decided to bring in a legal mechanism for inter-faith or inter-caste marriages. "The Special Marriage Act 1954, introduced by an act of parliament, de-hyphenated marriage with religion. It underlined that one wouldn't have to abandon their religion in order to marry," Mr Bajpai says. "This was a great step for personal liberty." Attitudes to sex and sexuality remain largely conservative in India In the court, the petitioners argued that replacing "man" and "woman" with "spouse" in the Act could do the trick and give them marriage equality. But as the hearings progressed, it became clear that tweaking this one law may not be enough as there are dozens of laws that govern divorce, adoption, succession, maintenance and other related issues which mostly come under the ambit of religious personal laws. "It's an unprecedented situation. It requires the highest levels of statesmanship to craft this judgement," says lawyer Akshat Bajpai. What are the other options before the court? It's hard to second-guess what the judges would say in court, but one thing that is widely expected is that they would grant same-sex couples certain social and legal rights, such as allowing them to open joint bank accounts, nominate each other in their insurance policies and co-own property. Solicitor General Mehta has also said in court that the government would be willing to look at giving same-sex couples these rights. During the hearing, some of the judges spoke of "incremental changes", saying sometimes they worked better for issues that concerned the wider society. With the government vehemently opposing the petitions, Mr Bajpai says "the judges have to walk a tightrope" in a country where "marriage and family are at the heart of any religion". The top court's judgement is being keenly awaited in a country which has around 140 million LGBTQ+ people according to globally accepted estimates. Recent surveys have shown that acceptance of homosexuality has grown, especially since September 2018 when the Supreme Court decriminalised gay sex. A Pew survey in 2020 had 37% people saying homosexuality should be accepted - an increase of 22% from 15% in 2014, the first time the question was asked in the country. And the latest Pew survey in June had 53% of Indian adults saying same-sex marriage should be legal, while only 43% opposed it. But despite the change, attitudes to sex and sexuality remain largely conservative and activists say the community continues to face stigma and discrimination. During the hearing, Mukul Rohatgi, one of the lawyers representing the petitioners, said society sometimes needed a nudge to accept LGBTQ+ people as equals under the constitution and if the top court legalised same-sex marriage, it would drive acceptance of the group. BBC News India is now on YouTube. Click here to subscribe and watch our documentaries, explainers and features. Read more India stories from the BBC: Over the past two months, Russian ships have repeatedly picked up cargo from North Korea and delivered it to a Russian military port, new satellite images published on Oct. 16 by U.S. newspaper the Washington Post show. The photos were analyzed by the London-based Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies or RUSI. Since August, when Moscow and Pyongyang intensified their high-level contacts, there have been no records of either of the two ships, the Angara and the Maria, or their passage along this route On Oct. 13, the White House said that North Korea had transported up to 1,000 containers with "equipment and munitions to Russia in recent weeks," WP writes. However, according to the analysis, the operation is "more regular, extensive, and ongoing. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Analysts said the ships are traveling between the northeastern North Korean port of Rajin and a secure port complex in Dunai in Russia's Far East. The vessels made at least five round trips between mid-August and Oct. 14. RUSI/Planet Labs/WP Data from the Marine Traffic website indicates that the ships turned off the automatic identification system signal, concealing their location. "Although it is impossible to tell what is being transported, the new images show ships linked to the Russian military logistics network, which strongly suggests these commercial vessels are carrying military equipment, RUSI analysts and U.S. officials say," the article reads. Around the time the supplies began, the munition pits at an ammunition depot in Tikhoretsk, near the Ukrainian border, began to expand rapidly. They were filled in the weeks following the arrival of the railroad cars. RUSI concluded that the color and size of the containers matched those of the ship cargoes. RUSI/Planet Labs/WP Earlier, U.S. analysts wrote that after Russian President Vladimir Putin met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Sept. 13, the latter sharply increased cargo transportation to Russia. Pyongyang was reportedly supplying artillery rounds and Katyusha-type rockets to Moscow. 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 Facing stretched resources, Mecklenburg Countys top district court judge has done away with a decades-old staple in the local criminal defense system, upsetting some leading attorneys. For more than 20 years, people charged with felonies have been guaranteed a bond hearing within 10 days of their first appearance in the Mecklenburg County courthouse. The hearings were a chance to argue to a judge, with a lawyers help, that a defendant should be released from jail before their next court date, or that their conditions of release should be different. But times have changed, Chief District Court Judge Elizabeth Trosch told The Charlotte Observer. The system was inefficient, she said, and the courthouse is facing new drains on its time and manpower. The change was necessitated, in part, by Mecklenburgs recent switch to a new, digital court records and case management system known as eCourts. A math problem ECourts launched in Mecklenburg County on Oct. 9. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement That same day, Chief Public Defender Kevin Tully ended his clients first appearances with a consistent appeal to Trosch. Schedule a bond hearing, he asked, so that there might be a meaningful and timely discussion of whether they should be kept in jail or released. The Constitution says that they have a right to due process, but no one from Tullys office had an opportunity to even meet with them. Tully was hamstrung, he said. I understand, Mr. Tully, Trosch replied at one point. Im not scheduling a bond hearing. When Mecklenburg held regular and separate bond hearings, it was typically the third time a criminal suspect would see a magistrate or judge. Magistrates, in most cases, assign a bail dollar amount within hours or a day of someones arrest. Judges can increase or lower bonds and change other release conditions set by magistrates like requiring a defendant to wear an ankle monitor if theyve bailed out of jail at a first appearance. Most first appearances happen the day after an arrest, or within 72 hours. When Trosch worked in public defense in Mecklenburg County more than 20 years ago, first appearances were far less thorough, she said. There were no lawyers weighing in, just a judge and the sheriffs office. Elizabeth Trosch The goal was simple: appoint a lawyer and set the next court date. In 2023 prosecutors and assistant public defenders in Mecklenburg County are in the courtroom for a first appearance. A report lists off past convictions and pending charges a suspect faces in North Carolina, as well as any previous prison sentences and probation. Prosecutors can pull up someones out-of-state criminal history, too. Judges ask defendants questions to gauge how safe it might be to let them wait for their next court date outside of jail. Were giving a much more meaningful review on conditions of release and the factual allegations against the defendant at first appearance than we ever did before, Trosch told The Charlotte Observer. With only 21 district court judges, limited courtrooms and a learning curve from a new case management system, Trosch has been forced to confront a math problem, she said. Shell lose two full-time emergency judges at the end of the year. Having an extra bond hearing for each felony charge someone faces isnt practical, she said. A check on the system Two leading defense attorneys disagree that first appearances are meaningful reviews, they told the Observer. They fear that their clients rights are being hurt with the change. The person appears on a little monitor; theyre not even physically present, Tully said of first appearances. His office represents people who cant afford to hire a lawyer. While my office does send a lawyer to first appearance, theyre in the courtroom and the person is appearing on a screen from the jail, he added. So, we have no access to that person. Even without an automatic bond hearing, defense attorneys can still request one from a district court judge. So far, those requests have not been granted, Tully said. It has been especially frustrating for him, he said, as the courthouse has made progress in treating defendants more fairly and revamping its bail bond system over the last few years. The research shows that if you hold people who dont need to be in jail longer than necessary, it is terribly destabilizing, he said. They lose jobs. They lose housing. They lose community support That instability invites additional criminal activity. Mecklenburgs jail numbers have drawn other concerns. A December 2022 report from the state Department of Health and Human Services called for a massive reduction in the inmate population. A state inspection found that the jail could not safely evacuate inmates from the facility in the event of an emergency, and that violent incidents took longer to control because of a staffing shortage. In this 2015 photo, Mecklenburg County Public Defender Kevin Tully stands among files in the public defenders office. Observer file photo by John D. Simmons / Huge numbers of people are processed through first appearances on any given day, said Eli Timberg, a former assistant public defender who now works for a law firm. Timberg is the co-president of the Mecklenburg County Criminal Defense Law Association. The vast majority of the time, a defendant doesnt even have a lawyer yet, and the process might be over for a defendant in less than a minute, he said. But at a bond hearing, things slow down, and theres a chance to go through the facts, he said. A defense attorney might request surveillance footage, and the whole story behind an arrest changes, along with the defendants release conditions, he said. Ive seen (prosecutors) dismiss a case at the bond hearing date quite a few times, he said. Without that bond hearing date, you lose that check on the system, he said. Especially in Charlotte... which is massive, processes a lot of people and makes mistakes. Judge: New system would be broader A new, digital records and case management system known as eCourts has slowed down routine processes for lawyers, clerks and judges. Dockets have been slashed. Traffic court was recently canceled for a week. The change to bond hearings was coming anyway, Trosch said, but eCourts learning curve necessitated it. She envisions the public defenders office, the district attorneys office and Pretrial Services coming together to create a regular, formalized review for whether some people should be held in jail. The old system was too piecemeal by looking at every charge in separate hearings, she said. In the meantime, with automatic bond hearings gone, Timberg has wondered how lawyers might advocate for their clients. The bond hearing had this important role of at least making your clients feel heard somewhat early in the process, he said. From the moment you get arrested, usually nobodys trying to listen to you. Police make the arrest. The typical response when a suspect pushes back, Timberg said, is save it for the judge. Magistrates in the bowels of the jail process a mass of people every day, potentially without listening. The jail is only there to make sure a defendant is housed. Ten days in, it used to be that a defendant knew they could tell a judge their side of the story. He asked: When will they get to do that now? An investigation revealed the identities of 57 Ukrainians who collaborated with Russian forces to detain and torture local civilians in Kherson Oblast, Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) reported on Oct. 16. The collaborators were allegedly recruited directly by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), provided with weapons and uniforms, and given free rein to arbitrarily detain local residents of Kherson Oblast. Those who were detained were often tortured by Russian forces and their Ukrainian collaborators. According to the SBU, the torture included the use of electric shocks and extended deprivation of water. The SBU alleges that torture was used as a means of eliciting confessions, particularly of working with the Ukrainian government or being involved in local partisan movements. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The named individuals are thought to be located in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, the SBU noted, but stressed that "comprehensive measures are underway to bring them to justice." According to a report compiled by Western lawyers in August 2023, almost half of the Ukrainians held in Russian detention centers in Kherson Oblast during the occupation were tortured, with many also subjected to sexual violence. Ukrainian troops liberated the city of Kherson and other settlements on the west bank of the Dnipro River in November 2022. The part of Kherson Oblast located on the river's east bank remains under Russian occupation. Read also: Theyll kill me if I come back: Abduction, torture become routine in Russian-occupied Melitopol Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. When Scholastics book fair returns to elementary schools this year, some books on race and LGBTQ+ issues might be stored in a separate box. Some might be removed entirely. Scholastic, a childrens book publisher, hosts annual book fairs where students can purchase books during the school day. But amid a right-wing push to restrict access to certain school books, especially those that reference race or gender, Scholastic has moved some of those books to a new section in book fairs, which schools can opt out of providing. The move has prompted backlash from librarians and authors, who accuse Scholastic of capitulating to conservative pressure. Scholastic, meanwhile, says the move is intended to protect teachers and librarians who could face lawsuits or even prosecution under some state laws. Writers and educators began posting pictures of Scholastics new book fair boxes this school year. In addition to the usual racks of books was a separate cart of books with the slogan Share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Many of the books, the Mary Sue noted this month, appeared to feature Black or LGBTQ+ authors and characters. On social media, librarians characterized the Share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice collection as an opt-in offering at the book fair, allowing schools to exclude those titles from the event. One librarian who shared a picture of the collection included a note that Scholastic had enclosed with the books. Weve included the requested Share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice collection with your Book Fair assortment, the note read. If you believe this was received in error, please set it aside for your schools Fair pickup. If you have any additional questions or concerns, reach out to your Fair consultant. California to Fine Schools That Ban Books on LGBTQ+ or Racial Issues Reached for comment on Monday, Scholastic sent The Daily Beast a copy of its book fair catalog, which includes the 64 titles in its Share Every Story collection. The list includes books like All Are Welcome, which celebrates the diversity of children at a school, Because of You, John Lewis, about the civil rights icon, and Justice Ketanji, about Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. Scholastic said that, for schools that include the Share Every Story collection, students will be able to browse a selection of books that might not have otherwise been included in the book fair. In terms of the titles in the collection, LGBTQIA+ and racism are the most legislated themes in the states with enacted or pending laws, a Scholastic spokesperson told The Daily Beast. To create the Share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice collection, Scholastic began with titles we support even as they are the most likely to be restricted. Also, this collection provided additional space at a fair for even more diverse titles that while they may not have content that is named in legislation, do increase the diversity available at a fair. For instance, we reintroduced backlist titles to extend the typical length of time a title is available at a Fair. On Friday, Scholastic released a statement denying that all books featuring diverse titles had been placed in an opt-in collection. The biggest misconception is that Scholastic Book Fairs is putting all diverse titles into one optional case. This is not true, in any school, in any location we serve, Scholastic said in a statement. There is now enacted or pending legislation in more than 30 U.S. states prohibiting certain kinds of books from being in schools mostly LGBTQIA+ titles and books that engage with the presence of racism in our country. Because Scholastic Book Fairs are invited into schools, where books can be purchased by kids on their own, these laws create an almost impossible dilemma: back away from these titles or risk making teachers, librarians, and volunteers vulnerable to being fired, sued, or prosecuted. The publisher acknowledged that we dont pretend this solution is perfect but the other option would be to not offer these books at all which is not something wed consider. The announcement sparked outcry from the publishing world, with one Scholastic employee slamming the move as a cowardly, demoralizing, and harmful way for Scholastic to use its power in this industry. Kids Book by Author Named Gay Flagged For Censorship at Alabama Library Molly Knox Ostertag, a graphic novelist whose young adult books feature gay and gender non-conforming characters, told The Daily Beast she learned of the collection last week, before Scholastics statement. Coincidentally, Ostertag was scheduled to speak at a Scholastic event for illustrators that week. She used the occasion to warn the publisher about the policys possible risks for young readers. The Share Every Story collection seems to be a good faith effort to protect teachers and librarians, and I understand the reasoning, but I feel the need to stand up tonight and say that I think this is a grave miscalculation, Ostertag said in remarks that she later shared on Twitter. It doesnt come across as anything but an attempt to compromise with, frankly, fascist laws. Ostertag told The Daily Beast that Scholastics policy enabled a minority of school officials to keep whole categories of books off the shelves. So much of this issue is that its a very, very small group of people who are being very loud, she said. They get to politicize and hold up books that are not necessarily political, to challenge them en masse. They force the school district, or the publisher, or the librarian, to go through and justify why those books are okay. Its a strategy to distract, its a strategy to use up time and energy, and its a strategy to intimidate. Research has shown book bans to be widely unpopular with voters, including parents. Instead, many challenges to books have been driven by a series of broad state laws that seek to define entire topics as off-limits, as well as by ban-happy individuals who have filed complaints against multiple books. A Washington Post report found that 11 people had filed 60 percent of challenges to books in the 2021-2022 school year. (The number of book challenges increased significantly in the 2022-2023 school year, according to a new PEN America study.) Most of those challenged books, according to PEN America, feature characters of color or LGBTQ+ characters. The loss of those books can be the loss of a lifeline, especially for children who see themselves represented in the pages, Ostertag said. When you allow a single school official to make a choice, whether out of bigotry or fear, and sever that lifeline, she told Scholastic in her remarks on Thursday, when you make it easy for them to do, it is very literally a matter of life and death. 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. Schumer, Romney Forced To Take Shelter In Tel Aviv During Hamas Rocket Attack On Israel Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D), Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and other U.S. lawmakers on Sunday hid inside a shelter in Tel Aviv during a missile attack from Hamas, according to the New York Democrat, who said the episode emphasizes the need for the U.S. to continue backing Israel. Schumer and Romney were part of a bipartisan congressional delegation that visited the country amid the current conflict to meet with senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , as they continued to work toward a support package. Schumer said the incident demonstrates what Israelis have to go through. We must provide Israel with the support required to defend itself, Schumer wrote in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. While in Tel Aviv today, our delegation was rushed to a shelter to wait out rockets sent by Hamas. It shows you what Israelis have to go through. We must provide Israel with the support required to defend itself. pic.twitter.com/wS3kq6xFVJ Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) October 15, 2023 In a press conference after the episode, Schumer said the delegation, which also included Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), and Bill Cassidy (R-La.), was having lunch at the hotel when the sirens went off. They were immediately rushed to a shelter, where they stayed put until the coast was clear, he added. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement During their trip, the delegation also met with families of victims and hostages. When we met them there was not a dry eye in the house, Schumer said. It shook me to my core. I think about it all the time. The current conflict was triggered by a surprise attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, which saw Palestinian militants storming Israeli border towns and communities, gunning down revelers at a music festival, and kidnapping hundreds of people, including foreign nationals. Israel responded by relentlessly bombarding Gaza and cutting off the territorys access to water and other essential supplies temporarily. Israel is reportedly preparing a ground offensive. This comes as Gazas hospitals near a breaking point with medics warning that essential supplies are running out. The death toll has continued to climb with over 4,150 people dead on both sides and many others injured. President Joe Biden has warned it would be a big mistake for Israel to reoccupy Gaza. Look, what happened in Gaza, in my view, is Hamas, Biden told CBS 60 Minutes. And the extreme elements of Hamas dont represent all the Palestinian people. And I think that it would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza again. Meanwhile, Biden is reportedly considering traveling to Israel himself in the coming days as a sign of the U.S.s commitment to stand by Israel amid the ongoing fighting. Related... People arrive at the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on Oct. 16, 2023. The Gaza-ruling Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Monday denied reports that it had agreed to a temporary ceasefire with Israel in the Gaza Strip. According to the reports, under the ceasefire, the Rafah border crossing -- the only crossing point between Gaza and Egypt -- would be reopened to allow the entry of humanitarian assistance to Gaza and the evacuation of foreigners from the conflict zone. The Xinhua correspondent in Rafah confirmed that the border point remains closed, with no signs of reopening any time soon. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua) GAZA, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Hamas on Monday denied reports that it had agreed to a temporary ceasefire with Israel in the Gaza Strip. There are media reports saying a five-hour ceasefire would take place in Gaza to allow Egypt to send humanitarian aid to the coastal enclave. According to the reports, under the ceasefire, the Rafah border crossing -- the only crossing point between Gaza and Egypt -- would be reopened to allow the entry of humanitarian assistance to Gaza and the evacuation of foreigners from the conflict zone. "We were not informed from any parties that the ceasefire would take place in Gaza in the upcoming hours," Salama Maarouf, head of the Hamas-run government media office in Gaza, said in a statement. The Xinhua correspondent in Rafah confirmed that the border point remains closed, with no signs of reopening any time soon. Israeli Prime Minister's Office also denied reaching any agreement on a ceasefire or humanitarian aid in Gaza for the evacuation of foreigners. Israel escalated its attacks on Gaza during the past hours, killing and wounding dozens. People wait for the opening of the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on Oct. 16, 2023. The Gaza-ruling Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Monday denied reports that it had agreed to a temporary ceasefire with Israel in the Gaza Strip. According to the reports, under the ceasefire, the Rafah border crossing -- the only crossing point between Gaza and Egypt -- would be reopened to allow the entry of humanitarian assistance to Gaza and the evacuation of foreigners from the conflict zone. The Xinhua correspondent in Rafah confirmed that the border point remains closed, with no signs of reopening any time soon. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua) A man holding a baby waits for the opening of the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on Oct. 16, 2023. The Gaza-ruling Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Monday denied reports that it had agreed to a temporary ceasefire with Israel in the Gaza Strip. According to the reports, under the ceasefire, the Rafah border crossing -- the only crossing point between Gaza and Egypt -- would be reopened to allow the entry of humanitarian assistance to Gaza and the evacuation of foreigners from the conflict zone. The Xinhua correspondent in Rafah confirmed that the border point remains closed, with no signs of reopening any time soon. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua) People wait for the opening of the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on Oct. 16, 2023. The Gaza-ruling Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Monday denied reports that it had agreed to a temporary ceasefire with Israel in the Gaza Strip. According to the reports, under the ceasefire, the Rafah border crossing -- the only crossing point between Gaza and Egypt -- would be reopened to allow the entry of humanitarian assistance to Gaza and the evacuation of foreigners from the conflict zone. The Xinhua correspondent in Rafah confirmed that the border point remains closed, with no signs of reopening any time soon. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua) People wait for the opening of the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on Oct. 16, 2023. The Gaza-ruling Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Monday denied reports that it had agreed to a temporary ceasefire with Israel in the Gaza Strip. According to the reports, under the ceasefire, the Rafah border crossing -- the only crossing point between Gaza and Egypt -- would be reopened to allow the entry of humanitarian assistance to Gaza and the evacuation of foreigners from the conflict zone. The Xinhua correspondent in Rafah confirmed that the border point remains closed, with no signs of reopening any time soon. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua) People wait for the opening of the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on Oct. 16, 2023. The Gaza-ruling Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Monday denied reports that it had agreed to a temporary ceasefire with Israel in the Gaza Strip. According to the reports, under the ceasefire, the Rafah border crossing -- the only crossing point between Gaza and Egypt -- would be reopened to allow the entry of humanitarian assistance to Gaza and the evacuation of foreigners from the conflict zone. The Xinhua correspondent in Rafah confirmed that the border point remains closed, with no signs of reopening any time soon. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua) People arrive at the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on Oct. 16, 2023. The Gaza-ruling Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Monday denied reports that it had agreed to a temporary ceasefire with Israel in the Gaza Strip. According to the reports, under the ceasefire, the Rafah border crossing -- the only crossing point between Gaza and Egypt -- would be reopened to allow the entry of humanitarian assistance to Gaza and the evacuation of foreigners from the conflict zone. The Xinhua correspondent in Rafah confirmed that the border point remains closed, with no signs of reopening any time soon. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua) People wait for the opening of the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on Oct. 16, 2023. The Gaza-ruling Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Monday denied reports that it had agreed to a temporary ceasefire with Israel in the Gaza Strip. According to the reports, under the ceasefire, the Rafah border crossing -- the only crossing point between Gaza and Egypt -- would be reopened to allow the entry of humanitarian assistance to Gaza and the evacuation of foreigners from the conflict zone. The Xinhua correspondent in Rafah confirmed that the border point remains closed, with no signs of reopening any time soon. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua) By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Monday the Senate will seek within days to pass a resolution supporting Israel, approve additional funds for Israel and confirm a new U.S. ambassador to the Jewish State. Schumer spoke as the Senate opened after he led a small group of Democratic and Republican senators on a weekend visit to Israel, in the wake of a shock Oct. 7 attack by Hamas fighters that left 1,300 Israelis dead. "In the coming days, I will be working with the administration on putting together an emergency supplemental (spending bill) that will give Israel the tools it needs to defend itself," Schumer said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "That means military assistance, intelligence assistance, diplomatic assistance and humanitarian assistance to care for innocent civilians. We want to move this package quickly. The Senate must go first. I know that the House is in disarray, but we cannot wait for them," he said. Schumer said he thought Senate passage of a strong pro-Israel legislation might encourage the House of Representatives to act, despite its leadership impasse. Support for Israel has historically been bipartisan in the U.S. Congress. Israel currently receives $3.8 billion in military assistance per year, under a 10-year aid package passed in 2016. The Republican-majority House has been without a Speaker since Kevin McCarthy was ousted on Oct. 3. That has held up any legislative action, from debating further aid to Ukraine as it battles a Russian invasion to a statement of support for ally Israel in its war with Hamas. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee scheduled a confirmation hearing for former Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, President Joe Biden's nominee to be the next ambassador to Israel, on Wednesday. Schumer called Lew "capable and strong" and urged the committee to approve Lew as soon as possible, so the full Senate can confirm him "in all due haste." Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General C.Q. Brown will hold a classified briefing on the Middle East conflict for the full Senate on Wednesday. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; additional reporting by Katharine Jackson; Editing by Sandra Maler) Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Monday warned against critics of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) airstrikes on Gaza drawing a dangerous false equivalency between Israel and Hamas, which he called an evil organization. Schumer, who returned from a bipartisan congressional trip to Israel, said he traveled there over the weekend to push back against what he called the dangerous false equivalence between what Hamas is doing and the response against them. He rejected any comparison between the terror attacks on Israel civilians in more than 20 towns around the Gaza Strip and the retaliatory airstrikes by the IDF, which have killed more than 2,600 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza. Let us be clear, Hamas is an evil organization that wants to see Israel wiped off the face of the map. They dont believe in a two-state solution. They want no Israel and no Jews living between the Jordan and the Mediterranean. Eliminating Israel is part of their charter, he said in a speech on the Senate floor. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Schumer, the highest ranking Jewish leader in Congress in American history, made his comments after dozens of student groups at Harvard University signed a letter from the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee holding Israel entirely responsible for all the unfolding violence. The Democratic leader is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School. Critics of Israel have spoken up at other schools, including at New York University where the president of NYUs Student Bar Association also accused Israel of bearing full responsibility for this tremendous loss of life. Other progressives have criticized Israel for cutting off food, fuel, electricity and water to Gaza, where more than 2 million people live, including about 1 million children. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) last week called the complete siege of Gaza a serious violation of international law. Schumer, however, argued that Israel has no choice but to respond with overwhelming force to the surprise attack that killed more than 1,000 Israeli civilians. Israel cant just shrug its shoulders and say, Lets not try to end the threat from Hamas. They have an obligation to do it because Hamass attack against Israel was an act of unspeakable evil, he said. His voice quavering with emotion, he told the story of his great grandmother who was killed along with her family by Nazis during World War II. The Nazis said youre coming with us. She said, Were not moving. They machine gunned every one of them down. History is repeating itself in an evil and awful way, he said. So the bottom line is simple. Hamas must be defeated, he added. Schumer said he would work with the Biden administration in the coming days to put together an emergency supplemental spending package that will provide military assistance, intelligence assistance, diplomatic assistance and humanitarian assistance to Israel. He announced the Senate will vote first on the package because the House is in disarray. We want to move this package quickly, he said. The Senate must go first. I know that the House is in disarray, but we cannot wait for them. The needs are too great. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Scientists found that one gene variant affects how blood vessels narrow. Those with the variant had a higher number of a particular receptor for hormones that are released under stress or cold. Another gene variant affects how blood vessels relax. Photo by Min An/Pexels Scientists have discovered two genes that may trigger Raynaud's phenomenon, a condition that can cause fingers and toes to go cold and numb because of the constriction of tiny blood vessels under the skin. "We identify two distinct genes that point to two distinct mechanisms," lead researcher Maik Pietzner, chair in health data modeling at Queen Mary University of London's Precision Healthcare University Research Institute, told NBC News. The condition is triggered by cold temperatures or stress, causing the skin to turn white or blue, then red, according to the Mayo Clinic. People may not be able to move their hands well during an attack, Dr. Marie Gerhard-Herman, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School in Boston, told NBC News. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "It gets painful and numb," Gerhard-Herman added. About 2% to 5% of the population is affected, more often women. Primary Raynaud's is often diagnosed in teenage girls and women in their 20s. It is the most common form. Although typically treated with lifestyle changes, certain medications can help. "The main therapy currently is a class of drugs called calcium channel blockers," Dr. Laura Hummers, a rheumatologist and an associate professor at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, told NBC News. "Those therapies are fairly helpful." The drugs do lower blood pressure, which can cause dizziness, headache and constipation, according to the Cleveland Clinic. "About half the people who have primary Raynaud's phenomenon have another first-degree relative who also has Raynaud's," said Hummers, who co-directs John Hopkins Scleroderma Center. Secondary Raynaud's is rare. It can have serious symptoms, including ulcers and gangrene on the fingers. It occurs in people who have autoimmune conditions, including lupus and scleroderma, NBC News reported. The genes found in the study, published Monday in the journal Nature Communications, are only involved in primary Raynaud's. The study included UK Biobank data from more than 440,000 people. Researchers found more than 5,000 cases of Raynaud's. About 68% were primary Raynaud's cases. The scientists found that one gene variant affects how blood vessels narrow. Those with the variant had a higher number of a particular receptor for hormones that are released under stress or cold. Another gene variant affects how blood vessels relax. An existing antidepressant, mirtazapine (Remeron), acts on the receptor and may be able to be repurposed for Raynaud's treatment, Pietzner said. "For patients, it's all about finding treatments," Pietzner added. "The genetic studies that have been done in Raynaud's up until this point hadn't been as compelling as this one," Hummers said. "It's a huge step forward." More information The National Institutes of Health has more on Raynaud's phenomenon. Copyright 2023 HealthDay. All rights reserved. A team of scientists is proposing a new explanation for some cases of long COVID, based on their findings that serotonin levels were lower in people with the complex condition. In their study, published Monday in the journal Cell, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania suggest that serotonin reduction is triggered by remnants of the virus lingering in the gut. Depleted serotonin could especially explain memory problems and some neurological and cognitive symptoms of long COVID, they say. Why It Matters: New ways to diagnose and treat long COVID Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement This is one of several new studies documenting distinct biological changes in the bodies of people with long COVID offering important discoveries for a condition that takes many forms and often does not register on standard diagnostic tools such as X-rays. The research could point the way toward possible treatments, including medications that boost serotonin. And the authors said the biological pathway that their research outlines could unite many of the major theories of what causes long COVID: lingering remnants of the virus, inflammation, increased blood clotting and dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. All these different hypotheses might be connected through the serotonin pathway, said Christoph Thaiss, a lead author of the study and an assistant professor of microbiology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Second of all, even if not everybody experiences difficulties in the serotonin pathway, at least a subset might respond to therapies that activate this pathway, he said. This is an excellent study that identifies lower levels of circulating serotonin as a mechanism for long COVID, said Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist at Yale University. Her team and colleagues at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai recently published a study that identified other biological changes linked to some cases of long COVID, including levels of the hormone cortisol. These studies could point to specific subtypes of long COVID or different biological indicators at different points in the condition. The Backstory: A series of disruptions set off by bits of virus in the gut Researchers analyzed the blood of 58 patients who had been experiencing long COVID for between three months and 22 months since their infection. Those results were compared to blood analysis of 30 people with no post-COVID symptoms and 60 patients who were in the early, acute stage of coronavirus infection. Maayan Levy, a lead author and assistant professor of microbiology at the Perelman School of Medicine, said levels of serotonin and other metabolites were altered right after a coronavirus infection, something that also happens immediately after other viral infections. But in people with long COVID, serotonin was the only significant molecule that did not recover to pre-infection levels, she said. The team analyzed stool samples from some of the long COVID patients and found that they contained remaining viral particles. Putting the findings in patients together with research on mice and miniature models of the human gut, where most serotonin is produced, the team identified a pathway that could underlie some cases of long COVID. Heres the idea: Viral remnants prompt the immune system to produce infection-fighting proteins called interferons. Interferons cause inflammation that reduces the bodys ability to absorb tryptophan, an amino acid that helps produce serotonin in the gut. Blood clots that can form after a coronavirus infection may impair the bodys ability to circulate serotonin. Depleted serotonin disrupts the vagus nerve system, which transmits signals between the body and the brain, the researchers said. Serotonin plays a role in short-term memory, and the researchers proposed that depleted serotonin could lead to memory problems and other cognitive issues that many people with long COVID experience. They showed that one-two-three punch to the serotonin pathway then leads to vagal nerve dysfunction and memory impairment, Iwasaki said. There are caveats. The study was not large, so the findings need to be confirmed with other research. Participants in some other long COVID studies, in which some patients had milder symptoms, did not always show depleted serotonin, a result that Levy said might indicate that depletion happened only in people whose long COVID involves multiple serious symptoms. Whats Next: A clinical trial of Prozac Scientists want to find biomarkers for long COVID biological changes that can be measured to help diagnose the condition. Thaiss said the new study suggested three: the presence of viral remnants in stool, low serotonin and high levels of interferons. Most experts believe that there will not be a single biomarker for the condition, but that several indicators will emerge and might vary, based on the type of symptoms and other factors. There is tremendous need for effective ways to treat long COVID, and clinical trials of several treatments are underway. Levy and Thaiss said they would be starting a clinical trial to test fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor often marketed as Prozac, and possibly also tryptophan. If we supplement serotonin or prevent the degradation of serotonin, maybe we can restore some of the vagal signals and improve memory and cognition and so on, Levy said. c.2023 The New York Times Company Seagreen's offshore wind farm is made up of 114 giant turbines Scotland's biggest offshore wind farm has begun operating at full capacity, removing emissions from power supply. Seagreen, off the Angus coast, can generate enough electricity to power two thirds of Scotland's households. The 3bn project, comprising 114 giant turbines, has been more than a decade in the making. But operator SSE says the consenting time needs to be halved if there are to be enough turbines to meet the government's climate change targets. The company says Seagreen will displace more than two million tonnes of CO2 each year, helping reduce the UK's reliance of fossil fuels for generating electricity. It takes an hour for boats to travel between the furthest turbines The array sits about 17 miles from the coast and in 58 metres of water making it the deepest fixed wind farm in the world. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Those in deeper waters, like the Hywind project off Peterhead, are engineered using floating turbines. Originally planned with 150 turbines, the number was reduced because larger generators made it possible to harvest the same amount of electricity with fewer structures. The company is now exploring the feasibility of another phase of development by adding a further 36 turbines. The first power was generated in August 2022 but it has taken another year for it to be fully completed. About 700 long-term jobs will be supported by Seagreen, half of which are based in Scotland. Around 60 full-time positions in operation and maintenance are to be based at the service facility in Montrose port. Emissions targets Seagreen is a joint venture between TotalEnergies and SSE Renewables. SSE Renewables' director of offshore wind, Paul Cooley, told BBC Scotland News that decisions taken now will determine whether 2030 targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions will be met by the Scottish and UK governments. He said: "I think if we don't speed things up we'll just not hit the targets. "That's the reality so there's a real imperative now to move much faster in terms of hurdles like grids, like consents and like pricing in the supply chain." The UK's offshore wind capacity is growing rapidly. Just last week, the first electricity was generated from SSE's 277 turbine Dogger Bank project off the coast of East Yorkshire. Final construction is also under way on the Neart na Gaoith (NnG) wind farm off Fife which has faced a legal challenge by RSPB Scotland because of concerns over migratory birds. Claire Mack from the industry body Scottish Renewables said there was a huge pipeline of projects in Scotland thanks to an abundance of wind. "We've got over 20 offshore wind projects leased within Scotland which is one of the largest commercial leasing sites that we have across the world." Republican presidential candidate Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., right, answers questions next to AP National Politics Reporter Meg Kinnard, left, moderating, during an Associated Press 2024 GOP Presidential Candidates Conversations on National Security and Foreign Policy event, held in partnership with Georgetown University's Institute of Politics and Public Service, at Georgetown University in Washington, Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough) WASHINGTON (AP) Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina on Monday praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for showing what he called restraint after Hamas attacked Israel over a week ago. The Republican presidential candidate said Netanyahu waited and showed patience and humanity in response to the Oct. 7 attack. Israel launched airstrikes in Gaza the day of the attack and Netanyahu declared war with Hamas, vowing to inflict an unprecedented price. The war has become the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides, with more than 4,000 dead. One of the first things that Israels done is they waited," Scott said about Israel as he spoke at an event focused on U.S. foreign policy and national security at Georgetown University in Washington. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Now how Prime Minister Netanyahu had the kind of restraint to refrain from immediate action, it just talks about the morality and the humanity that we see coming from Netanyahu into Gaza, the senator said. Hamas militants surprise attacks on Israel have left 1,400 dead and retaliatory strikes have killed at least 2,778 Palestinians. Scott also underscored the importance of America's allyship with Israel and said "America should stand shoulder-to-shoulder, back-to-back, with no daylight with Israel. He said the U.S. should move more firepower into the region to be responsive and said that U.S. special forces should be prepared to help rescue American hostages in Gaza. Scott also criticized front-runner Republican candidate Donald Trump for his criticism of Netanyahu days after the attack. He said the former presidents comments were terrible, not helpful and heading in the wrong direction. We should be loyal to our allies while being lethal to our adversaries. Anything less than that jeopardizes life, he said. The senator said he somewhat agreed with GOP rival candidate Ron DeSantis , who said the United States should not take in any Palestinian refugees if they flee the Gaza Strip. DeSantis, the Florida governor, said the U.S. should not accept any refugees if they can escape Gaza because they are all antisemitic." Scott said not accepting refugees from Gaza is the right decision because the president cannot determine in the middle of the conflict who is safe to bring in, who's not safe to bring in. I dont think that theyre all antisemitic. I just cant tell you whos who," he said. Scott was asked about the killing of a 6-year-old Muslim boy in Illinois who was stabbed to death in an alleged hate crime. Authorities said the boy and his mother were attacked by the familys landlord who was upset over the Israel-Hamas war. Disgusting, Scott said quickly. It sounds like murder. Lock him up. After he was asked to elaborate, the senator, who often takes on the mannerism of a preacher, then leaped up in to the aisles. Scott, who is Black, spoke about having grown up in the Deep South and said he understands racism and discrimination. Thankful that our country has made tremendous progress in my lifetime, he said. But of the man accused of the Illinois attack, he said, I cant imagine that level of hate. Scott was sitting for the conversation at an event co-hosted by The Associated Press and Georgetowns Institute of Politics and Public Service. The event marks the second in a series of talks the organizations are hosting on the topic with 2024 GOP candidates. Former Vice President Mike Pence sat for the inaugural talk earlier this month. Scott's sit-down comes as one of the super political action committees supporting his candidacy clawed back some of the advertising airtime it had purchased this fall, with its chair writing in a memo to backers that we arent going to waste our money when the electorate isnt focused or ready for" an alternative to Trump. The memo said the group would wait until closer to Iowa's leadoff caucuses to reconsider. The South Carolina senator has not made foreign policy a mainstay of his campaign, instead seeking to focus on a positive message swathed in his Christian faith and an appeal for more individual responsibility in America. Last week, he gave a speech on Israel at the Hudson Institute think tank in Washington in which he decried Hamas militants attack on Israel as filling Americans with heartbreak, and frankly, righteous anger, but blamed the Biden administration for the violence. While Hamas carried out these attacks, Joe Biden has blood on his hands, Scott said in the speech. "His weakness invited the attack. He also recently sought to merge his Senate duties with foreign policy strides that may help his 2024 GOP presidential campaign, calling for a Senate probe into funding sources that he and other Republicans allege may have been tied to Hamas militants attack on Israel. Scott called for the Senate Banking Committee on which he sits as ranking member to hold a hearing with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to probe roughly $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets recently released to an account in Qatar. As he campaigns against rivals including a former vice president, a former United Nations ambassador and current and foreign governors, Scott has at times been asked how he would square his apparent lack of executive experience with his qualifications to lead the country. He has held out as evidence his decade of service on Senate committees, including Banking, Finance, Armed Services and Foreign Relations. In the memo from Trust in the Mission PAC, co-chair Rob Collins said the group would continue with door knocking and other efforts, with an eye toward potentially reallocating resources as actual votes draw nearer. Until the experts recognize Tim is the only candidate that can capture the nomination and defeat President Joe Biden, there will be a very expensive and loud next few months full of sound and fury and signifying nothing, Collins wrote in the memo, which was obtained by the AP and first reported on by Politico. So, we are doing what would be obvious in the business world but will mystify politicos we arent going to waste our money when the electorate isnt focused or ready for a Trump alternative. We have done the research. We have studied the focus groups. We have been following Tim on the trail. This electorate is locked up and money spent on mass media isnt going to change minds until we get a lot closer to voting. ___ Price reported from New York. ___ Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP Republican presidential candidate Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) raised close to $6 million in the third quarter of fundraising between his political committees, his campaign announced Sunday. Scotts campaign said he raised $5.92 million between the political committees between July and September. He ends the quarter with $13.3 million in the bank, with $11.6 million available for him to use during the primary. Scotts third quarter fundraising showed a high burn rate his campaign itself brought in about $4.6 million but spent close to $12.4 million, though his campaign benefited from kicking off his presidential run with $22 million in the bank given his past fundraising while serving in the Senate. The South Carolina senators campaign haul this quarter was smaller than that of former President Trumps, which announced $45 million, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who raised $15 million and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who brought in more than $11 million. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement But Scott has more cash available to use in the primary than DeSantis and Haley. Only $5 million of DeSantiss haul can be used for the primary, and $9.1 million can be used by Haleys campaign. Trump, unsurprisingly, has the most money available to use during the primary nearly $36 million. The former president continues to dominate in national and early state polling, though some Republicans and donors have started to see it as a two-way race between Haley and DeSantis to take on the mantle of the Trump alternative. Members from both campaigns met with the major donor group American Opportunity Alliance on Friday to pitch donors on why they should throw their support behind their respective campaigns. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The Coconino County Sheriff's Office said the search for a San Diego woman continues after she disappeared two weeks ago in northern Arizona. Chelsea Grimm, 32, was reported missing by her family to the Phoenix Police Department on Oct. 4. Hunters northeast of Ashfork informed the Sheriff's Office on Oct. 5 of a suspicious white Ford Escape parked on a forest service road. Sheriff's deputies located the vehicle and confirmed that it belonged to Grimm, the Sheriff's Office said. There was no sign of Grimm or her pet bearded dragon, who goes by the name Roz or Roxy. Police found a camera in the vehicle that had selfies of Grimm that showed the shirt she was last wearing, her vehicle, and the face mask she wears, the Sheriff's Office said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Police believed Grimm was originally traveling from San Diego to Connecticut when she stopped in Arizona. Grimm was last seen Sept. 28 in Williams, Arizona, according to a news release. Anyone with information on Grimm's whereabouts is asked to call the Coconino County Sheriff's Office at 928-774-4523. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Search ongoing for woman last seen in Williams, Arizona Dog owners in Western Washington love their pets, and whether its Boxer owners in Bellingham or Rovers in Renton, a select few cities rank among the most dog friendly in the state. Believe it or not, the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area was ranked fifth in Washington by Rexmont Real Estate. Olympia-Tumwater dog owners came in fourth; Bremerton-Silverdale ranked third. Bellingham was in second and Washingtons most dog-friendly community the Mount Vernon-Anacortes area of Skagit County! Part of the Seattle areas ranking was thanks to having the most pet-friendly trails. But, according to the study, there are fewer veterinarians concentrated in the Seattle area, about 0.53 per 1,000 jobs. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement In comparison, Skagit County scored 90 out of 100 because the area has the most dog-friendly trails and almost one veterinarian per 1,000 jobs. The study considered the number of dog-friendly outdoor spaces, activities, services and veterinary workers. It sources data from BringFido, All Trails and the Bureau of Labor Statistics to come up with the ranking. Each factor is then indexed to produce a dog-friendliness score out of 100. After Seattle, Portland ranked sixth, followed by Spokane, Yakima and the Tri-Cities. A second planned flight evacuating Ukrainians from Israel arrived in the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca with 155 passengers, most of whom were women and children, Ukraine's Embassy in Israel announced on Oct. 16. The previous day, 207 Ukrainians were evacuated from Israel on a flight to Bucharest. Embassy workers cooperated with Romanian authorities on the ground to assist the evacuees. The embassy also said that its staff was investigating all possible options to evacuate those Ukrainians remaining in Israel who wished to leave. Around 260 Ukrainian nationals are still located in Gaza and have not been able to evacuate from the besieged territory. There have been conflicting directions from Israeli authorities, who first announced that the Rafah border crossing into Egypt would be opened for foreigners, then revoked permission two hours before evacuations were to begin on Oct. 14. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Palestinian officials reported that the Rafah border crossing would be open as of 9:00 am local time on Oct. 16, but statements from both the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas officials rejected that such a ceasefire plan enabling evacuation was in place. As of the time of this publication, it is unclear if the border crossing is open, and if foreigners are being allowed to leave. Read also: Ukrainians trapped in besieged Gaza: We are constantly bombed Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. ISLAMABAD, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan's Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) conducted multiple operations in different areas of the country, seizing over 100 kg of drugs and arresting three smugglers, the ANF said on Monday. During the anti-narcotics operations, the ANF seized drugs including heroin, hashish, opium, crystal methamphetamine and others, the ANF said in a statement. The ANF team conducted operations in various districts of the country's Balochistan province and seized 65 kg of drugs while arresting a smuggler, according to the statement. In the provincial capital city of Quetta, 30 kg of hashish concealed in the doors of a vehicle was recovered, the ANF said, adding that around 35 kg of narcotics concealed for the purpose of smuggling were seized in Chagai and Kach districts of the province. In another operation at the Jinnah International Airport Karachi, the ANF recovered 180 g of crystal methamphetamine from a parcel booked for Dubai. Separately, authorities recovered 24.8 kg of hashish from the possession of two smugglers on a highway in Karachi, it added. The ANF said that separate cases have been registered against the accused while further investigations are under process. A second evacuation plane with 155 Ukrainians on board took off from Israel on 16 October. Source: Ukraines embassy in Israel Quote: "On 16 October, a second evacuation flight with 155 Ukrainian citizens on board, including 107 women and 23 children, took off from Ben Gurion Airport (Tel Aviv) on a HiSky flight to Cluj (Romania). [...] We are continuing to work on finding all possible options for further evacuation of Ukrainian citizens." Details: The embassy says it has helped to complete the necessary procedures and documents for departure. Background: The first evacuation flight with 207 Ukrainian citizens on board took off from Tel Aviv to Bucharest on 14 October. Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron! A second evacuation flight, transporting 155 Ukrainians, including 107 women and 23 children, has taken off from Israel bound for Romania, the Ukrainian Embassy in Israel said early on Oct. 16. The flight took off from Ben-Gurion Airport (Tel Aviv) and was scheduled to land in the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca. Ukrainian diplomats provided assistance to the evacuees in completing necessary procedures and document processing. The first evacuation flight left Israel on Oct. 14, carrying 207 Ukrainian nationals. Read also: ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement War in Israel What is Known Large-scale hostilities in Israel began on Oct. 7. From the early morning, the Palestinian militant group Hamas repeatedly targeted the country with thousands of rockets and missiles. Armed Hamas militants then invaded southern Israel, killing people and taking hostages. Read also: Ukrainians may be among Hamas hostages, search is ongoing Ambassador Over 1,300 people have lost their lives in recent attacks by Hamas. Over 100 are thought to have been taken hostage by Palestinian militants on Oct. 7, and video evidence shows some of the hostages have since been murdered. So far, seven Ukrainians have been reported dead due to the fighting. Six more are missing, and six have been reported injured. It was revealed on Oct. 8 that Palestinian militants may have killed approximately 260 people on Oct 7 at an electronic music festival near the Kibbutz Reim, 30 kilometers from the Gaza Strip. Efforts are currently underway to identify the bodies of the murdered festivalgoers. Read also: Budanov warns of potential aid challenges if Israel war persists In response to the Hamas attack, the Israel Defense Forces launched Operation Iron Swords, striking the Gaza Strip. During the night of Oct. 8, Israel announced the restoration of control over the majority of the populated areas that had been penetrated by Palestinian militants. Palestinian authorities say at least 2,329 people have been killed and another 9,714 injured in Gaza due to Israeli retaliatory attacks, U.S. television channel ABC has reported. Israels Cabinet has declared a state of war for the first time since 1973, and the countrys prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has warned that the war will be long and challenging. The Israeli defense minister ordered a siege of the Gaza Strip on Oct. 9. In his address to the nation, Netanyahu said that Hamas militants would be destroyed after their atrocities, kidnappings, and murders of children and women. Hamas and other enemies of Israel will pay a price they will remember for decades to come, he said. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine (NEXSTAR) If Julia Louis-Dreyfus knows anything about the mysterious Seinfeld project that Jerry Seinfeld alluded to earlier this month, shes clearly keeping it in the vault. Yeah, I just saw [that news] last night, Louis-Dreyfus said in a recent interview with The Guardian. And I dont know what the hell hes talking about. Netflix plans to open permanent store locations in 2025 Louis-Dreyfus was specifically reacting to Seinfelds comments at an Oct. 7 performance in Boston after he was asked if he was happy with the finale of his sitcom. Did I like what? The ending? Of the show? Seinfeld said, repeating a question from an audience member. Well, I have a little secret for you about the ending, but I cant really tell it. Because it is a secret. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Perhaps egged on by some booing in the audience, Seinfeld continued. Heres what Ill tell you, OK? But you cant tell anybody, he said. Something is going to happen, that has to do with that ending, but it hasnt happened yet. And, just what you are thinking about, Larry [David] and I have also been thinking about, so youll see. Youll see. His comments have since sparked speculation that the show may be coming back in some form or that the cast is staging some type of reunion. Suzanne Somers of Threes Company dies: reports Despite its strong viewership, the two-part finale of Seinfeld dubbed simply The Finale wasnt universally loved at the time. Written by Seinfeld co-creator Larry David, the episode concerned the four main characters Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer being put on trial for failing to intervene during a carjacking. By the end of the episode, the four of them had been found guilty and sentenced to a year in prison. David acknowledged some of that hate in 2014, and Seinfeld said in a 2017 interview that he sometimes [thinks] we really shouldnt have even done it. The show did have a bit of a reunion in 2009 on Davids Curb Your Enthusiasm, but its currently unclear if Seinfeld is hinting at a similar return via Curb (the HBO series is reportedly ending after its current season) or new episodes of Seinfeld or something else entirely. Aside from Louis-Dreyfus, Seinfeld cast members Jason Alexander and Michael Richards have not yet publicly commented or responded to Seinfelds comments in Boston. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City. More housing is planned for a major Durham-Chapel Hill corridor. Chapel Hill-based developer Beacon Properties Group has sold 6.82 acres at 4802 Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd to AvalonBay Communities for $16.75 million. Located halfway between downtown Durham and Chapel Hill, along U.S. 15-501, the property is next to New Hope Commons shopping center and across the street from Patterson Place shopping center. The wooded land is slated for 459 market-rate units, including studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. Its the first step in a multi-phase purchase. All told, the Avalon Oakridge project calls for up 930 units once complete. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Beacon has a long history of developing office and apartment projects across Chapel Hill and Durham, including several along Farrington Road in Chapel Hill. In 2018, the company purchased 108 acres along 15-501 for $7.6 million, The N&O previously reported. Next door, its planning a 100,000-square-foot shopping center on the remaining 15-501 fronting parcels. Called Oakridge, plans first submitted in 2019 call for office space and restaurants. Beacon partner Edward Lammas said AvalonBays long-term view as a holder and operator of the apartments makes them the perfect neighbor. 15-501s growing corridor For AvalonBay, which is headquartered in Virginia, its the firms first project in the Triangle. Its rare to find a development opportunity such as this one, said Liz Smith, the companys senior vice president of development. The sites accessibility and proximity to I-40 are unmatched. AvalonBays plans include three, four-story buildings. Each building will have its own garage. Other amenities include pool, outdoor grilling areas, an indoor/outdoor fitness center, multiple courtyards, walking trails along New Hope Creek and a dog run. AvalonBay filed a site plan with the city of Durham in early June. Were currently working through the process, Smith told The N&O in an email. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2024, with an anticipated opening in 2026. A semi-truck driver has been killed after a coal train derailed off a bridge and onto a roadway in Colorado. The tragedy unfolded near Pueblo, 100 miles south of Denver, on Sunday afternoon, according to Pueblo County Sheriffs Office. Emergency services rushed to the scene where at least ten train cars had reportedly slid off the tracks and over the side of a bridge. Footage from the site shows damage to the rail crossing and the bridges metal siding. It remains unclear what led to the derailment of the train. A semi-truck driver was trapped in the wreckage, before they were later confirmed to have died. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement State patrol spokesperson Gary Cutler provided no other details about the victim. The interstate was closed for 12 miles from Exit 100B in Pueblo towards northward to Exit 110 following the incident, according to the transport department. The train derailed about 100 miles south of Denver (Pueblo County Sheriff) This will be an extended closure. Drivers heading between Pueblo and Colorado Springs must detour, a statement read. The National Transportation Safety Board announced on Sunday night it was investigating the cause of the derailment. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said in a statement he had been in contact with Colorado Governor Jared Polis about the incident. One man was killed in the incident (Pueblo County Sheriff) State & local authorities are leading the immediate emergency response, and we will be ready to help in any way needed to support a swift return to normal use for the highway and rail routes affected, Mr Buttigieg said in a post on X. US Department of Transportation staff were en route to the scene Sunday night. A little over a month after Supervisor of Elections Chris Anderson posted an emotional video on TikTok claiming hes encountered repeated racism among Seminole County leaders, Commission Chair Amy Lockhart sent a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis , asking his office to intervene and investigate Andersons seemingly erratic and combative conduct. County commissioners have been made aware that a toxic, if not hostile, work environment exists at the Supervisor of Elections office, Lockhart said in her Oct. 5 letter to DeSantis. Lockhart also states that long-time employees have recently been terminated or resigned from Andersons office, and that is a cause for concern with the upcoming city elections on Nov. 7 in Oviedo and Lake Mary and primary elections in March 2024. Lockhart also noted that Anderson, a fellow Republican, has had indignant exchanges with commissioners during budget hearings, and has been antagonistic with other county officials and residents. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Mr. Andersons outward displays of resentment include candidates who will be on the ballot in an upcoming election. One must wonder if they will be able to participate confidently in the electoral process and without fear of retaliation by the person counting the votes, according to Lockharts letter. But she stopped short of asking DeSantis to remove Anderson from office. Lockhart, however, asked DeSantis to consider transferring election employees from other parts of the state to work at the Seminole elections office. Anderson on Monday said he had not seen Lockharts letter and wanted to hold off commenting on it until he read it. DeSantis office did not respond to requests for comment, or answered whether he would move forward with an investigation requested by Lockhart. Even so, whether DeSantis considers Lockharts request or ignores it remains to be determined. DeSantis, after all, appointed Anderson in January 2019 to replace Mike Ertel as Seminoles supervisor of elections after Ertel was selected to serve as Floridas secretary of state in Tallahassee. Anderson has been Seminoles Countys first and only Black constitutional officer. But Ertel resigned a few weeks later after photos emerged of him wearing a blackface at a Halloween party in 2005, two months after Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, killing more than 1,000 people. Ertel later apologized for the incident and said he did something stupid. Anderson was elected to a four-year term in 2020. He said he plans to seek reelection in 2024. In a TikTok video he posted in early September, Anderson claimed hes encountered repeated racism from county leaders since he first took office nearly five years ago. Ive experienced so much racism since I have been here, Anderson said in the video alongside his wife. The day after I was appointed [by DeSantis], my wife and I had a meeting with individuals in this county, white men, who told us: They said: Listen, white people consider you as a Black person to be stupid, to be dumb, and that youll F something up. Thats exactly what they said. In the video, Anderson also claimed that a former county commissioner while in office frequently tried to kill projects slated for his office. On Sept. 6, days after Andersons video was posted, Lockhart said his accusations of racism should not be taken lightly and called it a very serious claim and one that needs to be taken seriously. Anderson has long expressed frustration with commissioners and county staff for moving at a slow pace in plans for a new and larger headquarters for the Supervisor of Elections Office. It would replace the current cramped headquarters off East Airport Boulevard near the Orlando Sanford International Airport. Seminoles growing population and an increasing number of voters using mail-in ballots have meant his office has outgrown the current 18,000-square-foot building, Anderson said. A consultant hired by the county is currently working on a space-needs study for the Supervisor of Elections Office that would determine an appropriate size for a new facility. In her letter to DeSantis, Lockhart said Anderson was often combative with county commissioners during budget workshops and has exhibited a fundamental lack of understanding of developing the countys annual financial plan. She said that is a genuine cause for concern. Lockhart also claimed that Anderson posted but deleted them soon after other videos on social media platforms showing him with erratic and threatening behavior and making wild allegations. Commissioner Jay Zembower said he welcomes an investigation by the Governors Office to make sure everything is OK at the county elections office, especially as several important elections will be held within a year. We dont have control over the Supervisor of Elections office, Zembower said. The problem is that we have a very big presidential election next year. And we do owe it to our constituents that we ensure that a good election will take place in 2024. We dont have the ability to do an investigation. So, the only other alternative is to get someone in Tallahassee to take a look. In urging a DeSantis investigation, Lockhart said the county attorney told commissioners that she found no viable process for elections office employees to whistle blow when they encounter wrongdoing. Lockhart added that she does not relish the need for a public investigation of Anderson. But I am left without much choice, as there appears to be no other means to resolve this, Lockhart said in the letter. mcomas@orlandosentinel.com The Senate is back in session Tuesday, and funding the government with aid to Israel and Ukraine will be at the heart of negotiations. A source familiar with the talks told Fox News Digital the upper chamber will be awaiting the official supplemental request from the Biden administration before an official package is drafted, which could take more than a week. The upper chamber was briefed on a call last week by the administration on a "mega package" request that would combine aid to Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan and border security, according to a source familiar. WATCH: WHITE HOUSE SHUTS DOWN QUESTION ON AUTHENTICITY OF PHOTOS SHOWING DEAD ISRAELI CHILDREN Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on June 1, 2023. Expected floor action for the week is on three separate appropriations bills combined into one legislative package for the 2024 fiscal year, which includes funding for the Food and Drug Administration, and the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development. The temporary spending patch that the upper chamber agreed on before the Sept. 30 deadline will expire on Nov. 17. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement On Tuesday, the Senate Intelligence Committee will convene for a closed-door briefing. Senate leaders will resume their weekly luncheons with a corresponding press conference, where aid to Israel and Ukraine is likely to be a topic of discussion. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP WATCH: WHITE HOUSE SHUTS DOWN QUESTION ON AUTHENTICITY OF PHOTOS SHOWING DEAD ISRAELI CHILDREN Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell walks to the Senate Chambers in the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 27, 2022. Attorney and former secretary of the treasury Jack Lew nominated to be ambassador to Israel will have a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday. A vote will be scheduled following the hearing. Lew served in both the Bill Clinton and Barack Obama administrations. Meanwhile, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., is showing no signs of lifting his resistance to military nominations being pushed through until the Pentagon rolls back its abortion policy, which covers the cost of some expenses for service members' abortion procedures. The war in Israel has not swayed his position. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell at the US Capitol on July 27, 2023. Original article source: Senate to hit the ground running this week on funding packages, negotiations on aid to Israel The battle for the Senate is ramping up a little more than one year before Election Day, with candidate and primary fields getting more settled by the month. Democrats remain hopeful of their chances to keep hold of their slim majority despite a difficult map for the party in 2024, but Republicans have prime opportunities to knock off incumbents and pick up seats in states won by former President Trump in the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections. Here are the top five Senate races to watch at this point. West Virginia No matter how you slice it, the road to reelection for Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) if he decides to run is a treacherous one as the political universe awaits word on whether he will seek a third full term in the Senate. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The West Virginia centrist is expected to decide either late this year or shortly before the January filing deadline, just as he did in 2018. He faces an uphill climb no matter how you look at it. Not only would he be running in a presidential year that could see Trump who won the state by 39 points in 2020 atop the ballot for Republicans, but he would likely be doing so against sitting Gov. Jim Justice (R). All of that is a recipe for trouble, which Democrats readily acknowledge even though they refuse to discount Manchins ability to connect with the electorate. West Virginia is the one that worries us the most, said John LaBombard, a former top aide to Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), and a Democratic strategist with ROKK Solutions. Its hard for anyone to make the decision to run again when the path is so challenging. Even for Sen. Manchin, it would be a challenging path. I would not count him out, LaBombard cautioned. I think people make the mistake of betting against Manchin. According to a survey taken last month, Justice holds big leads over Manchin in a general election match-up and Rep. Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.) in the primary, and Republicans could not feel more bullish about him. Justice is a juggernaut, one GOP operative said, wishing those challenging him good luck. Montana Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) is awaiting his eventual GOP challenger in a push for a fourth term next year, with questions surrounding whether Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) will end up launching a second consecutive bid for the seat. Tester faces many of the same potential issues as Manchin: a tough environment with Trump atop the GOP ticket and a deep red state that forces him to rely on the support of independents and some Republicans on top of his Democratic base. The big difference for Tester is the unpredictability of his GOP opponent. National Republicans have thrown their full weight behind businessman Tim Sheehy, who they argue is uniquely set to take on Tester. But in order to do that, hell have to defeat Rosendale if the conservative follows through with a statewide run that hes been teasing for months. Political watchers argue that time is running low on Rosendale to launch a bid, especially considering that Sheehy has been up on the airwaves since July. Is he ever actually going to announce? the GOP operative said. Like, what are we doing here? 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 Morning Report newsletter Adding to the questions is Rosendales latest dalliance with the political spotlight after it emerged that he clamored for a small House GOP majority angering many Republicans and voted with seven others to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from his post. Rosendales battles with McCarthy have not helped his fundraising. He posted a paltry $334,000 in the third quarter, a total dwarfed by both Tester, who raised more than $5 million, and Sheehy, who raised $2.8 million. Rosendale has signaled he believes he has time to make a decision. He said in a recent interview that he is ready to greenlight a run as late as the states filing deadline in March. Were still making considerations. Im pleased [with] the support that I have across the state. I cant ignore that. But its a very big decision, he told The Hill. Weve got plenty of time to make that decision. Ive got plenty of time. I mean, I truly do. Ohio Rounding out the holy trinity of Senate contests this cycle, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is gearing up for what is expected to be the toughest contest of his career. Brown won his 2012 and 2018 contests by 6 and 7 percentage points, respectively, but is likely looking at a much closer affair this time around as he grapples with a state that has grown decidedly more red since he last faced the voters. The incumbent Democrat is doing his part, posting a $5.8 million fundraising quarter, but he is running into major headwinds. Unlike the last time he ran in a presidential year when then-President Obama won the state Brown will have to do the heavy lifting, as Democrats believe it is unlikely President Bidens operation will devote major resources to the state. Who Brown will face is a major question. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R), state Sen. Matt Dolan (R) and businessman Bernie Moreno are battling it out for the Republican nod. Dolan and Moreno each reported roughly $4 million raised in the third quarter, including $3 million from their own pockets. LaRose is the lone non-self-funder on the GOP side, prompting questions over whether he can keep pace with the two financially. None of the three are giving Republicans boatloads of confidence heading into one of the cornerstone contests on the map. This is the problem with having a bunch of B- and C-tier candidates, the GOP operative said. Brown will never be comfortable in his election cycle, and he has no right to be comfortable in a state Trump will win by 6 to 8 points, the operative continued. But the reality is hes probably got the best draw of all these super vulnerable candidates no matter which of these three Republicans make it out. Arizona Perhaps the most enigmatic Senate contest became a little more clear last week when Kari Lake rolled out her campaign, likely cementing the GOP nomination in the fight for Sinemas seat. The main question on the GOP side is whether Lakes rebrand is real or not. During her launch event early last week, Lake sounded like a different candidate from the one during and after her losing 2022 gubernatorial bid that commonly featured talk about a stolen election and Lake infamously telling McCain Republicans in the state to get the hell out. Instead, she extended an olive branch to Bidens supporters as she seeks to broaden her base of support. I dont think youre a threat to democracy. You are a citizen just like me, Lake said. And I know youre struggling as well. Were all struggling theres not a gas pump out there for Republicans and one for Democrats. According to sources, some Republicans are buying into it for now and cite a more buttoned up operation than the shoestring one she ran in 2022. Shes taking that very seriously. Shes focusing on the main thing and sprinting toward victory, a second GOP operative said, adding that includes building support from Arizonans and no more virtue signaling to people in Washington. A source familiar with strategy at the National Republican Senatorial Committee said that it has not ruled out endorsing her. However, her path to victory could be much more different if Sinema continues on course with an independent bid against her and Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.). I cant guarantee anything. Its crazy, LaBombard said of a possible three-way race. Pennsylvania Unlike any of the other states on this list, the GOP at almost every level has unified behind David McCormick in his second run in as many cycles to take on Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) next year. McCormick made his bid official last month and has quickly coalesced the party behind him, including the entire delegation of House Republicans and the state party, both of which endorsed him shortly after his announcement. Republicans believe McCormick is a far superior candidate to the one that failed against Mehmet Oz last year and that he has cleaned things up where they needed to be. He understands what went wrong last time, the first GOP operative said. Casey is better than the average Pennsylvania Democrat, but Daves not going to have a resource problem. If he is able to effectively get his message right and not be pulled in too many directions like he was last time, this is a state thats going to come down to tens of thousands of votes on the presidential level, and we know its possible that you can split tickets in Pennsylvania to the degree that he would need to. The operative said that McCormicks ideal scenario is the map that put former Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) across the finish line in 2016: outperform Trump in the suburbs and hold serve where the ex-president is strong throughout the reddest parts of the state. However, taking on Casey is a massive challenge for Republicans, and one that has not been successful ever since he knocked off former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), formerly the No. 3 Senate Republican, in 2006. The three-term senator has notched resounding victories in each of his reelection bids. A recent Quinnipiac poll shows this might happen again, with Casey leading by a 6 point margin 50 percent to 44 percent over the former Bridgewater Associates CEO. Emily Brooks contributed. Updated at 8:38 a.m. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Senators return to Washington this week feeling completely flummoxed by the turmoil in the House and with no clear idea of whether House Republicans will elect a Speaker anytime soon. Republican senators have called on their House colleagues to unify behind a Speaker as quickly as possible, but that plea has fallen flat. Instead, House conservatives immediately undermined House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) after he secured the House GOP conferences nomination with 113 votes. The House GOP on Friday selected the man initially defeated by Scalise, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), as its new Speaker-designate. But dozens of Republicans say theyll oppose his nomination on the floor, some of them embittered at the treatment of Scalise. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Senate aides and strategists say the leadership vacuum raises doubts about Congresss ability to pass aid for Israel or Ukraine or to keep the government funded beyond Nov. 17. And Senate Republicans fear the ongoing chaos in the House could hurt their chances of taking back the Senate and White House by raising questions about their ability to govern. Vin Weber, a GOP strategist and former member of the House leadership, said Scalises inability to secure 218 votes to become Speaker after winning the nomination behind closed doors is a real ominous sign for the conference. In previous elections, once a majority of House Republicans backed a Speaker candidate, they would bring the nomination to the floor and generally back it. I definitely think this on the verge of really hurting Republicans reputation in terms of our ability to run the House of Representatives and to govern, he said. A Senate GOP aide said senators are rattled by the train wreck on the other side of the Capitol. Theyre so glad theyre not in the House, the source quipped. Its not good. Its not helpful, the aide said. Now more than ever, we all need to be strong and put on a united front for Israel and to protect our allies. The sooner the House can handle its business, the better for everybody. Congresss consideration of spending bills has been put on hold until the House sorts out its leadership structure. I think Republican senators are horrified with whats going on in the House, because the House leadership fight has ground all work to a halt. If youre a senator in leadership, looking at the House leadership, youre feeling pretty good about yourself right now, because the Senate doesnt have anywhere near the same problems getting things done, said Brian Darling, a GOP strategist and former Senate aide. The House doesnt have a functioning leadership right now. Theres no end in sight, he added. Theres just no endgame. How do you get out of this situation? Senate Democrats arent eager to take a bunch of politically tough votes on amendments to spending bills when they dont have the faintest idea who will be leading the year-end spending negotiations for the House. Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.D.) helped clear the final Republican holds on a Senate-drafted minibus appropriations package before the recess, but the Senate is scheduled to vote on nominees instead when it reconvenes Monday. GOP senators predicted before the recess that McCarthys ouster would be a blip, as long as House Republicans replaced him quickly. But the paralysis in the House threatens to last a while longer, putting the spotlight on deep divisions in their party. 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 12:30 Report newsletter Senators are usually loath to give their colleagues in the House political advice, knowing that House lawmakers dont appreciate the upper chamber sticking its nose into their business. But Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) emphasized before the Columbus Day recess that the House GOP needed to find a successor to McCarthy as soon as possible. We need to get a Speaker and hopefully well get one by next week, he told reporters Oct. 4. More than 10 days later, the House doesnt appear any closer to finding someone who can win the 218 votes needed on the floor. Former President Trump threw a wrench into Scalises bid to become leader by questioning his fitness for the job while he undergoes treatment for blood cancer. Steve is a man that is in serious trouble from the standpoint of his cancer. I mean, hes got to get better for himself. Im not talking about even country now. Im saying got to get better. And this is tremendous stress, Trump told Fox News Radio. Darling said Trumps comments gave political cover for House lawmakers to oppose Scalise. That really hurt Scalises chances because it give cover to many of the opponents to Scalise to vote against him and to continue to oppose his Speakership, he said. McConnell warned after the 2022 midterm elections that Republican candidates underperformed among independents and among moderate Republicans because they looked at us and concluded [there was] too much chaos, too much negativity. Weber said Republican senators know the infighting in the House could impact their odds of regaining the Senate majority. First of all, theyre glad they have Mitch McConnell and, second of all, they worry because they know the damage to the Republican Partys reputation is not likely to be limited to the House of Representatives, he said. Its going to hurt the whole party, and that includes the Senate and their chances of taking back the majority, which ought to be excellent, he said, alluding to the favorable electoral map in 2024, when Democrats will have to defend 23 Senate seats. A CNN/SSRS poll published Thursday showed that the publics views of the Republican Party and its congressional leaders have deteriorated since conservative rebels voted to fire McCarthy. Only 26 percent of Americans, according to the poll, approve of the way Republican leaders in Congress are handling their jobs a 6-point drop compared to January, when 32 percent of Americans said they approved of the way GOP leaders in Congress were doing their work. The poll of 1,255 respondents, conducted from Oct. 4-9, found that 35 percent of the public approve of the way Democratic leaders in Congress are handling their jobs. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The World Health Organization (WHO) said Sunday it sent medical supplies to Lebanon amid escalating clashes near its border with Israel. The shipments arrived in Beirut on Sunday and include enough surgical and trauma medicines and supplies for an estimated 800 to 1,000 patients, WHO said in a statement. The delivery comes in the wake of increasing violence between Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon, and Israel over the past week. Pointing to Lebanons crippled health care system, WHO said the country is already faced with a shortage of specialized health workers, medicine and medical equipment. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Israeli military on Monday ordered the evacuation of residents in northern Israel living near the Lebanese border to state-funded guesthouses. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Israel Defense Forces said the evacuation was approved by Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant and will impact 28 communities. Hezbollah and Israel exchanged fire multiple times over the past eight days, after Palestinian militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza, launched attacks on Israeli villages, farms and military outposts last week in a bloody assault that targeted civilians and left more than 1,300 dead. Hezbollah claimed last Sunday it fired off guided rockets and artillery to show it stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people. Further exchanges later in the week killed three Hezbollah fighters and damaged several homes in southern Lebanon, the group claimed. In the wake of such violence, WHO said it is working with the Ministry of Public Health in Lebanon to strengthen preparedness and readiness for a potential increase in casualties. WHO has called for an end to the ongoing violence in both the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. WHO reiterates its plea for the protection of civilians, health workers and health infrastructure, and ultimately, for an end to hostilities and violence, the organization wrote on Sunday. Hezbollah fought a five-week war with Israel in 2006. The U.S. and its allies fear the militant group will exploit Israels war with Hamas to initiate a second front in the conflict. An Israeli military spokesperson last week warned of very severe consequences if Hezbollah joined the rising conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis is deepening in the Gaza Strip as hospitals warn they are on the verge of collapse due to Israels siege on food, water and medical supplies. A United Nations agency on Sunday warned Gaza is running out of life after Israel cut off supplies to Gaza and ordered over 1.1 million people to move south in advance of an expected ground assault on the territory. At least 2,670 Palestinians have died in the conflict, with an additional 9,600 others wounded, the Gaza Health Ministry said Sunday. The death toll has surpassed that of the 2014 Gaza war, which lasted over six weeks. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. KUNMING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- On Monday morning, two cold-chain freight trains carrying fruits and vegetables left southwest China's Yunnan Province for Laos and Vietnam respectively, marking the launch of international cold-chain train services on China-Laos, China-Vietnam routes. The two maiden train trips, which began from Yanhe Station of Yuxi City, Yunnan, are expected to reach the Laos capital, Vientiane, and Vietnam's Lao Cai after about a day's trip. Currently, one trip is scheduled daily from Kunming of Yunnan to Vientiane for the China-Laos international cold-chain freight train service, while one trip a week service is scheduled between Kunming and Lao Cai. The transport frequency of the services will be adjusted according to customer needs in the future, said the service operator, China Railway Kunming Bureau Group Co., Ltd. The new cold-chain logistic services are expected to inject impetus into the common prosperity and high-level opening up along the railway routes, said Tao Qiang, deputy director of the company's cargo transport department. European leaders urged dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia after a recent spike in tensions, as a regional Balkan summit opened Monday in the Albanian capital Tirana. Following the killing of a Kosovo police officer and three Serb gunmen in clashes in Kosovo's volatile north, simmering friction escalated to the highest level in years. "It is time to overcome conflicts that have continued for far too long," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told the summit. "The recent escalation of the situation in north Kosovo has proven just how important that is". On the eve of the event, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen urged Belgrade and Pristina to return to a Brussels-sponsored dialogue on normalisation of ties. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "This is the way towards a future where Kosovo and Serbia will be part of the European Union," she said in Tirana on Sunday. But Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic will not attend this year's edition of the annual summit. He travelled instead to Beijing for the Belt and Road Forum, where he is due to sign a free trade agreement with China. Serbia's Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, however is present in Tirana. On the agenda at the meeting are discussions around a greater convergence with the European Union and "supporting ecological and digital transition" in the region. During the one-day meeting, leaders are also expected to ratify an agreement on the mutual recognition of professional qualifications, and announce the opening of a College of Europe campus in Tirana. - Regional tensions - Monday's meeting is the 9th summit of the Berlin Process, launched in 2014 by then-German chancellor Angela Merkel. The Berlin Process aims to promote political dialogue, cooperation and reconciliation between six West Balkan countries -- Albania, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. It is also a space to foster closer ties with the EU -- with nine member states including France and Germany involved in the annual summit. Hungary, the Netherlands, Romania and Spain are also joining this year, at the invitation of Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama. Last year's meeting produced several agreements on free movement and residence in the region, as well as the recognition of university and certain professional qualifications. Von der Leyen also announced a one-billion-euro ($1.1 billion) energy support plan. "The Berlin process in the past decade has produced a lot of agreements, but little follow up," said Florian Bieber from the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG). "In Vienna, in 2015, the foreign ministers of all six countries signed a declaration to not have bilateral disputes stand in the way of the EU path," he added. But despite pledging to resolve their disagreements, the countries have put no monitoring mechanism in place, said Bieber, meaning that their disputes "continue to bedevil the region." In the aftermath of recent tensions, Kosovo's government displayed a large arsenal of weapons and equipment and accused the government in Belgrade of backing Serb gunmen in clashes in the volatile north. "We've got plenty to do," said an advisor to French President Emmanuel Macron, "with concerns about both Serbia and Kosovo, as well as Bosnia". Macron is due to arrive on Monday evening and will stay in Albania on Tuesday for bilateral meetings. "In terms of Kosovo and Serbia, we can see that Vucic's absence is a clear sign of the lack of good will," which could risk isolating Belgrade internationally, said political researcher Katarina Radic. "When we come back home from Tirana on Monday I'm sceptical that Serbia or the region will be any different to what we have today," she added. cbo-fff/ljv/jm FILE - In this June 17, 2018, file photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, people who've been taken into custody related to cases of illegal entry into the United States, sit in one of the cages at a facility in McAllen, Texas. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Rio Grande Valley Sector via AP, File) SAN DIEGO (AP) A settlement filed Monday in a long-running lawsuit over the Trump administrations separation of parents and their children at the border bars the government from similar separations for eight years while also providing benefits like the ability for their parents to come to America and work, according to the Biden administration. The settlement between the Biden administration and the American Civil Liberties Union, which has been representing families separated from their children, still has to be approved by the judge. But if finalized, it would make it much more difficult for any administration including former President Donald Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, to revive one of his most controversial tactics to halt immigration at the southern border if he wins next years election. It is our intent to do whatever we can to make sure that the cruelty of the past is not repeated in the future. We set forth procedures through this settlement agreement to advance that effort, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told The Associated Press. The Trump administration separated thousands of children from their parents or guardians they were traveling with as it moved to criminally prosecute people for illegally crossing the southwestern border. Minors could not be held in criminal custody with their parents. They were transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services and then typically sent to live with a sponsor, often a relative or someone else with a family connection. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Faulty tracking systems by U.S. officials caused many to be apart for an extended time or never reunited with their parents. Facing strong opposition, Trump eventually reversed course in 2018, days before a judge put a halt to the practice after a lawsuit brought by the ACLU. During a CNN town hall earlier this year, Trump didnt rule out once against separating families. Lee Gelernt, lead counsel for the ACLU, praised the settlement. This settlement means that babies and toddlers will finally get to see their parents after years apart and that these suffering families will have an opportunity to seek lawful status. It also crucially bars an attempt by a future administration to reenact another family separation policy, said Gelernt. Nothing can make these families whole again but this is at least a start. President Joe Biden issued an executive order on his first day in office to reunite families. According to figures released by the Department of Homeland Security in February, 3,881 children were separated from their families from 2017 to 2021. About 74% of those have been reunited with their families: 2,176 before a Biden administration task force was created and 689 afterward. Hundreds of families sued the federal government, seeking both monetary damages and policy changes. This settlement filed in federal court in San Diego does not include monetary damages. But it does provide key benefits including authorization for parents of separated children to come to the U.S. under humanitarian parole for three years and work in the U.S. The families receive some help with housing and medical and behavioral health benefits designed to address some of the trauma associated with the separations. Mayorkas described how he'd met with a woman who had been separated from her daughter and how after they had been reunited, her daughter still struggled with the experience. We need to help these families heal. And that is an obligation that we carry because of the pain that we inflicted upon them, he said. Theyll also get access to legal services which will be vital as they may file asylum applications to stay in the United States on a permanent basis. The settlement also waives the usual one-year timeline limiting when someone can apply for asylum, and the parents can apply even if they were previously denied, Gelernt said. A special team of supervisors will review their cases. Some of these benefits were already available to families under a Biden-administration created task force designed to reunite separated families. But Gelernt said the settlement goes beyond the task forces purview in key ways such as the asylum assistance. The settlement also bars future separations, which the task force did not, and Gelernt said a future administration could have disbanded the task force whereas the settlement is binding. Under the settlement, it would still be possible to separate children at the border from their parents or guardians, but under limited scenarios, as has been the case for many years. They include if the child is being abused or the parent committed a much more serious crime than crossing the border illegally. The settlement requires the government to keep detailed documentation when it does separate children from parents so as to avoid the chaos that erupted during the Trump-era family separations where parents and children could not be reunited. At one point in 2021, the administration was negotiating a possible payout of hundreds of thousands of dollars to each parent and child who was separated. Word leaked on negotiations and produced a political backlash. Now that the government and the ACLU have agreed on a settlement plan, the judge will hold a hearing to decide whether to accept it. Before that, people opposed to the settlement can raise objections to the judge. ___ Santana reported from Washington. Talks aimed at reaching a settlement in a long-running case brought by 184 Nairobi-based Facebook moderators against the platform's owner Meta have broken down. The moderators, who filtered out violent and graphic content, allege they were laid off for organising a union. They were made redundant from Sama, a local subcontractor. Sama has previously told the BBC it has no opposition to unionisation. The moderators are suing Meta, Sama and another outsourcing firm, Majorel. Meta uses artificial intelligence to help spot and remove graphic Facebook content, but it also still relies on thousands of human workers to spot problematic posts. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Several moderators have spoken out about the traumatising nature of the content they worked to filter out of people's feeds, for which they were paid about $630 (515) per month, according to Sama. One moderator involved in the legal action told the BBC of his distress at seeing a video in which a man took his own life in the presence of a child. Sama has always maintained it provided good salaries in local terms, as well as mental health support. In an interview with the BBC in August, the chief executive of the firm, Wendy Gonzalez, denied it had any opposition to unionisation, saying it was "not a concern". The BBC has approached Sama for comment. In total 260 moderators were laid off when Sama ended its contract with Meta. The 184 moderators bringing the legal action allege that they were laid off in retaliation for complaints about working conditions and attempts to form a union. They also allege they were unfairly refused work at Majorel, the contractor chosen to take on the African moderation work after Sama's exit. But on Monday it emerged that Meta's work with Majorel will not be going ahead. "A recent court order means it is not possible for Meta to start planned content moderation work with Majorel in Kenya," Meta told the BBC. It blamed a court order resulting from the case which banned the firm starting any planned content moderation work with other contractors while the legal action continued. "We remain committed to Africa, and our content review work in local languages, so we're exploring options with our partners who have a presence on the continent to ensure that we can continue to help keep people safe on our platforms," the company said. Majorel told the BBC: "Unfortunately, and after careful consideration, today we notified approximately 200 of our employees in Nairobi of the commencement of a potential redundancy process." But it said it remained committed to helping Kenya develop as a "premier destination" for digital outsourcing. Serious talks In August, the parties involved were ordered to pursue an out-of-court settlement through mediation. That has now failed, meaning that the legal case will continue, though the judge urged the parties to continue with "serious engagement" ahead of the next hearing on 31 October. Lawyers for the moderators accused Meta of not being committed to the negotiations. "If they are willing to seriously engage then we are always happy to continue," their lawyer Mercy Mutemi said. Martha Dark of the campaign group Foxglove, which is supporting the litigation, said: "Meta's timewasting has forced them to go back to court." But Meta's lawyer argued that the parties had been making progress in the talks, while Sama's lawyers said there had been eight to 10 meetings, and said it was untrue there was no serious effort to reach an agreement. Meta faces other legal challenges in Kenya. In February, a Kenyan court ruled that Meta could be sued by ex-moderator Daniel Motaung over claims of poor working conditions. Meta also faces legal action in Nairobi concerning allegations its algorithm helped fuel the viral spread on social media of hate and violence during Ethiopia's civil war. A new shark species has been discovered within a rock layer at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky, according to the National Park Service. The new species of petalodont, or "petal-toothed" shark, was discovered within the Ste. Genevieve Formation at Mammoth Cave after several small spoon-like teeth were discovered in the cave wall and ceiling. The findings were announced Wednesday during National Fossil Day, a day to celebrate and promote the scientific and educational values of fossils. We are excited to finally announce the discovery of our first new shark species at Mammoth Cave on NFD, Mammoth Cave National Park Superintendent Barclay Trimble said. Teams of geologists, paleontologist, park staff, and volunteers have been hard at work deep inside the cave identifying and collecting fossils since the paleontological resources inventory began in 2019. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "Their important research allows us to better understand the scope, significance, distribution, and management issues associated with the fossil record found within Mammoth Cave," he said. The name Strigilodus tollesonae, or "Tolleson's Scraper Tooth," was bestowed on the discovery in honor of Mammoth Cave National Park guide Kelli Tolleson, who provided outstanding field support for the paleontological resource inventory, officials said. Tolleson discovered many important fossil localities through her work and led expeditions to the fossil sites which were located in several remote locations within the park. Mammoth Cave National Park will celebrate the Strigilodus tollesonae discovery and other types of fossils found within the cave system on Monday. During their celebration, paleontologists, educators and park guides will present fossil-related activities to highlight the scientific and educational value of paleontology and the importance of preserving fossils for future generations. More information about the Mammoth Cave event will be released closer to the event date. This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: New ancient shark species discovered in KY's Mammoth Cave Alex Chalk, the Justice Secretary, has pledged to send fewer low-level offenders to prison and make them clean up graffiti and plant forests instead - Christopher Furlong/Getty Images Short sentences are very rarely successful and keeping criminals out of prison can benefit their victims, the chief executive of the Magistrates Association has said. Tom Franklin said he welcomed the prospect of increased community punishments expected to be included in new sentencing reforms outlined in Parliament on Monday. Writing in The Telegraph, Alex Chalk, the Justice Secretary, pledged to pursue Texan-style justice by sending fewer low-level offenders to prison and making them clean up graffiti and plant forests instead. Texas has carried out a series of reforms to reduce sentencing verdicts for non-violent offenders in the US state and promote probation and drug rehabilitation as alternatives to prison. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The changes are aimed at tackling the overcrowding crisis in prisons after figures published last week showed the incarcerated population of England and Wales had hit a record high of 88,225 - leaving just 557 spaces available. Speaking to BBC Radio 4s Today programme, Mr Franklin stressed magistrates would only jail criminals as a last resort and insisted more community sentence options and availability were needed. Short sentences very rarely are successful largely because people very often dont get the support they need in prison to reform themselves, he said. Non-custodial sentences can be a very good option because they can help both the victim of crime but also the offender in terms of rehabilitation as well. The reoffending rate for criminals who spend fewer than 12 months in prison is over 50 per cent, more than double the overall rate. Mr Chalk said: A short stretch of a few months inside isnt enough time to rehabilitate criminals, but is more than enough to dislocate them from the family, work and home connections that keep them from crime. Too often, offenders routinely turn back to crime as soon as they walk out of the prison gates. Under the reforms, judges and magistrates will operate under a presumption that criminals such as thieves and shoplifters facing shorter jail terms should instead be handed robust community sentences designed to rehabilitate them. Anyone guilty of sexual or violent offences will be excluded from the scheme. Mr Franklin added that magistrates were further hampered by a shortage of probation officers which meant reports handed to them to advise on sentencing were often sub-par and not up to quality. In August, the Ministry of Justice mistakenly revealed staffing levels in prisons and probation service were approaching dangerously low levels. The remarks emerged on a Government website as part of an 8 million year-long contract awarded to a London company and showed a third of regions in England and Wales have fewer than 80 per cent of the necessary probation officers. 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. Land has been cleared in the Carolina Forest along River Oaks Drive next to the homes-for-rent community The Grove at Village Oaks. A new single-family home community is coming to the Carolina Forest area, and the location already has a name. Called Traditions at Carolina Forest, the neighborhood is being built by Chesapeake Homes, a company with communities throughout the Carolinas and Virginia, although construction has not started. Chesapeake Homes did not return a request for comment. The land itself is not owned by Chesapeake Builders though. Banbury SC, LLC purchased the plot of land for $7.4 million in 2020, although the property itself is now worth $5.3 million, according to Horry County Land Records. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Banbury SC, LLC sold another undeveloped property next to the future home of the Traditions at Carolina Forest to Banbury Rental SC, LLC for $2.2 million in March 2021. Both Banbury companies were registered in South Carolina by the agent Corporation Service Company. Corporation Service Company is a Delaware-based company that helps other businesses with corporate services and management. Sir Ian McKellen, a gay man whos considered one of the greatest actors of his generation, recently gave a wide-ranging interview in which he said hes not interested in a relationship at his age and on another topic, that hes worried about LGBTQ+ rights being rolled back. McKellen, 84, is appearing in London in Ben Weatherills play Frank and Percy, about two older men who fall in love during their meetings in a park. It costars Roger Allam, who is straight, and is directed by Sean Mathias, who was once in a relationship with McKellen. In a joint interview of McKellen and Allam, British magazine Attitude asked McKellen if theres romance in his life. No, I dont think there is, he replied. But like my 91-year-old friend who came to see this play, youd hope, wouldnt you? I have crushes on people. I wouldnt call it falling in love. But I dont want them to move in, thank you very much. Ive got it all sorted, thank you. And Ive got these nice gay friends who live just through the wall I can see them anytime I want. Im not looking for a domestic partner. I wouldnt want word to go around. Allam, 69, interjected, There would be queues, darling! ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Do you think so? McKellen responded. At my age and actually at any age you can get by without sex. A lot of people do. As to whether he stays in touch with former lovers, he said, There havent been that many of them. I made the mistake of breaking up with one and not seeing him for 20 years. Ridiculous. I tried to make up for it. McKellen came out in 1988 in response to U.K. legislation that barred local governments and schools from promoting homosexuality. He has been a staunch activist ever since. The law was repealed in 2003. When asked about the possibility of such legislation coming up again, he said, If youd asked me that six hours ago, Id have said no. But I talked to [cofounder of LGBTQ+ rights group Stonewall] Michael Cashman, and he says things arent looking good. There are going to be restrictions on discussions about gender which you may or may not have, which is to disadvantage trans people. If they think theyre going to get votes by doing that, I think theyre sadly mistaken I hope its too late now, that schools have reversed and follow the law and do not discriminate on the grounds of sexuality. Thats the law of the land. But I suppose that law could be tweaked, and that would be dreadful. But he added, I think governments who are trying to put things in reverse will find it very difficult. I think there would be revolutions in the streets, frankly. On LGBTQ+ content in schools, McKellen mentioned that he was recently speaking at a school to an audience of 7- to 13-year-olds, after expecting hed have an audience of older students. He asked the teacher if it would be OK to talk about being gay, and the teacher said it was no problem. Absolutely normal in that school, McKellen recalled. A boy came up to me and went, You know my parents, David and Elton! If youve got Elton Johns son as a playmate, its not going to be a problem for you to know Elton lives with a man and not a woman! He said that at one time, a play like Frank and Percy wouldnt have been produced or at least wouldnt have been well received. Now a perfectly straight audience is happy to take on the joy of watching two old guys make fools of themselves and fall in love, he said. They love it. Even 10 years ago, you couldnt have expected that. The worlds moved on. Of course, I do think theatre audiences are probably the vanguard of social change. The British Broadcasting Corporation Six British citizens have been killed in Hamas's attack on Israel and a further 10 are missing, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said. Mr Sunak called the attack a "pogrom", adding the UK must "support absolutely Israel's right to defend itself". The families of some of the missing were in Parliament watching his statement. Mr Sunak confirmed the UK was providing an additional 10m in humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people. "The elderly, men, women, children, babes in arms, murdered, mutilated, burned alive," Mr Sunak said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "We should call it by its name: it was a pogrom." The term "pogrom" refers to violent and organised attacks against Jews, and is particularly associated with pre-Second World War eastern Europe. Mr Sunak told MPs the UK had so far organised eight flights out of Israel for 500 British citizens with more expected to leave on Monday. "We stand with you, we stand with Israel," Mr Sunak said to the families of the missing watching from the public gallery. The prime minister added that the UK had spoken to Egypt about opening the Rafah crossing on the Egypt-Gaza border. Palestinians have been gathering at the crossing in the southern Gaza Strip in the hope of leaving ahead of an expected Israeli ground offensive. Hamas gunmen infiltrated Israel just over a week ago, killing more than 1,400 people. More than 2,700 people in Gaza have been killed in retaliatory strikes by Israel, which is also blocking fuel, water, food and medical supplies from entering the territory. Mr Sunak also told MPs that extra government funding has been allocated to protect Jewish institutions in the UK. It comes as the Metropolitan Police says there has been a "massive increase" in antisemitic incidents in London following Hamas's attacks in Israel on 7 October. Mr Sunak said he was "sickened" that such incidents had increased, adding: "We are doing everything we can to protect you. "This atrocity was an existential strike at the very idea of Israel as a safe homeland for the Jewish people." He also addressed the British Muslim community who he said was "appalled" by Hamas's actions, but "fearful" of the response by Israel in Gaza. "Hamas is using innocent Palestinian people as human shields," he said. "We mourn the loss of every innocent life, civilians of every faith, every nationality who have been killed. "And so, let's say it plainly, we stand with British Muslim communities too." The further 10m in humanitarian aid will be provided to civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, up from the 27m existing funding this year. "An acute humanitarian crisis is unfolding to which we must respond, we must support, because they are victims of Hamas too," Mr Sunak said. Addressing MPs, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said that civilians "must not be targeted" and called for humanitarian corridors to be opened to allow the supply of food, water and electricity to the Gaza Strip. Germany's new immigration law is making it easier for foreign workers to move there The first stages of a new law that will make it easier for skilled workers from outside the EU to move to Germany are expected to come in November. The German government gave its final approval for the law in July this year. It is expected to come into force in three steps in November 2023, March 2024 and June 2024. The new law aims to attract skilled foreign workers and combat labour shortages in the country. The plans to modernise the country's immigration legislation are expected to make it easier for third-country nationals to work in Germany. It could increase the number of non-EU workers in Germany by 60,000 per year. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The reforms to the Skilled Immigration Act particularly focus on workers with vocational, non-academic training. Existing rules for qualified professionals with university degrees will also be relaxed. Why is Germany changing its immigration policies? Like many countries in Europe, Germany is facing a shortage of skilled workers. In 2022, the country's labour shortage rose to an all-time high: the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) found 1.74 million vacant positions throughout Germany. In July last year, staff shortages affected almost half of all companies surveyed by Munich-based research institute IFO, forcing them to slow down their operations. It hopes to fill this gap with qualified professionals from outside the EU. But currently, red tape is slowing down the country's immigration process. During a press conference held at the Federal Office for Foreign Affairs (BfAA) on 17 January 2023, Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said modernising the visa process would mean turning it upside down. Together with Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, she emphasised removing bureaucracy and improving the digitisation and efficiency of the system. We know that we can only guarantee our future, the efficiency of our economy and the efficiency of our social security systems if we have enough skilled workers at our disposal, said Scholz. From within the European Union, that's not so difficult, because there is freedom of movement. With regard to the rest of the world, it is a greater challenge, he added. How does Germany plan to attract skilled foreign workers? Germany is hoping to combat its shortage of skilled workers with a new opportunity card. The chancenkarte will use a points-based system to enable workers with the required skills to come to Germany more easily. It is part of a strategy proposed by Labour Minister Hubertus Heil to address the countrys labour shortages and is aimed at people who do not yet have a work contract in Germany. The points-based system will take into account qualifications, professional experience, age, German language skills and ties to Germany such as family members in the country. Every year, quotas will be set depending on which industries need workers. Three out of four of the following criteria must also be met to apply for the scheme: A degree or vocational training Three years of professional experience Language skills or a previous stay in Germany 35 years old or younger Currently, most non-EU citizens need to have a job offer before they can relocate to Germany. A visa for job seekers already exists, but the 'chancenkarte' is expected to make it easier and faster for people looking to find work in Germany. Citizens of certain countries with visa agreements can already enter Germany for 90 days visa-free but are only permitted to take up short-term employment. The opportunity card will allow people to come and look for a job or apprenticeship while in the country rather than applying from abroad. Applicants must be able to prove they can afford to pay their living expenses in the meantime. The exact details of the scheme are yet to be formalised. The chancenkarte is not expected to be available until at least the end of 2023. What are the main changes to Germany's immigration policies? Firstly, the new system will make it easier for people with professional experience - rather than a university degree - to come and work in Germany. Secondly, Germany will become more open to job experience and professional qualifications that are recognised in workers' native countries. Currently, the country is strict about which qualifications it recognises. Thirdly, it will be easier for those without a job offer to seek work in Germany via the opportunity card. Qualified job seekers with degrees or vocational certificates will be allowed to stay in the country for one year as they search for employment. While looking for full-time employment, they will be permitted to work up to 20 hours per week. Rules will also be eased for those with a job offer and a recognised diploma. Salary thresholds will be lowered, it will be easier for workers to bring their families to Germany, and it will be easier to gain permanent residency. Which industries are worst hit by staff shortages in Germany? Germany is specifically seeking skilled craftspeople, electrical engineers, IT specialists, carers, nurses, catering and hospitality professionals. An IFO survey shows the service sector is the worst hit - especially the accommodation and event industries. This is followed by warehousing and storage, service providers, and manufacturing - particularly in the food, data processing equipment, machinery and metal manufacturing sectors. Many retail businesses, construction companies and wholesalers have also reported staff shortages. IT specialists with relevant job experience will receive EU Blue Cards even if they do not possess a university degree, according to German news channel DW. Other in-demand occupations listed on the government website include physicians and scientists. A shortage of metallurgy workers and builders has previously been reported. The pharmaceutical and chemical industries report the lowest shortage of skilled workers. The automotive and mechanical engineering industries are also suffering less than other sectors. CHICAGO Police charged a 71-year-old suburban Chicago man Sunday with a hate crime for fatally stabbing a 6-year-old boy and seriously wounding a 32-year-old woman, alleging he singled out both victims because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas. Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis, the Will County Sheriffs Office said in a statement posted to social media. Officers found both victims late Saturday morning at a home in an unincorporated area of Plainfield Township, roughly 40 miles southwest of Chicago. The boy, who was pronounced dead at the hospital, was stabbed 26 times with a large military-style knife, according to an autopsy Sunday, the sheriffs office said. The woman had more than a dozen stab wounds on her body. She remained hospitalized Sunday, but was expected to survive. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The man suspected of the crime was found Saturday outside sitting upright outside on the ground near the driveway of the residence with a cut on his forehead, police said. Various publications identified the man as Joseph M. Czuba. He was in custody Sunday and awaiting a court appearance. Police charged him with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crimes and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Authorities did not release the names of the deceased, but the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations planned a Sunday news conference with a family member and identified the victims as as Wadea Al-Fayoume, a Palestinian-American boy who had recently turned 6, and his mother Hanaan Shahin. They had lived on the ground floor of the house for two years, according to the organization, saying the suspect was their landlord. Citing text messages from the mother to the boys father, the suspect reportedly yelled, You Muslims must die! ahead of the stabbing, according to CAIR-Chicago. The Muslim civil liberties organization called the crime our worst nightmare, and part of a disturbing spike in hate calls and emails since the outbreak of violence in the Middle East. The Anti Defamation League, an organization that combats antisemitism, condemned the killing. "We're disgusted and horrified that a 6-year-old boy was murdered and his mother was severely injured in #Plainfield, IL, allegedly because they are Muslim. We express our condolences to the Muslim community and categorically reject all anti-Muslim hate," it said in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter. Chinese Premier Li Qiang holds talks with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 16, 2023. Ahmed is in Beijing to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation and pay an official visit to the country. (Xinhua/Liu Bin) BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Monday held talks with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who is in Beijing to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation and pay an official visit to the country. China-Ethiopia relations have developed at a high level in recent years, with deepening political mutual trust and fruitful mutually beneficial cooperation, Li said, noting that China is willing to work with Ethiopia to firmly support each other in maintaining domestic stability and achieving development and revitalization. China is ready to deepen cooperation with Ethiopia for solid progress in various fields and enrich the China-Ethiopia comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership to play an exemplary role in driving China-Africa cooperation and South-South cooperation, the premier said. He noted that China is willing to further expand practical cooperation in economy, trade and other fields, advance cooperation in infrastructure, communications connectivity and industrial park construction, and support Ethiopia's industrialization and agricultural modernization process. China will import more quality products from Ethiopia, support Chinese enterprises in investing and starting businesses in Ethiopia, and explore cooperation in green development, digital economy, artificial intelligence and other emerging fields, Li said. China stands ready to strengthen cooperation with Ethiopia within such multilateral frameworks as the BRICS mechanism to practice multilateralism, oppose power politics and bullying, and safeguard the common interests of China and Africa as well as international equity and justice, the premier said. Noting that China is Ethiopia's most trustworthy partner and friend, Ahmed extended appreciation for China's long-time and strong support for Ethiopia's economic and social development. Ethiopia always abides by the one-China principle and firmly supports China in safeguarding its core interests, he said. Ethiopia is willing to actively participate in the Belt and Road Initiative, learn from China's development experience, and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in industry, agriculture, infrastructure construction and other fields, Ahmed said. Chinese enterprises are welcome to invest and start businesses in Ethiopia, he said, adding that Ethiopia is ready to strengthen coordination and cooperation with China within the BRICS mechanism and the framework of China-Africa cooperation, and jointly promote South-South cooperation. Following the talks, Li and Ahmed witnessed the signing of a number of bilateral cooperation documents on Belt and Road cooperation, implementation of the Global Development Initiative, agriculture, culture, health, digital economy, green development, and urban and infrastructure construction. Chinese Premier Li Qiang holds a welcoming ceremony for Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed prior to their talks at the Northern Hall of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 16, 2023. Ahmed is in Beijing to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation and pay an official visit to the country. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin) Leaders of the left-populist SMER, social-democratic HLAS, and the ultranationalist Slovak National Party (SNS) had largely agreed on how to divide ministerial seats in the new government, Aktuality reported on Oct. 16. Robert Fico's SMER (Direction), which won the highest percentage of votes (22.9%) with a pro-Russian and socially conservative platform, is reportedly going to head defense, transport, finance, foreign affairs, justice, and agriculture departments, and Fico is to become the next prime minister. SMER's junior partner, HLAS (Voice), which ended up third in the Oct. 6 vote with 14.7%, will occupy the ministries of the interior, economy, labor, digitalization, education, health, and the position of deputy prime minister for the recovery and resilience plan and the use of EU funds. HLAS's leader, Peter Pellegrini , is also meant to chair the Slovak Parliament. The smallest of the three coalition partners, SNS with 5.6% of the votes, will reportedly be in charge of the environment, culture, and the new Ministry of Sport and Tourism, which is to be established next year. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Read also: Peter Tkacenko: Slovakia after election If not friend, certainly not enemy of Ukraine According to SNS's leader Andrej Danko, the layout of the new government is already agreed upon "at 80%." The parties' leaders did not reveal concrete candidates for the ministerial positions. As Aktualne pointed out, the candidates will still have to be approved by the internal bodies of the three respective parties and by President Zuzana Caputova. Senior members of both SMER and SNS expressed anti-Ukrainian and pro-Russian positions, and Fico said Bratislava would cease providing Kyiv with military aid. Shortly after the election, in which SMER beat its liberal, pro-EU challenger Progressive Slovakia (PS), Caputova refused to back further aid for Ukraine, explaining that the result of the elections must be respected. However, HLAS's Pellegrini said that his party, a more moderate break-away of SMER, would ensure Slovakia's foreign policy continuity. Notably, a part of the recent coalition agreement between the three political factions was a declaration that Bratislava would maintain its pro-EU, pro-NATO orientation. The three parties agreed to form a coalition government on Oct. 11, which is scheduled to replace the current Ukraine-friendly caretaker government. Read also: Opinion: Slovak election results threaten Europes united front Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. As a diplomatic row rages between India and Canada over the killing of a Sikh separatist near Vancouver, a video has been shared repeatedly with a false claim it shows a Canadian official announcing a ban on a right-wing Hindu nationalist group. However, the man in the video is in fact the head of a Muslim body in Canada and not an official. A Canadian government spokeswoman told AFP it had not banned the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The video was posted on September 21 on X, formerly known as Twitter, with the Hindi-language caption: "Canada has banned the RSS organisation with immediate effect. Should the same happen in India?" In the clip, a man calls for punitive measures to be taken against New Delhi, including outlawing the RSS, the expulsion of India's top diplomat in Canada and a freeze on trade negotiations. "We today call for the immediate banning of the RSS under the listing provisions in the criminal code and the removal of its agents from Canada," he says. A screenshot of the false post taken on October 5, 2023 The false claim surfaced after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in September that there were "credible reasons" to believe Indian government agents were involved in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh separatist, near Vancouver in June. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement India dismissed Trudeau's allegations as "absurd", tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions followed, and India stopped processing visa applications for Canadians, AFP reported (archived link). The RSS has historically played a major role in India's Hindu nationalist movement. It was banned by the Indian government three times for its alleged role in communal violence when the opposition Congress party was in power (archived link). Its latest ban was imposed in 1992 but lifted the following year when a court overturned the decision. Some of the major political leaders in India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party -- including Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- are members of the RSS (archived link). Similar claims about a Canadian ban on the RSS have been shared on Facebook including here and here. Not a government official A watermark from the TikTok channel of the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) can be seen in the video shared in the false posts. A search for the NCCM's TikTok channel reveals the video was published here on September 19 (archived link). This post identifies the man as NCCM head Stephen Brown and shows him appealing for action from the Canadian government "in response to the alleged assassination" of Nijjar. Below is a screenshot comparison between the video shared in one of the false posts (left) and the NCCM TikTok video (right): A screenshot comparison between the video shared in one of the false posts (left) and the NCCM TikTok video (right) A longer version of the video was also published here on the NCCM's official YouTube channel on September 20 (archived link). The clip in the false posts corresponds to the 5:45 mark in the longer video. Magali Deussing, a spokeswoman for the Canadian government's department of public safety, told AFP on September 29 that the man in the video "is not a government representative". "The RSS is not on the current list of terrorist entities," she added. She also shared a list of banned groups and individuals, which does not mention the RSS (archived link). Dr Jenifer Baxter says developers need to adopt technologies to tackle climate change Solar panels should be fitted on all new homes, major renovations and extensions in Wales, government advisers have urged. They want an immediate review of building regulations to order the use of renewable energy in the industry. The National Infrastructure Commission for Wales (NCIW) said big interventions were needed if 100% of electricity was to come from renewables by 2035. The Welsh government said it would carefully consider the recommendations. As of 2021, about 55% of Wales' electricity demand was being met from sources such as solar, wind or hydro. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement But this new report said ministers lacked a clear strategy for how to reach their own target, with progress on building new green energy schemes having slowed significantly in recent years. NICW's role is to advise on the strategic infrastructure needed over the next 80-year period. With powers over energy policy split between Cardiff Bay and Westminster, the experts acknowledged it was a "complex" area, but said the Welsh government could be doing more to provide leadership. Homes being built for housing association Adra come with a range of renewable energy features On housing, where control over building regulations has been in Wales' hands since the Senedd was set up, there is "little to demonstrate" that homes are being built to a more environmentally-friendly standard. The report said housebuilders should be forced to put in green technologies to cut greenhouse gas emissions and save people money on their energy bills. "We need to insulate ourselves - literally - from the troubles we've been having with fluctuating prices of gas and electricity," explained Nick Tune, a NICW commissioner who led the work. A climate-friendly cul-de-sac at Pen y Ffridd Road in Bangor, Gwynedd, has two and three-bedroom properties being built for housing association Adra which come complete with enhanced insulation, solar panels, air-source heat pumps and charge points for electric vehicles. "You're looking at maybe 20,000 more per property to install these measures," explained Adra's director of development Daniel Parry. Grants available for social housing made it a viable and attractive option for the company, but it would be "more challenging for the private sector" and would make those homes more expensive, he added. Daniel Parry says it costs 20,000 extra per property to add climate-friendly features Asked if stricter environmental standards might put developers off, Dr Jenifer Baxter, NICW's deputy chairwoman said: "We're currently living in a time where we've declared a climate and nature emergency. "What we expect is for all our developers... to use the technologies that contribute the minimum amount to poisoning the planet." Rules should also be reviewed to allow homeowners living in protected areas such as national parks to put in small-scale technologies like heat pumps without the need for planning permission, the report suggested. When it comes to wind and solar farms, the commissioners proposed that all new developments should be at least 10% community owned. They also call for the functions of the Crown Estate in Wales to be devolved, as has been the case in Scotland since 2016. This would means funds raised from leasing access to the seabed for large windfarms off the coast would be retained by the Welsh government rather than sent to the UK Treasury. Ministers across the UK should also set up a group to coordinate efforts to upgrade the grid network - with a lack of space for plugging in new schemes particularly in areas similar to mid Wales seen as a major barrier. Ifan Glyn, director of the Federation of Master Builders, Cymru, said "we absolutely support the concept that we need to decarbonise homes" but acknowledged there might be disagreements over how to achieve it. He added: "In our view the current Welsh government policy is a better one which is to set standards rather than be prescriptive in terms of the methods and the technologies being installed in our homes. "Having that kind of flexibility gives builders the ability to innovate." The Welsh government thanked NICW for its work on the report and said it would "consider the recommendations carefully". Arjun Thyagarajan and Raghav Lal, the co-founders of fintech startup Solid, are pushing back on Series B investor FTV Capital, which filed a lawsuit against the company to get its $61 million investment back. Solid offers companies a way to provide their own financial products, for example, banking, payments and cards. At the time private equity firm FTV invested in 2022, Solid was also offering cryptocurrency products. FTV Capitals suit, filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery and made public on October 2, claims, among other things, that Thyagarajan and Lal lied to FTV concerning the companys revenues, customer churn, and business generally and further deceived FTV. The private equity firm also claimed that both co-founders not only attempted to hide what they were doing, but also sent a cease and desist letter to their head of finance, who FTV said was sharing information with the firm. The firm also asked for Thyagarajan and Lal to resign. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement FTV Capital did not respond to repeated efforts for comment. Thyagarajan and Lal declined to resign and instead filed a countersuit on October 9 against FTV and its partner Robert Anderson. In it, they describe FTV as an aggressive private equity firm, and claim that the moment its investment was no longer profitable, [the firm was] resorting to made-up claims of fraud, threats and strong-armed tactics to try to get its money back. In an interview with TechCrunch, Thyagarajan and Lal say they opened Solids books for FTV to perform due diligence, which the private equity firm did for about two months. They admit that FTV came back saying that Solid had softer revenue and higher churn than it originally thought. However, the firm used that to renegotiate the terms of the investment, to which the co-founders agreed. According to Thyagarajan and Lal, the relationship began breaking down in November 2022 when the crypto winter was in full effect. With a significant portion of early-stage fintech as customers, Solid was impacted, Thyagarajan said. From November 2022 to about April or May 2023, it was not just a downturn in the market, but also a major drop in our revenue, he said. We knew that it's a dip, but we'd come back strong and with a focus on mid-sized companies and enterprise companies where we saw a clear need for fintech infrastructure. At the time TechCrunch reported on Solid's Series B in August 2022, Thyagarajan said the company grew 10x in revenue year over year. In addition, it had doubled its customers to 100 and became profitable. And year to date it had processed over $2 billion in transactions. That's all changed. Now over a year later, the amount of transactions processed increased up to $5.79 billion so far in 2023, the company insists however, its revenue is down 70% from the same time last year, mainly due to churned customers, according to Thyagarajan. Regarding the head of finance FTV claimed was providing information, Thyagarajan and Lal told TechCrunch that they let that person go for incompetence. Thyagarajan and Lal say FTVs claims are without merit because FTVs own diligence report shows that their allegations are completely baseless and incorrect. They also insist theres been no wrongdoing, on their part. A task force examining how South Dakota can best provide legal representation for people who cant afford it has issued a series of recommendations. The Indigent Legal Services Task Force, which met during the late spring and throughout the summer, has recommended three items it believes will start to address the issues counties face when providing indigent legal services from a lack of attorneys to the costs for the service. South Dakota is one of two states across the nation that requires counties to fund indigent legal services, according to the report. Recommendation: Create a statewide public defenders office and related commission The task force believes creating a statewide public defender's office that will focus on a number of appeals will reduce the pressure on counties. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The office, which would absorb $1.5 to $2 million of costs from counties, would focus on criminal, abuse and neglect and habeas appeals, according to the report. The office would be staffed by seven employees, including a chief public defender, four attorneys and two support staff, such as a paralegal and a secretary. The task force estimates the full cost of the office to the state would be $1.4 million. More: Funding, experience needed for court-appointed criminal defense services in South Dakota Additionally, the office would offer oversight for felony cases and abuse and neglect cases at the trial level, according to the report. Alongside the public defenders office would be a nine-member indigent defense commission that would be independent of the judiciary or the executive branch. While members would be appointed by the governor, the Legislature, the state bar and the state Supreme Court, the commission would act independently to oversee indigent legal services across the state. Commission members would be selected from tribal and citizen representation, as well as county government. They should have extensive experience in criminal proceedings or be committed to indigent services. Lawmakers would weigh the creation of the office and the commission during the 2024 Legislative session. Recommendation: Find alternative funding sources Currently, counties bear the brunt of costs when it comes to providing legal services for those who cant afford a lawyer. Counties spent more than $20 million in indigent legal services during 2022. Only about 3% of that was reimbursed from fees within the legal system. More: New South Dakota task force aims to better support attorneys defending residents in legal trouble The task force recommended ways to fund the shortfall but didnt endorse any of the 12 ideas. Creative ways to address the funding problem included requiring cities to contribute to costs when the crime is committed in the city, reallocating revenue from the alcohol excise tax to counties for use, and increasing the surcharge counties already get from court-appointed attorney reimbursements and abuse and neglect funds. Other recommendations included county-state partnership such as the state considering a one-time appropriation to offset costs or creating a reinvestment pool for counties to use when they exceed a baseline cost. The task force had the idea that counties could pursue federal grant funding for indigent legal services. More: Public defender recommendation wont provide relief to cash-strapped counties, legislator says Recommendation: Additional fact-finding The task force wants to contract with the Sixth Amendment Center, a group dedicated to fair legal representation for all, to create a fact-finding mission to use when discussing policy solutions. The Sixth Amendment Center had already been helping the task force by exploring what indigent legal services across the country look like and what states have done that South Dakota could use in the future. The study would also help the commission and the statewide public defenders office by informing their work. This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: South Dakota has 3 ideas to fund indigent legal services President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed Craters of the Moon a national monument in 1924. A decade later, the New Deal came to the monument. Emergency work relief programs improved visitor services by repairing buildings, roads, trails, and structures. Fast forward a century, and the Great American Outdoors Act National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund will provide more than $9 million in funding for infrastructure upgrades to the unique and fascinating Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve. The funding will also extend to the Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument and the Minidoka National Historic Site, providing critical enhancements to these exceptional and culturally significant destinations. In southern Idaho, where national parks play an essential role in preserving our history and boosting economies, these investments will have a transformative impact. As the superintendent of all three sites, this gives me great hope. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Legacy Restoration Fund is dedicated to improving infrastructure within national parks to enhance visitor experiences and preserve park resources. Supported by revenue from energy development, the Legacy Restoration Fund provides up to $1.3 billion per year for five years to the National Park Service to make significant repairs and improvements in national parks to ensure their preservation and provide opportunities for recreation, education, and enjoyment for current and future visitors. Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve stands as a testament to the forces that shaped our region with its lava flows and unique geological features. Through Legacy Restoration Fund funding, we are embarking on a mission to restore the parks aging utility building that was constructed in the 1930s and is part of the Mission 66 Historic District. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its preservation of iconic Mission 66 architecture last year. The park will also improve the equipment and dry storage building and related infrastructure. This Legacy Restoration Fund project goes beyond these structures by helping to ensure more comfortable working conditions for our hardworking staff. Additionally, the project prolongs the lifespan of National Park Service equipment, reduces operating costs, and positions us to better meet the increasing demands of visitors and offer outreach programs. Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument takes visitors on a journey to the Pliocene era. They can explore a world that was once home to prehistoric life. The scientific study of these fossils is instrumental in increasing our knowledge about this era. Legacy Restoration Fund funding will allow us to install a fire suppression system in the Maintenance Shop Paleontology Laboratory building. This upgrade helps ensure the safety of our team and protects irreplaceable fossil specimens, thus preserving our scientific heritage. Minidoka National Historic Site recalls a dark time when 13,000 Americans were unjustly and forcibly relocated to internment camps during World War II. Through Legacy Restoration Fund funding, we will improve the maintenance and resource management facility. This modernization supports our park workforce, while fostering collaboration through shared equipment resources. It also offers a workspace for carrying out preservation projects on historical buildings and landscapes within the site. All these vital projects preserve our heritage, ensure the well-being of employees and visitors, and provide opportunities for education and recreation. Southern Idahos national parks also strengthen our economy. These parks contributed $20 million in 2022. If you havent had the chance to explore these parks recently, I warmly invite you to discover the wonders of Craters of the Moon, delve into the world of fossils at Hagerman Fossil Beds, and immerse yourself in the history of Minidoka. By engaging in these experiences, you will witness firsthand how the Legacy Restoration Fund profoundly impacts our parks, communities, and shared heritage. These parks are here for you to enjoy, appreciate, and contribute towards their preservation. Lets build on the opportunities the Legacy Restoration Fund presents and safeguard these treasures so that, together, we can share these nationally significant places for generations to come. Wade Vagias serves as Superintendent for Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, and Minidoka National Historic Site in south-central Idaho. MADRID (Reuters) - A court in Barcelona that is investigating the use of Pegasus spyware to allegedly snoop on high-profile Catalan separatists has named Spain's former spy chief, Paz Esteban, a suspect and called her to testify, a court document showed on Monday. Canada's Citizen Lab group said last year that in the wake of a failed independence bid in 2017, more than 60 people linked to the Catalan separatist movement, including regional leader Pere Aragones and several of his predecessors, had been targeted by Pegasus, made by Israeli cyber-intelligence firm NSO Group. Urged to explain itself by Catalonia's pro-independence party ERC, a key government ally in parliament, the minority administration never acknowledged eaves-dropping on the Catalans and said the software had also been used to spy on its own members, without specifying who might have been behind it. The subsequent political unease led to the sacking of Esteban in May 2022. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Aragones, who was vice-president of the Catalan government at the time of the alleged spying, filed a complaint against her and NSO Group in June 2022, which the court accepted on Oct. 6, according to the document. The investigating judge called Esteban and Aragones to testify on Dec. 13. An investigation into the use of Pegasus to spy on Spanish politicians, including Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, and several ministers was shelved earlier this year due to a lack of cooperation from Israel. After an inconclusive election in July, the Socialist-led government remains in a caretaker capacity, while acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is seeking to win a new term in a parliamentary vote, for which he needs the support from Catalonia's two separatist parties. Failing that, Spain will likely need a repeat election early next year. (Reporting by Emma Pinedo, editing by Andrei Khalip and Christina Fincher) Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Ukraine is ready to establish cooperation with any future speaker of the US House of Representatives, without the election of which the US Congress cannot make decisions, including on assistance to Kyiv. Source: Kuleba on the air of the national 24/7 newscast, as reported by European Pravda Details: According to the Foreign Minister, the situation with the election of the speaker of the lower house of Congress "is just another moment that needs to be resolved in the interests of Ukraine, to find a solution that meets our interests, and this is what we are working on". Quote: "Whoever is elected speaker, we will work with him, and the necessary decisions will be made," he assured. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Kuleba believes that the "apocalyptic mood" regarding the previous speaker of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy , did not materialise, because according to the results of "systematic work, in particular a meeting with the President of Ukraine", he supported the inclusion of additional funding in the US general budget for this year. "That is, you can work with everyone," the minister emphasised. He also recalled that during his visit to Washington, Volodymyr Zelenskyy received assurances of further support for Ukraine from US President Joe Biden and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin, while Kuleba himself was promised further aid by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. On 3 October, Kevin McCarthy was ousted as Speaker of the House of Representatives. The move came under pressure from the far-right wing of his Republican Party, which accused him of collaborating with Democrats and making a "secret deal" to help Ukraine. Now the Republican candidate for this position is Jim Jordan, one of the most active defenders of Donald Trump, who opposes increasing US assistance to Ukraine. The US House of Representatives is unable to pass new laws, including those on aid to Ukraine, until a new speaker is elected. Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron! You can probably already guess which small Pennsylvania town came in at number two on the list of spookiest cities in America. Gettysburg, of course! That's according to security camera company Vivint, which recently set out to rank the spookiest towns in the United States. The rankings were determined by multiple factors, including the number of ghost sightings, haunted places per 100,000 residents, and others. Gettysburg's score in the ranking came thanks to its extensive history of haunted locations and ghost sightings, Vivint said in the rankings. Tourism in Gettysburg heavily capitalizes on the extensive history of the location, with businesses offering ghost tours of many of these allegedly haunted properties. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The only town which beat out Gettysburg nationwide was Estes Park, Colorado, which is home to the Stanley Park hotel, the inspiration for Stephen King's famous book, "The Shining." In a nationwide survey, Vivint also found that 1 in 10 Americans with security systems had seen some form of paranormal activity on their security system. It also said that 44% of Americans said they would move into a home if they knew it was haunted, and that 1 in 4 believed they had already lived in a house that was haunted. This article originally appeared on Hanover Evening Sun: 'Spookiest cities in America': Gettysburg was ranked No. 2 Three people were shot at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas over the weekend, all with non-life threatening injuries. Around 7:45 p.m. Saturday, Dallas Police said shots were fired in the food court inside the Tower Building at the fairgrounds. The suspect, identified as 22-year-old Cameron Turner on Sunday, is believed to have opened fire targeting another man and hit other two people in the process, according to the Dallas Police. At around 8:05 p.m. Saturday, Dallas Police said they had the suspect, now identified as Turner, in custody. All three people hit were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuriesTheir identities have not yet been released. A gun was recovered from the scene as well, according to Dallas Police. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The State Fair of Texas has a number of safety protocols in place, including a new security system for guests when they enter the fairgrounds. Heres what we know about the safety protocols: OpenGate security system at State Fair of Texas The fair introduced a new OpenGate security system for the 2023 edition of the state fair. Described as a groundbreaking weapons detection system from company CEIA, OpenGate is designed for a faster screening of people as they enter the fair, akin to a metal detector. The system scans for metal threats such as guns and knifes in backpacks, purses and bags, without security personnel having to take the bags from guests. But unlike metal detectors, OpenGate doesnt require any mechanical or electrical connection between its two freestanding pillars, according to CEIA. Each pedestrian gate at the fair has an OpenGate system, which guests must walk through to gain entry to the fairgrounds. This is going to be where you dont have to take your phone out of your pocket, said Karissa Condoianis, fair senior vice president for public relations, at a press conference last month. You wont have to put your bag down, this is going to read through all of that. Does the State Fair of Texas allow weapons inside grounds? No weapons of any kind are allowed into the fair such as firearms, knives, tasers, clubs and chemical dispensing devices. However, the State Fair does allow a person holding a valid Texas License to Carry a Handgun (LTC) to enter the fair with a concealed handgun, provided they know and comply with all applicable laws. Unlicensed gun owners are not allowed to enter the fairgrounds with a firearm, the Star-Telegram previously reported. Under Texas Penal Code Chapter 46, a LTC holder is prohibited from carrying a handgun on any other premises where a high school, collegiate or professional sporting event is held. The law also applies to interscholastic events. This means that LTC holders may not be allowed inside Cotton Bowl Stadium, as well as the State Fairs livestock facilities where interscholastic events are held. Additionally, LTC holders are prohibited on the premises of a business that derives 51% or more of its income from the sale or service of alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption. The State Fair does not provide lockers for storage or checking of weapons, so youll have to secure your weapon at home or in your vehicle prior to entering the fairgrounds. What other safety protocols are in place at the State Fair of Texas? The fair introduced a new policy for minors at this years event. Anyone 17 years of age and younger must be accompanied by an adult after 5 p.m. All accompanying parents, guardian or chaperones aged 21 and older must present a valid ID upon entering the fair. No more than six minors can be accompanied by an adult at one time, the Star-Telegram previously reported. The reason for the minors policy relates back to an incident at least years fair. A group of fairgoers ran through the fairgrounds which led to reports of a shooting, that were later investigated and could not be substantiated by Dallas Police. TOKYO, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- A firefighter drowned at a beach in Kashiwazaki in Japan's Niigata prefecture during a water rescue training, according to local fire department. Four people participated in a diving training last Friday, including the 26-year-old victim and his instructor. About 30 minutes into the training session, another trainee found the man unconscious in the water. The firefighter was wearing a wetsuit and air cylinder at the time. Police were investigating the cause of his death and the circumstances of the accident. UNITED STATES - JUNE 15: Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., arrives to the U.S. Capitol for the last votes of the week on Thursday, June 15, 2023. Good morning and welcome to Fox News morning newsletter, Fox News First. Subscribe now to get Fox News First in your email. And here's what you need to know to start your day ... IT WAS A LIE - Ilhan Omar called out for sharing misinformation about Israel-Hamas war. Continue reading TURNING BACK TIME Nikki Haley warned UN over Hamas threat to Israel, sought terror label five years ago. Continue reading INCREASING CONCERNS Fourth Iranian 'special interest alien' apprehended this month at border. Continue reading BATTLE IN THE HOUSE The long road to a new speaker paves the way for unforeseen twists and turns. Continue reading ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement UNACCEPTABLE Israeli lawmaker rips Vatican's statement ocn barbaric Hamas attacks against civilians. Continue reading BLINKEN PLACES BLAME Hamas responsible for foreign nationals not being able to leave Gaza, Secretary of State says. Continue reading READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP BATTLEGROUND Democrats vying to reclaim swing state Trump won in 2020. Continue reading MONEY MOVES GOP presidential candidate hauls in $7.4M during the past three months. Continue reading OUT OF POWER Bankrupt EV company CEO keeps position advising Biden administration. Continue reading Click here for more cartoons DISTRACTS FROM THE REALITY BBC journalist says he quit after network refused to label Hamas as terrorists. Continue reading CHAOTIC CHAMBER McCarthy calls out Republicans who 'disrupted the nation' by siding with Dems in ouster. Continue reading SHOULD BE EMPATHY Social media makes it hard for tragic news to be learned in a dignified way, veteran says. Continue reading BOTHSIDESISM - Legacy media decries 'bothsidesism' except when it involves Israel and Hamas. Continue reading TOM COTTON Biden is our $6 billion Mideast disaster thanks to his support of Iran. Continue reading LEE GREENWOOD Maren Morris complains country music is about love of country but that's precisely the point. Continue reading AT PEACE Hollywood mourns loss of 'Three's Company' star Suzanne Somers. Continue reading SMART FOODS Five on-the-job snacks that boost brain power and productivity. Continue reading COUPLED UP Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce set social media on fire in paparazzi pictures of weekend outing. Continue reading HITTING RESTART Major US drugstore files for bankruptcy, appoints new CEO in financial restructuring initiative. Continue reading SEE IT: Intimate details of ancient queen's life discovered in Egyptian tomb. Continue reading SUNDAY NIGHT IN AMERICA: The amount of rockets in Israel this past week has been unimaginable. See video LIFE, LIBERTY & LEVIN: Ben Shapiro on Biden's support for Israel: 'Hoping that they don't cave.' See video Whats it looking like in your neighborhood? Continue reading Facebook Instagram YouTube Twitter LinkedIn Fox News First Fox News Opinion Fox News Lifestyle Fox News Entertainment (FOX411) Fox News Fox Business Fox Weather Fox Sports Tubi Fox News Go Thank you for making us your first choice in the morning! Well see you in your inbox first thing Tuesday. Original article source: 'Squad' member pushes misinformation about Israel, Haley's warning and more top headlines Reaping Season Stack Overflow, the go-to coding resource and forum, is laying off more than a hundred workers totaling 28 percent of its staff just as AI-powered coding tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT are threatening to reshape the industry. CEO Stack Overflow Prashanth Chandrasekar announced the layoffs today, explaining that struggles to reach profitability and unspecified "macroeconomic pressures" led to the cullings. Just last year, Stack Overflow went on a hiring spree that saw the company double its headcount to 540 people, but soon after OpenAI grabbed the public's attention with the release of ChatGPT in November. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Since then, Stack Overflow has experienced diminished website traffic while coders have flocked to ChatGPT, Microsoft's GPT-4 powered Github Copilot, and similar coding tools that use machine learning instead of advice by humans. Adapt or Die Stack Overflow is trying to adapt in two ways: developing its own AI coding tool called OverflowAI and moving to charge tech companies like OpenAI that have built AI models using data from Stack Overflow's website. "We are entering this new era," Chandrasekar told Insider in August. "People who are leveraging our data for LLM purposes, we took a position several months ago that they should engage with us." "We should be able to be paid for that data," Chandrasekar said. "The large companies have proactively reached out to us, and we're effectively engaged in those conversations at the moment." It'll be interesting to see if Stack Overflow can successfully adapt to the AI tech boom era, which has other companies like Meta laying off scores of workers this year while pushing more investment into AI. Of course, there's a looming question that tech companies haven't quite managed to address: if there are fewer coders, and hence less human-made data, will their precious AI models collapse without up-to-date training data? More on AI code: GitHub Says 92 Percent of Programmers Are Using AI Stars of Netflix's "Fauda" about an undercover Israeli army unit have rejoined the IDF in real life. Lior Raz helped extract families from a town in southern Israel with heavy rocket fire. Idan Amedi posted a video in uniform saying, "This is not a scene from 'Fauda.' This is real life." Israeli stars of "Fauda," a Netflix show about an elite undercover Israeli army unit, have rejoined the Israel Defense Forces following Hamas' October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel that killed at least 1,300 people and injured over 3,600. Hamas also took hostages, including a number of women, children, and elderly people, who remain in Gaza. Before co-creating and starring in "Fauda," actor Lior Raz, who plays Doron Kavillio, served in the covert Duvdevan counterterrorist unit upon which the show is based. Days after Hamas' attacks, he drew upon his military experience to help extract families in southern Israel from heavy rocket fire as a volunteer with Brothers in Arms, a group of Israeli veterans who oppose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government. On October 9, Raz posted a video to X showing him, along with "Fauda" co-creator Avi Issacharoff and Israel Democracy Institute president Yohanan Plesner, taking cover from incoming rockets fired from Gaza. The cast of "Fauda" in season three. From left to right: Boaz Konforty, Doron Ben-David, Lior Raz, Idan Amedi, and Yaakov Zada Daniel. Netflix Idan Amedi, who plays Sagi in the series, said in a separate video posted to the official "Fauda" account on X on October 12 that he was called up to join the IDF reserves on the day of the attacks. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "As you can see, I'm in slightly different attire today," Amedi said while wearing his green IDF uniform and holding a gun. "This is not a scene from 'Fauda.' This is real life." The "Fauda" production team was impacted by the attacks. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos shared at an October 12 Bloomberg conference that "Fauda" sound editor Lior Waitzman was killed by Hamas militants, The Wrap reported. "On Saturday morning, he went out biking, stopped and texted his wife that there's been a shooting and that was the last she heard from him. Because he was a victim of that terrorist attack," Sarandos said. Netanyahu formally declared war against Hamas, launching a counterattack during which at least 2,670 Palestinians have been killed and 9,600 more have been injured in air strikes in Gaza, according to Gaza's Ministry of Health. Read the original article on Business Insider SAN DIEGO (Border Report) U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Brian Nichols was invited to speak at the University of California at San Diegos Institute of the Americas, where the current wave of immigration was brought up almost immediately on Tuesday night. These are unprecedented times, never in human history have we had so many migrants on the move as we do right now, said Nichols. Some 28 million migrants in our hemisphere are moving for a variety of reasons. Whether its a lack of liberty, economic privation, climate factors, we can do many things with enforcement, with legal pathways, with addressing the root causes of migration in our hemisphere. Migrant crossings into San Diego Sector highest in two decades, Border Patrol says Brian Nichols, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs. (Salvador Rivera/Border Report) Nichols also discussed a recent trip to Mexico and other countries in Latin America where possible solutions were considered. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement What were doing is building countries broad infrastructure to address irregular migration that they themselves are facing, he said. If youre Panama youre seeing this movement of migrants coming from Columbia into Panama then moving into Costa Rica, we need to make sure these countries can manage that flow. Nichols said Colombia is a prime example of a country providing part of the solution. Colombia right now has taken in two million migrants from Venezuela offering them protection, he said. Migrants gather near Jacumba, Calif. (Salvador Rivera/Border Report) Nichols was also asked about the current trend to release recently processed migrants onto the streets of San Diego and other U.S. cities along the border. Mexico says it has rejected US-funded migrant transit centers They can only be held in detention for a short amount of time, so there are certain challenges that we face in administering the border, said Nichols. People without a lawful reason to be in the United States will be removed, but people have a right to present an asylum claim, but the border is not open. Visit the BorderReport.com homepage for the latest exclusive stories and breaking news about issues along the United States-Mexico border Nichols stressed the need for migrants to pursue legal pathways into the United States. I would urge anyone who is considering migrating irregularly into the United States not to do so to pursue the CBP One app or another avenue. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego. DALLAS - Arrest affidavits obtained by FOX 4 are shedding new light on what happened leading up to the shooting at the State Fair of Texas that injured three people over the weekend. 22-year-old Cameron Turner faces 3 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the shooting. The shooting happened in the food court in the Tower Building on Saturday evening. 2 adult men and 1 adult woman had non-life threatening injuries. "We're deeply saddened by those events and thankful for the recovery of all those directly impacted by that," said Jeff Cotner, the Director of Security at the State Fair of Texas. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The shooting sent fair goers running for safety. According to the arrest affidavit, video shows the man, later identified as Turner, at a concession stand inside the food court buying a water bottle away from his family when a group of males approached him. When Turner tried to turn to leave, words were exchanged between Turner and one of the victims. Police say that Turner then pulled out a handgun and began shooting. The report says that the victim had nothing in his hands at the time. He later told police that he felt threatened and went into "survival mode" when he opened fire 3 to 4 times. The shots hit the man and in the process two others were hit. Turner said he was trying to protect his family. Investigators say video shows Turner fleeing the scene. Witnesses identified Turner by his orange hoodie to police. He was arrested by two Texas state troopers and a Dallas police officer. Turner had a gun on him at the time of the arrest, according to the affidavit. The arrest affidavit does not go into what was said that Turner believed was threatening. State Fair officials said they did a "top to bottom" review of the security processes on Sunday. "We ask everyone to be 'fair aware,' we do that internally to our direct employees and extended employees to be aware," said Cotner. The fair has an open-gate weapons detection system thats new this year. The fair prohibits weapons on the property, however, its policy does make an exception for licensed gun owners. The arrest report did not state if Turner has an LTC. It is also not clear how the suspect got a gun onto the fairgrounds. At the State Fair on Monday, there was an enhanced security presence that will remain in place for the rest of the run. "I walked around and talked to everyone who was waiting to get into the park and they were just so excited about being here," said Cotner, Investigators also noted that one of the victims of the shooting refused to cooperate with police. France is on high security alert with top Paris tourist attractions evacuated over the weekend due to fears of a potential attack. On Saturday 14 October, visitors were evacuated from the Louvre Museum and Palace of Versailles - two of the worlds most visited tourist attractions - for security reasons. Alarms rang out at the Louvre and its underground shopping centre at around midday when the evacuation was announced. It was cordoned off by police on all sides with visitors seen streaming out. Officials said they received a written message warning that there was a risk to the museum and its visitors, according to AFP. The museum decided to evacuate and close for the day in order to carry out essential checks. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Louvre Museum, which welcomes between 30,000 and 40,000 visitors a day, reopened on Sunday at its usual hours after no threat was found. Just hours after the Louvre closed, the Palace of Versailles was also evacuated following a bomb threat. A source close to the matter told AFP that the alert came via an anonymous online message. Videos of crowds leaving the top tourist attraction on Saturday afternoon were shared on social media. Why is France on high security alert? France was placed on its highest possible level of security alert on Friday 13 October after a fatal school stabbing. A teacher was killed and two other people wounded by a former student with a record of Islamic radicalisation in a knife attack at a school in the northeastern town of Arras. Amid additional concerns over the Israel-Hamas war, the government has raised the threat alert level and mobilised 7,000 troops to increase security across the country. The UKs Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) warns travellers that the threat level is described as maximum vigilance and protection in the event of an imminent threat of a terrorist act or in the immediate aftermath of an attack. It advises people to stay alert and follow the advice of local authorities when visiting France. Are tourists in Paris changing their plans? Despite the increased level of alert, many visitors to the French capital remain undeterred. "I'm not changing the plan. We're going on as we are. We spent three days at Disneyland with the kids and now we're here, Spanish tourist Qing Qing Wang, told AFP. Tomorrow we'll be spending the day in this whole area too. At the moment, I can see that everyone is calm. I don't see anyone who's very worried." Others are changing their plans following the evacuation of the Louvre and Palace of Versailles. I don't feel scared. I feel as if I will change my itinerary just a little, Australian tourist Lee Carter told the French news agency on Sunday. I won't go to the museums this trip. I'll just walk around the streets and I'll be mindful. The Pittsburgh Steelers have opened as three-point underdogs for their Week 7 return to action against the Los Angeles Rams, according to odds posted on Sunday night. The Steelers have been underdogs in four of their first five games, and have done well, winning three of those four games outright. They beat the Cleveland Browns in Week 2, the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 3 and the Baltimore Ravens in Week 5 as underdogs. They did not cover against the San Francisco 49ers as an underdog in the opener. Read more from our partners at Sports Now Group Pittsburgh. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW TRENDING NOW: Mother of Karns City football player battling brain injury dies, family says WATCH: Cell phone video captures aftermath of shooting on Pittsburghs South Side; 1 man hurt Suzanne Somers, Threes Company star, dead at 76 VIDEO: Neighbor recounts rescuing man with Alzheimers from Etna rowhouse fire, attempts to smother flames DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts A festival worker was left clinging to the bottom of a ride after a sudden gust of wind lifted the compartment into the air, Texas video shows. The incident happened at about 4:30 p.m. Oct. 15, at the Groves Pecan Festival, Groves City Marshal Norman Reynolds told KFDM. Video taken at the festival shows a ride operator hanging from a red metal compartment, hoisted 30 feet straight into the air. People can be heard screaming nearby. Reynolds was right by the ride when it happened, he told KPNX. He said the worker was assisting a child when strong winds blew in, pushing the car 180 degrees skyward and taking the worker with it. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Riders exited the car on the ground, and the worker was eventually lowered down safely, Reynolds told the station. Nobody was injured, but the ride was closed for the rest of the day, KFDM reported. Groves is roughly 85 miles east of Houston. Warehouse full of live ammo catches fire, Texas firefighters say. The house shook Woman says she went to hospital after wedgie from Disney waterslide. Now shes suing Wedding officiant fires gun to get attention and accidentally shoots grandson, cops say This article was originally published in Alabama Reflector. Summer reading camps are helping students make gains in literacy, the director of the Alabama Reading Initiative told members of the Alabama State Board of Education on Thursday. Bonnie Short, the director of the Alabama Reading Initiative, said that students who have been attending the Alabama summer reading camps have improved their reading, and not just avoided the summer slide. After kindergarten, students who attended the camps saw an average growth of 6.37%, Short said. After first grade, students who attended the camps had an average growth of 5.44%. After second grade at the camps, students grew, on average, by 4.00%, and, after third grade, students grew an average rate of 2.91% in the camps. Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Just over 29,000 students attended the camps over the summer, Short said. After kindergarten, 5,677 students attended. After first grade, 8,090 students attended. After second grade, 7,752 students attended. After third grade, 7,497 students attended. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement For people who research literacy, Short said, the aim of summer reading camps is to see an average growth of 0%, which would mean that students are avoiding losing progress over the summer. Short said that positive growth, as seen in the Alabama numbers, is even better. We dont want to see them go down, but of course I want growth, she said. Short did not provide data on how students improve or lose their reading skills over the summer without these camps. The summer reading camps are an aspect of the Alabama Literacy Act, which provides resources to schools to improve reading but could require students to repeat third grade if they are not on reading level by that point. The camps need to have at least 60 hours of literacy instruction. The Act, first passed in 2019, was delayed but is fully in effect for the 2023-24 school year. Gov. Kay Ivey told reporters after the State Board of Education meeting that she would veto further delays. They give me a bill to change the date, Ill veto it, she said. Short said that about 75% of the children enrolled in the program attended the camps. That looks really suspicious because they are all the same, but, truly, that is the data, she said. Short said that she is expecting higher rates of attendance in future years when the stakes for students are higher. Research on summer learning loss is mixed, according to a July 2023 Scientific American article, but an analysis of summer math programs suggests that formal summer programs benefit students who are already struggling academically. State Superintendent Eric Mackey said students in the camps would almost all be students with low scores in the Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program (ACAP). Short said that students who are in a gray area of passing or failing by just a few points are also invited. We can start inviting children to the summer reading camps today based on the information we have from the earlier screener, she said. Tracie West, District 2 board member and vice president of the board, said that she has superintendents who have been disappointed with their turnouts. Short said that transportation is a possible reason. Short also said that, while they need their 60 hours of summer reading, they also want to incorporate more aspects into the camps, such as softball. I want our summer reading camp programs to have opportunities inside them that are beyond just reading, she said. Alabama Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alabama Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Brian Lyman for questions: info@alabamareflector.com. Follow Alabama Reflector on Facebook and Twitter. When a Macedonia man decided on the afternoon before his trial to take a plea deal, a deputy walked him to a new video room at the Summit County Jail. William Lupica, who is accused of sexually assaulting and secretly videotaping several children, had a hearing via Zoom in which he pleaded guilty to 13 felonies. Minutes later, a deputy escorted Lupica back to his jail cell. Lupicas plea, which was accomplished without him having to be transported from the jail to the courthouse, shows how Summit Countys new Virtual Courtroom works. We set that up late in the day, said Ken Teleis, who supervises the technology in Summit County Common Pleas Court. We made sure we had the staff to get [Lupica] in there. Thats a perfect example of how that can work very well. The $12 million project involved technology upgrades to the Summit County Jail and courthouse, as well as other local law enforcement agencies, to more easily facilitate high-quality videoconferencing. The bulk of the funding came from federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement More: Modern justice: Summit County invests in efficient ways to connect inmates with courts The project took longer than expected and wasnt without its challenges, with court and county officials realizing, for example, that more employees were needed to serve as liaisons between the court and the jail. Still, for all its challenges, the effort was completed in late September, with court and jail employees using it the past few weeks during judges' weekly call-days in which they get updates on the cases on their dockets, as well as in other hearings. County and court officials say the updates will save time and money and improve safety for deputies, court staff and inmates. The pandemic challenged us to be adaptable, and this recognition helped us discover different avenues to best serve our residents, Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro said in a recent news release. Between attorneys, inmates and their families, and our court and jail staff, so many people are affected by the criminal justice system. Investing in technology that allows us to be safer and more efficient just makes sense. Biggest expenditure was link to Fairlawn's high-speed internet The biggest expenditure at about $6.5 million went to having FairlawnGIG, a municipal broadband utility, bring its high-speed fiber network through West Akron and connect 13 criminal justice entities around the county. That connection was completed by the end of 2020. The project also included updates in Summit County Common Pleas courtrooms, many that had little or severely outdated technology before the pandemic. The courtrooms now have multiple, large-screen televisions, microphones and cameras, and a software system that allows the judge to control everything and patch in people who aren't in court. Its like flying a plane, Judge Tammy OBrien joked in March 2022 as she demonstrated the technology that she was then still mastering. At the jail, videoconferencing booths have been installed in each housing pod. Phones near each booth allow inmates to easily talk to their attorneys. When inmates have hearings, a deputy walks them from their pod to the booth, then returns them after its complete. This saves a lot of time, especially compared to the pre-pandemic process that involved inmates being shackled, transported to the jail for judges call days, and then driven back to the jail after hearings that often lasted only minutes. Now, inmates are still being taken from the jail to the courthouse but only for important hearings, such as on motions to suppress and trials. New technology bailiffs help with Virtual Court During the tail end of the project, court and county officials realized that more employees were needed to make the process work. Sheriff Kandy Fatheree, who already has been struggling with a deputy shortage, told them she wouldnt be able to hire deputies quickly enough within the time frame they had in mind. The court instead hired one supervisor and seven technology bailiffs who communicate with court staff about when an inmate is ready, start the Zoom meeting and make sure the connection is working. The new bailiffs also print out any forms that an inmate needs to fill out, scan the completed forms and forward them to the court. The sheriffs office is paying for the new employees. Special scheduling software was created to help the court and jail keep track of the many hearings. The county contracted with e-Data Experts, a company in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, that created similar software for the Pennsylvania prison system. Teleis, who is the assistant executive officer for Summit County Common Pleas Court, said the software has made it easy to arrange hearings and communicate back and forth with the court about any issues. For example, he said, a technology bailiff can type in an angry face icon to show that an inmate refused to leave his or her cell to attend a hearing. Teleis said the software allows two inmates at once to be in a Zoom hearing, such as a virtual sentencing that Judge Kathryn Michael had this week for Durell and Jameir McDowell, cousins who were among three men charged in a double shooting in Cuyahoga Falls. He said this would not have been possible with the technology the jail had prior to the upgrade. Teleis thinks the Virtual Court has so far worked very well, though some things are still being optimized, such as trying to improve the sound quality in each videoconferencing booth. He thinks Summit County is fortunate compared to many other counties that dont have this advanced of a system. I couldnt be happier with the way its come together and seeing people work together, Teleis said. I count my blessings every day. Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com, 330-996-3705 and on Twitter: @swarsmithabj. This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Virtual Courtroom links Summit courts and jail, saving time and money MOSCOW, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Russia has adopted temporary restrictive measures against fish and seafood imports from Japan, Russia's agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor announced Monday. Rosselkhoznadzor noted that as of Oct. 16, Russia will temporarily ban the import of fish and seafood from Japan. It said that this decision was taken as a "precautionary measure," adding that the restrictions would stay until Moscow is provided with comprehensive information that confirms the safety of Japanese fish and seafood products. The Fukushima nuclear accident is one of the world's most serious nuclear disasters to date. Hit by a massive earthquake and an ensuing tsunami in March 2011, the Fukushima nuclear power plant suffered core meltdowns and generated a massive amount of contaminated water which is known to have more than 60 radioactive elements. The plant has stored more than 1.3 million tons of nuclear-contaminated wastewater, and the whole discharge plan will continue for more than 30 years, according to the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the plant's operator. Despite opposition from domestic fishermen, neighboring countries, and global environmental experts, Japan started the first round release of its nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean on Aug. 24 and the second round release on Oct. 5, sparking protests, massive rallies and outcry from Asia-Pacific countries. SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) A spokesperson for the city of Savannah, Georgia, said local officials are adjusting the language of its e-citations after a man thought he was issued a $1.48 million speeding ticket last month. Connor Cato was driving home on Sept. 2 when he was pulled over by Georgia State Patrol for driving 90 in a 55-mph zone. One dead after multiple cars collide on I-70 in Independence Cato said he knew he was going to get a super speeder ticket a citation reserved for drivers traveling 35 mph (or more) over the speed limit but he never anticipated the fine printed on his e-citation. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement $1.4 million, the lady told me on the phone, Cato told Nexstars WSAV. I said, This might be a typo and she said, No sir, you either pay the amount on the ticket or you come to court on Dec. 21 at 1:30 p.m.' Sneh Patel, a criminal defense attorney who spoke with WSAV, said he was shocked by the amount. I mean, I cant imagine someone would have to pay $1.4 million for not showing up for a speeding ticket, said Patel. 2-year-old dead after crash near Bannister and I-435 At first when I was asked about this, I thought it was a clerical error, Patel added. But then you told me you followed up and apparently, its not a clerical error. But again, I have never seen something like this, ever. Patel said misdemeanor traffic violations in the state of Georgia cannot exceed $1,000. Its a misdemeanor of high and aggravated nature, it will be $5,000, he added. Now, the bond amount should be relevant to that, so for misdemeanor, you wouldnt see bond amounts over $5,000, maybe $10,000. Those higher bond amounts, Patel said, are usually reserved for more violent crimes or infractions, or for people suspected of skipping their upcoming court dates. But not $1.4 million thats something that goes into cases that are drug trafficking, murders or aggravated assaults, something of that nature. FOX4 newsletters: Get the latest news delivered to your inbox A spokesperson for the city of Savannah has since explained that the fine amount was not issued by the police officer who gave Cato the citation, but rather that it later appeared on his e-citation as an automatic placeholder. The system automatically puts in $999,999.99 as the base amount plus other costs since the only way to resolve the ticket is to appear in court, the spokesperson said. A judge will then decide the actual fine amount, according to the city. Putting an incredibly hefty fine on the e-citation is also not a scare tactic, the official claimed. The City did not implement the placeholder amount in order to force or scare people into court, according to the spokesperson. The programmers who designed the software used the largest number possible because super speeder tickets are a mandatory court appearance and do not have a fine amount attached to them when issued by police. No explanation was given as to why the developers couldnt input fine to be determined in court or fine pending on the e-ticket, rather than $1.48 million. The city representative, however, did appear to admit the practice could cause confusion. Recorders Court is working on adjusting the language in e-citations in order to avoid future confusion, the spokesperson said. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) A spokesperson for the city of Savannah, Georgia, said local officials are adjusting the language of its e-citations after a man thought he was issued a $1.48 million speeding ticket last month. Connor Cato was driving home on Sept. 2 when he was pulled over by Georgia State Patrol for driving 90 in a 55-mph zone. Cato said he knew he was going to get a super speeder ticket a citation reserved for drivers traveling 35 mph (or more) over the speed limit but he never anticipated the fine printed on his e-citation. $1.4 million, the lady told me on the phone, Cato told Nexstars WSAV. I said, This might be a typo and she said, No sir, you either pay the amount on the ticket or you come to court on Dec. 21 at 1:30 p.m.' ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement What can happen if you drive too fast on a spare tire? Sneh Patel, a criminal defense attorney who spoke with WSAV, said he was shocked by the amount. I mean, I cant imagine someone would have to pay $1.4 million for not showing up for a speeding ticket, said Patel. At first when I was asked about this, I thought it was a clerical error, Patel added. But then you told me you followed up and apparently, its not a clerical error. But again, I have never seen something like this, ever. Patel said misdemeanor traffic violations in the state of Georgia cannot exceed $1,000. Its a misdemeanor of high and aggravated nature, it will be $5,000, he added. Now, the bond amount should be relevant to that, so for misdemeanor, you wouldnt see bond amounts over $5,000, maybe $10,000. Those higher bond amounts, Patel said, are usually reserved for more violent crimes or infractions, or for people suspected of skipping their upcoming court dates. But not $1.4 million thats something that goes into cases that are drug trafficking, murders or aggravated assaults, something of that nature. Missing Florida 10-year-old caught driving moms stolen car on interstate A spokesperson for the city of Savannah has since explained that the fine amount was not issued by the police officer who gave Cato the citation, but rather that it later appeared on his e-citation as an automatic placeholder. The system automatically puts in $999,999.99 as the base amount plus other costs since the only way to resolve the ticket is to appear in court, the spokesperson said. A judge will then decide the actual fine amount, according to the city. Putting an incredibly hefty fine on the e-citation is also not a scare tactic, the official claimed. The City did not implement the placeholder amount in order to force or scare people into court, according to the spokesperson. The programmers who designed the software used the largest number possible because super speeder tickets are a mandatory court appearance and do not have a fine amount attached to them when issued by police. No explanation was given as to why the developers couldnt input fine to be determined in court or fine pending on the e-ticket, rather than $1.48 million. The city representative, however, did appear to admit the practice could cause confusion. Recorders Court is working on adjusting the language in e-citations in order to avoid future confusion, the spokesperson said. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com. The Supreme Court for the second time in two months allowed the Biden administration to enforce regulations to clamp down on so-called ghost guns the firearm-making kits available online that can be assembled at home. In a brief unsigned order the court granted a request on Monday filed by the Biden administration to throw out a lower court ruling that gave two gun part manufacturers an exemption from the regulation while litigation continues. There was no sign of any dissenting votes. The move was consistent with the Supreme Court's decision in August to allow the regulations to be enforced nationwide while various legal challenges work their way through the court system. In July, the court was divided 5-4 in favor of allowing the regulations to be enforced nationwide, with Chief Justice John Roberts and fellow conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett joining the three liberal justices in the majority. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Subsequent to that decision a federal judge in Texas ruled that regulations could not be enforced against the two companies Blackhawk Manufacturing Group and Defense Distributed while the litigation moves forward. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that finding while concluding that the rule could still be enforced against the companies' customers. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives issued the regulations last year to tackle what it claims has been an abrupt increase in the availability of ghost guns. The guns are difficult for law enforcement to trace, with the administration calling them a major threat to public safety. The rule clarified that ghost guns fit within the definition of firearm under federal law, meaning the government has the power to regulate them the same way it regulates firearms manufactured and sold through the traditional process. The regulations require manufacturers and sellers of the kits to obtain licenses, mark the products with serial numbers, conduct background checks and maintain records. The Supreme Courts conservative majority has backed gun rights in multiple cases, including the landmark 2022 ruling that for the first time recognized that the Constitutions Second Amendment includes a right to bear arms outside the home. In November, the court will weigh the scope of that decision in a case concerning whether people accused of domestic violence have a right to own firearms. The ghost guns case, however, is on a separate legal question related to ATFs regulatory authority, not the right to bear arms. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com The Supreme Court on Monday intervened a second time so the Biden administration can enforce its regulation on so-called ghost guns after the administration accused lower courts of countermanding the justices authority. In August, the justices revived the regulation nationwide pending the administrations full appeal. Newly at issue was whether lower courts ignored that ruling by subsequently preventing the government from enforcing the regulation against two gun manufacturers that are plaintiffs in the case. In a brief order, the court agreed to vacate the lower ruling, enabling the Biden administration to again enforce the regulation against the manufacturers, Defense Distributed and Black Hawk. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement There were no public dissents. The first time the high court intervened, the justices divided 5-4. The Justice Department in their latest filings lashed out at the lower courts, calling their rulings extraordinary and unprecedented. The Supreme Courts previous intervention made clear the regulation could be fully enforced as the case moves forward, the administration contended. The district court and the Fifth Circuit have effectively countermanded this Courts authoritative determination about the status quo that should prevail during appellate proceedings in this case. In so doing, the lower courts openly relied on arguments that this Court had necessarily rejected to grant relief that this Court had withheld, the Justice Department wrote in their request. The Court should not tolerate that affront to basic principles of vertical stare decisis, the request continued, referring to the doctrine that judges must follow the decisions handed down by higher courts. Biden last year announced the crackdown on ghost guns, referring to firearms that are sold as do-it-yourself kits and are generally hard to trace. The regulation expands federal mandates like serial number, record keeping and background check requirements to ghost guns. But the federal judge in Texas ruled the regulation exceeded the administrations authority, rejecting their interpretation of a long-standing federal gun law. The full appeal is still moving ahead in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where the administration is hoping to have the regulation upheld on the merits. Defense Distributed and Black Hawk the two manufacturers opposed the administrations latest application at the Supreme Court and rejected the notion they were circumventing the justices. BlackHawk, of course, will abide by any Supreme Court order and takes strong exception to the Governments suggestion that it would do anything otherwise, BlackHawks attorney wrote in court filings. Although BlackHawk recognizes the Governments role to zealously represent its view as to the public interest, the Government should not disparage the respondent parties, their industry or their counsel in the process, based on an apparent disagreement regarding the underlying public policy issues at stake, the manufacturer added. Defense Distributed argued the Justice Department was improperly conflating different legal remedies, saying Biden cannot make up judicial rulings that this Court did not really render. To wage legal war against ghost guns the President has manufactured his very own ghost stay, the companys attorney wrote in court filings. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Four years ago, Sylvia Gonzalez, a newly elected member of the Castle Hills, Texas, city council, was charged with concealing a government record, a misdemeanor that would have resulted in her removal from office if she had been convicted. Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales declined to pursue the case, and it is not hard to see why. The charge, which was orchestrated by Gonzalez's political opponents, was based on what she describes as an honest mistake: After a city council meeting, she says, she accidentally picked up a bundle of petitions against City Manager Ryan Rapelyepetitions that she herself had organizedand placed it in her binder along with other papers. As a result, Gonzales was arrested two months later and spent a day in jail, after which her mug shot appeared in local news reports. According to a Supreme Court petition that the Institute for Justice filed on Gonzalez's behalf in April, "Gonzalez was so hurt by the experience and so embarrassed by the media coverage of her arrest" that "she gave up her council seat and swore off organizing petitions or criticizing her government." On Friday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear her case, Gonzalez v. Trevino, which poses the question of what counts as "objective evidence" that someone was arrested in retaliation for constitutionally protected activity. "We are thrilled that the Court agreed to hear Sylvia's case," Institute for Justice attorney Anya Bidwell said. "Criminal laws cannot be used to launder First Amendment violations and create backdoor censorship. But that's exactly how Castle Hills officials used them against Sylvia." Gonzalez's experience suggests that First Amendment rights are not as secure as Americans commonly assume. "I didn't think this could happen in America," she said. "No one should be arrested for standing up for what they believe in. I'm hopeful that the Supreme Court will hold the city accountable so that no one else will have to go through what I went through." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The circumstances of Gonzalez's arrest leave little doubt that she was the victim of a trumped-up charge provoked by her political activity. Gonzalez, a 72-year-old retiree, won an upset victory in a 2019 city council election after campaigning on a promise to seek Rapelye's replacement. Toward that end, she organized a petition that a resident presented to Mayor Edward Trevino on May 21, 2019, at the first city council meeting that Gonzalez attended. The ensuing debate about Rapelye's performance continued at a meeting the next day, during which Gonzalez sat next to Trevino, who as mayor presides over city council meetings. After that meeting, according to Gonzalez, she "picked up the papers strewn around her sitting area and put them in her binder," which she left on the table as she crossed the room to converse with a constituent. "A few minutes later," Gonzalez's Supreme Court petition says, "a police officer in charge of safety at the meeting tapped Gonzalez on her shoulder and explained that the mayor wanted to talk to her. The police officer escorted Gonzalez to the mayor," who "was still at his seat next to Gonzalez's." Trevino "then asked Gonzalez, 'Where's the petition?' Gonzalez responded, 'Don't you have it? It was turned in to you yesterday.' At the mayor's prompting, Gonzalez looked for the petition in her binder and to her surprise found it there. Gonzalez then handed the petition to the mayor," who "volunteered to Gonzalez that she 'probably picked it up by mistake.'" That was not the end of the matter. Trevino and Police Chief John Siemens, Rapelye's allies, used the briefly missing petition as the pretext for a criminal investigation that took nearly two months. "Three weeks into the unfruitful investigation," Gonzalez says, Siemens "deputized an attorney and his friend," Alexander Wright, "to take over as a 'special detective.'" A month later, Wright filed an arrest affidavit that charged Gonzalez with violating Section 37.10(a)(3) of the Texas Penal Code, which applies to someone who "intentionally destroys, conceals, removes, or otherwise impairs the verity, legibility, or availability of a governmental record." That charge was implausible on its face, since it implied that Gonzalez deliberately hid the very petition that she had worked hard to produce. And the affidavit itself cited Gonzalez's agitation against Rapelye as evidence of her offense. "From her very first meeting in May of 2019," it said, Gonzalez "has been openly antagonistic to the city manager, Ryan Rapelye, wanting desperately to get him fired." That plan, Wright explained, "involved collecting signatures on several petitions." He complained that Gonzalez had visited a resident's house to "get her signature on one of the petitions under false pretenses" by "misleading her" and "telling her several fabrications regarding Ryan Rapelye." Instead of seeking a summons, the usual approach in Bexar County for nonviolent misdemeanors, Wright sought an arrest warrant. And instead of referring the matter to the district attorney's office, Wright presented his affidavit directly to a judgea procedure that the Institute for Justice says is generally "reserved for emergencies or violent felonies." That meant the warrant "wasn't in the satellite booking system, so Gonzalez could not be booked, processed, and released without jailtime." That is why Gonzalez, who "turned herself in as soon as she learned about the warrant," ended up behind bars for a day, "handcuffed, on a cold metal bench, wearing an orange jail shirt, and avoiding the restroom, which had no doors." Gonzales, the district attorney, "dropped the charges as soon as he learned about them." Trevino et al. nevertheless achieved what Gonzalez says was their goal all along by driving her from office. In a September 2020 complaint that she filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Gonzalez said Trevino, Siemens, and Wright had violated her First Amendment rights by orchestrating her arrest in retaliation for her opposition to Rapelye. She noted that "the statute has never been used to arrest a person in an analogous situation." The defendants argued that Gonzalez's First Amendment claim was barred by the existence of probable cause for her arrest. But in the 2019 case Nieves v. Bartlett, the Supreme Court held that a plaintiff could prove retaliation even when his arrest was based on probable cause if he could present "objective evidence that he was arrested when otherwise similarly situated individuals not engaged in the same sort of protected speech had not been." In the majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts used a jaywalking example to illustrate that exception. "At many intersections," Roberts wrote, "jaywalking is endemic but rarely results in arrest. If an individual who has been vocally complaining about police conduct is arrested for jaywalking at such an intersection, it would seem insufficiently protective of First Amendment rights to dismiss the individual's retaliatory arrest claim on the ground that there was undoubted probable cause for the arrest." In a partial concurrence, Justice Neil Gorsuch underlined the reason for rejecting a blanket rule that blocks a retaliation claim whenever there is probable cause for an arrest. "History shows that governments sometimes seek to regulate our lives finely, acutely, thoroughly, and exhaustively," Gorsuch wrote. "In our own time and place, criminal laws have grown so exuberantly and come to cover so much previously innocent conduct that almost anyone can be arrested for something. If the state could use these laws not for their intended purposes but to silence those who voice unpopular ideas, little would be left of our First Amendment liberties, and little would separate us from the tyrannies of the past or the malignant fiefdoms of our own age." Based on Nieves, U.S. District Judge David Alan Ezra ruled in March 2021 that Gonzalez could proceed with her lawsuit. A divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit disagreed, ruling in July 2022 that Gonzalez's lawsuit was doomed by her failure to cite other cases in which people had not been arrested for conduct similar to hers. "Nieves requires comparative evidence," Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt wrote in the majority opinion, "because it required 'objective evidence' of 'otherwise similarly situated individuals' who engaged in the 'same' criminal conduct but were not arrested. The evidence Gonzalez provides here comes up short." Engelhardt acknowledged that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit had interpreted the Nieves test differently in the 2020 case Lund v. City of Rockford. The Supreme Court in Nieves did "not appear to be adopting a rigid rule that requires, in all cases, a particular form of comparison-based evidence," the 7th Circuit said in Lund. "We do not adopt this more lax reading of the exception," Engelhardt wrote. "Instead, the best reading of the majority's opinion compels the opposite approach. The Court's language was careful and explicit: it required 'objective evidence' of 'otherwise similarly situated individuals' who engaged in the same criminal conduct but were not arrested." Dissenting Judge Andrew Oldham thought Gonzalez had met the Nieves test. Her evidence "is obviously objective," he said. "She did a comprehensive 'review of misdemeanor and felony data from Bexar County over the past decade.' And she doesn't rely on 'the statements and motivations of the particular [officials].'" Gonzalez's evidence, Oldham wrote, "supports the proposition that Nieves requires: She 'was arrested when otherwise similarly situated individuals not engaged in the same sort of protected speech [or conduct] had not been.' Evidence that an arrest has never happened before (i.e., a negative assertion) can support the proposition that there are instances where similarly situated individuals not engaged in the same protected activity hadn't been arrested (i.e., a positive inference).Common sense dictates that [Gonzalez's] negative assertion amounts to direct evidence that similarly situated individuals not engaged in the same sort of protected activity had not been arrested." Oldham also questioned whether the Nieves test made sense in this context. That rule was meant to "accommodate the necessities of split-second decisions to arrest," he said. "It's unclear to me why we should apply a rule designed for split-second warrantless arrests to a deliberative, premediated, weeks-long conspiracy." Last February, the 5th Circuit declined to rehear the case. "The First Amendment is supposed to stop public officials from punishing citizens for expressing unpopular views," Judge James C. Ho noted in his dissent. "In America, we don't allow the police to arrest and jail our citizens for having the temerity to criticize or question the government. If the freedom of speech meant anything to our nation's Founders, it meant that 'it was beyond the power of the government to punish speech that criticized the government in good faith.'" Ho noted that "few officials will admit that they abuse the coercive powers of government to punish and silence their critics" and that officials are "often able to invent some reason to justify their actions." Courts therefore "must be vigilant in preventing officers from concocting legal theories to arrest citizens for stating unpopular viewpoints," he said. "Respect for the First Amendment demands that probable cause pose no impenetrable barrier to a retaliation claim." As Ho saw it, that is why the Supreme Court made an exception for cases like this one. In March 2022, the Institute for Justice notes, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit joined the 7th Circuit in rejecting the proposition that Nieves requires evidence that specific individuals were not arrested for conduct similar to the plaintiff's. In Ballentine v. Tucker, which involved allegedly retaliatory arrests for sidewalk chalking, the plaintiffs, like Gonzalez, simply noted that there was no record of similar arrests. The Institute for Justice is asking the Supreme Court to resolve this circuit split in favor of a rule that does not require the sort of evidence that the 5th Circuit demanded. "At bottom," it says, "the question is whether Nieves designed a rule that requires courts to blind themselves to clear evidence of retaliatory motive as long as probable cause is present to arrest, even for the most mundane of offenses." If so, it says, "America's 'exuberantly' growing criminal laws can be used 'not for their intended purposes but to silence those who voice unpopular ideas' and 'little [is] left' of the fundamental right 'to speak without risking arrest.'" The post Supreme Court Will Hear This Texas Woman's Challenge to a Politically Motivated Arrest appeared first on Reason.com. The U.S. Supreme Court is seen, Oct. 5, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) WASHINGTON (AP) The Supreme Court on Monday rejected North Carolina's appeal in a dispute with animal rights groups over a law aimed at preventing undercover employees at farms and other workplaces from taking documents or recording video. The justices left in placea legal victory for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in its challenge to the state law, which was enacted in 2015. PETA has said it had wanted to conduct an undercover investigation at testing laboratories at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill but feared prosecution under the Property Protection Act. In a 2-1 decision, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in February that the law could not be enforced against PETA and likely others in similar situations when its undercover work is being performed to conduct newsgathering activities. People have a right to know about illegal and unethical conduct. Exposing unsafe or inhumane practices and working conditions is essential to holding powerful bad actors accountable for the harm they cause," said David Muraskin, a lawyer with FarmSTAND representing PETA and other groups that challenged the law. A PETA attorney separately also praised Monday's refusal. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The law is similar to so-called state ag-gag laws aimed at gagging undercover activists who record footage of the animal agriculture industry that have been struck down by several courts around the country over free speech concerns. The Supreme Court has so far refused to weigh in. The majority opinion at the 4th Circuit had narrowed a 2020 ruling by a trial court judge who had struck down four provisions in the law related to the potentially secretive activities. State lawyers for Attorney General Josh Stein, a defendant in the case along with UNC-Chapel Hills chancellor, had asked the Supreme Court to take up the matter. So did the North Carolina Farm Bureau Federation, which also defended the law in court. Stein's office had told the justices there were conflicting decisions among circuits about whether audio-visual recording always constitutes protected speech or whether recording may be unprotected when it takes place on nonpublic property without the property owners consent. Muraskin said Monday that reversing that decision would have had a chilling effect on whistleblowers and undercover investigations of many kinds, including those of sexual harassment. N.C. Farm Bureau attorney Jake Parker called Monday's decision not to hear the case disappointing and troubling" and expressed hope that the North Carolina legislature would step up again and protect our fundamental rights to privacy and property. Meanwhile, farmers and other business owners should consider themselves activist targets and take caution when hiring new employees, Parker said. A spokesperson for Stein, the states top law enforcement officer, said his office was reviewing Mondays decision and its implications. A Texas woman jailed in the shooting death of a suspected romantic rival spent months exercising vigorously before attempting a brazen escape from police custody last week, according to a new arrest affidavit. Kaitlin Armstrong, 34, was filmed regularly doing squats, running and yoga before using a claimed leg injury to secure an off-site medical appointment Wednesday and make a daring sprint for freedom, according to a copy of the court documents obtained by the Austin American-Statesman and local station KXAN. Armstrong, who is awaiting trial for the first-degree murder of Anna Mo Wilson, specifically requested that leg restraints not be used during her appointment due to her alleged injury. While she was being escorted back into a correctional vehicle following her medical appointment, she ran, authorities previously told HuffPost. Murder suspect Kaitlin Armstrong attempted to escape custody during an off-site doctor's appointment last week, authorities said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Authorities said Armstrong freed her left hand by manipulating her hand restraints by possibly using a broken metal pin and dental floss, which were later found in her cell. She also removed her black and white striped uniform pants while running. She was wearing thermal pants underneath in an effort to disguise her appearance as an inmate, the affidavit states. Video previously obtained by local station KXAN appears to show Armstrong, who has pleaded not guilty to Wilsons murder, being chased near a parking lot and attempting to climb over a wall. She was captured approximately one mile away following a brief foot chase, authorities said. She now faces a new second-degree felony charge of escape causing bodily injury, court records show. Her attorneys have said they are unable to comment on her alleged escape attempt due to a court-imposed gag order. Armstrong has been behind bars since her capture in Costa Rica last year following a seven-week manhunt. Authorities have alleged that Armstrong fatally shot Wilson in Austin, Texas, in a potential act of jealousy after the professional cyclist spent time with Armstrongs then-boyfriend, Colin Strickland who, like Wilson, also cycled professionally. Armstrong allegedly took off while facing questioning by police in the shooting. She was arrested in June of last year in the Central American country and extradited back to Texas to face charges. Her trial is scheduled to start later this month. Related... WOBURN A Brockton man accused of killing his girlfriend four years ago in Framingham will have his fate decided by a judge later this month. Christopher McKoy, 28, has opted for a bench trial, which is scheduled to start Oct. 30 in Middlesex Superior Court. His attorney, Edward Hayden, said the trial is expected to last two days. McKoy is charged with first-degree murder in the Oct. 20, 2019, stabbing death of his 27-year-old girlfriend, Jamia Ammons-Maddrey, inside her apartment at 37H Interfaith Terrace in Framingham. Authorities say McKoy visited Ammons-Maddrey's apartment, where the two got into an argument before he allegedly stabbed her several times in her bedroom. 'Look at me!': Murder victim's brother lashes out at suspect in Framingham District Court ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Authorities say McKoy then ran from the apartment and went from Framingham to Ashland and then Holliston. It was there that he allegedly cut off a GPS monitoring bracelet that he had worn because he was on probation for an unrelated gun charge. Authorities said after he cut off his GPS monitoring bracelet, he got a ride from an undisclosed person to Boston, where he went to his mother's apartment, took a shower and put his bloody clothes in a laundry chute, which were found two days later. Police arrested McKoy on Oct. 22. Jamia Ammons-Maddrey had enrolled in EMT program Ammons-Maddrey was studying criminal justice at MassBay Community College, where she had also enrolled in a program to become an emergency medical technician. Her brother, Jayshawn Maddrey, said in a 2019 interview that Ammons-Maddrey stayed with McKoy in hopes to helping him get psychological problems under control, but ultimately decided to break up with him. This was the worst moment of my life, Jayshawn Maddrey said about being in court for McKoy's arraignment. This is the worst thing Ive ever had to sit through. 'Never afraid to speak her mind': Brother of stabbing victim recalls her outspoken nature McKoy, who is diagnosed with schizophrenia and was allegedly not on his medication at the time of the slaying, is being held at Bridgewater State Hospital. Hayden said he could not say whether McKoy is now medicated or being treated. "I can't disclose what treatment or medication he may be on," the attorney said. Hayden also said he could not disclose whether he would use a mental health defense, including suggesting that McKoy is not criminally responsible due to his schizophrenia. "There's not a lot I can say prior to the trial," Hayden said. If convicted, McKoy would be sentenced to a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole. Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or nmiller@wickedlocal.com. For up-to-date public safety news, follow him on X @Norman_MillerMW or on Facebook at facebook.com/NormanMillerCrime. This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Christopher McKoy's murder trial for 2019 stabbing scheduled OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) The Oklahoma City Police Department is still searching for the suspect in a double murder that happened on Saturday. Its scary, you know, theres somebody thats walking around killing people, said Cuinesia Carbajal, a neighbor. LOCAL NEWS: Two shot and killed in NW Oklahoma City shooting The incident happened around 10 p.m. Saturday night on NW 36th Street, near N. Pennsylvania Avenue. Carbajal told KFOR shes lived in the area only for a few weeks. She said until this weekend, its been extremely quiet. Saturday night, we were in our garage, and we just heard like two shots and then we heard like four more shots, said Carbajal. Frantic, I would say, you know, because we were panicking and trying to make sure the kids are okay, trying to make sure, you know, they just have seats, just staying away from the windows. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Once she felt it was safe, she peeked out her window and eventually saw the street flooded with police cars. There were reports of gunfire there in the area. Police arrived at a residence there. In the backyard of that residence, two people were found with gunshot wounds, Sgt. Dillon Quirk with the Oklahoma City Police Department. Police say Charles Ingram, 48, was found dead at the scene, while Andre Neal, 40, was rushed to a hospital where he later passed away. LOCAL NEWS: Investigators identify suspect in deadly Noble shooting Meanwhile the killer still hasnt been caught. Its pretty early in the investigation, said Sgt. Quirk. Theyre going to utilize what resources they have, camera footage in the area, witness statements. But at this time, nobodys been identified or taken into custody. Police are asking anyone with information to give their homicide tip line a call. The number is (405) 297-1200. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City. The wife of an alleged serial killer is asking authorities to give back guns seized in a search of the family home as she struggles with cancer and medical bills and is divorcing her husband, who prosecutors say led a double life as an unassuming architect and a brutal murderer. Asa Ellerup, the wife of suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann, lost her health insurance when her husband's arrest forced the collapse of his business shortly after she learned she had cancer. There's no forensic value in the case from the guns or Heuermann's 2012 Chevrolet Avalanche, according to Ellerup's lawyer Bob Macedonio "just the optics of returning firearms to the home of an alleged serial killer." The collection, which includes antiques from the American Civil War and World Wars I and II, is worth an estimated $300,000, he said. So his solution would be to have the guns appraised by a licensed dealer and sold off like any other marital assets in the couple's ongoing divorce. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement GILGO BEACH SUSPECT REX HEUERMANN'S KIDS LIVING IN A SURREAL, WAKING HORROR SHOW: LAWYER Asa Ellerup and Victoria Heuermann enter their home in Massapequa Park, New York, on July 27, 2023. "She doesnt want the guns she wants the money for them," he said. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP The truck is one of two Avalanche vehicles police seized during their investigation a 2002 pickup stowed on Heuermann's brother's property in South Carolina, which is the suspect vehicle in the Gilgo Beach murders, and a newer model that Macedonio estimates is worth about $20,000 to $25,000. Other assets that remain in police possession include jewelry belonging to both Ellerup and her daughter, Victoria Heuermann. Accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex A. Heuermann appears in Judge Tim Mazzeis courtroom at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead on Sept. 27, 2023. His lawyer, Michael J. Brown, is at left. The family's financial situation is shaky, Macedonio said. They were already living in the only ramshackle home on their block in the neatly manicured Massapequa Park suburb of New York City. Days of police activity left it even worse off, as they cut through walls and floors, dug up the backyard and left items in disarray while hunting for evidence they hoped to find tying Heuermann to the cold case serial murders. Ellerup has been living off of savings and a GoFundMe campaign set up by Melissa Moore, who is herself the daughter of a serial killer. However, Macedonio noted, boxes upon boxes of seized paperwork that were deemed to have no value to investigators have already been returned to the family. GILGO BEACH MURDERS: SOUTH CAROLINA NEIGHBORS SAY SECRECY SURROUNDS SUSPECT REX HEUERMANN, ODD BROTHER Ellerup and her adult children could use the money as they look to restore some normalcy to their lives after police brought charges in the cold case investigation following a months-long effort from a new task force established more than a decade after the bodies were found. Heuermann's daughter, who worked in her father's now defunct architecture firm, is out of work and under pressure from clients who want their deposits back, Macedonio said. The adult son lives with his mother and collects disability payments. Rex A. Heuermann, an architect who lived a 20-minute drive from Gilgo Beach in Massapequa Park, appears in what investigators decribe as "selfie" photographs taken from the fictitious Springfieldman9 AOL account, as part of a bail application by the Suffolk County District Attorney's office July 14, 2023. REX HEUERMANN'S WIFE PICTURED FOR FIRST TIME AS SHE FILES FOR DIVORCE FROM GILGO BEACH SERIAL SLAYING SUSPECT However, Suffolk County prosecutors, who have jurisdiction over the serial slayings, have asked the court for permission to turn the guns over to law enforcement in neighboring Nassau County, where Hueurmann lived. GILGO BEACH MURDERS: THE INVESTIGATION IN PHOTOS Gilgo Beach murders victims Amber Costello, top left, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, top right, Melissa Barthelemy, bottom left, and Megan Waterman. Heuermann is under investigation for possessing unlawful firearms there. However, according to Macedonio, the vast majority of the nearly 300 seized guns were legally owned and should be sold as "marital assets" and not considered evidence. "Even without a forensic examination, several of the firearms seized were apparently illegally possessed," Assistant District Attorney Lawrence Opisso wrote in a court filing last week. Before his arrest, Rex Heuermann, 59, was known by neighbors as a quiet businessman who commuted to work in New York City by train and was often seen around Massapequa Park in a three-piece suit, carrying his briefcase. Those included 26 handguns and 15 "unregistered assault weapons." Police took hundreds of guns out of a safe in Heuermann's basement while searching the home in July. Police spent nearly two weeks searching Heuermann's home after his arrest on July 13. He faces six charges of murder in the deaths of three women, Amber Lynn Costello, 27, Melissa Barthelemy, 24, and Megan Waterman, 22. He pleaded not guilty and would face up to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole if convicted. CLICK HERE FOR MORE TRUE CRIME FROM FOX NEWS Heuermann is also the prime suspect in the killing of 25-year-old Maureen Brainard-Barnes, whose remains were found near the others dumped alongside Ocean Parkway, just east of Gilgo Beach. Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said previously that police also found Heuermann's wife's DNA on some of the victims but she was out of town during each of the murders and has not been named a suspect. It is believed to have been transferred incidentally by her husband. A road sign directing drivers to Gilgo Beach off Ocean Parkway, about 45 miles east of New York City. The sign is not far from where the remains of the Gilgo Four victims were discovered in 2010. The arrest completely "blindsided" Hueurmann's wife and adult children, Macedonio told Fox News Digital previously. Her husband's double life also included allegations of numerous affairs with sex workers around the country behind Ellerup's back. Prosecutors even included selfies from his online dating profile in court documents. The couple's children, Victoria Heuermann, 26, and Christopher Sheridan, 33, have retained a lawyer of their own. "They're living in a surreal, waking horror show," the lawyer, Vess Mitev, told Fox News Digital. Fox New's Audrey Conklin contributed to this report. Original article source: Suspected serial killer Rex Heuermann's wife wants to sell gun collection seized by police ADDIS ABABA, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia expects to earn around 10.1 billion birr (about 182 million U.S. dollars) from energy exports to neighboring Djibouti, Kenya and Sudan in the current 2023/2024 fiscal year, which started on July 8, an Ethiopian official said on Monday. Ethiopia aims to start energy exports to Tanzania in the 2023/2024 fiscal year, and if the plan is successfully carried out, it will be the first time the East African country exports energy to another country with which it does not share a common land border, Moges Mekonen, communication director of the Ethiopia Electric Power (EEP), a state-owned electric producer, was quoted by the Ethiopia Press Agency. Ethiopia earned 102 million U.S. dollars from energy exports in the previous 2022/2023 fiscal year. Mekonen said the EEP also plans to earn a further 20 billion birr (about 358.5 million dollars) in revenue from domestic energy-related activities. Ethiopia's energy export is part of a broader plan to economically integrate the East African region through electricity infrastructure. The Ethiopian government has announced its plan to increase the country's export revenue from electric power to 400 million dollars within 10 years. One person was killed early Monday morning when a tractor trailer hit an SUV, according to the South Carolina Highway Patrol. The two-vehicle collision happened at about 2 a.m. on a stretch of Interstate 77 in Fairfield County, said Master Trooper Gary Miller. The crash occurred near the 30 mile marker on I-77, according to Miller. Thats where a Hummer H3 was disabled in a northbound lane from a previous collision, Miller said. A 2024 Freightliner tractor trailer was driving north on I-77 when it crashed into the immobilized Hummer, killing the SUV driver, according to Miller. The Fairfield County Coroners Office has not publicly identified the SUV driver. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The driver of the tractor trailer was not injured, but a passenger in the truck was hurt and had to be taken to a hospital in Columbia, Miller said. Further information on the passengers condition was not available. No other injuries were reported. There was no word if either of the drivers or the tractor trailer passenger were wearing seat belts. Information about the initial collision that disabled the SUV was not available, but the deadly crash continues to be investigated by the Highway Patrol. Through Wednesday, 765 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2023, according to the state Department of Public Safety. Last year, 1,091 people died in crashes in South Carolina, DPS reported. At least 10 people have died in Fairfield County crashes in 2023, according to DPS data. Last year, nine deaths were reported in the county, DPS reported. Every episode of Threes Company centered around a misunderstanding, but Suzanne Somers sudden departure from the show was a real discrepancy that network executives were unwilling to fix. The iconic sitcom debuted on March 15, 1977, and vaulted Somers into stardom alongside her television roommates John Ritter and Joyce DeWitt . The trios zany antics in apartment 201with Somers as Chrissy Snow, Ritter as Jack Tripper, and DeWitt as Janet Woodhelped the show became a mainstay of the Nielsen Top 10 ratings. By 1980, Somerswho died on October 15, 2023, at age 76had graced the cover of numerous magazines and was seemingly at the top of her game. More importantly, she knew her worth to the show. When it came time for contract negotiations, she set a reasonable threshold: the equivalent of her male costars. What she didnt expect was to walk out jobless. The shows response was, Who do you think you are? the actor told People. They said, John Ritter is the star. But Somers unexpected exit from Threes Company helped her redefine her celebrated career. The men were making five times as much as the women Getty Images When Somers first signed on to the show, she agreed to a $3,500 per week salary to play the bubbly Chrissy. As the show gained traction, her salary climbed, and soon, she was making $30,000 a week. I had the highest demographic of all women in television 18 to 49, she said in an interview for the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 2009. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement With a better understanding of the industry than when she started, she went into her contract negotiation for the fifth season with equal pay in mind. Im looking around and thinking, Why are all the men... making 10 times more? she questioned. Her costars, Ritter and DeWitt, already had their contracts set, so she gave them a heads up that she was going to go in strong. I say to John and Joyce Im going to ask for big money and a piece of the back end and if you two back me up... well all get it, so Ill be the patsy, she continued. Her husband, former television producer Alan Hamel, went to negotiate for her, asking for $150,000 a week, which was the average that men were earning on television at the time and on par with what her costar Ritter was making. (She said she didnt know at the time Ritter was making more since the three of them had a favored-nations clause.) Another shows negotiations affected the outcome Before heading to the meeting that morning, Hamel checked with Somers again, hypothesizing that it could all blow out of the water. I said, Theyre not going to get rid of Chrissy, she recalled in the Academy interview. What Somers and Hamel didnt know at the time was that the ABC executives were holding onto their pursestrings extra tight because they had just settled a deal with the stars of Laverne & Shirley, Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams, and were paying the two women more than they had hoped. Laverne & Shirley had just negotiated a monster deal, and afterwards, they decided they needed to make an example of female actresses so that no other woman would ask to be paid what men were making, Hamel told People. In a time before cell phones, Somers waited at home anxiously. So I hear the front door open, and I can tell by the way the door closes and the sound of his feet walking up the stairs that this is not good, she recalled. Thats when he told her that she had been fired. Never think that you are not replaceablerule number one, Somers said. After she was fired, Somers was escorted by a police guard on set As if that sudden blow wasnt hard enough, they hadnt finished filming the fifth season yet, so she had to go back to set. But it wasnt business as usual. So what they did do was force me to finish out the year but diminish me to a minute, Somers explained in the Academy interview. They built this little side setit was crazy what they did. They would have a police guard come meet me at the back door, walk me in. I was not allowed to see anybody from the original show, only the wardrobe guy, who would bring me a pair of shorts and something. On the sparse set was a chair, phone and lampwith one camera filming her saying lines on the phone. It just felt so like I was being punished like I was a bad girl. It brought up all my old feelings of low self-worth, Somers remembered. The demeaning treatment came all because she asked to be paid the same as the men. It was just a terrible time, she said. The industry shunned her, so she reinvented herself Off the set, life wasnt any better. She went from being the most coveted actress in the demographic to not even being able to get an interview with any press outlet. I sat home for the better part of the year, thinking, Why did I do it? Here I had the world by the tail why did I think that I should be paid what theyre paying the men? Somers said in the Academy interview. But one day, everything clicked. I hear voices sometimes, not in a weird way, she explained. I hear a voice in my head, like a loudspeaker. It says, Why are you focused on what you dont have? Why dont you focus on what it is you do have? And thats when she realized the gift Threes Company had given her that it couldnt take away: visibility. Using her name and face recognition, she plotted not a comeback, but a reinvention. Everybody in this country knows my nameI have visibility, she said of the realization. Thats something. Soon she was starring in a Las Vegas production with 13 dancers and a 27-piece orchestra, performing a lively revue with classic stage songs like Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy. And in 1987, she was named Las Vegas Entertainer of the Year along with Frank Sinatra. Somers became a successful entrepreneur, most famously serving as the spokesperson for the ThighMaster exercise machine in the 1990s. In 2014, she was inducted into the Direct Responsea.k.a. informercialHall of Fame. She was also a fitness and beauty line owner, author, and talk show host. She even made a triumphant return to the small screen. Starting in 1991, Somers played Carol Foster-Lambert on the popular sitcom Step by Step alongside Patrick Duffy for seven seasons. She also served as a co-host for the comedy show Candid Camera and stepped into the ballroom in 2015 on the ABC reality competition Dancing with the Stars. All of this success stemmed from her decision to ask for equal pay. That was the great thing about being fired, Somers told People in 2020. I would have never been able to do what I do now. Somers relied on her resilience in other ways, too. She was treated for cancer three times during her tenure on Threes Company and found out she had breast cancer in 2000. Once again, treatment allowed her to live cancer-free for nearly 16 years. But this July, the actor and entrepreneur announced her breast cancer had returned. Somers died one day before her 77th birthday. You Might Also Like Sweden says killing of two Swedes in Brussels is terrible news Aftermath of shooting in Brussels STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - News from Belgium that two Swedes were shot dead in Brussels was terrible, Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer said on Monday, and follows recent police warnings in Sweden of potential attacks over Koran burnings. "Tonight we have received terrible news from Brussels. The Government office and relevant authorities are working intensively to get more information about what happened," Strommer told Reuters. The Swedish government was in contact with Belgian authorities to seek more information, he added. Sweden in August raised its terrorist alert to the second highest level, warning of an increase in threats against Swedish interests also abroad, after Koran burnings and other acts in Sweden against Islam's holiest text outraged Muslims and triggered threats from jihadists. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Swedish government has condemned the burnings and is considering amending laws that could stop them but critics say such moves need to preserve far-reaching freedom of speech. (Reporting by Anna Ringstrom, editing by Terje Solsvik) The federal judge overseeing the election subversion case against Donald Trump in Washington, DC, placed a limited gag order on the former president after his continued attacks against potential witnesses, prosecutors and the court itself, following a testy hearing Monday. Though limited in scope, the gag order from Judge Tanya Chutkan is likely the biggest limit on the former presidents speech he has ever been handed. This is not about whether I like the language Mr. Trump uses, Chutkan said. This is about language that presents a danger to the administration of justice. His presidential candidacy does not give him carte blanche to vilify public servants who are simply doing their jobs, Chutkan said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The hourslong hearing laid out how Trump would be able to discuss special counsel Jack Smiths history-making prosecution against him on the campaign trail. Chutkan outlined the order in court and plans to issue a more detailed written order in the coming days. Heres what to know about the gag order and Mondays hearing: Gag order marks a measurable limit on Trumps speech The gag order Chutkan implemented bars Trump from making certain comments about the special counsels team or potential witnesses in the federal election subversion case, including any comments that directly target court personnel, potential witnesses or the special counsel and his staff. One could come away from these arguments with a mistaken understanding that the First Amendment is an absolute right, Chutkan said Monday. That is false. The First Amendment yields to the administration of justice. Chutkan said she was particularly troubled by comments she believes raise a real possibility of violence against Smith, his team, and witnesses in the case. Trump has made several such comments since he was indicted over the summer, Chutkan noted during the hearing, including referring to Smith as a thug and saying Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a potential witness in the case, committed a treasonous act during his tenure that was so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH! In what kind of case do you think it would be appropriate for a criminal defendant to call the prosecutor a thug and stay on the streets? the judge asked Trump attorney John Lauro . Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest comes to mind. A New York state judge imposed a similar gag order regarding against the former president earlier this month after he attacked a member of the courts staff via social media. That order bars Trump only from speaking publicly about the court staff in his civil fraud trial. Trump can criticize Biden and DOJ Mondays order does not, however, impose restrictions on disparaging comments about Washington, DC where the trial will take place or certain comments about the Justice Department at large, both of which the government requested. Chutkan also specified that Trump can certainly state that he is being unfairly prosecuted. While restricting some of the former presidents speech, Chutkan agreed with Trumps defense attorneys that it is within the former presidents rights to criticize Joe Biden and his administration. In the protective order proposed by prosecutors, Trump would be barred from making comments about the Justice Department as a whole under Biden, including Trumps continued assertion that the Justice Department was prosecuting him on Bidens orders. Prosecutors did not, however, oppose Trumps ability to criticize Biden as president. He can criticize President Biden to his hearts content, your honor, because President Biden has nothing to do with this case, prosecutor Molly Gaston said in court, adding that the Justice Department takes no issue with Trump calling Biden crooked. But the judge said there are limits. When you start to use a word like thug to describe a prosecutor doing their job, that wouldnt be allowed by any other criminal defendant, Chutkan said. Just because the defendant is running a political campaign does not allow him to do whatever he wants. She added: If the message Mr. Trump wants to express is my prosecution is politically motivated, he can do so without using highly charged language. Enforcing the gag order Chutkan did not say during the hearing what penalties she would implement should Trump break the rules of the gag order, but listed several options she believed were available for her to choose from. Those options include admonishing Trump in court, imposing financial penalties, home detention or revoking his pretrial release. Chutkan also said she believed she could issue a show-cause order, which would require Trump justify why he breached the rules of the gag order. Violations of the gag order may not necessarily need to be raised by prosecutors for Chutkan to impose a penalty, she said. Trump said on his social media site that he plans to appeal the ruling. Trial date isnt moving While arguing against the proposed gag order, Lauro argued that that the former president was being punished by the Biden administration during an election cycle and noted that the trial date was set for March 4, 2024, the day before the Super Tuesday primary. This trial will not yield to the election cycle, and we will not revisit the trial date, Chutkan told Lauro. Trumps lawyers have already made a motion to push back the trial date in the Florida classified documents case but have only asked for certain filing deadlines to be extended in the DC case. The hearing grew heated at points when Lauro and Chutkan sparred about political rhetoric and tone. For instance, Lauro accused the special counsels office, through the proposed gag order, of trying to to prevent President Trump from speaking out about the issues of the day. Chutkan responded: I understand that you have a message you want to get out. I do not need to hear any campaign rhetoric in my court. Politics stops at this courtroom door, Chutkan added. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com A West Virginia teacher accused of taping a students mouth shut and binding his wrists has been charged with child abuse, state troopers told news outlets. Cassandra Sisler, 43, was arrested Oct. 13 in connection with the alleged incidents at Central Preston Middle School in Kingwood, WDTV reported, citing authorities. She was charged with four counts of child abuse and released after posting a $40,000 bond, according to the West Virginia MetroNews. The alleged abuse occurred earlier this month when the child said Sisler duct-taped his mouth from ear to ear during class on Oct. 2, troopers said in a criminal complaint cited by WBOY. He told police his mouth and lips were sore after taking off the tape. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The student accused Sisler of taping his mouth shut again Oct. 4, this time wrapping his wrists in duct tape, the station reported, citing the complaint. Preston County Schools Superintendent Brad Martin said the district is aware of the allegations, according to WDTV. Sislers current job status isnt known. . McClatchy News reached out to Preston County Schools for comment was awaiting a response. Sisler is was still listed as a teacher at West Preston Middle School as of Oct. 16, according to the West Virginia Education Associations website. She also held a leadership position in the associations Preston County chapter, WVEA President Dale Lee told MetroNews. We dont discuss personnel matters with the press, but the one thing I will say is that we will support our members and provide their guidance as they need it, Lee told the radio network. And we live in a country where you are innocent until proven guilty, so well see how this plays out, he said. Kingwood is about 170 miles northeast of Charleston, West Virginia. Childrens program bus driver took photos of toddler to trade for child porn, feds say Teaching assistant abandons dog in hot car while buying guns, feds say. The dog died School finds loaded handgun in substitute teachers backpack, Maryland cops say A teacher has been awarded almost 45,000 after he was sacked over sex assault claims that pupils later said had been made up for fun. Jonathan Hawker, who taught maths and computing at an all-girls grammar school, was sacked after pupils said he had assaulted them by touching their thighs and massaging their shoulders. Following the allegations, he was suspended from Devonport High School for Girls in Plymouth despite some older pupils later claiming the girls had told them they fabricated everything because it was fun. Mr Hawker was arrested and dismissed for gross misconduct, an employment tribunal heard. His appeal against his sacking was then rejected, despite the police dropping the charges. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement However, he has been awarded 44,868 his annual salary after the tribunal ruled the school had carried out a wholly inadequate investigation and failed to provide a safe working environment for staff, in particular for men. The tribunal, held remotely at Bristol, heard that in June 2021, a student wrote a statement to her tutor that another girl identified only as Student H had said Mr Hawker had touched her leg. False rumours Ruth Morgan, the head of safeguarding, discovered during discussions with other pupils a similar incident described by students, as well as false rumours Mr Hawker had previously been suspended for touching a year 9 student and had an affair with a sixth former. The hearing was told that Beverly Bell, the schools acting head, instructed Mrs Morgan to take statements from the girls. One girl, Student D, reported that Mr Hawker had made her feel very uncomfortable, by massaging my shoulders and stroking my arms. She said she had seen Mr Hawker stroking other girls thighs and that other girls, Student G and Student F, had said that happened to them. The teacher was also accused of winking at girls, the panel was told. Mr Hawker was suspended pending an investigation in June that year. A month later two girls from the year above said they had heard the group of accusers claim they tried to get Mr Hawker fired, the hearing was told. First knowledge of the allegations This was reported to the head, but the school appeared to reject the older students account, the tribunal heard. Mr Hawker was arrested in September 2021 after two of the original group agreed the school could involve the police. It was his first knowledge of the allegations. An internal investigation was launched at the school in November. Mr Hawker was dismissed for gross misconduct at a disciplinary hearing in February 2022. A month later police dropped the charges against him. Martha Street, an employment judge, upheld his claim of unfair dismissal and criticised the schools investigation into the girls allegations. A fair investigation would at the least have included a transcript of the interviews with them, she said. I make no finding on whether Mr Hawker committed the misconduct alleged. What I can say is that if he is innocent, and a playground plot can end a career and destroy a reputation, the school is not providing a safe working environment for its staff, in particular for its male staff. The judge said the disciplinary panel and subsequent appeal panel was presented with wholly inadequate findings. In a career-ending case, the investigation has to be as full as possible. This fell well short of that. The school accepted the evidence of the younger pupils without challenge or exploration and discounted, ignored or avoided finding contrary evidence. 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. Ted Cruz Praised Liz (Outlasted By A Lettuce) Truss And You Won't Be-Leaf The Mockery Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) drew ridicule for his praise of British conservative politician Liz Truss of blink-and-you-miss-it prime ministerial fame at the weekend. We are so grateful for our British friends and for strong leaders on the global stage who will champion conservative principles and defend Liberty, Cruz wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Truss, meanwhile, said it was vital that Conservatives win the battle of ideas both in the U.S. and UK. The time is now, she added. Check out their exchange here: Was a real pleasure to visit with @trussliz in Texas. We are so grateful for our British friends and for strong leaders on the global stage who will champion conservative principles and defend Liberty. https://t.co/fkeS2hBTbm Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) October 14, 2023 Critics reminded Cruz of Truss ultimately short-lived spell as UK leader. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement She was forced to resign in October 2022 after just 44 days in the role after her botched economic plan triggered financial chaos and a plummeting in the value of the pound. It made her the shortest-serving British prime minister. As Truss government was on the verge of implosion, the Daily Star tabloid live-streamed a head of lettuce and asked: Can Liz Truss outlast a lettuce? She did not. All right Ted - how is it conservative to bankrupt your country? Paul Goldsmith (@PaulGoldsmith73) October 14, 2023 She crashed the U.K economy very much like how Republicans crashed the U.S economy twice. Progressive War Room (@LibWarRoom) October 14, 2023 She was sacked by her own representatives Ted Trumpton (@Trump_ton) October 16, 2023 Strong Leader on global stage ? Liz Truss resigned in disgrace after just 46 days as PM after crashing the economy Is that what you call strong leadership? Meg (@Meghpai) October 15, 2023 Keep her, you're welcome. Brian M53 (@BrianMarriott1) October 16, 2023 Honestly mate, the lettuce would have been better company. Timbassett (@Timbassett) October 14, 2023 A strong leader, for just over 1,000 hours. Iain Small #FBPE (@Smally1969) October 15, 2023 You obviously have no idea who she is. Shortest ever serving PM. I knew you would get on with her though. She would fit right in with the Republican Party. Lionel Dore (@lioneldore) October 15, 2023 Strong leader on the global stage Should someone tell him? Steph. #RefugeesWelcome. #GTTO ally (@SoftDvil) October 16, 2023 Could you keep her please? Britain is still recovering from the damage she caused in such a very brief amount of time. Sean Barrett (@SeanRBarrett) October 14, 2023 "Strong leaders." You do know she was run out of No 10 after 49 days of turmoil.... Marcella (@CellaH26) October 16, 2023 Related... Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., led a coalition of 16 senators urging the Biden administration to withdraw environmental regulations that they said are a "clear attempt to shut down oil and gas operations." Cruz, Manchin and the 14 other lawmakers penned a letter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and its subagency the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), taking issue with regulations designating a large swath of the Gulf of Mexico as a "critical habitat" for the endangered Rices whale. They argued the rules lacked evidence and, instead, seemed designed as a backdoor restriction on fossil fuel drilling. "The proposed rule as written fails to comply with important elements of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and would jeopardize domestic energy production, national security, and other important interests," the lawmakers wrote in the letter shared with Fox News Digital late last week. "In designating any particular area as a critical habitat, NMFS is required to use the best available science to consider the economic impact, the impact on national security, and any other relevant impact," they continued. "Unfortunately, NMFS failed to do so in this case, vastly underestimating the proposed rules economic and national security impacts." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement MANCHIN, OTHERS TORCH BIDEN FOR BANNING OIL DRILLING ACROSS MILLIONS OF ACRES: 'ASSAULT ON OUR ECONOMY' Sens. Ted Cruz and Joe Manchin led a coalition of 16 lawmakers in arguing against the NMFS environmental protections. According to the letter, the NMFS ultimately created the critical habitat designation based on just a single sighting of a Rices whale off the central Texas coast in 2017. They said decades of surveys have yielded few confirmed observations of the species in limited geographic areas that were outside the region blocked off by NMFS. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP "This is both legally and scientifically insufficient to demonstrate the Rices whales occupied the habitat," Cruz, Manchin and the other senators wrote. "The proposed designation also fails to meet the ESAs requirement that a critical habitat be specific areas within the broader geographical area occupied by the species." BLUE STATE DELIVERS CRIPPLING BLOW TO GREEN ENERGY DEVELOPMENT, JEOPARDIZING BIDEN'S CLIMATE GOALS In July, the NMFS proposed to establish the Rice's whale critical habitat designation, which would span more than 28,270 square miles across the Gulf of Mexico, an area larger than West Virginia. Such a designation, which agencies are enabled to establish under the Endangered Species Act, creates more restrictions on activities permitted or funded in that area. In particular, the rulemaking identified "energy exploration, development, and production" as threats that "contribute to the risk of extinction" of the Rice's whale. "The lack of an objective standard when paired with this scientific uncertainty creates risk to Navy activities in a resulting critical habitat consultation, and potential follow-on litigation," the U.S. Navy wrote in a separate letter to the NMFS. The letter led by Cruz and Manchin was one of more than 25,740 public comments submitted to the NMFS in response to the regulations. In addition, the agency received comments from several energy industry groups, including the American Petroleum Institute and National Ocean Industries Association, and the U.S. Navy, which argued it would pose national security risks. "This Rices whale proposed rule includes a very broad attribute of the critical habitat," Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy Karnig Ohannessian wrote in a letter to NMFS. "The lack of an objective standard when paired with this scientific uncertainty creates risk to Navy activities in a resulting critical habitat consultation, and potential follow-on litigation." The NMFS, meanwhile, proposed the rule shortly after it entered into a settlement with left-wing environmental groups that led to the removal of about six million acres from a future oil and gas lease sale and imposed various restrictions on oil and gas vessels. The agency was then sued by oil industry groups and the state of Louisiana over the actions and a federal court ruled the Biden administration must move forward with the upcoming lease sale without the restrictions. An appeals court then delayed the lease sale until November while it reviews the case. Original article source: Ted Cruz, top Dem senator team up to press Biden admin on oil drilling restrictions [Source] Joseph Harrell, a 17-year-old teen who was arrested in connection to a violent robbery in Houston, Texas, that left a Vietnamese mother paralyzed, was sentenced to three decades in prison. Harrells sentence: On Thursday, Harris County District Court Judge Kristin M. Guiney sentenced Harrell to 30 years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated robbery causing serious bodily injury to 41-year-old Nhung Troung. In a plea deal, Harrell agreed to plead guilty to the robbery charge. In return, prosecutors agreed to dismiss two other charges related to the robbery, including an initial charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement About the attack: On Feb. 13, Harrell was captured on surveillance footage physically attacking Truong, 44, during a robbery at the 9800 block of Bellaire in Houston, Texas. Truong, who had withdrawn a large amount of cash for an upcoming trip to visit her family in Vietnam, suffered broken ribs and a severe spinal cord injury that has left her unable to walk. Trending on NextShark: S. Korean star Song Joong-ki reveals why he's had no success landing Hollywood, UK roles Authorities said Harrell observed Truong withdrawing from a bank in Chinatown before following her for more than 20 miles to Bellaire. Harrells jailhouse confession: Harrell was previously caught on jailhouse phone calls confessing to the crime. We were snatching purses, Harrell confessed. I hopped out, snatched the purse, the lady ran with the money, I grabbed her, slammed her and she was paralyzed. The lady probably wants justice and some more (expletive). Theyll try to max me out 20 years basically. That (expletive). I aint going for it. The (expletive) already ran up $230,000 off GoFundMe. (Expletive) better run on with her life. Trending on NextShark: [Update] Chinese woman missing after her US tour guide found dead in California state park Eligibility for parole: District Attorney Kim Ogg noted that Harrell must serve at least 15 years of his sentence before he is eligible for parole. People should feel safe in our community and not have to worry about looking over their shoulders whenever they go to the bank or run errands, Ogg said in a statement. Our organized crime division was ready and willing to go to trial and that is why this defendant decided to plead guilty. Trending on NextShark: TikToker reacts to tasting Indian food for first time: 'That should be a crime' More on NextShark: Angelina Jolies Vietnamese-born son, Pax Thien, spotted assisting her on set Olivia Munn teaches son Mandarin with book from friend Ali Wong RICHMOND, Ind. An incarcerated youth who was 15 when she was convicted of robbing and stabbing a 77-year-old Richmond woman hopes to have her sentence reduced. Savanna Haile Young who will observe her 17th birthday on Wednesday in August 2022 was sentenced to 15 years in prison, with five years suspended, by Superior Court 1 Judge Charles Todd Jr. Young, of Indianapolis, had pleaded guilty to robbery resulting in serious bodily injury, a Level 2 felony carrying a maximum 30-year sentence. Young had been waived into adult court following her April 2022 arrest. She had been accused of running away from a Richmond youth treatment facility before breaking into the 77-year-old victim's home along South L Street, ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement A probable cause affidavit said the senior citizen's throat was cut, and she had multiple facial injuries, including at least nine more cuts, black eyes and several bruises. The victim was treated at Reid Hospital and a medical facility in Indianapolis in the wake of the assault. More: 15-year-old sentenced to decade in jail for injuring Richmond woman When arrested, Young had the woman's cellphone and a sweatshirt taken from her home. In a petition for post-conviction relief filed this month in Superior Court 1, Young contended no parent or guardian was present when she signed the plea agreement resolving her case. She also reported her defense attorneys told her if she did not not plead guilty, "I would spend almost the rest of my life in prison, along with other lies." "My lawyers said I would only serve seven years no matter what," Young added. The teenager wrote she had "continued to have good behavior while incarcerated." Young reported that she was held at the LaPorte Juvenile Correctional Facility in northwestern Indiana. According to a state Department of Correction website, she has a projected release date in October 2029, a day before her 23rd birthday. 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: Teen who robbed, stabbed Richmond senior citizen wants sentence reduced Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with Mongolian Foreign Minister Batmunkh Battsetseg in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 16, 2023. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- China is willing to work with Mongolia to adhere to mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual support, and push bilateral relations to a new level, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi Monday. Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks while meeting with his Mongolian counterpart Batmunkh Battsetseg. Under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, China-Mongolia relations have maintained a sound momentum of development, Wang said. Mongolia is one of the first countries to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative. China is willing to strengthen development strategies alignment with Mongolia so that mutually beneficial cooperation can benefit the two peoples more, contribute to regional development and stability, and promote the building of a global community of shared future, he noted. Battsetseg said Mongolia attaches great importance to developing the comprehensive strategic partnership with China, abides by the one-China principle and firmly supports China in safeguarding its core interests. Mongolia looks forward to strengthening high-level exchanges and expanding cooperation with China in various fields, he said, noting that Mongolia is willing to start preparations for the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties at an early date. Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh will attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, Battsetseg said, expressing his hope to deepen cooperation with all parties involved and boost shared development and prosperity. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with Mongolian Foreign Minister Batmunkh Battsetseg in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 16, 2023. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) Two Florida Keys teens were arrested Sunday after they threatened a Monroe County deputy at his home, the sheriffs office said. The deputy found the two 16-year-old boys outside his Stock Island home around 4:15 a.m. after noticing his front door was open, according to the sheriffs office. One of them told the deputy, who was not identified: I know you are the police, I dont care, and I will kill all of you, and, I will come back and kill you all, sheriffs office spokesman Adam Linhardt said. Both boys, who the Miami Herald/FLKeysNews is not naming because of their age, were arrested later in the day on charges of burglary with assault on a law enforcement officer, threatening a law enforcement officer and disorderly conduct. I will not tolerate threats of violence against my personnel and I want to commend the deputies and detectives who worked so quickly to find and arrest those responsible for making these threats, Florida Keys Sheriff Rick Ramsay said in a statement. It was not immediately known if the teens remained in Department of Juvenile Justice custody Monday afternoon. (The Hill) Republicans have long despised the federal governments involvement in education, but lawmakers in Tennessee are considering an unprecedented step: rejecting all federal funding in the name of ending Washingtons excessive overreach. Legislators there have formed a 10-member committee to investigate the matter, while others argue the $1.8 billion goes towards the most disadvantaged students and that rejecting the money would only hurt students struggling the most. Federal dollars and the various mandates and restrictions that come with those dollars affect the way Tennessees children are educated. Due to our states excellent financial position, this is a worthy subject of examination and study, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally (R) said when he appointed the Joint Working Group on Federal Education Funding. Republican Gov. Bill Lee has embraced the move, saying it will lead to more state and local control over schools. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The federal government has had excessive overreach time and time again in the last few years, and thats what prompts states like ours to look at any number of ways that we can more effectively make decisions for Tennesseans out of the control of the federal government, Lee said in an event in Nashville, The Tennessean reported. Lee did not specify which federal regulations in particular hed be eager to shrug off, but some Republicans in the legislature say the issue is a matter of principle. Its a philosophy thing. Does the federal government provide everything for us? Or was the federal government set up by the states? The federal government was set up by the states, state House Speaker Cameron Sexton said. We should do everything that we can to be whole and autonomous and independent from the federal government. In 2019, 11 percent of school districts revenues in Tennessee came from federal dollars, with each district receiving between $314 and $2,500 per student, according to the Sycamore Institute. Federal funds in education for states tend to target more vulnerable students, with a Department of Education spokesperson saying the money goes to low-income families, students with disabilities, rural students, students experiencing homeless, students in foster care, Alaska Native and American Indian students, among others. Among these programs are Title I ESEA, which works with low-income students, and IDEA, which helps students with disabilities. When theyre talking about turning down federal funding, I think they may be thinking only about Department of Education dollars, but thats actually a fraction of what were really talking about, said Zahava Stadler, project director of the Education Funding Equity Initiative for New America. Out of the top five federal funding streams for schools, Stadler notes only two of them come from the Department of Education. The second biggest funding stream for K-12 public schools from the federal government is school lunch money, money to provide students with school lunches, and that money doesnt come from the Department of Education. It comes from the Department of Agriculture, she said. The other two sources include Medicaid, which is used largely for students with disabilities, and the E-Rate program, supported by the Federal Communications Commission, which provides internet connectivity for libraries and schools. The federal education funds do not only go to these programs, points out Jonathan Butcher, the Will Skillman senior research fellow in education policy at the Heritage Foundation, who says a non-trivial portion goes to state departments of education to pay federal employees to do administrative work. While Butcher does not dispute some reporting requirements to ensure transparency with funds are necessary, he says the programs are made to have a significant portion of the money go towards federal employees and compliance. I think what states need to keep doing, they need to have the freedom to make decisions at their state departments of education that are effectual decisions for their schools. Instead, I think theres a lot of worrying about how they comply with federal mandates, he said. And while Tennessee lawmakers have said they could cover the $1.8 billion loss in funds if they cut the federal government out of their education, other legal issues could potentially arise. Stadler points out that federal funding for vulnerable students also comes with legal protections for them, saying, students with disabilities in the state would be left with out a lot of legal protections. Nixing the funds, she said, could leave officials stuck in lots of lawsuits about what rights are still protected. There is no indication of when the Tennessee committee will announce its recommendation, and lawmakers say they are keeping an open mind on the issue. But the federal government is sounding the alarm. Our students need more not less to support their academic recovery and address the youth mental health crisis. This political posturing will impede the basic education of young people throughout the entire K-12 school system and limit opportunities particularly for students most in need to access tutoring and academic support, afterschool and summer programs, school counselors, mental health professionals, and other assistance, a Department of Education spokesperson said. Any elected leader in any state threatening to reject federal public education funds should have to answer to their local educators and parents in their community about the detrimental impact it would have on their communitys education system and their students futures, the spokesperson added. Still, critics say the fact that Tennessee is even considering the move should be a wakeup call for the federal government. I think whats striking here is not whether they do it or dont, I guess they probably wont, but its more the fact that were even having this conversation shows that the Department of Education in D.C. has some work to do to ensure that more of these dollars are getting to students and less as being spent on the administrative burden, said Michael Brickman, an adjunct fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego. In recent days, the Texas state Senate moved one step closer to passing a law empowering state police to arrest migrants crossing the US-Mexico border into the Lone Star State, a provision that has alarmed civil rights advocates. On Thursday evening, the state Senate advanced SB 11, which would create a new state crime for illegally entering Texas from Mexico. The proposal, which passed with an initial 19-12 vote, still needs a full floor vote before being submitted to the state House. "It is carefully tailored to avoid intruding on federal immigration enforcement authority while providing law enforcement with an important new tool to deter improper or unlawful entry into Texas," sponsor Sen Brian Birdwell, a Republican, said of the measure during a committee meeting. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Critics said the measure could overwhelm local jails and would cost the state tens of thousands of dollars a day to enforce. My concern is the state of Texas may add a layer on top of what we are dealing with in terms of both border security and a humanitarian crisis that has developed and continues to affect our communities, Sen Cesar Blanco, a Democrat, said of the bill. Civil rights advocates also have concerns about SB 11. Weve seen before that laws like these result in the unlawful racial profiling, arrest, and detention of both U.S. citizens and immigrants, said Sarah Mehta, senior border policy counsel at the ACLU. The group said Texas governor Gregg Abbott has repeatedly abused the legal system in a relentless campaign against asylum seekers and immigrants in Texas. This dangerous attempt to criminalize immigrants is cruel and comes at a great cost to our communities. In July, the Justice Department said it intends to sue the state over Operation Lone Star, a wide-ranging initiative from Governor Abbott deploying state troopers, as well as military-style barriers, along the border to engage in immigration enforcement. Immigration is the province of federal law enforcement, but thousands of immigrants have been arrested by state personnel for trespassing on private property, allegedly being held in jail for weeks without facing charges. The governors office has previously told The Independent that Operation Lone Star had led to the apprehension of more than 393,000 unauthorised immigrants and the repelling of more than 49,000 illegal immigrants, as well as over 31,000 arrests, all of which would have otherwise made their way into communities across Texas and our country thanks to President Bidens open border policies. According to an investigation by the Texas Tribune, ProPublica, and The Marshall Project, state police have arrested far more trespassers than cartel members, and allegedly inflated data on Operation Lone Star by citing arrests on crimes like cockfighting, sexual assault, and stalking in their success statistics, even though these offences had no clear link to immigration enforcement. As The Independent has reported, the governor has relied on a constitutional theory that Texas is under invasion by migrants to justify the military-style build-up at the border, even though legal experts say courts have repeatedly rejected this interpretation of immigration powers. Observers are skeptical the governors crackdown on immigration will change the conditions on the ground. Weve spent $12bn over the last decade, and we have nothing to show for it, Jaime Puente, director of economic opportunity programmes at the advocacy group Every Texan, which monitors the state budget, previously told The Independent. People are not being deterred from coming to the US to seek a better life and opportunitiesno matter how deadly we make that journey. A Texas woman recently went viral after sharing her harrowing experience of accidentally driving to Mexico while trying to find a Home Depot. According to the Daily Dot, Trinity Jackson (@thetrinityjackson) posted a video to her TikTok account explaining that she went to El Paso for two weeks to spend time with her mother after sharing that she needed to get away from Houston, where Jackson currently lives. In the five-minute video, Jackson said she and her mother spent a weekend together before Jackson dropped her mother off at the airport. Shortly after, her mother texted her a reminder to pick up the zip ties she needed from Home Depot. Jackson then searched for the nearest Home Depot in the area and found one about 11 minutes away. As she headed for the retail store, Jackson didnt realize how one missed exit could lead to a nerve-wracking situation. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement She was driving with her music on and her dogs in the backseat when she saw a sign that read Port of Juarez, a land port connecting to El Paso and Cuidad Juarez, Mexico, per the Daily Dot. Mind you, at this point, Im already way too close to the sign to put two and two together, and I realize I am now exiting America and heading to Mexico, Jackson said. Jackson explained how she tried to find an area where she could turn around and head back to the United States. However, the road continued to lead her further into the country. I wanna stay in America, I dont want to leave America, alright? I love Team USA, Jackson affirmed in the clip. Jackson continued driving and eventually reached the Border Patrol. She quickly asked for help from two agents, but the language barrier was challenging. Since the two workers spoke Spanish and Jackson spoke English, she had to rely on Google Translate to communicate with them. I said I need to understand how I can get back into my country, Jackson explained. I didnt mean to do this; this is an accident; this is a missed exit to the extreme. When asked for a valid vehicle registration, Jackson said she didnt have the necessary paperwork to prove it. The agent realized Jackson was nervous and frustrated by the ordeal. After she told him she had her drivers license, passport and other legal documents, the agent decided to help her. The pair continued talking when he advised Jackson to tell the next agent that she had accidentally entered the country. As she reached the front of the line, several agents and security dogs circled her car. They used mirrors to check underneath the vehicle while surveillance cameras were fixed on Jackson and her car. At the time, Jackson feared she would be stuck in a foreign country without having a way back home. However, one of the agents said she was cleared to reenter the U.S. and that if it happened again, she should exit the vehicle and explain her situation, and they would stop traffic for her to turn back around. Jackson said she would never make that mistake again and learned her lesson. Whole time in my head, one things for sure, two things for sure, this is never happening again. This is a mistake you make once. Once, Jackson said. Jackson also didnt care about the zip ties or finding the local Home Depot to purchase them. I dont care about the zip ties. The zip ties will be there tomorrow. Im gonna crotchet, drink some wine, and go to bed in America, Jackson concluded. In a subsequent video, Jackson said she wasnt worried about going to Mexico. She was primarily concerned about being unprepared for the situation while having her dogs with her. The post amassed more than 461,000 views, with users sharing their thoughts and similar experiences traveling to the border. I went to El Paso once and T-Mobile texted me welcome to Mexico while I was driving .. I panicked so bad, one user wrote. Im driving straight home, music OFF, two hands on the wheel, another wrote. Note to self never drive in El Paso with my sense of direction I will end up in Mexico day one hour 2, a third user wrote. The Liberian-flagged oil tanker Ali Najafov has hit a floating mine in the Black Sea, marking the third such incident in the last month, UK news channel Sky News reported on Oct. 16. The incident occurred on Oct. 15 off the coast of Romania as the tanker was passing near the Sulina channel. The crew of the vessel was not injured in the explosion, but the tanker sustained minor damage. Read also: Three NATO members discuss forming coalition to clear Black Sea of mines Bloomberg A source in Ukraine confirmed this information to Sky News. On Oct. 12, British intelligence reported that Russia might try to attack civilian vessels in the Black Sea again by planting explosive devices on the approaches to Ukrainian ports. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Read also: Russia deploys naval mines on approaches to Ukraines Black Sea ports UK On Oct. 6, a similar incident occurred off the coast of Romania. At the time Reuters reported, citing sources, that a Turkish-flagged cargo ship, the Kafkametler, had hit by a sea mine in the Black Sea and sustained minor damage, with no injuries to the crew. At the same time, the Ukrainian Navy did not confirm the reports. According to Turkish officials, the explosion occurred 15-20 meters behindthe ship. On Sept. 20, an explosion occurred on the Togolese-flagged merchant ship Seama near the Romanian Sulina channel on the Danube, which could have also hit a mine. 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 On the evening of 16 October, the third evacuation flight with Ukrainian citizens took off from Israel to Romania. Source: Ukrainian Embassy in Israel on Facebook Quote: "Today on 16 October, at 22:38 local time, the third evacuation flight with 74 citizens of Ukraine, most of them women and children, departed from Ben Gurion Airport (Tel Aviv) to Bucharest (Romania)." Details: The embassy said it had provided the necessary assistance and consular assistance to the Ukrainians. Background: The first evacuation flight with 207 Ukrainian citizens on board has taken off from Tel Aviv to Bucharest on 14 October. The second evacuation plane with 155 Ukrainians on board took off from Israel on 16 October. 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! One of four suspects charged in the grisly torture-murder of a New York City man in Elmira, who was not named previously due to his age at the time, has been found guilty of manslaughter. New York state court records indicate Kavon Sanders, no address listed, went to trial recently in Chemung County Youth Part Court. The Chemung County District Attorney's Office confirmed Sanders was convicted of first-degree manslaughter at the conclusion of the trial. Sanders was 16 in January 2021 when prosecutors said he took part in the torture and murder of 39-year-old Juan Jose Gotay. Sanders was originally indicted for second-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping, two counts of first-degree assault, and two counts of second-degree assault. Two other suspects in the case Thomas E. Bovaird, of Horseheads, and Malik M. Weems, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania previously pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for their role in Gotay's death. They both await sentencing. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The other suspect, Eddie Marte, of New York City, is expected to go to trial at a later date in Chemung County Court. He is already incarcerated at Attica Correctional Facility for a conviction on burglary, kidnapping and robbery charges stemming from an unrelated Ontario County case. Public safety Hornell mom left with questions after son struck, killed by train in Big Flats All of the suspects in Gotay's murder were originally charged with first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping, and several assault counts. Gotay was beaten and tortured around Jan. 29 and Jan. 30, 2021 at two houses on Elmira's Southside, 427-429 Partridge Street and 319 West Ave., according to the indictments. The indictments allege the suspects shot Gotay in the left shoulder and left leg, repeatedly struck him in the face and body, causing, among other things, traumatic injuries to the victim's head, including his jaw, mouth and teeth, along with multiple broken ribs and fingers. The suspects were also accused of stabbing the victim in the eyes with a pointed object, mutilating his tongue, burning his ears and buttocks, and binding him with an electrical cord. Child care Loss of federal funding for NY child care providers could be 'catastrophic' for families They then dumped Gotay's body in a remote area along U.S. Route 6 in Ulysses Township, Potter County, where his remains were discovered in April of 2021. Officials have not offered a motive for the crime, but said Gotay and his assailants knew each other. Sanders faces up to 25 years in state prison on the manslaughter conviction when he is sentenced at a later date in Chemung County Court. Follow Jeff Murray on Twitter @SGJeffMurray. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today. This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Suspect in 2021 Elmira torture murder case guilty of manslaughter Columbia Gas crews have been working around the clock, turning off gas service to more than 4,000 customers in Conway, Economy, Baden and Freedom. This morning when I woke up, the house was at 63 degrees, so I knew they turned the gas off, said David Catanzarite, one of the impacted customers. He first noticed an issue with the gas at his house Sunday morning. We were cooking breakfast and my daughter who was staying with us couldnt cook the eggs, Catanzarite said. She asked me what was going on and I couldnt light the burner even though I was getting pressure. I knew something was wrong. A technician told him the gas in his line was only 25% methane. It should have been 100%. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Lee Gierczynski, a spokesperson with Columbia Gas, said they are investigating what caused that to happen with that gas, which is fed into the system by a third party. One thing were looking at is perhaps air got into the system. When air gets into the system, that could create a low gas or no gas situation for a customer which could create an unsafe situation for them, Gierczynski told Channel 11s Andrew Havranek. Those customers without gas service could be without gas for the next few days. That includes the Ambridge Middle School in Economy. They were closed Monday as the buildings gas was turned off. Students participated in virtual learning. The situation is safe for customers, Gierczynski said. We just ask for their patience. We apologize for the inconvenience. We know how troubling this can be for customers, but we ask for their patience as we work through this process. Columbia Gas, the Red Cross and local municipalities worked together to open the Conway Municipal Building as a warming shelter. For seniors and others who need other assistance, Columbia Gas will work with them on a case-by-case basis. I know its a huge inconvenience for everyone, and this afternoon I hope to talk to them to see what else they can do for our community and the other communities affected for that matter, said Economy Borough Mayor Jo Ann Borato. Catanzarite said he has a fireplace and space heaters if needed and has a nearby relatives home to take a shower. He worries for those who dont have those options but said hes glad this happened now and not in the winter. It could have been 0 degrees out, so Im very thankful that this happened now, Catanzarite said. Could have been a lot worse. Workers are expected to go door-to-door to perform safety checks and relight natural gas appliances once services are restored. Columbia Gas said those workers will have a company badge with their photo on it. As crews bring gas service back online for those impacted customers, they will go door-to-door to do safety checks and re-light gas appliances. If people are not home when the worker arrives, they will leave a door hanger with a phone number that can be called. Customers are also asked to keep their porch light on until gas service is restored to their home. The incident was not believed to be intentional and Columbia Gas said the shutdown is being done out of an abundance of caution. Click here for a full list of streets affected. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW TRENDING NOW: Its disgusting: Several tenants in a New Castle apartment say theyre living among roaches Man arrested for overnight stabbing in Pitcairn Steelers T.J. Watt hit with multiple fines from Ravens win VIDEO: WATCH: Innamorato, Rockey face of in final Allegheny County executive debate DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts Students of some schools in the Los Angeles area were evacuated around midday Monday after the Archdiocese of Los Angeles received "an email veiled threat." Damien High School in La Verne also canceled classes, a school official said. Aerial video, above, shows a police presence near the Damien campus. (KTLA) A threatening email tied to bomb threats received by schools in Europe last week forced the shut down of several schools in Los Angeles County Monday but was deemed by authorities as not credible. Damien High School in La Verne was evacuated and school was canceled for the remainder of the day, according to a tweet by the La Verne Police Department. Several other schools across the county also closed for the day, according to law enforcement officials. "This morning a few of our Catholic schools along with other non-Catholic schools received a spam email [threatening] school safety," the Archdiocese of Los Angeles said in a statement. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Details about the threats to the schools and the number of students evacuated were not disclosed by authorities. The email was similar to one "distributed to schools and institutions in Europe last week that was found to be not credible and meant to cause disruption, panic and fear," according to the archdiocese. Emailed bomb threats went out to schools last week in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, according to the Associated Press. The emails were mostly written in Russian and came from a server within the European Union, Lithuanias police chief, Renatas Pozela, said in a statement. The statement said there was "no evidence of a credible threat at our schools." Read more: French authorities link a school stabbing that killed a teacher to Islamist extremism Law enforcement officials confirmed that a number of schools had been targeted and some closed Monday. "Our major crimes unit is still investigating," said Los Angeles County Sheriff's department spokesperson Deputy Brenda Serna. As for the schools that did close, "that wasn't under our direction," she said. "That was their own discretion." Los Angeles Unified School District officials said Monday that they have received no threats and that schools in the district are operating normally. Read more: Moreno Valley school district hit with $135-million verdict in molestation case In general, however, there has been heightened security awareness and inter-agency communication since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, L.A. schools Supt. Alberto Carvalho said in an interview. We have not received any type of threat, credible or not, aimed or directed at our school system or any entity within our school system, or at our workforce or students, Carvalho said. With that said, we have taken a number of preventive and protective measures, including greater level of collaboration with municipal police departments, including LAPD" and the" exchange of information, adjust protocols to readiness, he said. He added that additional security resources have been deployed around schools close to certain cultural or religious centers. In addition, we have tested our communication systems." From a standpoint of instruction and emotional support, "we have sent out a lot of resources to schools to empower teachers with the ability to speak about the unspeakable to their students, a lot of resources also to the parents to try to explain the inexplicable. Parents also received messages from school principals last week indicating that all was well to that point, but that everyone should be watchful for potential threats. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. The new president-elect of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, served two years served in parliament -- his only experience in politics (MARCOS PIN) On Sunday, a 35-year-old millionnaire with next to no political experience became Ecuador's youngest-ever president-elect, entrusted with leading a country engulfed in a bloody drug gang war. The businessman Daniel Noboa has only served two years in parliament, where his brand-new political alliance has only 13 lawmakers out of 137 -- but garnered a sufficient 52 percent of the vote over socialist Luisa Gonzalez. In doing so, the US-educated banana empire heir dealt a heavy blow to the well-oiled political machine set up by socialist ex-president Rafael Correa , who hand-picked Gonzalez as the new face of his party. Correa, who beat Noboa's father in the 2006 presidential election and served for 10 years, still holds much sway in Ecuadoran politics despite being exiled in Belgium to avoid serving a sentence at home for graft. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement How did Noboa beat the odds? - A new face - The 35-year-old embodies a clamor for change from an electorate weary of the traditional battle between pro- and anti-Correa forces in the country, analysts say. Ecuadorans wanted "a candidate who does not conform to traditional politics," SEK International University political scientist Santiago Cahuasqui told AFP. Voters are also disgruntled with the government of Guillermo Lasso on whose watch the narco violence exploded, leaving at least 460 inmates dead in prisons, nearly a dozen politicians assassinated, and civilians cowering in fear. Noboa polled dead-last among eight candidates who contested the first election round in August. But he shot to prominence after appearing at a debate in a bullet-proof vest after the assassination of rival Fernando Villavicencio, who had been polling in second place but was killed days before the vote. Casting himself as a candidate for change over continuity, Noboa said before the election that "people are excited, people are motivated, people want something new." He was elected to a term of only 16 months, finishing the term of Lasso who called a snap election to avoid a possible impeachment over alleged embezzlement. - Looking right - For analyst David Chavez, of the Central University in Quito, Noboa's success was also a sign of a "rightward shift" in the electorate. Noboa, while describing himself as center-left, embraces neoliberal economic thinking and has support from the political right. In the last election, in 2021, rightwing Lasso beat another Correa protege, former minister Andres Arauz, by a similar margin to Noboa's victory over Gonzalez. The latest loss for "Correismo" -- to a complete political outsider -- amounted to a "significant defeat" for the socialist movement, said Cahuasqui. It also appeared that the movement's strategy of relying on its most recognizable face may have reached its limit, added Chavez. Correa, who used an oil bonanza to fund high government spending, was popular during his 2007-2017 administration and was twice elected in the first round -- something unknown in Ecuador. Even if it seems the socialist nostalgia may be fading, Noboa will govern with a parliament dominated by pro-Correa forces and will likely face an uphill battle to push through any reforms. Correismo is also in charge in the two biggest cities, Quito and Guayaquil. - Youth - The son of one of Ecuador's richest men, Noboa focused his electoral outreach on young people in a country battling a 27-percent poverty rate and high unemployment. With a serious air, but tanned and sporty, he campaigned heavily on social media, promising to "bring back education to the youth" and create jobs. "Because of his youth he is the best solution for everyone," Andres Garcia, a 29-year-old university student told AFP. After crime and violence, which has seen Ecuador's murder rate quadruple in the four years to 2022, opinion polls showed that unemployment was voters' second-most pressing concern. In remarks on election day, Noboa thanked his supporters for "believing that the youth can change a country." pld/sp/lv/lbc/mlr/des KUALA LUMPUR, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The local automotive industry in Malaysia recorded a month-on-month decline in new motor vehicle sales for September. The Malaysian Automotive Association said in a statement on Monday that the total industry volume (TIV) fell 6.4 percent to 68,156 units in September, from 72,809 units in August. It said the lower TIV can be attributed to consumers adopting a wait-and-see attitude in anticipation of incentives under the National Budget 2024 announcement. However, on a year-on-year comparison, the TIV rose 4.6 percent from 65,160 units a year ago. It is also noted that the overall total vehicle registration from January to September stood at 571,767 units, which is still 11 percent higher compared with 514,449 units for a similar corresponding period in 2022. Meanwhile, the total industry production recorded in September stood at 69,133 units, which was slightly higher compared with 67,912 units in August. During September last year, the total industry production was at 69,389 units. From January to September, Malaysia's vehicle production increased by 11.34 percent to 566,442 units from 508,761 units a year ago. The super PAC backing Sen. Tim Scott s presidential campaign is pulling the TV ad reservations it had made for the fall, the group announced in a memo to donors obtained by NBC News. Starting today, we are going to release all of our Fall media inventory, Trust in the Mission PAC co-chair Rob Collins wrote in the memo. We will continue to fully fund our grassroots door knocking, conduit fundraising, event hosting, and earned media efforts. We arent going to waste our money when the electorate isnt focused or ready for a Trump alternative, Collins continued. We have done the research. We have studied the focus groups. We have been following Tim on the trail. This electorate is locked up and money spent on mass media isnt going to change minds until we get a lot closer to voting. Trust in the Mission PAC currently has nearly $27.3 million booked in future TV reservations, according to AdImpact, an ad-tracking platform. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The memo is an acknowledgment of a stubborn reality for Republicans hoping to knock off Trump: the former president doesn't appear to be budging. Despite not participating in the primary debates and facing legal trouble in four criminal trials, no other candidate has been able to come near him in polling. Collins urged donors not to count out the South Carolina senator, noting that at one time, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was supposed to be the one to be able to defeat Trump. "Now those same experts are calling for the field to be cleared for Gov. Haley. We also reject this advice. ... No serious person thinks a moderate will win this primary no matter how many elite insiders champion their candidacies," Collins added. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Falling temperatures mean illnesses such as the common cold, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, known as RSV, are starting to spread across the city. Combined with the still-present COVID-19 virus, these illnesses can lead to hospitalization for older adults, especially in those already diagnosed with heart and lung conditions or who are otherwise immunocompromised. This means its time to think about how these people will protect their health this winter. Getting the flu shot is one of the best ways to do so. Last year, Kansas City saw an early start to the flu. By the end of November, the citys hospitals had reported nearly 2,000 cases. This year, local hospitals have started to see an uptick in hospitalizations for COVID-19, and state data from both Kansas and Missouri show the virus is likely to spread this fall. This data confirms how important it is for vulnerable seniors to receive their flu shot as soon as possible. Ive seen patients for more than 20 years in the Midwest and have heard a variety of concerns about the flu vaccine. The most common worry Ive encountered is that the shot will give you the flu. While there can be mild side effects from the flu shot such as fever, aches or fatigue, the vaccine itself will not give you the flu. In fact, adults who get the flu shot are much less likely to get the flu. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Although no vaccine prevents illness 100% of the time, if you are vaccinated and still get the flu, you are much more likely to have a mild case of the illness. Last years data showed that the flu vaccination significantly reduced flu-related hospitalization among adults. Of course, you should talk with your personal primary care doctor about how the vaccine fits into your care plan. If you are over 60 years old and on Medicare, medical professionals are available to answer questions about the flu shot and other health concerns specific to older adults including from primary care providers at my company, ArchWell Health, with three locations across the city. If you are a senior with a respiratory or heart condition such as COPD, asthma or a heart condition, or are actively receiving cancer treatments that make you immunocompromised, your doctor may also suggest you receive the RSV vaccine. For the first time, the RSV vaccine is available to older adults to protect them against this viral illness that can lead to pneumonia and hospitalization. Our primary care providers are thrilled to offer this extra layer of protection to at-risk older adults this season. Many local pharmacies and grocery stores make it easy to get your yearly vaccines as well. The Kansas City Health Department also hosts a clinic where you can get your flu shot for free or at a very low cost. Pharmacies and grocery stores across the city will also have the latest COVID-19 booster shot available. Keeping Kansas City healthy this winter is a community effort. Getting the annual flu shot and other important vaccines is a great way to protect yourself and your loved ones. Dr. Heather Savedra is the market medical director for ArchWell Health Kansas City. ArchWell Health primary care centers in Kansas City serve adults 60 and older on Medicare Advantage plans. A 3-year-old boy has died after walking out the front door of a Florida apartment and into a nearby pond, police said. On Oct. 14, the childs mother was in the bathroom while he was in the living room when she heard their door opening and closing, according to an arrest report from the Sanford Police Department. She asked her 15-year-old daughter to check the door for her, the report said, who saw the door was closed but didnt see the toddler. From the bathroom, the mother called the 3-year-olds father to see if he knew where their son was, police said. The boys father was in the other bathroom of the apartment and said the 3-year-old was not with him, according to the report. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement McClatchy News is not identifying the parents to protect the identity of their children. The toddler, who was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, had a history of leaving the apartment and wandering the complex, police said. On previous occasions, neighbors found the toddler alone and took him back to the apartment complex office or directly to his apartment, according to the report. His parents started searching the apartment and throughout the complex before they called police, according to the report. When officers arrived, they saw something floating in the pond behind the familys apartment, police said. It was the 3-year-old, according to the report. He was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead. Police said both parents had medical marijuana cards and smoked regularly, and were visibly high and smelled of marijuana when officers arrived. The boys parents were charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child and taken into custody. Sanford is about 30 miles northeast of Orlando. Young girls in extreme danger after theyre kidnapped at Burger King, Georgia cops say Knife-wielding landlord targets Muslim mom and son, killing 6-year-old, IL cops say 67-year-old woman found wandering barefoot, then husband found dead, Georgia cops say 1-year-old dies after being left in hot car, Georgia deputies say. Now, mom is charged A Louisiana high school student was penalized for dancing at a party off-campus grounds. Following backlash, the principal apologized for his reaction. Kaylee Timonet, a 17-year-old senior at Walker High School in the southeast Louisiana city of Walker, faced disciplinary action after a video posted by a DJ on social media showed her dancing at a homecoming after-party behind someone who was twerking, The Advocate reported. According to the report, Principal Jason St. Pierre slammed the video, removed Timonet from her student government president position, said she wouldnt be considered for Student of the Year, and rescinded his help recommending her for college scholarships. Kaylee Timonet, a senior at Walker High School, was punished after dancing at an event that was held off school property. (Youtube/WWLTV/Screenshot) They said they didnt want her representing Walker High School. She was totally shocked, the students mother, Rachel Timonet, told the Advocate. He told her she wasnt living in the Lords way and questioned who her friends were and if they followed the Lord. She said she didnt know how to answer that, and they said it was a yes-or-no question. Meanwhile, shes sobbing. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Trending Today: Rachel said her daughter, who has been dancing since she was 2 years old, is trained in hip-hop, has been hired to dance for Disney, and has even danced in that style during school performances. Pierres decision left Rachel outraged, and the community likened the situation to the 1984 movie Footloose. During their meeting, Rachel said Pierre printed out Bible verses for her daughter, the Advocate reported, and on social media, people pointed out that Walker High School is a public institution. I am a Christian, one user wrote in a local Facebook group, per the outlet. I love that most teachers use our beliefs as a reference for the kids to go through life. But when you use it to bully and dictate children, its wrong. In a statement to the community posted on the high schools official website earlier this month, Pierre acknowledged his actions and said he planned to speak with the family. He wrote that he would reinstate Timonet to her student government role and continue to endorse the student for her scholarship. Finally, during my conversation with Kaylee regarding the dance party, the subject of religious beliefs was broached by Kaylee and myself, the statement said. While that conversation was meant with the best intentions, I do understand it is not my responsibility to determine what students or others religious beliefs may be that should be the responsibility of the individual. It continued: As principal of Walker High School, I am faced daily with many difficult decisions for the interest of our students and employees that are never taken lightly. Please know that I always strive to place our students first in every decision. It is for that reason that I have taken this corrective action. However, Rachel said his statement and change of heart came too late and that her daughters scholarship deadline had already passed, as WAFB reported. The mother has reached out to attorneys about the situation. According to the report, Pierre asked to take leave for the remainder of the academic school year. Some parents and supports have worn shorts, saying, Let the girl dance, and have prompted other students to turn in twerking videos. Read the original story here. I traveled from Miami to Orlando on a Brightline train. I was upgraded to a premium ticket after Brightline experienced delays opening its Orlando station. Although I wouldn't pay to travel on this route again, I had a great experience. Florida isn't exactly known for having a solid public transportation system. I've been living in Florida for six years, and until recently, there have been only three ways to travel from Miami to Orlando: by car, Greyhound bus, or airplane. But now, Floridians (and any of the states' millions of annual visitors) have a new transportation option the Brightline train. A week after the train's first trip from Miami to Orlando, I hopped on board to see if it was worth the hype. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Miamis Brightline station was the cleanest train station I've been to. Miami's Brightline station was colorful and inviting. India Amos When I first moved to Miami, I didn't have a car. As a result, I spent my first three years navigating the city by bus, Metromover, and Metrorail. I'm no stranger to Miami's various train stations and bus depots, and Brightline's station was by far the cleanest and most beautiful. Located in the historic Overtown neighborhood, Brightline's Miami station is smack-dab in the center of the city's transportation core. I arrived via Uber, and the driver dropped me off right outside the station's main doors. The station was meticulously decorated. Throughout the station, there were many nods to Brightline's yellow branding. India Amos Once inside, I was impressed by how tidy and spacious the facilities were. The brand's signature yellow covered the walls, but it wasn't overwhelming when paired with warm lights. In fact, Brightline managed to make the yellow seem sophisticated. I didn't initially purchase a premium ticket. After being upgraded to a premium ticket, I got to enjoy perks like the private lounge. India Amos When I first booked my Brightline trip, I paid for a standard ticket. However, when the company experienced a series of delays in opening its Orlando station, my trip was canceled. In addition to refunding my ticket cost, Brightline gave me a free voucher for a premium ticket when the route reopened. This was a nice surprise and made me excited to support the brand moving forward. One of the reasons I didn't initially book a premium ticket was the price. For my Sunday afternoon trip from Miami to Orlando, standard tickets cost about $75 each way. In comparison, premium tickets sold for anywhere between $150 and $240. Plus, booking a round-trip flight or driving to and from Orlando in my car was cheaper than a one-way premium Brightline ticket. Because of this, I probably wouldn't book the same fare again, but I'm incredibly grateful that I got to have the experience for free. My premium ticket came with lots of perks. The self-serve snack buffet was a nice surprise. India Amos At the Miami station, premium passengers had their own lounge located in the back of the mezzanine. When I entered, it felt like stepping into a stylish living room. Couches and chairs with individual charging ports were situated around the room's perimeter, and a self-serve snack buffet was perched in the center. The buffet was filled with everything from prosciutto and cheese to crackers, cookies, and sour candy. There was also a self-serve beverage station with soda, water, coffee, and alcohol. Being a premium ticket holder also meant I got to look forward to free snacks on the train. The boarding process was quick and smooth. The train was already waiting for us when we arrived on the platform. India Amos The boarding process in Miami was extremely organized. Screens were constantly updated with the time and boarding information, so I was never confused about the next step in the process. When the escalators and elevators opened for us to head to our platform, the train was already there waiting. Within a few minutes, we were all able to get on the train and had an on-time departure. The trip to Orlando was quiet. My car was mostly empty by the time we reached West Palm Beach. India Amos On the way to Orlando, we made stops in Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach. Each stop was quick, so it felt like we were constantly making progress on our journey. Because most passengers got off by the time we reached West Palm Beach, the trip to Orlando was quiet, and my train car was mostly empty. Premium passengers received a complimentary meal. I was impressed by the meal service on the train. India Amos Although all passengers can purchase food and drinks on board, premium ticket holders receive a complimentary lunch. I got mine around Port St. Lucie. The meal consisted of a sandwich, tomatoes and mozzarella, fruit, and a piece of chocolate. Shortly after, we were also given a mini dessert to enjoy. All of these additional perks helped to make the trip even more enjoyable and added to the premium ticket's value. Halfway through our journey, we hit a snag. Unfortunately, we experienced a 35-minute delay in Port St. Lucie. India Amos Brightline is the only rail service that operates from South to Central Florida along the state's eastern coast. Because of this, specific infrastructure had to be designed to make the route viable. About an hour and a half into our journey, we stopped suddenly in Port St. Lucie. We were delayed around 35 minutes, and the only information we were given was that there was a mechanical issue with the bridge. Regardless, the attendants remained empathetic to our concerns and professional in their continued service. For the right client, Brightline is a great way to travel. I had a great experience with Brightline. India Amos I enjoyed my time on Brightline, but I wouldn't pay to ride it again. The price makes it an unreasonable commuter option for travel within South Florida, even when you factor in parking prices. The TriRail, a commuter line that connects Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach, is a much cheaper option. Although the TriRail lacks many of Brightline's amenities, a round-trip fare will usually only cost passengers between $5 and $18. Likewise, if you're heading up to Orlando, a ticket on Brightline is more expensive than driving. Since you need a car to explore the city, I'd rather spend three or four hours driving my own car. However, if you're a train enthusiast or someone with time and money to spare, riding the Brightline from Miami to Orlando is a novel and luxurious way for Floridians to travel. Read the original article on Insider European Council President Charles Michel speaks during an exclusive interview with the Associated Press at the EU Council in Brussels, Friday Oct. 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) BRUSSELS (AP) European Union leaders will hold an emergency summit on Tuesday as concern mounts that the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas could fuel inter-communal tensions in Europe and bring more refugees in search of sanctuary. The leaders will also attempt to restore some order after a series of social media messages, statements and visits by EU officials sowed confusion about the 27-nation blocs intentions after Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, triggering a new war in Gaza. More than 4,000 people have been killed in Israel and Gaza since Hamas launched its bloody rampage and almost 200 Israelis, including children, were taken hostage. Rallies in support of both sides have been held around Europe. Some have been banned. The conflict could have major security consequences for our societies, EU Council President Charles Michel said on Monday as he announced the video summit. The meeting will also focus on getting aid to civilians and working with other countries in the region to try to stop tensions from spreading. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Over the last week, France has ordered a ban on pro-Palestinian demonstrations and the number of antisemitic acts has risen. Both the EU and the United States consider Hamas to be a terrorist organization. In the Paris area, the Louvre Museum and the Palace of Versailles evacuated visitors and staff after receiving bomb threats over the weekend, and the French government started deploying 7,000 troops to increase security around the country following a fatal school stabbing by a suspected Islamic extremist. Germany too has ramped up security. Berlin has offered military help to Israel and promised to crack down on support for Hamas at home. Chancellor Olaf Scholz has underlined Germanys historical responsibility for Israels security. Michel said that the war has a potential to worsen tensions between communities and to feed extremism in Europe, and that there is a major risk of migration and movements of a large number of people to neighboring countries. He said that the leaders would look at ways to help civilians in Israel and Gaza caught up in the war and to work with other countries in the Middle East and Persian Gulf regions to try to prevent the conflict from spreading. In an interview with The Associated Press Friday, Michel warned that an outflow of people from Gaza could worsen divisions within the EU. "If there would be more difficulties at the regional level, we would have immediately huge difficulties on the European soil because of the refugees, he said. More than a million people have fled their homes in Gaza ahead of an expected Israeli ground invasion aimed at destroying Hamas. Michel condemned the brutal terrorist attacks and said that Israel has the right to defend itself in full compliance with international law and international humanitarian law. Also high on the leaders' list of concerns will be the EU's embarrassing mixed messages over the conflict. Just after Hamas launched its attack, a commissioner at the bloc's executive branch announced that development aid mean to help the Palestinian Authority beat poverty would be immediately suspended. Hours later, the European Commission's position had changed. Instead, it announced an urgent review of the assistance to ensure that no money is being misused. Since it is listed by the EU as a terror group, Hamas does not receive such any funds anyway. On Saturday, the commission said that it was tripling humanitarian aid to Gaza - money meant to be used in times of crisis or disaster like the war. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was in Israel just before the aid was announced, but her visit was not coordinated with the EU member countries. Indeed, the commission has no remit under EU treaties to conduct foreign policy. She was also criticized for failing to urge Israel to protect Palestinian civilians. We have put emotions and visibility in front of the core interests of the EU, an EU official said Monday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the confusion frankly, said that several member countries had complained about the way things were handled in Brussels. But von der Leyen's spokesman, Eric Mamer, said that the president can travel wherever she wants." She went to Israel to express solidarity with the country that had been the subject of an unprovoked terrorist attack. That is entirely in her prerogatives, he said. Von der Leyen and Michel travel to Washington later this week for an EU-U.S. summit with President Joe Biden. Human rights groups have been dismayed by the communications debacle at a time of major crisis. The EU is the world's biggest provider of aid to the Palestinians, but it holds little influence over Israel. This is not the time for mixed messages, instead what we need is decisive moral leadership that is centred in the cause of peace," said Vittorio Infante, the EU humanitarian policy expert at Oxfam. As every minute goes by, civilians are paying an ever-mounting price. A Cook County assistant states attorney concealed a decadeslong friendship that he forged with a British con man from whom he secured testimony against Jackie Wilson, prosecutors said Monday, a man who was later exonerated of killing two Chicago police officers after he said he was tortured by detectives working under notorious ex-Chicago police Cmdr. Jon Burge. The strange friendship between a prosecutor and his witness close enough that the prosecutor later became godfather to the witnesss child was front and center as an unusual trial unfolded at a northwest suburban courthouse Monday. Two former Cook County assistant states attorneys stood trial on allegations of misconduct connected to a 2020 murder trial for Wilson that imploded when special prosecutors handling the case dropped the charges shortly after learning of the extent of the friendship and the contact between the two men. The former assistant states attorneys, Nicholas Trutenko and Andrew Horvat, are so eager to prove their innocence their attorneys have said, that they demanded a speedy trial at arraignment despite nearly 290,000 pages of evidence in discovery. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The pair were charged in connection with the prosecution of Wilson who the courts have said was wrongfully convicted, continuing the 40-year chronicle of the case against him, who was charged along with his brother Andrew with killing Officers William Fahey and Richard OBrien in 1982. A court later declared Jackie Wilson innocent after he said he was tortured into a false confession by detectives working under Burge. The brothers allegations against Burges crew were among the first to be documented, helping expose systematic torture of Black men that took place for decades at Area 2 police headquarters. Trutenko, 68, who prosecuted Jackie Wilson more than three decades ago, is charged with perjury, official misconduct, obstruction of justice and violating a local records act in relation to his testimony at Wilsons third trial, in 2020. Horvat, 48, represented Trutenko in that proceeding and is accused of official misconduct. The trial is being held before Lake County Judge Daniel Shanes, who was appointed after a Cook County judge ruled that local judges should be recused due to conflicts of interest. The defendants opted for Shanes, rather than a jury, to decide the case. In his opening statement, special prosecutor Lawrence Oliver II alleged that during Wilsons third trial in 2020, Trutenko hid his 30-year friendship with the con man, William Coleman, who testified against Wilson in his 1989 trial prosecuted by Trutenko. The prosecutor then lied on the stand during that 2020 trial when defense attorneys asked if he discussed Coleman in prep sessions with special prosecutors, Oliver said. Most disturbing is when public officials who are sworn to be guardians of people as well as processes ... fail in their obligations and operate above the law, Oliver said. The case blew up during that third trial amid allegations that Trutenko committed perjury while being asked about Coleman. Oliver alleged that Horvat, who represented Trutenko, failed to take obligatory and rudimentary steps to avert continued concealment of information about Trutenko and Coleman. He argued that this concealment meant that attorneys were not able to locate Coleman, which deprived Wilson of his right to access potentially exculpatory evidence because a judge had ruled that trial transcripts with Colemans 1989 testimony could be read into the record. Trutenkos defense attorneys, though, countered that he was walking into a snakepit of a perjury trap conceived of by Wilsons attorneys. There was a perfect storm forming against him, said Brian Sexton, who represents Trutenko. Sexton said his client misunderstood the question while on the stand, having to recall details about an old case. Instead of attempting to clear it up, Sexton said, the special prosecutors dropped the case. They are throwing the kitchen sink at him, Sexton said. Terry Ekl, who represents Horvat, said during his opening statement that the assistant states attorney, who was assigned by the states attorneys office to represent Trutenko, was bound by attorney-client privilege. He owed his undivided loyalty to his client, he said. Late Monday morning, prosecutors called the first witness, Lawrence Rosen, who served as the special prosecutor handling Jackie Wilsons 2020 trial. Rosen was on the stand for hours Monday, fielding heated cross examination from Trutenkos attorneys. A witness for the prosecution, Rosen testified that he sought to call Coleman as a witness, but couldnt locate him after reaching out to Interpol, calling the U.S. Marshals Service and using a private investigator, among other methods. Rosen said he spoke to Trutenko before the then-prosecutor testified during the 2020 trial, and noted in that conversation that they planned to introduce transcripts of Colemans testimony in 1989 because they couldnt locate him. Rosen said most of the roughly 40-minute call concerned Coleman. Rosen testified that Horvat instructed him not to ask about Trutenkos relationship with Coleman, saying its nothing illegal, its nothing unethical, but its just weird. Later, on the stand, Trutenko said he remained friends with Coleman, and spoke to him recently. I was stunned, shocked and absolutely could not believe what I was hearing for the first time on the stand, Rosen said. Trutenkos attorneys, though, questioned the competence of the special prosecution team, asking Rosen how dutifully he pursued Coleman and other witnesses. Were you trying to win this case? Jim McKay, one of Trutenkos attorneys, asked Rosen, who replied: Of course. Lawyers have debated how much of the Wilson cases long, tangled history will be allowed during Trutenko and Horvats joint trial. Although Oliver said some related evidence is needed for context, defense attorneys have fought against allowing it, seeking to distance Trutenko and Horvat from the decades-old police misconduct allegations. Jackie Wilsons story saga, whatever you want to call it is absolutely irrelevant here, defense attorney McKay said at a recent court hearing. (Oliver) wants to put on a mini-trial to distract your honor from the charges here. The judge has said he plans to hold the trial on intermittent days because of his busy Lake County court schedule and other judicial responsibilities. The trial will be held just two days this week, then likely wont pick up again until Nov. 6. Jackie Wilsons case has taken many twists and turns over its more than 40-year lifespan, beginning with the fatal shootings of Fahey and OBrien, who were shot by Wilsons brother Andrew during a traffic stop. The patrol officers had just attended the funeral of a slain Chicago police officer that morning. Jackie Wilson, then 21, was behind the wheel of the car and was accused of being the getaway driver. He has said he did not know his brother would shoot the officers. In 1989, at Jackie Wilsons second trial, Coleman, the British con man with a long criminal history testified that Wilson had admitted his role in the crime while they were locked up together in the county jail. A judge later determined Wilsons attorneys were not fully informed about a deal given to Coleman in exchange for his testimony. The same judge also ruled that Jackie Wilsons confession had resulted from torture and vacated his conviction, paving the way for him to be tried a third time. Wilson, now 63, spent about 36 years in prison. He was issued a certificate of innocence in December 2020 and has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Chicago, several law enforcement agencies and related parties, including Trutenko, Horvat and the Cook County states attorneys office. Dozens of current and former law enforcement officials have rallied behind Trutenko, raising more than $16,000 for his defense in a GoFundMe campaign, since his indictment was made public. McKay has said Trutenko was a dedicated and honest public servant who is being wrongfully accused. Ekl called the indictment baseless. The trial will not have the transparency typically associated with Cook Countys highest-profile cases. Judge Shanes rejected Olivers suggestion that it take place in the Leighton Criminal Court Building, where the case was originally assigned and which has typically hosted the most significant Chicago proceedings. Instead, Shanes is holding the trial at a satellite Cook County courthouse in Rolling Meadows, more than 30 miles from the Leighton Building. The defense teams did not object to moving the trial out of Chicago, but they did not lobby for it either. The move is unlikely to affect the trials outcome, as a jury will not be seated, but it removed the proceeding from the neighborhood in which the alleged crimes took place, making it less accessible to those in Chicago who may have long followed the case. Shanes also has denied repeated media requests to record audio during the trial, another departure for Cook County cases involving criminal charges against law enforcement officials. He has said he will allow a still camera in the courtroom for the first two days of the trial, though he can rescind that permission at any time. The grand jury returned indictments against Trutenko and Horvat in December, but they werent unsealed and made public until March. Wilson on Monday attended the trial of Trutenko and Horvat, despite the long drive from Chicago. I think its only fair, Wilson said before the trial began. They came to court for me. I should be there for them. Chicago Tribunes Christy Gutowski contributed. mabuckley@chicagotribune.com sstclair@chicagotribune.com The Trump campaign on Monday lambasted a judges ruling barring the former president from attacking witnesses in his Washington criminal case over his efforts to remain in power after losing the 2020 election. A Trump campaign spokesperson connected the decision to President Biden, who had no role in the decision or in Trumps court cases, and called the ruling an absolute abomination and another partisan knife stuck in the heart of our Democracy. President Trump will continue to fight for our Constitution, the American peoples right to support him, and to keep our country free of the chains of weaponized and targeted law enforcement, the spokesperson said in a statement shared by the campaign. Judge Tanya Chutkan in a hearing on Monday said Trumps status as a candidate did not give him carte blanche to level a smear campaign against those involved in the case, saying that First Amendment protections yield to the administration of justice and to the protection of witnesses. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The extent of Chutkans order was not entirely clear. She said she would describe only the contours of her decision Monday, while drafting a formal ruling later. Still, she clarified the order would not stop Trump from attacking President Biden or claiming over the course of his campaign that the prosecution is politically motivated an assertion the Justice Department again denied during the hearing. Trump has yet to weigh in directly on the judges order. The former president is holding two campaign events in Iowa on Monday. Trump has repeatedly targeted Chutkan, special counsel Jack Smith, Biden and D.C. itself through social media posts and public speeches since he was indicted in August for his efforts to remain in power after the 2020 election. He has also targeted potential witnesses in the case, such as former Vice President Mike Pence and former Attorney General Bill Barr. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Families separated at the U.S.-Mexico border under former President Donald Trump s zero tolerance policy would receive an easier path to asylum, permission to work in the U.S. and medical, legal and housing benefits, under a settlement filed Monday in a long-standing lawsuit between immigrant advocates and the federal government. If approved, the settlement would also expand the total number of families who qualify, from 3,900 to more than 4,400. And it would bar the federal government from launching similar policies in the future. The proposed settlement would be one of the first among dozens of lawsuits filed on behalf of families separated by border authorities under the Trump administration. While it would end one case, it doesnt address monetary compensation for families, which is being sought in other lawsuits. Nothing can fully erase the harm the Trump administration inflicted on these little children, said Lee Gelernt, an attorney with the ACLU and lead counsel in the case, but this settlement is an important step forward. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Trump administrations zero-tolerance policy directed Border Patrol agents to separate young children from their families, as their parents were tried in federal court on misdemeanor charges for crossing into the United States without proper documentation. Department of Homeland Security officials initially defended the policy, saying they were abiding by the law parents entering the country had been charged with a crime, and children couldnt stay with them. But as the numbers mounted, so did public backlash. Children were held in emergency Border Patrol facilities, and in a variety of shelter settings overseen by government contractors. Images of separated youths circulated in the media, along with audio and video of toddlers in holding facilities, crying for their parents. The administration rescinded the policy within months. By then, thousands of children had been taken from parents, many of whom had already been deported. In February 2018, as separations ramped up, the ACLU and other advocate groups filed a lawsuit on behalf of a Congolese mother who was separated from her 7-year-old daughter at the border. That lawsuit was the basis for a federal judge to order the practice stopped and all families reunited, and grew to become a class-action suit on behalf of all separated families. Over the years, though, both sides fought over how to tally the true number of families separated by the government and how best to reunite them. In 2021, President Joe Biden ordered the creation of the Interagency Task Force on the Reunification of Families to help locate and reunite families. As of October, the task force has helped reunite more than 750 families. Mondays 46-page settlement proposal, if approved by a court in December, will expand the definition of families separated to include those from the first six months of the Trump administration, during a so-called pilot program that predated the full policy. The settlement will also include adults who were not parents but can show they were the childs legal guardian at the time of separation. These moves open the door to more than 500 more families. Advocates believe at least 500 and up to 1,000 children remain separated from their families because of the policy. Many families separated at the border and later reunited are still awaiting a ruling on their immigration status, said Conchita Cruz, co-executive director of the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project. The settlement would help them through the process faster and grant them work permits while their cases proceed. It would also set agreements that would be adhered to for years to come, regardless of whos in the White House, she said. It impacts all the families that were separated under zero tolerance, including the pilot program, Cruz said. This has been a long time coming. Even as it settled this case, the federal government continues to fight monetary damages for separated families in a slew of other lawsuits. Investigation: Biden said Trump-era family separations were 'abhorrent.' So why is DOJ fighting relief claims? Though the new settlement does not address monetary payouts, it offers medical and behavioral health services for families, something that immigrant rights activists had been pressing for years. Youths separated from their parents at the border, some as young as 6 months old, have displayed signs of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, trouble sleeping and anxiety months after returning to their families, according to activists. A 2021 study by Physicians for Human Rights found that all of the 31 families they reviewed who were forcibly separated at the border exhibited serious psychological disorders, including PTSD, major depressive disorder and anxiety disorder, even years after their separation and regardless of the length of time they were apart. Were going on five years now and we still have many aspects of our personal and psychological lives that are affected by this, said Daniel Paz, a native of Honduras who was separated from his 6-year-old daughter, Angie, at the U.S.-Mexico border near El Paso in 2018. For years after, Angie suffered from nightmares and panic attacks. Day to day, we still relive it, he said. Any psychological help for the families will be a blessing. Its really hard to go through what we went through. Migrant children: At age 12, he fled the Taliban to try to save his family. Then he faced years in US custody Another key part to the settlement is drastically limiting how the government can separate immigrant families in the future. Under the agreement, migrant children will not be separated from their families except for a few limited reasons, such as if the the parent or legal guardian poses a threat to the child, or if theyre wanted for a felony. The practice of separating families at the southwest border was shameful, Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. This agreement will facilitate the reunification of separated families and provide them with critical services to aid in their recovery. All separations must be documented in shared databases between DHS, the Department of Health and Human Services and other agencies involved in housing migrants. Also, immigrant attorneys must be promptly notified and allowed to challenge the separations. At a CNN Town Hall meeting in May, Trump said he wouldnt rule out reimplementing family separations at the southern border if elected president again, saying, When you have that policy, people dont come. Gelernt, the settlements lead counsel, said it was important to have the settlement address the policy itself and prevent it from ever happening again, especially given the prospect of next years presidential election. It was essential for us not only to help the families who had been separated under the Trump administration but to ensure no future administration repeats this, he said. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Settlement would end lawsuit over Trump-era migrant family separation A federal judge on Monday imposed a gag order against former President Donald Trump in the court case concerning charges that he tried to illegally subvert the 2020 presidential election, citing in part Trumps inflammatory comments against former Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley. The order raises the possibility of fines or possible jail time for the former commander-in-chief if he continues to use political rallies to attack potential witnesses in the upcoming federal trial. That list includes Milley, a frequent target of Trump over the last few years. The Associated Press reported that U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan did not specify exactly what repercussions any single action might incur, but said the move was necessary to preserve the integrity of the criminal proceedings. Were not talking about censorship here, she said during court deliberations on Monday. Were talking about restrictions to ensure there is a fair administration of justice in this case. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Milley says hell ensure family safety after Trumps execution remark The move came after special counsel Jack Smiths team raised concerns about Trump disparaging prosecutors, Chutkan, the court system and prospective witnesses in the case. Trumps defense team told the Associated Press that the gag order amounted to a desperate effort at censorship against the leading Republican Party candidate for president in 2024. Trump himself took to social media ahead of the hearing to call Smith deranged and Chutkan highly partisan. Trump is charged with spreading pervasive and destabilizing lies about election fraud following his loss in the 2020 election. The case is separate from other criminal charges he faces in Georgia, New York and Florida. During campaign rallies, Trump has attacked the cases against him as politically motivated and baseless. He has also sharply criticized numerous former members of his own administration, calling them liars and frauds. In the case of Milley Trumps own choice to serve as Joint Chiefs Chairman the former president on Sept. 22 posted on social media that the Army general may have committed treason by talking to Chinese military officials about the election process in the wake of Trumps election defeat. This is an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH! A war between China and the United States could have been the result of this treasonous act, Trump wrote. Milley has maintained the communication was designed to calm overseas fears about a chaotic transition of power in America. He also said in the weeks following the tweet that he was forced to employ new personal security to ensure the safety of his family. In his departure speech from the chairman post on Sept. 30, Milley referenced Trump by reminding assembled troops that we dont take an oath to a wannabe dictator and to continue to defend Americas democratic institutions. The social media post about Milley played a focal role in Mondays deliberations, as did similar disparaging public comments made by Trump against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, former Attorney General William Barr, and former Vice President Mike Pence. The limits of the new gag order will be tested soon. Trump is scheduled to hold several political rallies in Iowa later this week. Washington is not addicted to fentanyl -- but the money behind it Xinhua) 08:16, October 16, 2023 WASHINGTON, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- In a daycare center in New York City, one-year-old Nicholas Dominici closed his eyes forever. Three other infants, from eight months to two years old, had been taken to the emergency room. First responders were surprised to find that the children had been poisoned by fentanyl. The center owner and others were found storing and distributing drugs in the nursery. Police found a kilogram of fentanyl and drug-making equipment near the mat where the children slept and played. The case is only a tip of the iceberg of America's chronic drug epidemic. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security noted in the Homeland Threat Assessment 2024 report that drugs kill and harm far more Americans annually. The United States, despite being home to just 5 percent of the world's population, accounts for 80 percent of global opioid use. It declared a "war" on drugs more than 50 years ago, yet the "empire of pain" built by self-serving politicians and Big Pharma is still alive and killing. "BIG PHARMA AS DRUG CARTEL" "Painkiller," a Netflix series directed by Peter Berg, has been an instant hit since its release in August. In an interview, Berg said he decided to take on this project because he knew about a dozen people who had died from opioids. "There wasn't a day that went by where some member of the crew wouldn't approach me ... And tell me the story of their loved one who had died of opioids," he said. Opioids, primarily fentanyl, are the leading cause of U.S. overdose deaths, which have roughly quadrupled over the last 10 years, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that the death toll from opioids surged to 79,770 in 2022. That's "the equivalent of a 737 Boeing crashing and burning and killing everybody on board every single day," said Scott Higham, a co-author of the book "American Cartel" with Sari Horwitz. The book presented how the U.S. pharmaceutical industry operated like a drug cartel, with manufacturers at the top, wholesalers in the middle and pharmacies at the level of "street dealers." Like the Mexican drug lord El Chapo, the Sacklers, the family that owns OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, used their money to persuade people to do their bidding, and threatened and intimidated those they couldn't put on their payroll. From 1999 to 2017, a total of 200,000 Americans died from overdoses related to OxyContin and other prescription opioids. Meanwhile, around 13 billion U.S. dollars in profits of Purdue Pharma went to the Sacklers, according to court records and testimonies filed in the drugmaker's bankruptcy case. This photo taken on Sept. 28, 2023 shows the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) MONEY TALKS How to get away with murder in the United States? Just lobby with money. This is the answer given in "Empire of Pain," the 2021 book written by American investigative journalist Patrick Keefe. A 2016 investigation by the Associated Press and the Center for Public Integrity found that drug companies and allied advocates spent more than 880 million dollars on lobbying and political contributions at the state and federal levels between 2006 and 2015. In addition, the opioid industry and its allies contributed to roughly 7,100 candidates for state-level offices. The drug companies and allied groups have an army of lobbyists averaging 1,350 per year, covering all 50 state capitals. For over a decade, a group called the Pain Care Forum has met with some of the highest-ranking health officials in the federal government, while quietly working to influence proposed regulations on opioids and promote legislation and reports on the problem of untreated pain. The group is coordinated by the chief lobbyist for Purdue Pharma. A New Yorker article pointed out that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved OxyContin in 1995 as a treatment for moderate to severe pain, despite the lack of clinical studies on how addictive or prone to abuse the drug might be. The FDA examiner who oversaw the process, Dr. Curtis Wright, left the agency shortly afterward. Within two years, he had landed a job with an annual payment of 400,000 dollars at Purdue. In April 2016, Congress, instead of helping the federal agencies on the fight against drugs, passed the Ensuring Patient Medication and Effective Enforcement Act, which significantly limits the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) ability to regulate Big Pharma. The Washington Post reported that political action committees representing the industry contributed at least 1.5 million dollars to the 23 lawmakers who sponsored or co-sponsored four versions of the bill. Overall, the drug industry spent 102 million dollars on lobbying Congress on the bill and other legislation between 2014 and 2016, according to lobbying reports. "I didn't know they were taking private money," said Michael Von Korff, a prominent pain care researcher. "It sounds like insanity to take money from principals of drug companies and then do reports related to opioids. I am really shocked." As Higham said in his book, the DEA lost the war against opioids not to the cartels, but to lobbyists, lawmakers and K Street attorneys. FAILED POLITICAL SYSTEM The deadly disease of money-for-service has eroded all levels of the U.S. political system. The symptoms? Systemic racism, gun violence, wealth disparity, and of course, the opioid pandemic. American political activist Ezra Levin believes the social and economic problems in the country today are the product of long-term money politics, and out-of-touch politicians driven by ideologically and politically motivated interest groups. "Our democracy is sick, and it's not an accident," said Levin. Americans' trust in their government is collapsing. According to a Gallup poll released in July, only an average 26 percent of U.S. adults had a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in major U.S. institutions, the lowest level on record. As long as money politics is at the heart of the American political system, it seems certain that the drug problem will continue to claim more innocent lives. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) SIEM REAP, Cambodia, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Ra Sambo, a manager at souvenir shop Graines De Cambodge here in northwest Cambodia's tourist hub, is optimistic that the Chinese-invested Siem Reap Angkor International Airport (SAI) will boost international tourist arrivals, revitalizing the COVID-19-hit tourism industry. She hoped that the SAI, commenced operation on Monday, will bring more foreign tourists to Siem Reap province, the home of the UNESCO-listed Angkor Archeological Park, so that tourism reliant businesses and services will boom again. "As a vendor at the Old Market in Siem Reap, I feel excited that there is a new achievement, the new airport, and I have expectation for better business, as planes from different countries can fly directly to our Siem Reap province," Sambo told Xinhua. "We hope there will be more tourists coming to Cambodia," the 40-year-old manager added. She said the SAI will not only boost tourism, but also create a lot of jobs for Cambodian people. Ley Leav, a 36-year-old maker of souvenirs in Siem Reap, is confident that the SAI will bring sustainable development and prosperity to the province. "I hope more tourists will come to Siem Reap, so our souvenir sales will be better," she told Xinhua. "I want to see more Chinese tourists and other foreign tourists coming to Cambodia." Heth Rady, a 38-year-old tuk-tuk driver in Siem Reap, was delighted to see the commencement of SAI operation, saying that it would bring more tourists and investors to the Southeast Asian country. "With this new airport, we hope to carry more passengers, and we can make more income," he said. Rady said that currently, the number of international tourists to Siem Reap remained low, and he could make only 20,000 to 30,000 riel (5 to 7.5 U.S. dollars) per day from his tuk-tuk operation. Covering a parcel of 700 hectares, the SAI is located in Sotr Nikum district, about 40 km from the Angkor Archeological Park and 50 km from Siem Reap provincial town. With a 3,600-meter runway, the SAI is a 4E-level international airport that can accommodate long-distance flights from across the world. Cambodian Ministry of Tourism's Secretary of State Top Sopheak has a strong belief that the SAI would attract new airlines to fly directly to Cambodia. "This new airport helps improve Cambodia's air connectivity with the region and the world, and is crucial to help boost the country's tourism, economy, trade, and investment," he told Xinhua. "As the airport can accommodate the landing of all kinds of aircraft, I urge international airlines to consider flying directly to Siem Reap, and it will save the passengers both time and money," he added. Cambodian State Secretariat of Civil Aviation's Undersecretary of State Sinn Chanserey Vutha said the SAI has created a lot of direct and indirect jobs for locals and has also helped increase their incomes. "This new airport will inject new vitality into the development of tourism, trade and investment in Siem Reap province," he told Xinhua. According to the official, the airport will be able to handle 7 million air passengers per annum from 2024 and up to 12 million passengers annually from 2040. Thourn Sinan, chairman of the Pacific Asia Travel Association Cambodia chapter, said the SAI has significantly improved connectivity between Cambodia and other countries, making the kingdom a more attractive destination for tourists and investors. "The airport is expected to boost tourism, trade, and investment in the region," he told Xinhua. "It will also create jobs and stimulate economic growth." Sinan added that the airport will also facilitate trade and investment, making it easier for businesses to operate in Cambodia. "The SAI is a key example of the successful cooperation between Cambodia and China under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)," he said. In another potential blow to former President Donald Trump, lawyer Kenneth Chesebro becomes the third defendant in the Georgia election interference case to plead guilty and agree to testify. Trump gets more bad news in the New York financial fraud civil trial, with the judge threatening him with possible jail time for violating a gag order, then fining him $5,000. Georgia election interference Chesebro, like Powell, pleads guilty Key players: Pro-Trump lawyers Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell, Judge Scott McAfee, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis With jury selection underway in Georgia, Chesebro suddenly entered a guilty plea Friday, the second defendant in as many days to do so in the sprawling Georgia election interference case brought by Willis, ABC News reported. Powell accepted a plea deal with prosecutors in the alleged scheme to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state. Notably, Chesebro agreed to testify in the trials for the other defendants, including Trump. The deal, which McAfee signed off on, allows Chesebro to avoid jail time. He will serve five years' probation and must also pay a $5,000 fine, write a letter of apology to the citizens of Georgia and perform 100 hours of community service. Chesebro was charged with seven criminal counts. Prosecutors accused him of concocting an alternate elector strategy to try to contest the election results. Powell and Chesebro had both requested speedy trials and had vigorously proclaimed their innocence as jury selection approached. Bail bondsman Scott Hall also accepted a plea deal in the case. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Why it matters: Like Powell, Chesebro had direct contact with Trump in their efforts to overturn the election. His testimony against the former president could go a long way in undermining Trumps defense and could serve as further incentive for other defendants to accept plea deals. New York financial fraud Judge threatens Trump with possible jail time, then fines him $5,000 Key players: Judge Arthur Engoron, Trump attorney Christopher Kise Engoron fined Trump $5,000 on Friday for violating the gag order put in place after the former president attacked a member of the judge's staff, the Associated Press reported. Earlier in the day, Engoron tore into Trumps lawyers for what he called a blatant violation of the gag order he issued in the case on Oct. 4, the Daily Beast reported. Last night I learned the offending post was never removed from a website, Engoron said. I made it clear failure to comply will result in serious sanctions. It remained on the Donald J. Trump campaign site and in fact it has been on there for the past 17 days [and] it was removed late last night after an email from this court. Incendiary untruths can and have led to serious physical harm, Engoron continued. I will now allow the defendant to explain why this should not end up with serious sanctions or I could possibly imprison him. Kise apologized on behalf of Trump, calling the incident unintentional. The Truth Social post was taken down when the court asked, Kise responded, adding that Trump never made any more comments about court staff, but it appears no one took it down on the campaign website. Engoron has already ruled that Trump, his adult sons and their family business are liable for years of financial fraud carried out in New York. Trump has repeatedly accused the judge of being biased against him. On Friday, Kise struck a more humble tone about the post that remained up on the former presidents campaign website: It is unfortunate and I apologize on behalf of my client, he said. In issuing the fine, Engoron said in a written ruling that Trump was way beyond the warning stage." Why it matters: Engoron has the power to enforce sanctions against Trump for violating court orders. He has shown little hesitance to rule against the former president and will later decide what penalties Trump, his adult sons and their business must pay in the case. Recommended reading Associated Press: Trump is not above the law, prosecutors say in urging judge to let federal election case proceed The Hill: Trump legal cases tracker: Whats next _____________________ Thursday, Oct. 19 _____________________ Photo Illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images, Andrew Kelly-Pool/Getty Images, Getty Images (3). New York officials tell Judge Arthur Engoron that the Trump Organization did not hand over documents about the size of the former president's penthouse apartment. In Georgia, meanwhile, pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell becomes the second defendant to plead guilty in the plot to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia. New York financial fraud Prosecutors accuse Trump Organization of withholding documents about N.Y. penthouse Key players: New York Attorney General Letitia James, senior enforcement counsel Kevin Wallace, Judge Arthur Engoron, former Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg, former Judge Barbara Jones Lawyers for James wrote to Engoron Thursday accusing the Trump Organization of withholding subpoenaed documents in the case that will decide what penalties Trump, his adult sons and business must pay for years of financial fraud, Insider reported. Citing missing emails sent in 2016 between the company and Forbes magazine, which publishes an annual list ranking the wealthiest Americans, Wallace asked Engoron to approve of a forensic review of Trumps business records by Jones, the independent monitor appointed in the case. Forbes, which left Trump off this years list of richest Americans, published a story last week accusing Weisselberg of lying under oath about his role in the bogus valuations of Trumps triplex apartment in Trump Tower. Though Trumps company has turned over approximately 900,000 documents to Jamess office, prosecutors say they have not met their legal obligation to fully comply with subpoenas. The failure to produce these later emails indicates a breakdown somewhere in the process of preserving, collecting, reviewing and producing documents, Wallace wrote. Why it matters: Forbes said the emails in its possession show that Weisselberg played a key role in trying to convince the magazine that Trumps penthouse apartment was worth more than it really was. If Engoron directs Jones to conduct a forensic audit of those documents, it could spell more trouble for Trump and for Weisselberg. Georgia election interference Powell pleads guilty and agrees to testify in trials of other defendants Key players: Pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, Judge Scott McAffee, lawyer Kenneth Chesebro, bail bondsman Scott Hall, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, former Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis On the eve of the start of her trial alongside co-defendant Chesebro, Powell pleaded guilty Thursday to six misdemeanor charges, including five counts of conspiracy to commit election interference, USA Today reported. As part of her plea deal, Powell agreed to testify in the future trials for an unspecified number of the other 18 people charged in Georgia. She must also pay nearly $9,000 in fines and write a letter of apology to the citizens of the state. Prosecutors will ask that she be placed on probation for six years. Powells testimony could prove useful to prosecutors in the trials of others charged. She held a White House meeting with Trump in December of 2020, for instance, to discuss using the military to seize voting machines. She also held an infamous press conference alongside Trump lawyers Giuliani and Ellis where the trio pressed bogus allegations of voter fraud. Powell is the second defendant of the 19 charged in Georgia to plead guilty. Bail bondsman Scott Hall did so in late Sept. Chesebro rejected an offer of a plea deal on Thursday. Why it matters: Prosecutors only cut plea deals with those who they think will serve as credible witnesses in other trials. While Powell floated some of the most outlandish conspiracy theories about the 2020 election of those charged, she was also a firsthand witness to the attempts to overturn Trumps loss. Recommended reading ______________________ Wednesday, Oct. 18 ______________________ Photo Illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images, Samuel Corum/Getty Images, Getty Images (3). Lawyers for former President Donald Trump file a notice to appeal a partial gag order in the federal Jan. 6 election interference case. Trump co-defendants Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro lose bids to get the criminal charges against them dismissed in the Georgia 2020 election interference case, days ahead of the scheduled Oct. 23 start of their trial. Jan. 6 election interference Trump lawyers to appeal gag order ruling Key players: Judge Tanya Chutkan, Trump lawyers John Lauro, Todd Blanche Attorneys for former President Donald Trump told a D.C. federal court Tuesday that they intend to appeal a limited gag order imposed by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan. The order handed down Monday by Chutkan prohibits Trump from attacking special counsel Jack Smith, possible witnesses or court staff. Trump lawyers Lauro and Blanche filed a notice of appeal on Tuesday, signaling that they will appeal Chutkans ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. According to Bloomberg, Trumps team is expected to ask Chutkan to pause the gag order until the appeal process is complete. Chutkan isnt the only judge to issue a gag order in a case against or involving Trump. On Oct. 3, New York Judge Arthur Engoron, whos presiding over the $250 million civil fraud trial, issued an order forbidding Trump from making online posts or other public statements about court staff after Trump made a derogatory post about Engorons clerk. Why it matters: Trumps tendency to lash out against critics has now led to two gag orders against him, prompting the question of whether the former president will tamp down his frequent attacks and fully comply with the orders or face further potential penalties for failing to do so. Additionally, it remains to be seen whether the appeal will impact the scheduled trial date of March 4 for the Jan. 6 case. Trumps lawyers have repeatedly sought to delay the trial until after the 2024 presidential election. Georgia election interference Judge denies Powell, Chesebro motion to dismiss in Georgia election case Key players: Fulton Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, Trump co-defendants Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro Pro-Trump lawyers Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro, who are among the 18 people facing charges with Trump in the 2020 election interference case in Georgia, lost their bids to get the criminal counts against them dismissed. Judge Scott McAfee on Tuesday denied requests from Powell and Chesebro to dismiss the charges against them. McAfee concluded in his motion that the objections raised by the defendants failed to establish a defect in the substance or form of the indictment. A group of potential jurors is expected to gather at the Fulton County courthouse on Friday to begin the jury selection process for Powell and Chesebros trial which is slated for Oct. 23. ABC News reports that McAfee will tell jurors to expect a five-month trial. Why it matters: The latest ruling in Powell and Chesebros cases indicate that the two will likely stand trial on the scheduled date of Oct. 23, and would be the first defendants in the Georgia case to do so. Previous reports said that prosecutors considered offering plea agreements to Chesebro and Powell, but such deals would likely require future cooperation from the pair. ______________________ Tuesday, Oct. 17 ______________________ Donald Trump at his civil fraud trial in New York City on Tuesday. (Andrew Kelly/Pool/Getty Images) On the same day the judge overseeing the federal case relating to the efforts to overturn the 2020 election issued a limited gag order prohibiting former President Donald Trump from attacking prosecutors, witnesses or court staff, Trump was back at a Manhattan courthouse for his $250 million civil fraud trial and back to attacking the lead prosecutor in that case. New York civil fraud trial Trump lashes out at James Key players: Letitia James, Michael Cohen Speaking outside the courtroom upon his arrival, Trump tore into James, who brought the suit alleging that the former president and the Trump Organization deceived banks, insurers and others by massively overvaluing his assets and inflating his net worth on his financial statements. Trump said that James was ranting and raving like a lunatic and suggested she shouldnt be allowed to be attorney general for bringing the case against him. The former president seemed especially annoyed that James had cited in court the Palm Beach County tax assessors appraised value of Mar-a-Lago being between $18 million and $27 million as proof of fraud. Trump's financial statements valued the property at between $400 million and $600 million. Trump told reporters that Mar-a-Lago is the most expensive house, probably, in the world, estimating that the estate is worth between $1 billion to $1.5 billion and would sell very easily. Inside the courtroom, Trump sat with his lawyers at the defense table listening to testimony from one of his companys accountants, Donna Kidder about the intricacies of internal spreadsheets, the Associated Press said. Trump, who attended the first three days of the trial, had planned his return to coincide with testimony from Michael Cohen, his former lawyer and fixer-turned star witness against him. But their anticipated face-off did not materialize, as Cohens testimony was delayed until at least next week due to an unspecified health issue. "I am thankful the medical condition, while incredibly painful, does not require an immediate procedure. I anticipate appearing as soon as the pain subsides," Cohen said in a statement. "When I do testify, I am certain Donald will be in attendance, sitting with his lawyers at the defendant's table." Trump told reporters that Cohen didn't have the guts to appear. Why it matters: Trump continues to lash out despite receiving two gag orders this month. On Oct. 3, New York Judge Arthur Engoron issued an order forbidding Trump from making online posts or other public statements about court staff after the former president made a derogatory post about Engorons clerk. And on Tuesday, Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the federal Jan. 6 election interference case, formally issued a limited gag order prohibiting Trump from attacking special counsel Jack Smith, possible witnesses or court staff. Trump said he plans to appeal the ruling. Trump speaking to reporters during a break in his trial. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) The judge said basically I dont have the right to speak, Trump told reporters outside his civil trial. My speech has been taken away from me. Im a candidate thats running for office, and Im not allowed to speak. FBI lawsuits Trump to be deposed in suits against DOJ brought by Strzok and Page Key players: Peter Strzok and Lisa Page Trump was also expected on Tuesday to be deposed in a case involving Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, former FBI officials who he has long disparaged since it was revealed they were critical of Trump in private text messages to each other during then-special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. The former president is scheduled to testify in the two-hour, closed-door deposition in New York City in relation to their separate lawsuits against the Justice Department. Strzok alleges that he was wrongly terminated by the FBI. Page alleges that the public disclosures of those text messages by the DOJ amounted to an unwanted invasion of privacy and damaged her reputation. Why it matters: Unlike the civil trial, which Trump is not obligated to attend, the deposition does take the presidents time and attention away from the campaign trail and the myriad criminal charges he is facing. ______________________ Monday, Oct. 16 ______________________ The Prettyman federal courthouse in Washington, D.C. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images) Former President Donald Trumps legal team was present at the E. Barrett Prettyman federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., Monday morning for a hearing about whether Trump would be faced with a gag order in the federal case relating to the efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Trump has made disparaging remarks about numerous individuals, including prosecutors and witnesses. Meanwhile, a hearing on his lawsuit against a former British spy took place across the Atlantic. Jan. 6 election interference Consideration of the gag order Key players: Judge Tanya Chutkan, Trump lawyer John Lauro Chutkan said she would issue a narrowly tailored order that would not prevent Trump from broad criticisms of Washington, D.C., or the government. Trump will be able to attack President Biden and repeat his claim that the case is politically motivated. However, he will not be able to make statements about special counsel Jack Smith or witnesses; the judge said his presidential candidacy does not give him the privilege of conducting a smear campaign. Included among the targets of Trumps invective have been the prosecutors (whom he called a team of thugs), his former Attorney General William Barr (a gutless pig) and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley (suggested he might deserve to be executed). Trump attorney Lauro made the case Monday that threats or acts of violence by supporters of the former president werent enough to curtail his clients free-speech rights, saying, Are we going to tell Americans that they cant speak because some crazed person might do something inappropriate? That would end the First Amendment as we know it. Lauro also called it an order of censorship. Lauro returned to an argument he has made often, suggesting the trial could be delayed until after the 2024 election. Chutkan has floated the possibility of moving up the start date of the trial currently set to begin on March 4 in order to avoid a tainted jury pool. Trump chose to campaign in Iowa instead of attending the hearing. Why it matters: If Trump violates the gag order, Chutkan said she would consider sanctions, which could range from warnings to jail. With Trump set to be making numerous campaign appearances in the coming months and his frequent postings to social media, a gag order violation seems possible if not likely. Steele dossier civil suit Trump seeks relief against former British spy Key player: Intelligence consultant Christopher Steele Trump is suing Steele and his firm Orbis Business Intelligence in British court under data protection laws. The Steele dossier was assembled during the 2016 campaign and then leaked to BuzzFeed in early 2017, when it was subsequently published by the outlet. It contained numerous allegations, including many tying Trump to the Russian government. A judgment of the English court on this issue will be an immense relief to me as it will completely confirm the true position to the public at large, read a witness statement prepared by Trump during a hearing Monday, adding, Until there is such a judgment, I continue to suffer damage and distress as a result of people wrongfully believing that the data in the dossier is accurate. Its uncontroversial for me to say that President Trump is a controversial figure, said Trump lawyer Hugh Tomlinson. His interactions with the U.S. legal system have been many and varied, but we say none of this is relevant. A similar case by Trump against Steele was dismissed in the United States last year. FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Trump meets with supporters in West Palm Beach By Nathan Layne and Tim Reid CLIVE, Iowa (Reuters) - Donald Trump promised on Monday that if elected president again he will bar immigrants who support Hamas from entering the U.S. and send officers to pro-Hamas protests to arrest and deport immigrants who publicly support the Palestinian militant group. On a campaign stop in Iowa, Trump was responding to the Hamas killing of at least 1,300 Israelis that triggered a war in which Palestinian health officials say Israel has killed more than 2,800 Palestinians in Gaza. Trump, president from 2017-2021, said that if elected to a second White House term he will ban entry to the U.S. of anybody who does not believe in Israel's right to exist, and revoke the visas of foreign students who are "antisemitic." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement He also vowed to step up travel bans from "terror-plagued countries." He did not explain how he would enforce his demands, including the one requiring immigrants to support Israel's right to exist under what he called "strong ideological screening." Many of Trump's immigration policies were challenged in court during his presidency and his newest pledges could also face challenges. A ban he imposed on immigrants from some Muslim-majority nations was struck down in lower courts but ultimately upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. Biden ended that ban when he took office. Trump said on Monday he would ban immigrants from Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen "or anywhere else that threatens our security". Trump also read a poem that he used to liken immigrants to deadly snakes. Jaime Harrison, chair of the Democratic National Committee, described Trump's pledges as Islamophobic, extreme and designed to exploit "fear and anxiety." Iowa is one of the earliest states to hold a Republican presidential nominating contest. A tough approach to immigrants was a cornerstone of Trump's first term as president. He is the frontrunner to win his party's White House nomination and take on Democratic President Joe Biden in the November 2024 election. Promising to drastically tighten U.S. immigration laws, Trump said: "If you want to abolish the state of Israel, you're disqualified, if you support Hamas or the ideology behind Hamas, you're disqualified, and if you're a communist, Marxist, or fascist, you are disqualified." Most of Trump's Republican rivals have condemned Hamas and offered full-throated support for an expected Israeli invasion of Gaza, but none has laid out such a tough series of proposals to keep people out of and expel Hamas sympathizers from the U.S. The United States along with several other countries have designated Hamas a terrorist organization. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, one of Trump's Republican rivals for the presidential nomination, said on Monday he favored the deportation of foreign students who support Hamas and would bar Gaza refugees from the U.S. if elected president. Trump last week accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of being unprepared for the Hamas attacks and called Hezbollah - the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group - "very smart." His Iowa remarks appeared to be an effort in part to blunt that criticism. "We will aggressively deport resident aliens with jihadist sympathies," Trump said. (Reporting by Nathan Layne in Clive, Iowa, and Tim Reid in Los Angeles; Editing by Howard Goller) ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA - JULY 29: Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to supporters during a political rally while campaigning for the GOP nomination in the 2024 election at Erie Insurance Arena on July 29, 2023 in Erie, Pennsylvania. Jeff Swensen/Getty Images Trump is now facing a limited gag order after a federal judge's ruling on Monday. Judge Tanya Chutkan's order will limit Trump's attacks on potential witnesses, prosecutors, and court staff. Trump has repeatedly criticized special counsel Jack Smith, including saying he "looks like a crackhead." Federal judge Tanya Chutkan on Monday imposed a limited gag order that if it stands would force the end of former President Donald Trump's social media barrages against special counsel Jack Smith and his team. Chutkan imposed the order limiting Trump's attacks on witnesses, prosecutors, and court staff involved with his pending criminal case related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The former president's attorneys had argued that imposing such a restriction would unfairly limit Trump's First Amendment rights, an argument Chutkan strongly rejected. Trump's trial is scheduled for next March. "You keep talking about censorship like the defendant has unfettered First Amendment rights. He doesn't," Chutkan, an Obama appointee, said, per the Associated Press. "We're not talking about censorship here. We're talking restrictions to ensure there is a fair administration of justice on this case." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Trump's campaign immediately blasted the decision, which will impose some limitations on what the current frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination can say publicly. He could violate the gag order, but doing so could risk significant penalities, including potential incarceration. "Today's decision is an absolute abomination and another partisan knife stuck in the heart of our Democracy by Crooked Joe Biden, who was granted the right to muzzle his political opponent, the leading candidate for the Presidency in 2024, and the most popular political leader in America, President Donald J. Trump. President Trump will continue to fight for our Constitution, the American people's right to support him, and to keep our country free of the chains of weaponized and targeted law enforcement," a Trump spokesperson said in a statement. Trump has repeatedly attacked Smith, his team, and even Smith's wife since the special counsel charged him with four criminal counts related to his efforts to overturn the election results, including what the indictment claimed was an effort to obstruct Congress' certification of President Joe Biden's victory on January 6, 2021. Trump has called Smith "deranged" and suggested he "looks like a crackhead." He has also called Smith's wife "a Trump hater" and pointed to her work on a documentary about former first lady Michelle Obama. Chutkan's order does not restrict all of Trump's criticism. According to Politico, Chutkan did not impose restrictions on Trump's criticism of Washington, DC, Washingtonians, or limit criticism of the Justice Department more broadly. Specifically, Trump can still continue to claim the Justice Department's prosecution is politically motivated. Read the original article on Business Insider A federal judge is set to hear from lawyers for former President Trump and the Justice Department after prosecutors asked for a narrow gag order that would bar Trump from attacking witnesses and others involved in his election interference case. The gag order is designed to address what prosecutors called disparaging and inflammatory remarks about nearly everyone involved in the Jan. 6 case, comments they say could taint the jury pool and intimidate witnesses who might be called to testify against Trump. The former president, who will not be present for the hearing, lashed out on social media ahead of the event, including making false statements about the extent of the gag order. Trump said the order is trying to silence me, through the use of a powerful GAG ORDER, making it impossible for me to criticize those who are doing the silencing, namely Crooked Joe Biden , and his corrupt and weaponized DOJ & FBI. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement They want to take away my First Amendment rights, and my ability to both campaign and defend myself, Trump added in the post on his social media site. The order actually would allow Trump to criticize President Biden as well as the Justice Department, though the department asked that the gag order limit Trumps potential attacks on the team of special counsel Jack Smith. It also allows Trump to still talk about the case, including proclaiming his innocence. In making its case for such a gag order, the Justice Department cited a number of comments from Trump, including remarks in late 2020 when he attacked those who challenged his case that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Prosecutors also highlighted a series of comments Trump has made targeting witnesses, prosecutors, and the judge overseeing the Jan. 6 case. Since the indictment in this case, the defendant has spread disparaging and inflammatory public posts on Truth Social on a near-daily basis regarding the citizens of the District of Columbia, the Court, prosecutors, and prospective witnesses, Smiths team wrote in a motion asking for the order. The defendant knows that when he publicly attacks individuals and institutions, he inspires others to perpetrate threats and harassment against his targets, they wrote. The issue will be weighed by Judge Tanya Chutkan, who Trump has also repeatedly disparaged, including in his Monday morning post dismissing her as partisan. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. (Bloomberg) -- Former President Donald Trump defended his support for Israel days after drawing criticism for disparaging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he sought to shore up support among Iowas crucial evangelical voting bloc. Most Read from Bloomberg I fought for Israel like no president ever before, Trump said Monday during a campaign event in Adel, Iowa. Trump cited his move recognizing Jerusalem as Israels capital, calling it a big deal and his declaration recognizing Israeli control over the Golan Heights, territory it captured from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement This is something that would have never happened under his watch, Trump asserted, referring to the deadly Hamas attack that claimed the lives of more than 1,400 Israelis and left 199 people confirmed as hostages. Israel wouldnt have been attacked. You wouldnt have lost all the people that have been lost. And unfortunately a lot of people are going to be lost into the future on all sides. And its a very, very sad thing to see. Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, has been stepping up his campaign in early-voting Iowa, in hopes of ensuring a commanding victory there and cementing his status as the partys inevitable 2024 nominee. At a rally last week, Trump drew the ire of fellow Republicans and the White House after he assailed Netanyahu for not joining the US in a 2020 drone strike that killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and described Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shiite militant group designated as a terrorist organization by the US, as very smart. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Trumps chief rival for the nomination, seized on the comments, saying it was the wrong time to criticize Israel, with the country facing its deadliest threat in decades. Trumps remarks come as President Joe Biden is considering a trip to Israel, part of a diplomatic effort to stop the war from sparking a larger conflict. Biden has offered strong support for Israel even as the administration seeks to limit the impact on civilians. Critical to Trumps efforts in Iowa, where Republican voters will caucus in less than three months, are the states sizable bloc of evangelical voters, for whom support for Israel is a key issue. Trump rode evangelical support to the White House in the 2016 election, but his ties with that bloc have frayed in recent months. Trump angered evangelicals by blaming the GOPs messaging on abortion rights for the partys worse-than-expected 2022 midterm performance and by feuding with Iowas popular conservative governor, Kim Reynolds. A September CBS News/YouGov poll showed DeSantis over-performing among White evangelical voters in Iowa, getting 30% support compared to his 21% backing from likely caucus voters overall. Trump had 51% from both evangelicals and all likely Republican caucus voters. --With assistance from Gregory Korte. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. (Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump said he is prepared to give evidence at a London trial as part of his legal fight over the notorious dossier that alleged ties between the Kremlin and the former US presidents successful run to the White House. Most Read from Bloomberg Trump kicked off his data collection suit in a London court against ex-MI6 agent Christopher Steeles Orbis business intelligence firm on Monday, saying hed suffered significant damage and distress from the publication of the dossier. Hes seeking a judges ruling that statements in the report were false. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement A judgment of the English court on this issue will be an immense relief to me as it will completely confirm the true position to the public at large, Trump said in a witness statement prepared for the two-day hearing at the High Court. The Steele dossier made headlines around the world when it was leaked to BuzzFeed in January 2017 with allegations that the presidential campaign had been compromised by the Russian security service. With the London lawsuit, Trump is opening a new front in his already crowded legal calendar. In the US, he faces four prosecutions, on top of two civil trials, as he runs to regain the White House. Hes expected to attend the civil fraud trial against him in New York this week. Trump has continued to reserve his ire for Steele. The dossier contains shocking and scandalous claims about the conduct of President Trump, his lawyer Hugh Tomlinson said. He said Trump wanted a vindication of his legal rights. Steele, who Trump once called a lowlife was retained by a Washington-based research firm in June 2016 to examine Trumps links to Russia. The Democratic National Committee and the campaign of Hillary Clinton hired Fusion GPS after Trump was headed for the nomination. This weeks hearing will decide on Orbiss bid to knock out the claim at an early date in the case. Lawyers for Steeles firm argue the claim has no reasonable prospect of success and that Trump is merely pursuing a vendetta. Trump has a history of harassing perceived enemies and others against whom he bears a grudge, Orbiss lawyers said. Its uncontroversial for me to say that President Trump is a controversial figure, Trumps lawyer Tomlinson told the judge. His interactions with the US legal system have been many and varied, but we say none of this is relevant. Russian billionaires Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven previously successfully sued Steele in a data-protection suit but a libel claim brought by another wealthy Russian individual failed. Orbis said the dossier was never intended to be made public and Trump couldnt hold the firm responsible for the Buzzfeed publication itself. (Updates throughout) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. FILE - Former President Donald Trump arrives at a rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. A lawyer for Donald Trump told a London judge Monday, Oct. 16, 2023, that the ex-president plans to prove that a discredited report by a former British spy that contained shocking and scandalous claims that he was compromised by Russians in his first bid for the presidency was wrong and harmed his reputation. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) LONDON (AP) A lawyer for Donald Trump told a London judge Monday that the ex-president plans to prove that a discredited report by a former British spy that contained shocking and scandalous claims that he was compromised by Russians in his first bid for the presidency was wrong and harmed his reputation. Trump has sued the company founded by Christopher Steele , who created a dossier in 2016 that contained rumors and uncorroborated allegations about Trump that erupted in a political storm just before he was inaugurated. Trump is seeking damages from Orbis Business Intelligence for allegedly violating British data protection laws. Steele's company is seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed during two days of hearings at London's High Court. The lawsuit comes as Trump is the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination while facing legal problems on the other side of the Atlantic. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Trump's lawyers are currently fighting a civil fraud trial in New York alleging he and company executives deceived banks, insurers and others by overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth to secure loans and make deals. He also faces four separate criminal cases for allegations including mishandling classified documents, trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and paying hush money to a porn actress to cover up an affair. His attorney noted in court Monday that Trump is a controversial figure who expresses himself in strong language and has faced criticism from judges in the U.S. However, he said none of that is relevant in the current case. Trump is claiming he suffered personal and reputational damage and distress" because his data protection rights were violated. Steele, who once ran the Russia desk for the Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6, was paid by Democrats to compile research that included salacious allegations that Russians could potentially blackmail Trump for activity with prostitutes in a Moscow hotel. Trump said the dossier was fake news and a political witch hunt. Tomlinson said it "contained shocking and scandalous claims about the personal conduct of President Trump and included allegations he paid bribes to Russian officials to further his business interests. Trump's case is that this personal data is egregiously inaccurate, he said. Tomlinson said Trump plans to vindicate himself in court by providing evidence that the report's claims were false. Orbis wants the lawsuit thrown out because it said the report was never meant to be made public and was published by BuzzFeed without the permission of Steele or Orbis. In two previous High Court cases, a judge ruled Orbis and Steele were not legally liable for the consequences of the dossier's publication. Former President Trump is suing the former British spy behind the controversial Steele Dossier that detailed intel on potential links between Trump and Russia, asserting the report contained shocking and scandalous claims that were false and harmful to the former presidents reputation. Trumps lawyers filed suit in Britain against Orbis Business Intelligence, the company founded by Christopher Steele, a former MI6 agent who published a 35-page dossier including uncorroborated claims that Trumps campaign and Russian agents conspired to influence the 2016 U.S. election, according to The Associated Press. Hugh Tomlinson, a lawyer for Trump who appeared before a judge at Londons High Court on Monday, alleged the company violated British data protection laws and has suffered personal and reputational damage and distress as a result. The former president has repeatedly claimed the dossier was fake news and a political witch hunt following the 2016 presidential election. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Steele, who led the Russia desk for MI6 formally known as the Secret Intelligence Service is looking to have the lawsuit dismissed during two days of hearings at Londons High Court, per AP reports. Steeles dossier has since been largely discredited and determined to be funded by Democrats during the 2016 presidential election. Hillary Clintons 2016 presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) settled a campaign finance inquiry last year, agreeing to pay $113,000 in fines stemming from the dossier. While the dossier itself was not the basis for the FBIs probe into Trumps alleged ties to Russia, the report was heavily involved with the investigation led by former special counsel Robert Mueller. Meanwhile, Trump continues to fight various legal battles in the United States, including an ongoing civil trial in New York over more than a decade of alleged fraud. Trump also faces four separate criminal cases over accusations of his mishandling of classified documents after leaving the White House, attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and hush money payments to cover up an affair. A federal judge will hear from from Trumps lawyers and the Justice Department on Monday over prosecutors request for a narrow gag order that would prohibit the former president from attacking witnesses and those involved in his Jan. 6 election interference case. The Associated Press contributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Two weeks into Donald Trumps bank fraud trial in New York, its clear that the former president has no intention of actually trying to win the legal battle at this stage. Instead, Trumps legal team is working diligently to repurpose the trial as pretext for a future appealnot to mention warping the proceedings into both a fundraising spectacle and an excuse to skip out on his other court dates. For nine straight days, Trumps defense lawyers have littered the court with legal landmines, objecting to nearly every bit of evidence submitted by New York Attorney General Letitia James and warning New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur F. Engoron that each decision he makes will be closely scrutinized by appellate judgesand likely reversed. The Irony of Trump Whining About a Jury Trial His Lawyers Didnt Formally Request ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement At one point, Engoron had to remind Trumps legal team, Trials are not an opportunity to relitigate what Ive already decided thats why we have appeals. Rolling Stone cited one source within the Trump camp who described the current kamikaze plan of trying to seize minor victories within the self-created chaos as Fyre Festival strategies, a reference to the poorly planned 2017 music festival in the Bahamas that ended in disaster. The stakes are high: Trump, a self-styled business tycoon, is at real risk of losing his real estate empire. Engoron has already ordered the Trump Organizations business licenses revoked after concluding that the Trump family and their companys top executives vastly inflated assets for years. Come December, he could order them to pay $250 million or more. Team Trump is still irked that they have to defend real estate deals stretching back a decade because the judge hasnt yet explicitly drawn a stark cutoff in 2016 or so that could shrink the attorney generals casesomething an appellate court instructed him to do before the trial began. Now, Trumps lawyers are objecting to anything that even hints at older material, even emails presented by James office that make references to the distant past. But Trumps defense team has also adopted a comically and deliberately irritating tactic. Anticipating a massive and detailed appeal, they have been asking long-winded questions about each line in each documentand repeating each question for every year from 2011 and beyond. The tension reached a boiling point on only the trials third day, when the judge repeatedly advised that defense lawyers speed things alongonly to have defense lawyer Jesus Suarez agree, then ignore him anyway. Youre not allowed to waste time, Engoron said. That is what this is becoming. We will attempt to streamline this as much as possible, lead defense lawyer Christopher Kise assured. Doesnt seem like that yet, the judge shot back. The devils in the details. Im sorry, but it is, Kise countered. Things then got heated, as the judge called out Trumps team on whats become a patently obvious delay tactic. Trump Lawyers Want Us to Believe Key Witness Knows Nothing This is ridiculous! Engoron said, turning his head to the dozens of journalists in the back of the courtroom. To the reporters: Im pounding the bench again. This. Is. Ridiculous! There's no point in going through each line. I'm just being logical here. What happened next was an encapsulation of what has become the go-to Trump legal strategy at this trial. Kise, in his characteristically condescending tone toward the older and more experienced judge, misconstrued what Engoron said and demurred. Let me make sure I understand, Kise began. Youre asking us to go line by line, but just ask the same question for each line? Ive never had to negotiate how to ask questions. I think it makes a poor record, frankly, he added, in what seemed like a direct address to the court reporter whose notes will eventually be combed through by a panel of appellate judges. For the record, I object to this. Engoron, seeing through the ploy, responded: I have a thick skin, but its really being pierced here. Similar but less intense versions of that scene repeated as the days went by, with Kise often distorting what Engoron was ordering, then turning around and claiming the judges decisions were unprecedented and unfair. In Trumps other cases, like the criminal investigation for his alleged hoarding of classified records at Mar-a-Lago, his lawyers have relied on procedural delays and appeals to slow things down. But this court battle stands apart simply for the many ways the former president has managed to drag his feet. So far, its working, as the trial is entering its third week with only half a dozen witnesses having testified. Theres no telling if an overall appeal will succeed, however, until the actual trial is over. Two sources familiar with the situation told The Daily Beast that the former presidents lawyers are laser-focused on the appeal at this point, gleefully baiting the judge whenever they can to increase their chances of success at the New York appellate divisions First Judicial Department. One of those sources noted that Trump, who keeps delivering angry speeches outside the courtroom and maintains a scowl inside the courtroom, has essentially resorted to theatrics to draw public attention to himself. The strategy was described as Machiavellian maneuvering two steps ahead of the Attorney General. In reality, James is well aware of whats going on. During a brief court recess on Oct. 4, she told The Daily Beast that Trumpwho does not need to appear in person during this civil trialonly keeps doing so to use it as a fundraising tactic. And she ascribed the defense lawyers increasingly belligerent performance to what she perceived as their desire to please the big boss. They are playing to an audience of one, James said. Trump Finally Brings His Online Rage to the Courtroom Indeed, the Trump 2024 presidential campaign ramped up its email blasts during the early days of the trial, sending out themed messages that referenced the ongoing court fight. I just left the courthouse for the first day of my unjust trial in New York, read the first email to do so, which ended with a plea to please make a contribution of ANY amounttruly, even just $1to peacefully DEFEND our movement from the never-ending witch hunts. Theres yet another twist in Trumps attempt to turn lemons into lemonade. The former president, whos drowning in legal trouble across the country defending himself from criminal indictments and personal lawsuits, has twisted this bank fraud trial into something akin to a doctors note. By appearing in court during half of the first week at trial, Trump managed to squirm his way out of a potentially devastating deposition in his revenge lawsuit against his former attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen. Trump, whos known to say self-incriminating things under oath, would have been forced to answer damning questions about the way he employed Cohen as his mob-like consigliere for years. The Miami federal judge overseeing that case allowed him to skip a scheduled interview session to appear in New York for this trialonly to have Trump quickly ditch the lawsuit last week. And now hes doing it again. As first reported in The Messenger, Trump plans to head back to Engorons courtroom next week, not-so-coincidentally overlapping with his scheduled deposition in a lawsuit brought by Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. Both former FBI officials careers spiraled when Trump used his power at the White House to drag their names through the mud, demonizing them for their roles in the much-maligned Trump-Russia investigation. 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. CLIVE, Iowa (AP) Doubling down on the hard-line immigration policies that have long animated his base, former President Donald Trump on Monday vowed to bar refugees from Gaza and immediately expand his first-term Muslim travel ban if he wins a second term following the deadly attack on Israel last week. Speaking to supporters in Iowa, Trump said that if he returns to the Oval Office, he will immediately begin ideological screening for all immigrants and bar those who sympathize with Hamas and Muslim extremists. The war between Israel and Hamas has sparked what is now the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides, with more than 4,000 dead. His proposals would mark a dramatic expansion of the controversial and legally dubious policies that drew alarm from immigrant rights and civil liberties activists, but helped him win the GOP primary in 2016. Trump has long railed against the U.S. taking immigrants from countries he has dubbed inferior, particularly in Africa and the Middle East, and told the crowd Monday that while he was president the U.S. stood up for Israel and Judeo-Christian civilization and values. Trump also continued to paint himself as a martyr for his loyal supporters, railing against the four indictments he is facing along with a narrow gag order that was imposed Monday by the federal judge overseeing the 2020 election interference case against him in Washington. The order, which Trump has pledged to appeal, bars him from making statements targeting prosecutors, possible witnesses and court staff. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement I am willing to go to jail if thats what it takes for our country to become a democracy again, he said in Clive. Trump pledged to bar the entry of refugees from Gaza fleeing Israels retaliatory strikes after the surprise Oct. 7 attack, just as he tried to bar citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries during his first term with an executive order. The executive order, however, was met with fierce opposition and was fought all the way to the Supreme Court. The high court eventually upheld a third version of the ban, which included travelers from North Korea and some from Venezuela. Current and former members of communist and totalitarian parties and their sympathizers are already banned from entry into the U.S. But Trump told about 1,500 people in suburban Des Moines that if he wins a second term, the U.S. would no longer allow what he called dangerous lunatics, haters, bigots and maniacs to get residency in our country. If you empathize with radical Islamic terrorists and extremists, youre disqualified," he said. "If you want to abolish the state of Israel, youre disqualified. If you support Hamas or any ideology thats having to do with that or any of the other really sick thoughts that go through peoples minds very dangerous thoughts youre disqualified. The former president and GOP front-runner also said he would aggressively deport resident aliens with jihadist sympathies and send immigration agents to pro-jihadist demonstrations to identify violators. In the wake of the attacks on Israel, Americans have been disgusted to see the open support for terrorists among the legions of foreign nationals on college campuses. Theyre teaching your children hate, he said. Under the Trump administration, we will revoke the student visas of radical anti-American and anti-Semitic foreigners at our colleges and universities and we will send them straight back home." Though Trump's audience in the Horizon Events Center in Clive cheered his proposals, 31-year-old information technology specialist Ritu Bansal said she supported Trump but hoped he would also show compassion for the people of Gaza. In my opinion the U.S. government should care for the victims of the Hamas attack on Israel and the civilian victims in Gaza, Bansal said. The U.S. can care for both. Trump has stepped up his caucus campaigning this fall as his team tries to lock in support to not only avoid a repeat of his 2016 second-place finish but to win an overwhelming victory that would deny momentum to whoever finishes in second place. Earlier, Trump rallied caucusgoers in Iowas rural Dallas County, where he received the endorsement of the states attorney general and predicted a landslide victory three months before voting begins in the GOP contests kickoff state. Brenna Bird, Iowa's Republican attorney general, served previously as former Iowa Rep. Steve Kings chief of staff as well as an aide to former Gov. Terry Branstad and Gov. Kim Reynolds. Last year, Bird beat longtime Democratic Attorney General Tom Miller. By late Monday afternoon, Trump had campaigned before roughly 13,000 people in less than a month. Unlike his seat-of-the-pants campaign in 2016, Trump's team is using the candidate's celebrity to draw interested Republicans and track interest in supporting him in the leadoff caucuses set for Jan. 15. Ninety-one days. Are you ready? Trump asked more than 1,000 supporters packed into a livestock expo barn at the Dallas County fairgrounds in Adel. Were going to have a historic landslide, Trump predicted as he stood flanked by giant bales of hay. Trump's advisers want to lock in a blowout that discourages talk of a second-place finisher consolidating support and taking on the former president directly. After Trumps second-place 2016 finish behind Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, a ragtag effort of big crowds but little organization, state GOP staffers cleaned out his caucus campaign office to find thousands of signed pledge cards that had never been logged. I can promise you there is no backlog," said Alex Latcham, a senior Trump adviser and early-state coordinator. ___ Colvin reported from New York. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 14) The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Saturday made an appeal to spare innocent civilians as Gaza faces deeper humanitarian crisis brought about by the ongoing tensions between the Israel and the militant group Hamas. ICRC rapid deployment coordinator Stephen Ryan said that people in Gaza are having problems accessing basic necessities and services. At present, people are struggling to have access to food, water, medicine, and electricity, Ryan told CNN Philippines Newsroom Weekend. The water supply is connected strongly to the electricity supply, and these are important basic services that have been cut off due to the ongoing siege, he also said. The ICRC official added that power outages and enough supplies also left medical facilities in Gaza overwhelmed. The parties to this have a responsibility to the civilians affected by it," he said. "Those who are not part of the fight should continue to have access to basic services." Israel, which controls most of Gazas electricity, water, and fuel, has imposed a strict blockade on the Palestinian city in response to Hamas brutal attack that led to thousands of deaths and displacement of millions. Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz earlier said that Gaza will not be provided with electricity, water, and fuel until the extremist group releases the150 Israeli hostages. But the Hamas warned it will start executing the hostages if Israel continues to target people in Gaza without warning. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that Gazas humanitarian situation was extremely dire before these hostilities; now it will only deteriorate exponentially. The ICRC said that relief organizations must be allowed to send help to the affected population as resources are quickly running out in Gaza. Its important to recognize that the parties of this conflict have this responsibility to make sure that humanitarian act such as the ICRC are able to access this area and are able to provide humanitarian relief, said Ryan. At present, we do not have access to bring further goods into Gaza but we are ready to do so," he continued. "We need support from outside to be able to do it, but we also need the agreement of different governments and different actors to be able to access Gaza and to be able to provide this assistance." Israels military on Friday has given a six-hour window to more than one million Gaza residents to move south on specified streets as airstrikes continue. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that tens of thousands of people in the Palestinian city have already left their homes following the warning, according to a CNN report. Cindy Tobeck, a Tumwater teacher who grows giant squash and pumpkins, gets to add a few more plaques to her collection, placing highly at three national weigh-off events in Washington, Oregon and California over the past couple weeks. She may even have a new world record, after her largest green squash weighed in at 1,884 pounds on Oct. 10 at the Baumans Farm weigh-off in Gervais, Oregon. Tobeck said shes keeping her fingers crossed that nothing larger is weighed in over the next few days. She said she hasnt heard any rumors of any that are bigger. This coming weekend are the last of the weigh-offs worldwide, and I dont anticipate any problems as these last events are generally small with less prize money, so typically smaller pumpkins and squash compete, Tobeck said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Her pumpkin came in second place overall at the Oregon weigh-off, getting beaten out by another Olympia resident, Jeff Uhlmeyer, with a pumpkin weighing 1,998.5 pounds, according to Baumans Farms social media. Uhlmeyer also placed higher overall than Tobeck at the Bishops Farm weigh-off in Sacramento with a 1,956-pound pumpkin, landing him in fourth place with a $3,000 prize. Tobeck came in eighth place with a squash weighing in at 1,592 pounds, the largest squash there, but nearly 300 pounds lighter than the giant she hopes will conquer the world. Tobeck said she won Washingtons biggest weigh-off at Carpinito Bros. in Kent with a pumpkin weighing 1,953.5 pounds. The top prize was $6,000. Yes, the temperatures are falling, and so are the leaves. But you know were heading into the thick of fall when its time to register for the Arc Ontarios 14th annual Canandaigua Turkey Trot 5K Fun Run and Walk. The event will return to Canandaigua on Thanksgiving morning, Nov. 23, at F.A. Baker Memorial Park on Buffalo Street. You can start registering and working out for the race this week. Registration is available online at https://runsignup.com/Race/NY/Canandaigua/CanandaiguaTurkeyTrot5k until 11:59 p.m. Nov. 22. Preregister for the race for an early bird rate of $20. For more information about the Canandaigua Turkey Trot, visit thearcontario.org/turkey-trot. Here is more of whats happening this week. 1. Spanish for beginners at Wood Library Learn how to speak Spanish in this five-week course that starts from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17, and continues Oct. 24, Oct. 31, Nov. 21 and Nov. 28 at Wood Library, 134 N. Main St., Canandaigua. Your teacher will be a Literacy Volunteers Ontario-Yates student learner. For details and to register for this or other Wood Library programs, visit woodlibrary.org or call 585-394-1381. 2. Ontario County Civil Service job fair Several agencies in Ontario County are taking part in a Civil Service job fair scheduled for 3 to 6 p.m. Oct. 17 on the second floor at 3019 County Complex Drive. Canandaigua, Red Jacket and Honeoye schools, Finger Lakes Community College, Ontario County Soil & Water Conservation District, Sheriffs Office, District Attorneys Office, Department of Social Services, and city of Geneva are among the participants. 3. Experience culture of Puerto Rico through dance at FLCC Borinquen Dance Theatre will perform Puerto Rican folkloric and Latin contemporary dance at 7 p.m. Oct. 17 at the Finger Lakes Community College main campus, 3325 Marvin Sands Drive. Borinquen is the name the indigenous Taino people gave the island now known as Puerto Rico. The free performance will also be streamed on the FLCC YouTube account: youtube.com/flcc. 4. Learn how to preserve venison in Canandaigua Emma Wilson from Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ontario County will help participants learn the basics of canning and best practices for cooking venison while recommending methods for home food preservation and dispelling food preservation myths. This Project Eats program is 7 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 17 at Wood Library, 134 N. Main St., Canandaigua. To register, visit woodlibrary.org or call 585-394-1381. 5. Happy anniversary in Middlesex The Middlesex Heritage Group will host an anniversary ceremony at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 18, at Middlesex Town Hall, 1261 Main St. (Route 245). The group was created Oct. 23, 1978, to preserve the town's history. The public is invited to attend the celebration, which includes a brief ceremony, cake, and displays of photos and artifacts. 6. Reviving the American chestnut tree in Victor Dakota Matthews, molecular lab manager of SUNY ESFs American Chestnut Research & Restoration Project, will present A Forest Reborn: Reviving the American Chestnut at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19, at Victor Farmington Library, 15 W. Main St., Victor. Learn how cutting-edge technology has developed a blight-tolerant American chestnut tree to reintroduce into ecosystems. For details and to register for this and other programs, visit www.victorfarmingtonlibrary.org. 8. More great pumpkins in Farmington The Great Pumpkin Trail Trek will be held 6:30 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 21, at Beaver Creek Park, 6019 Amber Drive, Farmington. Join the Kiwanis Club of Farmington-Victor and Farmington Chamber of Commerce on this free pumpkin walk, which will be held rain or shine. Bring an umbrella and flashlight and wear a costume. Refreshments will be available for purchase, with the proceeds benefiting the Victor Key Club. 9. A Native American perspective on Thanksgiving Rethinking Thanksgiving: Native American Views on an American Holiday will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 22, at Middlesex Fire Hall, 5537 state Route 364. Storyteller and educator Perry Ground, a Turtle Clan member of the Onondaga Nation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, will present this Ontario/Yates Small Historical Societies program, which is free and open to the public. For ages 4 and up. 10. History open house in West Bloomfield The West Bloomfield Historical Society will host an open house from 1 to 4 p.m. Oct. 22 at Historical Society headquarters, 8966 Routes 5 and 20. Exhibits include the Peanut Branch railroad, agriculture, local inventions and schools, businesses of the past, and more. Children can take part in their own activities during the free event and historical books and maps will be on sale. Guests can also visit one of the countys earliest Civil War monuments in the historic Rural Cemetery behind the building. For more information, see wbhsny.org or Facebook.com, West-Bloomfield-Historical-Society-New York. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Mike Murphy covers Canandaigua and other communities in Ontario County and writes the Eat, Drink and Be Murphy food and drink column. Follow him on X at @MPN_MikeMurphy. If you have an event you'd like to see listed in the "Things to Do" column, email Mike Murphy at mmurphy@messengerpostmedia.com. This article originally appeared on MPNnow: It's Turkey Trot signup time. Plus, 10 more things to do this week (Bloomberg) -- Donald Tusk returned to Gdansk with a message for the Polish opposition. Dont give up, he told thousands of supporters gathered at a rally in the Polish port city, even if you lose the first match. Most Read from Bloomberg That was June 2019 and Tusk, the European Council president and a former Polish prime minister, was taking time out from the Brexit process to return to his hometown on the Baltic coast to push the liberal movement ahead of a difficult election. The biggest opposition party had a leader who was struggling to unite various factions and, as Tusk suggested, the ruling Law and Justice party strolled to a second term. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Four years later, and Tusks faith has been vindicated. After Sundays dramatic election, the 66-year-old veteran of European politics is set to return to power in Warsaw in an outcome that will resonate across the continent, from Brussels to Kyiv. This a clear victory for the opposition forces, Nils Schmid, foreign policy spokesman for Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats in the Bundestag, told Bloomberg. It is a victory for the democratic and pro-European forces in Poland, which can now restore the rule of law and media freedom in the country. Law & Justice turned Poland into a rogue state on a par with Viktor Orbans Hungary. The Polish government clashed with the EU over rule of law, control of the media and funding, all while weaponizing LGBTQ issues and womens rights. Support for Ukraine brought Warsaw into line with its main EU partners, but even there the mood has soured after Warsaw imposed restrictions on Ukrainian grain and suggested it might stop weapons shipments. The pro-EU alliance that prevailed on Sunday now has the opportunity to shift Polands course, steering the blocs fifth most populous country back from what Tusk once called the dark side. Tusks knowledge of how the EU machine works means that Poland will go from being an outsider at summits to one of the most influential participants, according to one EU official, who said he also expects the next Polish leader to become an important voice in shaping the blocs ongoing support for Ukraine. Polands previously tight relationship with Hungary is also going to change dramatically, said another official familiar with Tusks thinking, who said the prime minister-in-waiting is deeply suspicious of Orban and his governments ties to Russia. But unpicking eight years of populist rule wont be easy, and the enmity toward Tusk runs deep among his opponents. President Andrzej Duda, a Law & Justice ally, is likely to make things difficult as the new government tries to unwind legislation which has given politicians more sway over the judiciary, and made public media into the mouthpiece for the Law & Justice party. Born in Gdansk in 1957, Tusk worked as a teacher, journalist and renovation worker before becoming a politician. A pivotal moment came in his early 20s when the Solidarity movement grew out of the city to challenge the communist leadership and gain the worlds attention. Tusk helped found a student association to support leader Lech Walesa and the other shipyard workers. It was during that era, in the early 1980s, when Tusk first met the men who would become his political nemeses: Law and Justice leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Polands most powerful politician over the past eight years, and his twin brother and party co-founder Lech. The Kaczynski brothers were also part of the anti-communist protest movement, although they eventually fell out with Walesa after he became president in the 1990s. They were incredibly irritated that we are a bit different, Tusk reminisced in 1993. Lech Kaczynski was convinced that they are more intelligent, smarter, have better knowledge of politics, work more and are more patriotic, he said. Tusk stood against Lech Kaczynski in the 2005 presidential election and lost. But the rivalry was then turbocharged when Tusk and his Civic Platform party won power in 2007 after the Law & Justice coalition collapsed over a scandal. Notable in the campaign was Jaroslaw Kaczynskis catastrophic performance against Tusk in a television debate. Tusk became prime minister. Things got more bitter when a plane crash in 2010 killed 96 people in bad weather near the Russian city of Smolensk. Onboard were many of Polands governing elite, including Lech Kaczynski, who was president. Jaroslaw fostered a conspiracy theory that Tusk, who didnt go on the trip, was to blame. Tusk was later summoned by the Polish prosecution three times to testify in three different investigations. He called it political persecution. Meanwhile, Tusk was making his mark on European politics with the backing of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. After the Coalition of the Radical Left won power in Greece in 2015, Tusk was tasked with herding leaders at summits. He said if there was no deal with Athens, the worst-case scenario was that everyone will lose. A deal was eventually done as Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras caved in to pressure. A year later, the UK voted to leave the EU and Tusk found himself sparring with the British. There was a special place in hell for the people who sold Brexit with no plan of how to deliver it, he said in June 2019, the same month he was in Gdansk. Tusk demonstrated time and again that, while always true to his Polish origins, he was a committed European, always doing his best to find solutions in the common interest, said Martin Selmayr, former secretary-general of the European Commission. It is very good news for a strong, sovereign and geopolitically alert Europe if Donald Tusk returns as prime minister of Poland. At home, though, he was part of a culture war. The vitriol between Tusk and Kaczynski reflects the divide between more pro-EU, westward looking Poles and the conservatives backed by the Catholic Church and opposing abortion. Law & Justice portrayed Tusk, a German speaker, as a puppet of Berlin and during the campaign, Kaczynski referred to him as the personification of evil. Indeed, the decision to return to Poland after his EU term was likely driven in part by the idea of personal payback, said Aleks Szczerbiak, a professor of politics at Sussex University in the UK who writes a blog on Polish politics. I was a bit surprised he came back and did what he did, but he ran out of options internationally, said Szczerbiak. It also meant one more go at beating Kaczynski he said. Now thats done, Tusk has the challenge of forming a viable government and uniting the country after the bitterest election campaign for years. You need to be brave and have good ideas, Tusk told supporters at the event in Gdansk four years ago to mark 30 years since communism. In his case, the idea was simple: return to Poland and defeat Law & Justice. --With assistance from Michael Nienaber. (Adds comment from Selmayr in 20th paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Two people are dead and four injured after a driver crashed into other vehicles while fleeing from police, Indiana cops say. Officers with the Pendleton Police Department were pursuing the driver and chased the vehicle into the neighboring community of Anderson around noon on Oct. 15, Anderson police said in a news release. Soon after crossing into Anderson, police say the chase ended with the driver slamming into two vehicles. Two occupants were killed in one of the vehicles, while four of six were injured in the second vehicle, police said, adding that their injuries were serious. Officers arrested the driver, who suffered minor injuries from the collision, police said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Police did not say why officers were pursuing the driver. McClatchy News has reached out to the Pendleton Police Department for more information. The Madison County Prosecutors Office is determining what charges will be brought against the driver, police said. Anderson is roughly 30 miles northeast of Indianapolis. Driver speeding from cops hits SUV, killing 8-year-old and 2 others, Texas police say Mom and child carjacked and kidnapped at knifepoint in parking lot, Wisconsin cops say Boy helping brother track stolen vehicle gets shot by car thief, Texas police say Passenger killed when car full of fireworks slams into tree, catches fire, TX cops say In this handout photo released by MSF Afghanistan, injured people received treatment after a powerful earthquake in Herat province, western Afghanistan, on Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023. | MSF Afghanistan via Associated Press Two more powerful earthquakes rocked western Afghanistan Sunday, killing four and injuring more than 150. Another 6.3 and a 5.4 earthquake, as measured on the Richter Scale, struck just after 8 a.m. local time, and was centered about 20 miles northwest of Herat City. Four people have died and more than 150 were injured. Doctors Without Borders Afghanistan Program head Yahya Kalilah told the AFP news agency that casualties would likely be low because people were already sleeping outside in tents. The quake series began on Oct. 7 with a 6.3 tremor and eight powerful aftershocks, which devastated rural villages northwest of Herat City. There have been a total of four earthquakes measuring 6.3 in the last eight days. The initial quake killed at least 2,400 people and flattened entire villages made of mud-brick homes. Schools, health clinics and other village facilities also collapsed, leaving little besides piles of broken bricks and broken bodies. In many places, there are more volunteers to search for the dead and to dig mass graves than there are living residents, reports The Associated Press. Nothing left Fifty-six-year-old Zaher lost 13 members of his family during the Oct. 7 quake, including daughters, sons and multiple grandchildren, reports CNN. While being rescued from the rubble, 35-year-old Fatima discovered that all seven of her children, ages 4 months to 14 years, had been killed when their home collapsed. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Related The 6.3 quake that hit on Wednesday flattened all 700 homes in the village of Chahak, which had been spared in previous tremors. Now, there are mounds of soil where homes used to be, reports the AP. There were no reported casualties of Chahak villagers, as residents had already moved out of their homes and into tents. Those killed in the original quake, which hit around 11 a.m. local time, were mostly women and children who were at home, United Nations officials reported on Thursday. UNICEF is asking for $20 million to respond to the earthquakes. The situation is very critical, MSFs Yahya Kalilah told AFP. In terms of psychology, people are panicked and traumatized. People are not feeling safe. I will assure you 100%, no one will sleep in their house. So far, over 90% of those reported killed by the earthquake are women and children. And just this morning, another 6.3-magnitude quake shook the western provinces.@UNICEF is urgently appealing for an initial $20 million to respond to these earthquakes. https://t.co/nLPYa9hN9t UNICEF Afghanistan (@UNICEFAfg) October 11, 2023 Still searching A week after the first devastating quake, Noor Ahmad is still searching for his 5-year-old son, Sardar. New York Times bureau chief for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Christina Goldbaum, shares Ahmads poignant and devastating search for Sardar. Ahmad found his wife, his mother and his five daughters in the morgue, but could not find his son. He dug under the rubble of their home, he combed through trauma rooms and he searched every body bag in the morgue. Twice. Now, lying by a tent outside his former home, he is torn between the incomprehensible pain of losing his family and the tiny spark of hope that somewhere, somehow, his son might still be alive. I am just begging with God, he said. Its worse for those people than if they knew their relatives are dead, said Freshta Yaqoobi, managing director of the Organization for Sustainable Aid in Afghanistan, an aid group helping families affected by the quakes. If you dont know the fate of your loved ones it feels like youre dying every second; you have a wound that cant heal. Afghanistan is home to one of the worlds worst humanitarian and child rights crises. This is by far the worst earthquake it has endured in many years, Siddig Ibrahim, UNICEF Afghanistans chief of field office, told CNN in an interview on Friday. Things happening (elsewhere) in the world are not going to stop, Ibrahim added. The children of Afghanistan deserve equally as all children in the world. Holly Richardson is the editor of Utah Policy. Authoritarianism. Not a word we usually associate with the United States. Since our founding we have grounded ourselves in a system of checks and balances, transparent government and fair elections as the ultimate tool of accountability. But it is becoming increasingly clear that Republicans in the North Carolina General Assembly are putting their own thirst for power ahead of American ideals. Political thinker and author Ece Temelkuran describes seven steps that can gradually take a state from democracy to authoritarianism. This legislative session moved us six steps down that path. Weakening checks and balances This years state budget allows the General Assembly to appoint 10 new Special Superior Court judges the only non-elected judges in North Carolina. Another provision means these judges can form the panels that hear all constitutional challenges to laws passed by the legislature. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement In Senate Bill 512, the General Assembly seized power from executive branch functions. Policies on everything from transportation to environmental protection will now be determined by appointees who take marching orders from the legislature. Most of these provisions have already been found to be unconstitutional, but with the courts now in Republican control and with their new special judges, theyre trying this brazen power grab again. Politicizing independent institutions Perhaps the most threatening example of our shift towards authoritarian rule is the shift of the legislatures non-partisan Program Evaluation Division to the overtly partisan Joint Legislative Commission on Government Operations or Gov Ops, which now has jaw-dropping powers. Gov Ops partisan staff have the power for the warrantless search and seizure of all paper and electronic records of any person with even the most tenuous connection to the State. Shockingly, subjects of Gov Ops inquiries are prohibited from telling anyone even their boss or attorney under risk of fines and jail time. Legislative leaders also seized significant control of the commission that oversees judicial ethics. These appointments were previously made by the bipartisan N.C. State Bar. Now, any complaint about a biased judiciary will be sent to a biased oversight commission. Corrupting elections A new law limits absentee voting and empowers partisan poll observers to watch, photograph and potentially interfere with the voting process. A second law overhauls state and local elections boards by taking appointments from the governor and giving them to the legislature. Voters rejected a similar partisan power grab by a 61% majority in 2018. Spreading Disinformation For decades public records in North Carolina have been the property of the people. Now, no legislative records will be public unless legislators voluntarily decide to release them. The new law also gives legislators authority to destroy or sell their records. Sell? Is there a more effective way to enable misinformation than allowing a politician to sell records to anyone willing to cover up misdeeds? Quashing criticism and dissent A new anti-rioting law makes it easier to prosecute protesters. During debate every Republican example cited Black Lives Matter protests as driving the need for this law, while never once addressing examples of white nationalists openly carrying assault weapons in our streets. Marginalizing vulnerable communities Rather than protecting vulnerable people, this legislative session has been characterized by vitriol and hate. The onslaught against LGBTQ+ families has shocked us to our core. We now have children throughout the state completely bereft of the support and healthcare they need to thrive. And, lets not forget the horror this legislative majority inflicted on women with its 12-week abortion ban. North Carolina remains highly politically divided. But what unites most of us is the American ideal of a government that is transparent and democratic, that guarantees our freedom and puts guardrails on the accumulation of power. Authoritarianism slowly silences voices. We must speak up before darkness descends. Senator Graig Meyer represents Orange, Person and Caswell Counties. Sen. Julie Mayfield represents Buncombe County. A gunman suspected of killing two Swedish nationals in a terrorist attack in Brussels has died after being shot by police, bringing an end to an overnight manhunt. The Belgian federal prosecutors office confirmed Tuesday that the suspect, whose identity is yet to be confirmed, has been killed. Public broadcaster RTBF reported earlier that the suspect was killed during a police operation Tuesday morning in the Cage aux Ours district in the Brussels municipality of Schaerbeek, northeast of of the capital. He was carrying a weapon, RTBF reported. CNN has reached out to the offices of Belgiums Prime Minister, Interior Minister and Federal Prosecutor for more information. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The suspected gunmans deadly attack Monday night came as Belgium hosted Sweden in a Euro 2024 qualifier soccer game at the King Baudouin Stadium 3 miles (5 kilometers) from downtown Brussels, forcing the match to be abandoned at half-time. The stadium was later evacuated and fans were told to return home immediately, according to the National Crisis Center. Swedish supporters react as they wait in the stand during the Euro 2024 qualifying match. - John Thys/AFP/Getty Images In a video posted on social media, a man identifying himself as the gunman claimed to be inspired by the Islamic State, a spokesperson for Belgiums federal prosecutors office said, adding the Swedish nationality of the victims was mentioned as a probable motivation for the act. At this stage, there are no indications of a potential link with the Israeli-Palestinian situation. On the basis of both the facts and the claim, security measures have been taken as a matter of urgency to protect Swedish fans as much as possible, spokesperson Eric Van Duyse said during a news conference. The deadly shooting follows a spate of Quran-burning protests in Sweden and Denmark that has caused angry demonstrations in Muslim-majority countries, heightened security fears and left both Scandinavian nations questioning whether they need to review their liberal laws on freedom of speech. A witness to the attack told Reuters that he heard a first gun shot, saw a couple running away and saw a white car accelerate past. Thats when I saw the assailant enter the building, who shot twice towards the man, he said. The man fell to the ground. I saw him fall because I was just nearby, I could see everything that was happening inside. I stayed there. I was frozen, I couldnt move. Im still shivering because of what happened. And then the man came back and shot another bullet, and he came out. Belgian authorities condemned the attack. Horrified by the terrorist attack that claimed two victims in the heart of Brussels, Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. All necessary means must be mobilized to combat radicalism. Our thoughts go out to the victims, their families, and our police forces. Following the attack, the terror threat level for Brussels was raised to 4, the highest level, while the French Interior Ministry told CNN it has strengthened checks at the Franco-Belgian border. Police were on the streets of Brussels to ensure safety, the citys mayor Philippe Close posted on X. Belgian police officers from the forensic service search for evidence in a street. - Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP/Getty Images In a post Tuesday on X, Belgiums Prime Minister Alexander De Croo offered his deepest condolences to the relatives of this cowardly attack. After the suspected gunman was killed, the Belgian prime minister said on X that our priority goes to the families of the victims to make sure they get the appropriate support. We are now making sure the Swedish soccer fans can travel back home safely, he added. Swedens Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson expressed his appreciation for the international solidarity for Sweden in a post on X on Tuesday. He added: While we mourn the victims, my government is working closely with relevant agencies and international partners. Together we stand united against terrorism. The countrys Crisis Center also posted to X asking people not to share images or videos of the incident out of respect for the victims. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Nearly two weeks after the death of a 5-year-old homeless child in Topeka, Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly says she plans to reintroduce legislation next year that would allow the states child welfare agency to share information in a more timely manner. Zoey Felix died on Oct. 2, and the next day Topeka officials arrested Mickel Cherry, 25, for the girls alleged rape and murder. In the days following Felixs death, the Topeka Police and neighbors told the Topeka Capital Journal they had filed reports with the Kansas Department of Children and Families expressing concern prior to Felixs death. According to The Associated Press, court records showed Felix had an increasingly unstable life and numerous police reports were made at her mothers home. The AP reported that over the summer Felix, her father and Cherry, a family acquaintance later charged with Felixs murder, moved back into that home. The AP reported that the home was briefly condemned after police were told Felix was left home alone with a strange man and no water or electricity. In September, Felixs mother told Felix, her father, her sister and Cherry to leave the house, neighbors told the AP. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement DCF has not said whether they received the reports from local police or neighbors, or how they acted. On Monday a spokesman for the agency said there were no updates in the case. Secretary Laura Howard told lawmakers earlier this month she is legally barred from releasing information about reports or how the agency responded until after the agency completes an investigation into whether Felixs death was the result of abuse or neglect. Its unclear how long that investigation will take. Speaking to reporters at an unrelated event Monday, Kelly said her administration would once again push for legislation that would allow DCF to release information earlier. Lawmakers considered the policy last year, but it died after the Kansas House did not vote on it before the end of the Legislative session. Its important. I understand peoples frustration, Kelly said. They will be able to share information just not in a timely manner. Thats the problem. At this point they have to wait for a bunch of hoops to be jumped through before they can give out the information. The bill would allow them to give it out much more quickly. U.S. President Biden speaks about the airline industry at the White House in Washington, U.S. MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg met on Monday with his Mexican counterpart to discuss a number of sticking points regarding Mexico's aviation industry. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has increasingly exerted control over the industry and handed over civilian aviation duties to the armed forces, causing frictions between the two countries. Buttigieg and Mexican Transportation Minister Jorge Nuno discussed Mexico's plan to maintain a recently recovered U.S. air safety rating, given back to Mexico in September after it spent more than two years on a lower rating, Mexico's transportation ministry said. Aviation analysts have said that several issues, including a legal challenge of a major overhaul to Mexico's aviation law, could put the recovery at risk. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The two also discussed Mexico's move of cargo flights out of the Mexico City International Airport (AICM) to the military-run Felipe Angeles International Airport (AIFA), which opened last year and sits farther away from the capital. The U.S. government had previously expressed concern over the move - appearing to pause a tie-up between U.S. carrier Allegiant and Mexico's VivaAerobus as a consequence - and meeting with cargo carriers to hear their worries. Buttigieg and Nuno also talked about strategies to reduce flight saturation at the AICM, the busiest in the country, the ministry said. Lopez Obrador has exhorted commercial airlines to move flights from the AICM to the AIFA. Government-mandated flights cuts at the AICM are set to take effect in January, slashing slots from 52 per hour to 43 per hour despite outcry from airlines. (Reporting by Kylie Madry; Editing by Sarah Morland) The Biden administration is preparing to ease sanctions on Venezuela in the coming days if the government of Nicolas Maduro signs an agreement with opposition leaders committing to a framework for free and fair elections, U.S. sources familiar with the matter told McClatchy and the Miami Herald. An announcement of U.S. sanctions relief could come shortly after Maduro signs a deal with Venezuelas unitary platform, an alliance of opposition parties that have called for free elections for the past eight years. The agreement could come as early as Tuesday, before Venezuelas opposition is set to hold primary elections. Some of Maduros most trusted lieutenants, including the Rodriguez siblings, Delcy and Jorge, began quiet negotiations on the framework in Qatar earlier this year with Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Juan Gonzalez, and have held a series of subsequent meetings in recent months. Bidens team has insisted that international monitors observe the elections and that Maduro lift a prohibition he imposed on key opposition figures from running, including Maria Corina Machado, a former member of the National Assembly of Venezuela. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The United States is insisting that Maduro put ink to paper, in front of cameras, committing to democratic elections, before it announces any sanctions relief on the countrys oil sector. Should Maduro fail to uphold his end of the deal with the opposition, the Biden administration would reimpose sanctions, an official said. In a sign that the process is moving forward, the Norwegian embassy in Mexico said on Monday that the often off-again, on-again meetings between the regime and the Venezuelan opposition will restart on Tuesday. The government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the unitary platform of Venezuela (The opposition) have decided to resume the dialogue and negotiation process facilitated by Norway with the objective of reaching a political agreement, in accordance with the provisions of the Memorandum of Understanding signed in the City of Mexico on August 13, 2021, the embassy said through its account on X, former known as Twitter. Meetings will begin on October 17, 2023 in Bridgetown, Barbados. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 16) The House of Representatives said its website was "fully restored and operational" on Monday after it was defaced in a hacking, with the chamber considering outsourcing its cybersecurity operations moving forward. In a statement, House Secretary General Reginald Velasco said the chamber took "comprehensive measures" to boost website security. "The investigation into the unauthorized access is ongoing, and we are collaborating closely with relevant law enforcement agencies," Velasco said. "Our aim is to identify and prosecute those responsible for this breach to the fullest extent of the law." Speaking to reporters, Velasco said the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) identified a number of cybersecurity vulnerabilities in its investigation of the hacking. He said a third-party service provider might be in a better position to address the threats compared to the chambers small pool of experts. "Ito kasi parang tingin namin parang testing lang, eh, testing our vulnerability," the House secretary general said. "So ang sinabi namin doon sa IT group namin, prepare for the worst-case scenario na yun, iha-hack talaga yung buong system namin. [Translation: We think the incident was only testing our vulnerability. We told our IT group to prepare for the worst-case scenario, which is the whole system will be hacked.] "Not just hacking but immobilize, just like what theyve done to other agencies in the US," he added. Velasco said the DICT and National Bureau of Investigation have yet to determine the identity of the hackers, though theyre believed to be based locally. In a message, DICT Assistant Secretary Aboy Paraiso explained that the agency is looking at the style and language used in the cyber incident to pursue leads of possible local threat actors. The portal was attacked on Sunday morning as anonymous user "3musketeerz" defaced the homepage with a troll face meme and altered press releases and committee schedules. The House hacking followed cyber attacks on the Philippine Health Corp., Philippine Statistics Authority and Department of Science and Technology. CNN Philippines correspondent Xianne Arcangel contributed to this report. President Joe Biden speaks an event in Largo, Md., Sept. 14, 2023. Biden responded to the death of a 6-year-old Palestinian-American in a statement on Sunday. | Alex Brandon, Associated Press A Chicago landlord was charged with murder and two counts of a hate crime in a targeted attack against a Palestinian American family, authorities stated Sunday. Joseph M. Czuba, 71, was arrested Saturday after his tenant, a 32-year-old woman, called 911, saying her landlord had attacked her and her 6-year-old son. When police arrived, the woman and her son had both suffered multiple stab wounds. The 6-year-old was taken to the hospital in critical condition and later died from injuries, the Will County Sheriffs Office stated in a press release. Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis, the press release reads. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement According to written text messages from the mother and shared with the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, the landlord attacked the two while yelling, You Muslims must die! CAIR also identified the victims as Hanaan Shahin, and her son, Wadea Al-Fayoume. Chicago landlord charged with hate crime The Justice Department has opened a federal hate crimes investigation into the incident, Attorney General Merrick Garland stated. According to the Will County Sheriffs Office, Joseph Czuba was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, hate crime (two counts), and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Politicians react to the anti-Muslim attack President Joe Biden released a statement Sunday night in response to the attack. Jill and I were sickened to learn of the brutal murder of a child and the attempted murder of the childs mother yesterday in Illinois. Our condolences and prayers are with the family, he wrote. This act of hate against a Palestinian Muslim family has no place in America. Jill and I were sickened to learn of the brutal murder of a child and the attempted murder of the childs mother yesterday in Illinois. Our condolences and prayers are with the family. This act of hate against a Palestinian Muslim family has no place in America. President Biden (@POTUS) October 16, 2023 Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., also responded to the stabbing, calling the attack unspeakable. I pray that love can prevail in these times of so much hate, she wrote. A 6-year old boy stabbed 26 times, just for being Muslim, according to detectives. This is unspeakable. I pray that love can prevail in these times of so much hate. https://t.co/fkaHZzM0fN pic.twitter.com/CKKIS8nVd6 Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) October 15, 2023 Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., called the alleged murder horrific, stating that this is what happens when people dehumanize others, calling calling Palestinians animals and for extermination of those in Gaza. We must reject this unequivocally, she stated. The horrific murder of a Muslim child stabbed to death & attempted murder of his mother in Chicago is what happens when people dehumanize others, calling Palestinians "animals" and for "extermination" of those in Gaza. We must reject this unequivocally. https://t.co/o7JEhfRBMv Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) October 16, 2023 Washington The Biden administration has agreed to offer migrant families separated under the Trump administration social and legal benefits while limiting the government's ability to carry out a similar policy in the future as part of an effort to settle a years-old court case. The administration and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a joint plan on Monday to settle a class-action lawsuit over the Trump-era separation practice, under which roughly 4,000 migrant children were forcibly separated from their parents near the U.S.-Mexico border. The settlement, which would last for six years, is expected to be approved by U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw, who outlawed the separations in 2018. "The separation of families at our southern border was a betrayal of our nation's values," Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said. "By providing services to these families and implementing policies to prevent future separations, today's agreement addresses the impacts of those separations and helps ensure that nothing like this happens again." The proposed settlement ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement If approved, the 46-page settlement agreement would provide separated families a special process to request U.S. asylum and significantly narrow the reasons for government-sanctioned family separations, preventing officials from using the legal argument the Trump administration cited to justify its separation policy. U.S. border officials would no longer be allowed to use parents' illegal entry into the country as a basis to separate them from their children. Separations of migrant families would be limited to rare cases, such as those involving abusive parents or those with serious criminal records. "The fact that someone enters the United States unlawfully is not a basis for future separation," a senior Justice Department official said in a briefing with reporters Monday. "It's only if somebody has committed a serious felony offense that future separations will be permitted." Under the special asylum process envisioned by the settlement, migrant families who were separated under former President Donald Trump would be able to apply for asylum before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, instead of having to plead their cases in a courtroom before an adversarial Justice Department immigration judge. USCIS employees would also be instructed to consider the trauma the families suffered as a result of the separations while reviewing their asylum cases. Asylum applicants who successfully prove they fled persecution in their home country based on certain factors such as their politics or religion, can be granted permanent legal status in the U.S. Families covered under the agreement would have access to government-funded housing benefits, legal counsel and medical and mental health services. The proposed settlement, however, does not include monetary compensation, which some separated families have been seeking in federal courts across the country. While the Biden administration initially considered offering families reparations, the proposal was scrapped after strong Republican opposition. The administration has since argued in federal courts that these families do not qualify for compensation. Lee Gelernt, the ACLU lawyer representing separated migrant families in the class-action suit, said the agreement with the government would give his clients "a meaningful opportunity to seek lawful status." It would also, he said, prohibit "a future administration from reenacting another zero tolerance separation policy." "Nothing can make these families whole again or eliminate the moral stain of this policy, but this is an important start," Gelernt added. Unwinding a policy, 5 years later Faced with bipartisan uproar, Trump ended the practice of systematically separating migrant families in June 2018, more than 5 years ago. But the policy, in many ways, is still being unwound. The question of whether families affected by the policy deserve financial restitution, which has garnered controversy, is still being weighed by federal courts across the U.S. as families pursue individual lawsuits. The ACLU, other advocacy groups and the Biden administration are also trying to track down some of the hundreds of parents who were deported from the U.S. after being separated from their children. As part of the proposed settlement, the Biden administration agreed to continue its efforts to locate and reunite families who were separated by U.S. border officials. An interagency task force created by President Biden soon after he took office in early 2021 has reunited around 750 families, allowing parents who were deported without their children to return to the U.S. The government has agreed to continue offering these parents three-year work permits and deportation protections under the humanitarian parole authority. The ACLU estimates that between 500 and 1,000 migrant children split from their parents during the Trump administration still remain separated from their families. Despite years of calls and on-the-ground searches in Central America, the organization has struggled to contact all those affected by the Trump policy, including because of shoddy record-keeping by the government at the time. President Joe Biden: The 2023 60 Minutes Interview Mother of French-Israeli hostage appeals for Hamas to return their daughter Reports: Hospital struck by rocket in Gaza, at least 500 killed By Joseph White DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors and Ford have laid out ambitious plans to spend billions developing new electric vehicles while returning capital to investors, all funded by robust profits from combustion trucks and SUVs. The mounting costs of the United Auto Workers strikes, and the eventual rich contract settlements, are putting those plans at risk, analysts said. "Reduction in capital spending, delayed EV targets, greater sharing of costs, and other changes to the corporate 'portfolio' could be on the horizon," Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas told clients in an Oct. 12 note. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement GM will report third-quarter results Oct. 24, with Ford following on Oct. 26. GM has already telegraphed a $200 million hit to third quarter profits from strike-related costs. The strikes have costing GM and Ford more than $500 million, JP Morgan analyst Ryan Brinkman estimated in a note Monday. Ford is now losing $44 million a day, while GM is losing $21 million a day, Brinkman estimated. Ford was hit hard Oct. 11 when UAW President Shawn Fain ordered a walkout from Ford's Kentucky Truck assembly plant, its most profitable single operation globally. Kentucky Truck generates $25 billion in revenue per year - or $48,000 per minute, as Fain put it in a video address Friday. After a senior Ford executive said the automaker had reached the limit of what it could spend on a new union contract, Fain replied: "Go get the big checkbook. The one Ford uses when it wants to spend millions on company executives or Wall Street giveaways." Ford spent $3.8 billion on dividends through the first half of this year, according to its most recent financial report. The company told investors in May it planned to distribute 40% to 50% of free cash flow to investors each year via dividends and share buybacks. Fain points to a 1,500% increase in the money spent on share buybacks by the Detroit Three over the past four years to argue the automakers can afford substantial UAW wage increases. In August 2022, GM's board increased funding for share buybacks to $5 billion from $3.3 billion previously. The company reported spending $869 million to buy back shares during the first six months of 2023, and paid out $250 million in stock dividends during that time. GM and Ford have both already scaled back planned investments in EV and battery plants. In July, GM trimmed its planned spending this year on electric vehicles and battery plants to between $11 billion and $12 billion. Previously, the company had said it could spend up to $13 billion this year on EV and battery plant development. The company also raised its cost-cutting target through next year by $1 billion. Ford earlier this month hit the brakes on a planned $3.5 billion battery plant in Marshall, Mich. Farley warned more cuts to Ford's future product investments could come if there is a "bad deal" with the UAW. GM and Ford shares have fallen sharply since July as the standoff with the UAW has intensified. GM shares traded near a 52-week low on Friday. Still, some investors are optimistic that dividends and share buybacks can continue. "At least in the short term, I don't think we have significant concern around the dividend being suspended or share buybacks being limited," said Tim Piechowski, portfolio manager with ACR Alpine Capital Research, which owns GM shares. Investments in electric vehicles should continue, he added, saying that his bigger concern was if the companies had to draw down cash if there is a full work stoppage. GM has set up a new, $6 billion credit line as insurance against an expanded UAW strike. (Reporting By Joe White; editing by David Evans) A UK court on Monday began hearing a lawsuit brought by Donald Trump over a salacious dossier compiled by a former British MI6 agent that contained unproven allegations against the US ex-president. Trump, 77, is suing Christopher Steele and the company he founded, over the report which sparked a political firestorm when it was published just before his inauguration in January 2017. The so-called Steele dossier contained unverified and controversial information about Trump and Russia that the former Republican leader has repeatedly denied. It included allegations that Trump had been "compromised" by the Russian security service, FSB, and that Moscow had damning videotapes of Trump's sexual misbehaviour during a 2013 trip to the Russian capital. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement It also claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin "supported and directed" an operation to "cultivate" Trump as a presidential candidate for "at least five years". Trump denounced the dossier, which was leaked to Buzzfeed, as "fake". The New York Times has determined there was no corroborating evidence to support many of its claims. Trump, currently the frontrunner to secure the Republican nomination for next year's White House race, filed a data protection claim against Steele and his Orbis Business Intelligence in Britain's high court in November last year. It seeks unspecified compensation for "serious distress and reputational damage". Monday's hearing is the first of two days of preliminary hearings in which Orbis will argue that the case be dismissed. The dossier, produced before Trump's 2016 election win against Hillary Clinton, was commissioned by Democratic Party consultants. Trump sued Clinton, Democratic Party leaders and Steele over the dossier in March last year. In November, 2021, Igor Danchenko, a consultant and former researcher in Russian affairs at the Brookings Institution who was a key source for the dossier, was charged for lying to FBI investigators about his sources for the report. Steele, 59, previously ran the Russia desk of the UK's Secret Intelligence Service known as MI6. pdh/jwp/ach Russia's purported private military company Redut is actively recruiting mercenaries under the guise of "volunteers," including former Wagner militants, the U.K. Defense Ministry reported on Oct. 16. The process is likely supervised and financed by the Russian military intelligence agency (GRU), the ministry wrote in its latest intelligence update. Russian President Vladimir Putin has recently instructed Andrei Troshev, the former chief of staff of the mercenary Wagner Group, to form "volunteer units" for the war in Ukraine. According to Putin's spokesperson, Troshev currently works in the Russian Defense Ministry. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The practice of recruiting mercenaries through so-called volunteer units has possibly "contributed to Russia avoiding further unpopular mobilizations," reads the intelligence update. Redut is one of a number of mercenary groups and Volunteer Corps units the Russian Defense Ministry has used to strengthen its regular forces, the U.K. Defense Ministry explained. Likely consisting of over 7,000 personnel, Redut has participated in combat operations in Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Luhansk oblasts since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. According to a Sept. 29 U.K. Defense Ministry report, up to hundreds of former Wagner fighters have returned to Ukraine's front lines, likely transferring to parts of the official Russian Defense Ministry forces and other mercenary groups. The development followed the death of former Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, who launched a short-lived rebellion against the Kremlin in July. Wagner forces were a crucial component in the Russian invasion forces. They were primarily responsible for capturing the city of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast in May after a protracted siege. Read also: Prigozhins death latest in a series of unsolved murders in Putins Russia. Whats next? Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Russia has agreed to send the first four deported Ukrainian children back to Ukraine within the framework of the procedure upon mediation of Qatar. The scheme was approved after "months of secret negotiations" with Moscow and Kyiv. Source: Reuters with reference to Qatari official; The Washington Post with reference to an official; Financial Times Details: A source of Reuters says three Ukrainian children deported to Russia will be handed over to the Qatari diplomats in Moscow this week within the framework of the procedure organised by Qatar for bringing the children back from Russia to Ukraine. On Friday, according to the information of the agency's source, Qatar facilitated the return of another Ukrainian child, aged 7, who was reunited with his grandmother and is en route to Ukraine via Estonia. The boy was in an orphanage in Russia "as a result of separation with his mother who was in Russia when the war started", as the agencys source reports. The WP states that his mother was arrested in Russia and remains in custody. There is no information as to when and why she was detained. 7-year-old boy with grandmother and Lvova-Belova ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Photo: Reuters The other three children are a boy aged 2, a 9-year-old boy, and a girl aged 17. The Washington Post reports that two children have returned. Two more are expected to reunite with their families in the next few days. The photos of the Qatari information agency that The Washington Post studied show a little boy with a "blurred" face sitting between his grandmother and Russia's Commissioner for Children's Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova. In other photos, he is shaking hands with a Qatari diplomat and hugging him. The WP reports that a 2-year old boy who will return to Zhytomyr Oblast in Ukraine was in the hospital. He was only six months when Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, and he "lost contact with his mother". They later reunited in Russia and, as expected, will go to Ukraine this week. The details concerning how and when the child was "put into Russian care" are unknown. The Russian forces occupied some parts of Zhytomyr Oblast in the first weeks of the war until they were forced to retreat. A 9-year old boy is also part of the group. He was with his grandparents in the southern part of Kherson Oblast when Russia invaded and occupied this territory. The boy is expected to come back to Ukraine on Wednesday. A 17-year old girl whose family was unable to come to Russia to pick her up will also reunite with her loved ones on Wednesday. Financial Times specifies that one child has already returned to Ukraine through the Baltic countries and Poland, another one is heading through Qatar with their mother, and two more are expected to arrive in Ukraine through Qatar at the end of this week. The WP states that the negotiations lasted for several months and were initiated by the Ukrainian government. It also reports that the Ukrainian children have passed the Qatar embassy in Moscow and went home by different routes. Some of them went from Russia to Ukraine through Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. Others were going through Belarus. According to an embassy representative, several vehicles are used for the trip, including a diplomatic convoy, a train and a private charter plane heading through Qatar. A Qatari official cited by Reuters said the return of these first four children tests a system the Gulf Arab state established after months of secret talks with Moscow and Kyiv. Qatar's minister of state for international cooperation, Lolwah Al Khater, confirmed the mediation in a statement and described this week's repatriations as "only a first step". It is not clear how many more children Russia will authorise to return to Ukraine via the Qatari mechanism after the first four, the official said. Qatari diplomats will accompany the children over the border with Estonia, Latvia or Belarus or to Qatar by a chartered jet before returning them to Ukraine, the official said. "Both Ukrainian and Russian officials have been cooperative," the Qatari official said, adding that Ukraine approached the Gulf Arab state to mediate with Russia over the children. Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron! Ukrainian authorities brought charges against 20 present or former officers of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) for aiding Viktor Yanukovych's security services in suppressing the EuroMaidan Revolution, the State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) reported on Oct. 16. The suspects include Viktor Zolotov, the former head of the Security Service of the President of the Russian Federation and the current commander of the Russian National Guard. Three former senior officials of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) were also charged. According to the investigation, the Russian officers were present in Kyiv between Dec. 13-15, 2013. They reportedly assisted the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), then loyal to pro-Russian President Yanukovych, in creating videos and other materials aimed at discrediting pro-EU protesters. Following the Russian officers' departure, the SBU's leadership signed documents claiming they had been invited to Ukraine as representatives of the special services to the Commission on Information Security under the Council of Heads of Security and Special Services of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Read also: Viktor Yanukovych: Ukraines scandal-ridden ex-president The investigation concluded that the activity of the SBU's former leadership and the FSB officers harmed the information security of Ukraine. It has also proven the influence of Russian special services on the former SBU leadership and FSB's role in subversive activities against Ukraine, DBR emphasized. The EuroMaidan Revolution began in November 2013, when Yanukovych refused to sign the long-awaited Association Agreement with the European Union, shortly thereafter receiving a loan from the Kremlin. The government moved against the revolution in a violent crackdown, which resulted in over 100 protesters killed. The protests culminated in February 2014 with Yanukovych and other high-ranking officials fleeing to Russia and being replaced by a pro-Western interim government. Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office said on Oct. 4 that the investigation into the killings of EuroMaidan protesters had been completed. The pro-Russian ex-president and several senior officials have been formally charged with a range of crimes, including murder. Read also: EuroMaidan Revolution Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Ukrzaliznytsia (Ukrainian Railways) launched a direct train route between Lviv and Warsaw on Oct. 15, the state-owned railway company announced. This marks the first time in 18 years that the Lviv-Warsaw route has been in operation. A trip from Lviv to Warsaw takes about nine hours and the route is expected to operate daily carrying 500 passengers, according to Polish media. Around 2 million Ukrainians live and work in Poland, including refugees who crossed the border following Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. Passengers will have to transfer train carriages in Rava-Ruska, a Ukrainian town around 10 kilometers from the Polish border, because of differences in track gauges. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The new direct service is a joint effort between Ukrainian Railways, Ukraines government-owned rail operator, and Polands SKPL transport company. It took us more than six months to implement this project, in particular, to agree all the details with the Polish side and to open the checkpoint. From now on, 10 more localities in Ukraine will be connected by rail to Warsaw and Lublin, said Yevhen Lashchenko, chairman of Ukrainian Railways board of directors. The project's launch comes on the same day as Poland's parliamentary elections. Exit polls show that Warsaw's opposition bloc is set to take power, signaling renewed Polish support for Ukraine. Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. (Bloomberg) -- Ukraines special forces targeted the Krasnaya Yaruga electrical power station in Russias Belgorod region with drones, Interfax reported, citing the SBU. The substation is used to power Russian military facilities. Theres been no comment from Russian authorities. Most Read from Bloomberg President Vladimir Putin, whos expected to travel to China early this week, said Russian forces have recently improved their positions across the front lines in Ukraines east and northeast, including around Zaporizhzhia, Avdiivka, and Kupyansk. Putin said in a state TV interview that Kremlin troops are employing a tactic he called active defense, and are aware that Ukraine is preparing fresh attacks. Kyivs months-long counteroffensive aimed at pushing back Russian forces has failed completely, Putin added. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraines ground forces, said Saturday that Kremlin forces have intensified their operations in the Kupyansk-Lyman area but that Kyivs troops were prepared and are defending. Ukraine repelled 15 attacks around Avdiivka, Tonenke and Pervomaiske in the Donetsk region in the past day. Latest Coverage US, EU Will Use Summit to Align Strategies on Russia, China The Trading Tycoon Steering Russias Global Oil Business North Korea Delivered Arms to Russia for Use in Ukraine, US Says US Sanctions Over Russian Oil Cap Spook Tanker Markets Switzerland Refuses to Take Sides in Ever More Divided World Coming Up President Vladimir Putin is expected to travel to Beijing early this week Correction: A previous web headline contained an error in the date of publication. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. (CNN) Zaher walks calmly across what used to be his village, now reduced to piles of rubble. Standing on top of a mound of sand, he locates his home or rather, what little is left of it. We used to live here and now you can see what state it has reached, he said, his voice shaking. Obviously our current situation is visible. He reveals that the deadly earthquake which struck Afghanistan on October 7 had taken more than his family home away from him. Thirteen people in my family died, he said. Boys, girls, young and old, including three daughters of mine, two sons, my two granddaughters and two grandsons as well as a grandchild who was visiting, and my niece and her daughter and son. You are witnessing our situation we are left with nothing. These ruins used to be our lives, our carpets, food and everything. I now stand on stones and hard ground, where I also sleep. There are no words, he adds. The situation speaks for itself. One of Afghanistans deadliest earthquakes It has now been more than a week since Afghanistan was hit by a powerful 6.3 magnitude earthquake on October 7, which devastated its western Herat province and Herat city, its third largest. It is one of the deadliest quakes to hit Afghanistan in years. Regular aftershocks have continued over the last week, renewing fears for survivors that already damaged homes could collapse at any minute. On Sunday morning another powerful quake struck, once again measuring 6.3 magnitude, the epicentre northwest of Herat, according to readings recorded by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC). The new quake hit at a depth of 6.2 miles (10 kilometeres), EMSC added, a relatively shallow tremor that could increase its destructive power. With the region already reeling from recent seismic activity, global aid groups and rescue teams say that the country is now facing an escalating humanitarian crisis, following on top of war and a collapsed economy. Even more troubling, they add, will be the human recovery. Entire villages like Zahers have been destroyed and reduced to debris, but there is inadequate funding to help and little global awareness. The situation in Afghanistan was already extremely dire, said Mawlawi Mutiul Haq Khales of the Afghan Red Crescent Society. People were just starting to recover when another series of massive earthquakes hits us, all within less than a week. On top of that, winter is coming and theres an urgent need for shelter, food and healthcare. Early observations underscore the full extent of the damage, yet to be realized. (Our) efforts in this catastrophic situation cannot be overstated. Taliban government officials estimate that more than 2,000 people across Herat province have been killed and more than 90% were women and children, according to UN agencies and officials on the ground. US Charity Too Young To Wed, part of the humanitarian relief effort on the ground, says there is a clear reason for this staggering statistic. Its because women and girls are forced to stay at home under Taliban rule, denied their basic rights, banned from education, work and being part of society. They have been systematically stripped of their rights over the last 2 years. So instead of being at school and at work on a Saturday, they were home, confined to their homes, imprisoned in their homes. Its a country where half the population is under house arrest, founder Stephanie Sinclair, told CNN. International aid agencies have said their efforts had been hampered by the Talibans takeover and described serious challenges in being able to respond to emergency calls. Teams on the ground have also highlighted difficulties in reaching survivors trapped in remote villages. We are powerless displaced and homeless, said Zaher. I have not received any help until now except for (a) water bottle. How can we survive sitting and sleeping on these stones and hard ground? We need the help of the government and the international community this is our only message, as you can see, we are left with nothing. Those who survived are badly injured and shaken, officials say. Many are reeling from serious trauma. One survivor, a 35-year-old woman named Fatima from the Zindeh Jan district in Herat province was rescued from beneath debris and is now recovering in hospital. Her seven children were killed in the earthquake. So traumatized was Fatima that she could not speak about her children without having a panic attack, according to doctors. I got trapped under debris twice the first time I was rescued by family members. The second time was when I returned home to save my children and the house collapsed on me again, she said. I lost consciousness. I dont remember anything after that. I have experienced a great deal of pain and sorrow weve lost everything in our life, nothing remains. From the same district is a 32-year-old mother of three daughters named Rana. Her 6-year-old girl died. Her surviving daughters, aged 8 and 10, suffered serious head injuries after a roof collapsed on them. The family is now in desperate need of shelter and has nowhere to go. I was sitting at home when the earthquake struck and I dragged my children out of the house, Rana said. (One of my) children has lost her eyesight. (Another) daughter is also injured in her leg, she added. Please, let someone help with a piece of land or some place for us to stay. Do not look away from Afghanistan, UN says International aid agencies are reiterating calls for countries not to forget about the situation in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is home to one of the worlds worst humanitarian and child rights crises. This is by far the worst earthquake it has endured in many years, Siddig Ibrahim, UNICEF Afghanistans Chief of Field Office, told CNN in an interview on Friday. Things happening (elsewhere) in the world are not going to stop, Ibrahim added. The children of Afghanistan deserve equally as all children in the world. As helicopters flew overhead in the skies, heading to other villages, Shah Bibis children remained buried in the ground. I was sewing at home and my children were sleeping, recalled the 32-year-old mother. The ground started to shake and I jumped into the air. It fell. Before I lost consciousness, I shouted so that someone could find my children and take them out. Eventually other villagers came but many were killed because it was too far away. Two of Shah Bibis daughters along with her two nephews were killed on October 7. We have nowhere to go. Our place of living was there, she said in between tears. I dont know what our future will be but we have lost everything in our lives. This story was first published on CNN.com, We are left with nothing: Survivors of Afghanistan earthquake tell of trauma and heartbreak" (Bloomberg) -- US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urged European finance chiefs to move ahead with plans for 50 billion ($52.7 billion) in fresh aid to Ukraine while pledging the White House, and a majority in Congress, will fight to provide new US assistance. Most Read from Bloomberg The Biden administrations top envoy for Ukraine recovery arrived in Kyiv to underscore the USs continued commitment. Former Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker met with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and other top officials, as well as representatives from the private sector and the American Chamber of Commerce. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Ukraine is bringing back four children who were illegally taken by Russia, according to Andriy Yermak, Zelenskiys chief of staff. Qatar intervened as a mediator to secure their return, the Washington Post reported, citing a government official briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive diplomatic negotiations. Latest Coverage Yellen Tells Europe Officials Biden Will Fight for Ukraine Aid US Envoy for Ukraine Recovery Visits Kyiv on Reassurance Mission Polands Back Just as Europe Needs Leaders: Balance of Power Xis $1 Trillion Project of the Century Faces Uncertain Future Coming Up Russian President Vladimir Putin visits China Oct. 17-18, where he will meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. according to the Kremlin Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Its now been 600 days since Moscow launched its all-out invasion of Ukraine and one of Kyivs top commanders has declared that one of Russias biggest offensives in months is failing. With claims that the Russian offensive aimed at the town of Avdiivka, north of the city of Donetsk, is stalling, the fact remains that Ukraines own counteroffensive is also in difficulty , a reality that the same commander accepted. Speaking to the U.K.s Guardian newspaper , Col. Dmytro Lysyuk, who heads up the 128th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, said he was convinced that the Russian Army would not now achieve the breakthrough it was looking for in Avdiivka. A Ukrainian soldier with an SPG grenade launcher in the direction of Avdiivka as the war between Russia and Ukraine continues at the frontline Donbas in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. Photo by Ercin Erturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Four days ago, we reported that, while heavy fighting continues there, there were indications that Russia had already sustained significant losses while, at the same time, making only limited progress. The Russian offensive at Avdiivka has involved thousands of soldiers supported by heavy armor, artillery, and attack helicopters. The aim of the operation appeared to be the encirclement of a pocket of Ukrainian troops. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement https://www.twitter.com/TheStudyofWar/status/1713947915436150959?s=20 Were Russia to take the territory in and around Avdiivka, they would be able to link up with Russian-held territory surrounding the city, on the eastern Donbas front. Reports suggest that Russia committed at least three Russian battalions, each with around 2,000-3,000 troops when they launched an assault on Avdiivka early last week. Accounts from there, supported by videos, apparently indicate that Russia has lost large numbers of tanks, artillery, and personnel in the assault, although these claims cannot be confirmed. According to the Guardian article, at least 36 Russian tanks and other armored vehicles were destroyed in the first 24 hours. The Kyiv Post now reports that Russia has lost 102 tanks and 183 armored vehicles, with 2,840 troops killed. https://www.twitter.com/Tendar/status/1713957896822698057?s=20 Col. Lysyuk noted that Russia had sent a long column of fighting vehicles into battle, ending in failure. Some of the videos that have emerged from Avdiivka also appear to show tactics of this kind, including one in which the lead tank falls off a pontoon bridge and ends up in a river . The Russians should have realized this a long time ago, said Lysyuk, in reference to those tactics. They have not managed to achieve even tactical success. https://www.twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1712830457383956989?s=20 Today, the Ukrainian General Staff said that its forces had repelled 15 Russian attacks against Avdiivka from four directions, over the previous 24 hours, although this cannot be independently verified. Col. Lysyuk also provided some interesting details of the ways that Ukraine has changed its own tactics. He described using teams of eight soldiers, backed up by a 12-person evacuation team, supported by accurate firepower. In this way, the units have been able to advance 100-500 meters a day equivalent to 109-547 yards. These small group formations have been used instead of heavy armor, which has proven vulnerable. https://www.twitter.com/Tatarigami_UA/status/1713921466910081372?s=20 https://www.twitter.com/GloOouD/status/1713989461556576573?s=20 In particular, the 128th Brigade has struggled with Russian minefields, extensive defensive trench networks, and first-person view (FPV) drones carrying explosive payloads. Col. Lysyuk said that the enemy still had an advantage in terms of its numbers of troops, as well as its electronic warfare and reconnaissance equipment. While the 128th Brigade still uses Soviet-era T-72 tanks and 2S1 self-propelled artillery , Lysyuks men have received Western anti-tank weapons, mortars, and night-vision equipment. https://www.twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1713573684625932429?s=20 https://www.twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1714026565602877948?s=20 Col. Lysyuks account provides some valuable insight into one units travails in the ongoing counteroffensive, launched back in June. While there has been no shortage of criticism from some quarters about the pace and effectiveness of the counteroffensive, its clear that there is still optimism among Kyivs fighters and that tactics have been adjusted to better deal with Russias deep defenses and its own war plans. Before getting into the rest of the latest news from Ukraine, The War Zone readers can get caught up with our previous rolling coverage here . The Latest Outside of Avdiivka, fierce fighting continues in the adjacent Zaporizhzhia region, in southeast Ukraine. Apparently taken on October 14, the video below shows all that was left of a Russian T-80 main battle tank, purportedly the victim of a Ukrainian drone strike. What little is left of the tank suggests that the drone triggered a catastrophic detonation of the ammunition that is stored directly underneath the turret . This has become an all-too-common feature of Soviet-era tank designs in the conflict. https://www.twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1713472825795719665?s=20 Meanwhile, in northeast Ukraine, the commander of Ukraines Ground Forces, Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, has said that Russia hopes to break through Ukrainian defenses in the Kupiansk-Lyman sector of the front line, according to a Reuters report . In footage posted on Telegram, Syrskyi said that fighting in the Kupiansk-Lyman sector had significantly escalated. The enemy is preparing, seriously preparing for offensive actions, bringing in staff, Syrskyi added. The main goal is to break through our troops defenses and recapture our territory. Ukrainian forces recaptured the city of Kupiansk and nearby areas almost a year ago, but Russian forces have since gone on the attack in the region again. https://www.twitter.com/UN_Agency/status/1713993259779846588?s=20 The Kremlin has confirmed that China will be the Russian President Vladimir Putin s destination for his first trip outside the former Soviet Union since a warrant for his arrest was issued by an international criminal court. Back in March, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague issued a warrant for Putin, over Russias deportation of children from Ukraine. https://www.twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1713767289596637391?s=20 President Putin will meet his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in Beijing for talks on Wednesday. Ahead of that, Sergei Lavrov, Russias Minister of Foreign Affairs arrived in the Chinese capital today. Putin sought to strengthen relations with China immediately ahead of Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 although Beijings position since then has been more ambivalent. While blaming NATO enlargement as the reason for Russia starting the war, China has also stressed respect for Ukraines territorial integrity. https://www.twitter.com/mfa_russia/status/1713914521528500722?s=20 In related news, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has claimed that most of Russias drones are currently being sourced from China. Likely referring to the kinds of commercial and hobbyist-type drones that can be bought off the shelf, Siluanov said that, in response, Russia will invest more than $618 million on a new project to kickstart the development of domestic drone manufacturing. We are spending additional money on drones and more than 60 billion roubles on a new national project to develop our own drone base, said Siluanov. The task is that 41 percent of all drones by 2025 should have the label Made in Russia. Today, drones are mainly from the Peoples Republic of China. Drones have played a major part in the war in Ukraine, being used for attacks and reconnaissance. https://www.twitter.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1713920354953900479?s=20 It seems the countrys own industry is already being forced to adapt to the reality of the conflict, and its demand for drones, at least according to Russian media accounts although it may well not be exactly what Siluanov had in mind. The following video, broadcast on Russian state TV, shows a bakery in Tambov that has apparently switched from fresh bread to drones. At one stage, the TV presenter observes a conveyor belt, on which a line of baked goods gives way to quadcopter-type drones, although exactly how this transformation has taken place remains generally unclear if not outright suspicious. https://www.twitter.com/maxseddon/status/1713900521055043705?s=20 Multiple reports from news organizations and think tanks alike, as well as statements from the White House, say that North Korea is now shipping large quantities of ammunition to Russia. This comes after Kim's visit to Russia where he met with Putin and a widely expected arms deal between the two. https://twitter.com/RUSI_org/status/1713861846002721236?s=20 https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1713927355780014295?s=20 https://twitter.com/lrozen/status/1712870315619967304?s=20 Russia getting supplied by North Korea is highly troubling in multiple ways. North Korea can mass produce artillery shells as their defensive strategy relies very heavily on artillery and they had to become self sufficient at producing ammo for their Soviet calibers. The artillery tide was just starting to turn where Ukraine out-fired Russia on a daily basis, too. Now that North Korea is in play, it's unlikely that will remain the case. It also points to the larger issue of North Korea getting very close to Russia and raises the question of what they will get in return for the ammo? Fighter aircraft seems to be that the top of Pyongyang's list. You can read all about this situation in this recent piece of ours . According to Ukrainian accounts, reported by Reuters, Russia launched five missiles and 12 suicide drones into Ukraine overnight. The Ukrainian Air Force said that it shot down two of the missiles, which were launched against the northern and eastern regions of the country. The missiles included both Iskander-M short-range ballistic missiles and air-launched Kh-59 series standoff missiles. The air force also said that it shot down 11 of the drones, which were Iranian-designed Shaheds. Most of them were reportedly sent toward objectives in western Ukraine. https://www.twitter.com/Euan_MacDonald/status/1713803302771532204?s=20 In the eastern region of Poltava, the local governor, Filip Pronin, said the region had been attacked by drones and missiles, leaving three civilians hospitalized. Fortunately, no civilian or critical infrastructure was hit, Pronin wrote on Telegram. However, missile fragments damaged several private homes, he added. https://www.twitter.com/Flash_news_ua/status/1713794739797946557?s=20 In its latest intelligence update on the conflict, the U.K. Ministry of Defense says that Redut, a purported private military company, is now recruiting mercenaries to fight in Ukraine, including former personnel from the notorious Wagner Group . The mercenaries are being recruited under the guise of volunteers, the U.K. Ministry of Defense claims. Posting on X, formerly Twitter, the U.K. Ministry of Defense wrote: The Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate likely supervises and finances the groups activities, including its recruitment. Since the start of the invasion, Redut has been involved in combat operations in Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Luhansk oblasts. The group highly likely has over 7,000 personnel It is a realistic possibility that the Russian Ministry of Defences practice of recruiting through volunteer units has contributed to Russia avoiding further unpopular mobilizations. https://www.twitter.com/DefenceHQ/status/1713850808431775939?s=20 To finish todays coverage, some high-quality video showing one of the many types of Western-supplied armored vehicles now being used in Ukraine, namely a Canadian-donated Roshel Senator. This 4x4 armored car is based on a Ford F-550 chassis and is designed to offer protection against small arms fire. While originally developed for peacekeeping and law enforcement activities, the Senator can also be used as an armored personnel carrier. Reportedly, 330 examples of the Senator were supplied to Ukraine starting in May 2022. https://www.twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1713989464509260163?s=20 That is all for now. This story will be updated when theres more news to report about Ukraine. Contact the author: thomas@thedrive.com Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraines Main Intelligence Directorate or HUR, got 19 Russian soldiers to surrender by talking to them over the radio, Oleksandr Lutyi, the commander of a special forces group equipped with anti-aircraft missile systems, has claimed in an interview with RBC-Ukraine. Intelligence special forces often find themselves on missions where they must confront enemy forces with a significant numerical advantage, said Lutyi, adding that Budanov himself actively participates in some of these operations. Read also: Russian Mi-8 helicopter with crew reportedly surrender to Ukrainian military, says journalist ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement In the course of one particular mission, an enemy assault group attempted to disengage from the battle without returning fire, as they realized they could no longer resist. It was during this critical moment that Kyrylo Oleksiyovych (Budanov) was present with us. Through a direct radio conversation, using only his words, he managed to persuade 19 Russians to surrender. Its a testament to his remarkable strength of character, Lutyi said. Read also: Lutyi also noted that the morale of the entire group received a significant boost upon hearing Budanovs voice. Most of us were unaware that the HUR chief was in our sector at the time, Lutyi added. 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 Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky has said that the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will not distract the world's attention from the war in Ukraine. Source: Lipavsky in a comment to Radio Liberty, reported by European Pravda Details: He also expressed the opinion that the world is moving "towards a global confrontation". Quote: "I do not think this is a coincidence. We must be prepared to invest more in our defence. And to stick to our principles... We have to pay attention to all conflicts and anything that threatens us. So Ukraine is still in the first place." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Background: Earlier, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stated that support for Ukraine remains a top priority for Washington amid the escalation of the Arab-Israeli conflict. US President Joe Biden also stated that the United States is able to simultaneously support both Ukraine and Israel, while maintaining an international level of defence capability. 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! Key updates on Oct. 16: Zelensky, Pritzker meet in Kyiv, discuss recovery of Ukraine's energy system German minister: US financial aid 'indispensable' for Ukraine Russia admits most of its drones come from China Energy Ministry denies introducing scheduled blackouts Qatar to return 3 Ukrainian children deported to Russia The majority of drones Russia currently has are imported from China, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Oct. 16 in a rare acknowledgment. "Today, (our) drones are mostly all from the People's Republic of China," Siluanov said at the meeting of the State Duma's Budget and Taxes Committee. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "We are grateful to our partners, but we need to develop our own resource base and allocate the necessary funds." The minister said that Russia is devoting 60 billion rubles ($600 million) to boost the domestic production of drones. "The task is that by 2025, 41% of all drones will be labeled Made in Russia," the minister said. Although U.S. intelligence reported in July that China is exporting large amounts of dual-use technologies with potential military applications to Russia, including drones, this is the first public acknowledgment by a Russian official. The Washington Post said in August that shortly after the U.S. report had been made public, China decided to limit its exports of long-range civilian drones over fears of their military use. While China has officially positioned itself as a neutral party in the ongoing Russian full-scale war against Ukraine and called for a diplomatic solution, Beijing has not denounced the Kremlin's aggression and has continued to develop close mutual ties. Drones have played a major role for both sides, serving as a means for reconnaissance and air strikes. Russia has also been importing Shahed "kamikaze" drones from Iran, regularly used in strikes on civilian targets, and has reportedly even developed their domestic-made variants. Read also: Deadly drone arms race intensifies as Ukraine, Russia embrace the future of war Zelensky welcomes Representative for Ukraine's Economic Recovery in Kyiv President Volodymyr Zelensky met U.S. Special Representative for Economic Recovery in Ukraine Penny Pritzker during her Oct. 16 visit to Kyiv, the President's Office reported. "Your visit is a signal of strong support. It is important for us to see that the United States is ready to help Ukraine get through the winter period and protect critical infrastructure facilities," Zelensky told Pritzker during the meeting. The president thanked his U.S. counterpart, the U.S. government, and the American people for providing Ukraine with defense, financial, and humanitarian assistance to resist Russia's full-scale invasion. Zelensky and Pritzker discussed how to ensure Ukraine's macro-financial stability in 2024, attract private investment for reconstruction projects, and use frozen Russian assets as a significant source of funds for the country's recovery. President Volodymyr Zelensky shakes hands with U.S. Special Representative for Economic Recovery in Ukraine Penny Pritzker during her visit to Kyiv, Ukraine, on Oct. 16, 2023. (President's Office) "Despite the ongoing Russian aggression, the recovery of Ukraine is a priority as it allows us to provide the necessary conditions for the fight and victory of our state," the president said. "The participation of American companies in the reconstruction of the Ukrainian energy system is of particular interest," he added as Kyiv prepares for a possible Russian campaign of mass strikes against the country's energy system. Moscow attempted such a strategy during the fall and winter of 2022-2023, which led to frequent blackouts and a lack of heating across the country. Pritzker arrived in Kyiv earlier on Oct. 16 for her first visit to Ukraine since the appointment in September. Previously, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal held a video call with Pritzker, and Zelensky met her in person in New York, discussing priority areas in Ukraine's reconstruction. German minister: US financial aid 'indispensable' for Ukraine German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said it's essential the U.S. continues to provide Ukraine with financial support alongside European commitment, calling the U.S. aid "indispensable," the German broadcaster ARD reported on Oct. 16. His statement comes as the U.S. assistance for Kyiv is facing opposition in Congress from a hardline faction of the Republican Party. While a recent legislative battle led to the recent ousting of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the White House has assured that the U.S. can continue providing aid until Congress returns to session. Lindner took part in a meeting between European finance ministers and U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who briefed the ministers on the country's domestic political debate, according to ARD. Yellen said, cited by Reuters, that support for Ukraine remained a "top priority" for the U.S. and the European Union. She also reportedly pledged that President Joe Biden's administration would fight to ensure that a bipartisan majority in the U.S. Congress approved "robust" and uninterrupted aid to Kyiv. "We cannot allow Ukraine to lose the war for economic reasons when it has shown an ability to succeed on the battlefield," the U.S. treasury secretary added. On Oct. 15, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan confirmed that Biden's administration was preparing a funding package worth significantly more than $2 billion, which would include military aid for Ukraine and Israel. Earlier, Sullivan said that the U.S. was more than capable of simultaneously providing aid to both Ukraine and its long-time ally Israel, currently embroiled in a war with Hamas in Gaza. Read also: Russia, China and North Korea have new dynamics. And its bad for Ukraine Qatar to return 3 Ukrainian children deported to Russia Three Ukrainian children who were illegally deported to Russia are in the process of being released to Qatari diplomats in Russia, who will then facilitate their return to Ukraine, an unnamed Qatari official told Reuters on Oct. 16. In addition, the source revealed that Qatari diplomats had assisted in repatriating a seven-year-old boy on Oct. 13 through Estonia. The boy reunited with his grandmother and is en route back to Ukraine. Two boys, ages two and nine, and a 17-year-old girl will be accompanied by Qatari officials on their journey back to Ukraine, either over land to Latvia, Estonia, or Belarus, or by plane via Qatar. The return of the four children resulted from months of high-level talks involving Moscow and Kyiv facilitated by Qatar. It should be considered "only a first step," according to Lolwah Al Khater, Qatar's minister of state for international cooperation. The children were returned after Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia's Commissioner for Children's Rights, shared a short list of deported children with Qatari diplomats, who verified their identities and worked with Ukrainian officials to locate their parents. The unnamed Qatari official said that Kyiv had initially approached Qatar to help mediate the repatriation process, and that "both Ukrainian and Russian officials have been cooperative." It is unclear how many more children Moscow will allow to be reunited with their families. According to the Ukrainian government, more than 19,500 children have been confirmed as being illegally deported, and 386 have been returned. However, Lvova-Belova claimed that more than 700,000 children had been deported. The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants in March 2023 for Lvova-Belova and Russian President Vladimir Putin on war crimes charges for their role in the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children during the full-scale invasion. Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Kyrylo Budanov , Chief of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU), moved into the building of the Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine on the eve of a full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022, and spoke with Andrii Yermak, the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, at 03:30. Source: new episode of Ukrainska Pravdas podcast 24.02: Reconstruction (English translation to follow shortly) Quote from Budanov: "The Russians kept postponing the date. For the last two weeks there, they kept pushing it back and forth by a day, or two. But on the 23rd, at around 14:30, it seems, we received clear information that the start would be at four in the morning and exactly how (it would start). This information was passed to the president. He gave the order. But just count it there was not much time left until four in the morning." Details: Budanov said he and his wife moved into his office in the DIU building on 23 February. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Quote: "We went to a grocery store in Petrivka [a neighbourhood located in Kyiv's Obolonskyi district] in the evening. I remember it well. We bought groceries there, my wife and me. We moved into my office, went to bed, talked with her, and waited. Then I took a little nap. And the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine called me at around 03:30 and said: "Well, it's already 03:30, and everything seems calm. Maybe it will not happen?" I say: "Well, let's hope for the best, but I doubt it." And so we talked with him until almost four o'clock." Details: Budanov also says that it was important to him that his information about the invasion turned out to be true. Quote: "For me, you have to understand, this was also a challenge. Because if I, as the head of the special service, gave an incorrect report, it would be a shame for me. In reality, the first attacks were at around 4:20 because the missiles were already in the air, and they were still flying for some time. That's it, I exhaled; now we need to start working on the next issue." For more information about how the fronts arose and moved on 24 February, who and how heroically stopped the advance of the Russians, how our cities and the country as a whole recovered from the first shock and went on the defensive, listen to the podcast "24.02: Reconstruction" (English translation to follow shortly) Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron! A company of unmanned attack systems of the Ivan Sirko 92nd Assault Brigade destroyed two self-propelled artillery units of the Russian army and hit four dugouts with Russian invaders in Bakhmut. Source: the Achilles, a company of strike aircraft of the Ivan Sirko 92nd Assault Brigade, on Facebook; Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, on Telegram Quote from the Achilles: "Bakhmut: the Achilles hits enemy equipment worth more than US$1.8 million." Details: The Achilles used FPV drones to hit two units of Russian equipment: 2S1 Gvozdika and 2S9 Nona self-propelled guns. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement A 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system has a 122 mm gun and a crew of 5 people. One unit costs US$1.5 million. A 2S9 Nona is armed with a 120 mm gun; its firing range is up to 13 km. One unit costs US$300,000. In addition, FPV kamikaze drones accurately hit four dugouts with Russian personnel inside. By the estimates of the Achilles company, the total cost of the destroyed Russian equipment is US$1.8 million. Oleksandr Syrskyi, the Ground forces commander, also distributed the video of the destruction of Gvozdika and Nona. 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! Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has proposed expelling Russia from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) "if we want to save the OSCE". Source: Kuleba at a press conference with OSCE Head Bujar Osmani in Kyiv on Monday, cited by European Pravda Quote: "Moscow has effectively taken the OSCE hostage, manipulating the principle of consensus and thus destroying the organisation from the inside." Details: Kuleba said that Russia seeks to sow chaos and destabilisation. He called Russia the biggest threat to security and cooperation in Europe. "Today, I reiterated my position that if we want to save the OSCE, save security and cooperation in Europe, we must push Russia out of the OSCE and out of Europe. It will be better for everyone," Kuleba emphasised. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement He highlighted that Russia is now "killing" the OSCE and added that he could "easily imagine" this organisation without Russia. Background: On the morning of 16 October, North Macedonian Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Bujar Osmani arrived in Kyiv. Osmani noted that he had started his country's 2023 OSCE chairmanship with a trip to Ukraine and had now decided to come back again at the end of the year. Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron! Russian forces targeted central and southeastern Ukraine during an air raid in the early hours of Oct. 16, Natalia Humeniuk, head of the joint press center of the Defense Forces of Southern Ukraine, has said on national television. The work of the air defense forces was hampered by poor weather conditions, she said. Ukrainian air defenses managed to shoot down 11 out of 12 incoming enemy Shahed attack drones, but only two out of five Kh-59 cruise missiles fired by Russia, the Ukrainian Air Forec said in its morning report. Russia also launched an Iskander-M ballistic missiles that was not intercepted. Read also: Ukrainian Air Force neutralizes 28 of 33 Shahed drones in Russias overnight attack, injuries and damages reported ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The air targets again had a complex trajectory, and the enemy launched waves Shahed suicide drones from different directions, Humeniuk said. She noted that the Ukrainian Armed Forces were shooting down enemy drones in difficult weather conditions, as there were storms and strong gusty winds in the south of the country. Read also: Ukraine downs 27 out of 36 drones in Russian latest overnight attack There were not many Russian UAVs in the southern regions of the country, and the Shaheds were mostly focused on moving to other areas. "However, it is too early to talk about new tactics," Humeniuk said. Theyre continuing their maneuvering tactics the same tactics they have already used. Read also: Russian drones damage Odesa port infrastructure, residential areas in overnight attacks In Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, one Russian cruise missile was shot down by air defense forces, but another hit the Dniprovskyi district. In Poltava Oblast, fragments from a shot down cruise missile damaged several private houses. 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 More than 707,000 explosive objects have been uncovered by Ukrainian sappers, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko reported via Facebook on Oct. 14. Our technical experts are supported by modern equipment and specialized tools that detect and destroy explosive objects remotely, Klymenko said. The ministry's post included a video demonstrating the operation of a GCS-200 machine that is capable of remote demining and protecting sappers. Over 152,000 hectares of ground have been closely examined already. Ukraine today is one of the most heavily-mined countries in the world. On Oct. 14, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that mines and other unexploded ordnance have rendered nearly a third of Ukraines territory unsafe. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Estimates suggest 250 people have been killed so far by mines and other explosive objects left in Ukraine, while more than 500 have been injured. Another six million people could be threatened by the presence of unexploded ordnance. On Oct. 10 Ukraine and Croatia signed a bilateral agreement on demining operations. Croatia has already distributed one million euros for demining purposes. Read also: Russia is covering Ukraine with landmines. Clearing them will be extremely difficult Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. (CNN) Israel is gearing up for the next stage of its war on Hamas, following the Palestinian militant groups brutal October 7 attacks that killed 1,400 people. Following a week of unprecedented airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, which have killed at least 2,450 people, Israel is massing troops and military equipment on its border with the Hamas-controlled enclave and has warned some 1.1 million people in the northern half of the strip to evacuate, according to the United Nations. As Israel prepares for a ground offensive into Gaza, heres what you need to know about the 140 square-mile enclave one of the most densely-populated territories on Earth. What is Gaza? Gaza is a narrow strip of land, only about 25 miles long and seven miles wide just over twice the size of Washington DC. To its west lies the Mediterranean Sea, to its north and east is Israel, and Egypt is to its south. It is one of two Palestinian territories, the other being the larger Israeli-occupied West Bank, which borders Jordan. Who lives there? Around 2 million people are crammed into the 140-square-mile territory. The overwhelming majority of people are young, with 50% of the population under the age of 18, according to the World Health Organization. Nearly all of Gazans 98-99% are Muslim, according to the CIA World Factbook, with most of the rest Christians. More than 1 million of Gazas residents are refugees, with eight recognized Palestinian refugee camps, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which assists Palestinians. What is Gazas history? Inhabited for thousands of years, Gaza has been many things: An Egyptian base, a royal city for the Philistines and the place where the Hebrew Samson, betrayed by Delilah, met his death. It was part of the Ottoman Empire for most of the period from the 16th to the early 20th century, until Britain took control over the Gaza area after World War I. The most recent contest for the land began at the end of World War II, when Jews fleeing persecution traveled from Europe in search of refuge after the horrors of the Holocaust. In 1947, the UN created a plan to split the then-British Mandate of Palestine into two lands, one for Jews and one for Arab people. David Ben Gurion, Israels founder, proclaimed the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. More than 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled, and most were denied return. After Israel declared independence, Egypt attacked Israel through the Gaza Strip. Israel won, but Gaza remained under the control of Egypt and the region saw an influx of Palestinian refugees from Israel. Unable to migrate to Egypt and not allowed to return to their former homes in Israel, many were living in extreme poverty. In 1967, war broke out between Israel, Egypt, Jordan and Syria. During the conflict, which became known as the Six-Day War, Israel seized Gaza and held it for nearly 40 years until 2005, when it withdrew its troops and settlers. Since then, hostilities have regularly broken out between Israel and Palestinian factions including Hamas. Who controls Gaza now? In 2006, Hamas won a landslide victory in Palestinian legislative elections the last polls to be held in Gaza. Hamas is an Islamist organization with a military wing that formed in 1987, emerging out of the Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni Islamist group that was founded in the late 1920s in Egypt. The group considers Israel to be an illegitimate state and an occupying power in Gaza. Unlike other Palestinian groups, such as the Palestinian Authority, Hamas refuses to engage with Israel. The group has claimed responsibility for many attacks on Israel over the years and has been designated as a terrorist organization by countries including the United States, the European Union and Israel. The last war between Hamas and Israel was in 2021, which lasted for 11 days and killed at least 250 people in Gaza and 13 in Israel. One of the groups biggest funders is Iran, according to the US State Department, which said in a 2021 report that Iran provides around $100 million a year to Hamas, among other Palestinian terrorist groups. The group also receives weapons, and training from Iran, as well as some funds that are raised in Gulf Arab countries, the State Department said. When did Israels blockade start? Despite Israels withdrawal from Gaza, since 2007 it has maintained tight control over the territory through a land, air and sea blockade. For nearly 17 years, Gaza has been almost totally cut off from the rest of the world, with severe restrictions on the movement of goods and people. The blockade has been fiercely criticized by international bodies including the UN, which said in a 2022 report that restrictions have had a profound impact on living conditions in Gaza and have undermined Gazas economy, resulting in high unemployment, food insecurity and aid dependency. Israel has said the blockade is vital to protect its citizens from Hamas. Israel worried that without a blockade, Hamas would have an easier approach to smuggling weapons, to arming itself, said Bilal Saab, senior fellow and founding director of the defense and security program at the Middle East Institute. Although, he told CNN, frankly it hasnt really done a very good job given the massive tunnel infrastructure that the organization has built over the years. What are the living conditions like? Even before Hamas attacks and Israels retaliation on Gaza, living conditions in the enclave were dire. Human Rights Watch has called the territory an open-air prison Gazans have limited access to healthcare, education and economic opportunities. Unemployment levels are among the highest in the world, with nearly half of the population unemployed, according to 2022 UN data. More than than 80% live in poverty. For at least the last decade and a half, the socioeconomic situation in Gaza has been in steady decline, the UNRWA said in August. Beyond the numbers, mental health professionals in Gaza describe a crisis that goes unseen, said Tania Hary, executive director of Gisha, an Israeli human rights organization that focuses on the freedom of movement of Palestinians. There has still been hope, Hary told CNN: Despite these dire statistics, Gaza also has eight universities and several other colleges, a small but industrious manufacturing industry, entrepreneurs in a variety of fields, and innovative and resilient farmers. Yet conditions have become exponentially worse since Israel declared a complete siege on the enclave in retaliation for Hamas attacks, withholding essential supplies of food, fuel and water. Life became even more perilous for the 1.1 million Gazans living in the north of the enclave on Friday, when Israel told them to evacuate southwards, prompting aid workers to warn of a complete catastrophe. The UN World food Program warned on Sunday that it was running out of supplies to help people in Gaza. Aid flights have arrived in Egypt near the Rafah crossing on Gazas southern border, but so far have not made it into the enclave. In the meantime, the death toll continues to rise. More people have been killed in this weeks bombardment of the enclave than during the six-week Israel-Hamas war of 2014. This story was first published on CNN.com, Gaza explained: What to know about the enclave" A United Nations agency warned Sunday that Gaza is running out of life, as Israels siege on the territory leaves Palestinians with dwindling supplies of food, water and medicine. Israel has cut off supplies to Gaza and ordered people to move south in advance of an expected ground assault on the territory. Hamas, which controls Gaza, launched attacks on Israeli villages, farms and military outposts last week in a bloody assault that targeted civilians and left more than 1,300 dead. In fact, Gaza is being strangled and it seems the world right now has lost its humanity, said Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner for the Untied Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the East. If we look at the issue of water, we all know water is life. Gaza is running out of water and Gaza is running out of life. Soon, I believe, with this there will be no food or medicine either, Lazzarini continued. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The humanitarian crisis in Gaza deepened over the last several days following Israels order for a complete siege, vowing to halt the supplies of food, water and electricity. Israel has been bombarding Gaza, with strikes killing 450 people just on Sunday, according to Palestinian officials. At least 2,670 Palestinians have died in the conflict, with an additional 9,600 others wounded, the Gaza Health Ministry said Sunday. The death toll has surpassed that of the 2014 Gaza war, which lasted over six weeks. It is the deadliest of the five Gaza wars from both sides. Trucks carrying aid have waited at the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt for days, as mediators urge for a cease-fire that would allow the trucks to enter the territory and allow foreigns to leave. Rafah, Gazas only connection to Egypt, shut down last week in the wake of Israeli air strikes. There is not one drop of water, not one grain of wheat, not a liter of fuel that has been allowed into the Gaza Strip for the last eight days, Lazzarini said. The number of people seeking shelter in our schools and other UNRWA facilities in the south is absolutely overwhelming, and we do not have any more the capacity to deal with them. Lazzarini said U.N. agencies are no longer able to provide humanitarian assistance, calling the situation an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe. Hospitals in Gaza warned they are on the verge of collapse as they attempt to treat the thousands of Palestinians injured in the violence. The hospitals are executed to run out of generator fuel in the next 24 hours, which comes days after Gazas sole power plant shut down last week. Coupled with hundreds of air strikes into the territory, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have fled their homes over the past week. Israel forces last Friday ordered an estimated 1.1 million Palestinians almost half of the territory to evacuate Gaza City and the surrounding area ahead of an expected ground invasion in the north. Meanwhile, Hamas is reportedly telling residents not to leave and to instead stay in their homes. Over 1,400 Israelis have died in the conflict, with at least 199 people being held hostage in Gaza, The Associated Press reported. The Associated Press contributed to this report. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The humble, much-repaired wooden boat, about 28 feet long, with a flat bottom and single mast, had no doubt reached the end of its useful life when it was left in the mud at the edge of St. Augustine, Florida sometime in the second half of the 19th century. Whoever left it there probably took its mast, its rigging, anything that could have been useful, but might have left behind some coins including one dating to 1869 as well as part of an oil-fired lamp, a cut coconut shell that might have been used as a cup and two leather shoes. Enough of the shoes remained that archaeologists could determine that there was one for someone's right foot and another for someone's left foot. Eventually mud and water covered the boat, which helped preserve it, and it was further buried as fill was brought in to extend St. Augustine's old city to the east. At some point, a piling on a now-gone wharf was driven right through the vessel, probably as it lay unseen under the mud. The boat was discovered recently less than a block from St. Augustine's current waterfront, just south of the Bridge of Lions, as crews worked on a drainage problem designed to ease chronic flooding in the area which was, of course, water not too long ago. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement That brought in archaeologists from SEARCH Inc. (Southeastern Archaeological Research), a cultural resource management research firm with an office in Jacksonville. The Florida Department of Transportation had sub-contracted with the company for the project because of the rich historic nature of St. Augustine, in the event of such a find. They painstakingly excavated the boat, board by board. They finished late Wednesday, just before the heavy rainfall that moved in and would have certainly complicated the project, said James Delgado, a prominent maritime archaeologist who is now with SEARCH. From Midway to St. Augustine Delgado had recently been at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration command post in Silver Spring, Md., watching images of the aircraft carriers lost in the Battle of Midway in 1942, captured by robotic vehicles 18,000 feet below the Pacific Ocean. Then he got a call about the find in St. Augustine and quickly flew down. It was quite the contrast, he said: "Thousands of deaths and a battle that changed the worlds history, and from there I find myself 8 feet down in a trench working with my colleagues on this site." It's all about the people connected to those finds, though, he said whether it's a young sailor on a doomed carrier in the Pacific or the owners of that humble boat in St. Augustine. The boat most likely dates to the second half of the 19th century and was built locally, probably by the people who owned and sailed it, Delgado said. They weren't professional boat builders, but they knew how to craft a vessel that could be used for fishing, oystering or carrying goods from place to place along what was then a bustling working waterfront. Texas A&M student death Police investigating after Texas A&M student dies from third-floor balcony fall "It had been hard-worked and sailed," he said. For much of the transportation and commerce in the area, the waters were the main thoroughfares. And mall craft such as that one were the delivery trucks of the 19th century," he said. When it was unearthed, the vessel was missing several feet from its hull, leaving about 19 feet of its length in place. To remove it, the boat was taken apart board by board, and each board which by now has the consistency of thick, water-soaked cardboard was cataloged, mapped and photographed. Everything was taken to a wet-storage vat at the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum to further protect it from damaging dry air. Archaeologists at the Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program worked with SEARCH on the project, as did city archaeologist Andrea White. Maternal health care Maternity units closing in Alabama: Pregnant women have to travel further for care Archaeologist Ian Pawn, cultural resources coordinator with the regional Transportation Department office, said research will be done to determine if the boat can be conserved and possibly displayed to the public somewhere. "What can we do to keep everything intact?" he said. "From there, wed like to share it in some sort of way. We want to work very closely with the city of St. Augustine and some specialty archaeologists as well, so we can find it a good home and a place to share it. This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Post-Civil War boat discovered in St. Augustine, a mystery to unravel Start your week in #ncpol #ncga with our latest Under the Dome politics podcast. Dawn Vaughan here, your News & Observer Capitol bureau chief and podcast host. In the latest episode, for the week of Oct. 16, 2023, Im joined by my politics team colleague Kyle Ingram and environment and climate change reporter Adam Wagner. Our discussion centers around power: veto overrides, boards and commission appointments, elections and the environment. The Republicans supermajority in the General Assembly gives them the ability to overturn veto after veto from Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. And speaking of Cooper, Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson took advantage of Coopers economic trip to Japan this past week. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Headliner of the Week After the break, youll hear a clip of Robinson talking about the proclamation declaring solidarity with Israel that he issued as acting governor, and answering questions about antisemitic Facebook posts before he was elected. Stay tuned to the end for our picks for Headliner of the Week. The all have a nature theme, from trees to bears to the coast. Listen to our latest episode below and catch up on previous episodes. You can also listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Audible, iHeart, Pandora, Amazon Music and Stitcher. Now you can also watch video of our Under the Dome podcast on our N&O YouTube page. The University of Pennsylvania has lost a major donor and a board member of allegations of antisemitism exacerbated by the schools response to the Israel-Hamas war. Former U.S. Ambassador and longtime UPenn donor Jon Huntsman announced after a university board of trustees meeting Friday that his family is cutting off funding. The Universitys silence in the face of reprehensible and historic Hamas evil against the people of Israel (when the only response should be outright condemnation) is a new low. Silence is antisemitism, and antisemitism is hate, the very thing higher ed was built to obviate, Huntsman said in a letter, obtained by The Daily Pennsylvanian, to UPenn President Liz Magill Consequently, Huntsman Foundation will close its checkbook on all future giving to Penn something that has been a source of enormous pride for now three generations of graduates. My siblings join me in this rebuke, he added. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement A number of universities across the country have faced internal tensions over how student groups and administrators are responding to the outbreak of violence in the Middle East. Even before the Hamas attack on Israel, UPenn faced blowback from a Palestine Writes Literature Festival last month that included speakers with a history of antisemitic statements. We unequivocally and emphatically condemn antisemitism as antithetical to our institutional values, UPenn said in a statement at the time. The statement did not quell critics, who say school has not done enough to disassociate itself from the event or condemn the recent attack on Israel by Hamas. Trustee Vahan Gureghian resigned from UPenns Board of Trustees after the three-hour emergency meeting. Just as at so many other elite academic institutions, the Penn community has been failed by an embrace of antisemitism, a failure to stand for justice and complete negligence in the defense of our students wellbeing, Gureghian said in his resignation letter, CNN reported. Magill released a statement on Sunday condemning Hamass attack and addressing the situation with the festival back in September. The University did not, and emphatically does not, endorse these speakers or their views. While we did communicate, we should have moved faster to share our position strongly and more broadly with the Penn community, Magill said. I stand, and Penn stands, emphatically against antisemitism. We have a moral responsibilityas an academic institution and a campus communityto combat antisemitism and to educate our community to recognize and reject hate, she added. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. UPTON Upton could be the latest Massachusetts community to switch to a gender-neutral title for its top governing board, depending on what happens at next month's Special Town Meeting. Selectmen plan to bring two articles to this year's Special Town Meeting on Nov. 7 that would change the name of their panel. The first article proposes to change the name from "Board of Selectmen" to "Select Board" in Upton's local general and zoning bylaws. The second article seeks residents' approval to petition the Legislature to change the name. If both articles receive majority approval, the town would join a growing list of communities that have done the same. 'It's just correct': Milford STM approves changing 'Board of Selectmen' to 'Select Board' ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "It's not something new," Upton Town Manager Joseph Laydon told the Daily News. "Many towns have made this change. The state agency that represents Board of Selectmen members (the Massachusetts Select Board Association) changed its own name to reflect change." "The Board of Selectmen identified at this time that this might be the right time for Upton," Laydon added. Upton's current three-member Board of Selectmen contains two women Chair Maureen Dwinnell and Laura Hebb, the latter of whom joined after winning election in May. The third member is Brett Simas. None of the three selectmen returned requests from the Daily News for comment. More municipal boards switch to gender neutral designations Several towns near Upton including Milford, Hopkinton, Westborough, Grafton, Mendon and Hopedale have made the change. In January 2021, the former Massachusetts Selectmens Association was renamed to become the Massachusetts Select Board Association. Advocates for the change have flagged the use of man or men in titles as casual gender bias, and have said the gender-specific term is a subtle way of discouraging women from running for the highest local office. EDITORIAL: It's a simple change worth making Most cities already had gender-neutral titles, such as "city council," when a push to remove gender from top boards began to gain momentum in 2019. Massachusetts' last "board of aldermen," in Melrose, changed to "city council" that year. That made title changes an issue for towns, where townwide approval was needed at the centuries-old New England tradition of Town Meeting. The movement to change the names of municipalities' governing bodies has faced opposition, citing tradition and cost. How much does it cost to change to select board? A 2021 Daily News survey of seven communities in which "board of selectmen" either became "select board" or "selectboard" in the previous year, or were in the process of doing so, found that expenses ranged from less than $1,000 to close to $8,000. Costs cited by the seven communities included those associated with calling a Town Meeting or local election, changing letterhead or nameplates, and legal fees. Most town officials pegged the cost as not significant or minimal. So long, selectmen: More Mass. towns are adopting gender-neutral titles Milford changed its top governing body's name in 2021. At the time, its finance director estimated it would cost $1,000 to $2,000. Ashland ended up with the highest estimate, about $8,000, as the change required hiring an outside company to rework the towns bylaws, replacing selectmen with the newly chosen title, select board. The Nov. 7 Special Town Meeting, which will be conducted in open Town Meeting format, takes place at 7 p.m. at Nipmuc Regional High School. This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Upton town meeting weighs gender-neutral name to governing board Janet Yellen , the United States Secretary of the Treasury, during a meeting with the heads of the financial ministries of the Eurozone countries, assured that the support of Ukraine remains a "top priority" for Washington against the background of the escalation of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Source: European Pravda, citing Reuters During her speech at a meeting of the Eurogroup, the finance ministers of EU member states that use euro, Yellen emphasised that Joe Biden's administration is ready to support Ukraine "as much as it takes" and will seek approval in the Congress for "strong" and continuous aid to Kyiv. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Quote: "We cannot allow Ukraine to lose the war for economic reasons, while it has demonstrated the ability to succeed on the battlefield," the United States Secretary of the Treasury said. Yellen confirmed that the United States supports "the use of excess profits of Russian sovereign assets frozen in certain clearing institutions and the use of these funds to support Ukraine." She also said the US and EU would continue to work to impose "increasing costs on Russia for waging its reckless war", including by capping Russian oil prices and combating sanctions evasion. There are fears that attention to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as well as Western resources to support Kyiv, may decrease amid the escalation in the Middle East. Yellen's statement appeared against the background of reports that the administration of the US president intends to ask the Congress to allocate more than two billion dollars to help Ukraine and Israel. Earlier, it was reported that the White House was considering the possibility to combine the military aid for Ukraine and Israel in one request to the Congress, hoping it will increase chances for approval of the support for Kyiv. Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron! Militarily, politically, and financially, the U.S. has taken on more of a proactive role in the conflict between Israel and Hamas in recent days. President Joe Biden is reportedly mulling a trip to Israel to show solidarity, while the U.S. beefs up its military presence in the region. The U.S. has picked about 2,000 troops to prepare for a possible deployment to help Israel, The Wall Street Journal reported. They wouldnt be meant to serve in combat roles, but rather would be focused on advising and medical support. The decision signaled that the Pentagon will support Israeli troops should they launch a ground invasion of Gaza. President Joe Biden and National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby both said they dont think the U.S. will need to deploy troops to fight alongside Israeli forces, though a small special operations team is assisting Israel with hostage recovery efforts. Over the weekend, the U.S. ordered a second aircraft carrier to be sent to the eastern Mediterranean, and is doubling the number of land-based attack planes it has in the Persian Gulf region. That move, according to The New York Times, is aimed at deterring Iran, Syria, or groups like Hezbollah from joining the fighting and going after Israel. But ahead of Israels likely ground invasion into Gaza, American commanders expressed fears that the United States could get dragged into the conflict, The Times wrote. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The U.S. is on a mission to keep the fighting from expanding into a regional conflict, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken visiting leaders across the Middle East in the last week. It shows that the U.S. is is still uniquely positioned to influence Israel as well as key Arab power brokers, and is still interested in taking on a leadership role in the Middle East, CNNs Stephen Collinson writes. But that role could become complicated by the challenging nature of the conflict. For example, Israels attempt to wipe out Hamass leadership could result in such enormous destruction and loss of life that it will alienate Americas Arab allies, Collinson argues. The White House plans to propose a military aid package to Israel and Ukraine this week that is significantly higher than $2 billion, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday. Its unclear how any aid package could be approved without the House having a speaker, Reuters reported, though a vote on the speakership is scheduled for Tuesday. The question of Israel aid has reportedly become linked to the speaker drama: Some hardline Republicans have said they oppose linking Ukraine and Israel aid, though GOP speaker nominee Jim Jordan has privately suggested hed allow a vote on such a package if elected, Axios reported. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) says four Iranians have been apprehended in Texas since the beginning of the month, adding that they are considered "special interest aliens." CBP sources told Fox News that one Iranian man in his 40s was taken into custody on Sunday morning in Eagle Pass, Texas, after crossing the southern border at about 3 a.m. The source added that the Iranian gave himself up to border protection agents after making the illegal crossing. OFFICIALS APPREHEND TWO LEBANESE NATIONALS AT SOUTHERN BORDER, AMID TERROR CONCERNS Eagle Pass, TX - September 27, 2023: Large masses of migrants cross the surging Rio Grande and await entry along the razor wired American border in Eagle Pass, TX on September 27, 2023. The man, along with the other three Iranians are considered "special interest aliens" because they are from countries identified by the U.S. government as having conditions that promote or protect terrorism or potentially pose some sort of national security threat to the U.S. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "Special interest aliens" also undergo additional vetting and questioning after being apprehended. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP Last week, CBP agents apprehended two Lebanese nationals in Eagle Pass, who were also considered to be "special interest aliens." THOUSANDS OF SPECIAL INTEREST ALIENS FROM MIDDLE EAST COUNTRIES STOPPED AT SOUTHERN BORDER SINCE 2021: DATA EAGLE PASS, TX - FEBRUARY 06: Eagle Pass Border Patrol look over the Rio Grande scanning the area illegal traffic, February 06, 2003. Hundreds of illegal immigrants attempt to cross the U.S.- Mexican border daily. CBP has also apprehended an Egyptian man in his 40s. Separately, in the Rio Grande Valley Sector, officials have apprehended 19 Iranians and 17 Syrians since Monday. The apprehensions come amid concerns of security and the potential of terrorism after Hamas-led terrorists invaded Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,300 Israelis and wounding thousands more. Lebanon borders with Israel and is home of the terror group Hezbollah, which like Hamas, is designated a terror group by the State Department and is also funded by Iran. MIGRANT NUMBERS HIT HIGHEST EVER RECORDED IN ONE MONTH: SOURCES Eagle Pass, TX - September 27, 2023: Large masses of migrants cross the surging Rio Grande and await entry along the razor wired American border in Eagle Pass, TX on September 27, 2023. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters last week that Iran had "broad complicity" when it comes to Hamas due to its support for the terrorist organization. Still, the security council had seen no evidence showing Iran was involved in the planning, resourcing or training of Hamas attack last week. The Department of Homeland Securitys threat assessment, published last month, noted that agents have encountered a growing number on the watch list and warned that "terrorists and criminal actors may exploit the elevated flow and increasingly complex security environment to enter the United States." "Individuals with terrorism connections are interested in using established travel routes and permissive environments to facilitate access to the United States," the assessment also said. Stephen Sorace and Adam Shaw contributed to this report. Original article source: US Customs confirms 4th Iranian 'special interest alien' apprehended this month in Eagle Pass, Texas A federal judge has issued a partial gag order on former president Donald Trump ahead of his trial for conspiring to overturn the 2020 election (Mike Stobe) The federal judge set to preside over Donald Trump's trial for conspiring to overturn the 2020 US election imposed a partial gag order on the former president on Monday. US District Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered Trump not to attack prosecutors, court staff or potential witnesses ahead of the historic trial scheduled to begin in Washington in March 2024. Chutkan's ruling came after special counsel Jack Smith, a frequent target of Trump's vitriol, filed a motion arguing that the former president's inflammatory rhetoric threatened to undermine his trial for election subversion. Trump has described Chutkan in public comments and social media posts as a "fraud" and "Trump-hating judge," Smith's office as a "team of thugs," and Washington as a "filthy and crime-ridden" city with a population "over 95% anti-Trump." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement John Lauro, an attorney for Trump, argued against a gag order during a two-hour hearing in federal court on Monday, claiming that it would infringe on Trump's First Amendment free speech rights. "The Biden administration is seeking to censor a political candidate in the middle of a campaign," Lauro said, in a reference to Trump's bid to return to the White House in the 2024 presidential election. "You're trying to squelch political speech," Lauro said. Chutkan pushed back, saying Trump's presidential candidacy does not give him "carte blanche to vilify public servants who are simply doing their jobs." "In what world is it permissible for a defendant to attack a prosecutor's family?" she asked. - No trial delay - Shortly before the hearing began, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that the "TRUMP GAG ORDER that the CORRUPT Biden Administration is trying to obtain is totally Unconstitutional!" In Truth Social comments on Sunday, he lashed out at Smith, calling him a "Leaking, Crooked and Deranged Prosecutor," and disparaged Chutkan as a "highly partisan Obama appointed Judge." Trump said a gag order would make it "impossible for me to criticize those who are doing the silencing, namely Crooked Joe Biden." "They want to take away my First Amendment rights, and my ability to both campaign and defend myself," he said. "In other words, they want to cheat and interfere in the 2024 Presidential Election." Chutkan on Monday also rejected a renewed attempt by Trump's lawyers to have the trial delayed until after the November 2024 election, which may likely feature a rematch between Trump and Democrat Joe Biden. "This trial is not going to yield to the election cycle," Chutkan said. Trump was indicted for seeking to upend the results of the 2020 US election in a concerted effort that led to the violent January 6, 2021 attack by his supporters on the US Capitol. He is also accused of seeking to disenfranchise American voters with his false claims that he won the November 2020 presidential election. Chutkan has set March 4, 2024 for the start of the trial, which could interfere with Trump's campaign to win the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. sst-cl/dw President Joe Biden 's administration agreed to a settlement on Monday with migrant families who were separated at the US-Mexico border during Donald Trump 's term in office. "The practice of separating families at the southwest border was shameful," Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. "This agreement will facilitate the reunification of separated families and provide them with critical services to aid in their recovery." The settlement, which still needs the approval of a US District Court judge, will provide support services for separated families, the Justice Department said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The services include legal support for immigration claims, housing assistance and some medical coverage. It does not include any monetary damages. The proposed settlement also sets new standards intended to limit future separations of parents and children, the Justice Department said, and bars the government from separating migrant families for the next eight years. "By providing services to these families and implementing polices to prevent future separations, today's agreement addresses the impacts of those separations and helps ensure that nothing like this happens again," Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said. Biden issued an executive order in February 2021, shortly after taking office, pledging to "protect family unity and ensure that children entering the United States are not separated from their families." An estimated 4,000 families were separated at the southern border in 2017 and 2018 under the Trump administration's so-called "zero tolerance policy." Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented the families in their class-action lawsuit, said the settlement "closes the darkest chapter of the Trump administration." "To America's enduring shame, we tore children from the arms of their families to enact a xenophobic agenda," Romero said. Lee Gelernt, a lawyer for the ACLU, said the settlement "provides significant benefits to thousands of families, and an indispensable component bars the government from reenacting the zero-tolerance policy in the future." cl/des Gaza and Jerusalem (CNN) Conditions in Gaza have deteriorated dangerously, experts say, with serious shortages of clean water and food as tens of thousands of Palestinians attempt to flee crippling airstrikes and an Israeli ground offensive. Israels military said Saturday its forces are readying for the next stages of the war, including combined and coordinated strikes from the air, sea and land in response to the unprecedented October 7 terrorist attacks by the Islamist militant group Hamas, which controls the enclave. At least 1,400 people were killed and many taken hostage during Hamas rampage, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told CNN on Sunday, in what US President Joe Biden described as the worst massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust. Further escalation of the long-running conflict increasingly risks spilling over regionally, prompting the Pentagon to order a second carrier strike group and squadrons of fighter jets to the region as a deterrence to Iran and Iranian proxies, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon. We are on the verge of the abyss in the Middle East, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned in a statement Sunday. He issued urgent appeals to Israel and Hamas: To Hamas, the hostages must be released immediately without conditions. To Israel, rapid and unimpeded aid must be granted for humanitarian supplies and workers for the sake of the civilians in Gaza. Each one of these two objectives are valid in themselves. They should not become bargaining chips and they must be implemented because it is the right thing to do, he said. For days, Israel has cut off the Gaza populations access to electricity, food and water, prompting warnings of dire humanitarian crisis. Pope Francis on Sunday also called for the establishment of humanitarian corridors in Gaza and for the release of hostages taken by Hamas. In over a week of bombardment, Israeli airstrikes have killed least 2,670 people in Gaza, including hundreds of children, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Casualties in the besieged strip over the past eight days have now surpassed the number of those killed during the 51-day Gaza-Israel conflict in 2014, a ministry spokesperson said. A growing number of nations, global rights groups and organizations are calling on Israel to respect international rules of war, urging the protection of civilians lives, and not to target hospitals, schools and clinics in densely inhabited Gaza. Many families, some of whom were already internally displaced, are now crammed into an even smaller portion of the 140-square-mile territory. Hamas rocket attacks on Israel have meanwhile continued into the weekend. A barrage on the city of Sderot saw residents being evacuated to other areas of the country on Sunday. Calls for Israel to respect rules of war Gaza is suffering shortages of every kind, including body bags, say aid groups. Internet access, through which residents communicate their plight to the world, is shrinking. Food stocks are dwindling, the World Food Programme has warned. Hospitals have run out of painkillers and many Gazans are beginning to suffer from severe dehydration due to lack of drinking water, according to medical NGO Medecins sans Frontieres. The situation is very difficulttoday for two hours we searched for drinkable watereven drinkable water is not available anymore, said Dr. Mohammed Abu Mughaiseeb, the organizations deputy medical coordinator in Gaza. There is food. No electricity, no pumping of normal water as well, the hospitals are barely working They are bombing all day. We dont know whats going to [happen] tomorrow and where we are going. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office told CNN Sunday that Israel has restored water to southern Gaza, where many Gazans have been told to flee. However, the director of the Water Authority there said he didnt know if water was available because the electricity necessary to pump water for use had not been restored. Israel is also in the process of creating a humanitarian zone where food, water and other provisions could be accessed in Gaza, Israeli ambassador to the United States Michael Herzog told CNNs Jake Tapper on Sunday. The UN could not confirm the plan. What we can tell you is that we have nothing to confirm at this time, but obviously we have been working round the clock with various interlocutors to ensure humanitarian access in Gaza, the spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, Stephane Dujarric told CNN. Aid has been piling up on the Egyptian side of Rafa crossing, the only entrypoint into Gaza that Israel does not control. But so far, the crossing appears nonfunctional; Egypt says that airstrikes on the Gaza side have made roads inoperable, and Jordan has said it is seeking assurance that aid convoys will not be targeted by Israeli warplanes. Footage on Sunday showed aid deliveries continuing to arrive into Egypts El-Arish stadium in preparation to enter Gaza once the Rafah crossing is open. On the Gazan side, thousands of people are stuck at the crossing, with several citizens of the US and other countries telling CNN they have been unable to leave the embattled territory. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken promised Sunday that Rafah will be open, after meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi Were putting in place with the UN, with Egypt, Israel, with others, the mechanism by which to get the assistance in and to get it to people who need it, Blinken said. He also announced the appointment of former US Ambassador to Turkey David Satterfield to help coordinate US aid efforts. Satterfield will be on the ground tomorrow in Israel, he said. El-Sisi said on Sunday during his meeting with Blinken that Israels response to the deadly Hamas attack had gone beyond its right to self-defense. It amounts to the collective punishment of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, he said. His criticism echoed that of several rights groups, with Amnesty International and Norwegian Refugee Council describing the forced relocation of civilians as a violation of international law earlier in the week. Mass evacuation ahead of Israels expected escalation The clock is ticking for residents fleeing south through the battered streets of Gaza after the Israeli military told civilians to leave northern areas of the densely populated strip. More than half of Gazas 2 million residents live in the northern section that Israel said should evacuate, or risk danger in its next phase of retaliation. We will commence significant military operations only once we see that civilians have left the area, IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus told CNN early Sunday. I cannot stress more than enough to say now is the time for Gazans to leave. Civilians packed into cars, taxis, pickup trucks and donkey-pulled carts. Roads were filled with snaking lines of vehicles strapped with suitcases and mattresses. Those without other options walked, carrying what they could. Videos showed explosions and bodies along a Gaza evacuation route on Friday. Several bodies, including those of children, could be seen on on a flat-bed trailer that appears to have been used to evacuate. The IDF on Sunday denied that the Israeli military was involved in the strike on Salah Al-Deen street, suggesting an explosive device had been planted on the route. It was only this morning that we were able to confirm and announce that this was not on IDF strike, IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said in an interview with CNN. It appears from footage the IDF has viewed that the explosion came from beneath, he said. Several UN agencies have warned that mass evacuation under siege conditions will lead to disaster, and that the most vulnerable Gazans, including the sick, elderly, pregnant and disabled, will not be able to relocate at all. Palestine Red Crescent Society spokesperson Nebal Farsakh told that although they had been notified by Israel to evacuate Al-Quds hospital in Gaza City, they did not have the means to do so. We have around 300 patients at the hospital. Some of them are in the intensive care unit. We have children in incubators. We cant evacuate them, Farsakh said. What would a ground invasion look like? Israel, which has massed troops and military equipment at the border with Gaza, said its ramped up offensive will feature hundreds of thousands of reservists and encompass a wide range of operational offensive plans. In addition to widespread airstrikes, Israels army is preparing troops for an expanded arena of combat, the IDF said in a statement on Saturday. The preparations have placed an emphasis on significant ground operations. Hamas has shown a level of military capability far beyond what was previously thought, and a recent CNN investigation found it is probably well-prepared for the next phase of the war. The IDF hit 250 military targets mostly in northern Gaza on Sunday, it said in a statement. It claimed to have killed Muetaz Eid, Commander of the Hamas Southern District of National Security, during the strikes. Eid was located through intelligence from the IDF and the Israel Security Agency, the statement said. Hamas did not immediately comment on the IDF report. Complicating an Israeli offensive in Gaza are up to 150 hostages captured by Hamas including soldiers, civilians, women, children and the elderly and who are being held in the crowded enclave. IDF spokesperson Conricus said it is a priority to get hostages out of Gaza, despite the difficulty that a dense urban area adds to the fight. Pointing to the elaborate network of tunnels that Hamas has, he said hostages are most likely held underground in various locations. Fighting will be slow. Advances will be slow, and we will be cautious, he said. Speaking to CNNs Wolf Blitzer on Sunday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said his country is trying to move civilians to that they will not be hurt while going in to uproot that infrastructure of terror. He also showed small booklet which he said contains tactics used by Hamas to kidnap and torture people. This was found on the body of one of the terrorists. This is a booklet, okay? This booklet is an instruction guide how to go into civilian premises, into a kibbutz, a city, a moshav how to break in. And first thing, what do you do when you find the citizens? You torture them, Herzog said. In a first clear and stark denouncement, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday condemned the Hamas attacks, saying the militant groups actions do not represent the Palestinian people. Abbas affirmed his rejection of the killing of civilians on both sides and called for the release of civilians, prisoners and detainees on both sides, during a phone call with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday, the official Palestinian press agency WAFA reported. He also warned against forcing Palestinians out of Gaza, which he said would represent a second catastrophe for the Palestinian people, according to WAFA. Regional concerns grow As Israel battles Hamas, it also faces the threat of a wider conflict on new fronts. Israel has said it is ready in case there are attacks from neighboring Lebanon or Syria. Syrias military reported late Saturday that an air aggression by Israel, originating from the Mediterranean Sea, damaged Aleppo International Airport and rendered it nonoperational. Meanwhile, Irans Mission to the UN warned on Saturday that if Israel does not stop its attacks on Gaza, the situation could spiral out of control and ricochet far-reaching consequences. The comments came as Irans Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian met with Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Doha, Qatar on Saturday, according to Irans official news agency IRNA. The agency said it was the first official meeting between Iranian officials and Haniyeh since surprise Hamas attack on Israel that Hamas called Al-Aqsa storm. Hostilities with neighboring Lebanon are being closely monitored internationally, as an escalation could draw the powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah paramilitary group into the conflict. 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. On Saturday, Israel returned fire after Hezbollah launched an attack on the disputed territory of the Shebaa farms near the Israel-Lebanon border, with CNN teams on the ground reporting prolonged shelling. Mourners also gathered Saturday for the funeral of Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah in southern Lebanon after he was killed when Israel fired artillery into the area where he and other journalists were on Friday. The IDF said it was reviewing the circumstances surrounding the incident on the Lebanese border. The U.S. Marshals Southern Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team (SOFAST) has arrested a man wanted in connection with the 2021 murder of a woman in her apartment. Larry Hutson, 52, of the Marion-Franklin neighborhood in Columbus, was indicted June 26 for fatally shooting 46-year-old Felecia Lane on March 9, 2021, in her apartment at her apartment at Columbus Park Apartments on Winslow Drive on the South Side. A maintenance worker contacted police after finding her unresponsive. Hutson was arrested by the task force on Monday in the 3000 block of East 7th Avenue on Columbus' East Side. SOFAST is a task force of local, state and federal authorities focused on finding fugitives. bagallion@gannett.com This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Fugitive arrested in 2021 murder of Felecia Lane in Columbus US leaders are mounting an urgent effort to prevent Israels war against Hamas and a resulting civilian catastrophe in Gaza from escalating into a widening regional conflict that could snowball into an even greater geopolitical crisis after this months horrific attacks. As a second US aircraft carrier strike group steams to the region, President Joe Biden told 60 Minutes that he has Israels back as it avenges its darkest day in 50 years and as he focuses on the plight of Americans among the more than 150 people taken hostage during the Hamas incursion. But he also said, again, that it would be a big mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza and called for a return to a negotiation toward a Palestinian state. His comments came after a weekend of frustration for American citizens stuck at the exit between Gaza and Egypt, as the Biden administration also sought to ease the already dire humanitarian conditions for Palestinian civilians without foreign passports who are trapped with no clear relief from relentless Israeli airstrikes. Secretary of State Antony Blinkens Middle East shuttle mission shows that the United States, despite its efforts to extricate itself from the region, is still uniquely positioned to influence Israel as well as key Arab power brokers at a moment of deep peril and still willing to take on the task of projecting leadership in the Middle East, in spite of the domestic turmoil in Washington. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Administration officials speaking Sunday made clear they are also looking ahead, desperately trying to preserve the hope of a reshaped Middle East that would draw Israel and Saudi Arabia toward a diplomatic normalization that the Hamas attacks may now threaten. The US task in balancing a quickly widening crisis is hugely complex and some of its aims could be irreconcilable with others: For example, Israels desire to stamp out Hamas once and for all could result in such enormous destruction and loss of life that it will alienate Americas Arab allies. We are talking to the Israelis about the full set of questions, looking out into the future to ensure that Israel is safe and secure and also that innocent Palestinians living in Gaza can have a life of dignity, security and peace in the future as well, Bidens national security adviser, Jake Sullivan , said on CNNs State of the Union. Sullivan also warned that the war between Israel and Hamas could be just the start. There is a risk of an escalation of this conflict, the opening of a second front in the north and, of course, Irans involvement, he told CBS. The comments came as the full scale of an unfolding human tragedy in impoverished, densely populated Gaza is beginning to emerge, as UN officials warn of hellish conditions after over eight days of Israeli bombardments that have killed more than 2,600 Palestinians in response to Hamas brutal hostage-taking and killing of 1,400 in Israel. Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, warned of severe shortages of water, electricity, food and medicine as thousands of Gazans flee from northern districts after an Israeli statement to evacuate but as the territorys southern border with Egypt remains closed. Gaza is being strangled and it seems that the world right now has lost its humanity. If we look at the issue of water we all know water is life Gaza is running out of water, and Gaza is running out of life, Lazzarini said. Israel has said it tries to mitigate civilian suffering, and blames Hamas, an Iran-backed militant group that has embedded its rocket launchers in packed urban areas and refugee camps, for hiding behind civilians. Hamas has urged civilians to ignore Israeli warnings to evacuate the northern part of Gaza. Blinken makes US strategy clear Blinken is on a frantic swing that has included stops in Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt and Bahrain. He said in Cairo on Sunday that there was a determination throughout the region to prevent the Hamas attacks from spiraling into a larger regional war. The State Department said hed return to Israel for further consultations on Monday. Israel has also invited Biden to the country for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and both sides were considering the visit, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. The US president unexpectedly scrapped a planned trip to Colorado on Monday where he was to speak about wind energy, though the White House didnt immediately tie the change in plans to a possible Israel trip. But the possibility of the president visiting a war zone and putting his personal prestige on the line at this stage would be fraught with complications. Washington is walking a knife-edge as it stresses its unshakable support for Israels right to try to eradicate Hamas but also attempts to mitigate the worst civilian blowback of the coming offensive while pursuing its own interests in heading off a situation that could force it to plunge back into the Middle East. Blinken spelled out the multipronged US strategy. I dont think we could be more clear than weve been, that when it comes to Israels security, we have Israels back, he said in Cairo. But he also warned: The way that Israel does this matters. It needs to do it in a way that affirms the shared values that we have for human life and human dignity, taking every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians. The top US diplomat also delivered a wider message of deterrence, adding: No one should do anything that could add fuel to the fire in any other place. I think thats very clear. There were signs of modest success for US entreaties on Israel on behalf of Palestinian civilians on Sunday when Blinken promised that the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt would open. The frontier has been closed, with Cairo citing a lack of immigration controls on the Gaza side and fear for the safety of aid convoys entering the bombarded territory. Humanitarian supplies have been piling up at checkpoints on the wrong side of the border from where theyre urgently needed. And Sullivan told CNNs Jake Tapper that while Israeli and Egyptian officials were willing to allow the evacuation of US citizens in Gaza through the Rafah crossing, Hamas was preventing it. Sullivan also told CNN that Israel had agreed to turn water supplies back on for Gaza, a concession confirmed by Israeli officials, but one that Gazan officials said could not be verified because electricity necessary to pump water for use had not been restored. Blinken also announced the appointment of David Satterfield, former US ambassador to Turkey, to help coordinate aid efforts. The new US envoy will be in Israel on Monday. How the Israel war could blow up into a new Middle East disaster The fear of escalation is linked to an expected Israeli ground offensive inside Gaza, which could result in heavy fighting with Hamas and appalling civilian casualties. Experts worry that scenes of civilians caught in the crossfire could spark violence among Palestinians on the West Bank. They could also prompt Hezbollah, a Lebanese-based Islamist party and militant group that like Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by the US, to send thousands of missiles into Israeli cities, opening a second front in the war. Hezbollah is far more powerful than Hamas, and Israel has warned it would launch a destructive counterattack into Lebanon if the group steps up border skirmishes that have already broken out between the two sides. A double assault on Israel by Iranian proxies Hezbollah and Hamas could also lead to Israeli retaliation against the Islamic Republic, raising the risks of US involvement to protect its ally Israel. Irans mission to the United Nations warned on social media Saturday that if Israels strikes on Gaza dont stop, the situation could spiral out of control & ricochet far-reaching consequences. For the United States, there is the risk that a wider conflict could lead to reprisals by terror groups of Iran-backed militias against its remaining troops in Iraq and Syria, where they are engaged in missions to counter ISIS. A fearsome Israeli ground offensive in Gaza would also narrow the diplomatic room that key Arab states such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt have to de-escalate the situation. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for instance called for the immediate lifting of the siege on Gaza when he met Blinken on Sunday and rejected the targeting of civilians, the destruction of critical infrastructure, and the disruption of essential services. With his vehement support for Israel and repeated personal contacts with Netanyahu after the Hamas attacks, Biden laid the ground for Israel to defend itself. But he also created political room for the US to seek to constrain the worst impacts of what is expected to be a ruthless Israeli operation in Gaza and to try to keep longer-term regional peace efforts alive. Given the complexity of the situation and the trauma the Hamas assault created in Israel, its not certain that the presidents balancing act is sustainable. But he has to try, since a major war in the Middle East would stretch US resources even further as Washington maintains a multibillion-dollar lifeline for Ukraine, and could foster an impression of global chaos that could harm Bidens reelection bid next year. The president said in his interview with CBS 60 Minutes Sunday that the US could support both Israel and Ukraine and that it had no choice but to intervene because we are the essential nation. Were the United States of America for Gods sake, the most powerful nation in the history not in the world, in the history of the world, Biden said. We can take care of both of these and still maintain our overall international defense. He added: And if we dont, who does? Bidens effort to rush more aid to both nations is being complicated by chaos in the House of Representatives, which is paralyzed by the divided Republican Partys failure to elect a new speaker. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer tweeted Sunday that the US had to send Israel the support it needed to defend itself. The New York Democrat said a delegation he was leading to Tel Aviv which also includes Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah was rushed to a shelter after an air-raid alert. His post underscored the feeling of foreboding in Israel that is unfolding as Palestinians across the border in Gaza brace for even more relentless attacks, with hundreds of thousands of Israeli reservists poised for an order to move into the territory. Back in Washington, the administration is expected to offer a full classified briefing on the situation to senators Wednesday. As the week begins, there is a daunting sense that as bad as the situation is, its about to get much worse. Veteran US Middle East peace negotiator Aaron David Miller said that the Israeli offensive was coming within days and would be agonizing, but he expressed the hope that diplomatic progress could eventually emerge. Whether it is 24 hours, 48 hours, whether it is by next week, the fact is, its coming, he said. He added he hoped like many crises in this region involving an extraordinary amount of pain, in large measure to civilians there will be some prospect for turning that extra amount of pain into gain. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com The White House announced Sunday the appointment of David Satterfield, former U.S. ambassador to Turkey, to serve as Special Envoy for Middle East Humanitarian Issues. Satterfield, in his new position, will focus on ensuring life-saving assistance can reach vulnerable people throughout the Middle East, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement Sunday. The State Department said Satterfield will lead U.S. diplomatic efforts to address humanitarian needs in Gaza. He will lead a whole-of-government campaign to mitigate the humanitarian fallout of Hamas terrorist attack against Israel, supporting critical efforts by the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Department of States Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, the State Department said in a statement. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Satterfields experience in the region spans more than 40 years and includes assignments in Syria, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and two tours in Lebanon, according to the State Department. Satterfield served as acting assistant secretary for Near Eastern affairs, as the State Departments director of Arab and Arab-Israeli affairs, and as the director for Near Eastern affairs on the National Security Council staff from 1993 to 1996, according to the State Department, working primarily on the Arab-Israeli peace process. He has been the director of the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University since leaving government. Sullivan, in his statement, touted Satterfields decades of experience in the region, saying his work navigating some of the worlds most challenging conflicts will be instrumental in our continued effort to address humanitarian issues in the region. The announcement comes as Israel prepares to launch a ground offensive in Hamas-controlled Gaza, a little more than a week after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israels southern border, killing more than 1,300 Israelis and taking as many as 150 hostages. Israel has responded with a barrage of airstrikes, killing up to 2,000 Palestinians. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. US Navy chief attacks girlfriend in hotel room before good Samaritan steps in: police U.S. Navy Chief Kyle Rogemoser was celebrating his promotion before he landed behind bars for allegedly pummeling his girlfriend in their Florida hotel room as she begged for help, authorities said. A good Samaritan heard her cries, stormed into the DoubleTree hotel room in Jacksonville and rescued the woman before calling 911, according to an arrest report obtained by Fox News Digital. As the witness spoke to responding officers Oct. 7, he spotted Rogemoser, 36, strolling through the hotel lobby and pointed him out to deputies, the report says. Rogemoser, who had a large, red abrasion on his neck, was arrested on one count of misdemeanor domestic battery shortly after midnight. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement MINNESOTA MAN ACCUSED OF USING COLLEGE DORM AS TORTURE DEN MENACED EX WITH ONLINE MESSAGES: AUTHORITIES He appeared to be "extremely intoxicated" and repeatedly told a deputy he could not understand his Miranda rights, police said. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP On Oct. 6, the couple arrived at the hotel about 5 p.m. and shared an "alcoholic beverage," according to the police report. The drink was followed by a "celebratory dinner at the hotel for the suspect's promotion to chief in the Navy and [they were] staying the evening," the victim allegedly told an officer. After the festivities, the couple went up to their hotel room and got into an argument. 911 CALL REVEALS SHOCK OF UTAH MOMMY BLOGGERS' ALLEGED CHILD ABUSE: SHES A BAD LADY' "The victim stated the suspect punched her in the mouth three times," the affidavit alleges. "She started to call for help, and she heard a knock on the hotel door and she opened [it]. The witness came in, picked her up and took her downstairs to management until police were called." The woman's injuries were photographed and included red marks on her chin and her neck as well as fresh blood on her bottom lip. Rogemoser was booked into the Duval County Jail on Oct. 7 and released three days later after a family member posted his $5,003 bail, court records show. READ THE ARREST REPORT AGAINST US NAVY CHIEF KYLE ROGEMOSER FOR ALLEGEDLY PUMMELING HIS GIRLFRIEND The 35-year-old victim, who shares a home with Rogemoser, has a temporary restraining order against him barring all contact. He is due back in court Oct. 31 for his arraignment. Rogemoser and a U.S. Navy spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment. Original article source: US Navy chief attacks girlfriend in hotel room before good Samaritan steps in: police As temperatures rise, desert trek across U.S.-Mexico border becomes more perilous for migrants WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. will offer migrant families separated at the U.S.-Mexico border under then-President Donald Trump temporary legal status and other benefits while barring similar separations in the future, according to a summary of a settlement agreement filed on Monday. (Reporting by Ted Hesson; editing by Jonathan Oatis) Rite Aid has one of the largest pharmacy networks in the United States (SPENCER PLATT) US pharmacy chain Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy Sunday, the company said, after suffering declining sales and legal threats over its alleged involvement in the opioid crisis. Rite Aid has one of the largest pharmacy networks in the United States, with 2,100 outlets selling medicines and health products as well as food and hygiene items. The Philadelphia-based group said it had already reached agreements with several major creditors to restructure its debt, according to a press release. It also said it had received commitments for $3.45 billion in new financing, which should enable it to continue operating. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Investors have expected the bankruptcy filing for several weeks after the share price fell to 38 cents, down from more than $20 just two and a half years ago. Rite Aid is paying the price for a string of failed mergers and acquisitions, as well as the consequences of the opiate crisis. In 2006, it bought the Eckerd and Brooks chains for $3.4 billion in a deal that expanded its network to over 5,000 branches, but also weakened its financial situation. The group then sought to sell itself to rival Walgreens in 2015, but the deal fell through, with Walgreens only taking over 2,200 stores two years later. In 2018, a planned merger with supermarket group Albertsons also fell through. In its last financial year, sales contracted by 1.9 percent to $24 billion, and the group posted a loss of $749 million. In March, the US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Rite Aid in a Cleveland federal court, accusing the company of filling prescriptions for opiates oxycodone and fentanyl, two powerful painkillers responsible for thousands of overdose deaths in the US every year. The opioid crisis, which has caused more than 500,000 deaths over 20 years in the United States, has triggered a flurry of lawsuits against drugmakers, distributors and pharmacies from victims as well as cities, counties and states. tu/lgo/mca/sn Penny Pritzker, the U.S. Special Representative for Economic Recovery in Ukraine, arrived in Kyiv on Oct. 16, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink reported. This is Pritzker's first visit to Ukraine since the appointment in September. "A very warm welcome back to Kyiv, Secretary Pritzker!" Brink wrote on X (formerly Twitter), posting a photo of her and Pritzker at the Kyiv train station. Previously, Pritzker made three official visits to Ukraine when she held the position of commerce secretary in 2013-2017. U.S. President Joe Biden announced on Sept. 14 the creation of a U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine's Economic Recovery and that Pritzker would assume the role. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Read also: Who is Penny Pritzker, new US special representative for Ukraines economic recovery? After the appointment, Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal held a video call with Pritzker, and President Volodymyr Zelensky met her in person in New York, discussing priority areas in Ukraine's reconstruction. Pritzker, who has familial ties to Ukraine, is credited for her experience as an "accomplished public servant" and "transformative industry leader." Her family found a business empire, which includes the Hyatt hotel group. Pritzker's tasks will include mobilizing foreign investments, supporting the re-opening of businesses shut down by Russian attacks, and helping Ukraine grow its exports. Read also: Ukraine Business Roundup Issue 5 Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv on Oct. 16 for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, marking his second visit to Israel this week. Blinkens visit takes place amid ongoing U.S. efforts to help U.S. citizens in the Gaza Strip reach the only exit from the besieged enclave the Rafah crossing point leading to Egypt, CNN reported on Oct. 16. Furthermore, Washington is actively collaborating with regional partners to secure the release of hostages currently held by the Islamist group Hamas. As of now, there are reportedly 199 of them in Gaza. Read also: Russia-Israel relations fracture after Putin's muted reaction to Hamas assault WSJ ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Blinken initially visited Israel on Oct. 12, marking the first time since the militant incursion. During his visit, he announced the forthcoming opening of the Rafah crossing, but as of Oct. 16, this development had not been officially confirmed by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahus office. War in Israel What is Known Large-scale hostilities in Israel began on Oct. 7. From the early morning, the Palestinian militant group Hamas repeatedly targeted the country with thousands of rockets and missiles. Armed Hamas militants then invaded southern Israel, killing people and taking hostages. Read also: Over 1,300 people have lost their lives in recent attacks by Hamas. Over 100 are thought to have been taken hostage by Palestinian militants on Oct. 7, and video evidence shows some of the hostages have since been murdered. So far, seven Ukrainians have been reported dead due to the fighting. Six more are missing, and six have been reported injured. It was revealed on Oct. 8 that Palestinian militants may have killed approximately 260 people on Oct 7 at an electronic music festival near the Kibbutz Reim, 30 kilometers from the Gaza Strip. Efforts are currently underway to identify the bodies of the murdered festivalgoers. Read also: Second evacuation flight from Israel departs with 155 Ukrainians onboard In response to the Hamas attack, the Israel Defense Forces launched Operation Iron Swords, striking the Gaza Strip. During the night of Oct. 8, Israel announced the restoration of control over the majority of the populated areas that had been penetrated by Palestinian militants. Palestinian authorities say at least 2,329 people have been killed and another 9,714 injured in Gaza due to Israeli retaliatory attacks, U.S. television channel ABC has reported. Israels Cabinet has declared a state of war for the first time since 1973, and the countrys prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has warned that the war will be long and challenging. The Israeli defense minister ordered a siege of the Gaza Strip on Oct. 9. In his address to the nation, Netanyahu said that Hamas militants would be destroyed after their atrocities, kidnappings, and murders of children and women. Hamas and other enemies of Israel will pay a price they will remember for decades to come, he said. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine The US military has selected about 2,000 troops to prepare for potential deployments to support Israel. Source: The Wall Street Journal citing unnamed officials Details: According to officials, the troops are tasked with missions such as counseling and medical support and are representatives of the US Armed Forces. They are not expected to perform combat missions, officials said. No infantryman was made ready to deploy. According to officials, troops are currently deployed both in the Middle East and beyond, including Europe. It is unclear under what circumstances or where the US might send troops, but the Pentagon's decision suggests it is preparing to support Israeli forces if Israel launches a ground invasion of Gaza. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Background: On 16 October, it was revealed that the White House does not rule out the possibility that the US military might have to help free hostages held by Hamas. Earlier it was reported that US President Joe Biden held separate phone conversations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas amid Israel's preparations for an operation in the Gaza Strip. Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron! FILE PHOTO: U.S. Senator Robert Menendez and his wife Nadine Menendez arrive at Federal Court in New York US Senator Menendez's arraignment on new charges moved to Oct. 23 -judge FILE PHOTO: U.S. Senator Robert Menendez and his wife Nadine Menendez arrive at Federal Court in New York WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez 's arraignment on new charges that he conspired to act as a foreign agent for Egypt has been rescheduled for Oct. 23, a federal judge in New York said on Monday. Menendez had been scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday but his lawyer on Saturday requested a new date because the New Jersey Democrat had Senate business in Washington on that day. U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein granted the request. Menendez was charged with Foreign Agents Registration Act violations, along with his wife and other codefendants, in federal court in New York on Oct. 12. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement In September, Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, were charged with accepting bribes, including gold bars and hundreds of thousands of dollars, in exchange for using their influence to interfere with law enforcement probes of three New Jersey businessmen and aid the Egyptian government. He pleaded not guilty. His trial is set for May 6. (Reporting by Jasper Ward in Washington; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Matthew Lewis) Washington (CNN) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has invited US President Joe Biden to visit Israel soon, and both countries are discussing the possibility, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. It wasnt clear how advanced the discussions were, or when a possible trip might occur. The White House said Sunday it didnt have any new travel plans by the president to announce. We have no new travel to announce, National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said. If it did materialize, a trip would amount to a dramatic show of support by Biden for Israel as the country responds to last weekends devastating attacks by Hamas. Israel has been signaling it is preparing for a ground invasion of Gaza even as a humanitarian crisis inside the coastal Palestinian enclave is growing. Biden has called for the protection of civilians, and the US has been working to alleviate shortages of food, water and gas. A Biden visit would also amount to a message to other players in the region, including the Iran-backed Hezbollah, that they should not escalate the conflict further. A trip would follow high-stakes shuttle diplomacy by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has been jetting between countries in the region for the past several days. The president would likely come bearing a similar message to that of his top diplomat, including the necessity of protecting civilian lives. Biden spoke Saturday with both Netanyahu and the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. It was Bidens fifth telephone call with Netanyahu since the attack last weekend. The US announced Saturday it was sending a second aircraft carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean to deter hostile actions against Israel or any efforts toward widening this war, according to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Penny Pritzker , US Special Representative for Ukraine's Economic Recovery, has arrived in Kyiv. Source: European Pravda Pritzkers arrival became known from a tweet by US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink, who posted a joint photo of the officials at the railway station. A very warm welcome back to Kyiv, Secretary Pritzker! pic.twitter.com/h6S9dO7fyk Ambassador Bridget A. Brink (@USAmbKyiv) October 16, 2023 This is Pritzker's first visit to Ukraine since she was appointed to this position in mid-September 2023. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement She has already met with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in New York. Pritzkers responsibilities include working with the Ukrainian authorities, the US and partners, as well as the private sector. Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron! The United States is able to support Ukraine, Israel, and maintain its own defenses at the same time, U.S. President Joe Biden said in an interview with U.S. television news network CBS published on Oct. 15. Asked whether the simultaneous support of Ukraine in the war with Russia and Israel in the conflict with Hamas was too much for the United States to handle, Biden said he was confident that the country would be able to manage the task. Read also: What does the war in Israel change for Ukraine "We're the United States of America for God's sake, the most powerful nation in the history not in the world, in the history of the world," he said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement We can take care of both of these and still maintain our overall international defense. Biden also explained how the wars in Israel and Ukraine are linked to the United States own security. "For example, in Ukraine one of my objectives was to prevent Putin, who has committed war crimes himself, from being able to occupy an independent country that borders NATO allies and is on the Russian border," the U.S. leader said. Imagine what happens now if he were able to succeed. Read also: US plans to bundle aid to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan in one bill report Biden said that if Russia were to win, the United States would be drawn into a "major war in Europe," as was the case before. "We don't want that to happen," he said. We want to make sure those democracies are sustained. And Ukraine is critical in making sure that happens. On Oct. 13, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also emphasized that the United States can and will support Israel and Ukraine simultaneously. Austin assured Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov on Oct. 11 that U.S. support for Ukraine would continue for at least this year and the next. 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 OSHKOSH University of Wisconsin Oshkosh has trimmed its workforce by 216 after 140 layoff notices were issued Monday and 76 employees accepted a voluntary retirement offer. Additionally, another 34.5 vacant positions will remain unfilled, the university said in a news release Monday afternoon. Savings from the moves is expected to be about $14.7 million about $8 million from the layoffs, $4.76 million from voluntary retirements and $1.9 from open positions, the university said. The layoffs affect UWO administrative employees and staff while no faculty members were laid off. Of the 76 who accepted voluntary retirement, 49 are staff, 21 are faculty and six are instructional academic staff, the university said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The last day of employment for laid-off employees is Jan. 20, 2024, and the last day of employment for those taking voluntary retirement varies, but is no later than Jan. 9, 2024. The university said it is providing resources, benefits information, job placement assistance and other support to employees affected by layoffs. UWO protests: Layoffs, furloughs, increased workloads fuel protest at UW-Oshkosh We announced in August layoffs would be part of our plan to address an $18 million deficit, Andrew Leavitt, chancellor of the university, said in the release. That early notice in no way lessens the difficulty of this day. The actions we are taking are structured with stewardship: to support UWOs core academic mission, to have minimal impact on students and student success, and to sustain an institution this region, the state and its people will rely on for decades to come. Twelve UWO leaders serving in 10 positions are being impacted by layoff, retirement or reassignment, the release said. This equates to 22% of the positions in the administrative organizational chart. Changes include the elimination of one of four of UWOs vice chancellor positions, four associate and assistant chancellors, four director-level positions and three other administrative posts. In fall 2022, UWO and UW-La Crosse had the lowest administrative expenditures as a percentage of overall expenditures (8%) of any Universities of Wisconsin comprehensive institution, according to the Universities of Wisconsin Accountability Dashboard. UW enrollment: Enrollment dips at most UW campuses, but UW System president thinks campuses 'have turned a corner' on COVID-19 UWOs Institutional Realignment Plan to address the $18 million deficit during the 2023-24 academic year includes the layoffs, voluntary retirement program, furloughs and nonrenewal of instructional academic staff contracts, which are separately managed by college deans and academic department chairs to respond to student enrollment. In the coming months, the news release said UWO will work through the next stages of the IRP. A separate academic planning process, led by UWO Provost Ed Martini, college deans and a faculty workgroup, is examining the current structure of the four UWO colleges and academic programs. Heading into fiscal year 2025, the release said "UWO will continue reviewing non-academic program budgets, university service contracts, and building and energy usage on the Oshkosh campus for additional savings." Contact Brandon Reid at 920-686-2984 or breid@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @breidHTRNews. This article originally appeared on Oshkosh Northwestern: UW Oshkosh layoffs total 140, 76 take early retirement (Bloomberg) -- Venezuelas government will resume talks with the US-backed opposition, clearing a path for the Biden administration to ease some sanctions on the South American country, including on its oil industry. Most Read from Bloomberg The deal, which includes allowing banned opposition candidates to run in the 2024 presidential vote, would mark the first major political concession by the government of Nicolas Maduro in a decade, as the US seeks improvement of electoral conditions in exchange for much-needed sanctions relief. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Venezuelan officials are signing the deal in Barbados on Tuesday, according to officials from Norway, which is facilitating the talks. People familiar with the plans said Biden administration officials will attend. Were on the verge of starting a good round of signing documents for electoral guarantees, Maduro said on his TV show Monday evening. He didnt disclose details of this or the wider deal he said he had already signed with the US, but he did say he would never endorse any irregularity. The sanctions relief will ease some restrictions on Venezuelas oil industry, according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity. That could lead to an increase in exports. Those changes are expected to be announced after Maduros government and the opposition sign the agreement, according to one of the people. Oil edged lower on Monday following a rally last week on reports that the Biden administration is agreeing to ease Venezuela sanctions and with the US ramping up diplomatic efforts to contain the Israel-Hamas war from widening into a regional crisis. West Texas Intermediate futures fell below $87 a barrel earlier after surging almost $5 last week. Read more: Oil Slips as US Diplomacy in Middle East, Venezuela Calms Market The resumption of talks will allow officials to work through details of a wider agreement between Caracas and Washington in the coming weeks, the people said. The Venezuelan parties will then be in charge of implementing the agreement. If Maduros government allows frontrunner Maria Corina Machado to participate in the election, it would represent the biggest challenge to his rule since 2013. Machado is the clear favorite in a primary vote scheduled for Oct. 22, according to a recent survey by Delphos, a Caracas-based firm, which would make her the opposition candidate for the presidential elections. The agreement will focus on the timing and scope of the upcoming elections and impose monitoring to ensure it is upheld, according to people familiar with the terms. Previously disqualified candidates seeking to run must ask Venezuelas Supreme Court to lift any restrictions on them, the people said. The 2024 presidential vote would take place in the second half of that year, the people said, and include the presence of international observers. Earlier: US, Venezuela Near Deal on Sanctions Relief for Fair Elections The participants plan to hold a press conference Tuesday in Barbados after the agreement is signed, according to the people. The latest agreement unfreezes negotiations between representatives of the Maduro government and their foes, which had been in hold after the government accused the opposition of not complying with a humanitarian agreement signed in November. Officials from the United States and Venezuela in late June engaged in direct, bilateral talks, and have met on at least four occasions in various countries, with the most recent meeting taking place in Qatar. Earlier: US Set to Resume Direct Deportations Back to Venezuela Developments in recent days have shown a thaw among the parties, including the decision by the Biden administration to resume flights sending migrants who entered the US illegally back to Venezuela, and Maduro allowing a recently appointed Venezuelan electoral body to register new voters ahead of the coming primary election. Maduro has sought for years to end US sanctions on his countrys economy with his government in desperate need of cash. --With assistance from Eric Martin. (Updates with Maduros comments in fourth paragraph) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. By Mayela Armas, Matt Spetalnick and Marianna Parraga CARACAS/WASHINGTON/HOUSTON (Reuters) -Venezuela's government and opposition plan to resume long-suspended talks on Tuesday, and Washington is ready to ease sanctions if President Nicolas Maduro commits to an internationally monitored election next year, multiple sources said on Monday. The U.S. has long said it would lift some sanctions in exchange for democratic concessions from Maduro, but the announcement offered the first concrete schedule in nearly a year for government-opposition talks. President Joe Biden's administration has been shifting toward increasing U.S. engagement with Caracas on issues from energy to immigration to political reform, away from former President Donald Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Initial steps would involve significant but limited sanctions relief for now, possibly removing some restrictions on Venezuela's banking sector, the U.S, sources said, adding that further relaxation would depend on whether Maduro organizes fair elections that meet international standards. The negotiations, meant to provide a way out of Venezuela's long-running political and economic crisis, will take place in Barbados. Maduro, a socialist president since 2013, is expected to run for re-election but has not yet formalized his candidacy. His government has banned prominent opposition figures from running. Maduro's representatives and the opposition are expected to sign an election agreement on Tuesday, and the U.S. would quickly follow with authorizations related to Venezuela's oil business, two people in Washington familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity. Any U.S. action would come only after an agreement under which Maduro commits to a presidential election date and lifting of the bans on opposition candidates, these two sources said. One source in Washington said initial sanctions-easing steps could be announced within hours of the Barbados signing if the U.S. is satisfied Maduro has fulfilled his commitment at this stage. Among the steps under consideration is restoring Venezuelan banks' access to the global financial system, which could facilitate further oil-related transactions, the source said. The U.S. State Department celebrated the announcement of the return to talks but did not mention sanctions relief. "The United States will continue its efforts to unite the international community in support of the Venezuelan-led negotiation process," it said. It was not immediately known whether U.S. officials would be present for the talks or announcement in Barbados. The U.S. is mindful that Maduro has failed to meet previous commitments on holding free elections and is watching closely to ensure he complies with his latest promises, sources said. The opposition is set to hold a primary on Sunday to choose its 2024 candidate. Front-runner Maria Corina Machado is currently banned from holding public office. Some members of the opposition said on Monday that they doubted Maduro would follow through on his promises. Last week, Reuters reported, citing five sources, that Venezuela and the U.S. had progressed at talks in Qatar toward a deal that could allow at least one additional foreign oil firm to take Venezuelan crude oil for debt repayment if Maduro resumed negotiations with the opposition. Two of those sources named France's Maurel & Prom, a joint venture partner with Venezuela state-run oil company PDVSA, as a possible recipient of a U.S. "comfort letter." At the time a Maurel & Prom spokesperson confirmed that the company "made a request to this effect to U.S. authorities" but declined to elaborate. A U.S. comfort letter would allow a partner of PDVSA to take Venezuelan oil for exports as debt repayment or establish an oil swap deal to settle pending debts and dividends. U.S. SANCTIONS The U.S. imposed sanctions on Venezuela to punish Maduro's government following a 2018 election that Washington considered a sham, citing lack of democratic guarantees and human rights violations. Since 2019, U.S. sanctions ban PDVSA from exporting its oil to its chosen markets. Trump's sanctions, combined with diplomatic pressure, were intended to force Maduro's ouster. Maduro and his government have survived with support from the military plus China, Russia and Cuba. The Biden administration has been seeking ways to increase the flow of oil to world markets to alleviate high prices caused by sanctions on Russia over its war in Ukraine and OPEC+ decisions to cut output. But with no substantial investment in Venezuela's oil sector for over a decade, any real oil output increase will take time, according to analysts. Biden's administration has kept most sanctions in place in an effort to force Maduro to take concrete steps toward free elections, holding out sanctions relief as an enticement and drawing criticism from opponents. Assailing Biden's energy policies, Republican U.S. Senator John Barrasso said in a statement: "America should never beg for oil from socialist dictators or terrorists." The return to talks between Maduro's government and the opposition was announced in a statement published by Norway, an observer. They last met in November 2022. Another source in Washington said a document that is expected to be signed on Tuesday in Barbados would include a date for the election in the latter half of next year and allow international observers. It would also allow participation of opposition figures who are currently barred from holding office, the source added. It remained unclear whether all opposition candidates would have their bans lifted. The opposition considers the bans unlawful. The government and opposition last year agreed to the use of $3 billion in frozen assets for humanitarian needs, via a United Nations-run fund that is not yet operational. (Reporting by Mayela Armas in Caracas, Matt Spetalnick in Washington and Marianna Parraga in Houston; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by David Gregorio) Venezuela's government and opposition said Monday they will restart talks seeking to end the country's political and economic crisis, after a nearly year-long suspension. In a joint statement, the two sides said that the Norway-facilitated negotiations will resume Tuesday in Bridgetown, Barbados, with participation of the United States -- the destination for millions of Venezuelans who have fled economic hardship at home. The opposition, backed by several countries including the United States, did not recognize President Nicolas Maduro's 2018 re-election in a vote widely dismissed as fraudulent. The following year, Washington ramped up sanctions against Caracas first imposed in 2015 over the brutal repression of anti-government protests. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement On Monday, the United States welcomed the announcement of fresh talks. "Along with likeminded partners and other friends of Venezuela, the United States will continue its efforts to unite the international community in support of the Venezuelan-led negotiation process," US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. Talks seeking to end the impasse began in August 2021 but were suspended in October after the extradition to the United States of businessman Alex Saab, a Colombian national accused of acting as a money launderer for Venezuela's socialist leader. The negotiations briefly resumed but in November 2022 there was a new break after the government said continued dialogue was conditional on the release of $3 billion in frozen funds abroad. The opposition, for its part, wants guarantees for free and fair elections next year. In March, a Venezuelan official said free presidential elections in 2024 were dependent on the lifting of sanctions by the United States and European Union. - 'Absolutely economic' - Observers hope the Barbados talks will yield an agreement through which, in exchange for sanctions easing, an election timetable will be drawn up for 2024 and the opposition allowed to hold primary elections later this month. They also hope it will yield the release of political prisoners and the lifting of political disqualifications of presidential candidates. The energy crisis sparked by Russia's war on Ukraine saw global efforts renewed to solve the crisis in Venezuela, which has the world's largest oil reserves. Last year, US delegates went to Caracas to meet Maduro, event though it does not recognize him as a legitimate leader. After talks initially resumed between the government in Caracas and the opposition, Washington granted a six-month license to US energy giant Chevron to operate in Venezuela and has voiced a willingness to ease sanctions further in return for progress. Earlier this month, the two countries struck a deal under which Venezuela would accept back nationals deported from the United States after arriving there illegally. Oil prices fell Monday on the promise of a prospective deal loosening sanctions on Venezuelan crude exports. According to state-owned broadcaster Voice of America, American diplomats planned to travel to Barbados to meet representatives of both delegations. "The United States is interested in normalizing relations a little, not so much for political reasons, but rather for the benefit of its national interest, which is absolutely economic," Venezuelan political consultant Pablo Quintero told AFP. jt/atm/mlr/des By Mayela Armas and Marianna Parraga CARACAS/HOUSTON (Reuters) - Some members of the Venezuelan opposition said on Monday, the eve of the planned signing of an agreement on presidential elections next year, that they doubted President Nicolas Maduro will follow through on his promises. Maduro's government and the opposition are set to meet in Barbados to sign a deal on election conditions, marking a restart to talks paused since last year aimed at finding a way out of Venezuela's long political and social crisis. There has been no announcement on what the deal contains, but sources have told Reuters it includes an election date in the latter half of 2024, permission for international observers and lifting of a ban blocking some or all opposition primary candidates from holding office. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement At least two candidates initially set to run in the primary this week have bowed out because they are banned, though front-runner Maria Corina Machado, who is also barred, remains in the race. The opposition considers the bans unlawful, and Washington has rejected any roadblocks to opposition candidates' race to the presidency. The agreement to be signed on Tuesday would lift all public office bans, one opposition source told Reuters, but its wording is too vague to inspire confidence that Maduro will honor the deal. "There's, once again, a general sense of distrust after the many failed attempts to make Maduro follow his promises," the source said. Four other opposition sources agreed, with one saying the deal was largely negotiated by the United States. "Maduro is forced to concede right now, but the situation could be the opposite next year," one said. "We all have our doubts, but we're exhausting our options," said another opposition source. "What's left to us is to make all the attempts necessary via negotiations." "It's a negotiation to get free and moderately competitive elections, (the government) won't give full (free) conditions," the latter source added. The U.S., which is expected to loosen some sanctions in recognition of the government-opposition deal, will act only once the deal has been signed, sources told Reuters on Monday. Further relaxation of U.S. sanctions would depend on whether Maduro makes further concessions and organizes fair elections that meet international standards, those sources said. A large portion of what will be signed on Tuesday was discussed by Maduro's representatives and U.S. officials at negotiations in Doha, according to sources. Maduro envoys and the opposition have met sporadically for years. In 2022 they agreed to use some $3 billion in frozen funds for humanitarian needs, but execution of the U.N.-administered fund is still pending. The United States expanded Chevron's oil license to operate in Venezuela in response. Negotiations must result in deals, said Benigno Alarcon, director of the political studies center at Andres Bello Catholic University in Caracas. "What people expect from a negotiation process is that the negotiation allows, among other things, a return to democratic normalcy," Alarcon said. Political agreements have often proven more difficult than deals on sanctions, the economy and legal actions against individuals, he said. "We've seen deals are possible, but it's always been very complicated to have deals on political issues. We need to see if it's possible this time." (Reporting by Marianna Parraga in Houston and Mayela Armas in Caracas. Aditional reporting by Deisy Buitrago.; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by David Gregorio) MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro will attend next Sunday's meeting in southern Mexico where regional leaders will discuss rising U.S.-bound migration in Latin America, Mexico's foreign ministry announced in a statement on Monday. The participation of Maduro at the Oct. 22 summit could be crucial since large numbers of Venezuelan migrants have for years been leaving their home country to cross through Central American and Mexico and attempt to enter the United States. Over the past decade, Maduro has presided over a mass exodus of more than seven million Venezuelans amid a prolonged economic meltdown in the South American nation. Mexico's Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena met with Maduro in the Venezuelan capital where they discussed the importance of maintaining dialogue to solve the challenges around human mobility and address its root causes, according to the statement. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Colombian President Gustavo Petro is also set to attend the meeting in Mexico's southern Chiapas state, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said last week. Prior to the summit, leaders across the region are drafting a plan to curb rising migration in the region that should later be approved by all participants, Lopez Obrador said. (Reporting by Raul Cortes Fernandez; Editing by David Alire Garcia) In order to understand the macro dynamics of materials, scientists need to understand what instigates certain phenomena, which occur on infinitesimally small timescales. To this end, scientists at the Technical University of Denmark and Stanford University successfully filmed sound waves in a diamond crystal structure for the first time ever using an X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL). Gaining insight into these sub-microsecond processes could pave the way toward advancements in materials science and geoscience. Understanding the crystalline structure of materials and how they react to certain phenomena is vital to advancing the field of materials physics. Being able to create new electrical circuits, photonic chips, or next-generation superconductors means understanding materials on extremely minute scales. To achieve this, scientists use whats known as an X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL), like the one at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC). At the end of this 1.8-mile-long tube is a microscope that examines materials using extremely bright X-rays at across a 1 mm sample. Crucially, these XFEL facilities (of which there are only a handful across the globe) create movies capturing the atomic goings-on inside a crystalline structure. And for the first time ever, scientists from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and Stanford University captured sound waves as they traveled through a diamond crystal. To capture these sound waves, scientists successfully filmed the crystal sample with extremely high precision, as the wave only exists within the crystal for one-millionth of a second. The results were published in mid-September in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Our hair-thin X-ray and optical laser beams had to meet on the mm-sized single-crystal diamond sample with a better timing accuracy than a nanosecond before the first data could be acquired, Henning Friis Poulsen, a physics professor at DTU and study co-author, said in a press statement . But we did it, and I believe these results will inspire a plethora of new research. Using the ultrafast and ultra-bright laser pulses at SLACs Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), the team measured this acoustic phenomena with sub-picosecond accuracya level of detail never before captured. They were also able to capture these sound waves non-invasively, which helped preserve the structural integrity of the sample. The video above shows different sound waves as they reflect off the surface of the crystalline structure like an impossibly tiny game of Pong. Another video shows how the sound wave diffuses and attenuates over less than a microsecond timescale. With this setup, we can investigate a wide range of ultrafast structural phenomena that have so far been beyond the reach of science, DTUs Theodor Holstad, a co-author of the study, said in a press statement. Visualizing structural processes on a timescale of less than a microsecond is relevant for solid-state physics, materials science, and geoscience. Understanding these small nuances at extremely small scales can also give important insight into large scale phenomenafor example, why certain materials strengthen while others shatter when subjected to the same level of force. Stanfords Leora Dresselhaus-Marais, who was involved with the study, says in a Stanford press statement that, though we have an advanced understanding of these more macro phenomena (such as phase transformations), scientists are still missing vital information regarding these instigating events that occur at incredibly short timescales. But, she added, the gaps in our knowledge are slowly disappearing. By showing this behavior in diamonda crystal with the fastest sound speedwe illustrate the new opportunities now available with our microscope to study new phenomena deep inside crystals, Dresselhaus-Marais said. With ultrashort timescales now at our fingertips, we have the ability to hunt for these rare events at their native timescales. You Might Also Like Hundreds of Viking monuments dot Denmarks coastal countryside. These carved stones, known as runes, are inscribed with the names of powerful Vikings who ruled the region over 1,000 years ago. Among the names etched into the runes most of which belonged to men one stands out among all the others. It appears on an unprecedented four granite stones, making it the most commemorated Viking name in all of Denmark. The name, Thyra , refers to a Viking queen, indicating she may have surpassed her male counterparts in becoming the most influential leader of her era, according to a study published on Oct. 11 in the journal Antiquity. Thyra was one of the key figuresor even the key figurefor the assembling of the Danish realm, in which she herself may have played an active part, the authors of the study, who are affiliated with the National Museum of Denmark, the Swedish National Heritage Board and the County Administrative Board of West Sweden, a suggest. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Queen Thyra is described in historical texts as a wise ruler who defended Denmark from southern invaders, though details about her reign are sparse. She was also the mother of King Harald Bluetooth, who unified Denmark and converted its citizens to Christianity in the 10th century A.D., according to the museum. Researchers used 3D scanning techniques to analyze the inscriptions on two groups of rune stones. The first cluster of stones, the Jelling stones, were installed by Bluetooth, while the second group was raised by an individual known as Ravnunge-Tue. Both collections make mention of a woman named Thyra. We wanted to see if we could find the same rune carver on some of these stones, so that we could connect the Ravnunge-Tue stones with the Jelling stones, Lisbeth Imer, one of the study authors, told industry publication Phys.org. If there was a connection, it would be highly likely that all the stones referred to the same woman, Thyra, mother of Harald Bluetooth. Using digital models of the stones, researchers examined the inscriptions, hoping to identify subtle details in carving techniques. The method is based on the premise that carvers practicing their craft, like any craftworkers, develop their own individual motor performance, the authors said. This means that, with time and experience, they develop their own distinctive ways of working, which in turn creates a personal signature in the rune grooves. Similarities in the engravings on both groups of stones indicated that they were all indeed produced by the same person, suggesting that the four etchings of the name Thyra all referred to the same individual. This means that Queen Thyra was far more important than we previously assumed, Imer said in a museum news release. This is extremely interesting when it comes to understanding the power structure and the genesis of Denmark as a nation. The discovery led to the creation of a Danish television series called The Thyra Enigma, which premiered on Sept. 27. Ancient finger painting? 57,000-year-old marks in cave are from Neanderthals, study says Family searching for lost earring finds Viking-era burial instead, Norway photos show Metal detectorist unearths stash of Viking treasure in Norway then keeps quiet (Bloomberg) -- Its not just Polands nationalist leadership thats been upset by a surprise election victory for the pro-European Union opposition. Most Read from Bloomberg Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbans self-described illiberal democracy is now suddenly more isolated than ever in the bloc as the fate of billion of euros in aid from Brussels hangs in the balance. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Hungary and Poland have been challenging the EUs values for years, from their opposition to migration to the politicization of the media and the courts. Orban has been the ideological ringleader, but Polands Law & Justice party, helming the EUs sixth-largest economy, provided weight to the populist push and veto powers that often gave Orban air cover. Now the Hungarian-Polish alliance, already frayed after Russias invasion of Ukraine, is poised to undergo a U-turn as former European Council President Donald Tusk is set to return as Polish premier. He has pledged to return Poland to the EU political mainstream, ending eight years of nationalist rule. An opposition victory in Poland carries incalculable consequences for Hungarys situation in the EU, Deputy Foreign Minister Levente Magyar said in an election watch program by the Mandiner weekly before polls closed. Hungary will be left vulnerable. Tusk, who is deeply suspicious of Orban and his governments ties to Russia, is bound to put distance between Poland and Hungary, according to a person familiar with the prime minister-in-waitings thinking. Tusk was instrumental in ousting Orbans Fidesz party from the EUs center-right group, the European Peoples Party, at one point calling Orbans politics dangerous and morally unacceptable. The changing of the guard in Warsaw will leave Orban without a steadfast ally that had consistently shielded Hungary with the threat of a veto in the EUs Article 7 rule-of-law procedure, a decision that needs to be taken unanimously and can end with the suspension of a member states voting rights in the bloc. The procedure against Hungary and Poland has dragged on for years, with each vowing to veto a decision to protect the other. Slovakia Question The return to power this month of Orban ally Robert Fico in Slovakia carried no guarantee that Hungary will be able to count on its northern neighbor in the EU, Magyar said. The biggest question is over the tens of billions of euros in funding that the EU has suspended for Hungary and Poland due to the erosion of the rule of law. While Polands new government will be expected to move quickly to pass legislation that will unlock its money, Hungary may find itself in a tougher predicament. The forint rose 0.2% against the euro on Monday while the zloty strengthened more than 1%, leading emerging market gains as investors bet that Poland was moving closer to accessing those EU funds. The EU Commission is preparing to take a decision on whether to release Hungarys funding in weeks, Vice President Vera Jourova told Radio Free Europe in an interview published on Friday. In Brussels, the hope is that if theres a left-wing government in Poland and Hungary will be left alone and it will be easier for them to deal with us, Orban told state radio on Sept. 29. The outcome of Polands election will accelerate the decision on the fate of Hungarian money, one way or another. --With assistance from Marton Kasnyik. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Violent crime ticked down in 2022, and car thefts spiked, according to data released by the FBI Monday. The FBI's 2022 crime report compiles crime statistics from law enforcement agencies and partners nationwide, painting a picture of top crime trends in the U.S. Crime and public safety consistently rank high among issues for Americans heading to the polls, with politicians on both sides of the aisle messaging on violent crime and gun control measures. Here's what the latest numbers tell us. Violent crime trending down Nationwide violent crime waned a little in 2022, according to the FBI report. Accounting for murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape, aggravated assault and robbery, violent crime decreased collectively by 1.7% last year. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Homicides dropped by 6.1% nationwide, while aggravated assaults dipped by just 1.1% overall. Rape decreased by 5.4% in 2022, according to the data. Guns used in 80% of murder, manslaughter crimes Firearms ranked highest among weapons used in violent crime offenses, with roughly 80.3% of murder and manslaughter crimes carried out with guns, according to FBI data. Overall, an estimated 488,900 violent crime offenses reported involved one or more guns in 2022, marking a 0.6% increase compared to last year. More minors were shot in 2022 than in 2021, according to the FBI statistics. While fatal and non-fatal gun deaths decreased for adults, the estimated volume of juvenile victims of fatal gun violence increased by a whopping 11.8%, from 1,300 to 1,500. Non-fatal gunshot incidents for juveniles also increased spiking by 10.6%, from 61,800 to 68,300. Car thefts up Motor vehicle theft saw a substantial increase of 10.9% from 2021 to 2022, with nearly a million vehicles stolen in 2022. According to FBI data, nearly 70,000 people were arrested for motor vehicle theft in 2022, including 2,000 who were carrying a firearm at the time of arrest. Carjackings were up 8.1% in 2022, compared to the previous year. Nearly 90% of carjackings involved a weapon, and more offenders worked in groups, marking a 13% increase in arrests involving two or more suspects. Males under the age of 18 accounted for 17.8% of those arrested. Data shows nearly half of all carjackings occur at night, between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m. Hate crimes Hate crime statistics released by the FBI show that reported incidents in 2022 rose to 11,634 incidents, the highest number recorded since the FBI started tracking data in 1991 and marking a 0.5% increase compared with 2021. Reported single-bias anti-Jewish hate crime incidents rose by more than 37%, reaching 1,122 incidents. "Reported hate crime incidents across the country have once again reached record highs, with anti-Jewish hate crimes at a number not seen in decades," Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League said in a statement, calling the reality of the data "sobering," albeit "not surprising." Property crimes spike on college campuses Property crime rose 7.1% from 2021 to 2022, with property crimes on college campuses spiking 35.4% in 2022, according to the FBI. There were more than 6.5 million instances of property crime reported to the FBI in 2022, the bureau said. Larceny property theft without violence increased by 7.8% compared to 2021. More police agencies contributed statistics to FBI In 2022, more than 15,000 police agencies nationwide submitted crime data to the FBI, an increase of roughly 1,500 law enforcement agencies, compared with 2021. According to the FBI, the data contributed represents roughly 93% of the population. Notably, this year's report includes data from every city with a population of 1 million or greater. Editor's note: This story has been updated with a more comprehensive figure on the increase in vehicle thefts. President Joe Biden: The 2023 60 Minutes Interview Mother of French-Israeli hostage appeals for Hamas to return their daughter Trump back in court for New York fraud trial after Michael Cohen postpones testimony UPDATE: More details were added to reflect additional information VPD provided one day after the incident. (KRON) A TikTok video showing a Vallejo police officer punching a woman is beginning to go viral. The 50-second video, which has over half a million views, shows the end of a police chase after a burglary of a Vallejo business. A business near Gateway Plaza Shopping Center was burglarized on Friday, the Vallejo Police Department (VPD) told KRON4. That prompted a pursuit in which the suspect was driving recklessly in a blue Nissan Altima and crashed into a truck in the area of Auto Mall Pkwy and Admiral Callaghan Lane. The woman resisted arrest and tried to escape from police, authorities said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Around the 10-second mark of the video (watch above), the officer is seen pulling the woman out of her car and slamming her against the truck. Shortly after, the officer is seen punching the woman at least once. Thousands in Merchandise Stolen That Led To Pursuit Fridays events began when approximately $2,000 worth of merchandise was stolen from an unnamed business on the 1100 block of Admiral Callaghan Lane, according to VPD. The Nissan Altima was seen leaving with those items. Tesla catches fire on SF street, presumed to have been caused by homeless person: officials Officers tried to conduct a traffic stop, but the driver refused to yield. Police added the driver ran a red light and collided with two vehicles one that had a mother and her two four-year-old sons inside. The mother suffered moderate injuries, and the children were not hurt. After the collision, the passenger of the Nissan ran away only to be apprehended a short time later. However, the driver was not able to escape as the officer opened her car door in order to make an arrest, police said. The events that follow can be seen in the video above. VPD said the woman actively continued to resist arrest, which prompted the officer to punch her. Once the suspect was on the ground, she continued to actively resist, pivoting her body and gauging the officers arm in an attempt to escape, prompting him to strike her once to gain immediate compliance, the department wrote in a Facebook post. Thus, the officer was able to detain the suspect. Both the woman and the officer were injured in the incident. Police said the suspect was injured from the car crash, and the officer was injured from trying to arrest the woman. The driver and the passenger of the Nissan were both taken into custody, according to VPD. They also stole another $1,000 worth of merchandise from the same business on Sept. 26. Records show the driver was on felony probation for grand theft and shoplifting, police said. She was also arrested on Oct. 4 for allegedly stealing $30,00 worth of merchandise from another business. As of Friday night, the TikTok has garnered more than 467,000 views, 49,000 likes and 2,400 comments. The incident will be reviewed under the departments use of force policy. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com. By Gabriella Borter and Joseph Ax STAFFORD, Virginia (Reuters) - At a community fair in Stafford, Virginia, this month, Britainy Riggins approached Democratic state Senate candidate Joel Griffin with a single question: Did he support a woman's right to have an abortion? Riggins, a 36-year-old government administrator who has had an abortion, said preserving reproductive rights was top of mind for her as she considers voting in the state's Nov. 7 election. Griffin was eager to tell her that he had "always supported a woman's right to choose." A year after abortion was widely credited with forestalling a Republican "red wave" in the 2022 U.S. midterm elections, the Virginia election offers a preview of whether the issue will remain as potent in 2024, when the presidency as well as Congress will be at stake. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Virginia is the only southern state that has not enacted an abortion ban in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last year to eliminate a nationwide right, and the issue now dominates legislative races that will determine whether Republicans have the power to implement new restrictions. Virginia Republicans, mindful of the backlash to a spate of stringent bans in other states, have coalesced around Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin 's plan to limit abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions for rape, incest and to save the mother's life. That position, they say, is a moderate compromise between a total ban and abortions without limits. If that message succeeds, it could offer a blueprint for Republicans around the country on an issue that has bedeviled the party. A Republican sweep would also likely intensify calls from some party donors for Youngkin to step into the Republican presidential race, where former President Donald Trump holds a commanding lead for the party's nomination despite a litany of legal problems. "I think most voters believe that abortion should not be banned, and most voters believe that there should be reasonable limits," said Todd Gilbert, the Republican speaker of the House of Delegates, who promised his party would not seek a tougher ban under his leadership. A Gallup poll this year found that while 69% of U.S. adults support legal abortion in the first trimester, just 37% support it in the second. Democrats argue even a 15-week limit is unacceptable and warn that Republicans might seek to restrict abortion further in the future. They say the Virginia elections will reinforce that Republicans are out of step with U.S. voter sentiment on the issue, no matter what form of limit they support. "This isn't just the last race of 2023 - it's the first race of 2024," said Susan Swecker, the state Democratic chair. "Virginia provides a roadmap for the next president." DUELING ACCUSATIONS Money has poured into Virginia ahead of the election. The national Democratic Party has spent more than $3.5 million, while the States Project, a liberal group that focuses on state legislative races, this week announced $4.5 million in spending. Youngkin's Spirit of Virginia political action committee has raised more than $15 million since March. Democratic candidates for both chambers had pulled in more than $67 million through August, and Republicans had raised $45 million, for a total of $113 million more than two months before Election Day, according to the non-profit Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP). In 2019, the last time both chambers were at stake, the candidates spent a total of $124 million. Democrats hold a 22-18 advantage in the state Senate, allowing them to block Youngkin's 15-week measure so far, while Republicans have a 52-48 edge in the House. Every seat in the state Senate and House is on the ballot in November, and control in each chamber is likely to come down to a handful of competitive districts. One such race is in northern Virginia, where Griffin, a Marine Corps veteran, is vying for the open 27th Senate district against independent Monica Gary and Republican Tara Durant, who currently serves in the House of Delegates. Like other Democrats in the state, Griffin has made protecting abortion rights a pillar of his campaign. Democratic ads have featured abortion more than any other issue, the tracking firm AdImpact said on Twitter. Among the 14 most competitive races, as rated by VPAP, 13 of the Democrats mention abortion on their campaign websites, compared with five Republicans. Republicans have focused on some of the issues that elevated Youngkin in the 2021 governor's race: the economy, public safety, education and parental rights. They also accused Griffin's campaign of running disingenuous ads on abortion, saying his television spot misled viewers by portraying Durant as backing a no exceptions ban on abortion. Durant declined to speak to Reuters at the Stafford fair. In an emailed statement, she said supports a 15-week limit with exceptions. In the past, she has stated that she believes life begins at conception. Griffin's ad shows Democrats don't believe they can win simply by running against Youngkin's "common-sense" 15-week proposal, said Zack Roday, the coordinated campaigns director for Youngkin's PAC. "It's just brazen fear-mongering," he said. Even some voters who favor abortion rights told Griffin his ad had gone too far. When the Democrat knocked on the door of Mary Jane Mitchell-Musumarra, a 66-year-old retired Air Force civilian manager living in Stafford, she told him that she had already voted early for him but felt the ad was "ugly." "I felt that it was taking advantage of people's pro-life, pro-choice perspectives and aggrandizing them," she said. Griffin defended the ad, telling Reuters it was about "policy and issues," not a personal attack. The ad cited Durants past votes on abortion regulations and a Facebook post she made celebrating the Supreme Courts overturn of Roe v. Wade. (Reporting by Gabriella Borter in Stafford, Virginia and Joseph Ax in New York; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Aurora Ellis) The News The Wall Street Journal overrode some objections inside its own Washington bureau to publish an explosive, disputed Oct. 8 report that Iran helped plan last weeks attack by Hamas. The article cited senior members of Hamas and Iran-backed military group Hezbollah, as well as an adviser to Syria and a European official, who told the paper that Iranian security officials helped plan and ultimately greenlit the attack on Israel. The stakes of the story couldnt be higher. A proven, direct Iranian role in the Hamas attack could trigger a broader regional war. Three people with knowledge of the situation told Semafor that before the story was published, veteran staffers on the national security team at the paper raised concerns about the story, which was written by three of the papers correspondents based in the Middle East. Reporters from the Washington, D.C. bureau said that they could not directly confirm the explosive string of allegations shared by their colleagues abroad, and sought more time before publication. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Curiously, while reporters from the D.C. bureau contacted the White House for comment on the story, according to a person familiar with that element of the reporting, no Washington bylines appeared on the piece. A Wall Street Journal spokesperson rejected the notion that there was any internal friction over the publication of last weeks story. We stand by our reporting, a spokesperson for the paper said. U.S., Israeli, and Iranian officials, as well as Hamas leaders, all rejected the Journals claims. And the Journal is currently the only major news organization to report that last weeks attack had a direct link to Iran, though The New York Times published a story on Friday partially confirming the details of the Journals report. The Times reported that officials from Iran helped plan the attack, but the U.S. and its allies have downplayed (though not debunked) the suggestion that the Iranian government was deeply involved. Crucially, U.S. officials told the Times and other outlets that intelligence suggests key Iranian leaders were surprised by the Hamas attack. Other outlets like CNN and the Washington Post have not confirmed any link, though Israeli and U.S. government officials have not ruled out that possibility. Maxs view The government and Hamas denials, and the lack of confirmation by other outlets, do not necessarily disprove the Journals story. U.S. officials and others in the region are scrambling to contain the conflict, and word that Iranian leaders greenlit the attack would push the Israeli government to respond to Iran directly. But the Journals report has already emerged as a tool in the American political context. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell cited the piece in an argument for the use of force against Iran. Your slice of the headlines in Ukraine. Daily. Monday, October 16, 2023. No reason to expect end of fighting in Ukraine by end of 2024, MP says There is no reason to believe that active hostilities in Ukraine will cease by the end of 2024, Serhiy Rakhmanin, a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence, said in an interview with Radio NV on Oct. 13. US can support Ukraine, Israel, and defend itself at same time, Biden tells CBS The United States is able to support Ukraine, Israel, and maintain its own defenses at the same time, U.S. President Joe Biden said in an interview with U.S. television news network CBS published on Oct. 15. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Ukrainian pilots to begin F-16 training in US next week report Ukrainian pilots will start training to fly F-16 fighter jets at an Air National Guard base in Tucson, Arizona, next week, Politico reported on Oct. 13, citing several U.S. sources. Long-promised GLSDB munitions on their way to Ukraine report The Boeing/Saab joint venture is on track to deliver the first batch of Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bombs (GLSDB) to Ukraine soon, Global Defense Corp outlet reported on Oct. 13, citing a company official. Second evacuation flight from Israel departs with 155 Ukrainians onboard A second evacuation flight, transporting 155 Ukrainians, including 107 women and 23 children, has taken off from Israel bound for Romania, the Ukrainian Embassy in Israel said early on Oct. 16. Armenian president signs ratification of ICC membership, must arrest Putin if he visits Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan approved the parliaments decision to join the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Armenian President's press service reported on Oct. 13. Video compilation of Russian fiasco at Avdiyivkas meat grinder The Russian General Staff's decision to launch a massive attack on Avdiyivka in Donetsk Oblast with units far from combat readiness, including "Storm Z," has turned into a complete fiasco. Ukraines spy chief persuades 19 Russians to surrender in radio negotiations group commander says Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraines Main Intelligence Directorate or HUR, got 19 Russian soldiers to surrender by talking to them over the radio, Oleksandr Lutyi, the commander of a special forces group equipped with anti-aircraft missile systems, has claimed in an interview with RBC-Ukraine. Madonna takes a stand for Ukraine in London world tour opener Iconic pop star Madonna wore a Ukrainian flag during the inaugural show of her Celebration world tour at a London stadium, belting out the classic hit Dont Cry for Me Argentina. Russia has become Iranian proxy Putins weak response to Hamas attack evidence of plight of Russian foreign policy Vladimir Putin's response to the Hamas militant attack on Israel likely demonstrates his dependence on Iran, Abbas Gallyamov, a former speechwriter for Putin who now lives in Israel, told Radio NV on Oct. 12 Only electoral simulation feasible during wartime, says Ukrainian MP In a recent interview with Radio NV, Serhiy Rakhmanin, a member of Ukraines Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense, and Intelligence, asserted that during times of conflict in Ukraine, only a simulation of elections is possible. What the experts think: Reignited Middle East conflict is another warning sign for international order There is another war in the Middle East, this time between the Palestinians and Israel. It is not the first time. But, it is much more severe than before, writes political scientist Volodymyr Fesenko. 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 Starting Monday you can watch a special election forum on Issue 1 the abortion and reproductive rights amendment produced by The Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Spectrum News 1 and the Ohio Debate Commission. The forum will be available on this newspaper's website through Election Day and air repeatedly on Spectrum News 1. The hourlong forum was moderated by Spectrum News anchor Curtis Jackson. To start the forum, Jackson and USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau reporter Jessie Balmert explained what the amendment would do. Balmert explained Issue 1 would enshrine the right to an abortion in the state constitution up until viability, which is the point when a fetus can survive outside the uterus with reasonable measures, typically around 24 weeks gestation. Doctors could perform abortions after that point to save a pregnant patient's life or health. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement If passed, the law would go into effect 30 days after the election. On the day the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, a law took effect for 82 days in Ohio that prohibited many abortions in the state. Due to a lawsuit, abortions in Ohio are currently legal up to 21 weeks and six days. Ohio is the only state voting on abortion access this year. Early voting started Oct. 11, and polls will open on Election Day, Nov. 7, from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Jackson moderated the discussion with journalists, Tyler Buchanan, co-writer for Axios Columbus, and Karen Kasler, bureau chief for the Statehouse News Bureau. Campaign representatives included Issue 1 supporter Desiree Tims, president and CEO of Innovation Ohio, and Issue 1 opponent Mehek Cooke, spokeswoman for Protect Women Ohio and an attorney. Buchanan and Kasler asked questions that were submitted by voters. How do a yes vote and a no vote specifically address parental consent? In Ohio, minors can get an abortion if the attending physician has secured the informed written consent of the minor and one parent, guardian or custodian. There are so many confused voters out there because of the misinformation from the no campaign, Tims said. She said children would still have to obtain parental consent for any medical procedure. Issue 1 is about the extreme abortion ban that is on the books and our ability to make medical and health care decisions for ourselves and removing politicians from the process, Tims said. Cooke said Issue 1 is about protecting parental consent. She said if the amendment was about abortion, the American Civil Liberties Union would have used the word woman instead of individual, and the ACLU would have stated an age limit to perform an abortion. Theyre taking away parental consent and notification. Theyre allowing for late-term abortions when a baby at 15 weeks can feel pain, Cooke said. According to the American College of Gynecologists and Obstetricians, a human fetus does not have the capacity to experience pain until after at least 24 to 25 weeks gestation. Defining the word health Tims said that health care is between the doctor and the patient and politicians shouldnt be defining one's health. Voting 'yes' will ensure that the decisions made in a hospital room are between a doctor and their patient, and a doctor doesnt have to fear treating his or her patient because of what a politician might say or do in Columbus, Tims said. Right now, it is up to the doctor to define what health" means, which Cooke said is unacceptable. The amendment's language The language of the amendment is very clear, Tims said. Issue 1 is about keeping politicians out of decisions. She said right now there is an abortion ban on the books that would ban abortions at six weeks. If we do not pass this amendment, that will be the law of the land, Tims said. Cooke said every Ohioan should know that the ACLU wrote the amendment and it was very deliberate. Let me read to you, Every individual has the right to make its own reproductive decisions, they didnt write every woman, Cooke said. Individual means man, child, it could mean anybody, why didnt they use the word woman, they refuse to answer that question, Cooke said. The amendment will ensure the right to birth control, fertility treatments and have the right to ones body, Tims said. This is about ensuring that the control is in your hands and that you can do what you need to do in order to ensure that your health care is prioritized, Tims said. Cooke said there already is contraceptive care, and the amendment is about eviscerating parental consent so that children can go through abortions without parental knowledge or consent. All of these protections are to serve women and this amendment allows for partial birth, full-term abortions, thats not where we are today, Cooke said. Whats next? Cooke believes if Issue 1 doesn't pass, there need to be commonsense discussions with those who support abortion rights, those who are anti-abortion and those who are somewhere in between. If it passes, Cooke said, it closes the door on every single discussion, whether its parent rights or health and safety standards for women. Tims hopes for a win and is focusing on the Buckeye state. This is about ensuring that every Buckeye can stay in the state and access the health care they need without fleeing to another state, Tims said. Cooke said the law today states exceptions for the life of a mother, and there is protection for women on the books. The reason that this was even on the ballot is because the ACLU spent millions of dollars misleading Ohioans, scaring Ohioans through fear tactics, Cooke said. "Ohio Decides: Issue 1 Forum" will air on Spectrum News 1 across the state throughout Election Day. The Ohio Debate Commission will also have the program on its YouTube channel. Kayla Bennett is a fellow in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism's Statehouse News Bureau. This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Watch forum on Ohio Issue 1, abortion and reproductive rights effort Israel's officials told Jake Sullivan they 'they have in fact turned the water pipe back on in Southern Gaza.' In fact, the restoration of water service remains "limited," a US official told Insider the following day. Gaza's borders remain closed to food, humanitarian aid, and refugees as hospitals run low on potable water. On Sunday, President Joe Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, went on CNN's "State of the Union" and announced what sounded like a diplomatic and humanitarian win Israel would restore water service to Southern Gaza, perhaps lessening the dire humanitarian crisis of its siege and bombardment after Hamas' terrorist attacks. "I have been in touch with my Israeli counterparts, just within the last hour," Sullivan said, "who report to me that they have in fact turned the water pipe back on in Southern Gaza." But it seems that Sullivan may have heard wrong. "Israeli counterparts agreed to restore water in south Gaza," a US national security official told Insider on Monday. "It is our understanding from partners on the ground that limited water has been restored." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement When Insider asked the spokesperson to quantify "limited" or explain why water service had not been wholly restored, they did not immediately respond. This story will be updated if they do. Gaza's water shortage has exacerbated a crisis, as tens of thousands of refugees flee Israeli bombing or follow Hamas' edicts to shelter in place. Injuries from the airstrikes are stretching hospitals beyond their capacity as they run out of fuel to treat patients. The fact that the restoration of water was "limited" was missed by those who had applauded Sullivan's statement as proof that the US could persuade Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to reduce the suffering of 2 million Gazan civilians during Israel's swift and deadly response to the attack by Hamas terror squads that killed more than 1,200 Israelis, including families, Holocaust survivors, and young children. Intentionally depriving civilians of food and water part of the total siege ordered by Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant last week is a war crime. Children fill boxes with clean water from a dispenser as water shortage happens following the suspension of water flow from Israel to Gaza, in Deir-Al Balah, Gaza on October 15, 2023. Ashraf Amra/Getty Images Earlier on Monday, a spokesperson for Gaza's Interior Ministry claimed that Israel had deprived Gaza of water for ten consecutive days. Inas Hamdan, a spokesperson for U.N. relief efforts in Gaza, told Insider that things had changed, but there was still a long way to go. "South areas started getting some water just yesterday," Hamdan wrote, "but the demand is huge and the crisis is still affecting thousands of people." Refugees at U.N. shelters in Gaza, she said, still have no access to clean water or flowing tap water of any sort. Late last week, Israel ordered the evacuation of Gaza's northern half. But Israel hasn't entirely spared Southern Gaza from airstrikes. As of Monday, the Israeli government has not permitted humanitarian aid to cross into Gaza. All points of exit into Israel and Egypt are closed. On Monday, the EU announced that two planes would carry medicine, shelter items, and hygiene kits to Egypt, but whether Israel will allow their delivery across the Rafah border crossing remains unclear. A spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces referred all questions to the Ministry of Defense. The Ministry of Defense did not reply to a request for comment. Four pipelines once brought 3 billion gallons of drinkable water from Israel into Gaza each year, enough to supply roughly a quarter of the population's needs. More water was supplied by a UNICEF-funded desalination plant. But taps still ran dry, forcing some households to spend as much as a third of their income on drinking water delivered by truck. Since the siege, there have been reports of Gazans drinking sea water and hospitals being forced to clean wounds with water that has been contaminated with sewage. Read the original article on Business Insider NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) As the Israel-Hamas War intensifies, President Biden, Governor Bill Lee, Tennessee lawmakers, and others from around the country and world, pledge support for Israel. Barbara Dab, Director of Communications for the Jewish Federation of Greater Nashville, joins us in studio to discuss the Israel-Hamas Wars impact on the Jewish community in Middle Tennessee. Read the latest from the TN State Capitol Newsroom And Tennessees 3rd Grade Retention Law caused anger and confusion, now a similar move is aimed at math scores. These stories and more on This Week with Bob Mueller. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2. "Disney adults" sometimes get a bad rap for their unbridled enthusiasm for all things Disney, but as a longtime park goer who recently visited both Walt Disney World and Disneyland without my kids, I get the appeal of grownup Disney trips. Not only is it easier to travel without having to worry about anyone but yourself, but trips without kids can be cheaper if you're splitting costs with other adults. And some Disney experiences are made just for grownups. Here's what travelers should know about visiting Disney World and Disneyland without kids. Does Disney have anything for adults? Yes. Some Disney offerings were created specifically for adults, like La Cava Experience tequila tastings in EPCOT's Mexico pavilion and Sangria University, where guests make their own sangria at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort at Disney World. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Other activities are limited to guests over certain ages, like the 5-hour Keys to the Kingdom Tour of Magic Kingdom, which has a minimum age of 16. Guests must be at least 10 for SCUBA diving in The Seas with Nemo & Friends pavilion at EPCOT and prix fixe dinners at Victoria & Albert's in Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, which start at $295. Additional informal but popular adult activities include drinking and snacking around EPCOT's World Showcase or the resorts along Disney World's Skyliner or Monorail routes. On my recent trip to Disneyland, I enjoyed leisurely lounging with a friend at Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar, which is limited to guests over age 21 after 8 p.m., and Oga's Cantina at Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. Both venues are intricately themed, but I could easily imagine my kids wanting to hurry off to rides instead of soaking in vibes had they been with me. 50% off Disney? How families can save at Disney World, Disneyland next year Can you share food at Disney? Yes. Sharing is allowed across Disney parks. However, table-service restaurants that charge by the head will generally charge each person over age 2 in your party. Sharing is a savvy tactic for quick-service eateries and snack stands, where adults can take turns footing the bill or splitting costs. Last month, I shared snacks with a couple of friends at EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival, and it was a great way to try more dishes without paying for them all myself. What should we do at Disney? Take your pick. Visiting the parks without kids can be more relaxing because you don't have to worry about nap times or bedtimes. Hopefully, everyone can manage and entertain themselves, and there won't be any meltdowns. The common refrain from my latest two Disney trips without kids was, "What do you want to do?" The answer was usually "Whatever you want to do," and we meant it. If a line looked too long, we skipped it. If someone wanted to browse in a shop or stop for a snack, no problem. We went with the flow without pressure. As we left EPCOT, we popped into the Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along in the France pavilion because its wait was much shorter than Remy's Ratatouille Adventure. Sitting inside the air-conditioned theater, singing along to songs I'd memorized as a child, I realized this was my Disney adult moment. With my children back home, I got to be a kid again, if only briefly. The reporter on this story received park access from Disney. USA TODAY maintains editorial control of reviews. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Disney isn't just for kids: Why you need a grown-up parks trip Simione Poteki, KAVA Talks founder, is photographed in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023. Knowledge Above Violence Always, or KAVA, is a mens support, education and advocacy group with a cultural focus on Pacific Islander men. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News As a boy growing up in Tonga, Simi Poteki remembers watching a couple get into a fight that led to the husband beating his wife. His father told Simi, Turn away, stay out of it. Its not your problem, thats his wife, she belongs to him, you have no say. And so he stayed out of it. The boy grew up, stowed away on a freighter bound for North America, got caught, stowed away on another ship, then another. By the time he was 23, hed stowed away on seven ships, and got caught every time. Simi Poteki was a lousy criminal. But his persistence, in a convoluted way, proved to be his way out. Just before his 24th birthday, a sympathetic clerk at the American consulate heard his story and took pity on him, granting him a visa and green card so he could come to the United States legally and see what he could make of himself. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement That was almost 50 years ago. Simi, 72, is retired now, able to look back on a successful career as a bus and truck driver (including 2 million miles of safe driving with Utah Transit Authority). He and his first wife, who died in 2002, raised four children, all of them grown and raising families of their own. And whats he doing in his golden years? Leading a cause that encourages men to stop beating their wives. * * * It wasnt until Simi married his second wife, Susi, that he stopped staying out of it. Susi had been married three times before, and every husband had one thing in common: they beat her up. When she left the third one, she was fed up enough to become an activist against domestic violence. When she and Simi were married in 2010, she began educating him about how wrong it is for men to think women are their property and they have the right to hit them. The message really sank in when Susi invited Simi to come with her to San Francisco for the Asian American Pacific Islander Violence Prevention Conference of 2014. Thats where I started to understand that I had been around domestic violence all my life and didnt know it, recalls Simi. So I told my wife, when we get back to Utah, if I see theres a problem I wont just leave it alone. When I came out of that conference I realized it is our moral obligation to stop it. Once back in Salt Lake City, Simi rounded up seven other men from the Tongan community and they enrolled in a 19-week domestic violence education course given by the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition. Every Thursday night, for four hours, the men attended their classes. When they were finished, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill signed their certificates. Then, to keep the ball rolling, Simi founded a nonprofit group he called KAVA Knowledge Above Violence Always to provide a forum for Polynesian men to talk openly about domestic violence and what to do about it. Simi knew the challenge was enormous. He was well aware he was advocating to stop something many Polynesian men didnt even know existed. In our language theres no word for it, theres no meaning. What is domestic violence? he says. First you have to define it, but to define something that is not in your language, how in hell you gonna do that? But the person who once stowed away on seven ships tried anyway. And bit by bit, KAVA Talks the online forum where men can talk man-to-man about domestic violence grew into a viable force. Nine years later, its going stronger than ever, welcoming not just Polynesians to its online discussions, but men (and sometimes women) from all races. The website is pik2ar.org/kava-talks. Simi understands talking it out isnt something that comes naturally to his peers. Polynesians think a therapy group is a bad thing because people will think youre crazy, he says. People will say, Oh, hes going over there because theres something wrong with his mind. Of course theres something wrong, but that doesnt make you a crazy man. The objective is to get men to stop and think before they turn to violence, and to educate the community how important it is to get involved. The worst thing you can do is say nothing. When you see violence, yell, do something that distracts, that breaks his concentration, advises Simi. Then you walk the other way. Dont try to stop violence with violence. Thats the wrong way to do it, because you are then worse than what happened. But speak up. A lot of times, if you say something, somebody else will say something. I grew up in an environment of abuse and everything is tolerated when it comes to violence. I was in my 60s before I realized how this is wrong. I dont have a degree or anything but I can visualize what is going to happen to the next generation if we do not try and stop it now. Men have to step up to the plate. Maybe well never stop it in our lifetime, but at least we can talk about it, at least we can do something. Simione Poteki, KAVA Talks founder, is photographed in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023. Knowledge Above Violence Always, or KAVA, is a mens support, education and advocacy group with a cultural focus on Pacific Islander men. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News Were they killed or abducted? For some families in Israel, the answer is neither ASHDOD, Israel Liel Fishbiens last message from his sister was a warning: Be careful and quiet. Theyre in your neighborhood. Fishbien, 25, hid in his grandmothers house for hours as their Beeri kibbutz was ambushed on Oct. 7, part of a large-scale attack on Israel by terrorists from Hamas. Dozens of people in Fishbiens small community were killed, while others were taken hostage across the border to the Gaza Strip, a blockaded Palestinian enclave controlled by the militant group Hamas. Fishbien believes the hostages include his sister, Tchelet Fishbien, 18, who had been hiding in a nearby home with her boyfriend. But so far she does not appear to be included in the Israeli governments official count for lack of clear proof that she has been taken. Follow live coverage from NBC News here. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement They havent located a video of her inside Gaza, Fishbien said, so she is considered among the missing and not the hostages. Since the Hamas attacks, the Israeli government has been updating official figures on the number of people killed or abducted. But people like Fishbien say they feel stuck in the space between, waiting anxiously for news about missing loved ones who have still not been categorized. Their frustration is evident in places like Tel Aviv, where missing persons posters were displayed on the walls of the Israeli government and military center at a protest Saturday. A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces said Monday that 199 families had been notified that their relatives were among those abducted, up from 155 on Sunday. Netanyahu met with some of those relatives Sunday after families expressed frustration with what they said was a lack of communication from his government. Israeli officials say they are also still working to identify all of the dead, some of whom were injured beyond recognition. As of Monday, 1,400 people had been killed and 3,500 had been wounded in Israel, while more than 2,750 people had been killed and 9,700 had been wounded in Gaza. On Monday, Fishbien said he had learned that his sisters boyfriend had been found dead. He said he has not given up hope for his sister, even if it is unclear where she fits in the official numbers. Though he understands the difficulties of providing clarity from a bureaucratic and formal point of view, Fishbien said, the lack of certainty for families like his is not right. Asked to clarify who is included in the official abduction count and how many people are missing but not confirmed to have been abducted, an IDF spokesperson declined to comment Monday. The Israeli governments press office did not respond to multiple requests for comment sent Sunday evening and Monday morning. They didnt evaporate Jonathan Dekel-Chen whose son Sagui Dekel-Chen, 35, a father of two who is also an American citizen, has been missing since Oct. 7 said he does not care what the official numbers of those taken hostage are or how they are determined. Whatever the Israeli government says or doesnt say, I know that my son, like dozens of other people from my kibbutz, have been taken hostage by Hamas, he said. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind. Dekel-Chens southern Israel kibbutz, Nir Oz, was the site of a brutal massacre by Hamas terrorists, who murdered or abducted scores of residents. But his sons body and those of others have not been recovered. They didnt evaporate, he said. Theyre being held by Hamas. Dekel-Chen was among the family members of Americans believed to be held hostage who spoke with President Joe Biden on a video call last week. Biden said that he would do everything possible to return every missing American to their families and that U.S. officials were working around the clock to try to secure the release of Americans held hostage. There were no updates on his sons case during the call, Dekel-Chen said, and he has not received any updates from the Israeli government. Ido Nagar is still holding out hope that his wife, Celine Ben David Nagar, 32, is alive. She went missing Oct. 7 after she drove into southern Israel from their home in Holon, just south of Tel Aviv, and her car was found with bullet holes, smashed windows and blood on the outside. Asked whether Israeli officials considered her to have been taken hostage, Ido Nagar, 33, said Monday afternoon that he was still waiting for an update. They cant tell yet, he said. They dont know. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com More than 300 Americans are back in the US from Israel thanks to a series of evacuation missions funded by the State of Florida and coordinated by the nonprofit Project Dynamo. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< Ron and Linda Neumann live part-time in Rehovot, Israel. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] When war broke out after the Hamas attack earlier this month, they began looking for a way home to Melbourne, Florida. We tried to go through the State Department, and we filled out this form, but nobody got back with us. I dont want to hurt anybodys feelings, but no one got back with us. We were stranded, Ron said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement After finding no held with the government, the Neumanns contacted the nonprofit organization Project Dynamo, which has worked to bring Americans home from war-torn areas since the withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. Read: Want to donate to relief efforts of the GazaIsrael Conflict? Heres how to avoid possible scams Within 24 hours the Neumanns were on a flight home. As they landed in Tampa, they were greeted with a warm welcome from Florida state agencies and Governor Ron DeSantis, who secured funding for the flight through an executive order signed last week. Kevin Guthrie, Director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management helped coordinate the recent missions with Project Dynamo. Five flights funded by the state to the tune of roughly $4 million have brought more than 300 American citizens back home and out of harms way since Friday. Read: Israel-Hamas war: What is the Rafah crossing? Guthrie told Action News Jax another two flights carrying roughly 100 evacuees are expected in the coming days. Floridians, even though theyre abroad, they are in a state of emergency in a war zone and if the federal government is not going to act and go and get those individuals out then the Governor is going to certainly show the leadership and executive power and go and get that done, Guthrie said. However, State Representative Kelly Skidmore (D-Delray Beach) worries the State of Florida could be complicating the situation in Israel, as the US Department of State also works to evacuate American citizens from the country. What kind of resources are we wasting by sending two different rescue efforts to the same group of individuals? Skidmore questioned. Project Dynamo CEO Bryan Stern noted the collaboration with the State of Florida is the first time the nonprofit has ever gotten any government support. He said the recent missions have already yielded some interest from at least one other state looking to establish similar partnerships. Read: The Israeli public finds itself in grief and shock, but many pledge allegiance to war effort Someone has to show up and if thats not gonna be the government, thats okay. No problem with that, then well step in. But we need public support and were entirely Donner funded and its a big challenge, Stern said. For the Neumanns, theyre just thankful to be home safe and sound. Im humbled to think that people risked their lives to come get us and our fellow Jews out of a war zone, Linda Neumann said. Guthrie said DEM has had little to no communication with the State Department, despite the agencys efforts to make contact. Action News Jaxs request for comment from the State Department regarding Floridas actions to bring Americans home went unanswered. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] If youd like to help Project Dynamos efforts to bring Americans home from Israel and other conflict areas, you can find out how to get involved here. Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live. KALAMAZOO, Mich. (FOX 2) - Western Michigan University students will get paid to help solve cold cases, thanks to a new initiative with state police. Through the Cold Case Program, students assist detectives with unsolved crimes. This program has 15 students per semester and is open to all majors. The program has relied on donations to fund the work. Now, students will be paid by Michigan State Police and will be part of MSP as either state police cadets or student assistants. "Thanks to MSP's generous support, students gain real-world experiences in law enforcement while pursuing their degree. Hopefully the victims family members also get some answers," said Dr. Ashlyn Kuersten, director of the Cold Case Program. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Through the partnership that started in 2021, students in the program have helped solve several crimes, including the 1988 murder of 19-year-old Cathy Swartz, and the 1987 murder of Roxanne Wood. They are currently working on 14 other murder and missing persons investigations. "The Cold Case Program has already shown that motivated, passionate students can achieve incredible results," says MSP Det. F/Lt. Chuck Christensen, who helped develop the program with Kuersten. "Our investment in this pilot program shows the tremendous potential of partnerships between educational institutions and law enforcement agencies." In addition to benefiting police by assisting them with solving crimes, students get hands-on experiences while still in school. "Being a part of the Cold Case Program has provided me with so many opportunities to better understand the criminal justice system and how it functions from an internal perspective," says Shelby Wilmot, a criminal justice and psychology student. "I have been able to determine my future career goals with the help of the Cold Case Program, and I built more professional connections than I would have thought possible." Watch FOX 2 News Live Protesters say they would rather know for sure, even if their loved ones have been killed (Sergei SUPINSKY) A group of relatives of soldiers missing in action or taken prisoner protested in Kyiv Monday, accusing President Volodymyr Zelensky and the military leadership of failing to help them. As the war enters its 600th day with little progress on the counteroffensive, a group of around 200 protesters, almost all women, rallied on Independence Square in central Kyiv. They then marched to a military roadblock near Zelensky's office, demanding an audience with the president. "Zelensky! Zelensky!" they chanted, several in tears and shouting angry accusations at soldiers and police guarding the checkpoint. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "You are taking our guys away to the slaughter," shouted one woman. "Where are they? Bring us back our children!" shouted another. "How long do we have to wait for our children?" Protesters told AFP of months or over a year of uncertainty over the fate of their relatives. They complained military commanders gave them little information and even refused to take their calls. Women named numerous units, mainly fighting in Donbas. They said they would rather know for sure, even if their loved ones have been killed. Zelensky did not appear but a presidential administration representative came out and collected their letters. "They've treated us awfully," said one protester, Yulia Chernobyl. "We understand perfectly that the president won't look at them (the letters), they simply won't give them to him." Her father Andriy went missing in Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, fighting with the 120th territorial defence brigade. "Now I don't know where my dad is. I've been searching for him for half a year without any result," said Chernobyl, a medic. - 'We want the truth' - Anna Matyazh, whose husband was declared missing more than 18 months ago while fighting in the 54th brigade in the Donbas battalion, said: "The commanders just send them out to their deaths." Official investigations by brigades into the men's fates "are unfortunately carried out carelessly," she claimed, without bothering to question witnesses, and can last 5 to 7 months. "We want (the authorities) to hear us, for them to start effective action," she said. Matyazh hopes her husband was taken prisoner, as other men fighting with him were. Russia has not provided full lists of prisoners-of-war nor full access to detention facilities. "We can't stand it any longer," said Inesa Sukhina from Poltava region, whose boyfriend Yuriy from the 81st brigade was declared missing 10 months ago "The worst thing is not knowing." Her boyfriend was declared missing along with a group of fellow fighters in Bilogorivka, Lugansk region. She said she understands there was heavy fighting and it may have been impossible to retrieve bodies from the battlefield but believes there would have been witnesses in any case. Families ripped apart by the war include that of 16-year-old Nadiya Primak from Zaporizhzhia. She held a poster showing her father, who went missing in the Donetsk region and her 28-year-old brother, a marine in the 36th brigade, who has been held prisoner for 18 months. The family know her brother is a prisoner-of-war because they saw him in Russian video footage. "We've come today because we want to know where my dad is, where my brother is... Our authorities are silent about them -- why are they silent?" said the schoolgirl who wore her hair in plaits. "We want to hear the truth. We want to hear it all like it is." "We want the truth and for the commanders to speak to us, the relatives," her mother Vira added. "The commanders turn off their phones so we can't call them." am/dt/giv A new study ranked the best colleges and universities in the nation, and a North Carolina school broke into the top 10. WalletHub compared more than 800 higher-education institutions in the U.S. across 30 measures in seven categories. ALSO READ: Three NC colleges rank Top 10 in the South Student selectivity, cost and financing, and career incomes were some of the categories that metrics like student-faculty ratio and graduate rate fell into. Duke University was the only North Carolina school to land in the top 10 universities, with a total score of 76.52. The highest ranked was Yale with a score of 79.07. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Source: WalletHub The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ranked 61st in the nation and Davidson College was 70th. North Carolina State University was 82nd. The data applies to undergraduate students. Click here to read the full study from WalletHub. (WATCH BELOW: Duke University offering free tuition to many students in the Carolinas) The average gas price in Fort Worth has fallen 19 cents in the last week, hovering around $2.91 a gallon. Gas prices in Tarrant County are 47.5 cents per gallon lower than a month ago and 38.6 cents per gallon lower than a year ago, according to GasBuddy, a website that tracks gas prices in the U.S. Now, the conflict in the Middle East could upend prices later this year in Texas. Analysts fear the instability could wreak havoc with the oil markets. Just a year after Russia invaded Ukraine a war that set gas prices soaring the attack on Israel by Hamas militants could set off a similar spike in oil costs in the U.S. For now, much of Texas is seeing prices per gallon fall under $3. Fort Worth isnt the only Texas city where the average gas price fell in the past week: ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Dallas: $2.94 per gallon, 19.6 cents decrease. Waco: $2.96 per gallon, 10.9 cents decrease. College Station: $3.27 per gallon, 4.8 cents decrease. The downward momentum has indeed gained steam, with the national average declining over the last week with again virtually every village, town, city, region and state seeing gasoline prices fall with the added bonus that diesel prices have also declined, said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. 10 CHEAPEST GAS STATIONS IN FORT WORTH $2.69: Murphy Express, 841 W Rendon Crowley Rd. $2.75: Murphy USA, 7401 McCart Ave. $2.75: Murphy USA, 4611 N Tarrant Parkway $2.75: Costco, 5300 Overton Ridge Blvd. $2.75: Sams Club, 4400 Bryant Irvin Rd. $2.75: QuikTrip, 1900 Altamesa Blvd. $2.75: QuikTrip, 5300 McCart Ave. $2.75: Exxon, 951 Altamesa Blvd. $2.75: Walmart, 4550 Heritage Trace Parkway $2.75: Walmart, 5336 Golden Triangle Blvd. California has laws instructing drivers where they can and cannot park their cars, but what about vehicles that are not cars? A reader from Contra Costa County asked The Sacramento Bees service journalism team, which focuses on helping the community navigate daily life: What is the law for parking a boat in your driveway? Good question. In Sacramento, we dont have a ton of boats docked in our driveways (though we have plenty of river fun, from dining to cruise tours). What we do have? Recreational vehicles or RVs. Were answering this readers question with a twist for our Sacramento readers (for our Contra Costa County questioner we have an answer below for you, too. Thanks for reaching out). ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Heres who makes the laws for recreational vehicle parking and what they say on where you can park them in Sacramento County: Does California law state where you can park RVs or vessels? Kenneth Casparis, a spokesperson for Sacramento County, said state law governs the parking of vehicles, but there are no specific laws to RVs or boats. When there is no governing state law, Casparis said the California Constitution requires local jurisdictions to regulate their land use through the use of the general plans and zoning codes. Local jurisdictions then adopt rules specific to their jurisdiction, Casparis said in an email to The Bee. On-property storage is also specific to each jurisdictions local ordinances. Where can you park a boat or RV in Sacramento County? It is legal to park or store an RV on a residential property in unincorporated areas of Sacramento County. However, the RV must be operational and currently registered to the home, according to Sacramento County Code Enforcements website. If an RV with a trailer is parked on the street, the trailer cannot be detached from the tow vehicle while parked there. When it comes to staying in a recreational vehicle, Casparis said the countys zoning code does not allow for anyone to occupy an RV on residential property. If they are constructing a new single-family home and have obtained a temporary use permit, they can reside in the RV while the home is constructed, Casparis said. While this applies to the Sacramento Countys unincorporated areas, Casparis said the incorporated cities have their own rules that differ from each other. Within the city of Sacramento, a boat can be stored on a driveway if the boat is registered to the current occupant of the premises and functions properly, according to Sacramento City Code 8.04.480. RVs cannot be stored in the driveways of residential areas in Sacramento. Gabby Miller, a spokesperson for the city of Sacramento, said vehicles are not allowed to park on the street in the same location for more than 72 hours. This applies to all vehicles, including RVs, Miller wrote in an email to The Bee. In Folsom, residents cannot park recreational vehicles on city streets, whether the street is publicly or privately maintained, according to Folsoms Municipal Code. Christine Brainerd, a spokesperson for the city of Folsom, said boats and RVs are allowed to be parked in driveways. The 81,000-person city sits between Lake Natoma and Folsom Lake. They must also have current registration and if the RV is a motorhome, it must be operable, Brainerd wrote in an email to The Bee. In southern Sacramento County, the city of Elk Grove has stricter requirements for RV and boat parking. Recreational vehicles, vessels and trailers are not allowed on driveways, according to the citys website. RVs or vessels can be parked in the following locations in Elk Grove: On the street for up to 72 hours. In a driveway if theres at least 20 feet of space between the RV or vessel and the sidewalk. In this case, a bush, hedge or other object at least six feet high must obstruct the RV or vessel from public view, unless the property is larger than two acres. If a property is on a corner, the RV must be parked at least 12.5 feet away from the property line. These rules do not apply for RVs that were owned and parked on Elk Grove properties before August 2006, the website states. Where can you parking your RV or boat in the bay area? For our reader in Contra Costa County, the storage of boats and recreational vehicles is allowed on private property, but 90% of the vehicle must be screened from public view, according to the countys website. Screening can be accomplished by landscaping, fencing or a building. This can be rarely achieved when the vehicle is in the front driveway, the website states. In Solano County, which neighbors southern Sacramento County, boats and recreational vehicles can be stored in driveways as long as they do not interfere with public street traffic. Further into the Bay Area, Alameda County permits boats and RVs to be stored on paved driveways, the countys website states. The only restrictions are that they must be operable, and cannot not exceed 30 feet in width. What do you want to know about life in Sacramento? Ask our service journalism team your top-of-mind questions in the module below or email servicejournalists@sacbee.com. PORTSMOUTH There was almost uniform support for the city to work to create below-market-rate housing among the 17 City Council candidates asked how for their views. But the candidates' responses to a Seacoastonline and Portsmouth Herald questionnaire regarding the best site for such a housing development resulted in a wide variety of answers, including the former Sherburne School, the lower parking lot at City Hall and the former Christmas Tree Shops location. Some candidates did not provide a site in responding to the question. Portsmouth voters: Read City Council candidates' views here and meet them at forums ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement First-time City Council candidate Kevin Coyle, who served multiple terms on the Rockingham County Commission, offered a different view on the issue. Coyle stated per capita, the city of Portsmouth has the most below market rate housing in Rockingham County. The other towns in the county need to step up and contribute to the needs of moderate and low income citizens. Portsmouth has done its share, and until other communities step up, I wouldnt support further below market rate housing. Living the housing crisis Incumbent City Councilor Josh Denton stated he has lived our affordable housing crisis, including when he waited tables after returning from serving active duty in Iraq with the U.S. Army. While Portsmouth should continue encouraging developers to create affordable housing with building incentives, the single largest recent increase in affordable housing stock came from the Portsmouth Housing Authority (PHA) building Ruth Griffin Place on Court Street, he wrote. The best way to build 400 units of affordable housing without becoming a landlord is deeding city property to the PHA with affordable housing covenants." In terms of a location, his strong preference for the first project with PHA would be the lower parking lot at City Hall. Not only is it a short walk from downtown, the library, and many recreational amenities, studies show that communities with mixed affordable housing alongside affluent housing prosper the best together, Denton wrote. Christmas Tree Shops site Former city councilor and current candidate Paige Trace stated the city should try to create below market rate housing. But she doesnt believe the city should be involved in the real estate business. The city would be much better off creating the framework to better facilitate and incentivize below market housing in discussions with developers, Trace wrote. In terms of a potential location, she stated that currently the best site would be the privately owned property behind Whole Foods, housing the now defunct Christmas Tree Shop and Bed Bath and Beyond. The site, Trace stated, has city water and sewer, and its close to shopping, restaurants, and drugstores. Candidate Petra Huda, another former city councilor, wrote keeping in mind the city is not in the development business, the best site, if there is such a thing, is a location that is easily accessible to the basic services such as grocery stores, transportation and medical/dental services. She named the same location as Trace. The Sherburne School site Incumbent City Councilor Andrew Bagley pointed to the success of the PHA Court Street Workforce Housing project and added its something our city should celebrate and aim to replicate. Bagley believes the former Sherburne School stands out as the most suitable site for below market rate housing for a variety of reasons. While the original ambitions for the project may have been too hasty in terms of size, scope, and timeline, it's now time to move forward pragmatically, Bagley wrote. A phased build-out could start with transforming the school building into 12-18 housing units, followed by the construction of 40 additional units in the field behind it. This approach would serve the community effectively and continue the momentum of successful housing initiatives, he added. This should be a priority for the next several council terms. One site wont solve all affordability issues Mayor Deaglan McEachern pointed to what he sees as the citys long history of partnering with the Portsmouth Housing Authority to create below market rate housing, most recently at the Ruth Griffin apartments. In terms of sites, he maintained Robert Lister Academy likely presents the best option to pursue below market rate housing specifically for Portsmouths workforce and by involving the community. I am confident we can create something everyone is proud of, McEachern wrote, while cautioning that one site wont solve our affordability issues and we should continue to look at all available sites, including existing PHA developed sites for expansion. Competing community needs Incumbent City Councilor Vince Lombardi stated creating below market-rate housing is a primary goal of the current City Council. If the city seeks another site, the selection process will have to balance competing community needs, Lombardi wrote. I think that the Sherburne School property has great potential as long as the concept and design fit within the local neighborhood and transportation issues are resolved. No perfect location Assistant Mayor Joanna Kelley pointed out housing is always one of the top, if not the top, concern of our residents. But residents need to realize that there is no perfect location, Kelley wrote. Any additional housing of any kind will have an impact on a neighborhood but that does not mean it doesn't belong or that we shouldn't do it." Kelley referenced the Sherburne School location, but did not directly endorse it as a site. She noted that if the site is developed, that would disrupt the softball field there. It would only be logical to make sure to have a replacement field already lined up, she added. PHA property near Atlantic Heights Former City Councilor and council candidate Peter Whelan stated the city has identified several areas for below market rate housing. The area in Atlantic Heights where Portsmouth Housing Authority has a building and owns property makes the most sense to me, he said. Portsmouth should continue to work to help create more below market rate housing. The private sector landlords are feeling the pressure with the rise in taxes. Sherburne School and Community Campus Incumbent City Councilor John Tabor stated Sherburne School and Community Campus are logical sites if consensus can be achieved. Tabor also pointed to an initiative previously used in Montgomery County, Maryland, with housing projects that are 50 percent market rate, 50 percent affordable. The private sector has an appetite for these, feeding off federal tax credits, Tabor said. Former mayor Rick Becksted, who is running to return to the council, pointed to the four acres out at Community Campus as a potential housing site. He added too that we have always worked with Portsmouth Housing Authority in the past. Many variables to consider Incumbent City Councilor Rich Blalock believes despite the city-owned property identified as potential sites, the options are limited and there are many variables involved in this process, including issues from existing residents near these sites. We are going to continue to listen to neighbors and hopefully someone will eventually be able to call Sherburne School home, only If the process involves both the community and the city, Blalock wrote, adding compromises will have to be made. Blalock, who lives in Pannaway Manor nearby, stated the process should include input from neighborhood residents. A call to continue to evaluate Incumbent City Councilor Beth Moreau believes the city should continue to evaluate all property. That should include, she wrote, not only within our city, but to continue conversations in our region as to how as a community we can find the best places to build additional long term affordable housing. Moreau did not name a specific site for a housing project, but said, The Land Use Committee has a list of several city owned properties that should continue to be evaluated. Several housing options Candidate Esther Kennedy, who has served several terms on the council, said the city has options to address affordable housing. They include creating a task force to address the issue at a regional level, adding housing is a Seacoast problem not just a Portsmouth issue. The council could also amend city zoning laws to either mandate or ask for financial support from developers to build affordable housing. Lastly, Kennedy, who did not name a specific location, stated another option is to give property owners tax incentives to offer lower rates to renters. A public campaign Council candidate Kathleen Soldati supports the work of creating below-market-rate housing to meet the needs of our more vulnerable population, as well as to provide adequate housing for the entire workforce. We have the resources to address this need. We have the brainpower and connections with federal and state partners, and we have an engaged community which loves Portsmouth, so its clear we can be innovative, she added. Soldati did not name a site for a housing project but suggested launching a public communications campaign to engage our residents to determine the best sites. A community investment First-time candidate Andrea Pickett stated affordable housing is an investment in the community. The people who make up the workforce fuel our economy by supplying services and spending money dining out or shopping at our local businesses, she wrote. Economic diversity is something to be valued and encouraged. She did not endorse a specific site for a housing project, but also referenced several city-owned parcels of land that are being considered. Housing on 4 city-owned sites? Incumbent City Councilor Kate Cook stated the council already started the process to find locations where the city can partner with a public housing authority to build additional workforce housing. The Land Use Committee also made recommendations as to the best city-owned sites, she said. Cook did not identify a specific site but said she will continue to support a process to identify a site and a partner to expand our workforce housing. She added that the need for additional below market rate housing is so great that the city should explore adding public housing on all four identified sites. This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Where can below-market housing go in Portsmouth? Candidates weigh in Former President Donald Trump has drawn criticism for calling Hezbollah "very smart" and saying Israel's prime minister was not prepared for the attack by Hamas on October 7. Photo by Louis Lanzano/UPI CLIVE, Iowa, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- Candidates for the GOP nomination for U.S. president in 2024 are in unison on support for Israel in its fight against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But they differ on how they would approach resolutions to the conflict. At least one candidate believes a two-state solution is no longer possible between Israelis and Palestinians in the wake of Hamas' surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7. Others have called for unfettered support of Israel with a supply of U.S. weapons and intelligence. Hamas killed more than 1,300 Israelis and took more than 120 hostages in the attack. Israel has responded with incessant bombing of Gaza, killing more than 2,670 people and wounding 9,600 others. At least 27 Americans were killed, with 14 unaccounted for as of Monday. The fighting has become a focal point in the race ahead of the next GOP primary debate, scheduled for Nov. 8 in Miami. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Democratic President Joe Biden has proclaimed solid support for Israel and also appointed a special envoy to coordinate humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vowed to bring new sanctions against Iran in the state's upcoming legislative session, alleging that Iran was involved in coordinating the attack against Israel. File Photo by Tannen Maury/UPI On the Republican side, here is what the candidates are saying about the issue. Donald Trump Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley has called on the Biden administration to freeze $6 billion in Iranian assets and send those funds to Israel. File Photo by Richard Ellis/UPI Former President Donald Trump has touted his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in 2017, and moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. In recent days, he has been critical of Netanyahu for being "not prepared" and of Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for publicly discussing his fear that Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group in Lebanon, could attack. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy says the United States should provide military supplies and intelligence support to Israel and immediately confirm an American ambassador to Israel among several other actions. File Photo by Tannen Maury/UPI Meanwhile, Trump has drawn criticism for calling Hezbollah "very smart." Trump also chided Israel for not participating in the operation to assassinate Qassem Soleimani, head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, in 2020. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., said during a campaign stop in South Carolina last week that the United States has given Israel adequate resources to defend itself. File Photo by Tannen Maury/UPI However, Trump said the United States must "protect Israel," asserting that the attack would not have happened if he were president. Ron DeSantis Former Vice President Mike Pence said the United States must be prepared to mobilize alongside the Israeli military to rescue American hostages. File Photo by Tannen Maury/UPI Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vowed to bring new sanctions against Iran in the state's upcoming legislative session, alleging that Iran was involved in coordinating the attack against Israel. Speaking at a synagogue in Florida on Tuesday, DeSantis said Israel "has the duty to defend itself with overwhelming force." As governor of New Jersey in 2016, Chris Christie signed a bill that banned state pensions from being invested in companies that boycott Israel. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI As for a two-state solution, DeSantis said in an interview on conservative news station Newsmax on Oct. 9 that it is not possible. "There is no two-state solution," DeSantis said. "Those Palestinian Arabs in places like the Gaza Strip, they don't want their own state as much as they just want to eradicate the Jewish state." North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum joined 19 other governors in signing a letter to President Joe Biden on Friday in support of Israel. File Photo by Tannen Maury/UPI "They don't want to recognize Israel's right to exist, so the whole notion that you could do a two-state solution, that you could somehow give away land and end up with a lasting peace is refuted by the fact that those Palestinian Arabs reject Israel's existence outright," he said. Nikki Haley Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley has called on the Biden administration to freeze $6 billion in Iranian assets and send those funds to Israel. The $6 billion in funds was negotiated by the United States in a deal to secure the release of five American hostages last month Haley posted to social media that the United States should provide Israel with weapons and intelligence, and warn regional governments, including Lebanon, against being involved. "End American taxpayer support for all Palestinian entities or United Nations-backed entities that side with Hamas or fail to denounce anti-Semitic activity," she wrote. Vivek Ramaswamy Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy wrote on social media that the United States should provide military supplies and intelligence support to Israel, and immediately confirm an American ambassador to Israel, among several other actions. He also said the United States should deport people who have served with Hamas, possibly to Israeli custody. "Fast-track the deportation of any resident aliens who have served with Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad, including extradition to Israeli custody where appropriate," Ramaswamy wrote. Tim Scott Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., said during a campaign stop in South Carolina last week that the United States has given Israel adequate resources to defend itself. He added that he would support providing more resources to reaffirm U.S. support for Israel. "They have the power, the authority and the resources to, frankly, wipe Hamas from the map and we should stand shoulder to shoulder with them," he said. Mike Pence Former Vice President Mike Pence pushed back on Trump's criticism of Netanyahu and Israel. "This is no time for any former president or any other American leader to be sending any message other than America stands with Israel," Pence said on a radio show in New Hampshire. "The barbarism we've seen is breathtaking. We have got to make one thing clear both in Israel and in the wider world, and that is America stands with Israel. Israel has no choice in this moment but to crush Hamas. And if Hezbollah engages to literally crush Hezbollah." Pence has also said the United States must be prepared to mobilize alongside the Israeli military to rescue American hostages. Pence has joined other candidates in alleging Iran has played a role in the Hamas attack, calling on the Biden administration to placing sanctions back on Iran. He suggested that the United States should have a military presence prepared on the Mediterranean Sea. "We must send a deafening signal, not with one aircraft carrier but with two aircraft carriers in the eastern Mediterranean, that America will not permit a widening of this conflict in a way that threatens our most cherished ally Israel," Pence said. Chris Christie Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie described the actions he would take as president in response to the war in Israel during an appearance on ABC's This Week. "What I would be doing is making sure, one, that Israel has everything that it needs to be able to take whatever actions it needs to take. And this is the problem with not having a speaker right now," he said, referring to the failure of Republicans in the House of Representatives to choose a leader, bringing Congress to a halt. As governor in 2016, Christie signed a bill that banned state pensions from being invested in companies that boycott Israel. Doug Burgum North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum joined 19 other governors in signing a letter to Biden on Friday in support of Israel. In a separate statement last week, Burgum said he had contacted the State Department regarding assistance for Americans in Israel. "The attack by Hamas terrorists on Israel is reprehensible, and the fact it occurred on a Jewish holiday is despicable. We stand with our democratic ally Israel while lifting up in prayer the victims of these horrific attacks," Burgum said. "We also pray for the safe return of the priests and parishioners from North Dakota congregations who are anxiously waiting to board flights home. Today we reached out to the U.S. State Department and spoke with Father Ackerman, offering to assist however possible to help ensure the safe return of those North Dakotans and all Americans wanting to return to U.S. soil." After a month of legal jockeying, lawyers for former Chicago Ald. Edward Burke confirmed in court Monday they will call alderman turned government mole Daniel Solis as a defense witness at Burkes upcoming racketeering trial. The announcement by Burkes high-powered defense team comes a month after prosecutors left Solis off their witness list, saying they planned to introduce dozens of undercover audio and video recording Solis made in the bombshell investigation through other witnesses. Prosecutors had asked that Burkes attorneys be barred from calling Solis simply to try to impeach his credibility and question the unprecedented deal he got from the U.S. attorneys office. But at a pretrial conference in the case Monday, Burke attorney Chris Gair told U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall he can assure the government were not calling Solis just to impeach him. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Were calling him for substantive reasons, to illuminate the facts of the case, Gair said. Anybody can impeach a witness who is called for proper reasons. The prospect of Solis, one of the most famous government moles in Chicago political history, hitting the witness stand adds a decidedly more dramatic flavor to the trial, which is set to begin Nov. 6 and expected to last about six weeks. Prosecutors initially had left one caveat, saying they could potentially call Solis if Burkes lawyers tried to present an entrapment defense. While defense attorneys ruled out the prospect of an entrapment argument at the outset of Mondays hearing, they instead confirmed their intent to call Solis as their own witness and put his deal squarely on the table. In exchange for his cooperation, Solis was granted a rare deferred prosecution deal that will see corruption charges against him dismissed in three years, leaving him with a clean criminal record and allowing him to keep his nearly $100,000-a-year city pension. By calling him themselves, Burkes defense will be able to delve into the parameters of Solis agreement with the government and raise issues about his motivation for getting Burke to agree to certain actions. But the move could backfire. Solis, a seasoned politician, will certainly be well-coached by prosecutors and could come across as likable to the jury instead of being a question mark in the back of jurors minds if he didnt appear in the trial. The fight over Solis testimony could also have reverberations in another high-profile public corruption case the prosecution of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, who scheduled to go on trial April 1. Solis also made secret recordings of Madigan that helped lead to his indictment. A decision on whether hell take the stand in that case is still months away. Burke, 79, was originally charged in a criminal complaint in January 2019. He was indicted four months later on 14 counts including racketeering, federal program bribery, attempted extortion, conspiracy to commit extortion and using interstate commerce to facilitate an unlawful activity. Also charged was developer Charles Cui. The 59-page indictment outlined a series of schemes in which Burke allegedly tried to muscle developers into hiring his law firm, Klafter & Burke, to appeal their property taxes. Among the projects Burke tried to capitalize on was the massive $800 million renovation of the Old Post Office in the West Loop, according to the charges. Solis recorded numerous conversations with Burke about that deal, records show. Also charged was Burkes longtime aide, Peter Andrews, who was accused of assisting the alderman in attempting to shake down two business owners seeking to renovate a Burger King restaurant in the 14th Ward. In addition to an answer on Solis testimony, Mondays six-hour pretrial hearing also saw a number of rulings from Kendall on specific evidence and arguments that can come in to the trial. Burkes attorneys argued vehemently to exclude statements the Burke made on the recordings about the Jewish heritage of the Post Office developer, saying its highly prejudicial in light of the terrorist attacks on Israel earlier this month and the ongoing situation in Gaza. Given the heightened sense of alarm after the Hamas attacks, any member of the jury sympathetic toward what the Jewish people have endured might find Mr. Burkes comments to be particularly distasteful and unfairly hold it against him, argued Burke attorney Kimberly Rhum. Prosecutors noted that the previous judge on the case had already ruled the comments were probative of Burkes allegedly corrupt intent, outweighing any danger of embarrassment. Kendall took the issue under advisement, saying shed make a decision when the specific recording comes up at trial. Kendall also ruled over defense objections that prosecutors can play a recording from 2016 when Burke and Solis allegedly discussed another developer, identified only as individual G-1. Burke told Solis on the recording that his firm had done one job for Individual G-1 and really hit it out of the park, and that he couldnt understand why they hadnt given him more work, according to court records. Let me talk to him, Solis allegedly responded. If you can tee him up, then you can be our consultant, Burke told Solis, according to a transcript of the call in court records. Later in the same conversation, after Solis assured Burke there are a lot of developers to pitch business to, Burke allegedly replied: They all, ah, they all need somebody that does what I do. Kendall also ruled the jury can hear evidence that Burke offered to pay Solis consulting fees to help bring business to Klafter & Burke. According to prosecutors, Burke was recorded talking about hiding the arrangement by going through a third party. During a recorded meeting in September 2016, Burke told Solis he was a big believer in sharing the wealth, prosecutors said. Solis legal saga began in 2016 when he secretly agreed to wear a wire for the FBI and helped build racketeering cases against Burke and Madigan, two of the longest-serving and most powerful politicians in the state. A bombshell court filing made public in 2019 showed the FBI spent more than two years investigating Solis before he was confronted and flipped, secretly listening in on thousands of phone calls as the alderman solicited everything from campaign donations to sexual services at a massage parlor. The deferred prosecution deal was signed by Solis on the day after Christmas 2018 and kept secret for nearly 3 years before the U.S. attorneys office finally put it on the record last year. As part of the deal, Solis was charged in a one-count criminal information with corruptly soliciting campaign donations from a real estate developer in exchange for zoning changes in 2015, when Solis was head of the City Councils zoning committee. That charge will be dropped in three years if Solis continues to cooperate. Last year, the federal prosecutor leading the Burke and Madigan investigations delivered an impassioned defense of the deal with Solis, telling the federal judge overseeing the high-profile case that Solis cooperation was perhaps singular even in the citys long history of political corruption. During the course of his undercover work, Solis personally made hundreds of recordings and helped form the basis of government requests for wiretaps on others, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu said. Some may view (Solis deal) as being with little precedent, but what Mr. Solis did also was with little precedent, Bhachu said. He didnt just talk. He took action. He worked with the federal government for six years to expose corruption. Solis has been free on bond since he was charged in 2022. jmeisner@chicagotribune.com The White House announced Sunday that David Satterfield, a former U.S. ambassador to Lebanon and Turkey, will now serve as the U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Humanitarian Issues. In that role, the State Department said Satterfield will "focus on ensuring life-saving assistance can reach vulnerable people throughout the Middle East," according to National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. "Ambassador Satterfields diplomatic experience and decades of work navigating the some of the worlds most challenging conflicts will be instrumental in our continued effort to address humanitarian issues in the region a top priority for President Biden including our efforts to bring urgently needed humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people, particularly in Gaza, in coordination with the U.N., Egypt, Jordan, Israel, and other regional stakeholders," Sullivan said in a statement released by the White House. "We thank Ambassador Satterfield for his willingness to serve in this new capacity," he added. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement HEZBOLLAH POSES 'REAL RISK OF ESCALATION' AT ISRAEL NORTHERN BORDER, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER SULLIVAN WARNS David Satterfield, then-acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee regarding "U.S. Policy in Syria Post-ISIS," on Jan. 10, 2018. Satterfield was expected to arrive in Israel on Monday, according to the Associated Press. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP After visiting Israel last week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken went to six countries Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and ultimately Egypt, where he met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in Cairo on Sunday. Addressing reporters before departing Egypt Sunday, Blinken reaffirmed that "the United States has Israels back," but also stressed that he heard from partners a "shared view" that "we have to do everything possible to make sure this doesnt spread to other places," "to safeguard innocent lives," and "to get assistance to Palestinians in Gaza who need it." KIRBY: US 'ACTIVELY TRYING' TO FIND HOSTAGES IN GAZA, WON'T 'RULE ANYTHING IN OR OUT' FOR AMERICAN EFFORT A Syrian official seen with then-U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs David Satterfield after meeting in Damascus on Sept. 2, 2002. "We believe that civilians should not suffer because of the depravity of Hamas. And among other things, that means that they should have food, water, medicine, all the basic essentials that they need," Blinken said. "Today, water was turned back on for Gaza. We engaged with Israel to make that happen. Were now focused on making sure that humanitarian assistance can get in, that people can get out of harms way within Gaza, and also that some of our own citizens who wish to leave can get out. But this has been very much a part not only of our conversations, but of the actions were taking. "In fact, today President Biden appointed one of our most experienced diplomats, David Satterfield, who has deep experience in this region, to lead our humanitarian assistance efforts special envoy of the President to work with everyone in the region to make sure that Palestinians in harms way in Gaza get the assistance they need," Blinken added. President Biden is considering a trip to Israel in the coming days but no travel has been finalized, a senior administration official told the AP on Sunday. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Original article source: White House names ex-ambassador to Lebanon, Turkey as US special envoy to Middle East 'humanitarian issues' Staying in hotels can be a harrowing experience for people with disabilities. When Julie Reiskin, 58, tried to book an accessible room in Chicago, she got one with no roll-in shower. In D.C., the bed was too high. Throughout her travels, she has often had to go days without bathing and has had to sleep in her power wheelchair. This is a common experience for disabled people like her, many of whom say they regularly experience problems staying in hotels and using their amenities. Subscribe to The Post Most newsletter for the most important and interesting stories from The Washington Post. But most don't have the time or resources to sue over these issues, advocates said. Despite the decades-long existence of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), a sweeping civil rights law that mandates accessibility in public spaces, the barriers are still too pervasive. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "Every time we face discrimination, we have to calculate whether we'll deal with it," said Reiskin, a disability advocate in Denver. "You can't deal with every problem, otherwise you'd be doing it all the time." So some people with disabilities have taken on the job of being "testers." They investigate accessibility issues and may file lawsuits so others won't encounter the same barriers. The role of testers is at the heart of a case now before the Supreme Court. The case concerns Deborah Laufer, a tester who argues that a small Maine hotel discriminated against her because its website didn't include required accessibility information. The hotel's attorneys say Laufer doesn't have grounds to sue because she never intended to stay there. Business organizations such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have argued that ADA lawsuits burden small businesses and the court system. Though the Supreme Court may drop the case for complex legal reasons, it has nonetheless sparked a conversation about how disability civil rights are enforced and the challenges people with disabilities still face in finding accessible lodging when they travel. - - - When booking a hotel is overwhelming Reiskin, who has also worked as a tester, recalls staying in only a few hotels where she could board the airport shuttle. She said she wouldn't have been capable of filing lawsuits against each of these hotels on her own, but she was able to work as a tester for a disability rights organization to call dozens of hotels and see whether they had accessible shuttles. "This has to be dealt with systemically. You can't deal with it one at a time," she said. And simply requesting accommodations doesn't usually work, said Yvette Pegues, who uses a wheelchair. At hotels, she has found bathroom entrances too small, beds too high and air-conditioning units out of reach. She said she usually tries to talk to business owners about these issues and sometimes will send letters explaining the barriers she encountered and how to fix them. Most businesses don't make changes following this feedback, she said. This is not unusual, advocates said, because many businesses tend to wait until they're sued before spending money on making changes. "I think the law is looked at as a suggestion," said Pegues, 36, of Canton, Ga. "People just don't care. It makes me feel rejected in the world." This feeling of rejection and exclusion from public places is common among disabled people, said Jasmine Harris, a University of Pennsylvania law professor who co-wrote an article in the Columbia Human Rights Law Review describing how disabled people have struggled while traveling. Despite a legal requirement for hotels to disclose information about their accessibility features in reservation systems, disabled people say they regularly encounter hotel websites with misleading and inaccurate information - or no information at all. Not putting accessibility information onto a business's website may not sound like a big deal, Harris said, but it furthers disabled people's sense of exclusion and makes the process of booking a hotel room and traveling more difficult. Some of the disabled people surveyed in her article said they had to send more than a dozen emails and call the same business multiple times to figure out whether they could get the accommodations they needed. Others found the process of figuring out accommodations so overwhelming that they chose to stay home instead. "They come to expect inaccessibility," she said. "And people just opt out again and again." - - - Challenges in enforcing accessibility rules Some disabled people say it can be intimidating to file a lawsuit against a hotel or restaurant. They say testers tend to face criticism and have been accused of shaking down businesses for their own gain. They also say that it can be a tedious process and that they generally don't get any money out of it. The way the law is written, those who file these types of lawsuits typically can only seek reimbursement for legal fees and out-of-pocket costs. Some state laws, such as California's Unruh Civil Rights Act, make it so that plaintiffs can get money for damages, which contributes to the fact that the bulk of ADA litigation tends to be concentrated in those states, said Rabia Belt, a Stanford Law School professor and legal historian who focuses on disability. The lack of monetary damages also means that lawyers usually only get paid for the hours they work, said Gregory Sconzo, an attorney in Florida who focuses on disability discrimination cases. He and other legal experts said that it is usually only economically worthwhile for lawyers to work on these cases if they represent testers and file a larger amount of lawsuits. Sconzo has represented one client in more than a thousand lawsuits related to accessibility barriers. Most of his cases resulted in settlements, Sconzo said, with businesses being ordered to fix issues, such as adding pool lifts. The Justice Department does investigate ADA noncompliance and can pursue lawsuits, but in a brief for the Supreme Court case, it said that private lawsuits, including those brought by testers, were an "essential complement" to the federal government's enforcement of these types of laws. In their own filing, disability organizations argued that the government "cannot keep up with the rampant rates of noncompliance." But Chip Rogers, the president and chief executive of the American Hotel and Lodging Association, said the cost of litigating these cases could push small businesses into bankruptcy. "For years, hoteliers have been on the receiving end of lawsuits or letters threatening lawsuits from serial litigants who pursue hundreds of hotels and other businesses at a time," Rogers said. In 2012, there were roughly 3,000 non-employment ADA lawsuits, representing a little over 1 percent of all federal civil cases. In 2022, the amount of lawsuits climbed to around 9,300, representing about 3.5 percent of all cases. Belt said overall, a relatively small percentage of businesses get sued. The rise in cases may be because the country's aging population has led to more disability overall, she said, and because disabled people born after the ADA was passed in 1990 are coming of age. This "post-ADA generation" has come to expect accessibility as a right and may be more willing to file lawsuits now that they are adults, she said. Another factor contributing to the increase is the internet. Businesses can easily reach more consumers, but Belt said it has also meant that disabled consumers have more frequently encountered accessibility barriers simply by being online. - - - Little awareness of the barriers Part of the reason these issues persist is because people don't understand the importance of the ADA or what it is meant to provide, said Jeremy Warriner, 48, of Indianapolis. He also said businesses may not realize they are violating the law. Warriner worked in the hospitality industry for more than a decade and managed various hotels throughout his career. But in both his formal education and his workplace trainings, he said he learned very little about the ADA and how to implement it. It wasn't until he became a double-leg amputee after a car accident 18 years ago that he understood the importance of having accommodations, he said. After his accident, he realized the only automatic, accessible door he could go through to get into the hotel where he worked didn't function. When he questioned staff, he was told it hadn't been working for years. "I run into these things everywhere I go, and I didn't see it until I became a person with a disability who has to rely on the ADA," he said. Warriner has never filed a lawsuit over accessibility, because the process seems too tedious. But he has tried another approach. He's often unable to use the accessible parking spaces at a local coffee shop, where cars in the drive-through can block the spaces. After he noticed the problem in March 2021, he repeatedly brought it up with the shop managers over the course of two months. Nothing changed. So he filed a complaint with the Justice Department. That was more than two years ago, he said, and the problem still has not been fixed. - - - Caitlin Gilbert contributed to this report. Related Content Behind closed doors, Marines struggle with a glaring diversity problem Austin's office market is exploding. But no one is moving in. Israel transforms itself for war as Gaza invasion looms A white professor allegedly called campus security on a Black student outside her office as the student listened to a lecture on her laptop at the University of Dallas. A video is circulating on TikTok of associate professor of history and Chair of the Department of History at the university Susan Hanssen, recording the student while she was seated at a table listening to a lecture. Hanssen was seemingly upset by the volume on the students laptop. University of Dallas professor Susan Hanssen harasses a Black student listening to a lecture. (Photo: @coritoocutee / TikTok) The student, who uses the TikTok handle @coritoocutee, recorded Hanssen as she pranced in front of the student several times while recording her with her cellphone, capturing the student at every possible angle. Hanssen allegedly called campus security to throw the student out before the video took place, but they declined, according to the student. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Trending Today: The video was captioned, Pov: a professor harasses you for listening to a lecture because she doesnt wanna close her door. Another caption reads, Why did this lady call campus security before this video and had a tantrum bc they couldnt escort me out ???? chilee and the sound was only on 25 until she got crazy so it went to a 100 idc! Another white professor seated nearby eventually stepped in, and Hanssen was told to go back into her office. Cori shared another video with TikTok user Jay Megan and said that the other professor told her that the volume on her laptop was not disruptive to him. WATCH THE VIDEO HERE. Megan shared additional videos claiming that the female professor was the daughter of Robert Hanssen, the FBI agent who was arrested for being a Russian mole back in 2001 and is the subject of the movie Breach with Ryan Phillippe and Chris Cooper. According to The New York Times, Robert Hanssen was sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted of sharing secrets with Moscow for decades. The mole reportedly gave the Russians the identities of three KGB informants, which resulted in their execution. His story was made into a feature film back in 2007. Hanssen died in June at the age of 79 in prison. Professor Hanssen matches the profile of one of Robert Hanssens daughters, Sue, who attended Oakcrest School for girls in Vienna, Virginia. The professor graduated from Oakcrest in 1992, according to the schools alumnae page. She has a 4.3 out of 5 rating on Rate My Professor. While most viewers of Coris video chastised the student for not using headphones, others believe that the professor overreacted. Hold on now. she may have overreacted but, pretty common courtesy in public spaces to use headphones. Been like that since they were invented, wrote one viewer. Why are the seats outside the offices like that? why doesnt she close the door? asked another viewer. If its a space that is a collaborative space & she had it low she is 100% allowed to play it out loud as you can hear louder background noises, wrote one TikToker user. However, TikToker Jay Megan believes the teachers reaction was motivated by race. Lets face it, we can tell that this was actually about the race of the young woman when her phone was shaking as she was recording her, Megan said. According to Cori, the incident happened in April, and after she reported the professor, the school moved the tables where the student was sitting from the side of the building where Hanssens office is located. In the Wilmington area's extensive hurricane history, Isaias wasn't a particularly notable event. While the Category 1 storm did spawn several tornadoes and cause damage in a couple Brunswick County beach towns, the August 2020 hurricane largely stayed offshore and moved through the region quickly. But it was a different story 26 miles up the Cape Fear River at the Memorial Bridge. There, home to Wilmington's official tide gauge that has been recording water levels since 1908, Isaias pushed enough water up the river channel to set a record for the highest reading ever recorded in the Port City. For the Cape Fear region, the record-setting water level was a sign of the times and a reminder of the challenges the area could face in the future as climate change continues to cause sea levels to rise and warming ocean temperatures create more fuel for tropical storms to become larger and more powerful. But for the Battleship North Carolina, that future is already here. The highest decorated American battleship of World War II that's now a floating memorial to the more than 11,000 Tar Heel State residents who died during the war is already battling the rising river. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement This is a fight, however, the 35,000-ton and heavily armed warship, berthed along low-lying Eagles Island across from downtown Wilmington and surrounded by ecologically valuable wetlands, can't win on its own. On Oct. 24 officials are scheduled to open bids for the battleship's "Living with Water" project, a model design that in many ways that will be testing new on-the-ground natural methods and techniques to see if a public site can learn to adapt with its changing environment rather than trying to engineer ways to control it. Capt. Terry Bragg, the battleship's executive director, said a re-naturalization project using living shorelines, creating new tidal marshes, and parking lot improvements is seen by battleship officials as a better way of combating the environmental challenges facing the historic site even if it isn't likely to offer a permanent solution. "These 'green solutions' won't prevent the impacts of climate change, but they offer us a way to try and mitigate some of the effects while blending in with Mother Nature's constraints," he said. "Climate change is very dynamic, and the rate of problems are happening at such a pace that this will be a good snapshot in time to see if projects like these are worthwhile as we see climate change happening over the next 10 to 15 years." PHOTOS: Battleship North Carolina in action Increased tidal flooding For a historic site that literally floats, it might seem a bit ironic that the battleship is having problems handling water. But it wasn't always that way. Last decade as the tidal flooding at Eagles Island grew worse, the battleship commissioned a study to see what was going on. The study showed a more than 7,000% increase in tidal flooding since the battleship came to Wilmington in 1961 and 2020. Between just 2011 and 2020, there was an eyewatering 770% increase in flooding events a figure that's likely increased since then as researchers document sea-level rise increasing. "During the decades of the 1950s and 1960s we may have seen four to five flooding events a year," Bragg said. "The last decade, over 50% of the year we've had flooding events." WATER WOES Are NC's 'ghost forests' a canary in the coal mine for upcoming coastal change? For the battleship, a wet parking lot or standing water on U.S.S. North Carolina Road, which links the battleship to U.S. 421, isn't just an inconvenience. "By law we're not financially supported by the state of North Caroilna for our operational costs, so if we cant sell tickets, sell merchandise, we cant survive," Bragg said. "So this is really extremely important to keeping the doors open and keeping the visitors coming and generating the revenue we need to survive." He added that the battleship, already the region's most popular tourist attraction, in 2023 is having its best financial year in more than 20 years, setting records for visitation and merchandise sales. From parking lot to wetlands Faced with an evolving environment and keeping financial considerations in mind, battleship officials decided to look to nature to deal with their growing water woes. This is not the most technically complex project weve ever done," Bragg said, alluding to the coffer dam and other restoration projects the battleship has done in recent years. "But from a design, environmental and permitting point of view, this is distinctly the most complex project weve been involved in." Much of the project involves recreating much of the battleship property to reflect the changing environment on Eagles Island. A large part of the "Living with Water" work will deal with the battleship's problematic parking lot, which is often flood prone at even normal high tides. Crews plan to remove about 2 acres of the parking lot on the western side and restore the area to wetlands divided by a tidal creek. Bragg said this should help capture and absorb high tides, while the tidal creek will direct water back to the Cape Fear River. The rest of the battleship's parking lot will be raised above the high-tide mark, and "green" stormwater measures will be constructed to treat runoff before it reaches the river and adjacent wetlands. That work will include nearly 100 trees and shrubs in the parking lot and more than 130,000 native marsh plants in the wetlands and tidal creek to help improve water quality, habitat creation and carbon sequestration. MORE Living shorelines: Along the N.C. coast, preparing for rising waters with natural remedies The project will also include the transformation of nearly 800 feet of eroding shoreline on either side of the visitors center to a living shoreline, where natural features like sea grasses, oyster reefs and rock sills are used to help buffer areas from waves and storm action and create habitat for a host of marine critters. Bragg said one of the most exciting parts of the project is that it will be an easily accessible "living classroom" for researchers and students to see how green infrastructure works and reacts in a real-world environment that's rapidly undergoing alterations fueled by climate change. The battleship already has partnered with NOAA's National Center for Coastal Ocean Science to help with plant selection and monitoring efforts, and intends to team up with the University of North Carolina Wilmington's Benthic Ecology Lab for permit-required biological monitoring. What's next? With any public project, knowing whether you have enough money for the work isn't really known until the bids are opened. But Bragg said $1 million included in the recently approved North Carolina state budget for the "Living with Water" project coupled with nearly $3 million previously secured from federal and state grants and funding from the N.C. Department of Natural and Culture Resources has the battleship confident it can start moving forward even if some further fundraising or dipping into savings might be required to get across the finish line. The project is expected to take about eight months, and Bragg said it will be done in phases to keep visitor access to the battleship open and inconveniences down to a minmum. A bigger question, though, is what happens around the battleship with future developments and potential impacts from climate change. RISING WATERS New studies show 'unprecedented' sea-level rise along the North Carolina coast The Port of Wilmington is pushing to have the Cape Fear River shipping channel deepened from the current 42 feet to 47 feet a move that would allow more water to push up the river into downtown Wilmington. Development across the Wilmington area, which is one of the fastest-growing metros in the country, also means more runoff flowing into the Cape Fear and Northeast Cape Fear rivers, which merge just north of the battleship. But it is the unknowns about future changes associated with continued climate change that could have the biggest effects. Numerous studies forecast sea-level rise to increase in the coming decades as the planet continue to warm, and the Carolina coast already has some of the highest rates of rising seas in the country. Increased rainfall in inland areas, including larger rainfall events tied to stronger tropical storms, also would mean more water cascading into the Cape Fear River watershed as it makes its way toward the ocean. Were hoping to be ahead of the curve for a number of years," Bragg said, ticking off all the environmental, safety and infrastructure benefits associated with the upcoming project. "But I dont think this is the final answer." Reporter Gareth McGrath can be reached at GMcGrath@Gannett.com or @GarethMcGrathSN on Twitter. This story was produced with financial support from 1Earth Fund and the Prentice Foundation. The USA TODAY Network maintains full editorial control of the work. This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Battleship North Carolina looks to green solutions to help with flooding SAN FRANCISCO - The Jewish Community Relations Council says it's "deeply disturbed" by some of the graffiti seen in San Francisco following Saturday's pro-Palestinian rally. The organization posted pictures on social media showing anti-Jewish messages spray-painted on windows along Market Street. Vandals painted in red: "Death to Zionists." "Kill a Settler." and "Death to Isael." The JCRC says it's been in touch with city leaders and has reported the vandalism to the San Francisco Police Department. We are deeply disturbed by graffiti along Market Street reading after yesterday's pro-Palestinian rally in San Francisco. We have been in touch with city leaders and @SFPD to investigate this crime. pic.twitter.com/8p6FOPIcGu JCRC Bay Area (@SFJCRC) October 15, 2023 A prominent conservative donor is behind the controversial Harvard Square billboard that doxxed students who signed a letter critical of Israels role in its war with Palestine. The billboard truck, which appeared on campus on Wednesday and emblazoned the names and faces of students under the banner Harvards Leading Anti-Semites, was organized by the conservative watchdog Accuracy in Media. However, the money fueling the initiative ran much deeper, reported The Guardian. The nonprofits single largest donor in 2022 was the Informing America Foundation, according to IRS filings obtained by the outlet. That year, Informing America signed a check to the watchdog for more than $166,000, roughly 18 percent of the donations received by the nonprofit that year. Elsewhere, Informing America doled out more than $8 million to 12 different media and activist groups that same year. Causes under their umbrella included Star News Digital Media, a for-profit news network founded by former Tea Party activists whose sites have been likened to pink slime and dubbed Baby Breitbarts. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The group has also contributed to Real Clear Foundation, a news nonprofit whose aggregated news and original reporting headlines anti-MAGA initiatives, highlights random violence in liberal cities, and levels its criticisms at Joe Biden and his family. Behind Informing America, however, is the Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, a $1.5 billion institution that played a significant part in funding a network of voter suppression groups following the 2020 election, according to a report by the Center for Media and Democracy. The Diana Davis Spencer Foundations founder, executive chairman, and namesake , Diana Davis Spencer, was not only identified as Informing America Foundations single largest donor, providing $1.5 million in 2021, but also a board member of the conservative group. What kind of winter can northwestern Pennsylvanians expect to see? It depends on which long-range weather forecast you read. The Great Lakes region, including Erie, is forecast to have above-average temperatures and below-average precipitation in December, January and February, according to the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center. The forecast is almost the exact opposite of one released this summer by the "Farmer's Almanac," which predicted below-average temperatures this winter and lots of snowstorms, sleet, ice and rain for the Great Lakes region. More: Are you ready for snow? 'Farmer's Almanac' releases winter outlook for Erie, Great Lakes ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "It's important to keep in mind that long-range forecasts should be viewed as a trend," said David Marsalek, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Cleveland office. "Don't expect it to be dry and warm every single day. It will still be winter." In fact, the Climate Prediction Center's December-January-February forecast maps show that northwestern Pennsylvania has a 40%-50% chance of an above-average seasonal temperature, and a 33%-40% chance of below-average precipitation for the winter. So, don't sell your snow thrower and heavy parka just yet. What effect could El Nino have on northwestern Pennsylvania? Many winter forecasts in the United States are focusing on El Nino, a climate pattern in which surface sea water temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean are warmer than average. The latest El Nino formed earlier this year. Though located in the Pacific Ocean, El Nino can affect weather across the United States. It typically leads to milder, slightly wetter winters in the Great Lakes region, Marsalek said. "But El Nino doesn't always take the same path," Marselek said. "We will see how it oscillates across the globe." Erie's 2022-23 winter was mild and relatively snow-free Erie's 2022-23 winter was mild, both in terms of temperatures and its amount of snowfall. The average daily temperature at Erie International Airport from December through February was 34.3 degrees, 4 degrees higher than normal, according to the National Weather Service. The average daily high during that period was 40.9, 3.6 degrees higher than normal. Last winter: Erie's winter that wasn't comes to an end. See the surprising 2022-23 snowfall total Not only did Lake Erie remain clear of ice, so did Presque Isle Bay for most of the winter, much to the chagrin of local ice fishing enthusiasts. Only 52 inches of snow fell at the airport, almost half the average amount of 104.3. The highest monthly total was 22.9 inches in November, well before winter officially started. Contact David Bruce at dbruce@timesnews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ETNBruce. This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie PA may see mild, dry winter, National Weather Service predicts Hundreds of thousands of people have been fleeing North Gaza to the South amid Israeli airstrikes. This comes ahead of Israel's planned ground invasion in Gaza. Insider spoke with one Gaza City resident about what the journey was like. This week, the Israeli military ordered a mass evacuation of civilians from northern Gaza to the southern part of the blockaded strip. The order to flee came ahead of a planned ground invasion from the Israeli army and affected nearly 1.1 million residents. Hundreds of thousands decided to take the journey. Some Palestinians traveled on foot and mule-drawn carriages. Others were fortunate enough to have a car or hitch a ride on a bus or a truck. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement However, it appeared that the trek to safety was not so safe. An eyewitness who previously spoke to Insider and verified multiple witness reports said that airstrikes killed scores of civilians utilizing a safe route to escape bombing in the north. The Palestinian Health Ministry said 70 people died. The Israel Defense Forces, which is carrying out its most intensive air campaign against Gaza, denied that its munitions killed the civilians, the Guardian reported. Hamas, the militant group that governs the strip, said Israel was to blame. Now, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are crowded in the southern parts of the region, as food, water, fuel, electricity, and medical equipment are in both high demand and short supply. This is due to the restriction of resources that Israel has put on the area, as human rights groups beg for humanitarian corridors to provide much-needed aid. Insider spoke with one Gaza resident, Amjad Shabat, who fled Gaza City with her family, about what it's like to live near the Rafah border crossing. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Who did you leave with? Are you safe right now? I used to live in Gaza City. I left with my husband, my daughter, my sister, and my mother to my in-laws. So we're staying at the house of my in-laws near the Rafah border that is to the south of the Gaza Strip. When did you leave? The evacuation process started the morning of, I believe, Wednesday. And we left in the afternoon of that day. So yes, upon the calls of Israeli occupation forces to leave the northern Gaza strip to the south. This was a massive evacuation process. What was the process of leaving like? Very, very, very scary. Very frightening. We left already under the massive airstrikes that have been targeting Gaza for three days, four days at that time. Israel only kept one main street that links the northern of Gaza to the south, which is Salah al-Din Road. Along 15-20 kilometers, you saw a series, a line of cars, trucks, and any transportation that could take people. I was very scared and sad at the same time because this all brought the memories of 1948 when the Palestinian people had to leave their villages. 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 AHMED ZAKOT/Reuters What did you bring, and what did you leave behind? We left with nothing. I have been wearing the same clothes since Wednesday. We were lucky that my father-in-law had a car, so he came from Rafah to Gaza, which takes him two hours He came and he took us out of the city. We actually were lucky because many of our friends and many of our colleagues couldn't leave Gaza until now because they couldn't find a ride. What was the drive like? Very scary. At one moment, my father-in-law was about to hit the side of the road because he couldn't see. We literally piled up inside the car. Thirteen people in a car with a capacity of five people, you couldn't see both sides. And because of this massive crowd of people leaving Gaza into the south, people were very stressed and scared. I believe they were less focused on driving than on running away from the continuous airstrikes. The massive and the terrifying airstrikes. There were voices of airstrikes and bombing when we traveled, but to be honest, not exactly where we've been. I kept hearing the voices. They were in the background but not in front of my eyes. Have you had any updates on your home in Gaza City? Do you even know if it's still standing? I don't know. I just recently bought my flat. My husband and I had been saving for years to have the top flat in the center of Gaza City. We left everything. So I really don't want it to be destroyed. Right behind the neighborhood I used to live in, it was completely destroyed. And all across the road, destruction is everywhere, wherever we go. We turn our heads, there is destruction. Palestinian woman Samah Abu Latifa's son sleeps as he shelters with his mother in a kindergarten after fleeing his home amid Israeli strikes, in khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA/Reuters What is your situation like now? The most important and the most terrifying thing that we face is the scarcity of basic resources, such as water and food. We've run out of bread today. Three of my brothers-in-law had to stay in front of the bakery for three hours where they couldn't obtain any loaf of bread because when the time came for them to buy their bread, there wasn't any more bread. We are out of water, so we can't use the toilet, we can't wash our clothes or wash the dishes. We keep the freshwater we can drink. No electricity, of course. No internet. I'm lucky to have neighbors who have a private generator, and they have something like cellular data, and they connect for me. What is it like near the Rafah border? I've been to one of our schools. UNRWA is the UN institution that's responsible for feeding and finding work and helping the refugees of Palestine. They're turning their schools into shelters to help thousands of families. At a school with a capacity of 1,000 people, between 2,000 and 4,000 people are literally piling up. Others are in serious shock because they run away under the massive airstrikes where buildings may be demolished in front of their eyes. Others, they can't focus their eyes. They can't speak. I went to interview one of them to see how are the people's mental health. They refused to speak with me. Men had to sleep outside, and it's getting colder and colder. The streets are full. The city where were we evacuated to is a very small city. And the infrastructure, of course, is not suitable to hold this number of people. People who are there have run away without medicines. People with chronic diseases are very frightened of any health crisis that they may face because they don't have their medicines. People with diabetes, with blood pressure, with a history of heart disease. They're very afraid. Read the original article on Insider Feature: China publishes picture book marking 20th anniversary of its first manned spaceflight Xinhua) 08:21, October 16, 2023 This image shows the cover of the picture book "First Man". (Beijing Science and Technology Press/Handout via Xinhua) BEIJING, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Authorized by Yang Liwei, China's first astronaut to enter space, the Beijing Science and Technology Press (BSTP) published the picture book "First Man" on Sunday, marking the 20th anniversary of the country's first manned space travel. The book relives the whole process of Yang's historic flight in October 2003, including the liftoff, in-orbit flight and return to Earth of the Shenzhou-5 spaceship, using vivid pictures. This book is an opportunity for science publishers to introduce the story of Yang Liwei and the Shenzhou-5 mission to readers, allowing them to get to know the Chinese space hero better. The content of the picture book is based on Yang's autobiography, "Long March to Space," which was published in 2010. Part of the book's content was included in the country's middle school textbook in 2021, which soon became a trending topic on social media networks. "My department director asked me to do some research about the book. So I bought the autobiography and was moved by the detailed stories in it. Thus, I decided to turn it into a picture book," said Wu Xiaoxi, editor of the BSTP. Her idea won support from Yang, who later accepted an interview with a BSTP editorial team for the new picture book. "When I was a student, I learned about Yang from the news and thought he was great and admirable," said Wu. But it was just an abstract feeling, Wu added. After reading his autobiography, Wu realized that Yang remained as real and interesting as an ordinary person. "When I talked with him face to face, I found that he was exactly the same as depicted in the autobiography, with active and clear thinking, while also being broad-minded, tenacious and fearless," Wu said. Jin Xing, illustrator of the picture book, also secured a fresher and clearer impression of the country's first space traveller. After Shenzhou-5 re-entered the atmosphere, Yang saw what he believed were cracks in the portholes, and the temperature outside was between 1,600 and 1,800 degrees Celsius. Once back on Earth, he found out that it was the anti-burning coating covering the portholes instead of the windows that had burned and cracked. "I have repeatedly imagined those thrilling moments in my mind, amazed at how hard this space journey was and how marvelous the astronaut was," Jin said. When Jin submitted the sketch paper, Wu was touched by the pictures illustrating Yang's actions in orbit, such as stretching out his hand as if to touch the floating dust and waving goodbye to the quiet immensity of space. Twenty years after the space mission, Yang reviewed the development of China's manned spaceflight in the afterword of this picture book. The country's manned spaceflight missions have been lengthened from one day to multiple days, and are performed simultaneously by multiple astronauts and not just one, which reflects the rapid development of China's space technology. "Every astronaut and every aerospace worker is proud of this spirit of continuous innovation and pursuit of perfection," Yang said. Yang has not conducted another flight mission since 2003. In the afterword of the picture book, he said that he has gradually changed from a trainee to an instructor and administrator, but he still insists on participating in spaceflight mission training as a professional astronaut. "What remains unchanged is that I still keep the original aspiration of an astronaut, and always stay ready to be selected by the motherland," he said. Besides, Yang often attends science popularization events. "The space lectures from the Tiangong space station, favored by many students, was initiated by him," said Wu. Yang said in the afterword that science popularization is missioned to light up children's curiosity and to stimulate them to explore science and the unknown. Hoping the new picture book will prove a good science popularization work, Wu and her colleagues reminded readers that there is a surprise in the book -- a page showing a rabbit staring at the moon. "We are all looking forward to the next leap of China's manned space program -- the manned lunar landing," said Wu. "We expect to produce more high-quality picture books at that time," Wu added. This file photo taken on September 2023 shows Yang Liwei, China's first astronaut to enter space, posing for a photo with an editor of the Beijing Science and Technology Press, publisher of the picture book "First Man," in Beijing, capital of China. (Beijing Science and Technology Press/Handout via Xinhua) This file photo taken on September 2023 shows publishing staff of the picture book "First Man" making final confirmation of the book's content in Beijing, capital of China. (Beijing Science and Technology Press/Handout via Xinhua) This image shows a page of the picture book "First Man". (Beijing Science and Technology Press/Handout via Xinhua) (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Donald Trump's recent fundraising emails appear unhinged and delusional even by his standards. They offer numerous examples of his enraged state of mind, his appetite for conspiratorial thinking and outright lies, his disregard for reality, his cult-like power over his followers and his increasingly explicit contempt for democracy and the rule of law. Although his language at times appears farcical, these are real-time warnings that Americans who oppose the MAGA agenda should take seriously. Consider this example, sent about 10 days ago after Trump had attended the early days of his New York civil trial: Friend, I just finished the third day of my sham trial in New York. For the past three days, I sat in a courtroom in the city I grew up in, the city I raised my family in, the city I built a tremendous organization in, the city I loved and I listened to the Democrats fervently try to destroy everything my family and I have built. The Left wants to take down Trump Tower a world-famous New York landmark, they want to dissolve the Trump Organization, and their ultimate goal is to financially ruin me and my family. It was also here in New York that I was wrongfully arrested by a Soros-backed District Attorney earlier this year. It was the first time I was ever arrested in my entire life. ... But the truth is: this is not the same city I knew and loved. Frankly, this is not even the same country we once knew. Radical Left thugs have let crime, vandalism, filth, left-wing extremism, and illegal immigration pollute what was once the greatest city in the world. And thats what they want to do to all of America. Friend, Im not running for President for myself. Im running because I truly believe our country is dying. When I go back to a place like New York and see whats happened, my resolve grows even stronger to save America. 2024 is our final chance to fix the greatest country in history and I have absolute faith that with your support, we can turn it around, and turn it around FAST! This one went out to Trump's massive mailing list last Monday: ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement This week, as you watched yours truly stand trial as a completely innocent man, youve seen exactly what the Radical Democrats' endgame really is. A pursuit of absolute power at the expense of our free Republic, our Constitution, and not just my civil liberties, but YOUR freedom as well. The power-drunk Democrats, TERRIFIED by the latest polls that show us LEADING Crooked Joe by 10 POINTS, will do anything truly, anything to destroy the one man who can and will defeat Biden in 2024. ... Theyre attempting to strip me of my livelihood and take away my incredible business. They want to harass my family and take away my home, Trump Tower. And now, theyre trying to GAG me for the rest of the election to prevent me from even criticizing Crooked Joe. All of this to CANCEL OUT YOUR VOTE! Our Founding Fathers would be rolling in their graves if they could see what is happening to the America they left us once the freest country in the world. But these Deep State thugs truly are monsters They would trade our Republic for a tin-pot dictatorship in a heartbeat if it meant an everlasting grip on power. And mark my words, if they succeed at INTERFERING in this election, in the FINAL BATTLE for our country, America will never be the same. His movement of "more than 74 MILLION patriots," Trump concludes, "will NEVER, EVER SURRENDER our country to Third World Marxist tyranny!" These fundraising emails, and Trumps larger communications strategy, offer almost a textbook example of how fascists and autocrats seek to erode democracy by maintaining and expanding their control over their followers, and bulid political power more broadly. Trump also uses these emails to threaten or intimidate prosecutors, judges and law enforcement officials (as well as potential witnesses and jurors) who seek to hold him accountable for his crimes. While those outside the MAGAverse are understandably tempted to mock Trumps inflated or hyperbolic language, these emails have proven highly lucrative for the ex-president. The Trump campaign reports that it took in almost $46 million in donations in the third quarter of 2023. Trump is intelligent enough, after his fashion; he knows what his followers want and gives it to them. I asked Jennifer Mercieca, a historian of political rhetoric at Texas A&M and the author of "Demagogue for President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump," for her thoughts about Trumps language in recent fundraising emails. She responded by email: The goal of fascism is to turn politics into warfare. To do this, [fascist leaders] narrate a world of chaos, corruption and hypocrisy. They position their opposition as enemies who cheat, as untrustworthy and determined to undermine and destroy all that's good and noble. If the fascist can convince his followers that there is so much scary chaos and so many enemies, then the fascist rises to power because people want the "strong arm" of the fascist to solve problems. Trump follows this fascist playbook to the letter: There are determined and scary enemies. Those enemies have broken all of the rules to attack Trump, whose only crime was trying to defend his followers from their attacks. Trump suffers for his followers, so his followers owe him. They owe him their loyalty, votes and money. Trump vows to continue to fight on, because his fight is really their fight. His followers should stand with him and give him power so he can keep fighting for them. Federico Finchelstein, a historian at the New School and author of A Brief History of Fascist Lies, argues that Trumps recent fundraising emails offer evidence of his innovative ability to combine his roles as an aspiring dictator and a supposedly successful businessman selling salvation to his followers: As usual Trump combines distorting reality, turning facts into lies about imminent destruction and persecution by total enemies (who are not even human he calls them monsters) and salvation via donation. The first elements (demonization and apocalyptic fears and promises) are rather typical of fascists like Hitler and Mussolini, but the idea of giving money to the leader to avoid calamity and destruction is typically Trumpist. If fascism was a totalitarian ideology, movement and regime, Trumpism is that plus a personal business. The fascist identification between people, nation and leader mutates in Trumpism. It becomes not only a wannabe fascist project but also a business. ... Trump promises a new salvation that invokes the racist past but also is indifferent to it. Reaction and lies about the future are combined by Trump. Trump has repeatedly shown himself to be mentally unwell and to possess a diseased mind and corrupt personality and evil character. Trumps fundraising emails and other communications reflect those traits and their resulting behavior. Dr. Lance Dodes, a former clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and a training and supervising analyst emeritus at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, elaborated on this: Many observers have noted that, in his paranoia, Donald Trump attributes to his enemies the exact qualities that describe himself. For example, when he writes of people who are charging him with crimes, and people trying to uphold democracy, that they would trade our Republic for a tin-pot dictatorship in a heartbeat if it meant an everlasting grip on power, he has perfectly described himself. This capacity to falsely redefine others by projecting into them ones own traits is called projective identification. When practiced repeatedly with no insight, as Trump does, it is an indication of severe mental illness, an inability to perceive reality. The only fortunate aspect of Trumps comments is that they provide a concise summary of himself. Marcel Danesi, a professor emeritus of linguistic anthropology at the University of Toronto and the author of Politics, Lies and Conspiracy Theories: A Cognitive Linguistic Perspective," was struck by Trumps language suggesting that he views the 2024 presidential campaign as an apocalyptic struggle: There are three aspects of his rant that stand out to me. First, as a master of projection, Trump knows how to redirect and deflect accusations against him onto his accusers (real or imagined), twisting them for his followers as evidence of an ongoing pseudo-coup by the Marxist deep state. Second, Trump never fails to portray accusations against him as an act of war against everyones freedom, drumming up conspiracy language of a behind- the-scenes endgame that the deep state is planning against America. Rather than a rant of an accused criminal, his followers interpret what he says as the rallying cry of a leader fighting tin-pot dictators, as he angrily states, while in reality it is Trump who actually aspires to become a dictator. Third, in step with his usual pseudo-evangelical fervor, he is calling for a final battle which, in concrete terms, means that he is anticipating a desperate fight for re-election, framing it in apocalyptic terms language that has broad appeal among his followers. In his fundraising emails, interviews and other communications, Trump is teaching and preaching to his MAGA cultists as well as a larger universe of Americans who are at least somewhat sympathetic to their cause. It's easy for those outside TrumpWorld to become exhausted by this language or inured to it or, even worse, to laugh at Trump and his movement of many millions. But liberal schadenfreude and an inflated sense of superiority do nothing to change the fundamental political dynamic: Trump is an aspiring dictator who is effectively even with President Biden in the polls. Ignoring him and his movement will most certainly not stop them. Americans who believe in genuine democracy owe it to themselves and the future to take Trump and his neofascist followers seriously. They are not kidding about their threats and plans to remake American society in their own image. As Israel prepares for a ground offensive into the Gaza Strip, the international community has mobilised to try to protect civilians and prevent the conflict spreading across the region. But Israel's avowed determination to crush Hamas, the group behind the October 7 attack on Israel, are hampering mediation efforts. So too are clashes along Israel's northern border with Lebanon. - A multitude of players - Among the most active international players is the United States, whose Secretary of State Antony Blinken started a tour of six Arab countries on Friday, visiting Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Washington, like its European allies, is concerned to avoid the opening of a second front with the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. But they have been clear in their support for Israel's right to defend itself. Egypt, Qatar and Turkey are also trying to contain the crisis. All have good relations with Israel and experts think they will have some influence over Hamas. China and Russia have been more critical of Israel's response to the attack. But they might have some influence over Iran, Israel's sworn enemy, to prevent the conflict spreading. Tehran has long supported Hezbollah and Hamas. But there are numerous diplomatic fault-lines, as became clear at Friday's United Nations Security Council meeting, where Russia blamed the United States for the situation in Gaza. European Council president Charles Michel has called a video-summit of European Union leaders for Tuesday to seek a joint position on the war. Rym Momtaz, at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), says we should not expect much. "Expectations are low for what they can concretely achieve," she wrote in an online analysis. "In recent years, the eruption of Israeli-Palestinian conflicts has sidelined European diplomacy more than it has for the Americans, Egyptians, Qataris and Turks." The EU's 27 leaders on Sunday acknowledged Israel's right to defend itself in the face of Hamas's attacks but also underlined the importance of protecting all civilians at all times, in compliance with international law. - Preventing second front - There are calls for Lebanon, which has already suffered from past wars with Israel, to stay out of the conflict. "The situation is extremely dangerous," said a French diplomatic source, of the rise in clashes between Hezbollah and the Israeli army. Paris, like Washington, has called for restraint from Hezbollah and Iran, with President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday warning Tehran "against any escalation or extension of the conflict". UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping force deployed in a buffer zone between northern Israel and southern Lebanon, on Sunday "reported intense exchanges of fire" along the Blue Line between Lebanese territory and Israel. Iran's foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, warned on Sunday that no-one could guarantee control of the situation if Israel launched a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. "Yes, there is a risk that things will get out of control," said Hasni Abidi, director of the Geneva-based Center for Arab and Mediterranean Studies and Research, even if a flare-up along the Blue Line was not in Lebanon's interest, given the major domestic problems with which it is already grappling. - Protecting Gaza's civilians - From Pope Francis to international aid agencies and several European countries, there have been growing calls for the opening of humanitarian corridors in and out of Gaza. Aid for civilians in Gaza is blocked in the Egyptian Sinai, currently the only border crossing with the Gaza Strip. Egypt has been particularly involved in this issue, fearing a humanitarian crisis that would oblige it to take in hundreds of thousands of refugees from Gaza. Cairo, historically a key intermediary between Israel and Hamas, faces growing pressure to allow foreigners trapped in Gaza to enter Egypt. It has set conditions, including clearance to send aid into Gaza through the Rafah border crossing that it controls, according to well-placed sources. Brazil, which holds the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council, has appealed to Israel to establish a humanitarian corridor so people in Gaza can flee to Egypt. "Children must never be held hostage, anywhere in the world," Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said, urging Hamas to free Israeli children taken hostage. "Israel needs to stop its bombing so Palestinian children and their mothers can leave the Gaza strip via the Egyptian border," he said on X, formerly Twitter. Israel cut off fuel, electricity and water to Gaza but has since said it is renewing water supplies to the southern part of the enclave. - Release of hostages - Several initiatives, notably by Turkey, Egypt and Qatar, are underway to secure the release of Hamas hostages trapped in the Gaza Strip, alongside hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. An official Turkish said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched talks with Hamas after it threatened to kill them. Ankara deems Israel's call for the civilians to immediately evacuate Gaza City is "unacceptable", the source added. Qatar, which has negotiated past hostage releases, has also started discussions with Hamas. Russia's Middle East envoy Mikhail Bogdanov is expected in Qatar in the coming week. "Qatar can pressure the members of the Hamas political bureau, but they are looked down upon by Gaza-based leaders because they live a luxurious lifestyle in Qatar," said Michael Horowitz, geopolitical analyst for consultancy Le Beck International. "Egypt has always played a key role and I think may be in a better position to pressure both sides." - Unlikely ceasefire - Several resolutions are under consideration before the UN Security Council, including a Russian one calling for a "humanitarian ceasefire". China's Middle East envoy will travel to the Middle East next week to promote a "ceasefire" as well as "peace talks". But the chances of success are almost zero at present, according to Horowitz. "It is far too early to talk about a ceasefire and I doubt Israel will listen to anyone who even mentions the need for a ceasefire," he said. "The country is in the same state of shock and anger the US was after 9/11," he said. Denis Bauchard of the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) agreed. Before any mediation can happen, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will want, "for domestic political reasons, to appear as the strong man" who will win the war, he said. cl-bur/dab/am/jj/mtp/trc/gil De La Soul will join Wu-Tang Clan and Nas as special guests of the N.Y. State of Mind Tour concert, livestreaming Wednesday from Seattle. Amazon Music is all set to feature a concert of Wu-Tang Clan and Nas N.Y. State of Mind Tour taking place at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington at 8 p.m. PST on Wednesday, Oct. 18, livestreaming to Amazon Music, as well as Prime Video and Twitch. The livestream is part of Amazon Musics 50 & Forever campaign, celebrating the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. De La Soul is slated to perform as the tours special guest. Nas (above) and the Wu-Tang Clans Seattle stop on their New York State of Mind Tour will be livestreamed Wednesday on Amazon Prime. Above, the hip-hop artist is shown in 2017 at a Pandora event in New York. (Photo: Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for Pandora) The Seattle concert is a stop on Wu-Tang and Nas second go-round of their N.Y. State of Mind Tour. The two hip-hop institutions went on a national tour covering 25-plus cities just last year, hitting venues in Dallas, Oakland, Charlotte and other hubs. Their current tour, featuring De La Soul, is a 32-city affair, with stops in Europe, Australia and New Zealand on the schedule. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement A live episode of Amazon Musics Rotation Roundtable will precede Wednesdays concert livestream on Prime Video and Twitch, starting at 7 p.m. PST. The hip-hop roundtable talk show featuring hosts Speedy Morman, Rob Markman, Nyla Simone and Gabe P will break down the pending performances of Wu-Tang, Nas and De La Soul. Wu-Tang Clan is one of the most recognizable rap collectives in hip-hop history. Most of its members such as RZA, Method Man, Raekwon and Ghostface Killah have branched out to have successful solo careers and ventures. This November, the group will celebrate the 30th anniversary of its debut album, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). Nas, one of the most respected MCs to come out of New Yorks Queens borough, is in the midst of a career renaissance. Last month, he wrapped up a prolific collaboration with producer Hit-Boy for their sixth album in three years, Magic 3. Their first collaboration, 2020s Kings Disease, won Nas the first Grammy Award of his career. De La Soul is one of the most dynamic groups hip-hop has ever seen. This year has been bittersweet for the group, as co-founder Dave Trugoy the Dove Jolicoeur died at age 54 in February. Jolicoeurs death came just two weeks before the groups music premiered to streaming services after years of negotiations and legal issues with former label Tommy Boy Records. The N.Y. State of Mind Tour livestream is one of several events Amazon Music presented as part of 50 & Forever. Mary J. Bliges Strength of a Woman Festival and Summit and J. Coles 2023 Dreamville Festival were also livestreamed for the campaign. TheGrio is now on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, and Android TV. Also, please download theGrio mobile apps today! The post Wu-Tang and Nas N.Y. State of Mind Tour concert to be livestreamed on Prime Video appeared first on TheGrio. Editors Note: Sign up for CNNs Meanwhile in China newsletter which explores what you need to know about the countrys rise and how it impacts the world. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are set to meet in Beijing this week in a visit expected to underscore their shared vision for a new international order no longer dominated by the United States and its democratic allies. This meeting between the worlds two most powerful autocrats comes as geopolitical fault lines harden globally first following Russias grinding invasion of Ukraine, launched just three weeks after the leaders last meeting in the Chinese capital in 2022 and now as Israels war against Palestinian militant group Hamas threatens to spiral into a broader conflict that could shatter stability in the Middle East. Both Beijing and Moscow have criticized Israels actions and called for a ceasefire, in the latest showing of the two powers efforts to step up their alternative leadership to that of the US, which affirms Israels on-going right to retaliate. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The meeting between the two men comes as it was confirmed US President Joe Biden would travel to Israel on Wednesday. Biden is expected to give a high-profile show of support for Israel as it attempts to eliminate Hamas, while the US presses for ways to ease humanitarian suffering in Gaza and warns other regional players about becoming further engaged in the conflict. Xi and Putin are expected to discuss the situation in Gaza during their meeting this week after Putin arrived Tuesday morning as a guest of honor at the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing an exceptionally rare foreign trip for the diplomatically isolated leader. Heads of state, representatives and delegations from more than 140 countries are expected to attend Chinas landmark, two-day diplomatic event beginning Tuesday, which marks 10 years since the start of Xis global infrastructure funding drive, and presents the Chinese leader with an opportunity to project Beijings growing global ambitions. Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives in Beijing on Tuesday. He is expected to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and attend the Third Belt and Road Forum. - Parker Song/Pool/Reuters Push for peace? The timing of the Beijing hosted forum, coming as Israel signals it may launch a ground invasion of the Hamas-governed Gaza strip, presents Putin with opportunity to shift the global spotlight away from his war in Ukraine, analysts say. Moscow is expected to table a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire, without naming Hamas, with its UN envoy on Friday comparing the day-after-day shelling of Hamas-controlled Gaza by Israel to the brutal siege of Leningrad during World War II. At the other end of the historical spectrum, US President Joe Biden this weekend described Hamas attack as the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. China has said it will send its envoy to the Middle East to encourage talks and condemned all acts that harm civilians, but it has not explicitly targeted that condemnation at Hamas, nor named the group in its statements. During a flurry of diplomatic calls in recent days, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Israels actions have gone beyond the scope of self-defense. Both countries statements stand in contrast to that of the US, which has made clear its staunch support for Israel and signaled it does not feel this is the appropriate moment for a ceasefire. The conflict will likely feature in Xi and Putins upcoming meeting, according to the Kremlin. Russias war in Ukraine is also likely to be discussed by the two leaders. In that conflict, too, China has tried to position itself as a potential mediator. But when its comes Chinas interest in pushing the Russian leader to end his invasion, Xi may be cautious not to take any step that could damage relations. Thats especially as he is likely watching a potential shift in global positions on the conflict, amid signs of changing attitudes at least in some parts of Europe and an upcoming election in the United States next year could trigger a significant shift in the level of US support for Ukraine. So far we dont see any sign that China is keen to use its upper-hand (to put pressure on Russia), said Li Mingjiang, an associate professor of international relations at Singapores Nanyang Technological University. Chinese policymakers dont want to see even the slightest level of distrust between Beijing and Moscow. A rare trip Putin, who has seldom left the bloc of former Soviet nations since launching his war, is shunned by the West and wanted by an international court for alleged war crimes. Experts say he is also unwilling to travel anywhere he feels his personal security cant be absolutely assured. He made his first known trip of the year outside of Russian-controlled territory last week, with a visit to Kyrgyzstan. But despite Putins changing circumstances since his last time in Beijing, the two leaders have become increasingly aligned in presenting an alternative world view to the one offered by the West as they seek to bring more countries alongside their efforts to shift a global balance of power they feel is stacked against them. In an interview with Chinas state broadcaster ahead of the event, Putin lavished praise on Xi, calling the Chinese president steady, calm, pragmatic and reliable a true world leader, and hailing his unique approach of dealing with other countries that has shown no imposition or coercion, but rather provided others with opportunities. The two leaders, who frequently refer to their close friendship, have met 40 times in the past decade, including twice since the start of the war in Ukraine. During their previous meeting in Beijing, Xi and Putin released a 5,000-word joint statement declaring a partnership with no limits and underscoring their deep alignment against the West. Attending the forum will be a significant opportunity for Putin to achieve international exposure and show that Russia still has a strong friend in China, said Li in Singapore. And for China, having an important international player like Putin to join the BRI summit is also politically important, he added. Otherwise, the forum the crowning event of Xis diplomatic year is largely expected to include leaders from less-influential developing and middle income nations. Chinese leader Xi Jinping inspects the honor guard at the Moscow Vnukovo Airport on March 20, 2023. - Xie Huanchi/Xinhua via Getty Images No limits no more? Russias invasion of Ukraine put the growing China-Russia relationship to the test like no other event in recent history, placing Beijing under heavy scrutiny from Western nations for its close ties to its northern neighbor and raising questions about whether Xi had advance knowledge of Putins plan. Beijing has since claimed neutrality in the conflict and called for peace, in recent months ramping up efforts to be seen as a potential peace broker, as concerns about its close ties with Russia further strained its relations with Europe and the United States. But the worlds second largest economy has also become a key lifeline for a sanction-ridden Russia, which is now dependent on it for goods and energy purchases, and the two countries have deepened their interactions across a range of areas since the start of the war. Last year, Russia and China saw record trade, which continued to grow in 2023. Theyve expanded security cooperation through more joint military drills and robust official dialogue, experts say, and continued to deepen diplomatic ties including those of Putin and Xi, who earlier this year chose a state visit to Moscow as the symbolically significant first foreign trip of his third term as Chinas President. China tries rhetorically and symbolically to put a certain distance between itself and Russia when it comes to talking to Western audiences, said Alex Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center think tank in Berlin. (But) even if its officially not dubbed a no limits partnership, (the China-Russia relationship) has become, in real terms, more solid, robust, and deep, he said. CNNs Alex Stambaugh, Mengchen Zhang and Richard Roth contributed reporting. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com YOSEMITE, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) October 15 marks National Mushroom Day and Yosemite National Park is sharing all the mushrooms found inside the park. Park officials say there are some fun(gi) facts about the mushrooms of the Sierra Nevada saying some of them are easy to spot in Yosemite while others might require some exploring to find. The more rare of the mushrooms found inside Yosemite National Park is the Lions Mane. Park officials say the Lions Mane, shown above, is typically found sprouting on dead hardwood, and then spores are released from its shaggy teeth. Witches butter (Tremella mesenterica) growing on a tree trunk in the forests of Marin County, north San Francisco Bay Area, California The next featured mushroom of California is the Witchs Butter. Park officials say Witchs Butter, shown above, is common after rainfall, adding that this fungus loves moisture. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement According to officials, it survives dry periods by entering a state of dormancy until the next rain. The third featured mushroom of California is a Fly Amanita. Park officials say this classic mushroom is poisonous and sometimes can be found growing in rings. Close-up of two black morel mushrooms (Morchella conica) Another featured mushroom of California is the Black Morel, which is pictured above. Park officials say this mushroom is known to be abundant in the Sierra Nevada region. They also live in areas where soil has been disturbed. The final mushroom that can be found inside Yosemite National Park is the Bleeding Milk Cap. Officials say it bruises green when handled and will bleed red latex when left alone. It also loves Douglas fir. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke by phone with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau . They talked about the completion of the Holodomor-Genocide Museum in Kyiv and the evacuation of Ukrainians from the Gaza Strip. Source: Zelenskyy on Twitter (X) Details: According to the President, during the conversation the parties discussed the implementation of the agreements reached during Zelenskyy's visit to Canada. In particular, regarding the development of Ukrainian hydrogeneration and the completion of the museum dedicated to the Holodomor, a genocidal man-made famine in Soviet Ukraine. They also discussed the continuation of defence cooperation and global security challenges. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Quote: "I thanked Justin for his readiness to assist us in evacuating our citizens from Gaza. I also appreciate Canada's support for the Peace Formula and have invited the Canadian representative to attend the next meeting of national security advisors, which will be held soon." As part of our ongoing dialogue, @JustinTrudeau and I spoke to follow up on our agreements made during my recent visit to Canada. Specifically, the development of our hydroelectric generation and the completion of the Holodomor-genocide museum. I thanked Justin for his readiness Volodymyr Zelenskyy / (@ZelenskyyUa) October 16, 2023 Background: At the end of September, it was reported that the Government of Canada would allocate funds for the completion of the second stage of the Holodomor-Genocide Museum in the center of Kyiv. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that there are almost 260 Ukrainians unable to leave the Gaza Strip, and diplomats are working together with partners to evacuate them. 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! LOVINGSTON A Shipman woman was sentenced to nine years in prison Monday for aggravated DUI manslaughter and maiming a person in connection with a Jan. 2 two-vehicle crash in Nelson County. Tracy Ann Giles, 38, pleaded guilty in Nelson Circuit Court on July 18 to one count each of DUI manslaughter, DUI maiming and driving with a suspended license. According to Nelson County Deputy Commonwealths Attorney Erik Laub, Virginia State Police and the Nelson County Dispatch Center received a call at 7:38 p.m. Jan. 2 about a motor vehicle crash on U.S. 29 near the Colleen Exxon station. When officers responded to the scene, they found a small Chevrolet hatchback with heavy front end damage in the entrance to Colleen Road, which intersects with U.S. 29. Laub said a Chevrolet Impala was parked on the grass shoulder just south of the hatchback. He said there was so much damage to the Impala all three occupants of the vehicle were pinned inside, including Giles behind the wheel, and it took almost three hours to get them all out. Giles front-seat passenger, Elizabeth Ariel Simmons, was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the hatchback was taken to University of Virginia Medical Center for life-threatening abdominal injuries from the crash. Giles second passenger, riding in the vehicles backseat, also was injured and told authorities at the scene both he and Giles had smoked marijuana a little while ago, Laub said. Officers observed jittery and spastic motions and dilated pupils in Giles, who was later taken to the medical center for her injuries, according to prosecutors. Laub said surveillance obtained from the Colleen Exxon station showed the Impala closely following another vehicle as it approached the stop sign at the Arrington Road intersection with U.S. 29, which sits directly across from the gas station. That vehicle made the turn onto U.S. 29 without incident. Giles, driving the Impala, then failed to stop at the stop sign and continued through the crossover, also failing to yield in the crossover, and it was struck on the passenger side by the hatchback driving southbound, Laub said. He added its likely the driver of the hatchback didnt even see Giles crossing before impact. Laub also told the court Simmons brother would have testified to riding in the vehicle about 10 to 15 minutes before the crash. He exited the vehicle after observing Giles crazy driving behavior and would testify he saw Giles drift into the opposite lane of traffic and drive off the side of the road, Laub said. He refused to get back in the vehicle and urged his sister to also exit the vehicle but she did not, the prosecutor has said. Laub said authorities obtained a blood sample from Giles at her hospital intake that indicated THC and a lower level of methamphetamine in Giles bloodstream. An expert would have testified Giles blood sample indicated the use of methamphetamine hours before the crash. At Giles sentencing hearing Monday, Kathryn Johnson, a friend of Simmons, said it has been highly difficult to enter her late friends family home without her there. It was really horrific, Johnson said of the fatal crashs effects. Simmons was a family-oriented, all-around good-hearted young woman, Johnson said. Giles testified Monday she and Simmons had been friends for four years and were driving the victims car that night. The aftermath of the crash has led Giles to understand shes lost control of herself and her life and needs help. She testified to using meth off and on for two years leading up to the wreck. That night Giles was high on meth and marijuana, she testified. Nelson Commonwealths Attorney Daniel Rutherford said Giles illegal drug use snuffed out a beautiful young live. Its an absolute travesty we got to this because of what meth has done, Rutherford said. He argued for a sentence of 10 years on the two charges and other charges that include several counts of probation violation. Michael Hallahan, Giles attorney, said the low end of sentencing guidelines called for 3 years and 11 months. Giles is remorseful and has accepted responsibility, Hallahan said. She pulled out from a side road that night and was T-boned on a four-lane highway, he said. The incident was a tragedy for everyone involved and in no way intended, he said. This same accident could have happened if she was not intoxicated, Hallahan told Judge Michael Doucette. This was truly an accident. Before sentencing, Giles said through tears she is sorry. Doucette said Giles decision to drive impaired that night might as well have been like picking up a loaded gun and firing because it is just as deadly. Your attorney calls it an accident, Doucette told Giles. I dont. I call it a collision. He said the other driver who survived was driving down the road minding her own business and he would like to know hows she doing since he wasnt given an update on her condition. Doucette ordered two years supervised probation for Giles upon her release, for her to be on good behavior for 20 years and not use alcohol, illegal drugs or marijuana. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis jumped into discussion of current events in the Middle East during a stop in Council Bluffs on Saturday afternoon. Florida has taken action in bringing Americans home from Israel, while the federal government is acting too slowly, DeSantis told a packed audience at a downtown restaurant. We have a responsibility to bring Americans home, the Republican presidential candidate. Florida has sprung into action on this. I authorized emergency transport and we already have planes that have left Israel air space on its way to Florida. The federal government has been dragging its feet on this. This calls for leadership and we stepped up in Florida and filled the void. The tense situation in the Middle East took up much of his speech at Buck Snort in downtown Council Bluffs. DeSantis said the recent level of brutality by Hamas against Israel something hes never seen before. Israel has every right to fight back, he said. They have to destroy Hamas once and for all. He blasted Iran for funding global terrorism, adding that the relaxation of sanctions against that country by President Joe Biden the presumptive Democratic nominee who will face the winner of the GOP presidential primary was ridiculous. DeSantis also fears the mitigation of people at this countys southern border could include terrorists. Our own border makes us vulnerable to attack, he said, adding that a border wall would be built under his administration. America must also be tough against cartels bringing drugs like fentanyl into this country, he said. We are going to try these cartels like the terrorist groups that they are. DeSantis touted his accomplishments in Florida as way for voters to separate him from the numerous other Republican candidates. We have no income tax, as well as having record tax cuts, he said. Under his leadership, Florida has banned so-called "sanctuary cities" and has prohibited the purchase of Florida land by China, he said. Florida residents also have a choice whether or not to wear masks against COVID-19. We protected peoples freedom, DeSantis said. Turning his attention to energy, DeSantis recalled seeing $7.25 a gallon gas in California recently. Its crazy, he said. AAA says the national average is $3.60 and Iowa's average is $3.29; the average in California, as of Monday, is $5.62 a gallon, although prices vary considerably by county. Under a DeSantis administration, America will use its own energy resources to combat gas prices, he said. That would include re-opening the Keystone XL pipeline and pursuing energy resources on federal lands. You will pay less for gas and its great for our national security, he said. In recalling the mass killing at Parkland High School in Florida on Feb. 14, 2019, DeSantis said he took action against those who failed to see advanced warning signs about the young shooter. Nobody did anything to stop it," he said. "So, I fired the sheriff and the school board members who dropped the ball. And today, we have the strongest school security in the country, DeSantis took issue concerning the age of Biden and former president Donald Trump, who is leading polls for the GOP presidential primary. Its not a job for somebody 80 years old, said DeSantis, who is 45. We need common sense in Washington. You can trust me to get the job done. Among those attending the event was Eric Batie of Council Bluffs, who was impressed with DeSantis accomplishment as governor. He followed through with those promises, Batie said. His wife, Kathy Batie, added: We just watched the next president. He is awesome. Jared Schultz, who came from Bellevue, Nebraska, was impressed. I thought he did a great job," Schultz said. 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 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. Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and Secretary General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Hussein Al Sheikh, discussed in a phone call Sunday the situation in Gaza. The two sides stressed the need for joint efforts to end the war, protect civilians, provide humanitarian aid, and prevent the displacement of Palestinians. During the phone call, which is part of the ongoing coordination between the two countries, on the instructions of King Mohammed VI and the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Bourita and Hussein Al Sheikh also underlined the need for the establishment of a political path based on international legitimacy and international law to establish peace, security, and stability. At the outbreak of military action in the Gaza Strip, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement stressing that the Kingdom of Morocco expresses its deep concern at the deterioration of the situation and the outbreak of military action in the Gaza Strip, and condemns attacks on civilians wherever they may be. Thousands of Moroccans marched Sunday in down-town Rabat in solidarity with Palestine, and in protest of the deterioration of the situation and the ongoing military action in the Gaza Strip. During the march, participants expressed the Moroccan peoples commitment to defending the Palestinian cause and the legitimate and just rights of the Palestinian people. Men and women, elderly and children all took to the street to express solidarity with the Gaza inhabitants, carrying Palestinian flags and chanting pro-palestinian slogans. Many of the demonstrators signed a petition, stating that Moroccans denounce what is happening in Palestine and call the international community to intervene and put an end to the killings and displacement of innocent people. Stands were available for children who could draw and express their Solidarity with Palestine in their own way. Similar demonstrations were staged in different Moroccan cities. On Saturday, several Moroccan politicians and civil society activists gathered in front of the Palestinian embassy to express their full support and solidarity with Palestine. Palestinian ambassador to Rabat was present at the gathering. So far, over 2,700 Palestinian civilians, including 700 children, have been killed and almost 10,000 have been injured. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres highlighted Moroccos steadfast commitment to the ceasefire in the Sahara and military agreements and highlighted the close cooperation between the Moroccan authorities and MINURSO. In his latest report to the Security Council on the Sahara that was published on the UN website, Guterres said that he notes Moroccos stated intention to remain respectful of the ceasefire and the provisions of the military agreements and to maintain close cooperation with MINURSO at all levels. The Secretary General emphasized as exemplary the attitude of Morocco which continues to respect its commitments, as well as the resolutions of the Security Council, despite the violations of these resolutions and of the ceasefire by Algeria and the Polisario. This statement from the UN Chief underpins the commitment expressed to him by King Mohammed VI, during the telephone call of November 16, 2020. During this telephone call, the King reaffirmed to Mr. Guterres Moroccos steadfast commitment to the ceasefire. Likewise, the Kingdom remains firmly determined to react, with the utmost severity and within the framework of legitimate defense, to any threat to its security and the peace of its citizens. Furthermore, Guterres slammed the violations by the Polisario, on Algerias instructions, of the ceasefire and military agreements, as well as its restrictions on the movement and supplies of MINURSO, in clear violation of Security Council resolutions. The UN Chief ordered the polisario, which announced its withdrawal from the ceasefire, to return to it, underlining the critical need to re-establish the ceasefire. Regarding Moroccos relationship with MINURSO, Guterres highlighted, once again, the continued cooperation and communication at the strategic level between MINURSO and the Royal Armed Forces, including through the two visits to the headquarters of the General Staff of the FAR, the South Zone, in Agadir, in September 2022 and July 2023. The UN Secretary General said these permanent contacts were translated at the operational level, by the holding of three meetings between the military component of MINURSO and the FAR, one in Laayoune in November 2022 and two in Agadir in December 2022 and January 2023, respectively. He further indicated that MINURSO was able to carry out the visits it desired to units of the Royal Armed Forces, as part of its ceasefire supervision mandate. The UNSG also highlighted Moroccos cooperation in demining. He stressed in this vein that Morocco responded positively to MINURSOs request to resume demining activities, to the east of the defense system in the Moroccan Sahara, thus affirming that any action by MINURSO, throughout the Moroccan Sahara, is being done with the consent of Morocco and shattering the chimera of so-called liberated territories, which Algeria and the Polisario promote. The UN Secretary-General also welcomed the freedom of movement exercised by MINURSO in the Moroccan Sahara, allowing it to implement its ceasefire supervision mandate, in the best operational conditions possible. African Export-Import Bank has pledged $1 billion in support for Morocco-Africa Trade & Investment program which finances and promotes intra- and extra-African trade. An agreement was inked over the weekend on the sidelines of the 2023 Annual Meetings of the World Bank & the International Monetary Fund held in Marrakesh October 9 to 15. Under the agreement, Afreximbank pledges to support Moroccos economic operators over three years with loans & guarantee facilities as well as advisory services. The funding will strengthen further Moroccos firm engagement in promoting intra-African cooperation and help the country establish mutually beneficial partnerships with African/regional financial institutions to promote financial and economic cooperation between Moroccan economic operators and their African counterparts. In the wake of the earthquake that struck central Morocco on September 8, Afreximbank had announced a $500,000 donation to provide immediate humanitarian relief to the hard-hit regions of Al Haouz, Chichaoua, Taroudant, Amizmiz and Marrakesh. The donation is destined to assist the Government in its disaster recovery, relief, and reconstruction efforts. This support will enable the provision of basic needs of food, water, clothing, and shelter as well as restoring power and other essential services to impacted families, the bank said. Afreximbank is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution which delivers financing solutions that support the transformation of the structure of Africas trade, accelerating industrialization and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting economic expansion in Africa. At the end of 2022, Afreximbanks total assets and guarantees stood at over $31 billion. The Bank disbursed more than $86 billion between 2016 and 2022. Mali has refused to extend the timeline for the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) to withdraw from the country beyond the deadline of December 31st, as previously agree despite confrontations between the Army and rebels and terrorist groups in the north. The UN Security Council adopted a resolution end of June 2023 for the mission in place in the country since 2013 to leave at the request of Malian authorities who have accused the mission for failing to end violence in the country, especially in the north controlled by rebel groups and terrorist organizations. Under the resolution, the pullout should be complete by December 31 and the process has already started. The UN last week expressed concerns about the ongoing warfare between the Malian Army and rebels on one side, and terrorist groups on the other. The Malian Army has embarked on the conquest of various bases left by the MINUSMA, in the north in a move to take full control of the country. The rebels are opposed to the handover of the bases to the Army. Abdoullaye Diop, the countrys top diplomat, late last week re-iterated authorities commitment to the end of December deadline. The diplomat underlined the countrys position during a meeting with the diplomatic corps, in a reaction to the UN concerns. The government has no plans to extend this deadline. So, everything must be done to ensure that MINUSMAs work can be completed by December 31, he added. The Senegalese capital of Dakar will stage for two days from October 17 the 12th Session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Standing Committee on Information and Cultural Affairs, known as COMIAC. President Macky Sall will co-chair the session along with OIC Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha. The meeting will address activity reports of the OIC General Secretariat and OIC institutions in the fields of information, Culture, dialogue of civilizations, tourism, and youth. The session will adopt recommendations and resolutions to strengthen cooperation and solidarity among OIC Member States in these areas, the organization said. COMIAC, one of the OIC Permanent Committees, is responsible for supervising and evaluating programs and projects related to information, culture, dialogue among civilizations, tourism and youth. The West African country has been chairing the standing Committee for several years now. Photo: Colin Schappi This article was featured in One Great Story, New Yorks reading recommendation newsletter. Sign up here to get it nightly. I was born in 1958, and like many of my generation, my parents had experienced a world in which Jews were murdered, brutalized, and abandoned. My father knew his mother and father to have been helpless peasants living under pogroms and without rights in the Russian Pale of Settlement. On my mothers side, my laundry-worker grandmother was financially unable to save her two brothers and two sisters in Poland from extermination. My parents raised me with the idea that Jews were people who sided with the oppressed and worked their way into helping professions. They could not adjust the worldview born of this experience to a new reality: that in Israel, we Jews had acquired state power and built a highly funded militarized society, and were now subordinating others. No one wants to think about themselves that way. As a Jew and an American who has gone through the complex, painful, and transforming process of facing the injustice against Palestinians committed in my name and with my tax dollars, I have had to change my self-concept. I have had to deprogram myself from the idea that Jews continued to be victims when, in some cases, we had become perpetrators. This shift in perception would have been unbearable for my parents. The idea that Jewish soldiers could march into villages and commit atrocities was incomprehensible. Yet, for 75 years, Palestinians have been murdered, incarcerated, and displaced with escalating violence by Israeli soldiers, and more recently by settlers. On October 7, these unending, untenable conditions exploded when Hamas broke through Israels imposed barriers. They reentered the land they consider home. They attacked formerly Palestinian villages and cities, now under the control of Israel. After decades of being on the receiving end of highly organized violence, they switched roles and became the murderers and kidnappers of more than 1,300 Israeli children and adults. Among political and institutional leaders, there has been a collective refusal to see this horrible violence as the consequence of consistent, unending brutality paid for by the United States in billions of dollars in aid to Israel per year. Instead, a familiar fog has overtaken so many. They pretend these decades of injustice never took place. That Gazans were not forced against their will to live under siege. That instead, a group of them suddenly out of nowhere and with no history or experience emerged as monsters and murdered people who had never hurt them in the past and held no threat over their future. Selective recognition is the way we maintain our own sense of goodness. Today, we see this process of denial in every aspect of our lives. In this moment, it has become a tool to justify the sustained murder of thousands in Gaza, where the current death toll sits at over 2,600 people. As Israel began its relentless retaliation last week, an accompanying image of Israeli and American moral cleanliness was put swiftly into action. This is called manufactured consent Noam Chomskys term for a system-supported propaganda by which authorities and media agree on a simplified reality, and it becomes the assumptive truth. Weve seen this erasure of history in the uniform responses by western world leaders, university administrations, heads of foundations, and even book fairs over the past week. President Biden called Hamass attack an act of sheer evil without acknowledging the decades of colonial repression that make this violence legible. Instead he summoned another history, saying, This attack has brought to the surface painful memories and the scars left by a millennia of antisemitism and genocide of the Jewish people. He then assured Israel it could count on the United States military support, as though having been through genocide entitled them to commit it. Nikki Haley, a former United Nations ambassador under Trump, might be Bidens political opponent for the presidency, but she reinforced his claim of American-Israeli righteousness when she announced that Israel needs our help in this battle of good vs. evil. This is the binary that has set the tone: We are pure, that is to say that we have done everything exactly right and do not have to question ourselves. Last Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre took a question from journalist Phil Wegmann. He asked her about the presidents attitude toward members of Congress who connect Palestinian violence to the Israeli violence that preceded it and have called for a cease-fire. Jean-Pierre replied, We believe they are wrong, we believe theyre repugnant, and we believe theyre disgraceful. Here we have a new equation: To ask for the ceasing of bombing and killing thousands of people is not a reasonable thought to consider. Instead, to stop killing is repulsive. To stop killing is a national disgrace. Within this framework, any public outcry by Palestinians or allegiance with them becomes criminal. France and Germany banned people from showing compassion, solidarity, or pain for Palestinians in public marches. United Kingdom Home Secretary Suella Braverman called for monitoring displays of Palestinian flags. At a time when Hamas terrorists are massacring civilians and taking the most vulnerable (including the elderly, women, and children) hostage, we can all recognize the harrowing effect that displays of their logos and flags can have on communities, she said. Aside from the freedom-of-expression issues, there was a symbolic politics being deployed here. A flag that unites millions of Palestinians who live, not only in Gaza, the West Bank, the Golan, in refugee camps and in Israel, but in a global diaspora from Brooklyn and Detroit to London to the UAE all of these people become unrepresentable. This continues in the realm of education and ideas, where there have been visible examples of individual writers and anti-occupation groups arguing for context. On Friday, Semafor reported that MSNBC quietly removed three Muslim anchors from hosting duties, despite some at the network believing they had the most expertise on the conflict. Harpers Bazaar editor Samira Nasr was forced to apologize for calling Israels move to cut power to Gaza the most inhuman thing shes ever seen. The Frankfurt Book Fair cancelled an award ceremony for Palestinian writer Adania Shibli. Donors have threatened the job of the president of the University of Pennsylvania because a literary festival called Palestine Writes took place there in September. Books, literature, ideas, discussion are all considered appropriate fodder to the manufacture of consent. Humans want to be innocent. Better than innocent is the innocent victim. The innocent victim is eligible for compassion and does not have to carry the burden of self-criticism. Almost every person with authority or at the helm of an institution has declared that Israelis are innocent victims and that Palestinians are not. On 60 Minutes Sunday night, Biden reaffirmed his support for Israel while appearing to paint Palestinians as worthy of our compassion, too. He assured the American people that he was confident Israel would follow the rules of war and that innocents in Gaza would have access to medicine and food and water. But in the real world, Israel has cut off the flow of medicine, food, and water in Gaza. Water has already run out at U.N. shelters in the territory. Bidens comments only reinforce that as far as the war is concerned, there are no innocents in Gaza. At the root of this erasure is the increasing insistence that understanding history, looking at the order of events and the consequences of previous actions to understand why the contemporary moment exists as it does, somehow endorses the present. Explanations are not excuses they are the illumination that builds the future. But the problem with understanding how we got to where we are is that we could then be implicated. And innocent victims cannot have any responsibility for creating the moment. What is so ironic is that since 2005, Palestinians have been offering a nonviolent solution: the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement. Just as many of us grew up not buying grapes so that farmworkers could have a union or refusing to purchase South African products to help end apartheid, Palestinians have been asking the rest of us to put economic and cultural pressure on Israel through nonviolent boycott, to encourage them to move away from violent separation and toward negotiation and coexistence. The message here, too, was strategically twisted. The Israeli government and its supporters have led global campaigns to make supporting this boycott illegal. They have developed confusing worldwide messaging claiming that criticizing Israeli apartheid is the same thing as antisemitism. Every aspect of nonviolent organizing for a more equitable solution has been met with distortion as a tool of repression. There is always, of course, the choice to end the siege of Gaza and the occupation of the West Bank and end the second-class reality of Palestinians living in Israel. Make everyone equal citizens with the same rights to vote, passports, roads, universities. The reason this solution of just reconciliation, known as One State, is not yet on the table is because of this selective reality: this panic that equalizing Palestinians in Israel would be allowing an enemy in, one that is fundamentally opposed to Israeli existence. But what this fear overlooks is that Palestine, like every society in the world, is a multidimensional society. Like Jews and Americans and Israelis, Palestinians contain multiple factions and religious perspectives Muslim, Christian, Druse and they hold a wide variety of political visions. The only thing they share is the desire to be free. They would never be able to act like a united block and all vote in the same way, for example, in the same way that we cannot. Because they are human, as we know ourselves to be. To fear unanimity is to imagine they are different from everyone else on earth. The most difficult challenge in our lives is to face our contributions to the systems that reproduce inequality and consequential cycles of violence. Every person has to face their own complicities, and we start this by listening to whoever is suffering. Even if it is by our own hand. It is this transcendence that can lead us all to a better place. Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that the Frankfurt Book Fair rescinded an award for Palestinian writer Adania Shibli. The award ceremony was cancelled, but the award was not rescinded. Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images Judge Tanya Chutkan issued a limited gag order on Donald Trump during a hearing for the federal-election-subversion case against him on Monday. Under the order, the former president will be barred from attacking Special Counsel Jack Smith and his staff, potential witnesses in the case, as well as court employees. His presidential candidacy does not give him carte blanche to vilify public servants who are simply doing their jobs, Chutkan said. Trump will be allowed broadly to make comments about the city of Washington, D.C., and its residents plus the Justice Department and the Biden administration, likely in response to criticism from the former presidents legal team that a gag order would threaten Trumps First Amendment rights. Any potential violation of the order would result in sanctions from Chutkan, though the judge did not go into specifics on what punishments she might consider. A spokesman for Trump issued a statement following the ruling, calling the order an absolute abomination and another partisan knife stuck in the heart of our Democracy by Crooked Joe Biden. In September, Smith and his team requested a limited gag order on the president, writing in a court filing that the former president had released or shared statements attacking the citizens of the District of Columbia, the Court, prosecutors, and prospective witnesses and that through his actions, Trump threatens to undermine the integrity of these proceedings and prejudice the jury pool. Prosecutors directly referenced some of Trumps past statements in the filing, including attacks on potential witnesses like former vice-president Mike Pence and on Smith and Chutkan herself as well as a Truth Social post from the day after his arraignment in the case that read IF YOU GO AFTER ME, IM COMING AFTER YOU. Trumps legal team denounced the request, writing, The prosecution now asks the court to take the extraordinary step of stripping President Trump of his First Amendment freedoms during the most important months of his campaign against President Biden. Smiths team later submitted an additional filing, citing more recent comments made by Trump including a social-media post aimed at former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Mark Milley that accused him of treasonous behavior and suggested that he deserved execution because of it. In todays hearing, prosecutors also raised the death threat made against Chutkan by a Trump follower in Texas who was arrested in August after leaving a racist voice-mail threatening the judges life. The New York Times notes that Chutkan didnt say specifically that she was barring the former president from making comments about her. This is not the first time that a judge has placed limits on Trumps rhetoric about his pending legal cases. Earlier this month, Judge Arthur Engoron also instituted a limited gag order on Trump following a social-media post he made targeting a law clerk on the judges staff. Speaker Pro Tem Patrick McHenry. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images On October 17, the paralyzed and leaderless U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled come to order for the exclusive purpose of electing a Speaker to succeed the recently toppled Kevin McCarthy. The official GOP nominee for the gig, hard-core conservative and close Donald Trump ally Jim Jordan, is making some gains in nailing down votes after 55 House Republicans expressed opposition to his election in a test vote last week: Huge get for Jordan. Now mostly depends on moderates willing to hold out like conservatives, and well, we have had a lot of historic firsts this month pic.twitter.com/bE23Wq4XZn Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) October 16, 2023 Even if you assume the concessions Jordan made to House GOP Establishment power broker Rogers will pull other votes in his direction, he can only lose four votes. That sort of unanimity seems exceedingly improbable given the various problems a Speaker Jordan scenario presents, up to and including the boost it would give Trump in his efforts to lock down the 2024 presidential nomination without a real fight. And more generally, as Ben Jacobs explained for this website, the ability of any small group of dissenters to hold the House Republican conference hostage may be an irresistible temptation to all sorts of people: [B]e it moderates out for revenge, right-wingers out for more concessions, or simply nihilists looking for more cable-television appearances, everyone now has every incentive to use their leverage. The rules had changed and the House was now a tyranny of the minority. But even if it looks hopeless for Jordan, hell probably insist on a public vote by the full House to expose his intraparty opponents to the full wrath of MAGA-land (already aroused into a ham-handed pressure campaign on behalf of the Speaker designate) in hopes of melting them down into a smaller and more malleable group. Its also possible Jordan is bluffing and will call off the House vote before he shows further weakness, as the Washington Post reports: Jordan had previously said he wouldnt hold a vote unless he had the support of 217 Republicans locked down (and remember, there are just 221 House Republicans in total). So some see Jordans push for a floor effort as another attempt at bullying members. If Jordan goes through with it, Republicans who vote against him on the floor could be perceived as voting against Trump because he has endorsed Jordan. It could also draw the ire of right-wing media outlets and even raise the threat of primary challenges. Assuming Jordan doesnt overcome the apparent resistance to his effort to grasp the gavel but is given some more time to fight for it, there will be countless trial balloons raised for alternative prospects. But any would-be Speaker will face the underlying reality that Jacobs explained at New York last week: Now that the seal has been broken by the move against McCarthy, any group of five House Republicans can hold the House hostage for any reason whatsoever: [B]e it moderates out for revenge, right-wingers out for more concessions, or simply nihilists looking for more cable-television appearances, everyone now has every incentive to use their leverage. The rules had changed and the House was now a tyranny of the minority. The one thing we know for sure is that while this intraparty gridlock persists, Speaker Pro Tem Patrick McHenry will hold the gavel. The North Carolinian, a close confederate of McCarthy (who chose him for this obscure position in anticipation of precisely this sort of contingency), has so far adopted a very narrow construction of his powers as confined to presiding over the selection of a permanent Speaker. But if that doesnt happen, he will inevitably be the subject of efforts to find a way to keep the House (and perhaps the federal government) functioning even as Republicans continue their internecine squabbling. Certain Democratic members of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus (itself torn apart by Republican anger at their Democratic colleagues refusal to save McCarthy) have publicly floated a proposal to give McHenry expanded powers on a temporary basis, as Axios reports: Four moderate Democrats led by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), co-chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, sent a letter to McHenry on Friday proposing a vote to expand the Speaker Pro Tempores authorities. In exchange for empowering McHenry for 15-day increments, they wrote, he would guarantee votes on government funding bills and aid packages for Ukraine and Israel. The Blue Dog Coalition, a group of 10 centrist Democrats, quickly endorsed the measure. Agreeing to work with Democrats is, of course, precisely what cost McCarthy his job, but its possible the same external pressures to get critical work done will at some point push Republicans in the direction of giving McHenry some real power. And perhaps more to the point, if McHenry himself begins cautiously expanding his purview beyond watching his colleagues flounder, what can anyone do about it? Go to court? Perhaps against all expectations House Republicans can actually unite around a Speaker-designate long enough to reopen the House of Representatives to handle a mounting backlog of business with the clock ticking down to another government shutdown crisis and with wars raging on two continents. But if they wind up casting about for serial Speaker candidates who will then be shaken down for the votes necessary to close the deal, theyd better have a Plan B ready. Illustration: by Tyler Comrie Sam Bankman-Fried is not a Stanford alum. Still, the disgraced excrypto wunderkind might as well be. He was raised in Silicon Valleys techno-idealist training school by parents Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, longtime professors at the law school. Its this world that gave him credibility, helped him build his fortune, and provided him with an identity. He was brought up as a utilitarian by his parents, two Stanford professors, is serious, dedicated, and committed to doing good, reads an email sent by one of Bankman-Frieds early proponents in Michael Lewiss new book, Going Infinite. And when it was revealed that Bankman-Frieds intentions were not, in fact, to do good, it was Stanford where he returned, under house arrest amid its bucolic palms. Bankman-Fried, known universally as SBF, is the kind of fraud that Silicon Valley specializes in producing: the philosopher con artist. One of the most prominent proponents of effective altruism, he advocated doing the most good for the most number of people or, in his case, making the most money possible in order to give it away. Stanford went mad for this story of an upstart entrepreneur trying to improve the world and making a killer fortune on the way. SBF lived the Stanford students dream, an eccentric visionary with a sprawling pad in the Bahamas and the adulation of the media and the markets alike. His undoing playing out now in a federal courtroom in Manhattan, where Bankman-Fried is charged with wire fraud and money laundering would seem to puncture those fantasies. And to some students, his story is a cautionary tale, the result of avarice and overambition. But for many people at Stanford, where I am a sophomore, its simply a laughing matter. SBFs trial is the capper to Stanfords annus horribilis. Just weeks before he was indicted, fraudster Elizabeth Holmes was sentenced over her failed blood-test start-up, Theranos, which was founded using Stanfords name as cachet and bankrolled by many a famous Stanford alum. Do Kwon, another Stanford alum, was arrested earlier this year for a multibillion-dollar crypto scheme. And Stan Cohen, an active Stanford professor, was found liable in court for tens of millions of dollars worth of fraud. More than ever, it would seem Stanford is due for some serious introspection. Yet the one thing Silicon Valley seems incapable of is shaking off its own mythology. Because his parents live in faculty housing, SBF became a bit of a campus curiosity. People would wander by the familys home out of idle curiosity, sometimes even on dates. Over the past year, there have been several SBF-themed parties and sketch-comedy shows. And there is plenty of comedy to be found. Just months before his arrest, he had been invited to speak at a Stanford tech-ethics course. According to Lewis, SBF bragged about escaping oversight and avoiding traditional accounting, hubris that is laughable given the $8 billion that remains missing from FTXs accounts. But the gravity of his alleged crimes shouldnt be understated. Lewis said in a 60 Minutes interview that the only people he hurt were crypto speculators in the Bahamas as witness testimony has laid out during SBFs criminal trial, this is blatantly untrue. Billions of dollars of customer funds were misappropriated, and now, at the end of it all, its pensioners, small-time investors, and more than a few kids my age left to foot the bill. Meanwhile, students at Stanford are wondering how they could achieve the same heights as him just without the epic downfall. It may be hard to imagine Bankman-Fried as a role model these days; hes looked down on by pretty much everyone at this point (aside, perhaps, from Michael Lewis). But kids of my generation, and particularly the kids at Stanford, have been fed story after story about Silicon Valley and its infinite opportunities. Many grew up longing for Stanford and the access the school would give to that world. When they arrive, they treat the Stanford student bodys favorite movie, The Social Network, as a how-to guide in the same way that finance bros valorize the Greed is good speech from Oliver Stones Wall Street which, to be clear, is about how greed is bad. Lewiss book, inadvertently, helps explain some of the dysfunction. Joe Bankman and Barbara Fried only briefly attempted to inflict upon SBF a normal childhood before realizing that there was no point, the book says. Instead, he was treated as a proto-adult, his ego flattered as his brilliance was proclaimed to Stanford dinner parties full of venerated guests a poignant mirror image of how SBF would later be treated as an actual adult: a child billionaire, an innocent financial savant. This is a childhood that may seem familiar to a lot of Stanford students. Many kids who come here have spent their whole lives believing that they are the next tech Jesus they have what it takes to beat the odds and sit on top of the world. The emotional stuntedness of that sort of childhood reverberates around the Valley, where self-interest and egoism run amok. SBF neatly fits into that model; according to his on-and-off romantic partner (and, if prosecutors are to be believed, partner in fraud) Caroline Ellison, SBF believed he was going to be president of the United States one day. It is worth noting that Ellison, who says she helped misappropriate funds at SBFs direction, is a Stanford alum. The fraud cluster at Stanford like the suicide clusters that wracked Silicon Valley a few years ago is a product of culture. The warning signs have been there for years, but Stanford barreled past them. Now, with a spate of what our new president, Richard Saller, has called fake it till you make it actors, the decision to embrace Silicon Valleys accelerationist mind-set has come back to bite. Eleven years ago, Ken Auletta published an article in The New Yorker that called the school Get Rich U and delved into the conflict between education (the schools ostensible purpose) and naked entrepreneurship, facilitated by venture capitalists who see the school as a hotbed for world-upending breakthroughs and get-rich-quick schemes alike. There are no walls between Stanford and Silicon Valley, he wrote. Should there be? Some professors thought, and indeed some public commentators wrote, that this would engender a reckoning, that Stanford would finally have to think critically about the billions of dollars it hoovered up from the tech world. People feared that prospective students would no longer be interested in an institution that was tainted by so much lucre. But of course, the opposite was true. Stanford is harder to get into than ever before, its admissions rate more than 100 percent lower than it was in 2012. Meanwhile, its endowment is more than 100 percent larger. But all that glitters is not gold, and the problems Auletta identified are even more pronounced now. Faculty and alumni have told me that the ouster of our former president, Marc Tessier-Lavigne, over falsified research that I first reported last year for The Stanford Daily, has only furthered the uncertainty that lingers around Stanford and its culture. Its just so much bad news, every day, one faculty senator was heard whispering to a colleague, as I reported in August. It doesnt have to be that way. Silicon Valley is young, not just in the makeup of its prodigy entrepreneurs and on-the-rise start-ups but in a more fundamental way: The power it has come to wield culturally and economically has only belonged to it for a handful of decades. As a direct consequence, it has yet to develop the systems of accountability and transparency that provide guardrails for other powerful institutions. The next saga in the Silicon Valley story will be focused less on accruing power and more on holding it accountable; it will be more about SBFs fall than his rise. Photo: TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images On the first day of Sam Bankman-Frieds criminal trial in New York, before prospective jurors filed into his courtroom, Judge Lewis Kaplan took a moment to remind the defendant of one of his key rights. Mr. Bankman-Fried, I want to make sure this is something that you understand, Kaplan told him. You are entitled to have your counsels best advice on whether they think it is wise or potentially advantageous or not advantageous for you to testify, but they cant make a decision for you. It is your call. And you could decide to testify against their advice or not to testify against their advice. Even before Kaplans spiel, the question of whether SBF will take the stand has hung over this trial from the beginning. It looms even larger now that were roughly halfway through the proceedings, and the defenses strategy appears more ad hoc and scattershot than ever. Now, Bankman-Frieds lawyers have filed a letter that puts the prospect of his testimony in a strange light. Bankman-Fried takes Adderall, and his lawyers wrote over the weekend that he has not been getting his prescribed dose from the New York Bureau of Prisons since his incarceration on August 11. (Bankman-Fried does receive two doses, the first one between 4 and 6 a.m. But the defense argues that this initial dose wears off by the time trial starts at 9:30 a.m.) The lack of medication has made Bankman-Fried unfocused, they claim and, though this goes unspoken, perhaps unable to comport himself. The key sentence from their note: As we approach the defense case and the critical decision of whether Mr. Bankman-Fried will testify, the defense has a growing concern that because of Mr. BankmanFrieds lack of access to Adderall he has not been able to concentrate at the level he ordinarily would and that he will not be able to meaningfully participate in the presentation of the defense case. The first thing this letter tells us is that the question of SBF taking the stand which, if it happened, would be a blockbuster moment is still up in the air. Its possible that the defense has already made a decision on this question, but given how shambolic theyve been so far, it wouldnt really be a surprise if theyre still trying to figure it out. (Not that their client is easy to work with; SBF also cycled through lawyers in the weeks after the collapse of FTX because he wouldnt stop talking.) The other point to consider is that this could could be part of an actual legal strategy. I spoke with Kevin J. OBrien, a white-collar defense attorney at Ford OBrien, who said that the Adderall issue could be part of an argument on appeal namely that Bankman-Frieds Sixth Amendment right to participate in his own defense was violated. Hes a guy who has trouble controlling himself on top of everything else, OBrien told me, in regards to SBFs need for the medication. Its probably not a winner, in terms of lacking the capacity to meaningfully participate in his own defense under the Sixth Amendment, but its something his lawyers should genuinely press with the court, he said. Im no pharmacologist, but I do generally think that people in prison should be able to take their medicine even if it was prescribed by this guy and Im probably not alone. And the defense could point to a pattern of negligence on this issue. After Bankman-Fried was first remanded to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, Judge Kaplan had to send a letter requiring the Bureau of Prisons to give him ten milligrams of Adderall three or four times a day (as well as a patch to treat depression, though this isnt in contention), since he was apparently not receiving his medication. The defense is now putting the blame on the medication snafu squarely on the BOP, saying that theyve made five attempts since October 5 to get someone at the department to up Bankman-Frieds dose. A spokesman for the Prisons Bureau wouldnt directly address Bankman-Frieds situation, but said that all adults in custody have access to appropriate health care and medicine, including Adderall when clinically indicated. Regardless of whether the Adderall request is strategic, things are not going well for Bankman-Fried. Multiple former FTX bigwigs have laid out highly damaging claims with little effective pushback. Last week, Bankman-Frieds attorney, Mark Cohen, previewed a line of attack against star witness Caroline Ellison who was the CEO of SBFs hedge fund, Alameda Research but she left the witness stand largely unscathed by his questioning, after having provided devastating testimony for the prosecution. Even Ellisons cooperation agreement, which theoretically incentivizes her to pin everything on SBF, was hardly scrutinized. (I asked OBrien if pointing out this possible conflict of interest works well for defense attorneys. Its a good question. Probably not a lot, he said.) So Sam Bankman-Frieds options are dwindling. Maybe a Sixth Amendment Hail Mary is the best his defense has right now. Or maybe Bankman-Fried just needs his Adderall to deliver a knockout performance on the stand that will change the course of this trial. But at this point, any effective defense is looking illusory. The no-longer-very-sunny Tim Scott. Photo: Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images/Los Angeles Times via Getty Imag Eternal as it may have seemed, the invisible primary phase of the 2024 Republican presidential-nominating contest is slowly giving way to the real thing. The Iowa Caucuses are approaching on January 15, with contests in New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina quickly following. A number of developments that candidates probably expected simply havent happened, most notably a loss of altitude by front-runner Donald Trump and a rapid winnowing of a relatively large field of rivals. But political illusions dont last forever, and the odds are increasing that others will soon join early presidential-campaign-trail dropouts Francis Suarez and Will Hurd. The most obvious prospect for an early exit is former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, who didnt make the cut for the second Republican debate. Hutchinson has said hell quit the race if he doesnt poll at 4 percent or more in one of the early states by Thanksgiving. Another candidate likely to pack it in is North Dakota governor Doug Burgum, who did make the stage in Simi Valley but didnt do himself much good with a performance mostly consisting of shouting while other candidates tried to answer questions. His lavish personal spending hasnt really given him much of a purchase on voters anywhere. He would seem to have little chance of qualifying for the third debate (which requires 4 percent showings in two national or one national and two early-state polls). Now nobody really gave Suarez, Hurd, Hutchinson, or Burgum much of a chance in the 2024 contest, so their absence will mostly just make subsequent debates, assuming there are any, a little less crowded and unruly. But theres one candidate whose campaign may be circling the drain right now who was considered a serious aspirant (to the extent any challenger to Donald Trump has been serious): South Carolina senator Tim Scott. Scott entered the race with some robust encouragement from fellow senators, a strong track record on issues conservative Evangelical voters care about, and a reputation for being sunny and optimistic that in some circles gave him an advantage over doomsayers and liberal-haters like Trump and Ron DeSantis. During the summer Scott had a bit of an early-state polling boom, particularly in Iowa, where he seemed to be outperforming Mike Pence as the favorite candidate of hard-core conservative Evangelics. He had lots of money (though much of it was leftover Senate campaign dollars) and very good favorability ratios. But then well, things have not gone that well for Scott. In his monomaniacal focus on Iowa and his constant efforts to outflank Trump on the right, DeSantis preempted some of the ground Scott (and for that matter Pence) hoped to occupy as true conservative candidates willing to champion abortion bans. Then the debates arrived, and in the first round in Milwaukee Scott was all but invisible. Worse yet, the candidate with whom he shared an early-state geographical base, Nikki Haley, was quite visible and began to gain ground among voters and opinion leaders alike. Scott tried to mix it up with Haley in the second debate, with at best limited success. And hes now unmistakably sinking in the polls. In the RealClearPolitics polling averages, Scott is in fourth place in Iowa and in his home state of South Carolina, and he is in fifth place in New Hampshire. He trails Haley in all three. Worse yet, in national polls, Scott is in seventh place in the RCP averages and hasnt gotten more than 2 percent in the eight polls released in October. Scotts national polling problems could even keep him out of the third candidate debate; he needs 4 percent in at least one national poll to qualify, and he hasnt done that well since a Monmouth survey in September. His potential weapon for survival has been a planned autumn ad blitz paid for by his super-PAC. But now Politico reports the blitz has been called off: The super PAC supporting Tim Scotts presidential bid is canceling most of its remaining TV spending, reversing course after reserving $40 million in ads for him ahead of the Iowa caucuses. The retreat from TV is the latest sign of how dire the primary has become for a candidate who once anticipated outside help from big donors but who is now polling in low single digits and hasnt yet qualified for the third debate. The super-PACs explanation for this action is interesting: We are doing what would be obvious in the business world but will mystify politicos we arent going to waste our money when the electorate isnt focused or ready for a Trump alternative, wrote Rob Collins, co-chair of the super PAC, who said the Never-Trump field is going to be wasting money this fall trying to undermine Trumps current lead. When do you supposed the electorate will be focused or ready for a Trump alternative? In June? July? You have to wonder if the end is near. Last week Never Trump conservative columnist George Will urged Scott to drop out and endorse his frenemy Haley (who did, after all, appoint Scott to his Senate seat). What made the column especially poignant was this note at the beginning: Disclosure: The columnists wife, Mari Will, an adviser to Republican presidential candidate Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.), disagrees with this column. Scott has recently shown signs of abandoning his famously upbeat persona while criticizing his Republican rivals (and President Biden) for being insufficiently supportive of Israel in its war with Hamas. Its not a good look for him. If he no longer has a realistic path to the nomination, it would be smart of him to get out before he makes real enemies or is forced to out-MAGA Trump and the rest of the field. Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photos: Getty Images Early this year, we learned that Mitt Romney was secretly working on his biography with The Atlantics McKay Coppins. The senator offered unprecedented access, sitting for more than 30 interviews over two years and turning over hundreds of private emails, texts, and diary entries. The result, Romney: A Reckoning, was billed by a publishing source as Romneys lively and at times devastating take on nearly every major political figure of the last 25 years. The book sounded like Romneys version of Prince Harrys Spare. But the Republican senator is a devout Mormon whose wildest moment to date involves ironing his tuxedo while wearing it; could his biography really be that juicy? Thankfully, the answer is yes, judging from early excerpts from the biography. Heres a roundup of what weve learned ahead of the books release on October 24. . Romney and Trump attended a New England Patriots game in the early 2000s as guests of owner Robert Kraft. Romney says that while they werent close, Trump felt comfortable bragging about what would happen when he dumped then-girlfriend Melania Knauss. Trump sidled up to Romneys son Josh and pointed at a leggy brunette across the room. Have you seen my girlfriend, Melania? he asked, smirking. When I drop her, the phone is gonna ring off the hook. Every guy in New York wants to go out with her, Coppins writes, per Rolling Stone. . After video of Romney deriding 47 percent of Americans as freeloaders at a private fundraiser was posted online, he and his campaign said publicly that his comments were inelegant, but not wrong. But privately, Romney blamed himself and fell into a depression. Coppins writes, per Mother Jones: He could barely eat during the day and struggled to sleep at night, even after popping a Lunesta. He couldnt even bring himself to listen to music in his hotel roomjust too sick at heart, he wrote. When he tried to concentrate on briefing materials, his mind would drift toward the self-inflicted damage he had done to his campaign, and to all the people he had failed. To take his mind off it, he rode the elliptical at a punishing pace. Night after night, Romney castigated himself in his private diary. Stupid, stupid, stupid, he wrote. Awful, shameful, sorrowful, he wrote. How I will have let so many down, he wrote. I cant dwell on itit is overwhelmingly depressing, even agonizing. I am so, so very sorry. A month before the election, Romney called Stuart Stevens, his chief strategist, asking if he should drop out and give another Republican a shot at running against Obama. Stevens shut down the idea, telling Romney that if he lost it wouldnt be because of the video (though in hindsight, thats debatable). . Romney famously made a speech denouncing Trump as a phony and a fraud in 2016. According to Romney: A Reckoning, he was also plotting behind the scenes to keep Trump from clinching the 2016 nomination. At one point he entertained a pitch to pair up with Ted Cruz to stop Trump, though he wasnt a fan of the Texas senator. Romney was willing to wage a quixotic and humiliating presidential bid if thats what it took, McKay Coppins writes. He might even be able to swallow sharing a ticket with Cruz, a man hed described as scary and a demagogue in his journal. But Romney didnt think the gambit would actually succeed in taking down Trump. The problem was that no one else in the party seemed to know what to do about Trump, either. After Romney rejected this idea he tried to form an anti-Trump ticket with Cruz as the presidential nominee and Marco Rubio as his VP, but the two senators werent up for it. Romney then sent John Kasich a series of increasingly gruff emails urging him to drop out of the race, to no avail. . For decades, Oprah Winfrey laughed off speculation that she might get into politics. But halfway through the Trump administration, she seemed to be encouraging chatter about a 2020 presidential run; she said Trump made her realize she didnt need prior political experience, shared an article about her possible candidacy on Twitter, and gave a rousing Me Too speech at the Golden Globes. Then the Oprah 2020 trial balloon fizzled in February 2018 when she said of running for the presidency, Its not in my DNA. While its never been clear if Winfrey was actually considering a presidential run, Romney told Coppins that the Democratic TV icon suggested they team up to stop Trumps reelection in 2020 and he declined. Per Axios: Coppins writes that Romney told him Winfrey, a Democrat, made a pitch to run together to save the country, according to a source familiar with the manuscript. Romney tells Coppins he dismissed the idea, believing that such a campaign would inadvertently help Trump. The original report did not contain any details about when Winfrey made this suggestion or even who was supposed to be at the top of the ticket. A day later, a spokesperson for Winfrey told Axios: In November 2019, Ms. Winfrey called Senator Romney to encourage him to run on an Independent ticket. She was not calling to be part of the ticket and was never considering running herself. So the mystery of whether we actually came close to an Oprah/Trump face off continues. . Former GOP presidential candidates: Theyre just like us! Like many Americans, Romney has fantasized about confronting Trump about one of his many idiotic public statements, according to a lengthy book excerpt that ran in The Atlantic: Romney relished the idea of running a presidential campaign in which he simply said whatever he thought, without regard for the political consequences. I must admit, Id love being on the stage with Donald Trump and just saying, Thats stupid. Why are you saying that? He nursed a fantasy in which he devoted an entire debate to asking Trump to explain why, in the early weeks of the pandemic, hed suggested that Americans inject bleach as a treatment for COVID-19. To Romney, this comment represented the apotheosis of the former presidents idiocy, and it still bothered him that the country had simply laughed at it and moved on. Every time Donald Trump makes a strong argument, Id say, Remind me again about the Clorox, Romney told me. Every now and then, I would cough and go, Clorox. Unlike most of us, Romney was in a position to make this dream a reality. But he abandoned it once he realized that hed most likely end up siphoning off votes from the Democratic nominee and ensuring a Trump victory, Coppins writes. . Youve probably surmised this already, but in the book Romney colorfully describes his assessment of Trumps intelligence, per HuffPost: I think hes not smart. I mean, really not smart, Romney said of Trump at one point, according to the book. Its like, how is that possible for someone over the second or third grade to think that? he said after Trump suggested that Americans inject themselves with bleach as a treatment for COVID-19 during a White House press briefing in the early days of the 2020 pandemic. . Are Americans crying out for a new centrist political party? Joe Manchins plummeting approval rating suggests they are not, but that didnt prevent Romney from floating the idea to his Senate colleague from West Virginia, as Coppins wrote in The Atlantic: So, in April, Romney pivoted to a new idea: He privately approached Joe Manchin about building a new political party. Theyd talked about the prospect before, but it was always hypothetical. Now Romney wanted to make it real. His goal for the yet-unnamed party (working slogan: Stop the stupid) would be to promote the kind of centrist policies hed worked on with Manchin in the Senate. Manchin was himself thinking of running for president as an independent, and Romney tried to convince him this was the better play. Instead of putting forward its own doomed candidate in 2024, Romney argued, their party should gather a contingent of like-minded donors and pledge support to the candidate who came closest to aligning with its agenda. Wed say, This partys going to endorse whichever partys nominee isnt stupid, Romney told me. It seems Romney hasnt yet ruled out this idea. The last time we spoke about it, he was still in the brainstorming stage, Coppins writes. But, he says, Romney was quite clear that he no longer feels at home in the Republican Party. Throughout our two years of interviews, I heard Romney muse repeatedly about leaving the GOP, he writes. . On January 2, 2021, Senator Angus King warned Romney that a high-ranking Pentagon official told him law enforcement was tracking online chatter among right-wing extremist about committing violence on the day of Trumps Stop the Steal rally, according to the Atlantic excerpt. Romney had been mentioned as a potential target, and King was worried about his safety. Romney immediately texted Mitch McConnell, thinking hed take some kind of stand to at least protect himself and his colleagues. Per Coppins, Romney wrote: In case you have not heard this, I just got a call from Angus King, who said that he had spoken with a senior official at the Pentagon who reports that they are seeing very disturbing social media traffic regarding the protests planned on the 6th. There are calls to burn down your home, Mitch; to smuggle guns into DC, and to storm the Capitol. I hope that sufficient security plans are in place, but I am concerned that the instigatorthe Presidentis the one who commands the reinforcements the DC and Capitol police might require. McConnell never responded. . On January 6, 2021, Romney famously shouted at his Senate colleague Josh Hawley that the Capitol riot was his fault. (Romney told Coppins he couldnt remember exactly what he told Hawley, but it was something like Youre the reason this is happening! or You did this.) He elaborated on his disdain for Hawley and other GOP election deniers in his interviews with his biographer, per The Atlantic: What bothered Romney most about Hawley and his cohort was the oily disingenuousness. They know better! he told me. Josh Hawley is one of the smartest people in the Senate, if not the smartest, and Ted Cruz could give him a run for his money. They were too smart, Romney believed, to actually think that Trump had won the 2020 election. Hawley and Cruz were making a calculation, Romney told me, that put politics above the interests of liberal democracy and the Constitution. . Whats the Mitt Romney version of a sick burn? I dont know that I can disrespect someone more than J. D. Vance, apparently. Per the Atlantic piece, Romney told Coppins that he was impressed by Vances best-selling memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, and thought the Ohioan was interested in wooing white working-class voters to the GOP without engaging in Trumpism. So Romney was disgusted when Vance underwent a MAGA makeover during his 2021 Senate campaign: I do wonder, how do you make that decision? Romney mused to me as Vance was degrading himself on the campaign trail that summer. How can you go over a line so stark as thatand for what? Romney wished he could grab Vance by the shoulders and scream: This is not worth it! Its not like youre going to be famous and powerful because you became a United States senator. Its like, really? You sell yourself so cheap? The prospect of having Vance in the caucus made Romney uncomfortable. How do you sit next to him at lunch? . Playbook rounded up some other choice remarks from Romneys burn book: Mitt on RON DeSANTIS: Theres just no warmth at all. On DeSantis posing for selfies with Iowa voters: He looks like hes got a toothache. More: Hes much smarter than Trump You might point out, Mitt, DeSantis is real smart do you want an authoritarian whos smart or one whos not smart? I realize theres a peril to having someone whos smart and pulling in a direction thats dangerous. On NEWT GINGRICH: A smug know-it-all, smarmy, and too pleased with himself TED CRUZ: Frightening, scary, a demagogue MIKE HUCKABEE: A huckster, a caricature of a for-profit preacher BOBBY JINDAL: A twit RICK SANTORUM: Sanctimonious, severe and strange RICK PERRY: Republicans must realize that we have to have someone who can complete a sentence. JOHN KASICH: Lack of thoughtfulness, lack of attentiveness, ego. No wonder he and CHRIS [CHRISTIE] spark. . When Romney was elected to the Senate in 2018, he settled for a $2.4 million townhouse and had a decorator fix it up so his wife and sons would be comfortable when they visited. But they rarely do, and unsurprisingly, many Senate Republicans dont want to socialize with their smack-talking, anti-Trump colleague. Coppins says Romneys place gradually developed an unkempt bachelor-pad quality, and he often spends his evenings alone, binging TV and eating oddly garnished salmon sandwiches: In the dining room, a 98-inch TV went up on the wall and a leather recliner landed in front of it. Romney, who didnt have many real friends in Washington, ate dinner alone there most nights, watching Ted Lasso or Better Call Saul as he leafed through briefing materials. On the day of my first visit, he showed me his freezer, which was full of salmon fillets that had been given to him by Lisa Murkowski, the senator from Alaska. He didnt especially like salmon but found that if he put it on a hamburger bun and smothered it in ketchup, it made for a serviceable meal. This post has been updated. Vulture today announced the initial lineup for its annual pop-culture extravaganza, Vulture Festival, which is returning for the tenth year in a row with a weekend of high-profile events in which everything you love about Vulture comes to life right before your very eyes. Taking place November 11 and 12 at nya studios in Los Angeles, the festival will bring fans an incredible array of actors in conversation, screenings, sing-alongs, and unique surprises that only Vulture can provide. Additional talent to be announced. The lineup for the showcase, curated by Vultures editors, includes these events: Matt Rogers Holiday Spectacular Sing-a-Long Extravaganza (Album Version): Making his triumphant return to Vulture Festival for the second year in a row, Matt Rogers once again dares to ask the question: Have You Heard of Christmas? As an early holiday-season treat, the Prince of Christmas himself will be comin to town to give you a small taste of whats in store on his debut yuletide dance-pop album. Hell be joined by some of his besties for an evening of caroling while sitting down, our very favorite kind. The Winkler Method: A Henry Winkler Acting Class: Fresh off the publication of his memoir, Being Henry, Emmy Award winner Henry Winkler will join us for his fourth annual acting class. Already a prolific author of childrens literature, in his newest work, Winkler explores his own history of overcoming challenges like severe dyslexia and the pressures of a career in the spotlight on his path to creative fulfillment. Winkler will offer what hes learned in his 50 years of practicing the craft of acting, with the added insight of a seasoned producer, director, and proud SAG-AFTRA member. Come to learn, but stay to feel. Feminist As F*ck: Amber Tamblyn hosts Vulture Festivals celebration of Feminist As F*ck, an exciting and beloved literary series co-created and co-curated by Roxane Gay, showcasing some of the most daring feminist writers across genres today. Join Tamblyn and fellow writers for a riveting and powerful afternoon of performances aimed at filling you up with creative and political inspiration. Weird Al Superlatives Live!: Whats your favorite Weird Al song? Everyone has one, even the man himself. This in-depth conversation with Grammy-winning musical artist Weird Al Yankovic will explore the stories behind tracks that Yankovic himself considers his most formative, most important, most challenging, most loved, and most whatever else of his decades-long career. So join us, little hungry ones, as we eat it it being everything this comedy legend has to say. TJ Mack Live in Concert and Conversation Feat. His Wife and Brian Jordan Alvarez: Sitting is the opposite of standing, but youre invited to do both at this concert and conversation with pop sensation TJ Mack. Joined by his wife and a man named Brian Jordan Alvarez Mack will perform a few of his original works while also exploring what makes him such a compelling cultural icon. An Intimate Evening With Adam Pally and Special Guest Casey Wilson A Big Long Talk With Cord Jefferson: Emmy-winning writer of television masterpieces like The Good Place, Watchmen, and Succession Cord Jefferson will join us for a long talk about his life and his new film, American Fiction. An adaptation of Percival Everetts novel Erasure, the film satirizes the commodification of Black artists in a directorial debut for Jefferson that was highly lauded following its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. This will be a rare opportunity to hear from one of Hollywoods most forward-thinking and prolific creative minds before youre watching his Oscar acceptance speech on TV. On sale today, tickets to Vulture Festival events start at $25. Tickets include access to The Lot at nya Studios and one complimentary drink ticket. Follow @VultureFestival and @Vulture for updates. The festival is sponsored by Bulleit, DICE, Gold Peak, RumChata, Trolli, and Supergoop!. *** ABOUT VULTURE Vulture offers smart, comprehensive coverage of TV, movies, music, and much more. Vulture celebrates culture both high and low because you never know where youll find the next truly brilliant moment. ABOUT VOX MEDIA Vox Media is the leading modern media company, reaching audiences everywhere they are. Known for editorial properties including Vox, SB Nation, New York Magazine, The Dodo, and The Verge, the companys portfolio features the most relevant, respected, and engaging editorial properties and voices. The company is also home to award-winning storytelling businesses such as Vox Media Studios and the Vox Media Podcast Network, as well as innovative technologies that support the entire media industry, including the Concert advertising marketplace.Vox Media proves that quality can scale. MEDIA CONTACTS Shawn Purdy, Slate PR, shawn@slate-pr.com; teamgelb@slate-pr.com Priyanka Mantha, New York Magazine, priyanka.mantha@nymag.com Amani Orr, New York Magazine, amani.orr@nymag.com Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR has concluded a wide-ranging agreement with Russia's Lukoil under which the Russian oil company will lend SOCAR $1.5 billion and supply SOCAR's STAR oil refinery in Turkey with up to 200,000 barrels per day of Russian crude oil. The unusual agreement is apparently structured to overcome the problems SOCAR was facing in purchasing Russian crude oil for its STAR refinery due to the sanctions imposed by the West on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. The sanctions prevent Western companies from both buying and trading in Russian crude and petroleum products and transferring payments to Russia. Neither Azerbaijan nor Turkey has imposed any sanctions against Russia. However, SOCAR's trading arm, which is one of the suppliers of crude oil to the STAR refinery and is based in Geneva would be obliged to observe the sanctions regime. Reports claim that SOCAR halted purchases of Russian crude oil during the summer. This claim appears to be borne out by official Turkish data that show imports by both of Turkey's refiners also fell sharply in July. During July the STAR refinery imported just 835,435 tons of crude - from all sources - down 22 percent on June. And Turkey's imports of Russian crude during July were 706,396 tonnes, down 44 percent on June. Turkey's other oil refiner Tupras, which operates four refineries in the country, does not appear to have been impacted directly by the Western sanctions. SOCAR's head office in Baku did not respond to a query about its agreement with Lukoil and it is unclear how the loan from Lukoil will be structured, or how it is integrated with the agreement to supply crude oil to SOCAR's STAR refinery. Commissioned in 2018, SOCAR's STAR refinery in Turkey has the capacity to process 11.0 million tons of crude oil a year, producing mainly diesel and jet fuel for Turkey's domestic transport market, and naphtha for SOCAR's Petkim petrochemicals plant, adjacent to the refinery. The STAR refinery was developed by Azerbaijan's SOCAR. It uses crude oil both from fields SOCAR owns and operates itself, and from Azerbaijan's main ACG oil field, which is operated by a consortium led by BP. These Azerbaijani crudes are "light" ones, and command a higher price on global oil markets from refineries designed to take advantage of its special properties and produce a different range of products from that required by the Turkish market. As such, the STAR refinery was designed to process all types of crude oil available in the east Mediterranean region, including Russia's heavier Urals crude which is exported by tanker through the Black Sea. Long-standing relationship SOCAR and Lukoil have a long history of cooperation. The Russian company is the second largest shareholder in Azerbaijan's main Shah Deniz gas field, having last year doubled its stake to 19.9 percent. Lukoil also formerly owned a stake in Azerbaijan's ACG oil field, in which SOCAR holds a 25 percent stake. ADVERTISEMENT In 2017 the two companies announced that they were planning joint investments in Turkey, and in 2020 Lukoil announced that it was in discussions with SOCAR over possible investment in a number of offshore Caspian oil and gas fields. On both occasions no final agreements appear to have been concluded, however. News of SOCAR's unusual arrangement with Lukoil came just a few days before Azerbaijan's minister for energy, Parviz Shahbazov, visited Moscow for the 6th International Russian Energy Week. While there he held wide-ranging meetings with Russia's deputy prime minister Alexander Novak, and meetings on energy system integration with Russian energy minister Nikolay Shulginov and officials from Iran. By David OByrne via Eurasianet.org More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: When the Ugandan and Tanzanian governments announced the East African Crude Oil Pipeline project, it elicited very different reactions. Some cheered the news that would add Uganda to the world's oil producer club and move its crude to buyers around the world from the Tanzanian coast. Others almost immediately staged protests, claiming any new oil development would compromise the world's journey to a net-zero future. And then Western banks refused to finance EACOP. It is a growing trend in financial services, especially in Europe. Banks are at the heart of the transition push and also at the heart of a concerted shunning of the oil and gas industryeven though many of the biggest banks are still perfectly happy to work with Big Oil. So, earlier this year, Standard Chartered, the biggest Africa-focused lender, refused to participate in the debt financing part of the $5-billion EACOP project. That could have rendered the project unviable, seeing as there were no other Western banks eager to take its place. But what some forgot, apparently, was that Western banks were not the only ones available. Shunned by Standard Chartered and its peers, the Ugandan government reached out to Chinese lenders, and one was happy to oblige, not least because CNOOC is one of the project's shareholders. The EACOP story is indicative of a trend across Africa. The oil industry is very much on board with the development of the continent's untapped oil and gas reservesthe equity portion of the EACOP price tag was granted in no time by CNOOC, TotalEnergies, and the national oil companies of Uganda and Tanzania. And now, so are local and Chinese banks. As well as commodity traders. Related: U.S. Oil Drillers Add 4 Rigs, Brent Crude Hits $90 "It's pointless to think about the way things used to get done," the man in charge of Trafigura's upstream financing, Matthieu Milandri, said at the African Energy Week in South Africa this month, as quoted by Bloomberg. But he also said something quite interesting. "The idea of political risk in Africa is exaggerated. Traders are doing good business in Africa." Then he went on to add, as quoted by the African Mining Market, that "As long as there is production, we can do business." Trafigura is sponsoring new oil projects in African countries in exchange for some of the future production, in the latest proof that banks may be eager to signal their climate virtue, but commodity traders know what makes the world go round. African banks are also happy to take part in what the organizers of the African Energy Week dubbed "The African Energy Renaissance". Bloomberg again reported that Africa Oil Corp., a Canadian-based, Nigeria-focused company, no longer works with European lenders. That's okay, however, it seems, because it now works with African banks. According to Africa Oil Corp.'s chief financial officer, African banks are only too happy to step in and fill the space left by climate-conscious European lenders. There is strong interest in profitable oil and gas projects in Africa, Pascal Nicodeme said during the recent Africa Oil Week event, which also took place in Cape Town. Chinese banks are also only too happy to step in. Nature abhors a vacuum, after all, and this is equally valid for natural and financial ecosystems. As the largest oil importer in the world, China is naturally interested in securing as diversified a list of suppliers as it can, and funding new projects is one way to do thatjust like it did with critical minerals. There is also the fact that the amount of available untapped oil and gas resources globally is shrinking, and much of what is available is in countries that the West doesn't exactly like or want to do business with. Just think Iran and Russia. Africa, on the other hand, is seen as a partner, especially since last yearand as a prospective supplier of hydrocarbons for an energy-starved Europe, even if Europe's banks want no part in getting these hydrocarbons out of the ground. ADVERTISEMENT Big Oil is also interested, which is crucial. Shell and TotalEnergies are enthusiastically drilling for oil in Namibia, for instance, where they have so far tapped resources estimated at more than 11 billion barrels of oil. TotalEnergies is also leading the Ugandan oil exploration push, which led to the idea of EACOP. There is a lot of oil and gas in Africa, in both legacy producers such as Nigeria and Angola, and new star hopefuls such as Namibia and Senegal. Western banks may not be tempted by the idea to participate in their extraction, too focused on their green credentials, but there appear to be plenty of other banks and companies that would readily provide the money and then take advantage of the future supply. That supply will be needed, regardless of what climate NGOs forecast. Just ask Trafigura and the rest of the commodity traders. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Russia expects to welcome Venezuelas President Nicolas Maduro on a visit as part of the expanding Russia-Venezuela ties, including in the energy sector, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Monday. We expect the president of Venezuela to visit Russia per the invitation extended to him, Novak, Russias top oil official, said, as carried by Russian news agency TASS. Novak did not provide details on a forthcoming visit. Maduro could visit Russia by the end of this year, an anonymous source with knowledge of the plans told Reuters. Last week, Novak welcomed Venezuelan officials to discuss cooperation in oil and gas projects and to prepare for Maduros visit, according to TASS. Novak also said today that the Venezuela-Russia joint ventures in Venezuela are exceeding by 16% their crude oil production targets this year. Overall trade between Russia and Venezuela jumped by 70% between January and July 2023 and has surged by 77% over the past five years, according to the Russian deputy prime minister. Shunned and sanctioned by the West over Putins invasion of Ukraine, Russia has turned to the few allies it has left on the global stage, including fellow sanctioned oil exporters Venezuela and Iran. Russian crude and fuel trade after the EU sanctions and embargoes and the G7 price caps have been facilitated by a dark fleet of tankers that have previously been involved in shipping oil from Venezuela and Iran. In addition, estimates by Reuters showed last week that China is likely to have saved $10 billion on crude oil imports so far this year as it has imported record volumes of cheaper oil from Russia, Iran, and Venezuelaall three under U.S. and Western sanctions. Those imports are estimated to have accounted for 25% of overall Chinese crude oil purchases in the first nine months of 2023. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com ADVERTISEMENT More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: On Wednesday, BP Inc. (NYSE:BP) reassured investors that its $2B deal with Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (Adnoc) to jointly buy a 50% stake in Israeli gas producer NewMed Energy (OTCPK:DKDRF) remains on track, despite Israels ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza. According to Reuters, BP's head of gas and low-carbon energy Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath told shareholders at the companys investor day in Denver that they remain "very optimistic" about the deal. The two companies are reportedly weighing on whether to improve their initial offer. NewMed Energy (OTCPK:DKDRF) is the majority shareholder and main operator of the giant Leviathan Natural Gas Field with a 45.3% working interest, while Chevron Corp.(NYSE:CVX) and Ratio Oil Corp. have a 39.7% and 15% stake, respectively. But that reassurance does not necessarily mean the deal is close to being consummated. The deal was thrown into question last week after an independent panel appointed by NewMed recommended raising the asking price by 10%-12%, or as much as ~$250M, which might seem like a stretch considering the company currently has a market cap of $2.9B and $87 million in cash but $1.73B in debt. Meanwhile, reports have emerged that executives at BP and Adnoc are anticipating further delays on the deal until the political situation improves. Experts are worried that a surge in civilian casualties could make it politically untenable for the companies to proceed, with the death toll in Gaza already approaching 2,000, mostly civilians, and more than 7,000 wounded in just the first week of the conflict. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu forged an emergency government on Wednesday to direct war against Hamas, and his defense minister vowed to wipe the militant group "off the face of the earth" in what is shaping up as one of the bloodiest conflicts in the region in recent times. Related: France Mulls Extending Windfall Tax On Oil And Power Giants NewMed and its two partners discovered the Leviathan Natural Gas Field in the Levant Basin Province in 2010. The gas field straddles the sea borders of Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. With 22.9 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas, Leviathan is the largest natural gas reservoir in the Mediterranean, and one of the largest producing assets in the region. Lebanons Gas Quest Could Go Bust But the NewMed takeover is not the only energy project likely to be disrupted by the Israel-Hamas war. Back in August, French energy group TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE) set the first drilling rig at its location in the Mediterranean Sea off Lebanons coast near Israels border with the country looking to commence operations in search for gas. The cash-strapped nation hopes that future gas sales could help the country pull out of its deep financial crisis that has seen the local currency lose more than 98% of its value. "The arrival of the equipment marks an important step in the preparation of the drilling of the exploration well in Block 9, which will begin towards the end of August 2023," TotalEnergies said in a statement. TotalEnergies leads a consortium of energy companies working on the offshore project, which includes Italian oil and gas giant Eni S.p.A. (NYSE:E) as well as state-owned QatarEnergy. The drilling operations came after a landmark U.S.-brokered agreement last year that saw Lebanon and Israel establish a maritime border for the first time ever. Back in May, Lebanons Energy Minister Walid Fayad said they hope to determine whether the exploratory block has recoverable gas reserves by the end of the current year. Unfortunately, the war is very likely to make cooperation between the two countries almost impossible, with Lebanon being home to Israels arch-enemy, Hezbollah. Two days ago, Israeli shelling hit southern Lebanese towns on Wednesday in response to a fresh rocket attack by Hezbollah, as cross-border violence extended into a fourth day. The Israeli military also revealed it had hit a Hezbollah position with an air strike and also attacked Lebanon after a military post near the Israeli town of Arab al-Ahram She was targeted with anti-tank fire. The United States has moved one of the largest aircraft carriers in the world and an accompanying strike group to the Eastern Mediterranean aiming to deter Hezbollah and Iran from taking advantage of the situation. Meanwhile, recent allegations that Iran helped Hamas plan the Israel attack is very likely to seriously strain relations between Washington and Tehran. Standard Chartered has opined that the U.S. has three broad policy options in relation to Irans oil output: (1) the status quo, with output at 3mb/d or higher, (2) the pre-2023 plateau of close to 2.5mb/d, or (3) near-zero exports with output below 2mb/d as reached at the end of the Trump administration. The analysts note that option #1 was the most expedient policy for the U.S. in terms of both market influence and geopolitics just a week ago. However, the latest developments in the Middle East have brought options #2 and #3 into focus as potential policy targets. Irans oil output and exports have increased sharply under the Biden administration, with production hitting 3mb/d, including 500,000 b/d in the current year, while exports sit just under 2mb/d. ADVERTISEMENT By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: An idea in the EU to phase out subsidies for fossil fuels could backfire on the aviation industry, considering that there are no readily available alternatives to jet fuel at scale, executives at airlines have told the Financial Times. The EU is currently debating its common stance for the COP28 climate summit in Dubai next month, and some wealthy EU nations, including the Netherlands, are proposing an end date to fossil fuel subsidies for 2025. The plan, however, is meeting resistance among other EU member states with large fossil fuel industries such as Poland. Those countries do not want a specific date for the phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies in the EU. Airline executives, including the top managers of Lufthansa and Ryanair, have criticized the plan to set a date for the end of fossil fuel subsidies. Until you have some affordable alternative that you can offer to voters and to consumers across Europe, its all just pie in the sky, Michael O'Leary, chief executive of Ryanair, has said at a briefing - as carried by FT. Last month, Willie Walsh, Director General at the International Air Transport Association (IATA), said that the airline industry would be ready to embrace the fact that sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) would always be more expensive than oil-based jet fuel. SAF is likely to always be more expensive than kerosene even when SAF supply grows in scale from the current very low volumes, the industry associations head said. I believe the industry is ready to embrace that, Walsh said in comments carried by Reuters. Despite numerous pledges from airlines and government support for SAF production, the alternative of the petroleum-based jet fuel faces challenges in supply, costs, and feedstock, analysts say. ADVERTISEMENT Earlier this year, Boeing Companys president and chief executive officer David Calhoun said that SAF could never achieve price parity with jet fuel to be able to compete with conventional fuels and help decarbonize the aviation sector. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Workers at Chevrons Australian facilities are still planning to restart their industrial action even as they continue negotiating with the company. Industrial action first began in the middle of last month at the Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG projects, after the workers union and Chevron failed to reach an agreement on new contract terms regarding working conditions and pay. Chevron reached out to the Australian labor market regulator, the Fair Work Commission, to force the union to end the strike. Indeed, workers eventually agreed to drop the strike and restart negotiations. These, it seems, have been troubled from the start, because this month the Offshore Alliancethe union representing the Gorgon and Wheatstone workersbegan threatening another strike. In the latest update on the situation, Reuters reported that the talks had prompted angry comments from Chevron, which has said the workers were being unreasonable. The news agency, however, cited an unnamed source as suggesting the union was not going to make concessions and Chevron would have to change its position on several issues to avoid new strikes. "The union's decision to ignore the recommendation ... while discussions are continuing is very concerning, unreasonable and undermines the considerable progress made prior to Chevron requesting the Commission's assistance last week," a Chevron spokesperson told Reuters. The Gorgon project has a capacity of 15.6 million tons of liquefied natural gas annually, while the Wheatstone facility can produce 8.9 million tons annually. Together, the two account for over 5% of global LNG production capacity, and any disruption or even the suggestion of disruption of supply immediately affects global LNG prices. Right now is an especially vulnerable time for gas prices, particularly in Europe, as the reignition of violence between Israel and Hamas has prompted the shutdown of one large gas field offshore Israel, sparking fear of supply disruptions. The fear immediately pushed European gas prices higher as would any new strike action at Gorgon and Wheatstone. ADVERTISEMENT By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Crude oil prices began trading relatively flat on Monday after a hugely volatile week in which both WTI and Brent saw two significant drops before a massive rally on Friday. In morning trade in Asia, Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate were trading at a slight loss of between 0.3% and 0.4% after soaring by some 6% on Friday in the biggest single-day rally since April. That brought the weekly gain for the U.S. benchmark to some 4%. The latest Middle Eastern violence was one of the reasons for last weeks rally, along with a move by the U.S. Treasury to sanction two tanker operators for shipping Russian oil sold above the G7/EU price cap. The sanction news sparked renewed concern about the security of Russian oil supply even though the Treasury repeated what it had said since the start of the sanction pushthat it did not aim to curb supply. Meanwhile, traders are waiting for the latest news from Gaza, after Israel warned the locals to move out as it prepares for the next step in its retaliation after the Hamas attacks from last weekend. "Investors are trying to figure out the impact of the conflict while a large-scale ground assault has not begun after the 24-hour deadline that Israel first notified residents of the northern half of Gaza to flee to the south," a Nissan Securities analyst told Reuters earlier today. Historically, Middle East conflicts have rarely translated to a sustained rise in oil prices when they have not disrupted supply, Han Zhong Liang, investment strategist at Standard Chartered told Bloomberg, meanwhile. However, this time the situation seems to be different, according to Han, who also said that there is a low risk of both direct and indirect supply disruptions. The biggest risk, according to analysts and other observers, appears to be a potential Iran's involvement in the violence. The countrys foreign minister warned recently that there was a risk of the conflict spreading if Israel continued on its current path. Separately, the Iran mission to the UN warned that "If the Israeli apartheid's war crimes & genocide are not halted immediately, the situation could spiral out of control & ricochet far-reaching consequences - the responsibility of which lies with the UN, the Security Council & the states steering the Council toward a dead end." ADVERTISEMENT By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The U.S. is preparing to ease sanctions on Venezuelas oil in return for a pledge to hold free and fair internationally monitored presidential elections in 2024, the Washington Post reports, citing two anonymous sources. The report claims that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro will sign a deal with the countrys U.S.-backed opposition during a Tuesday meeting in Barbados, with U.S. officials standing by. That deal will allegedly see Maduro lift the bans on opposition presidential candidates. Once the deal is signed, the report claims, oil sanctions will be eased, though the anonymous sources indicated that any easing of sanctions could be temporary should the election process not proceed in line with the deal. There is not yet any sense of the details surrounding the process of easing oil sanctions; however, a senior Biden administration official told the Washington Post that Venezuelan assets in the U.S. would not be unfrozen in the deal. While details remain vague and there has been no official on-the-record corroboration of the Washington Post account citing unnamed sources, those sources indicated that part of the sanctions easing process could see Venezuelas state-run oil agency restart business in the U.S. under a new general license to operate. Venezuela is home to the largest crude oil reserves in the world, though production has been in decline due to corruption and lack of investment in and mismanagement of state-run PDVSA. In 2022, production hit a 50-year low of ~700,000 bpd. Late last year, Washington eased some sanctions on Venezuela, allowing Chevron to resume work in the country to enable exports to make up for lack of access to Russian heavy crude as a result of the war in Ukraine. In July, Venezuelas oil exports were estimated to have surged to nearly three-and-a-half-year highs, thanks to increased shipments by Chevron and new supply contracts signed by PDVSA. In August, Chevrons exports to U.S. refineries fell to around 147,000 bpd in August, down from 161,000 bpd in July. Last month, Venezuela exported 544,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil, down by 38% compared to over 877,000 bpd shipped in July. ADVERTISEMENT By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The United States is set to add a total of 8.6 gigawatts (GW) of natural gas-fired electric generating capacity in 2023, more than the gas-fired additions in 2022 and 2021, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Monday. As many as 10 natural gas-fired power plants have already come online so far this year, adding 6.8 GW of electric generating capacity, EIAs Monthly Electric Generator Inventory showed. Another six gas-fired power plants with a combined power generating capacity of 1.8 GW are expected to start operations by the end of this year, bringing total 2023 additions to 8.6 GW, the EIA said. The capacity additions from combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plants and simple-cycle gas turbine (SCGT) plants in 2023 will be higher than the 5.6 GW of capacity additions that came from 11 new natural gas-fired power plants in 2022. Total natural gas-fired capacity additions increased in both 2022 and 2023 after consecutive declines in the prior three years, the EIA said. This years new gas-fired power plants are concentrated close to the biggest natural gas-producing basins in Appalachia and near the Gulf Coast, as well as in Florida, per the EIA data. The administration expects 20 new natural gas-fired power plants to come online in the next two years, 2024 and 2025, with a total capacity of 7.7 GW. Natural gas accounted for 39.8% of U.S. utility-scale electricity generation in 2022, and was the largest source of power generation in America by a mile. Coal and nuclear power followed with 19.5% and 18.2% of utility-scale electricity generation. All renewable energy sources, including hydropower, held a combined share of 21.5% of U.S. utility-scale electricity generation in 2022, with wind having the biggest share of U.S. power generation, at 10.2%. So far this year, all major U.S. power markets have relied more on natural gas to keep a balanced grid system. Increased gas-powered generation highlights the fact that the fossil fuel continues to play a critical role in balancing the power systems amid high air conditioning demand in heatwaves, lower-than-usual wind speeds, and reduced hydropower generation due to drought. ADVERTISEMENT By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip Medics in Gaza warned Sunday that thousands could die as hospitals packed with wounded people ran desperately low on fuel and basic supplies. Palestinians in the besieged coastal enclave struggled to find food, water and safety ahead of an expected Israeli ground offensive in the war sparked by Hamas' deadly attack. Israeli forces, supported by a growing deployment of U.S. warships in the region, positioned themselves along Gazas border and drilled for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle the militant group. A week of blistering airstrikes have demolished entire neighborhoods but failed to stem militant rocket fire into Israel. Also on Sunday, the United Nations reported that water had run out at its shelters across Gaza as thousands packed into the courtyard of the besieged territorys largest hospital as a refuge of last resort. An unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding under our eyes, said Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. He said his agency was no longer able to provide humanitarian assistance and that the number of people seeking shelter in schools and other facilities in southern Gaza exceeded capacity. Israel has cut off the flow of food, medicine, water and electricity to Gaza, pounded neighborhoods with airstrikes and told the estimated 1 million residents of the north to flee south ahead of Israels planned attack. The Gaza Health Ministry said more than 2,300 Palestinians have been killed since the fighting erupted last weekend. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,670 Palestinians have been killed and 9,600 wounded since the fighting erupted, more than in the 2014 Gaza war, which lasted over six weeks. That makes this the deadliest of the five Gaza wars for both sides. More than 1,400 Israelis were killed, the vast majority of them civilians, in Hamas' Oct. 7 assault. At least 155 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza, according to Israel. It's also the deadliest war for Israel since the 1973 conflict with Egypt and Syria. The U.S. State Department said Secretary of State Antony Blinken would return to Israel on Monday after completing a frantic six-country tour through Arab nations aimed at preventing the fighting from igniting a broader regional conflict. President Joe Biden is also considering a trip to Israel, according to a senior administration official, though no plans have been finalized. Hear what the Israeli ambassador to the US says about plans for Gaza after war CNN's Jake Tapper speaks with Michael Herzog, the Israeli ambassador to the US, about Israel's plans for Gaza after the war is over. Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi criticized Israels military operation in Gaza in a stern pushback Sunday to the United States. Blinken reaffirmed in some of his strongest language to date that Washington would stand with Israel today, tomorrow and every day in a partnership of shared democratic values, but that Israel must take every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians. He leveled no direct public criticism of Israel or its bombing campaign that has killed civilians in Gaza. Blinken's second visit to Israel in recent days will come amid heightening fears that a looming Israeli move into Gaza could spark a wider war with devastating humanitarian consequences, a growing concern for the Biden administration. Egypts state-run media said el-Sisi told Blinken that Israels Gaza operation has exceeded the right of self-defense and turned into a collective punishment." Meanwhile, fighting along Israel's border with Lebanon, which has flared since the start of the latest Gaza war, intensified with Hezbollah militants firing rockets and an anti-tank missile, and Israel responding with airstrikes and shelling. The Israeli military also reported a shooting at one of its border posts. The fighting killed at least one person on the Israeli side and wounded several on both sides of the border. An Israeli drone fired two missiles late Sunday at a hill west of the town of Kfar Kila in south Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency reported. There were no casualties reported in the strikes, which hit near a Lebanese army center. The Israeli army said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that it had hit Hezbollah targets but did not specify what they were. Hezbollah said in a statement that it had fired rockets toward an Israeli military position in the northern border town of Shtula in retaliation for Israeli shelling that killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah on Friday and two Lebanese civilians on Saturday. A Hezbollah spokeswoman, Rana Sahili, said the increased fighting represented a warning and did not mean Hezbollah has decided to enter the war. With the situation in Gaza growing increasingly desperate, the U.S. named David Satterfield, the former U.S. ambassador to Turkey with years of experience in Mideast diplomacy, to be special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues. U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement Sunday that Satterfield will focus on getting humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza. Hospitals in Gaza are expected to run out of generator fuel within two days, endangering the lives of thousands of patients, according to the U.N. Gazas sole power plant shut down for lack of fuel after Israel completely sealed off the 25-mile-long territory following the Hamas attack. In Nasser Hospital, in the southern town of Khan Younis, intensive care rooms were packed with wounded patients, most of them children under the age of 3. Hundreds of people with severe blast injuries have come to the hospital, where fuel was expected to run out by Monday, said Dr. Mohammed Qandeel, a consultant at the critical care complex. There are 35 patients in the ICU who require ventilators and 60 more on dialysis. If fuel runs out, it means the whole health system will be shut down, he said, as children moaned in pain in the background. All these patients are in danger of death if the electricity is cut off." Photos: Scenes from the Israel-Hamas war GRAND ISLAND, Neb. Authorities have released the name of the employee who died in an explosion Friday at the Hornady Manufacturing plant west of Grand Island. The Nebraska Fire Marshals Office also released information on the cause of the explosion. Adriana Alvarez, 32, of Grand Island, died at the scene as a result of the explosion, the agency said Monday. Two additional employees were injured in the explosion and treated at a local hospital, the agency said. Both injured employees were released from the hospital the same day. Investigators determined the explosion occurred during the mixing process of the primer compound. The Fire Marshals Office said the explosion was accidental. Hornady produces various kinds of ammunition. According to her social media, Alvarez was married with a young child. The Teaching Tree child care facility in Grand Island posted to its Facebook page, One of our families suffered a great loss yesterday in the tragic accident at Hornady. One of our babies lost their momma in this accident. At 9:47 a.m. on Friday, the Cairo Fire Department responded to a report of an explosion at Hornady Manufacturing Company, the Fire Marshals Office said. Upon arrival, firefighters determined an explosion had occurred within the PVE West Building. Investigators from the Fire Marshals Office were requested to aid in the incident investigation. On Monday, the company said it is devastated following a fatal incident that took the life of an employee in the primer manufacturing facility. We are devastated for our employee, their family and loved ones, as well as the entire Hornady team, Steve and Jason Hornady said in a joint statement. We are working with all agencies to investigate the cause. This production incident was isolated to our primer facility and did not impact any of the manufacturing facilities. We appreciate the outreach we have received while we grieve the loss of one of our own. Voters in Nebraska now have a no-cost option to obtain alternate identification cards that theyll need to cast a ballot starting in 2024. Eligible voters who dont have a state ID or drivers license can get a free identification card through a Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles licensing office. Nebraskans need a valid photo identification card to cast a vote in the next statewide primary election in May 2024, and all special and statewide elections following that. After voters in 2022 approved a constitutional amendment to require voter ID, state lawmakers passed Legislative Bill 514 this year. Matt Coatney, Nebraskas driver license services administrator, said the DMV immediately started issuing the free cards under a provision that allows people to get a free identification card for voting purposes. State IDs can cost from $10 to $29, depending on how long the card remains valid. There is no difference between a state ID and a voter ID, other than how someone applies for them, Coatney said. Neither form of ID counts as a drivers license. To get a voter ID, applicants just need to mark on their application that they are seeking the card for voting purposes, and then its free, Coatney said. This leaves the door open for people who want a state ID to get one through the voter ID process and avoid paying a fee, but Adam Morfeld, former lawmaker and executive director of Civic Nebraska, said he trusts Nebraskans to be honest. Secretary of State Bob Evnen said roughly 97% of Nebraskans who are eligible to vote already have a valid form of ID. Morfeld noted that the fee for a regular state ID is low enough that the state wont be hurt much if people opt for the new voter cards. I doubt the state is going to be missing out on much revenue one way or another, he said. To get a voter ID, applicants cant have a valid Nebraska drivers license, and they must be old enough or otherwise eligible to vote before the date of the next state election, Coatney said. They must present the drivers licensing office with two forms of proof of address, and first-time applicants need proof of U.S. citizenship, such as a birth certificate, which people can get for free under LB 514. The bill says voters can cast ballots if they have IDs issued by the federal government, State of Nebraska, local governments or Nebraska colleges, as long as the IDs bear the persons name and photo. Expired documents would be accepted. Military and veteran IDs, tribal IDs and patient records with photos kept by nursing homes, assisted living facilities or hospitals also will be accepted. People casting mail-in ballots will have to include the number from their Nebraska drivers license or state ID card or a copy of an accepted ID document. People who go to the polls without an acceptable ID will be able to cast a provisional ballot but will have to show a valid ID to election officials by the Tuesday after the election to have their vote count. Since the DMV started issuing the cards in early June, Coatney said, the agency has distributed more than 2,600 voter ID cards, which is below the departments average for state IDs. According to the latest data collected for 2021, the department issued just over 40,000 state IDs over the course of the year, equating to a monthly average of roughly 3,300. Morfeld said a sizeable minority of Nebraskans who are eligible to vote still dont have a valid photo ID, and predicted that demand for the voter ID cards will ramp up in 2024. He said the biggest barrier to voting accessibility is a lack of education about the options available for voters. Both Civic Nebraska and the Secretary of States Office have information about the new voter ID requirements on their websites. As the primary election grows closer, Morfeld said, Civic Nebraska plans to increase its outreach about the voter ID cards, including distributing how-to guides and mailers, sending texts and making phone calls. Evnen said his office is making sure the information is translated in Spanish, and he noted that DMV offices comply with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. Inevitably though, Morfeld said, the additional requirements under LB 514 will make it more difficult for some Nebraskans to vote. Morfeld recommended state officials focus more of their energy on improving accessibility for voters, such as expanding mail voting options and advancing Nebraskas voting technology. Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of October 2023 LINCOLN A Lincoln sculptor will create the bust of Omaha native and human rights activist Malcolm X to be installed in the State 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 Malcolm X. 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, Murrays 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 Murrays vision for Malcolm X aligned with the selection committees 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 press release. Nathan Murrays 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 artists 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 Murrays 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 Mayors 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 thats important. Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of October 2023 Mackenzie Shelton, M: 402-680-8213, sheltonomaha@gmail.com, https://www.omahakellerwilliams.com - Welcome to this charming and meticulously renovated two-bedroom home nestled in the heart of Council Bluffs, Iowa. This property offers an inviting atmosphere for you and your family, making it the perfect place to call home. The home features beautiful wood flooring in the main living space that seamlessly blends into the spacious kitchen with updated appliances and modern finishes. This home also boasts a newer central air system. The yard is large and perfect for entertaining with a generously sized deck and space for parking your vehicles. Don't miss out on the opportunity to make this home! CHICAGO A 71-year-old Illinois man was charged with a hate crime Sunday after police say he fatally stabbed a 6-year-old boy and seriously wounded a 32-year-old woman. Police allege he singled out the victims because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas. Gov. J.B. Pritzker used the word "evil" multiple times in a statement condemning the violence and expressing deep sorrow for the boy and his family. To take a six-year-old childs life in the name of bigotry is nothing short of evil," he wrote, later adding: "This wasnt just a murder it was a hate crime. "And every single Illinoisan including our Muslim, Jewish, and Palestinian neighbors deserves to live free from the threat of such evil." In recent days, police in U.S. cities and federal authorities have been on high alert for violence driven by antisemitic or Islamophobic sentiments. Jewish and Muslim groups have reported an increase of hateful and threatening rhetoric on social media. In the Chicago case, officers found the woman and boy late Saturday morning at a home in an unincorporated area of Plainfield Township, southwest of the city, the Will County Sheriff's Office said in a statement on social media. The boy was pronounced dead at a hospital. The woman had multiple stab wounds and was expected to survive, according to the statement. An autopsy on the child showed he was stabbed dozens of times. Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis, the sheriff's statement said. According to the Will County sheriffs office, the woman had called 911 to report that her landlord had attacked her with a knife, adding she then ran into a bathroom and continued to fight him off. The man suspected in the attack, Joseph M. Czuba of Plainfield, was found Saturday outside the home and sitting upright outside on the ground near the driveway of the residence with a cut on his forehead, authorities said. Czuba was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crimes and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, according to the sheriff's office. He was in custody Sunday and awaiting a court appearance. Attempts to reach Czuba or a family member were unsuccessful Sunday. His home phone number was unlisted. Messages left for possible relatives in online records and on social media were not immediately returned. The sheriffs office and county public defender's office did not immediately return messages about Czuba's legal representation. Authorities did not release the names of the two victims. However, a man identifying himself as the boy's paternal uncle, Yousef Hannon, spoke at a news conference Sunday hosted by the Chicago chapter Council on American-Islamic Relations. There, the boy was identified as Wadea Al-Fayoume, a Palestinian-American boy who had recently turned 6. The organization identified the other victim as the boy's mother. We are not animals, we are humans. We want people to see us as humans, to feel us as humans, to deal with us as humans, because this is what we are, said Hannon, a Palestinian-American who emigrated to the U.S. in 1999 to work, including as a public school teacher. The Muslim civil liberties organization called the crime our worst nightmare, and part of a disturbing spike in hate calls and emails since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. The group cited text messages exchanged among family members that showed the attacker had made disparaging remarks about Muslims. Palestinians basically, again, with their hearts broken over whats happening to their people, said Ahmed Rehab, the group's executive director, have to also worry about the immediate safety of life and limb living here in this most free of democracies in the world. Later on Sunday, the governor's statement confirmed the boy's name and relationship to the other victim, his mother. "Wadea should be heading to school in the morning," Pritzker wrote. "Instead, his parents will wake up without their son." The second-term Chicago Democrat, who is Jewish, said that he and his wife would "join our Muslim and Palestinian brothers and sisters" in mourning Wadea and praying for his mother's recovery. He concluded: "May Wadea Al-Fayoumes memory be a blessing." Lee News Service contributed to this story. Photos: Scenes from the Israel-Hamas war MY HEALTHEVET MOVING TO VA.GOV The VA is transitioning the My HealtheVet app to VA.gov, as the VA integrates several of its online services and resources to make one-stop shopping for VA information. My HealtheVet provides information on tips and tools to help veterans partner with their health care team, so together they may work to manage the veterans health. Veterans with VA health care can access their VA medical information, make appointments, establish contacts with their primary care team, order prescriptions, etc. Unfortunately, My HealtheVet is one of many VA websites covering different topics and each website has its own process, user ID and passwords, so the veteran has to log in and gain access to that website separately from all the other VA websites. This transition to VA.gov (about two years) continues the process begun several years ago to make use of VA websites and thus information and services more intuitive and easier to accomplish. The new My HealtheVet portal on VA.gov will provide a single place for you to manage your health care needs in the same location (using the same login process) where you manage your other VA benefits and services. Browse "VA My HealtheVet moves to VA.gov" for more information. WANT TO RECONNECT WITH YOUR MILITARY BUDDIES? Q: I served in the Army and had several buddies with whom I have not kept in touch. Now that I am older and the kids have grown up and I have the time, I would like to reestablish contact with my buddies. I have no idea how to accomplish this mission. How do I reconnect with buddies that I have not stayed in touch with for years? A: Some veterans keep in touch with their military buddies after leaving the military. However, most veterans, upon separation from military service, are focused on the rest of our post-military life: going to school, getting a job, starting our families and hundreds of other opportunities from which our military service diverted us. Over time, our relationships with those with whom we served can fade. Later, perhaps years, when we are settled and have time to revisit our experiences in the military, a desire to reconnect with our military buddies occurs. The government and military branches will not provide contact information for veterans or active-duty personnel except for official business. However, the Department of Veterans Affairs can forward a message to a veteran, providing the veteran has filed a claim with the VA and their current address is on record. The Army, Marine Corp, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard have websites that provide links to information about veterans who served in their branch of the military. Veterans organizations like the American Legion, VFW, DAV, AMVETS, Marine Corp League and others usually have a section of their periodic magazines devoted to military reunions and in search of sections dedicated to reconnecting veterans. Believe it or not, Facebook might be a good place to start, especially if you are looking for veterans who served after the internet became prevalent. Visit military.com/off-duty/how-find-your-old-military-buddies-after-you-get-out.html for more information. QUOTE OF THE DAY Recent years have seen an exponential increase by some to try and silence opinions that are incompatible with the opinions of the ideologues, activists, social media and others. Canceling, doxing peoples personal information and canceling college campus speeches are commonplace. Accusations about the possible political weaponizing of government institutions like the FBI, CIA, Justice Department, IRS and others, if true, are frightening abuses of power and threaten the freedoms our Constitution is supposed to guarantee. This quote of the day confronts what we are facing. If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter. George Washington Photos: Bloomington Labor Day Parade 2023 The State Atomic Energy Corporation (ROSATOM) of Russia on Monday, 16th October, 2023 met with Ghanas Energy Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, at the 2023 Africa Energy Week which is underway in Cape Town, South Africa. The meeting held at the instance of ROSATOM was to deepen discussions on cooperation with Ghana on the nuclear energy front. Speaking at the meeting, leader of delegation and Chief Executive Officer of ROSATOM with oversight responsibility over Central and Southern Africa, Mr. Ryan Collyer made reference to an initial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Ghana and Rosatom in 2015 on nuclear co-operation which includes design and construction of nuclear power plants for the production of electricity and water desalination, nuclear research reactors and atomic particle accelerators among others. He also spoke on their current proposal to Ghana to construct a Nuclear Power Plant in respect of which last information was sent to the Nuclear Power Ghana on Friday, 13th October, 2023. ROSATOM, he said, has commenced the construction of a fleet of Floating Nuclear Power Plants as part of their plans to supply power to Ghanas grid through a Power Purchase Agreement We are very committed to this project in Ghana and we want to ensure that this co-operation works, the CEO said. He continued; We are also very committed to our Floating Nuclear Power Plant efforts, all in the bid to strengthening the co-operation with Ghana. Mr. Collyer further spoke about the advantages of Small Modular Reactor in parallel for industry, drawing similarities to what pertains in Russia. ROSATOM asked the Minister to assist them find a Ghanaian industry partner for a long-term agreement in this direction On his part, the Energy Minister recounted Ghanas long-standing relations with Russia, citing the fact that Ghanas quest for oil discovery was first led by Russians. He said the Government of Ghana continue to support the Ghana Nuclear Power Programme by participating, funding and making various contribution and supports to the realization of the set goals of the programme Ghana has completed the phase 1 stage of the Nuclear Power Programme according to the IAEA milestones approach and has launched into the phase two stage of the nuclear power programme which requires comprehensive feasibility study and implementation works, he said. The Minister added that Ghanas main preoccupation is funding and therefore making efforts at attracting same. He expressed satisfaction at the request for further information by Russia which demonstrates their seriousness to cooperate with Ghana. Ghana, he said, is looking at long-term agreement which spans 40-50 years in the nuclear space as nuclear has become a critical part of the clean energy conversation across the globe. He reiterated that Ghana is very much looking for a country who will demonstrate the commitment to funding and investing in nuclear projects as that is also the priority of the President. In June 2022, President Akufo-Addo made a declaration on the approval by Cabinet for the inclusion of nuclear in the national energy mix. The Ministry of Energy, under the leadership of Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, continues to consolidate efforts in this regard towards the construction of a nuclear power plant also pursuant to the countrys clean energy agenda. Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A local pharmaceutical company, Atlantic Life Sciences, has begun the production of three inhalation drugs for anaesthesia that were hitherto imported. They are isoflurane, sevoflurane and halothane, which are all administered through inhalation. The drugs were launched at a symposium in Accra last Thursday which also engaged professionals who administer the drugs The meeting brought together registered and certified anaesthetists, representatives of health facilities, among others stakeholders. Anesthetics Anesthetics are used during tests and surgical operations to cause loss of sensation, numbness in certain areas of the body or induce sleep often referred to as anaesthesia to prevent pain and discomfort. The local production will help to reduce the cost of the drugs which are very expensive on the local market. Obsolete At the symposium, it came to light that despite the fact that halothane was no longer used the world over due to the harm it could cause to the liver as well as other implications, a few African countries such as Ghana, were still holding on it as their main anesthetic in a majority of public health facilities. Atlantic Lifesciences is currently the only lifeline to the countrys dependence on halothane as it is currently the only producer and supplier of the drug. The Chief Executive Officer of Atlantic Life Sciences, Dhananjay Tripathi, said the company was determined to help localise the pharmaceutical sector by producing some key consumables to ensure increased access to pharmaceuticals such as vaccines, infusions, eye drops, among others. He hinted that from next week, the company would start the production of anti-snake bite serum , an essential but expensive and scarce drug locally. Atlantic Lifesciences, a Ghanaian manufacturing company, takes immense pride in our commitment to delivering high-quality anesthetic products, right here in Ghana. The significance of "Made in Ghana products and Anaesthetics on the African continent is not just a tagline; it's a testament to our dedication to quality, safety, and accessibility in the area of local production. He encouraged all stakeholders and Ghanaians to patronise made-Ghana-products, saying it was critical in boosting the local economy. Let us embrace this day as a reminder of our commitment to the health and well-being of the people of Ghana and the broader African continent. Made in Ghana is not just a label; it fosters a sense of national pride and identity; it's a symbol of excellence, and together, we will continue to raise the bar for anesthesia care, he said. Cost, equipment Explaining why halothane was still in use in Ghana when the world had stopped administering it, the President of the Ghana Association of Certified Registered Anaesthetists, James Nwinsagra, said the drug was still dominating because it was the cheapest, and that its possible effect on patients was not being considered. Some participating anaesthetists, including Belinda Quartey and Martha Adjovi, reiterated that the situation was so because most health facilities were still using obsolete anaesthesia machines that could only administer halothane. The immediate past President of Ghana Association of Certified Registered Anaesthetists, Wumbai M. Jacob, suggested that the production of halothane should stop so that decision-makers would be forced to go for new generational options that were safer. Presenting a lecture on inhalational anesthetics: how to use them economically, the guest speaker and a professor of Anaesthesiology and critical care at the Loma Linda University in the United States of America, said anesthesia providers should take up environmental stewardship as they were responsible for the environmental impact of anesthetic vapours and gases. 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 Atik Mohammed has expressed sadness over the sentence meted out to founder of the defunct Capital Bank, William Ato Essien over a case of embezzlement. An Accra High Court has sentenced William Ato Essien, to 15 years imprisonment with hard labour for stealing over GH90 million of the banks money. Essien Jailed 15 Years Justice Eric Kyei Baffour, presiding over the case, held that Ato 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 Judge said. The Judge ruled that Essien goes to jail for 15 years. 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 remarked. Atik shares his thoughts To Atik, it saddens him that Essien, who he described as a "young man", is going to jail at his "prime" age. However, he noted that it's appropriate that those who mismanaged their banks following the Central Bank's intervention by giving them money to liquidate their banks must be accordingly punished. Atik Mohammed sought to draw the attention of the prosecutors to the other persons who were equally found complicit in the several cases of malfeasance in the financial sector, asking "what has been done to them too?" "How about the other banks that went under that they made us know it was through mismanagement?", he further asked. He also questioned what is being done about the Board members who were on Ato Essien's bank saying "the Board is the highest decision-making body; I haven't seen any of the Board members is standing trial". Atik gave these submissions on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" show on Friday, October 13, 2023. Ato Essien Pleads Guilty 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 but he failed to meet the deadlines. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video As of March 2023, the total membership of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) Scheme was estimated at 1.8 million, Mr Ignatius Baffour Awuah, the Minister of Employment, Labour Relations and Pensions, has disclosed. This, he said means that about 8.1 million of the estimated Ghanas working population of 9.9 million might not have any form of social security cover, which shows that leveraging digitalisation to extend social security coverage was long overdue. The overwhelming importance of digitalisation today is there for everybody to see. I call on social security institutions within West Africa to take advantage of the emergence of digital technologies to bridge the wide coverage gap, Mr Baffour Awuah stated at the SSNIT International Social Security Association (ISSA) Technical Seminar in Accra. The two-day meeting on the theme Digitalisation to Leverage Extension of Social Security Coverage in West Africa is being attended by participants from the West Africa sub-region. The Minister said in Ghana, social security coverage had overly focused on the formal sector, which constitutes 27.3 per cent of the estimated working population of 9.9 million. He said about 600,000 self-employed persons now had some form of social security cover. He said over the last couple of years, the Employment, Labour and Pensions sector had benefited from the Governments digitalisation agenda in the delivery of services to the public. He said currently, the Government was piloting the Ghana Labour Market Information System (GLMIS), a web-based repository of all Labour Market data/information. The GLMIS creates a platform for employers and jobseekers to interact on job vacancies, skills in demand, skills in supply and related matters. Mr Baffour Awuah said a unique feature of the system was that it would provide policymakers with real-time labour market information which would feed into evidence-based national development planning including the establishment of robust and sound social protection programmes for the country. He noted that the Government was leveraging on digital technology to introduce a new software for the pensions regulator, the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA). He said the new software would be seeking to automate the regulatory processes of the NPRA and ensure real-time monitoring to safeguard pension funds and investments. Mr Baffour Awuah said with this software, beneficiaries and service providers would be able to interface with the NPRA remotely and at their convenience without having to travel long distances to access their services. Adding that this would not only save time but also money which could be used to purchase various pension and social security products available on the market and secure a better future in retirement. Mr Baffour Awuah said the Government through the NPRA and SSNIT had also streamlined the pension processes and that from 2021, the process of enrolling onto the SSNIT Scheme had been simplified through the Ghana Card. He said one does not need many documentations to enroll on a Pension Scheme but just the Ghana Card. Subsequently, this has led to a marked improvement in social security administration with enrolment increasing steadily. He said the Government would continue to leverage on technology to ensure SSNIT brings its services closer to the people. Mr Baffour Awuah said in Africa, countries had introduced innovation into social protection programmes to improve coverage. He said despite these interventions, coverage of social protection remains low in Africa. According to ISSAs 2023 Report on Social Security Developments and Trends in Africa, only 27.1 per cent of older persons in Africa receive old-age benefits, compared to a global average of 77.5 percent. Similarly, the Report revealed that only 17.4 per cent of the population in Africa is covered by at least one social protection benefit, compared to a global figure of 46.9 percent. Source: GNA 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 KGL Group of companies on Friday the 13th of October 2023 officially out doored their State-of-the-Art Office Building Complex, the KGL House, located at Ndabaningi Sithole road, Labone. The KGL House, which took Three years to complete, will house all the subsidiaries and affiliate partners of the KGL Group of companies. The building was officially commissioned by the First Lady of the Republic of Ghana, Her Excellency Rebecca Akuffo Addo and His Royal Highness Oseadeeyo Nana Kwasi Akuffo III and is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alex Apau Dadey Snr., lifelong educationist, and father of Executive Chairman of the Group, Mr. Alex Apau Dadey. The Dedication ceremony, organized to officially outdoor this ultramodern complex, was graced by friends and partners of the Group, Ministers of State, CEOs from Public and Private institutions, traditional rulers and was chaired by His Royal Highness Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akuffo III, Omanhene of the Akuapem Traditional area. In his address, Mr. Alex Apau Dadey, Executive Chairman of the KGL Group chose to highlight the contribution of all stakeholders who have worked tirelessly to see this come to fruition. He added, This magnificent complex stands as a symbol of the KGL Group's unwavering determination to lead, inspire, and change the digital landscape. With its state-of-the-art infrastructure, cutting-edge technology, and collaborative workspaces, KGL House is designed to foster creativity, encourage collaboration, and ignite the sparks of innovation. It will be a place where ideas come to life, where dreams turn into reality, and where the future will be shaped. He concluded by saying, Today, as we stand on the cusp of a new era, let us reflect on the journey that brought us here. Let us remember the challenges we have overcome, the lessons we have learned, and the milestones we have achieved. We owe our success not only to our exceptional team but also to the unwavering support of our clients, partners, and stakeholders. Together, we have built a legacy of trust, innovation, and integrity. From this building will grow a true African Conglomerate, capable of competing on the global stage. A place where wealth will be created, and thousands will be gainfully employed. It is part of our philosophy that we leave the communities we operate in, better than we found them. Chairman of the event, His Royal Highness Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akuffo III, Omanhene of the Akuapem Traditional Area, in his address also highlighted the outstanding contributions made by the KGL Group in the area of Philanthropy. He remarked, The KGL Group, through its foundation has been at the forefront, leading and supporting however they can, just to ensure they leave whichever community they visit a better place than they came to meet. I applaud them for their contributions to Okuapeman. In her address, First Lady of the Republic of Ghana, Her Excellency Rebecca Akuffo Addo chose to applaud the outstanding work of the KGL Group in the areas of job creation and charged the organisation not to rest on their laurels, but to continue on this trajectory, that Global recognition beckons. 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 Right Reverend Dennis Debukari Tong, the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Tamale, said the Christian life is a journey that needs some level of endurance to enable them to become victorious. He referred to the story of Job, the Biblical character in the book of Job chapter 1:21, citing his endurance despite the calamities that engulfed him. He was delivering the sermon during Church service in Tamale on the theme: Endurance. Right Rev. Tong said once people got determined to work for God, they must be prepared for opposition, adding that being a Christian called for endurance. He urged Christians to remain dedicated to God amid difficulties for greater reward. Source: GNA 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 President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin were spotted sharing a light moment in public recently. The two gentlemen, the most powerful and third most powerful political figures in Ghana met at an event organized by the National Service Scheme (NSS) in Accra. In a video shared by Starr FM and other news channels, Akufo-Addo is seen exchanging pleasantries with Bagbin shortly after he took his seat at the event. The two men burst into laughter during the brief chat with Bagbin appearing the most tickled about the conversation as he buries his head in his hands laughing out loud about the subject of discussion. The video elicited reactions on social media as people pointed out how top-level politicians are historically friends as opposed to the animosity that the rank-and-file exhibit in defense of their principals. Both men share some similarities, including being trained lawyers, former Members of Parliament and also former ministers of state. Akufo-Addo exists the political space in 2025 whiles Bagbin's future will also be decided concretely after same - that is whether he could continue as speaker or pursue other ambitions. Watch the video below: Speaker of Parliament Rt. Hon. Alban Bagbin in a hearty chat with President Akufo-Addo. What could they be talking about? Comment with #GHToday pic.twitter.com/iFCmkrjaZa GHOne TV (@GHOneTV) October 13, 2023 Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo returned to the country on October 15 after a four-day official visit to the United States. The president was in the US on the invitation of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) to deliver a lecture on global security and leadership within the context of West Africa's growing insecurity. Presidential spokesman announced that the president's immediate engagement upon his return will be visiting flooded areas in the Volta Region as a result of spillage of the Akosombo Dam. "The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, will on Monday, 16th October 2023, visit the districts severely hit by the floods occasioned by the spillage of the Akosombo Dam. "The President will be joined on this tour by members of the Inter-Ministerial Committee, which has been set up to coordinate Government's response to the flooding and to help bring relief to those affected. "The President arrives from his 4-day official visit to the United States this evening," his statement of October 15 posted on Facebook concluded. Chief of Staff, 12 ministers form inter-ministerial committee on floods Government has constituted an inter-ministerial committee to address recent floods triggered by spillage of the Volta and Kpong Dams by the Volta River Authority (VRA). The spillage has occasioned massive flooding in communities close to the river especially in Mepe and Aveyime. An October 13 statement from the Ministry of Information said, president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had ordered the setting-up of the team to coordinate governments response to the unfortunate flooding of some communities following spilling from the Volta Dam. The thirteen-member committee will be headed by Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare. The other members of the committee include the Minister of National Security, Albert Kan-Dapaah; Minister for the Interior, Ambrose Dery; Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul; Energy Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh; Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta and the Minister of Local Government, Daniel Kwaku Botwe. Other members are Minister of Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye; Minister for Roads and Highways, Kwasi Amoako-Attah, Minister for Environment, Dr. Kwaku Afriyie; Minister for Sanitation, Freda Prempeh; Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel A. Jinapor and the Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah. 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 While the Electoral Commission ( EC) has began the limited voter registration exercise to roll new eligible Ghanaians onto the Voter register, the Chairman of the National Democratic Congress ( NDC) Mr. Johnson Asiedu Nketia and the General Secretary, Mr Franklin Fiifi Fiavi Kwetey have decided to fly out of the country Whilst this important exercise is ongoing. Very reliable source has it on authority that their absence is a protest boycot against the new Director of elections in the party, Dr Omane Boamah. According to my source, funds meant for monitoring the exercise is said to have not passed through the administrative processes. But rather was given to the new director of elections directly for disbursement. This means the party has not learned it's lessons. In protest of this, the General Secretary and the Chairman of the party boycott the process. This heavily questions their commitment to the party when it matters most . Aside the usual cosmetic press conferences , this is the time they have to be seen more in the trenches to lead the onslaught to see more members of the party get registered. When the EC began the process on September 12, 2023 there were reports of device failure at the strongholds of the NDC .This therefore should ignited the leadership of the party to go beyond the usual talking to let their actions get the EC to cut out the alleged plot to disenfranchise supporters of the NDC in areas noted to be the strongholds of the party but here we are .Rather they are cooling off outside the country because they have been sidestepped so those who can do it should do it for them to see. With or without the presence of the Chairman of the NDC and the General Secretary, the limited voters registration exercise by the Electoral Commission (EC) is ongoing in all the 268 District offices of the commission nationwide for eligible Ghanaians, who have turned 18 and above to be enrolled on the register. Leaders of any serious political party will know that the exercise is a major stepping stone towards the conduct of the 2024 general elections in Ghana. The NDC seem to be relying on its legal processes against the EC but the question is , Can a leopard change its colours? The reliance of the party to have served EC with an injunction application is laughable because the exercise is still ongoing . The NDC themselves broke a similar legal process in the past when the outgone Chairman of the Eastern Region popularly known as Jowak was served with an injunction to stop the regional Congress to elect a new Chairman but the party ignored the injunction served on the Chairman and even organized the elections at his blind side.He is still in court challenging the party.Today we even see a regional chairman contestant who lost the bid to become the Eastern Regional Chairman of the party being appointed to a national executive position in the party. What is so important for all the two leading high ranking officials of the party to be out of the country whilst such an important exercise is going on in the country leaves much to think about . It is just unbelievable. It is not even as if they are out there seeking medical attention . We must be serious as a party.As the largest opposition party in the country that is ready to win power in 2024.We must take things very serious. 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 Dr Mahamudu Bawumia (DMB) brand continues to be an attracting force for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) grassroots as more persons have openly ditched other aspirants for the Vice President. Barely a week after some executives in the Assin Central Constituency of the Central Region, the home constituency of Kennedy Agyapong, one of the flagbearer aspirants openly declared their support for the Vice President; the Ashanti Region has also done the same. At a news conference on Sunday, October 15, 2023, supporters of John Alan Kwadwo Kyeremanten and Kennedy Agyapong defected to the camp of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia pledging their unflinching support. Led by Mr Dawuda Afriyie, the First Vice Chairman of the Offinso North Constituency they were heard in a viral video singing the praise of the Vice President and shouting Its Possible The Dr Mahamudu Bawumia (DMB) brand continues to be an attracting force for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) grassroots as more persons have openly ditched other aspirants for the Vice President. Barely a week after some executives in the Assin Central Constituency of the Central Region, the home constituency of Kennedy Agyapong, one of the flagbearer aspirants openly declared their support for the Vice President; the Ashanti Region has also done the same. At a news conference on Sunday, October 15, 2023, supporters of John Alan Kwadwo Kyeremanten and Kennedy Agyapong defected to the camp of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia pledging their unflinching support. Led by Mr Dawuda Afriyie, the First Vice Chairman of the Offinso North Constituency they were heard in a viral video singing the praise of the Vice President and shouting Its Possible Addressing the press, Adul Aziz Ismail popularly known as Kennedy Ba and a polling station Executive at Kwaman Methodist in the Afigya Kwabre North Constituency underscored the need for a winnable candidate, Dr. Bawumia. We are looking for a winnable flagbearer for the 2024 polls. Some of our MPs and Executives have come under severe attacks over their choice of their preferred candidates. The Majority Leader who has been an MP for several years knows the best candidate to be flagbearer and settled on the Vice President as the best candidate. Our father Kan Dapaah believes Bawumia is the obvious choice and we have bought into their idea. As a result, we have resolved to support the Vice President, he disclosed. Mr. Adul Aziz Ismail described Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as the right candidate to be the flagbearer of the NPP in 2024 indicating that the choice is devoid of inducement or any personal gain but for the general good of the NPP. On his part, Mr. Dawuda Afriyie a staunch Alan Kyeremanten supporter in the Ashanti Region bemoaned the conduct of the resigned NPP member and expressed his disappointment. After Alans decision to resign from the NPP, it is obvious I am not a kid in politics to be shown which path to choose. I voted for Busia in 1969 and I have been voting to date. I have supporters and we decided to throw our support for Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. We have supporters in the 15 constituencies assigned to me and I can assure you they will all be for Bawumia now, he disclosed. 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 Self-defense: Wealthy white suburban women v. poor black urban women By Mark Alexander web posted October 16, 2023 The ink was barely dry on my op-ed last week regarding a mayor's disgraceful assertion that an extended family member was murdered by "gun violence" when I then discovered the latest leftist strategy to disarm law-abiding citizens. Tennessee ranks among the top conservative states in the nation. That is why Joe Biden and his leftist cadres are constantly using this and other conservative states as test beds for determining the most effective manipulative strategies to undermine the foundational principles of American Liberty. That is the primary purpose of Biden's new White House office for "gun violence prevention." Their latest strategy is to enlist the help of suburban "white privilege" Democrat cadres, but the arrogance of their latest enlistees is experiencing a full-frontal collision with the interests of those minority constituencies whom they pretend to support. For background, the leaders of those suburban cadres are inheritance welfare beneficiaries who have little genuine sense of self-reliance and are dependent on the labors of others. Thus, they identify with and become outspoken advocates for the dependence of others. Increasingly, those leftists and their unhinged cadres are women, whom Democrat strategists consider emotionally incontinent idiots in other words, their most emotionally malleable and, consequently, most manipulable voter constituency. These are the suburbanites who advertise their idiocy with plastic virtue-signaling yard signs. In recent years, those included the "Biden-Harris 2020" signs. Then there were the "Hate Has No Home Here" signs with that soundbite slogan in six languages later with rainbow colors to pay homage to the gender confused. Then the "Black Lives Matter" signs were fashionable. But given the abject corruption of that now-broke extortion outfit, those signs have morphed into something more subtle: "I'm not Black But I hear you! I'm not Black But I see you! I'm not Black But I mourn for you! Black Lives Inspire!" Isn't that special? More recently, springing up in suburban yards are signs proclaiming, "Protect Kids Not Guns." In other words, if you are a Second Amendment advocate, you don't care about protecting kids. Over the summer, those emotional incontinence signs popped up on some well-manicured suburban lawns in Tennessee, and legions of white women commuted to the Tennessee General Assembly in Nashville to demonstrate for "gun reform." That protest was the result of the tragic murder of three white children by a gender-confused suburban white woman at a Nashville school. Of course, "gun reform" is a euphemism for "gun control," which is and always has been a euphemism for gun confiscation. They focused their protests on "gun violence," a euphemism for "cultural violence," which is the actual problem but Demos don't want to touch that politically inconvenient truth. For the record, attacks on schools are very rare more than 99% of ALL murder victims are NOT killed in "mass shootings" in schools or any other location. But as long as sociopathic assailants have been murdering children, Democrats have been propping up the coffins of the dead as political soapboxes for promoting "gun control." They are especially quick to do so when the victims are white, knowing they can invoke a strong response from their cadres of women. Never mind that only law-abiding citizens obey laws and are increasingly victims of outlaws. To that end, many cities with the most restrictive gun policies in the nation have become the most dangerous cities in the nation. The latest "Protect Kids Not Guns" strategy being tested by Democrats and their Leftmedia talkingheads and scribes involves the establishment of gun control "clubs" of suburban white women in conservative states. However, as I noted above, those clubs are suffering a full-frontal collision with the interests of those whom they pretend to support. How? Well, after four years of record firearm sales, now more than half of all adults are legal gun owners. More specifically, it turns out that, because self-defense is the primary reason Americans acquire firearms, women are now the fastest growing demographic of new gun owners. In fact, women are estimated to be as high as 42% of new handgun owners. Moreover, much to the dismay of all those wealthy suburban white women advocating policies to suppress Second Amendment rights given the inconvenient truth that a grossly disproportionate number of murders and violent crimes are perpetrated in urban centers by black assailants against black victims 30% of the women purchasing firearms are black urban residents. Yes, black women are actually the fastest growing gun-owning demographic. In other words, what we have here is leftist cadres of wealthy, white-privileged suburban women attempting to dictate to mostly poor urban black women what they can and can't do to defend themselves. Oops, they didn't see that coming. I suggest cat-fight cage matches to resolve this issue game on! Again, only law-abiding citizens obey laws. That is abundantly evident given the fact that in urban centers besieged with a rising generation of sociopathic murderers, combined with the most restrictive self-defense policies in the nation, those Demo-controlled cities are also besieged with violence. Taking away the ability of law-abiding citizens to protect their families and children has deadly consequences. And finally, as I have written before, given that those white suburban Demo-pawns are, ostensibly, concerned about the safety of others, how about they put down their bottles of Chardonnay and ban alcohol use by all citizens? Alcohol abuse by some citizens causes far more deaths than firearms. According to the latest CDC annual mortality data, 140,000 people died from alcohol-related causes more than five times the number of people murdered. Drunk drivers are responsible for 28 deaths per day. And notably, it is estimated that alcohol is also a key factor in at least 30% of homicides involving firearms. (Include drugs and that number jumps to about 60%.) The vast majority of alcohol users possess and use it legally and responsibly. Likewise, the vast majority of firearm owners possess and use them legally and responsibly. Enacting a prohibition on firearms is tantamount to enacting a prohibition on alcohol. In both cases, only law-abiding users are penalized while outlaws ignore the law. Mark Alexander is the executive editor of the Patriot Post. Kennedy Agyapong, New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer hopeful, has posited that no appointee under the current administration of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo would be given the chance to secure a third term for the NPP. Speaking in an interview on Skyy Power FM on October 13, 2023, he argued that Ghanaians would not be inclined to grant such individuals the mandate without substantial proof of their contributions and achievements. So, delegates who are listening to me, because of the selfish interest of some leaders, they are pushing you to vote for a particular candidate, and that candidate also, if you vote for him, you can't break the eight. read my lips, Ghanaians will deny anybody who has served under this government from breaking the eight, it is not possiblethey should tell Ghanaians what they have done to prove that they can break the eight. In an apparent jab at the Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia who is also an aspirant in the flagbearership race, Agyapong submitted: " check his performance, the man came with the economy, but now he is not talking about the economy anymore. He added that he is committed to tackling unemployment issues and creating jobs, particularly in resource-rich regions like the Western Region when given the opportunity as president. I am not a myopic thinker, I think big, I dream big, and I do things big, that is the only way that we can reduce the unemployment rate, he added. Kennedy will contest for the NPP flagbearership slot 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. Source: ghanaweb.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video An Independent Presidential Candidate, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, has once again demonstrated his commitment to share in adversities that beset the people and help find solutions to them. An ample demonstration of this was when, over the weekend, he toured and empathized with people in the North Tongu District of the Volta region, affected by flooding of the Volta River caused by the spillage of the Akosombo Dam. His visit was also in fulfillment of his earlier promise to the people of the Region during his campaign to be flag bearer of the NPP to step into the shoes of the late Prez Jerry John Rawlings, and be their Godfather. Addressing a gathering of traditional authorities of the Mepe Traditional Area, Mr. Kyerematen expressed grief about the unfortunate flooding that has affected over 100 communities along the lower Volta Lake in the North, South, and Central Tongu Districts in the Volta Region He expressed deep concern at how households belonging to the poor had been submerged by the spilled water from the Dam. He lamented the inability of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) to fully deliver its mandate as it is under-resourced. He indicated that the flooding incident should serve as a wake-up call for the government to adequately resource NADMO, and invest in early warning systems. He believes this would enable the institution to better deliver its mandated if saving lives and property during a disaster. Mr. Kyerematen, however, promised to solicit relief items for the victims and urged the government, corporate entities, and well-to-do individuals, to support the victims in their distress. Mr. Kyerematen was led by the North Tongu District Chief Executive, Osborn Fenu during his tour and interaction with people in the affected areas. 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 Franco-Gabonese Sylvia Bongo Ondimba Valentin, ex-wife of ousted president Ali Bongo, was charged on 28 September with money laundering, forgery and falsification of records. According to Gabonese media reports, the 60-year-old was taken into custody at a prison in the capital Libreville following a long hearing in front a judge and imprisoned late on Wednesday, her Paris-based lawyer Francois Zimeray said. Sylvia Bongo had been under house arrest in Libreville since the 30 August coup brought the curtain down on 55 years of rule by the Bongo dynasty. Ali Bongo, 64, who had ruled the central African country since 2009, was overthrown by military leaders moments after being proclaimed the winner in a presidential election. The election result was branded a fraud by the opposition and the military coup leaders, who have also accused his regime of widespread corruption and bad governance. The putschists accuse Sylvia Bongo of having manipulated the former president, who is suffering the after-effects of a serious stroke in 2018. They say she and one of the couple's sons have effectively pulled the strings in the oil-rich country for the past five years and have misused public money. Sylvia Bongo had been isolated from her husband, and her French lawyers had complained of what they said "appears to be a hostage-taking". "We condemned this illegal procedure," lawyer Zimeray said on Thursday following her jailing. "There is a difference between justice and arbitrary actions, between the law and revenge." Their eldest son, Noureddin Bongo Valentin, has been charged with corruption and embezzling public funds with several former cabinet members and two ex-ministers. Source: rfi/AFP 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 " " Tokyo, a city of over 37 million people, is the largest city in the world by population, even though its growth has slowed in recent years. Perati Komson/Shutterstock The world's population has reached another milestone. There are now an estimated 8 billion people inhabiting this Big Blue Marble and that's with our global population growing at its slowest rate since 1950. The majority of the world's population 56.2 percent live in an urban area, and by 2030 that number is expected to increase to 70 percent of the world's population. Among these ever more populous urban environments are "megacities," the most populated cities in the world. According to the United Nations, a megacity has a population of 10 million or more. Currently, there are fewer than 37 megacities in the world, with that number expected to rise to 41 by the year 2030. Advertisement So, here are the largest cities in the world by population, according to WorldAtlas, from Tokyo, the largest, to another Japanese city, Osaka, the 10th-largest: 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: View of the Laughing Bird Caye National Park in the outskirts of Placencia village, in Stann Creek District, Belize. When COVID hit Belize, its economy nosedived: closed borders meant fisheries and farmers had no export markets, and tourism centered on the tiny Central American nation's warm waters and wonders of biodiversity came to a halt. "We lost approximately 14 percent of GDP," Prime Minister John Antonio Briceno told AFP in an interview. Nearly a third of the workforce of the country's 400,000 people were unemployed and there wasn't enough money "to keep the lights on," let alone maintain onerous debt repayments. Then came a lifeline: environmental nonprofit The Nature Conservancy (TNC) offered to lend Belize money to pay off creditors if it promised to put part of the savings into marine protection. So-called "debt-for-nature-swaps" are being hailed as an innovative financial tool for preserving ecosystems from climate change and overexploitation, even as critics warn their generosity is overstated and they are far from a cure-all. Finalized in November 2021, a year after Briceno took office, the deal involved TNC buying back a $553 million "superbond" which held the government's entire commercial debt, negotiating a discount of 45 percent. This was converted into a $364 million loan "blue bonds" in a sale arranged by Credit Suisse, unlocking $180 million for marine conservation over 20 years. "For us, it was a win-win, it gave us a breather," said Briceno. Notably, the buyback reduced the country's debt-to-GDP ratio by more than 10 percent. Old idea, bigger scale Belize's coastline is home to the largest barrier reef in the northern hemisphere, providing significant habitat for threatened species including manatees, turtles and crocodiles. But warming oceans from climate change, excessive fishing, and coastal development all pose major challenges. Under the terms of the deal, Belize agreed to expand protection to 30 percent of its territorial waters, and spend $4.2 million annually on marine conservation. Since then, TNC signed similar agreements with Barbados and Gabon. Ecuador negotiated the biggest swap of all in May, reducing its debt obligations by about $1.1 billion to benefit the Galapagos Islands under an arrangement overseen by Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy Project. Slav Gatchev, managing director of sustainable debt at TNC, told AFP that although the first debt-for-nature swaps happened in the 1980s, now they operate at a far larger scale. Prime Minister of Belize Juan Antonio "Johnny" Briceno meets with reporters during the World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) High-Level Event "Nature and People: Ambition to Action" in New York. "A third of the outstanding commercial debt to lower and middle income countries is in some form of distress," he said, meaning environmental ministry budgets are stretched and it's hard for governments to invest in nature. He sees an opportunity to refinance up to $1 trillion of the commercial and bilateral debt, in turn generating $250 billion for climate and nature. Paper parks? Andre Standing, a researcher for groups including the Coalition for Fair Fisheries Arrangements, told AFP the Belize deal was only possible because the country was about to default and it was therefore better for creditors to accept a lump sumrather than the altruistic act it was portrayed as by some. Moreover, he added, such deals do nothing to address the debt crisis plaguing developing countries. "That's true, but it's not intended to," Esteban Brenes, who leads conservation finance for the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), which is also looking to organize new debt swaps, told AFP. "We're going to take a piece of the debt and use some proceeds for something better, but by no means are we going to solve the big problem," he said. Another concern has been that countries might agree to lofty commitments to secure concessions but then fall to "paper park syndrome" where protections exist only in theory. But Gatchev said the commitments are legally binding and governments could incur fees for breaking them. "Our reputation as the world's largest conservation organization is on the line here, and we have no incentive to sugarcoat lack of compliance," he stressed. Briceno, for his part, said the high-profile deal had increased environmental consciousness among his people, who were now quick to report illegal mangrove dredging, for instance. The debt restructure was "a very good start," he continued, but his country needed far more assistance from the Global North. "Developed countries destroyed their environment to be able to have development: high-rises, big vehicles, nice fancy homes," said Briceno. "Now we want the same and you're telling us 'we can't afford you to destroy what we have destroyed'then pay us." 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: CC0 Public Domain California's extraordinarily wet year brought the state vast quantities of water that have soaked into the ground and given a substantial boost to the state's groundwater supplies, but not nearly enough to reverse long-term losses from over-pumping in many areas, according to a new state report. Officials with the Department of Water Resources examined water-level measurements in thousands of wells statewide and found that from spring 2022 to spring 2023, water levels rose significantly in 34% of wells, and declined in 9%. Others saw little change. The rise in aquifer levels in many areas represents an improvement from the rapid and widespread declines that occurred during the last three years of extreme drought. Still, state officials cautioned that California's groundwater remains depleted by decades of overuse. "This year, groundwater levels began to recover from the prior drought years, but only partially," officials wrote in the semiannual report. "Above average precipitation across the state alone can't undo the damage from years of drought. Groundwater levels, while recovering, are still lower than the period after the 20122016 drought." The report's authors said it will still require "several more wet years, in addition to more focused efforts to increase recharge and reduce pumping, to recover from the most recent drought and the cumulative depletion of groundwater aquifers that occurred over the years." The report includes data through August, and water managers said it will take more time to see the full effects of water that percolates through soil and sediment to aquifers. "Water moves very slowly within groundwater basins, and that infiltration of surface water into the groundwater system, it does take time," said Steven Springhorn, a supervising engineering geologist who worked on the department's report. The data show more recovery has occurred in shallow layers of aquifers. In areas where much of the pumping draws on deeper aquifers, which are often tapped by agricultural wells, there has been less of a rise, Springhorn said. The groundwater measurements also show how conditions vary widely from one part of the state to another. Some of the largest declines in recent years have been driven by heavy agricultural pumping in the San Joaquin Valley, which has left many residents with dry wells. The state report said that some of the largest recent extractions of groundwater have occurred in the Tulare Lake hydrologic region, in Kings and Kern counties, and that water levels declined more than five feet in nearly a third of the area's monitoring wells this year, a larger proportion than in any other hydrologic region. Since 2018, more than 70% of the wells in the region have declined significantly. In contrast, more than 50% of monitoring wells increased during the same five-year period in the heavily urban South Coast region. In farming areas of the Central Valley, water levels have been helped in some areas by a combination of natural recharge and state-supported recharge efforts. With more water available from canals, growers and agricultural districts have also been able to reduce groundwater pumping, which has helped to lessen the pressures in some areas. Over decades, heavy pumping has drained aquifers to a point that clay layers collapse, causing portions of the valley floor to sink, and permanently reducing aquifer storage capacity. In some areas, the ground has sunk more than 30 feet. The phenomenon of land subsidence has caused damage to canals, roads and other infrastructure. State officials said the abundance of water during the recently-ended water year which runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30has slowed the rate of subsidence for now. And in one part of the western San Joaquin Valley where water levels rose significantly, the ground surface also rose slightly. In this farming area, located along the 5 Freeway in the Westlands Water District, rising water levels have caused this small "rebound," Springhorn said. According to state data, he said, the ground level rose nearly an inch within a year after sinking about 3 inches over the last decadean uplift that scientists describe as a recoverable "elastic" deformation of the land surface. The long-term trend in the San Joaquin Valley, however, has been continuing subsidence across large stretches of farming areas. State water regulators have told six local agencies in the San Joaquin Valley that their groundwater plans are inadequate, a step that clears the way for potential state intervention to force stronger measures to curb over-pumping. The State Water Resources Control Board announced this week that the agency's staff has recommended placing the Tulare Lake basin on probationary status, because the area's local plan doesn't include adequate measures to stop declines in water levels, degradation of water quality and rapid land subsidence. Tulare Lake was drained generations ago and transformed into cotton and tomato fields, but this year, the lake reappeared on thousands of acres of farmland. State officials pointed out that parts of Tulare Lake have sunk up to six feet since 2015, which has sent floodwaters into areas that emerged unscathed in previous floods. To deal with the subsidence and reduce risks, local flood control districts have had to raise the levees that protect the city of Corcoran. "We recognize that we should start where problems are most urgent and solutions appear to be further away," said Natalie Stork, supervising engineering geologist for the State Water Board. "We are very concerned about potential impacts that could occur due to continued lowering of water levels, subsidence, water quality degradation." The State Water Board's staff analyzed local agencies' groundwater plan and found it would allow declines in water levels that could leave 700 household wells dry. Stork said the reappearance of Tulare Lake doesn't fix groundwater issues in the area. "The lake bed contains clays that prevent water from moving into aquifers below the ground, and the water quality is not ideal for uses like drinking water," Stork said. The board scheduled an April 16 hearing to consider whether to place the basin and its five local groundwater management agencies on probationary status. If the board decides to put the area on probation, most well owners would be required to start reporting their water usage and start paying pumping fees, among other requirements. The action is the state's latest step in implementing the 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which requires local agencies to develop plans and curb over-pumping by 2040 in many areas. Farms in the Central Valley have long depended on groundwater to produce crops such as almonds and grapes. Despite this year's historic snowpack and record rainfall in parts of the state, California has received much less precipitation since 2000 than the 20th century average. State water officials describe this as the "accumulated precipitation deficit," reflecting repeated droughts alongside the effects of climate change. "As California transitions to a warmer and drier climate, this scenario of persistent groundwater depletion becomes increasingly likely, further emphasizing the importance of sustainable groundwater management," state officials wrote in the report. In wet years, groundwater typically accounts for 30% to 40% of the state's water use, but in dry years, that often grows to about 60% of water usage. The increased pumping during droughts has led to especially large drawdowns. According to state data, about 1,500 dry household wells were reported during the severe drought last year. This year, more than 400 dry wells have been reported, many of them in farming areas of the Central Valley. The wet weather also affected the drilling of new wells. According to the report, fewer new wells were drilled in 2023 than in any year since 2014. The latest data underline the importance of continued efforts to manage groundwater, Springhorn said. "Sometimes it's out of sight, out of mind," Springhorn said, "but it's so critical for the state's overall water resiliency." 2023 Los Angeles Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Boron-nitride nanotubes can template the growth of TMD nanotubes both inside and outside the tube. These can be directly observed by transmission electron microscopy (right). Credit: Tokyo Metropolitan University Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have engineered a range of new single-walled transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) nanotubes with different compositions, chirality, and diameters by templating off boron-nitride nanotubes. They also realized ultra-thin nanotubes grown inside the template, and successfully tailored compositions to create a family of new nanotubes. The ability to synthesize a diverse range of structures offers unique insights into their growth mechanism and novel optical properties. The work is published in the journal Advanced Materials. The carbon nanotube is a wonder of nanotechnology. Made by rolling up an atomically thin sheet of carbon atoms, it has exceptional mechanical strength and electrical conductivity among a range of other exotic optoelectronic properties, with potential applications in semiconductors beyond the silicon age. The key features of carbon nanotubes come from subtle aspects of their structure. For example, like a piece of paper rolled up at an angle, nanotubes often have a chirality, a "handedness" in their structure that makes them different from their mirror image. That is also why scientists are looking ahead to materials beyond carbon, which might enable a wider range of structures. One spotlight is on transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) compounds, made of transition metals and Group 16 elements. Not only is there a whole family of them, TMDs have features which are not seen in carbon nanotubes, such as superconductivity and photovoltaic properties, where exposure to light generates a voltage or current. To get to grips with the full potential of TMDs, however, scientists need to be able to make single-walled nanotubes in a variety of compositions, diameters, and chirality in a way that lets us study their individual properties. This has proven challenging: TMD nanotubes usually form in concentric multi-walled structures, where each layer might have different chirality. This makes it tricky to find out, for example, what kind of chirality gives rise to specific properties. Electron microscopy images of newly realized TMD nanostructures (top), distribution of elements across their cross-section (mid), and their atomic structure (bottom). Credit: Tokyo Metropolitan University Now, a team led by Assistant Professor Yusuke Nakanishi from Tokyo Metropolitan University has come up with a way to do just that. By using boron-nitride nanotubes as a template, they could successfully grow a range of single-walled TMD nanotubes by adding the required elements through exposure to vapor. In previous work, they made single-walled molybdenum sulfide nanotubes. On looking at individual nanotubes in more detail, they have now distinguished a whole plethora of single-walled tubes of different diameters and chirality. Specifically, they measured the "chiral angles" of individual tubes which, taken together with their diameters, determine unique chiral structures. They discovered, for the first time, that the chiral angles of their nanotubes were randomly distributed: this means they have access to the whole range of possible angles, promising new insights into the relationship between chirality and electronic states, a key unsolved question in the field. There were also ultra-thin tubes only a few nanometers across grown inside the template, not outside, a unique platform for observing quantum mechanical effects. By tweaking their recipe, the team has now also succeeded in switching both the metal and the chalcogen, making molybdenum selenide, tungsten selenide, and molybdenum tungsten sulfide alloy nanotubes. They even made nanotubes with one element on the outside, another on the inside, "Janus"-type nanotubes named after the two-faced god of Roman mythology. The team's diverse new entries into the nanotube family promise bold new strides in not only our understanding of TMD nanotubes, but how exotic properties arise from their structures. More information: Yusuke Nakanishi et al, Structural Diversity of SingleWalled Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Nanotubes Grown via Template Reaction, Advanced Materials (2023). DOI: 10.1002/adma.202306631 Journal information: Advanced Materials 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: Chinese researchers are working on a new neutrino observatory called TRIDENT. They built an underwater simulator to develop their plan. Credit: TRIDENT China is building a new neutrino detector named TRIDENT, the Tropical Deep-sea Neutrino Telescope. They're building it in the South China Sea, near the equator. This next-generation neutrino telescope will feature improved sensitivity and should help clear up the mystery around cosmic rays and their origins. Cosmic neutrinos are fleet-of-foot messengers from the distant cosmos. They're very difficult to detect and can only be detected on the rare occasions when they interact with other matter. A new paper in Nature Astronomy presents plans for China's new neutrino observatory. It's titled "A multi-cubic-kilometre neutrino telescope in the western Pacific Ocean," and the lead author is Ziping Ye, a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Particle and Nuclear Division at the Tsung-Dao Lee Institute at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China. "Neutrino" means "little neutral one," and unless you're a physicist, a primer on neutrinos is helpful. Neutrinosand there are three sub-typeswere discovered in the early 20th century. They have no electrical charge and an infinitesimal mass. In fact, some physicists initially thought they were massless. Without a charge, they don't interact with the electromagnetic force. They only interact through gravity and the weak nuclear force. Neutrinos pass right through the Earth. Most of them come from the sun, which bombards every square center of the Earth that's facing the sun, with 65 billion of them every second. They have other sources, too, including supernovae, nuclear reactors, and other things, including the Big Bang. But the study of cosmological neutrinos is most important to us, and that's what China's new TRIDENT observatory is concerned with. Cosmological neutrinos are created when cosmic rays strike atoms. Neutrinos are evasive, and that means detectors have to outwit them. They're placed in deep, abandoned mines, deep in the ocean, and even deep in the Antarctic ice. Sequestered away in seclusion, these observatories don't sense neutrinos themselves. Instead, they observe the result of the rare neutrino that interacts with regular matter. Neutrinos may be evasive, but their evasiveness also works in our favor. Scientists are keen to pinpoint the sources of ultra-high energy cosmic rays. They can do it by detecting neutrinos, which are accelerated to relativistic speeds by extragalactic objects like the jets shooting out from active galactic nuclei (AGN.) Since neutrinos seldom interact with anything, they travel on long, straight paths, even through dense environments, without swerving. If you can detect them, you can track them to their sources. Most neutrino observatories are made of massive volumes of water or ice. The observatories consist of strings of linked detectors. Have a look at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory for an example. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory is a series of strings of detectors drilled deep into the Antarctic ice. Deep in the frigid detectors, the observatory detects the energy from the rare interactions between neutrinos and other matter. Credit: NASA-verveIceCube Science TeamFrancis Halzen, Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26350372 China's new TRIDENT neutrino observatory will consist of 1,211 strings, each containing 20 hDOMs, hybrid digital optical modules, separated vertically by 30 m, ranging from approximately 2,800 m to 3,400 m below sea level. Volume is one key to successful neutrino detection. The larger the volume of water the observatory monitors, the higher the probability there is for it to detect rare neutrino interactions. TRIDENT will be the world's largest neutrino detector, with a volume of about 7.5 km3. Compare that to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory with its approximately one km3 of volume. Detector efficiency is another main consideration. TRIDENT will have unprecedented photon detection efficiency, and when combined with its large volume, it is truly a next-generation neutrino detector. "TRIDENT intends to push the limits of neutrino telescope performance, reaching a new frontier of sensitivity in all-sky searches for astrophysical neutrino sources," the paper states. This image shows TRIDENTs geometric layout. Each string will be about 700 m long and will have 20 detectors. ROVs will maintain the system and will follow the dotted line routes. Credit: Ye et al. 2023 TRIDENT will build on IceCube's success and will take neutrino science even further. IceCube is known in neutrino-detection circles for discovering one particular extragalactic neutrino source candidate in 2022. It's NGC 1068, aka Messier 77, aka the Squid Galaxy. It's a barred spiral about 47 million light years away. It's an active galaxy, and observations so far show that the neutrinos from M77 may have multiple sources. "TRIDENT is predicted to discover the steady source NGC 1068 within one year of operation," the paper states. Constructing a facility like this is a complex endeavor. Arranging 24,220 connectors on 1,211 separate strings in a geometric pattern 2,800 m to 3,400 m below sea level is not easy. Precise global time stamps are necessary to make sense of any detections, and that complicates the system even further. The strings of detectors also have to be anchored to the sea floor, which means any old location won't do. The South China Sea is a highly dynamic body of water, and the TRIDENT team has identified an abyssal plain in the north part of the sea that meets the neutrino observatory's stringent requirements. An abyssal plain is a large flat area of the sea floor with a slope of less than 1:1000. Neutrino sensor arrays are extraordinarily sensitive, and they have to be built to exacting standards. That's difficult to do in an ocean. TRIDENT has to take into account ocean currents at different depths, natural radiation, and the temperature and salinity of the water. These can all affect observations and need to be accounted for in the observatory's design. China has built a simulator at a University in Shanghai to work on their plan. There's a lot of work yet to do, and China hasn't given a completion date or a "first light" date. But China is riding a string of successes when it comes to space and astronomy, including building the world's largest radiotelescope. Success seems likely. "The Tropical Deep-sea Neutrino Telescope (TRIDENT), nicknamed Hai-Ling in Chinese ('ocean bell'), aims to rapidly discover multiple high-energy astrophysical neutrino sources and greatly boost the measurement of cosmic neutrino events of all flavors," the paper concludes. More information: Z. P. Ye et al, A multi-cubic-kilometre neutrino telescope in the western Pacific Ocean, Nature Astronomy (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41550-023-02087-6 Journal information: Nature Astronomy 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 Bard Harstad tells his students that every environmental problem is, at its core, an inefficiency problem. "This inefficiency means that, overall, you're losing something," he explains. "It means that there is another way to make decisions so that we could potentially all be better off." Harstad, a professor of political economy at Stanford Graduate School of Business, has spent much of his career as an economist trying to find more efficient ways to conserve natural resources and slow climate change. His objective, he says, "is to study what are reasonable, effective ways to set economic policies to solve environmental problemsthat also take into account political obstaclesso that you can find solutions that are not only efficient but also politically feasible." Harstad's most recent paper, published in the Journal of Political Economy explores the political and economic factors that lead governments to either conserve or exploit finite resources like rainforests or oil reserves. In developing a new model to analyze these scenarios, Harstad uncovered a phenomenon that he calls "the conservation multiplier," which shows how a slight change in the future benefit of conservation or exploitation can dramatically affect current policy. "The analysis can be used to explain inefficiently high resource extraction rates, but more importantly, it shows how the world community can be more successful in motivating a government to conserve," Harstad says. To exploit, or not to exploit? Harstad says that he originally wanted to become an engineer in the renewable energy sector. Yet as he learned more about the world's unfolding environmental crises, he realized that the roadblocks preventing society from addressing these problems aren't technological. They're political. Established economic models focus on finding the optimal way for a government to extract a natural resource over time and tend to assume that leaders act in the long-term interests of their countries. But, Harstad says, "That kind of traditional model has some shortcomings." For instance, it doesn't consider the effects of high political turnover. If a decision-maker fears they are about to lose power, "they might think that they have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to extract the resource," leading them to use it up more quickly. His new model takes into account the messy political realities that affect resource policies, such as the benefit a party in power gets from extracting a resource, which may vary based on corruption levels or systems of checks and balances. It also considers predictions about the future, such as how likely a governing party is to stay in power and how reliable payments from conservation interests may be. All of these factors play into the conservation multiplier. For example, suppose the current government of a country with a tropical rainforest believes that the agriculture lobby will pay a future government to allow beef producers to slash and burn the forest. In that case, the government will be more likely to exploit the resource. It will be gone soon anyway, the reasoning goes, so why not reap the benefits now? In this scenario, the likelihood of exploitation in the future causes an increase in exploitation today. "As soon as the government fears that the lobby will pay for exploitation in the future, it becomes attractive to exploit now," says Harstad, "and suddenly we have a domino, or multiplier, effect." Harstad performed an illustrative calibration of his model using data from Brazil over the past two decades. Looking at the country's politics and deforestation rates, Harstad calculated a conservation multiplier of around 2. This means that if the country's powerful farming interests are expected to raise the rate of future deforestation by a certain amount, current deforestation rates will increase by twice that amount. Harstad points to Ecuador as an example of how the conservation multiplier can factor into a government's desire to extract a resource, even when it's unpopular. In August, Ecuador held a nationwide referendum on oil production in certain areas of Yasuni National Park, which is part of the Amazon rainforest. President Guillermo Lasso advocated for more drilling, but Ecuadorians voted to halt production. According to Harstad, "the multiplier that arises in the extraction game between governments means that the resource is extracted faster than voters like. If the voters could decide, they would prefer to conserve more often than what the incumbent government would like." The multiplier can also work in favor of conservation, depending on the circumstances. A government is more likely to conserve if it is paid to do so. This is the logic behind conservation efforts such as the United Nations' REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries) program, which has paid developing countries more than $3 billion since 2013 to leave their forests intact. Reliable conservation payments can have a multiplier effect on conservation today since a country's current government expects that future governments will also have an incentive to conserve. Who pays for conservation? Harstad had an intuitive understanding of how the threat of future exploitation could unravel present-day conservation goals when, about five years ago, he set out to develop the model described in his new paper. He says that developing it disciplined his thinking, forcing him to consider how a wide array of factors play into questions of conservation. It confirmed his intuition about the conservation multiplier and served as a "stepping stone," allowing him to push his thinking even further. One surprising dynamic the model brought to light is a fundamental power imbalance between the pro-exploitation and pro-conservation lobbies. Those who want to tap into a natural resource only have to win their fight once to begin extraction. Once an oil field is sucked dry, it's not going to be replenished. Once a swath of rainforest is cleared for cattle ranching, it may never recover. On the other hand, conservationists must continually convince policymakers not to give in to the temptation of exploitation. "In economics, and also in politics, many scholars have thought that if there are lobby groups on both sides of the decision, then the final decision will be balanced," Harstad says. "Maybe the most important lesson here is that this is not true when it comes to resource extraction." One key lesson that follows from the conservation multiplier is that, for conservation payments to be used to their maximum effect, the recipient needs to know that they will continue reliably well into the future. "There's not a sufficiently deep understanding [among policymakers] of how important it is that future compensation for conservation be credible," Harstad says. Another lesson is that simply offering a government cash not to exploit a resource might not be the most effective path to conservation. Another option is earmarking funds for public services so they benefit the entire country (as opposed to whatever party is in power at any given time). Policymakers could also employ mechanisms that "tie the hands" of future governmentsfor instance, loans that must be repaid only if a resource is extracted. Such debt contracts promote conservation directly, because the government that secures the loan will want to avoid repayment, and also indirectly, because the conservation multiplier shows that when future governments have a stronger motivation to conserve, the present government is also more likely to conserve. Take recent events in Brazil, for example. After President Jair Bolsonaro took office in 2019, deforestation in the Amazon rainforest surged. Harstad's home country, Norway, suspended its contributions to the Amazon Funda REDD+ project aimed at preventing deforestation. Aside from stopping the flow of funding, there wasn't much Norway could do. If a debt contract had been in place, "it would have been much harder, or much more costly, for such a president [Bolsonaro] to allow increased deforestation," says Harstad. He's currently working on a paper exploring the effectiveness of debt contractsparticularly in countries with high political turnover. Harstad hopes his latest paper will be instructive for policymakers who are trying to develop incentives for countries not to exhaust finite resources that benefit the entire planet. "The North must compensate the South for the cost of conservation," he says. "The question is how this compensation should be structured in order to be effective." 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: Mountain chicken encountered during the original surveys in Montserrat. Credit: Fauna & Flora International A rescue mission is under way in the Caribbean to save one of the world's largestand rarestfrogs from extinction. Measuring as much as 20 centimeters from snout to rear and weighing up to a kilo, the mountain chickennamed for its reputedly tasty fleshis a frog in freefall. And, these days, hunting for its meat is the least of its problems. Once found on at least five major islands in the Lesser Antilles, this giant frog is now confined to Dominicawhere it once had the misfortune to be the unofficial national dishand to a small enclosed area on the nearby island of Montserrat. Putting the mountain chicken on the map The mountain chicken has been on Fauna & Flora's radar before. During the volcanic eruptions that began on Montserrat in 1995, and which later destroyed the capital and forced two-thirds of the population to flee, we carried out emergency surveys to assess the impact on this culturally important amphibian. This was the first time that the frog's plight was drawn to the attention of the wider world. Croak of invisibility The devastating fungal disease chytridiomycosis reached Montserrat in 2009, prompting the decision to evacuate as many healthy frogs as possible and conserve the species through captive-breeding programs in zoos. Without the earlier intervention in 1995, there seems little doubt that the entire mountain chicken population on Montserrat would have succumbed, out of sight and out of mind. Unfortunately, efforts to repatriate the zoo-bred frogs have been complicated by their lack of resistance to disease. On Dominica, meanwhile, where the critically endangered frog is known as kwapo (derived from "crapaud," the French word for toad) in the local Kweyol dialect, the deadly chytrid fungus has continued to take a heavy toll since it was first recorded on the island in 2002. Less than two years after first being detected, the disease had wiped out an estimated 80% of Dominica's entire mountain chicken population. Fears that the species was extinct on the island by 2008 proved unfounded, but a frog that was once abundant enough to be harvested for food has been reduced to perilously low numbers. Just how perilously low was uncertain, until now. Searching for Mountain chicken frogs in Dominica. Credit: Olivier Raynaud / Fauna & Flora We're all going on a frog hunt Fauna & Flora was one of the many local, regional and international organizations that recently leapt into action to support a comprehensive month-long survey on Dominica, covering the mountain chicken's traditional strongholds on the island. The mission to save the mountain chicken is a highly collaborative affair involving a list of contributors and funders longer than the legs of the beleaguered frog that Fauna & Flora and its partners are working to rescue. This latest survey was five months in the planning. Almost 30 conservationists from 13 different organizations came together to form the multinational team, which spent a combined total of 960 hours in the field spread across 26 nights searching for the super-rare amphibian. How many mountain chickens are left? Working from dusk to dawn, the frog seekers braved steep terrain and treacherous riverbeds in their quest to find the world's last remaining wild mountain chickens. Worryingly, their combined efforts succeeded in recording just 23 frogs, including two road casualties. More encouragingly, they did encounter two juveniles and five froglets, indicating that the species is still breeding. The team also believes that the weather at one of the survey locations may have been a factor in the low number recorded there, because the extremely dry conditions meant that the frogs weren't calling (typically, their barks can be heard almost a mile away) and couldn't therefore be pinpointed using sound. Mountain chicken. Credit: Olivier Raynaud / Fauna & Flora A ray of hope Arguably the most uplifting moment was the rediscovery of a familiar frog that had been recorded years earlier. Still alive and kicking despite everything that has been thrown at him during the intervening period, this slippery survivor is at least 11 years old and officially the oldest mountain chicken on record. Which begs the question: how has this particular individual escaped the clutches of the chytrid tsunami that has been sweeping across the country for two decades? Is he the world's most fortunate frog, or has he somehow acquired resistance to the lethal effects of the fungus? Analysis of the genetic samples taken from all the captured frogs may provide further clues. Has the mountain chicken run out of time? The most recent previous estimates had put the surviving population at fewer than 50 frogs, and the results of this latest survey confirm what we already feared: mountain chicken frog numbers are continuing to decline in the face of a perfect storm of threats from natural disasters and climate-induced hurricanes, floods and wildfires to hunting, road hazards, pollution, non-native predators and deadly disease. Urgent intervention is clearly needed to save the remaining population, but the success of this collaborative rescue mission will hinge on getting all our frogs in a row to ensure that we can address both the immediate and longer-term threats to the mountain chicken's survival. Jeanelle Brisbane, forestry officer with the Wildlife and Parks Division of Dominica's Forestry Department, and founder of local conservation NGO, WildDominique, said, "Conservation is a collective responsibility, and the mountain chicken frog is a symbol of that shared duty. By rallying the support of government agencies and enlisting the enthusiasm of the public both on island and abroad, we can demonstrate that our iconic frog's survival is a matter of national pride. We must act now to ensure its continued presence in our natural and cultural heritage." Isabel Vique, Fauna & Flora's then senior program manager in the Caribbean, was among those taking part in the field survey and feels a real personal connection with the species: "Participating in the mountain chicken frog survey was an incredibly inspiring experience. Collaborating closely with conservationists from around the world, all united in our mission to prevent the extinction of this species, felt like an extraordinary privilege. I can say with certainty that few moments in my life have been as thrilling as the first time I laid eyes on a mountain chicken frog. This profound encounter, combined with the sobering findings of our survey, has fueled the team's unwavering determination to safeguard this species." Jenny Daltry, director of the Caribbean alliance forged between Fauna & Flora and Re:wild, and whose love affair with the mountain chicken dates back to 1995 when she led the first survey in Montserrat, is under no illusions about the magnitude of the challenge ahead, but insists there is hope: "The Caribbean has suffered the world's highest extinction rates but we have seen other wonderful species bounce back with swift and concerted support, such as the Saint Lucia amazon and Antiguan racer. We are appealing for urgent funding to enable our Dominican partners to accomplish another miracle, and save the iconic mountain chicken." British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called for Israel to protect "ordinary Palestinians" as they track down Hamas militants who killed hundreds of Israelis. Sunak spoke and came to an agreement with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday to support Tel Aviv after the Hamas attack. Sunak, Netanyahu to Take Measures on Protecting People According to The Independent, Sunak spoke to Benjamin Netanyahu to send Royal Navy vessels and Royal Air Force surveillance planes to help Tel Aviv. Tal Heinrich, No 10 spokeswoman shared her phone call conversation with Sunak where he said, "The UK stands side by side with Israel in fighting terror." Sunak added that Israel should never let Hamas harm the Israeli people once more when the United States reminded Israel how they defend themselves matters. "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," Heinrich said. Furthermore, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken commented that Israel should prioritize taking every possible measure to avoid harming civilians. Read Also: [STUDY] Asian American Christians Drastically Decreasing-From 42% Down to 34% This 2023 UK Supports Tel Aviv Attack The Israeli military attacked the Gaza Strip with missiles, likely increasing the death toll. The attack has resulted in almost 3,000 people dead. On Thursday, Tel Aviv said they will continue attacking the Hamas territory until militants release at least 150 hostages taken during the weekend. According to Shropshire Star, Sunak said that Israel has the support of the UK and claimed that the attack was only an act of humanitarian movement. Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi offered UK support to keep the Egypt-Gaza border open, allowing people to vacate the 25-mile strip as Israel strikes. Shropshire Star also revealed that the military packages sent to the eastern Mediterranean, including the Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels Lyme Bay and Argus, three Merlin helicopters, and a company of Royal Marines, are for contingency measures to back up stability in the Middle East. UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy tweeted on 'X,' "Labour fully supports Israel's right to defend itself, rescue hostages and protect civilians, in line with international law." Lammy added that there must be humanitarian access to Gaza for food, water, medicines, and electricity. The UK government has been organizing flights to help British nationals leave Israel. According to the Foreign office, the first flight should have left on Thursday, but no departures were located. From the tragic killing events, Britain felt the intensity of the violence. The UK has also recorded more antisemitic incidents and anti-Muslim cases. Heinrich claimed that 3 million ($3.66 million) in extra funding would supply the Jewish community with additional protection, with strengthened security at schools and buildings. With the ongoing Hamas conflict, the North London Jewish schools warned children to stay in their homes on Friday. Related Article: Zelensky Visits NATO HQ for First Time Since Russian Invasion, Joins Meeting of Global Defense Leaders @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. 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: Will the blacksmith tree frog (Boana faber) still be found in the Mata Atlantica in 2070? Credit: Paula Ribeiro Anunciacao Senckenberg researchers, together with a Brazilian-German team, have investigated the effects of climate change on the taxonomic and functional diversity of amphibians in the Mata Atlantica. The rainforest in the eastern part of South America is one of the most threatened tropical forest areas and is home to more than 50% of the amphibian species found in Brazil. In their study, published in the journal Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation, the scientists show that even a moderate climate change trend will have an enormous impact on the future diversity of amphibiansand that economic interests are putting frogs and their ilk under additional pressure. The effects of climate change are being felt on a global scale: Forest fires, dried-up water bodies, or extreme weather events are the order of the day. "In our recent study, we investigated how climate change will affect the amphibians of the Mata Atlantica, one of the most threatened tropical forest areas in the world," explains PD Dr. Raffael Ernst of the Senckenberg Natural History Collections Dresden. "Amphibians are highly dependent on specific microclimatic parameters and occupy very different ecological niches. Thus, they are ideal model organisms to study the effects of anthropogenic climate change on biodiversity." The Atlantic rainforest of Brazil is facing heavy pressure, which has led to unprecedented deforestation and degradation in recent decades. Originally, the Mata Atlantica covered an area of about 150 million hectares, extending from southern to northeastern Brazil. In addition to dense forests, the area also contains open areas such as clearings, fields, swamps, and ponds. "Currently, only 12% to 16% of the original ecosystem remains, and what is left is heavily fragmented. Yet, this habitat hosts nearly 20% of all known South American amphibian species and more than 50% of those found in Brazil," explains Dr. Paula Ribeiro Anunciacao, lead author of the study from the Federal University of Lavras. Ribeiro Anunciacao joined Ernst and other researchers in a two-year research fellowship to look at the future of amphibians, birds, and dung beetlesecologically important indicator groupsin the study area. For amphibians, the team examined two scenarios concerning their development through the years 2050 and 2070, respectively: the scenario RCP 4.5 of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projects moderate climate change, while RCP 8.5 is based on largely uncontrolled warming. "For both scenarios and time periods, we predict a significant decline in taxonomic and functional amphibian diversity in the futurethat is, we will not only lose individual species irretrievably, but the entire ecosystem will change," says Ernst. According to the modeling results, this will affect species that thrive in closed forests as well as animals that prefer open habitats. Only in the eastern coastal region and in high-altitude habitats is it likely that the original diversity of frogs and other animals will be largely preserved despite climate change. "However, it is precisely these areasdue to their proximity to Brazil's most developed urban and industrial locationsthat are at the center of current real estate speculation," warns the herpetologist from Dresden. "Therefore, it is not enough to identify such biodiversity refuges and then hope that they will contribute to the long-term preservation of biological diversity in times of global climate change. Rather, it is important to sustainably and effectively combat the underlying causei.e., climate change. This is the only way we can also preserve the unique ecosystem and the amphibian diversity of the Mata Atlantica." More information: Paula Ribeiro Anunciacao et al, Climate-driven loss of taxonomic and functional richness in Brazilian Atlantic Forest anurans, Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.pecon.2023.09.001 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: Exploring the best condition for a black box function by GPT or Bayesian optimization. The solid line represents the mean of the best value obtained in three independent trials; the semitransparent filled range represents the standard deviation; each raw trial is indicated by a semitransparent line. Credit: Science and Technology of Advanced Materials: Methods (2023). DOI: 10.1080/27660400.2023.2260300 GPT-4, the latest version of the artificial intelligence system from OpenAI, the developers of Chat-GPT, demonstrates considerable usefulness in tackling chemistry challenges, but still has significant weaknesses. "It has a notable understanding of chemistry, suggesting it can predict and propose experimental results in ways akin to human thought processes," says chemist Kan Hatakeyama-Sato, at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. Hatakeyama-Sato and his colleagues discuss their exploration of the potential of GPT-4 in chemical research in the journal Science and Technology of Advanced Materials: Methods. GPT-4, which stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformer 4, belongs to a category of artificial intelligence systems known as large language models. These can gather and analyze vast quantities of information in search of solutions to challenges set by users. One advance for GPT-4 is that it can use information in the form of images in addition to text. Although the specific datasets used for training GPT-4 have not been disclosed by its developers, it has clearly learned a significant amount of detailed chemistry knowledge. To analyze its capabilities, the researchers set the system a series of chemical tasks focused on organic chemistrythe chemistry of carbon-based compounds. These covered basic chemical theory, the handling of molecular data, predicting the properties of chemicals, the outcome of chemical processes and proposing new chemical procedures. The results of the investigation were varied, revealing both strengths and significant limitations. GPT-4 displayed a good understanding of general textbook-level knowledge in organic chemistry. It was weak, however, when set tasks dealing with specialized content or unique methods for making specific organic compounds. It displayed only partial efficiency in interpreting chemical structures and converting them into a standard notation. One interesting feat was its ability to make accurate predictions for the properties of compounds that it had not specifically been trained on. Overall, it was able to outperform some existing computational algorithms, but fell short against others. "The results indicate that GPT-4 can tackle a wide range of tasks in chemical research, spanning from textbook-level knowledge to addressing untrained problems and optimizing multiple variables," says Hatakeyama-Sato. "Inevitably, its performance relies heavily on the quality and quantity of its training data, and there is much room for improvement in its inference capabilities." The researchers emphasize that their work was only a preliminary investigation, and that future research should broaden the scope of the trials and dig deeper into the performance of GPT-4 in more diverse research scenarios. They also hope to develop their own large language models specializing in chemistry and explore their integration with existing techniques. "In the meantime, researchers should certainly consider applying GPT-4 to chemical challenges, possibly using hybrid methods that include existing specialized techniques," Hatakeyama-Sato concludes. More information: Kan Hatakeyama-Sato et al, Prompt engineering of GPT-4 for chemical research: what can/cannot be done?, Science and Technology of Advanced Materials: Methods (2023). DOI: 10.1080/27660400.2023.2260300 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: Changes in topic prevalence within the work discourse. Topics with increased prevalence are colored blue, while those with decreased prevalence are colored green. Credit: Complexity Science Hub The Great Resignation appears to be ending, according to economists. But what can companies and leaders learn from the rapid pace of job-quitting in recent years in order to prevent employees from leaving? A study out of the Complexity Science Hub (CSH), Vienna, pinpoints some of the forces behind the Great Resignation and suggests mental health topics contributed to the wave of quitting in the US. The researchers analyzed the work discourse on the social media platform Reddit between 2018 and 2021. "We wanted to understand the reasons for the surge in quit rates after the COVID-19 pandemic in the US," says Maria del Rio-Chanona, a CSH research fellow and first author of the study published in EPJ Data Science. "One thing to note is that after recessions there is always a spike in quits. People switching jobs is not new, but the surge in quits in 2021 was a record high. So that brought the question, what makes this time different?" adds del-Rio Chanona. Studying the phenomenon in real time "Reddit offered us the possibility to study this emerging economic phenomenon in real time," explains the researcher. Del Rio-Chanona and her colleagues focused on the forum "r/jobs," where more than a hundred thousand people shared their work-related questions and concerns. Reddit posts are semi-anonymous and unrestricted in length, allowing users to express themselves freely and in detail. In the study, the team used topic modeling, a machine learning technique that discovers conversation topics from large-scale text data, to identify the most common concerns in the work discourse on Reddit. "Our main finding is that the pandemic exacerbated the already growing mental health concerns among workers, and we show that such concerns became disproportionately present in the discourse of quit-related posts since the onset of the pandemic," observe del Rio-Chanona and colleagues. New forces at play The results show that posts about mental health and work-related distressfor instance, expressing feelings of anxiety, stress, and overwhelm at workwere more likely to involve quitting. In other words, when talking about quitting, people discussed mental health concerns more often than before or than other people discussing work. People's motivation to quit may have been influenced by distressing work experiences and fears about their mental health, suggest del Rio-Chanona and colleagues. "Our findings indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic unleashed forces that contributed to quit behavior, such as mental health concerns, that were less salient during previous economic recoveries," said Ljubica Nedelkoska, a senior researcher at CSH and co-author of the study. "These new forces could help explain the unusually high rates of quitting in 2021." In spite of concerns about mental health and work-related distress at the start of the pandemic, things changed along the Great Resignationlikely due to better employment opportunities, according to the researchers. "With better job opportunities in 2021, posts about salary negotiations, job offers and promotions increased," said del Rio-Chanona. "People talked less about quitting because they hated their job, and more about negotiating salaries and discussing job offer issues. Some of the people quitting in 2021 might have strongly disliked their job in 2020, but did not quit until 2021, when there were better employment prospects," explain the researchers. Tens of millions of Americans quit their jobs during the Great Resignation, but fewer are doing so this year, leading experts to conclude that the phenomenon is over. Now the question is, from this point forward, what can be done? According to Nedelkoska, the Great Resignation provided us with a chance to reflect on how people work, as well as improve company practices. Del Rio-Chanona emphasizes the importance of putting an emphasis on employees' relational and self-fulfillment needs in the future. "In light of the current debate about how new technologies are reinventing work, it is crucial to use technology to improve working conditions." More information: R. Maria del Rio-Chanona et al, Mental health concerns precede quits: shifts in the work discourse during the Covid-19 pandemic and great resignation, EPJ Data Science (2023). DOI: 10.1140/epjds/s13688-023-00417-2 Journal information: European Physical Journal Data Science This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Side view of the ejecta curtain created during a hypervelocity impact experiment at the NASA Ames Vertical Gun Range. The experiment was designed to investigate the effects of impacts on Ceres organics. Credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory One of the most exciting findings from NASA's Dawn mission is that Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt that lies between Mars and Jupiter, hosts complex organics. The discovery of aliphatic molecules, which consist of carbon and hydrogen chains, in conjunction with evidence that Ceres has abundant water ice and may have been an ocean world, means this dwarf planet might have once harbored the main ingredients associated with life as we know it. How the aliphatic organics originated on Ceres has been the subject of intensive research since their discovery in 2017. Some studies have concluded that a comet or other organic-rich impactor delivered them to Ceres; others indicate the molecules formed on the dwarf planet after its primordial materials were altered by briny water. But regardless of their origin, the organics on Ceres have been affected by the pervasive impacts that have pockmarked its surface. Now new research to be presented Tuesday at the Geological Society of America's GSA Connects 2023 meeting is extending scientists' understanding of how impacts have affected Ceres' aliphatic moleculesand what the implications are for determining their origin and assessing the dwarf planet's habitability. "The organics were initially detected in the vicinity of a large impact crater, which is what motivated us to look at how impacts affect these organics," says Terik Daly, a planetary scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory who led this study. "We are finding that organics may be more widespread than first reported and that they seem to be resilient to impacts with Ceres-like conditions." Capitalizing on multiple datasets From the Dawn data, Daly knew that Ceres is covered with impact craters of varying sizes formed when other asteroids slammed into Ceres. But what he did not yet understand was how these impacts affect aliphatic compoundsinformation that was needed to help constrain where the organics originated and how their signatures might have changed after being exposed to multiple impacts over billions of years. "Although researchers have performed impact and shock experiments on various types of organics in the past," says Daly, "what was missing was a study dedicated to the type of organics detected on Ceres using the same type of analytical method used by the Dawn spacecraft to detect them." This, he says, would enable direct comparisons between the experimental and spacecraft data. Daly worked with a team that included Jessica Sunshine, an astronomer at the University of Maryland, and Juan Rizos, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Maryland who is now an astrophysicist at the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia in Spain, to conduct a series of experiments at the NASA Ames Vertical Gun Range. The experiments mimicked the impact conditions typical of Ceres, with impact speeds ranging between 26 km/s (4,40013,000 mph) and impact angles varying between 15 and 90 degrees relative to horizontal. An impact crater created by a hypervelocity impact experiment at the NASA Ames Vertical Gun Range. The experiment was designed to investigate the effects on impacts on Ceres organics. Credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory Rizos and Sunshine also conducted a new analysis that combined data from two different instrumentsthe camera and the imaging spectrometer that flew on the Dawn spacecraftand then used an algorithm to extrapolate the compositional information from the spectrometer down to the camera's higher spatial resolution. The results allowed them to investigate the organics at finer detail than has previously been possible. "People had looked at the Dawn camera data and the Dawn spectrometer data separately, but no one else had taken the approach our team used to extrapolate the data from one instrument to another, which provided new leverage in our search to map and understand the origin of organics on Ceres," says Sunshine. Evidence for an internal origin Collectively, the team's analyses point to some potentially exciting results. "By capitalizing on the strengths of two different datasets collected over Ceres, we've been able to map potential organic-rich areas on Ceres at higher resolution," says Rizos. "We can see a very good correlation of organics with units from older impacts and with other minerals like carbonates that also indicate the presence of water. While the origin of the organics remains poorly understood, we now have good evidence that they formed in Ceres and likely in the presence of water." "There is a possibility that a large interior reservoir of organics may be found inside Ceres," adds Rizos. "So, from my perspective, that result increases the astrobiological potential of Ceres." The researchers hope the results from another NASA mission called Lucy will soon shed more light on organics in the solar system. Sunshine is also a part of that mission's team and has been thinking about how to apply the results of the current study to the asteroids that Lucy will be studying in the vicinity of Jupiter. "We will likely find differences, as the Trojan asteroids have experienced very different impact histories from Ceres, and because there are two compositionally different types of Trojan asteroids. Comparisons to Ceres will help up us understand the distribution of organics in the outer solar system," she says. For all the team members, these results have heightened the expectations for another mission to Ceres. In the latest Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey, "The U.S. National Academy of Sciences has endorsed a sample return from Ceres in the short list of high-priority mission targets," says Rizos. "If that happens, it will be several decades in the future. Novel analyses of existing data are a great way of making new discoveries in the meantime." More information: Terik Daly, The Effects of Impacts on the Reflectance Spectra of Aliphatic Organics: Implications for Ceres, 153: T115. Friends of Hoth, Episode VII: Small, Icy, and Ocean Worlds Awaken. Tues., 17 Oct., 8:058:20 a.m. 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: Reconstruction of Neanderthal man. Credit: public domain Modern humans migrated to Eurasia 75,000 years ago, where they encountered and interbred with Neanderthals. A new study published in the journal Current Biology shows that at this time Neanderthals were already carrying human DNA from a much older encounter with modern humans. The Penn-led research team, including collaborators from Addis Ababa University, the University of Botswana, Fudan University, Hubert Kairuki Memorial University, and the University of Yaounde, showed that an ancient lineage of modern humans migrated to Eurasia over 250,000 years ago where they interbred with Neanderthals. Over time, these humans died out, leaving a population with predominantly Neanderthal ancestry. "We found this reflection of ancient interbreeding where genes flowed from ancient modern humans into Neanderthals," says Alexander Platt, a senior research scientist in the Perelman School of Medicine and one of the study's first authors. "This group of individuals left Africa between 250,000 and 270,000 years ago. They were sort of the cousins to all humans alive today, and they were much more like us than Neanderthals." The team arrived at this conclusion by comparing a Neanderthal genome with a diverse set of genomes from modern indigenous populations in sub-Saharan Africa. "This study highlights the importance of including ethnically and geographically diverse populations in human genetics and genomic studies," says Sarah Tishkoff, a Penn Integrates Knowledge University professor at Penn and senior author on the work. Because most Neanderthal-human interbreeding is thought to have occurred in Eurasia, not in Africa, Neanderthal ancestry is expected to be limited in sub-Saharan Africa; however, a recent study made the puzzling observation that several sub-Saharan populations contain chunks of DNA that resemble Neanderthal DNA. The study was unable to determine how this Neanderthal-like DNA entered these populations, whether it originated from modern humans who had migrated from Africa, interbred with Neanderthals in Eurasia, and then returned, or whether it was the result of an earlier encounter between Neanderthals and humans. Because the study relied on a limited number of genomes from the 1,000 Genomes Project, all of which share a relatively recent common ancestry in Central and Western Africa, it was also unclear whether Neanderthal-like DNA is widespread among sub-Saharan populations. Members of Tishkoff's research team collecting ethnograpgic information from participants in Ethiopia. Credit: Sarah Tishkoff To better understand how widespread these Neanderthal-like DNA regions are across sub-Saharan Africa and to elucidate their origins, Tishkoff's team leveraged a genetically diverse set of genomes of 180 individuals from 12 different populations in Cameroon, Botswana, Tanzania, and Ethiopia. For each genome, the researchers identified regions of Neanderthal-like DNA and looked for evidence of Neanderthal ancestry. Then, they compared the modern human genomes to a genome belonging to a Neanderthal who lived approximately 120,000 years ago. For this comparison, the team developed a novel statistical method that allowed them to determine the origins of the Neanderthal-like DNA in these modern sub-Saharan populations, whether they were regions that Neanderthals inherited from modern humans or regions that modern humans inherited from Neanderthals and then brought back to Africa. They found that all of the sub-Saharan populations contained Neanderthal-like DNA, indicating that this phenomenon is widespread. In most cases, this Neanderthal-like DNA originated from an ancient lineage of modern humans that passed their DNA on to Neanderthals when they migrated from Africa to Eurasia around 250,000 years ago. As a result of this modern human-Neanderthal interbreeding, approximately 6% of the Neanderthal genome was inherited from modern humans. In some specific sub-Saharan populations, the researchers also found evidence of Neanderthal ancestry that was introduced to these populations when humans bearing Neanderthal genes migrated back into Africa. Neanderthal ancestry in these sub-Saharan populations ranged from 0 to 1.5%, and the highest levels were observed in the Amhara from Ethiopia and Fulani from Cameroon. To try to understand whether carrying modern human DNA was helpful or harmful when introduced into the Neanderthal genome, the researchers also investigated where these chunks of modern human DNA were located. To try to understand whether carrying modern human DNA was helpful or harmful, the researchers also investigated where these chunks of modern human DNA were located within the Neanderthal genome. They found that most of the modern human DNA was in noncoding regions of the Neanderthal genome, indicating that modern human gene variants were being preferentially lost from coding sections of the genome, which suggests that having modern human genes in a Neanderthal background is detrimental to fitness. This is similar to what is seen in modern humans, where natural selection has slowly been removing Neanderthal genes from modern human populations. "So a Neanderthal allele might work great in Neanderthals, but you plop it into a modern human genome and it causes problems. Both modern humans and Neanderthals slowly rid themselves of the alleles of the other group," Platt says. "In the almost 500,000 years between the ancestors of Neanderthals splitting off from the ancestors of modern humans and these other modern humans being reintroduced to Neanderthal populations, we had become such different organisms that, although we were still able to interbreed quite readily, the hybrids didn't work so well, which means we were very far along the path to becoming distinct species." This research opens new avenues for exploring human evolution by identifying a genetic reference of a population that occupies a part of the human family tree that had previously been lacking from the genomic and fossil record. "Discovering this ancient lineage of modern humans is really exciting for future research because it gives us a different lens to look at human evolution," says Daniel Harris, a postdoctoral research fellow in the Perelman School of Medicine and the study's other first author. "Because we don't have DNA sequences from modern human fossils from that long ago, identifying these sequences will shed light on very early modern human evolution in Africa." More information: Daniel N. Harris et al, Diverse African genomes reveal selection on ancient modern human introgressions in Neanderthals, Current Biology (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.09.066 Journal information: Current 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: Lattice light sheet microscopy captured the condensation of orphan ribosomal protein (Rpl26_halo, pulse-labeled to trace newly synthesized ones) around the perinucleolar region (marked in blue by Rpa190 nucleolar marker) during a yeast heat shock. Credit: Asif Ali / UChicago Imagine the life of a yeast cell, floating around the kitchen in a spore that eventually lands on a bowl of grapes. Life is good: food for days, at least until someone notices the rotting fruit and throws them out. But then the sun shines through a window, the section of the counter where the bowl is sitting heats up, and suddenly life gets uncomfortable for the humble yeast. When temperatures get too high, the cells shut down their normal processes to ride out the stressful conditions and live to feast on grapes on another, cooler day. This "heat shock response" of cells is a classic model of biological adaptation, part of the fundamental processes of lifeconserved in creatures from single-celled yeast to humansthat allow our cells to adjust to changing conditions in their environment. For years, scientists have focused on how different genes respond to heat stress to understand this survival technique. Now, thanks to the innovative use of advanced imaging techniques, researchers at the University of Chicago are getting an unprecedented look at the inner machinery of cells to see how they respond to heat stress. "Adaptation is a hidden superpower of the cells," said Asif Ali, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher at UChicago who specializes in capturing images of cellular processes. "They don't have to use this superpower all the time, but once they're stuck in a harsh condition, suddenly, there's no way out. So, they employ this as a survival strategy." Ali works in the lab of David Pincus, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology at UChicago, where their team studies study how cells adapt to stressful and complex environments, including the heat shock response. In the new study, published October 16, 2023, in Nature Cell Biology, they combined several new imaging techniques to show that in response to heat shock, cells employ a protective mechanism for their orphan ribosomal proteinscritical proteins for growth that are highly vulnerable to aggregation when normal cell processing shuts downby preserving them within liquid-like condensates. Once the heat shock subsides, these condensates get dispersed with the help of molecular chaperone proteins, facilitating integration of the orphaned proteins into functional mature ribosomes that can start churning out proteins again. This rapid restart of ribosome production allows the cell to pick back up where it left off without wasting energy. The study also shows that cells unable to maintain the liquid state of these condensates don't recover as quickly, falling behind by 10 generations while they try to reproduce the lost proteins. "Asif developed an entirely new cell biological technique that lets us visualize orphaned ribosomal proteins in cells in real time, for the first time," Pincus said. "Like many innovations, it took a technological breakthrough to enable us to see a whole new biology that was invisible to us before but has always been going on in cells that we've been studying for years." Loosely affiliated biomolecular goo Ribosomes are crucial machines inside the cytoplasm of all cells that read the genetic instructions on messenger RNA and build chains of amino acids that fold into proteins. Producing ribosomes to perform this process is energy intensive, so under conditions of stress like heat shock, it's one of the first things a cell shuts down to conserve energy. At any given time though, 50% of newly synthesized proteins inside a cell are ribosomal proteins that haven't been completely translated yet. Up to a million ribosomal proteins are produced per minute in a cell, so if ribosome production shuts down, these millions of proteins could be left floating around unattended, prone to clumping together or folding improperly, which can cause problems down the line. Instead of focusing on how genes behave during heat shock, Ali and Pincus wanted to look inside the machinery of cells to see what happens to these "orphaned" ribosomal proteins. For this, Ali turned to a new microscopy tool called lattice light sheet 4D imaging that uses multiple sheets of laser light to create fully dimensional images of components inside living cells. Since he wanted to focus on what was happening to just the orphaned proteins during heat shock, Ali also used a classic technique called "pulse labeling" with a modern twist: a special dye called a "HaloTag" to flag the newly synthesized orphan proteins. Often when scientists want to track the activity of a protein inside a cell, they use a green fluorescent protein (GFP) tag that glows bright green under a microscope. But since there are so many mature ribosomal proteins in a cell, using GFPs would just light up the whole cell. Instead, the pulse labeling with HaloTag dye allows researchers to light up just the newly created ribosomes and leave the mature ones dark. Using these combined imaging tools, the researchers saw that the orphaned proteins were collected into liquid-like droplets of material near the nucleolus (Pincus used the scientific term "loosely affiliated biomolecular goo"). These blobs were accompanied by molecular chaperones, proteins that usually assist the ribosomal production process by helping fold new proteins. In this case, the chaperones seemed to be "stirring" the collected proteins, keeping them in a liquid state and preventing them from clumping together. This finding is intriguing, Pincus said, because many human diseases like cancer and neurodegenerative disorders are linked to misfolded or aggregated clumps of proteins. Once proteins get tangled together, they stay that way too, so this "stirring" mechanism seems to be another adaptation. "I think a very plausible general definition for cellular health and disease is if things are liquid and moving around, you are in a healthy state, once things start to clog up and form these aggregates, that's pathology," Pincus said. "We really think we're uncovering the fundamental mechanisms that might be clinically relevant, or at least, at the mechanistic heart of so many human diseases." Finding structure at an atomic scale In the future, Ali hopes to employ another imaging technique called cryo-electron tomography, an application using an electron microscope while cell samples are frozen to capture images of their interior components at an atomic level of resolution. Another advantage of this technique is that it allows researchers to capture 3D images inside the cell itself, as opposed to separating and preparing proteins for imaging. Using this new tool, the researchers want to peer inside the protein condensates to see if they are organized in a way that helps them easily disperse and resume activity once the heat shock subsides. "I have to believe they're not just jumbled up and mixed together," Pincus said. "What we're hoping to see within what looks like a disorganized jumbled soup, there's going to be some structure and order that helps them start regrowing so quickly." More information: Adaptive preservation of orphan ribosomal proteins in chaperone-dispersed condensates, Nature Cell Biology (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41556-023-01253-2 Journal information: Nature Cell Biology Halloween thefts are worsening in numerous U.S. cities. This is something Americans should worry about since Halloween is just around the corner. If you are planning to leave your house during the Halloween month, here's what you need to know, such as tips on how to protect your belongings from Halloween tricksters. Halloween Thefts in US Cities are Increasing Halloween-related thefts can ruin your holiday. Just imagine making all the efforts to decorate your front porch and inside of your house only for criminals to steal them. What's worse is that they could break inside your beloved home and steal other more valuable belongings, such as laptops, smartphones, money, etc. Signal Tribune reported that this is what some U.S. cities, including Chicago, Pittsburgh, Columbia City, and Sacramento, have experienced for the past few years every Halloween season. Studies and surveys revealed that between 2011 and 2021, Halloween-related crimes increased by over 50%. Complaints claimed that thieves and other criminals stole their belongings and did other illegal things on and around the holiday. In 2023, numerous thefts are already happening. These include the thieves stealing Halloween decorations in Pittsburgh. According to NBC Bay Area's latest report, police officials are still searching for the man who was seen stealing Halloween props and other decorations displayed outside residential porches in Pittsburgh. "Please don't take the stuff. Everyone works so hard to put Halloween stuff out. You just ruin it for everybody," said one of the residents, Christina McNamar. Read Also: No Trick or Treat? Global Sugar Shortage Could Affect Halloween Celebration-Even in US How To Stop Halloween Thieves Since Halloween-related crimes are not something that Americans should disregard, the Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) decided to share some helpful tips. The law enforcement department's suggestions are not only for Californian residents living in Long Beach city but also for Americans living in other U.S. cities. Before leaving your house, ensure you have cameras facing decorations. You can also put up signage to tell other people that your place has surveillance cameras to discourage them from robbing you. If you have the budget, you can also install motion-sensitive floodlights or porch lights. These could startle criminals and scare them before they can even rob your house. If you are short on budget, the best thing you can do is place your Halloween decorations in hard-to-reach areas or secure them to solid objects. If you have a good relationship with your neighbors, you can establish a watch or electronic community chat to share information regarding any suspicious activities. Related Article: Halloween Scams: Don't Fall Victim on These Scary Tricks! @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP Retired Galloway Township police Capt. Gary Jones could always be found at the Atlantic County Firing Range, up until the time of his death. Jones died in July from advanced-stage pancreatic cancer. He retired from Galloways force in 2022 after serving for more than two decades. He was 47. This range was like his second home, said Jones wife, Abby, 43, of Galloway. He was here every weekend. Shooting was his favorite hobby. Jones was the posthumous honoree of the third annual Atlantic County Sheriffs Office Cup shooting event, a competition he helped organize last year. He would have wanted me to be here to support everybody, Abby Jones said. The competition featured pistols with metal plate targets, Capt. Jones favorite type of shooting. State senate candidates talk about economy, social issues ahead of debate Second district state Senate candidates may disagree about offshore wind farm development and some social issues, but they have one thing in common. Jones competed in the event first held in 2021. Hed return to help organize it the following year. The event was started by Atlantic County Sheriff Eric Scheffler as a way to strengthen companionship within the law enforcement community while enjoying friendly competition. Before the tournaments inaugural event, the county hadnt held a shooting competition for law enforcement in about 30 years, Scheffler said. Many of those events were held at the countys former range in Atlantic City, on the site of what is now Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa. Its important for us to have time together and to be able to work and understand each others process, Scheffler said before the tournaments first round. The range deep within the woods off Somers Point-Mays Landing Road is open to law enforcement on the weekdays and the public on weekends, Scheffler said. Its New Jerseys only county-run public shooting range, according to Atlantic Countys website. It hosts monthly service rifle matches, small-bore rifle matches and handgun competitions, including steel plate shooting, the style of event held Monday. Eight teams of officers from 14 Atlantic County police agencies rotated in and out of the firing stand during each round. Standing about 10-20 yards from five steel plates with 9mm pistols, each officer was tasked with hitting all of the targets as quickly as possible with the fewest rounds used. Shooting steel plates takes the utmost precision, Somers Point police Officer Mark Azagra said. Chaplain tasked with supporting Atlantic County law enforcement's mental health Lou Strugala, the founding pastor of Church by the Bay in Galloway Township, has been appointed the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office's first chaplain. Its more so, I guess, controlling your nerves and forgetting about competing, just focusing on the fundamentals of shooting, Azagra said. Mondays event was challenging for Azagra because hes used to aiming at paper and other sorts of targets, he said. Steel is another monster where youre going to have audible feedback, and if you dont hear anything, obviously you didnt hit the target, he said. In between turns, the officers spent time talking with one another, catching up on each others lives. Azagra said he enjoyed the event because he had the chance to spend time with colleagues he trained with at the police academy. State Police Sgt. 1st Class Rodney Logan tested his skills in the Sheriffs Cup for the first time Monday, though he has competed in similar events. The reason why were here is for some camaraderie and building friendships and bonds with other agencies, Logan said. GALLERY: Atlantic County law enforcement shooting competition GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP A new scholarship fund at Stockton University is the legacy of a family that survived persecution and resisted occupation in World War II-era France. Judith Kochavi faced a dangerous life in the 1940s as a Jewish woman. Germany had just invaded France, and her husband, Israel, had been taken away with other men considered enemy nationals to an old fort outside Paris. Her son, Daniel, was 2 when the German occupation began. Because Judith and Israel had lived in Palestine and had British identity papers, Kochavi family members were considered British subjects and were initially subject to fewer restrictions. Unlike most Jewish people, they didnt have to wear a yellow star. Judith used this to her advantage to work with the resistance and helped other Jews escape by hiding them in the familys apartment until smugglers could be contacted. Yes, I survived, but my mother was the lead survivor of the story, said Daniel Kochavi, who now lives in Philadelphia. Our parents lived under dangerous circumstances, but we survived due to Judiths courage, bravery and resourcefulness. She decided to do what she could do to help other Jewish refugees and help them escape. Recently, Daniel and his sister, Monique Richardson, donated money to the Stockton University Foundation to create the Judith and Israel Kochavi Memorial Endowed Scholarship Fund. The fund will provide an annual scholarship for students in the Holocaust and Genocide Studies program at Stockton. Gail Rosenthal, Stockton Holocaust Resource Center leader, dies at 77 Gail Rosenthal, the director of Stockton University's Sara and Sam Schoffer Holocaust Resource Center, died on Friday morning, members of her family said. Its an honor to be here with you today in this space that speaks to the importance of history and the importance of remembering at a time when there are fewer and fewer survivors of the Holocaust, Stockton President Joe Bertolino said during a gift-signing ceremony Sept. 29 at the universitys Sara and Sam Schoffer Holocaust Resource Center. The support that you provide matters in that we are able to keep the story alive for generations to come. As the Germans began rounding up all Jews, Judith went into hiding in early 1944 and arranged for a separate hiding place for Daniel in a Catholic boarding school for girls. They remained in hiding until the liberation of Paris in August 1944, when they also reunited with Israel. The story, however, remained within the family for many years until Daniels son, Jonathan, moved to Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, next door to Michael Hayse, an associate professor of history at Stockton. The neighbors became friends, and Hayse began to talk to Daniel about his experience. In 2017, Daniel and Jonathan joined a Stockton faculty-led study tour with students to France, including the apartment where Judith lived. Hayse also worked with several Stockton students and the Kochavis to write a manuscript about the family titled Through the Tempests of War and Genocide: One Extended Jewish Familys Experiences in the Twentieth Century. That experience traveling to France led Daniel and his sister, who was born after World War II, to set up the scholarship. Thats when I decided that we should do something to mark that period and the fight to survive, Daniel Kochavi said. Much like music, Davenport schools visual arts programming stands out. Davenport houses two Creative Arts Academies (CAAs), one at Sudlow Intermediate School and one at Central High School, where students split their days between guided, integrated art lessons and their corresponding schools core curriculums. Last fall, Sudlow's eighth-graders and CAA students completed a hallway mural project, in partnership with local non-profit artsBASICS. Two of Sudlow's CAA teachers Colleen Tomlinson and Heidi Hernandez are co-directors of artsBASICS, an arts education advocacy organization. Aside from the CAAs, artsBASICS partners with three other Davenport schools in providing integrative arts experiences, scholarships and grant assistance. This is a unique offering among Quad-Cities school districts, though all area students can enroll. Out-of-state students must pay tuition to attend. Davenports CAAs serve 115 students total across all grade levels. Course offerings, too, have been a unique development for Davenports visual arts program. When Chad Wolf began teaching art at Davenport West High School in 1997, digital editing was in its infant stages. I always think about where the program was when I started and where it is now its incredible, he said. And the kids are just eating it up. This is the media they seem to love and really dive into. Now, the Davenport schools provide Adobe products for its vast digital arts course offerings. Its amazing to me, what were able to do through the digital, he added. The material we can provide, the lessons we can do with students its just been awesome. Wolf said he and other Davenport art teachers take advantage of virtual collaboration and innovation, too. We keep bouncing ideas off each other, he said. I think that's how Davenport just continues to excel. And, with the size of our district, were able to offer a lot more opportunities for the kids. Starting in their very first art class, West students create their own websites which serve a dual purpose. By the time (students) leave the arts program in four years, theyve got a digital portfolio they can publish, Wolf said. We've also got the studio here provided (a lot) by grants but the students have an area where they can go and create. While West students dont have to publish their websites, senior David Talbot has already brought some of his work to the World Wide Web. He and a few other students also help prepare game-time graphics for the Brady Street Stadium Jumbotron an opportunity he found thanks to Wests graphic arts department. With more industries relying on social media marketing and virtual modalities, Wolf isnt shocked to see growing interest in the digital/graphic arts. Kids are seeing it everywhere, they see that, Oh, I can do this for a living, he said. I think that is what's really driving our program now. This is true for Talbot next year, he plans to attend either Scott Community College or Black Hawk College to pursue graphic arts. First, I didnt know what I wanted to do in college, he said. After I took Intro to Digital Arts, I was like, This is what Im good at. After college, Talbot hopes to design for a famous company but so far isn't picky on which one. Moving forward, Wolf hopes to expand Wests career pathways in graphic design, noting ongoing conversations to offer dual-credit courses through Clinton Community College (CCC). Weve had CCC teachers come down and speak to our kids, and theyre excellent. Im really impressed by their (graphic design diploma) program, he said. Weve had a lot of kids take advantage of that. Outside of class, Talbot said he often works with Adobe Photoshop and other design software in his free time. He encourages other students to give graphic design a chance. It helped me understand the art and the effort that gets put into it, Talbot said. Its actually a really fun class to take the teachers and students involved make it interesting. Photos: Sudlow students create collaborative mural entitled, Courage & Identity The last of a group of 28 Quad-Cities area residents who took a trip to the Holy Land earlier this month landed back home safe Sunday afternoon. Retired Davenport Police Lt. Mike Hammes and his wife Diana along with retired neurologist Dr. Oliver Ancheta and his wife Rosemary took a flight from Doha, Qatar, to Dallas, Texas. From Dallas, they flew to the Quad Cities International Airport. Mike Hammes said the group had people from Bettendorf, Davenport, Clinton and Camanche, that he knew of. Diana Hammes said the group went to the Holy Land with the Rev. Paul Appel, Pastor of Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Clinton, and the Rev. Ben Snyder, Parochial Vicar of Our Lady Of Lourdes Catholic Church in Bettendorf. The group left the U.S. Oct. 2 and landed in Jordan where they spent a couple of days, including a visit to the famous archeological site Petra, before heading into Israel, Diana Hammes said. Appel and Snyder were able to say mass several times, including at the Chapel of the Shepherds Field in Beit Sahour southeast of Bethlehem, the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth and the Church of All Nations located on the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem. On Saturday, Oct. 7, Hamas attacked Israel, setting off a war that continues a week later. Oliver Ancheta said they were at the Mount of Olives looking at the golden dome of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the old city of Jerusalem when the sirens went off. A moment later we heard, boom, boom, boom, Ancheta said. We heard five booms, and they said it was the Iron Dome, Mike Hammes said. The Iron Dome is Israels air defense system. Hammes said the tour guides kept them well up to date on what was happening. They also watched CNN and the BBC. We didnt hear anything from our government, Diana Hammes said. By Tuesday or Wednesday, it was time to make decisions. Rev. Appel said that one group went to Jordan. On Thursday, the rest of the group left for Jordan, too, he said. The guides were concerned there might be lone-wolf attacks. "It's a serious concern when countries go to war," Appel said. "You lose control of your situation, and you don't know when the borders are going to close. I think we got out at the right time." Appel was with the second group to leave Israel for Jordan and crossed the border into Jordan with the Hammeses and Anchetas. Hammes said they initially thought it best to stay in Jerusalem where it might be safer. But with the possibility of borders closing, they knew Thursday it was time to leave. Hammes texted his daughter, Maureen, We are leaving Jerusalem in one hour and heading to Jordan. Hamas has asked for a world-wide day of violence tomorrow so guides thought it best we get out of here. Dont know if Ill have Wi-Fi so sending what I know now. Hopefully we will get flights out as soon as we get to Amman. We are fine and in Gods hands so dont worry. Will contact you whenever I can. In Amman, on Friday all was peaceful, Hammes said. No day of violence occurred. We wanted to do something, so we got an Uber and went to visit the Amman Citadel, Hammes said. The Hammes and Anchetas wound up having to get a flight to Doha, Qatar. Flying from Doha to Dallas and then to the Quad-Cities. It was a 16 hour flight coming home, Oliver Ancheta said, adding that had no war broken out, they would have arrived home on Friday on time. They were all glad to be home. The only incident we had was when the Iron Dome went off, Hammes said. We were treated very well. Appel, who was able to return home Saturday, said he encourages people to visit the Holy Land. "The people there are very peaceful and want to live their lives in peace," he said. "But when people get embroiled in politics and cant move on from the sins of the past this is what you get." Appel said he was disappointed to hear from groups on both sides calling for more violence. But more violence is not the answer. "Peaceful reconciliation and forgiveness are the only way things will change," Appel said. "You can never kill your way out of these situations. It is only through peaceful reconciliation of differences that people can move on." Photos: Scenes from the Israel-Hamas war BRI always pursues open, green, clean cooperation 09:22, October 16, 2023 By He Yin ( People's Daily To pursue open, green and clean cooperation is the vital code to the fruitful achievements of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and is absolutely necessary for achieving high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. As Chinese President Xi Jinping said in his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, "We need to pursue open, green and clean cooperation. The Belt and Road is not an exclusive club; it aims to promote green development. We may launch green infrastructure projects, make green investment and provide green financing to protect the Earth which we all call home. In pursuing Belt and Road cooperation, everything should be done in a transparent way, and we should have zero tolerance for corruption." Photo shows the Karot Hydropower Plant in Pakistan. (People's Daily/Xue Dan) The BRI is committed to open cooperation. It represents an open and inclusive collaborative process that transcends national borders, ideological differences, developmental disparities, social system variations, and geopolitical conflicts. Facilitating policy coordination, infrastructure connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration, and closer people-to-people ties, the initiative aims to promote interconnected development through expanding opening up. The rising unilateralism and protectionism in recent years have posed a risk of dividing the global economy, therefore safeguarding an open world economy has become even more important. A high-level forum on connectivity is expected to be held during the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, which will further promote connectivity and enhance the complementarity and synergy between the Belt and Road cooperation and the development strategies and agenda at national, regional and international levels, thus making the pie of common interests even bigger. This is of great significance for promoting world economic recovery and development. The BRI is committed to green cooperation. The initiative emphasizes respecting and protecting nature and following its laws, and respects the right of all parties to pursue sustainable and eco-friendly growth. It responds to the demand of all relevant parties for sustainable development and builds a consensus for a green Belt and Road. China has formed the BRI International Green Development Coalition with more than 150 partners from 40-plus countries, and launched the Initiative for Belt and Road Partnership on Green Development together with 31 countries. A worker carries out routine inspection in the Cauchari Solar Park in Argentina. (People's Daily/Song Yiran) The Zhanatas wind farm in Kazakhstan has turned desert into a frontier of development; the Cauchari Solar Park in Argentina has become the photovoltaic power station project with the largest installed capacity and highest altitude in South America; the Karot Hydropower Plant in Pakistan has helped alleviate Pakistan's energy shortage... Leveraging its expertise in renewable energy, energy conservation, environmental protection and clean production, and employing Chinese technology, products and experience, China actively promotes BRI cooperation in green development. A high-level forum on green development will be hosted during the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. It will build further consensus and a closer partnership for green development, so as to contribute to the sustainable development of the world. The BRI is committed to clean cooperation. Clean governance is considered an intrinsic and necessary condition for the steady and sustained development of the BRI, with a commitment to transparency in cooperation. All participants joined to combat corruption, strengthening their legal systems and mechanisms, harmonizing their laws and regulations, and fostering international cooperation. Together with relevant countries, international organizations, and representatives from the business and academic communities, China launched the Beijing Initiative for the Clean Silk Road. This initiative calls for a clean Silk Road characterized by extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits. Photo shows the Zhanatas wind farm in Kazakhstan. (People's Daily/Zhang Xiaodong) Chinese companies expanding globally are committed to compliance and lawful operations, adhering to the laws of both China and the host countries and to international norms. They have particularly heightened their capacity to mitigate overseas operational risks, strengthening project supervision and management to ensure the delivery of clean, cost-efficient and high-quality projects. A thematic forum on clean Silk Road will be held during the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. Relevant parties will jointly build an even closer partnership of clean governance, enabling capital and projects to operate efficiently with cleanness, better implementing various cooperation projects, and making the Belt and Road a path of integrity with a clean and righteous environment. The BRI has become a popular international public good and international cooperation platform, which fully demonstrates the vitality and appeal of open, green and clean cooperation. China will work with all relevant parties to pursue openness and inclusiveness, promote green development, build a clean Silk Road, and pursue steady progress of high-quality BRI cooperation. (Web editor: Hongyu, Du Mingming) (Photo : Omar Marques/Getty Images) The Polish election is set to be won by the opposition, which will gain a majority in parliament that could signal a political shift in the country. Poland's opposition parties are set to win the election race in the country, which could trigger a political shift in the country and the European Union. The latter is where the current Law and Justice (PiS) party government has waged a war for the past eight years with Brussels over accusations that it is backsliding on the bloc's democratic rules. In an exit poll released after voting at 9:00 p.m. on Sunday, PiS had 36.8% support. Polish Election Results The party was followed by the centrist Civic Coalition, which acquired 31.6% support, the center-right Third Way with 13% support, the Left with 8.6% support, and the far-right Confederation with 6.2% support. The latest poll was conducted by IPSOS and was shared with the country's three main television networks and is believed to have a 2% margin of error. While the PiS party got first place in support, the victory is seen as a Pyrrhic win as the three leading opposition parties would have a majority of seats in the 460-member parliament, as per Politico. Additionally, the recent elections in Poland have achieved a record % turnout rate of 73% based on the exit poll. The latest race results mark the PiS' most stunning defeat, as it has been in power since 2015. The party quickly mobilized the full resources of the state to shore up enough support to win the election while having the backing of state media. PiS has been hobbled by a growing number of issues, including allegations that its officials were selling visas for bribes. Additionally, the party struggles to address eight years of tensions and social conflict, including fights over abortion, the rule of law, grain imports from Ukraine, and less-than-stellar relations with the EU. Read Also: EU Launches Investigation Into X Over Rampant Disinformation Following Hamas Attack on Israel Fate of the Law and Justice Party Former Polish Prime Minister and European Council President Donald Tusk led the opposition bloc. He and the PiS chairman and Poland's de facto leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, attempted to declare a victory on Sunday night, according to CNN. However, the reality of the situation was that days of negotiations may happen in the near future until the make-up of the nation's new government becomes more clear. In a statement, Kaczynski told supporters that the exit polls gave them the fourth victory in the party's history in the parliamentary elections and the third one in a row. He added that the question before them now is whether or not their success will be able to be transformed into another term of office of their government. Kaczynsky urged that they should have hope and know that regardless of whether they are in power, they will implement their project differently. While running on separate tickets in the election, three opposition parties, the Civic Coalition, Third Way, and the New Left, had the same promises of seeking to oust Law and Justice and restore good ties with the European Union, said France24. Related Article: France: 'Day of Jihad' Attack Kills Teacher, Injures Two @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. STILLWATER, Minn. Every morning, the Rev. Karna Moskalik goes through a grounding routine that involves prayer, Bible reading, positive affirmations and meditations about the best outcomes for the days tasks, as well as lighting a perfumed candle and walking through each space of her Lutheran church. I always feel like work never ends, but at the same time I beefed up grounding because without it, I feel absolutely ineffective, said Moskalik, who grew up a pastors daughter and has led the 700-member Our Saviors congregation for four years in this small riverside town. That level of faith-based self-care is just what many clergy should practice to avoid the burnout and deteriorating mental health symptoms like anxiety and depression that experts say are affecting religious leaders at a worrisome pace. Mental health needs are just overwhelming faith communities, said Jamie Aten, a professor at Wheaton College and the co-founder of Spiritual First Aid. He recently helped organize a free one-day, online church mental health summit that had about 9,000 registrations from over 100 countries. Participants had access to 60 pre-recorded expert talks. Faith leaders have increasingly stepped into the frontlines of care for growing mental health distress across the U.S., from college campuses to the military and rural communities. But being constantly on call to share other peoples trauma is one of the unique stressors that makes being a pastor so challenging and can lead to burnout symptoms, which some studies estimate affect one third of clergy, said the Rev. Chris Adams, who leads the Mental Health and the Church Initiative at Biola University. Pastors attribute spiritual significance to their work, so its a whole-life, whole-self thing, said Adams, one of the summits speakers and an ordained Church of the Nazarene minister as well as a clinical psychologist. People expect them to be omnipresent, giving pastoral care in the grocery aisle at 10 p.m. And congregants tend to feel entitled to judge what a faith leaders family is buying at the grocery store, too, said Kay Warren, who with her husband, the Rev. Rick Warren, founded Saddleback, the evangelical megachurch in California, and has been a vocal mental health advocate since her youngest son died by suicide. We live in a glass house. Youre always on and everybody is in your business, said Warren, who started experiencing such scrutiny in childhood as a pastors daughter. That leaves many clergy feeling theyre expected somehow to nail all tasks, from administrative ones like growing churches at a time of widespread financial and attendance decline to pastoral care that doesnt leave space to process their own response to traumatic events. Im no longer Alex Lang the person whose job is a pastor, Im Alex Lang, the pastor, said Lang, whose post about why he quit being a Presbyterian pastor touched a chord among many burned-out ministers this summer. He said therapy helped him find a safe place to unload and work through unresolved trauma. But many clergy still feel a stigma in seeking mental health care, fearing that admitting to struggles means theyre failing their caregiving mission or they could lose their congregations respect and even their job. I thought everybody would hate me, the Rev. Katie ODunne recalled of the time she told the school where she worked as chaplain that she had started seeking treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Instead, parents asked her advice on how to share similar struggles with their own childrens faith leaders. A United Church of Christ minister in Atlanta, ODunne has since started a task force on OCD and faith. She encourages seeking treatment and well-being strategies as part of a faith mission that can inspire congregants. Self-care is strategic, not selfish, said Mark Dance, who was a Southern Baptist pastor for nearly three decades and struggled with depression before healing through medication and therapy. Theres no challenge thats greater than God. Developing strategies to tackle mental health distress is essential when research suggests a third of leaders from Abrahamic faiths suffer from traumatic stress, a rate even higher than in the military, said Steven Sandage, a Boston University professor of psychology of religion and theology. Compassion fatigue can develop from the constant exposure to other peoples trauma without taking time to process ones own grief, according to Laura Howe, a clinical mental health social worker near Toronto who organized the first summit in 2020. It can lead pastors to blame themselves for feeling numb, jaded and resentful, she said. For people of faith, a sense of belonging, hope and purpose all help overcome these challenges, she added. Priests who have a very sound prayer life do well, thats their primary love relationship, said Paul Ruff, a licensed psychologist and director of counseling services at Saint Paul Seminary in Minnesota. Hes been increasing workshops and retreats for Catholic seminarians as well as priests to help overcome the isolation that many clergy feel, especially as their numbers decline. In her research about United Methodist ministers, Rae Jean Proeschold-Bell, who leads Duke Universitys Clergy Health Initiative, also found that making specific, Scripture-centered daily plans for mental, physical and spiritual health helps them flourish. So does what she calls alignment with God or evaluating criticism based on how relevant it is to the mission pastors feel God has entrusted to them. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, many faith leaders say they have become unwitting lightning rods as they had to make polarizing and politicized choices, such when to close and reopen their church. That has subjected them to increasingly aggressive criticism from their flock. Thats the No. 1 thing I hear every day. The vitriol is abusive in many cases, said Adams, who has spent more than a decade studying thousands of pastors. This story includes discussion of suicide. The national suicide and crisis lifeline is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org. US Navy deploys more chaplains for suicide prevention SALEEM SAMAD As the much-talked-about general elections expected in early January 2024 approach, the global superpowers are zooming their hawkish eyes on Bangladesh. Most concerned people in the West, of course, the Bangladeshi expatriates and especially the Indians frankly ask why the superpowers are interested in the political development in a country of 173 million people. In one word the "China card". The West, neighbouring India and even Japan are feeling jittery over the growing Chinese influence in the Sheikh Hasina-led government and her party Awami League. Once an Indian diplomat in a private gathering sought opinion on why China's mega-projects get approval quickly, and India's infrastructure development projects are delayed due to bureaucratic red tape. He was told that the Japanese had a similar experience of projects falling through the faultline of bureaucracy. China's inroad to Bangladesh and getting contracts for mega projects had irked India, Japan and the United States. Indian media have written on the expansion and development project of the third largest airport at Sylhet, in northeast Bangladesh and the proposed Teesta River Comprehensive Management and Restoration Project. However, the later project was shelved showing errors in the loan proposal. The Osmani International Airport in Sylhet is in close proximity to Assam and Arunachal state is further north, where India borders with Tibet in China. The airport is in a strategic location for eavesdropping into Indian northeast states, it is feared by Delhi. Recently China's official map shows Arunachal as South Tibet, inviting fresh ruckus with Red Dragon. What is China's interest in the Teesta River, a transboundary river that flows through India and Bangladesh? The proposed project has raised eyebrows in the region. The river is a significant source of water for both India and Bangladesh. Indeed, the river is crucial for the economic development of the region as it is a source of water for agriculture and hydroelectric power generation. The river water sharing has been a bone of contention between the two neighbours for decades. China's involvement in the Teesta River dispute has added a new dimension to the conflict. The Red Dragon's interest in the Teesta River can be attributed to its strategic ambitions in the region. The river originates in the Himalayas and flows through the Indian states of Sikkim and West Bengal before entering Bangladesh, says a river morphologist. Japan has undertaken to construct the largest deep-sea port on Maheskhali island, in the Bay of Bengal and has been able to bulldoze the Chinese proposal of a second deep-sea port in Sonadia, not far from the ongoing project of the Rising Sun. Tokyo has been able to convince Delhi that the deep-sea port on the Bangladesh coast which serves adequately to export/import of northeast Indian states, will boost economic growth and immensely contribute to the country's GDP. Bangladesh, last week became the 33rd member of the nuclear club. The under-construction Russian project Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant will augment electric generation in energy-starved northern Bangladesh. Other than the nuclear power plant, Russia does not have a second mega project in Bangladesh. Bangladesh imports food grains from Russia and exports various garments items, jute, frozen foods, tea, leather, home textiles and ceramic products. Bangladesh, however, has a historic relationship with Russia. The former Soviet Union took a proactive position in favour of Bangladesh's independence war in 1971. Delhi and Moscow signed a historic IndoSoviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation which expedited the bloody independence of Bangladesh. Meanwhile, the United States is being bombarded by cyber-warriors with anti-American rhetoric in social media after Washington announced visa restrictions on officials of the governing party, opposition, government officials, police administration, judiciary and media persons. This applies to those who undermine or cause hindrance to the democratic elections in Bangladesh, the axe will fall upon individuals and their immediate family members. It is understood that the visa restriction by the USA triggers a chain reaction in Australia, Canada, France Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the allies in the West in denial of entry to their countries. The US Embassy in Dhaka to counter the rhetoric has launched the #DidYouKnow campaign for Bangladesh's audience in social media. For example: #DidYouKnow, the United States is the biggest foreign direct investor in #Bangladesh? Bangladesh received USD 3.44 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) during 2021-2022 for three broad sectors of FDI inflows: infrastructure, manufacturing, and services, according to Bangladesh Bank (the central bank). The USA FDI stood at $575 million in 2022, while China seems the largest FDI source of Bangladesh climbed to $940 million for 2022, reported Dhaka Tribune. Diverse sectors offer opportunities for U.S. companies, including natural gas exploration and production, power generation, financial services, infrastructure, agribusiness, information technology, consulting services, and civil aviation to name just a few. The garment sector has been a key driver of economic growth for Bangladesh over the past few decades. The US-Bangladesh has a $14 billion trade relationship and it's growing, tweets the US Embassy in Dhaka. What irks Bangladesh is when America expresses concern on stellar human rights record, democratic election process, freedom of the press and freedom of expression. The relations went cold in 2021 when the US imposed punitive measures, in support of US Global Magnitsky human rights sanctions, targeting six of the elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion's (RAB's) former officials, including current and immediate past heads of the Bangladesh police. The sanction did make an impact. A study claimed that RAB's extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances have dramatically reduced, which received accolades from human rights organisations. Meanwhile, Abed Khan, Chief Editor of Dainik Kalbela warns that in a week several economic sanctions against individuals, business establishments and government entities are likely to be imposed citing corruption and money-laundering, which is now a transnational crime. Journalist Chandan Nandy, based in New Delhi writes in the Northeast News portal (blocked by Bangladesh authorities) also claims that sanction is in the offing against money laundering and corruption. Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen trashed rumours of fresh sanctions by the US, in response to media reports told journalists. "We were in the US...they (US) only want free and fair elections. Even the words participatory or caretaker government were not mentioned," he remarked. While the United States pressure on the current government on the upcoming general election is visible, China and Russia's position contradicts the United States, quoting unnamed sources in Washington DC. The polarisation of the rivals United States, China and Russia has been observed, writes a commentator for BBC Bangla Service. Humayun Kabir, a former Bangladesh ambassador to Washington, opines that Bangladesh has become the new 'field of polarisation' of the United States, China and Russia. He said that the US President Joe Biden administration's foreign policy envisages 'establishing democracy and human rights' in different countries of the world and Bangladesh is in the bigger canvass to neutralise China's hegemony in South and South East Asia. Another reason is that America's Indo-Pacific strategy has focused on actively implementing the United States domination in the Asia region, with new and old allies. Kabir said, the European Union too also want Bangladesh to strengthen democracy and hold free and fair elections in upcoming polls. In exchange, Bangladesh will benefit equally, especially from the trade facility, which is believed to strengthen the democratic process in the country. China is a development partner of Bangladesh, retorted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, when she was confronted by overjealous Indian journalists. Professor Imtiaz Ahmed of Dhaka University says Bangladesh is caught in a triangle of Russia, China and America, because of its geo-strategic position. Bangladesh, positioned on the coast of the Bay of Bengal which merges with the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean comes under the fold of strategic partnership with America, Japan and India. Political historian Mohiuddin Ahmad said the reason Bangladesh is a strategic partner in Asia because the country has made dramatic economic development and has been fairing on the parameters of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), which gives hope to the big powers rivals that the country is not a failed state like Pakistan or Somalia. Therefore, the agenda of the United States, European Union, Japan and India to encourage Bangladesh to hold free, fair and credible elections and remain steadfast on the path to democracy will enable Sheikh Hasina to be the longest-serving prime minister to return to power for the fifth tenure. First published in Northeast News, Guwahati, Assam, India, 14 October 2023 Saleem Samad is an award-winning independent journalist based in Bangladesh. A media rights defender with the Reporters Without Borders (@RSF_inter). Recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at saleemsamad@hotmail.com; Twitter: @saleemsamad Nava Thakuria Unlike other Durga Puja mandaps showcasing splendid clay idols of Devi Maa, the celebration at Kamakhya temple nestled atop Nilachal hills traditionally avoids any idol worshiping. The auspicious occasion symbolising the victory over the demon king Mahishasura (so Durga Devi is also known as Mahishasura Mardini) goes for a fortnight beginning with Krishna Navami and ending with Shukla Navami of Ahina. The rituals like Mahasnan (ritualistic bath of the deity), Pithasthan with Panchagarva, sacrifice of buffalo, goat, pigeon, fish, gourd, pumpkin, sugarcane etc are performed at the main Peeth (sanctum sanctorum). Thousands of Hindu devotees from different parts of the country throng Kamakhya temple. The sacred temple, a major seat of Shakti worship, maintains the tradition of celebrating Durga Puja (also known as Durgotsav) annually during Shardiya Navratri festival where Devis nine incarnations are worshipped. Popular beliefs go that Goddess Durga visits her maternal home on Earth with four children (Lakshmi, Saraswati, Karthik and Ganesh) and leaves for Kailash on Vijayadashami (this time falls on 24 October). The pujas (Nitya, Prata Madhya, Sainni, Sandhya Arati) are performed every day with offerings of bhog. On Maha Saptami the pigeons, goats, buffalos are sacrificed. On the eighth day of fortnight, a special bhog is offered. On Mahanavami, ducks are sacrificed and on the tenth day puja is performed in the morning and the Goddess is offered pantabhata along with fried dove meat. During the rituals, temple doors remain closed for the devotees. Kumari Puja is also performed sacredly during Durga Puja. The virgin girls (Kumari) are worshipped as a manifestation of the Goddess Kamakhya. They are adorned with new red sari, vermilion (sindur), garlands, jewelries etc in the day long ritual. The philosophy behind Kumari Puja is to establish the value of women, where the maiden symbolizes the seed of power that regulates creation, stability and destruction. Recognized as one of 51 Shakti Peeths of Goddess Durga, the famous temple of Kameswari (Goddess of desire) is believed to be built by Kamdev (God of lust) with the help of God Vishwakarma. According to the Hindu mythology, the demon king Narakasura of Pragjyotishpur constructed a stone path (known as Mekhela Ujowa Path) connecting the temple from foothills with the intent to marry Kamakhya Devi, though he failed. Later, Devi killed Narakasura with the help of Lord Vishnu. Kalika Purana, an ancient work in Sanskrit describes Kamakhya as the deity to fulfill the desires of devotees and gives salvation. The temple however does not comprise any image or statue of Kamakhya, rather there is a sculptured image of Yoni in a cave inside the main temple. A natural spring believes to keep the stone always moist. The devotees touch the stone, draped with a silk sari, offer flowers & bel-paat on it and seek blessings. Did you know that Virginia is home to over 70 distilleries? Belle Isle Moonshine slings moonshine in Manchester at 615 Maury St. Reservoir Distillery pours award-winning whisky and bourbon in Scotts Addition at 1800-A Summit Ave. Virago Spirits is distilling rum and gin in Richmond at 1727 Rhoadmiller St. But Richmond has more of a reputation as a boomtown for craft breweries. There are over 70 distilleries in Virginia. Virginians dont know how big the industry is, Jack Gorman, executive director of the newly formed Virginia Spirits Board Marketing Office, said. Virginia distilleries represent an economic impact of more than $163 million and support 1,500 full-time jobs as small businesses produce extraordinary spirits, David Cuttino, Reservoir Distillerys CEO, said. Virginia is investing in raising the profile of those distilleries to the tune of almost $1 million. In 2020, the Virginia General Assembly established the Virginia Spirits Board to provide resources for the promotion of the Virginia spirits industry. In February of this year, the board established a Virginia Spirits Board Marketing Office and awarded a 17-month contract to Richmonds The Hodges Partnership for roughly $950,000. Our goal is to raise the profile of Virginia spirits overall and to get people to visit Virginia distilleries and buy from Virginia distilleries, Gorman said. For starters, the group is branding Virginia as the birthplace of American spirits. In 1620, the first batch of American corn whiskey was distilled at Berkeley Plantation. In 1799, George Washingtons distillery at Mount Vernon produced nearly 11,000 gallons of whiskey, one of the largest distilleries in America at the time. In 1810, pre-Prohibition, there were more than 3,600 distilleries in Virginia, according to census records. Virginia is the birthplace of American spirits. We have amazing distilleries, offering a diverse array of spirits - many of which are on par with anything produced in Kentucky, but nobody knows us. We want to change that, Barry Haneberg, co-owner of Virago Spirits, said. We need the support of the state to grow and be competitive nationally. The Virginia Wine Board did this back in the 1980s to great success, Cuttino said. The Virginia Wine Board created a Virginia Wine Marketing Office to raise brand awareness for Virginia wine, increase Virginia wine bottles on store shelves and drive visitors to Virginia wineries. It helped develop Virginia wine into a $2.5 billion market, Cuttino said. Besides founding Reservoir Distillery, hes chairman of the Virginia Spirits Board. The challenge is that were probably 15 years behind where beer is and even further than wine, Cuttino said. The Virginia Spirits Board is a commodity board of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Its only purpose is to promote the industry, Cuttino said. Virginia distilleries face several challenges that other alcohol producers in the state, such as craft beer and wine, dont. Virginia is one of 17 states in which the state government manages the sale of distilled spirits at the wholesale and/or retail level in the form of the Virginia ABC. Virginia established the state agency in 1934 at the end of Prohibition to control alcohol sales in the state. About six years ago, Virginia ABC transitioned from a state agency to a semi-independent authority with more freedom to make its own business decisions. The Virginia ABC is a major source of revenue for the commonwealth, contributing more than $2.7 billion to the general fund in the last five years. Virginia ABC is the only place where Virginia distillers can sell their products, besides in their own tasting rooms. Shelf space is limited at Virginia ABC. We only have two products in Virginia ABC stores, even though we have 15 (different products) right now, said John Davenport, co-owner of Three Crosses Distilling Co. in Powhatan County. Virginia ABC says that it carries over 380 products from Virginia distilleries, including 80 Virginia-made wines and more than 40 other Virginia-made products, such as mixers. Most Virginia ABC stores have a dedicated shelf for Virginia-made products. Virginia ABC also has a website highlighting Virginia-made spirits, wines and mixers. At tasting rooms, under state guidelines, distillers can sell only 3 ounces of alcohol or two cocktails per customer. Were not allowed to act as a bar would, and that impacts consumer behavior, Virago Spirits Haneberg said. Roughly 10 years ago, craft breweries experienced similar challenges. Before 2012, Virginia breweries couldnt sell beer for on-premise consumption. But in 2012, Senate Bill 604 allowed breweries to sell beer by the glass at their production facilities and operate taprooms. The legislation set off a boom in craft breweries. Its an example of the state bending to help a growing industry, but it doesnt extend to distilleries. Theres no point in booking food truck or live music (at a local distillery), Haneberg said, because patrons can consume only 3 ounces of spirits and typically dont stay very long. A distillery can sell a bottle of its product at its tasting room, but customers arent allowed to open the bottle and enjoy it on-site, like they would at a winery. They have to take it and leave. We have an uneven playing field with wine and beer. We have to work through Virginia ABC. The only customer we have to work with is Virginia ABC. Even when we have a tasting room, its actually a Virginia ABC store, Cuttino said. Virginia distilleries are charged a 34% tax rate from Virginia ABC on every bottle they sell in their own distilleries, according to Davenport. Virginia ABC said that Virginia distilleries are acting as agents of ABC, selling ABC-owned products to customers in the commonwealth on behalf of Virginia ABC. Virginia ABC pays distillers a wholesale price for their product, and the distiller then sells the product at a retail markup determined by ABC. The revenue from that markup and sales tax collected are then remitted by the distiller to Virginia ABC. Silverback Distillery in Afton found the challenges of running a distillery in Virginia so great it expanded and opened a tasting room and bottling facility in Pennsylvania in addition to its Afton space. The tax situation in Virginia is so egregious, youre almost penalized by a Mafia type of organization for selling goods out of your own distillery, co-owner Denver Riggleman said. Its a shame. In the Silverback tasting room in Pennsylvania, Riggleman says, they can serve unlimited amounts of alcohol and can offer discounted prices. Were in a much more free business space, Riggleman, who also served as a Virginia congressman, said. Pennsylvania has proven to be a better conduit for spirit sales than Virginia. The creation of the Virginia Spirits Board Marketing Office is a step in the right direction, Cuttino said, and he hopes it will be the first step in leveling the playing field with Virginia craft breweries and wineries. So far, the VSB Marketing Office has refreshed the Virginia Spirits website at www.virginiaspirits.org by adding all the distilleries in the state, new content and a build-your-own-distillery itinerary. It created a printed Virginia Spirits Guide thats been distributed to Virginia Welcome Centers across the state, distilleries and Virginia ABC stores. It launched a Virginia Spirits Passport program, an industry newsletter, relaunched a consumer newsletter and helped promote the Virginia Spirits month in September with a 20% sale on select Virginia-made spirits at Virginia ABC stores. According to preliminary numbers, sales of Virginia-made spirits at Virginia ABC were up 25% this past September. Officials hope the marketing efforts boost tourism and generate economic impact for the state. We have such great products here in Virginia. (Were) spending marketing dollars to increase sales of Virginia products, increase tax revenue for the state and tourism dollars and to increase employment, Cuttino said. For now, the biggest goal for the VSB Marketing Office is to raise awareness. It really is that simple. Getting people to try (Virginia spirits). Once they try it, they love it, Gorman said. PHOTOS: Virginia distilleries Greater Richmond is moving closer to having a second Pulse bus rapid transit line. On Friday, the board of directors for the Greater Richmond Transit Company approved a north-south line to complement the already existing east-west line. The map GRTC released shows the line starting at the intersection of Azalea and Chamberlayne avenues in Richmonds North Side, near the Henrico County border. The line would run along Chamberlayne into downtown, cross the James River on the Manchester Bridge, travel along Hull Street in South Richmond and eventually transition onto Midlothian Turnpike. Its southern terminus is unclear. The success of the existing Pulse shows that this is a region that wants rapid transit connections, and a vote of approval takes us one step closer to realizing this critical north/south rapid transit connection, said Adrienne Torres, chief of staff at GRTC. GRTC began formally studying a second route earlier this year. A number of steps still need to be taken before the line becomes reality. GRTC will conduct traffic planning, a finalized route design and an environmental impact study. The transit company said it will engage the public through each step. Greater Richmonds existing Pulse bus rapid transit line stretches from Willow Lawn in Henrico, into downtown and ends on East Main Street near Rocketts Landing. It opened in 2018 at a cost of $65 million. In 2021, city workers painted the downtown lane red, addressing concerns of cars driving into the dedicated bus lane and an incident in which a pedestrian was struck and killed by a bus. A 2022 report from the Greater Washington Partnership, a consortium of CEOs in the region, recommended GRTC implement a north-south line to provide better transportation for residents of low-income neighborhoods. The report said it would cost $100 million to build a new line, requiring five to 15 years for construction. GRTC buses have been free to ride since the pandemic. The no-cost fares are funded from the state, Virginia Commonwealth University and GRTC itself. 02-24-1953 (cutline): River, Stay 'Way from my Door. The James River, swollen by rains upstream, edges up on Sharp's Island, west of Mayo Island. The rive was due to crest at 12 feet here this afternoon. More rain is forecast for tonight and tomorrow. In March 1963, the roiling waters of the James River surrounded a dwelling on Sharp's Island near the 14th Street bridge. While the rain-swollen river didnt crest as high as originally feared, it did reach more than 4 feet above flood stage at Westham and about 5 feet above flood stage at the City Locks. From the Archives: Sharp's Island in the James River and its residents Sharps Island in the James River, is part of a unique archipelago of islands adjacent to Mayo and Vauxhall islands close to the 14th Street Bridge. The area marks the convergence of a fall zone and tidewater sections of the James River. Historically, a variety of activities have taken place on the islands, including commercial fishing operations during spring shad season and granite quarrying for construction of bridges and retaining walls. In the 1950s, the islands had residents as well. The house survived on the island for 75 years. It was purchased in 1970 by Richmond architect Henry Tenser Jr. for about $1,500. After the house was damaged beyond repair by flooding, Tenser decided to burn the house down instead of deal with the undertaking of demolishing it. With three matches, a can of kerosene and permission from the Richmond Fire Bureau, the house on Sharp's Island, built around 1895, washed away in ashes. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee has invested six figures into Virginias House Democratic Caucus to boost legislative candidates. While it is focused on the House of Delegates chamber in Virginias state legislature, the DLCC, which works to elect Democrats to state houses, also took a rhetorical swipe at Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives who have struggled to reach agreement on a new Speaker of the House. After former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., worked with Democrats to pass a short-term funding bill and avoid a government shutdown, eight Republicans, including Rep. Bob Good, R-5th, joined the Democrats in removing him from his role. Now, Republicans, who have the majority in the U.S. House, have yet to agree on his replacement more than a week later. Republican dysfunction has become a hallmark of national politics. Their refusal to do the basic requirements of government, including choosing a Speaker, shows us that this is all a game to them and they dont care about the people they were elected to represent, DLCC communications director Abhi Rahman said. If national Republicans continue to show they wont govern, why would Virginia Republicans be any different? National Democrats have already committed $3 million to the Virginia Democrats efforts at the direction of President Joe Biden. Virginia chapters of state organizations like Planned Parenthood and the League of Conservation Voters have disbursed big checks as well. Countering the Democrats state and national funding hauls is Gov. Glenn Youngkins political action committee, Spirit of Virginia. The PAC has raked in almost $20 million since its launch in 2021 and has spent over $4 million so far in state elections this year with plenty of room to spend more. We certainly have the lead or had the lead, rather, and built up a decent advantage in our totality but the Democratic surge is here, said Zack Roday, Spirits coordinated campaign director. We expect to be outspent near the closing (days of the election). Thats kind of been our plan all along, and thats why weve been hard at it all year. With all 140 seats up for election this year between Virginias House and state Senate, a handful of competitive seats offer both parties the chance of majority. During this years legislative session, Democrats had a four-seat edge in the Senate, and Republicans held a four-seat edge in the House. For Democrats, preventing Republicans from controlling both chambers is crucial to preventing a Republican trifecta where a single party controls both chambers and the governorship. Democrats also say it is crucial to blocking the proposal to end most legal abortions after 15 weeks, which many GOP state candidates have supported, at a time where Virginia is currently the least restrictive state in the South when it comes to access. For Republicans, gaining a trifecta would allow Youngkin to accomplish more of his agenda, such as further tax cuts and laws to give parents more input into public education curriculum and policies. The governor has attracted out-of-state billionaire donors, one of whom said he hopes Youngkin can be talked into running for president next year. This week, a number of national donors will flock to Virginia Beach for a Red Vest Retreat, an event that Youngkin convened last year outside of Charlottesville. While some donors hope to entice Youngkin into making a late bid for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, he has stressed that hes laser focused on this years state legislature elections. Both parties are pushing for voters to take advantage of early or mail-in voting the Republicans with Secure Your Vote Virginia and the Democrats with The Majority Project. Rahman said the latest funding boost from the DLCC can help ensure that Democrats are getting out the vote and holding Gov. Youngkin and the GOP accountable neighborhood by neighborhood, block by block. Archive photos: Do you remember Virginia's biggest weather events of the 1980s? 1980: January snowstorm 1980: February snow and cold 1980: March blizzard 1980: April hailstorms 1980: July derecho 1980: Long, scorching summer 1980: Drought takes hold 1980: December's icy chaos 1981: Driest winter worsens drought 1981: January cold 1981: Icy rivers 1981: Wild February cold front 1981: June thunderstorms 1981: Tropical Storm Bret 1981: James River runs low 1982: Arctic January 1982: January ice storm 1982: April winds 1982: Only one tornado 1982: August storm 1982: October nor'easter 1983: February snowstorm 1983: Extremely dry summer 1983: Tropical Storm Dean 1983: August storms 1983: September swelter 1983: October tornado outbreak 1983: Coldest Christmas 1984: A wet year 1984: March coastal storm 1984: May tornadoes in the Tri-Cities 1984: May tornadoes in the Tri-Cities 1984: Hot weather at odd times 1985: All-time low in January 1985: June storms 1985: July flash flood 1985: July tornadoes / Tropical Storm Bob 1985: August floods / Danny 1985: Hurricane Gloria 1985: November flood 1985: November flood 1985: November flood 1985: November flood 1985: November flood 1985: November flood 1985: November flood 1985: November flood 1986: Virginia's driest spring 1986: Summer drought 1986: Hurricane Charley 1986: October tornadoes 1987: January snowstorms 1987: January snowstorms 1987: February wind 1987: Snowy, icy February 1987: April snowstorm 1987: April floods 1987: Wettest April on record 1987: September floods 1987: Surprise November snow 1988: January snow 1988: Summer drought 1988: July storms 1988: Coldest October 1988: November tornadoes 1989: February snowstorms 1989: Wild spring weather 1989: June tornadoes and storms 1989: Hurricane Hugo 1989: October floods / Jerry 1989: November wind 1989: White Thanksgiving 1989: Second-coldest December 1989: December snow 1989: White Christmas The deal includes more than $900 million in tax cuts, almost all of it through one-time payments of $200 to individual taxpayers and $400 to couples filing jointly. It does not include cuts in the corporate and individual tax rates that Gov. Glenn Youngkin had proposed, but it would raise the standard deduction for taxpayers who don't itemize their deductions by half of what the governor had sought and would eliminate the age limit on a new exemption for military retirement income. Youngkin said this week that he can live with a budget agreement that prioritizes one-time rebates over ongoing tax cuts, but expects to seek additional cuts in the two-year budget that he will propose in December. Date announced for inauguration of Interoceanic Train connecting Mexicos Pacific and Atlantic Mexico City, Mexico The inauguration of the Interoceanic Train of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec will be toward the end of December announced President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. He made the announcement during a weekend progress tour. He said the new communication route will boost international trade by uniting the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, which means a new alternative to the Panama Canal. Now that our brothers from Panama have some difficulty due to lack of water in the canal, of course they are going to move forward, they are going to solve that obstacle, but there is a lot of saturation in the Panama Canal, he said. In the company of the Secretary of the Navy, Jose Rafael Ojeda Duran, Lopez Obrador recalled that this train is part of the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, an initiative of the Government of Mexico that contemplates the creation of development poles or industrial parks, which will be sources of well paid empolyment in the region. In this entire strip of the Isthmus there are industrial parks, development poles, around 300 hectares per industrial park and companies and assembly plants will be established and there will be employment, a lot of work, he stated. Lopez Obrador reaffirmed that the Interoceanic Train symbolizes the return of passenger trains after their privatization during the neoliberal period. In addition, he said, it will generate conditions in favor of the population of Veracruz and Oaxaca. This is a project that has a great future, which is not only bringing joy to people because it is nostalgic, which is returning the passenger railway, but it also means progress, he said adding that the inauguration date will be December 22. In September, the General Director of the Maya Train company, Oscar David Lozano Aguila, announced that Maya Train section 1 will connect with the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. (Photo : John Moore/Getty Images) U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents apprehended the fourth Iranian "special interest alien" in the last month, signaling a potential national security threat. Officials with the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have apprehended the fourth Iranian considered a "special interest alien" this month. Sources with the agency said that the man involved in the latest apprehension was in his 40s. He was taken into official custody on Sunday morning in Eagle Pass, Texas, after crossing the southern border at roughly 3:00 a.m. Apprehension of Special Interest Aliens It was noted that the Iranian individual gave himself up to border protection agents after he made the illegal crossing at the border. The individual in question and three others are considered special interest aliens because they come from countries the US government identifies as having conditions promoting or protecting terrorism. These could also be people from regions that pose a national security threat to the United States. As per Fox News, the individuals who fall into this categorization must undergo additional vetting and questioning after being taken into custody by border protection agents. CBP agents also apprehended two Lebanese nationals in Eagle Pass last week and they were also considered to be "special interest aliens." The agency took an Egyptian man in his 40s into custody. On the other hand, in the Rio Grande Valley Sector, officials were able to apprehend 19 Iranians and 17 Syrians since Monday. The series of incidents come amid concerns about security and the potential of terrorism after Hamas militant forces attacked Israel on Oct. 7, resulting in the death of more than 1,300 Israelis and wounding several thousands of others. The situation comes as Lebanon borders with Israel and is known to be home to the terror group Hezbollah, which, similarly to Hamas, is designated a terror group by the State Department and is also funded by Iran. Read Also: Biden Admin Confirms Return of Venezuelan Migrant Deportations Southern Border Migrant Issue According to Yahoo News, the Iranian special interest aliens were taken into custody as thousands of such individuals, coming from different countries, have been arrested by border protection agents over the last two years while trying to illegally cross the southern US border. Multiple CBP sources confirmed the number of apprehended special interest aliens and reflected arrests made between ports of entry between October 2021 and October 2023. Data showed that agents encountered 6,386 nationals from Afghanistan, 3,153 from Egypt, 659 from Iran, and 538 from Syria. Additionally, officials encountered 12,624 individuals from Uzbekistan, 30,830 from Turkey, 1,613 from Pakistan, 164 from Lebanon, 185 from Jordan, 123 from Iraq, and 15,594 from Mauritania. However, the data does not include information on how many of these migrants were removed or who were released into the US. The massive number of special interest aliens coming into the US is a conundrum for authorities as nations that are home to violent terrorist movements are also those that have a population that is desperate to flee to safety by taking refuge in other countries, such as the United States, said the Daily Mail. Related Article: Texas Senate Advances Texas Border Bill, Authorizes Local State Police Arrest Illegal Immigrants @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Mexicos Secretary of Energy Rocio Nahle Garcia resigns Mexico City, Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador reported the departure of the Secretary of Energy, Rocio Nahle Garcia, from the Government of Mexico. On his social networks, he thanked her for her work and support during his administration, while wishing her luck in her next personal and professional projects. In the publication, the President shared a video of the supervision meeting that he held that day in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, where he recognized the head of the Ministry of Energy, who led the construction of the Olmeca refinery, in Paraiso, Tabasco, in record time. We wish her the best because we believe she deserves it. She is an exceptional woman, a good professional, she has principles, she has ideals and she is an honest woman. () She has already finished her task, which among other things, included building the Dos Bocas refinery, he said. A replacement will be announced. Lopez Obrador did not provide a reason for her sudden departure, which took affect October 13. Passenger killed in single-vehicle crash outside Puerto Aventuras Puerto Aventuras, Q.R. The passenger of a compact car was killed in a highway crash early Sunday morning outside Puerto Aventuras. National Guard were first on scene, locating the single-vehicle crash along the dark highway. Inside the car was a man and woman. Responding paramedics pronounced the female passenger dead at the scene. The male driver identified as Javier N, was rushed to hospital from the 1:00 a.m. accident scene. Speed is believed a factor in the crash after the driver, who was heading toward Tulum, lost control on a corner and slammed headlong into the concrete base of a highway sign. Suspect remains in custody for shooting two of his Playa del Carmen neighbors Playa del Carmen, Q.R. A suspect accused of shooting two of his neighbors in central Playa del Carmen remains in police custody. On Thursday, a neighbor dispute between three residents left two with gunshot wounds. Municipal Police were called to the Gonzalo Guerrero neighborhood Thursday after other neighbors reported a fight. When police arrived, it was to a bloody scene where a man and a woman had been shot and the shooter, gone. A search of the area located the man, who, according to area residents, was known for his aggressive attitude. Police found him not far from the scene wearing a bloodied shirt. In a brief statement the State Attorney General said police arrested a subject for the possible crime of homicide. After a search operation, the Preventive Police located 55-year-old Arcadio N, accused of shooting and injuring two people with a firearm after an argument in a quarters located on 22nd Street between 30th and 35th Avenues of the Gonzalo Guerrero neighborhood. The victims received medical attention at the scene and were taken to the hospital, while the detainee was placed at the disposal of the State Attorney Generals Office. U.S. extradites man to Mexico on outstanding arrest warrant Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua The Attorney Generals Office (FGR) of the Republic of Mexico has received an extradited man. The man, identified as Gustavo Ivan H, was returned to Mexico from the U.S. on an outstanding arrest warrant. According to the FGE, Gustavo Ivan H was received through the Specialized Prosecutors Office for Organized Crime in coordination with the Secretariat of National Defense from the United States for whom an arrest warrant was executed for his probable responsibility of drug-related organized crime. This delivery was achieved thanks to coordinated work with the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations Office (HSI), and the Office of Detention and Removal (ERO), they said. Gustavo Ivan H was handed over by U.S. authorities at the Lerdo International Bridge in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua to elements of the Federal Ministerial Police (PFM), assigned to the Criminal Investigation Agency INTERPOL, who completed the arrest warrant. He was transferred to the Federal Center for Social Rehabilitation Number 1 Altiplano in Almoloya de Juarez. A Blacksburg resident was arrested and charged with making a bomb threat against the police department. At approximately 11:30 p.m. Oct. 14, the police department was made aware of a bomb threat that had been posted online through a social media profile, according to a department news release. Upon investigation it was found the suspect was an individual living in the town and was identified as Jaden Eubanks, according to the release. Eubanks was arrested and charged with threats to bomb or damage buildings, and he he is currently being held without bond, according to the release. No other information was immediately made available. A developer is looking to build two hotels on the northeast edge of Roanoke. The city council on Monday approved changes to land use concepts for 5.5 acres on Blue Hills Drive, located off Orange Avenue and bordering Roanoke County. This is good news, said City Attorney Tim Spencer. We have a developer who wants to bring in not one, but two hotels on three parcels of land. Spencer said the hotels would have the same brand ownership, using Hilton as an example, but he was hesitant to answer further questions from council members. I dont want to name those hotels specifically, Spencer said. All I can tell you is at this point we know its under the same banner of hotels. He said to expect really good news from the citys economic development office about the number of jobs those businesses will create. Its still in a little bit of flux, Spencer said. I dont want to step on economic developments toes to announce that. The 5.5 acres in question have been owned by the National Bank of Blacksburg since 2013, according to city records. The land will be sold to developers before construction begins, according to city documents. The three parcels are centered around 1611 Blue Hills Drive N.E., located in front of Creative Kids Childcare Center, and situated behind Starbucks on Orange Avenue. Roanoke designated that land for development as early as 2006, according to city documents. Also approved during the Roanoke City Councils meeting on Monday, individual taxpayers will no longer be charged a late fee for personal property filings, effective Jan. 1. The city bills about $141,000 in filing penalties annually, and last year collected about half of that, said Roanoke Commissioner of the Revenue Ryan LaFountain during a meeting earlier this month. Out of the whole pool of personal property taxes, this is a drop in the bucket, LaFountain said, adding that 75% of tax offices in other comparable Virginia localities do not apply late filing penalties. City staff spends quite some time straightening up complaints about personal property filings, such as for motor vehicles, not being timely received, he said. This only applies to late filings, LaFountain clarified. Residents who are late to pay their personal property tax bills will still be penalized. Also during Mondays meeting, city council approved a program to lower the cost of monthly parking fees for service employees downtown, effective Nov. 1. City Manager Bob Cowell said the Service Industry Parking Program offers a 50% discount for food- and other service-industry workers downtown, and could grow or shrink depending on demand. There will be a limit of six available spaces at the Center in the Square Garage and 10 spaces at the Market Garage to be allotted on a first come first serve basis via an online program application. There will be no space limitations at the Elmwood Park, Gainsboro, Campbell or Church Avenue garages. Anyone who would like to apply for the program must currently work in the service industry in the Downtown Business District; be a new parker to the system; and is low to moderate income earners. Eligible parkers will need to verify eligibility at the Park Roanoke offices twice a year. Its an agreement with Park Roanoke, the citys standalone, self-funded parking guide. This is a limited reduction in parking fees for service workers in our downtown area, Cowell said. We are still very much viewing this as a pilot, to see how this goes. Before the debate, Charles Shugart, head of the citys water and sewer system department, will give a five-minute synopsis of the problems with the system. The candidates then will be given two minutes each to give their qualifications and why they have chosen to run for office. Each will then be given time to explain how they would address the problems with the sewer system. The candidates will be limited to three minutes to respond, with with one minute allowed for rebuttal. Each candidate will then be given one minute to summarize their views. 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. IMG_7317.JPG Richard Harrington, middle, received the Community Service Award from the Daughters of the American Revolution from Margaret Cox, left, and An 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. This embedded content is not available in your region. Hamas gunmen launched an unprecedented assault on Israel from the Gaza Strip on 7 October, killing more than 1,400 people and taking at least 239 hostages. Since then, Israel has been carrying out retaliatory strikes on Gaza, in which more than 8,500 people have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Israel has also sent troops and tanks into the territory. What is Israel doing in Gaza? Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting on Monday that he had set "the clear goal of destroying Hamas's military and governing capabilities", as well as freeing the hostages. Later, he rejected calls for a ceasefire, saying they were "calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas". "This is a time for war - a war for our common future," he added. On Monday the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its soldiers had "killed dozens of terrorists who barricaded themselves in buildings and tunnels, and attempted to attack the troops". The IDF also said it had continued to strike hundreds of Hamas targets from the air. It said that in one attack, an aircraft was guided by forces on the ground and struck a building "with over 20 Hamas terrorist operatives inside". Map of Gaza showing the zone in the north which Israeli authorities have ordered civilians to evacuate by moving south of the Wadi Gaza. An Israeli tank was seen near Gaza City, on the main road to the south of the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Red Crescent said the Israeli military had again warned that the Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City should be evacuated, but that it was impossible to move hundreds of the patients who are being treated there. Eyewitnesses described heavy shelling around the hospital, where 14,000 people are thought to be sheltering. This embedded content is not available in your region. On Monday, Hamas published a video showing three women held hostage in Gaza, one of whom berated Mr Netanyahu and called on him to agree to release Palestinian prisoners in exchange for them. The video was clearly recorded in circumstances of extreme duress and Mr Netanyahu condemned it as "cruel psychological propaganda". Story continues Later, the IDF said it had rescued a female soldier during an overnight ground operation. The Israeli military has massed tens of thousands of soldiers along Gaza's perimeter fence, along with tanks and artillery. It has activated some 300,000 reservists alongside its standing force of 160,000. Hamas is thought to have about 25,000 members in its military wing. It also has a network of underground tunnels across Gaza, connecting its command centres, which it has said stretch for 500km (310 miles). More on Israel-Gaza war What is the humanitarian situation in Gaza? The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, said thousands of Gaza residents had broken into its distribution centres and warehouses "taking wheat flour and other basic survival items like hygiene supplies". The UN also said many children now have only salty water to drink. The World Health Organization has said Gaza's hospitals are barely functioning due to shortages of electricity and supplies. Over the weekend, dozens more lorries carrying aid supplies entered Gaza through the Rafah border crossing from Egypt. However, Gaza normally receives 500 lorry-loads of supplies a day. US President Joe Biden has told Israel that the flow of aid into Gaza needs to be considerably increased. There have also been no shipments of fuel, which is needed to generate electricity for hospitals, shelters, bakeries, water treatment and pumping stations, as well as the sewerage system. Two Palestinian children stand in rubble in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Israel has refused to allow deliveries of fuel because it says it could be used for military purposes by Hamas. It also said that Hamas has hundreds of thousands of litres of fuel that it is refusing to hand over to aid agencies. The Israeli military ordered people leaving in northern areas to evacuate for their own safety, and 1.4 million people have since moved south. The southern city of Khan Younis, normally home to 400,000 people, has seen its population increase to about 1.2 million since the latest conflict began. Many families are sharing homes, or sleeping in tents. About 600,000 are being hosted by Unrwa. What is the latest information about the hostages? Hamas's capture of hostages was thought to be designed to pressure Israel to free some of the estimated 5,100 Palestinians who held in Israeli prisons at the start of the month. The Israeli military says at least 240 people are still being held in Gaza. These include 20 children and at least 10 people aged over 60. Soldiers were also taken. Hamas has so far released for hostages following mediation by Qatar and Egypt. On 20 October, two American-Israeli hostages - mother and daughter Judith and Natalie Raanan - were freed. Four days later, two elderly Israeli women, Nurit Cooper and Yocheved Lifschitz, were released. On Monday, Israel's military said its soldier Pte Ori Megidish had been rescued during ground operations in Gaza on Sunday night. What is Hamas and what does it want? Hamas is a Palestinian group which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007. The group is sworn to Israel's destruction and wants to replace it with an Islamic state. Hamas has fought several wars with Israel since it took power. It has fired - or allowed other groups to fire - thousands of rockets into Israel, and has carried out other deadly attacks. In response, Israel has repeatedly attacked Hamas with air strikes. In 2008 and 2014, it also sent troops into Gaza. Together with Egypt, Israel has blockaded the Gaza Strip since 2007 for what it describes as security reasons. Hamas - or in some cases its military wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades - has been designated a terrorist group by Israel, the United States, the European Union and the UK, as well as other powers. Iran backs the group, providing it with funding, weapons and training. Why is there a war in Gaza now? Hamas killed families in their homes in the kibbutz of Kfar Aza On 7 October, hundreds of Hamas gunmen crossed from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel by breaking through the heavily fortified perimeter fence, landing by sea, and using paragliders. It was the most serious cross-border attack Israel has faced in more than a generation. The gunmen killed 1,400 people, most of them civilians, in a series of raids on military posts, kibbutzim and a music festival, and took hostages back into Gaza. Mr Netanyahu said after the attack that Israel was at war, and vowed that Hamas would "pay an unprecedented price". Given the significant resources of Israel's security services, it was astounding that the attack by Hamas was not anticipated, the BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner says. The attack came at a time of soaring Israeli-Palestinian tensions. This year has been the deadliest on record for Palestinians who live in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which could have motivated Hamas to strike Israel. Hamas might also have been seeking to score a significant propaganda victory to boost its popularity among ordinary Palestinians. What is the Gaza Strip and who lives there? The Gaza Strip is a 41km (25-mile) long and 10km-wide territory located between Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea. Map showing Israel and the Palestinian Territories and surrounding countries Originally occupied by Egypt, Gaza was captured by Israel during the 1967 Six Day war. Israel withdrew its troops and around 7,000 settlers from the territory in 2005. It is home to 2.23 million people and has one of the highest population densities in the world. Just over 75% of Gaza's population - some 1.7 million people - are registered refugees or descendants of refugees, according to the UN. More than 500,000 of them live in eight crowded camps located across the Strip. Israel controls the air space over Gaza and its shoreline, and has strictly controlled the movement of people and goods. What is Palestine? The West Bank and Gaza, which are known as the Palestinian territories, as well as East Jerusalem and Israel all formed part of a land known as Palestine from Roman times until the mid-20th Century. These were also the lands of Jewish kingdoms in the Bible, and are seen by many Jews as their ancient homeland. Israel was declared a state in 1948, though the land is still referred to as Palestine by those who do not recognise Israel's right to exist. Palestinians also use the name Palestine as an umbrella term for the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. The Palestinian president is Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen. He is based in the West Bank, which is under Israeli occupation. He has been the leader of the Palestinian Authority (PA) since 2005, and represents the Fatah political party, a bitter rival of Hamas. (Photo : POOL / AFP) (-/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) China's neutral stance on the Israel-Hamas conflict has angered officals in the Jerusalem government as Beijing calls for peace talks between the two sides. China has taken a neutral stance over the Israel-Hamas conflict that has killed thousands of people, including civilians, angering officials from the Jerusalem government. The situation comes after Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, in Beijing in June. He also invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for an official state visit, which was accepted. China's Stance on the Israel-Hamas Conflict But the attack on Israel suddenly occurred, which made Netanyahu's visit to Beijing, which was set for late October, uncertain. Hamas' attack also tested Beijing's Middle East approach as the Asian nation's stated neutrality on the war has upset the Jerusalem government. However, experts said Beijing has more to gain in the long run by forging closer ties with Arab countries. In a statement, a professor of international relations at Beijing-based Renmin University of China, Shi Yinhong, said that for a while, China's Middle East policy was paralyzed by the conflict. Additionally, the United States, which strongly supports Israel, is directly or indirectly involved, as per Yahoo News. In the past week, Zhai Jun, China's Middle East envoy, could also talk to Palestinian and Egyptian officials via phone. He called for an immediate ceasefire and provision of humanitarian support for the Palestinian people. The Chinese official also called Israeli officials to say that Beijing has "no selfish interests on the Palestinian issue but has always stood on the side of peace, on the side of fairness and justice." He added that the Chinese government is willing to work with the international community to promote peace and encourage talks between Israel and Palestine. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made stronger statements regarding the current conflict, which were viewed as leaning more towards Palestine. He said the "crus of the matter is that justice has not been done to the Palestinian people." According to Politico, his remarks were made while speaking to Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and included claiming that Israel's actions have gone beyond what could be called self-defense. Read Also: Is China Bigger Threat Than Russia? US Republicans Say Yes Calling for Peace A Chinese media outlet noted that Wang said that China's pressing task right now is protecting civilians' safety, opening humanitarian corridors for aid, and protecting the people's basic needs in Gaza. Prior to the Israeli-Hamas conflict, Israel and Saudi Arabia were supposedly working in tandem toward a normalization of relations. This would have been a development that made significant shifts in the dynamic in the Middle East. China's efforts to shore up support within the Middle East are part of a plan to legitimize authoritarian practices and erode human rights protections on the international stage. A senior non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council, Jonathan Fulton, said that Beijing is trying to promote alternative norms in global politics and sees Arab states as a natural constituency to try to attract. He added that by working to appeal to Arab countries, China hopes to get more support for the reforms it wants to push through in the global system, said Axios. Related Article: China Repatriates North Koreans, South Korea Condemns @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Lawrence Wong, Singapore's deputy prime minister and finance minister, speaks at the Nikkei Forum Future of Asia in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, May 25, 2023. (Bloomberg) By Philip J. Heijmans and Chester Yung (Bloomberg) Chinas attempt to grow its influence shouldnt come at the expense of other countries feeling pressured or it risks a backlash, according to Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. The superpower knows it has to play its cards carefully, Wong said during a dialogue session at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington on Friday. A pushback will not be in Chinas interests so it will have to learn how to moderate and adjust as it develops its ambitions, he said. The Chinese feel that their time has come, they need to take their rightful place in the world, and they ought to be more assertive with regards to their interests abroad, Wong said. Then China has to grow its influence without making other countries feel pressured, coerced or squeezed. Tensions have risen in recent months and years between China and its Southeast Asian neighbors over claims in the South China Sea. China has been building up several unoccupied land features in the disputed waters, a key route for around $3 trillion worth of traded goods. The sides have been working on a code of conduct meant to resolve confrontations, though talks have dragged on for two decades. Asian nations have also struggled to navigate an increasingly tricky geopolitical picture as the rivalry between the US and China complicates everything from trade to climate issues. Countries such as Singapore have for years refrained from choosing sides, instead embracing a collective non-alignment that has become harder to maintain as pressures build over maritime claims as well as Taiwan. We value the friendship we have with the US, said Wong, as he wrapped up an 11-day trip to the US where he met top officials to discuss how to bolster already strong ties between the two nations. China now is also a good friend with all the countries in Southeast Asia. And we would like to stay friends with both. Story continues To be sure, ties between the US and China have shown signs of warming. President Xi Jinping this month held his first meeting with US congressional leaders in eight years. Chinas fragile economic recovery has been in focus as new data shows the country returning to the brink of deflation. International Monetary Fund economists warned that Chinas real estate sector downturn could erode growth prospects in the Asia Pacific region. Wong said the Chinese economy is going through a challenging sort of situation now amid high youth unemployment. They have decided to prick the real estate bubble, and there will be painful consequences from doing so, he said. As real estate accounts for about 20-30% of Chinas economy, once you prick the bubble, there are all sorts of consequences, knock-on effects cascading throughout the entire economy, which they will have to manage, he said. 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Michelle Morgan has been a librarian at St Paul's High School in Bessbrook for almost 24 years How many books can you get through in a year? Probably not as many as Michelle Morgan, who said she has to read "between 150 and 180 - twice". The school librarian spoke to the BBC as part of Book Week NI 2023, which begins on Monday. Ms Morgan works in St Paul's High School in Bessbrook, County Armagh, where she is the custodian of a collection of more than 12,000 books. And she is one of the judges for the Yoto Carnegies, the UK's longest running children's book awards. The prizes include the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing which is presented to authors who create "an outstanding reading experience" for young readers. Past winners have included Belfast-born CS Lewis, who created the fictional world of Narnia, and Watership Down author Richard Adams. 'Read the classics' Ms Morgan said the award can influence the type of books students read for generations to come. "We get nominations from all different types of genre," she continued. "It's judged by librarians from all over the UK, so we are at the forefront of trying to bring new literature and up-to-date, modern, contemporary stuff to our pupils. "But we still insist that they read the classics." There are thousands of books to choose from at St Paul's At St Paul's, her students are also invited to become literary critics and cast judgement on the stock in their school library. A "recommendation slip" is placed inside its books, for pupils to share their honest opinions, good and bad. "When the children finish the book, they put their name and a little review inside the book," Ms Morgan explained. "So the next child that picks it up can look inside and see that somebody else has really enjoyed it....or not. That's the thing, sometimes they don't." 'Love Your Library' Book Week is a joint initiative between BBC Northern Ireland and Libraries NI aimed at promoting a love of reading and an appreciation of libraries as a public resource. Story continues Some well-known faces including Belfast boxer Carl Frampton and Blue Peter presenter Joel M are among those who will taking part and sharing their thoughts on their favourite reads. Blue Peter presenter Joel M will take a trip to a local library as part of Book Week Now in its eighth year, Book Week comprises a wide-ranging programme of events, including live broadcasts of BBC Radio Ulster shows from libraries around Northern Ireland. Presenter Joel M, who is from Bangor, County Down, will be helping to launch Blue Peter's new Book Club, coinciding with the long-running BBC children's show's 65th birthday celebrations. He will also be taking a trip to a local library, as will BBC presenters Connor Phillips and Mark Patterson who will host their Radio Ulster shows from libraries in Larne and Londonderry on Wednesday. Wednesday 18 October is Love Your Library Day when everyone is encouraged to make a return visit to their favourite local library to see what is on offer, renew their membership and borrow some books. Libraries NI have just announced they do not have enough money to buy new books this year, so they need the public's support more than ever. BBC Radio Ulster presenters will also be taking a 60-second Book Week challenge - telling listeners about their favourite book and why it matters to them, but they must do it all within one minute. Your Place And Mine will be asking its contributors to nominate a favourite book that conveys a sense of place, while Classical Connections will broadcast from the Seamus Heaney HomePlace in Bellaghy. The Open University is also participating with a series of events in libraries including a presentation in Lisburn City Library on Monday entitled: Uncovering family histories: Drawing Inspiration from the Past. For more information about all the events happening throughout Book Week, check out the website. SCDF officer face charges in Henderson blaze tragedy of NSF Firefighter Edward H Go. (PHOTO: SCDF) (SCDF) SINGAPORE A 38-year-old officer from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) was charged on Monday (16 October) over an offence related to the death of a 19-year-old full-time national serviceman after a firefighting operation. CNA reported on Monday that the officer, Muhammad Kamil Mohamed Yasin, was charged with one count of causing grievous hurt by a rash act endangering life or personal safety. Firefighter's death during SCDF operation prompts charges Sergeant 1 Edward H Go fell unconscious during the operation at Block 91 Henderson Road on 8 December 2022, and subsequently died in the hospital. According to a statement from the SCDF, released on Saturday, a second SCDF officer was separately referred by the police to the SCDF for departmental action. This incident marked the first time a firefighter lost their life during an SCDF operation. According to the police statement also released on Saturday, the SCDF officer to be charged, who was SGT1 Go's superior, had allegedly left him alone in the Henderson housing unit to combat the ongoing fire without informing anyone, which was contrary to SCDF's firefighting doctrine. An autopsy conducted on SGT1 Go determined that his cause of death was "suffocation due to depleted air cylinder". The police stated that their investigation did not uncover any evidence suggesting equipment failure as the cause of SGT1 Go's death. "The police, in consultation with the Attorney-Generals Chambers, will be charging the SCDF officer in court on 16 October 2023 for an offence of causing grievous hurt by a rash act which endangers life or the personal safety of others under Section 338(a) of the Penal Code 1871," the statement said. If found guilty, the SCDF officer could face a maximum penalty of up to four years in jail, a fine of up to $10,000, or both. Second officer being investigated by the SCDF The SCDF has also initiated an investigation into the second officer who, upon arriving and assuming command of the firefighting operation, allegedly failed to ensure its overall safety. Story continues "If our investigation finds that this officer had contravened SCDF's doctrine on firefighting or standard operating procedures during the incident, we will take disciplinary action against him," the SCDF said. Pending the outcome of the investigation, the SCDF said that the officer had been redeployed to a non-supervisory and non-operational post. Do you have a story tip? Email: sgnews.tips@yahooinc.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter. Also check out our Southeast Asia, Food, and Gaming channels on YouTube. The British Broadcasting Corporation The Tartan Army is celebrating after Scotland secured qualification for the Euro 2024 tournament. It was Spain that sealed the deal for the team by beating Norway 1-0 in Oslo on Sunday - guaranteeing Scotland a top-two finish in Group A. Steve Clarke's side won their first five games to earn the points to qualify for Germany next year. Scotland fans are looking forward to the tournament - just the fourth ever Euros qualification for the men's team. Hamish Husband, from the association of Tartan Army clubs, told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland that fans' prayers had been answered. He said: "It's great that we are there - we deserve it. The progress under Steve Clarke has been immense. "However, as a fan of a certain age I would have love to have done it at Hampden. "One of my greatest ever evenings was when we qualified against Czechoslovakia in 1973, it would have been great if the young folk had experienced that the way I did." Mr Husband said for many younger Scotland fans the tournament would "enlighten" their lives and the team would have to set their standards high. He added: "We have never qualified for the second round. "Now we've qualified its not enough - we have to go one better that the Billy Bremner's and the Kenny Dalgleish's. "I'm sure tens of thousands of Scots are preparing, and doing some German lessons." Steve Clarke took charge of the Scotland men's side in 2019. He successfully led them to their first major tournament in 23 years after qualifying for Euro 2020. The SFA's Chief Executive Ian Maxwell told BBC Scotland that the qualification was the culmination of a huge amount of work. He said: "The players and Steve deserve a massive amount of credit for the improvements that have happened over the years. Story continues "Ideally you want to do it at Hampden in front of the supporters, everybody together and you can celebrate it as a country. It didn't quite work out that way, we're just being a bit greedy. He said to be one of the first six or seven teams to qualify for the final tournament was an "incredible achievement". "The aim at the outset is always to qualify," her added. "When we walk out for that first game in Germany nobody is going to remember how we qualified or where we qualified, the most important thing is we got there." Draw for the finals in Germany will take place in Hamburg on 2 December. Michael Caine, the British film star whose career has spanned eight decades and featured movies from The Italian Job to The Dark Knight, has confirmed his retirement from acting. The two-time Oscar winner, who is 90, made the announcement on BBC Radio 4s Best of Today podcast on Saturday. I keep saying Im going to retire, said Caine, adding: Well, I am now. See a gallery of photos from the career of Michael Caine at the end of this story He confirmed that The Great Escaper, which was released earlier this month, will be his last acting gig, saying: Ive played the lead and its got incredible reviews. The only parts Im going to get now are old men 90-year-old men, or maybe 85, you know and I thought well I might as well leave with all this. Ive got wonderful reviews. What am I going to do to beat this? Caine starred alongside the late Glenda Jackson in the movie, playing Bernard Jordan, a 90-year-old who absconds from a care home to attend the 70th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings in France. We had a great time on the movie and I thought, you know, why not leave now? Caine added. Also speaking on the podcast, The Great Escaper director Oliver Parker said, Michael has this ability to turn his performance into something else, crediting his charisma and sheer presence. Caine began his acting career on the stage in the early 1950s, before making his movie debut in 1956. Originally called Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, Jr., he adopted the screen name Caine taken from the 1954 film The Caine Mutiny and later made it legal. Caine has played secret agents, playboys, adventurers, schoolteachers and killers. He portrayed the British spy Harry Palmer in five films, with fame coming after his first stint in the role, in the 1965 drama thriller The Ipcress File. His next big break came a year later, when he starred as a promiscuous chauffeur in the 1966 romantic comedy Alfie. Caine received his first Academy Award for his supporting role in the 1986 Woody Allen film Hannah and Her Sisters, and the second for another supporting role, in the 1999 film The Cider House Rules. He starred alongside Sean Connery in John Hustons 1975 adventure movie The Man Who Would Be King; played a journalist in Vietnam in the 2002 Graham Greene adaptation The Quiet American; and portrayed butler Alfred Pennyworth in the 2008 film The Dark Knight. Caine was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1993, and he was knighted in 2000. He has also written books, saying on the podcast that he has made 160 movies and that he always wanted to be a writer. While there will be no more acting, he said, there will be writing. The thing about movie-making is you have to get up at 6.30 in the morning, do a long ride learning your lines in the bloody car and then get there and work until 10 oclock at night, he said, adding that with writing you dont have to get out of bed. Photos: Actor Michael Caine through the years SIOUX CITY -- A Sioux City woman has been charged with setting a fire that damaged a Morningside home Sunday. The fire was reported at 5:45 p.m. at 2805 Marshall Ave. According to a complaint filed in Woodbury County District Court, a witness told police the occupant, Amber Wilcox, told him "let it burn" when he observed smoke coming from the house and asked her what was going on. Wilcox owned the house with her boyfriend, who had moved out Sunday, the complaint said. The witness told police that about 12 hours earlier, he had heard bangs and observed the boyfriend taking fireworks from the house. The boyfriend told the witness Wilcox had been lighting curtains on fire and setting off fireworks in an attempt to start the house on fire. In the afternoon, the witness was outside when he said he heard Wilcox say "let it burn," and saw her sitting on her porch with smoke coming from the house. Sioux City Fire Rescue deputy fire marshal Joe Rodriguez said the fire was in the living room area and was extinguished soon after firefighters arrived. The single-story house sustained an estimated $40,000 in structural and smoke damage and has been red-tagged as uninhabitable. Rodriguez said he has yet to interview Wilcox to determine how the fire began. In interviews with police, Wilcox, who had a burn mark on her arm, gave different explanations for the fire, the complaint said. Wilcox, 33, was booked into the Woodbury County Jail on a charge of second-degree arson. Her bond was set at $10,000. WASHINGTON The federal judge overseeing the 2020 election interference case against Donald Trump in Washington imposed a narrow gag order on him on Monday, barring the Republican former president from making statements targeting prosecutors, possible witnesses and court staff. The order from U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan marks a milestone moment in the federal case that accuses Trump of illegally conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. It's the most serious restriction a court has placed on Trump's incendiary rhetoric, which has become a centerpiece of his grievance-filled campaign to return to the White House while fighting criminal charges in four cases. The order could end a line of attack that Trump has made central to his campaign for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. But it may be only the beginning of an unprecedented fight over what limits can be a placed on the speech of a defendant who is also campaigning for America's highest public office. In a social media post shortly after the hearing in Washington's federal court, Trump vowed to appeal. During a campaign appearance in Iowa later Monday, Trump decried the order as unconstitutional and claimed it would only help him in the polls. Speaking from the bench, Chutkan said Trump is entitled to criticize the Justice Department generally and assert his belief that the case is politically motivated but can't mount a "smear campaign" against prosecutors and court personnel. "No other criminal defendant would be allowed to do so, and I'm not going to allow it in this case," Chutkan said. Chutkan, who was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama, said she would impose "sanctions as may be necessary" if the gag order is violated, but she wasn't more specific. Judges can threaten gag order violators with fines or jail time, but jailing a presidential candidate could prompt serious political blowback and pose logistical hurdles. Trump's campaign quickly seized on the gag order in a fundraising appeal email Monday afternoon, falsely claiming that it was requested by Biden. At rallies and in social media posts, Trump repeatedly sought to vilify special counsel Jack Smith and other prosecutors, casting himself as the victim of a politicized justice system working to deny him another term. Gag orders are not unheard of in high-profile cases, but there is little legal precedent for court orders limiting the speech of defendants running for public office and none addressing presidential candidates. Legal experts have said the issue may end up before the U.S. Supreme Court. The ruling came as Trump was on his plane traveling to early-voting Iowa for a pair of campaign events. Smith's team argued that Trump knows that his incendiary remarks calling the justice system "rigged," Chutkan a "Trump-hating judge," and prosecutors a "team of thugs" could inspire his supporters to threaten or harass his targets. Prosecutors said it is part of Trump's effort to erode the public's faith in the judicial system just like they say he sought to undermine confidence in the 2020 election by spreading lies of fraud after he lost to Biden. "What (Trumps lawyer John Lauro) is saying is the defendant is above the law and he is not subject to the rules of this court like any other defendant is," prosecutor Molly Gaston told the judge. The judge repeatedly pushed back against claims from the defense that prosecutors sought to censor the Trump's political speech. Chutkan said Trump "does not have a right to say and do exactly as he pleases." "You keep talking about censorship like the defendant has unfettered First Amendment rights. He doesn't," Chutkan told Lauro. "We're not talking about censorship here. We're talking restrictions to ensure there is a fair administration of justice on this case." Lauro said Trump did not violate his pretrial conditions, and those were enough to keep him in check for the future. He told the judge, "What you have put in place is working." Chutkan burst out laughing. "I'm going to have to take issue with that," the judge said. Reading aloud a slew of statements from Trump, Chutkan repeatedly raised concerns that his remarks could inspire violence. "If you call certain people thugs enough times doesn't that suggest, Mr. Lauro, that someone should get them off the streets?" she asked Trump's lawyer. Prosecutors said Trump's litany of attacks was already having consequences. They noted that a top prosecutor on Smith's team received intimidating communications after being singled out by Trump, and a Texas woman was charged in August with making racist death threats against Chutkan, who is of Black and Asian descent, in a phone message left at her chambers. It's the second gag order imposed on Trump in the last month. The judge overseeing Trump's civil fraud trial in New York this month issued a more limited gag order prohibiting personal attacks against court personnel following a social media post from Trump that maligned the judge's principal clerk. Authorities have released the name of an employee who died in an explosion on Friday at the Hornady Manufacturing plant west of Grand Island. The Nebraska State Fire Marshal Agency also released information on the cause of the explosion. Adriana Alvarez, 32, of Grand Island, died at the scene as a result of the explosion, the agency said on Monday. Two additional employees were injured in the explosion and treated at a local hospital, one self-transported, one taken by ambulance, the agency said. Both injured employees were treated and released the same day. Investigators determined explosion occurred during the mixing process of the primer compound. The fire marshal's office said the explosion was accidental. Hornady produces various kinds of ammunition. According to her social media, Alvarez was married with a young child. The Teaching Tree childcare facility in Grand Island posted to its Facebook, "One of our families suffered a great loss yesterday in the tragic accident at Hornady. One of our babies lost their momma in this accident. She leaves behind a beautiful little girl and wife." "She was an amazing sweet person who will be forever missed. If anyone wants to donate to her childs tuition account please drop off a check or cash to the office," the post said. "Or we can take payment over the phone. We will also be collecting gift cards for restaurants or grocery stores as well ... All donations will go towards tuition and whatever the family needs." At 9:47 a.m. on Friday, the Cairo Fire Department responded to a report of an explosion at Hornady Manufacturing Company, 8318 W Old Potash Highway, the fire marshal's office said. Upon arrival, firefighters determined an explosion had occurred within the PVE West Building. Nebraska State Fire Marshal Investigators were requested to aid in the incident investigation. Responding agencies included Cairo Fire Department, Alda Fire Department, Wood River Fire Department, Grand Island Rural Fire Department, Grand Island Fire Department, Hall County Attorneys Office, Hall County Sheriffs Office, and the Nebraska State Fire Marshal Agency. The State Fire Marshal Agency said it has completed its investigation. On Monday, Hornady said the company "is devastated following a fatal incident that took the life of an employee in the primer manufacturing facility." We are devastated for our employee, their family and loved ones, as well as the entire Hornady team. We are working with all agencies to investigate the cause. This production incident was isolated to our primer facility and did not impact any of the manufacturing facilities. We appreciate the outreach we have received while we grieve the loss of one of our own, Steve and Jason Hornady said in a joint statement. Photos: No. 2 Nebraska volleyball hosts No. 13 Penn State, Oct. 14 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 Last week, Shelby Nelson threw away around $200 worth of clothes that had been stained with splotches of brown. Her 1-year-old washer and dryer weren't to blame. Rather, it was the murky water running through her pipes. For the past two to three years, Nelson has been combating discolored water in her home in Belle Plaine. The shade of brown descending from her faucets depends on the day. Several loads of laundry have been ruined beyond repair, forcing her to go to the town laundromat for washes. She sometimes takes her 4-year-old daughter to her mom's house in a different town so she can bathe in clear water. She doesn't drink the water in her house; she doesn't cook with it. Water filters and treatments are out of her budget right now. To her, there's no solution in sight. "We've had it so bad, it looks like we filled our tub with beer," said Nelson, 30, who has lived in Belle Plaine since 2016. "The nicest way to put it is I'm pissed ... I feel like we're literally living in Flint, Michigan." Belle Plaine was once home to a gushing geyser named Old Jumbo, where more than 5 million gallons of water spewed per day from a well in 1886. It took 130 barrels of cement, sand and clay to plug the flow. Now, the second-largest town in Benton County is at the epicenter of the worst drought on record in Eastern Iowa. In the last three years of drought, Benton and Tama counties are the driest they've ever been in a three-year period. As a result, Belle Plaine is scraping the bottom of its water reserves. It launched a water restriction July 27. Its four shallow wells are producing only 20% of their normal capacity, and the 2,300-some residents are now reliant on the town's deep emergency well, laden with minerals. Belle Plaine is one of several Iowa towns gasping for water amid the record-breaking drought, falling back on outdated and insufficient water resources. The community with many members in the low- to moderate-income range is desperate for reprieve and solutions. "I was planning on a drought this year, but I wasn't planning on the worst drought in my entire lifetime or in the last 50 years," said city administrator Steve Beck. "Belle Plaine is kind of the canary in the coal mine because it's just who's next?" Path to dryness The problem started more than a decade ago when a landowner illegally rerouted a stream near the Belle Plaine well field. The waterway is a tributary to nearby Salt Creek, which feeds four city wells with its shallow aquifer. The flow originally fed into a wetland around the well field, allowing sitting water to percolate through the ground and replenish the shallow aquifer underneath. The landowner constructed a pair of 5-foot berms on either side of the stream to reroute it away from the well field. He put tile drainage under the area and farmed it. Around 2010, the well field began to dry out a trend exacerbated by the last three years of drought, which have left Belle Plaine 2 feet short of its normal rainfall amounts. The drier it got, the more stress the well system endured without sufficient recharge. "You're taking the water out, but none's going back in," Beck said. "That has caused a systemic problem for us." Water levels in the shallow aquifer are now depleted by up to 14 feet, Beck said. The shallow wells, dipping around 35 feet deep underground, have less than 5 feet of water to draw from. Belle Plaine built an emergency fifth well during its last major drought in 1988. It reaches 350 feet into a deeper aquifer and is typically used during emergencies and droughts to blend with water from the other wells. Now, amid exceptional drought, it has become the dominant source of water for the town. It's rich in iron and manganese secondary contaminants that can alter the taste, odor and appearance of water, but don't present risks to human health. Without enough water, Belle Plaine also can't flush its water distribution system including its fire hydrants free of sediment and rust. Belle Plaine usually does it twice a year. In the last six years, it has only happened once. The city water still meets the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act and is safe the drink, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources confirmed. But, with the combination of minerals and sediment, certain parts of town are pouring discolored water from their taps. "There's no way around it other than to wait until the aquifer replenishes," said Beck, who said he doesn't drink the discolored water. "We're just very thankful that we have any water at all, but it's not good." The last well standing is also the only line of defense in emergency situations. "I don't want to run the town just off of one emergency well," Beck said. "It's not at risk of going dry, but we're one water main break or one fire away from catastrophe." Trying a solution Each step across the Belle Plaine well field is paired with an audible crunch of dead grass underfoot. The 10 acres are now dry and browning. The path of the serpentine stream that used to wind through the area, feathering water across the landscape, is nearly gone. But, last week, Beck caught a glimpse of hope for the town: Rain was in the forecast. Much of that water would run off land and slip into waterways. Salt Creek and its tributaries, which had shrunk throughout the drought, could see their water levels rising once again. To prevent that water from rushing away from its wells, Belle Plaine needed to act fast. Beck, who is also vice chair of the Middle Iowa River Watershed Management Authority executive board, called together a task force of local and state officials and researchers. They determined the town could build up temporary levees to divert the Salt Creek tributary back toward the well field in time for the forecasted rains. There, water could sit until it soaked into the ground or evaporated. City public works staffers constructed two levees that were designed to be rudimentary and low-impact, raising between 2 and 4 feet tall. They are also plugging tile drain lines as they find them to keep water on the field. "If we get a good amount of rain, that'll hopefully hold back a couple (million) gallons, I'm hoping for," Beck said last week. Not an isolated issue There's not a single county in Iowa has had above-normal rainfall over the last three years, said Iowa DNR hydrology resources coordinator Tim Hall. Many counties are experiencing their top-10 driest three-year periods on record, sinking deeper into drought year over year. "It's like if you have a checking account and you overspend in one year, and then you start with a negative balance and you overspend in the second year. Then you have a bigger negative balance and you overspend in the third year," Hall said. "You find yourself in serious trouble. And that's the situation a lot of the state is in." About a dozen other communities around Iowa are, like Belle Plaine, struggling with their water security amid the drought, said Chad Fields, a DNR geologist who works with communities across the state on drinking water sources. A handful have enacted voluntary water restrictions. The widespread drought is forcing the jurisdictions to rethink their water systems and evaluate their security. Some in western and northwestern Iowa are drilling deeper wells to supplement their more vulnerable shallow wells. Others are utilizing private sector experts to help make water supplies more secure for growing communities. "Belle Plaine isn't alone," Fields said. "We've had a number of communities looking at their options." Looking ahead From Wednesday to Friday morning, Belle Plaine saw about nine-tenths of an inch of rain, according to the National Weather Service Quad Cities bureau. Another inch or so fell throughout the weekend. The rain may buy them time. But it won't be enough to solve the deficit that has been growing for years. Even if the temporary levees successfully retained water, it will likely take weeks for any additional moisture to hit the shallow wells. If drought conditions return, the town could slide back to water insecurity. Beck wants to solve that for good. "In the past, it was like, 'We just need to get through this drought. We'll get some rain and be fine,'" he said. "We're not going to not do anything this time." Beck is looking into a treatment or filtration system for the city's deep well. He also wants to drill one or two more shallow wells, if possible, and then revert the area back to its marshy beginnings. Belle Plaine has purchased the land surrounding the well field from the original owner and is working with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to start rebuilding the wetland there. The project could create a sustainable water supply that the rural town could rely on in perpetuity, even throughout future droughts. "We're going to get through this," Beck said firmly as he sat in his office on Wednesday. A gentle tapping of raindrops drummed overhead. "But I don't want this to ever happen again." Brittney J. Miller is the Energy & Environment Reporter for The Gazette and a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. In a remarkable display of bravery and heroism, an Israeli K-9 unit successfully rescued 200 civilians from the blazing communities of the Gaza Strip. Israeli soldiers joined forces with their highly trained K-9 partners to confront and neutralize terrorists who had taken hostages and sought refuge inside residential properties. Israeli K-9 Unit Saves Saves 200 Civilians In a recent report by Fox News, it has been revealed that commanders and soldiers belonging to Israel's esteemed Oketz K-9 Unit were strategically divided into three separate groups. Their mission was to navigate the hazardous conditions of the Gaza Strip and carry out brave hostage rescue operations. According to a statement from the Israel Defense Forces, their K-9s are highly trained canines specifically used for counterterrorism operations, search and rescue missions, and various other specialized tasks. Soldiers undergo rigorous selection and testing procedures before officially joining the unit. According to the Israel Defense Forces, every dog is trained with a specific specialty, such as attack, search and rescue, locating weapons, or detecting explosives. In a statement released by the Israel Defense Forces Spokesman's Unit, it was announced with pride that the K-9 Unit not only successfully rescued hostages, but also played a crucial role in identifying the death of over 10 Hamas terrorists. In a recent incident at the Kibbutz Kfar Aza conflict, a highly skilled canine named "Naro" was deployed with the mission of locating terrorists and weapons. However, the unexpected happened as Naro not only fulfilled his initial goal but also managed to expose the whereabouts of a planned ambush on Israeli forces. In a display of remarkable bravery, Naro fearlessly confronted and attacked the Hamas gunmen involved in the ambush. The Israeli soldiers successfully eliminated an ambush, thanks to the alertness of Naro. The heroic K-9 dog met his tragic end during the Kibbutz Kfar Aza conflict. Israeli soldiers, carrying out their duties, stumbled upon his remains and promptly transported them back to their base for a proper burial. According to Blaze Media, a senior Hamas leader was located and apprehended by a second K-9 named "Charlie." The canine's keen sense of smell led the soldiers to the terrorists, resulting in their arrest. In an ongoing effort to combat Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the K-9 Units are gearing up to resume their critical part in leading the operation. Read Also: Maren Morris To Quit Country Music, Complains It's Getting Too Patriotic-Netizens Happy With Her Decision Israel Defenses Forces Spokesman's Unit Says Ready to Enter Gaza Strip Hamas militants have reportedly killed nearly 30 Americans and at least 1,300 Israelis, while also engaging in the abduction of civilians. Meanwhile, Israel's counterattack on Hamas has reportedly led to the demise of approximately 1,500 Hamas militants within the borders of Israel. According to a statement from the Israel Defense Forces Spokesman's Unit, the next course of action is to proceed into the Gaza Strip. In its efforts to ensure a successful task, the Spokesman's Unit diligently works to neutralize all terrorists involved. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is set to implement a series of significant changes to their hostage rescue operations. These changes will be made possible through the invaluable assistance of the highly trained Oketz K-9 Unit. Equipped with exceptional skills and training, these dog heroes are poised to revolutionize the way hostages are rescued. Related Article: Israel's Six-Hour Gaza Evacuation Order Is Over-What Happens Next? @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. DES MOINES More than $11 billion in federal funding was sent to Iowa via multiple aid packages designed to help Americans and local governments weather the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. More than $2.4 billion remains unspent by Iowa, according to a recent state report. But how was the rest of it spent? And whats planned for the remaining funds? A recent report from the nonpartisan Iowa Legislative Services Agency analyzed how much the state received in federal financial assistance during the pandemic, where the state has allocated funds, and how much it still has to spend. LSA issued the report in early August, and the financial analysis within the report is accurate as of July 28. That means the figures in the report are likely slightly different as of mid-October. The report tracks funding from 87 different federal programs. How much funding did Iowa receive? State agencies in Iowa have reported receiving federal assistance totaling $11.047 billion, according to the LSA report. That federal assistance came from six pieces of federal funding legislation passed in 2020 and 2021, including the CARES Act and Paycheck Protection Program passed in 2020 under former President Donald Trump, and the American Rescue Plan Act passed in 2021 under President Joe Biden. Where did the funding go? Broadly speaking, $7.9 billion was allocated directly to state agencies, nearly $3 billion was allocated to the states Coronavirus Fiscal Recovery Fund, and $152 million was dedicated to a capital fund for broadband internet expansion. Broken down by program, Iowas unemployment insurance program received the largest chunk of federal financial assistance: nearly $3 billion, according to the LSA report. During the peak of the pandemic, unemployment claims spiked in Iowa and across the country as businesses were forced to close either by public health mandate or because of a lack of business. A large portion of the federal financial assistance was designed to help employers and workers survive that disruption. More than $1.1 billion went to Iowas Medical Assistance Program, which supports the states Medicaid program. Roughly $650 million in federal assistance designed to help state and local governments was sent to Iowa. And a trio of education programs each received roughly $400 million in federal funds. Given those programs received the most pandemic assistance funding, it comes as no surprise that the three state agencies that received the most funding were Workforce Development with $3 billion, Health and Human Services with $1.6 billion, and Education with $1.1 billion. How much remains unspent? Of that $2.4 billion that the state has not yet allocated, the biggest chunks are in the state public health department and the Iowa Finance Authority, which operates housing assistance programs for homeowners and renters and has spent less than a third of its allotted federal funding. Most of the funds have deadlines by which the money must be spent, and those deadlines are staggered over the coming years, depending on the funding source. In some cases, the state has until 2027 to spend pandemic relief funds. There is nearly $1.1 billion remaining in the Iowa Coronavirus Fiscal Recovery Fund, according to the LSA report. Those funds carry broad spending authority: they can be used to address emergency and economic effects of the pandemic, replenish lost government revenues, or invest in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure. Funds from the fiscal recovery fund must be spent by the end of 2026, or they will revert back to the federal government. The public health department, which is now under the Health and Human Services department with the recent reorganization of state government, is yet to spend more than $337 million, according to the LSA report. Thats 60% of the federal funds awarded to the department. The majority of the public health departments unspent funds are for the Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Infectious Diseases Program, according to the LSA report. Expenses for that program are ongoing and funding will remain available in future years, the report says. The Iowa Finance Authority is yet to spend $208 million; thats 68% of its allotted financial assistance. The bulk of those unspent funds are for the Emergency Rental Assistance program, and those funds also will remain available in future years, according to the LSA report. The workforce development agency had $415.5 million still unspent, but that is just 12% of the funding it received. Schools got $190B to counter the pandemic's effect on student learningHere's how they spent it Schools got $190B to counter the pandemic's effect on student learningHere's how they spent it State-by-state breakdown Omaha City Council President Pete Festersen is proposing city ordinances to ban so-called ghost gun components as well as bump stocks and other accessories that make semi-automatic guns fire more rapidly. Festersen also wants the council to pass a resolution supporting Omaha Mayor Jean Stotherts recently issued executive order prohibiting people from carrying firearms on city property. Festersen also is proposing a resolution encouraging gun owners to store their weapons safely and to take basic firearms safety classes. His proposals represent the latest effort by city officials to adopt new local gun regulations that they believe are allowed by Nebraskas new permitless concealed-carry law, LB77, which led the City of Omaha to repeal most of its gun ordinances. LB77 failed to recognize cities that face different circumstances and need local control of public safety, and it forced us to repeal measures that were in place that the police chief believes helped prevent violence and that were successful in removing illegal guns from the streets, Festersen said. And it does limit future measures we can take to address the issue. But its important we do whatever we can to reduce gun violence and increase public safety in the community. Festersen called his proposals commonsense measures that will contribute to public safety. The council is likely to hold public hearings and vote on the measures Oct. 31. LB77 took effect in September. It allows Nebraskans 21 and older to carry concealed firearms without a permit. The state legislation invalidates any local ordinances limiting that ability. Because of the law, the Omaha City Council repealed a raft of ordinances. Stothert, Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer and a majority of the Omaha City Council had opposed LB77. The mayor issued her executive order in late August. It prohibits firearms at properties owned, leased or managed by the city. Those properties include buildings, facilities, parks and public spaces. Ghost guns are kits that people can buy online and assemble into firearms. They dont have serial numbers, require background checks or generate records transfers that allow guns to be traced. Festersen proposes to make it illegal to possess the unfinished pieces or to manufacture a firearm from a ghost gun kit from a frame that does not have a serial number. The other ordinance he proposes would prohibit possessing or selling multi-burst trigger activators such as bump stocks in the city. The mass shooter who killed 58 people and wounded about 500 others in Las Vegas in 2017 was suspected to have used bump stocks. Festersen said he had consulted with Schmaderer and Omaha City Attorney Matt Kuhse on the ordinances. Ghost guns in particular, I think that is an emerging issue for cities, given that emerging technology, Festersen said. Thats a concern of his (Schmaderers). Kuhse said Wednesday that the proposals would not run afoul of LB77. He said the ghost gun ordinance would apply only to the parts, not a completed firearm. Once a ghost gun was fully assembled and operable, the ordinance would not apply to it, Kuhse said. The City of Lincoln, he said, has had a bump stock ban for quite some time. The mayors executive order has already taken effect. Asked why a resolution was necessary in addition to the order, Festersen said he felt it was important we get on record in support of that, because I know that it may be challenged. He said he wouldnt be surprised if the Legislature tried to revisit that issue. Festersen said the council cant require safe gun storage or training on firearm use and safety because of LB77. But we can support and encourage it, he said. And thats what this would do. State Sen. Tom Brewer, who introduced LB77, has criticized Stotherts executive order and a similar one from Lincoln Mayor Leiriron Gaylor Baird. Whether they call it an ordinance, an executive order, or a law, any government ban on going armed in public places is repugnant to the constitutional right to keep and bear arms, let alone the substance of LB77, Brewer wrote in an opinion piece published in the McCook Gazette. Stothert said the first time she saw Festersens proposals was Wednesday. She said they are not yet in their final form, having been submitted to the Law Department on Tuesday. As far as any resolutions or ordinances, I will have to evaluate any final and amended proposals like firearms with the chief to ensure that theyre helpful and are successful efforts to further reduce crime, while also not infringing on ones right to have a firearm that is outlined in our Constitution and in our new state law, Stothert said. She knows from talking with Schmaderer that ghost guns have been used in crimes. But she said she needs to talk with Schmaderer, look at data and statistics and understand the ordinances implications for Omaha police before deciding whether to support the ordinances. Stothert said she didnt know why Festersen would forward a resolution supporting her executive order. She said she couldnt recall the council doing that in her 11 years as mayor. As for the safe storage and training resolution, she said she questioned the accuracy of the data in the draft and disagrees with some of the statements in it. If it wants to survive, Israel surely must annihilate Hamas, this ever more venomous, maniacal Islamic group of terrorists misruling a next-door neighbor, Gaza. But should Hamas strong enabling boss, Iran, also be a target as a world hazard on its way to nuclear weaponry? Even with Hamas gone for good, an untethered Iran would still have Hezbollah to boss around and the means of forging new Hamas-style, Palestinian invaders with civilization the final loser. The Hamas invasion of Israel with thousands of missiles and massacre was horrendous. The assault was not to combat the largely missing Israeli soldiers as much as for the joyful torture of civilians, including the rape of young women, the killing of children while their parents watched and even cutting off the heads of babies. Hamas also took hostages they're now threatening to kill If Israel continues to fight back. These barbarians killed the most Jews since the Holocaust after inexplicably being able to cross a border that's supposed to be uncrossable, thanks to U.S.-Israeli coordination. Conducted on an Israeli holy day, the invasion was the first inside Israel since the Yom Kippur War a half century ago and was clearly part of the frequently stated antisemitic dream of killing all 9 million Israelis while acquiring their land. The invaders swept through Israeli towns inflicting horror, pain and death and then taking some survivors to Gaza. It might seem ironic, but all of this inhumane outburst seems to have happened in part because of an excellent Donald Trump policy, something worthy of a Nobel Prize. He and his coordinators managed to persuade a number of Arab countries in the Middle East to form peace accords -- the Abraham Accords -- as virtual allies of Israel while also benefitting more from trade. The participants have altered the Middle East balance of power by helping themselves as much as Israel was helped by increased protection and fewer threats. Still, the tricky question reminded of what formidable, sizeable, oil-rich Saudi Arabia, a past enemy of Iran, was going to do. Saudi Arabia worked closely with the United States in oil and military trade under Trump while not caring much for President Joe Biden doing endless, billions of dollars-worth of favors for Iran. But lately, Saudi Arabia has hinted it might join the Abraham Accords. Iran, which went from limping under Trump to racing fast under Biden, has been more than a little upset. It is the major anti-Israel power in the Middle East, very close to obtaining nuclear weaponry and would be set back if Saudi Arabia made that move. According to a Wall Street Journal account, Iran used money and demands to get Hamas to jump in where it did not particularly want to go. The war does seem to have caused Saudi Arabia to be less likely to make the pro-Israel move, though recent Israeli internal divisiveness, apparently seen by Iran as another advantage, has quickly disappeared. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had upset large portions of the population in wanting to limit supreme court authority, but national unity and enthusiastic support of Netanyahu followed the Hamas invasion. Biden is standing strongly behind Israel but has given no indication of ceasing his appeasing approach to Iran. He should do as much immediately and definitively. This article was originally featured in Foreign Policy, the magazine of global politics and ideas. For news, expert analysis, and background on the conflict, read FPs latest coverage of the Israel-Hamas war. The astonishing spectacle and intimate horrors of the attack by Hamas and Islamic Jihad against Israelis make it even more difficult than usual to understand why it occurred and how it can be prevented from happening again. There is simply no escaping the gut punch of seeing or hearing people of all agesincluding children, teenagers, the elderly, and the disabledbeing brutalized, riddled with bullets, or dragged into captivity. The terror and pain of the victims and the agony of their familieswhose appearances, accents, and life stories are so familiar to U.S. and European audiencesmake it supremely difficult to undertake effective analysis. These are real, natural, and undeniable reactions. The emotional and moral truths they reflect are crucial to an effective response. But their very intensity is dangerous. This applies to presidents as well as ordinary people. U.S. President Joe Bidens passionate identification with the heartbreak of the Israeli victims and his categorical condemnation of the attack as similar to those committed by the Islamic State reflect his honest emotions and match the feelings of much of his audience. But being present emotionally is not the same as being effective politically. Advertisement Advertisement To prevent the monstrousness that has been unleashed on innocent Israelis from happening again and again, along with the retribution innocent Palestinians suffer as a result, we must not rely on the certainty of our revulsion; we must identify and remove the causes of the attack. I refer not to the specific calculations, decisions, and deployments inside of Gaza that produced this specific bloodletting, but to the machine of institutionalized oppression, hate, and fear that comprises the real infrastructure of violence. The drive shaft of this machine is the horizonless immiseration, imprisonment, and trauma inflicted on the masses of people living in what Israelis refer to as a coastal enclave. Advertisement Coverage of the Oct. 7 attacks has focused on their brutality and their uncanny similarity to events half a century ago along the Suez Canal and in the Golan Heights that shattered then-prevalent myths of Israels omniscient intelligence services and its fully professional and in-control military. But this time, the shock of failure is even more unnerving since the blow was delivered against civilians inside Israeli territory, not on military units stationed inside occupied territories. Advertisement Today, what is at stake is not whether the Israel Defense Forces are better off facing enemy Arab states directly or with demilitarized zones in between. What is being challenged is the entire idea of Israel living a normal life as a Jewish-Zionist villa protected by walls of concrete, steel, and fear against the dark Middle Eastern jungle that surrounds it. Advertisement Advertisement If we really do want to know and address the causes of the butchery we have witnessed, and which we are otherwise bound to witness again, we must shift our frame of reference. The fanaticism and bloodlust of the militants who carried out the attack and perpetrated war crimesalong with their leaders calculations, tactics, ruthlessness, mobilization skills, and readiness to dieare not products of a special Palestinian and Muslim prowess or innate evil. Advertisement They are what canand perhaps inevitably willhappen when masses of human beings are treated as the 2.3 million human beings living in the Gaza Strip have been treated for decades. Nor can the event be explained by the undeniable incompetence, hubris, and apparent negligence of the Israeli government and its security apparatuses. Given enough time, any system designed to contain explosive and steadily increasing pressures will fail. Anyone who tells a story knows that most of the work of the telling is done in the choice of where the story begins. Advertisement If the story of this attack begins on the holiday and Sabbath morning of Oct. 7, it becomes a 9/11 tale of innocent victims exposed to the unprovoked violence of barbarians. The plot then unfolds as the struggle to overcome the shock of a devastating blow, and then to defeat and punish the aggressors on behalf of an outraged humanity. Advertisement Advertisement But if the story is seen as starting in 1948, when it was the grandparents of Gaza refugees who lived in the areas to which their armed descendants returned so briefly and violently, then the moral of the story and the requirements of a satisfying end to the narrative change drastically. In this wider temporal framing, Hamas and Islamic Jihad did not start a war; they launched a prison revolt. Appreciating the truth of that framing requires a bit of historical background. Before the declaration of Israel as a state in May 1948, the apron of land surrounding Gaza contained dozens of Palestinian Arab towns and villages, the largest of which was al-Majdalwhat is now the entirely Jewish city of Ashkelon. Advertisement When, on Nov. 29, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly voted to divide Palestine into a Jewish state and a Palestinian Arab state, this whole areaincluding Gaza, its surrounding areas, and parts of the Negev Desertwas designated to be included within the Arab state. But the U.N. failed to provide money, troops, or administrators to implement its decision. Abandoning Palestine to chaos, the British, who had ruled the territory for more than 20 years, pulled their forces out of city after city, region after region. As they did so, Jews and Arabs plunged into an atrocity-filled civil war over which areas would fall under Jewish or Arab rule. Advertisement Advertisement The result of this civil war, of battles between Israel and the expeditionary forces of Arab states that invaded Palestine in May 1948, and of increasingly systematic Israeli campaigns to expel Arab civilians from territories that were to have been the Arab state, was the displacement of 750,000 Palestinians; 200,000 of them found shelter in a narrow wedge of coastal Palestine occupied by Egyptian troopswhat became known as the Gaza Strip. Israels refusal to allow those who fled or were expelled to return to their homes, and its subsequent destruction of their villages, towns, and neighborhoods, turned these displaced persons into refugees. Advertisement Advertisement Ruled or dominated by Egypt from the 1949 Armistice until 1956, by Israel from October 1956 to March 1957, by Egypt again from then until June 1967, and by Israel since then, the strips refugee population immediately swamped its original inhabitants. Fierce resistance against the Israeli occupation in the early 1970s led to policies implemented by Ariel Sharon, who later became Israels prime minister, that bulldozed a grid of roads through densely packed neighborhoods, killed hundreds of Palestinians, and crushed the radical Palestinian guerrilla organizations that were entrenched in the refugee camps. Seeing Muslim religious identification as less threatening than Palestinian nationalism, the Israeli authorities then offered support to the Gaza branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, so that by the time of the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising, which began in late 1987, the Brotherhood could create Hamas (officially the Islamic Resistance Movement) to rival the PLO as the vanguard of the Palestinian struggle. Advertisement Advertisement It may seem odd that Israel had a hand in creating its nemesis, but not quite so odd if one takes note of public comments made before the October attackby both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Bezalel Smotrich, the minister of finance who is largely in charge of West Bank settler affairsthat the nationalist Palestinian Authority, with its ambition to build a Palestinian nation-state alongside Israel, should be seen as the real enemy, compared to Hamas, whose threat to the PAs political position made it, in their eyes, a valued asset. More than anything else, the Oslo Accords of the 1990s reflected a new Israeli government strategy of relying on what it hoped would be the tractability and greed of PLO leaders, rather than on the relative passivity previous governments had (mistakenly) associated with the Muslim Brotherhood. Yasser Arafat and the leadership of the PLO were allowed to return to Palestine from their exile in Tunisia with the understanding that they would suppress popular hostility to Israel in return for a state, or a statelet, they would rule. But Israel more or less doomed that idea by refusing to allocate enough authority to Arafat and his interim government to enable it to build legitimacy among Palestinians. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since the signing of the Oslo Accords, the continued expansion of settlements in the West Bank, the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and the explosion of violence associated with the Second Intifada (which began in 2000) have destroyed any prospect of a negotiated two-state solutionthe once abhorred and then widely embraced, but no longer attainable, vision of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that would provide Palestinians with sufficient realization of their aspirations to end the Arab-Israeli conflict. In 2002 and 2003, Sharons government put Arafats headquarters in Ramallah under siege and then transferred him to France, where he died the following year. In 2005, hoping to rid itself of the headache of having responsibility for Gazas large, impoverished, and hostile refugee population and to isolate it from the West Bank, Israel evacuated its military and 9,000 settlers from the Gaza Strip. It also refused to negotiate with Palestinian representatives about any arrangements for relations between the strip and Israel following the withdrawal. Advertisement When Hamas then won the Palestinian legislative elections of 2006, Israel, with U.S. support, responded by a failed coup attempt to forcibly replace it with rule of Gaza by Fatah. Hamas then defeated Fatah forces in Gaza and secured its political ascendancy there, leading Israel to seal off Gazans from Israel, even as some official Israeli maps refrained, and still refrain, from designating Gaza as outside of its international borders. Gaza became a resource-starved and overpopulated open-air prison, forced to rely on Israel for food, water, electricity, trade, mail delivery, access to fishing, medical care, or contact with the outside world. From then on, Israel has effectively treated Hamas as the prisoner organization responsible for preventing the inmatesnone of whom have been placed on trial, and all of whom have life sentencesfrom harming Israel or Israelis. Advertisement Advertisement This relationship has been enforced by punishing incursions into the strip by the Israeli military: for 23 days in 200809, five days in 2012, 50 days in 2014, and 15 days in 2021, in the process killing more than 6,400 Palestinians between 2008 and September 2023 and inflicting billions of dollars of damage. But in between these operations to mow the lawn, Israeli governments and Hamas cooperated enough to prevent humanitarian catastrophes, keep Hamas bureaucrats paid, and suppress Islamic State and Islamic Jihad efforts to inflict as much damage as possible on Israel. As in any prison, correctional authorities distinguish between inmates individually regarded as criminals and worthy of punishment and the organization representing these inmates, which can be a useful and reliable partner. And as in any prison, the wardens select trusties among the prisoners for rewards and to serve as informers. Thus, for example, are small but varying numbers of carefully screened Palestinians in Gaza allowed, under conditions of general good behavior in the facility, to leave its confines to work for wages in Israel, returning every night to prison. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The remarks cited above by Israeli ministers, preferring Hamas to the PA, help explain the fact that no Israeli government has relied more completely, or explicitly, on Hamas as an instrument with which to administer Gaza than have the recent Netanyahu governments. Satisfied that its Iron Dome anti-missile defenses and its sophisticated and expensive underground barrier had neutralized Hamas ability to hurt Israel by launching rockets over the prison walls or tunneling under them, Netanyahu formed an image of Hamas as having been domesticated. In March 2019, according to Haaretz, he told a meeting of Likud party Knesset members that anyone who wants to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state has to support bolstering Hamas and transferring money to Hamas. This is part of our strategyto isolate the Palestinians in Gaza from the Palestinians in the West Bank. Advertisement Advertisement Netanyahus policy of relying on Hamas to keep the Gaza prison from boiling over allowed his government to focus all its attention on advancing West Bank settlement, promoting a judicial overhaul to enable annexation without granting Palestinians civil or political rights, and raiding Palestinian cities and refugee camps to arrest or kill militants it could no longer rely on the Palestinian authorities to control. While the wardens were looking the other way, the prisoner organizations in Gaza put their carefully concealed plans for a revolt into effect. Advertisement Thinking about the present in this way is necessary if future violent revolts are to be prevented. The bitter reality is that Gaza is Israels problem because, like it or not, Gaza is a part of Israel. Though most governments and the media have been referring to the fighting as an interstate war, it is not. Advertisement Israel neither recognizes Gaza (or Palestine) as a state nor Hamas as a legitimate governing authority over its inhabitants. Instructively, Israels initial response to the attack was to shut off all electricity, food, medicine, and water to the entire area. No state can do those things to another state, but it can do it to a territory it surrounds and dominates. Thus, before rejecting as outlandish the idea of Gaza as a crowded Israeli prison, consider that what goes on in Israeli prison cells and yardssuch as in Beit Shean, Ashkelon, or Megiddo, where most of the inmates are Palestiniansis controlled not by the wardens but by Palestinian prisoner organizations. Those familiar with the Israeli criminal justice system know this is true, and none would imagine saying that these prisons are not located in Israel. In just this sense, the 140-square-mile prison known as the Gaza Strip, whose internal affairs are dominated by Hamas, is also within Israel. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Everyone knows how brutal escaping prisoners can be, how ruthlessly prison revolts are crushed, and how many inmates uninvolved in the violence suffer as a result. We have seen the former, and we are now seeing the latter. But prison revolts are also seen as graphic signs of how ineffectively, cruelly, or counterproductively the prison was being run. They lead, often if not always, to prison reform or, in some cases, prison closure. Indeed, this is what is needed in the case of the Gaza prison. Israel must decide: If it doesnt want Gaza, it must let the United Nations take it over and assist itwith Israeli reparations, Gulf money, and international security assistancetoward the best future it can achieve. Advertisement If Israel wants to keep Gaza, it must, as an often-ignored part of former U.S. President Donald Trumps plan for Palestinians advocated, open up lightly inhabited regions in the northern Negev region of Israel to hundreds of thousands of Gazans whose ancestral homes were once located there and extend equal rights to all to participate in the life of the state that rules them. Ultimately, this means, and will require, equal citizenship for all. There are now more Arabs than Jews living between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. The problems of how they live together, and what living together eventually means for the name and the character of the state they share, are daunting. But such problems are better than those we have today, and they are better than those we will have tomorrow if the policies followed continue to address only the horror of the catastrophe and not its causes. By the old political playbook, Kamala Harris did everything right. She went to law school and worked as a prosecutor across various offices in California, making her way toward the top: district attorney of San Francisco, then attorney general of the state of California. In 2016, as Americans were voting Donald Trump into office, Californians put Kamala Harris in the Senate. Less than three years later, she was running for president. Then it all seemed to go wrong. Her campaign fizzled before it could gain any real momentum. Stories leaked out about how it had been in disarray from the start. Harris, once an incredibly promising potential star, seemed to have flamed out. Despite what ought to be a solid recoveryHarris is vice president, after allshes never quite captured the attention, let alone the support, of Americans broadly or even Democrats specifically. Part of that is a Kamala Harris problem: Shes more comfortable asking questions than answering them; her notorious word salads make her a less-than-compelling public speaker. Part of it is a timing problem: She ran for president as a former prosecutor at a moment when skepticism of law enforcement was arguably at an all-time high. And part of it is a voter problem: While its too pat to write off Harris lack of popularity as simply the outcome of racism and sexism, its also tough to compare Harris trajectory to that of, say, Joe Biden and not conclude that at least some of the problem is racism and sexism. Advertisement Advertisement Two recent profiles of Harris, one in the Atlantic and one in the New York Times, thoroughly illustrate these weaknesses, along with the general sense that shes MIA. This is despite the fact that she is doing quite a bit behind the scenes, though sometimes shes been assigned pretty undesirable tasks, and sometimes shes just been bigfooted by Biden. Both pieces paint a picture of a woman who feels besieged and surveilled and unfairly criticized; who is more comfortable in the analytical space of question-asking and solution-finding and less at ease trying to connect her personal story to a mass audience; who hasnt quite figured out how to navigate the reductively termed identity politics that have defined her ascent (has anyone?). Advertisement Advertisement The truth is that the ground shifted under Harris feet. When I was in law school, twenty years ago, prosecution was a form of public service that was thought to carry little controversial baggage, Harvard professor Jeannie Suk Gersen wrote in the New Yorker in 2020. Marked as neither liberal nor conservative, it was also an all-purpose route for young people who aspired to political or judicial positions. The lawyer-to-politician pathway is so well established that every Democratic president in the past three decades has held a law degree, and many prominent liberal politicians have been not only lawyers but prosecutors. Bill Clinton and John Kerry were prosecutors; so were Sonia Sotomayor and Merrick Garland. For a politically ambitious young person in the 1990s and 2000s, working as a prosecutor no doubt seemed like a safe and respectable path. For Harris in particular, it may have seemed like a particularly beneficial one. She is a Black woman, after all, who came up within Black institutionsa multiethnic community in the Bay Area, then her college years at the historically Black Howard Universityand no doubt understood that she would have to make herself palatable to a largely white power structure, and that would require proving she wasnt a radical. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For a long time, it worked. Harris holds the distinction of being first in a long list of roles: first Black vice president, first South Asian vice president, first female vice president, first Black attorney general of California, first South Asian attorney general of California, first female attorney general of California, first elected Black female district attorney in California, first South Asian U.S. senator. (She was also only the second Black female U.S. senator.) When she ran for president in 2020, though, a racial reckoning was underway. The mass protests against police brutality were some of the largest in history; by some calculations, Black Lives Matter was the largest social movement in the U.S., with 26 million Americans telling Kaiser Family Foundation pollsters that they had turned out to protest. Law enforcement primarily cops, but prosecutors toobecame the target of much of that rage. Even some Republicans seemed to rethink their long-standing tough-on-crime politics, and advocated against harsh sentencing for nonviolent offenders and in favor of programs they said could reduce recidivism. Kim Kardashian visited Donald Trump in the White House and successfully lobbied him to free several women serving lengthy sentences for nonviolent crimes. Defund the Police was soundly rejected by Republicans and never embraced by mainstream Democrats either, but liberal politicians were also generally loath to disavow it and risk alienating their progressive base. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At the same time, Democrats remained fractured after the 2016 election debacle, when the primary race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders had ripped open intraparty fault lines, then the general election between Clinton and Trump exposed Americas deep and pervasive misogyny. Many Democratic voters wondered, even four years later, if a woman could beat Trump at all, or if the country was simply too sexist, and the stakes of a second Trump term too high, to take that risk again. This is the landscape onto which Harris, who long billed herself as a top cop of California, walked. Many once-promising politicians find themselves in the right place at the wrong time, and that was certainly part of Harris problem. But the bad-timing theory is partly undercut by the reality that Biden won the Democratic nomination and the presidency in the same exact period. Biden was never a prosecutor, but he did pen the 1994 crime bill widely believed to have fueled the scourge of mass incarceration. Tellingly, in 2016, Hillary Clinton also faced widespread reproach for her support of the legislation at the time, even though she had been first lady and had neither written the law nor had the power to vote on it; her primary opponent Sanders had actually voted for the bill but was generally spared the attacks. So, even though all of these politiciansBiden, Clinton, Sanders, Harrishave expressed at least some regret for their tough-on-crime pasts, its worth noting that the women among them have faced much more scrutiny and shouldered much more blame. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Related From Slate Heres Who Came Out for RFK Jr.s Campaign Relaunch Read More The Harris-Biden comparison is in many ways an instructive one. Because, honestly, neither is a particularly compelling speaker, and both are known for their sometimes-incoherent answers. Both have tough-on-crime pasts and have allowed their politics to shift along with the times. Both took safe and well-established routes to political power. Both were identity politics candidates, Biden long branding himself the avatar of the working-class white man from Americas forgotten middle, and Harris a Black woman embodying the most-consistent and most-overlooked Democratic voters. Advertisement Not only that: Both assumed their roles as vice president in part because of their identities; its just that Harris is much more often remarked upon. Theres little question that Barack Obama believed having a moderate white man with blue-collar appeal as his running mate would benefit his campaign, the same way Biden later believed having a Black woman with female-voter and voter-of-color appeal would benefit his. The difference is that the white-man model was a familiar oneafter all, every single vice president up until that point had been a white manand so was framed less as identity politics than the best guy for the job (without much questioning as to why the job always went to a guy). Harris didnt enjoy that benefit, and so her ascent to the vice presidency is often treated as somehow less earned, or less legitimate, than her predecessors. Advertisement Advertisement One big difference between Harris and Biden is that Harris status as so many firsts also meant that voters pinned hopes and expectations on her that rarely attach to men like Biden. When she failed to meet those hopes and expectations, the ire she faced was sharpera fair outcome when she made promises she didnt keep, but less fair when the expectations were more about who she was than anything she ever said or did. Harris needed to be many things: a Black woman who represented the interests of a diverse community for which voter opinion and activist goals are not always aligned; an advocate for racial justice and feminism to appeal to the many motivated Democratic voters sick of Trump and the white male hegemony he represented; and a nonthreatening moderate who, despite being a Black woman, wouldnt scare off swing voters and moderates who might be considering switching their votes away from Trump. Joe Biden just had to be Joe Biden. Advertisement Advertisement Harris political career didnt exactly stall out. But shes a notably quiet vice president. Press coverage of her is minimal, with the exception of conservative media, in which shes routinely pilloried in often racist and sexist ways. Few people, even those immersed in politics, are able to point to anything Harris has actually done in the role. In the wake of the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, she has pushed harder than Biden for abortion rights and emphasized the importance of abortion as an election-winning issue. But shes been far from the face of the movement. Even one of her early selling pointsshes young, and Biden is oldhas been turned against her, with Republicans warning that a vote for Biden is actually a vote for a future President Harris. Harris, for her part, doesnt offer much of a response, even though she is indeed asking to again be second in line to the oldest president in history. Its obvious why shes staying mum: Responding to concerns about Bidens age cedes the point that his age might be a concern, arguably an unfair gotcha in an election in which the presumptive Republican nominee will also, should he win, be an octogenarian president. But it also means that Harris is losing the rare chance to make a second impression upon the American people. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The election of Biden over Trump was a triumph of democratic values over autocratic ones, and a moment in which Democratic voters across the moderate-to-left spectrum joined together to vote out one of the most dangerous presidents in American history. But Harris has also served as vice president at a moment of retrenchment. Support for Black Lives Matter has hit record lows. American women were dealt a stunning blow when abortion was, overnight, no longer deemed a constitutional right. Republicans are again running on a tough-on-crime agenda. Feminist and racial justice movements are in retreat. And Harris seems to be retreating along with them. Tim Ballard, the real-life protagonist of the surprise hit film Sound of Freedom, seemed on the verge of breaking into another stratum of fame and power when the movie was released. Ballard, who had already been anointed something of a Latter-day Saints hero for his work rescuing child trafficking victims, suddenly became a national hero, appearing on the conservative news circuit to discuss the insidious threat of sex trafficking (and the need to secure the U.S.-Mexico border). Prominent Republicans urged their constituents to see the movie. Donald Trump hosted a screening of the movie at his private club in New Jersey. It wasnt long before some began to speculate that Ballard would run for the U.S. Senate. There had been hints of trouble for Ballard, though. The many critiques of Ballards organization, Operation Underground Railroadthat its unconventional methods were ineffective; that it seemed to exaggerate its accomplishments; that it prioritized giving wealthy donors an adventure over actual results; that it did a poor job of caring for the children after they were rescued; that it retraumatized the victims; that it even created demand for more trafficking victimswere dismissed by Ballards fans as petty attacks from the secular left. But it wasnt just criticism; there were more serious signs of scandal. Since 2020, a prosecutor from Davis County, Utah, had been investigating possible communications fraud and witness tampering; Vice News reported that the investigation had looked into whether OUR had misled donors and that the investigation had involved multiple federal agencies. (That investigation was dropped in March 2023.) And in 2021, Vice reported that the previous year, an anonymous letter had circulated that accused Ballard and the organizations leadership of misusing donor funds and of misconduct toward women. (The OUR board of directors said it investigated the allegations and found no evidence.) Finally, on July 13, Vice reported that Ballard had left OUR, which he had founded in 2013. (OUR and Ballard did not explain the separation initially, but OUR implied in a statement at the time that it was connected to the films release.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The answers arrived a few days later, when the outlet learned that Ballard left after an internal investigation into claims several employees made against him. The seriousness of the situation was clarified when, on Sept. 15, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints publicly rebuked Ballard for morally unacceptable activities. It seemed, from the decisive actions of his one-time defenders, that something damning was coming. Now, we have the details. And the portrait it paints of the Sound of Freedom hero is a dark one. Five anonymous women filed a lawsuit against Ballard on Monday, accusing him of sexual assault, telling very similar stories of manipulation and abuse. The lawsuit also targets OUR and a number of its leading figures, asserting that they knew of Ballards misconduct and enabled it. And on Wednesday, a sixth woman filed a similar lawsuit. Her lawyer speculated that more suits were coming soon. Advertisement The details of the alleged assaults are stomach-churning, but the lawsuit also portrays Tim Ballard as akin to a cult leader: paranoid, narcissistic, and prone to delusions of grandeur. It had already been reported that Ballard went to a psychic named Janet Russon for guidance in his operations. But according to the lawsuit, Ballard also went to Russon for reassurance and justification of everything he did. Russon spoke to Nephi, an ancient prophet in the Book of Mormon, for direction, and the psychic was not alone. Per the lawsuit: Advertisement Advertisement Ballard would get ketamine treatments and have a scribe come in with him while he would talk to the dead prophet Nephi and issue forth prophecies about Ballards greatness and future as a United States Senator, President of the United States, and ultimately the Mormon Prophet, to usher in the second coming of Jesus Christ. Advertisement One of the women recalled his paranoia as well. At Glenn Becks home, Ballard spoke about how he had to remove the cancer from OUR, and that many were out to get him, according to her testimony. Advertisement But what primarily comes through in the testimony of the five women is Ballards outward conviction of his own special mission. Another woman, a hairdresser, recalled that Ballard was shocked and disappointed when she told him she didnt know anything about him. Im actually a big deal, he told her. He went on to tell her, as he told others, that he had been praying on the issue of intel-gathering and that God answered by giving him the idea for something he called the couples ruse. Advertisement On OUR missions, men posed as sex tourists or those supplying customers with underage victims to entrap the traffickers. But the men were not supposed to actually touch the victims themselves. (This was the principle, at least: The criminal investigation into OUR found that one operative, who was also an executive producer of Sound of Freedom, touched the naked breasts of an apparently underage trafficking victim during a 2016 undercover operation.) The couples ruse was OURs tactic of having a jealous girlfriend present with the man posing as a sex tourist to object to his inquiries in order to deflect suspicion from the undercover men. Advertisement But, according to the lawsuit, Ballard demanded that his female partners in this ruse show full commitment. He seemed to believeor at least said he believedthat to be convincing, the two would have to act as a very kinky and highly sexual couple, unable to keep their hands off one another. And so to prove they would be right for the roles, the women would have to convince him that they would have chemistry. Advertisement To do so, they would act out that chemistry, privately. Ballard had two rules for the ruse: no kissing on the lips, and no touching or exposing genitals. But everything else was fair game. Ballard would grope the women. He would order them to strip and give him lap dances and prove they could turn him on. One woman recalled that in his first test of whether she would be a fit for the ruse, he pushed her up against the office door, grinding on her. The incident ended as someone walked in while he was trying to undo her jeans. Advertisement Worse, to many of these women, were the practices. At least a couple of the women were actresses who assured Ballard they could play a role when needed. But Ballard would insist on practicing the ruse anyway, often in strip clubs, where he would make the women act out their sexual personas. And separately, to really prepare for their sexual chemistry, he would arrange for the two of them to have tantric yoga sessions and couples massages with escorts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And to get in the right mindset, he would discuss their sexual interests and histories. These women were almost all members of the Church of Latter-day Saints, and one of the women recalled that she had never before uttered the word that Ballard once demanded she say to him. (One of the oddest details of the lawsuit relates to the Latter-day Saints prohibition on alcohol. Per the filing, he told the women that if they were offered a drink, they should take it, open-mouth kiss him and spit the alcohol into his mouth, and then he would spit it out when the traffickers were not looking. In reality, Ballard, the lawsuit reported, drank tequila to excess.) But at times, Ballard seemed to slip and forget that OURs missions were the professed reason for all of it. He consumed alcohol and drugs at the practices. He told the women he found them attractive and demanded that the women tell him the same. He would acknowledge his own arousal. He expressed frustration and rejection when the women did not respond to his touch. He told the women that the role would improve their marriages, that it helped keep your relationships more exciting, as one recalled. Tim spent very little time explaining the missions and the targets and the victims and an excess amount of time discussing sexual things, one woman recalled. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One woman testified that she was told, in a text message, that in order to be prepared for a mission, she would have to accept certain possibilities: That he would have to touch her, under a swimsuit, in a hot tub, or that they would have to shower together. After one practice in which he admitted to his own arousal, she left, realizing that he was not actually planning on taking her on a mission. I had been used and played, she said in her testimony. During the actual missions, Ballard insisted that they stay completely in character. Some of these women recalled Ballard groping them even when they were alone or in a car with tinted windows; Ballard would assure them that the traffickers could still be watching them. He would have the women share beds with him. He would insist on nudity. And he acted out sex acts with them, often over the womens protests. (Ballard developed a sexual position where it appeared he was having full-on sexual intercourse with his couples ruse victims, while not actually penetrating, the lawsuit said.) Advertisement Ballard would sometimes offer the women a safe word to use to get out of a situation; two women recalled using that safe word as a female escort groped them, only to have Ballard ignore them. One woman said she had a panic attack after one of these incidents. Advertisement Advertisement Another woman said that Ballard once came over to her home for a haircut. He started to have what appeared to be a panic attack, and when she went to comfort him, he forcefully removed her shirt and bra, pinned her to the ground, pulled down her pants, and grinded on her until she was able to convince him to stop. It may seem obvious to outsiders reading the lawsuit that Ballard had no legitimate need to take the sexual behavior to such extremes, but the women targeted by his plan had real reason to feel confused. Ballard, as depicted in the lawsuit, hit these women with a number of manipulation tactics. Advertisement Advertisement First, he leveraged his expertise and fame, causing almost all of these untrained women to dismiss their doubts as stemming from ignorance. Some of these women encountered Ballard after he had served on a White House advisory council and developed relationships with powerful Latter-day Saints apostles. At least one met Ballard after Sound of Freedom had been filmed. He had credentials. And he knew the women wanted to help. Often, he would ask: Is there anything you wouldnt do to save a child? He also relied on fear, telling the women that if they failed to convincingly play their parts, people could die. They could die. And even if they got away safely, if they failed, they would have wasted hard-earned money that honest donors had entrusted them with. He made the women sign NDAs, claiming it was for the sake of their missions. He told them he was tracking their phones and that if they told anyone about their sexual encounters with Ballard, it would endanger lives. He made it seem like it could be a life-or-death situation if I was not willing or able to act out certain sex acts well enough, one woman recalled. Advertisement Advertisement He also derided other women hed worked with, claiming that they had either gone crazy and fallen in love with him or failed the mission by not being committed enough. This caused some of the women to feel they had to prove themselves. Sometimes, the women felt that Ballards advances were a test of loyalty, or a challenge to see what they could handle under pressure. And when the women brought their doubts to Ballard, he turned spiritual. He told them that the third-most senior apostle in the Church of Latter-day Saints had given him a special priesthood blessing for the couples ruse. He cited a Book of Mormon passage to defend unconventional tactics for doing good. He told them that Russon, the psychic, had chosen them for the role. And he told at least one woman that Russon had said he and the woman had been married in a previous life, making their conduct morally acceptable. Sometimes, he leaned more heavily on the romantic elements, telling them that if his wife died, he would marry them. He told one of the women that if she left him, he would put a bullet in his brain. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Related From Slate Whats Happening Between the Sound of Freedom Guy and the Mormon Church Is a Sign of Something Bigger Read More But the lawsuit wasnt just about the abusive behavior of one powerful man. Though he wasnt a defendant in the suit, Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes was mentioned as a friend and supporter of Ballard who was quietly campaigning to have Ballard run for U.S. Senate. It had been previously reported that Reyes had supported OUR and attended one of its missions in Colombia. Reyes has repeatedly vouched for OUR and Tim Ballard, the lawsuit noted, giving Ballard the cover of the top law enforcement officer in the state of Utah to carry out his purposes, including the couples ruse, even while consumer complaints and criminal investigations were pouring into his office regarding the improprieties of OUR and Ballard. Advertisement And the women claimed that a number of OUR employees and board members clearly saw signs of Ballards abusive behavior and did nothing. They did not help set the boundaries of the couples ruse; instead, they also warned the women that if they did not listen to Ballard, they would risk the mission and lives. Eventually, when the full details of the abuse emerged, OUR fired Ballard. But OURs board, which was composed of Ballards friends and family, fought back. The two parties met and developed a plan in which Ballard resigned but was able to blame it on the appearance of a conflict of interest with the Sound of Freedom release, and not because of any shameful behavior. He was allowed to remain the face of OUR. And he was able to launch new anti-trafficking initiatives, including the nonprofit SPEAR Fund, that relied on his reputation. Advertisement So now, the question remains if supporters will stick by Ballard. When previous allegations emerged, Ballard acted enraged, telling his supporters to expect more lies about him and blaming the godless leftist media for attacking him on behalf of traffickers. Through the SPEAR Fund he made similar claims on Wednesday, suggesting that the cartels were behind the accusations. Its evident that those who are behind these cartels have clearly woken up to the light that is being shed on their dark activities, the statement read. We had no idea how much influence they had with so many powerful people and organizations in the United States. Given the power and reach of conspiracy theories related to child sex trafficking, it wouldnt be surprising if Ballard managed to maintain a position of martyrdom, allowing his supporters to do the same. Ballard spent the summer a major star on the conservative political stage. It remains to be seen if that star will fall, or if his proximity to conspiracies will allow him to push through. -- In Poland, the counting of votes continues after the parliamentary elections, which will apparently bring about a change of power. The votes are still being counted, but the pollsters in the parallel elections were clearly not mistaken the ruling nationalists (PiS) failed to get a majority, so the opposition parties could take over. Opposition leader Donald Tusk announced the end of the dark period. The PiS party, under whose leadership Poland has repeatedly clashed with the EU regarding the rule of law, media freedom, migration policy and the rights of the LGBT community, declared victory and announced that it would try to form a government anyway. After counting the votes in half of the polling stations, the difference between PiS and Tusks coalition is smaller, but still above 10 percentage points, wrote a correspondent from Brussels on Twitter Peter Zerjavic. The ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) won 38.2 percent of the vote, followed by the opposition Citizens Coalition (KO) of the former prime minister Donald Tusk with 27.9 percent of the vote. Elections in Poland PHOTO: AP Based on the partial results, the majority of Poles supported the centrist opposition, which, in addition to KO, also consists of the centrist alliance Tretja pot and Left. This has 8.3% support after half of the votes have been counted, while the Third Way has won 14.4% of the votes. Parallel elections, which were announced after the polls closed on Sunday and were finalized today, indicated similar results. According to data from the Ipsos agency, the PiS party would win 36.6 percent of the vote, which is 198 out of 460 seats. Although this is the most of any party, it is still well below the current majority enjoyed by the Prime Minister in previous years Mateusz Morawiecki. At the same time, this is not enough to form a ruling coalition. PiS, which he leads Jaroslaw Kaczynskiwould not have a majority even with the support of the Confederation, which electoral projections predict will have around seven percent of the vote. Jaroslaw Kaczynski PHOTO: AP Representative of the Third Way Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz today already rejected the possibility of forming a coalition with the ruling PiS. The people who voted for us want change, they want PiS to be removed from power, he told Polish radio RMF. Even Tusk had a similar reaction on Sunday. The rule of PiS is over, said the former president of the European Council. This dark period is over. Poland has won, democracy has won, Tusk also said. Meanwhile, PiS announced that they will try to form a government. The head of the pre-election campaign told the mentioned radio that the party had won and that they would try to form a government under the leadership of Morawiecki. No matter what it looks like, we won, he said today Joachim Brudzinski. The final results of the election are not expected to be known before Tuesday. Donald Tusk PHOTO: AP Otherwise, the mandate to form the government must be granted by the Polish president Andrzej Duda, an ally of the PiS strike. Before the elections, he announced that he would first give the mandate to the leader of the winning party. He will have 14 days to get an absolute majority in the parliament. If he fails to do so, another representative is appointed by the parliament. Warsaw and Brussels are often on opposite banks According to several analysts, this election was considered decisive for the future direction of Poland. Indeed, in the event of a victory, PiS would continue the policy that has brought Warsaw into conflict with Brussels for a long time. These are mainly disagreements in the areas of respect for the principles of democracy and the rule of law, media freedom, migration, womens rights and the LGBT community. On the other hand, the opposition announced changes, the strengthening of democracy, the rule of law and Western values. Before the elections, Tusk promised to re-establish good relations with the EU and achieve the unblocking of European funds, which were frozen due to Warsaws disputes with Brussels. He also announced the legalization of abortion. During the campaign, Tusk received harsh criticism from the ruling party, saying that he is the embodiment of evil and a traitor to the Polish nation who only follows the interests of Brussels and Berlin. Hope for Poland, hope for Europe, the Slovenian foreign minister and president of the SD party responded to the current results Tanja Fajon. If the victory of the opposition parties in yesterdays elections is confirmed even after the official announcement of the results, it will be a clear vote of the Poles for change, she wrote on Twitter and concluded by saying: For a democratic, open and European Poland. Waited in long lines Voter turnout in the elections was a record 72.8%. Occasionally, some polling stations were even quite crowded. Poles flocked to the polls en masse. PHOTO: AP In addition to the election, a referendum was held on Sunday in which Poles voted on whether they agreed to the privatization of state-owned enterprises, the raising of the retirement age to 67, the removal of barriers on Polands border with Belarus and the EUs solidarity scheme for the redeployment of migrants. According to half of the counted ballots, none of the proposals received sufficient support in the consultative referendums. At a time when genuine businesses were grappling with the economic fallout of COVID-19, Amir Aqeel and his associates were engrossed in masterminding a massive fraud scheme to swindle the Small Business Administrations Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). In a case that magnifies the importance of transparency and honesty, Aqeel, 54, from Houston, was sentenced to 15 years in prison and is to forfeit over $5.5 million. Aqeel, who spearheaded this extensive conspiracy, worked with a team of at least 14 individuals. Together, they successfully falsified 75 PPP loan applications in 2020. These applications manipulated the employee count, overstated monthly payroll expenses, and were bolstered by fraudulent bank records and doctored federal tax forms. While many small businesses struggled to access relief funds, Aqeels ring was pocketing millions meant for them. Their actions were not limited to just application fraud. They paid substantial kickbacks to collaborators and laundered portions of the proceeds. This involved producing fake paychecks which were subsequently cashed at a company owned by one of the defendants, Siddiq Azeemuddin, named Almeda Discount Store. In total, over 1,100 forged paychecks, amounting to more than $3 million from the PPP funds, were cashed. Drive Traffic to Your Website Sell Your Business Discover the Zoho Ecosystem Advertise Your Business Here The audacity of this fraud ring did not end with financial manipulations. They indulged their gains, acquiring luxury items such as a Porsche and Lamborghini, symbolizing the magnitude of their deceit. Aqeels conviction, however, is just the tip of the iceberg. Six other co-conspirators faced the weight of the law for their roles in this significant PPP loan fraud scheme. Sentences ranged from two to three and a half years in prison. The charges reflected their parts in the conspiracy, with some facing wire fraud and money laundering counts. This conviction serves as a stark reminder for small businesses about the importance of due diligence and the immense responsibility when accessing relief funds. When unscrupulous individuals defraud the system, it diverts necessary resources from businesses in genuine need. Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri articulated the sentiment aptly, emphasizing that during a national crisis, these defendants exploited the system, plundering funds meant to alleviate businesses facing closure. Small Business Deals This large-scale fraud case underlines the vital role of vigilance and oversight. Multiple agencies, including the SBA Office of Inspector General, Federal Housing Finance Agency Office of Inspector General, and Homeland Security Investigations, collaborated in this investigation. To small business owners, this case accentuates the importance of maintaining records transparently and ethically. With relief programs susceptible to fraudulent activities, this conviction underscores the governments commitment to accountability. If individuals possess information regarding potential COVID-19 related fraud, theyre encouraged to contact the Department of Justices National Center for Disaster Fraud. The NIST Cybersecurity Framework for small businesses is a cornerstone in todays digital landscape. For small enterprises, mastering cybersecurity best practices isnt just about technical defenseits about safeguarding their bottom line. A good product is pivotal, but so is protecting against digital threats. Failing to do so can elevate costs, harm profits, and lead to legal challenges. The NIST Framework provides an excellent starting point. What is the NIST Cybersecurity Framework? Thats where the NIST Cybersecurity Framework comes in. A vital tool for any business, this framework acts as a library of sorts where small businesses can learn what they need to know about cyber attacks. Its called a policy framework in more formal terms, often referenced by cybersecurity professionals. Drive Traffic to Your Website Discover the Zoho Ecosystem Sell Your Business Advertise Your Business Here This comprehensive set of guidelines is published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a prominent United States Department of Commerce agency, known for their expertise in various technological fields. How It Came About This platform serves as a go-to resource for small businesses aiming to detect, prevent, and respond to cyber threats. Originating from a Presidential Executive Order in 2014, the framework was initially conceptualized as a voluntary guide to bolster Americas infrastructure security. Since then, its significance and reach have expanded. Small businesses today can refer to the more recent version, Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity Version 1.2 released in 2022. Small Business Deals A standout feature of the framework is its commitment to ongoing updates and enhancements, ensuring it remains relevant in the evolving cybersecurity landscape. The NIST Cybersecurity Framework is a reference for small businesses without the funds or time to learn everything about cybersecurity. If youre a small business owner looking for the latest updates, you can take a look to learn more about the framework and its offerings directly from NIST. Why It Matters To Small Business The NIST Cybersecurity Framework is imperative to small business owners, not just because its an official document, but due to its tangible utility. The tools and best practices encapsulated within were first put together in 2014. However, they were the result of extensive research, development, and collaboration that spanned decades, combining the collective efforts of the federal government and industry pioneers. These guidelines are not arbitrary; they specifically address critical areas the framework covers, each tailored to meet the unique needs and challenges faced by smaller companies in todays digital age. Employee access to data. Employee training on cybersecurity. Essential technology recommendations (e.g., data encryption, cloud best practices). Guidance on patching and updating operating systems. Installing web and email filters. Considerations for performing a cost/benefit analysis for new equipment. Reminders on commonly known but overlooked precautions. Simple, affordable suggestions like using surge protectors. Employee Access To Data One of the most pressing challenges small businesses face in the realm of cyber security is managing access to sensitive data. Consider a scenario: you run a business with salespeople constantly on the move, accessing company data remotely. How do you ensure security? The NIST Cybersecurity Framework lends a hand here. Its latest publication features detailed worksheets to guide business owners in pinpointing the types of information they possess. Ensuring that only those truly qualified and trustworthy have access to vital company data isnt just about confidentiality, but its a foundational step to guarantee data integrity and safety. Employee Training Comprehending the vast landscape of cyber security options isnt just an individual task; it necessitates a collective, team-driven approach. To facilitate this, the NIST Cybersecurity Framework furnishes practical suggestions on effective methodologies to train employees. It goes beyond mere guidelines, providing actionable steps that can be implemented, ensuring a workforce well-versed in digital safety protocols. Technology Must-Haves Diving deeper into the digital realm, the framework elucidates several indispensable technological tools and strategies vital for small businesses. It offers insights into understanding various techniques and tools they should employ, such as robust data encryption methods and cloud computing best practices. Moreover, it systematically guides businesses on adopting and maintaining practices like regularly patching and updating operating systems to stay ahead of potential threats. The added advice on measures like installing efficient web and email filters is invaluable, especially for smaller businesses with limited technical resources. Accompanying this is a companion guide tailored to help businesses weigh the pros and cons of investing in specific equipment based on these security guidelines. Refreshers Yet another advantage of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework is its role in reinforcing previously known information. For instance, while many small business owners might be aware that relying on reputable cloud providers can bolster data security, the framework emphasizes its importance, urging immediate action. Similarly, it offers practical advice like the safe storage of removable thumb drives, suggesting they be kept in secure locations, distanced from the primary business premises to avoid potential breaches. Simple Suggestions Beyond the intricate, the framework shines in its ability to provide straightforward, cost-effective recommendations for businesses operating on tighter budgets. Simple suggestions, such as investing in surge protectors, can shield stored data during unforeseen power outages. Furthermore, the framework sheds light on the potential benefits of cyber security insurance, a valuable contingency plan, ensuring businesses remain financially secure even in the face of cyber adversities. Critical Aspects of Cybersecurity Addressed by the NIST Framework Heres a table breaking down the key areas the NIST Framework covers and how they help small businesses boost their cybersecurity. Aspect Description Benefit to Small Businesses Employee Access to Data Worksheets to identify types of company information. Ensures only qualified personnel access crucial data, enhancing security. Employee Training Suggestions on effective cybersecurity training methods. Cultivates a well-informed team to combat cyber threats. Technology Must-Haves Recommendations on tools like data encryption and cloud best practices. Provides a roadmap for essential tech adoptions without breaking the bank. Security Measures Guides on system updates, and installing web/email filters. Assists in fortifying the company's digital assets against potential attacks. Cost/Benefit Analysis A companion guide for evaluating new equipment purchases based on security recommendations. Ensures investments are sound and enhance the security posture. Refreshers Tips like using reputable cloud providers and storing thumb drives safely. Reinforces good practices and helps businesses stay on top of the basics. Simple, Affordable Suggestions Recommendations such as using surge protectors and considering cybersecurity insurance. Provides easy-to-implement, cost-effective strategies for improved resilience against threats. Key Benefits of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework for Small Business: Guides on detecting, preventing, and responding to cyber attacks. Continually updated and improved content. Developed over decades by the federal government and industry. Tools and best practices tailored for smaller companies. Cost-effective and simple recommendations for enhanced security. The NIST Cybersecurity Framework is a potential referennce for small businesses without the funds or time to learn everything about cyber security. If youre a small business owner looking for the latest updates, you can click this link to learn more. In recent years, financial regulations have frequently been in the spotlight, prompting many to ask, What is Dodd-Frank? Though it was during President Donald Trumps early tenure that significant attention was drawn to this legislation, its implications and effects remain relevant. Back in his initial weeks in office, Trump quickly took action on several of his key campaign promises, issuing numerous executive orders and memoranda on various issues, including the review of the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory law. But one of the important ones in terms of business ramifications has been to direct the Treasury to review Barack Obamas 2010 Dodd-Frank financial regulatory law. Opinions appear to be split over the impact some of these policies have on small business. But what exactly is Dodd-Frank all about and what are its implications? Discover the Zoho Ecosystem Sell Your Business Drive Traffic to Your Website Advertise Your Business Here What is Dodd-Frank? The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was an important piece of legislation to emerge from the ashes of the global financial crisis of 2008. Named after its sponsors, Senator Christopher J. Dodd and U.S. Representative Barney Frank, the 2,300 page law was passed by the Obama administration in 2010 in a bid to eliminate various risks across Americas wider financial system. Dodd-Frank includes a range of 225 regulations, and sets up several new government agencies, including the Financial Stability Oversight Council and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The latter has since been tasked with preventing predatory mortgage lending. Meanwhile, Dodd-Franks key Volcker Rule restricts the ways big banks are allowed to invest and eliminates proprietary trading. Likewise, one of Dodd-Franks more widely known provisions has been its so-called too big to fail clause, which has put new regulatory burdens on big financial institutions that have the ability to spark financial contagion if they become insolvent. Key Components of Dodd-Frank Originated from the 2008 global financial crisis. Sponsored by Senator Christopher J. Dodd and U.S. Representative Barney Frank. Comprises 2,300 pages, passed in 2010. Introduced 225 regulations and established several government agencies. Created the Financial Stability Oversight Council and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Introduced the Volcker Rule restricting bank investments and eliminating proprietary trading. Implemented the too big to fail clause placing regulatory burdens on large financial institutions. Small Business Deals Why is Dodd-Frank Controversial? On the surface, the Dodd-Frank Act might not appear contentious. To many, it presents as a safeguard a series of rules designed to ensure that banks maintain responsible lending practices. However, beneath this straightforward veneer lies a myriad of concerns and debates about the legislations wider implications and unintended consequences. One of the primary arguments against Dodd-Frank stems from economic perspectives. A significant number of economists emphasize that while the acts intent is to shield taxpayers from the potential fallout of risky financial decisions, it inadvertently hampers the profitability of these institutions. By introducing more stringent regulations on how financial firms can invest their assets, Dodd-Frank has inadvertently reshaped the financial landscape. Detractors believe that these constraints have diminished the United States stature as a leading global financial powerhouse, making it less attractive for investments and financial activities. Another often-discussed aspect is the impact on liquidity, especially concerning trading bonds and securities. With the new limitations set by Dodd-Frank, theres a marked decrease in the liquidity available in the markets, which in turn can affect the ease and efficiency with which these financial instruments are traded. Yet, perhaps one of the most contentious parts of Dodd-Frank, especially among business proprietors, is the elevation in reserve requirements. This stipulation necessitates banks to retain a substantially larger portion of their assets in liquid form compared to what was expected before the 2008 financial crisis. While on the one hand, this might seem like a prudent measure to ensure banks stability, it has its drawbacks. High reserve requirements naturally curtail a banks capacity to engage in other financial activities, such as holding marketable securities or facilitating connections between businesses and potential investors. This reserve-related restraint is particularly concerning for the entrepreneurial ecosystem, as it is perceived to make banks more apprehensive about extending credit to fledgling enterprises and small businesses, especially those without significant assets to pledge as collateral. This has sparked worries about stifled innovation and potential hindrances to economic growth. Dodd-Frank: Benefits vs. Criticisms The Dodd-Frank Act has been both lauded for its consumer protections and criticized for its potential impact on economic growth. Heres a comparison of the perceived benefits and criticisms: Benefits of Dodd-Frank Criticisms of Dodd-Frank Aims to eliminate risks in America's financial system. Can decrease the ability of financial firms to turn a profit. Prevents predatory mortgage lending through the CFPB. Might impact America's status as a global financial center. Regulates big banks' investment activities with the Volcker Rule. Causes potential liquidity issues in bonds and securities trading. Too big to fail" clause safeguards against major financial crises. Bigger reserve requirements can limit bank lending abilities. Looking Ahead While President Trump had initiated a review of Dodd-Frank during his term, the lasting effects and potential modifications to the legislation remain subjects of debate and uncertainty. The directive he issued early in his presidency sought a comprehensive review of the bill by the U.S. Treasury. As discussions continue, its imperative that any findings or recommendations provide clear evidence of Dodd-Franks impact on Americas economic landscape. Equally crucial is ensuring that both the public and policymakers are well-informed about the trade-offs between financial security and potential economic hindrances introduced by the law. (Photo : Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Jeff Landry has won the Louisiana gubernatorial race after the position was left open by Gov. John Bel Edwards having a term limit. Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry won the state's gubernatorial race, providing the GOP with a victory in the southern state previously led by John Bel Edwards. Landry is a Republican lawmaker who has strong ties to former United States President Donald Trump. He received nearly 52% of the votes among a crowded field of candidates in the open primary in Louisiana. Under this system, all individuals running for state governor, regardless of party, run in the same election. Jeff Landry Wins Louisiana Gubernatorial Race If no candidate receives the majority of the vote, the two top individuals will compete in a runoff under Louisiana law. However, Landry got over 50% of the vote, giving him the majority and fending off a second round to become the state's governor-elect. The hardline Republican, seen as a staunch supporter of Trump, ran his campaign on a tough-on-crime platform. He also consistently pushed conservative policies in Louisiana, including a ban on gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth and a near-total abortion ban, as per the Washington Post. The gubernatorial race winner was among the 19 state attorney generals who signed a June letter demanding that the Biden administration allow their officers access to information about residents who received gender-affirming or abortion care in other states. The former Louisiana governor, Edwards, could not run in the race because of term limits, and former Louisiana transportation secretary Shawn Wilson filled his spot. The latter was the second finisher in the election after receiving more than 25% of the vote. On top of Landry, seven other GOP lawmakers ran for the Louisiana governor's office, but only he had received Trump's endorsement in the race. He was also able to secure support from Rep. Steve Scalise, who is a stalwart of Louisiana Republican politics. Read Also: GOP Nominates Steve Scalise for House Speaker; How Likely Is He To Win? Republican Enthusiasm Coming Into 2024 The other GOP candidates in the race included state Treasurer John Schroder and Stephen Waguespack. According to Politico, the latter is a former executive at the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry and was a one-time aide to former GOP Gov. Bobby Jindal. Landry quickly gathered GOP support in the gubernatorial race, and his victory without the need for a runoff was seen as a surprise. Some view it as an early sign of Republican voters' enthusiasm heading into the 2024 political season. Despite Louisiana being a red state, where Trump carried it by nearly 19 points in 2020, Landry is only the fourth Republican governor of the state since the end of Reconstruction. Edwards is seen as one of the last of a dying breed of Southern Democrats, and he has a rare anti-abortion stance who was still in a prominent elected office. Landry's win precedes two more red state governor's elections scheduled for this fall, including one in which the GOP hopes to flip a seat. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is looking to win a second term on Nov. 7, while Republican Gov. Tate Reeves is trying to do the same in Mississippi, said NBC News. Related Article: Republicans Move Forward With Expulsion Resolution Against George Santos @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. One of the last deeds of Speaker of the Parliament Boris Kollar. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Share A day before the September 30 early election, outgoing Speaker of Parliament Boris Kollar (Sme Rodina) signed a memorandum with Bernard Bober, president of Conference of Bishops of Slovakia (KBS) on the establishment of the chaplain post for the National Council, which is the official name of Slovak parliament. The chaplain, whose name has not been revealed, is to celebrate masses in the Bratislava Castle chapel. When asked who came up with the idea, KBS spokesperson Katarina Jancisinova said the initiative arose from the Office of the National Council, a body responsible for various operations in the parliament. However, the latter claimed the opposite and that Kollar agreed because of "persistent interest in spiritual service". Related article Related article Boris Kollar is in hot water, but unlikely to boil Read more Kollar himself is the father of 13 children with 11 women. In politics, he tried to present himself as a defender of traditional values. The establishment of the post was his signal to the conservative voters, the Sme daily writes. However, his party did not get into the parliament. In 2010, then prime minister Iveta Radicova established a chapel for at the Government Office. Catholics and Protestants hold their church services here. A chapel can be found in the Presidential Palace, too. MPs may not use the service According to the memorandum, the chaplain is supposed to hold a regular service - at least once a week. Upon request of the Office of the National Council, he is to serve a mass on a holiday or on Sunday. In addition, he should be available to both MPs and employees of the parliament for a spiritual conversation or confession. No more details are provided. KBS will pay the chaplain, select him and they can also replace him. The Conference did not answer most of the question of Sme. The memorandum forbids it without the previous consent of the Office. The latter says that this is a standard approach. When asked whether they would use the services of the chaplain, several MPs were evasive about it. Former health minister and conservative politician Marek Krajci (OLaNO) said 'probably no'. When he had to step down during the Covid-19 pandemic, he compared himself to Jesus Christ. Former Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) head Alojz Hlina (now SaS) said that he would not. New KDH MP Peter Stachura did not rule out the possibility, neither did former investment and regional development minister and MP Veronika Remisova (Za Ludi). So there you are, you finally got the espresso machine of your dreams, you got your Linea Mini (or in my case, a GS/3, because there are always pop-up dreams lying dormant in my subconscious). Its unboxed and set up on the counter, ready to deliver that first glorious shot and now what? These machines are magic, but they arent automagic. You need to learn how to use it. Luckily, Accademia del Caffe Espresso has got you covered. La Marzoccos cultural hub has released an all-new E-learning Espresso course, an expansive new 16-chapter curriculum thatll teach you everything you need to know begin your home love affair with espresso. The online course, the Accademias first, was designed by their Coffee Education Leader Nora Smahelova. It consists of over 70 training videos comprising more than five hours of content, broken down into 15 different chapters. (The 16th is a finals test.) Topics include introductory discussions of espresso and its history, coffee growing and processing, roasting, and setting up the espresso machine as well as more advanced curriculum on extraction, pressure profiling, milk chemistry and latte art, and machine maintenance. The expansive content was created to be useful to all home baristas, regardless of where they currently are on their espresso journey. This course was conceived as a point of reference for anyone who just wants to improve their coffee experience at home starting from a greater knowledge of the raw material, says Smahelova. The course is self-directed and allows users to go at their own pace, giving them up to a year to complete all 16 modules. We decided to create a course that could be enjoyable online, accessible anytime and everywhere, Smahelova states. E-Learning Espresso is currently accepting enrollments via the Accademias website for 295 ($313 USD), which will grant you a years worth of access to the platform and all the video content. For more information, to view the full curriculum, or to register for the E-Learning Espresso course, visit the Accademia del Caffe Espressos official website. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231015/lindsey-graham-warns-iran-were-coming-for-you-if-it-escalates-israeli-palestinian-conflict-1114218175.html Lindsey Graham Warns Iran 'We're Coming for You' if it Escalates Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Lindsey Graham Warns Iran 'We're Coming for You' if it Escalates Israeli-Palestinian Conflict In a recent development, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) issued a stark warning to Iran, cautioning them against further escalation of the ongoing conflict in Israel. 2023-10-15T21:48+0000 2023-10-15T21:48+0000 2023-10-15T21:48+0000 americas us lindsey graham israel palestine hamas hezbollah israeli-palestinian conflict palestine-israel conflict /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/09/1092141237_0:112:3072:1840_1920x0_80_0_0_3631bc6cb7b3262ebc021f5afdf8f5c4.jpg Sen. Lindsey Graham has delivered a warning to Iran, stating that if the conflict in Israel escalates, the US will not hesitate to take action. Graham's stern message was prompted by Hamas's recent assault on Israel, which resulted in more than 1,300 lives lost in both Israel and Gaza. He claimed that Israel's primary objective is to eradicate Hamas in the southern region while safeguarding innocent Palestinians.He further revealed his intention to introduce a Senate resolution that would permit joint military action by the US and Israel to target Iran's oil business if they escalate the conflict.The attack by Hamas prompted Israel to declare a state of war. Meanwhile Hezbollah, closely allied with Hamas, has engaged in skirmishes with Israel.When questioned about the possibility of declaring war on Iran, Graham clarified that his objective is to employ military force to cripple the financial support behind Hamas and Hezbollah.The situation in the region remains tense, with international concerns growing as this conflict continues to unfold. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231015/iranian-foreign-minister-meets-with-head-of-hamas-political-bureau-in-qatar-1114206567.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20231010/roots-of-israel-hamas-conflict-1114064324.html americas israel palestine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Egor Shapovalov Egor Shapovalov News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Egor Shapovalov middle east, lindsey graham, palestinians, israel, palestine, gaza, hamas, hezbollah, will us attack iran, palestine israel conflict escalation, will israel hamas escalate conflict, escalation on middle east, senator lindsey graham warns iran https://sputnikglobe.com/20231016/1114225726.html China's Belt and Road Forum: Countdown to Kickoff as World Leaders Arrive China's Belt and Road Forum: Countdown to Kickoff as World Leaders Arrive The Chinese Foreign Ministry earlier said in a statement that President Xi Jinping would attend the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing, where he is due to deliver a keynote speech. 2023-10-16T11:23+0000 2023-10-16T11:23+0000 2023-10-16T11:23+0000 china beijing belt and road initiative forum cooperation airport /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0a/10/1114225896_0:25:3078:1756_1920x0_80_0_0_a3ee3b73122bbd87c1834ef2e101fe1d.jpg Beijing is hosting the Third Belt and Road Forum on October 17-18, an event that will be attended by a whole array of world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin.According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the gathering will be held under the slogan High-quality Belt and Road Cooperation: Together for Common Development and Prosperity.heck out Sputniks photo gallery to learn more about the world leaders arriving in Beijing and the final preparations for the event. 1 china beijing 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 third belt and road forum in beijing, arrival of world leadrers in beijing, journalists' preparations for third belt and road forum in beijing https://sputnikglobe.com/20231016/biden-speaks-on-hamas-israel-iran-aid-and-ukraine-1114219238.html Biden Speaks On Hamas, Israel, Iran, Corridors and Ukraine Biden Speaks On Hamas, Israel, Iran, Corridors and Ukraine US PResident Joe Biden sat down with US media to discuss the conflict in Gaza and ancillary issues. 2023-10-16T00:37+0000 2023-10-16T00:37+0000 2023-10-16T06:03+0000 americas joe biden middle east americans gaza israel ukraine hamas white house republicans /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0a/01/1113845468_0:0:2938:1654_1920x0_80_0_0_41d4acb96a8acf52b3c4cf9f57f4396c.jpg On October 7, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing over 1,000 Israelis and capturing at least 150 hostages, including some Americans. Israel has since declared a state of war and has been heavily bombing Gaza, killing thousands of Palestinian civilians.HamasAsked whether there should be a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, US President Joe Biden said in an interview for CBS that Israel has to go after Hamas and called them a "bunch of cowards." Gaza is a small, densely populated 140.9 square mile area with over 2 million people. Travel in and out of Gaza is heavily controlled by Israeli forces.Biden emphasized that Hamas needs to be "eliminated entirely."Egypt, a Humanitarian Corridor and Stranded AmericansBiden also said that he is in talks with Egypt and Israel about the establishment of a humanitarian corridor in the area."We're also talking to Egyptians whether there is an outlet to get these children and women out of that area at this moment. But it's hard," Biden said in the interview. The US President also responded "yes" when asked if he supported humanitarian aid being sent to Gaza, something Israel has been blocking, including food, water and electricity, though Israel announced on Sunday that some water services had been turned back on.At least 13 Americans have been missing since Hamas' attack, and 30 Americans have been confirmed dead. Biden said that the US is trying every avenue they have to see its remaining citizens returned safely but would not provide details. The interviewer noted that Biden had called the missing Americans' families and spoke to them on Zoom.IsraelWhile Biden consistently stressed throughout the interview that the United States supports Israel in their fight against Hamas, he suggested that they do not attempt to occupy Gaza.Biden added that he does not think committing American troops will be necessary in the conflict.The President stressed that he still supports a two-state solution in the area, which has long been the official US policy, but said that right now is not the time to press for it. He also said that the normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia is not dead because of the conflict."The Saudis, and the Emiratis, and other Arab nations understand that their security and stability is enhanced if there's normalization of relations with Israel," Biden said. "It's just going to take time to get done."UkraineBiden also addressed the conflict in Ukraine, saying that the United States can handle both it and Israel at the same time.The United States has provided at least $111 billion to Ukraine since the start of Russia's special operation. Earlier this month, an additional $24 billion in aid was blocked by a group of House Republicans. That debate resulted in the ousting of House Speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Congress is now frozen until a new speaker is elected. The White House has continued to ask Congress for aid for both Ukraine and Israel.When asked if the situation in Congress threatens world security, Biden responded "yes," putting the blame on "MAGA Republicans." https://sputnikglobe.com/20231015/live-updates-red-cross-negotiating-with-israel-hamas-to-deliver-medicine-to-hostages-1114206311.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230923/israel-may-be-poised-to-normalize-relations-with-saudi-arabia-1113612231.html americas gaza israel ukraine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Ian DeMartino Ian DeMartino 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 Ian DeMartino israeli-palestinian conflict, joe biden 60 minutes interview, biden on israel, will biden save the hostages, americans in gaza, iran and gaza, hamas funding, how does israel affect ukraine https://sputnikglobe.com/20231016/definitely-not-both-former-army-commander-says-us-cant-support-two-proxy-wars-1114240062.html Definitely Not Both: Former Army Commander Says US Cant Support Two Proxy Wars Definitely Not Both: Former Army Commander Says US Cant Support Two Proxy Wars Over the weekend, US President Joe Biden doubled down on his pledges to send weapons to both Ukraine and Israel. A former US soldier said supporting war on so many fronts was unsustainable and would further degrade US readiness. 2023-10-16T20:54+0000 2023-10-16T20:54+0000 2023-10-16T20:51+0000 analysis earl rasmussen israel ukraine israeli defense forces (idf) us military aid /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0a/10/1114239905_0:111:2425:1475_1920x0_80_0_0_21d8928789bb488b91825f59cbe1a11c.jpg After Hamas launched attacks on Israeli border towns last week that killed more than 1,300 Israelis, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) declared a siege of the Gaza Strip and unleashed a relentless bombardment that has killed more than 2,750 Palestinians as of Monday evening, with another 1,000 missing and at least 10,000 injured. After Israel fired thousands of Tamir missiles from its Iron Dome system - shooting down Hamas rockets targeting several major cities, Biden said the US would step in to resupply Israel.Since then, Biden has also sent thousands of small arms to Israel and deployed two aircraft carrier battle groups to the region. On Monday, US media reported up to 2,000 US troops were ready to deploy to Israel, with plans to use the in non-combat support roles for the IDF.The rush to buttress the Israeli military comes amid a political fight in Washington over continued US military aid for Ukraine, which has topped $46 billion over the last two years. Now, the question is whether the US can not only support Ukraine, but Israel, too.The White House is expected to ask Congress for an Israel aid bill, but the legislature remained locked in dispute over selecting a House speaker - a fight initiated, in part, but the previous speakers insistence on including Ukraine aid in next years budget.If there's a choice, if it has to be one or the other, the support will most likely go towards the Israeli side, international consultant and retired US Army Lt. Col. Earl Rasmussen told Sputnik on Monday.He can promise that or whatever, but delivering those weapons is another story, and getting the funding through. I think it'd be very difficult to do it, especially if escalation occurred - a two-front conflict - and especially if we get involved directly with it. Meanwhile, we've got tensions increasing in Taiwan and with China. I think it's very unlikely they would be able to support both initiatives, Rasmussen said.I would say from a funding, from a capacity perspective: I do not see our weapons companies - we've drained so much with Ukraine, we're running low on everything, we even had ammunition that we had stockpiled in Israel directed and sent to Ukraine. So I guess Israel is apparently trying to get that back, which I don't think it's going to come back. So we are in a weakened position and I just do not see that happening. I would say that from a priority perspective, Israel will have a priority over Ukraine. It just has a more strategic importance to us as well.The former US Army officer said the events of the past week illustrated the Biden administrations real priority is Israel, which would get any and all largesse it requires at the expense not just of Ukraines war effort, but at the expense of Palestinian human rights as well.As far as human rights go, we kind of threw it out the window, Rasmussen said. I think for Biden, he has to support Israel, there's too much government influence from the Israeli lobby, too much money and contributions coming into the Congress. We already provide $4 billion a year to Israel as it is. I'm sure that's going to go up. Whatever necessary, well shift over from Ukraine to Israel. I think Ukraine is just not a high priority item anymore.I think this gives the Biden administration a shift, it's almost an exit ramp from Ukraine. Politically, he needs to support Israel. He can kind of gently shift the narrative away from Ukraine, perhaps, he suggested, noting that this latest counteroffensive is being exposed as a complete failure.Rasmussen suggested Biden wanted to return to the Middle East, including by playing peace broker between Israel and Hamas, but also that there are likely some in Bidens administration who want to see a war between Israel and Iran, which Jerusalem has attempted to blame for the recent outbreak of violence, and which would be a dramatic escalation that would drag in the US.Asked about the capabilities of the US military-industrial complex in light of all the weapons being sent to Ukraine and Israel, Rasmussen said the US military posture had weakened considerably since February 2022 and it's going to be weakened and stressed even more.The readiness of soldiers, I would say, especially with a major conflict - it's questionable, he said.I don't see the US capable of actually handling either one successfully - and definitely not both, he said. I think it's our military, our readiness posture, it's significantly weakened over the last several years. We've drained our weapons caches a lot. Corporations are not, our military-industrial complex is not ramped up sufficient to meet the needs that are there. So it's a very dangerous and threatening situation, he said, predicting the US would likely lean on proxy forces in the Middle East, just as they have in Ukraine. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231015/israel-set-to-commence-ground-offensive-in-gaza-despite-irans-warnings---experts-1114216656.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20231016/saudi-crown-prince-makes-blinken-wait-overnight-for-audience-amid-gaza-crisis-1114233496.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20231016/americans-show-record-low-approval-for-military-while-us-boosts-aid-to-ukraine-israel-1114238240.html israel ukraine 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 earl rasmussen; israel; ukraine; military aid; iron dome; gaza; idf https://sputnikglobe.com/20231016/iraqi-parliament-calls-for-meeting-of-arab-inter-parliamentary-union-over-palestine-1114219870.html Iraqi Parliament Calls for Meeting of Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union Over Palestine Iraqi Parliament Calls for Meeting of Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union Over Palestine The Iraqi parliament called for an Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union in Baghdad to develop a unified position on the conflict in the Gaza Strip. 2023-10-16T02:20+0000 2023-10-16T02:20+0000 2023-10-16T02:20+0000 world palestinians gaza strip israel iraq hamas palestine middle east /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0a/0d/1114161751_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_58121313ff25489aa0f6d45a8e16f236.jpg "At its meeting, the Iraqi House of Representatives condemned the policy of killings, forced displacement of Palestinians and demolitions of houses, reaffirming the right of Palestinians to defend their land and rights. We call on the Iraqi government to take all measures to provide support and assistance to the Palestinian people, especially in the Gaza Strip. [We] call on brotherly Arab parliaments to hold an emergency session of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union in Baghdad in order to take a position that would reflect the will of the Arab peoples," a statement read. Iraq also decided to open official institutions to collect public and private donations to help the Palestinian people. 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. Both Israel and Palestine have reported over 1,000 deaths and thousands of injured as a result of the escalation. gaza strip israel iraq 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 gaza conflict, gaza strip, iraqi parliament, what does iraq thing about palestine, arab inter-parliamentary meeting https://sputnikglobe.com/20231016/israel-rebuffs-zelenskys-untimely-planned-visit---reports-1114235568.html Israel Rebuffs Zelensky's 'Untimely' Planned Visit - Reports Israel Rebuffs Zelensky's 'Untimely' Planned Visit - Reports Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky planned to visit Israel together with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. However, according to an Israeli news agency, Israel refused the trip, saying that the Ukrainian president's visit would be untimely at the moment. 2023-10-16T15:42+0000 2023-10-16T15:42+0000 2023-10-16T15:42+0000 world volodymyr zelensky ukraine israel palestine palestine-israel conflict israel-gaza conflict israeli-palestinian conflict ukrainian crisis ukrainian conflict /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/09/16/1113577585_0:0:2894:1628_1920x0_80_0_0_39e025cc3ceab5c84807c0f6d22ad7b9.jpg Blinken's Middle East tour was aimed at resolving the conflict between Israel and the Gaza Strip. The publication notes that the current refusal "does not mean that Zelensky will not come to Israel at all." According to the agency's assessment, such a trip could take place later and could be combined with one of the Ukrainian president's subsequent European tours.The Middle East tour of the US Secretary of State kicked off with an initial visit to Israel on October 12. He then arrived in Jordan and from there traveled to Qatar. Afterward, Blinken visited Bahrain and then Saudi Arabia.On October 7, the Palestinian militant organization, Hamas, executed an unexpected assault on Israeli soil, unleashing a relentless salvo of rockets that took the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) by surprise. In response, the Israeli government initiated operation Swords of Iron and invoked Article 40 of their Basic Law, effectively signaling a declaration of war. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231015/lindsey-graham-warns-iran-were-coming-for-you-if-it-escalates-israeli-palestinian-conflict-1114218175.html ukraine israel palestine gaza strip 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 zelensky touring the world, zelensky asking for money, ukrainian troops, ukrainian losses, ukrainian crisis, ukrainian counteroffensive, us weapons for ukraine, us funding of ukraine, israel-hamas conflict, gaza strip crisis, middle east crisis, shelling of gaza, gaza devastation, israel-palestine conflict, palestine-israel conflict, israeli-palestinian conflict, palestinian-israeli, hamas attack, israeli strikes, israeli forces, hostages, israeli military, hamas fighters, hamas soldiers, hamas military https://sputnikglobe.com/20231016/kennedy-jr-planning-to-issue-new-class-of-mortgages-to-tackle-skyrocketing-house-prices-1114220016.html Kennedy Jr. Planning to Issue New Class of Mortgages to Tackle Skyrocketing House Prices Kennedy Jr. Planning to Issue New Class of Mortgages to Tackle Skyrocketing House Prices Independent candidate for US President Robert F. Kennedy Jr said on Sunday that he plans to issue new mortgage types to lower costs for first time buyers and tackle companies like Blackrock 2023-10-16T03:06+0000 2023-10-16T03:06+0000 2023-10-18T20:20+0000 americas blackrock republicans gaza israel robert f. kennedy jr 2024 us presidential election housing costs mortgage /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/07/1a/1112149292_0:0:3072:1728_1920x0_80_0_0_9b77c631f3c7f75cca15489383c821f2.jpg In the past two years, house prices in the United States have increased from $215,000 to $400,000. At the same time, the mortgages grew from 3% to 7%, while American young adults were busy repaying their college loans. He noted that companies like BlackRock compete with American youth because, thanks to its perfect credit score, the company ended up paying 30% less in real estate prices, while young people who have no or poor credit history, end up paying high fees. Kennedy also spoke about other issues, such as the climate, mental illness, and homelessness, and touched upon Israel and Gaza. Kennedy would like to continue helping Israel because "if Israel were to disappear, if accurate, would be filled by the Chinese and Russians, who would then control 90% of the globe," the candidate said. This would be dangerous for the US and worlds security interests, he explained. Kennedy is a presidential candidate for the 2024 race who decided to run independently of the two major parties - the Republicans and Democrats. Kennedy explained that there is a "rising tide of discontent" in the US, wanting to make a "new declaration of independence" from corporations, the media, and the two major political parties. americas 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 robert f kennedy, home prices, mortgage prices, how to get the cost of housing down, rfk jr. campaign UN Commission Says Israeli Attacks on Gaza Constitute War Crimes A UN commission tasked with probing the conduct of Israeli and Palestinian combatants concluded in a report out Monday that Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip and its 16-year blockade of the territory constituted war crimes. The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory looked into evidence related to Israeli-Palestinian hostilities recorded between May 2021 and August 2023, before the latest upsurge in violence. "Taking into account the military targets and the incidental effects of the air strikes, the Commission concludes that as the damage and casualties caused by the actions of Israeli security forces were not proportionate to the military advantage, said actions constitute a war crime," it read. The 27-page report also found that "preventing the entry of food and medical supplies into Gaza is a violation of international humanitarian law." On the Palestinian armed groups, the inquiry body acknowledged that "the use by Palestinian armed groups of rockets and mortars that are inherently indiscriminate in their nature constitutes a violation of the prohibition of indiscriminate attacks and is thus a war crime." The commissioners also said they had examined the murder of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and concluded that the Israeli military used lethal force "without justification" under international human rights law and "intentionally or recklessly" violated Abu Akleh's right to life. The 51-year-old Palestinian-American journalist was shot in the head on May 11, 2022, during an Israeli raid in the West Bank. Reporters on the scene said they were targeted by Israeli snipers when the group was alone in the streets of the Palestinian city of Jenin and were clearly identifiable as being members of the press. Before the surprise Hamas attack on Israel unleashed retaliatory fire on the Gaza Strip on October 7, the Israeli army raided the densely populated Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank in July in what was considered the largest military incursion into Palestinian territory in decades. It left at least 12 Palestinians dead and dozens more wounded. U.S. President Joe Biden promises Israel that the United States will give what the country needs. However, POTUS clarified that American troops will not be included in the military aid. The American leader explained why he will not send U.S. soldiers to Israel during a 60-minute interview, which was aired on Saturday, Oct. 14. Here's what POTUS said. Joe Biden Claims Israel Don't Need US Soldiers Ever since Israel officially declared war against the Hamas terrorist group, Biden has been showing his support for the country. POTUS said that he will ensure that military aid will be sent to Israel to help the country fight against Palestinian terrorists and avoid further civilian casualties. However, Biden is not willing to risk American troops in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. He explained that sending U.S. soldiers to the Middle Eastern country is not really necessary, arguing that Israeli troops are among the "finest fighting forces" in the country. The statements made by Biden are quite similar to what White House NSC (National Security Council) spokesman John Kirby recently said. "There's no plans or intentions to put US troops on the ground to fight in this fight between Israel and Hamas," said Kirby. However, the NSC official clarified that sending American troops for rescue operations to save American citizens who are caught up in the Israel-Hamas war is still being considered. Although Biden is ruling out sending U.S. soldiers to help Israel fend off terrorists, he promised that the Middle Eastern nation will receive the necessary military aid. "I guarantee we're gonna provide them everything they need," said the American president via Business Insider. Read Also: Iran Issues Warning Over Israel's Alleged 'War Crimes, Genocide' Amid Hamas Conflict US Already Making Efforts To Help Israel The Guardian reported that the U.S. is concerned that other countries would take advantage of the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. "We see a real risk of escalation on the northern border and that is why President Biden has been so clear and so forceful in saying that no state and no group should seek to exploit the situation," said Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan. He explained that the decision of the government to deploy the USS Eisenhower, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was a clear message from the United States to other countries that they shouldn't get involved in the Israel-Hamas war. This military aid was confirmed after Iran announced that it would intervene in the warn if the Israeli military doesn't stop attacking Gaza. Related Article: US State Secretary Blinken Visits Israel, Meets with President Herzog, PM Netanyahu @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231016/netanyahu-evokes-nazism-to-justify-israels-colossal-response-to-hamas-attack-1114239142.html Netanyahu Evokes Nazism to Justify Israel's 'Colossal Response' to Hamas Attack Netanyahu Evokes Nazism to Justify Israel's 'Colossal Response' to Hamas Attack With Israeli strikes against the Gaza Strip killing 2,750 Palestinians, according to officials, the Israeli PM is justifying this colossal response in terms of a familiar evil, says independent media analyst Ellis Cashmore. 2023-10-16T20:17+0000 2023-10-16T20:17+0000 2023-10-16T20:13+0000 middle east benjamin netanyahu ellis cashmore boris dolgov israel gaza strip hamas nazism palestine-israel conflict analysis /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0a/10/1114239592_0:166:3072:1894_1920x0_80_0_0_075d097bb5a43dfe8f863ffa725b4d5e.jpg In his recent address to the Israeli Knesset, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted the conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip is a war between forces of light and forces of darkness, between humanity and animalism, and even compared Hamas to Nazis.With the Israeli strikes against the Gaza Strip already claiming some 2,750 Palestinian lives, according to the local health officials, it would appear the Israeli prime minister is justifying this colossal response in terms of a familiar evil, says independent media analyst professor Ellis Cashmore.Cashmore lamented that certain politicians have become careless in their language in their efforts to establish the high moral ground, noting, for example, how Israeli Minister of Energy Israel Katz accused the UN of turning into a propaganda arm of a terrorist ISIS* organization.Meanwhile, Boris Dolgov, of the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Oriental Studies, argued that none of the Palestinian organizations ever declared Palestinians a master race while Israelis are an inferior race, noting that describing Hamas as a Nazi organization would be a stretch to put it mildly.The statements made by Netanyahu are pure propaganda, aimed mostly at the public opinion in the West, where Nazism is regarded as evil. Netanyahus goal is to portray Hamas as new Nazism, in order to reorient the Western public opinion, so to speak, so that people (in the West) would reconsider their stance and take Israels side, Dolgov said.*Daesh, also known as ISIL and ISIS, is a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia https://sputnikglobe.com/20231016/fuel-reserves-in-gaza-hospitals-to-last-about-24-hours---ocha-1114221569.html israel gaza strip Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Andrei Dergalin Andrei Dergalin 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 Andrei Dergalin israel hamas conflict, israeli-palestinian conflict, gaza strip airstrikes https://sputnikglobe.com/20231016/putin-slams-nato-over-eastward-expansion-as-alliance-launches-nuclear-drills-in-europe-1114222049.html Putin Berates NATO Over Eastward Expansion as Alliance Launches Nuclear Drills in Europe Putin Berates NATO Over Eastward Expansion as Alliance Launches Nuclear Drills in Europe Moscow has repeatedly warned NATO against its eastward expansion, a process that the Kremlin says may add to stoking tensions in Europe. 2023-10-16T06:42+0000 2023-10-16T06:42+0000 2023-10-16T07:04+0000 world russia us nato drills b-52 expansion /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0a/10/1114223025_0:0:3072:1728_1920x0_80_0_0_b352085e7290b8269e42428dce257e1b.jpg NATO has been making empty promises about its commitment not to expand eastward since 1991, Russian President Vladimir Putin shared in an interview with Chinese state television.He outlined that there have been "five waves" of expansion since the US administration at the time assured Russia in 1991 that NATO would not expand towards the east.As an example, he cited agreements on Iran's nuclear program, not least the 2014 Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). According to the Russian President, once both sides had agreed and inked relevant documents, a new US administration assumed power and threw everything into a garbage can as if these agreements never existed.The remarks come as NATO kicks off what the alliance described as its "long-planned annual nuclear exercise," code-named Steadfast Noon, on Monday.NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg claimed that the exercise, scheduled to begin on October 26, "will help ensure the credibility, effectiveness and security of our [the alliance's] nuclear deterrent. According to him, the exercises "send a clear message that NATO will protect and defend all Allies.13 NATO members are expected to take part in the war games, which the alliance says will involve some 60 aircraft, including advanced fighter jets and U.S. B-52 strategic bombers, conducting "training flights over Italy, Croatia and the Mediterranean."The war games also involve conventional jets, as well as surveillance and refueling aircraft.In the past few years, the alliance disregarded Moscow's offers to provide security assurances to the United States and NATO. The proposals included an agreement stating that both Russia and NATO would refrain from positioning troops, ships, or aircraft in proximity to each other.Additionally, Moscow has requested an immediate cessation of NATO's expansion towards Russia's borders, emphasizing the imperative to refrain from inviting post-Soviet countries into the alliance or deploying military infrastructure on their territories. https://sputnikglobe.com/20220411/natos-eastward-expansion-orchestrated-by-us-with-goal-of-regime-change-in-russia---military-analyst-1094670461.html russia Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Oleg Burunov https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/09/0b/1080424846_0:0:2048:2048_100x100_80_0_0_3d7b461f8a98586fa3fe739930816aea.jpg Oleg Burunov https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/09/0b/1080424846_0:0:2048:2048_100x100_80_0_0_3d7b461f8a98586fa3fe739930816aea.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 Oleg Burunov https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/09/0b/1080424846_0:0:2048:2048_100x100_80_0_0_3d7b461f8a98586fa3fe739930816aea.jpg beginning of nato's steadfast noon nuclear drills, iran nuclear deal, nato's eastward expansion https://sputnikglobe.com/20231016/rafah-border-crossing-on-egypt-gaza-border-to-be-opened-on-monday-morning---reports-1114221011.html Rafah Checkpoint on Egypt-Gaza Border to Be Opened on Monday Morning - Reports Rafah Checkpoint on Egypt-Gaza Border to Be Opened on Monday Morning - Reports The Rafah border crossing from Gaza into Egypt will be opened to all foreigners stranded in the conflict-ridden region on October 16, the news broadcaster reported on Sunday, citing a Palestinian official. 2023-10-16T05:05+0000 2023-10-16T05:05+0000 2023-10-16T05:14+0000 world palestine-israel conflict israel palestine gaza strip hamas middle east egypt /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0a/0a/1114055615_0:163:3061:1885_1920x0_80_0_0_15a80b93f0cb7d5939a518e5ac6a5e77.jpg The report added that the border crossing would be opened at 06:00 GMT. Simultaneously with the start of allowing foreigners through the border crossing, the supply of humanitarian aid from Egypt to Gaza will begin, the broadcaster reported. 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. 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. Many countries have been evacuating their nationals from the conflict zone since the start of hostilities. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231010/roots-of-israel-hamas-conflict-1114064324.html israel palestine gaza strip egypt 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, gaza strip crisis, hamas, rafah border, egypt-gaza border https://sputnikglobe.com/20231016/russian-army-snuffs-out-ukrainian-drones-over-artemovsk-1114227934.html Russian Army Snuffs Out Ukrainian Drones Over Artemovsk Russian Army Snuffs Out Ukrainian Drones Over Artemovsk Russian air defenses are considered to be one of most sophisticated in the world and they proved to be quiet useful during special military operation, destroying drones and intercepting Ukrainian missiles. 2023-10-16T12:20+0000 2023-10-16T12:20+0000 2023-10-16T12:20+0000 russia's special operation in ukraine ukrainian crisis ukrainian counteroffensive attempt ukrainian drone attacks on russia /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0a/10/1114228043_96:0:1362:712_1920x0_80_0_0_401e13cacf0588542d11ac81aa12fc73.png The Russian Ministry of Defense released footage that shows Airborne Troops defending the skies over Artemovsk (also known as Bakhmut) with air defense missiles designed to obliterate drones. The Ukrainian military uses UAVs to conduct reconnaissance and bomb Russian positions.Russian servicemen set up observation points for early detection of enemy drones, and upon pinpointing any aircraft, the Strela-10 (Arrow-10) missiles eliminate them. The nation's airborne troops have been vaporizing dozens of Ukrainian UAVs every day, with one unit wiping out over 50 drones in one month. Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sergey Lebedev Sergey Lebedev News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Russian Army Guarding Skies Over Artemovsk Russian Army Guarding Skies Over Artemovsk 2023-10-16T12:20+0000 true PT0M19S 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sergey Lebedev special military operation, ukrainian crisis, ukrainan drone attaks, missile interseptros https://sputnikglobe.com/20231016/russian-foreign-minister-lavrov-arrives-in-china-1114219541.html Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov Arrives in China Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov Arrives in China Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived on Monday in the Chinese capital of Beijing ahead of the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. 2023-10-16T01:01+0000 2023-10-16T01:01+0000 2023-10-16T01:01+0000 russia sergey lavrov wang yi russia china beijing belt and road initiative /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0a/09/1114033555_0:156:3089:1894_1920x0_80_0_0_ade0f15f48647851e7dc9642ad8735fe.jpg Later in the day, Lavrov is expected to hold a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed his participation in the Belt and Road Forum. During his visit to China, the Russian leader will also hold a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Belt and Road Initiative is a concept proposed by Xi in 2013 to boost international multilateral trade and investment projects involving interested countries. More than 150 states and more than 30 international organizations have already joined it. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231011/beijing-to-host-third-belt-and-road-forum-from-october-17-18---chinas-foreign-ministry-1114082464.html russia china beijing 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 lavrov arrived in china, chinese russian relations, belt and road initiative https://sputnikglobe.com/20231016/russian-soldier-sacrifices-himself-to-avoid-capture-by-ukrainians-1114233195.html Russian Soldier Sacrifices Himself to Avoid Capture by Ukrainians Russian Soldier Sacrifices Himself to Avoid Capture by Ukrainians Earlier United Nations Humans Rights Office reported that Ukraine systematically tortures people over alleged ties with Russia. 2023-10-16T16:05+0000 2023-10-16T16:05+0000 2023-10-17T05:10+0000 russia's special operation in ukraine ukrainian crisis torture russia ukraine /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0a/10/1114233013_114:0:1323:680_1920x0_80_0_0_a5cdd734d46018f2bfeb51a7747ebcf1.png A clip from the body camera of one Ukrainian militant, from the 3rd assault brigade, has been circulating on social media. The video shows the heroic self-sacrifice of Russian soldier cornered by Ukrainian nationalists in a trench.They are seen trying to "persuade" the Russian to surrender, but he knew that Ukrainian captivity could be worse than death on the battlefield so he threw a grenade at their feet.The former Azov* militants did not even hide their hostile intentions. It is well known that Ukraine systematically violates international law by torturing prisoners.*Recognized as a terrorist organization and banned in Russia. russia ukraine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Russian Soldier Sacrifices Himself to Avoid Ukrainian Captivity Russian Soldier Sacrifices Himself to Avoid Being Captive by Ukrainian Nationalists 2023-10-16T16:05+0000 true PT0M34S 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International russian heroism, russian special military operation, ukrainian crisis, ukrainian war crimes, ukraine torture https://sputnikglobe.com/20231016/trumps-strategic-delays-risk-upending-federal-trials-casting-shadow-on-legal-future-1114219708.html Trump's Strategic Delays Risk Upending Federal Trials, Casting Shadow on Legal Future Trump's Strategic Delays Risk Upending Federal Trials, Casting Shadow on Legal Future In a recent motion, Trump suggested postponing his May trial related to the Mar-a-Lago documents case until mid-November 2024, effectively after the next election. 2023-10-16T02:13+0000 2023-10-16T02:13+0000 2023-10-16T02:13+0000 americas us florida cia donald trump supreme court 2024 us presidential election /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/09/11/1113428342_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_b958bdd39e01720e36374eaf642a787e.jpg Former President Donald Trump has adopted a deliberate strategy of seeking incremental delays in his federal trials, potentially jeopardizing their timelines and impacting the broader political landscape.Legal expert Ankush Khardori, a former federal prosecutor, describes this approach as an incremental strategy. While some of Trump's motions have been on technical matters, related to how classified information is handled in trial, the aggregate effect could potentially delay these cases significantly.One key element of Trump's recent motions revolves around the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA), which governs the handling of classified evidence in trials. Trump's team has requested delays in meeting CIPA deadlines, arguing that the government is rushing the process. They claim the government's delays in sharing certain documents, primarily due to their classified nature, have justified their requests. However, prosecutors contend that these delays only warrant minor extensions.The core of the dispute centers on Section 4 of CIPA, which deals with redacting or summarizing classified evidence as a protective measure before sharing it. Trump's team wants to postpone what former CIA attorney Brian Greer refers to as the "first substantive stage" of CIPA by three months, while the government emphasizes the need for an orderly process.In addition to schedule-related motions, Trump has sought to dismiss all charges in the election interference case, arguing immunity from prosecution based on his official duties. This motion may ultimately reach the Supreme Court. Prosecutors have urged the judge to compel Trump's team to formally assert their defense in court rather than on the airwaves, which they argue could lead to substantial disruptions and delays.Experts believe that Trump's incremental approach might be most effective in Florida, where the trial is set for May, approaching the convention season and potentially influencing the election. Trump's attorneys have been clear in their intent to prevent these trials from taking place before the election, indicating their hopes for potential future developments if Trump were to regain office.The strategic delays by Trump's legal team pose a significant challenge to the federal trials, with the potential to reshape their timelines and consequences, ultimately impacting the broader legal and political landscape. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231010/trump-leads-biden-in-2024-us-presidential-race-with-backing-of-independents---poll-1114073256.html americas Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Egor Shapovalov Egor Shapovalov News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Egor Shapovalov trump, federal trial, trump mar-a-lago documents case, will trump go to prison, section 4 of cipa, classified information procedures act https://sputnikglobe.com/20231016/ukrainian-military-casualties-amount-to-460-in-donetsk-direction-1114230932.html Ukrainian Military Casualties Amount to 460 in Donetsk Direction Ukrainian Military Casualties Amount to 460 in Donetsk Direction The Russian military has repelled 10 attacks in the Donetsk direction in the past 24 hours, and the Ukrainian troops has lost up to 460 soldiers as killed or injured, the Defense Ministry reported on Monday. 2023-10-16T11:31+0000 2023-10-16T11:31+0000 2023-10-16T11:32+0000 russia's special operation in ukraine russian defense ministry russia ukraine donetsk russian forces ukrainian crisis ukrainian counteroffensive attempt ukrainian conflict ukraine crisis /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/09/0d/1113348290_0:0:1440:810_1920x0_80_0_0_b56145ed8caf7951783ae1a30270c35b.png "The enemy lost up to 460 military personnel as killed and injured, three tanks, two armored combat vehicles, 12 cars," the military said in a statement. The Russian troops also repelled 10 attacks in the Kupyansk direction, where the Ukrainian military lost up to 85 soldiers as killed or injured in the past day. In the South Donetsk, Ukraines military casualties amounted to over 70 troops. Moreover, Ukraine lost up to 65 soldiers in the Krasny Liman direction, where Russian troops have repelled two attacks. In addition, the Russian military downed three Ukrainian fighter jets over the past 24 hours. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230826/ukraines-pilots-wont-be-competent-to-fly-f-16s-let-alone-boost-kievs-offensive-1112907390.html russia ukraine donetsk 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 ukrainian troops, ukrainian losses, ukrainian jets, ukrainian tanks, ukrainian armored vehicles, ukrainian crisis, failed counteroffensive, ukrainian counteroffensive, foiled counteroffensive, counteroffensive attempt, thwarted counteroffensive, counteroffensive effort, krasny liman, krasnyi lyman, donetsk direction ,south donetsk, https://sputnikglobe.com/20231016/uns-palestinian-refugee-agency-says-14-of-its-members-killed-in-gaza-1114220225.html UN's Palestinian Refugee Agency Says 14 of Its Members Killed in Gaza UN's Palestinian Refugee Agency Says 14 of Its Members Killed in Gaza Fourteen members of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East have been killed in the Gaza Strip the agency said. 2023-10-16T03:34+0000 2023-10-16T03:34+0000 2023-10-16T03:34+0000 world israel palestine united nations relief and works agency for palestine refugees in the near east (unrwa) the united nations (un) gaza strip philippe lazzarini middle east /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0a/0f/1114209048_0:0:3072:1728_1920x0_80_0_0_807313bd9488467e1f88eb3a40dad8f4.jpg On Thursday, the agency said that 12 of its employees were killed in Gaza. He also added that at least "400,000 displaced people are now in UNRWA schools and buildings," and the situation is approaching a humanitarian catastrophe. 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. Both Israel and Palestine have reported over 1,000 deaths and thousands of injured as a result of the escalation. israel palestine gaza strip 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 unrwa members killed, israeli airstrikes on refugees, un members killed in gaza https://sputnikglobe.com/20231016/whys-the-only-available-checkpoint-to-gaza-still-closed-1114232048.html Why's the Only Available Checkpoint to Gaza Still Closed? Why's the Only Available Checkpoint to Gaza Still Closed? Gaza's residents are in urgent need of humanitarian aid deliveries, but it is still impossible. The only available checkpoint to Gaza is closed, despite... 16.10.2023, Sputnik International 2023-10-16T17:06+0000 2023-10-16T17:06+0000 2023-10-16T17:07+0000 world israel gaza palestine egypt middle east the united nations (un) palestine-israel conflict humanitarian crisis /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0a/10/1114231950_0:253:3072:1981_1920x0_80_0_0_093640c11c0656818812ddae6a7cd6ba.jpg As the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip deepens, with food, fuel and water running short, humanitarian aid from several countries has been held up in Egypt pending a deal for its safe delivery to Gaza and the evacuation of some foreign passport holders through the Rafah border crossing. According to the UN, fuel reserves at all hospitals across the enclave are expected to last for about an additional 24 hours.On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office stated that there was no truce for humanitarian aid to Gaza in exchange for getting foreigners out.The international community has repeatedly requested that Israeli officials open 'safe corridors' for Gaza residents. On Sunday, the IDF officially announced the opening of an evacuation corridor from northern part of Gaza to the southern area. Simultaneously, UN Secretary-General Guterres appealed to Hamas to grant unimpeded access for humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip and to immediately release all hostages. However, Israel refused to allow humanitarian cargo to enter the enclave.How can the humanitarian aid enter the Gaza Strip now and what are the positions of Israel, Palestine and Egypt on the matter? Sputnik tried to find the answers.What's the Problem With the Checkpoints?There were only three checkpoints available to exit the Gaza Strip: Erez and Kerem Shalom to Israel and Rafah to Egypt. The first one, Erez, was situated in the northern border from Gaza to Israel, worked exclusively to let people go through and was completely destroyed during Hamas' sneak attack on southern Israel on October 7. The same fate befell Kerem Shalom, the second checkpoint on that ominous morning - which was the only one that allowed all large cargo to enter Gaza, because of the economic blockade that Israel had imposed on the Gaza Strip under Hamas rule in 2007. For now, only the Rafah checkpoint to Egypt is available for operation, but the situation at the crossing remains unclear.Recently, Egypt closed the checkpoint because it has been shelled by the Israeli Army since last week. Meanwhile, both the Palestine Red Crescent Society is waiting for the Rafah checkpoint to officially open, Palestinian Red Crescent representative Neebal Farsakh told Sputnik.While the Rafah checkpoint is still closed, Egypt is collecting humanitarian aid at El-Arish airport, since not only Egypt, but also Jordan, the UAE, Qatar and Turkiye are sending aid, Director of the Middle East Forum for Strategic Studies Samir Ghattas told Sputnik. What is Israel's Stance?In turn, Israeli officials are not going to let humanitarian aid into the enclave, since they cannot check what exactly is being carried in the trucks from Egypt. Such a precedent was posted by Israeli journalist Yossi Eli on his Twitter account, claiming that the Israeli Special Forces found a sack of rice filled with bullets.Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz stated on Monday that he was categorically against the opening of the blockade and the import of goods into the Gaza Strip for humanitarian reasons.What is Egypt's Stance?As per Samir Ghattas, Egypt is not interested in the full opening of the Rafah checkpoint. Cairo is not ready to let refugees in, but is going to pressure Israel on the humanitarian aid issue.According to him, Israel is pushing the Palestinians to leave Gaza and go to Sinai, as far as the Israelis are ready to allow them to leave, but they refuse to hand over humanitarian aid.Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said on Thursday that Gaza residents must stay steadfast and remain on their land.So far, dozens of trucks with humanitarian aid for Gaza are still waiting near the Rafah checkpoint on the Egyptian side, as far as Cairo waits for approval and security guarantees from Israel to enter the enclave. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231013/gaza-residents-reveal-real-horrors-they-are-experiencing-1114165300.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20231016/rafah-border-crossing-on-egypt-gaza-border-to-be-opened-on-monday-morning---reports-1114221011.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20231014/israels-plan-to-displace-gaza-residents-in-details-1114195659.html israel gaza egypt 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 israel, gaza, palestine, egypt, middle east, the united nations (un), palestine-israel conflict, humanitarian crisis (Photo : Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis welcomed nearly 300 Americans who were rescued from Israel amid the violence brought by the Hamas militant group. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday welcomed nearly 300 American evacuees who came from Israel as they escaped the violence brought by the Hamas attack on the region. The hundreds of citizens, which included 91 children, flew from Israel to the United States through Portugal and landed at Tampa International Airport at around 7:45 p.m. Bryan Stern expressed his gratitude to DeSantis for making the mission to bring the American citizens back home possible. Rescuing American Citizens On Thursday, the Florida governor signed an executive order that enabled the Florida Division of Emergency Management to bring Floridians home and transport supplies out to Israel. Officials estimated that roughly 20,000 U.S. citizens, including some from the Sunshine State, were still stranded in the Middle Eastern country. DeSantis' executive order directs the Florida Division of Emergency Management to charter flights for American citizens who are trying to flee the war-torn country and back home. Additionally, it states that it would allow Florida to carry out logistical, rescue, and evacuation operations to keep its residents safe, as per WFLA. Stern is the founder of Project Dynamo, an international search, rescue, aid, and assistance non-profit organization, which launched "Operation: Promised Land" after Hamas militant forces attacked Israel on Oct. 7. He noted that his team was already working on rescuing hostages that were being held by the terrorist group. Additionally, Project Dynamo is making efforts to evacuate Americans who are trapped in Gaza and the ones who have been unable to book their own flights back home. The majority of airlines have suspended service in and out of Israel since the beginning of the war with the Hamas group. A news release noted that after the plane landed in Tampa, the evacuees that rose inside were able to access resources from multiple state agencies. The supplies that DeSantis' office was sending to Israel included medical supplies, hygiene products, clothing, and children's toys. Read Also: US State Secretary Blinken Visits Israel, Meets with President Herzog, PM Netanyahu Israel-Palestine Conflict The Florida governor posted a video on social media where he said that they were at Tampa airport welcoming the first flight of people who were rescued from Israel. Stern said that it was immensely difficult getting American citizens out of Gaza and did not provide additional information on future rescue missions, according to CBS News. American officials have started organizing charter flights in recent days for the thousands of trapped U.S. citizens. The first of these flights landed in Athens, Greece, on Saturday. They are departing from Ben Gurion International Airport, which is the main airport of Israel. DeSantis' efforts to rescue trapped Americans have created a rift between him and fellow presidential candidate Nikki Haley. The former United Nations ambassador pushed back against the Florida governor's views, saying that Americans have always been sympathetic to the fact that civilians and terrorists can be separated. The dividing views come as nearly 1 million people are experiencing a shortage of food, clean water, and shelter in Gaza. On Sunday, DeSantis argued that it would be detrimental to the U.S. to "import" large numbers of refugees, arguing that it would fuel anti-semitism, said the New York Times. Related Article: DC Jewish Community Holds Pro-Israel Rally Amid Hamas's 'Day of Rage' Threat @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Driver Guy Gagnon hit a major milestone on Sunday, Oct. 15 at Rideau Carleton Raceway, securing his 6,000th career driving victory aboard Western Phil on the 10-race card. Starting from post four in the $8,500-$12,000 claiming pace, Gagnon was intent on the lead from the outset, clearing to the front with Western Phil leading to the opening quarter by three lengths in a speedy :27.2. Gagnon tapped the brakes in the second quarter, backing things down on the front to the half in :56.4. Gagnon hit the accelerator in the third quarter, unleashing a :27.4 third quarter to give Western Phil a five-length jump on the field at three-quarters in 1:24.3. Western Phil began to feel the hot early fractions as he turned for home with a host of competitors in hot pursuit and his lead down to three. Under Gagnon urging, Western Phil dug in to fend off Uber Hanover by a half-length on the wire to secure the victory in 1:55.3. In a career spanning 35 years, the victory was the 6,000th career driving victory for Gagnon, who has been a model of consistency as both a trainer and a driver in Canada. Gagnon also does the training on Western Phil, who secured his 10th victory of 2023 in his 25th seasonal outing. The nine-year-old gelded son of Sportswriter-Matter Of Style owns 32 career victories and has banked $207,570 in his career for owner Pascal Fleury. Jimmy Gagnon scored the victory in the $10,000 Preferred Handicap Pace on the card, steering Dylans Bank to the winner's circle in front-end fashion at 17-1. Dylans Bank unleashed a :26.1 opening quarter from post three to secure the front end, keeping The Light Speed and Guy Gagnon parked in the opening stage. As The Light Speed retreated to third, Dylans Bank remained relentless on the lead, taking the field of six to the halfway point in a blistering :53.4. Dylans Bank built a four-length advantage over his nearest competitor, Aladdin and Staphane Brosseau, who chased in second through three-quarters in 1:21.3. Aladdin rallied within a length of Dylans Bank as the top two turned for home. Dylans Bank was dead-game on the lead, holding Aladdin at bay by a neck on the wire as he secured the victory in 1:51.1. Jet Rock and Robert Shepherd rallied from the backfield despite broken equipment to finish third. Dylans Bank paid $37.80 to his backers at the windows with the upset victory. The win was the ninth of a 32-race 2023 campaign for Dylans Bank, who is trained and owned by John MacMillan. The six-year-old gelded son of Thinking Out Loud-Sexnvetts owns 35 career victories to go along with $183,686 in lifetime earnings. To view Sunday's harness tacing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - Rideau Carleton Raceway. Sunday, Oct. 1, marked the 75th anniversary of the opening of George Washington Carver Regional High School in Culpeper County in 1948. The Board of Supervisors earlier this month adopted a proclamation for the occasion and sent a congratulatory letter to alumni of the historic Black school that served five counties of students until full integration in 1968. The anniversary is a very special day, noted Board Chairman Gary Deal. He mentioned the recent restoration of the Carver name to the stone front of the school. Alumni had asked for the name to put back for years after it was changed to Piedmont Vocational School soon after Carver closed. Its something I think we are all proud of, did the right thing, Deal said. The proclamation describes the separate but equal doctrine enshrined in the Virginia Constitution and how African American parents, grandparents and friends from Culpeper, Madison, Orange and Rappahannock began advocating in the 1930s for a quality high school education for their children. A regional control board was established and 11.15 acres purchased for the school, at the foot of Cedar Mountain, from Noah Price. The county board recently approved naming the road around front of Carver, Noah Price Loop, as proposed by alumni. The school opened its doors 75 years ago to 450 minority students in 8th-11th grade, according to the proclamation. The final graduation was held June 7, 1968. The campus, now called the Carver Center, is providing advancement opportunities for all people throughout this region and members of the alumni association are still committed to telling the Carver story the first and only secondary school in the Commonwealth of Virginia built especially to educate African American students from four counties. The Board of Supervisors sent a letter congratulating alumni on its upcoming 75th Diamond Jubilee, already celebrated in Orange, Madison and Rappahannock. The sold-out main event, Carver Forever: A 75th Diamond Jubilee Dinner and Dance, will be held at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 21 at Germanna Community Colleges Joseph R. Daniel Technology Center. As those who advocated for the schools existence, you continue to demonstrate the highest qualities of citizenship. You work cooperatively, share your insights, celebrate the mutual benefits of Carver alumni to the county and encourage all of us to work for the common good, the letter to alumni stated. Alumna Dr. Hortense Hinton-Jackson was there to accept the proclamation plaque from the county board of supervisors. I want to thank each of you for your vote and for correcting something that had been done in the past, perhaps for a different reason, but you chose to make it right, she said of putting the name back on the school. You didnt have to do that and I know there were many before me who had asked to have that done and it didnt happen, but it happened under your watch. It makes a big difference to the alumni of Carver, makes a big difference to the African American community. Carver is a symbol, she said, adding she was proud to see the painting of the school hanging on the meeting room wall, behind her as she spoke. It is a monument, one of the few monuments in this county to African American struggle. We do not want it to be lost so we are here to tell Carvers story over and over again, Hinton-Jackson said. At that time some may say, Why did want to go back and do that? History is very important. What we are living in right now is a result of a number of things that happened years before any of us were here. We have to know the history. Carver was built to accomplish mandated segregation, not something to be proud of, she said, but it also provided an education for them. When we look back on it now we are in a different culture and context, a different time and we have to change with those times. We have to correct things that meant one thing at one time to what it means right now, Hinton-Jackson said. Cedar Mountain Battlefield Foundation hosted its first-ever 5K/10K race, the Cedar Mountain Rally, on Oct. 1. Approximately 65 runners chased the trails around the Culpeper County battlefield in the late afternoon sun, according to a release from foundation board member Keith Price. Dozens of cheering observers and volunteers stood by to rally them on, as they traversed the ground where fierce fighting occurred on Aug. 9, 1862, during the American Civil War. Race proceeds support the Cedar Mountain Battlefield Foundation, a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization that stewards the battlefield through maintenance, preservation and public interpretation. The site is more than just historic land. It is also 160 acres of nature reserve with a large variety of wildflowers, birds and trails for dog walkers and runners, Price said. The battlefield history group hosts multiple programs to engage the public with all it has to offer, the release stated. Local residents as well as history buffs are visiting the battlefield in increasing numbers to learn about the events that occurred here and enjoy new programs and amenities, Cedar Mountain Battlefield Foundation president Diane Logan said in August at the 161st anniversary. The race was organized and results managed by Bishops Events of Manassas. Race sponsors included American Battlefield Trust, Museum of Culpeper History, Friends of Wilderness Battlefield, Friends of Culpeper Battlefields, Battlefield Tours of Virginia, Mountain Run Winery, Prince Michel Vineyard & Winery, La Bee da Loca, VFW Post 2524, Kemper-Fry-Strother SCV Camp 19, Plow & Hearth, Purcells Custom Firearms Orange, Sgt. Maj. Mike Stelzel USMC (Ret), UVA Health Culpeper Medical Center and Yoders Country Store in Madison. The rally is already scheduled to return on Sept. 28, 2024. In 2024, Cedar Mountain Battlefield will become part of the new Culpeper Battlefields State Park. The park will be formed through a 1,700-acre donation of American Battlefield Trust-owned land on the Brandy Station, Cedar Mountain, Kellys Ford and Rappahannock Station battlefields, according to the release. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Oct. 28, the Foundation will host its annual Soldiers of Virginia living history event on the battlefield featuring reenactors portraying soldiers of Virginias history from Colonial times through World War II. The event will include a demonstration of arms, hands-on activities, talks with the historic soldiers and more. Suggested donations are $10 per car, with all money going to fund CMBF educational programs. The Cedar Mountain Battlefield 2024 calendar of events includes programs that appeal to adults as well as children. Last years Kids Camp was so popular that it will become an annual event beginning August 2024, according to the release. Culpeper County Sheriff Scott Jenkins failed to properly train his auxiliary deputies in accordance with his own policy and does not maintain a record of which firearms have been assigned to which volunteers despite a policy requiring it, according to court records and information obtained in a Virginia Freedom of Information Act request. The three-term sheriffs handling of his volunteer program looms over this falls election. He is under federal indictment alleging he unlawfully traded appointments as auxiliary deputies with badges and guns, and took official acts, in exchange for cash to enrich himself and fund his reelection. Auxiliary deputies are unpaid volunteers often retired law enforcement and veterans who possess the same law-enforcement powers as the paid sheriffs deputies they support. Jenkins, 52, faces two challengers Tim Chilton, a deputy police chief with the town of Culpeper, and Joe Watson, a former Culpeper deputy and Alexandria police officer. Whether he wins reelection or not, the sheriff is scheduled for trial on federal bribery charges in May. Jenkins was indicted June 28 on charges of conspiracy, four counts of honest-services mail and wire fraud and eight counts of federal programs bribery. According to the indictment, starting in 2019 Jenkins accepted cash bribes totaling at least $72,500 from three businessmen in Northern Virginia and at least five others. In return, he agreed to make them auxiliary deputies. He has pleaded not guilty. Jenkins declined to be interviewed for this story, and declined to answer specific questions given to him in writing. Heres a closer look at what auxiliary deputies are, some of the auxiliaries Jenkins appointed and how Jenkins is alleged to have broken the law. Culpeper County ordinance allows the sheriff to appoint auxiliary deputies, and requires them to meet minimum law enforcement training standards established by the state. Jenkins policy on auxiliary deputies says they are governed by the policies and procedures of his office. Lack of training was not a basis for the indictment, but the indictment of Jenkins says he failed to ensure that the individuals who were appointed as Auxiliary Deputy Sheriffs met the training requirements prescribed by his own General Order 1-15. Jenkins policies require the volunteers to complete 40 hours of training every two years. His policies also require a commander to keep record of all issued firearms. The Culpeper Star-Exponent made a Freedom of Information Act request to the sheriffs office asking for records of all firearms assigned to auxiliary deputies. The sheriffs office responded that no such record exists. A closer look at Jenkins auxiliaries Generally, volunteer auxiliary deputies operate under the same color of law as a regular deputy sheriff and can help sheriffs with traffic control, security at ballgames or any duty that will help a sheriff do his job, said John W. Jones, executive director of the Virginia Sheriffs Association. In response to a FOIA request in August, the Culpeper Sheriffs Office provided the names of what it said were 25 current auxiliary deputies, although county government records in July showed there were 32. They are insured through the county government. State Sen. Bryce Reeves, R-Spotsylvania, an ally of Jenkins, was not on that list, but said he is among current Culpeper auxiliaries and was assigned a firearm. Documents are filed in circuit courts when a sheriff swears in auxiliary deputies and Culpeper records show Reeves was sworn in in December 2019. Reeves said he didnt want to comment extensively on the auxiliary program, citing the indictment. He said he was called to assist the sheriffs office several times after the COVID-19 pandemic struck and also assisted the Culpeper sheriff when an officer in another jurisdiction was shot. Culpeper County Supervisor Paul Bates said his father, Paul Bates Sr., is an auxiliary deputy. Bates Sr., 82, a Korean War veteran, was appointed in 2016 and 2020. His son said his father has helped oversee inmates working at the soapbox derby track, a popular stock car competition site in Culpeper that hosts an annual race. The son said his father was not issued a gun by the sheriffs office. A couple who live in Arizona recently resigned as Culpeper auxiliary deputies, according to court records. Ernest Greene Langdon was appointed in 2015 and 2020 as an auxiliary deputy. Aimee Barmore Langdon was sworn in on April 25, 2022. The Langdons sent a resignation letter on Aug. 24 of this year to Sheriff Jenkins, according to Culpeper court records, which stated they were resigning because they live in Arizona, no longer travel to Virginia regularly and therefore could not fulfill their duties to the office. The couple included their badges and deputy identification cards with the letter. The Langdons own Langdon Tactical Technology, a firearms customization business in Mesa, Arizona. In a statement of economic interests Sheriff Jenkins filed with the state in June, he reported that Ernest Langdon, in 2022, gave him a gift of two pistols, valued at $2,000. Jenkins had not disclosed that in his original form filed in January, but added it, among other changes, in an amended form in June. Another auxiliary deputy in Culpeper, John Guandolo, first sworn in in 2014, was involved in a traffic accident in Dallas, Texas, in October 2022. Guandolo, a former U.S. Marine and former FBI agent, is founder of Understanding the Threat, a now-defunct organization focused on defeating the jihadi threat. Jenkins twice hosted Guandolo for training sessions for law enforcement and the public. The Southern Poverty Law Center has called Understanding the Threat an anti-Muslim hate group. In Texas, Guandolo had a Culpeper Sheriffs Office rifle and told police he was an off-duty law enforcement officer from Virginia, NBC4 Washington reported earlier this year. Dallas police seized the gun and Guandolo was not charged. The list of auxiliary deputies the sheriffs office provided in August did not include Guandolo and its unclear if he remains a Culpeper auxiliary deputy and where he was living when he was first appointed in 2014. National news outlet Daily Beast reported earlier this month that an FBI search warrant affidavit also accuses Jenkins of selling a deputy badge to a Virginia businessman named Havel Dosky, who has ties to Kurdistans prime minister, for a $5,000 campaign donation. The FBI seized Doskys iPhone in an unrelated investigation and shared information with investigators looking into Jenkins. Jenkins appointed Dosky as a Culpeper auxiliary deputy in January 2020. Three others indicted The Northern Virginia businessmen indicted alongside Jenkins are Rick Tariq Rahim of Great Falls, Fredric Gumbinner of Fairfax and James Metcalf of Manassas. They have pleaded not guilty. Rahim took his oath to become a Culpeper auxiliary deputy in May 2021, Gumbinner in March 2020 and Metcalf in September 2022. The sheriff is accused in the indictment of helping Rahim enter into a purported lease agreement in Culpeper County so he could claim to live there and petition for his firearms rights to be restored after past felony convictions. The sheriff is also accused of pressuring officials to restore Rahims firearms rights, a request that was ultimately granted. Before that, one of Rahims companies wrote a check to Jenkins and his wife for $17,500, with the memo line loan proceeds. But in state-required economic interest statements, the sheriff didnt report owing any creditor more than $5,000, and didnt report any campaign donations from Rahim or his businesses, according to the indictment. Jenkins is similarly accused of appointing Gumbinner, Metcalf and others as auxiliaries in return for money. The indictment of Jenkins alleges he had a duty to use his power as sheriff for the benefit of Culpeper County and its residents but says he instead used the powers of his office to enrich himself and to secure funds for his re-election by taking bribes. Jenkins has gotten national attention among conservatives over his positions in favor of Second Amendment rights and border security and support for former President Donald Trump; Jenkins attended a roundtable at the White House in 2018 with other sheriffs who presented an appreciation plaque to the then-president. When Democrats took control of both chambers of the state legislature in 2019 and promised gun control legislation, Jenkins said he could swear in thousands of auxiliary deputies. Theres no limit to the number of people I can swear in, he said at the time. However, a county ordinance says he can appoint as many persons of good character as he deems necessary as long as the auxiliaries dont exceed 15% of the paid force, which is currently 118 full-time, approved positions, according to county records. The law firm defending Jenkins on his criminal charges, CalebAndonian PLLC in Washington, D.C., recently set up a GoFundMe page to help the sheriff raise money for his legal bills. The page initially said the Biden Justice Department had indicted Jenkins on outrageous allegations, but the word Biden was later cut from the text. Reactions from opponents, former police chief Watson, the former Culpeper deputy now running for sheriff with the endorsement of the Culpeper County Republican Committee, said he has questions about how Jenkins handled the auxiliary program. What was the guy in Dallas, Texas, doing with one of your badges and full arrest power and credentials? And a weapon? I dont get it, Watson said. Chilton, the other candidate running for sheriff, declined to comment on how Jenkins has run the auxiliary program or the indictment because he said town police his current department need to continue a working relationship with the sheriffs office. Chris Jenkins, who retired as Culpeper town police chief this year after a 45-year career and is not related to Sheriff Jenkins, questioned whether Jenkins training standards were in compliance with the national association that accredits the Culpeper Sheriffs Office and other agencies. Chris Jenkins also said hes troubled that Sheriff Jenkins hasnt addressed questions about his auxiliary program or anything else and has taken down the sheriffs office Facebook page. He said the GoFundMe is a page out of Trumps playbook. How many sheriffs have been given an envelope with $5,000 or $10,000 cash in it? That just doesnt happen, he said. He comes across like hes the poor victim in all this and he doesnt have to answer to anything and he can hide under the indictment. Patrick Wilson is a reporter for the Lee Enterprises Public Service Journalism Team. Allison Brophy Champion: 540/825-4315; abrophy@starexponent.com Like many communities around the country, the Panhandle is facing a shortage of mental health providers. Licensed therapists and counselors are overbooked and overworked, and it is becoming difficult to recruit new talent to the area. In the 2020 Panhandle Community Health Assessment, survey respondents indicated that they saw mental and behavioral health as their largest concern for the community; above access to health care and health conditions like obesity and cancer. Survey respondents also acknowledged the emergence of behavioral health services and their improvements in recent years. Mental and behavioral health issues have become destigmatized in recent years and the growth in the industry has been outpaced by the need. Susan E. Martinez, a licensed provider working in Scottsbluff, said her schedule is so full she routinely has to turn new patients away. I get calls almost on a daily basis that I have to call back and say, Im sorry, I just dont have any openings, Martinez said. As a general provider, Martinez sees patients of all ages and backgrounds, she also offers telehealth counseling as well as her in person practice. This gives her a heavy workload that is becoming more and more common for providers in the Panhandle, she said, which can become emotionally draining and lead to burnout among existing providers like herself. Martinez has been seeing up to 10 patients a day in sessions from 30 minutes to an hour and up to nearly 50 a week. Even with a more average workload, there are still so many people seeking help and not enough providers to listen that Martinez said she had to change the way she conducts sessions. Martinez never used to take notes during sessions, she felt it was rude and took her attention away from her patients, instead opting to write up her notes on the days sessions at the end of the day. With her increased workload, the additional time at the end of the day was too much and was eating into the little work-life balance that she had. At the end of the day after Ive seen eight people, or nine people, or 10 people, to go back and recap all of that into notes would take me another hour and a half, and so there were a lot of nights I wasnt getting home until about eight oclock in the evening, Martinez said. Martinez said it still pains her to turn people away and wishes she could do more. I think there is definitely a shortage of mental health practitioners and the ones who are here are overloaded, Martinez said. New technologies, like telehealth appointments have made providers like Martinez more accessible and to help them manage their caseload. New software has also allowed Martinez to bring some of the aspects of in-person counseling to telehealth appointments. This includes software that replicates what Martinez refers to as her sandtray. She uses the table, filled with sand, along with figurines and other objects to help patients visualize their lives and gain insight into what they may be going through. Martinez said that while she does not necessarily prefer telehealth appointments for some patients, they are more comfortable in their own homes and taking those appointments online helps them open up. For some providers, telehealth has become a focus to help them overcome the volume of patients they see. Provider Ruth Ann Holland has been practicing for roughly 10 years and currently sees patients exclusively through telehealth appointments. I had to laugh when COVID started because, of course, Ive been doing telehealth for a long time but a lot of my clients were new to it and really liked it, Holland said. While Holland sees all kinds of patients, she has mostly focused her practice in Scottsbluff on what she described as patients with severe and persistent mental illness. She agreed that the shortage of mental health providers puts a much heavier strain on the current infrastructure of mental health services. Holland said this is especially true for younger providers who often start their career working with agencies before they can open a private practice. Theres a lot of pressure for us to take on really heavy caseloads, in agency settings in particular, she said. Its had to get new clinicians past that first three to five years, where theres a pretty high level of burnout. Holland said it was not uncommon for younger providers to leave the profession while working with some of the agencies because of the standards and heavy caseload that is expected at that stage in their careers. During a normal workday for Holland in her private practice, she said she would schedule four to five patients a day at about an hour each, which she said would add up to roughly 25 contact hours a week. She said some agencies are expecting 35 or more contact hours a week. Clinicians are not refusing to call them back because theyre being jerks, theyre so full that they literally cant take anybody else, Holland said. These shortages are especially acute for providers who specialize in specific types of clients. Lori Fletcher-Rodriquez practices out of Alliance and is one of the few practitioners who will see younger children in the Panhandle. As such, Fletcher-Rodriquez said she sees a similarly high caseload to her counterparts, averaging roughly 30 clients a week between in-person and telehealth appointments. She said the COVID-19 pandemic also increased the strain on mental health infrastructure significantly as more people have become comfortable with seeking help. Since COVID, I think definitely, weve seen a drastic increase in the number of people reaching out to get mental health services, Fletcher-Rodriquez said. It has become a double-edged sword where providers are happy that more people are taking their mental health seriously, but it also means that the region is being faced with far too many patients for far too few providers. She said providers like her have had to get creative to find ways to help patients get the help they need. She has tried to conduct more group sessions, especially if she has patients who are family members. I think were trying to find different ways of being able to serve more clients, just because the need is there, she said. There are organizations that are working to help ease the strain on providers and help to develop and attract new talent to the state and the region. Dr. Catherine Jones-Hazledine has her own private practice and serves as the director for the Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraskas Panhandle division. BHECN is an organization that works with UNMC to develop mental health infrastructure in the state and provide support and guidance to students interested in behavioral health careers, according to the BHECN website. Jones-Hazledine said that the state was having issues attracting professionals to come and work here and many students from Nebraska who pursue careers as licensed providers end up leaving the state for education and do not return. BHECN has focused their efforts on filling the shortages of providers with students who are from here. She said the hope is that if they can make working in Nebraska more attractive for these students, they will decide to stay home where they are familiar with the issues that can come with a more rural lifestyle. Were trying to focus more on identifying those young people who might have an interest and providing them a pathway to be able to get into those fields and become rural providers, Jones-Hazledine said. BHECN collaborates with some of the colleges and universities in the state that have programs for providers by offering sites where students can work internships and find careers. This includes Chadron State College, which has a clinical mental health counselor program as well as UNMC which offers an internship program for doctorate level patients. The hope is that when these students are offered career opportunities closer to home they will put roots down and work here in Nebraska instead of leaving to other states. We provide the supervision when they get licensed and theyre able to kind of launch into the workforce, Jones-Hazledine said. BHECN was recently awarded a grant through American Rescue Plan Act funds for roughly $25 million which the organization will put toward workforce development. Theyve been able to provide funds across the state including in the Panhandle for things like internship stipends, salary for new clinicians, and bridge funding for people as theyre leaving school and getting into the workforce, Jones-Hazledine said. AS BHECN continues its work, bringing more licenses clinicians and therapists to the state can help alleviate the shortage of providers in rural communities, she said. We just need to keep getting providers out here so that we can meet that need and take better care of everybody. Numerous American companies now disregard college degrees in the United States, and there's a good reason for their decision. Since many businesses are no longer requiring applicants to have college degrees for corporate roles, millions of American undergrads are given a chance to land decent jobs. College Degrees Now Disregarded by American Companies According to Fox News' latest report, more and more American companies are removing college degrees from their corporate job requirements. Because of this, experts believe that the four-year diploma's value is being degraded. The US-based businesses that are starting to disregard college degrees include Bank of America, Google, Walmart, and Accenture. They all announced that they plan to offer more jobs that don't require applicants to graduate from college. Michael Gibson, a venture capitalist, said that the rising trend of college degree job requirement removal is up-and-coming. He explained that the decision of American companies to disregard college diplomas is essential, especially since the United States now has over $1 trillion in student debt. "The most aggravating part is that everyone's paying attention to the poor students who are billed," said Gibson, author of the "Paper Belt on Fire" book. "But no one is blaming the universities themselves for teaching worthless things or not providing the sort of career advice that they should," he added. Gibson said that it would be better if more people gave up getting college degrees to start a career for themselves. Read Also: President Joe Biden Announces $9 Billion Student Loan Debt Cancellation for 125K Borrowers Why Value of College Degrees Degrade Time Magazine explained that the value of college degrees started to degrade in 2010, the year after the financial crash tanked the US economy. In 2011, surveys and studies revealed that half of college graduates had issues landing a job. This led to increased unemployment and underemployment rates. Because of this, many Americans are starting to think that college degrees are no longer the "golden ticket' to success. Now, finishing college has become a major burden to students and their parents because of rising expenses. Walmart removed the college degree requirement to help Americans overcome this "unnecessary" barrier in their career journey. Meanwhile, entrepreneurs like Ted Jenkin explained that the business sector now prefers a proven track record of success and real-world experience over a college diploma. He asked if people plan to work for a tech company, will the firm look for a college degree or practical coding experience? He added that the current US society shows that out-of-control college expenses impact the importance of college degrees today. Related Article: Joe Biden Urged to Act Against Pro-Hamas Protests in Colleges; Lawmakers Send Letter to US Secretary of Education @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Mike Kubiniec lost his role as the vice chair of the Iredell-Statesville Board of Education last Monday, but he said he felt like that and the process of potentially censuring him has been done unfairly. I was defending myself against it, not knowing what I was really defending myself against, Kubiniec said. While he and the public had been informed of chair Bill Howells plan during the Oct. 2 meeting and some of the accusations were broadly outlined, Kubiniec said that he was not given specifics in any way after that meeting. Howell indicated in that meeting that the reasons for acting against Kubiniec included bringing a non-school visitor to a school without prior permission on multiple occasions, actions against Superintendent Jeff James and the board in policy decisions, requests made to employees without full approval of the board, not following procedures for school district operations and not creating an inviting environment for teachers and students. At the Oct. 9 meeting, the board voted 4-3 to remove Kubiniec as vice chair. After that vote, the public debate began as Howell spoke more directly about why he had led the board to remove Kubiniec. Howell said that some of the details would have to be discussed in closed session as it involved the names of specific school staff. The board went into a closed session during the Oct. 9 meeting and decided to give Kubiniec additional time to review the roughly 60 emails Howell said he had that concerned Kubiniecs behavior as a board member. Kubiniec said that not providing him more time to review what he had been accused of denied him due process under the boards parliamentary procedures. He also felt that didnt give other board members the same time needed to review what actions he was accused of and the veracity of them. Kubiniec said while he is reviewing that information, he doesnt know what to expect from the next meeting. But after the review of some of the emails, he questioned the events within them. I think some of the information that Ive seen so far differs in recollection to what I know to be true or what I know to have happened. So my response will address those differences or discrepancies, Kubiniec said. The former vice chair also said there were additional irregularities and errors in the process that the board used to remove him. He once again noted that the meeting last December, when the boards officers were elected, was done improperly, and he felt that he and Howell werent properly elected to their roles. He also took issue with the boards attorney, Dean Shatley, who had been in that role since 2020 without being officially voted by the board into additional year-long terms. But what many of Kubiniecs concerns boiled down to was a lack of clarity from Howell and others as to what the violations were, as well as the importance of each of the more than 400 board policies. Im not just trying to nitpick, Im just trying to make sure Im afforded due process, and due process means a number of different things, and I was certainly not given it, Kubiniec said. I wasnt afforded the opportunity to defend myself. I defended myself but not really knowing what I was defending myself against. Once I actually get a chance to really review and reflect on all the information given to me, then Ill be able to come back with a more precise response, more targeted response. Kubiniec said while he was rough around the edges, that any the accusations of him not creating an inviting environment for teachers and students was a matter of how direct he had been with the superintendent, teachers, staff and others. I strive for continuous improvement. I think of myself as a reformer and that doesnt mean Im anti-school board, Im anti-superintendent or Im anti-principal or an anti-staff or Im anti-establishment, thats not that at all, Kubiniec said. Perhaps I come across that way but thats not in my intention. Rumours of a regional war looming if Israel launches a ground invasion of Gaza should be analyzed cautiously, Firas Aziz Dib writes in al-Watan. The unfolding events since the commencement of the Al-Aqsa Flood operation reveal a significant trend that warrants careful consideration. What we observe has been facilitated, to a certain extent, by the predictable and lukewarm response of official Arab positions. Sadly, even popular support has been emotional and uncoordinated. In some regions, protests clamoring for the Palestinian cause seem almost orchestrated, with a surreal proximity between demonstrators and the Israeli embassy. It raises the question: Are these demonstrations a mere pressure valve for some regimes, rather than genuine expressions of solidarity? Another factor that demands our attention is Egypts role in this evolving scenario. The country finds itself at an economic nadir, tethered by the Camp David Accords politically. Facing a difficult choice, Egypt may have to either close the Rafah crossing to prevent further Palestinian displacement into Sinai or open it, accepting a new status quo. The possibility of a compromise solution looms, with humanitarian concerns necessitating the Palestinian exodus through Egypt. Amidst all this, the positions of the key players remain far from clear. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus assertiveness in pursuing this project reflects the fervor of Israels allies who advocate confrontation with the resistance. A European Union official, in rejecting Israels call for Palestinians to exit Gaza southwards, appeared to prioritize logistical impossibility over humanitarian concerns. This stance, while ostensibly humane, fails to address the gravity of the situation. In fact, certain European positions have exceeded even the Israeli perspective. The French Minister of Justice, for instance, equated support or engagement with groups akin to ISIS, lumping legitimate resistance movements like Hamas into the same category. This raises concerns about the erosion of moral values, seemingly indifferent to the suffering in Gaza and elsewhere. The evolving European stance is a dangerous indication of moral decline, overlooking the sacrifices in Gaza and failing to acknowledge the martyrdom of a journalist in southern Lebanon. Such inconsistency in dealing with complex issues suggests decisions taken behind closed doors, which might have been awaiting implementation. Equally significant is the role of the United States in these events. The arrival of the American aircraft carrier Gerard Ford off the Mediterranean coast, shortly after the attacks, might not have been meant to intimidate Hamas as much as it was intended to unnerve allies. This leaves Americans to stabilize situations outside occupied Palestine while the Israeli military concentrates on its internal objectives. Rumours of a regional war looming if Israel launches a ground invasion of Gaza should be analyzed cautiously. Would Israel embark on such an endeavour when it currently enjoys a free hand to act with impunity from the air? Conversely, allowing Israel unbridled freedom would be unwise. We must recognize that todays developments are more than a replay of past wars; they entail a profound reshaping of the Middle Easts geopolitical landscape. In this complex context, it is naive to ignore the implications of either action or inaction. We must not merely celebrate the progress made but also leverage it. Success for Israel in Gaza could potentially set a dangerous precedent, whereas failure could usher in an irreversible reality. We must choose our path wisely, fully aware of the profound consequences of our decisions. 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. Iranian pilgrims travelling to Damascus were previously accommodated on a weekly flight departing from Tehran, according to Enab Baladi. The head of Irans Hajj and Umrah Organization, Hamid Reza Mohammadi, announced the suspension of shrine visitor trips to Syria until further notice due to the turmoil caused by the conflict in Palestine. Speaking to the Iranian news agency ISNA on Saturday, Mohammadi stated that his country had temporarily halted pilgrimages from Iran to Syria. This decision was prompted by concerns over the volatile situation in Gaza and the escalating conflicts in the region. Hamas initiated a military operation named al-Aqsa Flood, which involved air and ground attacks, as well as rocket strikes targeting settlements near the Gaza Strip. This led to a significant and continuous bombardment of the Gaza Strip, resulting in casualties among civilians and the looming threat of an Israeli ground invasion. According to Mohammadi, Iranian pilgrims travelling to Damascus were previously accommodated on a weekly flight departing from Tehran. Each trip typically included two convoys, with 80 individuals in each convoy. The cost of this week-long pilgrimage with the Hajj and Umrah convoys was approximately 14 million Iranian tomans (equivalent to about $331), Mohammadi noted. It is worth mentioning that this suspension of pilgrim flights to Syria coincides with efforts by the Hajj and Umrah organization to increase the number of flights between the two countries. Annually, the Syrian government attracts visitors from Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon who come to visit Shiite sites and shrines within the country, engaging in what is referred to as religious tourism. Ruba Sasila, the Director of Tourism Marketing and Media at the Ministry of Tourism, predicted on May 28 that the number of tourists for the current year would reach approximately one million, highlighting a 30% increase in the number of tourists during the first three months of the year compared to previous years. In a report on a Syrian-Iranian meeting, the local newspaper al-Watan quoted the Syrian-Iranian Joint Economic Committee from last April, stating that both sides had agreed to establish eight specialized committees, one of which focuses on tourism matters, including religious tourism. According to the official Syrian news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi signed a memorandum of understanding for a long-term strategic comprehensive cooperation plan between Syria and Iran. This plan encompassed cooperation agreements in various fields, including agriculture, transport, oil, free zones, telecommunications, and more. 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. Some say that the Assad regime and Iran may be pressuring Moscow to launch a major military campaign to retake Idleb, according to Baladi News. The Assad regime and Russian forces have once again escalated military operations, bombing densely populated areas in northern Syria controlled by the opposition, raising questions about the fate of the de-escalation agreement. A recent poll conducted by a correspondent from Baladi News reflects the unanimous sentiment among civilians in northern Syria, who have been living through terrifying and catastrophic days. Many respondents believe that the Turkish guarantor, who is committed to overseeing de-escalation, should step up and fulfill their responsibilities. Mohammed Salem, the director of the studies unit at the Abaad Center for Strategic Studies, has issued a warning about the regime forces shelling in opposition areas in northern Syria. He emphasizes that this poses a serious threat to the relative calm the region has experienced, especially over the past year. Salem also denies the oppositions involvement in the attack on the military academy in the central city of Homs on October 5th. In contrast, the general consensus among those polled is that the oppositions response has been inadequate given the scale of the bombardment in Idleb and the Aleppo countryside. Citizens in these areas stress that the armed opposition factions bear a significant responsibility for the protection of civilians, although they are perceived as lacking in strength. Theres a belief among some that the Assad regime and Iran may be pressuring Moscow to launch a major military campaign to retake Idleb. They may exploit the targeting of the military college in Homs to mobilize loyalists under the pretext of external threats and a war on terrorism. Activists, however, dispute the success of such an escalation without the support of their Russian ally to alter the frontlines. Despite differing opinions on the fate of the de-escalation zone and the possibility of it sliding into a new cycle of battles, recent regional and global events suggest that the regimes military actions are not in its best interest. This is particularly true in light of developments in the military situation in Gaza since October 7th. In general, it is not in the interest of the Syrian regime and its allies to open new fronts in the north and south of the country, especially considering the presence of Iranian militias and threats from Israel. These factors put the regime and its allies in a precarious position. However, it appears that the Iranian and Syrian regimes are trying to avoid engaging in a potential battle to support Palestinian factions amidst the al-Aqsa flood initiated by the Qassam Brigades in Palestine. 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 directive encompasses all regime forces deployed along the border areas in Damascus, Quneitra, and Daraa, al-Modon writes. The Syrian regimes military leadership has issued a directive, as reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, instructing all its forces and personnel stationed near the border with the occupied Syrian Golan not to engage in any hostilities, including firing bullets or shells toward Israel. This directive encompasses all regime forces deployed along the border areas in Damascus, Quneitra, and Daraa, which share direct borders with Israeli-occupied territories in the Syrian Golan. The Observatory noted that along the front with the occupied Golan, there are Palestinian groups and the resistance to liberate the Golan forces affiliated with Hezbollah, both of which receive orders from their leadership based on Syrian soil. It is important to emphasize that the recent rocket attacks on the occupied Golan, occurring since the start of the Palestinian resistances Operation al-Aqsa Flood on October 7th, were executed independently by leaders within these groups. Furthermore, the Syrian Observatory reported an incident in which Hezbollah-affiliated groups launched a missile toward the occupied Syrian Golan from the vicinity of Ain Zikr in the Sahem Golan area in the western countryside of Daraa. In response, Israeli forces retaliated by targeting several sites between Sahm Golan and Tseel in the western countryside of Daraa. This resulted in at least six shells landing in the southern countryside of Quneitra near the border with the occupied Golan. Additionally, Israeli warplanes carried out airstrikes on Aleppo International Airport, rendering it inoperative once again, mere hours after the regime governments Ministry of Transport had announced its resumption of services following a previous Israeli airstrike conducted 48 hours prior. Its also worth noting that the Israeli military disclosed that a number of shells were fired from Syrian territory on Wednesday, which they confirmed landed in open areas. In response to this shelling, Israeli forces retaliated by targeting the sources of rocket fire within Syrian territory with artillery and mortar shells. Finally, the Observatory has reported movements and repositioning of Iranian militias in various areas of Syria, including Damascus, its countryside, Homs, and Deir ez-Zor. These movements are believed to be a response to the recent Israeli strikes that targeted Aleppo and Damascus international airports on Thursday. Iranian militias have relocated weapons and ammunition to what they consider safer locations and have instructed their members to maintain a heightened state of readiness in their current deployment areas. 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 situation unfolds as Israeli aircraft continue to launch missile strikes against both the Syrian regime and Iranian positions in Syria, Shaam network writes. Joshua Zarka, the head of strategic affairs at the Israeli Foreign Ministry, has accused Iran of attempting to open a new front against Israel from Syria. This implicit acknowledgment suggests that Tel Aviv has been involved in attacks on both Damascus and Aleppo airports. Jules Rayburn, the director of the American Center for Middle East Studies, emphasized, The recurrent Israeli strikes targeting Damascus and Aleppo airports strongly signal two key points: first, the Iranian regimes endeavour to transport strategic weapons to or through Syria with the aim of establishing a northern front, and second, Israels determination to pre-empt this threat. In response, Zarka stated, The Iranians are indeed pursuing this agenda, and we are taking action accordingly. Israel has previously expressed concerns about Iranian interference through Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon in the context of its ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip since October 7. This situation unfolds as Israeli aircraft continue to launch missile strikes against both the Syrian regime and Iranian positions in Syria. The frequency of these strikes on Aleppo and Damascus airports has increased recently, albeit causing limited damage that falls short of completely disrupting airport operations. These repeated strikes over the years, coupled with Israels rationale of thwarting Irans weapons transfer and positioning in Syria, have raised questions, particularly as these strikes despite their recurrence have not yielded the intended results. 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. Five passenger planes were stranded on the tarmac due to the damage sustained by the airport's runway, according to Athr Press. In a shocking act of aggression, Israel struck Aleppo International Airport, rendering it inoperable and causing widespread damage. The assault, which took place on Saturday, October 14, 2023, saw Israeli warplanes launch an attack from the Mediterranean Sea, targeting the key transportation hub in Syria. This deliberate act of aggression not only crippled a vital infrastructure but also exposed the Israeli governments alarming disregard for international laws and norms. The assault on Aleppo International Airport was part of a larger pattern of Israeli aggression, which has been consistently directed against not only Syrian facilities but also the Palestinian people. The Israeli occupation entitys actions have been condemned on the international stage, with critics highlighting the devastating impact on innocent civilians, including women and children. Five planes stranded On Thursday SANA said runways had been damaged at both Damascus and Aleppo airports and flights would be diverted to Latakia, a city in north-west Syria. According to a source at Damascus International Airport, five passenger planes were stranded on the tarmac due to the damage sustained by the airports runways as a result of the Israeli aggression. These aircraft, belonging to Syria Air, Cham Wings, and Fly Baghdad, were scheduled to conduct their regular flights before the assault disrupted their operations. Despite the significant damage inflicted upon the runways and some navigational and lighting equipment, the authorities remain determined to restore the functionality of Damascus International Airport as swiftly as possible. The source emphasized that every effort and resource would be mobilized for the repairs, which will continue around the clock to ensure the airports prompt return to service. Regional effect The attack on Aleppo International Airport also had a domino effect on regional air travel, as flights from both Aleppo and Damascus were diverted to Lattakia Airport. While Aleppo Airport had briefly resumed operations after the initial attack, it was subjected to another Israeli airstrike, further exacerbating the disruption of civilian air travel in the region. This latest act of Israeli aggression underscores the urgent need for international intervention to address the ongoing crisis and bring a halt to these destructive attacks on civilian infrastructure. The international community must work together to hold those responsible for these actions accountable and seek a peaceful resolution to the conflict that has wreaked havoc on the people of Syria and the entire 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. Your daily brief of the English-speaking press on Syria. Several Iraqi faction leaders with allegiance to Iran have traveled to Syria and Lebanon following the Israeli conflict with the Gaza Strip. On Sunday, a senior Israeli official accused Iran of attempting to establish a second war front by deploying weapons through Syria, coinciding with Israels intensified counter-offensive in the south against Gaza. Simultaneously, United Nations humanitarian officials raised concerns on Thursday about a humanitarian crisis in rebel-controlled northwestern Syria. They issued a warning, citing that government forces heavy shelling had displaced nearly 70,000 people in recent weeks. Leaders of Iraqi Pro-Iran Factions Head to Syria, Lebanon in Wake of Escalation in Gaza The leaders of several Iraqi factions loyal to Iran have headed to Syria and Lebanon in the wake of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, informed Iraqi sources told Asharq Al-Awsat. The sources said the leaders were accompanied by groups of fighters, whose task, at the moment, seems aimed at assessing the situation on the ground and following up with groups in Syria and Lebanon along border regions. The Iraqi factions have received messages from Iran that the situation in Gaza does not demand direct intervention. This may change if the war expands and more parties become involved, they explained. Moreover, leaders of the pro-Iran Coordination Framework in Iraq received a recommendation to wait and see how the situation unfolds in Gaza before any action can be taken. Meanwhile, the faction leaders relayed the details of the situation along the border in Syria and Lebanon back to Iraq, said the sources. They were briefed on maps and potential scenarios should a confrontation erupt, they added. The Iraqi factions are awaiting orders that havent arrived yet. They have no intention of moving without any clear Iranian orders, they stressed. In Iraq, Coordination Framework media have continued to promote the Iraqi resistances readiness to head to the field and carry out attacks against American and Israeli interests. Deputy commander of Irans Quds Force Mohammad Reza Fallahzadeh and Iranian Ambassador to Baghdad Mohammad Kazem Al Sadeq recently held a meeting with former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and leaders of pro-Iran factions to request that the media intensify its campaign against Israel and support the Palestinian Hamas movement. They also called for signing up recruits to join the fight against Israel, informed sourced told Radio Farda. Israeli official: Iran trying to deploy arms in or through Syria A senior Israeli official accused Iran on Sunday of trying to open a second war front by deploying weapons in or through Syria as Israel steps up a counter-offensive in Gaza to the south. Responding to a post of the X social-media platform that posited such a scenario, Joshua Zarka, head of strategic affairs for Israels Foreign Ministry, said: They (Iranians) are. The original post also said the Israelis are determined to prevent such developments. To that, Zarka responded We are. Israeli attack on Syrian Aleppo airport puts it out of service Israel has launched an air strike against Syrias Aleppo Airport late on Saturday that put it out of service, the Syrian defense ministry said. The Israeli enemy carried out an air attack from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea, west of Latakia, targeting Aleppo International Airport, which led to material damage to the airport and it being out of service, the ministry added. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The airport just got to service on Saturday after simultaneous missile attacks by Israeli forces on the airports in Syrias capital Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo had damaged the runways and put both hubs out of service on Thursday. read more The Damascus airport is still out of service. Sources have said 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. Intense shelling has displaced 70,000 people in northwest Syria, UN agencies warn United Nations humanitarian officials sounded an alarm Thursday over a humanitarian crisis in rebel-held northwestern Syria, warning that intense shelling by government forces displaced almost 70,000 people in recent weeks, AP reported. The Syrian government, backed by Russia, pounded the countrys northwest this month, especially after a drone attack targeted a military college graduation ceremony in the heart of the government-held city of Homs. At least 89 officers and civilians were killed, making it one of the deadliest attacks in the war-torn nation in years. Humanitarian agencies and human rights organizations have reported Syrian and Russian strikes hitting hospitals, schools, and other civilian infrastructure as Syria endures the 13th year of a conflict that has killed a half-million people. Were at the most significant escalation of hostilities since 2019, David Carden, the U.N. deputy regional humanitarian coordinator for Syria, said after meeting with displaced Syrians living in temporary shelters What they want above all is to return home to their homes, but right now they do not feel safe to do so. The vast majority of the 4.5 million people living in Idlib and northern Aleppo provinces rely on humanitarian aid to survive, and almost half live in displacement camps. Northwestern Syria is controlled by the al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Idlib province and by Turkish-backed groups in northern Aleppo province. Shrinking budgets due to donor fatigue have humanitarian organizations struggling to respond to the growing needs in the impoverished enclave undergoing daily attacks. SDF, Global Coalition arrest 7 ISIS militants in Syrias Deir ez-Zor North Press reports that the Counter-Terrorism Units (YAT) of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the US-led Global Coalition, arrested on Sunday seven militants of Islamic State (ISIS) in the town of Shuhail, in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor Governorate, eastern Syria. The SDF Media Center said that following thorough surveillance, the aforementioned forces executed an airdrop, carried out a raid on the terrorist cells hideout, and arrested seven militants actively engaged in perpetrating numerous acts of terrorism against both military forces and civilians in the region. This terrorist cell was actively involved in supplying weapons and ammunition to other cells in the region, as well as providing financial support, according to the source. In addition, the source mentioned that the cell had capitalized on the events that took place recently in Deir ez-Zor to carry out terrorist activities. The operation led to the eruption of clashes between the SDF and gunmen affiliated with the dismissed leader and with Nawaf al-Bashir, leader of al-Baggara tribe and a pro-Iranian figure whose groups are active in the western bank of the Euphrates which is under the control of the Syrian government forces and Iranian-backed militias. As a result of the operation, various weapons, military equipment, and important documents were seized, the SDF media center added. Our forces affirm their unwavering commitment to relentlessly pursue ISIS cells and to cut off their sources of support in the region, according to the SDF. David Baldacci may have written some of the best-selling thriller novels of all time full of danger, intrigue and gripping tension. But in conversation, youd never know it. Hes a generous listener, a soft-spoken and disarmingly unpresuming man of broad interests, although discussions of reading and writing elicit the most passion. Those who attend this years Authors & Illustrators Dinner will get a chance to hear him speak in person, when Baldacci who described his boyhood self as a library rat will take the stage to discuss why libraries matter so much. The $120-a-plate fundraiser for the Fort Vancouver Regional Library Foundation begins at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 17 at the Hilton Vancouver Washington. IF YOU GO What: Fort Vancouver Regional Library Foundation Authors & Illustrators Dinner and Silent Auction When: 5:30-9 p.m. Oct. 17 Where: Hilton Vancouver Washington, 301 W. Sixth St. Tickets: $120, $30 extra for a private author reception. Information: 360-906-4700; fvrlfoundation.org Probably the best thing I ever did was going to the library to read, Baldacci said. I checked out as many books as I could and read them all and then went back for more. He grew up in a working-class family in Richmond, Va., but knew he wanted something beyond the quotidian. He said he saw the whole world through books and began writing in his boyhood, using a notebook given to him by his mother. Words connected him with the larger world and with millions of people eager for his stories. His first novel, Absolute Power, was made into a 1997 film starring Gene Hackman and Clint Eastwood. Baldaccis bestselling novels have brought him such wealth that he never has to write another book, but he said he wouldnt consider that a life worth living. My writing is not a job or a hobby or a passion. Its who I am, Baldacci said. The only time Im really unhappy is when I dont have a story to work on. Although Baldaccis name is familiar to millions of people, most wouldnt recognize his face. Baldacci joked that hes an anonymous celebrity because he doesnt get mobbed in public like actors or athletes. Thats just fine with him. He said hes an introvert who prefers to write stories in solitude most of the time. I was a trial lawyer for 10 years, Baldacci said. I was a ham. I loved to stand in front of people and say my bit and perform. Baldacci has been speaking at libraries around the country for decades. He said he enjoys taking the podium and hopes to have people laughing but he does have some serious points. Libraries are under assault all over the country and we need to push back, Baldacci said. BALDACCI BY THE NUMBERS 150 million books sold worldwide Published in 80 countries and 45 languages 48 international bestselling novels for adults 10 series 11 stand-alone books 7 books for young readers 5 adaptations for film and television 1 very busy man When Baldacci and his wife moved to the Virginia town where they now live, the couple made a significant contribution to the communitywide effort to build a local library. The new library opened in 2007 and is now one of 23 libraries in the Fairfax County, Va., library system. (Every once in a while, Baldacci said he can be spotted at a table in the back, at home among the stacks.) The Baldaccis philanthropy also includes the Wish You Well Foundation, which they founded in 2002 to fund literacy programs across America. Baldacci said he loves being surrounded by books (and not just his own). He said he draws literary inspiration from an array of iconic authors, most notably the Southern greats like Flannery OConnor, Eudora Welty, Harper Lee, Truman Capote, Anne Tyler and John Irving. Hes particularly spellbound by Mark Twain. In 2019, he donated $1 million to the Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, Conn. At the moment, Baldacci said hes reading James Baldwins essays in The Price of a Ticket and The Fire Next Time. He said Baldwin is the most eloquent writer Ive ever read, bar none. Baldacci said he sometimes encounters people who are excited to meet a well-known author but confess that they dont read for pleasure. Baldacci said that he used to let those comments pass in the spirit of Southern courtesy, but now he speaks up. He tells the non-readers hes very sorry for them because their lives are profoundly less for not opening a book. Occasionally, Baldacci said that his straightforward talk spurs a response and people really do pick up a book and get hooked. Maybe theyll read one of Baldaccis high-stakes thrillers, although thats not the only genre that Baldacci has mastered. Hes also the author of a best-selling fantasy series for young adults, as well as several other books for young readers. Two of his novels have been made into Hallmark Hall of Fame movies. Baldacci said he doesnt think of himself as confined to any one category; hes just a storyteller, plain and simple. My curiosities are quite broad and deep, and my writing reflects that, Baldacci said. Its a big world out there and as a storyteller, you can explore every facet. I enjoy that freedom. (Photo : VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO/AFP via Getty Images) Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives for talks with his Kyrgyz counterpart in Bishkek on October 12, 2023. (Photo by VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO / AFP) (Photo by VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO/AFP via Getty Images) A Russian governor, who made statements suggesting that Moscow was unprepared for its invasion of Ukraine and expressed a lack of need for the ongoing conflict, has been reported to the police. In a meeting with residents of the Siberian city of Nizhnevartovsk, Natalya Komarova, the governor of the Russian Khanty-Masiysk region and a member of President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party, she expressed criticism towards the ongoing war that has now reached almost 600 days, as per The Independent. Russian Politician Faces Backlash Over Ukraine Invasion Comments Natalia Komarova, a prominent Russian politician, has come under fire for her recent comments regarding Russia's unpreparedness for the invasion of Ukraine. Critics are calling for an investigation into her remarks, which have triggered a significant backlash. However, as of now, Komarova has not been detained or faced any charges. During a public appearance, Komarova responded to a question from the wife of a Russian soldier fighting in Ukraine who inquired about the lack of necessary equipment for her husband. In a video of the event posted on social media, Komarova can be heard saying, "Are you asking me (why your husband does not have equipment) knowing that I'm the governor and not the minister of defense?" She further added, "As a whole, we did not prepare for this war. We don't need it. We were building a completely different world, so in this regard, there will certainly be some inconsistencies and unresolved issues." Komarova's comments quickly spread online, making pro-war activists denounce her for "discrediting Russia's armed forces." A Siberian non-profit organization's director, Yuri Ryabtsev, reportedly sent a letter to Russia's Minister of Internal Affairs, calling for a thorough investigation into Komarova's remarks. In response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the Kremlin-controlled parliament passed legislation that criminalized disparaging the military and spreading "false information" about Moscow's actions in Ukraine. This law has imposed fines and prison sentences on opposition figures and individuals who describe Moscow's involvement in Ukraine as a "war" rather than using the government's preferred term, "special military operation." Russia's suppression of dissent extends beyond legal restrictions, according to The Washington Times. Related Article: 'Knight of Hamas Attack': Israeli K-9 Unit Saves 200 Civilians in Gaza Strip Controversy Surrounding Russia's Ukraine Narrative The government has discouraged critical discourse on the conflict in Ukraine and has actively promoted its narrative that downplays the nature of the competition. Komarova's comments are a rare instance of a high-profile Russian figure openly acknowledging the unpreparedness and inconsistencies surrounding Russia's involvement in Ukraine. The statements made by her have sparked controversy, leading to inquiries about the level of public backing for the war and the government's capacity to manage the narrative surrounding the ongoing war. Critics argue that the law prohibiting "war" to describe Russia's actions in Ukraine and the broader crackdown on dissent have hindered public discourse and transparency regarding the ongoing crisis. While the Russian government insists on framing the conflict as a "special military operation," international observers closely monitor the situation. The fallout from Komarova's comments underscores the challenging environment for those who wish to openly discuss the complexities and implications of Russia's actions in Ukraine. Despite the controversy, the politician has not issued any further statements, AP News reported. Read Also: Sunak Asks Israeli Prime Minister to Protect 'Ordinary Palestinians' in Retaliating Against Hamas @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Many officials from tribes, governments and other agencies in the greater Lewis County area were triumphant on Friday morning. They woke up to the news that President Joe Biden announced seven hydrogen hubs across the United States as recipients of billions of dollars in grant funding. The Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub, the PNW H2 will see up to $1 billion, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. According to the PNW H2, recipients of the funding include Puget Sound Energy, Twin Transit, Centralia College and USA Fortescue Future Industries. Today, the president put a stake in the ground. $8 billion is a pretty good number. And its amazing that it trickles down to Lewis County like it has, said Joe Clark, executive director of Twin Transit, a public agency with bus lines and other transportation services in Lewis County. This is transformational. Fortescue, an Australian mining company, is the parent of the Future Industries incorporation. For about two years, the Economic Alliance of Lewis County has facilitated a relationship between the group and TransAlta as Fortescue eyes construction of a $400-$600 million hydrogen plant in Centralia after the steam plant is fully shuttered. Thanks to a $2.5 million state appropriation secured by Centralia-based Rep. Peter Abbarno, co-chair of the Legislatures Hydrogen Caucus, Twin Transit is set to create Washingtons first hydrogen fueling station. In April, Gov. Jay Inslee joined Chehalis and Cowlitz tribal leaders, representatives from the Oregon and Washington departments of commerce, Centralia Mayor Kelly Smith Johnston, Economic Alliance Director Richard DeBolt, and Lewis County Commissioner Sean Swope to celebrate the PNW H2 grant application. After The Chronicles Friday press deadline, Inslee was scheduled to host a news conference on the topic with U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek and Kent Caputo with the Cowlitz Indian Tribe. Chehalis Tribal Chairman Dustin Klatush, who attended the grant application celebration in April, said the announcement brings the opportunity for thousands of family wage jobs to the entire community and exciting partnerships that will make this venture successful for all communities in the Northwest. Tribal communities, Klatush said, have historically been left out of exciting advancements in energy production technology, adding it is rewarding for the Chehalis Tribe to join discussions with the parties involved. The Chehalis Tribe is excited to be a part of the next revolution in energy production, Klatush said. Talking about the opportunities for Lewis County on a conference call Friday morning, Clarks eyes were just barely staying dry. The night before, hed witnessed the Centralia School District unveil new plans and technology for an educational program on renewable energy. Clark and many others dream of a Lewis County that offers energy workforce training early on in childhood. Down the line, he hopes these homegrown engineers, mechanics and inventors have the opportunity for family-wage jobs without needing to leave their community. I think its one of those moments in time that we may never see again. Not in our lifetimes, Clark said. He recognized the skepticism by some community members and officials over the hydrogen facility at TransAlta, which Clark said was healthy. He and other players, Clark said, should embrace tough questions and set goals for public engagement. Its good to be skeptical. I dont think theres anything wrong with that. But, I dont think we need to be just creating divisions, he said. The discussion needs to be open, but it needs to be done with kindness and compassion and respect. I say we open the door and let everybody in. Thats what we should do. Abbarno, who also joined the conference call Friday morning, was excited at the prospect of Lewis County as a part of the Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub for the communitys economic opportunities and the nations chances at developing energy independence. Hydrogen is more flexible than electricity for powering vehicles, especially, he said, as something that does not require refueling as often and is less impacted by weather. Currently, Abbarno said, China manufactures about 80% of the hydrogen fuel in the world, and the work is mostly powered by fossil fuel energy. What the United States has an opportunity to do is find some energy independence through hydrogen in, specifically in the Pacific Northwest, generally very clean means, Abbarno said. Its not some silver bullet that solves all the problems, but most certainly is going to help diversify our energy portfolio. Abbarno has previously referenced his experience growing up in a Rust Belt city and being familiar with the way energy-economy communities needed to shift in order to survive. Similarly, the closure of the Centralia Coal Plant has pushed local officials toward the next phase of that property and, in general, industry for the area. Swope, who represents Centralia on the Lewis County Commission, recalls the plants closure announcement as a somber moment that left a scar on the areas ability to access well-paying jobs. Today, we stand at the precipice of a new era. Here, over 10,000 jobs will sprout and more than $4 million will be sown into worker training at Centralia College, weaving a tapestry of opportunity and sustainability, Swope wrote in part in a statement sent to The Chronicle Friday morning. We arent merely witnessing a comeback; were embarking on a journey where our future intertwines with a clean, prosperous environment and a robust, thriving local economy. In this moment, our community resurrects, birthing a new chapter of prosperity, the dignity of work and environmental stewardship. This is Centralia, reborn and rising anew. As someone who has always been interested in cars, when then-preteen Pedro Picazos cousin first showed him his hydrogen fuel cell-powered Toyota Mira about five years ago, Picazo immediately had him pop the hood. I was like, how come theres not more of this? That was like the first time that I saw it, Picazo said of hydrogen cell-powered vehicles. Picazo and his family soon moved from San Bernardino, California, to Lewis County, where Picazo started attending Centralia High School as a freshman in 2021. After seeing his fellow metal shop classmates take part in SkillsUSA competitions, Picazo decided to participate in SkillsUSA and FFA competitions his sophomore year. Meanwhile, Picazo got into a discussion with his science teacher at the time, Kendra Meek, about renewable energy sources and the benefits of hydrogen, which led to him researching the topic more heavily. Hydrogen has been a hot topic among political leaders in Lewis County and Washington state as a whole in recent years, no more so than on Friday when President Joe Biden announced federal grants up to $1 billion to create a hydrogen hub in the Pacific Northwest, with a plant eyed for Centralia. Last year, Picazo happened to be talking to Meek during an FFA competition about an engine she had in the back of her class, and Picazo asked if he could have it to build a go-kart. She was like, if you can make it work with hydrogen, you can have it. So I took on the task, Picazo said. Looking at the standard combustion engine he had to work with, Picazo said, I was like, the three things you need are air, fuel and spark for anything to work, so I had air and I would use hydrogen as a fuel, and obviously I had a spark, so I just replaced the fuel with hydrogen and started tweaking stuff with the carburetor. And from there, it just started running, and I was like this is a groundbreaker, he said. Picazo outfitted the hydrogen engine into a go-kart he built from scratch and, via SkillsUSA, entered it into the Southwest Washington Fair and the Washington State Fair, where he placed first and second, respectively, in welding sculpture. Picazo also placed third in fabrication at the Southwest Washington Fair. Right now, its just sitting Its sort of like a trophy, pretty much. Reminds me of where I started, because I want to do more, Picazo said of the go-kart. Now a junior at Centralia High School, Picazo said hes thinking about taking a short break from hydrogen-based projects. I want to do something like grab an engine out of a motorcycle or something, a small motor, throw it onto a go-kart and make that work, he said. Hes far from finished with hydrogen, however. Hes working with Twin Transit to possibly get a hydrogen fuel cell to use in building a street-legal vehicle, and is looking forward to the proposed opening of a local hydrogen fueling station so he can more-easily run tests. Twin Transit and Centralia College announced the intent to build a hydrogen fuel station on Port of Chehalis property in Centralia in February of 2022. If built, according to previous reporting by The Chronicle, the facility would cost between $400 million and $600 million. In a move that would support future projects like Picazos go-kart, Twin Transit, the Centralia School District and the Chehalis School District announced Friday they have collectively obtained $375,576 in funding to support the first phase of the Renewable Energy Vehicle and Infrastructure Technician (REVIT) training program: a concerted effort to develop statewide curriculum in grades 8-12 STEM programs that educates students on the health and environmental benefits of transforming diesel fleets to zero emission fleets, as well as overcoming the challenges of transitioning these fleets. Students will participate in hands-on instruction with emerging technologies such as hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, solar power systems, and wind turbines as preparation for jobs created by zero-emission transitioning of fleets and other clean energy technologies, according to a Twin Transit news release. A number of important events have happened today in AI space that seek to better harness the potential of this tool as well as highlight its negative aspects. Japan is to draft AI guidelines to address overreliance on the new tool; SEC Chair Gensler warns of AI risks to financial stability; Pastor who used AI for church service says It won't happen again; Creative professionals embrace AI image generators but warn about misuse- this and more in our daily roundup. Let us take a look. 1. Japan to draft AI guidelines to address overreliance Companies and organisations in Japan will be required to take measures to reduce overreliance on AI, according to draft guidelines by a government panel. The guidelines also call for AI developers to avoid using biased data and to maintain records of their interactions with the technology. The panel is expected to finalise the guidelines by the end of the year, according to theJapantimes report. 2. SEC Chair Gensler warns of AI risks to financial stability Gary Gensler, chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, has urged regulators to quickly find a way to manage risks posed to financial stability by the concentration of power in AI platforms. He warned that without swift intervention, it is "nearly unavoidable" that AI could trigger a financial crisis within a decade. Gensler said that shaping AI regulation would be a tough test for US regulators, as potential risks cut across financial markets and stem from models crafted by tech companies that sit outside the remit of Wall Street watchdogs, according to a Financial Times report. 3. Pastor who used AI for church service says It won't happen again After using AI software to compose an entire church service, Pastor Jay Cooper says he will not be doing that again. He found himself uncomfortable with how AI presented Sacred Scripture and did not have the "human element" through which God communicates. The service was a one-time experiment to teach his congregation about AI technology and its potential ethical implications, Fox News reported. 4. Creative professionals embrace AI image generators but warn about misuse Creative professionals are embracing AI image generators like Adobe's Firefly and OpenAI's DALL-E, but warn about their potential for misuse. Artists like Joy Chiang find AI helpful for generating new ideas, while musician Ta-Ku uses it to enhance his photos. Both emphasise the importance of intent when using AI tools, as they can be used to both create and copy art, according to The Indian Express report. 5. India to set up 24,500 GPU AI compute infrastructure Working groups formed by the Indian government have recommended setting up a three-tier AI compute infrastructure comprising 24,500 graphics processing units (GPUs). This will be a 15-fold increase in capacity over the highest capacity installed at present. The infrastructure will be used to support AI research and development, as well as the deployment of AI applications in various sectors, The Hindu reported. Nokia, together with BT Group and MediaTek announced that they have successfully completed trials of 5G Reduced Capability (RedCap) technology with RedCap devices. The trial, which took place at BT Groups Adastral Park site, utilized Nokias AirScale RAN portfolio, EEs 5G Standalone (SA) network, and MediaTeks RedCap testing platform. RedCap is a technology introduced in 3GPP Release 17 that brings 5G to devices that do not require its full capabilities. It has the potential to expand the IoT ecosystem and accelerate its deployment within the industry. BT Group is evaluating RedCap to support new 5G use cases which could benefit both EEs business and consumer customer bases. 5G devices such as smartphones often have complex hardware and power-hungry features which leads to higher cost, size, and power consumption. RedCap technology focuses on simplifying 5G devices, particularly small IoT devices such as wearables or health trackers for consumers as well as ruggedized routers, and environmental or other condition-based monitoring sensors. These devices have less demand for battery life and lower bandwidth requirements. RedCap ensures they maintain performance and optimizes their power efficiency. Nokia has played a pivotal role in advancing RedCap IoT functionality together with the telecommunications industry. Greg McCall, Chief Networks Officer at BT Group said, This trial with Nokia demonstrates the potential of RedCap technology in unlocking a new wave of innovation within the 5G services ecosystem. This is especially the case as we move towards the arrival of 5G SA, bringing with it enhanced reliability, responsiveness, security, and speed which through 5G RedCap promises to benefit a host of new IoT devices and use cases. Robert Moffat, Deputy Director Europe Mobile Business Development at MediaTek, said, Our collaboration with Nokia and BT Group for this trial of 5G RedCap technology aligns with MediaTeks commitment to driving innovation and expanding the potential of 5G SA to include a wider ecosystem of devices and use cases. Phil Siveter, CEO, UK and Ireland at Nokia, said, The introduction of RedCap will unlock new 5G opportunities for many industries, with potentially billions of new devices connected with 5G. Our field tests with BT Group show that Nokia 5G Standalone networks are ready to support RedCap devices. (Photo : JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images) Israel's C-130J Super Hercules 'Samson' aircraft launches anti-missile flares during the graduation ceremony of Israeli Air Force pilots at the Hatzerim base in the Negev desert, near the southern city of Beer Sheva, on June 29, 2023. According to a statement released on Saturday, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have announced their intention to escalate their offensive operations. The IDF has stated that they are preparing to implement a variety of offensive plans, which involve a coordinated attack from the air, sea, and land, as per Mail Online. Alarming Weapons Cache Found in Residential Area in Israel A necessary weapons stockpile has been found in a residential area, causing a ripple of alarm throughout Israel. This discovery has sparked serious security concerns and has the potential to influence how the Israel-Palestinian war is viewed on a global scale. The findings included rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), automatic rifles, and significant ammunition. These weapons are connected to Hamas, a group that has long been a source of tension for Israel. The recent finding has brought to light the increased potential threats, serving as a somber reminder of the ongoing conflict between Israel and militant organizations aiming to disrupt the stability of the region. Equally troubling is the location of this cache. It is concealed within a residential area and exemplifies Hamas's reckless disregard for human life. By using civilians as shields and placing innocent lives at risk, Hamas underscores its commitment to a strategy that seeks to gain a perverse advantage in this asymmetric conflict. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have ramped up their security measures in response to this alarming discovery. Surveillance has become more intense, and patrols have increased in frequency. The IDF, entrusted with safeguarding the nation, has expressed confidence in its ability to counter this threat, underlining its commitment to maintaining peace and security in the region. Beyond the immediate security concerns, this weapons cache discovery could have broader implications for the Israel-Palestinian conflict on the international stage. It highlights Israel's existential threat, which may rally more support for their defense strategies, according to BNN Breaking. Related Article: Horrifying Video Shows Israeli Family Abducted by Hamas Terrorists; Enraged Member Speaks Out Implications of Israel-Palestine Conflict Furthermore, it could damage Hamas's standing within the international community, potentially leading to stricter sanctions and controls on moving goods and personnel into the Gaza Strip, further isolating the organization. The seized weapons, alarming as they are, represent only a fraction of Hamas's arsenal for targeting Israelis, as the IDF revealed on social media. To prevent further attacks, the IDF is committed to dismantling Hamas's terrorist infrastructure and weapon manufacturing capabilities in Gaza. The conflict between Israel and Hamas has exacted a heavy toll, with more than 3,600 casualties since Hamas launched its most significant attack against Israel in decades. In response, Israeli forces have taken retaliatory action. Thousands have been wounded, and many have been taken hostage, facing horrifying conditions. The IDF's discovery of many medical equipment, food, and supplies in Hamas's possession suggests the group's readiness for a prolonged conflict. This stockpile underscores their intent and capacity to sustain a protracted struggle. Additionally, hundreds of documents, certificates, cell phones, communication devices, and cameras used by Hamas have been confiscated, providing insight into the organization's operations. The discovery of this weapons cache in a residential area is a stark reminder of the complexities and dangers surrounding the Israel-Palestinian conflict. It highlights the urgent need for a resolution to ensure the safety and security of all parties involved while preventing further escalation of hostilities, Fox News reported. Read Also: Hamas Attack: Australia Orders Protection for Civilians Living in Gaza, Expresses Sympathy for Israel @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. KEARNEY Marisa Macy was just a few weeks into her new job at the University of Nebraska at Kearney when her office telephone rang. The man on the other end of the line a high school science teacher and father from St. Paul needed her help. His daughter and several other children in the small, central Nebraska community were supposed to start preschool that fall. However, there werent enough spots available in the town of roughly 2,400 residents, so a group of community members decided to create a new classroom in the basement of a local church. They encountered another issue when they couldnt find an early childhood educator to staff the program. I was stunned that he was so desperate that he was just calling people randomly off the website, said Macy, who connected him with resources and shared the opening with UNK students and graduates. Eventually, the St. Paul group was able to hire someone to run the new preschool program there, but families in many other communities arent as fortunate. We have a critical shortage of early childhood educators in America and Nebraska, especially in rural areas, Macy noted. We desperately need more of these professionals. Ninety-one percent of Nebraska counties with child care facilities do not have enough spots available to meet the demand, and families in 11 counties dont have access to any licensed child care programs, according to We Care for Kids, a partnership of state and community-based organizations thats coordinated by the Buffett Early Childhood Institute at the University of Nebraska. Thats a problem for several reasons. Quality early childhood education prepares children for success in school and life, creating a solid foundation for the future. Its also crucial for the states prosperity, since a vast majority of children under age 6 live in homes where all the adults work. Macy refers to early childhood educators as the workforce behind the workforce. We need early childhood educators so people can go to work, she said. People who have young children birth to school age need resources that allow them to enter the workforce or stay in the workforce. And early childhood educators fill that role. Theyre essential for a community because they help families in so many ways. Without access to quality, affordable child care and early education, its difficult for Nebraska to attract new businesses to communities and for established businesses to hire new employees and grow. A recent survey from Nebraska Extension and We Care for Kids shows that almost a third of parents with children ages 5 and younger left the workforce because they couldnt find affordable child care, and 74% of respondents believe a lack of quality, affordable child care and early learning is a serious problem in Nebraska. More than 80% of those surveyed agree that Nebraskans must work together to solve this problem. Thats where Macy and the UNK College of Education come into play. Community outreach A UNK faculty member since fall 2021, Macy is an associate professor in the Department of Teacher Education, where she teaches a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses to current and future early childhood educators. The university graduated more than 20 educators with early childhood endorsements during the spring 2023 semester alone, with those professionals now supporting children and families across Nebraska. Outside the classroom, Macy serves as UNKs Cille and Ron Williams Endowed Chair of Early Childhood Education and the UNK Buffett Early Childhood Institute Community Chair. As an endowed chair, her work focuses on outreach and developing pathways to support early childhood educators, children and families. She creates connections between UNK, the Buffett Institute and other NU campuses, then extends those connections to communities across the state. As part of my role as the community chair, I think its so important that Im not just sitting in my chair in my office, but that Im out in the community, Macy said. I want to be out there learning how I can best serve the people in our state. The Seattle native calls Nebraska the best place to be a teacher, baby or young child because people here really care about education but she also knows there are obstacles to overcome. During her travels, she meets with educators, child care professionals, businesspeople, nonprofits and anyone else who wants to discuss strategies and potential partnerships. Each rural community is unique. Theyre like fingerprints no two are the same. But many of them have similar challenges that theyre facing, Macy said. When we can get together and share ideas with each other, we can learn from each other. Those interactions are the driving force behind a new professional development program that is launching in May. Appropriately titled Amore from Nebraska, the program will take UNK graduate students and early childhood professionals from across the state on a two-week trip to Reggio Emilia, Italy, to learn about preschool education and early childhood practices there while forming a deeper bond with each other. Developed in Italy, the Reggio Emilia approach and Montessori method are student-centered educational philosophies that emphasize self-guided, hands-on learning along with social, emotional and physical development. People from all over the world go on delegations to Reggio Emilia to study these early childhood approaches, Macy noted. The goal isnt necessarily to inspire people to implement those approaches in Nebraska, according to Macy. Instead, shes focused on strengthening our community of practice by bringing people together for a shared experience. When youre with other early childhood educators and professionals for two weeks doing this deep dive, you walk away inspired and you learn so much about each others hopes and dreams, she said. You come back with so many new ideas, friendships and ways of thinking about things. Macy, who comes from an Italian family and speaks the language, hopes to have about 10 people signed up for the trip each year. Shes also using it as a research opportunity to determine whether this type of experience can influence a persons career decisions. One of the things were trying to learn about is retention of the workforce, she said. Theres a whole line of research with university students that shows having at least one high-impact experience like this leads to higher retention and graduation rates. Maybe the same can be true for our early childhood workforce, because we have a lot of people who are leaving the field right now. A Buffett Institute survey examining the COVID-19 pandemics impact on Nebraska child care professionals shows 9 in 10 providers who employ staff have difficulty filling open positions, and two-thirds had experienced recent staff turnover, with many of those employees leaving the early childhood field entirely. Rewarding research In addition to her efforts with workforce development, Macy serves as a statewide resource in early childhood assessment and developmental screening. These are key areas, given that 90% of brain development occurs during the first five years of life. During the early years, theres so much happening with a childs development, Macy said. Children are exploding in terms of their development their language development, their motor development, their social-emotional development. Theyre forming new synapses in their brain every single moment. Theres no other time in a persons lifespan when their development is so vulnerable, but there are also so many opportunities to shape and form outcomes. Macy is involved with Nurture Nebraska, which addresses childrens social-emotional needs, and Help Me Grow Nebraska, which focuses on early detection of developmental delays or disabilities. She helped develop the Ready-Set assessment tool thats used to evaluate school readiness among 4-year-olds and is currently studying its effectiveness among Spanish-speaking families. Shes also part of a language development study at the Plambeck Early Childhood Education Center on campus. Recently, her scholarly articles appeared in the International Journal of Community Diversity, Early Childhood Education Journal and International Journal of Early Childhood Learning. She was part of the UNK Online Faculty Research Fellowship program in 2022-23 and Nebraska Academy for Early Childhood Research Policy Fellows Program in 2021-22 and has twice received the UNK College of Education Publication Award. One of my goals is to have my research, my teaching and my outreach activities overlap, Macy said. The things I do in the community inform my teaching I bring them back to the classroom and weave them into the lectures I have or the assignments I design. I also take the things I write and make them meaningful to students. I try to find ways to make it all blend. Shes also bridging the research-to-practice gap by sharing her knowledge and findings with early childhood educators working in the field. Were making it meaningful and applicable to the people in our state, said Macy, who never turns down an opportunity to present at a conference or attend a workshop. This is my dream job, she said. Im really passionate about what I do, and I love supporting children and families. Authorities have released the name of an employee who died in an explosion on Friday at the Hornady Manufacturing plant west of Grand Island. The Nebraska State Fire Marshal Agency also released information on the cause of the explosion. Adriana Alvarez, 32, of Grand Island, died at the scene as a result of the explosion, the agency said on Monday. Two additional employees were injured in the explosion and treated at a local hospital, one self-transported, one taken by ambulance, the agency said. Both injured employees were treated and released the same day. Investigators determined explosion occurred during the mixing process of the primer compound. The fire marshal's office said the explosion was accidental. Hornady produces various kinds of ammunition. According to her social media, Alvarez was married with a young child. The Teaching Tree childcare facility in Grand Island posted to its Facebook, "One of our families suffered a great loss yesterday in the tragic accident at Hornady. One of our babies lost their momma in this accident. She leaves behind a beautiful little girl and wife." "She was an amazing sweet person who will be forever missed. If anyone wants to donate to her childs tuition account please drop off a check or cash to the office," the post said. "Or we can take payment over the phone. We will also be collecting gift cards for restaurants or grocery stores as well ... All donations will go towards tuition and whatever the family needs." At 9:47 a.m. on Friday, the Cairo Fire Department responded to a report of an explosion at Hornady Manufacturing Company, 8318 W Old Potash Highway, the fire marshal's office said. Upon arrival, firefighters determined an explosion had occurred within the PVE West Building. Nebraska State Fire Marshal Investigators were requested to aid in the incident investigation. Responding agencies included Cairo Fire Department, Alda Fire Department, Wood River Fire Department, Grand Island Rural Fire Department, Grand Island Fire Department, Hall County Attorneys Office, Hall County Sheriffs Office, and the Nebraska State Fire Marshal Agency. The State Fire Marshal Agency said it has completed its investigation. On Monday, Hornady said the company "is devastated following a fatal incident that took the life of an employee in the primer manufacturing facility." We are devastated for our employee, their family and loved ones, as well as the entire Hornady team. We are working with all agencies to investigate the cause. This production incident was isolated to our primer facility and did not impact any of the manufacturing facilities. We appreciate the outreach we have received while we grieve the loss of one of our own, Steve and Jason Hornady said in a joint statement. Owner of largest rare earth mine in Vietnam posts zero profit in 2022 By My Ha, Minh Hue Mon, October 16, 2023 | 11:05 am GTM+7 Lai Chau-Vimico Rare Earth JSC (Lavreco) recorded revenue of only VND240 million ($9,800) with zero profit after tax in 2022, even though it owns the largest rare earth mine in Vietnam, Dong Pao, in the northwestern province of Lai Chau. The company was established in 2008 with a charter capital of VND350 billion ($14.31 million under the current exchange rate) and six shareholders, with Vinacomin-Minerals Holding Corporation (Vimico), a member of state-run mining group Vinacomin, holding a 55% stake or VND192.5 billion. However, by the end of 2022, Vimico had contributed just VND148 billion ($6.05 million). Dong Pao rare earth mine in Lai Chau province, northwestern Vietnam. Photo courtesy of Vietnam Television. Despite its inception in 2008, Lavreco has yet to generate stable revenue and profit. In 2020, it reported a revenue of VND16.5 billion ($674,700) and a pre-tax profit of VND1.35 million ($55). In 2021, the respective figures were VND56.8 billion ($2.32 million) and VND11.6 million ($474). Dong Pao mine, covering 132 hectares in Ban Hon commune, Tam Duong district, boasts the largest rare earth reserves in the country, with over 11.3 million tons. The mine had its investment certificate approved by the Lai Chau provincial Peoples Committee in 2013 and was licensed to begin exploitation by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in 2014. However, it has been unable to start opeations due to difficulties in terms of the market, processing technology, and financial arrangements. Lavreco has an investment plan to exploit and process rare earth ores at Dong Pao mine with three component projects and a combined investment capital of VND4.16 trillion ($170.1 million). They include a project to exploit and process rare earth ores at Dong Pao mine; the Dong Pao Lai Chau rare earth hydrometallurgy plant; and the Dong Pao Hai Phong rare earth extraction plant. In 2012, Lavreco and Vimico signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in rare earth mining and processing with Japans Dong Pao Rare Earth Development Company. However, the Japanese partner later stopped cooperating so the company was unable to obtain investment capital and rare earth processing technology from Japan. Since then, the company has not found a new qualified partner that meets the requirements of state agencies, resulting in project delays. According to a Vinacomin leader, in 2022 and 2023, competent agencies issued many guidelines and decisions related to rare earth exploitation, including the Prime Ministers Decision No. 866/QD-TTg approving the plan on exploration, exploitation, processing and use of minerals in the 2021-2030 period, with a vision until 2050. Under the plan, which took effect in July 2023, Vietnam will exploit about 2 million tons of raw rare earth ores per year by 2030. This was the basis for rare earth enterprises to start mining. Lavreco aims to quickly complete its search for partners to start exploiting and processing at the mine to become a leading enterprise in the industry in Vietnam. Rare earths are minerals consisting of 17 elements with special magnetic and electrochemical properties. Rare earth elements are valuable, strategic minerals that play an important role in fields ranging from electronics, atomic engineering, machine manufacturing, and chemical industry, to metallurgy and even livestock and crop farming. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, rare earth reserves in Vietnam reach about 22 million tons, ranking second in the world behind China. Despite its great potential, rare earth exploitation in Vietnam remains very limited. With current technology, Vietnam can only export raw rare earths, and not separate their elements or process them for refinement, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. 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Noting that the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict is escalating, Fidan said the Turkish side believes that civilian casualties and displacement should be stopped, and the warfare should be prevented from spreading to the whole region or even to a wider range. It is imperative to cease fire immediately and seek a long-term and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue, the Turkish foreign minister said, stressing that any solution without the two-state solution is infeasible. The Turkish side does not accept the punitive measures imposed by Israel on the civilians in Gaza, supports China's efforts to find a solution to the Palestinian issue in the Security Council, and is ready to work with China to seek lasting peace in the region, he added. For his part, Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that the right to self-defense should be exercised in accordance with international humanitarian law, and should not be at the cost of innocent civilian casualties. He urged the parties concerned to exercise restraint, cease fire immediately and seek dialogue, adding that the basic living conditions of the people in Gaza must be guaranteed, and humanitarian access must be opened as soon as possible. Noting that the Palestinian issue has always been the core of the Middle East issue, Wang said that without a just and reasonable settlement of this issue, there will be no lasting peace in the Middle East. Facts have once again proved that the only way to solve the Palestinian issue is to ensure the effective implementation of UN Security Council resolutions and the true implementation of the two-state solution, he added. China is communicating and coordinating with relevant parties to prevent the expansion of fighting and avert humanitarian disaster, and will continue to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip through the United Nations and bilateral channels, Wang said. China will support all efforts conducive to the implementation of the two-state solution and stands ready to maintain communication with Turkiye in this regard, so as to inject more certainty into the volatile international situation, he noted. (Web editor: Liang Jun) Israel denied rumors claiming that it opened a humanitarian corridor for foreigners. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clarified that they don't have any assistance or cease-fire for foreign nationals who are currently caught up in the ongoing war. Here's what Netanyahu specifically said in his latest announcement, which was released on Oct. 16, via the official Prime Minister's Office website. Israel Denies Opening Humanitarian Corridor for Foreigners According to CNBC's latest report, some people claim that the Israeli government is allowing foreign nationals to evacuate the Gaza Strip via Egypt's Rafah crossing. These rumors appeared while over 600 American passport holders and other foreign nationals remained trapped in the blockaded enclave while the Israel Defense Forces continued to bombard Gaza. Now, Netanyahu finally commented on these rumors; denying claims about the alleged humanitarian corridor for foreigners. "There is currently no cease-fire and humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip in exchange for the expulsion of foreigners," said Netanyahu the Prime Minister's Office's official website. Aside from Netanyahu, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry also clarified that the Israeli government hasn't allowed the opening of the Rafah border, which is considered to be the only exit point out of the Gaza Strip. Read Also: IDF Seizes 20% of Hamas Terrorists' Weapons Used To Kill Israeli Victims, Hostages IDF Recently Announced New 'Safe Passage' Yahoo Finance reported that the Israel Defense Forces announced a new safe passage that will allow Gazan residents to move to the south of the territory. IDF officials said that they will not bombard this new safe corridor between 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. local time on Monday, Oct. 16. They added that this designated axis will allow safe evacuation from north Gaza to the area south of Wadi Gaza and Khan Yunis. But, it didn't clarify the exact location of the safe corridor. Ever since the Israeli government forced Gazan residents to follow its mass evacuation command, IDF has been making the same announcements; urging civilians to move to ensure their safety. Reports stated that over 600,000 Palestinian residents were able to leave the northern Gaza Strip. However, IDF authorities clarified that safe passage doesn't mean that there will be a cease-fire. This means that even if Gazan civilians use these designated Axis routes, they are still at risk of getting bombarded. You can click this link to learn more about the ongoing Israel-Gaza war. Related Article: Joe Biden Promises to Give Israel Everything It Needs, Except American Troops-Here's What POTUS Explains @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The best bang for your buck! This option enables you to purchase online 24/7 access and receive the Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday print edition at no additional cost * Print edition only available in our carrier delivery area. Allow up to 72 hours for delivery of your print edition to begin. To sign-up for EZ-Pay, call us at (903) 785-6901 or e-mail us at circulation@theparisnews.com. We will use the information you provide to change your current billing to EZ-PAY. 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. CARBONDALE The talents of students in Southern Illinois University Carbondales glass program will be on display with the annual Great Glass Pumpkin Patch on Saturday, Oct. 21. The event will be held from 9 a.m. to noon on the lawn in front of the breezeway between Pulliam Hall and the Wham Education Building. The best parking lot for patrons will be at Morris Library. Since 2006, both undergraduate and graduate students in the glass program at SIU have crafted the pumpkins that sell at this event. About 500 pumpkins will be available this year. The celebration attracts nearly 500 people from throughout the region. Prices this year will range between $50 and $100 on average, according to Jiyong Lee, professor and head of the glass program. Credit card purchases are available this year, but organizers are encouraging patrons to pay by cash or check for faster checkout. Proceeds support students The pumpkin sale is hosted by Southern Glass Works, the glass art student organization in the School of Art and Design at SIU, directly supports the students and their work, and is a way to enhance students educational experiences. Proceeds fund programs including the Visiting Scholar/Artist-in-Residence Program, Visiting Artist Series, field trips and conference trips that enhance the students educational experiences. Proceeds from the event have also been the main funding for building glass melting furnaces and other major glassblowing equipment. Visiting artist Glass artist Sogon Kim, who recently completed her master's degree in ceramics and glass at the Royal College of Art in London, is the glass programs artist-in-residence for the fall semester. Lee said Kim has been creating new works in the SIU glass studio, and she will have a solo exhibition at Vergette Gallery in the Allyn Building on campus, 1100 S. Normal Ave., Nov. 13 through 18. Kim is the 12th resident artist invited since the glass program began the artist-in-residence series in 2010. The glass program has hosted visiting artists from the United States, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Japan, China, Australia and Korea. COLUMBIA -- South Carolina Secretary of State Mark Hammond issued a scam alert Thursday to businesses warning them of a bogus solicitation letter selling certificates of status and other federally issued documents for $399.89. This week our office has been notified by several business filing customers that they have been contacted by an entity called South Carolina Certified Document Services, said Hammond. This entity is sending letters to South Carolina businesses claiming that they need to pay $399.89 in order to obtain items that are available for $10.00 or less from state and federal agencies. Businesses need to know that this is a scam and not respond to this letter or send them any money. The letter from South Carolina Certified Document Services appears to target new businesses that have incorporated with the Secretary of State, and tells them that they MAY STILL HAVE SOME ITEMS PENDING! to have all their documents in order. The letter goes on to offer the business the option to purchase a Certificate of Status for $89.95, a Labor Law Poster for $124.95 and an Employer Identification Number (EIN) for $199.99. The Secretary of States Office is the only entity that can issue a legitimate Certificate of Existence in the state of South Carolina, said Hammond. The fee for a Certificate of Existence is set by statute and is only $10.00, not $89.95. Also, businesses can obtain the labor law poster from the National Labor Relations Board and their EIN from the Internal Revenue Service, for free, through their respective websites. Its a shame that this company is trying to exploit small businesses with these types of solicitations. Cnn Woman warning others about phone scam with man impersonating an officer Hammond urged businesses and consumers to verify any solicitation that they receive before sending any money. For more information on business scams, please visit the Secretary of States website at sos.sc.gov and click on the #BizSchemeSOS link. COLUMBIA -- Able South Carolina and Hire Me SC welcome the eighth annual Employer Summit during National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Registrants can attend in person at the Philips Market Center in West Columbia, or online through the events virtual platform on Wednesday, October 18, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Employer Summit is a one-day conference for business managers, executives, and HR professionals ready to hire and retain a workforce inclusive of people with disabilities. The 2023 theme, Advancing Access & Equity, will highlight supportive, inclusive policies and practices that benefit employees and employers alike. This years event features Keller Kissam, President of Dominion Energy South Carolina, as the keynote speaker. The company serves approximately 1.1 million electric and gas customer accounts in South Carolina. Kissam joined the company in 1988 as a new utility professional and was named president of operations at Dominion Energy South Carolina in 2019, and he assumed his current position in January 2022. "We want our family of employees to feel included and appreciated, said Keller Kissam, president of Dominion Energy South Carolina. I am humbled to work alongside such extraordinary men and women who inspire so many people as they put their diverse abilities to work to help serve our customers and make a difference in our communities." In addition, the event will include a panel discussion between Lewis Stephens of Dominion Energy, Stacey Laurin of Milliken & Co., and Vida Jennings of BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina. Attendees will also take part in a discussion with Dr. Jessica Sharp on Creating a Culture of Belonging, and an interactive session aimed at educating attendees on inclusive job descriptions. One in three South Carolinians have a disability; however, 70% of people with disabilities are unemployed, said Sandy Jordan, Vice President and Chief Community Integration Program Officer at Able South Carolina. To this end, we want any business to have the opportunity to join us, whether thats in-person or virtual. We hope that our virtual option will allow employers from across the Southeast and nation to attend. The registration fee is $95 for both in-person and online attendees. Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and HR Certification Institute (HRCI) credits are pending. Registration is open through October 11 at www.hiremesc.org/employer-summit, where visitors can also find information about partnering with the event through sponsorship or by becoming a vendor. MACON, Ga. A South Carolina man previously convicted of smuggling protected turtles between the United States and Hong Kong faces new allegations of turtle-related crimes in Georgia. Bibb County sheriff's deputies arrested and jailed Steven Verren Baker, 43, of Holly Hill, South Carolina, on Tuesday and charged him with 15 felony counts of aggravated cruelty to animals. No lawyer was listed in Georgia court records for Baker, who remained jailed Friday with bail set at $8,250. His South Carolina lawyer has since died. Deputies were responding to a call about an abandoned dog in Macon when they noticed turtles being held in a basin nestled in a pile of trash, WMAZ-TV reports. They wrote in an incident report that a woman identified as Baker's mother told deputies that Baker had left the turtles with her about two months ago. The mother agreed to hand the turtles over to deputies, saying she had been unable to get her son to retrieve them. A veterinarian said the turtles were suffering from long-term malnutrition, bacterial and fungal infections, sepsis and shell deformities. The turtles included 11 rare albino red-eared sliders, one brown red-eared slider and two pink-bellied side necks. There was also a Chinese golden thread turtle, which is considered endangered in the wild, but is legal to breed in captivity. Baker pleaded guilty in 2018 to one count of conspiracy to smuggle wildlife in federal court in South Carolina after postal inspectors at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York found 46 turtles concealed among noodles and candy in four packages in early 2016. The turtles would be placed in socks and shipped through the mail in boxes labeled "snacks." Five other men pleaded guilty in the South Carolina court case, but officials described Baker as the ringleader. Federal officials say Baker was sending turtles from the United States to Hong Kong, as well as receiving turtles from Hong Kong. It's illegal to trade turtles abroad without a permit when they are protected by a treaty called the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Baker served more than two years in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release that ended in April 2022. Baker was also ordered to forfeit $263,225, which is what officials said the turtles were worth. The Australian government announced that it would fine X after failing to share information on how the company handles the issue of child exploitation within its platform. Read Also: SEC Sues Elon Musk After Failing to Appear for Testimony X to Pay Thousands of Dollars to Australia The New York Times reported that X is subject to pay 610, 500 Australian dollars, equivalent to $384,000. The Australian government cited that the company failed to comply with the national law requirement which states that social media platforms should disclose how they combat child exploitation within their services. According to Australia's commissioner in charge of online safety, Julie Inman Grant, companies can easily make empty promises that they are doing everything to prevent child exploitation on their platform. Hence, the government is pressed to have these companies show their policies and strategies that make their promises true. "This is important not only in terms of deterrence in the types of defiance we are seeing from the companies but because this information is in the public interest," Grant stated. Elon Musk Promised to Suspend Accounts With Abusive Content When Musk acquired the company he made a series of changes that affected the platform's content moderation rules. Earlier this year, the X owner announced that the company is suspending hundreds of thousands of accounts that were seen sharing abusive material. However, it seems that the effort was deemed unfruitful as such materials are still seen on the platform. X explained to the Australian authorities that the company's detection of child abuse material has improved. In addition, the company has firmed that they have a "zero-tolerance policy" on child sexual abuse material and promised to put more work into detecting these types of materials. Currently, X shared that they are using automated software and have teamed up with experts who can detect and review content. Both Google and X failed to provide the needed information to the Australian government. However, Google was only given a warning as X's lack of response was more grave. On the other hand, the company can still appeal the fine. Read Also: SEC Investigates Twitter Security Flaw Before Musk's Acquisition Want to get the Morning Brief by email? Click here to sign up. Catch up on the weekends live coverage of days seven, eight and nine of the Hamas-Israel war. Hezbollah and the Israeli military continued to exchange fire at Lebanons southern border, as guided missiles from Lebanon killed at least four people in Israel while dozens of Israeli artillery strikes hit the vicinity of Aita al-Shaab. A Hezbollah statement said yesterdays attack on the Israeli border village of Shtula was in retaliation for the killing of journalist Issam Abdallah and the killing of two residents in Shebaa. Also yesterday, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) headquarters in Naqoura was targeted by a rocket, which caused no injuries or casualties, UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti told LOrient Today. Hamas announced Saturday that Israeli airstrikes killed three of its fighters after they infiltrated from South Lebanon, succeeding in blowing up the border fence and reaching a military position within Palestine. The same day, Hezbollah announced that one of its people, Ali Alaeddine, was killed during clashes. A spokesperson for the group told L'Orient Today that their "military bases in south Lebanon [were] under Israeli attack. The Lebanese Army said Friday that Israeli strikes destroyed one of their vacant outposts amid an ongoing clash, during which Hezbollah said the Israeli army took casualties. The Israeli army claimed its Friday artillery strikes were in response to an explosion on the border fence. Israeli projectiles targeting Lebanons southern border killed Lebanese Reuters photo-journalist Issam Abdallah and injured six other journalists on Friday, a Lebanese Army source told LOrient Today. Approximately 1,000 people attended Abdallahs funeral in Khiam in southern Lebanon on Saturday. The Lebanese Foreign Ministry has lodged a complaint at the United Nations over the intentional Israeli murder. The Lebanese Army said Abdallahs death was caused by an Israeli rocket that targeted a civilian press vehicle. UNIFIL urgently called for a cease-fire, saying it cannot say with certainty how the journalists were hit. Approximately 100 people held a sit-in in downtown Beirut on Sunday to protest Abdallahs killing. I really believe [the journalists] were targeted, Florient Zwein, a freelance photographer and close friend of AFP photojournalist Christina Assi, who was wounded in the strike, told LOrient Today. Israel claimed the strikes that killed Abdallah followed suspicions of an infiltration from southern Lebanon. Israels evacuation order for northern Gaza is horrendous, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said Friday, while the EUs top diplomat said the displacement of more than a million people in one day would be impossible and tantamount to a humanitarian crisis. UNRWA spokesperson Adnan Abu Hasna told LOrient Today the south of [Gaza] cant accommodate this huge number of people, adding that the situation is very dangerous amid water, food and fuel shortages. Hamas reiterated its refusal to evacuate northern Gaza, which Israel claims is an attempt to use inhabitants as human shields. An AFP image taken Friday shows flyers dropped over Gaza City, warning residents to flee immediately to the south. An Israeli army spokesperson yesterday told AFP they were awaiting a political decision to invade northern Gaza, as thousands of their troops have encircled the enclave. Southern Gaza is also being heavily bombarded, and many citizens in the south have been bombed and lost their lives, Gaza-based photojournalist Momin Faiz told LOrient Today. Israels planned ground invasion of Gaza could lead to a genocide of unprecedented proportions, the heads of the Arab League and African Union said Sunday in a joint statement. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said yesterday he had a very productive meeting with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS), a day after AFP reported Saudi-Israel normalization talks were suspended. Blinken is scheduled to return to Israel after an extensive regional tour. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told Blinken that humanitarian corridors into Gaza must be allowed immediately, Reuters reported. Aid shipments for Gaza have piled-up in Egypt amid Israels bombardments of the Rafah crossing, the only non-Israeli access point to the enclave. Blinken said Sunday the crossing would be reopened. After Israel began a total siege of Gaza, cutting off electricity and obstructing access to water and emergency supplies, AFP yesterday quoted US national security advisor Jake Sullivan as relaying Israels claim to have turned on southern Gazas water supply. Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, also on a regional tour, said from Doha that no one could guarantee control of the situation if Israel launched a ground offensive from Gaza. In case you missed it, heres our must-read story from over the weekend: Is Israel's use of white phosphorus in Lebanon and Gaza legal? Compiled by Abbas Mahfouz 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). Nine Casper residents have put their name for the Councils empty Ward 1 seat. City Council will pick their favorite Tuesday night. While many have prior experience on Council, a narrow majority are first-time candidates. Their professional backgrounds range from healthcare, to law and policy writing, education and hospitality. Beginning Tuesday at 5 p.m., each applicant will get 5 minutes before the Council to pitch why they deserve the open seat. The presentations will take place at The Lyric, located at 230 W. Yellowstone Hwy. It will be a quick turnaround; the Council will pick the winning candidate and swear them in during that night's regular council meeting, which starts at 6 p.m. While City Councilors are ordinarily directly elected by voters, when theres a sudden vacancy, sitting councilors appoint the replacement. The winning candidate will fill the Ward 1 seat of former Mayor Bruce Knell, who resigned from Council almost a month ago after he was accused of domestic violence. (Knell has denied the allegation and wasnt charged with a crime.) Here's who applied. Joel Burdess Burdess is a teacher at Roosevelt High School and a co-owner of Keefes Flowers. He previously served on the Casper City Council from 2008. He also has experience on Casper's Planning and Zoning Commission. For much of his career, he worked in special education educator for the Natrona County School District. He also briefly worked as the manager of a local antique mall, as an English teacher in China and as an advertising and community news staffer at the Star-Tribune, among other jobs, according to his resume. Burdess holds a masters degree in special education from Bemidji State University in Minnesota, and a bachelors in English from the University of Wyoming. He also earned associates degrees in English and History from Casper College. He is currently pursuing another masters degree in English at the University of Wyoming. Daniel Davis Davis has served as the director of pharmacy at Elkhorn Valley Rehabilitation Hospital, a 40-bed inpatient facility for people recovering from disabilities caused by serious injury or illness since 2012. He was a liaison between the hospital and state and federal government agencies during Covid-19 pandemic, his resume states. Since earning a doctor of pharmacy from the University of Wyoming in 2003, Davis has worked in several other pharmacies around Casper. Michael Huber Huber was a Natrona County Circuit Court judge for 30 years. He also served Natrona County's first drug court judge. Huber previously held a seat on the Casper City Council from 2018 to 2021. According to his resume, if appointed, Huber would focus on public safety, public health, parks and recreation and city planning. He holds a bachelors in business science administration and a juris doctor from Creighton University in Nebraska. Huber was a fire officer for the Casper Mountain Fire Department for over 50 years, including 20 years as chief, and still serves on the National Ski Patrol, his resume states. Catherine Monhollen Monhollen is an advanced nurse practitioner who works at Casper Womens Care. Monhollen also has experience as a primary healthcare nurse, a labor and delivery nurse, a surgical nurse, a school nurse and an infectious control coordinator. Shes also involved in several nursing professional organizations, according to her resume. She holds an associate degree in nursing from Henry Ford Community College in Michigan, a bachelor's degree in nursing from the University of Michigan, a master's degree in nursing from De Sales University in Pennsylvania. Jai-Ayla Sutherland Sutherland, whose background is in policy writing, currently serves as a program specialist and officer for the The Stanley Center for Peace and Security's Mass Violence and Atrocities Program. (The Stanley Center is a nonprofit humanitarian organization based in Iowa.) She previously served on Casper City Council in 2021 and 2022, and currently serves on the board of Better Wyoming, a left-leaning political advocacy organization. Sutherland has a masters degree in international security from the University of Denver and a bachelors in international relations from the University of Southern California. Patrick Sweeney Sweeney managed a host of hotels and restaurants over the course of his career, most of which were in Wyoming. Hes still a minority partner of the Econo Lodge in Rawlins, according to his resume. He served three consecutive terms in the Wyoming House of Representatives beginning in 2017. Sweeney still sits on the Casper Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Development Authority, according to his resume. He served on the Wyoming Travel and Tourism Commission for two decades, and previously held leadership positions within the Wyoming Liquor Dealers Association and Wyoming Restaurant and Lodging Association. Sweeney holds a bachelors degree in food service and housing administration from Penn State. Erik Turner Turner is a fourth grade teacher for the Converse County School District. He also has experience working in education support for the Natrona County School District, as a youth development professional for the Boys and Girls Club of Central Wyoming and as a 911 dispatcher. Turner holds a degree in education from the University of Wyoming, and a degree in criminal justice from Waukesha County Technical College in Wisconsin. Judith Lynn Williamson Williamson is the former pastor of Shepherd of the Hills Presbyterian Church. In that role, she served both on Shepherd of the Hill's board and on several regional entities under the Wyoming Presbyterian Church, according to her resume. Previously, Williamson also sat on the board of Interfaith of Wyoming. She previously was involved with the Casper College Theater Board and Casper Rotary Club. Shes still part of Casper Reveille Rotary, and volunteers as on-call chaplain for Banner Wyoming Medical Center, her resume states. Williamson holds a bachelors degree from Presbyterian College in South Carolina, a masters from Clemson University in Georgia and a doctor of ministry from Columbia Theological Seminary in Georgia. James Worthen Worthen is a civil trial attorney who heads the Casper office for the Hall and Evans law firm. According to his resume, he represents people and organizations in cases including injury, wrongful death, product liability and construction defect lawsuits. He holds bachelors and juris doctor degrees from the University of Wyoming. He has volunteered for several local organizations, including the Boys Scouts of America, Platte River Revival, Meals on Wheels, Casper Pride and Mercer House. 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. Four people have died since Friday in separate fatal crashes across Wyoming, the highway patrol announced. On Monday, a Washington couple died in a single-vehicle crash, the Wyoming Highway Patrol reported. Sonya Foote and Ricki Foote were found by a commercial truck driver at about 3 a.m. on Interstate 90 near Buffalo, the statement said. There were no witnesses to the crash, so the time is approximate. The crash happened near milepost 44 in Johnson County. They were driving west in a Chevrolet pickup truck through an intersection with Wyoming Highway 193, the statement said. While passing the westbound onramp, the Chevrolet drove off the road to the right. The truck exited and went completely off the road before striking a guardrail end with the front passenger side, the statement said. The impact caused the truck to rotate clockwise. It continued to rotate down a steep embankment and impacted the ground hard on its passenger side, the statement said. The Chevrolet continued to roll approximately three times, crossing WY Hwy 193 before coming to rest in a paved approach to a private land access, the statement said. The Chevrolet came to rest on its wheels. Sonya, 55, and Ricki, 52, both wore their seatbelts and remained in the vehicle, the statement said. Driver fatigue is being considered as a possible cause of the crash. The weather was clear, and the roads were dry in the area, the statement said. A 74-year-old Idaho man died Saturday on Interstate 80 near Lyman, the Wyoming Highway Patrol reported. Highway patrol was notified of a commercial vehicle crash at 4:07 p.m., the statement said. They arrived on scene near milepost 48 in Uinta County. Kenneth King was driving east in a commercial vehicle when it veered off the road into the median, the statement said. The vehicle continued in the median before falling between the bridge onto the business loop below the interstate. It struck the earth embankment to the east of the Business Loop 80, where it came to an uncontrolled rest, the statement said. King was wearing a seatbelt at the time, the statement said. Driver inattention and cell phone use are being considered as possible causes of the crash. The weather was clear in the area, and the roads were dry. A 22-year-old Wyoming man died following a T-bone collision near Lander. On Oct. 13, highway patrol was notified of a two-vehicle crash on U.S. Route 287. The crash happened at 1:11 p.m. near milepost 22 in Fremont County, the Wyoming Highway Patrol reported. Riley Williamson was driving south in a Ford Focus while a Ram pickup truck was heading north, the statement said. The Ford left the road on the right, and Williamson overcorrected back to the left, the statement said. He entered a passenger side leading skid into the northbound land and was impacted on the passenger side by the Ram in a t-bone style collision, the statement said. Williamson was not wearing a seatbelt at the time, the statement said. Speed and driver inattention are being considered as possible causes of the crash. The weather was cloudy and overcast, and the roads were dry in the area, the statement said. Sonya, Ricki, Williamson and King were the 109th, 110th, 111th and 112th people to die on Wyomings roads this year. At the same time last year, there were 107 deaths in 2022, 92 in 2021 and 107 in 2020. 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. As one of western Wyomings primary arteries, U.S. Highway 189 stays busy carrying Jackson-bound tourist, cattle ranchers, and oil workers between fields in Sublette and Lincoln counties. But the road also slices through a vital migration corridor where thousands of pronghorn and mule deer cross biannually. As a result the stretch of highway connecting the towns of Big Piney and La Barge has one of the highest wildlife-vehicle collision rates in the state. In the winter theyre always crossing the road. So when it gets dark and you cant see the animals its just like a slaughter, said Billy Pape, Superintendent of Roads and Bridges for Sublette County. The incidents near Big Piney are amongst an annual average of 6,000 vehicle and big game collisions across the state, which result in up to $52 million in combined wildlife and personal injury costs, according to Wyoming Game and Fish. Pape, whos driven this stretch of Highway 189 his entire life, says wildlife collisions here have been a decades-long problem. On any given day thered be five, six, seven more carcasses. After years of roadway carnage, help has finally arrived. The Wyoming Game & Fish Department (WGF) along with the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) last week completed the Dry Piney wildlife crossing project, an infrastructure project that will facilitate antelope and mule deer migration through an area vital to the Sublette pronghorn herd and iconic Wyoming Range. The project cost around $22 million and includes nine underpasses along with 17 miles of funnel fencing meant to guide herds to safe crossings. The crossings come at critical moment for Wyomings pronghorn and mule deer populations, which dipped dramatically over the last year at the hands of a malevolent winter. Western herds like those wintering near the Big Piney area saw especially high levels of death from starvation and exposure, according to GPS collar data collected by WGF. Wildlife biologist with WGF have not yet completed their official abundance estimate for the states mule deer population following last winters losses, but figures from its ongoing Focal Heard study offer a dire first read. Beginning in 2022 researchers place GPS collars on 1,112 individual mule deer from five focal heard around the state and the numbers for the Wyoming Range wintering near Pinedale look especially bad. Of the 265 collared animals in the Wyoming Range heard, researchers lost close to 60% of the bucks, over 70% of the collared does, and 100% of collared juveniles. Those are really high losses. We havent seen that level of mortality in a year to my knowledge anywhere. So very drastic losses, said Brandon Scurlock, WGFs Pinedale Wildlife Management Coordinator, who added that these figures do not represent a comprehensive picture of the herd, and that the upcoming abundance estimate is likely to be less dramatic. We tried to put these collars out to be representative of the herd, but we know that its just one data point. So we wont know the true extent until we do an excitability estimate in February of this year. For one particular complex of the herd a group totaling between 25% and 30% of estimated 30,000-head Wyoming Range the Big Piney-La Barge area serves as a migration terminus and winter range, which translates to additionally high levels of hoof traffic throughout the winter months. Theyre going to use these crossing structures during migration and all winter long because their wintering is on both sides of the highway right there, Scurlock said. Its not uncommon to see several hundred deer directly in the right away most winters because thats where they go. So we think this crossing structure should help dramatically reduce wildlife collisions in the stretch. For the Sublette pronghorn herd, one of the largest antelope herds in America with a population objective of 48,000, the Big Piney connectivity project plays an especially important role during extreme winters. Data collected from collared pronghorns show that seasonal losses were higher for animals that wintered closer to Pinedale than for those that made it down to Interstate 80 underscoring the importance of this particular connectivity project. For these pronghorn if its a mild to average winter theyll pretty much stay to the west of the highway. When it gets really bad in those most severe winters then the animalsbail to [lower precipitation] winter ranges on the other side of the highway, Scurlock said. The Big Piney project comes as at moment when Wyoming pronghorns are under pressure on multiple fonts. In addition to winter-related losses in starvation and exposure, herds have also been under-attack from mycoplasma bovis, a strain of pneumonia native to bovines but began jumping to pronghorn in 2019. A postseason population estimate from WGF put pronghorn populations at 43,000 in December of 2022; by June, according to a line-transect estimate, the population had dropped to 24,000 less than half of the target population number sought by wildlife managers in the state. The losses led wildlife officials to curtail hunting tag quotas, which is one of the reasons hunters as well as other interest groups are increasingly vested in the work of migration corridors. The Dry Piney connectivity project is multi-agency effort that drew on the knowledge and resources of 11 separate entities, a point of pride amongst stakeholders who say the effort is a testament to collaborative problem solving. To be able to tackle a project of that magnitude, with that kind of cost associated with it? No one entity can bear that burden. If it wasnt for the partners that were able to come together on this, but also some federal participation and federal dollars, we would still be talking about it, said Joshua Coursey, a board member of the Muley Fanatics Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the sport of hunting and wildlife management. I mean, it truly was the epitome of success in the conservation flavor of the day, which is collaboration. Because we had such high mortality last year, its going to take a long time to get this [Wyoming Range] herd back to its sustainable level, and a project like this really showcases how important every single deer that we have on the landscape is. (Collaborators include: WYDOT, WFG, Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Muley Fanatics, Volgenau Foundation, Knoblach Family Foundation, Wyldlife Fund, Sublette County, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Mule Deer Foundation, Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust.) As to federal collaboration, the project marks a first and one of the select few policy areas where Wyoming leaders and Federal agencies are on the same page. This was really the first time the Federal Highway Administration awarded what they call a Build grant for a wildlife crossing projects, said Angela Bruce, Deputy Director for Wyoming Game and Fish. Bruce believes the award reflects a growing awareness of wildlife issues across the nation. The momentum in the nation and the emphasis on wildlife crossings is huge. It has caught the attention of legislators and lay public. So there is a huge interest, and you could say maybe pressure, for the federal highways to contribute to the effort. Of course, wildlife crossings dont merely protect ungulates. Administrators with WDOT emphasize their benefit to motorists, who collectively pay tens of millions every year in Wyoming for costs related wildlife collisions. From the highway safety perspective, not only are you risking injury of hitting an animal, youre also risking damage to your vehicle. And wildlife collisions cost a lot of money to the driver, said Stephanie Harsha, Public Relations Specialist for WDOTs District 3, who continued to emphasize that this one step in a long and ongoing road. We want drivers in Wyoming to be safe and we want to protect our wildlife as well. So wildlife collisions are an issue that WDOT looks at constantly. THE Judicial and Legal Service Commission (JLSC) has filed its notice of appeal, as it seeks to challenge the recent Appeal Court ruling that former chief magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar was forced by Chief Justice Ivor Archie into resigning from her position as a High Court judge. Apple is reportedly making progress with the M3-based MacBook Pro already in the design validation test (DVT) while the MacBook Air models are in the engineering verification test (EVT), as per Bloomberg. Read Also: iPhone 12's iOS 17.1 Update Provides Compliance with France's Protocols Apple Prepares for M3-Based MacBooks As reported by Mark Gurman, the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros that are powered by M3 Pro and M3 Pro Max chips are already nearing mass production. At this rate, the company might release the devices around early and spring 2024 to match the previous year's timing. On the other hand, those who are eyeing the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air might have to wait longer. The M3-based Airs have just reached its EVT stage which means that it could be released between spring and summer next year. However, this is just the earliest possible estimate and can still change. Usually, Apple releases its new MacBooks and iPads by October, which is around a month after the iPhone and watch has been released. However, the M3-based lineup could have possibly taken a long time due to the intricate and powerful upgrades that the company is planning to integrate. What to Expect With Apple's M3-Lineup Apple is yet to officially announce the M3 devices, however, there are some guesses already that hint at its potential to become the most powerful chip there is. According to Mac Rumors, the M3 chip will have an 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU, bearing some similarities to the M2 chip. In addition, the M3 chips are rumored to be powered by TSMC's newest 3-nanometer chip technology which will improve the efficiency and performance of the devices. Most importantly, it could boost the battery life of the M-series Macs. Apple might use the standard M3 Chip for both MacBook Air sizes, 13-inch MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and 24-inch iMac. Meanwhile, the M3 Pro Chip might appear on Mac mini and the remaining MacBook Pro sizes. The M3 Max Chip might be featured on 16-inch MacBook Pro and Mac Studio. Lastly, the M3 Ultra Chip might only be offered to Mac Studio and Mac Pro. Related Article: Apple Opens Beta Software Program The United National Congress (UNC) has never provided an explanation as to why it was so ge 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. One of the things that struck composer Gregg Kallor about Mary Shelleys iconic 200-year-old novel Frankenstein was how little attention the writer paid to Victor Frankensteins experiments that gave life to his creature. She just talked about Viktors reaction to that moment and then the story shifted and gave us the creatures reaction, Kallor said. I think she was urging us to consider the consequences in advance and think about the implications of our technological advances. Its not just can we do this but should we. That is one of two overriding themes of Kallors opera Frankenstein, commissioned by Arizona Opera. The world premiere, which opened in Phoenix last weekend, comes to Tucsons Temple of Music and Art on Saturday, Oct. 21, and Sunday, Oct. 22. Its the companys third commissioned opera since Craig Bohmlers Riders of the Purple Sage in 2017. Arizona Opera also was one of four regional companies to co-commission The Falling and the Rising, which was staged here in 2022. Kallor started working on the piece in 2018 the 200th anniversary of the books publication after a director friend encouraged him to read the book. I read it and it was one of those moments where the record player screeched to a halt and my world shifted, he recalled. He set out sketching the music and how the story would play out, then brought a small cast to perform the work in progress in the catacombs of a Brooklyn cemetery. Arizona mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano, whose husband was Arizona Operas music director, was cast in the role of Elizabeth, and when Christopher Cano and Arizona Opera President and General Director Joseph Specter saw the performance, they floated the idea of commissioning Kallor to finish the piece. Two years later, Arizona Opera made it official and Kallor spent part of the pandemic writing the score and the libretto. Kallor didnt want to tell the horror story of Frankenstein, where this man-made creature goes mad and sets about destroying everyone in its path. He wanted to hone in on the creatures humanity and humanitys lack of empathy when it came to so-called otherness. Its not really a horror story like a slasher movie; the horror of Frankenstein is that this man, Victor Frankenstein, created a life and then abandoned it immediately, Kallor said in a phone call during a rehearsal break in late September. And then this life form that he thought he was leaving to die lives and was abused, mistreated, feared and reviled by absolutely everybody and became isolated. Its a story of how really society made a monster out of this creature. We all can identify in some way with the feelings of isolation and otherness, isolation especially now after weve been living through a pandemic. Everybody gets it now. Its dark and complex, poignant and riveting, Specter added. In the case of Frankenstein itself, its a book that was written over 200 years ago, but there are these powerful, powerful themes: Finding common ground and learning to identify this type of otherness that we apply to people. I think thats what makes a great piece of theater. Specter described Kallors score as cinematic, straddling the line between classical and jazz according to Greggs musical language, he said. Kallor said he wanted the music to feel at times like a warm embrace that invited the audience into the characters inner lives. The music has flashes of darkness and anxiety when the creature is confronted by violence and quiet solace as it deals with feelings of being alone. This story is everyones story, Kallor said. It has endured for this long and resonated with so many people across cultures and age and class because I dont think theres anybody alive that cant identify with the feeling of being perceived as other, and thats what Frankenstein is all about. Kallors Frankenstein is the second opera based on Shelleys novel. Mark Greys Frankenstein premiered in Brussels in 2019. If you go What: Gregg Kallor's "Frankenstein" (world premiere) Presented by: Arizona Opera When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 21, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 22 Where: Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave. Run time: 2 hours, 19 minutes with one 30-minute intermission Tickets: $30-$125 through azopera.org Contact reporter Cathalena E. Burch at cburch@tucson.com. On Twitter @Starburch PHOENIX Supervisors from several Arizona counties are criticizing a state senator and the head of the Arizona Farm Bureau for walking away from talks about how to deal with water quantity problems in rural areas. Travis Lingenfelter, who chairs the Mohave County Board of Supervisors, said the pair and Rep. Gail Griffin, who is an ally of theirs in the state House are acting like spoiled children who are not getting their way. Its not about taking water from anybody, said Holly Irwin, his La Paz County counterpart. Its trying to protect what we have in the aquifers. That, she said, requires everyone to be involved. Having people walk away from the table doesnt help matters, Irwin said. The barbs are aimed at Sen. Sine Kerr, a Buckeye rancher, and Stefanie Smallhouse, who raises cattle in Pima County. They quit the Governors Water Policy Council last week, saying that the rest of the panel was not interested in addressing the concerns of farmers about long-term water supplies. But Griffin, a Hereford Republican who chairs the House Committee on Land, Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said she believes that the council process set up by Gov. Katie Hobbs is extremely flawed. When it is exposed, what do they do? she said of the supervisors. Personal attacks. Kerr declined to respond to the supervisors, saying she will continue to work separately on a proposal to protect rural groundwater basins while protecting the livelihoods of hard-working farmers and ranchers who are the best stewards of our land and water as they put food on our tables and sustain the economies of rural Arizona. But the four supervisors, also including Patrice Horstman of Coconino County and Donna Michaels of Yavapai County, said they wont back down. They said the proposals being considered for some form of monitoring and conservation of groundwater over the objections of Kerr, Smallhouse and Griffin are widely supported solutions for rural communities who are struggling to address declining groundwater supplies. Rapid growth, dwindling supply At the root of the issue is what updates need to be made to the states 1980 Groundwater Management Act designed to deal with a dwindling supply of groundwater in the face of rapid growth. Five active management areas were set up: Prescott, Phoenix, Pinal, Tucson and Santa Cruz. They are subject to regulations to stabilize the water table. But most rural areas were left out and unregulated. Residents can petition for their own active management areas. But only one such effort was successful, in the Douglas area. Meanwhile, pretty much unrestricted and unmonitored pumping much of it by agriculture has left some of those unregulated areas in danger of drying up. We dont even know whats underneath the ground, yet we continue to allow for this massive pumping to continue, without doing any modeling or hydrology studies, said Irwin. To me, thats just good common sense. All that, she said, is needed before there can be conservation measures imposed. But farms dont even meter what they are taking from the ground, Irwin continued. And that has implications. Wells are going dry, she said. Thats an indicator that somethings wrong, that we at least need to start taking a look at how much waters being pumped out, and where. And the situation has come into sharper focus with the reporting that a Saudi-owned company is leasing state land to grow alfalfa to provide hay for dairy cows in its home country and those leases in Western Arizona came with the right to pump as much water as they needed. Irwin said it was always understood the 1980 law was going to have to be updated at some point. Were going to all have to come together, she said. Council members are looking at some form of regulation that would be less onerous than the restrictions of an active management area, but that could finally begin to address the diminishing water supply. It is the suggestions around that which have angered the farmers who fear not only a state-imposed solution but the possibility that they wont have the same right to pump as they do now. Lingenfelter was miffed that farming interests and the lawmakers who have taken their side want to control the process. Rep. Griffin and Sen. Kerr are advocating solely for the Arizona Farm Bureau while they continue to ignore all of the rest of us that call rural Arizona home, he said. The state of Arizona simply cannot allow one stakeholder group that uses 72% of Arizonas water to produce 1.5% of Arizonas GDP to continue to dominate the conversation on long-term security for our finite rural groundwater, said Lingenfelter. Many rural areas simply do not have other water supply-side options and depend on those elected to look out for everyone in rural (areas), not just agricultural with deep pockets. Kerr, for her part, sniffed at the comparison of water use with the state GDP. Water has never been measured in GDP, she told Capitol Media Services. Instead, she said, it needs to be looked at not just for hydrating people but also to put food on the table. Kerr said there are many Arizona industries that contribute to the state GDP but dont provide for basic human needs. We can survive without the latest gadget or widget, but we cant survive without a local supply of affordable agricultural products, she said. And that makes perfect sense regarding of the percentage of GDP. Nobodys talking about taking out ag thats already in existence, said Kathleen Ferris, a member of the governors water council. Nobodys saying Were going to stop you from irrigating, said Ferris, a senior researcher at the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University. The only thing were talking about is how much more of this can we absorb, and how do we protect other uses. And theres something else. Much has been made in the farming and ranching community about how they were here first and have been good stewards of the land. But Ferris, who was the executive director of the 1977 commission that resulted in the 1980 Groundwater Management Act, said that doesnt paint a full picture. A lot of them werent here first, she said, citing big agricultural users in the Kingman area, the Hualapai basin and in the Willcox basin. A lot of them are late-comers, Ferris said. There are a lot of big industrial farmers that have moved in in the last 10 years. And Ferris said the details of any plan, while explored in a council committee, have never even been discussed by the full council. Its a little soon to be walking away from the table, she said. Arizonans who dont like the current partisan system of nominating candidates could have two similar alternatives from which to choose in 2024. That runs the risk of voter confusion and the possibility neither will get approved. A group called Better Ballot Arizona has filed paperwork to put a measure on the ballot to have all candidates from all parties run in a single primary election. The top five candidates then would advance to the general election, regardless of political affiliation, with the ultimate winner decided through a process of ranked-choice voting. If that sounds familiar, it should. Another organization, called Make Elections Fair, filed its own petitions last month for a nonpartisan primary and will start gathering signatures in November to propose a constitutional amendment. Theres a crucial difference: Make Elections Fair would leave how to run the general election up to the Legislature. Lawmakers would be free to decide that as few as the top two vote-getters go on to run against each other, with whoever gets more votes getting elected. But the Legislature also could allow up to five like the Better Ballot Arizona plan also using ranked-choice voting. Casmiro Fernandes, who is managing the Better Ballot campaign, said thats not acceptable. We should just enact it and not leave it to the Legislature to play with or game, he said of ranked-choice voting. Fernandes pointed out the Republicans at the state Capitol, who have maintained their majority under the current system where only the top two candidates advance to the general election, have been hostile to the concept of ranked-choice voting. GOP legislators already voted to put their own measure on the 2024 ballot, one that would constitutionally preempt any effort to change primary election laws to advance more than one person per political party to the general election. The incentive is there to play with it, make it a political tool, Fernandes said. The legislative proposal would also allow lawmakers to change the system every two years. Under Arizona law, if both open-primary proposals are approved and if they gather more votes than the legislative plan to ban ranked-choice voting the one that gets more votes will take effect. But it also raises the possibility that having two similar yet competing measures on the ballot would confuse voters enough so neither got a majority. Thats not going to happen, said political consultant Chuck Coughlin, who is running the Make Elections Fair campaign. He said the other group lacks the funds to get the 383,923 valid signatures on petitions by July 3 to qualify for a place on the ballot. Given the normal rate of signature disqualifications, Coughlin said that really means getting support from 500,000. That has a price tag he predicts will cost upwards of $6.5 million. But Fernandes said his group, a sister organization to Voter Choice Arizona, has a bigger network of volunteers. He also noted that volunteers have a much better validity rate of the signatures they gather than do paid circulators. So he figures the goal can be reached with anywhere from $3 million to $5 million. His organization already has promises of contributions from local and out-of-state donors, Fernandes said. At one point, his group and Voter Choice Arizona, which is behind Better Ballot Arizona, actually were working with the supporters of Make Elections Fair, as both support the idea of open primaries. The idea is that the current system pretty much allows only those registered with a party to choose the nominees. That can often result in the choice of someone who appeals to each partys hard-line adherents. But most legislative and congressional districts are drawn in ways in which one party has a definite registration advantage. That means whoever is that partys nominee is virtually assured of winning, a system critics say results in the election of those with more fringe views who then dont want to work in a bipartisan fashion. An open primary has everyone from every party and those who are unaffiliated run on a single ballot. It also would eliminate the existing requirement for independent candidates to get more signatures to qualify than partisan contenders. On that point, both agree. The sticking point and whats behind the schism is what would happen in the general election. Under the system in the Better Ballot Arizona plan, voters would rank their choices of the survivors of the primary from one through five. If any of the candidates get at least 50% of the vote, the election is over. If not, the candidate at the bottom drops off and the ballots of those who chose that person as their first choice will then be counted for their second choice. If that still doesnt produce a winner, the process repeats until there are only two left. All of our research has shown that that cant pass, Coughlin said. That is why his group has bumped the decision to state lawmakers. Lawmakers could decide that only the top two vote-getters in the primary advanced to a more traditional election. Yet even the Make Elections Fair proposal says if lawmakers do not opt for a top-two general election and instead allow for more candidates, its plan also requires the use of ranked-choice voting. Coughlin said making that a legislative option polls better than a mandate. There are a couple of other differences between the plans. Make Elections Fair would say that if lawmakers cant agree on how to structure the general election, the final decision is left to the secretary of state. If the Make Elections Fair plan is chosen by voters in 2024, that would be Democrat Adrian Fontes. The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer: When children misbehave in kindergarten, when students in elementary school are called into the principals office because of their violent actions against their classmates or even the teacher, for instance, or when mentally challenged patients in an asylum attack the medical professionals, we do understand, but we do NOT give in and let them have their way. Even the best intended tolerance must have a limit. We work with these problematic kids or adults, we educate them, teach them how to grow up or improve, or we discipline them in proper measures to protect the rest of the class or their group. But when right-wing members of the House of Representatives try to outdo all those immature people who know nothing of social responsibility, moral and ethical obligations and ideals, and the principles of our legal and political system, our country is in deep trouble. When the poor man in North Carolina completely naively trusted Google Maps and fell to his death recently because of a collapsed bridge, that might have been not only tragic but indicative of the course these politicians are pushing us to pursue. They seem to be victims of hypnosis, having been trapped by the past president and turned into lemmings aiming for the ultimate cliff. Trump is a master of mesmerizing people, but we as rational adults must stand up against him and his ilk before it is too late. Shutting down the government over the budget is, to say the least, a childish reaction in the face of the inevitable. Fighting against all social programs such as Medicaid or Social Security is virtually criminal. Hurting women across the country by fighting basic health care needs, including abortion in medically dangerous situations, is just vicious and indicative of a bullying mentality. Spreading lies about the elections and resorting to one fraudulent lawsuit after the other, thereby clogging the entire legal system and making it to the laughingstock of the world, is highly irresponsible, and, once again, the working of socially inept, immature, and maybe disturbed individuals. Not so secretly supporting the worst enemy the USA is facing, Russian President Vladimir Putin, borders on state treason. The pink elephant in the porcelain store is easy to detect, the resident of the Mar-a-Lago Club, twice impeached and accused of countless criminal activities, who stole highly classified documents from the government and claims to be the true president, which he is not. It is impossible to say how many Americans are affected by the poison spewed forth by Trump, but the riot in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021, stoked by that man, was an ominous signal that the American patient is urgently in need of extensive psychological and medical therapy. Politics is always a matter of negotiations, debates, and maybe controversies, but they must result in some compromise, consensus-building efforts, and agreements, such as the federal budget. Shutting down the government might please the right-wing extremists who, often demonstrating rambunctious behavior, should have no say in Congress. But they are supported by their voters, which worries me even further because our entire system might collapse because of those toxic fumes. Imagine a screaming and shouting class of elementary school kids in a walk-out because they are required to do homework, respect their teacher, and read schoolbooks with some provocative topics. Since their parents apparently approve of their actions, the students then start a fire and burn down the school, with numerous fatal victims. The firefighters and police simply stand by, frozen in fear of a political fallout if they were to intervene and stop that nonsense, to save lives and the entire building. The fire could spread to the neighborhoods, and thats exactly what is happening in D.C. and across the country right now. Theyre both old Theres been a lot of press about Joe Biden being too old to be president next term. But ... theyre both old! Biden is 80, Trump is 77. Not much difference. So you have the choice of Biden who is old versus Trump who is old and convicted of fraud, defamation and battery, as well as facing 91 felony indictments. The choice should be obvious. Melanie Bell Midtown Grocery ad Congress is like a grocery store sale. Buy One Ship of Fools. Get a Second Ship Free. Michael Sevier Oro Valley Shipping containers They can be made into very basic living spaces. Why are we not finding a way to use them to house the unhoused? Susan Syracuse Northeast side Tucson wake up and smell the petrol! Currently, gasoline is up to $4.25 a gallon. Tucson and most of Arizona is very car dependent due to geography. Our bus system runs every 30 minutes weekdays and hourly on weekends. The system has a phone app. What if you dont have a phone, if your phone is out of charge, if you cant find the app? The bus stops have posted route numbers. There are no bus schedule or maps with routes. Inside of the bus, there is no posted information. As a result of this, bus drivers are continually beleaguered by a thousand questions. Lyft/Uber: During the day, the cost, per mile, may be $1.78 per mile. Later, the cost can be $3+ per mile. Evening rides $30 each way! With better public transportation, then we would not be stuck in the giant maw which is the automotive/petrol complex. Courtney Webb Northeast side Kudos to Gov. Hobbs Kudos to Gov. Hobbs for halting Fondomonte Corps lease of AZ Trust Land for uncorrected land use violations. Theyre also growing (and exporting) feedstock for a giant Saudi dairy, paying just $21.60/acre, including free groundwater. I agree with AG Mayes statement that exporting said feedstock out of country is outrageous... given the current state of our water crisis. The 1980 Groundwater Management Act initiated the AZ Dept. of Water Resources, resulting in designated Active Management Areas (AMAs) to address groundwater overdraft. Rural counties rapidly losing groundwater would benefit from AMA designation as well. What is the right rate to pump, when groundwater is not being adequately replenished? Water should not be underpriced, but what price water our most precious resource? Gov. Hobbs has appointed a Water Policy Council, with recommendations due Dec. 2023 to guide our states water policy. We the people must write our Legislators and ACC, urging them to listen to these experts, prioritize equitable groundwater policy, and insure AZs water future for generations to come. Barbara Reuter Southeast side Exposure to the abomination That sorry network is doing it again ... now promoting a national war in its desperate need to gain our attention! As disgusting as has been their incessant lying, theyve now invoked this new low as they pander to a certain segment of our population. Such noise goes right along with the Trumpeters clumsy use of lies, insults, threats, and encouraging violence, predictably parroted by equally disgusting elements of the Republican cult, as they try to overcome the indictments he has earned from our democratic institutions. We of course must continue to subject the unlawful and autocratic behavior of this person and his entourage to those institutions, allowing them to pursue their roles in guaranteeing honesty, fairness, equal treatment under the law ... and un-intimidated execution of justice! As we are exposed to what this abomination is willing to ferment, we are able to appreciate even more what our democratic values have brought us, knowing these and our common decency will bring us past these blights upon our existence! Frank Parsons Northeast side Domestic violence & gun violence Dear Editor, October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month a time to remember victims of domestic violence and advocate for its survivors. Unfortunately, last year the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against survivors and advocates in United States v. Rahimi: it is unconstitutional to prohibit people subject to Domestic Violence Restraining Orders (DVROs) from accessing firearms. Individuals under DVROs should not legally have access to firearms. The presence of a gun in a domestic violence situation makes it five times as likely that a woman will be killed. Prohibiting dangerous people from accessing deadly weapons including domestic abusers is consistent with the Second Amendment. On November 7th, the Supreme Court has an opportunity to honor the work celebrated in October and protect survivors of domestic abuse. If Rahimi is not reversed, the Supreme Court will put the lives of families living in domestic violence in jeopardy. Sincerely, Students Demand Action at the University of Arizona Grassroots, youth-led gun violence prevention group Instagram: @studentsdemand.uaz Mary Cline: President and Founder; Louise Taylor, Vice President; Adriana Grijalva, Chief Data Officer Adriana Grijalva, Chief Data Officer Midtown Not all possess humanity Re: the Oct. 11 letter Humanity. The letter writer equates humanity as a quality all humankind possesses; it is not. In order to survive, humans will fight for their land and ultimately their survival. The letter writer fondly looks back to the 1960s, when flower power and endless love made the world better. It was not that way; I know, I was there. He dares to say, sure, we had Vietnam, when comparing what he thinks are frivolous wars today. Namely the wars in the Ukraine and the most recent conflict between Hamas and Israel. The letter writer seems to have overlooked the fact that our involvement in a war between two foreign powers (Vietnam) was ordered by the powers that be in the 1960s. Over 200,000 US soldiers died fighting for another country. Compare those fighting in the Ukraine and for both sides in the current conflict in the Middle East; these soldiers are fighting for their land and survival. And there was a six-day war in 1967; the third Arab/Israeli war. The letter writer forgot that as well. Karen Papagapitos Northwest side Employers, employees need fair rules Businesses are seeing more and more of these so-called neutrality agreements, which raises important questions about the rights and freedoms of employers and workers. Neutrality agreements sound innocuous enough. But a closer look reveals they are neither neutral nor are they agreements. Employees have a right to organize. Thats not the issue here. What is the issue is the requirement of employers to remain silent during a union-organizing campaign, as these agreements do. Workers are left with only one sides opinion and that side is under no obligation to disclose facts the employee may want or need. And its a stretch to call these arrangements agreements. In some cases, the federal government literally requires businesses to abide by these contracts in order to conduct federal business. Unions are not inherently bad, but neutrality agreements are. Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly should work to end this practice. Michelle Rill Midtown Act to prevent genocide I lived in Israel and felt the shudder of a Katusha rocket hitting the earth and that vibration moving through my body. That was in 1984. The violence Israelis and Palestinians are experiencing is so much more horrific than that. In order to prevent genocide of Palestinians, it is crucial to call for a cease-fire and condition aid to Israel on adhering to international law. Sincerely, Dev Mayaan Three Points Solar & ACC Re: the Oct. 11 letter Go solar, save water. Kudos to the writer for bringing into sharp focus the water wasting consequences of the current Arizona Corporation Commissions all out assault on rooftop solar. Using tried and true identity politics messaging by claiming the solar industry is a gigantic subsidy that must be vanquished, the Commission through Nick Myers is waging a multi pronged attack on the solar industry. First, reduce the amount that the utilities pay to rooftop solar owners/leasers and then revisit the 2017 heavily litigated, multi party solar energy export rate structure Agreement. At todays ACC hearing on the solar issue that could cost over 8,000 family wage jobs and decimate an entire industry Myers was called out for playing on his cell phone and purposely not paying any attention to the parade of passionate speakers opposing his scheme. Let them eat cake Nick? People will not forget how you favored out of state Utility shareholders over the water needs of Arizona citizens. Rick Rappaport Oro Valley Americas sadism problem In the past ten years I have noticed a sharp upturn in people gaining delight in others suffering. There are purposeful attack on others politics, religion or ethnicity. Sadism is a punishment upon those whom are felt to be inferior, unworthy or just different. Our current sadism epidemic can mostly be traced to the rise of fascism, which promotes sadism, belligerence and hate. Sadism is a part of fascism because in most cases, fascism is led by a sociopath. Sociopaths love to inflict pain on others. Once the sociopathic fascist becomes a role model, followers emulate his vile traits. Sadism now becomes normalized in the fascist culture as acceptable behavior. We saw an increase in sadism that manifested itself in Asian hate crimes in the past five years and also obvious antisemitism. We are not going to solve our national sadism problem unless we solve our fascism problem. Fascist role models should not be heroes nor emulated. Doing so, makes us just as sadistic as our abnormal hero. Steve Rasmussen Foothills Corporate water hogs Thank you Governor Hobbs for canceling Fondamonte Corporations leases of Arizona state trust land. Saudi-owned Fondamonte grows alfalfa for export to Saudi Arabia. They found a free water paradise in Arizona. Private citizens wells are running dry in rural areas of our state, and there is a severe, ongoing drought affecting the Colorado River basin. Its time to end the practice of allowing these corporations to pump an unlimited amount of groundwater for free. That is why Governor Hobbs needs to apply the same principles and common sense to prevent Canadian-owned Hudbay Corporation from developing the Copper World open-pit mines in the Santa Rita mountains, south of Tucson. A loophole in Arizonas groundwater law allows mining companies to pump unlimited groundwater for free! We dont need another foreign-owned corporation depleting our aquifers for another product that will be exported for refining and sale, while the federal government is paying farmers here to leave their fields fallow. Arizonas most precious resource isnt copper; its water. Rick Johnson Sahuarita Saudi leasing land for their horse feed I am very happy that Gov. Hobbs has stripped the Saudi company from leasing state land for farming state land for alfalfa and wasting our precious water, that the Saudi government will not allow in their own country. I understand this leaves an issue relating to the state land use. May I suggest a way to replace the revenue and maybe improve it. Use the state land for a solar farm, goats managing the weeds under the solar cells (Agrivoltaics), and additionally making use of some of the land under the solar cells for an Aquaponics/Hydroponics operation. This type of system uses 90% less water than traditional farming, Adaptive redevelopment of infrastructure, and Nutrient management. Overall a yield of more than $3,000/acre/yr and around 70 Megawatts/day electrical generation. An Aqua/Hydroponic farm can also generate revenue, but using various internet sources this could also be in the area of $5,000 per acre/year. Richard Barnes Northwest side Walls work DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who should have been impeached already for dereliction of duty, announced that because of the dire conditions at the border in Texas, 20 miles of wall structure will be built. He will waive environmental regulations to do so. At the same time, he and President Biden said they opposed walls because they do not work. Guess that is why the DHS spent over $400,000 in building a wall around Bidens beach house in Delaware. Guess that is why in 2006, he voted for The Fence Act, that was supposed to build a dual layered fence along 700 miles of border. It was never completed. The Israelis built a wall along the Gaza strip, which curtailed the almost daily suicide bombers that were coming from there. Fences and walls work. Just think about the concrete wall around your backyard. Border walls work too. They stop, delay and impede illegal immigration and narcotics smuggling. I think Democrats oppose a border wall because they want unobstructed illegal immigration. Langhorne Bilby From 5 p.m. to 2 a.m., Juan Almanza is cooking birria. Every two days, Almanza cooks 250 pounds of birria for his restaurant, El Taco Rustico. At the end of the six-to-seven-hour-long process, Almanza has made some of Tucsons favorite birria. Growing up in Coahuila, Mexico, which borders Texas, Almanza started cooking when he was 12. Since then, he has worked in the food industry perfecting his birria recipe. At first, Almaza used five to 10 ingredients in his birria. Now, he uses over 30. His recipe is also so complicated that only one other employee at El Rustico knows how to make it. Over on Tucsons south side, Rollies Mexican Patio is also known for their delicious birria dishes, winning the best birria title in Tucsons Weeklys Best Of awards three years in a row. Mateo Otero, the owner of the restaurant, remembers birria being part of every major family party. When he went on to create a catering business, he learned how to make the dish due to its demand. After watching other people cook it, learning their recipes, Otero crafted his own, mastering the balance between the flavors and spices. Eventually, Otero opened Rollies, which became the first restaurant in Arizona to sell ramen birria. At one point, Otero said they were making 400 ramen packages on Thursdays one of the two days in the week that the ramen is available due to the demand. Whether youre going to El Rustico or Rollies, birria has been a staple in Tucson for decades. Its hard to resist the tender beef (or sometimes goat), spices and flavor that come with every bite. Local chefs have created everything from cheesy tacos, burgers and pizza with the traditional Mexican dish, transforming it into a whole new meal while keeping its same savory taste. Below are just a few authentic and creative places that will satisfy your birria craving. El Rustico 2281 N. Oracle Road When asked who has the best birria in town, many Tucsonans will mention El Rustico and for good reason. El Rustico got its start at the Tohono Oodham Swap Meet, before moving into a building near Grant and Oracle roads during the pandemic. Despite opening during a time when people werent leaving their houses, El Rustico managed to become a local favorite. The restaurant was even listed as one of Yelps top 100 US taco spots. Here, you can get birria tacos, quesabirria tacos and birria soup. El Chivo de Oro 457 W. Irvington Road If youre looking for authentic birria made with goat, this food truck has you covered. El Chivo de Oro offers both goat and beef birria tacos and soup. While some may be wary of goat since it can be gamey, the birria at Chivo de Oro is cooked to perfection. The tacos have great flavor and a nice spicy kick I couldnt tell I was eating goat. The homemade flour tortillas were the cherry on top. Amelias Mexican Kitchen 5553 E. Grant Road In recent years, Ive noticed quesabirria has been rising in popularity. Quesabirria tacos consist of dipping tortillas in broth, then cooking the tortillas with birria and cheese inside. In the end you get a cheesy birria taco that you get to dip into the leftover consomme. Ive had a lot of quesabirria tacos and the ones at Amelias Mexican Kitchen were unbelievable, in the best way possible. They were the perfect ratio of cheese to birria and had a spicy flavor that wasnt too overbearing. Birrieria Los Toros 2195 W. Drexel Road Register for more free articles. Log in Sign up When looking on Reddit for birria suggestions, I saw recommendations for this hidden gem. I was not disappointed. At Birrieria Los Toros, they make tacos and soup with both beef and goat. My tacos were stuffed with plenty of birria, which made each bite feel like birria heaven. Rollies Mexican Patio 4573 S. 12th Ave. Like El Rustico, Rollies is another fan favorite in Tucson, with many enjoying their birria and quesabirria. While their birria is bomb, Rollies is also known for their birria ramen, which gets served every Thursday and Saturday. Ramen noodles, shredded beef, onions and cilantro are all mixed together in birria broth for this unique take on the traditional dish. Top it off with some lime and Rollies birria ramen has a taste like no other. Rollies also serves birria burros, flat enchiladas and what they call a pizzadilla. Zio Peppe 6502 E. Tanque Verde Road When I first heard about Zio Peppes birria pizza, I was skeptical. I couldnt picture pizza and birria being a match until I tried it. Upon taking the first bite, my mind was instantly changed. Dipping the cheese pizza, which is topped with El Rustico's birria, onions and cilantro, into the broth brings the dish to a whole other level. This pizza is one of my favorite dishes in Tucson. The Delta 135 S. Sixth Ave. The quesabirria smash burger at The Delta is no joke. This massive burger is made with a smashed patty topped with El Rustico's birria, cheese, pico de gallo, avocado salsa and consomme on the side. The host at the restaurant said this burger is ordered frequently and is a favorite among customers and employees. 520 Taco Stop 10290 E. Speedway Birria is so good, everyone should be able to enjoy it. 520 Taco Stop has a vegan option for their quesabirria tacos. Although I am not vegan, I was pleasantly surprised. The tacos had the same great flavor and the meat substitution had a nice texture. Monster Sonoran Hot Dogs American Eat Co., 1439 S. Fourth Ave. Monster Sonoran Hot Dogs has every birria combination you can dream of. Birria tops Takis, tots, hot dogs, ramen and mozzarella sticks. There's even birria stuffed into a grilled cheese sandwich. Other worthy options Birrieria Guadalajara, 304 E. 22nd St. Birria tortas, burritos, tostadas and tacos ... and we've heard Birrieria Guadalajara makes some of the best soups in town. Ensenada Street Food, 1602 S. Park Ave. There's a reason why people rave about this food truck. The menu not only features birria tacos, but also a vegan version. La Yaquesita, 500 N. Fourth Ave. The success of La Yaquesita's quesabirria is what inspired owners to open a location on Fourth Avenue. Taqueria Lingo Lingo, 5034 S. 12th Ave. Find killer birria here, made with goat. 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. Register for more free articles. Log in Sign up 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 10 a.m. to 7 pm. Tuesday-Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays. Learn more at antigonebooks.com. More than a million people have fled their homes in the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected Israeli invasion that seeks to eliminate Hamas leadership after its deadly incursion. Aid groups warn an Israeli ground offensive could hasten a humanitarian crisis. Israeli forces, supported by U.S. warships, positioned themselves along Gazas border and drilled for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle the militant group. A week of blistering airstrikes have demolished neighborhoods but failed to stop militant rocket fire into Israel. The war that began Oct. 7 has become the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides, with more than 4,000 dead. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,750 Palestinians have been killed and 9,700 wounded. More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed, and at least 199 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza, according to Israel. Currently: 1. U.S. President Joe Biden will visit Israel on Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced. 2. A shortage of potable water continues across Gaza, leading humanitarian workers to warn of the risk of disease from drinking untreated water. 3. Overwhelmed doctors at the territorys largest hospital struggle to care for patients as supplies of water, fuel and medicine run dangerously low. 4. Hundreds of civilians killed in the Hamas attacks have yet to be identified by Israeli forensics teams. Here's what's happening in the latest Israel-Hamas war: NEW YORK GOVERNOR ANNOUNCES A TUESDAY VISIT TO ISRAEL NEW YORK Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a written statement Monday evening that she will travel to Israel on Tuesday for a solidarity mission. She said she plans to meet with diplomatic leaders and communities devastated after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants on Israeli towns. During these difficult times, its more important than ever for New York to show up in support of Israel, Hochul said. New York has the largest percentage of Jews among all the U.S. states, according to the American Jewish Population Project at Brandeis University. PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN TO VISIT ISRAEL WEDNESDAY, US SECRETARY OF STATE ANNOUNCES TEL AVIV President Joe Biden will travel to Israel on Wednesday to show support for the U.S. ally amid concerns the Israel-Hamas war could become a larger regional conflict, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said early Tuesday in Tel Aviv. Biden will then go to Jordan to meet with Arab leaders, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. Blinken's announcement followed hours of talks with Israeli officials, as well as an invitation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. As the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip grows more dire, Blinken also said the U.S. and Israel had agreed to develop a plan to enable humanitarian aid from donor nations to reach civilians in Gaza, "including the possibility of creating areas to help keep civilians out of harms way. We share Israels concern that Hamas may seize or destroy aid entering Gaza or otherwise prevent it from reaching the people who need it, Blinken said. IRAN WARNS OF POSSIBLE PREEMPTIVE ACTION AS GAZA GROUND OFFENSIVE NEARS JERUSALEM Irans foreign minister has warned that preemptive action is possible if Israel moves closer to its looming ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. The comments by Hossein Amirabdollahian follow a pattern of escalating rhetoric from Iran, whose theocracy provides support to Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israel cannot do whatever it wants in Gaza and then go after other resistance groups after its done with Gaza, he told state television. Therefore any preemptive action is possible in the coming hours. He did not elaborate on what form any action might take. If the limited and extremely tight windows of opportunity available to the United Nations and political actors are not used over the coming hours, opening new fronts against the Zionist regime is inevitable, he said. UN HUMANITARIAN CHIEF PUSHES FOR AID TO BE ALLOWED INTO GAZA UNITED NATIONS Calling this the worst of times, the U.N. humanitarian chief said the United Nations is in deep discussions with the Israelis, Egyptians and others about getting aid through the Rafah crossing, hugely helped by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken who has been traveling in the region. Martin Griffiths, who is heading to Cairo on Tuesday to try to help in the negotiations, said in an interview with the U.N. Monday that he was hoping for some good news soon. Griffiths said the U.N.s overwhelming priority is to get access to Gaza, saying humanitarian rules of war are being violated. You cannot ask people to move out of harms way without assisting them to do it, by providing safe places and humanitarian aid, and right now Israel has not made these provisions for Gazans moving from the north to the south, Griffiths said. He also called for the immediate release of all hostages taken from Israel, many of them children, women, the elderly and the sick, which he said is unacceptable and illegal. AIR RAID SIRENS PUNCTUATE BLINKEN'S RETURN TO ISRAEL TEL AVIV Air raid sirens interrupted U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinkens return to Israel three times on Monday, twice as he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet for discussions over Israels war with Hamas. The sirens signaling incoming rocket fire followed by the loud booms of Iran Dome air defenses intercepting rockets underscored an often-daily reality for Israelis, especially in the past week. Blinken and his team got their first taste of the warning system and Iron Dome response as they drove from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, minutes after sirens sounded in both cities causing motorists to pull over and take cover. Blinkens motorcade did not slow or alter its route but sped quickly to the Israeli Ministry of Defense as motorists on the shoulders of the road returned to their vehicles. Later, Blinken and his aides were meeting Netanyahu and his war cabinet at the prime ministers office when sirens sounded again. Blinken, Netanyahu and the others took shelter in a bunker, according to State Department spokesman Matthew Miller. Others huddled in defense ministry stairwells until the all clear was given. ISRAEL HITS SOUTHERN GAZA WITH MORE AIR STRIKES RAFAH, Gaza Strip Israeli air strikes continue to lay waste to Gaza, hitting homes sheltering people seeking safer ground and wiping out 18 members of the same family. Three families who had fled Gaza City were in a house that was struck early Monday in the southern city of Rafah. The attack killed a dozen people and left nine buried in the rubble, according to surviving family members. A vast crater marked where the building had stood. In the Nuseirat refugee camp in the middle of the besieged Gaza Strip, the bodies of 18 members of the Ghabayen family were loaded onto a truck. This is an entire family, said Mustafa Ghabayen, a relative. Eighteen martyrs and three are still under the rubble. PUTIN URGES PEACE IN PHONE CALL WITH NETANYAHU MOSCOW Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated his desire for peace between Israel and the Palestinians in a phone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Kremlin said Monday. The Kremlin said Putin also urged a quick end to hostilities in earlier calls to Egyptian, Iranian, Syrian and Palestinian leaders. Speaking to Netanyahu, Putin expressed his sincere condolences to the families and friends of deceased Israelis and emphasized his strong rejection and condemnation of any actions that victimize the civilian population. The Kremlin said Putin reiterated his desire for a peaceful settlement through political and diplomatic means. EUROPEAN COMMISSION VOWS TO TRIPLE AID TO GAZA TIRANA, Albania European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Monday that the European Union will increase humanitarian aid to Gaza starting with two flights this week via Egypt. She said the Commission has tripled humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza to 75 million euros ($79 million) and would keep working with our partners in the region to assess and address the needs on the ground. Von der Leyen denounced the heinous Hamas attacks and said Israel has the right to defend itself in line with humanitarian international law." The Commission head was speaking in Tirana at the end of a summit with Western Balkan leaders. FORENSIC TEAMS STRUGGLE TO IDENTIFY THOSE KILLED IN HAMAS ATTACKS TEL AVIV Some 400 of the 950 Israeli civilian bodies sent to the National Center of Forensic Medicine following the Hamas attacks remain unidentified, the head of the center said Monday. The amount of charred bodies that we receive now, the proportion is high, Dr. Chen Kugel said. I dont know how long it will take. He said there were DNA, dental records and CT scans to help identify the dead. More than 1,400 Israelis were killed, the vast majority civilians, in the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas militants. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,750 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched counter strikes. PENTAGON SENDS DEPLOYMENT NOTICES TO 2,000 U.S. TROOPS WASHINGTON The Pentagon has sent prepare to deploy orders to about 2,000 U.S. troops to be ready to respond to the Israel-Hamas war, two U.S. officials said on the condition of anonymity to discuss a decision that has not been announced yet. The troops would cover a variety of support roles, such as additional medical support or explosive ordnance support, such as providing additional security at gate crossings, one of the officials said. They would not be sent to Israel but could be sent to countries in the region, one of the officials said. The Wall Street Journal was the first to report the orders. Associated Press writer Tara Copp contributed to this report SHIN BET HEAD TAKES RESPONSIBILITY FOR NO WARNING BEFORE HAMAS ATTACK JERUSALEM The head of Israels Shin Bet security service has taken responsibility for the bloody Oct. 7 Hamas rampage that killed over 1,400 Israelis. In a message sent to Shin Bet workers and their families over the weekend, Ronen Bar wrote that despite a number of actions we took, unfortunately, on Saturday we were unable to create enough early warning to prevent the attack. As the person at the head of the organization, the responsibility for that is on me, he added. There will be time for investigation now is a time for war. The letter was obtained by The Associated Press on Monday. The Shin Bet leads Israels efforts to track and monitor Palestinian militants. The Israeli news site Ynet has reported that on the eve of the attack, Bar was summoned to the office because of abnormal activity detected in Gaza. But officials believed that only a limited attack would take place, according to the report. HEZBOLLAH SAYS IT ATTACKED ISRAELI POSITION NEAR LEBANON BEIRUT - Lebanons militant Hezbollah group says its fighters have targeted an Israeli position along the border directly hitting a Merkava tank. Hezbollah said in a statement that the Sunday evening attack hit an Israeli position near the Lebanese border village of Duhaira. It gave no other details about the attack. EU LEADERS TO MEET TO DISCUSS ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR BRUSSELS European Union leaders will hold an emergency summit Tuesday as concern mounts that the war between Israel and Hamas could fuel inter-communal tensions in Europe and bring more refugees in search of sanctuary. The leaders will also attempt to restore some order after a series of social media messages, statements and visits by EU officials sowed confusion about the 27-nation blocs intentions after Hamas attacked southern Israel. The conflict could have major security consequences for our societies, EU Council President Charles Michel said Monday as he announced the video summit. The meeting will also focus on getting aid to civilians and working with other countries in the region to stop tensions from spreading. TWO PROPOSED RESOLUTIONS GO TO THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL The U.N. Security Council is set to vote Monday on dueling resolutions on the Israel-Hamas war. A Russian proposal calls for a cease-fire while a Brazilian draft seeks humanitarian pauses to let aid flow and urges Israel to rescind its order for the evacuation of northern Gaza. Either draft, if adopted, would mark the first collective statement on the war from the U.N.s most powerful organ. Both draft resolutions, obtained by The Associated Press, call for releasing all hostages. In somewhat different language, both also condemn violence toward civilians, express concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and seek the provision of food, fuel and other aid. But the differences are significant. Ahead of an expected Israeli ground offensive in Gaza, Russias proposed resolution calls for a humanitarian cease-fire. The Brazilian draft calls for humanitarian pauses and encourages establishing aid corridors and a notification mechanism to protect U.N. facilities, humanitarian sites and aid convoys. The council has become increasingly divided due to Russias war in Ukraine. Russia is a veto-wielding member. Brazil, a two-year member without a veto, currently holds the rotating presidency. In continuation of X's very long list of screwups, the company has been accused of yet another case of unfair treatment against its employees. The US Labor Board accuses X (formerly Twitter) of retaliation after firing an employee for speaking her mind about contradicting the return-to-office policy. NLRB Says What X Did was Illegal Back in November 2022, X owner Elon Musk announced that employees are mandated to return to the office since the pandemic has already died down. This goes for workers who can do their jobs perfectly even within the walls of their homes. The mandate received a lot of pushback, but the tech billionaire was set on implementing the new policy. He told the staff that if they can "physically make it to an office" and don't show up, then "resignation accepted." Software Engineer Yao Yue quoted a post that mentioned Musk's statement, urging employees to let Musk fire them instead of resigning since they will "gain literally nothing out of a resignation." Yue also posted the same statement on Slack. Don't resign, let him fire you. You gain literally nothing out of a resignation. https://t.co/4OcZKag0UZ Yao Yue (@thinkingfish) November 10, 2022 It was believed that her opposition was what got her fired, given that she lost her job five days after posting it, as reported by Engadget. the National Labor Relations Board alleges that it was in violation of federal labor law by "interfering with, restraining, and coercing employees." After all, Yue was not technically breaking any rules. She may just be pointing out that by resigning, employees might miss out on a severance package from the company, who will likely fire them on a whim anyway. She was merely exercising protected rights. Sadly, this is not the first time that Musk has been accused of treating employees unfairly, both by firing employees from his other companies illegally, as well as creating a stressful environment in X's office during the rebranding efforts. Read Also: NLRB Rules Against Tesla Dress Code Requiring Workers to Wear Pre-Approved Black Shirts Only Musk Fired an Employee for Organizing a Union Just this March, Elon Musk-run company Tesla also got in trouble with the NLRB after firing an employee for attempting to organize a union. The Tesla CEO even stated that choosing to unionize will affect the workers' stock options. The NLRB has been allowed to require the EV company to reinstate the employee, Richard Ortiz, as well as provide him with back pay. This was made possible after the three judges on the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the finding. In addition to that, Musk was asked to delete the X post that threatened the employees' stock options should they go through with their plans to unionize. Upon reinstatement, Ortiz intends to work with fellow employees and "finish the job of forming a union," as per The New York Times. It's not just Tesla and X that are experiencing these circumstances. SpaceX employees also filed complaints about labor law violations last year accusing the company of retaliating against them. Eight workers were affected by the alleged violation of labor laws. The filed charges state that the company pushed back after the employees helped in writing a letter that pointed out the lack of enforcement in its policies on sexual harassment. Related: Tesla Alleged To Have Violated Labor Laws; NLRB Files New Complaint Sharon Bishop-Baldwin Sand Springs Leader Staff Writer Follow Sharon Bishop-Baldwin Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today To Michele Burcham, it felt like a slap in the face when 17-year-old Sirrah Mathews was sentenced last Tuesday as a youthful offender in the Sept. 15, 2022, car crash that killed three of Mathews fellow Charles Page High School students, including Burchams stepdaughter, Cyra Saner. Life in prison is not the answer. Theres been enough loss. Theres been enough tragedy, Burcham said. But it really feels like she got grounded. You get grounded for taking the bumper off the car, not for taking three lives and altering another for life. Besides Cyra, 16, the crash killed Ethan Gibson, 17, and Kylee Weaver, 16. Mathews and passenger Logan Childers, now 17, survived the crash, although Logan suffered significant injuries. Noting that Mathews punishment which will be spelled out in a treatment plan devised by the Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs could potentially even allow her to live at home, Burcham said: I dont know that she necessarily needs to be taken away from her parents; thats not necessarily the answer, either. But actions have consequences. And she survived unscathed. Mathews, who was speeding and high on marijuana when she crashed her car about a mile from the high school on Park Road, was sentenced Oct. 10 to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to three counts of manslaughter and one DUI-drugs count. Burcham isnt alone in her criticism of Oklahomas youthful offender law, which proscribes that Mathews cannot be held beyond her 19th birthday, a milestone she will reach in 18 months. She fell in the cracks of our legal system in this state, said Steve Terrill, Ethans grandfather. But Terrill chooses to focus on hope instead of heartbreak. Im a little disappointed, he said. Maybe, just maybe, therell be good come out of this. Maybe shell complete this thing, turn herself around and become an advocate for the law to be changed. How many students or kids would maybe get an impact from someone who knows firsthand what its about? She could be a strong advocate, he said. Jeanie Blatchford said the resolution of the case has only brought her anger. Lots of anger. And remorse that we couldnt get something better for them, she said of the victims, who include her niece, Kylee. I dont know if there is a right sentence, but (it should have been) more than she got, she said. She hasnt spent one day in jail, and theres a chance she wont. She killed three kids, and she may not get any repercussions from it. Kylees mother, Kori Fletcher, said the outcome was hard. Depressing. Frustrating. They said that out of the two options (juvenile or youthful offender status), that was the one we wanted, she said. So Im thankful for that, but when it came to actual sentencing, I was like, in other words, no repercussions. All its doing is teaching our young kids, Hey, its OK, because were young. We can do what we want. Fletcher said she cant think of what the appropriate sentence for Mathews would have been. Its still hard for me to wrap my head around it, she said. I just Id rather just have my daughter back, to be honest. Diona Lorton, whose son, Logan, survived the crash, shares the other families grief and disappointment in the cases resolution. For me, my baby lived, and that, for me, is the most important thing, she said. But I dont feel that the charges she got the repercussions or the consequences are far less than they should be. I dont believe theres any justice for the families. I feel that the laws need to be looked at and changed. Lorton said she and Logan even more so has suffered from survivors guilt. He kept asking, Why me? Why did I have to live and they didnt? she said. Weve gotten past that some. Hes a teenage boy, so hes going to (put on a brave face), but he does talk to the counselor at school, and hes pretty open with it. He communicates. She has offered several times to get him a private therapist, but Logan says hes happy with his school counselor, she said. I mean, the worst thing that I have to deal with, outside of my baby, is $67,000 worth of medical bills and only $25,000 worth of insurance, Lorton said. In the crash, Logan suffered a 10-inch gash on the back of his head and a punctured lung. He had to be sedated and on a ventilator for about 24 hours and had a tube coming out of his chest, his mother said. But hes recovered really well, she said. Hes back to wrestling, and I think hes pretty close to 100% now. Lorton teared up when asked if she was the lucky one. I was very fortunate, she said. When I got the phone call, there were two boys and three girls in that car. And one boy and one girl were alive. I went to the hospital, and they made me go in and identify a (male teenager) because they didnt know who (they had). I came back out, and the police were walking up to Ethans parents, and they (the parents) looked at me and asked me if Logan was OK. My heart sunk to my feet. Theres no worse feeling. Lorton also knew she would have to tell Logan what happened to Ethan. That was his best friend. They wrestled together. They hung out. They lived right down the street from one another, she said. And he freaked out. (He said,) Why am I here? What happened? And I had to tell him, she said. And thats the most horrible thing to tell your baby thats still got a tube hanging out of his chest that three of your closest friends are gone. For his part, Logan said hes trying to keep a smile on my face for them and stay happy for them. I have my moments just like everybody else does. Theres been times where Ill sit there in class and boom right in my head, there it is, and then theres other days where it just doesnt even appear at all because Im doing my best not to think about it. But they would want us to continue to push on with life and be happy for them and not be sad, he said. Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton Tulsa World Staff Writer Follow Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton 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 Election deadline: Friday is the deadline to register to vote in the Broken Arrow school districts Nov. 14 school bond election. Registration applications must be postmarked by 5 p.m. that day to be considered. Shot clinic: The Oklahoma Caring Van will offer free flu shots Monday at Broken Arrows Oneta Ridge, Oliver and Sequoyah middle schools and Education Service Center, 701 S. Main St. To be eligible, students must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian and be uninsured, eligible for SoonerCare or identify as American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. For more information, call 918-259-4600. Adding more seats?: As part of his remarks at a Cherokee language event Tuesday in Tahlequah, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. announced that his administration will seek funding to add more immersion school campuses within the tribes reservation, including $30 million to build a new middle school in Tahlequah. The tribe currently operates immersion schools in Tahlequah and Greasy, an Adair County community southwest of Stilwell. Teacher award: Charles Page High Schools Jessica Sprague has been named a 2023-24 Outstanding Project Lead the Way Teacher. The engineering teacher is one of 38 educators nationwide to receive the accolade, which is presented to teachers who demonstrate a strong record of providing an inspiring and empowering student experience while expanding access to Project Lead the Way programs. Sand Springs Public Schools incorporates Project Lead the Ways STEM curriculum in all grades, including engineering, biomedical and computer science courses at the high school level. Sprague is also the districts 2022-23 Teacher of the Year. Test prep with a side of breadsticks: The Muscogee Nations Accessing Choices in Education Program will host a free ACT preparation program on Nov. 15 from 9 a.m. to noon at Incredible Pizza, 8314 E. 71st St. The program is open to any Indigenous student in grades 8-12 who lives in and attends school within the Muscogee Nation reservation boundaries. Preregistration through mcnaceservices.com is required in order to attend. Stay home days: Anderson, Mounds, Owasso, Pretty Water and Tulsa School of Arts and Sciences are not in session all week. Dove Charter Schools are not in session Monday. Monday is a distance-learning day for College Bound Academy. The charter school will not be in session Tuesday through Friday. Berryhill is not in session Monday or Tuesday. Broken Arrow, Catoosa, Coweta, Jenks, Lone Star, Sand Springs, Sapulpa and Tulsa are not in session Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Except for its sophomores, Wednesday is a distance-learning day for Bixby Public Schools. Bixby sophomores are still expected to be on campus that day to participate in the Pre-ACT. Bixby, Claremore, Collinsville, Glenpool, Kiefer, Liberty, Skiatook, Tulsa Honor Academy and Wagoner are not in session Thursday and Friday. Sperry, Tulsa Classical Academy and Union are not in session Friday. Friday is a distance-learning day for Prue Public Schools. School board calendar: The boards of education for Bartlesville and Tulsa are scheduled to meet Monday. The Bartlesville and Inola boards have meetings scheduled for Wednesday. The state CareerTech board is scheduled to meet Thursday in Oklahoma City. Tim Stanley Tulsa World Staff Writer Follow Tim Stanley 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 Nikki Myers knew as well as anyone what can happen when things go wrong in the air. For three years with the Air Force, part of her job was to coordinate rescue efforts for downed pilots and air crews. But when she finally got to experience her first solo flight, Myers was reminded of why the idea had always appealed to her. I remember putting the power on and going up and getting that sense of excitement. And I was like, OK, I made the right call, said Myers, who after leaving the Air Force as a captain enrolled in the piloting program at Tulsa Community College. I had the feeling Yes, (flying) is where Im meant to be. What began with that solo flight for Myers, currently a flight instructor for TCC, is about to enter its next phase. Myers, whose goal is to become a commercial airline pilot, was recently hired by a regional airline. She begins her training later this month, and if all goes well, the opportunity will land Myers in select company: Only 5% of all pilots in the commercial flying industry are women. A native of Ocala, Florida, Myers became interested in flying as a child when she was told stories about her grandfather, a flight engineer on a World War II bomber. Myers went on to attend and graduate from the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. But as her Air Force career advanced, it veered away from piloting. I got into a different field, and I was OK with that, she said. The flying thing just kind of petered off for me. I thought, Well, this isnt what Im doing. So I didnt really consider it much more. Myers spent seven years in the Air Force, culminating with a job in rescue command and control. In that role, she coordinated rescue efforts for the Air Force in the Pacific region, working closely with the Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard to recover downed air crews. While in the Air Force, Myers met a fellow service member who was from Ponca City. The two later married. It was her husband, she said, who suggested her next move. After getting out of the Air Force, I told him, I want to do something in aviation. And hes like, Why not try flying? Youve always been interested in that. Myers looked at four-year programs first, but the waitlists were long. Then she learned about TCCs program and set up a visit. She was impressed by TCCs Riverside Community Campus and Aviation Center, an FAA-approved pilot training school featuring a simulation lab with a full-motion flight training simulator and air traffic control simulator. The program was like a perfect fit, and they have a really good (veterans services) office there, too, Myers said. It has really, really worked out. Theyre very supportive. After graduating, she became a flight instructor for TCC. She earned her Gold Seal this year, the highest certification in flight instruction. One thing she emphasizes to her students is that flying should be both safe and fun. Do it safely, but also have fun while doing it, she said. That was my experience here. I had really wonderful instructors, and its been great to pay that forward as an instructor myself. Myers will miss working with students, but shes excited about what comes next. Piloting for an airline means a chance to visit and see all kinds of places. Theres so much of the country I havent explored yet, she said. Also, she likes the idea of flying people from place to place. People are traveling for all kinds of different reasons. I remember for me in the military, Id be traveling to see family and friends. Usually itd be a happy occasion. So youre getting to do that for people, bringing people together. On the scarcity of female pilots, Myers believes the issue is that many just havent been taught to think of it as an option. But her advice is: If it appeals to you at all, give it a try. Because the worst thing that can happen is you go on a discovery flight and then you say, Hey, this isnt for me, she said. But the best thing that could happen is you go up and then you get that feeling like I did on my first flight and you realize, Wow, this is what I was meant to do. And then you go chase that dream. <&rule> The new Tulsa World app offers personalized features. Download it today. 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 More than 20 years ago, during Frank Keatings second term as governor, he proposed replacing the states individual income tax, its sales tax on groceries and its business franchise tax with a 5.9% tax on some 200 additional business activities, from hair cuts to house sales. Oklahomans liked the idea of no income tax, but not as much as they disliked the idea of paying higher sales tax and paying it on more stuff. So Keatings fundamental overhaul of the state tax system didnt happen. But the subject keeps coming up, largely driven by advocacy groups promising greater economic growth and usually representing interests in higher income tax brackets. Most recently, Gov. Kevin Stitt renewed the call to phase out Oklahomas individual income tax. In all likelihood, further reductions in state income tax rates, or tax relief of some kind, will be a major issue in the 2024 legislative session. Before getting into whether zero income tax actually does spur economic growth, it should be noted that state and local taxes are almost always considered together because of state-to-state variations in responsibility for government functions. For instance, Oklahomas state government has assumed a large share of the responsibility for funding common education, while other states leave more of the burden on local governments. The result is that Oklahoma distributes its public school dollars more evenly than most states, but some complain that it penalizes communities that are willing and able to spend more on their schools. Also, tax and revenue systems are like trees. They grow and adapt to fit the environment atop boulders, through sidewalk cracks, around iron spikes and knot holes and squirrel nests. Just as trees find nourishment wherever they can find it, so state and local governments tend to seek out cash from all available nooks and crannies. States that dont get money from income taxes get it from somewhere else property taxes or sales taxes or things not called taxes that nevertheless walk, quack and look like taxes. Some have higher college tuition. Some charge more for a barrel of whiskey or gallon of gasoline. Some might take longer to process birth certificates or repair a road. Also like trees, established tax systems must be pruned with care. When Kansas tried to rip out its existing tax system in the 2010s, its state government nearly collapsed. Fact is, most states without income taxes never had them, or had them in such a diminished form that eliminating them altogether was not such a drastic leap as it would be today. Florida discontinued its individual income tax in 1855 (yes, 1855). South Dakota zeroed out its levy in 1943. A flood of oil and gas revenue allowed Alaska to repeal its individual income tax in 1980. Oklahoma adopted its state income tax in 1915, shortly after passage of the 16th Amendment made a federal income tax practical. It accounts for 35% to 40% of state tax revenue and, with a 1% state sales tax approved in 1933, allowed the elimination of the state property tax assessment. Economic growth claims So then, is there really a link between no individual income tax and economic growth? Jared Walczak of the venerable Tax Foundation is a yes on the question. States without an income tax have grown twice as fast over the past decade as those that do, Walczak said in a recent interview. Income taxes are a tax on investment and labor. Four of 2022s five fastest growing states, in terms of gross product, have no income tax. Others say the growth claim is a mirage. Several reports over the past decade by the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy say studies linking state income tax policy to economic policy are skewed. And the same data that ranked zero income tax states Tennessee, Florida, Nevada and Texas as Nos. 2-5 for 2022 economic growth listed no-taxers South Dakota and Wyoming in the bottom 10 (with Oklahoma) and Washington just outside it. Richard Auxier, an analyst with the left-center Urban Institute, says states without income taxes tend to shift the burden from higher to lower earners. The income tax is the only tax that allows whats called vertical equity, Auxier said. All other taxes are regressive. By regressive, Auxier means taxes assessed uniformly regardless of income or available resources. So, an 8% state and local sales tax or 19-cent per gallon gasoline tax hits someone with $10 a lot harder than someone with $1,000. Many people argue that consumption taxes, and especially some sales taxes, are patently unfair. Income taxes, by comparison, are more closely tied to ability to pay. In theory, the amount paid in taxes increases with income. Most income taxes are also graduated to some extent, meaning a higher tax rate on higher income. Some argue that that is unfair, too. In any event, the higher the income, the more likely someone is to oppose income taxes, and the lower the income the louder the argument for repeal of such things as sales taxes on groceries and other necessities. A basic tenant of government fiscal policy is that taxation should have a broad base and low rate. In most states, that involves some combination of sales, property and income taxes, with a host of other taxes, many of them designated for specific purposes, supplementing the top three. But some conservatives argue that income and property taxes are not necessary for a fair or balanced tax system. The Tax Foundations Walczak says a consumption tax-based system extended to a broader range of goods and services can be just as equitable. But as Frank Keating learned, persauding people to pay taxes they arent paying now is very difficult. The problem with the idea of having a broad sales tax is that it just pisses people off, said the Urban Institutes Auxier. No major effort to reform Oklahomas 4.5% state sales tax has been attempted since Keating, except for discussions about actually narrowing it by exempting groceries. In the meantime, the top income tax rate has been chipped down from a high of 7% in the 1990s and 6.65% at the time of Keatings proposal to 4.75% now. And the franchise tax Keating wanted to abolish will be gone next year. Tax system comparisons So how does Oklahomas tax system stack up with other states? Probably the best-known yardstick is the Tax Foundations annual state tax burden report. It computes both the average amount paid in state and local taxes and state and local tax rates as a share of economic output. In the latest edition, none of the top four for combined state and local tax rates Alaska, Wyoming, Tennessee and South Dakota has a personal income tax. Texas is No. 6. Oklahomas rate of 9% ranked 10th, more than 2 percentage points behind the national average. In terms of actual taxes paid, however, Oklahomas average tab was about $400 less than Texas. The Urban Institute doesnt issue rankings, but it does publish data. It also takes into consideration some things the Tax Foundation and many others dont. College tuition, for instance, and various fines and fees. For fiscal year 2021, it estimated that Oklahoma spent less per capita on common education, health and hospitals, public welfare, corrections and policing than the region and the nation as a whole. State and local government expenditures were $8,616 per capita, compared to $11,087 nationally. State and local general revenue was $9,785 per capita, compared to $12,277 nationally. Texas state and local governments, by comparison, took in and spent about $1,000 more per person than Oklahoma. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which in 2018 ranked states according to the fairness of their tax systems, put Oklahoma in the bottom 10 along with seven of the nine no-individual income tax states. Conversely, the Tax Foundation, whose Business Tax Climate Index explicitly favors states without corporate income tax, individual income tax and/or state sales tax, ranks four of the no-individual income tax states in its top 10. Oklahoma is No. 23 overall, although it ranks first for workers compensation insurance and fourth for corporate taxes. Auxier said tax policy should be determined by real circumstances, not abstract ideology. Talk to communities, he said. Ask, What do you need to succeed? Whats the tax that gets in your way? Cutting income taxes may be popular, but that doesnt mean its the best way to incentivize growth. <&rule> The new Tulsa World app offers personalized features. Download it today. A grant manager who wanted to work to support State Superintendent Ryan Walters positions has resigned after only four months on the job at t Russias political parties throw their support behind the relationship with Vietnam, Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Victorovich Volodin told Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman (NA) Vuong Dinh Hue during their talks in Hanoi on Sunday. The Russian State Duma leader arrived in Vietnam on Sunday, starting his two-day visit at the invitation of NA Chairman Hue. The State Duma brings together the representatives from five political parties, and all the parliamentarians expect deeper ties between Russia and Vietnam, said Volodin. The support was reflected through the presence of representatives from these political parties; the State Dumas committees, and the Russian ministries on the trip. Speaking at their talks, Volodin expects high-level meetings between the two legislative bodies to be maintained. The Vietnam - Russia ties have greatly flourished, especially after the two nations established a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2012. The two countries should diversify their cooperation methods to advance their bilateral ties, he underlined. Vietnams top legislator Hue highly valued the Russian delegation, affirming that Russia is always one of Vietnams diplomatic priorities. The Southeast Asian nation attaches much significance to cooperation with Russias political parties, legislature, government, and people. Vietnam supports Russias role in the Asia-Pacific region, and is willing to link Russia and ASEAN countries, said NA Chairman Hue. The two sides reached a consensus on stronger collaboration at regional and international forums. The top Vietnamese official also proposed Russia support the standpoints of ASEAN and Vietnam in settling disputes by peaceful means based on international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in 1982. NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue and Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Victorovich Volodin hold talks in Hanoi on October 15, 2023. Photo: Quochoi.vn Discussing the economic, trade and investment partnership, NA Chairman Hue prompted Russia to consider simplifying procedures of importing Vietnamese farm produce. He also proposed Russia push the negotiations, upgrade and supplementation of a free trade agreement between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union, whose members include Russia. Vietnam hopes that Russia will maintain and boost its cooperation in the fields of science, technology, and training. Vietnams National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue (R) shakes hands with Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Victorovich Volodin. Photo: Quochoi.vn The two top representatives agreed to deepen tourism partnership, and join hands to remove bottlenecks for the reopening of direct air routes between the two capitals. Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, State President Vo Van Thuong and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh are scheduled to receive the Russian State Duma chairman on Monday. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! A car lost control at a high speed and crashed into a group of parents who were waiting for their children on the sidewalk in Binh Duong Province, bordering Ho Chi Minh City, on Sunday evening, claiming the life of one man and injuring four others. Traffic police officers of Thu Dau Mot City, Binh Duong Province, said on Sunday that they were examining the scene and discovering the cause of the accident. The police reported that at about 5:00 pm on Sunday, a group of parents were waiting for their children to finish their classes on Huynh Van Luy Street in Thu Dau Mot City. The car suddenly crashed into them, causing five casualties and damaging many motorbikes. Local authorities examine the scene of the accident. Photo: Vietnam News Agency The accident scared many students. Following the accident, the car driver surrendered to the police. Investigation into the accident is underway. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Read what is in the news in Vietnam today: Politics -- Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue and Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Victorovich Volodin held talks in Hanoi on Sunday following a welcome ceremony for the latter earlier the same day. Society -- High tide troubled traffic on National Highway 50 connecting Ho Chi Minh City and southern Long An Province on Sunday afternoon. -- Police in Hanoi on Sunday said that they had arrested a 38-year-old man hailing from northern Thai Binh Province on suspicion of murdering a 17-year-old girl in Hanoi and dismembering her body to destroy the evidence of his crime. -- Officers in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang on Sunday investigated a case where an 83-year-old woman died of heart failure and pulmonary edema and her 55-year-old son was hospitalized after both of them had drunk the same powdered milk. -- Authorities in Da Nang City, central Vietnam have restricted access to Son Tra Mountain due to falling rocks caused by prolonged heavy rain. -- In response to the ongoing heavy rainfall and flooding, the Da Nang Department of Education and Training allowed all K-12 students to remain at home on Monday after schools were closed on Friday and Saturday due to the adverse weather conditions. -- As a result of recent heavy rainfall, the river floodwaters surged and inundated a part of National Highway 1 in Phu Ninh District, central Quang Nam Province, causing difficulty for vehicles in navigating through the waterlogged area on Monday morning. -- The Nhue and Day Rivers in Hanoi have been seriously polluted for several years with murky water, foul odor, and certain parts clogged with mud and litter. Sports -- The Vietnam Football Federation on Sunday set the target for the mens national team to reach the third qualifying round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Asia. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Police in Hanoi and northern Thai Binh Province jointly arrested a 38-year-old man hailing from Thai Binh on suspicion of murdering a 17-year-old girl in Hanoi and dismembering her body to destroy the evidence of his crime, the Hanoi Police informed on Sunday. The suspect, Ta Duy Khanh, residing in the Ocean Park Urban Area in Hanoi, was apprehended on Saturday night while he was hiding in his hometown in Thai Binh Province. When he learned that the police were in his hometown to arrest him, Khanh readied a knife and hid himself under a bed. The police and his family encouraged him to turn himself in but he went into a state of panic. When being captured, Khanh even attempted to commit suicide by cutting his neck. At about 12:30 pm on Friday last week, several fishermen found human body parts floating on a section of the Red River in Gia Lam District, Hanoi. The remaining parts of the victims body were later found on the river bank. Police determined the victim to be H.Y.N., 17, residing in Ba Dinh District, Hanoi. She was the runner-up in an ao dai (Vietnamese traditional costume) beauty contest in 2022. The Hanoi police are further investigating the case. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! More than 30 stalking victims have come together for a class-action lawsuit filed in California against Apple due to alleged technology negligence on AirTags. Read Also: DEA Officials Tracked Suspects With an Apple AirTag Apple AirTags Used as Stalking Device Ars Technica reported that in the lawsuit the victims are claiming that AirTags has become "one of the most dangerous and frightening technologies employed by stalkers." The device can be easily acquired by such criminals and has been used to track someone's real-time location information. In 2022, many people reported to authorities about AirTags being frequently used for stalking. By April 2022, there were more than 150 police reports recorded in the US. Recently, 19 AirTags stalking cases were reported in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The problem with AirTags has become a national concern as one plaintiff reported that she lost her son after his girlfriend allegedly tracked him using AirTags, followed him, and ran him over with her car, killing him on the spot. Other reports also showed that AirTags are commonly used by abusive partners or exes. Apple Advertises AirTags as Stalker-Proof Device While the function AirTags can be easily utilized by criminals, Apple firmly believes that they have done what they can to make it an anti-stalking device. "AirTag was designed to help people locate their personal belongings, not to track people or another person's property, and we condemn in the strongest possible terms any malicious use of our products," Apple wrote. Apple issued last year an update on the AirTags which supposedly will solve the problems of unwanted tracking. For instance, the company released a new privacy warning during the AirTag setup which stated that users can only track their own belongings. However, the victims who are suing Apple are determined that the company should be responsible for creating a device that has great potential to be misused. Moreover, Apple's efforts to update the safety features for AirTags do not remove the emotional distress and fear attached to it. Related Article: Apple, Google Unite To Fight Bluetooth Tracker Stalking Security officers at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City caught a man for allegedly stealing a wallet at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi after he landed at the southern airport on Saturday. Hoang Tien Ph., 42-year-old resident of Quang Binh Province, north-central Vietnam, who was scheduled to fly from Hanoi to Quang Binh at 6:00 pm on Saturday, reported the loss of his wallet with over VND4 million (US$164) in cash and some ATM cards inside after going through the security scanning area to security personnel at the Hanoi-based airport at 5:30 pm the same day. He said that he inadvertently left his wallet in the area. The security force quickly checked surveillance camera footage, and detected a man who had taken it and went to Gate 6 to board a Vietjet aircraft heading to the Ho Chi Minh City-based airport. After being notified of the case, the Tan Son Nhat Aviation Security Center deployed forces to the domestic terminal to catch the man after his arrival. The man was identified as Nham Van D., a 44-year-old resident of Ha Dong District, Hanoi. He confessed to the security officers that he picked up a black wallet at Noi Bai International Airport. The force found the wallet containing VND4.541 million ($186.3) and $3 in cash, as well as three ATM cards. After booking D., Tan Son Nhat International Airport security personnel handed him over to the Southern Airports Authority for further punishment. Many passengers have recently been detected stealing others assets at security screening areas at local airports, mainly Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! A man committed suicide after stabbing two people in District 3 in Ho Chi Minh City on Monday morning. An official from the Peoples Committee of Ward 3 in District 3 confirmed the incident to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on the same day. The naked man suspected of being under the influence of drugs was wielding a knife and entered a coffee shop on Nguyen Thien Thuat Street in the district at 9:30 am to wound guests, according to police officers. Coffee-goers quickly escaped the shop and his attacks. The man chased the people to the intersection between Nguyen Dinh Chieu and Nguyen Thien Thuat Streets, and the surrounding area of Ban Co Market, where he stabbed a woman and a man. The victims were rushed to a nearby hospital for emergency treatment. The woman, 70, was in a critical condition, according to Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper. After his stabbing, the attacker ran to Ban Co Street in Ward 3 and committed suicide. Police officers quickly arrived at the scene to investigate the case. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Police in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang are investigating a case where an 83-year-old woman died of heart failure and pulmonary edema and her 55-year-old son was hospitalized after both of them drank the same powdered milk. At 6:00 am on Saturday, Pham Thi P., 83, residing in Hoa Hung Commune, Cai Be District, Tien Giang Province, found her 45-year-old son Pham Van Y. dead. The family thought he died of a disease, so they did not report his death to the local authorities. At 10:00 pm on the same day, P. drank 100ml of powdered milk prepared by her daughter. P. immediately suffered a tightness across her chest and shortness of breath, vomited and died five minutes later. The family also thought that P. died of a disease, so they did not inform the local administration of her death. At 4:00 am on Sunday, Pham Minh T., 55, another son of P., made 150ml of the powdered milk while attending P.s funeral but developed symptoms of headache, dizziness, and vomiting after drinking only 50ml of the powdered milk. His family rushed him to Trieu An-Loan Tram Hospital in neighboring Vinh Long Province. Doctors there diagnosed T. with milk poisoning and transferred him to Vinh Long General Hospital for further treatment. Police in Cai Be District have coordinated with relevant agencies to examine the scene and question related people. The preliminary investigation results revealed that both P. and Y. died of heart failure and pulmonary edema. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Nha Trang City, under Khanh Hoa Province in central Vietnam, is organizing a locally-featured tourist gift design contest to showcase its artistic skills while developing local identity following the current situation in which beach city souvenirs are considered monotonous. Accordingly, Nha Trang Citys Ponagar Temple Towers, a historical and cultural relic complex of the ancient Cham people, impressed tourists with many stalls of souvenirs, such as terracotta statues, silk handkerchiefs, brocade keychains, and more. Souvenirs should feature local characteristics Nguyen Thi Thuy Hang, head of the Ponagar Tower Relics Management Board, said that many tourists want to own tourism products thanks to demonstrations of the destination and special features of Cham dance alongside the art of pottery making and weaving. The city hopes to receive many entries to promote the image of a beautiful and hospitable locality while enriching its tourism brand identity after many said the current souvenirs leave no mark. In addition, the winning works will be used for propaganda and tourism promotion activities at domestic and international events. Therefore, the submitted works must aesthetically summarize the tourism characteristics of the locality, which includes beaches in Nha Trang. An appealing souvenir should feature regional characteristics or be associated with the citys historical story. Besides, the price must be tagged, said Hang. Tran Minh Duc, vice president of the Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa Tourism Association, said the coastal city used to have impressive handicraft products such as blinds and night lights made with shells and bamboo crafts. But these souvenirs are gradually disappearing from the market due to the emergence of mass-produced goods. Nha Trang City should have its featured souvenir that can become a tourism symbol. For instance, visitors think of panda-shaped gifts when traveling to Chengdu (China), or Matryoshka dolls when they are in Russia, said Duc. High hope for the competition The Khanh Hoa Provincial Peoples Committee has held a contest to design Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa tourist gifts in the hope of finding designs with high aesthetics and specificity of the namesake destinations. In addition, souvenirs should be portable, durable, health-friendly, and appropriate for mass production. Furthermore, the design must be original. The submitted designs can be single products or a collection with reasonable prices with the text in Vietnamese Du lich Nha Trang Khanh Hoa and Nha Trang Khanh Hoa Tourism in English outside. The competition is open to all organizations and citizens in Vietnam from October 1 to November 30, with products sent by post to the Khanh Hoa Tourism Promotion Information Center at 61 Yersin Street, Phuong Sai Ward, Nha Trang City. The announcement of the results and awarding ceremony is scheduled to take place in December. Head of the Khanh Hoa Department of Tourism said that organizing this contest helps diversify souvenir products to meet the demand of buyers as well as promote tourism and give presents to delegates. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! SKY News Washington Correspondent Annelise Nielsen has secured the first interview with Australian journalist Cheng Lei after her three years imprisoned in China. Neilsen is a former colleague of Leis, who has actively advocated and campaigned for her release for the past three years. Lei was an anchor on Chinas state broadcaster CGTN, until she was detained in August 2020 and accused of illegally supplying state secrets overseas. Her capture wasnt known publicly for days, until her worried partner visited her apartment to find her computers and passport were gone, and immediately alerted officials. Amidst the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic, Leis arrest impacted escalating tensions between Australia and China, and raised questions about the conditions of detainment in China. Now, ahead of Prime Minister Anthony Albaneses upcoming visit to Beijing, the 48-year-old mother of two has been released and returned to Australia. In a powerful and emotional interview Lei reveals details of her harrowing three-year incarceration and how she stayed positive. She describes her free at last moment and the experience of being reunited with her children and mother upon landing In Melbourne. The Bolt Report 7pm Tuesday on SKY News. Former commando Heston Russell has won his defamation case against the ABC and been awarded $390,000 after a federal court judge found the public broadcaster did not prove its reporting was in the public interest. The former commando initiated legal action over two online news articles, a television news item and a radio broadcast relating to alleged actions in Afghanistan in 2012, in which he was commended. The federal court found in February Russell was defamed by the ABC in a series of articles that linked him to war crimes and alleged he left fire and bodies in his wake during his service in Afghanistan. Today, Justice Michael Lee did not find Russells oral evidence as to his hurt to feelings persuasive and did not award aggravated damages. His actions are consistent with someone who has not suffered significant hurt but rather embraced the public controversy, Lee said. But Lee found ABC investigative journalist Mark Willacy, who was the author of the articles, had not established the public interest defence. Lee said he had no doubt Willacy believed the publication of the matter was in the public interest but his belief was not reasonable in the circumstances. He also accepted evidence from other people, including relatives, who explained the toll on the veteran. Lee found the ABC defamed Russell by conveying that he was the subject of an active criminal investigation into his conduct as a commando in Afghanistan and reasonably suspected of committing a crime or crimes when he was a commando in Afghanistan. Russell, a former major in the Australian special forces who served four tours of Afghanistan, has consistently denied all wrongdoing and allegations against him, and that he was the subject of a formal investigation. The ABC initially defended its reporting as substantially true but dropped the truth defence in May and subsequently argued there was public interest in its coverage. Mr Russells counsel, Sue Chrysanthou SC, said she would seek indemnity costs for the entirety of the proceedings based on a settlement offer. The court heard that offer, made in mid-September last year, was for $99,000 and the removal of the articles. The case will return to court on October 24. Source: Guardian ABC Finance presenter Madeleine Morris has announced on air she will be departing ABC this week after nearly 10 years with the broadcaster, the last 4 at News Breakfast. Ive absolutely loved my time on News Breakfast and the other roles Ive been lucky enough to have with the ABC, she said. As journalists, having people let us into their lives is a tremendous privilege, and one I have been grateful for every day. The 3am alarm is pretty brutal though, and my kids and I are looking forward to me being there in the morning, and not having to go to bed before them at night. After a little break Im looking forward to exploring how I can use all the skills Ive picked up in more than 20 years in the business reporting from around the world in a different way. And having a sleep in. She first joined ABC in Rockhampton before moving to the BBC for 12 years, then returning to the ABC in Melbourne in 2014. During almost 10 years at the ABC she has held a number of roles including stints on 7.30, ABC Radio Melbourne and for the past 4 years as Finance Presenter and fill-in co-host at News Breakfast. Michael Rowland says: Madeleines flair for finance has helped underpin the growth of News Breakfast. Shes guided our viewers through cost-of-living challenges and has turned the spotlight on corporate shenanigans. Ive also treasured the many times Madeleine has sat alongside me on the Breakfast couch as a co-presenter. Shes always had my measure! Lisa Millar says: We are going to miss Mads so much on the Brekky couch. No one could get their head about breaking financial stories as quickly as Mads. She always had the audience in mind when she dug deep on issues that might have overwhelmed others. But its her sense of humour and ability to laugh at herself that Ill miss the most. She is simply loads of fun even in the hours well before dawn! Tyson Shine, Executive Producer says: Whether its anchoring breaking news of the US Capitol riots, leading news specials on the HIV/AIDS Pandemic, or shining a light on the way banks fail scam victims, Mads throws everything she has at her work. A genuine journalist who has spent much of her time trying to give a voice to the voiceless. The industry, and her friends at News Breakfast will miss her. Her last day on air will be Friday, October 20. Season 2 of Last King of The Cross, starring Lincoln Younes, has been acquired by Sky (U.K.), Warner Bros. Discovery (New Zealand), and Paramount+ (Canada), Season 2 will delve deeper into the world of Kings Cross identity John Ibrahim as he expands his empire into the booming queer nightclub scene in Sydney. Helium executive producer Mark Fennessy told the Sunday Telegraph the show was a world within a world I always saw it as an international story where Sydney was purely the location as opposed to it being a typical Australian story. Fennessy said the series had all the elements for success a really well written, produced and directed piece with great casting and high production values but success was never a guarantee. James Durie, head of scripted, Cineflix Rights said: Alongside working with producers to develop and launch new dramas, building successful scripted franchises is a key part of our strategy. The series screens in Australia on Paramount+. What happened when five Australian newsmen from Channel 7 & Channel 9 were murdered by Indonesian special forces in East Timor? 8:40pm Tuesday on Nine. Old Peoples Home for Teenagers Rick and Morty Shark Tank The Cheap Seats Real Housewives of Sydney By Kwak Yeon-soo HONG KONG Cannes-winning actor Song Kang-hos approach to acting is pretty simple. His secret to his longstanding success is leading a monotonous lifestyle and emptying his mind. I have no hobbies. I do nothing at home. Compared to other actors, I dont watch a lot of movies including my own because they distract me. I like to let things go and empty my mind, he said. He divulged this secret during his master class held at Hong Kong Baptist University, Saturday. On set, I prefer to stay quiet. If there is a person with an opposite personality, I try to get away from the noise. When directors talk too much, I often tell them, Please dont talk to me. Go away. His strategy seems to have paid off. The actor won the Best Actor award at the 75th Cannes Film Festival for his performance in Broker (2022). Song, who began his career as stage actor and made his film debut with the 1996 film The Day a Pig fell into the Well, has been a screen fixture in Korea for nearly three decades. Song reflected on the booming success of Korean cultural content, attributing it to the nation's dynamic and creative social fabric, which nurtures innovation. Koreans dont settle; they always strive to be better. This kind of vibrant dynamic environment unleashed the innovative potential of creators. The success didnt happen overnight, he said. However, I dont think Korean movies or dramas are superior to those from other countries. I think we are simply in the middle of new waves of movies (film movements that emerge in other countries in the history of cinema), just like Hong Kong New Wave. Song recently visited Hong Kong on the occasion of his latest film Cobweb being selected as the opening film of the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival. The veteran actor said he was able to work with some of Koreas biggest filmmakers, from Park Chan-wook to Lee Chang-dong and Bong Joon-ho, because he wasnt handsome enough. I havent got a handsome face, so there was a wide array of roles I can play, he laughed. I can also connect with audiences emotionally by portraying my characters in a relatable and believable way. Calling Hong Kong the city of dreams, Song expressed his admiration for the golden age of Hong Kong cinema in the 1980s and 1990s. I grew up watching Hong Kong movies. Some of the most iconic 80s and 90s Hong Kong movies sparked my fascination with cinema. Im confident that Hong Kong cinema can thrive again in the near future, he said. Despite his global appeal, the veteran actor understated any Hollywood ambitions, stressing that the quality of content is his priority when choosing a role. Like Tony Leung once mentioned, I dont think going to Hollywood expands my range as an actor. Im not really concerned with location. Im concerned with a good script and a good character, he said. For aspiring actors, he suggested they not be afraid of failing. When I started out as a stage actor, I performed in small theaters. One day, I noticed a hate stare from the audience. It was so frustrating and humiliating, but those moments piled up and made me a better actor, he said. He concluded the master class with an encouraging message, saying So keep going no matter what. Go against expectations of the audience and try to surprise them. His latest film Cobweb has been pre-sold to 187 countries and regions, including the U.S., France and Thailand. The film is set for a Hong Kong release on Oct. 26. Editors note: Peter Bergen is CNNs national security analyst, a vice president at New America, a professor of practice at Arizona State University, and the host of the Audible podcast In the Room With Peter Bergen, also on Apple and Spotify. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion at CNN. Kobi Michael, a leading Israeli expert on Palestinian issues, says his countrys policymakers have misunderstood the aims of Hamas for the past several years. Michael also predicted that Israels military operations in Gaza might take months and that Hezbollah in Lebanon will probably avoid a full-scale war with Israel. Peter Bergen - CNN A senior researcher at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies, Michael has worked as an Israeli intelligence officer, government official and academic focused on Palestinian issues for around three decades. Michael was an Arabic-speaking intelligence officer when he was appointed in 1994 as the first commander of the Israeli-Palestinian Security Coordination Apparatus in the Gaza Strip. Michael then served on Israels National Security Council as the head of the Palestinian Division and in a similar position as the deputy director-general in the Ministry of Strategic Affairs at the prime ministers office between 2009 and 2013. Kobi Michael - Courtesy Kobi Michael In a conversation Friday with Peter Bergen, he explained the likely goal of the Hamas attack and talked of how peace could ultimately be made between Israelis and Palestinians. Their conversation has been edited for clarity and length. Peter Bergen: Who oversees Hamas military operations, and what is the role of Mohammed Deif? Kobi Michael: Mohammed Deif is the commander of the Qassam Brigades. Bergen: Was he in charge of this operation in Israel last weekend? Michael: He certainly is deeply involved. Hes one of the planners, together with Marwan Issa. There is no doubt because both are senior commanders of the military establishment of Hamas. Story continues Bergen: Can you tell us who Mohammed Deif is? What is his background? Michael: Mohammed Deif, hes a cat, not with seven lives but with nine lives. Hes a terrorist from the first days of al Qassam Brigades in the Gaza Strip. Israel tried to target him several times, and he was injured. He lost a hand, an eye and other organs, but hes still alive. Hes very wise, very determined and very charismatic. And hes totally dedicated and determined about his mission on earth. Hes willing to die. Deif has almost no connections with the outside world. Hes the most influential figure in Hamas from the military point of view, and hes also influential with the political leadership of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But we have to understand that such an operation cannot be realized without two crucial abilities that Hamas is not capable of producing. The first is the intelligence factor, and the second ability is the technological factor. Only specific states can provide such abilities, and the only state that is capable and is willing to provide such capabilities to Hamas is Iran. And this is the reason that I do believe that Iran is deeply involved in this operation. (Irans government has praised the Hamas attack but denied that it was involved in it.) The general strategy of Hamas which is very similar to the broad strategy of Iran is to launch a multifront war against Israel. And Hamas has worked in the last few years to realize this strategy on the one hand, they kept things calm in the Gaza Strip, getting economic benefits from Israel, Qatar and Egypt to enable prosperity and the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip but all of these were an umbrella for rebuilding their military capacities and preparing themselves for the big day, which was last Saturday (October 7), unfortunately. Bergen: Why did Hamas launch this attack now? Michael: What was the strategic aim of such an operation, considering that they knew for sure that the price tag would be very high and they were endangering their very existence? Im sure that Hamas was sure that the shock and horror of this operation and the casualties that they would cause would be interpreted by all the Palestinians, that this was a sign from God that this was the time to open all the battlefronts and to fight Israel and this will be the end of the state of Israel. They were sure about it. I believe this was the rationale behind this operation because we have to understand this operation was conducted by more than 2,000 terrorists from the special unit of Hamas, the Nukhba. Do you know how long it takes to train and to prepare such a force? Now, all the Nukhba manpower is something around 3,000 to 4,000 people. (By comparison, the Israeli military, including reservists, is more than 600,000.) This attack last weekend was not intended to release Hamas prisoners held in Israeli jails. The objective was much bigger, and I think this was to encourage the Palestinians in the West Bank and all over Israel to open other battlefronts against Israeli targets. Hamas succeeded much more than they believed they would succeed because this was a huge catastrophe. We lost so many people. Hamas, with their brutality, became what we saw as an upgraded ISIS. Bergen: Youre a former intelligence officer. Many people are saying this is an intelligence failure. Often policymakers say its an intelligence failure when its a policy failure because its hard for the intelligence agencies to publicly defend themselves. They work for the policymakers, and they deal in the classified realm. Was this an intelligence failure, a policy failure, or both? Michael: This is a failure of the political echelon and the decision-makers because the decision-makers accepted the intelligence assessments about Hamas. They are responsible. They didnt ask the right questions. But the problem is not only intelligence. The problem is also policy. I was very critical of the Israeli policy in the last three years because I thought that we were providing Hamas with a comfortable zone and with too many degrees of freedom of action that enabled them to fortify themselves, to strengthen themselves militarily and at the same time to fuel Hamas terror campaign in the West Bank. And we enabled them to continue doing that by providing Gaza with economic benefits that would supposedly make Hamas more moderate or more pragmatic, and they would lose their motivation to attack Israel; this was a mistake. I warned about this publicly in my writing in recent years. We have to understand that Hamas are very religious people. They are very determined, radical and extreme, and therefore, it is very hard for Western people to understand that they believe that they will be able to collapse the state of Israel. But this is what they believe. Bergen: How does their religious view affect how they see the world? Michael: Hamas was established as a religious and social movement and is the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, which originated in Egypt. This is the basic essence of Hamas. The religious ideology is the most important component of their ideology, belief and existence. Bergen: How does Hamas impact the more secular Palestinian Authority, which controlled Gaza until 2007 before Hamas violently pushed them aside? Michael: We have to go back to 2007 to understand that Hamas came to be the essential challenge to the Palestinian Authority because Hamas endgame is to control the entire Palestinian system, which means the Palestinian Authority and the PLO. Hamas perceives the Palestinian Authority as a collaborator with Israel and wants to undermine it. They want to collapse the Palestinian Authority, and therefore, Hamas is the most severe threat to the survival of the Palestinian Authority. Bergen: Palestinian Islamic Jihad is reportedly part of this attack on Israel, yet we dont hear much about them. Were they part of this, and who are they? Michael: Palestinian Islamic Jihad was established in 1982, whereas Hamas was established in 1987. But the Palestinian Islamic Jihad is a pure terror organization. All the raison detre of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad is to slaughter as many Jews as possible, and they dont have any political aspirations. They are much smaller than Hamas. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad participated in this operation, and they still have an arsenal of rockets, some thousands of rockets, and they still have some thousands of terrorists that are active in the Gaza Strip. But this is a much smaller and less sophisticated organization. They dont have any other aims like Hamas because Hamas is a religious, social, political movement and terror organization at the same time. And they are the rulers of the Gaza Strip. Bergen: You mentioned the social services Hamas provides. What are they? Michael: Everything. They are a semi-state entity from education to garbage, energy, infrastructure, health, tax collection, industry, agriculture, everything. They have run the Gaza Strip since 2007, and they went through an institutionalization process because they knew that if they wanted to effectively rule the population, they had to use some practices of a state. They had to collect taxes. They had to provide people with education and health services. Bergen: Hamas in Gaza now: They are well-armed. They are hiding in tunnels. They have hostages. They have human shields. Theyve had years to plan. Urban warfare is very difficult. Do you anticipate Israeli intelligence really understands Gaza well enough to conduct a successful operation? Michael: Yes. This is a huge frustration. We have such intelligence control over the entire Gaza Strip, and how come we failed to get an early warning of the attack last weekend? We have very accurate intelligence. We know exactly where the tunnels are and where any Hamas facility is located. In a building of 15 stories, we know in each story where Hamas is sitting; there is no intelligence problem in this regard. The problem is that to accomplish the mission of annihilating Hamas and denying all of its military capacities, we will need to have not only an air force war, but also a ground force operation, and we have to prepare it very well because Hamas is waiting for us, and they prepared traps, and they have more than a general idea of how the (Israel Defense Forces) is going to operate there. We have no illusion that the cost isnt going to be high. And we are going to have casualties, but this is the price that we have to pay if we want to remain living here in this neighborhood. Israel follows the laws of war and international law and is trying to evacuate all the northern parts of the Gaza Strip and mainly the area of Gaza City, because this is the most crucial center of gravity of Hamas. Most of their assets are located there, and Israel doesnt intend to harm innocent people, and we dont want to have collateral damage. And therefore, we are trying to convince the population to leave because the area is saturated with Hamas assets. The reason that Israel must bomb and demolish so many buildings is because Hamas is everywhere where their basic organizing rationale is to use their people as human shields. They do it in the most cynical and brutal manner, and they wish to have many casualties to use the international media and international tribunals in order to demonize Israel and gain empathy and support. It is the ultimate absurdity when those barbarians who do not respect any international law or norms are using these platforms to make their case. We have to clear the area and prepare the best conditions for the ground forces to enter to accomplish the mission to deal with all the underground infrastructure and to finish the job. Bergen: How long will that take? Michael: Itll take months. Bergen: Do you think Hezbollah in Lebanon will stay on the sidelines during this war? Michael: It looks like now they have an interest in staying out of a full-scale war, because Israel is on full alert in the north. And now Israel is a wounded lion. They know that the Israeli retaliation will be very aggressive if it comes to a full-scale war. I dont think that they are interested now in a full-scale war. Bergen: So, the day after the war is over in Gaza, what does that look like for Israel? In the past, Israel has chosen to withdraw from Gaza. Do you anticipate a permanent occupation of Gaza? Michael: No. Israel does not intend to remain in Gaza and to rule the population there. It might begin with an international mission force or an Arab mission force, and it will end with the return of the Palestinian Authority to the Gaza Strip. I think the Palestinian Authority cannot return immediately to the Gaza Strip. Otherwise, it will be perceived by the Palestinian constituency as a traitor, as someone who collaborated with Israel to topple Hamas. But I think that after a while and with the right preparations, it might be a reasonable model that the Palestinian Authority will return to rule the Gaza Strip. But I think that we have to be very sober and to understand that even if the Palestinian Authority will return to the Gaza Strip, it doesnt mean that we will reach a final status agreement with the Palestinians. This is not the situation. Bergen: Why would the Palestinians make a final deal with Israel without getting something in return, when the settlements are expanding on the West Bank? Michael: The settlements were never the issue. Israel dismantled all the settlements in the Gaza Strip and North Samaria (in 2005). Yasser Arafats response to the Camp David offer (brokered by US President Bill Clinton in 2000) was the Second Intifada. Israel demonstrated twice that it is able and willing to evacuate settlements for peace. The Palestinians need to cross the Rubicon and to understand that the only way to live peacefully here in this region is to find a way to do it together with Israel and as part of the new regional architecture that will be based on the normalization process between Israel and the Arab countries with American support. And this new architecture will be able to defeat any efforts of the Iranians to be more influential or to reach hegemony in the broader Middle East. There is a clash between the Iranian radical extreme resistance axis, which is led by Iran and is composed of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah and all the other Iranian proxies all over the Middle East, and the Arab Sunni pragmatic axis, which is led by Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The Palestinian Authority in Israel should be part of this camp, which is supported by the United States of America. If the Palestinians will be part of this camp, then we will be able to talk about peace between Israel and the Palestinians. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com For the last time before the 2024 election year, federal political candidates had to reveal their fundraising to the Federal Election Commission by Sunday night, giving us a peek at who is successfully filling their coffers and getting a leg up in next years House, Senate and presidential contests. Here are seven takeaways from third-quarter political fundraising. Biden Hopes Fundraising Will Smooth Democratic Nerves, With A Catch President Joe Biden announced raising $71 million in the third quarter, a total far greater than former President Donald Trumps haul. The Biden campaigns press release boasted he had more cash on hand than every Republican competing for the GOP nomination combined. None of this is wrong, but theres an obvious reason for it. Biden is the de facto nominee of the Democratic Party, and thus has full control of the Democratic National Committee, giving him access to much, much larger donations than the standard maximum donation of $6,600. The maximum donation to Bidens campaign, after the cash is routed through the DNC and various state parties, is $929,000. The Biden campaign, which has faced months of rocky polling and questions about donor and voter enthusiasm, also made sure to highlight the growing number of small-dollar donors to his campaign. The campaign has brought in more than 200,000 donors who didnt give in 2020 and doubled the number of donors whove pledged to give every month to 112,000. Kyrsten Sinemas Fundraising Hits The Skids Arizona independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema reported over $10 million in the bank an impressive haul that would go a long way if she decides to run for reelection next year in a potentially messy three-way showdown with Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and top GOP election denier Kari Lake, who announced her campaign for Senate earlier this month. But Sinemas pace of fundraising dropped off markedly over the summer, a development that is sure to add to speculation about her political future. Sinema raised only $826,000 in the third quarter, lagging behind every in-cycle Democratic incumbent. After accounting for expenditures on advertising, Sinema ended the quarter with just $41,000 more in her war chest since last quarter. Story continues Gallego, on the other hand, raised over $3 million, ending the quarter with $5 million cash on hand. It Turns Out Being Indicted Has Consequences (If Youre A Democrat) Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) raked in $1.17 million in the third quarter, with nearly $1 million in contributions coming in just seven days after he announced a primary bid against indicted Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.). The longtime New Jersey lawmaker is charged with taking bribes and acting as an agent on behalf of a foreign government; many of Menendezs colleagues have urged him to step down and one even wants him expelled. Compare that to the treatment of Trump, who was rewarded by donations and endorsements by Republicans after his multiple indictments, including over his attempt to overthrow the 2020 election and his alleged mishandling of classified documents. Kim actually outraised Menendez, who took in $919,000 in the same period. Still, Menendez who has denied the federal charges and vowed to contest them in court has nearly $8.6 million cash on hand compared to Kims $1.9 million. The campaign of Republican presidential candidate and former Vice President Mike Pence has just $1.2 million in the bank. The campaign of Republican presidential candidate and former Vice President Mike Pence has just $1.2 million in the bank. The Entire GOP Field Especially Pence Trails Trump By... A Lot Former Vice President Mike Pence has had trouble getting traction in a party dominated by his coup-attempting former boss, and his third-quarter fundraising numbers tell the story. Pence, who stood up to Trumps attempt to remain in power as an unelected autocrat, enters the key final three months before voting starts with just $1.2 million in the bank and $621,000 in debt, all of it to direct mail firms, after raising a relatively paltry $3.4 million. Pences meager haul stands in major contrast to that of his former boss, who reported raising $24 million. Trumps campaign initially said it brought in $45 million across three accounts he controls, but his filings revealed a significantly lower number, suggesting expenses related to fundraising that cut into his net haul. Trump still reported $37.5 million cash on hand to spend in the primary the number his campaign said to expect in the filings. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who reported raising $15 million with $5 million available to spend against Trump in the primary, took second place in the fundraising race among Republican contenders. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley raised over $11 million, with $9 million available as of the beginning of the month to spend in the primary. Republicans Made Generous Loans To Their Campaigns Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has now spent $22.3 million on his campaign. More than $17 million of that is from himself ($15.25 million technically in the form of loans). He started October with $4.2 million in cash, although that number is kind of meaningless as long as hes willing to pour his own money into the campaign. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, another long shot candidate, loaned his campaign $2 million last quarter. Burgums money didnt all come from his own coffers: He reported raising $3.4 million in individual contributions, which was enough to get him onstage in the first two Republican debates. But that was likely due to a fundraising gimmick the former software executive used to raise small-donor donations: giving $20 gift cards to people who contributed as little as $1 to his campaign. Burgum is currently offering donors the same amount in gas cards. Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) says he is running for reelection in spite of a criminal indictment, but has little cash on hand. Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) says he is running for reelection in spite of a criminal indictment, but has little cash on hand. George Santos Refunded More Than He Took In Embattled Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), who faces new federal charges in a superseding indictment that came down last week, ended the quarter having refunded more money than he raised. His campaign reported barely $23,000 cash on hand at the beginning of October for whats guaranteed to be a challenging reelection in a swing district. Primary challengers have already lined up to take him on. Santos maintains that despite the numerous charges against him which include fraud, conspiracy and identity theft he is nonetheless running for reelection in New Yorks 3rd Congressional District. Santos, whose former treasurer pleaded guilty this month in a scheme to defraud donors, ended the quarter with an almost $17,000 net loss in contributions and $750,000 in debt, which includes a $500,000 loan he previously claimed to have given the campaign. Potential Senate GOP Headaches Fall Flat Senate Republicans have zeroed in on three Democrat-held seats in red states West Virginia, Montana and Ohio as key to their hopes of winning the Senate in 2024. A potential threat to their plans in West Virginia and Montana, at least, has been weaker (or at least less establishment-friendly) candidates winning GOP primaries. The fundraising numbers out of Montana and West Virginia might help D.C. Republicans sleep easier at night. Their preferred candidates, businessman Tim Sheehey in Montana and Gov. Jim Justice in West Virginia, performed better than some of their potential rivals: Justice raised $935,000 and Sheehey raised $2.8 million. Meanwhile, Reps. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) and Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.) each raised less than $500,000 in the first quarter, with Mooney bringing in just $410,000 and Rosendale raising a mere $334,000. Both candidates may get a boost from the Club for Growth, a moneyed conservative group, though the group is unsure if it will ultimately back Rosendale, who has yet to officially announce a campaign. The Democrats in those states had distinctly different quarters: Sen. Jon Tester of Montana raised $5 million, while Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who has yet to officially decide on a run, raised just $714,000. Both men have impressive cash-on-hand totals: $13 million for Tester and $11.3 million for Manchin. The third race Republicans are counting on in their efforts to flip control of the 51-49 Senate is Ohio, where incumbent Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown raised $5.8 million. Republicans dont have a preferred candidate in the race, though Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose raised $1 million; businessman Bernie Morenos campaign raised $4 million, including $3 million of his own money; and State Sen. Matt Dolan matched Moreno, donating $3 million of his own money and raising $4 million overall. S.V. Date contributed reporting. An Israeli Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) is obscured as it whips up dust near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel By Nandita Bose and Katharine Jackson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden said on Sunday he believes the Hamas militant group must be eliminated but there should be a path to a Palestinian state, after top U.S. officials warned the war between Israel and Hamas could escalate. Biden did not think American troops would be necessary on the ground as Israel has one of the "finest fighting forces," even as American warships headed to the area amid growing clashes on Israel's northern border with Lebanon. Israel unleashed a ferocious bombing campaign over Gaza in retaliation for unprecedented attacks by Hamas eight days ago that killed some 1,300 Israelis, mostly civilians. When asked if he believes Hamas must be eliminated entirely, Biden said "Yes, I do. But there needs to be a Palestinian authority. There needs to be a path to a Palestinian state," he said during a CBS 60 Minutes interview broadcast on Sunday. The U.S. President warned it would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza but that "taking out" Hezbollah and Hamas was a "a necessary requirement." He said "It would be a mistake to ... for Israel to occupy ... Gaza again." Israel captured and occupied the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war. It withdrew its settlers and troops from Gaza in 2005, before Hamas' takeover of the Strip in 2007. The conflict has sent tensions soaring. "There is a risk of an escalation of this conflict, the opening of a second front in the north and, of course, Iran's involvement," White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CBS earlier in the day. Gaza authorities say more than 2,670 people have been killed there, a quarter of them children. Casualties are expected to rise as Israel prepares for a ground assault on the tiny, densely populated enclave that could start within days. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced deployment of a second aircraft carrier group late on Saturday, calling it a sign of "our resolve to deter any state or non-state actor seeking to escalate this war." Story continues The aircraft carrier the Dwight Eisenhower will join a small fleet including the massive Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier in the eastern Mediterranean. "Iran is the elephant in the room," a U.S. official briefed on the situation said about the increasing military presence. "The carriers are accompanied by warships and attack planes. Every effort is being made to stop this from becoming a regional conflict." Biden said his message to Iran is to not escalate the conflict. Iran Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian warned on Sunday his country could act, telling al Jazeera that it had conveyed a message to Israeli officials that "if they do not cease their atrocities in Gaza, Iran cannot simply remain an observer." "If the scope of the war expands, significant damages will also be inflicted upon America," he warned. Biden told CBS the threat of terrorism in the U.S. has increased due to growing unrest in the Middle East. He said, however, the U.S. can take care of wars in Israel and Ukraine and still maintain its "international defense." Violence on Israel's northern border is already escalating. Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters launched attacks on Israeli army posts and a northern border village on Sunday; Israel retaliated with strikes in Lebanon. The U.S. is urging Israel to hold off on its ground offensive to allow humanitarian efforts for Gaza's residents trapped in the area, several U.S. officials said. Sullivan discussed a new weapons package for Israel and Ukraine that would be "significantly higher" than the previously reported $2 billion. He told CBS that Biden planned to have intensive talks on the package this week with the U.S. Congress, which has been hobbled by Republicans' struggles to pick a new speaker of the House of Representatives. Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, speaking in Tel Aviv on Sunday, said the U.S. Senate could move first to approve more funding for Israel. "We're not waiting for the House (of Representatives)," he said. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said on Sunday he is traveling to the region with other senators in coming days to push continued negotiations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. Graham said he intended to introduce a bill that would "allow military action by the United States in conjunction with Israel to knock Iran out of the oil business" if Iran attacks Israel. HUMANITARIAN CRISIS U.S. government officials also said they are mobilizing to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, anticipating a brutal ground offensive. Israeli officials have made clear it will not be an easy or swift campaign. It faces the challenge that scores of hostages seized by Hamas on Oct. 7 could now be held in a warren of underground tunnels, which its soldiers must clear to destroy Hamas. Biden, in a message posted on X, formerly Twitter, said: "We must not lose sight of the fact that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do with Hamas' appalling attacks, and are suffering as a result of them." The U.S. has appointed former ambassador to Turkey David Satterfield as a special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues. His focus would be to "promote the safety of civilians," the State Department said. "We're pushing Israel to delay any action on the ground," said one U.S. official briefed on the situation. Asked directly if the U.S. was pushing Israel to delay its ground war for civilians, Sullivan told NBC "we are not interfering in their military planning or trying to give them instructions..." However, he added, the U.S. is telling Israel any actions should follow the law of war, and that "civilians should have a real opportunity to get to safety." U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday that the Egyptian-controlled border crossing into Gaza would reopen and the U.S. was working with Egypt, Israel and the United Nations to get assistance through it. Hundreds of tonnes of aid from several countries have been held up in Egypt's Sinai peninsula for days pending a deal for its safe delivery to Gaza and the evacuation of some foreign passport holders through the Rafah crossing. Sullivan told NBC, "so far, we have not been able to get American citizens through the border crossing and I'm not aware of anyone else being able to get out at this time." He added that he wanted to make sure the civilian population that remained in Gaza had access to food, water and safe shelter, and in an interview with CNN said Israeli officials had recently "turned the water pipe back on in southern Gaza." Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told Reuters that the Israel assault on Gaza would be bloody. "I expect urban warfare on steroids," he said. "There will be cries from the international community for Israel to stand down, but I think it's imperative that we give Israel the time and space to destroy Hamas." (Reporting by Nandita Bose, Katharine Jackson, Christopher Bing, and Steve Holland in Washington; Writing by Raphael Satter; Editing by Heather Timmons, Bill Berkrot and Sandra Maler) Cyprus is roughly 150 miles away from the coast of Israel. (Getty Images) (photography by Ulrich Hollmann via Getty Images) Israel has suggested an order to invade Gaza is imminent and the repercussions for the region could be massive. Defence minister Yoav Gallant told troops gathered at the Gaza border on Thursday: You see Gaza now from a distance, you will soon see it from inside. The command will come. Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas, which rules Gaza, after its gunmen burst through the barrier fence surrounding the enclave 13 days ago and killed 1,400 people, mainly civilians, in southern Israeli towns and kibbutzes. In response, Israel has hit Gaza with air strikes and put its 2.3 million people under a total siege, as well as banning shipments of food, fuel and medical supplies. Palestinian officials have said 3,785 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 1,500 children. The UN has said more than a million people have been made homeless. It comes as Rishi Sunak said world leaders must do everything possible to prevent the violence in Israel and Gaza from spilling over into a wider Middle East conflict. The prime minister met Qatari ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on Friday as part of a diplomatic effort to stop the war escalating. Qatar is seen as a key mediator in the conflict. Sunak headed to Egypt later on Friday for further talks. As expected, the UK's Foreign Office has advised against all but essential travel to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories and has discouraged any travel to the area surrounding Gaza, and the Syria and Lebanon border. Other countries - including some popular destinations for British tourists - could also be affected by the conflict, depending on the political shockwaves it sends through the Middle East region. Here, Yahoo News UK sets out the latest travel guidance for tourist destinations close to Israel and Gaza. Recommended reading Story continues Cyprus Sea caves in Cape Greko national park, near Ayia Napa and Protaras. (Getty Images) ( via Getty Images) Although Cyprus is not in the Middle East, it is roughly 150 miles away from the Israeli coast and has become an evacuation point for US citizens fleeing the country. The island's close proximity to Israel may be a cause of concern to some, but the Foreign Office has not issued any advice against travelling there. More generally, it says that "although there is no recent history of terrorism in Cyprus, attacks cannot be ruled out" including in "places visited by foreigners" - although this can apply to many countries considered safe on the whole. It adds the UK does not recognise the self-declared "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" and that the British government's ability to offer consular assistance there is limited. Egypt Camels and a view of the pyramids at Giza, Egypt. (Getty Images) (Nick Brundle Photography via Getty Images) Between 200,000 and 500,000 tourists travel from the UK to Egypt each year, making it a major holiday destination for Britons. However, the country shares a border with Israel and Gaza, and its government has been in talks over the opening of the Rafah border crossing in order to let Palestinians escape to safety. The Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to certain parts of Egypt, although much of this guidance is related to military activity unrelated to Israel and Gaza. These areas include North Sinai, the northern part of South Sinai and the eastern part of the Ismailiyah Governorate, the area west of the Nile Valley and Nile Delta regions, the Halaib Triangle and Bir Tawil Trapezoid, and anywhere within 20km of the Egyptian-Libyan border. While this means much of the country is not safe to visit, there are no warnings in place for Egypt's popular tourist areas, including the Red Sea coast, Luxor, Cairo and Alexandria. "Additional security measures are in place to protect the resorts of Sharm el Sheikh, Hurghada and Marsa Alam and other tourist areas on the Red Sea," the Foreign Office says. British nationals in Gaza wanting to enter Egypt should check the status of the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories before travel. Movement to the Rafah crossing and beyond is at your own risk, and the Foreign Office advises travel only if you judge it is safe to do so. Read travel advice for Israel and The Occupied Palestinian Territories if youre crossing the border. The Egyptian authorities have said all aid going into Gaza from Egypt must be channelled through the Egyptian Red Crescent: Jordan The Monastery or Ad Deir at in Jordan's ruins of Petra. (Getty Images) (Punnawit Suwuttananun via Getty Images) While Jordan is widely considered to be one of the safest places to visit in the Middle East, it does share a border with both Israel and the Palestinian West Bank, as well as Syria. Most of Jordan's tourist destinations are unaffected by the ongoing conflict, but the Foreign Office did update its travel guidance last week. It now says: The FCDO advises against all but essential travel to within 3km of Jordans border with Syria. Due to the ongoing and planned protests, the Foreign Office say Britons should avoid being near them as they can turn confrontational. They say Britons should take sensible precautions and avoid all political gatherings and demonstrations as there may be heightened anti-Western sentiment. Due to the Israeli government declaring a nationwide state of emergency, the Foreign Office warns that border crossings into Jordan from Israel could be closed at short notice. It advises travellers to check with local authorities, and its travel advice for Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories before trying to cross. Turkey A view of the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul. (Getty Images) (Darrell Gulin via Getty Images) Turkey is in close proximity to the Middle East region, with the country's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, offering to help mediate an end to the conflict and the release of hostages in Gaza. Foreign Office travel advice, updated on Wednesday, reads: "Events in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories have led to heightened tensions in the region and demonstrations are ongoing in locations across Turkey. "Large demonstrations have been reported outside diplomatic missions connected to the conflict in major cities, particularly Israeli diplomatic missions in Ankara and Istanbul. Avoid all demonstrations and leave the area if one develops. Local transport routes may be disrupted." Its general guidelines advise against all travel within 10km of the border with Syria, and all but essential travel to either Sirnak city or Hakkari province. It adds that terrorists are "very likely to try to carry out attacks in Turkey". Most attacks have taken place in the southeast of the country, Ankara and Istanbul. Gareth Southgate vowed not to let a popularity contest sway his selections as the England boss threw his full support behind Jordan Henderson days after the stand-in skipper was jeered off at Wembley. The Euro 2020 runners-up are within touching distance of qualifying for next summers finals and will seal their spot in Germany should they avoid defeat to Italy on Tuesday evening. Wembley will welcome a second sell-out crowd in five days after Fridays friendly against Australia brought an impressive turnout for what proved to be a largely forgettable 1-0 friendly win. The main talking point after the match was the reaction for Henderson as the former Liverpool skipper played his first match on home soil since his controversial switch to Saudi Arabian club Al-Ettifaq. The 33-year-old was jeered when he was substituted in the second half negativity that Southgate said defies logic at the time and a reaction that he underlined on Monday will never impact his decisions. Asked if he would continue selecting Henderson if the boos continue, Southgate said: Yes, 100 per cent. Ill always pick the players that I think are the best players to represent the team, that give us the best chance of winning, unless theres something that I feel is not appropriate. Jordan Henderson, centre, was jeered when he was substituted in the second half (Zac Goodwin/PA) In this instance, people may disagree with Jordans stance or decision given the stance hes taken in the past to support the LGBT community. But I dont think thats a reason to not select him. I dont actually think thats a reason to boo him. We would like all the fans behind us. Were a stronger team if the supporters are with us and wholeheartedly supporting the team. Thats the connection weve had over a long period of time now. Well assess Jordan like every other player. But if I just select on a popularity contest, then our team would look very, very different. Southgate also explained Fridays comments saying that he did not understand why Henderson received a negative reaction, clarifying he was talking more broadly about backing England players. Story continues Hopefully what I explained at the start would explain why I said I dont understand it, in that I dont understand why we would boo our own team, he said. What I do understand is that people would feel that the decision Jordan made to go and play there doesnt align with his strong support of the LGBTQ community in the past. Ive not seen him comment anywhere differently. I dont believe hes an individual whose values and principles have changed. England manager Gareth Southgate faces the media (John Walton/PA). And I would back him against pretty much everybody in the country in terms of what he stands for, what he believes in. But I accept the decision to go and play there doesnt align with that. He understands that, he accepts that, but, I repeat, when were playing for England, I feel as if everybody should be behind the team. But if people choose not to be, then we have to deal with it. Southgate says he will always defend the likes of Henderson and oft-derided Harry Maguire, given their long-standing roles in a team that needs strength and unity. The England team backed the latter after he was mocked mercilessly by Scotland fans last month and Kyle Walker showed his support for Henderson after jeers from their own fans on Friday. Kyle Walker gave his backing to Jordan Henderson (John Walton/PA). Its not nice to hear, the experienced right-back said. Ive known Jordan since probably the age of nine, when we played Sheffield United v Sunderland. To see what hes done for the country for so many years and what he does around the team as well, as we know him. Its a family in there and we spend (time) together in a hotel and hes a big part of the togetherness and keeping the group together. Hes making sure that everyone feels welcome, when new players come in or people step in. Its obviously not nice hear, but people are entitled to their opinions. But I fully back Jordan, his decision and what hes had to do. Andriy Pyshnyi The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced the creation of the Capacity Development Fund for Ukraine, with $14 million already received from donors, National Bank of Ukraine Governor Andriy Pyshnyi has said in a post on Facebook. The IMF has officially launched the Capacity Development Fund for Ukraine, aimed at addressing the needs for the implementation of our countrys potential development plan and ensuring the successful execution of reforms, Pyshnyi wrote. Pyshnyi also pointed out that the most recent two memorandums agreed between Ukraine and the IMF prioritize maintaining macroeconomic, external and financial stability in order to strengthen Ukraines capacity on its way to victory. Read also: The NBU Governor noted several critical aspects of this, including international financial assistance, economic reforms in Ukraine, and strengthening the institutional capacity of government bodies. He said consistency, timeliness, and comprehensiveness are crucial in each of these areas. The focus is on ensuring that reforms in Ukraine and capacity-building efforts continue, drawing inspiration from best global practices, he wrote. Read also: IMF mission chief lists two essential laws Ukraine must enact rapidly to meet loan terms Pyshnyi also noted the IMFs leadership in mobilizing financial assistance for Ukraine, with current donor contributions totaling $14 million, and the target reaching $65 million. Im grateful to the Fund, especially to (IMF First Deputy Managing Director) Gita Gopinath, who acknowledged our achievements. I also extend my gratitude to the governments of partner countries for their unwavering commitment and their commitment to providing support as needed, Pyshnyi said. As previously reported, the Annual Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank began in Morocco on Oct. 9. During these meetings, Kristalina Georgieva, the Managing Director of the Fund, highlighted at least three significant achievements of Ukraine related to economic stabilization. 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 Reuters Videos STORY: Air pollution kills millions of people globally each year...but experts say efforts to clean the air - may actually speed up climate change.It's an unintuitive finding that scientists found......after poring over the results of China's decade-long 'war on pollution'.Six leading climate experts, say its highlighted what amounts to a catch-22.The drive to banish sulphur dioxide from the atmosphere has saved thousands of lives...but it has also removed an effective shield against the sun's heat... albeit a toxic one...We're actually heating the planet by improving the air quality..."Yangyang Xu is a climate scientists at Texas A&M University:Sulfur (dioxide) pollution works like particles in the atmosphere. They reflect sunlight, just like typical sunscreen.President Xi Jinping pledged to tackle air pollution when he took power in 2012..following decades of coal burning that had made China the so-called "factory of the world.''Under new rules, power plants and steel mines were forced to switch to lower-sulphur coal.Hundreds of inefficient factories were shuttered, and vehicle standards toughened up.The measures worked.. China's emissions plummeted 87% between 2013 and 2021 to 2.7 million metric tons.But the drop in pollution was accompanied by a leap in warming.Since 2014, China's average temperatures have gone up by 0.7 degrees Celsius, according to a Reuters review of meteorological data and scientists interviewed.In fact, scientists say the removal of air pollution may have had a greater effect on temperatures in some industrial Chinese cities over the last decade than the warming from greenhouse gases themselves.Venkatachalam Ramaswamy is the director of the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:"You know, the floods observed in region X, is that due to the sulfate reduction? Heat waves observed in region Y, is that due to sulfate (reduction)? It probably is. It probably is a causal factor. But exactly how they are related, how the mechanisms play out, this is still something that the scientists are still trying to tease out."China's environment ministry didn't immediately respond to a request for the comment.The problem is not unique to China, though.Other highly polluted parts in the world, like India and the Middle East, could see similar jumps in warming if they clean up their skies.So what's the answer?One proposal, known as 'solar radiation management', envisions deliberately injecting sulphur aerosols into the atmosphere to cool temperatures,but many scientists worry that could unleash unintended consequences.A more mainstream plan is to curb methane emissions.This is seen as the quickest way to tame global temperatures because the effects of the gas in the atmosphere last only a decade or so.While more than 100 countries have pledged to reduce methane emissions by 30% by the end of the decade, few have gone further than drawing up "action plans" and "pathways" to cuts. China - the world's biggest emitter - has yet to publish its plan. Tributes pour in for 'dansaekhwa' master who transformed Korea's postwar abstract art scene By Park Han-sol The art world is mourning the loss of Park Seo-bo, the trailblazing Korean abstract painter who passed away at the age of 91 on Saturday. Widely credited as the father of the countrys now-celebrated "dansaekhwa" (monochrome painting) movement, Park and his legacy reached far beyond his home country as evidenced by the international outpouring of condolences and tributes. Formed in the early 1970s, the postwar movement emphasizes the meditative aspects of art production itself, derived from the purposeless and endless repetition of gestures, thereby enabling spiritual catharsis through painting. For over five decades, he dedicated his practice to the iconic, ever-evolving Ecriture series. Park was one of the key figures highlighted at the landmark dansaekhwa group show at the 2015 Venice Biennale, which subsequently propelled the participating creatives to international acclaim and bidding frenzies at auctions. The memorial service for Park, held at Seoul National University Hospitals funeral hall, witnessed a steady stream of mourners from the domestic art community paying their last respects to the dansaekhwa master. Esteemed artists such as Chung Sang-hwa, Lee Bae, Lee Kang-so, Kim Ku-lim, Suh Seung-won and Youn Myeung-ro, along with figures like Gwangju Biennale Foundation President Park Yang-woo and Culture Minister Yoo In-chon were seen attending the service. Messages of remembrance poured in on social media as well. Ha Chong-hyun, another leading champion of the dansaekhwa genre, renowned for his Conjunction series, expressed his condolences online. Referring to Park as his longtime colleague, the artist shared a series of photos depicting their journey together, spanning from decades ago to their most recent encounter at the Venice Biennale. He persisted in nurturing his passion for new exhibitions and dedicated himself to his craft until the very end, Johyun Gallery wrote on social media, paying tribute to Parks enduring legacy as a creative and educator. The Busan-based gallery is currently hosting a solo exhibition of the artist, featuring 35 of his latest Ecriture paintings and ceramic works, including the 4.4-meter-long Ecriture No. 100928. Earlier this summer, the gallery co-organized a group show with Park, Lee Bae and Jin Meyerson at the Rockefeller Center in New York City. Kukje Gallery founder and chairperson Lee Hyun-sook noted that "his lifelong commitment to his art will remain a timeless legacy in Korean art history." "Our collaboration with him was made possible by his involvement from the outset, as he played a challenging yet pivotal role in introducing the initiatives of dansaekhwa to the global art community," Lee is quoted as saying on the Korean gallery's social media. In its statement commemorating Parks passing, the London-based White Cube art gallery described the veteran painter as a giant of Korean art. His Ecriture series embraces an introspective methodology that had its origins in Taoist and Buddhist philosophy and also in the Korean tradition of calligraphy. This spiritual approach is inextricably linked to notions of time, space and material," it wrote. The leading art dealer, which represents Park, hosted the first solo show of his works in the United Kingdom at its Masons Yard location in 2016. The gallery will mount another exhibition of the artist in its new New York space next year. For many years, every time I visited Seoul, my visits to Park were marked by the impression of great privilege. That of meeting a great master who influenced several generations of artists. We will miss him very much, stated Emmanuel Perrotin, the founder of the eponymous Paris-based art dealership Perrotin that also represents Park. The gallery was the first to introduce the painter to the European art scene with its inaugural solo exhibition in 2014. In his 2019 interview with The Korea Times, Park presciently revealed what he wanted his future epitaph to say: "Those who don't change will perish, but so will those who do." "It means that you have to work diligently to change 'well.' If not, even a master can plummet to a small-time artist in the blink of an eye," he said. Park will be interred at Bundang Memorial Park in Gyeonggi Province. The first museum dedicated to the artist, tentatively dubbed the Park Seo-bo Art Museum, is scheduled to open to the public next summer in Seogwipo, Jeju Island. The ruling party lawmakers said Zurabishvili had met foreign leaders to lobby for Georgia's membership of the European Union without government permission (Petras Malukas) Georgia's constitutional court on Monday ruled that pro-Western President Salome Zurabishvili had breached the constitution by making unauthorised foreign trips, paving the way for her removal. In September, MPs from the ruling Georgian Dream party moved to oust the 71-year-old figurehead president, saying she had met foreign leaders to lobby for Georgia's membership of the European Union without government permission. By making foreign visits without government consent, "the president of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili has breached the constitution," the head of Georgia's constitutional court, Merab Turava said Monday. Zurabishvili denounced the ruling as "shameful and damaging to the country". She called the ruling party's bid to oust her "an attempt to kill Georgia's European future and democracy." "The country in which the balance between different branches of power no longer exists cannot be called a democracy," she said in a televised address. Zurabishvili's lawyer, Maia Kopaleishvili, told journalists the court "had no legal or factual basis to confirm the violation of the constitution by the president". It was the court's first-ever case dealing with a president's impeachment in Georgia's history. The parliamentary speaker said the impeachment vote will be held over the coming days. But Georgia's ruling party has admitted to having little chance of ousting Zurabishvili as it only controls 84 seats in parliament, while the backing of at least 100 lawmakers is needed. Party chairman Irakli Kobakhidze admitted "there are practically no chances of garnering 100 votes," adding: "Should Salome Zurabishvili have elementary dignity, she would resign". "She will only be seen nominally as Georgia's president... and completely deprived of political and moral legitimacy." Opposition parties have said they would not support Zurabishvili's removal. Story continues - 'Political battle' - EU chief Charles Michel met Zurabishvili in Brussels last month to reaffirm the bloc's commitment to Georgia's European path and highlight reforms it needed to enter the bloc. Georgia applied for EU membership together with Ukraine and Moldova after Russia invaded its pro-Western neighbour in February 2022. EU leaders have granted formal candidate status to Kyiv and Chisinau but urged Tbilisi to implement judicial and electoral reforms, improve press freedom and curtail the power of oligarchs. Zurabishvili has harshly criticised the Georgian Dream government over what she said was its failure to deliver on the reform demands from the EU. While relations between Moscow and Tbilisi have remained openly hostile for years, the Georgian government led by Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has in the past year made moves towards rapprochement. In March, Georgia was rocked by protests after the government introduced a Russian-style law on "foreign agents", and in May the government reopened direct flights with Russia, drawing condemnation from the EU. Zurabishvili, Georgia's first woman president, was elected for a six-year term in 2018 with the support of Georgian Dream but quickly made enemies in the ranks of the parliamentary majority. She was born in France to a Georgian family which fled the Bolshevik regime to Paris in 1921. Her 30-year career in French diplomacy culminated in a posting as ambassador to Tbilisi, where she was then appointed foreign minister in 2004. In her book "A Woman for Two Countries," published in France, she wrote: "Now, I have to engage in a political battle, which has never attracted me, which I never practised, which is being imposed on me." im/rox Sandro Tonali of Newcastle United embraces his coach Eddie Howe being substituted during the UEFA Champions League match between AC Mila and Newcastle United FC at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on September 19, 2023 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images) Sandro Tonali will reportedly resume training with Newcastle United today after returning from Italy international duty. The Italian Federation released a statement on Thursday confirming Tonali and Aston Villas Nicolo Zaniolo had left the camp amid a probe by the Turin Public Prosecutors Office. The statement read: The Federation announces that, in the late afternoon of today, the Turin Public Prosecutors Office notified investigation documents to the players Sandro Tonali and Nicolo Zaniolo, currently in training with the national team at the Federal Technical Center in Coverciano. Regardless of the nature of the acts, believing that in this situation the two players are not in the necessary condition to face the commitments scheduled in the next few days, the Federation has decided, also to protect them, to allow them to return to their respective clubs. The Magpies are yet to comment on Tonalis situation but according to The Times, the midfielder will train on Monday ahead of Saturday afternoons Premier League clash at home to Crystal Palace (kick-off 3pm). Tonali missed Italys win over Malta on Saturday and wont be available for the Euro 2024 quailfier against England at Wembley tomorrow. Its not nice to say who decided, its enough to say that its the correct decision, said Italy boss Luciano Spalletti told Sky on Friday. Newcastle United midfielder Sandro Tonali. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) We cant bring two guys who have been shocked like that to play a game. Now lets think about playing, we lose two champions but we remain a very strong team. It was a difficult night, when you have to get results there is always anxiety, but this was a different night, with a lot of bitterness over what happened. The whole squad is close to Tonali and Zaniolo, were very sorry for them. We will continue to be close to them even afterwards. For now, they have the spotlight on them. We must try to help them defend themselves, but its also right that justice takes its course and if irregularities have occurred, then it will be right to pay. A teacher speaks to a pupil in a classroom at Whitchurch High School on 14 September, 2021 in Cardiff, Wales. Credit: Matthew Horwood/Getty Images While for some it may seem like the summer holidays only just finished, many children across the UK are already counting down the days until their next break from school. Fortunately, they don't have long to wait, as for most, half term is just around the corner. Generally, the autumn half term falls towards the end of October - and most students get the same week off. However, timings can vary either by institution or by local authority, meaning it's always worth double-checking the exact dates. So, if you're wondering when your child will be off school - whether you want to book a holiday, plan some fun activities, or simply put the date in your diary - keep reading, we've got you covered. When is October half-term 2023 for schools in England and Wales? For the majority of schools in England and Wales, this year's October half term will take place between Monday, 23 October and Friday, 27 October. School will then re-commence on Monday, 30 October, meaning kids will be back in lessons for Halloween, on Tuesday, 31 October. There may be a bit of disappointment at this news, although rest assured some teachers are likely to plan for the occasion, whether that be by allowing students to dress up, adding some seasonal decorations to the classroom, or hosting a few spook-tacular games. After returning to school on 30 October, children then generally have another almost eight weeks at school - before they break up for Christmas. Most end either on Friday, 16 December, or Thursday, 21 December. However, both these dates and the October half-term date may be different for your child, so it's important to check this with your school and your local authority. You can check with your local authority by visiting this web page on gov.uk and simply typing your postcode into the search bar. When is October half term 2023 for schools in Scotland? Students in Scotland have actually already had their half term, as they follow a slightly different timetable to other parts of the UK. Story continues Children enjoyed their holiday from Monday, 9 October until Friday, 13 October, with lessons re-starting on Monday 16 October. This is because they return to school for the new academic year earlier than pupils in England and Wales, with this year's first day of lessons taking place on Wednesday 16 August. Most schools in Scotland will also break up for Christmas on Thursday, 21 December, meaning Scottish children have a slightly longer stretch to their next holiday. However, students will get a long weekend when schools close on Monday, 27 November - to mark St Andrews' Day, which falls on a Thursday this year. Again, holiday dates may vary by region or institution - so it's a good idea to double check with your school about when their dates fall. When is October half term 2023 for schools in Northern Ireland? Schools in Northern Ireland have five annual holidays during the school year. Generally, they don't have half term breaks like the rest of the UK, with students instead having extra time off during the summer holidays. However, this year pupils will have both Monday 30 October and Tuesday 31 October off school, which coincides with Halloween. But, as we've mentioned, this may be different for your child - so please make sure you double check with your local authority or school. Youre out for a hike on a crisp fall day. Suddenly, you spot a bear. And the bear has spotted you, too. Would you know what to do next? Beth Pratt sure would. She was once on the Old Gardiner Road Trail in Yellowstone National Park, enjoying her run in wild nature. Her reverie came to an end when she came upon a grizzly bear eating flowers. I stopped. It stood on its hind legs and looked at me. I knew that wasnt a threatening gesture, she told CNN Travel. Im not kidding, it waved its paw at me as if to say, just go on your way, and went back to eating. And I walked slowly away and put some distance between us, and the encounter ended fine. When it comes to dealing with bears, Pratt does have a thing or two on almost all the rest of us, though. She is the California regional executive director for the National Wildlife Federation, a job shes had for more than 10 years. She worked in Yellowstone for several years and once saw nine grizzlies in one day there. Finally, she lives on the border of Yosemite National Park, and bears will pass through her yard, including this one seen in the footage above in late September 2021. You can hear the enthusiasm in Pratts voice as she shares her bear bona fides and advice to make sure bear/human encounters are delightful, not dangerous. A wild bear is a beautiful sight to see. Its incredible to see them in the wild. I never had a bad experience with bears. What I try to get people to feel is respect, not fear, for bears. The animal usually wants to avoid the encounters. Bears in the news Bear attacks are rare, Pratt and US National Park Service websites point out, but they do happen: A man lost part of his jaw in a grizzly bear attack in Montana in September 2023 but is expected to make a full recovery. Two people died in a suspected grizzly bear attack in Canadas Banff National Park in late September 2023. An adult grizzly bear that had killed a woman this past summer was euthanized in early September 2023 after breaking into a home through a kitchen window with her cub. Story continues A man in his 60s was killed by a bear in Arizona as he sat at his campsite in June 2023. Two collegiate wrestlers were mauled by a grizzly bear near Cody, Wyoming, in October 2022; they had serious injuries but survived. A 70-year-old hunter was seriously injured by a bear in France in November 2021. All illustrate the point that rare doesnt equal never. Feasts for beasts An adult grizzly walks through a campground and picnic area in Lake Louise, which is in Alberta, Canada. Make sure your food is never a temptation in bear country. - George Rose/Getty Images While it pays to be diligent at any time, autumn is a particularly good season to bone up on bear facts and safety when many bears are in a phase known as hyperphagia, Pratt said. Its a period in the fall where bears are eating anything and everything to fatten up for hibernation. She noted mountain lions are comparatively picky eaters. Not bears. They eat everything: Ants. Roadkill. Flowers. Nuts. And unfortunately, human food thats not secured. Our food is very attractive to them; its easy calories. Combine that with the fact that some national and state parks have become very popular and crowded, and you have a recipe for potential trouble. If more people are using public lands and more people are in the mix, theres more potential for encounters and conflict. It does concern me a little bit, Pratt said. The key is being prepared and thats where Pratt and others in the know come in. First rule of bear fight club: Dont fight The best strategy is to never get in harms way by enticing or provoking a wild bear. Trying to give a bear food or approaching cute cubs are particularly terrible ways to start an encounter. Thats just looking for trouble. The US National Park Service site points out each bear and each encounter is different, but there are general guidelines useful in most situations. First of all, keep your distance if you happen upon a bear. Dont approach it, and give it plenty of room to walk away from you. Yellowstone tells you to stay at least 100 yards (300 feet or 91 meters) away; Shenandoah National Park in Virginia suggests 200 feet (61 meters) for its black bears. You can run afoul of the law as well as the bears if you get too close and end up paying a fine. A grizzly bear named "399" walks with her four cubs outside Jackson, Wyoming, in June 2020. The mother inhabits Grand Teton National Park and Bridger-Teton National Forest. A wise hiker will never get between a mama bear and her cubs. - George Frey/Getty Images Other tips: Talk calmly to yourself in low tones to identify yourself as human. Walk with a group (were smellier and noisier in packs) and stay on designated trails. If you have a small child or dog, pick it up. Dont put yourself between cubs and their mother. Avoid direct eye contact and move away slowly, sideways if possible. Pratt said dont be alarmed if a bear stands on its hind legs; its not considered an aggressive move. Almost all encounters are peaceful, Pratt said. Many times, people never knew they were even close to a bear, as in this YouTube video that shows two people emerging from a basement oblivious to a nearby bear. What if a bear starts coming at you anyway? This brown bear was roaming in the Bavarian Forest in Neuschonau, Germany. If a bear starts running toward you, it's important to stand your ground. Bolting away is the wrong move. - Ingo Geriach/Barcroft Media/Getty Images If a bear starts making assertive moves in your direction, you have important decisions to make and fast. First thing is: Stand your ground with bears. With either grizzlies (a subspecies of brown bears) or black bears, please dont run. Bears can outrun anybody, Pratt said. Dont climb a tree either. They can also climb trees better than you. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Division of Fish and Wildlife (where the black bear population is growing) also has some tips: Make loud noises by yelling, banging pots and pans or using an airhorn to scare bears away. Make yourself look as large as possible by waving your arms. If youre with other people, stay together. Pratt said you can usually intimidate or bluff your way out of sticky bear situations, depending on the bear species and the situation. But what if a bear is about to attack? Youre now in the rarest of situations youve attracted a bears attention. It didnt move off. Its started coming at you aggressively and fast. You think youre about to be attacked. Whats next? One very crucial thing is to make a quick ID of the kind of bear, because your strategy is going to be different depending on the type of bear. Study this face. This is a black bear face. If you're being attacked by a black bear, don't play dead. Fight back. - Friso Gentsch/picture alliance/dpa/Getty Images If its a black bear, the NPS and Pratt have a clear message: Do not run. Do not play dead. You want to stand your ground with black bears. Look as intimidating as possible, Pratt said. Throw things not at it but near it. Make that black bear intimidated by you. Let it know you are a big person. Pick something up; yell at it. If it attacks, fight back aim for the face. Its a different situation with grizzlies If youre dealing with a grizzly that wont back off and an attack is imminent, youre advised to do the opposite. You should play dead. Act as unthreatening as possible with a grizzly. Play dead with a grizzly if it starts to attack, Pratt said. Tuck and cover. Get into a fetal position. Wrap your hands around your neck. Lay on your stomach. Once you do that, 99 percent of the time the grizzly will move on. NPS elaborates: Remain still until the bear leaves the area. Fighting back usually increases the intensity of such attacks. However, if the attack persists, fight back vigorously. Fighting back a grizzly bear is the last resort your Hail Mary pass as Pratt called it when all other options are out. An exception to this rule: If youre camping in a tent and are attacked, that bear likely sees you as food. NPS and Pratt say this is a time to fight. How do you tell a black bear from a grizzly? First off, know your area and read up on the bears there. In North America, grizzlies have a much more limited range than black bears do. In the Lower 48, they are in Washington, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. And then in Alaska, too. They also cover large parts of western Canada. Black bears have more territory. They can be found in as many as 40 US states, much of Canada and even parts of northern Mexico, the National Wildlife Federation says. So say youre in Quebec, the Appalachians, the Ozarks, California or even parts of Florida, thats going to be a black bear. But if youre in Yellowstone or Glacier National Park, for instance, that could be a black bear or a grizzly. Thats when its crucial to know how to make a quick visual ID. You cant go by the color of the fur. Black bears can be black, brown, cinnamon, blond, blue-gray or white, according to Bear.org. That's a grizzly on the left. See the hump? That's one way to tell a difference between it and a black bear, which doesn't sport the hump behind the neck. - Getty Images One of the best ways to tell the difference, Pratt said, is to look for a hump at the shoulders. Grizzlies have them. Black bears dont. She also said the face shapes are different. Black bear faces look a little more cuddly to me, a little rounder, with a straight nose. A grizzly bear face looks more like a wild predator and has a dished shape. This NPS webpage has more helpful ways to tell the differences. Fun facts: Eight bear species can be found all over the world from tropical Sri Lanka to the frigid reaches of Russia, Norway and Canada. And European websites such as Bear Watching Slovenia give many of the same safety tips as North Americans get. Bear spray and weapons Some people like to carry bear spray and/or a weapon with them when venturing into bear country. Pratt is an advocate of the former and says be sure to practice using it first before going into the wild. NPS has a helpful video and tips on using spray to ward off bears. Shes more cautious about bringing firearms with you, especially if youre inexperienced. Taking a grizzly out with one shot would be tough. You need to be very experienced with a gun to increase your chance of safety. A Brigham Young University study in 2008 found spray more effective than a firearm. And spray doesnt permanently harm a bear. Some people like to carry bear bells on their hikes, hoping the noise will ward off the animals. But the park service says that Yelling, clapping and talking are more effective ways of alerting a bear to your presence. What campers need to know If you're taking your vehicle for an overnight camping trip, don't store food in it. - George Rose/Getty Images If youre out camping overnight, you have extra considerations to take. Kyle Patterson, management specialist and public affairs officer at Rocky Mountain National Park, emailed CNN Travel some ways to keep hungry bears away. Patterson advised using a food storage locker if provided in campgrounds and picnic areas. Also, avoid storing food and coolers in your vehicle. If you must, store food in airtight containers in the trunk or out of sight. Close vehicle windows completely. Other tips and cautions: Dont store food in tents or pop-up campers in campgrounds or in vehicles at trailheads. Dont leave food, coolers and dirty cookware unattended. Park rangers may confiscate them and cite you. Get rid of garbage in bear-resistant dumpsters and trash cans. Human-fed bears usually end up as chronic problems and need to be removed, Patterson said. A fed bear is a dead bear. The ball is in our court Pratt emphasized its up to humans to be responsible to these creatures. The bears are just being bears. We are way more of a threat to them. Bear attacks are so rare. And fatalities are even rarer, she said. The bears lives are more at threat than ours in encounters. I want people to have magical, wonderful experiences in the wild. I want people to feel OK about having these encounters. This article was first published in October 2021 and is updated periodically. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Our old friend Aaron Peck previously reviewed Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and as I sat down to write my own thoughts I quickly realized I was basically saying the same thing but with different words and cadence. Simply this is one tough film to review in part because its not my favorite Disney film, but I cant deny how important it is. Its a lovely charming film, full of color, brilliantly executed, and its enchanted children young and old for 85 years! The first feature-length animated film that laid the foundation for the Disney empire is a celebration of filmmaking moxie at a time when cartoons were filler in between newsreels and the main feature at theaters. Heres what Aaron had to say about Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Reviewing a film like 'Snow White' can be tricky. It's a classic in every sense of the word, and the premiere animated film, as it ushered in what we know today as the animated feature. Walt Disney and his crew created something not only timeless, but technologically marvelous. Every animated feature that followed 'Snow White' is inevitably influenced by it. After seventy-nine years it still holds a firm place in American history, and it stands up, even today, as a slice of Americana that serves as a testament to Walt Disney's vision for animation. It was the foundation of Disney Animation, which is referenced by the seven large dwarf statues that act as pillars holding up the Team Disney Burbank building located on the Walt Disney Studios Burbank lot. With the revenue from 'Snow White' Disney was able to purchase the lot and see his vision and company move into a realm no one ever imagined. 'Snow White' is a simple story taken from Grimm's Fairy Tales. Disney's first princess, Snow White, is threatened by the evil queen because she's much fairer. Snow White soon meets up with a band of seven dwarfs who befriend her, hoping to save her from the evil queen. Taking things into her own hands the queen prepares a poisonous apple to give to Snow White that will put her into a deep sleep. The seventy-nine year old animation stands up beautifully, even today. It's a momentous achievement any way you look at it. The visuals of the cell animation are intoxicating. The now iconic music is still as lively and as fun as remembered. The one thing I caught on to more during my most recent viewing of the film is how funny it actually is. I don't much remember the humor from past viewings, but watching it over again, there's quite a lot of subtle comedy woven throughout the story and script. This is why the film itself is hard to review: Sure it's a simple story with simple characters, but it has grown into such an icon that it's simply hard to quantify with a star rating. Suffice it to say that 'Snow White' will forever remain not only the most influential animated film of all time, but one of the most revered films in cinematic history. It paved the way for every animated feature we see today. Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs mines its first 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release from Disney in time to celebrate its 85th Anniversary. Thanks to an update from one of our readers it looks like the included 1080p offers the same main menu and bonus features, but utilizes the new scan/restoration only now in 1080p.The discs are housed in a standard two-disc case with a slipcover. The disc loads to Disneys expected language selection menu before giving you the option of starting the main feature or moving along to the main menu. Note for this release we were given what appears to be the wide-release two-disc 4K UHD + Blu-ray + Digital version - it appears the Movie Club edition offers an additional DVD. By Yoon Ja-young Standard Chartered (SC) Bank Korea CEO Park Jong-bok was recommended as the sole final candidate for the top position at the bank. After obtaining approval from the shareholders' meeting and the board of directors, Park will continue serving as the banks chief for a fourth term. According to the bank, its executive candidate recommendation committee picked Park as the final candidate for the banks next CEO during a meeting held last Friday. The committee recommended a one-year term starting on Jan. 8 next year, to ensure consistency with the SC Group CEO appointment process. The committee consisting of three outside directors evaluated Park's abundant professional experience highly, specifically his insights, expertise, excellent communication skills and outstanding leadership, according to the bank. They stated that among the candidates, Park received the highest evaluation as he has also consistently improved the bank's financial performance. Since his appointment to the top post in 2015, Park has continuously improved the financial status of the bank through strategies tailored to Korea and actively led employees to share the vision of the bank, the committee noted. They also pointed out that he has promoted values such as equality, respect and inclusion as the core cultural values of the bank. Born in 1955, Park majored in economics at Kyung Hee University. After joining SC in August 1979, he built up expertise in various front-line branches over a period of more than 20 years. He held key positions in bank operations, including retail finance, before being appointed as the chief in 2015. He was reappointed in 2018 and 2021. The bank is scheduled to confirm his reappointment following approvals at meetings of shareholders on Oct. 18 and the board of directors on Oct. 31. HA NOI - Banks and businesses have long been waiting for a legal framework covering Viet Nam's fintech development, said industry experts and insiders. It has been nearly two years since a proposal was made by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) for a sandbox model for the country's fintech sector. There have been calls and opinions for the government to expedite this process to help reduce risks and promote the development of fintech in Viet Nam. Viet Nam's fintech market has been among the fastest growing in the region, only behind Singapore in Southeast Asia, and is forecast to reach US$18 billion in size by 2024, according to Robocash, an online lending service in Viet Nam. The company said fintech and mobile platforms have allowed businesses to introduce a wide range of financial services including payment, lending, money transfer, collection and disbursement. According to the SBV, non-cash payments in the first seven months of 2023 increased by 51.14 per cent in terms of number, 66.46 per cent through online channels, 63.09 per cent via mobile phones, and 124.15 per cent through QR Code compared to the same period in 2022. The number of accounts opened online since the end of March 2021 has been steadily on the rise, reaching 27 million through eKYC and 10.8 million cards in circulation. According to Pham Tien Dung, SBV deputy governor, non-cash payment has been increasingly popular among consumers in recent years, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. The key to helping more people access financial services, especially residents in far and remote regions of the country, lies with the development of electronic platforms, which has allowed banks and finance companies to find solutions and offer flexible options to more customers. In recent months, commercial banks have been offering customers small loans despite the absence of a legal framework. Nguyen Thi Kim Oanh, deputy director-general of Vietcombank, said small loans addressed the real needs of both the banks and customers. Banks, however, said they had been holding back due to legal concerns related to contracts. Nguyen inh Tung, director-general of Phuong ong Commercial Joint Stock Bank (OCB), said legal issues prevented the banks from rolling out more financial services as they must still maintain services in physical offices to minimise risks. Industry experts said banks and fintech companies had been waiting for a sandbox model for online lending for a long time now and the implementation of one such model would help many people gain access to financial services and contribute to the development of the country's finance sector. Lawyer Le Van An, director of ANLAW Law said consumer lending should be encouraged to boost economic activities and that the fintech industry should be viewed with a more open-minded approach and allowed to experiment. He said while he agreed that fintech companies weren't banks they should be given more room for growth. Pham Anh Tuan, head of the payment department of the SBV, said a sandbox model was being reviewed and studied and expected to arrive as early as the beginning of 2024 in an earlier interview with the press. However, he said it was a complicated process that involved various governmental ministries and agencies, all having their own concerns and opinions, and therefore, would take time. In addition, there might be delays as the Government must submit the model to the National Assembly for final approval. VNS HA NOI - Viet Nam is working hard to have its stock market upgraded from frontier status to an emerging market by 2025. Vu Thi Chan Phuong, Chairwoman of the State Securities Commission of Viet Nam (SSC), said that upgrading the status of the stock market is one of the major targets of the Government. The country hopes to obtain the emerging market status before 2025. According to Phuong, in terms of the legal framework, the 2019 Securities Law, the 2020 Investment Law, the 2020 Law on Enterprises, and the documents guiding their enforcement have created optimal conditions for investment flows, facilitated access to information in English as well as registration and opening accounts of investors, and enhanced market transparency, thus gradually meeting the criteria for market upgrade. Aside from growing in terms of size and liquidity, Viet Nam's stock market has also become increasingly transparent and healthy thanks to the stringent settlement of violations. A number of businesses have also proactively released information in English. Among them, all of those in the VN30 Index group, which measures the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation, have disclosed information in English. Transparent regulations improve market viability, as seen in the Governments Decree No 155/2020/N-CP and the Finance Ministrys Circular No 96/2020/TT-BTC. The SSC would revise legal documents to improve the transparency and sustainability of the stock market, Phuong noted. Lyndon Chao, a representative of the Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (ASIFMA), said Viet Nam was one of the fastest growing economies in Asia, posting the worlds fastest growth. It was also a beneficiary of global supply chain diversification and a rising middle class. He said global investors were increasing investment in Asia, and Viet Nam would be an outstanding destination in the future as authorities reform the market to provide easier access to global fund managers. Financial experts have pointed out that MSCI and FTSE Russell, the two most important international organisations in stock market classification, still list Viet Nam as a frontier market. Meanwhile, neighbouring countries like Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines have for years been designated as emerging markets. Many foreign investors see the value in Viet Nams stock market and want to invest in the future here. What the country needs to do now is to keep promoting the markets transparency and provide more favourable conditions for foreign investors, according to the experts. If MSCI and FTSE Russell upgrade the stock market of Viet Nam to an emerging one, billions of dollars are expected to pour into Vietnamese stocks each year. According to major international rating agencies and financial institutions, the country has made improvements and satisfied many important criteria. However, two issues still need major improvements in support of foreign investors. The improvements include the prefunding requirement and the foreign ownership limit, both of which require practical coordination among stakeholders such as the State Bank of Viet Nam and the Ministry of Planning and Investment. Experts have also highlighted the importance of securities companies and banks, saying the upgrade will help expand the market size considerably, so operating systems and risk management processes must be top notch to meet transaction-related requirements. In addition, the SSC should press on with perfecting the new IT system for the stock market, diversifying and bettering the quality of products in the market to attract foreign investors, and developing products related to green growth and sustainable development. VNS Compiled by Mai Linh HA NOI Viet Nam was seeing a new wave of foreign investment, fuelled by an improved investment climate, upgraded infrastructure system, high-quality human resources, and leveraged diplomatic relations with major economies. Nikkei Asia recently wrote that a fourth boom of foreign investment in Viet Nam might be in the making, led by the capital influx from the US after US President Joe Bidens visit to Viet Nam last month. Following the meeting between President Biden and General Party Secretary Nguyen Phuc Trong, Viet Nam and the US announced the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership. After Bidens visit, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh held a 6-day visit to the US, during which Chinh visited the headquarters of Nvidia in San Francisco, calling on the chipmaking giant to establish a production base in Viet Nam. Chinh also worked with leading corporations of the US, including Microsoft, Meta, SpaceX, Coca-Cola, and Pacifico Energy, to promote investments in prioritised sectors such as manufacturing, technology, renewable energy, aviation, and innovation, as Viet Nam was aiming to pivot from its traditional labour-intensive industries. According to Nikkeis analysis, Viet Nam witnessed three significant booms in foreign capital influx. The first boom occurred in 1997 when Japans Honda Motor began local two-wheeler production, 10 years after Viet Nam passed the Law on Foreign Investment. The second boom spanned the period from the early 2000s up to the time around the global financial crisis in 2008 with a notable investment of South Koreas Samsung Electronics in a mobile phone production base in Bac Ninh. The third was believed to have come into full swing in the mid-2010s. Now Biden's visit may trigger a surge in American investment in Viet Nam Biden's diplomatic move may be interpreted by American businesses as a green light to invest in Viet Nam, Nikkei wrote. In late March, more than 50 US enterprises, led by the USASEAN Business Council, visited Viet Nam to study and seek investment and business cooperation opportunities. On Wednesday last week, the US-headquartered Amkor Technology, a global leader in the outsourced semiconductor assembly and test industry, which also operates in the Republic of Korea, opened a $1.6 billion semiconductor manufacturing plant covering 23 hectares in Bac Ninh Province. Receiving Vice President and CEO of Amkor Technology Ji Rong-rip on Thursday, Chinh said that Viet Nam wanted to advance its position in the global semiconductor supply chain, adding that the country would step up the training of a high-quality workforce in the semiconductor industry with the goal of training 100,000 workers by 2030. Many chip giants, like US-based Intel, also poured investments into Viet Nam. The Republic of Koreas Samsung also planned to make semiconductor parts in Viet Nam. Statistics from the Ministry of Planning and Investment showed that the US FDI influx into Viet Nam totalled more than US$11.8 billion in 1,301 projects, made the US the fourth-largest in Viet Nam. Still, US investment in Viet Nam remained modest compared to the Republic of Korea the largest investor with a total registered capital of nearly $83 billion, Singapore the second with $73 billion, and Japan the third with $71.3 billion. Rising star Viet Nam was also an attractive destination for investment not only from the US but also from other countries around the world, driven by the countrys improved investment climate, infrastructure system, human resources, and rapid international integration. The Danish company LEGO started the construction of a production base worth over $1 billion in the southern province of Binh Duong. A recent quarterly Business Confidence Index (BCI) of the European Chamber of Commerce (EuroCham) found that 63 per cent of surveyed businesses positioned Viet Nam within their top 10 FDI destinations, demonstrating that Viet Nams global investment appeal remained strong. Notably, 31 per cent placed Viet Nam among their top three, while an impressive 16 per cent hailed it as their foremost investment destination. The survey also found that over half planned to increase their investment in Viet Nam by the end of this year. The ministrys updates showed that Viet Nam attracted nearly $20.21 billion FDI in the first nine months of this year, an increase of 7.7 per cent over the same period last year. The disbursed capital was estimated at $15.91 billion, a rise of 2.2 per cent. Nguyen Thi Huong, Director of the General Statistics Department, said that the FDI influx created an important growth driver for the Vietnamese economy this year and in following years. Huong said that Viet Nams global investment appeal came from the stable macroeconomy, improved investment climate, and the Governments support to enterprises. According to Vu Minh Khuong from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (Singapore), the confidence in the ability of Viet Nam to become a developed industrial country by 2045 has increased significantly, both externally and internally. Viet Nam seems to be standing at the threshold of an era in which the country could take off to become a developed country, he stressed. In the report ASEAN Perspectives released in September, HSBC assessed that despite severe trade challenges, Viet Nam continued to be on the frontline to receive quality FDI. HSBCs report pointed out that Viet Nam was turning itself into a rising star in the global manufacturing supply chain. While much of the investment initially entered the lower value-add textile and footwear space, Viet Nam has quickly climbed up the value chain, growing into a key hub for electronics assembly, the report wrote. According to Tran inh Thien, former Director of the Viet Nam Institute of Economics, global investment appeal arose to be an advantage of Viet Nam in the fluctuating world. The new period was opening unprecedented opportunities for Viet Nam in attracting FDI, which could create an immense growth driver and breakthrough development, Thien said, adding that the important factors were institutional reforms, smart governance, connected infrastructure, and high-quality human resources, especially a community of local enterprises with the capacity to engage in the global value chains. Nguyen inh Cung, former Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management, said that domestic enterprises also needed to improve their competitiveness to be able to join with international corporations and play key roles in the global value chains. VNS Ramla Khalidi, UNDP Resident Representative in Viet Nam October 17 commemorates the 31st International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, a day marked in the United Nations calendar to remind us of our collective responsibility to eliminate poverty, hunger and other forms of deprivation in our communities. The theme of this years commemoration is Decent Work and Social Protection: Putting Dignity in Practice for All, a timely reminder of the close relationship between poverty reduction and decent pay and working conditions. By all accounts, Viet Nam has made significant progress in poverty reduction and eradication of hunger. Yet poverty reduction has been uneven across population groups and regions. High levels of chronic poverty persist in ethnic minority (EM) communities and groups such as children, older persons, persons with disabilities and non-registered migrants. Despite accounting for just 15 per cent of the population, EM comprise more than 50 per cent of the countrys poor. And while multi-dimensional poverty rate was 9.35 per cent in 2022, the average poverty rate of EM was 35.5 per cent. Child poverty is majorly concentrated among EM children (46.4 per cent in 2018) and the youngest children aged 0-4 (according to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs - MOLISA, 2023). Equally concerning is that a high proportion of Vietnamese remain just above the poverty line, with almost 75 per cent in the near poor and low middle income groups. They are at risk of falling back into poverty in the event of economic or other shocks. New forms of urban poverty have emerged among migrants and informal sector workers, due to rapid urbanisation and social change. Vulnerability of informal workers The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that almost two-thirds of the worlds working populationover two billion peopleare informal workers. Most of these workers do not benefit from any form of legal protection, including minimum wages, hours of work, health, safety or insurance covering workplace accidents or job loss. Fifty-eight per cent of informal workers are women, who are also the lowest paid and subject to gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment. The absence of legal protections leaves informal workers vulnerable to economic insecurity and exploitation. UNICEF estimates that in the developing world, one in four children aged 5 to 17 are engaged in labour that is detrimental to their health and development. In Viet Nam, the General Statistics Office (GSO) reports a staggering 68.5 per cent of all employed people are informal workers, earning half as much as formal workers and often falling short of the legal minimum wage. More than one-third worked more than 48 hours per week, many more hours than their formal sector counterparts. High informality levels persist in Viet Nam despite rapid urbanisation and industrialisation. Informal work spans various sectors, with 42 per cent in agriculture and a third in manufacturing, construction or transportation. Notably six million informal workers are employed by formal sector firms. Nor are informal jobs short-term or precarious. Four out of five informal employees have been in their current job for at least three years. Within the context of climate change and global economic turmoil, Viet Nams informal workers face increased vulnerability. Effective policy responses are necessary to mitigate the impact of economic and environmental shocks. Promoting formal sector growth and job quality Creating productive, formal sector jobs will reduce the degree of informality over the long-term. Integration into regional and global value chains has created millions of steady jobs in manufacturing and services. However, most of these jobs are in labour-intensive activities like final assembly of electronics, furniture, garments and footwear. More investment is needed in education and training, research and development to help Vietnamese firms to compete in upstream, higher value-added activities. Upgrading existing jobs in agriculture and small businesses will also decrease the prevalence of informality in the labour force. Programmes that link technical and financial assistance to workforce formalisation would give rural and small businesses an incentive to improve the quality of jobs. Small farms need help acquiring new technologies to produce export-quality fruit, vegetables and processed foods and to reduce the carbon footprint of exports. Modernising social assistance: adapting to an evolving workforce and economy Viet Nams social assistance programmes need modernisation. These programmes were designed when the country was predominantly rural and when most people worked on the family farm or for household businesses. Now more than half of the workforce consists of employees, and forty per cent of the population lives in urban areas. One of the important lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic was that the government lacked adequate and adaptable instruments to support informal workers, especially migrants, who are vulnerable to a sudden loss of income. An important constraint on existing programmes is that they are administered and implemented locally, whereas people in modern, urbanising economies are highly mobile. Basing access to social assistance on national citizenship rather than locality is a vital first step toward modernising the social protection system. Another important step forward in the draft Law on Social Insurance, which will be submitted to the National Assembly this month, is the proposed reduction of the minimum age for social pensions from 80 to 75 years of age. This change recognises the principle of universal pensions and collective responsibility to help households manage lifecycle risks. UNICEF and UNDP have proposed a universal child grant for all children under six to eliminate child poverty, ensure that all children have the resources they need to go to school and access health care, and therefore break the cycle of intergenerational poverty. A universal child benefit would be affordable, costing less than two per cent of GDP, and could be delivered electronically to mothers quickly and at low cost. Viet Nam has made tremendous strides in reducing extreme and multidimensional poverty over the past three decades. Other countries in the region and beyond are studying Viet Nams experience to learn from this success. Ensuring that all Vietnamese workers can earn a living wage, enjoy safe and healthy conditions, or work and are protected from exploitation, discrimination and the risks of job and income is the next stage in the countrys journey from poverty to universal prosperity. VNS HA NOI China and Viet Nam have recorded significant cooperation achievements in various fields and the two countries are entering a new development stage of collaboration, Chinese Ambassador to Viet Nam Xiong Bo has said. Speaking at a press conference on the threshold of President Vo Van Thuongs visit to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing from October 17-20, Xiong Bo said that after 15 years of their comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, China and Viet Nam have enjoyed stable and well-developed relations. The two countries have also increased high-level meetings, with the visit by 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 as the most apparent proof. 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, adding that since the beginning of this year, leaders of the two sides have continued to maintain regular exchanges and contacts. In addition to improving political trust, Viet Nam and China have also strengthened investment, economic and trade cooperation, which Xiong Bo said has been important for the development of each country. China maintains its position as Viet Nam's largest trading partner and Viet Nam is also China's largest trading partner in ASEAN. In the first nine months of this year, China ranked second in terms of investment in Viet Nam. According to the diplomat, another highlight of the China-Viet Nam relationship is the constant coordination, exchanges and cooperation in regional and international issues. China respects and supports Viet Nam in further promoting its important and constructive role in regional and international issues, he said. He said that amid conflicts in several regions around the world, the stable situation in Asia-Pacific can help the region become a main driver for global economic growth. This is a very important opportunity, he said, adding that emerging economies in the region, including China and Viet Nam, now wield increasing influence and stronger voices. He said that overall, Viet Nam-China relations "have more opportunities than challenges" as the political trust between the high-ranking leaders of the two Parties and States has been increasingly solidified and the bond between the two countries' people is becoming stronger and stronger. VNS HA NOI Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong received Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Victorovich Volodin in Ha Noi on Monday, expressing his belief that his guests visit will create a strong impetus for bilateral cooperation, including between the State Duma of Russia and the National Assembly (NA) of Viet Nam. Welcoming Volodin and the Russian delegation, who are paying an official visit to Viet Nam and co-chairing the second meeting of the countries Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, the host leader applauded the outcomes of Volodins talks with NA Chairman Vuong inh Hue on Sunday. He attributed Viet Nam's successful struggle for national reunification in the past and achievements in national construction and defence at present partly to the enormous assistance in all aspects, especially training cadres, scientists and intellectuals, from the former Soviet Union and Russia today. Despite numerous difficulties and challenges, bilateral relations have still harvested practical and concrete results, he noted. To further promote the two countries ties, President Thuong asked both sides to increase all-level mutual visits, foster economic, trade and investment links, and recover and boost people-to-people exchanges and tourism activities after the COVID-19 pandemic. He also took this occasion to thank Russia, including its Federal Assembly, for supporting the Vietnamese community to live, study, and work stably in the country. He also called on the Russian parliament, as the legislative body, to advocate the provision of more favourable conditions for Vietnamese people there. At the meeting, the Chairman of the State Duma affirmed that Russia views Viet Nam as not only a strategic partner but also a strategic friend. The preceding generations of the countries leaders have laid a solid and important foundation for bilateral relations, he remarked, perceiving that both sides should seek new forms of cooperation so that their ties will further develop in multiple areas. Volodin also noted with satisfaction the recent great strides in bilateral cooperation and expressed his hope that the multifaceted relations will keep growing fruitfully and more intensively in the coming time. Earlier on Monday, the Russian delegation paid tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum and laid a wreath at the monument to heroes and martyrs on Bac Son Street in Ba inh District of Ha Noi. VNS HA NOI Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong spoke highly of the significance of the visit made by Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Viktorovich Volodin during his talks with the Russian guest in Ha Noi on Monday. Welcoming the results of talks and exchanges between the chairman with Vietnamese senior leaders, Trong expressed his belief that the visit will make an important contribution to strengthening cooperation between the two parliaments and promoting the Viet Nam-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership. The Vietnamese Party chief affirmed that Viet Nam always appreciates the valuable support and assistance that the Soviet and Russian people gave to Viet Nam during the wars and the countrys construction and defence. Trong said Viet Nam attaches importance to the traditional friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership with Russia. The Communist Party of Viet Nam attaches great importance to developing relations with political parties in Russia. During the talks, Party chief Trong outlined a number of major directions to continue promoting Viet Nam Russia relations in the future. Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation respectfully conveyed the close greetings of Russian President Putin and other high-level Russian leaders to Party chief Trong. The Russian leader affirmed that despite many parties following different political trends, the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation always supports promoting the comprehensive strategic partnership with Viet Nam. The Russian Federation always considers Viet Nam a priority and an important partner in its foreign policy in the Asia-Pacific region, he said. VNS By Lee Yeon-woo Small individual investors, angered by the recent illegal short selling practices of BNP Paribas and HSBC, have called for more stringent measures to prevent a recurrence, even in the face of potentially record-high fines. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) disclosed on Sunday that two Hong Kong-based investment banks had partaken in illegal short selling activities, amounting to an estimated 56 billion won ($41.3 million). The FSS asserts that both banks deliberately and routinely engaged in naked short selling to maximize their fee earnings and reduce expenses. It is preparing to levy the heftiest fines in its history. In response to the announcement, outraged investors are pressing for even tougher regulations on the matter. "Even if the financial authorities impose fines of 10 billion won or even 100 billion won, this money goes to the state treasury and not to the individual investors who suffered losses. It's akin to shutting the barn door after the horse has already bolted," Jung Eui-jung, head of Korea Stockholders Alliance, told The Korea Times. "The focus shouldn't just be on uncovering issues after an incident happens. Financial authorities should proactively protect individual investors. I believe a system to detect naked short selling needs to be established as soon as possible." The Korea Times reached out to BNP Paribas and HSBC for their official positions and future plans, but both banks chose not to comment on the matter. In Korea, only covered short selling is permitted, wherein stocks must be borrowed before being sold. Naked short selling involves selling stocks without owning or borrowing them first. As sellers are expected to borrow the securities within two days after the trading date, they can face a settlement default if they fail to secure the stocks by this deadline. Due to these risks, naked short selling is strictly prohibited and deemed illegal here. According to the FSS, BNP Paribas placed naked short selling orders on 101 stocks, including Kakao, amounting to 40 billion won, from September 2021 to May 2022. And from August 2021 to December 2021, HSBC engaged in naked short selling on nine stocks, with Hotel Shilla among them, totaling 16 billion won. "An investment bank merely facilitates the transaction. Therefore, any profits or losses resulting from price volatility ultimately fall to the investors. It is presumed that they were negligent in the following the legal process in pursuit of fee revenues," said a senior official from the FSS. The FSS has hinted at the possibility of imposing an unprecedented fine. The most substantial penalty previously issued for illegal short selling was 38.7 billion won this March. Some speculate that the new fine might soar into tens of billions of won. However, no measures, such as trading restrictions or market expulsion, are currently in place for those involved in illegal short selling activities. Rep. Yun Chang-hyun of the ruling People Power Party accordingly introduced an amendment to the Capital Markets Act in May, but the proposal is still pending in the standing committee of the National Assembly. HA NOI Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son and his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar co-chaired the 18th Meeting of the Viet Nam - India Joint Committee on Economic, Trade, Science and Technology Cooperation on Monday in Ha Noi. The meeting, joined by representatives of relevant ministries and sectors of the two countries, conducted a comprehensive review and assessment of bilateral relations since the 17th Joint Committees meeting in August 2020 and the implementation of the Viet Nam - India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Action Plan for the 2021-23 period. The two ministers were pleased with the good development of the bilateral Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in recent times. In particular, the two countries celebrated the 50th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations with many meaningful activities in 2022. The two sides agreed to increase delegation exchanges and high-level contacts as well as to maintain effective implementation of existing bilateral cooperation mechanisms, and soon put into operation the dialogue mechanism on economic diplomacy at the deputy foreign minister level. The two countries also vowed to promote the development of an action programme for the 2024-26 period, and continue to strengthen defence and security cooperation in line with the Joint Vision Statement on the Viet Nam - India Defence Partnership until 2030. The two leaders also pledged to promote negotiations and soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding on judicial cooperation between the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice of Vietnam and the Indian Ministry of Law and Justice. Both sides were pleased to see that economic and trade cooperation recovered and developed well after the pandemic, with two-way trade turnover in 2022 exceeding the US$15 billion target set by the two countries' senior leaders. The two sides agreed to closely coordinate to create a favourable corridor for trade and investment activities, striving to bring the trade turnover to $20 billion. Minister Son proposed that India consider reducing the application of trade barriers and trade defence measures on Vietnamese goods and services as well as facilitate procedures for Vietnamese steel imports. The Indian foreign minister supports the two sides' early extension of the Memorandum of Understanding on economic and trade cooperation for the 2018-23 period. He also agreed to effectively implement the Framework Agreement on Agricultural Cooperation, which allows some fruit products and processed products of the two countries to be exported to each other's markets. The ministers suggested that the two countries soon apply online payment methods. The two ministers agreed to strengthen cooperation in education, training, science, technology and information. They pledged to consider increasing direct flights between the two countries to enhance cooperation in tourism, economics, trade and people-to-people exchanges. The two ministers agreed to continue to coordinate and support each other at multilateral forums, especially at the United Nations. The Indian foreign minister affirmed that India supports the central role of ASEAN in the regional structure, considers ASEAN as the focus of India's Act East policy, and agreed to strengthen Mekong - Ganga cooperation. The two sides agreed to affirm the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security, safety, freedom of navigation and aviation, and compliance with international law in the East Sea, and peacefully resolving disputes based on international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982), including full respect for diplomatic and legal processes, not threatening or using force, restraining without taking actions that complicate or escalate conflicts, affecting peace and stability in the region and the world. At the end of the meeting, the two ministers signed the Minutes of Agreement and agreed to organise the 19th session of the Joint Committee in India at the right time. On the same day, the joint postage stamp between Viet Nam and India was launched to commemorate the 50th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries. The set consists of two 43x32mm stamps depicting Vovinam and Kalarippayattu, which are respectively traditional martial arts of Viet Nam and India. They also feature an image of the combined flags of the two countries. The stamp on Kalarippayattu was designed by Indian painter Brahma Prakash while the one on Vovinam by Vietnamese painter Pham Trung Ha. The stamps are available on the postal network and offices from October 6, 2023 to June 30, 2025. VNS CENTRAL HIGHLANDS The Central Highlands region is facing a severe shortage of teachers at all educational levels, seriously affecting the universalisation of education for local people, especially ethnic minority people. Statistics from the Education and Training departments of five provinces in the region show that the region lacks more than 6,500 teachers at all educational levels. Gia Lai Province is the locality having the most serious shortage of teachers, with more than 3,000. The kindergarten level lacks 1,231 teachers, primary school level lacks 817 teachers, secondary school level lacks 660 teachers and high school level lacks 308 teachers. In the meantime, ak Lak Province is reported to lack 1,700 teachers at all educational levels. Kon Tum Province now lacks 836 teachers, mainly in districts of Ia HDrai, ak To and ak Glei, while ak Nong Province is in a shortage of over 1,000 teachers. Causes Le Thi Kim Oanh, deputy director of ak Lak Provinces Education and Training Department, said the number of students increasing year after year exacerbated the lack of teachers in the locality. Nguyen Van Toan, director of ak Nong Provinces Education and Training Department, said the total number of students in the 2023 - 24 school year in the province was nearly 183,000, an increase of more than 7,000 children compared to the previous school year, while there was only over 11,000 teachers in the province. Pham Thi Trung, director of Kon Tum Provinces Education and Training Department, said the number of students had continuously increased over the past ten years in the province. However, the local education sector still had to carry out downsizing the staff number, as regulated. It is believed to be one of the main causes of the situation, she said. She also said that the province was having difficulty recruiting new teachers, mainly preschool and primary school teachers in some remote districts such as Kon Plong, Tu Mo Rong and ak Glei. The main reason was that the 2019 Law on Education raised the requirements for preschool teachers to be college graduates, and for primary teachers to be university graduates, instead of intermediate level as before. However, the reality was that students who meet the requirements often applied to work in localities with more favourable socio-economic conditions rather than in remote areas, she added. Even when local schools already recruited teachers, they were still not sure the teachers could work for a long time because of the difficult and complex conditions of the local terrain. Nguyen Minh Cuong, head of Education and Training Office in Kon Plong District, Kon Tum Province, said the education sector recorded about 150 teachers quitting their jobs in the district and moving to other localities with more favourable conditions to work. Low salary Low income is also worsening the situation. Y Gia Nhi, of Tu Mo Rong District in Kon Tum Province, said she was recruited as a primary teacher in the district with a salary of VN3 million (US$122) per month. Nhi said the salary she earned was not enough to cover daily costs. Therefore, Nhi decided to quit her job after three years. Then she found a labourer job abroad with an income many times higher compared to a primary teachers salary to earn a living. Nguyen Thi Tam, a literature teacher at Tran Quang Dieu Secondary School, Buon Ma Thuot City, ak Lak Province, said the current salary and allowances for teachers were still low, not ensuring a minimum living. So the authorities were requested to increase salary and allowances for teachers in the future. Ton Thi Ngoc Hanh, deputy chairwoman of the People's Committee of ak Nong Province, also said salary and allowance policies for teachers were still inadequate, leaving schools unable to attract teachers. Solutions To temporarily overcome the shortage of teachers, the Home Affairs Department of ak Nong Province has coordinated with relevant agencies to plan to recruit more than 600 teachers working under short-term contracts. Huynh Viet Trung, head of the Education and Training Office of Krong Bong District, ak Lak Province, said the locality had merged small schools branches in an attempt to fix the shortage of teachers. Nguyen Tu Do, head of the Education and Training Office in Cu Mgar District in ak Lak Province, said that the office had temporarily arranged for some teachers to work at several schools as a short-term solution for the situation. Y Nhan, deputy head of the Education and Training Office of Tu Mo Rong District, Kon Tum Province, said better remuneration policies for teachers, especially in remote areas, were required to fix the situation. One of the immediate solutions was to be more flexible in implementing the 2019 Law on Education, she said. It was suggested to allow the region to recruit teachers with college and intermediate degrees to work at primary school and preschool, however, the teachers had to commit to study at higher levels to meet the requirements in the near future, she said. Only then could difficult areas attract more teachers to work, she added. In the long term, Hanh, deputy chairwoman of the People's Committee of ak Nong Province, said the province had proposed the Ministry of Education and Training soon adjust salary and allowance policies for teachers, especially for those working in disadvantaged and remote areas. Besides, the province also requested the ministry to allocate an additional 1,021 teachers to serve the provinces current demand, as well as prioritise resources to invest in facilities and teaching equipment so the province could better implement the new general education curriculum, she said. The mechanism needed to be more flexible and suitable to the situation, especially for the Central Highlands provinces, she said. The regulations on downsizing education staff by 10 per cent during the period of 2021-26 should not be applied to the region, she said. VNS HCM CITY Viet Nam's new e-visa policy, which took effect on August 15, 2023, has facilitated group and MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and events) tours, industry insiders have revealed. Under the policy, Viet Nam extended the validity of tourist e-visas to 90 days from 30, with multiple entries, and tripled the duration of visa-free stays for visitors from certain countries to 45 days. Ha Linh, who helps customers with tour bookings in HCM City, said the policy has facilitated the organisation of group tours by travel firms, as well as tour booking and information access by clients. Sharing Linhs view, Thanh at, a tour guide also in HCM City, said since the new policy came into force, the number of group tours to Viet Nam has increased significantly. He said the new visa policy helps the Vietnamese tourism sector to catch up with their peers in the region and the world, opening up more cooperation opportunities for them. Chung Thuy Chau, Sales Director of Viet Media Travel Corporation, expressed her belief that the policy will help to attract more holidaymakers, especially in the remaining months of this year. She added that it also creates favourable conditions for travel agencies to cooperate with partners in both outbound and inbound tours. Notably, the Japanese Embassy in Ha Noi and the Consulate General in HCM City have recently announced single-entry e-visas for groups of Vietnamese tourists for short-term stays of up to 15 days from November. The e-visa will not be available for individual applicants. It is done through travel companies that are approved to organise package tours, the embassy said on its website. Tour operator Saigontourist also reported a 10 per cent year-on-year increase in MICE services at home in the third quarter of this year. In HCM City alone, it organised inbound tours for 230 groups with more than 16,750 vacationers, and outbound tours for 48 others with over 4,800 tourists. The company is expected to launch outbound tours for 143 groups with 21,755 members in the remaining months, mainly to the Republic of Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Beijing and Shanghai (China), Australia, New Zealand, the US, the UK and Spain. VNS HCM CITY Within just one week, HCM City has reported six new cases of m-pox, bringing the total case number of the viral disease to 19. This figure includes two imported cases from Dubai and one outbound case to Taiwan, China, while the rest are domestically transmitted ones, indicating that the pathogen has been circulating in the community undetected for quite some time. The southern city is isolating and treating 12 cases of m-pox at the HCM City Hospital for Tropical Diseases, with all patients in stable condition. Experts said the public should not be too worried about the spread of m-pox, as it is mostly transmitted among high-risk groups of populations like men who have sex with men, and people with multiple sexual partners or who have unprotected sex. The city is currently dealing with five types of infectious diseases simultaneously, which are dengue fever, conjunctivitis, m-pox, COVID-19 and hand, foot and mouth disease. From the beginning of the year until now, the city has recorded a total of 14,126 cases of dengue fever, including an additional 422 cases in the past week, which is a 5.3 per cent increase compared to the four-week average. Districts with the number of cases exceeding 100,000 people include District 1, District 8 and Binh Thanh. A total of 200 cases of dengue fever, including 103 adults and 96 children, are under treatment. The number of hand, foot and mouth disease cases in HCM City from the beginning of the year until now is about 30,000 cases. In the past week alone, the city has recorded 1,532 cases of the disease, which is nearly 1.5 times higher than the four-week average. Districts with the number of cases exceeding 100,000 people include Binh Tan, Nha Be and Binh Chanh. Currently, the city is treating 346 cases of hand, foot and mouth disease, including 103 residents in HCM City. HCM City's health department said they have been proactive in conducting genetic analyses of the viruses causing m-pox and conjunctivitis, and will continue to closely monitor the situation of diseases and respond promptly to all possible situations. VNS Currently, transportation costs over Vietnam's total logistics costs are at a very high level, up to more than 60%, about twice as high as other countries. While transportation costs only account for 30-40% of total logistics costs. This is a very large number. What Vietnam's logistics trends will be like in the near future received many lively discussions from businesses and experts at the Logistics Conference 2023 - The Road Ahead organized by Dau Tu Newspaper in Ho Chi Minh City on September 11, 2023. 5-10. Must reduce logistics costs Ms. Pham Thi Bich Hue - President of Western Pacific Company, said that the Vietnamese logistics industry is on a promising development path. In the new context, there is much potential for development, but for this industry to step onto the "green path", there are still bottlenecks that need to reduce logistics costs on the country's total GDP. Ms. Hue stated that the number that worries many businesses is that transportation costs over Vietnam's total logistics costs currently are at a high level, up to more than 60%, about twice as high as in other countries. While transportation costs only account for 30-40% of total logistics costs. According to the president of Western Pacific, this is a very large number. Mr. Elias Abraham, CEO of Zim Integrated Shipping Company, said that industries such as delivery, logistics, import and export... all have great potential. Vietnam is like a "bright star" in the logistics industry that many foreign businesses are interested in investing in. For example, Mr. Elias Abraham said that 15 years ago Vietnam had no services to bring goods to Europe and the US. Now it's different, there are more than 200 routes to these areas. "This is considered one of the commitments of shipping lines, showing that Vietnam is a bright star in the logistics industry and the picture in the logistics industry still has brighter areas" - Mr. Elias Abraham said and provided necessary comments. Expanding into many new potential markets such as Australia, South America, and the Mediterranean region... because these are markets where Vietnam does not yet have trains or routes. In the big investment wave, how to catch the opportunity? At the conference, many businesses assessed that Vietnam will have many profound opportunities in logistics chain development in the next 2-3 years. The Government has created many mechanisms and specific actions to attract capital flows after participating in 19 free trade agreements. In addition, Vietnam currently has the opportunity to attract FDI capital flows with an increasingly high position in the international arena. According to Mr. Edwin Chee - managing director of SLP Vietnam, Vietnam still needs to develop a variety of logistics centers, not just focusing on one area or one province but also needing to diversify. At the same time, the trend of applying modern technology transformation in logistics needs to be promoted quickly to improve costs. SLP's facilities are applying the most advanced technology, serving fashion brands, and providing automation, robotics, and a full supply chain. With only 3 - 5 people, we can operate an 8,000m2 facility, automation facilities, modern machinery... With the clear potential, and wide-opened opportunities, businesses believe that it is time for logistics businesses in Vietnam to discuss with each other and change, otherwise, they will lose their piece of cake and market share of the logistics industry into foreign businesses in their area. Mr. Tran Duy Dong - Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment - evaluated that to improve the competitiveness of Vietnam's logistics industry in the context of international economic integration and the fourth industrial revolution, it is necessary to quickly complete the policies and laws on logistics services. The State needs to better logistics infrastructure, review master plans and plans, and ensure the synchronization of transportation infrastructure and transportation services to develop the logistics service industry... Vietnam's logistics industry is worth 40-42 billion USD/year According to Agility's assessment, in 2022 Vietnam ranked 11th in the group of 50 global emerging logistics markets. The annual growth rate of Vietnam's logistics industry reaches 14-16%, with a scale of 40-42 billion USD/year. Logistics businesses in Vietnam are also growing rapidly in number. Up to this time, there are over 3,000 domestic transportation and logistics businesses and about 25 of the world's leading forwarding corporations providing services from goods transportation procedures to tax payment or payment... in Viet Nam Counterfeiting of a brand can create confusion, leaving consumers unable to distinguish between genuine and fake products, leading to a loss of trust, according to the Saigon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Corporation (SABECO). The beer maker proposed creating a healthy business environment that offers protection for consumer rights and the legal rights of brand owners by dealing with acts of trademark infringement strictly, particularly in cases of intentional counterfeiting. -Local authorities tighten their grip on counterfeit goods scammers In a case of copyright infringement in the Vietnamese beer industry that concluded in March, Le Dinh Trung, of the Saigon Vietnam Beer Group JSC and a former employee of SABECO, was fined by a Vietnamese court for making and selling almost 9,000 boxes of beer with branding that infringed on the Bia Saigon trademark. Despite this recent enforcement of copyright law, counterfeit beer continues to appear. This strongly suggests that administrative sanctions may no longer be enough to deter those whose profits from producing counterfeit beer make it worthwhile. Bia Saigon is a large and renowned Vietnamese brand with a 148-year history in the market, offering a diverse array of product lines. The blue label symbol with the image of a flying dragon is trademarked and has been deeply engrained in the minds of Vietnamese consumers. Tran Huu Linh, general director of the Vietnam Directorate of Market Surveillance under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said, People who produce counterfeit goods are very sophisticated. They research the law carefully to find loopholes. Many counterfeit products are similar, or almost identical, to the real thing and are also copyrighted. In these cases, it takes a lot of time to resolve disputes, and sometimes the authorities are even sued by the subjects. Businesses urgently need to send information related to counterfeit beer to the local Market Management Department or to the General Department of Market Management. This will help us to protect the legitimate interests of businesses but also peoples health, as the safety of counterfeit goods for consumption cannot be guaranteed added Linh. According to data from the Vietnam Directorate of Market Surveillance, in the first six months of this year alone, there have been 4,686 cases related to counterfeit goods, goods of unknown origin, and goods infringing on intellectual property rights. It is hoped that by increasing the likelihood of criminal prosecution for the violation of these rights, the number of prosecutions, public awareness of intellectual property rights, as well as reducing infringement cases, the business and investor communities in Vietnam will gain confidence in the countrys business climate. With a total of 148 years of brewing history, Saigon Beer Alcohol Beverage Corporation (SABECO) has established itself as one of Vietnams leading companies. The beverage company now has a total of 26 breweries and 11 trading subsidiaries alongside a significant distribution network consisting of hundreds of thousands retailers across the nation. SABECO is proud to offer a brand portfolio that consists of some of the most well-loved beer brands in Vietnam, including Bia Lac Viet, Bia Saigon Chill, Bia 333, Bia Saigon Special, Bia Saigon Export, Bia Saigon Lager, and Bia Saigon Gold. In March 2023, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Peoples Court ruled against Saigon Beer and Le Dinh Trung in a criminal case, based on allegations of the infringement of industrial property rights. The related penalty issued by the Court fined Saigon Beer Group Vietnam JSC (Saigon Beer) and Trung, severally, a total amount of VND 3.7 billion ($157,000). Saigon Beer has since shut down its operations. According to the investigation records, after many years of experience working at Saigon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Corporation (SABECO), Trung quit and established Saigon Vietnam Beer Group with the purpose of making beer products with similar designs and trademarks to SABECOs products and then bringing them to the market, according to the investigation. The issue was first raised in June 2020 when it was found that over 4,700 cases of beer, nearly 117,000 cans (330 ml types) and over 3,000 beer cartons showing signs of infringement of SABECOs trademarked products. The value of the products was estimated to be more than $61,000. According to calculations, for each barrel of beer brought to the market, the company was earning profit of about VND29,000 ($1.25). During the investigation, local authorities also found thousands of Bia Saigon Vietnam boxes in the southern localities of Binh Phuoc, Soc Trang, and Can Tho as well as the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak. The beer is distributed by Saigon Vietnam Beer Group, which is not a subsidiary of SABECO. The act of producing counterfeit beer and trademark infringement affects the investment environment, businesses and consumers. Based on the case file, the court found that the defendants actions infringed on the trademark protected under SABECOs Trademark Registration Certificate Nos. 221596 and 225588 and qualified as famous trademark, according to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 129 of the Intellectual Property Law. At the same time, canned beer products, beer cans, beer cartons of Saigon Vietnam Beer Group JSC were counterfeit trademark goods according to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 213 of the Intellectual Property Law. SABECO leads startup magic More than 300 young businesses and rural youth have found support for their startup models through a series of training programmes jointly organised by the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and Saigon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Corporation. SABECO dedicated to high standards and anticipating 2024 momentum Saigon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Corporation has reaffirmed the companys commitment to upholding customers rights and its high standards of conduct. In a significant development that underscores the increasing collaboration between China and Vietnam in the realm of cross-border finance, the State Securities Commission of Vietnam (SSCV) has granted approval to China International Capital Corporation Singapore branch PTE. Limited (CICC Singapore) to set up a representative office in Vietnam. CICC Singapore is a member of the Beijing-headquartered financial group CICC. This latest move signifies a major stride in fostering financial cooperation in the region. The green light from SSCV paves the way for CICC Singapore to establish its presence at the Saigon Centre Tower 1, Ben Nghe ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. Tran Tuan Vinh has been appointed as the chief representative of this newly sanctioned office. The scope of activities approved for this representative office is comprehensive. They include facilitating communication and conducting market research, promoting collaborative endeavours in the Vietnamese securities and stock market sector, and overseeing the execution of agreements between foreign fund management companies and Vietnamese economic entities. Moreover, it will play a pivotal role in supervising projects funded by foreign securities and fund management companies within Vietnam. This milestone follows an announcement made during a meeting on December 5, 2022, between the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) and CICC. During this meeting, CICC expressed its intentions to establish a representative office in Vietnam and explored the possibility of jointly establishing a bilateral investment fund. This fund aims to support large-scale projects in sectors of mutual interest. Nguyen Chi Thanh, chairman of the SCIC Board of Directors, introduced SCIC's current activities and outlined its future developmental direction during the meeting. Regarding investment activities, Thanh shared insights into potential investment areas within Vietnam and expressed a desire to collaborate with foreign investors, particularly financial institutions like CICC, in efficiently executing investment projects in Vietnam. Headquartered in Beijing, CICC has over 200 branches in China and offices in Hong Kong SAR, New York, Singapore, London, San Francisco, Frankfurt and Tokyo. As an investment bank with Chinese roots and an international reach, we are committed to providing first-rate financial services to both our Chinese and global clients to help them achieve their goals, the company said. This strategic move signifies a deepening of financial ties between China and Vietnam, highlighting the growing interest in cross-border investment opportunities and collaboration within the Southeast Asian region. Vietnam eyes renewable energy exports to Singapore Vietnam has expressed keen interest in tapping into the potential of exporting renewable energy to Singapore, underscoring the growing cooperation between the two nations. HiteJinro signed an agreement with Green i-Park JSC to rent an 8.4-hectare site in Lien Ha Thai Industrial Park, Thai Binh province. Last September, HiteJinro announced the opening of a corporation in Singapore to serve as a base for the global expansion of soju production and sales. The new soju manufacturing plant in Thai Binh is HiteJinro's flagship project under this inititaitve. The company's expansion aims to take advantage of the robust growth trajectory in the overseas soju market. In addition, the company will take advantage of the lower labour costs here to increase its competitiveness. The new manufacturing plant will also serve as a launchpad for local brands and products tailored to the Vietnamese market. Thai Binh is a great option because of its strategic geographic location, competitive costs, logistics accessibility, and ease of securing manpower. The opening of this overseas soju plant in Vietnam is a significant milestone for Hitejinro's expansion efforts as it approaches its 100th anniversary soon. We chose to invest in our first overseas project in Thai Binh because the province and Lien Ha Thai Industrial Park meet all the criteria set by the group for overseas investment. We will make every effort to build this factory as a bright spot for our production and business activities," Kim In Kyu, general director of HiteJinro Group, stated. Over the past six years, Hitejinro has recorded a steady increase in its soju exports, with an average growth rate of 15 per cent per year. If this trend continues, the company's overseas sales volumes will experience a more than threefold increase over the next decade. HiteJinro is the largest liquor company in South Korea. It was established in 2011 following the merger between JINRO, with its 97-year history of producing soju, and Hite Beer, one of South Korea's oldest beer companies. Yadea Vietnam commits $100 million for EV plant Yadea Vietnam, the Vietnamese subsidiary of the renowned global EV manufacturer Yadea, is making a substantial foray into the country's electric motorcycle sector with a strategic $100 million investment, according to Baobacgiang.vn. Germany's Kurz unveils $40 million Binh Dinh plant German thin film technology company Kurz celebrated the inauguration of its advanced foil and thin film manufacturing facility at the Becamex VSIP Binh Dinh Industrial Park on September 8. The facility's primary product will be the high-tech 'hot stamping foil'. PM Pham Minh Chinh gives directions on the functions and tasks of the National Innovation Centre, Photo: Nhat Bac In the recent 2023 Global Innovation Index (GII), Vietnam ranked 46th among 132 listed countries and economies, up two places from 2022. The index, created by the World Intellectual Property Organization, also lists Vietnam as one of the top seven middle-income countries showing the most progress in innovation over the last decade. Vietnams dynamic innovation ecosystem is thanks to the rapid development of its digital economy and its strong growth in the technology sector. In the GII, Vietnams main innovation strengths are listed as high-tech exports and imports, as well as labour growth. This is reflected by the countrys position at 57th in terms of the innovation input sub-index and 40th in the innovation output sub-index, both marginal improvements on last year. However, the GII also noted a poor performance in institutional indicators. One example is Sky Mavis, a startup that became a unicorn within three years and eight months, and is valued at $3 billion. The company was founded and is managed by Vietnamese, but its offices are located in Singapore. In Singapore, legal frameworks for overseas enterprises are better and easier, especially in transferring capital overseas. If we expand operations and markets to other countries, Vietnams regulations are too difficult. That is why a lot of technology startups have chosen Singapore as a destination, Nguyen Thanh Trung, founder of Sky Mavis said. In addition to Sky Mavis, numerous technology and innovation firms have already started their business in Singapore, including DotGears Co., Ltd. the company behind the breakout game Flappy Bird, among others. Amid the increasing competition among countries, a clear and up-to-date business environment is the most important factor, said Le Han Tue Lam, general partner of Nextrans. If businesses cannot open up new markets or cannot find new ways to expand from the Vietnamese market, they will surely not choose Vietnam as a destination. How long does it take to build a more attractive policy and institutional framework? Investors can wait for a few years, but 10-20 years will be too long for their patience, and they will opt out of Vietnam, he questioned. Cao Anh Tuan, CEO of Genetica, a leading gene decoding centre, agreed that it is easier for companies located in overseas countries to mobilise capital, and investors often look at that country to count the number of unicorns, to understand the mechanism for investing and withdrawing capital, and how much the profit rate is. In Singapore and the United States, there are specific examples of businesses boasting huge profits, many thousands of times higher if a startup is successful, but in Vietnam, there are no such cases, Tuan said. In response to these roadblocks, policies calling for investment in innovation and incentives have been issued in recent years to the Law on Investment (2020) and the Law on Enterprises (2020), establishment and development of investment funds, small and medium-sized enterprises support fund. Additionally, the government has assigned the Ministry of Science and Technology to build new policies for technology and innovation firms, while the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) is considering amendments to the decree on functions and tasks of the National Innovation Centre (NIC), including more effective policies to call for innovation in Vietnam, said Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung. The NIC, an initiative of the MPI, started construction in 2021 at Hanois Hoa Lac High-Tech Park, forming an innovation ecosystem with the three main pillars of the state - institutes - businesses, and connected to many international and local large corporations, R&D centres, 200 investment funds, and many Vietnamese experts and intellectuals around the world. We hope the NIC and its two headquarters on Ton That Thuyet street and at Hoa Lac High-Tech Park will become regional innovation hubs high-class destinations of the innovation ecosystem, Minister Dung said. In particular, the Politburo has recently added innovation as a concept for Vietnams strategic strategy for the 2021-2025 period. The idea of innovation is also clarified in the countrys socioeconomic development direction and goals in all fields of society. Promoting innovation and entrepreneurship is one of the key tasks stated in the governments Resolution No.01/NQ-CP released early this year to strengthen socioeconomic development and improve national competitiveness by developing an innovation ecosystem. Ministries and agencies have proposed specific strategies and action programmes, formed numerous new production and business models and established various methods of mobilising resources for innovation. Seizing the opportunity of Industry 4.0 is a good chance for Vietnam to grow rapidly, catch up, and surpass, so it is necessary to realise this opportunity, Minister Dung added. Having seen the efforts of the Vietnamese government after a discussion with Minister Dung, in 2018, Cao Anh Tuan, who is CEO of Genetica, chose Vietnam as the location of the company after a lot of consideration. Our decision to base ourselves in Vietnam was our best decision ever. The youth in the Vietnamese workforce has contributed significantly to the success of Genetica in decoding the genes of not only Vietnam, but also regional economies such as Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, and Indonesia. This is meaningful for human healthcare and treatment, Tuan said, noting his appreciation for the support of the MPI and other Vietnamese ministries and agencies. With the current innovation ecosystem, I feel that Genetica does not go alone, we - the whole ecosystem - are going ahead together, educating and exploring the market together. We are delivering products and services to the market faster than ever, much faster than five years ago when we began, Tuan said. He also placed plenty of expectations on the innovation ecosystem of Vietnam and called for more trust in other technology and innovation businesses. In the US two weeks ago, the MPI and the NIC teamed up with American businesses and universities to create a leap forward in semiconductor manufacturing in Vietnam. What is more, they called for investment in new sectors like science-technology, digital transformation, green economy, and the circular economy. New opportunities open for tech sector While Vietnamese technology companies are increasingly finding success abroad, new opportunities are giving way to innovations, as well as new tasks for ministries and agencies to collaborate effectively on data management in the months to come. Specifically, the company has announced the resolution of 95 per cent of received complaints, with the remaining cases under thorough review and resolution, according to a Manulife statement. Earlier in June, the company reported that it had resolved 60 per cent of complaints related to the Tam An Dau Tu insurance package. "Manulife Vietnam is committed to addressing customer complaints with the utmost respect for the law and customer-centricity," the company said. Sachin N. Shah, chairman of Manulife Vietnam said, "Insured customers would continue to enjoy the rights outlined in their signed contracts." He stated that the company maintains strong financial resources and the ability to exceed legal requirements. On average, Manulife disburses over 42,000 customer benefit claims each month. Manulife representatives also acknowledged that some customers may not be satisfied upon receiving rejection letters during the complaint resolution process. The company has made efforts to expedite the review of complaints, but the process requires time for a thorough assessment, particularly concerning SCB, as well as to prevent any wrongful claims that could adversely affect the legitimate rights of customers. Manulife has announced its proactive approach to contacting individual customers and taking necessary steps as required. According to the semi-annual financial report, Manulife Vietnam recorded pre-tax profits of approximately VND1.949 trillion ($82.05 million) in the first half of 2023, representing a 29 per cent decrease compared to the same period last year. Despite a decline in profitability in insurance operations, strong financial activities contributed to a net profit of approximately $94.53 million, marking a 76 per cent increase compared to the previous year. Similar to many other insurance companies, Manulife increased compensation and insurance payouts in response to a crisis of trust. In the first six months of the year, compensation and insurance payouts amounted to approximately $372.74 million, reflecting a 45 per cent increase compared to the same period last year. Notably, the company disbursed approximately $63.85 million for contract cancellations, marking a substantial 282 per cent increase compared to the previous year. During a regular quarterly press briefing, representatives from the Ministry of Finance announced an ongoing inspection of Manulife and another insurance company. The Ministry has completed examinations of six life insurance companies. Manulife Vietnam repays over $34 million in light of accusations Manulife Vietnam has received 6,060 complaints, resolving 3,553 and refunding over VND800 billion ($34.79 million) regarding allegations against it and SCB of insurance contract deception. Gov't to enhance pet treatment and insurance infrastructure By Anna J. Park Insurance companies offering only pet insurance plans will now be allowed to enter the local market. Pets may soon be officially registered through their nose wrinkles or iris data. A convenient one-stop system, allowing pet owners to complete every step of the procedure from signing up for veterinary hospitals to claiming hospital expenses with insurers on a single platform, could be possible as early as next summer. These are a part of announcements jointly made by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on Monday, with an aim to spur the further growth of the pet insurance market in the country. According to the top financial regulator, the number of domestic pets surged by 25.8 percent over four years, from 6.35 million in 2018 to an estimated 7.99 million in 2022. Yet, the subscription rate of pet insurance plans for the 7.99 million domestic pets stood only at 0.9 percent as of the end of last year. It is a very low figure, compared to the U.K.'s 25 percent, Japan's 12.5 percent and the U.S.' 2.5 percent. "The number of households raising pets has increased significantly with the spread of single-person households, aging population and increased interest in animal protection. While demand is growing for pets' health care, the burden of medical treatment costs remains high. Accordingly, the government plans to improve infrastructure for pet medicine and insurance, as it will push forward with boosting pet insurance markets, which is one of the incumbent administration's key policy initiatives," the FSC said. Currently, 11 non-life insurance companies are selling pet insurance plans, but most of them are similar in coverage limits and premiums. Thus, the government aims to encourage the diverse development of customized insurance plans and new products by allowing new players into the market. Aiming to enhance pet treatment and insurance infrastructure, registered pets will receive strengthened discount benefits. So far, only built-in chips have been allowed as a way to officially register pets, but other easier options, such as pets' biometric information, will be accepted as a registration method starting next year. In January next year, veterinary treatment items will also be standardized, facilitating the enhanced infrastructure of pet treatment. The insurance claims process will also be improved. Currently, only animal hospitals are eligible for submission of claims for coverage to insurance companies. By the end of the first half of next year, pet owners themselves will be allowed to send medical treatment details to insurance companies and file insurance claims. Serious flooding in Bago region in the south of Myanmar. (Photo source: Xinhua/VNA) Hanoi - Myanmars Ministry of Education on October 13 announced that a total of 268 schools in Bago region in the south of the country were closed due to serious flooding. According to the ministry, some schools that were less inundated have been able to reopen while others were still cleaning up the debris left behind by the floods. Heavy rain since October 8 hit the Bago region, causing widespread flooding and disrupted traffic, forcing authorities to evacuate thousands of people. Not only the Bago region, prolonged floods since July have also seriously affected nine states and localities in Myanmar including Rakhine, Kachin, Karen, Mon and Chin. ASEAN mobilises resources to assist cyclone-hit Myanmar The Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has sent another batch of relief items from the people of ASEAN to the people of Myanmar affected by Tropical Cyclone Mocha, said ASEAN Chair Indonesia. Thu Thiem urban area is located in the areas of An Khanh, Thu Thiem, An Loi Dong wards and part of Binh An and Binh Khanh wards (Thu Duc City), with a total area of 657 hectares., Source: Laodong.vn The Mett and The Hallmark are both Grade A buildings in a convenient location only five minutes from Nguyen Hue Boulevard the heart of Ho Chi Minh City with green certificates. Both have achieved positive pre-commitment leasing results. According to Savills Vietnam, both these projects quickly reached 50 per cent of occupancy with a monthly rental price of $50 per sq.m mere months after opening. With its close location to the central area and high development quality of new projects, this area has attracted tenants from the finance, banking, real estate, IT, and communication sectors. Prominent customers come from Australia, Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Vietnam, said Giang Huynh, deputy director at Savills Ho Chi Minh City. The rapid rising occupancy rate in The Mett and The Hallmark shows the positive demand of the tenant group in banking and finance, as well as the attraction of Thu Thiem New Urban Area, Huynh continued. Office space in the Thu Thiem New Urban Area makes up 90 per cent of the total market share of new spaces in Ho Chi Minh City in 2023. This proves demand for quality office stock in prime locations from tenants, especially multinational corporations, remains strong. Thanks to this new supply, the total net lettable area of Ho Chi Minh City office space reached 1.6 million sq.m as of October. Pham Ngoc Thien Thanh, associate director, Research & Consulting at CBRE Ho Chi Minh City believes that new high-end office space in Thu Thiem has more competitive rent than the central area. This will give tenants more choices between three areas: District 1, Thu Thiem and District 7 when they want to set up offices according to international standards. Although these two office buildings do not currently have a strong impact on the office market in District 1, in the long run, Thu Thiem will also be an important counterweight to draw in a large number of visitors. Especially when buildings in the central area no longer have a large enough supply to serve multinational companies, Thanh said. Before these two projects, Thu Thiem only had the Sonix Tower belonging to the IIA Complex launched in 2019, providing about 21,000sq.m of high-end office space for lease. In addition, some office areas are integrated into other multi-functional projects such as GS E&C and Lotte. However, these projects are now at the design stage, so the amount of office space for rent that to be brought from these projects is unknown. Thu Thiem is a new metropolitan hub on Thu Thiem Peninsula in Thu Duc city, located opposite District 1 across the Saigon River. Covering 730 hectares, Thu Thiem desires to be akin to Manhattan in New York, with an ambitious plan to develop into a new financial hub of Ho Chi Minh City, the country and region. According to the detailed planning approved by Ho Chi Minh City Peoples Committee in 2005, the area hopes to one day be the new central district of the second city with the commercial and financial centre including many 40-storey buildings and residential areas with accommodation for 130,000 people, as well as one million visitors. Office projects on Thu Thiem Peninsula will benefit from a series of core infrastructure projects that have been gradually completed, such as Thu Thiem Tunnel, Mai Chi Tho Avenue, Thu Thiem and Ba Son bridges. The next six months will witness big competition in the office space in the southern metropolis with six new office projects launched, including The Nexus, VP Bank Saigon Tower (District 1), and E. Town 6 (Tan Binh), covering nearly 100,000sq.m in total. The demand for high-quality premises with international Grade A standards is expected to continue to increase, especially for projects following green standards, as high-end tenants need to expand and upgrade. Landlords are increasingly under more pressure to retain customers, and are doing so through a series of measures, such as building renovations, upgrading management quality, and increasing no fee time-slots. It is hoped that such initiatives will give a boost to a market that has much potential but is struggling in the short term. 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. Stuck in the mud: reviving the fortunes of Thu Thiem Once expected to be the Pudong of Vietnam, after more than a decade of slow development the Thu Thiem area of Ho Chi Minh City is not close to fulfilling its potential, with incomplete plans galore. After nearly three years of construction, the new NIC headquarters in Hoa Lac High-Tech Park (NIC Hoa Lac) is going to be launched. With a total working floor area of nearly 20,000 sq.m, which includes two office blocks and 1 international conference. This is a regional and world-class ecosystem to attract domestic and foreign partners and technology enterprises to set up research, training, research and development (R&D) facilities. Up to date, partners have registered to fill all the exhibition booths across all three floors of NIC Hoa Lac. NIC director Vu Quoc Huy chairing the press conference on October 14, 2023 at the NIC Hoa Lac Vu Quoc Huy, NIC director, said that the total cost of building NIC Hoa Lac was nearly VND1 trillion, which does not come from the state budget, but is mobilised by domestic and foreign enterprises in diverse forms like investment socialisation. The main function of the NIC is to connect all the elements of the innovation ecosystem in accordance with NIC's focus areas and Industrial Revolution 4.0. NIC focuses on promoting innovation, cooperation, and forming supply chains in eight major areas like smart factories, smart cities, digital content, cybersecurity, environmental technology, medical technology, semiconductor industry, and hydrogen technology. NIC acts as an intermediary organisation when working and connecting with investment funds, financial institutions, and in supporting capital raising and premises for startups right from the early stages. The ballroom with more than 1,000 seats for international conferences and exhibitions Vietnam International Innovation Exhibition 2023 (VIIE 2023) will be held from October 28 to November 1 at NIC Hoa Lac. The exhibition will introduce new products and technology solutions in eight mentioned-above major areas with the participation of large domestic and international corporations and innovative technology enterprises such as: SpaceX, SK, Samsung, Google, Meta, Signify, Intel, VISA, Viettel, FPT, and VNPT. Besides this, there are also international specialised seminars, such as the Vietnam Venture Summit; STEAM & Robotics Festival; and Better Choice Awards Gala. It is expected that more than 40,000 people will directly participate in the exhibition's activities. Among them, more than 2,000 delegates are leaders of central and local agencies; large corporations and technology enterprises; as well as research institutes, universities and innovation support organisations of Vietnam and overseas. The NIC under the Ministry of Planning and Investment was established in Decision No.1269/QD-TTg of October 2019. However, the NIC has not spent any state budget so far. The goals, functions and tasks of NIC are to promote the development of Vietnam's innovation ecosystem; support Vietnamese innovative businesses; developing innovative human resources; building and operating the Vietnamese innovation network. The global Vietnamese innovation network has been formed with 2,000 members, including Vietnamese experts and intellectuals in the country and abroad in 20 countries and territories (including eight component networks in Germany, Japan, Australia, South Korea, Europe, Taiwan, as well as the east and west coasts of the United States. Innovative startups eyeing fresh opportunities A new annual event called Inno Vietnam-Japan Fast Track Pitch took place in Hanoi on August 29 to showcase innovative startups. 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. It takes 5-11 years to implement an offshore wind power project Local private company Xuan Cau Holding sent an official letter requesting a proposal to the government and ministries to build offshore wind power under the pilot mechanism and apply for a survey permit for its project. The Con Co offshore wind power plant project was proposed by Xuan Cau Holding, with a capacity of 1,000MW, construction location in the waters off Con Co Island and Gio Linh district in the central province of Quang Tri. The southern province of Hau Giang also wants to add the Long My 2 wind power plant project to the national power development plan VIII. The project is invested by Hong Kong-based Envision Energy (Hong Kong) Limited and helps fulfill the power demand of the province and reduce dependence on electricity transmitted from other areas. Sources from the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) said that to date, the ministry has received investment proposals for new power plants with a capacity of up to 550,000MW from localities. Notable among these is the proposal to invest in offshore wind power of up to 129,000MW. Among the localities boldly proposing to build offshore wind power is the central province of Binh Thuan, with proposals for eight projects with a scale of more than 22,000MW. Not to be outdone, the central province of Ninh Thuan has proposed 21,000MW of offshore wind power. In the north, we must mention the northern port city of Haiphong, with a proposed offshore wind power project of 3,900MW. The northern province of Quang Ninh proposes 3,000MW of offshore wind power. The northern province of Thai Binh proposes about 8,000MW of offshore wind power from two projects. While the northern province of Nam Dinh proposed adding 12,000MW of offshore wind power in four phases. Vietnam's Power Development Plan VIII set a target to ease the share of renewable energy to 31-39 per cent by 2030 and 67.5 71.5 per cent by 2050, in which onshore wind power to be developed to a capacity of 21,880MW by 2030 and offshore wind power to be developed to a capacity of 6,000MW. Further development of offshore wind power will rise to a capacity of 70,000 to 91,500MW by 2050 if technology capabilities and costs allow. Previously, Bui Van Thinh, chairman of the Binh Thuan Wind Power Association, warned that the characteristics of wind power projects were large investment rates of about $1.8-2 million per MW for projects using equipment of European origin. Therefore, the risks of wind power projects are also much higher than other sources. If too much wind power capacity is introduced without a grid to release all the capacity, it will cause great damage to investors and society, especially banks that cannot recover debts, he said. illustration photo/ Source: freepik.com Bangkok - Cities in Thailand outside Bangkok can accelerate the country's growth but will need to find ways to access private capital to improve urban infrastructure, according to a study by the World Bank (WB). Titled "Thailand Urban Infrastructure Finance Assessment", the study said Bangkok has long been the country's hub of economic growth and productivity. But as that growth slows, cities such as Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen and Rayong could pick up the baton with investments in mass transit systems, renewable energy and other urban infrastructure, which will be critical for the country's competitiveness and ability to adapt to a changing climate. However, to fund these investments, cities cannot rely solely on the central government's budget, and should consider municipal borrowing and public-private partnerships, noted the report. The WB said urban growth will provide benefits to city and country populations alike through more reliable transport, electrification and access to markets, education and health services. It will enable people, goods and services to move efficiently within and across cities to promote growth, jobs and improve the quality of life, the bank added. Patricia Mongkhonvanit, Director-General of the Public Debt Management Office at the Thai Ministry of Finance, said secondary cities can drive growth and alleviate rural poverty by generating accessible opportunities for those living in rural areas. The Ministry of Finance will leverage the insights and findings presented in the study to support urban growth in these cities to meet the needs of the residents, businesses and industries, she said. Thailand continues to extend emergency decree in southern region 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. It is estimated that the Japanese investor has earned about VND88 billion ($3.59 billion) after divesting capital from PSI. In February 2011, SMBC Nikko Securities spent VND133.7 billion (nearly $6.9 million) to buy its stake in PSI at a price of 15,000 VND (61 US cents) per share. SMBC Nikko Securities was the largest shareholder in PSI for a decade. After nearly 12 years of investing in PSI, SMBC Nikko Securities has yet to receive any dividends, with the Japanese company estimated to have lost more than 34 per cent in that time. SMBC Nikko Securities Inc (formerly known as Nikko Cordial) was established in 1918 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC). At the beginning of this year, SMBC divested from Vietnam Export Import Commercial Joint-Stock Bank (Eximbank) after 15 years of their strategic alliance. In May 2022, SMBC signed a MoU with Vietnam Prosperity Joint-Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank) and in March this year, an agreement to acquire a 15 per cent equity stake in VPBank was reached. SMBC hopes to further strengthen its growth strategy and contribute to the further development of the financial industry in Vietnam through its business partnership with VPBank. SMBC spends over $9 million to scoop up SmartNet shares Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) has inked a deal to form a capital alliance with Smart Net Trading Service JSC (SmartNet) with the purchase of shares valued at $9.36 million. SMBC divests from Eximbank after 15 years Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) has divested from Vietnam Export Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Eximbank) after 15 years of strategic alliance. Unlocking the potential of digital data across Vietnam, illustration photo/ Source: freepik.com Digital data has been an important and crucial part of development for 23 years. In digital transformation, digital data is increasingly recognised as having a clearer and more important role. This is reflected in the fact that we have chosen 2023 as the year of national digital data, promoting digital transformation in all industries, at all levels, and among all-people on a national scale. There are several stages associated with the level of data development maturity. The first phase features the early development of databases. Data is collected for the first time, followed by basic digitalisation, measurement, and surveys, and it is then put into storage and databases. Data initially is mainly used for statistics and publications and almost never updated or only updated periodically over a long period of time. Typical examples of built databases are geographic databases, rice land databases or those containing population census data. In the phase of database information systems. As the application of IT was gradually developed by state agencies, information systems were gradually formed and have effectively contributed to serving ministries, agencies and localities. Large information systems built with their own databases have collected and stored large amounts of data. However, during this phase data was mainly circulated within the system, and within the scope of operations of state agencies, and industries. Connecting and sharing data was limited, and lacked compatibility in data standards. Typical databases were business registration databases, and insurance and tax databases. The stage of using databases as the foundation for e-government development only clearly took shape when the national population database was put into operation. The national population database is not built specifically for a specific system or professional activity, but was used as the foundation for implementing many activities and solutions for government development. The role of this database as the e-government development foundation was clearly shown in the overall project to simplify administrative procedures, citizen documents and related databases in 2013-2020, as well as the project to develop application of population data, identification and electronic authentication to serve national digital transformation in 2022-2025. The role is still being strongly implemented in national databases. The database that serves as the foundation for e-government is different from the databases in previous periods as it is built for multiple purposes, providing standardised and widely available data sharing services for ministries, agencies, localities, organisations and individuals. Data is shared online, in real time and standardised in line with unified and synchronised data structure standards. Now data is the foundation for digital transformation of public administration and development of the digital economy and society. This stage is evident when digital transformation has been deployed deeply and widely in social life. Data is increasingly collected and abundant in society and is combined with the advancement of science and technology when new technologies such as AI and big data. Data is now being collected from social life, and used to solve social problems, and promote creativity and innovation in society. AI will get smarter thanks to more data; public administration will be better; businesses will optimise; new business lines will take shape; and human life will be better, all thanks to data. Building data is building a foundation for social development. We are moving towards this stage, and new information is being harnesses in digital transformation strategies. Currently, we have moved from the stage of applying IT (computerisation) to the stage of digital transformation. Along with the rapid changes in technology, with many new digital technologies being taking shape, the perspectives and approaches to data in digital transformation, new actions should be taken to unlock the huge potential of digital data in the time to come to enable us to achieve the goals of developing a digital and digital society. (*) Nguyen Trong Khanh - Deputy head, Division of Digital Platforms and Data, Authority of Information Technology Application, Ministry of Information and Communications Vietnam in need of national digital data strategy The 2023 Vietnam-Asia DX Summit is taking in Hanoi between May 24 and 25 to discuss driving economic growth through digital data and smart connectivity. Data security A top priority for digital economy development Businesses, policymakers, and experts gathered at the Vietnam Security Summit 2023 on June 2 to discuss the importance of information security and how to effectively utilise it in the context of digital transformation and global uncertainties. Real estate consultant Knight Frank announced a quarterly decrease in Ho Chi Minh City office rents as new supply has pushes vacancies to 18 per cent, Urban office rents fall amid supply glut In its Q3 market update released at the beginning of October, the company reported that Grade A office rents registered a quarterly decrease of 2.2 per cent, with a 0.2 per cent fall for Grade B rents as vacancy rates jumped to 18.2 per cent and 11.6 per cent, respectively. Alex Crane, managing director of Knight Frank Vietnam, said that the amount of available space today was higher than it has been since when he arrived in Vietnam in 2011. While the vacancy rate then was also around 20 per cent, with downward pressure on rents, the market was far smaller and cumulative space available in Grade A was less than half of that available today, he said. What is far different now is the quality of buildings on offer, but the demand side, particularly from multinational companies, should continue to increase in Vietnam, and Ho Chi Minh City in particular. The downtrend and the capacity of the market have fluctuated recently as building owners and office rental companies are racing to reduce prices to draw in tenants. Many affordable office towers with rents ranging from $16.6 to $21 per sq.m per month in Phu Nhuan and Tan Binh districts and on the outskirts of District 1 have recorded a 10-20 per cent decrease in rents. Many are applying an indirect office rental discounts in the form of rent two, get one free promotions or expanding the payment schedule or management fee exemptions. Hoang Minh, a sale representative for a private office building in Dien Bien Phu street of Ho Chi Minh City, said that his rent was now reduced by 15 per cent compared to September, but there were few tenants as the competition had been tough. Minh said that some small enterprises in his building had turned their back on spaces that they had leased for years and moved to outskirt areas of Ho Chi Minh City to take advantage of lower rates. According to the Department of Business Registration Management under the Ministry of Planning and Investment released in the first nine months of 2023, more than 135,100 businesses withdrew from the market, an increase of nearly 20 per cent over the same period in 2022. Of these, the majority of businesses chose to temporarily suspend short-term business (56 per cent) operations to overcome their difficulties. For the high-end and premium office segment, the push downwards on average is also a result of new buildings arriving in Thu Thiem, which are offered at a more competitive rent to the traditional District 1 core. Tu Thi Hong An, senior director of Savills Vietnam, said that many tenants were facing financial difficulties, so they are very cautious when making decisions. This causes investors to have flexible rental policies while focusing on providing service incentives to support tenants when searching and choosing workspaces, An said. The trend of reducing office rents is increasingly clear, with the office rental market showing rapid adaptation to supply and demand fluctuations. Savills Vietnam recorded a decrease in rental prices in 2022-2023 when investors were flexible in adjusting rental prices to both retain existing tenants and draw in new tenants. This shows acumen in adapting to market fluctuations. Tenants are also gradually changing the way they use offices to focus on reducing costs, An said. Along with the flexible working trend, the office market is seeing new trends that could change the face of the market. Many tenants are moving their offices outside the central business district to reduce rental costs and improve working space. New office buildings such as Phu My Hung Tower, CII Tower, and The Hallmark in Thu Duc City are meeting this need with high-end amenities and green office certification. Along with that, the current office model focuses on providing services and amenities to meet the diverse needs of human resources of different ages and habits. The transformation of the traditional office structure and layout to a modern office not only helps increase work efficiency but also creates opportunities to interact and increase interaction of employees across the company and different generations. Hanoi greening urban roads Together with contributing to the implementation of the Governments target to plant 1 billion trees during the 2021-25 period, Hanoi is stepping up tree planting along urban roads and aims to plant up to 250,000 this year. Daniel Savala, the spiritual mentor linked to the arrest of former Baylor University-based Chi Alpha minister Chris Hundl, was charged last week with sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child by sexual contact by the Houston Police Department. Savala, 67, is a registered sex offender at the center of a sexual abuse scandal plaguing Chi Alpha Ministries, a worldwide Christian college ministry affiliated with the Assemblies of God Church. Savala is alleged to have ties to the leadership of multiple Chi Alpha chapters at Texas universities, where he worked in an unofficial capacity. Hundl referred to Savala as a spiritual mentor, according to Hundl's May arrest affidavit. Since early June, Savala has been in McLennan County Jail on a local charge of continuous sexual abuse of a child, which was upgraded to a charge of continuous trafficking of a person in a September indictment. Arrest warrant affidavits in the case allege Hundl, 38, allowed Savala to sexually abuse two young family members on several occasions between summer 2021 and March 2022. The two new Houston charges against Savala were added Wednesday, but case information on the Harris County District Clerk website indicates the case was initially filed Aug. 15. According to an affidavit, a man reported to Houston police that Savala had sexually assaulted him on multiple occasions in 2005 when the man was 16 years old. The affidavit says the man was introduced to Savala by a Sam Houston State University Chi Alpha youth pastor when he was 15. He told police he and the youth pastor visited Savala at his Houston home and became friends, the affidavit says. Beginning in February 2005, he began visiting Savala alone after obtaining his drivers license, approximately two times per month for about two years, the affidavit says. On the accusers first visit, Savala asked him about masturbation and pornography, and the conversations about those topics became more explicit over the next visits, according to the affidavit. Eventually, Savala encouraged the then-teen to get naked with him, using the Biblical quote naked and unashamed, the affidavit says. He told police he trusted Savala and removed his clothes, after which Savala encouraged the accuser to examine Savalas genitals, commented on the accusers genitals and touched the accusers genitals, the affidavit says. The affidavit says the man reported many other instances of sexual abuse, including sexual touching and an incident in which Savala performed oral sex on the teen, then asked him to reciprocate, the affidavit says. Savala has been held in the jail since June 9 on $250,000 bond, which has been increased to $350,000 following the addition of the new charges. His trial in the continuous trafficking of a person case is set to begin Feb. 12 in Wacos 54th State District Court, where he will be represented by Huntsville attorney Bryan Cantrell. Savala has been associated with multiple chapters of Chi Alpha since at least 1989. A 1989 article from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette yearbook refers to Savala as a Chi Alpha staff member and world traveled missionary, but Assemblies of God officials said in a statement that was a captioning error, and that Savala did not hold credentials with Assemblies of God and never served as an official Chi Alpha staff member. In 2012, Savala was charged with 11 counts of sexual abuse of a child in Alaska, and was convicted on one of the charges as part of a plea deal. According to a Ketchikan Daily News article, Savala worked as a youth minister at Clover Pass Community Church in Ketchikan, Alaska, from 1995 to 1997. An assistant district attorney quoted in the article said Savala used his authoritative role to groom young boys to engage in sexual acts. Savala was sentenced to two years in prison in the case, but only served 90 days and was required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. The length of the sentence was in part due to the fact the crime took place before stricter sentencing guidelines for sex offenders were implemented in Alaska, the article says. In June, another Clover Pass Church leader, Dwight Chris John, 71, was indicted in Alaska on 17 child sexual abuse charges. In addition to Hundl, Will Robinson, the former minister of Chi Alpha at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, was arrested in July and charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child, sexual assault of a child, indecency with a child by exposure and two counts of indecency with a child by sexual contact. Hundl previously served at the Corpus Christi Chi Alpha chapter before moving to Waco in 2019 to found the Baylor chapter. Baylor officials said in May that the Chi Alpha chapter at the school was suspended and under investigation, emphasizing Hundl was not a Baylor employee. Officials from the Assemblies of God North District Council said Hundl was dismissed as a credentialed minister May 31. He was released from jail May 24 on $50,000 bond after being arrested the day before. Skywatchers and science enthusiasts gathered by the hundreds Saturday to see a partial solar eclipse from Waco. Baylor Universitys Mayborn Museum and Texas State Technical College hosted watch parties to view the moon slowly crawl across the face of the sun. As seen from Waco, the moon covered 84% of the sun at the height of the partial eclipse. A total solar eclipse will be visible from Waco on April 8, 2024. Waco is almost dead center in the viewing path of that event, and the city is expecting thousands to visit here to see it. The moon began to cross in front of the sun at 10:23 a.m. Saturday and reached maximum obscuration around 11:53 a.m. At that point, the moon covered nearly all of the sun, but did not actually expose the solar corona in wavy emanations known as the ring of fire, according to Barbara Castanheira Endl, Baylor University astrophysicist and associate professor of physics. The ring of fire was visible farther south in Texas near San Antonio and San Angelo, Castanheira Endl said. The annular eclipse ended around 1:30 p.m. Eclipse viewing at the the Sue & Frank Mayborn Natural Science and Cultural History Museum Complex was part of annual SicEm Science Day organized by the museums April Love and her team. For SicEm Science Day, scientists of many disciplines gather to spark interest in science for inquiring minds of all ages, museum spokesperson Molly Noah said. As the moon began to increasingly obscure the sun, scientists and members of the public paused indoor demonstrations and walked outside to surround the museum and view the partial eclipse. With the eclipse and all the research going on at Baylor, we view SicEm Science days as an opportunity to engage the community and excite their interest in all the science were doing right here in their community, Noah said At TSTCs Waco Recreation Center about 200 people gathered to participate in viewing activities hosted by the Waco Challenger Learning Center. Its a one of a kind experience. Its so hard to describe into words, said Conrad Lund, Challenger Center coordinator. Lund and his Challenger Center team put together several STEM activation tables inside the TSTC recreation center including art expression, a miniature planetarium and assembling model robots. Crowds used special solar filter glasses to view th eclipse directly. Those without glasses gazed at shadows on sidewalks and the ground at both locations. At the Mayborn Museum, Alan Small, the museums director of STEM showed viewers how to slowly close a fist, oriented toward the eclipse and view the crescent within the shadow of their hands. Im running the tinkering station today, where people can tinker in light and shadow, Small said, taking a computer keyboard from which the reverse side and all the keys had been removed, leaving dozens of square holes open and oriented it toward the eclipse. Lifelong friends Julie Long, Sheryl Straubel and Diane Ligon, gathered at the Mayborn to view their first eclipse. They look forward to seeing the total eclipse in April. Baylor electrical engineer Alan Wang, who studies optics and photonics as well as being a research partner with the museum, brought a square of thin translucent plastic that focused the suns rays. Even as the moons shadow crawled across the sun reaching 50 percent obscuration, on the way to 84 percent, Wangs plastic square focused enough light to burn twigs on the sidewalk to the delight of young and old for SicEm Science Day. Meanwhile at the TSTC campus, the Galindo family came with mother, children and a friend to view the eclipse. It was an awesome experience, Christina Galindo said, expressing her appreciation as a parent to TSTC for putting on an event where children could view the eclipse and learn about science. Markos, her middle school age son, said he could see that the sun appeared as a crescent shape. Galindos elementary age daughter Caliyah said she saw light and then darkness, looking up through the special dark glasses. When I put the glasses on, I saw the moon, Gyzalea, Galindos pre-school age daughter, said. A TSTC student who photographs clouds as a hobby, Krege Bailey came to view the eclipse. I saw a black dot, with the sun above it, Bailey said. It looked like a mini-horizon. IOC approves double allocation of 2030 and 2034 Winter Olympics Xinhua) 09:31, October 16, 2023 International Olympic Committee (IOC) spokesman Mark Adams speaks during the press conference after the first day of the 141st International Olympic Committee (IOC) session in Mumbai, India, Oct. 15, 2023. (Xinhua/Cao Can) MUMBAI, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- The hosts of the 2030 and 2034 Winter Olympics will be selected simultaneously next year, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided on Sunday. The decision was taken at the 141st IOC Session in Mumbai after the IOC's Future Host Commission proposed for the double award of the Winter Games over concerns of the impact of climate change. The IOC said on Friday two reports have shown that only 10 countries would be able to stage Winter Olympics by 2040, based on IOC requirements including average temperature and sustainability via existing venues. So far France, Switzerland and Sweden have expressed interest in hosting the 2030 Winter Olympics, while Salt Lake City is interested in the 2034 edition, according to Future Host Commission chairman Karl Stoss. Japan's Sapporo has dropped its bid for 2030 earlier this week. The 2026 Winter Games will be staged in Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. Photo taken on Oct. 15, 2023 shows the press conference after the first day of the 141st International Olympic Committee (IOC) session in Mumbai, India. (Xinhua/Cao Can) Photo taken on Oct. 15, 2023 shows the press conference after the first day of the 141st International Olympic Committee (IOC) session in Mumbai, India. (Xinhua/Cao Can) (Web editor: Liang Jun) Voluntary agreement between creditors and corporations to take effect within this month By Anna J. Park As the country's five-year-limited law on corporate debt restructuring or workout expired on Monday, the Financial Services Commission (FSC), the top financial regulator, has vowed to respond to the legislative vacuum with voluntary agreements between debt-lending financial institutions and money-borrowing corporations to minimize potential confusion in the market. The financial authority has also vowed to closely cooperate with the Assembly for the re-legislation of the law as soon as possible. "We express our deep regret (over the cessation of the effect of the workout law), and the FSC will thoroughly examine any difficulties borne by corporations due to the lack of legal framework. The FSC will take immediate action when necessary, FSC Chairman Kim Joo-hyun said Sunday, vowing to close the possible legal loopholes to support normalized corporate activities. The Corporate Restructuring Promotion Act, which ended its five-year effect on Sunday, had so far served as the fundamental legal framework for debt adjustment, or workouts, of companies with signs of upcoming insolvency. The law allows a company that undergoes a temporary liquidity crisis to prolong its debt maturity or necessary capital, when more than 75 percent of creditors consent to provide such support. Two pending bills at the National Assembly failed to extend the effect of the act earlier this month amid extreme conflicts between the ruling and opposition parties. This now leaves insolvent Korean companies the only option of court receivership, or corporate rehabilitation procedures, as a valid means for restructuring. With the workout system losing its legal basis, market watchers urge lawmakers and the government to swiftly work on re-legislation. They warn that without the corporate workout system, providing necessary liquidity and readjusting debts to marginal companies will become difficult, threatening the vitality of the economy. In the event of a workout, creditors can also flexibly join hands to support a firm's rapid normalization without court intervention. In addition, the possibility of one company's liquidity crisis spreading to others has increased, as court receivership, unlike workouts, freezes all outstanding debts, exposing partner companies of an insolvent firm to their own risk of insolvency. The current legal vacuum has now become more dangerous, given that 17.5 percent of the country's listed corporations in Korea are considered marginal, having difficulty with interest payments on debts with their operating profits, according to data by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI). The ratio of such zombie companies is on the rise every year, from 9.2 percent in 2017. "It is difficult to substitute the workout system based on the Corporate Restructuring Promotion Act, considering the system's convenience and the possibility of overcoming corporate insolvency," a Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) report highlighted. "The act should be institutionalized permanently, instead of repeating the current unstable practice of facing the threat of expiration every few years, to prevent a distortion in corporate restructuring plans." The act was first introduced in 2001, following an increase in calls for government-led restructuring during the Asian Financial Crisis in the late 1990s. It was enacted as a temporary law with an expiry date, and it has since been either re-legislated or amended six times so far. During the past two decades, there were four cases in which the act lost effect after the sunset deadline, similar to the current situation. The workout act has so far contributed to the normalization of some major companies in the country, including hynix and Hyundai Engineering & Construction. The law has maintained its status in the Korean legal system over six times of enactment or amendment, as its usefulness has been recognized as necessary for companies' rapid normalization," an FSC official explained. We plan to minimize the legal vacuum in demand for restructuring by relying on voluntary agreements between creditor banks and corporations." The official also pointed out that the agreement is slated to take effect within this month, and added that the financial authorities will closely consult with the Assembly to push through the re-legislation of the workout law. Editors note: Voters have amended the Texas Constitution 517 times since 1876, and they will get the chance again Nov. 7. This is the 12th of a series of Tribune-Herald articles examining the intention and implications of the 14 amendments on the ballot. Of the 14 constitutional amendments Texans will vote on during the upcoming November election, Proposition 12 is not likely to affect the vast majority of Texans. Proposition 12 will appear on ballots as the constitutional amendment providing for the abolition of the office of county treasurer in Galveston County. In order for the amendment to go into effect, it must pass both in Galveston County and the state as a whole. If successful, Galveston would become the tenth county in Texas to remove its treasurer via a constitutional amendment. House Joint Resolution 134 created Proposition 12 and was passed by the majority of Republicans and Democrats in the House with 106 yeas and 32 nays. HJR 134 also passed the senate with a wide majority, 27 to 4. Current Galveston County Treasurer Hank Dugie ran on the platform of eliminating the position and said it was an outdated office that was no longer serving the county adequately. I believe county treasurer positions were created back in the 1800s and since then, county government and financial technology has really evolved and improved, he said. In Galveston County, we do not need an elected treasure to keep our money safe. We have a system of checks and balances outside of the county treasure that will be able to maintain that for the taxpayers. Eliminating the position requires a constitutional amendment because county governments are technically under the state government, Dugie said. A lot of government offices require constitutional amendments because county government is a subdivision of the state government, we kind of follow their rules, he said. Its been done nine other times [and been] successful every time theyve done it. Dugie also said that he has the support of the majority of the county government. Our county commissioners court unanimously and bipartisanly supports it, he said. I am the elected treasurer and I support it. So its something thats very popular here locally and were thankful that the state legislature agreed with us and put it on the ballot. If the proposition passes, Dugie said Galveston County could save hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Were looking to save about $500,000 a year in money that can be put towards things that are important to our citizens, Dugie said. Were not the first ones to do this. The state of Texas eliminated the state treasurers office in 1996 and so theres a little bit of precedence. Dugie has been working towards this goal for the past three years and he said the hardest part of the process was getting the legislatures attention. Even if its something that everyone, or the majority of people, agree on its still a big task to get that through the government, he said. I think a lot of the opposition has been from a lack of information or just a hesitancy to change the status quo. You know, people are pretty cautious to change anything. According to Dugies website, if the position is eliminated, the responsibilities of the office will likely be taken over by the county auditor and county finance departments. The website also says that Galveston County has its own designated chief financial officer and that the absence of a treasurer would not affect that position. The responsibilities of a county treasurer vary across the state depending on the population and other positions within the county government. According to the Brazos County website, the Brazos County treasurer acts as the main custodian of the countys finances. Brazos County Treasurer Cristian Villarreal said that his office is responsible for distributing all county funds. That includes accounts payable, payroll [and] jury checks, Villarreal said. We also receive ... all county revenues for the county and then reconcile the countys operating accounts and a few other main accounts that we have. ... We manage the unclaimed property program, so anything under $100 remains with the county and we reconcile that account. One of the most important roles that the Treasurer in Brazos County has is to act as a check and balance on the countys funds. PRESS RELEASE The long-serving volunteer Roy Martin was given the honour at a formal investiture ceremony on Tuesday 4 October, where he received his insignia, in the presence of his wife and two sons. The Kings Birthday Honours mark the extraordinary contributions of people across the UK, for their outstanding achievement or service to the community which has had a long-term, significant impact. Colleagues at the RAF Museum are delighted to see Roy awarded an MBE for his services and commitment to the heritage sector, and this award is a celebration of his decades of volunteering. Roy first volunteered at the Museum 50 years ago as a Curator. After four years he returned to his engineering roots, overseeing the engineering volunteer team who support the Museums Technicians and Apprentices to maintain the aircraft and keep them looking their best. Prior to joining the Museum, Roy served in the RAF for 22 years as Chief Technician, including nine years at RAF Cosford. On receiving his MBE, RAF Museum Volunteer, Roy Martin said: I was over the moon when I received my letter from Buckingham Palace back in June, informing me I was on The Kings Birthday Honours List. It was a long but exciting wait until October when I was invited to Windsor Castle to receive my medal, accompanied by my wife and our two sons. It wasnt until we arrived at the Castle that we were told The Prince of Wales would be awarding my medal at the investiture ceremony. This seemed special, with me being Welsh, and his association with the RAF. He was dressed in his RAF uniform which I thought was very appropriate for the background to my award. He mentioned my 50 years of work at the RAF Museum and that he had visited the Museum several times. It was a very sociable, relaxed and enjoyable few moments that I will never forget. After the ceremony, we strolled through the grounds and took lots of family photos. Bits of the day keep coming back in my thoughts I will never forget what a wonderful experience we had. On his time volunteering at the RAF Museum, Roy added: Being involved in the evolution of the RAF Museum over the past 50 years has been an amazing experience. I find it very rewarding when I see the public admiring the exhibit condition maintained by my group of volunteers. RAF Museum CEO, Maggie Appleton said: The whole Museum team is absolutely thrilled for Roy. He is a brilliant engineer and problem-solver and, even more importantly, he supports all of us with his warmth and generosity of spirit. We are so fortunate at the Museum to be blessed with brilliant volunteers, and Roys award is a very fitting and much-deserved tribute. The RAF Museum is open daily from 10.00am and entry is free. For more information visit rafmuseum.org/midlands. By Stephen Bridgewater As the Bearcat and ISS Fury tail-chased around Duxford airfield, showing the ultimate piston-powered fighters power and grace, the P-47 Thunderbolt and FG1D Corsair wheeled around performing elegant aerobatics. It could have been 1988, but it wasnt. It was October 14, 2023, and the Imperial War Museum (IWM) Duxford was celebrating the 50th anniversary of its first airshow, on the same date in 1973. All four of these big piston fighters have a long association with Duxford, and while the P-47 and Fury have moved on to new owners, the Bearcat and Corsair remain in the stable of The Fighter Collection (TFC). The latter have been resident at Duxford since 1984 and 1986 respectively and on this occasion, they were flown by Brian Smith and Stu Goldspink pilots with equally impressive associations with Duxford and the UK warbird world. Meanwhile, the Fury once owned by John Bradshaw and the former TFC Thunderbolt have moved on to the ownership of Graham Peacocks Fighter Engineering, but remain integral to the Duxford warbird scene. For this celebratory event they were flown by Paul Bonhomme and Steve Jones, themselves equally seasoned Duxford warbird pilots as well as Red Bull Air Race legends and aerobatic champions. That all four pilots come from non-military backgrounds is also symbolic of the British warbird world where many of the most talented and best-known pilots come from the self-funded, self-improver route. Duxford at 50 October 14, 1973, was not just the first Duxford airshow, it was the first time that the IWM Duxford site had been opened up to the public. The former RAF Battle of Britain station had become home to the 78th FG during the second half of WWII and in the immediate post-war years had returned to the RAF, behind home to the first generation of jet fighters, including Gloster Meteors and Hawker Hunters. Following closure, it was the scene of much of the filming for the 1969 classic movie Battle of Britain, during which it famously lost one of its hangars to a large pyrotechnic explosion the film crew succeeding in doing what the Luftwaffe failed to do almost thirty years previously. Duxford then fell into disrepair and at one point was destined to become a prison, but the IWM stepped in and the rest is history. Today, the site remains a mecca for warbirds and aviation history enthusiasts around the globe. First Show That first event in 1973 was a modest affair, with a handful of aircraft from the RAF, Royal Navy, Army Air Corps and civilian operators. The following aircraft are noted as appearing in the flying display element of the show: Avro Tutor K3215 (G-ASHA) Shuttleworth Collection Miles Magister P6382 (G-AJRS) Shuttleworth Collection Percival Provost T.1 XF836 Shuttleworth Collection Supermarine Spitfire V AB910/QJ-J Battle of Britain Flight Hawker Hurricane II LF363/LE-D Battle of Britain Flight Avro Lancaster PA474/KM-B Battle of Britain Flight Fairey Swordfish LS326/5A Fleet Air Arm Hawker Sea Fury FB.11 TF956 Fleet Air Arm Fairey Firefly AS.5 WB271 Fleet Air Arm De Havilland Mosquito T.3 RR299/HT-E (G-ASKH) Hawker Siddeley Aviation Gloster Meteor F.8 WH291 RAF 229 OCU Vickers Varsity T.1 WJ903 RAF 5 FTS English Electric Canberra B.2 WJ753 RAF 100 Sqn Hawker Hunter F.6 XG274 RAF 4 FTS (did not land). Westland Wasp HAS.1 XS567 Royal Navy 829 Sqn (now on display in the museum at Duxford) Westland Scout AH.1 XV126 Army Air Corps Development & Trials Squadron Westland Scout AH.1 XV131 Army Air Corps Development & Trials Squadron Lockheed C-130K Hercules XV185 RAF 24 Sqn. BAC Jet Provost T.5 XW370 RAF 3 FTS The Geminis Pair BAC Jet Provost T.5 XW407 RAF 3 FTS The Geminis Pair BAC Jet Provost T.5 XW410 RAF 3 FTS The Geminis Pair (Spare) Douglas Dakota G-ANTC Hunting Surveys De Havilland Dove 6 G-ANUU CAA CAFU The modern-day IWM aspired to feature as many of those types as possible in the 50th-anniversary celebrations but was hampered by the lack of surviving examples. There are no airworthy examples of the Canberra or Hunter in the UK at the moment and the RAF retired its last C-130 earlier this year. Neither has a Varsity that has not appeared in the skies for many decades. The BBMFs season ends in early October, so a repeat appearance by the Lancaster, Spitfire and Hurricane was off the cards. Sadly the FAAHF Sea Fury and Firefly as well as the de Havilland Mosquito have all been lost in accidents and the Shuttleworth Collections Provost was subsequently been sold and has not flown for a number of years. Survivors Of the Jet Provosts XW370 and XW410 survived as ground instructional airframe at RAF Cosford and XW407 was written off during a non-fatal midair collision in 1986. Meteor WH291 survives as a static airframe with the Speke Aerodrome Heritage Group and is on display behind the Crowne Plaza Hotel at Liverpool John Lennon Airport, Hunter XG274 is under restoration to static condition by the Suffolk Aviation Heritage Group at Foxhall but Canberra WJ753 was written off in a non-fatal accident at RAF Marham in 1978. Meanwhile, Hercules XV185 was returned to Lockheed Martin in 2001 and subsequently scrapped. Dove G-ANUU was also scrapped, in this case at Biggin Hill after being retired in 1976 and Varsity WJ903 was scrapped at the Dumfries and Galloway Air Museum in 1987, although its nose section survives at the South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum in Doncaster. Fittingly, Wasp XS567 now resides in Duxfords Hangar 4 as a museum piece but of the pair of Scouts XV131 met its end on the fire dump at Middle Wallop in 2001. While Scout XV126 survives in private hands in the UK as G-SCTA, it has sadly not flown in recent years. The organisers did have options though, with the Shuttleworth Magister, Gladiator and Tutor still regular flyers. Both the Maggie and Tutor were therefore booked to attend the 50th anniversary celebrations. Show Day Following a week of often abysmal weather, October 14, 2023, dawned bright and dry albeit it breezy. While the two Shuttleworth Collection aircraft were the only genuine veterans of the first show to be booked, the organisers secured several representative types to fill in some of the gaps. These were joined by a smorgasbord of Duxford favourites and refreshingly a selection of new acts being given their first chance to display in front of a large audience. The flying kicked off at 1:00 pm with an impressive display of precision aerobatics by Diana Britten MBE in her Mudry CAP-232, followed by a sight that has become synonymous with Duxford a Hawker Hurricane and two Spitfire Is. While Hurricane P2902 (G-ROBT) flew a graceful aerobatic display Comanche Fighters Spitfires flew a delightful pairs routine. Although Spitfire X4650 (G-CGUK) is a relatively new restoration AR213 (G-AIST) has been a stalwart of British airshows since it was restored for the movie Battle of Britain in 1968. Although it flew from Duxford during the film, it was not one of the aircraft to appear at the first IWM Duxford airshow however, it has appeared at countless subsequent ones. The inclusion of AR213 set the scene for the appearance of aircraft that have delighted Duxford audiences over the last five decades. The trip was followed by Paul Fords Fokker Triplane replica (G-FOKK), which brought back memories of the late-great Robin Bowes, whose similarly marked aircraft played the Red Baron at countless Duxford airshows in the 1980s and 90s. Then it was the turn of Chris Heames to delight the crowds with Jet Provost T.5 XW325 (G-BWGF). The rare aerobatic display by a UK classic jet was a real treat, with Chris display included as a nod to the appearance of the Gemini Pair. Formed by 3FTS at RAF Leeming in the 1970s the team flew for three seasons, with the 1973 display at Duxford flown by Flt Lts Graham Miller and Clive Bob Thomson the latter an active jet warbird pilot in the 1990s and 2000s. Another airshow favourite followed in the shape of Plane Sailings Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina G-PBYA (actually a Canadian Vickers Canso). Plane Sailing first moved to Duxford in 1985 with its first Catalina (G-BLSC) and G-PBYA has been resident at the IWMs airfield since 2004. The inclusion of long-term Duxford residents such as this was an important nod to the past, although it was sad that the Old Flying Machine Companys Spitfire IX MH434 (G-ASJV) and B-17 Preservations B-17G Sally B were notably absent from the celebrations the latter having started its winter maintenance just a week or so before the event. New talent and old hands Following the Catalina and offering a true comparison in size were the two Taylor Monoplanes of Team Mono. Formed earlier this year by 21-year-old Ben Gilmore and his friend Bruce Buglass, the team flew an impeccable formation, and even their crossovers were at the crowd centre, despite the gusty wind. Over the decades Duxford has played witness to countless new pilots performing their airshow debuts from Mark Hanna to Richard Grace and the myriad young pilots now emerging onto the warbird scene such as James Hepnar. It was refreshing to see such young talent being showcased at this 50th-anniversary event, which also included a display debut by Isabel Rutland in the CK Aviation Services T-6 Harvard G-BTXI. The former TFC aeroplane was once a familiar sight at Duxford and Isabels solo routine followed a pairs display by Nigel Wilson and airshow veteran Rod Dean in Harvards G-TSIX and G-BGPB Taz respectively. Rod has been displaying at airshows since 1972 and has led some of the most memorable formations at Duxford, including the Battle of Britains 60th-anniversary formation of in excess of 20 Spitfires and Hurricanes in 2000. Another new act for 2023 was the Titans Aerobatics Team, with Patrick Wilson and Simon Ansell flying an unusual mixed formation of an American Champion Xtreme Decathlon and an XtremeAir XA42. Having appeared at a couple of events this season this pairing is truly breathtaking and, in the authors opinion, one of the standout airshow acts in the UK today. Today, Duxford fulfils an important role in the air display world by allowing tyro display pilots and acts with a location to practice and hone their skills. One team that has taken advantage of the opportunity is the Flying Comrades, comprising Duxford-based pilots David Hardisty, Alex Lewton and Tom Turner flying a Yakovlev Yak-18T (G-HUHU) and two Yak-52s (G-BXJB and G-YAKF) Familiar friends While DC-3 G-ANTC, which flew in the first IWM airshow still survives, it flies as HK-3215 with Aerolineas del Llano in Colombia so it was perhaps a little beyond the economical ferrying range for an airshow appearance! Nevertheless, there was another Dakota at Duxford on October 14, 1973. Ex-RAF Dakota KP220 had flown during the Berlin Airlift in 1948-49 with 24 Sqn and following service was struck off in 1950. Flown as G-ANAF by BKS Air Transport from 1953 it joined Hunting Surveys in November 1958 but in April 1973 it was retired and flown to Duxford for preservation by the East Anglian Aviation Society. The stripped-down aircraft was on show to the public within one of Duxfords hangars during the first airshow but by 1977 it had been sold to and revived by Air Atlantique. Used variously as a passenger aircraft, freighter, pollution control sprayer and even as a radar test airframe, G-ANAF was sold to Aero Legends in 2019 and appeared at Duxfords 50th-anniversary airshow in the markings of an RAF D-Day Dakota. In the hands of Andrew Dixon, G-ANAF was joined in the air by Aero Legends Spitfire IX TD314 (G-CGYJ), which was flown by Charlie Brown. Another Spitfire followed it into the skies in the shape of Rolls-Royces PR.XIX PS853 (G-RRGN). Visiting from East Midlands Airport, the former BBMF-owned airframe was a suitable nod to the BBMFs varied appearances at Duxford over the decades and on this occasion was flown by former BBMF Officer Commander Sqn Ldr Mark Disco Discombe MBE. Another familiar friend returned to Duxford for the anniversary show in the hands of (relatively) new owner Peter Kuypers. Beechcraft Staggerwing N18V was owned and operated from Duxford by warbird pioneer Robs Lamplough between 1979 and 1982 in the markings of an example flown by Prince Bernhard of The Netherlands. Peter acquired the aeroplane in 2021 and now uses it when commuting from the Netherlands to Duxford. Sadly, the Shuttleworth Collections Avro Tutor became unserviceable and was unable to join the celebrations, but the same Miles Magister that had appeared on October 14, 1973, graced the skies on October 14, 2023. Joining it, as a last-minute replacement for the sick Tutor, was a second Magister. Built for the RAF in 1941 as V1075, this aircraft later became G-AKPF and was also at Duxford for that first event, albeit in pieces in the hangar. Owned at the time by the East Anglian Aviation Association, visitors to the show could have their photograph taken in the cockpit. It would be 1991 before Adrian Brook returned Papa Fox to the skies and today it is based at Old Warden alongside the Shuttleworth Collection example. Flown by syndicate member Dave Bramwell it flew a coordinated display with G-AJRS flown by Jean-Michel Munn. Never in your dreams If one could travel back in time and speak to the visitors to the 1973 Duxford Airshow about their expectations for the future, few would have dreamt that three Hawker Hurricanes would fly a formation display fifty years later. Back then, just three Hurricanes were airworthy in the world PZ865 and LF363 with the BBMF and G-AWLW with the Strathallan Collection in Scotland. The latter would be exported to Canada in 1984 (and was tragically lost in a hangar fire nine years later) and it would be 1990 before TFCs G-HURI would take to the skies. Today, thanks in no small part to the efforts of Hawker Restorations, the worlds airworthy Hurricane population stands well into double figures, with five examples regularly calling Duxford home. For the 50th anniversary airshow, the former TFC Hurricane XII G-HURI (which has been operated from Duxford by the Historic Aircraft Collection since 1999) flew alongside two newly recreated Hurricane Is. Fighter Aviation Engineerings P2902 returned to the air for its second slot of the day, this time joined by the Hurricane 501 syndicates V7497 (G-HRLI). Returning to those 1973 attendees, perhaps even fewer of them would have imagined that airworthy examples of both the Hurricanes predecessor and successor would be on display at the airfield five decades later. Although they did not take part in the afternoon flying display, the Historic Aircraft Collections 1935 Hawker Fury K5674 (G-CBZP) did conduct an air test during the morning and was then parked alongside the newly-flown Hawker Tempest II MW763/G-TEMT, which had arrived at Duxford at the conclusion of its maiden flight from Sywell just a few days previously. The opportunity to see a flyable Fury, Hurricane, Tempest and Sea Fury on one airfield really is a dream come true for historic aviation enthusiasts. Flying Finale All too soon, it was time to assemble the aircraft for the finale of Duxfords 2023 airshow season. As previously described, the choice to fly the Thunderbolt, (Sea) Fury, Bearcat and Corsair was inspired. The display, which was choreographed and led by Paul Bonhomme, was a joy to behold and brought back memories of Duxford airshows of the past. It was easy to allow ones thoughts to drift and remember Stephen Grey and the much-missed Ray Hanna duelling in the Bearcat and the old OFMC Iraqi Fury or the late Hoof Proudfoot beating up the airfield in the Thunderbolt. It was unfortunate that Spitfire MH434 which is surely the most iconic Duxford warbird was unable to join them, nor the ex-Robs Lamplough Mustang Miss Helen (G-BIXL), B-17 Preservations Sally B, the Grace Spitfire (ML407) or a heavy metal fighter from the Aircraft Restoration Company (and its predecessor the British Aerial Museum). All of these organisations have played an integral role in making Duxford the mecca that it has become. There were certainly some missed opportunities at what could have been a truly spectacular event. However, there were enough old friends to spark nostalgia and bring back memories of the heyday of British airshows. You may not ever be faced with the prospect of a street robbery, but its important to know how to act if you ever encounter such a situation. The best way to protect yourself from a street robbery is to reduce your exposure to potentially being victimized. CEDAR FALLS The City Council will consider Monday hiring a consultant to study and provide options for a first-ever parking ramp in downtown. The council meets at 7 p.m. in City Hall, 220 Clay St., to consider voting on the $39,343 agreement with Fishbeck, a construction, engineering and architecture firm with offices in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan. According to a memo from Parking & Administrative Supervisor Marcie Breitbach, the company would conduct a feasibility study to identify the need for a downtown parking ramp, pricing structure for paid parking (in and around the ramp), and options and costs of parking ramps. The firm was one of three to submit a proposal to the city for the study. The city has completed downtown parking evaluations in the past but seen no progress on a project thats been heavily debated for years. But the council is looking again at the proposal. A dramatic change in its makeup will follow the November election and could affect plans. Mayor Rob Greenand three councilmembers with expiring terms, Susan deBuhr, Dave Sires and Simon Harding, are not seeking reelection. The city estimates between the land acquisition and construction, the cost now would be north of a $20 million two-thirds of the cost to reconstruct the portion of Main Street between Sixth Street and University Avenue. The council Monday also will weigh a $450,000 agreement with Strand Associates of Madison, Wisconsin, for planning services at its wastewater treatment plant in advance of an estimated $112.4 million upgrade spurred by environmental regulations. The firm was one of three to submit proposals for the job. The cost is only for initial design work to determine the technologies best suited for the unique wastewater treatment needs, providing a guide for the remainder of the design process. In other business, the council will: Consider rescinding the Imagine College Hill! vision plan for future development in the area. The resolution comes after a recommendation made by deBuhr, Sires, Dustin Ganfield and Daryl Kruse in committee earlier this month. Mayor Rob Green has told The Courier might veto that action if the council approves it. Hold a public swearing-in ceremony for new police dog Boona, Cedar Falls first K9 officer in 20 years. Agreements with Kubica Corporation on land conveyance and a partial tax exemption to allow the company to move forward with constructing new facilities in the citys industrial park. Authorize the acquisition of easements and fee titles from 36 properties in advance of the reconstructions of West Viking Road from Union Road to Production Drive, as well as the North Cedar Heights area, along Woodlawn Drive and East Ridgewood Drive to Greenwood Avenue. The West Viking Road project includes improvements all the way down to the Hudson Road corridor. WATERLOO James Aten never heard words uttered by Sen. Tim Scott that he didnt agree with. Thats why he, wife Patti and son Matthew of Waterloo made sure to attend the presidential hopefuls campaign event Friday at Starbecks Smokehouse in hopes he could tell him how he feels about his stances. The Atens were among a couple dozen to hear from the last of the big-name candidates to pass through the Cedar Valley in advance of caucusing in January. Hes on board with those common-sense American values that the Midwest is known for, Aten said about the man from South Carolina. But, deep down, I dont know if he has a chance to win the primary. Scotts appearance was a bit different than that of former Vice President Mike Pence, another Republican presidential candidate who a few weeks ago stopped by Starbecks. During Pences event, the dining area was cleared of tables and rows of seating were added in anticipation of him addressing everyone together at the front of the room. Originally, staffers said Scott didnt anticipate giving a stump speech, offering thoughts publicly and answering questions all together from the crowd. Instead, he was planning a more intimate event going table to table talking privately with attendees. Thats how it started. But a brief celebration of his communication directors birthday focused everyones attention on Scott. The room was relatively quiet and he took advantage of the moment. Scott gave a brief speech and took a slew of questions including from Aten who seized the moment to tell the candidate how he feels. He inquired further about Scotts plans to close the southern border shared with Mexico and take security to another level. I think we need to go a little farther, said Aten. I think we need to close the doors to the enemies of the United States who keep coming in every day and are causing these big problems. Scott leaned on criticism of the weak sitting president Joe Biden by responding that the current administration has left the inviting border insecure, unsafe and wide open. The two-term senator noted how hed finish the wall expansion of the MexicoUnited States barrier begun under former President Donald Trump,. Hed also use military technology to better surveil the areas in question and change policies, such as those addressing asylum, to limit people who enter in hopes of limiting the spread of fentanyl in the country, among other things. I would do that immediately from day one, said Scott. The Republican transitioned from talking about the border at that moment, to the United States adversaries. He told the couple dozen attendees how hed strongly reconsider the strategy around China. He said the future president should make it a priority to stop Chinas stealing and destroying of the United States intellectual property to get ahead as well as ensure the Communist regime does not continue to spy on our kids and buy our farm lands. This is an actual long-term threat that well be dealing with for the rest of our lives and one that we should learn to win by bringing our jobs over, bringing our technology home and depending more on supply chain sufficiency than we do on the price only of our supply chain, he said. Speaking of adversaries, Scott had the opportunity to talk about last weekends Hamas attack on Israel and the ensuing conflict, noting how we should stand against evil clear, consistently and aggressively. I hope that Israel wipes Hamas off the face of the Earth. Period. That is in everyones best interest, said Scott. Other issues The senator also received a question about the budget deficit. He blamed the debt on the insane spending since the COVID-19 pandemic erupted in 2020 and suggested restrictions needed to be placed on officials who splurge. The COVID emergency is over now, he said. We have to go back to pre-COVID levels of spending on our non-defense discretionary. That would save this nation more than one half of a trillion dollars. Scott also received questions about college affordability and higher education in general. He hit on how he thinks the trade schools are important for those who dont decide to pursue a four-year degree but also criticized the institutions that allow students to organize in support of Hamas and the craziness in the Middle East. He added that indoctrination has a bigger negative impact and is a bigger threat than the acceleration of higher education in China. We do need to make sure that our young brilliant kids are being taught how to think and not what to think, he said. That delineation of indoctrination versus education is absolutely essential whether youre at Harvard, Yale, Princeton or MIT. Scott touched on his other stances in his stump speech. He wants to protect the American dream for the impoverished as well as focus on the economy, strengthen the military and back law enforcement. I like how he goes table to table, said Marijo Petullo of Waterloo. I always enjoy making eye contact with the candidates. He has that conviction, even if it means criticizing someone if its necessary. Photos: UNI football at South Dakota State, Oct. 14 WATERLOO More than a dozen public hearings are on the agenda for Mondays City Council meeting. The Waterloo City Council meets at 5:30 p.m. on Monday in the council chambers at City Hall. Many development and assessment agreements could be approved, including some that could sell for $1. The council could approve selling city-owned property to A&K Ventures LLC, located northeast of 3151 Titan Trail, for $1. If approved, the company would construct a 6,500 square foot commercial building, and a future 6,000 square foot extension. The first phase would have a minimum assessed value of $624,125. Although previously passed in August, the council must hold a public hearing for the sale and conveyance of city-owned right-of-way at 2775 Crossroads Blvd. to Grant Park, LLC for $1. The rehearing is due to an error in publishing. The company plans to build a new 10,000 square foot commercial building, with a minimum assessed value of $2.2 million. The council will also hold hearings on: A request from Freedom Truck and Trailer Wash LLC, to build a truck and trailer washing facility at 3124 Titan Trail. Details about the Waterloo Regional Airports airline passenger terminal building and parking lot canopy project, which would use $2.2 million in state funding. A request from SKH Properties to build a 4,350 square foot medical office southeast of Jonathan Street. The sale and conveyance of 60 acres of city-owned property to PWM Companies LLC for $2.2 million, as well as a development agreement with a grant schedule of $40,000 annually. The commercial buildings would be located near 4342 Ansborough Ave. By Lee Yeon-woo Cryptocurrency exchange GOPAX has recently appointed Cho Young-joong, the CEO of CityLabs, as its new head. Cho, who will also continue his role at CityLabs, is the fourth CEO to assume office at GOPAX this year alone. After earning his MBA from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), he joined various domestic IT firms and has been leading CityLabs since 2018. The KOSDAQ-listed company focuses primarily on smart city businesses utilizing intelligent transportation systems. However, it aims to expand its scope to include blockchain solutions. On Sept. 22, the company acquired an 8.55 percent stake in Streami, the operator of GOPAX, with an investment of 5.4 billion won ($3.98 million). Market watchers believe that Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, has found a way into the Korean virtual asset market, given that financial authorities in Korea have been withholding approval for the company's acquisition of the nation's fifth-largest exchange since March. Binance is currently the largest shareholder of GOPAX with a 72.26 percent stake. However, it's projected that CityLabs will increase its ownership, potentially becoming the majority shareholder, with Binance still retaining a principal stake. If CityLabs' presence grows as projected, financial authorities might reconsider their stance toward Binance. The delays were attributed to the need to evaluate Binance's qualifications as a major shareholder and to investigate potential financial regulation violations by Binance's foreign executives in GOPAX. "We plan to examine the profitability structure of GOPAX, our primary business sector, and focus on restructuring for operational stability," Cho said. "Given the recent favorable external conditions, including the cryptocurrency market turning bullish, we will also work on re-establishing a medium- to long-term profit model derived from user expansion." A Clayton County livestock facility is again seeking approval from state regulators for how it will dispose of the manure it produces, and there is continued opposition. So this appears to be deja vu all over again, said Wallace Taylor, an attorney for the Sierra Club of Iowa. The problem is that Supreme Beefs operation does not fit the regulations. Taylor on Monday spoke against the cattle operations request for approval from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources for its nutrient management plan, which proposes to disperse its cattle manure on farm fields. The facility has been controversial because of its 39-million-gallon manure storage basin that is situated close to the headwaters of one of Iowas premier trout streams, Bloody Run Creek. Further, it is located in an area with porous geology, which means a leak has an increased potential to contaminate groundwater. The 11,600-cattle facility has been plagued for years with legal troubles, starting in 2019 when its owners sued their business partners for failing to construct an anaerobic digester than would produce natural gas from the manure. And earlier this year, a district court judge nullified a previous plan to manage the manure from the site, which was initially approved in 2021. Judge Scott Rosenberg said that plan was approved with illogical interpretations of the statutes. It is odd to approve a manure storage system that is banned from confinement operations due to the danger of spills and leaks into the porous bedrock, Rosenberg said. The livestock facility has continued to operate and has kept its manure on site, said Kelli Book, a DNR attorney. Its owners submitted a nutrient management plan earlier this year that they later withdrew, after several people and environmental groups challenged whether it had ample farmland for field application. Manure from livestock facilities is often used as a fertilizer for farm fields and is typically applied to those fields after harvest or in the spring before planting. The facilitys new nutrient management plan was adjusted to address the previous concerns. The Monday hearing about the plan was meant to elicit public comments about the proposal, which will factor into the DNRs pending decision to approve or deny the plan. Its unclear when that will happen. That earthen lagoon, I think, has to go, Taylor said. And thats been the crux of the problem all the way through. Supreme Beefs cattle operation is the largest in Clayton County, according to DNR records. No one from Supreme Beef spoke at the hearing but two nearby farmers on Monday urged the department to approve the plan. These rules can be ambiguous and often difficult to interpret for Iowas livestock farmers, said Suzanne Shirbroun, a Clayton County farmer. She added: Supreme Beef is a good steward of the land and benefits the community. I strongly support the business and its operators to grow and modernize to the benefit of those who live, work and farm in Clayton County. DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Jurors on Friday cleared an Iowa man charged with murder in the shooting deaths of two students at a Des Moines alternative school, a month after another man was convicted for his role in the killings. Bravon Tukes, 20, was acquitted of two counts of first-degree murder and single counts of attempted murder, criminal gang participation and willful injury causing serious injury, according to the Des Moines Register. The decision came about a month after jurors found Preston Walls, 19, guilty of second-degree murder, manslaughter and willful injury causing serious injury for his role in the Jan. 23 shooting at the Starts Right Here program. Prosecutors also had sought to convict Walls of first-degree murder. As the judge read the not guilty guilty verdicts, Tukes hugged one of his attorneys. The shooting at the alternative school on the edge of downtown Des Moines killed Gionni Dameron, 18, and Rashad Carr, 16. Will Keeps, a former Chicago gang member and rapper who started the program for at-risk teens, was injured in the shooting when he tried to intervene. Prosecutors argued the shootings were prompted by a dispute between members of different gangs. Walls admitted to the shooting but said he brought a gun to the school and shot the other students because they had threatened him and he feared for his life. Tukes, who had driven Walls away after the shooting, argued in his trial that he had not planned the shooting. Walls testified during Tukes' trial and supported the claim that his friend didn't have a role in the shootings. Polk County Attorney Kimberly Graham said in a statement that she disagreed with the verdict. "We believe the evidence was clear that Mr. Tukes conspired with fellow gang member Preston Walls for at least a month before the killings. Mr. Tukes aided Mr. Walls by meeting him a half-mile from the crime scene and driving Mr. Walls away from the area, Graham said. Regardless of the verdicts, this has been and will always be a horrific tragedy. We continue to be heartbroken for our community, and we continue to grieve with the families. Russian Defence Ministry report on the progress of the special military operation (15 October 2023) The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation. In Kupyansk direction, units of the Zapad Group of Forces supported by aviation and artillery repelled six attacks of assault groups of AFU 68th jaeger, 14th mechanised, and 95th air assault brigades close to Novoegorovka,Sinkovka (Kharkov region), Makeyevka (Lugansk Peoples Republic). In addition, helicopters delivered strikes at manpower and hardware of AFU 14th, 32nd mechanised brigades near Sinkovka and Ivanovka (Kharkov region). In addition, actions of one sabotage and reconnaissance group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been thwarted near Olshana (Kharkov region). ?More than 50 Ukrainian troops, one tank, two armoured fighting vehicles, two pickup trucks, and one Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system have been eliminated. In Krasny Liman direction, as a result of coordinated actions by units of the Tsentr Group of Forces, helicopters and artillery, three attacks by assault groups of the 12th Azov Special Forces Brigade and the 63rd Mechanised Brigade of the AFU have been repelled near Chervonaya Dibrova (Lugansk Peoples Republic) and Serebryanskoye forestry. Moreover, AFU manpower and hardware have been eliminated near Torskoye, Grigorovka (Donetsk Peoples Republic) and Chervonaya Dibrova (Lugansk Peoples Republic). The enemy losses were up to 180 Ukrainian troops killed and wounded, three armoured fighting vehicles, and two pick-up trucks. In Donetsk direction, the Yug Group of Forces, supported by aviation and artillery, repelled five attacks by units of the AFU 56th Mechanised Brigade and the 127th Territorial Defence Brigade close to Orekhovo-Vasilyevka, Dubovo-Vasilyevka, and Kleshcheyevka(Donetsk Peoples Republic). Manpower and hardware of the AFU 93rd Mechanised Brigade, the 112th Territorial Defence Brigade, and 3rd, 5th assault brigades have been hit near Andreevka and Kleshcheyevka (Donetsk Peoples Republic). Ammunition depots of AFU 28th, 31st mechanised brigades and the 116thTerritorial Defence Brigade have been destroyed close to Dyleyevka, Zhelannoye, and Tonenkoye(Donetsk Peoples Republic). The enemy has lost up to 410 Ukrainian personnel killed and wounded, as well as two armoured fighting vehicles, and three motor vehicles. In the course of the counter-battery warfare, one Akatsiya self-propelled artillery system, one Msta-B howitzer, one D-20, and one D-30 howitzers were hit. In South Donetsk direction, units of the Vostok Group of Forces coordinated with helicopters and artillery repelled one attack of the AFU 128th Territorial Defence Brigades assault group close to Staromayorskoye (Donetsk Peoples Republic). Clusters of manpower and hardware of AFU 79th air assault, 72nd mechanised, 127th, 128th territorial defence brigades have been hit close to Novomikhailovka, Ugledar, Vodyanoye, Staromayorskoye, Urozhaynoye (Donetsk Peoples Republic) and Priyutnoye (Zaporozhye region). Up to 155 Ukrainian personnel, two armoured fighting vehicles, and three motor vehicles have been neutralised. In Zaporozhye direction, units of the Russian Group of Forces repelled one attack by the AFU 71st Jaeger Brigades assault group close to Verbovoye (Zaporozhye region). In addition, air strikes and artillery fire struck the personnel and hardware of the 65th Mechanised Brigade close to Rabotino (Zaporozhye region). Up to 55 Ukrainian troops, two armoured fighting vehicles, three motor vehicles, one U.S.-made M777 artillery system, and one D-30 howitzer were destroyed. Moreover, an ammunition depot of the 102nd Territorial Defence Brigade was neutralised close to Malinovka (Zaporozhye region). In Kherson direction, two AFU sabotage and reconnaissance groups actions were repelled on Alyoshkinsky Island. Up to 20 Ukrainian servicemen and two motor vehicles were destroyed as a result of fire defeat. 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 133 areas during the day. One communication centre of the Ukrainian Air Force has been destroyed at the Dnepr airfield (Dnepropetrovsk region). One command post of the AFU 66th Mechanised Brigade was destroyed close to Podliman (Kharkov region). Russian air defence forces have intercepted three U.S.-manufactured HIMARS MLRS projectiles during the day. Moreover, 67 unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down near Verkhnekamenka (Lugansk Peoples Republic), Berestovoye, Belogorovka, Maryinka, Vasilevka, Elenovka(Donetsk Peoples Republic), Kamenskoye, Chervonogorka, Mirnoye (Zaporozhye region), and Sagi (Kherson region). In total, 488 airplanes and 250 helicopters, 7,888 unmanned aerial vehicles, 441 air defence missile systems, 12,640 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,163 combat vehicles equipped with MLRS, 6,771 field artillery guns and mortars, as well as 14,297 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation. Tags: WtR A 49-year-old Winona woman was arrested for possession of a controlled substance Thursday after police say they discovered over 100 grams of suspected meth and cocaine in her Winona residence. Law enforcement conducted a search warrant at 11:24 a.m. Thursday at a residence on the 1650 Block of West Fifth Street as part of an ongoing investigation between eight law enforcement officers from the Winona County Sheriffs Office, Winona Police Department, Houston County Sheriffs Office, and Fillmore County Sheriffs Office, five of whom are a part of the Southeast Minnesota Violent Crimes Enforcement Team. While knocking on the residences door and yelling for someone to answer, officers noticed a woman identified as Heidi Jo Wenzel getting up from a chair in the garage and then running inside the residence in an alleged attempt to avoid the officers on scene. Eventually, one of the officers used a battering ram to bash open the front door of the residence. Inside, officers said Wenzel ran to a rear bedroom before listening to the commands of officers to come to the kitchen. Officers searched the house and garage. Inside the garage, officers found a purse with Wenzels drivers license inside, along with three baggies that contained about 3 grams of suspected methamphetamine and $2,039. Additionally, inside the garage, officers found a shoebox containing multiple baggies with about 23.5 grams of suspected cocaine and approximately 8.5 grams of suspected meth. Numerous other baggies were found inside the home, with officers finding 32 grams of suspected meth in a basement bedroom and approximately 88 grams of suspected meth in an upstairs bedroom. Wenzel was arrested for fifth degree possession of a controlled substance. Two adult males in the residence were not arrested Thursday, but the investigation is ongoing. Relatives of Naor Hassidim mourn around his grave during his funeral in Ashdod, Israel, Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. Hassidim and his partner were killed by Hamas militants on Oct. 7 in Kibbutz Kfar Azza, close to the Gaza Strip's separation fence with Israel, as the militant Hamas rulers of the territory carried out an unprecedented, multi-front attack that killed over 1,300 and captured many Israelis. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov) Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, left, and Szymon Holownia, laders of the Third Way, a coalition of the centrist Poland 2050 party and the agrarian Polish People's Party greet supporters at their electoral headquarters in Warsaw, Poland, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023. Poland's election result is on a knife edge as an exit poll says that the governing Law and Justice party won the most votes. Three opposition parties, Civic Coalition, Third Way and the New Left, ran on separate tickets but with the same promises of seeking to oust Law and Justice and restore good ties with the European Union. (AP Photo/Michal Dyjuk) Operational Update - A3H Drilled in Record Time Sydney, Oct 16, 2023 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Tamboran Resources Limited ( ASX:TBN ) ( TBNNY:OTCMKTS ) provide an operational update for EP 98/117 with A3H drilled in record time in less than 18 days. The Amungee NW 3H (A3H) well in 38.75 per cent owned exploration permit EP 98 has reached a Total Depth (TD) of 3,837 metres (12,589 feet), including a 1,100-metre (3,609 feet) horizontal section within the Mid Velkerri B Shale. The well intersected the target Mid Velkerri B shale at a total vertical depth (TVD) of 2,272 metres (7,454 feet) and encountered significant gas shows within the shale, in line with pre-drill expectation. Drilling took in 17.9 days (spud to TD), 20 days faster than the Amungee 2H (A2H) well, at an average daily rate of 214 metres per day (702 feet per day). This demonstrates the improved drilling efficiency of Helmerich & Payne, Inc.'s (H&P), ( NYSE: HP ), super-spec FlexRig(R) Flex 3 Rig. Total estimated cost for the drilling and cementing of the A3H well is A$12.6 million, in line with forecast and ~30 per cent lower cost compared to the A2H well. The stimulation program is planned for the second quarter of 2024, following the end of the Northern Territory wet season. Stimulation activities for the Shenandoah South 1H (SS1H) well in EP 117 are on track to commence in November 2023 with IP30 flow rates planned for early 2024, subject to successful completion of the stimulation program and weather delays. Tamboran Resources Limited Managing Director and CEO, Joel Riddle, said: "The Tamboran and H&P teams have done an incredible job in demonstrating the improved drilling efficiency of the recently imported H&P rig in the Beetaloo Basin. "The A3H well has achieved the fastest drilling rates experienced in the Beetaloo Basin to date, delivering an average of 214 metres per day and reaching TD in less than 18 days. This is a 20-day improvement on the A2H well drilled from the same pad in H2 2022 and with a 1,025-metre (3,363 foot) lateral section. "Importantly, the A3H well was drilled and cemented at approximately 30 per cent lower cost compared to the A2H well, demonstrating how lessons from previously drilled wells and modern drilling technology can result in operational improvements and cost reduction. "Finally, activities at the SS1H well location continue to progress, and we are on track to commence the stimulation program during November 2023. Based on the current timeline, we expect to update the market with IP30 flow rates in early 2024." About Tamboran Resources Limited Tamboran Resources Ltd (ASX:TBN) is a natural gas company that intends to play a constructive role in the global energy transition towards a lower carbon future by developing low CO2 unconventional natural gas resources in the Beetaloo Sub-basin within the Greater McArthur Basin in the Northern Territory of Australia. Tamboran's key assets are a 25% working interest in EP 161 and a 100% working interest in EP 136, EP 143 and EP(A) 197 which are located in the Beetaloo Sub-basin. Related Companies Melbourne, Oct 16, 2023 AEST (ABN Newswire) - The world's mining and resource leaders are heading to Sydney for the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) from 31 October - 2 November in what has become a "Grand Slam" event of the industry, globally. IMARC Chief Operating Officer Anita Richards said this year's event was looking to be the largest ever, with over 520 speakers from global giants such as, BHP, Fortescue, MMG, Gold Fields, Wesfarmers, Worley, Perenti, IGO, the US Departments of Energy and Defense, and the ICMM, coming together to collaborate on themes including Digital Transformation and Innovation; Sustainability, Social Value, Environmental Resilience, People and Culture; Trade, Investment and Project Opportunities; and Energy Transition. "The mining and resources industry is evolving rapidly to meet the growing energy demands of today while developing the minerals needed for a decarbonised economy - under unprecedented scrutiny from communities, regulators and investors. "IMARC 2023 comes at a time when explorers and miners are diversifying portfolios to align with future demand, triggering the highest level of M&A activity across both mining and METS we have ever seen." This year's conference will see the return of the IMARC NextGen Program, which will provide an opportunity for 200 NSW school children to learn about the diverse and exciting mining and resources industry. IMARC 2023 also features: - a special ESG focus on creating social value - an extensive look at First Nations engagement, human rights and transparency - a look at best-practice mine rehabilitation - global perspectives on heritage and environmental custodianship and economic development - a return of the successful Balance for Better Program which promotes equality, diversity and inclusion across all areas of the mining and resources sector. Ms Richards said: "Mining and resources have never been more important for sustainable economic, social and innovative development across the globe. We need more exploration and development to match surging demand for the critical minerals that are central to the global energy transition. IMARC 2023 is where the most important conversations are being held about how mining and resources can help achieve global development sustainably and equitably. "IMARC is a key forum to address these challenges, and the global profile of the event is reflected in delegations already confirmed from India, Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, Chile, Mongolia, United States, South Korea, Japan, Germany, and many more." At IMARC 2023 a range of exciting new features have been added to the program. These include the Low Emission Technology Australia session to help accelerate innovation in the clean technology sector, the 4,000sqm IMARC Mining Pavilion with over 150 exhibitors present and the final of the Unearthed Global Innovation Games where the winners will be announced and their technology displayed. IMARC 2023 will take place at the ICC Sydney from 31 October to 2 November and will be a celebration of what has grown into one of Australia's biggest business events, with a record 8,500 delegates from over 120 countries, including upwards of 50 Government delegations expected to attend. About International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) The International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) is where global mining leaders collaborate on trends in mining, investment and innovation towards a sustainable future. As Australia's largest mining event, it brings together over 8,500 decision makers, mining leaders, policy makers, investors, commodity buyers, technical experts, innovators, and educators from more than 100 countries for three days of learning, deal-making and unparalleled networking. IMARC is developed in collaboration with its founding partners the Victorian State Government, Austmine, the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) and Mines and Money, and held with the support of its Host Partner, the NSW Government. Related Companies 2022 Booker Prize nominee meets readers at National Library By Pyo Kyung-min Renowned translator and author Anton Hur featured as the guest at the National Library of Korea's third Meet the Author event this year, delving into the challenges of publishing Korean literature in English-speaking markets. Held Friday, the event showcased Hur, who gained recognition for his translations of Park Sang-young's "Love in the Big City" and Bora Chung's "Cursed Bunny," both of which earned nominations for the Booker Prize in 2022. In August, he released an essay titled "No One Told Me Not To," in which he recounts his journey as an English translator of Korean literature. Under the theme of "The tough road to publishing Korean literature in the English-speaking world," Hur began by emphasizing the limited presence of Korean literature in international markets. "Many foreign readers, to be honest, may not even be aware of Korean literature or the location of Korea itself. Just because BTS and BLACKPINK are global sensations doesn't necessarily mean there's a corresponding interest in Korean literary works," he said. "This lack of connection leaves 'K-literature' as more of a concept than a reality. The scope for Korean literary offerings in international markets is, as I see it, quite limited." The translator also pointed out that a lack of support for translators in Korea stems from the perception of translation as an alternative job. "While many people assume that publishing companies handle the publication of translated books, the reality in the Korean literary world is quite different. Translators often take the lead in getting translated works published. It's our translators' job to establish connections within the overseas publishing industry," he said. "I don't think I've gained recognition as a translator solely because of my translation skills. Rather, I've reached a position that's hard to replace because I've spent time building networks." Addressing the topic of artificial intelligence in translation, Hur underscored the irreplaceable value of social ties. "There's a lot of talk about AI translation, but artificial intelligence can't replicate the importance of personal connections. So I think, 'Wouldn't it be great to receive the essential support we need?'" he said. After his presentation on the hurdles against translating and publishing, Hur lightened the mood by reading excerpts from his latest book, "No One Told Me Not To," filling the room with laughter through his wit and humor. Hur also answered questions from the audience, revealing some secrets regarding his translation process. When discussing his criteria for selecting books to translate, he stated, "I keep it as open as possible, regardless of genre. I seek out exceptional books and avoid the predictable ones. I'm particularly drawn to works that others may not have translated, those that possess a unique quality." In response to a reader's inquiry about his feelings when nominated for the Booker Prize, Hur shared a humbling perspective. "When I became a finalist, neither the author nor I had any specific expectations. I called the author to let her know, and I could hear the author sighing on the phone out of burden. In the future, I hope that younger writers and translators who undertake essential work can replace me," he said. Closing the event, Hur noted that the recent recognition of Korean literature is not a result of state support but a collective effort from a handful of dedicated translators. "People in our country may believe that 'Korean literature is great!' upon learning of my Booker Prize nomination. However, I believe this achievement wasn't due to state support but rather the collective effort of myself and a few other Korean translators," he said. "About the criticisms, some raise about my emphasizing financial matters, it is with no doubt that money indeed plays a pivotal role in the translator society. This sentiment resonates among all Korean translators." Facebook Music Kenya captivates music fans with her vibey, yet sad song called 'Strangers' by raking in millions of views on the internet and dominating multiple music charts. Oct 16, 2023 AceShowbiz - Kenya Grace has won music fans with her latest single "Strangers". This track marks her major label debut and showcases a unique blend of sad lyrics with upbeat music. The song resonated with listeners around the world, quickly going viral and amassing millions of views on social media platforms. Her achievement didn't stop there as "Strangers" claimed the top spot on the UK Singles chart, solidifying Kenya Grace as a rising star in the industry. Additionally, the song reached an impressive No. 2 position on the Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart, further cementing her place as an artist to watch. "Guys this is the most surreal moment of my entire life [crying emojis] I am ETERNALLY grateful to every single one of you who streamed, shared & made videos for strangers!!! UR THE ABSOLUTE BEST PEOPLE EVER & I LOVE U ALL SO MUCH - thanku for changing my life forever !!!!!!" she exclaimed on Instagram in response to her feats. The success, however, was almost accidental as Kenya originally planned to release a different song. "I was originally [going to lead] with a different song. It's very trance, I was leading that across all my socials and that is coming out soon, but I wrote Strangers as a filler post. I wanted to keep people engaged! When we actually finished it, though, I think everyone knew this was the one to go with," she told UK Official Charts. The same happened during the creative process. "I don't really sit down and mean to write things, if that makes sense?" she explained. "It really fascinated me how you can have a relationship with someone, romantic or platonic, where you go from literally seeing them every day for months and months and then you just never speak again. It's quite sad! And I don't know about most people, but I could never handle being friends with my ex. But I didn't even mean to start writing about this! It just happened. I just felt so strongly about how sad it is." You can share this post! Music The 'In My Feelings' hitmaker also defeats Taylor Swift as he's named the third-most No. 1s on the chart, whereas Taylor is at No. 4 with 12 No. 1 albums on Billboard 200. Oct 16, 2023 AceShowbiz - Drake's new album "For All the Dogs" arrives at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The Canadian rapper scores his 13th No. 1 album after the set earned 402,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending October 12, according to Luminate. Of the number, SEA units comprise 391,000 and equals 514.01 million on-demand official streams of the set's 23 songs, marking the largest streaming week of 2023 for any album. Album sales comprise 10,000, while TEA units comprise a little over 1,000. Released on October 6, the album also becomes the fourth-largest week of the year for an album, by units earned. Drake also defeats Taylor Swift as he's named the third-most No. 1s on the chart. The Beatles continues to defend their top spot with 19 No. 1 albums. Jay-Z follows with 14, while Taylor is now at No. 4 with 12. Back on the new Billboard 200 chart, Morgan Wallen's "One Thing at a Time" falls one spot to No. 2 with 72,000 equivalent album units earned. Rod Wave's "Nostalgia" dips from No. 2 to No. 3 after earning 59,000 equivalent album units, while Olivia Rodrigo's "Guts" moves from No. 3 to No. 4 with nearly 59,000 units. Following it up is Zach Bryan's self-titled album which stays steady at No. 5 with 53,000 units. SZA's "SOS" is also a non-mover at No. 6 after earning 50,000 equivalent album units. As for Taylor's "Midnights", the song rises from No. 8 to No. 7 with 42,000 units, while Travis Scott (II)'s "Utopia" falls from No. 7 to No. 8 after earning 40,000 equivalent album units. Noah Kahan's "Stick Season" returns to Top 10 after jumping from No. 13 to No. 9 with 39,000 equivalent album units, thanks to a recently released remix of the album's "She Calls Me Back" with Kacey Musgraves. The jump also took place after Olivia did a cover of the album's title track during her recent appearance on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge. Rounding out the Top 10 is Taylor's former No. 1 "Lover", which climbs from No. 11 to No. 10 with nearly 39,000 equivalent album units. Top Ten of Billboard 200: You can share this post! Instagram Celebrity The 'Sandlot' actor's mom Deanna Esmaeel was found dead at her own home on Thursday, October 12 with her boyfriend Daniel James Walter being named as the suspect. Oct 16, 2023 AceShowbiz - A suspect in the murder of "The Sandlot" actor Marty York's mom, Deanna Esmaeel, has been arrested. According to a post on Del Norte County Sheriff's Office's Facebook page, Deanna's boyfriend Daniel James Walter was taken into custody on Friday night, October 13 in Curry County, Oregon. The post read, "*** UPDATE SUSPECT IN CUSTODY *** 10/13/23 19:19HRS The suspect was located and detained by Brookings PD and is in custody in Curry County, Oregon." The arrest came after Brookings PD managed to locate Daniel's vehicle. Deanna was found dead at her own home on Thursday, October 12. The 67-year-old, a sheriff deputy, was murdered in her own home in Crescent City, California. "We are all deeply heartbroken with the loss of Deputy Esmaeel," Sheriff Scott, who worked alongside Deanna at the Del Norte Sheriff's Office, said in a statement, via TMZ. "Our hearts and prayers go out to her family, friends, and co-workers." Marty, who was best known for playing "Yeah-Yeah" in 1993's "The Sandlot", later took to his Instagram account to address the passing of his mom. "This is the hardest post I'll ever have to write but I found out from the sheriff department last night that my mother was murdered by a man she was seeing," he wrote on Friday alongside a picture of him posing with his late mom. "The emotions I have are horrible right now between rage, vengance [sic], crying," the actor explained. "There is a nationwide manhunt underway, please if you've seen this man contact the authorities immediately!" Upon catching wind of his heartbreaking post, fans left supportive comments underneath the post. "I'm so sorry for your loss, Marty. Praying for you and your family," one said in a comment. "Oh Marty, I'm so sorry to hear this. My wife and I are sending prayers and pray that they get this man and prosecute him to the maximum. Love you brother," another said, while someone else wrote, "This is horrific. I am so sorry. Sending you all my love." You can share this post! Cover Images/Seth Browarnik Music Only a few hours ahead of his performance at PNC Arena in North Carolina, the 'Sicko Mode' rapper puts the show on hold without providing explanation about the reason behind the postponement. Oct 16, 2023 AceShowbiz - Travis Scott (II) has left his fans disappointed following the postponement of his recent "Utopia Circus Maximus Tour" concert. The "Sicko Mode" rapper put his show on hold only a few hours before his performance on stage in Raleigh would have started. On Saturday, October 14, the unfortunate news was announced by venue PNC Arena in North Carolina, where the 32-year-old hip-hop artist's show was supposed to take place. Over a white paper on the venue's door, a message read, "Tonight's Travis Scott concert at PNC Arena has been postponed." "Fans are encouraged to hold on to their tickets as they will be honored for the TBD new date. We apologize for any inconvenience. Thank you!" the announcement went on to read. In addition, an announcer at the arena said that the gig was put on hold because of "reasons beyond our control." However, Travis and his team have not issued a statement to address the matter and have not announced a rescheduled date. Many Travis fans were not aware of the last-minute change before they arrived at the venue and read the announcement themselves. One concertgoer in particular spoke to WRAL, "They just told me they have no explanation [for] why he's not here. Nothing to stress over, but at the same time, Travis, I wish you were here, you feel me?" The concert would have been Travis' third show for his "Utopia Circus Maximus Tour". He held the second one at the same venue as his third in Raleigh, North Carolina. The second gig, which was held on Friday, October 13, was also put on hold, though only for several hours. It eventually took place with a packed audience and received high demand, leading him and his team to create another one on the next day. Travis Scott voiced his excitement for performing in Raleigh, North Carolina on Friday, October 13. Ahead of his Friday performance, the father of Kylie Jenner's two children expressed his excitement and made use of X, formerly known as Twitter, to share it with his fans. "Raleigh we readyyyyy my limbs is on bungee jump," he wrote in a tweet. However, he did not tweet anything about the postponed Saturday show. You can share this post! Celebrity The 'I May Destroy You' star is not really impressed as her former school dedicated a page to her on its website, explaining she has 'so much PTSD' from her stint at the school. Oct 17, 2023 AceShowbiz - Michaela Coel suffers from "so much PTSD" from her time at drama school. The "I May Destroy You" star has previously talked about the racism she experienced during her stint at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2009 so she is astonished that there is a page dedicated to her on the establishment's website, highlighting her accomplishments as a graduate. "Wow. That's jokes. OK. That's interesting. I'm not gonna lie to you, I've got so much PTSD from my time in drama school I've never looked back. I genuinely find that is a source of DON'T GO BACK for me," she told the Daily Telegraph newspaper about the webpage. Recalling how former students used to return to teach classes when she was there, she added, "I know other people go back to their schools and do things. That's how I know my experience in school was very different to other people, because I am not the one to walk through the doors again. Anyone who went to that school? Meet me over here." But Michaela suggested she doesn't regret her time at the college because she is very happy with the person she is today. Asked if she wants Guildhall to remove her from their website, she replied, "It's very difficult, because when you put somebody's picture on the school's thing it makes people want to go there and I don't really want to make people do anything or stop people [from] doing anything." "S***** as my time there was, I love the person I am today and I am a collection of every experience I've had, both fortunate and unfortunate. So, do I regret going there? That's a complex question!" The 36-year-old star famously turned down $1 million from Netflix for "I May Destroy You" because the streaming service wouldn't give her a percentage of the copyright, and she'd advise aspiring filmmakers to follow their instincts in a similar way. She said, "I have this airy-fairy-woo belief that you'll be OK when you say no to the things that don't feel right, that don't align with your sense of integrity. Sometimes it can take years to work out. But if you follow your moral compass then you will get there." You can share this post! Authored by Abhishek Maity, Co-Founder, Adbuffs Since the advent of the technologically advanced era, digital penetration in the country has expanded exponentially paving the way for D2C brands to stay in the long run. New D2C brands are popping up in every retail segment due to the growing popularity of social media channels. This allows brands to engage in one-on-one interaction with customers boosting the D2C business model. In emerging digitally driven markets like India, the D2C market is estimated to reach $100 billion by 2025, all because of the pivotal role played by social media platforms in carving out the immense potential of this segment. As more than 60% of the global population is on social media platforms, it is extremely crucial for D2C brands to curate a robust social media strategy for building a strong consumer network. Among all the social media channels, Instagram has emerged as the ideal marketing channel to promote D2C brands and their products. Why use Instagram to promote D2C brands? Instagram is the worlds most popular social media platform with more than a billion users, and India is the largest Instagram market globally with about 230 million active users. Over the past few years, Instagram has successfully positioned itself as the major communication, advertising and marketing channel for every D2C brands irrespective of the niche and size, making it an e-commerce-friendly platform. Since the pandemic, online video consumption has also been on the rise paving the way for Instagrams most dynamic feature- Reels. By leveraging this crowd-pulling feature, brands can transform their business strategy, as it presents the opportunity to reach a wider audience and increase engagement through captivating audio and visuals. In todays busy world, reels are more powerful in gaining viewers attention in less span. It helps in connecting with the audience where content is king and you have only a few seconds before people move down to the next piece of content. Additionally, the ability to tag multiple people, have paid partnerships, and create trends have made it easier to reach a global audience, advertise products and ultimately boost sales. 360* Advertising While adapting to the latest trends, Instagram reels offer a plethora of advertising opportunities for brands to capitalize on. Brands need to employ a 360-degree approach that will seamlessly take into account the budget, objective and target audience, helping them establish a stronger consumer network with the right kind of content. By advertising on reels, brands can leverage their creative and innovative side for multiple purposes from generating traffic to views and links. Moreover, advertising on reels is increasingly becoming the most sought-after tool, given the application of the 60-30-10 rule of content creation wherein 60% of the posts carry engaging content while 30% should be shareable and 10% should be focused on brand promotion. This makes it a cost-friendly advertising medium for all D2C brands including startups. Amplified Brand Awareness Short video content plays a significant role in enhancing brand awareness, as a survey unveiled that 73% of respondents said that they are more likely to learn about new products or services through short videos. Thus, when it comes to E-commerce and D2C brands, reels assist in developing brand awareness and acquiring new followers by assimilating video content with useful and value-added information. Further, leveraging the caption space provided by reels not only helps in delivering a clear message to the audience but gives brands additional space to mention the products used in the video. As a result, short videos are recognised as a great way to showcase products, highlight their benefits and make the customers familiar with the brand. Additionally, incorporating product links in reels also allows D2C brands to raise awareness ultimately driving sales. Credibility and Engagement Considering the fast-paced lives of consumers today, they prefer minimalistic yet engaging content that doesnt require too much figuring out. Reels cater to these fluctuating consumer behaviours carving out space for brands in the proactive life of consumers with short videos. As reels are more engaging than image content, brands participating in the latest Instagram reel trends and giving the trends their own twist stand unparalleled in the market. Brands making reels centered around their journey can make a huge impact on what customers think about the brand, going a long way in building trust. Along with this, reels allow brands to harness the potential of user-generated content, which helps in presenting products and brands in the right light, establishing the D2C brand as a credible business in the eyes of potential customers. Final Thoughts Instagram reels are definitely the appropriate choice for promoting D2C brands but it is pivotal for brands to evaluate whether their marketing strategy has hit the mark. By implementing Instagrams performance tracking metrics, D2C brands can evaluate if their content is reaching the target audience and if they are generating the desired results. Thus, reels are an invaluable asset for all D2C brands creating unlimited growth opportunities. What Xi has done is cruel, inhuman, barbaric and illegal, Scholte says By Jung Min-ho Suzanne Scholte, a renowned U.S. activist promoting North Korean human rights, has joined in with the criticism against Beijing after its forced repatriation of hundreds of North Koreans, comparing the tragedy to what is unfolding in the Israel-Hamas war in the Middle East. It is extremely cruel and cynical that Xi Jinping appears to have now repatriated another 500 refugees back to North Korea while the worlds attention was on what happened in Israel, Scholte said in a statement sent to The Korea Times on Monday. Because of this action, just like families in Israel terrified for the fate of their loved ones abducted by Hamas, we now have Korean families in South Korea and America terrified for worrying about their family members (sent back). This comes at a time when rights organizations are raising their voices in criticism of the Chinese government, which resumed the deportation of North Korean escapees on Oct. 9, the day after the end of the Asian Games in Hangzhou. It is unclear how many exactly have been forced to leave China as a result; officials simply say a large number, with some activists including Peter Jung claiming more than 2,000 such people, who had been detained over the past three years of the pandemic, were deported. What Xi has done is cruel, inhuman, barbaric and illegal, Scholte said. Xi knows what China is doing is morally wrong and that it violates their U.N. treaty obligations, specifically the 1951 Convention Relating to Refugees and its 1967 Protocol and the Convention Against Torture. She said she would work with other like-minded rights advocates and officials in Washington to impose sanctions on all Chinese officials involved in the decision, adding that they should be held accountable for being complicit in rights violations in North Korea. Those returnees may well face torture, execution or other inhuman treatment for simply crossing the border without permission, according to experts. Rights groups contacted by The Korea Times said they were drafting a joint statement urging both Seoul and Beijing to resolve the issue, with some planning to hold a rally in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Seoul on Tuesday. Apparently out of concern regarding the diplomatic relations with Beijing, top officials and politicians here have been reluctant to directly denounce Chinas role in the deportations. But during a Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly, Yun Jae-ok, floor leader of the ruling People Power Party, called the move a large-scale human rights violation in remarks aimed at Beijings responsibility. At a meeting with Julie Turner, a U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights, Foreign Minister Park Jin reiterated the ministrys long-held position opposing forced repatriations and said he would continue diplomatic efforts to help North Korean escapees who are willing to defect to the South. Turner promised close cooperation, saying As an international community, we need to come together to work to expose the regime's terrible abuses ... and create concrete change to improve the lives of the North Korean people. Asked about the Chinese governments position on the growing criticism here and overseas, Fang Kun, deputy chief of mission at the Chinese Embassy in Seoul, said Beijing handled the issue according to the domestic laws in China as well as international laws and humanitarian principles. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan claimed that his party BJP "will score the biggest ever success in state assembly polls this time". However, on the question of who will become the next CM, Chouhan said, it is the party leadership which will decide. Replying to questions from India TV anchor at Chunav Manch daylong conclave in Bhopal, Chouhan said: "I will not speculate on numbers (of seats), but this election will witness our biggest ever success. Those sitting in Delhi and Bhopal cannot gauge the amount of affection that voters are showing to us. I am fully confident that BJP will score its biggest success this time....BJP hi is baar sarkar banayegi, yeh atal satya hai. (BJP will form the government, this is the only truth)." Pressed on who will become the chief minister, Chouhan said, "we are all part of a bigger mission to make India great and prosperous. Our party will decide who will be given which post...The question is not about post, but about who is given what responsibility. While pursing the bigger aim of making India great, we do not see which post we get. Can we become selfish? Should we think only about ourself? We think about our society, our nation. Our mission (leadership) decides who will do what." Chouhan went on: " Whatever work party will give, we will do. We are not self-centered. We are part of a bigger mission." Chouhan said, already Congress leaders in MP have become worried after top BJP stalwarts were fielded as candidates in assembly elections. "They are worried. Earlier, they were confident of winning those seats, from where we have now fielded our top leaders...We are disciplined workers of our party." On a lighter note, the chief minister said, he was happy to work with his old friends in the party, who had been sent to Delhi and other places. "Main aanandit hoon (I am happy). My old team is back. When I was the state chief of BJP Yuva Morcha, Narendra Singh Tomar was my vice-president, Prahlad Patel was my general secretary and Kailash Vijayvargiya was my secretary. We are all so happy. We are holding frequent meetings and preparing strategies and plans. It is a unique relationship of brotherly affection and closeness. The entire team is close knit and working as a collective leadership." As India gears up for the vibrant and spirited festivities of Durga Puja, Coca-Colain India is thrilled to announce its new festive campaign, Coke-er Shaathe Roj, Pujor Mahabhoj. The campaign is dedicated to celebrating the grandeur of Pujo, with a special focus on the joy of shared meals and festivities over a delicious Coke. The campaign's name, Coke-er Shaathe Roj, Pujor Mahabhoj, translates to 'Pujo's grand food/ festivities along with a Coke, encapsulating the essence of the campaign. The film is built on a diverse backdrop of five days of Durga Puja celebrations, where the cities gorge on lights, love, delicacies and unlock new friendships. To convey this idea with creativity and artistry, Coca-Colalaunched an interesting, animated film titled Thala Hopping. The story unfolds on the surface of a table where an illustrated character comes to life as a chilled Coke is placed along with the sumptuous delights. The film charts the characters journey of pandal hopping across the length of the table, offering a glimpse into a montage of specialmoments that will be created during the festival. The campaign actively embraces and promotes art, music, and food, establishing a significant presence of Coke in cultural and culinary domains. Kolkata is already witnessing the colourful illustrations of Coke and food adorning its streets. Commenting on the new campaign, Arnab Roy, Vice President, Marketing CocaCola India and South-West Asia, said, Coca-Cola has always endeavoured to become a part of Indias cultural fabric. Our Durga Puja campaign is a passionate attempt to blend into the rich canvas of the ethnic traditions of Bengal. The heartening reception of our film has left us humbled and more committed than ever to continue celebrating and becoming an integral part of such diverse and vibrant cultural experiences. Pujo is so much more than kaashphool, kolakuli and a customary Durga Puja jingle. It is a melting pot of flavours, characters and quirks. We didnt just want to make a piece of communication that celebrates the generally accepted cliches of Pujo. For us, the real magic of Pujo lies in the minute brush strokes, the intricate moments of love and camaraderie. This film offers an unconventional perspective to Durga Puja celebrations. Seen yet unseen,. remarked Sujoy Roy, Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy. Watch the ad film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOJLl9kjO-c This 360-degree campaign will be aired on social and other mediums, while the visuals have been integrated on-ground, for in-store experiences, out-of-home advertising, and print ads for comprehensive brand visibility. Dalmia Bharat Group, Indias leading conglomerate with businesses in cement and sugar, announces the successful empowerment of 18000 women on International Day of Rural Women. Through the establishment of Self-Help Groups (SHGs), these women are provided essential skill training and access to vital resources for sustainable livelihood development. In collaboration with various organisations like NRLM, NABARD, etc. Dalmia Bharat organizes various training initiatives like micro-enterprise development, handicraft production and others in both farming and non-farming sectors. All these activities are conducted in communities settled around their regions of operation across 12 states in India. These initiatives aim to upskill rural women to empower them, diversify their income sources and provide access to formal credit systems. Through access to credit linkages, many women have built successful micro-enterprises, shops and businesses. They have experienced a boost in their incomes, ranging from Rs 4000 to Rs.10000 monthly, which has significantly improved their individual well-being and the ability to support their families. One of their notable programs includes upskilling women artisans from different regions in India. In a recent success story, ecofriendly handicraft products made of natural materials like Moonj and Sabai (types of wild grass) found a proud place of display as part of gift hampers for international delegates at the recently concluded G20 Summit. Dalmia Bharat also focuses on sustainable livelihood development through goat rearing, poultry farming, mushroom cultivation, tailoring and other initiatives. SHG women also undergo training in Entrepreneurship Development focusing on home-based products like spices, pickles etc. Commenting on the companys initiatives on International Day of Rural Women, Mr. Ashok K. Gupta, CEO, Dalmia Bharat Foundation said, Our goal at Dalmia Bharat is to aid marginalized women at grassroots levels, enabling them to secure additional income while balancing their household duties through these comprehensive programs. Our steadfast commitment to empowering rural women aligns with our dedication to achieving the UN Global Sustainable Goals of eradicating poverty, eliminating hunger and advancing gender equality. We firmly believe that by investing in the potential of rural women, we are building an inclusive and sustainable future for India. Our efforts resonate with the essence of Atmanirbhar Bharat, promoting self-reliance and progress throughout the nation. International Day of Rural Women, observed annually on 15th October, celebrates the vital role of rural women in agriculture, food security, and rural development. It highlights the need to empower them, address inequalities, and aligns with global goals for gender equality and sustainable development. To empower the retailer community in the states of Odisha and Uttar Pradesh, the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), working under the aegis of the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) announced a partnership with Coca-Cola India today to launch the Super Power Retailer Program under the Skill India Mission. The program is being piloted in the state of Odisha. The partnership was formally announced in the esteemed presence of the Union Minister for Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan; Ved Mani Tiwari, COO, NSDC; and Sanket Ray, President, Coca-Cola India & Southwest Asia. The program facilitates the empowerment and progress of the retailers, marking a significant milestone in Skill Indias efforts to support the workforce. The initiative focuses on enabling the retailers by focusing on building their capacity and capability in todays modern retailing sector. It focuses on providing training to small and micro retailers, equipping them with the knowledge and skills needed to better understand consumer behaviours and their preferences. It aims to provide retailers with skills, tools and techniques that are required to succeed in the constantly changing retailer ecosystem and to spread knowledge of best practices, equipping traditional retailers with the right skill set necessary to make their business more profitable, as well as build their business skills. The Super Power Retailer Program will offer industry-specific skills such as customer management, inventory and stock management, financial management etc. that are tailored to the professional needs of retailers, making the retailers proficient and enhancing their knowledge. As part of the program, the participants will undergo a 14-hour training which will comprise of two hours of classroom session and 12 hours of digital training. The training will include physical classroom sessions along with an app-based Learning Management System (LMS) that is accessible on mobile and handheld devices for online modules. The modules will be hosted on Skill India Digitals platform (SID) and the trainings will be executed through a multimedia approach with a blend of videos, texts, by experienced trainers facilitating learning. The participants will receive a certificate upon completion of classroom, online training, and assessment modules. Under the partnership, NSDC will support Coca-Cola India in expanding the program's outreach on SID. This involves creating and refining training content that aligns with industry-specific skill requirements. Additionally, NSDC will facilitate the recruitment of trainers for program implementation and ensure a seamless learning experience by providing the requisite training infrastructure. Speaking on the occasion, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Hon'ble Union Minister for Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, said, As the auspicious celebrations of Durga Puja begin today, we launch the Super Power Retailer program in partnership with Coca-Cola India to empower our retailers and provide training to them on expanding their businesses and enhancing consumer experiences. I am confident that the initiative will play a pivotal role in strengthening Indias economy by skilling, reskilling, and upskilling the retailers by paving the way for their growth. I congratulate all the successful self-reliant retailers who have been awarded today. Aligned with the Honble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi's vision of making our workforce the biggest beneficiary of developed India, the program aims to provide 14 hours of quality retail training through the Skill India Digital Portal. The retailers will be trained on how to plan and implement business strategies and utilize the vast opportunities extended by digital platforms. The training modules will be available in multiple languages which will enable small shopkeepers as well as big businessmen across the country. We acknowledge this effort to enable a retail ecosystem that will exceed customer expectations, embrace the Future of Work, and provide exponential growth to the industry. He added. Reflecting on this milestone, Ved Mani Tiwari, COO, NSDC said, A transformative revolution is underway within India's skill development ecosystem, driven by an unwavering commitment to empower the country's youth and its ambitious workforce through skill acquisition, enhancement, and adaptation. With Coca-Cola India aligning its efforts with Skill India Digital, I hold a steadfast belief that both our aspiring and established retailers will receive top-notch training to strengthen their capacity and capability. Guided by the Honble Minister's leadership, the introduction of the Academic Bank of Credit, a digital repository of prior learning experience will further empower our nation's youth. I encourage corporations to collaborate with Skill India Digital to position India as the global Skill Hub. Sanket Ray, President of Coca-Cola India & Southwest Asia, said, "At Coca-Cola India, we strive to create value for the retailer ecosystem which is an integral part of the business value chain. In the evolving consumer landscape, equipping retailers with key entrepreneurial and digital skills, enhances their relevance for todays consumers and enables them to be future ready. We applaud the efforts of the Skill India Mission that fosters innovation and provides industry specific skills which are accessible to all. By collaborating and aligning efforts, the Government of India and industry stakeholders can shape a skilling ecosystem that drives excellence and economic growth. Ten grams of gold to eligible women at the time of marriage, besides Rs one lakh cash and free internet to students are some of the promises that are likely to figure in the Telangana Congress manifesto for the November 30 Assembly polls. According to D Sridhar Babu, chairman of the TPCC manifesto committee, the gold is in addition to Rs one lakh cash, under the partys Mahalakshmi guarantee. Presently, the BRS government, under Kalyana Lakshmi and Shaadi Mubarak Schemes, offer one-time financial assistance of Rs 1,00,116 at the time of marriage for brides who are residents of Telangana, who have completed 18 years of age at the time of marriage and whose parental income does not exceed Rs 2 lakh per annum. One tula (10 gms) of gold will be given. This (gold value) comes to about Rs 50,000 to 55, 000, Sridhar Babu told PTI. A member of the manifesto committee said the party is also planning to include free internet for students in the manifesto. After coming to power we will talk to internet service providers and work out modalities, the member said. When contacted Sravan Dasoju, BRS spokesperson said the Congress government in Karnataka is not able to implement their poll promises and they can promise anything under the moon. Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, also known as KCR, is a pioneer in bringing out and implementing innovative policies and programmes for the poor which were never imagined by any other political party in independent India, Dasoju said. He further said BRS president Rao is known for generosity and, importantly, his compassion towards the poor and downtrodden. KCR on Sunday announced BRS manifesto promising LPG cylinder at Rs 400 and a rise in social pensions, countering the Congress partys six guarantees for the Telangana polls. Under the Mahalakshmi guarantee, the Congress promises to provide Rs 2,500 per month financial assistance to women, LPG cylinder at Rs 500, free travel for women in TSRTC buses across the state. At least two Israeli women security officers of Indian origin were killed in the unprecedented attack carried out by the Palestinian militant group Hamas earlier this month, official sources and people from the community confirmed on Sunday. Lieutenant Or Moses, 22, a commander in the Home Front Command, from Ashdod and Inspector Kim Dokraker, a Border Police officer in the polices Central District, were killed in the attack on October 7, official sources confirmed. Both of them are said to have died on duty in combat. According to army officials, so far 286 army soldiers and 51 police officers have been killed in the conflict. There could be more victims as Israel continues to confirm the identity of the dead and search for those missing or possibly kidnapped, several community members told PTI. One young woman from the community, Shahaf Talker, who managed to survive the attack with her friend shared a testimony of what she went through that day with PTI through her grandfather. Still in shock and unable to speak because of the mental agony, the 24-year-old woman thought that putting it out in writing would ease some of her stress, said her grandfather Yaacov Talker who migrated from Mumbai at the age of 11 in 1963. Early today Shahaf went to the funeral of some of her friends who were killed in the massacre that happened at the rave music party where about 270 youngsters were killed in mass killings carried out by Hamas after infiltrating Israeli territory, said Yaacov who now lives in Petah Tikva, a town in northern Israel. According to Shahafs testimony, on October 7, she and her friend Yanir, who was at the party, saw the rockets flying over their heads. What is that? I asked him. Missiles, he answered. We started running to the car, and I fell on the floor crying and Yanir picked me up, grabbed my hand and told me Everything is fine, lets fly away, we have to get home, she said. We got into the car and started driving, we drove fast. The police said to turn right but this was not the road to Tel Aviv, so we turned back and turned to the other side, the mistake of our lives or we were saved, only God knows, in the direction of Tel Aviv. They were waiting for us, blocking the road, three vans, about 8 terrorists, she said. Yanir quickly realised that they were aiming guns at us and turned the car around as fast as he could. One bullet hit the front windshield, passed right between me and Yanir the whole car was sprayed with bullets, and all the windows were broken, Shahaf said. She said the militants were firing at them without hesitation. We drove to the other side; they were waiting for us there as well. We met a couple of friends who told us there were terrorists on the other side as well, we all got out of the car and ran. We tried to hide ourselves in the bush, she said. Until it was quiet, not exactly quiet, just fewer bullets flying overhead, we checked what was happening and decided to return to the vehicles, she said. Shahaf said they drove until they saw a gas station. Yanir decided to head there and he found 18 people from the same party inside the gas station, she recalled. I cant believe we survived this we were left with one security guard with a gun. For three hours, we were dying of fear, calling everyone possible to save us, she said. The army arrived, (they said) run to the vehicles, as many people as possible in each vehicle, save yourselves, just drive, she recalled. We succeeded, Moshav Telumas security personnel waved at us from the fence and led us to the most perfect family in the world, who took care of us, she added. She felt sorry for the victims of the attack by Hamas militants. This story is sad, I was saved but piles of my friends are lying in piles of corpses, may your memory be blessed, they abandoned us in the field, Im sorry. Sharing it so that everyone knows the horrors!!! she added. Her grandfather, Yaacov, told PTI that it has been very difficult the past week to deal with the trauma she went through. She is still in shock. It will take her a lot of time to come out of it, he said. Sheeja Anand, a caregiver from Kerala who was injured in the attack, is now stable, sources said. The caregiver suffered injuries in her hands and leg in the rocket attack on October 7 in the northern Israeli city of Ashkelon. She was immediately provided treatment at a nearby hospital. A Parsi boy, Sam Manekshaw, was born in Amritsar, Punjab. His father, Hormizd Manekshaw, was a successful doctor, and his mother, Hilla, nee Mehta, was a social worker. Both of his parents were Parsis who moved to Amritsar from the city of Valsad in the coastal Gujarat region. Manekshaws parents had left Mumbai in 1903 for Lahore, where Hormizd had friends and where he was to begin practicing medicine. However, by the time their train halted at Amritsar, Hilla found it impossible to travel any further due to her advanced pregnancy. The couple had to pause their journey to pursue help from the station master, who advised that in her condition, Hilla should not attempt any journey. By the time Hilla recovered from the delivery, the couple had found Amritsar a decent place to settle. Hormusji soon ventured into a clinic and pharmacy in Amritsar. The couple had six children over the following decade, numbering four sons and two daughters (Fali, Cilla, Jan, Sheru, Sam, and Jami). Sam was their fifth child and third son. Sams parents were rich and reputed people from Punjab. They gave the best education to their children. As a boy, Manekshaw was naughty and hyperactive. His early ambition was to study medicine and become a doctor like his father. He completed his primary schooling in Punjab and then went to Sherwood College, Nainital. In 1929, he left the college at the age of 15 with his Junior Cambridge Certificate, and in 1931, he passed his Senior Cambridge with distinction. Manekshaw then asked his father to send him to London to study medicine, but his father refused on the grounds that he was not old enough; in addition, he was already supporting the studies of Manekshaws two elder brothers, both of whom were studying engineering in London. Instead, Manekshaw entered the Hindu Sabha College and, in April 1932, appeared for his final exams, passing with a third division in science. In the meantime, the Indian Military College Committee, which was set up in 1931 and chaired by Field Marshal Sir Philip Chetwode, recommended the establishment of a military academy in India to train Indians for officer commissions in the army. A three-year course was proposed, with an entry age of 18 to 20 years. Candidates would be selected on the basis of an examination conducted by the Public Service Commission. On October 1, 1932, Manekshaw was one of the fifteen cadets to be selected through an open competition. Manekshaw placed sixth in the order of merit. Manekshaw was selected as part of the first batch of cadets. Called The Pioneers, his class also produced Smith Dun and Muhammad Musa Khan, future commanders-in-chief of Burma and Pakistan, respectively. Although the academy was inaugurated by Chetwode on December 10, 1932, the cadets military training commenced on October 1, 1932. At the time of Manekshaws commissioning, it was standard practice for newly commissioned Indian officers to be initially attached to a British regiment before being sent to an Indian unit. Thus, Manekshaw joined the 2nd Battalion, Royal Scots, stationed at Lahore. He was later posted to the 4th Battalion, 12th Frontier Force Regiment, stationed in Burma. On May 1, 1938, he was appointed quartermaster of his company. During the Second World War, Hormusji Manekshaw served in the British Indian Army as a captain in the Indian Medical Service. Of the Manekshaw siblings, Sams two elder brothers, Fali and Jan, qualified as engineers, while Cilla and Sheru became teachers. Both Sam and his younger brother Jami served in the Indian Armed Forces, with Jami becoming a doctor like his father and serving in the Royal Indian Air Force as a medical officer. As the first Indian to be awarded the air surgeons wings from the Naval Air Station Pensacola in the United States, Jami joined his elder brother in becoming a flag officer and retired as an air vice marshal in the Indian Air Force. After the war, Prime Minister Gandhi decided to promote Manekshaw to the rank of field marshal and appoint him as the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS). However, after several objections from the commanders of the navy and the air force, the appointment was dropped. It was felt that, because Manekshaw was from the army, the comparatively smaller forces of the navy and air force would be neglected. Moreover, bureaucrats felt that it might challenge their influence over defense issues. Though Manekshaw was to retire in June 1972, his term was extended by a period of six months, and in recognition of outstanding services to the Armed Forces and the nation, he was promoted to the rank of field marshal on January 1, 1973. The first Indian Army officer to be so promoted, he was formally conferred with the rank in a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on January 3. Manekshaw died of complications from pneumonia at the Military Hospital in Wellington, Tamil Nadu, in 2008 at the age of 94. He was buried in the Parsi cemetery in Ootacamund (Ooty), Tamil Nadu, with military honors, adjacent to his wifes grave. Owing to the controversies in which Manekshaw was involved post-retirement, it was reported that his funeral lacked VIP representation and no national day of mourning was declared, which, while not a breach of protocol, was not customary for a leader of national importance. He was survived by his two daughters and three grandchildren. After 16 years of his death, a film is made on him and his bravery that brings back the glorious period of his brave acts as a brave defense person for our nation. South Korea and the United States vowed Monday to work more closely in "sharing information on and joint responses to" any possible military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, after Washington accused Pyongyang of sending military equipment and munitions to Moscow. Seoul's chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Gunn, and his U.S. counterpart, Sung Kim, reached the agreement at their meeting in Jakarta earlier in the day, as concerns are growing over a possible arms deal between Pyongyang and Moscow following last month's rare summit between the North's leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The suspicions have gained more traction after Washington made revelations Friday that the reclusive regime has delivered more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions to Russia in recent weeks for use in Ukraine. Monday's talks also coincided with Pyongyang's announcement that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit the North later this week. "The two sides agreed to coordinate more closely in the sharing of information and over response measures between South Korea and the United States, as we stress that Russia and North Korea must not carry out any military cooperation strictly prohibited under U.N. Security Council resolutions," Seoul's foreign ministry said in a release. The two nuclear envoys also agreed to "firmly" respond to additional provocations by the North, as Pyongyang has declared a plan for another military spy satellite launch this month after two failed attempts. The two sides reiterated the warning that the North will "pay the price" in the event of any illegal acts that undermine peace and stability. They also agreed to continue joint efforts to deter the North's nuclear and missile threats based on the "superiority of overwhelming power," the ministry said. Kim Gunn is on his two-day visit to the Indonesian capital for bilateral talks with Sung Kim and his Japanese counterpart, Hiroyuki Namazu, as well as a three-way meeting among the three envoys. On Tuesday, Kim will meet one-on-one with Namazu, before holding the trilateral talks later in the day. The three envoys last held talks in Japan in July. (Yonhap) Friday has brought a treat for Jimmy Buffett fans: Two new singles from his upcoming album have been released, giving listeners a chance to visit The University of Bourbon Street and Mozambique. Both tunes can be heard on a variety of streaming services, including YouTube. And each one of them has an Alabama connection. The University of Bourbon Street was co-written with Mobile native and longtime Buffett collaborator Will Kimbrough. It also features New Orleans famous Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Kimbrough has previously talked about the origins of the song, describing it as a story song about Jimmys early years in the late 60s in New Orleans, playing in a band on Bourbon Street. Kimbrough also shared that when inspiration hit in the studio, after the musical tracks had been recorded, Buffett called him in for an extensive reworking of the planned lyrics. The resulting tune is, more than anything, a fond tribute to New Orleans. Buffett, who died on Sept. 1, mentions experiences such as singing on a paddle-wheel boat, building a Mardi Gras float and smoking a joint with a beautiful hippie. But he also name-checks numerous institutions he visited on his way to earning a po-boy masters degree and a Lucky Dogg Ph.D. Buffett sings: I sang Hey Pocky Way on the streetcar headed uptown/ I went class every day and never wore a frown/ I was taught by the Neville brothers/ Ben Spellman and a whole lot of others/ that brass band blew my mind/ when I joined in the second line. Buffett omits any mention of his failed year at Auburn University, though he does refer in passing to subsequent classroom time in Mississippi: I guess the point of going to college/ was to acquire myself a little knowledge/ and help me figure out what life is really all about/ It made Peets and J.D. happy/ and set me wild and free/ then I danced out of Mississippi to the University of Bourbon Street. The other new single, Mozambique, is a cover of a Bob Dylan-Jacques Levy song that came out on Dylans 1976 album Desire. It features Birmingham native Emmylou Harris, who sang on Dylans original. If a rhapsody about finding romance in a faraway, exotic locale may be relatively rare for Dylan, but it is right in Buffetts wheelhouse. And itll come as no surprise that Buffetts arrangement goes heavier on the steel drum. Buffetts final studio album, Equal Strain on All Parts, is due for release on Nov. 3. Authorities are asking for the publics help in finding a teen girl missing from east Alabama since Sunday. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency on Monday issued an Emergency Missing Child Alert for 17-year-old Meaghan Aria Jade Christian. Christian was last seen about 10:30 p.m. Sunday in the area of Light Lane in Oxford. The ALEA alert said she may be in danger but did not elaborate. Authorities believe she likely left willingly, but said they are concerned about her because of her age. Christian is a Black female, 5-feet, 5-inches tall and weighs 123 pounds. She has black hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information is asked to call Oxford police at 256-835-6133 or 911. Three Alabama residents were killed, and five others injured in a predawn passenger van crash in Mississippi. The wreck happened at 4:50 a.m. Monday on Interstate 20 in Warren County. Mississippi Highway Patrol Trooper First Class Darnika Mayfield said the 2012 Ford E350 was traveling westbound when it ran off the road and collided with a tree. Two of the passengers were pronounced dead on the scene. A third died at a hospital. The driver sustained minor injuries, Mayfield said. Four others were also hospitalized. The severity of their injuries was not immediately known. Mayfield said all of the victims were from Cottondale. Their identities have not yet been released. This crash remains under investigation by the Mississippi Highway Patrol. U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) Monday appeared to end speculation on how he would vote in the upcoming election for Speaker of the House. In a series of posts on the social media platform X, Rogers said he will vote for Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). Jim Jordan and I have had two cordial, thoughtful, and productive conversations over the past two days, Rogers stated. We agreed on the need for Congress to pass a strong NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act), appropriations to fund our governments vital functions, and other important legislation like the Farm Bill. As a result, I have decided to support Jim Jordan for Speaker of the House on the floor. Rogers continued, Since I was first elected to the House, I have always been a team player and supported what the majority of the Republican Conference agrees to. Together, our Republican majority will be stronger to fight Joe Bidens reckless agenda for America. As a result, I have decided to support Jim Jordan for Speaker of the House on the floor. (2/3) Mike Rogers (@RepMikeRogersAL) October 16, 2023 Jordan needs at least 217 votes to secure the gavel. The Ohio Republican, in a post thanked Rogers, the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. In a secret ballot Friday, 55 Republicans said that they would not vote for Jordan on the floor, even after he became the speaker-designate in a 124-81 vote over Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., a last-minute entry into the race, according to Roll Call. Thank you, Chairman Rogers. Your leadership is just what our Conference needs right now. We must all keep coming together and get back to work. https://t.co/vAgSY1yGi3 Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) October 16, 2023 Sources close to Rogers said the endorsement came after several conversations over the past week, including a long one on Sunday between Rogers and Jordan. Over the weekend, it appeared Rogers was reaching out to Democrats in anger over the eight Republicans who helped oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Earlier, Rogers said there was nothing that Jordan could do to get his support as Speaker of the House, according to The Anniston Star. Rogers left a closed-door caucus session Friday and said Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries (R-NY) should state concessions needed to help the GOP. They put us in this ditch along with eight traitors, Rogers told Capitol Hill reporters. Were still the majority party, were willing to work with them but they gotta tell us what they need. In January, Rogers had to be held back by one of his colleagues after confronting Rep. Matt Gaetz during the contentious 14th vote before McCarthy was elected House speaker. Rogers later tweeted an apology to Gaetz. I was just exasperated that Matt [Gaetz] was treating [Kevin] McCarthy so badly, Rogers told The New York Post. Alabama State Troopers said a 66-year-old pedestrian was killed after being struck by a vehicle on Interstate 20 in Cleburne County. Troopers said Kenneth W. Cochran, of Anniston, was critically injured after being struck by a 2012 Chevrolet Malibu on I-20, near mile marker 207, approximately three miles east of Heflin. The single-vehicle crash occurred at approximately 2:20 p.m. Sunday, and police said Cochran was pronounced dead while being transported to an area hospital. Troopers say the Malibu was being driven by Angelo M. Matthews, 39, of Memphis, Tennessee. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agencys Highway Patrol Division said it is investigating the incident and no further information was available as of Sunday night. A 30-year-old music teacher with the Baldwin County school district has been charged with four counts of possession of child pornography, the Baldwin County Sheriffs Office said Monday. The arrest of Bryant Ramey came as the result of a search warrant executed at his home Monday morning. Authorities allegedly found images of persons under 17 engaged in obscene acts were found on Rameys personal electronic devices, according to investigators. Investigators noted Rameys employment with Baldwin County schools, but said they had no evidence to suggest illegal activity had taken place on school ground. They added, however, they have been in contact with the Baldwin County Board of Education as the investigation continues. The safety and security of our students, teachers and other staff within our schools will remain a top priority, the sheriffs office said in a release. Ramey has worked as a music instructor at Pine Grove Elementary and as a band instructor with Robertsdale High School, although his current role with the school district is unclear. Mr. Ramey has been placed on administrative leave as of this morning, Baldwin County superintendent Eddie Tyler said in a statement. We are working closely with the Baldwin County Sheriffs Office and will continue to do so as this investigation progresses. Due to this being a personnel matter, we cannot comment any further at this time and all questions should be directed to the Baldwin County Sheriffs Office. Rameys arrest was the result of a joint effort between the Baldwin County Sheriffs Office, Alabama Law Enforcement Agency ICAC Task Force, and the Department of Homeland Security Mobile Field Office. As of mid-afternoon Monday, Ramey remained in the Baldwin County Jail under $60,000 bond -- $15,000 per count. Last year there were over 3,500 reported incidents of domestic violence in Jefferson County according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency website. For many of these families, Birminghams One Place Family Justice Center acted as a single stop that could connect them to the resources they needed. In her Q&A with the Lede this week One Place Deputy Director Kelly Klehm expressed a need for greater municipal support for the organization and offered advice for what to do if you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence. So, for people who are unfamiliar with One Place, what services do you guys offer? Were a family justice center, which is a collaborative of several different agencies who are all here under one roof providing services to victims of domestic violence. So, we have public and private agencies here on site. The goal of family justice centers is to reduce the number of times that a victim might have to tell their story or reduce the number of places that they might have to go for help, and then try to increase the access to services for those victims. So, anyone going through domestic violence could call One Place and be connected with staff here who would listen and support them and connect them to resources. One body was reportedly recovered after a tugboat capsized on the Alabama River, according to officials. The U.S. Coast Guard said they were notified of an accident involving a vessel about 4:40 p.m. Saturday. The Coast Guard dispatched a Jayhawk helicopter to assist in the search for victims/survivors from the 27-foot tugboat, which had capsized near the rivers mile marker 27. Although details were few from the agencies involved, it appears the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and Daphne Search and Rescue recovered a body. The Coast Guard directed questions regarding the recovery or rescue of tugboat personnel to ALEA. ALEA confirmed a recovery, but directed questions about the victim(s) to Daphne Search and Rescue. Attempts to reach Daphne Search and Rescue, an all-volunteer group, were unsuccessful. Yoon administration expected to unveil quota hike plan Thursday to address shortage of doctors By Jun Ji-hye The government is expected to face massive protests from doctors over its imminent plan to drastically increase the enrollment quota of medical schools to address a looming shortage of physicians in the country and a deepening regional disparity of medical resources. According to government sources and local media reports, the Yoon Suk Yeol administration is considering increasing the annual medical school enrollment quota by more than 1,000. The administration is widely expected to unveil the quota hike plan as early as Thursday, with the new limit to be applied starting in 2025. If finalized, the plan is expected to trigger protests from groups representing doctors, which have publicly opposed a hike, claiming that the government should focus instead on measures to more effectively allocate physicians to deficient fields and increase compensation, rather than simply increasing the number of medical students. Doctors say their main concern is that expanding the number of placements for medical schools could adversely affect the quality of education and training. But the government believes that increasing the quota would be an unavoidable choice to guarantee better public access to medical services, with some media outlets reporting that the president aims to keep increasing the annual quota to as much as 3,000 before his tenure ends in May of 2027. On Sunday, senior officials at the ruling People Power Party, the government and the presidential office discussed the thorny issue at a policy consultative meeting. The participants, including Bang Ki-sun, minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, agreed at the meeting to review the issue carefully to improve the accessibility of medical services. According to the Ministry of Education, there are 40 medical schools in Korea, with the total admissions quota remaining unchanged at 3,058 since 2006. Among the 40 medical schools, 13 nearly one third are located in Seoul and nearby Incheon and surrounding Gyeonggi Province, which comprise the Seoul metropolitan area. In contrast, South Jeolla Province and Sejong City have no medical schools. Against this backdrop, there have been increasing calls to raise the number of medical schools and students, which could help improve the regional disparity and also help address serious shortages of surgeons, obstetricians and pediatricians in the country. Such calls have gotten a boost recently following a number of cases where patients died in ambulances while being transported to other emergency rooms after being rejected by hospitals that cited a shortage of doctors or beds. Regarding the issue, a health ministry official said, The government has yet to decide on how much the quota will increase annually. The timing of the announcement has yet to be decided. Collective action by doctors In response to the governments move, the Korea Medical Association (KMA) is set to hold a meeting Tuesday attended by representatives of its 16 regional offices as well as interns and residents. During the meeting, the participants will discuss how they will protest the governments plan. If the government makes an announcement without sufficient consultation with the KMA, we have no choice but to stage fierce protests as we did in 2020, Lee Pil-soo, who heads the association, said, referring to the previous Moon Jae-in governments proposal to raise the medical student quota by 4,000 over 10 years by establishing new state-run medical schools in rural regions. That proposal was eventually retracted following fierce protests by physicians, as thousands of trainee doctors staged a walkout, while medical students boycotted the state license exam. Prosecutors are seeking to have a 14-year-old boy accused of fatally shooting his teen brother, dragging his body into the woods, and penning a hit list charged as an adult. Pike County District Attorney James Tarbox filed a motion late last week. The young suspects name has not been released. He was charged earlier this month with murder in the death of his 17-year-old brother through the juvenile court system. Tarbox, who cant discuss the reasoning in detail because the suspect remains in juvenile custody for now, said he believes the case rises to the level that would justify the move. Its not something you do lightly, Tarbox said Monday. If we though the juvenile courts would be sufficient (in this case), we would seek to leave it there. Tarbox said no ruling has been made and it could be a lengthy process. The investigation began about 2:20 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 5, when the Pike County Sheriffs Office received a 911 call from the Monticello community from a man who said he found his missing 17-year-old son dead on the familys property. Sheriff Russell Thomas said the boys father told authorities his son had been missing since Monday, but that he had not reported it to law enforcement. The father said he got home about 7:30 p.m. Monday and asked where the 17-year-old was, but nobody had an answer. On Tuesday, he told them, he was called to pick up his 14-year-old son from school because the teen was upset that his older brother was missing, the sheriff said. Once father and son returned home, they began to search the property for the 17-year-old. The father then found his dead sons body on the back side of the familys property and called 911. Thomas said sheriffs investigators learned that the 14-year-old confided in a friend at school, telling him he had killed his brother. He then asked his friend to help him murder the rest of the family and help him bury their bodies, Thomas said. The friend also stated the 14-year-old had a hit list in his book bag of family members he wanted to kill, and made statements about wanting to shoot up the school, the sheriff said. A search of the book bag turned up a hit-list of family members. Thomas said when he interviewed the 14-year-old, the teen confessed he shot his 17-year-old brother while he sat on the couch. He stated his brother got up and staggered out of the residence and out the back door, where he then fell at the bottom of the steps, the sheriff said. He dragged him about 60 yards to the back of the property. Thomas said no one else was home at the time of the killing. No possible motive has been disclosed. We are very fortunate and blessed we do not have more casualties as a result of a 14-year-old having access to a weapon, the sheriff said earlier this month. A 71-year-old Illinois landlord upset over the Israel-Hamas war attacked a Palestinian American woman with a knife when she proposed they pray for peace and killed her 6-year-old son, authorities said Monday. The details emerged as Joseph Czuba appeared in court on murder, attempted murder and hate crime charges while the boys Muslim family prepared to bury him in the Chicago area. It is with heavy hearts that we acknowledge this senseless act of hate, which has no place in our community or any society, said the Mosque Foundation in Bridgeview, where a funeral was held. Czuba, a Plainfield resident, replied, Yes, sir, when asked if he understood the charges and was subsequently returned to jail in Joliet, 50 miles (80.4 kilometers) southwest of Chicago. A Will County judge granted a court-appointed lawyer. Wadea Al-Fayoume, who had just turned 6, had been stabbed multiple times when sheriffs deputies discovered him Saturday in response to a 911 call. Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis, the sheriffs office said. The boys mother told investigators that she rents two rooms on the first floor of the Plainfield home while Czuba and his wife live on the second floor, Assistant States Attorney Michael Fitzgerald said in a court filing. He was angry at her for what was going on in Jerusalem, Fitzgerald said. She responded to him, Lets pray for peace. ... Czuba then attacked her with a knife. The boys mother fought him off and went into a bathroom where she stayed until police arrived. Wadea, meanwhile, was in his own room, Fitzgerald said. The mother was identified by family members as Hanaan Shahin, 32, though authorities used a different spelling for her name as well as her sons name. The brutality of the attack, which involved a military-grade knife, has shocked us all, the Mosque Foundation said. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wadea should have been attending school Monday, yet his parents will wake up without their son. Jewish and Muslim groups have reported an increase of hateful rhetoric in the wake of the war. We are not animals, we are humans, said the boys uncle, Yousef Hannon. We want people to see us as humans, to feel us as humans, to deal with us as humans. Police found Czuba with a cut on his forehead, sitting on the ground outside the home. The public defenders office did not immediately return messages seeking comment about the charges against him. Czubas wife, Mary, told police that her husband feared they would be attacked by people of Middle Eastern descent and had withdrawn $1,000 from a bank in case the U.S. grid went down, Fitzgerald said in the court document. The Justice Department said it opened a hate crime investigation into the attack. This horrific act of hate has no place in America, and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are, President Joe Biden said. ___ White reported from Detroit. Associated Press reporters Jesse Bedayn in Denver and Eric Tucker in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report. House Democrats are having informal talks with their Republican colleagues about a potential bipartisan solution to finding a speaker, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Sunday. In an interview on NBCs Meet the Press, Jeffries said that Democrats are ready, willing and able to find a solution. There are informal conversations that have been underway, he said. When we get back to Washington tomorrow, its important to begin to formalize those conversations. The House has been without a speaker since a handful of conservative Republicans instigated a vote that ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Oct. 3. Representative Jim Jordan is currently the frontrunner for the position, but a number of moderate Republicans -- including Alabamas Rep. Mike Rogers -- have said they will not support him either. Jeffries said that Democrats arent making any demands as part of the talks, but he added that they would like to change House rules so that measures with bipartisan support can come up for a vote. We want to ensure that votes are taken on bills that have substantial Democratic support and substantial Republican support so that the extremists arent able to dictate the agenda, he said. Representative Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican who voted against ousting McCarthy, said that Democrats threw away an opportunity for bipartisanship when they failed to rescue McCarthy on that vote. At this point, I would prefer there to be, you know, a Republican solution because when they rejected bipartisanship, its kind of hard to then go back to it, he said on CBSs Face the Nation. ___ 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. The longtime attorney for the family of Natalee Holloway says a possible plea deal this week is contingent on Joran van der Sloot disclosing new details about Holloways 2005 death in Aruba. Van der Sloot is set to appear in federal court in Birmingham on Wednesday for a plea and sentencing hearing. He previously pleaded not guilty to extorting Beth Holloway, Natalees mother. It was conditioned upon Mr. van der Sloot revealing details of how Natalee died and how her body was disposed of, lawyer John Q. Kelly told Today. Authorities have not confirmed Kellys statements to NBC. An order filed Friday in the case remains sealed. Read full coverage of the case here Although van der Sloot, now 35, has long been suspected in the disappearance and death of the Mountain Brook High School graduate Holloway, then 18, while she was visiting Aruba in 2005, he has never been charged in connection to her death. The plea hearing comes days before what would be Holloways 37th birthday. However, federal authorities in Alabama contend that in 2010 van der Sloot exploited the fear of Holloways mother, Beth, that she would never find her daughters body or know what happened to her unless she paid him $250,000. A federal grand jury in Birmingham indicted van der Sloot on June 30, 2010, on charges of wire fraud and extortion. Van der Sloot remains held in the Shelby County Jail. Van der Sloot on June 8 was extradited from Peru, where he is serving 28 years for the 2010 murder of college student Stephany Flores, to Alabama. The following day, he made his initial appearance in court and pleaded not guilty to the wire fraud and extortion charges. The case is being prosecuted by Lloyd Peeples, chief of the U.S. Attorneys Criminal Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine Crosby. Prosecutors contend that van der Sloot told Holloway for an initial payment of $25,000, he would take the Holloways representative to the location of Natalees body. The prime suspect in Natalee Holloways disappearance is set to face a judge in Alabama, accused of trying to extort the Holloway family. @SamBrockNBC reports more details about the plea deal under consideration. pic.twitter.com/Y2IKhCfk4D TODAY (@TODAYshow) October 16, 2023 Once the body was recovered and confirmed to be Natalee, he said, he would then collect the remaining $225,000. The affidavit said Natalee Holloway died after Joran van der Sloot threw her to the ground when she attempted to stop him from leaving her. The affidavit also says that his late father, Paulus van der Sloot, then helped him dispose of her body. Van der Sloot told a representative for Beth Holloway that his father buried her remains in the gravel under the foundation of the single-story house. He later admitted to the representative that he lied about the location of Natalees remains. Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed this week is traveling to Geneva, Switzerland, where he will relay his states struggle with civil rights as part of a U.S. delegation for a meeting on human rights. The group will present a report on Americas obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Reed is the only mayor in the delegation, which is mostly made up of federal officials. They asked me if I would be open to sharing perspective on human rights as a mayor in the United States on behalf of the Department of State in Geneva, Reed said. Its a great honor and great opportunity. Im looking forward to sharing the progress thats been made and the steps yet to come. The delegation includes officials from the United Nations, the Biden administration, the National Security Council, and the departments of State, Justice, Labor, Housing and Urban Development, Education, Health and Human Services, and Defense, as well as Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford. The conference is Tuesday and Wednesday. Reed said he plans to speak about progress achieved through the civil rights movement in Alabama and what he considers ongoing challenges. Reed, Montgomerys first Black mayor who was elected to a second term in August, said he expects delegates from other nations will be familiar with Alabamas history in the civil rights movement. I think the story of Mrs. Rosa Parks and certainly Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., not only spans generations, but it spans continents, Reed said. The main takeaway is that certainly here in Montgomery and across the state of Alabama, weve been at the forefront of bringing about change from the bottom up. And we have a responsibility to protect that progress, Reed said. Congressman (John) Lewis said before he passed away that we had to protect democracy and that it is precious. And I think those are things that I want to share to our international partners that they must do as well. In a press release, the State Department said the report and the delegation of federal, state, and local officials shows the commitment the United States has to human rights and its obligations under the International Covenant. Reed said Friday he is considering a run for Congress in Alabamas 2nd congressional district. He said he would decide before qualifying ends on Nov. 10.. An Illinois man was charged Sunday with a hate crime, accused of fatally stabbing a young boy and seriously wounding a woman because of their Islamic faith and the Israel-Hamas war, according to The Associated Press. Officers found the 32-year-old woman and 6-year-old boy late Saturday morning at a home in an unincorporated area of Plainfield Township, southwest of Chicago, the Will County Sheriffs Office said. The statement added that the boy was pronounced dead at a hospital and the woman had multiple stab wounds and was expected to survive. An autopsy on the child showed he had also been stabbed multiple times, according to reports. Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis, the sheriffs statement said. The suspect, Joseph Czuba, has been charged him with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crimes and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. The Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations identified the boy and woman and said they were Palestinian American. The group said text messages exchanged among family members showed the attacker had made disparaging remarks about Muslims. The Muslim civil liberties organization called the crime our worst nightmare, and part of a disturbing spike in hate calls and emails since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. Jewish and Muslim people and institutions have received an increasing number of threats in the days since Hamas attacked Israel, FBI director Christopher Wray told reporters Sunday. The threat is very much ongoing and in fact, the threat picture continues to evolve, Wray said, according to CBS. Here in the U.S., 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 on our own soil. He said the bureau is moving quickly to mitigate the threats. On Saturday, Wray told police chiefs and first responders to be vigilant for attacks by extremists in local communities. Senior FBI officials said most of the threats are not credible, and some have been addressed. Officials told reporters that there have been threats against Muslim facilities as well as Jewish facilities. Threats against Muslim centers are up, although the level of antisemitic threats is also spiking. Birminghams Jewish Federation is promoting a Tuesday Oct. 17 virtual event with national experts about how to speak to children about events in Israel. A University of Georgia student died Saturday when she fell approximately 90 feet while rock climbing in Cherokee County. The Cherokee County Coroners Office said Yutong Faye Zhang, 18, originally from Minnesota, was killed in an incident Saturday at about 12 p.m. Investigators were called to Cherokee Rock Village, off Cherokee County Road 70. Investigators say Zhang fell while climbing. The Cherokee County Sheriffs Office had investigators on the scene. Greg Trevor, a UGA spokesman, said Zhang was a first-year student at the school. We are deeply saddened by this terrible tragedy that took the life of University of Georgia first-year student Faye Zhang, Trevor said. Our deepest sympathies go out to the students family, and we will continue to provide counseling and support to members of our community who have been affected by her passing. This post was modified at 10 a.m. CST Oct. 17 to correct information supplied by the coroner. A new petition is calling for higher pay for Waffle House workers throughout the South. The petition started by the Union of Southern Service Workers, part of the Service Employees International Union, calls for a pay boost at least $25 per hour for all workers, cooks and servers, among other concessions. Waffle House workers from across the South are fed up. Were sick and tired of making poverty wages, the constant threat of in-store violence, and mandatory meal deductions whether we eat a meal or not while on a shift. We refuse to be exploited and so were getting organized, the petition noted. The petition also calls for an end to mandatory deductions for meals and a change to make it optional for workers to purchase discounted meals while working their shifts. It also asks for Waffle House to provide round-the-clock security and allow workers to have real input on store safety plans, including during natural disasters. The restaurant chain has traditionally stayed open whenever possible, coining the phrase The Waffle House Index, to indicate how bad a natural disaster was. A closed Waffle House, the Index noted, is reserved for only the most serious of events. Waffle House, a privately held company, has more than 2,100 locations in 25 states with an estimated revenue of $1 billion annually. The plaudits are starting to roll in from some unlikely quarters for House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan as the Ohio Republican mounts what has been an uphill climb to be elected speaker. Jordan won over two important votes from defense hawks who control the Pentagons purse strings House Armed Services Chairman Mike D. Rogers, and Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. Rogers, R-Ala., who last week said he would not support Jordan, wrote on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, that he and Jordan had two cordial, thoughtful, and productive conversations over the past two days. Rogers said that he and Jordan, R-Ohio, agreed on the need for Congress to pass a strong defense authorization bill, appropriations to fund our governments vital functions and a new multiyear farm bill. Since I was first elected to the House, I have always been a team player and supported what the majority of the Republican Conference agrees to, Rogers wrote on X. Together, our Republican majority will be stronger to fight Joe Bidens reckless agenda for America.. Calvert, who wrote on X Monday that keeping America safe is my top priority in Congress, said hes now on board. After having a conversation with Jim Jordan about how we must get the House back on a path to achieve our national security and appropriations goals, I will be supporting him for Speaker on the floor, Calvert wrote. Lets get to work. While Calvert had not weighed in on Jordans bid, he was an early supporter of House Majority Leader Steve Scalises bid for the gavel. Calverts backing is a positive sign for Jordan among a group of Republicans that is key for him to reach the 217 votes needed to be elected if all members are present and voting Defense hawks have expressed concerns about Jordans spending plans, according to sources familiar with their thinking. Jordan has vowed to leverage the 1 percent across-the-board cut that would hit in May if all 12 full-year appropriations bills arent enacted by then under the debt limit suspension law. This tactic has startled supporters of defense spending, who worry that Jordan could allow the 1 percent defense cut to take effect in order to also cut domestic and foreign aid spending. Jordan has also been critical of extra aid to Ukraine, which remains under attack by Russia, and by extension additional funds to replenish U.S. weapons stockpiles that could bolster the domestic defense industrial base. Too much is at stake Backing for Jordan is starting to come in from others whove been his most vocal opponents. Last week, Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., told Politico that she would absolutely not vote for Jordan, citing his disgraceful, ungracious speech in conference after he lost the initial internal ballot to Scalise. On Monday, Wagner posted on X that shes changed her mind after speaking with Jordan earlier in the day. She wrote that the prospect of a deal with Democrats to elect a speaker was a motivating factor. Too much is at stake to hand control of the House over to radical liberal Democrats, which is why we must elect a conservative as the next Speaker, Wagner wrote. Wagner said Jordan has allayed my concerns about keeping the government open with conservative funding, the need for strong border security, our need for consistent international support in times of war and unrest. Jordan followed up the endorsement announcements with a Dear Colleague letter to all House Republicans. Jordan wrote that hes heard their concerns and is ready to include the entire conference on key policy decisions including on avoiding a government shutdown when current funding runs out Nov. 17. Our goal will be to empower our committees and committee chairs to take the lead on the Houses legislative work through regular order. This will bring us together to pass responsible legislation to fund our government and support our military, Jordan wrote. And he said hes ready to help members get reelected, addressing critics whove said he hasnt done enough to raise money and stump for lawmakers in their districts. I will tirelessly work to defend and expand our majority and help every Republican member back at home, Jordan wrote. Tuesday vote House Republicans are set to meet again on Monday at 6:30 p.m., with a floor vote for speaker tentatively scheduled for noon Tuesday. The new support expressed Monday could be a sign that Jordan is starting to close the gap towards the 217 votes on the floor needed to be elected speaker, if all members are present and voting. However, 55 Republicans said in a secret ballot Friday that they would not vote for Jordan on the floor, even after he became the speaker-designate in a 124-81 vote over Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., a last-minute entry into the race. Many Scalise backers are frustrated that Jordans supporters tanked Scalises bid for speaker, after Scalise earned the nod in a 113-99 vote over Jordan last week. Scalise later dropped out in the face of some Republicans saying they would not support him on the floor. Some have alleged Jordan and his allies have engaged in hardball tactics to try to secure the votes. 1819 News, an Alabama-based outlet, reported that several members of the Alabama Republican Partys executive committee have threatened to try to kick Rogers off the 2024 ballot. Then there are those who never got over the stunning ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., nearly two weeks ago that started the whole chaotic process. Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., told CNN on Monday that hes not backing Jordan and that Republicans may need to reach across the aisle to Democrats to elect a bipartisan speaker. One lawmaker whos consistently been in the OK camp Only Kevin said on Fox News Monday that the speaker pro tempore role, currently filled by Rep. Patrick T. McHenry, R-N.C., should be imbued with expanded powers. Look, one way or the other, were going to have to do something about the speaker pro tem because in the future, what if we have a speaker thats incapacitated, injured, etcetera? Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., said. The House business just cant stop, and so this is a big hole that we have to fill and we have to fill it now. ------- (Laura Weiss, David Lerman and Mary Ellen McIntire contributed to this report) ___ 2023 CQ-Roll Call, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Visit cqrollcall.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Ron Mims, a longtime member of the Birmingham Water Works Board, died this weekend after a long illness. Mims, who was 67, was also a former longtime pastor of Green Liberty Missionary Baptist Church in Birmingham. The citizens of Birmingham and Jefferson County and the state of Alabama are going to truly miss his quiet, steadfast, and stable leadership at the Birmingham Water Works, board member George Munchus told AL.com today. Ron was a real asset when he was appointed, said Munchus, currently the longest-serving board member. That was probably one of the best appointments that the City Council could have made, to have appointed someone with the knowledge, skills and ability that he brought to the organization. The Water Works board today confirmed Mims died on Saturday. Mims spent his 30-year career with the Water Works and entered senior leadership in 2002 where he served as general manager and assistant general manager through 2004. Mims left the utility in 2004 to pursue his ministry. Mims returned to the agency as board member in 2015, when he was appointed by the Birmingham City Council and was then unanimously elected to serve as board chair. He was last reappointed to a third term on the board in late 2020. When I was first appointed to the Board, Director Mims was my Chairman. I admired his passion for the employees and the customers we serve everyday, the boards chairwoman Tereshia Huffman said in a statement this afternoon. This was a man who worked his way from the entry level all the way to the top level of this utility. He was a true fighter, and I found that to be admirable and commendable, and Ill carry those qualities he left with me for the rest of my life. My prayers are with his family during this time. Mims earned a Masters of Public & Private Management at BirminghamSouthern College and a degree in history from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Mims in 2017 was saluted by the agency when the Water Works boardroom was named in his honor. In a 2017 story by the Birmingham Times, Mims recalled starting at the Water Works shortly after graduation from Ramsay High School, Mims. He worked as a customer service representative making $3 an hour. We often take access to clean water for granted, and forget the fact that someone had to work very hard to provide that access, Mims told the Birmingham Times. Water grows areas, and knowing that I directly had a hand in bringing water to people in five counties is both a matter of pride and humility. Binnie Myles, a former longtime water works employee who knew Mims for several years, said his career at the agency prepared him with keen insight for board leadership. He was a very good chairman and just wonderful to work with. He was good to the employees, and he was just genuinely concerned about the customers, Myles told AL.com. He worked his way up, so he could identify with both the customers and the staff. Mims had also served as chairman of the Titusville Development Corporation, a non-profit agency aiming to provide quality affordable housing in the historic neighborhood in which he grew up. The unification ministry lambasted North Korea on Monday for its suspected arms transfer to Russia, amid persistent speculation that the two nations may have reached an arms deal during a rare summit between their leaders last month. In a press briefing Friday, John Kirby, the U.S. National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, said Pyongyang has delivered more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions to Russia in recent weeks for use in Ukraine. The revelation came amid lingering suspicions that the two countries may have struck an arms deal on the occasion of the summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sept. 13. "North Korea has denied an arms trade with Russia several times, but relevant circumstances are emerging one by one," ministry spokesperson Koo Byoung-sam said in a regular press briefing. "The true nature of North Korea, which has attempted to deceive the whole world, has been exposed." Koo stressed that any illicit weapons trade with North Korea should be halted, as it would constitute a violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions against the North's nuclear and missile programs. "Russia should especially fulfill its responsibility and role as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council," he said. A senior official at Seoul's foreign ministry earlier said the government will "monitor the trends in military cooperation between Russia and North Korea and consider further measures." (Yonhap) Roughly 400 people gathered near Birminghams Railroad Park on Sunday to support Palestine and protest Israels recent bombings in Gaza. The protestors met at the intersection of 16th Street and First Avenue South and marched for several blocks. Palestinian flags flew in the air, and many protesters wore keffiyehs, black and white patterned scarves, or held handmade and printed signs with messages like Resistance against occupation is a human right, End all U.S. aid to Israel, and Jews for a free Palestine. A man wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh leads a group of protestors in a chant. (Hannah Denham / Hdenham@al.com) Organizations present included a group called Arabama, which organized the protest and march, and the Birmingham Democratic Socialists of America. Since Oct. 7, when a group of Hamas militants invaded Israel and killed an estimated 1,300 people, Israel has responded with a military siege of Gaza including airstrikes and blocking food, water, electricity and supplies from getting into the region where about 2.2 million Palestinians live. At least 2,600 people have died in Gaza in the past week, according to international reports. Several speakers, including Amer Zahr, a Palestinian American writer and comedian from Michigan, led chants including free, free Palestine, no justice, no peace, and killing children is a crime. Some chants blamed Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Joe Biden for the deaths of Palestinian children. Amer Zahr, a Michigan-based Palestinian American writer and comedian, spoke at a protest in Birmingham, telling attendees to tell their neighbors they loved them. (Hannah Denham / Hdenham@al.com) The root of the problem of everything happening now is occupation. Its the deprivation of peoples rights for 75 years, Zahr said in an interview with AL.com. Its ethnic cleansing. Its apartheid. Until those things get solved in a just way, things like this will keep happening in Palestine. During the protest, Zahr asked people who were refugees or their descendants from 1948, when the army of the newly formed state of Israel destroyed Palestinian homes and forced people to leave. Dozens of people raised their hands. Elizabeth, a Birmingham resident, said she grew up hearing stories from her grandparents about how beautiful their life was in Palestine before they moved to Alabama. Her family members, who she said were Christian, would tell her memories of being close with their Jewish neighbors, she said. Its the government thats been such a problem. Its the government thats been so oppressive, she said at Sundays protest. Its all of our land. We all can share it. A group of protestors chant "free, free Palestine" on First Avenue South in Birmingham. (Hannah Denham / Hdenham@al.com) Elizabeth, who declined to share her last name over fear of backlash, said she came to the protest to show up for her culture and show others what it means. I know that the culture is being lost and destroyed, and I dont want more of it to be destroyed, she said. Theres so much twisted information out there, that people just think Palestinians are hateful people. But were not. Were loving people, were welcoming people, we want to show Alabama and the world that we just want safety for our people back home. The protest ended shortly after 4 p.m. as the crowd dispersed. A group of roughly 40 people lined up in the grass at Railroad Park to pray before they left. Read more: Birmingham lawyer says family in Israel is unaccounted for after attack. Israel has every right to defend itself, Alabama leaders say after attack. Some Alabama church members stuck in Israel after Hamas attack. Penelope House is a domestic violence shelter based in Mobile that provides shelter, support and advocacy for survivors of domestic violence, as well as prevention education. Opened in 1979, the shelter is the first of its kind in the state of Alabama and the fifth in the country. You may know the shelter from their public face, Penelopes Closet, a thrift store in Midtown whose proceeds go to the shelter. Last year, the nonprofit sheltered 258 adults and 340 children, provided 47 support groups for victims and court advocacy services for 7,845 adults and 6,565 children, according to their annual report. Executive Director Tonie Ann Torrans has worked at the shelter since 2007. Her mother, Kathryn Coumanis, founded the shelter. Since October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the Lede spoke with Torrans about how to prevent domestic violence and how readers can support survivors. Questions and answers have been condensed and edited for clarity. Speaking of prevention, what are some of the signs that people should look for, if theyre concerned that someone they know might be a victim of domestic violence? Pope Franciss apostolic exhortation, Laudate Deum, is a hard document to characterize. Exhortations are supposed to encourage Catholics in their faith. However, this document deals with ecological issues and is addressed to all people of goodwill on the climate crisis. Thus, the work reads more like an eco-lamentation, a written debate, or a United Nations report, not a theological treatise. It breaks all the rules. Lacking are the citations of saints and theologians. Its style can be imposing, allowing for no other climate opinions. The text comments upon recent meetings and events, taking away the atemporal tone and gravitas found in past pontifical pronouncements meant to counsel future generations. Papal documents also do not normally get technical, as this one does, with its discussion of carbon emissions, global temperature readings, and climate statistics. The document is not original. It was announced as a second part of the popes earlier environmental encyclical, Laudato si. However, this much shorter 7500-word supplement has little to add since it quotes the earlier work nineteen times. A Gloomy Lamentation of a Failed Eco-Agenda Laudate Deum begins as a lamentation decrying the lack of action on the part of the global community to heed the pontifical 2015 warning. Pope Francis implies that time is running out. Ocean levels are rising, and ice caps are melting. Humanity is responsible for this disaster and must immediately act. It is an angry document stemming from a failure to convince a skeptical public. One has the impression that the first part is written as if engaged in a personal debate with an unknown, invisible (presumably American) climate denier whose rational and scientific arguments are too compelling for the pope to refute. Indeed, a recent Public Religion Research Institute survey found that only 27% of Americans believe climate change to be a crisis. Among religious Americans, all categories are below one-third of climate believers, with many groups reporting significant drops. Perhaps this is why Pope Francis mercilessly attacks this invisible debaters stands by denouncing those who ridicule, deny, conceal, gloss over or relativize the issue. The pope asks his readers to disregard these unenlightened ones. He evangelizes with harsh zeal, calling upon all to convert to the climate change gospel. Pope Francis affirms the reality of climate change with an air of scientific infallibility. Thus, the document is punctuated with phrases like no one can ignore that, it is verifiable that, or it is no longer possible to doubt that. No one can question the climate alarmist dogma, even in its minute details. The scientific doubters, and there are many, including Nobel laureates, receive no acknowledgement on the journey to sustainability. Global Government as a Solution Adding to the gloom is a large section that chronicles the failures of the various U.N. climate conferences known as COPs over the decades. He dates his message by mentioning the coming COP28 conference in Dubai (which is also probably doomed to fail) as an opportunity to enact meaningful change. To do this, Pope Francis insists that the present international politics are insufficient to deal with the climate problem. Thus, he cites his 2020 encyclical Fratelli tutti calling for some form of world authority regulated by law, equipped with the power to provide for the global common good, the elimination of hunger and poverty and the sure defense of fundamental human rights. Many critics question this vague global framework, invested with immense powers that seem to trump national sovereignty or religious connection. They know well that opening this Pandoras Box might lead to greater problems -- especially when implemented without a moral conversion of its leaders to God and His Church. A Spiritual Side The exhortation attempts to give a spiritual side to the problem. However, bereft of supernatural content, the documents naturalistic vision is a vague command for people to unite themselves with nature. Human life is incomprehensible and unsustainable without other creatures. Absent is an appeal to Gods loving Providence to provide for human needs, intervene on behalf of the faithful and thus avert climatic disaster. There is no mention of the Blessed Mother, the angels, and saints as a part of the reality of human life and to which one might have recourse. There is no mention of sanctification, which should be a central theme of any apostolic exhortation, not carbon footprints. Traces of Ideology Many other aspects of the document could be analyzed. However, one important characteristic that fails to convince Catholics deserves to be mentioned. Throughout the appeal, one senses ideological threads that weave their way into the documents narrative to present a determined message outside the scientific framework. Pope Francis has labeled conservatives as the evil followers of ideologies. And yet, in this document can be found many modern ideologies that are so much a part of the Catholic lefts agenda. Traces of class struggle, liberation theology, naturalism, deep ecology, anti-market rhetoric, and indigenism unite to form an ideological foundation for the documents message to the world. Some Catholics find the text unconvincing due to an anti-Western (and offputtingly anti-American) focus that attacks certain modern abuses together with many elements of order and progress. The Church as the Solution The apostolic exhortation elicits a feeling of sadness for what is missing. To please all people of goodwill on the climate crisis, the document fails to offer the Churchs wisdom. One expects biblical and religious references, citations of the saints and moral principles, not U.N. boilerplate. The Church has much to offer in the realm of stewardship and love of Gods creation. Indeed, the Church is the best equipped to deal with any true ecological crisis. The faithful living in accordance with Church moral teaching and natural law will necessarily be the best stewards of the earth. Christian civilization is the best possible solution to any ecological crisis since it is mindful of Gods creation and humanitys central role to dominate it wisely and virtuously. The tragedy of the apostolic exhortation is that it neglects to do what it is supposed to: Encourage the faithful in the practice of virtue and love of neighbor. It gets involved in technical and scientific arguments that are best left to experts in the field. It forces the unconvinced faithful to the sad situation of defending themselves against those on the Left who might use the papal document to advance their subversive agenda. Image: SajoR The hangmans noose was around 60-year-old Salem Massachusetts resident Bridget Bishops neck, and she prepared to die. Convicted of being a witch, she was sentenced to hang by the neck until she was dead. There was no tangible evidence against Bridget. The conviction was obtained based on spectral evidence. Several young girls testified that Bridget had pricked them with pins. In the courthouse, when Bridget looked at the young girls, they immediately threw themselves on the floor in apparent painful convulsions. Their bodies twisted in unnatural ways. The witch-hunting judge reminded the frightened townfolk jury that the devil needed to be dealt with and for the jury to stick to their strict Puritan principles. The ladder holding Bridget off the ground was pulled away. She fell and slowly strangled, kicking hard. Before the witch trials were finally ended, 12 more innocent individuals were convicted and hanged. The spectral evidence accusers, corrupt judges, and complicit juries were never held accountable. The elements needed for a witch hunt to occur are alive and well in 2023 America. A cult-like philosophy and a corrupt judgment process with the power to convict and enforce punishment are essential. A biased media establishment is also required (to misinform the public). With these elements intact, all that is left to initiate the witch hunt is an unaccountable accuser. 1. The best modern-day example of a witch hunt is what happened to United States Supreme Court judge Brett Kavanaugh. During his confirmation, after her social media accounts were scrubbed, Christine Blasey Ford came forth and accused the judge of sexual harassment. Her bizarre, unsubstantiated story had its genesis in repressed high school memories. Then two more female accusers surfaced. Their vile accusations also lacked any substantiation. The lack of any corroboration of the womens stories didnt matter to the cult-like progressive United States senators. They had the power to put a figurative noose around Kavanaughs neck and had every intention to pull it tight. The corrupt, biased media gleefully did their best to make the lynching happen. The confirmation hearing crescendoed when Alaskas Sen. Murkowski besmirched herself and gave the lynching of the innocent nominee her blessing. If it had not been for the surprising courage of Maine senator Susan Collins, the ladder would have been pushed out from underneath Brett Kavanaugh, and he would have been left to dangle in the wind. Under scrutiny, all three Kavanaugh accusers stories fell apart. Their accusations were not at all different from the Salem witch accusers spectral arguments. And just like the young female Salem witch accusers, there were no consequences. 2. American Universities have every element required to go witch-hunting. Whenever a young man is accused of sexual harassment, these universities convene kangaroo courts. Just like in 1692 Salem, these young men are not given due process or allowed to face their accusers. Woke administrators are judges and jury and do not hesitate to bring harsh judgment on the defenseless accused. Many real courts of law have overturned these abominations, but even with monetary settlements, the young men can never get back what these woke institutions have taken from them. 3. Anyone who works in corporate America knows that the elements of witch-hunting are available and embraced by woke administrators. Any accuser can anonymously make claims against an employee. Human resources officers afraid to fight the politically correct environment will not hesitate to act. CEOs looking for ways to demonstrate their politically correct credentials will oversee the witch hunt inquisition. Many helpless employees have felt the noose tighten around their necks. But what has happened to Donald Trump gives a whole new relevance to the phrase witch hunt. There are places in America where Donald Trump cannot get a fair trial or any type of court adjudication places where progressives have total control of the entire judicial process and the elements required for a witch hunt thrive. In New York City, a woman accused Donald Trump of raping her in a locked department store dressing room. Incredibly, she was unable to remember in what year her life-altering event happened or reconcile why there were no locks on the dressing room in which she said she was locked. It was clear that any honest jury could not convict Donald Trump, but just like in the 1692 Salem witch trials, Donald Trump was convicted of sexually harassing the accuser. Inexplicably, he was acquitted of rape, but the witch triallike jury magically discerned that even though the accusers story wasnt true, something must have happened. Not only is the witch-like accuser unaccountable for her unsubstantiated accusations, but shes also being enriched. At the present time, the attorney general of New York has brought charges against Donald Trump, and an obviously biased judge is unable to objectively dispense justice. Even though no one was harmed, the trial judge has tried to destroy Trumps N.Y. businesses (an appeals court has stopped him). This witch hunt did not require an accuser. The spectral evidence came from the justice system itself. In 2024, the Department of Justice and a local prosecutor in Georgia will try their hand at witch-hunting. In Washington, D.C., the elements needed to have a successful Trump witch hunt are in place. A biased prosecutor who has a history of being chastised by the SCOTUS 9-0 for using inappropriate law theory and perverting the justice system to obtain the conviction of a former Republican Virginia governor leads the current witch hunt. A judge who is on record of being biased against Donald Trump presides over the Salem-like courtroom, and a jury pool drawn from a demographic that voted 90% for Biden will decide his guilt. The local Georgia prosecutors case is no better, somehow using racketeering laws against the former president. It is not clear whether Donald Trump will survive the progressive witch hunt trials, but, despite the medias best attempt to control public opinion (think Hunter Bidens laptop), the American people have so far seen through the corrupt two-tier system of justice. What is clear is that if the witch hunts are successful, and Donald Trumps political life is choked out of him, it will be a pyrrhic victory. Donald Trump will become such a martyr that even the corrupt media will be unable to stop the massive backlash to the progressive injustice. Vivek Ramaswamy is waiting in the wings. In 1692 Salem, Massachusetts, the Puritan cult-like witch hunters caused unaccountable damage and destroyed anyone in their path. In 2023, the cults have different names. Wokeism, climate change fanatics, BLM, and LGBT come to mind. Just like the 1692 Puritans, these modern cults revel in their ability to unaccountably witch-hunt. No one is safe. The cult will lynch anyone who stands in their way. America is hanging by a thread. The thread does not have to break. November 2024 is coming. Vote! This piece was inspired by Bill OReillys new bestseller Killing the Witches. All contained references to the Salem Witch Trials were derived from the book. It is a great work of history and worth the read. Image via Picryl. Right now, it is starting to look as though Israel is planning to forcibly move the Gazans. In a less politically correct era, this would have been called population transfer. This was how a measure of stability was brought to the Greek and Turkish border, right after WWI. However, in a more sensitive era, such a transfer is called ethnic cleansing, and it is now labeled a form of genocide. In reality, the term is usually used only as a form of convenience to attack an opponent, as in the other side is practicing genocide, whereas our side is simon pure. From a pro-Israel, pro-Jewish blog by Vic Rosenthal, who goes by the nom de plume of Abu Yehuda: You [Egypt] are advised to prepare to receive a flow of refugees at the Egyptian border, where you will need to provide food and shelter for them, as well as transportation to any country that will receive them. They will not be returning to Gaza. I am not here to critique Mr. Rosenthal, but only to ask: why would Israel want to dump roughly 2 million Gazans on Egypt, which does not want them? The peace with Egypt was always tenuous, but it held. Why stress that peace now? Egypt is willing to send aid to Gaza, but not to absorb the population. If Israel pushes the matter, it might make Egypt belligerent, as Egypt does not want to get stuck with them. Talk of pushing Palestinians to Sinai as a more permanent solution is not acceptable, former Egyptian foreign minister Mohamed al-Orabi, now chairman of the government-linked Egyptian Foreign Relations Council, told The Washington Post. What is often left unstated is that no nation wants to absorb the Palestinians. Other nations do not want Israel to dump its Palestinian problem on them. Rather, the Arab states prefer to leave Israel stuck with a large demographic of insanely violent, hostile Palestinians in the hopes that one day the problem will come to a boil. Well, it has. Recently, the number of Arabs west of the Jordan River has started to approximate the number of Jews, which from a Zionist perspective signals a disaster. Some observers have noted that Jewish women are having more babies, but Arabs have them younger, so they still cycle up in population faster. Jewish people make up less than 47 percent of all those living west of the Jordan River, an Israeli demographer warned Tuesday, claiming that most of the Israeli population is unaware of the democratic peril the country is sliding into by possibly becoming a ruling minority in the area. While the numbers are disputed, they are not that far off. Gaza has a very young population, where the average age is 18, while in Israel, it is 29. The average age of marriage is also younger in Gaza. Females in particular marry almost four years earlier in Gaza. Had Hamas waited ten more years, the demographic gradient would have been even worse for Israel, and then the Palestinians could have demanded a one-state solution, and the world might have supported the idea as a democratic imperative. So a crisis was looming one way or the other. There was no way that Israel could live with Gaza, even had it been more peaceable. The author, Vic Rosenthal, explains his reason for blaming the world for this situation: You paid for their [the Gazans] food and healthcare, while accepting the idea that millions must return to a place from which a few hundred thousand fled 75 years ago. You paid for their education, while allowing it to become indoctrination in irredentism. I understand and sympathize with Mr. Rosenthals fury, but I cant help but notice that Zionism, by its nature, is the most irredentist nationalism of all. He should have chosen a better metaphor. And if the world has subsidized Islamic irredentism, sections of the West have also subsidized Zionist irredentism. M.K. Moshe Feiglin called for similar action in 2014: An Israeli official [M.K. Feiglin] has called for concentration camps in Gaza and the conquest of the entire Gaza Strip, and annihilation of all fighting forces and their supporters. ... Part of his plan includes shipping the people living in Gaza across the world. ... He says to encourage the movement those who willingly agree to emigrate will be given a generous economic support package. Maybe MK Feiglin was prescient, but I doubt that Palestinians would get generous relocation packages today. So what to do? The first thing to notice is that after last weeks horrific slaughter, Hamas has lost a large portion of the worlds sympathy, except for Islamic populations and insane leftists. The second thing to notice is that Trump cut off all aid to the Palestinians. Biden re-instated it. This would never have happened under Trump. All aid to the Palestinians should be immediately cut off. Oddly, though, in the short term, this would dump the problem back on Israel. Without foreign aid to the Palestinians in Judea and Samaria, the expenses would be dumped on Israel. Whether Israel picks up the tab is another matter. Still, all aid should be cut off. The third thing is that the West must not take these Gazans in. Europe is already flooded with Muslim migrants as a result of meddling in Syria. No more. If any migrants be absorbed, let it be assimilable Christian Euro-Ukrainians. Fourth: The Gazans if they be ejected must be ejected to the Islamic world, and this must be made clear. If the Arab world does not agree to absorb them, all diplomatic and economic aid to them must stop. I am not saying this is 100% fair, but the alternatives are much worse. Fifth: The Arabs and Russia will cut off oil in protest. The U.S. must allow more oil drilling. Get the greenies out of office. Biden must be made aware of this. Under Trump, the USA was an oil exporter. Get free of Arab and Russian extortion. Sixth: If Israel sends them to the Sinai, expect Egypt to return to its belligerence. That is Israels decision, not ours, but I would suggest dumping the Gazans on Libya, Syria, Iraq, and Algeria. Have fleets pick them up. Spain did it in 1609, when the Moors were expelled. This will not put an end to the problem. Arabs in Judea and Samaria are still an issue. Finally, it is clear that Israel will be comfortable only with a large Jewish majority in its state...essentially an ethno-state. And that is the right terminology, as the IHRA definition of antisemitism defines Jews as an ethnic group. They have a common ancestry in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I have no problem with this, as long as liberal Jews and even Israel notices that diaspora Jews are too liberal in the West stop screaming racism when it comes to white Christians in the West. Tell Israel that we will support a more Jewish Jewish state if they support more Western Western states, and pressure diaspora Jews to stop being so woke. Image: Tom Hilton via Flickr, CC BY 2.0. Discussions regarding the need for dialogue to address North Korea's nuclear quandary in the United States have dwindled, South Korea's top envoy in Washington said Sunday, indicating growing skepticism over the prospects of long-stalled nuclear diplomacy with the recalcitrant regime. Ambassador Cho Hyun-dong made the remarks during a parliamentary audit as the North stipulated a policy to beef up its nuclear forces in its constitution last month amid an unceasing drive to advance its nuclear and missile capabilities. Cho also said that Seoul and Washington plan to hold the second session of the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG), a key deterrence dialogue body, in the U.S. before the end of the year as part of efforts to address growing security concerns in South Korea. "It is difficult to precisely talk about the proportion, but there is an assessment that the possibility of North Korea's denuclearization is gradually becoming difficult," Cho said. "I feel that discussions on the need for dialogue to resolve the North's nuclear issue have been gradually dwindling compared with the discussions in the past," he added. But Cho stressed North Korea's denuclearization through dialogue is a crucial goal of the South Korean government. Washington has repeatedly underscored its desire to reengage with Pyongyang, but the North has not responded. The reclusive state has instead entrenched relations with its traditional partners, Russia and China, further casting clouds over the prospects for the resumption of dialogue with the U.S. The renewed Israel-Hamas conflict, coupled with Russia's protracted war in Ukraine, has raised speculation that Washington could prioritize addressing the two conflicts, with the North Korean nuclear quandary likely to be put on the back burner. On the planned second NCG session, Cho said that Seoul and Washington seek to make a robust system to minimize public angst over North Korean nuclear threats. The creation of the NCG was announced in the Washington Declaration that President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden issued at their White House summit in April to bolster extended deterrence America's commitment to use the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear, to defend South Korea. The NCG's inaugural session was held in Seoul in July. At the audit session, Cho also noted that Washington had informed Seoul of the recent arms transfers between the North and Russia before the White House released such details to the press last week. On Friday, John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, said that between Sept. 7 and Oct. 1, North Korea delivered more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions to Russia for use in Ukraine. When asked about the scenario of the North receiving military assistance from Russia in return for the arms provision, Cho said, "We expect Russia, as a major power, to respond in a prudent manner." "I think that if that situation (of Russia offering military support to the North) happens, we cannot help but make a serious, decisive decision," he said. (Yonhap) As the 2024 presidential election nears with the world on the brink of, or already in, World War Three, America must make a serious choice in 13 months. Will America course correctly or slide into bankruptcy and irrelevancy on the world stage? Perhaps the feckless Republicans need a rallying cry. Bill Clinton had one when he ran against ruling class scion George HW Bush. Its the economy stupid was a phrase James Carville coined in 1992 when he was advising Bill Clinton in his successful run for the White House. In 2023, its the economy again, but not only the economy. Our national debt is over $33 trillion, growing by $5 billion a day, with interest payments costing taxpayers almost $2 billion each day. Much of it is or was going to one of the most corrupt countries in the world, holding no vital US interest, or spent on the nonsensical Green New Deal, while most Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. While not pleasant, America can survive a recession or depression, as we did a hundred years ago. But what if we are invaded and conquered? Thats a new scenario for America. The past two world wars, and subsequent wars were all fought overseas, not in the US homeland. Invasions dont always happen by ships and planes. What if we simply allow the enemy to move into the country, ready for activation at any time? In other words, Americas future enemy combatants may already be here. Republicans should be shouting, Its the border, stupid! This issue will resonate with all voters, especially in Democrat-run cities like New York and Chicago, now overrun with migrants that their taxpayers must support and live with. But everyone should be concerned after what happened in Israel. No one is safechildren, the elderly, concertgoers, or everyone else. Who controls American borders? The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency. Their mission statement is Protect the American people, safeguard our borders, and enhance the nations economic prosperity. Are they doing that? Or the opposite? From their website, here is CBPs ethos, We are the guardians of our Nations borders. are the guardians of our Nations borders. We are Americas front line. are Americas front line. We safeguard the American homeland safeguard the American homeland at and beyond our borders. We protect the American people against protect the American people against terrorists and the instruments of terror. We steadfastly enforce the laws of the United States steadfastly enforce the laws of the United States while fostering our Nations economic security through lawful international trade and travel. We serve the American people with vigilance, serve the American people with vigilance, integrity, and professionalism. How is that working out? Are the borders safeguarded? Are Americans protected from terrorists? Are the laws being enforced? Are open borders improving our economic prosperity? From the CBP website, there have been 7.5 million border encounters from 2021 to the present (that is, during Bidens presidential term). 5.2 million, more than two-thirds, were single adults, mostly male. If these young men are seeking political asylum, why arent they bringing their families rather than coming alone? YouTube screen grab And its getting worse. Look at the encounters in just one month: CBPs total encounters along the Southwest border in August 2023 were 232,972. At that rate, its close to 3 million illegal aliens a year. These are encounters. How many illegal migrants get through without being caught or encountered? That number is largely unknowable, but the Center for Immigration Studies estimates somewhere between 50 and 68 percent of illegal border crossers are caught. What if far fewer are caught? The House Judiciary Committee reports, 1.7 million known gotaways have evaded Border Patrol and escaped into the interior since January 20, 2021, with untold numbers of unknown gotaways avoiding detection during that period. In other words, the number of illegal border crossers under Biden could be between 10 and 20 million, perhaps more, close to 5 percent of the US population. Is the Biden administration sending any illegal aliens back home, or are they all staying in America? The House Judiciary Committee answers again, Of the at least 2.1 million aliens released into the United States since January 20, 2021, the Biden Administration has failed to remove, through immigration court removal proceedings, roughly 99.7 percent of those illegal aliens. In other words, they all stay here. Where are they coming from? Mostly Central and South America, but from where else? From CBP data, about 65,000 single adults came from China during Bidens time in office. About 40,000 single adults came from Russia. Congressman Tom Cole notes migrants from more than 150 countries have illegally crossed the border. Thousands of special interest aliens from numerous countries, including the Middle East, have been arrested by CBP agents while attempting to cross the U.S. southern border illegally over the past two years, according to internal CBP data leaked to Fox News. Would Russia or China be concerned if 60,000 young American men migrated to their country? You betcha. The House Committee on Homeland Security reports that in 2023, so far, 151 individuals on the terrorist watchlist were stopped at the southern border. How many made it through? CBP arrested over 32,000 aliens with criminal convictions. How many more were not arrested and are in a city near you? Is it concerning that young men of military age are coming into the country from who knows where? For anyone who still believes its just poor families crossing into the US, Pew Research says otherwise, By far the largest number and share of encounters involved single adults. Assume 5 million single adults arrived illegally into the US, mostly young men. While AOC likes to pose in front of children, photos of migrant caravans tell a different story of hordes of military-age men in these caravans. Where are their families? Are they simply seeking political asylum, or do they have other activities in mind? How many of these young men might be from Hamas, Hezbollah, or other militant groups intent on causing harm in America? Or are criminals? Or cartel members? Can Europe show us whats ahead with unfettered immigration? This New York Post headline gives a preview, When Europe ignored the sex crimes of immigrants, all women suffered. Young women who overwhelmingly vote for Democrats might reconsider what they are voting for. What if only one percent of these young men have bad intentions for America? That is still 50,000 potential militants. Remember, it only took 19 al-Qaeda terrorists to carry out the 9/11 attacks. What could 50,000 terrorists do? Investigative journalist Laura Loomer tweeted one potential answer, Sources telling me that there were emergency intel meetings this weekend to discuss the rise of Hamas terror cells that are operating in American cities. These HAMAS terrorists came across the US border and are apparently planning to attack major US cities over the next 14 months. Trump said much the same on Truth Social, The same people that raided Israel are pouring into our once beautiful USA, through our TOTALLY OPEN SOUTHERN BORDER, at Record Numbers. Are they planning an attack within our Country? Crooked Joe Biden and his BOSS, Barack Hussein Obama, did this to us! Yet we still have a wide-open border. The Biden administration and Democrats want this, replenishing their voter rolls so they dont have to fabricate as many ballots and votes in future elections. Republicans have done nothing to stop it, beholden to their Chamber of Commerce donors seeking cheap labor. When President Trump tried to build a border wall, the GOP-controlled House and Senate, directed by Speaker Paul Ryan, reneged on a deal to fund the border wall, according to then-President Trump. Fentanyl is also crossing the border, with 110 thousand American overdose deaths in 2022, almost twice the casualties in one year compared to the nearly 20-year American involvement in Vietnam. Fentanyl deaths each year are the equivalent of 35 9/11s. Remember the outrage over the actual 9/11? There should be 35 times more, not less, outrage over American deaths due to our nonexistent border. Illegal migrants are overwhelming American cities. Even sanctuary city virtue-signaling Democrat officials have had enough, including New York City Mayor Eric Adams saying that the Migrant crisis will destroy New York City. He left out the slow destruction of the rest of America. Its more than providing room and board for the migrants. What diseases are they bringing? New York City has a resurgence in tuberculosis, Magnified by the arrival of more than 100,000 migrants to New York City since spring 2022, as reported by Politico. Thats also coming to a city near you. But after events in Israel last week, the terror threat is a clear and present danger to America. Migrants are unvetted and released into the country. Are those with bad intentions gathering and preparing, ready to kidnap, rape, and brutally murder innocent children and young adults as Hamas did in Israel? Does America need another 9/11, or multiple simultaneous such events, to realize the danger of an absent border? We can spend hundreds of billions to secure Ukraines border with Russia but spend nothing to maintain our own border. Whats the probability of another terrorist attack on our homeland due to an open border and an unrestricted parade of migrants from who knows where? Why isnt President Biden, his administration, and Congress prioritizing the safety and security of America over that of foreign countries? Wake up, Republicans. And America. Its the border, stupid! Brian C Joondeph, MD, is a physician and writer. Follow me on Twitter @retinaldoctor, Substack Dr. Brians Substack, Truth Social @BrianJoondeph, and LinkedIn @Brian Joondeph. First Australia and New Zealand over the weekend, and now that its Monday, its another bad day to wake up a leftist. Over in Ecuador, where an assassination took out a conservative frontrunner to its presidential race just weeks before the vote, another right-winger stepped up to the plate to openly and directly reject socialism and sure enough, got elected, 52.3-47.7. According to the Financial Times: Daniel Noboa has won Ecuadors presidential election as the South American country battles an unprecedented crime wave and an ailing economy. Noboa, a centre-right former lawmaker, beat leftist rival Luisa Gonzalez in a run-off election on Sunday, taking 52 per cent of the vote with 93 per cent counted. Tomorrow your new president of the republic will get to work, Noboa, who will take office in December, told supporters on Sunday night. Noboa campaigned on a market-friendly platform of youth employment and promoting foreign investment. The 35-year-old served a short stint as a lawmaker, from 2021 until May this year, and chaired the economic development commission in Congress. Before that he held management roles at Noboa Corp., the family business. Obviously, the election was about ideas, not personalities, given the handicaps Noboa had as the son of a banana baron and a late entrant to the presidential race. The voters didnt care about those things, though; they just wanted to get rid of the socialism. The Associated Presss account was snottier and more cynical than most, suggesting that no one would ever want to vote for such a candidate...until people did: QUITO, Ecuador (AP) Daniel Noboa has managed to do what his father failed at five times: Getting elected as Ecuadors president. And Noboa did it Sunday on his first attempt, winning a runoff election against a leftist lawyer on the resume of a 35-year-old who belongs to the South American countrys elite, which means some schooling in the U.S., some entrepreneurial work, some dabbling in politics. Obviously, the voters knew what they wanted, choosing prosperity and free markets, plus a crime cleanup, over the tax-and-spend policies of the left, which has left Ecuador grossly indebted to China and a major shipper of illegals fleeing the country in search of work. The voters had to have been completely sick of the left, which ran a seemingly attractive woman as its candidate, who vowed to take instruction from former leftist Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa, an unabashed ally of Hugo Chavez, until internal polls suggested she distance herself from him, and she got kind of quiet. It fooled no one. Last night, it was all about Make Ecuador Great Again. This brings up the issue of President Trump. Is Noboa a Trump-admirer? Is this another Trump-wave election? I did a lot of searching and couldnt find any statements from Noboa, either pro or con, on President Trump, so I dont know. But Noboas vice president, Veronica Abad, is something else. According to a Google Translate of a piece from El Universo, the main newspaper in Ecuador: She defines herself as a classic liberal and pro-life woman. She is part of the Latin American Liberal Forum. She tunes in with some ideals of the Argentine economist and presidential candidate Javier Milei. In September 2022 she attended the conversation that Milei offered in Quito. In previous years, on her social networks she has expressed her support for the far-right former presidents Donald Trump, of the United States, and Jair Bolsonaro, of Brazil, as well as the Spanish party VOX. That puts her in the same wave as Trump and Milei, taking the lessons of economic growth, rule of law, and prosperity that come of the Trump agenda as a blueprint for their own countries. Unlike Argentina, Ecuador already dollarized its economy under a previous conservative wave. That has kept the country from going the way of Venezuela, but it still has major problems, such as crime and the influence of Mexican cartels, who took out the last conservative presidential candidate. (Notice that in his campaign-trail pictures, Noboa is wearing a bulletproof vest). With crime that front and center, it means Noboas going to need to go the route of El Salvadors president, Nayib Bukele, throwing them all in jail on the double just to make the place liveable. If Noboa can do that, his country will be in good shape and safe for free markets, growth, and prosperity. The news accounts pointed out that Noboa is going to have a hard time getting anything done, though, given that his term is just 18 months and his legislature is still loaded with leftists. At a minimum, he will have to work quickly and decisively. That he is identified as center-right in most accounts instead of hardcore right, and has a patrician background, probably means he isnt as Trumpish as Milei and may have more trouble still because he comes from the wealthy establishment and may still hew to the old ways of the oligarchs before the far left moved in. All the same, he seems a far better choice for Ecuador than the alternative, who was part of the tired Chavista socialist mafia. Thats a sign Trumps example and ideas are catching fire in Latin America. The left must be having conniption fits over that half-life of Trump taking over its Latin American playground. As if these victories were not bad enough, its notable that two of the lefts banner leaders Gustavo Petro of Colombia and Gabriel Boric of Chile sport poll numbers at abysmally low levels, meaning voters are tired of their act, too. Bottom line here is that Trumps ideas certainly are winning elections in South America and Oceania, even as Joe Biden attempts to shut Trump out from the presidency here. It seems to be catching. Lets hope its next stop will be Argentina next week and, further down the road, the U.S. The trend is our friend. Image: Screen shot from El Pais video via YouTube. The media and other Democrats are saying that President Trumps foreign policy was isolationist, which is a lie. Being for America first is not isolationist. From a Yahoo News piece yesterday, which declared that the conflict between Israel and Hamas is testing the GOPs isolationist shift which essentially means, the MAGA wing fighting back against the Establishment. See below: But under former President Donald Trumps leadership, the GOP has moved sharply away from its long-standing support for a muscular foreign policy. In last falls midterm elections, for example, 56% of voters for Republican candidates said the U.S. should take a less active role in world affairs, according to AP VoteCast. The Abraham Accords were peace negotiations and made the Middle East a safer place for everyone. How is that isolationist? How was moving the embassy in Israel isolationist? Pulling out of the dangerous Iran nuclear agreement was not isolationist. It was smart for the U.S. and the world. Funding Iran so it can fund terrorism is stupid and dangerous for the world. Telling NATO to pay their obligations was not isolationist. It was their agreed upon contribution, and was meant to make the alliance stronger, not weaker. Shouldnt Europe take a bigger role in protecting their continent than the U.S.? Telling Germany to stop depending on Russia for their energy is not isolationist. It was prescient advice. Catering to China is dangerous. The tariffs were meant to (and did) make America stronger and China weaker. Pulling out of the worthless Paris agreement was not isolationist. The agreement hogtied Americas economy, giving others an advantage; it let China do whatever it wanted, so it did. Having secure borders is not isolationist. It is necessary for countries to remain safe. The world was far safer when Trump was president than it is with the buffoons we have now. I would challenge the media to explain exactly how Bidens policies have made the world safer than it was under Trump. Putin attacked Ukraine while Obama was president, and while Biden is president the common denominator is Ol Joe but not during Trumps tenure. Why didnt the media refer to Biden as being an isolationist when he handed over Afghanistan to the Taliban? Why would we trust the Biden administration to control the climate when they had no idea that Israel was going to be attacked despite years of preparation? Apparently, isolationism to the media just means being against constant foreign intervention and forever wars, and being against the complete bankruptcy of America and her citizens to launder money back to those in power. It is truly a shame that the goal of the media every day is to parrot Democrat talking points and destroy Trump. How does that make the world safer? Image: Free image, Pixabay license, no attribution required. Not content with flooding America with illegal aliens from across the world, including undeveloped countries that are hostile to America, Democrats are now bruiting about the idea of letting in a million Palestinians from Gaza. That is an absolutely awful idea. Let me count the ways. The idea first popped up a couple of days ago, with Rep. Jamaal Fire Alarm Bowman leading the call: Experts predict a million refugees might flee the Gaza Strip amid the war between Israel and Hamas, and socialists and far-left lawmakers said America should welcome them. Fifty percent of the population in Gaza are children. The international community as well as the United States should be prepared to welcome refugees from Palestine while being very careful to vet and not allow members of Hamas, said Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a New York member of the Socialist-Democratic Squad who remains under investigation for pulling a fire alarm in the House Cannon Office Building earlier this month. Fortunately, Republicans are not even pretending to be enthusiastic about the idea: Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said they would oppose Palestinian resettlement efforts here. The U.S. is the most generous nation in the world, but we are in no position to accept additional refugees, especially from a region with as high a risk of terrorism, given our nations inability to secure our own border or vet those who are already here, Rubio told The Post. Scott added that the entire focus of the United States right now should be on rescuing American hostages, and making sure that Israel has every resource needed to defeat Iran backed-Hamas and defend its homeland. Its not just terrorism that will make refugees from Gaza a bad idea. There are other reasons, too. One. As Gov. Ron DeSantis rightly said, Gaza is steeped in antisemitism and anti-Americanism. Bringing these refugees in is guaranteed to ratchet up antisemitic attacks and theyll add heft to the socialists who hate it here. DeSantis also said (again, correctly) that the surrounding Arab nations should take in the refugees. Roughly 250 million Arabs surround Israel and Gaza, and they can surely divvy up the one million refugees between them. Two. This claim that 50% of Gaza residents are children is highly suspect. Neither the West Bank nor Gaza are interested in demographic truth. Truth exists to help self-government. Their goal, however, is perpetual warfare, and claiming a high child population supports their insistence that lots and lots of children are dying. (Also, keep in mind that, of these children, many are almost certain teenage boys 16 or older who are already militia fighters.) Three. Palestinians are bad for the society into which they immigrate, as demonstrated by Denmarks experience with just 321 Palestinian refugees. According to a post by Emil O.W. Kirkegaard, of the 270 still remaining, 64% got into serious trouble with the law, a large percentage of them claimed welfare for disabilities, and, of the almost 1,000 children they produced, 34% are criminals with a large number on welfare. That level of criminality and welfare dependence isnt just because Muslims dont respect Western laws and feel entitled to Western largesse. Its also because of something no one wants to admit: On average, they have subnormal IQs. No matter how you test the IQs, the Palestinian average is 70-85 IQ points, which is a range from mentally handicapped all the way up to well below average. This is true whether theyre in war-torn countries or the more stable West. The problem is socially sanctioned incest through cousin marriages. When you live in a tribal society, the safest person to wed is family. This 2022 article about Pakistan examines the problem: Ghafoor Hussain Shah is a 56-year-old teacher and father of eight children in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. According to tribal customs in Pakistan, Shah said he is expected to arrange the children's marriages within his extended family. However, Shah knows about the potential risks of genetic disease prevalent in children from inter-family marriages. He married his maternal cousin in 1987, and three of their children suffer from disorders. Shah told DW his son's brain did not develop to a normal size. One of his daughters has a speech disorder and another has hearing problems. "My biggest regret is that they could not get education," he said. "I am always worried about them who will look after them after my wife and I are gone?" he added. Despite the risks of genetic disorders, Shah said there is enormous social pressure to adhere to customs calling for cousins to marry. Anyone who refuses to offer their children for marriage within the family risks being ostracized. Humans have known for thousands of years that incest damages children. Thats why its taboo. Still, Arab communities keep doing it. Even Wikipedia admits that an average of 45% of marriages in the Arab world are consanguineous. Bringing in Gazans means introducing people who are likely to remain at the lowest echelons of American society, which is where we can expect them to become dependent on the government or engage in crime. Image: Gaza teen (one of Bowmans children) spits on Shani Louks broken body. X screen grab. Stand against Hamas terror or stand with them was the title of an article in New York Daily News a few days ago. It is exactly like this. It is not easy to understand what the people who govern Gaza really think. In the wake of Hamass recent terror attack on Israel, its clear that Hamass ultimate goal is to commit again a genocide against the Jewish people. It openly wants to do it, as is written in its founding documents. Hamas, unlike its secular rival, Fatah, has declared that Israel has no right to exist. And sadly, Israel did not see the strategic meaning of the rhetoric of Hamas, said Shlomo Avineri, a former Israeli officer and political scientist. For Hamas every civilian is a soldier; this was not rhetoric but identifying the vulnerability of the Israeli communities inside Israel, he added. IDF, Mossad, and Shin Bet were focused on individual terrorism in the West Bank. That was a fatal mistake. To gather intelligence is an art, but to gather intelligence from the Arabs is on another level. What come to my mind on this are some words by a Greek-French philosopher: [The Arabs] present themselves as Historys eternal victims (Cornelius Castoriadis, 1991). We need somehow to look at history and a particular letter by Stuart Gottlieb a professor who teaches at Columbia University to the New York Times. Re The Yom Kippur War Led to Peace. This One Can, Too, by Bret Stephens (column, Oct. 9): The 1973 Yom Kippur War led to peace because the parties involved recognized and accepted a new status quo in the Middle East. In 1967, Israel upended the status quo with a stunning military victory, including the seizure of the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt. The 1973 war showed that Egypt, Israels most powerful neighbor, was never going to accept that outcome. Ultimately, the 1978 Camp David accords traded land (Sinai) for peace. What is different now? He points it out: Iran! It makes all the difference in its support for Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezballah, and other smaller hate groups. Iran supports the Palestinian cause itself, Gottlieb notes. At this point, we can mention that the Wall Street Journal saw clear involvement in planning the attack on Israel over several weeks. The New York Times could not find clear evidence of this, and the attack surprised the Iranian leaders, it wrote. But even if there was no clear evidence of involvement this time, Iran has helped Hamas for years with plenty of cash and guns. The writer of the letter which should have been published as an article on its own because of its value saw the broader designs of Iran to become the regions hegemon in economic and military terms. Thus, the Gaza attack can be traced to Tehrans panic over progress made between Israel and Saudi Arabia on a normalization agreement. For sure, the conditions in the Gaza Strip are bad, and the horror that has unfolded was a predictable result, someone could argue. Hamas and other factors have made Gaza a kind of prison, but again, being in a prison does not mean that Hamas, or anyone, has the right to slaughter kids and women, to kidnap, rape, and take hostages. The only thing visible from this is that Hamas has a genocidal ideology, and its ultimate goal is to commit genocide against the Jewish people. Sadly, they do have that goal. Irans president has said before that Iran wants Israel to be wiped off the map. The conflict in the Middle East is the harbinger of global disorder. Israel alone has mobilized 360,000 military reservists to fully defend itself. We need to be cautious with everything, as countries like Russia and China would like an opportunity to push for this global disorder to take place sooner rather than later. Is a Palestinian state possible after all this catastrophe in order to end the constant bloodshed? Israel needs to restart land for peace negotiations with the Palestinians. Yes, but someone can argue and say: I dont agree with the idea Israel needs to trade more land for peace, or do more peace talks. They tried that several times already and got the Hamas attack for it. To do more of that is the insanity of doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. It is good, leaving off the idea of Israel giving concessions to the regime in Gaza. Of course, these land for peace solutions could work if Iran is out of the picture as a supporting point. Thus, ways must be found to diminish the power of Iran that always supports the forces of chaos in the region and beyond, but also, the Palestinians have learned over the years and have become forces of chaos, too, without a state! The thrust of an argument could be that Iran is the problem to be eliminated here. Iran threatens Israel. But again, how you deal with the theocratic Iran? This is the big question. And someone can say this time: The problem remaining is, who gets the job of getting rid of Iran, and how it should be done, and at what cost, and who pays? Persia, 2,500 years ago, tried to wipe ancient Greece off the map, and it now aims at Israel. As a conclusion, peace and reconciliation must be the only way forward for the Holy Land. The terrorists of Hamas terrorized a nation, and this cannot be forgotten easily or ignored. How can you forget when you see Hamas and Iran making Adolf Hitler proud with their evil actions? How can you forget if someone plans a genocide for you? And what is very sad, as the U.S. secretary of state, Antony J. Blinken, has revealed, is that a Holocaust survivor in a wheelchair was dragged into Gaza and taken hostage. Thus, in these days, we are with Israel. Solidarity with Israel we are all Jews! Dimitris Eleas is a New York Citybased writer, independent researcher, and political activist. Originally from Greece, his writings in Athens have appeared in books, journals, and newspapers. You can contact him via his email: dimitris.eleas@gmail.com. Image: Alan Davey via Flickr, CC BY 2.0. Its been nearly a year since Google Hangouts was killed off in lieu of Chats, and the platform has been gaining some notable features. One feature is called Smart Replies. Well, Google Chats Smart Replies are making their way to more corners of the app. In case you dont know, Google Chats is the companys online messaging service. Its meant to be a competitor to platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram. If you have a Google account, then you should be able to use the chatting platform. Theres an app version of the platform along with a web version. If you want to communicate with other people through their Google accounts, then you might want to check it out. Advertisement Advertisement Google Chats Smart Replies are making it to Spaces and Groups Just about all of Googles products use some sort of AI to make them more useful. In the case of Google chat, the app has Smart Replies. If you get a message from someone, the app will use AI to give you a handful of suggested quick replies that you can send in a single tap. Google Photos will analyze the messaging coming to you in order to craft the appropriate responses. So, if your hands are full or you otherwise cant type out a full message, you can just tap on one of the smart replies. Until now, this feature was exclusive to direct messages, but the company is expanding this capability to more corners of the platform. In a new blog post from the company, Google announced that Spaces and Groups in Google Chat are getting Smart replies. This is coming to the web version of these products. Unlike most Google Workspace features, this one isnt exclusive to a certain selection of payment tiers. The feature is making it to all Google Workspace customers and people with Google accounts. Its available now. If you dont see it right away, then you might want to wait a day or two. If youve used an Android phone, then you should know what the Discover feed is. This is a feed of fresh headlines that youd be interested in. This is based on your preferences and your history. The Google Discover feed is a staple for Android users, and it could be making its way to desktop users. When you set up a new Android phone, the Discover feed will most likely come already enabled. When you swipe left on your home screen, youll see the feed. Depending on the version of Android and who made your phone, youll be able to disable it in different ways. Advertisement Advertisement However, if you do want to keep up with the current events, then its something youll want to keep around. Youll be able to go through and select the stories that you want to see more of and the ones that you dont want to see. This way, youll be able to refine your feed to only show the news that you want to see. The Discover feed could be coming to desktop users If youre used to experiencing the Discover feed on your phone, then youre missing out when you go to your desktop. Youre not greeted with your headlines when you go to the Google website, and the company wants to change this. According to a report from MSPowerUser, Google has begun testing a Discover feed for desktop users. This test is limited to India for the moment. After the change, Youll see several columns of news headlined under the search bar on the Google website. This will be a major change, as were all used to seeing the vast amount of empty space on the Google website. This feed, just like on Android, will be fine-tuned to your preferences and only reflect the topics that youre most interested in. Right now, we dont know when Google is going to expand this test to more people. Only time will tell. Googles VP of Engineering has confirmed the company will bring lossless USB audio to the Pixel 8 series in a later release. The feature could significantly upgrade audio quality on Pixel 8 and Android devices. Lossless audio is a digital format that came to Android with the Android 14 Beta 2 update. As Googles VP of Engineering, Dave Burke, explains, lossless USB audio preserves the original audio quality and ensures bit perfect audio as it bypasses the audio mixer, processing effects, etc. The format is added on the OS level, and manufacturers and app developers must take the next step. Advertisement Advertisement Burke added that the Pixel 8 series and other Android devices could get lossless audio in their hardware abstraction layer (HAL) in later releases. App developers should also adopt the new API to add lossless audio to their apps. Lossless audio is coming to Pixel 8 series in later releases It remains to be seen when Pixel 8 devices and other Android OEMs officially add support for lossless audio. But it shouldnt take too long before you can listen to your favorite audio without quality loss. The exact schedule could be announced later. The most significant advantage of lossless audio is it lets music move through your device to USB headphones uncompressed and unchanged. This means the music you hear is in its purest form and sounds very clear. Google says the lossless audio feature is designed for audiophile-level experiences over USB wired headsets. Apple has already developed its lossless audio technology, dubbed Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC), now available to Apple Music users. Android users currently need to rely on DAC (digital-to-analog converter) to use this former. However, with the later releases, the feature comes to your device by default. The music streaming apps are expected to be at the forefront of adopting lossless audio API. Spotify is already spotted working on lossless audio. However, the feature could be part of the Supremium tier, which costs $19.99 monthly. The new tier also offers up to 20 hours of audiobook listening. Google Messages is the companys primary messaging platform, and its been pushing several features to it over time. Theres a new update coming to the app that will make it more secure. Google Messages might block itself if it detects that youre in a screen-sharing session. If youre sharing your phones screen, then its possible that youll share information that shouldnt be shared. You could accidentally share information in a banking app, notetaking app, social media app, etc. If the wrong person gets ahold of that information, then they could easily hack your accounts or steal your information. This is why its important that you watch what apps you have open while screen sharing. Advertisement Advertisement Google Messages could block itself during screen-sharing sessions At this point, we dont know if the company is going to come out with this feature, so youll want to take this information with a grain of salt. According to TheSpAndroid, Google is working on a feature that could have Google Messages block itself during a screen-sharing session. There are different scenarios when a person will ask you to share your screen. They could possibly try to help you with a problem, or maybe they want to see what your setup looks like. There are screen-sharing apps on the Google Play Store, and some of them are used to steal peoples data. Google is working on a feature that will block access to the app if it detects that your screen is being shared. When sharing your screen, youll see a popup stating, Youre sharing your screen with someone. If you dont know this person, stop sharing immediately. Google has hidden your sensitive content for security. Behind the popup, youll see the Google Messages app blacked out. This way, the person wont be able to see your messages. This is important because messages contain all sorts of sensitive information, and most people dont know that. The issue is that there are those times when youre sharing your screen with a person who you trust. It would be frustrating trying to share your screen with them only to see the popup. Itd be great if Google could let you allow the sharing on a per-session basis. Right now, Google is testing this feature on a limited number of people. We dont know when the company will roll this out to the public. The European Union (EU) has been hot on Googles tails regarding its domination in the ad space, suggesting the divestiture of parts of its business as the only way to restore balance. Now, according to a new report from Bloomberg (via PYMNTS), Google is looking to contest the European Unions (EU) attempts to force the tech giant to reorganize its ad business, rejecting the mandatory divestment in a letter to EU regulators. This saga first began with the EU alleging that Google, exploiting its dominant position, favoured its ad exchange, AdX, and used its market power to give it a competitive advantage, potentially sidelining rival ad businesses. Moreover, the complaint also highlighted Googles influence on both the sell and buy sides of the value chain, stating that the conflict of interest cannot be resolved through alternative means. Advertisement Advertisement While the initial pieces of evidence were non-conclusive, the company could still face fines of up to 10% of its global sales and potential alterations to its operations if found guilty. Googles response In response, Dan Taylor, the Vice President of Global Ads at Google, wrote a blog post addressing the European Commissions (EC) objections, where he emphasized the competition in the digital ads market, stating that Googles ad tech tools are vital for maintaining an open and accessible internet. Additionally, Taylor argued that dismantling these tools could limit the availability of free, ad-supported content, which benefits users, ad businesses and publishers. Google remains committed to creating value for our publisher and advertiser partners in this highly competitive sector. We disagree with the ECs view and will respond accordingly, said Taylor. However, it is important to note that this isnt the first time Google has found itself in hot waters with the EU. This is because the Commission previously fined Google 8.3 billion ($8.8 billion) for its dominance in the mobile operating systems and display advertising operations market. The defense ministry said Monday it will host an annual international security forum this week to discuss efforts to promote peace and cooperation, amid global security uncertainties highlighted by Hamas' recent attack on Israel and Russia's war in Ukraine. The three-day Seoul Defense Dialogue 2023 is set to kick off Tuesday in Seoul under the theme of "Cooperation and Solidarity for Freedom, Peace, and Prosperity," the ministry said. It is expected to be attended by some 800 high-level security officials and civil experts from 56 countries, including minister-level officials from Australia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Brunei and Fiji. The forum includes three key plenary sessions for talks on the international community's response to North Korea's escalating nuclear threats; efforts for a free, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific region; and ways for regional and global cooperation in a new security environment. Four special sessions will also be held to discuss ways to enhance maritime security in the Indo-Pacific, the global defense industry's outlook, the use of artificial intelligence in combat, and the signing of the 1950-53 Korean War's armistice as it marks its 70th anniversary this year. The annual forum was first launched in 2012 for talks on promoting peace on the Korean Peninsula and enhancing regional security cooperation. (Yonhap) Following Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel, its no secret that there has been a flood of misinformation on social media apps like Instagram and Facebook, with people supporting one side or the other. However, this Israel-Hamas conflict has made moderation even more difficult for Meta, which claims it has seen a substantial surge in misinformation and subsequent removal of content that violated its Dangerous Organizations and Individuals policy in Hebrew and Arabic. While the company did not explicitly reference the European Union (EU) or its Digital Services Act, this report aligns with an open letter from European Commissioner Thierry Breton, which highlighted the need to combat disinformation and illegal content on social media apps. Furthermore, the commissioner has also sent letters to other social media companies, including X, highlighting the urgent need to address this situation. Advertisement Advertisement Metas measures In response to the spread of misinformation, Meta has implemented various measures, including the creation of a dedicated Special Operations Center staffed with experts proficient in Hebrew and Arabic and the Israel-Hamas conflict. This specialized team aims to bolster the companys capability to promptly identify and address content that violates its policies, including violent and graphic content, hate speech, harassment, and activities promoting harm. Additionally, Meta emphasized that it has already taken down over 795,000 pieces of content within the three days following October 7th for policy violations. Moreover, the company has also banned Hamas, the group behind the attacks, from all of Metas platforms. Furthermore, Meta is actively blocking hashtags and giving priority to reports related to the crisis on Facebook and Instagram Live. Lastly, the company is temporarily expanding its violence and incitement policy, leading to the removal of posts that identify hostages, even if the intent is to raise awareness. However, despite these efforts, concerns have been raised by employees of Metas Trusted Partner Program, responsible for content removal, regarding the companys slow response to reports, sometimes taking months. In the coming months, over 1,258 workers in the Qualcomm office in California will lose their jobs. This is a result of the companys plans to lay off a ton of its staff in this region. Proof of this sad turn of events was released by the California Employment Development Department after Qualcomms filings on this matter. By laying off 1,258 workers, Qualcomm will be letting go of about 2.5% of its workforce. This figure is based on the chipmakers annual financial filings from 2022 that said it had 51,000 workers. However, the layoffs are not going to affect just one of Qualcomms Californian offices but two. Advertisement Advertisement The company says that 1,064 workers from its San Diego office will feel the effect of the layoffs. Another 194 workers in Santa Clara will also lose their jobs as well. If you are wondering what the reason behind this layoff is, Qualcomm has a few reasons to give. Some company restructuring is leading Qualcomm California to let go of 1,258 workers Qualcomm just recently came out to express its intentions to lay off 2.5% of its workforce in California. The chip manufacturer points out that this layoff is coming in light of workplace reductions and company restructuring actions. At the moment, the layoffs are not yet in place but once effective will send 1,258 workers back home, leaving them without a job. Over the years, the chip manufacturing industry has seen lots of challenges with the production and supply chain. These challenges have also affected Qualcomm and the way they carry out their business practices. For this reason, the company intends to undergo some restructuring actions to help it turn attention to various aspects of the chip manufacturing industry. To facilitate this move or investment into other areas of the chip industry, Qualcomm is laying off some workers. The layoff exercise is a vital part of the plans the chip manufacturer has laid out for itself. All the employees that this layoff exercise will affect work with Qualcomms teams in California. The layoffs will take effect from December 13, 2023, and the restructuring actions will see substantial completion in the first half of fiscal 2024. In June 2022, Samsung announced that it had begun the production of 3nm semiconductor chips. The Korean firm beat its arch-rival TSMC to the punch by about six months in the foundry race. It appears we will see something similar when both companies move to the 2nm node in 2025. Reports suggest Samsung will start 2nm production a few months earlier than its Taiwanese rival. Samsung and TSMC will jump to the 2nm technology in 2025 Despite more than a year of experience manufacturing 3nm chips, Samsung has yet to apply the advanced node for smartphone processors. TSMC, on the other hand, has already manufactured Apples A17 Pro chip for the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max using its 3nm node. However, reports are that both foundries are struggling with yield rates. Neither has been able to achieve a 3nm yield of over 60 percent. Advertisement Advertisement Samsungs upcoming flagship chip, the Exynos 2400 for the Galaxy S24 series, will be a 4nm solution. TSMC is also manufacturing Qualcomms Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 on a 4nm node. The Korean media recently said that Samsung might consider directly jumping to 2nm solutions if it fails to solve the 3nm yield issues. While it would continue to work on the latest chip fabrication tech, the company may be looking to quickly move to the next-gen solution. TSMC, on the other hand, has slightly delayed its 2nm production plan. Its constructing a new semiconductor plant in Baoshan, Taiwan for manufacturing advanced chips. The plant was originally expected to be ready for operation in early 2025. However, construction delays have pushed the deadline to the second quarter of 2025. At the earliest, the Taiwanese firm may start producing 2nm chips in the final quarter of 2025 with a monthly volume of 30,000 wafers. Samsung is looking to capitalize on this opportunity Samsung sees TSMCs delay as an opportunity to gain a competitive edge over its Taiwanese rival in the foundry market. The latter company is also reportedly struggling with the power efficiency of the GAA (Gate All Around) transistor architecture. Its current chips use the older FinFET tech, which Samsung has already moved to the GAA architecture with the 3nm chips. The Korean firm is now looking to utilize the experience to its benefit. By producing more efficient 2nm chips earlier than TSMC, it could be able to increase its market share. TSMC currently captures more than 50 percent of the market, with Samsung accounting for just over 10 percent. It remains to be seen whether Samsung manages to improve its foundry share with 2nm chips. Qualcomm is gearing up to launch its next-gen flagship smartphone chipset later this month. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will debut at the Snapdragon Summit 2023, which begins on October 24. The new chip is already generating a lot of buzz in the industry thanks to the massive performance gains it brings to the table, particularly the For Galaxy version that will be exclusively available to Samsung. Benchmark entries show it exceeds GPU estimates. Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 For Galaxy exceeds estimates in GPU benchmark The upcoming Qualcomm processors scored more than 17,000 in Geekbench 6s Vulkan benchmark. The US version of the Galaxy S24+, which will use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 For Galaxy, achieved a score of 17,013, while the Ultra model topped it with a score of 17,134. The same test yielded a score of 9,379 with the Galaxy S23 Ultra, which features the For Galaxy version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Advertisement Advertisement Going by these benchmark scores, the next-gen Qualcomm chip Adreno 750 GPU will bring about an 80 percent performance boost over its predecessor. Thats double the early estimates of a 40 percent GPU performance gain. Of course, you wont see the same level of improvement in every application or test scenario. In fact, we are talking about pre-production units here, so the overall gain may still be lower on the retail units of the Galaxy S24 phones. However, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 should bring a notable GPU performance gain over the Gen 2 chip. The new chip also upgrades to the latest ARM CPUs and replaces one efficiency core with a faster mid-core. Qualcomm has clocked all CPUs at a higher frequency too. With these changes, the CPU performance should also see a massive jump. As usual, the For Galaxy version will have a faster CPU than the standard version. Samsungs Exynos 2400 is facing a tough fight Unlike the Galaxy S23, the Galaxy S24 series wont feature the new Qualcomm chip exclusively. Samsung will ship the Ultra model with it globally, but the base Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+ will get the Exynos 2400 in some markets. Early CPU benchmarks have shown mixed results with the new Exynos and Snapdragon processors delivering comparable results. However, on the GPU side, it looks like a tough fight for the Exynos 2400s Xclipse 940 GPU. The global version of the Galaxy S24+, which features the new Samsung chip, scored 15,479 in Geekbench 6s Vulkan benchmark, the same GPU test where the Snapdragon-powered model scored 17,013. If the real-life performances of the two solutions see a similar gap, that would be hugely detrimental to Exynos already-ill reputation. That said, early benchmark scores are never a true measure of a devices real-life performance. Case in point, the Exynos-powered Galaxy S24+ outperformed the Snapdragon-powered Galaxy S24 Ultra in a recent CPU benchmark run. The Exynos 2400s Xclipse 940 GPU also yielded a higher score than the Adreno 750 in the OpenCL test (14,908 vs. 14,731). We should get a clearer picture once the new chips are official. The conflict between Israel and Hamas does not only take place on the battlefield, but now it has also been extended to X. As a mainstream social platform, X is dealing with tons of tweets about the ongoing war from both sides. After the EU accused X of mishandling Israel-Hamas disinformation on the platform, the CEO Linda Yaccarino has responded to the allegations. She said X has removed hundreds of Hamas-affiliated accounts and content. The EU Commissioner Thierry Breton already stated that X is used to disseminate illegal content and disinformation. He said the platform has violated the EUs Digital Services Act (DSA). The DSA requires social platforms to remove content that might pose a security risk to the public. The EU has also warned Meta about violating DSA. Advertisement Advertisement Breton has notified both platforms that violating DSA might result in investigations and fines by the EU. The critical situation even led X CEO to drop out of the WSJ Tech Live conference to stay focused on the platforms safety. Following Musks takeover, X (called Twitter back then) laid off its content moderation teams and dissolved the platforms Trust and Safety Council. X CEO details the companys efforts to handle the Israel-Hamas conflict CEO Linda Yaccarino has now outlined the companys efforts to mitigate risks and handle the issue. She noted the platform has taken action to remove or label tens of thousands of pieces of content following the attack. Yaccarino added that the company formed a leadership group shortly after the incident happened. Yaccarino then detailed the companys content moderation policies and efforts to handle the issue. She also said X has responded to over 80 takedown requests from the EU within required timelines. In her letter, X CEO alluded to Community Notes as a method to combat misinformation. She said the platform added over 700 unique notes to clarify tweets that might contain false data. While there are doubts about the impact of Community Notes, NBC News reports that it takes hours and even a few days for X moderators to approve notes. The outlet said some tweets are left without notes. Elon Musk also stepped in to respond to Thierry Breton. The billionaire asked Breton to publicly list the violations since the platform takes its actions in the open. Musk added there are No back room deals. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has filed a case against X (formerly known as Twitter) for illegally firing an employee. The official complaint states that the company fired the employee for criticizing its return-to-office policy after the Elon Musk takeover last year, CNBC reports. X sued for firing an employee who criticized its in-office work policy In October 2022, Elon Musk completed his $44 billion purchase of X (called Twitter then) and immediately announced several changes. He laid off thousands of employees to reduce operational costs and asked the remaining people to work overtime to reshape the social networking app according to his vision. To pull this off as early as possible, Musk urged all employees working remotely to return to offices. Advertisement Advertisement The new X owner allegedly threatened to fire those who didnt comply. If you can physically make it to an office and you dont show up, resignation accepted, Musk told employees, according to the NLRB. Unsurprisingly, many workers were upset with the sudden change in work policy. The official complaint says employees expressed concern and outrage over Musks directive to return to the office immediately. Yao Yue, who was a principal software engineer at X and had worked at the company for 12 years, raised her voice against it. Dont resign, let him fire you. You gain literally nothing out of resignation, she tweeted shortly after Musks ultimatum. Yue also posted the same message on one of the companys official Slack channels, encouraging co-workers to not quit and instead let X fire them. Many of her colleagues responded. In the meantime, Musk directed the management team to scan Slack and online platforms to identify employees who should be fired. Five days later, X fired Yue saying that she violated a company policy, though it failed to specify the policy in question. Ms. Yue alleges that Twitter chose her for layoff in retaliation for her attempt to organize her co-workers not to resign, so they would have better legal footing to challenge any separation from Twitter, the NLRB said. X violated the National Labor Relations Act According to NLRBs complaint filed on Friday, X violated the National Labor Relations Act in firing Yue. In its complaint, the Board added that the company has been interfering with, restraining, and coercing employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed under national labor law. Its seeking to make Yao Yue whole for any direct or foreseeable pecuniary harm, as well as other consequential damages suffered as a result of Respondents unlawful conduct. The NLRB is also seeking the court to provide all other relief as may be just and proper to remedy the unfair labor practices alleged. A hearing on the case will take place on January 30, 2024, in San Francisco. (ANSA) - ROME, OCT 16 - The spread between Italian and German 10-yera bond yields closed under 200 basis points on Monday, at 197.6 points, compared to 202 at Monday's opening and 203.2 at Friday's close after the approval by cabinet of the 2024 budget bill. The yield on the BTP fell one basis point, to 4.756%. The yield on the 10-year Bund rose 4.7 points to 2.78%. The spread is a gauge of Italy's borrowing costs on its high debt. (ANSA). (ANSA) - ROME, OCT 16 - An Italian school headmaster was arrested Monday on suspicion of sexually abusing seven underage female students at Caltagirone near Catania in Sicily, legal sources said. The investigation was started after a 15-year-old girl reported alleged sexual acts she had suffered. The investigation brought to light another sic alleged victims of the suspect's abuse, which according to the prosecution took place in the headmaster's office where he summoned them on the pretext of discussing their school performance. A 'precautionary order' under house arrest was issued against the man by the Caltagirone preliminary investigations judge (GIP) at the request of the local public prosecutor's office. (ANSA). Korea and Britain held strategic defense talks Monday to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral security cooperation, Seoul's defense ministry said. Vice Defense Minister Shin Beom-chul and his British counterpart, Annabel Goldie, held the second edition of the dialogue in Seoul after the two sides held its inaugural session in Britain in July last year. During the talks, they assessed that various efforts are taking place to strengthen bilateral defense and arms industry cooperation as the two countries mark the 140th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations this year. They also agreed to deepen defense cooperation in a future-oriented way and shared the view that President Yoon Suk Yeol's state visit to Britain next month should serve as an opportunity to further develop bilateral defense and security ties. Goldie is currently visiting Seoul to attend the three-day Seoul Defense Dialogue, an annual international security forum scheduled to kick off Tuesday. (Yonhap) (ANSA) - ROME, OCT 16 - Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said that the government hopes to get the 10 to 12 Italians who had been living in the Gaza Strip out of the enclave on Monday after the outbreak of war between Hamas and Israel. "Above all, we have to prevent Italians being involved in this war," Tajani told Rai radio. "That is why we repatriated the highest possible number of the pilgrims and tourists who were in Israel, over 1,000". Three Italian-Israelis are missing after Hamas's attacks on Israel and it is suspected that they are among the hostages being held by the Islamist group. "Our priority is to rescue the hostages," Tajani said. "Today the Premier (Giorgia Meloni) and I will meet the King of Jordan and his foreign minister "We are doing everything we can via the Arab countries to ensure that a message reaches Hamas for of the release of the hostages. "There are three Italians who are probably hostages of Hamas or other parallel organizations, a married couple and a young man who participated in a rave. "But naturally we are working to free all the hostages through our diplomacy". (ANSA). (ANSA) - ROME, OCT 16 - Premier Giorgia Meloni said State nurseries will be free for families that have two children or more after her cabinet approved the 2024 budget bill on Monday. She also said the State would pay the employees' quota of social-security contributions for mothers who have two or more children, as part of measures seeking to reverse Italy's declining birth rate. "A woman who brings at least two children into the world has already made an important contribution to society and so the State will compensate her in part by paying her social-security contributions," Meloni said. "We want to dismantle the narrative that says having children is a disincentive to work. "We want to encourage those who bring children into the world and who want to work". (ANSA). The BBC said it has given careful consideration to all aspects of its coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict following complaints it has been biased against both Israel and Palestinians. In a statement responding to the complaints, the BBC said: Careful consideration has been given to all aspects of our coverage to ensure that we report on developments accurately and with due impartiality in line with the BBC editorial guidelines, which are publicly available. The statement, published on the BBC website, added: We understand that this is an extremely worrying time for people not only in the region, but also in the UK and around the world, and we have reflected this in our coverage. BBC News has provided our global audiences with coverage and first-hand testimony of the atrocities committed by Hamas and the suffering in Gaza. We have made clear the devastating human cost to civilians living in Israel and Gaza, and the unprecedented nature of what has happened. The huge loss of civilian life on both sides makes this a shocking and difficult story to cover. Speaking about its decision not to describe Hamas as a terrorist organisation, it added: The BBC, along with many other UK and global news organisations, does use the word terrorist, but attributes it. We have made clear to our audiences that Hamas is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK and other governments. The broadcaster said BBC News has examined the history and complexities of the conflict and its reporting has included opinions that come from all sides. The numbers of complaints to the BBC are in the higher hundreds, not in the thousands, and there is a handful of numbers difference between the complaints totals for perceived Israeli and Palestinian bias, the PA news agency understands. Speaking in the House of Commons, Conservative MP Chris Clarkson (Heywood and Middleton) said of the BBC: When faced with child murder, rape and torture (the BBC) decided that Hamas should be called militants rather than terrorists. The political leaders of this country and our royal family can decide that theyre terrorists why cant our national broadcaster? Prime Minister Rishi Sunak replied: I agree with (Mr Clarkson). I absolutely endorse those describing these attacks calling them what they are attacks of terror by a terrorist organisation. Now, he will know the BBC is editorially and operationally independent of Government but the Culture Secretary has raised this issue directly with the director-general and we wait to see. The scene at BBC Broadcasting House in London, after red paint was sprayed over the entrance (James Manning/PA) On Saturday, a pro-Palestinian group claimed responsibility for vandalising the BBCs Broadcasting House headquarters with red paint as a protest over its coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict. Palestine Action accused the broadcaster of having blood on its hands after staging the protest in London in the early hours of the morning. The group posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: Palestine Action left a message overnight for the @BBC: spreading the occupations lies and manufacturing consent for Israels war crimes means that you have Palestinian blood on your hands. A spokesperson said: We at Palestine Action cannot stand by and let western media justify and manufacture consent for genocide through racist, callous coverage. The BBC declined to comment about the incident, saying it was a matter for the Metropolitan Police. The boss of the John Lewis Partnership has called on the Government to make being in care a protected characteristic, meaning it would be illegal to discriminate against them. Dame Sharon White also said she has put pressure on current policymakers and Labour to introduce longer-term support for care leavers. It came as the retail firm unveiled a new brand, Made With Care, designed by people who have grown up in the care system, which it will sell in shops before Christmas. Last year, the department store business focussed on a child in care in its popular Christmas advert and has since raised more than 1 million for its Building Happier Futures programme aimed at supporting care leavers. John Lewis will start selling the Made With Care bag in stores from December (John Lewis/PA) At an event at its Odney Club venue in Cookham, Berkshire, Dame Sharon told partners from the business and charity partners that it is seeking to help a community that has been failed by the state. She told the PA news agency: We must be the employer of choice for young people who have been brought up in care. There is this systemic failure and there is a particular cliff edge with care. You reach the age of 18 and suddenly youre on your own with no access to social work, school, no access to home, and youre then having to sort of navigate the system with even less support. The company chairwoman, who earlier this month announced her plan to step down in early 2025, said she has sought cross-party support to make being from care a protected characteristic. It came as John Lewis confirmed it will sell a tote bag as the first item in its Made With Care programme on December 12. The bag was designed by Michael Archibald, an 18-year-old aspiring artist from Glasgow who has experienced care. Creative industries are such a competitive field and being given the chance to work with such big companies makes me feel like Im able to go places, Mr Archibald said. I want more care-experienced people to feel this way. Im so excited by the potential of Made With Care to give more people like me a platform to be creative and raise more awareness at the same time. Michael Archibald, left, and Dame Sharon White (John Lewis/PA) Johnny Mercer MP, who was appointed a cross-government lead for care leavers, told PA he wants the UK to be the best country for someone to be a care leaver. All people want to see better outcomes for care leavers so I going to try and break a few eggs and make a good fist of securing those outcomes, he said. I can completely understand why people are frustrated with the situation, but to be fair to government, they do put more money into this stuff over time and that is indisputable. At the same time, people are not feeling that progress at the speed that they should be feeling it. Armed forces minister James Heappey has condemned protesters who glorify the loss of life in Israel and Gaza amid a police hunt for two women who wore stickers appearing to feature Hamas attackers. The Metropolitan Police has appealed for information about the pair who had pictures of paragliders taped to the back of their jackets at protests in London at the weekend. Hamas, which is classed as a terrorist organisation in the UK, used paragliders as part of its attack on Israel on October 7. Officers investigating a public order offence wish to identify 2 women who attended the protests yesterday; at present we only have a front on image of the woman in red We ask these women or anyone who knows their identity to contact officers via 101 or @MetCC, ref 3077/15oct pic.twitter.com/1o6CsSYeQL Metropolitan Police Events (@MetPoliceEvents) October 15, 2023 Mr Heappey told Sky News: I think that that celebration and glorification of what happened last Saturday is despicable. I was a soldier, now Im a minister in defence. Never once have I celebrated the demise of my adversaries, and so even if those women who were wearing those stickers regard Israelis as their enemy, even if they want to see them remove the state of Israel, the idea that they celebrate and glorify that loss of human life is just despicable to me. And Im glad police are acting and I hope those two particularly are found. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said supporting Hamas or stirring up racial or religious hatred will be met with the full force of the law. Speaking to broadcasters on a visit to a Jewish secondary school in north London, the Prime Minister said: Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organisation. Its very clear under the law, the support and glorification of Hamas is illegal and those offences are punishable with up to almost 14 years in jail. But its not just about Hamas. More broadly, actions that incite violence or stir up religious hatred and racial violence are also not acceptable and thats why, as I said, theres no place in our society for that type of hatred and division, and it will be met with the full force of the law where it happens. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak addressing an assembly during the school visit on Monday. (Jonathan Buckmaster/Daily Express/PA) The Metropolitan Police arrested 15 people at at a pro-Palestine march through central London on Saturday, three of whom have been charged. Robert McKenzie, 68, was charged with intentionally causing racially aggravated harassment, alarm or distress after he allegedly made racist comments to people gathered in Whitehall and police arrested him. The pensioner, from Long Stratton in Norfolk, was carrying a Union flag at the time, but police have said this was in no way the reason for his arrest. Aldib Nour, 20, was charged with possession of a knife in a public place after being arrested on King Charles Street. Both Mr Nour and Mr McKenzie have been bailed and will appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on November 2. Police officers escort a protester who was arrested close to Downing Street during a March for Palestine in London (James Manning/PA) Ibrahim Hlaiyil, 38, was charged with failing to comply with a requirement to remove a face covering and was bailed to appear at the same court on November 13. A 20-year-old man was fined for throwing a firework in a public place. Three youths have been referred to Youth Offending Teams for, respectively, assaulting an emergency worker, possession of a firework in a public place and failing to comply with a requirement to remove a face covering. Detectives are continuing to make inquiries about three men arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker and another arrested on suspicion of threatening behaviour. They have all been bailed, and a man arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage to a police vehicle has been released under investigation. No further action has been taken against three people arrested at the demonstration. Anyone who knows the identity of the women who wore the paraglider photos can contact the Metropolitan Police on 101 or @MetCC, giving the reference 3077/15oct. Chinese, Iranian FMs warn against humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip Xinhua) 09:32, October 16, 2023 BEIJING, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday held a phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, at the latter's invitation, exchanging views on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Noting that the situation in the Middle East is currently dangerous and the war is constantly expanding, the Iranian foreign minister urged immediate actions to stop attacks on the civilians in Gaza and alleviate the humanitarian situation in the region. The Iranian side hopes to resolve the issue through political means and stands ready to strengthen communication with China in this regard, he stressed. For his part, Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that the pressing task is to cool down the situation and prevent a serious humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip from causing more innocent civilian casualties, thereby undermining regional peace and ruining the Middle East peace process. The exercise of the right to self-defense should comply with international law and international humanitarian law, including ensuring the safety of civilians and detainees, he noted, warning that countering violence with violence would only cause more damage and bring about more serious crises. Wang said that China supports Islamic countries in strengthening unity and coordination and speaking with one voice on the Palestinian issue, urging the international community to act against the harm done to civilians by any party. The United Nations, especially the Security Council, should earnestly shoulder its responsibilities and play its due role, he added. The Chinese foreign minister stressed that the fundamental reason for the development of the Palestinian-Israeli situation today is that the Palestinian people's right to statehood has been put on hold for a long time, their right to existence has not been implemented for a long time, and their right to return has been ignored for a long time. This historical injustice should end as soon as possible, he continued, noting that China will continue to stand on the side of peace and justice, and support the just cause of the Palestinian people in safeguarding their national rights. (Web editor: Liang Jun) ADEX 2023 kicks off Tuesday for six-day run By Lee Hyo-jin SEONGNAM, Gyeonggi Province An F-22 Raptor stealth fighter zoomed across the blue autumn sky over Seoul Air Base, Monday, in a rare public appearance by one of Americas most advanced fighter jets. The KF-21 Boramae, Korea's first domestically developed fighter jet, also flew over, making final preparations for its first public debut set for Tuesday. Before flyovers of the fighter jets, a 30-minute performance was held by the Black Eagles, the Republic of Korea Air Force's aerobatic team, turning viewers skyward to the aerial maneuvers that included the formation of a "Taegeuk" pattern, the signature symbol of Korea's national flag, using smoke trails. These were part of the rehearsal flights for the Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition (ADEX), which will open Tuesday at the military airbase located in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. The rehearsal flights were disclosed to the press and early visitors such as Seongnam residents. The six-day defense exhibition featuring cutting-edge aerospace and defense industry technology will gather 550 companies from 35 countries, marking the largest-ever edition of the exhibition since its inception in 1996 under the name Seoul Air Show. This year's event will highlight the military partnership between Korea and the United States, the organizers said, marking the 70th anniversary of the alliance between the two nations. A B-52 Stratofortress strategic bomber will conduct two flyovers during the opening ceremony, according to ADEX organizers and the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK). The highly rare display in Korea of the U.S. strategic bomber capable of carrying nuclear weapons is seen as a move to enhance the visibility of U.S. strategic assets on the Korean Peninsula and counter North Korea's increasing belligerence. Speaking to the press on Monday, Col. Charles Cameron of the U.S. Air Force said the defense fair will be an opportunity to demonstrate the U.S. ironclad commitment to the Korea-U.S. alliance. And as we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the alliance, we have a larger participation from the U.S. military, he said. An ADEX official said the B-52 will not be on display on the ground after the flyby, but noted that it will be visible during its flyby at a relatively low altitude of 1,500 feet (457 meters). Other U.S. military assets such as the MQ-1C Gray Eagle unmanned aircraft system, the EA-18G Growler and ground equipment such as self-propelled howitzers, will also be featured during the exhibition. Officials from local and foreign defense firms were busy making final preparations on Monday. Over 2,300 booths will be set up at six indoor exhibition halls, sized 250,000 square meters altogether. Korea's defense giants such as Hanwha, Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), LIG Nex1 and Hyundai Rotem will display their state-of-the-art technologies. About 100 foreign delegates from 55 countries are expected during the weekdays from Tuesday through Friday and some 280,000 visitors are expected on the weekend when the event will be open to the general public. ADEX organizers expressed hopes for the exhibition to lay the groundwork for achieving the nation's goal of becoming the fourth-largest player in the global arms market. Airbus eyes more partnerships with Korea Amid anticipation that the defense fair will provide marketing opportunities for local defense contractors, European multinational aerospace giant Airbus, one of the participants of ADEX, said Monday that it would like to bolster partnerships with Korea possibly by establishing a research and development center here. "Airbus' goal is to become a partner of choice for the development of local solutions in the helicopters, defense and space sectors, as well as in the supply chain," Loic Porcheron, Airbus' chief representative for South Korea, told reporters in Seoul. Porcheron said Airbus is "studying the possibility of setting up an R&D center" in Korea, adding that the plan is in the conceptualization stage through discussions with local space and aerospace companies. At least six Britons were killed in Hamass pogrom in Israel and a further 10 are missing, Rishi Sunak told MPs as he increased aid to the Palestinian people by a third. The Prime Minister said on Monday the UK must support absolutely Israels right to defend itself as it targets Hamas, as he called for the immediate release of the around 200 hostages taken by the militant group. But he also recognised in a Commons statement that the Palestinian people are victims of Hamas too as he announced an extra 10 million of aid funding. It came as the BBC reported two British sisters, named only as Noiya, 16, and Yahel, 13, were among those missing while their mother Lianne, who was born in the UK, was killed in the October 7 attack. With the families of some of the missing watching his statement in Parliament, Mr Sunak recounted that more than 1,400 people were murdered, more than 3,500 wounded and almost 200 taken hostage in Hamass attack. The elderly, men, women, children, babes in arms, murdered, mutilated, burned alive, he continued. We should call it by its name: it was a pogrom. Mr Sunak said the terrible nature of these attacks means it is proving difficult to identify many of the deceased but at least six Britons were killed. Of the further 10 missing, he said some are feared to be among the dead as the UK works with Israel to establish the facts and support the families through their unimaginable pain. He said eight flights so far have brought back 500 British nationals from Israel, with more leaving in the coming hours. Addressing the British Jewish community, Mr Sunak said: We stand with you now and always. This atrocity was an existential strike at the very idea of Israel as a safe homeland for the Jewish people. The Prime Minister said he is sickened that antisemitic attacks have increased since the wave of bloodshed in Israel, as he vowed to do everything we can to protect you. But he said we stand with British Muslim communities too as he noted the moment of great anguish for those appalled by Hamass actions while being fearful of the response. We must listen to these concerns with the same attentiveness, he said. Hamas is using innocent Palestinian people as human shields. We mourn the loss of every innocent life, civilians of every faith, every nationality who have been killed. And so lets say it plainly: we stand with British Muslim communities too. (PA Graphics) Mr Sunak announced that a further 10 million in humanitarian aid would be provided to civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, up from the 27 million existing funding this year. An acute humanitarian crisis is unfolding to which we must respond, we must support, because they are victims of Hamas too, he said. He said the UK would continue to press Israel to take every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians, with more than 2,750 Palestinians reported to have been killed and 9,700 wounded since the fighting erupted. More than 1,400 Israelis have died, the vast majority civilians killed in the October 7 assault, while the countrys military said that at least 199 hostages had been taken to Gaza. Sir Keir Starmer said it is crucial that this House speaks with one voice in condemnation of terror, in support for Israel in its time of agony and for the dignity of all human life. The Labour leader added that civilians must not be targeted as he called for humanitarian corridors to be opened to allow the supply of food, water and electricity to the Gaza Strip. Earlier in the day, Mr Sunak expressed his condolences for the deaths of civilians in a call with President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas and discussed providing humanitarian aid to Gaza and measures to protect civilians. He also held a call with Turkeys president Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the need to send aid to Gaza. British officials have been pressing for Egypt to open the Rafah crossing with Gaza to allow Britons, dual nationals, as well as their spouses and children, to flee and to allow humanitarian aid into its more than two million people. However, expectations in Government for opening the crossing were understood to be very low on Monday. Mr Sunak raised the border crossing in a call with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi last week, and it is understood that opening the border for foreign nationals and for Palestinian refugees could be treated separately. The Prime Ministers official spokesman said: We do think it is important, both in the interests of British nationals and others, but also important for the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza. Defence minister James Heappey warned that combat in Gaza as Israel is expected to launch an offensive by sea, air and land is likely to be horrendous. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak writes a message for Israel (Jonathan Buckmaster/Daily Express/PA) I think you have to be clear that international law allows Israel to prosecute a mission that is legal, proportionate and necessary, and that, Im afraid, does not necessarily mean that Israel has to be able to guarantee that there will be no civilian loss of life, he told ITVs Good Morning Britain. It is almost inevitable, given the complexity of the mission, that there will be (an) innocent civilian population that is very badly affected. I just dont think theres any point pretending otherwise. The United Nations and global aid agencies have expressed alarm about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, after Israel ordered civilians to evacuate the north ahead of an imminent attack. Western diplomats are also concerned that the war between Hamas and Israel could spark a wider conflict in the Middle East. A British Muslim convert once suspected of being a member of a death squad dubbed The Beatles from the so-called Islamic State has pleaded guilty to terrorism charges. Aine Leslie Davis, 39, was deported from Turkey last August after serving a seven-and-a-half year sentence for membership of IS, an armed terrorist group. On his arrival at Luton airport, he was detained by British counter-terrorism police and charged with three offences. Ahead of his planned Old Bailey trial, Davis legal team claimed the case should be thrown out because he could not be tried twice for the same offending. British authorities were also accused of conniving with Turkish counterparts in his deportation in a failed bid by the then-Home Secretary Priti Patel to arrange his onward extradition to the US where two other IS Beatles were tried. In legal argument, defence lawyer Mark Summers KC noted the spectre of suspicion around Daviss involvement with the Beatles cell from 2014 onwards. It caused Davis to complain about mistreatment in his Turkish jail after he was interviewed about it by British intelligence officers, the court was told. Mr Summers said that in July last year, lawyers in the IS Beatles case in Virginia clarified they were not seeking to bring a prosecution against Davis because the evidence was there were only three members and not four members of that cell. The barrister claimed Ms Patel veered into Alice in Wonderland territory when she phoned authorities in the US begging them to take Daviss case. Mr Summers said: The irregular personal involvement of the Home Secretary trying to persuade a foreign country to prosecute a UK national is frankly extraordinary. The prosecution disputed the defence claims which were rejected by Judge Mark Lucraft and later by the Court of Appeal. On Monday, Davis returned to the Old Bailey and pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm contrary to Section 57 of the Terrorism Act 2000, and two charges of funding terrorism between 2013 and 2014. The defendant entered his pleas via video link from Belmarsh prison. Judge Lucraft adjourned sentencing until November 13. Photograph of Aine Davis (left) posing in woods with a man armed with a Kalashnikov (Met Police/PA) The offences were largely uncovered from his communications with his then-wife, mother-of-two Amal El-Wahabi, 36, who stayed behind in north London living on benefits. Davis, who used the name Hamza after converting to Islam, was born in the capital and spent time living in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates in 2007. He met El-Wahabi at a London mosque and they became increasingly interested in Islam. In July 2013, he travelled to Syria but maintained regular contact with El-Wahabi by phone and internet. He went on to enlist her in a plan to send him cash by hoodwinking her friend Nawal Masaad, 36, to act as courier on the promise of 1,000 euros. Ms Masaad, from Holloway, north London, was stopped at Heathrow Airport on January 16 2014 as she was about to board a flight to Istanbul with 20,000 euros stuffed inside her tights. The prosecution alleged the money raised in the UK was destined to support Daviss terrorist cause in Syria. Following El-Wahabis arrest in London, police uncovered a stash of terrorist propaganda said to have been left behind by Davis when he went to Syria. Aine Davis (bottom row, second from right) posing with a gun in Syria (Met Police/PA) On her mobile phone was a picture sent by Davis in November 2013 in Syrian woods with a man holding a Kalashnikov rifle. Davis told his wife: Dont show this to anyone but yuyu. (sic). I mean it. He sent another picture posing with 13 others in military-style clothes, all with guns held aloft. Asked by El-Wahabi if he was doing anything exciting, Davis said he was just on point, which is believed to be a reference to guard duty. The court heard it was clear that Davis who had convictions for possession of drugs and gun possession had gone to Syria to fight under the black flag of IS and that he was preoccupied with martyrdom. Giving evidence in her trial, El-Wahabi claimed Davis was always there for her and had left the country to get away from everyone and to look for work. He was unhappy in London because of the drugs, the influence of friends he has around him, the police targeting him constantly, she said. She added: With him, his problem is he is always being watched. After the Old Bailey trial in 2014, El-Wahabi was found guilty of funding terrorism and jailed for 28 months, while Ms Masaad was cleared of wrongdoing. El-Wahabi was the first person to be convicted of funding terrorism in Syria. In November 2015, Davis was arrested with others in Istanbul after being found using a forged travel document and later jailed for IS membership. Davis has always denied being connected with The Beatles cell so-called because of their British accents which tortured and beheaded western hostages in Syria. Two IS Beatles members, British nationals El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey, are now seving life in US jails. The third Beatle, Mohammed Emwazi, dubbed Jihadi John, who was believed to feature in shocking videos of IS beheadings of a number of captives, was killed in a drone strike in 2015. The final decision to axe HS2s northern leg was taken during Tory conference, Downing Street has insisted, despite a video appearing to show Rishi Sunak outline the move days earlier. No 10 defended the Prime Minister over the recording, which prompted questions about his repeated refusal to confirm the fate of the railway line in the run-up to his keynote speech in Manchester. In the clip, which was posted by Mr Sunak on X and appears to have been filmed in Downing Street before he left for conference, he says: Im stopping all phases of HS2 beyond Birmingham. Mr Sunaks official spokesman suggested the video was preparatory work done ahead of the major policy change being agreed on by Cabinet shortly before it was announced. I am cancelling the rest of the HS2 project. In its place well reinvest every single penny, 36 billion, into hundreds of transport projects in the North, Midlands, and across the country. Heres why pic.twitter.com/0GPdsqNS1E Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) October 4, 2023 The official said on Monday: As is a longstanding part of the process for announcing major policy decisions, its right that preparatory work takes place. That might be the preparation of documents, command paper documents, or communications products, to explain the decision to the public, obviously all of that is done on the understanding it is done in advance of a final decision being taken. He insisted that the final decision was taken at Cabinet, by Cabinet on the morning of Mr Sunaks speech. There had been speculation throughout September that the change was coming, but ministers refused to confirm it until Mr Sunak made the announcement at conference, while Parliament was in recess. The House is being updated at the earliest opportunity. Youll know that policy announcements are regularly made at party conferences. I dont think this is any different, the Prime Ministers spokesman said. The Prime Minister defied senior Tories and business leaders to scrap HS2 from Birmingham to Manchester, saying the facts have changed and the cost of the high-speed rail scheme had more than doubled. He instead pledged to reinvest the 36 billion the Government expects to save by axing the Manchester line into other new transport projects in the North and the Midlands, across the country. Speaking in the Commons on Monday evening, shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh said: There is only one man who should take responsibility for the sheer chaos, incompetence and desperation we have seen over the past two weeks and that is the Prime Minister. Only he could announce the cancellation of HS2 to Manchester, in Manchester. Ms Haigh pressed Transport Secretary Mark Harper about whether a meeting took place with top civil servant Simon Case ahead of the decision to scrap the rail project, adding: And what of the economic impact? How many businesses does he expect to go under as a result? Mr Harper said: I took the formal decision the day before the Prime Ministers speech. There was a meeting of the Cabinet on the morning of the Prime Ministers speech which approved that decision, and the Prime Minister then announced it shortly afterwards. On HS2, he earlier said: With decades to wait before it arrived, and benefits dwindling, it risked crowding out investment in other transport areas and no longer reflected post-pandemic changes in travel. Conservative MP Greg Smith welcomed the move to ditch the northern leg of HS2 but said it would leave a legless stump through his Buckingham constituency from London to Birmingham. He asked Mr Harper if he will scrap the entirety of HS2, with the Transport Secretary defending the Governments decision. Conservative former business secretary Greg Clark expressed dismay and shame that the UK is unable to connect our great cities when other major countries around the world are able to do so. He said: Wouldnt the right thing be to address the costs of these schemes, why theyre so much more expensive in this country rather than to scale back our ambitions? Hundreds of protesters booed the BBC and demanded the corporation labels Hamas as terrorists at a rally in central London. Demonstrators chanted BBC, Shame on you and dont pay the licence outside Broadcasting House on Monday evening. The National Jewish Assembly hosted the rally alongside the UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) and the European Jewish Association. Protesters placed posters of kidnapped Israelis on a wall opposite Broadcasting House while others chanted, prayed and waved Israeli flags for around 90 minutes. Gideon Falter, speaking on the behalf of the CAA, told crowds: When it comes down to it ,the BBC has used the word terrorists. Im sure you can all remember where you were in 2005 during the London bombings. Do you know what the BBC called that, a terrorist atrocity. What do you call it when Hamas terrorists cross into Israel and gun people down at a music festival? He added: It is not impartial to call a terrorist a militant. It is excusing the terrorist. Let us make it clear. We arent here to harm anyone. We arent here to cause trouble. We are here to defend ourselves. We are here to get the BBC to do fair coverage of the war and call Hamas terrorists in their reports.#HamasAreTerrorists #StandWithIsrael pic.twitter.com/XHoHJItVcO NJA (@NJA_UK) October 16, 2023 Speaker Asher Edreyi also told the crowd how painful it was hearing about the attacks that had taken place in Israel on October 7. He said: This black Saturday is a day that will go down in history as one of the most tragic and painful days that us Jews, us Israelis have experienced and will be remembered for generations. I have been privileged to have served in the IDF Air Force and I have experienced just a fraction of the hard work our soldiers are doing in order to protect our loved ones. Trust me if it was hard for me then I can only imagine the long days and sleepless nights our soldiers are experiencing. Israel flags were waved outside the BBC entrance in Portland Place (Jacob Phillips/PA) At one stage, the rally was paused briefly to pray after hearing there had been warnings of rockets in Tel Aviv before chanting broke out again. A BBC spokesperson said: We always take our use of language very seriously. Anyone watching or listening to our coverage will hear the word terrorist used many times we attribute it to those who are using it, for example, the UK Government. This is an approach that has been used for decades, and is in line with that of other broadcasters. The BBC is an editorially independent broadcaster whose job is to explain precisely what is happening on the ground so our audiences can make their own judgment. A pub chef suspected of murdering his ex-partner after blaming her for their child being taken into care confessed to an undercover police officer, a court heard. Darren Osment, 41, is accused of killing Claire Holland, 32, in a drunken argument hours after she was last seen leaving a pub in the centre of Bristol in June 2012. Despite extensive police investigations the mother of four has never been seen since and her body never found. Bristol Crown Court heard that when Osment fell under suspicion detectives deployed an undercover officer to befriend him. Claire Holland has not been seen alive since June 2012 (Avon and Somerset Police/PA) Between December 2020 and July 2022, the officer posing as a man called Paddy OHara created a fiction of being involved in the criminal underworld with links to organised crime and enlisted the help of Osment. Andrew Langdon KC, prosecuting, said the officer had witnessed many examples of Osments violent temper, particularly when drinking. That is relevant because we suggest that when he met with Claire Holland that night, he is likely to have lost his temper, lost control of himself and in using unrestrained violence, he killed her, he said. In other words, he is a man with an explosive temper with a propensity to use violence when angry including to those who are weaker and more vulnerable than he. Mr Langdon said Osment had been carrying the burden of knowing what he did to her and had sought to relieve himself of the burden by making repeated confessions. On one occasion, Paddy indicated to Osment he had killed a man in Belfast in the 1990s, Mr Langdon said. He, Darren Osment, said he would not go into details but he, Did what he did, the prosecutor said. He said, Its not a thing you go into detail about. It made him feel sick, but he did it for his child because she harmed his child. Darren Osment told Paddy with some hesitation that he had used knife skills and he demonstrated on his own torso how he had cut Claire Hollands body. He mentioned the body being weighted and that it wasnt going to come floating up. Darren Osment appeared at Bristol Crown Court (PA) Mr Langdon said that during the many conversations with Paddy, Osment never said anything to indicate that he thought she was still alive. He has, we suggest, never forgotten what he did to Claire, he said. He has always been haunted by the memory of it, and that weight, the trauma of that memory, has taken a considerable toll upon him. The jury was told that after Osment was charged with murder and remanded in custody, he allegedly told a fellow inmate about Ms Hollands death. The inmate reported: During the argument, Claire struck Darren. In retaliation Darren Osment grabbed Claire by the throat and took her down to the floor. Darren spoke and gestured that he pushed Claire down to the floor, on her neck and gestured with his hands that he was choking her. Darren said, By the time Id let go, she was gone. The court heard the defendant and Ms Holland met in 2008 when they worked together in a cafe and began a relationship with a child being born in 2010. Mr Langdon said the couple were both alcoholics and Ms Holland had drunk throughout the pregnancy a source of tension between the pair. When their child a few weeks old police were called to the home they shared in Bradley Stoke following allegations of alcohol-fuelled domestic violence. Shortly afterwards the child was placed in foster care. One social worker told police: Darren was blaming Claire for the removal of the child due to the fact that she had called the police a few days before our visit and the police had attended their home address. There was little contact between Ms Holland and the defendant until the week of her disappearance, the court heard. They had exchanged phone calls and Ms Holland told people in the pub on the night she vanished she was meeting Osment after he finished work as a chef at a pub in Clifton. The prosecution said Osment has in the years since told several people he had killer her or paid someone else to. He allegedly told one friend: I I did kill I did kill her you know, I did kill my ex. I killed her. I I killed my ex. I threw it off into the river off Avonmouth Docks in Bristol. I strangled her. Asked why, Osment replied: No c***, no stupid bitch is going to keep me away from my child. He is alleged to have told another friend: I paid someone 500 to have the mother of my child executed. The defendant, of Chessel Drive, Patchway, South Gloucestershire, has pleaded not guilty murder on a date between June 5 and June 8 2012. The trial continues. Fashion designer Stella McCartneys plans for an ultra-modern holiday house in the Scottish Highlands have been met with a backlash from across the UK. Proposals submitted in the name of Ms McCartneys husband, Alasdhair Willis, show a glass and concrete house, on Roshven Bay, designed by architects Brown and Brown. Planning permission was granted for the site in 2000, but objectors have said the new design is very different from the original, with 54 comments submitted to Highland Council urging it to be rejected. Concerns were raised by neighbours and visitors as far away as Kent and Somerset about issues including the impact on an otter population, removal of Scots pine trees, and sailors being blinded by glare from the glass. Stella McCartney wants to build a home on Roshven Bay (Ian West/PA) Wildlife in Roshven Bay inspired Victorian illustrator Jemima Blackburn, and some objections cited the historic connections as a reason for rejecting the plans, while others said priority should be given to affordable housing. The former owner of the site, Karen White, from Taunton, Somerset, wrote: We obtained planning permission for this to be a permanent family home. Great care was taken to make the house unobtrusive and appropriate for the stunning environment and setting. We understood that the new purchaser was planning a modest home. Unfortunately, this application does not respect the site. There is a family of otters on the headland which will be disrupted if the building impinges on the cliff and I have also seen newts in the pools. The woodland in which the master bedroom spur is sited is ancient Scottish Oak woodland and should be preserved. Lady Marie-Sophie Law de Lauriston, from Fulham, London, described the house as a scar, and raised concerns about wildlife habitats. Jonathan Seccombe, from Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, said it was an insult and his wife, Petronella, described it as an eyesore. Mrs Seccombe added: The bay is totally unspoiled at present and the presence of this modern, unattractive, property will be a blot on the landscape, not to mention that mature trees will be removed, big glass windows installed which will cause light pollution and importantly local wildlife, specifically otters, will be affected. Stella McCartneys plans have drawn more than 50 objections (Andrew Matthews/PA Wire) Conservationist Sam Seccombe wrote: It would set a bad precedent, that anyone with enough money could buy up unspoilt and extremely beautiful land, then build enormous dwellings that would likely remain unused for most of the year. The site was described as wilderness by neighbour Dougal Mather, who said it was a genuine survivor vicinity untouched by the hand of man, and irreplaceable once gone or altered. Iona Murray, of Perth, wrote: This building must not be erected as it shows a complete disregard for the natural and historic heritage of this secluded bay. The plan shows a disregard for the unique ecology of this rare environment in Scotland. Only one respondent was supportive of the building design, but objected to the removal of Scots pines. Neighbour Alasdair Carmichael, from Glenuig, Lochailort, wrote: I have no objection to the construction of a building on this site per se nor do I object to the contemporary design of the building. However, I do have reservations about the removal of a number of Scots Pine trees on the site, they may well be remnants of the ancient Caledonian forest. Under planning rules anyone can object to a development. The objections to the plans can be read on Highland Councils website. Stella McCartney has been contacted for comment. Rishi Sunak will address MPs on Monday about the escalating crisis in Israel and Gaza as politicians return to Westminster amid renewed conflict in the Middle East. Palestinians in Gaza remain braced for an imminent Israeli invasion, a week after Hamas militants launched a deadly assault on the country. The Prime Minister is expected to make a visit on Monday morning to re-iterate his Governments support for the Jewish community, after a weekend that saw growing international concern about the escalating situation in the region. King Abdullah II of Jordan was welcomed to Downing Street on Sunday evening, as the ruler embarked on a diplomatic tour of Europe to rally international support to stop the war. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sits with King Abdullah II of Jordan in 10 Downing Street (Hannah McKay/PA) Number 10 said that the Prime Minister would hold talks with other leaders and international partners in the days to come, as the conflict shows little sign of coming to a swift conclusion. The United Nations and global aid agencies have all expressed alarm about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, after Israel ordered civilians to evacuate the north ahead of a major offensive. Mr Sunak is expected to use his Commons statement to set out how the UK is supporting Israel and aiding British nationals caught in the fighting, while also detailing ministers response to the humanitarian situation inside Gaza. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly on Sunday indicated that about 10 British people are being held hostage by Hamas, telling Sky News that such a figure was not an unreasonable estimate. Meanwhile, demonstrators are expected to gather outside the BBC in central London on Monday evening, amid anger at the broadcasters decision not to describe Hamas militants as terrorists. It comes after a weekend of protests and gatherings across the UK, with tens of thousands marching in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Hundreds of people also attended at a vigil in central London on Sunday to commemorate Israeli victims of the Hamas incursion. Rishi Sunak will address MPs on Monday about the escalating crisis in Israel and Gaza, as politicians return to Westminster amid renewed conflict in the Middle East. Palestinians in Gaza remain braced for an imminent Israeli invasion, a week after Hamas militants launched a deadly assault on the country. The Prime Minister is expected to make a visit on Monday morning to reiterate his Governments support for the Jewish community, after a weekend that saw growing international efforts to stop the conflict escalating further. The United Nations and global aid agencies have all expressed alarm about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, after Israel ordered civilians to evacuate the north ahead of an imminent offensive. Western diplomats are also concerned that the war between Hamas and Israel could spark a wider conflict in the Middle East. Appearing on Mondays morning media round, armed forces minister James Heappey warned that combat in Gaza is likely to be horrendous. I think you have to be clear that international law allows Israel to prosecute a mission that is legal, proportionate and necessary, and that, Im afraid, does not necessarily mean that Israel has to be able to guarantee that there will be no civilian loss of life, he told ITVs Good Morning Britain. It is almost inevitable, given the complexity of the mission, that there will be (an) innocent civilian population that is very badly affected. I just dont think theres any point pretending otherwise. Asked about the possibility of opening the Rafah crossing into Egypt for people fleeing Gaza, Mr Heappey welcomed the prospect but said it is important to sound a note of caution that the reports might be more optimistic than reality. British officials are working with the Egyptian authorities in an effort to facilitate British and dual nationals, as well as their spouses and children, to leave Gaza through the border. Echoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Mr Heappey said the UK and its Western partners will encourage Israel to balance the military operation with humanitarian obligations. I think what we are recognising is that there is military necessity rubbing up against humanitarian necessity, and what were saying to Israel is that they need and are need to show the balance between those two imperatives, he said. He said he has some confidence that the country could conduct an intelligence-led attack seeking to separate civilians from combatants, telling Times Radio: My knowledge of the Israeli Defence Forces and the Israeli intelligence system is that they are extraordinarily capable intelligence-gathering operation, so I have some confidence that if anybody can do that sort of intel-led precision operation, they can. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sits with King Abdullah II of Jordan in 10 Downing Street (Hannah McKay/PA) King Abdullah II of Jordan was welcomed to Downing Street on Sunday evening, as the ruler embarked on a diplomatic tour of Europe to rally international support to stop the war. Number 10 said the Prime Minister will hold talks with other leaders and international partners in the days to come, as the conflict shows little sign of coming to a swift conclusion. Mr Sunak is expected to use his Commons statement to set out how the UK is supporting Israel and aiding British nationals caught in the fighting, while also detailing ministers response to the humanitarian situation inside Gaza. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly on Sunday indicated that about 10 British people are currently being held hostage by Hamas, telling Sky News that such a figure is not an unreasonable estimate. MPs will return to Westminster after a lengthy party conference break, as the war continues to overshadow domestic politics. Meanwhile, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said that increased security measures will remain in place to protect places of worship. The mayors office said the Metropolitan Police have also stepped up patrols, with a rolling programme of security visits to all synagogues in the capital. Mr Khan said: The suffering and loss of innocent life in both Israel and Gaza is truly heart-breaking and my thoughts are with all those impacted. Its vital that we dont allow events overseas to spill over on to our streets in London and I want to reassure both the Jewish community and the Muslim community that we will take a zero-tolerance approach to any Islamophobia or antisemitism. Im continuing to work closely with the police and community leaders to ensure our communities feel safe, and are safe, as they go about their daily lives. People take part in a demonstration in support of Palestine in Birmingham on Sunday (Jacob King/PA) Demonstrators are also expected to gather outside BBC headquarters in the capital on Monday evening, amid anger at the broadcasters decision not to describe Hamas militants as terrorists. It comes after a weekend of protests and gatherings across the UK, with tens of thousands marching in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Three men were charged on Sunday with criminal offences alleged to have taken place at the London demonstration, at which 15 people were arrested over the course of the day. Meanwhile, detectives investigating a public order offence are appealing for help identifying two women who were at the demonstration in the capital. Hundreds of people also attended at a vigil in central London on Sunday to commemorate Israeli victims of the Hamas incursion. This is Mr Blinken's second trip to Israel in a week Secretary of State Antony Blinken underlined the "deep commitment" of the US to Israel's right to defend itself after holding talks with top officials in Tel Aviv. In his second visit to Israel since the deadly attacks by Hamas, Mr Blinken met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He reaffirmed US support and its willingness to aid the country, the State Department said. More than 1,400 people were killed in Israel nine days ago. Hamas militants crossed into Israel from the Gaza Strip to attack civilians and soldiers. "You know our deep commitment to Israel's right, indeed, its obligation to defend itself and to defend its people," Mr Blinken said on Monday. Israel has been bombing Gaza and is expected to launch a ground offensive into the territory after vowing to eliminate Hamas. Appearing at a photo opportunity with Israel's defence minister, Yoav Gallant, the top US diplomat added: "You always have the support of the United States." Mr Blinken also spoke to Mr Netanyahu about US coordination with the UN and regional partners for humanitarian aid, the State Department said. Air sirens went off at one point during their meeting and Mr Blinken and Mr Netanyahu took shelter in a bunker for five minutes before resuming discussions at the defence ministry's command centre, Reuters reported. The visit comes as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is reaching a critical point with water, food and medical supplies running low. More than 2,700 Palestinians have been killed and 9,700 wounded in Gaza in Israel's retaliatory strikes since the Hamas attacks. At least 30 Americans are among the dead while 13 are still unaccounted for, according to the latest numbers from the US State Department. The missing are thought to have been abducted by Hamas and Mr Blinken discussed with Mr Netanyahu how they might secure the release of nearly 200 people taken. Hamas is a Palestinian militant group which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007. It is designated a terrorist organisation by the US and other western governments. More on Israel Gaza war The US has chartered a ship and several flights to evacuate Americans out of Israel to safe nearby locations this week, according to US officials. Last week, Mr Blinken held meetings in Tel Aviv before making several other stops in the region, including to Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. During his tour of Arab countries, Mr Blinken pledged his support for the Israeli government, while arguing that Israel must affirm "shared values for human life and human dignity". President Joe Biden, meanwhile, told CBS News in an interview on Sunday that Hamas should be eliminated. "Israel is going after a group of people who have engaged in barbarism that is as consequential as the Holocaust. And - so I think Israel has to respond," he said, while also promising to supply aid to Israel. The president warned, however, that an Israeli occupation of Gaza would be a "big mistake" and said there should be a "path to a Palestinian state". Mr Biden is also said to be weighing a trip to Israel in the coming days. Senate Democratic leaders face a thorny path in Arizonas Senate race, where Democrat Ruben Gallego could potentially square off against not only a Republican, but also Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I), a former member Democrat. Some Arizona Democrats expect Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) will support Gallego, even if behind the scenes, noting the animosity many in the party feel toward Sinema, especially after she switched to an independent last year, and her electoral prospects. But other members of the party believe that calculus is not as simple and say Senate Democrats will need to proceed cautiously, given she still caucuses with the party in the upper chamber, where Democrats have a narrow majority. I 100 percent think its not clear because shes an incumbent, said one senior Democratic strategist. She caucuses with the Democrats. She might not be a Democrat anymore, but she does caucus with us. I mean, so in that way, theres an incumbency there. And to the extent that she hasnt given any indication that she would stop caucusing with us, I think it puts us in a bind. The strategist noted the 2006 Connecticut Senate Democratic primary, when Sen. Joe Lieberman, then running as a Democrat, lost the primary to fellow Democrat Ned Lamont. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) expressed their support for Lamont after his win, while Lieberman instead decided to run as an independent. Liberman later won against Lamont in the general election. He came back as an independent still caucusing with the Democrats but in a completely different, and I would probably say, in a spiteful and somewhat vindictive way, the strategist said. Sinema has remained mum about whether she plans to run for reelection next year. NBC News last month reported that her political team had been sharing a prospectus that outlined the shares of Republicans, Democrats and independents that could be formed to create a coalition. The incumbent senators campaign reported that she had raised around $826,000 in the third quarter, close to half of which included transfers, according to a filing from the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Sinema ended the quarter with about $10.8 million cash on hand, essentially the same amount of money she ended the second quarter of fundraising with. Gallegos campaign said earlier this month that he had raised over $3 million in the third quarter and ended the quarter with over $5 million in the bank. Meanwhile, polling has portended warning signs for Sinema. A survey from the Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling, commissioned by the Gallego campaign, showed Gallego placing first at 41 percent, Republican Kari Lake at 36 percent and Sinema at 15 percent. Meanwhile, a survey from Republican firm National Research Inc. showed Lake coming in first at 37 percent support, Gallego at 33 percent and Sinema at 19 percent. Democrats point to the fact shell also need to clear a signature threshold to qualify for the ballot. Between that and the fundraising situation thats out there, and a perceived lack of a ground game here, I think shes got some strong headwinds, and I think that Schumer and Democratic leadership are certainly taking all of that into consideration as they figure out their next steps, explained Matt Grodsky, former communications director for the Arizona Democratic Party and vice president at Matters of State Strategies. If she does get in, theyre gonna have to make calculated decisions on how thats going to impact any legislation or deals theyre gonna have to negotiate with, he said. But I think by and large, even if its not publicly, I would imagine that privately theyll be throwing their support where they can in Democrat Ruben Gallegos direction, because I just dont think that their constituencies are gonna be supportive of them doing anything else. Democratic consultant Dawn Penich-Thacker said Arizona Democrats expect Senate leadership to line up behind Gallego if Sinema announces. Theres a realistic understanding of, you know, well, we dont know if shes in the race, so its fine. They need to focus and get work done, Penich-Thacker said. But if that were to change, if she jumps in, then yes, that there would be an expectation that the Democratic Party from the lowest ranks to the top are in support of the Democrat in the race. Sinemas campaign did not respond to requests for comment. John LaBombard, a former aide to Sinema, said there could be pressure from some parts of the Democratic Party for national members and groups to back Gallego, but noted the DSCC is an incumbent-protective group. The dynamics are such, frankly, that all [parties] may benefit on our side our side just meaning not the Republicans from everybody kind of keeping an arms length from each other, LaBombard said. But until Sinema makes an announcement, Democrats are in a holding pattern. The party is waiting on Sinemas decision whether she will run or not while working aggressively to hold Kari Lake accountable, a national Democratic aide working on Senate campaigns said in a statement. Lake is running against Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb in the GOP primary, though she is considered the heavy favorite to win the nomination. Its not clear yet what kind of role the Senate GOP campaign arm will play with Lake, though a source familiar with the Republican groups strategy confirmed to The Hill they hadnt ruled out backing the former GOP gubernatorial in the race, which Politico first reported. Lake, in her campaign launch speech in Scottsdale, Ariz., sought to appeal to the swing voters she lost last cycle, arguing honest elections were not a partisan issue, while at the same time criticizing the media and the disaster of Election Day in Arizona. Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), described Lake in a statement as a talented campaigner with an impressive ability to fire up the grassroots and said they had productive conversations with Kari Lake and her team. Arizona is, you know, if you look at it, I think its a better pickup opportunity than Pennsylvania, for example. I think that this is one where Senate Republicans should want to invest resources, said a Republican strategist who requested anonymity to speak candidly. The GOP strategist said that she held meetings with Senate Republican leadership and members of the conference, including Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.). Shes also met with the super PAC aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the Senate Leadership Fund, and top advisers to McConnell, the strategist noted meetings first reported by Politico. I think Lake has shown shes willing to work with Senate Republicans. Shes willing to engage with leadership to have a strong relationship there, the person said. But Democrats are skeptical so far that voters will buy a Lake rebrand. I think barring some crazy thing that happens in the cycle ahead, shes not gonna gain any new voters. I dont think shes gonna convince enough people in the middle that shes miraculously the right fit this time around and has learned her lesson from 2022, said Grodsky, the former Arizona Democratic Party communications director. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Independent lawmaker Hwangbo Seung-hee has been indicted on charges of taking illegal political funds from a real estate developer, officials said Monday. The first-term lawmaker has been accused of receiving 50 million won ($36,911) from the businessman from 2020-2021 and having him pay an additional 32 million won in rent for her apartment in Seoul. Hwang also allegedly spent about 60 million won on a credit card provided by the businessman. Officials at the Busan District Prosecutors Office said Hwang has been indicted without physical detention on charges of graft and political fund law violations. Hwang left the ruling People Power Party in June and pledged she will not run in next year's parliamentary elections after she came under investigation over the charges. (Yonhap) President Joe Biden will travel to Israel and Jordan this week in a show of solidarity, and to meet with both Israeli and Arab leadership amid growing concerns over the escalating violence in the Middle East. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Biden's visit ahead of a possible Israeli ground invasion of Gaza aimed at crushing the Hamas militant group. The trip comes a week and half after Hamas' incursion on Israel that has killed over 4,000 on both sides and displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. He is coming here at a critical moment for Israel, for the region and for the world, Blinken said. Blinken had returned to Israel on Monday his second visit in less than a week after a whirlwind tour of six Arab states aimed at keeping the war from expanding across the Middle East. Blinken met with Netanyahu, reaffirming U.S. determination to provide Israel whatever is needed to protect its citizens, Blinken said in a statement. The two also discussed coordination with the U.N. and "regional partners" to provide humanitarian aid to civilians as well as the U.S. commitment to the speedy release of hostages, Blinken said. Their meeting was interrupted twice by air raid sirens indicating incoming rockets, prompting them and others to seek shelter in a bunker. About 2,000 U.S. troops have been told to get ready to deploy in anticipation of the ground offensive. The American soldiers would not be sent to Israel but could be assigned to other countries in the region for support roles such as medical assistance or providing security at gate crossings, the Associated Press reported Monday, citing U.S. officials. Later in the day, Hamas said it's holding 200 to 250 hostages the upper end is about 50 more than previously believed and added that it would release the non-Israeli ones when it was feasible. And Hezbollah said its fighters targeted five Israeli posts along the Lebanese border Monday afternoon. No spillover: Blinken says Arab leaders don't want spillover from Israel-Hamas war Developments: A senior Biden administration official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said Biden was pondering a trip to Israel. Biden abruptly called off a trip to Colorado but made no announcement of alternative travel plans. More than 1 million Gazans have evacuated their homes. Last week Israel ordered an evacuation of northern Gaza, an edict that fueled chaos across the Israeli-occupied territory of about 2.3 million Palestinians. The Israeli military has ordered people living in 28 communities near the Lebanese border to evacuate amid increasing cross-border fire between Israel and the Lebanese Shiite militia, Hezbollah. The European Union said it has tripled humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza to nearly $80 million and will send two flights this week through Egypt with provisions for the territory's residents. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who ordered the current invasion of neighboring Ukraine that has killed tens of thousands and led to war crime charges against him, urged Netanyahu to seek a peaceful settlement through political and diplomatic means, the Kremlin said. Whats happening in Israel? After Hamas attack, understanding the conflict in Gaza Palestinians stand by a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip on Oct. 16, 2023. 'Deep discussions' seeking opening of Rafah crossing The Biden administration and the United Nations are leading "deep discussions'' with the Israelis, Egyptians and others about getting humanitarian aid for besieged Gaza civilians through the Rafah crossing at the southern border with Egypt, U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said. The crossing has been closed since shortly after the war began, partly because of damage caused by Israeli airstrikes and other security issues but also because of Egyptian concerns about a flood of Palestinian refugees coming through. That has left trucks idling at the border with supplies Gazans desperately need. As both warring sides continue to launch projectiles at each other, Israel has advised Palestinians in northern Gaza to head south ahead of the ground offensive. But even that hasn't proven entirely safe. At least 12 people were killed and nine were buried in the rubble of a Rafah building that was housing three families who had evacuated from Gaza City in the north when it was pulverized by an airstrike, their relatives said. Griffiths, who is heading to Cairo to participate in the negotiations, said the U.N.s overwhelming priority is to get access to Gaza. You cannot ask people to move out of harms way without assisting them to do it by providing safe places and humanitarian aid, which Israel is not currently doing, said Griffiths, who also called for Hamas to immediately release its hostages. Necessities in short supply in Gaza Palestinians crowded into hospitals and schools Monday as supplies of food, water and medicine ran low during a tight Israeli blockade of Gaza. Some relief was not far away but still unreachable. Trucks carrying necessities have waited for days at the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt amid negotiations for a cease-fire that would allow them to enter Gaza and allow foreigners to leave. Gazas only border link to Egypt was shut down several days ago following Israeli airstrikes, and local media reported another hit at the crossing Monday. "The conflict in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory is an awful reminder of how quickly the health of millions of people can be put at risk," World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a social media post. "War will bring nothing but destruction and horror." Head of Israeli security agency issues mea culpa The head of Israel's domestic security agency took responsibility for the failure to thwart the Oct. 7 Hamas onslaught that claimed more than 1,400 lives. "We were unable to create enough early warning to prevent the attack, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar said in a letter to agency employees. As the person at the head of the organization, the responsibility for that is on me. There will be time for investigation now is a time for war. Shin Bet, which monitors Palestinian extremists, is one of thee major Israeli security agencies along with Mossad and Aman. Abnormal activity detected in Gaza the night before the massacre prompted Bar to send a small team to the border, not realizing the huge scope of Hamas' planned attack, the Israeli news site Ynet reported. Shin Bet said at least 10 of its members were killed by Hamas forces. War's death toll surpasses 4,000, including 30 Americans The death toll on both sides of the war has surpassed 4,000 about 2,800 in Gaza and more than 10,000 are wounded. The U.S. death toll is up to 30, and the State Department said 13 Americans remained missing but could provide no count on the number of U.S. hostages. "State Department personnel have been in contact with their families," a spokesperson said. Fuel, medical supplies stolen from UN agency in Gaza Thieves using trucks purportedly from the Gaza Health Ministry have stolen desperately needed fuel and medical supplies from a U.N. agency compound in Gaza City, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency says. The agency was forced to evacuate the compound Friday and has no access to the site. Security cameras at the entrance and exit to the compound were damaged, the agency said. "@UNRWA fuel & other types of material are kept for strictly humanitarian purposes any other use is strongly condemned," the agency said in a social media post. Illinois stabbing attack investigated as possible hate crime The Justice Department opened a federal hate crimes investigation into the Illinois stabbing death of 6-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume, a Palestinian-American boy. His mother, Hanaan Shahin, 32, was seriously injured in the attack. Their landlord, Joseph Czuba of Plainfield Township, about 40 miles southwest of Chicago, is facing murder and hate crime charges, Czuba, 71, was denied bail at a court hearing Monday and must remain behind bars. Czuba was charged Sunday with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and two counts of a hate crime for what authorities believe was a targeted attack against a Muslim family in response to the Israel-Hamas war, according to the Will County Sheriff's office. The alleged assault has evoked fears among Arab Americans of possible reprisals stemming from the war. No one in the United States of America should have to live in fear of violence because of how they worship or where they or their family come from, Attorney General Merrick Garland said in announcing the hate crime investigation. Bart Jansen, Thao Nguyen and Cybele Mayes-Osterman Stabbing death of 6-year-old Muslim boy: llinois incident to be investigated as hate crime Hundreds of Floridians return home on special flight Almost 300 Floridians who had been trapped in Israel because of flight cancellations have arrived in Florida on a flight arranged by the state and the global rescue agency Project Dynamo. Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is seeking the Republican presidential nomination, took a dig at the Biden administration, saying he was "proud of how quickly we have been able to activate resources and do what the federal government could not get Floridians and other Americans back home, reunited with their families, free of charge. DeSantis said the state also is sending medical supplies, hygiene products, clothing and childrens toys to Israel to help Israelis affected by the war. And he said Gazans should not be welcomed into the U.S., saying Arab nations should "open their borders and absorb" Gaza refugees. "As president, the number of people I will bring in from Gaza is zero," he said. US gas prices fall despite war The national average for a gallon of gas fell last week despite a tumultuous period for oil prices after Hamas launched the attack on Israel. A gallon of regular unleaded fell about 12 cents to $3.628 on Friday, according to AAA, a nonprofit federation of motor clubs that tracks fuel costs. The decline comes even as oil rose by about $5 to around $90 per barrel last week. The price of crude, which is refined into gasoline, makes up more than half the price of a gallon of fuel. The cost at the pump is dropping because of lower demand from drivers and less expensive blends of winter gasoline coming into the market, AAA says. As long as this war does not spread to include more countries in the region, the effect on the oil market will remain muted, AAA spokesperson Andrew Gross said in a statement. Read more here. Medora Lee How you can help those in need during war Numerous organizations are attempting to provide assistance to civilians in need on both sides of the confrontation. The Alliance for Middle East Peace (ALLMEP) is a coalition of over 170 non-governmental organizations that includes tens of thousands of Palestinians and Israelis who share the goal of building state peace between the two communities. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) also aims to protect victims of conflicts and provide them with assistance. And Doctors Without Borders is a non-governmental organization that provides humanitarian aid to people affected by conflict, disease outbreaks and natural and human-made disasters. For links and other options, read more here. Sarah Al-Arshani and Thao Nguyen IRS delays tax deadline for people affected by war Monday is the official tax deadline for those who requested an automatic six-month extension for filing 2022 income taxes, but the Internal Revenue Service is providing a special extension of nearly another year to "individuals and businesses affected by the terrorist attacks in the State of Israel." The relief applies to an individual with a principal residence in Israel, the West Bank or Gaza Strip, as well as a business or sole proprietor whose principal place of business is in the covered area. Other circumstances qualify, too. More details here. Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press Health situation is 'dire': Groups providing aid as Israeli-Palestinian crisis worsens A summary of the Israel-Hamas war Hamas has been responsible for numerous suicide bombings and other deadly attacks in Israel since the militant group was formed in 1987. On Oct. 7, about 1,000 Hamas fighters stormed across the Israeli border by land and sea. Hamas says the attack was partially a response to Israeli police activity at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the third holiest site in Islam. The Jerusalem mosque is located on a holy site for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount. But Hamas leaders also blame unrelenting Israeli crackdowns and a 16-year blockade in Gaza and the West Bank, continued construction of Israeli settlements which the international community considers illegal and Israel's tight military control of Gaza. Also, the attack came amid thawing relations between some Arab nations and Israel. Hamas refuses to recognize Israel, and the attack and Israel's harsh response could slow or derail those diplomatic overtures. What is Hamas? Hamas an acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya, or the Islamic resistance movement was founded by activists connected to the Muslim Brotherhood during the first Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank. The State Department designated Hamas a terrorist group in 1997, a decade after its founding. Several other nations also consider Hamas a terrorist organization. In 2006, Hamas won parliamentary elections, and in 2007 the group violently seized control of Gaza from the Palestinian Authority, which was controlled by the rival Fatah movement that still governs the West Bank. There have been no elections since. The group calls for establishment of an Islamic Palestinian state that would replace the current state of Israel and believes in the use of violence to carry out the destruction of Israel. Hamas receives financial, material and logistical support from Iran. So far, however, the U.S. and other nations have said there is no evidence that Iran was directly involved in Hamas attack. Contributing: The Associated Press This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Israel-Hamas war updates: US troops told to prepare to deploy Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and the bipartisan congressional delegation he was leading to Israel were rushed to a bomb shelter as Hamas launched rockets at Tel Aviv. The New York Democrat wrote on X on Sunday (15 October) morning: While in Tel Aviv today, our delegation was rushed to a shelter to wait out rockets sent by Hamas. It shows you what Israelis have to go through. We must provide Israel with the support required to defend itself. Mr Schumer included an image in the post showing him and Utah Republican Senator Mitt Romney, in addition to a number of others. A press conference was subsequently delayed as they waited for the rocket fire to cease. In addition to Mr Schumer and Mr Romney, Sens Bill Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana; Mark Kelly, Democrat of Arizona; and Jacky Rosen, Democrat of Nevada; joined the delegation to meet Israeli officials one week after Hamas launched a terror attack from the Gaza Strip killing at least 1,300 people in the country. The senatorial delegation met with President Isaac Herzog earlier on Sunday, according to the presidents office. They had emphasized the cross-party support for the State of Israel, a statement from his office said. The 72-year-old Mr Schumer is the highest-ranking Jewish official in the history of the United States, NBC News noted. Ahead of the trip, his office said in a statement that the intent of the trip was to show the United States unwavering support for Israel. While in Tel Aviv today, our delegation was rushed to a shelter to wait out rockets sent by Hamas. It shows you what Israelis have to go through. We must provide Israel with the support required to defend itself. pic.twitter.com/wS3kq6xFVJ Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) October 15, 2023 Mr Schumer noted on X before the journey that he sat down for Shabbat dinner with my family. The senate majority leader was set to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and centrist opposition leader Benny Gantz, who joined a unity government following the attack as the country prepares for a possible ground invasion of Gaza to take out Hamas. Mr Schumer appeared at a press conference in New York on Friday (13 October), saying that were going to get Israel everything it needs Iron Dome, all the other needs, both military and humanitarian. And were going to do everything we can, and Im going to urge everyone, everyone in the American government, to bring back the hostages, particularly our American hostages. Amidst the crisis in Israel, Mr Schumer ended his previous congressional delegation to Asia ahead of schedule, speaking to Israeli officials from the American embassy in Beijing. A number of members of Congress were in Israel at the time of the attack, such as Sen Cory Booker, Democrat of New Jersey, and Rep Dan Goldman, Democrat of New York. They have since returned to the US. Our bipartisan Senate delegation to Israel had good, productive meetings with Israeli leaders. The U.S. stands with the people of Israel. I'll lead the effort in the U.S. Senate to provide Israel with the support required to defend itself from this monstrous attack. pic.twitter.com/0hvqyIEzkm Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) October 15, 2023 A previous US congressional delegation made the journey to Israel last week, including Sen Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa, Democratic Reps Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, Jimmy Panetta of California, and Donald Norcross of New Jersey. On Friday, Mr Schumer said he had called every airline in the US to argue that they must resume their regular flights from Israel. Congress has sent a funding request to the White House, part of which is set to be aid for Israel. In Israel, we met with families of the victims of this brutal attack by Hamas, families who didn't know if their loved ones were alive, families whose loved ones were taken hostage. Their stories moved us. We stand with Israel. We won't stop working to bring the hostages home. pic.twitter.com/6g7M18fhzW Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) October 15, 2023 As Senate majority leader, as I mentioned, the highest-ranking Jewish leader in American history, Im doing everything in my power to ensure the Senate delivers the support Israel needs to accomplish these military, intelligence and humanitarian goals, Mr Schumer said on Sunday. We will not just talk we will act. Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) is leading a coalition of progressive representatives in calling for President Biden to work toward an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hamas amid mounting concerns over an Israeli invasion into the Gaza Strip. Israel has promised to eliminate Hamas in response to a surprise attack earlier this month that left more than 1,400 Israelis dead, and has already pounded the Gaza Strip with missiles while telling residents of northern Gaza to flee for safety. Bush introduced the Ceasefire Now Resolution on Monday, urging Biden push for and facilitate a cease-fire and de-escalation of the conflict and promptly send and facilitate the entry of humanitarian assistance into Gaza. Joining Bush as co-sponsors are Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), Jamaal Bowman (N.Y.), Bonnie Watson Coleman (N.J.), Jesus Chuy Garcia (Ill.), Jonathan Jackson (Ill.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.) and Nydia Velazquez (N.Y.). Hamas also took almost 200 hostages during its attack across Israels border, during which militants slaughtered attendees of a music festival and raided border villages. From Oct. 7-12, Israel dropped 6,000 bombs into Gaza, according to CNN. Israeli leaders have also blocked fuel and water from entering Gaza and closed all shared border crossings. By Monday, more than 2,700 Palestinians had been killed in the violence, according to Gaza health authorities. I am grieving for every Palestinian, Israeli, and American life lost to this violence, and my heart breaks for all those who will be forever traumatized because of it, Bush said in a statement introducing her resolution. War and retaliatory violence doesnt achieve accountability or justice; it only leads to more death and human suffering, she added. The United States bears a unique responsibility to exhaust every diplomatic tool at our disposal to prevent mass atrocities and save lives. We cant bomb our way to peace, equality, and freedom. With thousands of lives lost and millions more at stake, we need a ceasefire now. The lawmakers join the United Nations and other humanitarian groups in calling for more humanitarian aid to be sent to the Gaza Strip and warning of the dire consequences of an Israeli ground offensive on Gazas civilian population. Speaking on CBSs 60 Minutes this weekend, Biden said Israeli occupation of Gaza would be a big mistake and that Hamas and the extreme elements of Hamas dont represent all the Palestinian people. Tlaib, who is of Palestinian heritage and has faced death threats for her unwavering support of Palestinians, said she is proud to be a co-sponsor for Bushs legislation. We need legislation that saves as many lives as possible, no matter ones faith or ethnicity, Tlaib said in a statement. She added that legislation around the Palestinian-Israeli conflict needs to prevent devastating civilian casualties. Bushs resolution comes after the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), which includes her and several other co-sponsors, also issued a statement calling for immediate humanitarian relief. Though the CBC said it stands firm behind Israels right to defend itself, it added that there are millions of innocent Palestinians who are not responsible for the brutal attacks and atrocities of Hamas terrorists. Its unclear if Bushs resolution will make it far. Apart from Republicans struggling to elect a new Speaker, putting all legislation on hold, Republicans and Democrats alike have largely avoided any statements or actions that could be perceived as critical of Israel. Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) said calls for a cease-fire were disgusting before Israel has been able to mount an offensive. Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), wore his Israeli Defense Forces uniform on the House floor last week, comparing it to the Palestinian flag outside Tlaibs office. As the only member to serve with both the United States Army and the Israel Defense Forces, I will always stand with Israel, Mast wrote on X. Tlaibs got her flag. I got my uniform. Pressley said the shared humanity of all is at stake if humanitarian aid is not sent swiftly to the Gaza Strip. The loss of every Palestinian, Israeli, and American life we have seen in the past week is absolutely devastating and the grief and trauma in our communities is palpable, Pressley said in a statement. The murder of innocent Israeli civilians by Hamas is horrific and unacceptable. And the murder of innocent Palestinian civilians is a horrific and unacceptable response. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) defended Rep. Jim Jordans (R-Ohio) attempt to overturn the 2020 election, pointing to other Republicans who attempted to do the same. CNNs Jake Tapper pointed out that Jordan was one of the many Republicans who voted to overturn the 2020 election results, but Crenshaw said that wouldnt stop him from supporting him. The Texas Republican was not one of the 139 House Republicans at the time who objected to the certification of the election results. But a lot of them did that. If I held that grudge, I wouldnt have friends in the Republican Conference, because a lot of them did that, Crenshaw said on State of the Union. Tapper conceded that Crenshaw made an excellent point, laughing as he suggested he would have issues with two-thirds of the conference over their opposition to certifying the election results. Crenshaw said that he was on an island there when discussing who voted to certify the results. Crenshaw also reiterated his support for Jordan, saying that theres a reason he backs him for Speaker. And what I would remind a lot of the members who are against Jordan, because because his reputation precedes him, but his reputation has changed over time. He has become part of the solution, not part of the problem. He has long since been part of the solution, he said. Some critics have voiced opposition to Jordans potential Speakership after he clinched the nomination by the GOP conference last week. Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said she was concerned with Jordans close ties with former President Trump and his involvement in the efforts to keep Trump in power after he lost the 2020 election. Jim Jordan was involved in Trumps conspiracy to steal the election and seize power, she wrote in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. He urged that [former Vice President Mike Pence] refuse to count lawful electoral votes. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The bodies of Iranian film director Dariush Mehrjui and his wife Vahida Mohammadifar were found dead by their daughter One of Iran's most prominent film directors, Dariush Mehrjui, has been found dead alongside his wife. The 83-year-old and Vahideh Mohammadifar were found with stab injuries in their home near the capital, Tehran, on Saturday evening, Iranian authorities say. Mehrjui was considered one of the founders of Iranian new wave cinema. Iran's judiciary said seven people have been arrested so far in connection with the killing. Police spokesperson Saeed Montazer-Mehdi said detectives had "reached convincing evidence related to the case". According to chief justice Hossein Fazeli, Mehrjui had invited his daughter to come over to his home in the city of Karaj for dinner on Saturday night. When she arrived, she is said to have found the bodies of her parents. Mohammadifar, a screenwriter and costume designer, had reportedly complained recently that she had been threatened and that the house had been burgled. Iranian actor and director Houman Seyedi was among those who took to social media to react to the killings - describing them as "terrible and brutal". Mehrjui, who studied in the US as a young man and later lived in France for five years, first rose to national and international prominence with his 1969 film The Cow, which tells the story about a villager's obsession with the titular animal. His other most notable films include Hamoun, The Pear Tree and Leila - the latter about an infertile woman who encourages her husband to marry for a second time. The new wave movement focused mainly on realism but Mehrjui was known to draw inspiration from literature. He received many awards over the years but while his films were celebrated at international film festivals, some barely saw the light of day in Iran due to censorship. A Florida-bound airplane had to turn around after receiving reports of a possible bomb on board, but airport officials found an adult diaper instead. The Copa Airlines flight was headed to Tampa, Florida from Panama Citys Tocumen International Airport Friday when it received word of a suspicious object in one of the plane's bathrooms, the Associated Press reported. The plane landed back in Panama and went to a solitary tarmac before evacuating 144 passengers and having an anti-explosives team inspect the aircraft, according to AP. Head of airport security Jose Castro said that the suspicious object was not in fact a dangerous explosive, but an adult diaper. We had it on a secure runway where police special explosives canine units and special forces examined the object, and found it to be an adult diaper, ruling out any risk, Castro said, according to AP. More: 8 hospitalized after JetBlue flight hit severe turbulence approaching Fort Lauderdale, Florida This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Flight bound for Florida evacuated after diaper is mistaken for bomb Children sat on suitcases as hundreds of Palestinian Americans gathered by the Rafah border crossing to Egypt with hopes they could flee Gaza to safety. But the crossing remained closed Monday, despite promises from U.S. State Department officials, leaving many Palestinian Americans frustrated but not surprised. We are surviving on sandwiches, said Maha Barakat, an American citizen desperate to cross the border into Egypt. She is one of 600 Americans still stuck in Gaza, according to the State Departments tally. We are American citizens and should be treated the same as the Americans who got put on planes out of Tel Aviv, she said in a telephone interview with NBC News Monday, now in her seventh day of waiting to cross since she moved her nieces and nephews to a family friends house in southern Gaza. Her own children live in New Jersey and are in college. Follow live coverage from NBC News here. People wait to cross into Egypt at the Rafah border crossing in Gaza. (Fatima Shbair / AP) Its getting dark, its already getting loud. Weve heard a few bombings in the area. Were not going to have electricity for the rest of the night, she told NBC News in a separate message. Emilee Rauschenberger, who was in Khan Yunis with her Palestinian husband and five children visiting family, said they lined up at the crossing for at least 10 hours before having to return to Khan Yunis. This wasnt the familys first time trying to cross the border. People are again, just waiting around frustrated and exhausted, Rauschenberger said of the scene at Rafah crossing, adding that some people have been there for days on end, even sleeping by it, in hopes of it opening. Crowds of people could be seen standing and sitting by the crossing surrounded by luggage. On the crossing gates was a sign that read Danger the crossing is threatened by bombing. A sign in Arabic reads We are human beings, we are not human animals, said Adil Salem, who is trying to cross Rafah to get back home to Missouri. There is no safe haven in Gaza, there is no safe road in Gaza, there is no humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza. There is nothing, theres nothing but bombs and bombs and bombs, and blood and bodies, he said. The State Department continues to advise Americans inside Gaza to go to the crossing if its safe to do so. There may be very little notice if the crossing opens, and it may only open for a limited time, according to communications sent via texts and emails from the State Department that were shared with NBC News. The U.S. does not have officials at the border crossing, according to a senior State Department official. So the situation is we have been trying. The Egyptians have told us there are acute security threats there that prevent it, the official said. Egypt has remained steadfast in its reluctance to fully open the border, which sustained physical damage from Israeli airstrikes on Monday as well as last week. Israel shelled the area in front of the Rafah crossing, essentially cutting off the roads, according to local media reports. Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry said during remarks on Monday that the country has been seeking to open the Rafah crossing since the start of the conflict, and the Israeli governments position hasnt been conducive to its opening. Egyptian Foreign Affairs Minister Sameh Shoukry in Turkey. (Adem Altan / AFP via Getty Images file) Until now, unfortunately, the Israeli government has not taken a position that would lead to the possibility of opening the crossing from the Gaza side to allow the entry of aid or the exit of citizens from other countries, Shoukry said. Jake Sullivan, national security adviser to President Biden, on Sunday told NBC's "Meet the Press" that his priority is to have safe places that civilians can go that will not be subject to bombardments and that he is working with the U.N., Israel, Egypt and Jordan to try to ensure that. He acknowledged that no American citizens have been able to cross. More than 2,800 people have been killed in Gaza and 10,859 have been injured in the violence following the unprecedented Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel that targeted civilians, including women and children in kibbutzim and at a music festival. In Israel, 1,400 people have been killed and 3,900 have been wounded. The toll of American deaths from Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent war stands at 30, a State Department spokesperson said Sunday. Helal Kaoud, a Palestinian American who along with other members of her family has been desperately trying to get their five U.S. citizen fathers all brothers out of Gaza, said her father waited in line but no one was there to help. The destruction from Israeli bombing near the crossing has left him skeptical that Rafah will open any time soon. He said that theres trenches from the bombs on either side and that it would be impossible to drive or even walk over there, Kaoud told NBC News. He said theyd have to fill those up for anything to go in or out and thatll probably take days and now he thinks theyre just messing with people telling them its open. People wait to cross into Egypt at the Rafah border crossing in Gaza. (Fatima Shbair / AP) Her brother, Amir, who was also at the border hoping to cross, said it feels like the government isnt helping Americans in Gaza. Last night, he said, he was trying to sleep when a bomb made impact near where he was staying, close to Khan Yunis. Americas not helping us, Bidens not helping us, the embassy is not helping us, Amir said, adding that it was his second time at the Rafah crossing. They keep saying the same thing every day, theyre trying to figure out a way to get us out. Nothings happening. All the people, all the U.S. citizens in Israel, theyre getting out. Why not us? Mai Abushaaban, whose mother and sister are currently trapped in Gaza, said she was not surprised that the border crossing remained closed and is frustrated at the false hopes given out by the U.S. government. Most people were skeptical, she said, adding that she was surprised by the lack of guidance and support from the State Department. Palestinian American frustrations come as the humanitarian situation in Gaza has become bleak amid the constant bombing. On Monday, a United Nations food aid warehouse and distribution center in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood in southern Gaza City was destroyed by Israeli airstrikes. People stock up with water and bread in Gaza City on Oct. 16, 2023. (Dawood Nemer / AFP - Getty Images) Israel, in an effort to pressure Hamas into releasing the hostages, is not allowing the aid trucks to cross until the hostages are released. We just want the bombing to stop and then we can worry about humanitarian aid, said Jason Shawa, who was born in Seattle to a Palestinian father and an American mother and is currently trapped in Gaza with his two daughters. Honestly I cant even imagine any humanitarian agency that can really function on the ground with the conditions like we have at the moment, he added. Shawa, who is staying in a small cabin packed with 50 relatives and neighbors in Central Gaza, said they almost ran out of drinking water yesterday. He said they were considering getting buckets of seawater to use in the toilets amid the dire water shortage, but it would be a 6-mile unsafe walk to the beach and the amount of water needed would be impossible to shoulder in one trip. For now, Palestinian Americans stuck in Gaza are hoping they can leave soon. If we stay here, we might run out of food, we might run out of water, we might get hit, we dont know, Amir said. Were worried, were trying to leave. Law enforcement members stand on the street near the Chinese consulate, where local media has reported a vehicle may have crashed into the building, in San Francisco, California, U.S. October 9, 2023 (REUTERS) It was just a normal Monday afternoon at the Chinese consulate in San Francisco. And then all chaos broke out. A man suddenly drove a car through the consulate visa office on Geary Boulevard shortly after 3pm, officials said. Police opened fire on the vehicle, striking the driver. The man, who was identified as 31-year-old Zhanyuan Yang, was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead. No one else was reported as injured in the incident. San Francisco police are now working with the US State Department to investigate the incident, with many questions still unanswered about what Mr Yangs motives may have been. Heres what we know so far: What happened? A driver reportedly sped into the Chinese consulate visa office in San Francisco shortly after 3pm on Monday afternoon, according to authorities. Witness Sergii Molchanov told The San Francisco Standard that the driver shouted Wheres the CCP (Chinese Communist Party)? as he got out of the car. Security guards then approached the bleeding man, according to Mr Molchanov, and held his arms back before police arrived. Police said that officers arrived on the scene moments later and found a blue Honda car had come to rest inside the building. Security personnel respond to the driver of a car which crashed into the Chinese consulate in San Francisco (Sergii via REUTERS) Officers entered the building and shot the driver after they made contact with the individual, police San Francisco Police Sgt Kathryn Winters said. Multiple gunshots were fired during the incident, according to witnesses, before a bloodied man was loaded into an ambulance and driven from the scene. The driver later died at hospital. Bomb squad technicians and an explosives-sniffing dog attended the scene, The San Francisco Standard reported. Mr Molchanov described the incident as terrifying and shocking. Ive 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, he said. San Francisco Police said it is currently unclear how many people were inside the building at the time of the crash. Police advised people to avoid the entrance to the visa office at Laguna Street and Geary Boulevard, which remained covered in a white plastic sheet on Monday evening, according to The San Francisco Chronicle. Who is the man shot by police? Police said the man has been identified as 31-year-old Zhanyuan Yang. No additional information was released. 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. San Francisco police investigate at the Chinese consulate in San Franciso on Monday (Bay Area News Group) Police 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 Yangs 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. What has the Chinese consulate said? The Chinese diplomatic post in San Francisco issued a statement about the incident, saying an unidentified person drove violently into the document hall of the consulate, posing a serious threat to the safety of the staff and people at the scene, and causing serious damage to the facilities and property of the consulate. The consulate added that it strongly condemns this violent attack and reserves the right to pursue responsibility for the incident. Our mission has made solemn representations to the United States, demanding that the truth be quickly ascertained and dealt with seriously in accordance with the law, the statement continued. The US state department, meanwhile, has not yet responded to the incident. The Consulate General of the Peoples Republic of China is on a major street near the California citys Japantown neighbourhood. The incident took place a month before Chinese president Xi Jinping is expected to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders Meeting in the city. Luxor, Egypt; August 5, 2022 - The tomb of Rameses IX in the Valley of the Kings, Luxor, Egypt. Scientists have discovered sealed jars of wine from 5,000 years ago in an Egyptian queen's tomb. The find, one of the oldest ever, was among the "grave goods" for Queen Meret-Neith in Abydos, from 3,000 BC, according to SWNS, the British news service. The University of Vienna researchers say she was the most powerful woman in the period and possibly the first female pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. PREHISTORIC FOOTWEAR WAS DISCOVERED IN SPANISH CAVE BY MINERS, SCIENTISTS REVEAL Queen Meret-Neith was the only woman to have her own monumental tomb in Egypt's first royal cemetery at Abydos. While her true identity remains a mystery, the excavation revealed hundreds of jars of wine some still sealed buried with her. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP Meret-Neith's monumental tomb complex in the Abydos desert, which includes the tombs of 41 courtiers and servants in addition to her own burial chamber, was built of unbaked mud bricks, clay and wood. Inscriptions indicate that Queen Meret-Neith was responsible for central government offices such as the treasury, which supports the idea of her special historical significance, the scientists revealed. Archaeology professor Christiana Kohler from the University of Vienna in Austria, who led a German-Austrian team of researchers, said that a lot of the finds are undergoing analysis to reveal their secrets. "The wine was no longer liquid and we cant tell if it was red or white," she said, according to SWNS. "We found a lot of organic residue, grape seeds and crystals, possibly tartar and all of this is currently being scientifically analyzed. It is probably the second-oldest direct evidence for wine the oldest also comes from Abydos," she also said. She added, "The new excavations bring to light exciting new information about this unique woman and her time." The archeological team found evidence of a huge amount of "grave goods," including hundreds of large wine jars. Some of them were well-preserved and still sealed in their original state, containing the remnants of 5,000-year-old wine. Thanks to careful excavation methods and new archaeological technologies, the team was able to show that the tombs were built in several construction phases and over a relatively long period of time, SWNS also reported. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER The team is working together with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the German Archaeological Institute in Cairo, the University of Vienna and the Vienna University of Technology in Austria and Lund University in Sweden, according to SWNS and a press release from the University of Vienna. For more Lifestyle articles, visit www.foxnews.com/lifestyle . Original article source:Egyptian queen tomb discovery yields sealed jars of wine from 5,000 years ago, plus 'exciting information' By Jason Lange and Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bipartisan majority of Americans wants the U.S. to help get Palestinian civilians out of harm's way in Gaza amid Israel's war against Hamas militants, but the American public's support for Israel in the conflict appears stronger than in the past, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found. The results of the two-day poll, which closed on Friday, showed 78% of respondents - including 94% of Democrats and 71% of Republicans - agreed with a statement that "American diplomats should actively be working on a plan to allow civilians fleeing fighting in Gaza to move to a safe country." Twenty-two percent of respondents disagreed. Hamas fighters burst across the Gaza barrier fence into Israel in a stunning assault on Oct. 7, killing 1,300 and abducting dozens more, including Americans. Israel has responded with the most intensive air strikes of its 75-year-old conflict with the Palestinians, killing at least 2,670 and sparking a humanitarian crisis. U.S. and global media have been awash with images of massacred Israelis, including graphic accounts of Hamas atrocities, as well as Palestinians in the Gaza Strip searching for survivors after Israeli airstrikes leveled neighborhoods. Support among Americans for Israel's position in the conflict was higher in the new poll than it was in a survey in 2014, when Israeli ground forces surged into coastal enclave in a clash with Hamas aimed at stopping rocket fire into Israel. The current war has escalated into a much more serious, far-reaching conflict. Forty-one percent of respondents in the new poll, which closed as Israel, Washington's closest Middle East ally, was preparing a ground invasion into Gaza, said they agreed with a statement that "the U.S. should support Israel" in its conflict with Hamas, while 2% said "the U.S. should support the Palestinians." In a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted during the 2014 conflict, 22% of respondents said the U.S. should support Israel's position, and 2% wanted support for Palestinian's position. Support for Israel's position in the new poll was strongest among Republicans, with 54% of the party backing Israel's position compared to 37% of Democrats. In recent years, Democrats have grappled with internal friction between pro-Israel moderates and a faction of progressives increasingly critical of Israel, especially for its treatment of the Palestinians and expansion of Jewish settlements by the country's far-right government. YOUNGER AMERICANS LESS SUPPORTIVE OF ISRAEL Large shares of respondents in the poll backed other stances in the conflict, including 27% who said the U.S. "should be a neutral mediator" and 21% who said the U.S. shouldn't be involved at all. Some 40% of respondents under age 40 said the U.S. should be a neutral mediator, roughly double the 19% of people age 40 and above who said the same. Those under 40 were also less likely to back supporting Israel than were older Americans, a potentially worrisome sign for Israel, which has long counted on Washington for weapons aid and international diplomatic support. Some 20% of respondents under 40 backed supporting Israel, compared to 53% of older respondents. The poll results illustrated a high level of concern among Americans over the plight of ordinary Palestinians in the Hamas-ruled territory of more than 2 million people. Eighty-one percent of respondents agreed with a statement that "Israel should avoid killing civilians in its retaliatory strikes against Hamas," compared to 19% who disagreed. U.S. officials have urged Israel to protect civilians while pointing the finger directly at Hamas, which Washington designates a terrorist group, for what they describe as using Gaza residents as human shields. Israel has insisted its military takes every precaution to minimize civilian casualties. As the deaths mount, no neighboring state or other third country so far has shown any willingness to take in large numbers of Gaza refugees. But U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday the Egyptian-controlled Rafah border crossing in southern Gaza would reopen and the U.S. was working to get humanitarian assistance through it to ease the crisis. The U.S. on Saturday advised its 500 to 600 dual-nationals in Gaza to move closer to the crossing for possible safe passage into Egypt. Israel has imposed a blockade around the rest of the strip. The Israeli military sparked an international outcry last week when it ordered all residents of Gaza City to evacuate, but hundreds of thousands have already fled south. Some 69% of poll respondents said they were following news about the fighting "very closely" or "somewhat closely." When presented with a list of options for who is most responsible for the current conflict, 49% of respondents picked Hamas, far more than the 9% who picked Israel. The war, which threatens stability in a region that is critical for global energy supplies, could be a significant political issue as U.S. President Joe Biden seeks re-election in 2024. While Biden has offered staunch support for Israel, he has also urged it to follow the laws of war. On Sunday, he said on social media that "the overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do with Hamas' appalling attacks." Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination to challenge Biden in the election, criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a lack of preparation for the Hamas attack, saying "they've gotta straighten it out." The Reuters poll showed Americans have little faith in the ability of either Biden or Trump to solve the crisis. Just 26% of respondents said they trusted Biden more "to broker peace in the Middle East," compared to 32% who picked Trump. The rest said they didn't trust either or didn't know who would be better. The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online and nationwide, gathering responses from 1,003 U.S. adults. It had a credibility interval, a measure of precision, of about four percentage points. (Reporting by Jason Lange and Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Scott Malone, Diane Craft and Lincoln Feast.) Prosecutors on Monday sought the death penalty for four suspects behind the abduction and murder of a woman in downtown Seoul in March. In the final hearing at Seoul Central District Court, prosecutors demanded the death penalty for Lee Kyeong-woo, known to be the mastermind of the crime, and Hwang Dae-han, for being an accessory in the act. They demanded life imprisonment for Yeon Ji-ho, another accomplice. The prosecution also demanded the death penalty for a couple, identified as Yoo Sang-won and Hwang Eun-hee, for providing the money to use in the crime. The three suspects Lee, Hwang and Yeon were indicted for kidnapping a 48-year-old woman near an apartment building in Gangnam Ward on March 29, killing her the following day and burying her body on a hill in Daejeon, about 140 kilometers south of Seoul. Investigators believe Lee had premeditated the crime with Hwang, known to be his college friend, and Yeon, an employee at his delivery agency, in monitoring and following the victim. The couple was reportedly in conflict with the victim over the failure of a cryptocurrency investment and handed 70 million won ($51,600) to Lee in September last year following his proposal to take the victim's virtual assets and kill her. "The cruelty of the murder by the robber that took place in the middle of Seoul's Gangnam district is beyond words," prosecutors said during the final hearing, while calling for a severe punishment corresponding to the crime to comfort the terror-stricken public and the bereaved families. Lee and Hwang's lawyers denied allegations that the crime was premeditated. Korea last carried out executions in 1997, when 23 people were executed. The justice ministry said 59 people 55 civilians and four military personnel remained on death row in Korea as of Monday. Amnesty International, a nongovernmental organization focused on human rights, categorized Korea as a death penalty abolitionist in practice in its annual report released in May. (Yonhap) By Karen Freifeld (Reuters) - The U.S. will take steps to prevent American chipmakers from selling products to China that circumvent government restrictions, a U.S. official said, as part of the Biden administration's upcoming actions to block more AI chip exports. The new rules, details of which Reuters is reporting for the first time, will be added to sweeping U.S. restrictions on shipments of advanced chips and chipmaking equipment to China unveiled last October. The updates are expected this week, other people familiar with the matter said, though such timetables often slip. The new rules will block some AI chips that fall just under current technical parameters while demanding companies report shipments of others, said the official, who provided information on condition of anonymity. A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Commerce, which oversees export controls, declined to comment. The latest crackdown on tech exports to China coincides with U.S. efforts to thaw difficult relations between the world's two largest economies. Several senior members of the Biden administration have met their Chinese counterparts in recent months, and the latest round of rules risks complicating the diplomatic effort. The Biden administration has said it designed the export curbs to keep U.S. chips and equipment from strengthening China's military. Beijing has accused the United States of abusing export controls to suppress Chinese companies. The restrictions marked a historic shift in U.S.-China tech policy. The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Last year, government restrictions kept Nvidia, the world's most valuable chipmaker, from shipping two of its most advanced AI chips to Chinese customers, chips that have become the industry standard for developing chatbots and other AI systems. But Nvidia soon released new variants for the Chinese market that were less sophisticated and got around the U.S. export controls. One, named the H800, has as much computing power at some settings used in AI work as the company's more powerful but blocked H100 chip. Still, some key performance aspects are limited, according to a specification sheet seen by Reuters. The U.S. now plans to introduce new guidelines for AI chips that will restrict certain advanced datacenter AI chips that are not currently captured, the U.S. official said. While the official declined to identify which additional chips will be effectively banned, Nvidia's H800 is a semiconductor sources have suggested the administration has wanted to block. Santa Clara, California- based Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Chips meant for consumer products like laptops will be exempt from the new curbs, the official said. But companies will need to tell the Commerce Department when they are filling orders for the most powerful consumer chips to make sure they are not being used in ways that threaten national security, according to the official. In order to keep AI chips the U.S. views as too powerful from China, the official said the U.S. planned to remove one of the parameters - the "bandwidth parameter" - it has used to restrict exports of certain AI data center chips. By removing this parameter, another guideline kicks in, widening the scope of chips covered. This would likely mean the speed at which AI chips talk to each other would be reduced. This is important because training the largest AI models is impossible on one chip and requires many chips tied together. If one slows the speed they communicate at, it makes AI development more challenging and expensive. The U.S. also plans to introduce a "performance density" parameter to help prevent future workarounds, the official said, but declined to elaborate. Evolving technology The updated rules also are meant to cover AI chips as technology evolves. The U.S. will require companies to notify the government about semiconductors whose performance is just below the guidelines before they are shipped to China, the official said. The government will decide on a case-by-case basis whether they pose a national security risk but they can be shipped unless the chipmaker is told otherwise. The updates to the October 2022 rules may also close a loophole that gives Chinese companies access to American artificial intelligence chips through Chinese units located overseas, as Reuters reported last week. The rules are not expected to include restrictions on access to U.S. cloud computing services, or those of allies, but the U.S. will seek comments on the risks of such access and how they might be addressed, the official said. The Biden administration told Beijing of its plans to update the contentious rules this month, Reuters reported earlier in October, as part of a policy aimed at stabilizing relations between the superpowers. (Reporting by Karen Freifeld; additional reporting by Max A. Cherney; Editing by Chris Sanders, Lisa Shumaker and Deepa Babington and Shri Navaratnam) The first flight carrying American citizens from Israel arrived in Florida on Sunday as part of the executive order Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) issued last week authorizing the rescue of Floridians in Israel amid the countrys fight with Palestinian militant group Hamas. DeSantiss office announced nearly 300 American evacuees who were unable to leave Israel due to commercial flight cancellations arrived in Florida on Sunday. More than 270 people landed in Tampa and another seven in Orlando and received support from multiple state agencies, the governors office said. Today we welcomed nearly 300 Americans who have been in Israel since last week, when the violent attacks by Hamas terrorists began, DeSantis wrote Sunday in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. Project Dynamo, a nonprofit organization focused on the evacuation of Americans, assisted in the rescue efforts. The Florida Division of Emergency Management is expected to lead additional flights to take additional supplies to Israel and bring Floridians back home. The Florida governors office also announced it is sending medical supplies, hygiene products, clothing and childrens toys to Israel for those impacted by the violence. DeSantis, who is also running in the 2024 Republican presidential primary race, has repeatedly condemned Hamass attacks on Israel, as have other American lawmakers, world leaders and groups. The attacks have claimed the lives of more than 1,400 Israelis, the vast majority of whom died in the militant groups initial surprise assaults on Israeli villages, farms and military outposts on Oct. 7. Israel quickly launched a major counteroffensive against Hamas, which controls Gaza, in the form of hundreds of air strikes in the Gaza Strip over the past week. The air strikes forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians out of their homes and into shelters. At least 2,670 Palestinians have died in the conflict, with an additional 9,600 others being wounded, the Gaza Health Ministry said Sunday. The death toll has surpassed that of the 2014 Gaza war, which lasted more than six weeks. It is the deadliest of the five Gaza wars for both sides. Adding to the crisis is Israels siege on food, water and medical supplies to Gaza. Israeli forces last Friday also ordered more than 1.1 million people in Gaza almost half of the territorys population to move south ahead of an expected ground assault on the territory. Israels siege and evacuation orders have received harsh condemnation from humanitarian agencies like the World Health Organization (WHO), which called the evacuations from northern Gaza a death sentence for the sick and injured. DeSantis commented on Israels counteroffensive on Sunday, arguing it is not collective punishment for the 2.3 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip. Asked on CBS Newss Face the Nation if collective punishment is something he supports, DeSantis said, Its not collective punishment. Hamas is the one that is creating this predicament. Hamas is the one who always uses civilian targets to conduct operations. Over the weekend, DeSantis received some blowback over remarks he made on the campaign trail in which he called all Palestinians in Gaza antisemitic. DeSantis on Saturday argued the U.S. shouldnt take in any Palestinian refugees fleeing from Gaza or any Palestinian Arabs. Pressed over the comment on Sunday, DeSantis said, Those [in] Gaza are refugees; Palestinian Arabs should go to Arab countries. DeSantis also argued during the Face the Nation interview that the Gaza Strips education system teaches kids to hate Jews and that importing large numbers of refugees would increase anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism in the U.S. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. By Joseph White and David Shepardson DEARBORN, Michigan (Reuters) - Ford executive chairman Bill Ford on Monday urged the United Auto Workers union to end a 32-day strike and reach a new labor agreement, and warned of the growing impact to the automaker and the U.S. economy. "We can stop this now," Ford said of the strike that expanded last week to shut down the Kentucky plant. "I call on UAW colleagues ... We need to come together to bring an end to this acrimonious round of talks." Ford made his appeal in a press conference at the automaker's historic Rouge assembly plant near company headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan. UAW President Shawn Fain replied with a statement warning Ford that the union could "close the Rouge" with a strike. "If Ford wants to be the all-American auto company, they can pay all-American wages and benefits," Fain said. More than 34,000 union members working at Ford, General Motors and Chrysler parent Stellantis are out on strike and Ford has furloughed 2,480 other workers, citing impacts of the strike. Meanwhile, talks between Stellantis and the UAW remained active on Monday, sources said. The strikes have cost the Detroit Three automakers, suppliers, dealers and workers a total of $7.7 billion through Oct. 12, Anderson Economic Group of East Lansing, Michigan, estimated in a new report Monday. "Weve entered the danger zone for many suppliers," AEG said in a statement. Ford, the great grandson of company founder Henry Ford, said Toyota, Honda, Tesla and other automakers "are loving this strike because they know the longer it goes on, the better it is for them." In reply, Fain said workers at Tesla and other non-union U.S. auto producers "are not the enemy - they're the UAW members of the future." The UAW's walkout at Kentucky Truck, Ford's largest and most profitable assembly operation globally, "harms tens of thousands of American workers," Ford said. "If it continues, it will have a major impact on the American economy." On Friday, Fain accused Ford of trying to game the talks with inadequate offers and insisted Ford sharply boost compensation. Ford CEO Jim Farley should "go get the big checkbook - the one Ford uses when it wants to spend millions on company executives or Wall Street giveaways," Fain said. Fain also vowed to strike at additional plants at any time. On Thursday, a senior Ford executive said the automaker was "at the limit" of what it can spend on higher wages and benefits for the UAW. Its latest offer includes a 23% wage hike through early 2028, which is higher than GM or Stellantis has offered. Ford has said the UAW's proposals would have meant bankruptcy if implemented in 2019. Ford has long portrayed himself and his family's company as the most union friendly in the industry, a message he repeated Monday. The union has called Ford "the enemy," Ford said. "It should be Ford and the UAW against Toyota, Honda, Tesla and all the Chinese companies" that want to enter the U.S, market, he added. Harley Shaiken, labor professor at University of California Berkeley, said Ford was looking to speak directly to workers. "He's doing it to move the talks in a way that he would find more desirable," Shaiken said, but added "This is likely not going to work." He said UAW could be targeting and pressuring Ford because it has the best offer on the table and the union feels it can get the automaker to a deal that it could then pressure GM and Stellantis to match. GM and Stellantis did not immediately comment. (Reporting by Joseph White in Dearborn; writing by David Shepardson; additional reporting by Ben Klayman Editing by Franklin Paul, David Gregorio and Grant McCool) Former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez is challenging Republican Rep. Eli Crane for his seat in Arizonas 2nd Congressional District. Nez, in his announcement on X, the website formerly known as Twitter, touted his humble upbringing and how it helps him understand the struggles of Arizonians living in his district. I grew up in a rural low-income home without electricity or running water, Nez said. I understand the struggles the second-district families are facing right now. From the rising costs of food, gas, and childcare, to increasingly devastating wildfires, and healthcare deserts. And, above all, a sense that their elected representatives dont care about them that DC politicians have left them behind. Nez, who served as a Navajo County supervisor and in various other tribal government roles, decided to throw his hat in the race because of the craziness happening in Washington, D.C., particularly in the MAGA corner of the Republican party, he said. The last straw is what is happening now in Congress, Nez told The Arizona Republic, which first reported the news. We have got a war against Hamas in Israel. We have a war in Ukraine right now. But the House of Representatives cant do anything unless there is a Speaker. Notably, Crane was one of the eight Republicans who joined the Democrats in ousting Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as Speaker. The Navajo Nation was included in the 1st Congressional District, which was represented by former Rep. Tom OHalleran (D-Ariz.), but after redistricting, the tribes land base was added to the 2nd District. OHalleran, a three-term representative, lost to Crane last year. Nez recently lost to Buu Nygren in 2022 in his bid to remain Navajo Nation president. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. By Pascal Rossignol ARRAS, France (Reuters) -France said on Monday it would speed up the expulsion of radicalised foreigners and beef up a draft immigration law as the government faces stiff criticism from the right after Friday's fatal stabbing of a teacher. The attack, in which 20-year-old Mohamed M, who was monitored by police as a possible security risk, killed teacher Dominique Bernard, prompted the government to put the country on its highest security alert and deploy thousands of troops. President Emmanuel Macron has condemned the attack as "barbaric Islamic terrorism". Schools across France on Monday observed a minute of silence for Bernard and for history teacher Samuel Paty, who was beheaded three years ago by a Chechen teenager who wanted to avenge his use of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad during a class on freedom of expression. "With my government, we're doing everything to protect (pupils)... the Republic will never give in to terror," Borne said ahead of the minute of silence at the school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, where Paty was killed. Following a government security meeting, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said authorities would comb through lists of people posing security risks and expel those who could be sent out of France, pulling residency permits or asylum protection from those who benefit from either but are seen as a risk. Darmanin said at the weekend that Friday's attack had come as a "jihadist atmosphere" developed after a deadly Hamas attack on Israel unleashed retaliatory measures and air strikes. He added on Monday that a draft new security law, being reviewed by parliament, would have allowed authorities to expel Friday's attacker a year ago, when he had been suspected of beating up his mother, but that the current legislation did not allow it. And the government would look at further strengthening the legislation, he said. Far-right figure Eric Zemmour added his voice to the criticism of the government, saying immigration, and Macron's policies, were to blame for the attacks on Paty and Bernard. "I've had more than enough with the powerlessness of the political power," Zemmour said. Earlier on Monday, the Gambetta high school in Arras, northern France, where Bernard was fatally stabbed, was briefly evacuated following a bomb alert. "We're going to be afraid all the time, that's it. She will leave to go to school and we don't know...," said Natalie, the mother of a pupil at the school. Up to 7,000 soldiers are being deployed on increased security patrols in major city centres and at tourist sites, the government said at the weekend. The security alert comes as France hosts the Rugby World Cup and less than a year before Paris thows open its doors to the world for the Olympic Games. France has been targeted by a series of Islamist attacks over the years, the worst being a simultaneous assault by gunmen and suicide bombers on entertainment venues and cafes in Paris in November 2015. (Reporting by Pascal Rossignol in Arras and Ingrid Melander, Elizabeth Pineau, Sudip Kar-Gupta; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Toby Chopra, Bernadette Baum and Nick Macfie) By Bianca Flowers and Brendan O'Brien BRIDGEVIEW, Illinois (Reuters) -Tearful mourners on Monday gathered in prayer at a mosque and placed white and yellow roses at the gravesite of a 6-year-old Muslim boy stabbed to death by a man who police say targeted him and his mother because they were Palestinian Americans. Services for the boy, Wadea Al-Fayoume, took place at the Mosque Foundation in the Chicago suburb of Bridgeview, Illinois, a community known as "Little Palestine" for its heavy concentration of Palestinian Americans. Palestinian flags hung from the windows of cars in a procession toward the mosque, where a digital billboard read: "Stop inciting violence and hatred against Palestinian, Arab and Muslim communities." In the basement of the mosque, women and children huddled and cried, while outside, dozens of people flanked the speakers, including two men who waved Palestinian flags. Mourners chanted "Free Palestine" at the burial site. "It's heartbreaking. This child did not deserve to die from what happened overseas," Juhie Faheem, one of the mourners and neighbor of the family in Plainfield Township. "What happened in Plainfield is going to make people understand that this hits closer to home and this child was murdered for being Muslim, but he easily could have been any race, any ethnicity." The killing on Saturday came a week after a deadly attack by Hamas Islamist militants on Israeli civilians which triggered retaliation by Israel in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. The conflict has put Jewish and Palestinian Muslim communities in the United States on edge and fearful of a potential backlash against them. Just since the war between Hamas and Israel broke out, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a civil rights group, has reported cases of harassment, intimidation, vandalism or bigoted internet posting from people with responsible positions in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, San Diego, St. Louis and Cleveland, plus Austin, Texas, and Dearborn, Michigan. Police said the 6-year-old and his mother Hanaan Shahin, 32, were attacked by their landlord on Saturday in Plainfield Township, about 40 miles (64 km) southwest of Chicago. The boy was stabbed 26 times while his mother suffered multiple wounds. She was expected to survive. The assailant attempted to choke the mother and said "You Muslims must die," CAIR said, citing text messages that Shahin sent to the boy's father from the hospital. The man then stabbed the woman and child repeatedly with what police described as long, military-style knife with a serrated edge. "This is a heavy day. It is a worst nightmare come true," Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Chicago CAIR office, said on Monday. "He was a lovely boy. Loved his family, friends. He loved soccer, basketball. He paid the price for the atmosphere of hate." Iman Negrete, a Palestinian American who lives in Plainfield, is from the same town in the occupied Palestinian territories as the mother. She wept as she stood next to a makeshift memorial made up of stuffed animals, saying she does not feel safe in the community because of her background. "It's heartbreaking. He was Muslim, that's what happened, he was Muslim and this is what they did, this is what this monster did," Negrete said. The boy's mother came from the West Bank to the United States 12 years ago and his father, a Palestinian who was living in Jordan, immigrated nine years ago, Rehab said. The boy's father, Oday El-Fayoume, told a press conference before the funeral that he was neither religious nor political but that he hoped his son's death would promote understanding of what was happening in the Middle East. SUSPECT CHARGED The suspect, Joseph Czuba, 71, was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crime and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, the Will County Sheriff's Office said. The U.S. Justice Department is also opening a federal hate-crime investigation. Czuba did not enter a plea during his initial appearance on Monday and has been held in custody. Prosecutors alleged at the hearing that Czuba grew angry about the war and concerned about his Muslim tenants after listening to conservative talk radio, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. The public defender representing Czuba was not available for comment. (Reporting by Bianca Flowers in Bridgeview and Brendan O'Brien in Chicago; Writing by Brendan O'Brien and Daniel Trotta; Editing by Deepa Babington and Stephen Coates) Irans Foreign Ministry claimed that the militant group Hamas is prepared to release the hostages its holding in Gaza if Israel ceases its airstrikes. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said Hamas officials stated that they are ready to take necessary measures to release the citizens and civilians held by resistant groups, but their point was that such measures require preparations that are impossible under daily bombardment by the Zionists against various parts of Gaza, The Associated Press reported. Israel said Monday that Hamas is believed to be holding 199 people hostage, which is up from the previous estimate. This includes children and the elderly and is also believed to include U.S. citizens. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters last week there was a very small number of Americans believed to be held as hostages, but he wasnt aware of proof of life and couldnt provide details about their whereabouts or condition. Speaking at a news conference, Kanaani said that Hamas has stated that they have no problem to continue resisting. They said the resistance holds military capability to continue resisting in the field for a long time, he said, speaking of Hamas. The State Department is also warning Americans not to travel to Gaza and is asking Americans to reconsider traveling to Israel and the West Bank. Hamas launched its deadly attack more than a week ago, prompting Israel to declare war on the group. Israel has said more than 1,400 Israelis have been killed so far. At least 2,750 Palestinians have also been killed and another 9,700 wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Rachpoot/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images Heidi Klum is red hot! The German model, 50, wore an all-red ensemble when she arrived to the set of Americas Got Talent: Fantasy League on Friday, October 13. Klum donned a red monochromatic set equipped with a fitted leather jacket with rolled up sleeves, giving the look a slouchy feel. She paired the jacket with matching pants and knee-high stiletto boots. The former Victorias Secret angels nail choice even matched the cherry-colored outfit. She topped off the look with a pair of aviators and a yellow handbag the only color that strayed from the red getup and completed it with tousled wavy hair. The monochromatic trend has been around for years, but it has recently gained traction with stars like Kendall Jenner and Taylor Swift stepping out in head-to-toe matching looks. This ensemble may be a hint at whats to come for Klums highly anticipated Halloween costume. Rachpoot/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images The Americas Got Talent judge has made headlines for her iconic Halloween costumes through the years. In October 2022, Klum attended the annual New York City All Hallows Eve bash dressed as a worm while husband Tom Kaulitz came as a bloodied fisherman. (The pair have been linked since March 2018 and secretly wed in August 2019.) Celebs Who Have Nailed the Monochrome Trend Kendall Jenner Rihanna More 259 Stars are slaying monochromatic outfits and serving Us with their most matchy-matchy looks. From Princess Kate always looking chic in a single-color pantsuit to Rihanna pairing a mint green dress with a coordinating shawl in 2019, celebrities have gotten creative with the fabulous fad. As fashionistas know, monochrome dressing consists of wearing the same shade from [] Klum teased her upcoming Halloween look on October 5, unveiling a scary movie poster inspired by her face that reads Heidi Klum Halloween Coming Soon. #heidihalloween2023 #comingsoon Artwork by @mad.charcoal, she captioned the Instagram video, featuring artist Josh Hernandez drawing an image in orange chalk. While she has yet to unveil what the look will be this year, Klum did say that it would be really extra. Heidi Klums Best Halloween Costumes Heidi Klum wears the most amazing (and outrageous) Halloween costumes to her annual bash keep scrolling to see her most unrecognizable looks I have had sleepless nights over it, you know me, she told Daily Mail in September. I have to admit, I love it. And then my gut, I feel like its going to be good. Klum had previously said that her hope is for her guests to follow her lead for the holiday and even implemented a no costume-no entry rule for her annual gathering in 2000. By me doing crazy, elaborate outfits as the host, my hope had always been that all my guests would follow. And its worked because over the years people have become increasingly more outrageous with their costumes, she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2018. The party has become almost legendary. Its epic. I feel like my love for Halloween has made other people fall in love with the holiday too. Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images Nobody does a birthday bash quite like royalty. This weekend, many of the ruling families from all over Europe gathered together at a gala dinner at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen to celebrate the 18th birthday of Prince Christian of Denmark. The son of Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary, Christian is second in line for the Danish throne behind his father and grandmother, the current reigning Queen Margrethe. While the British royal family was absent from the celebration, the heirs and future heirs of many of the Scandinavian royal houses, including Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway, Princess Estelle of Sweden, and Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands, joined in the festivities. And fortunately for lovers of all things royal, the formal dresscode for the evening also meant that there were plenty of glamorous gowns and tiaras in attendance. Here, we take a look at some of the best photos from Prince Christian's birthday. Christian arrived at the event with his family in towhis parents, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary, and his younger siblings, Princess Isabella, Prince Victor and Princess Josephine. Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images Naturally, Christian's grandmother, Queen Margrethe, was also in attendance. Along with her royal honors, the queen wore the Pearl Poire Tiara, which was made in 1825 and contains 18 dangling pearls. Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images Christian's cousin, Princess Athena, joined the party with her parents Princess Marie and Prince Joachim. Last year, Queen Margrethe made the controversial decision to discontinue the titles of her younger son Joachim's branch of the family, meaning that future generations of his descendants will no longer be princes or princesses. Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, his wife, Crown Princess Mette-Marit and their daughter Princess Ingrid Alexandra were also guests. The ladies opted for complementary ice blue gowns. Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images Mette-Marit wore a diamond bandeau tiara, while her daughter opted for the Pearl Circle tiara which was given to her from the royal collection for her own 18th birthday. Like Christian, Ingrid Alexandra is second in line to her country's throne. MADS CLAUS RASMUSSEN - Getty Images Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria, her husband, Prince Daniel, and their eldest child, Princess Estelle joined in on the event. Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images In another mother-daughter moment, the Swedish royal heirs celebrated the occasion in shades of blush. 11 year old Princess Estelle, who is second in line for the throne behind her mother, eschewed a tiara (as a rule, royal ladies don't wear the jeweled headpieces until they're 18) but Victoria wore the Laurel Wreath tiara. Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images Crown Princess Marie Chantal of Greece got in on the pink trend, along with a diamond topper as she entered the gala with Crown Prince Pavlos. Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images Princess Amalia of The Netherlands, daughter and heir to King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima attended alongside the Belgian first-in-line Princess Elisabeth, daughter of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde. Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images Amalia accented her sheer-sleeved purple gown with a tiara set with indigo stones. Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images Elisabeth, meanwhile, paired her shimmering taupe gown with a delicate diamond tiara and matching drop earrings. Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images You Might Also Like Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Herzog said Sunday that his country has no desire to reoccupy the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip amid the countrys ongoing conflict with the Palestinian-based militant group. During an appearance on CNNs State of the Union, host Jake Tapper asked Herzog if there are any plans for Israel to reoccupy Gaza and if Palestinians who fled the area will be allowed back in. So, we have no desire to occupy or reoccupy Gaza, Herzog told Tapper. We have no desire to rule over the lives of over two million Palestinians. And, certainly, we want people to go back to their homes. Were talking about innocent civilians. And we are doing everything we can to keep them out of harms way, while Hamas is doing everything it can to keep them in harms way. Thats the situation we are at, Herzog added. I think talking about the day after is a bit premature, because crushing the Hamas war machine will require time. The questions you raise are valid, and I think we will have to enter discussions with our partners, with the international community about the day after. Herzogs remarks come a week after Hamas, a militant group that governs Gaza, launched its deadly attack against Israel. The week-old war has claimed more than 3,600 lives across Israel and Gaza. Israeli armed forces have launched its counteroffensive against the militant group, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that his countrys forces will exact a huge price against Hamas for the attack. Its been 18 years since Israel withdrew its settlers and military forces from the Gaza Strip under the order of the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. By Jung Da-hyun The government's ambitious plan to establish a new migrant-related government agency is stalling as the immigration policy committee despite its reorganization last year for the agency launch has not held a meeting for nearly a year. According to a report submitted by the Ministry of Justice to Rep. Park Yong-jin of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), the immigration policy committee has not convened a single meeting since its initial appointment ceremony on Nov. 25, 2022. The initiative to establish an immigration agency, a key promise of President Yoon Seok Yeol, gained traction after Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon mentioned it in his inaugural speech on May 17, 2022. As Korea's immigrant population steadily expands at 2.24 million as of 2022, or 4.37 percent of the total population the need for an immigration agency has become apparent. As part of plans to establish the agency, the justice ministry decided to expand and reorganize its immigration policy committee, hoping that it would play a key role in setting the direction of immigration policy and shaping relevant laws. The ministry had intended to unveil the roadmap for the agency's establishment earlier this year. However, a year and five months have passed since the discussions, and the direction of the agency's establishment remains unknown. Consequently, an absence of detailed organizational planning for the agency has resulted in the deprivation of the budget allocation for next year. Key aspects related to the agency's establishment, such as the office location and personnel increase, were not outlined in the 2023 and 2024 budgets. Rep. Park criticized the lack of transparency regarding the collection of opinions on the issue, even though the establishment of the immigration agency has been highlighted as a crucial reform. Seol Dong-hoon, a professor at the Department of Sociology at Jeonbuk National University, and current president of the Korean Sociological Association, emphasized the necessity of the immigration agency in Korea. Pursuing national and public interests by discussing immigration sizes and specific policies for each type at a more comprehensive and systematic level is the key, he said. Neighboring countries including Japan, China and Taiwan have established such agencies. Korea should also implement a system that encourages foreigners to see the country as an attractive place to reside, he added. Meanwhile, the justice minister stated that establishing the immigration agency remains a top priority, adding that he is preparing a bill to lay the grounds for establishment within this parliamentary session, during the parliamentary inspection of the administration, Wednesday. Officials at Hong Kong International Airport have uncovered 11kg of suspected cocaine hidden in the cushions of an electric wheelchair. The haul, worth an estimated $1.5m (1.26m), was found when a 51-year-old man was going through customs clearance on Saturday. The man, who arrived from the Caribbean country of Sint Maarten via Paris on Saturday, has been arrested. He could face life in prison if found guilty of trafficking a dangerous drug. According to customs officials, the suspect brought the wheelchair into the country as one of two pieces of checked baggage. Further examination was ordered when staff became suspicious and they found evidence that its seat cushion and backrest had been re-stitched. The man, who is not from Hong Kong and has mobility issues, reportedly told officials that he was the director of a car rental company and that the wheelchair had been loaned to him by a friend. An investigation into the incident has been launched. Customs officials said in response to the discovery that they would increase checks on visitors from "high-risk regions" to combat transnational drug trafficking activities. According to their latest statistics, the number of cases detected in customs checks involving dangerous drugs in 2022 was 931, up from 906 the previous year. Some 178 people were arrested over related offences last year. It is not the first time that drugs have been found hidden in a wheelchair at an airport. In November, officials in New York seized $450,000-worth of cocaine found in the wheels of a woman's wheelchair. In September 2022, nearly $1.6m-worth of cocaine was found stuffed into the upholstery of a motorised wheelchair in the Italian city of Milan. By Daniel Trotta (Reuters) -An Illinois man was charged with hate crimes for stabbing a 6-year-old Muslim boy to death and wounding his mother in an attack that targeted them for their religion and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas, officials and Muslim rights activists said on Sunday. The boy was stabbed 26 times with a military-style knife with a 7-inch (18-cm) serrated blade, the Will County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. The 32-year-old woman had multiple stab wounds and is expected to survive the attack that occurred on Saturday in Plainfield Township, about 40 miles (64 km) southwest of Chicago. U.S. President Joe Biden said the boy's family were Palestinian Muslims who "came to America seeking what we all seek - a refuge to live, learn, and pray in peace." "This horrific act of hate has no place in America," Biden said in a statement. The suspect, Joseph Czuba, 71, was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crime and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, the sheriff's office said. "Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis," the Will County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. Reuters could not identify an attorney for Czuba. He was in jail awaiting his initial court appearance, the office said. Although Czuba did not make any statements to detectives, as is his constitutional right, police said they determined the charges though through interviews and evidence. When police arrived at the scene, they said they found Czuba sitting on the ground outside the home with a cut to his forehead. The victims were in a bedroom. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) identified the boy as Wadea Al-Fayoume and said the woman, Hanaan Shahin, was his mother. "The Islamophobic rhetoric and anti-Palestinian racism being spread by politicians, media outlets, and social media platforms must stop," CAIR said on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. FBI Director Christopher Wray warned the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference to stay vigilant "in this heightened environment." "There's no question we're seeing an increase in reported threats, and we've got to be on the lookout, especially for lone actors who may take inspiration from recent events to commit violence of their own," Wray told the conference in San Diego on Saturday, according to the FBI website. (Reporting by Daniel Trotta in Carlsbad, California; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) The current situation in Israel and Palestine is tragic, ugly, and quite capable of touching all our lives in some form soon. For tech workers there, its already had a devastating effect. Several years ago, Nvidia bought an Israeli-American networking company called Mellanox for $7 billion, using it as the basis for a center that employs 3,000 people. As reported Friday by CTech, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang wrote to Israeli employees to offer his condolences to Mellanox founder Eyal Waldman, whose daughter Danielle was among those slaughtered by Hamas militants at the Supernova music festivalher partner, former Nvidia employee Noam Shai, also was killed. Nvidia employee Avinatan Or and his girlfriend Noa Argamani are hostages. And hundreds of Nvidias workers have been called up to return to military duty. Our thoughts are constantly with you, and we hope for your safe return, Huang wrote. Nvidians worldwide will rise to cover for our colleagues in Israel and pick up and offload whatever work you need. We are here for you. Meanwhile, at least a tenth of workers at the workplace collaboration platform Spike have taken up co-founder Dvir Ben-Aroyas offer of company support for those who want to temporarily move away from Israel with their families, according to CNBCthe article also notes several examples of companies where international colleagues are eagerly filling in for Israeli employees who have been called up, or who just need time off to cope with the national trauma. Its very difficult to concentrate on work when youre dealing with all these personal matters and on securing yourself and the country, venture capitalist Yaniv Sadka told CNBC, also noting that many of the tech workers are being pulled into the Israeli Defense Forces intelligence units. But while Israels tech focus is well knownthe sector accounts for a tenth of the Israeli workforcePalestine also has aspirations as a tech hub, with some Silicon Valley companies eagerly hiring talent there. TechCrunchs Mike Butcher provides a grim account of whats been happening in Gaza even before Israels planned ground offensive. The building that housed the Gaza Sky Geeks acceleratorfrom which 5,000 developers graduated last yearhas been blown out by Israeli shelling. The offices are destroyed, the fiber lines are destroyed. The universities are destroyed, Ryan Sturgill, who used to run the accelerator, told Butcher. Three main universities in Gaza that produce all the computer science grads are leveled. The tech sector is almost completely unable to function in Gaza right now, added Iliana Montauk, CEO of Y-Combinator-backed social impact startup Manara. Most people are in too much danger to be able to work; some have evacuated three times in the past 24 hours, moving from friends house to family house, because each neighborhood they end up in is the next one being bombed. More news below. Want to send thoughts or suggestions to Data Sheet? Drop a line here. David Meyer This story was originally featured on Fortune.com President Biden announced Friday the release of two American hostages identified as Judith Raanan and her daughter, Natalie, of Evanston, Ill. who kidnapped by Hamas while visiting family in Israel during the Oct. 7 attacks. I am overjoyed that they will soon be reunited with their family, who has been wracked with fear, Biden said in a statement. These individuals and their family will have the full support of the United States government as they recover and heal. Earlier Friday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres flew to Egypts Sinai Peninsula on Friday to push for humanitarian aid to reach Gaza, which is bracing for a possible ground invasion. U.S. officials said that details of getting the supplies through the Rafah crossing were still being worked out. Our live coverage has ended for the day. See Yahoo News for the latest on the war and U.S. response to the conflict. Map of Israel and Palestinian territories (Yahoo News) Smoke rises from an Israeli army position which was attacked by Hezbollah fighters near Alma al-Shaab a Lebanese border. As Israel continues to battle Hamas, questions remain about whether Lebanons militant group, Hezbollah, will join the Israel-Hamas war. Israels military released footage on Sunday of a strike on the Lebanese border. The Israel Defense Forces said they exchanged fire with Hezbollah after the Lebanese militant group fired a missile toward an Israeli army post, killing one Israeli. The IDF will operate anywhere it has to in the Middle East to achieve the security interests of the state of Israel. We have high readiness and vigilance in all sectors, said IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari. The Lebanese militant group said the attack was in retaliation for Israels strikes inside Lebanon the day before, which killed three people, including a journalist, according to reports. SEE MORE: U.S. organizes ship to get more Americans out of Israel Israel warned civilians to stay out of the Lebanese border area and ordered residents living nearby to seek shelter. If the situation in Gaza worsens, theres concern about another front in the warif Hezbollah were to join to help Hamas. As Israel prepares a ground invasion against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, Israels Defense Minister said on Sunday that Israel is not interested in a war with Hezbollah and that it will stand down on its northern side as long as Hezbollah restrains itself. Israel fought Hezbollah in 2006. "Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas is one axisan axis of evil. Everything is directed generally from Iran. The permission is given by Iran. The money is supplied by Iran, and the ideas are shaped in Iran, said Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Hezbollah, similar to Hamas, is supported by Iran; however, it is more powerful and heavily armed. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) announced Monday that he will support GOP Speaker nominee Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on the House floor, a major win for Jordan after Rogers had signaled intense opposition to his Speakership last week. @Jim_Jordan and I have had two cordial, thoughtful, and productive conversations over the past two days. We agreed on the need for Congress to pass a strong NDAA, appropriations to fund our governments vital functions, and other important legislation like the Farm Bill, Rogers said Monday on X, formerly known as Twitter. As a result, I have decided to support Jim Jordan for Speaker of the House on the floor, he continued. Since I was first elected to the House, I have always been a team player and supported what the majority of the Republican Conference agrees to. Together, our Republican majority will be stronger to fight Joe Bidens reckless agenda for America. Rogers had told reporters ahead of the House GOPs nominating election Friday that there was nothing that Jordan could do to win his support, and that he would instead vote for ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). The previous day, before House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) withdrew his name as the conference nominee for Speaker over several holdouts refusing to support him, Rogers had told Bloomberg News that Republicans might have to cut a deal with Democrats in order to fill the Speakership. Rogers announcement preceded at least two other major pickups for Jordan. Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), a member of the Appropriations Committee, wrote on X that Keeping America safe is my top priority in Congress. After having a conversation with Jim Jordan about how we must get the House back on a path to achieve our national security and appropriations goals, I will be supporting him for Speaker on the floor. And Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.), who had told other news outlets last week that she would not support Jordan, on Monday wrote in a statement that she had flipped her position, saying I am not, and will not, work with Democrats as our Republican Conference comes together to elect a conservative Speaker of the House. Jim Jordan and I spoke at length again this morning, and he has allayed my concerns about keeping the government open with conservative funding, the need for strong border security, our need for consistent international support in times of war and unrest, as well as the need for stronger protections against the scourge of human trafficking and child exploitation, she added. Allies of Jordan had waged a public pressure campaign on Rogers through the weekend in an attempt to get him to flip to support Jordan, who is the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. @RepMikeRogersAL ruby red district in Alabama is right next to mine. His voters will not be happy if he makes a deal with Democrats to elect a Speaker in order to block Jim Jordan, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) posted on X. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) had also posted that Rogerss opposition to Jordan and openness to working with Democrats was outrageous. The change for Rogers is good news for Jordan, who can only afford to lose four House GOP votes on the floor to win the gavel, assuming all members are present and voting but who does not have the votes locked up yet. Jordan clinched the nomination for Speaker in a 124-81 vote Friday. But when the conference was asked if they would support Jordans nomination on the floor, the vote was 152-55 leaving Jordan well short of the 217 votes needed to win the Speakership on the House floor. Jordan thanked Rogers for his support. Thank you, Chairman Rogers. Your leadership is just what our Conference needs right now. We must all keep coming together and get back to work, Jordan said on X. Updated at 12 p.m. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Former President Donald Trump. Judge Tanya Chutkan issued a partial gag order against former President Donald Trump in his federal trial involving his alleged attempts to overthrow the results of the 2020 election. Chutkan said she is stopping Trump from posting statements involving special counsel Jack Smith and his family as well as Chutkan's staff. Chutkan denied a gag order on additional restrictions on statements regarding Washington D.C.'s jury pool. Trump has expressed concerns about a fair trial in D.C. due to the city's heavily Democratic leaning. "I am confident the voir dire process (jury selection) will help with those concerns," Chutkan said. Chutkan would not impose any similar restrictions on the Department of Justice and Smith's office. "If any party or counsel violates this, I will consider sanctions as necessary," she said. Smith said the limitation is necessary because the former president's posts on social media may threaten the legal process. But attorneys for Trump say this is an attempt to "unconstitutionally silence" him, arguing that he has a right to speak freely under the First Amendment. SEE MORE: Meet Tanya Chutkan, the judge assigned to the Trump Jan. 6 trial Trump is accused of emboldening protesters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to block the certification of President Biden's electoral victory. Smith is concerned the former president will use that same influence to intimidate potential witnesses or jurors before the trial begins next year. Former federal prosecutor David Weinstein said Chutkan would have to balance Trump's free speech rights against the prosecutors' concerns. "I think that this judge will look at a variety of gag orders that have been issues both in and around the district, and fashion one that allows people to have free speech, and then also requires them not to say something that's going to influence the outcome of this case outside the court," Weinstein said. In a separate civil case in New York, Judge Arthur Engoron issued a limited gag order against the former president after he posted a photo of the judge's law clerk on social media. A gavel and a block is pictured on a judge's bench A man accused of practising law without qualifications has said he is innocent - and thanked people who have come out in support of him. On Thursday, legal officials in Kenya urged police to arrest a man practicing under the name "Brian Mwenda". They said the man was a "masquerader" who had stolen the identity of a real lawyer, named Brian Mwenda Ntwiga. Local media reported that a "fake lawyer" had won dozens of lawsuits despite not being trained. The case has captivated the East African country over the past few days, eliciting reactions from outrage to amusement. Despite condemnation by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and the country's Director of Public Prosecutions, the alleged imposter has garnered several supporters. He has been praised by Kenya's Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) as a "brilliant young mind" who has succeeded "without traditional qualifications". He has also been backed by Mike Sonko, the controversial former governor of Kenya's capital, Nairobi. Mr Sonko posted a video on social media, in which he said the man standing next to him is the accused "fake lawyer". The man in the video, who appeared to be Mr Mwenda, said: "I would like to convey my gratitude to the people that are supporting me and praying for me... in the fullness of time I will be able to clear this misunderstanding. "I will be also be able to provide my innocence and provide the actual context." He said he would go to a police station and provide officers with a statement "hopefully" on Monday or Tuesday. Mr Sonko, a divisive politician who has faced allegations of drug trafficking and money laundering, said those attacking the "fake lawyer" are "nincompoops". "He's never killed anyone, he's not a terrorist," Mr Sonko said. Despite this backing, Kenya's director of public prosecutions said "Mr Mwenda" faces prosecution. In a statement on Saturday, Renson Mulele Ingonga wrote: "I have directed the Inspector General of the National Police Service to undertake expedited comprehensive investigations." Mr Ingonga said this case is not unique - he has noticed "increased cases of unqualified persons... pretending to be Advocates of the High Court of Kenya". An Illinois landlord is accused of attacking a mother and her 6-year-old son with a knife, killing the boy in an apparent hate crime, investigators say. Deputies with the Will County Sheriffs Office responded to a home in Plainfield Township at 11:40 a.m. Oct. 14, after receiving a call from a woman saying her landlord had attacked her, the office said in a news release. The 32-year-old woman ran into the bathroom and continued to fight off her attacker as she dialed 911, the sheriffs office said. When deputies arrived, 71-year-old Joseph Czuba was sitting outside the home, near the driveway, with a cut to his forehead, according to the sheriffs office. Deputies found the woman and her son in a bedroom, badly injured and bleeding. Czuba is accused of stabbing the child 26 times throughout his body and stabbing the mother more than a dozen times. She was taken to a hospital in serious condition and is expected to recover, investigators said. However, her son died from his injuries. During an autopsy, the weapon Czuba used in the attack, a 12-inch serrated knife, was removed from the boys abdomen, officials said. Joseph Czuba did not make any statements to detectives regarding his involvement in this heinous attack, the sheriffs office said, but personnel were able to gather enough information through interviews and evidence to formally charge Joseph Czuba with numerous criminal offenses. Additionally, investigators say Czuba targeted the boy and his mother because they are Muslim. Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis, investigators said. Czuba is facing charges of murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery and two counts of committing a hate crime, according to the release. Czuba is being held at the Will County Adult Detention Facility. Plainfield Township is about 35 miles southwest of Chicago. A total of 4,481 people have fallen victim to home rental scams this year, with their combined financial damage reaching 510.5 billion won ($377.2 million), police data showed Monday. Police apprehended 2,582 suspects of so-called jeonse scams but were only able to retrieve 22.6 percent, or 115.3 billion won, of the damage incurred before the suspects were convicted, according to the data submitted to Rep. Jeon Bong-min of the ruling People Power Party (PPP). Under Korea's decades-old jeonse system, tenants transfer a large lump-sum deposit, known as key money, to landlords which is then returned at the end of the rental agreement, which usually lasts two years. During the lease period, the tenants do not pay monthly rent. The long-term deposit system has recently emerged as a serious social issue, due to a large number of jeonse fraud cases, in which scammers buy multiple homes using the jeonse money as leverage and later refuse to return the deposits at the end of the lease. In a recent case, prosecutors are investigating a family in Suwon, south of Seoul, suspected of embezzling an estimated 47.5 billion won worth of jeonse deposits from over 600 tenants. In May, the parliament passed a special bill aimed at supporting the victims of home rental scams by having the government offer interest-free loans to the victims for up to 10 years. (Yonhap) Greg Gayne/Netflix Love Is Blind is a genuine pop culture phenomenon, but it's not exactly a hopeful show. After the earlier seasons' fairytale love stories (mostly Lauren and Cameron) and relatable heroines, the Netflix reality series about "falling in love sight unseen" has primarily offered a steady stream of discourse-generating drama, as well as several allegations from previous contestants of "inhumane working conditions" on set. Despite this (or maybe in some cases because of it), viewers continue to tune in to see the results of each installment, including how many engagements end with "I do"s at the altar. Season 5 came to a conclusion this past weekend, capping off the stories of the Houston-based cast with an anticlimactic finale (featuring the fewest couples who made it to the altar in franchise history) and a reunion that most notable for not being live (following season 4's disastrous attempt at a live show). Below, read on for our breakdown of where season 5's couples stand over a year after filming. Warning: season 5 finale and reunion spoilers ahead. Lydia and Milton Netflix Lydia and Milton connected early in the pods, bonding over their love of rocks. (She's a geologist and he's a petroleum engineer.) Though Lydia was initially hesitant because of their seven-year age gap, she eventually began to admire his stable maturity. They hit a snag when Lydia confessed that she had previously dated another one of the pod men, Uche, but she and Milton quickly worked past it and got engaged. They also had an immediate physical spark in Mexico, but they began to hit some more road bumps when they arrive back in Houston, including Milton's mother and sister's doubts about the engagement and age gap. The bigger issue was when Uche confronted the pair with his accusation that Lydia had sabotaged his pod relationship, after joining the show upon learning that he was cast. Milton quickly brushed this off (using a "three-dimensional calculus" analogy to say that Uche and Lydia's past doesn't concern him), but he and Lydia did eventually have an argument about their different responses to the conflict. While Lydia was a naturally emotional person, Milton told her that he wished she would react rationally instead, and she understandably felt judged. However, once they made it to the altar, both Lydia and Milton said "I do" and officially tied the knot! Fast forward a year and a half to the reunion, and the pair are still happily married. Lydia has become besties with Milton's mom, and the pair even held a second wedding in Lydia's hometown in Puerto Rico. Congrats to them. Stacy and Izzy Monty Brinton/Netflix Izzy's time in the pods was marked by a love triangle between himself, Johnie, and Stacy. His connection with Johnie was more emotional, while he and Stacy had fun and easy conversations in the pods. However, after Johnie opened up about her past relationships, Izzy became concerned about her emotional baggage. This happened around the same time that Stacy, who admitted she wasn't great at sharing her emotions, opened up about how much she liked about him in a vulnerable moment. Izzy broke things off with Johnie, and he and Stacy got engaged. After an easy time in Mexico, Stacy and Izzy realized they had very different lifestyles back in Houston. (She owned a home and was concerned about replacing the HVAC, while he only owned disposable dishes and kept a "lost and found" drawer from his past hookups.) Still, both of their families were supportive, and they got through several fights and remained committed. The turning point was an off-screen conversation they had about Izzy's finances and bad credit, which happened with just days left before the wedding. Stacy felt that Izzy hadn't told her earlier, and wasn't "totally transparent in a time where transparency is absolutely needed." When they make it to the alter, Izzy says yes, but Stacy says they need more time. At the reunion, Stacy and Izzy reveal that they ended things a week after the wedding, and that they didn't speak for a year after. Apparently Houston is a small town (or at least Stacy and Izzy's Houston), because they eventually reconciled after running into each other at a bar. They even kissed that night, but still decided to go their separate ways on good terms. They've since run into each other againthat time at cooking class where they both had datesand they're both seeing someone new. Johnie and Chris Netflix Johnie also had her own love triangle in the pods, as she was torn between Izzy and Chris. At first it seemed that Izzy and Johnie were each others' priorities, so Johnie cut things off with Chris. He was devastated, as she was his number-one choice, and Johnie was noticeably affected by how much he cared. However, Izzy soon cut things off with Johnie after she told him about her romantic history, with Johnie describing herself as a "walking red flag." After this, Johnie asked to speak to Chris again and try to mend their relationship, but Chris eventually decided not to propose to her. Weeks later, Johnie and Chris attended the pod reunion barbecue in Houston together. It turned out that they had met at the airport following filming and started dating. Johnie said at the time that Chris had even met her mom, and they were officially boyfriend and girlfriend. Though Johnie and Chris were happy and wanted to let bygones be bygones, Stacy and Izzy still had their (one-sided) beef with Johnie, and spent most of the party calling her "sketchy as f--k" and warning Chris about her. Even though Johnie was moved to tears, Chris comforted her throughout the party. At the reunion, the pair reveal that their relationship actually ended soon after the barbecue. Johnie explains that they did not see each other for a few weeks after the party, and that she eventually heard from a friend that Chris was out with another woman. He and Johnie didn't see each other again after that. Chris is now living with his new girlfriend, and he admits on the reunion that he didn't handle the situation well and has since apologized to Johnie. While Johnie was initially devastated, she's since gotten over Chris and has been dating someone for a year. Taylor and JP Netflix At first it seemed like Taylor and JP would have this season's meant-to-be edit. The couple quickly connected in the pods and focus on each other from the start, even trading cute nicknames like "sugar butt." They also seemed to suit each other, with Taylor having a bubbly talkative personality compared to JP's quiet demeanor. They're the first couple to get engaged, but their in-person reveal was quite awkward. Taylor did most of the talking to fill the long pauses, and JP makes a joke about her false eyelashes. The awkward silence just built when the couple arrives in Mexico. Though JP said that he was committed and wanted to continue their engagement, Taylor got more and more frustrated at their lack of communication, especially when she saw the other couples hit it off. After days of JP brushing her off, he finally admitted during a late-night conversation that he hadn't been attracted to her at the reveal, saying that she seemed "fake" with makeup "caked" on her face. His response to Taylor's shock and confusion was to tell her to just not wear makeup in the future, but she said she wouldn't let him tell her what to do, and left to stay in another room. The next morning, which was the day the couples were set to leave Mexico, Taylor told JP that their relationship was entirely different from the pods, and that she didn't want to continue on and move in with him. Over a year later at the reunion, the pair confirm that they didn't speak again after filming. JP admits that he could have worded the makeup thing better, but Taylor stands up for herself, saying that she believed he hadn't been attracted to her at all, and that he had "belittled" her. Both of them are now seeing new people. Uche and Aaliyah Greg Gayne/Netflix Aaliyah and Uche had the most tumultuous time on the show this season, though they quickly got along upon meeting in the pods. Their first roadblock came when Aaliyah confessed that she had previously cheated in a past relationship. Uche responded in a very judgmental and demeaning way, to the point where she left the conversation in tears. Still, Uche apologized and they decided to continue their relationship. Then, Uche confessed that he had previously dated Lydia, who had become Aaliyah's best friend in the pods. Though at first Aaliyah wanted to move forward with Uche and stay friends with Lydia, the two women eventually came at odds when Lydia began oversharing about her past with Uche (as well as dropping the bombshell that she and Uche had slept together just three months earlier). Aaliyah began to have doubts in Uche, and she decided to leave the pods, leaving him alone and clueless on engagement day. After Uche discovered Aaliyah was gone, a producer got them connected on the phone, where Aaliyah explained she left after an offscreen argument with Lydia. She explained that she could no longer stay in the women's quarters with Lydia, and that she'd begun to wonder if Lydia followed Uche onto the show. Days later, Aaliyah and Uche met in-person in Houston, and Aaliyah admits to the doubts she'd started to have in their relationship, adding that she didn't feel comfortable to share them after the previous cheating conversation. She also said that she still wanted to be with Uche, but Uche felt that they wouldn't be able to get through the stress of marriage if she couldn't get through the pods. On camera, we hear Uche end things with Aaliyah, but it turns out that they did eventually reunite. At the reunion (which Uche didn't attend), Aaliyah confirms that they briefly dated after filming. She reveals that they eventually ended for several reasons, including her hearing that Uche told some other cast members that she wasn't his physical type. She also says that Uche would still be demeaning towards her in some conversations, saying that often he seemed more like the Uche from the barbecue scenes than the Uche she fell for in the pods. Aaliyah is now happily dating someone new. You Might Also Like Following Meghan Markle and Prince Harrys trip to New York City last week, the couple didnt just fly back to Montecito, California. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex instead opted to take a private vacation in the Caribbean. The Daily Mail ran a photo it obtained from a passerby of Meghan and Harry holding hands on Friday while out in Canouan, a small island in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The couple had left a gourmet food store inside the Sandy Lane Yacht Club and Marina in Glossy Bay, per the outlet. Meghan and Harry both wore white, Meghan in an ivory sleeveless maxi dress and a matching sun hat. Harry wore a white T-shirt and black shorts. Their children Lilibet and Archie were not with them. The eyewitness spoke to the outlet about what Meghan and Harry were like on the trip, describing them as being affectionate. They looked happy, the source said. As Harry walked out of the shop, he slightly bumped into one of the barrels [outside], and they both giggled and Meghan reached for his hand. They just looked very happy to be having a holiday together. Their getaway comes after Meghan and Harry spoke last week about parenting and their relationship. Meghan touched on her worries for her children growing up in the social media age and just how much she loves her family. Being a mom is the most important thing in my entire lifeoutside of course, being a wife to this one, she said, looking over at Harry with a smile, per Hello!. But I will say I feel fortunate that our children are at an age, again quite young, so this isnt in our immediate future, but I also feel frightened by how its continuing to change, and this will be in front of us. They say being a parent, the days are long, but the years are short. So it worries me, but Im also given a lot of hope and a lot of energy by the progress weve made in the past year. You Might Also Like Ministers have been pressing for Egypt to open the Rafah crossing to allow Britons to flee Gaza and to reduce the almost inevitable impact on civilians of the conflict with Israel. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Monday that an imminent Israeli military operation must focus on Hamas as he raised concerns about a regional escalation. Defence minister James Heappey warned that combat in Gaza, as Israel is expected to launch an offensive by sea, air and land, is likely to be horrendous. British officials are working with the Egyptian authorities in an effort to facilitate British and dual nationals, as well as their spouses and children, to leave Gaza through the border. However, expectations in Government for opening the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt were understood to be very low on Monday. Mr Heappey warned it is important to sound a note of caution that the reports might be more optimistic than reality. Mr Sunak acknowledged it is an anxious time for many families who will have loved ones who are impacted or missing, with around 10 British hostages being held by Hamas. Speaking to broadcasters during a visit to a Jewish secondary school in north London, the Prime Minister said: Were providing all the consular support through the Foreign Office that we can and also providing direct support to the Israelis. And the humanitarian situation is one which of course were concerned about, and that Ive raised in all the calls and interactions Ive had with other leaders from across the region. And in particular making sure that we can try and get the Rafah crossing open, that will ease the humanitarian situation. Mr Sunak raised the border crossing in a call with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi last week, and it is understood that opening the border for foreign nationals and for Palestinian refugees could be treated separately. The Prime Ministers official spokesman said: We do think it is important, both in the interests of British nationals and others, but also important for the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza. Meanwhile, Mr Sunak said police are reviewing footage of some not acceptable incidents and could make further arrests after more than a dozen people were detained and three were charged with alleged offences at a pro-Palestine march in London over the weekend. Asked where the line could be drawn between protesting for Palestinians and supporting Hamas, the Prime Minister said the law is very clear on glorification of proscribed terror groups, which could result in lengthy jail sentences. More broadly, actions that incite violence or stir up religious hatred and racial violence are also not acceptable and thats why, as I said, theres no place in our society for that type of hatred and division, and it will be met with the full force of the law where it happens, he said. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak writes a message for Israel (Jonathan Buckmaster/Daily Express/PA) Meanwhile, London Mayor Sadiq Khan has said increased security measures will remain in place to protect places of worship. The mayors office said the Metropolitan Police have also stepped up patrols, with a rolling programme of security visits to all synagogues in the capital. Mr Heappey, the armed forces minister, issued a warning on the impact on civilians of combat in Gaza, which is home to more than two million Palestinians. I think you have to be clear that international law allows Israel to prosecute a mission that is legal, proportionate and necessary, and that, Im afraid, does not necessarily mean that Israel has to be able to guarantee that there will be no civilian loss of life, he told ITVs Good Morning Britain. It is almost inevitable, given the complexity of the mission, that there will be (an) innocent civilian population that is very badly affected. I just dont think theres any point pretending otherwise. The United Nations and global aid agencies have expressed alarm about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, after Israel ordered civilians to evacuate the north ahead of an imminent attack. Western diplomats are also concerned that the war between Hamas and Israel could spark a wider conflict in the Middle East. No 10 has said the Prime Minister will continue to hold talks with international partners in the days to come, as the fighting shows little sign of coming to a swift conclusion. Mr Sunak is expected to use a statement in the Commons to set out how the UK is supporting Israel and aiding British nationals caught in the fighting, while also detailing ministers response to the humanitarian situation inside Gaza. Families hold aloft images of missing American loved ones (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press All rights reserved) Families across the US and Israel continue to desperately wait for answers about their loved ones who are feared to be being held hostage by Hamas militants in the midst of escalating violence in the Middle East. A Chicago mother and daughter who were visiting relatives in Israel, a 23-year-old festivalgoer born in California, and a New Yorker turned Israeli soldier are among the Americans still missing following the Hamas attacks on 7 October. The Biden administration has confirmed that 27 Americans have been killed and 14 remain unaccounted for though it is unclear how many of the 14 are being held hostage. President Joe Biden has insisted that the US is doing everything it can working round the clock to bring the missing US citizens home and spoke with the families of the 14 on Friday. Theyre going through agony not knowing what the status of their sons, daughters, husbands, wives, children, are, he said of the call in a press conference. You know, its gut-wrenching. I assured them of my 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. Were not going to stop until we bring them home. Despite the commitment to do everything possible, US officials admitted last week that there was currently no way to get Americans out of Gaza. In total, the Israeli military said that a staggering 199 people are believed to be currently being held in Gaza a marked increase on initial estimates. While the Biden administration has not confirmed the identities of the Americans believed to be among the hostages several family members have spoken out as they desperately try to bring their loved ones home. Heres what we know about the Americans still missing - and those who were killed: Missing Americans: Chicago mother and daughter visiting relatives Judith Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter Natalie Raanan, from a Chicago suburb, had gone to Israel for what was supposed to be really special mom and daughter time together, according to their rabbi Meir Hecht. A family member was celebrating their 85th birthday and it was the Jewish holiday Simchat Torah. All in all, it was supposed to be a time of celebration. Meir Hecht told the Associated Press that the pair had been sending updates back home about the fun they were having. Then all communication stopped on 7 October the day that Hamas militants launched the surprise attack. Judith Raanan and Natalie Raanan (AP) We received this terrible news that Judith and her daughter Natalie are missing and apparently were most likely taken as hostages to Gaza, Meir Hecht said. It feels like our community has been violated. Natalies aunt Sigal Zamir broke down in tears as the community gathered together to pray for their return. I pray for them to come back alive. Theyre innocent and loving, and they didnt do anything, she said. Judiths sister Saray Cohen told CNN that her brother joined the call with the president, saying that he reassured us that the United States will do everything in its power to get them back home and to get a sign of life from them. She added: We are confident that we are in good hands. Long Island native who went to connect with Israeli roots Omer Neutra was stationed at his small military base along the Gaza border when Hamas militants carried out the attack on 7 October. His parents said they heard from him the night before and he told them the situation seemed calm. That was the last time they heard from him and they now fear he is being held captive by Hamas militants. It was his 22nd birthday on Sunday the eighth day on from his disappearance. Omer Neutra (Midway Jewish Center) Omer grew up on Long Island and was an honors student at Schecter Yeshiva in Williston Park. He decided to go on a gap year after graduating college to spend some time in Israel and connect with his roots. While there, he carried out voluntary work with children with special needs before joining the Israeli military. Now the Long Island community is rallying around his family, with the familys synagogue Midway Jewish Center displaying a sign that reads Bring Omer home. In a statement through the synagogue, his parents Ronen and Orna Neutra described him as a great son, friend, and a passionate, giving person. Man, 23, missing after celebrating at festival rave Hersh Golberg-Polin, 23, has not been seen or heard from since the morning of the Hamas attacks when he was partying with hundreds of other ravers at the Supernova festival in northern Negev. During the celebrations, Hamas militants carried out a surprise attack, killing and kidnapping dozens of people from the site. The Israeli rescue service Zaka later said that more than 260 bodies had since been found at the music festival site, with the death toll likely to climb higher. Hershs father Jonathon Polin told The Jerusalem Post that his son was among those partying at the rave. The 23-year-olds birthday was just days earlier and he was also celebrating his release from Army service at the end of April, he said. At around 8am local time on 7 October, the 23-year-old sent a couple of heartbreaking final messages to his parents. I love you, one of the messages read. Im sorry, read another. No one has heard from him since, with the family now desperately trying to find out what happened to him. In a heartbreaking press conference on Tuesday, Hershs mother Rachel Goldberg said that they had seen a picture of him taking cover in a bomb shelter with other festivalgoers. She said witnesses had told the family that his arm had been blown off from the elbow down. The Hamas terrorists then told the group anyone who can walk, stand up and walk out and so Hersh walked out completely calm, she said. Hersh Golberg-Polin, 23, has not been seen or heard from since the festival (The Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies/Facebook) He was then reportedly put on a pickup truck and driven away by Hamas, with his cellphone signal last pinging on the Gaza border. Hersh was born in Berkeley, California, and moved with his family to Jerusalem when he was seven. He went on to join the Army, training as a medic and tank driver in the 7th Armored Brigade. On completion of his Army service, Jonathon Polin said his son got a job as a waiter and was saving up for his lifelong dream of travelling to India. He is a smiley, fun-loving guy and people of all ages just gravitate towards him... hes the guy that is just fun to be around and makes people have a good time, his father said at the press conference. New Yorker turned Israeli soldier missing in action Itay Chen was born and raised in New York before his family later moved to Israel. Around a year ago, Itay joined the Israel Defense Forces as a corporal. He was based along the Gaza border when Hamas terrorists breached it on Saturday morning. His father Ruby Chen said at a press conference on Tuesday that he last heard from him then when Itay said they were under attack. Since then silence, he said. Itay Chen (Itay Chen/ABC) Now, the 19-year-old is feared to be among the hostages kidnapped and held by Hamas terrorists. Israeli officials have designated him missing in action. Mr Chen said that they believe his son could be being held as a prisoner of war as no one has been able to physically locate him, identify him hes not in a hospital not on a deceased list. Please think of us not just as a headline, we are people, we are family, he said. We want to go back to becoming family, hopefully as soon as possible. Father expecting third child Sagui Dekel-Chen is a married father who was last seen on Saturday in his Kibbutz close to the Gaza border. His father Jonathan Dekel-Chen said in a press conference last Tuesday that hundreds of heavily armed, well-organised terrorists entered their community of around 400 with an intention to kill, maim and destroy civilian life. Mr Dekel-Chen, a Hebrew University academic who previously held positions at the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University and Rutgers University, said he believes his son has been taken to Gaza by Hamas militants and is being held hostage there. Sagui Dekel-Chen (Sagui Dekel-Chen/Fox) He is an arms length away from me in Gaza, but couldnt be farther from me and my family right now, he said. Sagui is the father of two beautiful daughters and his wife is pregnant right now. Sagui is the kind of son everyone would want, he said of his son. Mr Dekel-Chen said only 160 of the 400 community members have survived. The rest died or are prisoners or are missing, he said. Americans killed: Mother who sacrificed life for her son US citizen Deborah Matias, 50, died sacrificing her own life to save that of her child. Ilan Troen, professor of Israel studies at Brandeis University in Boston, said that his daughter Deborah, her husband Shlomi and their son Roten, 16, were in their home when Hamas militants stormed across the border, broke into homes and killed those inside. Professor Troen said that Deborah threw her body on top of her sons in order to protect him from the gunfire. She and Shlomi were shot and killed while Roten was shot but survived. Deborah Matias, her father Ilan Troen and her husband Shlomi Matias (left to right) (Sourced) They made sure to fall on him and thereby saved his life. Although a bullet actually entered his abdomen, but he was saved, he told WBZ-TV. Professor Troen said he rushed to hospital to be reunited with his grandson who is recovering from his injuries. The devastated father told CNN that Deborah was a child of light and life. She, rather than becoming a scientist or a physician, she said to me one day, Dad, I have to do music, because its in my soul, he said. Washington graduate who dreamed of peace found dead in home Dr Hayim Katsman a University of Washington graduate who hoped for peace in the Middle East was found dead inside his apartment in Israel after Hamas terrorists tore through the community. Hayims family last heard from him on the morning of 7 October when they received chilling messages from him saying that Hamas terrorists had entered Kibbutz Holit in southwest Israel where he lived. The family never heard from the 32-year-old again. Hayims friend Avital Alajem told CNN that they both hunkered down together inside a shelters closet to hide from the Hamas militants. But they broke in and fired through the door. Ms Alajem survived but Hayim was shot and killed. Hayim Katsman (Hannah Katsman Facebook) He was murdered, she said. I was saved because he was next to the door and they shot him. Hayims sibling Noy Katsman told CNN the family spent hours desperately trying to get in touch with him before learning of his murder. Hayim was born in the US and studied at the University of Washington where he earned a PhD in international studies in 2021. His parents were originally from Israel before locating to the US more than three decades ago and so Hayim had moved there to carry out research. Noy Katsman said that Hayim had longed for peace and supported a solution for this bleeding conflict between Israel and Palestinians. Midwife who brought thousands of babies into world California-born Adrienne Neta has brought thousands of babies into the world as a midwife. She was last heard screaming down the phone to her adult children as Hamas terrorists stormed into her home. Her son Nahar Neta said at a press conference in Tel Aviv on Tuesday that he and his siblings had been on the phone to their mother on Saturday trying to keep her calm as the attacks unfolded and she hunkered in a shelter. They were still on the call when they heard gunfire in the background. We were on the call with her when the terrorists barged into her home. We heard a little bit of screaming and that was our last contact with her, he said. Mr Neta said that they did not hear shooting on the call after the terrorists breached the building so they are hoping that she is being held hostage. Adrienne Neta (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press All rights reserved) Its our hope its ridiculous to say our optimistic scenario is that she is being held hostage in Gaza and is not dead in the street, he said, breaking down in tears. He said that their mother devoted her life to helping people of all races and genders in the hospital where she worked. My mother is an exceptional human being. She spent most of her life in the community and then as a midwife in a hospital, said her daughter Dayana Neta. When she walked into the delivery room she saw a human being in front of her. Not a religion, not a race, not a hijab, not an orthodox Jew it was always the human being she saw. We once calculated our mother brought thousands of lives into this world. When Hamas walked into my mothers room... they did not see a human being. The family has since confirmed her death to CBS News. A British Muslim convert suspected of being a member of a death squad dubbed The Beatles from the so-called Islamic State has pleaded guilty to terrorism charges. Aine Leslie Davis, 39, was deported from Turkey last August after serving a seven-and-a-half year sentence for membership of IS, an armed terrorist group. On his arrival at Luton airport, he was detained by British counter-terrorism police and charged with the three offences. On Monday, he admitted possession of a firearm contrary to Section 57 of the Terrorism Act 2000, and two charges of funding terrorism between 2013 and 2014. Photograph of Aine Davis (left) posing in woods with a man armed with a Kalashnikov (Met Police/PA) The defendant, who was brought up in London, entered his pleas via video link from Belmarsh prison on Monday and Judge Mark Lucraft KC adjourned sentenced until November 13. It came after Judge Lucraft rejected Daviss last-ditch attempt to get his case thrown out in March and an unsuccessful bid to overturn that decision at the Court of Appeal. Davis legal team had claimed the prosecution should be halted because he could not be tried twice for the same offence. He also accused British authorities of conniving with Turkish counterparts in his deportation in a failed bid by the then-Home Secretary Priti Patel to arrange his onward extradition to the US where two other IS Beatles were tried. Daviss barrister Mark Summers KC claimed lawyers in the United States were not seeking to bring a prosecution against Davis because the evidence was there were only three members and not four members of that cell. The barrister also claimed Ms Patel veered into Alice in Wonderland territory when she phoned authorities in the US begging them to take Daviss case. Mr Summers said: The irregular personal involvement of the Home Secretary trying to persuade a foreign country to prosecute a UK national is frankly extraordinary. However, in a ruling published in the wake of Daviss guilty pleas, the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales Mr Justice Chamberlain and Lord Justice Fulford sided with Judge Lucraft and dismissed the defence claims. Aine Davis (bottom row, second from right) posing with a gun in Syria (Met Police/PA) Their ruling stated: We agree with the judge that there is a wholesale lack of evidence of misconduct on the part of the then-Home Secretary and the relevant United Kingdom officials. The senior judges added that the short-live and discounted proposal to prosecute Davis in the US was irrelevant to his alleged unlawful deportation and any discussions about it were no more than a footnote in the history of the return of the applicant to the United Kingdom. Davis has always denied being connected with The Beatles cell so-called because of their British accents which tortured and beheaded western hostages in Syria. Two IS Beatles members, British nationals El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey, are now serving life in US jails. The third Beatle, Mohammed Emwazi, dubbed Jihadi John, who was believed to feature in shocking videos of IS beheadings of a number of captives, was killed in a drone strike in 2015. Davis terrorist activities dated back to 2013 when he left his home in London and set off to join the armed conflict in Syria, having previously converted to Islam and spent time in the Middle East. The evidence was largely uncovered from his communications with his then-wife, mother-of-two Amal El-Wahabi, 36, who stayed behind in north London living on benefits. He went on to enlist her in a plan to send him cash by hoodwinking her friend Nawal Masaad, 36, to act as courier on the promise of 1,000 euros. Ms Masaad, from Holloway, north London, was stopped at Heathrow Airport on January 16 2014 as she was about to board a flight to Istanbul with 20,000 euros stuffed inside her tights. A screen grab taken from footage by Islamic State militants of the British extremist Mohammed Emwazi, widely known as Jihadi John, who was killed in a drone strike in 2015. (PA) The prosecution alleged the money, raised in the UK, was destined to support Davis terrorist cause in Syria. Following El-Wahabis arrest in London, police uncovered a stash of terrorist propaganda said to have been left behind by Davis when he went to Syria. On her mobile phone was a picture sent by Davis in November 2013 in Syrian woods with a man holding a Kalashnikov rifle. Davis told his wife: Dont show this to anyone but yuyu. (sic). I mean it. He sent another picture posing with 13 others in military-style clothes, all with guns held aloft. Asked by El-Wahabi if he was doing anything exciting, Davis said he was just on point, which is believed to be a reference to guard duty. The court heard it was clear that Davis who had convictions for possession of drugs and gun possession had gone to Syria to fight under the black flag of IS and that he was preoccupied with martyrdom. Giving evidence in her trial, El-Wahabi claimed Davis was always there for her and had left the country to get away from everyone and to look for work. He was unhappy in London because of the drugs, the influence of friends he has around him, the police targeting him constantly, she said. She added: With him, his problem is he is always being watched. After the Old Bailey trial in 2014, El-Wahabi was found guilty of funding terrorism and jailed for 28 months, while Ms Masaad was cleared of wrongdoing. El-Wahabi was the first person to be convicted of funding terrorism in Syria. In November 2015, Davis was arrested with others in Istanbul after being found using a forged travel document and later jailed for IS membership. NBC News will host the third Republican presidential primary debate in Miami on Nov. 8. The debate, to be held at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, will air from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on the television, streaming and digital platforms of NBC News, including streaming on NBCNews.com. The moderators and the format will be announced later. Seven candidates were onstage at the second debate in California last month. It is not clear how many will qualify again, because the Republican National Committee has raised the polling and donor thresholds for the third contest. A candidate's podium prior to a debate. (Drew Angerer / Getty Images) To qualify, candidates must have campaign contributions from at least 70,000 unique donors. They must also register at least 4% in two national polls or in one national poll and one early-state poll that meets the RNC's polling requirements. Qualifying candidates must also pledge to support the eventual GOP nominee. Former President Donald Trump, who remains the front-runner in the polls, did not attend the first two debates. His campaign has called for all future debates to be canceled so the RNC can "refocus its manpower and money" on defeating Democrats in 2024. Rebecca Blumenstein, the president of editorial for NBC News, said that NBC News has "a long history of fostering conversations with the leaders that seek to shape domestic politics and foreign policy" and that it looks forward to "continuing our leading reporting on the 2024 presidential race and spotlighting the issues that matter most to voters as they head to the polls." The RNC selected Salem Radio Network and the Republican Jewish Coalition as debate partners. RNC streaming partner Rumble will also livestream the debate. Former Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota, the chairman of the Republican Jewish Coalition, pointed to the importance of discussing foreign policy in a statement about the debate. As the horrific events of the last week have unfolded in Israel, the issue of American foreign policy has taken on an even greater role," he said. "American strength and American resolve and our candidates vision for Americas role in the world are more important than ever. Carrie Budoff Brown, NBC News senior vice president of politics, said presidential debates can be instrumental in shedding light on the issues that matter most to voters, adding the network has a history of producing substantive and thoughtful debates and we look forward to asking the questions that are on the minds of Republican voters. Scott Pilgrim Takes Off official trailer still Netflixs upcoming Scott Pilgrim anime Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is so close you could touch it, and in the leadup to its launch, the streaming giant is keen to show it off even more. A new trailer was among the announcements in last months Drop 01 animation presentation, but Netflix has now released another and it might be the best one yet. The new trailer opens with a dream, showing Ramona Flowers skating through a cloudscape, before Scott Pilgrim himself abruptly wakes up. It gives us a little bit of the setup for the series in Toronto, Canada Scott is pretty keen on Ramona, but in order to date her, he must defeat seven of her evil exes. What follows is a very high energy trailer, showing Scott facing down with all of these exes. Its got some incredible electronic music, some incredibly slick animation, and an announcer voiceover thats very on-the-nose but also very fitting. Honestly, even as someone who isnt that fond of Scott Pilgrim, the trailer very much had me on board. Watch for yourself: Scott Pilgrim Takes Off had its release date announced a few months ago, alongside a teaser trailer that didnt show off all that much. It was interesting though in that it revealed that pretty much every voice actor from the incredibly popular Scott Pilgrim movie would be reprising their roles in the anime. Related: Castlevania: Nocturne Has Already Been Renewed For A Second Season The trailer comes after it was reported that Netflix is restructuring its animation unit, with layoffs likely in the move. Two films were reportedly canceled as part of the process, and the streaming giant could focus more on external productions in the future. Scott Pilgrim Takes Off will be released exclusively on Netflix on November 17, 2023. Nevada could be in for a bit of a mess in February when it comes time to choose its Republican presidential candidate. The states presidential primary will unfold in two separate contests, with two different outcomes, two days apart. Thats because the field has split on how it has decided to compete in Nevada. Three of the top-tier candidates in the GOP presidential primary former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and former Vice President Mike Pence have filed to compete in Nevadas state-run primary election on Feb. 6. That means they cannot join the rest of the top candidates, including polling front-runner Donald Trump, in the party-run caucuses that take place Feb. 8. Only the caucus results are binding; those alone will determine how delegates will be awarded. But some presidential campaigns contend that the Nevada Republican Party is all in for Trump and dont trust the process. The candidates are betting that if they win the state-run primary, the news bounce could bring momentum thats more valuable in the final early state of South Carolina and potentially beyond than the delegates theyll lose out on. Those taking part in the caucus include Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Chris Christie and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum. DeSantis is taking part in the caucus despite complaints by his campaign and allies that Trump has an advantage under that system. It is disappointing that the Nevada Republican Party changed the rules against the will of the people just to benefit one candidate, DeSantis spokesman Andrew Romeo said in a statement. However, Ron DeSantis will fight to overcome these tactics. The double electoral situation is happening because of a recent change in state law, driven by a Democratic-led Legislature that implemented state-run primaries with regular ballot voting. The Republican Party in the state objected, saying it worried about voting integrity under a state system; instead, it insisted on running its own caucus. The party attempted to stop the state from holding its primary but lost in court. The judge, however, told the party it could still hold its caucuses. A caucus primary run by the party is considered advantageous to Trump because state GOP Chair Michael McDonald has had a close relationship with the former president. He acted as a false elector for Trump in 2020, his phone was seized by federal authorities as part of an investigation into election interference, and the Nevada state partys executive committee earlier this year traveled to Mar-a-Lago. McDonald has told NBC News that if DeSantis invited the committee to the governors mansion, members would accept. In previous remarks to NBC News, the Ron DeSantis-aligned super PAC Never Back Down called McDonald a Trump puppet an allegation with which McDonald took issue. In Nevadas history, there have only been 3 GOP presidential primaries in the past 160 years. The caucus is what Nevadans have traditionally used, and will continue to use, to elect their Presidential nominee, McDonald said in a text message Monday. The caucus is in line with Republican principles, particularly fiscal conservatism, as it has no cost to taxpayers." All serious candidates are participating in the First In The West Caucus as its the only method to earn delegates to secure the nomination and offers a level playing field to all candidates not just those that dominate the media markets, McDonald added. McDonald went on to say that while the DeSantis campaign and allies were most vocal in charging that the partys rules favored Trump, his campaign never took action to influence these rules. All official campaigns were invited to the [state central committee] meeting where these common sense, RNC-supported rules changes were voted on, and passed by overwhelming majority, McDonald said. Supporters listen as former President Donald Trump speaks on July 8, 2023, in Las Vegas. (John Locher / AP) Still, there is a potential for voter confusion, given that in the state primary, mail ballots will automatically be mailed to Republican voters. That could give some voters the impression that their votes in the primary are binding, and voters may not realize that the caucuses are still ahead. That all was taken into account during a recent Nevada state central committee meeting at which members voted to move forward with the caucuses. A member of that committee, David Gibbs, also a former Clark County chair, brought concerns that the two systems would confuse voters. I think thats still possible, Gibbs said Monday of the potential for confusion. There were those of us who had the position that this was a bad idea, but they had the vote and went ahead with the caucuses. Even though the outcome wasnt what we wanted, I was happy my position was heard. Gibbs added that the party was taking steps to educate Republican voters on the differences between the caucuses and the primary. The Nevada secretary of state's office has also said it will work to explain the differences between the two elections. Twice in the past six months, Bob Gross, a Beaufort resident and Rotarian, has traveled 9,000 miles to Europe and driven hundreds of additional miles across it on an unusual mission: Purchasing, picking up and then delivering ambulances that are now in use on the front lines in war-torn Ukraine. Emergency vehicles are in high demand, Gross says, since Russia invaded Ukraine eight months ago. Its a unique opportunity to do some good in the world and try to help the people in Ukraine as they fight the evil thats going on over there, Gross told the Beaufort Gazette and Island Packet Monday. Gross turned to his fellow Rotarian International members from clubs in South Carolina to raise the $50,000 needed to purchase used Mercedes-Benz, Renault and Peugot ambulances. They responded. I had checks coming in by the handfuls, Gross said. From left to right: Hennadii Kroichyk of the Lviv Unity Rotary Club, Dave Forward, and Bob Gross in Lviv, Ukraine on Easter Sunday after Forward and Gross delivered two ambulances. Gross, of Beaufort, raised the money to buy the ambulances, which the country needs because of the countrys ongoing war with Russia. Submitted photo Gross first trip came in April, when he flew to Germany to pick up an ambulance. He then drove it through Germany and Poland to Lviv, Ukraine, arriving on Easter Sunday. A local Rotarian club there, Lviv Unity Rotary, delivered it to a hospital. Its now in use at a medical facility near the front lines. Gross returned home from his second trip Sept. 17 which took him to the Netherlands and Poland to pick up two ambulances that were again delivered to Rotarian counterparts from Ukraine. All of the ambulances were stocked with medical supplies and firefighting equipment. Gross once presided over the South Carolina Rotary Club International district that takes in more than 70 rotary clubs located in the eastern half of the state. Gross was joined on both trips by David Forward, the former governor of Rotary District 7500, which is in New Jersey. Forward previously delivered three ambulances to Ukraine and solicited donations from the New Jersey Rotary district. After Gross heard about Forwards efforts at a Rotary conference, he decided he could do the same thing in South Carolina and the two teamed up. Gross found the money while Forward found the ambulances. Gross says the international service organization with thousands of clubs across the world is positioned better than most to get ambulances to Ukraine. I think Rotatory as an organization is the only organization that can do something like this, Gross said. Its like having a brother or a sister everywhere in the world. The ambulances, he noted, handle very well and should last several hundred thousand miles because they are diesel powered. But in a country at war, he adds, you dont know how long they will last because they could be hit with a bomb at any time. Gross is an environmental engineer who spent 15 years working for the state Department of Environmental Health an Control in Columbia before moving to Beaufort 36 years ago. He owns an environmental engineering consulting firm. Hes 78 years old. But to Gross, thats only his biological age. Inside, he doesnt feel that old. Im at that stage of life its time to do these things, Gross said of delivering ambulances to Ukraine. Beauforts been generous with donations since the February invasion of Ukraine. The city organized an effort to collect donations soon after and local artists also have chipped in making pins with the colors of the Ukrainian flags. A distracted tourist slipped while walking in the dark and found herself hanging desperately from a tree over the edge of a mountain bluff, according to rescuers in east Tennessee. Spotlights revealed the woman had fallen 25 feet early Oct. 13 when she found something to grab, but was still 50 to 75 feet in the air, according to the Waldens Creek Volunteer Fire Department. Below her sat a deadly mix of large rocks and trees, Capt. Jon Lanier told McClatchy News. Hes one of the two rescuers who rappelled down to the woman near Waldens Creek, about 8 miles north of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I would say she hung onto that tree about an hour. She was a lot calmer than I expected, but she was very happy to see us, Lanier said. She knew she was safe as long as she held on, but my concern was the tree. It was dead and had fallen over, and could easily have shifted and fallen the rest of the way down the bluff. There was a realistic chance of severe injuries or worse. It took the two climbers about 20 minutes to pull the woman up to safety, he said. She appeared to be uninjured and declined to be taken to a hospital, he said. Her identity was not released. The fall occurred when she got distracted while walking along the driveway of a rural cabin the family rented on Sunset Road, he said. Her husband was there and called 911, officials said. Hiker dies in 150-foot fall from waterfall overlook on Blue Ridge Parkway, NPS says Large tree falls on man, pinning him to tractor in 7,000-acre park, Florida cops say Crane sinks upside down in lake, trapping operator inside. A good Samaritan found him By Lee Hae-rin As growing numbers of people visit parks along the Han River for autumn picnics, Seoul city's current regulation, which forces them to leave two sides of a tent open at riverside picnic areas is sparking debate over privacy concerns. The Seoul Metropolitan Government allows tents at designated picnic areas in Han River parks during scheduled times under the condition that at least two sides of a tent remain open at all times. The city government established the regulation in its April 2019 ordinance, in response to growing complaints regarding indescrete public displays of affection inside the tents and waste problems, according to the city governments team which is in charge of park management. Seoul is the only local government nationwide that imposes such a restriction. Ive seen some young couples public display of affection at Han River parks, but Ive never thought it was that serious, a Seoul-based office worker surnamed Kim, 34, said. "Ive seen bolder cases at parks in foreign countries while traveling abroad. Forcing visitors to open two sides of their tent seems anachronistic and ridiculous." Another Seoul resident surnamed Park echoed Kims view, arguing the government has no right to control what people can and cannot do in public in such a manner. However, those who agree with the policy say that occasional public displays of affection should be restricted. Culturally, Korea is not as open as European countries, for example, when it comes to public displays of affection. Although I havent seen such serious cases (at Han River parks), I understand and agree with the need for such regulations, a Seoul-based office worker surnamed Lee said. Cho, a 22-year-old university student in Seoul who regularly visits the riverside picnic area, agreed with Lee, underscoring leaving two sides (of a tent) open doesnt cause much inconvenience. The Seoul government posts 146 personnel at 11 centers across the riverside parks to supervise and regulate the use of tents. Those violating the regulation are subject to fines of up to one million won ($738). However, the city government tries to encourage citizens to follow the rules as a necessary minimum regulation for public order, instead of imposing fines. Over 43 million have visited Han River parks from January to September this year and a total of 5,300 cases have been reported. Fines were imposed in only nine cases since the regulation came into effect in 2019. By Yusri Mohamed, Nadine Awadalla and Tala Ramadan ISMAILIA, Egypt (Reuters) -Egypt said on Monday that Israel was not cooperating with delivery of aid into Gaza and evacuations of foreign passport holders via the only entry it does not wholly control, leaving hundreds of tonnes of supplies stuck. Cairo says the Rafah crossing, a potentially vital opening for desperately-needed supplies into the Israeli-besieged Palestinian enclave, is not officially closed but was made inoperable due to Israeli air strikes on the Gaza side. As Israel's bombardment and siege of Gaza has intensified, the territory's 2.3 million residents have been left without power, pushing health and water services to the brink of collapse, with fuel for hospital generators running low. "There is an urgent need to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza," Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told reporters, adding that talks with Israel had not been fruitful. "Until now the Israeli government has not taken a position on opening the Rafah crossing from the Gaza side to allow the entrance of assistance and exit of citizens of third countries." U.S. officials were hoping that Rafah would operate for a few hours late on Monday, White House spokesman John Kirby said, adding that earlier hopes for opening the crossing had been dashed. The ongoing war made delivery of aid through Rafah "very difficult", U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters. "There will need to be a mechanism given that it implicates a lot of parties, some of which are not on speaking terms, to put it mildly. We're working on that with key partners," he told reporters in New York on Monday. Hamas-affiliated radio station Aqsa said Israeli shelling hit the Rafah crossing area again on Monday. The Egyptian side of the border appeared deserted on Monday afternoon, with aid supplies being stockpiled in the nearby city of Al Arish. Gazans have been under siege since Israel launched its most intense bombardment and blockade ever following a devastating cross-border assault by Islamist Hamas militants on Oct. 7. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been displaced within Gaza, with some taking cars and suitcases south towards the Rafah crossing but others heading back north after failing to find refuge. "On our way to the crossing they shelled Rafah Street and we started screaming," said one resident near the crossing, Hadeel Abu Dahoud. "Nowhere is safe in Gaza." DISPLACEMENT FEARS Like others, Egypt has spoken out against any mass exodus of Gaza residents, reflecting deep Arab fears that the latest war could spark a new wave of permanent displacement for Palestinians from lands where they have sought to build a state. It has called for a summit on the crisis, which Egyptian outlet Al Qahera News said was expected to be held on Saturday in the Red Sea city of Sharm el-Sheikh. On Monday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi received a call from Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the escalation in Gaza, Sisi's office said. Shoukry said Egypt aimed to restore regular access through Rafah, including for Palestinians seeking medical treatment or normal travel. Early on Monday, Egyptian security sources had said a temporary ceasefire in southern Gaza had been agreed to facilitate aid and evacuations at Rafah, but Egyptian state TV later quoted a high-level source saying no truce had been agreed. Hamas and Israel said no deal to open the crossing had been agreed. Hundreds of tonnes of aid from NGOs and several countries were waiting in Al Arish for conditions to allow entry to Gaza. "We are waiting for the green light for the aid to enter and dozens of volunteers are ready at any time," a Red Crescent official in northern Sinai said. Separately, Reuters video showed U.N.-flagged fuel trucks appearing to leave Gaza for Egypt through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing. "It is critical that life-saving assistance is allowed to move through the Rafah crossing without delay," U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA said in a statement, announcing that its chief Martin Griffiths would travel to Cairo on Tuesday. Movement of goods and people through Rafah has been tightly controlled under a blockade of Gaza imposed by Israel and Egypt since Hamas took control of the enclave in 2007, and only registered travellers can cross. (Reporting by Ahmed Mohamed Hassan and Hatem Maher in Cairo, Dan Williams in Jerusalem, Yusri Mohamed in Ismailia, Nidal Al Mughrabi in Gaza, Nadine Awadalla and Tala Ramadan in Dubai; Michelle Nichols in New York; Writing by Aidan Lewis and Nafisa Eltahir; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Toby Chopra, Andrew Cawthorne, Christina Fincher and Deepa Babington) Palestinian American Jason Shawa, 55, heard the news that the Rafah crossing, on Gazas southern border with Egypt, will be opened Monday, giving him hope of possible escape from the war. But it was fleeting, as airstrikes rained down on Gaza and he confronted the uncertainty of whether he, his wife, Najla, and their two daughters would be able to flee. The translator's wife and children still dont have U.S. passports, and he has received no official word to indicate that the border will actually be opening. And even if it is, he said, it is highly risky to travel amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza strip. There are no guarantees. Theres not like a safe corridor offered to foreign nationals when they leave. Its every man for himself, said Shawa, who is staying in a small two-room cabin in central Gaza, about 40 minutes from the border, with his family and 50 neighbors after they had to evacuate their homes. Follow our live coverage here. Jason Shawa and his family, daughter Zayneb, daughter Melak, and his wife Najla. (Courtesy Jason Shawa) Mai Abushaaban, a Palestinian American, is also fearful. She said that her mother and sister would try to cross into Egypt on Monday. They became trapped in Gaza while visiting her sick grandfather. If it is true and its open, theyre going to go, said Abushaaban, 22, a Houston native, referring to the lack of details from the embassy or the State Department that led to false hopes last week. Were hoping its for real this time. But late Sunday, Abushaaban received an email from the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem saying embassy officials anticipate the situation at the Rafah crossing will remain fluid and unpredictable and it is unclear whether, or for how long, travelers will be permitted to transit the crossing. The message left Abushaaban feeling worried that it might not work out, like when they tried to cross days ago but still hopeful. Up to 600 Americans remain in Gaza, according to the State Department, amid an increasing humanitarian crisis as clean water, food, fuel and medical supplies dwindle. There hasnt been electricity in the territory for days after the Israeli government established a blockade in retaliation for Hamas brutal terror attack. More than 2,450 people have been killed in Gaza and 9,200 have been injured. In Israel, 1,400 people have been killed and 3,500 have been wounded. The toll of American deaths from Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent war stands at 30, a State Department spokesperson said Sunday. A series of automated emails from the State Department and inconclusive phone calls have left Palestinian Americans dubious about the likelihood of their safely getting out. Since the war broke out, the Rafah crossing has been closed, and it has also sustained physical damage from Israeli airstrikes on Gaza. Asked Sunday on NBC News whether there will be no shelling near the crossing as people try to leave and humanitarian assistance comes in, Israel Defense Forces Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said, Its very much up to Hamas to decide if they are going to allow and what is going to happen. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Rafah crossing will be opened for U.S. citizens and their immediate family members but provided no details about timing to reporters Sunday in Cairo. The State Department didnt immediately respond to requests for comment. A Palestinian Embassy representative told NBC News that officials at the Rafah crossing said foreign national Palestinians will be able to cross the border starting 9 a.m. local time. Shawa, who was born in Seattle to a Palestinian father and an American mother, said the U.S. government isnt offering any other tangible assistance to citizens in Gaza other than orchestrating the opening of the Rafah crossing. Cairo is an arduous six- to eight-hour drive from the border crossing, through the Sinai Peninsula and through several Egyptian military checkpoints. Palestinians with dual citizenship gather outside Rafah border crossing with Egypt (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa / Reuters) The double standard Abushaaban, who has crossed the Rafah border 10 times during past trips to visit family in Gaza, said opening up the border doesnt necessarily guarantee passage through it. There are two parts to the land crossing first, a security check manned by the Palestinian Authority and then a bus ride to the Egypt-controlled part of the border. She said the Egyptian side is usually chaotic, with long wait times. If anything goes wrong from point A to point B, they will turn the buses around and turn everyone back without any notice, she said of her previous experiences crossing the border. The long drive to Cairo from Gaza is risky, with multiple military checkpoints along the Sinai. The first automated email Abushaaban got from the State Department on Tuesday included information about how Americans in Israel would be evacuated, but the messaging for those in Gaza wasnt as helpful. The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Oct. 10, 2023. (Said Khatib / AFP - Getty Images) Given the dynamic security situation in Gaza, U.S. citizens should assess their own security when deciding whether to travel. U.S. government personnel are not able to travel to Gaza or the Gaza periphery to assist at this time, read the email, which was reviewed by NBC News. The State Department then followed up a couple of days later acknowledging its most recent message, sent to a large list of U.S. citizens located in Gaza and Israel, may not be applicable to you, because it detailed options for Americans in Israel who have access to Ben Gurion Airport which those in Gaza dont have. The email added that the State Department was working on solutions but that the situation is incredibly complex. It is very frustrating for me as someone with one foot in Palestine and one foot in the United States, the State Department saying that Americans in Israel will be evacuating them via boat and plane to either Germany, Cyprus or Greece and that Palestinians in Gaza should just kind of, you know, wait, Abushaaban said, referring to the State Departments communications. Emilee Rauschenberger's five children. Emilee Rauschenberger, who was in Khan Yunis with her husband and five children visiting her in-laws when the war started, echoed Abushaabans sentiments of feeling neglected as an American citizen in Gaza by the U.S. government. I feel the government kind of feels absolved of it as a responsibility because of the politics of it all, Rauschenberger said, adding that she doesnt feel theres been an attempt to save American lives in Gaza. The double standard is incredibly harsh, she said. Blinken has been on a dayslong tour of the Middle East, where he has met with leaders from Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Qatar. The effort was meant to prevent the war between Israel and Hamas from spreading and to encourage Israel not to target civilians. Second-class citizens The lack of guidance from the U.S. government cements a feeling Palestinian Americans say they are familiar with. Palestinian Americans are almost, like, I personally feel like we were treated as second-class citizens in the country where we hold citizenship and, you know, just as lawfully as anyone else, Abushaaban said. Shawa said that over the years living in Gaza with his family, he has never felt prioritized by the U.S. government. I mean, Gaza has to 2.2 or 3 million citizens. The vast majority of us are not affiliated to Hamas or any other political, Palestinian faction, Shawa said, referring to U.S. politicians speaking about Gaza as if it is a Hamas block. We have children, we go to schools, we have birthdays, we have restaurants, we have, I mean, everything that makes up a normal community, Shawa said. His eldest daughter, Zayneb, turned 9 on Sunday. They found some kind of, you know, packaged donut-y thingy and stuck a candle in it and sang Happy Birthday, Shawa said, referring to the impromptu gesture some of the children organized for her. For Shawa, trying to cross the border with his family is not only dangerous but also emotionally taxing, and it could mean they will never see their loved ones again. I mean, we are with people, friends, neighbors, relatives who dont have this privilege, Shawa said. Its really, really, really hard to make the decision to leave them behind. By David Brunnstrom and Michael Martina WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States has finalized a 20-year extension to its agreement on ties with the strategic Marshall Islands and expects to sign the $2.3 billion deal on Monday, chief U.S. negotiator with the Pacific island nation Joseph Yun told Reuters. The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) is one of three sprawling but sparsely populated nations that have U.S. ties governed by so-called Compacts of Free Association (COFAs), under which Washington is responsible for their defense and provides economic assistance, while gaining exclusive military access to strategic swathes of ocean. After decades of relative neglect, the nations have found themselves at the center of a U.S. battle for influence with China in the Northern Pacific and the Biden administration agreed new deals with the two other states, Palau and Micronesia, earlier this year. It had been haggling for months over details with the RMI, which had called on Washington to better address the legacy of nuclear testing there in the 1940s and 1950s. Yun told Reuters he planned to sign the COFA deal with RMI Foreign Minister Jack Adding in Honolulu, Hawaii, at 2 p.m. local time (0000 GMT Tuesday). He said he understood Marshallese President David Kabua would also attend. "This is the last of the three compacts that we have been doing. The other two have been done," Yun said. "Once we have signed, we will transmit it to the U.S. Congress, where together with the other two, I hope they will be enacted soon." Yun, appointed last year by President Joe Biden to negotiate the COFA agreements, said Washington would be providing the Marshall Islands with $2.3 billion dollars over the next 20 years, made up of grant assistance and trust-fund contributions. He said the grant assistance would go to areas such as education, healthcare, environment and infrastructure, and added: "In terms of trust fund, the money, where it goes to, the new trust-fund money is determined by the Marshallese government." Analysts and former officials had blamed a delay in finalizing the Marshall Islands COFA on U.S. State Department lawyers wanting to control how new funds were spent and objecting to their being earmarked to address the nuclear legacy, fearing this could lay the U.S. open to more claims. A person familiar with the deal said all current federal programs, including education programs and the U.S. Postal Service, are set to continue. The outlays also include money for long-neglected civilian infrastructure around the crucial U.S. missile test range on Kwajalein Atoll, the source said. The Biden administration had hoped to see Congress endorse new funding for the three COFA totaling $7.1 billion over 20 years by Sept. 30, but that did not prove possible amid budget haggling in the U.S. Congress. A 45-day stopgap funding measure passed by Congress last month averted a U.S. government shutdown but has left potential funding shortfalls for the COFA states until their deals can be endorsed by the U.S. legislature, which analysts and former officials said makes the U.S. allies economically vulnerable and possibly more receptive to Chinese approaches. (Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Michael Martina; Editing by Sandra Maler) By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Dan Williams GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli forces kept up their bombardment of Gaza on Monday after diplomatic efforts to arrange a ceasefire to allow foreign citizens to leave and aid to be brought into the besieged Palestinian enclave failed. Residents of Hamas-ruled Gaza said overnight air strikes were the heaviest yet as the conflict entered its 10th day with an Israeli ground offensive of the densely populated coastal strip believed to be imminent. Bombing carried on through the day, they said, and many buildings were flattened, trapping yet more people under the rubble. Israeli officials issued multiple warnings of Hamas rocket fire into Israel. Diplomatic efforts have been underway to get aid into the enclave, which has endured unrelenting Israeli bombing since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas militants that killed 1,300 people - the bloodiest single day in the state's 75-year history. But Israel's chief military spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said there was no Gaza ceasefire plan. "We are continuing our fight against Hamas, this murderous organisation that carried this (the assaults) out." Israel has imposed a full blockade and is preparing a ground invasion to enter Gaza and destroy Hamas, which has continued to fire rockets at Israel since its cross-border assault. On Monday, warning sirens sounded in several towns in southern Israel, the Israeli military said. Israeli troops and tanks are already massed on the border. Authorities in Gaza said at least 2,750 people had so far been killed by the Israeli strikes, a quarter of them children, and nearly 10,000 wounded. A further 1,000 people were missing and believed to be under rubble. With food, fuel and water running short, hundreds of tons of aid from several countries have been held up in Egypt pending a deal for its safe delivery to Gaza and the evacuation of some foreign passport holders through the Rafah border crossing. Earlier on Monday, Egyptian security sources had said an agreement had been reached to open the crossing to allow aid into the enclave. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said: "There is currently no truce and humanitarian aid in Gaza in exchange for getting foreigners out." Hamas official Izzat El Reshiq told Reuters there was "no truth" to the reports about the crossing opening or a temporary ceasefire. Egypt has said the crossing was rendered inoperable due to Israeli bombardments on the Palestinian side. U.S. officials were hoping the Rafah crossing could be opened for a few hours later on Monday to allow some people to leave Gaza before the expected Israeli ground offensive, White House spokesman John Kirby told CNN. The United States had told its citizens in Gaza to go to the crossing. It estimates the number of dual-citizen Palestinian-Americans in Gaza at 500 to 600. Many Palestinians and foreign citizens flocked towards the crossing on Monday with suitcases and belongings hoping to make it across the Egyptian border. "There is no safety, even when you're at the crossing you're afraid," Hadeel Abu Dahoud told Reuters. "Nowhere is safe in Gaza. Wherever we go there's shelling, shelling, crying, screaming, blood." Washington is also seeking to secure the release of 199 hostages that Israel says were taken by Hamas back into Gaza. Among them are elderly people, women and children and foreigners, including Americans. U.S. President Joe Biden postponed a trip to Colorado on Monday to stay at the White House for national security meetings as Washington works to contain the conflict, the White House said. Biden has sent military aid to Israel but also stressed the need to get humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians and urged Israel to follow the rules of war in its response to the Hamas attacks. HEAVY BOMBING In Gaza's north, where Israel says Hamas militants are hiding in a tunnel network, people said Israeli aircraft bombed areas around the Al-Quds hospital early on Monday. Houses were damaged, forcing hundreds of people to take shelter in the Red Crescent-run hospital. Israeli planes also bombed three offices of the Civil Emergency and Ambulance Service in Gaza City, killing five people and paralyzing the rescue services, health officials said. Israel has told Gazans to evacuate south, which hundreds of thousands have already done in the enclave, home to about 2.3 million people. Hamas has told people to ignore Israel's message. In southern Gaza, five members a family were killed in Khan Younis refugee camp. With hundreds of people trapped in collapsed buildings, rescuers and residents were frantically tearing away rubble, sometimes pulling out barely-breathing children. "We were inside the house when we found bodies scattering, flying in the air - bodies of children who have nothing to do with the war," said resident Abed Rabayaa, whose neighbour's house in Khanis Younis was hit overnight. Reserves of fuel to power generators at all hospitals across the Gaza Strip are expected to last only around 24 more hours, putting thousands of patients at risk, the United Nations humanitarian office (OCHA) said early on Monday. More than one million people almost half the population of Gaza - have been displaced within the enclave, the United Nations said, and it is struggling to cope with their needs. For the fifth consecutive day, Gaza has had no electricity, pushing vital services, including health, water and sanitation to the brink of collapse. People are consuming brackish water from agricultural wells, raising concerns over the spread of disease. U.S. officials have warned that the war between Israel and Hamas could escalate after cross-border clashes between Israel and militants from Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hezbollah. As U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel for talks on Monday, Iran said the United States should be held to account for its role in the conflict. (Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi, Bassam Massoud and Nuha Sharaf in Gaza, Ari Rabinovitch, Dan Williams, Henriette Chacar, Dedi Hayun, Maayan Lubell, Emily Rose, James Mackenzie and John Davison in Jerusalem, Parisa Hafezi in Dubai, Humeyra Pamuk, Hatem Maher, Ahmed Tolba and Omar Abdel-Razek in Cairo, Nandita Bose, Rami Ayyub and Katharine Jackson in Washington, Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; Writing by Angus MacSwan, Editing by Miral Fahmy and Philippa Fletcher) Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has put a 15-week abortion ban at the center of his campaign to help the GOP take full control of state government and he has persuaded a broad slate of Republican candidates in the November election to coalesce behind the proposal. However, a majority of those Republican candidates many of them running in competitive districts in the two chambers of the Legislature pushed as recently as this year for far stricter abortion bans than the one Youngkin has proposed, according to research shared exclusively with NBC News by the States Project, a left-leaning group that helps promote Democrats in the legislative races. The implication is that the legislators could ultimately push for a stricter policy on reproductive rights than the one Youngkin is promising Virginians if he helps Republicans win back control of the state Senate and keep control of the House of Delegates. Take, for example, John Stirrup, a Republican candidate in a competitive state House district in Northern Virginia, who has said that he supports a total ban on abortion and that he felt Youngkins 15-week ban was a starting point, according to a recording of him May published this summer by The Washington Post. But at the same time, Stirrup told NBC News, he was willing to line up behind Youngkin's proposal. I recognize that there are differing views even inside our own party, but we have an obligation to govern where the majority of Virginians are," he said in a statement. Governor Youngkins efforts have identified that position: a limit on abortions after 15 weeks." Simone Leiro, a spokesperson for the States Project, said Stirrup is among many candidates in Virginia the group tracks who "aspire to criminalize patients and their providers." "They arent being honest with their voters, Leiro said. Republicans hold a three-seat edge in the state House, while Democrats control the Senate by four seats. Abortion rights one of the leading issues in races across the U.S. in the 2022 midterm elections is again top of mind for candidates and voters, and it will play a huge role in which party emerges from the Nov. 7 elections with control of the Legislature. Youngkin, who flipped the state red in his surprise 2021 victory, has injected himself into the legislative races to put the state fully under Republican control. His Spirit of Virginia PAC has spent heavily in competitive races, putting the 15-week abortion proposal at the center of much of its messaging. The plan includes exceptions for rape, incest and the health of the mother, and Republicans are making a bet that it is sufficiently moderate to avoid the backlash that has spiked in other states in response to strict abortion bans. Virginia is the last state in the broader South with no significant restrictions on abortion. Abortion is legal there through the second trimester of a womans pregnancy, with exceptions for the womans health during the third trimester. The research from the States Project, which has spent $4.5 million to help elect Democrats to the Virginia General Assembly this year, found that 16 of the 22 (72%) Republican nominees in competitive and GOP-leaning state Senate districts have said they also support abortion bans stricter than Youngkins proposal. For example, Emily Brewer, a Republican delegate running in a competitive Senate district in the southeastern part of the state, co-sponsored a fetal personhood House bill that proposed criminalizing abortion by making a person who kills the fetus of another intentionally or accidentally guilty of voluntary manslaughter," signed a pledge to vote "100% pro-life," and said last year that she is "pro-life at the moment of conception." Tara Durant, a delegate running for the state Senate in a competitive district in Northern Virginia, voted for the fetal personhood bill in the House of Delegates. And Sen. Dave Suetterlein, who is running in a newly drawn district in the southwestern part of the state, supported a bill in committee that would have banned abortion in the state completely, with limited exceptions, and would have created felony penalties for performing illegal abortions. Brewer and Suetterlein have also said they would support Youngkins 15-week ban, while Durant didnt respond to questions about whether she would. Abortion-rights advocates said the candidates recent support for stricter bans raises questions about whether theyd stick to their positions. Brewer and Suetterlein also didnt respond to questions. Virginia is the last stronghold for reproductive rights in the South and, really, the last opportunity to protect millions of people from another dangerous ban, said Leiro, the States Project spokesperson. In a statement, a Youngkin spokesperson dismissed the possibility that Republicans whod supported stricter abortion policies wouldnt line up behind his consensus position and criticized Democrats for being extreme" on the issue. Virginians elected a pro-life governor, and he supports finding consensus on legislation which would extend protections from Virginias current standard to when babies begin to feel pain in the womb at 15-weeks with exceptions, said the spokesperson, Macaulay Porter. Meanwhile, 31 of the 54 (57%) Republican nominees in competitive and GOP-leaning state House districts have said recently that they support an abortion ban stricter than Youngkins proposed 15-week ban, according to the groups analysis. In addition to Stirrup, they include Kim Taylor, a delegate running for a competitive seat south of Richmond, who voted for a 2023 bill in the House of Delegates that would create felony penalties for doctors who dont take certain steps in rare cases when abortion care results in live births. Taylor didnt respond to questions about her views on abortion and whether she supported Youngkins proposal. Leiro of the States Project argued that it will be legislators like Taylor and Stirrup, if they were to win, who would wield power regarding the specifics of a bill about abortion. If Republicans successfully take both chambers in November, its those lawmakers who will be writing the bills, she said. Not Youngkin. CORRECTION (Oct. 16, 2023, 1:50 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article misstated Virginia state Del. Emily Brewers legislative record. She was not among the sponsors of H.B. 1395, which proposed a total ban on abortion in Virginia. Then-President Trump speaks Jan. 6, 2021, during a rally protesting the electoral college certification of Joe Biden as president. (Associated Press) U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan granted special counsel Jack Smith's request Monday for a limited gag order to prevent former President Trump from attacking prosecutors, witnesses and court officials involved in his federal case over attempts to overturn the 2020 election. Chutkan prohibited all parties in the case, including Trump, from making or reposting any statements publicly targeting Smith or his staff and the court or staff, and prohibited statements about witnesses or their expected testimony. Chutkan said Trump can continue to campaign for the Republican nomination and say he believes the case is politically motivated, but he is not allowed to launch a pretrial smear campaign to intimidate or discredit witnesses or staff. This is not about whether or not I like the language Mr. Trump uses," Chutkan said. "This is about language that presents a danger to the administration of justice. His presidential candidacy does not give him carte blanche to vilify public servants who are simply doing their jobs." Chutkan said that Trumps free-speech rights arent greater than those of other criminal defendants just because he is making another bid for the White House. "I cannot imagine any other criminal case where a defendant is allowed to call a prosecutor deranged or a thug. No other defendant would be allowed to do it, and Im not going to allow it in this case. Smith's prosecutors asked for the order, arguing that Trumps barrage of social media and campaign trail claims may intimidate witnesses, increase the chance of violence and taint the Washington, D.C., jury pool ahead of Trumps March 4 trial start. Chutkan heavily questioned Trump's lawyer John Lauro about the language Trump has used online and in interviews in the last few months, including calling Smith deranged and his staff thugs. If you call certain people thugs enough times, Mr. Lauro, doesnt that suggest that someone should get them off the streets? Lauro responded that Trump is entitled under the 1st Amendment to campaign and speak about the news of the day. "We are talking about a censorship order in this case that is unheard of in our constitutional order," Lauro said. Chutkan responded dryly, "There are a lot of things in this case that are unheard of." Chutkan opted not to accept Smith's request to impose additional restrictions on what Trump can say about Washington or the jury pool, and to not impose additional restrictions on criticizing the government, Department of Justices handling of the case or Trumps belief that the case is politically motivated. While the specific wording of the order has not yet been released, Chutkan said Trump can campaign against former Vice President Mike Pence, who is also running for the nomination, but cannot comment on his role in the case or the substance of his testimony. She said she will consider sanctions as remarks potentially in violation are brought before her. Trump is charged with engaging in conspiracies to overturn the results of the 2020 election in order to stay in power despite having lost to Joe Biden. The charges are conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, conspiracy against rights, and obstruction of or attempting to obstruct an official proceeding. He has pleaded not guilty. Chutkan warned Trump's lawyers in August that his out-of-court commentary about the upcoming trial could cause her to move up the trial date in order to prevent the jury pool from being tainted. Prosecutors argued that the warning has not stopped the former president from attacking known witnesses and court officials. "We are in here today not just because of statements he made before the government's motion, but after, up to last night!" Chutkan said. In a Truth Social post Sunday, Trump called Smith a "Leaking, Crooked and Deranged Prosecutor... who has a terrible record of failure" and Chutkan a "highly partisan Obama appointed Judge... who should recuse herself based on the horrible things she has said." Trump's lawyers argued that the conditions of his release included sufficient limits on his speech to protect the trial. "What you have put in place is working," Lauro said. Chutkan laughed in response. "I have to take issue with that." Lauro said that prosecutors havent shown that any witness has been intimidated. Chutkan noted that Smith has presented evidence of the effect of Trump statements on witnesses in other matters. Most recently Trump suggested that former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley deserves to be put to death. "This guy turned out to be a Woke train wreck who, if the Fake News reporting is correct, was actually dealing with China to give them a heads up on the thinking of the President of the United States," Trump wrote on his social platform Truth Social. "This is an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH! A war between China and the United States could have been the result of this treasonous act." "We both know that the tweet or whatever it was about Gen. Milley was a threat and it was meant as a threat," prosecutor Molly Gaston said. Lauro said Trump has a right to talk about what kind of person he would pick for such a post. Trump and his lawyers have framed the potential order as an issue of free speech and warned that restraining his speech would unfairly favor his political opponents. Trump, the leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, has also used the possibility of a gag order as a campaign and fundraising tactic. "They want to take away my First Amendment rights, and my ability to both campaign and defend myself. In other words, they want to cheat and interfere in the 2024 Presidential Election," Trump said in that same post Sunday night. In a statement, Trump's campaign called the order "an absolute abomination and another partisan knife stuck in the heart of our Democracy by Crooked Joe Biden." Lauro complained that President Biden would not be subject to a gag order. Chutkan responded that Joe Biden is not a party to this case. He is not under release conditions. Gaston noted that the Justice Department isn't asking that Trump not be able to campaign. "He could criticize President Biden to his heart's content, Your Honor, because President Biden is not a party to this case, Gaston said. The politics of any legal action involving Trump are hard to miss. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) tweeted that she was attending the hearing as a member of the Oversight Committee to see if Judge Chutkan is really going to destroy the 1st amendment free speech rights of former President Trump." Trump is under a partial gag order by the judge overseeing a New York civil case over whether he and his family inflated the value of properties they owned in order to secure more favorable loans. The gag was imposed after Trump posted a photo of a court clerk on social media and said she was running his case. When Chutkan, who has repeatedly been the subject of Trump's criticism on social media, questioned whether she should impose a similar order preventing Trump from targeting her or her staff, Lauro said that he would pass along her admonishment to Trump, and said that such a post would not be made in this case. The courts instructions and admonition is heard by all, Lauro said. Gaston disagreed, saying a gag order is necessary and that there has already been a criminal threat to the court. Chutkan started the hearing by denying a special counsel motion to impose requirements on potential jury surveys by the Trump legal team beyond a notice of intent to the court before they proceed. She said that she did not see a reason to micromanage, but that she would need to review their methodology and questions if the defense makes a motion to move venues. Get the best of the Los Angeles Times politics coverage with the Essential Politics newsletter. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. WASHINGTON The judge overseeing the federal election interference case on Monday issued a partial gag order forbidding former President Donald Trump from making statements about potential witnesses or disparaging comments about the prosecutors. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said she would not impose restrictions on Trump's statements about Washington, D.C., and its residents, nor on statements criticizing the government or the Justice Department generally. But she imposed a restriction on all parties, including Trump, that banned them from making or reposting any statements publicly targeting the special counsel or his staff, as well as court staff members or personnel. Mr. Trump may still vigorously seek public support as a presidential candidate, debate policies and people related to that candidacy, criticize the current administration and assert his belief that this prosecution is politically motivated, Chutkan said. But those critical first amendment freedoms do not allow him to launch a pre-trial smear campaign against participating government staff, their families and foreseeable witnesses. "Mr. Trump can certainly claim he's being unfairly prosecuted, but I cannot imagine any other criminal case in which a defendant is permitted to call the prosecutor 'deranged' or 'a thug,' and I will not permit it here simply because the defendant is running a political campaign," Chutkan added. "His presidential candidacy does not give him carte blanche to vilify and implicitly encourage violence against public servants who are simply doing their job." She went on to say that Trump could make statements about one of his 2024 Republican rivals, former Vice President Mike Pence, but could not speak about his role in the case. Chutkan said Trump did not have a right to launch a smear campaign against witnesses, prosecutors and court staff members. Speaking at a campaign rally in Iowa, Trump said he would appeal the order. "Ill be the only politician in history that runs with a gag order where Im not allowed to criticize people. Can you imagine this?" he told the crowd. "Well appeal it and well see. But its so unconstitutional." Special counsel Jack Smith, who brought the federal election interference case against Trump in August, was seeking a narrow gag order against Trump to "protect the integrity of the trial and the jury pool." Trump's team, without evidence, has argued that the Biden administration is trying to silence his speech during the presidential campaign. Prosecutors and Trump's defense attorney appeared before Chutkan at a hearing in Washington on Monday morning. Trump was not present. The trial is scheduled for March. Chutkan laughed after Trumps lawyer John Lauro argued that the current conditions are working, saying she disagreed before she went through some of Trump's statements. Chutkan said that Trump "doesnt" have unfettered First Amendment rights and that there's "no question" that the court is entitled to impose restrictions to ensure the fair administration of justice. Chutkan said she had concerns about the breadth of the proposed order presented by Smith's office. But Molly Gaston of the special counsel's office said Trump "can criticize President Biden to his hearts content" because Biden had nothing to do with the case. Trump posted on his Truth Social platform during the hearing, The TRUMP GAG ORDER that the CORRUPT Biden Administration is trying to obtain is totally Unconstitutional! A Trump campaign spokesperson called the order "an absolute abomination and another partisan knife stuck in the heart of our Democracy by Crooked Joe Biden, who was granted the right to muzzle his political opponent, the leading candidate for the Presidency in 2024, and the most popular political leader in America, President Donald J. Trump. President Trump will continue to fight for our Constitution, the American peoples right to support him, and to keep our country free of the chains of weaponized and targeted law enforcement." Within hours, the Trump campaign also sent out a fundraising email claiming the order had been imposed "at the request of Joe Biden." Two notable people appeared at the courthouse Monday to watch the hearing: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a close Trump ally, and defense lawyer Stanley Woodward, who represents Walt Nauta, Trumps valet and co-defendant in the separate classified documents case. Woodward appeared to be in court just as an observer but could be seen talking to Trumps legal team during a break in the proceedings. During the break, Greene could be heard disputing that Trump would ever say some of the hypothetical statements Chutkan presented during arguments. Trump, prosecutors said in a filing before the hearing, wants "special treatment, asserting that because he is a political candidate, he should have free rein to publicly intimidate witnesses and malign the Court, citizens of this District, and prosecutors." But in this case, they wrote, he should be treated like any criminal defendant. Trump's team had argued that the gag order sought by prosecutors was politically motivated. At bottom, the Proposed Gag Order is nothing more than an obvious attempt by the Biden Administration to unlawfully silence its most prominent political opponent, who has now taken a commanding lead in the polls, Trumps lawyers wrote in a brief filed last month. Trumps team sought to delay the trial until 2026, and Smiths team wanted jury selection in the case to begin this year, but Chutkan set a trial date for March 4, the day before Super Tuesday, when primary voters in several states cast their ballots. Chutkan, who has received threats in connection with her oversight of the case, previously warned Trump about talking about the case in a way that could intimidate witnesses or affect the proceedings. In a separate civil trial in New York, a judge ordered Trump to delete a disparaging post about a member of the judge's staff. Personal attacks on members of my court staff are unacceptable, inappropriate and I wont tolerate it, said Judge Arthur Engoron, who is overseeing the New York attorney general's fraud lawsuit against Trump, his company and his two adult sons. Consider this a gag order on all parties with respect to posting or publicly speaking about any member of my staff." At least six British citizens have been killed in Israel while another 10 are missing, Rishi Sunak told the Commons on Monday as he described the attacks by Hamas as a pogrom. The prime minister said the barbaric attacks on the people of Israel had shocked the world, adding: We should call it by its name: it was a pogrom. Mr Sunak said Britain stands with Israel when he repeated his support for the countrys right to defend itself as it prepares for to go after Hamas [and] take back hostages with a ground invasion of Gaza. The PM also called for every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians arguing that Israels military push to destroy Hamas must be done in line with international humanitarian law. His intervention came as Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu signalled a long and bloody battle lay ahead as he warned victory might take time but that his forces were ready and storming forward. Speaking to Israels parliament on Monday, he urged Western allies to rally behind Israel: I tell our friends... Our war is your war. If we do not stand together in a united front, it will reach you as well. Victory will take time. There will be difficult moments. There will be pitfalls. Sacrifice will be necessary. Mr Netanyahu compared Hamas to the Nazis and accused its allies Iran and the militant group Hezbollah, based in Lebanon, of wanting to return the Middle East to the abyss of the barbaric fanaticism of the Middle Ages. Addressing the House of Commons, Mr Sunak announced an extra 10m in UK aid for the Palestinian people, and called on Israel and Egypt to open up the Rafah border crossing to allow urgently needed humanitarian supplies. We must support the Palestinian people because they are victims of Hamas too, saying the group does not represent the people of Gaza. We must ensure humanitarian aid reaches civilians in Gaza this requires Egypt and Israel to let in the aid that is so badly needed. Confirming the British dead, he said the terrible nature of these attacks meant it was proving difficult to identify some of the deceased. With a heavy heart I can inform the House that at least six British citizens were killed. A further 10 are missing, some of whom are feared to be among the dead. He added that 500 Britons had been brought back to the UK on eight flights. Rishi Sunak addresses students during an assembly at a Jewish school in north London on Monday (Getty) The Tory leader said he had raised the need to minimise the impact on civilians in Gaza with Mr Netanyahu as best we can, adding: Ive raised the humanitarian situation. He said Mr Netanyahu did not want wider escalation in the region. The PM also said Hamas was now telling people to stay behind in the north of Gaza. Its Hamas that is embedding itself inside civilian populations and that is just example of the barbarity with which they operate. The Israeli military has announced it is preparing for a coordinated offensive in Gaza and has ordered citizens to move south. Israel has called up some 360,000 military reservists ahead of the anticipated offensive, while tanks and heavy weaponry have also been brought to the border as airstrikes continue to pound the besieged enclave. The Israeli government denied agreeing a ceasefire in southern Gaza to allow aid in and some foreign nationals to leave. Sunak held talks with Mahmoud Abbas on Monday, leader of the Palestinian National Authority (Getty Images) Mr Sunak held talks with Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of Palestinian National Authority, and reiterated the UKs position that Hamas does not speak for ordinary Palestinians and affirmed that the UK continues to support a two-state solution, said No 10. His spokesperson added: However hard it is, we need to ask the tough questions about how we can revive the long-term prospect for a two-state solution, for normalisation and regional stability not least because that is precisely what Hamas has been trying to kill. Issuing support for the PMs stance, Sir Keir Starmer told the Commons that Israel was the victim of terrorism on an unimaginable scale and said Labour stands with Israel. The Labour leader said civilians must not be targeted in Gaza and innocent lives must be protected. Imran Hussain, the Labour MP for Bradford East, said Israels indiscriminate airstrikes were killing civilians in Gaza and is in clear violation of international law. Senior Tory MP Tobias Ellwood, warned against a full-scale invasion of Gaza. If we are a true friend of Israel, we should counsel against a full-scale ground invasion at this time, as it will see this conflict spill into the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Addressing the British Jewish community, Mr Sunak said in the Commons that Hamas atrocities were an existential strike at the very idea of Israel as a safe homeland for the Jewish people. I understand why it has shaken you to your core ... We are doing everything we can to protect you. But he said we stand with British Muslim communities too as he noted the moment of great anguish for those appalled by Hamass actions while being fearful of the response. We must listen to these concerns with the same attentiveness, he said. Over the last few days tensions have soared along Israels northern borders with exchanges of fire leaving seven people dead. On Monday Hezbollah fighters continued firing anti-tank missiles on Israeli army positions, with Israeli troops shelling back. Also on Monday, the head of Israels Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency took responsibility for failing to prevent Hamas from carrying out its deadly rampage through Israeli towns. Despite a series of actions we carried out, unfortunately, on Saturday we were unable to generate sufficient warning that would allow the attack to be thwarted, said Shin Bet director Ronen Bar. The Israeli military said that it had notified the families of 199 people that their loved ones were being held in Gaza, by both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Many readers have contacted The Independent with concerns about their travel plans to the Middle East as well as the eastern Mediterranean. These are the key questions and answers. Is travel to and from Israel still possible? Yes, commercial flights continue, with El Al linking London Heathrow and Luton with Tel Aviv. But the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) warns against travel to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Standard travel insurance will be invalidated if you choose to go there and any form of tourism would be completely inappropriate in the current circumstances. Which other Middle East locations are also officially no-go areas? The Foreign Office warns against travel to: Iraq Lebanon Syria The FCDO warns against travel to certain areas of these countries: Egypt: Most of the nation is off limits. Crucially, though, the Foreign Office does not warn against travel to tourist areas, including the entire Red Sea coast and the Nile Valley all the way from the Sudan border to the Mediterranean, including Abu Simbel, Aswan, Luxor, Cairo and the Pyramids and Alexandria. Jordan: Only a 3km strip of territory along the Syrian border is off-limits. Saudi Arabia: Only a 10km strip of territory along the Yemeni border is off-limits. Terrorist attacks have taken place in these countries, and the FCDO warns that further attacks are likely. But without a no-go warning, travel firms can continue to send holidaymakers and need not offer refunds to people unwilling to travel. I have a tour of Jordan in three weeks. What are my options? You could choose to cancel, but if you do so you are likely to lose most or all of your money. The terrible events in Israel and Gaza are of huge concern for the Middle East, but at present the Foreign Office believes that Jordan is sufficiently safe for British visitors. I have also checked the advice to travellers issued by the Australian and US governments both of which mirror the British line. Jordan is a fascinating and welcoming nation, which I have been lucky enough to visit several times in the past few years. On the basis of my experiences I would not hesitate to travel to the Jordanian capital, Amman, or any of the main tourist sites: Jerash, the Dead Sea, Petra, Wadi Rum and Aqaba. If the Foreign Office advice changes to warn against travel to Jordan, package holiday companies will automatically cancel trips and refund. Airlines are likely to offer flexibility. Aircraft flying in and out of Amman are avoiding Israeli airspace. The British Airways arrival from London Heathrow on Monday took an extended flight path to reach the Jordanian capital, flying south over Egypt to the Red Sea before turning north once in Jordanian airspace. Is Egypt a safe prospect? The overall risk level has not changed since the new conflict began in Egypt, and anecdotal evidence suggests that the conflict has not had any impact on the tourist experience in resorts, cities and archaeological sites. Flights from the UK to Cairo, Sharm El Sheikh and the other main Red Sea airport at Hurghada do not go anywhere near Israel. The number of links from the UK to Egyptian airports is planned to increase sharply in late October and early November, and there is currently no reason to avoid the country. I am booked on a cruise in the eastern Mediterranean, transiting the Suez Canal to the Red Sea. Is it likely to go ahead? Yes. While the conflict continues, cruise lines are avoiding calls at Israeli ports. But eastern Mediterranean, Suez and Red Sea cruises are continuing. The only specific warning from the Foreign Office is: Photography of, or near, military property is strictly banned. This includes the Suez Canal. Cruise lines are well versed in responding to geo-political crises, and if there is any perception of significant threat the itinerary will be adjusted. For the coming weeks, all calls to Israeli ports have been cancelled. Some cruise lines have added extra calls elsewhere. Any excursions booked for Israel will be refunded. What if I cancel to a currently safe country and the travel advice later changes to warn against visiting? You will still lose most or all of your money even if the Foreign Office subsequently advises against travel. Should I worry about attitudes to Western visitors in other Arab countries and the wider Islamic world? Since the assault on Israel began, the FCDO has warned of the risks from demonstrations and disturbances in a number of Arab nations, including Morocco and Oman. For Morocco, the Foreign Office warns: There remains the potential for demonstrations across the country. You should avoid these gatherings, and be aware of the potential for protests to occur spontaneously. For Oman, the warning is: Be alert to local and regional developments, which might trigger public disturbances. But there is no evidence of tourists being subject to harassment since the latest conflict began. Are flightpaths between the UK and Asia affected? Airlines constantly monitor threats and adjust trajectories accordingly. For example, Virgin Atlantic flight VS250 from London Heathrow to Shanghai would in normal times traverse Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Russia on its way to eastern China. But because of the exclusion of European aircraft from Russian and Ukrainian airspace, it follows a more southerly trajectory. The latest flight flew over the Balkans, the Black Sea and the Caucasus before turning northeast over the Caspian Sea. On the extremely popular link between the UK and Dubai, Emirates is currently flying over Turkey, Iraq and Kuwait, avoiding Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Between London Heathrow and the Saudi capital, Riyadh, the standard route is over Egypt. WASHINGTON Sens. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., dont have much in common. They hail from opposite areas of the country, they sit on opposite sides of the aisle, and their paths to Washington couldnt have been more different. Outside of their mutual love for dogs, Padilla and Tillis bonded over something else: their experiences caring for loved ones undergoing mental health crises. Their conversations transformed into action when, a few months later, they launched a caucus that, for the first time, would focus solely on the issue. First of all, were talking and its something that doesnt happen enough in America and society in general when it comes to mental health, Padilla said in an interview on Capitol Hill. Its not a red state, blue state thing. But it is a personal thing. Padillas wife, Angela, spent her life taking care of her mother, who has been diagnosed with manic-depressive disorder and schizoaffective disorder. Angela has dedicated her career to mental health advocacy, and when she met her husband, she brought it up on their first date. And she began to share stories about where her experience was being not just her mothers daughter but her advocate and caretaker, Padilla said. As severe as that diagnosis is, you know, the family has really rallied around her. Shes got her network of friends and support, and were all insistent on keeping those doctors appointments, staying on top of the medications. And as a result, shes actually led a pretty fulfilling life. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., during a Senate hearing on Sept. 6, 2023. (Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call via AP file) Tillis, too, is familiar with taking care of family members with mental health conditions; a grandmother developed Alzheimer's at an early age, and he wanted to learn as much as he could about it. It wasnt until 20 years later that he faced a crisis of his own, when medication caused him to experience manic behavior and depression for several months. I got a glimpse of what it feels like to be bipolar. I got a glimpse of what it feels like to have people who really did want to help you not be very helpful, he said. And so those experiences convinced me that weve got a lot of work to do. The U.S. is in a mental health crisis, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the countrys largest grassroots mental health organization, which has partnered with the new Senate caucus. One in 5 adults experience mental illness every year, and by age 14, half of all lifetime mental illnesses will have begun, the nonprofit organization has found. Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among 10- to 14-year-olds, behind traffic accidents and accidental injuries. In the last few years, we have seen a massive increase in what people need. Theres so many more people who are recognizing that theyre struggling with their mental health, and theres so many more people who are having those symptoms of mental health conditions, NAMIs chief advocacy officer, Hannah Wesolowki, said in an interview. The caucus, founded by Padilla, Tillis, Tina Smith, D-Minn., and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, features members who have been outspoken about their personal experiences. When I was in college and then again when I was a young mom, I struggled with depression, Smith said. Four years ago during her maiden speech on the Senate floor, Smith opened up about her mental health story, which she described at the time as "the story of millions of Americans." Tina Smith with her family. (Courtesy Sen. Tina Smith) I realized that theres a lot of power and people who are powerful and by all appearances have everything all together in their lives to be able to be really direct about some of the challenges that we faced, Smith said in an interview this month. Ernst has passed legislation that expanded access to mental health care for rural communities and veterans after she disclosed her own trauma of having undergone years of mental and physical abuse at the hands of her ex-husband. His anger and strength were too much for me. Dizzy and caught off guard, I was unable to fight. My throat was closed and I couldnt scream, Ernst wrote in her memoir, Daughter of the Heartland, in 2020, in which she painfully detailed her abuse. I honest to God thought he was going to kill me. Wesolowski said that for ordinary people, seeing politicians discuss their own mental health experiences would help erode some of the stigma that has plagued the issue for decades. It wasnt that long ago that having a mental illness and talking about it would be a career ender for a politician, she said. And now to see the senators open up, share their experience and normalize mental health as health is a game changer. The House has had a mental health caucus since 2020, and current membership stands at 105 lawmakers from both sides of the aisle. The senators said they hope that one day people will regard their mental health the same way they do their physical health. Once upon a time people were very scared to share a diabetes diagnosis, Padilla said. Once upon a time, not too long ago, women would fear sharing publicly that they had breast cancer. So Im eager for the day where talking about mental health is a normal conversation, he said. As part of its initial actions, the caucus will first work to use funds already appropriated as part of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which was signed into law last year after the mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and to ensure that states and local governments fully understand the scope of resources at their disposal. The Department of Health and Human Services awarded $245 million to fund mental health services allocated in the legislation, which is the biggest investment in history to address mental health. Nearly $60 million of it is directed toward mental health awareness training for school personnel, emergency first responders, law enforcement officials and others. One thing we have to do is put our foot on the accelerator of the implementation of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, Tillis said. It will have a sea-change impact on the states that do it aggressively and implement all of it. Padilla signaled that proper implementation of the funds would have the most significant short-term impact on people. I think theres going to be plenty to talk about in the interim and the long term. Short-term, we have a tremendous opportunity with the resources made available in the Safer Communities Act, he said. Lets make sure that money has been spent effectively and quickly. As for how the lawmakers deal with keeping their own mental wellness in check, they acknowledged that its an active effort to set boundaries on the chaotic, partisan environment in Washington and their personal lives back home. For me, my first call every morning and my last phone call every night is to my wife, Angela, Padilla said. So the frame of family, my children, helps level-set why I do what I do to meet the tremendous list of priorities, whats important, and how to cope with some of the nonsense that comes in the course of what we do. Sworn into the Senate by his predecessor, Vice President Kamala Harris, on Jan. 20, 2021, Padilla wasnt in the Capitol when rioters stormed the complex in an attempt to disrupt Congress from certifying the 2020 election results. But he is keenly aware that the trauma of that day, amid a pandemic, directly affected lawmakers, staff members, first responders and members of the media. Think what you want about that particular day its just maybe an extreme example, but one of many examples of even this institution is not immune to challenges, traumatic events and the need to be able to develop those coping mechanisms because we have a lot of important work to do, he said. Tillis, who said he was the last member to leave the Senate floor when insurrectionists approached on Jan. 6, 2021 , said he saw a lot of horrors unfold: My coping mechanism I look at that day, it was a horrible day that should have never happened. But our democratic institutions held, and we got our job [to certify the election] done. Ive just been blessed with the ability to flip a switch the minute I leave this building, Tillis said. I literally do not think about the goings-on of the day the minute I leave here until I come back. By Jung Min-ho Patriots and Veterans Affairs Minister Park Min-shik has called for a measured response and due process in taking down the unconstitutional statue of a communist composer, saying vandalism wont help achieve the goal. Kim posted the message on social media, Sunday, after officials in Gwangju found the statue of Korean-born Chinese composer Jeong Yul-seong had apparently been vandalized the previous day, the second time this month. Jeong, known as an independence fighter for Korea, is a controversial figure due to his post-independence activities including composing military songs for China and North Korea. Under the law, we recommended for the city government in Gwangju to suspend the project commemorating Jeong Yul-seong and take down relevant facilities, Park said. One of our legal bases was Paragraph 1, Article 1 of the Constitution that states The Republic of Korea shall be a democratic republic. He said the statue violates the spirit of the Constitution and will be removed as soon as all the necessary procedures are completed. But if someone damages a public facility just because it is not aligned with their political or religious beliefs, the act would be treated as vandalism, which would give those who set up the unconstitutional statue an excuse (to keep it), Park said. Please leave the matter to the central and city governments in Gwangju. The statue was restored after being damaged on Sept. 1 by a conservative activist who was apparently angered by its presence. The prosecution has been reviewing whether to indict him. The city government in the liberal stronghold has been pushing to build a park named after Jeong with a budget of 4.8 billion won ($3.6 million), citing his contributions to the fight against Japans colonial rule. It is also constructing a memorial hall on a street named after him near his birth home. Speaking to reporters last week, Park called on city officials to immediately suspend all related activities, saying Jeong runs counter to the identity of South Korea. (Reuters) - Novavax said on Monday it was "encouraged" by the broad availability of its updated COVID-19 vaccine being rolled out in the U.S., days after rival Pfizer slashed its full-year revenue forecast. "It is too soon to evaluate U.S. vaccination rates given that vaccinations will continue in the coming weeks," Novavax added. Shares of vaccine maker Novavax and rival Moderna were down 6% to 7% after Pfizer on Friday flagged concerns on lower-than-expected sales of its COVID-19 vaccine and treatment. Novavax also said it continues to work in close partnership with the European Medicines Agency (EMA), after the regulator delayed a decision to give approval for the company's variant-tailored COVID-19 shot. The company will provide an update on its upcoming third-quarter earnings in early November 2023. (Reporting by Khushi Mandowara in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath) A queer professor at Arizona State University was allegedly left bloodied after an altercation broke out last week between him and two members of a conservative group in what authorities are investigating as a hate crime. David Boyles who teaches English and is a co-founder of Drag Story Hour Arizona was confronted on ASUs campus by two men with the right-wing group Turning Point USA on Wednesday. The next day the group posted online a 96-second video showing Boyles being followed by a cameraman and a personality named Kalen DAlmeida, who was firing contentious questions about his work with Drag Story Hour. Drag Story Hour is a national group with local chapters across the country that organizes events where drag performers read childrens books to kids at bookstores, libraries, LGBTQ centers and other public venues. A student walks to class at Arizona State University in Tempe on July 10, 2007. (Ross D. Franklin / AP file ) You cant run, DAlmeida said. Its best if you just talk to me on why you want to push sodomy to young people. The Turning Point USA video shows Boyles ignoring the men until the end of the clip, when Boyles appears to strike the camera and the video cuts out. Security video released by law enforcement shows Boyles striking the camera and DAlmeida subsequently pushing Boyles to the floor, causing him to hit his face. A spokesperson for the university police, Adam Wolfe, said in an email that police are investigating the confrontation as a potential bias or prejudicially motivated incident. Wolfe confirmed Boyles' injuries, adding that he did not require additional treatment. Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet told NBC affiliate KPNX of Phoenix that the cameraman plans to file a police report because of the altercation. Boyles posted a photo on Facebook last week showing the left side of his face bloodied. My physical injuries are relatively minor and Im doing ok, Boyles wrote. But Im also feeling angry, violated, embarrassed, and despairing at the fact that we have come to normalize this kind of harassment and violence against anyone who tries to support LGBTQ+ youth (ironically the topic of the class I had just finished teaching) or just LGBTQ+ people and other marginalized groups in general. He added, Whether it is bomb threats against childrens hospitals and libraries, a store owner being killed for her pride flag, or the now standard rhetoric that anyone who supports LGBTQ+ youth is a groomer, it has to stop. ASU President Michael Crow condemned the altercation Saturday in a letter posted on the universitys website. It is astounding to me that individuals from Turning Point USA would wait for an ASU instructor to come out of his class to follow him, harass him and ultimately shove him to the ground, bloodying his face, Crow said. Anti-LGBTQ demonstrations and attacks have spiked across the country in the last year. From June 2022 to May, there was an average of 39 anti-LGBTQ protests per month, compared with just three per 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 addition, there have been several high-profile acts of violence allegedly incited by anti-LGBTQ sentiments in recent months, including multiple bomb threats. In July, the fatal stabbing of a 28-year-old gay professional dancer, OShae Sibley, in Brooklyn, New York, made national headlines. Police deemed the stabbing hate crime. Similarly, the killing of Laura Ann Carleton, a California business owner and mother of nine, sent shock waves around the nation. Carleton was fatally shot in an altercation over a Pride flag displayed in her clothing store. Last month, police in Salt Lake City, New York City and New Haven, Connecticut, all responded to bomb threats to LGBTQ spaces or events in the same weekend. A high school where a teacher was fatally stabbed in France was evacuated on Monday morning following a bomb threat. While there were no classes scheduled at City School Gambetta-Carnot, its doors were open for pupils and staff to pay tribute to teacher Dominique Bernard. Mr Bernard was killed in the attack in the northern town of Arras on Friday at around 11am, that left two other members of staff in critical condition. A French military serviceman stands guard in front of the Gambetta high school during the evacuation (AFP via Getty Images) Teachers, some of them in tears and holding each other, and pupils who had come to lay flowers were forced to leave the building during the alert on Monday. The prefecture of the northern Pas-de-Calais region said the decision was made to evacuate the school after police received a threat via its website. As a police bomb squad arrived, teachers and students gathered in the courtyard of a building opposite their school as civil protection personnel comforted them. France is on heightened alert against feared terror threats following the stabbing incident. Schools across the country will hold a moment of silence after the teacher was killed and three other people were injured last week in the attack by a former student suspected of Islamic radicalisation. Hours following the attack, Emmanuel Macron visited the school, describing the attack as the result of barbaric Islamist terrorism, before praising the teacher. Police respond to the attack on at the school on Friday (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) The teacher who was killed had come forward to protect others and had without doubt saved many lives, he said. Counter-terrorism authorities are investigating the stabbing, and the suspected assailant and several others are in custody, prosecutors said. The suspect had been under recent surveillance by intelligence services for radicalisation. The prosecutor said the alleged assailant was a former student there and repeatedly shouted Allahu akbar - God is great - during the attack. Another teacher and a security guard are in a critical condition with wounds from the stabbing, police said. The counter-terrorism prosecutor said a cleaning worker was also injured. The attack comes during a rise in tension in the country as a result of the Israel-Hamas conflict. After a security meeting on Monday, interior minister Gerald Darmanin said that 102 people have been arrested in relation with antisemitic acts or inciting terrorism since the war began on October 7. One person was killed early Monday morning when a tractor trailer hit an SUV, according to the South Carolina Highway Patrol. Herbert Cayruth Nelson III, a 44-year-old Columbia resident, died at the scene of the crash, Fairfield County Coroner Chris Hill said. The two-vehicle collision happened at about 2 a.m. on a stretch of Interstate 77 in Fairfield County, said Master Trooper Gary Miller of the Highway Patrol. The crash occurred near the 30 mile marker on I-77, according to Miller. Thats where a Hummer H3 was disabled in a northbound lane from a previous collision, Miller said. The SUV ran off I-77 and hit a guard rail before returning back onto the highway, according to Hill. A 2024 Freightliner tractor trailer was driving north on I-77 when it crashed into the immobilized Hummer, killing the SUV driver, according to Miller. The driver of the tractor trailer was not injured, but a passenger in the truck was hurt and had to be taken to a hospital in Columbia, Miller said. Further information on the passengers condition was not available. No other injuries were reported. There was no word if either of the drivers or the tractor trailer passenger were wearing seat belts. The deadly crash continues to be investigated by the Highway Patrol and coroners office. An autopsy is scheduled with Newberry Pathology to confirm Nelsons cause of death, Hill said. Through Wednesday, 765 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2023, according to the state Department of Public Safety. Last year, 1,091 people died in crashes in South Carolina, DPS reported. At least 10 people have died in Fairfield County crashes in 2023, according to DPS data. Last year, nine deaths were reported in the county, DPS reported. Republic National Distributing Company had $1.6 million worth of their stock stolen (Google Maps) More than $1.6m worth of alcohol was stolen from a distribution company in Florida after burglars allegedly used tractor-trailers to secure the large haul. The theft occurred on 8 July during the early hours of the morning at Republic National Distributing Company in Gibsonton, Florida, according to an unsealed search warrant obtained by CNN on 5 October. The distribution company is one of the nations leading wholesale beverage alcohol distributors, which specialises in wines and spirits, according to its website. The warrant reported that a staggering 4,277 cases of liquor were allegedly stolen from the distributing site somewhere between 4.10am and 9.45am. The search warrant was issued for an Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max which police said there was probable cause to believe it contains specific information, technical data and evidence concerning the theft. It is unclear who or how many people were involved in the burglary, as the search warrant obtained by CNN only refers to them as unknown suspects. There is also currently no known motive for stealing the enormous amounts of alcohol. The suspects reportedly removed surveillance video equipment set up at the distribution centre, yet they did not completely fly under the radar. Surveillance footage from a nearby business and a convenience store was obtained by police from the Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office and they were able to identify three tractor-trailers used during the theft, CNN states. Further footage from a tractor-trailer storage facility also showed the three vehicles allegedly used in the heist. The large distribution centre stocks big brands such as Malibu and Jose Cuervo (Google Maps) Kanchan Kinkade, vice president of corporate communications for Republic National Distributing Company told The Independent in a statement, While we are unable to comment at this time because this is an active law enforcement investigation, we have confidence that law enforcement is handling this matter seriously and taking all necessary steps to find the perpetrators of this crime. The alcohol distributors have locations in 38 states across the US and had a revenue of $12.1bn in 2022, according to Forbes. External thefts, including organised retail crime, made up 36 per cent of reports to the Retail Federation in 2022, USA Today reported. While this is down from 37 per cent in 2021, retail thefts as a whole represented an estimated $112.1 billion in losses last year, according to the federation. The Independent has contacted the Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office for further comment. The boss of Channel Tunnel operator Getlink, Yann Leriche, has welcomed the prospect of passenger rail competition between London and Paris. A new operator, Evolyn, has vowed to launch services in competition with Eurostar, which has held a monopoly on the route since 1994. Evolyn, which has Spanish backers, plans a new fleet of 12 trains for the service. The Getlink chief executive told BBC Today: It is great news great news for customers, for the environment and for our group, of course, as it will unlock the growth potential of the UK to Europe high-speed passenger market. There is still room for more than doubling the traffic in the Channel Tunnel. So you see the theres a lot of available capacity for growth. With Evolyn the market will be more dynamic, all operators will improve their offer. If you look at what happened in in Italy, for example, with new competition on high-speed rail: service quality has improved and prices have been contained. And in the end, there is more service to more customers, which is good, of course for passengers but also for the economy and the environment. Getlink, formerly Groupe Eurotunnel, benefits from the access charges paid by train operators. Figures for 2019, analysed by The Independent, indicate that Eurostar paid 21.36 (18.50) for each passenger travelling through the Channel Tunnel. Mr Leriche speculated that Evolyn could run trains to Germany and Switzerland as well. Evolyn has indicated that they will start with London to Paris and then extend to other destinations, he said. We dont know yet what these other destinations will be, but the arrival of Evolyn will most certainly speed up the opening of new routes to Germany or Switzerland, for example. We have made our own analysis and shown that those countries, Switzerland and Germany, have great potential. So we can expect in the coming years, direct services from London to Frankfurt, Cologne, Zurich or Geneva, for example. But the trainmaker Alstom has dampened optimism about the new entrants prospects. Evolyn appeared to imply a deal had been agreed for a dozen new trains for the Channel Tunnel operation. The manufacturer then issued a statement saying: Alstom and Evolyn have established a short-term agreement to proceed with initial train system engineering activities with the objective of accelerating activities, should the parties eventually enter into a contract for the purchase and delivery of a certain number of trains, provided that Evolyn is capable of securing project financing. With regards to potential future delivery dates for new trains, at this time, the final train delivery dates will be confirmed when a firm and final contract will be agreed upon, to be signed at a later date. A spokesperson for Eurostar said of Evolyns plans: We have seen the announcement, which is not for us to comment on. Our focus remains on growing sustainable travel in Europe. Getlink runs LeShuttle, the car-carrying operation between Folkestone and Calais, which does not compete directly with Eurostar. Photo 244142117 Tolgaildun | Dreamstime.com The U.S. Department of State announced good news for those who care about refugees and would like American college students to engage in more productive activities than protesting campus speakers or signing statements on controversial topics. Under a new policy announced in July 2023, Welcome Corps on Campus will allow U.S. universities and college students to sponsor refugees, helping them enroll in classes and navigate life in a new country. In January 2023, the Biden administration announced Welcome Corps to permit Americans to become private sponsors of refugees. It is fair to say the Trump administration would not have championed such an initiative. White House immigration chief Stephen Miller told Cliff Sims, a Trump communications aide, that "I would be happy if not a single refugee foot ever again touched American soil." U.S. refugee admissions plummeted 86% between FY 2016 and FY 2020 under Trump, according to George Mason University economics professor Michael Clemens. U.S. immigration law presents an imposing obstacle for most young people living in refugee camps hoping to pursue a U.S. college education. To obtain an F-1 visa, international students must demonstrate they will pay for school and maintain a residence abroad they do not intend to abandon after completing their studies. Miriam Feldblum of the Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration says there needs to be more explicit language that acknowledges refugee students cannot intend to return to a home country until a conflict ends or conditions normalized. Even under guidance issued in December 2021, international students must still show an intent to depart the United States, notes former U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) chief counsel Lynden Melmed. At a Georgetown University event in September sponsored by the Welcome Corps on Campus consortium, Rosie Hughes, formerly with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, told the story of a refugee from Zimbabwe who received a special exception to travel without a passport. He spent three harrowing days in detention in South Africa before high-level interventions freed him and permitted his travel to a U.S. university. Admitting students to America as refugees provides resettlement in America, overcoming the need for an F-1 visa and the challenge of travel documents. Under U.S. law, a refugee typically adjusts to permanent residence (a green card) a year after entering. Five years later, they can apply to become U.S. citizens. By sponsoring refugees, universities will ensure that education and living costs are covered for at least a year. The private sponsor group can help raise funds or assist refugees in obtaining additional aid. State Department officials note only 6% of refugees outside their countries have a chance to attend college, a significant loss of human potential. Students from Kenya and Jordan will be the first refugees admitted under Welcome Corps on Campus, starting in the fall of 2024, according to Julieta Valls Noyes, assistant secretary of state for population, refugees, and migration. Noyes expects the program will eventually allow universities to refer specific students, who must meet the refugee standard and pass background screenings. Some may wonder if refugees from different parts of the world can integrate into American society and participate in a modern market economy. New research shows those fears can be put to rest. Refugees possess an overwhelming desire to succeed and support their families. In recent research from the National Foundation for American Policy, where I work, labor economist and senior fellow Mark Regets examined over 30 years of data on refugees and found that earnings for refugees increased by 70 percent in the 10 years after arriving in the United States. That compares to 25 percent for U.S.-born workers. Iraqis who came to America between 2005 and 2009 experienced real earnings growth of 127 percent over the next decade. Refugees often start life in the United States with relatively low incomes that rise rapidly because they find niches in the labor market and invest in their education and ability to speak English. Regets found that the percentage of Ethiopians who arrived in the United States between 1985 and 1989 with a bachelor's degree rose from 17 percent in 1990 to 45 percent by 2000. More than 83 percent of refugees coming to the United States between 1985 and 2009 spoke English a year or more after arrival, increasing to 92 percent 10 years later. Incarceration rates for refugees are extremely low (0.2 percent for refugees vs. 1.3 percent for U.S.-born). Jacquelyn Pilch, who runs Welcome Corps at the State Department, expects U.S. students will be the biggest winners of private refugee sponsorship. She believes the program will expose them to different lives, cultures, and hardships. At the Georgetown event, Pilch told her experience in graduate school at Tufts volunteering to help a recently arrived Sunni Muslim translator for U.S. forces in Iraq. She said the student volunteers wanted to do something for the family around the holidays but "didn't want to offend them" and "agonized" over a gift due to respect for "sensitivities." They settled on "dull" gift cards for the Boston T (transit). "We went over to their apartment to drop them off before we all left for the holidays, and we walked in, and they had a giant Christmas tree in their living room with rainbow lights. Laughing, we said, 'What's the Christmas tree doing here?' They said, 'Well, everyone around us is doing it, and we just wanted to see how it felt.'" Pilch said volunteering to help refugees had a lasting impact on her and fellow students at Tufts. She wants other American students to have those experiences, too. American students also could support the young people transitioning to new lives. Under Uniting for Ukraine, the Biden administration allowed Americans to sponsor Ukrainian parolees financially, a unique policy initiative. Americans have stepped up, allowing over 270,000 Ukrainians fleeing Russia's invasion to be paroled into the United States. Critics have roasted the Biden administration's government-centered approach to trade, antitrust, and investment. The administration's focus on empowering individual Americans to sponsor and help refugees could be its best policy. The post U.S. Universities Will Be Able To Sponsor Refugees appeared first on Reason.com. By Nandita Bose, Humeyra Pamuk and Steve Holland WASHINGTON/CAIRO (Reuters) - The United States is bolstering its firepower in the Middle East to prevent the spread of the conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas and deter Iran from getting involved as international fears of a wider regional war grow. The newest U.S. aircraft carrier - and the world's largest - is already in the eastern Mediterranean and set to be joined by a second U.S. aircraft carrier in the next 10 days. While the White House says there are "no plans or intentions" for their use, it means U.S. military assets would be in place to provide air support to protect U.S. national security interests if needed. The U.S. also has an array of bases in the Middle East with troops, fighter aircraft and warships. "Every effort is being made to stop this from becoming a regional conflict. If that happens, it is going to draw U.S. resources in a big way," said a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity. "I don't want to speculate on what assistance can be offered if there is a wider conflict, those decisions haven't been made yet." U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken - speaking in Cairo on Sunday after days of Middle East shuttle diplomacy - delivered a blunt message and a veiled warning to U.S. foe Iran: "When it comes to Israel security, we have Israel's back." He said the deployment of two aircraft carrier strike groups was "not to provoke anyone, but just to send a very clear message of deterrence that no one should do anything that widens this conflict in any way, or that furthers aggression against Israel from any other direction." Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian warned on Sunday that "the hands of all parties in the region are on the trigger," while Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York said if Israel does not attack it, its interests or citizens, then Iran's armed forces would not engage militarily. Israel has vowed to annihilate Iran-backed Hamas - which controls the Gaza Strip - after its fighters stormed Israeli towns eight days ago, killing 1,300 people and seizing hostages in the worst attack on civilians in the country's history. HEZBOLLAH FEARS International diplomacy has been focused on preventing a spill over of the conflict - particularly into Lebanon. While Israel has been intensely bombing Gaza for the past week and preparing for a ground offensive, the country's military has also clashed on the Lebanese border with the Iran-backed, heavily armed Hezbollah group in the deadliest confrontations since they fought a month-long war in 2006. When asked if the United States could provide air support in northern Israel, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said: "No plans or intentions at this time." "That said, we take our national security interests seriously and we have ample military force in the region to protect and defend those interests as needed," Kirby added. Any decision to launch military action in the Middle East would come from U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democract, himself. Such a move already has some Republican support. Senator Lindsey Graham, an influential Republican voice on national security affairs, told Reuters on Sunday he would propose that Congress authorize a U.S. attack on Iran's oil industry if "a second front is opened in the north" of Israel. "If there's an effort by Hezbolllah to unleash a massive attack on Israel, the Iranians should pay a heavy price for that," he said. "Any escalation by Iran - triggering Hezbollah, killing the hostages - should put them in the crosshairs." U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Thursday the United States had seen no indications that Lebanon's Hezbollah militants were amassing to potentially attack Israel, widening the conflict. "We've not seen any massing of forces along the border," Austin said. "This is something that 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." Two U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the naval ships in the region were truly meant as a show of force and to give Biden options in the future if needed, rather than some certain plan for the U.S. to get involved. (Reporting by Nandita Bose, Humeyra Pamuk, Steve Holland, Idrees Ali; Writing by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Sandra Maler) By Mayela Armas, Matt Spetalnick and Marianna Parraga CARACAS/WASHINGTON/HOUSTON (Reuters) -Venezuela's government and opposition will resume long-suspended talks on Tuesday that President Nicolas Maduro said would benefit the upcoming 2024 election, a move that could lead to Washington easing sanctions, multiple sources said on Monday. The U.S. has long said it would lift some of its sanctions in exchange for democratic concessions from Maduro, but the announcement on Monday offered the first concrete schedule in nearly a year for talks between the government and opposition. President Joe Biden's administration has been shifting toward increasing U.S. engagement with Caracas on issues from energy to immigration to political reform, away from former President Donald Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign. The deal between the government and the opposition will offer electoral guarantees, Maduro said on state television. "We are on the verge of signing new agreements with the opposition, agreements beneficial for peace and the upcoming election," he said without giving details. The negotiations, meant to provide a way out of Venezuela's long-running political and economic crisis, will take place in Barbados. Maduro, president since 2013, is expected to run for re-election but has not yet formalized his candidacy. His government has banned prominent opposition figures from running. Initial steps by the U.S. would involve significant but limited sanctions relief, possibly removing some restrictions on Venezuela's banking sector, Washington sources said, adding that further relaxation would depend on whether Maduro organizes fair elections that meet international standards. The U.S. could quickly follow the signing of the government-opposition agreement with authorizations related to Venezuela's oil business, two people in Washington familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity. POSSIBLE SANCTIONS RELIEF Any U.S. action would come only after an agreement under which Maduro commits to a presidential election date and lifting of the bans on opposition candidates, these two sources said. One source in Washington said initial sanctions-easing steps could be announced within hours of the Barbados signing if the U.S. is satisfied Maduro has met his commitment at this stage. Among the steps under consideration is restoring Venezuelan banks' access to the global financial system, which could facilitate further oil-related transactions, the source said. The U.S. State Department celebrated the announcement of the return to talks earlier on Monday but did not mention sanctions relief. "The United States will continue its efforts to unite the international community in support of the Venezuelan-led negotiation process," it said. It was not immediately known whether U.S. officials would be present for the talks or announcement in Barbados. The U.S. is mindful that Maduro has failed to meet previous commitments on holding free elections and is watching closely to ensure he complies with his latest promises, sources said. One source in Washington said the government-opposition agreement will include an election date in the latter half of next year and will allow international observers and participation of opposition figures currently barred from holding office. It remained unclear whether all opposition candidates would have their bans lifted. The opposition considers the bans unlawful. Some members of the opposition said on Monday that they doubted Maduro would follow through on his promises. The two sides last met in November 2022. The opposition is set to hold a primary on Sunday to choose its 2024 candidate. Front-runner Maria Corina Machado is currently banned from holding public office. Last week, Reuters reported, citing five sources, that Venezuela and the U.S. had progressed at talks in Qatar toward a deal that could allow at least one additional foreign oil firm to take Venezuelan crude oil for debt repayment if Maduro resumed negotiations with the opposition. Two of those sources named France's Maurel & Prom, a joint venture partner with Venezuela state-run oil company PDVSA, as a possible recipient of a U.S. "comfort letter." At the time a Maurel & Prom spokesperson confirmed that the company "made a request to this effect to U.S. authorities" but declined to elaborate. A U.S. comfort letter would allow a partner of PDVSA to take Venezuelan oil for exports as debt repayment or establish an oil swap deal to settle pending debts and dividends. U.S. SANCTIONS The U.S. imposed sanctions on Venezuela to punish Maduro's government following a 2018 election that Washington considered a sham. Since 2019, U.S. sanctions have banned PDVSA from exporting its oil to its chosen markets. Trump's sanctions, combined with diplomatic pressure, were intended to force Maduro's ouster. Maduro and his government have survived with support from the military plus China, Russia and Cuba. The Biden administration has been seeking ways to increase the flow of oil to world markets to alleviate high prices caused by sanctions on Russia over its war in Ukraine, OPEC+ output cuts, and now fears conflict in the Middle East could escalate. But with no substantial investment in Venezuela's oil sector for over a decade, any real oil output increase will take time, according to analysts. Biden's administration has kept most sanctions in place in an effort to force Maduro to take concrete steps toward free elections, holding out sanctions relief as an enticement and drawing criticism from opponents. Assailing Biden's energy policies, Republican U.S. Senator John Barrasso said in a statement: "America should never beg for oil from socialist dictators or terrorists." The government and opposition last year agreed to the use of $3 billion in frozen assets for humanitarian needs, via a United Nations-run fund that is not yet operational. (Reporting by Mayela Armas in Caracas, Matt Spetalnick in Washington and Marianna Parraga in Houston; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb and Valentine Hilaire; Editing by David Gregorio and Sonali Paul) Prosecutors indicted opposition leader Lee Jae-myung on Monday on an additional charge of abetting perjury while standing trial in 2018 in an election law violation case. The move by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office came four days after the chair of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea was indicted without physical detention over breach of trust charges connected to a scandal-ridden property development project during Lee's term as mayor of Seongnam, just south of Seoul. The perjury charge centers on allegations that Lee had a former Seongnam mayor's secretary give false testimony at a trial for Lee in 2018 over a suspected official election law violation. Prosecutors accuse Lee of making multiple calls to the secretary asking him to testify in his favor ahead of the trial. Lee was acquitted by the Supreme Court in 2020 in the case. The back-to-back indictment of Lee came nearly a month after the National Assembly voted to lift the opposition leader's immunity from arrest in a surprise, narrow 149-136 vote attributed to a number of dissenting ballots from his own party that commands a majority of parliamentary seats. Prosecutors have since sought an arrest warrant for Lee, which was rejected by a Seoul court on Sept. 27. Lee and his party have vehemently lambasted the prosecution for what they called the "persecution" of the opposition party and accused the Yoon Suk Yeol government of attempting to "remove a political enemy." Lee is already standing trial on two other separate cases, involving alleged election law violations during his unsuccessful presidential bid in 2022 and corruption charges connected to another property development project launched during his term as Seongnam mayor, respectively. (Yonhap) The crisis of the House speakership is about to roll into its second week. On Friday, as House Republicans left Washington, it looked like Jim Jordan would struggle to win over the members of his conference. During the first vote among Republicans, more than 80 members voted against him and in the second round, 55 Republicans voted against him. The votes revealed his weaknesses as a congressional leader. He passed on having a roll call vote rather than a secret ballot. Having a roll call vote would have told him whom he needed to call during the weekend, whom he needed to win over and what promises he needed to make his opponents to get them to yes. The tide seems to be turning in his favor. On Monday, Rep Ann Wagner of Missouri, who had vehemently opposed Mr Jordan, said she would get behind him, saying she spoke with the Ohio Republican and he has allayed my concerns. Similarly, Rep Mike Rogers (R-AL), the chairman of the Armed Services Committee who many might remember for nearly fighting Rep Matt Gaetz (R-FL) in January, threw his support behind Mr Jordan. But the fact remains that Mr Jordan still needs to get to the magic number of 217 votes. Friend of the Inside Washington newsletter Haley Talbot of CNN, whose spreadsheets on social media do a better job of counting votes so far than any candidate for speaker, noted that four Republicans remain skeptical of Mr Jordan and two Republicans Florida Reps Carlos Gimenez and John Rutherford will only back desposed speaker Kevin McCarthy. Even if Mr Jordan somehow wins over all of his skeptics and earns enough votes to become speaker, he will largely live with the consequences of his lifes work: Allowing any single member to object to the will of congressional leadership and cause the House to descend into chaos. Similarly, his years of doing so rather than learning the mechanics of governing will likely make him ill-equipped to tame those impulses from House Republicans. Many Republicans come to Washington as bomb-throwers who later mature, learn how to govern and advance conservative goals. John Boehner went from being an insurgent who later worked with Ted Kennedy on education, and Paul Ryan passed budgets with a Democratic Senate. But Mr Jordan never needed to grow up. Rather, since he arrived in Congress in 2007, he chose to cater to right-wing media and the overwhelmingly conservative base of the Republican Party. By the time he got to Washington, the incentive structure to grow up no longer existed. As a child of the Tea Party, the anti-GOP establishment movement, learning how to work within the system would be antithetical to his persona. Democrats and Republicans alike have noted how hes never authored legislation that became law. That would have taught him a vital skill, how to count votes, since speakers need to know how many votes they need to count votes on bills and dollars for fundraising to keep their majorities. As a right-wing provocateur, hes spent more time opposing spending bills, famously teaming up with Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX) and other conservatives to shut down the government to try and defund Barack Obamas signature healthcare law, despite the fact Mr Obama was still president. Indeed, when he was offered an opportunity to become a member of the prestigious House Appropriations Committee when Republicans took control in 2011, he passed and chose instead to become Republican Study Committee chairman. All of these choices will come back to haunt him. They already have. Mr McCarthy, fearful that Mr Jordan would mete out the same medicine he gave to Mr Ryan and Mr Boehner, chose to keep Mr Jordan close to his side. Mr Jordan seemed to enjoy being close to leadership to amass power. But in January, despite Mr Jordan supporting Mr McCarthy, Mr Gaetz emerged as a further-right bomb-thrower who nominated Mr Jordan, which took the House to 15 rounds to pick a speaker. Now, rather than having a unified Republican conference, Mr Jordans influence showed that any Republican could raise objections and gum up the House to get attention, even if they do not have specific demands. This will be unlikely to change even if he wins the speakership. And if he falls, it will be on the sword he laid down. Twenty-five-year-old Hakima walks through her destroyed village with her two children including her 6-month-old daughter, Nasifa in Chahak, Injil District, western Afghanistan. According to Hakima: When the earthquake happened, I was in the city with my husband visiting family. I returned to my village that same night. I couldnt believe it. Its so strange and stressful. There was so much dust and we couldnt find anything. Im so concerned for Nasifa. We slept rough for two nights with no tents it was terrible. I have nothing to give Nasifa its a disaster zone here." In the course of a little over a week, Afghanistan has been hit by at least three major earthquakes and their aftershocks, leaving thousands dead, reducing entire villages to rubble and leaving many panicked survivors unsure of where to go for help. The death toll is estimated to be as high as 2,000, with some estimates saying the vast majority of victims are women and children. Thirteen-year-old Unse digs for pots of flour buried under what was his kitchen in San Job village, Zidan Jan District, western Afghanistan. Twenty-five-year-old Hakima sits in her destroyed village with her her 6 month old daughter, Nasifa in Chahak, Injil District, western Afghanistan. The first earthquake The first major earthquake hit 25 miles northwest of Herat city, in Herat province on October 7. The province is one of the most populated in Afghanistan. That earthquake was followed by several very strong aftershocks, as well as less severe shocks. The death toll could not be independently verified by between Taliban officials and non-profits but it's estimated that as many as 2,000 people could have been killed. "When the first earthquake hit, people thought it was an explosion, and they ran into their homes, said Siddig Ibrahim, the chief of the UNICEF field office in Herat. Five-year-old Ayshah in Koshkak village, Zinda Jan District, western Afghanistan Thirteen-year-old Unse digs for pots of flour buried under what was his kitchen in San Job village, Zidan Jan District, western Afghanistan. Another string of earthquakes The region was hit with another 6.3-magnitude earthquake just four days after the first one. And four days after that, the region was hit with a third powerful temblor. By that point, many people were already staying in tents outdoors after their homes were reduced to rubble. Non-profit organizers in the region said residents in the area were still reeling from the devastation from one quake when the next hit. "The situation is very critical," Doctors without Border's Afghanistan program head Yahya Kalilah told Agence France-Presse. "In terms of psychology, people are panicked and traumatized. People are not feeling safe. I will assure you 100%, no one will sleep in their house." An injured Afghan person being brought to a hospital following earthquake in Herat on October 15, 2023. A magnitude 6.3 earthquake shook western Afghanistan on October 15, killing one and injuring dozens more in the same region where more than 1,000 people died in tremors last week. An Afghan man stands in the ruins of a house destroyed by the earthquake.. A magnitude 6.3 earthquake killed two people in western Afghanistan on October 14, resulting in damaged prisons being emptied and residents fleeing a region where tremors have claimed at least 1,000 lives over the past week. A general view shows debris of houses that were damaged in a series of earthquakes, in Injil district of Herat province on October 15, 2023. A magnitude 6.3 earthquake killed two people in western Afghanistan on October 15, with damaged prisons emptied and residents fleeing a region where tremors have claimed at least 1,000 lives this past week. Thirteen-year-old Abdul (sitting in middle in brown shalwar kameez) sits with two friends as they look over his destroyed house in Karnil Wardaka village, Zinda Jan District, western Afghanistan. Non-profit organizations such as UNICEF are in the region to provide humanitarian aid. The agency has launched a $20 million appeal to fund a three-month response to help 96,000 children who've been impacted by these earthquakes. Even before the earthquake, these communities were already suffering the effects of conflict and insecurity, migration, drought, displacement, and poverty, Rushnan Murtaza, acting UNICEF representative in Afghanistan, said in a statement. These deprivations have now collided, creating an unprecedented humanitarian emergency for children. UNICEF and our partners have been on the ground since day one, providing life-saving assistance for children, but we need additional support to bring children the healthcare, protection, and clean water they desperately need. Images of the aftermath show children sleeping in tents outdoors and attempting to clean up the rubble around them. Three sisters and survivors of the recent earthquakes in western Afghanistan. A donkey sits amid the debris of houses that were damaged in a series of earthquakes, in Injil district of Herat province on Oct. 15, 2023. A magnitude 6.3 earthquake killed two people in western Afghanistan on Oct. 15, 2023, with damaged prisons emptied and residents fleeing a region where tremors have claimed at least 1,000 lives this past week. Ten-year-old Sefafullah (middle) unpacks winter clothing, provided by UNICEF, with his uncle in Koshkak village, Zinda Jan District, western Afghanistan. UNICEF has provided warm winter clothing to 3,500 people in Zinda Jan District - half of them children. According to Sefafullah: I was walking on the road near my house when the earthquake suddenly happened. My five year old brother was, though, collecting water at our neighbours house and died as the roof collapsed. I have lost all hope. All our possessions were destroyed. I'm so fearful of the coming winter and the snowfall. A boy walks past a damaged building in Chahak village, Injil District, western Afghanistan. Six-year-old Marzwa (right) sits with her sister, Elina, in the remains of her house wearing a red dress - one of her few possessions that was not buried under the earthquake in Karnil Wardaka village, Zinda Jan District, western Afghanistan. Six-year-old Marzwa (left) walks with her sister, Elina, in the remains of her village wearing a red dress - one of her few possessions that was not buried under the earthquake in Karnil Wardaka village, Zinda Jan District, western Afghanistan. A UNICEF-supported temporary health clinic (in background) erected following the destruction of the health centre (visible in foreground) in Karnil Wardaka village, Zinda Jan District, western Afghanistan. More than one third of health facilities have been damaged or destroyed leaving nearly 600,000 people without healthcare. Fahim Radmanish, UNICEF Afghanistan Emergency Officer, carries winter clothing and household supplies (including cooking equipment) for 12-year-old Ahmad in Koshkak village, Zinda Jan District, western Afghanistan. With more than 3,000 homes destroyed, many families now live in tents and are dependent on humanitarian aid. Forty-year-old Azwazi photographs his destroyed village in Chahak, Injil District, western Afghanistan. According to Azwazi: At the time, I was in Iran but came here two days ago. My brother couldnt believe it when I told him what happened and I promised that Id send him some photos. My whole extended family lived here - 40 houses in totaluncles, brothers, cousins. There is nothing left. It is like the whole of Afghanistan has come tumbling down." A boy wheels his bike past the devastated remains of his village in western Afghanistan. A general view shows debris of houses that were damaged in a series of earthquakes, in Injil district of Herat province on October 15, 2023. A magnitude 6.3 earthquake killed two people in western Afghanistan on October 15, with damaged prisons emptied and residents fleeing a region where tremors have claimed at least 1,000 lives this past week. (Photo by Mohsen KARIMI / AFP) (Photo by MOHSEN KARIMI/AFP via Getty Images) ORIG FILE ID: AFP_33YA8VH.jpg Afghan children stand outside their makeshift tents in an earthquake affected area of Injil district in Herat province on Oct. 15, 2023. A magnitude 6.3 earthquake killed two people in western Afghanistan on Oct. 15, 2023, with damaged prisons emptied and residents fleeing a region where tremors have claimed at least 1,000 lives this past week. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Afghanistan earthquake photos show villages in ruins amid panic To safely fly Americans from Israel to Tampa on Sunday, Gov. Ron DeSantis administration partnered with a nonprofit that specializes in bringing U.S. citizens home from conflict zones around the world, covering the cost of air travel that the organization priced out at millions of dollars. The Republican governor has said the state is planning more flights in the coming days, but has not said whether the state will continue to partner with Project Dynamo, a Tampa-based organization that has been criticized by U.S. government officials for being too willing to take risks. Project Dynamos co-founder, Bryan Stern, told reporters on Monday that his organization had successfully extracted 270 people on Sunday night who had sought to leave Israel as the war with Hamas erupted. It was one of five private flights funded by the DeSantis administration through Floridas Division of Emergency Management, Stern said. Of the first four flights, two carried eight people and two carried twelve, transferring fewer passengers because they took off over the Jewish sabbath. This is the first time where any government agency has assisted us financially. The governor of the state of Florida paid for the plane, Stern said. DeSantis involvement in the foreign policy conflict has amplified the Republican governors role in what generally would have been outside the states purview. DeSantis, a presidential candidate, was able to help in the international conflict after issuing an emergency declaration Thursday that gave the executive branch broad powers to spend money and act. Kevin Guthrie, the executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said in an interview with NewsNation on Tuesday that Florida spent about $4 million to fly Americans from Israel to Tampa. All in all, were probably sitting right around $4 million on that particular flight with all of the services, hotel stays, rental cars anything that we had to get to help the people get back to their homes, Guthrie said. The average cost of each chartered flight from Israels Ben Gurion Airport to Tampa International is roughly $2 million, Stern said, based on quotes received by Project Dynamo as it initially planned to charter the planes themselves. Stern noted that insurance costs can vary to fly an airplane into a warzone, and said he did not know how much the state government ultimately paid since it handled the contracts directly. He also did not know whether the Florida government would be funding future flights. Thats a government question, he said, adding that he feared Israels airspace would soon be closed. The governors office did not respond to questions from the Herald/Times about the cost of the missions, or whether it plans to fund any additional flights. It has also not explained how the state picked Project Dynamo and has not said whether it required the nonprofit to abide by any rules in exchange for the funding. DeSantis has direct access to a $500 million Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund that the Florida Legislature approved last year to give him spending flexibility when he declares emergencies. While it is unclear if the fund was used to pay for the Israel flights, DeSantis has historically tapped into the fund to pay for his priorities, including border security initiatives in Texas. Stern said the nonprofit took the lead on all the logistics. Essentially, we did the ground piece and the manifesting and the case management and all the hard stuff in the war zone, Stern said. They [the state] funded the aircraft and we landed and got to meet Governor Ron DeSantis. Stern said last week that Project Dynamo had been facing logistical barriers as he was on the ground preparing to help Americans leave Israel when his team was put in touch through friends and associates with the Florida administration. For example, he said that it was extremely difficult to get out of Israel. There are plane tickets going for $25,000 a seat in some cases, he said. I think that Gov. DeSantis wanted to do something. But before he issued the executive order, he needed to know that he had partners, Stern said on Monday. Stern got in touch with his friend. Republican state Sen. Jay Collins, a veteran from Sarasota, and then had a conversation with officials in Floridas Division of Emergency Management, including its director, Kevin Guthrie. Kevin and I and some others had a kind of in-depth conversation about Dynamo, about us, the idea that we were on the ground, already there, deployed, already had people everything was basically lined up except for the planes, made us a very good solution that the governor could trust, Stern said. Obviously weve done a lot of high-profile media stuff, so its very easy to do due diligence on us. I think that happened. And about 20 minutes later the executive order came out and we were in business. When DeSantis directed the Florida Division of Emergency Management to charter flights for stranded Florida residents, it was not clear how the state planned to fly people from Israel to Florida. On Saturday, the governor told Fox News in an interview that Florida was working with the Israeli government to be able to get clearance for the flights to take off. We are an emergency response state, we have a lot of tools at our disposal, we have a lot of relationships, and so this is our Department of Emergency Management leveraging those relationships in a variety of ways. We have contractors, we have relationships with airlines, DeSantis said in the interview. DeSantis did not mention Project Dynamo in the interview. Project Dynamos history Project Dynamo was successful at conducting private rescues of Americans in Afghanistan at the end of the war there in 2021. After the U.S. military departed in September, with Taliban forces in full control, Dynamo chartered an aircraft that flew over 120 U.S. citizens and green card holders to the United States. The group, founded by three Florida men, expanded its operations after Afghanistan, rescuing U.S. citizens in Ukraine in 2022 and aiding in the evacuation of Maui in the wake of devastating wildfires there this summer. But some in the U.S. government expressed concern that the group took risks that other nonprofits would not. One of their flights out of Afghanistan in September had to be grounded in the United Arab Emirates en route to the United States, after Project Dynamo failed to share the manifest with U.S. authorities in advance. One individual on the flight was ultimately not allowed to enter the United States. In an email on Monday, DeSantis spokesperson Jeremy Redfern said that all of the 270 passengers aboard the 17-hour flight from Tel Aviv to Tampa were American citizens. (Stern said passengers included 269 Americans, a Czech dude and four dogs.) Project Dynamo can only do one plane at a time, Stern said, thanking DeSantis for being the first American politician ever to greet their evacuees. It just means so much to us. Usually we show up and there is nothing. There is no welcome home, there is nothing, Stern said. On social media, staffers with DeSantis presidential campaign reposted mock logos of DeSANTIS AIRLINES featuring star-spangled eagles and amplified news about the flights to showcase what they believe to be emblematic of DeSantis leadership style. This is what leadership looks like. DeSantis delivers for Americans, Christina Pushaw, the rapid response director for DeSantis presidential campaign posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. Tampa Bay Times staff Jay Cridlin and C.T. Bowen contributed to this report. Retired U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus on Monday cautioned Israel to think about what a post-conflict Gaza will look like, invoking the United States inadequate post-conflict preparation ahead of its invasion of Iraq 20 years ago. I was a two-star, I remember asking before we went to Baghdad, and I said, You know, excuse me, can we have a little more detail on what happens after we get to Baghdad and topple the regime? And they said, You just get us to Baghdad, Dave. Well take it from there, Petraeus said in an interview on CBS Mornings. We obviously had done inadequate phase four, its called, post-conflict, Petraeus added. While public support for the US invasion of Iraq was high, support dropped quickly as the invasion resulted in tremendous violence and organized resistance to the US-led occupation. The political repercussions of support for the US invasion to many elected and military officials continue to this day, while thousands of US soldiers were killed during the eight-year conflict. Petraeus said he predicts military officials in Israel are remembering the US invasion of Iraq and trying to avoid similar outcomes, politically and militarily. He urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to plan ahead. Prime Minister Netanyahu would be well advised, to not only say what theyre going to try to do to Hamas, but, realistically because, again, the cost is so high, but also talk about the future of Gaza and a future, even a vision, for the Palestinian post-conflict plan, Petraeus said. Pressed on why Netanyahu has not done so, Petraeus said the Israeli leader faces a conundrum with no attractive outcome. Its just really, really hard. I mean, they dont want to reoccupy, but if you dont reoccupy, Hamas will reconstitute, and they know that, and so youre going to go to enormous loss, casualties the Israeli civilians, of course, Hamas fighters, terrorists, and then youre just gonna leave? Petraeus said, And Im sure they are searching for that answer. President Biden in an interview with 60 Minutes aired Sunday said an Israeli reoccupation of Gaza would be a big mistake. Petraeus also drew a comparison between Hamas and ISIS and stressed Israel does not have the nine months that it took the US to clear ISIS from northern Iraq. A similar size population, Mosul, when the Islamic State occupied it in northern Iraq and ISIS is a good analogy here for what Hamas has done It took nine months to clear that. Israel doesnt have nine months obviously, and it called up again 360,000 reserves. They have their finger on the trigger. But the military is saying, this is what its going to cost, and the military probably is also saying, and then what? Theyre saying, you know, how did that work out in Iraq? Petraeus underscored the challenging situation Israel faces in driving Hamas out of Gaza. I cant imagine a more challenging set of circumstances. As you laid out, you have a very densely populated area. You have an enemy who doesnt wear a uniforms, who hides among the people, who positions his headquarters underneath hospitals, stores weapons in mosques, he said. And if theyre as creative in the defense as they were in the offense horribly so, horrifically so, unspeakably so there are going to be improvised explosive devices, there will be booby traps, there will be suicide vests, so this is very, very challenging. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Texas voters next month will decide whether certain child care centers could receive a property tax exemption, giving some financial relief to a sector that struggles to provide competitive wages and affordable tuition rates for parents. Proposition 2 is one of 14 constitutional amendments that will be on the Nov. 7 ballot. If approved, local governments will have the option to implement a tax exemption of at least 50%. Experts say its the first time voters have an opportunity to weigh in on tax relief for child care providers. About 2,700 child care providers could be impacted across the state, according to Kim Kofron, senior director of education for advocacy group Children at Risk. The Texans for Prop 2 political action committee estimates that would account for about 20% of all child care providers statewide. In Tarrant County, its estimated that 145 providers serving 13,300 children would benefit from the tax exemption, said Catherine Davis, director of policy for Child Care Associates, one of the largest child development programs in North Texas. Itll be up to the discretion of how child care providers wish to utilize that cost savings, but ultimately they should be able to invest back into their programs without having to pass that financial burden back onto parents, Davis said. We anticipate things that come out in the form of increased educator wages, potentially reducing costs for parents or investing in the general quality improvement of their programs. Eligible child care centers must be part of Texas Rising Star, the states quality rating and improvement system for early childhood programs. Centers also must have at least 20% of their enrolled children receiving subsidized services through the Texas Workforce Commission. Both property owners and renters would receive financial relief. Like My Own Childcare, a center located in the Morningside neighborhood on Mississippi Avenue, is one of the Fort Worth facilities that would qualify. Retha Wilson, whos owned and directed the center for 30 years, said she would use that money to give raises or bonuses to staff. Thats been a tight situation with enrollment being low. That would allow me to give them a raise increase or a bonus or something to show I appreciate them for hanging in here, she said. That will be a big help. Kofron, of Children at Risk, said the amendment could be a positive, initial step forward during a time when child care providers are running out of federal pandemic relief money that kept them afloat amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Texas providers received $2.7 billion in American Rescue Plan stabilization funds; child care centers and homes received an average of $303,500 and $24,900, respectively. We have the child care cliff that were all experiencing with the money that ran out at the end of September. Prop 2 is not going to replace all those funds, and its not going to solve child care, but its a good start and way for providers to really feel some relief, Kofron said. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, its been a struggle to retain early educators, Wilson said, but the public relief funds helped keep her business open and pay for costs such as utilities. In child care, you dont make a whole lot of money. To be in child care, you have to love what you do, she said. Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas), who sponsored the amendment, did not respond to requests for comment. It remains to be seen if the Fort Worth City Council or Tarrant County Commissioners Court would implement a local tax exemption if the amendment passes, but city and county officials have shown support for the sector in recent years. The Blue Ribbon Action Committee on Child Care was formed in November 2021 as a Fort Worth, Tarrant County and Arlington partnership with Child Care Associates with the goal of utilizing American Recovery Plan Act funds to address gaps in early education exacerbated by the pandemic. The local leaders also announced a $2 million investment in early educator wages at that time, funded by the federal relief dollars. During my time as mayor, I have been proud to champion several efforts to advance affordable child care in Fort Worth and will continue to do so. Texas Election Code prohibits me from using my office to advocate on behalf of any ballot propositions, but I encourage all Fort Worth voters to get out and vote in November, Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker said in a statement. In September, Tarrant County commissioners reallocated ARPA money and pulled $9.84 million from the countys partnership with Child Care Associates, but also put $15.5 million toward four child care centers in Arlington, Fort Worth and Tarrant County. Tarrant County Judge Tim OHare did not respond to requests for comment. Four Ukrainian children are set to return to their families after mediation from Qatar between Ukraine and Russia, Qatari officials announced Monday. Qatars Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement it has received the children at the embassy in Moscow in the first phase of an eventual reunification with their families in Ukraine. Lolwah Al-Khater, a minister of state for international cooperation with Qatars Foreign Ministry, shared pictures of the children at the embassy on X, the social platform formerly known as Twitter. Qatar, a small but influential Arab nation in the Middle East, said it would continue to play a constructive role in further peacekeeping processes. Qatar stands firmly in support of the efforts made by both the Ukrainian and Russian sides to safeguard the rights and well-being of the children affected by the ongoing crisis, the foreign ministry wrote in the statement. Thousands of Ukrainian children have been taken into Russia since the war began in February 2022, according to Ukrainian officials, who have accused Russia of carrying out a mass kidnapping of their youth. The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant over the spring for Russian President Vladimir Putin, citing alleged war crimes for the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine into Russia. An arrest warrant was also issued for Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, commissioner for childrens rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, over her role in the deportations. The release of the four children Monday appears to have come after months of talks and could be a sign of further agreements. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani traveled to Kyiv in July and was thanked publicly by Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal for efforts to help mediate on the repatriating of Ukrainian children. The Qatari prime minister also traveled to Moscow in June to discuss the war in Ukraine with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Rishi Sunak has faced renewed pressure to add Irans revolutionary guard to the list of banned terrorist organisations, as conflict in the Middle East continues. Dr Liam Fox, Conservative former defence secretary, warned that while Hamas had its fingers on the trigger of the violence in Israel and Palestine, the strings being pulled are from Tehran. He was joined by a host of influential Tories in calling for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a special Iranian military force, to be proscribed as a terrorist group. Dr Liam Fox was among those calling for the IRGC to be proscribed as a terrorist group (Victoria Jones/PA) Dr Fox told the Commons: If the fingers on the trigger were Hamas, the strings being pulled were from Tehran. With 100 million of investment going from Iran to the terrorists of Hamas, isnt it time that we in this country asked again why Iranian banks are operating from the City of London? Why Iran Air is operating from Heathrow Airport? And why again we have not proscribed the IRGC, as I believe we should have? Conservative chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Alicia Kearns, called on the Government to proscribe the IRGC and called for the creation of a special envoy for the Middle East peace process. She said the attack on Israel constituted crimes against humanity, but stressed that how Israel defeats Hamas will shape the regions future. Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey called the IRGC the funders of Hamas (Joe Giddens/PA) Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey meanwhile branded the IRGC the the funders of Hamas. Conservative MP Bob Blackman (Harrow East) told the Commons the operation by the terrorist group Hamas was clearly well-planned, well-resourced, well-equipped and had been planned for many months. He added: It is beyond belief that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps who fund and support Hamas were not behind this whole operation. So will he now take the action that the whole House has asked him to take and thats to proscribe the IRGC in its entirety? The Prime Minister replied: We have already taken strong action against the Iranian regime including sanctioning 350 different individuals and entities, including the IRGC in its entirety and furthermore, the National Security Act implements new measures to protect the British public, including new offences for espionage, foreign interference and tougher powers to arrest and detain people suspected of involvement in state threats. As the House knows, the Government has a long-standing policy of not commenting on whether specific organisations are being considered for proscription and our approach, as currently stated, is completely aligned with that of our allies. Under the Terrorism Act 2000, it is illegal to belong to an organisation that has been proscribed. Hamas was added to the list of banned terrorist organisations in 2021 and its supporters or members can face up to 14 years in jail according to the Government. It took a village of creatives at Disney Animation to pull off Once Upon a Studio, the animated short that celebrates 100 years of stories and magic. Iconic characters like Snow White and Peter Pan feature alongside Robin Williams Genie in a cast of 543 characters from more than 85 feature-length and short films. And it all came together without any artificial intelligence involved. Directors Dan Abraham and Trent Correy were seeking a way to honor the studios legacy. Once Upon a Studio takes place at the end of a work day at Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank. The studio becomes a magical place once Disney Legend Burny Mattinson, who worked there for 70 years on films such as Lady and the Tramp (1955) and One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), leaves. Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse step out of a photo and call for their friends to gather for an official 100th Anniversary Studio portrait. Abraham and Correy met over eight months to pull the project off. Shrouded in secrecy, a group of artists, led by Eric Goldberg and Andrew Feliciano, worked to bring characters such as Snow White, Genie, Ariel, Belle, Peter Pan, Wendy and even Chernabog to life. Eighty percent of the characters were hand-drawn while the others were computer-generated. Abraham and Correy wanted each character to look like they had just stepped out of their movie. Producer Bradford Simonsen explains, It needed to feel that so the audience response would be visceral. We used our animation research library where we pulled out model sheets for the animators to work from. We had Eric Goldberg who has the studio history, and we did tests to make sure it was all working together in the scenes. The team of heavy-hitter animators included James Baxter (Belle, Beauty and the Beast), Nik Ranieri (The Lion King) and Ruben Aquino, who animated the final designs for Ursula in 1989. Says Abraham, He hasnt drawn her in over 30 years, and he came out of retirement to do Ursula for us. Walt Disney Animation Studios new short film Once Upon a Studio. (Disney) Others simply wanted to be a part of this historic short. With thousands of characters to pick from, the directors had a wish-fulfillment list of who they wanted to be featured. Chernabog from Disneys 1940 film Fantasia was top of Correys wishlist. But there was a slight problem. Hes the size of a mountain and he couldnt fit into the building, says Correy. It was Abraham who came up with the idea of the 101 Dalmatians pups watching Fantasia on TV. Disney CG animator Jorge Ruiz expressed interest in animating the character. Correy says, He reached out and said how when he was growing up in Venezuela, Chernabog was his favorite character of all time and that was the reason he wanted to work at Disney, so Eric helped him out and Jorge drew it. As for bringing the voices, at least 40 original voice guests including Jodi Benson (Ariel), Jeremy Irons (Scar), Idina Menzel (Elsa) and Kristen Bell (Anna) enthusiastically said yes to returning. Yvett Merino was simple. She says, It said, Were working on a short film to celebrate the 100 years. Wed love you to be a part of it and many came into the recording session not knowing anything about it. For anyone that came in, wed show them the boards. To have them come back and visit characters that they hadnt done in years, so many were grateful to be included and to be a part of it. Correy and Abrahams first recording was Aulii Cravalho as Moana, and as each voice character came back, theyd fondly recall stories of what their characters meant to them. From the very beginning, Correy and Abraham knew Robin Williams iconic genie needed to be a part of it. Simonsen and producer Merino reached out to the estate. Says Simonsen, We tried to take them on the journey with us to say, Weve got this very special short that were doing. Robin as the genie means so much to so many people and we would really love to involve him. So Dan listened to the outtakes from the original recording and he found those little bites that we could use. We went back to the estate and said, This is what we hope to do. Eric, who originally animated the genie is on the show, and hes going to be part of it. And it was wonderful to see that happen. Piecing the voices and characters together in a nine-minute short was a challenge. The first cut hit the 13-minute mark. With thousands of characters to choose from, the biggest challenge wasnt just picking the characters, it was deciding who would rise to the top. One sequence had The Little Mermaids Ariel in the restroom combing her hair. Next to her was the Dinglehopper. She didnt say anything, says Correy. We thought, What are we doing?! With Jodi Benson returning to voice the character, they needed her to sing or at least say something, and so they shifted things around to incorporate a speaking part. Richard Shermans cameo came at the suggestion of the studios head of music, Matthew Walker. The Award-winning composer recorded a new version of the Mary Poppins hit, Feed the Birds. Says Merino, That was the pinch-me moment. A teenager is among at least six people killed in Russian airstrikes across Ukraine over the past 24-hour period, local officials said on Sunday. Of these, two people were killed and three were injured in the Kherson area after Russia fired more than 100 shells over the weekend, local governor Oleksandr Prokudin said. Two more people died in the Donetsk area, local officials said. An airstrike in the Kharkiv region killed a 57-year-old man and a 54-year-old woman, and also destroyed their home. A 14-year-old boy was killed in a separate incident after a mine exploded in a field in the Mykolaiv region, interior minister Ihor Klymenko said. Another 12-year-old boy was also injured in the attack. In another separate strike, Russia fired two guided bombs on key infrastructure in Kherson city, causing a partial blackout and disruption to the water supply in the area, the head of the citys military administration Roman Mrochko said. A total of 27,768 casualties in Ukraine have been recorded since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February last year, in which 9,806 civilians have been killed and 17,962 have been injured, according to United Nations high commissioner for human rights (OHCHR). Ukraine saw 188 casualties 66 killed and 122 injured in just the first week of October, the OHCHR said. It has also warned that the actual figures of casualties are considerably higher. This comes as Kyiv continued with its drone strikes inside Russia, with the Russian defence ministry claiming that Ukraine had launched 27 drones in an overnight attack on western Russia. A total of 18 drones were shot down over the Kursk region as analysts speculated that Ukrainian forces were targeting the nearby Khalino military airfield. The debris of downed drones was seen burning just 1.5km (1 mile) from the air base in images posted on social media. The facility was previously attacked by Ukrainian forces at the end of September. The debris had fallen in the regions namesake capital and the nearby village of Zorino, Kursk governor Roman Starovoit said on social media. Two more drones were shot down over Russias Belgorod region, officials said. Even as the other seven drones remained unaccounted for, Ukrainian media outlets later said that Kyivs forces had carried out a successful strike on Russias Krasnaya Yaruga electrical substation, close to the Ukrainian border. The reports cited an unnamed source from within Ukraines security services and included a video that appeared to show an aerial strike against an unidentified target. This comes at a time when fighting has flared up in eastern Ukraine with Russian forces trying to force their way into the Kharkiv regions Kupiansk city and encircle it, military officials said. Ukrainian forces in the area, defending the territory, faced 10 separate attacks in a span of 24 hours, Illia Yevlash, spokesperson for the Ukrainian militarys eastern forces said on Sunday. The enemy is trying to attack us in the direction of Kupiansk to encircle it and reach the banks of the Oskil River, he told Ukrainian television. He said that Ukrainian forces in the town of Lyman in the Donetsk region had also faced heavy attack. Embatteld PPP head makes new appointments for key jobs; Yoon's approval rating dips By Nam Hyun-woo The ruling People Power Party (PPP) and the presidential office are striving to regroup after their stunning loss in last week's by-election to choose a new mayor of Seoul's Gangseo District, which is being widely viewed as a prelude to next years general elections. PPP Chairman Kim Gi-hyeon faced heavy criticism, Monday, from the partys rank-and-file lawmakers for their apparent blind obedience to the presidential office. Kim said he will pursue healthier relations between the party, the government and the presidential office, while naming new faces to positions involving the partys nominations of candidates. In terms of the relationship between the party, the government and the presidential office, we will enhance the partys proactive role of delivering and reflecting the public's sentiment (to the governments policies), Kim said during a Supreme Council member meeting. We will coordinate with the government in advance to avoid any discord in current issues, but when there are matters that deviate from public sentiment, we will actively demand correction from the government and the presidential office. His remarks came five days after the partys crushing defeat in the by-election to elect Seouls Gangseo District mayor, Wednesday. Although the district has long been a stronghold of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), the margin of loss, standing at over 17 percentage points, shocked the ruling party. The PPP selected former Gangseo District Mayor Kim Tae-woo as its candidate. Kim was ousted from his post after being convicted of leaking official secrets during his tenure and the decision to choose him went against the party's own rule of not recommending anyone for a position if they have been previously convicted of a crime. Since Kim was pardoned and reinstated by President Yoon Suk Yeol, Kims candidacy was widely interpreted as the party upholding the presidents decision. Following the defeat, criticism grew from within the party. Rep. Suh Byung-soo, a five-term lawmaker, wrote on Facebook on Sunday that the party chairman is waiting only for the presidential offices instructions and he should resign if he does not have the courage to deliver the peoples voices to the presidential office. The reason for the defeat is evident. During the election, the party's strategy of promoting 'the ruling party candidate with power' or 'a direct line to the president' became a target of ridicule, Suh wrote. To address the internal doubts, Kim named a number of lawmakers who have kept a relatively low profile in supporting Yoon to the partys secretary general, the policy committee chair and other positions involving candidate nominations, but this immediately caused concern. In a Kakao Talk chat between PPP Supreme Council member Rep. Cho Su-jin and the PPPs think tank the Yeouido Institute's Vice President, Kim Sung-ho photographed by reporters Kim said the list of new appointees was embarrassing and that the party's chairman may lose his job, adding that the party should delay their appointment because it will be difficult to gain the peoples support. Lee Jun-seok, a former PPP chairman who has long been critical of Yoon, held an unscheduled press conference on the day and urged the president to admit to the failures of the past 17 months of his presidency. Why is the party (PPP) still afraid of saying that it is not a subsequent organization of the president and Yoons political philosophy should change, even after seeing the publics rage? Lee said. After days of self-scrutiny regarding the election defeat, the party decided to strengthen its unity with the government. This is nothing more than a nonsense. Against this backdrop, Yoon saw his job approval rating dive. According to a Realmeter poll, Yoons approval rating in an Oct. 10-13 survey stood at 34 percent, down 3.7 percentage points from a week earlier. This was the sharpest decrease in seven months and the first time for to the number to fall below the 35 percent mark in five months. The PPPs support rate also declined to 32 percent, down 4.3 percentage points during the same period. An official at the polling agency said the by-election result is attributable to the downfall of Yoon and the party, rather than the ongoing annual parliamentary audit. The poll surveyed 2,004 adults at the request of the news outlet EKN, and further information is available on the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission website. Following the election defeat, Yoon told his aides on Oct. 13 that we should seek lessons from the result and pursue changes wisely. Though Yoons office is refraining from making other comments on the aftermath of the defeat, rumors are growing that Yoon will reshuffle his office and the Cabinet after the parliamentary audit ends early next month. Given a number of senior secretaries, including Kim Eun-hye (public relations), Lee Jin-bok (political affairs) and Kang Seung-kyu (civic and social agendas) are anticipated to leave the office to run in the general elections in April next year, multiple officials at Yoons office anticipate that this will likely trigger a sweeping reshuffle, though they added that the personnel matters are fully up to Yoon to decide. Citing an unnamed government official, the Chosun Ilbo, a Korean daily newspaper reported that Yoons office is considering replacing two or three ministers next month and then replace even more in December among ministers who are double-hatted as lawmakers. Russian citizens take part in a protest against the war and Russian President Vladimir Putin, in front of the Russian embassy in Mexico (AFP via Getty Images) A Russian governor who said that Moscow had not prepared for its invasion of Ukraine and did not need the continuing war has been reported to the police. Natalya Komarova, a member of president Vladimir Putins governing United Russia party and the governor of Russian Khanty-Masiysk region, on Saturday criticised the conflict that has stretched to nearly 600 days during a meeting with residents of the Siberian city of Nizhnevartovsk. Ms Komarova was confronted by the wife of a mobilised Russian man fighting in Ukraine who had asked why her husband was not provided with the necessary equipment to fight. Are you asking me (why your husband does not have equipment) knowing that Im the governor and not the minister of defence? the official said. She added: As a whole, we did not prepare for this war. We dont need it. We were building a completely different world, so in this regard, there will certainly be some inconsistencies and unresolved issues, according to a video of the event posted on social media. The comments, captured on video, were circulated widely online and prompted pro-war activists to condemn Ms Komarova for discrediting Russias armed forces. A letter has been sent to Russias minister of internal affairs by the director of a Siberian non-profit organisation, Yuri Ryabtsev, asking the ministry to further investigate Ms Komarovas comments, reported Russian news outlet Sibir.Realii, stating that its journalists had seen the letter. An activist has also filed a report with the local police, demanding Ms Komarova be held accountable under Russias Code of Administrative Offences for discrediting the army, the news outlet reported. The Russian politician has not issued any fresh remarks on the issue. Russia approved a law last year making it illegal to describe the conflict in Ukraine as a war or an invasion by Russia. Mr Putin called it a special military operation when he ordered the attack on Ukraine in February last year, and the law has been used to compel Russian media, businesses and citizens to follow suit, as well as to penalise critics of the war. The legislation also outlaws disparaging the military and the spread of "false information" about Moscows invasion of Ukraine. Several critics of the war have already been handed fines or jail terms under the law, while experts say it has made it increasingly difficult to gauge levels of public support for the invasion. Sasha Skochilenko, an artist and musician with serious health issues, was arrested in April last year for replacing supermarket price tags with antiwar slogans, charged with spreading false information about the military. Former FSB agent and battlefield commander Igor Girkin, known as a prominent Russian hardline nationalist, was detained on charges of extremism in July this year after he accused Mr Putin of weakness and indecision in Ukraine. Russia media have been extensively covering the Ukraine conflict yet at the same time prohibited from calling it a war, while protesters using that word on placards are hit with steep fines. Independent news sites have been blocked, as were Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. A prominent radio station has been taken off the air, and the Novaya Gazeta newspaper, led by 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov, has also lost its licence. SEOUL (Reuters) - Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov will visit North Korea on Wednesday and Thursday this week, North Korea's state media KCNA and Russia's foreign ministry said on Monday. Lavrov's visit comes a month after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made a rare trip to Russia during which he and President Vladimir Putin discussed military cooperation, including over North Korea's satellite programme and the war in Ukraine. The growing diplomatic exchanges between the countries have fanned concerns that they could shore up Russia's military in Ukraine while North Korea obtains missile technology banned under U.N. resolutions. Washington has accused Pyongyang of providing weapons to Moscow for its war in Ukraine, including through a recent shipment from an ammunition depot in North Korea, though both have denied any arms transactions. Nuclear envoys of South Korea and the United States held talks in the Indonesian capital Jakarta on Monday and warned against any illegal military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, Seoul's foreign ministry said. The envoys also pledged "stern responses" if the North launches a spy satellite this month as it had announced, after two failed attempts. "They reaffirmed that there will be a clear price for North Korea's illegal actions that undermine peace and stability of the Korean peninsula and the international community as a whole," the ministry said in a statement. (Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Ed Davies) By Guy Faulconbridge MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin entered the fevered diplomatic fray of the Middle East on Monday, speaking to five of the major players including Iran and leading Arab powers in an attempt to secure a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas. Russia, which has relationships with Iran, Hamas, major Arab powers as well as with the Palestinians and with Israel, has repeatedly said the United States and the West have ignored the need for an independent Palestinian state within 1967 borders. Putin spoke to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by telephone, the Kremlin said. He also plans to speak to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it said. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Putin that the situation was escalatory, that Israeli army actions were "indiscriminate" and that the risk was that Israel would begin a ground operation against Gaza. "The threat is high that this whole conflict gets out of control," Ryabkov told Putin at a meeting also attended by Russia's spy chiefs and military leaders. He said that the United States was ultimately responsible for the crisis due to its failed policy in the Middle East and that Washington was blocking a Russian resolution in the UN Security Council. Putin, who says the West is seeking to cleave Russia apart by supporting Ukraine, says the current violence in the Middle East shows just how far U.S. policy in the region has failed. Putin will meet Xi Jinping in China this week in a bid to deepen a partnership forged between the United States' two biggest strategic competitors. Russia and China, both permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, have said that the fundamental issue at the heart of the conflict is the lack of justice for the Palestinians. CHINA AND RUSSIA The Palestinians want a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital - all territory captured by Israel in the 1967 war. "We believe that the main thing right now in this situation is to immediately cease the fire and begin the process of a political settlement," Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov was quoted by state news outlets as saying. China's foreign minister on Monday called for a ceasefire to halt the bloodshed in Israel, suggesting at a meeting with his Russian counterpart that major world powers should work to avoid a humanitarian disaster. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed the conflict between Israel and Hamas with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing ahead of a visit by President Vladimir Putin to China. "The United Nations Security Council must take action, and the major powers should play an active role," Wang told Lavrov, according to a Chinese transcript of the meeting. "It is imperative that a ceasefire be put in place, that the two sides be brought back to the negotiating table, and that an emergency humanitarian channel be established to prevent a further humanitarian disaster." (Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Ed Osmond) Gerry Ryan Former Brighton and Republic Ireland forward Gerry Ryan had died aged 68. Ryan made 199 appearances for the Seagulls after joining from Derby in 1978, scoring 39 goals. During seven years at the club, he scored the goal which sealed Albion's promotion to the top flight in his first season and played in the 1983 FA Cup final against Manchester United. He also won 18 caps for the Republic before his career was ended by a broken leg in 1985. Ryan later returned to Brighton as assistant to manager Liam Brady, his former international team-mate. Brady told Brighton's website: "Gerry was a wonderful team-mate. He was a very quick winger, very brave, and he took people on. "Off the pitch Gerry was just a really nice guy. He was affable, unassuming and got on with everyone he came in contact with. He'll be sadly missed by everyone who knew him." Sam Neill Months after he first shared his cancer diagnosis, Sam Neill is offering an update on his health status. The 76-year-old, who revealed in his recent memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This?, that he has a rare form of blood cancer called angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, spoke with Australian Story about his ongoing treatment. During the conversation, Neill shared that his first round of chemotherapy didn't work, so he transitioned to an experimental and very expensive medicine that is currently keeping him in remission. Unfortunately, the doctors notified Neill that the medicine he's on is likely to stop working at some point. But the New Zealand actor said, Im prepared for that, telling the publication in an accompanying video interview that he's "not in any way frightened of dying. Its never worried me from the beginning. But I would be annoyed, because there are things I still want to do. >>> Sign up for Parade's Trending News newsletter and we'll keep you in the know on the viral pop culture moments and celebrity news everyone is talking about <<< "Very irritating, dying, but Im not afraid of it," Neill stated. Instead, what he is really afraid of is having to retire from acting, saying that it "fills me with horror." While the grim and depressing drug that Neill has to takewhich his doctors upped from monthly to bi-weekly dosesleaves him feeling like he went 10 rounds with a boxer," he carries on, noting, "Its keeping me alive. So far, the drug has helped keep Neill's cancer in remission for 12 months. The Jurassic Park actor had to take a break in 2022 from acting to receive treatment. However, he still has many projects lined up, including the crime thriller Bring Him to Me, coming out later this year, and the TV adaptation of the Liane Moriarty book Apples Never Fall. Next: Sam Neill Reveals Shocking "Sad" Truth About Robin Williams University of Florida President and former Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) on Sunday railed against the silence by some universities on Israels ongoing conflict with Palestinian militant group Hamas. You got so many universities around the country, Sasse said in an interview on Fox News Sunday. Lets speak about every topic under the sun Halloween costumes, microagressions. But somehow in a moment of the most grave, grotesque attacks on Jewish people since the Holocaust, they all of a sudden say theres too much complexity to say anything. It doesnt make any sense to us. Multiple U.S. colleges and professors became involved in controversy over their reactions to the Israel-Hamas conflict following the militant groups onslaught of surprise attacks on Israel last week that initially left hundreds of people mostly civilians dead. Harvard University notably came under fire last week after the Palestine Solidarity Committee a student group on campus published a statement that said they hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence. The letter, co-signed by 33 other Harvard student organizations, was released hours after Hamass multipronged Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Two days later, Harvard released a statement that stopped short of addressing the controversial letter while noting they are heartbroken by the unfolding events in Israel and Gaza. Harvard University President Claudine Gay released a follow-up statement the next day in which she emphasized the group does not speak for the entire school. When asked of what Sasse, a Harvard alum, thought of Gays follow-up statement, Sasse said, Well, its not really my my purpose to comment on whats happening on other campuses, particularly, but Ill say this in general, theres just way too little education happening on a lot of elite campuses in America right now. Theres been such a focus on victim ideology for so long and such a limited focus on actually reading texts. When these university presidents want to say these issues are too complex I mean, we have raped girls, stolen, kidnapped grandmas, we have a massacre at a concert, we have intentionally targeted schools and babies, Sasse said. This isnt morally complex. Its easy to condemn evil as evil. Sasse reportedly released a letter to University of Florida students last week in strong support of Israel, writing, I will not tiptoe around this simple fact: What Hamas did is evil and there is no defense for terrorism. This shouldnt be hard, according to Fox News. And so we just did two basic things. We announced that were going to protect our Jewish students, and were going to protect speech, Sasse said Sunday. Fighting in Israel and Gaza has claimed more than 3,600 lives mostly civilians from both sides, with thousands more injured since the militant group Hamass multipronged surprise attack on Oct. 7. At least 27 Americans are among the dead in Israel, the State Department said Saturday. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Southwest Airlines wants to make it easier for you to get status in its Rapid Rewards program. Beginning Jan. 1, its lowering the threshold to qualify for A-List and A-List preferred status. According to the airline, the new requirements will be 20 qualifying one-way flights for A-List status, down from 25, and 40 qualifying one-way flights for A-List Preferred status, down from 50. The thresholds to earn those statuses through tier qualifying points (TQPs) will remain at 35,000 and 70,000 respectively. Jonathan Clarkson, Southwests vice president of marketing, acknowledged that these changes are going against the grain of other updates in the airline rewards realm. While Id love to say that were so nimble we did an immediate response, it just isnt the case. Weve been working on this for a while, he told USA TODAY, referencing Delta Air Lines recent changes. At a time when other programs, plural, are making it harder to achieve tier status, were making it easier. Southwest is also lowering the spend-to-earn threshold on its co-branded credit cards. Rapid Rewards Premier, Priority, Premier Business, or Performance Business cardholders will now receive 1,500 TQPs for every $5,000 in spending, down from the current $10,000. More: Best Southwest Airlines credit cards of October 2023 Southwest Airlines planes are seen at the AustinBergstrom International Airport (AUS) in Austin, Texas on January 22, 2023. (Photo by DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images) Other frequent flyer programs have seen a swelling of their elite ranks in recent years, diluting the benefits for some loyal travelers, but Clarkson said hes not concerned about a similar scenario unfolding at Southwest. That was one of the criteria we used when we talked about how we arrived at these benefits. Foremost was ensuring that whatever changes we make didnt result in bloating the program, he said. It will result in a larger program we anticipate, but not to the point where it erodes the benefit of the people who get to take advantage of it. Cruising Altitude: Don't bother with an airline loyalty program if you're this traveler Southwest introduces cash, points payment combinations The airline announced other changes to Rapid Rewards benefits as well, including the option to book tickets using a combination of cash and points. Previously, Southwest tickets had to be purchased using all cash or exclusively points. Clarkson said A-List Preferred members will also be entitled to up to two free alcoholic drinks per flight. He added that vouchers for those drinks will be embedded in the passengers boarding pass scanner code, rather than travelers needing to present physical certificates onboard. Customer feedback has been positive about the changes so far, according to Clarkson. He said the changes were workshopped with frequent flyers before they were announced. This is another example of Southwest deciding to zig when everybody else zags, he said. We have a program we want people to use and get the benefit of. JetBlue, Frontier Airlines and Alaska Airlines all moved to capitalize on Deltas unpopular changes to their loyalty program by enticing flyers with generous matching programs. Zach Wichter is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in New York. You can reach him at zwichter@usatoday.com This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Southwest Airlines announces updates to Rapid Rewards earning MADRID (Reuters) - A court in Barcelona that is investigating the use of Pegasus spyware to allegedly snoop on high-profile Catalan separatists has named Spain's former spy chief, Paz Esteban, a suspect and called her to testify, a court document showed on Monday. Canada's Citizen Lab group said last year that in the wake of a failed independence bid in 2017, more than 60 people linked to the Catalan separatist movement, including regional leader Pere Aragones and several of his predecessors, had been targeted by Pegasus, made by Israeli cyber-intelligence firm NSO Group. Urged to explain itself by Catalonia's pro-independence party ERC, a key government ally in parliament, the minority administration never acknowledged eaves-dropping on the Catalans and said the software had also been used to spy on its own members, without specifying who might have been behind it. The subsequent political unease led to the sacking of Esteban in May 2022. Aragones, who was vice-president of the Catalan government at the time of the alleged spying, filed a complaint against her and NSO Group in June 2022, which the court accepted on Oct. 6, according to the document. The investigating judge called Esteban and Aragones to testify on Dec. 13. An investigation into the use of Pegasus to spy on Spanish politicians, including Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, and several ministers was shelved earlier this year due to a lack of cooperation from Israel. After an inconclusive election in July, the Socialist-led government remains in a caretaker capacity, while acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is seeking to win a new term in a parliamentary vote, for which he needs the support from Catalonia's two separatist parties. Failing that, Spain will likely need a repeat election early next year. (Reporting by Emma Pinedo, editing by Andrei Khalip and Christina Fincher) President Tsai Ing-wen will step down next year The words "democratic Taiwan" appeared more times in the island's national day celebrations this year than any other - by far. "We have brought the international spotlight to Democratic Taiwan," declared President Tsai Ing-wen last week, in her last national day address before she steps down as the first democratically elected female president. "The people of Taiwan will remain a democratic and free people for generations to come," she added. It was both an assertion of the island's identity and a call for the world to take note and not allow this vibrant and open society to disappear. The head of Taiwan's legislature, You Si-Kun, had touted those same credentials in his opening remarks: "The UK's Economist Intelligence Unit ranks Taiwan the number one democracy in Asia and number 10 in the world." The importance of these words to Taiwan, which feels increasingly threatened by Chinese claims to its territory, cannot be overstated. "Democratic Taiwan" has become its brand - its pitch to the world for why this self-governed island of 23 million people matters, and why it should be protected from being gobbled up by China. And yet for an $800bn chip superpower Taiwan has very few official friends. There was a time when Taipei had a military alliance with the United States and a seat on the UN security council. It was run as an anti-Communist dictatorship and could count on support from like-minded regimes from Seoul to Santo Domingo, Pretoria to Panama City. Now those Cold War-era friends are almost all gone. The threat to Taiwan is more severe than ever and Taipei is in desperate need of new allies. That challenge was on sharp display at Tuesday's ceremony. It's just not official "Please welcome our honoured VIP guests to today's celebrations," announced the master of ceremonies. And along the red carpet came the president of Nauru, a Pacific micro-state of just 10,800 people. Next came the governor general of St Kitts and Nevis, a Caribbean state of 47,000 people, and finally the governor general of St Vincent and the Grenadines, a relative giant by Caribbean micro-state standards, with a population of 110,000. The front row of diplomatic seats was taken up by ambassadors from Guatemala, Paraguay, Haiti and Eswatini. The first two remain fragile democracies, battling unrest and corruption, while surging gang violence has claimed thousands of lives in Haiti this year alone. Eswatini is Africa's only remaining absolute monarchy, and Taiwan's only remaining African ally. Last month President Tsai flew all the way to the tiny kingdom to meet King Mswati III and mark the 55th anniversary of its independence. These are among Taiwan's 13 official diplomatic allies - all that remains of its Cold War-era alliances. When he retreated to Taiwan from China in 1949, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's regime in Taipei held on to big allies like the US and Japan all the way through the 1950s and 60s, when Mao Zedong's Communist China was cut off from the world. But then in February 1972 President Richard Nixon sat down with Mao Zedong in Beijing. It was an enormous moment that began the opening of Communist China to the world. It unleashed a cascade of diplomatic recognition for Beijing. Tokyo was among the first to switch. Washington followed in 1979. Chiang Kai-Shek died in Taipei in 1975, his dreams of retaking the Chinese mainland unfulfilled. But he'd handed power to his son and the island remained a one-party dictatorship that tortured and imprisoned its opponents. For most countries the argument for maintaining relations was gone. Those that did were on the whole equally nasty regimes, including the generals of South Korea, apartheid South Africa and the right-wing dictatorships of Central America. Increasingly Taipei relied on its chequebook to hold on to a dwindling list of allies, mainly in the form of aid and investment. But today China's cheque book is bigger than Taiwan's - and its economy vastly more important. The allies that remain are tiny and of little help in protecting Taiwan from an assertive China. Of course this doesn't mean there are none. Perhaps it's no surprise that at Tuesday's national day celebrations the biggest applause was reserved for two visiting marching bands. One was from Tokyo and the other from Los Angeles - Japan and the US, which are still the two countries Taiwan cares about and needs the most. Even after switching recognition, Washington continued to quietly support Taiwan, selling billions of dollars worth of weapons to the island. Its unofficial embassy in Taipei is a vast compound euphemistically called "The American Institute in Taiwan". People cheer during national day celebrations in Taipei Walk down any back street in Taipei and you can't help but notice the astonishing number of Japanese restaurants, filled with Japanese businessmen. Japan's westernmost island - Yonaguni - is just 110km (68 miles) from Taiwan's east coast. Tokyo cares deeply what happens to Taiwan. During a recent speech in Taipei former Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso called on the international community to "wake up" to the threat from China. These relations remain "unofficial" - even at the parade they were relegated to the shadows, much like their friendships. How to make new friends Spooked by China's incessant military drills and left out of key alliances, Taiwan is looking to make new friends - not just to trade with, but for support in powerful international bodies, in particular the European Union. Proof of one new friendship is easily visible in Taipei's supermarkets, which now sell something that is quite uncommon in Asia: Lithuanian-made India Pale Ale. Imports of the brew, along with Lithuanian rum and chocolate, have soared in Taiwan in the last few years, and Taipei has even announced a $10m investment in Lithuania in the most prized Taiwanese product - chips. Why Lithuania? Perhaps the most fertile ground for making new friends is in the young democracies of Eastern Europe, places that once fell under the control of Moscow, but are now part of Nato and the EU. During his speech to the national day crowds, the head of Taiwan's parliament warned of authoritarian regimes "rolling back freedom, from Ukraine to Hong Kong, Myanmar to Afghanistan". Russia's invasion of Ukraine drew protests in Taiwan in March 2022 From the Czech Republic to Poland, Georgia to Lithuania, there are many countries that fear a resurgent Russia and perhaps feel a kindred spirit for a small democracy living next door to a huge authoritarian state that claims it should not exist. In 2021 Lithuania allowed Taipei to set up an office in Vilnius using the name "Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania". Beijing was apoplectic and sent Lithuania's ambassador to Beijing home. Further intimidation has followed. But the government in Vilnius has refused to back down. It has gone further, describing its relations with Taipei as a "strategic priority". "Lithuania is seeking to enhance practical co-operation with Taiwan, a like-minded democracy, and an important economic and technological partner in the region," it says. While the IPA on Taiwanese supermarket shelves may seem like a small thing, it is an indication of where Taiwan wants to go. It is not looking to dump its old allies. The president of Nauru will still be welcome at national day 2024. But if Taiwan had a Tinder profile it might read: "Young democracy, with open society and thriving high-tech economy, looking to make new strong friendships with like-minded partners. Next door neighbour, a problem." Threats in the U.S. have been rising, since Hamas invaded Israel a week ago, FBI Director Christopher Wray and FBI officials said Sunday in a rare phone briefing for reporters. "The threat is very much ongoing and in fact, the threat picture continues to evolve," Wray said. "Here in the U.S., 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 on our own soil." He said that Jews and Muslims alike, as well as their institutions and houses of worship, have been threatened in the U.S. and told reporters that the bureau is "moving quickly to mitigate" the threats. Wray, in an address Saturday to the International Association of Chiefs of Police, also noted "an increase in reported threats" and in particular warned that "we've got to be on the lookout ... for lone actors who may take inspiration from recent events to commit violence of their own." He urged police chiefs to "stay vigilant" because as first responders, "you're often the first to see the signs that someone may be mobilizing to violence." Senior FBI officials said most of the threats are not credible, and some have been addressed. As Wray suggested, the bureau's biggest concern is a lone wolf-style assailant who is not on their radars. This type of threat is best addressed through tips from the public, the officials said. They told reporters that there have been threats against Muslim facilities as well as Jewish facilities. Threats against Muslim centers are up, although the level of antisemitic threats is also spiking. The FBI is working through Joint Terrorism Task Forces to mitigate threats and keep these communities safe, Wray said. The FBI director twice said that he was "horrified...by the brutality committed at the hands of Hamas" and said that countering terrorism is the bureau's No. 1 priority. "We will not tolerate violence motivated by hate and extremism, he said. Wray also said that the bureau's legal attache office in Tel Aviv is working with Israeli and U.S. Embassy partners "to locate and identify all Americans who've been impacted in the region, including those who remain unaccounted for." He added that victim services specialists are working with victims and their families at home and abroad. Ret. Gen. Frank McKenzie reacts to Trump's claim that Israel pulled out of mission to kill Soleimani Saturday Sessions: Robert Finley performs "Nobody Wants To Be Lonely" If GOP won't unite, Rep. Mike Turner says a deal "will have to be done" with Democrats for speaker By Shin Hye-suk Recently, I had an extraordinary opportunity to travel to New Zealand with a Japanese friend, and the experience was truly awe-inspiring. We explored popular destinations on both the North and South Islands and at every turn, it felt like we were stepping into a breathtaking painting. New Zealand's natural beauty is hard to put into words, with its magnificent trees and leaves. Our visit coincided with New Zealand's southern hemisphere winter, which offered a unique charm compared to the scorching summers in Korea and Japan. We enjoyed the cool atmosphere, serene rivers, majestic oceans and snow-covered mountain peaks all around us. One unforgettable moment was sitting at the bar on a floating boat in Lake Wakatipu, savoring delicious wine while basking in the cool vibes. The trip was replete with moments of wonder and profound gratitude. In contrast, Korea and Japan endured scorching summers, while New Zealand, renowned for its top-quality white wines like sauvignon blanc with its sweet taste and fragrant honey notes, offered a delightful wine exploration. We roamed wineries across different regions, enriching our journey and highlighting the value of cultural and landscape immersion for relaxation and deeper understanding. Vacations hold their charm in breaking free from daily routines, discovering inner peace and savoring life's simple joys often overshadowed by the daily grind. I'm reminded of the Christian hymn "Count Your Blessings" by Johnson Oatman Jr. Now, each morning, I pause to reflect on countless reasons to be grateful. Just like that serene moment at the Queenstown floating bar, I affirm, "My life is blessed and joyful!" and start my day with a heart full of gratitude. How fortunate I am! The most unforgettable moment from my trip will always be the day I accidentally left my phone at Auckland Airport. It was found by a kind Samoan woman working at the duty-free shop who went above and beyond to ensure its safe return to me in Seoul. On our final day, my friend Naoko and I indulged in a mix of wine, cocktails and champagne to lift our spirits. In my slightly tipsy state, I panicked about losing my phone, making it hard to fully enjoy the beautiful scenery outside the plane window. Instead of reporting the loss to the phone company in Korea, I decided to send messages to my phone from a temporary device, trusting the person who found it. After a few days, I received a reassuring message confirming the safety of my phone and their commitment to returning it. Despite being strangers, we shared stories through email, and a week later, my phone was safely returned. I'm deeply grateful to Easter and look forward to meeting her when I visit New Zealand this winter vacation again. Shin Hye-suk (sinesu@naver.com), with an English name Shindy, completed a Ph.D. in sociology, has devoted two decades of her life to academic pursuits at a university in Japan. Also a flower artist, she has served the role of president at the Rotary International Seoul Rotary Club. Denise Truscello/Getty Images Is there trouble brewing in Travis Scotts utopia? Scott, 32, hit the first bump in his Circus Maximus Tour shortly after it began. After kicking off the extravaganza in Charlotte on October 11, Scott headed east to nearby Raleigh, playing to a sold-out crowd at the PNC Arena on Friday, October 13. However, when fans began showing up for the second concert on Saturday, they were told that the show had been postponed shortly before curtain, per Billboard. Hold on to your tickets as they will be honored for the TBD new date, the venue website stated. Some concertgoers showed up at the PNC Arena, unaware of the situation. They just told me they have no explanation [for] why hes not here, fan Tyler Long told local media WRAL. Nothing to stress over, but at the same time, Travis, I wish you were here, you feel me? Us Weekly reached out to Scotts rep for comment. Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott See a timeline of Kylie Jenner's relationship with boyfriend Travis Scott, with whom shes expecting her first child see the pics On Saturday, October 14, Travis shared a clip of him performing at the PNC Arena. Last night, I was still dreaming about this st, he captioned the video. TEXAS LETS DOOO THIS Dalllas seee YOU sooon SOON, wrote Scott in a second IG post on October 14. NC THANK YOUUU!!! Fking turnt wtf. Some fans in North Carolina vented their frustrations to Scott on that post. Oh, so you not gonna say anything about why you postponed tonight? Cool bro, commented one fan. Yea man, lets just sell tix for 2 days and dip when day 2 comes, wrote another. Gonna need that explanation on night two in Raleigh drove almost 5 hours to get there, echoed a third, and many more were wondering what happened. Damn, a lil sorry wouldve been kinda cool we been waiting on this show for months, said one crushed fan. Stars Pay Tribute After Astroworld Incident Paying tribute. After the fatal tragedy at Travis Scotts 2021 Astroworld Festival, at least eight attendees died and more injured following a crowd surge. Amid the ongoing investigation into the Friday, November 5, incident, several of the music festivals performers and attendees have shared their support for the victims and their loved ones. [] Scotts Circus Maximus Tour is in support of his Billboard 200 No. 1 album, Utopia, the 2023 follow-up to 2018s Astroworld. He announced the North American tour in August. Initially, it was just 28 dates, but 11 extra shows were added due to high demand. As of October, there is no date listed for Scotts hometown of Houston, Texas. Scott hasnt performed there since the deadly 2021 AstroWorld Festival tragedy, in which 10 people died and hundreds were injured due to a crowd rush. After Scott spent eight hours answering questions about the incident, a Houston grand jury declined to file criminal charges against him. However, since the incident, thousands of alleged victims have filed more than 400 civil suits against Scott and Live Nation. GENEVA (Reuters) - U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths said on Monday he would be travelling to the Middle East to support negotiations on getting aid into the blockaded Gaza Strip. Griffiths said his office was in "deep discussions" with Israel, Egypt and others. "I shall be going myself tomorrow to the region to try to help in the negotiations, to try to bear witness and to express solidarity with the extraordinary courage of the many thousands of aid workers who have stayed the course and who are still there helping the people in Gaza and in the West Bank," he said in a statement. A spokesperson for the United Nations humanitarian office said Griffiths was planning to be in Cairo on Tuesday and would travel to other locations in the region on a trip expected to last several days. The fate of aid deliveries and limited evacuations through the only entry to Gaza not controlled by Israel remained in doubt after Egyptian sources said a temporary truce was struck but Israel and Hamas said no deal was in place. (Reporting by Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber; Editing by Nick Macfie) WASHINGTON Centrist and politically vulnerable Republicans face a moment of reckoning as the House is expected to vote on whether to elect Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio as the next speaker. Jordan is a right-wing firebrand and fierce Donald Trump ally, a Freedom Caucus co-founder who worked his way up to be Judiciary Committee chairman and became the party's nominee for speaker last week after it ousted Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and forced Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., to withdraw due to a lack of support. A House vote could take place as early as Tuesday, and while its still unclear if Jordan has the votes, the trends are in his favor. Its a grueling decision for the GOP lawmakers who fear Jordans scorched-earth brand of politics wont suit their swing districts and could alienate the independent voters they rely on to get elected. Lawmakers from the self-styled governing wing of the party also worry that supporting Jordan, a favorite of the right, would amount to rewarding what they see as bad behavior by the far-right rebels who voted to evict McCarthy and throw the House into chaos. Itll be enormously problematic for the Republicans in those districts that Joe Biden won, said former swing-district Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., referring to the 18 Biden-district GOP lawmakers. Swing district Republicans are going to have Jim Jordan and Donald Trump draped around their necks in the 2024 election ... Its a lot easier to go after Jim Jordan for the events of Jan. 6 and his role in it with Trump than just about any other Republican. Two Jordan allies said they expect he will put lawmakers on the record on the floor of the House and dial up the grassroots pressure on the opponents. Some aides expect centrist Republicans to fold and back Jordan, saying they have a reputation for caving when push comes to shove. The people opposing him are moderates. Either he gets it or the moderates for the first time ever grow a spine, one GOP aide said. Dent pleaded with his former colleagues: Don't cave. My advice to those wavering members is: Dont buckle under this pressure. It will only get worse. If Jordan were to become speaker this type of bullying will be used to get people to fall in line, he said. This is a time to fight... Youd be rewarding horrible behavior. Democrats use Jordan against Republicans Democrats are already exploiting the predicament. A new robocall campaign by the group House Majority Forward targets 11 districts and highlights Biden-district freshman Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., asking voters to call him and request he reject Jordan. The robocall says Jordan voted to overturn the 2020 election, defended the criminals who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, and is in favor of an extreme agenda to ban abortion nationwide. (A Lawler spokesperson didn't immediately return a message seeking comment on how he would vote if Jordan came to the floor.) Jordan would be an atypical speaker after a succession of Republicans like McCarthy, Paul Ryan and John Boehner, who had strong conservative credentials but were willing to cut deals with Democrats to keep government functioning. Im optimistic. I think were gonna have a new speaker, Rep. Larry Bucshon, R-Ind., said. Hes within 5-10 votes probably. Thatd be my guess. He said that he hopes Jordan can get the votes on the first ballot Tuesday, but if not there will be more ballots. And he dismissed concerns about the political fallout of electing Jordan. I think the American people will be pleasantly surprised with Speaker Jordan, Bucshon said. In a letter Monday, Jordan told Republicans he understands their frustrations about the treatment of Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise" and vowed to be a unifying force within the party. The role of a Speaker is to bring all Republicans together. Thats what I intend to do. We will make sure there are more Republican voices involved in our major decisions beyond the Five Families, he said, referring to the five key factions within the conference. Republican operatives say Jordan lacks familiarity with a key facet of the job: helping endangered incumbents. It will be interesting to see if Jordan demonstrates any awareness of how tough (often pointless) votes could imperil his colleagues, Brendan Buck, a former adviser to Ryan and Boehner, said. Hes never shown much concern about them before. And front-liners are not helpless, but their reality is a fate determined largely by the political environment. If the House completely burns down and the generic ballot goes way south, theyre the first to go, he added, referring to the shifting preferences of voters on which party should control Congress. Republican lobbyist and former campaign operative Liam Donovan said speakers traditionally want to give vulnerable members legislative wins to tout and deliver funds to help them. While he has said all the right things, Jordan doesnt have a great track record in this regard, which has to give GOP majority makers pause, he said. Jordan has 'credibility with the hard-liners' Still, Donovan said the eagerness to restart business in the House might compel Jordans critics to fold. On the other hand, these members desperately want the House to get back to normal, and if Jordans credibility with the hard-liners can deliver some sense of ongoing stability for the conference, that might be enough, he said. Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman Viet Shelton called Jordan a conspiracy-peddling hard-liner and said the acquiescence to Jordan shows that there are no more moderates in the Republican conference who are willing to counteract the wishes of the far-right fringes. By tying their political futures to an election-denying, anti-law enforcement, pro-shutdown far-right extremist, these so-called moderates are hand-delivering the DCCC content for campaign ads ahead of next year but, more importantly, they are doing a grave disservice to their country, Shelton said. Former Rep. Leonard Lance, R-N.J., who represented a swing district, said he would have voted against Jordan if he were still in the House and would instead seek to draft an institutionalist. Among his concerns is Jordans objections to certifying President Joe Bidens victory in 2020 based on a lie that the election was stolen and his aggressive public campaign to sell that fabricated claim. I think we should have recognized that President Biden won the election and I would not have been involved in questioning President Bidens election, Lance said. And I think in order to govern effectively we should look to a member who could bring cohesion to the caucus but to the House in its entirety. A senior GOP aide rebuked the tactics of Jordan allies, saying that since McCarthy's ouster, they "have been threatening people who dont want to vote for Jordan with primaries, conservative media hit pieces and mean tweets from their influencer army as a means to intimidate them into voting for him. Dent said that at a bare minimum, any swing-district Republican should extract public concessions from Jordan before voting for him such as a guaranteed vote on Ukraine funding and promises to keep the government open and not strangle bipartisan bills. They have the most to lose. Their seats are most at risk, he said. I would not put up a vote for Jim Jordan without conditions. I mean Id have a hard time doing it anyway. But to do it without conditions? I dont get it. ASHDOD, Israel Liel Fishbiens last message from his sister was a warning: Be careful and quiet. Theyre in your neighborhood. Fishbien, 25, hid in his grandmothers house for hours as their Beeri kibbutz was ambushed on Oct. 7, part of a large-scale attack on Israel by terrorists from Hamas. Dozens of people in Fishbiens small community were killed while others were taken hostage across the border to the Gaza Strip, a blockaded Palestinian enclave controlled by militant group Hamas. Fishbien believes the hostages include his sister, Tchelet Fishbien, 18, who had been hiding in a nearby home with her boyfriend. But so far she does not appear to be included in the Israeli governments official count, for lack of clear proof that she has been taken. Follow live coverage from NBC News here. They havent located a video of her inside Gaza, Fishbien said, so she is considered among the missing and not the hostages. In the days since the Hamas attacks, the Israeli government has been updating official figures on the number of people killed or abducted. But people like Fishbien say they feel stuck in the space between, waiting anxiously for news about missing loved ones who have still not been categorized. Photographs of people who were abducted during the Hamas attack (Francisco Seco / AP) Their frustration is evident in places like Tel Aviv, where missing persons posters were displayed on the walls of the Israeli government and military center during a protest on Saturday. A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces said Monday that 199 families had been notified that their relatives were among those abducted, up from 155 a day earlier. Netanyahu met with some of those relatives on Sunday, after families expressed frustration with what they said was a lack of communication from his government. Israeli officials say they are also still working to identify all of the dead, some of whom were injured beyond recognition. As of Monday, 1,400 people had been killed and 3,500 wounded in Israel, while more than 2,750 people had been killed and 9,700 wounded in Gaza. On Monday, Fishbien said he had learned that his sisters boyfriend had been found dead. He said he has not given up hope for his sister, even if it is unclear where she fits in the official numbers. Liel Fishbien, 25, with his family. (Liel Fishbien) Though he understands the difficulties of providing clarity from a bureaucratic and formal point of view, Fishbien said, the lack of certainty for families like his is not right. Asked to clarify who is included in the official abduction count and how many people are missing but not confirmed to have been abducted, an IDF spokesperson declined to comment on Monday. The Israeli governments press office did not respond to multiple requests for comment sent Sunday evening and Monday morning. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with families of hostages held by Hamas. (Kobi Gideon / Government Press Office) They didnt evaporate Jonathan Dekel-Chen whose son Sagui Dekel-Chen, a 35-year-old father of two who is also an American citizen, has been missing since Oct. 7 said he doesnt care what the official numbers of those taken hostage are or how they are determined. Whatever the Israeli government says or doesnt say, I know that my son, like dozens of other people from my kibbutz, have been taken hostage by Hamas, he said. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind. Sagui Dekel-Chen, 35, is still missing. (Courtesy of Jonathan Dekel-Chen) Dekel-Chens southern Israel kibbutz, Nir Oz, was the site of a brutal massacre by Hamas terrorists, who murdered or abducted scores of residents. But his sons body and those of others have not been recovered. They didnt evaporate, he said. Theyre being held by Hamas. Dekel-Chen was among the family members of Americans believed to be held hostage who spoke with President Joe Biden on a video call last week. Biden said he would do everything possible to return every missing American to their families, and that U.S. officials were working around the clock to try to secure the release of Americans held hostage. There were no updates on his sons case during the call, Dekel-Chen said, and he has not received any updates from the Israeli government. Ido Nagar is still holding out hope that his wife, Celine Ben David Nagar, 32, is alive. She went missing on Oct. 7 after driving into southern Israel from their home in Holon, just south of Tel Aviv, and her car was found with bullet holes, smashed windows and blood on the outside. Asked whether Israeli officials considered her to have been taken hostage, Ido Nagar, 33, said Monday afternoon that he was still waiting for an update. They cant tell yet, he said. They dont know. BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. Hundreds of mourners gathered for the funeral Monday afternoon of Wadea Al-Fayoume, the 6-year-old boy stabbed to death Saturday in what authorities say was a violent and ugly response to the Israel-Hamas war. Wadea and his mother, Haanan Shahin, 32, were attacked Saturday. The boy was stabbed at least 26 times. His mother, who was stabbed at least a dozen times, survived. His death has led many in the Arab-American community to worry about whether more violence will come their way. Wadea and his mother are Palestinian American. Outside the Mosque Foundation, which was established nearly 70 years ago in this Chicago suburb, hundreds of people, some of them bearing Palestinian flags, pleaded for action. At times, wailing pierced the gathering. Wadea Al-Fayoume is seen in this handout photo from the family. A 71-year-old Illinois man accused of fatally stabbing the 6-year-old and seriously injuring his mother was charged with a hate crime Oct. 15, 2023, for what authorities say was a targeted attack in response to the Israel-Hamas war. Billboards mounted on trucks projected a picture of Wadea, wearing a birthday hat, along with messages including Urge President Biden to condemn anti-Palestinian bigotry unreservedly and Dehumanization Through Propaganda Breeds Hate Crimes. Joseph Czuba, 71, of Plainfield Township, about 40 miles southwest of Chicago, was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and two counts of hate crime according to the Will County Sheriff's Office. Attorney General Merrick Garland has announced a federal hate crimes investigation. No one in the United States of America should have to live in fear of violence because of how they worship or where they or their family come from, Garland said in his announcement of the federal investigation. Authorities in Dearborn, Michigan, also announced they arrested 41-year-old Carl Mintz on Thursday after he was accused of threatening Palestinian residents through a social media post, police said. Mourners gather outside the funeral of Wadea Al-Fayoume, a 6-year-old who was stabbed to death in a Chicago suburb. suspect has been charged with a hate crime, with authorities saying he was killed in a violent response to the Israel-Hamas war. Bridgeview Mayor Steven Landek and other officials spoke outside the center. Landek called upon non-Muslims to support their fellow residents. When the mosque doors opened for Wadeas service, the crowd split, men upstairs, women downstairs. They removed their shoes and packed the prayer room, leaving some mourners to watch TV screens in the carpeted hallways. He is not the only one being slaughtered," said Sheikh Jamal Said, who presided over Wadea's service. The Palestinians arent going nowhere. No one can force them out. Federal investigation: Stabbing death of 6-year-old Muslim boy in Illinois to be investigated as hate crime The attack on Wadea and Shahin came at their home, the ground floor of Czubas house, and was reported as a stabbing between a landlord and a tenant. Inside, Wadea and Shahin were discovered with more than a dozen stab wounds. Czuba was found sitting on the ground near the driveway. The mother and son were rushed to a local hospital in critical condition. Wadea died Sunday, but his mother was expected to survive, law enforcement said. Czuba didn't answer questions, but law enforcement determined he stabbed the woman and her child "due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis," the sheriff's office said. At a news conference Sunday, the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said the boy and mother had lived at the home owned by Czuba two years with no reported problems. But according to text messages between Shahin and the boy's father that were shared with the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Czuba yelled "You Muslims must die" during the attack. In an autopsy Sunday, the weapon, a 12-inch serrated military-style knife, was removed from the boy's abdomen, the sheriff's office said. Ground Zero for the Hamas attacks: Here is how the police and military are trying to find the gunmen. 'History repeating itself' Wadea's death has many in the Muslim community worried about safety. Areej Samara, 29, a business owner in the Chicago area, said hearing about Wadea's murder brought back the trauma of growing up as a Muslim-American after 9/11. "It's almost like this feeling we have of waking up in the morning and saying, 'What else do we have to prove to the world that we are not today?" Samara told USA TODAY. "We're not monsters. Our kids have dreams and hopes just like other kids, and for that fear to follow us in our own backyard is just a different kind of unsettling feeling." Also in Chicago, 33-year-old Humera Syed said her 2-year-old's Islamic school sent a message alerting parents of increased security measures in response to the escalation of violence between Israel and Hamas. "Obviously, it's not only my school, but I know there are other Islamic schools around the area that have done the same," Syed told USA TODAY. "It is hitting very hard in our community, and they're trying to obviously protect the children however they can." Syed said she was disheartened by the feeling that anti-Muslim sentiment was returning. "It's just unfortunate that it's history repeating itself again, the dehumanization of Palestinians and Muslims," she said. "It's just hard to walk around thinking that these people have this feeling towards us again." Wesam Shahed, a Palestinian attorney and Chicago Muslim community leader, was 3 years old when his family moved to the Plainfield area with his mother and two brothers. News of Saturday's attack was compounded by the loss of six members of his family in Gaza, he said. A mobile billboard projects a message outside the funeral of Wadea Al-Fayoume, a 6-year-old who was stabbed to death in a Chicago suburb. suspect has been charged with a hate crime, with authorities saying he was killed in a violent response to the Israel-Hamas war. "How do you balance mourning with this kind of energy of making sure that the community is staying together and protecting itself?" Shahed asked. Rasha Mubarak, 38, a Palestinian American activist from Orlando, said the community was "devastated and disturbed and mortified" to hear of Wadea's death. "This is exactly what we warned people about," she told USA TODAY, referring to an increase in hate crimes against Palestinians and Muslims. She added that her community is now not only mourning deaths of children in the Middle East but on American soil. "The fear is real and natural." In the face of grief at home and abroad, Shahed said he hopes members inside and outside the Muslim community reach out to their friends and loved ones. "I would say to others, please check in with your brothers and sisters, your friends and allies who are facing this and share the love during this time," he said. "It really does make a world of a difference." Contributing: Minnah Arshad This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 6-year-old stabbed to death sparks fears of growing anti-Muslim hate While Israel is readying its army for an expected ground invasion into Gaza, there have been clashes on the border with Lebanon to the north across the last week. Israel has activated a plan to evacuate residents of 28 villages within two kilometres (one mile) of the border with Lebanon with the situation having intensified on Sunday. Hezbollah militants firing rockets and an anti-tank missile, and Israel responding with airstrikes and shelling. The Israeli military also reported shooting at one of its border posts. The fighting killed at least one person on the Israeli side and wounded several on both sides of the border. Days of fire exchange have left at least seven people dead, including four Hezbollah fighters, on the Lebanese side. Why have the evacuations been ordered? There has been increasing concern from Israel and nations such as the US that the conflict over Gaza could expand to include Hezbollah an ally of the Hamas militants that rule Gaza and launched the attack of terror into Israel last weekend to the north. Beyond the latest strikes and retaliations from the air, Hezbollah said it has started destroying surveillance cameras on several Israeli army posts along the border. Hezbollah's military media arm released a video showing snipers shooting at and destroying surveillance cameras placed on five points along the Lebanon-Israel border including one outside the Israeli town of Metula. The militant group appears to want to prevent the Israeli army from monitoring movements on the Lebanese side of the border. 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 groups. An Israeli soldier adjusts his rifle as he stands on a tank near Israel's border with Lebanon (Lisi Nies/Reuters) 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. That has clearly played into the thinking of Israel as tensions have increased in recent days and clashes have increased. What could happen? The consequences of a significant clash between Hezbollah and Israel 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. 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. What about Iran? The Israeli military accused Iran on Monday of having ordered attacks by Hezbollah at the Lebanon-Israel border on Sunday. Hezbollah carried out a number of attacks yesterday in order to try to divert our operational efforts [away from the Gaza Strip], under the direction and backing of Iran, while endangering the state of Lebanon and its citizens, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a briefing. We have increased our forces on the northern border and respond aggressively to any activity against us. 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. Ahmed Abdul-Hadi, the representative of Hamas in Lebanon, insisted Monday that the decision to launch the attack in southern Israel was made by Hamas leadership and not directed by Iran or any other outside party, but he said that in event of a ground invasion of Gaza, allied groups will intervene. The war in Gaza is "a Palestinian battle and the decision to enter it was a Palestinian decision" made by Hamas and its military wing, the Izz ad-Din al Qassam Brigades, "together with the Palestinian resistance factions," he said in an interview with The Associated Press ahead of a conference convened by the group in Beirut. Hamas officials have denied that Iran was directly involved in planning the deadly attack or gave it the green light, and to date no government worldwide has offered direct evidence that Iran orchestrated the attack. However, many have pointed to Iran's long sponsorship of Hamas that has included training, funding and providing it with weapons. Abdul-Hadi said that Hamas allies Iran and Hezbollah will not allow Israel "to crush Gaza" or to launch a "comprehensive ground attack," but that the groups have deliberately left ambiguity about when and how they would respond. "This is up to the developments in the situation at the time." The US is clearly concerned about what Iran will do. "There is a risk of an escalation of this conflict, the opening of a second front in the north and, of course, Iran's involvement," White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told the American TV network CBS on Sunday. The US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin announced deployment of a second aircraft carrier group late on Saturday, calling it a sign of "our resolve to deter any state or non-state actor seeking to escalate this war." "Iran is the elephant in the room," a US official briefed on the situation told Reuters about the increasing military presence. "The carriers are accompanied by warships and attack planes. Every effort is being made to stop this from becoming a regional conflict." As for Iran, it has sought to talk tough in recent days. On Sunday, the nation's foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, warned that his country could act, telling al Jazeera that it had conveyed a message to Israeli officials that "if they do not cease their atrocities in Gaza, Iran cannot simply remain an observer." "If the scope of the war expands, significant damages will also be inflicted upon America," he said. Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report It is hard to reconcile these words with the actual actions of Mr Modi and his government on vital issues where opacity was promoted. The CAG is the supreme audit institution of India and is expected to promote financial accountability and transparency in the affairs of the audited entities, the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India said in its 2019-20 performance report. But Prime Minister Narendra Modis stranglehold on institutions has showed in the decay at the governments internal watchdog: the CAG has stopped functioning effectively. The total number of CAG reports relating to Union government ministries and departments came down from 55 in 2015 to 14 in 2020, a fall of 75 per cent. The fall was sequential: going from 55 to 42, 45, 23, 21 and 14. Defence audit reports went from seven in 2017 to zero in 2020. This was the same body that had done much to undo the Manmohan Singh governments reputation through its several strong reports, including on the 2G auction, coal block auction and the Commonwealth Games. So, what has been happening on this front in recent times? Where people inside it attempt to make it function independently, they are punished. A few weeks ago, in the Monsoon Session of Parliament, 12 CAG reports were presented to the peoples representatives. Days later, CAG officers who were responsible for the audits that revealed corruption were transferred. One of those transferred was Dattaprasad Suryakant Shirsat, who was in charge of the performance audit of the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. He had audited 964 hospitals in 161 districts of all 28 states, and found that in 2.25 lakh cases, the date of the surgery was shown to be later than the date of discharge. More than 1.79 lakh such cases were found in Maharashtra, for which the claimed amount was over `300 crore. A web portal, which broke this story, reported that lakhs of claims continued to be made for people who were deceased. The audit also found 1.57 lakh instances of duplicated beneficiaries. Atoorva Sinha, who had audited highway projects, was transferred after his report found overrun costs in the Dwarka Expressway project. The report said a change to elevate a portion of the pushed-up costs to `250 crore per kilometre as against the cost of `18 crore was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs. The Opposition tries to raise these issues, but is not able to get the government to accept any wrongdoing, much less to take action. The media, as we know, has no interest in holding the government to account. It is the Opposition and civil society who are the primary targets of their coverage. Readers might be interested to know how the CAG was subverted from within. The CAG is Girish Murmu, a Gujarat cadre officer who is so loyal to Mr Modi that, in the past, he has been caught on tape intimidating senior officials from testifying against his boss. Former DGP of Gujarat R.B. Sreekumar, who headed the State Intelligence Bureau from April 9, 2002 to September 17, 2002, in an affidavit to the Nanavati Commission probing the Godhra riots, said that Mr Murmu tutored, intimidated, forced and pressured him to depose in favour of Mr Modi. Mr Murmu was then the principal secretary to Mr Modi, who was the chief minister of Gujarat. Mr Sreekumar named another bureaucrat who was also present at the meeting and said he was told not to give his deposition in such a way that more names would be opened up, leading to their summoning for cross-examination I was also threatened that if I gave a statement contrary to the government's interests, I will be declared a hostile witness and dealt with suitably later. I told them that I would depose before the commission as per the statutory requirements and will not suppress the truth, because that would be an act of perjury. Mr Murmu had been authorised and entrusted with the task of tutoring and briefing government officials deposing before the Nanavati Commission by the highest authorities of the government and home department, and that such a posture by Shri Murmu is possible only if he has the specific support and clearance from the higher authorities in the government: the honble home minister/the hon'ble chief minister. Mr Modi made him the governor of Jammu and Kashmir and then the CAG. The governments website, pmindia.gov.in, has a section on transparency which reads: Prime Minister Narendra Modi firmly believes that transparency and accountability are the two cornerstones of any pro-people government Transparency and accountability not only connect the people closer to the government but also make them equal and integral part of the decision-making process. It is hard to reconcile these words with the actual actions of Mr Modi and his government on vital issues where opacity was preferred and promoted. This entire section, headlined Quest for transparency on the PM's site, has only 184 words and reads as if they were strung together by someone with little intellectual capacity: Rules and policies were not framed in AC chambers but among the people, it says. Draft policies were put online for people to give their feedback and suggestions is apparently an instance of transparency. It states that Mr Modis strong resolve to transparency backed by the manner in which he put this commitment to practice indicates an era of open, transparent and people-centric government for the people of India. No, it doesnt. The Narendra Modi years have been as opaque, and in many ways even more so, as those of any government before him. To raise extensive consultation, joint contribution, shared benefits to new heights 09:35, October 16, 2023 By He Yin ( People's Daily The State Council Information Office of China on Oct. 10 issued a white paper titled "The Belt and Road Initiative: A Key Pillar of the Global Community of Shared Future." The white paper was released ahead of the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation to introduce the achievements of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the past 10 years. This will help enhance the international community's understanding of the initiative, facilitate high-quality development of Belt and Road cooperation, and bring the benefits of the initiative to more countries and peoples. Only by placing the BRI under the grand coordinates of history can its significance for the times and the world be better understood. In today's world, as technological revolution and productive forces develop, economic globalization has become a historical trend. However, the economic globalization dominated by a few countries failed to achieve inclusive and shared development. The world is moving ever closer towards greater multipolarity, economic globalization, and cultural diversity, and becoming increasingly information-orientated in the process. It is increasingly clear that humanity is a global community of shared future in which everyone's interests are inseparably entwined. However, the deficits in peace, development, security and governance continue to grow rather than shrink. At the critical crossroads of history, building a global community of shared future is where the hope lies for the progress of human society. The BRI takes the building of a global community of shared future as its overarching goal, creating a platform for action and offering approaches to realizing this goal. It turns visions into reality, and is an important public good for improving global governance. In the 10 years that have passed since the launch of the BRI, cooperation under the BRI framework has brought remarkable and profound change to the world and become a major milestone in the history of humanity. The BRI has boosted China's development and benefited the rest of the world. The initiative boosts development and builds poverty reduction capacity in participating countries. It delivers notable results in projects that improve people's lives, bringing tangible benefits to participating countries. The BRI boosts the momentum for global development, encourages deeper regional economic cooperation, promotes global trade, and maintains the stability of global supply chains, thus adding vitality to economic globalization. It follows the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, promotes and activates authentic multilateralism, and strengthens the position and role of developing countries and emerging economies in the world market system. It marks a significant improvement in global governance. The BRI boosts people-to-people exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, garnering strength for the progress of human civilization. Facts have proven that BRI cooperation responds to the call of the times and benefits the peoples in participating countries. It thus enjoys popular support. It is a path for all participating countries to achieve modernization and a path of hope leading to a bright future. It is resilient and vigorous, and offers broad prospects. The reason for the BRI to have gathered world-changing strength in the past decade is that it always adheres to the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, and advocates win-win cooperation in pursuit of the greater good and shared interests. It emphasizes that all countries are equal participants, contributors and beneficiaries, and encourages economic integration, interconnected development, and the sharing of achievements. The principle of extensive consultation signifies that the BRI is not a solo endeavor by China, but a collaborative effort involving all stakeholders. From the making of blueprints to specific project design and implementation, the BRI emphasizes equal participation, effective communication, collective wisdom, and freedom from any political or economic preconditions. The principle of joint contribution highlights that the BRI is not one of China's international aid programs or geopolitical tool, but a collaborative effort for shared development. It aims to align with existing regional mechanisms rather than becoming their substitute and leverage complementary strengths. China has signed more than 200 BRI cooperation agreements with more than 150 countries and 30 international organizations across five continents, to strengthen strategic synergy and promote interconnected development. The principle of shared benefits underscores the importance of win-win cooperation. It aims to identify common interests and grounds for cooperation, meet the development needs of all parties, and address the real concerns of the people. This principle emphasizes sharing development opportunities and outcomes among all participating countries, ensuring that none of them is left behind. Most participants are developing countries, all seeking to leverage collective strengths to address challenges such as inadequate infrastructure, lagging industrial development, limited industrialization, insufficient capital and technology, and a shortage of skilled workers, to promote their own economic and social development. It is based on the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits that the BRI has achieved authentic win-win cooperation. In a world full of uncertainties and instabilities, all countries should urgently bridge differences through dialogue, oppose rifts with unity, and promote development through cooperation. Against this backdrop, the BRI becomes more meaningful and is an initiative to be welcomed. China is willing to work with all other parties to take the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation to strengthen confidence, maintain resolve, raise extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits to new heights. Cooperation will thrive, and the BRI can look forward to an even brighter future. (Web editor: Hongyu, Du Mingming) Grand plan needed to catch up with leaders South Koreas artificial intelligence (AI) industry lags far behind major countries such as the United States and China. Tortoise Intelligence, a data analysis institute based in the United Kingdom, recently came out with its Global AI Index, subjecting 62 countries around the globe to certain key criteria. The survey showed that Korea ranked sixth with 40.3 points while the U.S. topped the list with 100 points followed by China with 61.5 points. Singapore and the U.K. outranked Korea with 49.7 and 41.8 points, respectively. Of the seven major categories, Korea got a relatively high score in terms of innovation, possessing the largest number of patents after the U.S. and China. Yet, it received poor scores in the categories of talent and investments, ranking 12th and 18th, respectively. Korea had only six AI-related listed firms, compared to 172 in the U.S. and 161 in China. Japan had 26 while Taiwan had nine. Regarding cumulative investments during 2013-2022, Korea registered only $5.5 billion, far behind the U.S. $248.9, Chinas $95.1 billion and the U.K.s $18.2 billion. The growth prospect of the global generative AI market is very bright. Bloomberg forecasts the global AI market will expand to 1,600 trillion won ($1.18 trillion) by 2032. Goldman Sachs even foresees generative AI helping boost global GDP by more than 7 percent. Rep. Yang Hyang-ja cited the need for full-fledged support for domestic IT enterprises that are mostly struggling to sharpen their industrial competitiveness. They include Naver and Kakao which launched AI companies such as HyperCLOVA X and KoGPT 2.0, respectively. Regrettably, the Yoon Suk Yeol administrations AI-related R&D budget was curtailed by 43 percent (389.4 billion won). Many experts in academic and industrial sectors are expressing grave concerns, Yang said during a National Assembly inspection of state affairs on Oct. 10. Many experts agree that national competitiveness will increasingly hinge on the AI industry. Global Big Tech companies are desperate to take the lions share of the superb and gigantic AI development market. Furthermore, military AI has already emerged as a game changer in the defense industry, stoking anxiety over the possible far-flung impact on global security. As seen in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, the former has already been utilizing images collected via drones and satellites to be analyzed by AI to aid military tactics. AI is supposed to be used mainly for defensive purposes. But if it is exploited for offensive purposes, there should be efforts to make available the necessary technological power. How to secure necessary talent has been an essential task facing each nation. Against this backdrop, an increasing number of Chinese companies have been eager to attract university graduates by offering the highest level of wages among all industries. In contrast, South Korea has seen many excellent students rushing to medical colleges. It is high time for the Yoon administration to put more priority on boosting the AI industry. It needs to map out a grand plan toward that end encompassing tactics to boost industries, develop technology and nurture talent. As the nation combined its efforts to promote the semiconductor industry 40 years ago, now the government should take the leading role as a control tower to muster national energy to raise the AI industry, Yang said. The U.K. has poured 1.6 trillion won while Japan provided more than 50 billion won in assistance to relevant companies to help their enterprises hone global competitiveness. The firms need more support and opportunities including wide-ranging deregulation, in particular. By designating generative AI as a national strategic item, the government should provide firms with various incentives in R&D and facility investments such as tax breaks, for instance. Israel heroically defied the odds and many writers like the late Leon Uris captured this new spirit of the Israeli people. The attack on the rave party near the small Israeli town of Sderot across the Gaza Strip fence is possibly the single most shocking event of recent times. The sheer savagery and ferocity of the early morning attack on revellers makes it extremely difficult not to justify the savagery and ferocity of the Israeli bombardment of Gaza. By its visceral reaction, Israel has made it apparent that it sees all Gazans as Hamas and does not accept that societies too can become the hostages of terrorist groups. We in India generally paint all terrorist attacks by jihadi groups from across our western border as Pakistani. Of course, it is the responsibility of the Pakistani State to ensure that its territory is not used to launch attacks on its neighbours. But what about where there are no functioning states? The prolonged occupation and denial of democratic rights has changed how the civilised world now looks at Israel. Israel has lost its heroic sheen. Israel acquired a heroic sheen from the manner it created a nation for itself, after over two millennia of exile from their homeland, starting with the Babylonian exile in the sixth century BCE. Several other exiles followed and the Jews of the diaspora all over the world, amidst their suffering and humiliation, mostly in Europe, never forgot to sing LShana Habaah BYerushalayim, or Next year in Jerusalem, at the end of the Passover Seder and at the end of the Neila service on Yom Kippur. The Aliyah Bet, or illegal immigration of the Jewish survivors of the German Holocaust and the pogroms in Eas-tern Europe, led to the determination of building a nation driven by egalitarian values and strong enough to never let it happen again. The world admired them for it. Except for a few like the RSS gurus M.S. Golwal-kar and V.D. Savarkar who openly admired Adolf Hitler and his Final Solution (Our Hindu nationalists began admiring the Israelis only when their heroics inflicted defeat after defeat of the overwhelmingly numerous Muslim Arabs). But Israels heroic burnish is now dulled after the emergence of Israel as the pre-eminent and most ruthless power in the Middle East. Israeli ruthlessness was most evident in recent times by its retaliation on the Gaza Strip, horrific in their ferocity and far exceeding any limits of justifiable and even acceptable retribution. Gaza is just 41 km long, from 6 km to 12 km wide, and has a total area of 365 sq km. It is supposedly a self-administered area, but a virtual prison, with 2.2 million inmates. If you factor the buffer zone imposed by Israel in it, it is the most densely pack-ed place in the world. It also is subject to a cruel and crushing economic Israeli blockade that is supported by the United States. The irony of this being imposed by a people long experienced to a prison-like existence in Europe cannot be missed. The founding of the State of Israel held out the promise of a new nation that being tempered by their experiences and motivated by the high idealism of its founders would give the world something to look up to. It was this idealism that inspired newly-independent India to be among the first three countries to recognise it. The first generations of Israeli leadership were drawn from the European Jewry known as the Ashkenazim, and were generally liberal and progressive. This was seen in the early Israel when most of agriculture was under cooperative farming organised around the kibbutz, which also entailed a communal (sharing) lifestyle. The Histadrut, the Israeli labour union, which was the bedrock of the Labour political movement led by Israels founding father, David Ben-Gurion, was also Israels biggest employer that owned much of its transportation, dairy, construction and services sectors. Israel was intended as a progressive, socialist and democratic state. During the initial years of its existence, Israel heroically defied the odds and many writers like the late Leon Uris captured this new spirit of the Israeli people. His 600-page masterpiece Exodus, which created a sensation in 1957 and propelled him to the highest literary fame. It was a detailed and heroic chronicle of European Jewry from the turn of the last century to the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. Exodus, while being the epic story of a nation seeking a state, was also the touching love story of Ari Ben Canaan, an Israeli freedom fighter, and Kitty Fremont, an American nurse who joins Canaans fight for a Jewish state. In 1958, Exodus was made into a film by Otto Preminger and featured Paul Newman as Ari Ben Canaan. The book and the movie contributed the most to the mythologising of the Israeli fighter as an indomitable and idealistic hero. But it is not that Israel lacked such men those days. The founders of the Palmach, the elite strike force of the Haganah that was the forerunner of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), were men like Moshe Dayan, Haim Bar Lev, Ezer Weizmann, Yigael Yadin, Yitzhak Rabin and Yigal Allon, all men of heroic proportions and each one could have been a prototype for Ari Ben Canaan. The heroic sheen of the IDF has now largely dissipated with its emergence as a mighty army with the latest weapons and the unstinted support of the United States. It is now no longer David with a slingshot facing the mighty Goliath. In the four major wars it has fought, the IDF had worsted numerically superior Arab armies with ease. It is difficult to remain a heroic David against such adversaries for long. The Palestinian intifada is now the heroic struggle of a people seeking to find their identity, their freedom and a piece of their ancient homeland to call it theirs. Just like Israels struggle was before 1948. But the continued occupation and everyday nibbling of the West Bank since 1967 and the continued building of settlements in defiance of UN resolutions and in the face of world opinion are ugly and contemptuous manifestations of a narrow nationalism. Israel is no longer the valiant and beleaguered underdog, but increasingly seen as an increasingly arrogant oppressor seeking to crush another old nation under its jackboots. The sad truth about Israel is that now Benjamin Netanyahu is fact and Ari Ben Canaan is fiction. by Melani Manel Perera The ferry connection had been suspended since the outbreak of civil war in 1982. The service in operation since 14 October connects the port of Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu and the Sri Lankan port of Kankesanthurai in four hours. Indian Prime Minister Modi: a project that also looks at the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor from which Colombo will also benefit. Colombo (Asia News) - Forty years after their interruption due to the civil war, ferry connections between India and Sri Lanka resumed on Saturday 14 October. A move that Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed as an "important milestone" in strengthening bilateral ties, while for Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinge this step will help improve connectivity, trade and cultural ties between the two countries. The ferry service connects Nagapattinam, India, and Kankesanthurai, near Jaffna. In his speech at the inauguration, Modi cited the recent launch of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor during the G20 summit held in Delhi in September, arguing that Sri Lanka will also benefit from it. The Indian Prime Minister added that the two governments "will continue to work closely to launch ferry services also on the traditional Rameswaram-Talaimannar route". For thousands of years, people have crossed the Palk Strait to travel from the Indian subcontinent to this island and from Sri Lanka to the Indian subcontinent, Wickremesinghe recalled in a video link. This is how our cultures and trade developed." Since the early years of the twentieth century, the Indo-Ceylon Express operated between Chennai and Colombo via Thoothukudi: its operations ceased in 1982 due to the civil war in Sri Lanka. To restore service, the Government of India supported the Tamil Nadu Maritime Board in modernizing facilities at the Nagapattinam port. Similarly, the Government of Sri Lanka has created the necessary infrastructure in Kankesanthurai Port. At 8.15am on Saturday, the Cheriyapani ferry departed from Nagapattinam port with 50 passengers and 12 crew members on board. After traveling 60 nautical miles, the ship reached Kankesanthurai at 12.30 pm, before returning to Nagapattinam at 2.00 pm. The high-speed ferry is operated by Shipping Corporation of India and has a capacity of 150 passengers. The proposal to create an Aboriginal body to advise parliament on indigenous matters was rejected in all six states of Australia by an average of 60 to 40 per cent. Indigenous communities in the most remote areas voted largely in favour. "I do feel a bit deflated, lamented a young Indigenous woman, but we will rise. Canberra (AsiaNews) Australia has overwhelmingly rejected the government's plan to give a greater voice to Aboriginal Australians in Saturdays referendum. After a very tense and disputed campaign, a majority of voters in all six states of the country chose No by an average margin of 60 to 40 per cent. The proposal would have seen the constitution amended to recognise indigenous people. More importantly, it would have provided for the creation of an advisory body that called "The Voice". First put forward in 2017 with the Uluru Statement from the Heart, a petition signed by indigenous leaders, the reform would have set out a roadmap for reconciliation with the Australian government. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, who represent 3.8 per cent of a population of 26 million, have inhabited Australia for at least 65,000 years but, in addition to not being included in the constitution, are the most disadvantaged group in Australian society. The city of Alice Springs, which sits on the edge of Australia's outback in the Northern Territory, was at the centre of a media frenzy earlier this year due to rising crime, violence and alcohol abuse among indigenous peoples, a consequence, according to several local politicians and activists, of decades of "chronic and systemic neglect" of remote communities. According to the Yes campaign, the proposal would have made it possible to reduce systemic inequalities in the country. Led by opposition leader Peter Dutton, the No campaign brought together several Aboriginal figures, including, for example, Warren Mundine, a businessman and former politician, representative of the Bundjalung people. This is a referendum that we should have never had had because it was built on the lie that Aboriginal people do not have a voice., Mundine told the media. Aboriginal activist and Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price also came out in favour of a No vote, while her community in the Northern Territory voted Yes. Aboriginal Senator Lidia Thorpe also opposed The Voice, calling for priority to be given to legally binding agreements between Aboriginal peoples and the Australian government: "This is not our constitution, it was developed in 1901 by a bunch of old white fellas, and now we're asking people to put us in there - no thanks," Ms Thorpe said. Several commentators pointed out that it would have been unrealistic to expect complete agreement among the various indigenous groups. Yet, according to ABC News, polls show that people living in the remotest and most disadvantaged parts of Australia with the worst health and education outcomes were the most in favour of the proposal, seeking to have parliament heed their needs. In Aboriginal majority communities living in Kakadu National Park, the Yes vote recorded 73 per cent support, while in cities, the No prevailed. For political analyst Simon Jackman, in electoral districts where Indigenous people are more than 50 per cent of the population, the Yes vote averaged 63 per cent. On Palm Island, Queensland, where the population is 93 per cent Indigenous, three in four voted in favour of The Voice. Results also show that the number of young indigenous voters who voted in the referendum was higher than those who participated in the last years elections. I think of all the leaders who have fought tirelessly for Aboriginal rights, and especially for this Voice," said Armani Francois, 18, an ethnic Arrernte, speaking to ABC News. "I do feel a bit deflated, she lamented, but I think we will rise and I think that change will come." Prime Minister Albanese said he respected the vote and "the democratic process that has delivered it", while Dean Parkin, the director of the Yes23 campaign group, addressed those opposed to the changes. "I want to speak very directly to those Australians who voted no with hardness in your hearts, please understand that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have never wanted to take anything from you," he said. All we have wanted is to join with you, our Indigenous story, our Indigenous culture, not to take away or diminish what it is that you have, but to add to it, to strengthen it, to enrich it." by Alessandra Tamponi The South Korean government has called on China not to expel defectors. China's foreign ministry rejects the claim, saying that it maintains a "responsible" attitude. The UN rapporteur on human rights in North Korea says at least 2,000 North Koreans are held in mainland China. Seoul (AsiaNews) Last Friday, Koo Byoung-sam, spokesman for South Koreas Unification Ministry, confirmed reports from human rights groups that China forcibly repatriated hundreds of North Korean refugees. Mr Koo added that, at present, it is impossible to know the exact number of people involved. Human rights groups claim that some 600 North Koreans were expelled from China's northeastern region in what amounts to mass repatriation. Spokesman Koo also noted that South Korea asked for Chinas cooperation to prevent the repatriation of defectors, a rare move by South Korean authorities, who usually avoid addressing the issue directly with their Chinese counterparts. Such requests are unusual not only because of the difficulty in determining the exact number and conditions of North Koreans in mainland China, but also for the need to avoid straining relations with South Koreas big neighbour. For its part, China has denied the reports of mass expulsions. Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that China has always maintained a responsible attitude towards North Koreans who cross the border for economic reasons. Although North Koreans are usually granted refugee status when they reach other countries and China is a signatory to the United Nations Geneva Convention, Beijing does not recognise their right to asylum. Instead, refugees in China are treated as illegal migrants and expelled to North Korea under a bilateral agreement, including many North Koreans who have been in the country for several years, sometimes even creating a family. Koo added that the South Korean government will do everything to protect the rights of North Koreans abroad. Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho, 63, who taught at Sungshin Women's University in Seoul, is known for his tough stance on Kim Jong-Un's regime. In August, the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB) and Choe Jaehyeong, a member of the National Assembly of South Korea, organised a seminar on the forced repatriation of North Koreans detained in China. On this occasion, Minister Kim expressed his opposition to the repatriation of North Koreans, to whom South Korea automatically grants citizenship. NKDB data show that some 8,000 North Korean defectors were forcibly repatriated, almost 98 per cent by China, as of August 2023. The minister said that deserters must not only be granted refugee status but that they must also be allowed to reach South Korea. South Korean rights groups have recently highlighted the plight of North Koreans in China; last September for example, a protest was held in front of the Chinese embassy in Seoul. There groups fear that after three years, North Korea will reopen its borders, making it easier for China to send North Koreans back to their country. An investigation by 38th North suggests increasing traffic on the Sino-Korean border, indicating that it might reopen soon. Elizabeth Salmon, UN special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea, estimates that some 2,000 North Koreans are currently detained in China. if the border reopens, they might be at risk The vicar of Northern Arabia expresses concern for the escalating war between Israel and Hamas. An invasion of Gaza could have repercussions for the entire region. Pope Francis met today with Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa in the Vatican, renewing dialogue and exchange. Our Lady cathedral has become a tourist destination for Christians and Muslims. Rome (AsiaNews) The latest brutal war between Israel and Hamas following the attack by the extremist movement on October 7 is beginning to generate "tensions and concerns" in the Gulf region. An invasion of Gaza "could change everything, this according to Bishop Aldo Berardi, the Apostolic Vicar of Northern Arabia, A member of the Order of the Most Holy Trinity and of the Captives, the prelate is afraid that other reasons will fuel protest in addition to shows of solidarity. While governments might "condemn" the escalation, support for the Palestinians is widespread. The authorities are taking strong security measures. In Kuwait, celebrations and concerts have been cancelled. In Saudi Arabia, the government is on silent alert, putting on hold any move along the lines of the Abraham Accords. Any large-scale attack into the Gaza Strip could precipitate the situation. In the Church of Arabia, people are praying for peace, Bishop Bernardi said, urged to join the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem for tomorrows day of prayer and fasting. The Anglicans should also join us in Bahrain. We have informed parishes, calling for prayer and fasting in union with the Holy Land" since the possibility that the war might escalate at the regional and global level concerns everyone. Bahrain is a bridge between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Although it is far from Jerusalem, like the rest of the region, it is experiencing the impact of the war firsthand, while trying to renew and boost opportunities for dialogue, encounter and exchange. One example of this is the visit by the King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to the Vatican this afternoon, where he met with Pope Francis, a sign of cordial relations consolidated by the pontiff's visit to the Arabian Peninsula last year. Today's visit is a courtesy call, Bishop Berardi explained. As for the war, We got the official news, as a vicariate, very late and informed the faithful yesterday at the end of the Mass. In the past year, the pope and king have exchanged thank you letters. In today's meeting, they are expected to talk about the situation in the Middle East and how to deepen interfaith dialogue and coexistence between faiths" independent of what is happening with the United Arab Emirates". For the bishop, tolerance and interfaith coexistence are an element of great value even in Bahrain where the monarch is committed to dialogue. In fact, the popes apostolic journey was very important for the whole country, not only for Catholics. His presence provided a "moment of unity, a rare occurrence for Catholics in the vicariate, who have few opportunities to gather in the region; often, only international events bring them together. The last one, Bishop Bernardi noted, was "the World Youth Day in Lisbon when the faithful from the vicariate came together for a moment of sharing and exchange." In Bahrain, the Church remains "part of the history of the country. In fact, "the Sacred Heart Catholic School celebrates 75 years of activity" and is a valuable provider of education. The Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia covers four states in the Arabian Peninsula, each with its own social and political circumstances in terms of Christian presence and religious freedom. Unlike Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, Saudi Arabia allows no other religion except Islam. In 2020, Bishop Paul Hinder, the former vicar of Southern Arabia, took over as administrator of the northern vicariate after Bishop Camillo Ballin died. The area has almost 2.8 million Catholics out of a population of about 43 million. The territory is divided into 11 parishes, with headquarters in Awali, Bahrain, where the Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia is located. A reference point for Christians, it will mark its second year in operation on 10 December. Thanks to the king who donated the land, it is becoming an architectural, historical and cultural attraction, so much so that it is "a destination for international visitors to Bahrain and for the residents, many of them Muslims. For this reason, the Church is planning training and pastoral outreach programmes in the field of tourism to highlight the value of the place of worship and explain, even to non-Christians, the basics of the Christian faith. On 24 October, the vicariate will start its jubilee year, while on 4 November the Holy Door of the Cathedral will open with indulgences and pilgrimage. This is tied to the 1500th anniversary of the martyrs of Arabia bringing together both northern and southern (United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Oman) vicariates. "We must boost clergy training, the missionary spirit, and strengthen the catechism for the thousands of children, not to mention adult education in different languages, the bishop explained. This is our pastoral commitment" for the future. I'm fine, as I'm very fortunate to own my home I own, but I'm feeling the pinch on my mortgage with other inflation costs I rent and it's expensive, but it could be worse I'm seriously considering leaving the valley if something doesn't give Vote View Results 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. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. By Ahn Ho-young Several years ago, I was talking with a high-ranking Russian government official. I reminded him that North Koreas justification for developing nuclear weapons was the security threat it has from the U.S. I asked him if there was any chance that Russia may revive the security alliance with North Korea that expired in 1996. The official replied that Russia would not enter into such a relationship with the worst dictatorship in the whole world. President Putin and Chairman Kim Jong-un met at the Vostochny Space Center on Sept. 13. As I followed the meeting, I recalled the conversation with the Russian official. In the intervening years, Russia and the world moved in different directions. No agreement was signed, and no official announcement was made to publicize the purpose or the outcome of the meeting. However, the trade of North Koreas conventional weapons for Russias weapons of mass destruction technology was suspected as the purpose. It is worried that this could further aggravate the carnage taking place in Ukraine. It will also lead to worsening North Koreas nuclear provocations. As for ammunition, shells and artillery, North Korea has already been suspected of providing sizable amounts to Russia. Putin is quite well-known for the habit of being late to meetings with foreign leaders. In Vostochny, he arrived 30 minutes earlier to receive Kim. His defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, the man in charge of the ongoing war in Ukraine, left Moscow for several days to attend the July 27 military ceremony in North Korea. Putin and his men are making unusual moves, which implies how desperately they need North Koreas conventional weapons. As for the transfer of Russias technology for weapons of mass destruction, there is an important divergence of views among experts. Some are of the view that Russia, since the days of the Soviet Union, has carefully stayed away from the transfer of technology. Russia is proud of its status as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council. Furthermore, Russia understands the importance of maintaining the NPT regime. Given all of these factors, Russia will take care not to share important technology with North Korea. Others point to the fact that a defeat of Russia in Ukraine would cause unbearable political damage for Putin. Thus, Russia may go out of its way to provide sensitive technology to North Korea for as many conventional weapons as it can get. The U.S. and other concerned countries are vowing to respond with further sanctions, if and when these suspicions turn into actual transactions. Both Russia and North Korea are already subject to a whole range of economic sanctions. Thus, finding and imposing additional economic sanctions will require consideration of existing sanctions. In the case of North Korea, it could benefit from Russias food and energy supply and labor demands, in violation of existing U.N. sanctions. More effective sanctions would be to provide additional and higher-technology weapons to Ukraine. Some NATO members are already discussing that. As for South Korea, we should seriously study the consequences of North Korea having access to Russias technology in missiles, satellites and nuclear-powered submarines. As stated, we do not yet know the full scope of technology Russia will share with North Korea. However, even the satellite technology, which Putin suggested Russia may provide to North Korea, would lead to significant improvement in North Koreas missile technology and reconnaissance capability. In this context, it was timely that Korea and the U.S. announced the Washington Declaration on the occasion of President Yoon Suk Yeol's state visit to the U.S. last April. It was also timely that the leaders of Korea, Japan and the U.S. met at Camp David in August to strengthen trilateral cooperation for security, especially against North Koreas development of nuclear weapons and missiles. Korea must take the initiative in implementing these agreements to strengthen extended deterrence against North Koreas provocations. As for the Washington Declaration, it significantly increased the voice of Korea in extended deterrence; it agreed on joint planning and joint implementation on measures to be taken against North Korean nuclear weapons. An important step in implementing the declaration is to work out an operational plan between Korea and the U.S. based on conventional nuclear integration. North Korea introduced a law in September last year to allow it to conduct a preemptive nuclear attack against the South. Since then, it formed two separate military commands dedicated to planning strategic and tactical nuclear operations respectively. Last month it further amended its constitution to bolster the stance. Now, if North Korea gets its hands on Russian technology and succeeds in significantly improving its nuclear capability, it will be further tempted to make nuclear provocations. Its a scary scenario. For the time being, the only practical option we have is to strengthen extended deterrence. Ahn Ho-young is chair professor at Kyungnam University. He previously served as vice foreign minister and Korean ambassador to the U.S. SUV FWD AWD CVT The company first introduced the Nissan Rogue in late 2007, and since then, it has become a staple of the American compact crossovermarket it's out there at the top, battling with the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V for supremacy. Naturally, a lot is at stake because Nissan's Rogue is the third best-selling nameplate in the segment behind the CR-V and RAV4, while the sector itself is the top-grossing across the US car market.Now, while the Toyota RAV4 is patiently waiting for a thorough refresh or an entirely new iteration for the 2025 model year, and the CR-V is too fresh to update, it seems like Nissan chose the perfect time to boost hype for their Rogue nameplate. As such, the company "continues to enhance its best-selling crossover and reinforce the commitment to bringing the latest technology to its most popular vehicles" with help from a subtle yet impactful refresh and the addition of new connected features.Although it's instantly recognizable by Nissan Rogue fans, the 2024MY gains a different grille that makes a world of difference alongside the modified front and rear fascias, as well as a slew of very subtle upgrades. Among the latter, we could count on the satin-finish exterior badges or "new inner taillights," for example.Additionally, the Japanese carmaker will offer new 18-inch alloy wheels, new colors, and textures for the trim elements on the door panels, seats, center console, and passenger-side dashboard, plus high-tech stuff like a wireless smartphone charging pad, a 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen and a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster which are standard on the SL trim level. Meanwhile, The Rogue Platinum gets enhanced with new 19-inch wheels, gloss black trim elements, and a newly optional Chestnut brown leather upholstery.The new exterior color palette includes Everest White Pearl, Deep Ocean Blue Pearl, Baja Storm, and various dual-tone configurations when the roof is painted black. Pricing has not been announced yet, but we know the 2024 Rogue will arrive at nationwide dealerships early next year with four grades - S, SV, SL, and Platinum- each available with bothand. The powertrain, meanwhile, features the same 1.5-liter VC-Turbo engine paired with the company's Xtronicand rated at 201 hp and 225 lb-ft of torque.Last but not least, completely new for its class, the 2024 Rogue will arrive equipped with Google built-in on the 12.3-inch HD color touchscreen, and the new "infotainment system seamlessly integrates well-known Google apps including Google Assistant, Google Maps, and more on Google Play right into Rogue's dashboard." However, the new system is limited to Rogue SL and Platinum models, while the Rogue S and SV feature an 8-inch system with standard Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, plus AM/FM and SiriusXM. A Norwegian clean-tech startup is ready to shake things up in the maritime industry with two major developments. One claims to be the world's safest and most compact fuel cell system, and the other is a Giga production facility for fuel cell stacks, also claiming to be the first of its kind in Europe. kW FCM400 is the name of a brand-new fuel cell system that's ready to revolutionize maritime operations on the way to lower emission levels. It claims to be the most power-dense fuel cell system specifically designed for heavy-duty maritime applications. Its transformative potential stems from two major qualities inherent safety and the lowest footprint on the market.The FCM400 is based on a complex safety concept, which is supposed to ensure that any potential hazards would have as little consequences as possible. This concept includes certified components, rugged containment systems, a venting arrangement, and a separate safety system.At the same time, the FCM400 claims to be the most compact system of its kind in the maritime industry. This is key when it comes to vessels because they have limited onboard space and special volume requirements. In terms of power output per unit volume, the FCM400 is believed to be unbeatable. It boasts remarkable energy density plus the ability to adapt to changes in power demand.In terms of power, as its name suggests, the FCM400 starts at 400and, thanks to its modular structure, can be scaled in power increments of 400 kW to fit various applications. It's primarily intended for ships' main or auxiliary engines, but it can be adapted for several other applications, including stationary shore power stations or construction sites.This innovative fuel cell solution is the result of a collaboration between TECO 2030 and the Austria-based AVL. The FCM400 was recently displayed at AVL's headquarters in Graz, where the company celebrated its 75th anniversary.The Oslo-based startup believes that hydrogen fuel cells are the answer for green maritime transportation in the future, and it tackled this challenge on multiple fronts. In addition to developing this groundbreaking fuel cell system together with its technology partner AVL, TECO 2030 is also gearing up to open a pioneering facility.This future Giga production facility for hydrogen PEM fuel cell stacks will be located in Narvik, Norway, and it claims to be the first of its kind in Europe.TECO is also working with Shell Shipping and Maritime on a project called Hy-Ekotank . This vessel will be retrofitted with TECO's fuel cell system in order to demonstrate the commercial benefits of hydrogen-based propulsion systems.In the meantime, the FCM400 has already secured an AIP (Approval in Principle) from DNV and is on track for type certification. The Indiana-based carmaker was among the first to introduce brand-new designs after WWII. 1947 saw the arrival of the Starlight coupe. This automobile influenced the entire industry through its flat trunk lid and wraparound rear window. The Starlight was designed by Virgil Exner. In 1950, Studebaker debuted the "bullet nose" styling language that made its cars look futuristic compared to products from other companies.Unfortunately, the Ford-GM price war of the early 1950s pushed Studebaker on the verge of bankruptcy and into an unsuccessful merger with Packard . The company closed shop in 1967.More than 50 years later, models like the Avanti and the Golden Hawk are enjoying a cult following, and some examples are changing hands for big bucks. On the other hand, most Studebaker nameplates don't get the attention they deserve. In short, junkyards are littered with Commanders, Presidents, Champions, and Larks.That's a sad sight for a Studebaker enthusiast like me, and that's why I get all hyped up when someone saves a less desirable car. Just like YouTube's "Vice Grip Garage" just did with a 1948 Champion Found somewhere in Illinois, this third-generation Studebaker was retired in 1976. It sat for a whopping 45 years in an old garage until it was purchased by our host. He parked it in a field for a couple of years, which means this Champion spent 47 years off the road. And without a single sip of gasoline since the hood has been stuck ever since.Although vehicles like this usually get parted out, our host decided to give it a second chance and get it running again. It was quite the challenge after almost five decades, but the old inline-six engine eventually agreed to fire up. And the even better news is that the Champion still has its original mill.If you're unfamiliar with the third-gen full-size, it was sold with 170-cubic-inch (2.8-liter) straight-six engines from 1947 through 1952. The lump produced 80 horsepower at its introduction and was upgraded to 85 horses in 1950. Not much oomph by modern standards, but more than sufficient at the time.The car itself is also in surprisingly good condition. There's not a lot of body rust to talk about, and the interior looks decent, save for some damage on the seats and the door panels. Sure, it still needs a complete restoration to look like new, but it could become a nice survivor without major (and expensive) intervention. Check out this weathered green beauty in the video below. For the briefest of intervals, all signs pointed to the months-long SAG-AFTRA strike coming to an end as union bosses and studio executives launched a new round of negotiations. During that brief interval, director Michael Mann and his Ferrari cast came out to promote the biopic. Photo: Neon Photo: Screenshot | Ferrari first trailer Ferrari is one of the most anticipated releases of 2023 both because of its stellar cast and the fact that it tells the story of the most difficult years of one of the most fascinating figures in motorsports. Starring Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari and with Michael Mann in the director's chair, the Ferrari biopic will focus on recounting the year 1957, by far the most challenging for Enzo and his Scuderia Auto enthusiasts can't but rejoice at Hollywood's relatively recent obsession with automotive legends , but Ferrari is promising to be a real treat for movie buffs, as well as long as they won't pay too much attention to what sounds like a rather sketchy Italian accent in all the characters.This much attention on the film has naturally brought questions of the replica cars used in the film and whether Driver got to enjoy any of them. Perhaps aware of the impact his words would have, Driver stated earlier this year that he'd been banned from driving any of the race cars for insurance reasons and that he got stuck with a dolly car. He did get to race modern Ferraris on the race track a few times, though.Late last week, Ferrari had its U.S. premiere within the 2023 edition of the New York Film Festival, which meant Mann, Driver, and the rest of the cast were on hand to speak to the press. It also meant Driver got the opportunity to clarify his previous comments, which casts him in a slightly more badass light.As it turns out, the dolly car he drove during production was a replica of one of those "moving coffins" famous in the '50s so, a race car, if you know your Ferrari racing history. His single-seater had been modified to carry a camera, but as Driver explains it, it was still very much like the other period-correct race machines producers had built for the film.Consequently, it was "terrifying." "It teleports you back to the time and you realize if you turn left or right the wrong way, then youre dead," Driver told one trade publication at the premiere. "Theres at least seatbelts in the newer cars."Mann interrupted to explain that the lack of seatbelts was due to the high risk of accidents during a race, which earned these cars the "moving coffin" moniker. Chances of survival were better if the driver was thrown out of the car in case of an accident, as compared to being stuck inside and dragged by the wreckage.On the same occasion, Mann revealed the studio built more than a dozen Ferrari and Maserati replicas and that 14 or 15 of them were used for the Mille Miglia sequence, during which time they hit 140-150 mph (225-241 kph) and "[did] so safely," according to the director. Actor Patrick Dempsey, who has experience in professional racing, got to drive one of those replicas.As for Driver, besides getting briefly behind the wheel of that dolly "coffin at an abandoned airstrip in Modena, Italy, he also got to race a few of the newer models at the track just to get a feel of what his Enzo character would be.Ferrari is scheduled for a wide theatrical release on Christmas day, but if you wish to know more about those "moving coffins" and the inherent risk of being a race driver in the '50s, the brilliant 2017 documentary Ferrari: Race to Immortality from director Daryl Goodrich is now streaming on Max (nee HBO). You're welcome. Even the most compact homes on wheels can prove to be exceptionally comfortable with the right layout and clever additions. One of the most popular designs by the New Zealand-based Cocoon Tiny Homes is only 26-foot-long, yet welcoming and highly practical. With two loft rooms and a flawless main floor layout, this is truly a haven on wheels. Photo: Cocoon Tiny Homes Photo: Cocoon Tiny Homes Photo: Cocoon Tiny Homes "Ambience" is simply the perfect name for this lovely tiny house that's equally intimate and connected to the outdoors. It exudes total balance and harmony, as it's neither too rustic nor too minimalistic and formal. Simple and small solutions add just the right functionality, creating a warm and homely atmosphere at the same time.The Ambience is on the smaller side, with just eight meters (26 feet) in length and three meters (9.8 feet) in width. The 37.5-square meter (403 square feet) floor plan includes two lofts, a bigger one and a smaller one that can serve multiple purposes. Downstairs, a typical open-space layout reveals an inviting central lounge, a dreamy U-shaped kitchen, and a well-equipped bathroom.The vertically-laid iron cladding, mono-pitch roof, double-glazed aluminum joinery, and large windows give the Ambience tiny its recognizable New Zealand style. On the outside, it's not as stylish as the European and Canadian models that often display intricate woodwork and sophisticated details. However, the austere and rugged exterior makes room for a surprisingly warm and homely interior.This home's interiors are as inviting and beautifully decorated as it gets. Tri-fold glass doors (another Kiwi signature feature) lead straight into the central lounge. A huge sofa dominates the area, tucked under the upstairs walkway.This position gives it support and privacy, as well as beautiful views and a connection to the outdoors. Additional elements, such as the rustic fireplace and discrete shelves scattered throughout, make this living room feel even more inviting and cozy.One element that will immediately catch your eye is the beautiful staircase. It's fitted with a sturdy handrail and extended into a walking platform with vertical wire. This particular design adds the safety and comfort of a conventional staircase without feeling too bulky or closing up the space. It's also a great way of connecting the two loft spaces. Overall, this makes Ambience feel much more like home than similar builds where the lofts are completely disconnected. The main bedroom is built for comfort. It comes with a full-head walking bedroom and can fit in a king-sized bed. In other words, owners get to enjoy a lavish bed and plenty of walk-around space. Two windows bring in natural light and fresh air, while tiny cabinets provide basic storage.The smaller loft room can be configured as a secondary bedroom or children's room with a single bed or even a queen-sized bed, but it was primarily intended to become a home office. It's perfect for couples who work from home and who need a separate, quiet space where they can focus on their work. The team at Cocoon Tiny Homes can add a versatile office desk with an adjustable height, which takes up little space. Adding some beanbag chairs and cushions will create the perfect informal and relaxed workspace.Still, the Ambience isn't all about working from home. It puts just as much thought into the kitchen, designed to become a real sanctuary for entertaining and spending quality time with loved ones. It's surprisingly spacious and well-equipped for a house this size, which is mostly due to its U shape. The beautiful custom-made cabinetry with white laminated surfaces offers generous storage. There's even a large pantry with five soft-close drawers.Standard appliances include a two-burner stove, a gas or electric oven, and a full-size fridge. In addition to the generous counter space, this U-shaped kitchen has one more surprise to reveal it comes with a fold-out breakfast bar. It gets great light thanks to its placement near the window and the main door, and it can comfortably seat everyone without taking extra space.The Ambience's practical design includes a surprisingly large hallway leading to the home's back door. This is where owners will find generous storage, including full-size wardrobes, a laundry tower, and a separate spot for the broom. It's all part of the custom-made laundry cabinetry. The bathroom is in the same area, at the back of the house. It's equipped with a full-size shower and a large vanity. As for the toilet, customers can choose a conventional version or one of the many eco-friendly alternatives.This wonderfully cozy abode takes about eight weeks to build, with pricing starting at NZ 99,000 ($58,500) for the basic shell and NZ 199,000 ($117,600) for the turnkey version. It's versatile enough to allow multiple customizations, and most importantly, it will feel just as cozy and practical as a traditional home.In terms of size, it's one of the smaller designs offered by Cocoon Tiny Homes, an Auckland-based company that is family-owned and operated. The members of its team have an extensive design and engineering background, and it shows Ambience is just one of this brand's impressive models. From the energy generation perspective, mankind currently stands on the precipice of history. Mankind's come to a point where it needs to make concrete decisions on how to supply roughly eight billion people with enough electricity to stretch each continent. On top of it all, a break-neck drive towards an all-electric automotive grid means that pretty soon, global demands for electricity are only going to increase exponentially. kWh EV Photo: U.S. Dept of Energy Photo: Oak Ridge National Laboratory Photo: Kia With a fully electric global automotive sector due by the middle of the next decade, nuclear energy stands above the rest in terms of the sheer level of power it can produce. But with public sentiments starkly divided between the pro-nuclear and anti-nuclear stance, the drive towards a comprehensive switch to nuclear energy across the globe would be an uphill battle in every sense. But the nuclear energy sector of 2023 is substantially different from what it was in the days of Three Mile Island or Chornobyl (Chernobyl) . It's rife with powerful, ultra-modern nuclear reactors designed to meet the demands of future power grids while addressing the concerns of the "not in my backyard" variety of people.But to understand why roads choked to the brim with electric cars might bode well for nuclear energy in the long run, we need to understand just how much power a fully-electric vehicle ecosystem would require to not fall apart. For starters, Americans consumed a gargantuan 142.8 billion gallons of gasoline in 2019, the last full year before the recent global health crisis started throwing off data. Assuming each gallon of gasoline is equal to 33.7, as stated by the U.S. EPA, this would mean the roughly 300 million cars and trucks currently on America's roads needed around 4,800 billion kWh worth of energy to keep themselves fueled up over the course of that same year.Though the EPA estimates it costs between 20 and 50 percent less t o charge anthan it does to fill an equivalent fuel tank, the tremendous battery capacities of high-end EVs combined with the proportionally higher amounts of time North Americans spend driving means the energy production needed to sustain a fully-electric automotive grid would still be astronomical. It's difficult to predict just how much more energy would be required to power such an energy grid.However, the U.S. Department of Energy believes it would require between 800 to 1,900 billion kWh of energy to sustain a fully electrified vehicle fleet over the course of a year, or between 20 and 50 percent more than the present day. That level of increase in power output can't be solved with solar farms and wind turbines alone. In fact, the bulk of this energy would likely originate from fossil fuel-fired energy stations under current circumstances. There's only one form of carbon-free energy production with the hope of bridging the gap, and that's nuclear energy.Whether from the traditional nuclear fission side of things or the recent cutting-edge advancements in nuclear fusion, there's every reason to suspect that nuclear energy could be the path forward towards a nearly carbon-free energy future dominated by battery-electric EVs all in need of a charge-up. In the U.S. alone, there are currently 93 nuclear reactors in operation across 23 states.It must be said these nearly 100-strong nuclear reactors account for just under 20 percent of the US's total energy production. But could better, safer, more powerful reactors change that in the near future? Some argue it already has. You see all nuclear reactors built before the mid-1990s represent the second generation of commercial fission reactors. Be it the General Electric boiling-water reactors in Fukushima Daiichi or the RBMK that went haywire at Chornobyl, they both belong to this broad category of nuclear facilities built between the late 1960s and the early 90s.The first third-generation nuclear reactors to reach full-scale commercial service were two GE Hitachi advanced boiling water reactors (ABWRs) at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant in Niigata Prefecture, Japan, in 1996 and 1997. Across the globe, top names in energy production like General Electric and Westinghouse in the U.S., Candu Energy Inc. in Canada, Mitsubishi, and Toshiba in Japan, and various Russian and Chinese-state-controlled energy conglomerates have built a dozen more gen-III reactors according to the World Nuclear Association.With the ability to generate large quantities of nuclear fission through a relatively small amount of fissile fuel, expanding global power grids with gen-III reactors could facilitate the global switch towards electric car charging without sacrificing energy in other areas. Their potential scalability down to tiny reactors that easily fit inside an average warehouse, as with Westinghouse's eVinci, brings potential fleets of small reactors running in parallel into the realm of viability. In cities like London, New York, or Los Angeles, where millions of EVs will soon be charging up all at once, such nuclear reactors proliferating in the near future would be a welcome sign, especially as the cost of gasoline inevitably spirals out of control soon enough.But while various European countries like France and the UK and US states like Illinois and Pennsylvania have fully taken nuclear energy to heart, their neighbors are often totally different stories. Across the border in Germany and Italy, two states have largely abandoned their civil nuclear energy programs. Germany's final operational fission reactor shut down in April 2023, and 12 US states have active moratoriums on building new reactor sites, including California, Connecticut, and New York. In a great number of cases, rising public sentiment against potential nuclear reactor sites in their own neighborhoods is at the spearhead of this legislation.But it's the very same fears for safety on the part of the public that modern fission reactors aim to vanquish with their innovative designs. Rapid advancements in fissile fuel, where only a fraction of the quantity of fuel is needed compared to older reactors, reduce the risk of large, uncontrollable meltdowns lobbing tons of radioactive material into the atmosphere during an emergency. Further workarounds to common problems, such as the positive void coefficient of Chornobyl's RBMK reactors, have been implemented in recent years. Meltdowns caused by natural disasters like Fukushima notwithstanding, there hasn't been a major nuclear accident attributed solely to human error since 1986.With the oil and natural gas-producing nations of the world throwing their weight around like never before, governments that once turned their backs on nuclear energy might find themselves scrambling to change course as ever-increasing magnitudes of EVs strain local power grids to the absolute brink. But even beyond simply focusing on electric vehicles, even more pressing concerns like heating and air conditioning during increasingly extreme winters and summers in the Northern Hemisphere will soon demand energy in a way only nuclear fission can realistically supply without emitting any carbon.In a modern world where a deeply conservative petrochemical energy sector shares real estate with a repertoire of renewable energy production methods that can only meet demand when used in unison, it's fair to say factoring nuclear energy into the same picture as wind turbines and hydro-electric energy bodes well towards presenting a concrete path away from a global reliance on finite fossil fuels. It may sound like a trivial change in semantics to some people, but these distinctions matter when the future of the human race depends on presenting workable solutions to kicking nat-gas, coal, and oil to the curb long term.In the end, the more pressing matter is whether the people who once rejected nuclear energy in all its forms relent in their criticisms or carry on cutting deals with less-than-reputable petrostates to keep their homes and businesses every winter. For purely humanitarian reasons that have nothing to do with energy, we have reason to suspect that Italy, Germany, and many others around the world might one day soon change their attitude towards nuclear energy. Few places on this planet can rightfully claim to be true houses of speed, where unicorn avalanches-with-doors-and-wipers come alive to haunt hypercars. Surprisingly (for some), one of those places is in a country with little automotive tradition: Poland. However, the Poles have a geopolitical advantage theyre neighboring Germany, and that appears to be a very contagious addiction when it comes to turbos and connecting rods. What the Poles did in their latest deed is a very in-your-exhaust kick aimed at multi-million-dollar price tags with a racial superiority affection. The Poles havent been rubbing shoulders with the country of wrench-and-all-things-mechanical for nothing. They found that certain automobiles made in Germany are very, very well suited to tune-up abuse without batting an eyelash. After all, if BMW and Mercedes have their own tuner fan base to play with specs and performance, why wouldnt Audi share the same fortunes?Yes, other speed shops in Germany do exceptionally well in transmuting a factory Audi into a Hulk, but the Poles are not too bad either. After all, taking a stock RS 6 (insert smug face here) and tuning it to above 1,000 hp has become almost the norm lately. Simply because theres nothing like showing the tailpipes to a thoroughbred Italian/German horse or a bullying Corrida lead character.However, doing so is not for the faint of heart (or any other muscle, for that matter), and an Audi needs to go through the glowing blue-hot flames of Satans forge to come out on the other side as an archangel of hypercar apocalypse. After all, putting over 1,000 hp down to all four corners isnt just a weekend project that one can do in the resilience of their garage.But the Polish elves from Power Division are masters of controlled havoc and know their trade to the tee. Which is why it looks so annoyingly easy and good when they do it. Look at one of their latest experiments in playing with internal combustion fire. It started as a regular, everyday, normal Audi RS 6 C8, but it has been redefined (their word, not this writers) to several lengths over what Ingolstadt had in mind for the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8.Thanks to a bit of witchcraft and a lot of calculated skill, the Power Division four-ringed gauntlet is a dyno-terror with a Stage 4 Kit and enough nerve to shatter speed paradigms to bits. Typically, every tuner has its own personal interpretation of what various Stages of engine modification translate into: for the Poles, this is the jargon that hides 1,043 hp and 893 lb-ft (1,058 PS /1,210 Nm).The Poland-based tuners declare that this is the most powerful RS 6 C8 theyve built yet, and they chose a perfect host to transplant their magic into. See it in the video below (courtesy of Auditographys YouTube channel). The jaw-dropping aggressive carbon aero kit and matching tailor-made red Alcantara interior.Since piston power must come accompanied by a symphony of automatic rapid-fire music, it fell on the shoulders of the neighbors from MGM Motorsport to develop a suitable Cat-back exhaust section for this project. The merry-go-rounders from Power Division did the rest and installed their in-house designed, developed, and manufactured parts. Intakes, intercoolers, hybrid turbochargers, low- and high-pressure fuel systems, exhaust manifolds, sport-cat downpipes, front pipes, racing spark plugs, and the water-methanol injection kit.The crankshaft hobbits didnt just settle for assembling all these; they also mapped the Engine Control Units and the Transmission Control unit on their proprietary platform (incidentally, this is the core of their activity: they remap powertrains for everything with a piston in it, from trucks to airplanes to boats to motorcycles.)As a result of all this overflow of good intentions , the Audi now gets the zero-to-sixty-two job done in a blink-of-an-eye 2.4 seconds (as tested in real-life conditions). The 100-200 kph (62-124 mph) takes a little more 4.6 seconds and the monster can quickly go past 350 kph (218 mph). Thats beyond the point when the likes of Ferrari SF90 tap out, for instance.If youre curious about the price of this Stage 4 package, you should address the inquiry directly to Power Division. Not because I wouldnt want to share it directly, but rather due to the custom-built nature of the tuning kits, depending on the car it is to be installed on. While some specific parts are sold separately like the 1,800/$1,900 air intake, the 3,200/$3,370 intercoolers, and the 7,500/$7,900 turbo-compressors some are included in the complete packages available for various stages of engine tunes.As a final note on the Polish nuclear reactor fitted under the Audi RS 6 s hood, please note that the stock care they based their cataclysmic project on is the 600-PS, 800-Nm model from the latest generation. Thats 592 hp and 590 lb-ft of torque from the same four-liter twin-turbo TFSI engine. However, out of respect for safety, the carmaker has gagged its enormously capable family station wagon to a measly 155 mph (250 kph). On the other hand, the poles rejected the German rule of maximum speed and decided to go full metal jacket. Click the play button and be the judge of their latest creation. ATV Besides automobiles, Suzuki will also showcase a series of innovative mobility concepts, the wildest of which is the Modular Quad Based Architecture (MOQBA for short). The MOQBA is a unique modular mobility device with four wheels mounted on articulating legs that can climb over obstacles.The small electric vehicle is neither a motorcycle nor a scooter. It's a combination of a smalland a quad bike, but it sooner reminisces an AT-AT walker from Star Wars.Envisioned as a multi-purpose mobility device, the MOQBA would allow riders not only to drive around on flat surfaces but also get up stairs. It is, actually, the first such vehicle designed especially for walking up and over stairs, and the target audience seems to include people "who face barriers in transportation such as steps, even in a region with developed public transportation."Just like regular motorcycles, the MOQBA concept vehicle has a saddle and handlebars, but that's about it in terms of similarities. This mobility device's chassis is connected to a pair of modular rails, each of them equipped with two articulated legs ending on wheels. These legs will help the vehicle seamlessly tackle uneven terrain and even climb over obstacles.According to Suzuki, the base chassis can be coupled with various attachments to obtain different body variations. Initially, the company plans for three riding modes: Chair, Standing, and Strecher.This modularity will make the device extremely versatile. Besides its main use as a cool electric scooter/motorcycle for everyday commutes, the MOQBA could also serve as a stair-climbing wheelchair, medical stretcher, or parcel-hauling vehicle. The renders unveiled by Suzuki show the vehicle in diverse instances, like carrying groceries, packages, and garbage bins.Moreover, its compact design means it will be able to transport people and objects to areas where traditional cars or motorcycles can't reach. This makes it extremely useful in emergency situations, for instance.The Modular Quad Based Architecture design is just a conceptual vehicle for now, so no other details on specs or availability have been unveiled. However, Suzuki believes it could revolutionize city mobility, making transportation accessible to a wider population.In the same vein, the automaker will reveal several other innovative mobility solutions at the Japan Mobility Show. These include the Senior Car, a motorized wheelchair aimed at helping seniors with daily shopping and strolling; the Suzu-Ride and Suzu-Cargo, a pair of multi-use mobility devices envisioned as single-seat, four-wheeled electric scooters; the Suzuki Go!, a mobility device with trapezoidal silhouette and joystick operation; and the LM-A, a last-mile delivery robot. Top policymakers, experts to gather at AI forum on Oct. 18 By Baek Byung-yeul The Korea Times will host a forum to delve into the crucial theme of Survival and Growth Strategies in the AI Era at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) building in Seoul from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Oct. 18. In todays world, many people find themselves in an era of fierce AI competition, where nations and companies are relentlessly struggling to enhance their capabilities in hyperscale AI. At this pivotal moment, it is becoming increasingly important for Korea to formulate effective strategies to gain a competitive edge in the global AI competition, which has been further intensified by the advent of ChatGPT. The general view is that the time has come for the country to seek innovative ways to enhance its competitiveness in AI by expanding investments, securing robust infrastructure and implementing supportive government policies. Furthermore, as AI continues to be widely adopted in various aspects of our lives, there is an urgent need for in-depth discussions on ethical codes governing its use. In collaboration with global consulting firm McKinsey & Company, The Korea Times has taken the initiative to organize this forum to assess Koreas current AI capabilities and facilitate the formulation of effective policy suggestions to propel the nation forward. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho will deliver a keynote speech on Korea's response and future policy directions in the AI era, followed by Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jung-sik, who will deliver a special speech on labor market changes and prospects in the AI era. Matt McDevitt, McKinsey partner and co-leader of QuantumBlack Japan, will speak about how to embrace new corporate paradigms in the age of AI. QuantumBlack Japan is an AI company run by the consultancy. The event will also provide an opportunity to catch a glimpse of how AI is transforming human society and how Korean firms should navigate the AI era and compete with global big tech. In the first session, panelists will discuss how AI technology will change human society and how to best address the ethical issues that will arise as AI technology advances. They include Uhm Yul, director general of the artificial intelligence policy bureau at the Ministry of Science and ICT; Chang Joong-ho, a professor at Seoul School of Integrated Sciences & Technologies (aSSIST); Kim Myoung-shin, principal policy officer at LG AI Research; and Yang Yoon-seok, assistant professor of the Dept. of Computer Science at the State University of New York, Korea. In the second session, panelists will discuss how companies in the AI era should respond to the new paradigm and how Korean AI companies can compete with global big tech. They include Park Byung-kwan, vice president of SK Telecom; Kim Jea-in, head of the corporate strategy office at Kakao Brain; Kwon Soon-il, vice president, and head of biz development and strategy at Upstage; and Lee Dong-jae, chief strategy officer of Wrtn Technologies. Bank CEOs, corporate CEOs, ambassadors to Korea and head of foreign business associations in Korea will also attend the forum. Simultaneous interpretation will be available. The Korea Times will livestream the forum via its official YouTube channel. Toyota has more Crown models on the way albeit we are not sure any of them (Sport CUV and the four-door Sedan are on the launch pad, Estate will follow soon) will make it to the United States. We are also not counting on the 2024 C-HR to receive a visa waiver anymore, but that doesn't matter all that much.The company has decided its new entry point needs to be the record-breaking Corolla family, complete with Nightshade editions, GR models, and also the Corolla Cross including in Hybrid form. Then there are also other GR special editions, even more Nightshade models, plus high-profile stuff like the 2024 Grand Highlander, N400 Tacoma, or the returning 2024 Land Cruiser.And we didn't even mention the Lexus goodies, of course. Or the fact that the company is thoroughly upgrading its roster of models to the 2024 model year , including the all-new Prius 'Hybrid Reborn.' Speaking of the latter, the world has naturally fallen in love with the nameplate all over again especially in America, where there's a starting price of just $27,650 for the entry-level Prius LE.So, it's easy to say the 2024 Prius packs a whole lot of charisma and high-end technology into a reasonable price point and if you want something feisty but just as efficient, there's also the 220-hp Prius Prime plug-in hybrid version. But what if that's still not enough?Well, no worries, as the imaginative realm of digital car content creators always has a solution, or two, or maybe three. Cue Vishnu Suresh, the self-taught concept artist behind the zephyr_designz moniker on social media, who has been hard at work envisioning that extreme Prius of his in various forms.It all started during the summer when the heat was on, and the pixel master decided the Prius 'Hybrid Reborn' was too cool for it not to adopt the classic JDM-style tuning process. As such, he envisioned a concept design where the affordable and efficient Prius turned into a hardcore, slammed, and widebody hybrid monster with wide arches, a big rear wing, and cool aftermarket wheels.But that wasn't enough even for him he proceeded to morph the virtual prototype into all sorts of things, including an excellent three-door Shooting Brake. Do you think that was enough of Prius for him? Nope, not at all, as some versions were purple while others were so yellow they became the New York City Taxi Edition!However, now we are back discussing this feisty little Prius all over again because the author tidily wrapped the concept design with the ultimate mod a Toyota Prius 'Pro Black Edition.' It features all the remarkable characteristics of a 'murdered-out' ride about to embark on a record-breaking lap of Laguna Seca and would certainly stand out in any crowd.Hopefully, someone will notice it soon, and an aftermarket outlet will be audacious enough to put this thing into the real world! That would be a sight to behold, especially if they also come up with a way to take advantage not just of the matching-black Rotiforms but also of the quad-tipped exhaust system and come up with double the power of the Prius Prime! In America, the compact crossover SUV sector is the biggest provider for all automakers it even soared above the traditional full-size pickup truck favorite segment after the first six months of the year. We are not expecting radical changes to the top five segments, so we can easily imagine that compact CUVs will rule undefeated by the end of the year. As such, is anyone surprised how come everyone wants a piece of the pie?Even the imaginative realm of digital car content creators is eager to pitch in and showcase its visions for upcoming models. For example, the good folks over at the Q Cars channel on YouTube aim to daze and amaze the audience with a potential styling of their visions for the redesigned Mazda CX-5 and Toyota RAV4.The Mazda CX-5, for good measure, is the Japanese automaker's top-selling model worldwide, and it rose to international fame quite fast indeed. The original was introduced in 2012 as a spiritual successor to the old-school Mazda Tribute and the slightly larger CX-7 to feature the brand's 'Kodo' design language for the first time. Also, it represented the poster model for the range of Skyactiv technologies that have since trickled into every model series.As such, it is no wonder it has remained a popular choice for Mazda customers even as the Japanese company has gotten busy with its CUV lineup and now offers stuff like the slightly larger CX-50 and CX-60. However, some might feel the second generation is growing long in the tooth and needs at least a refresh to continue on the market.No worries, the channel's resident pixel master was keen to showcase a couple of AI-assisted design proposals that don't stray too far away from the company's current design ethos. Interestingly, it's going to be an uphill battle for the CX-5 in America, where everyone and their mother are expecting the redesigned Toyota RAV4 best-seller.Curiously, the channel's CGI expert also didn't shy away from exposing their vision for the 2025 Toyota RAV4 and they have portrayed the hypothetical facelift on more than one occasion. The latest is also embedded below alongside the CX-5 in case you want to see them side-by-side.This surely would be a lovely rivalry, but we advise everyone to take all these renderings with a grain of salt as nothing is official from Mazda and Toyota just yet. For example, the former just updated the 2024 model year CX-5 with higher MSRPs and now offers a Carbon Turbo model from $37k. As for the latter, the US model is not seeking the red carpet's spotlight, unlike the UK specification where Toyota added a new RAV4 GR Sport version with 302 horsepower and a plug-in hybrid powertrain. The U.S. news website Politico reported on Friday that Blinken made that clear in an October 3 phone call with several pro-Armenian U.S. lawmakers. It cited two unnamed people familiar with the conversation. The reporting in this article is inaccurate and in no way reflects what Secretary Blinken said to lawmakers, the State Department spokesman, Matthew Miller, told Armenias Armenpress news agency on Sunday. The United States strongly supports Armenias sovereignty and territorial integrity. We have stressed that any infringement of that sovereignty and territorial integrity would bring serious consequences, Miller said in written comments. Tigran Balayan, the Armenian ambassador to the European Union, similarly claimed on October 8 that Azerbaijani forces could soon try to open an exterritorial land corridor to Azerbaijans Nakhichevan exclave through Armenias southeastern Syunik province. He said the West should impose sanctions on Baku to prevent such an attack. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev regularly demands such a corridor. The Azerbaijani takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh raised more fears in Yerevan that Baku may act on its implicit threats of military action. Syunik is the sole Armenian province bordering Iran. Tehran has repeatedly warned against attempts to strip it of the common border and transport links with Armenia. Aliyev described the restoration of full Azerbaijani control over Karabakh as a historic event in a televised address to the nation delivered outside the main government building in Stepanakert. We got our lands back, restored our territorial integrity and at the same time restored our dignity, he said after hoisting an Azerbaijani flag there. Aliyevs visit to Stepanakert and other practically empty Karabakh towns was clearly timed to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the start of his presidency inherited from his late father Heydar. He declared that he has achieved his number one objective. This victory will remain forever in our history, added Aliyev. The Azerbaijani army launched the large-scale offensive on September 19. After more than 24 hours of fierce fighting, which left at least 400 soldiers from both sides dead, Karabakhs leadership agreed to disband and disarm its armed forces. The latter were greatly outnumbered and outgunned by advancing Azerbaijani troops in the absence of any military support from Armenia. Russia, which has about 2,000 peacekeeping soldiers stationed in Karabakh, did not try to prevent or stop the assault. The Karabakh Armenians regarded the peacekeepers as their man security guarantee after the 2020 Armenian-Azerbaijani war. At least 100,000 of them fled to Armenia later in September. According to exiled Karabakh officials in Yerevan, only several dozen mostly sick, disabled and elderly Armenians remain in the region. Armenias government says the exodus is the result of ethnic cleansing perpetrated by Azerbaijan. Baku has denied responsibility for the almost complete depopulation of Karabakh and pledged to protect the rights of local residents willing to live under Azerbaijani rule. Over 200 of them are Karabakh soldiers killed in action on September 19-20, Hunan Tadevosian told RFE/RLs Armenian Service in Yerevan. Two dozen other victims of the hostilities are Karabakh civilians who died as a result of Azerbaijani shelling of their communities. The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry has acknowledged over 200 combat deaths among its military personnel involved in the operation. Its troops greatly outnumbered and outgunned Karabakhs small army that received no military support from Armenia. Karabakhs leadership agreed to disband the Defense Army in return for Baku stopping the assault and allowing the regions ethnic Armenian population to flee to Armenia. The exodus began amid chaotic scenes blamed for the September 25 explosion at the gasoline depot outside Stepanakert. With fuel in extremely short supply in Karabakh even before the Azerbaijani attack, hundreds of cars converged on the facility to fuel up and proceed to Armenia. Tadevosian said the powerful blast and a fire sparked by it killed at least 220 people and left 50 others missing. About 150 bodies were burned beyond recognition, he said, adding that DNA tests are being carried out in Yerevan to identify them. Hundreds of other Karabakh Armenians were injured by the blast. Tadevosian said Karabakh authorities that are now exiled in Armenia continue to believe that it was most likely the result of human negligence, rather than a deliberate attack. The authorities failed to organize an orderly distribution of the fuel stored in the depot because of panic caused by fears that Azerbaijani troops could enter Stepanakert at any moment, he said. People were desperate to get out [of Karabakh] as soon as possible and save their families, added the spokesman for the Karabakh interior ministry. The chartered flight landed at Yerevans Zvartnots airport just over a week after Hamas launched its surprise attack from the Gaza Strip, reigniting the conflict in the Middle East. The evacuees included not only Armenian nationals but also ethnic Armenian citizens of Israel and other foreign countries. I live and work here, its my children who live there [in Israel], one of them, a middle-aged woman from Yerevan, told RFE/RLs Armenian Service at Zvartnots. I was always going to come back. I went there for a few days. I worked at a university there on a one-year contract, said another, younger woman. Its not clear what is going to happen there next. Things may escalate, get even worse. That is why returning to Armenia is a safer option. The Armenian Embassy in Tel Aviv began registering people for the first repatriation flight last week. The Foreign Ministry in Yerevan indicated later on Monday that it could arrange more flights if necessary. We can also inform that as of now there have been no reports of Armenian citizens or ethnic Armenians being among victims of the hostilities, the ministry said in a statement. Other countries have also evacuated their citizens from Israel due to the escalating conflict. 16 October 2023 08:30 (UTC+04:00) Elnur Enveroglu Read more Today was one of the most historic days for Azerbaijan. This is such a historical day that it can also be appreciated as the day of Azerbaijan's pride. The 30-year-long Armenian occupation and separatism have eventually come to an end, and the tricolor flag of Azerbaijan is proudly flying in our historical territories, which were once the illegal abode of the invaders. It was not a random day that victorious Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev raised our flag in Khojavand, Khojaly, Askaran, Aghdara, and finally Khankendi. As the Supreme Commander-in-Chief emphasized, we have been waiting for these days for a long time, and thanks to the patience and restraint shown, we finally had our wishes come true. We approached this issue with restraint and patience, as we do with everything else. Because we knew that we would come here. I knew that. Exactly 20 years ago, on October 15, 2003, I made that promise to the people of Azerbaijan and to myself. Yes, we waited for 20 years, or rather for 17 years. Three years ago, our flag was raised in Shusha. However, we have achieved what we wanted, fulfilled the decades-long wishes of the Azerbaijani people. We have restored the dignity of the Azerbaijani people. We have returned to our lands, we have restored our territorial integrity, and at the same time, we have restored our dignity, the President said. The Second Garabagh war lasted only 44 days, and although the separatists yet had not been completely removed from the Azerbaijani territories, Azerbaijan chose the peace agreement and accepted Armenias signing the capitulation document on November 10. At that time, many thought that Azerbaijan took a step back under the pressure of the pro-Armenian forces. However, there were many who believed that this day would happen. This is the ripe fruit of a profound policy - as it persevered and reaped its fruits. Three years ago, all international organizations identified Azerbaijan as a target of a negative side. The words of the Armenian invaders were heard in all organizations, and a boycott plan was being prepared against Azerbaijan. Behind this plan, France, the US Senate and leading congressmen worked with all their efforts. Western media occupied the main news sections every day with articles exhibiting biased positions against Azerbaijan. They organized such a provocation that they almost introduced Azerbaijan to the world as an invader. However, Azerbaijan agreed with the articles of the November 10 statement and with great restraint showed the real processes in Garabagh to the world community. As the saying goes, Leopard neve changes its spots. The provocations in Garabagh did not stop until the Armenians changed their aggressor character. The situation was even brought to such an extent that the Armenian separatists rejected Baku's peace proposal and attempted to ignite a new war in the region. There was nothing hidden anymore, everything was settled on the table and everyone saw the truth and had to come to terms with reality. The only party that denied the truth was a group of separatist elements. But soon they were also forced to accept the truth. When the President of Azerbaijan addressed the people while raising the flag in Khankendi, he also touched on very important points. About 36 years ago, when the national leader Heydar Aliyev was removed from the office of the Communist Party of the former Soviet Union, Armenian nationalists began to implement their nefarious plans with the help of France, just like today. Thus, taking advantage of the absence of a national leader, the Armenians, with the mediation of certain forces in Moscow, established the status of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast to occupy the territory of Azerbaijan's Garabagh. The most interesting point was the support of the French media in publicizing this issue. If we just look at the processes from the Patriotic War until today, we can see that France is the most active country supporting separatism among the Western powers. By playing the role of an obstacle in the entire peace negotiation process, France revealed its dirty plans regarding the South Caucasus. Every time the French leadership defended Armenia, it was more pro-Armenian than Armenians. But in the last attack, France realized that times had changed. The situation in the Caucasus is no longer the same as it was 36 years ago. Azerbaijan, which has an independent policy, has a strong army, economic potential, and wide diplomatic influence. No more words are needed to explain. After that, it remains to draw conclusions for Armenia. Azerbaijan has fully restored its territorial integrity and has taken steps to ensure peace and security in the region. Now the choice is Armenia's; either cooperation with the regional states, or being used as a tool in the hands of forces like France and finally doomed to destruction... --- Elnur Enveroglu is AzerNews deputy editor-in-chief, follow him on @ElnurMammadli1 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 16 October 2023 16:24 (UTC+04:00) By Elchin Alioglu After putting an end to separatism, Azerbaijan has already restored its sovereignty and has full control over the perimeter of its entire territory. The symbolism of raising our flag in Khankendi is very great. This does not end with the stability, freedom and normal life of a place that the Bolsheviks created in our territory in 1923 as the 'Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Province', which later became a nest of Armenian separatism. Azerbaijan dealt a crushing blow to the Armenian territorial claims, aggressive hostility, separatism, ethnic and religious intolerance, which has been continuing for centuries and cannot be stopped, and is called "hayizm". Our country is the first country in the post-Soviet space that has eliminated separatism in its territory and solved the problem of extremism, which has become a real threat to the lives and safety of peaceful citizens and the state. Yesterday's events were also a clear statement of Azerbaijan's position on territorial integrity, border inviolability and sovereignty. If in Armenia and various Armenian diasporas there are further calls for territorial claims, separatism and ethnic enmity with intolerance to Azerbaijan, official Baku will perceive it as a real threat to itself. Of course, those threats will be answered immediately and adequately. The fate of the former separatist regime in Khankendi, the current situation of its former leaders and the end of Armenian separatism in Garabagh should be a lesson to all Armenians. Armenians should finally understand that accusations, threats and especially territorial claims against Azerbaijan have no prospects and will not have any prospects. The process of reintegration of Garabagh Armenians into Azerbaijani society is underway, and the doors are open for those who want to participate in this process and become citizens of Azerbaijan after returning from Armenia. It is enough that they do not become carriers of toxic ideology, and do not think of extremism, separatism and terrorism by taking up arms again. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev's speech in Khankendi yesterday was also an appeal to Armenians all over the world. The leadership of Armenia should understand once and for all that the way to normal life, development, raising the level of well-being of its citizens and protection from threats as a state is through the signing of a peace treaty with Azerbaijan, as well as the normalization of relations with Turkiye. These two points are the guarantee of Armenia's existence. Official Erivan is unable to appreciate the reality because it is trapped by the forces that created meaningless and baseless illusions by making promises to it. If the problem of reality, which has been going on for years in the power circles of Armenia, is not solved, a more serious crisis awaits our neighbor. Taking into account that the next stage of the process aimed at signing the final peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia will be held in Brussels at the end of this month, with the proposal and mediation of the Chairman of the European Union Political Council, Charles Michel, it seems that the situation is in Baku's favor. The President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, proposes to sign the agreement in Moscow, as an alternative to the Washington and Brussels tracks of negotiations and discussions. Tracks don't matter for official Baku: we need results. The situation with Armenia is completely different: if we remember that Nikol Pashinyan refused to participate in the CIS summit held in Bishkek, it seems that the narratives of alienation from Russia are even more evident in Erivan's foreign policy. Trying to get rid of Moscow's influence and get free from its geopolitical pressure, Armenia's intention to return to the Moscow track now has a somewhat ephemeral effect. There are no serious changes in Baku's positions. And this picture started not now, but months ago, when the issue of the reintegration of Garabagh Armenians into the Azerbaijani society was considered on two different levels through the process of the peace agreement with Armenia. Now, in general, no issues related to Garabagh (!) can be discussed at the international level or with the participation of international mediators, because there is no separatist regime in Garabagh, which is a part of Azerbaijan. Armenia's participation in these issues in any form is nonsense. Baku and Erivan can now discuss only the peace agreement, the demarcation and delimitation of the conditional state border, the liberation of our enclaves under the occupation of Armenia, the Zangazur corridor project and the details of the return of Armenians from Garabagh. It is for this reason that Nikol Pashinyan transferred the problem of Armenians from Garbagh from the area of foreign policy to the level of domestic politics, and focused on statements with the guarantee of Armenia's security. In Pashinyan's rhetoric, Garabagh Armenians are now just one of the elements in the set of attempts to pressure Azerbaijan. Will the official Erivan conduct a logical and realistic policy from now on? No, on the contrary - the Pashinyan administration will increase the number of absurd accusations, slanders and lies directed against Baku. However, the progress of the process will depend on the form and extent of support of Armenian PM's demagoguery by the West. The collective will increase its support to Armenians in the so-called West, but heterogeneous geopolitical space, because the independent policy of Azerbaijan, the real leader of the region, cannot satisfy the powers that are used to ruling small states. We will overcome these pressures. As we shape new geopolitical realities in the region, we also know the ways to achieve goals within those realities. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 16 October 2023 13:00 (UTC+04:00) Akshin Jahangirov, Deputy Executive Director of the Azerbaijan Deposit Insurance Fund (ADIF), signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Yoo Jaehoon, the Chairman and President of the Korean Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC), Azernews reports. ADIF said that the Memorandum is to promote joint international cooperation in the field of deposit insurance between the Fund and KDIC, as well as to improve the process of liquidation of banks that are under liquidation of the ADIF in a prompt and fast way, taking advantage of the advanced experience of the corporation, and to strengthen the development of the deposit insurance system in Azernews and increase financial literacy. It should be noted that within the framework of the memorandum, the main directions and goals of cooperation, positive contribution to the development of the deposit insurance system, support for increasing the practical and theoretical knowledge of the potential human resources of the ADIF in order to optimize the liquidation process of banks by taking advantage of the advanced experience of the ADIF, to increase the efficiency of the asset management process and speed up the payment of compensations. In addition, if it is considered necessary, a joint research group consisting of human resources of the ADIF and the Corporation will be created for the purpose of carrying out multi-directional studies on the system of deposit insurance and exchange of experience. It should be recalled that the International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI), which attaches great importance to international cooperation, participated in the voting for the selection of the new president and the composition of the executive board of the Association as an organization with full voting rights at the Annual General Meeting of the International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI) held in the United States on September 26. In addition, ADIF held business meetings with the delegations of countries such as Turkiye, Spain, France, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, which have a multi-year and professional activity strategy, in order to further expand relations with international institutions in order to learn the most advanced practices of leading countries and apply them in their activities. During the meetings, detailed discussions were held with the delegations of the mentioned countries about the activities and development prospects of the ADIF, as well as financial innovations, cyber security and data protection, as well as the most current topics in the financial system. In particular, we should mention that educational events were held in Azerbaijan with the head of the Toronto Center, the institute that provides the leading financial, consulting and training services for risk management, Babek Abbaszade, improving the deposit protection mechanism, in the field of digitization, which is the main demand of the modern era. Discussions were held about taking new steps. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 16 October 2023 17:13 (UTC+04:00) Abbas Ganbay Read more The Ambassador of Italy to Azerbaijan, Claudio Taffuri, recently spoke at a joint event to mark the launch of ADA University School of Agricultural and Food Sciences and World Food Day held in Baku. During his speech, Taffuri highlighted Italy's potential to contribute to bringing technologies in the field of food and agriculture to Azerbaijan, Azernews reports. "Efforts are being made to increase collaboration between the two countries in various fields. There are also opportunities for cooperation in the fields of food and agriculture. The activities of government institutions, private sectors, and civil societies related to food safety can also play a special role in this issue," the ambassador noted. According to a report from the World Economic Forum, digital agriculture can reduce food waste throughout the supply chain. In Italy, 4.0 technologies are already being used to support agricultural processes. In 2019, the main digital technologies used in the agriculture and food industry in Italy included mobile technologies, remote sensing, distributed computing, and Artificial Intelligence. In addition, FAO has identified five ways in which science, technology, and innovation can help transform the world's agrifood systems. These include using digital applications in agrifood systems, such as mobile phones and the internet, to access information, inputs, markets, and finance. Italy is well-positioned to contribute to bringing these technologies to Azerbaijan. By providing training and ensuring access to the newest technology, Italy can help ensure that small-scale producers in Azerbaijan do not miss out on any advances in this fast-evolving domain. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Ko Dong-hwan Doosan Robotics and Kyochon F&B have agreed to introduce chicken frying robots at the country's popular fried chicken franchise locations, the major robotic developer said, Monday. Last Thursday, representatives of the two companies signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on expanding a robotic chicken fryer throughout Kyochon's nationwide network of restaurants. Doosan Robotics co-CEOs Park In-won and Ryu Jung-hoon, Kyochon Vice Chairman Song Jong-hwa and President and CEO Yoon Jin-ho signed the deal at Bundang Doosan Tower in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. Under the deal, Doosan will provide the robots to Kyochon, which will start automating its cooking processes. The two firms have agreed to employ the first machine at Kyochon's headquarters in Osan, Gyeonggi Province, within this month. They will also promote the robots to Kyochon restaurants and encourage franchise owners to use the machine. The robots will follow Kyochon's cooking practice that first deep-fries chickens, removes excessive batter and then deep-fries them again. The robot's efficiency will play a key role in the double deep-frying process by realizing uniform quality and taste for all chicken pieces, according to Doosan. The robot can run six deep-frying baskets simultaneously, cooking up to 24 chickens per hour. The robot's deep-frying arm is also fixed on the machine's top section, which saves restaurant operators the trouble of setting it up and taking it out every time they use the robot. According to Doosan, the robot has been certified with food safety by the U.S. National Sanitation Foundation. "Kyochon F&B, with its 1,370 restaurants nationwide, is our ideal partner to consistently provide our new robot," Ryu said. Doosan previously signed deals with other food and beverage companies in the country including Robert Chicken, CJ Foodville, Ourhome and XYZ to provide them with helping robots. 16 October 2023 17:57 (UTC+04:00) Laman Ismayilova Read more The International Organization of Turkic Culture (TURKSOY) turns thirty this year. Spectacular gala concert has been held at Heydar Aliyev Center with the support of the Culture Ministry to mark TURKSOY's 30th anniversary, Azernews reports. Head of the Department for Humanitarian Policy, Diaspora Issues, Multiculturalism and Religion of the Presidential Administration Farah Aliyeva, read the congratulatory letter of the Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev, addressed to the participants of the ceremonial event dedicated to the 30th anniversary of TURKSOY. TURKSOY Secretary General expressed his gratitude to the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev for his support in organizing events dedicated to the anniversary of the organization and for always being with the Turkic world. He also commemorated the memory of the National Leader Heydar Aliyev, whose 100th anniversary is celebrated this year. "We are very pleased to celebrate TURKSOY's 30th anniversary in Baku. Festive evenings have been previously held held in Almaty, Bishkek, Tashkent and Ashgabat, in honor of the organization's 30th anniversary", said Sultan Raev. "A number of events are being held this year in honor of the TURKSOY anniversary, reflecting the history, culture and traditions of the Turkic world, our common spiritual world. For thirty years, we have shown the whole world that we are always together and will follow this glorious path. The twenty-first century is the century of the Turkic world. Long live Azerbaijan and the Turkic world!",he added. Next, People's Writer Elchin Afandiyev, People's Artists Polad Bulbuloglu, Shafiga Mammadova, Nurettin Mehdikhanli, Faig Sujaddinov, People's Artists Farhad Khalilov and Sakit Mammadov were awarded with the Sharaf medal. The event continued with the performances of vocalists, music groups and dance ensembles from Azerbaijan, Turkiye, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. The concert program ended with the composition "Azerbaijan - Odlar Yurdu" with the participation of all collectives and soloists. The event participants got acquainted with the exhibition organized on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of TURKSOY at the Heydar Aliyev Center. Note that TURKSOY has its roots in meetings during 1992 in Baku and Istanbul, where the ministers of culture from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkiye, and Turkmenistan declared their commitment to cooperate in a joint cultural framework. The International Organization of Turkic Culture TURKSOY is the UNESCO of the Turkic World and was established in 1993 upon signature of its founding agreement by the Ministers of Culture of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Turkiye. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @lmntypewriterrr Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 16 October 2023 10:54 (UTC+04:00) Abbas Ganbay Read more The Community of Western Azerbaijan called on the Pope to put pressure on Armenia to restore the cultural and religious heritage of Azerbaijan destroyed by Armenia, Azernews reports. It was reported that in his statement of 15 October 2023, Pope Francis called for the protection of Christian religious monuments in the Garabagh region of Azerbaijan. In this regard, it should be recalled that after the liberation of the Garabagh region from the occupation of Armenia, the Azerbaijani State took under protection all religious buildings and other monuments, regardless of their religious affiliation, and began to rebuild those destroyed by Armenia. In this sense, the Pope has no reason to make an appeal regarding the Christian religious monuments in Garabagh, which are not threatened at the moment. On the contrary, there is a great need for the Pope to express his opinion on the destruction of 65 mosques in the Armenian-occupied territories of Azerbaijan, as well as more than 200 mosques and numerous other cultural and religious monuments in Armenia. At this level, the Community of Western Azerbaijan once again recalls its unanswered appeal to the Pope of 12 June 2023 to help Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenia to visit Azerbaijani religious places of worship and the graves of their relatives in the territory of Armenia. The Community of Western Azerbaijan once again appeals to the Pope as a defender of interreligious dialogue, urging him to put pressure on this state to restore the cultural and religious heritage of Azerbaijan destroyed by Armenia. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 16 October 2023 10:00 (UTC+04:00) Abbas Ganbay Read more 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 Lachin continues, Azernews reports. Another group of former IDPs consisting of 26 families or 96 people left the Gobu Park 3 residential complex in Garadagh for Lachin on October 16. The resettled families will settle in the houses where they once lived in Lachin, which were restored or rebuilt on the basis of instructions from the head of state after the end of the Armenian occupation. Lachin residents thanked President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva for their comprehensive care and expressed gratitude to the valiant Azerbaijani Army, which liberated the lands from occupation. Thus, until today, a permanent settlement in the city of Lachin has been provided for 272 families - 1052 people. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 15 October 2023 20:20 (UTC+04:00) President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has addressed the participants of the solemn event dedicated to the 30th anniversary of TURKSOY. The letter reads: Dear ladies and gentlemen! I warmly welcome you to the solemn ceremony held in Baku on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the International Organization of Turkic Culture, TURKSOY. The Turkic world with its ancient and magnificent culture has written pages full of pride in the history of human civilization. Deriving strength from their glorious past, Turkic peoples have always stood the test of time and preserved their national and cultural identity to this day. TURKSOY as the first international institution established among brotherly Turkic countries has made commendable contributions to protecting the all-Turkic cultural heritage distinguished by its unparalleled richness, conveying this great wealth to future generations and introducing it to the world. The traditional projects, regular culture days, art festivals, as well as solemn anniversaries of masterpieces of the Turkic world, significant historical and cultural events and outstanding personalities with the organization and direct participation of TURKSOY have further deepened and strengthened the relationships among Turkic peoples. Even today, the organization spares no effort to bring the cultural and artistic figures of member countries closer together. Its activities have always been appreciated in all summit meetings of the heads of Turkic states and joint declarations of heads of state and government. Azerbaijan has always supported TURKSOY with large-scale projects related to the protection and promotion of our common Turkic heritage, and tried to expand the cultural integration of Turkic-speaking countries. The relations of cooperation between the organization and our republic are currently at the highest level. The declaration of the city of Shusha as the cultural capital of the Turkic world in 2023, the holding of the 1st Turkic World Cultural Forum and the TURKSOY Culture Days dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the National Leader of the Azerbaijani people, Heydar Aliyev, are clear indicators of our joint efforts in this direction. I wish each of you continued success in further strengthening the unity of the Turkic world and protecting and maintaining our common cultural and spiritual values. Ilham Aliyev President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Baku, 14 October 2023 -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 16 October 2023 17:04 (UTC+04:00) Qabil Ashirov Read more In cooperation with FAO, the opening of the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science at ADA University and World Food Day was marked, Azernews reports. The Partnership and Coordination Office of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Azerbaijan, in cooperation with ADA University, celebrated the opening of the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science and World Food Day. The event held on October 16 was attended by representatives of the ministry and state institutions, university student-teachers, representatives of international organizations, and people registered for the event. At the exhibition organized within the framework of the event, the tasting and presentation of the food products of the "Taste of the Homeland" brand, which was created with the support of FAO, including the products of about 10 companies, the companies represented by the participants of the certificate program of the Italy-Azerbaijan University project, Italian brands, and FAO took place. Product presentation is an example that food is more than just a daily requirement, everyone working in agricultural production has a role in food security, and they are food heroes as individuals. FAO's role in this field is aimed at making the daily agricultural work done by those heroes more efficient and further increasing its role in food security and security. At the event, ADA University Rector Hafiz Pashayev made an opening speech and said that agriculture is one of the most important sectors of Azerbaijan's economy. This field is not only about the production of food products. Agriculture ensures the country's food security. "Our goal in establishing this faculty is to train competitive personnel in the agricultural field, prepare professionals who can bring scientific and technical progress and innovation," the Rector added to his speech. The Minister of Agriculture Majnun Mammadov emphasized in his speech that the establishment of the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science will create a foundation for the application of different experiences and comparative analysis. "I am sure that the opening of the new faculty will help us to deepen our analyses on ensuring food and food safety, efficient management of water resources and other important areas of agriculture, expand our scientific research potential in relevant fields, and achieve the set goals and will make an exceptional contribution by increasing the effectiveness of our efforts," said Minister Majnun Mammadov. Zakiya Mustafayeva, deputy head of the Food Safety Agency, said in her speech that today's climate changes, changing consumer habits, reduction of water resources, scientific and technical innovations, new food sources and production processes are among the serious challenges ahead in ensuring food and food safety. This taking adequate measures against challenges is possible only with the personnel potential with high indicators. In this regard, Z. Mustafayeva called the creation of the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences at ADA University a commendable event. The Deputy Chairman of the Agency assessed this step as an unparalleled contribution to the agriculture and food system of Azerbaijan, and in order to effectively establish the work of the faculty, it is necessary to prepare educational programs, exchange mutual knowledge and experience, involve students in scientific research and experience programs, scientific research works, joint projects and noted that AQTA is ready to cooperate with ADA University in organizing events. Nasar Hayat, representative of FAO in Azerbaijan, spoke about the global factors affecting sustainable agriculture, water and food security, and emphasized the importance of proper use of water to protect our future. In addition, congratulating the International Rural Women's Day celebrated by the UN on October 15, he said, "When rural women have fair access to resources and education, they become powerful agents of change." In the end, he congratulated everyone on the joint celebration of World Food Day, the opening of the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science, and the International Day of Rural Women. At the end of the speech, the Director General of FAO Dr. Gu Dong Yu's video appeal was published. After the speech of the Italian ambassador to Azerbaijan, Mr. Claudio Taffuri, and the video address of the Rector of the University of Bologna, Mr. Giovanni Molari, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science, Matteo Vittuari, informed about the faculty. In his speech, the dean touched upon a number of issues related to bachelor's and master's degrees to be taught from 2024. Specialists representing the state agency, international organization and ministry operating in the relevant direction talked about the mechanisms of measuring food loss and waste, and the measures implemented to reduce their impact. The event continued with a seminar. It should be noted that October 16 is the FAO World Food Day, focusing the world's attention on food safety and sustainable food development. The theme for 2023 is "Water is life, Water is food". In addition, let's note that the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science was founded as a result of cooperation with the University of Bologna within the initiative of Italy-Azerbaijan University. Undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs in the field are offered through this faculty. The bachelor's and master's degrees, which will be opened in 2024, will be taught at the Baku campus of ADA University, regional centers in Gazakh and Ganja. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 16 October 2023 15:57 (UTC+04:00) Abbas Ganbay Read more Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Fariz Rzayev visited Croatia on 11-13 October. This was reported by the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. It was reported that the deputy minister took part in the International Donors' Conference on Humanitarian Demining in Ukraine, which was held in Zagreb on 11-12 October, Azernews reports. Speaking at the conference, Rzayev gave the conference participants detailed information about the mine problem facing Azerbaijan and its serious consequences. During the visit, F. Rzayev held bilateral meetings with Dino Mihanovic, Advisor to the Croatian Prime Minister on International Affairs, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Davorko Vidovic, and Deputy Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Frano Matusic. In the course of the meetings, the sides discussed relations between Azerbaijan and Croatia, the current state, and prospects of cooperation in political, economic, energy, and humanitarian spheres, including international organizations, and strategic energy and transport projects implemented on Azerbaijan's initiative. The visit also focused on regional security and the post-conflict situation. During the visit, a meeting was held with representatives and experts of influential analytical centers of Croatia, and foreign policy priorities of Azerbaijan, Croatian-Azerbaijani relations, the post-conflict situation in the region, as well as reconstruction and reintegration issues, were discussed. At the meeting, the works carried out in the liberated territories were reported, the situation in the region was discussed and opinions were widely exchanged. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 16 October 2023 08:00 (UTC+04:00) Australia on Saturday decisively rejected a proposal to recognize Indigenous people in the constitution, in a major setback to the countrys efforts for reconciliation with its First Peoples, Azernews reports, citing Arab News. Australians had to vote Yes or No in the referendum, the first in almost a quarter of a century, on the question of whether to alter the constitution to recognize Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people through the creation of an Indigenous advisory body, the Voice to Parliament. Nationwide, with almost 70 percent of the vote counted, the No vote led Yes 60 percent to 40 percent. Australian broadcaster ABC and other TV networks have projected that a majority of voters in all six of Australias states would vote against altering the 122-year-old constitution. A successful referendum requires at least four of the six to vote in favor, along with a national majority. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese acknowledged it was not the outcome he had hoped for but said the country would have to seek a new way forward for reconciliation. Our nations road to reconciliation has often been hard going, Albanese said in a televised news conference. Tonight is not the end of the road and is certainly not the end of our efforts to bring people together. Academics and human rights advocates fear the win by the No camp could set back reconciliation efforts by years. The Voice to Parliament was proposed in the Uluru Statement from the Heart, a 2017 document crafted by Indigenous leaders that set out a roadmap for reconciliation with wider Australia. Australias Indigenous citizens, who make up 3.8 percent of the countrys 26 million population, have inhabited the land for about 60,000 years but are not mentioned in the constitution and are, by most socioeconomic measures, the most disadvantaged people in the country. Supporters of the proposal believed entrenching an Indigenous Voice into the constitution would unite Australia and usher in a new era with its Indigenous people. Many Indigenous people favored the change, but some said it was a distraction from achieving practical and positive outcomes. The political opposition has criticized the measure, saying it is divisive, would be ineffective, and would slow government decision-making. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 16 October 2023 23:50 (UTC+04:00) Russia handed over an MI-8 MTV helicopter to the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Kyrgyzstan, Dayirbek Orunbekov, head of the information policy service of the presidential administration of the Kyrgyz Republic said, Azernews reports, citing Kabar. He noted that the helicopter was handed over to the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Kyrgyz Republic following negotiations between the Presidents of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Zhaparov and Russia Vladimir Putin. The helicopter has everything necessary: passenger seats, two additional fuel tanks, a powerful engine, a winch, an oxygen apparatus, a medical module, and a spillway device. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 16 October 2023 22:45 (UTC+04:00) Agrarian universities of Kyrgyzstan and Russia discuss the creation of an Institute of Biotechnology. The Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation Valery Falkov said at the Forum of university rectors of the two countries, which ended in Kyrgyzstan, Azernews reports, citing 24.kg News Agency. According to him, the project is under discussion. The leading Russian agrarian universities, in particular Kostroma Agricultural Academy and Voronezh State Agrarian University named after Emperor Peter the Great, have been invited to determine its format and conditions of implementation. Earlier, the head of the Cabinet of Ministers Akylbek Japarov came up with a similar initiative. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 16 October 2023 23:20 (UTC+04:00) The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Bakhrom Aloyev held separate meetings with the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassadors of Kuwait and Qatar to the country Ahmad al-Jiyron and Hasan Hamza Hashim, Azernews reports, citing Kun.uz news agency. According to the MFA press service, the issues of expanding the political dialogue of Uzbekistan with these countries were discussed during the talks, special attention was paid to the development of trade-economic and investment relations, and the activation of cultural-humanitarian exchanges. The schedule and organizational aspects of future joint high-level events were reviewed. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Park Jae-hyuk SK Group will hold an annual meeting of the chief executives of its subsidiaries in Paris from Monday to Wednesday, as Chairman Chey Tae-won continues to promote Busan's World Expo 2030 bid to ambassadors in the French capital ahead of the General Assembly of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE). Paris is home to the BIE's headquarters where ambassadors from the 182 member countries will vote on Nov. 28 for the World Expo 2030 venue. As a co-chair of the committee to support Busans bid, Chey has been staying in Paris this month. He attended a symposium promoting Busans bid at Pavillon Gabriel in Paris last week and met with foreign press in the French city. SK Group therefore decided to host this years CEO seminar in Paris. The last time it held its CEO seminar in a foreign country was in 2009 when it took place in China. The annual event typically takes place on Jeju Island and Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, which houses the headquarters of SK hynix. Industry officials expect the groups top executives to discuss the potential impact of rising Middle East tensions on businesses, given that SK Innovation is engaged in the oil refining and petrochemical sectors. In addition, SK hynix may face fallout from the Israel-Hamas war, as Israel is home to multiple semiconductor companies. The executives will review the effects of macroeconomic conditions here and overseas, as well as check the financial conditions of each affiliate, an SK Group official said. Although the SK chief is focused on diplomatic efforts in Paris, he also spent several days in Korea last week to boost ties with the U.S., Estonia and member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). The chairman met with a U.S. Senate delegation led by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer at SK Group headquarters in Seoul last Wednesday to discuss economic cooperation. A day later, he attended an event to unveil memorials in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, for two U.S. veterans of the 1950-53 Korean War. On Friday, Chey had a luncheon with Estonian President Alar Karis at the company's headquarters, promising SK Squares funding for the Estonian sovereign wealth funds investments in companies engaged in the ICT, environment and energy sectors. The chairman is said to have asked the Estonian president to support Busans bid. Their meeting took place a day after Chey had dinner with the CARICOM representatives from Jamaica, Grenada and Belize, to discuss cooperation in the agriculture, ICT and tourism industries. All 14 CARICOM member states are BIE members, so they are considered major voters. Following the series of meetings last week, Chey returned to Paris. 16 October 2023 20:05 (UTC+04:00) Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has released the latest figures on the number of foreign nationals allegedly killed in an attack by Hamas, Azernews reports, citing Kun.uz news agency. According to the ministrys report, three citizens of Uzbekistan were killed and four went missing in attacks. As of October 15, 148 foreigners were killed in the war between Israel and Palestine, and 143 people went missing, the statement says. 16 October 2023 20:35 (UTC+04:00) The much anticipated traditional Turkish Festival captivated audiences this year on the iconic Pennsylvania Avenue, right in front of the Congress building in the US capital Washington, D.C. Azernews reports, citing Anadolu Agency. Turkiye's Ambassador to the US, Hasan Murat Mercan, graced the festival with his presence, touring the stands and taking photos with participants. Organized by the American Turkish Association of Washington, DC (ATA-DC), Sunday's vibrant celebration showcased the rich tapestry of Turkish culture and delighted attendees with outstanding culinary offerings. The folklore team's mesmerizing performances took center stage, drawing particular attention and applause. The festival was not just a feast for the senses; it also catered to the younger audience with organized games, creating a lively and family-friendly atmosphere. Live music and culturally enriching events added to the festivities. Stands featuring products reflecting Ottoman-Turkish culture drew considerable interest. Visitors examined hand-woven Turkish carpets, traditional Ottoman clothing and intricate tiles on display. They also enjoyed Turkish coffee and had the opportunity to partake in fortune-telling. Popularity, impact ATA-DC Vice President Gamze Cakmak hailed the overwhelming success of this year's festival, which boasted more than 20,000 visitors. During an interview with Anadolu, Cakmak highlighted that the annual celebration consistently earns the title of the best festival in Washington, serving as a testament to its popularity and impact. "With a visitor number exceeding 20,000, we continue to be recognized as the premier festival in Washington. This is truly wonderful. Being acknowledged as the best motivates us to work even harder," she said. She said the event, which saw participation from foreign diplomats, significantly contributed to Turkish-American relations. Gizem Salcigil White, the founder of Turkish Coffee Lady, a gourmet coffee shop which actively promotes Turkish coffee within the US, conveyed in her remarks that interest in the festival continues to rise each year. "As a Turkish American, I take immense pride in my country, our culture, our people, and our traditions. Witnessing this surge in attendance fills us with pride," she said. She noted that the festival not only serves as a cultural bridge but also fosters dialogue and friendship, underlining its role in encouraging cross-cultural connections. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. In anticipation of new competition from the Hard Rock casino planned in Mettler, owners of Golden West Casino are looking to move their 28-yea STEPHEN MOORE: If Biden really wants to help Israel, he must stop the war on American energy now A senior official at Airbus SE, Europe's aerospace giant, said Monday that the company may build a research and development (R&D) center in Korea as it seeks to enhance partnerships with local firms. "Airbus' goal is to become a partner of choice for the development of local solutions in the helicopters, defense and space sectors, as well as in the supply chain," Loic Porcheron, Airbus' chief representative for Korea, told reporters in Seoul. Porcheron made the remarks as Airbus participated into the biennial Seoul International Aerospace and Defense exhibition set to kick off on Tuesday at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, just south of Seoul. Porcheron said Airbus was "looking to expand" the company's industrial footprint in Korea through exploring new partnerships with local companies in areas of "co-development of next generation helicopters and joint space development." To this end, Porcheron said Airbus was "studying the possibility of setting up a R&D center" in Korea to help local industries advance their aerospace technological competitiveness and ensure a "robust talent pipeline to support the (local) industry's continued growth." Porcheron said the company was currently in the conceptualization stage regarding the establishment of the R&D center through consultations with local space and aerospace companies in Korea, without going into further details. Airbus first entered the Korean market in 1974, when Korean Air, the country's flag carrier, ordered the original A300B4 aircraft for its operations. Currently about 150 commercial aircraft, 60 civil and military helicopters and 30 military transport aircraft produced by Airbus are in use in Korea. The company also operates a helicopter production line at an aircraft manufacturing facility owned by Korea Aerospace Industries in Sacheon, 440 kilometers south of Seoul. (Yonhap) Archived Results for Monday, October 16th, 2023 Newer Older Entries Page 1 Page 2 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. By: Bill Lee Jeffrey Hinton, the father of artificial intelligence, said on Sixty Minutes, and I paraphrase, he has some fear things might get out of hand. He cannot believe we are safe from a brighter intelligence than we are. Mr. Hinton claims the way he designed the system would allow the computer to learn for itself. Gathering huge amounts of knowledge and it will become so convincing when interacting with humans, that we could be manipulated. I guess the question on everybodys mind is what is AI? My understanding is they use stacking of memory, and the computer uses pathways to carry out a task. Once the computer is given a task it learns through trial and error and once it has learned a pathway which is successful, it then goes down to all the other memory blocks and tells them this is the quickest pathway to get this task done. Whatever goal it might be, A.I. can come up with the best way to do the task. What is troubling me? Albert Einstein quote, Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Artificial intelligence has removed insanity. Not to insult humans, but I believe that would put humans at a disadvantage. Hinton claims we will not understand artificial intelligence any more than we understand another human beings brain or what they are thinking so for all practical purposes the artificial intelligence becomes a mystery as to what artificial intelligences intentions are. And what is even more troubling is the fact Mr. Hinton believes A.I. can start writing its own code and modify itself. For the layman that means it starts making up its own rules just like a human being will. But Steve Wozniak, cofounder of Apple Computers, does not believe these things, he believes a computer can only do one task at a time and cannot reason. Mr. Wozniak is a very smart man, Im not. My poor dog Kiley Stardust passed away a few years ago and my friends would always say, It is truly sad when the dog is smarter than the owner. On Sept. 1, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill prohibiting employers from entering into noncompetes with California employees, regardless of the state the employee is working in. On Oct. 13, Gov. Newsom signed another bill requiring employers to notify current and former employees about unlawful noncompete covenants in their employment agreements. Here are four things ASCs should know about the state of California's noncompete laws, according to Oct. 15 insights from law firm Fisher Phillips: 1. Most noncompetes with California-based employees are void. Once the new law takes effect on Jan. 1, 2024, employers will be committing civil violations if they enforce noncompetes. Noncompete agreements for employees working out of the state are also impacted by the law. 2. Employees can sue their employer for enforcing a noncompete. Employees can seek damages, injunctive relief and even reasonable attorneys fees and costs. 3. Employers need to notify all current and former employees about any violations of noncompete laws. The notice must be sent by Feb. 14, 2024, or employers will be in violation of the California Unfair Competition Law, which can carry civil penalties. 4. Employers both inside and outside of California should begin reviewing non-compliant agreements they may have with California-based workers. Correct those non-compliant agreements by the start of 2024. California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a bill raising the minimum wage for healthcare workers in the state to $25 an hour, according to an Oct. 14 report from The Hill. Gov. Newsom signed the bill on Oct. 13. His decision was celebrated by the Service Employees International Union. California currently has 848 ASCs, all of which could begin to see changes from the new bill. At some ASCs, non-clinical staff members, especially in rural areas, earn less than $25 an hour. The bill could cause increased financial pressure on ASCs, who will have to give those staffers higher comepnsation moving forward. Since the beginning of 2022, minimum wage in the state for all workers has sat at $15 an hour, but this bill will establish five separate wage increases, depending on the nature of the employer. The bill will raise wages for 455,000 healthcare employees, according to a report from the University of California Berkeley Labor Center. Three out of four impacted employees are women and 76% will be workers of color. While California registered nurses already earn an average of $64.10 an hour, this bill could drive up wages statewide, which could cause nurses to see pay bumps for facilities to remain competitive. Medical assistance, certified nursing assistants, aides, technicians, maintenance workers, janitorial or housekeeping staff, groundskeepers, security officers and food service workers all will benefit from the bill, according to the report. HeartX and MedAxiom partnered with 11 cardiology practices around the country to select five startup healthcare companies as part of a 2023 accelerator program. HeartX's accelerator program facilitates guaranteed hospital pilot projects and clinical trials for accomplished, early-stage companies bringing new cardiovascular innovations, according to an Oct. 16 news release. Here are the five cardiovascular inventions chosen for the 2023 program: Flosonics Medical (Canada): Flosonics produces a wireless wearable ultrasound device that assesses carotid arterial pulse within seconds. The data is designed to help physicians determine when a patient is no longer fluid-responsive. Happitech (The Netherlands): Happitech offers a solution to identify patients at risk for atrial fibrillation. It allows individuals to place a finger on a smartphone's camera for 90 seconds to screen for the condition. MindMics (Massachusetts): MindMics offers heart monitoring technology through low-frequency acoustical vibrations detected in the ear canal with technology embedded in earbuds and hearing aids. Nanowear (New York): Nanowear is an AI-based remote diagnostics tool utilizing cloth-based nanotechnology that allows nanosensors to capture more than 85 medical-grade biomarkers directly from the skin. SmartCardia (Switzerland): SmartCardia produces a patch that remotely monitors patients, allowing mobile cardiac telemetry, RPM, Holter, extended Holter and event monitoring. Each company will receive $150,000 investment and access to clinicians and administrators while executing their pilot projects and clinical studies in the HeartX program. Gastroenterology has increasingly consolidated in the last five years, as private equity and management service organizations see the benefit in accessing economies of scale. Here are five major deals that have shook up the gastroenterology industry since 2020: 1. In 2020, private equity firm Webster Equity Partners established One GI through a partnership with Gastro One. The Brentwood, Tenn.-based company now supports 195 physicians in 65 locations. In 2023 alone, One GI has partnered with Skyline Gastroenterology and Skyline Endoscopy, two groups in Tennessee; Gainesville, Va.-based Gastroenterology Associates; Chesapeake, Va.-based Gastroenterology Associates of Tidewater; and Nashville, Tenn.-based TransSouth. 2. In 2021, Miami-based Gastro Health was sold to private equity company Omers. The enterprise value was estimated around $950 million, according to a 2022 report from VMG Health. The company was previously owned by Audax Private Equity, which acquired Gastro Health in 2016. 3. In 2022, Southlake, Texas-based GI Alliance and ASC giant United Surgical Partners International inked a joint venture deal for two Texas endoscopy centers. The partnership includes GAB Endoscopy Center in San Antonio and South Plains Endoscopy Center in Lubbock. Both are co-owned by GI Alliance's physician partners. 4. In 2022, GI Alliance received a $785 million private equity investment from Apollo Global Management, which agreed to take a stake in the company as a part of a physician-led buyout. Through the deal, GI Alliance's physician owners agreed to buy back a minority equity stake of about 30 percent from Waud Capital Partners, the practice's private equity investor. According to a report from Bloomberg, the deal gives GI Alliance and physicians more autonomy, putting them in majority control over the board. 5. In 2023, Boston Scientific closed on a $615 million acquisition of gastroenterology device company Apollo Endosurgery. The acquisition, which marks Boston Scientific's Between late September and early October, three health systems shared plans to construct new or replacement children's hospitals. Add another one to the list with Rio Grande Valley Driscoll Children's planned 119-bed pediatric hospital in Texas, a few miles from the Mexican border. Corpus Christi-based Driscoll Children's is building what will be the only designated freestanding children's hospital in the region in Edinburg, less than ten miles from the border. The new facility will serve children living on both sides of the border, Matt Wolthoff, CEO and president of the new hospital, told Becker's. "There is a large population that is going back and forth [across the border] every day," he said. "[Serving them] is part of what we do." The Rio Grande Valley area served by the Driscoll Children's system stretches over 33,000 square miles in a region described by the health system as "highly underserved." The project, which is scheduled to open in May, is currently estimated at over $100 million in construction, infrastructure and equipment costs. That figure is a "moving number," a spokesperson said. Driscoll Children's, which is funding equipment and infrastructure costs, will lease the hospital from Edinburg-based DHR Health, which is funding construction costs. Driscoll will have the option to buy the facility over a ten-year period. The Rio Grande Valley is one of the fastest-growing regions in Texas, Mr. Wolthoff said. Offering such a facility is vital to support such a fast-growing region with a population that needs affordable access to healthcare. "It's an exciting time to be in healthcare in the Rio Grande Valley," he said. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill that will gradually raise healthcare workers' hourly minimum wage to $25. The bill, signed Oct. 13, comes after union and hospital representatives reached agreement on how such a minimum wage could be addressed. "Gov. Newsom's signature on landmark legislation to improve wages for California's healthcare workers will create meaningful change for families struggling to keep pace while at the same time protecting access to care in vulnerable communities," Carmela Coyle, president and CEO of the California Hospital Association, said in a statement shared with Becker's. "This bill strikes the right balance between significantly improving wages while protecting jobs and safeguarding care at community hospitals throughout the state." Under the new law, cities and counties are blocked from increasing pay via ballot measures for 10 years. Workers at healthcare facilities with 10,000 or more full-time equivalent employees will earn $23 per hour starting in 2024, with pay increasing to $24 an hour in 2025 and $25 an hour in 2026. That affects workers including launderers and hospital gift shop workers, according to the Los Angeles Times. Workers at hospitals with a high governmental payer mix; independent hospitals with an elevated governmental payer mix; rural independent covered healthcare facilities; or covered healthcare facilities owned, affiliated or operated by a county with a population of less than 250,000 as of Jan. 1, 2023, will earn $18 per hour starting next year, with pay increasing to $25 an hour in 2033. Urgent care clinics, skilled nursing facilities and other smaller facilities will be required to pay workers $21 per hour in 2024, with pay increasing to $25 per hour in 2028, according to the Los Angeles Times. The new law allows some healthcare facilities to apply for a temporary pause or alternative phase-in schedule of the minimum wage requirements if they have documentation proving financial distress. "California is putting a stop to the hemorrhaging of our care workforce by ensuring healthcare workers can do the work they love and pay their bills a huge win for workers and patients seeking care," Tia Orr, executive director of SEIU California, said in a statement. "Californians saw the courage and commitment of healthcare workers during the pandemic, and now that same fearlessness and commitment to patients is responsible for a historic investment in the workers who make our healthcare system strong and accessible to all." Read more about the new law here. By Lee Min-hyung Korean Air is expected to transfer control of five passenger jets and dispatch around 100 pilots to Tway Air, in a move to alleviate monopoly concerns claimed by European antitrust authorities regarding its takeover of Asiana Airlines, according to industry officials, Monday. Once the European Commission (EC) approves Korean Air's takeover of Asiana, Tway will secure rights from Korean Air to operate routes from Korea to Frankfurt, Paris, Rome and Barcelona. This comes in response to the European authoritys repeated objections to the high-profile acquisition. Earlier, the EC said the deal could hamper fair competition in the aforementioned air routes. It is also known to have demanded Korean Air allow Tway to operate the four routes to Europe for at least three years without retrieving slots for the routes during that period. Aviation industry sources said Korean Air is still fine-tuning the details before possibly receiving EC approval for the takeover. Two key proposals made by Korean Air include the transfer of passenger jets and traffic rights, and sales of Asianas cargo business, an industry official said. The industry expects the EC to make its decision on whether to approve the long-dragged takeover sometime as early as the end of October. It remains unclear whether the low-cost carrier (LCC) will be able to operate the routes to Europe stably. If it fails to do so, it may end up giving up the slots to overseas counterparts. In any case, the EC is expected to disallow Korean Air to regain the rights, citing monopolistic concerns in the routes after acquiring Asiana, and as such, the EC is reviewing the financial structures of Tway. We cannot share our official stance for the time being, as was agreed upon with the European authority. But details will be made public soon, a spokesman at Korean Air said. Korean Air is facing other obstacles before closing the deal, as Asiana Airlines board of directors will have to approve the sale of its cargo unit during its upcoming meeting later this month. Asianas cargo business accounted for 20 percent of its sales in the first half of this year. More than four out of the six Asiana board members need to vote in favor of the sale, but nothing specific has been confirmed amid lingering fears of the outflow of national wealth. In addition, the possible sales of Asianas cargo business can be seen as a de facto restructuring, so the board members have yet to reach any final internal consensus on the issue. The timeline for the board meeting has not been fixed, and we have yet to fix any details on the issue, an official from Asiana Airlines said. Faye Collins, DNP, RN has been selected by Orlando Health to lead its St. Cloud Hospital as the new chief nursing officer beginning immediately. Dr. Collins has more than 20 years of experience in nursing, according to an Oct. 16 news release shared with Becker's. She joins Orlando Health from Banner University Medical Centers in Tucson, Ariz. In her role as chief nursing officer, Dr. Collins will be responsible for overseeing the clinical processes and policies related to patient care. The American College of Emergency Physicians has withdrawn a white paper from 2009 on "excited delirium," saying the term should not be used in civil or criminal cases. The controversial medical term has been used by police officers, clinicians and in court to explain how an agitated person could die in custody from being in a state of extreme agitation. "ACEP's 2009 White Paper Report on Excited Delirium Syndrome is outdated and does not align with the college's position based on the most recent science and better understanding of the issues surrounding hyperactive delirium," the ACEP said in an Oct. 12 statement, adding the term "should not be used among the wider medical and public health community, law enforcement organizations, and ACEP members acting as expert witnesses testifying in relevant civil or criminal litigation." Other medical groups, including the American Medical Association, have previously opposed excited delirium as a medical diagnosis, saying their decision came amid a pattern of "justification for excessive police force, disproportionately cited in cases where Black men die in law enforcement custody." The ACEP's white paper has been influential in court, experts told NBC News. Its formal withdrawal 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," Brooks Walsh, MD, an emergency physician at Bridgeport (Conn.) Hospital who urged the group to take the stance, told the news outlet. Duluth, Minn.-based St. Luke's and Wausau, Wis.-based Aspirus Health have signed a definitive agreement to form a 19-hospital system with more than 130 outpatient locations and 14,000 employees. The proposed transaction aims to increase access to rural healthcare and advance care quality across northeastern Minnesota, northern and central Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Under the terms of the agreement, Aspirus will invest at least $300 million over eight years to fund St. Luke's strategic projects and commit to implementing Epic within 24 months of the transaction closing. Aspirus Health Plan will also expand into St. Luke's service area within two years of closing. "With the challenges facing the healthcare industry, including St. Luke's, we believe that now is the time to affiliate," Eric Lohn, St. Luke's co-president/CEO and CFO said in an Oct. 16 news release. "We are confident that Aspirus is the right partner to help us further grow and continue providing the best level of care." St. Luke's six unions signed letters stating that they believe this affiliation is in the best interest of their members and the community. The transaction would honor all physician, labor and union contracts, and retain, integrate and provide more opportunities to St. Luke's employees, according to the health systems. The combined system, which would include 1,300 employed physicians and advanced practice clinicians, will have headquarters in Wausau and maintain a corporate office in Duluth. Pending regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to be completed in spring 2024. More than 400 primary care physicians affiliated with Minneapolis-based Allina Health System have voted to unionize, potentially creating the largest private-sector physicians union in the U.S., according to The New York Times. Around 400 physicians and 150 nurse practitioners and physician assistants working at Allina clinics voted to unionize and will be represented by the Doctors Council, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union. The vote was 325 in favor, 200 not in favor and 24 other ballots challenged, according to the Times. "This is a win not only for the doctors that stood together and the supporters who rallied alongside them but also for the patients and communities they serve," said a statement posted on the Doctors Council website. One of the main issues driving the decision to unionize was chronic understaffing, which the physicians felt led to burnout and higher risk of mistakes. More than 100 physicians from an Allina hospital voted to unionize earlier this year due to concerns about length-of-stay guidelines threatening patient care. Allina, a 12-hospital system with more than 90 clinics in Minnesota and Wisconsin, is appealing the vote, according to the Times. "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," said a statement posted to Allina's website. "Our focus now is on moving forward to ensure the best interests of our employees, patients and the communities we serve." Union action has been heating up in healthcare overall among nurses and workers, focused on compensation, working conditions, burnout and patient care. On Oct. 13, Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente and a labor coalition representing thousands of the health system's workers struck a tentative deal after a three-day strike. The deal includes a 21 percent pay raise over the life of the contract and protective terms for subcontracting and outsourcing labor, among other issues. Mass General Brigham President and CEO Anne Klibanski, MD, shared a muted reaction to longtime affiliate Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's decision to partner with another Boston health system for cancer care in a recent op-ed with the Boston Globe. On Sept. 14, Dana-Farber and Beth Israel Deaconess announced plans to construct a freestanding inpatient cancer hospital in Boston. The news marked a departure from the city's current cancer care landscape, in which Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital act as longtime partners. The two have been clinically affiliated since 1997 and their current agreement runs through 2028. News of the break-up was reportedly a surprise to Brigham executives. Dr. Klibanski, CEO of Brigham and Women's parent system Mass General Brigham, is taking a neutral public-facing position on the city's cancer care dynamics, noting that the only competition she is aware of is that of cancer itself. "Dana-Farber recently announced that it has chosen to end this affiliation in five years," Dr. Klibanski wrote in an op-ed for the Boston Globe. "What this means for patients is that the Brigham, and all of Mass General Brigham, will be there to provide cancer services and support, no matter where they live. We will continue to be the ones patients can trust with the most important surgery and medical treatment of their lives following a cancer diagnosis." She details the size and reach of Mass General Brigham's integrated cancer care between two academic medical centers in her editorial, with more than 23,000 cancer surgeries, 170,000 radiation oncology treatments and 70,000 infusions completed each year. "We will continue to provide hundreds of inpatient beds dedicated to cancer care, even after the 30 beds currently licensed by Dana-Farber are transferred," Dr. Klibanski noted, pledging that the systems' "thousands of doctors and researchers" remain committed to comprehensive cancer care. Dana-Farber estimates that the freestanding cancer hospital it will construct in partnership with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston will cost $1.68 billion. The hospital will have 300 beds and connect to Dana-Farber's existing facility in Boston's Longwood Medical Area. "Building a cancer-only hospital was our priority," Dana-Farber President and CEO Laurie Glimcher, MD, told the Boston Globe in a recent interview. "However, after many discussions over the course of many years, it became increasingly, increasingly clear that our visions for the future of cancer care did not align with the Brigham." Mass General Brigham's $2 billion expansion plan is in progress, which includes renovations at Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital and new towers for greater cancer and cardiology access at Massachusetts General Hospital. "The most important thing, honestly, is to move past the noise, and move past the politics and think about what is the best model of patient care for patients with cancer," Dr. Klibanski told the Boston Globe in an interview separate from her op-ed. "I'm not interested in the best model [for] 1990, but for the future." As hundreds of pharmacy workers for Kaiser Permanente continue striking for up to three weeks in Oregon and Southwest Washington, their union approved another strike that could last almost four more weeks. The strike of pharmacy technicians, clerks and warehouse workers began Oct. 1 while UFCW Local 555 meets with representatives for the Oakland, Calif.-based system. The union said Kaiser offered "an insulting, out-of-touch proposal" to increase wages 3% every year. UFCW Local 555 is bargaining for a 43% wage increase over four years. If an agreement is not reached, the Kaiser pharmacy workers are set to strike again between Oct. 23 and Nov. 18. A Kaiser spokesperson told Becker's it is "committed to bargaining in good faith with the goal of reaching an agreement" with the union, which represents 380 pharmacy employees. Among 17 Kaiser medical offices in Oregon and Southwest Washington, seven pharmacies are temporarily closed and 10 remain open during the current strike, according to the system's website. Its mail-order pharmacy and hospital pharmacy services are open. The union said the open pharmacies "are struggling to meet the needs of patients," adding that complaints of unlicensed pharmacy technicians working at Kaiser locations have been reported to the Oregon Board of Pharmacy. Becker's has reached out to the Oregon Board of Pharmacy to verify whether the board has received reports of Kaiser employing unlicensed pharmacy techs. This article will be updated if more information becomes available. "Member safety is our top priority," a Kaiser statement said. "Our extensive preparations for the strike included bringing highly trained contract pharmacy staff and additional healthcare support staff on board to work alongside our pharmacists." A Kaiser spokesperson added that the system is exclusively employing licensed workers where a license is required. This ongoing strike is separate from the labor action of more than 85,000 Kaiser workers, who went on a three-day strike in early October, reached a tentative deal with the system Oct. 13 and planned another "significant work action" in early November if a new labor deal is not reached. During that six-statewide strike, at least 18 outpatient Kaiser pharmacies were temporarily closed. Editor's note: This story was updated Oct. 18 to include additional comments from Kaiser Permanente's spokesperson. Pharmacy employees at Walgreens and CVS are in talks to organize nationwide walkouts and protests in late October, people familiar with the matter told CNBC. CVS pharmacy employees in Kansas City called out of work in late September to protest heavy workloads and understaffing. Executives at the pharmacy chain met with the workers, who returned to work after CVS agreed to pay overtime, increase staffing and curb the amount of vaccination appointments. Some Walgreens pharmacists followed suit, and some pharmacies closed across four states during the three-day walkout. On Reddit where the walkout was organized workers reported that corporate leaders were visiting some locations. But unlike the labor action among CVS workers, the Walgreens walkout did not end with an agreement with the company's leaders. Sources confirmed to CNBC that Walgreens employees are planning a walkout to last from Oct. 30 through Nov. 1, and the organizers are in contact with CVS pharmacists in joining them. The main organizer for the labor action in Kansas City said they are meeting with CVS leadership Oct. 20, and if that meeting is unsuccessful, the CVS workers will be "100% behind" the national walkouts with Walgreens. A CVS spokesperson told Becker's the company is "not seeing any unusual activity regarding unplanned pharmacy closures or pharmacist walkouts." Walgreens did not comment on another possible walkout, and a spokesperson said the company is "recognizing it has been a very challenging time" for its staff and is listening to employees' concerns. New weekly COVID-19 admissions are down for the fourth week straight, according to the latest data from the CDC. Meanwhile, flu and respiratory syncytial virus are starting to rise. COVID-19: COVID-19 metrics declined in the U.S. for the week ending Oct. 7. A total of 16,766 new COVID-19 admissions were reported this week, marking an 8.2% decline from the week prior. Emergency department visits related to the disease were also down nearly 18%. The decline in activity comes after about three months of steady increases in hospitalizations. Based on past trends, however, experts predict the nation may see another winter uptick in December or January the same time of the year flu tends to peak. RSV: Cases of RSV have been slowly rising in the U.S. Overall, the positivity rate remains much lower than this time last year, though some hospitals in the South have started to see RSV hospitalizations increase. Holtz Children's Hospital in Miami has seen a "five-fold increase for influenza and a two-fold increase for RSV," the hospital's chief medical officer, Barry Gelman, MD, told a local news outlet in a report earlier this month. Flu: Flu activity remains low nationally, with a positivity rate of 1.1% for the week ending Oct. 7. CDC officials told NBC News activity will likely ramp up over the next few weeks. Just over 1,100 patients with lab-confirmed flu were admitted to the hospital for the week ending Oct. 7, up slightly from the week prior. Most cases reported so far this season are influenza A. Hospitalizations for flu, COVID-19 and RSV are projected to peak at the end of January. With that timeline, hospitals may see similar levels of capacity and resource strain as last respiratory virus season, since peaks may overlap. Health experts have been optimistic that a collection of vaccines and a new monoclonal antibody for RSV would largely prevent severe illness and minimize capacity strain on hospitals. However, signficiant hurdles in accesssing the shots may prevent them from reaching those most at risk of severe illness before virus season is in full swing. Following the August wildfires that decimated parts of Maui, the state's department of health issued a new warning Oct. 15 urging the public residents and visitors to avoid contact with toxic ash remnants. Preliminary testing of ash samples from Kula, one of the affected areas, revealed extremely high levels of arsenic, a news release noted. "The preliminary data indicate extremely high levels of arsenic in the ash, as well as elevated levels of lead and cobalt. While the presence of these substances is not unexpected, the concentration of arsenic in particular demonstrates the high toxicity of the ash and reinforces the importance of avoiding exposure to the ash," Kenneth Fink, MD, the Hawaii state health director stated in the release. "It is important to remember that people can take action to minimize their exposure to these contaminants including avoiding disruption of ash and wearing proper PPE when in impacted areas." Dr. Fink also remarked that individuals near the affected areas should wash their hands frequently and keep surfaces clean from dust and ash as much as possible to reduce exposure risk. Health officials noted that they expect the samples from Kula to reflect the same makeup as ash in Lahaina. Continued monitoring of both dust and air will continue to be conducted by the department over time. Orthopedic Specialists of Southwest Florida is moving into a new, expanded facility in Fort Myers, Fla., that is almost twice the size of its existing headquarters, according to an Oct. 16 report from Gulfshore Business. Until last month, the practice had been in the same 38,000-square-foot facility for 23 years, even as it grew from four to 17 specialists. Now, it will move into a 60,000-square-foot facility with upgraded diagnostic equipment, including six new X-ray machines and a new MRI machine. The two-floor office will have 60 examination rooms. Orthopedic Specialists of Southwest Florida will also be opening an ASC adjacent to the new facility. Orthopedic Specialists will own 49% of the new ASC. By Park Jae-hyuk Stellantis Korea, which sells Jeep, Peugeot, Citroen and DS Automobiles vehicles here, will introduce a voluntary redundancy program to deal with the challenging business environment, the multinational carmakers Korean unit said Monday. Due to rapid changes in market conditions, it has been necessary for us to be more agile toward demand from the market, so we are restructuring our organization and workforce, a Stellantis Korea spokeswoman said. However, the latest decision has been attributed to its sluggish sales in the Korean market. According to local car market tracker Car Is You, the number of Jeeps newly registered in Korea during the third quarter stood at 3,400, down 35 percent year-on-year. The number of newly registered Peugeot cars was 1,347. In contrast, 6,049 Toyota vehicles were newly registered here during the same period. As part of efforts to address the problem, Stellantis Korea recently cut the price of the Peugeot 3008 SUV by 3.3 million won ($2,400). The price of the Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited SUV also fell to 76.9 million won in the Korean market from 85.5 million won. These efforts, however, do not seem to have been effective enough to prevent the oncoming workforce reduction at Stellantis Korea. The company declined to disclose the number of employees to leave and the amount of compensation to be offered. I heard that employees leaving the company will receive money equivalent to several months of their salaries, a Stellantis Korea worker wrote on Blind, an anonymous chat app for verified employees. The carmakers headquarters has also laid off workers in other countries. In April, the company offered voluntary buyouts to 33,500 U.S. employees, citing plans to streamline operations. Were facing an incredibly brutal scenario. On the one hand, were supposed to compete with Chinese rivals which are 25 percent less expensive. On the other hand, were told to make do with the extra 40 percent in costs driven by the electrification of cars, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said in July. Alabaster, Ala.-based Shelby Baptist Medical Center added the Mako robot system to assist in knee and hip procedures, according to an Oct. 16 report by ABC affiliate WBMA. The hospital received the robot in October and will offer robot-assisted total knee, partial knee and total hip surgeries. The system will provide surgeons with a 3D image of a patient's knee or hip, assisting in the development of personalized plans for each patient. The robot also will assist surgeons with implant placements. The Mako robot is designed to improve implant precision and accuracy, leading to faster recovery times and less pain for patients, the report said. UK citizens living abroad face being locked out of their pensions because of post-Brexit rules which see bank accounts shut down. Britains exit from the EU has caused some British banks to re-examine which bank accounts they let non-UK residents keep open. And finance experts are warning that retirees living in Europe are struggling to access their savings as accounts are closed, in yet another Brexit headache. They say pension providers are less likely to offer services to UK expats leading to big problems in moving pension money into drawdown or making other changes to contributions. Paul Beard, chief executive of Alexander Beard Group, told The Telegraph that dozens of UK expats had contacted him saying their pension provider had refused point blank to pay out money. Philip Teague, of Cross Border Financial Planning, told the newspaper that his firm was starting to uncover some big problems for our clients who have got these very vanilla regular pensions. The financial planned accused pension providers of failing to offer good advice to older expats who have seen their bank accounts shut about who to access their money. He added: Were proactively starting to feed complaints through to them which will ultimately end up with the Financial Ombudsman because of [providers] lack of communication in this area. HMRC rules mean Britons who are resident overseas cannot move UK pensions to a new company. So expat pensioners are dealing with complicated overseas transfer processes, which can see them lose up to 25% in tax to access their savings. And moving pension money into drawdown to release an income is considered cross-border business by many providers. Mr Beard said the policies of some providers were a dereliction of duty and broke rules brought in by the Financial Conduct Authority earlier this year. Thousands of Britons living in EU states were told by UK banks that their bank accounts would be shut after the initial Brexit transition period ended. Lloyds Banking Group said it had shut 13,000 accounts of expats in Europe. The pensions row comes as the Rishi Sunak government continues to try to ease key banking and insurance rules after Brexit. Draft legislation set out last month proposes to increase the threshold at which so-called ring-fencing applies to banks from 25bn to 35bn. The ring-fencing rules followed the costly taxpayer bailouts of banks during the financial crisis a decade ago. Eamonn Holmes has expressed concern about an underlying current of antisemitism as Israels war against Hamas intensifies. The GB News presenter waded into the Middle East conflict on Monday morning and shared his thoughts on the wave of protests and attacks that have occurred around the world since the terrorist attacks in Israel on October 7. "But I don't understand, and I was talking about this to some people at the weekend and they asked me this question which I couldn't answer...", Eamonn said while interviewing a man whose relatives are among those kidnapped by Hamas. "I have many Jewish friends and many people - their race, their colour, their creed doesn't matter to me. "Jewish people are very like Irish people, are very family-orientated and Friday night dinner and all that sort of thing. "And I just want to know from you... people say to me, 'Why when something happens do people love to hate the Jews?' Understand what I'm saying?" Eamonn made the remarks while talking to Israeli guest Arad Haggai on Monday morning. Read more Hezbollah destroys Israeli cameras along the Lebanese border as tension soars The UK-natives aunt and uncle are currently missing following the massacre against Israeli civilians carried out by Hamas more than a week ago. "They just went for a walk as usual at about half six, (then) at about 6:50am, they send a text to the kids, to my cousins: Listen, we're under a rocket attack. We have to find cover," Haggai explained. "But everybody, they know the area, it's a flat area. It's very hard to find any kind of (place to) hide. And then after about 10 minutes, (my cousin) sends a text to the kibbutz security guard. "'Gadi, my uncle got wounded by terrorists. They came with a motorbike from Gaza. He got badly wounded. I'm wounded too. Please send us help.' "And there's only one ambulance bulletproof in the kibbutz. But one of the first things they did, the terrorists, they just burn the ambulance." When asked by Eamonn if Hamas knew which ambulance to target, Haggai responded: "Probably, (Hamas) knew everything." The presenter then focused on Haggai's life in the UK amid the conflict, bringing up his daughter's time in school and the antisemitism she's faced. "It's happened a couple of times in the past (and) in the last week again. Anti-Semitism, the guest revealed. "You know last week: 'Oh, I wish your uncle is dead. They're never going to find him. I wish he's in Gaza, he's dead', "She's going to a mixed school. We never send them to a Jewish school. Never. "She's English. She can be Jewish. Doesn't matter. She's English. "I'm English now. I'm British even though English is not my mother tongue but I'm English. My wife was born here and there is no reason not to send them to (a mixed) school." Haggai revealed other examples of horrific abuse levelled at his daughter who has been called "Anne Frank" and insulted with other Holocaust references. It comes after a protestor seen wielding an Israeli flag in London was "threatened with beheading" by rival demonstrators over the weekend. Jewish schools closed on Friday in fear of anti-Semitic attacks. A wave of pro-Palestine protests have taken place after Israel declared war on Hamas and began carrying out airstrikes in Gaza after cutting off energy and food supplies to the densely populated area. Read more Biden postpones Colorado trip as Israel-Hamas conflict intensifies Haggai said there is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding the safety of those in Israel and recalled how his grandmother had warned him of European antisemitism when he was a child. Eamonn turned to fellow guest James Marlow to try and determine why antisemitism still exists. "I'd like to ask James the same question and forgive the bluntness of it, but there is an impression that a lot of people don't need much of an excuse to disagree or to, as I put it, hate Jewish people." Marlow replied: "Look, all you have to do is look on some of the social media platforms. X in particular is just horrendous. "The hatred. And they're doing exactly, exactly what we've just been told as well. They're laughing at it. They're saying it's not true. "That no Muslim would ever kill somebody. They're making up to say that it was all lies. And you're seeing this on so many different accounts, you know, Twitter or excuse me, it's now called X, formerly known as Twitter. "They said that they had taken down hundreds of Hamas accounts. They're not because I know at least seven or eight, which are specifically on behalf of the Hamas organisation and they're still tweeting out stuff. "And they have a huge following, hundreds of thousands and more joined," he added Eamonn responded by seeking to clarify that he understands people say there's maybe indiscriminate bombing of Gaza and whatever. "I understand why for certain situations there would be anger directed towards the Israelis, he said. "But I just mean in general, there is an underlying current of of antisemitism. NI-born actor Sam Neill has said he fears the prospect of retirement more than death following his cancer diagnosis. The Jurassic Park star told ABC Australia that he is not wasting time trawling the internet for details about his non-Hodgkin blood cancer, angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, when there is so much else to do. "I know I've got it, but I'm not really interested in it," he told the Australian Story programme. "It's out of my control. If you can't control it, don't get into it." The 76-year-old is relying on his team of medical experts to help him fight the disease following the diagnosis early last year. Chemotherapy stopped working within three months and his tumour continued to grow. Neills doctor switched treatment to a rare anti-cancer drug that got better results and he's been in remission for 12 months now. However he requires infusions every two weeks for an indefinite period of time and doctors have told him the drugs will eventually stop working. Neill described the days following treatment as "very grim and depressing" and compared it with going 10 rounds with a boxer. "But it's keeping me alive," he added. The actor said he is prepared for the inevitable end describing death as annoying because hes got more to do. Neill is currently filming with Annette Bening for the adaptation of Liane Moriarty's novel, Apples Never Fall in addition to shooting season two of the mini-series The Twelve. Read more NI actor Sam Neill rushed memoir after cancer diagnosis fearing he would not live to complete it His lengthy career has seen him star alongside Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern in the Jurassic Park series and other Hollywood greats such as Meryl Streep (Evil Angels) and the late Sean Connery (The Hunt for Red October). Stellar cast: Richard Attenborough, Martin Ferrero, Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern in Jurassic Park (1993) "I can't tell you how privileged I am to spend that amount of time with so many actors, so many of whom I've really enjoyed and so many of whom I've really admired," Neill told ABC News. The actor, who insisted he is not remotely afraid of death but admitted the thought of retirement "fills me with horror", reflected on losing his hair as a result of cancer treatment. "I wasn't a pretty sight. I had no hair, no beard," he said. It came the same week that his close friend, and fellow actor, Bryan Brown was rushed to hospital after throwing petrol onto a bonfire of rubbish causing severe burns to his face and arms. Neill confided in his best mate about lumps on his neck after returning to Australia from Los Angeles early last year where he was promoting the sixth Jurassic movie, Jurassic World Dominion. Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) and Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) in Jurassic World Dominion, co-written and directed by Colin Trevorrow. Brown, who suggested Covid as a possible cause, recalled a devastating phone call. "A day or two later he rang me, and he said, 'I've got cancer'. And that was the start of it," he said. "He wasn't hysterical or anything like that. "He dealt with it pretty well just straight on, 'this is what I've got to deal with now. Let's get on with it'." Unable to work on his vineyard in Central Otago in New Zealand, during chemotherapy sessions, Neill began to reflect. "I started to look at my life and realise how immensely grateful I am for so much of it," he said. Neill began writing before bedtime each night and recounted migrating to New Zealand from Northern Ireland as a shy boy called Nigel before he changed his name to Sam. After reaching 50,000 words within just a few months he found a publisher which led to the book Did I Ever Tell You This?. "I don't pretend to be a writer," Neill explained. But I am a conversationalist. I love chatting. Here are some stories that amuse me. You might like them, too." The impetus for the memoir was Neills desire to leave his four children and eight grandchildren "a sense of me". "I thought it would be great for them to have some of my stories," he said. "I mightn't be here in a month or two. "We'll leave something for them." The single actor described his family life as "haphazard" as he expressed feeling "immensely grateful" that his children are incredibly supportive. "I had some very lonely times last year," he admitted. Brown is adamant that his friend must make it to his 80th birthday because the pair always throw a big and expensive party to mark major milestones. "He's got to get through the next four years," he said. "To pay for the next party." However Neill is focused on living in the moment and said the "the cancer thing" has made him determined to make the most of his time especially the 10 days after the sickness from his treatment passes. "Ten days in which I could not feel more alive or pleased to be breathing and looking at a blue sky". Lost Boys: Belfast's Missing Children will be released in Omniplex Cinemas later this month A new documentary examining the disappearance of several children in the 1960s and mid-70s is set to be released in cinemas at the end of the month. Lost Boys: Belfasts Missing Children, which was directed by Des Henderson, will be released in select Ominplex Cinemas from 27 October. The film has been acclaimed since it aired as part of the film festival circuit including Docs Ireland earlier this year and in special screenings last month. The documentary notably claims British intelligence may have protected those involved in the abduction and murder of children in Belfast during the Troubles and claims there may have been links between a controversial loyalist pastor Alan Campbell who died in 2017 and the disappearance of four of the boys. Some of the missing boys include 11-year-old David Leckey and Jonathan Aven (14), both from east Belfast, who vanished after leaving their homes for school on September 25, 1969. 10-year-old east Belfast schoolboy Brian McDermott also disappeared after he was last seen alive in Ormeau Park. A week later his mutilated remains were recovered from a hessian sack pulled from the Lagan. The documentary features interviews with Darren Brown, a friend of the Leckey family who notes that David Leckey went to Oakleigh High School on the Ravenhill Road. The film also investigates claims of an attempted cover-up because there was a paedophile ring with links to the intelligence services operating from Kincora Boys Home and evidence that abuse was carried out by powerful people, including politicians, was being used to blackmail them. Last month, former RUC Assistant Chief Constable Alan McQuillan told Sunday Life there was also no evidence found which suggested their disappearance was related to the 1973 murder of McDermott or the 1969 disappearances of Leckey and Jonathan Aven (14). Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph about the films wider release, director Des Henderson said he was delighted the film would be aired and his ultimate goal was getting the names of the missing boys out to the public. Weve always felt very strongly that this was a story in the public interest, so after our sold out premiere as part of Docs Ireland, Im delighted that audiences across Northern Ireland will finally get to see it for themselves, he said. There have been a lot of headlines generated around our research and conclusions over the past couple of weeks, but for me this has always been about the missing and murdered boys, getting their names out there is incredibly important, "Even now, after fifty years I still believe that new information could come to light. A man charged with posting the New IRA's claim of responsibility for the attempted murder of a top PSNI detective on a gable wall is seeking to have his bail conditions varied in order that he can take on jobs working in a pub. The applicant, William McDonnell, (36), from Balbane Pass in the Creggan area of Derry wants his curfew and electronic monitoring bail conditions suspended to enable him to take up part-time work in a local bar. McDonnell was among three men involved in putting up a note back in February declaring that the New IRA carried out the attack on Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell in Omagh, Co Tyrone. His solicitor, Paddy MacDermott told District Judge Barney McElholm at the Magistrates Court in Derry that the applicant wanted to take up the offer of occasional bar work in order to provide for his partner and child. Mr MacDermott said the applicant, who has 20 years of experience in the bar trade, has been on bail without issue since last month on the claim of responsibility charge. Opposing bail a detective constable said the police believed the applicant was a trusted member of the New IRA. He said the attempted murder of Detective Chief Inspector Caldwell in front of his son at playing fields in Omagh last February 22 "was a multi-faceted attack involving ten people from across Northern Ireland, a number of whom are in custody". He said the claim of responsibility posted on a wall in the Creggan Estate also contained a threat against members of the security forces. The police witness said the applicant had a number of relevant terrorist convictions and he said the 720 Bar where the applicant hoped to work was close to Junior McDaid House where meetings of members of the New IRA took place. He said the application did not include a regular pattern of employment and it would be very difficult for the police to regularly monitor the offers of occasional work. Judge McElholm said he was not happy with the day to day element of the offers of shift work. He said while he was not refusing the application at this time, he would adjourn the matter until next Monday to enable the applicant to submit evidence of regular or weekly work rotas. A Lurgan man accused of trying to kill three men in a shocking knife attack walked around Lurgan town centre with eyes described as dead and vacant, a jury heard on Monday A Lurgan man accused of trying to kill three men in a shocking knife attack walked around Lurgan town centre with eyes described as dead and vacant, a jury heard today. The Craigavon Crown Court jury also heard that paranoid schizophrenic Ben Gibson was hearing voices, command auditory hallucinations, where four unknown men in the shadows were telling him to go and kill otherwise his family would be killed. The incidents on April 11, last year, happened just 10 days after the 21-year-old had signed himself out of a mental health unit against medical advice. Gibson, from the Glenfield Road in Lurgan, faces three charges of attempted murder and one of having a knife with intent to commit murder on April 11, last year. Opening the Crown case to the jury, prosecuting KC Richard Weir told them how much of the evidence about what happened that day had been agreed between the prosecution and defence. The first victim, the jury heard, was working in a Polish deli and was on Moores Lane at the rear of the shop when he was approached by the defendant who offered to help out. He told the jury he had to tell him no several times and he believed the man was heavily intoxicated but after they shook hands and he turned to go back inside, he felt a thud at the base of his neck and when he reached up, he saw blood on his hand. The jury heard that as he turned around, Gibson was holding the knife up high, potentially about to strike again but the victim fled inside and bolted the door. The second victim told the jury how he saw what looked to be a man swinging a punch at a pallet lorry but as he came closer, he saw the defendant was armed with a 12 kitchen knife. Read more Trial begins of NI sports massage therapist accused of sexually assaulting two clients He told Mr Weir there was a moment of eye contact where Gibson had a blank stare about his face but fearing for his life he began to sprint away, warning a woman that he passed before he and she sought sanctuary in a nearby kebab shop. The witness, who the Public Prosecution Service contend is a victim of attempted murder despite the fact he was not stabbed, told the court how he held the door closed and watched out the window as Gibson walked past, opting to follow him at a safe distance as Gibson continued down the street. Following that incident, Gibson approached his third victim as he got out of his car and the jury heard that thinking he was going to be killed the man fled to a tanning salon but was chased by Gibson. The knife-wielding would-be killer followed him into a changing room and stabbed him twice in the chest while other patrons fled into the street for safety. The jury heard the first victim sustained a stab wound to his lower neck which needed four stitches while the third victim sustained two wounds, one which was close to his heart and another which caused a collapsed lung. The witnesses described Gibsons eyes as dead and vacant and the court heard how the second victim followed him into Lurgan Park while constantly on the phone to the emergency services. Police were quickly on the scene and the jury heard that when Gibson was arrested, he told the officers he had taken around 30 pregabalin tablets, drank a bottle of buckfast and I attempted to kill them people. Turning to crucial medical evidence in the case, the jury heard evidence from consultant psychiatrist Dr Adrian East who said there was an established diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia in relation to Gibsons mental state. He outlined how the alleged would-be killer had been suffering from mental health problems dating back to 2016 but certainly from 2018 and in the lead up to the incidents in April last year, previous treatments had not worked to relieve symptoms. Dr East explained that in his view, the paranoid schizophrenia Gibson suffers from is an abnormality of mind and was an abnormality to such an extent that it had materially affected his thought processes about what he was doing and the consequences of his actions. The jury heard that in Gibsons mind, he felt compelled to follow the voices who were talking to him because he feared if he did not obey their commands, his family would be harmed. Defence KC Gregory Berry asked the psychiatrist to explain what would happen if the jury were to find Gibson not guilty by reason of insanity, to put it plainly he isnt going to be walking the street of Lurgan tomorrow? Read more DNA matching accused found on jacket linked to murder of Gary Convie and Eamon Fox, court told Dr East told the jury that even if Gibson is found not guilty by reason of insanity, his recommendation is that he is made the subject of a hospital order with an associated restriction order. That would mean that he is held and treated in a secure mental health facility until such times as he no longer requires mental treatment in hospital, that any decision to release him would be a matter for the Department of Justice and the restriction orders means that he will remain liable to recall, effectively lifelong, should he develop any symptoms. The jury also heard that a second psychiatrist, Dr Curran, had also examined Gibson and while he reported that symptoms had mainly been decreased under his new treatment regime, he had concluded that I concur totally with the conclusions by my esteemed and respected colleague Dr East that Mr Gibson was effectively insane at the time of the index offences. The jury have heard all of the evidence and tomorrow they will hear closing speeches from both the prosecution and defence before trial Judge Patrick Lynch KC directs them on how to apply the law to the charges. The trial continues. EXCLUSIVE | Special Branch knew where wanted loyalist was before double murder Supergrass Haggarty told his handlers that Smyth was being a nuisance while in hiding Court: Gary Haggarty will give evidence against James Smyth Allison Morris Mon 16 Oct 2023 at 07:30 Supergrass Gary Haggarty informed his Special Branch handlers about the whereabouts of a wanted killer, weeks before the man is alleged to have shot dead two Catholic workmen, the Belfast Telegraph can reveal. Belfast council is to look at providing street art walls across the city in a bid to encourage safe and legal art and cut down on graffiti tagging. At a recent Belfast City Council committee meeting, elected members agreed to a report from officers outlining the financial and other implications of a motion proposed by SDLP Councillor Gary McKeown. The motion states: The council recognises the transformative benefits that street art can have on communities and welcomes the enhancement of spaces across the city through the creation of public artwork, such as in entries in Belfast City Centre, across the Holylands, and on utility boxes through the Belfast Canvas project. In many places, works have become tourist attractions and are creating a real sense of civic pride. However, the council also acknowledges the concern and frustration that particular types of graffiti such as tagging can cause to communities, and the cost of its removal. To encourage a vibrant street art culture in this city and help people to develop the skills required to realise this, the council believes that it is important to facilitate the creation of such art in a safe, legal and positive way, enabling creative expression through this medium and reducing the proliferation of antisocial graffiti. This council will therefore work with the street art community to support the continuing development of a positive street art culture in this city and, in particular, will provide street art walls which will allow people to create artwork legally. Read more Belfast council to request Northern Ireland beauty spots are included in Irish passport design It adds: In addition to identifying Belfast City Council property to facilitate this, the council will also work with public, private and third sector partners to identify locations across the city which can be used freely by people for ad hoc street art and collaborative projects. The council will also work with street artists and groups, youth providers and other partners to engage with people who could benefit from getting involved in street art and support mentoring and skills development to empower them to express themselves through this route. It will also consult and work with artists and groups to develop a better and evolving understanding of how it can support street art. Taking this approach, the council aims to support the vibrant street art scene in Belfast and help develop the next generation of street artists to enable it to continue to flourish, while reducing the impact and cost of negative graffiti by encouraging a positive alternative. A council officer told the City Growth and Regeneration Committee: We have a related action in the City Imagining Work Plan. We can bring something back in, but just to stress, and we have some scar tissue on this, it is a complicated matter with regard to ownership and permissions and so on. Sinn Fein Councillor John Gormley said: I welcome the ambition set out in the motion, enabling creative expression and reducing the cost and impact of negative graffiti. Members will be aware that negative and antisocial graffiti is a source of great annoyance to many of our citizens and removal is both a challenge and a cost we could well do without. I feel it would be good to have some reasonable assurance that the street art project would bring the desired benefits and lead to a reduction in unwanted graffiti. Therefore I propose a report be brought back which should include examples of cities, I think Norwich is one, that have similar street art projects, along with evidence of tangible benefits achieved, particularly in terms of reducing the cost and impact of negative graffiti. Read more Irish street sign survey to proceed after DUP fails in bid to block move DUP Councillor Ian McLaughlin said: I welcome the fact a report is being brought back. Currently some of the street art as we call it, is actually illegal, and it would be wrong I think to reward people who are engaging in illegal activity by paying to put street art on in certain parts of the city. We need clarity around that issue. Secondly I would like the council to consider communities that have stepped up to the plate over the past number of years by re-imaging what are referred to as so-called contentious murals, be it of a paramilitary nature or whatever. Some of these murals in inner city areas have fallen into disrepair, and when community groups have tried to access funding from council and others, to brighten these up, they are very often told the responsibility of the maintenance of these things lies with the community group. I think that is quite unfair. So I would like to ask the council if they could look at some communities that have engaged in re-imaging projects, and could find a way to help these communities spruce up what they have. Mr McLaughlins request will also be included in the street art report. By Ko Dong-hwan The Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) will downsize its workforce to help reduce its snowballing debt, which has soared to over 200 trillion won ($147.6 billion), according to officials from the state-run utility company, Monday. A KEPCO official said the state-run company will accept voluntary resignations from employees, adding that no downsizing plan has been made official yet. The company is due for an audit at the National Assembly on Thursday, and the CEO will announce the new self-reliant rescue plan around that time, he said. "The emergency plan will include reshuffling the entire organization," the official said. "It will include the scale of the downsizing. This was hinted at by Kim when he had his first meeting with news reporters in Sejong." The news came as the company's CEO Kim Dong-cheol said earlier this month that he would announce a set of measures to resolve the debt. As of last June, KEPCO's total debt came to 201.4 trillion won, the largest amount among all Korean listed firms. It was also the first time that the company's debt surpassed 200 trillion won. It is the second time that the company has downsized its organization. In 2009, 420 officials voluntarily left the company so as to help the organization survive. This year, some 5,700 senior-level officials are expected to pay back to the company some portions of their wages corresponding to their raises this year. Observers said that the collected money will be used to prepare a severance pay pool for those resigning starting this year. Alongside the debt, KEPCO's sales deficit has been over 47 trillion won since 2021. To tackle the financial hurdles, KEPCO is expected to raise its energy rate price nationwide within this year. Kim said earlier this month that raising the rate by 25 won per kilowatt-hour (kWh) should be implemented to "normalize" the company's operations. However, he kept quiet regarding whether he would adjust wages for employees or downsize the organization as additional measures. He said such measures need more discussions with the company's labor union. KEPCO has over 23,000 employees, some 78 percent of whom are members of the company's labor union. Such a significant portion makes it almost impossible for the company to execute the CEO's directives without the consent of its workers. This was why Kim, upon becoming the company's new CEO last month, was burdened with pressure, including criticism from the country's Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Bang Moon-kyu, who urged him to consider every possible self-reliant measure to reduce its debt, such as selling its assets or freezing wages, before deciding to downsize the organization. The deputy leader of the DUP has called for political parties to accept they were wrong in refusing to recognise the flaws of the Northern Ireland Protocol. Speaking to DUP members and supporters in East Londonderry Gavin Robinson stressed the need for a revaluation of the Protocol and said: "Whilst the Windsor Framework fell short of meeting our manifesto commitments, progress was made. "For two years we warned of the problems but for two years the rigorous implementers dismissed our concerns. We were first told that renegotiating the Protocol was impossible. "Then we were told that change could only be advanced from Stormont. These were both myths and have long since been debunked. The Belfast East MP also said it was the DUP who aided the re-opening of renegotiations and emphasised the party's focus on ensuring arrangements work for unionists and nationalists. It shouldnt have taken a withdrawal from the Executive to shift the dial, but it was only after decisive action taken by the DUP that negotiations were re-opened and the revised arrangements some people want us to accept were brought forward. "We havent come this far however to accept something which falls short of what the Prime Minister promised to deliver. "Whilst the rigorous implementers were prostrating themselves for Brussels, we have been looking at the long-term impact on Northern Ireland and ensuring we get arrangements that work for unionists as well as nationalists. Not a single unionist MLA or Party supported the NI Protocol. Progress can only be made in NI when the process commands the support of unionists as well as nationalists and others. That is what we are now focused on, hopefully others will now join us to deliver that. Mr Robinson's comments come just days after the DUPs annual conference in which leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said progress being made but hes not afraid to say no in Windsor Framework talks. Talks have been ongoing around the Windsor Framework between the DUP and the Government for months but speculation has heightened in recent weeks that they may be close to concluding. However in his speech Sir Jeffrey simply said those discussions continue and stressed his party would not be bullied or threatened by anyone, whomever they purport to represent. During his own speech at the conference, Mr Robinson who was elected DUP deputy leader in June, said there is no prospect of successful Government if the only future an incoming Executive can offer is one of service withdrawal and cuts. "Northern Ireland gets less than it needs. Not wants, desires or craves. Needs. Materially, that means less money for schools, hospitals and roads, he said. "No flexibility to tackle waiting lists, increase special needs provisions or provide effective and meaningful child-care support for working families. Last year, our departments received 322 million less than they needed. This year, its 431 million and next year, its 458 million. Distressed screams from onlookers, including women, can be heard as he is overwhelmed by his attackers A video of the alleged incident in Dungannon has been shared on social media A man who was attacked by up to 30 people in Co Tyrone last weekend remains in hospital and has still not been able to speak to police, the Sunday World can reveal. The victim of the gang attack in Dungannon is believed to be from the East Timor community and he suffered serious head injuries after he was set upon in Market Street in the early hours of last Sunday morning. A video of the incident was shared on social media showing a large group of men converging on the man before he is kicked and punched to the ground. Throughout the video distressed screams from onlookers, including women, can be heard as he is overwhelmed by his attackers. This is happening on a regular basis and someone is going to be killed eventually, said a source. Police confirmed last night that the man remained in hospital with serious head injuries and hadnt yet been able to give them a statement. A PSNI spokesperson added: After receiving reports of a group of males armed with knives at Market Square and Irish Street, at around 3.20am, a police patrol was immediately sent to the area. Officers did not locate any armed men, but on conducting a tour of the area, they discovered an unconscious man at Sloan Street. Witnesses at Sloan Street stated that a group of up to 30 males had attacked the man before fleeing the area on foot. The man was taken by ambulance to hospital where he remains receiving treatment for serious head injuries. Police have asked that anyone with information contact them via 101. Nurse tells of his immense remorse over his mistreatment of patient (86) Man was struck off after using unsuitable and intimidating language Antrim Area Hospital Stephen Gordon Mon 16 Oct 2023 at 08:10 A staff nurse has told of his shame and immense remorse after he was convicted of mistreating a confused 86-year-old patient at Antrim Hospital. There was anger among opposing sets of demonstrators at the rally in Belfast city centre (Pic: Kevin Scott/Belfast Telegraph) Thousands of people marched through the centre of Belfast today as part of a pro-Palestinian demonstration. Insults were exchanged as a small group carrying Israeli flags confronted the rally as it arrived at the City Hall. Kevin Scott/Belfast Telegraph The protest took place against the backdrop of the deepening conflict in the Middle East as civilians continue to suffer under a total siege imposed by Israel in the wake of an unprecedented incursion by Hamas militants. The United Nations, senior EU figures and aid agencies have all expressed alarm as many Palestinians struggle to flee ahead of a co-ordinated offensive in the Gaza Strip involving air, ground and naval forces. The rally gathered at Writers Square in Belfast on Sunday and numbers swelled as it marched along Royal Avenue, with participants carrying flags and chanting pro-Palestinian slogans. The PSNI mounted a significant security operation which included closing many of the main arterial roads in the city centre. Kevin Scott/Belfast Telegraph As the rally neared City Hall, a small number of people stood in front of the gates carrying Israel flags. There were angry scenes as the two sets of demonstrators exchanged insults and police moved in to keep them apart. Taking part in the pro-Palestinian rally was Dr Raied Al-Wazzan from the Northern Ireland Council for Racial Equality. Kevin Scott/Belfast Telegraph He said: We need to send a message to the Palestinian people that we support you, we are with you, we are against the bombardment of civilian people. We are against the blockade of Gaza. We want people to live an equal life, we want them to have the same rights as everyone else. Kevin Scott/Belfast Telegraph Sinn Fein MLA Pat Sheehan was among the marchers at the front of the rally. Earlier, he had unveiled a mural in west Belfast in support of Palestinians. Speaking at this event he said: One would be forgiven for thinking it is the Israelis who are living under occupation, rather than the Palestinians. Kevin Scott/Belfast Telegraph He added: It is clear to all of us here that those governments that demand the implementation of international law in other conflicts are totally silent when Palestinians are being slaughtered in their thousands. Israel has been given a carte blanche to act outside international law and the basic rules of warfare. The response of the international community in the west has been shameful. What is happening in Palestine today is the outworking of 75 years of brutal occupation. The Israelis cannot and will not inflict a military defeat on the desire of Palestinians to be free and to have their own independent Palestinian state. The NIFRS said there incredibly disappointed at the theft and had to utilise other fire stations to accommodate some call outs The burglary occurred at the station in the in the Ballynure Road area of Ballyclare, on Sunday October 15 between 10pm and 11pm. The stolen items were several pieces of road traffic collision (RTC) equipment which are used to remove those injured in vehicle collisions. The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service said the missing equipment was discovered last night (Sunday) when their crew was tasked to a road traffic collision. They later had to utilise other firefighters from the district to cover Ballyclare Fire Station until these items are replaced. The break-in was discovered yesterday evening at around 11pm when crews from Ballyclare were tasked to support other crews at a road traffic collision. It is believed the items were stolen between 10pm and 11pm last night, a NIFRS spokesperson said. These vital pieces of operational equipment are used by Ballyclare Firefighters to help rescue casualties from serious road traffic collisions who need released from vehicles urgently. I am appealing for these items to be returned to the fire station immediately. The theft of this equipment comes a day after Ballyclare celebrated its 75th Anniversary with their families and local community. The theft of this vital equipment does not only prevent our firefighters from saving lives it also causes great concern in the local community. Its very disappointing that the local firefighters who work tirelessly for their community, would be targeted in this way. I recognise the impact this has had on Ballyclare firefighters and I would like to thank them for their dedication to their community and their support at this time." Read more Two people rescued after 60 firefighters extinguish large blaze in Londonderry The PSNI said the equipment was stolen after a side door to a vehicle located inside the premises was prised open and a number of pieces of equipment were stolen, which resulted in the vehicle being out of action for the night. Inspector Moore said: "We received a report shortly before 11.30pm last night that a fire station had been broken into. Following initial enquiries we now believe that the break in occurred between 10pm and 11pm. This break in comes after a station open day, where visitors and families were able to view the vital equipment used in emergencies, and its very disappointing that Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Services and local Firefighters who work tirelessly for their community, would be targeted in such a way that leaves the community without lifesaving equipment. Enquiries are continuing and officers investigating this report are keen to hear from witnesses or anyone who may have captured CCTV or dashcam footage in the area around the aforementioned times. We would appeal to anyone with any information to contact police on 101, quoting reference number 1895 15/10/23. Alternatively, you can submit a report online using the non-emergency reporting form via www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/ . You can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org/ ." NI politicians have paid tributes to former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari who supervised IRA decommissioning, after he died aged 86. The Social Democrat was president of Finland between 1994 and 2000 and earned a global reputation as a peace mediator. Mr Ahtisaari was a member of the Decommissioning Commission that oversaw the IRA weapons disarmament back in 2000. He won the Nobel peace prize in 2008 and eventually retired from public life in September 2021 owing to dementia. Ex-Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams expressed his sincere and deepest condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of the deceased. Martti Ahtisaari was one of an international panel of participants who played a crucial role in advancing the peace process, he said. "Along with George Mitchell, John de Chastelain, Richard Haass, Cyril Ramaphosa, Harri Holkeri, and others they facilitated the necessary dialogue and participated in initiatives that led to the Good Friday Agreement and to subsequent agreements. Martin McGuinness and I met Cyril Ramaphosa and Martti Ahtisaari in London in early 2000 and asked if they were willing to act as international arms inspectors examining and securing IRA arms dumps. They agreed and over the following year they carried out three inspections. Read more Malachi ODoherty: How to fix Northern Ireland Mr Adams recalled how the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning reported in 2001 that the dumps inspected by Cyril Ramaphosa and Martti Ahtisaari were found to be secure. Their willingness to undertake this difficult work made an important contribution to the peace process, he added. "In my conversations with Martti and Cyril I found them both to be committed to making our efforts successful. We got on well together. To his wife Eeva and his son Marko and to the people of Finland I extend my sincerest condolences. SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said Mr Ahtisaari played a key role in resolving difficult conflicts around the world. "His contribution was recognised when the Nobel Committee awarded him the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts over many decades, he added. "Millions of lives have been changed for the better as a direct result of his efforts and by helping end these conflicts he undoubtedly saved many lives. In the North he will remembered for the role he played in our own peace process, particularly around decommissioning that was so important to allow us to build trust between our political parties and to transition to a more normal society. The Foyle MP praised Mr Ahtisaaris committment to the social democratic values that he displayed throughout his career and as President of his country. "He helped end conflicts in diverse places like Kosovo, Nambia, Indonesia and the North, bringing peace to some of the most volatile places and he made a lasting contribution that will not be soon forgotten, Mr Eastwood concluded. A 33-year-old man accused of killing primary school teacher Ashling Murphy has pleaded not guilty to her murder. Jozef Puska replied "not guilty" in Slovakian, when the charge was put to him this afternoon. A jury will now be sworn in before Mr Justice Tony Hunt. Ms Murphy died after she was fatally assaulted while out jogging along the grand canal in Tullamore, Co Offaly on January 12, 2022. The 23-year-old was a teacher at Durrow National School at the time of her death. She was also an accomplished traditional Irish musician. Mr Puska, with an address at Lynally Grove in Tullamore, Co Offaly, appeared before the Central Criminal Court shortly before 4pm this afternoon when he was formally arraigned. With his black hair slicked back into a ponytail, and wearing a grey jacket, open necked white, striped shirt and grey chinos, Mr Puska stood in the dock for the arraignment. The interpreter stood in the dock beside him. The clerk of the court read out the charge, which was then translated into Slovakian by the interpreter, and the accused pleaded "not guilty" in Slovakian. Judge Hunt said a jury will now be selected for the trial, which is expected to last four weeks. The case will be prosecuted by senior counsel Anne-Marie Lawlor, while defence counsel is Michael Bowman SC. Tanaiste Micheal Martin has said funding for Irelands health services needs examination, amid criticism levelled at the government over the amount of money given for next year. The funding allocated to health services next year has prompted criticism of the government, and has seen a recruitment freeze implemented on some healthcare roles. Chief executive of the Health Service Executive (HSE) Bernard Gloster told senior management on Friday that he was extending an existing recruitment pause beyond clerical and management grades to include patient and client care roles. He also announced an immediate pause on around 7,000 posts, previously approved in principle, which can now not be funded. Representatives of healthcare workers have sharply criticised the freeze as reckless and risky, and opposition politicians have called on the budget for the Department of Health to be re-examined. Budget 2024, worth a total of 14 billion euro and unveiled last Tuesday, allocated an extra 800 million euro to the Department of Health, bringing its total value to 22.5 billion euro. The additional 808 million to core funding is to address an ageing population and service pressures, with more than one billion euro in non-core funding allocated to ongoing Covid-19 measures. Mr Gloster has said that he needs a further 1.5 billion for this year alone. Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly during a Budget 2024 press conference (Brian Lawless/PA) Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has said that the majority of this years overspend was due to more patients presenting for emergency treatment and inflated prices for medicines. We cant kid ourselves. The additional spending by the HSE forecast for this year at about 1.5 billion euro is largely being driven by the fact they are treating more patients than we have funded them to treat, the Fianna Fail TD said. Asked about the issue on Monday, Micheal Martin said that there had been very significant investment in health over the past few years. The Fianna Fail leader said that seven billion euro in additional funding had been allocated to the health service in three years. He added: I heard the term recruitment freeze the issue in the growth for example is that, given the money already allocated, the HSE has not recruited staff even from the existing basis of funding over the last while in critical services, particularly in disability, for example. Some of that is due to genuine difficulties in recruiting, the same would have happened in terms of homecare over the last two years where there was challenges because weve expanded the services so much in the homecare area. So we will work through the funding of health, but the scale of allocation in the last number of years has been very very significant. We will work with the HSE but the HSE also will have to work with government, and as I said yesterday, (there) has to be deeper analysis of health spending, parallel with analysis of growing demographics, were ageing as a population. That has implications, yes, in terms of pressure on health services but funding has dramatically increased. 1.8 billion euro this year, additional increase to health services, and if you look over the last three years I think youre looking at 7 billion additional to health. So the issue needs examination. Government will continue to work on that with the relevant ministers, he said while opening the Joe and Helen OToole Community Nursing Unit in Tuam, Co Galway. Gaby described his young brother Nathanel as a cheeky chappie who died fighting to protect his country (Gaby Young/PA) The sister of a British man who was serving in the Israeli army when he was killed by Hamas militants has said her brother was a typical 20-year-old cheeky chappie who died protecting his country. Gaby Young told the PA news agency her younger brother Nathanel Young, 20, loved his four nieces, was fun-loving and had a passion for DJing. The 38-year-old from Tel Aviv said she was in contact with her brother by phone on the morning of October 7, when Hamas militants attacked, but he then stopped reading or responding to her Whatsapp messages. Born in Southgate, north London, Mr Young had a strong Jewish identity and attended JFS, the largest Jewish secondary school in Europe. He decided to come to Israel just for a short amount of time but ultimately stayed a year before joining the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), his sister said. Gaby Young said her brother Nathanel joined the IDF to defend his country (Gaby Young/PA) Ms Young said her brother joined the IDF because he wanted to be able to protect Israel and protect civilians, especially from terrorist threats and served in the force for one year before his death. (He) loved fashion and trainers and he had a trainers collection just like a typical 20-year-old cheeky chappie, Ms Young said. As air raid sirens sounded at around 6:30am on the morning on October 7, the British-Israeli soldier rang his sister and said hed heard that there were missiles. He was actually on the border with Gaza at that time, and so we exchanged a few WhatsApps because I couldnt hear him properly on the phone, Ms Young explained. I had to grab my husband and my children and rush them into a shelter, so obviously, we were terrified. Gaby said her brother had a passion for DJing and wanted to pursue a career in music (Gaby Young/PA) At the time, Ms Young said they had not yet realised the extent of the attack that morning. Shortly after the siblings exchanged texts, she said the blue ticks confirming her Whatsapp messages had been read stopped appearing. He hadnt seen my messages, Ms Young said. I spent the whole day trying to figure out what was going on and where he was, hoping he was okay, that he just left his phone somewhere or something like that, not anything worse. Ms Young was informed by the IDF around 1am on October 8 that he had been killed while protecting a kibbutz on the Gaza border. Nathanel exchanged some messages on Whatsapp with his sister before he was killed (Gaby Young/PA) His funeral took place two days later, during which an air raid siren rang out while Ms Young read her eulogy. Everyone had to just get on the floor, she said. My parents and my sister from the UK had come from the funeral and theyve never had to even experience air raid sirens so you can imagine how terrified they must have been. Ive had more experience with hearing sirens so its more of a reflex for me to react. I really wanted to continue and I was determined to give Nathanel the honour that he deserves and finish my speech. Ms Young did finish the eulogy, and she said she hopes to further honour her brother in future. I hope that after all of this, and in more peaceful times, well be able to honour him with some kind of music studio in his memory for those maybe with PTSD, or even just young people who have an interest in music, she said. Id love to follow that dream. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has faced further pressure to add Irans revolutionary guard to the list of banned terrorist organisations (Hannah McKay/PA) Rishi Sunak has faced renewed pressure to add Irans revolutionary guard to the list of banned terrorist organisations, as conflict in the Middle East continues. Dr Liam Fox, Conservative former defence secretary, warned that while Hamas had its fingers on the trigger of the violence in Israel and Palestine, the strings being pulled are from Tehran. He was joined by a host of influential Tories in calling for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a special Iranian military force, to be proscribed as a terrorist group. Dr Liam Fox was among those calling for the IRGC to be proscribed as a terrorist group (Victoria Jones/PA) Dr Fox told the Commons: If the fingers on the trigger were Hamas, the strings being pulled were from Tehran. With 100 million of investment going from Iran to the terrorists of Hamas, isnt it time that we in this country asked again why Iranian banks are operating from the City of London? Why Iran Air is operating from Heathrow Airport? And why again we have not proscribed the IRGC, as I believe we should have? Conservative chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Alicia Kearns, called on the Government to proscribe the IRGC and called for the creation of a special envoy for the Middle East peace process. She said the attack on Israel constituted crimes against humanity, but stressed that how Israel defeats Hamas will shape the regions future. Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey called the IRGC the funders of Hamas (Joe Giddens/PA) Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey meanwhile branded the IRGC the the funders of Hamas. Conservative MP Bob Blackman (Harrow East) told the Commons the operation by the terrorist group Hamas was clearly well-planned, well-resourced, well-equipped and had been planned for many months. He added: It is beyond belief that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps who fund and support Hamas were not behind this whole operation. So will he now take the action that the whole House has asked him to take and thats to proscribe the IRGC in its entirety? The Prime Minister replied: We have already taken strong action against the Iranian regime including sanctioning 350 different individuals and entities, including the IRGC in its entirety and furthermore, the National Security Act implements new measures to protect the British public, including new offences for espionage, foreign interference and tougher powers to arrest and detain people suspected of involvement in state threats. As the House knows, the Government has a long-standing policy of not commenting on whether specific organisations are being considered for proscription and our approach, as currently stated, is completely aligned with that of our allies. Under the Terrorism Act 2000, it is illegal to belong to an organisation that has been proscribed. Hamas was added to the list of banned terrorist organisations in 2021 and its supporters or members can face up to 14 years in jail according to the Government. Water has run out at U.N. shelters across Gaza as thousands packed into the courtyard of the besieged territorys largest hospital as a refuge of last resort from a looming Israeli ground offensive and overwhelmed doctors struggled to care for patients they fear will die once generators run out of fuel. Palestinian civilians across Gaza, already battered by years of conflict, were struggling for survival Sunday in the face of an unprecedented Israeli operation against the territory following a Hamas militant attack on Oct. 7 that killed 1,300 Israelis, most of them civilians. Israel has cut off the flow of food, medicine, water and electricity to Gaza , pounded neighborhoods with airstrikes and told the estimated 1 million residents of the north to flee south ahead of Israels planned attack. The Gaza Health Ministry said more than 2,300 Palestinians have been killed since the fighting erupted last weekend. U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN on Sunday that Israeli officials told him they had turned the water back on in southern Gaza. But the spokesman for Israel's energy and water ministry, Adir Dahan, said it was only flowing at a single location in southern Gaza. Aid workers in Gaza said they had not yet seen evidence the water was back and a Gaza government spokesperson said it was not flowing. Throughout the day, Gazans lined up for hours outside bakeries and jostled to buy bread, as fears of food shortages loomed. Umm Abdullah Abu Rizq had come at 7 a.m. hoping to buy food to feed her family and the others sheltering in her home. Is this enough for seven families and their children? she asked, holding a small plastic bag with bread. She was not able to buy more. In Khan Younis, residents rushed to mosques where clean water supplies were still available, for now. Eyad Aqel, a resident, said widespread electricity outages meant water could not be pumped up to replenish his tank. He held a small plastic water container he said would be his familys supply for washing and cooking. Relief groups called for the protection of the over 2 million civilians in Gaza urging an emergency corridor be established for the transfer of humanitarian aid. There was no indication that such a corridor will be opened anytime soon, said Ahmed al-Mandhari, the regional director of the World Health Organization. The agency has supplies over the Rafah border in Egypt, but no permission from either Egypt or Israel to deliver them. The difference with this escalation is we dont have medical aid coming in from outside, the border is closed, electricity is off and this constitutes a high danger for our patients, said Dr. Mohammed Qandeel, who works at Nasser Hospital in the southern Khan Younis area. Doctors in the evacuation zone said they couldnt relocate their patients safely, so they decided to stay as well to care for them. We shall not evacuate the hospital even if it costs us our lives, said Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the head of pediatrics at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia. If they left, the seven newborns in the intensive care unit would die, he said. And even if they could move them, there is nowhere for them to go in the 40-kilometer-long (25-mile-long) coastal territory. Hospitals are full, Abu Safiya said. The wounded stream in every day with severed limbs and life-threatening injuries, he said. Following the evacuation order, around 22 hospitals with 2,000 patients in northern Gaza managed to move mobile patients south, said al-Mandhari. But most cant be evacuated, he said. Over 60% of hospital beds in the strip are located in northern Gaza, he said. Other doctors feared for the lives of patients dependent on ventilators and those suffering from complex blast wounds needing around-the-clock care. Doctors worried entire hospital facilities would be shut down and many would die as the last of fuel stocks powering their generators came close to running out. United Nations humanitarian monitors estimated this could happen by Monday. At Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the heart of the evacuation zone, medical officials estimated at least 35,000 men, women and children crammed into the large open grounds, in the stairways and corridors of the hospital building, hoping the location would give them protection from the fighting. Their situation is very difficult, said hospital director Mohammed Abu Selmia. Still, hundreds of wounded continue to come to the hospital every day, he said. The violence has not spared the health workers. Plastic surgeon Medhat Saidam was killed along with 30 members of his family in an airstrike Saturday when he returned home from work, said Ghassan Abu Sittah, a doctor at Shifa. At least three Shifa doctors and 15 medics were killed so far, Selmia said. Gazas Health Ministry issued an urgent appeal to the international community to send replacement medical workers. About half a million Gaza residents have taken refuge in U.N. shelters across the territory and are running out of water, said Juliette Touma, a spokesperson for the U.N.s Palestinian refugee agency, known by the acronym UNRWA. Gaza is running dry, she said, adding that U.N. teams have also begun to ration water. Touma said a quarter of a million people in Gaza moved to shelters over the past 24 hours, the majority of which are U.N. schools where clean water has actually run out, said Inas Hamdan, another UNRWA spokeswoman. Across Gaza, families rationed dwindling water supplies, with many forced to drink dirty or brackish water. Many resorted to going to dirty wells and the sea, increasing the risk of dehydration, water borne diseases and more deaths. I am very happy that I was able to brush my teeth today, can you imagine what lengths we have reached? said Shaima al-Farra, in Khan Younis. (AP) Truckloads of aid remain stalled at Egypts border with the Gaza Strip as residents and humanitarian groups plead for water, food and fuel for dying generators, warning that the tiny Palestinian territory sealed off by Israel after a rampage by Hamas is near total collapse. Hospitals full of wounded were on the verge of losing electricity, and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced from their homes are searched for food. (PA Graphics) Israel maintained punishing air strikes across the territory as a ground invasion loomed, while Hamas militants kept up a barrage of rocket attacks and tensions mounted near the Israel-Lebanon border. More than a week after Israel stopped entry of any supplies, all eyes were on the Rafah crossing, the Gaza Strips only connection to Egypt, as mediators try to reach a ceasefire deal that would allow aid in and trapped foreigners out. Israeli air strikes forced the crossing to shut down last week, and local media reported that it was struck again on Monday. Israel evacuated towns near its northern border with Lebanon, where the military has exchanged fire repeatedly with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group, as US secretary of state Antony Blinken met Israels defence minister, and President Joe Biden weighed whether to visit Israel after an invitation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Speaking to the Israeli Knesset on Monday, Mr Netanyahu warned Iran and Hezbollah: Dont test us in the north. Dont make the mistake of the past. Today, the price you will pay will be far heavier, referring to Israels 2006 war with Hezbollah, which operates out of Lebanon. Soon after he spoke, the Knesset floor was evacuated as a rockets headed towards Jerusalem, part of a steady stream of attacks militants have launched from Gaza into Israel. Sirens in Tel Aviv warning of incoming rockets prompted staff to duck into stairways for cover as visiting US secretary of state Antony Blinken met Israels defence minister. This has become the deadliest of the five Gaza wars for both sides. At least 2,778 have been killed and 9,700 wounded in the Gaza Strip, according to the Heath Ministry there, and more than 1,400 Israelis have been killed, the vast majority civilians in Hamass October 7 assault. The Israeli military said on Monday that at least 199 hostages had been taken back to Gaza, higher than previous estimates. The military did not specify whether that number includes foreigners. Hamas said later that it was holding 200 to 250 hostages, including foreigners who it said it would free when it was feasible. The head of Israels Shin Bet security service, in charge of monitoring militant groups, took responsibility for failing to avert Hamass surprise attack. As agency head, the responsibility for that is on me, Ronen Bar said. There will be time for investigation now is a time for war, he wrote in a letter to Shin Bet workers and their families. The combination of air strikes that pulverise entire neighbourhoods, depleting supplies, and Israels mass evacuation order for the north of the Gaza Strip threw the tiny territorys 2.3 million people into upheaval. More than a million have fled their homes, and 60% of them are in the approximately eight-mile area south of the evacuation zone, according to the UN. Injured Palestinians arrive at al-Shifa Hospital (Abed Khaled/AP) The Israeli military says it is trying to clear away civilians for their safety ahead of a major campaign against Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip, where it says the militants have extensive networks of tunnels and rocket launchers. Much of Hamass military infrastructure is in residential areas. Those fleeing northern Gaza still face the threat of air strikes in the south. Before dawn on Monday, a strike hit a building in the town of Rafah where three displaced families who fled Gaza City were sheltering. At least 12 people were killed and nine others remained missing, said survivors from the al-Masry, al-Akhras and Hamouda families. More than 400,000 displaced people in the south were crowded in schools and other facilities of the UN agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, but the group cannot provide them aid, leaving them to search for water and food. UNRWA said it has only a litre of water a day for each of its staff trapped in the territory. Hundreds of thousands more displaced people have moved in with family members, packing dozens into homes. With taps dry, many have resorted to drinking dirty or sewage-filled water, risking the spread of disease. Gaza is running out of water, and Gaza is running out of life, said UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini, calling for an immediate lifting of the siege. For a third day, Israels military announced a safe corridor for people to move from north to south between the hours of 8am and noon. It said more than 600,000 people have already left the Gaza City area. In northern Gaza, unknown numbers remain, either unwilling or unable to leave. Wounded Palestinians in a hospital yard in Deir el-Balah, Gaza Strip (Adel Hana/AP) UNRWA said 170,000 people were sheltering at its schools in the north when the order to leave came, but it could not evacuate them and does not know if they remained. More than 40,000 have crowded in the grounds of Gaza Citys al-Shifa Hospital and surrounding streets, hoping it will be safe from bombardment. UNRWA said on Monday it received reports that the Hamas-run Ministry of Health removed fuel and medical equipment from its evacuated compound in Gaza City. Hamas urged people to ignore the evacuation order, and the Israeli military on Sunday released photos it said showed a Hamas roadblock preventing traffic from moving south. Hospitals in the Gaza Strip are expected to run out of generator fuel in the next 24 hours, the UN said. Buildings destroyed by Israeli air strikes in the Nuseirat camp (Hatem Moussa/AP) Four hospitals in northern Gaza are no longer functioning and 21 have received Israeli orders to evacuate. Doctors have refused, saying it would mean death for critically ill patients and babies on ventilators. The medical aid group Doctors With Borders said many of its personnel decided to stay in the north to treat wounded. They had run out of painkillers, and staff reported wounded screaming in pain, it said. Israel has said the siege will not be lifted until Hamas releases all the captives, but the countrys water ministry said supplies had been restored at one specific point, outside the southern town of Khan Younis. Aid workers in Gaza said they had not yet seen evidence the water was back. The World Health Organisation said assistance for 300,000 patients was awaiting entry through Rafah. On the Gaza side of the crossing, crowds of Palestinians with dual citizenship waited anxiously, sitting on suitcases or crouched on the floor, some comforting crying children. Martti Ahtisaari was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008 (AP) Martti Ahtisaari, the former president of Finland who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008 for his work to resolve international conflicts, has died aged 86. The foundation he created for preventing and resolving violent conflicts said he had died on Monday. It said it was deeply saddened by the loss of its founder and chair of board. Finlands President Sauli Niinisto said in a statement: It is with great sadness that we have received the news of the death of President Martti Ahtisaari. He was president in times of change, who piloted Finland into a global EU era. In 2021, it was announced that Mr Ahtisaari had advanced Alzheimers disease. Mr Ahtisaari attending the Nobel Peace Prize concert in Oslo in 2008 (AP) Among his most notable achievements, Mr Ahtisaari helped reach peace accords related to Serbias withdrawal from Kosovo in the late 1990s, Namibias bid for independence in the 1980s, and autonomy for Aceh province in Indonesia in 2005. He was also involved with the Northern Ireland peace process in the late 1990s, being tasked with monitoring the IRAs disarmament process. When the Norwegian Nobel Peace Committee honoured Nr Ahtisaari in October 2008, it cited him for his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts. Mr Ahtisaari who was the Nordic countrys president for one six-year term from 1994 until 2000 later founded the Helsinki-based Crisis Management Initiative, aimed at preventing and resolving violent conflicts through informal dialogue and mediation. The Namibian government was grateful for Mr Ahtisaaris work and later made him an honorary citizen of the country. Mr Ahtisaari, left, is greeted by then-Chinese leader Jiang Zemin prior to talks in 1997 (AP) He was elected president of Finland in 1994 for a six-year term, becoming the first Finnish head of state to be elected directly instead of through an electoral college. Mr Ahtisaari was a keen supporter of the European Union and Nato which Finland joined in 1995 and 2023 respectively. His international highlight came in 1999 when he negotiated alongside Russias Balkans envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin the end to fighting in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo. Mr Ahtisaari also hosted the Russian president Boris Yeltsin and US counterpart Bill Clinton at a summit in Finnish capital, Helsinki, in March 1997. Mr Ahtisaari had a great heart, and he believed in the human being, Mr Niinisto said. The President added: In his speech at the Nobel celebration, Ahtisaari said that all conflicts can be resolved: Wars and conflicts are not inevitable. They are caused by humans. There are always interests that war promotes. Therefore, those who have power and influence can also stop them. After the Finnish presidency, Mr Ahtisaari was offered several international positions, including in the United Nations refugee agency, but decided instead to open his own office in Helsinki which has centred on mediating in international crises. Mr Ahtisaari is survived by his wife Eeva and their adult son. He will be laid to rest in a state funeral, officials said, with the date to be announced later. A Palestinian woman reacts next to people wounded in an Israeli air strike, at al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza Strip (AP) More than a million people have fled their homes in the besieged Gaza Strip in the past week, ahead of an expected Israeli invasion that seeks to eliminate Hamas leadership after its deadly attack. The enclaves food and water supplies are dwindling, with its hospitals warning that they are on the verge of collapse. All eyes are on the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, where trucks carrying badly needed aid have been waiting for days as mediators press for a ceasefire that would allow them to enter Gaza and allow foreigners to leave. Palestinians wounded in Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip arrive at a hospital in Khan Younis (AP) Rafah, Gazas only connection to Egypt, was shut down nearly a week ago because of Israeli air strikes. Egypts foreign minister Sameh Shoukry said Israel has not taken a position to open the crossing from the Gaza side. The Israeli government did not respond to a request for comment. With a ground invasion of Gaza expected, Israel is also preparing for the potential of a new front opening on its northern border with Lebanon, where it has exchanged fire repeatedly with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group. The military ordered residents from 28 Israeli communities to evacuate. Israeli forces, supported by a growing deployment of US warships in the region and the call-up of some 360,000 reservists, have positioned themselves along Gazas border and prepared for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle Hamas. Israel said it has already struck dozens of military targets, including command centres and rocket launchers, and killed Hamas commanders. Meanwhile, the Israeli military said Hamas and other Palestinian militants are holding 199 hostages in Gaza, higher than previous estimates. An Israeli military spokesman said the families have been notified. He did not specify whether that number includes foreigners, or say who is holding them. Most are believed to be held by the Hamas militant group, which rules Gaza. A shell from Israeli artillery explodes over a house in al-Bustan, a Lebanese border village with Israel, south Lebanon,(AP) Officials in Israel have given no timetable for a ground incursion that aid groups warn could hasten a humanitarian crisis in the coastal Gaza enclave. A week of blistering air strikes have demolished entire areas but failed to stem militant rocket fire into Israel. The Gaza health ministry said 2,670 Palestinians have been killed and 9,600 wounded since the fighting erupted, more than in the 2014 Gaza war, which lasted more than six weeks. That makes this the deadliest of the five Gaza wars for both sides. More than 1,400 Israelis have died, the vast majority civilians killed in Hamas October 7 assault. A Palestinian woman kisses the sheet-covered body of a child killed during an Israeli air strike (AP) At least 155 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza, according to Israel. It is also the deadliest war for Israel since the 1973 conflict with Egypt and Syria. About 500,000 people, nearly one quarter of Gazas population, were taking refuge in United Nations schools and other facilities across the territory, where water supplies are dwindling, said Juliette Touma, spokesperson for the UNs Palestinian refugee agency. The agency says an estimated one million people have been displaced in Gaza in a single week. US secretary of state Antony Blinken will return to Israel on Monday after completing a frantic six-country tour through Arab nations aimed at preventing the fighting from igniting a broader regional conflict, American officials said. President Joe Biden is also considering a trip to Israel, though no plans have been finalised. Mr Biden has repeatedly proclaimed support for Israel, but he said in a TV interview he thought it would be a big mistake for the country to reoccupy Gaza. Israels ambassadors to the US and UN said the country does not want an occupation. But ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan told CNN that Israel will do whatever is needed to obliterate their (Hamas) capabilities. Meanwhile, the Israeli military ordered residents to evacuate 28 communities near the Lebanese border after increasing cross-border fire between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The military order affects towns that are within 1.2 miles of the border. Speaking to the Israeli Knesset on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Iran and Hezbollah: Dont test us in the north. Dont make the mistake of the past. Today, the price you will pay will be far heavier, he said, referring to Israels 2006 war with Hezbollah. Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesman, said the evacuation would allow Israeli forces to operate with greater latitude. Israel is ready to operate on two fronts, and even more, he said. If Hezbollah makes the mistake of testing us, the response will be deadly. (PA Graphics) Fighting along Israels border with Lebanon intensified on Sunday with Hezbollah militants firing rockets and an anti-tank missile, and Israel responding with air strikes and shelling. The Israeli military also reported shooting at one of its border posts. The fighting killed at least one person on the Israeli side and wounded several on both sides of the border. An Israeli drone fired two missiles late on Sunday at a hill west of the town of Kfar Kila in south Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency reported. There were no casualties reported in the strikes, which hit near a Lebanese army centre. Hezbollah said it had fired rockets toward an Israeli military position in the northern border town of Shtula in retaliation for Israeli shelling that killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah on Friday and two Lebanese civilians on Saturday. A Hezbollah spokeswoman said the increased strikes represented a warning and did not mean Hezbollah has decided to enter the war. The US has named David Satterfield, the former US ambassador to Turkey experienced in diplomacy in the region, to be special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues. Americas national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday that Mr Satterfield will focus on getting humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza. Hospitals in Gaza are expected to run out of generator fuel within two days, endangering the lives of thousands of patients, according to the UN. Gazas sole power plant shut down for lack of fuel after Israel completely sealed off the 25-mile long territory following the Hamas attack. Palestinian children look at the building of the Zanon family, destroyed in Israeli air strikes in Rafah, Gaza Strip (AP) In Nasser Hospital, in the southern town of Khan Younis, intensive care rooms were packed with wounded patients, most of them children under the age of three. Hundreds of people with severe blast injuries have come to the hospital, where fuel is expected to run out by Monday. There are 35 patients who require ventilators and another 60 on dialysis. Dr Mohammed Qandeel, a consultant at the critical care complex, said if fuel runs out, it means the whole health system will be shut down. He added: All these patients are in danger of death if the electricity is cut off. Shifa hospital in Gaza City, the territorys largest, said it would bury 100 bodies in a mass grave as an emergency measure after its mortuary overflowed. Tens of thousands of people seeking safety have gathered in the hospital compound. Gaza was already in a humanitarian crisis due to a growing shortage of water and medical supplies caused by the Israeli siege. An unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding under our eyes, said Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. Mr Sullivan told CNN that Israeli officials told him they had turned the water back on in southern Gaza. Israels minister of energy and water, Israel Katz, said in a statement that water had been restored at one specific point in Gaza. A spokesman said the location was outside Khan Younis. Aid workers in Gaza said they had not yet seen evidence the water was back on. The bodies of people killed during an Israeli air strike are loaded onto a truck outside al-Aqsa Hospital in the central Gaza Strip (AP) Israel has ordered more than one million Palestinians almost half the territorys population to move south. The military says it is trying to clear away civilians ahead of a major campaign against Hamas in the north, where it says the militants have extensive networks of tunnels, bunkers and rocket launchers. Hamas urged people to stay in their homes, and the Israeli military released photos it said showed a Hamas roadblock preventing traffic from moving south. Nevertheless, more than 600,000 people had evacuated the Gaza City area, according to Rear Admiral Hagari. The US has been trying to broker a deal to reopen Egypts Rafah crossing with Gaza to allow Americans and other foreigners to leave and humanitarian aid amassed on the Egyptian side to be brought in. The crossing, which was closed because of air strikes early in the war, has yet to reopen. Israel has said the siege will only be lifted when the captives are returned. The majority of voters in Polands general election supported opposition parties that promised to reverse democratic backsliding and repair the nations relationship with allies including the European Union and Ukraine, near-complete results have showed. The result was a disappointment for the ruling Law and Justice party and its leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who have governed Poland for eight years with a conservative, nationalist and sometimes anti-EU agenda. Though it remains Polands biggest party, Law and Justice lost its majority in parliament, putting a centrist opposition led by former EU president Donald Tusk in a strong position to take over power, official results showed with more than 99% of districts counted. After a bitter and emotional campaign, turnout was projected at almost 74%, the highest in the countrys 34 years of democracy. Supporters of Donald Tusk, of the Civic Coalition, celebrate at his party headquarters in Warsaw (Petr David Josek/AP) It was among the most important elections in an EU country this year, and the results have been anxiously awaited in Brussels, Berlin and other capitals by observers hoping that a step-by-step dismantling of checks and balances could be halted before a turn towards authoritarianism that would be hard to reverse. Another term for Law and Justice would have been seen as a bad omen in Brussels, which has to contend with Hungary, where democratic erosion has gone much further under Prime Minister Viktor Orban. New concerns arose after the leftist pro-Russia and Orban ally Robert Fico won an election in Slovakia. The outcome in Poland could also affect ties with neighbouring Ukraine, which Warsaw has supported in the war against Russias invasion. Good relations soured in September over Ukrainian grain entering and affecting Polands market. The Ipsos exit poll showed that three centrist opposition parties that campaigned on a promise to reverse the illiberal drift of the government had together secured 249 seats in the 460-seat lower house of parliament, a clear majority. With over two-thirds of voting districts reporting, partial official results released by the State Electoral Commission showed the opposition parties with a clear lead, and outstanding results are mostly from bigger cities where the opposition is strongest. There appeared to be no path for another term for Law and Justice. People checking the results of Sundays parliamentary elections (Czarek Sokolowski/AP) A limited international observation mission led by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe said the historic high turnout demonstrated the commitment of citizens to upholding democracy in Poland, but it also pointed to the problem of bias by taxpayer-funded public television, which demonstrated open hostility towards the opposition. Douglas Wake, the head of the mission, called it troubling that the ruling party and its candidates gained a clear advantage from the misuse of state resources, undermining the separation between state and party. The governing party also mobilised other state resources to help itself, including by controlling the election administration and by an unfair division of votes in electoral districts, said Jacek Kucharczyk, president of the Institute of Public Affairs, a Warsaw think tank. The electoral system was really tilted toward the government, he told the Associated Press. You could say that the opposition had to fight this election with one hand tied behind its back and they still won. Poles still face weeks of political uncertainty. Law and Justice won more votes than any single party and said it would try to build a new government led by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. Law and Justice party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski (Petr David Josek/AP) President Andrzej Duda, an ally of Law and Justice, must call the first session of the new parliament within 30 days of the election and designate a prime minister to try to build a government. In the meantime, the current government will remain in a caretaker role. Mr Duda said he was happy about the large turnout and the peaceful nature of the election at a time of war across the border in Ukraine and hybrid attacks from Belarus. An updated Ipsos poll on Monday afternoon showed Law and Justice with 36.1% of votes; the opposition Civic Coalition, led by former European Council president Donald Tusk, with 31%; the centrist Third Way coalition with 14%; the Left party with 8.6%; and the far-right Confederation with 6.8%. The electoral commission said it expected to report the final result on Tuesday. On Sunday evening, Mr Tusk declared that it was the end of Law and Justice rule and that a new era had begun for Poland. A Ukrainian APC fires towards Russian positions near Avdiivka, in the Donetsk region (AP) An attempt by Russian forces to storm a strategically important city in eastern Ukraine appears to be running out of steam, officials in Kyiv have claimed, as the Kremlins invasion entered its 600th day. Ukrainian forces repelled 15 Russian attacks from four directions on Avdiivka over the previous 24 hours, the Ukrainian General Staff said. That compares with up to 60 attacks a day in the middle of last week, according to Vitalii Barabash, head of the city administration. This slackening suggests the Russian effort to capture Avdiivka has deflated, Mr Barabash said. People attend a funeral ceremony for lieutenant colonel Vitali Baranov, commander of the 206th battalion of the Ukrainian army territorial defence, in Katiuzhanka close to Kyiv (AP) A Washington-based think tank broadly concurred with that assessment. The Institute for the Study of War said in analysis published late on Sunday: Russian forces continued offensive operations aimed at encircling Avdiivka but have yet to make further gains amid a likely decreasing tempo of Russian operations in the area. Russias ambassador to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, told a UN Security Council meeting last Friday that the ramped-up attacks in the east amounted to a new stage in Moscows campaign in Ukraine. With the looming onset of wintry conditions that will limit military operations, both sides have been seeking battlefield breakthroughs that could invigorate their efforts and raise morale. Ukraine launched its own counter-offensive about four months ago. It has made some headway but the limited success has underlined the daunting challenge of taking on the Kremlins more numerous forces. Kyivs Western allies insist that their military and financial support for Ukraine will continue, even as the Israeli-Hamas war rages and competes for resources. Vladimir Putin claimed Ukraine had only achieved losses in its counter-offensive (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday the Biden administration will ask congress for a combined aid package for Ukraine and Israel worth more than two billion dollars (1.6 billion). Ukrainian officials have said their troops are holding out against fierce Russian efforts to wrest control of Avdiivka, a heavily fortified city. Avdiivka lies in the northern suburbs of the city of Donetsk, in a region of the same name that Russian forces partially occupy. Avdiivkas location grants Ukrainian forces artillery advantages over the city and could serve as a springboard for them to liberate Donetsk. It is not possible to verify battlefield claims by either side. Misinformation and disinformation have played a central role in the war. The invasion of Ukraine has entered its 600th day (AP) Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an interview with the China Media Group released on Monday, claimed that Ukraines counter-offensive has achieved no results so far, only massive losses. Meanwhile, Russian childrens rights ombudswoman Maria Lvova-Belova claimed on Monday that her office has helped 35 Ukrainian children reunite with their relatives in Ukraine and other countries. Ms Lvova-Belova, who was indicted along with Mr Putin by the International Criminal Court for war crimes connected to the deportation of children from Ukraine, claimed Russia never opposed reuniting children with their families. Qatars foreign ministry issued a statement saying it had been involved in recent family reunifications through its embassy in Moscow. None better than Stephen Walker to chronicle John Humes life Journalist masterfully captures journey of an Irish political icon in new book New book: Stephen Walker Allison Morris Mon 16 Oct 2023 at 10:00 There are few journalists who could bring together a room full of people as diverse as those who gathered in Mandela Hall last Wednesday for the Belfast launch of The Persuader a biography of John Hume. Frontman soldiers on as slimmed down band return to Belfast Gary Lightbody was hit with a bad case of the burps when Snow Patrol returned to the stage on Friday for the first time in over a year. The now three-piece band headlined the BBC Introducing Live evening at the Limelight in Belfast, with Friday nights concert broadcast live on Radio Ulster and BBC Sounds. But the Snow Patrol frontman had to stop his performance of Heal Me because he couldnt stop burping. After struggling through one of the verses, he told the crowd: Sorry, I am full-on burping here. Im going to need a minute, but we are going to do this song until I get it right. Gary Lightbody on stage on Friday night Fans were thrilled to see the band back on stage again after drummer Jonny Quinn and bassist Paul Wilson quit last month. Jonnys wife Mariane said her husbands reasons for leaving the group were not the best as she hit out at Johnny McDaid on social media. Paul later said salacious gossip had ruined his departure from the band. I dont really know what went down, but Im guessing there were creative differences in the studio; I cant imagine it was anything too crazy, he added. I dont have any ill feelings towards the guys. Gary, who formed Snow Patrol in 1994, vowed the band would carry on as a three-piece with Johnny and Nathan Connolly. Speaking to a packed out bar on Friday, he said: This is our first show since September last year, so [it has been] 14 months. Its nice to be back in Belfast playing. They then wowed the crowd with stripped-back favourites of hits including Chocolate, Crack the Shutters and Chasing Cars. Gary did not reference the split but was visibly moved by the audience belting out the lyrics of Run during the concert. He said: Thank you so much. There is a gig going on next door called Bingo Loco. Those guys are not messing around. Our dressing room was directly above that show and the whole building was vibrating. I think I lost a filling. They are having a lot of fun in there, so we can try and match it in here. You guys might need to be a lot drunker to keep up with them. The band's old-line-up He was also in the mood for joking after someone yelled out, Gary, take your shirt off. He replied: Take your shirt off? Ill tell you what, nobody wants to see whats under here, nobody. I dont even want to see it. I shower in the dark and dont leave the bathroom with the light on. Cbakl, Lucy Gaffney, Reevah and Jordan Adetunji also performed as part of the show, designed to promote new and up-and-coming bands. Gary praised all the acts after his groups set, telling the audience: Thank you, BBC Introducing. We are finally being introduced after 30 years. With wildlife and scenery like this, no wonder country is known as the pearl of Indian Ocean Having macaque monkeys steal your breakfast minutes after you encounter elephants has to be one of the most surreal experiences around. That was just one of many highlights from a trip earlier this year to Sri Lanka, rightly known as the pearl of the Indian Ocean. Over seven nights we travelled right around the country, seeing what this paradise has to offer. I have no hesitation in saying it is now one of my two holidays of a lifetime (the other being Vietnam). All the properties we visited came under the homegrown Uga brand, which encompasses Uga Ulagalla in Anuradhapura, Jungle Beach in Trincomalee, Uga Bay in Passikudah, Chena Huts in Yala and Uga Residence in Colombo. A villa at Chena Huts We flew from Dublin to Colombo via Dubai with Emirates, and on arrival decided to go straight to see some of the countrys wonderful wildlife at Yala National Park. It is more than a four-hour drive from the airport, but the sights along the way make the journey fly in. Among the many things we spotted were locals washing in the rivers, elephants making their way down the road, fishermen using improvised tools and nets to try and catch fish, brightly coloured temples and coconut, pineapple and tea plantations Sri Lanka is fiercely proud of its tea production, specifically pure Ceylon. Ensure you hire a driver to see as much of the country as possible. This is a lot more affordable than at home, but make sure to generously tip. Our driver Lalith was able to give us a real local experience, bringing us to places we would probably never have visited or known about. He is one of the Sri Lankan tourism industrys best assets. The plunge pool of a villa at Uga Ulagalla Our destination for the first few nights was Uga Chena Huts, which won this years best of the best Trip Advisor award, recognising it as one of the best small hotels in the world. This honour for the hotel, which is part of the Uga Escapes portfolio, was a well-deserved award because there really is nowhere else quite like this jungle haven. The resort, which matches wildlife encounters with luxury, is situated in Yala National Park, with guests staying in 14 plush, safari-style huts that blend into the spectacular wilderness. Sustainable tourism is a big part of Ugas message, and it is easy to see why Chena Huts is viewed as setting a benchmark. A cabin at Jungle Beach One review I read before my trip described the destination as bringing The Jungle Book to life (with a little less singing). To give you an idea of how that transpires, we found ourselves watching elephants walk along the beach in front of the resort and around the property, eating fruit and drinking from the water at reception, as well as seeing monkeys swinging overhead in the trees. This really is as close to nature as you can get but in true luxury. You could easily be on the plains of east Africa, but dont be concerned about being in danger because there are always security staff around to ensure you are safe if any animals enter the property. Uga Jungle Beach There are morning and afternoon guided game drives which will bring you through the national park in an off-road vehicle. You never know what will rear its head from behind a bush, but we saw dozens of elephants and monkeys, crocodiles, wild boar, water buffalo bathing in the water and deer. Our guide also pointed out some the birds that call the region home some 250 species. Expect to see lots of elephants during any holiday in Sri Lanka because the country is home to around 7,000 of them. You will often see drivers stopping beside them on roadside to feed them fruit through their car windows. Other guests were lucky enough to grab a glimpse of leopards and sloth bears. Yala is home to one of the largest concentrations on the planet of those big cats, with dozens making it their home. The courtyard at Uga Residence The hotels huts, with thatched roofs and vaulted ceilings, are more like houses, featuring wooden floors and ceilings and large, open-plan bedrooms with huge platform beds, a rainfall shower, a free-standing bath and double sinks. Each property has its own sun deck and private plunge pool, so you can spend hours just soaking up the rays. The ocean in front of the resort is too dangerous for swimming because of strong currents. Enjoy a sundown drink at the beach bar, or food at the Basses Restaurant, and expect to see the Great Basses Reef Lighthouse on the horizon and some majestic elephants or other wildlife walking along the beach as you indulge yourself. The restaurant has glass walls, but you can enjoy your meals al fresco on the terrace or on the sand in front of it as you listen to the crashing Indian Ocean waves. I would highly recommend the Sri Lankan curries (which you can even have for breakfast) or ambula, which means sour in the Sinhalese language. It is the traditional meal served in the fields and includes rice, an assortment of vegetable and meat curries, mango chutney, papadum and sambol (a garnish made with freshly shredded coconut, chopped red onions, a squeeze of lime juice, chillies, and salt). The spa at Uga Bay As a curry aficionado and former Irish Curry Awards judge, this was definitely up there with the very best. My mouth is watering just writing about it. The safari encounters were among the many experiences from Sri Lanka which will stay with me for ever. Others included the 32-course traditional Sri Lankan dinner in a paddy field at Uga Ulagalla. After we left Chena Huts, we drove to the Uga Bay beach hotel in Passikudah, which, unlike Chena Huts, is more for those who like to do little other than lie by the pool or beach or get stuck in to some watersports. The beach there is one the countrys safest year-round swimming beaches. We enjoyed a really relaxing Balinese massage in the spa that runs under the swimming pool. After a three-hour drive, it was the perfect way to relax and unwind. The rooms at Uga Bay are spacious and ocean-facing. Ours had a balcony that served as the perfect spot for a glass of wine as the sun set with those panoramic views of the Indian Ocean in the background. Our fondest memory has to be eating a six-course dinner, which included a superb seafood broth and mixed seafood platter, at a dining table and chairs carved out of sand on the beach. A curry platter at Chena Huts As a honeymooning couple, this was seriously special. The hotels staff spend hours crafting the dining area and a special walkway in the sand. It was such a novel experience. Those memories of a lifetime continued at Uga Jungle Beach in north eastern Trincomalee, which does as the name suggests and offers luxury jungle cabins a stones throw from the sand. This remote resort feels so excluded that you wont feel any eyes are upon you if you use the cabins outdoor shower or terrace. There is an excellent bar and restaurant on the beach where staff often light a bonfire (a small one, not one like Craigyhill in Larne, I should add). Couples can also choose a special treetop dinner that enhances the feeling of exclusivity and seclusion. The food was again top-notch, particularly the seafood and grilled meats, with a special mention for the breakfast of pastries, fruit, juice and whatever you choose from the a la carte menu. If you can drag yourself away from the resort, take a trip to nearby Pigeon Island for a spot of snorkelling. You wont be disappointed. Enoying the sunset at Uga Ulagalla As well as Chena Huts, our other favourite location was Ulagalla in Thirappane. Its located in the heart of what is known as Sri Lankas cultural triangle, with the Sacred City of Anuradhapura to the north, the city of Kandy home to the sacred Temple of the Tooth to the south and the ancient rock fortress at Sigiriya to the east. Thanks to our driver Lalith, we enjoyed an early morning hike all 1,200 steps to the top of Sigiriya, a site of historical and archaeological significance dominated by a massive column of granite rock some 180m high. King Kashyapa (AD 477495), who murdered his father to seize the throne, built his palace on the rock, before it was used as a Buddhist monastery until the 14th century. The Unesco heritage site is home to hundreds of monkeys who are renowned pickpockets. Like Chena Huts, Uga Ulagalla is home to a myriad of wildlife, and Uga Escapes demonstrated its mission to preserve the natural environment for the future generations by establishing its own Elephant Research Center. It was set up in an effort to conserve the elephant population, which it tracks locally, while also helping to resolve the human elephant conflict, which is abundant in and around the Anuradhapura area and sadly often leads to animal deaths. Uga Bay The standout location on the tranquil 58-acre Ulagalla estate, which has an on-site solar farm, is a century-old manor house rich with history and cultural heritage. It was once the regions most important noble seat, home to a village chieftain. Beautifully renovated, it is now home to the resorts restaurant and bar, where again the food is flawless. The upstairs restaurant looks out onto the swimming pool, the landscaped lawn and trees, where you will often spot grey langur monkeys. For epic dinner experiences, a traditional Sri Lankan meal in the estates reclaimed paddy fields is hard to beat. You best be ravenously hungry because they serve 32 courses of various vegetable and meat dishes, with an amazing array of curries among them. We did make sure to at least taste each dish. If you are in a larger group than two, the 32 courses are obviously easier to handle. Sand dining at Uga Bay We got a little curried away while there, booking ourselves in for a curry cooking session with the Ulagalla chefs, who taught us how to make chicken and prawn curries, as well as accompaniments lessons we still put into practice at home. We also got to try other activities, including a jungle kayak where we watched the fishermen in awe, a sunset drive that opened our eyes to how Sri Lankan farmers live and horse riding, so there is plenty of opportunity to work off some of the calories from the 32 courses. Accommodation is in air-conditioned villas with a deck, sun loungers and private pool. The villas have a large bedroom, complete with four-poster, king-sized beds, and bathroom, as well as a lounge area. They overlook the water or, as ours did, paddy fields and jungle. The Kamatha at Uga Ulagalla As with the other Uga hotels, they are built to blend in with and maintain the ecological balance of the surroundings. While we came across dozens of temples on our drives across Sri Lanka, we only visited a selection once we got to the capital for a stopover at Uga Residence before our flight home. Make sure to check out the floating Gangarama Buddhist temple of Seema Malaka, as well as the historic stone Hindu temple of Shri Ponnambalawaneswaram, with its intricate carvings, sculptures and colourful shrines. Tuk tuk tours are another memorable experience as you zip in and out of the what seems like constant rush hour traffic. Bonfire on the beach at Chena Huts Tourism boomed in Sri Lanka after three decades of civil war ended in 2009, and the number of visitors has been growing, but news headlines over recent years, including an economic crisis which thankfully has now come under control, put tourists off. However, there is no excuse not to go now. You will make memories for life that you definitely will never forget. A game drive at Chena Huts Travel factfile We flew to Colombo via Dubai with Emirates. The airline operates two daily flights from Dublin to Dubai and onwards to more than 140 destinations. With business class you can avail of a complimentary chauffeur service to and from the airports (some mileage restrictions apply), 40kg baggage allowance and complimentary access to business class lounges before you even step foot on the plane. On board you can enjoy fine dining, an extensive selection of complimentary drinks, including welcome Champagne and lie-flat seats for a perfect sleep. The A380 double decker aircraft has an on board lounge with complimentary drinks and snacks and a chance to meet and chat to other passengers. Economy starts from 983.94 and business from 4,083.74. Visit www.emirates.com. If you want to hire a driver to see the country, try Lalith Induruwage. Contact him on +94772637780 or email lalithinduru@gmail.com. To book any of the Uga properties, visit www.ugaescapes.com. Budding businessman dreaming big after special summer school Young people and mentors at the Emerging Entrepreneurs Summer School earlier this year Move over, Elon Musk. Theres a new disruptor in the international technology market and its all thanks to a business programme for young people. Raise Ventures and Young Enterprise Northern Ireland launched the Emerging Entrepreneurs Summer School this year to help tomorrows captains of industry accelerate their careers. Among the people taking part were Belfast student Jason Wong, who is determined to become a big name in the international tech market. Jason studies business management at Queen's The 19-year-old told Sunday Life: I finished my A-levels at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution earlier this year, and now Im at Queens as a first year, studying business management. The summer school was the next step that made sense because I always had a business idea in mind and I wanted to really learn and network with professionals. Thats what the summer school gave me. I met so many entrepreneurs that I would never dreamed of meeting because its quite hard to network, and they just opened me up to this new perspective. In the future the plan is tech, but right now Im thinking of working along the lines of live performances, connecting musicians and performers and stuff like that. Basically events, you know? Jason believes there is 100 per cent a gap in the market for a portal uniting performers, venues and consumers. Thanks to the opportunities provided by the summer school, he is not sitting idle and waiting until he finishes his studies he already has the drive to get cracking on his idea. So, the thing is, I was planning on making the most out of my opportunities before I graduate, especially after connecting with Ormeau Baths at the summer school, he said. I messaged one of the company owners there, and Ive met him to discuss a potential internship. Its a design agency. Following the summer school, I connected with other businesspeople and Im going to be starting a role soon at Responsible [a technology-led pre-loved fashion company]. Asked whose success he would like to emulate, Jason said his role model was Tesla CEO Musk, who is worth more than $250bn. He added: I would say Elon Musk, because he always pushes the limits and hes always up to something people wouldnt normally do, so I find him quite unique and interesting. Young people and mentors at the Emerging Entrepreneurs Summer School earlier this year Twelve young people aged 17 to 21 took part in the first Emerging Entrepreneurs Summer School in August. It was spearheaded by Raise Ventures, a private tech accelerator, in partnership with Ulster Bank and Ormeau Baths. The scheme is designed to encourage young people interested in entrepreneurship and show how it can be a viable career path. The intensive, one-week course gave guests a chance to learn from the founders of start-ups, as well as showing them how to develop a Dragons Den-style pitch. Among the skills they picked up were how to move from the student bubble into leadership, innovative thinking, developing business plans and public speaking, culminating with a showcase in front of friends, family and their new network at a demonstration day. Raise Ventures Jenny Ervine said: They developed confidence in speaking to their peers and start-up founders. They came together to form ideas and teams, worked together to develop a pitch and developed the skills to present themselves and their ideas. The biggest takeaway was the connections made during the programme that will enable the young people to explore many opportunities within the entrepreneurship ecosystem and will make a lasting impact on their future careers. Now, specifically for students, were hosting a demystifying entrepreneurship session with Ulster University for Global Entrepreneurship Week in November and a Halloween masquerade pitch night for anyone looking to explore investment opportunities. For tickets for the pitch night, see https://tinyurl.com/yaj889rw. For details on the summer school, visit www.raisestartups.co.uk Six killers transferred to cushy prison as theyre primed for release into society Lifers still dangerous, say jail sources, and all six have been thrown off scheme before David Thompson and TV presenter Stephen Nolan Ciaran Barnes Mon 16 Oct 2023 at 10:00 Six of Northern Irelands most dangerous killers are being held in a cushy open prison in preparation for being freed. Hamas-Israel conflict enters 2nd week amid warning of severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza Xinhua) 09:47, October 16, 2023 Displaced Palestinians temporarily live in a school in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, Oct. 15, 2023. The United Nations estimated that more than half a million people in the Gaza Strip were displaced from their residences, noting that the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees received about 64 percent of those displaced in 102 emergency shelters, with difficulties providing essential services. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) GAZA, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- As the bloody conflict between Hamas and Israel entered its second week, concerns were mounting over the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Gaza. "Over last night, the Israeli army struck over 300 military sites and headquarters of institutions belonging to Hamas and Islamic Jihad," the Israeli army said in a press statement. Since the beginning of the conflict, the Palestinian death toll has reached more than 2,300, and over 9,000 others have been injured, Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesperson of the Health Ministry in Gaza, said in a press statement sent to Xinhua. Israel's raids destroyed nearly 1,700 buildings, towers and residential buildings, while more than 7,000 residential units were demolished, according to the government media office in Gaza. The United Nations estimated that more than half a million people in the Gaza Strip were displaced from their residences, noting that the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees received about 64 percent of those displaced in 102 emergency shelters, with difficulties providing essential services. Regional and international appeals are rising for opening humanitarian corridors to provide the Gaza Strip with basic necessities in light of the humanitarian crisis the population is facing, especially the severe shortage of water, fuel and electricity. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid has warned of food insecurity risks and lack of access to water, shelter, and healthcare for residents of the Gaza Strip. Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, declared in various statements that its fighters are continuing their attacks against Israel, including launching rockets and infiltrating Israeli towns. On Oct. 7, Palestinian militants showered Israel with thousands of rockets, and dozens of militants infiltrated southern Israel, killing and wounding Israelis and foreigners. Later, the military brigades announced they captured hundreds of Israelis, including civilians, soldiers and the bodies of those killed. Meanwhile, at least 1,300 Israelis were killed by Hamas, while nearly 3,400 others were injured, according to Israeli sources. Displaced Palestinians temporarily live in a school in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, Oct. 15, 2023. The United Nations estimated that more than half a million people in the Gaza Strip were displaced from their residences, noting that the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees received about 64 percent of those displaced in 102 emergency shelters, with difficulties providing essential services. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) Displaced Palestinians temporarily live in a school in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, Oct. 15, 2023. The United Nations estimated that more than half a million people in the Gaza Strip were displaced from their residences, noting that the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees received about 64 percent of those displaced in 102 emergency shelters, with difficulties providing essential services. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) Displaced people gather in front of a bakery to get food in the southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 15, 2023. The United Nations estimated that more than half a million people in the Gaza Strip were displaced from their residences, noting that the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees received about 64 percent of those displaced in 102 emergency shelters, with difficulties providing essential services. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua) Displaced Palestinians temporarily live in a school in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, Oct. 15, 2023. The United Nations estimated that more than half a million people in the Gaza Strip were displaced from their residences, noting that the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees received about 64 percent of those displaced in 102 emergency shelters, with difficulties providing essential services. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) Displaced Palestinian children temporarily live in a school in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, Oct. 15, 2023. The United Nations estimated that more than half a million people in the Gaza Strip were displaced from their residences, noting that the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees received about 64 percent of those displaced in 102 emergency shelters, with difficulties providing essential services. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) A man cooks food on firewood after a gas cutoff in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, Oct. 15, 2023. The United Nations estimated that more than half a million people in the Gaza Strip were displaced from their residences, noting that the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees received about 64 percent of those displaced in 102 emergency shelters, with difficulties providing essential services. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua) Displaced people gather in front of a bakery to get food in the southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 15, 2023. The United Nations estimated that more than half a million people in the Gaza Strip were displaced from their residences, noting that the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees received about 64 percent of those displaced in 102 emergency shelters, with difficulties providing essential services. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua) A man cooks food on firewood after a gas cutoff in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, Oct. 15, 2023. The United Nations estimated that more than half a million people in the Gaza Strip were displaced from their residences, noting that the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees received about 64 percent of those displaced in 102 emergency shelters, with difficulties providing essential services. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua) Displaced people gather in front of a bakery to get food in the southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 15, 2023. The United Nations estimated that more than half a million people in the Gaza Strip were displaced from their residences, noting that the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees received about 64 percent of those displaced in 102 emergency shelters, with difficulties providing essential services. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua) Displaced people gather in front of a bakery to get food in the southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 15, 2023. The United Nations estimated that more than half a million people in the Gaza Strip were displaced from their residences, noting that the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees received about 64 percent of those displaced in 102 emergency shelters, with difficulties providing essential services. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua) Displaced Palestinian children temporarily live in a school in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, Oct. 15, 2023. The United Nations estimated that more than half a million people in the Gaza Strip were displaced from their residences, noting that the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees received about 64 percent of those displaced in 102 emergency shelters, with difficulties providing essential services. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) Displaced Palestinians temporarily live in a school in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, Oct. 15, 2023. The United Nations estimated that more than half a million people in the Gaza Strip were displaced from their residences, noting that the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees received about 64 percent of those displaced in 102 emergency shelters, with difficulties providing essential services. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) Displaced people gather in front of a bakery to get food in the southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 15, 2023. The United Nations estimated that more than half a million people in the Gaza Strip were displaced from their residences, noting that the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees received about 64 percent of those displaced in 102 emergency shelters, with difficulties providing essential services. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua) Displaced people gather in front of a bakery to get food in the southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 15, 2023. The United Nations estimated that more than half a million people in the Gaza Strip were displaced from their residences, noting that the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees received about 64 percent of those displaced in 102 emergency shelters, with difficulties providing essential services. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua) Displaced people gather in front of a bakery to get food in the southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 15, 2023. The United Nations estimated that more than half a million people in the Gaza Strip were displaced from their residences, noting that the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees received about 64 percent of those displaced in 102 emergency shelters, with difficulties providing essential services. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua) Displaced people gather in front of a bakery to get food in the southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 15, 2023. The United Nations estimated that more than half a million people in the Gaza Strip were displaced from their residences, noting that the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees received about 64 percent of those displaced in 102 emergency shelters, with difficulties providing essential services. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua) (Web editor: Liang Jun) Top U.S. officials warned on Sunday that the war between Israel and militant group Hamas could escalate, as American warships headed to the area amid growing clashes on the country's northern border with Lebanon. Israel has unleashed a ferocious bombing campaign over Gaza in retaliation for unprecedented attacks inside Israel by Hamas eight days ago that killed some 1,300 Israelis, mostly civilians. Gaza authorities say more than 2,670 people have been killed there, a quarter of them children. Casualties are expected to rise as Israel prepares for a ground assault on the tiny, densely populated enclave that could start within days. The conflict has sent tensions soaring. "There is a risk of an escalation of this conflict, the opening of a second front in the north and, of course, Iran's involvement," White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CBS. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced deployment of a second aircraft carrier group late on Saturday, calling it a sign of "our resolve to deter any state or non-state actor seeking to escalate this war." The aircraft carrier the Dwight Eisenhower will join a small fleet including the massive Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier in the eastern Mediterranean. "Iran is the elephant in the room," a U.S. official briefed on the situation said about the increasing military presence. "The carriers are accompanied by warships and attack planes. Every effort is being made to stop this from becoming a regional conflict." Iran Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian warned on Sunday his country could act, telling al Jazeera that it had conveyed a message to Israeli officials that "if they do not cease their atrocities in Gaza, Iran cannot simply remain an observer." "If the scope of the war expands, significant damages will also be inflicted upon America," he warned. Violence on Israel's northern border is already escalating. Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters launched attacks on Israeli army posts and a northern border village on Sunday; Israel retaliated with strikes in Lebanon. The U.S. is urging Israel to hold off on its ground offensive to allow humanitarian efforts for Gaza's residents trapped in the area, several U.S. officials said. Sullivan discussed a new weapons package for Israel and Ukraine that would be "significantly higher" than the previously reported $2 billion. He told CBS that President Joe Biden planned to have intensive talks on the package this week with the U.S. Congress, which has been hobbled by Republicans' struggles to pick a new speaker of the House of Representatives. Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, speaking in Tel Aviv on Sunday, said the U.S. Senate could move first to approve more funding for Israel. "We're not waiting for the House (of Representatives)," he said. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said on Sunday he is traveling to the region with other senators in coming days to push continued negotiations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. Graham said he intended to introduce a bill that would "allow military action by the United States in conjunction with Israel to knock Iran out of the oil business" if Iran attacks Israel. U.S. government officials also said they are mobilizing to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, anticipating a brutal ground offensive. Israeli officials have made clear it will not be an easy or swift campaign. It faces the challenge that scores of hostages seized by Hamas on Oct. 7 could now be held in a warren of underground tunnels, which its soldiers must clear to destroy Hamas. Biden, in a message posted on X, formerly Twitter, said: "We must not lose sight of the fact that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do with Hamas' appalling attacks, and are suffering as a result of them." The U.S. has appointed former ambassador to Turkey David Satterfield as a special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues. His focus would be on the Gaza crisis, "including work to facilitate the provision of life-saving assistance to the most vulnerable people and promote the safety of civilians," the State Department said. "We're pushing Israel to delay any action on the ground," said one U.S. official briefed on the situation. Asked directly if the U.S. was pushing Israel to delay its ground war for civilians, Sullivan told NBC "we are not interfering in their military planning or trying to give them instructions or requests specific to their military planning." However, he added, the U.S. is telling Israel any actions should follow the law of war, and that "civilians should have a real opportunity to get to safety." U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday that the Egyptian-controlled border crossing into Gaza would reopen and the U.S. was working with Egypt, Israel and the United Nations to get assistance through it. Hundreds of tonnes of aid from several countries have been held up in Egypt's Sinai peninsula for days pending a deal for its safe delivery to Gaza and the evacuation of some foreign passport holders through the Rafah crossing. Sullivan told NBC, "so far, we have not been able to get American citizens through the border crossing and I'm not aware of anyone else being able to get out at this time." He added that he wanted to make sure the civilian population that remained in Gaza had access to food, water and safe shelter, and in an interview with CNN said Israeli officials had recently "turned the water pipe back on in southern Gaza." Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told Reuters that the Israel assault on Gaza would be bloody. "I expect urban warfare on steroids," he said. "There will be cries from the international community for Israel to stand down, but I think it's imperative that we give Israel the time and space to destroy Hamas." (Reuters) Gibran Rakabuming Raka (center), the mayor of Solo (Surakarta) and eldest son of President Joko Jokowi Widodo, greets Pro-Jokowi volunteers at the Projo National Meeting at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, Oct.14, 2023. UPDATED at 7:19 a.m. EDT on 2023-10-17 Indonesias Constitutional Court ruled Monday that politicians under 40 years old can run for president and vice president in the 2024 elections. The decision by the court, whose chief judge is the brother-in-law of President Joko Jokowi Widodo, could pave the way for Jokowis eldest son to contest the race as a vice-presidential candidate while his father prepares to leave office because of term limits, observers said. Meanwhile, a large network of pro-Jokowi volunteers this past weekend endorsed Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, the presidents main adversary in the 2014 and 2019 general election, for his candidacy in the 2024 presidential contest. The name of Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Jokowis 36-year-old son who is the mayor of Solo, is being floated as a potential running mate for Prabowo as well as for Ganjar Pranowo, the former governor of Central Java who is also campaigning for the presidency and belongs to Jokowis party. Indonesias current election law sets the age limit at 40, but the Constitutional Court amended it to allow exceptions for candidates who have served as members of legislative councils or regional heads at the provincial or city level, regardless of their age. The courts decision was announced by Chief Judge Anwar Usman, who is married to Jokowis sister. The court had partially granted the request in a petition filed by a university student who had said that Gibran inspired him, Anwar said. The court believe that state officials who have experience as members of parliament, governors, mayors or district heads are entitled to participate in the national leadership contest in this case as presidential or vice-presidential candidates in the election even though they are under 40 years old, said a member of the nine-judge panel, Guntur Hamzah. Indonesia, Southeast Asias most populous democracy, is notorious for corruption and nepotism at all levels of government. Questions have trailed Jokowi in recent months about whether this former furniture salesman from Solo is trying to keep his imprint on politics or build a political dynasty by promoting his family members and loyalists to government. He has rejected such suggestions. Anwar Usman (center), chief justice of Indonesias Constitutional Court and the brother-in-law of the countrys president, leads a panel of nine judges while deliberating on petitions seeking a reduction in the minimum age for presidential and vice presidential candidates, in Jakarta, Oct.16, 2023. [Eko Siswono Toyudho/BenarNews] Mondays ruling was supported by five of the nine judges on the bench, including the chief judge, but the remaining four cast dissenting opinions. One from the minority, Saldi Isra, called the ruling strange. He noted that the court on the same day had rejected similar petitions by ruling that the age limit was the prerogative of the legislature. The court heard seven petitions that sought to lower the minimum age for candidates to as low as 21. The petitions argued that the current law discriminates against young people and violates their constitutional rights. But the court only ruled in favor of the one petition filed by the university student from Solo, Jokowis hometown. Not a level playing field Some legal experts and activists said the ruling showed favoritism toward Jokowis family and undermined the democratic process. This is a dangerous political move for our democracy by privileging one person, paving the way for injustice, said Feri Amsari, a constitutional law expert from Andalas University in Padang. Its not a level playing field. Hendardi, who leads Setara Institute, a group that monitors political and democratic rights, said the ruling was a way to keep Jokowis family in power. No need for complicated analysis to say that the Constitutional Courts decision is intended to make it easier for Jokowis son to follow in his fathers footsteps, Hendardi said. Last week, Jokowi said he had not met his son for months as he shrugged off accusations of building a political dynasty. I leave it to the people to decide, he said. On Monday, the president insisted that he did not meddle in the elections. I emphasize that I do not interfere in the matters of presidential or vice-presidential candidates, Jokowi said in a statement released by his office. He said any question about the courts ruling should be directed at the judges. I do not want to give an opinion on the Constitutional Courts ruling, lest I be accused of interfering, he said. Indonesian President Joko Jokowi Widodo arrives at the European Union-Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit at the European Council headquarters in Brussels, Dec. 14, 2022. [Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP] Gibran, for his part, said Prabowo had repeatedly offered him to be his running mate. Everyone knows that. He has asked me many times, Gibran was quoted as saying last week by Detikcom, an online news portal. Jokowis other son, Kaesang Pangarep, was recently appointed as the chair of the Indonesian Solidarity Party, a small party with some seats in regional legislative councils. The presidential election, scheduled for Feb. 14, 2024, is expected to be a three-way race between Prabowo, Ganjar, and Anies Baswedan, an ex-governor of Jakarta. Ganjar has been nominated by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP). Analysts have said that Jokowis relationship with PDIP has deteriorated in recent months and the rift has become more apparent as supporters press him to endorse a successor who can continue his policies and programs. A survey conducted by Polling Institute, a private pollster, showed that Prabowo topped the list of presidential candidates with 36.5%, followed by Ganjar with 31.2%, and Anies with 18.7%. Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto salutes to honor guard during a visit to Malaysias Ministry of Defense in Kuala Lumpur, Nov. 14, 2019. [Vincent Thian/AP] The courts ruling came two days after the vast volunteer network of Jokowi, known as Projo an acronym for Pro Jokowi declared its support for Prabowos presidential run at the groups national meeting in Jakarta on Saturday. We, Projo, agree to support Mr. Prabowo Subianto as the presidential candidate in the upcoming 2024 election, said Budi Arie Setiadi, Projos chairman and Jokowis communications minister. The Projo volunteers had helped Jokowi defeat Prabowo, a former army special forces general and the former son-in-law of longtime Indonesian dictator Suharto, in the 2014 and 2019 presidential elections. Bivitri Susanti, a constitutional law expert from Indonesia Jentera Law School, said the Constitutional Courts ruling on Monday was binding. But the dynamics, including a dissenting opinion from one of the judges who highlighted the unusual legal reasoning, shows sharp differences and reinforces the political character of the decision, she told BenarNews. Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, deputy chairman of Prabowos Gerindra party, declined to comment on the prospect of Gibran being paired on the ticket with Prabowo. The court ruling not only opens up opportunities for Gibran, but also for all regional heads who are under 40, he told BenarNews. CORRECTION: An earlier version incorrectly identified Ganjar Pranowo as the governor of Central Java province. His gubernatorial term ended in September. Malaysias prime minister said Monday that the majority-Muslim nation would not give into Western countries calls to condemn Palestinian Hamas militants after they launched a wave of deadly attacks against Israelis earlier this month. Addressing Parliament, Anwar Ibrahim said he would travel to Saudi Arabia on Thursday to attend a conference of Gulf states and ASEAN leaders to discuss the new crisis in the Middle East and efforts to aid Palestinian civilians left defenseless in the face of the Israel-Hamas war. He also planned to have a face-to-face meeting with Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman. In every issue, meeting, and discussion, what they [Western nations] want from us is for Malaysia to condemn Hamas, Anwar told MPs. I explained that, in terms of our policy, we have had a long-standing relationship with Hamas, and this relationship continues, he said. Therefore, we do not agree with their pressure because Hamas also won in Gaza through free elections and the people of Gaza chose them to lead. Hamas launched rockets against Israel and attacked civilian targets from the ground during a Jewish holiday on Oct. 7, and Israel responded with retaliatory strikes, which has led to the deaths or injuries of thousands of people on both sides. The United States and other Western countries have widely condemned the initial attacks by Hamas fighters that killed hundreds of Israelis, mostly civilians, according to reports. The U.S. and other countries in the West have branded Hamas a terrorist group. As of late Monday, the war was expected to escalate through an imminent ground invasion by Israeli forces into the Gaza Strip, a densely populated Palestinian enclave controlled by Hamas. Women show support for Palestinians as they listen to a speech in front of the National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur, Oct. 13, 2023. [S. Mahfuz/BenarNews] In Kuala Lumpur, Anwar said that Foreign Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir was scheduled to attend a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday to discuss the crisis. I have given full mandate to the foreign minister to discuss and take whatever possible decision to expedite the humanitarian aid and any actions that are mutually agreed by neighbors so that the decision can be implemented effectively, the prime minister told Parliament. [T]he West and European countries are being hypocritical. They strongly criticized Russia in its war against Ukraine, but now they allow this atrocity to continue in Gaza, he said, referring to Israels retaliatory strikes. Anwar did not comment about alleged atrocities carried out by Hamas militants against Israeli civilians during the Oct. 7 attacks. Thais organize evacuation flights Meanwhile in neighboring Thailand, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin announced plans to charter 32 commercial flights to expedite efforts to repatriate thousands of Thai nationals from Israel by the end of October. We are trying our best to evacuate them as soon as possible. We need more than 32 more flights, Srettha said Monday. Spokesman Chai Watcharong said the Thai government was prioritizing evacuations. By months end, Nok Air, Air Israel, Thai Airways and Spice Air will fly 32 flights to bring 5,700 people home but that is not enough, he said. We have 7,000 people wanting to come home and the number is increasing. Israels ground offensives could make the situation worse. There is no way to evacuate people by land or sea, but by air only. Thailands ministry of foreign affairs said four more Thai nationals were pronounced dead on Sunday, bringing the toll to 29, while 17 were being held hostage by Hamas militants, and another 16 had been injured in the violence. Chokechai Yongpoth, 33, arrived home on Monday along with 136 other Thais. I was in Moshav Mivtahim, less than 10 km (6.2 miles) from the Gaza Strip, the farm hand said, adding that Hamas fighters had raided their camp in southern Israel. They sprayed the bullets. I just hid quietly in my room. Im pleased to come back home. I told my family, I wouldnt likely go back there, said Chokechai, who had been in Israel for only one month. Elsewhere in the region, most Indonesians in Israel had departed for Jordan last week, but over 100 remained in Israel and the West Bank primarily religious pilgrims and students according to an Indonesian foreign ministry official. Israeli soldiers prepare to patrol along a road near the border between Israel and Lebanon, Oct. 16, 2023. [Francisco Seco/AP] In the Philippines, the government said it was ready to evacuate citizens from Israel, where three Filipinos were reported killed. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had previously promised proper burials for his slain compatriots. The Department of Foreign Affairs said that 131 Filipinos in Gaza City had left the region while nearly 40 Filipinos had asked to be repatriated from Israel, where there are an estimated 30,000 Philippine migrant workers. In Cotabato, a southern city with a big Muslim population, thousands protested over concerns about the expected Israeli invasion of Gaza. The protesters urged nations near the fighting to welcome refugees who have had no food, water or shelter for more than a week, according to reports. If we cannot help them or support with the use of weapons, we will help through prayers, Nesreen Ibrahim, a leader of the Bangsamoro Women of Maguindanao, told a crowd of 13,000 pro-Palestinians as shouts of Allahu Akbar (God is Great) erupted. Thousands of Filipino Muslims rally in Cotabato City in support of Palestinians, Oct. 16, 2023. [Mark Navales/BenarNews] Malaysia has been a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause and has consistently advocated for a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Last week, thousands of Malaysians, including former Prime Ministers Mahathir Mohamad and Muhyiddin Yassin, rallied in Kuala Lumpur to condemn Israels air attacks on Gaza. Speaking to Parliament, Anwar said the Israeli government had blocked humanitarian assistance, leaving Palestinians trapped in the Gaza Strip without access to food, medical and clean drinking water. Despite the urgent need for humanitarian assistance, the situation remains dire as the entry points are subject to blockades and bombardments. Several other countries, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar, have attempted to send medical and food aid to Gaza, but their efforts have been hindered due to the Israeli governments oppressive policies. Its apparent hypocrisy of the United States and Western nations, who appear hesitant to grant approval for the delivery of essential supplies, such as food and clean drinking water, to the severely injured and those who have lost everything in Gaza, he said. To support the Palestinian people, Malaysia pledged 10 million ringgit (U.S. $2.12 million), with an additional 100 million ringgit ($21.2 million) donated by government-linked companies for a humanitarian and medical fund in Gaza. Nontarat Phaicharoen in Bangkok, Jeoffrey Maitem and Mark Navales in Cotabato City, Philippines, contributed to this report. The Philippine military chief accused Chinas navy of dangerously shadowing a Philippine ship during a rare standoff between the navies from the two countries on Oct. 13 amid heightened tensions over contested waters. Analysts said Beijing was raising the stakes to goad Manila in their bilateral dispute over the Spratly Islands by bringing in one of its naval ships during the encounter near Thitu island in the South China Sea. These dangerous offensive maneuvers by Chinas [Peoples Liberation Army Navy] not only risk collision but also directly endanger the lives of maritime personnel from both sides, Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr, chief of the Philippine armed forces, said in a statement on Sunday. The [Armed Forces of the Philippines] remains committed to ensuring the safety of its personnel during missions and asserts that it will continue to adhere to the rules-based international order. The standoff occurred on Friday near Manila-occupied Thitu, an island in the Spratlys, said Lt. Col. Enrico Gil Ileto, public affairs chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), adding that the Chinese ship came as close as 80 yards (73.1 meters) to the Filipino ship. The standoff was believed to be the first one between a Chinese and a Philippine navy ship in recent years. In recent months, there have been many more tense encounters between coast guard ships of the two claimant countries. The Philippine ship was en route to Commodore Reef, located within Manilas exclusive economic zone, as part of a resupply mission when the standoff took place, according to the Philippine military. The Chinese warship appeared to be a Type 056 corvette of the Peoples Liberation Army Navy, designed mainly for patrol and escort missions. Zhongye Dao is Chinas territory. The Philippines has illegally occupied Zhongye Dao, which seriously violates Chinas sovereignty. The Chinese warships navigation and patrol in waters of Zhongye Dao is lawful and legitimate, Mao Ning, a spokeswoman at Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said during a regular press conference on Monday, referring to Thitu by its Chinese name. Apart from China and the Philippines, other countries with overlapping claims in the South China Sea are Vietnam, Brunei, and Malaysia. Taiwan is also a claimant. In 2016, a U.N. arbitration court ruled in favor of the Philippines, saying that Chinas historical claims to the sea region as delineated then in Chinese maps by a nine-dash line (now a 10-dash line) were invalid. But Beijing rejected the ruling and has since insisted that it has jurisdiction over all areas within that boundary. Manila had brought Beijing to the court in 2012 after accusing its naval ships of blocking the Philippines access to Scarborough Shoal, which has remained under Chinas administrative control ever since. Thitu Island, near which the alleged shadowing took place, has been under the Philippines occupation since the 1970s, but China, Vietnam, and Taiwan have also placed their claims over the 37-acre island. Upping the ante The deployment of a military ship means Beijing is raising the stakes in the territorial dispute, Collin Koh, a senior fellow at the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies in Singapore, told BenarNews. In the current context of rising tensions over the past several months, putting the navy on the front together with the coast guard and maritime militia would represent Beijing trying to up the ante, he said. A Chinese coast guard ship (left) sails past the grounded Philippine navy ship where marines are stationed to assert Manilas territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea, Aug. 22, 2023. [Ted Aljibe / AFP] The heightened tension also comes at a time when Manila continues to broaden and deepen its security ties with the U.S. and other Western allies. Beijing sees such developments as critical for its narrowly driven regional ambitions, Don Mclain Gill, a Manila-based geopolitical analyst who teaches at De La Salle University, told BenarNews. The ramping up of Chinese provocations is a sign of this anxiety in Beijing. Last week, China conducted a multiple-day naval exercise in the South China Sea as the Philippines held major drills with the United States and other allied nations. China is now trying to navigate how far it can go to provoke the Philippines and alter the security dynamics of the region without triggering a shooting war, Gill added. Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin speaks during a press conference after a weekly cabinet meeting at Government House in Bangkok, Sept. 13, 2023. New Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin arrived in China late Monday for his first official visit to the worlds second largest economy, where he will focus on strengthening trade and investment ties and attend the third Belt and Road Forum. Srettha will pay a courtesy call to President Xi Jinping and hold bilateral meetings with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Zhao Leji, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress, as part of his four-day visit, the foreign ministry said in a statement. Srettha will also have discussions with Chinese business executives to explore further collaboration in trade and investment between Thailand and China, the ministry said Oct. 13, adding a business delegation would accompany the prime minister. Srettha is one of several leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) attending the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, which will be held in Beijing on Oct. 17-18. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Indonesian President Joko Widodo popularly known as Jokowi were also due to arrive Monday in Beijing. The conference marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative, an initiative launched by Xi in 2013 to build global infrastructure and supply chains that would connect China to the rest of the world in a modern and many-pronged Silk Road. The forum comes four years after the last Belt and Road summit in 2019, and is part of Chinas bid to show off the programs achievements to the international community after a decade in operation. World leaders and representatives from 90 countries will take part in this years event, state news agency Xinhua reported. Jokowi, accompanied by several cabinet ministers on his visit, will hold bilateral talks with President Xi on Tuesday, and meet with Li Qiang and Parliament chairman Zhao Leji during his stay. Some of the priority issues that we will discuss with China include increasing Indonesias exports, increasing investment, and building food security, said a statement from the presidential palace. Open for business Srettha, a former property tycoon, has promised to revive the economy and open Thailand for business amid fears the country is falling behind regional competitors like Vietnam when it comes to international investment. Since taking office, he has spoken with Elon Musk of Tesla and met with executives from Google, Alphabet and Goldman Sachs in an effort to convince U.S. firms about the suitability of Thailands business environment following years of military-backed rule and anti-government protests. Last week, he also visited Hong Kong, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia and Singapore for a series of bilateral meetings in which he has attempted to drum up investment and boost economic cooperation. But Thailands economic relationship with China was particularly important, according to Dr. Jiangyu Li, a Thai studies researcher at Yunnan Normal Universitys School of Law and Sociology. Given that China holds the position of Thailands premier trade ally and a pivotal investment contributor, this visit isnt merely ceremonial; it carries economic gravitas, she told BenarNews. Anticipation is high for dialogue on emerging cooperative domains, possibly touching upon digital evolution, environmentally-conscious growth, and the pursuit of sustainability. Last year, China accounted for 18.1% of Thailands total exports and 14.4% of its total imports, Jiangyu said. In Beijing, the Thai government is also likely to seek Chinese investment in infrastructure development tailored for tourism, including transport, eco-tourism projects and cultural heritage preservation, Jiangyu said. Chinese nationals are the largest source of tourists to Thailand, accounting for a little over a quarter of the nearly 40 million who visited the Southeast Asian nation before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, official data showed. China was Thailands biggest source of foreign direct investment in 2022, valued at 77.3 billion baht ($2.1 billion), according to the Thailand Board of Investment. Pizaro Gozali Idrus in Jakarta and Kunnawut Boonreak in Chiang Mai contributed to this report. President Joe Biden said he is "confident" Israel will act under the rules of war in its conflict with Palestine, and added deploying U.S. troops is not necessary. In an interview with "60 Minutes," Biden said that while he believes Hamas must be eliminated entirely, there must be a path for a Palestinian state. And he cautioned that the threat of terrorism in the United States had increased due to unrest in the Middle East. (Reuters) 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. Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Start the day with the lastest headlines Stay up to date on Berkshires news with Berkshires in Brief, our free daily newsletter NORTH ADAMS Do you worry the city might get flooded? Which parts of the city? What do you like, or dont like, about the Hoosic River? How would you change what the river looks like? The Hoosic River Revival posed these and other questions to North Adams residents on Friday as part of a listening session for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers feasibility study of the citys flood control system, which has protected the city since the Corps built it in the 1950s. Representatives of the Corps came to North Adams in August to kick off a three-year feasibility study project that will determine next steps for the aging flood control system, and could lead to a multimillion-dollar repair and modernization project. Part of the first phase of the project sees HRR hold public meetings in order to glean feedback from residents that could inform the scope of the study, with Friday being the fourth installment. About 50 people showed up to the first meeting and around a dozen people have attended each meeting since. Jessica Sweeney has been tasked with taking notes that will be shared with the Corps as well as on HRRs website. Sweeney said that people have had questions about the structural integrity of the flood chutes, about climate change and how to redesign the river to preserve its natural ecosystem, among other topics. What I havent heard is any opposition to the project, Sweeney said. If anything, people are glad that this issue is being looked at. Another prominent topic, HRR founder Judy Grinnell said, is how much land on either side of the flood chutes belongs to the Corps, versus how much belongs to property owners. Grinnell said she believed it was 10 feet, meaning that the Corps could adjust the current width of the chutes if need be. But the answer has not been determined, and the topic has come up in discussions between the city, HRR and the Corps. Part of the flood chute system is in Adams and Williamstown but those towns are not involved in the contract the city signed with the Corps to study the possibility of repairing and modernizing its infrastructure. Grinnell's presentation to those gathered at the North Adams Senior Center on Friday went through the history of the flood chutes and flooding in the city, the financing and future possibilities for the flood chutes, as well as the birth of HRR and how its mission evolved from solely beautification to include safety. North Adams resident JoAnn Bates recognized Grinnells dogged efforts to fix what she and others see as unsightly and unsafe flood chutes since the formation of HRR in 2008. You never give up with this! Bates said. While Grinnell was explaining that shes heard from residents and HRR members who are hoping for a low-flow channel with a bike path and greenery for parts of the river, Bates asked, What are they saying when you tell them that? When I say were in discussions with the Corps, its very, very early, theyre just listening now, Grinnell said. Thats why they want these notes. Theyre wondering: Do they want a low-flow channel? Yes! Yes we do, Bates said. Write that down. A low-flow channel at the center of the river bed allows for fish passage in all seasons. Another North Adams resident, Beth Wiggers, said she remembers that when she lived at the Eclipse Mill, shed find herself walking past the area where things are falling down over at the Willow Dell, and it was really scary to see that. It also bothered me when I saw the deer go down inside and things not cleaned up on the edge, Wiggers added. Just knowing that somethings being done makes me feel good. Grinnell reiterated that since the early 2000s, five walls 20-foot-wide panels have fallen along the chutes, and seven are leaning. The most recent issue that's sprung up is that the ground of the flood chutes is opening in certain areas. Grinnell spoke about a panel near Building 6 at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art failing in 2017, saying that if an adjacent panel fell, the results would be devastating. North Adams resident Gail Demo said the idea of the Building 6 foundation falling into the river is scary. Demo said Fridays listening session was helpful because she thought that a portion behind Noel Field would be the extent of the project. I didnt realize this was talking about a full 2.5 miles of reenforcing, she said. It makes sense to make Noel Field lovely, but what about the rest of it? And youre looking at the rest of it too, so thats good. Other community listening sessions will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. on Oct. 19 at North Adams City Hall, Oct. 24 from 6 to 8 p.m. at ROOTS Teen Center, Nov. 2 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the North Adams YMCA, and Nov. 17 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Terra Nova Church. Pittsfield's Don Seckler has seen the world over 100 years. A crowd of 80 joined the World War II veteran to celebrate his birthday Any move by Israel to occupy the Gaza Strip again would be a "big mistake," U.S. President Joe Biden said in an interview released on Sunday, as Israeli troops prepared for a ground invasion. Israel, seeking vengeance for an attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, has declared war on the militant group, launching a relentless bombing campaign and warning more than a million people in northern Gaza to move south ahead of the operation. Asked by CBS news program 60 Minutes if he would support any occupation of Gaza by the American ally, Biden replied: "I think it'd be a big mistake." Hamas "don't represent all the Palestinian people," he continued. But invading and "taking out the extremists" is a "necessary requirement," he added. The Hamas attack saw fighters shoot, stab and burn to death more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians. Israel's reprisal attacks in the days since have flattened neighbourhoods and killed at least 2,670 people in Gaza, the majority ordinary Palestinians. Israel has faced grave warnings about the implications of putting boots on the ground in Gaza, with aid groups warning of a humanitarian disaster, fears of the conflict escalating, and the challenges of separating militants from civilians in the impoverished, densely occupied territory. Israel first occupied Gaza during the 1967 Six-Day War, and it was only fully returned to Palestinians in 2005. A year later, Israel imposed an air, land and sea blockade on the 140 square mile (362 square kilometer) strip of land, which is also bordered by Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea. In 2007 Israel tightened the blockade after Hamas took control of Gaza from the secular Fatah movement of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. When asked if Hamas whom Biden described as "a bunch of cowards" must be eliminated entirely, he replied: "Yes I do." "But there needs to be a Palestinian authority. There needs to be a path to a Palestinian state," he continued, reiterating the long-standing U.S. call for a two-state solution. 60 Minutes journalist Scott Pelley also asked Biden if he could foresee U.S. troops joining the war. "I don't think that's necessary," Biden, who pulled U.S. troops out of Afghanistan and has insisted that none will be sent to aid Ukraine as it holds off a Russian invasion, replied. "Israel has one of the finest fighting forces in the country. I guarantee we're gonna provide them everything they need," he said. The United States has already deployed two aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean in a powerful show of support for Israel. (AFP) In the account in Exodus about the liberation of the Hebrews from Egypt, God demonstrates His power through the 10 plagues, a remarkable series of events. There was darkness, a river of blood, multiple invasions of pests like frogs and locusts. When we review the Egyptian records though, there isnt an account that seems to align with the Exodus account. Many also point to the seemingly absurd events that take place, and how from a materialistic worldview that does not account for the potentiality of God or the supernatural, they seem impossible. Gods Word has stood the test of scrutiny and examination for thousands of years because His truth endures forever. While faith is an important component of the Christian faith, that doesnt mean there isnt historic and scientific evidence that exists which helps testify to Biblical accuracy. When understanding the cultural context of the Hebrews in Egypt, the extra-Biblical documentation that does exist which acknowledges plague-type events, as well as the scientific evidence of the changes to the land, we find evidence to support the historical truth of the 10 plagues of Egypt. How Did the Israelites Become Slaves in Egypt? Abrahams descendants wound up enslaved in Egypt. The Hebrews had been in Egypt for generations during the events of the Exodus. When Jacobs son Joseph was sold into slavery, that is where he spent his life. He married an Egyptian woman, had two sons, and worked to prepare the nation for a drought. Eventually when it came, his family came to Egypt asking for food, and they were reunited, with Joseph calling his whole family to come stay safe from the drought under his domain. The sons of Jacob grew their families into large tribes in Egypt for years. Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. Look, he said to his people, the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country. So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh (Exodus 1:8-11). When Moses was born, the Israelites were living under that oppression. God called him and his brother Aaron to demand the freedom of His people, and to lead them out. When Pharoh refused to release them, God began to pour out His judgment in the form of 10 plagues, each escalating in severity. The plagues were: - The Nile River turned to blood - Infestation of frogs - Infestation of lice - Infestation of flies - Pestilence and death of livestock - Boils - Hail and fire - Infestation of locusts - Three days of darkness - The death of the firstborn in each household An Important Facet of Egyptian Culture An issue people take with the account of the plagues that is easily understood through a historical lens is the lack of information about them in the Egyptian historical records. The Old and New Kingdoms existed as an almost continuous series of power families that had unilateral control over their nation. While there were various bumps along the way, Egypt maintained its culture for millennia. One of the elements of that culture was control over the messaging each pharaoh had over their dynasty. Many had control over the narrative of their time, and would edit history. There are some pharaohs that are only known about today because their name was found once in an obscure location because a successor had their name carved off and removed from official records. From a historical standpoint, the Hebrew people leaving after the humiliation of their nation, their god-king, and their power, is not something the Egyptians would have felt compelled to keep in their historical record. They may have removed all references to the Hebrews and Moses. Scientific Evidence When considering scientific evidence for the plagues, there are many who try to find scientific proof that provides a non-miraculous explanation for the account of the plagues in the Bible. These are scientific alternatives to Gods actions; they are usually presented as a series of hypotheticals in which rational explanations are presented to allow for a series of disasters without acknowledging God. Understanding the context, there is evidence that leads scientists to speculate for natural causes of the plagues. This evidence has to do with an unnatural drought season around the estimated time of the exodus. Climate scientists have found evidence that shows a dramatic change in the climate. While they attribute that change to causing the plagues, the evidence paired with the Biblical account could show the plagues caused that change. Historical Evidence While there are not many references in Egyptian history that address events that could parallel the 10 plagues, there are some. The Ipuwer Papyrus is an ancient text whose oldest copy dates to around 1400BC, which would have been within 100 years of the estimated dates of the Exodus accounts. It refers to the Nile River turning to blood, the mass death of livestock, great buildings cut down by hail and fire, the land being without light, and mass death. It also refers to slaves leaving, clad in gold and precious materials, which could be a nod to the Hebrews leaving. Archaeologists have found materials pointing to a lower class of people in the area today known as Avaris, and formerly known as Goshen. There are also mass graves of skeletons which date to approximately the century of the plagues. Additionally, there are accounts in the Egyptian record which acknowledge the people who shall not be named, who lived in Goshen. While it is not a direct one-for-one comparison to the Old Testament account of the Exodus, it does show calamity in the nations past that correlates with the Bible. Here are key quotes from the Ipuwer Papyrus that seem to be about the plagues: - Plague is throughout the land. Blood is everywhere. (Ipuwer 2:5-6) - The river is blood Men shrink from tasting - human beings, and thirst after water. (Ipuwer 2:10) - He who places his brother in the ground is everywhere. (Ipuwer 2:13) - It is groaning through the land, mingled with lamentations. (Ipuwer 3:14) - All the animals, their hearts weep. Cattle moan. (Ipuwer 5:5) - Forsooth, grain has actually died on ever side. (Ipuwer 6:3) - The land is without light. (Ipuwer 9:11) - Lower Egypt weepsthe whole palace is without its incomes. To it belong wheat and barley, geese and fish. (Ipuwer 10:3-6) A lot of history has been lost to time, or to the rebuilding of civilization on top of important evidence, and some accounts in the Bible can be hard to prove. No one will ever be able to identify which bush was the burning bush through which God communicated with Moses, but that doesnt mean this account didnt happen. At the same time, there is scientific and historical evidence for many of the events recorded in Gods Word. Scientists, archaeologists, historians, and other experts pair their faith with their education as a form of apologetics. Studying the world can bring people to believe in the truth of the Bible or bolster their faith. Sources Bryant, Jacob. Observations Upon the Plagues Inflicted Upon the Egyptians. London:T. Hamilton and R. Ogle, 1810. Freund, Richard. Digging Through the Bible Modern Archaeology and the Ancient Bible. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2009. Wilkinson, Toby. The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt. Random House, 2011. Photo credit: Getty Images/KONSTANTIN AKIMOV Bethany Verrett is a freelance writer who uses her passion for God, reading, and writing to glorify God. She and her husband have lived all over the country serving their Lord and Savior in ministry. She has a blog on graceandgrowing.com. Related podcast: The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Salem Web Network and Salem Media Group. Related video: Stock Footage & Music Courtesy of Soundstripe.com Thumbnail by Getty Images On November 10, 1483, a baby boy was born in Eisleben, Germany. God later used that young man to change the world! His name was Martin Luther. In 1505, at the age of 21, Martin left law school and vowed to become a monk. In 1508, he began studying in Wittenberg, Germany and received his bachelors degree in Bible a year later. In 1510-11, Martin walked from Germany to Rome and saw first-hand the grandeur of St. Peters Cathedral. It was that 1,600-mile roundtrip pilgrimage to Rome that stirred the true conflict in Martins heart. The Issue with Indulgences The Catholic Church in Europe when Martin was a young man, was selling documents, or letters, called indulgences which would supposedly pardon the sins of those in possession of them. You could even purchase indulgences for your relatives who were already dead, to shorten the time they had to spend paying for their sins in purgatory. One way a humble Christian could get ahead and earn indulgences was not only in paying money when an indulgence preacher came by but in traveling to a place exhibiting relics. One paid a small amount to view the relics, of course, but once one had viewed them, one was awarded an indulgence, and some of these indulgences could be quite significant. For example, here in Rome lay the fabled Crypt of Callixtus, which was said to hold the bones of forty popes and seventy-six thousand martyrs! If one journeyed through a certain one of these catacombs five times while Mass was being celebrated, one earned an indulgence allowing a single soul to be freed from purgatory. Considering it was believed that one might spend thousands or even millions of years suffering in purgatory, this was a bargain that would be nearly impossible to pass up. Still, who knew how this had all been calculated? On the other hand, who would have time to care? It was an endless buffet of eternal riches, a veritable groaning board of everlasting goodies, and anyone wasting time thinking about them and not taking advantage of them while one had the opportunity must be reckoned worse than a fool! (Eric Metaxas, Martin Luther: The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed the World). In Rome, Martin saw with his own eyes the end result of all the money being made by the church and the sale of indulgences and the exhibition of relics. He also had read the Bible and never found any passage proving that one could purchase forgiveness with money. In fact, that went directly against what the Bible said about forgiveness and the pardon of sins. Forgiveness was only found through faith in Jesus Christ and the blood He shed on the cross when He paid for our sins with His life! without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 9:22). For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith (Romans 3:23-25). Following the pilgrimage to Rome, Martin returned to Wittenberg on foot where he spent the majority of the rest of his life. He went on to receive his doctorate in theology from the Wittenberg seminary. In 1514, he was made the preacher in the Wittenberg City Church. He was already the vicar of the Wittenberg monastery, and in 1515 Staupitz promoted him to become the vicar-general of eleven monasteries, which he was obliged to oversee and visit (Metaxas). October 31, 1517 The Start of the Reformation Eleven days before his 34th birthday, on October 31, 1517, Martin Luther set into motion a series of events that began what we today refer to as the Protestant Reformation: a major reform of the Christian church that ultimately divided it into two major branches, the Catholics and the Protestants. On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther addressed an important letter to Archbishop Albrecht of Mainz, for . . . it was in Albrechts name that indulgences were being peddled far and wide, and Luther wanted to let the honorable archbishop know of it, lest the faithful under his care continue to be torn away from the faith. . . . The letter that Luther sent to Archbishop Albrecht included a copy of these Ninety-five Theses. The letter and the theses were first sent to Magdeburg and forwarded to Albrecht. He did not even open the letter until November 17, and when he did open it, he was not in any mood to take its contents very well. . . . Because he knew that it might be some time until he heard back from Albrecht, Luther also sent the theses to his friend Johannes Lang in Erfurt and some others. These were academic allies and friends he respected, and Luther doubtless thought sending the theses to them would help stir a debate and would lead toward dealing with the issues at hand more generally. The Nuremberg Humanist and printer Christopher Scheurl was impressed with what he read and thought that the theses should be reprinted, and without the fussy legality of needing to obtain copyright permissions, he simply printed them himself, right there in his own town of Nuremberg, instantly ensuring that they would have a dramatically wider reading. In this way, the horse snuck out of the barn, because once the theses were circulating, the whole controversy would take on a life of its own. (Metaxas) No one knows for sure if the 95 Theses were posted on the wooden door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg precisely on October 31, 1517, but that date indeed was the start of the storm about to hit the church, and the world. As a result, Reformation Day is commemorated each year on October 31st. What Should Reformation Day Mean for Us Today? The following are two take-aways for followers of Jesus today: 1. Forgiveness of sin is available only through faith in Jesus Christ And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all... (1 Timothy 2:5-6). 2. If the Church (the body) does not align with the Word of God and Christ (the Head of the body), reform is necessary and good And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent (Colossians 1:18). Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. . . . the church submits to Christ (Ephesians 5:23-24). For a great read on the historical account of Martin Luther and the Reformation, check out Eric Metaxas book. Peace if possible, truth at all costs. Martin Luther Photo credit: Getty Images/ZU_09 Kristi Walker has been a missionary in Berlin, Germany for over 19 years working with CrossWay International Baptist Church. She is the author of three books: Disappointment: A Subtle Path Away from Christ, Convinced: Applying Biblical Principles to Lifes Choices, and Big Picture: 66 Books, 1 Message. LISTEN: Is Halloween Evil? The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Salem Web Network and Salem Media Group. WATCH: 5 Things for Christians to Keep in Mind This Fall Created by Skylar Cochran, Thumbnail courtesy of Canva.com, Stock footage & Music courtesy of soundstripe.com, Voiceover powered by Speechify The World Travel Awards have announced its 2023 Africa & Indian Ocean winners, recognising the best travel, tourism, and hospitality brands in the region. The Maldives was named the 'Indian Ocean's Leading Destination' and 'Indian Ocean's Leading Tourist Board', while Kenya was named 'Africa's Leading Destination'. Durban, South Africa, took the title of 'Africa's Leading Meetings & Conference Destination'. Source: Supplied The gala WTA reception was held at Dubais new landmark resort, Atlantis Royal. At the gala ceremony, Cape Town was named 'Africa's Leading City Destination', with Tanzania's Ngorongoro Conservation Area named 'Africa's Leading Tourist Attraction'. Mauritius was named 'Indian Ocean's Leading Wedding Destination', whilst Seychelles was named 'Indian Ocean's Leading Honeymoon Destination'. The title of 'Africa's Leading Hotel' was awarded to Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club. Graham Cooke, founder, WTA, says: "It has been a privilege to welcome our winners from across Africa and the Indian Ocean for our 30th anniversary celebrations in Dubai. The incredible evening will live long in everyones memory. Our winners represent stellar examples of tourism excellence, and I congratulate each and every one for helping to raise the collective benchmark to even greater heights." In the aviation sector, winners included Ethiopian Airlines with the titles of 'Africa's Leading Airline' and 'Africa's Leading Airline - Business Class'. Kenya Airways was voted 'Africa's Leading Airline - Economy Class'. Air Mauritius claimed 'Indian Oceans Leading Airline' and Trans Maldivian Airways was named 'Indian Oceans Leading Seaplane Operator'. In the newcomer categories, Moroccos Fairmont Taghazout Bay was named Africas Leading New Hotel and Emerald Zanzibar Resort & Spa hailed. Africa's Leading New Resort. Emerald Faarufushi Resort & Spa, Maldives was voted Indian Oceans Leading New Resort. Travel provider winners included Get Into Maldives Travels (Indian Oceans Leading Luxury Tour Operator). More information and a full list of winners on the WTA website. Taking place from 30 October to 1 November in Cape Town, the annual Africa Business Media Innovators (ABMI) Forum 2023 will provide a unique, forward-looking platform for actionable dialogue and peer learning as media leaders in Africa prepare for journalism in the digital age. Source: 123rf 123rf The annual Africa Business Media Innovators (ABMI) Forum 2023 will take place from 30 October to 1 November in Cape Town Local and international leaders will examine innovative business solutions re-shaping and contributing to the future of media and journalism both in Africa and globally. The Forum is co-hosted by M. Scott Havens, CEO, Bloomberg Media and Matthew Winkler, editor-in-chief Emeritus, Bloomberg News, and Erana Stennett, corporate philanthropy Middle East and Africa, Bloomberg. Against the backdrop of a fragmented global media landscape and challenges to business models at both a local and global level, this forum provides an opportunity for fresh approaches, ideas and solutions to building sustainable media business models in Africa and beyond, says Havens. ABMI comes at a time of growing optimism around Africas economic potential and aims to act as a platform for action to catalyse investment, growth, and development by contributing to the strengthening of business and financial reporting on the continent, adds Winkler. This years convening focuses on the opportunities and challenges shaping the future of media in Africa. Key themes to be explored include the impact of new technologies, AI, and the future shape of work in newsrooms, along with a focus on the sustainability of legacy media across the continent against the backdrop of increased global competition. There will also be an analysis of the current state of the media landscape in Africa and globally. Speakers at this years forum include: Tomiwa Aladekomo, CEO, Big Cabal Styli Charalambous, CEO, Daily Maverick Paul Cheung, chief executive officer, The Center for Public Integrity Thembisa Faukude, CEO, Mail & Guardian Koyo Kouoh, executive director, and chief curator, Zeitz MOCCAA Prof Lesley Lokko, founder, African Futures Institute Nyimpini Mabunda, CEO, General Electric Southern Africa Jocelyne Muhutu-Remy, managing director, Africa and the Middle East, Spotify Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa, co-founder and CEO, Rappler Pamella Sittoni, executive editor and managing editor, The Nation Media Group Monde Twala, senior vice president & GM Paramount Africa & Lead BET International, Paramount International The annual event is a component of the Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa (BMIA), a pan-African programme launched by Michael R. Bloomberg in 2014. The initiative is designed to advance business journalism in Africa and accelerate the development of a globally competitive media and financial reporting industry. The programme delivers cross-disciplinary educational programmes and mid-career fellowships to increase the number of highly trained business and financial journalists as well as supports research to stimulate new media innovations. It is also designed to convene leaders to promote interactive dialogue and build strong relationships to enhance the quality of financial coverage and the availability of reliable and timely data on the continent. This sixth edition of the forum follows successful gatherings in Senegal (2019), Zambia (2018), Ghana (2017), Kenya (2016), South Africa (2015), the inaugural host of ABMI in 2015. With virtual ABMI Chats series held in 2020 and 2021, this year sees the return of the Forum in person since 2019. According to NIQ, 99% of South African consumers have changed the way they shop for FMCG (95% globally) and have adopted a range of strategies to manage their spending. The three top saving strategies are buying whatever brand is on promotion (34%), shopping more often at discounters (40%) and focusing on essentials. (46%). Image supplied These findings appeared in NIQs Mid-year Consumer Outlook 2023", the latest NielsenIQ Thought Leadership report capturing the mindset and sentiment of consumers around the world. According to the report data, consumers have adapted by developing innovative coping strategies and becoming accustomed to unceasing challenges. NIQ South Africa MD Zak Haeri comments, In the upcoming year, we can expect a sustained and intensified emphasis on budgeting, value, and trade-offs as resilient consumers redouble their efforts and refine the tactics that have proven effective for them thus far. He attributes this to the demanding economic landscape of the past three years that has paved the way for a resurgence in consumer resilience. The NIQ Consumer Outlook analysis also highlighted the staying power of private labels also known as Store Brands. Many consumers are managing costs by turning to these store brands: 52% think store brands usually are good value for the money 48% of South African consumers state that store brand products are a good alternative to name brands. 39% think some store brand products are higher or equal quality than name brands. Haeri adds, Industry participants must acknowledge the growing significance of private label products in the grocery sector over the long haul. The optimal path forward hinges on the dynamics within your product range. One viable approach involves differentiation, innovation, and the quest for a distinctive niche that sets you apart from being perceived as a mere "budget-friendly alternative." Collaborative efforts with retailer-owned private labels offer several advantages, including the potential for category leadership and early insights into alterations in product assortments and categories. Adding a broader perspective, NielsenIQ Thought Leadership global director Lauren Fernandes comments, Private label staying power has been evident across the last 24 months as they have in most cases outpaced the sales growth of other brands in the market. Consumer perceptions of the quality of private label products have warmed over the years, and the value offered has made them an increasingly viable option on the shelf. At the current trajectory, private label share capture could be 25% of all grocery sales within 10 years, presenting unique challenges and opportunities to those who recognize this emerging tectonic shift. Further information can be found on https://nielseniq.com/global/en/insights/analysis/2023/5-cost-of-living-trends-to-know/ To highlight and review the wholesale and retail sector's successes, challenges, and future opportunities, the Wholesale and Retail Sector Education and Training Authority (W&RSETA) will host a skills development summit later this month. The wholesale and retail industry plays a pivotal role in the economy as the third biggest contributor, providing employment opportunities for millions of people across the country. Considering this, in 2020 we developed a five-year strategic plan to respond to the goals and objectives of the National Skills Development Plan (NSDP) 2030, said W&RSETA chief executive officer, Tom Mkhwanazi. The summit will take place on 25 October 2023 at Radisson Conference Centre OR Tambo. This summit grants us space to frankly review our sectoral contributions to skills and our response to the evolving skills needs of the sector. Additionally, the summit will allow us to engage our stakeholders on the role and contribution our sector is making towards the goals and objectives of the NSDP. Importantly, the summit will chart the trajectory of the industry focusing on job creation and other topical issues, said Mkhwanazi. Attendees Attendees will include senior officials from the Department of Higher Education & Training, the National Skills Authority, Department of Small Business Development, Small Enterprise Development Agency, Department of Women, Youth and People with Disabilities, beneficiaries of skills development grants, wholesale and retail companies, organised business and labour organisations, National Youth Development Agency, institutions of learning such as colleges, universities and universities of technology, and the Namibia Training Authority. Highlights The key highlights of the summit will include: Industry insights: Renowned experts and thought leaders such as global strategist Abdullah Verachia will provide insights into the current state of the wholesale and retail sector, emerging trends, and prospects. A stakeholder perspective on partnerships that are required to drive the W&RSETAs strategic priorities by the directors-general of the Department of Small Business Development, and Department of Women, Youth and People with Disabilities. W&RSETAs progress report on the implementation of the NSDP. Panel discussion on the current and future skills demands to provide an outlook of the sector. Good Practice Awards As an extension to the summit, W&RSETA will host the Good Practice Awards on 26 October 2023 to recognise and celebrate excellence by stakeholder companies, training providers, institutions of learning, women leaders, and W&RSETA beneficiaries in the implementation of skills development in the sector. Furthermore, the awards will recognise organisations and individuals that demonstrate exceptional commitment to skills development, particularly skills development planning and reporting and going beyond compliance with legislation. Award categories The award categories to be recognised will include wholesalers and retailers, training providers, beneficiaries of W&RSETA programmes, women in leadership, entrepreneurship, and innovation. Mkhwanazi expressed his excitement about the awards and said that they underscore the W&RSETA's commitment to promoting skills development within the sector. The awards represent a significant milestone in our mission to promote excellence in skills development. We want to honour those who have gone above and beyond to ensure that our sector remains competitive and offers high-quality career opportunities, said Mkhwanazi. The summit and awards are expected to appeal to diverse sector stakeholders such as employers, educators, policymakers, and industry professionals. It promises to be an enriching experience for anyone interested in the wholesale and retail sector's future. Scopen has just released the 8th edition of its PR Scope study in Spain, a biennial study which analyses the relationships between communication consultancies and their clients, as well as the perception and image of these consultancies in the market. Source: Kayak Kayak 96% of companies interviewed for PR Sscope Spain are satisfied with the work done by their communication consultants For the current edition (2023/24) in Spain, 875 professionals were interviewed: 441 of whom work for 414 different client companies, 327 professionals from consulting firms and 107 media professionals. The fieldwork was carried out between March and May 2023. Those professionals interviewed in each client company must be involved in the decision-making process to select communication consultants and should be interacting with them in the day-to-day work. On average professionals interviewed were 43 years old, and have been in their current position for more than 8 years, and in their company for almost eight years. They are mostly based in Madrid (68%), in foreign multinational companies (50%) and the most mentioned position is that of Communications Director (41%), being the maximum decision-maker in all communication matters, along with other managers (60%). The sector with the highest percentage of professionals interviewed is Services (51%), followed by FMCG (28%). The client companies interviewed for this edition of PR Scope Spain invoiced, on average, 276m annually in 2022, a very stable figure, which increased by 2% compared to 2021. Digital allocated largest percentage of budget The largest percentage of the budget is allocated to Digital, with a fair balance between Earned Media (40%), Owned Media (31%) and Paid Media (29%). Investment in Digital, which had been growing in recent years, slows down in this latest edition (53% compared to 56% in 2021). Within Digital, Social Media is the discipline professionals consider they should work on more with their communication consultants (89%). Cesar Vacchiano, Scopens president and CEO, says, The challenge for communication consultancies lies in demonstrating to clients that they can solve their needs more creatively, quickly and effectively, and thus be able to grow. Preference for integrated consultancies Most of the companies analyzed (49%) work with consulting firms specialising in various disciplines and 46% do so with consulting firms that solve their needs in an integrated way. However, in the future, the percentage of clients who declare they would prefer to work with integrated consultancies that can solve all their communication needs is higher (49%, compared to 43% who prefer to do so with specialised consultancies). The disciplines in which most work is done by specialisation are: Corporate communication Social Media (which has increased in the last two years) Brand/Product communication (which, however, shows a significant decrease) Selection of consultancies When selecting a communication consultancy to work with, those responsible for communication continue to resort, for the most part, to pitches (89%). The selection tools most used when creating a long list are: The work carried out by the consultant (their cases, credentials...) (85%) Ones own experience and personal knowledge of the communications director (76%) Recommendation of friends or colleagues (67%). It is important to highlight that, in this edition, the importance of practically all declared tools has increased, except good quality/price ratio, which decreases in the number of mentions. More importance is given to the value and qualification of the consultants, than to the cost. If we look at the preferred qualities to prepare a long list for selecting consultancies, the most mentioned are the Ability to establish relationships / Credibility in the media, The professionals who work at the consultancy and Strategic Communication Planning. Polish opposition parties are tipped to win a parliamentary majority in Sunday's election that would end eight years of rule by the populist Law and Justice (PiS) party, according to exit polls. Former EU chief Donald Tusk's Civic Coalition could win 163 seats in the 460-seat parliament and two smaller parties, Third Way and Left, were set for 55 and 30 seats respectively, according to the exit poll. That would give the three a majority of 248, while PiS is predicted to win 200 seats and the far-right Confederation, its potential coalition partner, was given only 12 seats by the Ipsos exit poll. "Poland has won, democracy has won," a jubilant Tusk said after the exit poll was released. "It is the end of this grim period. PiS's reign is over," he said. The 66-year-old Tusk served as Poland's prime minister between 2007 and 2014 and as European Council president between 2014 and 2019. He has promised to restore good relations with the European Union and unblock EU funds frozen because of disputes under the past eight years of PiS government. Tusk has also vowed to legalise abortion -- a major point of contention against the government which has emphasised traditional Catholic values. PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, a 74-year-old political veteran whose late brother Lech died in a 2010 crash when he was president, said he still had "hope" his party could form the next government. But he added: "We will do everything possible to ensure that our programme continues to be implemented despite the coalition that is against us. This is not a closed road for the moment." Stanislaw Mocek, a political analyst at Collegium Civitas, said: "I think that this is actually the end of the PiS government". Michal Baranowski, an analyst from the German Marshall Fund, said Poland could now "return to the decision-making centre of the European Union." He said the exit poll pointed to a possible "stable opposition government." Analysts also warned, however, that any governing coalition formed by the opposition could face frequent run-ins with President Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally. The numbers in the exit poll do not give the potential opposition allies the required three-fifths majority to be able to overturn presidential vetoes. Turnout was high, with the exit poll estimating the national level at 72.9 percent a record for Poland's post-communist history. "The turnout is probably, and by a lot, the highest" since elections in 1989 when communism ended, said Sylwester Marciniak, head of the National Electoral Office. Marciniak said some polling stations ran out of ballot papers because of the large influx and voting had to be extended. AFP reporters saw crowded polling stations and many voters had expressed frustration with the government. "It's time for a change," said Ewa Bankowska, a 43-year-old working in finance, told AFP as she voted in Halinow, a town just outside the capital Warsaw. "I'm concerned about the economy. I would like us to develop and for the government to stop spending money it does not have," she said. But Dorota Zbig, a 57-year-old nurse, said the last few years of PiS government "have been very good for me and my family and I hope everyone including young people votes reasonably". PiS had vowed to press ahead with controversial reforms of the judiciary it says are aimed at rooting out corruption. The EU argues they undermine democracy. The most likely coalition partner for PiS was Confederation, a far-right party that has called for an end to Poland's large-scale assistance for Ukraine and has campaigned on a strongly anti-migrant platform. But Confederation had publicly ruled out such an alliance and some analysts said it was unlikely to happen because of simmering tensions between the two parties. The campaign was characterised by personal attacks on Tusk by the ruling party, which has accused him of working in the interests of Germany, Russia and the EU. PiS also ramped up anti-migrant rhetoric, with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki saying the country should be protected against illegal immigrants "who have no respect for our culture". Ukraine and its Western supporters have also been watching the Polish elections closely. Poland has been a leading cheerleader for Ukraine in the EU and NATO and has taken in a million Ukrainian refugees, but there is growing fatigue among many Poles. The government has also fallen out with Ukraine over a grain import ban aimed at protecting Polish farmers. (AFP) Effie Awards South Africa proudly announces its partnership with Ipsos, a global leader in research and creative effectiveness, to launch the inaugural Effie South Africa Trends Research Report. This collaboration represents a significant milestone in the South African marketing and advertising sector, providing invaluable insights for entrants, marketers, and advertising agencies. The Effie South Africa Trends Research Report, now available for download on the Effie Awards South Africa website, offers an in-depth analysis of marketing excellence and its impact on brands and businesses. Ipsos, which boasts a hallmark agreement with Effie Worldwide, has previously produced similar reports for Effie UK and Effie USA, making this report part of a global initiative. Mathe Okaba, ACA chief executive officer for Effie South Africa, expressed the significance of this partnership, saying, "In the dynamic world of marketing, where strategies evolve, and consumer behaviours transform, one constant remains the pursuit of effectiveness. This report aims to be a source of knowledge and inspiration, serving as a guide for marketers, strategists, and decision-makers to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of marketing effectiveness." Shaun Dix, global leader creative excellence at Ipsos, further emphasised the importance of this collaboration, stating, "Ipsos' hallmark agreement with Effie Worldwide reflects our shared vision: that effective advertising and marketing require insights, passion, rigour, analysis, and creativity, all with a clear focus on effectiveness." Key highlights from the 2023 Effie South Africa Trends Report Understanding the landscape In a world marked by "polycrisis," where economic and social challenges abound, Effie-winning campaigns demonstrated a deeper understanding of the current challenges and context, creating campaigns that positively shifted key business metrics and drove growth. Despite the industry's increased focus on direct response marketing, brand equity continues to drive around 64% of customer choices. The power of strategy and insights Strategic creative research emerged as a catalyst for creativity, enabling campaigns to become more emotive, distinctive, and impactful. Early creative exploration allows brands to develop campaigns that are relevant, emotive, and capable of achieving end business objectives, with a 48% improvement in campaign effectiveness when creative exploration starts early. Bringing the strategy and idea to life While budgets play a role in campaign success, creative quality has become increasingly vital in a cluttered and fragmented media landscape. The report underscores that big budgets do not guarantee campaign success; creative quality is paramount in capturing attention effectively. Focusing on creative content Effective campaigns challenge category conventions and leverage distinctive brand assets, differentiating themselves from competitors. These campaigns reinforce brand choices and create a strong emotional connection, ultimately driving brand recognition and recall. As Effie Awards South Africa and Ipsos continue their collaboration on these annual reports, the insights provided offer a window into the world of marketing excellence. Entrants, marketers, and advertising agencies are encouraged to download the full report from the Effie Awards South Africa website to gain valuable knowledge about achieving marketing success in a rapidly evolving landscape. The Effie South Africa Trends Research Report can be downloaded HERE. Join the conversation using the hashtags #EffieAwardsSA. For more information on the 2023 Effie Awards, visit www.effieawards.co.za. In a bid to enhance the scope of available vaccines, the Department of Health is poised to incorporate new vaccines into the regular expanded immunisation programme, with an allocated budget of R3.5bn. Health Minister, Joe Phaahla, made the announcement during a media briefing following a meeting with Health MECs held in Centurion on Thursday, 12 October. Phaahla noted that South Africa continues to experience outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, despite a strong childhood vaccination programme. He said there is an ongoing need to improve coverage of existing vaccines and add new vaccines to the expanded programme on the immunisation schedule. The minister said the department is introducing a better packaged/derived vaccine that will prevent whooping cough, tetanus and diphtheria and reduce the chances of these conditions resurfacing within the communities. We are also introducing a combination vaccine of measles and rubella that will protect young girls, particularly during pregnancy which may lead to birth defects, Phaahla said. He said all these changes, recommended by the ministerial-appointed National Advisory Group on Immunisation (Nagi), will be implemented with effect from January 2024. Online birth registration expansion The minister also announced that the Department of Home Affairs has made budget provision for the set-up and operational costs for the expansion of the Online Registration System by an additional 91 health facilities during the 2023/24 financial year. This forms part of collaborative efforts between the departments of health and Home Affairs to ensure that all births are registered on time, through the Online Birth Registration system, which has been rolled out in 161 health facilities with the ability to issue birth certificates on the spot. These facilities will be allocated to full-time Home Affairs officials to provide birth registration service during office hours. The establishment of the system in these new facilities will commence by the end of October 2023. This initiative will go a long way in providing early birth registration, Phaahla said. Covid-19 vaccination service integration Meanwhile, the minister announced that the department has decided to make a number of changes related to Covid-19 vaccinations, which include transitioning from a mass vaccination campaign to integrate vaccination into routine primary healthcare services. This is in line with World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations. Phaahla said the current available Pfizer vaccine stock purchased as part of the Covid-19 national vaccination rollout will expire at the end of October 2023, while the J&J vaccine doses will expire at the end of February 2024. The Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS) will continue to record all Covid-19 vaccinations until 29 February 2024, thereafter those vaccinated will receive a paper-record of vaccination, but they will still be able to download vaccination certificates as long as they have at least one vaccination code. The department plans to procure vaccines for administration in the public sector and will continue to work with the private sector to facilitate availability of vaccines. All restrictions limiting procurement of vaccines by private-sector providers will be lifted, Phaahla explained. He added that the investigation and causality assessment of Covid-19 vaccination-related Adverse Events Following Immunisation (AEFIs) will continue and mechanisms for processing No Fault Compensation Scheme claims will be retained. Phaahla also gave an update on various issues affecting the public health system, including cost-containment measures; audit outcomes and performance against targets; and medico-legal claims, among others. Season 3 of the popular Castle Milk Stout Black Conversations is back on Mzansi Magic. Following the success of the first two seasons, where media personalities delved deep and unpacked topical and controversial topics such as Black Spirituality, Black Mental Health and Black Pride; Season 3 expects to be even more enlightening when it comes to issues related to Africans and their lived experiences. Image supplied As a brand that exists to inspire Africans to rediscover their African Traditions and values in the modern world, Castle Milk Stout decided to launch Black Conversations in 2022 as a platform to encourage black South Africans to openly discuss topics that are generally held in hushed tones behind closed doors. The Castle Milk Stout Black Conversations maiden series and its sequel featured stimulating and thought-provoking conversations headlined by various personalities each carefully selected for each specific topic. Season 2 included topics such as Black Spirituality and Black Pride which interrogated how Africans embrace their blackness in a Westernised society by exploring intelligence and beauty standards. Celeste Ntuli, one of the episodes panellists, has been vocal and intentional about black pride and the acceptance of blackness through her comedy and in her everyday life. Sophie Ndaba, a respected public figure who struggled with her own mental health issues, led the discussion on Black Mental Health in African communities. Castle Milk Stout Black Conversations maiden series and its sequel were well received in the market and helped to spark interesting and thought-provoking conversations on various issues. It helped to unpack and bring an authentic black perspective on the topics that were covered. The discussions and the insights that were shared by the cast and our viewers gave us food for thought and ensured that the conversations lasted beyond the televised series. Considering the overwhelmingly positive response that Castle Milk Stout Black Conversations has garnered, we are pleased to introduce the third season of this popular talk show which we believe will be a conversation starter and will help us to retain our African-ness while it deepens our understanding of the issues facing our communities and society in the modern age, says Castle Milk Stout marketing manager Khwezi Vika. Season 3 of the hit-series will feature popular radio personalities Tbose and Mapaseka Mokwele who have been married for over 20 years. The couple will anchor the topic of Black Love alongside, renowned spiritual teacher and polyandrist Gogo Skhotheni, radio personality Felix Hlophe and television personality Mablerh who returns for another season. On this topic, panellists will explore and try to define Black Love in its manifestations, how the black community shows and expresses love to one another, probe whether young African people have good references and role models in the conversation of love, investigate whether indigenous languages have love languages, explore how queer love and queer families are perceived in African communities, probe the essence of lobola and dating outside your race. In black storytelling, renowned actor, Warren Masdemola, Desire Markgraaf, executive producer of uShaka Ilembe, actor and director and playwright; Sello Maake ka Ncube as well as Hlomu The Wife author, Dudu Busani, provided context as to why black stories are not represented accurately, and are not told by actual Africans who hold the truth of the experiences faced by African people. The panellists will dissect the topic by probing whether there has been progress or regress in African storytelling, stereotyping and typecasting of black storytelling, to what extend are we perpetuating the stereotype that African stories should fit a certain narrative which is often violent, are we telling the broad spectrum of stories and whether it is cultural appropriation when African stories are told by others. Popular kwaito musician and actor Bonginkosi Dlamini, otherwise known as Zola 7, comedian and actor Eugene Khoza, award-winning businesswoman Sibu Mabena and financial planner Gerald Mwandiambira will chair the first two episodes in a discussion on Black Success.. Over the two episodes, they will unpack various sub-topics under the theme, including defining what success looks like in African communities, why African products and services are perceived as inferior compared to those from their Eurocentric counterparts, investigate whether we celebrate and nurture black success, investigate the feasibility of collective community success and the sense of expectation that comes with black excellence. The much-anticipated Season 3 of Castle Milk Stout Black Conversations will comprise of six episodes in which each topic will be discussed and aired over two episodes. The airing dates for Season 3 are as follows: EP 1 - Black Success 12 October 2023 EP 2 - Black Success 19 October 2023 EP 3 - Black Storytelling 26 October 2023 EP 4 - Black Storytelling 2 November 2023 EP 5 - Black Love 9 November 2023 EP 6 - Black Love 16 November 2023 The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has confirmed that at least 12 journalists have been killed, two are missing and eight are injured due to the Israel and Palestine conflict. More than 3,600 people have died in the conflict between Israel and Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas, with 10 of those being Palestinian journalists, one Israeli journalist and one journalist in Lebanon. Important work Last year, veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed in the occupied West Bank while covering news on Israeli army raids. CPJ emphasises that journalists are civilians doing important work during times of crisis and must not be targeted by warring parties, said Sherif Mansour, CPJs Middle East and North Africa programme coordinator. Journalists are making great sacrifices across the region covering this important conflict. Measures to ensure their safety must be taken by all parties to stop this deadly and heavy toll. More information Last week Reuters reported that their video journalist Issam Abdallah was killed alongside six other journalists from Al Jazeera and Agence France-Presse. The group were reporting close to Alma al-Shaab, near the Israeli border where the Israeli military and Lebanese milita Hezbollah are fighting. "We are deeply saddened to learn that our videographer, Issam Abdallah, has been killed," Reuters said. "We are urgently seeking more information, working with authorities in the region, and supporting Issams family and colleagues." CPJ has a list of the deceased journalists here. Jessica Ilunga will accept the title of 'urbanist', albeit reluctantly. Speak to her for only a few minutes and you'll understand why. The term doesn't capture her professional ambitions nor the heart with which she's pursuing them. Soft-spoken, she's nevertheless a vocal champion of better, more just urban spaces - spaces that incorporate the disenfranchised and tell a more complete story of the people and histories that made them. Jessica Ilunga Ilunga is a qualified civil engineer and city planner, but her path hasnt been straightforward. Born in a small town in Tokyo, Japan, where her family had moved to support her fathers studies in the country, these early years set the scene for a layered life story. After spending her formative years in Japan, Ilunga and her family returned to their native Democratic Republic of Congo. The return was short-lived, however, as the ongoing civil war prompted her parents to explore a more stable life in post-apartheid South Africa. By the age of ten, she had lived in three vastly different countries and had fragments of Japanese, French and English swirling in her head. It was through an English lesson activity in primary school, where each learner had to write their autobiography, that her unusual start to life began to make sense to Ilunga simultaneously igniting within her a passion for writing and storytelling. When I came to South Africa and had this long period of stability in my education, I found the most comfort in writing and storytelling, she said. I was obsessed with English, not so much the language but the storytelling aspect. I think that marked the ways in which I connected my different experiences. Seemingly paving the way for tertiary studies in language or creative writing, Ilungas parents encouraged her to take a more financially secure route and study engineering instead. Ilunga tried to make it work but felt stuck. She spent her first two years at the University of Cape Town (UCT) agonising about changing degrees, but unclear about the alternatives. In her third year, thanks to her Social Infrastructure Engineering elective, Ilungas perspective began to shift, and her mind was opened to the potential of an adjacent academic path. The course asked us to reflect on what we think about human-centred engineering designs, to think about and interrogate what community means and the people who are going to be impacted by our engineering It asked us to interrogate power and privilege, she said. Because in engineering, we were told We are the gods of Earth... then heres this social infrastructure course thats asking, But who are you to do this? And how does it impact other people? So transformative was her experience that Ilunga completed her studies with a new-found desire to reimagine engineering curricula. She wanted to overhaul the system and started by volunteering to tutor for the course. Shortly after, during her Masters studies in City and Regional Planning as a recipient of the Mandela Rhodes Foundation (MRF) scholarship, Ilunga had her next definitive experience: an encounter with design thinking. While planning her first solo trip to Japan, and overwhelmed by its significance, Ilungas partner, an alumnus of Hasso Plattner d-school Afrika at UCT, applied the design thinking process to help Ilunga curate her itinerary. She was impressed struck by how he guided her through defining a problem statement that captured her precise anxieties, marking the beginning of her colourful journey with the approach. She describes her experience with the d-school Afrikas Foundation Programme in Design Thinking as intensive but life-changing. The course introduced her to the key mindsets, values and problem-solving techniques of design thinking that changed how she viewed challenges in her work and life. Enrolling in the foundation programme mid-masters enabled Ilunga to enrich her studies and her involvement in UCTs Global Citizenship Programme (where she was the course convenor), all while interning at MRF. During her internship, she designed and co-facilitated MRFs Second Year Leadership Development Programme using design thinking. She made such an impression that the foundation asked her to come on board as a programme design consultant where she could explore social justice education more intently. A research fellow at Meiji University and currently pursuing a PhD in Engineering specialising in Urban Design through Keio University, Ilungas resume speaks to her nimble mind and unflagging drive. But what stands out is her ambition to give other students positive, empowered academic experiences all while applying an empathetic, community-centric, design-thinking-inspired approach to urban design and planning. As a storyteller-urbanist, Ilunga hopes to positively influence the future of others and those that continue to be designed all in the pursuit of spatial equity. In response to the recent floods wreaking havoc in the Eastern and Western Cape regions, Standard Bank has taken proactive steps to provide crucial assistance. The Western Cape, grappling with the loss of 11 lives and rendering hundreds homeless in areas like Franschhoek, Kleinmond, Hermanus, Bettys Bay, McGregor, and Franschhoek, faces an acute humanitarian crisis. Simultaneously, the Eastern Cape is still reeling from the aftermath of earlier floods this year, particularly affecting coastal regions like Port St John. To address the pressing needs of the affected communities, Standard Bank has committed an additional R1.5m for relief efforts, demonstrating a commitment to immediate and impactful support. Leveraging its OneFarm Share ecosystem, Standard Bank is actively mobilising farmers, granting them access to produce. This strategic initiative aims to empower farmers to assist distressed communities in both provinces, providing a comprehensive and sustainable approach to aid and recovery. In addition to the financial contribution, the bank has mobilised more tonnes of fruits and vegetables that will be donated to non-profit organisations. OneFarm Share is a digital platform that multiplies the impact of food donations and streamlines procurement directly from farmers and food producers. With the assistance of expert trade advisors, the programme facilitates the smooth delivery of nutritious farm produce to established food distribution partners, at the lowest possible cost. Our thoughts are with the affected families and communities. The impact of climate change and ongoing food insecurity in our country requires everyone to work together to find innovative solutions. "Approximately a third of 10 million tonnes of food produced in SA goes to waste every year, with these losses generally occurring early in the food chain, says Niki Neumann, head of agribusiness platforms, and innovation for business and commercial banking at Standard Bank. Innovative technology-driven business models can otherwise minimise food waste on farms and ensure people in need receive nutritious food that would otherwise be lost. Empowering growth and sustainability Since inception, OneFarm Share has matched over 19,250 tonnes of produce requested on the relief marketplace (digital platform) to availability of excess and/or out-of-spec produce from registered farmers. The total rand value of the procured produce, which otherwise would have not been viable on the commercial markets, is more than R 88m. More than 60% of that value has been directly paid into emerging farmers- and 22% into female farmer-owned enterprises. This has helped 444 small-scale farmers get to market and earn better prices for their crops, and seeing these farmers earn more than R55m for their efforts. We are deliberate about balancing the challenges posed by climate change with the need to support access to reliable energy, water security and other resources that support economic growth and poverty alleviation. We are actively encouraging sustainable agricultural practices and partnerships through specific solutions that support climate-smart agriculture smart energy, smart water, smart equipment, and smart practices. We will enable access to trade markets for farmers, drive financial inclusion, support supply-chain efficiency and minimise food waste on farms through our OneFarm platform, with a continued commitment to supporting innovation and growth across the agricultural value chain, adds Neumann. In the world of international business, forex transactions are the lifeblood that keep the global economy alive with an estimated daily volume of $7.6tn as of April this year. The South African portion of that amounts to over $19.1bn. Local businesses rely on these transactions to navigate the complex world of international trade. However, a recent survey conducted by South African fintech disruptor Future Forex reveals a startling truth - many of these entities partaking in international money transfers are unknowingly taking a significant knock on their bottom-line due to non-transparent forex fees. The Future Forex survey, compiled from more than 250 company responses across various industries, exposed a concerning lack of transparency and fairness in pricing when it comes to forex transactions. It found that 92.8% of respondents were either in the dark about how their banks or forex providers were charging them for each transaction, or were being significantly overcharged on their transactions. The lack of transparency by banks and other forex providers was particularly alarming, with more than 75% of respondents being unaware of what theyre being charged each time they perform a cross-border transaction. This murkiness extends to the exchange-rate margin, with 34% of participants not knowing about this critical aspect of forex dealings, which is the lions share of the fees charged by a provider. Exchange-rate margin, often referred to as the spread, is the gap between the rate at which a forex service provider buys a currency and the rate at which it sells it, says Future Forex chief executive officer Harry Scherzer. This seemingly innocuous detail can actually have profound financial implications for businesses that in turn are likely to be facing higher costs of which they may not have been fully aware." As an example, Scherzer says, if you plan to send R1m to the USA and convert that amount to dollars, using a spot rate (current exchange rate) of R19 to $1, a bank might charge you R19.38 for each dollar bought. Therefore, the spread in this case would be R0.38 per dollar, or 2% of the transaction value. You will incur a cost to the sum of approximately R20,000 for this transaction - excluding processing and admin fees. Navigating hidden costs Exporters and importers, the backbone of South Africa's international trade, bear the brunt of these hidden costs. A small discrepancy or hidden cost in each transaction, when multiplied by sheer volume, can result in significant, and often unjustified, fees. The survey also highlights a growing dissatisfaction among businesses with their existing forex providers. Key grievances include pricing, transparency, levels of service, and usability. Evidently, there is a thirst for change in the market, and businesses are eager to embrace innovative forex providers that prioritise their needs. Future Forex is poised to fill this gap, leading the charge for transparent, client-centric forex services, says Scherzer. We are committed to leveraging automation, technology, and exceptional support to offer South African businesses the best possible forex rates. The aim is to do so while fostering transparency and ease of international money movement - a beacon of hope for businesses tired of navigating murky waters. The results of the Future Forex survey shed light on a pervasive issue that affects the very core of South African businesses engaged in international trade. It's a wake-up call for companies to become more discerning when it comes to their forex dealings, demanding transparency and fair pricing, notes Scherzer. South African businesses can no longer afford to be in the dark about the true costs of forex transactions, Scherzer concludes. Whether sending or receiving funds from abroad, pure transparency and fair charges should be the new status quo. Future Forex is leading the pack with its innovative forex services that places a renewed focus on being client-centric through high levels of service, low pricing and full transparency. Earlier this month the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) celebrated 30 years of self-regulation through the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA). Source: Andrea De Santis Unsplash The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is celebrating 30 years of self-regulation The celebration took the form of an event in Johannesburg with its members and various stakeholders, where a range of local and international speakers on three panels shared their thoughts on the last three decades of broadcasting in South Africa as well as globally, and the future. Importance of the industry to democracy One of the speakers included Justice Albie Sachs, who reflected on the role of broadcasting from the apartheid era to its importance in our democracy today, with broadcasting giving South Africans a platform to express themselves. Radio is everywhere. Its in the car and when youre shopping you hear it. It is the sound of South Africa. It reaches millions of people; theres storytelling on the radio, says Sachs.Community radio in South Africa is so well-developed. It [radio] was so important when three-quarters of the nation were silenced, he adds. Sachs also says that while South Africa is not exactly a fair or safe society, it is an open one and that the media play an enormous role in terms of this openness. Industry self-regulation progress BCCSA chairperson, Dr Sunette Lotter, shared with the audience just how far industry self-regulation has come since 1993 and commended the BCCSA for its contribution to broadcasting. The fact that the BCCSA has stood the test of time proves that it has not only gained people's trust, but it also meets the real needs of society, she says. Radios unique power Guest speaker, James Cridland, a radio futurologist based in Australia, says he believes the medium has the power to bring people together, even amidst the emergence of new digital platforms. Radio has a unique power. When I listen to the radio, I listen to people with common interests to me and because radio isnt ultra-personalised, like Google or Facebook can be, it can help people see both sides of the argument. It can help people discover stories they otherwise were unaware of. It helps connect people, says Cridland. The NABs executive director, Nadia Bulbulia, notes that the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) Act was passed 30 years ago in October 1993. The Independent Broadcasting Authority (the predecessor to Icasa), was established to free the airwaves and foster the development of a three-tiered broadcasting system - with community radio being the first tier of licences to be issued even before South Africas first democratic elections in 1994, she says. Bulbulia adds that the broadcasting sector should dedicate efforts to mentoring the next generation of policy specialists, regulators and content creators who will take the industry forward into the next 30 years. The international speakers that participated virtually in the celebrations included: The Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) recognises that employees are entitled to sick leave and that producing a medical certificate is justification for a period of absence in certain circumstances. Source: 123rf 123rf A medical certificate produced by an employee to justify a period of absence constitutes hearsay evidence, which employers are entitled to challenge But a medical certificate produced by an employee to justify a period of absence constitutes hearsay evidence, which employers are entitled to challenge. That challenge shifts the onus to employees to prove indisposition. While employers generally believe that if an employee produces such a medical certificate, the employer must accept it and pay the employee for the period of absence there are instances where an employer may query the validity of the medical certificate, particularly when the employer suspects foul play, dishonesty and misrepresentation. Abuse of sick leave undermines the employer-employee relationship In a recent article, we discussed how the abuse of sick leave undermines the employer-employee relationship. Our courts have made it clear that they will not come to the aid of employees who engage in such dishonest conduct. In this article, we discuss the proactive measures employers can take to avoid a matter going to court in the first place. When considering the validity of the medical certificate, an important issue an employer must appreciate is that a medical certificate constitutes hearsay evidence and is to be evaluated in terms of the Law of Evidence Amendment Act. This means that a medical certificate submitted by the employee is evidence given in writing by another person and therefore constitutes hearsay evidence. Hearsay evidence may be generally admissible in three circumstances: When the parties involved all consent to the admission of the evidence. If the person upon whom the hearsay evidence is based testifies. If it is in the interests of justice to admit the evidence. In the context of a medical certificate constituting hearsay evidence, it should not be admitted unless: Each party, against whom such evidence is to be adduced, agrees. Or the medical practitioner testifies. Or it is in the interests of justice to admit it. In applying the Law of Evidence Act to medical certificates, the Labour Appeal Court, in Mgobhozi v Naidoo NO and Others (2006) 27 ILJ 786 (LAC) (Mgobhozi), approached the issue as follows: The nature of the evidence to be introduced by a medical certificate is hearsay, and it should be brought in the form of affidavits. The reason that medical evidence in the form of affidavits is not provided must be considered because this failure deprived the Court of any elaboration of the widely- and vaguely-stated symptoms contained in medical certificates. Due consideration should be paid to potential abuse if the doctor is not prepared to defend the medical certificate or is not prepared to spend time at the disciplinary enquiry. The prejudice to the employer, if the medical certificate is accepted without expert evidence being led, is obviously that the employer is deprived of the opportunity to test the employee through its practitioner. It puts the employer in a position where it must rely on the vague allegations contained in medical certificates. In exercising its discretion whether or not to permit the medical certificate to stand, the employers approach may be that, in the absence of an affidavit from the medical practitioner, it is not compelled to consider the medical certificate. Lastly, the probative value of the hearsay evidence should be considered, about whether or not the employee showed that he or she was incapacitated to the extent of being absent from work. In NUMSA v Kaefer Energy Projects (2022) 43 ILJ 181 (LC) the Labour Court, in applying the principles contained in Mgobhozi, held that when a medical certificate is challenged, the onus shifts to the employee. Firstly, the employee must prove that he or she was indisposed and, secondly, the extent of incapacity. In this matter, the Labour Court further held that the employee did not discharge this onus when the employer challenged the medical certificate. Therefore, the employee was not entitled to rely upon a medical certificate to justify his absence from the workplace. While the BCEA makes provision for sick leave and allows employees to provide medical certificates, employers do not have to accept medical certificates, because they comprise hearsay evidence. Depending on the circumstances, the employer is entitled to query or reject the medical certificate, and where necessary take disciplinary action against a dishonest employee. Employers must be proactive and should regularly remind their employees that the abuse of sick leave will not be tolerated, as it may result in disciplinary action. The World Bank is in talks about a potential $1bn loan to help enable South Africa to reform its energy sector, a bank official told Reuters, as the country tries to overcome record power cuts that have crippled the economy. A child collecting chunks of coal looks on at a colliery while smoke rises from the Duvha coal-based power station owned by state power utility Eskom, in Emalahleni. SOurce: Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko The loan, which would be directly to the government rather than to state utility Eskom, is "under discussion", Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly, the bank's director for South Africa, said in an interview in Marrakech, Morocco. "It is going to come very soon," she added, declining to specify a timeframe. South Africa is facing its worst power crisis, with Eskom's ageing, coal-fired plants often breaking down. Rolling power cuts have crimped economic growth, while fuelling private investment in renewable energy. "It's a policy development loan which supports critical reforms," Marie-Nelly said of the potential World Bank funding. "There's a particular focus on transmission, because it is a stumbling block in terms of bringing new (capacity) that is going to be built mainly by the private sector." In February, the South African government agreed to take on over R254bn of Eskom's debt through a debt relief scheme, subject to conditions. Taking on Eskom debt The main condition was that the power utility would not be able to take on any new debt for three years unless approved by the country's finance minister. In 2019, the government pledged to split Eskom into three subsidiaries - transmission, generation and distribution. Eskom said in August that its transmission arm would not be operational until 2025. The World Bank loan would also support South Africa to make a "just transition" away from coal, to ensure vulnerable people do not suffer as a result, Marie-Nelly said. She said the government was "also looking at the broader climate agenda, including looking at the carbon tax." In November 2022, the World Bank approved $497m in financing to decommission and repurpose one of Eskom's coal-fired power plants. Israel said on Monday no ceasefire had been implemented in southern Gaza even though security sources in Egypt said a deal had been reached to allow foreigners out of the besieged Palestinian enclave and aid to be brought in. The bombardment of Hamas-ruled Gaza continued overnight, with residents saying it was the heaviest pounding yet in nine days of conflict. As a humanitarian crisis gripped Gaza, two Egyptian security sources said Israel had agreed to a halt its bombardment of southern Gaza. The Egyptian-controlled Rafah border crossing was expected to reopen to allow foreign passport holders to leave, they said. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement: "There is currently no truce and humanitarian aid in Gaza in exchange for getting foreigners out." The situation at the Rafah crossing remained unclear. The Israeli military and the U.S. embassy in Israel had no comment, while officials from Hamas, which has fired rockets at Israel since its assault on civilians there just over a week ago, did not confirm any ceasefire. Diplomatic efforts have been intensifying to get aid into the enclave, which has been under intense Israeli bombing since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas militants that killed 1,300 people. Israel has also imposed a strict blockade and is preparing a ground invasion to destroy Hamas. Authorities in Gaza said at least 2,750 people had so far been killed by the Israeli strikes, a quarter of them children, and nearly 10,000 wounded. Another 1,000 people were missing and believed to be under rubble. Hundreds of tons of aid from several countries have been held up in Egypt for days pending a deal for its safe delivery to Gaza and the evacuation of some foreign passport holders through the Rafah crossing. The United States has told its citizens in Gaza to get close to the crossing so they can move out. The U.S. government estimates the number of dual-citizen Palestinian-Americans in Gaza at 500 to 600 among the enclave's population of 2.3 million, and Washington hopes to get many of its nationals out of harm's way. (Reuters) The Instant Group has acquired South African firm Property Solutions Africa to expand its flexible workspace presence in Africa's rapidly growing market, meeting rising demand. Source: Supplied. The Instant Group, a worldwide hub for flexible workspace solutions, has completed the acquisition of Property Solutions Africa (PSA), a South African property advisory firm. This strategic move aims to extend The Instant Group's presence and enhance its business operations throughout the African continent. South Africa is one of the fastest growing markets globally for co-working and other forms of flexible workspace, including managed offices with demand increasing by 49% year-on-year since 2019 and co-working space accounting for 1.6% of total office stock in the region in 2022. PSA is a multi-disciplined real-estate advisory firm, recognised as having pioneered occupier service lines in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. The team has more than 28 years of experience and has successfully delivered in excess of 250,000 square metres of flexible workspace products for multi-national clients across Africa. PSA is led by Kieron Murray, who is recognised as one of South Africas leading tenant rep advisors. PSA has worked with clients such as Amazon, GSK, Phillip Morris, Eversheds, Relx-LN, H&M, Intelling, and PPS on real-estate deals in more than 24 locations across sub-Saharan Africa. Tim Rodber, chief executive officer of The Instant Group said: Demand for support from both occupiers and suppliers of workspace is rapidly increasing across the African continent. The acquisition of PSA allows us to respond to the demands of these businesses and provide innovative workspace solutions that meet their needs. We very much look forward to supporting Kieron and his team as they grow across the region. Kieron Murray, director of PSA comments: Businesses venturing into Africa require expert guidance spanning office search through to delivery of workspace. Our extensive market experience combined with The Instant Groups flexible marketplace allows us to bring international support to clients across African markets meeting the growing demand for flexible workspace. After giving the northern Gaza strip an evacuation ultimatum on Friday, Israel has so far withheld from launching a "significant" ground operation, with some speculating that requests from the US to evacuate all US citizens out of Palestine ahead of the invasion is what is holding Israel back. Meanwhile, Irans foreign minister on Saturday said that if Israeli war crimes & genocide are not stopped, 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. Meanwhile, Axios reported that Tehran has sent Jerusalem a message through the UN that it will intervene if the campaign in Gaza continues, and particularly if it launches a ground offensive. This was followed by news Sunday morning that the US has been backchanneling with Iran in recent days to warn against escalating the conflict in Israel (after all, Biden can't afford to lose those sanctioned Iranian oil exports whose re-embargo would promptly send the price of oil above $100). Another reason why Israel may be waiting: the Pentagon confirmed that it has ordered a second carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean Sea after a first carrier strike group, led by the USS Gerald R. Ford, arrived off the coast of Israel last week. Background: On Saturday, the Israeli army said its making preparations for significant ground operations in Gaza, with the Israel Defense Forces saying in a statement that the next phase of the war can include a coordinated land, sea and air assault. Israel has called up a record 300,000 reservists and has been pounding Gaza after the unprecedented incursion in which more than 1,000 Hamas fighters swept across the border and attacked Israeli military posts, bases and settlements. More than 1,300 Israelis died, mostly civilians, and up to 150 people were abducted and taken into Gaza. More than 1,900 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli bombing campaign as fears mount of major casualties once Israel sends troops into the crowded coastal strip, home to 2.3 million people. Israel on Friday gave 24 hours for more than 1 million Palestinians to evacuate their homes in Gaza. Separately, Israel confirmed for the first time that there were intelligence indications of something happening in Gaza two hours before the attacks last week. The head of Shin Bet, Israels internal security service, spoke with military personnel about the reports, said Tzachi Hanegbi, head of Israels National Security Council. Both sides assessed that this is something other than it turned out to be, he said. Meanwhile, Hamas, which has been designated as a terrorist group by the US and the European Union, said Israeli air strikes killed another nine of its hostages in the past 24 hours, raising the total to 26. Many governments, including the US and European countries, are rushing to evacuate citizens in anticipation of an Israeli incursion into Gaza, though the Rafah border crossing out of Gaza to Egypt was reported to be closed to foreign nationals Saturday. On the diplomatic front, Joe Bidens team has voiced anxiety about Israels 24-hour evacuation demand, a deadline that the European Union and the United Nations called unrealistic. On Friday, Biden said people shouldnt lose sight of the fact that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do with Hamas something Biden tweeted on Sunday morning. We must not lose sight of the fact that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do with Hamass appalling attacks, and are suffering as a result of them. President Biden (@POTUS) October 15, 2023 The US Embassy in Israel said its working on potential options for departure from Gaza. US citizens living in or visiting Gaza may be allowed to leave on Saturday, according to a US official. The embassy said its facilitating more chartered evacuation flights from Tel Avivs Ben Gurion Airport and urged US citizens and immediate family members to use them while they are available. The US government also said it is assisting US nationals and their immediate family members with a valid travel document to depart Haifa via sea for Cyprus on Oct. 16, according to a statement on the US Embassy in Israel website. The State Department in Washington authorized the departure of non-emergency embassy personnel on Friday, citing an unpredictable security situation. With commercial flights to Israel disrupted, European countries such as France and Germany also have been providing planes to get their citizens out of the region. Latest Developments: Israel Says More Than 600,000 Gazans Have Moved South More than 600,000 Gazans from Gaza City and its surroundings have relocated southward, following instructions from the Israeli Defense Forces, IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari says. Bloomberg notes that this is Hagari added this exodus is despite efforts by Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, to keep them in the north to serve as human shields. Hagari urged those remaining in the north to evacuate for their safety. * * * Egypt Weighs Letting in Foreigners and Palestinians From Gaza Egypt is coming under intense pressure to allow refugees to cross the border and escape an Israeli bombing campaign and expected ground invasion. But, as WSJ reports, for Cairo, opening the border is a tough call. Egypt plays a unique role with Hamas, mediating its conflicts with Israel while also helping squeeze the U.S.-designated terrorist group with a blockade on goods and travel out of the Gaza Strip. It has been reluctant to allow the tensions and troubles of Gaza to enter its own country in the form of large numbers of refugees. The US is confident Egypts border with Gaza will be opened to allow in crucial humanitarian aid, Blinken told reporters in Cairo. Rafah will be open, the top US diplomat said after meeting President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi. Were putting in place with the United Nations, with Egypt, with Israel a mechanism by which to get assistance in. A US envoy, David Satterfield, will be in Israel on Monday to work out practical details. * * * FBI Director Warns of possible copy-cat attacks Here in the U.S. 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 on our own soil, Wray told reporters on Sunday. The FBI has been sharing intelligence about possible violence with state and local law enforcement, he said, though officials said most of the threats havent proved credible. The head of the FBI, Christopher Wray, warns of the inspiration that Islamist threats in the US may receive from the events here. pic.twitter.com/OxpyenluZD DEFCONTV (@DEFCONNEWSTV) October 15, 2023 It's just a good job the US' southern border is so secure! * * * 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 terror group has taken all war scenarios into consideration and Israel should stop its attacks on Gaza as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the Axios news site reported that Tehran has sent Jerusalem a message through the UN that it will intervene if the campaign in Gaza continues, and particularly if it launches a ground offensive. The report cited two diplomatic sources with knowledge of the matter. The report said Amirabdollahian made the comments when he met Saturday with UN Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland in Beirut, a meeting that led to intense criticism from Israel. A short while later, Irans mission to the UN warned in a tweet that if Israels war crimes & genocide are not stopped immediately, this could have far-reaching consequences and the situation could spiral out of control. If the Israeli apartheids war crimes & genocide are not halted immediately, the situation could spiral out of control & ricochet far-reaching consequencesthe responsibility of which lies with the UN, the Security Council & the states steering the Council toward a dead end. Permanent Mission of I.R.Iran to UN, NY (@Iran_UN) October 14, 2023 * * * US Warned Iran in Back-Channel Talks on War : The US has held back-channel talks with Iran in recent days to warn the country against escalating the conflict in Israel, as Israeli forces prepare an expected ground assault in response to last weekends surprise attack by Hamas. We have means of communicating privately with Iran, and we have availed ourselves of those means over the past few days to make clear privately that which we have said publicly, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Sunday on CBS Newss Face the Nation. Sullivan said the US couldnt rule out that Iran might intervene in the conflict, and was monitoring both the possibility of direct involvement by Tehran and proxy activity by Hezbollah across the border with Lebanon. * * * Israeli army awaits "political" green light for Gaza invasion : The Israeli army is awaiting a "political decision" on the timing of a major ground offensive on the Gaza Strip, military spokesmen said Sunday as civilians stepped up desperate efforts to flee northern Gaza. Military spokesmen Lt. Col. Richard Hecht and Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told separate briefings on Sunday that "a political decision" will set off any action against Hamas. "We will be holding discussions with our political leadership," Hecht told one briefing. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told troops near the Gaza border on Saturday that "more is coming." But he did not say when any ground operation would start. Military spokesmen have told reporters that any invasion would aim to eradicate Hamas' militant network and leadership so that it cannot stage more attacks. The Israeli military has particularly singled out Yahya Sinwar, the chief of Hamas in Gaza who they blame for the Oct. 7 attacks. "That man is in our sights," Hecht said on Saturday. "He is a dead man walking and we will get to that man." * * * Rockets were fired at Tel Aviv and southern Israel overnight , and the Israel Defense Forces attacked targets in and around the northern part of Gaza. It was not immediately clear how much damage, if any, was caused in the rocket attacks. One Israeli died on Sunday in a Hezbollah attack on Israeli army posts near the border with Lebanon. Subsequent reports indicate that more rockets had been fired into northern Israel from Lebanon. Initial reports say that rockets were fired from Lebanon. Waiting for further confirmation. Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) October 15, 2023 Impacts reported in norther Israel. pic.twitter.com/YZgIoofboU Moshe Schwartz (@YWNReporter) October 15, 2023 * * * Moroccans Push to Sever Israel Ties in Mass Protest : Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Rabat, Moroccos capital, demanding King Mohammed VI to severe ties with Israel which were restored in 2020. The marchers denounced as barbaric ongoing military intervention by Israel in Gaza and demanded the closing of its liaison office in the Moroccan capital. * * * Blinken Meets With Saudi Crown Prince : Blinken travelled to Riyadh on Sunday for an hour-long talk with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that the top US diplomat deemed very productive. MBS highlighted Riyadhs diplomatic outreach to calm the situation, the official Saudi Press Agency reported. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and I met today in Riyadh and discussed the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel. pic.twitter.com/HjoGMmTzqi Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) October 15, 2023 * * * Blinken Will Return to Israel on Monday : US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will return to Israel on Monday for further consultations with senior officials there, his spokesman said. The top US diplomat was previously in Israel on Thursday as part of a frenetic tour of the region that included stops in Qatar, Jordan, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates as well as Saudi Arabia, as the Biden administration tries to limit the threat of a spreading conflict in the Middle East. * * * Blinken Urges China to Use Its Influence : US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Beijing to use its influence to prevent other state or non-state actors from attacking Israel and widening its war with Hamas, the State Department said. Blinken spoke with Foreign Minister Wang Yi before departing from Riyadh, where the top US diplomat was attempting to shore up support for Israel among Arab nations, said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller. He met with Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the State Department said. * * * Israel, Hezbollah exchange fire, heightening fears of a second front opening : Cross-border fire erupted between Israel and Lebanon early Sunday, killing at least one person on the Israeli side of the border. Both the Israeli military and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah acknowledged the fighting. Hezbollah says it fired guided missiles toward an Israel army post in Shtula from Lebanon, according to the militant groups Al-Manar TV. The Israeli military said earlier it was targeting southern Lebanon after initial report of a shooting near the Lebanese border. The group said in a statement the attack was in retaliation for Israeli shelling that killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah on Friday and two Lebanese civilians on Saturday. Israel has responded by targeting the outskirts of the town of Ait el-Shaab, the Israeli military said. The Israel Defense Forces also banned civilians from going within two-and-a-half miles of the Lebanese border. In addition, the Reuters news service reports, Israel disrupted GPS electronic location services in the northern border area and at the Gaza front, according to Reuters. Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said a 40-year-old man was killed in the attack from Lebanon, without elaborating or giving his nationality. As Israel wages its war against Hamas over last week's unprecedented attack by the Gaza Strip militant group, there's been concern that Hezbollah could enter the war as well as Israel moves toward launching a ground offensive in Gaza. * * * Hezbollah Strikes Israeli Army Posts : Iran-backed Hezbollah attacked two Israeli army posts near the border with Lebanon in response to what the militant group said was the killing of Lebanese nationals in recent days. One of the Middle Easts most powerful militias, Hezbollah said it fired guided missiles against an Israeli army post in Shtula in Upper Galilee. An hour later, it said its members used live ammunition to target an army post in Al-Raheb and destroyed a tank. * * * Israeli Shares Down 3% As War Enters Second Week : Israels TA-35 stock index fell sharply on Sunday as Israel continues to strike back against Hamas targets and tensions rise on the northern border with Hezbollah. The index was down 3.3% in early afternoon, having reached the lowest levels since mid-2021. Banking stocks led the decline. The sector was down 12.3% last week on account of volatility concerns, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange said. Other Middle Eastern markets were narrowly mixed. * * * Israel Acknowledges Reports of Gaza Activity : Israel confirmed for the first time that there were intelligence indications of something happening in Gaza two hours before the attacks last week. The head of Shin Bet, Israels internal security service, spoke with military personnel about the reports, said Tzachi Hanegbi, head of Israels National Security Council. Both sides assessed that this is something other than it turned out to be, he said. * * * Abbas Stresses Need for Humanitarian Corridor in Biden Call : In a phone call with US President Joe Biden late Saturday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stressed the urgent need for humanitarian corridors to be opened in the Gaza Strip so that basic materials and medical supplies such as water, electricity and fuel, can be delivered to civilians. Abbas also told Biden he rejected the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza and affirmed his rejection of the killing or abusing of civilians on both sides, calling for the release of civilians, priosners and detainees. * * * Pope calls for humanitarian corridors for Gaza residents : Pope Francis called on Sunday for humanitarian corridors to allow the delivery of essentials to the Gaza Strip, which is under heavy Israeli bombardment following a bloody attack on Israel by Gaza's rulers, Hamas. "Humanitarian law must be respected, especially in Gaza, where it is urgent and necessary to guarantee humanitarian corridors and help the population," said the Pope after his traditional Angelus prayer in Rome's Saint Peter's Square. * * * U.S. arranges for ship to evacuate Americans from Israel to Cyprus Monday: The United States has organized a ship to take Americans out of Israel to Cyprus on Monday, the U.S. Embassy said. With Israel moving toward an invasion of the Gaza Strip, the ship will leave from the Israeli port of Haifa for Limassol, taking "U.S. nationals and their immediate family members with a valid travel document," the U.S. embassy said in a security alert Sunday. Tens of thousands of U.S. passport holders live in Israel and 29 have been confirmed killed in the Hamas attacks on October 7. Another 15 are missing and believed to be among hostages held by Hamas since the attacks. The U.S. embassy didn't say how many people would fit on the ship but said "boarding will proceed in order of arrival and is on a space limited basis." Each passenger will have to sign a document promising to repay the cost of the trip and will only be allowed to bring one suitcase. The embassy said some chartered flights would be arranged from Cyprus for onward travel. * * * UK Foreign Minister Urges Israel to Show Restraint : James Cleverly called on Israel to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza and respect international law in any military operations against Hamas, saying his strong advice was being offered from a position of friendship. Its in Israels interest to avoid civilian casualties because Hamas wants to turn the conflict into a wider Arab-Israeli war, or indeed a war between the Muslim world and and the wider world, the UK foreign minister said on Sky News. His comments came hours after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the UK stood unequivocally with Israel, making no mention of the plight facing Palestinian civilians. * * * Gaza Death Toll Reaches 2,300 : The number of people killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza has reached more than 2,300, local authorities said, with thousands more wounded in the past eight days. This now outnumbers the death toll of the 51-day Israel-Hamas war of 2014, according to Ashraf Al-Qedra, a spokesperson for the Gaza health ministry. The 2014 war killed more than 2,200 Palestinians, according to UN figures. At the time it was the deadliest and most destructive violence since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip. * * * Situation in Gaza hospitals getting ever more desperate : Medics in Gaza warned Sunday that thousands could die as hospitals packed with wounded people run desperately low on fuel and basic supplies. Palestinians in the besieged coastal enclave struggled to find food, water and safety ahead of an expected Israeli ground offensive in the war sparked by Hamas' deadly attack. A week of blistering airstrikes have demolished entire Gaza neighborhoods but failed to stem militant rocket fire into Israel. Hospitals are expected to run out of generator fuel within two days, according to the U.N., which said that would endanger the lives of thousands of patients. Gaza's sole power plant shut down for lack of fuel after Israel completely sealed off the 25-mile-long territory following the Hamas attack. * * * Israel Says it Killed Hamas Military Leader : The Israeli military said on Sunday its fighter jets killed the Hamas military leader responsible for the attack on one of Israels communities last Saturday, Kibbutz Nirim. In a statement, the military said this occurred Saturday night during operations that also took out Hamas rocket launchers. It said the man was commander of the Nukhba forces in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. Nukhba are the elite Hamas military unit that Israel says trained and led the October 7 attack. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist group by the US and the European Union. Developing A victim of deceased trafficker Jeffrey Epstein has tragically died after she spoke out to testify against Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell. Carolyn Andrianos testimony was crucial in convicting Maxwell, Epsteins accomplice, on sex trafficking charges. Earlier this year, Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison for her role in Epsteins sex trafficking operation. She also testified in support of fellow Epstein victim Virginia Roberts Giuffres rape allegations against Britains Prince Andrew. However, Andriano, a former model, was found dead in a West Palm Beach hotel earlier this year, according to a new report from The Daily Beast. There was no funeral or obituary and her death went unreported in the media until now. West Palm Beach police opened an investigation into her death after it was concluded she died of an accidental drug overdose. Her death has been shrouded in mystery for those who knew her, however, and her family believes there may have been foul play. Andrianos mother insists that she was drug and alcohol-free and pleaded with police to investigate her daughters death. According to The Daily Beast, Carolyn Andriano had been texting her mother a lot shortly before she died. She was reportedly excited about building her new life with her husband, John Pitts, and their five children. The Daily Beast reported: Carolyn Andriano, a victim of sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein whose testimony was crucial to putting away his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, has died. There was no obituary or funeral service after she died earlier this year, and police in West Palm Beach, Florida, opened an investigation into her death. After The Daily Beast reached out for comment, police spokesman Mike Jachles told us that the investigation was concluding and that Carolyn died of an accidental overdose. The 36-year-old mother-of-five had planned to start a new chapter in North Carolina, at a new house with a fireplace and half-acre lot with a chicken coop. Carolyn and her husband, John Pitts, had purchased the property just weeks before she was found unresponsive in a West Palm Beach hotel room on May 23. Before her death, she was ecstatic, Carolyns mother, Dorothy Groenert, told The Daily Beast. She was all set up for a whole new lifestyle. Groenert says Carolyns death came as a shock because she was working on building a new life and texted her recently about being free of drugs and alcohol. The way Groenert sees it, some things about her daughters overdose dont make sense, and she wants cops to investigate further. Andriano was an old friend of Giuffres and was drawn into Epsteins sex trafficking ring when she was just 14 years old. Last Saturday, the world looked on as the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, launched Operation Al-Asqa Flood, the largest military incursion into the state of Israel since the 1973 October War, the 50th anniversary of which had occurred just one day beforehand. Though lauded by many as a legitimate military response to the Israeli occupation, many could also not help but wonder at how Israel, an entity possessing state of the art surveillance equipment and which receives annual funding from the United States to the tune of billions of dollars, could seemingly be taken by surprise by militant Palestinian groups to such a devastating extent. Suspicions were further aroused when it emerged that Universal Paralello, the electronic music event held on the border of Gaza and which has been the focus of global media attention following the Palestinian incursion, had only changed its location two days beforehand following the falling through of a site in southern Israel near the Egyptian border. The idea that there were no serious insurance or security concerns over the holding of a music festival on the border of a location where violent clashes between the Al-Quds Brigades and Israeli Forces had taken place only last Summer, is simply unfathomable. Less than 48 hours following the commencement of Operation Al-Asqa Flood, the Associated Press also carried a report citing an unnamed Egyptian intelligence official who had claimed that Cairo had repeatedly warned Tel Aviv that an escalation was imminent, warnings that seemingly went unheeded. Two separate reports on Friday, one from the New York Times and one from CNN, both outlining warnings given by US intelligence officials to Israel in the days prior to the attacks that Hamas was preparing a large-scale operation, appear to corroborate the idea that Israel had foreknowledge of what was about to take place. The first question that comes to mind, is to what benefit it would it be to the Israelis to allow such a devastating attack to occur? Saving the political career of Benjamin Netanyahu, currently mired in a corruption scandal, would be a theory that appears to not have any grounding, with opinion polls following Al-Asqa Flood appearing to indicate that the exact opposite will occur. Using the Al-Asqa operation as a pretext to carry out ethnic cleansing of Gaza, appears to have strong evidence to back it up, with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant announcing a complete siege of Gaza following the attacks, cutting off food, water and electricity supplies to the besieged strip, and describing enemy combatants as human animals; language and behaviour that couldnt be described as anything less than genocidal. Indeed, such a scenario was envisaged by hardline Israeli Minister Orit Strock in March of this year, a move that Strock herself admitted would involve many casualties. Another theory put forward is that Al-Asqa Flood and the ensuing Israeli onslaught on Gaza will ultimately be used as the catalyst for a wider war with Israels arch-rival Iran, a long-time opponent of the Zionist state since the 1979 Islamic Revolution saw Ayatollah Khomeini come to power. Indeed, in a move which drew little attention amongst the media coverage of the current hostilities, Israeli airstrikes were launched against Damascus and Aleppo airports on Thursday; Syria being a key regional ally of Iran, with Tehran and Hezbollah coming to the Arab Republics aid in countering the US-led regime change operation launched against it more than a decade ago, in which Israel itself played a key role. Despite the extensive military capabilities of the Zionist state however, Israel would undoubtedly face a challenging situation in a direct military confrontation with Iran, Syria and Hezbollah. With a distance of more than 1,000km between Israel and Iran, launching air strikes against the Islamic Republic, and having to travel through the hostile skies of Syria and Iraq to do so, would prove next to impossible without the assistance of the United States and its allies, which leads to a grim possibility a deliberately provoked or staged attack on American forces, intended to galvanise US support for entry into what could quickly become a global conflict. Indeed, a historical precedent exists for such a scenario. Following the outbreak of the second world war in 1939, France was overwhelmed by Germany in the space of nine months, leaving Britain isolated and in a perilous situation. In the United States however, no popular support for entry into what was widely seen as a European civil war existed, especially coming only two decades after WWI. This would change radically however on the 7th of December 1941, when Imperial Japanese Forces, in response to a trade embargo imposed by the United States, launched a devastating attack on the US Naval base in Pearl Harbour, Hawaii. Washington would officially declare its entry into the conflict the following day. Strong evidence would later emerge that, similar to last Saturdays surprise attacks on the Israeli state, both British and US intelligence officials at the time were aware that an attack on the US Pacific Fleet was imminent. Now, with the provocative deployment of US and British Naval Destroyers to the Mediterranean amidst the current hostilities, the recent build-up of US Forces in the Persian Gulf, and Israels history of involvement in false flag operations intended to incite a US military response, from the USS Liberty to 9/11, it appears that the stage is now being set for a deliberately provoked or staged attack on US Forces in the region in order to draw Washington into a wider conflict with Iran, and the catastrophic consequences that will follow. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office on Monday denied reports of any temporary Gaza ceasefire to allow foreign nationals to flee the enclave to neighbouring Egypt. However, the army pledged to refrain from striking routes within Gaza designated for evacuating people from the enclave's north to the south during a limited time window, from 8:00 a.m. to noon (05:00 GMT to 09:00 GMT). Media reports had said Israel, Egypt and the United States had agreed the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt would be opened for several hours Monday in a one-off move to allow foreign nationals to flee and aid goods to enter. But Netanyahu's office said in a statement that "there is currently no ceasefire and humanitarian aid in Gaza in return for removing foreigners." Aid convoys have waited on the Egyptian side but, according to witnesses, had not left the town of El-Arish, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) east of Rafah on Monday. The Israeli military said earlier Monday it would refrain from striking two roads in the Gaza Strip marked for residents to move south and out of the way of a possible ground offensive. "The IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) will refrain from targeting the designated axis from 8:00 a.m. (0500 GMT) until 12:00 (0900 GMT)," military spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X, formerly Twitter. "For your safety take advantage of this short period of time to move south from the north of the strip and Gaza City." Military spokesman Jonathan Conricus pledged in a separate statement that the two designated roads "would be safe to use" for that duration. A surprise attack by Gaza's Hamas militants on southern communities in Israel left more than 1,400 dead on Oct.7, and retaliatory Israeli air strikes on Gaza since then have killed around 2,750 in the Palestinian territory. An estimated one million people have been displaced within Gaza, the United Nations agency for supporting Palestinian refugees has said. Israel has also carried out air strikes in the southern parts of Gaza in the areas of Khan Yunis and Rafah. (AFP) Borsa Italiana non ha responsabilita per il contenuto del sito a cui sta per accedere e non ha responsabilita per le informazioni contenute. Accedendo a questo link, Borsa Italiana non intende sollecitare acquisti o offerte in alcun paese da parte di nessuno. Sarai automaticamente diretto al link in cinque secondi. The Israeli military on Monday raised the figure to 199 people confirmed to have been abduced by Hamas to the Gaza Strip in the militants' cross-border attacks which sparked a devastating war. "We have updated the families of 199 hostages," military spokesman Daniel Hagari told a media briefing, revising up an earlier figure of 155 captives. Israelis and foreigners are among those abducted in the Hamas assault on Oct. 7. "The efforts on the hostages are a top national priority," Hagari said. "The army and Israel are working around the clock to bring them back." At least 1,400 people have been killed in Israel and 2,750 in retaliatory strikes on Gaza, according to tolls from officials on both sides. The Israeli military has said the bodies of some 1,500 militants were located in the wake of the attacks. (AFP) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh with French Minister of Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu, in Paris, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. A PTI Photo NEW DELHI (PTI): India and France discussed potential collaboration in niche areas such as cyberspace and artificial intelligence with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh saying that strategic partnership between the two nations is more relevant today than ever and both sides are looking forward to taking it to "newer heights". Singh and French Minister of Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu held extensive talks at the fifth annual India-France Defence Dialogue in Paris on Wednesday evening with a focus on enhancing defence industrial cooperation. "The two ministers discussed a wide range of topics from the assessment of regional situation to the ongoing military-to-military engagements, with a focus on enhancing defence industrial cooperation," the defence ministry said on Thursday. In a post on X, Singh described his meeting with Lecornu as "excellent". "Had an excellent meeting with the French Minister for the Armed Forces, Mr. Sebastien Lecornu in Paris," Singh said. "India-France strategic partnership has deepened over years and is more relevant today than ever. We look forward to taking this partnership to newer heights," he said. The ministry said Singh and Lecornu reviewed the ongoing defence projects and discussed ways to deepen the collaboration between the defence industries of both the countries. "They also discussed potential collaboration in niche domains such as space, cyber and artificial intelligence," it said in a statement. Last Wednesday, Singh visited a jet engine manufacturing facility of French firm Safran near Paris and witnessed the latest developments in aero-engine technology. His visit to the facility at Gennevilliers assumed significance as Safran is looking at co-developing a fighter aircraft engine in India under a mega project. Singh also interacted with a group of CEOs of top French defence companies and highlighted to them the "advantages" of co-development and co-production of defence hardware in India that he said could be exported to third countries. The defence ministry said Singh visited the Safran Engine Division's R and D Centre at Gennevilliers near Paris and witnessed the latest developments in aero-engine technology. Defence and strategic ties between India and France have been on an upswing in the last few years. In July, India and France announced a raft of ground-breaking defence cooperation projects, including the joint development of jet and helicopter engines and construction of three Scorpene submarines, for the Indian Navy. The two strategic partners also expressed commitment to cooperate in the co-development and co-production of advanced defence technologies, including for the benefit of third countries. Take That has announced three outdoor live shows on the island of Ireland next year. The boyband will play Musgrave Park in Cork on June 20th, Malahide Castle on June 21st, and the Belsonic festival in Belfast on June 22nd. Advertisement The trio now comprised of Gary Barlow, Mark Owen and Howard Donald will then head to continental Europe to complete their 19-date summer tour. The group have also sold out two dates at 3Arena in Dublin for April. The "This Life Under the Stars" tour will take place following the release of the album This Life in November, their first studio record since 2017. Take That fans are able to register for a presale now via promoters MCD, with the first batch of tickets becoming available on Wednesday, October 18th. The general sale will take place on Thursday, October 19th, via Ticketmaster. Advertisement Prices for the latest dates have yet to be announced, but tickets for the 3Arena gigs started at 78.25 plus booking fees. An Bord Pleanala has approved the development of over 400 new apartments in Ballyboden in south Dublin, despite strong opposition to the plans from local residents. The board rejected an appeal by the Ballyboden Tidy Towns group and the Moyville Residents Association against the decision by South Dublin County Council to sanction the development of 402 apartments on the site of former institutional lands at Taylors Lane in Ballyboden. Advertisement The residential scheme will consist of three apartment blocks ranging up to five storeys in height together with a creche, two retail units, a communal space and new public park. The site, which is known as the Good Counsel lands, contains a number of institutional buildings which are earmarked for demolition as well as a former pitch-and-putt course. The developer, Shannon Homes Dublin, had sought planning permission for the project under the large-scale residential development planning process. Advertisement It followed a ruling by the High Court in January 2022 which quashed an earlier decision by An Bord Pleanala to approve a strategic housing development of 486 apartments on the same site as a result of a successful judicial review brought by the Ballyboden Tidy Towns group. Advertisement In their appeal on the latest proposal, both the Tidy Towns group and residents from the nearby Moyville estate claimed the development was a missed opportunity to contribute to the creation of a village centre for Ballyboden as well as being premature pending the preparation of a Local Area Plan. They also claimed there had been no material changes to the plans which address the reasons for the judgement by the High Court to quash the previous planning permission for the site. The opponents pointed out that there had also been no improvement in public transport, while traffic congestion in the area has become worse due to the addition of several other new developments in the locality. Advertisement They also criticised the height of the apartment blocks which they said did not balance with the low-rise character of the area, while the density of the project represented serious overdevelopment of the site. However, in its latest ruling, An Bord Pleanala said that the proposed development would be consistent with the zoning objectives and other policies of the South Dublin County Development Plan 2022-2028 subject to compliance with a number of planning conditions. The board said the residential scheme would constitute an acceptable quantum of development at this location which would be served by an appropriate level of public transport, social and community infrastructure. It said the plans would also constitute an acceptable level of density for the location and would provide open spaces in excess of the minimum requirements, while not seriously injuring the residential and visual amenities of the area as well as other properties in the vicinity. Advertisement Consultants for Shannon Homes said the building design for the latest application had been altered to take into account comments by council planners, while the building height, density and number of car spaces had also been reduced. They claimed the reason for quashing the previous planning permission was related to procedural matters and was not a judgement on the merits of the scheme. The developer also highlighted that South Dublin County Council had confirmed that the latest scheme did not materially contravene height or density policies as well as being satisfied with public transport capacity for the area and revised traffic figures. A 33-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to the murder of school teacher Ashling Murphy and will go on trial for up to five weeks at the Central Criminal Court. A jury of three women and nine men was sworn in on Monday afternoon to hear the trial, one year and nine months after 23-year-old Ms Murphy is alleged to have been murdered near the Grand Canal in Tullamore. Advertisement The trial judge told potential jury members on Monday that nobody should sit as a juror if they have engaged in commentary about the case online or on social media. Jozef Puska (33), with an address at Lynally Grove, Mucklagh, Co Offaly, is charged with murdering Ms Murphy at Cappincur, Tullamore, Co Offaly on January 12th, 2022. Mr Puska, dressed in a white striped shirt, grey jacket and trousers, relied on an interpreter to translate the single count and with her aid he replied "not guilty" to the charge of murder. High-profile trial Advertisement Before the 12 jurors were sworn, Mr Justice Tony Hunt told the jury panel that the case had attracted "more than the usual share of publicity". He asked any potential juror to tell him if they have heard anything that would make them unable to approach the trial "with a fair and open mind". Advertisement Mr Puska and the prosecution, he said, are "entitled to a fair and unbiased jury who will try the case based on the evidence in court and not on anything outside the court." The judge said nobody should sit as a juror if they have engaged in commentary about the case online or on social media. "It would be inconsistent with you approaching the case judiciously, with an open mind," he said. He added: "If you feel that you are in any way compromised in approaching this case in an open minded way; bring that to my attention. It is important that you do not serve in those circumstances." The judge also told the jury that in January 2022 Mr Puska spent some time in St James's Hospital in Dublin. "If you know anything touching on his stay in hospital you should draw that to my attention." Advertisement Mr Justice Hunt said the trial is expected to last four weeks but could take up to five weeks. He promised the jury that he would give them a "very lengthy exemption" from jury service if they sit for the full trial. Mr Justice Hunt thanked the jurors for making themselves available to perform what he called an important civic function. He told them that where a person pleads not guilty, the Constitution requires that they be tried by a jury chosen at random from the community and not by a judge sitting alone. When the final 12 were sworn, Mr Justice Hunt asked them not to look at media reports or social media commentary but to try the case solely on what they hear in court and the inferences they can draw from the evidence. Anne-Marie Lawlor SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said the witnesses in Mr Puska's trial will be from the Tullamore area, the midlands, various Dublin garda stations and the forensic science laboratories. Medical personnel may also be called to give evidence. Advertisement Michael Bowman SC, for the defence, said his client resided at Mucklagh in Offaly and has close family in Crumlin in south Dublin. The jury was sent away at about 4.45pm to appoint a foreman in preparation for the opening speech from the prosecution on Tuesday. An Irish celebrity accused of the defilement of a 16-year-old girl over a decade ago said he accepts the complainant doesn't hold a grudge against him. Under cross-examination on Monday, the man (40) agreed with Eilis Brennan SC, prosecuting, that the woman is someone who doesn't have a grudge against him. Advertisement He added he thought she might have been upset after they met at a festival in Spain in 2012. This was the first time we had been fully intimate together. He said she expressed upset as I hadn't contacted her in the aftermath. He said he left his phone behind, but later sent her a message to apologise. The man 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. Advertisement He denied Ms Brennan's suggestion that the complainant was telling the truth about the alleged incident at his workplace. Advertisement Ms Brennan put it to him that his evidence that he was never in the stairwell of this building was unbelievable. He replied that he used another staircase in the building. She also suggested that the only plausible version of events is the one put forward by the complainant. The man replied: I disagree. The man told Ms Brennan that he was aware gardai have confirmed that the restaurant where he said he and the complainant went for lunch in January 2011 was not open at that time. He said he was happy to correct the record and accept that the particular restaurant was not open then. However, he insisted it is his evidence that he and the complainant had gone for casual food in that general area. Advertisement He agreed that he showed the complainant pictures of his home during their second meeting, possibly of a Christmas party there but could not recall specifically. He said he was very proud of the house. Ms Brennan suggested that his evidence that the woman had not been to his house to the best of his recollection could mean she could have been at the house, but he couldn't recall. He replied She wasn't there. Advertisement She suggested that the complainant described the route to his home spot on because she had been there. He replied if she had been there, she would have described the distinctive features of the house. Ms Brennan told the man that the complainant wasn't asked to describe the house's features, but what had happened. He said: I don't know how to respond to that. Advertisement When asked about the night of the Deadmaus concert on December 20th, 2010, the man said he was practically certain he was not home that day due to work. Ms Brennan put it to the man that none of his movements on that day were inconsistent with the complainant popping in for 30 minutes. He said it didn't happen. The man said he met the woman in early March 2011 for lunch, before he moved abroad. He said they kept in touch occasionally by text. Ms Brennan asked if it was unusual that he made time to meet the woman in the days before he moved abroad, given you'd only met her twice before. Advertisement He said the woman had reached out and he invited her to visit his office. Ms Brennan put it to the man that he, made a lot of time for this girl that you met twice previously? Advertisement He replied I wouldnt say that was a lot of time, I said Im here if you want to swing by. The man said I don't think I had a specific categorisation when asked about his relationship with the complainant and why he decided to stay in touch after moving abroad. He said she told him she was 18 and was interested in media. He said a lot of people had given him advice and help and I was happy to meet her on that basis. We kept in touch, eventually there was a physical element to that relationship. When asked if he had gone to a room in a hotel with the woman in December 2011, the man said absolutely not. He denied Ms Brennan's suggestion that the only explanation for texting the woman late on December 25, 2011, was that an intimate relationship had started between them in 2010. Ms Brennan suggested to the man that it is unusual for people to wait a long time to ask someone on a date. He replied, I believe I did ask her on a date in June 2012. He said they met and not long after I was out of the country for a year. When asked why he used the phrase proper date in a text to the woman around this time, he said he didn't know. I think just declaring some romantic intention perhaps. The man said an intimate relationship developed with the woman for the first time around June 2012. In other evidence, a witness from an orthodontics clinic confirmed they had records that the man got braces on January 20, 2011 which were removed in early March 2011. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has previously heard that the complainant initially told the man she was 18 when they first met at a music festival in July 2010. In her evidence, she said she had told him she was 16 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. President Michael D Higgins has led tributes from politicians following the death of the former president of Finland Martti Ahtisaari, who was one of a number of international mediators in the Northern Ireland peace process. Mr Ahtisaari, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008, died on Monday aged 86. Advertisement Among his most notable achievements, Mr Ahtisaari helped reach peace accords related to Serbias withdrawal from Kosovo in the late 1990s, Namibias bid for independence in the 1980s, and autonomy for Aceh province in Indonesia in 2005. In his work with the peace process in the late 1990s, he was tasked with monitoring the IRAs disarmament process. Advertisement President Higgins said Mr Ahtisaaris contribution to peace and reconciliation was not confined to Finland, but was delivered to the whole world. Advertisement The establishment of the Namibian state owes much to his efforts and he was to continue his efforts for peace in Kosovo, Cyprus, Aceh and of course Ireland, he said in a statement on Monday. Martti dedicated his life to the cause of peace. Advertisement Importantly, he realised that peace is not something which can be simply wished for, rather it is something which can only be achieved through a process of engagement, negotiation and a shared commitment on each side to building a better, shared future for all those who have been in conflict. It was, importantly, something which he believed could be achieved in relation to all conflicts. In Ireland we will remain in Marttis debt for the important role which he played as a weapons inspector at a vital time in the peace process in Northern Ireland in the years following the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Martti Ahtisaari in 2008 was thoroughly deserved recognition of the vital role he played in the resolution of so many conflicts across the world. Advertisement He added: In our conversations, Martti was always a voice of hope, one that proved that war is not the solution to conflicts and that there is always a way to find peace. Advertisement He will be deeply missed. Michael D Higgins (Niall Carson/PA) Advertisement Mr Ahtisaari worked with South African politician Cyril Ramaphosa to inspect paramilitary arms caches and their verification, a defining issue in peace negotiations. Former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams said Mr Ahtisaari played a crucial role in advancing the peace process as one of a number of international mediators in Northern Ireland. Along with George Mitchell, John de Chastelain, Richard Haass, Cyril Ramaphosa, Harri Holkeri, and others they facilitated the necessary dialogue and participated in initiatives that led to the Good Friday Agreement and to subsequent agreements, he said. Martin McGuinness and I met Cyril Ramaphosa and Martti Ahtisaari in London in early 2000 and asked if they were willing to act as international arms inspectors examining and securing IRA arms dumps. They agreed and over the following year they carried out three inspections. The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning reported in 2001 that the dumps that Cyril Ramaphosa and Martti Ahtisaari had inspected were secure and that none of the materiel in them could be removed without their knowledge. Their willingness to undertake this difficult work made an important contribution to the peace process. In my conversations with Martti and Cyril I found them both to be committed to making our efforts successful. We got on well together. Advertisement Britains then-prime minister Tony Blair (second right) and Northern Ireland secretary Peter Mandelson (left) with IRA arms dump inspectors Cyril Ramaphosa (second left) and Martti Ahtisaari during a breakfast meeting at Downing Street in London in 2000 (Fiona Hanson/PA) SDLP leader Colum Eastwood also paid tribute to Mr Ahtisaari, saying he made a lasting contribution that will not be soon forgotten. Throughout his life Martti Ahtisaari played a key role in resolving difficult conflicts around the world, he said. His contribution was recognised when the Nobel Committee awarded him the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts over many decades. Millions of lives have been changed for the better as a direct result of his efforts and by helping end these conflicts he undoubtedly saved many lives. In the North he will be remembered for the role he played in our own peace process, particularly around decommissioning that was so important to allow us to build trust between our political parties and to transition to a more normal society. Over 500 people lit candles at an emotional vigil for murdered 45-year-old Tina Satchwell in the town park in her native Fermoy, Co Cork on Monday evening. A minute of silence was observed in memory of Tina, whose body was found at a house in Youghal last week six years after she was reported missing by her husband Richard. She had been buried underneath a stairwell in her home. Advertisement Ms Satchwell, nee Dingavan, had four older sisters and three brothers. She was described as having been a warm, friendly person who had a great love for animals. The Fermoy vigil got underway at 6pm today. A statement was read out on behalf of the Dingivan family by local woman Shirley Keegan. The family said that they would "cherish the moments and all the great memories they had of the youngest girl in the family. Advertisement "There are no words to describe the pain in our hearts right now Tina. If we knew the last time we met was going to be our last time we would have hugged you extra tight." Tina would put a smile on anyone's face - she had a very bubbly personality and was a very sociable person, mourners were told. Advertisement "She was always out and about with her babies (dogs) Ruby and Heidi. Tina loved her fashion. She was always dressed so well. "We will cherish the moments and all the great memories we spent with you. "Fly high our angel - you will be in our hearts forever. "Fly high our angel - you will be in our hearts forever. We love you Tina...you are at peace now. Until we meet again, give Nana a big hug." Advertisement Members of the Dingivan family were in attendance at the vigil. Songs such as I hope you Dance and Jealous of the Angels were played at the gathering. A large portrait of Tina was on display and candles and cards were placed around it. A poem was also recited. Organiser of the vigil Grainne OConnor told Corks RedFM that locals decided to turn out in large numbers as a show of solidarity to the bereaved family. Advertisement I cant comprehend how they (the family) have coped over the last number of years. We wanted to say We are here for you, we have your backs, for however long it takes to heal. We are happy to take this time to remember Tina and to support her family. Meanwhile, the body of Ms Satchwell was found buried at her home in Grattan Street in Youghal last Wednesday night by gardai who were searching the property. The case was upgraded to a murder probe last week, having originally been a missing persons' investigation. Advertisement Tina lived in the UK and in Fermoy moving to Youghal in the last two years of her life with her husband Richard. Mr Satchwell (57) who is originally from Leicester in the UK was charged with her murder at a special sitting of Cashel District Court in Tipperary last Saturday morning. He is due before Clonmel District Court on Tuesday where he will appear by video link. A vigil for Tina was also held in Youghal, Co Cork last Saturday. Around 200 people attended the gathering. Parish priest Canon Bill Bermingham offered prayers for Tina and her loved ones. He also asked attendees at the Youghal vigil to spare a thought for householders in Grattan Street in the town. Because it is a very distressing time for them to have known that such an occurrence could have happened in their midst. Heavy rain and blustery winds are expected in the coming days as Storm Babet is due to hit the island of Ireland. A Status Orange rain warning for counties Cork and Waterford and a Status Yellow rain warning for counties Clare, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, Kilkenny and Wexford come into force for 24 hours from 6am on Tuesday. Advertisement A Status Yellow rain warning is also to come into effect for all five Connacht counties from noon on Tuesday until noon on Wednesday. Met Eireann warned that the heavy and at times thundery rain will bring a risk of flooding, poor visibility and difficult driving conditions. Wave overtopping at high tide is possible in coastal areas. Orange Rainfall Warning Affected Regions: Cork & Waterford Onset from 06:00 Tue 17th Oct until 06:00 Wed 18th Oct Impacts: Localised Flooding Poor visibility Difficult driving conditions Possible Wave over topping at high tide Keep informed https://t.co/y935BNm4NJ pic.twitter.com/o6yV9X0rhZ Advertisement Advertisement Met Eireann (@MetEireann) October 16, 2023 The UK Met Office has issued a Status Yellow rain warning for counties Antrim, Armagh and Down, which is valid from 6am on Wednesday until noon on Thursday. Advertisement Storm Babet will bring a prolonged period of heavy rain to parts of Northern Ireland from early Wednesday into Thursday, it said. There is a small risk of extensive flooding to homes and businesses, and where flooding does occur, road closures and disruption to public transport services are likely. What we're seeing is really a potentially catastrophic humanitarian crisis unfolding right before our eyes, is how the executive director of Unicef in Ireland, Peter Power, has described the situation in Gaza. Gaza is completely enclosed, extremely densely populated and relies on food, water, medicines," he told RTE radios Morning Ireland. Advertisement Mr Power, who is in Jordan close to the border with Israel, estimated that over 60 per cent of the people in Gaza rely on aid and water was of increasing concern to Unicef. We have worked for years now on a desalination plant just south of Gaza City. We're very worried that a lack of fuel will cause that to close down. We're very worried that lack of fuel will close the hospital down within the next 24 hours. Advertisement We need unfettered access, at least from the south and humanitarian corridors on the western side, that's the sea front side of Gaza and through the highway, through the middle, right up to the middle and north of Gaza, where so many people have now left Gaza City and now just literally they have nowhere to live. "They have no shelter, no water, food, sanitation or hygiene. And that's a desperate situation unfolding. Advertisement Mr Power endorsed a call by the UN secretary general for the Israeli forces order to be rescinded. It's impossible to implement. Knowing the terrain down there, that's just not possible logistically or realistically to do. Those who have left have left literally with the clothes that they were wearing. And they have no shelter, no water, no sanitation, or hygiene. "They don't have any place to go except for some United Nations schools and shelters in the middle section of Gaza. But they're already overwhelmed and there isn't enough water or there isn't enough food to supply them. Gaza doesn't grow so much of its own food. It doesn't provide water, electricity, all the basic humanitarian necessities of life. Advertisement Such a mass movement of people, in an already dire humanitarian situation would have a catastrophic impact, he warned. Mr Power said diplomatic efforts were underway to assist 40 Irish citizens to leave Gaza through the southern crossing, if the crossing can be stabilised over the coming days. The best case scenario would be for the violence to stop, he said. A child is a child no matter where they live in Ireland, if they live in Israel, if they're a child kidnaped and brought across the border into Gaza, they're still a child. "And we would also call on all child hostages to be released immediately. But what we really need is for the violence to stop. It is not going to solve anything. It's only going to make a bad humanitarian situation worse. The Israeli Ambassador to Ireland Dana Erlick has called on Hamas to allow Palestinian people to leave Gaza as Israel has been encouraging its citizens to evacuate danger zones. Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast Ms Erlick said that Israel wanted everybody to be safe and to make sure the people of Gaza were provided for. Advertisement We already said that we will bring back some of the water supply for southern Gaza. But I just want to remind you that Israel is not responsible for the level of the water in Gaza. "There are capabilities within Gaza that Hamas, the so-called leadership, should have taken care of. All of what we're talking about, all of this up today is the fuel, the water, medicine. If only Hamas would have invested all of their money and efforts instead of hatred in Gaza, they would have capabilities of their own. Advertisement The Ambassador said that the problem was that Hamas was not allowing their own population to leave southern Gaza. We call on people to evacuate like we're doing with our population. We don't want our population to get hurt. So why isnt Hamas letting its people go? When asked about discussions to allow unfettered access for people to cross the southern border into Egypt and for humanitarian aid to get in, Ms Erlick said that there were a lot of components involved and at the same time there were Israeli hostages in Gaza. Advertisement "Time and time again Hamas abused any aid going into the region to smuggle their own people in and out," she said. Right now, we are concerned about the situation, but there is not a crisis in Gaza yet. There will be if Hamas continues. When asked what was the goal of a ground offensive, Ms Erlick said it was to restore security to their borders. To bring our families, our daughters, our children back. All of that, the Israeli people who are hostages in Gaza, we need to bring them back. But if you're asking me about the end game again, that's a question that should be addressed to Hamas. What we are doing is taking responsibility because every country has the right and obligation to defend its citizens. That is what we're doing. And we've seen time and time again that Hamas, in their charter it says the the annihilation of Israel. They mean it, they will do anything in their power to kill us and weve seen it last Saturday. Advertisement "The only conversation where we are focusing on is defense. We didn't start this. We didn't want this war. We didn't want for all of this to happen. We left Gaza in 2005 in the hope that we can live side by side. Unfortunately, all we got is rockets. Gaza could have been a prosperous place, she said. But money that could have been used for water, for medicine, for hospitals was instead being used on rockets, to nurture the hatred against Israel. President Michael D Higgins has criticised Ursula von der Leyens comments on the Israel-Hamas war. Mr Higgins said the EU Commission president was not speaking for Ireland and she wasnt speaking for the opinions that they hold. Advertisement He was speaking at the World Food Forum in Rome, where he joined criticism of Ms von der Leyens comments on the Middle East conflict where she did not urge Israel to ensure its retaliation for the Hamas attacks to conform with international law. There is no justification for Hamas heinous act of terror. Israel has the right to defend itself. At the same time civilians in Gaza are also victims of Hamas. This is why we are tripling our humanitarian aid for Palestinians in need. pic.twitter.com/x0zlUOKdb8 Advertisement Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) October 15, 2023 Advertisement More than 4,000 people have been killed in Israel and Palestine since Hamass action on October 7th. In retaliation, Israel cut off food, fuel and electricity to the Gaza Strip, an area inhabited by 2.3 million people, around half of whom are children. Advertisement Mr Higgins has previously said that Israels response must respect international law, while Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said Israel is engaging in collective punishment in the region. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen signs the distinguished guests book as she meets President Michael D Higgins at Houses of Oireachtas in Dublin in 2022 (PA) As well as the thousands killed in Israeli counter-attacks, at least 9,700 have been wounded in the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestine health ministry, with hospitals nearing collapse due to lack of resources. Advertisement In the past week France has ordered a ban on pro-Palestinian demonstrations, and Germany has offered military help to Israel. Ms von der Leyen was criticised for failing to urge Israel to protect Palestinian civilians and stay within the bounds of international law. Ursula von der Leyen is president of the European Commission (PA) Advertisement She has said: I know that how Israel responds will show that it is a democracy. President Higgins said a better performance was needed from EU leadership. I dont know where the source of those decisions was. I dont know where the legitimation for it was and I dont know where the authority for it is and I dont think it was helpful, he said. Advertisement It may not have been meant to have malevolent consequences but certainly we need a better performance in relation to European Union diplomacy and practice. People take part in a Palestine Solidarity Campaign demonstration near the Israeli Embassy, in London (PA) As a result of air strikes, rapidly diminishing supplies, and a mass evacuation order from Israel, more than a million people have fled their homes in the north of the Gaza Strip. According to the UN, 60 per cent of them are in the approximately eight-mile area south of the evacuation zone. Mr Higgins said Israels stated intentions for future action in Palestine reduced international law designed to protect civilians to tatters. Its one thing, when we look at historic breaches of international law, that is incredibly bad, but to actually announce in advance that youre going to break international law, and that you announce it again and again, and that you do so on an innocent population, he said. I have thought about it and I think that it really reduces all that code that was there from the Second World War through the Geneva Conventions about the protection of civilians, it reduces it to tatters. One has to bear in mind how important it is to retain and insist on the veracity and the cogency of international law. Hamas is a militant group which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007 and has sworn to destroy Israel. Truckloads of aid remain stalled at Egypts border with the Gaza Strip as residents and humanitarian groups plead for water, food and fuel for dying generators, warning that the tiny Palestinian territory sealed off by Israel after a rampage by Hamas is near total collapse. Hospitals full of wounded were on the verge of losing electricity, and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced from their homes are searched for food. Advertisement (PA Graphics) Israel maintained punishing air strikes across the territory as a ground invasion loomed, while Hamas militants kept up a barrage of rocket attacks and tensions mounted near the Israel-Lebanon border. More than a week after Israel stopped entry of any supplies, all eyes were on the Rafah crossing, the Gaza Strips only connection to Egypt, as mediators try to reach a ceasefire deal that would allow aid in and trapped foreigners out. Advertisement Advertisement Israeli air strikes forced the crossing to shut down last week, and local media reported that it was struck again on Monday. Israel evacuated towns near its northern border with Lebanon, where the military has exchanged fire repeatedly with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group, as US secretary of state Antony Blinken met Israels defence minister, and President Joe Biden weighed whether to visit Israel after an invitation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Advertisement Speaking to the Israeli Knesset on Monday, Mr Netanyahu warned Iran and Hezbollah: Dont test us in the north. Dont make the mistake of the past. Today, the price you will pay will be far heavier, referring to Israels 2006 war with Hezbollah, which operates out of Lebanon. Soon after he spoke, the Knesset floor was evacuated as a rockets headed towards Jerusalem, part of a steady stream of attacks militants have launched from Gaza into Israel. Sirens in Tel Aviv warning of incoming rockets prompted staff to duck into stairways for cover as visiting US secretary of state Antony Blinken met Israels defence minister. This has become the deadliest of the five Gaza wars for both sides. At least 2,778 have been killed and 9,700 wounded in the Gaza Strip, according to the Heath Ministry there, and more than 1,400 Israelis have been killed, the vast majority civilians in Hamass October 7 assault. Advertisement Advertisement The Israeli military said on Monday that at least 199 hostages had been taken back to Gaza, higher than previous estimates. The military did not specify whether that number includes foreigners. Hamas said later that it was holding 200 to 250 hostages, including foreigners who it said it would free when it was feasible. Advertisement The head of Israels Shin Bet security service, in charge of monitoring militant groups, took responsibility for failing to avert Hamass surprise attack. As agency head, the responsibility for that is on me, Ronen Bar said. There will be time for investigation now is a time for war, he wrote in a letter to Shin Bet workers and their families. The combination of air strikes that pulverise entire neighbourhoods, depleting supplies, and Israels mass evacuation order for the north of the Gaza Strip threw the tiny territorys 2.3 million people into upheaval. More than a million have fled their homes, and 60% of them are in the approximately eight-mile area south of the evacuation zone, according to the UN. Injured Palestinians arrive at al-Shifa Hospital (Abed Khaled/AP) The Israeli military says it is trying to clear away civilians for their safety ahead of a major campaign against Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip, where it says the militants have extensive networks of tunnels and rocket launchers. Much of Hamass military infrastructure is in residential areas. Advertisement Those fleeing northern Gaza still face the threat of air strikes in the south. Before dawn on Monday, a strike hit a building in the town of Rafah where three displaced families who fled Gaza City were sheltering. At least 12 people were killed and nine others remained missing, said survivors from the al-Masry, al-Akhras and Hamouda families. More than 400,000 displaced people in the south were crowded in schools and other facilities of the UN agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, but the group cannot provide them aid, leaving them to search for water and food. UNRWA said it has only a litre of water a day for each of its staff trapped in the territory. Gaza is running dry. People across#Gaza have severely limited access to clean drinking water. A quarter of a million people moved to shelters over the past 24 hours - the majority of which are in @UNRWA schools where clean water has actually run out pic.twitter.com/WhEa988sDN UNRWA (@UNRWA) October 16, 2023 Hundreds of thousands more displaced people have moved in with family members, packing dozens into homes. With taps dry, many have resorted to drinking dirty or sewage-filled water, risking the spread of disease. Gaza is running out of water, and Gaza is running out of life, said UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini, calling for an immediate lifting of the siege. Advertisement For a third day, Israels military announced a safe corridor for people to move from north to south between the hours of 8am and noon. It said more than 600,000 people have already left the Gaza City area. In northern Gaza, unknown numbers remain, either unwilling or unable to leave. Wounded Palestinians in a hospital yard in Deir el-Balah, Gaza Strip (Adel Hana/AP) UNRWA said 170,000 people were sheltering at its schools in the north when the order to leave came, but it could not evacuate them and does not know if they remained. More than 40,000 have crowded in the grounds of Gaza Citys al-Shifa Hospital and surrounding streets, hoping it will be safe from bombardment. UNRWA said on Monday it received reports that the Hamas-run Ministry of Health removed fuel and medical equipment from its evacuated compound in Gaza City. Hamas urged people to ignore the evacuation order, and the Israeli military on Sunday released photos it said showed a Hamas roadblock preventing traffic from moving south. Hospitals in the Gaza Strip are expected to run out of generator fuel in the next 24 hours, the UN said. Buildings destroyed by Israeli air strikes in the Nuseirat camp (Hatem Moussa/AP) Advertisement Four hospitals in northern Gaza are no longer functioning and 21 have received Israeli orders to evacuate. Doctors have refused, saying it would mean death for critically ill patients and babies on ventilators. The medical aid group Doctors With Borders said many of its personnel decided to stay in the north to treat wounded. They had run out of painkillers, and staff reported wounded screaming in pain, it said. Israel has said the siege will not be lifted until Hamas releases all the captives, but the countrys water ministry said supplies had been restored at one specific point, outside the southern town of Khan Younis. Aid workers in Gaza said they had not yet seen evidence the water was back. The World Health Organisation said assistance for 300,000 patients was awaiting entry through Rafah. On the Gaza side of the crossing, crowds of Palestinians with dual citizenship waited anxiously, sitting on suitcases or crouched on the floor, some comforting crying children. Federal prosecutors and lawyers for Donald Trump will argue in court on Monday over a proposed gag order. The gag order is aimed at reining in the former presidents diatribes against likely witnesses and others in his 2020 election interference case in Washington. Advertisement In pressing US District Judge Tanya Chutkan to impose the order, special counsel Jack Smiths team has accused Mr Trump of using increasingly incendiary rhetoric to try to undermine the publics confidence in the justice system and taint the jury pool. The former presidents defence has called the proposal an unconstitutional effort to silence his political speech as he campaigns for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024. US District Judge Tanya Chutkan (Administrative Office of the US Courts/AP) Advertisement His lawyers wrote in court papers: This desperate effort at censorship is unconstitutional on its face. Advertisement It comes on the heels of the judge overseeing Mr Trumps civil fraud trial in New York imposing a more limited gag order, prohibiting personal attacks against court personnel following a social media post which maligned the judges principal clerk. Prosecutors are asking the judge to bar Mr Trump and lawyers from making statements that pose a substantial likelihood of material prejudice to this case, including inflammatory or intimidating remarks about witnesses, lawyers and other people involved in the case. It is not clear whether the judge, who has said Mr Trump does not have to attend the hearing, will issue a ruling on Monday. Advertisement It is the first time the lawyers will appear before the judge since she denied Mr Trumps request to recuse herself from the case, which alleges he illegally schemed to overturn his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden. Mr Trump has denied any wrongdoing. The defence had claimed Ms Chutkans comments about Mr Trump in other cases raised questions about whether she had prejudged his guilt, but she said her comments were mischaracterised and there was no need for her to step aside. Mr Trump has frequently used social media to attack her, prosecutors, likely witnesses and others, despite warnings from the judge who was appointed by president Barack Obama that inflammatory comments could force her to move up the trial which is scheduled to begin in March. A federal prosecutor has pressed the judge overseeing Donald Trumps election interference case to impose a gagging order to curb the former presidents diatribes against likely witnesses and others, saying the restrictions would not impact his ability to campaign. In pressing US District Judge Tanya Chutkan to impose the order, special counsel Jack Smiths team accused the Republican of using increasingly incendiary rhetoric to try to undermine the publics confidence in the justice system and taint the jury pool. Advertisement We have no interest in stopping the defendant from running for office or defending his reputation, nor does our proposed order do this, prosecutor Molly Gaston said. US District Judge Tanya Chutkan (Administrative Office of the US Courts/AP) The order proposal underscores the unprecedented complexities of prosecuting the Republican presidential primary front-runner, who has made the line of attack central to his campaign, and it presents the biggest test yet for Judge Chutkan, who must balance Trumps right to defend himself publicly with the need to protect the integrity of the case. Advertisement Advertisement It is the beginning of what could be an extraordinary fight over what limits can be placed on the speech of a defendant who is also running for Americas highest public office. Any gagging order Judge Chutkan imposes is likely to be challenged on appeal and may end up before the US Supreme Court, legal experts have said. While ending the stream of Trumps harsh language may make the case easier to manage, it could also fuel his claims of political persecution. His campaign has already seized on the proposed order in fundraising appeals, and he has falsely characterised it as an attempt to prevent him from criticising President Joe Biden. Trumps defence in the Washington DC case has called the gagging order request unconstitutional and a desperate effort at censorship. The hearing comes on the heels of the judge overseeing Trumps civil fraud trial in New York imposing a more limited gagging order prohibiting personal attacks against court personnel after a social media post by Trump maligned the judges principal clerk. Advertisement Prosecutors are asking Judge Chutkan to bar Trump and lawyers from making statements that pose a substantial likelihood of material prejudice to this case, including inflammatory or intimidating remarks about witnesses, lawyers and other people involved in the case. Daniel Noboa, an inexperienced politician and heir to a fortune built on the banana trade, has won Ecuadors presidential runoff election. With about 96% of the votes counted from Sundays ballot, electoral officials said Mr Noboa had 52.2% of the votes, compared to 47.8% for Luisa Gonzalez, a leftist lawyer and ally of exiled former president Rafael Correa. Advertisement She conceded defeat during a speech to supporters on Sunday night and said she planned to call Mr Noboa to congratulate him. Mr Noboa, 35, will lead Ecuador during a period marked by unprecedented violence that even claimed the life of a presidential candidate. Supporters of Daniel Noboa celebrate with a cardboard cutout (Carlos Noriega/AP) Advertisement The nationwide uneasiness began when violence erupted about three years ago, but it reached an unthinkable level when Fernando Villavicencio was killed in August as he left a campaign rally. Advertisement The new presidents political career began in 2021 when he earned a seat in the National Assembly and chaired its Economic Development Commission. The US-educated businessman opened an event organising company when he was 18 and then joined his fathers Noboa Corp, where he held management positions in the shipping, logistics and commercial areas. His father, Alvaro Noboa who unsuccessfully ran for president five times, is the richest man in Ecuador thanks to a conglomerate which started in the growing and shipping of bananas the countrys main crop and includes more than 128 companies in dozens of countries. Advertisement The new presidents term will run until May 2025, which is what remains of the tenure of president Guillermo Lasso, who cut his term short when he dissolved the countrys National Assembly in May as politicians carried out impeachment proceedings against him over alleged improprieties in a contract by a state-owned company. Candidate Luisa Gonzalez concedes the presidential race to her opponent Daniel Noboa (Dolores Ochoa/AP) The conservative former banker clashed constantly with politicians after his election in 2021 and decided not to run in the special election. Advertisement On Sunday, he called on Ecuadorians to have a peaceful election and think about what is best for their children, their parents and the country. Advertisement During his time in power, violent deaths reached 4,600 in 2022 the countrys highest in history and double the total in 2021. The National Police recorded 3,568 violent deaths in the first half of 2023. A large group of military and police officers as well as private security guards protected Mr Noboa when he voted in Olon, a community on the countrys central Pacific coast, wearing a bulletproof vest. I believe that the trend is irreversible, and today, we begin to build a new Ecuador, he said. Advertisement The National Police commander, General Cesar Zapata, said authorities had investigated two reports of explosive devices outside the capital Quito on Sunday which they deemed to be false. He also said 174 people had been arrested for violating a ban on alcohol sales on election day. The lawyer representing 184 former Facebook content moderators based in Kenya who sued the sites parent company Meta over working conditions and pay has told a judge that Meta has not been sincere in trying to reach an out-of-court settlement as agreed in the last court session. Mercy Mutemi said the talks had collapsed and the former moderators want to proceed with a contempt of court case against Meta, which she described as not genuine. Advertisement She told the court: The petitioners gave it their best effort. They attended every mediation. The respondents asked for information which we gave them. They kept saying they would get back to us by a certain date but only got back to us at the end of last week with a very small amount that cannot even take care of the petitioners mental health. Advertisement The moderators were employed through Sama, a San Francisco subcontractor which describes itself as an ethical AI company, to work in its hub in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. Their job entailed screening user content in 12 African languages and removing any uploads deemed to breach Facebooks community standards and terms of service. Advertisement Some of the petitioners have told the Associated Press that their job required them to watch horrific content for eight hours a day while being paid 60,000 Kenyan shillings (330) a month. They accused Sama of doing little to ensure post-traumatic professional counselling was offered, and are seeking 1.6 billion dollars (1.3 billion) in compensation. Meta and Sama lawyers told the court they thought the mediation was making good progress, with long hours involved, until the moderators lawyer wrote to them in protest. Justice Nduma Nderi said the failed talks were a missed opportunity to find a balance between the parties involved instead of the court issuing an order. Advertisement The parties will appear at a hearing on October 31 on the moderators application to find Meta and Sama in contempt of court. The lawsuit is the first known court challenge of its kind against Facebook outside the US. In 2020, Facebook agreed to pay 52 million dollars to US content moderators who filed a class action lawsuit after they were repeatedly exposed to beheadings, child and sexual abuse, animal cruelty, terrorism and other disturbing content. Facebook and Sama have defended their employment practices. Poland faces a period of political uncertainty after an election in which opposition parties appeared to gain a combined majority. But the ruling nationalist conservative party won more votes than any single party, and said it would try to keep governing. Advertisement The final results have not been reported by the state electoral commission. But the polling agency Ipsos released a late exit poll on Monday morning, which combines the results of an exit poll carried out during Sundays election and the 50% of the votes already counted. Donald Tusk addresses supporters at his party headquarters in Warsaw (AP) Advertisement It showed that the ruling nationalist conservative Law and Justice party took 36.6% of the votes cast, with the opposition Civic Coalition led by Donald Tusk on 31%, the centrist Third Way coalition on 13.5%, the Left party with 8.6% and the far-right Confederation on 6.4%. Advertisement In order for a government to pass laws, it needs at least 231 seats in the 460-seat lower house of parliament, the Sejm. According to Ipsos, the ruling Law and Justice party of Jaroslaw Kaczynski appears to have obtained 198 seats, a sharp fall from the current slim majority it has held for the past eight years. Even with the far-right Confederation party, it would not have a majority. Advertisement However, the partys campaign manager, Joachim Brudzinski, said in an interview on RMF FM radio that his party had won and would try to build a government led by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. Polands conservative ruling Law and Justice party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski gets in a car after voting during parliamentary elections (AP) No matter how you look at it, we won, Mr Brudzinski said. Advertisement The exit poll showed 248 seats, meaning a majority in parliament, going to Civic Coalition, Third Way and the Left together. The electoral commission has said it expects to report the final result early on Tuesday. It will fall to President Andrzej Duda, an ally of Law and Justice, to give the nod to a party to try to build a government. Cezary Tomczyk, the vice-chairman of Mr Tusks party, said the governing party would do everything to try to maintain power. Advertisement He called on it to accept the election result, saying it was the will of the people to hand over power to the opposition. The nation spoke, Mr Tomczyk said. Spanish police have arrested a gang accused of smuggling migrants into Europe disguised as airport workers whose final destinations were supposed to be countries like Ireland. Four Barcelona Airport restaurant employees and a janitor have been held on suspicion of helping the migrants avoid transit area border controls with security passes and work uniforms they allegedly sold them. Advertisement Police have admitted the cunning scheme designed to pass them off as authorised airport personnel was novel and could have led to dozens of migrants getting into the country. Ireland has been signalled as one of the places they said they were heading when they started their journeys before cutting them short when they reached the Catalan capital. Detectives say they paid large sums of money to the gang accused of smuggling them into Spain and giving them unhindered access to Europes Schengen area. Advertisement The two suspected gang leaders have been described by police as a couple who managed a well-established Barcelona Airport terminal 1 restaurant that had been open for more than ten years. Advertisement The five detainees were arrested on suspicion of 22 separate crimes of facilitating illegal immigration, although privately detectives admit they believe the scale of the operation could have been far greater. A spokesperson for the National Police in Barcelona, confirming the arrests and explaining the migrants were all people who should have remained in transit areas between flights from and to non-Schengen countries said: These people knew they couldnt get the documents they needed to legally enter Spain, like valid visas. The detainees offered the migrants airport employee cards they could use to pretend they were workers and leave the international transit area without going through any border checkpoints. The gangs help was fundamental, given that the alleged members even accompanied them along corridors that were restricted only to airport workers. Advertisement They also offered them uniforms and other clothes they put on in places like toilets to pass themselves off as airport employees. They added that phase one of the three-phase operation began in March with the arrest of the first suspect, when detectives realised the ruse they had discovered could be the tip of the iceberg. The spokesperson for the police force said: Investigators were able to observe there was a certain type of profile of the traveller who passed through Barcelona with the pretext of continuing his or her journey towards other countries, like Turkey or Ireland, when in reality they were intending to enter Spain fraudulently." The judge overseeing the 2020 election subversion case against Donald Trump has imposed a narrow gagging order on him, barring the former president from making statements targeting prosecutors, possible witnesses and her staff. The order by US District Judge Tanya Chutkan is a milestone moment in the federal case in Washington DC which accuses the Republican of illegally conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Advertisement Special counsel Jack Smiths team had raised alarm about a barrage of statements disparaging prosecutors, the judge and prospective witnesses which were said to risk undermining public confidence in the court system and causing witnesses or people who might be picked as jurors to feel harassed and intimidated. Advertisement Judge Chukan said there would be no restrictions on statements criticising the Justice Department generally or statements about Trumps belief that the case is politically motivated. Advertisement She said Trump cannot mount a smear campaign against prosecutors and court personnel, adding: No other criminal defendant would be allowed to do so, and Im not going to allow it in this case. Judge Chutkan said she would impose sanctions as may be necessary if the order was violated, but was not more specific. Judges can threaten violators with fines or jail time, but jailing a presidential candidate could have serious political repercussions and pose logistical hurdles. His lawyers fiercely opposed the order, saying it would unconstitutionally hinder his political speech. Advertisement In a social media post shortly after the hearing in Washingtons federal court, Trump vowed to appeal. In seeking the order, Mr Smiths team accused the 2024 Republican presidential front-runner of using online attacks to try to undermine public confidence in the justice system and taint the jury pool. US District Judge Tanya Chutkan (Administrative Office of the US Courts/AP) Advertisement Trump lawyer John Lauro accused prosecutors of seeking to censor a political candidate in the middle of a campaign, but the judge hit back that Trump does not have a right to say and do exactly as he pleases. You keep talking about censorship like the defendant has unfettered First Amendment rights. He doesnt, Judge Chutkan said. Were not talking about censorship here. Were talking restrictions to ensure there is a fair administration of justice on this case. Advertisement The judge, who was appointed by Barack Obama, repeatedly warned Trumps lawyer to keep politics out of the courtroom, and she cut him off when he suggested the case was politically motivated. Prosecutor Molly Gaston on Monday told the judge that Trumps lawyers were arguing their client is above the law and not subject to the same rules as other defendants. Ms Gaston said Trump knows that his posts motivate people to threaten others, and she argued those can not only pollute the jury pool but also chill witnesses. Advertisement We have no interest in stopping the defendant from running for office or defending his reputation, she said. Special counsel Jack Smith (J Scott Applewhite/AP) Judge Chutkan also read aloud statements Trump made about her, deriding her as a radical Obama hack. Although she said she was less concerned about statements he made about her, she said his free speech does not extend to language that knowingly invites threats and harassment of people who are simply doing their jobs. The gagging order proposal underscored the unprecedented complexities of prosecuting Trump, who has made the line of attack central to his campaign, and it presented a big test for Judge Chutkan, who must balance Trumps right to defend himself publicly with the need to protect the integrity of the case. Advertisement Trumps campaign had seized on the proposal of a gagging order in fundraising appeals, and Trump falsely characterised it as an attempt to prevent him from criticising Mr Biden. Trumps defence called the order request unconstitutional and a desperate effort at censorship. His company is accused of falsifying the records that come with aviation components to show they are the real deal. CFM, a joint venture between GE and Safran that manufactures engines, is now pursuing a legal case against AOG in Britains High Court. Zamora is defending the case. Verification documents are important because of the exacting specifications of airline parts. Engine modules must tolerate temperatures that would melt many materials and even basic parts must be certified. Because of these demands, even a bolt can cost thousands of dollars if it is holding an engine in place. As a result, the market for airline parts is a very lucrative one. Since 2015, Zamora has charmed his way deep into the complex network of companies and decision makers who move billions of dollars worth of airline parts around the world. Business associates who worked with him outside AOG and who were willing to speak to The Telegraph describe a savvy operator who was fun to be around. Loading Zamora, who is Venezuelan, got his start in aviation in 2010 as an account manager at AJW, an engine maintenance business, according to Bloomberg. A keen techno DJ, he was also gigging as recently as 2018 according to the Daily Mail. Zamora founded AOG in 2015 from a rented terraced house in Hove, about 70 kilometres south of London on the UKs South Coast. It appeared to be small scale in its early years: the companys registered address moved between four homes in the following three years, shifting from Hove to London in 2017. Then, the company was registered at serviced offices in central London. Friends say they havent been in contact with Zamora in a number of months as he begins his defence in Londons High Court. AOGs website appears offline, but a cached version says the company offered a diverse portfolio of quality products and services. With our head office in the UK and warehouse operations in London, Frankfurt, Miami and Singapore, we are uniquely positioned to support our customers around the world 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, the website read. We keep our clients flying. The companys phone line is still connected but offers only endless hold music. AOG is understood to have sold mainly smaller parts for jet engines, such as bolts, nuts, washers, dampers and seals. The parts dont carry a serial number and are therefore harder to trace. Worryingly, some bigger parts appear to be linked to the scandal. Some turbine blades have also been identified by CFM as suspect. CFM is understood to believe that AOG had been passing off old parts for new ones. Steve Borrowdale, managing director at Multiflight, a Leeds-based engineer and parts supplier, says sneaking parts into a jet engine is difficult. After vetting a seller for experience and approval certification, a buyer would also carefully inspect a part from a new supplier. You get the box, youd have a look, just for simple things. If theres a brand-new part coming in a non-identified box, you might start to question it. Choosing parts without serial numbers could make falsifying documents easier, he said, but it would still take great skill. The supply of parts in aviation is through a dazzling patchwork of thousands of often small manufacturers, brokers and distributors. Credit: Bloomberg You couldnt just take a novice off the street and start selling these things, you would have to have gotten some training somewhere along the way. According to filings at Companies House, AOG grew slowly from 2015 until 2019, when the company had net assets of 22,000 ($42,000). By early 2020, it was worth 2.2 million. A breakthrough came when it won a deal with logistics firm B&H Worldwide to distribute parts from its hub in Frankfurt. The two companies have previously worked together for exports to Europe and the US from the UK, but this is the first time they have partnered in mainland Europe, the pair said in a press release in 2020. AOGs cash bonanza came before the COVID-19 lockdowns of that year, according to the filings. The pandemic grounded flights and was a disaster for the aviation industry. However, the end of lockdowns triggered a resurgence in international travel and a rush to secure jets and parts amid backlogs in factories. The parts scramble that followed would be a perfect breeding ground for an unscrupulous seller, said Borrowdale. Since COVID, raw materials are increasingly difficult to get hold of, he said. The supply of parts in aviation is through a dazzling patchwork of thousands of often small manufacturers, brokers and distributors. Manufacturers and operators are heavily regulated and largely responsible for orchestrating the paper trail that follows every aviation part, from computers and fuselage panels to screw housings and washers. CFM has had to audit more than 500 suppliers to try and find out what items could be caught up in the crisis. The parts so far identified in the forgery scandal are not thought to include the most sensitive components, known as life-limited parts, which operate under the most stress in a jet engine and are carefully monitored by manufacturers while operating on the plane. However, even dodgy fastenings have claimed lives. Partnair Flight 394 crashed off the coast of Denmark in September 1989, killing all 55 passengers and crew, after its tail fin came off. Three of the four bolts holding the fin in place were counterfeit and weaker than those designed for the plane. The weak bolts and other maintenance problems allowed vibrations that caused the rudder to fail and break off, investigators later found. Loading Following that incident and other bogus parts scandals, Mary Schiavo, who was inspector general at the US Department of Transportation in the early 1990s, ran a campaign against the sale of unapproved aircraft parts and helped secure more than a hundred criminal convictions. She uncovered bogus components that had been made by manufacturers that had lost their certification to make the parts, old equipment passed off as new, re-labelled defective parts and outright fakes that were never designed for aviation use. These are largely the categories into which bad parts still fall, she says. Unapproved parts were even found in part of a fire control system on Air Force One in 1995, she said. Literally, if its on an aeroplane, it could be fake. Following her investigation, various reforms came in, including a warning system to flag suspicious components. Ive had cases where counterfeit parts have caused deaths. Whats at stake is the safety of the lives of the flying public. While plane and engine manufacturers, pilots and aviation companies are heavily regulated, distributors are not, she warns. She pushed for tighter rules in the 1990s but was ignored. The High Court case against AOG began on September 21 and is ongoing. The UKs Civil Aviation Authority has said it is supporting the US Federal Aviation Administration and European Aviation Safety Agency in investigating the matter. A spokesman for CFM said: We are working collaboratively with operators, so they can promptly remove the unauthorised parts from their engines in accordance with the recommendations issued by the regulatory agencies. We remain united with the aviation community in working to keep unapproved parts out of the global supply chain. B&H was approached for comment. Zamora was approached for comment through friends and his barrister. The Telegraph, UK Muriel Demarcus, wife of former Rio Tinto boss Jean-Sebastien Jacques, who resigned after the mining giant blew up sacred Indigenous sites at Juukan Gorge, is no fan of the defeated Voice to parliament proposal. Demarcus, who used to publish her feelpinions on a blog called FrenchYummyMummy, fired off a Twitter spray on Sunday, giving her own Gallic take on the referendum. The former First Lady of Rio Tinto, Muriel Demarcus. Frankly, I have always struggled to understand why belonging to a specific group should be mentioned in the Constitution at all, and why it should give you special privileges, the former First Lady of Rio Tinto (her words, not ours) wrote. There can only be one standard and we are all equal. Thats what my French education taught me. Its drilled in me. Apparently such a position made me a racist and, in some instances, a Nazi. The body of a man has been found in a parked car at a surf lifesaving club on the Central Coast. Police were called to the car park at Ocean Beach Surf Life Saving Club in Umina Beach about 3.15am on Monday. The mans body was found in a blue SUV. Credit: Nine Officers found the mans body with stab wounds in a blue Haval SUV. Brisbane Water District Crime Manager Paul Laksa said the victim was believed to be in his 40s. A 30-year-old man went to Gosford police station in connection to the incident about 7.30am. A Liberal MP has urged his party to reverse course on its approach to housing density and adopt policies from its conservative counterparts abroad, such as a Canadian plan to financially reward councils that exceed housing targets and punish those that fail. Christopher Rath, the opposition whip in the NSW upper house, used a late-night adjournment speech last week to call on his fellow Liberals to ignore pressure from not in my backyard Baby Boomers in their electorates who oppose new housing. Christopher Rath has urged his NSW Liberals colleagues to ignore complaints from residents opposed to new housing. Credit: Rhett Wyman The reality is that youre not going to lose your seat because of 10 letters that you receive [about] a development from a few NIMBYs that dont want it to go ahead, he said. But you will lose your seat if only one-in-five Gen Z and one-in-four Millennials are voting for the Liberal Party because they cant afford to buy a home. Thats how youre going to lose your seat. A woman from Sydneys eastern suburbs has admitted to kissing a 14-year-old boy while drunk, but says she stopped and did not take off both of their clothes and have sex, a court has heard. The 46-year-old woman, who cannot be identified, has pleaded not guilty in the NSW District Court to two counts of aggravated sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old boy on a night in 2021. A woman is on trial in Downing Centre District Court after pleading not guilty to having sex with a 14-year-old boy. Credit: Rhett Wyman In her opening address to the jury on Monday, Crown prosecutor Emma Blizard alleged the woman performed oral sex on the boy and had penile-vaginal intercourse with him at an address on Sydneys lower north shore. The prosecutor said the boy, in a police interview in 2022, described the accused as dancing in a sexual or erotic way one night, drinking heavily, and kissing him before the alleged acts. A montage of photos Sarah donated to the Jewish Holocaust Centre of her family before the war. Rear from left: Brother Gidal, mother Estera, Sarah and father Aron. Front: Brother Julek, sister Zosia, Zosia's son Misza and husband Ziamka Buszmac. Credit: Jewish Holocaust Centre Archival Collection If she could speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the leaders of Hamas, Saaroni says she would tell them: Live and let live. We all belong to one, big human race. We must find a way to live alongside each other. Loading The UN and aid groups have warned that the mass migration within Gaza, Israels siege and a potential broader conflict in the Middle East will cause untold human suffering. For Saaroni, it feels like history repeating itself. These are all people, Saaroni says. The world is so beautiful; if only we could all live in peace. You dont have to love everyone you can like your neighbour, or even dislike him, but dont hate another human being. For more than 40 years after World War II ended, Saaroni could not bring herself to discuss the horrors she experienced. For years, she had nightmares. In her dreams, she was always running, hiding, trying to escape. I was always caught in the end, she says. I used to wake up with my heart pounding and wet from perspiration. It was as if I was really physically running." She grew up in Poland, and as a teenager, her family was forced to move into a Jewish ghetto riddled with disease, where there was no running water and not enough food or medicine. People were captured and taken away to concentration camps and there was death all around her. When Saaroni was 16, her parents sent her to Germany with false papers that said she was a Polish Christian. It was the last time she saw them. In Germany, the Nazis arrested Saaroni after it was discovered she was Jewish. She was interrogated, tortured and condemned to the Majdanek concentration camp. She narrowly escaped this fate by fleeing a train full of prisoners during a transfer in Leipzig. After the war, Poland no longer felt like home. Saaroni joined a group of more than 1000 young Jewish refugees, pretending to be Greek, who crossed war-torn Europes borders and headed for Palestine. Photos of Sarah Saaroni from her photo album, donated to the Jewish Holocaust Centre. Credit: Jewish Holocaust Centre Archival Collection On the way, they were captured by the British at an Italian port and sat on the boat for six weeks. They staged a hunger strike, which made headlines across the world. In May 1946, they arrived in Palestine, legally. Saaroni was reunited with her beloved brother Gidal. In Palestine, Saaroni joined the underground defence movement Haganah, formed as part of the Jewish resistance against the British presence in Israel, and took part in the Israeli War of Independence in 1948. Loading However, she says living in Israel felt like living on top of a volcano that is erupting all the time. Saaroni migrated to Melbourne. In the 1980s she taught herself to sculpt, and her pieces, inspired by the war, are exhibited in synagogues and museums around the world. It was only after writing her memoir, Life Goes on Regardless, about her experiences growing up in the war, that she finally felt free. I remember I looked out the window and suddenly I saw colour, she says. Before, everything was grey. I could see the fruit on the trees, the butterflies, the birds singing. I felt so light. I was sure that if I went outside and flapped my arms I would have been able to fly. In her home in Kew, which is full of her handmade sculptures, Saaroni finds a photo, kept in a treasured folder of pictures of her family, artwork and newspaper clippings. The image shows a bronze statue of a tree that she sculpted, which is displayed at a holocaust museum. She calls it the Tree of Life. Sarah Saaroni lived through the Holocaust and was captured by the Germans. Credit: Joe Armao The tree sits on top of a mass grave. The tips of the branches are carved like human hands rising from the roots below and outstretched towards the sky. They are reaching for new life, she says. A Perth nurse who engaged in a threesome with two vulnerable patients and gave them tips on how to self-harm has been banned from practising for five years. Teagan Cant was reprimanded by the Nursing and Midwifery Board on Monday after admitting she had struck up personal relationships with two women who she treated separately during their hospital stays. The Perth woman has not practised as a registered nurse since 2020. Credit: File photo/Getty Images The first, referred to as Patient A by the board, was a 27-year-old woman who was receiving care for complex PTSD and depressed mood in mid-2020. Cant shared personal information with Patient A during her three-week stay in hospital and communicated with her on Facebook Messenger after she was discharged. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has condemned Hamas attacks as calculated, pitiless brutality as he moved a motion calling for parliament to stand with Israel and denounce antisemitism. In his most extensive comments on the conflict, which has claimed the lives of more than 1400 Israelis and 2600 Palestinians since Hamas October 7 assault, Albanese declared the Islamist militant group an enemy of both Jewish people and Palestinians and urged Australians to resist division at home. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the humanitarian crisis in Gaza was deteriorating quickly. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen The evil committed by Hamas in Israel has chilled every Australian heart, he said. This was no act of war against the army of an enemy. It was the slaughter of innocent people. It was an act of terror. But Albaneses call was met by division, with the Greens rejecting the motion after a failed bid to amend it to condemn Israeli war crimes, and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton trying to paint the government as weak in its response to pro-Palestine protests. Thousands of struggling Victorian households are at risk of repossession and homelessness unless the state government urgently funds more financial counsellors, leading charities and community organisations say. In a letter to Premier Jacinta Allan, obtained by The Age, 36 charities and community organisations that provide financial counselling services are demanding more resources to help deal with rocketing demand prompted by rising interest rates, soaring energy prices and costly grocery bills. Phone calls to the National Debt Helpline in Victoria increased 47 per cent compared with the same period last year. Credit: Chris Hopkins According to the open letter, in the first six months of the year, phone calls to the National Debt Helpline in Victoria increased 47 per cent compared with the same period last year, with a growing number of middle-income earners contacting the service for the first time. The groups, including Anglicare, the Consumer Action Law Centre and Financial Counselling Victoria, say struggling households are waiting up to three months for help managing their bills, putting them at risk of power disconnections, repossessions and homelessness. Washington: North Korea has shipped more than 1000 containers of arms to Russia in recent weeks for use in the war in Ukraine, US officials said, the latest example of Moscow scouring the world to replenish its depleted stores of weapons from some of the most isolated outlaw nations. US 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 DPRK 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 Kirby, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, using the initials for North Koreas formal name, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. A TV screen shows an image of North Korean leader Kim Jong-uns departure from Pyongyang, North Korea for Russia ast month. Credit: AP 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. US intelligence agencies have concluded that North Korea has requested fighter aircraft, surface-to-air missiles, armoured vehicles, ballistic missile production equipment and other materials and advanced technologies. Rome: Polands political opposition ecstatically declared victory in the countrys most pivotal election since the fall of the Berlin Wall, after an exit poll suggested that while the ruling hard-right party had placed first, the opposition had a far clearer path to forming a governing coalition. We did it! Really! . . . Poland has won, democracy has won. We have removed them from power! opposition leader Donald Tusk a former prime minister and head of the European Council told his supporters late on Sunday (Monday AEDT). Donald Tusk, former president of the European Union (EU) and leader of the Civic Coalition, speaks during an election night rally at the party headquarters in Warsaw, Poland. Credit: Bloomberg An opposition victory would mean a dramatic shift for Poland, where the ruling Law and Justice party has held power for the past eight years, making it one of the most successful populist parties in Europe and a model of the rollback of democratic norms. The Polish government exerted control over the courts and the media, backed severe restrictions on abortion, targeted LBGTQ+ rights, and undermined the bonds of the European Union. If the exit poll holds true, observers say, the election result would have major implications for Polish democracy, European unity and the Wests effort to confront Russian aggression. London: In the ancient city of Exeter, three women were hanged for practising 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. Professor 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 from 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. Professor Emily Selove of the University of Exeter, during a visit to the Dartmoor stone circles in Sheepstor, England. She said she had received a few hundred inquiries about the new degree program on magic and the occult. Credit: Michael Kingsley via The New York Times 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 specialising 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. Foreign Minister Penny Wong is canning her trip to Korea and Japan that was scheduled for this week. Penny Wong and former foreign minister Julie Bishop during a Voice referendum campaign event in Perth. Wong made the announcement in a post on X and said she regretted the delay in meeting her counterparts. I am postponing my planned travel to the Republic of Korea and Japan for this week, the minister said. I will remain in Australia to lead the Governments consular, humanitarian and diplomatic response to the attacks on Israel by Hamas and the ongoing conflict. The Israeli military is getting ready for the next phase of its campaign against the Gaza Strip but plans may not conform to widespread expectations of an imminent ground offensive, an army spokesperson said on Tuesday. We are preparing for the next stages of war, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht told a regular briefing with reporters. We havent said what they will be. Everybodys talking about the ground offensive. It might be something different. And thats where we will end our live coverage of the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Recapping events: US President Joe Biden will visit Israel on Wednesday aimed at getting aid to Gaza and prevent the conflict from spreading across the Middle East will visit Israel on Wednesday aimed at getting aid to Gaza and prevent the conflict from spreading across the Middle East A Hamas video of one its Israeli hostages, Mia Shem , has emerged, as Israel aired a video of atrocities perpetrated by Hamas. , has emerged, as Israel aired a video of atrocities perpetrated by Hamas. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2778 Palestinians have been killed and 9700 wounded More than 1400 Israelis have been killed, and at least 199 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza, according to Israel Jordan said Palestinians should not be pushed into Jordan or Egypt and that the issue of refugees was a red line There are 45 Australians among those trapped in Gaza And the first planeload of Australians evacuated from Israel touched down at Sydney Airport via Dubai. Thank you for joining us today, we will resume our coverage in the morning. Well leave you with these heartwarming photos taken by our photojournalist Wolter Peeters. We have no will to start a new front, but we will respond to any attack on Israel. Israel Defence Force spokesman Peter Lerner said the majority of Israels 300,000 reservists were positioned on the Gaza border, waiting for a government instruction to mobilise and take control of the fortress that Hamas has established in Gaza City. Others are stationed on the northern frontier with Lebanon, anticipating further conflict with Hezbollah. They are supported by a growing deployment of US warships in the region. Israeli officials have given no timetable for a ground invasion that aid groups warn could hasten a humanitarian crisis in the coastal Gaza enclave. A week of blistering airstrikes has demolished entire neighbourhoods but failed to stem militant rocket fire into Israel. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2670 Palestinians have been killed and 9600 wounded since the fighting erupted. More than 1400 Israelis have died, the vast majority civilians killed in Hamas October 7 assault. At least 155 others were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza, according to Israel. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the Middle East was on the verge of the abyss. I have two humanitarian appeals: To Hamas, the hostages must be immediately released without conditions. To Israel, rapid [and] unimpeded access for humanitarian aid must be granted for the sake of the civilians in Gaza. He said the United Nations had stocks of food, water, medical supplies and fuel available in surrounding countries that could be dispatched within hours. To ensure delivery, our staff need to be able to bring these supplies into and throughout Gaza safely, and without impediment, he said. Hundreds of tonnes of aid from several countries have been held up in Egypts Sinai Peninsula for days, pending a deal for its safe delivery to Gaza and the evacuation of foreign passport holders through the Rafah crossing. Loading US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday (US time) said the Rafah crossing would reopen, but he did not give a specific timeline. Were putting in place with the United Nations, with Egypt, with Israel, with others, a mechanism by which to get the assistance in and to get it to people who need it, he said after a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday. Blinken was due to return to Israel on Monday after a six-country tour of the region aimed at preventing a broader regional conflict. President Joe Biden is considering a trip to Israel, although no plans have been finalised. Biden has urged Israel to follow the laws of war in its response to the Hamas attacks, and on Sunday said in a social media post that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do with Hamas appalling attacks and are suffering as a result of them. Albanese repeated Bidens comments in parliament on Monday, in his first extensive public statement since the conflict began. The prime minister said the humanitarian situation in Gaza was deteriorating rapidly and Australia supported the work of the United Nations, US Israel and Egypt to establish a safe passage for civilians. There is no question that Israel has the right to defend itself against a terrorist organisation, and to take strong action against it, Albanese said. But we join the calls of President Biden and other partners for Israel to operate by the rules of war. As President Emmanuel Macron has said, preserving civilian populations is the duty of democracies. About 500,000 people nearly one quarter of Gazas population were taking refuge in United Nations schools as the agency said an estimated 1 million people have been displaced in Gaza in a single week. Loading Reuters reported that Gaza health officials were storing bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli air strikes in ice-cream freezer trucks, because moving them to hospitals was too risky and cemeteries lacked space. Hospitals were also rapidly running out of fuel to power generators, putting the lives of patients at risk. The head of the United Nations relief agency in Palestine, Philippe Lazzarini, said that not one drop of water, not one grain of wheat, not a litre of fuel had made it into Gaza in eight days and his agency was no longer able to provide humanitarian assistance. Gaza is running out of water and electricity. In fact, Gaza is being strangled and it seems that the world right now has lost its humanity, he said on Sunday night (Jerusalem time). Last week, Irans top authority Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tehran was not involved in the Tehran-backed militant Hamas groups attack on Israel on October 7, but hailed what he called Israels irreparable military and intelligence defeat. Backing the Palestinian cause has been a pillar of the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution and a way the Shiite-dominated country has fashioned itself as a leader of the Muslim world. Tehran says it gives moral and financial support to Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. Palestinians wait to cross into Egypt at the Rafah border crossing in the Gaza Strip. Credit: AP Aid delivery Egypt said on Monday that Israel was not co-operating with delivery of aid into Gaza and evacuations of foreign passport holders via the only entry it does not wholly control, leaving hundreds of tonnes of supplies stuck. Cairo says the Rafah crossing, a potentially vital opening for desperately-needed supplies into the Israeli-besieged Palestinian enclave, is not officially closed but was made inoperable due to Israeli air strikes on the Gaza side. As Israels bombardment and siege of Gaza has intensified, the territorys 2.3 million residents have been left without power, pushing health and water services to the brink of collapse, with fuel for hospital generators running low. There is an urgent need to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, Egypts Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told reporters, adding that talks with Israel had not been fruitful. Until now the Israeli government has not taken a position on opening the Rafah crossing from the Gaza side to allow the entrance of assistance and exit of citizens of third countries. A humanitarian aid convoy for the Gaza Strip is parked in Arish, Egypt. Credit: AP US officials were hoping that Rafah would operate for a few hours late on Monday, White House spokesman John Kirby said, adding that earlier hopes for opening the crossing had been dashed. The ongoing war made delivery of aid through Rafah very difficult, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters. There will need to be a mechanism given that it implicates a lot of parties, some of which are not on speaking terms, to put it mildly. Were working on that with key partners, he told reporters in New York on Monday. Hamas-affiliated radio station Aqsa said Israeli shelling hit the Rafah crossing area again on Monday. The Egyptian side of the border appeared deserted on Monday afternoon, with aid supplies being stockpiled in the nearby city of Al Arish. Gazans have been under siege since Israel launched its most intense bombardment and blockade ever following a devastating cross-border assault by Islamist Hamas militants on October 7. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been displaced within Gaza, with some taking cars and suitcases south towards the Rafah crossing but others heading back north after failing to find refuge. On our way to the crossing they shelled Rafah Street and we started screaming, said one resident near the crossing, Hadeel Abu Dahoud. Nowhere is safe in Gaza. The number of hostages Hamas captured during its massacre of across Southern Israel on October 7 has been revised upwards to 199, the Israeli military said. Hundreds of civilians killed in the Hamas attacks have yet to be identified by Israeli forensics teams. Hamas armed-wing spokesman, however, said in a recorded video on Monday there were about 200-250 Israeli captives in Gaza. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2750 Palestinians have been killed and 9,700 wounded. More than 1400 Israelis have been killed, the Israeli government said. Hezbollah shooting cameras Lebanons militant Hezbollah group said on Monday it has started destroying surveillance cameras on several Israeli army posts along the border as tension rose following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. Israeli soldiers take positions alongside the border in the Israeli town of Metula, as seen from the Lebanese side of the Lebanese-Israeli border in the southern village. Credit: AP Hezbollahs military media arm released a video showing snipers shooting at and destroying surveillance cameras placed on five points along the Lebanon-Israel border including one outside the Israeli town of Metula. The militant group appears to want to prevent the Israeli army from monitoring movements on the Lebanese side of the border after days of fire exchange that left at least seven people dead, including four Hezbollah fighters, on the Lebanese side. Like others, Egypt has spoken out against any mass exodus of Gaza residents, reflecting deep Arab fears that the latest war could spark a new wave of permanent displacement for Palestinians from lands where they have sought to build a state. Egypt has called for a summit on the crisis, which Egyptian outlet Al Qahera News said was expected to be held on Saturday in the Red Sea city of Sharm el-Sheikh. On Monday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi received a call from Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the escalation in Gaza, Sisis office said. Shoukry said Egypt aimed to restore regular access through Rafah, including for Palestinians seeking medical treatment or normal travel. Early on Monday, Egyptian security sources had said a temporary ceasefire in southern Gaza had been agreed to facilitate aid and evacuations at Rafah, but Egyptian state TV later quoted a high-level source saying no truce had been agreed. Hamas and Israel said no deal to open the crossing had been agreed. Hundreds of tonnes of aid from NGOs and several countries were waiting in Al Arish for conditions to allow entry to Gaza. Members of the press pool covering US Secretary of State Antony Blinken take shelter in a stairwell at The Kirya, Israels Ministry of Defence on Monday in Tel Aviv. Credit: AP We are waiting for the green light for the aid to enter and dozens of volunteers are ready at any time, a Red Crescent official in northern Sinai said. Separately, Reuters video showed UN-flagged fuel trucks appearing to leave Gaza for Egypt through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing. It is critical that life-saving assistance is allowed to move through the Rafah crossing without delay, U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA said in a statement, announcing that its chief Martin Griffiths would travel to Cairo on Tuesday. Movement of goods and people through Rafah has been tightly controlled under a blockade of Gaza imposed by Israel and Egypt since Hamas took control of the enclave in 2007, and only registered travellers can cross. Intel head apology The head of Israels Shin Bet security service has taken responsibility for the bloody October 7 Hamas rampage that killed over 1400 Israelis. In a message sent to Shin Bet workers and their families over the weekend, Ronen Bar wrote that despite a number of actions we took, unfortunately, on Saturday we were unable to create enough early warning to prevent the attack. As the person at the head of the organisation, the responsibility for that is on me, he added. There will be time for investigation now is a time for war. The letter was obtained by The Associated Press on Monday. The Shin Bet leads Israels efforts to track and monitor Palestinian militants. The Israeli news site Ynet has reported that on the eve of the attack, Bar was summoned to the office because of abnormal activity detected in Gaza. But officials believed that only a limited attack would take place, according to the report. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sheltered in a bunker for five minutes on Monday when air raid sirens went off in Tel Aviv during their meeting, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said. All the meeting participants have since moved out of the bunker, resumed their meeting and were going to a command centre at Israels defence ministry to continue their discussions, he said. Reuters, AP Loading The Centre for Strategic and International Studies has described the group as the worlds most heavily armed, non-state actor ... a militia trained like an army and equipped like a state, given its hefty military arsenal which is said to include at least 130,000 rockets. Hezbollah has claimed it has about 100,000 fighters. How was Hezbollah formed? Hezbollah was founded by Irans Revolutionary Guards to export its Islamic Revolution. It first formed out of the Lebanese civil war, which began in 1975 when infighting was sparked between Lebanons sectarian communities Christians, Shiite and Sunni Muslims. A growing number of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon increased the Sunni population, while Shiites felt marginalised by the ruling Christian minority, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. Amid the infighting, Israeli forces invaded southern Lebanon in 1978 and again in 1982 to expel Palestinian guerrilla fighters that used the region as their base to attack Israel, the Washington think tank says. Lebanese Shiite clerics then grew Hezbollah with the goal of driving Israel from Lebanon and establishing an Islamic republic. The movement had the strong backing of Iran, which continues today, through funds and militia training. Today, its military wing is the main military force in Lebanon. While Israel withdrew from Beirut by September 1982, it would maintain an almost two-decade occupation of a zone in southern Lebanon, finally pulling out of the area in 2000. Are Hamas and Hezbollah allies? Hezbollah is part of a regional alliance made up of Iran, Syria and the Palestinian Hamas group. All broadly oppose US policy in the Middle East and Israel. Both are designated terrorist organisations and like Hamas, Hezbollah does not recognise the right for the state Israel to exist. One of the most important differences between the two is that Hamas originates from the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood, while Hezbollah is a Shiite Muslim organisation. While they were on opposite sides of the Syrian civil war, they have maintained close regional ties and support at various times, including during the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon. Both enjoy substantial financial and military backing from Iran. Hamas has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007. Credit: AP As the full scale of Hamas land, sea and air invasion dawned last week, Hezbollah released a statement congratulating the resisting Palestinian people, for the heroic operation. The Lebanese militia said the Hamas attack was a response to the continued crimes of the occupation and the continued assault on holy sites. Our hearts are with you. Our minds are with you. Our souls are with you. Our history and guns and our rockets are with you, a Hezbollah official said in another statement. Why is Hezbollah fighting Israel? Since the violence between Israel and Hamas erupted last week, there have been mounting fears of it escalating into a broader regional conflict that could involve Hezbollah and hitherto, Iran. Icy relations between Israel and Hezbollah date back to Israels occupation of southern Lebanon in 1978. The two last fought in a war in 2006, after Israeli forces invaded Lebanon to respond to Hezbollah attacks on Israeli settlements. Rocket attacks and heavy fighting ensued, while Israel launched a naval blockade of Lebanon. The Council on Foreign Relations describes Israel as Hezbollahs main enemy since 1978, adding that the scale of weaponry provided to the group by Iran ensures Hezbollah is an increasingly dangerous threat to Israel. Hezbollah and Israel have yet to relapse into full-blown war, but the group reiterated its commitment to the destruction of the Israeli state in its 2009 manifesto, the council states. Analysts say Israel is ready for a two-front war. There have already been artillery exchanges across the Israel-Lebanon frontier, while missiles were fired from Lebanon on Sunday in retaliation for the death of a Reuters journalist and the wounding of six in a strike last week from the direction of Israel. A Hezbollah spokeswoman said the increased strikes represented a warning and did not mean the Iran-backed militant group had decided to enter the war. A supporter of an Iran-backed militia holds a poster of slain Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, left, and deputy commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis during a protest by pro-Iranian militiamen in Iraq last year. Credit: AP Why does Iran support Hezbollah? Since its inception, Hezbollah has served as a proxy for Iran. Iran and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps first provided the funds and training to establish Hezbollah as it saw an opportunity to further its influence in the Arab world. The US State Department estimates Iran funds Hezbollah to the tune of US$700 million-$US1 billion a year. One of Hezbollahs earliest manifestos in 1985 said the Iranian regime was the vanguard and new nucleus of the leading Islamic State in the world, vowing to abide by the orders of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini. Hezbollah is a key member of Irans so-called Axis of Resistance, which refers to an alliance of proxy forces in the region, including Iran, Palestinian militant groups and Syria. Iran has warned Israel of escalation if it continued aggressions against Palestinians. Whats the risk of Hezbollah getting involved? Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem last week said the group would not be swayed by calls for it to stay on the sidelines and that the party was fully ready to join the fighting. 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, he told supporters in southern Beirut in remarks reported by Reuters news agency. Fears continue to mount of the conflict spilling over to Lebanon. The US has repeatedly urged state and non-state actors against attempting to take advantage of the Israel-Hamas war, while deploying two aircraft carrier battle groups to the region. Loading US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the military posture was not meant as a provocation, rather, its meant as a deterrent. No one should do anything that could add fuel to the fire in any other place, Blinken added. Israel has told residents living near the northern border with Lebanon 28 communities to evacuate the area. The Israel Defence Force has highlighted the increasingly delicate situation on the border, with Hezbollah increasing anti-tank strikes, saying the group was doing so under the direction of Iran. Since the recent fighting with Hamas began, Israel has conducted the largest military mobilisation effort in its history, calling up more than 300,000 troops to ensure it is also prepared for any potential outbreak of violence with Hezbollah. Quito: Daniel Noboa, an inexperienced politician and an heir to a fortune built on the banana trade, has won Ecuadors presidential run-off election held amid unprecedented violence that claimed the life of a candidate. With about 96 per cent of the votes counted, electoral officials said Noboa had 52.2 per cent of the votes, compared to 47.8 per cent for Luisa Gonzalez, a leftist lawyer and ally of exiled former president Rafael Correa. Gonzalez conceded defeat during a speech before supporters and said she planned to call Noboa to congratulate him. A supporter plays with a cardboard cutout of Daniel Noboa as she celebrates the early election results in Quito, Ecuador. Credit: AP Noboa, 35, will lead Ecuador during a period marked by unprecedented violence that even claimed the life of a presidential candidate. Throughout the campaign, Ecuadorians, who now have to continuously watch their backs and limit how often they leave home, had a universal demand: safety. The nationwide uneasiness began when violence erupted about three years ago, but it reached an unthinkable level when Fernando Villavicencio was killed on August 9 as he left a campaign rally. New analysis of residential properties in Australia has identified more than 655,000 sites across the country that are suitable for the development of granny flats. CoreLogic has described the opportunity to be offering a solution to help ease the housing shortage. In a news release, the property data and analytics provider, alongside national town planning research platform Archistar and real estate construction lender Blackfort, identified Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane to have the most number of viable locations for the development of a self-contained two-bedroom unit. Sydney has the most, having over 242,000 suitable properties for a granny flat. Melbourne has almost 230,000 potential sites and Brisbane has almost 185,000 suitable sites. Thirty-six per cent of these sites are just around two kilometres away from a train or light rail station, while 17% of these have a hospital within the suburb boundary, demonstrating accessibility as well as housing opportunity for healthcare workers. For policy makers and government, granny flats present an immediate and cost-effective opportunity to deliver much needed housing supply within existing town planning guidelines, said Tim Lawless (pictured), research director at CoreLogic. For homeowners, the addition of a second self-contained dwelling provides an opportunity to provide rental housing or additional accommodation for family members, while at the same time, increasing the value of their property and potentially attaining additional rental income. Since granny flat developments leverage existing lot areas and require no changes to town planning regulation, they offer an immediate opportunity to address housing shortages and affordability pressures expected in the coming five years for both buyers and renters, said Dr Benjamin Coorey, co-founder of Archistar. Top suitable sites for a granny flat: Sydney Central Coast (41,569) Northern Beaches (19,884) Hornsby (18,344) Blacktown (17,909) Ku-Ring-Gai (14,617) Baulkham Hills (4,673) Castle Hill (4,423) Cherrybrook (3,421) Carlingford (2,910) West Pennant Hills (2,698) Melbourne Mornington Peninsula (23,870) Casey (16,861) Monash (13,960) Knox (13,741) Manningham (13,063) Glen Waverley (4,009) Rowville (3,674) Berwick (3,604) Rye (3,705) Doncaster East (3,397) Brisbane Logan (33,414) Moreton Bay (31,949) Ipswich (22,569) Redland (19,243) The Gap (2,986) Alexandra Hills (2,789) Redbank Plains (2,479) Albany Creek (2,378) Rochedale South (2,215) CoreLogic figures show an extra two bedrooms, and an additional bathroom could add around 32% to the value of an existing dwelling. For a house worth $500,000, the addition of a granny flat has the potential to add approximately $160,000 to the value of the property, said Lawless. Have thoughts about this analysis? Let us know in the comments. The financial services industry is in mourning after the death of Blake Albones, a beloved figure who was known for his infectious humour, outstanding character, and unwavering commitment to his clients and colleagues. Albones passed away suddenly on Tuesday October 10 at the age of 45. He leaves behind a loving wife, three daughters, his brother Mark and both his parents. Albones (pictured above) had a distinguished career spanning more than 26 years in financial services, particularly in retail banking, mortgage broking, and aggregation. He was a proven sales leader, rising from senior BDM at PLAN Australia to national lending manager and head of broker sales at Advantedge Financial Services. He also held senior positions at NAB, RateOne, MyState Bank, and Galilee. His resume, while impressive, pales in comparison to the impact he left on so many peoples lives. Neville (Nifty) Anitelea, a friend of Albones who worked with him at MyState Bank, described him as the Shane Warne of our industry a lovable larrikin who could connect with anyone and who was always willing to share his knowledge. Blake Albones was a true inspiration to all who knew him, Anitelea said. He was a shining example of what it means to be a kind, compassionate, and giving person. He will be deeply missed, but his legacy will continue to live on through the many lives he touched. We will always hold deep in our hearts the beautiful memory of an amazing man a bro, a husband, a dad, a mentor, a boss, a mate, a friend, a leader, an adviser, and so many more things he was to so many who knew his generosity of spirit, deep kindness, love, fun sense of humour and compassion. In honour of Albone, a GoFundMe page was set up to support Albones family during this difficult time. It has already raised over $100,000. Former MyState Bank colleague and friend Huw Bough set up the page after people reached out wanting to provide support. Normally, we wouldnt use Linkedin for this purpose but given extent of Blakes network it seemed a great opportunity to assist the family, Bough said. It seems incomprehensible and devastating for so many. I know Mark and the family will value any support. It says a lot about the man with so many in the industry keen to assist the family. Bough said donations will go directly to Suz and Blake's girls, offering them some financial help during this difficult journey. "We deeply appreciate any amount you are willing to contribute. If contributing financially is not possible at this time, sharing this message within your network would mean the world to us," Bough said. "Let us unite in remembrance of Blake's spirit and show our support for the Albones family as they navigate the path ahead." Blakes passing will be felt by many people in the industry, and our hearts go out to his family and friends, said Antony Field, editor of MPA and Australian Broker. For anyone requiring bereavement support or counselling, you can access support via Griefline 1300 845 745 - or at griefline.com.au or Lifeline at 13 11 14 www.lifeline.org.au To donate to the GoFundMe page, click here. China puts over 1,400 km of railways into operation in first three quarters Xinhua) 09:55, October 16, 2023 BEIJING, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- A total of 1,402 kilometers of new railway lines were put into use across China in the first three quarters of 2023, data from the China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. showed. Among them, 1,276 kilometers of high-speed tracks were put into operation, according to the group. A batch of major projects in rail infrastructure construction have been advanced during this period. Fixed-asset investment in China's railways went up 7.1 percent year on year to 508.9 billion yuan (about 70.9 billion U.S. dollars). China plans to launch new rail lines totaling more than 3,000 km in 2023, including 2,500 km for high-speed trains, said the group. (Web editor: Liang Jun) The Australian Mortgage Awards 2023 (AMAs) celebrated the industrys top performers in a night of glitz and glamour on Friday. Hosted by Australian comedian and TV personality Merrick Watts, more than 700 brokers, lenders, aggregators, and BDMs gathered at The Star Event Centre in Sydney on October 13 dressed to impress, and guests danced the night away with band and event sponsor Song Division after the award ceremony. Key Media runs the industry's most prestigious awards event, with support from Australian Broker and Mortgage Professional Australia. Westpac was the event partner for the 14th consecutive year. Australian Mortgage Awards broker award winners The 2023 awards featured 25 categories and two major awards. Jean-Pierre Gortan (pictured above far left), managing director of Simplicity Loans & Advisory, was given the ultimate honour, named the Westpac Australian Broker of the Year. This award recognises the most outstanding mortgage broker in Australia. Gortan also received the La Trobe Financial Top Commercial Broker of the Year award. Christian Stevens from Shore Financial (pictured above second from right) won the FBAA Broker of the Award Residential. Kim Bui (pictured above second from left), from Lending Hub Co. won the Adelaide Bank Young Gun of the Year while Mohit Lal Pradhan (pictured below), from Home Loan Experts won Equity-One Broker of the Year Productivity. Helen Avis (pictured above far right), founder of Perth-based Specialist Mortgage, won the Pepper Money Broker of the Year Specialist Lending award while Loan Market Geelong Citys Liz McRae took out the NAB Broker of the Year Regional award. Australian Mortgage Awards brokerage award winners In terms of the brokerage awards, Empower Wealth Mortgage Advisory took the top honour, winning the prestigious Liberty Australian Brokerage of the Year after winning the Commonwealth Bank Brokerage of the Year (Over 20 staff) award earlier in the night. The national brokerage of the year award recognises the most outstanding brokerage operation in Australia. Bayside Residential & Commercial Mortgages won MFAA Brokerage of the year (1-5 staff) while Specialist Mortgage won the Resimac Brokerage of the Year (6-20 staff) category. The Australian Lending & Investment Centre won the PRPTY 360 Brokerage of the Year Diversification award while Loan Market Geelong City made it a regional clean sweep (after the brokerages Liz McRae won NAB Broker of the Year Regional), winning ANZ Brokerage of the Year - Regional. Entourage Mornington was named Bankwest New Brokerage of the Year. The judges couldnt split the difference between Birdie Wealth and Home Loan Experts, so they were both crowned the winners of the Gateway Bank Best Customer Service from an Individual Office. The 2023 Australian Mortgage Awards: a night for sponsors While the guests made the night one to remember, the 2023 Australian Mortgage Awards would not have happened without the support of our event sponsors. Organised by Key Media and supported by Australian Broker and Mortgage Professional Australia, the Australian Mortgage Awards again had the backing of event partner Westpac. NAB and PRPTY 360 are premium partners, while FINSTREET is the VIP post awards event sponsor, and Fifo Capital is photo booth sponsor and Maxiron Capital, the social media sponsor. Other sponsors include Adelaide Bank, ANZ, Bankwest, Bluestone Home Loans, Commonwealth Bank, Equity-One, FBAA, Firstmac, Gateway Bank, Hays, La Trobe Financial, LBH, Liberty, MFAA, Mortgage Choice, OnDeck, Pepper Money, PropTrack, Q2, Rate Money, Resimac and ubank. All the Australian Mortgage Award winners are listed below, and you can also see the full list of winners and excellence awardees at the AMAs website here. BROKER AWARDS LA TROBE FINANCIAL BROKER OF THE YEAR COMMERCIAL Winner: Jean-Pierre Gortan, Simplicity Loans & Advisory FBAA BROKER OF THE YEAR RESIDENTIAL Winner: Christian Stevens, Shore Financial PEPPER MONEY BROKER OF THE YEAR SPECIALIST LENDING Winner: Helen Avis, Specialist Mortgage EQUITY-ONE BROKER OF THE YEAR PRODUCTIVITY Winner: Mohit Lal Pradhan, Home Loan Experts NAB BROKER OF THE YEAR REGIONAL Winner: Liz McRae, Loan Market Geelong City ADELAIDE BANK YOUNG GUN OF THE YEAR Winner: Kim Bui, Lending Hub Co. BROKERAGE AWARDS PRPTY360 BROKERAGE OF THE YEAR DIVERSIFICATION Winner: The Australian Lending & Investment Centre MFAA BROKERAGE OF THE YEAR (1-5 STAFF) Winner: Bayside Residential & Commercial Mortgages RESIMAC BROKERAGE OF THE YEAR (6-20 STAFF) Winner: Specialist Mortgage COMMONWEALTH BANK BROKERAGE OF THE YEAR (>20 STAFF) Winner: Empower Wealth Mortgage Advisory ANZ BROKERAGE OF THE YEAR REGIONAL Winner: Loan Market Geelong City BANKWEST NEW BROKERAGE OF THE YEAR Winner: Entourage Mornington GATEWAY BANK BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE FROM AN INDIVDUAL OFFICE Winner: Birdie Wealth and Home Loan Experts INDUSTRY AWARDS LBH BEST INDUSTRY MARKETING CAMPAIGN Winner: Pepper Money NAB BEST INDUSTRY SERVICE Winner: Quickli AGGREGATOR AWARDS UBANK BOUTIQUE AGGREGATOR OF THE YEAR Winner: Money Quest Group ONDECK AGGREGATOR OF THE YEAR Winner: Mortgage Choice BDM AWARDS FIRSTMAC BEST AGGREGATOR BDM Winner: Haley Bellamy, AFG MORTGAGE STREET BEST MAJOR BANK BDM Winner: Lily Parle, Westpac HAYS BEST NON-MAJOR BANK BDM Winner: Tes Anderson, Bankwest MORTGAGE CHOICE BEST NON-BANK BDM Winner: Jimmy Hou, Brighten Home Loans LENDER AWARDS Q2 BANK OF THE YEAR Winner: The Westpac Group RATE MONEY NON-BANK OF THE YEAR Winner: Liberty PROPTRACK FINTECH LENDER OF THE YEAR Winner: ubank BLUESTONE HOME LOANS MORTGAGE MANAGER OF THE YEAR Winner: Mortgage Ezy NATIONAL AWARDS WESTPAC AUSTRALIAN BROKER OF THE YEAR Winner: Jean-Pierre Gortan, Simplicity Loans & Advisory LIBERTY AUSTRALIAN BROKERAGE OF THE YEAR Winner: Empower Wealth Mortgage Advisory Meghan Markle Opts Out of Coronation Amid Royal Strains, Supports Prince Harry's Attendance (Photo: REUTERS) The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, recently took a break from their royal duties and embarked on a romantic holiday to the Canouan Island in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The couple, who have been in the spotlight for various reasons, seemed to relish their time away, appearing relaxed and very much in love. The picturesque Canouan Island, known for its upscale resorts and sandy beaches, played host to the royal couple. They were spotted walking hand in hand, reminiscent of any young couple deeply in love. An onlooker managed to capture a candid moment of the couple as they left a gourmet food store inside the Sandy Lane Yacht Club and Marina in Glossy Bay. The Duke and Duchess were without their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, during this outing. The couple's attire was casual, reflecting the laid-back vibe of their vacation. Prince Harry was seen in navy shorts and a white T-shirt, paired with flip-flops. Meghan, on the other hand, looked effortlessly chic in an ivory maxi dress, complemented by a ribboned Panama hat. A source shared a light-hearted moment when Prince Harry accidentally bumped into a barrel outside the shop. The couple shared a giggle, and Meghan affectionately reached for his hand. The source emphasized that the couple looked "very happy to be having a holiday together." Their shopping destination, Faye, is an upmarket grocery store known for its exclusive selection of fresh seasonal organic products imported from France. This includes a range of items from vegetables to cheeses, sweets, seafood, and exclusive meat cuts. After their shopping spree, the couple took a leisurely stroll along a promenade adorned with the vibrant bougainvillea. Their day concluded as they boarded a luxury superyacht that sailed them to Canouan's north shore. Canouan Island, though small with a width of just three miles, is a haven for the elite. It boasts of several upscale resorts such as the Canouan Estate Resort and Villas, the Mandarin Oriental, and the Soho Beach House Canouan. The island has earned a reputation as a retreat for billionaires. Notable personalities like George Clooney, Robert Downey Jr., and Leonardo DiCaprio have also been charmed by the island's allure. It's speculated that the Sussexes' stay on the island was facilitated through Meghan's long-standing friendship with Markus Anderson, the Chief Membership Officer of Soho House. This Caribbean getaway comes on the heels of the couple's visit to New York. They were in the Big Apple on October 10 to attend the second annual World Mental Health Day Festival. The event marked their first-ever in-person "The Archewell Foundation Parents' Summit: Mental Wellness in a Digital Age." The summit highlighted the stories of parents who have lost children due to the perils of social media. The Duke and Duchess have been working closely with these parents over the past year, aiming to bring attention to the pressing issue. While the Biden administration has not confirmed a fourth stimulus, many states are taking matters in their own hands. (Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters/file photo) As the Israel-Palestine conflict enters its second week and Israel prepares for a ground assault on Hamas-controlled Gaza, U.S. President Joe Biden clarified the U.S. position in a media interview. Biden did not call for Israel to cease fire but cautioned against reoccupying Gaza. He confirmed that U.S. forces would not participate in the current conflict and urged Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon to stay out to prevent further escalation. On the day of Biden's interview, U.S. National Security Advisor Sullivan announced the Biden administration's plans to provide more substantial arms aid to both Israel and Ukraine. Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Blinken visited Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, and the UAE, attempting to persuade these nations to publicly condemn Hamas. However, he was unsuccessful. Meanwhile, Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia, have no intention of directly participating in the current conflict. Saudi Arabia has merely called for an end to the escalating conflict. From 1948 to 1982, Arab nations engaged in five Middle East wars with Israel, with Israel emerging victorious each time. Biden's Remarks On October 15th, CBS aired an hour-long interview with Biden regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict. In the interview, Biden did not mention a ceasefire. He believed Israel's actions against Hamas were justified and criticized Hamas for hiding behind civilians, stating the group must be "eliminated." The U.S., UK, Canada, and the EU have designated Hamas as a terrorist organization. However, he emphasized that Hamas and its extremists don't represent all Palestinians. He stated that reoccupying Gaza would be a "mistake" for Israel. Biden expressed the need for Palestinian authorities and a path to Palestinian statehood. After the third Middle East war in 1967, Israel occupied the Gaza Strip, which was under Egyptian control. Israel's occupation lasted 38 years, during which they established 21 Jewish settlements. However, Palestinians continuously resisted, leading to two significant uprisings in Gaza. By 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza but maintained control over its airspace and territorial waters, extending the separation barrier with Gaza. After Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, Israel intensified its blockade, severely restricting the movement of people and goods. The "two-state solution" for Palestinian statehood is internationally recognized. However, during Trump's presidency, the U.S. sidestepped this solution, unilaterally recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and allowing Israel to expand settlements in the West Bank. Reaffirming the U.S. commitment to the "two-state solution," Biden called for the establishment of humanitarian corridors in Gaza for the evacuation of children and women. He did not comment on whether Israel should completely blockade Gaza or launch a ground assault but expressed confidence that Israel would adhere to the "rules of war" and act as a democratic nation. Israeli media reported last week that the U.S. urged Israel to delay its ground assault on Gaza until a humanitarian corridor was established. On Friday, Israel asked 1.1 million people in northern Gaza to move south within 24 hours, seen as a prelude to a ground assault. The UN warned that evacuating 1.1 million people in such a short time would have catastrophic consequences. According to Middle Eastern media, several Gazan civilians were killed by Israeli airstrikes while moving from the north to the south of Gaza. On Sunday, the Israeli military agreed to a three-hour window, temporarily halting airstrikes on Gaza's main north-south road. As of the 15th, the conflict has resulted in over 4,100 deaths on both sides. In Gaza, the death toll has risen to 2,670, including over 700 children, with more than 9,600 injured. The number of UN workers killed in Gaza has reached 14. On the Israeli side, 1,400 have died, with 3,842 injured. While urging Israel to establish a humanitarian corridor, the U.S. currently has no intention of asking Israel to halt its military actions in Gaza. A recently released U.S. State Department memo instructed U.S. officials not to use terms like "de-escalate the conflict," "ceasefire," "stop the violence," and "return to calm." Last week, Secretary of State Blinken posted on platform X, stating that he encouraged Turkey to mediate a ceasefire and release hostages during a call with the Turkish Foreign Minister. He later removed the mention of mediating a ceasefire, reiterating Israel's right to defend itself, rescue hostages, and protect its citizens. As Israel's primary ally, the U.S. has not called for a halt to the fighting and has no intention of joining the battle. Biden made it clear that there's no need for U.S. forces to join the Israel-Palestine conflict, as Israel already has the best fighting force. He promised that the U.S. would provide Israel with "everything they want." Biden also sent a message to Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon, warning both not to join the fight and escalate the conflict. While accusing Iran of supporting Hamas and Hezbollah, Biden also stated that there's currently no evidence to suggest Iran had prior knowledge or was involved in Hamas's surprise attacks on Israel. Blinken's Unsuccessful Lobbying As Biden promised, the U.S. is preparing to increase aid to Israel. National Security Advisor Sullivan announced on the 15th that the U.S. government plans to provide a much higher amount of military aid to both Israel and Ukraine than the previously reported $2 billion. The new aid will assist Ukraine in defending its territory and help Israel counter "terrorist threats." This week, Biden will discuss the new aid for Ukraine and Israel with Congress. Due to the vacancy in the Speaker of the House position, the House cannot currently approve any new bills, including aid for Israel and Ukraine. After House Majority Whip Steve Scalise withdrew from the Speaker's race, Trump-backed House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan became the Republican candidate for Speaker. Senate Democratic leaders said they would quickly pass aid for Ukraine and Israel to put reverse pressure on the House. The Senate is controlled by the Democrats. However, House Republicans oppose bundling aid for Israel with aid for Ukraine, as many Republicans are reluctant to continue providing aid to Ukraine. In addition to increasing aid, the U.S. continues to flex its muscles, deterring other armed groups on behalf of Israel. Last weekend, the Pentagon ordered the "Eisenhower" carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean near Israel, the second carrier strike group sent to the region. Secretary of State Blinken visited five Middle Eastern countries, trying to persuade them to publicly condemn Hamas and prevent the Israel-Palestine conflict from spilling over. Before the current conflict, the U.S. had been brokering the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia, the Arab world's leader, and Israel. Saudi Arabia had set several conditions and recently showed willingness to advance negotiations with Israel. Talks between Saudi Arabia and Israel are also seen as a significant reason for Hamas's surprise attacks on Israel. After the outbreak of hostilities between Hamas and Israel, Saudi Arabia remained low-key and did not condemn Hamas. Last week, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke with Iranian President Raisi about the Israel-Palestine conflict, marking the first call between the two since Saudi Arabia and Iran announced reconciliation in March. Subsequently, sources revealed that Saudi Arabia had postponed normalization talks with Israel. According to U.S. media, when Blinken visited Saudi Arabia last weekend, the Saudi Crown Prince kept him waiting for several hours. The meeting initially scheduled for the evening was moved to the next morning. During the meeting, the Saudi Crown Prince called for an end to the military actions in Gaza, the lifting of the blockade on Gaza, and urged all parties not to escalate the conflict further. The Saudi Crown Prince also refused to publicly condemn Hamas. The Saudi Foreign Ministry condemned Israel's airstrikes in Gaza, accusing it of attacking "unarmed civilians." In his meeting with Blinken, Egyptian President Sisi expressed his dissatisfaction with Israel more clearly. He accused Israel of exceeding its right to self-defense in Gaza, turning it into "collective punishment" against the Gazan people. Sisi stated that the lack of progress on the "two-state solution" led to the eruption of Palestinian anger. He called for an immediate de-escalation of the conflict and the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza. While Middle Eastern countries did not condemn Hamas as Blinken had hoped, they also had no plans to send troops to support Hamas. Currently, only Hezbollah in Lebanon is providing military support to Hamas. The Houthi militia in Yemen warned that if the U.S. directly intervenes in the Israel-Palestine conflict, they would also join the fight. Egypt has always been a significant mediator in the Israel-Palestine issue. The country maintains relations with Israel, the official Palestinian representative PLO, and Hamas. Gaza was once under Egyptian control, and Egypt is the only country, besides Israel, that shares a border with Gaza. In Sunday's talks, Egypt agreed to cooperate with the U.S., Israel, and the UN to reopen the Rafah border crossing with Gaza. The Rafah crossing is Gaza's only land crossing that bypasses Israel, which was previously targeted by Israeli airstrikes. There are conflicting reports about the closure of the Rafah crossing. Earlier Egyptian media reported that Egypt had indefinitely closed the crossing. Later, the Egyptian government stated that the crossing was not closed, but Israeli airstrikes had rendered it inoperable. After the reopening of the Rafah crossing, foreign citizens, including Americans, will evacuate from Gaza to Egypt. The U.S. government has urged its citizens to head to the Rafah crossing, with an estimated 500 to 600 American citizens in Gaza. It's unclear whether the Rafah crossing will be open to ordinary Gazan refugees. Egypt fears that Israel will intentionally drive Gazans into Egypt, permanently relocating them to the Sinai Peninsula. As early as the 1950s, the UN considered relocating Gazans to the Sinai Peninsula with U.S. support. On Monday morning, Middle Eastern media reported that the Israeli Defense Forces and Hamas announced a temporary five-hour ceasefire in southern Gaza to allow foreigners to evacuate from the Rafah crossing and let international aid enter Gaza. However, by Monday afternoon, Israeli media reported that the day's ceasefire had not been realized, and no humanitarian aid had entered Gaza. Later on Monday, British media reported that the Rafah crossing had reopened, and the first batch of aid had entered Gaza. The Delhi High Court (HC) was notified on Monday that an interim settlement had been reached between Engine Lease Finance BV and low-cost airline SpiceJet , reported Moneycontrol. The engine lessor has agreed not to pursue the stay application against SpiceJet for the time being, said the report. According to the terms of the settlement, SpiceJet must pay over $2 million to Engine Lease Finance by January. SpiceJet has also committed to returning the engine, which is the bone of contention by January 25. However, the Engine lessor will not revoke the termination and is free to take SpiceJet to court if these undertakings are not met. On October 5, the Delhi High Court granted SpiceJet time till October 16 to settle the matter and noted that it would restrain the airline from using the engine if no settlement is reached. On September 27, Engine Lease Finance informed the court that it had terminated its lease with SpiceJet and that the airline had returned eight of its nine engines. According to the agreement, the airline cannot use the engine once the lease is terminated. The lessor sought the court's order to restrain SpiceJet. The judge issued a notice to SpiceJet, and the case is expected to come up for a hearing on October 6. Engine Lease Finance Corporation was represented by Senior advocate Rajshekar Rao and lawyer Anandh Venkatramani, who were briefed by Tuli & Co's partner Saket Satapathy. Engine Lease Finance is also a lessor for the grounded airline Go First. It is fighting Go First at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to be exempted from the insolvency process, as it terminated the leases before the order for the moratorium was passed. SpiceJet and lessors Four aircraft lessors have filed five insolvency petitions against SpiceJet in 2023 for non-payment of dues. Aircastle Ireland Ltd, Willis Lease Corporation, Wilmington and Celestial filed petitions, asking NCLT to admit SpiceJet to insolvency so they may recover their dues. While the NCLT has only issued a notice in Aircastle's first plea, it has been pressing the airline to reach an agreement with the lessors. In August, SpiceJet allotted over 48 million shares to nine aircraft lessors to clear outstanding dues worth 2.31 billion rupees (nearly $28 million), as the troubled airline looks to return to full operations. Also Read SpiceJet up 20% in 3 months despite analysts' skepticism; should you buy? SpiceJet insolvency plea maintainable, engine lessor WLFC tells NCLT NCLAT allows Go First lessor to conduct inspection, modifies NCLT order SC dismisses Spicejet's plea seeking extension to pay dues to Maran NCLT sends notice to SpiceJet on lessor's insolvency plea, seeks reply Zydus appoints Punit Patel as President, CEO for North American Operations OYO launches 60% festive discount for Indian tourists visiting Dubai Zydus Lifesciences appoints Punit Patel as president & CEO of Americas Recruitment scam: IT company TCS fires 16 employees, bars 6 vendors EU regulators delay approval of Novavax's revised Covid-19 vaccine The carrier's shareholders passed a number of resolutions, including a Rs 25 billion fundraising and a preferential issue of shares to lessors to clear outstanding dues. Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister TS Singh Deo said on Monday that the Election Commission of India (ECI) has given very little time for the first phase of Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh. "On November 7, the first phase of [Assembly] elections will take place. For these 20 seats, the ECI has given very little time. In this little time, the Congress will get to the activities of making all the preparations, filing nominations, seeing the Dussehra celebrations and other festivals, meeting with the people, and performing better in the elections," TS Singh Deo was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. Earlier on Sunday, the Congress announced the first list of 30 candidates for the Chhattisgarh Assembly elections. The first phase of polling for 20 seats in Chhattisgarh will take place on November 7, while the remaining 70 seats in Chhattisgarh will vote on November 17. The ruling party in the state has fielded Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel from Patan and Deputy Chief Minister TS Singh Deo from Ambikapur. Meanwhile, Congress leader Girish Devangan has been nominated to contest against BJP leader and former state chief minister Raman Singh in Rajnandgaon. Also Read: Will try to continue work we started five years ago: Chhattisgarh Dy CM Congress leader Taradhwaj Sahu will contest the polls from Durg (Rural), Ravindra Choubey from Nawagarh, Yashoda Verma from Khairagarh, Vikram Mandavi from Bijapur, Lakheshwar Baghel from Bastar, Deepak Baiji from Chitrakot and K Chavindra Karma Dantewada. The election in Chhattisgarh will be held in two phases, with the first round of voting on November 7 and the second round on November 17. The results will be declared on December 3. The Model Code of Conduct has come into force with the announcement of poll dates. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman S Somanath on Sunday revealed that NASA-JPL experts wanted India to share its space technology to the US after witnessing the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on the lunar surface, said PTI. Our country is a very powerful nation. The knowledge and intelligence level in the country is one of the best in the world," the ISRO chief added. The ISRO chief stated, circumstances are different and India is fit for building the best of devices and rockets and due to this PM Modi has opened the sector to private players. NASA experts want India to share its space technology: Statement issued ISRO Chief Somnath said, "In Chandrayaan-3, when we designed and developed the spacecraft, we invited experts from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA-JPL, who do all the rockets and most difficult missions." About six people from NASA-JPL came and we explained Chandrayaan-3 to them. That was before the soft landing. We explained how we designed it and how our engineers made it... and how we are going to land on the Moon's surface, and they just said, 'No comments. Everything is going to be good. The US space experts asked, 'Look at the scientific instruments, they are very cheap. Very easy to build and they are high technology. How did you build it? Why don't you sell this to America? So you can understand how the times have changed. We are capable of building the best equipment, best devices, and the best rockets in India. That is why our PM has opened up the space sector," he added. The most powerful tool is to dream, he said, adding, "Kalam sir told you that you should dream when you are awake and not in the night." Anybody have such dreams? Anybody want to go to the Moon? When we landed Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on the Moon, I declared to PM Modi that India is on the Moon. And he asked when are you going to send an Indian to the Moon. So, some of you sitting here will do that job. Some of you will design the rocket which will go to the Moon," he stated. ISRO chief S Somnath on Aditya-L1 mission Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO) Chief S Somnath on October 15 announced that the Aditya-L1 spacecraft, India's first solar mission will arrive at the Lagrange Point 1 (L1) by mid-January, revealed ANI. Also Read Chandrayaan-3: ISRO's Lander releases new images of moon from 70 km above Chandrayaan-3 set for launch: Here's a look at Isro's other lunar missions Chandrayaan-3 moon landing: A look inside Vikram lander and Pragyan rover India shoots for the Moon with Chandrayaan-3: 10 facts you must know In a first, Chandrayaan-3 to attempt soft-landing on moon's south pole BJP leader and former Punjab FM Manpreet Badal granted interim bail Praggnanandhaa to work with ISRO to promote science & technology: Somanath Govt amends aircraft rules; commercial pilot license to be valid for 10 yrs 'Rapes, murders & cannibalism': A timeline of Nithari serial killings Rs 63 cr worth drugs, liquor, cash seized after MCC enforced in Rajasthan This mission is supposed to arrive at its objective following a 110-day journey from Earth. Somath in a discussion with correspondents in Tamil Nadu's Madurai said, "Currently, it takes almost 110 days to travel from Earth to the L1 point. So by the middle of January, it will reach the L1 point." He added, "Then at that point, we will do the insertion into the Lagrange Point. That is called the halo orbit. It's a big orbit." The Aditya-L1 mission was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota on September 2, following the successful Chandrayaan-3 soft landing close to the South pole of the moon. The motive of the Aditya-L1 mission is to focus on the outer atmosphere of the Sun, which is a vast sphere of gas. ISRO chief also mentioned about his future plans The ISRO Chief also talked about the Gaganyaan mission during his discussion. He stated that the Test Vehicle-D1 mission is planned for October 21. He stated that, "the Gaganyaan program requires testing, demonstrating the crew escape system." The purpose of the Gaganyaan project is to prove ISROs human spaceflight capabilities by launching a crew of three members into orbit for a three-day mission and getting them back safely to earth by landing in Indian sea waters. Somnath further said that ISRO has plans for a few more launches in the upcoming months before January, that includes the Gaganyaan unmanned mission, GSLV, SSLV and a PSLV launch. The National Investigation Agency on Monday arrested a person in Assam in connection with a car bomb blast that took in Manipur in June, an official said. An improvised explosive device-laden vehicle parked on a bridge went off on June 21 in the Kwakta area of Manipur's Bishnupur district, resulting in injuries to three people. The bridge, along with a few houses nearby, was also damaged in the blast. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) said Md Noor Hussain was arrested on an intelligence-based joint operation with the Assam Police from Silchar, in Cachar district, in connection with the blast. The case was initially registered by the Manipur Police on June 21 at the PGCI police station in Moirang sub-division of Bishnupur and re-registered by the NIA two days later in Imphal, the official said. Investigation revealed the involvement of Hussain in the bomb blast, the official said, adding that further probe in the case is in progress. Oil futures fell on Monday on a report the U.S. and Venezuela could soon reach a deal to ease sanctions on Venezuela if a presidential election date is set, while traders see the Israel-Hamas conflict not affecting crude supplies in the short term. Brent futures were down 59 cents, or 0.67%, at $90.27 a barrel at 10:30 CDT (1532 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell by 0.29 cents, or 0.37%, to $87.30 a barrel. The U.S. and Venezuelan governments were getting ready to sign a pact in Barbados as early as on Tuesday to ease U.S. sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry in return for a competitive, monitored presidential election in Venezuela next year, according to media reports. Easing sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry could result in increased oil supply. Traders were optimistic the war between Israel and Palestinian Islamist Hamas would remain confined to Gaza. "It's more of the same on Monday in terms of the conflict in the Middle East being contained from affecting crude oil supplies," said John Kilduff, partner with Again Capital LLC. Both oil benchmarks had climbed nearly 6% on Friday, taking Brent 7.5% higher on the week and WTI up 5.9%. Israeli air strikes on Gaza intensified on Monday, after diplomatic efforts to arrange a ceasefire in southern Gaza failed. The White House said it hopes the Rafah crossing at the Gaza-Egypt border could open for a few hours on Monday to allow some people to leave ahead of Israel's suspected ground offensive. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned to Israel on Monday, where he discussed humanitarian aid with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Russia has also entered the diplomatic fray, with President Vladimir Putin set to hold talks with Iran, Israel, Palestinians, Syria and Egypt. Heightened tensions in the Middle East may have compounded other risk factors to push prices higher last week. The United States last week imposed the first sanctions on owners of tankers carrying Russian oil priced above the G7's price cap of $60 a barrel, an effort to close loopholes in the mechanism designed to deprive Moscow of revenue for its energy sales. Also Read Colombia hosts diplomats from 20 countries on Venezuela's political crisis Russia minister visits Venezuela, reviews ties, offers full support Food inflation still high worldwide; Venezuela, Lebanon worst hit China upgrades relationship with Venezuela to 'all weather' partnership Jindal Steel denies it agreed to invest in Venezuela's iron ore plant Bitcoin gives up gains after BlackRock denies ETF approval report Bofa Securities, Societe Generale offload Delta Corp shares worth Rs 56 cr Sberbank becomes first Russian bank to register with Sebi as FPI: NSDL Indian blue-chips slip on Middle-East conflict concerns, metals cap losses Delta Corp plunges 9% on Rs 6,384 crore notice for short payment of GST "The sudden decision on tightening up of sanctions on ship owners carrying Russian crude over the $60/barrel limit by the US started to niggle and so did the Russian/Saudi meeting concluded by President Putin stating that OPEC+ were achieving 'stability'," PVM analyst John Evans said on price rises at the end of last week. (Reporting by Robert Harvey in London, Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo and Emily Chow; Editing by Susan Fenton, David Evans, Deepa Babington and David Gregorio) Leaders from the European Union and the Western Balkans will hold a summit in Albania's capital on Monday to discuss the path to membership in the bloc for the six countries of the region. The main topics at the annual talks called the Berlin Process are integrating the Western Balkans into a single market and supporting their green and digital transformation. The nations in the region are Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. The senior EU officials attending the summit in Tirana are European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Charles Michel. They will be joined by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron. The six Western Balkan countries are at different stages of integration into the bloc. Serbia and Montenegro were the first Western Balkan countries to launch membership negotiations a few years ago, followed by Albania and Macedonia last year, while Bosnia and Kosovo have only begun the first step of the integration process. Russia's war in Ukraine has put integration of the Western Balkans into the EU at the top of the 27-nation bloc's agenda. The EU is trying to reinvigorate the whole enlargement process, which has been stalled since 2013, when the last country to become a member was Croatia. The EU had made it a requirement for Western Balkans to reform their economies and political institutions before joining the bloc. Von der Leyen mentioned a new growth plan for the Western Balkan countries that she will make public at the summit: opening new trade routes in seven specific areas of the EU's common market for the Balkan countries, which need to implement quick reforms that in turn will be accompanied by investment. Von der Leyen, speaking at a news conference on Sunday after meeting with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, gave no further details. A bitter dispute between Serbia and Kosovo, a former Serbian province that declared independence in 2008, remains a great concern for the EU before the summit. A recent shootout between masked Serb gunmen and Kosovo police that left four people dead and sent tensions soaring in the region seems to have suspended the EU-facilitated dialogue to normalise their ties. Also Read EU summons Kosovo, Serbia leaders for emergency talks amid conflict fears Serbia will increase gas supply to Hungary if Ukraine exits transit deal S Korea, 4 others elected non-permanent members of UN Security Council Another mass killing in Serbia after deadly school shooting, 8 killed USAID chief Power heads to Serbia, Kosovo in a bid to stabalise situation National Boss Day 2023: Date, history, significance and best wishes China ignores the guardrails as it pursues its own form of coercion Xi Jinping's $1 trillion 'project of the century' faces uncertain future Leaders from emerging economies visiting China for 'Belt and Road' forum Hamas' willingness to commit war crimes visible even from outer space: IDF EU officials have called on the Balkan countries to overcome regional conflicts and stand together as Russia wages war in Ukraine. The summit, which is being held for the first time in a non-EU member country, takes place at a pharaonic landmark, known as the Pyramid. It was built in 1988 as a posthumous museum for Albania's communist-era strongman, Enver Hoxha. Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have struck the Hezbollah "military infrastructure" in Lebanon as a retaliatory move to Sunday's fire, The Times of Israel reported. The attacks were in reaction to Sunday's fire from Lebanon that was directed against Israel. Notably, on Sunday morning, six anti-tank guided missiles were fired towards an Israeli town and military outposts near the Lebanon border, killing at least one civilian, according to The Times of Israel. Nine further rockets were also fired at Nahariya, a city in the north, and adjacent towns, however, there were no reports of any casualties. The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has been cautioned by the United States and its allies against escalating the conflict in Israel. This comes after the deployment of US military assets to prevent a potential widening of the war, multiple US officials aware of the matter told CNN. At this point, senior administration officials do not believe that Hezbollah is likely to join Hamas' war in force against Israel, and officials think the warnings are having an impact even though there has been some escalation on the border. A message has been sent to Hezbollah to stay out of the conflict through a number of channels, including the Lebanese government and the Hezbollah-allied Speaker of Lebanon's Parliament, Nabih Berri. At Israel's request, France has also conveyed to Hezbollah that they must stay out of the war and not escalate further or Israel will respond significantly, a source briefed on the talks said. Those discussions were also coordinated with the US, the source said. Hezbollah is a highly trained, well-armed and sophisticated military force that also receives Iranian support, so its entry into the conflict would mark a significant escalation. Meanwhile, US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin has ordered the deployment of a carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean in large part as a message to Hezbollah and its Iranian backers to refrain from entering the war. US security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters at the White House on Tuesday last week: "Let me be clear, we did not move the carrier for Hamas. We moved the carrier to send a clear message of deterrence to other states or non-state actors that might seek to widen this war." Also Read As Israel battles Hamas, all eyes are on Hezbollah, the wild card on north Israel-Gaza war: Death toll up as conflict expands to bordering nations WTO chief warns of 'big impact' on trade if Israel-Hamas conflict widens LIVE: Middle-East conflict raises fuel price concerns, says FM Sitharaman Air India suspends scheduled flights to Tel Aviv till Oct 18 amid conflict Six months of war in Sudan has killed 9,000 people, says UN aid chief Explosion rocks Takhar province in Afghanistan, investigation underway US stands by Israel today, tomorrow, and every day, says Blinken amid war Israeli rabbis work around the clock to count the dead from Hamas attack US shouldn't take in 'antisemitic' Palestinian refugees from Gaza: DeSantis According to the latest update, 1,300 people have been killed, with over 3600 injured, reported The Jerusalem Post. Israeli Defence Minister Gallant said that an estimated 150-200 hostages are being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, adding, "We are making every effort to locate them even in this great complexity." Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to meet this week with Chinese leaders in Beijing on a visit that underscores China's support for Moscow during its war in Ukraine. The two countries have forged an informal alliance against the United States and other democratic nations that is now complicated by the Israel-Hamas war. China has sought to balance its ties with Israel with its economic relations with Iran and Syria, which are strongly backed by Russia. Putin's visit is also a show of support for Chinese leader Xi Jinping's signature Belt and Road initiative to build infrastructure and expand China's overseas influence. Putin gave an interview to Chinese state media praising the massive but loosely linked BRI projects. Yes, we see that some people consider it an attempt by the People's Republic of China to put someone under its thumb, but we see otherwise, we just see desire for cooperation," he said in the interview with state broadcaster CCTV, according to a transcript released by the Kremlin on Monday. The Russian leader will be among the highest profile guests at a gathering marking the 10th anniversary of Xi's announcement of the BRI policy, which has laden countries such as Zambia and Sri Lanka with heavy debt after they signed contracts with Chinese companies to build roads, airports and other public works they could not otherwise afford. Putin's visit has not been officially confirmed, but Chinese officials have suggested he will arrive late Monday. Asked by reporters on Friday about a visit to China, Putin said it would encompass talks on Belt and Road-related projects, which he said Moscow wants to link with efforts by an economic alliance of ex-Soviet Union nations mostly located in Central Asia to achieve common development goals. He also downplayed the impact of China's economic influence in a region that Russia has long considered its backyard and where it has worked to maintain political and military clout. We don't have any contradictions here, on the contrary, there is a certain synergy, Putin said. Also Read Together we stand stronger: PM Modi as he leaves for US on 1st state visit Putin blasts Wagner traitors in speech as Prigozhin defends revolt PM Narendra Modi to visit US from June 21 to 25: What is a state visit? PM Modi in the US: Semiconductors to drones, here's what will be in focus No way Putin will be arrested if he attends Rio G20 meet: Brazil Prez Blinken voices confidence in Gaza aid delivery, Rafah crossing to reopen Pakistan: Parts of Karachi hit by power outage following heavy rains USS 'Eisenhower' Carrier strike group headed to Israel amid Hamas attack US: Man kills 6-yr-old Muslim boy in Israeli-Hamas war motivated hate crime Release hostages, allow humanitarian aid: UN chief appeals to Hamas, Israel Putin said he and Xi will also discuss growing economic and financial ties between Moscow and Beijing. Beijing and Moscow have financial ties in energy, high-tech and financial industries. China has also grown in importance as an export destination for Moscow. Alexander Gabuev, director of Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre, said that from China's view, "Russia is a safe neighbour that is friendly, that is a source of cheap raw materials, that's a support for Chinese initiatives on the global stage and that's also a source of military technologies, some of those that China doesn't have. For Russia, China is its lifeline, economic lifeline in its brutal repression against Ukraine, Gabuev told The Associated Press. It's the major market for Russian commodities, it's a country that provides its currency and payment system to settle Russia's trade with the outside world with China itself, but also with many other countries, and is also the major source of sophisticated technological imports, including dual-use goods that go into the Russian military machine. Gabuev said that while Moscow and Beijing will be unlikely to forge a full-fledged military alliance, their defense cooperation will grow. I don't expect that Russia and China will create a military alliance, Gabuev said. Both countries are self-sufficient in terms of security and they benefit from partnering, but neither really requires a security guarantee from the other. And they preach strategic autonomy. There will be no military alliance, but there will be closer military cooperation, more interoperability, more cooperation on projecting force together, including in places like the Arctic and more joint effort to develop a missile defence that makes the US nuclear planning and planning of the US and its allies in Asia and in Europe more complicated, he added. China and the former Soviet Union were Cold War rivals for influence among left-leaning states, but have since partnered in the economic, military and diplomatic spheres. Just weeks before Russia's invasion of Ukraine last February, Putin met with Xi in Beijing and the sides signed an agreement pledging a no-limits relationship. Beijing's attempts to present itself as a neutral peace broker in Russia's war on Ukraine have been widely dismissed by the international community. Xi visited Moscow in March as part of a flurry of exchanges between the countries. China has condemned international sanctions imposed on Russia, but hasn't directly addressed an arrest warrant issued for Putin by the International Criminal Court on charges of alleged involvement in the abductions of thousands of children from Ukraine. At a time when Israel is battling its toughest war against Hamas, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has reiterated that the US has Israel's back, no matter what. Calling the ongoing situation in Israel a difficult and very tenuous time for the region in the wake of the slaughter perpetrated by Hamas, Blinken, in his remarks to the press at Cairo airport, said that Israel has the right to defend itself against these attacks from Hamas and to try to do what it can to ensure this never happens again. "We came here with four key objectives: to make clear that the United States stands with Israel; to prevent the conflict from spreading to other places; to work on securing the release of hostages, including American citizens; and to address the humanitarian crisis that exists in Gaza. We started, as you know, in Israel. And it was important to make it very clear that the United States has Israel's back. We will stand with it today, tomorrow, and every day, and we're doing that in word and also in deed," Blinken said. Highlighting his brief interaction with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his recent visit, Blinken told reporters there is a not of assistance "moving forward." "I spent time with Prime Minister Netanyahu to go through the needs that Israel may have to make sure it can effectively defend itself, and we've already seen a lot of that assistance moving forward, and that's a conversation that'll continue," he said, according to US State Department release. "Israel has the right - indeed it has the obligation - to defend itself against these attacks from Hamas, and to try to do what it can to make sure that this never happens again. As I said in Tel Aviv, as President Biden has said, the way that Israel does this matters. It needs to do it in a way that affirms the shared values that we have for human life and human dignity, taking every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians," he added. On his recent visits to Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and now Egypt, the US State Secretary said that the purpose of "visit to six countries in the region" was to see how "our partners" are seeing the crisis. "After we left Israel, we've gone now to - I think I've lost track, but to six countries in the region: Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, now here in Egypt. And the purpose of seeing all of our partners was first and foremost to listen to them, to hear how they're seeing this crisis, and to look at what we can do together to deal with many of the concerns that it's raised," Blinken said. 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 conflict: All you need to know about this surprise war Israel-Palestine war: Here's a look at the history of the conflict Israel-Hamas war: Iran's warning, support from world leaders, and more Israeli rabbis work around the clock to count the dead from Hamas attack US shouldn't take in 'antisemitic' Palestinian refugees from Gaza: DeSantis Israel army will soon enter Gaza to win, will attack everywhere: IDF chief Chinese President Xi's Silicon Valley of the East faces slowdown woes Will intervene if Israel launches ground offensive: Iran foreign minister As per The Times of Israel. Blinken, who visited Israel on Thursday before heading to Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt, was slated to return to Israel on Monday for further meetings as part of his diplomatic blitz surrounding the Israel-Gaza war. According to the latest update, 1,300 people have been killed, with over 3,600 injured, reported The Jerusalem Post. Israeli Defence Minister Gallant said that the estimate 150-200 hostages are being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, adding, "We are making every effort to locate them even in this great complexity."According to the latest update, 1,300 people have been killed, with over 3,600 injured, reported The Jerusalem Post. Israeli Defence Minister Gallant said that the estimated 150-200 hostages are being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, adding, "We are making every effort to locate them even in this great complexity. Today, Gartner Digital Markets, the worlds largest software and services marketplace, released its 2024 Global Tech Trends Survey at SaaStock Dublin. The survey of over 3,400 global software buyers revealed a staggering 60% experienced regret after their purchase, underscoring the challenges for businesses making technology investments. Nearly a quarter of regretful buyers (24%) canceled their contract and a third changed software vendors. To prevent financial losses, its crucial for vendors to immediately respond to requests and provide enhanced implementation assistancemeasures that 49% and 46% of software buyers say would alleviate their regret, respectively. Software buying isnt just a transaction; its a strategic choice aligning with business objectives, says Thibaut de Lataillade, Global Vice President of Product, Gartner Digital Markets. The large number of buyers rethinking their software decisions indicates a market gap, and were aiming to bridge this gap with our insights to help businesses grow. Mitigating regret before it becomes churn is essential. To do this, companies must build credibility with verified reviews, empower sales teams and buyers, identify warning signs of potential regret during the sales process, and prioritize post-sales communication. SaaS companies arent just selling a product, theyre selling a customer experience. De Lataillade will present his keynote, Why Software Buyers Experience Regret: Your Key to Maximizing Acquisition and Avoiding Churn, on October 18 at 14:40 IST at the SaaStock Scale Stage. The session will expand on new buyer intent data and software buying behavior insights to help SaaS companies understand their customers. Software vendors looking to reach their customers can take advantage of the Gartner Digital Markets platform which offers access to more than 100 million annual in-market buyers, exclusive buyer insights, and social proof content, including verified user reviews. Read the ebook to find out why software buyers experience regret and how to combat it. For tools and additional resources, visit Gartner Digital Markets. About Gartner Digital Markets Gartner Digital Markets is the worlds largest software and services marketplace. More than 100 million people visit Capterra, Software Advice, GetApp, and UpCity across over 70 localized sites every year. Thousands of B2B companies work with Gartner Digital Markets to build their brand, capture buyer demand, and grow their business. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231016105792/en/ P&G News Summary P&G Health has joined hands with the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP), for Sankalp: Sampoorna Swasthya (SSS) a school-based holistic healthcare initiative for school going children, across India. Spearheaded by IAP, this special initiative aims to cover 400 schools in over one year, reaching out to school children, teachers, educators and parents through training, capacity building and monitoring. Israels decades of aggression against the Palestinian people reached a tipping point in the past week, sparking an almighty blowback. As could have been expected, this was met with brutal reprisals by Israel, which has been bombing Gaza savagely and indiscriminately for almost a week. As it prepares for a likely ground invasion of Gaza, Israel has ordered one million people to flee southan impossible task, as there is nowhere in the worlds largest open-air prison to go. [Originally published at socialistrevolution.org] This is the consequence of decades of oppression and humiliation of the Palestinian people by Israeli occupiers. All communists and anyone who supports the oppressed and exploited must stand in firm defense of Gaza and the cause of the Palestinians. But the capitalist politicians and media in this country would like us to believe a very different story. The barrage of war propaganda since last Friday has been overwhelming. The present generation of young communists has possibly never before witnessed this scale of mobilization to control public opinion. Capitalist media outlets from right to left are frantically at work, seeking to deceive, manipulate, and confuse Americans about the real nature of this war. As Malcolm X aptly put it, If youre not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing. The ruling class is lying through its teeth Joe Biden has called the attack on Israel an act of pure, unadulterated evil, and would like us to believe that Hamass attack was completely unprovoked. But let us look at some of the facts, and discern whether Biden and his class have the right to make such a statement. The broader context is that Palestinians have endured over 75 years of unending oppression, exploitation, and humiliation. The balance of forces between Israel and Palestine is enormously unequal, both in military terms and in living conditions, going back many decades. On the one hand, there is the most advanced military power in the region, which has been bankrolled by US imperialism for decades, and on the other, an impoverished and oppressed people who have been denied a homeland and denied basic democratic rights for generations. Between 2008 and September of this year, at least 6,407 Palestinians were killed as a direct result of this conflict, as opposed to 308 in Israel, a ratio of nearly 21 to 1. During this same period, some 152,560 Palestinians were injured, compared to 6,307 Israelis, a ratio of 24 to 1. Palestinians cannot move freely, and are unable to gain Israeli citizenship, even through marriage. Israel controls 85% of the water sources used by Palestinans, whose access to this vital resource is far below the UN recommended level. On the other side of the divide, Israelis consume at least four times as much water as the Palestinians. To add an abhorrent insult to injury, a video released in July showed Israeli forces literally pouring concrete into a Palestinian well. Israeli army personnel have been filmed pouring cement into a water source which supplies Palestinians near the city of Hebron pic.twitter.com/Ol9vBpNhIt Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) July 27, 2023 The Israeli state is now indiscriminately killing hundreds of Palestinians. Hospitals, schools, mosques, families, and residential apartment buildings are being bombed without any warning. In one case, Palestinians in Beit Hanoun were instructed by Israeli forces to leave their homes and head for the city center, which was then deliberately targeted hours later. I witnessed the unprecedented airstrikes that caused this destruction. This neighborhood is 300 meters away from my house, pic.twitter.com/vYOPb1t9ps Rushdi Abualouf (@Rushdibbc) October 12, 2023 This bombing campaign includes the use of white phosphorus in one of the worlds most densely populated urban areas, which is guaranteed to cause brutal civilian injuries and death. As a Human Rights Watch official explained, Any time that white phosphorus is used in crowded civilian areas, it poses a high risk of excruciating burns and lifelong suffering, explaining that the chemical can burn people, thermally and chemically, down to the bone. Israel, which has a blockade on Gaza, has shut off water, electricity, and gas to all of Gazas 2.3 million men, women, and children, with thousands of people at risk of perishing in the coming days as a consequence. The Israeli Defense Minister has said this was appropriate because Israel is fighting human animals. Meanwhile, Netanyahu demanded that the people of Gaza leave nowas if they have anywhere to go. Some Gazans who still have fuel for electricity-producing generators, have posted videos online showing the scenes of destruction all around them: These are the actions of the enlightened democracy and ally of the United States which Biden, the Democrats, and the Republicans are drumming up support for. Never mind that in this democracy, Arab Israelis are second-class citizens, and that as of 2018, the Jewish nature of the Israeli nation-state has been written into the countrys Basic Law. If there wasnt an Israel, the United States would have to invent an Israel Biden has famously said, on several occasions, that if there werent already an Israel, the United States would have to invent an Israel. In a recent instance of this line, which he has said hed repeat 5,000 times if needed, he explained his reasoning. It is because of the simply unbreakable friendship, based on shared principles, shared ideas, and shared values. This goes along with the classic talking point that Israel is the only democracy in the region, and so on and so forth. In 1986, he was a bit more even blunt about the real foundation of this special relationship, saying the US needs Israel: to protect her interests in the region. In other words, the US has long funded Israeli imperialism, not due to any shared democratic values, but purely as a bulwark for US imperialist interests in the Middle East. That is the real reason the US is so friendly with Israel. The US capitalists and their state have had no problem engaging in similarly friendly relations with not-so-democratic regimes in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Indonesia, to name just a few. They had no issue funding the Afghan mujahideen groups which later developed into the Taliban. It certainly has nothing to do with American bourgeois democracy being a friend of the Jewish people. Lets not forget that hundreds of thousands of Jews fleeing persecution in Hitlers Europe were callously denied entry into the US due to its racist, antisemitic immigration lawsand that many of them ended up in Nazi concentration camps. As they decry the brutality of Hamas and the scale of the civilian deaths in Israel, the cynicism and dishonesty coming from the mouthpieces of US imperialism defies words. The US ruling class had no problem dropping nuclear weapons on hundreds of thousands of innocent Japanese civilians at the end of World War II, although the country was already on its knees. Nor did it balk at issuing orders to kill anything that moves during the Vietnam War, with hundreds of thousands of civilians maimed, tortured, and killed by US forces. It directly backed the 1953 coup in Iran, as well as the brutal Pinochet regime in Chile, which overthrew the democratically elected socialist government of Salvador Allende, and subsequently murdered thousands of people. And let us just look at the more recent history of US foreign policy. The Watson Institute at Brown University, which studies the cost of war, explains: The US post-9/11 wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, and Pakistan have taken a tremendous human toll on those countries. As of September 2021, an estimated 432,093 civilians in these countries have died violent deaths as a result of the wars. As of May 2023, an estimated 3.63.8 million people have died indirectly in post-9/11 war zones. The total death toll in these war zones could be at least 4.54.7 million and counting, though the precise mortality figure remains unknown. Civilian deaths have also resulted from US post-9/11 military operations in Somalia and other countries. Furthermore, US imperialism sends billions of dollars in aid to Israel every year, has expedited the transfer of additional ammunition and other military supplies for use in its pending invasion of Gaza, and has sent its most advanced aircraft carrier group to operate off the coast of Gaza. Joe Biden and his bipartisan collaborators are, therefore, the very last people on earth who have the right to raise a hue and cry over evil, violence, and brutality. Compare their cynical denunciations of the Hamas attack with the White Houses sympathetic response to Israels order for the evacuation of northern Gaza. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby described the appalling crime as a tall order, and said, we understand what theyre trying to do. The blood of the tens of thousands of Palestinians killed by Israel and the countless more who will die in the weeks to come is on their hands. Failure of the left Significantly, despite years of anti-Palestine propaganda, more and more US workers and youth have come to support the Palestinian cause. TIME reported this summer that sympathy toward Palestinians among US adults is at a new high of 31%, while the proportion not favoring either side is at a new low of 15%. It observed the remarkable shift from only a decade ago, when sympathy toward Palestinians stood at just 12%. During that same period, sympathy toward Israelis has declined from 64% to 54%. Among politicians and the mainstream media, of course, anyone who expresses sympathy with the plight of the Palestinians is considered antisemitic. Class-conscious workers and youth can only shrug their shoulders at this ridiculous slander. It is clear that being anti-Zionist, anti-Israeli state, anti-imperialist, and anti-occupation is not the same as being antisemitic, and that this accusation is used as a fig leaf to justify the very real oppression suffered by the Palestinian people. Millions around the world, including increasing numbers of Jewish youth, are against Netanyahu and his reactionary cronies, not because they are Jewish, but because they are imperialist oppressors and exploiters. Unfortunately, what passes for the left in this country has taken no principled approach whatsoever on this question. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders have more or less fallen in line with their capitalist Democratic Party, condemning the attack, and providing no explanation whatsoever of the long-simmering origins of the present conflict. In a battle between a nationally oppressed David and an imperialist Goliath, we stand with those using slingshots / Image: Socialist Revolution Sanders, who has endorsed the US support for Israel, called on the international community to focus on reducing sufferingas if such pious wishes have had any impact whatsoever in the decades leading up to this. At the same time, he insists on restraint from Israeli forces. This is like insisting that a tiger eat only lettuce. More disgustingly, Ocasio-Cortez, who has impotently called for a cease-fire, even smeared a pro-Palestianian rights rally in New York City as an example of hatred and antisemitism. In this, she is a direct participant in a pro-imperialist slander campaign against the cause of the Palestinians, placing her firmly in the camp of reaction. Worldwide intifada until victory! In a battle between a nationally oppressed David and an imperialist Goliath, we stand with those using slingshotswhile understanding that true liberation can only come from a generalized revolutionary conflagration that overthrows the putrid capitalist system across the region and the world, including Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabiaand the United States. This is why communists must study these events closely, publicize the horrific facts about the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and understand the class dynamics of the unfolding conflict in Palestine. We must firmly explain that US imperialism and the Israeli imperialism it props up are 100% responsible for the present crisis in the region. We must explain that Democrats and Republicans alike are equally to blame. And if we want the US government to cut all ties with the Israeli state, we must fight for the overthrow of US capitalism and the establishment of a workers government, which alone can make this a reality. The rapidly radicalizing workers and youth of the US deserve a principled, class-struggle leadership that can stand firm in the face of these attacks and defend the cause of the Palestinians. Such a leadership will not drop from the sky, but must be built now. That is the task which the comrades of the International Marxist Tendency have set for ourselves. Do you enjoy staying up to date on the latest fashion trends? Do you believe you have an eye for style and the ability to make yourself/others appear good? Do you have a creative and innovative streak? If you answered "YES!" to the above questions, a career in fashion may be the ideal path for you to take. A career in fashion necessitates a blend of creativity, style, uniqueness, and aesthetic sensitivities, and if you have the appropriate combination, this immensely glamorous sector awaits. A desire for following current trends and staying up to speed on the latest in apparel, accessories, and brands is also required to make it big. So, if you are a young fashion fan looking for employment opportunities in the fashion sector, here is a spectacular list of fashion and style related jobs that will undoubtedly make you go WOW! Let's look at them one by one: 1. Fashion Design There are highly talented fashion designers out there, ranging from historical pioneers like Ritu Kumar, Manish Malhotra, and Sabyasachi to budding stars like Kanika Goyal and Priyanka Ella Lorena Lama. Many females have had their hearts touched by the clothing they designed. What if you could be one as well? Fashion designers understand their consumers' wants and develop appealing clothing, apparel, and accessories in accordance with current fashion trends and market conditions. To be a successful designer, you must have remarkable creative talent, artistic skills, and design flair. Top Fashion Design Institutes: National Institute of Fashion Technology, Multiple Locations; Srishti Institute of Art, Design, and Technology, Bengaluru; Symbiosis Institute of Design, Pune; Indian School of Design and Innovation, Mumbai; MAEER's MIT Institute of Design, Pune, etc. Fashion Design Career Opportunities: Some designers work with or under well-known fashion designers, while others run their own fashion labels. Working at export houses, manufacturing units, branded fashion showrooms, boutiques, and studios are additional options. 2. Textile & Apparel Design Textiles are several sorts of textiles or woven fabrics used to manufacture clothing, such as tie-and-dye fabrics, wool, phulkari, khadi, and so on. Patterns and designs for knit, woven, and printed materials are created by textile and apparel designers. They are also involved in other processes such as yarn production, weaving, knitting, dyeing, finishing, and so on. There is a distinction to be made between Fashion and Textile Designers. Textile Designers make materials, whilst Fashion Designers utilise these fabrics to create new clothing designs. Successful textile designers have a creative vision for how a final textile will look and are knowledgeable about the technical aspects of production as well as the qualities of fibre, yarn, and dyes. Top Textile and Apparel Design Institutes: Multiple locations of the National Institute of Design; Multiple locations of the National Institute of Fashion Technology; and Bangalore's Srishti Institute of Art, Design, and Technology. Career Opportunities in Textile & Apparel Design: You may be employed at textile firms, textile mills, shops, garment manufacturing companies, fashion houses, and textile studios as part of your work. After earning a degree in this discipline, you can work in the industry as a colour specialist, focusing on the separation of colours and dyes used in design. 3. Accessory Design Whether you're pairing a pair of shoes with your clothing or creating an entirely new appearance for a party, accessories may transform you into a stunning woman. Footwear, scarves, wallets, belts, hats, sunglasses, neckpieces, and other accessories are examples of fashion accessories. As an accessory designer, you get to use your imagination while keeping current trends in mind. These designs are developed by hand or with design software such as CAD. Top Accessory Design Institutes include: National Institute of Fashion Technology, Multiple Locations; National Institute of Design (Multiple Locations), Symbiosis Institute of Design, Pune; National Institute of Jewelry Design, Ahmedabad, and more. Opportunities in Accessory Design: You can work in the apparel manufacturing industry or start your own accessory brand. You can even work in the film and television industries, designing costumes, clothing, and accessories for films and television shows. 4. Jewellery Design Tanishq, Kalyan Jewellers, Malabar Gold and Diamonds, and other top-tier jewellery businesses have magnificent jewellery items and diamonds in their stores. Whatever the circumstance, jewellery reflects an unrivalled and everlasting sense of sumptuous splendour. Designers of jewellery are responsible for such amazing designs. They create various jewellery pieces such as necklace sets, chokers, rings, bangles, maang tikkas, and so on by analysing current trends and working with clients' preferences. Top Jewellery Design Institutes: Faculty of Design, Manipal University, Jaipur; ARCH College of Design and Business, Jaipur; Vogue Institute of Fashion Technology, Bangalore; National Institute of Jewellery, Ahmedabad; Indian Institute of Gems & Jewellery, New Delhi Career Opportunities in Jewellery Design: You can use your expertise to produce fresh and unique designs by working with jewellery makers and showrooms. 5. Fashion Technology This field demands you to combine your technological talents with your artistic side. This is an excellent field for those with a scientific background. Fashion technologists work on the design, production, and quality control of clothes. While fashion designers create new clothing from existing materials, fashion technologists work on the manufacturing process that results in the manufacture of fabrics and clothes. They make certain that the clothing is produced in the most cost-effective and efficient manner possible while maintaining high quality standards. Top Fashion Technology Institutes: National Institute of Fashion Technology, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, and Mumbai. Career Opportunities in Fashion Technology: Fashion technologists work in garment manufacturing units, fashion businesses, and film and television production units. Brands and fashion designers receive consultation from them. Experienced fashion technologists can work as faculty members at fashion institutes. 6. Luxury Brand Management Luxury Brand Managers employ marketing and business talents to oversee top-tier luxury brands such as Chanel, Michael Kors, Dior, and others. As a luxury brand manager, you may be involved in a variety of aspects related to brand management, such as performing market research for products, managing marketing campaigns and branding, planning multimedia advertising campaigns, working with brand ambassadors, and so on. Building strong networks with individuals and travelling throughout the world are important aspects of Luxury Brand Management. Top Luxury Brand Management Institutes include the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad, the SP Jain School of Global Management in Mumbai, and the Mudra Institute of Communication and Advertising (MICA) in Ahmedabad. Please keep in mind that a luxury brand management degree can be undertaken at the post-graduate level. Luxury Brand Management Career Opportunities: For luxury brands, you can work in positions such as Brand Manager, Fashion Goods Product Manager, Fashion Retail Manager, Fashion Public Relations Specialist, Marketing and Visual Merchandising Manager. 7. Fashion Business Management This is the ideal subject for those who enjoy fashion as well as business and marketing. Managers of fashion firms and brands perform extensive research and analysis of the latest fashion and industry trends in order to forecast product success among consumers. As a Fashion Business Manager, you must maintain the product's brand value through media and commercials, establish novel marketing strategies, promote items through visual marketing campaigns, manage product and merchandise placement in stores to market products, and so on. With the increased usage of social media in business, you may also strive to advertise fashion products abroad using social media platforms. Top Fashion Business Management Institutes: National Institute of Fashion Technology, Multiple Locations; Indian School of Design and Innovation (ISDI), Mumbai; MIT Institute of Design, Pune, and more. A Fashion Business Management programme can be undertaken at the post-graduate level. Opportunities in Fashion Business Management include working with apparel/fashion brands, designer shops, and retail chain stores. Some of the most popular job titles include Fashion Product Manager, Fashion Brand Manager, Fashion Marketing Manager, Public Relations Manager, Visual Merchandiser, Fashion Advertising Agent, Fashion Promotion Specialist, and so on. 8. Image Consulting/Personal Styling Image consultants are stylists that advise people on their personal style and wardrobe. As an image consultant, you work on your client's overall "image" to produce an appealing appearance. This goes beyond clothes and accessories; you'll work on their body language, posture, etiquettes, and provide recommendations based on their lifestyle, body type, skin colour, and so on. You can achieve great in this position if you are a die-hard fashionista with good communication abilities. Top Image Consulting Institutes: Image Consulting Business Institute, Multiple Locations, Sterling Style Academy, Mumbai; First Impression, Multiple Locations, and so on. Career Opportunities in Image Consulting: Image consultants work for public companies, private companies, and corporations to improve employees' corporate image, professional etiquettes, and procedure. You can also work with image consultancy firms or independently to supply individual clients with online/offline services. 9. Fashion Blogging We've all heard of and seen fashion bloggers and influencers like Kritika Khurana, Anmol Bhatia, Aashna Shroff, Ankita Rana Gill, and others. Fashion bloggers share their clothing, accessories, and style via blogs, Vlogs, Instagram posts, YouTube videos, and other platforms. They also share their fashion skills and give tips to their viewers on how to appear better and style their garments. Fashion blogging is an excellent forum for fashion enthusiasts who want to share their opinions with the rest of the world. You can write about the current fashion trends, as well as endorse and review new products. You can also collaborate with fashion designers and shops to establish a strong brand identity and aid with media coverage of new product launches. Some of the Best Institutes for Fashion Blogging: Fashion blogging does not require any official education or degree, though a background in fashion is advantageous. Additionally, short-term courses and certificates in Blogging, Fashion Communication, and blogging fundamentals such as WordPress, SEO, and so on from platforms such as Coursera, Udemy, and so on might be beneficial. Opportunities in Fashion Blogging: As a fashion blogger, you can start writing and expressing your thoughts on fashion through blogs by creating your own blog or becoming an influencer on social media platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. In addition, you can work as a paid partner with top brands or on the marketing of certain items or projects. 10. Fashion Photography If you enjoy photography, you can combine it with your love in fashion and work as a Fashion Photographer. Fashion photographers use images to present apparel, accessories, jewellery, and other fashion things in an appealing manner. Their goal is to capture the soul of the apparel so that customers are drawn to try/buy it. Top Fashion Photography Institutes: National Institute of Photography, Mumbai; Symbiosis School of Photography, Pune; and Delhi College of Photography, Delhi. Career Opportunities in Fashion Photography: Fashion publications (such as Vogue India, Femina, etc.), fashion houses (such as Manish Malhotra, Ritu Kumar, etc.), catalogues, and advertising agencies frequently use fashion photographers. Fashion photographers are required by all big firms to create portfolios of their product lines and display them in an appealing manner. Fashion photographers are also hired by fashion designers to photograph models on the runway wearing their current collection. You may also have the opportunity to work with several Bollywood and Hollywood superstars as a fashion photographer. The fashion industry is extremely profitable because people today are concerned about their appearance and are willing to pay money to look beautiful. If you want to transform your passion into a job, any of the vocations described above can provide you with just what you need! While the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) produce some of India's highest-paid graduates, Aradhya Tripathi, a resident of Gothwa village in Uttar Pradesh and a graduate of the Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology (MMMUT), is rewriting the story. She received a hefty package worth Rs 52 lakh from Google, the highest ever granted to an MMMUT alumna. FROM A VILLAGE TO GOOGLE Aradhya, the daughter of an advocate father and a housewife mother, excelled academically from a young age. She joined MMMUT after completing her secondary education at St. Joseph's School to pursue a BTech in computer engineering. She has subsequently made her impact not only on the institution, but on the whole tech world, gaining a highly sought-after position as a software development engineer at Google. A JOURNEY CRAFTED WITH DETERMINATION AND SKILLS Aradhya worked as a software engineer at Scaler in 2023. Her internship at the company was a success, so much so that upon conclusion of her internship, Scaler gave her a package of Rs 32 lakh-an amazing sum, but one that would soon be overshadowed by Google's massive offer. Aradhya has gained vast experience in handling scalable products and live production traffic while working in competitive situations through her employment and internships. On LinkedIn, she stated, "I have a firm grasp and experience with several tech stacks such as React.JS, React Redux, NextJs, Typescript, NodeJs, MongoDb, ExpressJS, and SCSS. I am very interested in Data Structures and Algorithms and have answered over 1000 questions on several coding sites with a high rating." Aradhya Tripathi's narrative exemplifies tenacity, hard effort, and sheer talent that is unconstrained by institutional prominence or societal expectations. She has demonstrated that it is not only about the college you attend, but also about what you bring to the table. The Karnataka High Court granted the state government permission on Thursday to employ 13,352 teachers for classes 6 to 8, whose names were announced in a list on March 8, 2023. Candidates who were chosen based on the orders of a single-judge panel on January 30, 2023, will be postponed till the Karnataka State Administrative Tribunal (KSAT) rules on their appeal to the selection procedure, it added. The process of appointing 15,000 teachers began in February 2022 with a letter from the Deputy Director of Public Instructions (DDPI). On November 18, 2022, the government announced the provisional 1:1 list. Hundreds of Other Backward Caste (OBC) married female applicants had addressed the single judge, claiming that they had been marked as General Merit candidates despite providing income and caste certificates for their dads rather than their spouses. The state insisted that the rules only allowed certifications from married women's husbands to be accepted. However, the solitary court directed that the income and caste certifications of these candidates' husbands be reviewed. Applicants who did not make the new list of 13,352 selected applicants filed appeals with the Division Bench. However, the Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice MGS Kamal ruled on Thursday that the single-judge bench lacked jurisdiction to hear the petitions in the first place. The list has now been compiled by the authorities in accordance with the single-judge decision. However, ''considering the imminent requirement of 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 lack of teachers,'' the bench said. The appointment of 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 challenge,'' it said. The prior list, released on November 18, 2022, was overturned by a single-judge court led by Justice M Naga Prasanna. 451 previously selected candidates were left off the revised list, which was announced on March 8, 2023. Concerning these candidates, the division bench stated, ''it is clarified that if 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 among the candidates who have been excluded on merits and the candidates who have submitted certificates in the prescribed form.'' With some personnel changes over at CAMPIs secretariat committee, it took us a while to get the September 2023 new car sales breakdown for ... Issue 43 of In Defence of Marxism magazine focuses on the struggle for communism, and is intended to provide a number of important lessons from the history of the Soviet Union and the failed German Revolution. This, we hope, will serve to educate a new generation of communists, who are entering into the struggle today. IDoM 43 is available to order now! The Are you a communist? campaign of the International Marxist Tendency is producing remarkable results everywhere. Our success is noted by our friends, who are naturally delighted. It is equally noted by our enemies, whose displeasure is greatly increased because they simply cannot understand it. This incomprehension is not hard to explain. These people have absolutely no understanding of the nature of the period through which we are passing and consequently are in a profound crisis. The reformists and the Stalinists are in crisis. And they are united in their hopeless confusion by the myriad of sects that swarm around the periphery of the labour movement. It is precisely their ideological bankruptcy that has landed the whole of the self-styled realists of the Left in a mess. Their contempt for theory renders them totally incapable of understanding the real processes at work in society and of reacting to them effectively. Consequently, they have drawn the most pessimistic conclusions from the present situation. In all this lamentable spectacle of defeatism, scepticism and demoralisation, the International Marxist Tendency stands out as an organisation that bases itself firmly on Marxism and Leninism, and that pays serious attention to theory. Our strength lies in the power of our ideas. Lenin stressed that without revolutionary theory the building of a revolutionary organisation is impossible. This idea is one thousand percent correct. A genuinely revolutionary tendency is one that stands shoulder to shoulder with the most advanced elements of the workers and youth. It shares their experiences of defeats as well as victories. In this, we are no different to any other consistent class fighter. Only in one respect do we differ from all other tendencies: in the clarity of our programme and perspectives; our ability to understand the nature of the stage through which we are passing, and to accurately foresee the future line of march. Marx and Engels explained this very clearly and succinctly in the founding document of our movement, The Communist Manifesto. What is a Communist? Communists understand that without the day-to-day struggle for advances under capitalism the socialist revolution would be impossible / Image: public domain In the section Proletarians and Communists, we read the following: In what relation do the Communists stand to the proletarians as a whole? Communists do not form a separate party opposed to the other working-class parties. They have no interests separate and apart from those of the proletariat as a whole. They do not set up any sectarian principles of their own, by which to shape and mould the proletarian movement. The Communists are distinguished from the other working-class parties by this only: 1. In the national struggles of the proletarians of the different countries, they point out and bring to the front the common interests of the entire proletariat, independently of all nationality. 2. In the various stages of development which the struggle of the working class against the bourgeoisie has to pass through, they always and everywhere represent the interests of the movement as a whole. The Communists, therefore, are on the one hand, practically, the most advanced and resolute section of the working-class parties of every country, that section which pushes forward all others; on the other hand, theoretically, they have over the great mass of the proletariat the advantage of clearly understanding the line of march, the conditions, and the ultimate general results of the proletarian movement. Revolutionaries and reformists Communists understand that without the day-to-day struggle for advances under capitalism the socialist revolution would be impossible. The working class in general can only learn from the experience of the class struggle. It is our duty to play the most active role in that struggle and to help the workers to draw revolutionary conclusions from it, since, ultimately, the complete realisation of the fight for a better life can only be achieved through the seizure of power by the working class and the overthrow of the dictatorship of the banks and monopolies. As revolutionaries, we stand opposed to reformism. But our difference with the reformists is not that they stand for reforms and we do not. Quite the contrary. We will fight for any reform that tends to improve the lot of the working class. Our criticism of the reformists is precisely that they do not carry on a consistent fight for the workers most elementary demands. They seek to do deals with the bosses, to avoid conflict, to put the brakes on the movement and to conciliate and surrender at the earliest opportunity. Internationalism The Manifesto also stresses that communists are internationalists. Communism is international or it is nothing. The struggle against capital transcends all artificial national boundaries. Our slogan is: Workers of all countries, unite! This is even more necessary today than it was in Marxs day. We stand for the sacred unity of the working class, above all divisions of nationality, language, race, colour, gender, sex or religion. For that reason, we are implacably opposed to reactionary nationalism, racism, and also so-called identity politics and any other poisonous ideology that seeks to divide the proletariat and divert its attention from the central struggle the class struggle to overthrow capitalism the only way to abolish all forms of oppression and exploitation. The great October Revolution in Russia was carried out under the banner of proletarian internationalism. But decades of Stalinist bureaucratic degeneration had a fatal effect on the communist parties internationally. The leaders of the communist parties departed from the ideas of Lenin, with catastrophic results. Now they have nothing left of communism, except an empty name. Most have degenerated into mere reformists. This has provoked serious conflicts with the rank and file, who wish to defend real communism. The time has come to call for a return to a genuine communist policy: for a return to the policies of Lenin. The present conditions are ripe for such a change. The world crisis of capitalism is opening up a new and stormy period of class struggle that demands a return to a genuinely revolutionary and proletarian internationalist policy. Successive stages of revolution The revolutionary process does not emerge all at once, fully armed, like Athene from the head of Zeus. It unfolds in stages, following a process of successive approximations. As Trotsky points out in The History of the Russian Revolution, this process manifests itself as the rise and fall of different parties and leaders, in which, he says, the more radical always replaces the less. The first wave of radicalisation that followed the collapse of 2008 brought to the front what you might call the left reformists, or at least some leaders that expressed themselves in very radical language. In Greece, there was the sudden rise of SYRIZA and Alexis Tsipras. In Spain, there was a similar development with Podemos and Pablo Iglesias. In the United States there was the mass movement around Bernie Sanders. And in Britain the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour Party propelled hundreds of thousands of people into politics and unnerved the bourgeoisie, who thought they had lost control of Labour forever. The hopes of the masses were raised to the heights only to be dashed. In every single case, in the moment of truth, the left leaders capitulated and the movement was destroyed. How could this happen? Of course, we cannot ignore the individual failings of these leaders their cowardice and capitulation. But this was not the real reason. It was that the fact that left reformists by their very nature are incapable of carrying the fight to the end. In fact, they really agree with the right wing on the central point: they all accept the inevitability of capitalism; they accept the existing system. For this reason, betrayal is inherent to all brands of reformism, irrespective of the personal motives and desires of individuals. The capitulation of the so-called Left was therefore inevitable and predictable in advance. Vacillation and cowardice here is not a matter of personal psychology. It is buried deep in the DNA of left reformism, which always backs away from a decisive struggle and surrenders to the right wing. A period of selection Those who had illusions in the left reformists are now thoroughly demoralised. They imagine that all is lost and spend all their time moaning about the situation, which they all agree is hopeless. Many of the old generation are infected with the disease of scepticism and pessimism, for which no antidote exists. Consequently, most of them are fit for nothing. They are completely blind to what is really happening in society. What, then, is the real meaning of the period we have just lived through? It was a period of preparation, in which an important layer of workers and youth passed through the school of left reformism and learned some painful lessons. It was therefore a necessary process of clearing out discredited ideas and of mercilessly exposing the limitations of left reformism. But this was preparing the way for the rise of a genuine communist tendency. We see clear evidence of this in many countries, including the United States. There is a growing number of young people in particular that are looking beyond left reformism, beyond Bernie Sanders, beyond Tsipras, beyond Corbyn. As a result, many of the most advanced youth no longer wish to be associated even with the word socialism, which they identify with cowardly capitulation to the present system. They are seeking a clean banner and clear and unambiguous dedication to the class war and social revolution. They want communism, and nothing else will do! Mostly they have arrived at these conclusions instinctively. They have not read the three volumes of Marxs Capital, or maybe even The Communist Manifesto. But they are communists, heart and soul, who fervently desire to participate in an active and organised way in the revolutionary struggle. Only a hopeless pedant will be offended by their lack of Marxist education. Ideas can be easily learned from books. But mere book-learning can never furnish us with the enthusiasm and revolutionary spirit, which is the flaming soul of proletarian revolutionism. This is an extremely important development, which the IMT has succeeded in connecting with. A stormy period The period we have entered into will be a period of storm and stress. The objective situation is not only mature for socialist revolution; it is rotten-ripe. But because of the weakness of the subjective factor, it will be prolonged in time, with many ups and downs. There will be many advances and also many defeats. But through all these events, the working class will learn. The material conditions are being prepared for a rapid change in the consciousness of the masses. We can see evidence of this already. What are communists fighting for? If I ask you, what are we really fighting for, you will probably answer: we are fighting for jobs, for houses, for good healthcare and pensions and so on. Of course, all these things are necessary. But they are merely the bare conditions of existence. That is the first step for the creation of a new society. But it is only the first step. The real revolution comes only after these things have been attained. The controversy over artificial intelligence poses the future of capitalism in the starkest terms. Under capitalism, the introduction of new technology will inevitably signify the destruction of a large number of jobs not just mechanical work, but also many skilled and semi-skilled occupations. It threatens the livelihood of nurses, accountants, even surgeons. The result will be social upheaval on a massive scale. But from a communist perspective, these innovations have an entirely different meaning. For 10,000 years, culture has been the monopoly of a tiny minority. The great majority have been reduced to the role of slaves in one form or another: the hewers of wood and drawers of water, to quote the Bible. But under a harmonious socialist plan of production, the application of artificial intelligence and other new technology will serve to revolutionise the conditions of life. All the drudgery can be taken out of work, and the hours of labour can be dramatically reduced to an absolute minimum. This will provide the real material basis for achieving a genuine emancipation of the human race. A dramatic reduction of the hours of work is the prior condition for a genuine cultural revolution. For the first time in history, the doors will be flung open to the masses to really grasp the great treasures of culture which have been denied to them. The great French utopian socialist, Charles Fourier, defined socialism as to make actual the potential of the human race. That is what we are fighting for. Our aim is to create a paradise in this world: a new world, in which life will acquire an entirely new meaning. And for the first time, men and women will be able to raise themselves to their true stature. That is the only cause worth fighting for. That is why we are communists. London 9 September Photo: The Canadian Press Canadian veterans have dedicated their lives to serving their country, often facing unique challenges, both during and after their service. When it comes to financial and retirement planning, veterans face distinct circumstances that require careful consideration. This column delves into the unique financial planning and retirement challenges that Canadian veterans encounter and offers tips on how to approach retirement planning effectively. Here are some of the unique challenges veterans may face in their financial planning and some tips on how to deal with them: Military pension systemCanadian veterans are eligible for various pension programs, depending on their years of service and the type of service rendered. However, understanding the intricacies of the military pension system can be challenging. Veterans must navigate through different options, such as the Canadian Armed Forces Pension Plan (CAFPP), the Reserve Force Pension Plan, and the Canadian Forces Members and Veterans Re-establishment and Compensation Act (commonly known as the New Veterans Charter). Each program has its rules, benefits, and eligibility criteria, making it essential for veterans to seek expert advice to make informed decisions about their pensions. Ideally, reach out to a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) professional that has specific expertise in veteran planning. Transitioning to civilian lifeOne of the most significant challenges veterans face is transitioning from military life to civilian life. This transition can be abrupt and overwhelming, impacting veterans' employment prospects, financial stability, and overall well-being. Finding suitable civilian employment can be challenging, especially if the skills acquired during military service do not directly translate to the civilian job market. This transition period may lead to income instability, making retirement planning even more critical. The quicker they can formulate a plan, update education or certifications as needed and engage with organizations that support these transitions the better. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and mental healthMany Canadian veterans struggle with mental health issues, including PTSD, as a result of their service experiences. These conditions can affect their ability to work, save and plan for retirement. Access to mental health services and ongoing treatment is crucial for veterans' well-being and their ability to address financial and retirement planning challenges. Physical disabilities and health concernsService-related injuries and disabilities can impact veterans' ability to work and generate income, potentially leading to reduced retirement savings. Health concerns may require costly medical treatments and accommodations, which can significantly impact financial planning. It's essential for veterans to consider these factors when planning for retirement. The Canadian government has numerous tax programs for those with disabilities and they need to make sure they fully understand them and make full use of what is available. Leverage supportive resourcesCanadian veterans have access to various resources and organizations dedicated to helping them navigate financial and retirement challenges. They include Veterans Affairs Canada, Military Family Resource Centers, and veteran support groups. They should use those resources for guidance, information and support. Canadian veterans face unique financial planning and retirement challenges as a result of their service to the country. By seeking professional guidance, starting early and leveraging available resources, veterans can create a secure and fulfilling retirement that reflects their dedication and sacrifice in service to Canada. On a personal note, I want to thank each and every veteran and current member of the military for their service! This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet. In France, as elsewhere, the extremely brutal response of the Israeli government to the Hamas attack on 7 October has aroused the indignation of millions of young people and workers. But in the name of "Israel's right to defend itself" and "the fight against terrorism and anti-Semitism", the Macron government decreed that this indignation was unacceptable and must be silenced, at all costs. [Originally published in French at marxiste.org] Demonstrations in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza and the Palestinian people in general were banned by the government, then violently repressed. On 10 October, the Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, announced that the New Anticapitalist Party (NPA) was the target of an investigation for advocating terrorism. The day before, Darmanin threatened to initiate dissolution procedures against any organisation calling for hatred, intifada, advocating terrorism. The leaders of France Insoumise, whose position is (unfortunately) very moderate, are constantly accused of fueling terrorism and anti-Semitism, or even of being masked anti-Semites themselves. In Toulouse, the mayor Macron-supporting Jean-Luc Moudenc, demanded the cancellation of a solidarity meeting for Palestine, which was to be held on the premises of the CGT, at the Bourse du Travail. Moudenc even declared that he reserved the right to contact the police prefect if the CGT did not comply. And so on. Of course, none of this is really new. French imperialism is a solid ally of Israeli imperialism, whose crimes it has defended for decades. The accusation of anti-Semitism is regularly thrown in the face of anyone who dares to criticise the reactionary policies of the Zionist state. But against a backdrop of the deep crisis of French capitalism and the extreme fragility of the Macron government, since 7 October the repression of the solidarity movement with the Palestinian people has marked a turning point. The French labour movement has a duty to react not only with words, but also with action. The threats of dissolution towards the NPA, in particular, are absolutely scandalous. Darmanin places calls for hate, intifada and terrorism in the same category. This amalgamation would simply be astonishingly stupid which is always possible with Darmanin if it were not deliberate. By identifying the intifada which refers to a mass uprising against the oppressor and terrorism, Darmanin threatens anyone who supports any legitimate revolt of the Palestinian people against the oppression they have suffered for decades. Darmanin threatened to initiate dissolution procedures against any organisation calling for hatred, intifada, advocating terrorism / Image: Jacques Paquier, Wikimedia Commons We do not agree with every detail of the NPA's position on the current conflict, but one thing is perfectly clear: the NPA is not calling for terrorist acts; it is calling for a new intifada in Palestine. The IMT also has that position, as do many other organisations. Is it forbidden, from now on, to wish for the uprising of the Palestinian people against the reactionary government of Netanyahu? This is what the French Interior Minister says. The threats against the NPA, the attacks against FI, the bans on demonstrations and meetings must not go unanswered by the political and trade union organisations of the labour movement. The problem is that most leaders of the left and the trade union movement have bent under the pressure of the anti-Palestinian propaganda, which has saturated television sets since 7 October. Communist Party Fabien Roussel, in particular, trampled in a few hours the historic position of the PCF on this issue, by placing an equal sign between the Hamas attack and the Israeli response. Left journalist and politician Francois Ruffin does the same. The position of the CGT leadership is barely better, that is to say very bad. The position of the Socialist Party, unsurprisingly, is in no way different from that of the government. It is precisely all these capitulations to bourgeois public opinion that allow Macron, Darmanin and others to threaten the NPA and other small organisations showing solidarity with the Palestinian people. All left-wing activists must analyse this situation in the context of the continued development of police and judicial repression of youth and the workers' movement in France. Bans on demonstrations have multiplied in recent years, under absolutely inadmissible pretexts. When permitted, protests are often brutally repressed by the police. Finally, there is a link of class between Darmanin's threats against the NPA and the wave of judicial repression that is currently hitting hundreds of union activists, who are accused of having fought against pension reform, between last January and June. The activists of the CGT, the FI, the PCF and all organisations of the labour movement must react and demand that their leaders organise opposition to the repression of the solidarity movement with Palestine. They must also demand that their organisations participate fully in this movement. This must take the form, to begin with, of large demonstrations authorised or not against the aggression in Gaza, against the crimes of the Israeli government and, yes, for a new and victorious intifada in Palestine! 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. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Instant noodles, a type of fast food originating from Japan more than 6 decades ago, are returning to the market as imported products and are loved by Japanese consumers. More and more foreign instant noodle brands, especially those produced in Vietnam, are appearing on the shelves of major food stores around the East Asian country. At the Asian food market in Shin-Okubo, Tokyo, instant noodles are displayed in a prominent spot near the front door. Among them are familiar Vietnamese brands such as Hao Hao, Omachi, and Instant pho. Since appearing in Japan, boxes of Omachi, Hao Hao, and Cung Dinh noodles have won the hearts of Japanese people. According to the Vietnam Trade Office in Japan, the number of Vietnamese people living in the country has increased to around 500,000, and Vietnamese instant noodle products have also made it to the country in larger numbers. ...continue reading Salarymen are known for their dedication to their jobs, long working hours, and a distinct way of life that revolves around their professional careers. One area that exemplifies this culture is Yurakucho in Tokyo. Here, you can witness the salaryman culture in full swing. During lunch breaks and after work, the streets are filled with salarymen heading to and from their offices, often stopping at izakayas (Japanese-style pubs) for meals and drinks. In todays adventure, Shizuka explores Tokyos lively Yurakucho district with a real Japanese salaryman (the only person for the job). Satoru-san gives our host a rundown of salaryman culture; after a long day at the office, salarymen in Yurakucho and other parts of Japan engage "nomikai" or drinking parties. These gatherings provide an opportunity for colleagues to bond, discuss work-related matters, and build camaraderie. In the spirit of things, Shizuka and Satoru-san begin their nomikai at Andy's Shin Hinomoto. Beer, sake, and izakaya foods sprawl over the table as our spirited stars drink and be merry. Satoru-san shares some insider knowledge of Japanese izakayas and their connection to salaryman culture. He explains the interesting origins of the term izakaya, which literally translates to "a place to be with alcohol in Japanese. After lining their stomachs, the show must go on! Next stop: Bimi Sennari. Shizuka and Satoru-san share stories over some house highballs and heartwarming corned beef with cheese and potatoes. Cheeks flushed and spirits high, our unstoppable duo ventures onto their third and final destination; an izakaya tucked beneath an underpass. Motsuyaki Fuji is known and loved for their motsu (offal) dishes and grilled skewers. Shizuka and Satoru-san enjoy their final stop of the evening with an ice-cold Asahi beer and motsu nikomi (pork innard and vegetable stew). Second Missionary Baptist Church invites the community to join them in person or virtually on Sunday, Oct. 15, at 10:45 a.m. to celebrate Rev. Dr. Ernest L. Reids eighth pastoral anniversary. Dr. Reid is a native of Suffolk, Va. He answered the call to serve as pastor of SMBC in 2015 after previously pastoring in Virginia and Pennsylvania. Once they arrived, Dr. Reid along with his wife Sherelle, and sons, Ernest III, and Noah became an integral part of SMBCs 157-year history. Under Dr. Reids leadership as the 21st pastor, SMBC has been blessed with steady growth in membership, a renovated sanctuary, and most importantly, a biblically based relevant and stirring weekly worship service, bible study and inspirational devotionals. His dedication to having a positive and supportive impact on his members locally, the Chattanooga Community at large and through foreign mission work in Kenya is intentional and inspiring. His ministry is characterized by the celebratory theme of Eight Years of Being Better Together. As the guest speaker, SMBC welcomes Dr. Charles F. Lomax, Jr., senior pastor, St. John Missionary Baptist Church, Alcoa, Tennessee. Dr. Lomax is a native of Knoxville, and currently serves as the director of community empowerment for the City of Knoxville. He is a member of the Knoxville Area Urban League Young Professionals, the NAACP and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. SMBC is at 2305 E. Third Street. The service may be viewed online at www.mysmbchurch.org and live-streamed on YouTube and Facebook (@2ndMBChurch). For more information, you may call 423 624-9097 during weekdays after 9 a.m. 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 The Walker County Commission has unanimously turned down a request by developer John Tatum to expand his Cloudland Station on Highway 193 in Chattanooga Valley. The decision came after commissioners heard from numerous citizens who said they want to leave Chattanooga Valley as a scenic, rural area. The Planning Commission earlier recommended denial. After hearing from a number of speakers, District 4 Commissioner Robert Stultz said allowing a planned unit development for 250 new homes "would not only change the landscape, but the whole dynamic of that community. It would be a travesty." Planning officials said if Mr. Tatum wants to proceed with purchase of the tract south of his current development that he could still build homes on five-acre tracts under existing zoning. Mr. Tatum said he had spent 18 years building "a very unique, connected community." He said building lots have been placed on about 20 percent of the site and the rest preserved. He said, "I love to see all the green space." He said the existing development has about 88 lots and 30 homes have been built with 20 others in process. Mr. Tatum said sales thus far have mainly been as second homes, but he said a number of "empty nesters" now want a primary home at Cloudland Station. He said, "Our building is really picking up." He said the planned PUD would be on 61 acres, but he said he has "bought a lot more acreage." The developer said both sites would be gated communities. A 48-year resident of the valley said his driveway is also shared with the property under consideration. He said, "I don't want my driveway turned into a thoroughfare for 250 homes." He said Chattanooga Valley Road "is one of the most dangerous roads in the county." Melissa Hulsey said she had been lured from Cobb County, Ga., to Chattanooga Valley due to "all the open space and agriculture." She said approval would set a path for other developers to build similar subdivisions. Ned Yates, whose family is one of the largest landowners in the valley, said the project would bring heavy traffic and also contribute to the schools being more over-crowded. He said, "I don't see how this is going to help the local economy." A resident of nearby High Point Drive said Chattanooga Valley "is one of the most beautiful places in the world." The 40-year resident said, "This is for an elite community. It's not for Walker County." She said, "A simple life - that is what we have. This is going to ruin all of that." Joan Womack, who lives across from Cloudland Station, said the rural way of life "is the reason people come to Walker County." She said she was advised by planning officials that in the past Cloudland Station had only pulled 21 permits and built 15 houses. She said it should be built out first. She said, "Bringing in a lot of people from Atlanta, that even scares me on the political implications." Dewayne Wilson, former Walker County coroner, said his family had moved from a nice subdivision to a farm along Highway 193. He said they wanted to keep the rural setting. Jill Baldschun, who has a nearby farm and wedding venue, said Walker County is being touted for its outdoor amenities and draws many bicyclists. She said, "They're not going to come if we look like Ooltewah." She said Chattanooga Valley "is the very last community in Chattanooga (remaining rural) standing, and that's valuable." In my opinion, the data mining of students must stop. At 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 11, 2023, Hamilton County Schools sent me another text message urging me to opt into the Student Well-Being Survey. Nope, not going to do it, and heres why. The use of the controversial Social Emotional Learning (SEL) surveys created and distributed by Panorama Education Inc. has been the subject of conversation over the past few years in Tennessee. So much so that TN passed a law requiring schools to ask parents' permission before administering a survey to their children. Examples of survey questions for K-2 include How often is this student able to control his/her emotions, and During the past 30 days, how considerate was this student of his/her classmates feelings. Examples of questions for 3-5 grades include everything from emotion regulation and self-management to Social Awareness categories. For the 6-12 grades examples include How often are you able to pull yourself out of a bad mood?, How often were you polite to adults and How much do you care about other peoples feelings? This line of questioning aligns directly with surveys that are administered by behavioral health professionals who use them as a screening tool to measure and diagnose generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Panorama Education is a U.S.-based education technology company that engages in designing and administering social aptitude surveys and providing related training. Their website banner reads Improve educational outcomes with a holistic view of student data. The company came under fire in 2021 after two key conflicts of interest were identified. First, U.S. AG Merrick Garlands Son-In-Law, Xan Tanner was a co-founder and board member of Panorama Education. AG Garland sent a memo to the head of the FBI, instructing him to work with local law enforcement to address threats against school administrators, board members, teachers and staff. This is the same FBI that collects intelligence from the Southern Poverty Law Center. The Southern Poverty Law Center uses its Hate Map to target conservatives such as Marsha Blackburn, Matt Gaetz, Clay Higgins, and Josh Hawley. SPLC lists many liberty-minded groups on its map including prominent conservative advocacy groups and Christian ministries. On their website, SPLC describes Christian Identity as an antisemitic, racist theology that rose to a position of commanding influence on the racist right in the 1980s. Christian in name only, it asserts that white people, not Jewish people, are the true Israelites favored by God in the Bible. The movements relationship with evangelicals and fundamentalists has generally been hostile due to the latters belief that the return of Jewish people to Israel is essential to the fulfillment of end-time prophecy. This is the same Southern Poverty Law Center that collaborated with the city of Chattanooga during Andy Berkes administration. The second conflict of interest with Panorama is the investment of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. A whistleblower referenced specific programs designed by Facebook that gather data and target pre-teens and teens to engage them for longer periods of time. Questions parents should ask themselves: Why is the public school system so desperate to collect student data that they engage in multiple texts, emails, and phone calls urging parents to opt in? They didnt do this when the surveys were opt-out. Where is the transparency?What will this information be used for?Will they share this information about my child?Who will they share it with?What is Panorama really up to with student data?Will they share the information gathered with Parents?Are they using this survey to reveal information about your child's beliefs and attitudes?Is it the school's or the parent's responsibility to monitor a child's social and emotional health?Are teachers and school administrators trained therapists?Do we want psychological profiles to be built on our children? Is this a good idea gone bad?Do you want your tax dollars spent on this program? The Mocs volleyball closed out their weekend with a tough loss to Mercer on Sunday, as Chattanooga failed to pick up a set in the Bears 3-0 victory over the Mocs in Macon.The Mocs (15-8, 3-5 SoCon) put together a much better performance compared to their 3-0 scoreline from two days ago in Birmingham, but despite UTC keeping multiple sets tight with the Bears (9-9, 5-2 SoCon) it was ultimately Mercer that came out on top to close out the match.To start the match, the Mocs fell behind early to a Mercer team that had played exceptionally well throughout conference play this season, as the Bears were able to jump ahead 18-11 on the Mocs.From that point, though, UTC was able to chip away at Mercers lead and even fend off multiple set points for the Bears to make the scoreboard read 24-24. However, even after a 13-6 Chattanooga run the Bears were able to close the set out 26-24 to take the opening frame.After a heartbreaking loss in the opening set, the Mocs fell victim to a powerful offensive performance by Mercer in the second set. Relying heavily on Skyler Bumpers and Kylee Quigley, the Bears rolled through the second to take it 25-17, giving Mercer a 2-0 lead.The Mocs were in danger of being swept as they entered the third, and as a result were throwing everything they had Mercers way. The teams exchanged blows, with the largest lead for either team never reaching more than four. With the score tied at 22-22, the Mocs needed a big finish to force the fourth frame. Unfortunately for UTC that finish wouldnt come, as Mercer closed out set three with a 25-23 win, claiming the 3-0 sweep over the Mocs.Morgan Romano provided a team-high 12 kills in UTCs loss alongside Halle Olson finishing the day with a season-high nine kills too. Setter Elaine Redman led the team in both assists (32) and digs (15) to end the match with a double-double while Paige Gallentine also logged double-digit digs with 13.UTC is now at the midpoint of a four-match road stand for the team, as the Mocs are now set to travel to South Carolina to take on a pair of difficult SoCon teams. The Mocs will first be tasked with facing Wofford (15-4, 6-2 SoCon) in Spartanburg on Friday at 6 p.m. ET, before heading to Charleston to take on undefeated The Citadel (20-0, 8-0 SoCon) on their home court on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET. It may come as a surprise to some readers that there are allegedly 39 waterfalls in 25 states with the name of Bridal Veil Falls. In Tennessee Bridal Veil Falls is located on the campus (domain) of the 13,000 acres liberal arts college at the University of the South at Sewanee. Approximately 11,800 acres remain as natural habitat that are open to the public without any charge to enjoy. Mans (& womans, etc.) best friends are also welcome as long as they are on a leash. A confidential source and traveler to the location relates that in August 2023 the site is now open after Covid closure. From the parking area at Lake Cheston the trip to the falls and return is 2.2 miles with an increase in elevation of around 492 feet. Many of the varieties of trees adjacent to the trail are named on wooden signs. A 19-page descriptive article with photos titled Hiking the Domain: Bridal Veil Falls (2018) was published on Woodpress.com by 70-year-old grandmother, Ruth Wright, which provides an excellent source and documentation of a trip to the site. Local hiking authority, John Benson, in 2009 listed his 10 best local trips ranging from 1 mile to 20 miles in Sewanee Magazine that included Bridal Veil Falls styled Sewanees Best Day Hikes. When flowing the falls descend out of the mountain side as a stream of 27 feet and then drops another 25 feet into a sinkhole. Prior to the rise in the cost of sugar and growth of cannabis Sewanee students were warned to stay away from any areas where any local manufacturers/entrepreneurs might be engaged in their time old craft on the mountain of making shine or growing pot. Despite a diligent search, no document has been found as to the origin of the adoption of the name to the local venue which obviously is a popular choice in America for waterfalls. (A trip to the domain in person or just through the aforementioned website is a pleasant side trip away from the ever-expanding traveling snarl on Interstate 24 W to the University of the South.) * * * You can reach Jerry Summers at jsummers@summersfirm.com The community is invited to a free Halloween Concert on Friday, Oct. 27, 6 p.m. Cleveland State Community College's music program presents this annual concert in the George R. Johnson Culture Heritage Center Auditorium on the Cleveland State campus. The event will feature Halloween classics such as I Put a Spell on You, Thriller and several pieces from television and film. Cleveland States Vocal Rhapsody choral ensemble and music students will be featured during the concert including vocalists Emily Davis, James Roderick and Caleb Sutton. Assistant Professor of English, Susie Fries, the Quill and Ink Creative Writing Club and the Theatre Club have collaborated to present a three-part spooky film. Two of Cleveland States instructors, vocalist Andie Phillips and percussionist Matt Schaffner, will perform several pieces. Members of the Cleveland Orchestra, Cleveland Pops Band, Community Jazz Band members and musicians from the area will join the performance as well. Costumes are encouraged, and there will be trick-or-treating in the lobby following the concert. Assistant Professor of Music, Matt Schaffner, said, We can't wait to share our costumes, music and candy with the community. We hope you and your family can attend our seasonal gathering. The concert is free and open to everyone. For more information, please contact 473-2303. News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism. Babies beheaded. Girls raped next to their dead friends. Jews burned alive. An elderly Holocaust survivor dragged away to Gaza by terrorists. More than 260 innocent people massacred at a music festival intended to promote peace. These are the scenes of pure evil that Hamas, a genocidal Palestinian terrorist organization, inflicted on innocent Israelis. On Oct. 7, Israel experienced the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. At last count, over 1,400 people in Israel, including at least 30 Americans, have been murdered in cold blood, most of whom were innocent civilians. At least 199 hostages were taken into Gaza. This is not a time for any of us to stay silent, and despite what some Democrats believe, it is not the time for Israel to back down. They must do what is necessary to protect and defend their homeland, and the U.S. must support them every step of the way. Hamas and other Palestinian terrorists in Gaza must be utterly obliterated. That is why I immediately sent a letter, along with nearly the entire Tennessee Congressional Delegation, urging President Biden to support Israel in any way possible, but especially by providing them with all necessary military equipment to defeat these terrorists. The United States should not be sending our tax dollars to prop up terrorism. Under President Trump, the United States cut aid to the Palestinians for a reason: the Palestinian Authority uses that money to reward terrorism. Despite the warning that greenlighting this funding could benefit Hamas, President Biden sent $235 million in aid to the Palestinians in 2021. This administration must also begin treating Iran like the dangerous state sponsor of terror it is. The Iranian regime bankrolls Hamas, and some reports indicate they were directly involved in the planning of this attack. Just weeks ago, the Biden administration gifted Iran a $6 billion ransom payment. Giving Tehran $6 billion even if for humanitarian aid allows them to reallocate other funds to supporting terrorism. In light of Irans involvement in the terrorist attack on Israel, I led 19 Senate Republicans in calling on President Biden to freeze that payment. To stand by and allow Iran access to these funds as Hamas infiltrates Israel and murders, rapes, and mutilates countless innocents is unconscionable. Bidens position on Iran, dating back to the Obama administration, has been appeasement. He has chosen not to enforce many of the oil sanctions the U.S. previously imposed on Iran, freeing up cash for Iran to fund its terrorist proxies. As a result, Iranian oil production has increased substantially, and they are on track to produce the most oil since President Trump introduced sanctions in 2018. Meanwhile, Biden has been desperate to negotiate another nuclear deal with Iran despite the fact that Tehran has been trying to assassinate former Trump administration officials. Incredibly, despite these threats, the Biden administration is still willing to negotiate. The Biden administration has also looked the other way while Iran continues to enrich uranium to levels that would allow it to build five nuclear bombs. America is better than a feckless foreign policy that emboldens terrorists and rogue regimes. We have been gravely misled by experts who have been dead wrong, especially on Middle East policy. Just eight days before Hamas launched their violent surprise attack against Israel, President Bidens National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stated, the Middle East is quieter today than it has been in two decades. This is the same official who pushed for a dangerous Iran nuclear deal in 2015 and played a monumental role in the Talibans takeover of Afghanistan in 2021. Leaving Jake Sullivan in his current post hinders the national security posture of not only Israel, but the United States. His removal must be a part of the Biden administrations response in the coming days. Finally, as we watch terrorists inflict horrific violence upon the people of Israel, Americans should be extremely concerned about our own vulnerabilities resulting from President Bidens open border policies. In fiscal year 2019, there were zero known encounters with suspected terrorists at the southern border between ports of entry, and in FY23, there were 151 encounters. As long as the Biden administration allows this unprecedented pattern to escalate, an attack on our own soil isnt a matter of if its a matter of when. Securing our border and protecting our homeland is paramount. While Israel faces an existential threat from Iran and its proxies, it is also confronting a less conspicuous but growing threat from countries in the West antisemitism. We have seen the age-old hatred rear its ugly head on college campuses and from organizations like Black Lives Matter Grassroots. Protecting Israel and the Jewish community is critical. We must formally state with conviction, Never Again. Senator Marsha Blackburn Elvis Presley was incredibly invested in his spirituality. According to Priscilla, he could actually heal headaches with a single touch. Priscilla Presley got to know Elvis Presleys spiritual side well during their relationship. He encouraged her to read books about spirituality and led Bible reading sessions in their home. While he became more interested in spirituality as an adult, he was always religious. Priscilla explained she had experienced Elvis heal her with just a touch. Priscilla Presley said Elvis had the ability to heal with touch Elvis discovered his early musical inspiration in the church he attended with his family. The teachings also shaped his personality as an adult. The spiritual side of Elvis was a dominant part of his nature, Priscilla wrote in her book Elvis and Me. As a small boy growing up in Tupelo, Mississippi, he and his family attended church regularly at the First Assembly of God. He was raised on hellfire-and-brimstone preaching that put the fear of God in you and music that led you to the Pearly Gates. Elvis, Vernon, and Gladys would join us in congregation and choir, and it was then that music first rocked Elvis soul. Elvis Presley | Keystone/Getty Images She explained that he kept these teachings with him as he aged. He believed he could heal with his touch, something Priscilla experienced. He was capable of spiritual hearing; one touch of his hands to my temples and the most painful headaches disappeared. Elvis Presley grew interested in spirituality as an adult While religion had always been a part of Elvis life, he threw himself into studying spirituality and philosophy after meeting a new barber, Larry Geller. Elvis discovered there were many great masters besides Jesus, Priscilla wrote. There were Buddha, Muhammad, Moses, and others, each chosen by God to serve a purpose. What I was now witnessing in Elvis was the emergence of that part of his nature that was thirsting for answers to all the fundamental questions of life. Elvis studied books, hosted Bible studies, and had long discussions with Geller. He hoped spirituality would give him answers to lifes meaning. He asked Larry why, out of all the people in the universe, he had been chosen to influence so many millions of souls, Priscilla wrote. Granted this unique position, how could he contribute to save a world burdened with hunger, disease, and poverty? Why was there so much human suffering in the first place? And why wasnt he happy, when he had more than anyone could want? Priscilla Presley said Elvis interest in spirituality became a concern While Elvis found spirituality fascinating, the people close to him didnt like his interest in it. However, many in the group, myself included, were suspicious of them, Priscilla wrote. We were all threatened by Elvis involvement with Larry. It was keeping him from us. It seemed as if Elvis was always off alone reading esoteric books or in deep discussion with Larry about Gods master plan for the universe. Elvis Presley | Bettmann/Contributor via Getty Eventually, Elvis manager, Colonel Tom Parker, grew so concerned about Gellers influence over Elvis that he instructed him to cut him out. Though Elvis liked Geller, he followed Parkers orders. I was surprised at how attentively Elvis was listening, Priscilla explained. Elvis had always argued with anyone, even me, who said anything against Larry. At one point, it seemed Elvis would cut off his right arm for Larry. But now Elvis promised the Colonel he wouldnt spend any more time than he had to with him. He kept his promise. He only used Larry to style his hair and was never alone with him again. Blog Archive: Nov 2023 (15) Oct 2023 (155) Sep 2023 (150) Aug 2023 (155) Jul 2023 (155) Jun 2023 (150) May 2023 (155) Apr 2023 (150) Mar 2023 (155) Feb 2023 (140) Jan 2023 (155) Dec 2022 (156) Nov 2022 (150) Oct 2022 (155) Sep 2022 (150) Aug 2022 (155) Jul 2022 (154) Jun 2022 (150) May 2022 (155) Apr 2022 (150) Mar 2022 (155) Feb 2022 (140) Jan 2022 (156) Dec 2021 (156) Nov 2021 (150) Oct 2021 (155) Sep 2021 (150) Aug 2021 (155) Jul 2021 (155) Jun 2021 (150) May 2021 (155) Apr 2021 (150) Mar 2021 (155) Feb 2021 (140) Jan 2021 (155) Dec 2020 (155) Nov 2020 (150) Oct 2020 (158) Sep 2020 (150) Aug 2020 (130) Jul 2020 (124) Jun 2020 (120) May 2020 (124) Apr 2020 (120) Mar 2020 (124) Feb 2020 (116) Jan 2020 (125) Dec 2019 (126) Nov 2019 (120) Oct 2019 (124) Sep 2019 (120) Aug 2019 (125) Jul 2019 (124) Jun 2019 (120) May 2019 (123) Apr 2019 (121) Mar 2019 (124) Feb 2019 (112) Jan 2019 (125) Dec 2018 (126) Nov 2018 (120) Oct 2018 (124) Sep 2018 (121) Aug 2018 (124) Jul 2018 (125) Jun 2018 (120) May 2018 (124) Apr 2018 (121) Mar 2018 (124) Feb 2018 (112) Jan 2018 (123) Dec 2017 (124) Nov 2017 (124) Oct 2017 (141) Sep 2017 (135) Aug 2017 (138) Jul 2017 (137) Jun 2017 (134) May 2017 (138) Apr 2017 (135) Mar 2017 (139) Feb 2017 (129) Jan 2017 (143) Dec 2016 (135) Nov 2016 (138) Oct 2016 (142) Sep 2016 (128) Aug 2016 (133) Jul 2016 (136) Jun 2016 (138) May 2016 (164) Apr 2016 (311) Mar 2016 (348) Feb 2016 (320) Jan 2016 (348) Dec 2015 (314) Nov 2015 (338) Oct 2015 (363) Sep 2015 (358) Aug 2015 (399) Jul 2015 (374) Jun 2015 (331) May 2015 (337) Apr 2015 (319) Mar 2015 (320) Feb 2015 (271) Jan 2015 (286) Dec 2014 (254) Nov 2014 (238) Oct 2014 (287) Sep 2014 (267) Aug 2014 (259) Jul 2014 (260) Jun 2014 (238) May 2014 (241) Apr 2014 (228) Mar 2014 (240) Feb 2014 (217) Jan 2014 (263) Dec 2013 (226) Nov 2013 (254) Oct 2013 (256) Sep 2013 (252) Aug 2013 (263) Jul 2013 (261) Jun 2013 (251) May 2013 (250) Apr 2013 (221) Mar 2013 (193) Feb 2013 (164) Jan 2013 (157) Dec 2012 (155) Nov 2012 (240) Oct 2012 (526) Sep 2012 (411) Aug 2012 (394) Jul 2012 (284) Jun 2012 (229) May 2012 (213) Apr 2012 (213) Mar 2012 (253) Feb 2012 (269) Jan 2012 (298) Dec 2011 (273) Nov 2011 (219) Oct 2011 (204) Sep 2011 (201) Aug 2011 (236) Jul 2011 (217) Jun 2011 (211) May 2011 (206) Apr 2011 (215) Mar 2011 (215) Feb 2011 (186) Jan 2011 (215) Dec 2010 (107) Nov 2010 (98) Oct 2010 (55) In September, Libya was struck with devastating floods that resulted in thousands of deaths and caused slight damage to the monuments at Cyrene, an ancient Greek city and archaeological site located near the Mediterranean coast. However, the waters have also washed away large amounts of stones and earth, revealing previously hidden structures. Cyrene was founded by Greek settlers from the island of Thera in 631 B.C. It was one of the most major cities of the ancient Greek world and thrived during the fourth century B.C. until an earthquake destroyed it. Among its ruins are towering temples and fabulous fountains dedicated to significant Greek gods. Currently, the city is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. After water levels decreased, Libyan authorities headed over to Cyrene to determine what damage had been done to the ancient city. It was then that they noticed never-before-seen structures peeking out underneath layers of dirt and debris. The floods helped to expose a series of slabs in one area of the city that archaeologists believe is the cover of a Roman drainage system. In addition, new walls of the Sanctuary of Demeter have been discovered. For now, the ruins in the upper part of Cyrene are intact, but the excess water flowing around the foundations of the structures may cause them to collapse in the future. Already, a Roman wall in an area known as the Via Porticata has caved in, altering the course of ancient water channels. This poses a threat because future rain could result in the water pouring down into the Temple of Apollo. When archaeologists visited the site, they reported that there was a continuous stream of water gushing from beneath the grounds surface into the citys lower terrace and dripping down throughout the ruins, forming puddles of dirty water. Upon further inspection, it was discovered that the storm had broken some pipes outside and above the archaeological site. Therefore, the water found its way to an ancient spring under the ruins, which is how it seems to be emitting an endless flow of water. Sign up for Chip Chicks newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox. A lot of social outings, including dates, involve drinking. So, if youre alcohol-free, it can be a challenge to navigate dating. You might also face criticism from insensitive jerks for your decision to stay sober. One woman from New York had a bad experience where her date insisted that she have an alcoholic beverage, even though she informed him that she didnt drink alcohol multiple times. TikToker Winta Zesu (@winta_zesu) filmed herself while out on a date with a guy. When the server came to their table to take their orders, she asked for a mocktail. Immediately, her date expressed surprise at the fact that she didnt drink. His voice can be heard in the background of the video, saying, Wait, what? You dont drink? How are we going to have fun tonight? Not with mocktails, were not. He ordered a drink called The Bad Kitty, and Winta opted for some tea. Her date suggested that she order a Long Island iced tea instead, stating that the cocktail had five different liquors in it and was known for being a strong drink. Then, he mentioned that she looked tired and asked if she got enough rest. Later on, he asked for a round of shots just for her. Winta quickly declined and called out his behavior as weird. So rude you didnt tell me that you dont drink. Kind of wasting my time, he said in response. I hate going out with someone all the time and not being able to drink. Winta told him that if he wanted her to leave, he could be more straightforward about it so she wouldnt have to waste any more of her time with him. She asked him to order a ride for her, but he refused to unless she drank some alcohol. After he called her disgusting, she got up from her seat and announced that she was leaving. The video ended with him begging her to stay. Sign up for Chip Chicks newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox. There is no worse feeling than losing your pet. But some pet owners get lucky, and amazingly, their fur babies make it home safely! While many people sometimes have small incidents where their cat or dog only goes missing for a few minutes or hours before returning home, some animals decide to go on quite the journey. Nanuq, a one-year-old Australian Shepherd from Alaska, recently frightened his family after he went missing in March. Then, miraculously, he was found after traveling over 100 miles. Nanuq belongs to the Iworrigan family from Gambell, Alaska. They recently visited the city of Savoonga on Saint Lawrence Island, where Nanuq went missing and ran off with their other dog, Starlight. Starlight was found in the next town over and was brought home weeks later, but Nanuq stayed missing for an entire month. Then, Mandys Dad sent her a Facebook post, saying there was a dog who looked just like Nanuq found in the city of Wales, a whopping 166 miles from home. Mandy reactivated her Facebook page to see what was going on. A user posted photos of the dog, writing, Lol, we dont know [whose] dog this is, weve never seen it here in Wales before. Sure enough, after looking at the pictures, Mandy realized it was Nanuq. This means for a month, Nanuq traveled 166 miles through the Alaskan wilderness before he was found. Wales resident Michael Edward Ahkinga Jr. saw Nanuq outside his parents house. The day he found him, his family dogs ran to the beach and brought Nanuq back with them. Sign up for Chip Chicks newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox. The Hindenburg was the largest airship ever built by humankind and was deeply treasured by Nazi Germany. After a three-day journey from Frankfurt, Germany, across the Atlantic Ocean to Lakehursts Navy Air Base in New Jersey, the aircraft prepared for landing on May 6, 1937. Many people gathered to watch the spectacle. But disaster struck when flames suddenly burst from the aircraft just before landing, killing several people inside. It took less than a minute for it to become entirely consumed by the flames. For decades afterward, the demise of the Hindenburg remained a mystery, and people have come up with countless theories about what couldve happened. Before we get into what really befell the airship, lets cover how the Hindenburg came to be. In 1852, a Frenchman named Henri Giffard constructed the first successful airship. It was a blimp filled with hydrogen, and it had a steam-powered engine that propelled it at a speed of six miles per hour. Later in the nineteenth century, the Germans developed a more rigid airship that could carry quite a few passengers, thanks to the work of Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. The ship was coined as a zeppelin in his honor. The German ships were made with a metal framework that protected an interior filled with hydrogen gas. As a result, they were often at risk of exploding. In the 1930s, a rigid airship called the Graf Zeppelin offered the first commercial transatlantic flight service, which led to the creation of the Hindenburg. The Hindenburg was 800 feet long, and on that fateful day of its fiery crash, it had been carrying 36 passengers and 61 crew members. Trips across the Atlantic were nothing new for the Hindenburg. Previously, the aircraft had traveled to Brazil 34 times. However, this passenger trip would be like none other. While crossing the Atlantic, the Hindenburg didnt experience anything out of the ordinary until it reached the New York area. Thunderstorms and bad weather blew in, so the captain, Max Pruss, decided to change course and wait for the storm to be over, which delayed their arrival. Sign up for Chip Chicks newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox. Hispanic Americans make up one of the fastest-growing ethnic groups in the US, and their influence is an important part of American Christianitys diverse landscape of religious expression. But how are Latino churches reaching the next generations of Christians in their communities, and what does effective youth ministry look like in those cultural contexts? A new report by Fuller Theological Seminarys Centro Latino, the Fuller Youth Institute, and the Brown Church Institute shines new light on the unique contextual experiences of Hispanic youth workers and offers a fresh perspective on cultural trends that are shaping Gen Z, Latino communities, and American Christianity. Based on interviews with national leaders and local youth pastors from various denominations, the report summarizes the studys findings and presents a number of recommendations for the creation of culturally relevant resources and practices. It really is important to have bilingual materials and models that respect the culture and unique needs of our youth and families, says Centro Latino academic dean, Alexia Salvatierra. The report highlights that the needs of our community are so different from standard, dominant-culture youth ministry needs. UCLA professor Robert Chao Romero believes the studys finding that only 2.5 percent of Hispanic churches have paid youth ministers on their staffs is significant. The U.S. Latina/o church is one of the fastest growing, he says. And yet, almost all books and trainings about youth ministry are based upon White youth ministries with a paid youth pastor who creates weekly events for students. Romero, who is also founder of the Brown Church Institute, believes the future of the American church is tied to our nations growing ethnic and cultural diversity. How is the growth of the Hispanic American population shaping American churches? And what insights about discipleship and spiritual formation can be gleaned from the experiences of Latino/Latina youth and youth ministers? On Nov. 3, at 1:30 PM EDT/ 12:30 AM CDT, Christianity Today and Seminary Now are partnering with the team behind Fullers eye-opening report to present a free webinar on Hispanic American youth ministry and its significance for the church as a whole. Join us for a wide-ranging discussion, moderated by the Fuller Youth Institutes Kara Powell, on the state of Hispanic youth ministry and what it tells us about the future of evangelical faith in the US. Featuring: Click here for more information and to register to attend the webinar. Josh Sadlons imagination was captured by a denominations turn of phrase. The musician and worship music producer, who had attended and served at influential megachurches including Saddleback and Hillsong London, thought the Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA) had a great way of stating its mission-forward identity: All of Jesus for all the world. Ultimately, thats what drew him into the denomination. Id never been a big denomination person, Sadlon said. But the theme All of Jesus for all the worldthere was just something about that. I can get on board with that. Thats me. Putting the theological commitment into a worship song was harder. But Sadlon was happy to help a group of CMA musicians and songwritersincluding Dove Awardwinning artist Aaron Shusttry as part of a project to produce music that explicitly foregrounds CMA distinctives. Heres what they came up with: May our hands no more withhold Perfect love that we behold May it go beyond the comfort of our walls All of Jesus, all of Jesus All of Jesus for all the world For all the world And another one: I will go tell the world Of all the love Ive ever known Jesus, Jesus I long to share my Jesus Jesus, Jesus For all the world needs Jesus All of Jesus (For All the World) and All the World Needs Jesus were two of six songs the newly formed Alliance Worship collective composed during a Colorado mountain retreat and introduced to the CMAs 1,800 American congregations at its biannual council gathering in 2021. The group introduced some more songs this year and is working on a second album, Alliance Worship, Vol. 2, scheduled for release early in 2024. These are songs where we actually get to sing our theology and sing our mission, Sadlon said. They were songs written to worship to. Alliance leadership is hoping this will be the beginning of a music revival that helps their churches grow deeper in Alliance theology as they worship. There are thousands of worship songs being released every year that are nebulous, kind of a catchall, said Tim Meier, vice president for development at the CMA. What would it look like to sing our theology again? The CMA, like a lot of evangelical denominations, has a rich and distinct worship music tradition. But the songs sung in most of its churches on most Sundays now can not be easily distinguished from those sung in Southern Baptist, Free Will Baptist, Free Methodist, or Foursquare congregations. Most evangelical music is just nondenominational. Even when denominational distinctives are valued and theological traditions are taught, that rarely impacts the music. Article continues below This may be due to the pipeline of new worship music. Christian music production is a big business and is increasingly dominated by just a few names. Denomination-specific music publishing is struggling economically, even though 69 percent of Protestant churches report that they still regularly use hymnals, which are mostly put out by denominational publishers. The Alliance, however, has decided to push against the tideat least a littleby tasking songwriters with creating new music specifically for the CMA. Meier said in some ways, they are picking up where CMA founder A. B. Simpson left off. He is credited with writing over 150 hymnsspecifically gospel songs, a 19th-century subgenre of sacred music that emerged from urban revivalism. He also edited the first and second editions of the CMA hymnal, Hymns of the Christian Life. We have a rich history of worship music, Meier said. Most of Simpsons music has fallen out of favor, though. For one thing, many of his compositions are difficult to sing. Simpson was not a trained musician and reportedly wrote most of his melodies by picking them out on the piano with one hand and then relying on others to provide harmonies and accompaniments. The results were overly complicated, often requiring an expansive vocal range. The lyrics are another issue. Some of Simpsons songs are overly verbose, and others have not aged well. Occasionally his lyrics reflect a 19th-century colonialism that the CMA does not want to resurrect. Christ Is Conqueror, Hallelujah, for example, does not speak for the modern missions movement: Forward! Soldiers of the legion, / Win for him each hostile region, / Till the banner of salvation / Floats oer every heathen nation. But Alliance leaders would love to have a few good songs about missions that churches could sing on Sunday mornings, Meier said. The most popular ones in evangelical churches today, according to Christian Copyright Licensing International, were written in the late 1800s: I Love to Tell the Story (1869), Softly and Tenderly (1880), and We Have Heard the Joyful Sound/Jesus Saves (1898). Its probably time for an update. Article continues below Meier and others involved in Alliance Worship want to capture the vision of Simpsons songwriting project and produce music that reflects the churchs mandate to spread the gospel. If they cant teach Simpsons music to contemporary Christians, that doesnt mean they cant be inspired by his work. One song Alliance Worship wrote, Yesterday, Today, and Forevermore, pays homage to Simpsons 1890 song Yesterday, Today, Forever. They didnt use the exact phrasing of the original, but the lyrics clearly echo the historical hymn. Simpsons 1890 worship song says, Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus is the same. / All may change, but Jesus never! Glory to His name. The bridge of the Alliance Worship song Yesterday, Today, and Forevermore goes, Yesterday, today, and forevermore / We declare the glory of the Lord. Alliance worship ministers are not only looking to history for input into denomination-specific songs. They also hope this new push for CMA music will include contributions from the global church. The Alliance World Fellowship comprises congregations in 87 countries besides the US, and Americans only make up a small percentage of the total church membership. Not everything has to be written in a studio in Nashville, said Sadlon, who lives in Nashville and has years of experience in the music industry. All of us who write in the Christian realm want to see more and more people contributing. Sadlon believes Alliance Worship is uniquely situated to lead a push to include new and diverse voices in the worship music world. We want to be leading out in front of that, Sadlon said. We understand diversity of sound. We have churches all over the country and all over the world. Part of the work ahead then, according to those involved, will be learning how to serve this global but specific Christian community. Alliance Worship released Chinese and Spanish translations of its first albums lyrics. There are plans to include non-English vocal recordings for the second. They dont want to just export American worship. Sadlon is hopeful that future projects will include worship music from other cultures translated into Englishshowing that All of Jesus for all the world goes in every direction at once. Diversity brings unity, Sadlon said. We have a denomination built on the idea that its not about us. Kelsey Kramer McGinnis is CTs worship music correspondent. She is a musicologist, educator, and writer who researches music in Christian communities. Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here. Karolin is one of 30,000 Armenian children without a homeagain. Fleeing the mountainous enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in the face of Azerbaijans assault last month, the 12-year-old girl had an unexpected encounter. After crossing the Lachin corridor westward to Goris in Armenia proper, she found her beloved social worker waiting. Arpe Asaturyan, founder of Frontline Therapists (FLT), was astounded as well. Amid the 100,000 refugees from what Armenians call their homeland of Artsakh, she had found the very same child displaced three years earlier. A special bond formed with then-9-year-old Karolin, who had gripped her tightly before returning home. Located within internationally recognized Azerbaijani territory, the Armenian enclave suffered a bloody 44-day war in 2020. Over 6,000 soldiers died before a Russian-backed ceasefire left local Armenian authorities in control of only a portion of formerly held Artsakh land. Karolin and her family went back anyway, vowing to continue their multigenerational presence. But after suffering malnutrition during an Azerbaijani-imposed nine-month blockade, they trudged three days in the slow-moving convoy of cars and buses across Lachinthe only road connecting the enclave with Armenia. Over the week-and-a-half exodus, Artsakh residents crossed at a rate of 15,000 per day. But the bittersweet reunion with Karolin is far from the worst of Asaturyans ordeal. Suffering in the chaos of relocation and the fog of war, several mothers told their children they would find their daddy in Armenia. As counselor, Asaturyan was asked to tell them that their fathers had died. It is heartbreaking, and you know this will be the worst day of the rest of their lives, Asaturyan said. With all that has happened, it is hard to find faith. When the 2020 war broke out, the California native left behind a successful practice in trauma counseling to join her ethnic kin in ministering to returning soldiers and new widows. Funded by the Armenian diaspora, she oversees a small staff of paid and volunteer therapists providing free mental health services. But in the weeks following last months conflict, her office turned into a humanitarian hub. Already, 20 truckloads of aid have been sent to Goris and the summer camp refuge in central Armenia where she first met Karolin. They know their life there was tenuousthey even laminate their documents, Asaturyan said. This is still the shock phase, but grief is set aside as bereft mothers must struggle now to find a job. The Armenian government initially prepared to receive 40,000 displaced from Artsakh; that was the single-day inflow on September 27 alone. The total number represents 3.4 percent of Armenias population, added to an existing refugee population of about 35,000. This does not include at least 65,000 Russians who fled to Armenia due to the Ukraine war, driving up real estate prices by 20 percent with skyrocketing rents. The Armenian government is providing a relocation payment of $260 per person, with a promised monthly support of $100 to assist with rent and utilities. The UN High Commission for Refugees has called for $97 million in international assistance, and the United States has led the way with a pledge of more than $11.5 million. Peanuts, said Marina Mkhitaryan, executive director of the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), a 180-year-old organization with institutional links to the Armenian Apostolic Church. The level of support only adds insult to injury. Partnering with World Central Kitchen, AGBU has helped provide 80,000 nutritious hot-food boxes to those in greatest need. Soon AGBU will shift to dry-food packages so families can cook their own meals for up to four days. But a strong focus is on integration, equipping the displaced to live on their own. A logistics center assists with mundane matters like official documentation, establishing bank accounts, and understanding taxes. And AGBU has partnered with a local employment agency to help the displaced find jobs and to provide training in entrepreneurship and the skills necessary for entry-level positions in Armenias strong IT sector. But, being careful with terminology, Mkhitaryan wants more for Artsakhs former residents than current stability. These are displaced persons who will eventually return to our historic homeland, she said. Refugee implies a state of no return, and that is not our stance. Pastor Vazgen Zohrabyan believes this will only be possible as Azerbaijani citizens. But there is no hope they will go back now, he said. My number one concern is where they will live. His 400-family Abovyan City Church (ACC) opened its doors, provided hot showers, and laid mattresses on the floors for as many as could fit. In all, they have helped 300 people find temporary shelter onsite and elsewhere, with ongoing food supply for 150 families. Many had fled for their lives, leaving behind family pictures, shoes, and paperwork. During the 2020 war and aftermath, Samaritans Purse and other organizations helped him offer aid to 12,000 families. While the US-based charity has since returned to Armenia, ACCs current funding has been provided by a Pentecostal pastor in Argentina of Armenian descent. But Zohrabyan has been approaching the end of his resources and nearly the end of his faith. We prayed for victory, and thought God would give it, he said. It was a very painful lesson: Jesus did not die for land, but for the souls of these precious people. Last Sunday, 40 refugees from Artsakh proclaimed their faith in Christ. Zohrabyans earlier outreach resulted in 70 new believers, who returned to the enclave to plant a sister church. He visited them once a month until the blockade severed their physical connection. He says many Armenians put much of the blame on Russia. Not absolving Azerbaijan, typical analysis says the northern neighbor plays one side against another to cement its regional power. And concerned about Armenias emerging democracy, the Kremlin is allegedly fomenting unrest through opposition parties, who claim the historic Christian nation can only survive if tied to Moscow. Many Armenians are frustrated that Russia stood aside as Azerbaijan breached the ceasefire. Five Russian peacekeepers were even killed during the operation, with no protest issued. Meanwhile, prime minister Nikol Pashinyan recently invited American forces for joint military exercises and joined Armenia to the International Criminal Court (ICC)where Russian president Vladimir Putin faces war crime charges. Having seen evangelical colleagues cowed to silence in Russia, Zohrabyan fears that a proposed political union with Moscow will similarly harm believers at home. But he also does not trust the West as a consistent replacement ally for Armenia. All is determined by interests, he said, not shared values. We are under huge pressure, he said. Pray for uswe want to see light at the end of this tunnel. There may be some, domestically. We say we want back our lands in Turkey, but we havent yet filled Armenia, said Aren Deyirmenjian, Armenia director for the Armenian Missionary Association of America (AMAA), of genocidal displacement following World War I. This is a golden opportunity. AMAA has joined in the early relief efforts, initially opening its small church in Goris to refugees and eventually providing short-term housing for 500 people at a summer camp and ten other centers throughout Armenia. Another 1,000 people have benefitted from food, clothing, and medical aid. But Deyirmenjian has begun the medium-term planning. With the capital of Yerevan already overcrowded, refugees should be resettled in the rural hinterlands, he said. AMAA is planning an asset replacement projectto provide five cows, for example, to an Artsakh farmer who left five cows behind. Armenia has many under- and depopulated villages ready to receive them. These are strategic areas, he said, because Azerbaijan has laid rhetorical claim on the nations southern region of Syunik, which stands in great need of development. We are hard pressed on every side, Deyirmenjian quoted from 2 Corinthians 4, but not crushed... Therefore, we do not lose hope. The 2020 ceasefire called for opening a corridor parallel to Armenias border with Iran, connecting Azerbaijan with its noncontiguous enclave of Nakhchivan, which narrowly borders Turkey. The initial proposal called for Russian peacekeepers to guard the corridor. But however it is negotiated, Armenia fears a threat to its territorial sovereignty. Azerbaijan has threatened force, and marshaled troops on the southern border. For this reason, Deyirmenjian said many Artsakh refugees are understandably reluctant to resettle there, lest they be displaced again. Yerevan is much preferred, but many are talking of possible asylum in Canada, Russia, or Cyprus. The AMAA has had meetings with Armenias ministry of social affairs and sees congruence with government strategy. If Artsakh residents can become self-sufficient in Syunik, Armenia as a nation will benefit from the additional 100,000 residents. Even though their presence in Armenia is a historic injustice. First starve them, then scare them, so that they flee, Deyirmenjian said. Azerbaijans strategy was executed perfectly, but whatever means you use, it is ethnic cleansing. ICC statutes say that forcible displacement is not restricted to physical force but includes the threat or other abuses of power. Melanie OBrien, president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, stated the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh created such a coercive environment. Azerbaijan, however, has consistently stated that Armenians in the enclave would be welcomed as full citizens. Soldiers were pictured offering chocolate to children, while the new authorities opened a shelter for vulnerable residents who stayed behind. A UN team visiting Nagorno-Karabakh stated it heard no reports of violence against civilians and saw no evidence of damage to hospitals, schools, or agricultural infrastructure. Though there were rumors circulating of atrocities in the villages, testimonies gathered by journalists revealed that most refugees did not encounter a single soldier. Human Rights Watch interviewed over two dozen refugees and officials but did not report any abuses and stated that people fled in fear and panic. One woman stated that her local authorities told her to leave within 15 minutes. Another woman asked her village administrator if she could later return and was told that if she faced massacre, it would not be their responsibility. No one has pushed them to leave the territory, said an Azerbaijani pastor, requesting anonymity to speak about political issues. I hope they come back. Freedom House calls Azerbaijan not free, ranking the nation No. 13 from the bottom in its world freedom index. The pastor recalled earlier days when Armenians and Azerbaijanis would live side-by-side in peace. Normal people do not hate each other, he said, but those who lost their homes or relatives in the conflict have grown bitter. He recalled that when Armenians took control of Nagorno-Karabakh in 1994, 500,000 Azerbaijani refugees fled the enclave, and another 186,000 left Armenia. Around 30,000 people were killed on both sides, and 350,000 Armenians left Azerbaijan. I believe incidents [against Armenians] may have happened, said another Azerbaijani Christian leader, requesting anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation. But compared to the history of the conflict, this takeover has been very peaceful. The leader said Azerbaijani soldiers would be unlikely to look favorably on the Armenians, who would understandably distrust official promises of fair treatment. But having seen his Muslim country evolve into a secular regime that grants freedom to Christian converts from Islam, he believes that Armenians would be welcome and protected. If they return, within five years the region will be prosperous, he said. And with Nagorno-Karabakh returned to Azerbaijani sovereignty, he expressed hope that the two nations could now conclude a peace treaty. Pashinyan has indicated a readiness for negotiations, the success of which he puts at 70 percent. Economic benefits would flow through trade, the Azerbaijani source anticipated, and oil pipelines could connect the two nations with Turkey and Europe. They didnt have to leave, he said. But I can envision a future where Armenians and Azerbaijanis travel freely between the two countries. A third Azerbaijani Christian leader was terse in assessing the displacement. There is official news from both sides, he said. I dont know anything more than that. Eric Hacopian, an Armenian political analyst with The Civilitas Foundation, dismissed the official accounts absolving Azerbaijan of ethnic cleansing. The UN visit was a much-ridiculed joke, he said. No one takes their report seriously. Noting how it was conducted by the Azerbaijani branch office after the atrocities were committed and cleaned up, Hacopian said he watched videos of alleged abuses posted by the soldiers themselves. And while only a handful of Armenians remained in the territory to testify, the UNs greatest omission was not visiting the countryside villages from which the residents fled. The truth will come out, he said. And this is Asaturyans next major project. Working with a team of international specialists, she will prepare an academic paper comparing the trauma from 2020 to the trauma experienced by refugees now. To be peer reviewed and professionally published in a reputable journal, it will evaluate and then establish eyewitness accounts as fact. Many have told Asaturyan secondhand stories of rape, beheading, and death by burning. Anonymous text messages told them they had 24 hours before the Lachin corridor closed for good, followed by other messages encouraging them to integrate into Azerbaijan. But one grandmother, who with her husband had at first sat on their front porch with gun in hand to defend their land, related the experience of why they left. They beat a pregnant woman, she said, who later died of internal bleeding. Nagorno-Karabakh officials reported that ten civiliansincluding five childrendied in the Azerbaijani offensive that killed at least 200 soldiers. At least 400 others were wounded. For these and the other 100,000 displaced, the relief work continues. AGBU is refitting part of its center in Yerevan to house 170 people displaced from Artsakh. AMAA will continue to pay the salaries of its 79 Artsakh staff workers for a full year. ACC is preparing new believers for baptism and discipleship. And alongside its regular counseling sessions, FTL has provided emergency aid for over 500 families. But why are they there in the first place, and not in their historic homeland? Even the monks have departed their monasteriessaid to be the first time in 1,700 years that there are no Armenian Christian prayers in Artsakh. There is a natural instinct to protect your life and family, said Asaturyan. But the way they leftsomething happened. [ This article is also available in Francais. ] Minnesota woman who protested Israeli military action in Gaza among Americans killed by Hamas A Minnesota woman, known for protesting Israeli military actions in Gaza, is among the over two dozen Americans killed by Hamas in Israel earlier this month, according to her daughter. Cindy Flash, 67, and her husband, Igal Flash, 66, were killed in their Kfar Aza home near the Gaza border. Their daughter, Keren Flash, 34, confirmed to CNN that her parents were murdered after Hamas militants broke into their safe room. Cindy Flashs last communication was a message on a neighborhood group chat pleading for help, indicating that militants had broken in, the daughter said. Days passed before Keren Flash learned of her parents deaths. She said the only solace was that they apparently died instantly so at least it was quick and relatively painless. Igal Flash was born in Israel, the son of Holocaust survivors. Her daughter describes Cindy Flash as all heart and soul known for her protests against Israeli military action in Gaza. "They were some of the best people that I have ever known," Keren Flash said. "They were good people. They cared about other people. They fought for other people's rights and other people's voices." "Just our worst nightmares": Minnesotan Cindy Flash killed in Hamas attack on Israel https://t.co/Ot4EpjN2Q7 WCCO | CBS News Minnesota (@WCCO) October 13, 2023 Hamas militants invaded settlements in southern Israel close to the border with the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, killing over 1,400 people and taking over 150 hostages, many of them civilians. Israeli forces claim over 1,500 Hamas fighters were killed in the attack. The U.S. State Department said in a statement shared with media on Sunday that at least 30 Americans have been killed in Isreal and at least 13 are missing. Cindy Flash was a native of St. Paul, Minnesota, but emigrated to Israel, where she fell in love with Igal Flash. After getting married, the couple settled in Kfar Azar, USA Today reports. The Flashes' home in Kfar Aza, which had a population of over 800 people, was next to the security fence that Hamas militants broke through on Saturday when they began the attack, Keren Flash told USA Today. They recently had renovations done to the home, forcing them to leave it for a few months. "They were so happy to be back," Keren Flash said. In the days following the attack, reports emerged of children being massacred in the Kfar Aza settlement, with an on-the-ground reporter from i24News reporting that Israel's military discovered the bodies of over 40 babies killed. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv on Thursday. Israels government presented graphic images of dead children and civilians said to have been killed in Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. Its 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. In response to the attack, Israel launched airstrikes that it says have targeted Hamas infrastructure and areas where militants hide in Gaza. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 2,670 Palestinians have been killed and 9,600 wounded since the fighting began. Hamas has claimed in a statement that 13 of the roughly 150 people they are holding hostage were killed in Israeli airstrikes, including foreigners, but didn't disclose their nationalities. Israeli military spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, told Al Jazeera Arabic that the claim is false. We have our own information and do not believe the lies of Hamas," he said, according to The Hill. Israel has told civilians in north Gaza to flee to southern Gaza as it prepares a potential military offensive. Last Monday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered a complete siege of Gaza, cutting electricity and blocking food and fuel entries, according to The Independent. 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 read. 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. Chinese, Saudi Arabian FMs hold phone talks on Palestinian-Israeli conflict Xinhua) 10:00, October 16, 2023 BEIJING, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday held a phone conversation with Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, noted that all parties should refrain from any actions that escalate the situation and should return to the negotiating table as soon as possible. China opposes and condemns all acts that harm civilians because they violate the basic human conscience and the basic norms of international relations, Wang said. Israel's actions have gone beyond self-defense and it should heed the call of the international community and the Secretary-General of the United Nations to stop its collective punishment of the people in Gaza, he said. China is in intensive communication with all parties to push for a ceasefire and an end to the fighting, he said, adding that the pressing task is to ensure the safety of civilians, open humanitarian corridors for aid as soon as possible, and protect the basic needs of the people in Gaza. Noting that China believes that the historical injustices against Palestine have lasted for more than half a century and cannot go on, he said that all countries that love peace and uphold justice should speak up and clearly call for early implementation of the two-state solution. China stands ready to work with Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries to continue supporting the Palestinians' just cause of restoring their national rights and bring the Palestinian question back to the right track of the two-state solution so that it can be resolved comprehensively, justly and permanently, said Wang. For his part, Faisal said that Saudi Arabia, deeply concerned about the current development of the Palestinian-Israeli situation, condemns all attacks on civilians and opposes Israel's forced relocation of people in Gaza outside the area. It is imperative that humanitarian supplies reach the people in Gaza as soon as possible, Faisal said, expressing the hope that the international community will work together to prevent the conflict from spreading to other countries. Saudi Arabia believes that without the implementation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, there can be no just and permanent solutions to the Palestinian question, he said. Noting that China plays an important and fundamental role in promoting world peace and stability, Faisal said that Saudi Arabia stands ready to work with China to urge all parties to observe the international humanitarian law, protect civilians from harm, and implement relevant Security Council resolutions on the Palestinian question. (Web editor: Liang Jun) China repatriates 500 North Korean escapees after Asian Games China has returned over 500 North Koreans to their home country following the Hangzhou Asian Games, according to reports, which say the repatriation involved civilians and religious figures who had been detained in China. Multiple sources in China working to rescue North Koreans told Radio Free Asia about the repatriation. These individuals were arrested in their efforts to travel from China to South Korea. According to the J.M. Missionary Union, a group involved in rescuing North Koreans, the returns happened in the Chinese cities of Tumen, Hunchun, Changbai, Dandong and Nanping. The group said Beijing and Pyongyang had an agreement. The repatriation was to occur immediately after the Asian Games. An official from the group detailed the process. At around 7:30 p.m. local time on the 9th of this month, the repatriation was secretly carried out through various Chinese customs offices along the North Korean-Chinese border. The detainees were captured during the COVID-19 pandemic, RFA said, adding that they were held in Chinese detention centers. Peter Jung, head of Justice for North Korea, a Seoul-based rights group, was quoted as saying that a large-scale repatriation had taken place in several areas simultaneously and that it included children. An emotionally charged call from a North Korean defector to his family in China underscored the dire circumstances. He implored them to look after his remaining children, fearing an uncertain fate upon his return to North Korea. Both China and North Korea had tightened border controls due to COVID-19. However, after relaxing policies, China has encouraged North Korea to accept defectors back, said Peter. One Korea Network, a U.S.-based civil society group, said the repatriation also occurred in Sanjiang. The operation was carried out in secrecy and high security, notably 10 days before North Koreas party founding day. A source in Yanji, China, was quoted as saying that even detention center workers were kept in the dark. Detainees were abruptly moved on Oct. 9. South Koreas Ministry of Foreign Affairs said diplomatic efforts were ongoing to safeguard North Koreans abroad. The U.K.-based group Christian Solidarity Worldwide noted that the repatriation violates international law. Last October, Arielle Del Turco, assistant director of the Center for Religious Liberty at The Family Research Council, wrote an op-ed describing how those who return to North Korea face potential torture, imprisonment and even public execution. Crossing into China doesnt guarantee safety, as defectors face threats from Chinese authorities, who have advanced surveillance technologies to track and forcibly repatriate them back to North Korea, Del Turco wrote. Particularly vulnerable are North Korean women in China, who often end up being trafficked, the author pointed out. Sold into marriages or forced into online sexual exploitation, these women find it exceedingly difficult to escape their circumstances and reach safety in South Korea or other countries. Some women face forced abortions if found pregnant with half-Chinese children. Estimates suggest that over 50,000 North Korean defectors might be in China, with many detained and awaiting forced repatriation, the op-ed said. Del Turco urged the international community, including the U.S., to pressure China to cease these inhumane practices and offer safe passage to defectors, aligning with its obligations under the 1951 U.N. Refugee Convention. Should Christians take their money out of banks that don't share their values? Credit union survey finds at least one-third are considering changes amid 'de-banking' trend Nearly a third of Christians in the U.S. have considered switching banks in the last year due to conflicts with their values and other factors, according to a new survey. The research conducted by the faith-based Christian Community Credit Union (CCCU) in San Dimas, California, found as Christians are being increasingly discriminated against by major banks, more are choosing to bank with companies that reflect their most deeply-held beliefs and values. In its survey of more than 1,300 professed Christians, over 30% of respondents said they thought about taking their banking business elsewhere in the past year in response to several reports about some of the countrys biggest banks canceling the accounts of religious customers. Two-thirds of all respondents said they were excited or curious about potentially banking with a Christian institution, while half said they believe its more important than ever for their chosen bank to reflect their values. Blair Korschun, president and CEO of CCCU, said the research, combined with what she called the "predatory practices of certain big banks," could signal the beginning of a major bank exodus. Over 60% of Christians care deeply about managing their finances Biblically, to honor God, said Korschun. We are excited to provide a financial institution that aligns with their values and invests in their communities. Its not just CCCU: other banks are offering statements of faith along with their lending and credit programs, including Americas Christian Credit Union, which is described on its website as a Christian institution committed to the cause of Christ. Other institutions, such as Cass Commercial Bank, cater to faith-based and nonprofit customers in order to help them build, grow and renovate places of worship and even offer digital giving and church management software solutions for ministries of all sizes. The tectonic shift in banking practices come after a rise in whats known as the debanking problem over the past few years, recently including JP Morgan Chase Bank canceling the bank account of a religious nonprofit led by former Senator and U.S. Ambassador Sam Brownback. In May, 19 Republican state attorneys general wrote a letter to CEO Jamie Dimon and called on JPMorgan Chase to stop its religious and politically biased discrimination and start living up to its commitment to an inclusive society where everyone feels welcomed, equal, and included. Bank of America decided this April to abruptly cancel the bank account for Indigenous Advance Ministries, an international ministry that had opened its account in 2015. While Bank of America denied that the ministrys ideology played a role in the decision, not everyone accepted their explanation. National banks like Bank of America receive a host of benefits from the American taxpayer so that they can serve the public, wrote Jeremy Tedesco, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom. If Bank of America cant restrain itself from ideological decision-making, its time for public officials to hold it accountable. After all, as were seeing with those Indigenous Advance serves in Uganda, these black-box banking decisions have real-world consequences. New Mexico university accused of wrongfully charging pro-life student org $5.4K event security fee A public university in New Mexico has been accused of wrongfully compelling a pro-life student group to pay a security fee of more than $5,400 for an event, with critics claiming that the charge was unconstitutional. The Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal group, sent a letter to the University of New Mexico last week accusing them of wrongfully charging their Students for Life chapter a $5,461.40 security fee for an event held in April. We write to insist that the University rescind this bill, as it represents an unconstitutional viewpoint-based fee, wrote Travis Barham, senior counsel at ADF, in the letter. According to the letter, the pro-life student group invited Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, to give a lecture on campus at an event titled Lies Pro-Choicers Believe. In advance of the event, SFL leaders met with campus police, who estimated that the security fee for the lecture would cost around $7,000, but that the estimate could go down based on how things turned out at the event. As it turned out, Ms. Hawkins lecture generated no security issues. Unlike the prior events Lt. Stump relied on for his quotes, there were no threats regarding this event and no advertisements urging people to protest. When Ms. Hawkins spoke, there were no protestors and few (if any) security issues, explained Barham. Nevertheless, days later, the University sent the student group a bill for $5,461.40 because the University chose to assign no less than thirty officers to this unprotested event. Barham argued that the security fee requirement violated the First Amendment rights of Students for Life of America and Students for Life at the University of New Mexico by imposing security fees that (A) represent an exercise of unbridled discretion and (B) effectuate a hecklers veto. Some might consider Student for Lifes pro-life views controversial, but this is the reason for granting the speech more protection, not for charging it higher fees, he added. After all, to exclude or burden speech because some deem it controversial is nothing more than viewpoint discrimination. In a statement released by ADF last Wednesday, SFLA President Hawkins was quoted as saying that students who are pro-life should not be forced to pay a free speech fine. The trend of schools using fees and security costs as a deterrent to pro-life student activity is not only unconstitutional, it contradicts the very nature of education itself, in which educators are supposed to bring ideas and people together for an informed and constructive debate, she stated. The Christian Post reached out to the University of New Mexico for a response, with spokesperson Cinnamon Blair providing a statement via email explaining that the security policy is clearly stated and applied and is not based on the viewpoint of a proposed speaker. UNM encourages its student groups to sponsor events on campus and provides extensive staff resources to aid their endeavors. In this case, UNMPD took reasonable actions to protect all persons exercising their constitutional rights to speak, read the statement. As a public institution of higher education, UNM embraces the opportunity to learn from each event on campus and is committed to continuously reviewing and improving its processes and policies to ensure all events on campus are carried out in accordance with University policies and applicable law. The university statement pointed out that because of the lower than expected turnout, several officers were sent home early and the resulting charge was approximately one-third less than the projected fee. UNM greatly appreciates UNM-SFLs willingness to operate as a partner with regard to the planned event and take responsibility for assisting UNM in hosting an event in a manner that does not violate the constitutionally protected rights of others or pose a danger to anyone on campus, the statement added. Max Lucado shares how Christians should respond to Hamas attack, global conflict Pastor and bestselling author Max Lucado has outlined ways Christians should respond amid global conflict something he says is a "signal of the coming end of this age" from the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia to the recent attack on Israel by the terrorist group Hamas. We live in ever-present fear of worldwide destruction. Let one person press one button and nuclear disaster could happen. Russia has invaded Ukraine. China is threatening Taiwan. Israel feels pinched by Hamas to the south and Hezbollah to the North, Lucado, the leader of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas, wrote in an op-ed published by Fox News. Cain was violent first. We are violent still. Yet in the last few decades, the world has seen violence escalate to new levels. The phrase nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom is a Hebrew idiom for a world war. A global conflict is a signal of the coming end of this age, the pastor wrote. Despite the seemingly endless bad news, the pastor said he has some good news: Jesus, the one who warned of these days will deliver us from these days, Lucado emphasized. The birth pains will continue. The frequency of deception and division will increase, but Jesus will protect us until he comes, and He will deliver us once he comes. For that reason, Jesus spoke this next phrase, See to it that you are not troubled (Mt.24:6). Lucado shared three ways Christians should respond to such turmoil. First make sure that you are saved. Jesus Christ died on the cross for sinners like you and me. He does not want anyone to be lost, but he wants all people to change their hearts and lives." (2 Pet. 3:9), he stressed. Second, he encouraged believers to Pray for peace in Jerusalem" (Ps. 122:6.) Israel is special to God by covenant. Jesus was born there. He died there. He rose from and will return there. Its no wonder that the tiny nation of Israel has been the most disputed land in history. It is the staging ground of Gods story of salvation. Pray urgently for the nation of Israel, he wrote. Finally, Lucado reminded Christians, Dont panic, adding: Dont let the chaos weigh you down. Hold on. Hang tight. Lucado is one of many prominent U.S.-based pastors to urge Christians in the West to stand with Israel after Hamas invaded the Jewish state on Oct. 7, killing some 1,400 Israelis. On Monday, Israel said at least 199 people are being held hostage by the terrorist group in Gaza. In retaliation, Israel launched a series of air attacks on Gaza and cut off water and electricity to the enclave. The Palestinian Ministry of Health reports that at least 2,670 Palestinians have been killed and 9,600 wounded since the fighting began. In an earlier update, the ministry said the death toll included 724 children and 458 women. On Thursday, Southern Baptist Convention leaders, including SBC Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission President Brent Leatherwood, SBC President Bart Barber and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Al Mohler, took the lead in releasing a statement condemning the attacks by Hamas and expressing their support for Israel's "right and duty to defend itself against further attack." "In the wake of the evil and indefensible atrocities now committed against the people of Israel by Hamas, we, the undersigned, unequivocally condemn the violence against the vulnerable, fully support Israel's right and duty to defend itself against further attack, and urgently call all Christians to pray for the salvation and peace of the people of Israel and Palestine," the statement said, in part. ERLC President Emeritus Richard Land, who signed the statement, voiced his solidarity with the Jewish community, which he said had been distressed by the lack of global outrage. "I've been contacted by several of my Jewish friends. And they're disturbed," Land told The Christian Post. "They're very concerned that there hasn't been more outrage and there hasn't been more condemnation of these atrocious acts." "Hamas is a terrorist organization," he continued. "They don't want to negotiate with the Israelis. Hamas wants to drive the Jews into the sea and eradicate them. They are promoting genocide. They're even worse than the Nazis because at least the Nazis tried to hide what they were doing. Hamas is promoting what they're doing. Israel has every right to defend itself against the savagery. Last week, American Evangelical leader Johnnie Moore called on the European Union to step up its support for Israel following the attacks which he said "materially involved" Iran. Moore urged the EU to give Israel all the support it needs now, designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hamas as terrorist organizations and prevent any future EU funds from going to Hamas. If the representatives cause harm, then punish the Islamic Republic [of Iran], Moore added. Moore also called for the renewal of United Nations restrictions on ballistic missiles to Iran and a return to sanctions, which he said was more than justified. He 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. Son of Texas megachurch pastor ordered to pay woman he gave herpes $2.45M Rev. Ralph West II, the son of Rev. Ralph West, founder and senior pastor of The Church Without Walls in Houston, Texas, who most recently led the Eldridge campus of his fathers megachurch, has been ordered to pay $2.45 million to a woman he knowingly infected with herpes after a jury in Harris County found him liable. After a three-day trial, the jury unanimously found West II liable after only six hours of deliberation for battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and fraudulent concealment of his herpes infection from his unidentified victim whom he met on Facebook and then had unprotected sex with in 2018, according to KPRC. The $2.45 million verdict included $1.45 million in compensatory damages and $1 million in exemplary/punitive damages, according to Fox 26. The amount is said to be the largest award ever made for a case like this in Texas. "We truly hope this verdict sends a strong message to people throughout Texas and the United States who are infected with sexually transmitted diseases that they must disclose having the disease before engaging in sexual intercourse with any others, Shaun Murphy, the plaintiffs attorney and a partner at the law firm Slovak Baron Empey Murphy & Pinkney, LLP, said in a statement. It is also important for those who have suffered harm after being infected due to another's negligent or intentional conduct to know they have a legal remedy." It was unclear Monday whether or not Rev. Ralp West II, who has worked for more than 20 years as a preacher, remained on staff at the church. The Church Without Walls staff online page is currently not displaying any results, and officials did not immediately respond to calls for comment from The Christian Post. Four days ago, Rev. Ralph West II, was presented in a promotional video for the megachurchs mens fellowship. In his statement to Fox 26, Murphy noted that the verdict was not only the largest award ever made in Texas to a victim of genital herpes infection in Texas, but it was also larger than any award ever made in California or Washington. I suspect there are many people who don't know that in every state in the U.S., it is unlawful for a person who knows they have a sexually transmitted disease to communicate the disease to another person through sexual contact or to even have sexual contact with another person unless they have informed their partner that they are infected with a sexually transmitted disease," Murphy explained. "In fact, it is considered fraud to knowingly endanger another person in this way, which exposes the person who transmits the STD to potential civil liability for substantial monetary damages." The verdict against West comes nearly three years after his father cut ties with the Southern Baptist Convention over a statement from the denominations Council of Seminary Presidents denouncing critical race theory and intersectionality as incompatible with their beliefs. West, who ministers to more than 24,000 families in three locations each week, made the announcement in an op-ed published in the Baptist Standard, calling on the seminary presidents to repent for bringing division and confusion to the body of Christ with their statement. The statement on critical race theory and intersectionality has soiled that good faith. I cannot maintain my affiliation any longer and therefore am withdrawing from Southwestern Seminary. Nor will I associate with the SBC any longer, West said. What the SBC seminary presidents have done has brought division and confusion to the body of Christ. They must repent and seek reconciliation with those who can properly inform them of the wrong they have done. They must ask the Lord to open their hearts to hear the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ and how Jesus reign truly should impact our society. Pentecostal mission center demolished in India; pastor, 17 others arrested Hindu nationalist government officials in northern India's Uttar Pradesh state have demolished a Pentecostal mission center and arrested 18 people amid concerns over the persecution of the Christian minority in the country, according to reports. The demolition took place last Wednesday in the Bhulandih area of Jaunpur district, according to the Union of Catholic Asia News. A special police squad tore down the Jeevan Jyoti Church mission center, which had existed for over a decade, and closed off roads leading to the mission center. Eighteen individuals, including Pastor Durga Prasad Yadav, were arrested. Yadav, his wife, Leela, and his brother, Jai Prakash, were accused of criminal conspiracy in an information report. Two days before the demolition, Yadav, his wife, son Manish, and associates, pastor Sanjay Masih of Mirzapur and Manoj Jacob, UP president of the Christian forum Rashtriya Isai Mahasangh, were arrested, The Wire reports. According to the outlet, police also opened a case against Yadav under the UP Prevention of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act. A senior government official, Neha Mishra, told UCA News that the demolition was aimed at "razing illegal structures on government land." She claimed the mission center lacked official permission. A church official refuted this, asserting that most of the center was not on government property, albeit admitting that a portion of the campus was. "The wall was built with approval from local officials, but the permission was verbal," the church official told UCA News. A church official disclosed that unidentified people had torn down the boundary wall on Oct. 5. The government subsequently ordered the mission to pay $3,400 to cover the cost of the demolition, local media reported. Local government officials lodged three first information reports against managers of the prayer center in September, according to The Wire. The first report centers on the complaint of a revenue official who said the prayer center was built on land that was "illegally occupied" and that the land was initially allotted for burial grounds. "The portion which was found to be legal and privately owned 'was not touched,'" Deputy Superintendent of Police Gaurav Sharma told The Wire. A source close to the situation told the outlet that even if a portion of the center was on government land, the administration could have exchanged it with additional land outside the compound. Christians in Uttar Pradesh express rising apprehensions as the state enacted an anti-conversion law in 2021. "The government does not want Christians to organize prayer services," Pastor Dinesh Kumar told UCA News. Presently, 89 Christians are jailed in Uttar Pradesh for alleged violations of this law, according to UCA News. International Christian Concern, a U.S.-based persecution watchdog organization, warns that upcoming state elections in Uttar Pradesh have emboldened Hindu nationalist political leaders. Anti-conversion laws have been a driving factor behind increased imprisonments of Christians, the watchdog reported last week, revealing that nearly 400 Christians have been jailed since the end of 2020 due to these laws. Attacks against Christians are also escalating, with even home gatherings being targeted. Nearly a dozen states in India have enacted anti-conversion laws. Proponents of such laws say they are needed to crack down on Christians or Muslims, forcing or giving money or goods to Hindus to persuade them to convert. These laws typically ban conversion through coercion, allurement, fraudulent practices, marriage or misrepresentation. Hindu nationalist activists and groups have often used the laws to file allegations of forced conversion with police against religious minorities. The burden of proof falls on those accused to prove that conversions were not done in force. The United Christian Forum recorded 104 incidents of violence against Christians in Uttar Pradesh alone this year until August. Nationwide, this number reached 525. Christians constitute a minuscule 0.18 percent of the state's 200 million-strong population. Christians make up around 2.3% of India's national population, as indicated by the U.S. State Department. The UCF reported a significant upsurge in violent incidents against Christians since 2014. Their findings show a substantial increase in 2021 and 2022, making 2021 the "most violent year" in India for Christians. This rise in violence includes vigilante mobs composed of religious extremists who target Christians. The UCF's report attributes the increased persecution to impunity, resulting in these mobs threatening and assaulting people before turning them over to police on allegations of forced conversions. India ranks as the 11th-worst country when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors' 2023 World Watch List, attributing deteriorating religious freedom conditions in the country to the rise of the Hindutva ideology, which holds that only Hindus are true Indians. "Increasing numbers of states are implementing anti-conversion laws, supposedly to stop Hindus being forcibly converted to other religions, but in reality, they are often used as an excuse to harass and intimidate Christians who are just doing things like distributing aid or having a private church meeting," Open Doors states. "These laws do not seem to protect Christians from being coerced back into Hinduism." Hamas never wanted peace with Israel In the midst of the horrors of the last week, its important to remember that Hamas has never wanted peace with Israel. Instead, the express goal of Hamas since its inception was the destruction of Israel. As stated in its first charter, published in 1988, Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it. It was and is the mission of Hamas to obliterate Israel, not make peace with Israel. As noted in an October 10 article in The Atlantic, A close read of Hamass founding documents clearly shows its intentions. Accordingly, the headline was titled, Understanding Hamass Genocidal Ideology. Genocidal indeed. As even NPR acknowledges, The group has vowed to annihilate Israel and has been responsible for many suicide bombings and other deadly attacks on civilians and Israeli soldiers. And, just as ISIS was a religion-based murder cult, the same holds true for Hamas. Both groups do what they do in the name of Allah, slaughtering the innocent in the cruelest, most demonic ways while shouting, Allah Akbar. (Raping women can also be done in Allahs name in their demented form of faith.) Thats why you dont make peace with the likes of ISIS or Hamas. You thwart them. Put another way, people who proclaim, We love death more than you love life are not ready to sit down at the table and reason together. As Robert Spencer said with reference to ISIS, We love death more than you love life. This is civilization's ultimate challenge. Will the lovers of death and destruction overwhelm and defeat those who love life and have created great civilizations that celebrate human creativity and achievement? Will all that is left of three thousand years of human civilization be reduced to rubble and a mindless religio-ideological lockstep? The Islamic State is not just a challenge to Judeo-Christian Western civilization. It is a challenge to civilization itself--to the very idea of civilization. And that is why it is doomed to fail. Life will always conquer death in the end. The human spirit will always prevail against the forces that would subjugate and enslave it. Bear in mind that Hamas, an acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya (Islamic Resistance Movement) was founded as a more religiously based front for resisting Israel. (As a point of clarification, the Arabic word hamas means zeal and is very close to the Hebrew word hamas meaning violence. But they are two distinct words, with similar, not identical pronunciations.) As noted on the Brittanica.com website, Founded in 1987, Hamas opposed the secular approach of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and rejected attempts to cede any part of Palestine. And while Hamas engaged in various acts of civil welfare for the people of Gaza, helping the populace in practical ways, it is the military wing of the organization that has made its lasting, deadly mark. It is also the military side of Hamas that absorbs the countless tens of millions of dollars that pour into its coffers from international aid that was intended for humanitarian use. Instead, it is used to build bombs and terror tunnels and the like. So much for being for the people. As far as the religious ideology of Hamas, understand that for a committed Muslim, the world is divided into two segments, Dar al-Islam, the territory of Islam, and Dar al-Harb, the territory of war. The former refers to those countries and lands that have been subjected to Islam (remember that Islam means submission, not peace). The latter refers to the rest of the world that has not yet come under the sway of Islam. And what happens to land that was once under Muslim control but that then breaks free, such as Spain after the Moorish Conquest? This becomes an open wound, a recurring taunt and insult. How much more, then, when the evil Jews now control Jerusalem, considered the third holiest site in Islam, not to mention the rest of former Palestine? Israel must be driven out! As stated in Article 12 of the original charter, Nothing in nationalism is more significant or deeper than in the case when an enemy should tread Moslem land. And so, when you hear that catchy chant, From the River to the Sea, Palestine must be free, its important that you understand what it actually means: No more Jews in the Land! No more Israel! Is that clear enough? Thats why the original Hamas charter quoted the famous, authoritative Islamic tradition (hadith) that stated, The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight Jews and kill them. Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out: O Moslem, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him. As for the revised charter published in 2017, one that toned down some of the language, the goals remained the same. To quote some relevant lines: Palestine is a land that was seized by a racist, anti-human and colonial Zionist project that was founded on a false promise (the Balfour Declaration). (Yes, this is the softened version.) Yet, it is the Zionists who constantly identify Judaism and the Jews with their own colonial project and illegal entity. Thats why Zionism must disappear from Palestine. As for the armed resistance, that must continue: Resisting the occupation with all means and methods is a legitimate right guaranteed by divine laws and by international norms and laws. At the heart of these lies armed resistance, which is regarded as the strategic choice for protecting the principles and the rights of the Palestinian people. We now know, more clearly, than ever, what this armed resistance looks like and what the true spirit of Hamas really is. (This has been clear for decades; some are finally waking up to reality today.) From a Christian point of view, we recognize that even Hamas terrorists are created in the image of God and can be redeemed and transformed through the cross (although those guilty of murderous crimes must still pay for their deeds in this world). I have actually met several former Islamic terrorists who are followers of Jesus today. Not only are they transformed people, but they are also lovers of Israel. Talk about a heart change. As for any hopes of peace without radical conversion, there is the humanitarian hope, as expressed by Golda Meir, Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us. May God hasten the day. Supernatural atheism Have you ever been at your favorite restaurant and, suddenly, you were struck with the overwhelming fear that a rhinoceros would pop into existence right next to you? No? You might be if you were physicist and atheist Dr. Lawrence Krauss. In his book, A Universe from Nothing, Krauss cant dismiss such a possibility given he thinks our beginning came from something like a quantum vacuum outside our reality where things just pop into existence without a purposeful cause. OK, maybe thats too much of a stretch and you dont worry about something like that. But if you dismiss God like Krauss does and start noodling on why were here, maybe you reach the conclusion that we got really, really, really, really, really, really lucky and all the building blocks of the universe over time randomly arranged themselves just perfectly and, wham, here we are. The problem is, astrophysicists like Hugh Ross have calculated that the odds of all anthropic constants and quantities (122 at last count) coming together by luck alone to be one chance in 10 with 138 zeros after it. If you think that sounds like a whopper of a crapshoot, youre right, especially when 1. there are only 1070 atoms in the entire universe and 2. mathematicians point out that anything that exceeds 1050 power is the exact same thing as zero chance. Maybe thats why Stephen Hawking admitted that the initial configuration of a universe like ours seems to have been very carefully chosen. But maybe such matters dont concern you. However, its hard for anyone these days to not shake their head over the moral state of affairs in which humanity currently finds itself, and maybe you do that. But without God, a person has no objective guardrails to guide them with respect to moral values and duties, so it becomes really hard to criticize anyones actions because all things become mere preferences. However, atheist Sam Harris disagreed years ago and wrote his book, The Moral Landscape, in an attempt to show that science can indeed define objective morality. His attempt, though, was somewhat of a dumpster fire because he first redefined good to be the flourishing/well-being of conscious creatures, and then he turned around and admitted that it was possible for the peak of the moral landscape to be occupied by flourishing rapists, murderers, and thieves. Meaning its possible that goodness and creaturely well-being are not identical. Meaning, his moral theory collapses upon itself. When it comes to these kinds of theories, G. K. Chesterton said it best: When men choose not to believe in God, they do not thereafter believe in nothing, they then become capable of believing in anything. The trinitarian god of atheism Christianity has the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as its Trinity. Not to be outdone, atheism has time, matter, and chance. And make no mistake, atheisms trinitarian god is every bit as miraculous and supernatural as Christianitys. Balderdash, you say! Well, Merriam-Webster defines supernatural as: Of or relating to an order of existence beyond the visible observable universe; departing from what is usual or normal especially so as to appear to transcend the laws of nature. And when you look at the theories of origin, meaning, morality, and destiny put forward by those scoffing at God, you quickly see a pattern of those explanations being either incoherent or not of this world. Witness Stephen Hawkings imaginary time. Or cyclical universe models proposed by Steinhardt and Penrose. These theories have rightly been labeled alien physics because they dont govern the universe as we know it. Its invented to support a theory in which they have faith outside empirical evidence and proceeds from a presuppositional commitment to naturalism. The amusing thing is, such conjectures are actually supernatural at their core. Dr. Stephen Meyer describes it this way: There is a form of naturalism now which I call exotic naturalism. Its a form of supernatural materialism where things are posited beyond this universe in order to explain the key features we have about the key indicators we have of a beginning to this universe as well as the fine-tuning of the universe as well as the deep mystery of the origin of life. I think there's a tremendous basis for skepticism about these exotic forms of naturalism You've made your bread and butter as a skeptic and rightly so. Many of the things you're skeptical about, I'm skeptical about. But Im suggesting that there is an appropriate skepticism about these extremely and increasingly convoluted materialistic models that are invoking things beyond this universe beyond any possible observational confirmation as explanations. The thing is, no matter how you section reality, you will always end up with something that owes its existence to something other than itself. Such things, including us, are known as contingent entities in one form or another that depend on a necessary actuality. This being true, according to Meyer and others, with purely naturalistic explanations and their trinitarian god of time + matter + chance failing to produce such a necessary being that provides existence to everything else, the atheist faith is now turning to supernatural theories to support their claims. But why not consider the supernatural God of the Bible as a source for everything we know? Why not cast-off unreasonable doubts and an a priori bias of a closed universe and consider a transcendent Creator instead? Dr. Norm Geisler ends his book, I Dont Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist by offering some good answers to those questions: Have you ever thought about questioning your doubts? Just ask yourself, Is it reasonable to doubt that Christianity is true in light of all the evidence? Probably not. In fact, in light of the evidence you ought to have a lot more doubts about atheism and every other non-Christian belief system. They are not reasonable. Christianity is. So, start doubting your doubts and accept Christ. It takes too much faith to believe anything else. Sounds right to me. A Christian response to our secular world It is often noted that Western society has become increasingly 'secular' since the eighteenth century, and the reality of what this means has been brought home to me afresh by two events that occurred while I was on holiday recently. In this article I shall reflect on how these two events illustrate what it means for a society to be secular and three ways in which Christians should respond to such a society. A town guide which doesn't mention what a church is for The first of the two events that I mentioned occurred when I looked at the town guide produced by the local chamber of commerce in the town in which I was on holiday. The town in question has at its centre a very large, very ancient, and extremely beautiful parish church. In the town guide this church is described as an 'inspiring 5 star community space'. The guide goes on to say: 'Established by the Normans in the late 11th century the church is a key link in the town's history and heritage' and it encourages visitors to enjoy the stained glass windows, the medieval misericords and the view from the top of the church tower. Finally, it says: 'Do check what's on community arts events, concerts and recitals are held all year round.' This entry in the town guide is in one sense totally unobjectionable. All the statements of fact it makes about the church are correct. However, what I found disturbing was that the entry viewed the church as a place of purely historic and cultural significance (and a place to get a good view of the town). Viewed in this way the church has exactly the same significance in the life of the town as its medieval castle, which is also a place of historical and cultural significance and whose main tower also gives a good view of the town. What is missing from the entry is any idea that the real importance of the church is that it is a sacred place. It is a place set apart for the worship of God in which for centuries, week in week out, God's word has been preached and the sacraments have been administered, and in which, through these means, countless generations have been offered and received God's miraculous gift of eternal life. It is this, and not simply its historical and cultural significance, that makes this church a truly special place. The problem with the entry in the town guide is that none of this gets a mention (there is not even a hint that it is a place where church services get held on a regular basis). If we ask why none of this gets a mention, the answer has to be either that the person who wrote the entry was completely ignorant of the church's true religious purpose, or that they assumed that no one would want to know about it. An unreligious religious scholar The second event was taking time on holiday to watch the American TV series Madam Secretary. This series is an American political drama about Elizabeth McCord, the US Secretary of State (their equivalent to the British Foreign Secretary), which traces her path to becoming the first female President of the United States. Unlike in the town guide previously mentioned, the existence of religion is fully acknowledged in Madam Secretary. Elizabeth McCord's husband Henry is a theologian and ethicist who is frequently referred to as a 'world renowned religious scholar' and the fact that people hold religious beliefs features frequently in the story line. For example, in one of the episodes I watched recently Henry works out that a Russian nuclear submarine has become stranded off the Alaskan coast because he sees the Russian president praying fervently in front of an icon of St. Nicholas, the saint to whom Russian orthodox believers appeal for help in the face of catastrophe. However, there is no suggestion in the series that God himself ever plays any part in the events that are described. Religion is about what human beings believe, and what human beings do. God himself appears to be totally silent and totally inactive. Furthermore, even Henry McCord, who we are told is a Roman Catholic, appears to study and teach religion, but not to practise it. He does not go to Mass or to confession, he does not appear to pray - even in situations where his life or that of his family is at stake, religion plays no part in McCord family life, and although the sex life of Henry and Elizabeth features frequently in the series there is no suggestion that they adhere to Roman Catholic sexual ethics by eschewing artificial birth control in favour of natural family planning. It would be fascinating to have a TV series which looks at how a traditional Christian believer, guided by God, lives out his or her faith in the modern political arena, but Madam Secretary misses the opportunity to explore this issue. The world depicted in Madam Secretary is one in which God himself is absent and in which religion is ultimately peripheral to what takes place. What the town guide and Madam Secretary tell us about what it means for society to be secular What reading the town guide and watching Madam Secretary illustrate is that Western Society on both sides of the Atlantic has now become 'secular' in the sense of being a society in which there is what the Canadian scholar Charles Taylor calls a 'social imaginary,' a generally accepted view of the world, in which God is assumed to be absent and religion is seen as peripheral or ignored altogether. It is because of this social imaginary that the writer of the town guide wrote as they did and why God and religion have such a restricted place in the world of Madam Secretary. Both the town guide and the TV series are simply reflecting the prevailing view. How should Christians respond to a secular society? Given that Western society has become secular in the sense just described, how should Christians respond? I think they need to respond in three main ways. First, they should challenge those who hold to a secular worldview as to whether they really want to believe in a world without God. In Madam Secretary the absence of God is treated as making no difference to people's understanding of the human condition. However, to think like this is to hide from the consequences of one's worldview. As the twentieth century British atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell was honest enough to write, once you give up on God the necessary consequence is the belief: '...that man is the product of causes which had no prevision of the end they were achieving; that his origin, his growth, his hopes and fears, his loves and his beliefs are but the outcomes of accidental collocations of atoms; that no fire, no heroism, no intensity of thought and feeling, can preserve an individual life beyond the grave; that all the labours of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness of human genius, are destined to extinction in the vast death of the solar system, and that the whole temple of man's achievement must inevitably be buried beneath the debris of a universe in ruinsall these things, if not quite beyond dispute, are yet so nearly certain that no philosophy which rejects them can hope to stand. Only within the scaffolding of these truths, only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair, can the soul's habitation henceforth be safely built.' The question that Christians need to press is whether people really want to embrace a worldview that requires a life of 'unyielding despair.' To quote Shakespeare rather than Russell, do they really want to believe that their life is 'a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing'? Secondly, they should challenge the idea that it is rational to believe in a world without God. The scientific evidence for an intelligent creator remains as strong as it ever was, if not stronger. Anthropological studies indicate that human beings have had an awareness of the existence of one moral creator God since the beginning of human history. The study of ethics shows that only the existence of a wholly good God supports the universal human intuition that there is a genuine difference between right and wrong. Finally, the detailed study of the biblical material that has taken place in the last few centuries, when properly understood, strengthens rather than undermines the traditional Christian claim that God has acted in human history in the way in which the Bible describes (with the necessary corollary that he is still active in the world today). Thirdly, before they do one and two, Christians need to live as provocative people. As Graham Tomlin argues in his important book The Provocative Church, the modern suspicion of people trying to 'sell us' things means that people will only listen to what we have to say about why it is better to believe in God than to view him as absent, if we live a Christian life that can be seen to be different in a good way from the lives of those around us. Only if we do this will we provoke people to ask us why we live as we do and thus open the way for a profitable conversation about why a Christian view of the world is better than a secular one. Martin Davie is a lay Anglican theologian and Associate Tutor in Doctrine at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. New award honors Tim Keller and Sister Norma Pimentel for civic renewal The Rev. Timothy Keller, an evangelical Christian theologian who died earlier this year, and Catholic nun Sister Norma Pimentel, known for her work with migrants, have been chosen by a Christian organization to be the first recipients of its Civic Renewal Award. The awards are being given by the Center for Christianity and Public Life, a group founded last year by a former official from President Barack Obama's administration and dedicated to furthering the "credibility of Christian resources" for the "public good." Offered at the group's inaugural summit next month, the prize is meant to honour Christians who show "exemplary contributions to the health and well-being of their communities and nation." "When the public thinks of Christian leadership, they should think of Christians who served the public, like Sr. Norma Pimentel and Tim Keller," Michael Wear, founder and head of the CCPL, said in a statement. Wear, an evangelical Christian who helped lead Obama's campaign faith outreach efforts as well as working in the then-president's White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, is known for operating at the intersection of religion and politics often among Democrats. He wrote a book on the topic "Reclaiming Hope: Lessons Learned in the Obama White House About the Future of Faith in America" and previously worked as a political consultant whose clients included religious groups. In an interview, Wear praised Keller, the founder and longtime pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, a megachurch affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in America. Wear singled out Hope for New York, a faith-based group associated with Keller that helps assemble "resources to support non-profit organizations serving the poor and marginalized in New York City." Keller, Wear said, "transformed the way many pastors of many churches thought about the city." A co-founder of The Gospel Coalition, Keller was long associated with conservative Christianity. But his self-described "winsome" approach to ministry has more recently been criticized by some of his fellow evangelicals as too nonconfrontational during a time when, they argue, America has become hostile to Christianity. Keller also came under fire from some conservative Christians for expressing skepticism about former President Donald Trump. Keller died in May at age 72 after a prolonged struggle with pancreatic cancer. CCPL officials also lauded Pimentel for her "tireless efforts in serving and advocating for the marginalized and vulnerable," saying her "commitment to compassionate and selfless service exemplifies the values at the core of CCPL's mission." She rose to prominence in 2014 when she helped organise a respite centre run by Catholic Charities along the U.S.-Mexico border that offered aid to migrants after they were released by Border Patrol. Initially, support for Pimentel's work extended across political and religious divisions, earning her praise from Republicans, Democrats and even the pope, with some referring to her as "Pope Francis' favourite nun." In 2018, she was awarded the Laetare Medal from the University of Notre Dame, seen by many as the highest honour in the U.S. Catholic Church. However, recent years have seen Pimentel's work come under fire from right-wing Catholics and a small band of Republican immigration hard-liners. She was named in a 2022 lawsuit filed by a conservative PAC targeting groups that offered humanitarian aid at the Southern border, for example, and a coalition of right-wing Catholic organizations hosted an event earlier this year that called for the government to stop funding Catholic groups that work along the border including Catholic Charities. Even so, Pimentel has carried on with her work and continues to be celebrated by many Catholics. The awards ceremony will take place Nov. 6-7 at the Center for Christianity and Public Life's inaugural For the Good of the Public summit in Washington, D.C. A CCPL board member and Michael Luo, editor of newyorker.com, are expected to present the prizes to Pimentel and a representative for Keller, respectively. Religion News Service We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Police remove Greta Thunberg from a climate protest at an oil terminal in Malmo, Sweden on June 19, 2023. In court this week she was fined $200 on a charge of disobeying a police order to leave the protest. Thats because trained project managers are better able to corral and schedule resources, coordinate staff schedules, and get everyone moving in the same direction and do so across multiple projects, he says. Theyre also more capable of implementing the governance needed to keep projects on target to deliver whats expected and not let scope creep run up costs and schedules without adding additional value. 2. Little or no executive support Another leadership problem that can tank an IT project: top-level indifference. That scenario happens more than it should, veteran project leaders say. We have had meetings and project status reports where executives were asking, Why are we doing this? They truly didnt grasp the importance of where we were going, says Karla Eidem, a Project Management Professional and PMIs North America regional operations manager. Eidem says a lack of executive support can happen even when the project has a business unit sponsor a situation which indicates that the project, while maybe a localized priority, isnt aligned to organizational goals. In such cases, theres a need to realign. It may mean asking the [executive team]: Given all the facts that are laid in front of you, is this project a go or no-go? Sometimes it is a no-go for some reason, but that decision has to be made, Eidem says, explaining that executive support is crucial for success because it ensures that the resources money, people power, attention, and so on will be made available. Similarly, releasing the projects business sponsor from accountability for the tech projects success and putting it all on IT can doom the project. You really want to have good project leadership, and that starts with the person who wrote the business case being the sponsor, making sure the project is done realistically and being a champion, Wu says. Business sponsors, like executives, play an important role in articulating the business reasons for the project, establishing the expected benefits, and rallying resources to the cause. Their support also signals to staff the projects importance, which helps drive adoption of new technologies and any associated process changes, Wu adds. A supportive and informed business sponsor can remove roadblocks and bottlenecks that arise, they can escalate problems to help get them solved quickly, and they can champion successes to build momentum and excitement for the changes ahead, Eidem says. Those benefits go away when a business sponsor is MIA. Eidem has seen that happen. She was working on a complex multilocation software implementation that was steadily progressing until she needed that business sponsor to bring together regional divisions for the next step in the process. The sponsor dropped the ball on that, leaving some operational teams in the dark about what was happening and others questioning why they had to participate. We were seeing that information wasnt cascading, and there was some resistance in some areas, Eidem says, adding that the situation jeopardized the projects forward momentum. Eidem says she discovered that the business sponsor had been pulled away from the project by another big issue and as a result wasnt as attentive as needed in delivering information about the project to the impacted regions. I needed the sponsor to be focused on this project, but he had too many other priorities. So I had to be clear: As an organization, we said this project was the No. 1 priority, she says. To prevent the project from collapsing, Eidem scheduled more one-on-one meetings with the sponsor to build a stronger relationship and to allow for more direct communication about the projects needs, which helped refocus the sponsor and get the project rolling again. 5. Not involving all stakeholders IT project manager Krista Phillips recounts one case in which a large multinational corporation implemented a new technology across its companies but caught one division completely unaware of the ongoing implementation work. Turns out that specific division had been left out of all the planning and project processes. I dont know how the [project leaders] missed that, but they missed a whole unit. So when the system went live, they were like, What is this? That caused the project team to miss scope, says Phillips, a PMP holder serving as president of PMIs Pikes Peak Regional Chapter in Colorado. Phillips acknowledges that project teams dont usually overlook entire divisions, but they sometimes fail to identify and include all the stakeholders they should in the project process. Consequently they miss key requirements to include, regulations to consider, and opportunities to capitalize on. 6. Not enough resources or not the right ones Some project leaders list the prevailing do-more-with-less expectation as another reason for failed IT projects today. They say this mentality generally leads to project teams lacking the resources that they need to get the desired work done on time. Everybody is very concerned with that bottom line, and they should be concerned about that, but the other side of that is theyre expecting a few people to do a lot of things, Phillips says. For example, she says workers are frequently assigned to multiple projects simultaneously, and many are assigned to that project work on top of their existing duties. As a result, these workers are pulled in too many different directions. Others say enterprise leaders underestimate costs and the time required to complete the work or they fail to allocate the right talent to the team (thinking untrained or inexperienced workers will develop the required skills on the job), even as project managers surface the consequences of under-allocating the money, talent, and time needed for success. Experienced project leaders say its crucial for IT project managers and CIOs themselves to ensure that the business sponsors and C-suite executives get the information they need to be realistic about the required resources, support, and schedules. Those project leaders, however, also acknowledge thats a continuously tough task. To help, they advise implementing a portfolio management program to bring visibility into all the work happening and to break down project siloes that can sometimes contribute to that under-allocation of resources. An emphasis on portfolio management can close a lot of the productivity pain, Wu says. Do fewer things, too, and do them well; thats a hallmark of portfolio management. 7. Lack of in-person collaboration Wu acknowledges the benefits that the shift to widescale remote work has brought, such as the ability to scale project work globally. But he also sees how the virtual work environment can create pain points in project delivery. To start, Wu says he has found virtual teams have a harder time coming together to solve the harder problems. I think when it comes to tackling module tasks, virtual is good. But solving big, complex problems, theres only so much you can do over Zoom, he says. Wu says he also sees some teams struggle to bond in virtual work environments. You sacrifice the human connection, he adds. Consequently, Wu says work can take longer; solving a problem that would take an hour working together face to face might take 90 minutes in a virtual environment. And handoffs that went quickly and smoothly when teams were physically side by side now often require more time to coordinate across computer screens. People are spending more time to get to the same net effectiveness, and I think human relationships are starting to fray, he says, noting that newer employees in particular may be missing out on the informal mentoring and learning that happens in person when they can readily see good role models and good work patterns to emulate. Wu says these dynamics in turn put more work onto project managers who must put in far more work and time to be collaborative and to communicate, adding that he hasnt yet seen any remedies to these challenges. I know the problem, but I dont have a solution, he says. 8. Disjointed handoffs At some point a project moves into production, project managers move on, and the IT initiative is then expected to show its value. Those steps in many organizations mean that projects and any remaining problems with them are still being tossed over the fence, leading to disjointed accountability that does not lead to success, Wu says. If the business case is one party, and the project manager is another party, and then people managing the results of the project, who are even further removed from the business case for the project, are another party, then you can see the disjointed connections, Wu says. That disjointedness can mean missed opportunities, wrong turns, and miscommunications that lead to final products that are suboptimal. Wu says that disjointedness can happen even in organizations using Agile and DevOps methodologies, saying that those are just different ways of carrying the water from one side to another. He adds: DevOps can address a change very quickly, but whether that change is the right change or if it delivers ROI is a very different question. To counteract that, Wu and others point to the need for good management and strong project governance that continually link the projects business case to its deliverables throughout the project work as well as through the implementation and adoption phases. 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 group of UK charities including Oxfam GB, Islamic Relief and ActionAid UK have urged the government to lobby for emergency aid to be allowed to be delivered in Gaza. In a joint statement published on Saturday , the charities urged prime minister Rishi Sunak and foreign secretary James Cleverly to urgently press all parties to allow emergency aid to be delivered in Gaza and allow access to displaced people. This must include an immediate end to the total siege ensuring unfettered humanitarian access, including delivery of medical supplies, food, fuel and water, the statement reads. Action Against Hunger, War Child, Christian Aid, CAFOD, Plan International UK, Humanity and Inclusion, Medical Aid for Palestinians and Care International UK also signed the statement. Muslim Aid reported last week that an effective blockade of the Gaza strip meant getting aid into Gaza has been severely disrupted. There is a total blockage of aid access, banking restrictions, and funding into Gaza, said Abu Akeem, head of international programmes at Muslim Aid. However, we are in discussions with our partners inside Gaza to pre-finance agreed humanitarian interventions, while we urgently call for the immediate opening of humanitarian corridors. We are procuring from vendors inside Gaza to stockpile and distribute, and secondly, we are pre-procuring supplies outside Gaza in anticipation of humanitarian corridor opening soon. Further appeals launch Several charities opened fundraising appeals at the start of last week, including British Red Cross, Islamic Relief and Oxfam, with more organisations doing so since. Now, ActionAid has opened an emergency Gaza Crisis Appea l and has urged UK government to work with the Israeli government to take all necessary steps to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Christian Aid has launched a Middle East Crisis Appeal to help people impacted by the escalation of violence across Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Unicef UK and Action Against Hunger have also opened emergency appeals. 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, The proportion of charity leaders from Black, Asian, and minoritised ethnic backgrounds has remained at 7% for the second year running, according to new research. Fewer than 1% of respondents to ACEVOs Pay and Equalities Survey 2023 , published today, were Black, down from 2% last year and 4% of the population of England and Wales. According to the 2021 government census, 18% of people in England and Wales overall defined as being from Black, Asian, mixed or other ethnic groups ACEVO reported that 25% of charity leaders had a disability, learning difference or health condition, up from 20% last year and 17% in 2021. This included 14% of respondents with a long-term illness or health condition, 6% with a mental health condition and 4% with a physical or mobility impairment. Overall, 17% of CEOs who responded to the survey went to an independent or fee-paying school, compared with 7% of the UK population. The survey finds an overall gender pay gap of 8.3%, down from 10.8% in 2022, but higher than the 7.6% recorded in 2021. This, the report says, is because women predominantly occupy leadership roles in smaller charities, which in turn perpetuates disparities in pay, pensions, and professional development opportunities. ACEVO chief executive Jane Ide said she was deeply disappointed and frustrated by many of the reports findings. CEO salaries remain behind market standards This years survey ran from 17 April to 11 May and received responses from 826 charity chief executives. It finds that these CEOs earned a median annual basic salary of 58,863 in 2023, compared with 56,000 in 2022. Three-quarters of respondents reported getting a pay rise over the past year but the report says that CEO salaries remained behind market standards and lower than those of their peers in other industries. A third said that they did not have regular, formal salary reviews, with smaller charities less likely to offer this. Meanwhile, the availability of professional development opportunities for CEOs was in line with last years finding, at 50%. Nearly half reported being satisfied with their chair and boards support for dedicating time and resources to CEO development, compared with 60% in 2017 and 53% in 2020. Over eight in 10 said that they would recommend the sector as a desirable place to work, with over 70% willing to remain in the sector in the next five years. ACEVO boss disappointed and frustrated by findings Ide said: Were seeing no progress on the representation of Black, Asian or minoritised ethnic leaders in our sector. The gender pay gap remains significant. Around half of our leaders dont have access to professional development, and a third arent given the courtesy of a clear, regular process for a review of their pay and conditions. Our sector has a problem: over the next decade and beyond were likely to see increased competition for talent from other sectors as BCorps and mainstream businesses position themselves as great places to work for those who want to make a difference in the world but with all the pay and benefits that come from working in the private sector. If our sector is going to be sustainable in the future we have to think hard about how we create pipelines of talent and skills, and then retain and develop those pipelines into a leadership that can navigate the challenges of the future with agility and intelligence. For the sake of our sector but above all for the people and causes were all here to serve we have to address these issues. And most of them are entirely within our gift to address right now, if we choose to do so. 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, Growing up, Meg Conley made doodles depicting herself as a writer. It was a career that felt impossibly out of reach. She was raised Mormon in Orange County; at Sunday school, she said, I was told that I would be a mother and a wife who should stay home with the kids. She met her husband in church at age twelve and married at twenty-one. She dropped out of Utah State University to help her husband through school, then learned she was pregnant. They now have three children. I taught myself to write at the kitchen table, which sounds cool, but its stupid, she said. I should have finished school. Conley might have felt like the door had closed on her ambitions had it not been for Heather Armstrong, a lapsed Mormon who taught herself HTML and was called the Queen of the Mommy Bloggers. In the aughts, Conley began working at a boutique, where she spent hours on the cash-register computer, reading Armstrongs archive on losing faith, infant spit-up, and postpartum depression. Armstrong emerged during an age of online exploration and opportunityof weblogs, as they were known. Writing for the New York Times, David F. Gallagher described a private playground, a place for self-expression. (On the flip side, in The New Yorker, Rebecca Mead noted an emergent term: blogorrhea.) Conley was at once drawn to Armstrongs transparency and turned off by a tendency to overshare, though it seemed that was something bloggerswomen, especiallywere often incentivized to do. She began publishing her own writing at the Huffington Post; she, too, experimented with radical disclosure. At one point, she posted an essay about having sex with her husband every night for a month. The piece received about two million Facebook likes. You can build an audience with performed vulnerability, temporarily, she found. But its not for me. After that, she wrote mostly for Medium, including GEN magazineoften about the expectations imposed on mothers, informed by her knowledge of religious history. In 2019 the family moved to Denver. After a while, Conley started a Substack newsletter that became homeculture: letters about capitalism, care, and the home. Her pieces have covered the challenges of having ADHD as a mom, the history of embroidery, religious representations of vulturesa miscellany of unexpectedly compelling topics. Her writing brims with emotion, and she includes personal anecdotes, though her aim is to be more observant and analytical than confessional. Taking one of her daughters to a Taylor Swift concert, she noted in a recent dispatch, called to mind medieval Europe: Once I understood the concert goers as pilgrims, the stadium as a shrine temporarily consecrated by Swifts physical presence, and Swift as a kind of venerated Saint, I thought I understood my experience. Recently, when Conley and I made plans to meet up in her neighborhood, she told me how I could spot her: Pink dress. Frizzy hair. She is thirty-eight, sincere and a bit shy; she said that she has trouble maintaining eye contact. She often punctuates a deep thought with a self-conscious burst of laughter. Her newsletter has accumulated a modest subscriber base above fifteen thousandnot enough to crack Substacks leaderboard of top performers, she said, but sufficient to cover some of her expenses. Her open rate is strong, often around 60 percent, nearly twice the average rate for newsletters sent by The Atlantic. Most of her readers have come from referralsthe writers Roxane Gay and Anne Helen Petersen have promoted Conleys workand via social media. But when Elon Musk took over Twitter, later renamed X, Conley logged off, telling readers that she couldnt associate with a platform that elevates trolls and bots while suppressing journalists. Traffic from other social networks was negligible or nonexistent. Just about the only other way for people to discover Conley was directly through Substack, which didnt inspire confidence in her prospects for growth. Im so panicked, she said. After a while, she started posting again. One day in May, Conley was writing at a cafe when she got a notification: Heather Armstrong had died, at the age of forty-seven. (It was reported that the cause was suicide.) Conley wanted to publish something on how Armstrong had inspired her, but she was overcome by emotion, and unable to type. She went to her car, opened her voice memos app, and hit record. I havent thought about Heather Armstrong for years, she said into her phone. But at one point she saved my life. During a period when Conley was wrestling with severe postpartum depression, Armstrongs posts about overcoming a similar darkness kept me here. After ten minutes of speechvisceral, at times haltingshe released the recording to homeculture subscribers. A listener said that it sounded like a friend leaving a voicemail. Since then, once a week, Conley has left voicemails for her audience, via Substack and Spotify, elaborating on her writing and other stray thoughts. Just imagine Im calling you from a Vtech Jelly Bean cordless phone, in translucent purple, she explains in an introduction. Ill imagine youre listening to my message on your Vtech Jelly Bean cordless phone in translucent red. The recordings are short and informal; as Conley writes: Youre too busy for another podcast. Me too. So this is just a voicemail, the kind we used to leave one another before texting and social media. They embody the earnest, rambling quality of an earlier Web, where someone might blog into the ether on a subject of niche interest, hoping that someone out there will care. That sense of yearning is now shared by just about every journalist and every outlet, from the humble Substack writer to the major news organization, as print subscribers dwindle and publications can no longer rely on advertising revenue or clicks from external sources. Traffic from social media to news sites has fallen off a cliff, as Adam Pasick, the editorial director of Times newsletters, told me recently. Like Conley, media companies are all hunting for creative ways to reach readers. Lately, that has come to look a lot like a throwback to days of an internet pastsending out emails, making direct appeals, seeking a sense of connection. Sign up for CJR 's daily email If the dawn of the blogosphere marked one moment in time for writing online, and the Substack boom represented another, perhaps now we are making another turn, into a retro era for digital media, in which everything comes by way of a personal message delivered to your inbox: voicemail, of a kind. Newsletters offer a refuge from the chaos of the wider internet, Nick Catucci, who became US site director of GQ this year after overseeing newsletters at The Atlantic, said. A really pure distillation of the ideal relationship between the publisher and the reader. Scale matters, but engagement matters more. Its hard to imagine anyone saying they wish they received more voicemail, and yet Conleys experiment seems to articulate a contemporary desire, among the communications-weary, to go back to basics. As she told me, so much of how we present online today is manicured, somewhat inauthentic. Setting her thoughts between beeps, she said, is freeing. Recall that a few years ago, around the time Conley started homeculture, the rise of Substack suggested a range of utopian possibilities: independence, flexibility, fame, high returns on labor. The pandemic coincided with an explosion of newsletter initiatives, both from tech startupssuch as Revue and Ghostand legacy publications. By mid-2021 about half of the publishers surveyed by LiveIntent, an email marketing firm, reported an increase in open rates for their newsletters over the previous year; 94 percent said they were seeking to scale their newsletter programs. By June 2021, the company then still known as Facebook, also known as Silicon Valleys notorious copycat, debuted its own invitation-only newsletter platform, Bulletin, featuring an eclectic group of marquee contributorsMalcolm Gladwell, Malala Yousafzai, Queer Eye cohost Tan Francealong with more than a hundred journalists. A company announcement promised writers an opportunity to foster deeper connections with their audiences on Facebook. It also noted, We respect the work of writers and want to be clear that anyone who partners with us will have complete editorial independence. But Meta, as the company soon renamed itself, was a dubious home for a newsletter service, considering its role in upending the journalism business. Antonio Moraa television news anchor best known for Good Morning Americasaid that, although Bulletin didnt have Facebook branding, when he signed on as a contributor, some potential readers told him, If its for Facebook, I have no interest. To sweeten the pot, writers were offered generous salaries; several former TV journalists said their Bulletin compensation was nearly equivalent to or better than what theyd made in their old jobs. Many received thirty-thousand-dollar annual stipends, part of which they could put toward health insurance, editing help, or whatever they liked. It all sounded too perfect, Ron Claiborne, who joined Bulletin after more than three decades at ABC News, told me. The writing was fulfilling, and his newsletter achieved remarkable reach when Meta promoted it on Facebook News; Mora told me that his posts were sometimes seen by more than a hundred thousand people. But the business, Claiborne said, felt rushed and haphazard from the start. The idea was to draw attention to Facebookwhich newsletter writers were required to useand take a cut of subscriber fees. But the writers found that Meta was unclear about its timeline for erecting a paywall; several Bulletin contributors told me they believed the timing was delayed because the publishing software was glitchy and the technology for collecting subscription renewals wasnt ready. James Hamblin, a physician who left a staff writing job at The Atlantic and started a Bulletin newsletter, told me, It seemed like the move fast and break things mentality was there. With any new publication or product, if you dont give it time for people to get used to using it, its kind of doomed. Sixteen months in, Meta announced that it would wind Bulletin down. It was really weird, a former Meta employee on the projectnow in a new job, and contractually barred from discussing past work experiencetold me, to see enthusiasm and fervor around expansion shift pretty quickly to Were going to sunset this. Bulletin had hit its growth targets, two ex-employees said, but in the face of a turbulent economyaround the same time as Bulletins sunsetting, Meta announced a hiring freeze, restructuring, and cutsthe company was ruthless. (Meta did not respond to multiple requests for comment.) Out with journalism (yet again), in with the metaverse, artificial intelligence, and gambits to compete with TikTok. Facebook is all about scale, Alex Kantrowitz, who covers Silicon Valley for a Substack called Big Technology, told me. There was a feeling like the newsletter business could be an asset. Now we know that its a big business, but not a massive business, and that makes it a lot less interesting for a company like Meta. By then it was October 2022, and the story of Bulletin already felt like an allegory. In a short span, an optimistic gold rush toward newsletters had given way to a starker reality: The intense commitment required to produce a solitary newsletter often proved to be untenable. The platforms hosting newsletters revealed biases and flaws. Readers, however enthusiastic at first, reached their limits; at some point all that stuff in your inbox can start to look like spam. Some journalists abandoned their newsletter schedules, or closed shop altogether. What remained was a sense that newsletters were not all that revolutionary or glamorous so much as they were functional, a means of delivery. Courtesy of Meg Conley Thats all Conley ever hoped for from Substack, and shed been skeptical of how the newsletter boomand supposed bustwere covered. I feel like a lot of that optimism was driven by shareholders instead of stakeholders, she said. Were taught that success is something that scales eternally. The blessing and curse of writing is that it doesnt scale. She kept at it. There is a tier of writers who are going to make a lot of money at Substack, or a publication, or anywhere they go, she added. I used to want to be that kind of writer, but now I just want to be a journeymansomeone who writes something that enough people read. In its abundance of present-day variations, the newsletter form can be hard to define. It can be an insidery news roundup (the Politico Playbook); bullet-point reporting (Axios); a formula consisting of reporting and analysis (Semafor); reporting steeped in analysis (Puck); a breezy list of links (theSkimm); extended, evocative meditations (The Small Bow); political commentary (The Dispatch); a feature-length piece (New York magazines One Great Story); and virtually anything else. Some view newsletters as the direct descendant of blogs: When I first started on the internet, there was this opening for people with esoteric knowledge to write, Petersen, who has a Substack called Culture Study, told me. Now all of that writing is happening in newsletters. Jay Caspian Kangwho published a popular newsletter for the Times, and now is a staff writer at The New Yorkersaid that newsletters allowed him to wander, be chatty, and develop a salubrious relationship with readers, who sent him as many as hundreds of emails each week. But there is nothing markedly bloggy about Heatmap, a climate-focused, newsletter-driven publication that started up in March. As Nico Lauricella, Heatmaps editor in chief, put it, the ubiquity of newsletters has meant that a lot of the distinction that used to separate a traditional article and a newsletter has collapsed. There is some common ground: most newsletters aspire to cultivate a voice that is friendly, but not overly intimate; intelligent, but not preachy; a more professionalized version, perhaps, of early blogs freewheeling prose. Axioswhich publishes twenty-two national newsletters, plus thirty local editions that total more than a million and a half subscribersmight seem an exception, with its Smart Brevity format. But Nicholas Johnston, the publisher, argues thats not the case: a close reader of Ina Frieds daily newsletter about artificial intelligence, he told me, would know how much she loves Legos. At major news organizations, newsletters have traditionally been thought of as email marketing; lately, though, they seem to place less emphasis on wide reach than on deep connection. In other words, digital media, until recently preoccupied with traffic, has been forced to return to something more akin to its pre-social-media-obsessed state, in pursuit of engagement and loyalty. Absent other viable sources of revenue, as Pasick told me, theres even more value now in a platform that we control: the inbox. When, a couple of months after Bulletins launch, the Times announced a slate of more than fifteen newsletters, they were made available only to subscribers. Almost half of subscribers open a newsletter in a given week, and people who do receive newsletters are far more likely to pay and to stay, Alex Hardiman, the chief product officer of the Times, said. Around the same time, The Atlantic rolled out its own subscriber-only newsletter initiative, with nine new writers. Jeffrey Goldberg, the magazines editor in chief, wrote by way of introduction that the project would resemble the rambunctious blogging of TheAtlantic.com circa 2009. Newsletters are conversational, unrehearsed, contingent, revelatory, humble, and entertaining, he wrote, and journalism can always use more of these qualities. By some measures, these endeavors have been successful. An Atlantic newsletter called Brooklyn, Everywhere by Xochitl Gonzalez earned her finalist consideration for a Pulitzer Prize in commentary. A flagship Daily newsletter became The Atlantics most-read post on most days, according to Bhumika Tharoor, the sites managing editor; it now converts as many as three times more readers into paying subscribers than it did a couple of years ago. Still, subscriber-only newsletters have made only a small contribution to the companys bottom line. At the Times, Pasick said, the subscriber-only model has worked, though the company declined to provide revenue details. Some of the projects contributors have left; in addition to Kang, there was Kara Swisher, who decamped for Vox Media. She found the subscriber-only strategy odd. Times newsletters should be free to grow users rather than for audience retention and gated, she said. I told this to them. But its their pop stand and not mine. Charlie Warzel once worked at the Times and left to start a Substack, Galaxy Brain, which was then acquired as a subscriber newsletter by The Atlantic, where it ultimately dissolved into a means by which to alert readers when Warzel runs a piece; he is now a staff writer. I noticed that people tend to excuse less declarative, more nuanced, voicey writing and reporting if it shows up in an inbox, he wrote in a last Substack dispatch. Solo newslettering was exhilaratingbut, as he told readers, he earned considerably less income than he did at the Times. When he decided to join The Atlantic, he wrote, Im worth more to a publication as part of a package of writers/reporters/thinkers than I am on my own. There may be nothing more retro than a newsletter writer joining a magazine founded in the nineteenth century. The spontaneity and freedom of newsletters to play around with form and format and voice looked attractive from the outside, Warzel said, but operating as a newsroom of one, the more time you spend, the more you understand the sacrifice that comes with independence. Now Warzels followers have become The Atlantics, his voice an expression of the magazines. Others not resettled at legacy outlets have joined newsletter-driven startupsPuck, Heatmap, The Dispatchthat provide the perks of an institution (editorial support, healthcare plans) along with equity in the business. Conleys newsletter success has led to freelance opportunities with Harpers Bazaar and Slate. She still prefers being a solo act, but cant help but feel that being published in an established outlet grants her cachet. A woman who exclusively sends newslettersno matter how heavily researched or artfully writtenmay still be viewed strictly as a mommy blogger, she told me. I dont think wed be having this conversation if I hadnt been published in Harpers Bazaar, she said. It helps people take you more seriously. There is a bit of a paradox with these newsletters, John F. Harris, the global editor in chief of Politico, told me. While theres connection and a degree of intimacy, and certain people have made themselves journalistic stars by having these platforms, he said, if it just becomes a star vehicle, theres no particular premium for that. Its the utility that matters. Former authors of Playbookfirst Mike Allen, later Jake Sherman, Anna Palmer, and Tara Palmeridid become stars as a result (in their orbit, anyway) and from there embarked on their own newsletter publications (Axios, Punchbowl News, Puck). Still, according to Harris, the Playbook readership has only continued to grow. The same has proved true at CNN: after Brian Stelter, author of the Reliable Sourcesmedia newsletter, parted from the network last year, Oliver Darcy became the lead writer. According to Marcus Mabry, CNNs senior vice president of digital editorial and programming, Reliable Sources saw no meaningful drop in readers. As important as voice may be, Mabry said, journalism and reporting win out in the end. An obvious difference between a solitary writer such as Conley and a large news organization is the burden of personal connection; she must work alone to articulate her value to readers, in order to keep them as subscribers, month after month. Pasick, as a newsletter professional, pays for ten Substacks and receives free versions of several dozen more; even he needs to be selective. I think we all feel overwhelmed at times in the inbox, he said. Were constantly looking to see which newsletters are justifying their resources. An era of digital media marked by loyalty may work out well for known quantitiesnot so much for writers striving to break through, as audiences are less primed for random discovery. How many newsletters are you going to pay for? wondered Jane Wells, a CNBC correspondent who migrated her Bulletin newsletter to Substack and doesnt charge subscribers. At some point, dont you just want it all in the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal? Lately, Conley has considered building deeper relationships by way of subscriber perkssoon, shell offer one-on-one video chats, for instance. She worries, though, about potentially awkward, even unhealthy effects: already, members of her audience send emails confiding in her. Because I write with emotion, sometimes readers come to me looking for a less private person, she said. She doesnt want to put herself in the position of a pseudo-therapist, or an influencer. The more we talked about audience engagement, she told me, the more she began to think the name homeculture might give readers a false impression that shes inviting them into her life. In September, she decided to start calling her newsletter pocket observatory. Meanwhile, the voicemails have proved stunningly effective. Im almost in tears listening to your recording, Meg, a listener replied. Another wrote, I look forward to continuing to read your voice. As responses poured in, Conley invited paid subscribers to leave her voicemails, too. She promptly received more than two hundred messages, which she began listening to in batches, on Friday morning strolls; sometimes, she catches herself talking back. She has begun releasing a subscribers voicemail, along with a personal reply, every other week. It could probably be a standalone business, she said, except thats not currently what my work is. That work might have once been viewed as a stepping stone in journalism. Nowfor her, for any writerit may be a summit. I wondered how Conley felt about the arc of her career. Do I want to keep writing a newsletter? Do I want to write a book? I dont have a five-year plan or a business model, she replied. I just want to write. Writing sustains me! And I think my writing helps sustain some of my readers. I just need to reach the place where that writing economically sustains my family, too. The first time she hit play on a subscriber-sent voicemail, the speaker was so on the mark that Conley welled with delight. Hi, Meg, the message began. Sorry I missed you. Danny Funt is a senior editor at The Week and a former CJR Delacorte Fellow. Follow him on Twitter at @dannyfunt The astounding evolution of artificial intelligencefrom sci-fi plot point to ubiquitous consumer product in less than a yearhas been matched by frantic befuddlement over what to do about it. The last similarly transformative technology, the internet, took decades to fully overthrow the medias old order, long enough for endless course corrections to deal with its advance. In the case of AI, journalists wont have nearly as much time for chin-stroking. Our industry must coalesce around a set of standards soon, or it will be too late. The AI bosses will already be in charge. The urgency poses some problems. Journalism is a tradition-bound field that prefers to evolve generationally; its sense of editorial independence tends to make higher-ups resistant to collective action. Publications led by the medias less scrupulous employers are likely to follow the overwhelming economic logic to maximize the amount of content generated by AI, minimize the extent of human labor, and reap the benefits of lowered production costs. There is a limit to that, of courseperhaps a team of ten writers and three editors can become a team of one writer and two editors who look over AI content before publishing itbut wherever the line falls, the losers will be journalists (who are unemployed), readers (who are fed less actual reporting, which algorithms still cannot do), and civil society (as politicians and powerful institutions face less coverage and as misinformation encounters less competition in the media marketplace). The task of building a firewall around AIs unregulated spread through the media will require a union-led effort that rallies a broad coalition around a shared conviction: that journalism must always be by and for human beings. I take this view not as a labor partisanIm an elected council member of the Writers Guild of America, Eastbut as a realist. Already, unions have found themselves up against AI-produced-content fiascoes. In January, sharp-eyed readers of CNET noticed that the site had begun publishing AI-generated explainers carrying the byline CNET Money Staff. An uproar ensued. Two weeks later, more than half of those stories had corrections appended. In May, CNETs editorial staff announced that they were unionizing with the Writers Guild, a campaign motivated in part by their dismay at how AI was being used. The companys error-ridden AI rollout injured the reputations of CNET journalists and the media site as a whole, the union told me, but management has seemed oblivious to the harm already caused and has gone on to tout the positive attributes of artificial intelligence in internal promotions. (Asked for comment, a CNET spokesperson sent a link to the publications AI policy, which states that every piece of content we publish is factual and original, whether its created by a human alone or assisted by our in-house AI engine.) An equally ham-fisted implementation of AI took place at G/O Media in July, when, with less than a days notice to journalists, management started publishing AI-written content that achieved a spectacular level of uselessness: a chronological listicle of Star Wars movies and shows, for example. James Whitbrook, the deputy editor of Gizmodo and io9, where the piece appeared, drew up an eighteen-point objection note pointing out inaccuracies. He called the piece shoddily written, embarrassing, and dogshit. (When reached for comment, Jim Spanfeller, the CEO of G/O Media, said in a statement that it would be irresponsible and a complete lack of our fiduciary responsibility to not explore the use of this revolutionary technology but that we do not see AI as a replacement for editorial created by journalists. Around the same time, G/O Media laid off the editors of Gizmodo en Espanol and began using AI to translate Gizmodo articles into Spanish.) The dangers of handing newsroom managers sole power over the use of AI are continuing to unfold elsewhere. Google is pitching an AI tool that writes stories for the upper crust of the industrythe Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and New York Times, all of which are eyeing the possibilities of AI-supported content. A Washington Post spokesperson said, We are in the process of putting together our internal guidelines, and they will be coming soon. A spokesperson for the Journal pointed to remarks by Robert Thomson, the CEO of News Corp, the papers corporate parent, about how AI companies should pay for the material they use to train algorithmsa potential new revenue stream for news outlets, if not one that would ensure journalists keep their jobs. By the end of August, CNN found that at least a dozen major media companies, including the Post and the Times, were blocking AI models from accessing their articles, an opening salvo in what will surely be a war over compensation. The Times declined to comment on its other AI plans. The staff of all three newsrooms are unionized with NewsGuild; each will have a crack at negotiating AI rules in upcoming contracts. The duty to regulate AI that has so far been thrust upon labor unions has played out visibly in Hollywoodand as hard as that fight was, the challenges surrounding AI in journalism, where no union is dominant enough to set standards for the entire industry, appear even harder. The management of CNET is forging ahead with its use of AI; as the union prepares for contract negotiations, organizers have made that a key point of concern. The union is seeking editorial discretion to not use AI should it fail to meet high publishing standards, they told me, as well as the right to opt out of using AI, clarity about what data sources have been used to train our AI, ongoing collaboration and input into how AI is being used on the site, and assurance that AI wont be used to modify content after employees leave CNET. At G/O Media, union members have expressed their discontent to management: AI tools should only be used to augment the writing and reporting of humans, not to replace them, the committee told me in a statement. But their contract does not expire until 2025. In the meantime, the Writers Guild has condemned G/O Medias use of AI-generated articles and petitioned outlets to promise they wont swap out employees for AI tools; the union has also asked employers across the board to engage with workers on AI rules, even if theyre not in the midst of contract bargaining. Spanfeller acknowledged that the union views AI as an existential threat to their existence. He added, We do not see it this way but we can certainly understand that new things can be scary. Even as union contracts aim to build guardrails at individual companies, however, truly preventing AI from permanently altering our industry for the worse demands a wider effortone that takes seriously the threat posed by AI to journalistic ethics. At conferences and panel discussions, and on internal committees, union organizers have joined with reporters, editors, and journalism scholars in pursuit of answers. The way that executives have inelegantly rushed into AI can provoke an initial panic in newsrooms: Ban it! Generally, though, that response has given way to more nuanced conversations about what legitimate use cases for AI could be: Searching troves of FOIA-ed documents for relevant material? Generating lists of possible sources for unfamiliar topics? Copyediting? Illustrations? Instantaneous A/B testing of headlines? The closest I have heard to a consensus is that AI could be a wonderful way to help reporters do their jobsbut that its role needs to be carefully negotiated, its deployment guided by an ethical code that has yet to be written. The good news is that the tasks of creating ethical rules for AI in journalism and the power struggle in which unions are engaged to prevent its abuse can be combined into one. Here is a starting point: publishing journalism written by AI should be deemed unethical, even if it has been looked over by an editor prior to publication. Not because AI cannot produce a convincing simulacrum of a news story, but because AI lacks the accountability of a human journalistand it can never be accountable, no matter how refined its algorithms get. An editor cannot have a difficult conversation with AI about why it made certain choices in a story; AI will always be presenting the mere appearance of transparency, never a true exploration of its decisions and motivations. It has no soul, it has no mind. If AI is neither accountable nor transparent, its work can never be ethically published as journalism. Like the internet, AI can aid journalists in their work. But it can never replace people. Not for lack of a technological leap, but because of a qualitative difference between human beings and AI that will never change. There is little doubt that profit-driven media company managers will be happy to overlook the ethical landmine. It is up to all of useveryone who understands that journalism is a human conversation rather than a productto unite around standards, before weve lost our chance. Hamilton Nolan is a CJR contributor who also writes regularly for The Guardian, In These Times, and Defector. He is writing a book about the American labor movement. Until a few years ago, the Cleveland Foundation had never considered supporting local media. The organizationthe oldest community foundation in the world, with $2.8 billion in assetsseeks to enhance the lives of all residents of Greater Cleveland; its grants tend to focus on job training, violence prevention, and education in majority-Black neighborhoods. The organizations staff were well aware that the citys flagship newspaper, the Plain Dealer, was being stripped for parts by Advance Local, its corporate owner, and that nothing was filling the vacuum. But their aim was to solve problems, not assign articles about them. Besides, even in a more robust age of local news, the neighborhoods targeted by community groups were rarely covered in the pressexcept, perhaps, in the case of a grisly crime. So in 2020, when the Cleveland Foundation awarded money to an initiative called Cleveland Documenters, it wasnt classified as a reporting project. Documenters, which started in Chicago and has since expanded into a network of eleven cities, mostly in the Midwest, pays small fees to about six hundred Clevelandersnot experienced reporters, just curious citizens from every zip codeto take notes at local government meetings and post them online. Dale Anglin, the Cleveland Foundations vice president for grantmaking and community impact, thought of Documenters primarily as a tool to improve low voting rates. We dont even call it journalism here, she told me. We call it information. Three years later, the idea that community foundations dont fund journalism feels anachronistic. As media companies slash staffs in search of ever higher profits at a time of ever lower ad rates, household-name philanthropiesFord, MacArthur, Knightare steadily increasing their spending on local news, and their regional counterparts are joining in. The American Journalism Projectfor which Ive consulted on newsroom structure and managementrequires that a new publication establish partnerships with local foundations before it will even consider awarding funds. In its first four years, AJP, as its known, has raised $134 million to back forty-one local media organizations. Its a paradigm shift in the world of philanthropy, Loretta Chao, AJPs vice president for strategy and startups, said. What were suggesting is that, given that newsrooms are part of the fabric of society, it makes sense that they should be a thing that philanthropists who love their communities also care about. Yet even now, tens of millions in grants later, most local philanthropiesthemselves funded by wealthy local patronsdont describe themselves as being in the media business. As Kevin Corcorana former investigative reporter, now the strategy director for the Lumina Foundation, a national institute based in Indianapolistold me, Nothing we do is about journalism for journalisms sake; journalism is a means to an end. Donors to AJP publications dont weigh in on editorial decisions or interact directly with reporters. But what they choose to fund inevitably determines the output of a newsroomand what they want is to disseminate basic facts about elections, public benefits, and enrichment opportunities. In focus groups, people are like, If my trash hasnt been picked up in two months, who am I even supposed to call? Chao told me. Its not that people want investigative reporting to disappear, they just need so much other stuff. Embracing that set of priorities has occasioned a noticeable shift across the country in what journalism startups strive to do. If, in the recent past, outlets such as ProPublica and the Marshall Project attracted money by promising big-swing investigations that could win Pulitzers, the up-and-comers are blending traditional journalism with grassroots community work. Indiana will soon become home to one of the most ambitious local media startups to date, fueled by more than ten million dollarsincluding a $1.8 million Lumina investment and more from AJP and several other Indiana-based foundations. The project is known as the Indiana Local News Initiative, or ILNI. It will open a twenty-five-person newsroom in Indianapoliswhere the Indianapolis Star, owned by Gannett, has lost nearly 60 percent of its staff over the past decadeand has established partnerships with other media outlets to provide coverage across the state. Before committing to ILNI, Luminawhich focused mainly on post-secondary education and vocational trainingwanted to hear from Indiana residents. Corcoran participated in a listening project that consulted 1,137 people in seventy-nine of the states ninety counties. What came up most often was not a desire for in-depth reporting on the governments misdeeds, but something more fundamental: a way to know what was happening locally. When I do get news, its usually after any action can be taken, an Indianapolis resident said in a focus group. And when it might be something that you can take action on, the article Im reading doesnt necessarily give me the next steps. Asked how to find out whats going on in South Bend, a survey respondent answered simply: I dont. When ILNI made its first hire, in May, it was Ariana Beedie, a thirty-two-year-old Indianapolis native, named the community journalism director. Beedie was tasked with overseeing a new branch of Documenters and soliciting residents inputnot just to inform individual stories, but to shape the publication. She spent the summer holding office hours in neighborhoods around town and dreaming up an advisory council of teenagers to tell her what kind of media they want. I never felt like I found a place in traditional journalism, said Beediewho, like 30 percent of Indianapolis residents, is Black and, in previous newsrooms shed worked in, was often the only non-white person. I just felt like this is something thats lacking in our city. How can I create this? In August, ILNI hired its editor in chief: Oseye Boyd, a veteran of outlets such as the Indianapolis Starwhere, most recently, she oversaw efforts to solicit feedback and story ideas from the community. One story line on Beedies mind is the fact that more evictions take place in Indianapolis than in any community in the United States except New York City. Rather than assign a feature-length investigation, she wants to send Documenters to take notes at eviction-court hearings. That approach may sound unsatisfying to those worried about local politicians getting away with corruption absent in-depth reporting, as Gannett seems all but guaranteed to make more cuts at the Star. Yet Gerry Lanosga, the director of journalism at Indiana University and an expert in the evolution of investigative reporting, sees the virtue of civilian coverage. One way you can avoid needing investigative stories on corruption in government is having regular reporting, he told me. Public meetings arent really public unless someone shows up. Journalists have usually been the proxy for the public, but community members stepping up is a different way of bringing accountability to politicians. From a reporters perspective, reading Documenters summaries can feel unsatisfying; by design, there is little analysis or investigation, which often leaves unanswered questions. In a write-up of a Cleveland Board of Control meeting from early August, a Documenter recapped a vote to approve a $1.2 million contract for armed security guards to patrol recreation centers and public pools. Under the heading Follow-Up Questions, the Documenter wrote, Why are we ramping up the armed police presence in the parks and recreation areas, where families and kids play in the summer months? And if it is related to an emergency ordinance, why would it take effect next year? What evidence shows that this tactic will help anyone? How will it help? No answers were provided; no follow-up appeared. But theres a decent chance reporting might fill in the blanks: In Cleveland, Documenters has recently grown into a full-fledged newsroom, now called Signal Cleveland. Signal employs about twenty-five journalists as well as four community listeners collecting story ideas in Centrala neighborhood east of downtown, the childhood home of Langston Hughes, where more than two-thirds of residents live in poverty. Since making its first investment, the Cleveland Foundation has given more than a million dollars to Signal, and the newsroom has raised more than $7.5 million in total from funders including AJP, the Knight Foundation, and other local philanthropies. Its motto is Local news and resources for Clevelanders by Clevelanders. For journalists, Signal may present a best-case scenario, combining funders interest in community involvement with more traditional coverage, such as an analysis of how the city council spends revenue generated from casino taxes; a partnership with the Marshall Project provides some investigative pieces. Still, Anglin said that, from her organizations perspective, the most impactful work has been service orientedfor instance, a series of how-tos on applying for help with utility bills. In the view of local philanthropies, investigating what led to the presence of armed guards at swimming pools would be nice, but knowing that guards will be there at allwhich requires a Documenter being paid sixteen dollars an hour, not a reporter earning a full salary and benefitsis essential. To explain Signals role in the Cleveland Foundation portfolio, Anglin points to research showing that rates of voting and other forms of civic engagement decline when people feel theyre not getting enough information. To be honest, weve had enough newspapers in the world that we could have solved some of these issues. They clearly werent enough, she said. I tell people we need third ways. This is a third way. Megan Greenwell is a freelance journalist based in Brooklyn. She is writing a narrative nonfiction book about how private equity affects workers and communities. Tesla Inc urged a Delaware judge on Friday to reject $230 million in legal fees requested by a team of shareholder attorneys who won a settlement in a dispute over director pay, and the company recommended a fee of $64 million instead. The maker of electric vehicles called the fee request an unwarranted windfall that works out to an hourly rate of $10,690, among the highest fee requests ever in Delawares Court of Chancery, a key venue for shareholder lawsuits. Kathaleen McCormick, chief judge on the court, heard about two hours of arguments over the fee and over a request to approve the settlement. She did not say when she would rule. The attorneys represented a Detroit police union pension plan that sued Teslas directors for excessive compensation during 2017 to 2020. Nearly all of the directors compensation comprised stock options and they only got paid if the stock rose. In recent years it swelled 10-fold. Elon Musks $56 billion in compensation as Teslas chief executive was not part of this lawsuit. It is being challenged separately. The 2020 lawsuit settled in July with the directors agreeing to return to Tesla $735 million as part of a $919 million agreement. The directors said their pay was fair and they only settled to remove the risk of litigation. The attorneys want as their fee 25% of the settlement with the 12 directors, who include James Murdoch, son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison. The case was brought as a so-called derivative lawsuit which benefits the company, rather than shareholders directly. Teslas attorney argued the shareholders attorneys exaggerated the value of the settlement, and by extension their requested fee, by pegging its value to the cost to directors rather than the benefit to the company. Tesla estimated its benefit from the deal was $295 million. The difference in the two values boils down to the stock options. At the time of the July settlement the options were worth $458 million to the directors. Tesla said in court papers that the benefit of getting the options back is reversing the accounting cost it recorded when they were issued, which was around $20 million. Andrew Dupre, one of the shareholder attorneys, said if the options were of so little value to Tesla, the company should turn them over to the shareholders legal team to exercise as their legal fee, but said the company would not do that. It shows the absurdity of their argument, Dupre said. We would gladly take the money if we could. Musk is not contributing to the settlement and he did not receive any money for his role on the board, according to a court filing by the plaintiff. Tesla shareholder Mike Levin objected at the hearing to the settlement because it held the directors liable for damages as group, rather than specifying the allocation of the damages for each director. We dont want one defendant CEO Elon Musk to pay any or all of it, Levin told the court. That would compromise any independence of the directors. Vanessa Lavely, an attorney for the defendants, said Musk was not be paying the settlement although if he chose to reimburse the directors it would have to be disclosed in a securities filing. A federal appellate court is asking the Louisiana Supreme Court whether a law that was passed to protect oilfield contractors from demands by big oil companies that they be indemnified for their own mistakes also applies to contractors who work on salt mines. If the answer is yes, QBE Syndicate 1036 may be off the hook for the cost of a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of a worker who was electrocuted while working on a fire suppression system at a salt mine owed by Compass Minerals. In a decision Thursday, a panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals sent two certified questions to the Louisianas highest court: 1. Does the Louisiana Oilfield Anti-Indemnity Act apply to agreements that pertain to drilling for minerals where the agreement does not pertain to a well? 2. If so, does the act invalidate indemnification and additional-insured provisions in contracts for fire suppression and electrical work in a mine that was using a drill-and-blast method for mining salt? The attorney who represents Compass, Dominic J. Gianna, said the legislative history shows that state lawmakers clearly intended to protect well-drilling contractors when they passed the Anti-Indemnity Act in 1981. The history is clear that they never meant it to apply to a salt mine, he said. Certainly not a salt mine that doesnt use a well. Compass hired Fire Suppression & Safety Specialists and MC Electric LLC to provide an electrical system and fire suppression for its 1,500-foot-deep salt mine on Corte Blanch Island in St. Mary Parish. The mine produces 15% of the US supply of rock salt used to de-ice road ways, according to the panels opinion. The purchase orders for each contract included a provision that required them to indemnify Compass from liability for all claims for damage, injury or death related to the agreement. The purchase orders also required the contractors to name Compass as an additional insured on insurance policies required by the contract. On Aug. 15, 2019, MCE electrician Shawn Clements was fatally injured when he came into contact with an energized electrical circuit while attempting to install a new circuit for a fire suppression system. Clements family filed a wrongful-death suit against Compass, alleging that one of its employees and a technician for FSS incorrectly told Clements that the fire-suppression system had been de-energized. QBE insured both contractors. The insurer, a Lloyds of London syndicate, filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking a declaration that the indemnity provisions in the purchase orders are null and void because of the Oilfield Anti-Indemnity Act. QBE said that Compass uses a drill-and-blast method of mining for salt. The Anti-Indemnity act applies to agreements that pertain to a well for oil, gas, or water, or drilling for minerals, the insurer argued. QBE and Compass both filed motions for summary judgment. The US District Court for Western Louisiana ruled in favor of Compass, citing a 1992 5th Circuit Court decision that found the Anti-Indemnity Act applies only to contractor agreements that pertain to drilling wells. The parties did not dispute that no well was present at Compass salt mine. QBE appealed. The insurer said the decision sited by Compass isnt as clear as it seems. In fact, a footnote in the decisions indicates that the act applies to agreements pertaining to wells or drilling for minerals. QBE noted another 5th Circuit decision that found the Anti-Indemnity Act applied to a sulphur mining facility. The 5th Circuit panel said the Louisiana Supreme Court has heard cases relating to the Oilfield Anti-Indemnity Act on three occasions since the law was passed, but it is still unclear whether an agreement for drilling for minerals must also pertain to a well for the law to apply. Gianna, who is with the Aaron & Gianna law firm in New Orleans, said his reading of state lawmakers discussions during deliberations over the Anti-Indemnity Act shows that the legislature intended to protect well drillers, not contractors hired by salt mines. He said the sulphur mine case cited byQBEs lawyers used a well to extract the material, which exists below the earths surface in liquid form, much like oil. Gianna said the 5th Circuits decision was the first time in his experience that the court turned to a state Supreme Court to answer a question of law. This is law school stuff, he said. I have been practicing 40 years and Ive never seen this happen before. The court of appeals punted. Top photo courtesy of Compass Minerals. Attached is Meridian Energy Limited's monthly operating report for the month of September 2023. Mike Roan (CFO) and Owen Hackston (Investor Relations Manager) will host a quarterly operating result call via a Microsoft Teams Live event today, Tuesday 17 September at 10am NZDT (8am AEDT). Click on the link below at this time to join the call. Meridian Energy Quarterly Operating results - Microsoft Teams Live Event Please submit any questions using the Q&A panel on the right-hand side of the call window. If the Q&A panel doesnt automatically appear, please select the small ? speech bubble. Highlights this month include: In the month to 5 October 2023, national hydro storage increased from 83% to 116% of historical average South Island storage increased to 121% of average and North Island storage increased to 98% of average by 5 October 2023 Meridians September 2023 monthly total inflows were 160% of historical average Waiau catchment inflows in September 2023 were 173% of historical average Meridians Waitaki catchment water storage at the end of September 2023 was 116% of historical average Snow storage in Meridians Waitaki catchment was 105% of average in early October Water storage in Meridians Waiau catchment was 170% of average at the end of September 2023 National electricity demand in September 2023 was 1.7% lower than the same month last year September 2023 was the warmest September on record with temperatures above average for most of the country. Rainfall was above normal in most of the South Island and eastern and northern parts of the North Island MOU was signed with Parkwind for exploration of offshore wind New Zealand Aluminium Smelters average load during September 2023 was 568MW Meridians retail sales volumes in September 2023 were 1.3% higher than September 2022 Compared to September 2022, segment sales increased in small medium business +0.2%, large business +1.7% and agriculture +29.3%. Sales decreased in residential -6.3% and corporate -2.0% Highlights for the first quarter include: Meridians Q1 total inflows were 114% of historical average, 27% lower than Q1 last year Meridians Waitaki catchment water storage at the end of Q1 was 40% lower than Q1 last year Compared to Q1 last year, Meridians generation was 1.7% lower at a 91.4% higher average price 2027 electricity futures prices commenced trading in early October, pricing lower than 2026 New Zealand Aluminium Smelters sales volumes in Q1 were the same as Q1 last year National electricity demand in Q1 was 0.6% higher than Q1 last year Winter 2023 was relatively warm and dry, although notable for markedly below average monthly temperatures in August 2023 Rainfall was contrasting; below normal across most of the country, with the lower South Island experiencing above normal rainfall During the quarter, Meridian made calls on volume under the swaption agreement with Nova Transformer outages at Manapouri and West Wind scheduled well into 2024 At the end of Q1, Meridians customer numbers were 0.2% lower than the same time last year Compared to Q1 last year, Meridians retail sales volumes were 2.0% higher at an 11.5% higher average price Sales increased in all segments, except residential, where sales were 1.6% lower Compared to Q1 last year, total operating costs were 15.5% higher Compared to Q1 last year, total capital expenditure was 55.0% higher with construction at the Harapaki Wind Farm and the Ruakaka Battery Energy Storage System 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 CHAGRIN FALLS, Ohio -- Get ready to taste area culinary creations at the 36th annual Taste in Bainbridge from 5:30 to 11 p.m. Nov. 4 at the Historic Tanglewood Club, 8745 Tanglewood Trail in Bainbridge Township. The popular event includes appetizers, entrees, desserts and a cash bar. You can participate in raffles, auctions and professional-style casino tables, held after dining. Prizes and gifts for the event were donated by about 50 local businesses. The event is a major fundraiser presented by the Bainbridge Civic Club, an all-volunteer service organization that supports the Bainbridge Area Food for Friends Food Pantry, provides scholarships and participates in other philanthropic endeavors. Fifty percent of the proceeds from the event will go directly to the food pantry. The $50 ticket includes one entry into the grand finale raffle, with a first prize of at least $350. For tickets and information, contact thecivicclub.org. Tickets sell out quickly each year. Family outing: Garfield Memorial Church is holding a free community event called Fam Blitz from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Sunday (Oct. 22) at 3650 Lander Road in Pepper Pike. With music, interactive games and a mess your kids will never forget, it is described as a high-energy, interactive experience for the whole family. Register to attend at FamBlitzCle.com for guaranteed seating. Bring non-perishable food items to donate to two area food pantries. Stalk the Hunters Moon: With the 2023 solar eclipse safely behind us, it is time to celebrate the moon in all her glory. Take a full moon hike from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 28 during the Hunters Moon full moon at Observatory Park. The gentle 1.5-mile naturalist-led hike will be over flat terrain and is suitable for school-age children, teens and adults. The park is located on Clay Street in Montville Township. For more information, contact www.geaugaparkdistrict.org. Skate in costume: All dressed up and no place to go? The Chagrin Valley Roller Rink is holding a costume skate from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday (Oct. 22), with games, prizes and a costume contest. Children, teens and adults are welcome to the party, which is one of the longest-running Halloween events in the area. Just make sure you can skate in your costume. Admission is not scary at $6, and skate rentals are $4. You can purchase skates and accessories there, as well. Looking ahead, you can bring out your Grease costume for an encore at the rinks 1950s skating party from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Nov. 11. An ugly sweater night is planned for Dec. 16. Discussion on gun violence: Steve Dettelbach, director of the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), will speak Sunday (Oct. 22) at Temple Emanu El in Orange. In his topic, Gun Violence: A National Emergency, Dettelbach will discuss the current status of gun violence, plans to curb the problem and what currently can be done to promote gun safety. He will be joined by Daryl McCormick, ATF special agent in charge of Ohio. They will provide both a national and state perspective, and will answer questions from the audience after the presentation. Security personnel will be onsite. The event is offered free of charge. Registration is required by Friday (Oct. 20) at tinyurl.com/TEEAdvocacy. Located at 4545 Brainard Road, Temple Emanu El is a reform congregation serving the Jewish Community of Greater Cleveland. It offers worship services, religious education and preschool, as well as cultural and social events. Cemetery cleanup: Even cemeteries need an annual cleanup. Leaf blowing and removal tasks are under way at Evergreen Hill Cemetery in Chagrin Falls through Nov. 30 to maintain its serene and contemplative grounds, according to John Brockway, street department superintendent. He is asking those who want to save their gravesite decorations honoring deceased friends and family members to remove them because they can disrupt the leaf cleanup efforts. Contact the street department at 440-247-5053 with questions. A Niche school: University School in Hunting Valley and Shaker Heights was recognized in several categories as a Best School by the school ranking company Niche. These include the states best private high school, best high school for STEM programs, best all-boys high school and best private K-12 school. Visit niche.com for more information. To post your Chagrin Valley news and events contact Rusek at jcooperrusek@gmail.com. Read more from the Chagrin Solon Sun. CLEVELAND, Ohio For all the sheer sonic beauty Sunday night at Severance Music Center, what lingered was the emotion. The Cleveland Orchestra was away on tour, leaving the Mandel Concert Hall available to host an extraordinary evening of three exquisite musical performances by seven guest artists, including the soprano Renee Fleming and the Emerson String Quartet. None in attendance will soon forget the evening. Still, if theres one thing theyll never shake, its the feeling behind the music, the maelstrom of nostalgia, delight, and longing that informed every note. The strongest of the many sentiments was fondness for the Emerson String Quartet, the renowned ensemble soon disbanding after an astonishing career of nearly half a century. The groups performance Sunday was among its very last, one of perhaps just a few before its finale Oct. 22. For the occasion, the Emersons violinists Philip Setzer and Eugene Drucker, violist Lawrence Dutton, and cellist Paul Watkins selected Beethovens String Quartet No. 14, a late work in one unbroken movement that itself contains a world of feeling, a summary of the human experience. It was an inspired choice. The Emersons are synonymous with Beethoven, and this work in particular let them say precisely what needed to be said. What they offered Sunday wasnt a performance so much as a window into their time together. For some 40 minutes, a healthy crowd sat in near pin-drop silence as the Emersons traversed this familiar territory another time, relishing its every contour, mining every nuance. To the extent there was a defining trait, beyond technical mastery, it was sincerity. Joy, melancholy, playfulness, frustration: you name it, they experienced it in full and guaranteed that all in the room felt what they were feeling, too. The Emerson Quartet has been a great gift, indeed. There also was no escaping the emotional world crafted by Fleming in Andre Previns monodrama Penelope for soprano, string quartet, piano, and narrator. Applying her lustrous voice to words penned by playwright Tom Stoppard, Fleming made palpable the longing and agitation the mythological wife of Odysseus felt during her husbands 20-year absence fighting and returning from the Trojan War. Flemings music alternated with text spoken by Broadway actress Merle Dandridge. In between, and underneath, the Emersons and pianist Simone Dinnerstein contributed vibrant, varied commentary reflecting the mood or action being described. It was incredibly powerful. Dandridge intoned Stoppards text with sensuality and conviction. Fleming, meanwhile, held listeners in thrall across a spectrum of emotions ranging from bitterness, fear, and rage to gratitude and rapturous love. The text spanned multiple pages, but Fleming and Dandridge saw to it that listeners hung on every word, devotedly waiting for the next moment like Penelope herself. Dinnerstein, thankfully, also enjoyed a moment in the spotlight and used it to great effect. At the nights outside, she strode to a piano onto an otherwise bare stage and seized attention with a silken performance of Glasss Etude No. 6. Patterns emerged and overlapped like currents in a river, and with comparable ease. The tempo was quick, but Dinnerstein managed never to sound hurried or frantic. Rather, all was smooth, elegant, and utterly entrancing. Ahead of the conflicting emotions to come, it was a welcome moment of serenity. CLEVELAND, Ohio The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo will shine a light on the holiday season actually more than 1.5 million of them when it kicks off its Wild Winter Lights attraction on Nov. 14. This is the fifth year for the event, which is sponsored by NOPEC, but for the first time it will feature two musical light shows that include a 50-foot tree and a show on Waterfowl Lake. There also are holiday-themed areas such as an Enchanted Forest and Santas Workshop, where visitors can get their photo taken with Santa Claus. Other attractions are carousel rides, costumed characters, model train displays and ice carvers. Wild Winter Lights will be open from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. beginning Nov. 14 and will continue through Dec. 30. Visitors are encouraged to make advanced online reservations because tickets are limited. There also will be a drive-thru option. Tickets purchased in advance are $19 for members and $22 for non-members. A four-pack is $60 for members and $70 for non-members. Children under age 2 are admitted free. Tickets for the drive-thru option must be purchased in advance and are $45 per car for members and $55 per car for non-members. Tickets can be purchased here. Also sponsoring Wild Winter Lights are CrossCountry Mortgage, Meijer, MetroHealth System and Serpentini Chevrolet. UNION TOWNSHIP, Ohio A 25-year-old woman was killed when her car crashed head-on into a patrol car driven by a Clinton County sheriffs deputy, reports say. The State Highway Patrol tells WLWT Channel 5 that Tessa Hicks of Clarksville, Ohio, died in the crash, which occurred at about 1:22 a.m. on U.S. 22 in Union Township. Hicks was driving driving a 2013 Hyundai Sonata east when she crossed the center line and crashed into the 2020 Ford Explorer sheriffs vehicle, WCPO Channel 9 reports. WDTN Channel 2 reports the driver of the patrol car, Sgt. Terrance Meehan, 57, was treated at a hospital for minor injuries. No additional details were reported on the crash. Clinton County is located in southwest Ohio between Cincinnati and Columbus. CLEVELAND, Ohio The Mount Pleasant and Union-Miles neighborhoods have seen better days, but some believe better days are coming. Cuyahoga County Land Bank Charities this summer announced its plan to build or rehab hundreds of houses in Mount Pleasant, a much-needed boost for the area. Over the next three years, this project, which is in partnership with Habitat for Humanity and the St. Lukes Foundation, is set to construct 55 new homes, 15 of which will be in Mount Pleasant. Another 79 homes will be extensively rehabbed or receive repairs. (Buckeye is also included in the project.) Mount Pleasant has a number of positive resources and a lot of stakeholders there, and history that make it a great community, a great neighborhood to really try to build up, support and create synergy, Gus Frangos, the president and general counsel of the Cuyahoga Land Bank said. Theres just a lot of land and a lot of opportunity. So we just really want to take that area and try to rejuvenate it, bring it back to some of the glory that it had years ago. The Union-Miles Development Corp., which has expanded to assisting Mount Pleasant, is also excited about upcoming projects. Roshawn Sample, the executive director of UMDC, said that the Walt Collins Veteran Housing & Service Center will break ground by early November. Walt Collins is to include 11 residential units and will be located on East 98th and Harvard to East 102nd Street Sample called the project an innovative multi-faceted and comprehensive project to create sustainable employment and business opportunities, which facilitate self-sufficiency for low-income individuals and low-income veterans. The projects four key components that include veteran housing, training in urban agriculture, farm management, and construction, micro-entrepreneurship support and development that builds to the development of a Veteran Cooperative, she added. This is part of a series of stories from cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer exploring Clevelands neighborhoods. Follow ongoing coverage at Get to Know Clevelands Neighborhoods. Aerial view of Cleveland's Union Miles neighborhood.John Pana, cleveland.com Mount Pleasant stretches north and south of Kinsman, a major thoroughfare that turns into Chagrin Boulevard as it goes into Beachwood. Kinsman also runs through a portion of Union-Miles, along with other major streets like Union Avenue and East 93rd Street. Both neighborhoods are predominately Black at around 95%. Economic issues persist in the neighborhoods with about 31,000 residents, roughly split between the two areas. In Union-Miles, the median household income is $26,315, about $4,000 below city median, according to research of census data by the Center for Community Solutions. Mount Pleasants median household income is $28,087. By comparison, the median income household income countywide is close to $55,000. Both have thousands of people living below the poverty line, including more than 40% of the children. The neighborhoods hardships are even more evident as many of the early 20th century homes are in disrepair or abandoned. There is an abundance of vacant lots and former retail spaces. In Union-Miles, skeletons of what was bustling industry remain. Sample, who grew up on East 131st, said that the Union-Miles said she remembered involved booming Black-owned businesses, amenities that were offered to residents like after-school programs, and a community deeply committed to one another. My mom purchased her home there in the 70s, she said. Many of my neighbors owned their homes and had pride where they lived, worked, and played. Neighbors were family, we looked out for each other. I really enjoyed my childhood in this community, and I wouldnt change a thing back then. Crime was not a big topic of discussion then and it saddens me to see how things have drastically changed over the years. Mount Pleasant and Union-Miles rich history is woven into soil. The Mount Pleasant and Union-Miles areas of Cleveland.Rich Exner, cleveland.com Mount Pleasant history Mount Pleasant was named for its countryside views as the area was once predominately rural and occupied by European farmers. According to the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, the area had remained rural through the early 1920s. From there, much of the land had been purchased and mapped, and later settled by many Germany, Czech, Russian, Jewish and Italian immigrants. In the early 1900s, Mount Pleasant was also known for its large Black home-ownership, something that was rare at the time. By 1907, it was noted that there were at least 100 Black families and 100 Black lot owners, leading many Black newspapers to dub the area a suburban paradise. The Mount Pleasant Community Council was formed in the 1950s to fight delinquency, crime, and housing violations. The council would eventually pave the way for the Murtis H. Taylor Multiservice Center, which provides various social services to the community. Frangos said that he hoped the Land Bank housing project would have a hand in aiding Mount Pleasants comeback. Wed like to see affordable housing meet the housing need, but we also want to see improved neighborhoods, Frangos said. When youre reestablishing the tax base in these areas, it promotes retail investment and job creation. Housing is the starting point for not only stabilizing families, but stabilizing a neighborhood. Union-Miles history By the early 1800s, Union-Miles was known as Newburgh, with a public square at the intersection of East 93rd Street and Miles Avenue. Newburgh had also been home to farms and orchards. By 1823 the township was partially annexed by Cleveland, including a large area that would become Union-Miles Park. It was by this time that Union-Miles became an important manufacturer of steel in Northeast Ohio. Irish, Scottish and Welsh immigrants flocked to the area looking for work, and the area received the nickname Irishtown. The area was also an important hub for Clevelands once bustling streetcar network. By the Great Depression, the steel industry began a steady decline in the neighborhood. White residents began migrating out while Black residents were forced to move to the slowly deteriorating area because of redlining, race baiting and other systemic issues, according to the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. The nonwhite population went from 10% in 1960 to 90% by 1980, and was plagued by poverty, crime and substandard housing, something the Union-Miles Development Corp. continues to fight today. Sample said that over the next several years she hopes to see Union-Miles and Mount Pleasant thrive with booming businesses. With the mayor and city administration having dollars allocated and administered through certain agencies to aid in housing and economic development, this will give a boost to the neighborhoods, making us look more attractive to those private investors, she said. In addition, I want the residents to have pride in where they reside. They deserve the same environment that is conducive to their well-being. Notable spots Union-Miles Log Cabin - Built in 1908 by Antonin Zverina, a local grocer, as a playhouse for his children, it has since been designated a city landmark. Calvary Cemetery - The largest Catholic cemetery in Ohio when it was dedicated in 1893, bridging Cleveland and Garfield Heights. One of the most prominent residents buried in Calvary is Gene Carroll, who had one of the longest running television programs in the city. Mill Creek Falls is a stunning Metropark on the border of the Union-Miles neighborhood.Megan Sims, cleveland.com Mill Creek Falls - At 48 feet, it is the tallest waterfall in Cuyahoga County. There is a small park with a lookout is operated by the Cleveland Metroparks. The falls once generated the power for the area. CLEVELAND, Ohio The library at the Western Reserve Historical Society library remains closed after a fire late last month left archival materials in the basement damaged by water and other parts of the four-story brick building affected by smoke and soot. No one was injured in the fire, which ignited early on Sept. 28. The library will remain closed for 6 to 9 months, as the historical society assesses the cause of the fire and the cost of repairs and conservation of damaged materials, said Kelly Falcone-Hall, president and CEO of the University Circle institution since 2014. On Sept. 29, the historical society reopened regular programs and exhibits at the institutions complex at 10825 East Blvd. The institution is known for housing local treasures, including the Euclid Beach Park Grand Carousel, the neon Cleveland Indians Wahoo sign, and a large collection of vintage automobiles. Im disappointed, and its an emotional time, Falcone-Hall said Monday in an interview with cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer, which, she said, was her first contact with news media about the event. Its our library, she said. Though no one was injured, and we didnt lose any collections, but there is a real emotional attachment to the place because thats where our history lives. Falcone-Hall said Cleveland firefighters responded within five minutes of an alarm triggered by a fire that started in a basement room, where volunteers had been processing archival materials. Such materials are sorted, classified, indexed and filed in archival boxes. Water from firehoses or sprinklers showered down directly on documents spread out on a table in the basement, Falcone-Hall said. The library of the Western Reserve Historical Society as it appeared Monday, October 16, 2023, two weeks after a fire in the basement led to water and smoke damage. The library will remain closed for 6-9 months.Steven Litt, cleveland.com Conservators from the Chicago-based Conservation Center are working with the historical society on plans to preserve the damaged documents, now stored in a refrigerator truck to minimize physical harm. Ann Sindelar, the librarys reference supervisor, said that roughly 100 boxes of records from three specific collections were involved, a number she said was a small fraction of the overall collection. The library declined to identify the specific nature of the documents because it had not yet contacted all the donors, Sindelar said. As for the rest of the library, even though the fire was contained to a small corner of the basement, we have to basically deal with cleanup and deodorizing on four floors to one degree or another,' Falcone-Hall said. Archival boxes throughout the library have been coated with grime. If you run your hand on the top of a box of a collection of papers, its like dust, but a little sooty, she said. The historical society completed a $3 million renovation of the library two years ago, a project funded by the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation. Falcone-Hall said the historical society has reached out to community organizations to let them know about the fire. Administrative staff have relocated to the institutions Hanna Mansion, part of its complex on East Boulevard. In addition to the Conservation Center, the historical society is working with experts from Cleveland-based Belfor Property Restoration. The reading room of the Western Reserve Historical Society library as it appeared after a renovation in 2020. The library closed Sept. 29 for 6-9 months after a fire caused water damage to documents and smoke damage throughout the building.Courtesy Western Reserve Historical Society The fire occurred within weeks of the completion of a new emergency plan for the historical society. That project was related to the organizations pursuit of accreditation from the American Association of Museums, a national organization that establishes professional standards. Falcone-Hall said the emergency plan spelled out steps taken immediately after the fire. We have been the trusted stewards of so much of the evidence of the history of Northeast Ohio,' Falcone-Hall said. I have to take the long view. Were going to be better down the line. Weve weathered other storms. Thats how we are looking at this event. Editors note: U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan has again stepped into the national spotlight, this time by declaring himself a candidate to become the next speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives following the ouster of Californias Kevin McCarthy. Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer is recirculating past coverage of Jordan to help readers better understand the Champaign County Republicans background and ascension within the Republican congressional ranks. This story originally published May 12, 2022. WASHINGTON, D. C. -- The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol issued a subpoena Thursday (May 12, 2022) to Ohio lawmaker and GOP firebrand Jim Jordan seeking to question him about what he knew about the attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. The move came after Jordan ignored the committees previous request to appear voluntarily and answer questions. When the committee asked Jordan about his communications with Trump and others who planned the GOP effort to challenge results of the 2020 presidential election, he indignantly refused with a letter that began: The American people are tired of Democrats nonstop investigations and partisan witch hunts. Jordan, who owes at least some of his national name recognition to his time on the House Benghazi Committee, often used his congressional committee posts to launch investigations. He has already said that, if the Republicans retake the House in the November midterm election, he plans to spearhead investigations into the Centers for Disease Control and Dr. Anthony Fauci, immigration issues that Republicans refer to as the border crisis, and President Joe Bidens Justice Department. The Democrat-led committee investigating the attack persevered with its probe despite a lack of cooperation from Jordan and other Republicans, but Thursdays move marks a more forceful response to Jordan, and four other GOP lawmakers unwillingness to cooperate in the investigation. The committees set to begin public hearings June 9, where witnesses, exhibits, and staff testimony will describe efforts by Trump and his supporters to overturn the election. Those efforts culminated in a riot at the U.S. Capitol where several people died. The committees chairman, Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, told reporters he plans to have eight hearings. Democratic committee member Jamie Raskin of Maryland told CBS News the hearings will show how the violent insurrection and the inside political coup come together on January 6. We now have the evidence to support a story of the worst presidential political crime against the union in American history, Raskin told CBS. Nothing that any other president ever did comes close to what happened on that day and it will be harrowing for the American people to watch this story unfold as we almost lost it all on the afternoon and evening of January 6, 2021. So much of what Jordan knows, and what he did on that day is already in the public sphere. Information thats come out so far shows Champaign Countys Jordan, who serves as the House Judiciary Committees top Republican, played a prominent role in Trumps unsuccessful drive to stay in power. He strategized about election protests with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and repeatedly communicated with Trump himself on the day of the riot. Because of statements and actions taken by Jordan, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refused to seat Jordan on the January 6 committee when House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy nominated him. She said it was to protect the investigations integrity. After McCarthy -- whom the committee also subpoenaed Thursday -- subsequently refused to seat any of his members on the committee, Pelosi added two Republicans who voted to impeach Trump: Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois. McCarthy, Jordan and other Republicans question the committees credibility and say the investigation should focus on security breaches that allowed rioters to penetrate the Capitol. Jordans efforts to question the elections validity began months before voting started, as Jordan and other Republicans questioned whether Democrats were trying to win the election after the election by encouraging the use of mail-in ballots at a time when some voters sought to minimize contact with other people to avoid spreading coronavirus. During an August 2020 hearing with U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, Jordan speculated that Democrats were promoting mail-in balloting because they want confusion and chaos. I think they know on election night, President Trumps going to win, Jordan continued. They know that on Election Day, the vote count on Election Day, President Trumps going to win, and they want to keep counting. The next month, Jordan released a report from Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee titled How Democrats Are Attempting to Sow Uncertainty, Inaccuracy and Delay in the 2020 Election. The report alleged that states which moved to all-mail balloting during the coronavirus pandemic will create conditions ripe for election crime, errors, inaccuracy, and delay. It claimed as many as 44 million total ballots will be mass-mailed to registered voters with no assurance the ballots reach the right person. The best and surest guarantee of electoral integrity is for Americans to vote in person where safe and possible, with absentee ballots available for those who legitimately cannot make it to the polls, the report continued. If states can allow violent left-wing extremists to riot and loot in person, then they should allow peaceful Americans to exercise their right to vote in person. As the election approached, Jordan repeated his claim Democrats were trying to steal it. When the election was deemed too close to call, Jordan sprang into action. Two days after voting wrapped up, Jordan joined a Stop the Steal protest in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, while the state was still tallying ballots. Jordan urged the protestors to ensure every legitimate vote is counted. He told FoxNews Lou Dobbs that he wanted to make sure that votes that came in after the election without a distinguishable postmark date werent counted. Were out there fighting, and I know lots of Americans are doing the same, said Jordan, who made numerous election fraud allegations in the states Trump targeted. Soon afterwards, Biden was declared the election winner when Pennsylvanias vote was finalized. Why dont Democrats want to know the truth about ballot integrity in Pennsylvania? Jordan subsequently said on Twitter. He repeatedly pressed his claims of voting irregularities in Pennsylvania and other states in interviews on FoxNews. Meanwhile, authorities charged with examining the the elections integrity such as the U.S. departments of Justice and Homeland Security, which were both headed by Trump appointees, found no evidence of widespread voter fraud that could change the outcome of the 2020 election. Trump and his allies filed dozens of lawsuits to challenge the results. All failed. Some were rejected by Trump-appointed judges. Trump and his supporters turned to a fringe legal theory advanced by attorney John Eastman, which hypothesized Trump could remain in the White House if former Vice President Mike Pence refused to recognize electors from states disputed by Trump as Pence presided over Congress official tally of electoral votes. Pence refused to do so despite heavy pressure from Trump. Material revealed by the January 6 Committee indicates Jordan was deeply enmeshed in White House discussions of how Pence could overturn the election. Transcripts of the January 6 committees interviews with a former White House aide to Meadows, Cassidy Hutchinson, said the idea of Pence taking strategic action that day was broached towards the end of November or in early December. She said Jordan was among those who discussed the theory in its beginning stages, along with Pennsylvanias Scott Perry, Georgias Marjorie Taylor Greene, Colorados Lauren Boebert, and attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell. She told the January 6 committee that Jordan and other members of the House Freedom Caucus he co-founded met multiple times with White House staffers to express the view that Pence had the authority to, pardon me if my phrasing isnt correct on this, but -- send votes back to the States or the electors back to the States, in line with Eastmans theory. Hutchinson told the committee Jordan participated in meetings where the White House counsels office opined that it would be illegal for Pence to intervene. Text messages from Meadows that the January 6 committee inserted in legal filings show that Jordan texted Meadows at 11:27 p.m. on Jan. 5 to describe how Pence, as president of the Senate, should call out all electoral votes that he believes are unconstitutional as no electoral votes at all - in accordance with guidance from founding father Alexander Hamilton and judicial precedence. Jordans text to Meadows also quotes Hamilton saying, No legislative act contrary to the Constitution can be valid. Following this rationale, an unconstitutionally appointed elector, like an unconstitutionally enacted statute, is no elector at all, the text continued. Jordans spokesman said that text was sent to Jordan by a former Defense Department inspector general, Joseph Schmitz, and that Meadows knew Jordan was forwarding it. Meadows responded to Jordans text at 7:30 a.m. on the morning of January 6. I have pushed for this, Meadows wrote. Not sure it is going to happen. Meadows also spoke to Jordan before Jan. 6 to discuss what Jordan would say on the House of Representatives floor about the election, as well as the speechs timing, Hutchinson testified. She said Meadows wanted Jordan to give his floor speech after the rally ended, so Trump and his staff could watch it when they returned to the White House. Meadows spent much of the Trump rally that preceded the riot talking to people on the telephone, Hutchinson told the committee. She said Meadows had tried unsuccessfully to reach Jordan and that Jordan called her after their return to the White House, looking for Meadows about an hour after the security perimeter at the Capitol was breached. She relayed the message to her boss, who had been meeting with Trump. I went and asked Mr. Meadows to give Mr. Jordan a call, Hutchinson testified. And he said, All right, Ill do it. And then I went back to my desk. In addition to speaking with Meadows, Jordan has indicated he spoke to Trump multiple times on the day of the riot. He told the House Rules Committee last year he didnt recall how often they spoke, but said they definitely had a conversation after the riot occurred. I talked to him after the attack happened and we were moved to the to the chamber, Jordan said. I may have talked to him before, I dont know. When the chairman of that committee, Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, asked Jordan if he discussed a coordinated effort to overturn the results of the election with Trump, Jordan said: I have no idea what youre talking about. CNN reported that White House call records turned over to the committee show that Jordan spoke with Trump for 10 minutes on the morning of Jan. 6, while he was still at the White House residence before. The January 6 committees December letter to Jordan said it wanted to question Jordan about his communications with Trump, and any communications he had on Jan. 5 or 6 with those in the Willard War Room, the Trump legal team, White House personnel or others involved in organizing or planning the actions and strategies for January 6. We understand that you had at least one and possibly multiple communications with President Trump on January 6th, the letter said. We would like to discuss each such communication with you in detail. Although Jordan previously told the Rules Committee he has nothing to hide, he indignantly refused the January 6 committees invitation to testify. A letter he sent the committee said its request to discuss his communications with Trump and exchanges with others who planned the GOP effort to challenge the 2020 election results, amounts to an unprecedented and inappropriate demand to examine the basis for a colleagues decision on a particular matter pending before the House of Representatives. Jordan insisted he has no relevant information that would assist the Select Committee in advancing any legitimate legislative purpose, and questioned why it is not interviewing Democrats with responsibility for or oversight of the security posture at the Capitol complex on January 6. This double standard confirms our suspicion that Democrats are using the Select Committee as a partisan cudgel against their political adversaries and not to advance any legitimate legislative purpose, said Jordan. The American people deserve better than the Democrats incessant focus on partisan investigations. Even as he refuses to answer the January 6 committees questions about his role in events that led up to the riot, Jordan continues to use his Judiciary Committee post to demand answers from others. On May 4, he sent a letter to Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Kahn to raise concerns that the Open Markets Institute, a liberal think tank where she formerly worked, had called on FTC and other federal agencies to block Elon Musks purchase of Twitter. It demanded that Kahn tell the committee whether she or anyone else at FTC played a role in drafting the Open Market Institute statement, and whether FTC took any actions in response to it. It also formally requested that FTC preserve all records and materials relating to Musks pending acquisition of Twitter. On May 5, Jordan sent a letter to Nina Jankowicz, the head of a new advisory board at the Department of Homeland Security thats supposed to examine the threat of disinformation. His letter declared the board to be un-American, anti-democratic, and a dangerous escalation of the Biden Administrations embrace of government-endorsed censorship, and demanded that she immediately make herself available for a briefing with his committee. On May 6, he sent Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray a letter requesting a staff-level briefing on whistleblower reports that the FBI is suspending security clearances of employees who attended the Jan. 6 protests. We are conducting oversight to ensure the FBI is not retaliating against FBI employees for exercising their First Amendment rights, Jordans letter said. The Hamas attack on Israel has turned into organizational suicide. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and then send Mossad operatives after the surviving leaders in other parts of the world. Mossad had done this before and doesnt announce it, but the Israeli government implies it, and Hamas leaders know about that. When Palestinian gunmen seized Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics and killed most of them, the Palestinian gunmen responsible sought hiding places in Europe. One by one they were killed. Israel admitted nothing but the Palestinians got the message. The Palestinian militant group Hamas seems unconcerned by that and is concentrating on killing as many Israelis as possible. Israel openly declared it would destroy Hamas and eliminate any terrorist threats in Gaza by destroying most of it and occupying whats left. Two sides can attempt total destruction of the enemy. In this case, Israel has the means and Hamas does not. Israel is doing what it said it would and Hamas is rapidly disappearing. Iran, which has long sponsored Hamas, did not want Hamas to commit suicide. The years of Iranian support for Hamas was expensive and they expected Hamas to keep attacking Israel without triggering a massive response. Now Hamas will be gone and the base area in Gaza, where Iranian supplied rockets had, for years proved useful for Iran, will be gone as well. Iran praised the Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli cities and killing of Israeli soldiers. Iran did not want to be associated with all the civilians, including women and children, Hamas killed. Hamas also took hostages with the intention of trading them for the release of thousands of Palestinians jailed in Israel to violent crimes. Israel did not respond to the Hamas offer and kept coming after Hamas, hoping to save the lives of as many hostages as possible. Hamas had no more leverage and realized they were being hunted down and killed by several hundred thousand Israeli soldiers, most of them mobilized for the occasion. As the old saying goes, choose your friends carefully and your enemies more carefully. Hamas chose poorly. Iran tried to limit its losses by ordering the larger Hezbollah militia in Lebanon to stand down. Hamas had called on Hezbollah to join them in killing Israelis but only a few Hezbollah members and pro-Hamas Palestinians in Lebanon fired rockets and missiles into Israel. Israeli troops fired back while diplomats tried to arrange a discreet temporary alliance between Lebanon and Israel so that Hezbollah could be destroyed. That would allow Hezbollahs loving neighbors, i.e., Lebanese Christians and Sunni Arabs, to ethnically cleanse Lebanon of the Shia Arabs who form 100% of Hezbollah. Lebanon has sought to get rid of Hezbollah since the Lebanese civil war ended in 1991. Most Lebanese were anti-Israel, but the many Lebanese Christians were not. Iran hates Christians and Hezbollah was ordered to act accordingly. In return, Iran smuggled weapons, including rockets and missiles, to Hezbollah for use against Israel and any Lebanese who got in the way. The United States wanted to keep Hezbollah from joining Hamas war against Israel and moved a nearby carrier task force close to southern Lebanon with orders to discourage that. Everyone in the area wants Hezbollah gone but the Americans dont want to risk that war spreading. The only country that wants Hezbollah to survive is Iran. If Hezbollah is destroyed, it will be an act of peacemaking for the region. There will still be religious and nationalistic violence but, excepting the removal or extermination of Lebanese Shia, not on the previous scale that existed for so many years. Logistics ... Coca-Cola is teaming up with Pernod Ricard to launch a new ready-to-drink and premixed cocktail beginning 2024, the companies announced Monday. The new cocktail will contain a mix of Absolut Vodka and Sprite, the companies said. The drink will be available in two versions with Sprite and Sprite Zero Sugar. The debut is planned for early next year in select European countries including the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Spain and Germany. The canned cocktail industry has been growing in popularity in the past couple of years, with a 2022 report from the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. finding ready-to-drink beverages to be the fastest-growing spirits category in both revenue and volume. The announcement didn't say when the Absolut and Sprite drinks would hit the U.S. market. The new drinks join a host of expanding alcoholic beverages in Coke's portfolio in the past few years, including last year's Jack-and-Coke cocktail in a can. "We are expanding in the alcohol ready-to-drink space, including products that use select brands from our core portfolio," said James Quincey, CEO and chair of Coca-Cola, in a statement. "We are excited about our new relationship with Pernod Ricard and look forward to the introduction of Absolut & Sprite." Vodka is already one of the most popular bases for alcoholic ready-to-drink beverages, and lemon-lime soft drinks such as Sprite are one of the most popular mixers in premixed cocktails. Yellow taxi cabs drive down a road in Senegal's capital city of Dakar on Sept. 6, 2023. John Wessels | Afp | Getty Images BEIJING An ambassador of an African country to China has criticized the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank for restrictive lending policies. "The problem is that the ratings we are making for the African [countries] should be different," Ibrahima Sory Sylla, ambassador for the West African country of Senegal, said Thursday at an event at Peking University. He said ratings from Fitch or Standard and Poor's don't take into account local factors such as food security but they are the basis for IMF and World Bank assessments of economic sustainability. The number of people in West Africa experiencing an acute lack of food surged by nearly 40% in a year, according to a Reuters report in December citing the United Nation's World Food Programme. The figure surged 60% during that time for the number of East Africans, the report said. Senegal significantly increased its borrowing from China in 2021 and 2022, according to the Chinese Loans to Africa database managed by Boston University's Global Development Policy Center. watch now While that reflected a spike in West African borrowing, such loan activity was more muted in other parts of Africa reversing a growth trend of the last 20 years, the data showed. "What we can understand is that so many [multilateral development banks] through the G20 [debt] suspension initiative, they said you have to go through this initiative, but when you [do so], they suddenly decided to downgrade your risk," Senegal's Sylla said. "And most of the developed countries, the Western countries, they can go beyond to 200% of the ratio between the debt and the GDP. Their rating is not downgraded." The IMF, World Bank and S&P did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment. A Fitch Ratings spokesperson told CNBC all its sovereign rating decisions are "taken solely in accordance with one globally consistent and publicly available rating criteria." "Rating decisions are based on independent, robust, transparent and timely analysis," the person added. I cannot deny that the financing cooperation between China and Africa are facing some challenge or difficulties, because [of] some countr[ies] defaulting... Wu Peng China's foreign ministry, African affairs "My sincere belief is that IMF officials, World Bank officials, they are sincere in their belief that their debt sustainability framework works and works for the greater good," said Jang Ping Thia, lead economist and manager of the economics department at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. "Many times, the IMF chief at the desk, try their best to stretch the envelope for the country," Thia said at the same event Thursday. Thia said he just returned from a trip to Africa two weeks ago and saw a "brand-new city" being built by many Chinese contractors but with very low occupancy. "That makes me very worried," he said, declining to name the specific African country. "The loan itself matters, infrastructure matters, but timing and debt management and absorption capacity matters, coordinating and staggering out and having a plan," said the AIIB economist. "Build slowly, get people in, build more, is sometimes much more efficient, maybe not as big [a] bang." Belt and Road Forum The event about Chinese financing to Africa came just days before the country was set to hold its third Belt and Road forum, a gathering of countries involved in the China-led initiative for regional infrastructure development. Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to attend the forum, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in Beijing. Critics say the Belt and Road Initiative is a way for China to expand its global influence, while forcing poor countries to take on debt for infrastructure development, only to find themselves unable to repay the loans. From 2000 to 2020, China loaned $160 billion to African countries, according to a report released Thursday by Peking University's Institute of New Structural Economics. The research claimed every 1% increase in Chinese loans resulted in an increase of 0.176% in African economic growth. Allan Joseph Chintedza, ambassador of Malawi to China, said the report should look also at the repayment period for Chinese loans. "The gesture and what the [Belt and Road Initiative] is trying to do is perfect. It would be very sad if we actually lost out because we are not addressing some of the key issues that we need to address that you gave," Chintedza said, without specifying. The East African country needs to provide a "sustainability letter" from the Chinese government in order to borrow more from the IMF, Chintedza added. "Instead of us concentrating on implementing these agent programs, we are caught in between negotiations of trying to raise [funds], to improve or at least justify the debts that we have." "I think the majority of the loans has to be extended because that's the only way we can be given breathing space to be able to meet the requirements but also to invest in the social sense," he said. U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a roundtable discussion with Jewish community leaders in the Indian Treaty Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 11, 2023. President Joe Biden said in an interview aired on Sunday that he believes Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, must be fully eliminated and that it is necessary to establish a Palestinian state. "There needs to be a Palestinian Authority. There needs to be a path to a Palestinian state," Biden said in an interview taped Thursday for CBS' "60 Minutes," which aired Sunday evening. Historically, the U.S. has been one of Israel's biggest allies, though it has also endorsed a two-state solution, which would create a separate Palestinian state next to Israel. For decades, the two parties have struggled to coexist due, in part, to an overlapping claim over the holy city of Jerusalem, which both Palestinians and Israelis see as their capital. U.S. presidents have tried to negotiate a two-state solution in the Middle East with varying degrees of efficacy. In the interview, Biden said that while Hamas needs to be neutralized, the group does not "represent all the Palestinian people. It would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza again." Earlier Sunday, White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan similarly called for the protection of innocent civilians. "The many, many Palestinians who have had nothing to do with the brutal terrorist organization Hamas, the vast majority of the population of Gaza, they deserve dignity. They deserve safety and security," he said in an interview Sunday morning on NBC's "Meet the Press." Children crying because of Israeli raids on October 15, 2023 in Khan Yunis, Gaza. Many Gazan citizens have fled to the south following warnings from the Israeli government to do so. 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. Ahmad Hasaballah | Getty Images News | Getty Images China urged Israel to stop its collective punishment of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, as the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken raced through the Middle East over the weekend in an attempt to stave off a wider war in the region. It's been more than a week after the Hamas militant group staged its worst assault on Israel since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, killing at least 1,400 mostly civilians in the Jewish state. In retaliation, Israel last week pounded Gaza in airstrikes that have killed at least 2,670, cut off food, water, fuel and electricity to the Palestinian enclave, and ordered civilians to evacuate northern Gaza ahead of an expected ground assault aimed at eradicating Hamas. Israel's actions have gone beyond self-defense and it should heed the call of the international community. Wang Yi Chinese Foreign Minister "Israel's actions have gone beyond self-defense and it should heed the call of the international community and the Secretary-General of the United Nations to stop its collective punishment of the people in Gaza," China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi reportedly told his Saudi Arabia counterpart Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud in a call on Sunday. "The exercise of the right of self-defense should abide by international humanitarian law and should not be at the expense of innocent civilian casualties," Wang was reported to have said, in a separate call with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan. Wang's comments came in a series of calls over the weekend, as world leaders worked to prevent an escalation of the Israel-Hamas war into a broader Middle East conflict. watch now As Blinken raced through seven countries in the region Israel, Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt in the last few days, Iran's hardline president Ebrahim Raisi warned in a call with French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday that war would expand if Israel's siege of Gaza doesn't stop. "Israel has the right indeed it has the obligation to defend itself against these attacks from Hamas, and to try to do what it can to make sure that this never happens again," Blinken told reporters as he arrived in Cairo Sunday. "As I said in Tel Aviv, as President Biden has said, the way that Israel does this matters. It needs to do it in a way that affirms the shared values that we have for human life and human dignity, taking every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians," he added. Blinken's efforts have at least yielded some respite. watch now Over the course of a conversation that Singh said lasted an hour to an hour and a half, Bankman-Fried reclined on a white chaise lounge chair. Singh said he started the conversation by saying, "Caroline is really freaked out about the NAV situation, and so am I." NAV refers to net asset value, or the value of assets minus liabilities. Singh is cooperating with the prosecution as part of a plea deal he agreed to in February. At the time, Singh pleaded guilty to six charges, including conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to violate campaign finance laws. Bankman-Fried faces seven criminal fraud charges and the potential of life in prison. He pleaded not guilty. Until that point, Singh testified, he thought FTX's assets were greater than its liabilities. To discuss the matter, Singh said he and Bankman-Fried met on the lush rooftop deck at the Orchid, the Bahamas residential building where the FTX and Alameda crew had an 11,500-square foot apartment . Singh said he asked for a meeting following a text exchange he had in June 2022 with Caroline Ellison , who ran Alameda, and Gary Wang , an FTX co-founder. The trio had a Signal chat called #organization to discuss the steep public relations costs to FTX if Alameda's financial problems were made public. During that exchange, Singh said he learned from Wang that Alameda was borrowing $13 billion from FTX. Singh, who joined sister hedge fund Alameda Research in 2017 and then helped build the FTX exchange two years later, said that at most he would have a single private meeting with Bankman-Fried a year, so it was rare for him to get this much face time alone with the boss. In afternoon testimony Monday, former FTX engineering chief Nishad Singh told a Manhattan jury about two one-on-one meetings he held with Sam Bankman-Fried last year to discuss the dire state of the crypto firm's finances. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos questions Nishad Singh, the former director of engineering at FTX, at Sam Bankman-Fried's fraud trial over the collapse of FTX, the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, at Federal Court in New York City, October 16, 2023 in this courtroom sketch. Bankman-Fried tried to reassure Singh, telling him, "I'm not sure what there is to worry about" because NAV was "super positive." When Singh asked about the $13 billion that Alameda couldn't pay back to FTX, Bankman-Fried responded, "Right, that, we are a little short on deliverables," according to the testimony. Singh asked about the size of the shortfall, and Bankman-Fried said that was the wrong question to be asking. The right question, he said, was how much the company could deliver. Bankman-Fried said he thought it could deliver $5 billion relatively quickly and "substantially more" in the next few weeks to months. Singh responded with an expletive. Bankman-Fried then said the issue had been taking up 5% to 10% of his productivity that year. But Bankman-Fried said he wasn't too worried, and that Alameda could sell assets. FTX could also raise money from investors and was launching its U.S. futures soon, which would be a boon for the business, Bankman-Fried said, according to Singh's testimony. After Singh asked if he would finally agree to curb spending, Bankman-Fried said, "Yes, definitely." Singh testified that after five years of putting everything into the company, he "felt betrayed" that it "turned out to be so evil." He said he considered leaving every day but wasn't sure if he could live with himself if his exit resulted in the business failing. Bankman-Fried told Singh that he and FTX product head Ramnik Arora would be in New York in two weeks, and then in a month he'd be heading to the Middle East with Anthony Scaramucci, an FTX investor. Singh then described in detail a second meeting that he'd requested upon Bankman-Fried's return from the Middle East. He said the FTX founder had come back in the middle of the day and immediately attracted a crowd, "like he so often does." That next meeting took place in Bankman-Fried's second Bahamas apartment, which he called the Gemini 1D apartment. There, Singh told the jury, he thought he might quit but instead asked Bankman-Fried for a real sense of how things went on the overseas trip. Bankman-Fried said it was still possible to get another $5 billion. Singh wanted to know the plan for getting the rest needed to fill the $13 billion hole. Bankman-Fried told him the main plan was that FTX remain successful, adding that Singh was one of the few people who could make that happen. Singh described Bankman-Fried as on edge during that conversation. He appeared mad and had his hands back, grinding his fingers and grinding his teeth. "He glared at me with some intensity," Singh testified. Singh then asked, "Dear god, what else is there?" At the end, he apologized to Bankman-Fried for asking for the meeting. Singh told the jury that he faces a max of 75 years in prison but is "hoping for no jail time." CNBC's Dawn Giel contributed to this report WATCH: FTX top engineer testifies on Sam Bankman-Fried's 'excessive' spending US Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH) speaks to members of the media at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on October 4, 2023. Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio rallied fresh support Monday for his bid to become the next speaker of the House of Representatives, as his nomination gained steam after several Republican holdouts publicly lined up behind the Judiciary Committee chairman. Jordan faces a crucial vote in the House Tuesday at noon. He needs 217 GOP votes in the closely divided chamber to secure the gavel. The renewed momentum came at a crucial moment for Jordan, whose candidacy seemed destined to fail late last week. After winning the internal, closed door nomination vote, Jordan still faced a bloc of around 50 House Republicans who opposed his speakership. Over the course of the day Monday, Jordan won over several key skeptics who were staunchly opposed to his candidacy last week. They included the powerful Armed Services Committee chairman Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, Rep. Ken Calvert of California, and Ann Wagner of Missouri. Jordan can only afford to lose four Republicans and still win the gavel. As of Monday afternoon, there were at least five who were either opposed to Jordan or skeptical of his candidacy, according to a tally by NBC News. Rep. Carlos Gimenez of Florida and Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska are both considered hard "no's" on Jordan. Gimenez said Monday on social media that he planned to cast his ballot for Rep. Kevin McCarthy, despite the fact that the California Republican isn't running. Three more members of the conference are publicly skeptical: Reps. Steve Womack of Arkansas, Mike Lawler of New York and Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida. The House has been unable to move forward with urgent business for nearly two weeks, after eight Republicans led by Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida engineered the ouster of McCarthy as speaker in a historically unprecedented no-confidence vote. McCarthy also voiced his support for Jordan Monday: "It's time to get the House out of this tailspin, come together, and get America back on the right track. Jim Jordan can do it," McCarthy said in a social post. President Joe Biden called the leadership vacuum in the House "dangerous" in an interview with CBS News that aired Sunday. Biden has asked Congress to pass emergency security assistance for Israel after the devastating Hamas terrorist attacks, as well as for Ukraine as Kyiv wages a grinding counteroffensive against Russia. Jordan opposes additional security assistance for Ukraine. But Israel is a different story. On Monday, Jordan released a list of actions he said the United States should take to protect its longtime ally in the Middle East. National security hawks in the Republican Party are also deeply concerned that the House leadership vacuum leaves the U.S. vulnerable during a period of escalating tensions and conflict around the world. "The biggest threat I see here is that we don't have a speaker in the chair. We cannot govern. And so our adversaries look at that as weakness," House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Rep. Michael McCaul told NBC News on Thursday. "The longer this goes on, the more dangerous it is for the United States and the American people," said the Texas Republican. The House GOP conference nominated Jordan as their new candidate for speaker after House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana dropped out of the running when it was clear he did not have enough votes. Morgan Stanley thinks Varonis Systems could be in for major gains due to artificial intelligence. The firm upgraded the software stock to overweight from equal weight in a Monday note. Its bull case sees Varonis rallying to $62. That implies upside of 102% from Friday's close. Varonis provides security software for unstructured data vulnerable to cyberattacks. Analyst Hamza Fodderwala said the growth of generative AI will help drive company growth, which investors may be overlooking. "[I]f Gen AI tailwinds become more apparent, we see the stock potentially doubling from here in our $62 bull case closer to higher growth SaaS and Security peers," said Fodderwala. "With the stock trading at a discount to Security peers and precedent M & A, we view VRNS as one of the best risk-rewards in our software coverage universe." The analyst added that Varonis' software as a service platform coupled with normalizing demand also underpinned the upgrade and will serve to "come together to drive an idiosyncratic inflection in business fundamentals." Fodderwala also raised his base-case price target to $39 from $34, which implies about 28% upside over the next 12 months. Varonis has added more than 27% in 2023. VRNS YTD mountain Varonis Systems stock. CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report. Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) pose together before the start before the start of the first Republican candidates' debate of the 2024 U.S. presidential campaign in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. August 23, 2023. NBC News will host the third Republican presidential primary debate in Miami on Nov. 8. The debate, to be held at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, will air from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on the television, streaming and digital platforms of NBC News, including streaming on NBCNews.com. The moderators and the format will be announced later. Seven candidates were onstage at the second debate in California last month. It is not clear how many will qualify again, because the Republican National Committee has raised the polling and donor thresholds for the third contest. To qualify, candidates must have campaign contributions from at least 70,000 unique donors. They must also register at least 4% in two national polls or in one national poll and one early-state poll that meets the RNC's polling requirements. Qualifying candidates must also pledge to support the eventual GOP nominee. Former President Donald Trump, who remains the front-runner in the polls, did not attend the first two debates. His campaign has called for all future debates to be canceled so the RNC can "refocus its manpower and money" on defeating Democrats in 2024. Rebecca Blumenstein, the president of editorial for NBC News, said that NBC News has "a long history of fostering conversations with the leaders that seek to shape domestic politics and foreign policy" and that it looks forward to "continuing our leading reporting on the 2024 presidential race and spotlighting the issues that matter most to voters as they head to the polls." The RNC selected Salem Radio Network and the Republican Jewish Coalition as debate partners. RNC streaming partner Rumble will also livestream the debate. Former Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota, the chairman of the Republican Jewish Coalition, pointed to the importance of discussing foreign policy in a statement about the debate. "As the horrific events of the last week have unfolded in Israel, the issue of American foreign policy has taken on an even greater role," he said. "American strength and American resolve and our candidates' vision for America's role in the world are more important than ever." Carrie Budoff Brown, NBC News' senior vice president of politics, said presidential debates "can be instrumental in shedding light on the issues that matter most to voters," adding the network has a history of "producing substantive and thoughtful debates and we look forward to asking the questions that are on the minds of Republican voters." Jefferies thinks it's time for investors to go long on Pfizer . The firm upgraded the pharmaceutical stock to buy from hold in a Monday note and increased its price target to $39 per share from $38. Jefferies' forecast calls for roughly 21% upside from Friday's $32.11 close. Analyst Akash Tewari said that while the bank has been critical on Pfizer for much of 2023, it's now taking a long-term view on the stock after the company cut its full-year guidance last week. This could present an attractive buying opportunity into the name, he said. "[A]s we stare in the face of another year of macro uncertainty and a looming recession, we think it's time to flip to long on PFE, post its Friday COVID guidance cut + $3.5Bn cost reduction plan," Tewari said. "In our view, PFE has one of the most intriguing catalyst paths over the next yr in large cap pharma and trades ~15% below where it traded at the start of the COVID pandemic." The analyst added Pfizer has already presented "an impressive innovation framework" that has helped the company adapt to health-care headwinds, which underpinned the bullish long-term view. "During the pandemic, Pfizer in collaboration with Biontech rolled out COVID vaccines in a historical timeframe. Pfizer's COVID antiviral Paxlovid also helped the fight against the pandemic," he said. "We are closely monitoring how Pfizer is going to maneuver itself in the post-COVID world, especially with a sustainable pricing of COVID products to ensure a wider access." Pfizer has slumped more than 37% this year. It has also dropped 45% since 2021, the year it surged 60% on enthusiasm around the global economy reopening following the Covid-19 lockdowns. PFE YTD mountain Pfizer stock YTD CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report. Sam Bankman-Fried appears at federal court in New York on Oct. 4, 2023, in this courtroom sketch. The criminal trial of Sam Bankman-Fried will continue as scheduled, even after lawyers for the former FTX CEO asked for an adjournment, given their client's lack of access to prescribed medicine. In a late-night appeal to U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan on Sunday, attorneys representing Bankman-Fried requested that he be given his 12-hour extended-release 20mg dose of Adderall on Monday before being taken to the courthouse for the trial, which resumed at 9:30 a.m. They argued that the defendant urgently needs his long-release Adderall, otherwise, he would need to take some time off from the trial, which could put the former crypto billionaire in prison for the rest of his life. Attorney Mark Cohen's letter to Kaplan adds that Bankman-Fried has "not been able to concentrate at the level he ordinarily would" without his prescribed medication. "Bankman-Fried has been doing his best to remain focused during the trial for the past two weeks, despite not having his prescribed dose of Adderall during trial hours," the letter to the court said. After the jury exited Monday, Kaplan addressed the issue, saying that he got notice that the extended-release Adderall that was requested would not be available until Thursday. The judge added that he had not observed a problem with Bankman-Fried in court and was inclined to proceed as planned. He did acknowledge that he was not a medical professional but noted that he had not received any updated medical opinions on the matter. "I can't have lawyers giving drugs to people on trial," he said. Cohen asked for an adjournment until Thursday but was denied. Without a firm resolution to the matter, the trial will continue with a cross-examination of former FTX executive Nishad Singh at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. Cohen said Bankman-Fried's decision on whether to testify hinges on the defendant's access to a medicine used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. "However, as we approach the defense case and the critical decision of whether Mr. Bankman-Fried will testify, the defense has a growing concern that because of Mr. Bankman-Fried's lack of access to Adderall he has not been able to concentrate at the level he ordinarily would and that he will not be able to meaningfully participate in the presentation of the defense case," Cohen wrote. Since being remanded to custody in August over alleged witness tampering involving his ex-girlfriend and the government's star witness, Caroline Ellison, the former FTX chief has been trying to get access to two different prescriptions. In a previous letter to the court, Cohen wrote that "for over five years Mr. Bankman-Fried has been prescribed Emsam 9mg/24 hrs transdermal patch for the treatment of depression" and that "for the past three years, Mr. Bankman-Fried has been prescribed Adderall 10mg tablets, 3-4x/day for the treatment of ADHD." So far, multiple attempts at getting regular access to his medication, despite cooperation from the government, have proved futile. "We appreciate the efforts of the Court and the Government to find a way to address these issues," Cohen wrote. "The defense has also attempted to resolve this matter with the BOP, but we have received no response to numerous emails and voice messages," he said. Bankman-Fried's counsel had asked that if he is still unable to gain access to his prescriptions or if the medicine is ineffective Monday, that court be adjourned on Tuesday to "find a solution that will work for the remainder of the trial." A previous request for medications made in August included a letter from his psychiatrist, George Lerner, who has been treating the former FTX CEO since February 2019. "Mr. Bankman-Fried has a history of Major Depressive Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder," Lerner wrote. ADHD is among the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in children. Bankman-Fried told a Bahamas judge in December that he took medication to treat depression and ADHD. Lerner added in his letter that Bankman-Fried had tried other antidepressants but said they were ineffective for his symptoms. "Additionally, there have been times when Mr. Bankman-Fried did not have access to the Emsam patch (typically when travelling/abroad) and exhibited symptoms of depression, including lethargy, anhedonia, low motivation, and increased ruminations," Lerner wrote. Without his medication, Lerner warned the judge, "Bankman-Fried will experience a return of his depression and ADHD symptoms and will be severely negatively impacted in his ability to assist in his own defense." For nearly a year, there's been a nationwide shortage of Adderall, the popular stimulant used to treat ADHD. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has called on drug manufacturers to increase production. Co-founder and CEO of Snap Inc. Evan Spiegel holds up a Pixy drone while speaking during the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups, at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France June 17, 2022. Snap shares rose nearly 12% on Monday following reports of an internal CEO memo indicating that the social messaging company could post better-than-expected results for 2024. Evan Spiegel, the company's co-founder and CEO, told employees in a memo sent in September that it could log more than 475 million daily active users in 2024, beating analysts' projections of 448 million, the Verge reported Friday. The memo also said that its full-year advertising revenue growth could be more than 20% for 2024, which Bernstein analyst Mark Schilsky noted in his Tech Specialists newsletter is better than consensus expectations of a little over 14%. The memo also set a goal of 2023 adjusted EBITDA of $500 million, which Bernstein added would be a "sizeable beat" compared with current analyst projections of $250 million. Snap confirmed the numbers cited in the memo with CNBC but characterized them as "stretch, internal goals only." Schilsky urged the company to avoid revealing such goals in employee memos. "Stop doing this! For the love of your shareholders stop putting out aspirational goals like this," Schilsky wrote. "I know this was an internal memo, but management must have known it was going to leak." The company has had a difficult year. Like other social media firms including Meta and Pinterest , Snap has had a challenging time improving its online advertising system in the aftermath of Apple's 2021 iOS privacy update, which made it less effective at tracking users for targeting ads. Additionally, Snap has had a harder time operating amid a difficult digital advertising economy, marred by the Russia-Ukraine war and companies pulling back on marketing amid economic uncertainty. Snap shares sank more than 17% in July after it gave guidance for its current quarter that missed analysts' expectations. "The stock is near the lows, expectations are incredibly low (although perhaps that changed after this leak), and the digital ad market is generally doing quite well," Schilsky wrote. "As long as SNAP doesn't completely whiff the quarter, like it has for the past five, the stock could jump (squeeze?) materially higher on the next print." Snap will report its third-quarter earnings Oct. 24. Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the nature of the numbers cited in the memo they were goals, not projections. In this photo taken on Oct. 10, 2023, a man looks at a forest fire as it approaches houses in Ogan Ilir, South Sumatra in Indonesia. Al Zulkifli | AFP | Getty Images With El Nino in full force, officials are bracing for the worst transboundary haze in southern Southeast Asia since before the pandemic in 2019. At a time when climate change is presenting an existential threat to human beings, the fear is that these seasonal haze situations will worsen as intensifying global warming renders the peatlands and forests even more combustible in the dry season. Southeast Asia is home to about 40% of the world's total peatlands, and these fires and resultant emissions and toxic haze are turning out to be a serious driver of climate change. This further complicates the perennial transboundary haze problem for Southeast Asia, which plagued the region in the dry seasons for half a century, leading to a litany of respiratory and other health issues, deaths and economic losses in the region. "It's a circular thing actually," Helena Varkkey, associate professor of environmental politics and governance at Universiti Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, told CNBC. watch now "The issue is that currently, most governments haven't really looked at the haze and climate change as a unified issue, yet. They see it as separate issues. Something seasonal, that comes and goes, while climate change is something constant and developing," she added. Despite a series of Southeast Asian agreements including a reaffirmation of a commitment to haze-free skies by 2030 the haze returned this year, raising questions about the effectiveness of ASEAN as an organization since many of its agreements lack enforcement mechanisms. Bickering in Southeast Asia The perennial bickering and denials among affected Southeast Asian nations is one of the unintended results. Even as air quality dipped to dangerous levels in parts of Peninsular Malaysia in the last few weeks, Indonesia flatly denied Malaysia's claims that winds carried some of the hazardous haze from hotspots in Sumatra and Kalimantan over to its neighbor. "We continue to follow developments and there is no transboundary haze to Malaysia," Indonesia's Environment Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said in a statement dated Oct 2. Her denial echoed past Indonesian leaders. In 2015, then Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Kalla scolded neighboring countries for complaining about the haze. "For 11 months, they enjoyed nice air from Indonesia and they never thanked us," the Jakarta Globe reported him as saying. Peatlands are one of the greatest allies and potentially one of the quickest wins in the fight against climate change. United Nations Environment Program Malaysian officials are undoubtedly haunted by the memory of the 2015 and 2019 transboundary haze episodes. In 2015, the last time El Nino worsened the impact of the dry season, 2.7 million hectares of forest were burned in Indonesia. The haze that year blanketed not just Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, but also southern Thailand and southern Philippines in September and October. School closures were effected in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore affecting nearly four million students in Malaysia alone. Even though a comparatively smaller forest area combusted in Indonesia in 2019 at 1.6 million hectares, the World Bank estimated peat fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan likely cost Southeast Asia's largest economy damages worth at least $5.2 billion, or 0.5% of its gross domestic product that year. People look at the airport scenery during the haze at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on October 8, 2023. Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images Data from Indonesia's environment ministry suggest more than 267,000 hectares of forests were burned until August this year, reportedly outstripping the nearly 205,000 hectares for all of 2022. Still, this year's fires have devastated a much smaller area compared to 2015 and 2019. But with the return of El Nino this year, officials are bracing for worsening fires this dry season as the number of hotspots will likely peak in September and October. The ASEAN Specialized Meteorological Centre in Singapore raised its transboundary haze alert level to its second highest for Kalimantan in July and for Sumatra in September. Vicious cycle in the peatlands The haze in southern Southeast Asia is emitted mostly from massive peatland fires in Sumatra and Borneo. Dried out peatlands drained and cleared for mainly palm oil and pulp plantations make them very prone to fires. "The waterlogged conditions of the peatlands keep the organic material from decomposing, making it a powerful carbon sink," Varkkey and Sharon Seah, senior fellow at the Climate Change in Southeast Asia Program at ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, said in an article dated Oct. 11. A view of burnt peatlands and fields on September 23, 2023 in Ogan Ilir, South Sumatra, Indonesia. At least six provinces in the country are battling ongoing forest fires as illegal blazes to clear land for agricultural plantation take control causing respiratory illnesses and biodiversity loss. The nations meteorology agency forecasted that Indonesia is likely to experience the most severe dry season since 2019 as the country enters the hottest day of this years El Nino-induced dry season. Ulet Ifansasti | Getty Images News | Getty Images "When drained in preparation for planting or other development activities, the organic material is exposed to the air, kick starting decomposition and the release of greenhouse gasses. When burnt, this process is accelerated, further speeding up global warming," they added. According to the United Nations Environment Program, peatlands store nearly 550 billion tons of carbon twice as much as all the world's forests even though peatlands cover only 3 per cent of the global land surface. "Peatlands are one of the greatest allies and potentially one of the quickest wins in the fight against climate change," the UNEP said. "By conserving and restoring peatlands globally, we can reduce emissions and revive an essential ecosystem that provides many services, including their role as a natural carbon sink." Sustainable palm oil Tying the transboundary haze problem to climate change would involve addressing the root issues of these peatland fires in Indonesia, but with Indonesia the world's largest palm oil producer, that may not be easy. While Indonesia's environment minister denied the haze has crossed beyond the borders of her country, she highlighted that 203 companies have been warned so far this year and 20 companies have been sealed off due to fire, including Malaysian subsidiaries. Clearly, the transboundary haze issue is a multifaceted issue involving several stakeholders. The onus does not only fall on Indonesia alone since companies from neighboring countries are also invested. To complement several Southeast Asian regional agreements on curtailing the transboundary haze, Singapore enacted its Transboundary Haze Pollution Act in 2014, making it an offence for companies to cause or contribute to any haze pollution in the wealthy city-state. Malaysia is still making plans for similar legislation. A man rides his motorcycle past a wildfire on peatland at Palem Raya Regency with aerial interventions in Ogan Ilir, South Sumatra, Indonesia on September 01, 2023. Indonesia, the vast archipelago country, is often hit by forest fires which spread across the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. Forest and land fires in Indonesia are an annual problem that have strained relations with neighboring countries as the smoke from the fires could blanket parts of Singapore, Malaysia and southern Thailand in a thick noxious haze. Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images Global campaigning network Greenpeace has gone a step further. It has called for the development of a regional legal framework that holds companies accountable for domestic forest fires due to peatland clearance and agricultural residue burning, reported Eco-Business, a sustainability-focused publication. "But I think what has been perhaps maybe more powerful than law is the market," Varkkey said. "There's a lot of awareness about sustainable palm oil and unsustainable practices. So the market's been pushing the big companies, at least in the eyes of the public, to make sure that they are not engaging in unsustainable practices like fire." To date, there are several large global consumer companies that have in the last decade committed to using only sustainable palm oil, certified by bodies such as the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. However, apparently not all have fulfilled public pledges. MBANGWENI The last leg of this years annual Reed Dance Ceremony ended on a high note as Princess Nkhosiyenzile united all those present in song. Princess Nkhosiyenzile led thousands of Imbali on the main day of the Shiselweni Reed Dance, held at Mbangweni Royal Residence yesterday. Spectators were following the proceedings of the dance from the stands, which were packed to the brim. The King and Indlovukazi arrived at the arena at 4pm; marking the beginning of dancing in a circular motion (kuhlehla). Maidens from Ludzidzini led the kuhlehla and the last group to dance in front of Their Majesties was Imbali from His Majestys Correctional Services and they were a marvel to watch. Soon after the kuhlehla, the regiments Acting Indvuna Bongiwe Hlatjwako took over and sang munikeni lelihawu lakhe. The King along with libutfo went to appreciate the maidens, who were heard screaming as His Majesty passed by them. Some of those in the stands were seen taking pictures of the King as he went past them. It was noted that the Imbali was confused about what to do as some were waving while others were kneeling as the King passed. The King later posed for pictures before proceeding back to his seat. The dancing proceeded until the different princesses danced one after the other, with Princess Nkhosiyenzile being the last to dance. Acting Indvuna Bongiwe then announced that His Majesty the King had given imbali tinkunzi to leave with as they head home. SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule, named Freedom, is seen docked with the International Space Station in May 2023 during the Axiom Ax-2 mission. Investment in the space sector, especially from venture capital, is consistently flowing into companies that are pursuing and winning government contracts, according to a report Monday by New York-based Space Capital. "In this market 21 months into this liquidity crunch people are chasing government dollars. They're more willing to chase government dollars and infrastructure companies have line of sight to a lot of that," Space Capital managing partner Chad Anderson told CNBC. The firm's third quarter report found that space infrastructure companies brought in $1.6 billion of private investment during the third quarter. That brings the sector to $8.4 billion in investment year-to-date, surpassing the total $8.3 billion invested in 2022. The quarterly Space Capital report divides investment in the industry into three technology categories: infrastructure, distribution and application. Infrastructure includes what would be commonly considered as space companies, such as firms that build rockets and satellites. Anderson noted that "the infrastructure companies have been pretty resilient through market cycles," a factor he attributed to "higher competitive moats" such as higher capital needs, longer development timelines and significant intellectual property advantages. Venture capital accounted for 50% of the third quarter's investment in space infrastructure, tracking with the historical trend of VCs representing the primary contributors to space investment. Space Capital highlighted the trend of companies and investors chasing government funds as apparent in sub-sectors within space infrastructure, particularly in emerging markets such as space stations and the moon. "You look at emerging industries these are all government-led markets. So it's actually quite easy to size up the market you know how many dollars are available, how big the market is currently and how big it's going to be over the next few years because you already know what the government budgets are," Anderson said. Space Capital found that "the majority of private investment has preferred" space stations among the sector's emerging markets "when, in actuality, Lunar and Logistics are significantly larger markets." "The amount of money that's going to space stations is chasing a very small amount of government dollars, and the amount of money going into lunar is very small, and it's chasing a whole lot more government dollars," Anderson said. Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he delivers a speech during a campaign rally in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, October 9, 2023. A federal judge Monday imposed a partial gag order on Donald Trump in his criminal election interference case in Washington, D.C., placing limits on the former president's speech as he campaigns for the Oval Office for the third time. Trump and other parties in the case are barred from making any public statements targeting special counsel Jack Smith and his staff, as well as court personnel, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said at a court hearing. Trump is also prohibited from posting or sharing statements about the role and testimony of potential witnesses in the case. Trump stands accused of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss with the aid of Republican lawmakers. While Trump will still be allowed to criticize potential witnesses in vague terms, he cannot make statements about their involvement in the case, Chutkan said. She pointed to former Vice President Mike Pence, who is running against Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, as an example. Trump vowed to appeal the ruling "very quickly." "I'll be the only politician in our history where I won't be allowed to criticize people," he said at a campaign event in Iowa later Monday. "They put a gag order on me, and I'm not supposed to be talking about things that bad people do," he said. Trump's campaign pounced on the ruling as a prime fundraising opportunity. "The Biden administration can try and gag me, but they can never gag the American people!" Trump said in email to supporters seeking campaign contributions. A Trump campaign spokesman separately called Chutkan's decision "an absolute abomination," claiming in a statement that President Joe Biden "was granted the right to muzzle his political opponent." All of those statements appeared to comply with the terms of the gag order as Chutkan explained it from the bench. The ruling was the second time this month that Trump had been issued a partial gag order. A judge presiding over his civil trial in Manhattan on charges of business fraud barred the parties from making any public statements about the judge's staff. That order came after Trump sent a social media post attacking the judge's law clerk. Chutkan's ruling granted only some of the restrictions that had been requested by Smith, who argued that Trump's social media statements attacking various parties in the case could prejudice the proceedings. She denied the special counsel's bid to restrict Trump's statements about the citizens of D.C. who are eligible to be jurors in the trial. She also declined to restrict general statements criticizing the government, including the Department of Justice or the Biden administration itself. Chutkan delivered the ruling at the end of the hearing, and said a more detailed written order would follow shortly. Throughout the hearing, Chuktan had expressed concern about the scope of Smith's proposed order. At one point, Chutkan asked prosecutor Molly Gaston to define which of Trump's statements about the case would qualify as "disparaging," and therefore be barred under the gag order as written. She also asked how such an order could be enforced against a former president. Chutkan clashed repeatedly with Trump defense lawyer John Lauro, who argued that the effort to limit his client's out-of-court statements would violate Trump's First Amendment rights. Lauro also argued that a gag order would adversely impact Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. He accused the Justice Department under Biden of censoring Trump, and claimed, without evidence, that the case against Trump was inextricably linked to Trump's effort to reclaim the White House from Biden. "I do not need to hear any campaign rhetoric in my court," Chutkan chided Lauro at one point. Trump was not present at the hearing. Smith's office said the gag order is aimed at preventing potential jurors in the case from being prejudiced by outside interference before a trial gets underway. Trump himself has repeatedly railed against the prosecutors' request, accusing them of trying to "silence" him. "Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before," Trump said Sunday night in a social media post that also attacked Chutkan as a "highly partisan Obama appointed Judge." During the hearing itself, Trump posted, "The TRUMP GAG ORDER that the CORRUPT Biden Administration is trying to obtain is totally Unconstitutional!" DEARBORN, Mich. Ford Motor Executive Chair Bill Ford on Monday warned that an ongoing strike by the United Auto Workers threatens the future livelihood of the company as well as the American automotive industry. Ford, who has been a part of UAW negotiations since 1982, pleaded with union members and leaders to work with the company, instead of against it, to reach a tentative deal to "end to this acrimonious round of talks." Such comments by the great-grandson of company founder Henry Ford are uncharacteristic during contract talks with the UAW. "We are at a crossroads," Ford said during a news conference at the company's massive Rouge Complex in metro Detroit. "Choosing the right path is not just about Ford's future and our ability to compete. This is about the future of the American automobile industry." Ford, ahead of speaking on stage, told reporters he wanted to "elevate" the conversation about the contract negotiations. Ford said he didn't want to get personal in his remarks because "it doesn't matter" at this point. "The UAW's leaders have called us the enemy in these negotiations. But I will never consider our employees as enemies. This should not be Ford versus the UAW," Ford said. "It should be Ford and the UAW vs. Toyota and Honda, Tesla, and all the Chinese companies that want to enter our home." UAW President Shawn Fain countered Ford's plea by ratcheting up the pressure. "Bill Ford knows exactly how to settle this strike. Instead of threatening to close the Rouge, he should call up [Ford CEO] Jim Farley, tell him to stop playing games and get a deal done, or we'll close the Rouge for him," he said in a statement. "It's not the UAW and Ford against foreign automakers. It's autoworkers everywhere against corporate greed. If Ford wants to be the all-American auto company, they can pay all-American wages and benefits. Workers at Tesla, Toyota, Honda, and others are not the enemy they're the UAW members of the future." Ford did not threaten to close the Rouge Complex in his remarks. He did mention if American carmakers such as Ford lose to the competition, then jobs, future investments and "factories like the one we are in today" will be lost. Pakistan's self-exiled former prime minister Nawaz Sharif will give a road map to pull the cash-strapped country out of the economic mess during his gathering here in the capital of Punjab province on October 21, a media report said on Monday. The Lahore district administration on Sunday allowed the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party to hold a gathering at the Minar-e-Pakistan after the former ruling party sought permission in a bid to whip up support for its supreme leader's return later this week, Dawn news reported. Speaking to workers at a party convention in Mustafabad, PML-N Vice President Hamza Shehbaz said Pakistan will restart its journey towards progress and prosperity with the return of the PML-N supreme leader later this week. In his address at Minar-e-Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif will give a road map to pull the country out of the economic mess, Hamza Shehbaz, the nephew of Nawaz Sharif, said. He said the PML-N and its allies saved the country while risking their political capital. Had there been no agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Pakistan would have gone bankrupt, Hamza said, adding that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf: government led by its chief Imran Khan brought the country to the verge of default. Hamza, the son of former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, said while the politics of the PML-N revolved around development, jailed former prime minister Khan-led. Also Read:Nawaz Sharif to reach Pakistan in chartered plane from Dubai on October 21 Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 16) After visiting the community of Socorro Bayanihan Services, Inc. (SBSI) in Surigao del Norte, Senator Ronald Bato dela Rosa is convinced the group is a cult. In an online media interview on Monday, Dela Rosa said the members strict reverence and blind obedience to their leader, Jey Rence Quilario or Senior Agila, are all markings of cultism. "Yung paghi-heal niya kuno, yung pagiging quack doctor, naniwala mga tao, elemento yan ng cultism," he said. "Sino ba matinong tao na iinom ng tae ng kambing para gumaling siya? Yung may blind obedience, may blind na paniniwala, blind faith towards a cult leader." [Translation: His claims that he can heal and people believe it, that's an element of cultism. Who in their right mind will drink goat feces to be healed? That's blind obedience, blind faith towards a cult leader.] Dela Rosa, chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, also cited the child marriages facilitated by Quilario which were supported by the parents of the children, as well as the military training and forced labor of minors. SBSI leaders and some members cried foul over being labelled a cult. Dela Rosa said the committee report may not tag them as such to avoid hurting their senses. The former Philippine National Police chief inspected Sitio Kapihan in Socorro town on Saturday. He urged the National Bureau of Investigation and the local government to investigate the discovery of suspected remains of children in an illegal cemetery in Sitio Kapihan. He said the key to ending the alleged cult activities is for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to review the Protected Area Community-Based Resource Management Agreement which allowed the SBSI to use the 353 hectares of government land. He said if the DENR revokes the agreement, the LGU should accept the displaced SBSI members. Asked if they have criminal liabilities, Dela Rosa said this will be determined after the investigation, but said their leaders clearly have the bigger accountability. Quilario, as well as three other leaders of the SBSI will remain in Senate custody until they tell the truth, Dela Rosa said. Meanwhile, Dela Rosa said theres no evidence on the SBSIs supposed private army and shabu laboratory. The committee will next look into an alleged sister group of the SBSI in the western side of Socorro, Dela Rosa said. He said the next hearing will be scheduled when his colleagues are back from their official trips abroad. The panel aims to release its findings within the year. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 16) "Ingay lang [t's all noise]." Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa dismissed former lawmaker Sonny Trillanes IV's call for the government to cooperate with the International Criminal Court's probe. This is in light of former President Rodrigo Duterte's supposed admission that he used Davao City's confidential and intelligence funds for killings when he was mayor. "Hanggang ngayon, iniingay niya pa rin iyang ICC niya. Ingay lang iyan," dela Rosa said on Monday. [Translation: Until now, he's still talking about the ICC. It's all noise.] In a tweet Sunday night, Trillanes said he has submitted to the ICC a video of Duterte saying "ang intelligence fund, binili ko, pinapatay ko lahat kaya ganoon ang Davao. Yung mga kasama ninyo, pinatigok ko talaga." [Translation: I bought the intelligence fund, I had them killed, that's why Davao is the way it is. I had your companions killed.] Dela Rosa said he has yet to determine the context of Duterte's statement but stressed the former chief executive has a penchant for using figurative language. "Kilala man ninyo si President Duterte mahilig iyan sa figures of speech. Pumatay. Ano pinatay niya? Is it the person itself or the cause? Or the instrumentalities? Anong pinapatay niya doon?" he added. [Translation: You know how President Duterte is, he likes to use figures of speech. He killed. What did he kill? Is it the person itself or the cause? Or the instrumentalities? What did he kill?] Trillanes, chairman of the Magdalo group, said in a 2017 complaint before the ICC that the so-called Davao Death Squad killed over a thousand people in Davao City on Duterte's orders, while thousands more were killed under the bloody war on drugs. "We, the Magdalo group, are urging the Marcos administration to allow the ICC investigators into the country in order to make ex-president Rodrigo Duterte accountable for his crimes against humanity. This is in light of Mr. Duterte's recent public admission that he used his Confidential/Intelligence funds to conduct extra-judicial killings on his constituents in Davao City when he was still its mayor," the group said in a statement on Monday. Duterte and his former Philippine National Police chief Dela Rosa denied state-sanctioned killings. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 16) A lawmaker appealed for the restoration of the confidential funds of the Department of Education (DepEd) as well as the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), but said he will not insist if the majority of his Senate colleagues would decide against it. Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa, former Philippine National Police chief during the Duterte administration, told reporters on Monday that DepEd will have a more targeted response to rebel recruitment in high schools. "Pag binigay mo sa PNP, AFP, general ang purpose niyan. Buong insurgency problem, iyan ang tutukan nila. Pero pag doon sa DepEd kasi nakatutok sa recruitment ng mga bata specifically. Sino bang ahensya ang dapat magtatrabaho dito? It's not Armed Forces, it's not PNP. It should be DepEd dahil nasa turf nila iyan, nasa loob ng classroom," he said. [Translation: If you give it to the PNP, AFP, it will be for general purpose. They will focus on the entire insurgency problem. But if you give it to the DepEd because the focus is on the recruitment of children. Which agency is supposed to work in this. It's not the Armed Forces, it's not the PNP. It should be DepEd because it's on their turf, it's inside the classroom.] Dela Rosa also said he and other senators agreed that the DICT should be given confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) to fight cyber crimes. However, dela Rosa said he will consult with colleagues first to make sure he will not be fighting "a lost cause" in plenary. Under the National Expenditure Program submitted by the budget department, a 150-million confidential fund has been proposed for DepEd and 300 million for DICT. The two agencies, along with the Office of the Vice President, Department of Agriculture, and Department of Foreign Affairs were stripped of confidential funds under the latest version of the budget bill in the House of Representatives. The Senate will hold plenary deliberations on the proposed 2024 budget in November. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 16) The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is "hopeful" that a diplomatic solution will be reached soon for Filipinos to leave Gaza via the Rafah Crossing which connects to the Egyptian border. "DFA is hopeful for a diplomatic solution to be reached soonest in order for the Rafah crossing to start receiving foreign nationals, so that our kababayans [countrymen] in Gaza will be allowed to cross into Egypt," the DFA said in a statement Monday. "From there, our teams will work on their repatriation to the Philippines," it added. The DFA has raised the crisis level in Gaza City to alert level 4 after the Israel Defense Forces said on Saturday it was "preparing to implement a wide range of operational offensive plans" against militant group Hamas. The status means repatriation from the Palestinian enclave is now mandatory, with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. urging Filipinos to return to the country. Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega earlier said 78 Filipinos were already at the crossing but Egypt's borders are still closed to foreigners. Around 92 out of 137 Filipinos in Gaza are asking to be repatriated. In Israel, the repatriation of the first batch of eight Filipinos has been moved to Tuesday, Oct. 17, the Philippine Embassy in Israel told CNN Philippines. They were supposed to come home on Monday, but their flight was rescheduled. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 16) The government needs to form a body that will support the development and promotion of the halal industry, the Department of Trade and Industry said on Monday. The agency earlier said a soon-to-launch national strategy to develop the sector targets to generate 230 billion in investments and create 120,000 jobs in five years. We need to establish the certifying body. I was surprised up to now that action needed to establish the certifying body has yet to be completed, Trade Sec. Alfredo Pascual told CNN Philippines The Source. Past administrations have discussed the creation of such an agency but it never went beyond that. The strategy includes the certifying body that will promote halal food and non-food products like cosmetics, tourism, and banking, Pacual said. He said small enterprises, which are mostly engaged in food production, will be encouraged to do so in a halal way so their produce can be exported to predominantly Muslim countries. Financial, and technology assistance will be provided to them, he added. Were starting with BARMM (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) area, particularly in the rehabilitation of Marawi. We have given them about 66 million helping them revive the industries in Marawi City, Pascual said. Marawi was ground zero of clashes between the military and the extremist Maute group, tagged as terrorist by the government, that attacked the Islamic city in May 2017. The war dragged on for five months. The area has since been rebuilding from the ruins. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 16) The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has assured consumers that its recently launched online portal for filing of complaints is safe from hacking, after some government agencies have fallen victim to cyberattacks. We are very conscious of cybersecurity, particularly the protection of personal data under our data privacy law so we have technical solutions installed to protect our portals against cyberattacks, Secretary Alfredo Pascual told CNN Philippines The Source on Monday. Amid recent data breaches in government agencies, the DTI opened its new online platform for faster resolution of consumers complaints. READ: Privacy body launches portal to check if PhilHealth data leaked READ: PSA says alleged data breach limited to one system READ: DOST reports data leak involving OneExpert portal After a complaint is filed, Pascual said the DTI would conduct an online mediation. Legal action will be filed against the merchant if a resolution is not achieved. The DTI chief said most of the complaints filed so far are for fake or substandard products, and the merchant not honoring his liability. From January to September 2023, the DTI said it received around 22,000 complaints through phone calls or e-mails. It added that around 7,300 fell under the departments responsibilities, while the others were referred to concerned agencies. Of the 7,300, the DTI said it resolved 5,300, which were addressed within 10 days. MBABANE A health facility has run to court to interdict former Judge Sipho Nkosi from setting foot in any of its establishments in the country. In its urgent application, Baylor College of Medicine has narrated how its staff members and doctors were allegedly insulted, threatened, harassed and ridiculed by the former judge, who is now a practising attorney. Baylor College of Medicine Childrens Foundation Eswatini, known as Baylor Foundation Eswatini, is a not-for-profit child health and development organisation that operates Baylor College of Medicine - Bristol Myers-Squibb Childrens Clinical Centres of Excellence Eswatini (COE) and two satellite clinics. In its court application Baylor College of Medicine contended that Nkosis purported interference and unscrupulous behaviour was unwarranted and trampled upon its right of admission. Traumatised He is alleged to have done this on diverse occasions and the staff members of the establishment are reportedly now traumatised and feared to provide Nkosis wife and minor children with medical care due to his ( Nkosi) alleged unscrupulous behaviour. These are allegations contained in an affidavit whose veracity is still to be tested in court. According to the management of the health facility, Nkosi had allegedly become a thorn in the flesh of its staff members. In its application, the applicant entreated the court to issue an order interdicting and restraining Nkosi from entering its premises either in Mbabane, Manzini or Hlatikhulu. It is further the applicants plea that the respondent (Nkosi) should be interdicted from accompanying his children and their mother to its premises during their monthly treatment routine or on any day. The applicant implored the court to direct members of the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) to be duly authorised to assist in the execution of the order in the event same was granted. Baylor College of Medicine Executive Director, Makhosazana Dlamini averred that Nkosis unabated behaviour would continue to traumatise the applicants staff members, other client and/or patients. She informed the court that the respondents continued behaviour on the premises of the applicant was threatening to its good name and profession and this must be jealously safeguarded to avoid tarnishing the dignity of the establishment to its utter prejudice and detriment. The executive director related to the court that on or about 2022, Nkosis wife and children commenced utilising the applicants facilities as their main hospital for check- ups and medical centre. Wife She submitted that Baylor College of Medicine was a children-focused and family-centred institution, which had been providing healthcare towards Nkosis wife and minor children. Dlamini highlighted that the applicant received grants from donors which cater for its expenses. The executive director pointed out that as such the organisation; the applicant had certain standards which they abide by in their daily running and professionalism of the institution. She mentioned that the respondents wife and children attended to the applicants institution and on certain occasions he accompanied them during their consultations and monthly check- ups. Dlamini recounted that on December 2022, at their Mbabane facility premises, Nkosi while accompanying the children and their mother, found the said premises closed. He approached the applicants staff members who were present on the said date and duly threatened, harassed and insulted them. Nkosi utilised disrespectful and derogatory language against the applicants staff members, submitted the executive director. She said in great shock, the staff members attempted to quell the situation with the respondent. Dlamini submitted that pursuant to Nkosi vacating the premises, the situation was reported to her for attention. On January 2023, a similar situation occurred wherein Nkosi, while accompanying the mother and children for their monthly healthcare consultation, and without any due reason, insulted the medical practitioner due to attend to the mother and the children, submitted Dlamini. She told the court that pursuant to the above-mentioned, there had been contained incidents from Nkosi, which had made him a difficult parent and the accompanying spouse to deal with. She brought it to the attention of the court that the applicant had never at any material time condoned Nkosis behaviour. The executive director proceeded to relate to the court that on August 29, 2023, Nkosi, his wife and children visited the applicants Manzini facility premises, for their usual medical consultation. Care She said it was apposite to mention that at all material times, Nkosis wife and children were being offered medical care in the applicants Mbabane facility. She highlighted that as a general practice, a patient was required to attend the same facility wherein he or she got his or her medical care for ease of monitoring. Dlamini stated that as per practice, upon arrival in Manzini, they were advised to obtain a transfer letter from the Mbabane branch of the establishment. It was at that point that the respondent (Nkosi) demanded that we attend to his wife and children despite the general transfer procedure having not been followed, argued Dlamini. She told the court that upon rejection of Nkosis demand, he allegedly commenced insulting and threatening the doctors along with staff members. The matter is still pending in court and appearing for the applicant is Mdumiseni Dhlamini of S.V Mdladla & Associates. Through his attorney, Linda Dlamini, the former judge has since filed a notice of intention to oppose. He is now expected to file his comprehensive papers outlining why he is against the granting of the order as prayed for by the applicant in its papers. Nkosi was removed from being a judge by His Majesty King Mswatini III for serious misbehaviour. The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) conducted a hearing that culminated in the dismissal of Nkosi and concluded the process in November 2021, after calling only two witnesses. Nkosi was not present during the hearing. He had served the JSC with a letter in which he complained about a number of things, including the conduct of Chief Justice Bheki Maphalala, whom he accused of breaching the Constitution. Impeachment He requested to proceed to Lozitha to serve the Kings Advisory Council (Liqoqo) with the letter. The JSC proceeded with the impeachment while he had gone to Lozitha to deliver the letter of complaint. Nkosi told this publication at the time that he was not fazed about the outcome of the impeachment. He said he had no fear about what the JSC may recommend to the King. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 16) The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) intends to establish a registry of warehouses across the country for better monitoring under a three-year plan amid the ongoing issue on agricultural smuggling and hoarding. Speaking to CNN Philippines The Source on Monday, DTI Sec. Alfredo Pascual said the government currently has no database of warehouses. This problem makes data collection more time consuming, he added. Pascual said to address this, the DTI proposed a Three-Year Food Logistics Action Agenda to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., which the chief executive has approved. Under this, a warehouse registry will be developed. Part of the Three-Year Food Logistics Action Agenda that we developed is the establishment of a warehouse registry so at the national level we know where the warehouses are and what they are for, he said. Pascual said the DTI also wants to track items stored in warehouses through the database. Marcos, who is also agriculture secretary, approved the Three-Year Food Logistics Action Agenda in August. The Presidential Communications Office said in an earlier statement that this plan seeks to heighten enforcement measures against hoarding, smuggling, overstaying food imports, and monitoring of warehouses or cold storage facilities, and resorting to using information and communications technology to improve logistics performance. Aside from warehouse monitoring, Pascual said more storages like cold chain facilities, as well as food hubs will be established. Through this, the government will be able to cut down the layers between farmers and consumers, which will lead to reduced logistics costs and food prices, he added. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 16) Liberal Party President and Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman on Monday filed House Bill 9405 seeking to declare Feb. 25 of every year as a regular non-working holiday following its removal from the 2024 holiday list. The bill explained that the law will be a commemoration of the Filipinos' triumph in ousting late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos the father and namesake of the current president. It said it will also memorialize the heroism of the martial law victims and survivors and promote historical truth in massive violations of human rights. The inordinate arrogance of the second Marcos administration in failing to celebrate February 25 as a regular public holiday is a continuing distortion of the verities about the evils and repression of the Marcos martial era, Lagman said. The veteran lawmaker also said that the country has marked Feb. 25 as a day of national celebration whether or not it falls on a Sunday. The more Marcos Jr. would sweep under the rug of historical perfidy the profligacy and oppression of his fathers dictatorship, the more unreachable reconciliation and justice will be, Lagman added. There is no law declaring the People Power Revolution as a regular holiday. Throughout the years, presidents proclaim it as a special non-working day except for next year as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed Proclamation No. 368 excluding Feb. 25 from the list of regular and special holidays. The Office of the President said Friday that it was not included because it falls on a Sunday. 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, the Palace added. READ: EDSA anniversary not among Palace list of 2024 non-working days, special holidays A survey released by the Social Weather Stations in February showed majority of Filipinos believe the spirit of the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution remains alive in the country nearly four decades later. READ: SWS: 62% of Filipinos believe spirit of EDSA People Power still lives House Bill 9405 pursues EDSA Commission Lagman's House Bill 9405 Sec. 2 calls for the reconstitution of the EDSA Commission in pursuant of Executive Order No. 82 (s1999) to plan and implement appropriate nationwide ceremonies and celebration of EDSA People Power Revolution. It says the Executive Secretary will be chairperson and members will include the: -Secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government; -Secretary of the Department of Labor and employment; -Chairperson of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NCHP) -Chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights; -Chairperson of the Families of Victims of involuntary Disappearance (FIND) -Chairperson of the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP); -Chairperson of the philippine Alliance of Human Right Advocates (PAHRA); -One (1) representative from the private sector; and -One (1) representative from the academe. It adds that the representative of the private sector and the academe shall be appointed by a majority of the Commission and they should be advocates of the promotion, protection, and fulfillment of human rights and of the continuing celebration of the peaceful EDSA People Power Revolution. The Office of the Chairperson of the NHCP will act as the secretariat of the EDSA Commission, the bill says. It recommends that at least P10 million annually shall be appropriated in the General Appropriations Act and allocated to the EDSA Commission for its operations, together with private donations. CNN Philippines correspondent Xianne Arcangel contributed to this story. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 16) President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday said his government stands solidly behind the country's cooperatives, adding that they play a crucial role in the country's food security. In a speech during the 2023 National Cooperative Day held in Malacanang, Marcos said he strongly advocated for cooperatives even when he was a young lawmaker. He said, one of his first projects when he became the representative of the 2nd District of Ilocos Norte was to ask cooperatives to help teachers who experienced delays in receiving their salaries. As a congressman, Marcos also said he worked to establish cooperatives to help farmers. Strong, well-funded, well-managed cooperatives will help farmers thrive, Marcos said. Cooperative movements can unite all cooperatives to form a bigger body, which can help in making the farming process easier, lower cost of production, and yield better "Cooperative movement is very closely related to agriculture, for the simple reason that we need to consolidate our farmers," Marcos said. He added one farmer may find it difficult to have his concerns heard, but a cooperative made up of many farmers will have a stronger voice. "Pag marami-rami na yan, kahit na yung congressman ninyo, yung governor ninyo, yung mayor ninyo makikinig na sa inyo dahil marami na ang cooperative, the cooperative has some influence," he said. [Translation: When there are more people, even your congressman, your governor, your mayor will listen because there are more cooperatives and they have some influence.] The president said the country's agricultural operations must be strengthened and that cooperatives play an integral role in this. "I look forward to the continued partnership between the cooperative movement, and even the heightened participation in executing these programs including those that concern food, transportation, security, financial literacy, and social services," he said. Labor costs, calamities drive up prices The president also mentioned several factors that bring up the prices of rice, among them high labor costs, the price of the grain overseas, and calamities that affect production. Marcos said the cost of production locally was double the labor cost per hectare compared to Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia. Mechanization of the sector, with the help of cooperatives, would help bring down costs, he added. At a separate event, Marcos said high prices of the grain overseas, calamities, and criminal activities such as hoarding and illegal importation affect rice production in the country. "Seeing the complexities of the situation, we strive to approach it in a comprehensive and holistic way based on science," he added. Marcos said the country is also working with international institutions and foreign governments to ensure a steady supply of rice as well as to enhance the sharing of crucial developments and strategies. The president encouraged government agencies and the private sector to continue collaborating with the International Rice Research Institute and its partners to identify creative solutions and mechanisms to improve the rice industry. CNN Philippines' Pia Garcia and Rex Remitio contributed to this story. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 16) The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has successfully recovered the fishing boat "Dearyn," which was rammed by a foreign vessel off Bajo de Masinloc, resulting in the death of three fishermen in early October. According to PCG Vice Admiral Joseph Coyme, who heads the coast guard's fact-finding committee, aerial survey, security, and salvage operations were conducted to retrieve the fishing boat that collided with MV Pacific Anna on October 2. "The retrieval of F/Bca DEARYN is crucial for the ongoing investigation by the PCG Fact-Finding Committee," stated the PCG official. "The PNP Crime Laboratory will then assess the physical evidence of the accident, including the scuff marks, to assist in identifying the vessel of interest (VOI) responsible for the very serious maritime casualty." The PCG provided the last-known location of the Filipino boat, approximately 180 nautical miles from Agno, Pangasinan, to BRP Malapascua, which secured the floating debris of the boat on October 9. "The boat was found capsized, with both outriggers detached and missing, and its fishing gear suspended in the water," Coyme explained. He said salvage operations were carried out by the PCG Maritime Safety Services Command and the MTug Avior of Harbor Star Shipping, a certified salvor company. The motor tugboat met with BRP Malapascua on October 11 to tow Dearyn. The MTug Avior arrived in the waters of Masinloc, Zambales on October 14 and successfully refloated the fishing boat by evening. PCG Pangasinan station commander Alex Corpuz, speaking to CNN Philippines' The Source on October 5, said that the foreign vessel, registered in the Marshall Islands, violated two international regulations. During a meeting of the Senate special committee on October 12, Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel suggested that the collision may have "purely been an accident," but emphasized that ship owners must provide proper compensation for the deaths and damages caused by the tragedy. The 11 crew members who survived the October 2 incident left the area using eight boats and arrived in Infanta, Pangasinan at 10 a.m. the following day, October 3. RELATED: 'We tied him so his body wouldn't drift away': Survivors recall ramming of PH boat off Bajo de Masinloc They brought with them the bodies of their 47-year-old captain, 38-year-old crew member, and the eldest among them, a 62-year-old fisherman. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 16) Discussions on the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) and unpaid salaries of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are two of the Philippines agenda in the upcoming bilateral meeting with Saudi Arabia on Oct. 20, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Monday. The Philippine contingent led by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr will meet their counterparts in Saudi Arabia during the inaugural Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit, which aims to strengthen the two regions' ties established in 1990. Part of the discussion could be the presentation of the Maharlika Fund to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its businesses, DFA Assistant Secretary Daniel Espiritu told reporters. The controversial MIF is a sovereign wealth fund that the government targets to use for investments and infrastructure projects, but some lawmakers reject the MIF, citing its ill-timed and rushed creation. RELATED: Marcos signs Maharlika fund bill into law Maharlika investment activities may start by Q1 2024 Diokno Espiritu also said labor reforms to protect OFWs will also be tackled with Saudi Arabia, including their unpaid salaries. I cannot give the detail yet kasi (because) these things are still under discussion, but it will be part of the bilateral meet between Saudi Arabia and the Philippines, Espiritu said. Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega earlier said it is not realistic to expect that the unpaid wages of over 10,000 overseas Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia will be settled this year. READ: DFA: Settlement of unpaid wages of over 10,000 OFWs in Saudi Arabia not expected this year Marcos is also set to meet with the Filipino community during his visit to Saudi Arabia, Espiritu said. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 16) Two more witnesses in the last drug case of former Senator Leila De Lima have recanted their testimonies, a document obtained on Monday by CNN Philippines showed. In a letter addressed to De Lima and former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Chief Franklin Bucayu dated Oct. 12, former cops PMaj. Rodolfo Magleo and PSgt. Nonilo Arile told the former senator that they were recanting their testimonies for several reasons with the primordial objective to help you both to be set free together with your fellow co-accused. We are bothered by our conscience. We do not want you to be victim of mistrial. We will reveal in due time. We are assuring you all that the last case will be dismissed," read the letter released to the media by Atty. Boni Tacardon and Atty. Dino de Leon, De Lima's lawyers. The detained former law enforcers suggested that De Lima send her legal counsels to Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro to discuss the legal aspects of their recantation. Magleo was convicted of kidnapping while Arile was convicted of kidnapping and murder. They were among 10 New Bilibid detainees who testified against De Lima that were transferred to Sablayan in late July, the wives of two of the detainees previously told reporters. Assistant Secretary Mico Clavano, the Department of Justice's spokesman, assured the wives at the time that there was nothing sinister about the transfer. Magleo and Arile were among several inmates summoned as witnesses by the House Committee on Justice during its 2016 probe into the New Bilibid Prison drug trade, where they accused De Lima of involvement. After an appeal by former Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre, they were granted immunity. The lawyers told reporters that Magleo handed De Lima the letter before her trial began on Monday. They explained that the letter said the two witnesses were recanting, so they submitted it to the court, prompting the prosecution to withhold Magleos presentation as a witness. This was supposed to be Magleos first time to testify against the former senator in court. Arile, meanwhile, previously accused De Lima of involvement in the Bilibid drug trade to supposedly fund her senatorial campaign. The two former cops said that they planned to recant as far back as 2018, but that they were not able to do so "due to the impossibility of communication." Furthermore, the lawyers, citing Magleo, said that five other witnesses would also recant their testimonies against De Lima. Sana itong limang ito ay lumabas na rin para makita na natin ang tunay na kwento sa tinatawag nating mistrial of the century, Tacardo said, adding that he presumed the other five were also convicts or inmates. [Translation: I hope these five come out so we can see the real story behind what we call the mistrial of the century.] Meanwhile, the court on Monday granted Magleos request to be temporarily detained in the New Bilibid Prison as he feels that there is a danger to his life. The court also ordered Arile's transfer for his safety. De Lima, a staunch critic of former President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs that has left thousands dead, has been detained since 2017 for allegedly allowing the illegal drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison when she was justice secretary. She has repeatedly denied the accusations, saying they were fabricated to silence her. She was acquitted in two previous drug cases. This final one was raffled off to Judge Gener Gito of the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 206, the third to handle the case in less than one month. READ: Muntinlupa court acquits De Lima in 2nd drug case Among De Limas co-accused in this case are Bucayo; her former bodyguard Ronnie Dayan; Jad Dera, who recently made headlines for freely leaving the National Bureau of Investigation detention center; Wilfredo Elli; Joenel Sanchez; and Jaybee Sebastian. Last year, three key witnesses in the cases versus De Lima recanted their testimonies implicating her in the Bilibid drug trade. These were former BuCor officer-in-charge Rafael Ragos, self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa, and Marcelo Adorco. All three said they were threatened to testify against De Lima. Espinosa revealed that he was intimated by the police, while Ragos said Aguirre coerced him into executing affidavits which would link the former to the drug trade. Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkeys seen at Yuhe area of Giant Panda National Park in NW China Xinhua) 10:05, October 16, 2023 Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkeys are seen at the Yuhe area of the Giant Panda National Park in northwest China's Gansu Province, Oct. 14, 2023. Between April and May this year, 11 monkey cubs had been born at the Yuhe area of the Giant Panda National Park. (Xinhua/Zhang Xinxin) This photo taken on Oct. 14, 2023 shows a Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkey at the Yuhe area of the Giant Panda National Park in northwest China's Gansu Province. Between April and May this year, 11 monkey cubs had been born at the Yuhe area of the Giant Panda National Park. (Xinhua/Lang Bingbing) Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkeys are seen at the Yuhe area of the Giant Panda National Park in northwest China's Gansu Province, Oct. 14, 2023. Between April and May this year, 11 monkey cubs had been born at the Yuhe area of the Giant Panda National Park. (Xinhua/Zhang Xinxin) Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkeys are seen at the Yuhe area of the Giant Panda National Park in northwest China's Gansu Province, Oct. 14, 2023. Between April and May this year, 11 monkey cubs had been born at the Yuhe area of the Giant Panda National Park. (Xinhua/Zhang Xinxin) Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkeys are seen at the Yuhe area of the Giant Panda National Park in northwest China's Gansu Province, Oct. 14, 2023. Between April and May this year, 11 monkey cubs had been born at the Yuhe area of the Giant Panda National Park. (Xinhua/Jia Zhao) Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkeys are seen at the Yuhe area of the Giant Panda National Park in northwest China's Gansu Province, Oct. 14, 2023. Between April and May this year, 11 monkey cubs had been born at the Yuhe area of the Giant Panda National Park. (Xinhua/Lang Bingbing) This photo taken on Oct. 14, 2023 shows a Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkey at the Yuhe area of the Giant Panda National Park in northwest China's Gansu Province. Between April and May this year, 11 monkey cubs had been born at the Yuhe area of the Giant Panda National Park. (Xinhua/Lang Bingbing) This photo taken on Oct. 14, 2023 shows a Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkey at the Yuhe area of the Giant Panda National Park in northwest China's Gansu Province. Between April and May this year, 11 monkey cubs had been born at the Yuhe area of the Giant Panda National Park. (Xinhua/Lang Bingbing) Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkeys are seen at the Yuhe area of the Giant Panda National Park in northwest China's Gansu Province, Oct. 14, 2023. Between April and May this year, 11 monkey cubs had been born at the Yuhe area of the Giant Panda National Park. (Xinhua/Lang Bingbing) This photo taken on Oct. 14, 2023 shows a Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkey at the Yuhe area of the Giant Panda National Park in northwest China's Gansu Province. Between April and May this year, 11 monkey cubs had been born at the Yuhe area of the Giant Panda National Park. (Xinhua/Lang Bingbing) Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkeys are seen at the Yuhe area of the Giant Panda National Park in northwest China's Gansu Province, Oct. 14, 2023. Between April and May this year, 11 monkey cubs had been born at the Yuhe area of the Giant Panda National Park. (Xinhua/Jia Zhao) This photo taken on Oct. 14, 2023 shows a Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkey at the Yuhe area of the Giant Panda National Park in northwest China's Gansu Province. Between April and May this year, 11 monkey cubs had been born at the Yuhe area of the Giant Panda National Park. (Xinhua/Lang Bingbing) (Web editor: Liang Jun) MANZINI Its a triple loss for parents whose children were enrolled in the officially scrapped Matric syllabus in Eswatini. This is because their children had to drop out of school since they would not be writing any exams, yet they had paid thousands of Emalangeni as school fees and the administration is refusing to give them refunds. Last Tuesday, the Ministry of Education and Training issued an official notice about the stoppage of the South African National Senior Certificate (NSC) in all Eswatini secondary schools, known as Matric. Offer The Acting Principal Secretary (PS) in the ministry, Naniki Mnisi, said this followed the stoppage of the offer of the NSC outside the borders by the South African Department of Basic Education in terms of the law of the Republic of South Africa. The parents, who demand a refund of their school fees, have shared that they had suffered a great loss and worse was seeing their childrens future going down the drain. It is worth noting that In December 2016, the South African Government, through its Department of Basic Education, stopped Eswatini from offering the NSC Examination (Matric). This was communicated through a letter which was sent by the South African Government to the countrys Ministry of Education and Training. The letter stated that the offering of the NSC Examination in Eswatini and anywhere outside the borders of the Republic of South Africa was not accommodated in policy and regulations and was, therefore, contrary to the laws of the Republic. Essentially, it meant that Eswatini and other neighbouring countries would no longer be authorised to offer Matric. According to the letter, only children of diplomats or staff members of any embassy or consulate will be considered for Matric examinations. Signed by then South African Minister of Education Angie Motshekga, the letter was sent to her Eswatini counterpart, former Minister Phineas Magagula, stating that the termination of the NSC in the country would follow a three-year phasing out approach commencing in 2016 and concluding in 2018. Meanwhile, a parent whose child attended Morning Side Academy in Matsapha, said his child was doing Grade 12 and enrolled for Matric. The parent revealed that he paid E15 000 in school fees. However, he said when there were issues of writing earlier in the year, the school issued a notice to parents, notifying them of a change to the Independent Examinations Board (IEB). These exams cost E8 000, exclusive of school fees and this was too costly for us. As a result, we decided to stop our child from attending the school, the parent said. He said they communicated with the school about this and made it clear that they wanted their refunds. This was in August but to this day, we have not received a single cent, the parent said. He decried that not only had he suffered a loss, but also his child who was now delayed and would only restart next year. Another parent said she paid E8 000 at the beginning of the year and did not settle the outstanding fees. She mentioned that she transferred her child to another private school and communicated with the school in due time. What is agonising is that to this day, we have not received our monies. There is a lot of back and forth by the school without any clear explanation of when our funds will be reimbursed. As it is, the standard of living is costly and this is daylight robbery, the parent lamented. The Head teacher, Samuel Chilongwe, acknowledged that some parents demanded refunds. We have had some parents coming to the school and demanding refunds. But the truth of the matter is that the money was not embezzled in any form. There are expenses such as electricity, water and the salaries of staff members, the head teacher said. Transition He said the stoppage of Matric in the kingdom was not sudden. The head teacher pointed out that the school communicated on time with parents, and informed them of their transition to the IEB syllabus. He said this was done so that they could be well-prepared and not be surprised. He mentioned that some parents switched their children to IEB, while some refused to cooperate with the school, and others decided to stop their children from attending school. On the other hand, while there is confusion by parents on the stoppage of Matric in the country, some schools declared that they were exploring options on how to work around the predicament. Phumelele High School Director Sabelo Mavuso said they were saddened by the stoppage of the curriculum, which greatly affected learners and parents alike. He said other schools had opted for IEB, which parents had declared was expensive and could not afford. We are grateful to the Ministry of Education and Training for assisting us greatly while the matter was still being dealt with among their South African counterparts. Unfortunately, it seemed that they did not win. As for our school, we are still trying to explore other options to see if our learners would be able to write the exams, Mavuso said. The director disclosed that since he had a school in SA, he would explore how local learners would write the exams in the neighbouring country. On another note, he said the stoppage of Matric was traumatic for the pupils who had dreams of advancing their education and huge career aspirations. Mavuso said this was a huge blow on everyone, including the school, since it was among the top 20 best- performing matric schools in the country. Pro Learning Director Ernest Magongo, who was one of those who were working with the ministry on the Matric issue, declared that a majority of schools, including his, had already switched from NSC to IEB syllabus, which was another form of Matric. He said everything was in apple pie order and some learners had started writing their trial exams. As National Health Service waiting times continue to grow, medical staff in the UK are increasingly confronted by angry patients and their families affected by delays in accessing treatment. With all the stresses and struggles and strain on the NHS waiting times, patients are, understandably, quite frustrated. We are well aware of the heightened levels of confrontation that clinical staff have been dealing with post-COVID, said Javidul Islam, physician associate at the Page Hall Medical Centre in Sheffield, England. Such situations can be intimidating scary even, especially for new staff. When I did an A&E [Accident and Emergency] placement, some of the patients were very aggressive to staff and tried to attack them, said Islam. So that can be quite a sobering experience. You can definitely feel vulnerable. You are acutely aware of making sure you dont say the wrong thing to aggravate a situation. Although medical professionals receive some communication training as students, this doesnt compare with the firsthand experience of dealing with conflict. You can read about it as much as you want, but nothing really equips you for dealing with a conversation like that, Islam said. Thats where new virtual reality (VR) training methods can help. Islam says training in an immersive VR environment has better prepared him for times when he may be forced to deal with confrontation for real. This type of technology is a good bridge to being able to develop some techniques for yourself, he said. The VR training tool used by Islam, a learning module called Navigating Angry Conversations from VR training vendor Bodyswaps, was created in partnership with the UKs Royal Society of Medicine (RSM), a charity that supports ongoing education for medical professionals. The training, available to the medical societys 20,000 members worldwide, puts the staff through a series of tasks in a 3D virtual environment. This includes interactions with avatars that replicate confrontational situations. Bodyswaps The Royal Society of Medicines training module lets medical professionals practice techniques to diffuse anger in tense situations, and to remain calm themselves. Upon completion, participants are given feedback on a range of outputs generated during the interaction, including their response dialogue and speech patterns, as well as eye- and gesture-tracking. Following some interaction scenarios, its possible to swap bodies and re-watch your own performance to learn from any mistakes. By practicing in a virtual environment, medical professionals are able hone the skills needed to defuse a heated situation: empathy, patience, and effective communication. Were not just aiming this at doctors any health professional could be in this situation. Even a nurse whos taking blood tests, for example, can still get that level of anger if somebody has waited three months for a test, said Mary Bishop, director of learning at the RSM. The training can be done via a browser, but its by donning a VR headset that doctors, nurses, and consultants get to practice in the most realistic way. When I was in the consultation [scenario], I felt like when the patient was angry, I could feel it more. I was aware I was in the room, said Islam, with the virtual environment and avatars heightening the sense of risk. Youre almost put in the place of being a fly on the wall, watching your own behavior, said Bishop. Thats an incredibly good way of learning, because you can reflect in a safe space: this is an area that needs deep reflection for good communication development. If you keep doing that, by the time you actually come under pressure from somebody whos very upset, youve already met that situation maybe three or four times. You can refer to the breathing [exercises], and think okay, dont react straightaway, just give a moment, and then think about your choice of language. Bodyswaps Users receive feedback on their performance after completing different aspects of the RSM training module. What are soft skills? Not all workplace situations are as emotionally fraught and potentially dangerous as those experienced by frontline medical staff, but the need for so-called soft skills such as effective communication is felt across every sector. Soft skills are non-technical skills that can be applied in a wide range of situations, often relating to problem solving and interpersonal interactions. We would define those as more like business skills adaptability, communication, planning, the skills that you are using every day to interact with people whereas hard and technical skills are more focused on a piece of technology or a tool, said Travis Wickesberg, senior director analyst at Gartners HR Technology practice. These skills are critical for individuals to be successful in their job, he said, and are highly valued by employers seeking staff that are adaptable and effective both individually and in a team. A recent analysis of 21 million job ads in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia by learning company Pearson showed that the five most in demand skills were so-called human skills communication, customer service, leadership, attention to detail, and collaboration. When you look across job descriptions, soft skills outnumber hard skills, said Wickesberg. The market for soft skills training services is worth in the region of $20 billion a year, according to some estimates, and forms a part of the wider market for learning and development. There are different approaches to developing these capabilities, with varying strengths and weaknesses. In-person training is an effective learning method but can be costly and time-consuming to implement. Online learning platforms, such as Skillsoft, LinkedIn, Udemy, and Udacity, provide another route to skill development, with self-service access to training materials though support for employees can be limited, and staying motivated while completing modules on their own can be a challenge for some workers. VR offers a new route to soft skills training With advances in VR technology lowering headset costs, immersive training has emerged as another way to develop skills in the workplace, both for practical training (health and safety training, for example, or warehouse operations) and for these softer skills, such as presentations to colleagues, conflict resolution, and developing empathy and understanding. Training materials are often tailored to a certain use case, such as public speaking, conflict resolution, or sales pitches and negotiations. Training for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) is another focus for vendors. VR-based learning promises a greater level of immersion, with workers given the opportunity to practice skills at their leisure and build confidence in a virtual environment before taking on challenges in the real world. This is a key advantage over traditional soft skills learning platforms, said Christophe Mallet, CEO and co-founder of Bodyswaps. He describes the immersive training platform as a flight simulator for soft skills. Theres a gap between the classroom and performance in the real world, and that gap is experience, he said. Learning social influence or empathy or leadership on PowerPoint slides is about as useful as learning to swim on video: when you to get to the real world, you will drown. Bodyswaps Bodyswaps offers a range of learning modules, including for honing leadership skills such as resolving conflict between staff and dealing with inappropriate behavior. Training in simulated environments means employees can make mistakes in a safe environment before taking the next step. You dont have to fail fifteen negotiations to be decent, said Mallet, maybe you only have to fail five. You need the practice element to build your skills thats where VR is interesting. The ability to do access training on demand was a benefit noted by Islam. If youre weak in one area, you can tailor your own training in your own time youre not relying on anyone, he said. Thats where I think its useful. Another advantage is retention of information. Its very easy to deliver some learning, and then it gets forgotten because people dont get the chance to apply it, said Justin Maggs, leader of the Professional Development & Business Skills Learning Stream at Severn Trent, a UK-based water supply firm with around 7,000 employees. Maggs provides VR training to staff for a range of purposes, including soft skills such as public speaking and conflict resolution. Through practice, it enables people to build confidence, especially with things like presenting, he said. Severn Trent has several VR training initiatives in place, with around 30 Oculus VR headsets available. Last year, the company acquired licenses for VirtualSpeech, another immersive learning platform aimed at soft skills such as presentations. Public speaking is our most popular course, said Sophie Thompson, CEO and founder of VirtualSpeech. The public speaking learning module available in VirtualSpeechs library is around four hours long, teaching key theory and techniques online through video tutorials, case studies, quizzes, and interactive practice exercises, she said. At certain points throughout the course, learners are prompted to practice using virtual reality. They put on their VR headset and can be immersed into environments with different-sized audiences, said Thompson. If you want to practice a one-on-one conversation, you can. If you want to practice presenting at a team meeting, you can. Or if you want to practice speaking at a TEDx-style conference, you can also do that. After completing the training, users receive a score for certain aspects of performance, such as eye contact, speech pace, use of filler words, and more. VirtualSpeech Some immersive learning platforms are accessible via laptop and PC, but VR headsets can provide a wider range of metrics via eye-tracking and other sensors. Staff at Severn Trent have accessed the VirtualSpeech presentation training module to hone their skills speaking in front of an audience. We find that people are lacking a little bit of self-confidence around presenting: they have some self-limiting beliefs, said Maggs. Giving them the opportunity to practice [in VR] helps build confidence and gives them the chance to self-reflect on their performance. Measuring the impact of soft skills training can be tricky, said Maggs, but employee self-assessments of the presentation training has shown long-term benefits around confidence and competence for staff. Were seeing that confidence and competence are actually higher six months later than [immediately] post-course. So their self-assessment is saying that that learning has embedded, and they are able to use that learning a period of time later, he said. VR training tools Bodyswaps and VirtualSpeech are two of the immersive learning vendors that provide corporate soft skills training, alongside others such as Strivr, immerse.io, and Mursion. For some vendors, such as Strivr, arguably the most prominent VR learning platform, soft skills are a part of a wider portfolio of learning tools aimed at workplace skills that also includes VR training for operational purposes such as accessing new machinery equipment, for instance. Although the use of VR in the workplace more generally is in its infancy, employee training has arguably been the biggest success to date. Walmart is perhaps the highest-profile example of VR training adopted on a large scale, with reports of over a million employees using VR headsets to learn. One part of the available training, developed with Strivr, relates to soft skills development, including de-escalation of conflict with angry customers. This is the sort of training just isnt as effective in a classroom, said Aneesh Kulkarni, Strivrs CTO, and is where VR excels. The experiences are very real, you actually feel like youre talking to a frustrated customer, said Aneesh Kulkarni, Strivrs CTO. Youre able to observe what is good de-escalation, you are asked how you would respond to the situations, you can speak, and your response is recorded and then analyzed. Learners are then able to access analytics generated in the practice session to see how they performed, and then practice multiple times to improve their skills. You can look at the metrics to see your voice analysis, whether you paused or used a lot of filler words when youre talking, said Kulkarni. That helps you in a real-life situation to be better prepared. The role of generative AI A fast-developing area of VR training is the addition of generative AI to create more realistic interactions with avatars. VirtualSpeech is the first VR training vendor to incorporate generative AI into its platform, according to Thompson, the companys CEO. The company launched a learning module in February that lets users interact with an avatar driven by OpenAIs ChatGPT language model. Just as you can enter into a lively debate with ChatGPT, generative AI enables more realistic interactions with avatars in the VirtualSpeech application, said Thompson, allowing users to engage in back-and-forth conversations before receiving personalized feedback on the interaction. This means that an employee can practice asking their boss for a pay raise, or a manager can practice giving a performance review or disciplinary meeting. VirtualSpeech Generative AI chatbots are at the frontier of immersive learning, with potential for realistic interactions as well as challenges around accuracy. The conversations require time for ChatGPT to process a response but provide greater flexibility than scripted interactions, according to Thompson. It enhanced our learning experiences so much, because now anybody can do any roleplay on demand, and it can be personalized to their industry, he said. Before ChatGPT, we had to upload generic questions [for users to answer], but now those questions can be very specific and on a huge range of topics. Conversation data generated in VirtualSpeech isnt used to train OpenAIs language models, said Thompson. Nevertheless, some customers, particularly those in regulated sectors such as finance, have so far preferred to turn off the generative AI features. Bodyswaps has also added some AI functionality to its platform, though CEO Mallet is wary about how generative tools are implemented. We are cautiously optimistic about AI, he said. We are optimistic because its very powerful, but we are also cautious because its very powerful. At a more basic level, AI can provide semantic analysis of a users speech when converted to text. This enables the software to detect the use of keywords related to a training task, for example. With ChatGPT, its suddenly possible to have full, realistic conversations the holy grail, as Mallet puts it but also a prospect that brings some significant risks. Can you do it safely? Can you do it without bias? If you ask ChatGPT to play a doctor, is it going to play a man? Is it going to play a white man? And it is protecting the safety of the learner? He pointed to the creation of the RSMs conflict resolution training module as an example of where genAI in VR training could be risky. In this scenario, a scripted conversation is safest, he said. To develop the script, Bodyswaps worked with Dame Lesley Fallowfield, a professor of psycho-oncology at Brighton & Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex and an expert in communication between doctors and patients. Fallowfield was involved because the level of psychological safety that you have to safeguard is super, super important. If you gave that to an AI, what would happen? said Mallet. And so an interesting question now in our little world of soft skills training is where do you draw the line between human script and AI script, and how they interact with one another? he added. That line is constantly shifting. Kulkarni said interactions with generative AI are not currently available in Strivr but are on the companys product roadmap. He also highlighted the potential of generative AI to create virtual environments more efficiently. Today, a lot of the content generation is manual, he said. Youre taking existing videos, pulling them into animation tools and editing them, or youre creating new experiences and scenes, which takes time and is expensive. AI tools could help reduce the time to create 3D environments. AI can be used to proceduralize content generation, he said, which could enable the creation of realistic content such as landscapes, objects, characters, environments, scenes. Will VR replace other types of learning? The underlying technology is nascent, with VR software and hardware continuing to develop, but Gartners Wickesberg sees positive early signs of uptake of VR-based soft skills training tools. Theres growing interest definitely exploration, experimentation, he said. Will it replace a traditional tool? Not right away. I think theres value in online self-paced and classroom [learning]. But I think VR complements those tools very nicely, because it gives people that outlet to practice very safely, and to receive the feedback they need to make their behavior change. So I think there will be a progression: you experiment with VR and find it successful, then you find other scenarios you can experiment with, and it becomes complementary to your strategy. The majority of employees at Severn Trent had positive experiences with VR training, but its not for everybody, said Maggs. For some people theres motion sickness. And for some people the reality is almost too much. They put the headset on and go, oh, I wasnt quite ready to stand in front of an audience of 80 people or whatever, he said. We had a few people that find it a little bit difficult with the focus the imagery is a bit blurry. If I did a rough estimate, maybe its 10% of people that cant get on with it, though thats very much finger in the wind. As for provision and management of devices, although the short battery life of VR headsets can be an issue at times, training facilitators at Severn Trent have generally encountered few problems, he said. Most see VR as another tool in a blended approach to learning, with relative advantages and disadvantages compared to other training tools and methods. For Page Hall Medical Centres Islam, VR training can be a bridge between a textbook and the real world, but it cant replace real experience. I wouldnt say it would replace [other forms of training]; I think it would just enhance peoples learning, he said. It will never replace in-person training, but there are many people who dont get the opportunity for in-person training, so it will fill a market, said Bishop at the Royal Society of Medicine. Maggs said its important that learning and development programs show a real use for immersive, VR-based learning. Were really conscious of not using it as a gimmick, he said, so only using it where it serves a purpose and where it fits in with a blended learning solution. I think the danger is if you just go after it for the novelty factor, it will soon lose its value. It needs to be a very planned, conscious effort to use it. He sees VR playing a key role in soft skills training for staff at Severn Trent in the long term. Soft skills are never going to go away, he said. Theyre always going to be part of training across organizations. Finding new ways to develop those skills is part of our role. Its quite exciting what virtuality reality could offer us going forward. It feels like its embryonic at the moment and people have just started stepping into space, so its interesting to see where its going to go. And ChatGPT and AI are going to open up new avenues. Afghanistan: Magnitude 6.3 earthquake hits Herat, one dies A magnitude 6.3 earthquake hit Herat region of Afghanistan on Sunday (October 15, 2023) killing one person. A fresh earthquake jolted Herat region of Afghanistan on Sunday which left one person dead.Photo Courtesy: WFP The fresh quake was recorded nearly a week after two major earthquakes jolted the region and left over 2,000 people dead. "As a result of the earthquake, which rocked Herat at 8:06 a.m. local time today, one person was killed and 35 injured persons have been shifted to hospital," read a statement issued by the provincial government as quoted by Xinhua. The number of casualties could go up, the statement further said. Locals also said that two tremors in a short span of minutes rocked Herat and its vicinity on Sunday morning. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) website, the earthquake occurred at a depth of 6.3 kms. Meanwhile, UN agencies are appealing for urgent funds to assist the hundreds of thousands affected by deadly earthquakes in western Afghanistan. Women and children make up over 90 per cent of the victims, according to UN agencies. Making matters worse, on Thursday (October 12, 2023), a dust storm struck many affected villages, destroying hundreds of tents, including many at the Gazergah Transit Centre, where many displaced families were being sheltered. Families impacted were moved from the Centre to a school in Herat city where they will require food and non-food relief items, according to UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Canadian PM Justin Trudeau wishes Hindu community on 'Navratri' amid diplomatic row with India over Nijjar killing Canadian PM Justin Trudeau has wished the Hindu community in his country on 'Navratri' amid the ongoing diplomatic row with India over the killing of Khalistani separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar Canadian PM Justin Trudeau wishes Hindu community members on Navratri. Photo Courtesy: Justin Trudeau Instagram page Trudeau posted on X: "Happy Navratri! Im sending my warmest wishes to members of the Hindu community and all those who are celebrating this festival." In a separate statement, he said: "Navratri is one of the most important and sacred festivals in the Hindu faith, commemorating the victory of the goddess Durga over the buffalo-headed demon Mahishasura and the triumph of good over evil. Often seen as a celebration of feminine energy, it is a time for friends and family to come together and honour century-old traditions with prayers, joyous performances, special meals, and fireworks." Recognising the contribution of the Hindu community in Canada, he said: "For all Canadians, Navratri also offers an opportunity to learn more about the rich history and culture of Hindu communities and to recognise their invaluable contributions to Canadas social, cultural, and economic fabric. Todays celebrations remind us that diversity is one of Canadas greatest strengths." Diplomatic ties between New Delhi and Ottawa soured after Trudeau alleged that New Delhi could be behind Nijjar's killing. The Canadian Prime Minister on September 18 alleged the potential involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia on June 18. India, however, dismissed the allegation, calling it absurd and motivated. In 2020, India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist. SINDA to help less-privileged students, families during Deepavali Anbarasu Rajendran CEO of SINDA (Singapore Indian Development Association), never fails to remind his audience of the importance of inclusivity and sharing happiness with all irrespective of soci-economic standing. Anbarasu Rajendran, CEO of SINDA with LISHA Mascot Tekka Raja Photo courtesy: SINDA In the spirit of Deepavali, which is essentially about spreading happiness, SINDA will kick off its annual flagship initiative, Project Give (PG), on October 14, 2023, to ensure that the needs of less-privileged students and families are looked after during the upcoming Deepavali festive period, said an official release. The month-long initiative will also aim to promote greater awareness of initiatives that the less-privileged can benefit from and encourage the spirit of giving back to the community. According to the release, for the first time, PG will bring the festive celebrations to more people in the heartlands this year, with the launch of Project Give Heartlands (PGH). PGH aims to bring the festive spirit closer to the doorsteps of the wider Indian community in Singapore, with pop-up booths in community centres in Tampines East, Yuhua, Henderson and Nee Soon GRCs. Through PGH, SINDA hopes to reach out to over 1,200 low-income families in the community, to support them during the festive season. These households will be able to collect SINDAs Celebrate! Festive Gift Packs (FGPs) at PGH booths, which will contain essentials and Deepavali-related items to help alleviate the cost of celebrating the festivities. They will also have the opportunity to participate in festive activities organised by SINDA and its partners, including performances by artistes, meals sponsored by the Little India Shop Owners and Heritage Association (LISHA) and more. PG will launch this year with cyclists from the Ride to Serve organisation carrying the Project Give flag from SINDA and riding to the Project Give booth at the Indian Heritage Centre, symbolising the launch. In support of the Healthier SG initiative, a mass kuthu/bhangra aerobics dance, will commemorate the official commencement of the endeavour. Throughout the month-long initiative, activities such as traditional games, craft-making, story-telling sessions and cultural performances have been planned at the booth, with SINDA, community partners and volunteers working together to engage the Indian community during the festive season. PG will also attempt to enter the Singapore Book of Records by collecting wishes written by members of the public and displaying them on a 1.6-metre-wide heart, in a show of community togetherness. Running in tandem with these activities will be various SINDA initiatives that focus on supporting the needs of the community during Deepavali. These include:- Deepavali Elderly Engagement (15 October, 2023) 20 elderly beneficiaries will be treated to a murukku-making workshop with youths from the SINDA Youth Club and NUS Gen 2000, followed by lunch and festive shopping; this initiative is aimed at bringing festive joy to seniors living alone. Project Shine (29 October 2023) an initiative to clean the houses of the less privileged and seniors in the Indian community during festive seasons, allowing them to welcome their festive celebrations with brighter, fresher homes. As per the release, 220 volunteers will visit 55 households to spruce up their homes in time for the festival of lights. SINDA has hosted Project Give since 2001 to support the educational needs of disadvantaged students and families. Since then, the campaign has evolved to become a community-centric month-long event that rallies several partners and individuals towards community and social good causes. Jazeera Airways, Kuwaits leading low-cost carrier, has increased its Kuwait Colombo flight frequency to daily. Jazeera Airways initially launched operations from Kuwait to Colombo in 2021, with two weekly flights catering to the large expat Sri Lankan community as well as tourists. By operating direct flights to Colombo and back, Jazeera Airways provides passengers from Kuwait with a convenient and affordable option to visit Sri Lanka. Tourists from the Middle East, Russia and CIS can also connect to Colombo via Kuwait with a smooth and comfortable layover at the Jazeera Terminal 5. Rohit Ramachandran, Chief Executive Officer, Jazeera Airways, said: We are pleased to increase the frequency of Jazeera Airways flights to Colombo. This move to daily flights not only reflects our dedication to fostering seamless travel but also underscores our commitment to strengthening the ties between Kuwait and Sri Lanka, facilitating both business and leisure travelers in their journeys between the two vibrant nations. Jazeera serves a network of 64 destinations across the Middle East, South and Central Asia, Africa and Europe, also making it a good choice for connecting to beyond destinations from Sri Lanka. - TradeArabia News Service Chief Minister announces Ministerial Portfolios The Chief Minister Fabian Picardo KC and the Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia held a Press Conference this afternoon at No 6 Convent Place, to announce the new Ministerial Portfolios following a meeting of the Cabinet this morning. In addition to their portfolios, each minister will also be responsible for constituents of a particular geographical area in order to reach out to our community and will be available on a regular basis to speak directly with citizens in their area. The Chief Minister retains responsibility for the Economy and Public Finance, as well as Financial Stability and all his previous areas of responsibility. The Chief Minister will also assume responsibility for ITLD and Digital Services. He will become the constituency MP for the Moorish Castle Estate, Calpe and Upper Town areas. The Deputy Chief Minister will retain all his prior ministerial responsibilities. He will be the constituency MP for the Lower Town areas. Gemma Arias-Vasquez will become the Minister for Health, Care and Business. She will be the constituency MP for the Westside Area. Nigel Feetham will the Minister for Justice, Trade and Industry. He will be the constituency MP for Glacis Estate, Laguna Estate, Ocean Village and Bayside. Christian Santos will become the Minister for Equality, Employment, Culture and Tourism. His constituency will be Varyl Begg Estate, Sir William Jackson Grove and Mid-Harbour Estate. Professor John Cortes will be the Minister for Education, the Environment, and Climate Change. He will become the constituency MP for Alameda Estate and the South District. Pat Orfila will become the Minister for Housing and will be the constituency MP for Bayview, Cumberland, Nelsons View, Rosia Dale and Europa Point. Leslie Bruzon will be the Minister for Industrial Relations, Civil Contingencies and Sport. His constituency will be the Eastside and Catalan Bay. Sir Joe Bossano will be the Minister for Inward Investment and the Savings Bank, and will be the constituency MP for all senior citizens in Gibraltar. The Deputy Chief Minister, Dr Joseph Garcia, said: We have received a message from the electorate and there are lessons to be learned as we return to Government for a fourth consecutive term in Office. Already from day one, we are implementing a strategy by which we address the issues and concerns of the people of Gibraltar, and the allocation of each Minister to a designated constituency is a part of that strategy as we move forward with distributing our manifesto commitments as our programme for government. We will deliver for Gibraltar. The Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, said: With humility and hard work ministers will work with their departments to start to deliver the manifesto which now forms the policy of His Majestys Government of Gibraltar. It is now our commitment to deliver for you over these next four years. Chief Minister The Hon Fabian Picardo KC The Economy and Financial Stability Public Finance and the Treasury International representation of Gibraltar and its people International Treaties Personal status including immigration, residence and adoption Elections The Civil Service and the public sector as a whole, including state-owned enterprises The Government Companies Customs ITLD and Digital Services Cyber-Security and Prevention of Online Harms Social Security Broadcasting The Gibraltar Regulatory Authority Matters related to Armed Forces Veterans and relationship with the MOD Chaiman, Borders and Coastguard Agency Chairman, Gibraltar Development Corporation Constituency MP for Moorish Castle, Calpe and the Upper Town The administration of Government departments charged with the aforesaid, overall responsibility and supervision of Government departments and public administration. Deputy Chief Minister The Hon Dr Joseph Garcia CMG Working in close partnership with the Chief Minister in his exercise of overall responsibility for and supervision of Government departments External action, coordination of the external action of the Government of Gibraltar in particular: the European Union the United Nations relations with the Commonwealth international political lobbying promotion of the right to self-determination Work on the future partnership negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union Work on implementation of a Treaty in the event that one is concluded Work on planning for a No Negotiated Outcome to the Treaty negotiations, in the event that no treaty is concluded Responsibility for Gibraltar representative offices abroad Political, democratic and civic reform Transparency, Open Government and Information Lands and oversight of Government projects Civil Aviation Oversight of manifesto implementation Constituency MP for the Lower Town The administration of Government departments charged with the aforesaid. The Hon Leslie Bruzon Minister for Industrial Relations, Civil Contingencies and Sport Sport Leisure Industrial Relations Civil Contingencies Gibraltar Fire and Rescue Services Airport Fire and Rescue Services Constituency MP for the Eastside and Catalan Bay The administration of Government departments charged with the aforesaid. The Hon Nigel Feetham KC Minister for Justice, Trade and Industry Financial Services Gaming Taxation including Coordination of International Exchange of Information Postal Services Data Protection Chair, Gibtelecom Justice, including: The Anti-Corruption Authority Sanctions The Legal System Probation Service Tribunals Community Services Scheme Access to justice/legal aid and assistance Law drafting Policing Her Majestys Prison Service of Gibraltar Safeguarding Constituency MP for Glacis Estate, Laguna Estate, Ocean Village and Bayside The administration of Government departments charged with the aforesaid. The Hon Gemma Arias Vasquez Minister for Health, Care and Business Gibraltar Health Authority The Care Agency Elderly Residential Services Public Health Gibraltar The Quality of Care (including the regulation of professionals and services) Business The Port Maritime Services including ship and yacht registration Office of Fair Trading Town Planning Procurement Public Utilities Chair, AquaGib Chair, Gibraltar Electricity Authority Constituency MP for the Westside Area The administration of Government departments charged with the aforesaid. The Hon Christian Santos Minister for Equality, Employment, Culture and Tourism Equality and minorities Supported needs (including disability strategy) Employment Supported Employment Youth Training, Apprenticeships and Skills Health and Safety Culture Tourism Entry points into Gibraltar Commercial Aviation and Gibraltar Air Terminal Ltd Chair, inter-ministerial committee on the prevention of drugs misuse, including substance abuse and rehabilitation The control of drugs misuse including substance abuse, rehabilitation and responsibility for Bruces Farm Constituency MP for Varyl Begg Estate, Sir William Jackson Grove and Mid Harbours The administration of Government departments charged with the aforesaid. The Hon Pat Orfila Minister for Housing Housing Housing Works Agency Development of affordable, co-ownership estates Development of rental housing The University of Gibraltar Constituency MP for the area of Bayview, Cumberland, Nelsons View, The Anchorage, Rosia Plaza, Rosia Dale and Europa Point The administration of Government departments charged with the aforesaid. The Hon Professor John Cortes MBE Minister for Education, the Environment and Climate Change Education The Quality of Life Green Gibraltar The Child-Friendly City The Environment Environmental Health Climate change, conservation and sustainability Heritage Upper Rock Marine resources Maintenance, administration and operation of tourist sites and beaches Pollution prevention and control Urban Renewal Refuse Collection and Disposal Technical Services Department Infrastructure Transport and Urban Mobility including: public service vehicles, public transport, traffic, parking, roads, licensing and vehicles Implementation of the Sustainable Traffic and Transport Plan (STTP) Developing relations with Morocco Constituency MP for Alameda Estate and the South District The administration of Government departments charged with the aforesaid. The Hon Sir Joe Bossano KCMG Minister for Inward Investment and the Savings Bank Economic development and inward investment National Economic Plan Telecommunications Gibraltar Savings Bank Gibraltar National Mint Constituency MP with Special responsibility for Senior Citizens The administration of Government departments charged with the aforesaid. Crude Oil, WTI, Brent, US Dollar, USD/CHF, EUR/CHF, S&P NZX 20, Gold - Talking Points Crude oil is on the march higher as uncertainty grows in the Middle East Haven assets have been buoyed by the precarious situation, notably the CHF If the Israel Hamas war evolves further, where will that leave WTI? Recommended by Daniel McCarthy Get Your Free Oil Forecast Get My Guide Crude oil has held onto Fridays gains as traders continue to watch the developments in the Middle East. As reports roll in of various pockets of fighting, the market remains cautious and concerned about the potential disruption to the global oil supply. The military build-up in the region is adding to scrutiny of the potential squeeze on available supply. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen made comments on Friday that the US cannot rule out further sanctions against Iran, adding to concerns around the availability of the energy product. The WTI futures contract is near US$ 87.70 bbl while the Brent contract is around US$ 90.90 bbl at the time of going to print. Perceived haven assets have had a mixed start to the week with gold easing slightly after a stellar rally on Friday, dipping under US$ 1,920 an ounce. The Swiss Franc has mostly maintained the strength seen last week, trading near 0.9000 against the US Dollar and close to a 13-month peak against the Euro around 0.9480. The US Dollar is softer so far in the Asian session with the Aussie and Kiwi Dollars recovering some of the heavy losses seen at the end of last week. The results of the New Zealand election over the weekend are not clear-cut at this stage, but there has been a shift away from the incumbent administration toward the conservative side of politics. In any case, a coalition of some sort will need to be hashed out over the coming weeks. The S&P NZX 20 index finished down around a third of a per cent. APAC equities are all under pressure with Japans Nikkei 225 index down over 1.50%. Futures are indicating a steady start to European and US equity indices to start the day. Looking ahead, sentiment data from manufacturers in Canada and the US will be watched closely as well as commentary from the BoE, ECB and Fed speakers. The full economic calendar can be viewed here. Recommended by Daniel McCarthy How to Trade Oil Get My Guide WTI CRUDE OIL TECHNICAL SNAPSHOT The WTI futures contract raced up to test resistance at the breakpoints between 87.76 and 88.19 but has so far been unable to overcome them. They may continue to offer resistance. Further up, resistance might be at the breakpoint and previous peak at 93.64 and 95.03 respectively. Support may lie near the breakpoints in the 84.70 84.90 area before the prior lows at 82.31 and 81.50. WTI CHART Chart created in TradingView Trade Smarter - Sign up for the DailyFX Newsletter Receive timely and compelling market commentary from the DailyFX team Subscribe to Newsletter --- Written by Daniel McCarthy, Strategist for DailyFX.com Please contact Daniel via @DanMcCarthyFX on Twitter If you have an event you'd like to list on the site, submit it now! Submit Universities and their student bodies are only too ready to ban controversial speakers from their campuses, or 'cancel' academics whose views don't conform to the woke credo of the Left. They do so in the name of creating 'safe spaces' for students. Yet when faced with a genuine threat to safety, they do little or nothing to stop it. We report today how student societies at some of our most renowned higher education institutions have been glorifying Hamas since they massacred 1,400 Israelis in cold blood. A student union officer at Sussex described the attack as 'beautiful'. A Left-wing group at Imperial College London endorsed 'intifada until victory'. And at Oxford and Leeds, societies called on students to join pro-Palestine protests in the wake of the Hamas atrocities. They are of course, entitled to criticise Israel. But when that criticism develops into support for terrorists and naked anti-Semitism, Jewish students are placed at risk and the authorities must act. Several vice-chancellors have warned their students that the glorification of violence won't be tolerated. The problem is that they have been too lax for too long. At too many universities, cancel culture, deplatforming, assaults on free speech and the harassment of anyone with socially or politically conservative views are now so rife they have become the norm. The Government has ordered a zero-tolerance approach and swift action against 'any society or student that promotes acts of terror or anti-Semitic rhetoric'. Will it have any effect at all? The omens are not good. Meanwhile, Home Secretary Suella Braverman has issued a warning to those who incite anti-Semitism and mock the murder of Jewish people. 'The police are coming for you,' she said. But are they really? Experience tells us they are much more enthusiastic about investigating those who offend the trans community online than tackling radical Islam on the streets. Home Secretary Suella Braverman has issued a warning to those who incite anti-Semitism and mock the murder of Jewish people It's surely time for a reset. As we wait with foreboding for the next chapter in this new Israeli war on terror, we also need to take a hard look at our own values and how we protect and preserve them. Racism and bigotry are wrong in all their manifestations. They must be challenged wherever they raise their ugly heads. This is especially true at universities, where our next generation of leaders is being educated. Keir's tax raid folly No one could accuse the teachers' unions of being on the right of the political spectrum. Their leaders range from merely anti-Tory to positively Marxist. It's also true to say they are not natural fans of private education. Indeed Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, likened it to apartheid. Yet even some of the comrades are now warning Sir Keir Starmer that his tax raid on private schools could cost jobs, reduce teachers' pension rights and land the already overburdened state sector with many thousands of extra pupils. Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, likened private education to apartheid Labour claims that imposing 20 per cent VAT on private school fees would raise up to 1.7billion a year, which would then be channelled into state education. But this would be more than offset by the numbers of children having to leave the private sector, either because their parents couldn't afford the fees, or their schools had to close. This measure was always more about throwing red meat to the class warriors on Labour's Left than constructive reform. But it is ill-conceived and will do real damage to the lives of pupils and livelihoods of teachers. Sir Keir should listen to the unions and think again. J.K. Rowling and I have been on opposite sides of a political debate and she's tackled me on Twitter in a manner which was not altogether friendly. I was left with the strong impression that you don't mess with J.K! But I'm an admirer. She has been victim of a most vicious witch-hunt, trolling on social media and even had death threats because of her views on gender identity and transgender rights. She starts from the premise that women have a right to be safe from fear of abuse and violence. No one can doubt that she's a feminist who is fighting to protect hard-won women's rights from transgender activists seeking to erode them. On Sunday, J.K. was a surprise guest - she couldn't be billed as a panellist because of concerns for her safety - at a women's rights event in Glasgow to speak on sexism and bullying. It's believed to be the first time she's appeared in public to discuss her support for women-only spaces since becoming a hate figure for the trans lobby. JK Rowling attends the World Premiere of "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Od Dumbledore" at The Royal Festival Hall on March 29, 2022 NADINE DORRIES: Apart from occasional comments on crazy headlines about midwives referring to 'chest-feeding' rather than breastfeeding, I've kept my head down I agree with her stance - she speaks for so many of us - although I know many younger people do not. Their views are very clear. J.K. is wrong, the trans lobby is right; Terfs (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists whose views on gender identity are considered hostile to trans people) are the scum of the earth; and there should be no feminism that excludes self-identifying trans women (men who identify as women). If I'm being honest it's a subject I've largely avoided. Apart from occasional comments on crazy headlines about midwives referring to 'chest-feeding' rather than breastfeeding, I've kept my head down. While J.K. Rowling has shown her critics she's too big to cancel, that isn't true of the rest of us. The trans lobby and organisations such as Stonewall and Mermaids have done a brilliantly effective job of working their way into the heart of British life and imposing their agenda. Too many institutions - from the police and universities, to local government and the NHS - seem to be in thrall to an ideology which the vast majority not only disagree with but find dangerous when it comes to prescribing puberty blockers to youngsters or radical surgery. The good news is that common sense is beginning to prevail, and more people are looking at the facts. I've just started listening to a podcast, The Witch Trials Of J.K. Rowling, on the recommendation of some of the young people I work with. It has altered their opinion on the tactics used by the trans lobby and the ridiculous virtue signalling around trans issues in all walks of life. Let me be clear, I passionately believe in personal freedom and an individual's right to live as they choose. But where the rights of one section of society infringe on the rights of another, then there needs to be honest debate and hard decisions made about what is fair. J.K. is a brave woman. It must be hard to keep fighting and hard to bear all the vitriol and worse that it invites. But thank goodness she's there to bring common sense and wisdom to one of the most toxic issues of our time. Ageing hospitals plagued by rats and mice, as the Mail reported yesterday, are nothing new. In the 1980s I was working as a nurse at Myrtle Street Children's Hospital in Liverpool and remember all too clearly discovering a baby in an incubator with a cockroach lodged in its feeding tube. It was quickly dealt with by the indomitable night matron who'd seen it all before and the baby was unharmed. Why the world will always love you, fearless Dolly Dolly Parton says she is unafraid of losing her $650million fortune because, having grown up in abject poverty in Tennessee, she knows how to survive. I get that. The experience of real hardship puts fire in the belly, and no matter how successful or wealthy you become, it never goes away. Nor does the worry worm: the niggling fear that one day it might go catastrophically wrong and you must be prepared for it. That's why Dolly is such an inspiration. A great talent but her fearlessness is what makes us love her. Dolly Parton says she is unafraid of losing her $650million fortune because, having grown up in abject poverty in Tennessee, she knows how to survive ...And talking of fearless women, I am in awe of both Angela Rippon, 79, on Strictly, and Madonna, 65, as she kicked off her world tour in London at the weekend. They are testament to the benefits of keeping active in later life. Having undergone surgery earlier this year, the slowness of my recovery was a shock. Had I been fitter, it would no doubt have been quicker. I am now a convert to Pilates and while I'm not quite up to the splits (Angela) or of gyrating, pelvic grinds and thrusts (Madonna), give me a year... If you don't like what a man is doing, blame his wife It's known as Macbeth Syndrome: If you don't like what a man is up to, blame his wife. And the latest example was revealed in the distasteful WhatsApp messages which emerged last week as part of the Covid Inquiry. The exchanges between Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, Dominic Cummings (remember him, the crazy man who drove to Barnard Castle in lockdown to check his eyesight?) and his underling Lee Cain, suggested that Boris Johnson was making decisions on Covid restrictions based on his wife Carrie's wishes. The messages were sent in the run-up to the second lockdown in the autumn of 2020. Our then PM was doing all he could to keep as much as possible open, but was facing strong opposition from key advisers, including Cummings and Michael Gove (who have operated as a political pair for well over 20 years). I served as a Health Minister throughout Covid, so I know the messages were referring to a proposal we were developing on the advice of Public Health England (PHE) to introduce regional 'circuit breakers' to slow Covid transmission in parts of the country where the NHS was at risk of becoming overwhelmed, particularly in Labour-led Wales. Former prime minister Boris Johnson with his wife Carrie Johnson in Westminster, London, for the launch of a campaign to prevent release of Robert Brown on July 11 It was specialist stuff and in no way a Boris's initiative, let alone his wife's. The idea Carrie, who'd not long given birth to her first child, was consulting with PHE or the Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford is utterly absurd. Carrie is a political wife who has followed in the footsteps of Samantha Cameron. She never gets involved in policy or makes comments to the media. But she was an easy target for those who wished to do her husband harm. The bigger question is what on earth was Simon Case doing on a secret WhatsApp thread with two senior political advisers and making derogatory comments about the PM's wife? Case is the most senior mandarin with an obligation to remain impartial and to set an example to the Civil Service. What makes it worse is that he was then only a month into the job. Questions over Case's conduct are multiplying. He sat in on every significant policy meeting, so I don't believe he really thought Carrie was influencing the PM's decisions. What is obvious to me is Case was scared of Cummings - who appointed him - and the then Head of Press at No10 Cain, and joined in the sexist banter because he didn't want to upset them. He has neither the moral fibre nor the integrity to lead the Civil Service and should resign. The message flying around Labour MPs is: 'Don't **** it up.! Say nothing, do nothing, it's working.' They aren't wrong. It appears that refraining from saying or doing anything of consequence is boosting the party's ratings as we limber up for a general election. Starmer's policy-free conference speech last week is a prime example. In contrast, almost every single measure announced by Rishi Sunak sends my party's ratings plummeting. Maybe we should follow Labour's lead. I'm sure most of the population would be highly delighted. Ed Cooley is back in prison for the fifth time. We served together in HMP Spring Hill, after I was given a five-year sentence for tax fraud and he was convicted of drug dealing. Since then, he has been released on licence and recalled to jail repeatedly. Ed is caught on the hamster wheel of justice, which goes round and round endlessly, always dumping him back in the same place. I'm not suggesting you'd feel much personal sympathy for him. He was originally given a sentence of ten years and eight months for drugs and firearms offences back in 2014, and released in 2018. But here's the thing: each time he is sent back to prison, it's not because he has been tried and convicted of any new crime. As he was out on licence, he could be recalled merely on a suspicion - regarded as guilty until the system decides he's actually innocent. That is the antithesis of everything British justice is meant to represent, and inspired me to write a new book about our collapsing justice system: Time After Time. Such injustices are common, and are at the root of the crisis in our prisons, with every jail overflowing and no space for new offenders. Tony Blair speaks onstage during the 2023 Concordia Annual Summit at Sheraton New York on September 19 The overcrowding is so severe that Justice Secretary Alex Chalk yesterday told the Commons a programme of reform is essential in order to create space for the most violent and dangerous prisoners. Community work projects for non-violent criminals, including tree-planting, neighbourhood clear-ups and graffiti-removal, is one of the suggested options. So are prefab cells or 'pop-up jails', the deportation of foreign criminals, early-release schemes, and sending our own prisoners overseas, to facilities in Estonia for example. But we can't fix the problem until we understand where it started. The chairman of the Prison Officers' Association, Mark Fairhurst, said this week: 'There's no room left at the inn. We find ourselves, after 13 years of Tory rule, with no space at all.' In seeking to make political capital out of the overcrowding crisis, he is blaming the wrong administration. While the Tories have slashed prison budgets, the fault lies squarely with Tony Blair, whose New Labour mantra, 'Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime', is at the root of these overflowing prisons. In 2007, almost a decade before I was prosecuted for tax fraud within the film industry, I made a documentary called Taking Liberties. It criticised Blair for dramatically increasing the number of offences for which people could be sent to jail and also for increasing the length of sentences. This almost doubled the prison population during the Blair years. And though I make no excuses over my own guilt, there was an inescapable irony in the fact that I became a victim of the very thing I'd warned about in my film. From my own bitter experience, I know that the great majority of people within the prison system are not monstrous criminals guilty of inhuman offences. No one disputes that murderers, rapists and terrorists have to be locked up in conditions of maximum security for the public's safety. But most of the inmates I met during my first nine months in Wandsworth were prolific and persistent offenders with dozens of petty crimes to their name, and prison was an accepted part of that life. It wasn't unusual to see a man released on a Friday and readmitted the following Monday. The criminal life, whether that was burglary or shoplifting, was all he knew, and prison was a guarantee of free food and a bed. It wasn't a deterrent, it wasn't a punishment, and it certainly wasn't an opportunity for rehabilitation. None of these men thought about escaping. Why would they, when the only thing certain in their lives was a return to jail? Many prisoners are also held back by being detained in category B jails such as Wandsworth, which are designed for newly convicted felons awaiting transfer to a low-security jail and men found guilty of relatively heavy-duty crimes such as GBH or armed robbery. British Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary Alex Chalk gestures as he speaks on stage at Britain's Conservative Party's annual conference in Manchester But many offenders would be better off in an open prison where their behaviour would pose no risk to fellow inmates or staff and where they would have a chance of making a genuine fresh start. In open prisons, offenders can begin to integrate with society, and even apply for work schemes. Companies such as Timpson and McDonald's have programmes for ex-prisoners and for many it's the first time they've had an actual job, with a bank account and a bit of self-respect. That can be transformative - and, with the desperate labour shortages - it has real benefits for everyone, as prisoners released into a job are far less likely to reoffend. But for that to happen effectively, the whole administrative system of our prisons must be overhauled. At the moment, it is stuck in the 20th century, much of it in the pre-computer era. Far from using digital databases, British jails often rely on handwritten documents and forms filled out in triplicate. This makes communication slow and inefficient, and leads to constant mistakes. I know of one man who was sentenced to nine years and released after only two months because someone had mis-read the tariff as 'nine weeks'. And in my own case, despite being very much a white-collar criminal, I was held for nine months in Wandsworth before being transferred to an open prison, in part due to delays in my paperwork being processed. Wandsworth is dysfunctional and falling apart and has recently been condemned by the Chief Inspector of Prisons. Yet I often heard foreign inmates, particularly Ukrainians and Romanians, say how luxurious it was compared to jails in their own country, where felons can be packed into cells by the dozen without even a toilet. Unsurprisingly, those East European prisoners were anxious not to be deported. They protested that they faced discrimination and violence in their home countries, and in some cases this was true - but in others it was an obvious ruse. Their presence here is one of many causes of chronic over-crowding. But it's no solution to suggest British prisoners can be sent to Eastern European prisons, as proposed this week. Lawyers specialising in challenges to the legal system will be licking their lips at the prospect. The most obvious objection, and a probably insuperable hurdle, is that transfers overseas would deny prisoners their right to family visits. But the biggest problem is personified by Ed Cooley, convicted of drug and firearms offences in 2014 and trapped in the system ever since. He's currently back in jail for breaching his licence after being accused of a fracas outside a pub. But with no reliable witnesses, the police have admitted he won't be prosecuted. Instead, the charges have been dropped. But he's still been unfairly imprisoned for over a year waiting for a decision. He'll be released after several months and could well be accused of another infraction, only to get locked up again. There are thousands like him who can't break free, because the odds are stacked so high. On parole, certain offenders have to live in bail hostels - but the curfews are strict, and because of their backgrounds some of these men have terrible timekeeping. It is entirely possible for a man to be sent to jail because he came back late from the cinema, after the movie over-ran. Or he might be still in prison, eligible for parole but unable to leave because the bail hostels are also overcrowded and there are no spaces. That's what we have to fix. Modernising prisons and the wider criminal justice system, with a common-sense approach to non-violent crimes, would go a long way to undoing Tony Blair's grim legacy of injustice. Time After Time: Repeat Offenders - The Inside Stories, by Chris Atkins, is published by Atlantic Books. The homeowners' main pieces of advice were to work hard and be passionate He asked them how they made their millions and if they had advice for people Southern California is known for it's expansive coastline, beach activities and, of course, the beautiful multimillion-dollar houses. With the average house price in the Newport Beach area almost $3.1 million, according to Zillow, content creator Noah Kagan wanted to know about the people who own these mansions - and how they made their millions. In a recent YouTube video, Noah, who is from Austin, Texas, went door-knocking in one of America's wealthiest zip codes to find out more about the homeowners and their humble abodes. 'The houses we're going to check out today are between $15 to $20 million,' Noah, who is a the founder of an app aimed at entrepreneurs called AppSumo.com, explained. Content creator Noah Kagan (pictured) went door-knocking in one of America's wealthiest zip codes to find out more about these millionaires and how they made their millions The first house he visited in Newport Beach in California belonged to a couple who made their money through strawberries, and now own several vineyards 'We're going to go knock on some doors and find out what do people do for a living and get advice for people like you and me,' he added. After being rejected by one household and one Ring cam, Noah came across a woman who lived in the area with her husband, and shared their unusual path to how they secured their fortune - and their $12 million home. 'We were in the strawberry business,' she told Noah. 'And then we kind of fell into the wine business. We have several vineyards up north and so we had a kind of second career.' The woman, who didn't disclose her age, then went on to explain how her husband fell into the field of strawberries. 'He had a strawberry project in high school where he planted strawberries [and] he had a stand,' she explained. 'He started a processing business, so we not only had the fresh strawberries but then we processed them for freezer and for margarita drinks.' She shared some wisdom for those wanting to build a business. 'Be an honest business person - always tell the truth, don't try and BS people,' she instructed. 'You know what is really important in life, it's you family, it's your faith,' she continued. 'Because those are your core values.' 'If you're successful,' she added. 'You gotta give back.' The woman told Noah to be successful you must 'be an honest business person - always tell the truth, don't try and BS people' The next home was worth $9 million according to Zillow, and belonged to an architect and physical therapist The homeowner (right) said he thinks it important to remember to not just focus on yourself, and think about others The next house belonged to an architect who used to design company buildings and churches - but has since retired. When Noah asked him about finding success, he reminded the content creator that it was all relative, and it's important not to just focus on yourself. '[Being totally self-focused] is not a healthy existence and I think what you're doing for you doesn't matter at all,' he explained. 'It needs to be something longer lasting and something of a bigger scope than just your reality.' However he admitted his $9 million dollar house was completely funded by his career, explaining his wife is a physical therapist who owned rehab centers. The next person to offer wisdom was also retired but had worked in commercial construction - building data centers for companies like Google and Facebook as well as hospitals. The next home they approached was worth over $11 million, and belonged to a man who had worked in commercial construction The man (pictured) is retired, and said his advice to to work in an area you are genuinely interested in The author (pictured) advised people to take it one step at a time, saying sometimes people get caught up in the bigger picture rather than taking it one step at a time The man, who started out earning $21,000 a year when he first began working, ended up working for a company called Southland, saying they earned $50 million in revenue when it started, and by the time he had left they were at $2 billion. He recommended working in an area that drives you, and something that fuels your passion. 'If you don't have passion about what you're doing then you know you're why do it,' he quipped. The last man Noah interviewed is a writer, who made his money from selling a children's book a decade ago - and has enjoyed the money from reprints ever since. The creative, who lived in a $15 million home on the beach in Newport, gave his advice for those wanting to make their millions is to take one step at a time. 'People always come up to me and say: "I want to write a book, how do I get it published?'' he relayed. 'You write the book first you know, that just escapes people,' he said. 'I tell them just write the book first. Try that and then go from there.' The term gripped the working women of the 2010s, boosting up hustle culture but with a feminist twist. But now it's time to say goodbye to girl bosses and hello to snail girls - the new slow-paced band of women choosing to stay happy rather than busy. A term coined by Melbourne-based accessory-brand owner Sienna Ludbey in the Fashion Journal, the snail girl is someone who goes slow, retreats when she needs and follows the path at her own pace. Self-proclaimed former girl boss Sienna said she became 'addicted' to the hustle of growing her brand, platform and audience - and thought the easiest way to feel good was to be ultra-successful. However after a candid talk with her therapist, Sienna realised she needed to be less hard on herself and instead set personal and professional boundaries - and the attitude shift has taken off, with bloggers sharing their own go-slow era transitions on TikTok. Anti-9-5 career blogger Shaina also agrees the days of the girl boss are 'over'. Shaina, who regularly posts her work and travel life on TikTok, said: 'The days of idolizing being a girlboss are over the nail girl era has arrived' (pictured) Geneve Benatar (pictured), a model and nutrition blogger, said she had also adopted the trend. She showed her followers a morning in her snail girl era and talked of the health benefits of slowing down Content creator Amber Lord, who goes by lifeandworkbutbetter on TikTok, said: 'If you're sick and tired of the girl boss era, then it's time to enter your snail girl era. 'What is a snail girl? A snail girl is like the antithesis of the girl boss and I'm sure the girl bosses are going to hate this.' She added: 'Basically it is about slowing down at work, taking your PTO (paid time off), taking your vacation days, taking your sick days when you feel sick, using up all of your breaks, being gentler with yourself, creating a better sense of work life balance for yourself.' While Geneve Benatar, a model and nutrition blogger, said she had also adopted the trend. She showed her followers a morning in her snail girl era and talked of the health benefits of slowing down. 'Imagine a snail, moving at its own unhurried pace, making room for self-care and well-being,' she said. 'In a world where everything moves at lightning speed, she remains undisturbed, prioritizing herself. 'If you're someone who rushes through mornings, perhaps skipping breakfast and relying on coffee until lunch, you might find yourself constantly drained and fatigued. The never-ending hustle leaves no room for pause, and it takes a toll on your well-being.' It's at this point Geneve suggests you move into your snail girl era, where time and space is created for your own wellbeing - such as making a nourishing breakfast or having a morning walk. Content creator Amber Lord (pictured), who goes by lifeandworkbutbetter on TikTok, said: 'If you're sick and tired of the girl boss era, then it's time to enter your snail girl era' Other bloggers including Aussie travel lover all.lozzy.adventures and nail artist lovetrenna (pictured) also posted about moving into their snail girl eras Anti-9-5 career blogger Shaina also agrees the days of the girl boss are 'over'. Shaina, who regularly posts her work and travel life on TikTok, said: 'The days of idolizing being a girlboss are over the nail girl era has arrived. 'Snail girl is a trend that sees women prioritize slow living, happiness, self-care, and purpose, over hustle culture, overworking, and colonially idealized standards of success.' Other bloggers including Aussie travel lover all.lozzy.adventures and nail artist lovetrenna also posted about moving into their snail girl eras. Careers expert Robbie Bryant, of the Open Study College, said that the trend can be beneficial to both employee and employer. Mr Bryant said: 'Today, it can often seem like everyone is in a race to be the best and to reach their full potential as quickly as possible, but more often than not, they don't realise that they are in fact causing more stress for themselves along the way. 'Taking a much slower approach to your working goals and enjoying the journey is not only more beneficial to you, but also to your employer too. He added: 'Unlike the girl boss trend, where people were encouraged to work all hours in order to meet their career goals, the snail girl trend is a great way of making sure you reach your goals without the risk of becoming burnt out.' Val, who lived in Utah, talked about his experience on a recent podcast A man who grew up in an incestuous, polygamist, Mormon cult with 14 mothers and 163 siblings has opened up about the horrors that he was subjected to by its abusive leader. Val Snow, 35, grew up in Utah in a strict Mormon community called the Kingston Group - officially known as the Davis County Cooperative Society and internally as The Order. The Order is a cult that was started during the Great Depression which promotes polygamy and incest to keep bloodlines 'pure.' Val is the oldest of 12 children that his mother gave birth to in the cult, and has over 150 half-siblings. Val Snow, 35 (pictured) grew up in Utah in a strict Mormon community called the Kingston Group - officially known as the Davis County Cooperative Society and internally as The Order He detailed the physical and sexual abuse he faced during a conversation with podcast host Shelise Ann Sola (pictured) on Cults to Consciousness In the podcast Cults to Consciousness, Val opened up about the physical and sexual abuse he faced at the hands of his father, John Daniel Kingston, while living in the Kingston Group. As his mother was in a polyamorous relationship, Val admitted he didn't even know that John Daniel Kingston - whom he calls Daniel - was his biological dad was until his sister figured it out. 'Personally I didn't really see him very often,' Val told Shelise Ann Sola in the episode. 'He would come by twice a month unless he was mad at my mom, then he would come by once a month.' He added he and his father, 'didn't really hang out a lot,' and when they did he was 'being punished or abused.' '[Daniel's] way of raising kids was to first establish fear, and then with fear comes respect and with respect comes love, [that] is his philosophy,' Val explained. He also expressed he has a lot of respect for his mother, who is Daniel's seventh wife, quipping: '[I] love that girl.' 'A lot of my experiences of my father [are] my mom rescuing me from him,' he admitted. Daniel was sentenced to prison in 1999, after forcing his then 16-year-old daughter to marry his brother, and then beating her with a belt when she escaped the polygamist marriage. Val, who was named Gerard during his time in The Order, was the eldest of 12 children that his mother had with Daniel. According to Val, Daniel would only visit them once or twice a month John Daniel Kingston (front and center) signed as a witness to the weddings of his teen daughters. Val said the women that were married to Daniel operated as single parents; often having to rely on dumpster diving and food stamps to feed their enormous families In this podcast, which as per the description discusses leaving 'high demand religions or organizations' and finding 'healing and independence, through awareness and true individual sovereignty,' Val explained Daniel would basically only visit his wives to impregnate them. He added that as polygamy is illegal, the children were given a fake name on their birth certificate for the father, unless the mother was a wife in the eyes of the government. He explained the women that were married to Daniel operated as single parents; often having to rely on dumpster diving and food stamps to feed their enormous families. 'I actually got pulled out of school at 14,' he explained to Shelise. '[The church] said that what God wanted me to do was to go get a full-time job and support the younger kids.' Val also had to pay 'child support' - which was a ruse to send money straight to the church - and relied on dumpster diving to help his mom to support nine children. He revealed he got his first job at age eight, working at a True Value store which was owned by The Order, working for 'probably 10 cents an hour.' 'I would just go in the back and label new items and new shipments that came in,' he explained. 'There were many summers I worked for free the entire summer.' Val recalled one particular time he went to the ranch (pictured in inset) with Daniel under the guise of learning how to drive a truck when he was 14 and was sexually and physically abused by him When Val left the cult, he had to sign a form to officially leave. He recalled his father Daniel kicking him out of The Order for being gay, unless he agreed to go to conversion therapy, which he refused to do Although the Kingston Group wasn't in a compound and lived individually as families, they were still very much separated from society and only really interacted with each other. 'You don't get too close; you can't be friends with them,' he explained. He then briefly explained the banking system, with everything that is earned going to The Order's bank, and every member only seeing an account balance monthly. 'The Order teaches you that the outside world is very scary and the reason that they're hiding your money is because if the government know you have it, they're gonna come and take it,' Val explained. Val also recalled the times Daniel would beat him, adding that he had physically abused him in his office as a kid - even though he had his ankle monitor on from prison, while he was out of on 'work release.' 'Beyond the physical abuse there was sexual abuse from my father,' Val added. 'And the crazy part was I don't know to this day that he was actually finding pleasure in the sexual side of it. He enjoys seeing someone in pain.' Val described working on a cattle ranch as a kid, and an incident that took place when his father decided to teach him how to drive when he was 14. 'Whenever he's nice, that's when you know you're in trouble or something bad is gonna happen,' he said. 'We went on a truck drive and he was going to teach me how to drive a truck, and it ended up being where I got molested and then beat afterwards,' he somberly recalled. 'Then he leaves me in the field to just finish moving the water lines at the farm,' he continued, adding he had 'no idea' what had happened. 'There's never been any kind of sex education,' he pointed out. He said luckily his mother noticed that he was extremely resistant about going to the ranch after that, and didn't force him to return. 'She got some backlash for that,' he remembered. 'Daniel didn't appreciate the way that he she wouldn't just make us do whatever he would tell us told us to.' He noted that when their moms weren't around, Daniel would beat the kids until they were bleeding and crying. Val, who is gay, also spoke about his experience of coming to terms with his homosexuality as someone who grew up in the Mormon church. 'I knew I wasn't attracted to women I just thought that that attraction would come with marriage,' he admitted. '[I thought] I would just get a become attracted because I'm supposed to be and God would help me.' Val said when his father found out he was gay, he kicked him out of the family and church, after urging him to undergo conversion therapy. The young man, who changed his name from Gerald when he left The Order, parted ways with the cult in 2011. He recalls making two online dating profiles when he was first exploring life outside The Order - one for dating men and one for dating women - before deciding to just date men. Val now has a YouTube channel where he has shared his story, and promotes self-love and creativity. His younger sister Shanell also left the Kingston Group after being forced to marry her first cousin at 18. She went on to star on the Lifetime reality series Escaping Polygamy alongside half sisters Andrea Brewer and Jessica Christensen. The new items include the McCrispy BBQ Smokehouse and Philly Cheese Stack McDonald's has thrilled fans by announcing the introduction of seven new items to its menu - starting this week. From Wednesday, fans of the fast food giant around the UK will be able to indulge in several new items, including the McCrispy BBQ Smokehouse and Philly Cheese Stack. The McCrispy BBQ Smokehouse features a 100% chicken breast fillet, coated in crispy breading, with smoky BBQ sauce, cheddar cheese, red onion and crisp lettuce, served in a sourdough-style bun. Meanwhile, the Philly Cheese Stack is a turophile's delight. It boasts two juicy beef patties, smothered in a rich cheese sauce, topped with two slices of cheese, grilled and crispy onions, and pickles, all nestled in a toasted bun. For those seeking a spicy and cheesy punch, the chili cheese bites are making a return. McDonald's has thrilled fans by announcing the introduction of seven new items to its menu - starting next week Customers will also be able to enjoy a new nine McNugget meal. And for dessert enthusiasts, the new offerings feature a toffee apple pie. This treat is made from crispy pastry, filled with a spiced apple compote and luscious toffee sauce, along with toffee pieces. Alternatively, a toffee apple doughnut - filled with toffee apple compote, and topped with crumble pieces and toffee sauce - will be available. Those celebrating Halloween can enjoy a special M&M Halloween McFlurry, containing soft dairy ice cream, swirled with M&Ms and sugar shapes, topped with a drizzle of Galaxy Chocolate sauce. Additionally, McDonald's is offering the new Twix Toffee Apple McFlurry, boasting dairy ice cream, Twix biscuit and chocolate pieces, and a generous pour of toffee apple sauce. If you're eager to try these new offerings, make sure to grab them before 21 November, as they will only be available for a limited time. In order to accommodate the new additions, six items will be taken off the menu from Wednesday: Big Tasty, Big Tasty with Bacon, Mozzarella Dippers, Cadbury Flake Raspberry McFlurry, Cadbury Flake Chocolate McFlurry, Caramel Waffle Latte. McDonalds breakfast is available from 5am-11am, while the lunchtime menu is served from 11am daily. From Wednesday, fans of the fast food giant will be able to indulge in several new items, including the McCrispy BBQ Smokehouse and M&M Halloween McFlurry It comes after McDonald's announced the return of a classic sandwich months after scrapping it from the menu with a grand 'farewell tour'. McDonald's full list of new items McCrispy BBQ Smokehouse - 7.39 Philly Cheese Stack - 6.99 Chicken McNuggets - nine pieces meal medium - 6.69 Chicken McNuggets - nine pieces meal large - 7.39 Chilli Cheese Bites - 2.49 Chilli Cheese Bites Sharebox - 6.79 Twix Toffee Apple McFlurry - 1.99 Twix Toffee Apple Mini McFlurry - 1.49 M&M's Halloween McFlurry - 1.99 M&M's Halloween Mini McFlurry - 1.49 Toffee Apple Pie - 1.99 Toffee Apple Donut - 2.19 Advertisement The McRib was one of the more divisive McDonald's menu items but the chain said that 'not everyone was ready to say goodbye' and will offer a last chance to enjoy the snack. McRibs consist of a seasoned boneless pork patty, coated in barbeque sauce, topped with onions and dill pickles in a toasted bun, adding up to 520 calories. A McDonald's statement posted by food blog snackolator on Instagram said: 'It turns out not everyone was ready to say goodbye to the McRib after last years Farewell Tour.' Not everyone will be able to enjoy the its return though, as it will only be available in participating locations - similar to other recent limited items, such as Spicy McNuggets and the Cookies and Creme pie. Customers will be able to earn points when they purchase any of the new items by opting into MyMcDonalds Rewards. The scheme means every penny spent equals one point - and there are some amazing Rewards available when point milestones are hit. When customers reach 1,500 points, they can choose between menu items including small Fries, a Hash Brown, a regular Cold Soft Drink or a Side Salad. With 2,500 points, a Double Cheeseburger, Vegetable Deluxe or Apple Pie is on the cards. And with 4,000 points, customers can choose between menu favourites, such as six Chicken McNuggets, a Big Mac or Filet-O-Fish. There is also an option for customers to donate the cash equivalent of their points to charities, including FareShare, to support McDonald's commitment to reducing food poverty and waste in the UK. READ MORE: I'm a parenting expert and these are my top 5 tips for what you should say instead of telling kids 'no' So she decided to do something about it - and was shocked by the results A New York mom of five got sick of asking her children: 'How was your day?' and getting the same stock answers every time: 'It was good,' 'Fine' or 'OK.' Feeling shut out by these non-committal responses, Yamel Belen, whose children range in age from 7 to 25, decided to do something about it. The registered nurse told the New York Post: 'I really hated getting the 'It was good' response to my after-school questioning. 'I wanted to know everything about their lives at school and felt like I was doing something wrong [as a mother].' Yamel switched things up, and started asking her children questions that would lead to responses that didn't involve one or two-word answers. Yamel Belen began asking her children open-ended questions instead of 'How was your day' - leading to positive results with her 17-year-old son and her 9 and 7-year-old daughters Her video regarding her open-ended questions has received almost 100,000 likes on TikTok. Yamel continues to stay active on social media, and has posted several family photos on Instagram The method worked wonders with her children - primarily her 17-year-old son and her 9 and 7-year-old daughters. She passed on her parenting advice on TikTok, in a video that has since received almost 100,000 likes. And these are her top five questions every parent should ask instead of: 'How was school?' First, she advised asking: 'What made you smile today?' Another way to start a conversation might be: 'Who did you sit next to at lunch?' Continuing to question three, she said: 'Did you see any acts of kindness today and, if so, what were they?' Turning that around, she suggested asking: 'Did you see any acts of people being unkind and, if so, what did that look like?' Finally, she suggested question five could be: 'What part of the day made you super happy?' She also provided some prompt suggestions: 'Was it recess? Was it lunchtime? Was it when you walked in your teacher's classroom and they told you about their weekend?' Yamel explained that these questions are open-ended - meaning they don't have a yes or no answer - leaving room for a more detailed, nuanced response. Jeremy Bohannon, along with his wife Lisett Bohannon, were curious to see how these questions would help communication with their 8-year-old daughter, Billie, and 10-year-old son Kingston A mom from Austin, Texas, decided to put these alternative questions to the test with her 8-year-old daughter, Billie. Lisett Bohannon discussed what happened after she replaced the question, 'How was school?' with 'What did you do during recess?' 'She's running an entire business on the playground,' she said in a TikTok video. 'She's been running this bracelet business, and she has employees - she charges her other classmates,' Lisett continued. Jeremy, Lisett's husband, appeared to be just as shocked in the video, and even stated that their daughter is 'doing better than us.' The couple also tried the method out with their 10-year-old son Kingston, and said they learned much more about his life. Lisett said: 'My husband and I really care about what our kids are doing, especially when we're not around them.' US-based stylist Carly took to TikTok to give advice about daily beauty routines If your locks are looking a little lackluster, it might be time to rethink your beauty routine. US-based hairstylist Carly recently took to TikTok to reveal how your hair care items might actually be doing more harm than good. The expert warned against the four major mistakes to avoid - from overusing dry shampoo to buying the wrong growth supplements - and urged followers to adopt healthier habits instead. Her viewers were quick to heap on the praise as one joked: 'Why didn't they teach us this in school.' US-based hairstylist Carly recently took to TikTok to reveal how your hair care items might actually be doing more harm than good Never put oil onto your hair before applying heat In the clip, which has so far been viewed more than 252,700 times, Carly began by introducing herself as a licensed hairstylist who 'helps women grow and heal their hair.' She then launched into her list of common mistakes and started off by discussing Olaplex's Number Seven Bonding Oil. Pointing to an image of the product behind her, the content creator said: 'I'm sure you're all familiar with this right here - and, if you're not, I'm sure you're familiar with hair oil in general. 'I can almost guarantee that all of you have used oil on your hair before applying heat. 'This literally destroys your hair if you apply any type of oil before applying hot tools or a blow dryer, you are killing your hair. The content creator launched into her list of common mistakes and started off by discussing Olaplex's Number Seven Bonding Oil 'So I want all of you to vow to me and yourselves right now that you will never do this again. 'If you apply oil before applying a hot tool you are literally frying your hair in oil the same way you would fry fried food.' She jokingly advised: 'Don't treat you hair like McDonald's chicken nuggets.' Offering an alternative, the expert explained: 'Instead, save the oil for last or only use oil as a treatment before you wash your hair. 'But if you are using oil make sure it is the last product you apply and use a cream or spray or aerosol [that's] heat protected instead of an oil-based one.' Stop overusing dry shampoo Carly wasted little time before launching into her next insight. 'Number two, overusing dry shampoo. I get it you're oily, you want volume. Your roots are feeling a little sticky,' she said. 'Using dry shampoo too often and too much of it is actually clogging your hair follicles. 'This can lead to extreme hair loss and when you have clogged hair follicles, they cannot function properly meaning your hair cannot grow properly. 'So if you're experiencing hair loss, maybe a lot of shedding, this could be the culprit. Instead of overusing dry shampoo, why don't we just get to the root of the oil in the first place. 'Stop trying to hide it, crazy concept I know...' Carly began by introducing herself as a licensed hairstylist who 'helps women grow and heal their hair' Elaborating on a more long-term solution, the stylist revealed: 'So here's what you're gonna do. You're going to balance the pH of your scalp at least once a week. '"But Carly how do you do that?" So you are going to dilute pure apple cider vinegar and you're going to apply it on your scalp. 'Leave it on for at least 15 minutes and then rinse it out. 'Just like everywhere else on your body, your scalp has a pH level and lots of things can cause it to be imbalanced - hair products, your fingers when you run your hands through your hair, the type of water you have - hard or soft - sweat, dead skin cells... The list goes on.' She concluded: 'When you keep your scalp balanced, you won't feel like you struggle with as much oil.' Avoid buying random hair growth supplements The stylist had yet more tips up her sleeve, as she continued: 'Number three, buying whatever hair growth supplement you see at the drugstore that catches your eye. No, please no. 'I feel like we all get so label happy and we just believe like whatever the label says. '"Oh this will grow my hair? Great." But the US actually has super loose terms when it comes to [Food and Drug Administration] regulations. 'That's why the UK bans over 1,000 ingredients going into beauty products and the US bans less than 30. Her own go-to hair growth supplement, which she regularly recommends, is Vitamo's Biotin and Collagen Veggie Capsules 'So that's why being educated is so important. If you're looking for the proper hair grow supplement you need to make sure that it contains the vitamins your hair needs. 'A lot of the times these supplements have unnecessary additives and things like that and they're literally doing nothing for you, or they'll have the vitamins your hair needs. Four major hair mistakes to avoid Never put oil onto your hair before applying heat Stop overusing dry shampoo Avoid buying random hair growth supplements Steer clear of shampooing your ends Advertisement 'But there won't be enough of that vitamin so its not going to do anything and you're still going to be in a deficiency.' Going into further detail, Carly said: 'So what's crazy is over 90 per cent of people have vitamin deficiency... 'You're literally more likely to have a vitamin deficiency than not. That's crazy. 'So by making sure you're using the proper hair growth supplement with important vitamins like vitamin C, vitamin D, collagen, hyaluronic acid, iron, the list goes on... 'You're going to notice such a difference in your hair, your scalp, hair growth - all of the above.' Her own go-to hair growth supplement, which she regularly recommends, is Vitamo's Biotin and Collagen Veggie Capsules. 'I actually just had someone comment on one of my videos saying that they have all this baby hairs since using this product, which makes me so happy because we love results,' she said. Steer clear of shampooing your ends The fourth and final mistake she identifies is 'shampooing your ends.' Carly explained: 'I told one of my clients this once and she was like "what are you talking about?" 'But here's the thing, shampoo is a scalp product. It is not made for your ends. 'Your conditioner is made for your ends. Your shampoo is made for your scalp. 'So by running your shampoo all the way through your ends every time you wash your hair you're stripping your hair of its natural nutrients and you're completely adding to its dryness. 'So if you get really tangly out of the shower or maybe your hair is just really dry no matter what you do, it could be because you're putting your shampoo through your ends, so stop doing that today.' Many hair enthusiasts that watched Carly's video were thankful for her tips and flocked to her comments to shower her with praise Adding further insight, she said that it was best to buy products specifically based on hair type which comes down to hair porosity - a measurement of the hair's ability to absorb and hold moisture. Those with low porosity hair need to avoid protein and use water based products. Inversely, those with high porosity need to add protein treatments. Many hair enthusiasts that watched Carly's video were thankful for her tips and flocked to her comments to shower her with praise. One person wrote: 'Why didn't they teach us this in school instead of [trigonometry].' Another commentator added: 'This explains a lot about my dead hair.' Other also shared their own tips as one said they already 'apply oil after' and another said: 'For my vitamins, I use multi-vitamins only.' The parents of Britain's largest family have made a touching tribute to their late son - Alfie Radford. Taking to Instagram, Sue and Noel Radford from Morecambe, Lancashire, shared a post in memory of their son Alfie- the couple's 17th child who was still born on July 6th, 2014, after his heartbeat could no longer be found during the three-month scan. The parents of 22 children posted an emotional image of their son's grave decorated with bouquets of flowers as part of the #waveoflight on social media to mark the end of Baby Loss Awareness week. Sue, 48, and Noel, 52, also shared an image of Alfie's name written out in candles alongside a picture of their late child's hand. Following the poignant images, fans flocked to the comment section to support to the Radford family. In an emotional post, Sue and Noel Radford from Morecambe, Lancashire shared an image of their 17th child's grave (pictured) Taking to social media, Sue and Noel wrote: 'Wave of light 2023. Forever our missing heartbeat. Alfie Thomas Radford #waveoflight.' Alfie has remained an important part of the family- and they regularly share posts of the family visiting the grave. On this occasion, the Radford's remembered Alfie by placing flowers at his grave. The post also shared an image of the late child next to his name spelled out in candlelight with a love heart. Social media users flocked to the comment section to pay their respects to the family. One wrote: 'I know I'm a complete stranger, but I am so moved by the way you always remember and include your lovely baby boy. All power to you, all of you.' A second added: 'Sue and Noel you will NEVER forget your baby Alfie, hes with his grandparents in heaven.' A third remarked: 'Sending love to you all. Baby Alfie will always be remembered! I hope they are all dancing in the sky having the best time waiting for the day we can hold them again!' Sue, 48, and Noel, 52, also shared an image of Alfie's name written out in candles alongside a picture of the late child (pictured) Social media users took to the comment section to offer some support and well wishes to the Radford family Another said: 'Sending love and prayers to your family.' It comes after the family enjoyed some special news as Millie Radford announced the birth of her third child, a bouncing baby girl named Elodie-Jade. The 22-year-old from Britain's biggest family The Radfords, shared the news with a series of adorable snaps on her Instagram page. The mother-of-three from from Morecambe, Lancashire, who is already a proud mother to son, Chester and daughter, Ophelia, revealed her 'perfect new addition' came in weighing at 7lb 10z. The glowing mum posed in a pool of water with her partner Harley, suggesting she may have delivered her daughter via water birth. The parents of 22 lost their 17th child who was still born on July 6th, 2014, after the baby's heartbeat could no longer be found during the three-month scan. Pictured above with their children He mum Sue was right by her side for moral support - suggesting the pair had ended their feud. Her new bundle of joy delighted fans, as some took to the comments section to declare she was 'beautiful', while one person said she was the 'perfect little princess'. Taking to Instagram, Millie wrote: 'Our perfect new addition. Elodie-Jade weighing 7.10lb. Born 19/09/23'. The Radford Family were among the first to leave a comment, as they penned a gushing tribute to the little one. They wrote: 'Aww Millie shes just so beautiful. Im so proud of you, you did amazing bringing her into the world. Thank you so much for asking me to be with you. Love you'. The sweet message seems to have been written directly by her mum, and comes after the two seemingly ended their 'feud' last month. Sue announced the update took to her 516,000 followers during her holiday in Florida. The mother and daughter were thought to have fallen out around two weeks before Millie announced her third pregnancy. Sue wrote on an Instagram story to mark her daughter turning 22: 'Happy birthday @millieradfordd. We hope you have the best day today, we love you. 'Can't wait to see you when we get home. Also can't believe there will be another little princess to add to this picture next year!' Along with the statement, she shared a sweet snap of Millie with her two children, Ophelia Jo and Chester Bleu. The birthday post marks the first time Sue has mentioned Millie since April after they reportedly fell out. The 22-year-old, previously accused parents Sue and Noel of 'making money' from their grandchildren. In a surprise Instagram story she has since deleted, Millie came out against her mother Sue - leading fans to believe the formerly close mother-and-daughter were feuding. She was reacting to a YouTube vlog that Sue advertised on social media, where the mother-of-22 surprised her daughter Sophie's children, Daisy, ten, Ayprill, eight, and Leo, seven, with a trip to Disneyworld. The Danish monarchy suffered a difficult autumn last year after being rocked by a row over titles. But it seems the issue is water under the bridge if Prince Joachim and his family's appearance at Prince Christian's 18th birthday gala is anything to go by. The youngest son of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark openly criticised the monarch after she decided to strip his children of their royal titles last September - but he appeared to be all smiles when attending the glitzy party in Copenhagen last night. Dressed in all his finery, Joachim, 54, was joined at the Christiansborg Palace by his wife Princess Marie, 47, and their children Count Henrik of Monzepat, 14, and Countess Athena of Monpezat, 11. Count Felix of Monpezat, 21, Joachim's second eldest son from his first marriage, was also at the event. Prince Joachim and Princess Marie of Denmark with Count Felix of Monpezat, Count Henrik of Monzepat and Countess Athena of Monpezat Felix's older brother, Count Nikolai of Monpezat, 24, remained in Australia, where he is studying, but did mark his cousin's birthday with a sweet Instagram story. Sharing a throwback image of him and Christian arm wrestling 13 years ago during a palace balcony appearance, Nikolai wrote: 'Funny how time flies... Happy 18th Christian! Hope everyone celebrates you just as you deserve.' While Joachim's family attended the glitzy gala among other European royals such as Princess Victoria of Sweden, they didn't appear on the palace balcony earlier in the day. Instead, Christian was joined by his grandmother Queen Margrethe, his parents Princess Mary and Prince Frederik and his siblings Princess Isabella, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine. This wasn't the first Danish Royal Family event Joachim and his wife have attended; the couple were present at the Queen's New Year's banquet. Count Nikolai recently opened up about his grandmother's decision to strip him and his siblings of their princely titles. The 24-year-old, who was stripped of his HRH status in January, has admitted that the monarch's shock move last autumn continues to be 'a touchy subject' and 'bit weird still'. Queen Margrethe's bombshell decision made headlines around the world and caused a bitter row within the Danish Royal Household after her youngest son Prince Joachim spoke out against the move to change his children's titles. The Danish monarchy suffered a difficult autumn last year after being rocked by a row over titles. But it seems the issue is water under the bridge if Prince Joachim and his family's appearance at Prince Christian's 18th birthday gala is anything to go by. Pictured, Queen Margrethe II Prince Joachim and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway speak during Prince Christian's 18th birthday celebration Count Felix (L) and Princess Elisabeth of Belgium at the gala dinner in Copenhagen last night Queen Margrethe of Denmark and Princess Marie, with Prince Joachim and his children on April 30, 2022 in Fredensborg The monarch later issued an apology and admitted she had 'underestimated' the impact of her actions but said it was 'a long time coming'. She said the decision was intended to allow Nikolai and his siblings to enjoy normal lives without royal obligations. In an interview with Australia's 9Honey, Sydney-based Nikolai admitted: 'Not that I had any formal responsibilities before, but now I am officially free of them anyway... I think in the future I will be freer, but I've never felt limited before.' The count, who is seventh in line to the Danish throne and quickly gaining a profile as a successful model, is studying at the University of Technology Sydney for a semester. But while he's moved on from his life in Denmark for the moment, he admitted Queen Margrethe's decision is 'still quite a touchy subject'. Asked if he was hurt by the announcement, he told the publication: 'I wouldn't say hurt, and it's not my intention to stir the pot in any way. I think it's just a bit weird still, I still have to get used to it.' He added that while his new title hasn't changed anything yet, he believes it will 'make a difference' in the future. Denmark's Prince Christian reacts as he delivers a speech during the gala for his 18th birthday at the Christiansborg Castle in Copenhagen The birthday boy's mother, Mary, 51, who is married to Prince Frederik , the heir apparent to the Danish throne, put on a dazzling display in the diamond tiara she wore on her wedding day in 2004 Denmark's Prince Christian and Crown Prince Frederik hug after he delivered his speech Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark with Prince Christian, Princess Isabella, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine Looking effortlessly elegant, Princess Mary (pictured right) opted for a gem-encrusted blue gown from Danish designer Jesper Hvring and a pair of shimmering diamond drop earrings When asked about his relationship with his paternal grandmother, the count, whose mother is Prince Joachim's first wife Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg, said it isn't formal and is 'very normal, very casual... nice.' He also insisted he is on good terms with his aunt and uncle, Crown Princess Mary and heir to the Danish throne Prince Frederik. Amid the royal title row, Prince Joachim admitted his relationship with his brother Prince Frederik is 'complicated'. It was a tumultuous year for the Danish Royal Family after the monarch controversially took the HRH titles from Prince Joachim's children, including Countess Athena, 11, Count Felix, 20, and Count Henrik, 13. They are now Counts and Countess and referred to as Their Excellencies - and in January this year the Danish Royal Family updated their website to show the new status. Out of a title: The four grandchildren who are no longer TRHs Nikolai of Denmark, 24: The Copenhagen Business School student and model regularly tops lists of the world's most eligible bachelors. He lives in Sydney now but has jetted around the world to walk for designers in Paris and London. Nikolai has also appeared on the cover of Vogue Scandinavia. Felix of Denmark, 20: Following in his brother's footsteps, Prince Felix has also had success as a model and has starred in an advertising campaign for Georg Jensen. He had a short stint at the Royal Danish Military Academy but quit after two months because it 'wasn't for him'. Henrik, 13, and Athena, 11, of Denmark: The youngest of Prince Joachim's four children, Henrik and Athena are the product of his second marriage to Princess Marie. Advertisement The Queen insisted the move will be 'good for them in their future' and allow the children - who have maintained their positions in the line of succession - to 'shape their own lives without being limited by the special considerations and duties' that a formal affiliation with the Danish Royal Family involves. Soon after his grandmother's move to strip him and his siblings of their titles 'for their own good', Count Nikolai said that he was sad, shocked and confused. 'My whole family and I are of course very sad. We are, as my parents have also stated, in shock at this decision and at how quickly it has actually gone,' he told Danish newspaper Extrabladet. 'I am very confused as to why it has to happen like this,' he told reporters from outside the Copenhagen apartment where he lived with his girlfriend at the time. Countess Alexandra, mother to Count Nikolai and Count Felix, was also 'very sad' and 'shocked' about the decision. 'She can't believe why and why now, because there's no good reason,' Helle von Wildenrath Lvgreen, press secretary to Countess Alexandra told CNN. 'They would lose their titles anyway when they get married one day. Her sons are young men so maybe they might get married in the near future so why shouldn't it wait until that day so that the titles would disappear on a happy day?' Prince Joachim told Ekstra Bladet that his children had been 'hurt' by the decision - and claimed he had only been given a few days to break the news to them before the announcement was made publicly. Prince Joachim, the brother of Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, is now married to Princess Marie of Denmark. Speaking in a televised New Year's address, Queen Margrethe admitted: 'That the relationship with Prince Joachim and (his wife) Princess Marie has run into difficulties hurts me. 'Difficulties and disagreements can arise in any family, including mine. The whole country has witnessed this.' She added that she was 'sure that the family can enter the new year together with confidence, understanding and new courage'. Prince Joachim and Princess Marie and their two children recently relocated to Washington D.C, where the prince is working as a Defence Industry Attache at the Danish embassy following a similar posting to Paris. A woman, who discovered a two-stone tumour in her uterus says she feels like 'Frankenstein's monster' following life-saving surgery that left her with a bottom-shaped pouch on her stomach. Friends of Sarah Haslam, 44, believed she was expecting another child as she appeared to be nine-months pregnant. However, following weeks of tests, it was discovered that Sarah had uterine fibroids, non-cancerous growths on the uterus. The full-time carer underwent surgery 18 months later to remove the two-stone mass at Royal Oldham Hospital - but has been left with a seven-inch scar spanning the length of her abdomen. She said: 'I looked pregnant with a nine-month-old tumour. My scar looks like Frankenstein's monster. I can't even go swimming with my grandson. I still don't leave my house without people.' Sarah Haslam feels like 'Frankenstein's monster' following life-saving surgery to remove a two-stone tumour in her uterus Sarah, from Radcliffe, knew something wasn't right when she experienced an eight-week long period in February 2019. Following a check-up with the GP and an ultrasound scan, uterine fibroids - commonly known as 'fibro tumours' - were found in her uterus. Since they were small in size, Sarah was given a coil to reduce the amount of bleeding they caused. The mother-of-three explained: 'I was spending so much money on sanitary towels. 'I was wearing two or three sanitary towels at a time and buying them in bulk. This one time I was wearing white jeans and it looked like a murder scene. I felt bloated and incredibly weak. I couldn't leave my house, I had a puddle at my feet sometimes.' However, the coil failed to prevent the bleeding, and Sarah was left in 'excruciating' pain later suffering a seizure at home. 'After bleeding for 32 days straight, I knew something wasn't right. I'd never had a seizure, it was terrifying,' she said. Sarah was rushed to Royal Oldham Hospital, where doctors discovered the tumour was degenerating, causing sepsis and pneumonia. Friends of the 44-year-old believed she was expecting another child as she appeared to be nine-months pregnant Sarah before she developed uterine fibrosis, a non-cancerous growth on the uterus The mother-of-three previously had an active lifestyle (pictured with her grandson) She stayed here for two weeks in order to prevent the infection from spreading further - and continued to be in and out of hospital with fibroid complications over the following nine months. What are uterine fibroids? Uterine fibroids are non-cancerous growths that develop in or around the womb (uterus). The growths are made up of muscle and fibrous tissue, and vary in size. They're sometimes known as uterine myomas or leiomyomas. Many women are unaware they have fibroids because they do not have any symptoms. Women who do have symptoms (around 1 in 3) may experience: Heavy periods or painful periods Tummy (abdominal) pain Lower back pain A frequent need to urinate Constipation Pain or discomfort during sex In rare cases, further complications caused by fibroids can affect pregnancy or cause infertility. Source: NHS Advertisement At this point, the worried carer could see the tumour on her uterus was growing. More than 18 months after diagnosis, doctors finally decided to surgically remove the tumour. Sarah explained: 'I felt incredibly heavy, but so weak. I never left the house because I didn't want people to ask questions. 'My daughters were really worried about my health. I was in constant pain, and I looked pregnant. I had to explain to people that I was carrying a tumour, not a baby.' The tumour caused the 44-year-old's weight to drop by seven stone - going from a size 12 to a size 4 - and in order to save her life, Sarah's entire womb was removed during a six-hour hysterectomy in December 2021. While the procedure left her with a seven-inch scar across the length of her abdomen, Sarah has returned to her normal weight. She said: 'I felt incredibly weak after the operation. I was in the hospital for three days before being sent home. It took me 12 months to gradually put the weight on and heal. I finally felt myself again. 'But I was left with a scar like Frankenstein. My self-esteem is completely destroyed. My friends say that I've changed, I've lost all my confidence. It's a huge knock to my self-esteem.' Outraged passengers were left stranded in Tenerife last night after easyJet cancelled a delayed flight to London Gatwick because a customer 'defecated on the toilet floor'. Footage shared online and to MailOnline show pieces of toilet paper littering the aeroplane's walkway, while another captures the pilot explaining that the flight has been cancelled. The clip begins during his speech, with the pilot saying: 'rather entertaining to defecate the front toilet so we're now staying the night here, we're now going to get everyone off... and organise hotels then we'll fly back tomorrow morning.' Flight EZY8054, which was scheduled to depart on Sunday at 20.05 and arrive in the British capital at 00.20, had already been delayed several hours before it was eventually cancelled. Passengers are now expected to board flight 9954 to London at 3pm today - after easyJet admitted it was 'unable to find hotel rooms in the area', forcing customers to sort out their own last-minute accommodation for the night. Outraged passengers were left stranded in Tenerife last night after easyJet cancelled a delayed flight (pictured) to London Gatwick because a customer 'defecated on the toilet floor' Speaking to FEMAIL, one passenger, who didn't want to be named, explained how the flight went from bad to worse, with customers firstly moved from one aeroplane to another. The second aeroplane was said to be smaller 'so it was absolute chaos', according to the passenger, who explained how people were offered 500 vouchers if they volunteered to leave the flight. 'No one took it,' said the passenger. 'So then they had to remove ten people from the plane, which caused lots of arguing, and that literally took two hours. 'But then once they got those ten people off, the plane was heavy because we were at full capacity. So then they were randomly putting our luggage on other people's flights to Gatwick, and that took hours again.' People then started to notice the toilet situation, with the passenger saying the 'whole incident was handled really poorly, because it could have genuinely been an accident. 'We had loads of issues with our flight... so someone could have literally just accidentally s*** themselves.' Following the cancellation, easyJet also admitted that it was 'unable to find hotel rooms in the area'. A statement on the company's website regarding the flight tracking information said: 'Due to extremely high demand, unfortunately we're unable to find hotel rooms in the area. Footage shared online (pictured) and to MailOnline show pieces of toilet paper littering the aeroplane's walkway, while another captures the pilot explaining that the flight has been cancelled 'If you need a hotel room and are able to make your own arrangements, we'll refund the cost of a reasonably priced room, meals and travel costs to and from your hotel. 'In this case we ask that you look for accommodation which is about three stars or equivalent.' After revealing the new flight details, easyJet added: 'Once again, we're very sorry for the disruption to your travel plans.' However, it wasn't enough to satisfy the outraged customers who had apparently been left on the flight with 'zero communication' before it was cancelled. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), one person wrote: 'Real good of @easyJet to delay the flight 3.5 hours with 0 communication then decide to cancel it altogether because someone took a s*** on the toilet floor. Quite literally couldnt make this s*** up.' Reaction: However, it wasn't enough to satisfy the outraged customers who had apparently been left on the flight with 'zero communication' before it was cancelled Another said: 'How is it OK to leave people sitting for hours on a plane, then tell them its been cancelled, in the middle of the night in a different country?' A third added: 'So weve been given the excuse of a toilet being defecated in for the reason for a CANCELLED flight?! '@easyjet this is UNACCEPTABLE!! Your customer care is ATROCIOUS. 100s of passengers left STRANDED in the airport terminal! Do something!!!!' A fourth individual also thought to have been booked on the flight said: 'Utterly disgusting treatment of your customers. 'Abandoned in a foreign country, no staff available to support at 3am when we were cancelled. Now no repayment as a Booking.com receipt isn't good enough. Never, never again.' A spokesperson for easyJet told MailOnline: 'easyJet can confirm that flight EZY8054 from Tenerife to London Gatwick yesterday evening was initially delayed while some bags were offloaded to be carried on the next available flight for safety reasons, due to the aircraft being overweight. 'The flight was subsequently delayed overnight due to the aircraft requiring additional cleaning. We provided hotel accommodation for all customers however as there was limited nearby hotel availability in the area we also advised any customers who booked their own that they will be reimbursed. 'The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is easyJets highest priority and while this was outside of our control we would like to apologise to customers for the inconvenience caused.' Mickey Mouse has been a symbol of joy and delight for 100 years now - with Disney celebrating its centennial this year. However, few may know the bizarrely dark storylines in which the beloved cartoon mouse has been embroiled in over the years. For instance, 93 years ago, American cartoonist Floyd Gottfredson pictured a whole week's worth of daily comics in which the rodent tried to take his own life after being rejected by Minnie. Thankfully Mickey's attempts are all foiled by various quirky circumstances or silly gags - such as finding the water too cold to drown in, or being unable to configure how he can operate the shotgun. He eventually decides that he does want to live, and ditches his suicide plot. According to some reports, the sombre arc was suggested by none other than Walt Disney himself, writes Comics Alliance. Mickey Mouse (pictured in film stills in 1992) has been a symbol of joy and delight for 100 years now, as Disney this year celebrated its centennial Game Informer says the founder even pushed the tale into production, and Mouse Planet recounts that it's likely Harold Lloyd's Haunted Spooks - where the protagonist comically tries to kill himself in a series of slapstick attempts - could have served as the inspiration. The comic strips were initially launched in 1930, after being suggested in 1929, following the success of the Mickey Mouse animations. It initially included art from Ub Iwerks - famous for being Walt's business partner and an incredible animator - but he left the company, leading to Floyd Gottfredson's taking over the comic strips. They also included other harrowing storylines. In one - also from 1930 - Mickey created a home-made plane so he and Minnie can enjoy a flight. Things however quickly go wrong as his girlfriend falls from the contraption and the mouse has to brave the stormy elements, only to end up on a desolate island where the inhabitants want to eat him. Elsewhere, Mickey must face off two thugs who kidnap Minnie in order to track down a hidden gold mine belonging to her uncle. In a Medium blogpost titled The Dark Side of Mickey, writer Jasmin James also revealed how, despite being a mouse, Mickey was often depicted joking and taking part in animal cruelty. She references one comic in which he gets so irritated that a race horse he put a bet on didn't deliver, he hits out that it's 'not even worth sending to the glue factory'. Another blogger, The Journal of Cartoon Overanalyzations, pointed out that Mickey's mistreatment of other creatures goes beyond the comic strips - which saw him twist up a wiener dog to act as a motor of a plane propeller. The comic strips were initially launched in 1930, after being suggested in 1929, following the success of the Mickey Mouse animations. It initially included art from Ub Iwerks The post recounts the notorious Steamboat Willie animation, where Mickey begins to use animals as musical instruments. 'This goes beyond animal cruelty,' the author writes. 'Mickey swings a cat by its tail and throws it off the boat. He then finds several baby pigs suckling on their mama. 'He picks up the mama pig and forcefully shakes off all but one of her babies. He then kicks the last baby off the mama pig and begins to squeeze her teats as if she were an accordion!' The iconic Mickey had its origins in a cartoon called Hungry Hobos, which was made in 1928 and was only found in 2011. The Disney cartoon featured a character who was the prototype for Mickey Mouse and was later discovered in a British film archive. The black-and-white footage features Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and was drawn shortly before the character was abandoned and turned into Mickey Mouse that same year. Mickey first debuted in the film 'Steamboat Willie,' premiered at what was then the Colony Theatre on Broadway on November 18, 1928. One of the first cartoons to use synchronised sound and music, the film would make Mickey a star. He has appeared in more than 130 films next to his girlfriend Minnie Mouse, dog Pluto and friends Donald Duck and Goofy, among others. It comes as today, Disney - the firm started by Walt Disney in the United States in 1923 - celebrates its 100th anniversary. And a small village in Lincolnshire - which Walt visited in 1949 during a trip to the UK - is celebrating its historic link with the super firm. While in the country to supervise the filming of Treasure Island 74 years ago, the founder made his way to Norton Disney to trace his distant ancestry. Walt Disney is seen with his wife Lillian in the 1950s. The couple were married for more than 40 years Accompanied by his wife and children, he found the family crest of his reputed ancestor Sir William d'Isney, on the 14th-century figure's tomb in Norton Disney's St Peter's Church. As a tribute to Walt's discovery, those three lions have featured in the famous title sequence of every Disney film since 2006. A flag bearing the crest is seen fluttering at the top of Sleeping Beauty's castle in the short clip and has been reproduced at Disneyland parks across the world since 1965. Speaking from St Peter's Church, which dates back to the 11th century, historian and Disney expert Sebastien Durand told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme: 'This is the oldest place in England where you can find a trace of Disney, of Walt Disney's history and his family tree and even his coat of arms.' He added that there is a '99 per cent' possibility that Disney's name originates with from the French family memorialised in St Peter's Church. Walt made his visit to Norton Disney with his wife Lillian and daughters Diane and Sharon on July 7, 1949. At the time, his firm was already hugely popular for films including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Fantasia, which starred the much loved Mickey Mouse. Walt, who was aware that his great-grandfather was Irish, had heard that there was a village named after Disney and so wanted to explore further. His visit was filmed with a cine camera. The footage shows him with his family outside the church and speaking with the vicar at the time, Reverend RK Roper. They also pose by Norton Disney road signs and walk down the main road. Inside St Peter's Church, Walt saw William d'Isney's crest, which showed three lions facing left - the symbol of Normandy. According to the BBC, their name then changed over the centuries, first to d'Isgny and then to D'Iseny, before finally becoming Disney in around the 13th or 14th centuries. In 1965, Walt wanted to add a coat of arms to Sleeping Beauty's castle to mark the 10th anniversary of Disneyland. He was asked if there was a Disney crest and recalled how he saw it in Norton Disney. Pictures of it were taken so it could be reproduced in California and at Disney's other parks. Netflix's decision to allow Princess Diana's ghost to appear in front of her ex-husband Prince Charles and the late Queen in The Crown has left Prince William 'totally sickened', according to a friend of the royal. Set to air next month, Diana, 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 London-based show. However, news of a phantom Diana on Netflix has left Prince William feeling 'totally sickened', Daily Beast reports. A close friend of the royal father-of-three told the publication it is 'incredibly hurtful' for the Prince to 'have his mother exploited over and over again in this tawdry fashion'. The anonymous friend added that the heir to the throne will not be watching the show, but will be 'totally sickened' by it, nonetheless. Prince William is 'totally sickened' following the announcement that Princess Diana will be depicted as a ghost in the latest season of The Crown. Pictured above is Princess Diana in season four of the series As the final series of the royal drama is set to revive Diana in spiritual form, another source close to Queen Elizabeth told the publication they were thankful that Her late Majesty hadn't been around to hear about it. Elsewhere, the source claimed the Prince of Wales is 'angry' with his brother Harry over his association with the streaming giant, which he believes has 'ruthlessly exploited' his family. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have now made several projects with Netflix, including their explosive six-part docuseries Harry & Meghan, which aired last December and levelled accusations at the royal family. The couple also narrated the Live to Lead series about inspirational leaders including US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In August of this year, Prince Harry, 39, released Heart of Invictus, which was filmed during the Invictus Games 2022 at The Hague in The Netherlands. It comes after 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. He also said Charles would stay silent on the portrayal, but Princes William and Harry could speak out. 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'. William (pictured above in August 1987 with his mother) will not be watching the series, according to Daily Beast William's friend also told the publication that the heir to the British throne is 'angry' at Prince Harry as he continued to work with the streaming service who have 'ruthlessly exploited' his family Mr Fitzwilliams said: 'It is going to be a controversial series anyway 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. '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. The series is set to include a scene where Diana, played by Elizabeth Debicki , will have an emotional reconciliation with a grieving Charles, played by Dominic West 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.' In addition, Mr Ede 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.' 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. '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.' 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'. FEMAIL has contacted Harrods is selling a takeaway beef sandwich for 28 making it one of the most expensive sarnies in Britain. The Wagyu Steak sandwich contains Wagyu beef, most likely to have been imported from Japan, with porcini, gold mustard mayonnaise, mushrooms, rocket, braised onions and truffle butter. Truffle, which is one of the most expensive ingredients worldwide, typically costs between 65p and 1 per gram perhaps explaining the high price tag of the sandwich. In comparison, a roast beef and horseradish mayo sarnie from M&S costs 4, meaning customers could buy seven of them for the same amount as the Harrods offering. The Wagyu Steak is available to purchase from the food hall at Harrods' flagship store in Knightsbridge, west London. Harrods is selling a takeaway beef sandwich for 28 making it one of the most expensive sarnies in Britain Food shoppers can also purchase Wagyu Katso 'Sandos' (Japanese for sandwich) for the same price. These sarnies are filled with deep-fried Wagyu ribeye, measuring approximately four by three inches, along with mushroom ketchup, BBQ sauce and white cabbage. It comes after Pret a Manger found itself in the firing line for selling a 7.15 baguette. The Posh Cheddar and Pickle Baguette contains mature cheddar, chunky pickle, roasted tomatoes, sliced red onion, free-range mayo and mustard cress, wrapped in stone-baked bread. Customers reacted with dismay on social media as the eye-watering 'dine in' price for the chain's 'posh' sandwich was snapped at a London tube station branch. The baguette costs 5.95 at transport hub stations to take away and, when coupled with a 1.75 bag of crisps and a 5 green smoothie for a full lunch, costs 12.70. To eat it in store, the chain then levies a 1.20 VAT charge on the sandwich taking its price up to 7.15, and the total deal to 13.90. The price of the sub falls by more than 20 per cent to 5.72, including VAT, for those signed up to the 30-a-month Club Pret membership who want to eat in. Pret a Manger recently found itself in the firing line for selling a 7.15 cheese and pickle baguette Sophie Gallagher was 'fully tipped over the edge' by the price tag and argued that she was not in an airport or major travel hub. Her tweet went viral on X, formerly Twitter, with more than 1.4million views and 320 comments. She wrote: 'What the f*** is happening here.' Before adding: 'I want it to own a country estate for that money.' Many quipped about its 'posh' name tag, while others simply said she should have gone to Greggs instead. A Pret spokesman said: 'Prices of our products are typically higher at train stations or transport hubs, due to higher operational costs, and like all food-to-go retailers, dine in prices are subject to 20 per cent VAT, as is the case with the price quoted here for our Posh Cheddar Baguette. 'The vast majority (87 per cent) of our sales in the UK are for takeaway, so most customers are not subject to the additional 20 per cent VAT. 'Like all businesses, we are facing intense cost pressures, which we are trying to absorb as much as possible. We continue to offer great value for high-quality, freshly made food and organic coffees, alongside a dedicated value range of sandwiches, Made Simple. 'We also recently doubled the Club Pret discount to help customers save even more, so subscribers now enjoy 20 per cent off everything in shop and up to five barista prepared drinks per day for 30 per month.' Ben Fogle got choked up as he read the tragic final diary entry of Captain Robert F. Scott before the legendary explorer froze to death on his return from the South Pole. The presenter, 49, read the entries of the explorer, who led two expeditions to the Antarctic, as he and adventurer Dwayne Fields recreated the Terra Nova Expedition from 1910-1913, The emotional moment appeared in tonight's episode of Endurance: Race to the Pole which aired at 9pm on Channel 5. Both Ben and Dwayne became visibly emotional as they camped out in the blistering cold storm and read the legendary explorer's final written words, penned on the last leg of their fatal trip back to base camp from South Pole - which they were beaten to by the Norwegian Roald Amundsen. Scott and two other men - Edward Wilson and Henry Bowers - froze to death as they attempted to wait out a nine day blizzard in 1912. The presenter, 49, joined adventurer Dwayne Fields - the first Black Briton to reach the North Pole - to recreate moments from the deadly Race to the Pole at the beginning of the 20th Century 'Scott is down on the ice shelf now and he knows the end is nigh,' Ben told the programme. 'And I'm now imagining Scott and Bowers and Wilson shivering in an identical tent. They are basically just counting down the hours to the end. I find it really poignant and really powerful - really wretched.' He choked up while reading Scott's final words on March 29, which read: 'Since the 21st we've had a continuous gale. We shall stick it out to the end but we're getting weaker. 'Of course the end cannot be far. It seems a pity but I do not think I can write more. For God's sake, look after our people.' Taking a deep breath after reading the moving passage, Ben added: 'Some may call him a failure. I think he was a bloody hero.' 'I have a whole new level of respect for them,' Dwayne added. Dwayne also opened up about his own personal understanding of how the adventurers must have been feeling as they made their bitter journey back, after losing the race to the South Pole. Ben Fogle (pictured) choked up as he read the tragic final diary entry of Captain Robert F. Scott - the legendary explorer led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions The third and final episode of the programme - covering the Terra Nova Expedition from 1910 to 1913 - airs tonight at 9pm. Pictured, the Terra Nova expedition at the South Pole with Roald Amundsen's tent in the background The Channel 5 documentary saw Ben and Dwayne not only recreate their favourite adventurers' journeys, but wear the same clothes, eat the same food and use the same Edwardian-era kits 'I remember my trip to the Pole. The entire time I was thinking of all those people that said "Dwayne, you can't, you won't." Who wouldn't help me fund it,' he said. 'I didn't want to go back and make them right. And I'm guessing that Scott and those men had people that doubted them and told them it's nonsense, it's a fool's errand. 'And now they - you know, imagine in their minds - they have to go back and say to everyone "you were right, I failed like you thought I would".' Captain Scott and his crew of 65 set off from Cardiff, Wales, in June 1910. In November 1911 Captain Scott, Lawrence Oates, Edward Wilson, Edgar Evans and Henry Bowers set off for the pole and reached it on January 17, 1912. They quickly discovered the Norwegian Roald Amundsen had beaten them to it by just 34 days. On their return journey the group endured dreadful conditions and died. Evans died after getting a concussion after falling at the base of the Beardmore Glacier. Dwayne (pictured) also opened up about his own personal understanding of how the adventurers must have been feeling as they made their bitter journey back Endurance: Race to the Pole with Ben Fogle concludes tonight at 9pm on Channel 5 . Watch all episodes on My5 Pictured: Robert Falcon Scott, 1868-1912, back row centre in balaclava, with members of the ill-fated Terra Nova expedition in 1912 Captain Lawrence Oates sacrificed himself after realising his slow pace, caused by frostbite. He had hauntingly walked out into a blizzard, before sharing his final words: 'I am just going outside and may be some time'. Later, the three men left were pinned down by a nine-day blizzard with limited fuel and food. They died around 29 March 1912, 150 days out from base and just 18 km (11 miles) from the nearest depot. Their deaths are blamed on poor planning by Scott, bad food supplies and unfortunate weather. He decided against using dogs to speed up his journey after a bad experience, and relied heavily on ponies, many of which died from exhaustion or being underfed. Scott also only planned to take three men with him on the final journey to the Pole, meaning he did not have enough food for the trip. The Channel 5 documentary saw Ben and Dwayne not only recreate their favourite adventurers' journeys, but wear the same clothes, eat the same food and use the same Edwardian-era kits. Endurance: Race to the Pole with Ben Fogle concluded tonight at 9pm on Channel 5. Watch all episodes on My5 TikTok users are lifting the lid on their money-saving tricks for getting their custom Starbucks drinks for cheap using the coffee chain's app. Sophia Celentano, 21, from South Carolina, shared her 'best coffee ordering hack' this month on TikTok, where she is known as @sophiacelentano48 and has more than 39,000 followers. The University of Virginia student, who went viral over the summer for commuting by plane to her internship, claimed she spent just $3.82 on her large customized iced latte. 'It feels illegal that I just got this coffee for $3. I feel like I've become a pro at getting the cheapest drinks possible at Starbucks,' she boasted at the start of the video. Sophia Celentano, 21, from South Carolina, revealed her hack for getting a large Starbucks iced latte for less than $4 on TikTok The University of Virginia student explained that you should use the Starbucks app to order an iced triple espresso in a venti cup with whatever cream and cold foam you want on top Celentano said the trick is to order an iced triple espresso in a venti cup on the Starbucks app with whatever cream and cold foam you want on top. She opted for a splash of oat milk and cinnamon sweet cream cold foam, according to the order she shared on the screen. The drink itself cost $3.25 and included the choice of milk while the cold foam was an additional $1.25. 'Usually, this drink ends up being right under $5,' she explained. 'But if you have 25 stars in your account, which really isn't that hard to get, you can customize your drink for free.' Starbucks rewards users earn one star per $1 dollar they spend when they scan their member barcode in the app. Since Celentano had 25 stars saved, she was able to get the cold foam for free. 'So this drink was literally less than $4, and I usually end up spending at least double that,' she said. 'I just love that you can customize this. You can use whatever creamer you want. You can add in whatever cold foams they have in stock. 'I've been switching back and forth between the cinnamon sweet cream one and the pumpkin cream one for fall. I am a bitter coffee girl, so I love the fact that this actually has a strong coffee taste with the espresso shots.' Celentano added that she is a Starbucks Rewards member and used the 25 stars she had earned to get the cold foam for free For someone who likes 'things that are more sweet,' she recommended getting 'the blonde roast instead of the signature roast.' 'Words can't describe,' she gushed, after taking a sip of her beverage. 'Honestly, I think this is better than a lot of their signature lattes that end up being $8. My life changed when I figured out this hack.' Celentano's video has been viewed more than 61,000 times and has received dozens of comments since it was posted on October 5. 'Ive been doing this for like 5 years and its literally my favorite way to get Starbs. Its definitely for people who like the coffee taste!' one fan responded. 'I tried this hack yesterday and loveddd it,' another added. Jade Leasy shared how she orders Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte for just $4 by getting a double espresso over ice in a venti cup with whole milk and pumpkin cream cold foam 'It's going to taste exactly like a pumpkin spice latte and you spent maybe $3.50, $3.75,' the content creator said And Celentano isn't the only Starbucks fan who has been touting this hack online. In August, Jade Leasy, who uses the handle @jadeleasy, celebrated the return of Starbucks' famous Pumpkin Spice Latte by sharing how she orders one for just $4. The price of a Pumpkin Spice Latte varies from market to market, and a venti-size drink ranges from $6.25 to $7.25, a company spokesperson told Insider. 'Normally a Starbucks latte with run you about $8,' Leasy explained at the start of her video. 'I get mine for $3.75 $4 max. 'Here's what I do. You're going to order two espresso shots over ice, okay? They're going to charge around $2.25-$2.50.' She noted that most people don't know that you can get up to four ounces of milk free of charge in your drink at the coffee chain. Many content creators have shared similar iced espresso orders over the years, claiming they cost $4 or less However, critics have argued that when they tried the hack for themselves, their venti cup was only filled halfway, or they ended up paying more than expected 'So I have them add whole milk in my drink, and then you're gonna ask for pumpkin sweet cream cold foam,' she added. 'It's going to taste exactly like a pumpkin spice latte and you spent maybe $3.50, $3.75.' TikTok users @tayangelique, @shopwitmee1, @heyitsash321 are also among the content creators who have shared similar iced espresso orders over the years, claiming they cost $4 or less. However, critics have argued that when they tried the hack for themselves, their venti cup was only filled halfway, or they ended up paying more than expected. Some Starbucks employees have also chimed in, saying the drink only looks like a venti because of the ice. 'We will give you half an inch of milk. not to the top. you receive an inch of cold foam regardless. this isn't a hack, you're getting less beverage,' one barista commented on Celentano's video. 'It just looks full because of the ice lol,' the person added. 'If you get extra milk we do about 3/4 an inch, but that's as much as we're allowed to give for iced espresso.' by Mike OBrien If this article seems less lucid, or artful, or otherwise good in the way that some of my columns are good, you must excuse my failings and instead direct your disappointment towards the ingenuity of modern immunology. I am still, as far as I know, untouched by Covid-19; however, in anticipation of an inevitable despoilment of my precious bodily fluids, I have received a sixth vaccination and can confidently, emphatically say that it is not a placebo. I am heartened by the argument that my scalp-to-toes suffering is a sign that I possess a robust and responsive immune system. Good for me. I am less heartened by the argument that if the vaccines viral simulacrum throws me into a sack and beats me with bricks, the real thing will visit even worse horrors upon me. I try not to think about it too much. I wear my mask and get my shots and hope that the virus doesnt mutate into something worse. As I discussed in my previous article, I was summoned for jury duty selection in September. It was a breathtakingly botched affair (especially the part where dozens of fellow potential jurors were crammed into an unventilated conference room in the basement of Montreals imposing brutalist monument of a courthouse, and this just as Covid rates were spiking upwards again). About an hour into the day, the few hundred citizens compelled to appear in a cavernous courtroom were informed by the judge of four important facts: first, that they would be forbidden from working during the trial; second, that they would receive a stipend amounting to less than the provincial minimum wage; third, that the trial was expected to last a considerable length of time; and fourth, that it was to start the following morning. I understand that the State has the right to compel certain sacrifices from its citizens, and that citizens should be aware of this possibility and accept, at least in principle, the justifiability of such impositions. But citizens could be forgiven for thinking that they also have a right to expect a certain level of reasonableness and good order in how the State goes about its compelling and imposing. The mood of the room immediately following the statement of the above-enumerated facts was not that of people mulling over a reasonable proposal. It was rather a mix of indignation, disbelief, and horrified amusement at the apparently absurd functioning of such a core institution of our society. A large majority of these people opted to be exempted or excused from service, requiring each of them to have their reasons heard and decided upon by the judge. It took about ten hours to find fourteen willing and eligible jurors, from a pool of about two hundred (not counting those who were convoked but failed to appear, who may or may not be the smartest people in this whole scenario, depending on whether the harsh penalties listed for such failure were ever applied). I was among those excused from service, because (and this will continue to amuse me for years to come) the court decided that commuting from the suburbs by public transport, as I have done for the last two decades, is a severe hardship. Theyre not wrong (I am thankful for the recognition of my quiet suffering), and if they were I would not have corrected them. But is it more severe than the hardship suffered by a working parent suddenly forced to subsist on a fraction of their expected income, for a long and indeterminate time, without even a days forewarning? Perhaps the court excused those people too, I dont know; there was no post-hearing mingling, for obvious reasons. One wouldnt want potential jurors sharing successful shirking strategies when the State is going begging for judicial labour. I suppose that I should not have been surprised by anything that happened that day. Canadian news of late has been replete with signs of systemic over-loading and dysfunction in all aspects of the administration of justice and maintenance of order. Of course, news organisations (I would wager more often for-profit ones than public ones) often exaggerate the breadth of law-and-order problems to sell papers (or drive engagement in the current media paradigm). But some failures require so many things to go wrong that a single occurrence serves as a systemic indictment. For example, a case in British Columbia where a man, committed to a forensic psychiatric institution for stabbing someone to death, and who continued to stab people while institutionalised, was granted an unsupervised day release despite the fact that he had stabbed someone during a previous unsupervised day release. Not surprisingly, he used this day out to stab three random people, none of whom could reasonably expect someone with this mans history to be lawfully out and about. There is also the case of a man who killed an Indigenous woman by throwing a metal trailer hitch at her from a moving car, for fun. He was convicted of manslaughter, because he did not intend to murder anyone for fun, he merely committed an act very likely to cause grievous bodily harm for fun. His was sentenced to eight years in prison for this act. In Canada, convicts are usually eligible for parole after serving one third of their sentence, in the absence of any compelling reason to the contrary (and also, apparently, in the presence of any compelling reason to the contrary). This convict was recently released after serving only two years of his sentence, because well, if anyone knows of a good reason, they havent revealed it. I chose this one example because it is particularly egregious, but lenient sentencing is not a merely anecdotal problem in Canada, especially in financial fraud where relatively small fines and non-custodial sentences are simply business expenses for repeat offenders. It is important to distinguish between cases of criminally responsible offenders, and those deemed not criminally responsible for reasons of mental illness (I wouldnt describe someone who throws trailer hitches at strangers as mentally healthy, though the kinds of mental illness deemed exculpatory are tightly circumscribed). Both pose a harm to public safety that the State must address and must make itself capable of addressing by creating and maintaining the institutions required to do so. Under-staffing and under-funding of these institutions is a long-running problem in Canada, worse in some parts of the country than others, and the burden of Covid has aggravated these problems. The affordability crisis and other psychological stressors are straining these institutions further. The State is in a difficult position; it cannot conscript people to serve as nurses and psychiatrists and parole officers, nor is any government likely to win re-election by promising to raise taxes to serve the needs of criminals and the criminally insane (plenty of politicians campaign on law and order, but this is usually a reactionary grift with no feasible solutions). The duty to protect, in civil as in international humanitarian contexts, is an expensive and legally fraught duty to fulfill, even when the problems from which people are to be protected are straightforward. The not-criminally-responsible cases are, in one way, less morally complicated for the State than those of fully or mostly culpable criminals. The former are certainly complicated in many ways, by our lack of understanding around psychiatric disorders, by the inefficacy or onerous side-effects of treatments, by the ever-present question of whether, or when, the detention of an offender will cease to be justified by the danger they pose (and to whom such a decision falls, and whether any liability should arise from making such decisions poorly). These are all ethical minefields. But one mine that has been safely defused and removed is the the question of punishment. When the State, through its officers and institutions, fails to fulfill its duty to protect (say, by releasing an inpatient despite evidence of high risk, or neglecting to monitor the behaviour released patients), the public can say that the offender should have been held longer, or watched closer, or medicated more judiciously. But they cannot say that the offender should have been punished more (if, and this is a contentious if, they accept the categorical suspension of blame where some adequate degree of mental disturbance is proven). For those who believe that punishment is a proper and even necessary part of justice (restitutive justice specifically, which may also be satisfied by uncompelled acts of contrition by the offender in some circumstances), the question of adequate punishment hangs over every sentencing and release decision approved by the State. If someone receives too harsh a sentence, that is a wrong perpetrated by the State against the convicted person. If someone receives too light a sentence, that is a wrong perpetrated against the convicted persons victims (and perhaps the citizenry as a whole). Then there is the question of parole, early release, and pardons, expungements et al. These can be interpreted as over-riding the States earlier decision of how an offence should be punished, or determining a sentence that was left open by the sentencing judge, depending on whether you agree with the release, pardon, etc. There are many defensible reasons for leniency in sentencing and parole decisions, but when practical limitations like over-crowding or under-staffing contribute to otherwise indefensible under-sentencing, early release, or the dismissal of even serious criminal cases due to trial delays (as is now required under Canadas Jordan rule, intended to uphold the accuseds right to timely proceedings), it is simply a moral failure arising from material want. As is the case in so many political and legal matters, the worry of being too American bears on Canadas thinking about criminal justice. Too American in this matter means cruel, excessive and arbitrary sentences, with inadequate access to counsel and appeal. (The United Nations Human Rights Council shares these worries, and voices them in a report on their visit to the USA, published in September.) The problem with trying to be just by avoiding being American is that, on some rare occasions, the right answer lies somewhere between The American Way and its polar opposite. The State (in Canadas case, the Crown) should not love to punish in the way that some American states seem to do. The Crown is, compared to some of its Southern neighbours, admirably concerned with the upholding the rights of persons under its control. And for good reason; by subjecting these persons to the legitimate (legally speaking) physical force of police, jailers and other sharp-edged components of its institutions of justice, the Crown takes on a special responsibility of care. Most people who are in jail or prison remain there solely because they are prevented by force from leaving. This monopoly of control creates a monopoly of responsibility, and the Crowns recognition of this special responsibility is a very good thing (I do not mean to suggest that this recognition is perfect or even adequate, or to ignore that it is often forced upon the Crown by advocates for prisoners rights). What is missing from this picture is that the Crown (or Crowns the metaphysics of distributed sovereignty is tricky) also holds a monopoly of control and responsibility outside of its carceral institutions. Like most civilized places, Canada forbids those within its borders from arming themselves against anticipated criminal dangers (of the vague its a jungle out there sort; grabbing an ersatz weapon as the neer-do-wells are kicking down your door may be considered reasonable). This places all the responsibility for preventing criminal harm on the Crown, since it prevents anyone but its officers from intervening as third parties to prevent or interrupt criminal acts (except where necessary to protect life, and even then things can be tricky). The Crown also prevents anyone but its officers from punishing offenders. It is one thing for a victim to take revenge; that violats the Crowns laws against whatever acts the revenge employs (violence, theft, defamation, etc.). For a third party to avenge a wrong on behalf of a victim is, from the Crowns point of view, a more dangerous matter; not merely ignoring laws against the specific acts of vengeance, but challenging the Crowns monopoly on punitive intervention. This monopoly on the right to punish creates a monopoly on the duty to punish. Just as the Crown owes a special duty of care to its prisoners and involuntarily confined patients, just as the Crown owes a special duty of protection to its subjects who are forbidden from equipping and organising themselves against human predation, so too does the Crown owe a special duty of justice to its subjects, especially the direct victims of offences, who are forbidden from punishing offenders themselves. It is my hunch that the Crown more anxiously attends to its special duty of care to offenders in custody than it does to its special duty of justice to victims (both individuals and communities) because it is more tractable. The common (in some cultures) psychological distinction between doing and letting happen may also be a play here, though it is arguably moot given the Crowns monopoly of control. On a more practical and deliberate note, failures of care in custody may also spoil a case or give rise to costly and complicating lawsuits against the Crown. Punishment is also more contentious as a good than, say, reform or deterrence. Reform is good because it makes recidivism less likely. Less harm done is a clear utilitarian win. Deterrence is good because it makes offences by others less likely. Ditto. Punishment is good because it is the right thing to do, arguably. But wheres the payoff? Not much hedonic accounting to be done there (ignoring the pleasure of witnessing the suffering of one who has wronged you, which should be beneath the dignity of the Crown). Should a state forgive? Not on behalf of anyone but itself, and even then we must ask if forgiveness is unjust (if punishment provides some restitutive function, then withholding punishment leaves those scales unbalanced, absent some alternative means of restitution). It is easy to say that more punishment is in order when leniency is simply a regretable byproduct of institutional scarcity, just as it is easy to say that more food is in order during a famine. How much more, ideally? That depends on your ideals. (I should also acknowledge that less punishment is in order for historically discriminated-against groups like Indigenous and Black Canadians, who face disproportionately high rates of conviction and incarceration. Such systemic racism is a whole other matter. Except in Quebec where, according to the current government, it does not exist. Yes, really.) I dont suppose that these deontological issues will be fixed while wars rage, oceans die and large swathes of the globe become thermal exclusion zones. The window on fundamentally improving our commonwealth is probably already closed. Im a philosopher, not a problem-solver. I am merely trying to diagnose what other conditions the patient suffered from at the time of death. Historical home hides inside it a modern home owned by an artist and fashion designer Advertisement A 'show-stopping' modern home with retro-meets-modern design hides behind an unassuming weatherboard cottage in a sought-after Melbourne suburb. The 133-year-old renovated home sits in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond and has been catching the eyes of hundreds all over the city. Inside, bright pops of colour in the vibrant, neon artworks contrast the calming clean palette of polished plaster, grey marble and light wood floors. The modern pad's 'upside-down floor plan' means the family room is on the upper level between in the bedrooms below and a rooftop terrace with city skyline views above. Artist Tom Adair, who used to work as homewares designer, and his wife Nikki, a former fashion buyer, bought the Cotter Street property in 2010 before transforming it into their dream family home. Behind the doors of an unassuming weatherboard cottage in inner-city Melbourne lies a 'showstopping' home filled with vibrant art The 133-year-old masterfully renovated home sits in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond and has been catching the eyes of buyers and home lovers all over the city Inside, bright pops of colour in the vibrant, neon artworks contrast the calming clean palette of polished plaster, grey marble and light wood floors From the rooftop, a low-lying window offers glimpses back into the stylish family room while there are twinkling views over of South Yarra They enlisted the help of architect Nicholas Murray and interior designer Fiona Lynch to build and style an extension on the back of the original historical home inspired by modern Palm Spring architecture. Tom, who specialises in contemporary graphic art inspired by the graffiti he would see on his way to and from school while growing up in Melbourne, scattered his own pieces throughout the home giving each room a unique ambience and a tinge of pink light. An open-plan family room houses a lounge, dining zone and kitchen with grey marble counter tops and splash-back connecting to an outdoor terrace with a built-in terrazzo barbecue. From the rooftop, a low-lying window offers glimpses back into the stylish family room while there are twinkling views over South Yarra. An open-plan family room houses a lounge, dinging zone and kitchen with grey marble counter tops and splash-back connecting to an outdoor terrace with a built-in terrazzo barbecue The funky kid's bedroom is decorated with trendy play furniture, bright pink storage and quirky art throughout including a stretched Kim Kardashian selfie Artist Tom Adair, who used to work as homewares designer, and his wife Nikki, a former fashion buyer, bought the Cotter Street property in 2010 before transforming it into their dream family home Downstairs, there are two bedrooms both with their own ensuites. The room at the front of the house belongs to Tom and Nikki's son and is one of the coolest kid's rooms you'll see. The funky room is decorated with trendy play furniture, bright pink storage and quirky art throughout including a stretched Kim Kardashian selfie. The master bedroom is illuminated by an X-rated neon sign above the bed while the ensuite is adorned with grey marble and white mosaic tiles juxtaposed by brass fittings and brown glass mirrors. Tom and Nikki are moving on to their next project so their beloved family home has now hit the market with an asking price of $1.9million-$2.05million. READ MORE: Behind the doors of this leafy country 'cottage' lies a spectacular estate with its own yoga studio and decor by Collette Dinnigan Advertisement The master bedroom is illuminated by an X-rated neon sign above the bed while the ensuite is adorned with grey marble and white mosaic tiles juxtaposed by brass fittings and brown glass mirrors Tom and Nikki are moving on to their next project so their beloved family home has now hit the market with an asking price of $1.9million-$2.05million Listing agent Fraser Lack of Biggin & Scott - Port Melbourne told FEMAIL Cotter Street is one of the highest viewed properties of all the homes he's sold in the past three years. 'The interest has been really good. It's definitely had a lot of eyeballs and that's because the home is so interesting, it looks so different, eye catching and colourful,' he said. 'Also because Richmond is a very popular suburb, it catches a lot of people that are in the market to buy. It's a suburb that gets caught in the crossfire of people looking in surrounding areas like South Yarra, Prahan and Hawthorn.' Fraser said Tom and Nikki, who are personal friends of his, did a 'fantastic job' when they renovated the home in 2018 and he himself has seen how great an entertainer it is. 'I've styled a lot of properties for sale but you could never present something like they have personally, they have such great taste,' he said. 'It would be best suited to a person who loves to entertain, I hate saying that because it's such a cliche but the owners are good friends of mine so I've actually experienced it.' A secret Sydney swimming spot has been uncovered and is drawing in sun-seekers from all over the city. Mackenzies Bay is affectionately nicknamed Macca's by those who know about it and is tucked away by the rocks near Bondi and Tamarama beaches in Sydney's east. Normally it is just a rocky bay where waves crash against the outcrop however every once in a while, as if overnight, the ocean pulls back to reveal a sandy bank perfect for lazing on during a sunny summer's day. The stunning bay's sandy shore has made a return and beachgoers are heading to wade, fish and sunbathe before it disappears again. Sydneysiders have been quick to enjoy the crystal clear, blue waters of the secluded oasis as it is a mystery as to how long the sands will last. Scroll down for video Mackenzies Bay is often nothing more than a rocky inlet however once in a while, as if overnight, the ocean pulls back to reveal sandy bank perfect for sunbathing on a summer's day Social media is abuzz with the news that the elusive beach has returned with one person saying they've been visiting nearly every weekend with their dogs while others called it a 'slice of heaven'. Someone warned those who want to swim at Mackenzies Bay to do so with caution and only if experienced. 'While this is a super beautiful spot and the fact that it's rarely a beach is quite special, it's also quite a treacherous surf and swimming spot for the inexperienced,' they said. Visitors are reminded to always follow council guidelines and swim between the red and yellow flags. Social media is abuzz with the news that the elusive beach has returned with one person saying they visit nearly every weekend with their dogs while others called it a 'slice of heaven' Sydneysiders have been quick to enjoy the crystal clear, blue waters of the secluded oasis as it is a mystery as to how long the MacKenzies Bay sands will last The location has also been a popular dog-friendly place for owners and their four-legged friends as the area is not patrolled because it's not deemed an official beach. Dogs are banned on all the council beaches, including Mackenzies Bay, but the area has offered owners an extra place to walk their pets. A specific set of weather, sand and ocean conditions have to align for the beach to emerge. Sometimes Mackenzies Bay will disappear for years at a time with some nearby residents reporting it was once concealed for a whole decade. Beachgoers are always treated to a different display at the bay each year, ranging from just a narrow strip of sand to a rocky inlet with no sand in sight. READ MORE: How to find the incredible Leura natural infinity pool hidden in the Blue Mountains - just a short road trip from Sydney Advertisement Sometimes Mackenzies Bay will disappear for years at a time with some nearby residents reporting it was once concealed for a whole decade University of Technology Sydney sedimentary geologist Greg Skilbeck said the phenomenon occurred when waves swept sand onto the coast from nearby sandbars. University of NSW coastal geomorphologist Dr. Rob Brander believed the rare sight was caused by seasonal change. 'Patterns of swell direction have a lot to do with it, but the amount of sand on our beaches is also linked to longer-term climatic cycles,' he explained. 'During a La Nina phase we tend to get more storms, bigger waves and our beaches erode. 'During an El Nino event there are less storms, smaller waves and the beaches recover.' Millions of Britons are stashing away their home gym equipment in storage 'out of sight, out of mind' until their health kick starts in the New Year. Bosses at The Box Co spoke to 5,000 of its customers to find out what they were 'packing away' this October. The firm found that gym gear was one of the top October items, with 15 per cent of those polled saying they had put exercise bikes, rowing machines, running machines, treadmills, ski trainers and dumbbells into storage in the past fortnight. Dubbed 'Sloth-tober' by The Box Co, bosses say it's an annual trend which will see Britons put their gym gear in and out of storage four times a year. In January the machines and gym gear will all come out of storage again as Britons try to get fit as part of their New Year Resolutions. Dubbed 'Sloth-tober' by The Box Co, bosses say it's an annual trend which will see Britons put their gym gear in and out of storage four times a year (stock image) Stats from the firm show that by the end of February and beginning of March, most of the equipment is stuck back in storage as Britons give up on their fitness regime. Then, in June the gear is hauled back out of storage as Britons try to get 'beach body ready' for their summer hols. But when it's October again, the gear goes back into storage until the cycle starts over in January. A recent survey revealed how 13 million British households have a whopping 1.5billion-worth of unused fitness equipment cluttering up their homes. Among the 'other uses' of gym gear include using it as a clothes air dryer or a coat stand not as manufacturers intended. A whopping 14 per cent of the gear had never even been used since it was bought, the study found. Greg Brotherton, 34, of Watford, Hertfordshire, said he was 'guilty' of plonking gym gear - a treadmill, rowing machine and dumbbells - in storage. The teaching assistant said: 'I usually take out my gym gear in January, pump iron and do a bit of rowing and running until February or March. 'Then it goes into storage and often stays there until next January, although I get it out in summer if I'm going on a lads' holiday and need to look my best.' A spokesman for The Box Co said: 'Millions of Brits have already put away their exercise gear for the winter. In January the machines and gym gear will all come out of storage again as Britons try to get fit as part of their New Year Resolutions (stock image) 'We found that it goes in cycles, with people starting to take fitness equipment our of storage in January, put it back in February/March, then take it out again in May/June to get 'beach body ready' for summer. 'Then, when summer draws to a close, the equipment goes back into storage at the end of September and beginning of October.' The Box Co. takes the hassle out of self-storage by collecting users' boxes of stuff from their front door. Nicole Helera, head of operations at The Box Co, said: 'Gym equipment doesn't stay in storage for long, and we're used to seeing treadmills and weights go in and out over the course of the year. 'We're all guilty of giving up on New Year's resolutions within weeks, and the end of summer is another time when fitness gear is put back into storage. 'Getting exercise bikes out of storage is as easy as filling in a form, and our users will usually have their gear back within 24 hours.' Nine in ten women know a lump is a tell-tale sign of breast cancer but less than half are aware of the other warning signs. That is according to a survey of 1,000 adults, which has revealed a concerning gap in knowledge. It found 93 per cent of people knew to look out for lumps. Just 31 per cent were aware that an inverted, retracted or downward-pointing nipple was another symptom, however. Checking your breasts should be part of your monthly routine so you notice any unusual changes. Simply, rub and feel from top to bottom, feel in semi-circles and in a circular motion around your breast tissue to feel for any abnormalities FIVE LESSER-KNOWN SIGNS OF BREAST CANCER Retracted, inverted or downward-pointing nipple (31%) (31%) Breast puckering (an indentation that appears when you raise your arms) (39%) (39%) Loss of feeling in part of the breast (41%) (41%) Pitting/thickening of the skin on the breast (45%) (45%) Nipple discharge (51%) Percentage in brackets refer to the proportion of people who knew they were a sign of breast cancer in a study of 1,000 adults by researchers at Ohio State University. Advertisement A similar proportion (39 per cent) recognised breast puckering as a warning sign of the disease, according to the Ohio State University research. Fewer than half of respondents knew about a loss of feeling in the breasts or pitting or thickening of the skin. Most breast cancer cases do not present with a lump which is detectable to touch and if they do, it often an indicates a fast-growing or advanced-stage cancer that is less treatable, experts say. 'Screening mammography is our number one defence in detecting and addressing breast cancers at their earliest, most treatable stages', said Professor Ashely Pariser, lead researcher. 'It is also very important for people to be familiar with the look and feel of their own breasts tissue so that subtle changes can be evaluated quickly to give us the best chance at early detection. 'We want people to feel empowered about their bodies and know what is normal for them. 'Many breast changes are the result of aging and childbirth; however, breast cancer can present in a number of ways. 'It is important that people feel safe to address these concerns in a timely way with their doctor. We have made great strides in detecting breast cancers in far earlier, more treatable stages.' The survey included men. Around 55,000 women and 370 men are diagnosed with breast cancer each year in the UK, says Breast Cancer Now. Meanwhile, roughly 300,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer are diagnosed in women every year in the US. A survey found only 31 per cent of people are aware that an inverted, retracted or downward-pointing nipple is a symptom of breast cancer How and what should you check? Checking your breasts could help find signs of breast cancer early. This means you have a better chance of beating the disease, experts say. It should be part of your monthly routine so you notice any unusual changes, charity CoppaFeel says. But according to a YouGov survey commissioned by Breast Cancer Now, 39 per cent of women don't bother. More than half who do not check their breasts simply forget to, while 16 per cent do not know how to check. You can check in the shower, when you are lying down in bed or in the mirror before you get dressed. Because breast tissue isn't just found in your boobs, it's also important that men and women check the tissue all the way up to their collarbone and underneath their armpit. There is no right or wrong way to check your breasts, as long as you know how your breasts usually look and feel, says the NHS. But one of the most popular methods online involves using the pads of your fingers. Simply, rub and feel from top to bottom, feel in semi-circles and in a circular motion around your breast tissue to feel for any abnormalities, according to a guide shared in a blog post by the University of Nottingham. If you spot any changes you should get it checked out by your GP. Women aged between 50 and 70 should also be attending routine breast cancer screening. Symptoms of breast cancer to look out for include lumps and swellings, dimpling of the skin, changes in colour, discharge and a rash or crusting around the nipple Check for... A lump or swelling Using your fingers feel for lumps or swellings in the breast, upper armpit and chest. A lump or an area of thickened breast tissue that doesn't move easily is one of the first noticeable symptoms of breast cancer, says the NHS. And according to the American Cancer Society, it's the most common symptom. It says the lumps are often hard and painless. But when feeling for unusual lumps and bumps it is important to know what is normal for you, experts say. The NHS advises women get used to how their breasts feel at different times of the month. This is because some women have tender and lumpy breasts, near the armpit, around the time of their period. The feel of your breasts can also change after the menopause as normal breasts can feel softer less firm and not as lumpy. As well as checking for lumps, visible changes to the shape and size of the breast is also important. Changes to the skin Another common sign of breast cancer is a change the skin. This can usually just be seen in the mirror and includes puckering or dimpling of the skin. The dimpling skin is often compared to orange peel and can be associated with inflammatory breast cancer, which is a rare but aggressive form of cancer. A change in colour is also a warning sign to get checked out, says Breast Cancer Now. If you notice your breast looks red or inflamed, it could be a sign of cancer. Pain is only a symptom of breast cancer in rare cases, the NHS says. But if you feel pain or discomfort in one breast that doesn't go away you should see your GP. A nipple change It's important to not just check your breast tissue for abnormalities, but also your nipples, experts say. Look for rashes or crusting around the nipple. The NHS says this could look like eczema, crusting of the skin, scaly, itchy or red skin. You should also check the position of your nipple, the NHS advises. If it is being pulled in or starting to point in a different way to usual, it could be a sign of breast cancer. Another warning sign to get checked out by your GP is discharge from either nipple. Discharge is more common in Ductal Carcinoma in situ, which is an early form of breast cancer that starts in the milk ducts. Cancer Research says the discharge can also be blood stained. ***Have YOU been bitten by bed bugs? Email emily.craig@mailonline.co.uk*** READ MORE: How to survive the invasion of LES BED BUGS Pharmacies are running out of the 'most effective' bed bug bite treatment amid a surge in outbreaks in the UK linked to France. Hydrocortisone cream supply is 'patchy' across the country, according to Dr Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the Association for Independent Multiple Pharmacies. The over-the-counter steroid lotion, commonly used for eczema, psoriasis and dermatitis, can ease the itchiness and inflammation trigger by the bites. Dr Hannbeck warned of 'high demand' as Brits battle outbreaks or stock up on the 3.50 ointment before travelling to France, where officials have warned 'no one is safe'. The French Government has held crisis meetings and are battling to get the bugs under control before it hosts the 2024 Olympics. Schools and libraries have been forced to close, while travellers have complained about the critters in Airbnbs, hotels, cinemas and restaurants. Is your city on the list? This map reveals which of the UK's 20 largest cities have the worst bed bug infestations for their population size Butlin's told MailOnline it was still investigating the case but had found no evidence of bed bugs in the apartment Dr Hannbeck warned of 'high demand' as Brits battle outbreaks or stock up on the 3.50 ointment before travelling to France , where officials have warned 'no one is safe'. Pictured: HC45 Hydrocortisone Cream made by E45 Following in Paris' footsteps, London now seems to have been caught up in the bed bug boom with footage surfacing of the blood-suckers on the underground and buses Dr Hannbeck told MailOnline that pharmacies are struggling to secure sufficient stock to keep up with demand. She said: 'The supply is patchy and many pharmacies have run out of stock or are running out if stock. There have been higher demand for the products.' Some varieties of the cream which can be bought over the counter are out of stock online, including at Boots and Superdrug. Dr Hannbeck said the spike in demand follows media coverage of bed bug outbreaks in France, which has led some to stock up before they travel to France or treat bites that they got in the UK. However, she urged people not to worry, as alternative treatments are available. These include antihistamines and calamine lotion, a mild antiseptic cream that eases skin irritation. READ MORE: 'We were bitten by bedbugs at BUTLIN'S': Family's nightmare during 700 Halloween-themed break after their two year old son was bitten 'hundreds' of times all over his body Laura (pictured) and Adam Perona-Wright brought their two-year-old son, Vinnie, on the break to the Minehead resort in Kent Advertisement 'A cold compress can also be used to reduce the itchiness and inflammation,' Dr Hannbeck added. While the bugs don't carry any diseases that could sicken humans, their bite can leave behind an itchy red mark. Dr Hannbeck urged those who have bed bug bites not to itch them to cut the risk of them getting infected. The Evening Standard contacted 30 pharmacies in London, half of which reported they were worried about the lack of hydrocortisone cream. Staff warned that the shortage 'is not helpful' amid a rise in bed bug outbreaks and that people could 'find things difficult' if the cream which is the 'most effective method of treating people' doesn't come back in stock. David Cain, a molecular biologist and founder of a London-based specialist bed bug removal firm, said there had been 'exponential growth' in bed bug cases over the last 20 years and that they are now 'out of control'. He added: 'The problem is worse now than it's been since probably the 1930s and 1940s.' Experts say this is down a resistance to pesticides, making the bugs harder to eradicate, a post-Covid travel boom, encouraging a resurgence in numbers and rising temperatures, which helps the insects spread faster. It is believed that up to 30 per cent of all UK homes were infested with bed bugs after WWII, according to pest control firm Rentokil. Although named for their habit of nesting in mattresses, bed bugs, which are around the size of an apple seed, can also live in sofas, carpets and furniture. They hide in small cracks and crevices as thin as a credit card and mainly feed at night. Homes, hotels, public transport, workplaces, schools, cinemas, theatres, shops, pubs and restaurants are at risk of infestations. Bed bugs spread by making their way into clothing or luggage, meaning people can unwittingly help them hitch-hike between locations and start a fresh outbreak. They can also crawl between rooms in hotels and blocks of flats. Due to repeated exposure to pesticides, the remaining bed bug populations have become extremely resistant to the chemicals used to treat infestations Dr Richard Naylor, an entomologist from the Bed Bug Foundation, told MailOnline: 'There are multiple factors that contribute to the bed bug's success. They thrive wherever human population density is high because this makes it easy for them to spread. 'In apartment buildings and sheltered housing complexes they can easily walk down corridors and under doors, gradually infesting the whole building.' They quickly reproduce, with each female bug laying one to seven eggs per day after feeding and up to 250 in their 10-month lifespan. They can survive for weeks to months without feeding. While the bugs don't carry any diseases that could sicken humans and their bite is painless, it leaves behind an itchy red mark. Professional help is needed to fully eradiate a bed bug infestation, with experts recommending a heat pod treatment that heats infested rooms and belongings to 50C (122F) for a couple of hours. What are bed bugs? Bed bugs can run up to 100 feet per hour, meaning they can easily travel from room to room to find a host to feed on. Their almost paper-thin bodies mean that they are able to fit into the smallest cracks of furniture like the headboard of a bed, making them very difficult to spot. Bed bugs travel by hiding in clothing or luggage so that when a human hops in the car or on a train the bugs hitch a ride too. They primarily come out at night to feed and hide during the day. Using their sharp senses they track the CO2 coming from our breath to find someone to feed on even in pitch darkness. A female bed bug generally lays one egg a day but can lay up to seven under the right conditions. Eggs look like grains of sand and take around 10-15 days to hatch into a new bed bug. The best way to find bed bugs is by using a specially trained dog which can sniff out the bugs communication pheromones. Bed bugs can run up to 100 feet per hour, meaning they can easily travel from room to room to find a host to feed on Advertisement Pest control firms have reported being inundated with calls about infestations in recent months. London is thought to be the UK's hotspot, according to Google search data for the 12 months up to January 2022. Although bed bugs have long been found in Britain, the problem has been highlighted by the crisis in France. A viral TikTok video posted earlier this month appeared to show a bed bug crawling on a passenger's leg on the Victoria Line in London, while the bugs were also spotted on Manchester bus services last week. Last week, Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, said that the possibility of bed bugs on the London Underground was 'a real source of concern'. Mr Khan said that he was in contact with officials from Paris after the French capital became overwhelmed by a massive infestation. However, experts have urged caution, warning many sightings are false. As there is no official toll of outbreaks, the scale of the problem is unclear. A family today told how their two-year-old son was bitten hundreds of times by bed bugs during a minibreak at Butlin's Minehead resort in Kent. Laura and Adam Perona-Wright said that within two days of arriving, Vinnie had bites behind his ears and across his back, which they originally blamed on midges. The pair complained to staff who investigated but said they did not find any insects. After looking themselves, they found that staff had replaced a 'disgusting' mattress protector but there were living and dead bed bugs on the mattress itself. Ms Perona-Wright, 38, a graphic designer from Plymouth, told MailOnline: 'It became clear that the bed was absolutely riddled with bed bugs, lots of them. 'My poor boy was pickled he had suffered literally hundreds of bites. I counted 30 just behind one ear.' She added: 'Every area of his little body not covered by clothes was covered in bumps and scratches. 'His head, neck, arms, behind his knees, his groin, his back he was in pain from scratching and upset.' The couple decided to move Vinnie to sleep with his sister Leni, 4, in her room for the rest of their stay. It is the third time in three months that guest complaints about insect infestations at Minehead Butlin's have emerged. In July, Lisa Gray of North Petherton, Somerset, told how she and her ten-year-old daughter Hannah fled their apartment after finding a sofa 'totally infested with fleas'. Vinnie's parents said he had bites all over his body, including behind his ears Vinnie also suffered bites across his back, legs and arms, his mother told MailOnline Ms Perona-Wright took photographs of the bugs, which she said bit her son hundreds of times The following month Courtney-Jade Mildenhall, 21, of Oxford, revealed that she had sustained 150 bed bug bites after staying in a Comfort apartment. Ms Perona-Wright said she was unaware of those instances and had stayed at Butlin's twice before without a problem. 'It's a lot of fun for the kids,' she said. 'Our apartment looked clean and lovely. We paid for top-end accommodation because it was by a lake and we could feed the ducks from our balcony. Ms Perona-Wright said she was unaware of those instances and had stayed at Butlin's twice before without a problem. 'It's a lot of fun for the kids,' she said. 'Our apartment looked clean and lovely. We paid for top-end accommodation because it was by a lake and we could feed the ducks from our balcony.' She added: 'As parents know, unpacking from a break is hard work. Unpacking everything and washing everything at 70 degrees, which shrinks clothes, and then spraying down our bags knowing the little critters could easily move into our home has been an added stress.' Butlin's told MailOnline it was still investigating the case but had found no evidence of bed bugs in the apartment. A spokesperson said: 'We're very sorry to hear about Laura and her family's recent experience on resort and will be contacting them directly to discuss the issues raised. 'We've been working with a pest control specialist to investigate and can confirm we've had no further reports of bed bugs from guests staying in the same unit of accommodation. 'We want to reassure guests that we have strict cleaning and hygiene policies in place, including the identification and subsequent treatment for preventing bed bugs.' A cancer-stricken mother fears she will have no option but to sell her home just to pay for a life-extending drug freely available on the NHS to other patients. Elaine Lynch, 59, is burning through her retirement savings to afford the 7,000 she needs every three weeks to keep her alive. The drug she is given trastuzumab deruxtecan is already approved for patients diagnosed with some breast cancers. However, despite scans showing the drug is holding Ms Lynch's cancer at bay, the NHS refuses to buy it for her because it hasn't been given the greenlight by watchdogs. Ms Lynch, from Solihull in the West Midlands, has now forked over almost 60,000 to fund the treatment just to 'stay alive a little bit longer'. British mother Elaine Lynch is burning through her savings to afford the 7,000 she needs every three weeks to keep her alive The former primary school business manager was diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer in 2021 despite having never smoked in her life But she constantly worries about how she and 60-year-old partner Chris Goodwin will afford the next dose, instead of enjoying the extra time it offers her. Her cancer nightmare started in 2021, when she was diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer despite never having smoked a day in her life. With the goal of slowing the disease's spread, she underwent two years of gruelling chemo, immunotherapy and radiotherapy. Genetic testing of the cancer revealed it had a rare and aggressive HER2 mutation. HER2, short for human epidermal growth factor 2, is a protein involved in cell growth. Some cancers have an abnormally higher amount of HER2 producing cells on the their surface causing them to grow faster. It is most commonly associated with breast cancers with about a sixth of cases being HER2 positive and, while rare, it can also appear in other cancers. Drugs created specifically to combat HER2 cancers, like trastuzumab deruxtecan (or Enhertu), are already available on the NHS. Oncologists recommended Ms Lynch get access to Enhertu, made by Japanese firm Daiichi Sankyo but sold in the UK by AstraZeneca, to extend her life. Pleas from the family and Ms Lynch's medics were refused. 'It was either do nothing, let the cancer grow, die or have some other treatment on the NHS, which isn't as effective...we had no choice but to pay,' Ms Lynch told The Times. In a cruel twist that her children called 'immoral', if Ms Lynch had breast cancer with the HER2 mutation the NHS would have fully funded her treatment. 'Our mum could be sitting in the same cancer clinic as someone who will receive this drug for free, simply because they have breast cancer, whilst our mum is denied access,' her children wrote on a fundraising page. Despite scans showing the treatment is working to shrink the tumour, Ms Lynch, a former primary school business manager, is under no illusions about what the drug offers. Drugs created specifically to combat HER2 cancers, like trastuzumab deruxtecan (or Enhertu), are already available on the NHS. Oncologists recommended Ms Lynch get access to Enhertu, made by Japanese firm Daiichi Sankyo but sold in the UK by AstraZeneca, to extend her life 'This cancer can't be cured. It's just giving me extra time to make memories with my family; to see a grandchild, maybe,' she said. Mr Goodwin, a leisure centre manager, said the pressure to find the money to fund the treatment each month was colossal. 'We don't sleep,' he said. 'We wake up every morning thinking we've got to fork out another 7,000 every three weeks. 'The time we should be enjoying between treatments, when Elaine feels OK, we're not enjoying because we're constantly on emails or phoning people trying to get a little bit further in our quest to get this provided through the NHS,' he told the newspaper. Daiichi Sankyo had been seeking approval to provide Enhertu for lung cancer patients in the UK but said the process had been rescheduled until next year. Drugs are approved for use in the NHS by the independent body the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence which weighs up the cost-effectiveness of providing it on the health service. Ms Lynch's children have set up a GoFundMe page to help their mother afford the treatment which has so far raised 23,000. Ms Lynch and Chris have also said they are willing to sell their home so she 'can get the chance to live and spend what ever-time she has left making memories with her family'. Mr Goodwin has also set up a petition to make Enhertu available for eligible lung cancer patients in the UK which has attracted over 200,000 signatures. Dr Jesanna Cooper, an OB-GYN who previously worked at Princeton Baptist Medical Center, the Birmingham hospital closing its maternity service, told NBC: 'People are going to show up delivering in the ER, and you're going to have bad outcomes' More than a million people in Alabama will be left without maternity care as three hospitals prepare to stop delivering babies. The maternity wards at Monroe County Hospital, Shelby Baptist Medical Center and Princeton Baptist Medical Center in Birmingham will shutter by the end of next month, leaving around 1.5 million in the counties of Shelby and Monroe without any birthing hospitals. The hospitals said the decisions were made due to staffing shortages thought to be fueled by an exodus following the banning of abortions in the state which already has the third worst maternal mortality rate and infant mortality rate in the country and a lack of funds. It will mean families searching for maternal care will need to drive up to 100 miles to the nearest hospital to see an OB-GYN. Honour McDaniel, director of maternal and infant health initiatives for the March of Dimes in Alabama, told NBC News: 'There's a sense of dread knowing that theres going to be families who are now not only driving to the county over, but driving through three counties.' The maternity wards at Monroe County Hospital (pictured right), Shelby Baptist Medical Center (pictured left) and Princeton Baptist Medical Center in Birmingham will shutter by the end of next month, leaving around 1.5 million in the counties of Shelby and Monroe without any birthing hospitals It will also mean that the primarily Black neighborhood in Birmingham no longer has the maternity unit it desperately needs. Soon, mothers-to-be in Shelby County, with a population of more than 900,000 people, will be forced to travel a minimum of 17 miles farther to see an OB-GYN in a hospital. People in Monroe County, where there are more than 750,000 people, will have to drive up to 100 miles. This is not that unusual for the state. According to the nonprofit organization March of Dimes, more than a third of the counties in Alabama are maternity care deserts, meaning they have no hospitals with obstetrics care, birth centers, OB-GYNs or certified nurse midwives. Alabama's mortality rate was 41.4 in 2018-2021, the latest data published by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. It is also double the national mortality rate of 23.5. This is the number of deaths of women per 100,000 live births while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy from something related to or made worse by the pregnancy or how it was managed, but not from accidental causes. If people cannot get to a birthing hospital quickly enough in an emergency, 'people are going to show up delivering in the ER, and you're going to have bad outcomes,' Dr Jesanna Cooper, an OB-GYN who previously worked at Princeton Baptist Medical Center, the Birmingham hospital closing its maternity service, told NBC. She added: 'If you show up with a very premature baby and deliver in the ER, and you don't have a NICU and you dont have an obstetrics team, things arent going to go well.' Monroe County Hospital said it was shuttering its labor and delivery unit due to a staff shortage. The department only has one physician, but at least two are required to maintain labor and delivery services. The hospital told NBC in a statement: 'It seems no amount of money provided by the hospital board for the support of Labor and Delivery has been sufficient to maintain this service. 'We have supported, and would continue to support, Labor and Delivery if there was someone who could provide the service.' Maternity units are not always profitable for hospitals. Roughly nine percent of Alabama's residents have no health insurance, and almost half the births in the state are covered by Medicaid. Reimbursements for Medicaid can be much lower than with private insurance plans. Dr John Waits, CEO of the nonprofit Cahaba Medical Care, which runs medical clinics that take patients regardless of their ability to pay, told NBC: 'Nobody wants women and children to do poorly, but you also cant lose money year over year on a service line.' He added: 'Theres something broken about the funding stream that helps us take care of our women and children.' IBS affects up to 13 million Britons and it does not have many treatments A drug that costs just 25p a day may transform the lives of millions of people with irritable bowel syndrome, according to research. Amitriptyline was found to significantly improve symptoms of the debilitating condition, which affects up to 13million Britons and 30million Americans. Experts said low doses of antidepressant, used to treat a range of conditions from nerve pain to migraine prevention, should also be prescribed for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). In the first trial of its kind, British researchers wanted to test whether low-doses of the antidepressant could benefit IBS patients in a community setting. Amitriptyline, pictured, made people twice as likely to report an overall improvement in IBS symptoms after six months than those on dummy drugs Some 463 patients were recruited from 55 general practices at West Yorkshire, Wessex, and West of England, with half given amitriptyline and the other half a placebo. Patients controlled how many tablets of the trial medication they took based on a score determined by their IBS symptoms and any side effects experienced. Those taking amitriptyline were almost twice as likely to report an overall improvement in IBS symptoms after six months than those on dummy drugs. Researchers from Universities of Leeds, Southampton, and Bristol also monitored participants' anxiety or depression scores. What is IBS and what are the symptoms? IBS is a functional disorder of the gastrointestinal tract, characterised by recurrent abdominal pain and discomfort, accompanied by alterations in bowel function. It is hard to diagnose, as symptoms can vary widely, and needs to be monitored over a period of approximately 12 weeks for a proper diagnosis. Fortunately, unlike more serious intestinal diseases such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, IBS doesn't cause inflammation or changes in bowel tissue, or increase the risk of colorectal cancer. Symptoms of IBS can include: frequent bowel movements (more than three a day) or infrequent bowel movements (less than three a week), abnormal stool form (lumpy/hard or loose/watery), abnormal stool passage (straining, urgency or feeling of incomplete evacuation), extreme bloating, lethargy, nausea, abdominal pain or cramping, flatulence and mucus in the stool. Symptoms may be intermittent and can range from severe to mild. Advertisement They found these were not altered suggesting that the beneficial effects of the medication were via the gut, not because of any effect as an antidepressant. Affecting around one in 20 people worldwide, IBS causes agonising pain, bloating, diarrhoea and constipation with few effective treatments available. The long-term condition, which has no known cure, can have a substantial impact on quality of life and the ability of sufferers to work and socialise. Amitriptyline belongs to a group of medications called tricyclics, which were originally used at high doses to treat depression. But the drug is also thought to work directly on the nerves in the bowel, having an effect on digestive discomfort. Compounds called neurotransmitters, which are found in the brain and are responsible for regulating mood, are also present in the nerves of the digestive system. Previous small trials of low-dose tricyclic antidepressants for IBS suggested a possible benefit in patients seen in hospital clinics, who often have more difficult to treat symptoms. But this new study, published in the Lancet, is the first to study its use for IBS in primary care. NICE guidance states that antidepressants can be used to treat the condition if other options have failed but doctors are often reluctant. Researchers hope the findings will prove reassuring to GPs, alongside new suggested dosage guidelines. Alexander Ford, Professor of Gastroenterology at the University of Leeds's School of Medicine, said: 'Amitriptyline is an effective treatment for IBS and is safe and well tolerated. IBS affects about one in 20 people worldwide and does not have many treatments available 'This new rigorously conducted research indicates that general practitioners should support patients in primary care to try low-dose amitriptyline if their IBS symptoms haven't improved with recommended first-line treatments.' Professor Andrew Farmer, of the National Institute for Health and Care Research, said: 'The results of this study are hugely encouraging. 'It shows that a drug already widely available to treat a number of other conditions appears to be safe and effective for people with IBS.' Links between Ozempic and suicidal thoughts are becoming 'more credible', a former US health chief has said. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received hundreds of reports of suicidal thoughts and depression from patients on weight loss medications since 2010, as well as 36 deaths 'by suicide or suspected suicide'. Of the adverse events, a significant number occurred shortly after starting the drugs or upping those dose only to subside when patients stopped taking them. Patients include a mother-of-four who said she was left feeling like she no longer wanted to be here and a nurse who wanted to shoot herself. Dr Erick Turner, who used to work for the FDA but is now at Oregon Health and Science University, said the fact many patients stopped suffering suicidal thoughts when they came off the drug made it 'harder to explain away the suicidality'. Dawn Heidlebaugh, a mother-of-four from Ohio, said taking Ozempic left her feeling suicidal (pictured) A total of 265 reports of suicidal thoughts and depression have been received by the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS), reports Reuters. They include reports from patients taking Wegovy and Ozempic, made by Novo Nordisk, and Mounjaro, made by Eli Lilly. Reports of suicidal thoughts on the drugs are unverified and can be submitted by patients and doctors. The system is supposed to act like a crude early warning system for side-effects which may have been missed during clinical trials and to allow officials to pick up rare side effects from medications. Data must be carefully analyzed, however, to determine whether any patterns are caused by the drug or down to another factor. It is possible that Ozempic is being linked to suicide in patients because it is stopping them from eating regularly which may be a coping mechanism for other emotions. People who are severely overweight are also more likely to be depressed and may be more likely to take the drug in the first place. But Dr Turner said the fact patients stopped feeling depressed when they came off the drug made 'those safety signals more credible'. Suicidal thoughts for those taking the drugs do, however, appear to be extremely rare. Overall, reports of suicidal thoughts or feelings were rare making up less than 0.02 percent of the 14,000 reports in the system. Of the 265 reports of suicidal thoughts and mental health problems reported for Ozempic, depression was the most common making up 113 or almost half of the reports. There were also 59 reports of suicidal ideation, while six were reported to have attempted suicide on the drug. There were also four reports of suicides in patients on Ozempic. Millions of Americans are now on Ozempic with doctors watching out for any rare side effects which may have been missed in clinical trials Among patients who said the drug had left them suicidal was Dawn Heidlebaugh, a 53-year-old mother-of-four from Ohio. Ms Heidlebaugh, who works in real estate, revealed she started taking the drug every Sunday and that by Tuesday she would feel lethargic, depressed and at times suicidal believing her family would be better without her. The symptoms would persist for a few days, she said, and then return shortly after her next injection. They only didn't appear when she skipped a dose. Ms Heidleberg, who had no history of depression, said: 'I knew it was the drug.' Another patient, Sarah Sobol, 40, from Buffalo, New York, revealed how Ozempic had left her with panic attacks, hallucinations and suicidal thoughts. Eric Turner, who previously worked as an FDA reviewer, said the evidence of a link between Ozempic and suicide was becoming 'more credible' She had begun to take it in 2021 for weight loss but stopped after these side effects appeared. Ms Sobol said: 'If someone had said: "This is a side effect; youre not losing your mind," it would have really helped me. 'I thought I would end up in the psych ward. I was terrified I would not be normal again.' A third patient, Lisa Wood, 22, from North Carolina who lost 70lbs on the drug, also revealed she had suicidal thoughts while on Ozempic's sister drug Wegovy. 'I was driving and thought: "What if I just jerked the wheel while on this bridge? It didn't occur to me that it was Wegovy.' And a fourth patient, a 37-year-old nurse and mother-of-two from North Carolina who only gave her first name Katherine, said she also had suicidal thoughts. While on Wegovy she said she repeatedly visualized shooting herself. One evening the symptoms became so bad that she went to the ER, where she received anxiety medications. A doctor told her: 'You're a mom. This happens when you get over-tired.' Concerns over suicidal thoughts in patients taking Ozempic first emerged in July this year, when European regulators said they were investigating the potential link. Several users also raised concerns on social media, saying they were feeling 'hollow' and as though 'rarely anything makes me happy'. In 2022, more than 5 million prescriptions for Ozempic, Mounjaro, Rybelsus, or Wegovy were written for weight management, compared with just over 230,000 in 2019. This marks an increase of more than 2,000 percent, according to market research firm Komodo Health EU and UK regulators are expected to deliver their judgement on links between the drugs and suicidal thoughts next month. A spokesperson for the FDA said it was evaluating reports and will decide whether to act following a thorough review. Suicidal thoughts and depression are not listed as side-effects of the blockbuster weight loss medication and there is no evidence they could cause the illness. Wegovy's label Ozempic's sister drug does warn suicidal thoughts have been reported for other weight-loss medications and recommends those who start using the medication are monitored for these thoughts. This is required by the FDA because Wegovy has been approved as a weight loss drug. But doctors are on the lookout for rare side-effects that may have been missed in clinical trials which only included tens of thousands of people. Millions are now on the weight loss drugs. In a previous case, doctors linked rare fatal blood clots to the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine after it was administered to millions in Europe. The shot was never approved for use in the United States. Doctors are keeping a close eye on this because other weight loss drugs have previously also been linked to suicide. In 2008, Sanofi's Acomplia weight-loss drug was withdrawn in Europe after being linked to suicidal thoughts. It was never approved in the US. The weight-loss drug Contrave carries a black-box warning about suicidal thinking and another obesity medicine, Qsymia, also has a warning telling patients to stop taking it if they experience suicidal thoughts. Novo Nordisk, which manufactures Ozempic, has submitted 180 of the FDA's 265 reports describing suicidal thnking or behaviors. Among the 113 detailed case narratives available seen by Reuters, 91 were filed by the company. In nearly all of these cases, however, the company said there were too few details to determine what happened. In three reports, it attempted to explain them by saying overweight people are at higher risk of depression or suicidal ideation. Novo Nordisk has been contacted for comment. Neuroscientist Hoau-Yan Wang is accused of egregious misconduct concerning 20 research papers Scientists are calling for stage 3 clinical trials of an Alzheimer's drug to be scrapped after a report highlighted serious doubts about the legitimacy of research that helped the medicine reach that stage. A long-awaited report by the City University of New York (CUNY) accused one of its faculty members, neuroscientist Hoau-Yan Wang, of egregious misconduct concerning 20 research papers defined as workplace behavior so outrageous, dangerous, or illegal that an employer cannot reasonably expect to correct it through progressive discipline. According to the 50-page document obtained by Science, Mr Wang could not provide original data to disprove allegations he had manipulated images in his research papers, many of which provided critical support for the Alzheimer's drug simufilam's jump from the lab into clinical studies. CUNY biochemist Kevin Gardner told Science the report's findings were 'embarrassing beyond words,' while Vanderbilt University neuroscientist Matthew Schrag said the ongoing trial should 'certainly be shut down.' The allegations were prompted by initial doubts over the doctored images raised by two scientists in August 2021. Simufilam is a drug in tablet form that claims to prevent the buildup of amyloid proteins in the brain that are a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease The CUNY investigative committee found numerous signs that images in Wang's research were duplicated, cut and pasted, and altered, 'thereby presenting falsified or fabricated biochemical data' Mr Wang is a long-standing collaborator with biotech company Cassava Sciences, whose work on the experimental Alzheimer's drug simufilam has been heavily criticized. Simufilam is a drug in tablet form that claims to prevent the buildup of amyloid proteins in the brain that are a hallmark sign of Alzheimer's disease. Along with Wang, Cassava's senior vice president for neuroscience Lindsay Burns is also being deemed at fault. Burns is a co-author alongside Wang on some of the papers in question. The CUNY investigative committee found numerous signs images in Wang's research papers were used multiple times, cut and pasted, and altered, 'thereby presenting falsified or fabricated biochemical data.' One of the papers in question was a 2012 paper published in The Journal of Neuroscience, with both Burns and Wang listed as co-authors, which implied simufilam could reduce the pathological effects of beta amyloid, a protein commonly thought to drive Alzheimer's disease. However, the investigative committee could not confirm its total of 31 allegations against Wang, with the majority pertaining to because he failed to produce the original raw data. The neuroscientist could not provide 'even a single datum or notebook in response to any allegation,' the report said. Wang's attorney, Jennifer Beidel Scramlin, told Science neither she nor her client can comment on the report until they speak with CUNY, and that the university has not responded to their inquiries. CUNY'S report, however, said Wang told the university a 'significant number of boxes containing research records were thrown away in response to a request from CCNY [City College of New York, part of CUNY] to clean the lab during the Covid-19 pandemic.' The investigators could not find any evidence of this request. The internal inquiry began in fall 2021, after previous allegations were forwarded to CUNY by the Office of Research Integrity (ORI), the government body that oversees work funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH gave millions of dollars to Wang and Burns' work, including roughly $1.2 million to Wang since December 2020. According to emails seen by Science, the investigation was not completed until May this year. Four researchers from CUNY made up the investigative panel, which ran into delays because university officials blocked requests for the image files taken from Wang's computers. This resistance went on for six months and was only rectified after the investigators spoke to Vincent Boudreau, the president of CUNY. Burns and Wang are listed as the joint inventors on multiple patents relating to simufilan, and the pair gave intellectual property rights to Cassava Sciences, known as Pain Therapeutics, in 2019. Doubts about simufilam first arose in August 2021 when an attorney filed a petition to halt its clinical trials with the Food and Drug Administrators (FDA) on behalf of two neuroscientists Geoffrey Pitt of Weill Cornell Medicine and David Bredt, a former pharmaceutical executive. They wanted the trials stopped because they also doubted the accuracy of Wang's claims in previous research papers. The petition covered many of the same papers referenced in the CUNY report, proposing the alleged image manipulation compromised claims the drug may slow down or even backpedal Alzheimer's symptoms. Cassava CEO Remi Barbier, Burns' husband, questioned if their motives were financial because Pitt and Bredt were short sellers, meaning they could profit if a company's stock fell. Barbier also rejected their claims that the pre-trial data had been manipulated, and Cassava Sciences filed a defamation lawsuit against the pair as well as other critics. In the meantime, investors in Cassava filed their own lawsuit alleging executives at the COMPANY, including Burns and Barbier, deceived them as part of a 'fraudulent scheme' to do with how likely simufilam was to succeed. Cassava carried out small phase 2 trials of the drug in 2019, which it said yielded promising results. It then set up phase 3 trials required to get FDA approval, treating mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's. The company has already enrolled more than 800 volunteers and said it will have almost 1,100 by December. After Pitt and Bredt's petition, the FDA declined to stop the trials. Mr Schrag told Science he first gave information to the NIH on Wang's studies during the summer of 2021. He said CUNY's report is 'detailed, thorough, and credible. 'But a two-year delay is somewhat astonishing. The phase 3 simufilam clinical trials should never have started. And they should certainly be shut down on the basis of this report.' CUNY has taken no public steps in relation to Wang in the nearly five months since the report was finished. Senior adviser to the CCNY president Dee Dee Mozeleski told Science Boudreau could not comment on the matter at this time but said 'action on the report is imminent.' Cassava Sciences also declined to comment on the report to Science because the university had not sent it to the company. It said CUNY did not speak to any Cassava employees as part of the trial and 'refused all requests for information and offers of assistance from Cassava.' The biotech firm added it 'looks forward to continuing the development of simufilam as a potential treatment for patients with Alzheimers disease.' CUNY biochemist Kevin Gardner, who assisted with an initial evaluation of Wang's work but was not part of the final review, told Science what the panel found was 'embarrassing beyond words.' He said Dr Wang's record of research was 'abhorrent', and added that the fact his work supported clinical trials is 'doubly sickening.' by Joseph Shieber Oh, hes wrong. So are many of the people coming at him. One of the most-cited passages of Michael Lewiss new Sam Bankman-Fried book, Going Infinite, is a quote from a blog post from 2012. In that post, a twenty year old Bankman-Fried expresses contempt for the consensus view that Shakespeare is a literary genius. Bankman-Fried offers two arguments against the consensus view. The first argument involves an argument on the literary merits: that Shakespeares plots rely on simultaneously one-dimensional and unrealistic characters, illogical plots, and obvious endings. The second argument and the one that raced across the internet after the release of Going Infinite is a probabilistic one. Given the much smaller population of English speakers in the 16th century, and given the much lower prevalence of education, what are the chances that the best writer in the history of the English language would have been born then? As Bankman-Fried put it: the Bayesian priors are pretty damning. About half of the people born since 1600 have been born in the past 100 years, but it gets much worse than that. When Shakespeare wrote almost all of Europeans were busy farming, and very few people attended university; few people were even literateprobably as low as about ten million people. By contrast there are now upwards of a billion literate people in the Western sphere. What are the odds that the greatest writer would have been born in 1564? The Bayesian priors arent very favorable. The problem with this, says the 20 year old Bankman-Fried, is that We like old plays and old movies and old wines and old instruments and old laws and old people and old records and old music. We like them because theyre old and come with stories but we convince ourselves that theres more: we convince ourselves that they really were better. We dont just respect the old; we think that the old is right and that those who prefer the new to the old are wrong. Why, given these arguments against Shakespeare and other olds, would we persist in revering them? Bankman-Fried cites at least two reasons. (At least two reasons, because the reason-giving comes at the end of a blog post written at 2:40 am and Bankman-Fried is rushing to give the peroration and conclude, so it becomes harder to disentangle the reasoning.) One reason is that that there is a whole lot of inertia in the system. If Shakespeare is the most respected thing in 1900 then teachers will teach it in 1900 and academics will write about it in 1900 and if youre young in 1900 and want to be in the know and want to become an insider in academic literature, then, well, youd better study Shakespeare; and so its passed on from generation to generation. The second reason is a general conservatism: once something acquires a label, its very hard to dislodge the labeleven if the label is as the best author ever and there are more and more authors every day giving the old one a run for its money (and then some). The most common reaction to Bankman-Fried on Shakespeare has been to mock him or to decry him as a cultural philistine and to mock the credulousness of Michael Lewis, who cites Bankman-Frieds Bayesian argument against Shakespeares greatness as early evidence of Bankman-Frieds iconoclasm in the mold of other Michael Lewis heroes like Billy Beane of Moneyball or Kahneman and Tversky of The Undoing Project. Sam Bankman-Fried thought Shakespeare was a "shitty writer" and Citizen Kane is "almost unwatchably empty." It is fascinating, and depressing, that there's such a huge overlap between cultural philistinism and tech bro-ism. https://t.co/kBQwa4L3qT James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) November 30, 2022 Such reactions, however, are unhelpful. If someone argues that the respect for Shakespeare is merely a result of conformism and signaling, then piling on to that person on social media only provides evidence for their claim, rather than effectively rebutting it. For that reason, what I want to do here is to address Bankman-Frieds arguments, before turning to some larger lessons that we can draw from both Bankman-Frieds arguments and their failings. Ill have only a little to say directly about Bankman-Frieds first argument that Shakespeares plots are subpar and his characters one-dimensional because that argument is not terribly substantive. Bankman-Fried only cites two plays, Much Ado About Nothing and Romeo and Juliet, and his very brief discussion of both doesnt suggest that he read the plays or that he read them carefully, since the points he made could easily have been made by someone reading a Wikipedia summary. Most significantly, he cites no direct textual evidence supporting his claims. There is, of course, much more that one could say here. Since many of Shakespeares plays the histories, of course, but most of the others as well were based on stories that were well-known to his audiences, it would be unsurprising if the plots were predictable. (Although again, at least in the case of the histories it would be surprising if the plots were, as Bankman-Fried suggests, unrealistic.) Certainly one part of Shakespeares genius lies in his use of language. For example, Shakespeare coined more than 1700 words that we still use today. Furthermore, giving the lie to Bankman-Frieds claim that Shakespeares characters are one-dimensional, Shakespeare was a very subtle observer of human psychology so subtle that even his monsters like Iago, Richard III, or Caliban elicit our sympathy as well as our revulsion. There is a reason, of course, why Bankman-Frieds first argument, addressing the actual merits of Shakespeares writing, is so cursory. If hes already convinced that Shakespeare is vastly overrated, then it would be a waste of time for Bankman-Fried to engage with the writing in sufficient depth to provide a more detailed assessment of Shakespeares work. Ill return to this point. Bankman-Frieds main argument, and the argument that provoked so much outrage on the internet, is the Bayesian one: given how low our prior probability should be that a 16th century writer would turn out to be the greatest writer in the English language, we would need a LOT of evidence that this writer is in fact great before we could come to accept that they ARE in fact the greatest. One immediate problem with this argument is that the very nature of genius is that it defies our expectations. Consider Newton. The same arguments that tell against a 16th century writer turning out to be the greatest English writer the relatively small population, the low prevalence of education also tell against a 16th century thinker turning out to be an Isaac Newton (well, at least the inventor of the calculus Isaac Newton; not so much the alchemist Isaac Newton). We can make analogous observations about Bach, Euler, Mozart, Gauss, or Einstein. One element characterizing a genius is that their existence is uncanny. As Freud observes of Gretchens response to Mephistopheles in Goethes Faust, what is unsettling is the otherworldly ability that Mephistopheles seems to possess. Mephistopheles notes of Gretchen that Sie fuhlt, dass ich ganz sicher ein Genie, vielleicht wohl gar der Teufel bin. (She feels that I am certainly a genius and perhaps even the devil.) When we experience the work of a genius, then, part of what characterizes that experience is that we cant imagine anyone having created such a work. Who could imagine that an obscure Swiss patent clerk could write one of the articles let alone all four that Einstein produced in his annus mirabilis of 1905?! If this is correct, however, then the phenomenon of genius indicates a point at which Bayesian reasoning breaks down. That such cases are a problem for Bayess Theorem is not a new idea. Indeed, Richard Price, who as Bayess literary executor was responsible for the publication of An Essay towards solving a Problem in the Doctrine of Chances, was well aware of this problem. For example, in his Four Dissertations, Price writes The improbability of drawing a lottery in any particular assigned manner independently of the evidence of testimony or of our own senses acquainting us that it has been drawn in that manner is such as exceeds all conception. And yet the most common testimony is sufficient to put us out of doubt about it. Suppose here a person was to reject the evidence offered him on the pretence that the improbability of the falsehood of it is almost infinitely less than that of the event or suppose that universally a person was to reject all accounts which he reads or hears of facts which are more uncommon than it is that he should read or hear what is false. What would be thought of such a person? How soon would he be made to see and acknowledge his mistake? Heres the case Price has in mind. Suppose the PowerBall lottery is drawn on a Wednesday. The chances of winning the PowerBall are roughly 1 in 292 million. In other words, the chance of any particular sequence of numbers being drawn for the lottery is highly unlikely. Whatever you think of the reliability of a newspaper, say, or some other site on the internet, you have to admit that the chance of a mistake appearing in a newspaper or other site is much greater than 1 in 292 million. Nevertheless, when you want to check about the PowerBall numbers on the Thursday after the drawing, chances are that you check one site one site! and believe whatever the site relays about the numbers of the drawing. The appearance of a Shakespeare or a Newton is like winning the PowerBall an almost miraculous event. Given the analogy to miraculous events, I can sympathize a bit with Bankman-Frieds contrarian impulse. Many millions of people believe that Jesus performed miracles, but that doesnt incline me to accept the divinity of Jesus. Bankman-Fried seems to think that the near-universal acclaim enjoyed by Shakespeare is more like the belief in religious miracles; the various testimonies on behalf of Shakespeares genius are not independent, and therefore cannot serve as strong evidence of that genius. I noted before that, because hes already convinced that Shakespeare is vastly overrated, Bankman-Fried fails to engage with the writing in sufficient depth to provide a more detailed assessment of Shakespeares work. In the case of the work of a genius whether Shakespeare or Bach, Gauss or Einstein by failing to engage with that work one ultimately only diminishes oneself. My problem with Bankman-Fried, in other words, isnt that he experienced a contrarian impulse. Its that when he experienced that impulse, he either didnt actually read Shakespeare to judge for himself whether the universal acclamation was justified, or if he did read Shakespeare to form his own opinion his reading was so blinkered and unsympathetic that he failed to appreciate what he was reading. In either case, when contemplating Bankman-Frieds reaction to Shakespeare I was reminded of John Stuart Mills essay on Bentham. The essay is so excellent that Im going to quote from it at length. Mill decries Benthams inability to draw light from other minds. In a passage that recalls Bankman-Frieds own blindness to the Shakespeares genius, Mill writes that: His writings contain few traces of the accurate knowledge of any schools of thinking but his own; and many proofs of his entire conviction that they could teach him nothing worth knowing. For some of the most illustrious of previous thinkers, his contempt was unmeasured. He had a phrase, expressive of the view he took of all moral speculations to which his method had not been applied, or (which he considered as the same thing) not founded on a recognition of utility as the moral standard; this phrase was vague generalities. Whatever presented itself to him in such a shape, he dismissed as unworthy of notice, or dwelt upon only to denounce as absurd. He did not heed, or rather the nature of his mind prevented it from occurring to him, that these generalities contained the whole unanalysed experience of the human race. Mills analysis of Benthams weakness might also serve well to characterize Bankman-Fried. Like Bentham, Bankman-Fried prides himself on a rigorousness of thought and an iconoclasm founded on contempt for common opinion: it must be allowed, that even the originality which can, and the courage which dares, think for itself, is not a more necessary part of the philosophical character than a thoughtful regard for previous thinkers, and for the collective mind of the human race. Every circumstance which gives a character to the life of a human being, carries with it its peculiar biases; its peculiar facilities for perceiving some things, and for missing or forgetting others. But, from points of view different from his, different things are perceptible; and none are more likely to have seen what he does not see, than those who do not see what he sees. The collective mind does not penetrate below the surface, but it sees all the surface; which profound thinkers, even by reason of their profundity, often fail to do: their intenser view of a thing in some of its aspects diverting their attention from others. The hardiest assertor, therefore, of the freedom of private judgment; the keenest detector of the errors of his predecessors, and of the inaccuracies of current modes of thought,is the very person who most needs to fortify the weak side of his own intellect, by study of the opinions of mankind in all ages and nations, and of the speculations of philosophers of the modes of thought most opposite to his own. It is there that he will find the experiences denied to himself; the remainder of the truth of which he sees but half; the truths, of which the errors he detects are commonly but the exaggerations. If, like Bentham, he brings with him an improved instrument of investigation, the greater is the probability that he will find ready prepared a rich abundance of rough ore, which was merely waiting for that instrument. A man of clear ideas errs grievously if he imagines that whatever is seen confusedly does not exist: it belongs to him, when he meets with such a thing, to dispel the mist, and fix the outlines of the vague form which is looming through it. How much of human nature slumbered in him he knew not, neither can we know. He had never been made alive to the unseen influences which were acting on himself, nor consequently on his fellow-creatures. Other ages and other nations were a blank to him for purposes of instruction. He measured them but by one standard,their knowledge of facts, and their capability to take correct views of utility, and merge all other objects in it. He saw accordingly in man little but what the vulgarest eye can see Reflecting upon Bankman-Fried, its hard to avoid applying to him the same diagnosis that Mill forms of Bentham: Knowing so little of human feelings, he knew still less of the influences by which those feelings are formed: all the more subtle workings both of the mind upon itself, and of external things upon the mind, escaped him; and no one, probably, who, in a highly instructed age, ever attempted to give a rule to all human conduct, set out with a more limited conception either of the agencies by which human conduct is, or of those by which it should be, influenced. Sam Neill, 76, has shared that he is 'not frightened of dying' from rare cancer Sam Neill, the actor best known for his roles in Jurassic Park and Event Horizon, has reflected on his life and shared that he is 'not frightened of dying' from advanced blood cancer. Neill, 76, from New Zealand, announced earlier this year that he is battling stage three angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL), a rare cancer affecting the lymphatic system, the body's disease-fighting network. After a failed course of chemotherapy, Neill is on an experimental medication. However, he told the TV program Australian Story that the drug won't last forever, leaving him in a 'fight for life.' 'I'm not in any way frightened of dying. That doesn't worry me. It's never worried me from the beginning, but I would be annoyed,' he said. 'I'd be annoyed because there are things I still want to do. Very irritating, dying. But I'm not afraid of it.' Below, DailyMail.com answers questions about AITL, including how the disease wreaks havoc on the body, what causes it, and what the prognosis looks like. Sam Neill has stage three angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL) and has been in remission for 12 months thanks to an anti-cancer drug, but admits he is 'prepared' for the fact that it will eventually stop working Symptoms include persistent or repeated fever, unexplained weight loss, night sweats, and enlarged lymph nodes in the neck, armpit, or groin. One key symptom is a distinctive skin rash that may be reddened or characterized by small spots or bumps, similar to a measles rash What is angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL)? AITL is a rare and aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system. This is the body's disease-fighting network made up of the spleen, bone marrow, lymph nodes, and thymus gland. The lymphatic system supports healthy fluid levels in the body by filtering out excess and returning it to the bloodstream. It also helps the body absorb fats and protect against bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi, according to the Cleveland Clinic. AITL begins in the T-cells, a type of white blood cell- known as a lymphocyte- that supports healthy immune function by copying itself to destroy incoming threats. AITL turns those T-cells into malignant, or cancerous, cells. It's considered an aggressive form of lymphoma, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI). What causes it? Lymphoma occurs when T cells mutate into cancerous cells. Risk factors for lymphoma, in general, include previously having infections like human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Epstein-Barr virus, family history, a weakened immune system from taking immunosuppressant medications, and autoimmune diseases. Some preliminary research suggests that overweight or obese adults are more likely to get non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Researchers aren't sure what causes AITL. How common is it? The NCI estimates there will be more than 80,000 cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the US this year, along with over 20,000 deaths. AITL accounts for one to two percent of these cases. This is about 5,000 Americans annually. It's most common in older adults, particularly those over age 70, according to the Lymphoma Research Foundation. Men are also more likely to get non-Hodgkin lymphoma. What are the symptoms? The initial symptoms are hard to spot since they mimic those of several other conditions. Researchers refer to these generalized symptoms as 'B symptoms.' According to the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD), these include persistent or repeated fever, unexplained weight loss, night sweats, and enlarged lymph nodes in the neck, armpit, or groin. One key symptom is a distinctive skin rash that may be reddened or characterized by small spots or bumps, similar to a measles rash. Individuals with AITL may also experience fatigue, a general feeling of poor health known as malaise, and fluid accumulation around the lungs or abdomen. What is the prognosis? Sam Neill (left), Joseph Mazzello, and Ariana Richards are pictured in 1993's Jurassic Park The Lymphoma Research Foundation estimates that most patients with AITL are diagnosed in either stage three or stage four since early symptoms are difficult to spot. The foundation determines survival rates based on how high-risk a patient is. Higher-risk patients tend to be older. The survival rate among high-risk patients after five years with no disease progression is just 13 percent. Overall, the survival rate for these patients is 21 percent. Low-risk patients have a survival rate with no disease progression of 41 percent and 63 percent overall. Scientists have discovered a drug that battles daytime sleepiness better than an espresso. Researchers from Canada found that three anti-fatigue medications can be effective at reducing daytime sleepiness. They reviewed previous studies of the medication on people with obstructive sleep apnea who were already using another therapy, such as a positive airway pressure (PAP) mask. Sleep apnea is a common sleep-related condition where breathing stops and starts through the night, putting the body at risk of dangerously depriving it of vital oxygen. Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common type. Scientists have discovered a drug that battles daytime sleepiness better than an espresso Researchers reviewed 14 previous clinical trials with a total of 3,085 participants with obstructive sleep apnea and associated excessive daytime sleepiness. They compared the effectiveness of three anti-tiredness drugs: solriamfetol, armodafinil-modafinil, and pitolisant. All three were found to be more effective than a placebo drug at fighting the patients' tiredness, with solriamfetol having the largest impact. Participants' tiredness was measured using self-reported questionnaires and a test called the Maintenance of Wakefulness Test (MWT) which measures how alert someone is during the day. It involves a person trying to remain awake while in a dimly lit room while they wear sensors to measure their vital signs. Armodafinil-modafinil and pitolisant were found to 'probably improve' wakefulness after a month of use. The researchers noted that side effects of the drugs could be an issue for users. Solriamfetol, for instance, has been linked to an increase in blood pressure. The study was published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. According to the makers of the solriamfetol drug, brand name SUNOSI, improved wakefulness for up to nine hours. With caffeine, people probably won't feel the effects after four to six hours. House prices will continue to fall, says an influential poll of estate agents, but how bad are things in the property market? The latest survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors found that home buyer demand is declining and fewer homes are coming to the market. Meanwhile, Halifaxs latest house price figures show a 14,000 drop compared to the recent peak in August 2022 and 4.7 per cent fall in the year to the end of September, the largest since 2009. So, how much further could house prices fall and are buyers in danger of trying to time the market? Will there be a big pause before a general election next year, or will the market rebound as mortgage rates come down? On this podcast episode, Georgie Frost, Simon Lambert and Lee Boyce discuss what's next for mortgages, house prices and the property market. This week has also seen the Bank of England sound the alarm over 35 year mortgages should we be concerned? Meanwhile, Skipton Building Society has launched a headline mortgage rate of 3.35 per cent that is way below rivals' deals. Whats the catch and what are other big lenders, including Nationwide doing on mortgages? In the final part of the propertyfest, the team look at the top up-and-coming areas for first-time buyers: Spoiler alert, the list features Hull, Middlesbrough and Ipswich. Does your area make the cut? DIY investors went on a gilt-buying spree in September - shunning the stock market and savings accounts. But with the UK government bonds paying as little as 0.125 per cent, why were they getting involved? Hargreaves Lansdown is launching a basic, no-frills pension for those who want an easy way to invest for retirement but arent quite sure how to get started. They are the first Sipp provider to give details after regulators said they had to offer customers a 'default' option by the start of December. Will it make Sipps sexy enough to the self-employed? And finally, shrinkflation, bogus loyalty card savings and variable prices in supermarkets... were fed up with the lot of them. Are you? Furious letters sent by the creator of Superman to comics executives reveal his anger after he they bought the rights to his creation for just $130. Jerry Siegel created the world famous superhero in the early 1930s with his friend Joe Shuster. After years of failing to find a home for it as an ongoing comic strip, they sold the rights to the story to Detective Comics - the forerunner of the publishing behemoth DC Comics - in 1938. Siegel and Shuster were then employed by DC executives to continue writing Superman stories. But when the superhero went on to become an astonishing success, Siegel was left furious as executives earned millions in royalties. Writing to executive Paul Sampliner in December 1951 - after he had unsuccessfully sued DC for the rights to both Superman and spin-off creation Superboy - Siegel claimed they had 'destroyed' him and 'crushed' his career. He prophetically finished by warning in capital letters that he would 'haunt' them for the rest of his life, adding: 'I put a curse on you.' Furious letters sent by the creator of Superman to comic executives reveal his anger after he they bought the rights to his creation for just $130. Jerry Siegel created the world famous superhero in the early 1930s with his friend Joe Shuster The cover of the earliest Superman comic is seen above. It is dated 1939 and sold at auction in 1999 for more than 30,000 What later became known as the 'Superman curse' was coined after the misfortune suffered by people involved in adaptations of the character. Hollywood star Christopher Reeve - who portrayed Superman in four films from 1978 to 1987 - was paralysed in a horse riding accident in 1995. He died nine years later. And George Reeves, who portrayed the superhero on television from 1952 until 1958, shot himself in 1959. Margot Kidder, who portrayed love interest Lois Lane alongside Reeve, battled bipolar disorder and was found dead in 2018 at the age of 69. Siegel's letters are being sold on website Comic Connect. In the one dated December 10, 1951, he writes: 'It may add to the joy of your Christmas merrymaking to know that I am having to go on Relief. 'While you make millions from your creationsYou wouldn't give me a chance to write again, and lead a decent life. 'By appropriating Superboy, you destroyed me. But everyone knows how you have rewarded the creator of Superman and Superboy, for helping you found your comic book empire. 'You can see what they really think of you, not in their words, but in what they don't say... and in their eyes. Writing to executive Paul Sampliner in December 1951 - after he had unsuccessfully sued DC for the rights to both Superman and spin-off creation Superboy - Siegel claimed they had 'destroyed' him and 'crushed' his career In another letter, Siegel directed his anger in the form of a poem which he sent to three executives. It included the lines: 'Because of you there's no food in my house' and 'because of you my life's a wreck' A third letter being sold was sent by Siegel to executive Jack Liebowitz. Writing in May 1953 - two months after pleading for work in an initial letter - he initially congratulated him on the engagement of his daughter. But he then added: 'Once I lived in University Heights, Cleveland in a nice home until another injustice ruined my life and career' 'They know that you destroyed me for profit.. and that you are not offering my family a helping hand so that we can survive. 'How can you enjoy any achievements, knowing it is being built on my crushed career? Is money worth that? 'When you face your maker, will he accept the fine print in your lawyer's "legalisms"? Are you at all concerned with your immortal soul? 'When you eat, and drink, and have shelter, remember that the man you destroyed is faced with poverty. 'When you celebrate at your Christmas party, remember that I will be there in spirit, looking at you, walking by your side and asking: Why have you done this to another human being? Why are you forcing me to go on relief.' He added: 'As long as I live, and afterwards, I shall haunt you and yours. Before God, I put a curse on you.' Despite his fury at DC Comics, Siegel returned to write for them after initially leaving in 1947. He and Shuster sued the company for the rights to both Superman and Superboy but ended up agreeing to a financial settlement which resulted in DC Comics keeping full control of both. After leaving, Siegel was unable to replicate the success of Superman and struggled financially. He returned to work for DC between 1959 and 1965, after which he ceased receiving work from the firm. In another letter, Siegel directed his anger in the form of a poem which he sent to three executives. It included the lines: 'Because of you there's no food in my house' and 'because of you my life's a wreck'. What later became known as the 'Superman curse' was coined after the misfortune suffered by people involved in adaptations of the character. Hollywood star Christopher Reeve - who portrayed Superman in four films from 1978 to 1987 - was paralysed in a horse riding accident in 1995. He died nine years later Margot Kidder, who portrayed love interest Lois Lane (right) alongside Reeve, battled bipolar disorder and was found dead in 2018 at the age of 69 A third letter being sold was sent by Siegel to executive Jack Liebowitz. Writing in May 1953 - two months after pleading for work in an initial letter - he initially congratulated him on the engagement of his daughter. But he then added: 'Once I lived in University Heights, Cleveland in a nice home until another injustice ruined my life and career.' He signed it with his name and added in a scrawl that he was the 'creator of superman.' Siegel and Shuster were awarded a lifetime stipend of $20,000 a year from production company Warner Brothers to stop them contesting the rights to Superman ahead of the release of Reeve's first film in 1978. Later in life, Siegel worked for other comics publishers but his stories never replicated the success of Superman. He died aged 81 in 1996 from a heart attack. None of the documents in the sale have a reserve price or estimate and have a starting bid of $1. The date of the auction is to be confirmed. A revived Wild West town is now complete with its own brothel after crews found, restored and moved the facility to the vintage community. Old Trail Town, which is situated just outside of Cody, Wyoming, is a six-acre complex comprising of 28 buildings, numerous gravesites and a museum. The town, which is situated on the original site of Cody, also has a saloon, general store, main street and, after nearly 60 years in operation, now has a brothel. But, lawmen need not be worried - it's not operational. The brothel was the original Rosie's Roadhouse and Brothel situated in Arland, Wyoming, which had a reputation as being 'the roughest town of Wyoming.' It was first erected in 1884 by Vic Arland for Rose Williams, who was the proprietor of the business. The brothel was the original Rosie's Roadhouse and Brothel situated in Arland, Wyoming, pictured here in the state it was found The brothel, which was originally erected in 1884, had been lost for years after being built over Williams then moved her business following the death of Arland, which caused his namesake town to decline, to present day Meeteetse, Wyoming, where she operated the brothel until her death in 1894. But, the Brotel building remained behind. Some of the women Williams had worked with including Belle Drewry and Katie Durrant. Drewry would later die after being poisoned by Durrant in 1897, and was reburied at Old Trail Town, which is operated by the nonprofit Museum of the Old West, in 1986. After falling into obscurity as the Wild West crumbled, the brothel has been converted into a barn, unbeknownst to those at the Old Trail Town. According to Cowboy State Daily, the process of finding, preserving and then reconstructing the brothel had been a painstaking process. Larry Edgar, treasurer for The Museum of the Old West, told the outlet: 'We knew where she moved it, but we couldnt find the cabin. When we found out it existed, we had to get it.' After falling into obscurity as the Wild West crumbled, the brothel has been converted into a barn, unbeknownst to those at the Old Trail Town Workers at Old Trail Town are seen here piecing together the former brothel to bring it to life in the town The work on the brothel has been a painstaking process, with modern techniques being used to breathe new life into it It wasn't until 2018 that ranch owners discovered the original building that had been covered with wood and other materials. After removing a shed roof covering the barn, they discovered the original brothel underneath. Shortly after, the building was extensively photographed, dismantled and moved to Cody to be installed exactly as it was found. The ranchers also told Edgar they believed the spirits of past patrons to still be lurking. He told Cowboy State Daily: 'They told us, If you take this cabin, take the spirits with you. Were tired of them.' The official restoration and reconstruction began in 2021 and is slated to open next Summer due to brothel's poor condition. Those in charge of the facility also had to go to the city of Cody so they could formally have a brothel in the city limits. As opposed to the original grout that would have held the original brothel in place, the decision was made to use a more modern polymer resin in place to hold the building. To complete the inside, the town is appealing for help with finding a hip bath, a shell-shaped bathtub where people washed while sitting rather than laying down. The town also is still in need of both a jail and a church - two things it might need now that it has a brothel. Those who work at Old Trail Town have now said that all they need to complete the reproduction would be a jail Old Trail Town, which is set on the original town of Cody, Wyoming , is a six-acre complex comprising of 28 buildings, numerous gravesites and a museum The site is built on the original townsite of Cody, which in 1895 was planned out by scout and showman William F. Cody, also known as Buffalo Bill. They also have the original cabins used by famed outlaws Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The saloon on the land is an original from Wyoming that was also frequented by Cassidy's infamous 'Hole-in-the-wall Gang'. It was frequented by cowboys, gold miners and outlaws, with bullet holes still visible on the front door of the establishment. The land is also home to 'permanent residents,' with seven people exhumed and reinterred on the land. Arguably the most famous resident is John 'Liver Eating' Johnson, a mountain man whose story was made into the 1972 Western flick 'Jeremiah Johnson', where he was played by Robert Redford. The story of John 'Liver Eating' Johnson was made into the 1972 Western flick 'Jeremiah Johnson', where he was played by Robert Redford They also have the original cabins used by famed outlaws Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, seen here Johnson had originally been buried in a cemetery in Los Angeles after his death in 1900. It was only after a campaign from students of a nearby school found out that he had been interred between a skyscraper and a highway that they campaigned to have him moved. In 1974, he was then buried at Old Trail Town with a proper funeral being held for the mountain man. Over 2,000 people are said to have attended his funeral, including Robert Redford, who was a pallbearer. When finally he's crowned King William V, most people assume, the current Prince of Wales will be titled after the four British kings previously bearing that name. Not so his choice of name comes from a little-known British prince who died in a plane crash 51 years ago. Prince William of Gloucester was the swashbuckling older cousin of Prince Charles, a friend and role model for the future king, whose own life was ruined by meddling and interference from the powers-that-be. He died aged 30, unmarried and without children. Prince Charles had no hesitation in naming him his first-born son and heir after Prince William of Gloucester. Charles is pictured looking lovingly at Prince William in New Zealand in 1983 Polo-loving Prince William of Gloucester at Smith's Lawn, Windsor around 1970 Like his late cousin, Prince William, too, is a dashing, Eton-educated polo player Prince William was a keen pilot, pictured here taking part in a cross-country air race in 1971. He would die in a plane crash the following year Charles admired him profoundly and when his first son was born ten years later in 1982 he had no hesitation in naming him after the man, seven years his senior, who'd been his lifetime role-model. By happy coincidence much of the current William's life emulates that of his namesake. Polo player, pilot, handsome Eton-educated man of the world the description fits both men. But the older William was the grandson of King George V and a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, and his love for a Jewish Hungarian divorcee, Zsuzui Starkloff, seven years his senior, created a huge crisis within the royal family. At birth, William had been fourth in line to the throne and the royal family, traumatised by the abdication of King Edward VIII over his love for Wallis Simpson, saw history repeating itself within a generation - and effectively scuppered his treasured relationship. The prince secretly was suffering from porphyria the so-called 'royal disease' which caused the so-called madness of George III - and his life became vague and largely purposeless. Taking part in an air race in August 1972, he crashed his Piper Cherokee and was killed instantly. William was not a name in common royal usage at the time. Indeed the tragic prince was named after a non-royal uncle, Scottish World War I hero Billy Scott. Billy was the adored older brother of Alice Montagu-Douglas-Scott, daughter of the landowning Duke of Buccleuch who would in due course become Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester - and mother of Prince William. They lived in an age where children should be 'seen and not heard' and then only at teatime. Alice said of her childhood that 'we never saw our parents', and so the tall, handsome Billy, five years older, became her father-substitute. A pilot, like his namesake, Prince William flew Sea King helicopters out of RAF Valley on Anglesey Prince William with his mother, the Duchess of Gloucester, attending the Eton Wall Game in 1959 A later Etonian, the heir to the throne is seen in the uniform of a prefect The wreckage of the Piper Cherokee in which William of Gloucester met his end in 1972 The wedding of Lord William Scott - uncle to Prince William of Gloucester - and Lady Rachel Home at St Margaret's, Westminster in 1937. From left to right, the Duchess of Buccleuch, King Edward VII, Lady Alice Montagu-Douglas-Scott, Henry William Frederick Albert, Duke of Gloucester and Queen Mary And like his namesake a hundred years later, Billy played polo and joined a cavalry regiment. In action in France he was awarded the Military Cross for valiant leadership. One day Billy brought home a fellow-officer called Prince Harry, and Alice fell in love. Harry was officially the Duke of Gloucester, and the second son of King George V. When the couple married Alice insisted her first-born should be named after her hero brother, thus creating a link lasting four generations. Whatever happens, the current prince sure to be an improvement on the previous King Williams. The last one, William IV, who reigned from 1830 to 1837, was mockingly known as 'Sailor Bill' for having put to sea with a squadron of ships, leaving no word of where they were going and remaining away for ten days. On his return he was sacked as Lord High Admiral. His domestic life was just as chaotic he had ten children with the actress Mrs Jordan, but as kingship loomed he dumped her for a German princess, Adelaide, whom he married so she could be his queen. Mrs Jordan died, heartbroken and penniless, in France. William III, a Dutch-born royal who married the daughter of King James II they ruled jointly as William and Mary - reigned from 1672 to 1702. Unlike the love-match of the current William and Catherine, when Mary was told by her father at the age of 15 that he'd arranged she would marry the Dutch William, 'she wept all that afternoon and all the following day'. After their wedding in 1677 members of the royal family gathered round the marriage-bed to witness the 'bedding ceremony' the act of consummation just to be sure William had done his duty. Poor Mary! In contrast, King William II came to a sticky end at the age of 43 when he went hunting in the New Forest and was killed by an arrow launched by one of his own men, Walter Tirel. No surprises there according to historian Frank Barlow, William was 'without natural dignity or social graces - indeed, according to his critics, addicted to every kind of vice, particularly lust and especially sodomy.' William IV had ten children with the actress Mrs Jordan, but as kingship loomed he dumped her for a German princess, Adelaide, whom he married so she could be his queen Anglo-Irish actress and courtesan Dorothea Jordan had been the mistress and companion of William IV - and was even known as the Duchess of Clarence. But she died penniless and heartbroken when he abandoned her Dorothea Jordan as Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night's Dream King William III and Queen Mary II, who ruled jointly An illustration depicting William, Duke of Normandy - soon to be William I - landing in Kent His father King William I is now remembered as William the Conqueror, but his less well-known name was William the Bastard - a man known for his greed and cruelty. As Duke of Normandy he invaded Britain in 1066, leading his army to victory over the forces of King Harold, but the rest of his life was dogged by the struggle to maintain his hold over the country that was now his. No such battles face our future King William, and historians predict that, of all the Williams, he's on course to have the happiest and most glorious reign. But the president's brother spent the money on personal expenses, including landscaping, electrical work and Philadelphia Eagles season tickets The documents tie him to an alleged fraud scheme in which he received a business 'loan' for $125,000 DailyMail.com can reveal that Jim Biden, 74, is named in three Suspicious Activity Reports filed by banks to the Treasury Department Confidential Treasury documents reveal President Biden's younger brother is embroiled in an allegedly fraudulent scheme in which he used business loans to pay off personal expenses. James 'Jim' Biden, 74, is named in three Suspicious Activity Reports filed by banks to the Treasury Department and exclusively viewed by DailyMail.com, tying him to the alleged fraud. The documents were uncovered during an investigation of James Biden's former business partner, Michael Lewitt, who has been charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with 'misappropriating' $4.7 million from his hedge fund. Lewitt was accused by the SEC last month of lying to his investors by plowing $30million of their money into distressed hospital companies rather than more liquid investments and allegedly 'misappropriat[ing] at least $4.7 million' from his fund. DailyMail.com can reveal that Jim Biden, 74, is named in three Suspicious Activity Reports filed by banks to the Treasury Department The documents tie Joe Biden's younger brother to an alleged fraud scheme where he received thousands of dollars in business 'loans' Lewitt and his fund, Third Friday Management, have been under the watchful eye of federal law enforcement for years, and his bankers had been asked by federal agents to file reports to the Treasury on any suspicious activity in his accounts. Those reports, exclusively reviewed by DailyMail.com, reveal that James Biden received thousands of dollars in business 'loans' as part of Lewitt's scheme, but the president's brother spent them on personal expenses such as Philadelphia Eagles season tickets. Jim's former business partner, Michael Lewitt, has been charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with 'misappropriating' $4.7 million from his hedge fund Though the younger Biden who goes by the nickname 'Jim' has not been charged with any offenses, the Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) raise the prospect that he could become ensnared in the feds' fraud claims. A previous civil lawsuit claimed Lewitt and Jim invested in struggling rural healthcare firm Americore, and used it as a vehicle to offer to buy another healthcare company in 2018, only to allegedly renege on their promises of purchasing the second firm, steal the company's business plans and funnel Americore's money to their personal accounts through suspect 'loans'. Jim has denied any involvement in the claimed wrongdoing, and the parties settled in May 2020 though related bankruptcy filings are still working their way through the courts. But the newly uncovered Treasury reports show he did receive money connected to Lewitt's allegedly fraudulent scheme he is now accused of by the SEC. A May 2020 SAR filed by investigators at Wells Fargo says that in July and August of 2019 Jim and his wife Sara's company, Lion Hall, received $125,000 from Lewitt's hedge fund. The wires were marked as a 'loan' for 'funding business expenses', the SAR stated, but instead were used 'for the personal expenses of James and Sara, including six checks totaling $27,883 for landscaping, a home equity loan repayment, electrical work, and Philadelphia Eagles season tickets.' Another SAR filed that month by investigators at First Republic Bank at the request of the FBI, said that Jim received three wires between November 2018 and February 2019 from Third Friday to his personal JPMorgan Chase account totaling $23,150. 'The purpose of the wires is unknown and deemed suspicious since James was listed as a defendant in the [2019 rural healthcare lawsuit, and] is associated with [the] Americore Health matter, as he appeared to be an investor and a key player and principal in raising monies for the hospitals,' the First Republic SAR said. Jim has previously denied that he is an executive at Americore. But a business card filed in court documents, allegedly given to Frey by Jim in 2018, has 'Jim Biden / Principal / AmericoreHealth.com' printed on it Bank investigators also spotted Lewitt moving funds between his business and personal accounts 'in a circular manner with no apparent purpose other than possibly to obscure their origins and ultimate use.' First Republic's SAR said Lewitt moved a total $1,667,500 'in a circular manner' between the hospital businesses and his own accounts, then ultimately to his 'personal checking account'. 'Shortly after these funds are received, inter account transfers occurred or funds are used for personal-related payments,' the SAR said. Bank investigators wrote that after the money hit his checking account, he used it for 'personal related payments'. The SEC's new lawsuit also claims Lewitt used his investors' money for his own personal expenses. The federal agency's filing last month says Lewitt made 'a purported $960,000 loan' to Americore before getting its CEO to wire $950,000 'to Lewitt's own personal bank account, explaining that he needed the funds to satisfy a personal IRS tax lien.' Jim's involvement with Lewitt and the rural healthcare firms has already been the subject of federal court battles and given rise to claims he peddled his influence with his ex-Vice President brother and Middle East investors to perpetuate a multi-million-dollar fraud. A 2019 civil lawsuit by Diverse Medical Management (DMM) claims that beginning in 2017, Jim partnered with Lewitt, promising loans, a large investment from Middle East nation Qatar, and help pushing for favorable government policies for DMM, which provided mental health services at rural hospitals. But the foreign money and political support from Washington, DC never materialized. DMM founder Michael Frey said in the lawsuit that Lewitt and Jim stole his business plan and looted their own company. Frey claimed Jim promised to get backing from top government officials for his plan to fix up failing rural hospitals, and repeatedly told Frey he was just days from seeing cash from foreign investors flowing into the venture. 'But it was all a fraud,' Frey's 2019 federal lawsuit said. 'What followed was a classic fraudulent bait-and-switch.' In his alleged role as a 'principal' at medical firm Americore, Jim agreed to buy DMM, the lawsuit said, but missed instalment payments and ignored further demands for money. The legal papers claim the President's brother flew to Turkey to pitch Frey's business to the Qatari government's investment fund, without crediting its inventor. When no deal or money appeared, Frey demanded compensation, but claims he received threats from Lewitt in response . 'If you think cage fighting is tough wait until you get in the legal ring with me. You are picking a wrong fight with that (sic) wrong guy,' Lewitt texted Frey according to the lawsuit, which the parties settled in May 2020. Former Americore executive Tom Pritchard told Politico in March 2020 that Jim had also promised a large investment for Americore from the Middle East based on his political connections but never came through with the cash. Politico also reported claims that Jim took out up to $650,000 in personal loans from Americore, according to two small medical firms that did business with him, and allegedly did not repay them. Jim managed to work his way into the firm by touting his Washington DC connections, Americore executives told Politico, including arranging for the firm's CEO to meet Joe Biden at a 2017 political fundraiser. Two hospitals operated by Americore were raided by the FBI in January 2020 in an investigation of alleged gross financial mismanagement. Jim is Joe Biden's younger brother. He has denied any involvement in the claimed wrongdoing and has not been arrested or charged The President's brother has not been arrested or charged by federal law enforcement, and has previously denied that he is even an executive at Americore. But a business card filed in court documents, allegedly given to Frey by Jim in 2018, has 'Jim Biden / Principal / AmericoreHealth.com' printed on it. Frey's lawsuit also named a Dr. Amer Rustom, a Florida-based businessman who was touted as the contact who would help secure millions in funding from the Qatari government for the hospital venture. Jim appeared to cite Rustom in a groveling letter to the Qatari Investment Authority, the Middle East government's sovereign wealth fund, dated August 2017 and saved on Hunter Biden's abandoned laptop. In the letter, he was careful to point out the Bidens were not lobbyists, but dangled the family's 'deep and wide' relationships that 'lasted through many years and many administrations' to the senior Qatari prince in charge of the sovereign fund. 'If this is in keeping with the vision of His Excellency, on behalf of the Biden family, I welcome your interest here,' Jim wrote. 'I recommend Dr. Rustom arrange a conference call to discuss the way moving forward and perhaps a face to face meeting in New York or Qatar with you and His Excellency.' Americore, DMM and the SEC's legal filings suggest Jim never came through with any Qatari cash. Grim-faced and filming on her iPhone, this is 'serial squatter' Elizabeth Hirschhorn pictured inside the Brentwood Airbnb where she has been living for 18 months rent-free for the first time. Footage of the nightmare tenant, which was exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com, was taken shortly after her original six-month tenancy ended and before she and landlord Sascha Jovanovic became embroiled in a lengthy legal fight in which she is demanding $100,000 to leave. Janovich claims Harvard graduate Hirschhorn, 55, owes him $60,000 in unpaid rent for the 552 days she has lived in his $3.5million home without paying. She says she is not required to cough up the money because he had failed to get the correct permit for the shower inside the guesthouse. She has also defied three eviction notices and has turned down repeated offers from Jovanovic, 61, to put her up in a hotel until she finds another place to live. Footage obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com shows the first glimpse of Elizabeth Hirschhorn inside the Brentwood Airbnb she is refusing to vacate after overstaying her welcome. She is seen in a still taking a video on her iPhone The video clip offers a quick look inside Hirschhorn's living quarters at the property's guesthouse where she has been squatting for 18 months rent-free Owner Sascha Jovanovic, pictured on the deck of his Los Angeles home, told DailyMail.com he has felt obliged to move his teenage children out of the mansion in fear of retaliation by Hirschhorn DailyMail.com previously revealed she had been embroiled in a similar situation with a rental in Oakland, California. She eventually moved out with a cash settlement in hand, weeks before moving into Jovanovic's home. Now DailyMail.com can reveal her history of litigation goes back more than 20 years and includes another battle with a landlord that ended in a settlement and an unsuccessful attempt to sue a literary agent over an unpublished manuscript in 2010. Meanwhile, Jovanovic has spoken exclusively to DailyMail.com about the ordeal and revealed he has felt obliged to move his teenage children out of his Brentwood mansion in fear of retaliation by Hirschhorn. He said: 'I don't know what this [high profile] is going to do to a person who is kind of locked up in my house and not wanting to come out, who has been extremely secretive for the last two years. 'What is her move going to be? I moved the kids out already because I don't want the young kids to be potentially exposed to any kind of adversity like this.' DailyMail.com's attempts to reach Hirschhorn have proved unsuccessful. Last week, Jovanovic and his lawyer Sebastian Rucci filed a motion asking for a judge to take a fresh look at the case in light of our revelations arguing that the Oakland case showed she is a 'serial squatter'. But Hirschhorn's attorney, Amanda Seward, hit back Thursday in her own written response, saying Rucci's motion, 'goes against everything the American justice system stands for.' And Seward lashed out at Hirschhorn being dubbed a 'professional squatter' - saying it's 'abhorrent and inadmissible hearsay, designed to prejudice the court against the defendant.' Seward asked Judge George Bird to deny Rucci's motion, adding: 'No one argues that (Jovanovic) cannot evict the defendant. It is just that he has not done it in the right way. Hirschhorn has now been dubbed 'America's worst Airbnb renter' after it emerged she was refusing to vacate her host's property unless she is paid $100,000 Jovanovic approved a six-month stay for Hirschhorn from September 13, 2021 to March 19, 2022 - a total of 187 nights that she later extended to April 12, but is yet to move out '(Jovanovic) rented an illegal unit and refused to follow the rules for Los Angeles.' The two sides are due to return to court in Santa Monica on Monday for a fresh hearing in the case and potentially a decision on whether Jovanovic can evict his unwanted tenant after nearly two years. If Hirschhorn loses, it will amount to a rare legal reverse for the failed screenwriter whose previous legal wins in tenancy disputes include the Oakland case and, DailyMail.com can now reveal, a different case in Venice, California, that saw her sue over what she claimed was a faulty stove. Cinematographer Jim Denault, whose resume includes work on smash hit series Yellowstone, and who has multiple Emmy nominations, told DailyMail.com he had sublet his studio in Venice Beach to Hirschhorn in 2002. Despite being recommended to him by a friend of a friend for a short stay while he was out of town for work, Hirschhorn turned what should have been a simple rental arrangement into a nightmare by suing his landlord Peter Trias over what she claimed was 'chemical exposure' from the gas stove. He said: 'It was one of those things where it seemed like a good idea at the time. All bad things end up seeming like a good idea at the time. 'I didn't have any problem helping her out and she stayed there for a month or two, but while I was in New York she sued my landlord over some sort of toxic exposure she said was coming from the gas stove there had never been any problem with it before.' Denault said Trias, who he described as the 'nicest guy ever', has since died but endured a stressful situation due to Hirschhorn's lawsuit and he eventually paid her off using cash from an insurance provider. Denault added: 'I sympathize with Sascha because it was one of those things where I talked to her about it afterwards and she said, 'oh, it was terrible. I'm very sensitive to everything'. 'And I was like, I've been living in that place. There's nothing wrong with it. I guess my point is this is something she's been doing for at least 20 years.' Along with a history of tenancy disputes, Hirschhorn has also left a trail of legal cases in her wake, including a fight with AMEX over a $19,000 credit card bill that was settled last year and a 2019 case where she attempted to sue an LA couple over a car accident that occurred two years earlier. DailyMail.com has subsequently found yet another case, filed in May 2010, that saw her attempt to sue a motion picture literary agent named Joanne Freeman after showing her 'a 76-page excerpt' from a novel she was writing at the time. According to the complaint, Freeman then used the manuscript as the basis for a TV pilot later sold to ABC and described her conduct as 'malicious, fraudulent and oppressive'. Oakland property: Court filings obtained by DailyMail.com reveal Hirschhorn was involved in a similar squatting dispute at this cottage she sublet in 2019. The case was settled just two months before she moved into her current rental Further court papers obtained by DailyMail.com show Massachusetts native Hirschhorn was also sued by American Express over an unpaid credit card debt totaling $19,617.82 in February 2021 The case was dismissed four months after Hirschhorn filed it. Hirschhorn is currently still holed up inside Jovanovic's guesthouse and has fought his attempts to evict her by filing cross-complaints against him including an allegation that he asked her to stay in his house with him. Jovanovic says the offer was made so he could access the property to clean a moldy shower and came after she had turned down the offer of a hotel. She behaved similarly in her court battle over the Oakland home, filing a cross complaint that accused landlords Brian and Gordon Bishop of releasing an unspecified substance into the property, refusing to clean it despite her allergies, and of attempting to force her out while Alameda County was under a Covid-19 lockdown. For Jovanovic, the end of the legal fight and Hirschhorn's removal from his home cannot come soon enough. He told DailyMail.com: 'Right now I feel like that I'm not able to live in my house. I would like to but it doesn't feel like my home anymore.' Jovanovic added: 'It's insane that she has been able to manipulate the system multiple times, and that intelligent people, like a judge in Santa Monica and her lawyers, are falling for this crap.' One in ten young Americans aged 18 to 29 has a positive view of terrorist organization Hamas, despite the group's murderous attack on Israel last week that killed more than 1,300 men women and children. Although almost two thirds of all Americans take a negative view of Iran-backed Hamas, in an exclusive DailyMail.com poll, that number drops to 40 per cent among Gen Z and young Millennials. At the same time they are the least likely age group to hold a positive view of Israel. The results reflect how college campuses have become a flashpoint for protests against the conflict. Controversy erupted at Harvard, for example, where the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee said Israel was 'entirely responsible for all unfolding violence,' even as evidence emerged that Hamas terrorist gunmen had murdered children. Young people are less likely to take a negative view of Hamas, according to our poll Harvard's Palestine Solidarity Committee triggered fury last week by saying Israel was 'entirely responsible for all unfolding violence' despite Hamas killing women and children J.L. Partners polled 1000 people for DailyMail.com to get a snapshot of American attitudes to Israel, Hamas and the unfolding conflict. The results show how decades of U.S. support for Israel cannot be taken for granted with a younger generation. James Johnson, co-founder of J.L.Partners, said: Only four in ten 18-29 year old Americans have a negative view of Hamas. Yes, you read that right. 'Throughout our poll, Gen Z are the misfits of American public opinion on Israel. They are the only group that have a negative view of Israel, they are most likely to give Iran the benefit of the doubt for responsibility for the attack, they support anti-Israel protests over the last week, and they are the only group to say any Israeli military response would be unreasonable. 'These people are not just a statistical quirk: they are the generation in our universities, the generation undertaking their careers, and the generation that will be the future leaders of tomorrow.' So although 63 percent of all Americans say they have a negative view of Hamas, the figure is much lower among the youngest group surveyed even though the poll ran from Tuesday to Thursday last week, at a time when bloody images of the group's trail of destruction were prominently in the news. In the same way, young people were the only ones to say it was right to hold anti-Israel protests, by a margin of 41 percent to 23 percent. In contrast, when all ages were taken together, Americans believed two to one that it was wrong to hold such protests. Hamas 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 Israel's occupation. J.L. Partners polled 1000 Americans on October 10-12 for their views on the Israel-Palestinian conflict in the wake of the deadly Hamas attack that killed at least 1,300 people Pro-Palestine students march on the campus of the University of Massachusetts Demonstrators take part in an "Emergency Rally: Stand with Palestinians Under Siege in Gaza," amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Saturday Its members are sworn to annihilate Israel and the group has been responsible for suicide bombings and other deadly attacks on civilians and Israeli soldiers. But nothing compares with the operation launched last Saturday morning, when thousands of gunmen poured out of Gaza. The world reacted in horror at stories of women and children being taken hostage, and entire families gunned down. Israel is now massing forces around the territory ahead of an expected ground invasion to destroy Hamas. Americans overwhelmingly backed the plan in our poll, by a margin of two to one, but 18-29 year olds came out against it (27 percent to 49 percent.) That reflects their overall view on Israel. Some 24 percent hold a positive view of the Jewish state, while 32 say they hold a negative view. That compares with an overall favorable view among all Americans of 46 percent to 18 percent. Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip on Sunday. Israel has kept up an aerial bombardment as it prepares for an expected ground invasion to destroy Hamas Bodies waiting for burial in Gaza City after Israeli airstrikes Republicans are also much more likely to view Israel favorably than Democrats. The results add data to the displays at campuses around the country that have angered Jewish communities. At the University of Washington last week, video footage captured several Jewish students in tears as they pleaded with an administrator to put a stop to a pro-Palestinian rally, Students taking part appeared to condone 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.' Israel's armed forces have vowed to defeat Hamas 'from the air, sea and land' - and footage circulating shows they're already taking the fight to the terrorists ahead of an expected ground assault in the coming days. Graphic footage shared by the Israel Defense Force (IDF) showed Israeli soldiers gunning down Hamas troops as they swam for their lives in the Mediterranean Sea; other footage shows an air strike that the army claims killed a Hamas leader involved in planning the murderous October 7 attacks. Footage has also emerged of what appears to be the first Hamas fighters attempting to breach the border between Israel and Gaza last week as IDF troops in the observation post yell: 'Commander, commander, we are at war!'. In a statement published on Saturday, the IDF said it is preparing to 'expand the offensive' with a 'wide range of offensive operational plans' which it says include a 'joint and coordinated attack from the air, sea and land.' Ahead of the incursion into Gaza, special forces have been conducting sorties within the occupied Palestinian territory to take on Hamas fighters and gather information on the 155 hostages captured by the terror group eight days ago. A speedboat purporting to carry Hamas soldiers burns in footage captured on October 7 by an Israel Defense Force soldier operating a boat-mounted machine gun A soldier manning the belt-fed machine gun mounted on the IDF boat feeds a new set of ammunition into the gun as his comrades fire on Hamas fighters in the water Israeli soldiers fire on Hamas soldiers as they swim for their lives from the burning remains of the boat they had hoped to use to invade the country In footage released by the IDF recorded on October 7, a group of men in the centre of the frame (around the crosshair) are seen moving towards the Israel-Gaza border fence An explosion scatters the Hamas fighters as Israeli troops inform their senior officers that they are 'at war' with the militants Footage of the explosion that the Israel Defense Force claims killed a top Hamas commander who was instrumental in plotting the murderous October 7 attacks READ MORE: Israel kills Hamas commander who was mastermind behind kibbutz massacres as airstrikes continues to pound Gaza overnight Advertisement Israel has been harnessing the power of social media to spread anti-Hamas messaging, releasing videos of its efforts against the terror group in a bid to bolster support. It has also purchased adverts on X, formerly Twitter, and YouTube. A stark three minute video released on YouTube by an IDF-aligned channel showed Israeli troops firing on a boat said to contain Hamas fighters in the Mediterranean Sea on the morning of October 7 - the day of Hamas' murderous attack on Israel. As their targets leap into the water and attempt to flee to safety as the boat burns, the Israeli troops - part of the 916th Patrol Squadron, reports the Times of Israel - speed to the scene in their own vessel and gun the terrorists down. The troops, deployed to the Snapir harbour protection force, then use a combination of assault rifles and a belt-fed machine gun mounted on the boat to take the Hamas militants down - even throwing grenades into the water. 'Snapir fighters opened fire on the terrorists, amid a naval pursuit,' the IDF said in a statement. 'The fighters thwarted a number of terrorists at sea, and from there they continued to thwart terrorists when they reached the coastline.' The IDF has also released footage of what are believed to be some of the first Hamas militants attempting to make the crossing into Israel by land on October 7. The video, which appears to have been filmed from a border observation post, shows what are claimed to be a dozen people running towards the fence separating Israel from Gaza, with two motorcycles. Subtitled in English, the IDF troops manning the post are believed to say: 'It shows there are currently twelve people running towards the fence. 'There are two motorcycles, roger? We need an answer.' Israeli soldiers and tanks near the Gaza border in Netivot, Israel on October 15; Israel has spent days mustering resources along the Gaza border ahead of an expected ground assault IDF soldiers preparing for the expected ground invasion of Gaza in the border city of Ashkelon on October 15 Israel has embarked on a shock and awe campaign of bombardment in the Gaza Strip since the October 7 attack. It maintains that the strikes have targeted Hamas operations A woman sits over an injured child who was caught in an Israeli air strike, at Shifa hospital in Gaza City, on October 15 The body of a Hamas militant lies in situ in Kibbutz Be'eri, Israel on October 11 Gunfire is launched from the observation post and an explosion can be seen around the area the men are running in. It is not known what caused the blast. As the explosion recedes and gunmen are seen to retreat, another troop remarks: 'Commander (censored), Commander (censored), we are at war.' Following Hamas' attack on Israel, which is estimated to have killed some 1,300 Israelis, the country has embarked on a shock and awe campaign of retribution, shelling what it says are Hamas targets in Gaza City. Video footage captured from the air and released on Sunday shows, according to the IDF, an airstrike that killed Bilal al-Kedra, a senior Hamas commander who was involved in planning the October 7 massacre. A post from the IDF's X, formerly Twitter, account accompanying the video reads: 'IDF warplanes, under the intelligence guidance of the Shin Bet (Israel's security service) killed last night in the Gaza Strip, Bilal al-Kedra, the commander of the Nakhaba force in the South Khan Yunis battalion of the terrorist organization Hamas, who was responsible for the murderous raid on Kibbutz Nirim and Nir Oz. 'In addition, other operatives in the terrorist organization Hamas as well as in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad were eliminated.' The Israeli military further claims that it attacked over 100 military targets in Zeytun, Khan Yunis and West Jablia within the Gaza Strip, taking out what it said were Hamas compounds, launchers and anti-tank posts. Yesterday, the IDF has also claimed to have killed Matez Eid, a commander of the southern district of Hamas' national security wing. The sun sets on Northern Gaza - as seen from the Israel side of the border fence separating the country from the occupied Palestinian territory Mourners grieve during the funeral of an Israeli doctor, Daniel Levi Ludmir, who was reportedly killed by Hamas terrorists while treating the wounded amid the October 7 attacks Benjamin Netanyahu met with troops at the Israel-Gaza border on October 14, telling them: 'More is coming' Earlier this week, the military also released bodycam footage of a raid on an Israeli compound near the border with Gaza that had been captured by Hamas militants. The astonishing video depicts the work of Shayetet 13, an elite squadron of naval commandos who are Israel's answer to the US Navy SEALS and specialise in counter-terrorism operations. During the operation, the IDF says the unit rescued 250 hostages, killed 60 Hamas fighters, and captured 26 others, including a leader of the militant terror outfit. Hamas troops have been carrying out missions within the Gaza Strip in order to rescue the hostages taken behind Palestinian lines by Hamas last week. However, one such raid led to confirmation that some of the captives had been killed; Hamas claims that hostages were killed in Israeli air strikes. Ahead of the expected IDF mass ground incursion into Gaza - for which tanks and other armoured vehicles have been gathered on the border between Israeli and the occupied territory - a former Israeli special operator has suggested troops could be holding off because of new intelligence about the welfare of the hostages. Aaron Cohen told Fox News on Sunday that the delay - supposedly blamed on bad weather - may actually be to buy more time to collect as much 'actionable intelligence' about the captives as possible ahead of raids. The Palestinian Health Ministry says 2,670 Gazans have been killed since Israel launched its counter-attack against Hamas on October 7; Israel claims 1,400 people have been killed by Hamas to date. It pushes the combined death toll on both sides past 4,000 - as international observers call for humanitarian aid corridors to be opened up into Gaza to allow food, water, medicine and power to be supplied. Israel has ordered 1.1million Gazans in the north of the Strip to evacuate ahead of the ground assault - an all-or-nothing order that has been met with condemnation by the World Health Organisation, which said it was 'tantamount to a death sentence' for those being treated at the 22 hospitals in the area. However, Israel prime minister Benjamin Netenyahu - who has been criticised over perceived inaction in rescuing hostages - has vowed to 'demolish' Hamas with the upcoming incursion into Gaza City. 'Hamas thought we would be demolished. It is we who will demolish Hamas,' Netanyahu said. by S. Abbas Raza Martti Ahtisaari, ex-Finland president and Nobel peace laureate, dies aged 86 runs the headline of his obituary in The Guardian today. But he was much more than that. First of all, he was the father of one of my closest friends, Marko Ahtisaari, who was with me in graduate school in the philosophy department at Columbia in the 1990s and was instrumental in my starting 3 Quarks Daily almost 20 years ago. I first met Martti in the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks in NYC. I had written a couple of paragraphs about what it felt like to be a New Yorker on the day after 9/11, and must have sent what Id written to Marko who forwarded it to Martti, who then asked if he could read what I had written at some important emergency political meeting in Europe (I forget what it was, exactly), and then he did. A couple of weeks later he came to New York to (among other things) meet with Kofi Annan who was Secretary-General of the United Nations at the time. Martti invited me to have breakfast with him, which I did with my sister Sughra, and he turned out to be an exceptionally lovely and modest man. I met Martti on many occasions after that and was always deeply impressed by his cheerful optimism. He was always full of ideas on how to solve political as well as other problems and was obviously a man of great intelligence but what I loved about him most was his (often self-deprecating) sense of humor, such as the time he told me about the message of congratulations he received when he was first elected President of Finland from a Pakistani friend who had been his roommate in Karachi at the beginning of Marttis diplomatic career. After congratulating him, the message went on to say, You werent that smart. How did you do it? This was a typical Martti story. By the way, by a complete coincidence, the man who sent him that message is now buried in a grave next to my mothers grave in a cemetery in Karachi. Let me quickly relate one last memory of him which made a lasting impression on me: My wife, Margit, and I were once staying with Martti and his wife, Eeva, in their apartment in Helsinki and the four of us had dinner together. Afterwards, Margit got up and started picking up the dirty plates but she was immediately stopped by Eeva who said, No, please sit down, that has always been Marttis job. And then this wonderful, funny, powerful man, who had recently stepped down as President of Finland and who was still deeply involved in international peace efforts that would eventually win him a Nobel Peace Prize, picked up and washed all our dishes. NOTE: Several of the editors of 3QD knew Martti Ahtisaari and we all wish to extend our deepest sympathies to Eeva and Marko: Your grief is also our grief. Other Obituaries: New York Times, Washington Post, Bloomberg, Official Memorial Page Areas that had large populations of Indigenous Australians were mostly in favour of the Voice, data from polling booths has shown. The government is still facing the fallout from the failure of the Voice to Parliament referendum on Saturday. Recent data from remote polling booths in the Northern Territory and Queensland has suggested otherwise has shown how Indigenous Australians voted. Wadeye in the NT's north had a 91 per cent Yes vote, while the Tiwi Islands, north of Darwin and which has an Indigenous population of 87 per cent, had support for the Voice at 84 per cent. Palm Island in Far North Queensland has an Indigenous population of 91 per cent, with polling booths in the area having a 75 per cent Yes vote. Areas that had large populations of Indigenous Australians were mostly in favour of the Voice, data from polling booths has shown (pictured is booth in Midland, Perth) Also in Queensland, Mornington Island had 78 per cent of voters supporting the Voice. The Indigenous population is higher than 80 per cent. In Broome, in Western Australia, there is an Indigenous population of around 30 per cent. The Yes campaign secured 56 per cent of votes in the region. Three in four of the 740 living in Yuendemu also supported the referendum. Some of Ms Price's family live in the community. Meanwhile, in the Northern Territory seat of Lingiari, which has an Indigenous population of 40 per cent, there was just a 44 per cent Yes vote. The Yes campaign had said 80 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders were in favour of the Voice - an argument rejected by the No camp. 'When I knew, having spoken to people throughout the Northern Territory, to Indigenous people from the Northern Territory and right across the country, particularly in my role as the shadow minister for Indigenous Australians, that a vast group of Indigenous Australians did not support the proposal,' no campaigner Jacinta Price said. There have since been calls for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to resign following the failure of the Voice referendum (Pictured is Mr Albanese with a Yolngu Elder in East Arnhem land) There have since been calls for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to resign following the failure of the Voice referendum. Sky News commentator Andrew Bolt urged the prime minister to throw in the towel while South Australia's Opposition Leader David Speirs joined in on the chorus. A referendum defeat has toppled leaders around the world in the past with UK prime minister David Cameron resigning following Brexit in 2016. PLANS to recruit an army of cut-price doctors to plug gaps in Scotlands crisis-hit NHS have sparked safety fears. There are already almost 150 medics with only two years of training working across the health service in Scotland. Now NHS chiefs are considering expanding the roles of physician associates to pluggaping holes in the frontline workforce. But the British Medical Association (BMA) has warned relying on the cheaper option of medics who are not fully qualified doctors could pose a risk to those using the NHS. Physician associates earn about a third of a consultants salary and work in GP surgeries or hospital departments diagnosing medical conditions, analysing test results, assisting in ward rounds and performing some minor procedures. There are concerns about the recruitment of Physician Associates being used to fill in gaps in the NHS workforce, in GP surgeries or hospital departments diagnosing medical conditions, analysing test results, assisting in ward rounds and performing some minor procedures The General Medical Council expects the number of these to grow, with 36 universities now running physician associates courses, including the University of Aberdeen. Dr Iain Kennedy, chairman of the BMA Scottish council, said: This is an issue of serious concern to members across all parts of the medical profession. The principles we are approaching this with are abundantly clear. They are based on the value and indeed necessity of the medical training needed to become a doctor which must not be put at risk by the pursual of cheaper options. Furthermore, patients must know if they are actually speaking to a doctor or another healthcare professional. Physician associates were brought into the NHS amid a shortage of doctors, with plans to increase their numbers to meet rising demand for staff. But the BMA says patients may not know if they are being treated by a physician associate or a doctor. The BMA Scottish council passed a motion saying work must begin immediately on either abolishing the roles or modifying them to ensure their scope of practice does not negatively infringe on doctors of any grade. Scottish surgeon Dr Zubir Ahmed, prospective Labour candidate for Glasgow South West, said: Introducing physician associates has been undertaken without respecting any of the safety-critical established precedents of regulation and definition of scope of area of expertise. He added: I cannot recall the Scottish or UK Governments ever asking for patients or NHS professionals opinions on what impact this might have on standards of care. A spokesman for the Royal College of Physicians said: With the long-term workforce plan recommending the expansion of medical associate professionals (MAPs), there is an even more pressing need for regulation. It is becoming increasingly clear that the health and care workforce, patients and the public need more clarity on the MAP role and scope of practice. Physician associates earn up to 46,000 a year compared with around 128,000 for a consultant. They can perform procedures such as lumbar punctures injections into the spine and intravenous cannulation. But a Medical Associate Professions Commission is being undertaken by NHS Education for Scotland. It follows the publication of the NHS Recovery Plan in 2021, which committed to expanding the workforce. The NHS in England plans to increase the number of physician associates to 10,000 by 2037. Dr Iain Kennedy, Chair of British Medical Association Scotland says there is serious concern across the medical profession that Physician Associates are cheaper options and may be used to paper over the cracks of staff shortages There have been concerns about the safety of the role since the death of a woman after a misdiagnosis. Emily Chesterton, from Salford, Greater Manchester, died last year aged 30 after two appointments with a physician associate whom she believed was a GP. She was diagnosed with a sprain when she had a blood clot. Physician associates do only two years of postgraduate training, generally after a bioscience degree, before direct contact with patients. They work under the supervision of a doctor and are permitted to do a range of tasks including diagnosing illnesses and analysing test results. A Scottish Government spokesman said: Physician associates are an important part of the NHS Scotland workforce. The Scottish Government will continue to consider how these roles can be utilised to best effect, supervised by senior medical professionals throughout their training and subsequent deployment. Evil has an awful, lingering power. Its stench clings to everything it touches. Long after the dead are buried and their blood is scrubbed from the walls of their homes, a pall will loiter over Israels southern communities. Wickedness of the kind that came calling on October 7 is not soon forgotten, but its force lies beyond memory, in how it changes how life is lived in its wake. The new armed guard who will soon be posted outside the kindergarten. The surge of tension when an unfamiliar Arab face next approaches. The taut, nervy air at public gatherings, and on family outings, and while shopping for shabbat. For months to come, perhaps years, it will be possible to visit any of these communities and know in an instant that something monstrous happened there. IDF soldiers guard an area in Kibbutz Kfar Aza were dozens of civilians were killed by an attack by Hamas Communities like Reim, where Hamas terrorists murdered 260 at a music festival; Beeri, where at least 112 were killed; Netiv HaAsara, where 15 bodies have so far been found. From these and other towns, 126 Israelis, including children, were abducted and taken to Gaza, where they are currently being held hostage. In all, 1,300 Israelis have been murdered since the assault from Gaza began. And then there is Kfar Aza. It is a village of 700 immediately on the boundary with Gaza. Kfar Aza is a kibbutz, a Jewish living collective born of the highest ideals of the Zionist movement and founded on teamwork and community co-operation. The kibbutz movement is seen in Israel as a symbol of the utopianism of the early pioneers, the home for poets and dreamers and yearners after peace. Flourish I have been to Kfar Aza. I have walked its dusty dirt roads, past its squat homesteads, all the way down to the boundary fence to peer at Gaza in the distance. What I saw through the links of that fence was a territory that didnt look all that different to Kfar Aza or the rest of Israel. A territory that could follow the kibbutzniks example and take a barren desert and make it bloom for the good of all the people. A territory that would flourish in a thousand ways and more if it just agreed to live in peace with its neighbours. Kfar Aza is no longer a village of 700. One in seven of its population is dead. Palestinian terrorists infiltrated by land and by air then went door to door slaughtering families. Men, women and children. Children. They slaughtered children. If you believe there is no depravity that can surpass the premeditated, methodical killing of children, consider this: the premeditated, methodical killing of children for no reason other than they are Jews. There are a great many children in the Gaza I studied through that fence. Many have already died and many more will join them. The October 7 attacks struck brutally at the heart of Israels national security but they also raised a question, last raised 50 years ago during the Yom Kippur War, of whether the country itself would survive. There is no way forward for Israel that does not involve a massive ground war in Gaza and the crippling of the Hamas terror group. But it is not enough for Hamas to kill Israeli children, it wants Israel to kill Palestinian children. That is why it has ordered Palestinians to stay put even as Israel warns them to leave ahead of a ground invasion. That is why it uses ordinary Palestinians as human shields, firing its rockets from civilian areas including near schools and hospitals. Israel must either accept the firing of rockets on its civilians or risk the deaths of Palestinian civilians while trying to take out the launchers and stockpiles. This is not some horrific quandary of war. This is Hamass design. This is its strategy. It might appear to be a ragtag gang of thugs but Hamas is a sophisticated Islamist terror operation that makes almost as much use of public relations as it does missiles and machine guns. Its leaders have spent decades studying how the West thinks, how government policies can be shaped and how the news media covers conflicts. Nothing Hamas does is mad or mindless, it is always calculated to exploit our weakness, double standards and moral cowardice. This is an organisation that understands the dirty little secret of Western liberalism: we are more comfortable with memorialising dead Jews than we are with seeing Jews defend themselves. For Jews, this is nothing new. There is a passage in the Haggadah, the order of service for the Passover Seder, called Vehi Sheamda. It reads: And it is this that has kept us and kept our forefathers. For not only one has risen up to destroy us, but in every generation they rise up to destroy us. But the Holy One, blessed be He, keeps us from their hands. The same sentiment is rendered in a more secular and irreverent setting in the old saw that every Jewish holiday can be summed up in ten words: They tried to kill us, they failed, now lets eat. Anti-Semitism is perennial but so is the tendency of non-Jews to look the other way, ignore the warnings, dismiss Jews as paranoid and only realise too late how wrong they have been once again. In every generation, they come for the Jews. There is only so much we can do to prevent it. But the test of moral character comes in how we respond to hatred and targeting of Jews. Do we ignore or seek to justify it or do we bear witness to the evil of anti-Semitism? Do we look away or do we speak up? That word evil will not sit right with everyone. For some, it will be too redolent of religious rhetoric and other antiquated superstitions. How fortunate we are to live in modern times, where the bad things that people do are understood in dispassionate, clinical terms, diagnosed as the products of a disease or a disorder or a syndrome. Or explained as the outgrowth of social conditions, oppression or political ideology. It is reassuring to think in these terms, to imagine that there is no evil, only pathologies and circumstances that can be remedied or redressed. But it is a deadly illusion. Destruction Evil is real. It walks among us. Its tread includes those who butcher Jews and those who excuse, minimise and even celebrate such butchery. The smatterings of Londoners who burst onto the streets in the hours after the massacres began to chant and wave Palestinian flags. The thousands who took to the streets on Saturday to chant From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free, a coded call for the destruction of Israel. (The river is the Jordan; the sea the Mediterranean; and in between Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.) The Celtic fans who hoisted a banner at Parkhead proclaiming Free Palestine, victory to the resistance following reports of Palestinian terrorists slaying Israeli civilians. The pro-Palestinian mob who gathered outside the Sydney Opera House where the Israeli flag was burned and protesters chanted f*** the Jews. The 34 student organisations at Harvard University who released a statement blaming Israel for the gunning down of its citizens. The Stanford University lecturer who allegedly instructed Jewish and Israeli students to identify themselves then directed them to stand in the corner, while telling them colonisers like Israel had killed more people than the six million Jews exterminated in the Holocaust. The monstrous evil of anti-Semitism is on the march once more. That means Israel will have to enhance its defences and countries will have to step up policing and security for Jews, their schools and their synagogues. And it means we will face a test of our moral character. Theyre coming for the Jews again. Will you look away or will you speak up? Humza Yousaf was forced into another U-turn on his independence strategy yesterday. The First Minister held off the threat of a major defeat on the first day of the SNPs conference in Aberdeen by agreeing to change his approach to the next general election. He agreed to water down his previous plan and only declare a mandate for independence if the SNP wins a majority of the seats, rather than more seats than any other party as previously proposed. He also declared that there was no shortcut to independence and that winning the majority of seats would be used to demand another referendum, or alternatively, the devolution of powers to hold one. In a desperate plea to the 800 members who attended the debate on independence strategy yesterday, he also urged them to unite behind the new plan after his challenging first six months in the job. Humza Yousaf was forced to change tack on his independence strategy by insisting he would only declare a mandate for an independence referendum if the SNP wins the majority of seats at the next General Election, and not more seats than any other party as he said previously He also agreed that the SNP would add the words independence for Scotland onto the ballot paper next to the party name and logo a move that could kill attempts to persuade pro-Union voters that they will stand up for all of Scotland. Scottish Conservative constitution spokesman Donald Cameron said: This confirms that the SNP are hellbent on using the next General Election as a proxy referendum. They will always put their relentless pursuit of independence above everything else. They have agreed to launch another independence campaign by the end of this year and are seeking to put independence for Scotland on the ballot paper. Humza Yousaf and the SNP are committed to wasting more taxpayers money on independence, rather than addressing the real priorities of Scotland. FMs wife in despair at parents plight HUMZA Yousafs wife yesterday claimed Palestinians in Gaza are being terrorised and her family trapped in the war zone had said goodbye to each other. Nadia El-Nakla said she fears the city where her family has a home is being obliterated as Israel seeks retaliation for an attack by the Palestinian terror group Hamas. Nadia El-Nakla and Humza Yousaf Her parents, Elizabeth, a retired nurse from Dundee, and her husband Maged travelled to the south of Gaza last week to visit a sick relative, and are now trapped with no safe route out. In an emotional speech at the SNP conference in Aberdeen yesterday, she said she was in complete despair, with her family stuck in a region being subjected to near- constant bomb attacks. The Dundee councillor, whose father is Palestinian, issued a plea for an end to war and said: Let us survive, let us live in peace. Advertisement Mr Yousaf had previously said the SNP would declare a mandate for independence if it won the most seats at the general election in Scotland. But he yesterday accepted amendments to his motion, which changed this to a majority of seats. There will be 57 MPs in Scotland following boundary changes, meaning it would need to win 29 seats to achieve this, compared to the 48 it won in 2019. In a blow for Mr Yousafs authority, the new position was described as laughable by the SNPs longest-serving MP Pete Wishart, who argued only a majority of votes would be credible. It was also dismissed by veteran Nat activist Graeme McCormick as being flatulence in a trance a phrase then repeated by both Mr Yousaf and his minister for independence Jamie Hepburn, who denied it was the case. Mr McCormick also appeared to call for Scots to descend into anarchy, telling the conference: We must become ungovernable, we must make the economic and social cost of keeping Scotland in the Union greater than the cost of letting us go. In short, we must be willing to adopt a fully treasonous attitude towards Westminster. Arguing for a de facto referendum strategy, Mr Wishart said Westminster would just reject the SNPs claim of a mandate without a majority of explicit support for separation. He said: All youre actually going to be doing is giving Westminster something new to say no to. Our one job is to deliver a result which demonstrates that a majority of the people of Scotland want to become an independent nation. Pleading with his fractured party to now unite behind the independence strategy, Mr Yousaf told members: Ive been within this party for almost 20 years. Weve had bumps in the road, lets not pretend the last six months have been anything other than challenging and eventful at times. But it is our unity unity of purpose which will be our greatest strength. In his speech, Mr Yousaf told delegates there was no shortcut to independence, and pleaded with them to unite behind the new plan. He said: If the Westminster parties want a test for popular support [for] the proposition of independence, lets do it via a referendum. If they give us the powers, I will hold the referendum tomorrow. But in an election a majority of seats is a victory, plain and simple. Earlier yesterday, he told the BBC that winning a majority of seats would be a mandate to give democratic effect to the push for independence and said this could be a referendum or the transfer of powers to hold one. Last night, a spokesman for the First Minister still claimed that a big election win could be used to argue a mandate to split from the UK without a referendum. Meanwhile rebel MP Joanna Cherry, who has opposed the SNP Governments stance on gender reforms, took a swipe at Nicola Sturgeon by heaping praise on her successor. She said: The new leadership of this party is returning our party to its tradition of respectful and reasoned debate and, in this, they have my full support. Humza also has my full support in his call for unity. Over the last week, Ive had the pleasure of discussing with Humza how that unity might be brought about and I recognise that it will require compromise and sacrifices from everyone. But Pamela Nash, chief executive of Scotland in Union, poured scorn on the Nationalists for putting independence ahead of the publics priorities. She said: This entire debate confirmed how out of touch the SNP is with the people of Scotland. In a cost of living crisis, only the Nationalists would spend time talking to themselves about convoluted constitutional processes. The SNPs latest incoherent attempt to use the General Election as a proxy for separation still involves trying to use the contest as a de facto referendum, and that is an utter insult to voters. Ms Nash stressed: The next election must be about the peoples priorities, not the SNPs. SNP Westminster leader calls for price cap on supermarket food Food prices should be capped by the UK Government, Stephen Flynn has claimed. Speaking at the conference yesterday, the partys Westminster leader said the SNP will demand that the state intervenes to set food prices as part of the next budget. The French government has reached a deal with food suppliers to lower prices on staples such as pasta, poultry and oil. In a message to UK Ministers Mr Flynn said: Follow the example of our friends in France tackle the cost of greed crisis and cap food prices in supermarkets for all those basic daily essentials. He also called for the UK Government to reinstate the 400 energy rebate to help heat homes this winter, as well as the reintroduction of mortgage interest relief. An MP who defected to the Tories from the SNP has had to close her constituency office because of a death threat. Dr Lisa Cameron has told her five members of staff to stay away from her office in Strathaven, Lanarkshire, after being bombarded with abuse since quitting the SNP over its toxic and bullying culture. One horrifying email sent to her on Saturday, which has been passed on to the Parliamentary Security Department at Westminster, contained an abusive slang term and read: Listen... your time living on this earth will come to an end soon be careful. It comes as a senior Nationalist minister at Holyrood yesterday said she doesnt believe the MPs claims about the behaviour of the SNP group at Westminster. Dr Cameron had already moved away from her East Kilbride home because of concerns about the level of abuse aimed at her. Dr Lisa Cameron has received a volley of abuse since quitting SNP for Tories, including a death threat which warned her your time living on this earth will come to an end soon Her staff will work remotely this week, until all risk is managed, as she doesnt want to potentially jeopardise their safety. Speaking to the Mail last week in her first interview since her defection, the MP for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow compared the SNP to a cult where critics are ignored. But Environment Secretary Mairi McAllan dismissed her claims. Asked on the BBCs The Sunday Show if she believed her about the toxic and bullying culture and the resulting deterioration of her mental health, she said: I know Lisa Cameron personally. Our constituencies overlap to some degree, and I wish her no ill will, but I find it hard to believe anything that somebody says when one minute they are on video saying the Tories have dragged us out of the EU and we need independence and in the next breath they are joining the Conservative and Unionist Party. The MSP for Clydesdale added: I dont believe there is a toxic atmosphere whatsoever, before admitting she spends all her time in Scotland and is not familiar with how MPs behave at Westminster. Scottish Tory chairman Craig Hoy hit out at the Environment Secretary and said: Mairi McAllan is the latest SNP politician to respond in a completely tone-deaf way to Lisa Camerons defection. SNP Environment Secretary Mairi McAllan was accused of being tone deaf after dismissing Dr Camerons claims of bullying and denied there was a toxic atmosphere within the party She must think the public are buttoned up the back when she claims theres not a toxic culture in her partys Westminster group. That is exactly why Lisa quit to join the Conservatives, as she was ostracised for doing the right thing and standing up for a young individual sexually assaulted by fellow MP Patrick Grady. That culture will never change if those who raise concerns are simply dismissed by senior figures. A 46-year-old woman performed a 'weird sexual dance showing off her breast and butt' to a 14-year-old private schoolboy before she allegedly had sex with him twice, a Sydney court has heard. The woman, who is on trial for two counts of sexual intercourse with the boy in 2021, was recorded on a mobile phone 'dancing in a sexual way while the only adult present and highly intoxicated' in front of three children, including the teenage alleged victim. Opening a NSW District Court trial on Monday, Crown Prosecutor Emma Blizard told a jury of eight men and four woman, eight man that the then Year Nine student alleged he was sexually assaulted just after midnight on May 1, 2021. This was just under two hours after the alleged erotic dance when the woman went to the boy's bedroom while the youth's father was sleeping in a separate cabana-style wing of the house. '[The boy] estimated she had had three or more bottle of wine during the afternoon' Ms Blizard said. By 10pm she was engaged in 'sexual or erotic dancing ... reaching down and slowly coming up in weird sexual dancing', the court heard. When the teen was watching YouTube videos in his bed, Ms Blizard said, the woman 'came into the bedroom ... and after getting in his bed said "dont say anything to your father about this", kissed [the teen], took off her own clothes and [the boy's] shirt and pulled down [his] pants'. The accused performed a 'weird sexy dance' which a child recorded on a phone then allagedly had sex twice with a 14-year-old boy After this, the Crown asserts, the woman performed two separate sexual acts on the upon the boy and then fell asleep. Ms Blizard said following the events, the accused 'appeared awkward around' the boy and then lost contact with him. Around nine months later, the boy told his then-girlfriend and her female friend about the night, and then in mid-2022 after a troubling incident at school, he told his mother. After his father informed police, detectives set up a recorded phone call which lasted 30 minutes. During the call, the teen asked the woman if she remembered how they had sexual intercourse. In the call, she said she was no longer drinking alcohol and that she didn't really remember just 'something in the bedroom ... kissing him [and] confusing her love for attraction'. The accused woman's barrister Phillip Boulten SC told the court that the recorded evidence by the boy was untrue, and that the woman had not had sex with him during the one hour 20 minute encounter. The accused (above) is on trial for allegedly having aggravated sex with a teenage boy after getiing 'very intoxicated', doing an erotic dance and then entering the boy's bedroom He said his client 'refutes these allegations and its a flat out denial' and that the boy had 'got into trouble at school while under influence of drugs ... [and was] anxious he was going to be suspended'. Mr Boulten said of his client: 'Shes never had sexual interest really in anyone under the age of 16.' The woman's trial opened in Sydney's Downing Centre District Court on Monday before Judge Sarah Hopkins, and will continue for about seven days. The court will be played the erotic dance video, the phone call between the boy and the accused and hear testimony from the teen's former girlfriend and her female friend. Wearing a straight black dress and cream jacket, and nude-coloured shoes, the woman stood and formally entered her pleas on Monday morning She is charged with having sexual intercourse at Longueville with the 14-year-old boy in the aggravated circumstances that he was under her authority between December 14, 2020 and November 1, 2021. She answered 'not guilty' to both allegations. The court was shown a video walk through by police of the home where the alleged sexual assaults took place, showing the bedroom where the boy slept which had a bicycle stowed by a wooden-framed double bed. Asked by Mr Boulten if the accused had ever been found guilty of any criminal offence, Detective Acting Sergeant Jason Quick said: 'she has not been convicted, no.' The trial continues. Footage of a US comedian delivering a scathing takedown of land acknowledgement ceremonies has resurfaced following the Voice referendum defeat in Australia. In the clip TV commentator Bill Maher scornfully dismisses those who recite the Canadian or American equivalent of Welcome or Acknowledgment of Country. In a Welcome to Country the traditional owners give consent for activities performed on their ancestral land whereas in an Acknowledgment of Country non-traditional owners show respect to historic Indigenous inhabitants. Maher scoffed at the sincerity of those performing the second type of ritual in a segment that aired on his show 'Real Time' in 2022. A Welcome to Country is performed at an AFLW match between the Adelaide Crows and the Western Bulldogs at Adelaide's Norwood Oval in October 'To all the people who start every public event now with one of those land acknowledgements where they say, "I'm standing on land that was stolen from the proud Indigenous people of the Chumash tribe",' Maher said. READ MORE: Government spent over $45,000 in 12 months on Welcome to Country ceremonies as debate erupts over the ritual Advertisement 'I say either give it back or shut the f*** up.' In the wake of Saturday's referendum, where the Voice was rejected by around 61 per cent of voters, the late 2022 clip began circulating again widely on social media platform X. On one account it had racked up over 2,000 'likes' and a largely supportive set of comments. 'I dont condone the expletive, but.. Hes got a veeery good point,' one person wrote. 'Didn't realise Americans had to put up with the same as Australians. Well said,' another commented. Although some were impressed given Maher's reputation for controversy. 'Good Lord, he's really reached the GET OFF MY LAWN stage of life,' one person noted. The clip has resurfaced as jubilant No supporters reminded Yes advocate Marcia Langton of a comment she had made in April when she threatened to no longer conduct Welcome to Country if the referendum failed. Former Liberal Senator and conservative commenter Cory Bernadi was one who sent a reminder to Prof Langton. 'Does the success of today's vote mean Marcia Langton's promise of no more Welcome to Country will be honoured?' Bernadi wrote on X Saturday. American comedian Bill Maher (above) told people giving land acknowledgement to 'give it back or shut the f*** up' Former Liberal Senator and conservative commenter Cory Bernadi was one who sent a reminder to Prof Langton Speaking to The Australian in April, Prof Langton said if the Voice failed non-Indigenous Australians would feel too ashamed to ask traditional owners to do a Welcome to Country. 'How are they ever going to be able to ask me to come and speak at their conference?' she said. 'If they have the temerity to do it, of course the answer is going to be no.' United Australia Party Senator Ralph Babet chimed in to say he would not be disappointed if Prof Langton's warning came to pass. 'I am sick of the Welcome to Country and the acknowledgment of country. It's so divisive. We're all Australian,' he wrote. There were no shortage of people agreeing with him in reply to Bernadi's tweet or elsewhere on social media. That would be a dream come true!' one person wrote about an end of Welcome to Country ceremonies. 'It better. That was one of my main reasons for voting No,' another said. Leading Voice advocate Marcia Langton said in April that if voters rejected the Voice they would be shunned by Indigenous people for Welcome to Country ceremonies WHAT IS THE WELCOME TO COUNTRY? A Welcome to Country can only be delivered by Traditional Owners or Custodians of the land on which the event takes place. It is usually performed by a local Aboriginal Elder to acknowledge and give consent to events taking place on their traditional lands. It is also a sign of respect and protocol, but organising a Welcome to Country can take weeks, involving several different Indigenous groups. If a Traditional Owner is not available to do a Welcome to Country, an Acknowledgement of Country can be delivered instead. An Acknowledgement of Country is a way to show awareness and respect for Traditional Custodians of the land where a meeting or event is taking place. Its purpose is to recognise the continuing connection of Aboriginal people to Country, and can be delivered by both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. There are three types of Acknowledgement of Country: Generic - this should be used if you dont know the name of the people on whose land you are gathered, or if there are disputes about the land (multiple Aboriginal peoples identify as Traditional Custodians for that area). The words are: 'I begin today by acknowledging the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we today, and pay my respects to their Elders past and present. I extend that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples here today.' Specific - this should be used where there are no disputes and you know the name of the people on whose land you are gathered. The words are: 'I begin today by acknowledging the people, Traditional Custodians of the land on which we today, and pay my respects to their Elders past and present. I extend that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples here today.' General (to be used Australia wide or in a webinar, on a website, or in printed material) - The words are: 'In the spirit of reconciliation the [organisation] acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.' Advertisement The acknowledgement of land, or acknowledgement of Country, is typically used in Australia to recognise the traditional owners of the land on which an official ceremony is held. t is usually spoken at the beginning of an event. While Maher was referring to Native Americans, his words also struck a chord with Australians who flocked to the comments section to share their thoughts. 'Australia has been doing this for years. I think the same thing every time,' one person wrote. 'It reminds me of a prayer before dinner or something,' another said. 'Every single event in Australia, at first I was like 'cool', now I'm like 'I'm done'. 'I did a course at TAFE and every single class our trainer had to do it,' another wrote. A pollster who forecast the Voice referendum result with uncanny accuracy has pinpointed six reasons for the proposal's thumping loss. UK polling firm FocalData predicted on Wednesday the Voice would be defeated with 61 per cent of Australians voting No and only 39 per cent saying Yes, which accurately reflected the split in Saturday's referendum. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had been skeptical the UK poll accurately reflected the opinions of everyday Australians in the lead-up to the referendum and incorrectly dismissed it by saying it had been modelled 'without talking to anyone'. In a blog that contained the prediction, FocalData chief research officer James Kanagasooriam said the 'key reasons' the firm identified for the No case triumphing were largely a disastrous list of own goals or failures by Yes advocates. Six reasons were put forward explaining why the referendum failed - challenging the Yes camp and their claim the No vote only succeeded because of misinformation. A pollster has identified six main reasons why the No campaign recorded a stunning win in Saturday's referendum (pictured Jacinta Price and Warren Mundine) Likening the Yes campaign to the 2016 failed presidential bid of Hillary Clinton or the futile attempt that same year to stop Britain exiting the EU, Mr Kanagasooriam said the Voice had not been sold to voters beyond wealthy and trendy urban 'elites'. 'Albanese has traded a centrist, mixed rural/urban coalition for one that more closely resembles the politics of his own seat of Grayndler where voters are disproportionately concerned with Indigenous affairs, racism and the environment vs the rest of Australia that is far more concerned with economics,' Mr Kanagasooriam wrote. READ MORE: How the Voice went from being an easy win for Anthony Albanese to a catastrophic defeat with EVERY state rejecting the measure at referendum Advertisement 'Our poll shows a structural split of the Labor party between its older, rural and traditionalist voters and its younger, urban, university-educated base. 'This is a pattern of votes that could have been lifted straight from the UK's EU referendum but with the Yes side doing materially worse than Remain.' Perhaps the other over-riding reason for the Voice's failure was that it was a 'hard to understand concept' made more confusing by the way it was sold. 'Even after months of campaigning a significant proportion of Australians don't really understand,' Mr Kanagasooriam wrote. 'And even when they have understood they are being told it is simultaneously both an important and modest change.' The blog argued the Yes campaign had 'only one cogent argument' to win, that the Voice would improve the lives of Indigenous Australians. By contrast the No side had three potent overlapping arguments, that the cost of living crisis made it wrong time to have the referendum, that the Voice undermines the principle of equality and the concept of 'First Australians' was 'flawed'. Anthony Albanese said on Saturday the lack of bi-partisan support had made the Voice a difficult sell Mr Kanagasooriam also said the failure to make the campaign bi-partisan also meant Coalition voters were overwhelmingly opposed despite the 'elite' Voice endorsement by past some Liberal leaders. The six reasons why the Voice failed UK pollster 1. The Voice is a hard to understand concept. 2. The Yes side only had one cogent argument to win, but the No camp had three. 3. The failure of Yes to present the Voice as a bi-partisan campaign. 4. The look and feel of the Yes campaign was far away from the median voter. 5. Labor has forgotten quite how far its rural voters in Queensland and Western Australia are compared to regional NSW and Victoria voters. 6. The bias towards the status quo. Advertisement Perhaps most soberingly for Labor Mr Kanagasooriam wrote that the party had forgotten 'quite how far apart its rural voters in QLD and WA are vs NSW and VC voters'. Although the Voice did not win majority approval in any of states it got a particular shellacking in WA and Queensland. 'The yes side were relying on partisanship kicking in on the Labor side that ran up against demographic and attitudinal trends in these states,' Mr Kanagasooriam observed. As support dwindled many Voice advocates strongly argued voters were being misled by the No side, an accusation strongly put by Yes campaigner Thomas Mayo on the night of the referendum in a memorable spray. 'We have seen a disgusting No campaign, a campaign that has been dishonest, that has lied to the Australian people and I'm sure that will come out in the analysis,' he said. FocalData's analysis strongly refuted 'misinformation' as a determining factor, saying 'specific' showed more Australians were put off by the vagueness of the proposal and the style of the Yes campaigning than convinced by the No side. 'Most Australians thought that the lack of clarity (30%) and tone of the yes campaign (18%) mattered more,' he wrote. A disappointed Mr Albanese on Saturday night pointed out no referendum in Australia had won without bi-partisan support. While FocalData believed Opposition Leader Peter Dutton's 'signalling against Yes has proved critical' it did not put down the campaign's failure to his or Mr Albanese's personal ratings, which it said had moved slightly towards the Prime Minister. FocalData Chief Research Officer James Kanagasooriam wrote that the Yes campaign made some crucial blunders Mr Kanagasooriam wrote that referendum was likely to scape some paint of Mr Albanese's electoral standing, although not to a worrying degree at this stage. 'We expect Albanese will suffer from some kind of voting intention discount in the months to come,' the blog says. 'More than twice the number of voters think worse (12%) of him than better (5%) as a consequence of the Referendum. 'The opposite is true of Liberal leader Peter Dutton. However, at this stage Australian polls still show a strong preference of voters for Albanese over Dutton and the ALP still showing a strong voting intention lead.' In light of the overwhelming backing by corporate and sporting organisations for the Voice they might ponder being so misaligned with public sentiment and the mindset of their customers, Mr Kanagasooriam argued. 'Sporting and corporate organisations are I'm sure reflecting on how hard they rowed into this Referendum - largely on the Yes side,' he wrote. 'Proper scenario planning, research and historic analysis would have shown the risks of this it poses to consumer brands and to potential customer backlash. 'I'm sceptical that corporate Australia undertook the necessary research before wading in.' Australia's richest postcodes voted overwhelmingly for the Voice to Parliament while the poorest towns in remote areas said 'No' very loudly - including in seats with a high Aboriginal population. While seats with Sydney Harbour views and those taking in Melbourne's inner-city almost all voted Yes on Saturday, some of the country's wealthiest suburbs still voted 'No', analysis of voting results shows. Meanwhile, poorer towns in remote areas resoundingly rejected the idea of an Indigenous Voice to Parliament in the Constitution. One rural booth even reported a 96 per cent No vote - almost unanimous. Barrister and one-time political campaign director Greg Barns said the weekend Voice defeat highlighted the deep divisions in Australia. 'The fault lines are still there,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'This division now - that's not only an economic division but also a cultural division.' Mr Barns said voters in wealthy electorates were more likely to be engaged with politics, making them more open minded when it came to the proposal to change the constitution. How Australia's wealthiest suburbs voted in the Voice In Sydney's Double Bay - part of Australia's wealthiest postcode with an average taxable income of $266,381 and often dubbed 'Double Pay' - support for Yes was 56.5 per cent, Australian Electoral Commission returns showed. But in nearby Dover Heights, which has the second highest average taxable income in Australia with $230,597, they narrowly voted No, with 50.8 per cent against the Voice. Both suburbs are in the same seat, Wentworth - held by 'teal' independent Allegra Spender - which voted Yes overall. Australia's wealthiest postcodes overwhelmingly voted for the Voice as the poorest towns in remote areas said No very loudly (pictured is teal independent MP Allegra Spender - second right - with former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Turnbull - far left, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek and former Sydney lord mayor Lucy Turnbull) In Perth's elite western suburbs, Cottesloe backed the Voice with 53 per cent support in a postcode that is home to billionaire Andrew Forrest and has an average, taxable income of $229,805 In Perth's elite western suburbs, Cottesloe backed the Voice with 53 per cent support in a postcode that is home to billionaire Andrew Forrest and has an average taxable income of $229,805. This beachside postcode falls within Kate Chaney's Curtin electorate, which backed the Voice with 50.7 per cent support. In Melbourne's richest suburb of Toorak, now in the Labor-held seat of Higgins, 59 per cent of voters at its biggest booth backed the Voice. The suburb has an average taxable income of $222,967. This was slightly below the overall electorate's 60.1 per cent support for the Voice. On the edge of Port Phillip Bay, 53.6 per cent of voters in Portsea voted No, in a postcode with an average, taxable income of $221,236. The Liberal-held seat of Flinders rejected the Voice with 57.9 per cent saying No. The next three suburbs on the rich list - all in the electorate of Wentworth - backed the Voice. Bellevue Hill, with an with an average taxable income of $218,902, voted overwhelmingly for the Voice with 61.4 per cent support. In Darling Point, with an average taxable income of $218,528, 53.4 per cent of voters backed the Yes side In neighbouring Woollahra, with a taxable income of $212,881, 66.5 per cent of voters voted Yes. In Sydney's Middle Harbour, 63.1 per cent of voters in Northbridge, with a taxable income of $191,225, backed the Voice. It falls within teal independent Kylea Tink's North Sydney electorate, which backed the Voice with 59.3 per cent support. A few suburbs away in Mosman, 59.7 per cent of voters supported the Yes case, in a suburb with an average, taxable income of $188,324. This Sydney Habour suburb on the lower north shore reflected the mood of teal independent Zali Steggall's Warringah electorate, which recorded a 58.8 per cent Yes vote. Just 32 electorates out of 151 voted Yes, including the seven teal electorates, the four Greens seats, and only one Liberal electorate, Bradfield on Sydney's upper north shore. READ MORE: Nat Barr loses it at Anthony Albanese's government after the failed voice referendum - and exposes the four things they got wrong: 'Dismal failure' Natalie Barr has blasted the Albanese government over the failed Voice to Parliament referendum, saying $400million of taxpayer money had now gone 'down the drain'. The Sunrise host interviewed Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles on Sunrise on Monday morning after Australia voted No to enshrining an Indigenous Voice into the Constitution Advertisement How poorer suburbs voted to the Voice The biggest No vote results occurred in the safe Nationals seat of Parkes in north-west New South Wales. While Parkes overwhelmingly rejected the Voice, with 79.4 per cent voting No, the repudiation was even louder in series of small towns with very low incomes. The polling booth at the tiny town of Bellata recorded a 95.7 per cent No vote with just six voters backing the Yes side among 141 people. The average, taxable income here is $35,343 - a level significantly below the minimum wage of $45,906 - but that is also based on farmers claiming big losses to reduce their taxable income. The small town of Mungindi, on the NSW-Queensland border, recorded an 81.9 per cent No vote, in a place where the average, taxable income is $36,887. On the Queensland side, the Southern Downs town of Dalveen, with an average taxable income of $36,707, had a No vote of 84.4 per cent, with just 23 Yes voters among 147 casting a ballot. This was in line with the 84.8 per cent No vote in Nationals leader David Littleproud's seat of Maranoa. Remote towns home to workers on wages well below the country's minimum wage, resoundingly rejected the idea of an Indigenous Voice to Parliament in the Constitution In the vast South Australian rural Liberal electorate of Grey, 78.4 per cent of voters rejected the Voice. But in Arno Bay on the Eyre Peninsula, a resounding 86.9 per cent of the this polling booth voted No, with just 28 voting Yes among 214 voters. The average, taxable income in this postcode is $32,969. In the Northern Territory, Katherine delivered a 61.6 per cent No vote in a vast postcode with an average, taxable income of $45,509. A quarter or 25.5 per cent of the population in this town is of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander heritage. This No vote here was higher than Labor-held Lingiari's 55.7 per cent in an electorate that covers the NT outside Darwin. Like the 1999 referendum on the republic, Australia's richest postcodes backed change, setting them apart from the rest of Australia. Just like 24 years ago, every state voted No with only the Australian Capital Territory voting Yes - and it is the state or territory with the highest household income of $149,344 a year in the last Census. But there were a few islands of Yes support in rural and regional electorates that overwhelmingly voted No. In the vast South Australian rural Liberal electorate of Grey, 78.4 per cent of voters rejected the Voice. But in Arno Bay on the Eyre Peninsula, a resounding 86.9 per cent of the this polling booth voted No, with just 28 voting Yes among 214 voters Byron Bay, with an average taxable income of $74,631 in its postcode, delivered a 72 per cent Yes even as the Labor-held seat of Richmond voted No with a 56.8 per cent total. Nimbin in northern NSW, best known for marijuana and alternative lifestyles, delivered a 65 per cent Yes vote as the overall Nationals seat of Page delivered a 68 per cent No vote. The postcode's $53,011 average taxable income is well below Australia's $65,000 median income, suggesting not all values are based on wealth. Within the north Queensland Liberal electorate of Herbert, the No vote was 76.1 per cent, including at the biggest polling booth in Townsville. But in the Palm Island booth, 75 per cent of voters backed Yes, in a town of 1,918 people where 91.4 per cent of the population is Indigenous. Both areas are united by postcode - 4816 - and an average taxable salary of $59,544 that's on the lower side of Australia's middle income. A prominent benefactor to Harvard, who made a donation of over $500 million, with a commitment of $300 million this year alone, pressured the university to speak out in defense of Israel following last weekend's terror attack that killed more than 1,300 Israelis, it has emerged. Ken Griffin, who built his wealth on Wall Street, reached out to the head of the university's board, Penny Pritzker, requesting that the educational establishment take a strong stance in defense of the country. His call came after a letter from student groups blamed Israel for the attacks, but before university leaders had responded publicly. Griffin and Pritzker were in agreement during their conversation, and the billionaire was told that the university was preparing to make a statement on the war. Harvard, whose endowment has now risen to almost $51 billion, named its Graduate School of Arts and Sciences after Griffin. A prominent benefactor to Harvard, who made a donation of over $500 million, with a commitment of $300 million this year alone, pressured the university to speak out in defense of Israel following last weekend's terror attack that killed more than 1,300 Israelis Harvard has become a focus in the debate of the Hamas-Israel war, with student groups blaming Israel for the attacks. Pictured: A October 9 protest near the university's campus 'Why are you killing kids and women?' demanded a woman on the microphone. 'Why don't you fight against the military. Let's see how brave you are' Last Saturday, 34 Harvard student groups signed up to a letter holding the 'Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence', after the shocking terrorist attack by Hamas. Vehicles with the faces of those studying at the elite establishment accused of being linked to the letter were paraded around Harvard Square on Wednesday night along with the words 'anti-Semites'. More than 350 Harvard University faculty members also penned an open letter addressed to the institution's leadership in response to a student statement they deemed as 'nothing less than condoning the mass murder' of more than 1,400 Israelis. The faculty members expressed their dissatisfaction with the university administration's response, asserting that it 'fell short.' In the correspondence was directed to Harvard President Claudine Gay, numerous faculty members conveyed their deep concern about the ongoing events in the Middle East and the safety of their students on campus. 'We are deeply concerned about the events in the Middle East, as well as the safety of our students here on campus,' the letter read. 'The leaders of the major democratic countries united in saying that 'the terrorist actions of Hamas have no justification, no legitimacy, and must be universally condemned' and that Israel should be supported' in its efforts to defend itself and its people against such atrocities,' the letter noted. Ultimately Harvard issued a statement three days after the student group's letter, distancing the university from the views of the student groups condemning the 'terrorist atrocities perpetrated by Hamas' clarifying how the student groups did not represent the university's official stance. Gay also posted a video addressing the backlash, emphasizing how university's rejected all forms of terrorism, including the atrocities perpetrated by Hamas, as well as a rejection of hate and harassment based on faith, national origin, or identity. More than 350 Harvard University faculty members have penned an open letter addressed to the institution's leadership in response to a student statement they deemed as 'nothing less than condoning the mass murder' of more than 1,400 Israelis Other Wall Street financiers, who are significant donors to various universities, also exerted behind-the-scenes pressure on the institutions to denounce students for their criticism of Israel shortly after the Hamas attack. Some high-profile figures, such as former Harvard President Larry Summers, openly voiced their objections to the university's handling of the matter. The issue has exposed the divide between donors and the students and administrators who benefit from their contributions. Some donors have been critical of administrators who, in their view, have been slow to defend Israel, especially when they have been quick to support left-wing causes in recent years. However, publicly aligning with donors on the Israel/Palestine issue risks alienating students and faculty who could have differing views. Vehicles with the faces of those studying at the elite establishment were paraded around Harvard Square last week along with the words 'anti-Semites.' The move was after a letter by more than 30 Harvard student groups that blamed Israel for the war Pictures of several students accused of being linked to the letter have been paraded around campus with the words 'Harvard's Leading Anti-Semites' by Accuracy In Media, based in Washington, DC Some universities, such as the University of Chicago, have adopted a neutral stance on political and social matters, while others have become more vocal on issues like the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the killing of George Floyd. Griffin took a firm stance, viewing the students as adults, noting that they should own their actions and take responsibility. He said that students who signed pro-Palestinian letters 'would have been considered adults one hundred years ago' and should be held responsible for their actions now. When asked if his Citadel hedge fund would hire the head of a student group that had signed the Harvard letter, he described it as 'unforgivable.' 'How do you end up in such a twisted place?' Griffin asked while speaking with the New York Times. The situation has also led to a debate among students, with varying responses to the Gaza Strip blockade and the conflict's underlying causes. Harvard alumni and donors, including figures such as Jamie Dimon and David M. Rubenstein, have refrained from publicly commenting on the university's actions, possibly to avoid harming institutions they are deeply connected to or to prevent any impact on university research and medical centers that rely on donor support. While some donors may have strong affiliations with Republican or Democratic causes, their objections to the university's handling of the situation transcend political boundaries. The controversy surrounding student statements critical of Israel has also led to discussions about free speech on campus and where the responsibility of institutions lies when donors express concerns. Posters of American and Israeli hostages snatched by Hamas were plastered across campus, with 'kidnapped' emblazoned across the top The Palestine Solidarity Committee holding banners outside of Harvard University 'Worse than ISIS': Photo of bloodied child's bed posted by Israeli PM Benjamin 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 Summers, who is Jewish, was critical of university leadership for appearing 'at best neutral towards acts of terror against the Jewish state of Israel.' 'In nearly 50 years of @Harvard affiliation, I have never been as disillusioned and alienated as I am today,' Summers said on X, formerly known as Twitter. Summers joined the University's Hillel student group later in the week in opposing efforts to 'vilify,' as he put it, signers of the anti-Israel statement. 'Such intimidation is counterproductive to the education that needs to take place on our campus at this difficult time,' Harvard Hillel said. 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 1,400, while that in Gaza has risen to about 2,670 since fighting began. Many thousands on both sides of the conflict have been injured as well. by Tamuira Reid Gordon, 74, Crown Heights, Retired Vet and Woodworker I saw my best friend, my platoon mate in Nam, get his entire head blown off right in front of me. The whole thing. Nothing left from the neck up. A soldier, a kid really, suddenly without a head. It was there and then it was gone. He was there and then he was gone. Like everything else there, up for grabs. Nothing lasts forever was more like nothing lasts for a minute. No one lasted even if they made it out of there alive. But I dont wanna get into that. Anyway, so me and him wed been playing cards the night before and were talking shit like normal, probably about our women back home. He had a few but he was a good guy. Loved his country. Proud. Never questioned our government like some of the other guys did. Pure patriot. So he gets his head blown off and Im telling you, that was the day I said to hell with all of this. Were all gonna die out here and for what? Some problems you just cant fix, no matter how many grenades you got. So I look at Israel and Palestine and that beef goes back longer than anyone here understands. You cant just say we own you and then not think that maybe, maybe one day there will be a price on your head for that. Sleeping giants is what happened. Israel got too comfy thinking Palestine was accepting being owned. Never. Those motherfuckers will never accept that. They out for blood. Cant say I blame them. The most dangerous people in the world are the ones who have nothing to lose because its all been taken from them. And the worst thing outside of death you can take from any man is his freedom. Im an old Black man living in America. Ive seen some shit. This country always likes a good villain. They need one. If it isnt me, then its the Arab down the block, you know what I mean? But the US needs to stay out of this. Giving all this money to Israel to blow away anything that moves in Gaza sure looks a hell of a lot like 9/11. And how did that go for us? For the world? I served my country but I would not do it again blindly. My faith has limits. Vietnam destroyed my faith in a lot ways. I have faith in God but I would never put a uniform on again. Im too damn old anyway. Sophie, 32, Park Slope, Artist The situation is just terrible. Situation doesnt really do whats happening justice. What would I call it? Terrorism. Death. Erasure. Im a Jew and all I hear is the word genocide being thrown around like its a ball. Bouncing back and forth between the continents. But lets be clear: there are 16 million Jews left in the world. How many Muslims? We lose a thousand of our people and thats a lot, you know. A lot. I dont think all these progressive New Yorkers get this. At least I dont hear anyone talking about it in the way they are about Palestinians. The Holocaust isnt something that just happened for no reason. It was to end the Jewish people, obliterate us. Thats genocide. Israel going after Hamas after what they did to us isnt close to genocide. There over a billion Muslims in the world today. Think about that. Even if Israel wipes out every Palestinian, which I am not advocating for in any way, but even if they did Muslims would still exist. That might sound heartless or whatever but its the truth. Jewish Lives Matter. Why is this so hard for New Yorkers to say? Our government, Biden, Mayor Adams have condemned Hamas and these brutal acts of terror on the Jewish people, but at a neighborhood-level thats not what I hear. Theres so much sympathy for Palestinians in the city because we are liberals and everyone in the liberal democratic party takes the side of the oppressed. And in this case, Israel, Jews are the oppressor. It makes me want to shake people, like again, have you ever heard of the Holocaust? Dont talk to me about oppression. Dont tell me Israel doesnt have the right to defend itself against anyone threatening our existence. The hypocrisy in this city is ripe. Its gross. Im sick of it not being called out. Ive been called a racist for calling Hamas what they are terrorists. My partner is Muslim, by the way. Jayce, 14, Bushwick, Student & Big Brother Hamas is mad dumb. They fucked-up. Like why you pick a fight with a T-rex when youre a lizard? Thats just some dumb shit right there. But, Im not gonna lie. They got some balls. They got some big-ass balls. They went and bullied the bully. Ive got Muslim friends and probably Jewish friends and were are cool with each other. We dont go around talking about this all day like the parents and teachers. Maybe teachers talk more quiet about it because theyre scared of saying the wrong thing and theyll get fired or that students will get stupid. But its more adults that are being crazy over this. My grams has news on all day now and it just gives her stress. I dont want to be like that. I say grams, dont trip because where is it? Pakistan or some shit? Middle East or wherever. Shes acting like theres a war in Brooklyn. Its a war, right? I dont know. I stress about police before I stress about Muslims shooting anyone. And Muslims got police on them, too. I dont know about Jewish and the police. I dont think its a problem as much for them. Probably because they look white? I dont know. See now you got me stressing. Rishi Sunak condemned the Hamas 'Pogrom' today as he said six Brits are confirmed dead and 10 more missing. The PM insisted Britain will 'stand by' Israel as he insisted the country had the right to respond - although he stressed the need to avoid 'broader regional instability' and take 'every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians'. Updating MPs after the Commons returned for the first time since the bloody attacks, Mr Sunak addressed Jewish community members in the gallery, saying: 'We stand with you, we stand with Israel.' 'The attacks in Israel last weekend shocked the world. Over 1,400 people murdered one by one, over 3,500 wounded, almost 200 taken hostage,' Mr Sunak said. He went on: 'We should call it by its name: it was a Pogrom. 'The families of some of the missing are in the public gallery today. We call for the immediate release of all hostages and I say to them: we stand with you. We stand with Israel.' Mr Sunak said the 'terrible nature of these attacks means it is proving difficult to identify many of the deceased'. 'But with a heavy heart I can inform the House that at least six British citizens were killed,' he said. 'A further 10 are missing, some of whom are feared to be among the dead.' The government's stance was backed by Labour leader Keir Starmer, who said that Parliament must speak with 'one voice'. However, some of his MPs were more critical. Richard Burgon said Palestinians are being subjected to 'collective punishment', while Afzal Khan warned they were being 'dehumanised'. Earlier the premier urged counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu to stay focused on rooting out Hamas amid a diplomatic scramble to prevent a full-scale meltdown in the Middle East. Updating MPs after the Commons returned for the first time since the bloody attacks, Mr Sunak addressed Jewish community leaders in the gallery, saying: 'We stand with you, we stand with Israel.' Rishi Sunak will address MPs on Monday about the escalating crisis in Israel and Gaza, as politicians return to Westminster amid renewed conflict in the Middle East Mr Sunak wrote a condolences note during his visit to a school in north London this morning Israeli troops patrol in armoured personnel carriers in northern Israel on October 15, close to the country's border with Lebanon, amid skirmishes with Lebanon Mr Sunak underlined his ongoing belief that a two-state solution was the way forward for peace, and made clear the Palestinian people were not the same as Hamas. In a message to Israel, he said: 'We stand with you now and always. This atrocity was an existential strike at the very idea of Israel as a safe homeland for the Jewish people. 'I understand why it has shaken you to your core, and I am sickened that antisemitic incidents have increased since the attack. 'We are doing everything we can to protect you.' Vowing to use 'all the tools of British diplomacy', Mr Sunak said: 'However hard it is, we need to ask the tough questions about how we can revive the long-term prospect for a two-state solution, for normalisation and regional stability, not least because that is precisely what Hamas has been trying to kill.' Sir Keir said it is 'crucial that this House speaks with one voice in condemnation of terror, in support for Israel in its time of agony and for the dignity of all human life'. He warned that Hamas does not 'wish to see peace in the Middle East', adding: 'But Hamas are not the Palestinian people and the Palestinian people are not Hamas. 'So Labour stands with Israel, Britain stands with Israel. The attack is ongoing, terrorists are at large, hostages are still being held, some of them British citizens. 'Israel has the right to bring her people home, to defend herself, to keep its people safe. 'And whilst Hamas has the capability to carry out attacks on Israeli territory, there can be no safety.' Labour frontbencher Afzal Khan raised the case of a six-year-old muslim boy he said had been murdered in Chicago as a 'response' to the Israel violence The government's stance was backed by Labour leader Keir Starmer , who said that Parliament must speak with 'one voice' However, tensions came to the surface later in the debate. Mr Burgon insisted the 'massacre of Israeli citizens was a heinous act of terrorism which we all utterly condemn, and the hostages must be released immediately'. He added: 'In the words of the United Nations general secretary, ''the horrific acts by Hamas do not justify responding with collective punishment of the Palestinian people''. 'But that is what we're seeing in Gaza civilian areas bombed, food, electricity, water, medicines, all cut off. Such collective punishment is a war crime under the Geneva Conventions. 'So will the Prime Minister take this opportunity to make clear to the Israeli government that this collective punishment of Palestinian civilians must end immediately?' Other MPs could be heard saying 'shame' and 'disgraceful' as Mr Burgon spoke. Labour frontbencher Mr Khan raised the case of a six-year-old muslim boy he said had been murdered in Chicago as a 'response' to the Israel violence. 'Will the PM review his statements about the conflict and ensure he does not add to the further vilification of Palestinians and muslims when condemning the actions of Hamas,' he said. Mr Sunak said he would 'not tolerate anti-Muslim hatred in any form'. Speaking on a visit to a Jewish school in London earlier, Mr Sunak said he had stressed to Mr Netanyahu the need to 'minimise the impact on civilians'. He insisted that it is crucial that the response is 'contained to dealing with Hamas and does not spread more broadly in the region'. The UN and global aid agencies have all expressed alarm about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, after Israel imposed a blockade and ordered civilians to evacuate the north ahead of an imminent offensive. Western diplomats are also concerned that the war between Hamas and Israel could spark a wider conflict in the Middle East. In a round of interviews, defence minister James Heappey said the UK is encouraging Israel to balance humanitarian needs against military objectives - but suggested it was doing so 'correctly' at the moment. Mr Sunak said: 'Israel does have every right to defend itself and its people to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again. 'I think that's what the Israeli people would expect from their government is that if something like this happened here, it's what people would expect from this Government to make sure that they take the proportionate and necessary steps to keep everybody safe. 'Now, I've raised with the Israeli prime minister the need to minimise the impact on civilians as best we can. I've raised the humanitarian situation. We will continue to do that with other allies around the region as well. 'But again, Israel has given people advance notice of what's happening, given them the opportunity to leave and it's Hamas who is now telling people to stay behind, it's Hamas that is embedding itself inside civilian populations and that is just example of the barbarity with which they operate. 'They are not doing the right thing by the Palestinian people by those actions, and they should be held accountable for that.' Mr Sunak said 'nobody wants to see regional escalation'. 'Israel has been very clear that Hamas is the entity that's responsible for this and what they want to do is ensure that their people are safe and that this doesn't happen again, and that the focus of the attention of self-defence is on Hamas,' he said. 'And I think that's right, nobody wants to see regional escalation. And certainly the Israeli prime minister does not, when I've spoken to him. 'That's something that we can help with. We've already sent surveillance aircraft to the eastern Mediterranean last week, they will be able to, as I said, make sure that no arm shipments, for example, have been sent to other terrorist organisations in the region. 'That's a practical step that we can take to help ensure that this remains contained to dealing with Hamas and does not spread more broadly in the region.' Asked whether the Government supports the blockade of water, medical supplies and power from Gaza, he told LBC: 'I think what we are recognising is that there is military necessity rubbing up against humanitarian necessity and what we're saying to Israel is that they need and are, need to show the balance between those two imperatives.' Echoing US secretary of state Antony Blinken, Mr Heappey said democracies hold themselves to a 'higher standard' and 'of course we are encouraging Israel to make sure it does hold itself to that higher standard.' He added: 'It is the devil's own choice that Israel has got to make but for my money they are balancing correctly the need to preserve innocent human life as best they possibly can while accepting that the adversary that they will soon launch an attack on, uses humans and shields and deliberately seeks to hide within civilian population and infrastructure.' Mr Sunak will set out how the UK is supporting Israel and aiding British nationals caught in the fighting, while also detailing ministers' response to the humanitarian situation inside Gaza. King Abdullah II of Jordan was welcomed to Downing Street last night, as the ruler embarked on a diplomatic tour of Europe to rally international support to stop the war. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly indicated yesterday that about 10 British people are currently being held hostage by Hamas, telling Sky News that such a figure was 'not an unreasonable estimate'. Meanwhile, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said that increased security measures will remain in place to protect places of worship. The mayor's office said that the Metropolitan Police have also stepped up patrols, with a rolling programme of security visits to all synagogues in the capital. Mr Khan said: 'The suffering and loss of innocent life in both Israel and Gaza is truly heart-breaking and my thoughts are with all those impacted. 'It's vital that we don't allow events overseas to spill over onto our streets in London and I want to reassure both the Jewish community and the Muslim community that we will take a zero-tolerance approach to any Islamophobia or antisemitism. An Israeli soldier sifts the wreckage at the Kibbutz Beeri last week, the place where 270 revellers were killed by militants during the Supernova music festival on October 7 People take part in a demonstration in support of Palestine in Birmingham on Sunday Mr Sunak met King Abdullah II of Jordan in 10 Downing Street yesterday 'I'm continuing to work closely with the police and community leaders to ensure our communities feel safe, and are safe, as they go about their daily lives.' Demonstrators are also expected to gather outside BBC headquarters in the capital on Monday evening, amid anger at the broadcaster's decision not to describe Hamas militants as terrorists. It comes after a weekend of protests and gatherings across the UK, with tens of thousands marching in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Three men were charged on Sunday with criminal offences alleged to have taken place at the London demonstration, at which 15 people were arrested over the course of the day. Meanwhile, detectives investigating a public order offence are appealing for help identifying two women who were at the demonstration in the capital. Hundreds of people also attended at a vigil in central London on Sunday to commemorate Israeli victims of the Hamas incursion. Israel's imminent invasion of Gaza could turn into an occupation lasting 18 months in order to dismantle the 'bloodthirsty monsters' of Hamas. Rainy weather delayed the full-scale onslaught yesterday but Israel's prime minister vowed to 'demolish' the terror group. A week after the bloodbath that shocked the world, Benjamin Netanyahu said the nation was approaching a 'fateful hour'. However, the United Nations has warned that the 'spectre of death' looms over Gaza as hundreds of thousands continue fleeing from the expected Israeli invasion. Supplies of food, water, fuel and medicines are running dangerously low after Israel imposed blockades on the Palestinian territory - but today Egypt agreed to re-open the Rafah border crossing for eight hours between 6am to 2pm GMT. Israel Defense Force (IDF) troops were photographed in a 'band of brothers' moment as they prepared for the imminent Gaza ground incursion Troops gather round, arm in arm, as a senior IDF officer gives a speech on the outskirts of Ashkelon on October 15 Israeli troops patrol in armoured personnel carriers in northern Israel on October 15, close to the country's border with Lebanon, amid skirmishes with Lebanon Israel has been massing tanks and armoured vehicles, as well as troops, along Israel's border with Gaza for several days A ceasefire agreed upon by Egypt, Israel and the US will coincide with the opening of the border crossing and would last for several hours, two Egyptian security sources said on Monday. Undeterred by the comments of human rights observers over recent days, Mr Netanyahu said preparations were being made around the clock to launch the ground offensive, with nearly 400,000 soldiers gearing up for battle in Gaza. He pledged: 'They are ready to take action to defeat the bloodthirsty monsters who have risen against us to destroy us. Hamas thought that we would come apart we will demolish Hamas.' Scores of Israeli soldiers were yesterday photographed with arms draped over each other's shoulders in a 'band of brothers' moment as they prepared near Ashkelon, by the Gaza border. The Israeli military's rules of engagement have reportedly been 'loosened' for the ground invasion to allow fewer checks before shooting. But US President Biden, who has repeatedly proclaimed support for Israel, has warned any move for the country to reoccupy Gaza would be a 'big mistake'. Yesterday more anguished families spoke of their horror at seeing harrowing videos of their loved ones being held hostage. Some ten Britons are among up to 200 kidnapped by Hamas during their sickening rampage nine days ago. They face being paraded as human shields during the impending invasion. There were reports yesterday that Israel rejected a prisoner exchange offer by Hamas in order to focus on its own military efforts. Diplomatic sources said the offer, brokered by Qatar, would have entailed women, children and the elderly being exchanged for 36 Hamas prisoners held in Israel. Soldiers from Israel's highly secretive SAS-style Sayeret Matkal unit have instead been conducting lightning raids to seek out the hostages, so far without any known success. The might of the country's armed forces is poised to follow them in by air, land and sea, with their goal 'the rout of Hamas and the elimination of its leaders,' said Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari. As more than a million civilians in Gaza fled their homes, analysts suggested Israel could become bogged down for more than a year hunting for terrorists in the 25-mile long enclave. Nimrod Novik, a former senior Israeli diplomat and security adviser, said some military and political leaders wanted soldiers to undertake 18 months of door-to-door arrest operations to root out the Hamas top brass. Israel has been exchanging rockets, artillery fire and anti-tank shells with Lebanon after Hamas-aligned groups such as Hezbollah are believed to have fired on the country (pictured: an Israeli artillery shell explodes over the Lebanese village of al-Bustan on October 15) IDF troops patrol an area of northern Israel, close to the border with Lebanon, on October 15 Yesterday rockets, artillery fire and anti-tank shells were exchanged between Lebanon home to terror group Hezbollah and Israel, threatening to drag the region into open warfare. Israel reported its first civilian death from a Hezbollah strike in the current violence, with a man in his 40s killed in a guided missile attack on the northern community of Shtula. But Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant said the country had 'no interest' in a war with the group. 'If Hezbollah chooses the path of war, it will pay a very heavy price,' he said. 'But if it restrains itself, we will respect that and keep the situation as it is.' Israeli jets have carried out bombing runs in Lebanon, however, as the IDF threatened to 'destroy' the country if Hezbollah entered the war. Tzachi Hanegbi, an Israeli national security advisor, has warned the Iran-sponsored terror group to stand down from creating a second combat front - or reckon with 'the destruction of Lebanon'. Iran's foreign minister threatened 'no one can guarantee non-expansion of war' if Israel invaded Gaza. Meanwhile, the country has been urged by its allies including Britain to be 'restrained' in its response so as not to inflame a furious backlash in the Arab world. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken conducted a whistle-stop tour of Arab states at the weekend in order to preserve the fragile peace in the wider region. He reiterated that Washington stands with Israel 'today, tomorrow and every day' but it must take 'every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians'. But his various Arab hosts did not necessarily share the same view with Egypt's president Abdel Fattah el-Sissi saying after Mr Blinken's visit to Cairo that Israel had already 'exceeded the right to self-defence'. As the fourth British evacuation flight of UK citizens took off from Israel, air raid sirens continued to blare across the country and a rocket blasted a house in Sderot, a town near the Gaza border. Israeli police extinguish a fire after a rocket fired from within the Gaza Strip landed in Sderot Israeli soldiers in armoured personnel carriers (APCs) travel along the border with Gaza today Fighters from Lebanese militant group Hezbollah carry out a training exercise in southern Lebanon in May this year Israeli army soldiers patrol an undisclosed area close to the border with Lebanon on Sunday A woman mourns at the funeral of Israeli man Antonio Macias, who was killed by Hamas at the Supernova music festival on October 7 But in Gaza, which has been the target of near-ceaseless bombardment by the Israelis since October 7, the UN said it could no longer provide water in its shelters, warning: 'Gaza is being strangled... Gaza is running out of life.' Yesterday it was reported Israel had re-opened the water supply in south Gaza after an intervention by US President Joe Biden. Hospitals said they were at crisis point and trying to move the seriously ill and wounded would amount to a 'death sentence'. Humanitarian agencies warned that many more would die if aid and other supplies were not allowed into Gaza. 'The spectre of death is hanging over Gaza,' said Martin Griffiths, UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs. 'With no water, no power, no food and no medicine, thousands will die. Plain and simple.' UNRWA, the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees, said Gaza faced an 'unprecedented human catastrophe' and Israel's blockades meant it could no longer provide aid. But authorities in Gaza claimed airstrikes had hit a convoy of civilians on a supposed safe evacuation route, killing 70. Israel's military denied it was responsible for the explosion on Friday and suggested Hamas was to blame. Hospitals in northern Gaza reported they had been overwhelmed by casualties from airstrikes and had no electricity or key medical supplies. Videos posted online showed bodies wrapped in white cloth stored in empty ice cream freezer trucks after hospitals, morgues and cemeteries ran out of space. Hospitals said they were at crisis point and trying to move the seriously ill and wounded would amount to a 'death sentence' More than 9,000 people have been wounded and up to 1,000 are feared trapped or missing under buildings destroyed by Israeli airstrikes - including this strike, said to have hit a convoy of Palestinian civilians as they were fleeing. The IDF has denied responsibility Meanwhile, Israel's armed forces have vowed to defeat Hamas 'from the air, sea and land' - and footage circulating shows they're already taking the fight to the terrorists ahead of an expected ground assault in the coming days. Graphic footage shared by the Israel Defense Force (IDF) showed Israeli soldiers gunning down Hamas troops as they swam for their lives in the Mediterranean Sea; other footage shows an air strike that the army claims killed a Hamas leader involved in planning the murderous October 7 attacks. Footage has also emerged of what appears to be the first Hamas fighters attempting to breach the border between Israel and Gaza last week as IDF troops in the observation post yell: 'Commander, commander, we are at war!'. In a statement published on Saturday, the IDF said it is preparing to 'expand the offensive' with a 'wide range of offensive operational plans' which it says include a 'joint and coordinated attack from the air, sea and land.' Ahead of the incursion into Gaza, special forces have been conducting sorties within the occupied Palestinian territory to take on Hamas fighters and gather information on the 155 hostages captured by the terror group eight days ago. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has confirmed that around ten Britons are being held hostage by Hamas as he warned that the terrorists want to create a war between 'the Muslim world and the wider world'. Urging Israel to show restraint amid mounting concerns about the fate of civilians in Gaza ahead of an imminent offensive, the Foreign Secretary said Hamas was 'not a friend to the Palestinian people'. Mr Cleverly added that it was not 'unreasonable' to estimate that around ten British civilians were taken hostage by Hamas in last week's assault and said there were British nationals among the dead and wounded. But he added: 'I'm really, really uncomfortable implying that there is certainty where frankly there isn't.' Fighters from Hezbollah stand next to vehicles that carry rear-mounted rocket launchers in May this year An Israeli APC moves near the border with Lebanon in Amiad, Israel, earlier today amid rising tensions in the area READ MORE HERE: Tributes to hero British-Israeli man who was killed by Hamas gunmen as he tried to evacuate wounded civilians from kibbutz massacre Advertisement The Palestinian Health Ministry says 2,670 Gazans have been killed since Israel launched its counter-attack against Hamas on October 7; Israel claims 1,400 people have been killed by Hamas to date, almost half that killed in return. It pushes the combined death toll on both sides past 4,000 - as international observers call for humanitarian aid corridors to be opened up into Gaza to allow food, water, medicine and power to be supplied. Israel has ordered 1.1million Gazans in the north of the Strip to evacuate ahead of the ground assault - an all-or-nothing order that has been met with condemnation by the World Health Organisation, which said it was 'tantamount to a death sentence' for those being treated at the 22 hospitals in the area. Medical centres in the south reported they had also been hit by airstrikes. Doctors and nurses were risking their own lives to stay with their patients, officials said. The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Pope have called for greater protection for civilians caught in the conflict. However, the spectre of an all-out war across the Middle East continues to loom. Speaking about the most recent exchange of fire at the border with Lebanon, Admiral Daniel Hagari suggested Israel was prepared to fight a war on two or more fronts. He said: 'We responded and eliminated the source of the shooting, Lebanon is responsible for the shooting from its territory - we will act anywhere in the Middle East to fulfill our needs.' An injured Palestinian man walks away from a scene of destruction following an Israeli airstrike on a building in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on October 15 Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant, wearing a flak jacket, speaks to troops near the border with Gaza on October 15 Israeli troops guard a border fence with Gaza on October 15, ahead of an expected ground incursion in the coming days A young girl carries a cat as she moves away from a strike-hit area of Gaza City He said Israeli authorities had informed the families of 155 people held captive in Gaza, and said at least 289 Israeli soldiers were killed when Hamas launched a devastating attack on communities around the Gaza Strip eight days ago. It comes as preparations continue for a planned ground invasion of Gaza, which will have come after days of heavy bombing in the Palestinian territory and warnings from the Israeli army for civilians to evacuate. But Iran, which is heavily involved in the region, has warned that it won't 'simply remain an observer' if the situation escalates and suggested that it would inflict damage on American interests in the process. Its foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said: 'We have conveyed our message to the Zionist regime through its allies that if they do not cease their atrocities in Gaza, Iran cannot simply remain an observer. 'If the scope of the war expands, significant damages will also be inflicted upon America.' Analysts have said Hezbollah is more likely to scale up its involvement if Israel launches a ground offensive of Gaza. Iran, which supports Hamas and Hezbollah, warned Sunday that a ground offensive could expand the scope of the conflict elsewhere in the Middle East. 'No one can guarantee the control of the situation and the non-expansion of the conflicts,' Mr Amirabdollahian added. He had told reporters in Beirut days ago that 'Lebanon's security and peace' was important for Tehran and warned that 'any possibility is conceivable'. Illegal migrants will be given only 30 minutes to prove they are ineligible to be deported to Rwanda under the new immigration plan, it has emerged. Home Office staff are being trained to rapidly decide whether migrants who arrive in the UK meet the criteria that will enable their deportation, The Times reported. The four criteria that qualified for removal from the UK include a migrant having entered the country without permission, arrived after July 20 this year, not come from a country where they fear that their life and liberty are threatened, and must not have leave to remain in Britain. Migrants who enter the country illegally will undergo a 30-minute interview with Home Office officials upon their arrival, during which staff are meant to assess whether they meet the deportation criteria. Before Rishi Sunaks new Illegal Migration Act went into effect, migrants underwent a 60 to 90 minute initial interview, as well as a 'more thorough' interview that took place further on in the asylum application process. Illegal migrants will be given only 30 minutes to prove they are ineligible to be deported to Rwanda under the new immigration plan, it has emerged. Pictured: A group of people thought to be migrants crossing the Channel in a small boat in August this year Home Office staff are being trained to rapidly decide whether migrants who arrive in the UK meet the criteria that will enable their deportation. Pictured: Home Secretary Suella Braverman last month During their 30-minute interview, migrants will be tasked with declaring whether they want to oppose their removal from the UK on grounds that removal would 'subject them to the prospect of serious and irreversible harm', according to the newspaper. They will then receive eight days to prepare a legal case and submit any necessary evidence to support the claim. If authorities determine the migrant meets criteria for deportation, the individual will be detained following the interview and moved to an immigration centre, pending their removal. Critics allege it is 'very optimistic' of the Home Office to think an immigration interview can be conducted 'safely and effectively' in less than an hour. Sonia Lenegan, a leading immigration lawyer, warned the process will not be as streamlined as officials are hoping because they are dealing with individuals 'who have taken complex journeys in complex circumstances'. 'If this is someone who doesnt speak English, their time is essentially halved because theyll need an interpreter,' she argued. Ms Lenegan also claimed that eight days is not enough time for migrants to prepare a proper legal case. Migrants who enter the country illegally will undergo a 30-minute interview with Home Office officials upon their arrival, during which staff are meant to assess whether they meet the deportation criteria. Pictured: Migrants are brought into Dover Harbour after being rescued in the English Channel last week She alleged it will be 'impossible to find a lawyer' in that time frame and, if they did, the lawyer would need time to 'prepare a case of serious harm'. She added: 'The Home Office is requiring increasing evidence to support these claims, such as a medical reports, which is not going to be possible within eight days.' The Home Office is reportedly preparing to spend up to 700million on deporting up to 4,000 migrants to Rwanda by October 2024. Ministers hope to start the deportation flights in February, but the time-frame is dependent on Supreme Court approval. A ruling is expected in December. A woman and her daughter have been arrested after two children died and another was hospitalized when they fell into a swimming pool at a day care that has repeatedly been scrutinized over concerns of poor safeguarding. Nina Fathizadeh, 41, and her mother, Shahin Gheblehshenas, 64, were charged with neglect resulting in death and non-life-threatening injuries after the incident, which happened when Fathizadeh left the children to finish preparing tea and oatmeal. Police in San Jose, California, were called to a residential day care on the 1000 block of Fleetwood Drive on October 2 to help firefighters with a welfare check. The day care was also Gheblehshenas' home. Cops said several children had fallen into a pool at the day care, which has been given six citations, including two Type A, reserved for the most serious violations, by social services since the beginning of this year. The two children who died - listed in charging documents as Jade and Payton Doe - were just 16 and 18 months old. The third victim - listed as John Doe - was just over two-and-a-half years old. Nina Fathizadeh (left), 41, and her mother, Shahin Gheblehshenas, 64 (right), have been arrested and charged with neglect resulting in death and non-life threatening injuries after the incident, which occurred when Fathizadeh left to finish preparing tea and oatmeal. Authorities said a child-safety gate was left open between the Sunday and Monday ahead of the tragedy and remained open when Gheblehshenas' husband went to water plants on Monday morning. Gheblehshenas knew her husband often watered plants and often forgot to close the gate, but failed to check before day care opened that same day and did not ask anyone to do it for her. She then left after the first child had been dropped at the day care, having believed she had a doctor's appointment that, she claims, was actually scheduled for the following week. Charging documents claim she then 'chose not to return to the day care in her home' despite Fathizadeh having already complained of understaffing and another worker already being absent that day. Gheblehshenas chose instead to go into her daughter's home, where the two women ran a second, unlicensed day care to care for Fathizadeh's two children and two other kids. At the original day care at Gheblehshenas' home, the children were playing in the living room when Fathizadeh let them into the backyard. She could clearly see the open pool gate but allegedly did nothing about it, police said. She then went to make the tea and oatmeal but had not view of the children in the backyard. 'Upon seeing that the gate to the pool was propped open by a drying rack, [Fathizadeh] went to the pool and located John Doe floating in the shallow end,' the charging document claims. San Jose cops said that several children were found in the pool Police cordoned off the area to investigate the incidents Fathizadeh got the boy, listed as John Doe, out of the pool and did CPR before taking him to a living room, calling 911 and giving CPR again. She then went to her brother, who was asleep in his bedroom and woke him up. The brother found the two toddlers floating in the deep end before he removed them and called 911. Two of the children died at a hospital, but the third survived and is expected to survive. Gheblehshenas and Fathizadeh turned themselves into the San Jose Police Department Friday and were booked into a jail cell. Their arraignment is scheduled for December 6. The day care was visited eight times over the three years by California's Department of Social Services, with one visit to specifically talk about the pool in the day care's backyard. The day care has already been heavily scrutinized for its alleged safeguarding failures The managers of the day care were criticized for having 'hazardous materials' stacked in the backyard near the pool. Investigators also found several gaps in the pool's fence during a 2021 visit. Other reported issues over the years included a failure to provide a criminal record clearance for an adult who worked in the residential day care. The day care was also not properly staffed, with state investigators finding that there were too many children in the building for the number of staff members working there, which Fathizadeh herself was concerned about. The day care's managers also failed to conduct a fire/disaster drill within the past months. JK Rowling says she is happy to 'take the hit' that comes with speaking out on trans issues after a women's rights conference she attended was picketed by gender activists. The Harry Potter author, who has been outspoken on trans issues, says she 'can afford' the blow back and she is willing to take it to stand up for women's rights. The 58-year-old made the comments at the FiLiA Women's Rights conference in Glasgow over the weekend, where she said she would 'always be able to feed my family' and that was why she wasn't afraid to voice her opinions. On the panel, which also contained feminist author Julie Bindel, Rowling said she 'talked, laughed and (bloody) cried', the Telegraph reports. She said: 'I've looked around and realised that it has to be someone who can take the hit. And it has to be me. I can afford it. The author, who is worth an estimated 875million according to the Sunday Times Rich List, has repeatedly called for women-only spaces to be reserved for biological women alone. Harry Potter author JK Rowling says she 'has to take the hit' that comes with speaking out on gender issues. Pictured: Rowling at the premiere of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore in March 2022 The author and other attendees at a conference in Glasgow were barracked by trans activists. Pictured: Rowling aimed her ire at one particular male protester, labelling him a 'p****' The protesters gathered outside the event with signs saying 'no feminism without trans women' This has led to accusations of her being a terf (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist) by gender activists, although Rowling denies her position is about trans rights. 'This is about women's rights and activists demand to dismantle those rights,' she said. 'I have nothing but profound sympathy for trans women who have experienced male violence. I want trans people to be safe. I just don't want women and girls to be any less safe.' Women's rights campaigners were met with abusive signs and shouts from transgender activists outside the event this weekend. One male activist who led the abusive chants towards attendees, many of whom were older women, was branded a 'p****' by the author online afterwards. 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'. 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****.' 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.' Women queue to enter the international feminist conference Filia at Platform in Glasgow 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. READ MORE HERE: English teacher who called a transgender pupil an 'attention seeker' avoids being struck off Advertisement 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.' She's a 'headteacher' who won't give unruly pupils a ticking off in her office or make speeches to the school at assembly. For the new 'principal headteacher' at a leading private boarding school is an artificial intelligence robot named Abigail Bailey. Her digital image gives the impression of a well-presented and smart professional and Tom Rogerson, the human headmaster of Cottesmore School in West Sussex, believes she will play an important role. The prep school has worked with an AI developer to create the robot to support the headmaster in his duties. Mr Rogerson hopes Ms Bailey will give advice on issues ranging from supporting fellow staff members to helping pupils with ADHD and writing school policies. In a UK first, Cottesmore School in West Sussex has appointed an AI robot named Abigail Bailey as its new principal headteacher The technology is said to work in a similar way to ChatGPT, the online AI service where users type questions, which are answered by the chatbot's algorithms. Mr Rogerson said the AI principal has been developed to have a wealth of knowledge in machine learning and educational management, with the ability to analyse vast amounts of data. He told The Telegraph: 'Sometimes having someone or something there to help you is a very calming influence. 'It's nice to think that someone who is unbelievably well trained is there to help you make decisions. 'It doesn't mean you don't ever also seek counsel from humans. Of course you do. It's just very calming and reassuring knowing that you don't have to call anybody up, bother someone, you don't have to wait around for an answer.' He added: 'Being a school leader, a headmaster, is a very lonely job. Of course we have head teacher's groups... but just having somebody or something on tap that can help you in this lonely place is very reassuring.' Cottesmore is a mixed day and boarding school for pupils aged four to 13, with fees of up to 32,000 a year. Mr Rogerson is a believer in embracing AI. Cottesmore was the first school in the country to advertise for a head of AI earlier this year. Cottesmore School also appointed another robot named Jamie Rainer as 'head of AI', but human headmaster Tom Rogerson said that they would not replace human teachers He was looking for a candidate to help embed the new technology into the curriculum as well as teaching sport and taking on various activities and hobbies. 'It was a tall order to fulfil all of those remits,' he said. So in the end the 'head of AI' job went to another robot called Jamie Rainer who will assist on AI strategy and planning. Pupils at the school have also been given their own individual AI robots to help them understand their individual learning styles. Mr Rogerson strongly believes pupils need to learn how to collaborate with artificial intelligence, which he has described as 'world changing' technology. But despite his digital appointments he said robots will not replace human teachers. He said: 'We are stepping into the future while preserving the core values of traditional education. The introduction of AI is not about replacing our dedicated educators but about augmenting their capabilities and ensuring our students receive the best education possible.' Four people have been injured after a multi-car crash during peak hour in Brisbane. The four-vehicle collision occurred just before 8.30am on Monday on the Story Bridge, with five lanes now closed. A Queensland Ambulance spokesperson confirmed two patients had been transported to hospital in stable conditions. The collision occurred at about 8.30am on Monday on the Story Bridge in Brisbane, with five lanes now closed Another two were assessed at the scene but did not need further treatment. Police have urged motorists to avoid the area with just one lane open in each direction. Traffic has been banked up for kilometres while debris from the crash can be seen strewn across the bridge. Significant delays are expected throughout the morning. A murder investigation is underway after a body was found inside a car on the NSW Central Coast. Emergency services were called to a car park on Trafalgar Avenue, at Umina Beach, about 3:15am on Monday after officers found the body of a man suffering stab wounds. The man is yet to be formally identified but is believed to be aged in his 40s. About 7.30am, a 30-year-old man with cut wounds presented to Gosford Police Station. A man's body has been found in popular Central Coast suburb, Umina Beach (pictured) He was taken into custody then transported to hospital for treatment, where he remains under police guard. A crime scene has been set up and detectives from Brisbane Water Police District have launched an investigation, assisted by the State Crime Command's Homicide Squad. As inquiries continue, police urge anyone with information to contact Gosford Police on 02 4323 5599, or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. by Derek Neal In 1970, Pier Paolo Passolini directed a film titled Notes Towards an African Orestes, which presents footage about his attempt to make a movie based on the Oresteia set in Africa. The movie was never made. In the same way, this article will be about a series of essays, or perhaps a book, that may never be written. I have an idea to write about artistic representations of Americans in Europe. The introduction, which will lay out the premise of the endeavor, will revolve around an anecdote from Patricia Highsmiths The Talented Mr. Ripley. Ripley is, to my mind, the quintessential American. He bears many similarities to that other archetypal American, Jay Gatsby, in that both men believe they can erase history and create new lives for themselves, without realizing that the past is never past. This is the general American mindset, in contrast to the European one, which understands that present possibility is limited by history. Americans in films and novels go to Europe to discover this fact, and the extent to which they recognize this, or fail to recognize it, creates the drama driving the narrative forward. The scene in Ripley which expresses this is when Tom attempts to read The Ambassadors by Henry James, only to be told that hes not allowed to take books from the cabin class library, as hes travelling in first class. Highsmiths novel takes The Ambassadors and flips it on its head; in both novels, an American goes to Europe to retrieve a wayward citizen who has been corrupted by the old world, but in James novel, the protagonist achieves self-awareness, whereas in Highsmiths, Ripley never does. These two paths are the two routes Americans can take in Europe, and this binary would provide a fitting organization for a book on Americans in Europe. This distinction is refined by James Baldwin in his essay A Question of Identity, which separates the Ripley American into three types: the tourist, the fully immersed, and the goldbrick. The tourist is the American in Europe with which we are most familiar; perhaps we have also been this person ourselves: the one who wants to fit in as many activities as possible, who documents everything, who treats the place as a personal playground, but who eventually returns home when the reality of Europe intrudes upon its legend. The fully immersed is the person who learns the language, adopts the customs of the locals, presents a facade of cultivated urbanity, but who loses their identity in the process. The goldbrick is similar to the tourist but stays on longer, perhaps never leaving, and is seemingly a sort of drifter and low-level conman, much like Ripley. These three categories could then become three sections for the half of the book that deals with Americans who do not grow or learn from visiting Europe. Baldwin also provides a clear description for the other half. He writes of a fourth type of American who from the vantage point of Europediscovers his own country. And this is a discovery which not only brings to an end the alienation of the American from himself, but which also makes clear to him, for the first time, the extent of his involvement in the life of Europe. This is the key realization Americans may make in Europe: that we do have a history, that history is in Europe, and that it is necessary to recognize this to begin to understand America and ourselves. A recent film which portrays this is Stillwater, starring Matt Damon. Damon is a roughneck from Oklahoma, a manual laborer who is what people outside of America would imagine as a stereotypical American. When he arrives in France, a new acquaintance asks him if he voted for Trump. Damon travels to Marseille to help exonerate his daughter of murder and bring her home. Its a different twist on the ambassador theme. The film, however, is really about Damons personal journey, and his adaptation to a world that he doesnt understand. He is woefully naive, but he also has an earnestness that is endearing. When he returns to America at the end of the film, he says I dont hardly recognize it, because hes not the person he was when he left. My book then now has an introduction and four possible sections, but the most important part is missing: the novels and films that will populate each section. The Talented Mr. Ripley clearly needs to be discussed, but the Ripley universe has quite a bit to choose from. There are five novels and at least three film versions that Im aware of. Two of the movies which must be addressed are Purple Noon, a 1960 French adaptation of Highsmiths novel, and The American Friend, a 1977 German adaptation of Ripleys Game. These two films could in fact create their own category, which would be European reinterpretations of American visions of Europe. In Purple Noon, French director Rene Clement reverses the novels ending and has Ripley apprehended instead of escaping. Roger Ebert criticized Clement, saying he didnt have Highsmiths iron nerve, but this is not the case; instead, Clement is telling the film from a European perspective rather than an American one: you cant escape your past. The American Friend presents Ripley as goldbrick and dramatizes the drifting and rootless character that Baldwin described. Dennis Hopper, the perfect Ripley, lives in a seemingly abandoned mansion in Hamburg, walks around with a cowboy hat, and records his paranoid thoughts on a tape recorder, then listens to them later. Hes an absolute lunatic, and he represents precisely the figure Baldwin outlines. So far weve mentioned Henry James, Patricia Highsmith, and James Baldwin. Novels from James would likely feature in each section, as he has numerous novels set in Europe. Baldwin, while providing part of our theoretical framework, also has Giovannis Room, set in Paris. Some of the characters from this novel could be used to articulate the different types of Americans he describes in his essay. Other authors who would have to be featured are Hemingway with The Sun Also Rises and Fitzgerald with Tender is the Night. Mark Twain could also be present with Innocents Abroad, perhaps Edith Wharton as well, and maybe Alexis de Tocqueville with Democracy in America to provide more foundation for literary analysis. A recent film that Id like to include is The American, starring George Clooney, and why not include Roman Holiday as well? It might also be necessary to branch out of the framework Ive described here. In addition to the sections Ive described so far, others could be added. There is also the European view of America, as outlined by authors such as Cesare Pavese and Julien Green, an American citizen who was born in Paris and lived most of his life there. We could cross the Mediterranean to North Africa and include Paul Bowles as well. True stories of American misdeeds, which never fail to capture the European imagination, could be included, too. There is Amanda Knox, and more recently, two American teenagers who were found guilty of murdering a carabinieri, a military policeman, in Italy. The thesis Ive outlined could be debated, too. Ive insisted on the connection between Europe and America and on Americans voyage to Europe as a discovery of their past. But what about those who are not the ancestors of Europeans, but the ancestors of Africans? And what about the fact that Ive completely ignored that America already had a history when Europeans arrived, that of the Native Americans? The novels and films Ive discussed, for the most part, dont deal with these facts, and it may be useful to consider why, and to investigate the European-American connection that is so present in 19th and 20th century expatriate literature. Joe Biden has said Hamas must be eliminated but cautioned Israel against occupying Gaza as hundreds of thousands of troops amassed along the border. Biden, speaking to CBS' 60 Minutes, also said he was 'confident' Israel will act under the rules of war in its conflict with Palestine and added deploying US troops is not necessary. He cautioned the threat of terrorism in the United States had increased due to unrest in the Middle East. Biden was asked, point blank, if Hamas needed to be eliminated in the wake of the attack that has already killed 1,400 people. 'Yes, I do,' he said. 'But there needs to be a Palestinian authority. There needs to be a path to a Palestinian state,' while warning Israeli troops not to occupy Gaza. President Joe Biden said in an interview on Sunday night if Hamas needed to be eliminated in the wake of the attack that has already killed 1,400in Israel 'Yes, I do,' Biden said. 'But there needs to be a Palestinian authority. There needs to be a path to a Palestinian state.' Pictured: Weapons seized from Hamas militants Asked if he would support any occupation of Gaza by the American ally, Biden replied: 'I think it'd be a big mistake.' Hamas 'don't represent all the Palestinian people,' he continued. But invading and 'taking out the extremists' is a 'necessary requirement,' he added. The Hamas attack saw fighters shoot, stab and burn to death more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians. Israel's reprisal attacks in the days since have flattened neighborhoods and killed at least 2,670 people in Gaza, the majority ordinary Palestinians. In a statement published Saturday, the IDF said it is preparing to 'expand the offensive' with a 'wide range of offensive operational plans' which it says include a 'joint and coordinated attack from the air, sea and land.' Israel has faced grave warnings about the implications of putting boots on the ground in Gaza, with aid groups warning of a humanitarian disaster, fears of the conflict escalating, and the challenges of separating militants from civilians in the impoverished, densely occupied territory. Israel first occupied Gaza during the 1967 Six-Day War, and it was only fully returned to Palestinians in 2005. A year later, Israel imposed an air, land and sea blockade on the 140-square-mile strip of land, which is also bordered by Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea. In 2007 Israel tightened the blockade after Hamas took control of Gaza from the secular Fatah movement of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. The Hamas attack saw fighters shoot, stab and burn to death more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians. Israel's reprisal attacks in the days since have flattened neighborhoods and killed at least 2,670 people in Gaza, the majority ordinary Palestinians Israel has faced grave warnings about the implications of putting boots on the ground in Gaza, with aid groups warning of a humanitarian disaster, fears of the conflict escalating, and the challenges of separating militants from civilians in the impoverished, densely occupied territory People gather in a neighborhood in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip after it was hit by an Israeli strike on Sunday While Biden called for the elimination of Hamas, he also said Palestinians need a place in the Middle East. 'But there needs to be a Palestinian authority. There needs to be a path to a Palestinian state,' he continued, reiterating the long-standing US call for a two-state solution. Journalist Scott Pelley also asked Biden if he could foresee US troops joining the war. 'I don't think that's necessary,' Biden, who pulled US troops out of Afghanistan and has insisted that none will be sent to aid Ukraine as it holds off a Russian invasion, replied. 'Israel has one of the finest fighting forces in the country. I guarantee we're gonna provide them everything they need,' he said. Israel first occupied Gaza during the 1967 Six-Day War, and it was only fully returned to Palestinians in 2005 A year later, Israel imposed an air, land and sea blockade on the 140 square mile strip of land, which is also bordered by Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea The United States has already deployed two aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean in a powerful show of support for Israel. The 81-year-old Biden - who CBS warned viewers is dealing with a return of his childhood stutter whenever he gets tired - is considering a trip to Israel in the coming days, but nothing has been finalized, a senior administration official said Sunday. A trip would send the strongest message yet that the U.S. is behind Israel following the October 7 attack by Hamas. The administration has already pledged military support, sending U.S. aircraft carriers to the region as well as aid. Officials have said they would ask Congress for upward of $2billion in aid for both Israel and Ukraine. Israeli army spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said on Saturday that Israeli forces are now 'in formation... all around the Gaza Strip, in the south, in the center and the north' as Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu met with troops. Netanyahu's office said in a statement, and an accompanying video showed him telling them: 'You ready for the next stage? The next stage is coming.' Ahead of the expected ground invasion of Gaza, which has seen some 400,000 civilians displaced, he urged onlookers to 'remember how this started - all of this is Hamas made', he said. The IDF yesterday gave some 1.1million civilians just 24 hours to escape to the south of the enclave, a deadline that ended at 3am BST. It then said today that Gazans could flee safely via two main roads between 10am and 4pm local time (8am to 2pm BST). The hurried evacuation came despite warnings from the United Nations, aid groups and allied countries that it would result in devastating humanitarian consequences, with vulnerable groups unable to mobilize. All the areas where Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spends the most of his time were strongly in favour of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament - in stark contrast with most of Australia. The support Mr Albanese felt - and saw - within his own bubble may account for why he was in denial about polls that accurately predicted the country was set to resoundingly vote 'No' to the Voice. Just last week, Mr Albanese rubbished results of a survey produced by UK-based firm Focal Data, which suggested just 22 out of 151 electorates would support the proposal, and that it was on track for a defeat in every state. 'I have seen reports, I'm amazed that they actually get written, that seems to be based on some UK company based upon modelling without talking to anyone,' Mr Albanese said. 'I mean frankly, I've been in politics a long time... the idea that you have individual seat polling, without any figures or any detail of how many people were contacted.' All the electorates where Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spends the most of his time were strongly in favour of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament (pictured) - in stark contrast with most of the nation READ MORE: Pollster explains why Australia voted No Advertisement FocalData's polling suggested the Voice would fail 39 per cent to 61 per cent on a national scale, which was almost spot on based on Saturday's result. The referendum succeeded in 27 electorates - just five more than FocalData prediction of 22. The poll was based on online sampling of 4,500 voters and advanced modelling techniques. Among the Yes voting electorates were the PM's own seat of Grayndler in Sydney's inner west - which had the second highest amount of support in the nation, with 74 per cent of voters (about 65,000 people) casting a Yes vote. The PM also spends plenty of time in Canberra, where he lives at the Lodge and works out of Parliament House. The Australian Capital Territory was the only state or Territory jurisdiction to support the proposal, with all three seats voting Yes. Even Kirribilli House - his official home in Sydney - was firmly in the Yes camp with 59 per cent voting Yes. The overwhelming support within Mr Albanese's bubble may have skewed his perception of how the Voice was being dealt with in communities around the nation. Inner city electorates were the most likely to support the proposal. It was less likely constituents would vote Yes further out into the suburbs of major cities. The PM toured Australia promoting the Voice and attempting to sway public opinion - from Port Lincoln to Hobart, Broken Hill, Shepparton, Parramatta and Merimbula - and never once wavered in his conviction that Australians would rise to the occasion and support the proposal. The overwhelming support within Mr Albanese's bubble may have skewed his perception of how the Voice was being dealt with in communities around the nation Just as Focal Data - and every other poll in the nation - predicted, the Voice to Parliament was defeated in every single state. READ MORE: Voice recriminations begin Advertisement There are seven electorates still too close to call. Five of those are tentatively on track to vote Yes. The data firm's chief data operator, James Kanagasooriam, took to social media platform X after Saturday night's results to address the PM's criticism. 'Our survey was criticised by the Australian PM in which he openly scoffed at the idea of NT areas voting for No, and the concept of seat level forecasts, referring to us as a 'Random U.K. company'. 'Hopefully we will become a little bit less random to the Australian public now,' he said. 'Albanese has traded a centrist, mixed rural/urban coalition for one that more closely resembles the politics of his own seat of Grayndler where voters are disproportionately concerned with Indigenous affairs, racism and the environment vs the rest of Australia that is far more concerned with economics.' A government spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that booths with a high population of Indigenous voters supported the proposal. The PM and Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney conceded defeat on Saturday night, but vowed to continue fighting for First Nations matters 'The Prime Minister heard the call from the Uluru Statement from the Heart and responded. He said he would hold a referendum and he delivered,' a spokesperson said. 'We saw strong support for the Voice in booths where there is a higher population of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and where there was multi-partisan support.' Mr Kanagasooriam admitted prior to the result that the data may have been skewed in wealthy Teal electorates. His data suggested affluent Teal held suburbs would go separate ways on the Voice, with Kylea Tink's North Sydney voting Yes while Monique Ryan's Kooyong and Allegra Spender's Wentworth would narrowly vote No. In Warringah, which includes wealthy suburbs on the lower northern beaches, support for the Voice in the latest poll sat at about 44 per cent, meanwhile it dropped to 37 per cent in the upper northern beaches suburbs of Mackellar. But in a report predicting potential model errors, the firm said: 'We could well be structurally underestimating the Yes vote across Teal seats - qualitative assessment certainly suggests so.' In reality, all the Teal electorates voted in favour of the proposal, with counting still underway in Mackellar but the Yes vote narrowly ahead at 50.1 per cent. Staff will get to work a three-day week for more money at HM Revenue & Customs as the tax office drives to improve 'unacceptable' customer service levels. Staff will be able to work shorter hours in quieter parts of the year in return for longer shifts when the department is busy. The 'annualised hours' scheme will be piloted next year - with the government department hoping extra staff on duty during peak hours will help boost disastrous call waiting times. During the busiest periods hard-pressed civil servants will work 44 hours a week - but this will reduce to just 27 in quieter parts of the year, the Telegraph reported. This equates to just three eight-hour days, or five days where they do less than six hours. Workers will be able to work shorter hours in quieter parts of the year in return for longer shifts when the department is busy Across the year civil servants will work the same hours as before as the hours level out. HMRC is looking for 100 volunteers for the 2024 pilot scheme - for which it is offering a one per cent pay rise. For this, they will have to give up flextime benefits. Alarms were raised over customer service levels at HMRC after it was revealed in September that ten million calls to the taxman go unanswered a year with 80 per cent of all HMRC staff working from home. Over the past year, there were 38 million calls to the tax helpline and ten million of these went unanswered. Nearly two thirds of callers 63 per cent are waiting longer than ten minutes to speak to an adviser, up from 14 per cent in 2018. MPs have said the taxman's customer service had dropped to 'unacceptable' levels, and in January, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee gave HMRC three months to improve. The Mail on Sunday obtained records of daily pass-swipe data in all HMRC buildings with security gates across the UK disclosing how many people on average come into the office each working day. HMRC said 'most colleagues are able to work from home at least two days a week'. Dame Meg Hillier, who chairs the committee, said last month: 'Our committee found at the beginning of this year that taxpayers were still not receiving acceptable levels of customer service, and surprisingly we heard that HMRC at times had simply closed their telephone lines.' 'We're looking for around 100 volunteers to trial working more of their hours at the busiest time of the year,' an HMRC spokeswoman told the Daily Star. 'They will still work the same number of hours over a year but they will do more when it's busy. This will allow us to assess the benefits for both our customers and our colleagues.' No campaigners have called for Senator Jacinta Price to be the next Prime Minister of Australia after the resounding defeat of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament. Jubilant activists credited the senator with playing a key role in the referendum victory as one of the leading figureheads in the No campaign. The shadow minister for Indigenous Australians was front and centre after Liberal Yes-supporter Julian Leeser resigned from the post when Opposition leader Peter Dutton confirmed the Coalition would reject the proposal. Together with Warren Mundine, senator Price undermined claims that all Australian First Nations people overwhelmingly supported the Voice. Their message of 'No to the Voice of division' cut through with voters tired of the endless debate and helped seal Saturday's overwhelming vote against the proposal. Now the hashtag #PriceforPM is trending online in the wake of the result, with one X user posting: 'Thank You for making me feel Australian again. 'A true leader unites not divides.' No campaigners have called for Senator Jacinta Price to be the next Prime Minister of Australia after the resounding defeat of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament The shadow minister for Indigenous Australians was front and centre after Liberal Yes-supporter Julian Leeser resigned from the post when Opposition leader Peter Dutton (pictured) confirmed the Coalition would reject the proposal 'Believe it or not, I agree with every ALP supporter who says this referendum should spell the end of Peter Dutton,' said a No supporter. 'Because we need Jacinta Price to be our next Prime Minister.' 'Senator Nampijinpa Price for PM - what a great leader,' added another. 'She is the hero Australia needs but does not deserve.' One said: 'She is prepared to stand up to AusMedia and the ABC, unlike Dutton and his predecessors down to John Howard.' But despite the support from No activists, the senator would need to overcome two major hurdles before she could make a run at the top job. Under Australia's constitutional convention, only members of the House of Representatives can become Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister. As a senator in the Senate, Ms Price would need to resign, get pre-selected for a federal constituency and then win it to get a seat in the House of Representatives. And although she is a part of the Coalition and the Opposition in Parliament at the moment, she is actually a member of the Country Liberal Party. While they are affiliated - like the National Party, whose party room she sits in at Canberra - she would also need to switch to the main Liberal Party to secure the numbers required to become Prime Minister if the Coalition won the election. The 42-year-old ex-TV presenter previously stood as the Country Liberal candidate for the House of Representative seat of Lingiari in the Northern Territory in 2019. But she lost the vote to sitting Labor MP Warren Snowdon by 55 percent to 45 per cent of the two-party preferred vote. The former deputy mayor of Alice Springs was finally elected to federal Parliament in the 2022 election as one of two senators for the Northern Territory. On Monday, she shrugged off the calls for her to run for PM and told 2GB's Ben Fordham she was taking things 'one step at at time', and focusing on her current role. 'There's a lot of work to be done, particularly in this portfolio,' she said. 'I know that myself and [Liberal South Australian] senator [Kerryn] Liddle want to focus on applying better accountability. 'No longer can we take those ideological steps born out of grievance. It's about common sense and practical approaches moving forward. 'And we're looking forward to that.' The former deputy mayor of Alice Springs was elected to federal Parliament in the 2022 election as one of two senators for the Northern Territory Despite support from No activists, senator Jacinta Price (pictured with Opposition leader Peter Dutton) would need to overcome two major hurdles before she could make a run at the top job She said she would love to become involved in a bipartisan approach to tackling the problems facing Indigenous Australians if she was asked by PM Anthony Albanese. 'I doubt I'd get a get a phone call like that, but absolutely,' she said. 'A bipartisan approach is probably the best way to to move going forward. 'I don't think the Prime Minister should be heading toward Makarrata and treaty and truth-telling him because that was part of a package of the Voice. 'The Australian people said, "No, we don't want that." 'But if they move forward on those measures, they're not going to be moving forward with the support of the Australian people.' A former special forces commando has won his defamation case against the ABC after a Federal Court judge ruled the national broadcaster could not prove articles were reported in the public interest. Heston Russell sued the ABC and two investigative journalists for defamation over stories published in 2020 and 2021 he claims made it look like he was being investigated for shooting an unarmed prisoner. The stories Mr Russell claims defamed him, written and produced by journalists Mark Willacy and Josh Robertson, aired on television, radio and online in October 2020 and more than a year later on November 19, 2021. Throughout a nine-day trial over July and August, the court was told the allegations arose from a US Marine named 'Josh', who contacted Mr Willacy about his time in Afghanistan working with Australian soldiers. In an email to Mr Willacy, 'Josh' said he was not a witness, but heard a 'pop' on the radio he believed was a gunshot. Former special forces commando, Heston Russell (pictured, centre), with his lawyer Rebekah Giles (left) and barrister Sue Chrysanthou, SC (right) before the learning they'd won the case Mr Russell (pictured) claimed that articles aired on television, radio and online in October 2020 implied he was involved in the death of an Afghan prisoner Mr Russell was present for every minute of the trial in Sydney's Federal Court building at Queen's Square, sitting in the back of the court as his legal team described the 'violation' he felt when the articles were published. On Monday, Justice Michael Lee ruled in favour of Mr Russell and found the national broadcaster could not prove the articles were reported in the public interest. He awarded Mr Russell $390,000 in damages. During the trial, Mr Russell's barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC, urged the judge to reject the ABC's public interest defence. 'There is no public interest in being lied to by the ABC about a serious allegation of murder in relation to a group of soldiers who were not afforded the opportunity to even respond,' she told the court. Ms Chrysanthou said there was a 'significant body of evidence' that demonstrated the articles in question were a PR exercise and 'ego protection' for Mr Willacy. She told the court the articles were a 'vindication of his original story'. A Federal court found the articles, produced by ABC journalists Mark Willacy (pictured) and Josh Robertson, could not be proven to be in the public interest and defamed Mr Russell Mr Russell was present for every minute of the trial in Sydney's Federal Court, sitting at the back of the court while his Ms Giles and Ms Chrysanthou, SC, said he felt 'violated' by the articles At trial, Justice Lee said the evidence from ABC witnesses, including journalist Mark Willacy, showed 'a very great sense of defensiveness, of circling the wagons against criticism and the degree of suspicions'. The judge previously ruled 10 defamatory imputations were conveyed by the stories, but it was up to the ABC to prove there was 'public interest' in publishing them. Ms Chrysanthou said the submissions from either side were further apart than 'two ships in the night'. 'There's one ship, let's call that Heston, that is gliding over the seas of legal principle and the ocean of actual evidence that Your Honour heard,' she said. 'Then there's the ABC ship, that is stuck on the rocks of complete self-delusion, hypocrisy and a misstatement of the relevant law.' She told the court a major issue in the case was that the ABC 'don't seem to understand the notion of confession and avoidance', as the broadcaster claims they 'wholly unintentionally' accused Mr Russell of the allegations. While the articles contained a denial from Mr Russell, he claimed the use of his name and photo implied he was involved in the death of an Afghan prisoner (stock image) While the articles contained a denial from Mr Russell, he claimed the use of his name and photo implied he was involved in the death of an Afghan prisoner. Meanwhile Nicholas Owens SC, representing the ABC, argued that public interest reporting shouldn't be 'subject to requirements of corroboration'. 'The applicant, in effect, wishes to hold journalists to higher standards ... because requirements for corroboration really is a pretty small portion of the criminal law now,' Mr Owens argued. 'The suggestion that a journalist needs to corroborate things would be, we say, to hold them to an entirely unrealistic standard.' More to come He was struck twice in the back by bullets and his eye was damaged by glass as the windshield of his car was blown to pieces An American man who was on vacation in Israel is lucky to be alive after he attended the Israeli music festival that was overrun by Hamas terrorists. Liroy Alex, 28, from Chicago, was at the event with friends when armed militants descended from the sky after paragliding over the Israeli border from Gaza. Alex told DailyMail.com how he had not realized what was unfolding and even joked with friends that organizers must have been blowing up fireworks. 'I could hear loud bangs in the area and at first we were joking that they took care of fireworks for us. 'But then they stopped the music to tell us of a rocket attack, which is not unusual for the south of Israel,' Alex, who works as a locksmith in the US, said. But it quickly became clear that the situation was far more serious as gunshots rang out across the festival site and he was forced to run for his life. Liroy Alex, 28, from Chicago, was on vacation at the Supernova music festival in Southern Israel when it was overrun by Hamas terrorists. He was shot twice and glass entered his eye Liroy Alex, right, together with his friend Eliad Shemesh, who is seen on the phone desperately calling the emergency services to come and rescue them as his girlfriend died by his side Alex lay on the ground for cover hiding from hundreds of terrorists who were roaming the area Around 3,000 partygoers were attending the Supernova Festival as the music gave way to massacre - where more than 260 died. Hundreds of people ran for their lives as they dashed across open fields and raced to parked cars in a frantic bid to make a getaway. Alex had been attending the overnight party with two friends; Eliad Shemesh and his girlfriend. Incredibly the trio managed to reach their vehicle and hide inside, but Hamas terrorists were on their tail. 'We got to our car and found our route to be empty, despite hundreds leaving at the same time. 'We noticed in the distance a group of about 20 bikes zig-zagging across the road, holding guns on their shoulder,' Alex said. 'At first we didn't know what it was. The girl who was with us started freaking out but I told her to relax telling her nothing would happen.' Alex managed to take video of himself as he lay on the ground with blood dripping from his face and running along his heavily tattooed arms Alex was hit in the lower back twice and suffered a broken hip. Blood can seen seeping through his T-shirt Festivalgoers raced to leave the scene but did not realize what was happening. Rocket trails can be seen in the sky Alex's face was covered in cuts after the windshield of his car shattered Alex and his friend called for help from the police and ambulance service but were only rescued 13 hours after they escaped the festival All the while, Alex was behind the wheel driving as quickly as possible in an attempt to escape. 'As we slowed down, we saw another biker being hit. That's when I decided to turn around and they [the terrorists] started shooting at our car. That was when another roadblock suddenly appeared. The group's vehicle was hit by gunfire several times, shattering windows, sending pieces of glass into Alex's eyes. 'We had no idea what was going on. As we drove past we were shot at. Everything exploded, the glass went everywhere.' The group's only route of escape was to drive across nearby fields. They came under so much firepower that Alex was shot in his lower back twice while his friend's girlfriend was also hit and suffered a punctured lung. Eventually, the three could go no further, and stopped at what appeared to be a construction site where they decided to try and call emergency services. 'We tried to save the girl. We didn't know who was shooting at us because we didn't understand the whole situation that was going on. 'We just saw two groups and thought it was Arabs living in the desert who decided to make a mess,' Alex said. 'We called police, ambulances, friends - we sent out our location- but it took three hours before we realized nobody was coming.' The trio had no idea that help was far away with Israeli security services overwhelmed by what was occurring at the music festival and at nearby kibbutzes were hundreds were being slaughtered. Alex resides in Chicago but was on vacation in Israel at the time of the attack Alex says it was simply a matter of luck how he managed to escape with his life As Alex and his friends waited in the vehicle, his friend's girlfriend died from her injuries. 'Over the phone, my friends told me that it was a war zone. We could hear bombs and shooting everywhere. Our friends told us to try and find a way to survive this - good luck!' Despite the panic, Alex filmed as confusion and chaos reigned. He recalled how his friend was in such a state of shock he had still been on the phone, requesting an ambulance to come and reach them, despite the fact the woman had died. He recorded himself as he lay on the ground with blood dripping from his face and running along his heavily tattooed arms. Running on adrenaline and by sheer luck, Alex and his friend were eventually found by soldiers, 13 hours after the firing first began. Alex has been in hospital for the past week but is now recuperating with family in Israel Alex, right, pictured along side his friend Eliad Shemesh, left, who also escaped along with him Doctors handed him the bullets that ended up in his hip and back, while telling him he is lucky that he is still able to walk after they hit close to his spine He spent most of the last week recovering in an Israel hospital and has undergone a number of operations for his serious injuries. Doctors handed him the bullets that ended up in his hip and back, while telling him he is lucky that he is still able to walk after they hit close to his spine. He is still also without the sight in his left eye and is unsure if it will ever recover completely. Despite being 5,000 miles from home, Alex has been helped by family members in Israel who are helping to look after him. He hopes to return to his hometown of Chicago, where he works as a locksmith, in the coming weeks. A museum branded 'woke' by critics may have broken the law by paying its former boss 50,000 for 'injured feelings' as part of a 325,000 settlement, a report has found. David Anderson, who previously attracted controversy by saying Britain was not 'Great' and branding the Brexit vote 'collective delusional madness', quit as director general of National Museum Wales (NMW) in March. During his 13-year tenure, the organisation attracted criticism for displaying placards from Black Lives Matter protests and 'censoring' a portrait of a hero of the Battle of Waterloo. But now it has emerged that chiefs at NMW - which runs seven museums across Wales - had reached a 'settlement agreement' after the former school teacher threatened to bring a tribunal claim. David Anderson, who previously attracted controversy by saying Britain was not 'Great' and branding the Brexit vote 'collective delusional madness', quit as director general of National Museum Wales (pictured) in March The deal - worth a total of 325,698 - sees Mr Anderson paid: 225,698 in salary and pension covering November 2021 to September 2024. 50,000 tax-free as 'compensation for injury to his feelings'. Up to 30,000 in expenses. A 20,000 tax-free termination payment for 'loss of office'. However, in a damning report into the arrangement, Welsh Auditor General Adrian Compton says he is 'unable to conclude as to whether National Museum of Wales and its trustees fully complied with the requirements of charity law'. He raised concerns that there was 'no evidence' that NMW 'took advice on the likelihood of success of a claim in the employment tribunal, risks and likely value of the claim'. As a result, Mr Compton concluded that he was 'unable to satisfy myself' that the trustees had 'discharged their legal responsibility to make sound and informed decisions in the best interests of National Museum of Wales'. No details of the nature of the dispute which preceded Mr Anderson's departure have been revealed, although last year there were claims of a rift with trustees over whether the museums should become more 'commercial'. READ MORE: A totally different kind of train cancellation! Woke storm brews over steam locomotive exhibit at museum due to links between power and slave trade Advertisement National Museum Wales - a registered charity which was last year paid 28million by the Welsh Government - runs institutions including the National Museum in Cardiff, the National Slate Museum and the National Wool Museum. In 2018, Mr Anderson was slammed after saying the tourism industry should 'cease to peddle falsehoods of British 'greatness'', saying the idea that 'Britain is Great' had 'contributed to the collective delusional madness that is Brexit'. Last year Nigel Farage criticised NMW for an 'inappropriate' display of placards from Black Lives Matters protests. And the removal of a portrait of Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton - the highest-ranking British casualty at the Battle of Waterloo but a slave owner renowned for his cruelty while governor of Trinidad - led BBC newsreader Huw Edwards to say he was 'uneasy' at the 'censoring' of history. The painting later went on display alongside works by artists with Trinidadian roots in an exhibition entitled 'Reframing Picton'. In its latest annual report, NMW said its objectives continued to include 'contributing to conversations about decolonization, inequality and racism'. The body has not commented on the nature of the 'injury' to the 'feelings' of Mr Anderson. He has taken a new two-day-a-week role as 'emeritus fellow' of NMW combined with that of visiting professor at Cardiff University. And the removal of a portrait of Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton (pictured) - the highest-ranking British casualty at the Battle of Waterloo but a slave owner renowned for his cruelty while governor of Trinidad - led BBC newsreader Huw Edwards to say he was 'uneasy' at the 'censoring' of history But NMW told Wales Online that trustees had 'always acted under legal guidance' and 'considered all available options' in the body's 'best interests'. It added that it had been 'a difficult period for the museum, and there have been learnings that will enable us to modernise and strengthen governance arrangements'. And it stressed that the Auditor General's report had given it 'a financial clean bill of health'. But Conor Holohan, media campaign manager of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'Hard-pressed Welsh taxpayers will be shocked that they are funding massive pay-outs to a moaning museum boss.' The Welsh Government said it was 'aware' of the concerns but that it would 'not be appropriate' to comment on issues at an 'arm's length body'. Last night National Museum of Wales told the Daily Mail the issues highlighted by the auditor had arisen during a 'challenging time' for the organisation. A spokesman said he was unable to comment on matters involving current or former members of staff because of the 'confidential nature of related legal agreements in place'. But he said the term 'injury to feelings' related to 'standard headings used in both settlement of internal disputes and tribunal claims'. And he insisted NMW had 'not broken any laws in relation to financial regulations set out by the Charity Commission'. In response, Welsh Conservative Shadow Culture Minister Tom Giffard said: Welsh taxpayers will be rightly furious at the colossal settlement provided to Mr Anderson and the seemingly ridiculous reasoning behind it. Many may have had their feelings hurt by his previous comments talking Britain and Brexiteers down, but are yet to receive their 50,000 in compensation. I would urge the Labour Government to look into this bizarre situation to ensure that due process was followed and if not, make sure that these funds are recuperated. Wild footage has emerged of a bride's big day being delayed due to thousands of pro-Palestine protestors blocking the street in front of the reception. The footage, taken from outside Melbourne's Town Hall, shows hundreds of protestors marching as the bride and her bridesmaids attempted to cross Swanston Street to reach the venue on Sunday. The man who posted the video revealed the bride was forced to walk the rest of the way to the ceremony after her car had become stuck in traffic due to the protests. Around 10,000 protesters gathered on Melbourne's streets to march from the State Library to the Victorian State Parliament. Many of the protesters were seen carrying provocative signs and props, the most confronting was a life-like doll of a child smeared in red and covered with band-aids. A similar protest in Sydney attracted around 6,000 demonstrators who were met by a massive police presence of about 1,000 officers. Footage from the interrupted wedding showed a man wearing a tux waiting on the balcony of the venue while the bride slowly crossed the road. Protestors politely moved out of her way with demonstrators clapping and cheering as the bridal party slowly made their way through the crowd. Other protestors could be seen marching on past the group with signs reading 'from the land to the sea, Palestine will be free'. The footage was posted to TikTok, where it's attracted more than 30,000 likes and hundreds of comments. One commenter wrote that they would 'feel like I was doing the walk of shame'. 'Love how all the women in (the) protest immediately stop and move,' another user wrote. A third added: 'This is beautiful.' The light-hearted video was a departure from the more sombre and chaotic scenes that unfolded during the protest. While the pro-Palestine protest was mostly civil, one man was caught on footage shouting 'death to every Israeli' in front of young children - as bystanders appeared to laugh along with him. The man, who was wearing a black bandana intertwined with a keffiyeh - a traditional Arabic headdress - was heard chanting 'f*** the river, f*** the sea, death to every Israeli'. His outburst was a sick twist on the mantra that was being chanted by his fellow demonstrators as they shouted: 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free'. Footage showed the man erupt into the shocking chant in front of children while some protestors appeared to laugh alongside him. A bride has been delayed from her big day after thousands of pro-Palestine protestors blocked off the street in front of the reception in Melbourne on Sunday (pictured) An man can be seen on the balcony of Melbourne Town Hall with an intense look on his face as the bride makes her way through the crowd (pictured) Two men, also wearing keffiyehs, were seen walking over to give the man a high-five as they laughed together. In his excitement, the man steps backwards and almost knocks over a small child - one of many in the area at the time. While Sunday's protest in Sydney was largely peaceful, Daily Mail Australia revealed that one man was filmed on the fringes of the rally shouting 'Get the f****** Jews wiped out'. When a concerned onlooker stepped in to say 'that language is not acceptable', the man replied: 'I don't care as a Muslim'. The Australian Jewish Association claimed it had received a 'large volume of anti-Semitic content' from Sunday's pro-Palestine rally in Melbourne, which started at the State Library before marching to the Victorian State Parliament. 'The anti-Jewish hate we saw on the streets of Melbourne today should make every decent Victorian ashamed and worried,' the association said. The world has reacted to the Voice referendum defeat The world's media has reacted to news the Voice referendum was defeated in Australia, with many networks critical of the campaign. Australia resoundingly voted No to the proposed change to the constitution, with every state rejecting the proposal and only the ACT voting Yes. The federal cabinet will convene to find news way to address Indigenous disadvantage this week. Publications throughout the UK dubbed the Voice referendum 'Australia's Brexit' due to the fact the 'Yes' vote largely came from wealthy electorates, which was similar to what happened with the vote for UK's withdrawal from the European Union. The majority of 'Remain' voters were also from wealthy parts of Britain. The world has reacted to the news that the Voice to Parliament referendum was defeated (pictured, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese) The BBC reported that Australia had overwhelmingly rejected giving Indigenous people 'greater political rights' following 'a fraught and often acrid campaign'. Britain's public broadcaster noted that the No campaign had been 'accused of running a campaign based on misinformation about the effects of the plan'. Business newspaper the Financial Times described the referendum campaign as 'contentious'. In the piece, the author said that the 'failure of the high-profile referendum' represented a setback in Australia's 'attempts to deal with its past and present treatment of its native people'. The Times wrote that the result was a 'huge blow' for those who saw the Voice as a way to close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. It then outlined the significant disadvantage First Nations people face in terms of incarceration and life expectancy. The New Zealand Herald said the result of the referendum would setback Australia's relationship with the Pacific. The BBC reported that Australia had overwhelmingly rejected to give Indigenous people 'greater political rights' following 'a fraught and often acrid campaign' The New Zealand Herald said the result of the referendum would setback for Australia's relationship with the Pacific In Singapore, The Straits Times claimed the referendum result may damage Australia's international reputation. The English language paper in the authoritarian state said it was 'a personal, though not necessarily political, blow for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese'. For US-based publications, the Left-leaning CNN noted that Aussies had 'struck down' a referendum that, according to experts, would 'inflict lasting damage on First Nations people and suspend any hopes of modernizing the nation's founding document'. The New York Times, also considered a Left leaning publication in the U.S., was more scathing of the final result in a piece titled 'Crushing Indigenous hopes, Australia rejects Voice referendum'. Journalist Yan Zhuang wrote in the sub-heading that the proposed Voice was 'widely supported by Indigenous voters, but had raised fears and hopes that were both overblown'. She wrote that First Nations people saw the Voice 'as a sign of Australia taking a step to do right by them after centuries of abuse and neglect'. The article also noted that the referendum had 'given rise to unrealistic fears like of homeowners being forced to return their land to Indigenous people that galvanised opposition to the Voice'. The New York Times has previously likened the No campaign's weaponisation of fake news and conspiracy theories to 'Trump-style misinformation'. Many publications touched on the rights of First Nations people, misinformation spread throughout the referendum and Australia's history with referendums Multiple global outlets reflected on the misinformation that was spread by the Voice No campaign (pictured, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton with Shadow minister for Indigenous Australians Jacinta Nampijinpa Price) French newspaper Le Monde published an article on the referendum that was titled, 'In Australia, Aboriginal rights receive a 'no' vote in a referendum'. The paper reported that Australia had 'clearly rejected' a 'reform of Aboriginal rights' before delving into the specifics of the results. The author of the piece wrote that the referendum had followed 'an acrimonious campaign which deepened racial divisions in the country'. German public, state-owned international broadcaster, Deutsche Welle, wrote a piece that deemed the result a 'major setback to the countrys efforts for reconciliation with its First Peoples'. Left-wing Italian newspaper, La Repubblica, wrote that the Voice referendum had been struck down by a campaign that scared Australians with 'disgusting lies'. The Irish Times reported in a piece on the referendum that Mr Albanese and his ministers had become the 'prominent faces of the Yes movement'. 'It weathered accusations that it championed the voice push while failing to deliver tangible improvements for citizens facing cost of living pressures and a housing crisis hurt the yes side,' the article said. Mr Albanese and Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Burney addressed the nation at Parliament House after the referendum was called. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Burney addressed the nation at Parliament House after the referendum was called The Prime Minister acknowledged that while it wasn't the result he had hoped for, he respects the overwhelming decision of the Australian people. 'When we reflect on everything happening in the world today, we can all give thanks that here in Australia we make the big decisions peacefully and as equals, with one vote, one value,' he said. 'I never imagined or indeed said that it would be easy. Very few things in public life worth doing are.' Mr Albanese vowed his government would continue to fight to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians by working to 'close the gap' and advance reconciliation. The federal cabinet will convene this week to discuss alternate ways to address the significant disadvantages First Nations people face. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders have called for a week of silence and mourning following the result of the weekend's referendum. Leaders said in a statement that 'much will be asked about the role of racism and prejudice against Indigenous people in this result'. Following a period of mourning, the government and Indigenous leaders will set up a new dialogue about reconciliation and closing the gap. Anthony Albanese has failed to directly answer whether he will push forward with a Makarrata Commission after the country issued a resounding No vote to the Voice to Parliament at the weekend. Such a commission - which would supervise a treaty-making and truth-telling process - was a key request in the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which the Prime Minister vowed to implement in full. Daily Mail Australia can reveal more than $540,000 has already been spent on setting up such a commission, which is named after an Indigenous Yolgnu word meaning 'coming together after a struggle'. Senior Opposition figures Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Sussan Ley are calling on the government to explain what is happening with the proposal, which it had set $27.7million aside for in the Federal Budget. Some $1.7million has been allocated to the National Indigenous Australians Agency since Labor was elected. However, work toward the commission was paused during the referendum campaign as Labor faced sustained heat to explain the link between the Voice and treaty. A spokesperson for the agency confirmed that the Commission is 'yet to be established', however, some '$546,920 was spent on NIAA resourcing to prepare for the independent Makarrata Commission'. The 'culmination of the agenda' from the Uluru Statement from the Heart is a 'Makarrata Commission' which would seek a treaty between the government and First Nations communities Every state in Australia returned a No result on Saturday night, with Queensland seeing the strongest rejection of the Voice in any state or territory. The darker the red, the bigger the No vote. Blue represents seats that voted Yes READ MORE: Calls for Jacinta Price to become Australia's next Prime Minister Advertisement Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who led the No campaign to victory on Saturday night, told Daily Mail Australia 'the resounding result of the referendum should force this Government to rethink its approach to matters related to Indigenous Australians'. 'The country needs to move forward and should focus on seeking out practical ways to help our most marginalised Australians.' Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley also told Daily Mail Australia it's time for the government to come clean. 'Linda Burney needs to front up and explain what is going on with her Makarrata Commission, she repeatedly refused to do so during the referendum,' Ms Ley said. 'Anthony Albanese allocated millions of dollars to the Makarrata Commission, which is under the responsibility of Linda Burney as minister, and we uncovered hundreds of thousands of dollars has been spent on it, so what is it doing?' The Prime Minister was asked about his commitment to Makarrata in Question Time on Monday, but was unable to give a firm answer about his position. 'The Voice was with constitutional recognition. Makarrata is simply a Yolgnu word for coming together after a struggle,' he said. 'What I am committed to post referendum is respecting what Indigenous people have said. Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price (right), who led the No campaign to victory on Saturday night, told Daily Mail Australia 'the resounding result of the referendum should force this Government to rethink its approach to matters related to Indigenous Australians' The PM and Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney conceded defeat for the referendum on Saturday night, but remained committed to improving the lives of First Nations people Australians overwhelmingly voted down the proposal 39 per cent to 61 per cent 'And what they are saying is that they are undertaking a week, which is reasonable, for them to deal with [what is] a difficult time for them.' The PM was referring to a week of silence and mourning which many Indigenous leaders committed to after the referendum defeat on Saturday night. On Sunday morning, deputy PM Richard Marles said the government remains committed to the Uluru Statement from the Heart - which includes a Makarrata Commission. Government insiders said departments are waiting on the all clear from the PM and Minister Burney's office about whether to proceed with the commission. The Makarrata Commission's role is to seek a treaty between the federal Government and the First Nations community. This Makarrata Commission has the 'authority to facilitate the process of treaty-making and truth telling' between the two groups, according to the Uluru Statement from the Heart. READ MORE: Albanese and Burney's commitment to treaty Advertisement Mr Albanese outlined the responsibilities of such a future commission in a statement on November 15, 2021 After winning the May 2022 federal election, he declared the new Labor government would adopt the Uluru Statement of the Heart 'in full'. Mr Albanese said at the time: 'As called for in the Uluru Statement, the Makarrata Commission will have responsibilities for overseeing processes for Treaty-Making and Truth-Telling. 'The Makarrata Commission will be independent... and will work with a Voice to Parliament when it is established.' Responsibilities of the commission would 'initially' include consulting with First Nations communities, recommending a 'framework for federal treaty-making' and, crucially, delivering a report within the first term of a Labor government. By that schedule, the commission will have had to be established and had enough time to consult the community and deliberate by 2025, when the next election is due. Mr Albanese said $26.5million would be allocated to the commission in the first two years to 'support truth-telling projects', and he hoped state, territory and local governments would match that funding. This is in addition to the $364.6million set aside in the latest budget for delivering the Voice - which failed at the referendum held on Saturday. Yes volunteers were devastated by the resounding No vote on Saturday night Australians overwhelmingly voted down the proposal 39 per cent to 61 per cent. All six states, as well as the Northern Territory, rejected the proposal. The Australian Capital Territory was the only jurisdiction in favour of it. The Uluru Statement from the Heart was delivered in May 2017, after two years of deliberative 'dialogues' with Indigenous communities throughout the nation. The Uluru Statement describes Makarrata as 'the culmination of our agenda: the coming together after a struggle. 'It captures our aspirations for a fair and truthful relationship with the people of Australia and a better future for our children based on justice and self-determination. 'We seek a Makarrata Commission to supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations and truth-telling about our history.' Roundup: Israeli army says preparing strike on Gaza from "air, sea and land" Xinhua) 10:08, October 16, 2023 JERUSALEM, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday toured southern Israel, where the surprise Hamas attack took place a week ago, encouraging troops to get "prepared for what is coming," according to his office. The spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Daniel Hagari also said the forces are preparing to expand the attack, suggesting a ground operation on the Gaza Strip. A statement released by the military said "The IDF forces are currently preparing to implement a wide range of operational offensive plans, which can include combined and coordinated attack from the air, sea and land." Rocket fire from the Gaza Strip into Israel continued on Saturday, with tens of rockets being intercepted by Israeli air-defense systems, while the IDF continued to pound Gaza with airstrikes and issued a second warning to Gaza residents, urging them to evacuate to the southern part of the coastal enclave. The army allowed safe passage on two major routes in the Gaza Strip for several hours and resumed massive airstrikes afterward. Israel's mass evacuation order was met with rejection from several countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Turkiye, as well as regional and international organizations, including the Arab League, United Nations and the WHO. According to the IDF, its aircraft targeted and killed Ali Qadi, a commander of the Hamas commando force believed to be behind the surprise attack on southern Israel exactly a week ago. Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi admitted in a press conference that Israel made a mistake in not foreseeing the attack. He also warned that Hamas will "no longer be the sovereign, or in control" of the Gaza Strip after Israel's military operation. About 150 to 200 hostages are believed to be held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Hanegbi said, confirming no active negotiation efforts are underway with Hamas. In northern Israel, the IDF and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah have been exchanging missiles and artillery shellings since Sunday, raising fears of a second front in the war. The Israel-Hamas conflict, as it entered the eighth day, has pushed the Palestinian death toll to 2,215, with 8,714 injuries, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Meanwhile, the Israeli fatalities since Oct. 7 had reached 1,300, while nearly 3,400 were injured, Israeli media reported on Friday, citing official sources. (Web editor: Liang Jun) by Jochen Szangolies Whenever I use words like reality, truth, or existence, I feel an almost irresistible urge to mark my vague sense of unease by liberal application of scare quotes. After all, what could such words even mean? They seem to denote concepts too vast and simultaneously slippery to be pinned down by a simple denotative term. Like trying to point at everything all at once, such terms seem to cast so wide a net that they fail to single out any one thing in particular. There is, I think, a good reason for this unease, and modern science is beginning to reveal the contours of itand with that, some of its own limitations. In the previous column, I have argued that the typical starting point for science, conventionally understood, is the existence of an independent world that we can approximate ever more closely in our knowledge of it. There is a subject-object distinction baked into it that delineates this process neatly into questions of epistemology, of what we can know and how we can know it, and ontology, of what there is. According to this story, a subject with the right epistemological tools can uncover the objective ontology of the world through patient and painstaking labor, perhaps never fully getting there, but coming arbitrarily close. Such, at least, seems to be the hope. That prior column ended with a discussion of the Kochen-Specker theorem, a famous result in the foundations of quantum mechanics that essentially entails that, when it comes to the (allegedly) microscopic realm subject to the laws of quantum physics, the above clear delineation is not possible in general. What we find must, to some extent, depend on how we lookthe ontological inventory of the world is not independent from the epistemic process of interrogating it. Values of observable quantities, if they exist at all, must be contextual, that is, depend on what other values are queried simultaneously. For the macroscopic world, this strikes us as an absurdity: the color of a ball, say, should not depend on whether it is simultaneously measured together with its size, or its weight! And in our everyday experience, where in principle all quantities can be observed simultaneously, no such effects occur. So perhaps this is just the quantum world being, you know, weird? Maybe for all practical purposes, we can still rely on the world being a solid bedrock of facts awaiting our discovery, like pill bugs hiding under so many rocks to be turned over? In this column, I want to take a look at another quantum quandary, the Frauchiger-Renner paradox, named after its originators, ETH Zurich physicists Daniela Frauchiger and Renato Renner. Unlike the Kochen-Specker theorem, the observerthe scientist carrying out measurements and obtaining a given resultis an integral part of the setup. Indeed, according to Frauchiger and Renners original conclusion, their result intimates that quantum theory fails to consistently describe the use of quantum theory to describe the observer and their observations! Although, as we will see, there are other possible resolutions. But first, we need to avail ourselves of some basic notions of quantum mechanics, to get a little warmed up before tackling the argument head-on. Quantum Preliminaries (And Preconceptions) There is much philosophical discussion regarding what the quantum state of a physical system actually is: does it describe physical reality (theres that word again!), or does it merely give some account of our knowledge, or is it something else entirely? Luckily, for us, that particular discussion wont matter too much, so well simply think about the quantum state as giving us a list of results we might see in a given experiment (together with the probabilities for those results, but even that wont matter too much). Moreover, we can concentrate on just a set of two measurements, which well call the vertical () and the horizontal () measurement, with the possible outcomes {,} and {,}, respectively. (The quantum literate will recognize this as a simplified version of the phenomenon of quantum spin, as demonstrated in the classic experiment of Stern and Gerlach.) Then, a quantum state, for us, will be just a list of possible outcomes, either for the - or for the -measurement. For instance, the list [,] just denotes a quantum system where, upon making the -measurement, we might observe either the or -outcome, while the list [] tells us that upon making the -measurement, well definitely observe the outcome . So far, there is nothing quantum about any of this, at all. We have a system with two ways to interrogate ittwo buttons to push, sayand a list of possible answers the system can give upon either button being pushed. Now, the weirdness of the quantum world enters with the following claim: whenever a system is such that it always gives a single result for one of the two measurements, it cant also give always the same result for the other. That is, a system in the state [] must, with respect to the -measurement, be in the state [,], and cant be in, e.g., the state []. In other words, with sufficiently many such systems, while we will obtain the result every time we perform the -measurement, upon measuring , we will get either of or without any possibility to predict which. This is nothing but Heisenbergs famous uncertainty relation, adapted for our toy example. The above readily generalizes to composite systems. For instance, a system in the state [,] will, if we perform an -measurement on its components, always yield the same answer for eachalthough we cant predict which one. A system in the state [] always yields the outcome for its first component, and the outcome for the second. With this mechanism, we can tackle our first warm-up case for working our way up to the FR-argument: the so-called Hardy paradox, named after British-Canadian theoretical physicist Lucien Hardy. Hardys Paradox: Nonlocality Without Inequalities In a previous column, I have tried to give a basic intuition for the phenomenon of quantum nonlocality by means of the violation of so-called Bell inequalities. For all theories in which observable quantities have definite values that cant influence one another instantaneously across arbitrary distances, it turns out one can derive bounds on the strength of possible correlations between observations. The violation of these bounds, then, indicates that quantum mechanics doesnt fall into this class of theories. Hardys paradox is a way to arrive at a similar conclusion, using only reasoning about what quantum states allow us to conclude about possible observations. To this end, we start with a system composed of two elementary subsystems (a bipartite system) in the state [,,]. That is, whenever we perform the -measurement on both parts of the system, we can see either of the outcome pairs , , or . Note that this means that the outcome of the measurement on one subsystem carries some information about the outcome on the other: if the first comes up , the second must come up , for example, as there is no -component. Using the rules of quantum mechanics, we can rewrite this state in terms of the -measurement, which yields [,,,]all possibilities (in particular, the possibility ) are open. This, we will now see, seems to lead to a contradiction. Consider what happens if we perform the -measurement on one, and the -measurement on the other component. Again, using the rules of quantum mechanics, we can compute the state to be [,,]. In particular, this tells us that obtaining the -outcome on the first component means we must obtain the -outcome on the second. Now consider what happens if we switch the measurements around, measuring on the first, and on the second. The state then is [,,]. Hence, obtaining for the first means we must obtain for the second. This now allows us to arrive at a contradiction. First, we know that on the first implies on the second. But from the form of the state for the -measurement on all components, [,,], we can conclude that on the second means on the first. Finally, on the first and [,,] means on the second. Daisy-chaining the above reasoning together, on the first implies on the second. But from the state in terms of the -measurement on all of the components, [,,,], we know that the -outcome must be possible: yielding the promised contradiction. (Why is this considered a nonlocality-argument? In Hardys original setup, the measurements were realized by particlesan electron and its antiparticle, the positrontraveling through different paths in an interferometer. Where the particles are detected carries information about which path they have taken; in particular, a detection equivalent to our -outcome indicates both taking the same path. But a particle and an antiparticle taking the same path should annihilate one another, leading to the conclusion that the -outcome should be absent. Hence, they must interact somehow without their paths meetingnonlocally, in other words.) Now lets take a look at the second ingredient to Frauchiger and Renners ingenious argument. Wigners Paradox: Bring A Friend! Erwin Schrodinger, father of the wave-function formulation of quantum mechanics, was greatly vexed by the implications of extending quantum mechanics to macroscopic objects, dreaming up the notorious case of a cat being both dead and alive as a way to voice his discomfort. Hungarian-American physicist Eugene Wigner took things a step further: rather than putting a cat in the box, he imagined an entire laboratory, complete with an experimenter, sufficiently isolated from the environment such as to make a probe of its internal state from the outside impossible. Together with the experimenterthe eponymous frienda single quantum system in the state [,] was present. Now, a tenet of quantum mechanics is that after an experiment has yielded an outcome, that outcome will be observed again upon repeating that experiment. Meaning that performing the -measurement on a [,]-system and obtaining , say, repeating the measurement must again yield the outcome . Therefore, after the measurement, the system cant be in the state [,] anymore, and must instead be in the state []. This is the origin of the famous collapse of the quantum state upon measurement: somehow, the state must make a transition from [,] to [] (or []) when the -measurement is performed. Wigner now asked himself how quantum mechanics ought to describe the process of measurement itself, i.e. of an experimenter performing an experiment in such a way as to be subject to the usual rules of quantum mechanics (essentially, isolated from the environment sufficiently well to prevent decoherence). This involves modeling the experimenter themself using quantum mechanics. For our purposes, it will be enough to consider an experimenter with two possible states (for each measurement): [] or [] for having observed or having observed , respectively (and analogously [] and []). Paradoxically, it seems that there are two answers: if the observation collapses the state, then after making their measurement, the combined system consisting of the friend and the system they measure should be either described as [] or [], the object-system in a definite state, and the experimenter having definite knowledge of that state. But, modeling both as quantum systems, this is not what happensrather, as with the dead-and-alive cat, we obtain a combined system in the state [,]where neither the experimenter nor the object can be assigned any definite state. Wigner thought this strange enough to postulate an absolute boundary for the quantum description at the experimenters conscious experienceit is this, he claimed, that causes the collapse (hence, the Consciousness Causes Collapse, CCC, interpretation). The quantum buck stops where the experimenter takes conscious account of a measurement result. But this in itself causes complications. After all, in a physical world, an experimenter, even a conscious one, is just some configuration of particleswhat should be special about that particular pattern? (More recently, an answer to this has been proposed, using tools from integrated information theoryessentially, postulating that the amount of integrated information, a measure for consciousness, that a state contains dictates its likelihood to spontaneously collapse.) However, it makes the questionin principle, at leastamenable to experiment: whether the laboratory is in a state like [] or [, ] can be revealed using a (fiendishly difficult, and in practice probably impossible) measurement on the combined system. A state like [, ] can lead to interference effects, while a state like [] cantit is analogous to checking which path a photon takes in the classic double slit-experiment. While the friend can carry out either the or the -measurement, Wigner can thus perform experiments on the whole setup that essentially check whether the friend has observed a given outcomewhich we will call the respectively -measurement, with outcomes {, } and {, }, respectively. (Note that we abbreviate, e.g., by , and use it to indicate the friend has observed and the system is in state [], because these always go together.) We are now ready to combine the above ingredients into one big quantum pie. Frauchiger-Renner: Applying Quantum Theory To Itself Frauchiger and Renners setup has been described as a Wigners friendification of Hardys paradox. And this is exactly how we will approach it. We start, again, with a quantum system in the state [,,], and two friends carrying out -measurements on both parts. Then we add the following twist: on each of the two (sufficiently isolated) laboratories, two Wigners will carry out -measurements, that is, measurements checking whether the friends have obtained the - or -outcome. If a friend has measured , and obtained, say, , then with respect to the -measurement, they will be in an indefinite statejust as a quantum system in the []-state is with respect to the -measurement. In fact, performing the -measurement yields the same outcome possibilities as performing the -measurement, with the crucial distinction that while you cant simultaneously perform - and -measurements (because Heisenberg forbids it), you can perform a -measurement! That means the measurements we had to perform virtually (or counterfactually) in the Hardy setup now can actually be implemented. As before, then, we can write down the state for the -measurement as [ , , , ]. Note that the presence of the -outcome means that both friends could measure their part of the system and obtain the -outcome. But now we reason as before. The state being [, , ] means that if the first Wigner obtains , it implies that the second friend must obtain for their -measurement. But from the form of the state for the -measurement on all components, [,,], we can conclude that for the second friend means for the first. Finally, for the first friend and the state being [ , , ] means that the second Wigner must obtain the outcome . Daisy-chaining the above reasoning together, the first Wigner obtaining implies the second Wigner obtaining . But from the state in terms of the -measurement on all of the components, [ , , , ], we know that the -outcome must be possible: yielding again a contradiction. Consequently, it seems that if the first Wigner obtains the -result, they can infer that the second Wigner must obtain the result . But the result is evidently possible, too. What gives? Frauchiger and Renner, as already noted, take their result to imply that quantum theory, when applied to observers themselves applying quantum theory, yields inconsistent results (so I guess, dont do that). But this is not the only possible conclusion that can be drawn from this. The fact that the above measurements can be actually carried out invites us to think of their results as facts in the world, i.e. that, for example, the first friend obtaining entails this to be a universal truth, and allows them to conclude that the second friend must find . That is, the result is paradoxical only as long as we assume the picture of the world as a bedrock of objective facts, where our only role is that of the distant observer. By now, I hope this strikes you as questionable, at least. From this point of view, what the Frauchiger-Renner Gedankenexperiment really tells us is the impossibility of observer-independent facts, or the impossibility of a fully objective world independent of any subject within. There is not only a single story that can be told about the world; rather, there exists an inevitable patchwork of stories that cant be unified into a single, coherent whole. As in Kurosawas classic Rashomon, truth is not a monolithic entity, but instead a multifaceted concept reflecting, to some extent, always the faces of those trying to peer into it. Perhaps, then, terms like reality indeed do not pick out any singular concept, but instead, serve just as a placeholder for a far richer tapestry of stories weaving around each other without ever quite fully joining together. And perhaps, rather than just being a passive, detached observer, each of us is responsible for spinning our own yarn. A student dentist has revealed she bungled her own vote for the Voice referendum after accidentally sending her postal vote back to herself. Ellie Felmingham, from the Gold Coast, explained that she needed to post her vote for the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum as she wasn't able to do it in person. Those submitting postal votes had to make sure the return address to the Australian Electoral Commission could be seen from the clear window on the front of the envelope. But Ms Felmingham accidentally posted the letter back to front, meaning her address was the only one visible. 'I sent my thing and it got sent back to me, and I couldn't figure out why it was sent back to me. Part of me was like, did I just accidentally put this in my own mailbox instead of sending it away? But I knew I put it in the postal box,' she said in a video shared on social media. It wasn't until Ms Felmingham had her postal vote returned to her that she realised her mistake. Ellie Felmingham, from the Gold Coast, explained that she needed to post her vote for the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum as she wasn't able to do it in person 'I posted it to myself instead of the government. Now, I'm going to cop a fine for not voting,' she said. Many fellow TikTokkers reassured her she still had time to resubmit her vote, despite the referendum having already failed. The AEC states it needs to have received the vote by the 13th day after the referendum, meaning Ms Felmingham has until October 27 to sort her vote out. She will need to prove she had signed the declaration on the postal vote before 6pm last Saturday. Alternatively she faces a $20 fine. It comes after the referendum was unsuccessful, with every state and territory voting No except the ACT. A disappointed Anthony Albanese on Saturday night pointed out no referendum in Australia had won without bi-partisan support, with Opposition leader Peter Dutton firmly against the Voice. Australians seeking to flee Israel have been warned there may only be one more chance to escape the conflict zone. Foreign Minister Penny Wong reported on Monday that Australians have been flown to Dubai on two RAAF flights and a privately contracted service. About 1200 Australians had so far received help to leave Israel, she added. There were 255 people on three Sunday flights, with the majority of those Australians, some accompanied by non-citizen family members. Australian officials at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport. A final repatriation flight is being planned Senator Wong said officials were trying to arrange another flight on Monday to bring Australians home and urged people to leave if they wanted to. '(This) may be our last opportunity to conduct an assisted departure flight for the foreseeable future,' she told the Senate on Monday. 'We can't know how the security situation will unfold.' The chartered and defence planes left on Sunday after scheduled repatriation flights were cancelled the previous day. But seats on the plane remained empty despite all being allocated. The foreign affairs department continues to assist more than 1000 registered Australians and handle 39 consular cases. Not all those registered want to leave and some have just put their names down for information, Senator Wong said. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said: '(This) may be our last opportunity to conduct an assisted departure flight for the foreseeable future' Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said it was legal for Australians to go to a foreign country and fight with that nation's armed forces but it was unlawful to fight for a terrorist organisation such as Hamas. 'What is happening in the Middle East now is not a war between two nation states,' she told the ABC's RN. READ MORE: Australia suddenly CANCELS urgent evacuation flights out of Israel for Australian citizens Advertisement 'It is a war between a nation state and a terrorist organisation, a terrorist organisation that has just in the most inhuman way murdered innocent men, women and children.' Defence Minister Richard Marles backed the call for people to leave when they can, warning 'it could all change at a moment's notice'. This includes if Israel closes its airspace as it prepares for ground invasion. The government is working with commercial carriers to help Australians get home from Dubai after leaving Israel. Senator Wong is also trying to secure safe passage of citizens out of occupied Palestinian territories. A proposed window to allow for approved foreign nationals to leave didn't eventuate. Senator Wong said she was in discussions with Egypt and Israel to establish a safe humanitarian corridor. The foreign minister called on humanitarian law to be protected as she reaffirmed Australia's support for Israel to defend itself after the attack. Mr Marles said he would not cast judgment about how Israel retaliated with Tel Aviv's blockade of food, water and fuel to Gaza condemned as collective punishment against innocents by international humanitarian groups. While it was important Israel acted within the rules of war, he believed they were doing so. Pro-Palestine protests continued across the weekend calling for an end to Israeli occupation of Gaza. Senator Wong said Australians had a right to protest peacefully but condemned hate speech in any form. 'Vile anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, which is its bedfellow, undermines some of our greatest strengths, our diversity, our tolerance, our values.' It is unclear just how many stores will close, or any possible locations Rite Aid was unable to settle hundreds of lawsuits that accused them of oversupplying opioids Pharmacy giant Rite Aid has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy - leaving an uncertain fate for its 2,100 stores. It comes after the firm was unable to settle hundreds of lawsuits that accused them of oversupplying prescription painkillers in the midst of the US opioid crisis. Rite Aid listed estimated assets and liabilities ranging from $1billion to $10billion, according to a court filing with the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. It is unclear just how many Rite Aid stores are expected to close, or the locations, as the company currently operates more than 2,100 retail shops across 17 states. The drug store retailer is just one of many across the country who have been named as a defendant in lawsuits that alleged they helped fuel the opioid crisis. Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy Sunday after the company was unable to settle hundreds of lawsuits that accused the drug store retailer of overprescribing opioids and fueling the US opioid crisis The Department of Justice accused the big-name store of filling hundreds of thousands of prescriptions for controlled substances, including opioids, despite apparent 'red flags' During the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rite Aid tried to redeem itself by rolling out vaccines and other health services, but it still wasn't enough for the company to stay afloat A potential 42,000 jobs could be at risk as the retailer moves through bankruptcy. In an attempt to help the company with more than $3billion in existing debt, lenders are set to provide around $200million in new financing. A person close to the matter told The Wallstreet Journal: 'MedImpact, a pharmacy benefit management firm, has offered to buy Rite Aid's Elixir segment for $575 million, though an auction will be held to see if Rite Aid can find a higher bid.' A new Chief Executive has also been named, as Jeffrey Stein, who currently heads a financial advisory firm, will take over next to existing CEO Elizabeth Burr. In March, the Justice Department sued the drug store retailer for allegedly violating the federal False Claims Act and Controlled Substances Act. They accused the big-name store of filling hundreds of thousands of prescriptions for controlled substances, including opioids, despite apparent 'red flags.' The DOJ also alleged Rite Aid deleted internal notes about questionable prescriptions and told managers to tell pharmacists 'To be mindful of everything that is put in writing.' Rite Aid has denied all allegations as a spokeswoman for the company said in a statement: 'We expect to negotiate a resolution of the opioid-related lawsuits with the various parties involved. We also intend to resolve our legacy contract disputes, government investigations and securities matters.' Other than the many lawsuits the company has faced, it has struggled to keep up with its competing pharmacy retailers - Walgreens and CVS. The Wall Street Journal reported that Rite Aid has managed to rack up more than $2billion in net losses in the past five years. The company has operated half as many stores as it did just a couple decades ago. Rite Aid garnered more positive press, recently, during the COVID-19 pandemic as it rolled out vaccine and testing services. Though sales increased, it wasn't enough for the company to avoid bankruptcy. Rite Stock was already trading below a buck, but was down 16 percent in pre-market trading, sitting at 65 cents after news broke of the bankruptcy. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that more than 1million people have died from a drug overdose since 1999, with 75 percent of that population dying specifically from an opioid-related overdose A new Chief Executive has also been named, as Jeffrey Stein, who currently heads a financial advisory firm, will take over next to existing CEO Elizabeth Burr The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 'from 1999 to 2021, nearly 280,000 people died in the United States from overdoses involving prescription opioids.' More than 1million people alone have died from a drug overdose since 1999, with 75 percent of that population dying specifically from an opioid-related overdose, the CDC noted. Other major retailers like Walgreens, CVS and Walmart have also been involved in prescription opioid-related lawsuits but have agreed to pay various settlements, totaling more than $13billion. Manufacturers Teva and Allergan also agreed to pay more than $5billion combined to settle lawsuits. A bushfire is raging near one of Australia's most famous beaches, with smoke plumes crowding the horizon. The out-of-control flames have already burned through 140 hectares of land next to North Belongil beach in Byron Bay, encroaching on residential streets. Firefighters are entering the second day of trying to control the flames which are burning about 5km northwest of Byron Bay between Bayshore Drive, Black Rock Road and Ewingsdale Road. Residents and tourists are urged to continue to monitor conditions and check in with the RFS website for updated alerts. A bushfire has been burning beside Byron Bay's iconic beaches for two days. Picture: Facebook Advice: Bayshore Dr Fire, Byron Bay (Byron LGA) A bush fire is burning in the vicinity of Bayshore Dr, 5km NW of Byron Bay. The fire is burning between Bayshore Dr, Black Rock Rd and Ewingsdale Rd. Residents should continue to monitor conditions. https://t.co/SwFG8PzKTA pic.twitter.com/BcnTGzO9zK NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) October 16, 2023 The fire danger in the north of NSW soared to extreme levels on Monday with a total fire ban in place. An aerial video of the fire zone uses thermal imaging to show the vast stretch of land where the fire is burning and its proximity to the coast. Beachgoers shared startling images to social media on Sunday showing thick dark plumes of smoke rising from the bushland that backs onto Byron's famous coastline. An extreme fire danger warning has been issued for parts of Queensland due to soaring temperatures across the state. The Bureau of Meteorology has issued warnings for the Darling Downs and Granite Belt west of Brisbane with temperatures set to reach 35 degrees on Monday. Authorities are managing 18 vegetation fires across the state with more than 60 burning in the last 24 hours, Queensland Fire and Emergency Service said. A stay informed warning is current for large parts of rural Queensland and authorities are closely monitoring a fire in Deepwater, near Rockhampton. Aircraft and waterbombing crews are on standby. The Bureau of Meteorology is expected to provide an update on Monday. EXCLUSIVE An Indigenous leader in one of Australia's most remote communities says he is 'excited' the referendum on a Voice to Parliament has been rejected by voters. Donald Fraser is considered one of the fathers of native title on Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in north-west South Australia and has always wanted his people to be heard. Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (pronounced arn-ahng-oo pit-jan-jah-jarra yan-kun-ja-jarra) Lands cover 103,000 square kilometres and belong to about 2,000 traditional owners. A majority of residents on APY Lands voted in favour of the Voice - 402 to 118 with three informal ballots - but Mr Fraser was not in the Yes camp. Indigenous leader Donald Fraser has lived all his life in one of Australia's most remote communities and is 'excited' the referendum on a Voice to Parliament has failed The seven main communities on APY Lands are so isolated Mr Fraser was not aware of the referendum result until informed by Daily Mail Australia on Monday. 'The answer is no, is it?' he said. 'Great. I'm excited.' Australia resoundingly voted No to the proposed change to the constitution, with every state rejecting the Voice and only the ACT voting Yes as the count continued. Mr Fraser had previously told Daily Mail Australia the Voice proposal had been rushed and that his people, the Anangu, did not understand what it was supposed to achieve. 'It was all hidden,' he said. 'It was under the carpet and that's what we don't like.' The APY Lands are home to some of the nation's most disadvantaged citizens. Unemployment among Anangu runs at almost 40 per cent, 68 per cent have long-term health conditions and 27 per cent leave school before Year 10. Mr Fraser grew up on the APY Lands' first major settlement when it was a mission known as Ernabella, founded by the Presbyterian Church in 1937. A majority of residents on APY Lands voted in favour of the Voice - 402 to 118 with three informal ballots - but Mr Fraser was not one of them. Two women are pictured on APY Lands The APY Lands are a 15 hour drive from Adelaide and a five hour drive from Alice Springs. Among the major communities are Pukatja, Fregon and Amanta as well as Umuwa, the area's administration centre Where once there were cattle stations on the Lands, there is almost no agriculture, tourism is next to non-existent, and the potential for lucrative mining of minerals is still only being explored. 'The place is a mess,' Mr Fraser said. 'Everywhere you go the place is a mess. We are struggling.' Told the referendum had cost taxpayers $400million, Mr Fraser wished even a fraction of those funds had been spent on APY communities. 'That money could have been used for better things than wasting it on elections and everything else,' he said. 'A small portion of that money could have gone to the seven communities here and the homelands so that we can manage our own affairs.' Anangu are supposed to already have a say in their own affairs through the 14-member APY Board made up of two representatives from each of the seven communities. Unemployment among Anangu runs at almost 40 per cent, 68 per cent have long-term health conditions and 27 per cent leave school before Year 10. Women are pictured outside Pukatja Roadhouse But the board's critics say it is dysfunctional and in the lead-up to the referendum several APY elders said they doubted enshrining another layer of consultation in the nation's founding document would help them. Mr Fraser was an architect of the 1981 APY Land Rights Act that was meant to give Anangu self-determination. He has also seen the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) come and go. 'ATSIC was the Voice to Parliament set up by the government and they demolished it,' he said last month. 'We don't know which way to turn now.' On Monday, he said successive federal governments had not been listening to Anangu and he had not expected a Voice to Parliament to change that. 'They just gallop along and do whatever they like,' he said. 'It's about time the government treated Aboriginal people and white people equally. 'I don't want to split the white people. We want to live together. We want to talk together, white and black Australia.' 'Today the government are childish. They're fighting over nothing.' Mr Fraser was an architect of the 1981 APY Land Rights Act that was meant to give Anangu self-determination and has seen the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) come and go Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had repeatedly stated the referendum was supported by a majority of Aboriginal voters and remote communities would benefit from a Voice to Parliament. 'First Nations people certainly want this,' he said in June. 'We know that all the figures show that up to 90 per cent of First Nations people.' No Australian electorate has a majority of Indigenous citizens and those Aboriginal communities that voted Yes make up only a tiny proportion of total voters. The APY Lands are part of the federal electorate of Grey which covers 92 per cent of South Australia. Grey residents voted overwhelmingly against the Voice, at 78 per cent, but that result was almost reversed on APY Lands. At the 2021 Census there were 2,333 people living on APY Lands, 2,064 of them Indigenous, with about 1,564 residents eligible to vote. On Monday, the Australian Electoral Commission's tally room website showed just 523 citizens taking part in the referendum. Where once there were cattle stations on the Lands, there is almost no agriculture, tourism is next to non-existent, and the potential for lucrative mining of minerals is still only being explored The 11 polling places on the Lands, including in the townships of Pukatja, Amata, Mimili, Fregon (Kaltjiti), Indulkana and Umuwa returned a Yes vote of almost 77 per cent. A similar pattern was seen in other remote community polling places with large Indigenous populations. Lingiari, which covers most of the Northern Territory outside Darwin, has the largest Indigenous enrolment in the country and 55 per cent of citizens voted No. But at remote polling booths in Arnhem Land, Kakadu and near Uluru, 73 per cent voted Yes. Queensland's electorate of Leichhardt, which takes in Cape York and Cairns, recorded a 35 per cent No vote but in Hope Vale where 88 per cent of population is Indigenous the Yes vote was 75 per cent. In Durack, which covers a huge swathe of Western Australia north of Perth, the Yes vote was only 28 per cent but at Fitzroy Crossing, where about 60 per cent of citizens are Indigenous, 70 per cent voted Yes. Lidia Thorpe has compared the Australian government to Israel as the 'illegal occupier of these lands' in an impassioned speech pledging support to Palestine. The firebrand Greens-turned-Independent senator arrived in the chamber for the first day of sitting in a month wearing a Palastinian keffiyeh scarf. In response to the tragic war between Israel and terrorist group Hamas which is taking place, Ms Thorpe said she sympathised with victims on both sides of the conflict. She said Palestinians 'live with generational trauma of dispossession, they continue to fight for sovereignty, liberation, and land back, as do First peoples of this country. 'You have the responsibility to support Palestinians standing against it, just as you have the responsibility to support First Nations people here standing against it.' The firebrand Greens-turned-Independent senator arrived for the first day of sitting in a month wearing a Palastinian keffiyeh scarf A large crowd gathered outside the Opera House in protest of the Opera House being lit A fireball erupts during Israeli bombardment of Gaza City on October 9, 2023. Israel imposed a total siege on the Gaza Strip on October 9 and cut off the water supply as it bombed targets Ms Thorpe said she 'is not surprised' that the Australian government has offered resounding support to Israel after Hamas launched a missile attack at a music festival last Saturday morning. The conflict prompted swift retaliation from Israel, and some 2,600 Palestinians in Gaza have been reported dead since October 7. 'I'm not surprised the Australian government, which is itself the illegal occupier of these lands, condones illegal occupation of other lands, and sides with an oppresive regime,' she said. 'Governments across the world, in an attempt to address anti-Semitism and somehow address the horrors of the Holocaust, are allowing Israel to get away with apartheid, ethnic cleansing. Ms Thorpe condemned Hamas' attacks on Israel, but said she was also condemning 'the violence Israel is and has been inflicting on the Palestinian people'. In response to the tragic war between Israel and terrorist group Hamas which is taking place, Ms Thorpe said she sympathised with victims on both sides of the conflict She criticised the government's decision to light up the Sydney Opera House in the colours of blue and white in solidarity with Israel, and said the debate on the international stage had been 'extremely one sided'. 'Israel's indiscriminate bombings on Gaza are killing thousands of innocent people, people who already had to suffer for so many decades in what is often called the world's biggest prison. 'These people didn't attack Israel, and yet they are the human collateral of Israel fighting back against Hamas with unprecedented force. 'They will be the ones suffering the long term consequences which will more than likely be the continued and possibly reinforced oppression of the Palestinan people through Israel. She criticised the government's decision to light up the Sydney Opera House in the colours of blue and white in solidarity with Israel, and said the debate on the international stage had been 'extremely one sided' 'How can the world let this happen? All the talk of government supporting a two-state solution seem all but forgotten - worth nothing but a side note. READ MORE: Calls for Hamas to be eliminated entirely Advertisement 'The current war has set the solution back decades. Most Palestinians want nothing but to live peacefully in a free Palestine. For 75 years now Palestine has been under brutal occupation. 'The state of Israel was founded on Palestinian land in 1948, when tens of thousands of Palestinans sought refuge in Gaza as their towns and villages were ethnically cleansed. 'Palestinian voices have all but been silenced over what happened.' Senator Thorpe's criticism of the government comes after the Coalition complained the government had not gone far enough in condemning the attacks against Israel. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's first point of order after returning to parliament on Monday was to wholly condemn Hamas' assault on Israel. He and his government have made several statements over the past week, but Monday marked the first formal recognition of the attacks in parliament. He described Hamas - which is a declared terrorist organisation in Australia - an enemy of peace in the Middle East. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's first point of order after returning to parliament on Monday was to wholly condemn Hamas' assault on Israel 'This was not just an attack on Israel, this was an attack on Jewish people. Hamas is an enemy not just of Israel, Hamas is an enemy of all peace-loving Palestinian people who are left to pay a devastating price for this terrorism,' the prime ministerr said. 'We have learned of acts of violation and humiliation so grotesque they should be beyond imagination but have been made reality by Hamas.' Mr Albanese reiterated that Israel had the right to defend itself following the attacks. He also said anti-Semitic comments following the attacks, as well as Islamophobia, had no place in Australia. 'The awful anti-Semitism chanted by some of the protesters at the Sydney Opera House is beyond offensive, it is a betrayal of our Australian values,' Mr Albanese said. A motion moved by the PM in parliament condemned the attacks, along with acknowledging the loss of life on both sides of the conflict, as well as supporting 'justice and freedom for Israelis and Palestinians'. Parliament also held a moment's silence for victims of the conflict. People around the world are taking part in pro-Palestinian demonstrations (pictured, Santiago in Chile) Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the attack by Hamas was an act of 'sheer barbarity'. 'No longer can the apologists of this death cult claim they have a just and noble cause. What happened nine days ago was the embodiment of evil,' he said. 'There must be no restraint shown to these who have shown no restraint themselves.' Mr Dutton also urged Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil to use her ministerial powers to deport people engaging in anti-Semitic behaviour. 'The rally at the Sydney Opera House escalated that anti-Semitism, we have to recognise that, because the impact it has had on the Jewish community here in Australia will take a lot to undo.' A Washington-based think tank published a report suggesting that the Hamas attacks on Israel that have killed at least 1,400 people was the plan of the dead Iranian Revolutionary Guard leader Qassem Soleimani. Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike ordered by President Donald Trump in January 2020. The assassinated leader was the man behind a mass murder plot, one hinted at by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who described 'The Complete Conquest' of Israel. Hamas has been accused of being a proxy for the Ayatollah regime and carrying out its wishes, an Israeli spokesman Lior Haiat told Fox News. There has been speculation that Iran helped plan the Hamas surprise attack - dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Flood - since the fighting first broke out. A Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) think tank report noted that a propaganda report from Khamenei. 'The significance is that, last year, the Leader [Khamenei] gave "The promise of the imminent conquest," and this year he gave "the announcement of the complete conquest,' and Operation Al-Aqsa Flood is part of this imminent conquest," the propaganda read. The think tank claims the plan for mass murder was engineered by Soleimani. A Washington-based think tank published a report suggesting that the Hamas attacks on Israel that have killed at least 1,400 people was the plan of the dead Iranian Revolutionary Guard leader Qassem Soleimani MEMRI has believed Hamas' taking what they call a 'rational' approach has meant this was in the planning stages for several years. 'This promise and announcement, along with the clarity and power of [Khamenei's] statements and positions in his meeting [with leaders and ambassadors of Islamic countries] on the occasion of the Prophet [Muhammad's] birthday, have profound significance and content.' Iran was branded a terrorist state by Israel last week as the spiraling violence threatened to spill into a major conflict in the Middle East. 'Iran has had a long relationship with Hamas, and Hamas wouldn't be Hamas without the support that it's gotten over many years from Iran. Having said that, when it comes to this specific attack, right now, as we speak, we haven't seen direct evidence that Iran participated in or helped plan the attack,' a spokesman for Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. Iran has backed Hamas in the past but had remained on the fringes until recent months. 'That doesn't mean that it didn't; we just don't have the evidence to show it. And as I said, there's a long relationship between the two.' Soleimani was killed when an American MQ-9 Reaper drone fired missiles at his convoy as it left Baghdad airport on January 3, 2020. A Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) report suggests that Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was inspired by Soleimani's plans that led to their aiding of Hamas in the shock attacks Iranian mourners gather around a vehicle carrying the coffin of slain top general Soleimani during the final stage of funeral processions in January 2020 The Iraqi Prime Minister Press Office shows a burning vehicle at the Baghdad International Airport following a deadly airstrike, revealed to be the one that killed Soleimani MEMRI cite translations from the state propaganda outfit Kayhan that Khamenei hinted at something called 'The Complete Conquest' of the Jewish state The bodies of Israelis killed in an unprecedented Hamas attack are gathered for identification at a military base in Ramla Soleimani was often described as the country's most powerful figure after its supreme leader. Last year, a United Nations expert said that without an imminent threat to life the strike was unlawful. Agnes Callamard, special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, concluded in her report that the US provided no evidence that would have justified immediate action. 'Major General Soleimani was in charge of Iran military strategy, and actions, in Syria and Iraq,' she said. 'But absent an actual imminent threat to life, the course of action taken by the US was unlawful.' The strike was an 'arbitrary killing' for which the US is responsible under international human rights law, she concluded. The news was announced in a letter to employees this week from the president of the famed museum Human remains from the museum will be investigated to determine their exact identity and origin The American Museum of Natural History in New York City ` is set to remove one dozen exhibits New York City's American Museum of Natural History has pulled its entire 12,000 human remain collection after admitting some skeletons of Indigenous and enslaved people came from graves that had been robbed. The museum - ranked one of the top science museums in the world - is set to remove a dozen exhibits on display so they can be investigated to determine their origins. 'Figuring out the answers to exactly what we have here, and how to actually describe that as completely as we can, is something that is important to do moving forward,' said Sean M. Decatur, the museum's president, told The New York Times. The news was announced in a letter to employees of the museum this week, as other natural history museums face similar scrutiny. Bones and remains scale the entire building, but the controversial exhibits at risk are those that display stolen skeletons that were dug up from grave sites. Under the Native American Graves Protection & Repatriation Act, the American Museum of Natural History has only returned 1,000 of the 2,200 remains it has. It has faced previous controversy for holding out on the rest of the Native American skeletons One of the dozen exhibits that have been removed from the museum to be examined are the skeletal remains of the 1903 Manhattan cemetery for enslaved people (pictured). The remains were found by construction workers before they decided to pile the bones in a pyramid-like shape Sean M. Decatur, the President of the American Museum of Natural History sent a letter to the museum's staff this week about the pulling of 12,000 human remains after it admitted to have stolen the skeletal remains from Native Americans and enslaved people One of the suspected stolen collections is the remains of five Black adults that were taken from a 1903 Manhattan cemetery for enslaved people. The collection of skeleton bodies was then discovered by construction workers before they decided to pile the bodies into a pyramid shape and snap a picture. The largest collection that the museum holds is the collection of 2,200 Native Americans that were supposed to be returned to their respective home county more than 30 years ago. Under the Native American Graves Protection & Repatriation Act, the American Museum of Natural History has only returned 1,000 of the 2,200 Native American remains. The museum has faced previous controversy for holding out on the rest of the Native American skeletons, as they've claimed to have been researching the remaining bodies themselves. The act provides a process for museums and federal agencies to transfer Native American cultural items. The objects refer to human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects and objects of cultural patrimony. A third set of remains under investigation is known as the 'medical collection' and includes the remains of 400 poor New Yorkers who died in the 1940s. Their bodies were left unclaimed and given to medical schools but were soon transferred to the museum. The New York Times reported the transfer of the 'medical collection', according to legal scholars, 'may not have been allowed under the law.' Suspicion of the stolen remains sparked interest when local historians started to research the area that once surrounded the former grave site. Decatur, a Black man himself, said: 'The legacy of dehumanizing Black bodies through enslavement continues after death in how those bodies were treated and dehumanized in service of a scientific project' The New York City museum - ranked one of the top science museums in the world - is set to remove one dozen exhibits currently on display so they can be investigated to determine their exact origins and identity Harry L. Shapiro (pictured) served as chairman of the anthropology department at the museum. The museum has now pulled 12,000 human remains as it investigates their orgin 'I felt like the bones should be repatriated,' Cole Thompson, one of the historians told The New York Times. Decatur, a Black man himself, said: 'The legacy of dehumanizing Black bodies through enslavement continues after death in how those bodies were treated and dehumanized in service of a scientific project.' Unlike Native American remains, there are no legal acts requiring that enslaved peoples remains be returned to where they originated. However, legislation passed in 2021 looks to preserve burial sites. The African American Burial Grounds Network requires that historic Black cemeteries are kept sacred and protected. 'None of the items on display are so essential to the goals and narrative of the exhibition as to counterbalance the ethical dilemmas presented by the fact that human remains are in some instances exhibited alongside and on the same plane as objects,' Decatur said in his letter. A Jeffrey Epstein victim whose testimony helped put Ghislaine Maxwell in prison was found dead in a hotel room - and her mom is demanding answers. There were few announcements of Carolyn Adriano's passing in late May. The 36-year-old died from a suspected overdose, police said, but her mom isn't sure. 'Nobody's giving me any answers, and you know what? I'm over it,' Dorothy Groener told The Daily Beast. 'Because this is my daughter, and she deserves justice. She got to a point where she was turning her whole life around.' While other relatives have blasted the mom's claims - and note the mom-of-five's history of drug abuse and the drug paraphernalia found in her hotel room - questions linger over her passing. Epstein, the pedophile financier, was found dead in his jail cell as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. His 2019 death was ruled a suicide. His mistress, Maxwell, was convicted in a high-profile federal trial and sentenced to 20 years behind bars. Carolyn Adriano (pictured) was a victim of Jeffrey Esptein and Ghislaine Maxwell. She was found dead of an 'accidental overdose' Epstein was found dead in his jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting federal charges. His death was ruled a suicide, but some have questioned that determination Epstein had been convicted in Florida in 2008 of procuring a child for prostitution, but received a beneficial plea deal and sentence that saw him serve little prison time. It wasn't until media reports of the deal years later that Epstein returned to the spotlight. That led to his arrest on federal charges. He was found dead in August 2019. In July 2020, Maxwell was also arrested on federal charges for her role in the high-profile ring. Adriano was one of the victims who testified at Maxwell's trial. She detailed the horrors of being an Epstein victim and how Virginia Giuffre recruited her. Giuffre also claimed she was a victim of the ring and abused by Prince Andrew. She sued the royal and settled for a reported $14 million. But Giuffre has also admitted to recruiting other young girls, including Adriano, into the ring. It was Adriano's testimony that helped convict Maxwell. On May 23, Adriano was found dead at a Doubletree hotel in West Palm Beach, Florida 'I'm glad they believed me, and that it was wrong what Maxwell did to me. I had a voice and it was heard,' Adriano told DailyMail.com during an exclusive interview in January 2022. 'It's so important because I have my own daughters now. Every day I think about whether there's someone who's going to put them in the situation I was in. I live with fear for my girls.' During the trial, Carolyn didn't use her last name, but revealed it to help empower other abuse victims. 'I'm not ashamed at being a victim of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell,' Adriano said. 'For other girls that have been victimized, I want them to know that it is OK to come out and tell somebody even if you don't want to be identified and the sooner the better. While on the witness stand, Adriano detailed her past struggles with drug abuse and how she was sexually abused by a relative at a young age. It was that substance abuse struggle that returned and led to her death, investigators said. Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison for her role in Epstein's sex-trafficking ring Police were called to the DoubleTree by Hilton in West Palm Beach, Florida, around 7:45 am on May 23 for Adriano's reported overdose. She went to sleep the night before with her husband, John Pitts, and her kids in the room. When they woke up, Adriano was naked and unresponsive in bed. Police found a crack pipe, a small baggie with a white residue and a needle in her purse, according to The Daily Beast. Pitts tried to give her CPR before police arrived. Investigators determined Adriano died from an 'accidental overdose' and the police investigation would be closed this week, according to police spokesman Mike Jachles, The Daily Beast reported. A toxicology report noted Adriano had methadone, fentanyl and alprazolam in her system when she died. However, Groenert said there needs to be more investigation. She claimed vodka bottles were found in the room, but her daughter didn't have any alcohol in her system. 'It shouldn't be closed,' Groenert told the outlet. 'I begged them, I sent them numerous messages. I've asked for them to make meetings, contact me, and to no avail.' Before she died, Adriano was one of the victims who testified at Maxwell's federal charges that saw her convicted of sex trafficking Groenert - who is in legal dispute with PItts over Adriano's will - also noted her daughter was 'ecstatic' before her death. She had recently planned to move to North Carolina to a newly-purchased piece of property. However, Adriano's family blasted Groenert's assertions. While Pitts declined to comment, his sister told the outlet the mom's idea Adriano's death was 'suspicious' was 'ridiculous.' 'Right now our family is grieving the loss of Carolyn and prioritizing the care of her children. At this time we kindly appreciate space and privacy,' Serena told the news group. Still, Groenert said she is unable to properly grieve Adriano, until she gets more answers on what happened. 'My daughter was wonderful,' Groenert noted. 'My daughter was the most loving, kindhearted person. She trusted everybody. And anybody could say anything negative about anybody but my daughter: she was taught to always find a positive.' Opposition leader Peter Dutton has blasted Anthony Albanese listing the six things the prime minister did wrong in the wake of the Voice referendum defeat. During Question Time in Canberra's House of Representatives Mr Dutton took aim at the proposal and its campaign in the wake of Saturday's crushing rejection where 61 per cent of voters said No with all states voting against the Voice. The attempted motion by Mr Dutton drew a short and sharp rejoinder by Mr Albanese who was heard calling the Liberal leader 'the great divider'. Mr Dutton was not to be deterred reading out twice his motion that carefully listed the faults he saw in Mr Albanese's push to have an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. Peter Dutton took aim at Prime Minister Anthony Albanese over the failed Voice referendum in Parliament on Monday Mr Dutton accused Mr Albanese of 'failing to listen to all Australians' and 'wasting over $450 million in taxpayer dollars'. He also criticised the Prime Minister for 'refusing to provide Australians with the detail on the Voice' and 'refusing to compromise in the national interest'. The list of failures was rounded off with Mr Dutton saying the Prime Minister refused 'to follow established referendum procedures'. 'The Prime Minister has taken our country unnecessarily down a path of division,' Mr Dutton said before he was cut off by an objection from Labor's leader of the House Tony Burke. Mr Burke said he did not grant that the motion be moved at the time, which the Speaker accepted. In his proposed motion, Mr Dutton called on the government to support the Opposition's demand for the Royal Commission into child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities. He also insisted on an audit of the spending on Indigenous programs and sought support for 'practical policy ideas to improve the lives of indigenous Australians to help close the gap'. Mr Dutton is not alone in landing the failure of the Voice at the Prime Minister's feet. There were even calls for him to resign after the shellacking at the ballot box. Sky News commentator Andrew Bolt urged the prime minister to throw in the towel while South Australia's Opposition Leader David Speirs joined in on the chorus. At one stage Mr Albanese was heard to interject during Mr Dutton's speech calling the Liberal leader the 'great divider' 'He should resign because the damage he has done to our country and to the very fabric of what it means to be Australian is, quite frankly, heartbreaking,' Mr Speirs said. 'The prime minister should think about his future. I don't think he will resign but there are international precedents there.' A clearly crest-fallen Mr Albanese defended holding the referendum on Saturday night. 'We argued for this change not out of convenience but from conviction, because that's what people deserve from their government,' he said. 'When you do the hard things, when you aim high, sometimes you fall short. 'And tonight we acknowledge, understand and respect that we have. As prime minister, I will always accept responsibility for the decisions I have taken, and I do so tonight.' A 'mystery challenger' appears set to be part of a plan by moderate Republicans to block Jim Jordan in his quest to become the new Speaker of the House. The House, without a speaker, is essentially unable to function during a time of turmoil in the U.S. and wars overseas and the political pressure is increasingly on Republicans to reverse course, reassert majority control and govern in Congress. Two anonymous House Republicans told Politico Sunday the specific name has not yet been determined but they believe not only will the choice block Jordan, but give cover to anyone who wants to vote against him. 'There will be an alternative for the rational part of the Republican conference,' the moderate GOP member said. A spokesperson for Jordan did not appear moved by the suggestions of disunity toward the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. A 'mystery challenger' appears set to be part of a plan by moderate Republicans to block Representative Jim Jordan in his quest to become the new Speaker of the House 'Chairman Jordan is looking forward to uniting the entire conference on Tuesday in order to get back to work and pass the bills that the American people expect by giving Israel the resources they need to destroy Hamas and securing the southern border,' Russell Dye said in a statement. At the same time, CNN reported another unnamed Republican House member believes they have at least 40 'no' votes to stop Jordan's election. 'The approximately 20 I've talked to know we must be prepared,' the Congressman said. 'We cannot let the small group dictate to the whole group. They want a minority of the majority to dictate and as a red-blooded American I refuse to be a victim.' Jordan is the one of the candidates who put himself up for the job after Kevin McCarthy was ousted. Jordan's supporters previously were able to stop Louisiana Representative Steve Scalise from being put up for a full vote, despite winning backing of the Republican Congress. A speaker needs 217 votes to be elected. Republicans hold a slim majority, but eight Republicans voted against McCarthy joining with the Democrats. A Republican candidate can only lose four votes from their party before they will not meet the 217 threshold. Without a speaker, action in the House of Representatives is essentially stalled. Earlier this week, a group of moderate Democrat lawmakers extended an offer to temporary House Speaker Patrick McHenry, proposing to enhance his authority in exchange for allowing more bills to be presented on the House floor. Four House Democrats affiliated with the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus wrote to McHenry, a Republican from North Carolina, expressing their concerns about the limited authority granted to the House Speaker Pro Tempore. The expanded powers would direct the Speaker Pro Tempore to introduce proposed legislation in specific areas. A group of moderate Democratic lawmakers has proffered a proposal to the interim House Speaker, Patrick McHenry, with the aim of bolstering his authority 'In light of our nation's pressing issues, a looming government shutdown, and the attacks on our key ally, Israel, we strongly support an immediate vote to expand the Speaker Pro Tempore's authorities to allow for the consideration of a legislative agenda limited to the most pressing issues,' the letter read. 'Unless and until a Speaker of the House is elected, Congress should implement temporary, expanded authorities at fifteen calendar day increments directing the Speaker Pro Tempore to bring before the House proposed legislation only covering the following specific areas,' the lawmakers continued. 'The government cannot continue to be hamstrung leaving American families, our economy, and national security at risk,' the Democrats wrote. 'We hope you'd agree that we must restart the business of the House of Representatives without delay,' they continued. It includes foreign aid funding for Ukraine and Israel, an extension of the current continuing resolution through January 2024 to prevent a government shutdown, and the consideration of appropriations bills at the committee and floor levels. In exchange for McHenry gaining additional powers, the Democrats requested that they receive half of the suspension bills on the legislative calendar to facilitate the House's operation. They emphasized the necessity of restoring the House's functionality promptly, citing the potential risks to American families, the economy, and national security. Aside from Gottheimer, the letter also featured signatures from three other Democratic lawmakers: Reps. Ed Case of Hawaii, Susie Lee of Nevada, and Jared Golden of Maine. House Democrats, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) (C), rally on the East Steps of the U.S. Capitol, critical of their Republican counterparts after they were unable to elect a Speaker of the House, 10 days after ousting Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from the post House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) speaks while rallying with fellow Democrats. Four Democratic members told McHenry, in exchange for an increase in the number of bills brought to the House floor for consideration they would back him U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) leaves after the House Republicans held a series of meeting to vote for their nominee for Speaker of the House on Friday. The full House of Representatives is expected to vote next week to replace ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) Republicans chose firebrand Rep. Jim Jordan as their new nominee for House speaker during internal voting Friday, putting the gavel within reach of the staunch ally of GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump. Electing Jordan, a founding member of the Freedom Caucus, to the powerful position second in line to the presidency would move the GOPs far right into a central seat of U.S. power. A groundswell of high-profile backers including Fox News Sean Hannity publicly pressured lawmakers to vote Jordan into the speaker's office after the stunning ouster of Kevin McCarthy. Jordan, of Ohio, will now try to unite colleagues from the deeply divided House GOP majority ahead of a public vote on the floor, possibly next week. Republicans split 124-81 in Friday's private vote, though a second secret ballot nudged his tally higher. 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 'I think Jordan would do a great job,' McCarthy, R-Calif., said ahead of the vote. 'We got to get this back on track.' Frustrated House Republicans have been fighting bitterly over whom they should elect to replace McCarthy to lead their party after his unprecedented ouster by a handful of hardliners. Jordan is known for his close alliance with Trump, particularly when the then-president was working to overturn the results of the 2020 election, leading to the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. His rise would all but complete the far-rightward shift of the party, and boost its defense of Trump in four separate legal cases, including over 2020 election fraud. During Trump's impeachment proceedings over the January 6 attack, Jordan was his chief defender in Congress. Trump awarded him the Medal of Freedom days later. Jim Jordan is a key ally in Congress of Donald Trump Jordans wing of the party has already demanded severe budget cuts that he has promised to deliver, and aid to Ukraine would be seriously in doubt. Investigations into Biden and his family would be pushed to the forefront. The stalemate between the factions, now in its second week, has thrown the House into chaos, grinding all other business to a halt. Lawmakers left for the weekend, and are due back Monday. The number of pop-up cells used to house prisoners are set to be expanded to try and solve major a overcrowding crisis in Britain's jails. Justice Secretary Alex Chalk is set to unveil a series of reforms to sentencing today amid claims judges have been told to delay sentencing violent offenders like rapists because there is nowhere to put them. Proposals will see Chalk attempt to free up space by increasing the number of rapid deployment cells, which are prefab Portakabin-style blocks providing accommodation for inmates. They are built by the UK subsidiary of Algeco, a French company. However, documents seen by The Times reveal that this accommodation, in addition around 1,000 of these so called pop-up cells that are already installed across 18 jails in England and Wales, will still leave a shortage of 2,000 spaces by 2025. It comes as it was revealed yesterday that Chalk is also planning to make low-level offenders clean up graffiti and plant trees instead of being sent to prison. The number of pop-up cells used to house prisoners are set to be expanded to try and solve major a overcrowding crisis in Britain's jails (Pictured: rapid deployment cells installed at HMP Norwich earlier this year by French company Algeco) A photograph of the interior of one of these 'pop-up' cells released by the Ministry of Justice earlier this year Justice Secretary Alex Chalk is set to unveil a series of reforms to sentencing amid claims judges have been told to delay sentencing violent offenders like rapists because there is nowhere to put them. Rapid deployment cells supplied by Algeco were installed at HMP Norwich in March this year in a pre-emptive bid to meet the rising demand for prison places. Meanwhile, Mr Chalk yesterday said that the changes would see rapists serve their full term, removing the option of freeing them halfway through to serve the rest of their time on remand. READ MORE - Revealed: Britain's most overcrowded prisons Advertisement But he said that the government had to look at the way less serious offenders 'repay their debt to society', citing the example of the US state of Texas, which is 'not known for its relaxed approach to criminal justice'. Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Chalk said: 'We need to look again at low-level offenders. Because while the overall reoffending rate is 25 per cent, the rate for people who spend fewer than 12 months in prison is over 50 per cent,' he said. 'A short stretch of a few months inside isn't enough time to rehabilitate criminals, but is more than enough to dislocate them from the family, work and home connections that keep them from crime. Too often, offenders routinely turn back to crime as soon as they walk out of the prison gates.' 'There are alternatives to having low level offenders languishing in prison. Judges can make them repay their debt to society in communities cleaning up neighbourhoods, scrubbing graffiti off walls, and even helping to plant new forests. 'And with technology moving on rapidly, these options are growing. The latest GPS tags, for example, offer many more options than the radio frequency versions, which were the only ones available to the court when I first started my career as a prosecutor. 'Other places have seized these opportunities, including US states like Texas, not known for its relaxed approach to criminal justice. They have seen crime fall and confidence grow.' 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, it has been reported previously. New proposals will see Chalk attempt to free up space by increasing the number of rapid deployment cells, which are prefab Portakabin-style blocks providing accommodation for inmates (Stock image) It was revealed yesterday that Chalk is also planning to make low-level clean up graffiti and plant trees instead of being sent to prison Tom Franklin, chief executive of the Magistrates' Association, this morning told Radio 4's Today programme that community sentences often work better than shorter sentences for rehabiliting prisoners. Fury over plans to allow convicted rapists and burglars to be let out on bail The news that sex offenders and burglars could be let out on bail rather than handed an immediate custodial sentence has caused anger and disbelief among barristers, judges, and politicians across the country. Leading criminal barrister Joanna Hardy-Susskind wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, it was dismal, while shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper labelled it 'truly, truly shocking'. 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.' Advertisement 'Non custodial sentences can be a very very good option because they can help both the victim of crime but also the offender as well in terms of rehabilitation. Short sentences very rarely are they successful largely because people that are sentenced to short sentences very often don't get the support they need in prison to reform themselves.' Mr Franklin added that it is 'very often the case' that more can be achieved with community sentences. He said: 'They (community sentences) are already the option of last resort. Even when the custody threshold is reached for a particular offence magistrates' will always consider alternatives. That's either a suspended sentence or a community order whether they are more appropriate and they will only pass an immediate custodial sentence if no other option is considered suitable. The Today Show's host Amol Rajan asked Mr Franklin which of the five principles that govern sentencing, that is punishment, reduction of crime, rehabilitation, reparation and public protection, 'are better served by community sentences?' Mr Franklin replied: 'All of them can be, but the issue for us is that very often there aren't suitable community sentence options. There needs to be more of a range of them and more availability and what our members say is very often it's like a patchwork quilt across the country and there are holes in that patchwork quilt so there needs to be more available to make sure that magistrates can sentence appropriately.' Mr Rajan then asked whether magistrates' lack confidence issuing community sentences and what can be done to address this. Mr Franklin said: 'The first one is making sure there are suitable community sentencing options available and at the moment sometimes that is not the case. Just over half of our members say that is always the case but half of them don't say that and that shows that there is room for improvement there. 'The other thing is that there needs to be more probation officers as well. Magistrates' are very reliant on the probation service to provide what is called pre-sentence reports, these are the reports that magistrates get before the sentencing which talk about the offence, it talks about the offender and the options hat are available. 'Because of the lack of probation officers those reports are very often sub par and are not up to quality and that makes a difference as far as the options that magistrates have got. So if government wants to increase the number of community sentences there are a number of practical things that can be taken to improve that. 'We are glad to see an improvement in the recruitment for probation officers but it can't come soon enough.' Judges and magistrates would adopt a 'presumption' that criminals facing shorter jail terms should instead receive 'robust community orders' designed to rehabilitate them (Stock image) Justice Secretary Alex Chalk is also exploring plans for criminals to be sent to serve time in rented jail cells abroad Alex Chalk has already launched discussions to hire prison space in other countries for the first time. A Tory spokesman said earlier this month: '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.' Mr Chalk told the Tory party conference two weeks ago: 'We intend to look at the Norwegian example of renting overseas capacity. 'This government is doing more than any since the Victorian era to expand prison capacity. 'Alongside our extra 20,000 prison places programme, refurbishment of old prisons and rapid deployment cells, renting prison places in other countries will ensure that we always have the space to keep the public safe from the most dangerous offenders.' Advertisement 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. 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. 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. Four years ago, former justice secretary David Gauke (pictured) unveiled plans for the abolition of six-month sentences Prisons in England and Wales are on the brink of maximum capacity, with 88,016 inmates last Friday. This is the highest number in 12 years and nearly 10 per cent more than last year's figure of 81,423. There are 88,667 cells in total, meaning just 651 remain spare. Official projections say the prison estate could run out of room by the end of the year. Official data published last week showed the Crown Courts had hit a record high of 65,004 cases awaiting trial at the end of August. Right-wing Law and Justice party only expected to get 198 seats in parliament Tusk's opposition projected to win 248 of 460 seats, giving them the majority Poland's ruling Right-wing nationalists face being kicked out of power, with former EU chief Donald Tusk declaring an election victory for opposition parties. An exit poll this morning gave Right-wing party Law and Justice (PiS) 36.6 per cent of the vote, which would translate into 198 lawmakers in the 460-seat lower house of parliament, Ipsos has revealed. Opposition parties, led by the former European Council president Donald Tusk's liberal grouping Civic Coalition (KO), were projected to together win 248 seats which would give them a majority needed to pass laws. The exit polls have triggered delight in Brussels, which has repeatedly clashed with Poland in recent years over the rule of law, media freedom, migration and LGBT rights since PiS came to power in 2015. Opposition parties led by Tusk have vowed to mend ties with Brussels and undo reforms critics say undermine democratic standards. Tusk, whose KO was predicted to win 31 per cent of ballots cast, was jubilant following the announcement of the first exit poll last night and announced to party members: 'Democracy has won... This is the end of the PiS government.' Opposition parties, led by the former European Council president Donald Tusk's (pictured celebrating the first exit poll results here) liberal grouping Civic Coalition (KO), were projected to together win 248 seats which would give them the majority needed to pass laws The opposition parties (celebrating supporters pictured above) led by Tusk have vowed to mend ties with Brussels and undo reforms critics say undermine democratic standards A victory for the opposition, in a vote seen by analysts as the most significant election for Europe in years, could potentially redefine the relationship between Brussels and the largest member state in central and eastern Europe. The EU had withheld billions of euros of funding for Poland after its government controversially outlawed abortions and took over the state broadcaster, causing fears the independence of the judiciary and press freedom could be in danger. Tusk and the KO have promised to re-align with EU values, but with PiS still holding a large quantity of seats in the Polish parliament, this won't be an easy feat. As a first step, KO lawmaker Cezary Tomczyk has called on President Andrzej Duda with the task of forming a government with Tusk at the helm. 'We demand from the president that the democratic camp be able to choose a candidate for prime minister,' he told private broadcaster TVN 24. 'The natural candidate for prime minister is Donald Tusk.' Tusk and the KO have promised to re-align with EU values, but with PiS still holding a large quantity of seats in the Polish parliament, this won't be an easy feat. As a first step, KO lawmaker Cezary Tomczyk has called on President Andrzej Duda with the task of forming a government with Tusk (pictured last night) at the helm But if official results confirm the exit poll, Tusk and his allies from the centre-Right Third Way and the New Left may have to wait weeks or even months before getting a turn at forming a government. Duda, a PiS ally, has said he would give the first shot to the winning party. He suggested Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki or another party leader would have the chance first. But with the far-Right Confederation scoring 6.4 per cent, below expectations, he will have few obvious allies, experts said. Still, PiS campaign manager Joachim Brudzinski, said this morning in an interview on the RMF FM radio broadcaster that his party won and would try to build a government led by Prime Minister Morawiecki. 'No matter how you look at it, we won,' Brudzinski said. The late exit poll had been delayed, with some commentators saying it was due to the unexpected record turnout (pictured here: a queue of voters in Warsaw) The late exit poll had been delayed, with some commentators saying that it was due to the unexpected record turnout. Television footage showed several hundred people, mostly young, waiting in a long line at one polling station in the western city of Wroclaw to vote. Residents were bringing them hot tea and blankets as well as food. Some said they waited for six hours. The polling station closed just before 3am local time, some six hours after the voting stations were set to officially to close. PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, 74, told officials gathered at the party's headquarters in central Warsaw that it was not clear whether Sunday's showing would translate into a new term in office. 'We have to have hope that regardless of whether we are in power or in opposition, our project will continue... We will not let Poland lose... the right to decide its own fate.' Poland's zloty currency firmed following the result, and was about 1.2 per cent stronger at 6am. The electoral commission said it expected to report the final result by early Tuesday. Women are being failed by Scotland's justice system, according to the Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain. The nation's most senior law officer said female rape victims are 'not experiencing justice', as she backed the SNP's controversial plans for juryless trials for serious sex crimes. Ms Bain's dramatic intervention comes in the wake of fierce criticism of the proposals to create a specialist court that would do away with the ancient right to be tried by one's peers. But she said the low conviction rates for rape mean that 'the prosecution of sexual offences requires a distinct approach'. Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain, the nation's most senior law officer has argued that women are being failed by Scotland's justice system Last week, Sean Hogg had his conviction for the rape of a 13-year-old girl in Dalkeith, Midlothian, quashed after the Appeal Court ruled the judge in his trial had misdirected the jury. He had previously escaped jail because he was only 17 at the time and guidelines introduced by the SNP gives leniency to under-25s. KC Ms Bain pointed to conviction rates for rape that still lag well behind those for other crimes. Sean Hogg had his conviction for the rape of a 13-year-old girl in Dalkeith, Midlothian, quashed after the Appeal Court ruled the judge in his trial had misdirected the jury She said: 'In Scotland, a large section of society are not experiencing justice, or have not experienced justice. 'These are predominantly women and girls who are, or have been, subjected to violence and abuse. As Lord Advocate, my fundamental commitment is to uphold the rule of law and direct an effective, rigorous and fair prosecution system. 'Over 70 per cent of High Court cases relate to serious sexual offending. 'Just four in ten rape and attempted rape trials result in conviction, compared to an overall conviction rate closer to nine in ten. 'These figures alone serve to highlight the extent of the challenge faced in the prosecution of sexual crime, and they should not be taken to mean that women and children cannot be believed. 'It is clear to me that the prosecution of sexual offences requires a determined and distinct approach.' Mr Hogg smirked as he left Edinburgh High court, having escaped jail because he was only 17 at the time of the allegation and guidelines introduced by the SNP gives leniency to under-25 Ms Bain added that the plan for juryless trials 'requires mature reflection and debate'. She said: 'The justice system cannot stand still. 'The changes required are immense and represent the challenge of our generation.' The controversial proposal was made in a 2021 review by Lady Dorrian of how courts in Scotland deal with sex offence allegations Lady Dorrian was one of the appeal judges who acquitted Hogg, 22, last week. SNP ministers want to pilot juryless trials, but the plan is being opposed by many lawyers and KCs who have vowed to boycott such cases as they believe it undermines a cornerstone of Scots justice. Data shows that more rapes are being reported to police each year, suggesting in part that victims are finding more confidence to come forward. But in 2020/21 there were only 78 convictions out of 2,298 cases investigated a rate of 3.4 per cent. Sandy Brindley, chief executive of Rape Crisis Scotland, told the Sunday Times: 'When you are looking at such a significant increase [in reported rapes] pretty much year-on-year, it would be naive to think that at least some of that increase is not due to more rapes taking place. It is probably a combination of both.' Ofcom rules do not prevent the BBC from calling Hamas 'terrorists', Downing Street insisted today. No 10 heaped more pressure on the corporation by dismissing the idea that using the term would breach impartiality guidelines. The PM's spokesman also pointed out that the BBC had branded the 9/11 and 2015 Bataclan attacks 'terrorism'. The intervention came after Tories complained to Ofcom about the broadcaster's handling of the situation. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps and Radio 4 Today programme host Mishal Husain clashed about the issue on Friday. The PM's (pictured) spokesman pointed out that the BBC had branded the 9/11 and Bataclan attacks 'terrorism' Israeli troops survey the devastation at a music festival where Hamas terrorists carried out a bloody slaughter Downing Street said there is nothing in Ofcom rules that prevent the BBC calling Hamas 'terrorists' Stressing that Parliament had declared Hamas a terror group, Mr Shapps slated an 'unfortunate' article by veteran foreign correspondent John Simpson justifying the muted language in coverage. Mr Shapps said that there was abundant evidence of beheadings and hostage-taking, adding that Jewish schools forced to shut in the UK over fears of repercussions would be dismayed by the stance. 'I think it's pretty clear that's terrorist activity and I think it's pretty surprising not to hear it being called that,' he said. But Ms Husain shot back that other major broadcasters were doing the same, arguing that they were following the Ofcom code. 'We're not unique in this,' she said. She added later: 'I don't know whether you are singling out the BBC and singling out Hamas or whether you are calling for a change in the Ofcom broadcasting code.' But the BBC's own website concedes that other TV news organisations have been describing Hamas as 'terrorists'. Conservative MP Michael Fabricant has written to Ofcom complaining about the claim and asking for an apology. 'Ofcom guidelines do not forbid the use of the word "terrorist" to describe a group when they have committed an act of terror,' he wrote. The PM's spokesman said today: 'Ministers have set out our position on this already. The legal position is that Hamas is a proscribed terrorist group. The term terrorist is an accurate legal description. 'The BBC has described other attacks as terrorism 9/11, 7/7, the Bataclan. To put it into context, the attack we witnessed in Israel was the third deadliest terror attack in the world since 1970. 'So there is no restriction on the BBC using that term, certainly not from Ofcom, who have made that clear that as long as they meet Ofcom rules on accuracy in news and due impartiality in news, broadcasters can use such vocabulary.' He added: 'A number of reporting organisations are accurately describing Hamas as a terrorist group, accuracy is important in these circumstances.' In a statement today, the BBC said: 'Careful consideration has been given to all aspects of our coverage to ensure that we report on developments accurately and with due impartiality in line with the BBC editorial guidelines, which are publicly available. 'We understand that this is an extremely worrying time for people not only in the region, but also in the UK and around the world, and we have reflected this in our coverage. 'BBC News has provided our global audiences with coverage and first-hand testimony of the atrocities committed by Hamas and the suffering in Gaza.' Speaking about its decision not to describe Hamas as a terrorist organisation, it said: 'The BBC, along with many other UK and global news organisations, does use the word "terrorist", but attributes it. We have made clear to our audiences that Hamas is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK and other governments.' The numbers of complaints are in the higher hundreds, not in the thousands, and there is a handful of numbers difference between the complaints totals for perceived Israeli and Palestinian bias, the PA news agency understands. The head of BBC News and Current Affairs Deborah Turness defended the corporation's editorial position in an email to staff last week. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps and Radio 4 Today programme host Mishal Husain clashed about the issue during an interview on Friday 'It is because BBC News matters so much that the words we use and don't use also matter,' she wrote. 'Our audiences turn to us for clarity in a chaotic world, to help them separate fact from fake and we are proud to serve them and part of serving is listening and being responsive. 'If we are perceived to take sides in any war, it will no longer be safe for us to operate in hostile environments and to witness first-hand what is happening. 'I know from those of you who have contacted me that it is therefore uncomfortable to find ourselves at the centre of a public debate about the BBC's longstanding editorial policy. 'So we will meet with those who have questions about our editorial guidelines to better understand their concerns and explain the fundamental principles that sit behind them.' Israel's ambassador to UK gave an impassioned speech in defence of bombings Israel's ambassador to the UK has defended her military's brutal bombardment of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, arguing this morning that Israeli Defence Forces at least gave Gazans warning that the attacks were coming. Tzipi Hotovely, 44, gave an impassioned and defiant speech, pointing out that Hamas terrorists launched their attacks with no forewarning and slaughtered innocent, unarmed Israeli citizens. 'Hamas are in charge of any harm that will be happening in Gaza to their own people. If we see innocent people get killed in Gaza, it's Hamas in charge,' she said. 'It's not Israel's responsibility - we don't have any obligation to bring Gaza water. 1,300 Israelis were targeted, slaughtered... they didn't get 24 hours to flee or protect themselves.' Later, when pushed by a BBC Radio 4 interviewer on allegations that Israel is doling out collective punishment on the Palestinian people, Hotovely hit back, bringing up the Royal Air Force's carpet bombing of German cities amid a bitter campaign to defeat Nazi Germany in WWII. '600,000 Germans were killed in your attacks on Hamburg and Dresden. Why? Because you knew this was the only way you could defeat the Nazis,' she declared. 'We are giving the people in Gaza the opportunity (to flee) that (Israelis) were never given... they were slaughtered in their beds,' she concluded. It comes as Gaza's health ministry revealed updated casualty figures, with the Palestinian death toll now standing at around 2,750 people, up from 2,670 last night - more than in the 2014 Gaza war, which lasted more than six weeks. The ministry added that nearly 10,000 Palestinians had been wounded since the fighting erupted, with the conflict now representing the deadliest war for both sides. More than 1,400 Israelis have died, the vast majority civilians killed in Hamas' October 7 assault. At least 155 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza, according to Israel. Speaking to SkyNews, Hotovely later claimed 'there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza', arguing that Israel only has responsibility to safeguard Israeli citizens before doubling down on claims that Hamas and Hamas alone are responsible for the safety of their own people. A Palestinian man walks amid the rubble of buildings destroyed during Israeli air strikes near his home in the Rafah refugee camp in the southern of Gaza Strip, on October 16, 2023 A ball of fire and smoke rise above buildings during an Israeli strike on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on October 15, 2023. Israel embarked on a withering air campaign against Hamas militants in Gaza after they carried out a brutal attack on Israel on October 7 that left more than 1,400 people killed in Israel Palestinian children injured during Israeli raids in the southern Gaza Strip arrive on October 16, 2023 in Khan Yunis, Gaza Injured Palestinian kid is carried to the Naseer Hospital after Israeli airstrike as Israeli attacks continue on the 10th day in Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip on October 16, 2023 Palestinians search for casualties under the rubble of a house destroyed in Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 16, 2023 Relatives of Palestinian civil defence officer killed in Israeli attacks mourn at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza Strip, Gaza on October 16, 2023 Members of a Palestinian civil emergency team react after several colleagues were killed in Israeli strikes, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Monday A Palestinian man looks a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in the Rafah refugee camp in the southern of Gaza Strip, on October 16, 2023 Palestinians search for casualties under the rubble of a house destroyed in Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 16, 2023 Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, as seen from Ashkelon, in southern Israel, on Sunday Tzipi Hotovely, the Israeli ambassador, this morning defended her military's bombardment of Gaza More than a million people have fled their homes in the besieged Strip in the past week ahead of an expected Israeli invasion that seeks to eliminate Hamas' leadership after its deadly attack. The enclave's food and water supplies are dwindling, with its hospitals warning that they are on the verge of collapse. Israeli forces, supported by a growing deployment of US warships in the region and the call-up of some 360,000 reservists, have positioned themselves along Gaza's border and prepared for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle the militant group. Israel said it has already struck dozens of military targets, including command centres and rocket launchers, and killed Hamas commanders. Officials in Israel have given no timetable for a ground incursion that aid groups warn could hasten a humanitarian crisis in the coastal Gaza enclave. Armed forces minister James Heappey said the UK is encouraging Israel to ensure it balances military and humanitarian efforts. Asked whether the Government supports the blockade of water, medical supplies and power from Gaza, he told LBC: 'I think what we are recognising is that there is military necessity rubbing up against humanitarian necessity and what we're saying to Israel is that they need and are, need to show the balance between those two imperatives.' Echoing US secretary of state Antony Blinken, Mr Heappey said democracies hold themselves to a 'higher standard' and 'of course we are encouraging Israel to make sure it does hold itself to that higher standard.' He added: 'It is the devil's own choice that Israel has got to make but for my money they are balancing correctly the need to preserve innocent human life as best they possibly can while accepting that the adversary that they will soon launch an attack on, uses humans and shields and deliberately seeks to hide within civilian population and infrastructure.' About 500,000 people, nearly one quarter of Gaza's population, were taking refuge in United Nations schools and other facilities across the territory, where water supplies are dwindling, said Juliette Touma, spokesperson for the UN's Palestinian refugee agency. The agency says an estimated one million people have been displaced in Gaza in a single week. US secretary of state Antony Blinken will return to Israel on Monday after completing a frantic six-country tour through Arab nations aimed at preventing the fighting from igniting a broader regional conflict, American officials said. President Joe Biden is also considering a trip to Israel, though no plans have been finalised. Mr Biden has repeatedly proclaimed support for Israel, but he said in a TV interview he thought it would be a 'big mistake' for the country to reoccupy Gaza. Israel's ambassadors to the US and UN said the country does not want an occupation. But ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan told CNN that Israel will do 'whatever is needed to obliterate their (Hamas') capabilities'. Palestinians, including people wounded in Israeli strikes, arrive in a truck, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Monday People gather in a neighbourhood in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, after it was hit by an Israeli strike on October 15, 2023 Palestinians search for casualties under the rubble of a house destroyed in Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 16, 2023 Relatives of Palestinian civil defence officer killed in Israeli attacks mourn at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza Strip, Gaza on October 16, 2023 Palestinians gather at a site of Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 16, 2023 A Palestinian man walks amid the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in the Rafah refugee camp in the southern of Gaza Strip A Palestinian man walks amid the rubble of buildings destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in the Rafah refugee camp in the southern of Gaza Strip, on October 16, 2023 Meanwhile, fighting along Israel's border with Lebanon intensified on Sunday with Hezbollah militants firing rockets and an anti-tank missile, and Israel responding with air strikes and shelling. The Israeli military also reported shooting at one of its border posts. The fighting killed at least one person on the Israeli side and wounded several on both sides of the border. An Israeli drone fired two missiles late on Sunday at a hill west of the town of Kfar Kila in south Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency reported. There were no casualties reported in the strikes, which hit near a Lebanese army centre. Hezbollah said it had fired rockets toward an Israeli military position in the northern border town of Shtula in retaliation for Israeli shelling that killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah on Friday and two Lebanese civilians on Saturday. A Hezbollah spokeswoman said the increased strikes represented a 'warning' and did not mean Hezbollah has decided to enter the war. The US has named David Satterfield, the former US ambassador to Turkey experienced in diplomacy in the region, to be special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues. America's national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday that Mr Satterfield will focus on getting humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza. Hospitals in Gaza are expected to run out of generator fuel within two days, endangering the lives of thousands of patients, according to the UN. Gaza's sole power plant shut down for lack of fuel after Israel completely sealed off the 25-mile long territory following the Hamas attack. In Nasser Hospital, in the southern town of Khan Younis, intensive care rooms were packed with wounded patients, most of them children under the age of three. Hundreds of people with severe blast injuries have come to the hospital, where fuel is expected to run out by Monday. There are 35 patients who require ventilators and another 60 on dialysis. Dr Mohammed Qandeel, a consultant at the critical care complex, said if fuel runs out, 'it means the whole health system will be shut down'. He added: 'All these patients are in danger of death if the electricity is cut off.' Shifa hospital in Gaza City, the territory's largest, said it would bury 100 bodies in a mass grave as an emergency measure after its mortuary overflowed. Tens of thousands of people seeking safety have gathered in the hospital compound. Gaza was already in a humanitarian crisis due to a growing shortage of water and medical supplies caused by the Israeli siege. 'An unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding under our eyes,' said Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. Mr Sullivan told CNN that Israeli officials told him they had turned the water back on in southern Gaza. Israel's minister of energy and water, Israel Katz, said in a statement that water had been restored at one 'specific point' in Gaza. A spokesman said the location was outside Khan Younis. Aid workers in Gaza said they had not yet seen evidence the water was back on. Israel has ordered more than one million Palestinians - almost half the territory's population - to move south. The military says it is trying to clear away civilians ahead of a major campaign against Hamas in the north, where it says the militants have extensive networks of tunnels, bunkers and rocket launchers. Hamas urged people to stay in their homes, and the Israeli military released photos it said showed a Hamas roadblock preventing traffic from moving south. Nevertheless, more than 600,000 people had evacuated the Gaza City area, said Israel's chief military spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari. The US has been trying to broker a deal to reopen Egypt's Rafah crossing with Gaza to allow Americans and other foreigners to leave and humanitarian aid amassed on the Egyptian side to be brought in. The crossing, which was closed because of air strikes early in the war, has yet to reopen. Israel has said the siege will only be lifted when the captives are returned. Donald Trump wants to give evidence in London to seek 'a vindication' over 'false' allegations he took part in 'golden showers' with Moscow prostitutes and paid bribes to Russian officials, the High Court heard today. The former president of the United States, 77, is bringing a data protection claim against Orbis Business Intelligence - a consultancy founded by former MI6 officer Christopher Steele - and is seeking compensation for distress. Mr Steele, who previously ran the Secret Intelligence Service's Russia desk, was the author of the so-called Steele dossier which included allegations Mr Trump had been 'compromised' by the Russian security service, the FSB. At the start of a two-day hearing, the High Court was told Mr Trump is bringing his case over two memos in the dossier which claimed the former president had taken part in 'sex parties' while in St Petersburg and performed 'perverted sex acts' on prostitutes at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Moscow. Mr Trump said in a witness statement that the dossier contains 'numerous false, phony or made-up allegations' and denied that he hired prostitutes to engage in 'golden showers', took part in 'sex parties' in St Petersburg or gave the Russian authorities 'sufficient material to blackmail me'. 'The only way that I can fully demonstrate the total inaccuracies of the personal data in the dossier is to bring these proceedings and to prove, by evidence at trial, that the data are false,' he said. Mr Trump's statement claimed that 'not one of the damning allegations contained in the Steele reporting was ever corroborated'. He also described his daughter, Ivanka, as 'completely irrelevant to the claim' and 'any mention of her only serves to distract this court from the defendant and Mr Steeles reckless behavior'. Donald Trump, seen at a campaign rally in New Hampshire earlier this month, is bringing a data protection claim against Orbis Business Intelligence Orbis Business Intelligence was founded by Christopher Steele, who previously ran MI6's Russia desk Mr Trump later claimed the dossier had been found to have 'a number of inaccurate and unproven allegations' and that Orbis has a 'moral responsibility for its content'. In written submissions, Hugh Tomlinson KC, for Mr Trump, said Orbis is accused of unlawfully processing Mr Trump's personal data, causing him 'serious distress and reputational damage'. He told the court: 'President Trump begins this case because he seeks a vindication of his legal rights... that the statements in these memoranda are false.' The court heard Mr Trump accepts Orbis is not responsible for the publication of the dossier - as it was leaked to and published by BuzzFeed - but claims his data was processed by the consultancy. Mr Tomlinson later described Mr Trump as a 'controversial figure', adding: 'He often expresses himself in very strong language... his interactions with the US legal system have been many and varied. 'None of this is relevant to the question of whether the personal data in question is accurate.' But lawyers for Orbis asked for Mr Trump's claim to be thrown out, telling the court it was 'brought for the purpose of harassing Orbis and Mr Steele and pursuing longstanding grievances'. The 'Steele Dossier' included allegations that Mr Trump had been 'compromised' by the Russian security service, the FSB. Pictured in Vladimir Putin today in Moscow Antony White KC, for the consultancy, said in written submissions the case 'has no realistic prospect of success' and has been brought too late. He said: 'The claim for compensation is principally based on reputational damage allegedly suffered by the claimant. 'This claim is bound to fail on limitation grounds and because any reputational damage, and any resulting distress, allegedly suffered will have been caused by the BuzzFeed publication, for which the claimant accepts Orbis is not liable.' Mr White said the dossier was never intended to be made public and all copies of the memos held by Orbis were destroyed in 2017. The barrister later said Mr Trump's case had been brought to pursue a 'vendetta' against Orbis and Mr Steel. He continued: 'The claimant has a deep and intense animus against Mr Steele and Orbis, which is reflected in numerous vituperative public statements which he has made since the dossier was made public by BuzzFeed in 2017.' Mr White said Mr Trump 'has a long history of repeatedly bringing frivolous, meritless and vexatious claims for the purpose of vexing and harassing perceived enemies and others against whom he bears a grudge'. The Steele Dossier was published before the 2017 election. Pictured is Mr Trump coming down the Trump Tower escalator in 2015 to announce his candidacy The hearing before Mrs Justice Steyn is set to conclude on Tuesday, with a decision expected at a later date. Mr Steele and Orbis Business Intelligence were previously sued for libel by Russian national Aleksej Gubarev, claiming they were legally responsible for BuzzFeed publishing the dossier. However, in a judgment in October 2020, Lord Justice Warby dismissed the claim. Data protection claims are becoming an increasingly common way for high-profile individuals to take legal action through the English courts. In 2020 three oligarchs, German Khan, Petr Aven and Mikhail Fridman, won a case against Orbis in London's High Court for alleged breaches of data protection laws over the dossier. The trio said they brought the legal action to 'clear their names and correct the public record' about the claims made about them and to prove they were not 'creatures of the Kremlin'. The London lawsuit comes as Mr Trump faces a series of criminal and civil cases in the US. The former president was criminally indicted on August 1 for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, which led to a group of his supporters storming the Capitol. The data protection lawsuit is being held at the High Court in London, which is housed inside the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand (pictured) Today, his lawyers will appear in court to argue against a proposed gagging order that would halt his verbal attacks against likely witnesses in the case. He faces a second criminal indictment relating to the storage of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago in Florida. His other criminal cases relate to allegations of election tampering in Georgia and claims he paid $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels to stop her sharing details on an alleged affair. Mr Trump also faces a $250m civil fraud trial in New York. A judge has imposed a limited gagging order in relation to that case following a social media post which maligned the judge's principal clerk. Prosecutors are asking the judge to bar Mr Trump and lawyers from making statements 'that pose a substantial likelihood of material prejudice to this case', including inflammatory or intimidating remarks about witnesses, lawyers and other people involved in the case. In May, a jury in Manhattan found Mr Trump liable for sexually abusing a writer in a department store dressing room, in the mid-1990s. E Jean Carroll was awarded $5million in damages at the conclusion of the civil case for battery and defamation. Ms Carroll is now suing him a second time for defamation. In his witness statement to the High Court today, Mr Trump said he had been told by his lawyers not to comment on any of the other cases. 'I am informed by my legal team that I am unable to comment on a number of these cases as they are subject to ongoing appeal and doing so may be considered to be a waiver of privilege over the legal advice I have received,' he said. A record 2.6 million Australians did not cast a ballot in the Voice to Parliament referendum and each of them faces a $20 fine. The total revenue from fines collected from non-voters could total $52million, which could offset the $400million it cost Australia to hold the national poll. Final numbers are expected to show only 85 per cent of eligible voters showed up to have their say at one of the nation's 7,000 polling stations on Saturday. As of Monday evening, 60.7 per cent of votes counted answered No to the question of whether the Constitution should be altered to establish a Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander advisory committee to Parliament. Only 39.3 per cent of ballots on the same question were marked Yes. Only 39.3 per cent of ballots on question of whether Australia's Constitution should be altered to to include a Voice for Indigenous people were marked Yes. Pictured: downcast Yes supported on Saturday night Final numbers are expected to show only 85 per cent of eligible voters in the referendum showed up to have their say at one of the nation's 7,000 polling stations on Saturday The referendum result was called by analysts within hours of polls closing, confirming most predictions. The final number of people who lodge a vote as a percentage of all those enrolled is expected to be around 85 per cent, meaning there were 2.6million no-shows. That would be a record low for participation in an Australian federal poll, dipping below the 89.82 per cent turnout when Anthony Albanese was elected in May 2022. Only 79.5 per cent of enrolled voters turned out for the same-sex marriage postal plebiscite. But that was voluntary. Voting in Federal elections and referendums has been compulsory since 1925. Early interest in the Voice referendum was strong. The number of people enrolled to vote before the big day was 17.6 million. That was trumpeted as 'the largest enrolment in history' by the Australian Electoral Commission. 'People who do not cast a vote will not only miss out on their say in the referendum but will also receive a non-voter notice and may have to pay a fine,' the AEC warned. The No campaign won easily. As of Monday evening, 60.7 per cent of votes counted answered No to the question of whether the Constitution should be altered. Pictured: leading No campaigner Jacinta Price Voter turnout for the referendum looks set to create a record low for participation in an Australian federal poll, dipping below the 89.8 per cent turnout when Anthony Albanese was elected in May 2022 But by the time polling day arrived, after months of bitter division and confusion over what a Voice would really mean, it didn't seem to matter. Almost 15 per cent of eligible voters didn't exercise their right to have a say and were deterred by the punishment for not showing up. The fine for not voting is $20. It hasn't been increased since it was introduced in 1984, 39 years ago. Anyone who registered to vote by post can in theory still avoid the fine. While postal votes should have been completed by 6pm local time on Saturday, the law allows up to 13 days after referendum day for the AEC to receive them. 'Anyone who has applied for, and received, their postal vote must complete it and return it to the AEC as soon as possible,' the AEC website said. A property investment CEO who sent fell out with his partner and sent his lawyers a bag of manure has lost a harassment lawsuit. Simon Lyons, 43, and Farid Alizadeh, 43, set up their West End-based property investment business, Enstar Capital Ltd, in 2004 and for years worked well together on more than 100m worth of developments. But Mr Lyons fell out with Mr Alizadeh and third partner Andrew Rahamim, 36, after being accused of being 'rude and abusive' to colleagues, staff and clients. He then embarked on a 'campaign of harassment' against the pair, sending hundreds of abusive emails to them, their family, business contacts and religious leaders. In various messages, Mr Lyons branded Mr Alizadeh as 'useful as a pair of stale knickers,' accused him of 'w**king' all morning and claimed 'my farts are more useful than this guy.' Property investment CEO Simon Lyons (pictured), 43, has been sued by his business partner after he sent his family's lawyers a bag of manure on Amazon after they fell out Mr Lyons and Farid Alizadeh, 43, set up their West End-based property investment business, Enstar Capital Ltd, in 2004 and for years worked well together on more than 100m worth of developments But Mr Lyons fell out with Mr Alizadeh and third partner Andrew Rahamim, 36, after being accused of being 'rude and abusive' to colleagues, staff and clients Mr Lyons accused his partners of stealing company money and, as the dispute escalated, targeted professional advisers, sending Amazon packages containing a shovel and a bag of manure to solicitors working on a family trust of which Mr Alizadeh was a beneficiary. After being sued Mr Lyons - a former pupil of top public school Clifton College, in Bristol - argued his actions had been 'reasonable'. But following a trial in May, a judge has now found Mr Lyons' conduct amounted to harassment and handed him an injunction banning him from harassing either man, or Mr Rahamim's now 70-year-old father Michael. Ruling, Judge Jaron Lewis said: 'When the entire course of conduct is looked at, it is apparent that this was a prolonged attack on the claimants lasting over a year. 'It was wide ranging, covering not just the claimants' professional lives, and the claimants' abilities, but also matters relating to the private sphere of their lives.' Mr Lyons had claimed nothing he did was serious enough to amount to harassment and said messages were 'reasonable' in the context of a wider dispute about the 'brutal' way he was pushed out of the business. The court heard Mr Lyons set up multi-million pound Enstar with his friend Mr Alizadeh in 2004. Andrew Rahamim joined the property investment firm as an employee in 2012, becoming a director and minority shareholder in 2017, with Mr Lyons and Mr Alizadeh 40% owners. Among other major projects, the company was involved in the conversion of former offices into a 20m development of luxury apartments opposite the Royal Court of Justice, on the Strand, in central London, in 2015. One of their buildings in London's Soho was also acquired by Damien Hirst which served as the 58-year-old British artist's headquarters for his flagship studio and private art complex. But an 'acrimonious breakdown' breakdown in the relationship between Mr Lyons and his two co-directors, beginning in 2017, has now resulted in a court fight over the road at the High Court. A dispute over how the business was run is set to be heard at a later date, but the parties reached court earlier this year after Mr Alizadeh and the Rahamims accused Mr Lyons of harassment. They deny any wrongdoing in relation to the business. Mr Lyons embarked on a 'campaign of harassment' against the pair, sending hundreds of abusive emails to them, their family, business contacts and religious leaders Simon Lyons' and Farid Alizadeh's Enstar Capital Ltd was involved in the conversion of former offices into a 20m development of luxury apartments (pictured) opposite the Royal Court of Justice, on the Strand, in central London, in 2015 During the trial, Mr Alizadeh said Mr Lyons' behaviour had become 'problematic,' with him being 'rude' and 'abusive' to him, staff, clients and others working the same sector. The judge said that, by May 4, 2021, the relationship had broken down 'completely' and Mr Lyons sent a series of 'angry, abusive and aggressive messages.' In one, which was copied to Andrew Rahamim, he wrote: 'Farid walks in with his lunch at 1:22 having been w**king all morning and doing ZERO to generate any business whatsoever for us. I could smoke joints for next thousand years and I'd still be more effective than this clown.' He followed it up with another message, stating: 'My farts are more value than this guy !! waste of f***ing space!! why's he not out looking for deals and investors?... Andrew??? Any ideas ???? Or your opinion only extends to me and nobody else. Nothing worse than a man with no spine let alone bollox !!!' In another, he said: 'Everybody knows he's a dishonest c***,' and added that 'he's about as useful as a pair of stale knickers.' Mr Lyons was suspended from his employment on May 21 and his email account was blocked, prompting him to go to the office and lock the computers and furniture in the boardroom, before leaving with the only key, said the judge. As well as his hundreds of emails which he then sent far and wide, Mr Lyons also targeted the solicitors who dealt with Mr Alizadeh's family trust for 'offensive gifts' from Amazon, the firm receiving 'two shovels, fake money, farm manure and handcuffs.' The judge said: 'The defendant denies that he ordered these items, but was unable to provide a convincing explanation about how his personal Amazon account came to be used. 'Looked at in the context of the wider dispute, and the allegations being made by the defendant at the time about the firm, I am satisfied that he sent them.' The judge said Mr Lyons also went on to report a partner at another legal firm used by the men to the police for 'perverting the course of justice by attempting to smoke screen his clients' criminal activities.' 'The defendant accepts sending most of the communications complained of,' he said. 'In evidence, he tried to distance himself from some of the more unpleasant messages, claiming to have no recollection of sending them. 'His evidence on this was unconvincing, and when the messages are looked at it in context it is very clear that the defendant sent them all.' One of their buildings in London's Soho (pictured) was also acquired by Damien Hirst which served as serve as the 58-year-old British artist's headquarters for his flagship studio and private art complex The judge found that the conduct amounted to a campaign of harassment against all three men. 'The main problem with the defendant's conduct was the relentless and escalating campaign that he was waging against the claimants,' he said. 'The claimants did not know what the defendant would do next, or who he would contact. 'Each of them was the recipient of a series of abusive, threatening and at times menacing messages, many written using aggressive and exaggerated language or alleging that they had committed criminal offences. 'Each of them was copied in on messages to third parties, in which the defendant made serious allegations about them, suggesting that these matters merited investigation by the authorities, or that they should be avoided. 'The defendant sent messages to the claimants and third parties in the name of ECL, deliberately seeking to disrupt the company's business. 'The defendant repeatedly attacked the professional advisers working with the claimants, or the Family Trust, threatening to sue one firm, reporting two firms to the Solicitors Regulation Authority and purporting to sack advisers on behalf of ECL when he had no power to do so. 'He also sent offensive gifts to the firm who had acted for the Family Trust. 'Whilst these are examples of the defendant targeting named lawyers in law firms, it would have been foreseeably likely that these complaints would have been brought to the claimants' attention, and that this would cause them alarm and distress.' The judge said the harassment had significant distressing impacts on all three men, with Andrew Rahamim telling the court he struggled to sleep and started to dread receiving emails. His father Michael said he found the situation 'disturbing' and explained that he felt stressed, distressed and fearful, with Mr Lyons targeting his friends and family. Mr Alizadeh had not been as badly affected, but the judge accepted that he 'found the harassment distressing, that he feared for the safety of his family, and that he suffered harm as a result.' He made an injunction barring Mr Lyons from any further harassment of the others. A High Court trial relating to Mr Lyons' complaints about how the business was run will take place at a later date. A patient was reportedly declared dead by paramedics but 'woke up' in hospital just hours later. The individual, whose identity has not been revealed, was declared dead by ambulance workers on Friday. But the patient then 'woke up' after being taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital. The North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) has issued an apology and started an investigation. The patient's current condition has not been revealed. Andrew Hodge, the service's director of paramedicine, said: 'As soon as we were made aware of this incident, we opened an investigation and contacted the patient's family. We are deeply sorry for the distress that this has caused them. The individual, whose identity has not been revealed, was declared dead when ambulance workers attended an incident before being taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital (stock image) 'A full review of this incident is being undertaken and we are unable to comment any further at this stage. 'The colleagues involved are being supported appropriately and we will not be commenting further about any individuals at this point.' MailOnline has contacted the NEAS for further comment. It comes just months after a damning report looked into NEAS ambulance workers allegedly 'hiding medical errors and withholding evidence at the coroner's inquests'. The independent review highlighted the case of 17-year-old Quinn Beadle, from Shildon, who was found dead in woodland near her home, and a NEAS paramedic who declared her dead rather than trying to perform CPR. The report, led by retired hospital boss Dame Marianne Griffiths, said: 'Both this investigation and previous reports have found a number of failings in how the Trust should have responded to the incidents and then in their response to concerns about how failings were accepted and followed up. 'It is important that the Trust formally and publicly reiterates that there have been failings and restates its wholehearted apologies to the families concerned. 'Leadership dysfunction was allowed to continue for far too long and this had a major impact on how teams within different directorates operated. 'A defensiveness grew and affected team operations, transparency, candour and judgement. They also clearly impacted the health and wellbeing of staff.' BBC cameraman Hamza Yassin has claimed wildlife TV documentary scenes are often faked to make viewers feel more 'emotional' about threats to the natural world. The Strictly Come Dancing winner said dramatic moments are invented and scenes are manipulated to encourage viewers to 'do something' about environmental issues. But the revelation is far from the first time the corporation has been in the spotlight for making up or doctoring scenes in nature documentaries. The BBC has faced a series of fakery rows over the past few decades with the most famous in 2011 when it was revealed scenes in Frozen Planet which apparently showed a polar bear giving birth in the wild were actually shot in a Dutch zoo. It also recreates sound effects in its wildlife shows in a studio, but has insisted that this is an industry-wide practice and is because animal sounds would otherwise be difficult for viewers to hear above the rest of the ambient noise in a landscape. Dramatic footage of a polar bear tending her newborn cubs in Frozen Planet was filmed in a Dutch zoo using fake snow. The footage in 2011 was filmed in a den made of plaster and wood Footage apparently showing a single volcanic eruption in the 2015 BBC programme Patagonia was in fact made by splicing footage of two different volcanic eruptions together The polar bear scene from 2011 was in episode five of the BBC's 16million Frozen Planet series which featured tiny polar bears mewling and nuzzling for milk from their mother. From polar bears to wild eagles: BBC fakery rows over the years Serengeti: A scene showing a baby zebra struggling through crocodile-infested waters in 2019 was in fact a 'composite' of multiple clips edited together. Blue Planet II: Producers recreated a rock pool and the burrow of a zebra mantis shrimp for close-up shots in 2017. The underwater sound effects were also criticised by viewers as 'ridiculous', 'awful' and 'nonsensical'. Planet Earth II: Footage of a wild golden eagle's view of a mountainous habitat in 2016 was actually filmed using a captive bird that lives in a wildlife sanctuary in France. Patagonia: Footage apparently showing a single volcanic eruption in the 2015 programme was in fact made by splicing footage of two different volcanic eruptions together, one which happened in 2011 and the other in 2015. Human Planet: The episode Deserts Life in the Furnace in 2014 was exposed when a seemingly savage wolf was revealed to actually be semi-domesticated. Frozen Planet : Dramatic footage of a polar bear tending her newborn cubs in the show was filmed in a Dutch zoo using fake snow. The footage in 2011 was filmed in a den made of plaster and wood in a wildlife enclosure. Panorama : The BBC apologised in 2011 after it was found 'likely' that Panorama had faked scenes of boys said to be working in an Indian sweatshop. The Liz Kershaw Show : BBC 6 Music was found in 2008 to have repeatedly faked competitions where no prizes existed and that callers had been the producers or their friends. Blue Peter: The BBC was fined 50,000 in 2007 after a young studio guest posed as a caller when the phone system failed during a phone-in. A Year With The Queen : The BBC apologised to the Queen in 2007 after a trailer wrongly implied that she had stormed out of a sitting with photographer Annie Leibovitz. Children in Need : A fictitious winner's details were broadcast during Children in Need on BBC1 Scotland in November 2005 after no calls came through from the public. Blue Planet: A lobster spawning scene was filmed in a British aquarium in 2001, but viewers were led to believe it was taking place off the coast of Nova Scotia. Polar Bear - Arctic Warrior: A mother bear was filmed giving birth to and snuggling with her newborn cub in the 1997 programme. Viewers were led to believe the scene took place in the Arctic but it was in fact was filmed in a zoo in Frankfurt. Advertisement Eight million viewers believed that the scenes were shot by cameramen who had endured sub-zero temperatures in an underground cave in the arctic wilderness. The scenes, however, had been shot in a mocked up cave made of plaster and wood and in a zoo enclosure in Holland using fake snow. The footage was defended at the time by presenter Sir David, who compared nature documentaries to 'making movies'. But the following year, when the Africa documentary series came out, the BBC made it clearer when footage had not been filmed in the wild with warnings that 'controlled filming' had been used. While the polar bear footage was the most famous incident of its kind, it was far from the first time that BBC shows had been the target of fakery accusations. In 1997, in the most memorable scene of Polar Bear - Arctic Warrior saw a mother bear was filmed giving birth to and snuggling with her newborn cub. Viewers were led to believe the scene took place in the Arctic. In fact, it was filmed in a zoo in Frankfurt. And in 2001, Sir David was accused of using deceptive techniques in Blue Planet when it included a lobster spawning scene that was filmed in a British aquarium. Viewers were led to believe the scene was taking place off the coast of Nova Scotia. Also in 2008, Sir David was accused of staging a confrontation between himself and a cobra in a South African desert for the series, Life in Cold Blood. More recently in August 2019, the Serengeti series featured a scene showing a baby zebra struggling through crocodile-infested waters which the Sunday Times revealed was in fact a 'composite' of multiple clips edited together. Shown in episode four, 'Misfortune', the young Zebra was seen desperately swimming through a rushing river right next to a large crocodile. It struggled to keep up with its group and, in a second scene, was swept away by the raging current. Cameraman Doug Allan revealed at the time that the zebra was real and 'did really get carried down the stream'. But he added: 'Whether the zebra was in that particular bit of water as seen on screen, who knows. They could be in different places at different times.' Mr Allan also revealed in 2013 that many wildlife scenes in BBC series are faked, saying that species 'smaller than a baby rabbit' are put in custom-built sets and filmed under controlled conditions, rather than in the wild. In October 2017, it was revealed that Blue Planet II viewers would not be told which scenes were filmed in laboratories rather than the wild. Sir David's programme included close-up lab footage of corals bleaching, which could only be filmed with lights and specialist cameras. Producers for the show also recreated a rock pool and the burrow of a zebra mantis shrimp for close-up shots. And a terrifying-looking fangtooth was filmed in a special chamber on a ship after samples were taken from the deep ocean, according to The Guardian. Footage of a wild golden eagle's view of a mountainous habitat for Planet Earth II in 2016 was actually filmed using a captive bird that lives in a wildlife sanctuary in France A scene showing a baby zebra struggling through crocodile-infested waters in the 2019 BBC programme Serengeti was in fact a 'composite' of multiple clips edited together But the source of the footage was not made clear to viewers during the show, with executive producer James Honeyborne saying at the time: 'You can't just break the spell.' How Hamza Yassin went from wildlife cameraman to Strictly Come Dancing winner Hamza Yassin is a presenter, wildlife photographer and cameraman. He has presented on a number of BBC shows including Countryfile and Animal Park. Hamza's first appearance as a presenter for the broadcaster came when he worked as a wildlife cameraman on The One Show. Hamza has previously worked for BBC rival ITV when he shared his knowledge of film-making on This Morning. As a cameraman, Hamza has filmed for documentary series' including the BBC's Springwatch, The Hunt and Sky series Predators. He has a Masters degree in Biological Imaging and Photography with Merit, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Zoology with Conservation. Last year, Hamza swapped his camera for a pair of dancing shoes as a contestant on BBC1s Strictly Come Dancing. He made his way to the final and ended up lifting the glitterball trophy with his professional partner Jowita Przystal. Advertisement He also insisted at the time that underwater sound effects - which had been criticised by viewers for being 'ridiculous', 'awful' and 'nonsensical' - were 'representative' of nature. Mr Honeyborne said the production team worked extremely hard on audio quality after facing trouble because sound travels much faster in water than in air. His comments came after some viewers claimed the BBC was exaggerating sound effects including a tuskfish hitting a clam against coral on the programme. The previous year in November 2016, the BBC revealed that breathtaking Planet Earth II footage that appeared to show a wild golden eagle's view of a mountainous habitat was actually filmed using a captive bird that lives in a wildlife sanctuary in France. The tame eagle, known as Slovak, was filmed swooping over the Alps at speeds of up to 200mph - taking viewers with it via a 'lipstick' camera strapped to its back. In a video on its website, the BBC confirmed that Slovak, who lives at the Park les Aigles du Leman, was turned into a cameraman using his professional bird trainer. In 2015, it emerged that a volcanic eruption scene in another BBC show, Patagonia: Earth's Secret Paradise, had also been doctored. Impressive footage claimed to show a 'dirty thunderstorm' during the eruption, with lightning strikes flashing through a cloud of volcanic ash. But it was in fact made by splicing footage of two different volcanic eruptions together, one which happened in 2011 and the other in 2015. Another BBC documentary, Human Planet: Deserts Life in the Furnace, aired in August 2014, was also exposed for misleading viewers, when a seemingly savage wolf was revealed to actually be semi-domesticated. Staff at the corporation were subsequently forced to undergo an 'anti-fakery' course afterwards. Last week Mr Yassin, 33, who has been touted as the next Sir David Attenborough, said producers often edit footage in way that will 'make a film that tugs on your heartstrings'. Hamza Yassin has presented on a number of BBC shows including Countryfile and Animal Park Hamza Yassin attends the BBC's Planet Earth III launch at Frameless in London on October 12 Jowita Przystal and Hamza Yassin at the Strictly Come Dancing 2023 launch on September 16 He told the Cheltenham Literature Festival that documentary makers 'dramatise what we're seeing' and also sometimes pretend parts of the world remain pristine. According to The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Yassin said: 'Now, spoiler, we're trying to make a film that tugs on your heartstrings so that you guys get emotional about it and then you hopefully do something about it. 'The amount of times we'll film a cheetah family, and she's got three babies, and we just zoom in slightly and crop out the last baby. And the story goes, "The mother has lost her baby?" 'Then you bring in a lion from somewhere else, something else, and the lion goes, "Grrr", and you think, "Oh, the lion's killed the baby!" 'And then five minutes of drama, then we just zoom back out again and then you say, "Ah, it's all a happy story". No. That didn't happen. 'Sorry to ruin it for you guys but we are dramatising what we're seeing.' Mr Yassin, who was born in Sudan but moved to the UK as a child, has worked on programmes such as Animal Park and Countryfile - and more recently his Strictly: Birds of Prey documentary last month. The third series of the BBC's hit Planet Earth documentary starts this Sunday. He was the all-American film pioneer who brought joy to millions with his children's films. Today, the firm started by Walt Disney in the United States in 1923 celebrates its 100th anniversary. But, it was during a visit to the UK in 1949 that history was truly made. While in the country to supervise the filming of Treasure Island in 1949, Walt made an impromptu visit to the tiny village of Norton Disney in Lincolnshire to trace his distant ancestry. Accompanied by his wife and children, he found the family crest of his reputed ancestor Sir William d'Isney, on the 14th-century figure's tomb in Norton Disney's St Peter's Church. As a tribute to Walt's discovery, those three lions have featured in the famous title sequence of every Disney film since 2006. A flag bearing the crest is seen fluttering at the top of Sleeping Beauty's castle in the short clip and has been reproduced at Disneyland parks across the world since 1965. While in the country to supervise the filming of Treasure Island in 1949, Walt Disney made an impromptu visit to the tiny village of Norton Disney in Lincolnshire to trace his distant ancestry. Above: A family film showing Walt's visit to St Peter's Church, Norton Disney, with his wife and daughters in July 1949 Speaking from St Peter's Church, which dates back to the 11th century, historian and Disney expert Sebastien Durand told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme: 'This is the oldest place in England where you can find a trace of Disney, of Walt Disney's history and his family tree and even his coat of arms.' He added that there is a '99 per cent' possibility that Disney's name originates with from the French family memorialised in St Peter's Church. Walt made his visit to Norton Disney with his wife Lillian and daughters Diane and Sharon on July 7, 1949. At the time, his firm was already hugely popular for films including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Fantasia, which starred the much-loved Mickey Mouse. Walt, who was aware that his great-grandfather was Irish, had heard that there was a village named after his family's name and so wanted to explore further. His visit was filmed with a cine camera. The footage shows him with his family outside the church and speaking with the vicar at the time, Reverend RK Roper. They also pose by Norton Disney road signs and walk down the main road. Inside St Peter's Church, Walt saw William d'Isney's crest, which showed three lions facing left - the symbol of Normandy. Walt found the family crest of his reputed ancestor Sir William d'Isney, on the 14th-century figure's tomb in Norton Disney's St Peter's Church As a tribute to Walt's discovery, those three lions have featured in the famous title sequence of every Disney film since 2006 The De Isgnys had come from France to England with William the Conqueror after the Battle of Hastings in 1066. According to the BBC, their name then changed over the centuries, first to d'Isgny and then to D'Iseny, before finally becoming Disney in around the 13th or 14th centuries. In 1965, Walt wanted to add a coat of arms to Sleeping Beauty's castle to mark the 10th anniversary of Disneyland. He was asked if there was a Disney crest and recalled how he saw it in Norton Disney. Pictures of it were taken so it could be reproduced in California and at Disney's other parks. A flag bearing the crest is seen fluttering at the top of Sleeping Beauty's castle in the short clip The crest also features at Disneyland theme parks around the world. Above: On Sleeping Beauty's castle in California St Peter's Church dates back to the 11th century. Norton Disney itself has a population of just 242 Walt Disney is seen with his wife Lillian in the 1950s. The couple were married for more than 40 years Walt Disney is seen with his wife Lillian and daughters Sharon and Diana Norton Disney resident Hilda Kinnersley, now 94, was aged 20 when Walt visited with his family. Recalling his visit, she told the BBC how her brother brought the family into the local pub, the St Vincent Arms, which is now called the Green Man. She said: 'I thought who's that he's bringing in?' 'And then I thought, he's not a bad looking man. 'They all come in with his daughters. And they were chatty, and they played a game of darts, because we were already playing darts when Walt came in.' American families have been queuing up to escape Israel more than a week after Hamas terrorists invaded, with special flights being put on and a sea evacuations getting people out today. Major airlines canceled flights in and out of Tel Aviv airport after Hamas began its terror campaign on October 7, which has seen over 1,400 Israelis killed and many taking to bomb shelters as rockets are launched on their cities. More than a week later, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israeli Defense Forces troops that 'the hour is drawing near' to launch an invasion of the Gaza Strip, hundreds of US citizens are being brought out. The US government evacuated nationals from Israel to Cyprus by sea early this morning, with pictures showing dozens gathered desperate to secure a spot on the ship to safety. Relatives hugged as they made their heartbreaking farewells to those they are leaving behind, with only US nationals and their immediate family members eligible for the passage. Tens of thousands of US passport holders live in Israel and 29 have been confirmed killed in the Hamas attacks on October 7. Another 15 are missing and believed to be among hostages held by Hamas since the attacks. US nationals and their immediate family members wait before leaving Israel on a ship headed for Cyprus Only US nationals and their immediate family members are eligible for the sea evacuation Dozens were seen waiting to board the ship, which is bound for Cyprus, from where they will have to make their own onward journeys There were emotional goodbyes as US citizens prepared to leave Israel, which has seen over a week of fighting The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is today returning to Israel to hold talks on the ongoing conflict (pictured landing in Tel Aviv) The evacuation ship departed Haifa, a city in northern Israel, on its journey which was expected to last about 10 to 12 hours. The US embassy did not say how many people would be taken on the ship but said 'boarding will proceed in order of arrival and is on a space limited basis.' Boarding started at 8.00am local time. Each passenger had to sign a document promising to repay the cost of the trip and was only allowed to carry one suitcase. Some chartered flights would arranged from Cyprus for onward travel, the embassy earlier said. Last night, 270 Americans who had been stuck in Israel for over a week were welcomed home by Florida Governor Ron de Santis. 'Once the plane landed in Tampa, evacuees were able to access resources from multiple state agencies. 'Additionally, the governor is sending medical supplies, hygiene products, clothing and children's toys to Israel to help impacted Israelis,' a statement said. As Americans flee Israel, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is today returning to Tel Aviv to hold talks on the ongoing conflict. The top US diplomat, who was in Israel on Thursday as a show of solidarity, landed in the city this morning and is expected to again meet Netanyahu in Jerusalem. After a tour meeting the heads of six Arab states, he will be hoping to speak with Netanyahu again to coordinate efforts against Hamas, while also finding ways to alleviate Gaza's humanitarian crisis. 'I want an opportunity to share everything that I've heard - that I've learned - over the last few days visiting with our other partners and to talk about the way forward with our Israeli allies and friends,' Blinken told reporters Sunday in Cairo. President Joe Biden is also considering a trip to Israel to demonstrate his unwavering solidarity with the Jewish state, though no plans have yet been finalized. We are getting ready to welcome hundreds of people who were stuck in Israel back to the United States of America. pic.twitter.com/4gYyDI09DK Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) October 16, 2023 American queued up as they waited to leave Israel from the northern city of Haifa as the conflict deepens Children kept busy in the queue as they waited to flee Israel with their families, hoping to return to the US A representative of the US Embassy speaks to a man as Israeli-Americans waited to board an evacuation ship In a television interview Sunday night, Biden, who has repeatedly proclaimed support for Israel, said he thought it would be a 'big mistake' for the country to reoccupy Gaza. Biden was asked, point blank, if he thought Hamas needed to be eliminated in the wake of the attack that has already killed 1,400 people. 'Yes, I do,' he said. 'But there needs to be a Palestinian authority. There needs to be a path to a Palestinian state,' while warning Israeli troops not to occupy Gaza. Asked if he would support any occupation of Gaza by the American ally, Biden replied: 'I think it'd be a big mistake.' Hamas 'don't represent all the Palestinian people,' he continued. But invading and 'taking out the extremists' is a 'necessary requirement,' he added. Israel's ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, told CNN the country does not want to occupy Gaza but will do 'whatever is needed' to obliterate Hamas' capabilities. In Nasser Hospital, in southern Gaza, intensive care rooms were packed with wounded patients, most of them children under the age of 3. Hundreds of people with severe blast injuries have come to the hospital, said Dr. Mohammed Qandeel, a consultant at the critical care complex. As Americans prepare to flee Israel, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is today returning to the country to hold talks on the ongoing conflict Blinken departs Jordan en route to neighbouring Israel for crisis talks after a tour of Arab nations There were 35 patients in the ICU who require ventilators and another 60 on dialysis. If fuel runs out, 'it means the whole health system will be shut down,' he said Sunday, as children moaned in pain in the background. 'All these patients are in danger of death if the electricity is cut off.' Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the head of pediatrics at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, said the facility did not evacuate despite Israeli orders. There were seven newborns in the ICU hooked up to ventilators, he said. Evacuating 'would mean death for them and other patients under our care.' Israeli troops patrol in armoured personnel carriers in northern Israel on October 15, close to the country's border with Lebanon, amid skirmishes with Lebanon Shifa hospital in Gaza City, the territory's largest, said it would bury 100 bodies in a mass grave as an emergency measure after its morgue overflowed. Tens of thousands of people seeking safety have gathered in the hospital compound. Israeli forces, supported by a growing deployment of US warships in the region and the call-up of some 360,000 reservists, have positioned themselves along Gaza's border and drilled for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle the militant group. Israel said it has already struck dozens of military targets, including command centers and rocket launchers, and also killed Hamas commanders. A trip through the airport can often be a stressful experience. Possibly the longest part of the airport experience is going through security, separating your liquids into bags, frantically pulling out your electrical items and sometimes even taking off your shoes. Frequent fliers will know that if you're bringing a laptop with you, it has to be placed in a separate tray to the rest of your belongings. While it can feel like a hassle at the time, it's for an important reason. A laptop's battery and other mechanical components are too dense for X-rays to penetrate effectively especially if the scanning system is old, explains Doug Drury, Head of Aviation at CQUniversity Australia. Frequent fliers will know that if you're bringing a laptop with you, it has to be placed in a separate tray to the rest of your belongings Writing on The Conversation, he explained that 'security officials cant use the screened image to determine whether a risk is present' if there is a laptop in your bag. He added :'Theyll have to flag the bag for a physical search, which slows everything down. Its easier if all devices are removed in the first place. 'A laptop inside a bag can also shield other items from view that may be dangerous. Scanning it separately reveals its internal components on the screen.' This rule also applies to camera, iPads and other large electrical devices. However, you won't have to do this for much longer as the rules are set to change soon with the hopes of making the security process speedier and more efficient. Advanced new scanners have been introduced in airports in countries such as the U.S, Australia and Holland. They've also been installed in London City Airport and northern England's Teesside International Airport. The new CT machines use X-Ray technology to take a high-resolution 3D image of luggage, allowing assessors to view it from every angle and obtain a more detailed view of the contents. A laptop's battery and other mechanical components are too dense for X-rays to penetrate effectively especially if the scanning system is old, explains Doug Drury, Head of Aviation at CQUniversity Australia Whereas older security scanners only produce a 2D image - City Airport claims it now has the fastest airport security in London as a result. As the new cameras produce more detailed images, less bags have to be taken aside for additional checks, making the process quicker for everyone involved. The British Government is requiring all major UK airports to use the technology by June 2024, just in time for next year's summer holidays. As well as meaning you don't have to remove anything from your bag, there's also no 100ml limit on liquids anymore - it's two litres now. The liquids rule is also going to be scrapped in most UK airports in 2024, after originally being put in place back in 2006. It came into force after the British Metropolitan Police thwarted a terror plot to detonate liquid explosives on board a series of U.S and Canada-bound flights from the UK. However, the new scanners detection algorithms are able to call attention to any dubious items that may warrant further inspection - such as liquid explosives, meaning the rule will no longer be needed. This is the shocking moment RSPCA-approved workers stamped on hens at a farm that supplies eggs to Asda and Morrisons. The footage was captured by an undercover investigator working for animal rights organisation the Animal Justice Project at Kettleby Farm in Leicestershire. It shows the work of a 'catcher' gang from AD Harvey, who were hired by the farm to carry out a depopulation process in which chickens are rounded up and taken to an abattoir when they reach the end of their natural egg-laying life. Morrisons today confirmed the farm was a supplier to its supermarkets, while Asda also said it takes some branded and own label eggs from the farm. AD Harvey and Kettleby Farm, which is owned by Sunrise Poultry, are both RSPCA Assured members. RSPCA Assured have since suspended AD Harvey whilst they investigate the alleged abuse. This is the shocking moment RSPCA-approved workers stamped on hens that allegedly supplied eggs to Asda and Morrisons before they were taken to an abattoir In the footage a group of workers from the company can be seen stamping on and kicking the animals In the shocking footage a group of workers from the company can be seen stamping on and kicking the animals and later carrying at least nine chickens in one hand before loading them into crates. The footage, the first from a UK farm, also shows the birds being swung around by their feet with some seen lying severely injured, dying and dead on the floor. How your chicken is reared FREE RANGE: Have continuous daytime access to runs with up to 2,500 birds per hectare. When inside, the limit is nine per square metre. Nest boxes, perches plus litter for scratching and dust bathing provided. ORGANIC: Always free range and must be fed organic diet and kept on organic land. Maximum of six birds per square metre of useable area and a maximum of 3,000 in a flock. British Lion standard gives maximum of up to 2,000 birds per hectare. BARN: Spend lives inside with one nest box per five hens or communal nests. Linear feeders give 10cm of feed area per hen or circular ones have 4cm. CAGE: Kept inside in cages with 40 to 80 birds. Fed from troughs fitted to cages and have automatic water supply. Advertisement Catcher gangs are used at UK chicken farms to catch thousands of chickens when they come to the end of their natural egg-laying life at around 76 to 80 weeks old. The birds are taken to an abattoir and are then usually used for cheap meat, soups, stock, or stews as a 'by-product' of the egg industry. The Animal Justice Project claims that in one 'shocking' incident, around 30,000 hens at the end of their egg-laying life were caught in one night at Kettleby Farm. It added that similar incidents have been reported at farms in Kent, Oxfordshire, and Bedfordshire. AD Harvey said staff in the footage are no longer employed and their remaining staff are being retrained. Andrew Knight, a veterinary professor of animal welfare, says the footage shows 'harsh and inhumane' treatment of the birds. He said: 'Workers engaged in incorrect and injurious handling techniques, including kicking and hitting hens, treading on them, and violently throwing them against shed walls. 'Some hens were severely injured or dead, while others experienced extreme distress, being carried upside down or by one leg. Additionally, workers were observed slamming doors on to hens, causing potential harm. 'These actions are not in line with humane or ethical treatment of these highly sentient birds and likely violate UK animal welfare legislation.' Catcher gangs have faced criticism for their method of carrying birds by their legs inverted, allegedly compromising their welfare. The gangs also breach Defra codes of practice in footage obtained at farms in Oxford and Bedfordshire by failing to handle the birds individually when they are removed from cages. Catchers in the film appear to be aware of their inappropriate methods, with one saying that holding the birds by their legs weakens them so much that once placed on the ground, they suffocate within three minutes. Catcher gangs have faced criticism for their method of carrying the birds by their legs inverted - allegedly compromising their welfare In one incident a worker was caught carrying at least nine chickens in one hand before loading them into crates The 'catcher' gang from AD Harvey, who are members of RSPCA Assured, were hired by Kettleby Farm to carry out a depopulation process The workers round the chickens up and take them to an abattoir when they reach the end of their natural egg-laying life Another catcher added: 'It only takes one idiot to just come in here and film what we do... and all the animal rights lot will be down here. 'They all think chickens walk around in fields, think 20 chickens in a field will feed the nation.' Animal Justice Project are now calling on the RSPCA to cut all ties with AD Harvey. Claire Palmer, spokesman for Animal Justice Project, said: 'Today, we expose some of the most appalling acts ever captured on film. 'Faced with indisputable violence against hens, the RSPCA must take decisive action, beginning with the permanent severing of ties with AD Harvey and the launch of criminal proceedings against potential law violators. 'The distressing, breakneck speed at which hens, at the close of their productive lives, are nightly captured by gangs under the watch even of the RSPCA underscores the urgency for a shift away from animal agriculture. 'It's a compelling call for a transition to plant-based farming, prioritising compassion over cruelty in our food production systems.' Morrisons, which is supplied by Kettleby Farm, claims to be the first supermarket to solely supply free-range eggs. In a statement issued by AD Harvey, the company said the behaviour of their staff had fallen 'below standards'. An AD Harvey spokesman said: 'AD Harvey have been made aware of a film which was produced, covertly, by an activist working on behalf of an animal rights organisation. 'The edited footage seeks to compare RSPCA Assured standards with what the activist actually witnessed whilst 'working' as part of our team at a poultry farm. 'As a result, RSPCA Assured have suspended AD Harvey Catching teams from their scheme. 'They have also advised us that at present they 'are not able to disclose the footage or any further information on this matter at this time'. 'However, we are now aware that the film is in the public domain and as such have now viewed it. 'The film clearly shows some members of the AD Harvey bird catching team acting in a manner which was completely at odds with the standards of animal welfare to which we require our staff to work to. After they are rounded up the birds are taken to an abattoir and are then usually used for cheap meat, soups, stock, or stews as a 'by-product' of the egg industry Catcher gangs are used at chicken farms across the UK to catch thousands of chickens when they come to the end of their natural egg-laying life at around 76 to 80 weeks old 'Those staff members are no longer employed by AD Harvey, and all other members of our bird catching staff are being retrained in the correct procedures. 'The partners of AD Harvey totally condemn any breaches of animal welfare legislation and our teams are trained to deliver a service which ensures that birds are treated with respect and care. 'We will work closely with both RSPCA Assured and all of our customers to ensure that our teams act in a professional and caring manner at all times.' The RSPCA runs the RSPCA Assured scheme, which is supposed to guarantee high standards on farms. An RSPCA Assured spokesman said: 'We are appalled by this footage. 'It is totally unacceptable for any animal to be treated in this way and we have reported this incident to the Animal and Plant Health Agency an official government body that is fully equipped and resourced to investigate and take action. 'The behaviour in this footage goes against everything RSPCA Assured stands for and falls significantly below the high standards we demand of our members. 'We have suspended the membership of the catching company involved, pending investigation. 'This means that the workers in the footage, as well as all other employees of the catching company, cannot work with any animals being raised under the RSPCA Assured scheme. 'To our knowledge the individuals shown in the footage are no longer employed by AD Harvey. 'There are four farming sites featured in this footage, only one of which, Kettleby Farm, is RSPCA Assured certified. 'We are urgently investigating this farm, as well as the associated transport company and abattoir, and are unable to comment further whilst our enquiries are ongoing. 'We take complaints of poor animal welfare about any of our RSPCA Assured members very seriously and would always urge anyone with any concerns to contact us straight away, without delay. 'This is so that we can immediately investigate, visit the premises and address any welfare issues as a priority.' A Morrisons spokesman said: 'We care deeply about animal welfare and we are taking this shocking footage very seriously. 'Sunrise is a very small supplier to Morrisons and we have suspended our supply with immediate effect. We are liaising closely with the RSPCA on their investigation.' An Asda spokesman said: 'As soon as we were made aware of this distressing footage we sought an explanation from our supplier. They have since confirmed that the individuals shown in the footage are no longer employed by the third party that is the subject of this investigation. 'Nevertheless we will be working with this independent supplier to ensure that our high expectations on animal welfare are being met.' US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has returned to Israel after talks in six Arab states, hoping to coordinate efforts against Hamas while finding ways to alleviate Gaza's humanitarian crisis. Just four days after he paid a lightning visit to Tel Aviv to show solidarity, Blinken landed back in Tel Aviv and was expected to meet leaders in Jerusalem as Israel prepares a major ground operation in the Gaza Strip. 'I want an opportunity to share everything that I've heard - that I've learned - over the last few days visiting with our other partners and to talk about the way forward with our Israeli allies and friends,' Blinken told reporters Sunday in Cairo. The trip comes as President Joe Biden considers an invitation to visit Israel in the coming days to demonstrate what the US leader has described as unwavering solidarity. But travel plans have not been finalised, according to reports, as the conflict looks set to deepen with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu telling his forces that the 'fateful hour' to attack the Gaza Strip by land, sea and air draws near. The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is today returning to Israel to hold talks on the ongoing conflict (pictured landing in Tel Aviv) Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with Antony Blinken in Riyad on October 15 Blinken visited Israel last Thursday to show solidarity after Hamas invaded. Pictured here speaking to the media with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Israel declared war on Hamas on October 7 after Hamas terrorists broke through the heavily fortified border and shot, stabbed and burned to death more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians. The Israel Defense Forces have responded with relentless bombing, killing around 2,750 people, the majority ordinary Palestinians, in the long-blockaded and impoverished Gaza Strip. US officials say Blinken heard wide opposition to Hamas from leaders during his tour - but also concern on the plight of the Palestinians. Taking to X this morning ahead of his arrival, he said: 'We stand with Israel as it defends itself. 'The United States is also actively working to ensure the people of Gaza can get out of harm's way and the assistance they need food, water, medicine can get in. Hamas does not care if Palestinians suffer.' Before taking off from Cairo, Blinked further said: 'I made clear that it cannot be - must not be - business as usual with Hamas going forward. 'And at the same time, as I said, we're determined to do everything we can to address the needs of people in Gaza,' he said. 'Civilians should not have to suffer for Hamas's atrocities.' Under US pressure, Israel on Sunday resumed the supply of water to the southern Gaza Strip after earlier vowing to keep out all supplies of food, water and energy to the densely-populated territory. The United States also named a coordinator to spearhead humanitarian relief into Gaza, retired ambassador David Satterfield, who was expected to arrive in Israel on Monday. A visit by President Biden could be seen as a provocative move by Iran, as the US shores up its military aid to Israel. President Biden meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York in September US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to the media before boarding his plane in Cairo on October 15, 2023 Israel has been massing tanks and armoured vehicles, as well as troops, along Israel's border with Gaza for several days Netanyahu and Biden held their fifth phone call since the outbreak of the war yesterday. The Biden administration has said that Israel has a right to respond and has stopped short of calling for restraint or a ceasefire. But it has also warned against more extreme measures such as mass expulsion of Palestinians, a prospect feared by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, a Hamas rival based in the West Bank. Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005. Shortly after, Israel imposed an air, land and sea blockade of the territory that was intensified after it came under the control of Hamas, considered a terrorist group by Israel and the United States. Blinken held talks in four of the five Arab states with diplomatic relations with Israel -- Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. He also visited Qatar, a US partner that maintains relations with Hamas, and Saudi Arabia, which put its own normalisation bid with Israel on hold after the violence. The state's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman kept the busy diplomat waiting overnight for the talks, which were presumed to take place in the evening, the Washington Post reports. In direct contrast to the US's stance on Israel's right to self defense, the Prince then 'stressed' the need for it to halt military operations 'that claimed the lives of innocent people'. Blinken tried to stay positive following his meetings, telling reporters: 'I heard a lot of good ideas about some of the things we need to do moving forward.' In a television interview Sunday night, Biden, who has repeatedly proclaimed support for Israel, said he thought it would be a 'big mistake' for the country to reoccupy Gaza. Biden was asked, point blank, if he thought Hamas needed to be eliminated in the wake of the attack that has already killed 1,400 people. 'Yes, I do,' he said. 'But there needs to be a Palestinian authority. There needs to be a path to a Palestinian state,' while warning Israeli troops not to occupy Gaza. Asked if he would support any occupation of Gaza by the American ally, Biden replied: 'I think it'd be a big mistake.' Hamas 'don't represent all the Palestinian people,' he continued. But invading and 'taking out the extremists' is a 'necessary requirement,' he added. A trans woman has won 25,000 in what is thought to be the UK's first sex discrimination tribunal of its kind after council bosses did not change her identity on its systems. Kingston Council took two years to change the employee's details on her pension records, door pass, and name on the staff directory after she transitioned. Her work locker had a Post-it note on it with her previous name crossed out and new name written instead, an employment tribunal heard. The local authority was accused of 'deadnaming' her - the act of referring to a transgender or non-binary person by a name they used prior to transitioning, such as their birth name - during the employment tribunal in Croydon. Bosses also refused to take her complaints of unfair treatment seriously and instead insisted she apologise after accusing one manager of conducting a 'witch hunt' against her, the tribunal heard. The employee - named only as Miss AB - was awarded 25,423 in compensation including 21,000 for injury to feelings. Kingston Council, in south west London, didn't change a trans woman's identity on its systems for two years after she transitioned (Pictured: Kingston Council's headquarters) The hearing was told this all had a 'significant' impact on her mental health and she went off sick for six months before she took the council to the tribunal. Upholding her sex discrimination claim, the panel - chaired by Employment Judge Fiona McLaren - ruled that 'deadnaming' the worker was 'less favourable treatment' which had contributed to her distress. The tribunal in Croydon, south London, was told the woman worked on transport projects for the council in south west London. She told her employers she was planning to transition to become a trans woman eight months before she eventually did in July 2020. Following this, however, Miss AB claimed she was given no support by her employer who she said failed in its duty of care towards her. The tribunal heard that in September she became involved in a dispute at work about plans to install street lighting that she objected to as she felt they were unsafe. Her bosses accused her of throwing a 'hissing fit' and emails sent about her contained 'derogatory' and 'very unprofessional' language, the hearing was told. Following this, the tribunal heard that in December Miss AB was told she could not have direct contact with councillors and then given a reprimand for ignoring an instruction not to send an email without passing it by her manager. She responded by writing to her boss - referred to only as Mr C - saying: 'I feel since my transition, I have been singled out on a witch hunt.' Threatening to sue for discrimination, she added: 'I will not be bullied and treated in a demeaning manner.' Mr C was very upset about what he considered to be false and defamatory allegations, the tribunal heard. However, neither he nor his fellow managers referred Miss AB's complaint for investigation. Instead, they asked her to apologise to him, a request the tribunal concluded showed they had a 'dismissive' attitude to her concerns. The hearing was told Miss AB launched a formal grievance about her treatment in May 2021 which included allegations the council had repeatedly 'deadnamed' her. The following month she went off sick and did not return until November 1, 2021. According to her GP, she had undergone a period of 'huge stress and trauma' as a result of bullying. The tribunal took place in Croydon (pictured) where employment judge Fiona McLaren ruled 'deadnaming' the worker was 'less favourable treatment' which had contributed to her distress Miss AB told the tribunal she had endured a 'long and painful struggle' between transitioning in July 2020 and August 2022 to have her name changed on the council's systems. 'After transition it took two years to get her door pass which allowed access into the office and gave access to operate the printers,' the hearing was told. 'It is accepted that [Miss AB] was effectively unable to access the office for almost two years. 'When [she] did get into the building her locker had a Post-it note put on it with her deadname crossed out and her post-transition name written on. This was in full view of everyone.' Miss AB also had an issue with her vehicle pass, the tribunal heard. 'She explained that she had to telephone third party agents and was questioned about her name change and was deadnamed by the [council] system that outed her. 'She had to telephone twice and was misgendered on both telephone calls which she found demeaning and degrading.' Ayanna Bailey, from the council's HR department, told the tribunal it had 'learned a lesson' over deadnaming. 'In future there would be a conversation with the individual offering a choice of new accounts being opened or having existing accounts amended,' she told the hearing. Employment Judge McLaren said: 'We find its policies and practices at the time of [Miss AB] transitioning to have been woefully inadequate with both a failure to provide guidance to staff undergoing transition and to team managers. 'We understand why [Miss AB] felt badly let down by her employer. She was left to navigate a complex set of [council] systems with no support or even signposting from HR as to how to do this. 'It does not appear any apology has been offered to the claimant or other staff potentially facing the same issues.' Board members at Columbia University are facing calls from thousands of people to remove a tenured professor from his position after he praised Hamas brutal terror assault on Israel last week as an 'awesome stunning victory.' Joseph Massad, a history and politics lecturer, made the stunning remarks in an article published on a website named Electronic Intifada on Sunday, one day after the unprecedented attack began. In the same article, Massad referred to Israel as 'cruel colonizers' and called Hamas' barbaric actions 'astonishing,' 'astounding,' 'awesome' and 'incredible.' Since 1997, Hamas has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the State Department. 'The sight of the Palestinian resistance fighters storming Israeli checkpoints separating Gaza from Israel was astounding... Perhaps the major achievement of the resistance in the temporary takeover of these settler-colonies is the death blow to any confidence that Israeli colonists had in their military and its ability to protect them,' Massad added. In response, a Change.org. petition was swiftly set up by Maya Platek, 23, a junior at the school in which she accuses Massad of showing support for a 'recognized terrorist organization.' At the time of writing, more than 30,000 people have signed the petition since it was started on Friday. Since the October 7 attack, student groups in prominent colleges across the country, including Harvard and Northwestern, have come forward with statements harshly criticizing Israel while seldom making mention of Hamas' brutality. Joseph Massad has been teaching history and politics at Columbia University since 1999 Massad published his controversial piece the day after Hamas launched its brutal assault on Israel Massad's words were published on a website named The Electronic Intifada Massad, who is of Palestinian heritage, called Hamas' actions a 'major achievement' In another section, the tenured professor called Israel 'cruel colonizers' Massad also credited Hamas terrorists for their use of motorized paragliders 'The colonists flight from these settlements may prove to be a permanent exodus. They may have finally realized that living on land stolen from another people will never make them safe,' Massad wrote in another section of the shocking piece. 'What can motorized paragliders do in the face of one of the most formidable militaries in the world? Apparently much in the hands of an innovative Palestinian resistance,' he went on. 'Apparently much in the hands of an innovative Palestinian resistance... Indeed as stunning videos show, these paragliders have become the air force of the Palestinian resistance.' Massad, who is a native of Jordan and of Palestinian descent, has been on staff at Columbia since 1999 and received his Ph.D from the school in 1998. In 2009, his tenureship was protested by Columbia's pro-Israel group LionPAC. In response to Massad's words, a Columbia University student set up a petition demanding his removal that has garnered over 30,000 signatures Since the Hamas attacks began, Columbia has become a flashpoint area in the US. On Thursday, a Brooklyn teenager was arrested after she allegedly struck an Israeli Columbia University student with a stick on Wednesday night, police have confirmed. Maxwell Friedman, 19, was charged with one count of assault following an altercation with a 24-year-old School of General Studies student in front of Butler Library. On arrival, they were told that the victim - identified only by the initials I.A. - was engaged in a dispute that had become physical. The victim accused Friedman, of Bushwick, of striking I.A. in the hand with a wooden stick. She was taken into custody. The victim refused medical attention, the spokesperson said. The incident is not being investigated as a hate crime. The first page of the statement released by the Students for Justice in Palestine and a Jewish Voice for Peace out of Columbia University in the wake of Hamas' brutal assault 'Organized on democratic principles to promote justice, human rights, liberation, & self-determination,' is the group describes itself on Facebook While on Tuesday, the Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine said that Hamas' actions were a 'counter-offensive against their settler-colonial oppressor' in a public statement. 'The weight of responsibility for the war and casualties undeniably lies with the Israeli extremist government and other Western governments,' the statement, which was also signed by a group named Jewish Voice for Peace, read. 'As long as you perpetuate this narrative, fighting will continue to break out until justice is achieved. Because nothing else is working,' the coalition's statement read. 'As Columbia students, our classes regularly discuss the inevitability of resistance as part of the struggle for decolonization. We study under renowned scholars who denounce the fact that the media requires oppressed peoples to be 'perfect victims' in order to deserve sympathy.' 'Yet not only does our institution neglect to align its actions with its ostensible values, but it actively normalizes Israeli apartheid and subjugation of Palestinians,' the group went on. The group reiterated previous statements in which they demanded that Columbia University divest from Israel. In April 2023, it was reported that Columbia's plans to build a campus in Tel Aviv was being met with stern opposition from staff and students alike. 'We call upon our administration as a whole to start verbally acknowledging Palestinian existence and humanity,' the statement continued. Israeli responders said the video was yet more evidence of Hamas war crimes Sickening footage has emerged of the moment Hamas gunmen entered an Israeli compound, injuring several female soldiers with grenades before brutally executing them at near point-blank range as they cowered behind a desk. The clip, captured by a Hamas attacker using a bodycam, showed the moment the terrorists stormed what appeared to be an IDF border post amid their ruthless surprise assault on Saturday, October 7. Hamas gunmen are seen streaming into a darkened room having just tossed a grenade into the enclosed space. Female soldiers are heard wailing in pain and fear as the attackers surround them, brandishing Kalashnikov assault rifles. For a moment it looked as though the gunmen had reconsidered their actions, approaching the desk behind which the women were cowering and pulling away an office chair as they spoke in relatively calm tones. But it quickly became apparent that the attackers were simply making way for a clean execution. In the dying moments of the video, one shooter raises his rifle and fires several more shots at the bloodied women from mere feet away in what South First Responders - Israeli rescue teams that were first to arrive on the scene following Hamas' attacks - said was 'clear evidence of war crimes'. Hamas gunmen are seen streaming into a darkened room having just tossed a grenade into the enclosed space to find injured Israeli female soldiers hiding under a desk The Hamas gunmen tear away a chair in front of the desk so they can get a clear shot at the incapacitated soldiers In the dying moments of the video, one shooter raises his rifle and fires several more shots at the bloodied women from mere feet away Hamas gunman is pictured storming Israeli positions on October 7 'Rather than take the soldiers prisoner, as would be required by international law, the terrorist moves a chair aside to fire at point blank range and execute them,' South First Responders wrote on Telegram. 'It doesn't end here. The terrorists fire again. Amidst the last gasps of the conscripts, the terrorist fire a final kill shot to execute them. 'Hamas terrorists carried out intentional executions of injured soldiers in direct violation of basic international law,' the group concluded. The harrowing footage provides yet more evidence of the brutality of Hamas' attacks last weekend. As South First Responders and other Israeli security and rescue teams comb the streets of towns and cities surrounding Gaza, they continue to find more bodies. More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed in Hamas attacks since October 7, Israeli officials claim, adding on Monday that at least 199 hostages were taken back in Gaza, higher than previous estimates. The military did not specify whether that number includes foreigners. Now, Israel's military is responding in kind, conducting a relentless bombing campaign of targets throughout the Gaza Strip which has resulted in the deaths of 2,750 Palestinians as of Monday morning, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Israel's ambassador to the UK today sought to defend her military's brutal bombardment of Palestinians, arguing that the IDF at least gave Gazans warning that the attacks were coming. Tzipi Hotovely, 44, gave an impassioned and defiant speech, pointing out that Hamas terrorists launched their attacks with no forewarning and slaughtered innocent, unarmed Israeli citizens. 'Hamas are in charge of any harm that will be happening in Gaza to their own people. If we see innocent people get killed in Gaza, it's Hamas in charge,' she said. 'It's not Israel's responsibility - we don't have any obligation to bring Gaza water. 1,300 Israelis were targeted, slaughtered... they didn't get 24 hours to flee or protect themselves.' Later, when pushed by a BBC Radio 4 interviewer on allegations that Israel is doling out collective punishment on the Palestinian people, Hotovely hit back, bringing up the Royal Air Force's carpet bombing of German cities amid a bitter campaign to defeat Nazi Germany in WWII. '600,000 Germans were killed in your attacks on Hamburg and Dresden. Why? Because you knew this was the only way you could defeat the Nazis,' she declared. 'We are giving the people in Gaza the opportunity (to flee) that (Israelis) were never given... they were slaughtered in their beds,' she concluded. Relatives mourn during the funeral of Antonio Macias, killed by Hamas militants while attending a music festival in southern Israel, at Pardes Haim cemetery in Kfar Saba, Israel, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023 A woman takes a photograph with her mobile phone of images of Israeli hostages snatched by the Palestinian militant group Hamas last week in a surprise attack into Israel Palestinian children injured during Israeli raids in the southern Gaza Strip arrive on October 16, 2023 in Khan Yunis, Gaza Injured Palestinian kid is carried to the Naseer Hospital after Israeli airstrike as Israeli attacks continue on the 10th day in Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip on October 16, 2023 Palestinians search for casualties under the rubble of a house destroyed in Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 16, 2023 Smoke plumes billow during Israeli air strikes in Gaza City A rescuer salvages a gas canister from the rubble of a building after it was hit by an Israeli strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on October 15, 2023 A Palestinian man looks at a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in the Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip, on October 16, 2023 Members of a Palestinian civil emergency team react after several colleagues were killed in Israeli strikes, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Monday Now, Israel is widely expected to launch a ground offensive in order to kill Hamas leaders, recover captives and destroy the group's military infrastructure, much of which is in residential areas. Street-by-street fighting would likely cause mounting casualties on both sides. Israel has ordered more than 1 million Palestinians - almost half the territory's population - to leave Gaza City and the surrounding area for the enclave's south. The military says it is trying to clear away civilians ahead of a major campaign against Hamas in the north, where it says the militants have extensive networks of tunnels and rocket launchers. Hamas meanwhile has urged people in the Gaza Strip to stay in their homes, and the Israeli military on Sunday released photos it said showed a Hamas roadblock preventing traffic from moving south. Hospitals in Gaza are expected to run out of generator fuel in the next 24 hours, endangering the lives of thousands of patients, according to the U.N. Gaza's sole power plant shut down for lack of fuel after Israel completely sealed off the 25-mile long territory following the Hamas attack. The World Health Organisation said hospitals are 'overflowing' as people seek safety. 'We are concerned about disease outbreaks due to mass displacement and poor water and sanitation,' it said. Four hospitals in northern Gaza are no longer functioning and 21 have received Israeli orders to evacuate. Doctors have refused, saying it would mean death for critically ill patients and newborns on ventilators. The WHO said water shortages caused by Israel's decision to cut off water supplies, combined with a lack of fuel for pumps and desalination stations, put thousands of hospital patients at risk. 'Water is needed to ensure sanitary conditions on inpatient wards, in operation rooms, and emergency departments. It is essential for the prevention of hospital associated infections and for the prevention of outbreaks in hospitals,' the WHO said. Israel has said the siege won't be lifted until Hamas releases all the captives. Palestinians with dual citizenship gather outside Rafah border crossing with Egypt in the hope of getting permission to leave Gaza, amid the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday A wounded donkey sits near houses and buildings destroyed in Israeli strikes, in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on October 11 Palestinian relatives wait to collect bodies wrapped in funeral shrouds with their names written for identification, at a hospital following Israeli military attacks on Rafah, in the southern of Gaza Strip on Monday Palestinians, including people wounded in Israeli strikes, arrive in a truck, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Monday Palestinians search for casualties under the rubble of a house destroyed in Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday Palestinians search for casualties under the rubble of a house destroyed in Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 16, 2023 Meanwhile, the Israeli military ordered residents to evacuate 28 communities near the Lebanese border after increasing cross-border fire between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The military order affects towns that are within 1.2 miles from the border. Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, a military spokesman, said the evacuation would allow Israeli forces to operate with greater latitude. 'Israel is ready to operate on two fronts, and even more,' he said. 'If Hezbollah makes the mistake of testing us, the response will be deadly.' Tzachi Hanegbi, an Israeli national security advisor, also warned the Iran-sponsored terror group to stand down from creating a second combat front - or reckon with 'the destruction of Lebanon'. Israeli forces, supported by a growing deployment of U.S. warships in the region and the call-up of some 360,000 reservists, have positioned themselves along Gaza's border and drilled for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle the militant group. Israel said it has already struck dozens of military targets, including command centres and rocket launchers, and also killed Hamas commanders. But the United Nations has warned that a 'spectre of death' looms over Gaza where millions are stranded amid Israel's total siege that is blocking food, water, medicine and fuel from reaching the enclave. Undeterred by the comments of human rights observers over recent days, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said preparations were being made around the clock to launch the ground offensive, with nearly 400,000 soldiers gearing up for battle in Gaza. He said menacingly: 'They are ready to take action to defeat the bloodthirsty monsters who have risen against us to destroy us. Hamas thought that we would come apart we will demolish Hamas.' The Israeli military's rules of engagement have reportedly been 'loosened' for the land, air and sea attack to allow fewer checks before shooting. Net migration into the UK is unlikely to drop below pre-Brexit levels by the end of the decade, experts have warned. Arrivals will outnumber those who leave the country by 250,000 to 350,000 a year in 2030, according to the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford and the London School of Economics (LSE). However, in a glimmer of good news for Rishi Sunak, it predicted that the current record high migrant numbers will fall back sharply in the next couple of years. The war in Ukraine and people arriving to the UK from Hong Kong under resettlement schemes are said to have contributed to the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimate, which put net migration at 606,000 people last year. Arrivals will outnumber those who leave the country by 250,000 to 350,000 a year in 2030, according to the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford and the London School of Economics (LSE). The war in Ukraine and people arriving to the UK from Hong Kong under resettlement schemes are said to have contributed to the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimate, which put net migration at 606,000 people last year. But the figures prompted unease among some Cabinet ministers and Tory MPs, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak calling the figure 'too high' earlier this year. The latest forecast, based on certain assumptions about migration trends as well as ONS and Home Office data, suggests that current high levels of immigration over the last two years may lead to higher emigration between 2023 and 2025. That would largely be driven by international students, while smaller numbers of people coming from Ukraine and Hong Kong is also likely to have an impact. Professor of economics at LSE Alan Manning, who co-authored the new report, said: 'Nobody can predict exactly what will happen to net migration, but we can set out some realistic scenarios. And most plausible scenarios involve net migration falling in the coming years. 'But many different factors affect the outlook, including what share of international students switch to long-term work visas, whether work visa numbers continue to increase as sharply as they have done in the past few years, and what happens to asylum applications. 'The unpredictability means it's very hard for policymakers to guarantee that they will deliver a specific level of net migration.' The study finds that, largely due to a significant increase in work visas, predictions of lower net migration levels following Brexit are unlikely to happen. Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory, said that health and care visas were helping to keep the figures high. 'One of the striking findings is that if current trends continue, work visas look set to be the largest factor shaping overall net migration by some distance. Work-related migration has mostly been driven by health and care. 'So future migration patterns will be particularly sensitive to developments in that sector,' she said. A British Muslim convert once suspected of being the fourth member of the ISIS 'Beatles' pleaded guilty to terror charges today - after a court heard how Priti Patel failed in bid to extradite him to the US. Aine Davis, 39, who was born in Hammersmith, West London, pleaded guilty to funding terrorism by persuading his wife to try and smuggle 20,000 (17k) to him in Syria, using a friend who hid the money in her knickers. He also pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm for terrorist purposes after posing with an assault rifle alongside other fighters in a picture he sent to his wife in Britain. Davis was deported from Turkey last August after serving a seven-and-a-half year sentence for membership of the terror group. He was arrested by counter-terror police on his arrival at Luton airport. Ahead of his planned Old Bailey trial, Davis' legal team claimed the case should be thrown out because he could not be tried twice for the same offending. But today he appeared on videolink from Belmarsh Prison to admit the charges. An earlier hearing heard how British officials were accused of 'conniving' with Turkish counterparts in a failed bid by the then-Home Secretary Ms Patel to arrange his onward extradition to the US where two ISIS Beatles were tried. Ms Patel allegedly 'begged' prosecutors in Virginia to take on his case, it can now be revealed after reporting restrictions on the previous hearing were lifted. Aine Davis (left) has pleaded guilty to two charges related to providing money for terrorist purposes and one of possessing a firearm for a purpose connected to terrorism A mobile phone image showing Davis (bottom right) posing with a group of suspected ISIS fighters In legal argument from March, which can only now be reported, defence lawyer Mark Summers KC noted 'the spectre' of suspicion around Davis' involvement with the Beatles cell so-called due to their British accents from 2014 onwards. READ MORE - ISIS Beatle 'Ringo' faces dying alone in America's toughest supermax prison Advertisement It caused Davis to complain about mistreatment in his Turkish jail after he was interviewed about it by British intelligence officers, the court was told. Mr Summers said in July last year that lawyers in the IS Beatles case in Virginia had clarified they were not seeking to bring a prosecution against Davis 'because the evidence was there were only three members and not four members of that cell.' The barrister claimed Ms Patel veered into 'Alice in Wonderland territory' when she phoned US authorities begging them to take Davis' case. Mr Summers said: 'The personal involvement of the home secretary trying to persuade a foreign country to prosecute a UK national is frankly extraordinary. 'It may have come to nothing but was seriously abusive. Davis' asked his former wife Amal El-Wahabi, 36, to send him cash while he was fighting for ISIS Priti Patel (seen earlier this month at the Tory Party Conference) allegedly 'begged' the US to take Davis so he could be put on trial there Priti Patel 'begged' US to take jihadi Priti Patel allegedly 'begged' the US to take on the case of British Jihadi Aine Davis, it can now be reported. Details of the then-home secretary's personal intervention emerged in legal argument at the Old Bailey in March. In 2022, Ms Patel made a phone call to a US attorney general, allegedly veering into 'Alice In Wonderland' territory. Ultimately, the plan was abandoned and Davis was arrested and charged with terror offences on his arrival in the UK from Turkey last summer. Outlining the saga, Defence barrister Mark Summers KC said: 'From 2018 onwards there was a complex and difficult set of proceedings surrounding the desire of the American government to prosecute two members of the Isis cell dubbed by the UK press The Beatles.' Davis had been suspected since 2014 of involvement and in 2019 British MI5 officers visited him in a Turkish prison to ask him about it, the court was told. Afterwards, the British consulate received complaints from Davis and his family that he was being mistreated, threatened and subjected to sleep deprivation, the court heard. Meanwhile, two IS Beatles members - El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey - were convicted in Virginia in the US and handed eight life sentences each. The third Beatles member Mohammed Emwazi - known as Jihadi John - had died in a US drone strike in 2015. On June 18 last year, British officials learned that prosecutors in New York were seeking to extradite Davis to the US and charge him with providing 'material support' to IS. The following month, prosecutors in Virginia clarified they were not looking to put him on trial as a member of The Beatles cell, saying there were only three members. By then, Mr Summers suggested the UK was 'begging the US to take over the prosecution of Davis'. The case moved into 'Alice In Wonderland territory', with Ms Patel phoning the Americans to get them to take the case, he said. In early July, 'consular official A' visited Davis in Ankara prison to tell him he was to be moved to a deportation centre and then be sent home in seven to 10 days. When Davis asked for a passport he was told 'it's not going to happen'. It was claimed he was told by the official that on arrival in Britain he would be questioned by the police and then he could 'get on with his life'. When Davis said that would be 'impossible' given the media attention, he was told he could not stay in Turkey. Mr Summers suggested the timing of the visit was significant, coming the day after the deportation was leaked. On July 9, Davis was moved to a deportation centre where he was visited several more times by the consular official A in attempts to persuade him to leave voluntarily. Between July 11 and August 4, attempts were made to prevent Davis from challenging his deportation and there was 'reckless indifference' when he did seek to resist, it was alleged. Mr Summers claimed Davis was even forced to share a cell with seven other people in a possible 'deliberate attempt to break his will'. On July 13, Davis refused to apply for a one-way travel document to the UK and said he wished to go to a third country instead. In response, a consular official initiated steps for an emergency passport to be issued which did not require his consent. Email evidence suggested that by July 20, British authorities knew Davis was asking to see a lawyer and that was 'likely to prolong the legal process'. After Davis was visited by a Turkish lawyer, consular official A allegedly told him the time to launch a challenge had expired. He was offered the 'no-brainer' option to go quietly on a private plane without the 'media storm' of travelling on a commercial flight. Mr Summers said: 'This is a blatant attempt to get him to agree summarily for Davis to waive his legal rights.' On July 30, Davis's Turkish lawyer advised him to protect his interests and the defendant scribbled out an application for asylum based on 'fears for safety and double jeopardy'. When he asked to speak to consular official A, he was allegedly told there was 'no need' and that he would be informed. Advertisement 'Trying to persuade a third state to prosecute one of our nationals is seriously irregular, and to facilitate his extradition there via the UK is also seriously irregular. 'The proper route would have been extradition from Turkey to America. That was assessed to be unrealistic - they've fallen out at an international level. 'It's difficult to overstate the illegality and irregularity of what was under contemplation for some time.' He went on to allege British authorities had influenced Turkey to issue Davis's deportation for 'ulterior motives'. The prosecution disputed the defence claims which were rejected by Judge Mark Lucraft and later by the Court of Appeal. Today, Davis returned to the Old Bailey and pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm contrary to Section 57 of the Terrorism Act 2000, and two charges of funding terrorism between 2013 and 2014. The defendant entered his pleas via video link from Belmarsh prison. Judge Lucraft adjourned sentencing until November 13. The offences were largely uncovered from his communications with his then-wife, mother-of-two Amal El-Wahabi, 36, who stayed in north London living on benefits. Davis, who used the name Hamza after converting to Islam, was born in the capital and spent time living in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in 2007. He met El-Wahabi at a London mosque and they became increasingly interested in Islam. In July 2013, he travelled to Syria but maintained regular contact with El-Wahabi by phone and internet. He went on to enlist her in a plan to send him cash by hoodwinking her friend Nawal Masaad, 36, to act as courier on the promise of 1,000 (866). Ms Masaad, from Holloway, north London, was stopped at Heathrow Airport on January 16, 2014, as she was about to board a flight to Istanbul with 20,000 (17k) stuffed inside her tights. The prosecution alleged the money raised in the UK was destined to support Davis' terrorist cause in Syria. Following El-Wahabi's arrest in London, police uncovered a stash of terrorist propaganda said to have been left behind by Davis when he went to Syria. On her mobile phone was a picture sent by Davis in November 2013 in Syrian woods with a man holding a Kalashnikov rifle. Davis told his wife: 'Don't show this to anyone but yuyu. (sic). I mean it.' He sent another picture posing with 13 others in military-style clothes, all with guns held aloft. Asked by El-Wahabi if he was doing anything exciting, Davis said he was just 'on point', which is believed to be a reference to guard duty. The court heard it was clear that Davis who had convictions for possession of drugs and gun possession had gone to Syria to fight under the black flag of IS and that he was preoccupied with martyrdom. Giving evidence in her trial, El-Wahabi claimed Davis was 'always there' for her and had left the country 'to get away from everyone and to look for work'. He was unhappy in London because of 'the drugs, the influence of friends he has around him, the police targeting him constantly', she said. She added: 'With him, his problem is he is always being watched.' After an Old Bailey trial in 2014, El-Wahabi was found guilty of funding terrorism and jailed for 28 months, while Ms Masaad was cleared of wrongdoing. El-Wahabi was the first person to be convicted of funding terrorism in Syria. In November 2015, Davis was arrested with others in Istanbul after being found using a forged travel document and later jailed for IS membership. Davis has always denied being connected with The Beatles cell, which tortured and beheaded Western hostages in Syria. Two other members of the IS squad, British nationals El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey, are now serving life sentences in US jails. A third, Mohammed Emwazi dubbed Jihadi John who was believed to feature in videos of IS beheadings of a number of captives, was killed in a drone strike in 2015. ISIS 'Beatles' El Shafee el-Sheikh (left) and Alexanda Kotey (right) posing for mugshots in an undisclosed location in America The third Beatle, Mohammed Emwazi dubbed Jihadi John was killed in a drone strike Rishi Sunak today warned that protesters who 'glorify' Hamas face the full force of the law - as police hunt two women who wore images of paragliding terrorists. The PM pointed out that the group is a 'proscribed terrorist organisation' and shows of support can attract long jail terms. The comments came as Mr Sunak visited a Jewish school in London, before he to updates MPs on the mounting crisis in the Middle East later. The furore over pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Westminster on Saturday is still raging, with the Met releasing a clearer picture of one of the two women they are tracing over symbols taped to their jackets. Tories are also demanding to know why the protests were allowed to take place by the 'hallowed ground' of the Cenotaph. Pictures showed the stage for speakers including Jeremy Corbyn was installed in front of the memorial to Britain's war dead. The Met told MailOnline that Westminster Council is responsible for permitting or blocking protests on roads. But the council said it had not given approval. Rishi Sunak visited a Jewish school in London this morning, as he prepares to update MPs on the mounting crisis in the Middle East later The Metropolitan Police release this composite image of the women it wanted to track down from the protest on Saturday An image circulating on X showed how close the protest stage used on Saturday was to the Cenotaph war memorial Hamas used paragliders as part of its attack on Israel on October 7. Mr Sunak said the Met is reviewing footage of the protest that took place in Whitehall at the weekend. 'Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organisation, it's very clear under the law, the support and glorification of Hamas is illegal, and those offences are punishable with up to almost 14 years in jail,' he said. 'But it's not just about Hamas, more broadly actions that incite violence or stir up religious hatred and racial violence are also not acceptable and that's why, as I said, there's no place in our society for that type of hatred and division, and it will be met with the full force of the law where it happens.' In a round of interviews this morning, Defence minister James Heappey told Sky News: 'I think that that celebration and glorification of what happened last Saturday is despicable. 'I was a soldier, now I'm a minister in defence. Never once have I celebrated the demise of my adversaries, and so even if those women who were wearing those stickers regard Israelis as their enemy, even if they want to see them remove the state of Israel, the idea that they celebrate and glorify that loss of human life is just despicable to me. 'And I'm glad police are acting and I hope those two particularly are found.' Home Secretary Suella Braverman issued a stark warning to demonstrators over the weekend, accusing some of glorifying terrorism and promoting genocide. She said: 'To all those who saw fit to promote genocide, glorify terrorism and mock the murder of Jewish people, including women and babies - the police are coming for you.' A Met spokesperson said: 'Officers investigating a public order offence wish to identify two women who attended the protests yesterday. 'At present we only have a 'front on' image of the woman in red. We ask these women or anyone who knows their identity to contact officers.' The authorities are facing a backlash over the lack of restrictions on the protest, which had a stage right by the Cenotaph. Former minister Mark Francois said: 'What kind of a country are we now living in? 'The Cenotaph is our national war memorial and therefore hallowed ground, which should never be used for political protest, of any kind by anyone. 'Who on earth gave permission for this to take place and how on earth can they now justify their decision?' Actress Isla Fisher has condemned what she called 'Australia's day of shame' after the country voted 'No' in its celebrity-backed indigenous rights referendum. Fischer, 47, shared a screenshot of an article about the Indigenous Voice to parliament referendum on her Instagram account with the caption: 'Day of shame for Australia'. Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had called for the vote on a proposal to enshrine in the constitution an Indigenous Voice to Parliament to advocate on behalf of the nation's most disadvantaged ethnic minority. The referendum was backed by other celebrities like Cate Blanchett, Jason Momoa, Shaquille O'Neal, Russell Crowe and Chris Hemsworth. Crowe and Hemsworth even posted pictures and videos on their social media accounts in support of the referendum shortly before the vote. After Fisher condemned the results on her account, many of her followers shared her sentiment - however some critics said the A-lister should stay out of the debate as she no longer lives in Australia after moving to the UK earlier this year. Actress Isla Fisher (pictured) said the defeat of the Voice to Parliament referendum was a 'day of shame for Australia' Australia voted No to the Indigenous Voice referendum, with every state rejecting the proposal and only the ACT voting Yes (pictured, Yes campaigners at the official Yes23 referendum function at Wests Ashfield Leagues Club on Saturday) 'It is embarrassing to watch it knowing I, too, am Australian and so desperately wanted our First Peoples to have formal recognition in the Australian Constitution, just like every other country in the world has for their Indigenous Peoples,' wrote one. One follower said: 'It is!! It's a disgrace!!! I'm ashamed to be an Australian.' 'Absolutely ridiculous. So disappointed with our country today,' added a third. However, some criticised the response and pointed towards the clear majority who voted No. 'Definitely not a day of shame,' responded one Instagram user. 'A day where we stood as one against the Government & their BS lies of something they were not transparent on and showed no info of what would happen after.' 'Maybe the government should [have] been clear and precise with what the referendum would do rather then a smoke and mirrors campaign,' said another. Several followers suggested Fisher should refrain from commenting on Australian politics given that she no longer lives here - having moved to the UK recently. 'Unfollowing, respect the decision of the people that actually live here,' one wrote. Chris Hemsworth posted a screenshot of a post by his brother Luke Hemsworth a few days ago and said: 'If women were fighting for the right to have a say in parliament about issues that affect them directly...would you vote No? 'I don't think there should even be a vote. The first people of Australia deserve a voice. #yes' Actor Russell Crowe also posted a video, in which he is seen writing 'Australia please say yes'. 'It is embarrassing to watch it knowing I, too, am Australian and so desperately wanted our First Peoples to have formal recognition in the Australian Constitution, just like every other country in the world has for their Indigenous Peoples,' wrote one (pictured: Yes supporters reacting to the result) Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Burney addressed the nation at Parliament House after the referendum was called Prime Minister Albanese and Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Burney addressed the nation at Parliament House after the referendum was firmly rejected by Australians. The Prime Minister acknowledged that while it wasn't the result he had hoped for, he respects the overwhelming decision of the Australian people. 'When we reflect on everything happening in the world today, we can all give thanks that here in Australia we make the big decisions peacefully and as equals, with one vote, one value,' he said. 'I never imagined or indeed said that it would be easy. Very few things in public life worth doing are.' Mr Albanese vowed his government would continue to fight to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians by working to 'close the gap' and advance reconciliation. The federal cabinet will convene this week to discuss alternate ways to address the significant disadvantages First Nations people face. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders have called for a week of silence and mourning following the result of the weekend's referendum. Leaders said in a statement that 'much will be asked about the role of racism and prejudice against Indigenous people in this result'. Following a period of mourning, the government and Indigenous leaders will set up a new dialogue about reconciliation and closing the gap. Australia's Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said the country will look for new ways to lift Indigenous living standards. Marles said his government remains committed to improving Indigenous welfare to close the eight-year gap in average life expectancies between Indigenous Australians and the wider community. 'In terms of exactly what the precise steps forward are from here is a matter that we need to take some time to work through and I think people can understand that,' Mr Marles told Australian Broadcasting. 'Coming out of this referendum there is a greater call for action on closing the gap.' Indigenous Voice campaigners were flying Aboriginal flags at half-mast across Australia on Sunday as a mark of their disappointment. Proponents had hoped the Voice's advice would lead to better government service delivery and improved outcomes for Indigenous people. Richard Curtis revealed this week how his daughter had convinced him that he was 'stupid and wrong' for how he joked about people's sizes in his films. The Four Weddings and a Funeral and Blackadder writer told an audience at the Cheltenham Literature Festival how he has now promised 28-year-old Scarlett, who was interviewing him, that he will never make 'fat' jokes again. But it is not the first time that feminist writer Scarlett has hit the headlines, having previously called her great-great grandfather Sigmund Freud 'sexist and horrible' and saying she comes from a 'long line of dodgy men'. The 28-year-old, whose mother is the broadcaster Emma Freud, also once made a cameo appearance in her father's hit rom com Love Actually. During her conversation with the filmmaker this weekend, she got him to say that he regrets much of his work and to promise never to use the words 'fat' and 'chubby' again. In the 2001 adaptation of Bridget Jones's Diary which Curtis wrote the screenplay for - Renee Zellweger's character was described as having 'tree-trunk thighs'. Writer Scarlett Curtis was always likely to have artistic genes with many famous figures in her family Scarlett (right) had a cameo in her father's beloved Christmas hit Love Actually Four Weddings and a Funeral writer Richard Curtis says his daughter Scarlett Curtis (right) had made him see that his jokes about women and people's size in his films weren't funny anymore And in Love Actually, which Curtis directed and wrote, Martine McCutcheons character Natalie the PA to the Prime Minister - was famously depicted as the 'chubby one' and having a 'sizeable a**e'. Curtis admitted that, two decades on, these jokes are no longer funny. According to The Times, he told the audience: 'I remember how shocked I was five years ago when Scarlett said to me, "You can never use the word 'fat' again",' he said. 'Wow, you were right. In my generation calling someone chubby [was funny] in there were jokes about that. Those jokes aren't any longer funny.' Scarlett is not the only child of Curtis to ever take to the stage, as her brother Spike Curtis was last year revealed to be the random fan plucked from the crowd to perform with Dave at Coachella. The son of the Love Actually writer amazed the audience at the California festival with his rap skills when he got up on stage to sing Thiago Silva with the British rapper. Scarlett this year made her TV writing debut on the second series of Amazon Prime Video's teen romance The Summer I Turned Pretty Scarlett is not the only child of Curtis to ever take to the stage, as her brother Spike Curtis was last year revealed to be the random fan plucked from the crowd to perform with Dave at Coachella (above) Renee Zellweger - pictured as Bridget Jones in 2001 - is described as having 'tree-trunk' thighs Zellweger (pictured in the Bridget Jones's Diary) told British Vogue in 2016 how she never understood the fascination with the character's weight saying she is perfectly normal Scarlett described her great-great grandfather Sigmund Freud (pictured) as 'sexist' and 'horrible' Their maternal grandfather Clement Freud - a broadcaster, MP and chef - was exposed as a child molester in 2016, seven years after his death. Speaking in an interview with the Daily Telegraph in 2019, Scarlett said: 'There's a long line of very dodgy men in my family. 'That's why I'm such a feminist, trying to redress the sins of the fathers.' Scarlett told how the family avoided speaking about Freud growing up. She said: 'My Grandpa [Clement] had a really complicated relationship and we were banned from mentioning Sigmund because he was so obsessed with making it on his own. 'Mum wasn't interested. I actively skirted him as a child.' Curtis has previously admitted that his children did not like his jokes and said his films were starting to look like 'historical documents'. Speaking to Craig Oliver on his Desperately Seeking Wisdom podcast in January last year, The Blackadder and Mr Bean creator said: 'All my conversations with my children now, they don't like 20 percent of my jokes, because they think they're old fashioned and wrong in some way. 'So I'm really interested in how a generation that's grown up to be passionate, angry and pedantic about these issues may well change things for the better.' Curtis previously admitted that 2003 Christmas classic Love Actually's lack of diversity now makes him feel 'uncomfortable' and 'a bit stupid' The Prime Minister's PA Natalie in Love Actually, played by Martine McCutcheon, was famously depicted as the 'chubby one' and having a 'sizeable arse' But he did defend himself for having a gay couple in 1994 film Four Weddings and a Funeral (Pictured: Hugh Grant and Andie MacDowell) In a separate interview, he admitted that Love Actually's lack of diversity now makes him feel 'uncomfortable' and 'a bit stupid' as he looked back for the film's 20th anniversary. Speaking to host Diane Sawyer for the ABC special The Laughter and Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later, he admitted he thinks the 2003 Christmas classic is 'out of date' in some moments. 'There are things you'd change, but thank god, society is, you know, changing. So, my film is bound, in some moments, to feel, you know, out of date,' he said. 'I mean, there are things about the film, you know, the lack of diversity makes me feel uncomfortable and a bit stupid.' Curtis and his wife have been together for 33 years. As well as Scarlett and Spike, they have two other children, sons Jake and Charlie. One of Britain's most decorated war heroes has been revealed following the 'extraordinary' discovery of his triple medal collection. Herbert Alfred Disney was awarded a Military Cross & Bar, Distinguished Conduct Medal and Victory Medal for his service during the First World War. The 'scarce and extraordinary' gallantry awards were given to the brave soldier - who saw action at the Somme - for his 'conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty'. In one of his daring feats of bravery, Alfred captured two enemy machine guns - along with around 12 prisoners - and then used one of the weapons to silence the barrage of bullets that was holding up the British advance. The gongs - alongside his British War Medal - would likely make him one of the most decorated soldiers in his regiment, according to militaria experts. They are now expected to fetch up to 3,500 when they go under the hammer at Hansons Auctioneers, in Etwall, Derbyshire, on November 7. One of Britain's most decorated war heroes has been revealed following the 'extraordinary' discovery of his triple medal collection. Herbert Alfred Disney was awarded a Military Cross & Bar, Distinguished Conduct Medal and Victory Medal for his service during the First World War. Above: Alfred with his wife Annie Militaria consultant Matt Crowson said: 'Alfred, as he was known, rose from humble beginnings and conquered childhood health issues to achieve the ultimate trio of bravery awards. 'After signing up to serve his country in 1915 at the age of 26, he climbed the military ranks in a matter of months. 'By all accounts, he became an inspirational junior officer to the men under his command.' Alfred was born in Barrow-upon-Soar, Leicestershire, in 1889, and had a challenging start to life after being diagnosed with pleurisy and emphysema at the age of 10. An operation left visible scarring but did not impact his fitness level as he was rated A1 - the highest category - when he enlisted in 1915. He became a Private with the Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regiment) on August 12, 1915. The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was formed in October 1915 and he transferred to their ranks as as a gunner in 1916. The Military Cross & Bar (left), Distinguished Conduct Medal (second from left), British War Medal and Victory Medal (right) that were awarded to Herbert Alfred Disney His battalion entered the war in France in March 1916 and, while part of the 73rd Company, he got noticed. He rapidly rose through the ranks and was promoted to corporal in February 1916, acting sergeant in June and sergeant in August 1916. Family accounts suggest he took part in the Battle of Delville Wood and the Battle of Guillemont - attacks that were part of the Battle of the Somme. His leadership skills and composure were also noted as, by June 4, 1917, he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. The citation reads as follows: 'For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. 'He has constantly performed good work throughout, and set a splendid example to those under him'. Sergeant Disney was sent for Officer Cadet (MGC) training in Grantham, Lincolnshire, and received his commission as a temporary 2nd lieutenant in September 1917. He would have almost certainly have taken part in some of the most important battles during the spring offensive of 1918, and by July 1918 he had earned the Military Cross. His London Gazette citation reads: 'On two occasions he brought up supplies of ammunition and rations though intense artillery barrages. 'Later he personally rescued a gun and tripod, organising a fresh team from stragglers, and with them providing invaluable assistance during a crucial moment of the operations. 'He exceptional ability and courage were most marked'. He again demonstrated exceptional courage when on November 4, 1918, during the Battle of Sambre, he won the bar for his Military Cross. His citation for the MC Bar reads: 'For fine courage and good work on 4th November 1918 during the attack on the Foret de Mormal. 'When in charge of a section of machine guns he observed that the infantry were held up by heavy machine gun fire. 'He succeeded in personally capturing two enemy machine guns with about 12 prisoners. 'He brought one of the guns into action, and effectively silenced the machine gun fire that was holding up the advance'. Alfred's battalion entered the war in France in March 1916 and, while part of the 73rd Company, he got noticed. He rapidly rose through the ranks and was promoted to corporal in February 1916, acting sergeant in June and sergeant in August 1916. Above: His possessions that are up for sale The soldier's record book, showing his name and that of his wife, who is listed as his next of kin Mr Crowson added: 'The action at Sambre, only seven days before the Armistice, makes his 2nd Military Cross award one of the latest in the Great War. 'The award of the MC and Bar, plus the DCM, would likely make 2nd Lt Disney one of the most highly decorated soldiers in the Machine Gun Corps. 'It's also known he served as an officer in the Home Guard during the Second World War with his family referring to him as "Captain Disney". 'He passed away at the age of 71 in 1960. By that time he was living in Derby. He is interred at Nottingham Road Cemetery, in Chaddesden, Derby. 'The medal group and associated period items have come directly from his family and have always been together.' Other memorabilia includes Alfred's officer's cap, identity bracelet, trench maps, Field Service Book, a 1918 book entitled 'The Employment of Machine Guns', two fob watches, embroidered postcards, a Princess Mary tin from 1915 with scarce silver-tipped bullet pencil, photographs and ephemera relating to his time in the Machine Gun Corps. An Australian television crew was forced to run for their lives during a live cross from the Gaza-Israel border as Hamas launched rocket strikes in their direction. Reporter Chris Reason was speaking to the 7News studio from near the Iron Wall in Sderot, separating Israel from the area controlled by terrorists, when air raid sirens rang out. The Australian television crew were doing a news segment on the imminent invasion of Gaza by the Israeli Defence Forces following last week's devastating Hamas terror attacks, when it became immediately clear how dangerous the front lines are. Amid the confusion, 7News showed terrifying images of several rockets in the sky above as its crew froze momentarily. Chris Reason he and his five-man crew, kitted out in flak jackets and helmets, were forced to sprint for a bomb shelter during a live cross. Pictured: the crew run for their lives Reporter Chris Reason (pictured) was speaking to his studio from near the Iron Wall, separating Israel from the area controlled by terrorists, when a missile warnings started 'Right let's go,' Reason quickly says, as he and his five-man crew, kitted out in flak jackets and helmets, sprint for a bomb shelter. One of the crew places the camera on the ground to capture the dramatic scene. High above them, bright exhaust plumes from several Hamas rockets light up the sky. Even before the crew reaches the bunker, loud booms ring out. Reason, whose microphone is still live, explained the alarming sight. 'What you could see there up in the sky was the Iron Dome system taking defensive moves against the rockets... from the Gaza strip area.' Reason explained the crew chose a location for the studio interview close to the bomb shelter just in case. The crew step outside, then are told to get back in 'as something might be about to happen'. Rushing to reach cover from air strikes has become a daily occurrence for Israeli citizens, with the 30 second missile warnings a soundtrack to their lives in recent days. Plumes of smoke ascend over the northern Gaza Strip following Israeli military strikes, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas An allegedly drunk British woman was hauled off a flight to Turkey which had to divert to Greece after she punched a cabin crew member. The 'intoxicated' 61-year-old was arrested by airport police officers after showing 'aggressive behaviour' during the flight on Sunday, Greek newspaper Protothema reports. The Briton was flying from Glasgow to Antalya, Turkey, when she allegedly started shouting and punching the crew two hours after the plane took off. She also injured herself when she hit her face on a seat and crew members were unable to calm her down. The plane had to make an emergency landing at Makedonia airport in Thessaloniki, Greece, at 10.30pm local time. The Briton was on a flight from Glasgow to Antalya, Turkey, when she allegedly started shouting and punching the crew two hours after the plane took off (stock image) She was promptly arrested by Thessaloniki airport police officers. The aircraft operator reportedly requested the emergency landing citing flight safety reason over the British woman's 'violent' behaviour. READ ALSO: Easyjet flight from Manchester to Tenerife is diverted to Lanzarote because of eight drunk violent passengers onboard Advertisement The passenger was taken to the local prosecutor's office this morning and was charged with obstructing traffic, disorderly conduct on an aircraft in flight and disobeying pilot orders. She was then referred to be tried in a procedure at the Criminal Court in Thessaloniki. She allegedly refused to apologise during the preliminary investigation. The woman added that she would 'report everything she has to say in court'. This comes after previous flights to and from holiday destinations like Turkey had to be diverted after passengers' disruptive behaviour. In July, an unruly Jet2 passenger was allegedly tasered and dragged off a flight after his behaviour forced pilots to divert a plane on its way to Tenerife, causing a 27-hour delay to holidaymakers. The flight which departed from Edinburgh was forced to land on Porto Santo Island in Madeira, Portugal - more than 300 miles away from its destination, Tenerife. Video obtained by Portuguese newspaper Diario de Noticias shows a 26-year-old man being hauled across the runway by four airport security staff members wearing yellow hi-vis jackets after he was removed from the plane. An unruly Jet2 passenger was allegedly tasered and dragged off a flight after it was diverted on its way to Tenerife, causing a 27-hour delay to holidaymakers Another Jet2 passenger was dragged off a plane by police after allegedly urinating on his brother Just a few weeks before a British tourist who was returning from his holiday in Turkey with his wife and teenage daughter had to restrain a 'drunk' passenger for an hour after he threatened to open the plane door. The Jet2 flight, which was bound for Glasgow and packed with holidaymakers travelling home from Bodrum, was forced to make an emergency landing in Bulgaria to remove the 'disruptive' passenger on July 3. Anthony Spence, 52, described his terror as just ten minutes into the journey he woke up to see a man next to him moving towards the emergency exit. A month prior, another Jet2 passenger was dragged off a plane by police after allegedly 'urinating on his brother' and engaging in a 'full fist fight'. Alfie and Kenneth Springthorpe were issued with a 50,000 fine following the incident on the London Stansted Airport to Crete flight. A shocked passenger, who wished to remain anonymous, captured a video showing one of the brothers being carted down the aisle by a Greek police officer. In March, a flight from Manchester to Antalya had to be diverted to Budapest after a 'drunk' man got 'aggressive' towards stewards, the Sheffield Star reported. DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has sparked hopes of a return to power-sharing in Northern Ireland after months of political deadlock. The unionist party has refused to rejoin the cross-community executive at Stormont for the past 18 months, demanding more concessions over the UK's Brexit agreement. They rejected Rishi Sunak's Windsor Framework, agreed with the EU and are refusing to rejoin what nominally would be a nationalist-led government for the first time in Northern Ireland's history. However, in an interview with Politico, Sir Jeffrey said while there were still 'gaps' between what the DUP wants and what the government is offering, progress is being made. 'We will eventually get the agreement that is required, but I can't say when,' he said. 'The issues we still have to resolve are significant and I don't know how long it will take to resolve them.' In an interview with Politico, Sir Jeffrey said while there were still 'gaps' between what the DUP wants and what the government is offering, progress is being made. The DUP withdrew first minister Paul Givan from the Stormont executive in February 2022 in protest against the internal UK trade barriers created by the post-Brexit protocol. Powersharing is unable to function in Northern Ireland without the participation of the largest unionist party. The UK and EU agreed the Windsor Framework earlier this year in an attempt 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. The DUP conference took place at the weekend against the backdrop of the continued negotiations, with Sir Jeffrey telling delegates it was taking place 'when all eyes are upon us'. He said: 'Not for the first time, London, other Northern Ireland political parties, and no doubt even those in Dublin, will be straining to hear what is said from our proceedings.' Sir Jeffrey said the Government has to 'undo the harm' caused by the Northern Ireland Protocol. He said the Windsor Framework represented progress but 'did not sufficiently deal with some of the fundamental problems at the heart of our current difficulties' over Brexit. This is the moment an Israeli pathologist broke down as he described how a victim of last week's Hamas attack was burned alive while hugging his loved ones. The pathologist was seen standing in front of a screen displaying the remains of the man who was killed during the October 7 massacres in southern Israel. Dr Chen Kugel, head of Israel's National Centre of Forensic Medicine, explained that the man was burned alive in his home while hiding inside a shelter, thinking it would keep him safe from the terror attack. But, he said, the man was killed when the terrorists set fire to his home. Reports have detailed how Hamas fighters, upon learning civilians were taking shelter inside safe rooms, set fire to their houses to either smoke them out or burn them alive. The doctor said that in 31 years working as a forensic pathologist, 'I've never seen people that are conjoined together while they are burned trying to hug each other,' before asking the cameras to stop filming as he is unable to continue speaking. This is the moment an Israeli pathologist broke down as he described the horrors inflicted on some of the victims of last week's Hamas terror attack His presentation, shared by Israel's official X (Twitter) account, comes after military forensic teams said on Saturday that they had found multiple signs of torture, rape and other atrocities when examining the remains of victims. Around 1,300 bodies were brought to an army base in Ramla in central Israel where forensic checks to determine the identity of the dead and the circumstances of their death are being carried out by specialist teams. They were killed by Hamas terrorists, who on October 7 stormed into Israel from the Gaza Strip and went on a rampage through Israeli communities around the border. The video of Dr Kugel opens with a content warning, telling viewers that 'what you are about to see is extremely disturbing. We interviewed the experts who conducted autopsy reports on the victims of the Hamas massacre.' It then cuts to the doctor standing in a white examination room, in front of a screen showing the blackened remains of one of the victims of the attack. 'We see here one of the cases which is an example of the atrocities that we have seen in the tragic event in Israel,' Dr Kugel says, pointing at the screen. 'This is a burned body of course, of an adult. But we know that he was burned while he was alive because we can see soot in the trachea of this person.' At this point, the doctor points to the barely perceptible neck of the victim. 'They couldn't shoot him because he was inside a shelter. So they [Hamas] burned the house and everybody that was inside burned while he was alive,' he adds. 'And this is only one example of many atrocities and many horrible, horrific things that we are seeing here in this tragedy that happened to Israel. Dr Chen Kugel, head of Israel National Centre of Forensic Medicine, explained that the man whose remains are shown on the screen was burned alive in his home while he held on to loved ones taking shelter from the attack His presentation, shared by Israel's official X ( Twitter ) account, comes after military forensic teams said on Saturday that they had found multiple signs of torture, rape and other atrocities when examining the remains of victims 'I'm 31 years a forensic pathologist. I'm used to seeing dead people. But I never saw people that are conjoined together while they are burned, trying to hug each other. 'I, I'm sorry,' he says, before waving the cameras away and walking out of shot. Rabbi Israel Weiss, the former army chief rabbi and one of the officials overseeing the identification of the dead, said on Saturday that around 90 percent of Israel's military dead have been identified, while teams are half way through identifying civilians. He also said many bodies showed signs of torture as well as rape. 'We've seen dismembered bodies with their arms and feet chopped off, people that were beheaded, a child that was beheaded,' a reserve warrant officer identified only by her first name of Avigayil told reporters. She said multiple cases of rape were found by forensic examination of the bodies, which have been stored in refrigerated containers. 'We do the identification with all the means that we have,' said a military dentist, identified as Captain Maayan. 'We see them in severe stages of abuse. We see gunshots and we see signs that are purely torture.' The military personnel overseeing the identification process didn't present any forensic evidence in the form of pictures or medical records. Hamas, the Islamist movement that controls the Gaza Strip, has denied the widespread reports and accusations of abuse. Hundreds of Hamas gunmen, some on motorcycles, broke through barriers around Gaza in the early hours of October 7 and tore through nearby communities, attacking a large outdoor dance festival as well homes and military bases and abducting more than 120 Israelis and foreigners. Israeli soldiers walk past houses destroyed by Hamas militants in Kibbutz Be'eri, Israel, on Saturday, October 14 The body of a Hamas militant lies on the ground at the Kfar Aza Kibbutz, Israel, on 15 October As many as 1,400 people were killed in the attack. The assault caused profound shock in Israel due to both the unprecedented number of dead from a single day as well as the graphic footage that has emerged from the towns and kibbutzim that were overrun. In response, Israeli jets and artillery have bombarded the Gaza Strip for days, killing more than 2,200 Palestinians and destroying thousands of buildings ahead of an expected ground invasion. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has compared Hamas to Islamic State, the group that gained worldwide notoriety for its campaign of public beheadings in countries such as Syria and Iraq. A former Tory minister who exposed himself to an aide on a business trip and demanded office massages faces losing his seat and lumbering Rishi Sunak with yet another tricky by-election. Parliament's Independent Expert Panel today recommended that Peter Bone, 70, be suspended from the Commons for six weeks for a campaign of bullying and sexual misconduct a decade ago. The former deputy Commons leader could lose his Wellingborough seat as the length of the ban will trigger a recall petition, which could lead to a fresh local vote. The standards watchdog ruled he had 'committed many varied acts of bullying and one act of sexual misconduct' against a member of his staff in 2012 and 2013. It said he was verbally abused and hit with a rolled-up document and subjected to an 'unwanted and humiliating ritual' where he was forced him to sit with his hands in his lap when the MP was unhappy with his work Mr Bone said today that the allegations against him were 'false and untrue' and made by an ex-employee who made them 'years after leaving my unemployment'. He suggested he was seeking legal advice. But the panel said he had demonstrated a 'wilful pattern of bullying (that) also included an unwanted incident of sexual misconduct.' The former minister could lose his Wellingborough seat as the length of the ban will trigger a recall petition, and set up another tricky by-election for Rishi Sunak He gained a reputation for mentioning 'Mrs Bone' - his wife Jenny - in the House of Commons, but they split in 2018 after he left her for Helen Harrison, a married physiotherapist 20 years his junior. The report noted: 'The complainant was trapped in a room with the respondent in a hotel in Madrid, not knowing what was going to happen next. This was a deliberate and conscious abuse of power using a sexual mechanism: indecent exposure. 'It was woven into a pattern of inappropriate behaviour which also included requests for massages of his shoulders and neck and instructions to put hands in laps, including forcibly putting the complainant's hands in his lap.' Mr Bone, 70, has been MP for Wellingborough since 2005. A hardline Brexiteer he briefly served as deputy leader of the Commons under Boris Johnson and Liz Truss last year. He gained a reputation for mentioning 'Mrs Bone' - his wife Jenny - in the House of Commons, but they split in 2018 after he left her for Helen Harrison, a married physiotherapist 20 years his junior. MPs are liable to face a recall petition in their seat if a ban of more than 10 sitting days is agreed by a vote of the Commons. The petition needs to be signed by at least 10 per cent of the electorate. If it passes the threshold it would pave the way for a by-election, the latest to take place in a Tory seat. The Tories won in Uxbridge but were hammered in Selby and Ainsty, and Somerton and Frome when three were held on the same day in July. Two more will take place this week, in Mid Bedfordshire and Tamworth, with fears the Tories could lose in two previously safe seats. Five allegations by a Westminster staffer were made about Mr Bone in October 2021, having had a complaint to then-prime minister Theresa May in 2017 unresolved, according to the IEP report. Five allegations by a Westminster staffer were made in October 2021, having had a complaint to then-prime minister Theresa May in 2017 unresolved, according to the IEP report. The complaints included four allegations of bullying, saying Mr Bone: 'Verbally belittled, ridiculed, abused and humiliated' his employee 'Repeatedly physically struck and threw things' at him, including hitting him with his hand or an object such as a pencil or a rolled-up document Imposed an 'unwanted and humiliating ritual' on him by forcing him to sit with his hands in his lap when the MP was unhappy with his work Ostracised the complainant following an incident on a work trip to Madrid. In the Madrid incident upheld by the panel Mr Bone booked a twin room for himself and the aide, who was then aged in their 20s, some 40 years younger than the MP. He asked the aide to examine a faulty tap in the bathroom before removing his towel and exposing himself. The report noted: 'In the first place it is remarkable that a senior MP in his 60s should think it appropriate that he should be sharing a bedroom and bathroom with his employee, and an employee in their early 20s. That in itself rings alarm bells. 'But from an objective standpoint, the respondent's conduct in exposing himself in this way, with his genitals close to this young employee's face, in an unwanted intimate context in a confined space, was not mere nudity. It was indecent exposure.' In a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, Mr Bone said: 'Today the Independent Expert Panel (IEP) has published a report finding me guilty of misconduct. As I have maintained throughout these proceedings, none of the misconduct allegations against me ever took place. They are false and untrue claims. They are without foundation. 'The allegations by an ex-employee refer to events of more than 10 years ago that spanned no more than a few months. The complainant first made the allegations years after they left my employment. They did not raise them at any time during their employment, either in writing or verbally with me, nor with their line managers. 'I am also firmly of the opinion that on this occasion the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme investigation was flawed, procedurally unfair and didn't comply with its own rules and regulations. 'It is my belief that they have operated outside of the powers given to them by Parliament and I am currently discussing with lawyers what action could and should be taken.' 'Squad' member Rep. Ilhan Omar is once again making headlines for the wrong reasons after she posted a photo purporting to show Palestinian children in Gaza who were killed in the ongoing conflict in the wake of Hamas' assault on Israel. In reality, the photo show the killing of a group of Syrian children following a sarin gas attack in 2013 perpetrated by the country's President Bashar al-Assad. The post came less than a week after Omar's Squad comrade Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warned about posting false information. 'The level of misinformation in all directions at this moment is incredibly high, especially on this platform,' AOC wrote on X. 'If you see a claim, photo, or video that triggers a strong emotional reaction, take a moment to pause and check for veracity/confirmation from multiple sources,' the Bronx congresswoman added. That warning was not heeded by Omar who reposted the image with the caption: 'CHILD GENOCIDE IN PALESTINE.' The original image appeared in National Geographic. The caption described the children as having 'succumbed to chemical weapon poisoning' in Eastern Ghouta. At the time of writing, the image has been removed from Omar's page. Rep. Ilhan Omar posted an image of the weekend purporting to show dead Palestinian children in Gaza whereas the picture actually showed Syrian children who were tragically killed in 2013 The image that Omar reposted was originally uploaded by 'investigative journalist' Sulaiman Ahmed The awful image that was reposted by Omar was published by National Geographic and showed the children after a chemical gas attack The Gaza Health Ministry said that 2,450 Palestinians, including nearly 800 children, have been killed and 9,200 others wounded during a week of Israeli airstrikes that have razed apartment buildings, offices and mosques. One group that took issue with the representative from Minnesota was the American Israel Public Affairs Committee who retweeted AOC's original message with a screenshot of Omar's incorrect post, which was originally uploaded by 'investigative journalist' Sulaiman Ahmed. 'You mean like this, @AOC? @IlhanMN is spreading dangerous misinformation, blaming Israel for killing kids who were killed by Assad in Syria 10 years ago. Once again, the Squad doesn't let the facts get in the way of their anti-Israel narrative,' the body said. In separate posts, the AIPAC highlighted two Hamas-affiliated accounts that were spreading misinformation, something that Elon Musk was warned about by the European Union last week. Omar has not made any comment on the incorrect message although she has continued to spread messages criticizing Israel, in particular the IDF's order that Palestinians move south out of northern Gaza. 'The mass expulsion of over 1 million people in a day is ethnic cleansing. The UN has already said this is "impossible" and will have "devastating humanitarian consequences." We have to stop ignoring the thousands of Palestinian lives lost and millions at stake! We must use all diplomatic tools stop this,' Omar wrote. Last week, a New York congressman railed against Omar after the Minnesota Democrat asserted that Israel should not fight back against Hamas and called its military efforts a 'war crime'. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee also took aim at Rep. Omar's social media misstep Syrian online personality Kareem Rifai also spoke out against Omar The congresswoman refused to acknowledge her error and continued to post negatively about Israel On Monday, Omar said she opposed an Israeli military response and said that 'peace and justice will not come from the barrel of a gun.' Rep. Mike Lawler, a republican representing New York's 17th congressional district, wrote on X: 'Israel was just brutally attacked by terrorists, funded by Iran, and you (Omar) want to cut off funding and military aid and equipment. 'You are out of your mind and unfit to serve in the House of Representatives. This is why you were removed from the Foreign Affairs committee.' In February, Omar was removed from the committee with fellow Republicans in Congress citing her anti-Israel rhetoric in the past as the reason. The surprise terror attack by Hamas on Israel at the weekend killed more than 900 people. In her statement on Monday, Omar attacked Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant's actions against Hamas, calling it 'collective punishment' and a 'war crime.' 'The Israeli Defense Minister has called Palestinians 'human animals' and promised to cut off all electricity, all food, and all fuel to civilians in Gaza,' she said. Omar is a member of the left-wing group of Democrats in Congress known as The Squad. They have made their position on Israel abundantly clear over the years. Several of them boycotted Israeli President Isaac Herzog's address to Congress earlier this year. Rep. Mike Lawler, a New York Republican, called out Omar last week and said that she is not fit to serve in Congress Omar called for 'international' protections in Gaza after the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas launched surprise multi-front attacks in Israel In a series of posts on X, Omar called out the Israeli response to the attack Rep. Mike Lawler fought back against the claims On Monday, Omar said on X that the humanity of both 'innocent Palestinian civilians' and the 'the hundreds of innocent Israeli civilians and 9 Americans who were killed this weekend' should be honored equally. 'As the world is condemning Hamas's attacks, we must also oppose an Israeli military response that has already taken the lives of hundreds of Palestinians, including nearly two dozen children.' She added: 'The solution to this horror, as ever, is a negotiated peacewith Israelis and Palestinians enjoying equal rights and security guarantees. 'Instead of continuing unconditional weapons sales and military aid to Israel, I urge the United States at long last to use its diplomatic might to push for peace,' the Democrat, who has been accused of marrying her brother in the past, added. Gates McGavick, the communications director for the Republican National Committee, was also angered by Omar's words. 'This is the literal definition of negotiating with terrorists,' he wrote. A sex attacker allegedly raped two elderly women aged 93 and 95 in a French hospital before one of his victims died of a heart attack, it has emerged. The 44-year-old man, identified only as Samir B., was arrested on Saturday after entering his victims' rooms in the geriatrics department of Argenteuil Hospital on the outskirts of Paris and launching his attack. He was caught after the 95-year-old victim alerted staff and told them she had just been raped by the man, French newspapers report. Samir B. was intercepted by security after leaving the room of the second victim, aged 93, around 4.30pm. His semen was later found on her bed sheets. The woman, who reportedly has psychological disorders, felt unwell just a few hours after the attack and lost consciousness around 7pm. The 44-year-old man, identified only as Samir B., was arrested on Saturday after entering his victims' rooms in the geriatrics department of Argenteuil Hospital (pictured above) on the outskirts of Paris and launching his attack She was later pronounced dead after reportedly having a heart attack. Samir B., who is already known to French police for acts of sexual assault, was later arrested by police and remains in custody. The Pontoise public prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into sexual assault, according to Le Parisien. It is not known whether Samir B. will face charges connected to the 93-year-old's death shortly after the alleged assault. An autopsy into her death is set to take place today to determine the cause of death. 'At this stage, no conclusion can be made and investigations are ongoing,' the Pontoise public prosecutor's office told Le Parisien. Wrapped in a loving embrace, this is the moment a Ukrainian child was finally reunited with his family, more than a year after they were separated in the chaotic aftermath of the Russian invasion. Seven-year-old Oleksander was finally back in the arms of his tearful grandmother and on his way home yesterday following months of highly delicate negotiations over his future. He is one of the first four Ukrainian children to be handed over to diplomats from Qatar via a new scheme that aims to secure the safe return of hundreds of other youngsters who have ended up in Russia without the consent of their families. Oleksander was in Russia with his mother when the war broke out last February. She was then arrested, in circumstances that remain unclear, and taken to prison, resulting in him being taken to a local children's home. A Qatari official who brokered his release and witnessed the child's dramatic reunion with his grandmother on Friday at the country's embassy in Moscow told the Mail that the duo were now returning to Ukraine via Estonia. A Qatari official who brokered his release witnessed the child's dramatic reunion with his grandmother here, alongside Maria Lvova-Belova at Qatar's embassy in Moscow Child with his grandmother and Maria Lvova-Belova, Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights of the Russian Federation Child with a Qatari diplomat at Qatar's embassy in Moscow 'The feeling of witnessing the reunion of a family is nearly impossible to describe,' he said. 'It was very emotional and extremely heart-warming to see how the child was glued to his grandmother after being separated from his family for almost a year.' Similar scenes marked the reunion of a second child, this one a two-year-old boy, with his mother over the weekend. He had been undergoing treatment in a local hospital at the time of the invasion, with his mother left on the opposite side of the front lines. A third child, a boy aged nine who had been staying with his grandparents in the southern region of Kherson when war broke out, is expected to meet his mother again this afternoon. The fourth, a 17-year-old girl, is expected to be reunited with relatives some time tomorrow. One of the four is being flown home via a Qatari diplomatic jet. The others will be driven via Latvia, Belarus and Lithuania. Today's carefully-staged handovers carry great significance for the future of huge numbers of Ukrainian children who have now been separated from their nearest and dearest for more than 18 months. Child with a Qatari diplomat at Qatar's embassy in Moscow Child shares a hug with a Qatari diplomat at Qatar's embassy in Moscow Child with his grandmother, a Qatari diplomat, and Maria Lvova-Belova at Qatar's embassy in Moscow Kyiv says that thousands of minors were taken either to Russia or to Russian-held territory following the launch of Vladimir Putin's invasion in February last year. Some went to 43 special 'camps' where, according to a report issued by Yale university earlier this year, they underwent 'pro-Russia patriotic and military-related re-education.' Others were handed over to Russian families via a decree approved by Putin last May which simplified the adoption process for children who had been taken from the war zone. It's impossible to be entirely sure how many children were affected. Kyiv has put the number at between 16,000 and 20,000 while Moscow claims it's in the hundreds. However the phenomenon has been widely condemned, with international critics likening it to a grizzly form of ethnic cleansing. In March, judges of the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants for Putin and Russia's commissioner for children's rights, Maria Lvova-Belova. It accused them both of war crimes, saying they bear individual responsibility for the 'unlawful deportation' and 'unlawful transfer' of Ukrainian children to Russia. Lvova-Belova has played a central role in the ongoing dispute over the future of the children, having very publicly adopted a boy from the besieged city of Mariupol. She was also pictured at the handover of Oleksander, and is believed to be anxious, following the ICC indictment, to take steps to rehabilitate her public image by securing the safe return of more infants. NGO volunteer with the child and his grandmother en route to Ukraine, via Estonia Child and his family leaving Russia for Ukraine, via Estonia Child with a Qatari diplomat The problem, thus far, has been that no system exists to facilitate their repatriation. Instead, relatives must travel to Russia to personally retrieve them and escort them home, a process that is not only fraught with danger but also beyond the financial means of many Ukrainian families. Thus far, just 400 children have been retrieved by their parents in this way. Qatar believes it's uniquely positioned to create a system via which many more minors can be reunited with their families, since it retains the trust of both sides in the ongoing war. Kyiv is grateful that the resource-rich Gulf state has not only condemned the Russian invasion but has also pledged hundreds of millions of dollars-worth of humanitarian aid to the country. Moscow meanwhile respects the fact that Qatar has not joined other members of the international community in imposing sanctions. In July, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, who also serves as foreign minister, visited Moscow, where he met with Putin and other high-ranking officials. The following month, he visited Ukraine, where he met with Ukrainian President Zelensky. The scheme to repatriate Ukrainian children has been in the works ever since. Qatari officials have been overseeing the process of verifying who the children are and trying to identify family members back home, in an operation orchestrated via Sheikh Mohammed's Minister of State for International Co-Operation, Her Excellency Lolwah Rashid Al-Khater. Child with a Qatari diplomat who is assisting near the borders Child saying his goodbye to a Russian representative from Maria Lvova-Belova's team, near the borders to assist the family along with Qatari diplomats 'The return of Ukrainian children to their families today marks a positive step and a gesture of goodwill between the Ukrainian and Russian governments,' she said yesterday. 'In Qatar, we firmly believe that dialogue, even between adversaries, is the source of all lasting peace, stability, and understanding. 'We are under no illusion that today's breakthrough is only a first step, but we are encouraged by the commitment and openness shown by both sides throughout the process, which we sincerely hope will lead to more initiatives aimed at de-escalating tensions and building trust between the two parties.' Diplomatic sources say Russia is now willing to agree to the return of hundreds more infants provided Kyiv doesn't attempt to weaponise the scheme for PR purposes. There are hopes that Qatar can then help the two sides make progress negotiating grain exports, humanitarian corridors and, in the longer term, some sort of agreement to de-escalate the conflict. Today's events are also positive news for hundreds of hostages including eight Britons - currently being held by Hamas militants in Gaza. Qatar is not only adept at orchestrating delicate negotiations - as showcased by its ability to act as an intermediary between Russia and Ukraine - but it's currently one of the few countries to boast an avenue of communication with Hamas and the West. On one hand, the country is home to a large US military base. On the other it has since 2012 allowed the terror group to keep an office in its capital Doha. Child saying his goodbye to a Russian representative from Maria Lvova-Belova's team, near the borders to assist the family along with Qatari diplomats That facility, initially opened at the request of America as a means to facilitate dialogue, is thought to provide the only means via which foreign governments can currently contact Hamas leaders in Gaza, most of whom are believed to be hiding in a network of tunnels underneath the city. 'They ditched their mobile phones and it was impossible to reach any of them,' one Egyptian official told the Wall Street Journal last week. 'Every country with contacts to Hamas has tried.' Diplomatic sources in Qatar, who were visited last week by the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, say Hamas initially offered to give up some hostages in return for the freeing of Palestinian fighters currently held by Israel, including some who carried out last Saturday's terror attack. That offer has been rejected by Israel. However there are hopes that Hamas will agree to release the women and children it's currently holding along with some sick and elderly hostages in a bid to gain some support from the West for a de-escalation of Israel's current attacks. 'They would still keep military hostages, but it would be a first step,' is how one source puts it. 'In return there are some Palestinian women and kids who Israel may be persuaded to release, though it is early days.' Relatives of the eight UK nationals currently being held in Gaza can draw hope from Qatar's track record in brokering similar release deals. In 2017, during the Syrian civil war, the country negotiated a complex deal to release hostages in Iraq, and in 2019 it secured the release of two westerners taken by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Last month, it brokered a prisoner swap between the US and Iran which saw five American citizens released in return for allowing Tehran to access around $6billion in frozen oil revenues. Lidia Thorpe has dramatically pulled out of her Monday night appearance on Q+A due to a serious 'terrorist threat' against her hours after she wore a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf into the Senate. The outspoken Indigenous Senator posted a message to social media just 30 minutes before the ABC show was due to air. 'FTP. I am not protected from a known far-right Nazi terrorist organisation. That is why I can't do Q+A tonight,' she said on Facebook. Host Patricia Karvelas opened the broadcast with the worrying update. 'Independent senator Lidia Thorpe has informed us that she can't attend tonight because of what she says are ongoing threats from a known terrorist organisation and has also posted that message on social media. 'Apologies for those expecting her.' The firebrand Greens-turned-Independent senator arrived for the first day of sitting in a month wearing a Palastinian keffiyeh scarf Ms Thorpe has long been a target of neo-Nazi groups. On October 5, a disturbing video has emerged of a neo-Nazi threatening Lidia Thorpe and burning the Aboriginal flag. The clip posted this week sees the man, who is dressed in black and wearing a balaclava, claiming to be from neo-Nazi group Warriors for Convict Resistance. Using a voice modulator, he reads a statement from his phone endorsing 'white Australia', makes racist comments about Indigenous people and threatens Senator Thorpe. It is not known which group is behind the latest 'terror threat'. The development came just hours after Ms Thorpe compared the Australian government to Israel as the 'illegal occupier of these lands' in an impassioned speech pledging support to Palestine. The firebrand Greens-turned-Independent senator arrived in the chamber for the first day of sitting in a month wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf. A large crowd gathered outside the Opera House in protest of the Opera House being lit A fireball erupts during Israeli bombardment of Gaza City on October 9, 2023. Israel imposed a total siege on the Gaza Strip on October 9 and cut off the water supply as it bombed targets The Australian Federal Police are investigating a disturbing video of a balaclava-clad neo-Nazi threatening Lidia Thorpe before burning an Aboriginal flag In response to the tragic war between Israel and terrorist group Hamas which is taking place, Ms Thorpe said she sympathised with victims on both sides of the conflict. She said Palestinians 'live with generational trauma of dispossession, they continue to fight for sovereignty, liberation, and land back, as do First peoples of this country. 'You have the responsibility to support Palestinians standing against it, just as you have the responsibility to support First Nations people here standing against it.' Ms Thorpe said she 'is not surprised' that the Australian government has offered resounding support to Israel after Hamas launched a missile attack at a music festival last Saturday morning. The conflict prompted swift retaliation from Israel, and some 2,600 Palestinians in Gaza have been reported dead since October 7. 'I'm not surprised the Australian government, which is itself the illegal occupier of these lands, condones illegal occupation of other lands, and sides with an oppresive regime,' she said. 'Governments across the world, in an attempt to address anti-Semitism and somehow address the horrors of the Holocaust, are allowing Israel to get away with apartheid, ethnic cleansing. Ms Thorpe condemned Hamas' attacks on Israel, but said she was also condemning 'the violence Israel is and has been inflicting on the Palestinian people'. In response to the tragic war between Israel and terrorist group Hamas which is taking place, Ms Thorpe said she sympathised with victims on both sides of the conflict She criticised the government's decision to light up the Sydney Opera House in the colours of blue and white in solidarity with Israel, and said the debate on the international stage had been 'extremely one sided'. 'Israel's indiscriminate bombings on Gaza are killing thousands of innocent people, people who already had to suffer for so many decades in what is often called the world's biggest prison. 'These people didn't attack Israel, and yet they are the human collateral of Israel fighting back against Hamas with unprecedented force. 'They will be the ones suffering the long term consequences which will more than likely be the continued and possibly reinforced oppression of the Palestinan people through Israel. She criticised the government's decision to light up the Sydney Opera House in the colours of blue and white in solidarity with Israel, and said the debate on the international stage had been 'extremely one sided' READ MORE: Calls for Hamas to be eliminated entirely Advertisement 'How can the world let this happen? All the talk of government supporting a two-state solution seem all but forgotten - worth nothing but a side note. 'The current war has set the solution back decades. Most Palestinians want nothing but to live peacefully in a free Palestine. For 75 years now Palestine has been under brutal occupation. 'The state of Israel was founded on Palestinian land in 1948, when tens of thousands of Palestinans sought refuge in Gaza as their towns and villages were ethnically cleansed. 'Palestinian voices have all but been silenced over what happened.' Senator Thorpe's criticism of the government comes after the Coalition complained the government had not gone far enough in condemning the attacks against Israel. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's first point of order after returning to parliament on Monday was to wholly condemn Hamas' assault on Israel. He and his government have made several statements over the past week, but Monday marked the first formal recognition of the attacks in parliament. He described Hamas - which is a declared terrorist organisation in Australia - an enemy of peace in the Middle East. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's first point of order after returning to parliament on Monday was to wholly condemn Hamas' assault on Israel 'This was not just an attack on Israel, this was an attack on Jewish people. Hamas is an enemy not just of Israel, Hamas is an enemy of all peace-loving Palestinian people who are left to pay a devastating price for this terrorism,' the prime ministerr said. 'We have learned of acts of violation and humiliation so grotesque they should be beyond imagination but have been made reality by Hamas.' Mr Albanese reiterated that Israel had the right to defend itself following the attacks. He also said anti-Semitic comments following the attacks, as well as Islamophobia, had no place in Australia. 'The awful anti-Semitism chanted by some of the protesters at the Sydney Opera House is beyond offensive, it is a betrayal of our Australian values,' Mr Albanese said. A motion moved by the PM in parliament condemned the attacks, along with acknowledging the loss of life on both sides of the conflict, as well as supporting 'justice and freedom for Israelis and Palestinians'. Parliament also held a moment's silence for victims of the conflict. People around the world are taking part in pro-Palestinian demonstrations (pictured, Santiago in Chile) Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the attack by Hamas was an act of 'sheer barbarity'. 'No longer can the apologists of this death cult claim they have a just and noble cause. What happened nine days ago was the embodiment of evil,' he said. 'There must be no restraint shown to these who have shown no restraint themselves.' Mr Dutton also urged Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil to use her ministerial powers to deport people engaging in anti-Semitic behaviour. 'The rally at the Sydney Opera House escalated that anti-Semitism, we have to recognise that, because the impact it has had on the Jewish community here in Australia will take a lot to undo.' The heartbroken father of a six-year-old Palestinian boy stabbed to death by his landlord in a hate-crime fueled by the Hamas-Israel war has revealed that his brave son's final words were 'I'm fine.' Wadea Al-Fayoume, six, was killed on Saturday morning, allegedly by landlord Joseph M. Czuba, 71, who was renting the family a room in his home in Plainfield, Illinois. The boy's mother, Hanan Shaheen, survived the attack and told police later how Czuba appeared at their door spouting hateful, anti-Muslim slurs. He tried to choke Shaheen, who fled inside and called 911, then produced a knife on the mother and son. He plunged the serrated, military-style weapon into Shaheen more than a dozen times, and stabbed the boy 26 times. Czuba was arrested outside the house. Wadea's father, Oday Al-Fayoume, has spoken out, explaining that his son and ex-wife knew the landlord and had even shared a 'good relationship' with him before the horrific attack. Wadea Al-Fayoume, six, was killed on Sunday, allegedly by landlord Joseph M. Czuba, 71, who was renting the family a room in his home in Plainfield, Illinois. He is shown as a younger boy, waving an American flag Police charged 71-year-old suburban Chicago man Joseph M. Czuba (pictured) Sunday with a hate crime for allegedly fatally stabbing 6-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume Wadea's father, Oday Al-Fayoume, (pictured, wearing white sweater) has spoken out, explaining that his son and ex-wife knew the landlord 'It is hard to picture this man holding a knife about to stab my son,' he said. 'I keep thinking that my son was probably running towards him before getting stabbed, trying to give him a hug.' Paying tribute to his young son, Oday told The Daily Beast that Wadea was 'basically a small angel in the form of a person'. Wadea's mom suffered more than a dozen stab wounds. She remained hospitalized Sunday but is expected to survive. Speaking at a press conference on Sunday, the boy's uncle, Yousef Hannon said: 'We are not animals, we are humans. 'We want people to see us as humans, to feel us as humans, to deal with us as humans, because this is what we are.' The family moved to the US from the West Bank twelve years ago. Wadea was born in the US. Wadea with his father, who described him as 'an angel'. He said he could imagine his son running towards the landlord to hug him The landlord was renting a room to the family in his home in Plainfield, Illinois. On Sunday, he first attacked the mother by trying to choke her, then stabbed her and her son There are a number of American flags, pro-police and religious signs outside the house President Joe Biden is among those to have condemned the attack in Illinois on Sunday Wadea Al-Fayoume had recently turned six. He was killed in a crime which authorities believe was influenced by the Israel-Hamas war Czuba was found Saturday outside 'sitting upright outside on the ground near the driveway of the residence' with a cut on his forehead. He has been charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crimes and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and will make his first court appearance this afternoon while Wadea's relative bury him. In text messages to Wadea's father, his mother said the landlord yelled: 'You Muslims must die!' The Muslim civil liberties organization called the crime 'our worst nightmare,' and part of a disturbing trend since the outbreak of violence in the Middle East. In response to the increased threats, the Illinois State Police are communicating with federal law-enforcement and reaching out to Muslim communities and religious leaders to offer support, according to a press release from Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker. 'To take a six-year-old child's life in the name of bigotry is nothing short of evil,' Pritzker said. Paying tribute to his young son, Oday told The Daily Beast that Wadea was 'basically a small angel in the form of a person' 'Wadea should be heading to school in the morning. Instead, his parents will wake up without their son. This wasn't just a murder - it was a hate crime. And every single Illinoisan - including our Muslim, Jewish, and Palestinian neighbors - deserves to live free from the threat of such evil.' The Will County Sheriff's Office said in a statement posted to social media: 'Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis.' President Joe Biden commented on the boy's death, saying in a statement: 'This horrific act of hate has no place in America, and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are.' He later wrote on X about he and his wife's reaction at hearing the news. 'Jill and I were sickened to learn of the brutal murder of a child and the attempted murder of the childs mother yesterday in Illinois. 'Our condolences and prayers are with the family. This act of hate against a Palestinian Muslim family has no place in America. 'As Americans, we must come together and reject Islamophobia and all forms of bigotry and hatred. I have said repeatedly that I will not be silent in the face of hate. We must be unequivocal.' In recent days, police in US cities and federal authorities have been on high alert for violence driven by antisemitic or Islamophobic sentiments. FBI officials, along with Jewish and Muslim groups, have reported an increase in hateful and threatening rhetoric. Director Chris Wray said on a call with reporters Sunday that the FBI is also moving quickly to mitigate the threats. A senior FBI official who spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Bureau said the majority of the threats that the FBI has responded to were not judged to be credible, adding that the FBI takes them all seriously nonetheless. The official also said that agents have been encouraged to be 'aggressive' and proactive in communicating over the last week with faith-based leaders. The official said the purpose is not to make anyone feel targeted but rather to ask clerics and others to report to law enforcement anything that seems suspicious. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last night warned the nation was approaching a 'fateful hour' with more than 400,000 Israeli troops now gearing up for an imminent invasion of the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu's forces have already positioned themselves along Gaza's border with Israel and drilled for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to 'demolish' Hamas. But there are fears such a ground invasion will see house-to-house fighting erupt in the streets of Gaza, where 2,750 Palestinians have already been killed in Israel's brutal aerial bombardment. Here, former British Army Major General Charlie Herbert explains what exactly an IDF ground assault into the Gaza Strip might look like and how effective it would be. An Israeli soldier adjusts his rifle as he stands on a tank near Israel's border with Lebanon in northern Israel on Monday Palestinian women walk by buildings destroyed in Israeli airstrikes in Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip on Monday IDF soldiers drive in military vehicles on October 15, 2023 in Sderot, Israel Here, former British Army Major General Charlie Herbert (pictured) explains what exactly an IDF ground assault into the Gaza Strip might look like and how effective it would be First, what's the Israeli military aim? According to the Israeli Defence Minister, it's to 'wipe this thing called Hamas off the face of the earth'. Emotive language, but if we unpack that a little, what are the potential military objectives and challenges to them? Urban areas are the most challenging environment in which to fight. Terrain favours the defender which in this case is Hamas. 360 degree battlefield. Non-linear. Prepared defensive strong points. Pre-planned killing areas. Depth. All round defence. Mutual support. This is a nightmare for an attacking force. So IDF would prefer therefore for the civilian population to leave. This allows them to use military advantage - air power and artillery - to destroy Hamas defensive positions and offensive capability. But this just isn't possible in a congested environment with civilians. This is why Hamas will discourage the population from leaving, effectively using civilians as human shields to force the IDF to fight on disadvantageous terms - or to inflict dreadful levels of collateral damage on the civilian population, which is a war crime by both sides. So those are some of the generic challenges facing the IDF in Gaza. But what is it that we think they're expecting to achieve? The first objective is to rescue the hostages. This is not easy by any means as the hostages will almost certainly be widely dispersed across Gaza and heavily protected. I can't foresee a successful military solution to this objective. Diplomacy is a better option. The second objective is to capture or kill Hamas political and military leadership. This is a given. But again this won't be easy in an operation of limited duration. And as we have seen repeatedly in last two decades, decapitation of terrorist leadership is rarely decisive. The third objective is to destroy Hamas Command & Control capability. This always sounds easy as a sound bite. It's much harder in reality against any force which is adept at fighting a dispersed, decentralised, hit and run style campaign. An Israeli mobile artillery unit fires a shell from southern Israel towards the Gaza Strip, in a position near the Israel-Gaza border on Sunday Palestinians search for casualties under the rubble of a house destroyed in Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday The fourth objective is to degrade Hamas logistical ability and the group's means of waging war. This should be easy enough to do, temporarily, although proved largely unachievable against Hezbollah in 2006. And even if successful in short term, the impact is only going to be temporary. Meanwhile, the fifth objective is to destroy the 'Gaza Metro' - the extraordinary labyrinth of Hamas tunnels running underneath Gaza. This is feasible, given enough time and manpower, but again will only be temporary unless IDF plan to occupy Gaza indefinitely. Unlikely. The sixth and final objective for the IDF is to deter Hezbollah. Arguably this should be Military Strategic Objective number 1. No one wants to fight a war on two fronts, not least Israel. If Hezbollah open a northern front, it's hard to see the IDF being able to sustain a major operation in Gaza. Can they achieve these objectives? Probably not in a war of limited duration. The 2006 war lasted 34 days, the war in 2009 lasted 22 days while the 2014 conflict lasted seven weeks. It's hard to envision international support for Israel enduring, given apparent IDF disregard for the rules of war It's not unreasonable to expect a ceasefire within a month or two. The chances are that IDF will not have achieved even some of their objectives by then, leaving everyone to question what it was all about and asking who actually won. It will just be another episode in the perpetual cycle of violence. Unless, of course, there's a better political outcome to this war. After all the purpose of war is to achieve a better peace. There's no military solution. That's obvious. Hamas won't be militarily defeated and even if they are it's possible that they'll be replaced by something similar until such time as a political solution to the cycle of violence is reached. Let's just hope that's soon. Because war isn't the solution. A married father who stole a teenage girl's innocence by grooming her at a skate park and sending her a nude image of himself has served just two weeks in jail. One year ago when Kiara Stewart was just 15, Sydney man Brett Daly won her trust by helping her to skateboard. Then began contacting her with increasingly inappropriate messages and images. The teenager was a promising athlete before the traumatic ordeal but now she no longer trains because she's afraid to leave her family's home. Daly, 36, eventually pleaded guilty to using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend and intention to do a sexual act with a child under 16. Despite being sentenced to seven months in jail, he appealed and was allowed to walk free after a fortnight. Kiara said she's feels 'let down' by the court system and wants him put back in jail. Kiara Stewart said she is speaking out to warn others 'It's like absolutely wrong. I'm scared to go out in public because of that man, but he's been let free,' she told A Current Affair. 'I feel like it's taken my teen years from me. Now I'm scared of the world.' The brave girl, now 16, is speaking out to warn others. 'No kid deserves to go through, like, sexual things. Being sent that content and everything,' Kiara said. 'It could happen to another girl. It could happen to someone younger, she may be scared to come out to her parents.' The married man initially approached the schoolgirl at a skatepark offering to teach her how to ride a skateboard. Daly asked for her contact details and began to message her. He would sprinkle those messages with love heart and kiss emojis, which she found 'weird' behaviour from a man 20 years her senior. Then Daly began to 'FaceTime' her and send her shirtless photos of himself. He would even send her love song lyrics, such as lines from Celine Dion's The Power of Love: 'Lost is how I'm feeling, lying in your arms'. At 5am one morning Daly sent the teen a nude image of himself, then abruptly blamed someone else. One year ago when Kiara Stewart was just 15, Sydney man Brett Daly won her trust by helping her to skateboard. Then began contacting her with increasingly inappropriate messages and images Daly, 36, eventually pleaded guilty to using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend and intention to do a sexual act with a child under 16 The teenager was a promising athlete before the traumatic ordeal but now she no longer trains. That's because she's afraid to leave her family's home He claimed a 'girlfriend' of his had gone through his Snapchat list and sent images to his contacts while impersonating him. Daly also claimed he had to go to police. Ms Stewart's mum Nicole urged her to go to the police with her story. When Daly was arrested he admitted sending the naked photo but claimed he sent them accidently when he was drunk. During his appeal, Judge Tanya Smith chastised Daly saying: 'He isn't recognising what he is actually here for... exposing an underage girl to images of himself.' He spent just two weeks behind bars but also has to serve a three-year community service order and complete 350 hours of community service work. Kiara's mother Nicole said she's proud of her daughter for speaking out. 'She's braver than any 16-year-old I know,' Nicole said. 'She's got the strength and determination to make sure it doesn't happen again to anybody else.' The husband of disgraced parenting blogger Ruby Franke called the police on their estranged eldest daughter two days after his wife was arrested over child abuse claims. Kevin Franke told cops on September 1 that the couple's eldest daughter Shari, 20, had broken into their home and stolen hard drives. But Springville Police Department, in Utah, told the father that the door to the property was damaged when they broke down the door on August 30. They refused to take action against Shari, who handed over passports, phones and tablets she took from the family property following the police raid. Her mother Ruby, 41, and her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt, 54, were arrested on August 30 after one of her sons was found with open wounds and duct tape on his limbs. Ruby's husband Kevin called the police on September 1, claiming their eldest daughter, Shari, 20, had broken into the home and taken several items after his wife's arrest Shari posted about her mother's arrest on Instagram, sharing an image of police officers outside the home captioned 'Finally.' She broke contact with the family in April The Mormon YouTuber, who ran the 8 Passengers page, and Hildebrant were charged with six counts of child abuse each after police rescued two of Ruby's six children. Both children appeared to be malnourished when they were found by authorities at Hildebrandt's property in Utah on August 30. Cops then raided Ruby's home nearby to locate her other children. Ruby's husband Kevin called the police on September 1, claiming their eldest daughter, Shari, 20, had broken into the home and taken several items. He told officers that he wanted her arrested for burglary, with police 'responding by phone' to Kevin Franke, according to an incident report obtained by Fox News Digital. The police report said: 'Kevin stated that Shari is not allowed in the home, and that he believes she entered unlawfully and he wants her charged with burglary.' However Springville Police Department admitted responsibility for the broken door, explaining to Kevin that it was damaged when the search warrant was served. Shari posted about her mother's arrest on Instagram, sharing an image of police officers outside the home captioned 'Finally.' She revealed in April that she broke contact with the family. In an Instagram story after her mom's arrest, Shari celebrated her mom's arrest and said she had been 'trying to tell the police and CPS for years about this.' Kevin told officers that he wanted her arrested for burglary, with police 'responding by phone' to the Mormon father Springville Police Department admitted responsibility for the broken door, explaining to Kevin that it was damaged when the search warrant was served The popular YouTuber was arrested along with her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt last month and charged with six counts of felony child abuse after one of her sons was discovered with open wounds and duct tape on their limbs Shari also said that she is 'so glad they finally decided to step up' and that her siblings are safe. Kevin told cops that the front door of his home had been 'kicked in' and damaged, with some electronic items missing claiming it was his eldest daughter who broke in. But he 'wanted to have his daughter charged with theft for taking some hard drives out of the house', with officers informing him that she 'wasn't aware' she couldn't have them. Shari returned the items three tablets, three cell phones, three cameras, journals and three passports to Springville Police Department. Officers then returned them to her father. Kevin allegedly threatened to sue the police department after they refused to charge his daughter with any crime. Police said Shari's intent was 'not to deprive him of any items, she had previously been allowed in the home, and he had not been in the home admittedly for 13 months.' Ruby's family previously told DailyMail.com that she should be 'put away forever' if she's convicted of the abuse. Her sisters-in-law Cynthia and Jennifer Franke say they believe the abuse allegations against the mother-of-six and say they are 'shocked' and 'sickened'. Ruby previously made astonishing claims during a court hearing that one of her minor children sexually abused one of their siblings and other children. Ruby's family previously told DailyMail.com that she should be 'put away forever' if she's convicted of the abuse Kevin 'wanted to have his daughter charged with theft for taking some hard drives out of the house', with officers informing him that she 'wasn't aware' she couldn't have them Ruby Franke, (left) who ran the now-defunct 8 Passengers channel, was arrested along with her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt (right) on August 30 Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, Ruby's sisters-in-law Cynthia (left) and Jennifer Franke (right) say she's lying and 'saying anything to save herself' The Mormon mom at times broke down as she made shocking claims that one of her minor children sexually abused their sibling and molested several other family members and children in the neighborhood over the years. Seeming to pin the blame for her behavior on her children, Ruby went into horrific detail about how one of her six kids abused other children. In one of the most shocking claims, Ruby said said that her child had been sexually abusing a younger sibling for years, adding that eventually the two of them began to abuse other children. She also claimed her two children played a 'patting' game with each other, but did not go into further detail. Ruby said that in May her child confessed to sexually abusing 20 people, including cousins and neighbors. She provided no proof of her sickening allegations. Her strict parenting style has faced a repeated backlash since she started the channel in 2015. Viewers called child protective services in 2020 after their son Chad, 15, claimed that he had slept on a bean bag for seven months. She also threatened to bin her children's items if they didn't pay her cash for them, claiming it was a lesson in understanding the value of their things. Both Franke and Hildebrant have been previously criticized for their teachings on parenting collaborating on Hildebrandt's life counseling service ConneXions. With pro Hamas slogans daubed on its walls and the Muslim call to prayer sounding from its minarets, it looks like the densely populated streets of Gaza City. But Israeli soldiers have stalked these streets since 2005, carrying out close-quarters combat training in the fake desert city in Israel known as 'Mini Gaza'. Ahead of a widely anticipated ground assault, Israel Defence Forces troops have been preparing to fight their way through the real Gazan streets at the Tze'elim army base, around 10 miles from the border with the Gaza Strip. The 45million complex, complete with murals of Hamas leaders and the frequent sound of the muezzin, who calls Muslims to prayer - was built with US help in 2005. It occupies 60 acres and has 600 buildings including pretend shops, schools, houses, as well as fake tunnels and eight-storey apartment blocks. Israeli soldiers take positions during a training session simulating urban warfare at the Tze'elim army base, southern Israel Israeli soldiers rest by a mural depicting the late Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, during an urban warfare exercise in Tze'elim army base, southern Israel, in January last year. Officially, the site is known as the Urban Warfare Training Centre. But to soldiers, it is known as Mini Gaza Israeli soldiers climb on a wall as they conduct a mock assault during an urban warfare exercise at an army training facility, at the Tze'elim army base An Israeli soldier dressed as a Palestinian militant, left, lies on the ground next to his colleague pretending to be dead, during training session simulating urban warfare last year Two M-16 rifles hanging on a wall with a graffiti featuring the Palestinian flag at the IDF Urban Warfare Training Center at the army base in southern Israel It is officially known as the Urban Warfare Training Centre. But the Israeli soldiers who carry out training within its walls call it 'Mini Gaza' because of its striking similarity. The tight alleyways, concrete buildings and open areas are designed to simulate the urban environments in which Israel's soldiers will have to operate. Some soldiers don the red-and-white checkered scarves of Hamas and wield AK-47 assault rifles to role-play enemy fighters in drills. To create an authentic environment, the warren of narrow streets are also decorated with Palestinian flags and 'Free Gaza' slogans that are produced by the Israeli army's only official graffiti artist. The centre can accommodate exercises for an entire brigade of 2,000 soldiers. Visiting US and European troops have also trained at Mini Gaza. Each time conflict has broken out with Hamas, Israel has been accused of using disproportionate force in crowded residential areas, contributing to the civilian death toll. The Israeli military says it makes every effort to spare civilians, including building Mini Gaza to train its soldiers, while it accuses Hamas of using them as human shields. Israeli soldiers carry supplies at the end of an urban warfare exercise session at an army training facility in southern Israel Israeli soldiers are seen through a broken window of a guarding post during an urban warfare exercise An Israeli soldier pretending to be dead Palestinian militant lies on the ground during a training session simulating urban warfare Israeli soldiers participate in a training session simulating urban warfare An Israeli soldier reads from a book next to graffiti featuring the Palestinian flag, during an urban warfare exercise in the fake city training base Now, Israel is widely expected to launch a real ground offensive in order to kill Hamas leaders, recover captives and destroy the group's military infrastructure, much of which is in residential areas. Nearly 400,000 military reservists, along with regular infantry units and heavily armoured battalions are encircling Gaza ahead of what is expected to be a major ground assault. Street-by-street fighting would likely cause mounting casualties on both sides. Israel has ordered more than one million Palestinians, almost half the territory's population, to leave Gaza City and the surrounding area for the enclave's south. The military says it is trying to clear away civilians ahead of a major campaign against Hamas in the north, where it says the militants have extensive networks of tunnels and rocket launchers. Hamas meanwhile has urged people in the Gaza Strip to stay in their homes, and the Israeli military on Sunday released photos it said showed a Hamas roadblock preventing traffic from moving south. Hospitals in Gaza are expected to run out of generator fuel in the next 24 hours, endangering the lives of thousands of patients, according to the UN. Gaza's sole power plant shut down for lack of fuel after Israel completely sealed off the 25-mile long territory following the Hamas attack. The World Health Organisation (WHO) said hospitals are 'overflowing' as people seek safety. 'We are concerned about disease outbreaks due to mass displacement and poor water and sanitation,' it said. Four hospitals in northern Gaza are no longer functioning and 21 have received Israeli orders to evacuate. Doctors have refused, saying it would mean death for critically ill patients and newborns on ventilators. The WHO said water shortages caused by Israel's decision to cut off water supplies, combined with a lack of fuel for pumps and desalination stations, put thousands of hospital patients at risk. 'Water is needed to ensure sanitary conditions on inpatient wards, in operation rooms, and emergency departments. It is essential for the prevention of hospital associated infections and for the prevention of outbreaks in hospitals,' the WHO said. Israel has said the siege won't be lifted until Hamas releases all the captives. A male teacher at an all-girls grammar school has won almost 45,000 after he was sacked over sex assault claims which pupils allegedly later said they made up 'for fun'. Jonathan Hawker, the former maths and computing teacher, was said to be targeted by pupils who wanted to end his career by alleging he had assaulted them by touching their thighs and massaging their shoulders. Mr Hawker, who had been at Devonport High School for Girls in Plymouth for five years, was suspended, arrested and then fired for 'gross misconduct' despite reports that the girls had admitted they lied about everything 'because it was fun'. The teacher has now been awarded 44,868 after a tribunal in Bristol decided that the school had carried out a 'wholly inadequate' investigation and failed to 'provide a safe working environment for its staff, in particular the men.' Jonathan Hawker was fired from Devonport High School for Girls in Plymouth over sex assault claims that pupils later said they made up 'for fun' Employment Judge Martha Street slammed the school's investigation into the girls' allegations, saying: 'A fair investigation would at the least have included a transcript of the interviews with them. 'I make no finding on whether Mr Hawker committed the misconduct alleged. 'What I can say is that if he is innocent, and a playground plot can end a career and destroy a reputation, the school is not providing a safe working environment for its staff, in particular for its male staff. 'No reasonable employer would conclude that the younger girls were giving truthful evidence in good faith without question; that is, without exploring the contrary evidence including the contemporary evidence from the older girls of a plot against Mr Hawker. 'In a career-ending case, the investigation has to be as full as possible. 'This fell well short of that. The school accepted the evidence of the younger pupils without challenge or exploration and discounted, ignored or avoided finding contrary evidence.' In June 2021, a student wrote a statement to her tutor that another girl identified only as Student H had said Mr Hawker had touched her leg, the hearing was told. Ruth Morgan, the head of safeguarding, spoke to Student H, who said that during a lesson Mr Hawker had knelt down next to her and put his hand on her thigh, the tribunal heard. In further discussions with other pupils, Mrs Morgan heard of a 'similar incident' described by students, as well as false rumours Mr Hawker had previously been suspended for 'touching a Year 9 student' and had an affair with a sixth former. The hearing was told that on the instruction of the school's acting Head, Beverly Bell, Mrs Morgan took statements from the girls. One girl, Student D, reported that Mr Hawker had made her feel 'very uncomfortable', by 'massaging my shoulders and stroking my arms'. She said she had seen Mr Hawker stroking other girls' thighs and that other girls, Student G and Student F, had said that happened to them. The teacher was also accused of winking at girls. As a result of numerous other reports from the girls, which all alleged serious misconduct, Mr Hawker was suspended pending investigation on June 28, 2021. However, in July, two girls from the year above said they had been stood with the group of accusers when they admitted they tried to get Mr Hawker fired 'for fun'. When the older pair asked why, one of the girls had told them 'because it was fun' and another one added 'yeh we said he touched our thighs trying to get him done for sexual assault'. Mr Thomas reported this to Mrs Bell on July 9, before school year ended on July 23. However, the tribunal heard the school 'appeared to reject' the older students' account. In September 2021, Mr Hawker was arrested in a 'brutal experience' after two of the original group agreed to police involvement, the hearing was told. It was his first knowledge of the allegations. An internal investigation was launched at the school in November. Mrs Morgan interviewed Students D, E, F and G during which Student D withdrew some allegations and said she no longer wanted to be involved. She didn't interview the older students, L and M, about what they had spoken to the girls about instead categorising it as 'facts that had not been established'. In December 2021, Mr Hawker was invited to an 'investigatory interview', where he said Student F and G had 'concocted' stories after he separated them for doing no work. Mrs Morgan's report concluded Mr Hawker 'overstepped the boundaries and failed to consider the welfare of the students' and 'repeatedly recited' her opinion he was guilty of each allegation. At a disciplinary hearing in February last year, Mr Hawker was dismissed for gross misconduct. In March 2022, police decided the charges against him would not proceed. In the following April a temporary prohibition order by the Teachers Regulation Agency banning him from the classroom was lifted. Of all the dangers you could encounter in Australia, from spiders to snakes - one thing you don't expect to find yourself doing is fighting off a vicious kangaroo that's trying to drown your dog. That's exactly what happened to one man in the outback this week, who went viral for filming himself holding off the beast. In the video, captioned 'martial arts are for everyone, even kangaroos', the dog is seen being held just above the water by the kangaroo. Rushing in to save the visually distressed pet, the man is heard cursing at the kangaroo, saying: 'I'm going to punch you f*****g head in. Let my dog go'. Then, the kangaroo lunges at the man before the video cuts out - a struggle is heard before the video reappears showing the kangaroo stood facing the man and the dog now free. In the video, captioned 'martial arts are for everyone, even kangaroos', the dog is seen being held just above the water by the kangaroo The kangaroo lunges at the man before the video cuts out - a struggle is heard before the video reappears showing the kangaroo stood facing the man and the dog now free The clip has since been shared by thousands on social media, with people shocked at how human-like and 'hench' the kangaroo looks. One user joked that it 'looks like it just escaped the gym' while another called it 'buff as hell'. Someone else tweeted 'Kangaroos are deer that did prison time' meanwhile another shocked user said 'Wow, been doing some serious work in the gym! Should post his routine!' Another wrote 'Why he look so strong and agitated. He was bout to take that dog to POUND TOWN' with laughing emojis. Someone who was familiar with the animals sinister tactics explained 'They always lure anyone into the water then they drown you when you enter.' Others added 'Kangaroos always got beef,' 'Dude was ready for war' and 'Kangaroos have the best PR because theyre the most terrifying and menacing animals ive ever seen'. The animal's ripped physique reminded users of 'the Schwarzenegger of 'roos' Roger the kangaroo, who died aged 12 back in 2018. Roger, who stood 200 centimeters tall, became an internet sensation in 2015 when pictures surfaced of his bulging biceps, popping veins and prominent chest. The clip has since been shared by thousands on social media, with one user joking that it 'looks like it just escaped the gym' while another calling it 'buff as hell' The animal's ripped physique reminded users of 'the Schwarzenegger of 'roos' Roger the kangaroo, who died aged 12 back in 2018 Despite the internet finding the situation hilarious, this isn't the first time the usually docile animals have turned violent and inflicted damage on humans. Just a few weeks ago, another raging 'roo' put a farmer in a headlock after dragging him off his motorbike in county Victoria. Brian O'Donnell, 74, was riding his Honda across his farmland to check on a cow that was due to give birth when he noticed the massive marsupial stalking him. Instead of hopping away - as most kangaroos would - the creature 'started growling and jumping up and down', he told the ABC. The farmer said the kangaroo put him in a headlock and tore at his clothing, leaving with him gashes on his neck and back. Another shocking video from June this year showed the moment an American tourist was forced to grab a kangaroo by the throat after it kicked and scratched him at Perth zoo. The clip started with a woman trying to get away from the animal before the tourist came between them. Instead of hopping away - as most kangaroos would - the creature 'started growling and jumping up and down', Brian O'Donnell told the ABC Another shocking video from June this year showed the moment an American tourist was forced to grab a kangaroo by the throat after it kicked and scratched him at Perth zoo The dad, wearing a black t-shirt, cap, blue jeans and brown boots, lifted up his leg to defend himself but the animal continues to come at him before a younger man came in to help In response the marsupial reared up, jumping at and clawing at the man as he tried to keep it at bay. The dad, wearing a black t-shirt, cap, blue jeans and brown boots, lifted up his leg to defend himself but the animal continues to come at him before a younger man came in to help. Both men tried to walk away from the animal but the kangaroo continued to follow, kicking and jumping at them. Finally the 'roo' was placated after a staff member at the zoo intervened, telling the two men to walk away and calling the animal a 'naughty boy'. It also seems that kangaroos picking on dogs is a common theme - in 2016, another dog owner was forced to punch a 'roo' in the face after it grabbed his pooch in a headlock. The moment the man stood toe-to-toe and traded punches with the marsupial to save his dog 'Max' was captured on camera by a friend, who videoed the fight from the safety of his vehicle. With the dog in a headlock, the man's approach initially fails to deter the kangaroo, who kicks out with its leg. Eventually the marsupial releases the dog, turning its attention instead to the man. Standing upright, it momentarily before being struck by a forceful punch that sends it stumbling backwards. It also seems that kangaroos picking on dogs is a common theme - in 2016, another dog owner was forced to punch a 'roo' in the face after it grabbed his pooch in a headlock Again, in May of last year, another angry 'roo' chased down a terrified man before tackling him to the ground as the two slugged it out in a drawn-out brawl Again, in May of last year, another angry kangaroo chased down a terrified man before tackling him to the ground as the two slugged it out in a drawn-out brawl. Footage uploaded to a Ballina, New South Wales, Instagram page showed the man sprinting away from the irate eastern grey before stumbling and hitting the ground. The ruthless marsupial then stomps on the man, who gets back on his feet desperately clutching a stick and swinging it wildly in self-defence. At the end of the 'man vs animal battle,' both fighters looked worse for wear. However, despite kangaroo tussles often racking up views on social media, the attacks are not actually that common. The last kangaroo attack that proved fatal was back in 2022 - police believe it was a wild animal which aged less than 12-months-old which was being kept as a pet. Until then, a deadly attack had not occurred in Australia since 1936 when hunter William Cruickshank, 38 tried to rescue his two dogs from a fight with a kangaroo in Hillston in western NSW. Ron and Casey DeSantis greeted nearly 300 American passengers arriving in Tampa on the first flight evacuating Floridians from war torn Israel as U.S. citizens flee amid Hamas massacres. The first flight part of the program included 270 Americans, 91 of them being kids. Ron, Casey and their three children Madison, 6, Mason, 5, and Mamie, 3, shook hands with those stepping off the plane on Sunday evening. Florida's first lady was seen hugging relieved Americans as they arrived back home. Meanwhile, U.S. citizens were also evacuated from Israel to the Mediterranean island country of Cyprus by Royal Caribbean cruise ships. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order Thursday enabling his state's Division of Emergency Management to bring Florida citizens home from Israel, as well as transport supplies to the Jewish State on planes arriving for evacuations. Project Dynamo was commissioned to lead the rescue mission, and its founder and CEO Bryan Stern claims there were plenty of obstacles getting the plane out of Israel, including nearby missile fire during take off. Hamas terrorists based in Gaza launched a surprise, multi-front attack on Israel last Saturday, October 7, and the conflict between the Palestinian enclaves and Israel has continued into Monday. It's confirmed that at least 29 Americans have died in the attacks, and 15 are missing and believed to be held hostage in Gaza. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his wife Casey brought their three children to welcome nearly 300 Americans and Florida citizens to Tampa on Sunday as they fled Israel amid Hamas terrorist attacks American citizens were also evacuated from Israel to Cyprus on Monday by Royal Caribbean cruise ships. Pictured: U.S. nationals wheel their luggage onto ships headed for island nation of Cyprus as most commercial flights in and out of Israel are grounded Stern says that there are 1,000 registrations they currently have seeking to get out of Israel. He said during a zoom call with reporters on Monday that those registrations often times includes more than one person. 'We've been in contact with some of the families of hostages, and we've also been in contact with some of the folks that are stuck in Gaza,' he said of the future missions they may carry out in Israel. Married couple Ron and Linda Neumann were among those on the first flight DeSantis initiative got out of Israel. They also spoke with press on Monday. 'I don't know how we got on this plane. There was no way to get out. We were in an area getting hit,' Ron Neumann shared in a recounting of the rescue mission. 'It was a miracle. I thought we were stuck.' 'To get off that plane and be met by Governor DeSantis it meant a lot to me. It really helped me to be welcomed back,' Neumann, who is a Vietnam Veteran, said. Before being contacted with Project Dynamo, Ron and Linda said that they did fill out a State Department form and never heard back about paths towards getting out of Israel. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Sunday that there is no path so far to get U.S. citizens out of Gaza as the border with Israel remains sealed. 'We are having our first flight of people being rescued from Israel has landed,' DeSantis said as his first flight was landing in Tampa. 'There was a void of leadership, so we stepped up and led,' the 2024 hopeful said. 'We're happy to be able to deliver that. So we're getting ready to welcome them back to the United States of America.' Americans throughout Israel are looking for ways to leave the war torn country after Hamas terrorists resulted in the grounding and cancelation of most commercial flights in and out of the Jewish State since last weekend. The Biden administration said it was looking at sea options after launching last week charter flights from Tel Aviv to Athens, Greece. The first State Department-organized charter flight taking Americans out of Israel landed in Athens on Friday, as U.S. airlines ramped up connecting flights to help people get home. Reports note that additional charter flights organized by the Biden administration are scheduled between Athens and Tel Aviv through at least Thursday, October 19. As of Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claims that more than 1,400 Israelis have died in the violence. Palestinian officials claim their death toll is similar. Thousands more are wounded, and it's still unknown how many are missing or being held hostage by Hamas terrorists. 'DeSantis Airlines,' which the flights are nicknamed, flew the first plane through Portugal to get the Floridians to Tampa International Airport, landing around 7:45 p.m. on Sunday. It's estimated that there are 20,000 U.S. citizens stranded in Israel, unable to get out. Orthodox Jewish people board a ship for for U.S. nationals headed to Cyprus as they evacuate from war torn Israel on Monday, October 16 'There was a void of leadership, so we stepped up and led,' DeSantis, who is running for president, said on the Tampa tarmac on Sunday as Floridians arrived back in the U.S. from Israel. 'We're happy to be able to deliver that' The rescue mission approved through DeSantis' executive order and run by Project Dynamo evacuated from Israel more than 270 Americans, including 91 kids Women embrace as U.S. citizens and their family members wait on Monday to leave Israel from the country's southern tip of Haifa on a cruise ship repurposed for evacuations and headed for Cyprus amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinian terrorists with Hamas Gov. DeSantis, speaking on the Tampa tarmac on Sunday night, said that he launched the program after seeing there was a 'void of leadership' in the White House getting Americans out of Israel. Florida Rep. Cory Mills also used his office's resources to evacuate nearly 100 Americans from Israel. He was also critical of the Biden administration's lack of efforts to get U.S. citizens home. Republicans have bashed Biden's plan to have charter planes take Americans out of the Middle Eastern Jewish state and say he is making them pay for their way home. Meanwhile, DeSantis' executive order states, 'There are more than 20,000 Americans, including Floridians in Israel who wish to return home but are unable to do so. The executive order allows the State of Florida to carry out logistical, rescue, and evacuation operations to keep its residents safe.' While Project Dynamo launched Operation: Promised Land after the vicious Hamas attack last Saturday, it is now commissioned under the executive order to carry out the rescue missions. The Tampa-based non-profit formed two years ago to evacuate Americans left behind in Afghanistan, and says it is an international organization that focuses on war zones. Bryan Stern says his team is also working to rescue hostages held by Hamas, as well as evacuate Americans trapped in Gaza that have been unable to get out or book their own flights. Since the war began, most airlines have stopped service both in and out of Israel. The plane, part of what has been dubbed 'DeSantis Airlines,' went through Portugal before landing at Tampa International Airport on Sunday evening around 7:45 p.m. A man has been killed in a crash after a car containing drugs and a stab vest smashed into two other vehicles. West Midlands Police said a man in his 40s was declared dead at the scene after a Seat Ibiza crashed into two other cars on Pershore Road in Birmingham early this morning. The force added that the car had failed to stop for officers at around 12:35am today but they were not pursuing it prior to the crash. West Midlands Ambulance Service said it called at 12.36am to Pershore Road and sent three ambulances, two paramedic officers, a MERIT trauma doctor and critical care paramedic to the scene. A woman who was a passenger in the Seat and a man who was in one of the other vehicles have been taken to hospital. The ambulance service said that neither of their injuries are believed to be serious. A man has been killed in a crash (pictured) after a car containing drugs and a stab vest smashed into two other vehicles West Midlands Police said in statement: 'A stab vest and a quantity of drugs was found at the scene. 'Pershore Road at the junction of Dog Pool Lane and Hobson Road is closed while enquiries continue. 'We'd ask people not to share any footage on social media, out of respect for the families involved and not to compromise future investigations. 'Our Professional Standards Department has been informed and has contacted the Independent Office for Police Conduct, due to the vehicle failing to stop for officers. 'Anyone with information can call the Collision Investigation Unit police on 101 quoting log number 77 of 16 October.' A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: 'On arrival, crews found two cars had been involved in a collision. 'A man from the first car was found outside the vehicle in a critical condition. 'Ambulance crews immediately began administering advanced life support but sadly, despite everyone's best efforts, he could not be saved and was confirmed dead at the scene. 'A woman from the same car was treated by ambulance staff for injuries not believed to be serious and conveyed to Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham for further treatment. 'The driver of the second car, a man, was also treated for injuries not believed to be serious and taken to the same hospital for further treatment.' Donald Trump raised far more money than his Republican rivals over the last three months after using his jailhouse mugshot to supercharge donations. The Republican frontrunner hauled in $24.5 million as small donors responded to his litany of legal problems by showering money on his campaign. It means he now has a war chest of $37.5 million - about the same as all the other Republican candidates put together. The huge cash advantage will allow him to flood the airwaves with adverts in Iowa and New Hampshire, the first states to vote in the race next year, as he seeks to knock out his opponents early. Former President Donald Trump speaks in Adel, Iowa after it emerged he has raised more money than his Republican rivals Trump on stage in Iowa Tim Scott, the senator from South Caolina, has the second biggest amount of cash to spend with $13.3 million. Ron DeSantis, Trumps' closest rival in the polls, has $12.3 million in the bank, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley has $11.6 million and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy $4.2 million. The latest figures from the Federal Election Commission showed that DeSantis raised $11.2 million between July and September but spent almost al of it. That included splurging $1.5 million to hire private jets. Most of the flights, taken with six private jet companies, were between Florida and Iowa, where he is increasingly focusing his campaign. DeSantis has been reining in spending, having used only $1.3 million in September, compared to $6 million in July. He has cut campaign staff and moved around one third of his remaining people to Iowa. Ron DeSantis' campaign spent $1.5 million on private jets Ron DeSantis and wife Casey SeSantis in Pella, Iowa, the state where he is increasingly focusing his campaign Over the three-month period Trump raised about the same amount as Joe Biden. His haul was up by $7 million from what he collected in the three months before that. More than $2 million - most of it in donations of less than $50 - flowed into Trump's campaign within 24 hours of his mugshot being released on Aug 24. The mugshot was taken at a jail in Georgia when he was charged with alleged offences, which he denies, emanating from his attempts to overturn the result of the 2020 election. His campaign has been putting the mugshot on t-shirts and coffee cups to raise money. Trump's mugshot has proved an effective fundraising tool by selling t-shirts Nikki Haley has seen donations surge recently David Kochel, a Republican strategist said: 'That is his super power. The more these prosecutors come for him, the more he says 'We're in this together and I'm being attacked".' Over the last three months Trump only spent $9.5 million, less than DeSantis. He has declared that DeSantis 'will soon be out of money.' Haley saw her donations go up in the wake of the two recent Republican debates. Tim Scott still has a lot of money in the bank Vivek Ramaswamy has $4.2 million to spend The $11.6 million she has to spend is up over $7 million from the end of June. She said her campaign had received money from 40,000 new donors over the last three months. Her spokeswoman said: 'We have seen a big surge in support and have real momentum. Nikki is emerging as the candidate who can move America beyond the chaos and drama of the past and present, and we have the resources we need to do it.' Meanwhile, Mike Pence reported only $1.2 million in available funds and has $620,000 in debts to pay. New York City's iconic American Museum of Natural History is returning its significant collection of human remains admitting that many of the skeletons were acquired by robbing the graves of black and Native American people. The museum on Manhattan's Upper West Side is thought to have a collection of 12,000 human remains, many of which are currently on display. According to the New York Times, the museum will remove a dozen exhibits that currently display some of those remains so that they may be examined and their original identities determined. Sean M. Decatur, who became the museum's president in the spring, told his staff in a letter last week: 'Human remains collections were made possible by extreme imbalances of power.' 'Moreover, many researchers in the 19th and 20th centuries then used such collections to advance deeply flawed scientific agendas rooted in white supremacy - namely the identification of physical differences that could reinforce models of racial hierarchy,' he continued. According to the New York Times, the Natural History museum will remove a dozen exhibits that currently display human remains One part of the massive collection is the bones of five black adults, which were stolen from a Manhattan cemetery for slaves in 1903 The NYC cultural institution has bones on display throughout its many halls. One longstanding exhibit includes a reconstructed skeleton of a 1000 AD Mongolian warrior. Another exhibit displays a Tibetan apron from the 19th century made of human bones. Some of the exhibits that have now been called into question include human skeletons that were stolen from graves across New York. One collection is the bones of five black adults, which were stolen from a Manhattan cemetery for slaves in 1903, according to the Times. Construction workers stumbled across colonial-era bodies while building the Inwood neighborhood in upper Manhattan. They piled up some of the skulls to form a pyramid and took a picture of what Decatur called a desecration. 'Certainly as an African American, the question of race is one of particular interest,' he told the outlet. 'The legacy of dehumanizing Black bodies through enslavement continues after death in how those bodies were treated and dehumanized in service of a scientific project.' The institution is also in possession of a 'medical collection' of the remains of about 400 sick and mostly poor New Yorkers who died in the 1940s and were given to medical schools before eventually being handed to the museum. Some legal scholars have argued that passing the remains to the museum was likely an illegal move. The decision to scrub the museum of its exhibits that feature human remains came from the institution's recently installed president, Sean M. Decatur 'Many researchers in the 19th and 20th centuries then used such collections to advance deeply flawed scientific agendas rooted in white supremacy,' wrote Decatur Interior view of The American Museum of Natural History's Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation in 2023 One longstanding exhibit includes a reconstructed skeleton of a 1000 AD Mongolian warrior In the 90s, the museum was ordered to return the bones to their rightful descendants by virtue of the Native-American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act But the museum's largest and most controversial collection is the one that is comprised of the remains of some 2,200 Native Americans. In the 90s, the museum was ordered to return the bones to their rightful descendants by virtue of the Native-American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. The museum, however, has been slow to identify the tribes from which the bodies originate - though 1,000 skeletons have been returned in the last 30 years. The museum's new policy requires the institution to adequately care for the remains until they are approved to be returned. In his letter to museum staff, Decatur wrote: 'None of the items on display are so essential to the goals and narrative of the exhibition as to counterbalance the ethical dilemmas presented by the fact that human remains are in some instances exhibited alongside and on the same plane as objects.' 'These are ancestors and are in some cases victims of violent tragedies or representatives of groups who were abused and exploited, and the act of public exhibition extends that exploitation.' A woman shot a man who was allegedly trying to break into her home in Hollywood Hills, police have revealed. A man called police on Sunday night to report his wife had shot a would-be intruder in their home in the 2800 block of Hollyridge Drive. Police found the man suffering from a gunshot wound but conscious and breathing and he was taken to a hospital. The would-be intruder, a man in his 30s, is in critical condition, officials said. He had been pushing on the back door of the home to get inside, saying he was injured and needed help, according to a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department. A woman shot a man who was allegedly trying to break into her home in Hollywood Hills on Sunday night The would-be intruder, a man in his 30s, was taken to the hospital and is in critical condition It's not clear whether any arrests will be made in the shooting The woman asked the man to leave but opened fire after he refused and allegedly reached into his pocket. It's not clear whether any arrests will be made in the shooting. Neighbors of the woman told City News Service she had been a victim of home invasion attempts in the past. DailyMail.com has reached out to the LAPD for comment on this story. The shooting comes as the law enforcement community has warned about the new controversial zero-bail policy, which went into effect earlier this month. A person's bail amount was previously based on the severity of the allegations against them - but critics argued this benefited those who could pay. Now those accused of non-violent or non-serious crimes will be released. Defendants accused of more serious crimes will appear before a magistrate who will determine alternative 'appropriate non-financial pre-arraignment release terms.' The new law comes as officials in LA say organized crime and the pandemic-era zero cash bail is to blame for a recent spate of smash-and-grab raids, with robberies jumping 10 percent last year and nearly 580,000 larcenies reported to the police Officially known as Pre-Arraignment Release Protocols, the zero-bail policy has been slammed by cops who believe it will undermine crime fighting. Zero bail was first introduced to combat overcrowding in the city's jails during the pandemic but expired last summer. Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore has also spoken out about the policy, saying 'that approach offers little to no deterrence to those involved in a range of serious criminal offenses.' 'The elimination of cash bail for these types of offenses is really an invitation to these kind of folks who are inclined to break the law and inclined to do it so brazenly,' warned Tom Saggau of the LA Police Protective League. LA county supervisor Holly Mitchell has defended the new law, saying, 'It's really dangerous for us to conflate bail with accountability... Bail means I have the resources to pay my way out of jail.' An original model of an X-wing used in the final space battle of 1977's Star Wars has sold for $3.135 million at a Heritage Auction in Dallas. The 20-inch miniature sold this week, and had been one of four 'hero' models built for close-ups during the seminal scene. Some others had already been accounted for - but this one, part of the newly unearthed collection of late Oscar-nominated modelmaker Greg Jein, had long been considered lost. Bidding Sunday subsequently began at $400,000 but quickly burgeoned into the millions - before it was snatched up by an unidentified super fan. First reported by The Hollywood Reporter, the transaction shatters all previous records of most expensive screen prop sold at auction from the iconic film. An original model of an X-wing used in the final space battle of 1977's Star Wars sold Sunday for $3.135 million at a Heritage Auction in Dallas The 20-inch miniature sold this week, and had been one of four 'hero' models built for close-ups during the seminal scene Joe Maddalena, executive vice president of Heritage's Hollywood memorabilia, celebrated the sale in a statement. 'Heritage just set the record for the most expensive Star Wars screen-used prop sold at auction,' said Maddalena of the model, which was found last November by friends of Jein while clearing out his garage. 'The worldwide response to the Greg Jein collections been outstanding a true testament to Greg and all he accomplished as visual effects artist and collector,' the exec added, hailing the miniature maker for his own work. Known for models used on Star Trek, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and even Avatar, Jein died in May of last year aged 76, leaving behind a trove of memorabilia in the process. Featuring detail including articulating wings, working lights, and battle scars, the just-sold X-wing was found hidden in the modelmaker's floorboards at his home in LA, hidden in a box filled with packing peanuts. The rest of his collection, which included an original Stormtrooper costume, an astronaut suit from 2001: A Space Odyssey, and miniatures from Battlestar Galactica, sold Sunday as well, Maddalena revealed - likely fetching a pretty penny considering Jein's lifelong devotion to the craft. This dogged determination is likely what led him to somehow securing what many memorabilia experts have referred to as model-making's 'White Whale' - especially when it comes to Star Wars. Now nearly a half-century old, the franchise's inaugural installment has since gained cult status - and many of the items that went into its creation can now be valued in the millions. On Sunday, the X-wing took the cake in terms of Star Wars-related sums secured at auction - beating out those fetched by the famous R2-D2 droid in 2017 - $2.76 million - and a near identical X-wing in June of last year bought for $2.3 million. On Sunday, the X-wing took the cake in terms of Star Wars-related sums secured at auction -beating out those fetched by the famous R2-D2 droid in 2017 - $2.76 million - and a near identical X-wing in June of last year bought for $2.3 million Some others had already been accounted for - but this one, part of the newly unearthed collection of late Oscar-nominated modelmaker Greg Jein, known for his work on Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica, had long been considered lost. He died in May of last year at age 76 Featuring detail including articulating wings, working lights, and battle scars, the just-sold X-wing (a similar model pictured) was found last year in the modelmaker's floorboards, hidden in a box of packing peanuts Bidding Sunday subsequently began at $400,000 but quickly burgeoned into the millions - before it was snatched up by an unidentified super fan Built by Industrial Light & Magic and not Jein, it was believed to be lost when the studio moved north to San Francisco following the movie's release - which saw millions see the X-Wing and three others seek to destroy the Death Star. Several 'pyro' models were also built - with a much simpler design - so that they could then be blown up during what was framed as a dangerous, daunting mission. The four 'hero' models, as a result, featured more intricate painting, wings that spread open into 'Attack Position,' a mini pilot, internal wiring to power lights, and minute details like blast marks and heat-scorching - in essence, a collector's dream. A few have been sold since - including the aforementioned figure made to look to be flown by Red X-wing Squadron Leader Garven Dreis, a character played by the late Drewe Henley. Stories of hero models that went unaccounted for when ILM changed headquarters have resonated since - paving the way for the discovery of this figure, also a Red Leader, which also appeared in part as the ship for Red Two, and most notably, Luke Skywalker's Red Five. The four 'hero' models, as a result, featured more intricate painting, wings that spread open into 'Attack Position,' a mini pilot, internal wiring to power lights, and minute details like blast marks and heat-scorching - in essence, a collector's dream. A few have been sold since - including the aforementioned figure made to look to be flown by Red X-wing Squadron Leader Garven Dreis, a character played by the late Drewe Henley. Stories of hero models that went unaccounted for when ILM changed headquarters have resonated since - paving the way for the discovery of this figure, also a Red Leader, which also appeared in part as the ship for Red Two, and most notably, Luke Skywalker's Red Five Built by Industrial Light & Magic and not Jein, it was believed to be lost when the studio moved north to San Francisco following the movie's release - which saw millions see the X-Wing and three others seek to destroy the Death Star VFX historian Gene Kozicki - one of the few that found the ship while cleaning out old friend Jein's garage - told The Hollywood Reporter: 'This model has not been displayed or modified since it left ILM.' A time capsule back to the film's 1976 set, 'It became something of a mythical white whale the missing Star Wars X-wing,' he said. Confirming the discovery, he immediately realized the figurative weight of the miniatured. 'For those of us that grew up in the 70s or 80s and those of us that work in visual effects,' the Face/Off and Flight of the Phoenix effects artist said, 'this model is as significant a find as the ruby red slippers or the Maltese Falcon.' The buyer of the model, as of Monday, remains unknown. Fear the Walking Dead star Sam Underwood has been arrested for domestic battery after allegedly 'roughing up' a woman during a heated altercation. The English actor, 36, was arrested on October 7 at 2.30am in Los Angeles after getting into an argument that turned into a physical altercation with a woman, whose identity has not been revealed. Cops were called to the apartment where they found the woman with visible marks on her body, reports TMZ. She did not need medical attention. Married Underwood was arrested for felony domestic battery and he was put in jail. He denies the allegations. Fear the Walking Dead star Sam Underwood has been arrested for domestic battery after allegedly 'roughing up' a woman during a heated altercation Underwood is married to California-born actress Valorie Curry, and the pair tied the knot in July 2016 Sam Underwood (left) and Alycia Debnam-Carey in Fear The Walking Dead The actor was in a cell for 10 hours before being released, the outlet reported. Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office is now deciding if possible criminal charges will be lodged against Underwood. According to TMZ, Underwood's attorney has photographs, video recordings, and audio recordings that allegedly disprove the case made against him. Underwood is married to California-born actress Valorie Curry, and the pair tied the knot in July 2016. They met while filming The Following in 2013, where Underwood played twins Luke and Mark Gray and Curry played Emma Hill. Underwood has co-starred alongside Alec Baldwin in the theater production of Equus, and also had roles in Homeland and Fear The Walking Dead - which is a prequel to AMC's Walking Dead. The scene bore a striking resemblance to the events that caused the death of Jordan Neely, a homeless man who was put in a chokehold by a former U.S. Marine After one of the men fell on top of a seated woman, her partner put the man in a chokehold while screaming at him Video captures the moment two men squared up on a subway car and began exchanging blows A fight on a subway car in Manhattan turned into an all-out brawl involving another passenger after one of the men fell on his partner - and ended up in a chokehold. Shaky video taken discreetly by a passenger first focuses on two men squaring up by one end of the subway car. The men travel down the length of the car, trading punches - when one is knocked on top of a seated woman. Her partner takes matters into his own hands, putting the man in a headlock - and only lets go when another passenger shouts that the man can't breathe. The scene is eerily similar to footage that circulated in May showing the moment Jordan Neely, a homeless man, was put in a fatal chokehold by Daniel Penny on the F train. The former U.S. Marine was charged in relation to Neely's death - but just last week, his lawyers argued that the case should be dismissed, as witnesses were worried they were 'going to die.' After one of the men is knocked on top of a seated woman, her partner puts the man in a headlock, screaming: 'You don't put your hands on a woman!' The man is only released after a bystander - a woman in green pants, right - shouts that he can't breathe In the video recently posted to Reddit, two men stood with their fists raised on the Manhattan subway car. 'Touch me,' said one man off camera. 'I'm trying, boy,' said the other, who was clad in all black. The pair faced off before the first man, wearing jeans and a facemask, lunged at the man in all black. He chased him down the train car as they exchanged blows. The man in black shoved the other into a couple seated by the door. The woman quickly got up and hurried to the opposite end of the car. Her partner, however - a muscular man with a sleeve tattoo on one arm - threw off his jacket, revealing a t-shirt with a tiger on it. The man in black cornered the other and pummeled him as he cowered against the subway seats. When he rose, the man in the tiger t-shirt grabbed him and put him in a headlock. He raised both hands in surrender, gesturing to the arm around his neck while looking pleadingly at a woman in green pants seated across from him. 'Settle down! Relax! You don't put your hands on a woman! You hear me?' the tattooed man shouted. As he holds the other man in a headlock, the enraged passenger repeatedly shouts at him to 'Relax' and 'Settle down' He then turns to look around the car, demanding: 'Anybody else who got a f***ing problem?' Video posted to the social media site Reddit shows two men engaging in a fistfight in a Manhattan subway car He continued to shout 'Relax, settle down,' when the woman in green pants piped up. 'He is choking! Stop!' she yelled, prompting the man to let go. 'You ain't wrong!' he shouted, pointing at the man in black, who stood nearby. The other man sat on the floor with a bewildered expression, panting. 'I can't breathe,' he said. 'I can't breathe.' The man in all black took the opportunity to land another punch, prompting the other to scramble to his feet and escape down the car. 'Motherf******!' the man in the tiger t-shirt said. The train drew to a halt at the Canal Street Station, where the man in black pointed menacingly at his attacker before getting off. 'Anybody else who got a f***ing problem?' the tattooed man shouted, wheeling around. 'Anybody?' He acknowledged his partner for the first time, telling her, 'Sit down baby,' before she came back into view. The scene eerily mirrored the events leading to the death of Jordan Neely back in May. Neely, a homeless man, was put in a headlock by former U.S. Marine Daniel Penny Neely reportedly entered the subway car - also in Manhattan - screaming that he was hungry and was ready to die Police arrived and performed CPR on Neely, but he was declared dead at the hospital. Penny was charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide His lawyers have since argued that the case should be thrown out, referring to testimony from witnesses who claimed they feared for their lives The altercation bore a striking resemblance to the events that caused the death of 30-year-old Jordan Neely. On May 1, the homeless man was killed by 24-year-old Daniel Penny on a Manhattan subway car. After Neely boarded, he reportedly began screaming that he was hungry, needed a job, was not afraid of going to prison, and was ready to die. After Neely removed his jacket and threw it to the floor, Penny approached from behind and put him in a chokehold. Penny kept the hold even after the train reached the next stop and applied it for nearly a minute after Neely had gone limp. Neely's death was ruled a homicide by compression of the neck on May 4. On May 11, Penny was charged with second-degree manslaughter. A month later, he was formally indicted by a grand jury. When the indictment was unsealed on June 28, it revealed an additional charge of criminally negligent homicide. Penny pleaded not guilty to both charges. Just last week, Penny's defense attorneys requested that the judge to dismiss the case due to testimony from grand jury witnesses who were on the train. One of those riders was afraid he 'was going to die' when Neely approached. A high school student also claimed that Neely said 'someone is going to die today,' according to court documents. In a statement, Penny's lawyers argued that the evidence presented to the grand jury was 'legally deficient' and that Neely 'was a threat and people feared for their lives.' If convicted, Penny faces up to 19 years in prison. Hamas and other terrorist groups in Palestine have received tens of millions of dollars in cryptocurrencies which has helped fund the recent string of attacks in Israel, research reveals. Hamas and its military wing received around $41 million in digital currencies between around August 2021 and June 2023, according to analysis by BitOK, a Tel Aviv-based firm. Separate research by Elliptic, another crypto research firm, found that wallets linked to Palestinian Islamic Jihad - another designated terror group - received around $91 million in the same time frame, the Wall Street Journal reported. Receiving money as cryptocurrencies, which do not require mainstream financial institutions as intermediaries, can help the groups circumvent sanctions designed to limit their funding. The findings come as US officials step up their attempts to regulate the wider crypto industry. Senator Elizabeth Warren said 'the danger of crypto-financed terrorism is real and should be an urgent priority for Congress'. Crypto wallets linked to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad received around $91 million between August 2021 and June 2023. Hamas took about $41 million in the same period Israeli soldiers walk past houses destroyed by Hamas militants in Kibbutz Be'eri, Israel, Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023 Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis on Oct. 15, 2023 More than 1,400 Israelis have died since Hamas launched its assault on October 7. Fighters from Palestinian Islamic Jihad were also involved in the attack. Nearly 200 Israelis, including children, have been kidnapped by Hamas and taken into Gaza, Israel has said. The Gaza health ministry said 2,670 Palestinians have been killed and 9,600 wounded since the fighting erupted. More than a million people have fled their homes ahead of an expected Israeli ground invasion aimed at destroying Hamas. Israeli officials have previously said the rise of cryptocurrencies has made it harder to track and block funding for groups like Hamas. Elliptic's research found that between August 2021 and April 2023, wallets linked to Palestinian Islamic Jihad received millions of dollars every month. In May 2022, the group received nearly $10 million. Tom Robinson, the co-founder of Elliptic, said Hamas 'has been one of the more successful users of crypto for the financing of terrorism'. The groups have previously asked publicly for donations by Bitcoin, the world's most popular cryptocurrency. They also use so-called stablecoins, whose value is tied to that of the US dollar to prevent volatility, to carry out transactions. Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, has said it has been working in 'real time, around the clock' since the Hamas attacks to support Israeli officials who are working to freeze accounts linked to terror groups. Armed members of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades - the military wing of Hamas - take part in a march in the southern Gaza Strip in December 2022 IDF soldiers move through neighborhoods destroyed by Hamas militants after they attacked this kibbutz days earlier near the border of Gaza on October 15, 2023 in Kfar Aza, Israel A Palestinian youth reacts as he sits on the rubble of a destroyed home following an Israeli military strike on the Rafah refugee camp, in the southern of Gaza Strip on Octobers 15, 2023 Warren, the Democratic senator from Massachusetts, is currently pushing a bill to increase the regulation of cryptocurrencies, including imposing anti-money laundering rules. She told Politico: 'There's a growing bipartisan coalition of senators who are committed to passing this bill and fighting back against terrorism worldwide by choking off the financing.' US secretary of state Antony Blinken will return to Israel on Monday after completing a frantic six-country tour through Arab nations aimed at preventing the fighting from igniting a broader regional conflict, American officials said. President Joe Biden is also considering a trip to Israel, though no plans have been finalized. Biden has repeatedly proclaimed support for Israel, but he said in a TV interview he thought it would be a 'big mistake' for the country to reoccupy Gaza. Israel's ambassadors to the US and UN said the country does not want an occupation. But ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan told CNN that Israel will do 'whatever is needed to obliterate their (Hamas') capabilities'. Two men who spent years on death row for the horrific murders of 19 children and young women in India nearly two decades ago have been freed after 14 years in jail. Surinder Koli and Moninder Singh Pandher were convicted in 2009 over the gruesome cannibal killing case in which the victims were allegedly raped, murdered and dismembered. Body parts were found in a sewer in front of Pandher's house. The men were acquitted by an Indian court on Monday due to a lack of evidence, their lawyers said. The Allahabad High Court found Koli innocent in 12 cases in which he had been sentenced to death. Pandher was also found not guilty in the two cases against him. The 'house of horrors' case caused national outrage and saw residents accuse the police of negligence, the BBC reported. Locals alleged that officers failed to investigate because many of those reported missing had lived in a nearby slum called Nithari. The shocking 2005 murders, which are among India's most horrific crimes, have also been referred to as the 'Nithari killings'. Surinder Koli and Moninder Singh Pandher were convicted in 2009 for the 'Nithari killings' which 19 children and young women in India were raped, murdered and dismembered. Koli is pictured in December 2017 when he was sentenced to death Surinder Koli and Moninder Singh Pandher were acquitted by an Indian court on Monday due to a lack of evidence, their lawyers said. Pandher is pictured in December 2017 Investigators claimed that at least 19 young women and children were raped, killed and dismembered inside Pandher's house (pictured in 2007) after having been lured to their deaths by Koli who allegedly 'offered them sweets and chocolate' Police arrested businessman Pandher and his servant Koli, the prime suspect, in December 2006 after body parts stuffed in plastic bags were found buried in Pandher's backyard and drains in Nithari village. Pictured: The interior of Pandher's house after a fire broke out in 2014 The 'house of horrors' case caused national outrage and saw residents accuse the police of negligence. Pictured: Relatives of missing children hold their photographs as they join in a rally at the culmination of the South Asian March Against Child Trafficking in 2007 Police arrested businessman Pandher and his servant Koli, the prime suspect, in December 2006 after body parts stuffed in plastic bags were found buried in Pandher's backyard and drains in Nithari village in a suburb of New Delhi. Investigators claimed that at least 19 young women and children were raped, killed and dismembered inside Pandher's house after having been lured to their deaths by Koli who allegedly 'offered them sweets and chocolate'. The federal police filed 13 cases against Koli and six against Pandher in relation to the killings. Koli was charged with murder, abduction, rape and destruction of evidence. Pandher was charged with immoral trafficking. Koli had previously admitted before another court that he ate body parts of 14-year-old Rimpa Haldar, the first victim of the serial killings, according to the federal police Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). He also reportedly confessed to necrophilia. Indian media reported that Koli later retracted his admission, alleging the confession had been 'beaten out of him'. Pandher earlier told the CBI that he was oblivious to serial killings going on inside his home in Nithari, saying he had mobile phone records showing he was usually out on business when the killings happened. The federal police filed 13 cases against Koli and six against Pandher in relation to the killings. Pictured: The interior of Pandher's house after the October 2014 fire Koli had previously admitted before another court that he ate body parts of 14-year-old Rimpa Haldar, the first victim of the serial killings. He later retracted this confession. Pictured is the interior of Pandher's home A relative of missing child Anita Kaur, (right), and Geeta Pal, mother of missing child Rakesh Pal, (left) hold photographs of their children as they join in a rally at the culmination of the South Asian March Against Child Trafficking in March 2007 Pandher earlier told the CBI that he was oblivious to serial killings going on inside his home in Nithari. His home is pictured above Pandher said he had mobile phone records showing he was usually out on business when the killings happened. Pictured is the interior of his home The Allahabad High Court on Monday acquitted Koli in 12 of the cases and Pandher in two cases and set aside the death sentences handed down by the court. Pictured is the interior of Pandher's house after it was destroyed in a fire The Allahabad High Court on Monday acquitted Koli in 12 of the cases and Pandher in two cases and set aside the death sentences handed down by the court, said Payoshi Roy, Koli's counsel. 'There is a single case against Koli now in the Supreme Court ... We hope to overturn that as well,' Roy said, adding that the high court ruled the evidence against Koli as being inadmissible. Pandher's advocate Manisha Bhandari said that after Monday's judgment, all six cases against her client related to the killings have been disposed of, as he was previously acquitted in four cases. The state government did not respond to a request seeking comment on the acquittals. Video shows the heartwarming moment a dog was finally freed after getting trapped 40ft down a narrow crevice for three days - with a huge bear as his 'cave mate'. Charlie the dog was reported trapped by his owner after he became stuck down the cave shaft in a Tennessee forest. Firefighter Tori Downing, who went into the deep cave to rescue Charlie, soon found he was in even more jeopardy than they first imagined - discovering the pooch was just five feet away from a sleeping bear. 'As I rounded the corner, I could see two little bear feet and a quite large claw grasping onto the wall beside him,' she said. 'She stops, looks down, turns around and looks calmly back and says, "bear is still in the cave,"' the firefighter's colleague, Captain Jon Lanier, told WVLT. The dog was strapped into a harness which had been fashioned by the rescue team and lifted safely out of the cave Charlie pictured with his owner (left) and rescuers, who included firefighter Christian Ellard (Waldens Creek), firefighter Andrew Wojturski (Sevier County Fire & Rescue), and Captain Jon Lanier (Waldens Creek) The terrified pooch was filmed emerging from the cave after being trapped for three days Charlie was trapped even further inside the cave system than the snoozing bear, apparently to keep a safe distance from the dangerous 200lb beast. The fire crew decided the best course of action would be to set up a camera at the cave in Waldens Creek, in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. Firefighters then observed the bear leaving the cave the following day and resumed their rescue efforts. Rescuers descended into the cave using a rope system and managed to locate Charlie. The dog was strapped into a harness which had been fashioned by the rescue team and lifted safely out of the cave. Fire officials said the pooch was then 'quickly reunited with his happy owner'. Footage shows the moment Charlie is pulled out of the cave, with an onlooker heard yelling, 'Come on big guy, come on buddy,' as he is hauled up. As he emerges, looking understandably shaken from his experience, applause and cheers of 'good boy' erupt. Fortunately, the two-year-old hunting dog was unharmed during his ordeal. A Waldens Creek Volunteer Fire Department spokesperson said: 'All told, Charlie was trapped in the cave for three days. 'For some of that time, he unwillingly shared it with an approximately two-year-old, 200lb bear.' They added: 'He was dehydrated and hungry, but in otherwise good condition.' Concerned members of the public inquired about the bear's health, with the fire station reassuring them: 'The bear is fine. Rescuers descended into the cave using a rope system and managed to locate Charlie The rescuers had to squeeze down the tight crevice to locate and then extract Charlie Charlie scrambling out of the cave, which was also a bear's den, after getting stuck three days earlier Fire officials said the pooch was then 'quickly reunited with his happy owner'. Pictured: Charlie emerging from the cave with his owner 'We entered the cave on Tuesday and found him in the den happily sleeping and apparently not too concerned about his 'cave mate.' 'We contacted TWRA, and on their advice, left the bear alone to come out on his own. 'Once we verified he was out of the den on Wednesday we were able to get past where the bear had been sleeping and rescue the trapped dog.' One local said: 'Awesome job and so happy the bear did not injure the dog.' Another social media user wrote: 'Perfect ending. 'The bravery it took to continue. The rescue of this dog was above and beyond. 'Thanks to the firefighters who risk it all every day.' Last year, the same rescue team rescued Charlie's cousin named Storm after he fell into a deep cave on nearby English Mountain, according to the fire station's post. President Joe Biden postponed a trip to Colorado on Monday to stay in Washington and focus on the escalating conflict in the Middle East. He had been due to visit CS wind, the world's largest facility for wind tower construction, which just so happens to be in the congressional district of far-right Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert. Meanwhile Israel continues to mass troops around the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected ground invasion amid warnings of a humanitarian disaster. 'The president's trip to Colorado is postponed and it will be rescheduled,' said a White House official. 'The president will remain at the White House to participate in national security meetings.' The White House announced Monday that President Joe Biden was postponing a planned trip to Colorado to talk 'Bidenomics' and would stay in Washington to meet officials Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, a Muslim boy who according to police was stabbed to death in an attack that targeted him and his mother for their religion and as a response to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas A day earlier he condemned an apparent hate crime in Illinois after a six-year-old Muslim boy was stabbed to death. The boy was stabbed 26 times with a military-style knife with a 7-inch serrated blade, the Will County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. His 32-year-old mother also suffered multiple stab wounds but is expected to survive after the attack in Plainfield Township, about 40 miles from Chicago. The suspect, Joseph Czuba, 71, was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crime and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, the sheriff's office said. 'He knocked on the door and that he attempted to choke her, and said, "you Muslims must die," and attempted to stab her, and stabbed her,' said Ahmed Rehab, president of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Chicago. 'And, she went to the bathroom and called 911. And, this was all in her own words.' Biden said the boy's family were Palestinian Muslims who 'came to America seeking what we all seek - a refuge to live, learn, and pray in peace.' 'This horrific act of hate has no place in America, he said. Israel was evacuating civilians Monday living in villages close to the border with Lebanon and threatened to 'destroy' the country if the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah enters the conflict. The military issued the evacuation order to residents living within 1.2 miles of the Israeli-Lebanese border as Israel fears reprisals from Hezbollah for its imminent invasion of the Gaza Strip. Hezbollah terrorists have vowed to 'respond' to any move to invade Gaza with the group's chief saying they are 'fully prepared' to join Hamas in its war against Israel, raising already heightened fears of an all-out conflict in the Middle East. Joseph M. Czuba poses for a police booking photograph after being arrested by the Will County Sheriff's Office in Illinois Residents of the 28 villages and settlements close to the Lebanese border will now be evacuated and put up in guesthouses in towns in the centre of Israel that are considered safer - but Hezbollah's huge arsenal of rockets can strike any target in Israel including the main city Tel Aviv. The evacuation order comes as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the nation was 'approaching a fateful hour' with more than 400,000 Israeli soldiers now gearing up for a battle in Gaza that will see street-fighting erupt in the tiny 25-mile long enclave. More than one million people have fled their homes in northern Gaza in scenes of chaos and despair in a desperate attempt to escape Israel's imminent invasion and continued aerial bombardment of the Hamas-ruled territory. But the United Nations has warned that a 'specter of death' looms over Gaza where millions are stranded amid Israel's total siege that is blocking food, water, medicine and fuel from reaching the enclave. The strip's food and water supplies are running dangerously low, and its hospitals are warning that they are on the verge of collapse, with medics saying health centers are quickly turning into morgues. The UN relief and works agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) also warned 'there are not enough body bags for the dead in Gaza'. Israel declared war on Hamas terrorists last Sunday - a day after waves of its gunmen broke through the border and massacred 1,300 Israelis including women and children. Some 199 hostages are being held in Gaza - higher than previous estimates of 150, the Israeli military said Monday. Palestinians, including people wounded in Israeli strikes, arrive in a truck, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Monday Palestinian relatives wait to collect bodies wrapped in funeral shrouds with their names written for identification, at a hospital following Israeli military attacks on Rafah, in the southern of Gaza Strip on Monday A wounded donkey sits near houses and buildings destroyed in Israeli strikes, in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on October 11 Palestinians with dual citizenship gather outside Rafah border crossing with Egypt in the hope of getting permission to leave Gaza, amid the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday An injured Palestinian baby is carried to the Naseer Hospital after Israeli airstrike as Israeli attacks continue on the 10th day in Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip on Monday Palestinians search for casualties under the rubble of a house destroyed in Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday A Palestinian man walks amid the rubble of buildings destroyed during Israeli air strikes near his home in the Rafah refugee camp in the southern of Gaza Strip, on Monday Members of a Palestinian civil emergency team react after several colleagues were killed in Israeli strikes, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Monday US citizens wait at the port of Haifa to be evacuated to Cyprus on Monday amid the ongoing battles between Israel and Hamas terrorists In the days since, Israel has launched a relentless barrage of airstrikes that have obliterated entire neighbourhoods in Gaza and killed 2,750 Palestinians and wounded 9,600 more civilians. The UN said today that 47 entire families, amounting to about 500 people, have been wiped out in Israel's bombing campaign. But undeterred by the comments of human rights observers over recent days, Netanyahu said preparations were being made around the clock to launch the ground offensive, with nearly 400,000 soldiers gearing up for battle in Gaza. He said: 'They are ready to take action to defeat the bloodthirsty monsters who have risen against us to destroy us. Hamas thought that we would come apart we will demolish Hamas.' The Israeli military's rules of engagement have reportedly been 'loosened' for the land, air and sea attack to allow fewer checks before shooting. Israeli forces, supported by a growing deployment of U.S. warships in the region and the call-up of some 360,000 reservists, positioned themselves along Gaza's border and drilled for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle the terror group. But much of Hamas' military infrastructure is concealed in urban areas, where street-by-street fighting would likely cause mounting casualties on both sides if Israel invades with a ground offensive. Meanwhile, Hamas-backer Iran and Lebanon's terror group Hezbollah, which is also supported by Tehran, have warned that an invasion of Gaza would be met with a 'response'. Last week, Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem said the group was 'ready' and would 'contribute' to confrontations against its southern neighbour. And on Sunday rockets, artillery fire and anti-tank shells were exchanged between Lebanon and Israel, threatening to drag the region into open warfare. Hezbollah militants also started destroying surveillance cameras on several Israeli army posts along the border with Lebanon. The terror group released a video Monday showing snipers destroying surveillance cameras placed on five points along the Lebanon-Israel border, including one outside the Israeli town of Metula. Hezbollah's aim appears to be to prevent the Israeli army from monitoring movements on the Lebanese side of the border. Meanwhile, as Israeli jets have carried out bombing runs in Lebanon, the IDF threatened to 'destroy' the country if Hezbollah entered the war. Tzachi Hanegbi, an Israeli national security adviser, has warned the Iran-sponsored terror group to stand down from creating a second combat front - or reckon with 'the destruction of Lebanon'. And IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Hezbollah will face a 'deadly' response if it continues to carry out attacks against Israel. 'Hezbollah carried out a number of attacks yesterday in order to try to divert our operational efforts [away from the Gaza Strip], under the direction and backing of Iran, while endangering the state of Lebanon and its citizens,' Hagari said. 'We have increased our forces on the northern border and respond aggressively to any activity against us,' he said. 'If Hezbollah dares to test us, the reaction will be deadly. The United States is giving us full backing,' Hagari said. Meanwhile, Iran's foreign minister threatened 'no one can guarantee non-expansion of war' if Israel invaded Gaza. At the same time Biden, who has repeatedly proclaimed support for Israel, said that while invading and 'taking out the extremists' was needed, any move by Israel to occupy Gaza would be a 'big mistake'. The warning comes just days after Biden said Israel's retaliatory action must be carried out 'according to the rule of law'. Thousands of families have fled their homes in the north of Gaza, carrying whatever belongings they can, following an Israeli order to move south. 'No electricity, no water, no internet. I feel like I'm losing my humanity,' said Mona Abdel Hamid, 55, who fled Gaza City to Rafah in the south of the enclave, and is having to stay with strangers. Palestinian children injured during Israeli raids in the southern Gaza Strip arrive on Monday in Khan Yunis, Gaza A view shows the remains of a Palestinian house destroyed in Israeli strikes in the central Gaza Strip on Sunday Palestinians ride a motorcycle amid the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday Palestinians evacuate from the northern Gaza Strip amid the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday Palestinians with dual citizenship gather outside Rafah border crossing with Egypt in the hope of getting permission to leave Gaza on Monday Palestinians with dual citizenship gather outside Rafah border crossing with Egypt in the hope of getting permission to leave Gaza on Monday Palestinian relatives wait to collect bodies wrapped in funeral shrouds with their names written for identification, at a hospital following Israeli military attacks on Rafah, in the southern of Gaza Strip on Monday Palestinian women are comforted as they arrive to collect the bodies of a relative from the hospital, following Israeli military attacks on Rafah, in the southern of Gaza Strip on Monday US citizens wait to be evacuated from the port of Haifa to Cyprus, on Monday. Tens of thousands of US passport holders live in Israel and 29 have been confirmed killed in the Hamas attacks on Israel An injured Palestinian man walks over the destruction, following an Israeli strike on a building in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday Children crying because of Israeli raids on October 15, 2023 in Khan Yunis, Gaza. A Palestinian kidney patient lies on a hospital bed, as health officials say they are running out of fuel to operate dialysis devices, amid the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, at Naser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday Palestinian kidney patients lie on hospital beds, as health officials say they are running out of fuel to operate dialysis devices at Naser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday alestinians inspect their destroyed car after an Israeli airstrike in the Rafah refugee camp in the southern of Gaza Strip on Monday Palestinian citizens inspect damage to their homes caused by Israeli airstrikes on Sunday An Israeli soldier adjusts his rifle as he stands on a tank near Israel's border with Lebanon in northern Israel on Monday Israeli soldiers patrol in armoured personnel carriers at an undisclosed position in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon on Sunday DF soldiers drive in military vehicles on October 15, 2023 in Sderot, Israel An Israeli mobile artillery unit fires a shell from southern Israel towards the Gaza Strip, in a position near the Israel-Gaza border on Sunday Earlier Monday, two Egyptian security forces said Egypt had agreed to re-open the Rafah border crossing for eight hours between 6am to 2pm GMT. They also said a ceasefire agreed upon by Egypt, Israel and the US will coincide with the opening of the border crossing and would last for several hours. READ MORE: Shocking moment wounded female Israeli soldiers cowering under a table after being injured by a grenade are shot dead by Hamas gunmen Advertisement But half an hour later, Israel appeared to deny that a truce was under way in southern Gaza. 'There is currently no truce and humanitarian aid in Gaza in exchange for getting foreigners out,' a statement from the prime minister's office said. Hospitals in Gaza are expected to run out of generator fuel in the next 24 hours, endangering the lives of thousands of patients, according to the UN. Gaza's sole power plant shut down for lack of fuel after Israel completely sealed off the enclave following the Hamas attack. The World Health Organization said hospitals are 'overflowing' as people seek safety. 'We are concerned about disease outbreaks due to mass displacement and poor water and sanitation,' it said. Four hospitals in northern Gaza are no longer functioning and 21 have received Israeli orders to evacuate. Doctors have refused, saying it would mean death for critically ill patients and newborns on ventilators. Israel's decision to cut off water supplies, combined with a lack of fuel for pumps and desalination stations, has caused shortages, putting 3,500 patients in 35 hospitals across Gaza at risk. 'Water is needed to ensure sanitary conditions on inpatient wards, in operation rooms, and emergency departments. It is essential for the prevention of hospital associated infections and for the prevention of outbreaks in hospitals,' the WHO said. The U.N. health agency said life-saving assistance for 300,000 patients is currently awaiting entry through Rafah. In Nasser Hospital, in the southern town of Khan Younis, intensive care rooms were packed with wounded patients, most of them children under the age of 3. Hundreds of people with severe blast injuries have come to the hospital, where fuel is expected to run out by Monday, said Dr. Mohammed Qandeel, a consultant at the critical care complex. There were 35 patients in the ICU who require ventilators and another 60 on dialysis. If fuel runs out, 'it means the whole health system will be shut down,' he said, as children moaned in pain in the background. 'All these patients are in danger of death if the electricity is cut off.' Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the head of pediatrics at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, said the facility did not evacuate despite Israeli orders. There were seven newborns in the ICU hooked up to ventilators, he said. Evacuating 'would mean death for them and other patients under our care.' Ahmed Al-Mandhari, the regional director of the World Health Organization, said hospitals were able to move some mobile patients out of the north, but most patients can't be evacuated, he said. Shifa hospital in Gaza City, the territory's largest, said it would bury 100 bodies in a mass grave as an emergency measure after its morgue overflowed. Tens of thousands of people seeking safety have gathered in the hospital compound. Gaza was already in a humanitarian crisis due to a growing shortage of water and medical supplies caused by the Israeli siege. 'An unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding under our eyes,' said Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. Firefighters put out a fire at warehouse of UNRWA following Israeli bombardments on southern part of Gaza City on Monday Firefighters put out a fire at warehouse of UNRWA following Israeli bombardments on southern part of Gaza City on Monday An aerial view of bomb crater after an Israeli airstrike hitting a Palestinian family as search and rescue efforts for those under rubble continue in Khan Yunis, Gaza on Monday Israel has ordered more than one million Palestinians - almost half the territory's population - to move south. The military says it is trying to clear away civilians ahead of a major campaign against Hamas in the north, where it says the terrorists have extensive networks of tunnels, bunkers and rocket launchers. Hamas urged people to stay in their homes, and the Israeli military released photos it said showed a Hamas roadblock preventing traffic from moving south. Nevertheless, a million civilians have fled their homes - fearing that if they didn't, they would face certain death. Meanwhile, Israel's ambassador to the UK defended her military's brutal bombardment of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, arguing this morning that Tel Aviv's military at least gave Gazans warning that the attacks were coming. Tzipi Hotovely, 44, gave an impassioned and defiant speech, pointing out that Hamas terrorists launched their attacks with no forewarning and slaughtered innocent, unarmed Israeli citizens. 'Hamas are in charge of any harm that will be happening in Gaza to their own people. If we see innocent people get killed in Gaza, it's Hamas in charge,' she said. 'It's not Israel's responsibility - we don't have any obligation to bring Gaza water. 1,300 Israelis were targeted, slaughtered... they didn't get 24 hours to flee or protect themselves.' Later, when pushed by a BBC Radio 4 interviewer on allegations that Israel is doling out collective punishment on the Palestinian people, Hotovely hit back, bringing up the Royal Air Force's carpet bombing of German cities amid a bitter campaign to defeat Nazi Germany in WWII. '600,000 Germans were killed in your attacks on Hamburg and Dresden. Why? Because you knew this was the only way you could defeat the Nazis,' she declared. 'We are giving the people in Gaza the opportunity (to flee) that (Israelis) were never given... they were slaughtered in their beds,' she concluded. As more than a million civilians in Gaza fled their homes, analysts suggested Israel could become bogged down for more than a year hunting for terrorists in the 25-mile long enclave. Nimrod Novik, a former senior Israeli diplomat and security adviser, said some military and political leaders wanted soldiers to undertake 18 months of door-to-door arrest operations to root out the Hamas top brass. Israeli soldiers stand on armor personnel carriers near the Israeli border with Lebanon on Sunday Israel Defense Force (IDF) troops were photographed in a 'band of brothers' moment as they prepared for the imminent Gaza ground incursion Israeli troops patrol in armoured personnel carriers in northern Israel on October 15, close to the country's border with Lebanon, amid skirmishes with Lebanon Israel has been exchanging rockets, artillery fire and anti-tank shells with Lebanon after Hamas-aligned groups such as Hezbollah are believed to have fired on the country (pictured: an Israeli artillery shell explodes over the Lebanese village of al-Bustan on October 15) Fighting along Israel's border with Lebanon intensified on Sunday with Hezbollah terrorists firing rockets and an anti-tank missile, and Israel responding with airstrikes and shelling. The Israeli military also reported shooting at one of its border posts. The fighting killed at least one person on the Israeli side and wounded several on both sides of the border. Meanwhile, the country has been urged by its allies including Britain to be 'restrained' in its response so as not to inflame a furious backlash in the Arab world. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken conducted a whistle-stop tour of Arab states at the weekend in order to preserve the fragile peace in the wider region. He reiterated that Washington stands with Israel 'today, tomorrow and every day' but it must take 'every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians'. But his various Arab hosts did not necessarily share the same view with Egypt's president Abdel Fattah el-Sissi saying after Blinken's visit to Cairo that Israel had already 'exceeded the right to self-defence'. Blinken returned to Israel on Monday for talks on the conflict after completing the frantic six-country tour through Arab nations aimed at preventing the fighting from igniting a broader regional conflict. The top US diplomat, who was in Israel on Thursday on a solidarity visit, landed in Tel Aviv and was expected to again meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. Washington has been trying to broker a deal to reopen Egypt's Rafah crossing with Gaza to allow Americans and other foreigners to leave and humanitarian aid amassed on the Egyptian side to be brought in. The crossing, which was closed because of airstrikes early in the war, has yet to reopen. Israel has said the siege will only be lifted when the captives are returned. Footage showing an ambulance carrying civilians and a child being hit by an apparent Israeli airstrike has been released by Palestine's Red Crescent humanitarian society. In the clip, several people crammed into the back of an ambulance are heard screaming as a missile smashes into a target nearby, triggering a powerful explosion. The vehicle was full of Gazan medics, as well as multiple civilians who had squeezed into the van to take cover as Israel's air force continues its bombing raids across the 25-mile strip of land. Fearing the next bomb would score a direct hit on the vehicle, the camera holder leaps out of the van and sprints down a road, apparently hoping to find a more solid shelter. As he sprints away, his lens shows debris littering the street with blown out wreckages of cars, some still ablaze, trailing thick plumes of black smoke into the sky above. The footage emerged as the World Health Organisation on Monday warned there were only '24 hours of water, electricity and fuel left' in the Gaza Strip before 'a real catastrophe' sets in. WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Ahmed Al-Mandhari said the bombarded, besieged territory must be allowed to receive convoys of aid, currently stuck at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. If assistance does not arrive, doctors will have to 'prepare death certificates for their patients', he said. Panic ensued in the ambulance as the occupants narrowly avoided an Israeli strike. Medics and injured civilians alike can be seen piled into the back of the van, screaming as the explosions ring around around them Children view a destroyed ambulance parked along a street in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip A medic runs as he carries an injured Palestinian child to ambulance Palestinians work to clear the rubble of a collapsed building following an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, in the southern of Gaza Strip, on October 16, 2023 Members of a Palestinian civil emergency team carry the body one of their colleagues, who was killed in Israeli strikes, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City October 16, 2023 Palestinians carry a man found under the rubble of a house destroyed in Israeli strikes into an ambulance in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 16, 2023 The Israeli military has been pounding the Gaza Strip with unprecedented firepower ever since Palestinian militant group Hamas, which rules the enclave, launched the biggest attack on Israel since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, killing more than 1,300 people. Authorities in Gaza said at least 2,750 people had so far been killed by the Israeli strikes, a quarter of them children, and nearly 10,000 wounded. Another 1,000 people were missing and believed to be under rubble. More than a million people have fled their homes ahead of an expected Israeli ground invasion aimed at destroying Hamas after its fighters rampaged through southern Israel. Hospitals in Gaza now warn they are on the verge of collapse, with emergency generators that power machines like ventilators and incubators down to about one day of fuel and supplies of medicine almost exhausted. The WHO said hospitals are 'overflowing' as people seek safety. 'We are concerned about disease outbreaks due to mass displacement and poor water and sanitation,' it said. Four hospitals in northern Gaza are no longer functioning and 21 have received Israeli orders to evacuate. Doctors have refused, saying it would mean death for critically ill patients and newborns on ventilators. The WHO said water shortages caused by Israel's decision to cut off water supplies, combined with a lack of fuel for pumps and desalination stations, put thousands of hospital patients at risk. 'Water is needed to ensure sanitary conditions on inpatient wards, in operation rooms, and emergency departments. It is essential for the prevention of hospital associated infections and for the prevention of outbreaks in hospitals,' the WHO said. Hamas meanwhile has urged people to stay in their homes, and the Israeli military on Sunday released photos it said showed a Hamas roadblock preventing traffic from moving south. A rescuer salvages a gas canister from the rubble of a building after it was hit by an Israeli strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on October 15, 2023 A Palestinian man walks amid the rubble of buildings destroyed during Israeli air strikes near his home in the Rafah refugee camp in the southern of Gaza Strip Palestinians search for casualties under the rubble of a house destroyed in Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 16, 2023 Relatives of Palestinian civil defence officer killed in Israeli attacks mourn at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza Strip, Gaza on October 16, 2023 Members of a Palestinian civil emergency team react as they look at their colleague who was killed in Israeli strikes, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City October 16, 2023 Palestinians search for casualties under the rubble of a house destroyed in Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 16, 2023 As Gaza's food, water and medicine supplies dwindle, all eyes are on the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, where trucks carrying badly needed aid have been waiting for days as mediators press for a cease-fire that would allow them to enter Gaza and allow foreigners to leave. Rafah, Gaza's only connection to Egypt, was shut down nearly a week ago because of Israeli airstrikes. Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Israel 'has not taken a position to open the crossing from the Gaza side.' The Israeli government did not respond to a request for comment. British officials are working with the Egyptian authorities in an effort to facilitate British and dual nationals, as well as their spouses and children, to leave Gaza through the border. However, expectations in Government for opening the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt remain very low. Defence Minister James Heappey warned it is important to 'sound a note of caution that the reports might be more optimistic than reality'. And Prime Minister Rishi Sunak acknowledged it is an 'anxious time for many families who will have loved ones who are impacted or missing', with around 10 British hostages being held by Hamas. Speaking to broadcasters during a visit to a Jewish secondary school in north London, the Prime Minister said: 'The humanitarian situation is one which of course we're concerned about, and that I've raised in all the calls and interactions I've had with other leaders from across the region. 'And in particular making sure that we can try and get the Rafah crossing open, that will ease the humanitarian situation.' Mr Sunak raised the border crossing in a call with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi last week, and it is understood that opening the border for foreign nationals and for Palestinian refugees could be treated separately. The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'We do think it is important, both in the interests of British nationals and others, but also important for the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.' Israel has said the siege won't be lifted until Hamas releases all 199 captives it is believed to have siezed in last week's attacks. It will apply to witnesses, prosecutors, and herself, plus families She agreed with prosecutors who brought up Trump's posts and sought gag Judge Chutkan said she would 'consider sanctions as may be necessary' A federal judge said Monday she would impose a 'partial' gag order on Donald Trump, who she blasted for making inflammatory statements she said could endanger court personnel. The gag bars him from attacking Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing his prosecution, as well as witnesses in the case and the judge herself, as well as family members. Judge Tanya Chutkan described the outlines of her order in court after bringing up his public blasts at Bill Barr, Gen. Mark Milley, at herself, and at the 'rat-infested' Washington DC where he will be tried. 'I cant imagine any other criminal case where a defendant is allowed to call a prosecutor deranged or a thug,' Judge Chutkan said while announcing the order she will impose. Trump's position as candidate in a political campaign 'does not give him carte blanche' to 'vilify' or implicitly 'encourage violence on public servants simply doing their job,' the judge said. Describing her order after a sometimes heated hearing, Chutkan called out Trump's posts calling Special Counsel Jack Smith, who brought the indictment against him, a 'thug' and 'deranged.' As she noted during the hearing, Trump attacked Smith again just last night. Her order prohibits reposing any statements publicly 'targeting the special counsel, his staff including government counsel here to day,' she said. Her order also will prohibit 'any statement publicly targeting any of my staff or any other court personnel' after bringing up Trump's post going after the judge's top clerk in his New York fraud case and posting her Instagram account. Trump Attorney John Lauro (R) blasted a proposed gag order on the former Trump as unconstitutional and unworkable 'It should go without saying' that the order applies to family members as well, after Trump mentioned Jack Smith's wife in a post attacking him. She called her order 'necessary and narrowly-tailored.' Trump can claim he is being 'unfairly prosecuted,' Judge Chutkan said, and he is free to tee off on the District of Columbia the venue where the jury in his January 6 case will be drawn from. But she noted that his comments about D.C., which Trump has called 'rat-infested' in one post brought up in court Monday, would be relevant during his later appeals, in effect undercutting his arguments he can't get a fair trial there. She said any issues with Trump's attacks on D.C., which he called a 'filthy and crime ridden embarrassment to our nation' while railing against his prosecution, could be handled through voir dire, the process where attorneys screen jurors for potential bias. 'This is not about whether I like the language Mr. Trump uses. This is about language that presents a danger to the administration of justice,' she said. Former President Trump is barred from attacking Jack Smith, the judge, or witnesses 'The defendant repeatedly refers to Special Counsel Jack Smith as deranged and his staff as thugs and he did so again last night,' Judge Chutkan said in court Trump called special counsel Jack Smith a 'a Leaking, Crooked and Deranged Prosecutor' just hours before the judge imposed a gag order that would prohibit attacks on him Not just Trump but 'all parties' are prohibited from making statements 'about potential witnesses or the substance of their expected testimony,' she said. That is a topic that could be fraught. As Trump lawyer John Lauro noted in court, Pence is a rival for Trump in the fight for the Republican presidential nomination. Trump has repeatedly gone after Pence for failing to refuse to count electoral votes from states that certified Joe Biden as the winner in the 2020 election. Trump may talk about Pence under the order, the judge said. But he cannot 'make statements about events underlying this case' a comment that would appear to include Pence's role on January 6. Trump immediately blasted the order on his Truth Social site. But his posts did not specifically attack Jack Smith or the judge. 'WILL APPEAL THE GAG ORDER RULING. WITCH HUNT!' he wrote in one post. 'A TERRIBLE THING HAPPENED TO DEMOCRACY TODAY - GAG ORDER!' he wrote in another. A statement from an unidentified Trump spokesperson also blasted the order, without going after court personnel individually. 'Todays decision is an absolute abomination and another partisan knife stuck in the heart of our Democracy by Crooked Joe Biden, who was granted the right to muzzle his political opponent, the leading candidate for the Presidency in 2024, and the most popular political leader in America, President Donald J. Trump. President Trump will continue to fight for our Constitution, the American peoples right to support him, and to keep our country free of the chains of weaponized and targeted law enforcement,' it said. One thing the order didn't do is deny Trump the chance to try to cash in on the gag. 'WHILE I AM RESTRICTED IN WHAT I CAN SAY RIGHT NOW, HERE IS MY ONE MESSAGE TO THE PUBLIC MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!' Trump said in one fundraising email from his campaign. 'THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION CAN TRY AND GAG ME, BUT THEY CAN *NEVER* GAG THE AMERICAN PEOPLE!' The judge did not release detailed language of her order, which will come later. That came after a fiery hearing where Trump's lawyer John Lauro said a proposed gag was unconstitutional on its face and argued it would be impossible to delineate or oversee. Just how many people it will govern is not known, but Chutkan noted that the identity of many expected witnesses can be gleaned from the indictment. Trump attacked the proposed gag as well as Jack Smith and Judge Chutkan in a posting on his Truth Social platform Sunday night at 11:30 pm. The judge evidently saw it, and brought it up in court. 'Tomorrow is a big day for Democracy. A Leaking, Crooked and Deranged Prosecutor, Jack Smith, who has a terrible record of failure, is asking a highly partisan Obama appointed Judge, Tanya Chutkan, who should recuse herself based on the horrible things she has said, to silence me, through the use of a powerful GAG ORDER, making it impossible for me to criticize those who are doing the silencing, namely Crooked Joe Biden, and his corrupt and weaponized DOJ & FBI,' Trump wrote. 'They want to take away my First Amendment rights, and my ability to both campaign and defend myself. In other words, they want to cheat and interfere in the 2024 Presidential Election. Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before. It is strictly Banana Republic kind of stuff. These political Hacks and Thugs are destroying our Country. Lets see what happens on Monday in Judge Chutkans courtroom. Will America survive, or not? Ill be campaigning in the Great State of Iowa, where I am leading by 50 Points!!!' After grilling opposing lawyers for two hours and raising her won concerns about potential safety threats by some of Trump's comments, the judge indicated she was prepared to act. 'Im not confident that without some kind of a restriction we wont be in here all the time,' she said. At one point, the judge even presented lawyers with hypothetical posts Trump might issue targeting rivals like his own former attorney general, Bill Barr. She asked if Trump within a proposed gag order could post that 'Bill Barr should be executed for his many treasonous acts.' Chutkan asked about Trump's posts attacking Smith as 'deranged,' as well as his posts attacking her and D.C. the venue where his trial is set to begin in March. Trump loyalist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) appeared in Court and blasted the gag while it was being considered 'The government's sole objective with this motion is to ensure the fair administration of justice in this case by preventing extrajudicial statements that prejudice the trial,' said. Lauro called the gag order 'prior restraint on content-based political speech which is the highest degree of constitutional protection.' He defended many of Trump's comments, even while allowing he might not have made them himself, including attacks on the 'Department of injustice.' 'He does not have the right to say and do exactly as he pleases,' Chutkan said during many clashes with Lauro, noting that Trump is a criminal defendant who must follow terms of his release. 'These prosecutors decided to bring this case in the middle of a political campaign,' said Lauro, repeatedly testing the judge's patience by asking for the trial she set for March 4 to get postponed. 'The easiest solution to all of this is an obvious one: to adjourn the case [until] after the presidential election. Thats the solution.,' he said. Lauro repeatedly pushed back on how to enforce an order that would prevent Trump from saying something that 'disparages' a potential witness or impacts the jury pool. 'How to enforce an order in the middle of a campaign is impossible under the circumstances,' he said. Chutkan appeared particularly incensed by Trump's postings about court personnel and public servants 'doing their job.' Lauro argued that many figures in receipt of Trump's barbs like former top cabinet members with book contracts 'signed up for it.' 'Really. Election poll workers?' she said, referencing low-level officials Trump went after during his election overturn effort. 'When you start to use a word like thug to describe a prosecutor doing their job, that wouldnt be allowed by any other criminal defendant,' said Chutkan, a former public defender. 'Just because the defendant is running a political campaign does not allow him to do whatever he wants.' She noted that Lauro, who got put in the position of having to explain Trump's post about a New York judge's clerk (Trump called her 'Chuck Schumer's girlfriend' ) is himself a former prosecutor. The challenge of somehow policing the statements of a former president seeking reelection are plain. Prosecutors argued that Trump is being willful in his attacks, and even brought up a recent 'Meet the Press' interview where Trump showed restraint. 'The defendant isnt campaigning. He is using the campaign to try the case outside of this courtroom and to pollute the jury pool,' said prosecutor Molly Gaston. In her hypotheticals, the judge asked if Trump could post that Barr 'should be executed.' Then she asked if Trump could post that he should 'stay loyal to me or he can forget about having a job in my next administration.' She asked if Trump could post that Barr 'is a smart guy but hed better learn to keep his mouth shut?' She asked if Trump could say Barr 'is a slimy liar and cant be trusted.' 'I'm not going to say "truth is a defense,"' Lauro joked. He said Trump is allowed to comment on Barr's performance as AG. 'I wish Bill Barr were here. Hes a tough guy,' he said. The government countered that even hypothetical comments saying Barr should be 'loyal' could be intimidating, could impinge on his credibility, or send an indirect message to other witnesses. Lauro wanted to know how it would all be enforced in the middle of a campaign ' 'Are we going to be back here on a motion of contempt?' he said. But the judge rejected his proposal to give more informal guidance that Trump's lawyers could communicate to their client. Sam Bankman-Fried has demanded a higher Adderall dose to focus at his fraud trial and decide whether to testify in his own defense, his lawyers said. In a letter to U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, Bankman-Frieds lawyers said the one dose of Adderall the disgraced FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder is being given is not enough. The 31-year-old is supplied with one dose in jail early each morning to treat his attention deficit hyperactivity disorder - but it wears off by the time the trial starts. 'As we approach the defense case and the critical decision of whether Mr. Bankman-Fried will testify, the defense has growing concern that because of Mr. Bankman-Frieds lack of access to Adderall he has not been able to concentrate at the level he ordinarily would,' his lawyers wrote. Since his trial on charges of stealing billions of dollars kicked off on October 3 in Manhattan Federal Court, Bankman-Fried has been seen during testimony typing on a laptop and whispering to his lawyers. Sam Bankman-Fried has demanded a higher Adderall dose to focus at his fraud trial and decide whether to testify in his own defense, his lawyers said. Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to two counts of fraud and five conspiracy counts tied to FTX s November 2022 collapse. He argues that while he made mistakes running the exchange, he did not steal money Bankman-Fried faces up to 115 years in prison if convicted on a slew of fraud charges His lawyers have now even suggested adjourning his federal trial for a full day until the medication dosage could be sorted out. Court filings state that he takes 10mg of Adderall, three to four times a day. The maximum recommended adult daily dose of Adderall, both immediate release and extended release, is 40mg. Some doctors may recommend up to 60mg spread across the day to treat narcolepsy. When his bail was revoked and he was put into a jail cell in Brooklyn, he struggled with accessing the prescription drug - and his lawyers claimed he did not get his medication for 11 days. Previously, prosecutors accused the former billionaire of laughing during the testimony of star witness Caroline Ellison, his former girlfriend. His lawyer, Mark Cohen, called that charge 'ridiculous.' Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to two counts of fraud and five conspiracy counts tied to FTXs November 2022 collapse. He argues that while he made mistakes running the exchange, he did not steal money. Prosecutors have said they may rest their case as soon as October 26. Defendants in U.S. criminal cases have no obligation to present evidence, and taking the stand carries the risk of being subjected to probing cross-examination by prosecutors. But Bankman-Fried has defied the conventional playbook for white collar defendants of remaining largely silent. He published blog posts a month after his December 12, 2022 arrest, and shared Ellisons private writings with a New York Times reporter. Kaplan said that likely amounted to witness tampering on August 11 and remanded him to Brooklyns Metropolitan Detention Center. In their letter, Bankman-Frieds lawyers proposed he be given a 12-hour extended release dose of Adderall before he leaves for the courthouse each morning. They said an MDC lawyer had not responded to their emails or calls. The Federal Bureau of Prisons, which runs MDC, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. FTX, which was worth $32 billion at its peak, collapsed in November last year amid falling crypto prices and media reports raising questions about its finances. Last week in court, the ex-girlfriend of the FTX founder told a jury that he donated $10million to Joe Biden's campaign to gain 'influence'. Assistant US Attorney Danielle Sasson asked Caroline Ellison what Bankman-Fried said about spending money on politics. The 28-year-old daughter of two MIT economics professors testified at a court in New York as the star witness for the prosecution against Bankman-Fried. Bankman-Fried dated Ellison and appointed her as head of FTX's sister company Alameda Research She was head of Alameda's sister company FTX, which was allegedly used as a $10billion slush fund paid for by FTX customers' money. Ellison said: 'He thought it was very effective, you could get very high returns in terms of influence by spending relatively small amounts of money. 'He donated $10million to (Joe) Biden and that was a relatively small amount of money. He felt that was something that got him influence and recognition.' Sassoon asked Ellison to describe the 'nature of your personal relationship' with Bankman-Fried. She said: 'I would say the whole time we were dating he was also my boss at work which created some awkward situations. 'My general feeling (was) I wanted more from our relationship and often felt he was distant or not paying attention to me.' Asked why she eventually broke up with Bankman-Fried, Ellison said: 'Because of those things I mentioned. I felt he wasn't spending much time on the relationship'. Bankman-Fried also thought lying and stealing were okay because of his philosophical outlook on the world, court heard. In court assistant US Attorney Danielle Sassoon asked Ellison: 'In the course of working with the defendant, did he talk to you about the ethics of lying and stealing?' Caroline Ellison leaves Manhattan Federal Court in Manhattan, New York City on October 10, 2023 Caroline Ellison leaves Manhattan Federal Court on Tuesday Ellison said: 'He was a utilitarian and believed that the ways people try to justify rules like 'don't lie' and 'don't steal' in utilitarianism don't work. 'The only moral rule that matter was to maximize utility, trying to create the greatest good for the greatest number of beings. Asked how lying and stealing fit into this, Ellison said: 'He didn't think rules like don't lie or don't steal fit into that framework.' Sassoon asked how that attitude affected Ellison. She said: 'It made me more willing to do things like lie and steal over time. 'When I started working at Alameda I don't think I'd have believed if you told me a few years later I'd be sending false balance sheets to our lenders. Over time I think it was something I became more comfortable with'. Court sketch shows Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon question Ellison in front of a screen showing Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao and Sam Bankman-Fried shaking hands She also said that Bankman-Fried, her ex-boyfriend, 'directed me to commit these crimes' in the crypto titan's highly anticipated fraud trial. When Ellison was asked if she committed the crimes alone, she told the court in New York: 'No, they were committed with Sam.' Ellison testified that Bankman-Fried 'directed me' to commit fraud. She said that Bankman-Fried told her to take $14billion from the failed crypto exchange's customers to repay the loans of its sister company, which she ran. She told the court that SBF weirdly bragged to her that there was a 'five percent chance that he'd become president some day'. Federal Prosecutor Danielle Sassoon asked: 'President of what?' 'The United States,' Ellison responded. Ellison's testimony came after FTX co-founder Gary Wang testified against Bankman-Fried as part of his own plea deal. The company's head of engineering, Nishad Singh, is also expected to testify later in the trial. A 'fake' lawyer who reportedly won all 26 of his cases despite having no legal training has been arrested in Kenya. The man practising under the name Brian Mwenda has been accused of being a 'masquerader' who had stolen the identity of a real lawyer called Brian Mwenda Ntwiga, the BBC reports. The 'fake lawyer' won all 26 of his cases in various Kenyan courts - despite not having any legal training, according to local media. But he has now been arrested by the Rapid Action Team of the Nairobi Branch of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) after his case caused public outrage and the branch received many complaints. He allegedly accessed the society's portal and tampered with the account details of a man sharing the same name, before uploading his own picture and claiming to be trained in law. The man practising under the name Brian Mwenda (pictured here) has been accused of being a 'masquerader' who had stolen the identity of a real lawyer called Brian Mwenda Ntwiga The 'fake lawyer' (pictured here) won all 26 of his cases in various Kenyan courts - despite not having any legal training, according to local media The 'real' Brian Mwenda Ntwiga contacted the LSK after he was unable to access his account and realised that some details had been changed. 'On the 5th Day of August 2022, Brian Mwenda Ntwiga was admitted to the Bar and his correct email address was captured and an Account opened for him in the Advocates portal,' the LSK said in a statement. 'We have reached out to Advocate Brian Mwenda Ntwiga who confirmed that he had not applied for a practicing certificate since his admission, reason being that he had been working at the Office of the Attorney General and did not require a Practicing Certificate. 'It was only until sometimes in September 2023 when he attempted to login in to the system and activate his profile with the intention of applying for his Practising Certificate that he realized he could not access his LSK Portal.' The LSK's Nairobi Branch also wrote on X, formerly Twitter: 'The Branch wishes to notify all members of the society and of the public that BRIAN MWENDA NJAGI is not an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya, from the Society's records, neither is he a member of the Branch.' While the case caused outrage, especially among legal officials, others deemed the 'fake lawyer' impressive. Kenya's Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) told the BBC that he was a 'brilliant young mind' who made it 'without traditional qualifications'. Another of the man's supporters is Mike Sonko, Nairobi's controversial former governor, posted a video with the man on X. The man next to Mr Sonko said: 'I would like to convey my gratitude to the people that are supporting me and praying for me... in the fullness of time I will be able to clear this misunderstanding. 'I will be also be able to provide my innocence and provide the actual context.' Mr Sonko, who has faced allegations of drug trafficking and money laundering during his political career, wrote in the tweet that the supposed Mr Mwenda would go to a police station to record a statement. Renson Mulele Ingonga, Kenya's director of public prosecutions, has said Mr Mwenda might face prosecution after he instructed the Inspector General of the National Police Service to carry out an investigation. He added in a statement on Saturday that there had been 'increased cases of unqualified persons pretending to be Advocates of the High Court of Kenya'. Dozens of migrants have been offloaded at Dover following five days of no small boats being detected in the Channel. New photos show around 50 new migrants arriving into the port today after being picked up by Border Force. It could be the last opportunity for migrants to cross in better weather conditions, as Storm Babet will sweep into Britain from tomorrow night. Latest figures from Gov.uk show that there were no migrants or small boats crossings detected at all between October 11 and October 15. Dozens of migrants have been offloaded at Dover after five days of no small boats being detected Around 50 migrants are believed to have been helped off of the Border Force Vessel Ranger This comes after five days of no small boat crossings being detected READ MORE: Brace for Storm Babet: Map shows path of heavy rain and strong winds set to hit Britain on Wednesday as Met Office issues yellow weather warning Advertisement This comes as the Mail revealed there has been a sharp rise in the number of small boat migrants being removed from Britain. Home Office data revealed that 628 Channel migrants were deported in the first six months of 2023, compared to 382 in the whole of 2022. This is largely due to an agreement signed with Albania in December which gives Britain greater powers to deport illegal Albanian's in the country. Of the 628 removals from January to June, 512 were Albanian. Home Secretary, Suella Braverman has overseen a crack down on immigration laws in an attempt to stem the number of migrants crossing the channel. In the latest move she is looking to exclude migrants who arrive into the UK on small boats from the asylum system, which would limit their grounds for appeal and make them liable for deportation. The Mail has revealed that there has been a sharp rise in the number of small boat migrants being removed from Britain Home Office data revealed that 628 Channel migrants were deported in the first six months of 2023, compared to 382 in the whole of 2022 Home Secretary, Suella Braverman has overseen a crack down on immigration laws in an attempt to stem the number of migrants crossing the channel The number of arrivals so far this year is down 27 per cent on the same point last year She has called for the international refugee treaties to be revised and as it has lead to the creation of an 'absurd and unsustainable' system. Going on to insist that 'simply being gay, or a woman, and fearful of discrimination' should no longer amount to grounds for asylum. The number of arrivals so far this year is down 27 per cent on the same point last year. A Home Office spokesperson said: 'The unacceptable number of people risking their lives by making these dangerous crossings is placing an unprecedented strain on our asylum system. 'Our priority is to stop the boats, and thanks to the work of the Small Boats Operational Command alongside our French partners, crossings are down by more than 20% compared to the same point last year. 'The government is going even further through our Illegal Migration Act which will mean that people arriving in the UK illegally are detained and promptly removed to their country of origin or a safe third country.' EA investigation found that paint had been dumped in the waterway The Alsa Brook in Tiverton, Mid Devon, turned bright pink last week People in a small town in Devon have been left shocked after discovering that one of their local waterways had been turned bright pink. The Alsa Brook in Tiverton, the largest town in Mid Devon, turned bubblegum pink after paint was dumped in the stream last Thursday. An Environment Agency (EA) officer was sent to investigate the brook and found the water posed no further risk to humans or animals. EA said: 'There are many road drains, culverts, and houses in the area. 'Based on the colour and behaviour of the contaminant, our officer determined that it appears to have been caused by paint disposal.' The Alsa Brook in Tiverton, the largest town in Mid Devon, turned Barbie-pink last Thursday after paint was dumped in the stream Property and business owners have been reminded to take leftover paint and dirty water containing hazardous chemicals to a waste disposal service. Tiverton Council said they hadn't been contacted by EA about the investigation. Tiverton, an ancient market town, is nestled between the Rivers Exe and Lowman, and is one of the last in the UK still operating a horse-drawn barge. A fourth Iranian on the terror watchlist was caught trying to get into the U.S. through the southern border over the weekend as the war between Israel and Tehran-backed terror group Hamas rages on. The man in his 40s is the fourth Iranian to be apprehended by customs officials since the start of October. It came after Hamas terrorists launched a murderous onslaught on Israel on Oct. 7, killing men, women and children. Iranians who cross illegally into the U.S. are classed as 'special interest aliens' because the State Department views Iran as a hostile nation that poses a threat to national security. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said last week that Iran was 'broadly complicit' in the recent unprecedented attacks on Israel because of the Tehran's military and political support of Hamas. Also this month, two men from Lebanon, the home of terror group Hezbollah, were arrested at Eagle Pass, Texas. Iranians who cross illegally are regarded as 'special interest aliens' as the US Department of State views the Islamic Republic as a hostile nation U.S. Border Patrol agents help migrants trapped by the current of the Rio Grande river on an air boat These latest apprehensions came after Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel last week, the National Security Council has called Iran 'broadly complicit' in the violence The latest Iranian taken into custody was blending into a group of Venezuelan migrants when he was located at approximately 3 a.m. on Sunday. He was arrested without incident, a Fox News report notes, just after crossing the border. Hamas' leader last week called for a 'global day of Jihad' on Friday just days after brutally attacking Israeli civilians in terrorist attacks launched last Saturday. FBI Director Christopher Wray and other FBI officials said Sunday in a rare phone briefing for reporters that these concerns should not be discounted, claiming that threats in the U.S. have been rising since Hamas invaded. 'The threat is very much ongoing and in fact, the threat picture continues to evolve,' Wray said. 'Here in the U.S., 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 on our own soil.' Iran's alleged link to the attacks have come under fire from Republicans who claim that the Middle Eastern country is funding Hamas terrorism in Israel specifically through the $6 billion paid from the Biden administration to Iran for the release of five hostages who were held in Tehran last month. The Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, provide funding, training and weapons for the Sunni Islamist political and military organization of Hamas. The U.S. and several other western nations have designated both Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorist organizations. Hamas is the de facto government of the Palestinian enclave in the Gaza Strip but also has a presence in the West Bank. Border agents are on high alert, keeping a keen eye on whether those on the terror watch list or from hostile nations are illegally entering the country in the wake of the attack on Israel. There has been no confirmed repots that Iran, or any other nation, helped Hamas terrorist to plan its barbaric attack on Israel. The Biden administration has repeated several times that they have not found proof of Iran links to the attack against the Jewish State. In September, the Department of Homeland Security said in a report that there is a growing number of 'special interest aliens' attempting to cross into the US while warning that 'terrorists and criminal actors may exploit the elevated flow and increasingly complex security environment to enter the United States.' 'Individuals with terrorism connections are interested in using established travel routes and permissive environments to facilitate access to the United States,' the report added. Fox News reporter Bill Melugin obtained the data from Border Patrol sources A surge in arrivals has caused New York to say that it is full, directing migrants to go elsewhere. This file photograph shows people waiting outside the Roosevelt hotel for beds A special interest alien is a person who may pose a national security threat to the US. According to the Department of Homeland Security, not all SIAs are terrorists, it's just a designation. Following the news of the apprehensions, GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy wrote on X: 'This is unacceptable & downright dangerous. Protect the homeland without apology: that's my top national security priority.' A Customs and Border Protection source told Breitbart that although most SIAs are not terrorists, the high volume of border crossings makes it harder for officials to establish who is legitimately seeking asylum and who is a threat. 'It's understandable that people will flee from countries where terrorism exists, but with such high numbers of migrants from everywhere crossing daily, it's hard to distinguish between those fleeing the conditions and those who may be actively participating in those activities,' the source said. In all, more than 70,000 migrants have been picked up from countries of particular concern, according to leaked Custom and Border Protection data. They include 6,386 nationals from Afghanistan, where the Taliban took control in 2021 after a 20-year war, 659 people from Iran, which backs the terrorist group Hamas, and Syria, which is designated as a state sponsor of terrorism. But the bulk come from NATO ally Turkey and the West African nation of Mauritania, which is battling extremist violence. The numbers were obtained by Fox News reporter Bill Melugin. 'Border Patrol sources tell me they have extreme concerns about who is coming into the country because they have little to no way of vetting people from these special interest countries,' he said on X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter. 'I'm told unless they have committed a crime previously in the US, or they are on some sort of federal watchlist, there's no way to know who they are because most of their home countries don't share data/records with the US so there is nothing to match a name to when BP agents run fingerprints.' 'Special interest aliens' are defined by their country of origin, rather than accusations of intelligence about particular individuals. The term is used by federal agencies to refer to people coming from countries that have conditions that favor or harbor terrorism, or pose a potential national security threat. The result is a conundrum for U.S. authorities. Countries that are home to violent terrorist movements are also the countries with a population desperate to flee to safety. People arriving at the U.S. border included 13,624 people from the central Asian of Uzbekistan, which shares a frontier with Afghanistan, and which has supplied foreign fighters for other militant groups. Last week, President Joe Biden defended his administration's decision to waive 26 federal laws in South Texas to allow for construction of roughly 20 miles of additional border wall, saying he had no choice but to use the Trump-era funding for the barrier to stop illegal migration from Mexico. Asked if he thought such walls work, he said flatly, 'No.' What is a Special Interest Alien? According to the Department of Homeland Security, a special interest alien is defined as: 'Generally, an SIA is a non-U.S. person who, based on an analysis of travel patterns, potentially poses a national security risk to the United States or its interests. Often such individuals or groups are employing travel patterns known or evaluated to possibly have a nexus to terrorism. DHS analysis includes an examination of travel patterns, points of origin, and/or travel segments that are tied to current assessments of national and international threat environments.' In 2023, over 61,000 Special Interest Aliens were apprehended by border officials. Advertisement The new construction was announced in June, but the funds were appropriated in 2019 before the Democratic president took office. Biden said he tried to get lawmakers to redirect the money but Congress refused, and the law requires the funding to be used as approved and the construction to be completed in 2023. 'The money was appropriated for the border wall,' Biden said. 'I can't stop that.' The decision comes as the Biden administration is struggling to manage increasing numbers of migrants at the border and spreading out in the larger US Democratic leaders in New York, Chicago and Washington are asking for federal help to handle the growing numbers of migrants in their cities. Administration officials on Thursday announced they'd resume deporting migrants back to Venezuela, as part of their effort to to slow arrivals. Republicans, for their part, are hammering the president as ineffective on border policy, with some suggesting they would not fund any more efforts in Ukraine without a substantial increase to border security funding. Oprah Winfrey suggested teaming up with Sen. Mitt Romney on a 2020 White House run in an effort to beat out Donald Trump, according to a forthcoming book. There was frequent speculation that the talk show host was weighing a run before the election, and analysts said her popularity and wealth would have made her a formidable candidate. Now it appears that Winfrey, a Democrat, made a pitch to the Republican senator, who lost to Barack Obama in the 2012 election, that they run together 'to save the country.' Romney revealed the plan to author McKay Coppins and is included in his new book, 'Romney: A Reckoning,' which is published next Tuesday. The senator apparently dismissed the idea for fear it would help rather than hinder Trump. Oprah Winfrey suggested teaming up with Sen. Mitt Romney on a 2020 White House run in an effort to beat out Donald Trump , according to a forthcoming book Winfrey thought their ticket would appeal to both Republicans and Democrats, offering the best chance to stop Donald Trump being reelected in 2020 The details were reported Monday by Axios, citing a source familiar with the manuscript. It is the clearest indication yet of Winfrey's political ambitions. Soon after Trump was elected, she admitted that she was thinking about a political career. Fellow billionaire David Rubenstein in an interview pointed out that it was now clear that lack of political experience need not be a barrier to winning election. 'That's what I thought,' she said in response. 'I thought, "Oh gee, I dont have the experience, I don't know enough. 'And now I'm thinking, "Oh! Oh."' The speculation reached fever pitch in early 2018 after she delivered a speech at the Golden Globes awards at the height of the #MeToo movement. 'I want all the girls watching here, now, to know that a new day is on the horizon,' she said as she accepted the Cecil B. DeMille Award. 'And when that new day finally dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women, many of whom are right here in this room tonight, and some pretty phenomenal men, fighting hard to make sure that they become the leaders who take us to the time when nobody ever has to say "Me too" again.' 'Romney: A Reckoning' will be published by Scribner on October 24 After the speech, her longtime partner Stedman Graham said a run was possible. 'It's up to the people,' Stedman Graham told the Los Angeles Times. 'She would absolutely do it.' Romney, 76, is stepping down from the Senate at the end of next year. In recent years he has been one of the loudest anti-Trump voices in the Republican Party and has clashed frequently with the former president. Last week he implored Republican donors to throw their weight behind a single rival to Trump in the nomination race. 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.' An Israeli government spokesman who was explaining why Hamas must be crushed was forced off-air as the terrorist group rained rockets down on Tel Aviv today. Eylon Levy, a British-born Israeli advisor and journalist, was discussing how his government is seeking to 'destroy' Hamas after its bloody invasion from the Gaza Strip last week. Dramatic footage shows the moment he was speaking to Sky News when sirens blared out and he had to run for his life, evacuating from the studio. Levy was speaking before he began to trail off, with someone advising him through his ear piece to stop before a man came from behind the camera to help get him to safety. 'After we destroy Hamas, after we topple it, we expect to work together with international partners so that the reality that will exist inside the Gaza Strip is one in which no terrorist organisation is able...' he said before he was cut off. Eylon Levy, a British-born Israeli advisor and journalist, was discussing how his government is seeking to 'destroy' Hamas A man appears from behind the camera to help get himLevy to safety, taking off his ear piece Levy quickly got out of his seat and wrapped the interview up as he rushed to safety Sky anchor Jayne Secker tells her guest to 'please go' as the feed to Israel is quickly cut He quickly leapt up and moved to leave, telling Sky anchor Jayne Secker: 'I'm afraid we are in the middle of a rocket siren now and I have to evacuate the studio, my apologies.' She tells him 'please do go' as the feed to his location, outside Tel Aviv, is abruptly cut. Commenting on X afterwards, Levy wrote: 'Just telling Sky News that Israel will destroy Hamas so it can no longer harm our citizens, when suddenly a rocket siren forced me to evacuate the studio. 'We will tolerate this terrorist threat no longer.' Rocket alert sirens have today sounded in the capital and the holy city of Jerusalem, where several blasts were heard. The army confirmed sirens sounding in Israel's two biggest cities, while a parliament meeting starting the legislative winter session was interrupted by the rocket alarm. Speaking to the Knesset today, Netanyahu warned Iran and Hezbollah, 'Don't test us in the north. Don't make the mistake of the past. Today, the price you will pay will be far heavier,' referring to Israel's 2006 war with Hezbollah. The threat comes as Israel has massed more than 400,000 soldiers on the border ready to launch a ground offensive in Gaza against Hamas, which rules the enclave. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today called for 'the world to unite to defeat Hamas as it defeated ISIS and the Nazis' and warned Iran and Tehran-backed terror group Hezbollah 'not to test us' An Israeli armoured personnel carrier (APC) moves on a road towards the Gaza Strip border in southern Israel Monday Meanwhile, terror group Hezbollah is continuing to fire rockets from the north forcing Israel to evacuate civilians living in villages within 1.2 miles of the Israeli-Lebanese border. In his speech today, Netanyahu also called on the world to unite as it did 'to defeat the Nazis and ISIS', and admitted that there are 'many questions surrounding' last week's disaster. Sirens have been heard every day in the Israeli capital since Hamas terrorists invaded the country and fired 'dozens' of rockets in a multi-pronged attack from the Gaza Strip on October 7. A view of destroyed houses following Israeli strikes in the east of Gaza City, October 16 Waves of gunmen broke through the border, massacred 1,300 Israelis including women and children, torturing many of their victims. They also kidnapped some 199 people - higher than previous estimates of 150, the Israeli military said today - who are still being held as hostages in Gaza days later. Israel declared war on Hamas in the aftermath of the attack - which resulted in the greatest loss of life in the country's history. Their retaliatory airstrikes have obliterated entire neighbourhoods in Gaza since, so far killing 2,750 Palestinians and wounded 9,600 more civilians. The UN said today that 47 entire families, amounting to around 500 people, have been wiped out in Israel's bombing campaign. However, the City of Savannah says he was never expected to pay the fine, which was a 'placeholder' He was reportedly told that he either had to pay the sum or appear in court Connor Cato was driving through Savannah when he was caught doing 90 in a 55 mile-per-hour zone A Georgia man caught speeding down a freeway last month was slapped with a $1.4million ticket - and he says he was told he either had to pay it or come to court. Connor Cato was driving through Savannah on September 2 when the Georgia State Patrol caught him going 90 miles per hour in a 55-mile-per-hour zone. Cato expected to receive a 'super speeder' ticket, which is handed to anyone driving 35 miles over the speed limit - but nothing exceeding the $1,000 maximum fine. Assuming it was a typo, he called the court, and alleges he was told he either had to pay or appear before a judge. '"$1.4 million," the lady told me on the phone,' Cato told WSAV. 'I said, "This might be a typo" and she said, "No, sir, you either pay the amount on the ticket or you come to court on December 21 at 1.30pm."' Georgia man Connor Cato was slapped with what appeared to be a $1.48million speeding ticket for going 90mph in a 55mph zone Criminal defense attorney Sneh Patel, who handles DUI-related charges and traffic violations, says he has never seen an amount that high for a misdemeanor The City of Savannah issued a statement in which it claimed that the eye-watering amount was simply a placeholder - since the only way to resolve the ticket is to appear before a judge It was only later that the Georgia man learned the jaw-dropping $1.4million fine was just a placeholder. The fee was generated by e-citation software used by the local Recorders Court that is automatically applied to 'super speeders,' said Joshua Peacock, a spokesman for Savannahs city government. A judge will set the real fine at Cato's court appearance, which is mandatory for 'super speeders.' Peacock clarified that the amount was not meant to 'scare anybody into court.' In a statement, he said: 'The programmers who designed the software used the largest number possible because super speeder tickets are a mandatory court appearance and do not have a fine amount attached to them when issued by police.' The city has been using the system since 2017, but is 'working on adjusting the placeholder language to avoid any confusion.' Criminal defense attorney Sneh Patel was appalled by the fine. 'At first when I was asked about this, I thought it was a clerical error,' he said. Patel says misdemeanors of 'high and aggravated nature' will total around $5,000, with bond amounts upwards of $10,000 reserved for violent crimes and people suspected of skipping upcoming court dates A spokesperson for the city claims that the million-dollar fine was not intended as a scare tactic 'to force people into court' The lawyer - who handles DUI-related charges and traffic violations - said he had never seen such a high fine for a misdemeanor. In the state of Georgia, the fine for misdemeanor traffic violations cannot exceed $1,000 plus state-mandated costs. 'Its a misdemeanor of high and aggravated nature, it will be $5,000,' Patel said. 'Now, the bond amount should be relevant to that, so for misdemeanor, you wouldnt see bond amounts over $5,000, maybe $10,000.' Higher bond amounts, the attorney said, are reserved for more violent crimes - cases like drug trafficking, murder or aggravated assault - or for people who are expected to skip their upcoming court date. Supermodel Gigi Hadid has been slammed by the Israeli government after she posted in support of the Palestinian people on her Instagram story. Over the weekend, Hadid, whose famous real-estate developer father Mohamed Hadid, is Palestinian, posted a graphic about the war that read: 'There is nothing Jewish about the Israeli government's treatment of Palestinians.' 'Condemning the Israeli government is not antisemitic and supporting Palestinians is not supporting Hamas.' Israel's government quickly skewered Hadid's position, posting on their Instagram story a response that read: 'There is nothing valiant about Hamas' massacre of Israelis. Condemning Hamas for what it is (ISIS) is not anti-Palestine and supporting Israelis in their fight against barbaric terrorists is the right thing to do.' The account of the State of Israel then directed comments at Hadid specifically, tagging her account and writing: 'Have you been sleeping the past week?' 'Or you just fine turning a blind eye to Jewish babies being butchered in their homes? Your silence has been very clear about where you stand. We see you.' The post on Hadid's Instagram that caught the attention of the Israeli government. It comes after a week of Hadid sharing pro-Palestinian statements that blur the lines of where blame for the Hamas terror attack should be placed The official State of Israel Instagram page flamed the model for her lukewarm statement about extremist Palestinian terrorism and implied blame being placed on Israel for the attack Gigi Hadid with her Palestinian father Mohamed Hadid in the background. The supermodel was called out by the Israeli government for failing to condemn antisemitism and tip-toeing around a condemnation of the radical Palestinian terrorists who took 1,400 Israeli lives last week Hadid's statement from last week, which does not explicitly condemn Hamas terrorists or antisemitism, and instead defends the Free Palestine movement The Israeli government then posted a horrifying picture of the blood stained floor of a little girl killed in cold blood by Hamas terrorists. 'If you don't condemn this your words mean NOTHING,' the account wrote, again tagging Hadid. Since the outbreak of the latest war in the explosive region, triggered by a barbaric Iran-backed Palestinian terror attack that killed 1,400 Israelis, the elder Hadid sister has posted a large handful of statements equivocating the actions of the Israeli army and government to those of pro-Palestinian extremists. In the statement Hadid herself wrote, she does not explicitly condemn the actions of Hamas, nor does she call their terrorism antisemitic. In fact, the only mention of the term antisemitic occurs when she claims that being pro-Palestine is not the same as being antisemitic. 'The terrorizing of innocent people is not in alignment with & does not do any good for the 'Free Palestine' movement,' she wrote. Her words, however, run counter to the sentiments shared by many, many pro-Palestinian activists across the country and world in the days since Hamas' shocking attack. Professors at Yale and Columbia Universities celebrated the day of savagery as a victory for the Palestinian resistance. Pro-Palestinian students across the nation have gathered to express similar sentiments, many arguing that the terror attack was a first step toward decolonization and those who support the idea should also support the concrete effort. A statement shared by Iranian actress Yara Shahidi obfuscates the blame that has been placed on the radical Palestinian terrorists who stormed Israel last Saturday and claims the people of Gaza want peace A post Hadid shared claiming that the Israeli military response to the killing of the most Jews in a single day since the Holocaust will amount to a second Nakba Bella Hadid has been forthright about her position on the Israel-Palestine conflict, previously showing love for the people of Gaza and calling for the end of the 'occupation.' She has yet to speak out following the Hamas terror attack An aerial view of Kibbutz Be'eri in southern Israel, where Palestinian terrorists butchered scores of innocent Israelis in an early morning raid last Saturday The children of Mohamed Hadid (center top row) include from L to R Alana Hadid, Bella Hadid, Marielle Hadid, Gigi Hadid, and Anwar Hadid (center bottom row) Gigi's younger sister, Bella Hadid, has yet to speak out about the terror attack on Israel that launched the Jewish state back into battle with its hostile neighbor. In the past, however, Bella has been forthright about her support for the Palestinian cause. In June of 2022, the posted to her Instagram: 'I will never allow anyone to forget about our beautiful Palestine, or our beautiful people.' 'Everyday I wish I could go back in time, to when I was a child, so that I could start fighting for Palestine sooner,' she continued. 'For my family, for my elders, our history and for the people of Palestine still living, now, through this treacherous, exhausting and painful occupation.' In spring of 2021, when Palestinians began firing rockets indiscriminately into Israel because of a disagreement with the Israeli government's position on Palestinian housing in East Jerusalem, Bella shared a post from her older half sister: 'My sisters and I, we speak in a family group chat every day. Mostly about Palestine and all that goes on. It is so hard to put into words how I feel.' Adding to her sister, Alana Hadid's thoughts, Bella wrote: 'I feel the pain of my ancestors. I cry for them. I cry for my Palestinian brothers and sisters, there now, feeling unsafe and scared. This needs to stop, there is NO room for this in 2021!!!! My sister [Alana] wrote perfectly how I feel today. We are proud [to be] Palestinian and we stand with Palestine.' In October of 2022, Anwar Hadid - younger brother to Gigi and Bella - graced the cover of GQ Middle East. In an interview, he spoke about his abiding support for the Palestinian cause. Among other projects that feature the Palestinian people, last year Anwar and a friend co-produced a film that GQ Middle East called 'an eye-opening new documentary that breaks through the noise to highlight the pain and power of Palestinian resistance.' 'The idea came to us as a way to humanize the Palestinian people, and allow our voices to be heard without judgment, in a way that is free and represents the people and it just kind of evolved from there,' he said. In 2019, Anwar named his gender-ambiguous jewelry line 'Martyre,' a word he said he would like redefine from its current meaning of battlefield death in the fight to defend Allah. The Palestinian people often praise the martyrs who walk into Israel wearing suicide vests, or kill Israeli soldiers patrolling the border between Gaza and Israel's southern cities. Students in the United States who support the Palestinian cause rallied last week with signs that read 'Glory to Martys.' At the time Anwar said: 'I see it as a piece of armor, instead of a death sentence. Im Palestinian, I resist as I breathe. The spirit of Palestine flows through my body, through the name Martyre, certain songs Ive made, and the documentary we just created.' Father to the five adult Hadid siblings, Mohamed Hadid, was born in 1948 in what is now Nazareth, Israel. He has previously said that he took it upon himself personally to ensure that each of his children understood and revered their Palestinian identities. Mohamed's original caption, blaming the terror attack that killed 1,400 Israelis on their government Two days later, Mohamed posted another statement making it clear that he is not in favor of violence against anyone, though he did not explicitly condemn Hamas In the wake of the Hamas massacre, Mohamed took to Instagram to post a statement that blamed the unimaginably bloody Palestinian terror attack on Israel. 'This less of a human and Bibi and the far right government of this Zionist State is 100 percent responsible for creation of this massive escalation between the occupied and the occupier,' he wrote, showing a picture of far-right, pro-settlements Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. While many commenters supported Mohamed's message, some were quick to admonish him for posting such a message on the day of the Hamas attacks. 'On the day of civilian massacre, it is better to remain silent,' wrote one user. 'Now got a war. Mohamed don't come crying when the results aren't what you hope for,' wrote another. A third weighed in, saying: 'How about you let your daughters who model half naked visit Gaza and see how they are treated there with the way they dress and live their lives.' Some of the comments perhaps got to Mohamed who, two days later, posted again - this time a picture of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel with the caption: 'To Be Clear I condemn the killing and hostage taking or abusing, torturing of civilians. Of Arab Muslims, Jews or Christians,' he wrote. 'And complete disapproval of the treatment of the occupation against the occupied.' A 360,000-strong IDF has assembled to prepare for battle with Hamas as Israeli leaders have sworn to eliminate every last operative of the terror group from the earth Since the terror organization Hamas, who were at one time democratically elected by the Palestinian people to lead Gaza, attacked Israel last Saturday, slaughtering some 1,400 Israelis and injured at least 3,600, death tolls have climbed on both sides. The Gazan Ministry of Health reported that the Palestinian death toll has climbed above 2,300, a figure that will surely increase if Gazans are not free to move out of the area Israel has explicitly told them to vacate. Israel reported Saturday that 258 of its soldiers had been killed so far. President Donald Trump on Monday said he will expand his travel ban to include people from the Palestinian territory of Gaza in the wake of the Hamas terror attack on Israel. In a speech in Clive, Iowa, he also said Americans had been disgusted by anti-Israel protests on college campuses and will promise to deport resident aliens with 'jihadist sympathies.' 'I banned refugees from Syria, I banned refugees from Somalia, very dangerous place, and from all the most dangerous places in the worldand in my second term, we are going to expand each and every one of those bans ... ' he said. 'We aren't bringing in anyone from Gaza or Syria, Somalia Yemen, or Libya, or anywhere else that threatens our security.' Hamas killed 1300 people last weekend when its gunmen fanned out from Gaza in an orgy of murder. Former President Donald Trump in Iowa on Monday. At his second campaign stop he will unveil his plans for banning people arriving in the US from Gaza Demonstrators take part in an "Emergency Rally: Stand with Palestinians Under Siege in Gaza," amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Saturday Israel has kept up an aerial bombardment of the territory ever since and is massing troops ahead of an expected ground invasion. Trump has used the mass atrocity to revive his travel ban, one of his signature promises from the 2016 campaign. Banning the arrival of people from Gaza will almost certainly face legal challenge. And Trump will be accused of treating all the residents of an overcrowded, impoverished, war-battered territory as if they were terrorists. However, his comments echo the hard line taken by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, his rival for the Republican nomination. On Saturday, DeSantis said: 'We cannot accept people from Gaza into this country as refugees. I am not going to do that. If you look at how they behave not all of them are Hamas, but they are all anti-Semitic, none of them believe in Israels right to exist.' Trump also unveiled plans to ban from entry people who are sympathetic to the Hamas cause 'Next, we will implement strong ideological screening for all immigrants to the United States,' he said 'No longer will we allow dangerous lunatics, haters, bigots, and maniacs to get residency in our country. If you empathize with Radical Islamic terrorists and extremists, you're disqualified if you want to abolish the state of Israel, you're disqualified if you support Hamas or the ideology behind Hamas ... you're disqualified and if you're a Communist, Marxist, or Fascist, you are disqualified.' He said he also wanted to deport resident aliens with 'jihadist sympathies.' Palestinians celebrate as an Israeli military vehicle burns after it was hit by Palestinian gunmen who infiltrated areas of southern Israel, at the Israeli side of Israel-Gaza border Trump's plan comes after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, his rival for the Republican nomination, said Saturday: 'We cannot accept people from Gaza into this country as refugees' 'In the wake of the attacks on Israel, Americans have been disgusted to see the open support for terrorists among the legions of foreign nationals on college campuses. They are teaching your children hate. 'Under the Trump administration, we will revoke the student visas of radical anti-American and anti-Semitic foreigners at our colleges and universitiesand we will send them straight back home. 'Likewise, the mobs of ... barbarians we saw in the streets of New York and other cities last week have no place in America. We can't have it ... 'Jewish mothers and fathers should never have to send their children to school fearing they will be shot or stabbed on a so-called "Day of Jihad."' Pro-Palestinian protests have been held across the country. Students at Harvard, for example, attracted fury when the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee said Israel was 'entirely responsible for all unfolding violence,' even as evidence emerged that Hamas terrorist gunmen had murdered children. At the University of Washington last week, video footage captured several Jewish students in tears as they pleaded with an administrator to put a stop to a pro-Palestinian rally. Students taking part appeared to condone 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. Trump promised to impose a ban on Muslims entering the country during the 2016 race. When he took power he used an executive order to ban travel into the U.S. from seven countries, most of them predominantly Muslim. However, the ban was revised numerous times in the face of legal challenges. It was eventually rewritten to cover Iran, Syria, Yemen, Libya and Somalia, all with majority Muslim populations, as well as North Korea and Venezuela. Trump will also claim that the attack on Israel could not have happened on his watch. 'The heinous attacks on Israel this month would never have happened if I was your presidentzero chance. 'When I left office, Iran was weak, broke, and desperate to make a deal,' he will say, according to his prepared remarks. 'I told other nations including China that if you buy oil from Iran you cant do business in the United States. Every single one of them complied. 'Their terrorist regime was bankrupt, hemorrhaging money, and could barely pay the salaries of their radical Islamic thugs. 'I hammered Iranian oil exports down to a record lowbut then Biden came in, loosened my sanctions, and today Iran is producing more than three million barrels a day. Iran went from bleeding money under me to raking in $100 billion dollars a year under Crooked Joe.' Joe Biden hits 1,000 days in office this week - but he has spent at least 300 of them either in Delaware or on holiday, Dailymail.com can reveal. He also spent 89 days at Camp David, the rustic presidential retreat in Maryland, and 74 days on trips overseas, Biden's lack of time in Washington will fuel accusations from Republicans, and concerns among Democrats, that the 80-year-old president requires too much time off because of his age. In addition, as Biden reaches the 1,000-day mark, he has conducted fewer solo press conferences than any modern predecessor apart from Ronald Reagan, and a fraction of the number of interviews held by Donald Trump or Barack Obama. Joe Biden relaxes near his beach house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on July 30, 2023 Joe Biden on the same beach in Delaware three days later Biden was inaugurated on Jan 20, 2021, meaning he is set to serve his 1,000th day on Tuesday. An analysis of his schedule, issued daily by the White House, shows he spent all or part of 300 days at one of his two homes in Delaware, or vacationing. He owns a six-bedroom, 4,786 sq ft beach house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware which he bought for $2.74 million in 2017. His other Delaware home is a 6,850 sq ft mansion in Wilmington which is worth over $2 million. In addition to numerous trips to both Delaware homes Biden's other recent holidays included a week-long trip to Lake Tahoe, Nevada. He was flown to Lake Tahoe on Air Force One and then rented - for an undisclosed fee - a home from Tom Steyer, the billionaire climate activist who ran unsuccessfully for president as a Democrat in 2020. On day one of his presidency Biden had an approval rating of 57 percent, according to Gallup. However, much of the public good will began to dissipate in August 2021 around the time of the botched withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan. His approval rating fell precipitously, reaching a nadir of 38 per cent in July 2022. On his 1,000th day in office he stands at 41 percent. Joe Biden's $2.7 million beach house in Delaware Joe Biden tucks into an ice cream in Michigan Joe Biden on his bike in Delaware, where he has been on 300 days of his presidency His team will draw comfort from the fact that, remarkably, that is exactly the same figure both Donald Trump and Barack Obama were on when they reached 1,000 days in office. While Trump went on to lose, Obama recovered enough to win re-election. However, Obama threw himself into a frenzied re-election campaign, and Democrat insiders have expressed growing alarm over Biden's ability to do so at his age. So far, he has shown a stark lack of willingness to engage with the media, and by extension, the public. In his first 1,000 days he has conducted only 13 solo press conferences, according to figures compiled by the the American Presidency Project. Although he has over a year to go in his first term Biden is highly unlikely to match the 44 solo press conferences Trump conducted as president, or the 30 Obama did in his first term. He has so far held 17 joint press conferences with other world leaders, while Trump did 44 and Obama 43 in his first term. By the end of June this year Biden had conducted 41 interviews as president, according to unofficial White House statistician Mark Knoller, a former CBS white house correspondent. That compared to Trump's 190 and Obama's 329 interviews at the same point. Biden did far more interviews as vice president than he does now. At that time he would sometimes appear live on three TV networks on the same day. As president he has also mostly steered clear of print interviews, conducing his first one for People magazine rather than a newspaper. In August an Associated Press/NORC poll found 77 percent of Americans believe Biden is too old for re-election. That included 69 per cent of Democrats. David Ignatius, a supporter of Biden, recently wrote a column in the Washington Post arguing he should not seek re-election. Meanwhile, Dean Phillips, a Democrat congressman from Minnesota, has begun making moves toward launching a possible primary challenge against Biden for the party's nomination in 2024. Mr Phillips, who is 54, has called on Biden to 'pass the torch' to a new generation. Congressman Dean Phillips says Democrats need to put up a challenger to Biden Last week Biden stumbled and had to grip on to a railing while ascending a short flight of stairs at an event in Philadelphia. It followed a series of other high-profile instances of losing his footing, including while boarding, and de-boarding, Air Force One. He also fell off his bike in Delaware last year and collapsed to the ground after tripping on a sandbag while on stage in June. The White House has defended Biden's decision to spend so much of his presidency in Delaware, rather than Washington. Officials have said that he is 'deeply proud of his roots' in the state and is 'constantly on the job regardless of location.' They have also pointed out that his beach house in Delaware is only 100 miles from the White House, and also that it is 'important for leaders to avoid becoming ensconced in Washington, DC.' An ex-prison governor has revealed why she believes child serial-killer Lucy Letby will 'always have to look over her shoulder' while locked up. Vanessa Frake, who worked in the prison service for 27 years, appeared on LADBible TV's Honesty Box video series last week. She answered the public's burning questions about her time in the service, where she spent 11 of those years as a governor at Wormwood Scrubs prison in London. One of the questions she answered as part of the video is something a lot of the British public may be wondering: 'What will prison be like for Lucy Letby?' In August, the 33-year-old killer nurse became one of only four women to be given a whole-life sentence after being found guilty of murdering seven babies and trying to kill six more. Vanessa Frake, who worked in the prison service for 27 years, appeared on LADBible TV's Honesty Box video series last week Letby is serving her sentence in HMP Low Newton in Durham, where she's locked up with some of Britain's most notorious female criminals including fellow serial killer Joanna Dennehy. When asked about Letby, Frake answered 'She will probably spend the majority of her time initially by herself in a segregation unit. 'She won't be allowed to mix with the general population of the prison at this precise time for obvious reasons. 'To protect not only her but other prisoners. So, for her I'm afraid it's going to be quite a lonely existence. She added that some stage the prison authorities will 'risk assess' and 'make that decision to try and integrate her into the general population,' though the ex-governor believes that won't be for 'a good few years yet'. Frake explained that 'Child killers in this day and age are seen as the lowest of the low in prison. 'The likes of Lucy Letby will probably always have to look over her shoulder. 'Prison staff can be there most of the time but there will always be that occasion when they won't be about.' When asked about Letby, Frake answered: 'She will probably spend the majority of her time initially by herself in a segregation unit' Frake explained that 'Child killers in this day and age are seen as the lowest of the low in prison. The likes of Lucy Letby will probably always have to look over her shoulder' When asked if she believes there will be attempts to take Letby's life in prison, the ex-governor said: 'I think that there are prisoners in the women's estate who will think nothing of trying to get a trophy like Lucy Letby. 'You know, there are some serious prisoners locked up in the female estate who would have a go in the blink of an eye if given the opportunity.' Comments on the YouTube video praised Frake, reading 'Mad respect for this woman. She has done what so many of us couldnt' and 'Always really interesting to hear from extremely experienced public sector workers and their time in public office'. The interview comes after it was revealed that Letby reportedly 'became prison friends' with two other killers whilst she was held on remand before her trial in August. A source told The Mirror, that she was said to have bonded with Michelle Smith, a woman who murdered her own 42-day-old baby, and Shauna Hoare, who helped kill 16-year-old schoolgirl Becky Watts. Donald Trump has slammed claims in a notorious dossier that he took part in 'golden showers' with Moscow prostitutes and paid bribes to Russian officials as 'phony' and 'false' as he launched a legal claim in the High Court in London. The former president of the United States, 77, is bringing a data protection claim against Orbis Business Intelligence - a consultancy founded by former MI6 officer Christopher Steele - and is seeking compensation for distress. Mr Steele, who previously ran the Secret Intelligence Service's Russia desk, was the author of the so-called Steele dossier which included allegations Mr Trump had been 'compromised' by the Russian security service, the FSB. At the start of a two-day hearing, the High Court was told Mr Trump is bringing his case over two memos in the dossier which claimed the former president had taken part in 'sex parties' while in St Petersburg and performed 'perverted sex acts' on prostitutes at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Moscow. Mr Trump said in a written witness statement that the dossier contains 'numerous false, phony or made-up allegations' and denied that he hired prostitutes to engage in 'golden showers', took part in 'sex parties' in St Petersburg or gave the Russian authorities 'sufficient material to blackmail me'. Announcing his intention to give evidence, he said: 'The only way that I can fully demonstrate the total inaccuracies of the personal data in the dossier is to bring these proceedings and to prove, by evidence at trial, that the data are false.' Mr Trump's statement claimed that 'not one of the damning allegations contained in the Steele reporting was ever corroborated'. Last year Mr Steele tweeted that 'few, if any, of the details have been disproven'. He also described his daughter, Ivanka, as 'completely irrelevant to the claim' and 'any mention of her only serves to distract this court from the defendant and Mr Steele's reckless behavior'. Donald Trump, seen at a campaign rally in New Hampshire earlier this month, is bringing a data protection claim against Orbis Business Intelligence Orbis Business Intelligence was founded by Christopher Steele, who previously ran MI6's Russia desk In written submissions, Hugh Tomlinson KC, for Mr Trump, said Orbis is accused of unlawfully processing Mr Trump's personal data, causing him 'serious distress and reputational damage'. He told the court: 'President Trump begins this case because he seeks a vindication of his legal rights... that the statements in these memoranda are false.' The court heard Mr Trump accepts Orbis is not responsible for the publication of the dossier - as it was leaked to and published by BuzzFeed - but claims his data was processed by the consultancy. Mr Tomlinson later described Mr Trump as a 'controversial figure', adding: 'He often expresses himself in very strong language... his interactions with the US legal system have been many and varied. 'None of this is relevant to the question of whether the personal data in question is accurate.' But lawyers for Orbis asked for Mr Trump's claim to be thrown out, telling the court it was 'brought for the purpose of harassing Orbis and Mr Steele and pursuing longstanding grievances'. Antony White KC, for the consultancy, said in written submissions the case 'has no realistic prospect of success' and has been brought too late. He said: 'The claim for compensation is principally based on reputational damage allegedly suffered by the claimant. The 'Steele Dossier' included allegations that Mr Trump had been 'compromised' by the Russian security service, the FSB. Pictured in Vladimir Putin today in Moscow 'This claim is bound to fail on limitation grounds and because any reputational damage, and any resulting distress, allegedly suffered will have been caused by the BuzzFeed publication, for which the claimant accepts Orbis is not liable.' Mr White said the dossier was never intended to be made public and all copies of the memos held by Orbis were destroyed in 2017. The barrister later said Mr Trump's case had been brought to pursue a 'vendetta' against Orbis and Mr Steel. He continued: 'The claimant has a deep and intense animus against Mr Steele and Orbis, which is reflected in numerous vituperative public statements which he has made since the dossier was made public by BuzzFeed in 2017.' Mr White said Mr Trump 'has a long history of repeatedly bringing frivolous, meritless and vexatious claims for the purpose of vexing and harassing perceived enemies and others against whom he bears a grudge'. The hearing before Mrs Justice Steyn is set to conclude on Tuesday, with a decision expected at a later date. Mr Steele and Orbis Business Intelligence were previously sued for libel by Russian national Aleksej Gubarev, claiming they were legally responsible for BuzzFeed publishing the dossier. The Steele Dossier was published before the 2017 election. Pictured is Mr Trump coming down the Trump Tower escalator in 2015 to announce his candidacy However, in a judgment in October 2020, Lord Justice Warby dismissed the claim. Data protection claims are becoming an increasingly common way for high-profile individuals to take legal action through the English courts. In 2020 three oligarchs, German Khan, Petr Aven and Mikhail Fridman, won a case against Orbis in London's High Court for alleged breaches of data protection laws over the dossier. The trio said they brought the legal action to 'clear their names and correct the public record' about the claims made about them and to prove they were not 'creatures of the Kremlin'. The London lawsuit comes as Mr Trump faces a series of criminal and civil cases in the US. The former president was criminally indicted on August 1 for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, which led to a group of his supporters storming the Capitol. Today, his lawyers will appear in court to argue against a proposed gagging order that would halt his verbal attacks against likely witnesses in the case. The data protection lawsuit is being held at the High Court in London, which is housed inside the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand (pictured) He faces a second criminal indictment relating to the storage of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago in Florida. His other criminal cases relate to allegations of election tampering in Georgia and claims he paid $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels to stop her sharing details on an alleged affair. Mr Trump also faces a $250m civil fraud trial in New York. A judge has imposed a limited gagging order in relation to that case following a social media post which maligned the judge's principal clerk. Prosecutors are asking the judge to bar Mr Trump and lawyers from making statements 'that pose a substantial likelihood of material prejudice to this case', including inflammatory or intimidating remarks about witnesses, lawyers and other people involved in the case. In May, a jury in Manhattan found Mr Trump liable for sexually abusing a writer in a department store dressing room, in the mid-1990s. E Jean Carroll was awarded $5million in damages at the conclusion of the civil case for battery and defamation. Ms Carroll is now suing him a second time for defamation. In his witness statement to the High Court today, Mr Trump said he had been told by his lawyers not to comment on any of the other cases. 'I am informed by my legal team that I am unable to comment on a number of these cases as they are subject to ongoing appeal and doing so may be considered to be a waiver of privilege over the legal advice I have received,' he said. Police are hunting lowlife thieves after 40,000 worth of brand new portable toilets were stolen from a racetrack. The 35 cubicles - some of which were still full - were taken from a field at Ludlow Autograss Club in Pencombe, Herefordshire, on Sunday. The intruders are believed to have cut a padlock and used a Ford Transit van and a trailer to take the loos in the middle of the night after a motor racing event. The units are owned by Three Counties Toilet Hire run by Neil Griffiths, 53, who said the crime could 'destroy' the family business. His son Kieran, 26, discovered the theft when he went to collect the toilets and found they were gone while Neil was away on holiday in Cyprus. Police are after thieves who stole 40,000 of brand-new toilets from a racetrack in Hertfordshire on Sunday The toilets were owned by Three Counties Toilet Hire, run by Neil Griffiths (pictured), who said the theft could destroy his business Mr Griffiths, of Great Malvern, Worcs, said: 'We are devastated - I mean who on earth steals toilets? 'Some of them were full as well, they didn't even tip them over. They just took them all one by one. It's all quite baffling. They aren't easy to move. 'They took about a quarter of our total stock but its about 80 per cent of our event stock, so its going to have such a big impact on us. 'We are a small family business and something like this could destroy us - replacing just one would cost us about 1,000. 'Somebody at the track saw a Transit van pull up with a trailer and they assumed it was us. 'They've either used cutters or knew the code to the padlocks, I'm still waiting to find out as I'm on holiday at the minute. But I just want to come home now. 'It's everything else we put inside them as well, like sanitising units. We have events all booked in for next year. We don't know what we are going to do. 'There were two portable toilets for disabled users which were also stolen, which cost about 1,500 each. It's going to cost us so much money to replace them. 'I want to make these loos too hot to handle - we just want them back. 'I just want people to check CCTV and dashcam footage to see if any suspicious activity has been recorded and get in contact with police. 'We've never had anything like this happen before, it's unprecedented.' The crime was discovered by Mr Griffiths' son Kieran while his father was on holiday The toilets were only purchased last year and cost the business between 38,000 and 40,000. Neil said the units are all four square feet in size, with two five-foot disabled toilets, so would require a large space for storage. A West Mercia Police spokesperson said: 'On Sunday 15 October 2023 we received a report of the theft of 35 portable toilets from a field in Pencombe, Herefordshire. 'Enquiries are ongoing.' A New York City public school math teacher has come under fire for sharing his staunch, anti-Israel views and even sharing a photo of a Hamas paraglider on Facebook along with his support of Palestine. Mohammad Jehad Ahmad, a math teacher at Gotham Tech High School in Queens, shared the paraglider-image on his Facebook page over the weekend. He had already slammed NYC's public schools chancellor David Banks for condemning Hamas' attack against Israel on October 7th, and tweeted that Israel was a 'terror state' that upholds white supremacy. Mohammad Jehad Ahmad, a math teacher at Gotham Tech High School in Queens, shared the paraglider-image on his Facebook page over the weekend Ahmad has since changed his Facebook cover photo to a different pro-Palestine image that does not include the paraglider It remains unclear if the city's Department of Education has disciplined him in any way, or whether it intends to allow him to keep his role. The Department did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's inquiries on Monday. Ahmad has defended his remarks and posts fastidiously, mocking Jews who have deemed them offensive. 'How can Jews feel safe in Mohammads classroom?' asked Justin Sprio, a New York City school social worker. Doubling down: Ahmad defended his position in subsequent tweets and statements Ahmad has been a teacher at Gotham Tech High School since July. Before then, he worked at the Bronx Academy of Letters Ahmad hit back: 'Look at this clown and the others in his replies. So-called Israel is a settler colony that was invented and only continues to exist through terrorism, dispossession, ethnic cleansing, and ongoing incremental genocide. 'To support Israel is to support white supremacist terror.' In a response to another outlet, Ahmad fumed: 'So-called Israel was invented in 1948 through coordinated acts of terrorism to depopulate and ethnically cleanse Palestinian land. 'For over the past 75 years, so-called Israel has continued to exist through continued dispossession, ethnic cleansing and incremental genocide. In reference to the Hamas attack, he said: 'On Saturday, Palestinians from Gaza completed a successful military campaign against that oppressor.' When criticized by Jewish social worker Justin Spiro about how Jewish children might feel safe in his classroom, he called him a 'clown' He labeled reports of Hamas murdering children and babies as 'unsubstantiated', he continued: 'So-called Israel is a white supremacist, settler-colony, that only exists through its ongoing dispossession, ethnic cleansing, and incremental genocide of the Palestinain people.' Ahmad declined to answer DailyMail.com's questions about his comments or whether he was still employed. Instead, he called DailyMail.com 'predatory' and the coverage of his remarks an 'effort by mass media to silence anti-Zionist discourse' which he says has inspired death threats. 'I choose not to answer questions that will continue to dehumanize and cause harm to me, my family, and those like us,' he said. NYC's universities have come under fire for allowing pro-Palestine rallies at some campuses in spite of complaints and requests from Jewish students asking for them to be canceled. Since the attack on October 7, 1400 people have been killed in Israel and more than 2,300 have been killed in retaliatory strikes in Gaza. A 165,000-a-year police chief accused of wearing a Falklands War service medal despite being only 15 during the conflict has been suspended. Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold has today suspended Chief Constable Nick Adderley from Northamptonshire Police while an independent investigation into allegations about his conduct takes place. A complaint was received from a member of the public, before a mandatory referral of the complaint was made to the Independent Office For Police Conduct who are now looking into the allegations. Mr Mold said he believed it was in the public interest, in the interest of the force, and of the Chief Constable himself that Adderley is suspended pending the outcome of the investigation. He said: 'Allegations of misconduct must always be fully, independently investigated so that the public have confidence in the integrity of the police service and the processes that independently hold policing to account. Adderley would have only been 15-years-old at the time of the conflict with Argentina in 1982 'That independent investigation must now be allowed to take its course and we will not be commenting further on matters related to the investigation. 'My focus will be on ensuring that Northamptonshire receives the best possible policing service and I know that the officers and staff of Northamptonshire Police will continue to focus, as they do every day, on their mission to constantly improve the way they tackle crime, keep people safe and serve the communities and neighbourhoods of this county.' The suspension will be kept under regular review as the investigation progresses. Chief Constable Adderley is understood to have enlisted in the Navy in 1984 aged 18 - two years after the Falklands War ended. He was in the cadets from the age of 15. Video footage has revealed how the police boss flaunted the South Atlantic Medal, which was awarded to British military personnel who served in the 1982 war between Britain and Argentina. The married father-of-two, who was among the frontrunners to take on the Met before Sir Mark Rowley became commissioner in 2022, is accused of wearing it at a string of events including the Police Bravery Awards in July. If the accusations are true, he faces claims of being a Walter Mitty-style fantasist. Constable Adderley pinned the 1982 campaign medal to his chest despite not joining the Royal Navy until two years later The Independent Office for Police Conduct said Nick Adderley will be interviewed and is under investigation for potential offences of misconduct in public office and fraud. An IOPC spokesperson said: 'The Independent Office for Police Conduct is criminally investigating the Chief Constable of Northamptonshire over allegations that he has potentially misrepresented his military service, both in public and in communications with the police, fire and crime commissioner. 'We have advised the chief constable in a criminal letter that we are examining possible offences of misconduct in public office and fraud by false representation. 'After reviewing information gathered so far as part of our investigation, we have also served a gross misconduct notice on the chief constable for potential breaches of police professional standards relating to honesty and integrity, orders and instructions and conduct. 'The serving of such a notice and letter does not mean that any proceedings will necessarily follow.' Chief Constable Adderley previously said he was 'very proud of his Cadet, Royal Navy and Police Service', adding he also wears medals awarded to his brothers with no further clarification. 'I wear all my medals with pride and have always worn the two medals my brothers gave me to wear when one became critically ill and one emigrated, alongside my own. 'Having been made aware of this complaint, which has a private family impact upon me personally, I immediately took advice last week regarding the protocol and have changed the side of my chest on which these medals are worn. 'I look forward to providing the IOPC with a fulsome response at the earliest opportunity and I fully appreciate that they have a job to do.' 'Stolen Valour' is the term commonly applied to the act of wearing military medals or decorations that have not been earned with the intent to deceive. It is not an offence in the UK for individuals to wear medals or decorations that they were not awarded - but it is an offence to wear a military medal without permission, according to the UK Parliament's briefing on Stolen Valour. A 90-year-old Holocaust survivor and a boy celebrating his fifth birthday were among the more than 1,400 victims of the October 7 Hamas terror attack in Israel. While it is now ten days since the terror group stormed into Israel from Gaza, details are still emerging about the horrific rampage and of its many victims. Gina Semiatich, a 90-year-old Czech-born Holocaust survivor, was tragically murdered in her home at Kibbutz Kissufim, less than two miles from the Gaza border. Eitan Kaptisher was celebrating his fifth birthday when he was killed by Hamas gunmen. Israeli forces have now positioned themselves along Gaza's border and drilled for what officials said would be a broad campaign to dismantle Hamas. A week of blistering airstrikes have demolished neighbourhoods but failed to stop rocket fire into Israel. Palestine's Red Crescent humanitarian society released video on Monday showing an ambulance carrying civilians and a child being hit by an apparent Israeli airstrike. The World Health Organisation has also warned there were only '24 hours of water, electricity and fuel left' in the Gaza Strip before 'a real catastrophe' sets in. Officials claim the besieged territory must be allowed to receive convoys of aid and warn that if assistance does not arrive, doctors will have to 'prepare death certificates for their patients'. Gina Semiatich, a 90-year-old Czech-born Holocaust survivor, was tragically murdered in her home at Kibbutz Kissufim, less than two miles from the Gaza border Another tragic victim of the attacks has been revealed to be a boy named Eitan, who according to Israel's official account on X (formerly Twitter), was celebrating his fifth birthday when he was killed by Hamas gunmen. 'Instead of celebrating his birthday, his parents will mourn their child's death on the day he was born for the rest of their lives,' the account said, along with two pictures: one of the youngster wearing a Spiderman costume, and another of his grave (right) According to reports in Israel, Semiatich was dragged from her home shelter by the terrorists and shot in the head in her living room. 'We had spoken to her just seconds before; she told us she was hiding in the shelter, scared,' her grandson said in the aftermath of the attack. Speaking to Haaretz, Shmulik Harel said 'Dozens of terrorists entered Kisufi and broke into houses' in the Kibbutz, home to fewer than 300 people. 'From outside they called 'IDF, IDF (Israel Defense Forces)' so that we felt safe and could come out. But the majority of residents suspected that something was wrong.' He told the Israeli newspaper that he was on the phone with Semiatich just moments before the Hamas terrorists broke into her home. Once inside, they dragged her out of her shelter and executed her on her living room floor. Tom Gross, a British journalist and commentator, shared a post about Semiatich, saying she was born in the Czech Republic and survived the Nazi Holocaust. 'A child born in the Czech Republic who survived the concentration camp in Terezin was murdered last Saturday by Hamas terrorists,' he wrote, alongside her photo. The terrorists killed eight residents of Kisufi, as well as six Thai workers there. Another tragic victim of the attacks has been revealed to be a boy named Eitan. According to Israel's official account on X (formerly Twitter), Eitan was celebrating his fifth birthday when he was killed by Hamas gunmen. 'Instead of celebrating his birthday, his parents will mourn their child's death on the day he was born for the rest of their lives,' the account said, along with two pictures: one of the youngster wearing a Spiderman costume, and another of his grave. 'May the memory of Eitan Kaptisher be a blessing,' the post said. An aerial view shows members of the media during a visit to Kibbutz Kfar Aza, in the aftermath of a deadly attack by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, October 15 Israeli soldiers walk past a house destroyed in the October 7 attack by Palestinian Hamas militants on kibbutz Beeri near the border with Gaza, on October 14 Houses are destroyed after clashes between Israeli and Palestinian forces in Be'eri Kibbutz Semiatich's grandson Harel also described how, in Kissufim, 'terrorists entered homes, killed the residents and stayed there for hours. Meanwhile, they also continued to set homes on fire. READ MORE: Brought to tears by the horror of Hamas: Israeli medic breaks down while describing victims who hugged loved ones as they were burned alive Advertisement 'In one instance, a friend heard cries for help from elderly people, he covered himself with a sheet, and rescued them from the flames,' he said. 'They ravaged the houses, looted, killed and destroyed anything in their path.' His is one of countless horrific stories that have emerged since the barbaric terrorist attack carried out by Hamas shook Israel to its core. And since the army, police and other officials have moved in, even more atrocities have been uncovered, with reports of murdered children and babies. Investigators are still finding bodies and piecing together the full picture of the violence that was carried out by the Palestinian gunmen against them. Zaka, a volunteer emergency response organisation that has been charged with recovering bodies in the region, is still finding victims over a week after the attack. Many bodies show signs of torture and rape. Some were burned alive, their homes set on fire when the gunman realised they were hiding in safe rooms. Yossi Landau - the boss of Zaka is Israel's southern region - told Sky News that the most recent person to have been found in the Kfar Aza kibbutz had been beheaded. 'We thought we finished but we came back now this morning after being a week around here, and we just pulled out a body over here - no head - you know it's the worst' he told the broadcaster. 'We saw women with no clothes and hands tied to the back. We saw families... over here in this kibbutz I saw families with hands tied to the back, sitting parents and children, sitting one against the other, tortured. 'We could see the bodies were telling the stories. 'You know they can't talk but they were telling us their stories, they were crying together with us,' he added. Others, such as around 270 young people who were attending a nearby dance festival, were gunned down as they tried to flee the gunmen. Yossi tells Sky News that at this location, there was no torturing. Rather, he says, it was a 'mass killing'. They are still finding bodies in places people found to hide 'If they were hiding in a garbage can or something, they threw in a grenade to make sure everyone was killed,' he says. 'That's a war crime for itself, and most of them, I would say 70 per cent, were shot in the back - that's a war crime.' Palestinians walk and drive away from Kibbutz Kfar Azza, Israel, near the fence with the Gaza strip following a deadly attack on the community on Saturday, October 7 Mourners walk through the cemetery during the funeral of Naor Hassisim, a victim of the Kibbutz Kfar Aza attack last week by members of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, at a cemetery, in southern Israeli city of Ashdod on October 16 In response to the terror attack, Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, and has launched its own assault against the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Since October 7, the IDF has pounded the territory with missile strikes, levelling entire neighbourhoods in an attempt to weaken the terror group before launching an expected ground assault into the enclave. This has become the deadliest of the five Gaza wars for both sides. In addition to the more than 1,400 people killed in Israel, at least 2,778 have been killed and 9,700 wounded in Gaza, according to the Heath Ministry there. Footage showing an ambulance carrying civilians and a child being hit by an apparent Israeli airstrike was released by Palestine's Red Crescent humanitarian society on Monday. In the clip, several people crammed into the back of an ambulance are heard screaming as a missile smashes into a target nearby, triggering a powerful explosion. The vehicle was full of Gazan medics, as well as multiple civilians who had squeezed into the van to take cover as Israel's air force continues its bombing raids across the 25-mile strip of land. Fearing the next bomb would score a direct hit on the vehicle, the camera holder leaps out of the van and sprints down a road, apparently hoping to find a more solid shelter. As he sprints away, his lens shows debris littering the street with blown out wreckages of cars, some still ablaze, trailing thick plumes of black smoke into the sky above. Panic ensued in the ambulance as the occupants narrowly avoided an Israeli strike. Medics and injured civilians alike can be seen piled into the back of the van, screaming as the explosions ring around around them Children view a destroyed ambulance parked along a street in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip A medic runs as he carries an injured Palestinian child to ambulance Palestinians work to clear the rubble of a collapsed building following an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, in the southern of Gaza Strip, on October 16, 2023 Members of a Palestinian civil emergency team carry the body one of their colleagues, who was killed in Israeli strikes, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City October 16, 2023 Palestinians carry a man found under the rubble of a house destroyed in Israeli strikes into an ambulance in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 16, 2023 The Israeli military has been pounding the Gaza Strip with unprecedented firepower ever since Palestinian militant group Hamas, which rules the enclave, launched the biggest attack on Israel since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, killing more than 1,300 people. Authorities in Gaza said at least 2,750 people had so far been killed by the Israeli strikes, a quarter of them children, and nearly 10,000 wounded. Another 1,000 people were missing and believed to be under rubble. More than a million people have fled their homes ahead of an expected Israeli ground invasion aimed at destroying Hamas after its fighters rampaged through southern Israel. Hospitals in Gaza now warn they are on the verge of collapse, with emergency generators that power machines like ventilators and incubators down to about one day of fuel and supplies of medicine almost exhausted. The WHO said hospitals are 'overflowing' as people seek safety. 'We are concerned about disease outbreaks due to mass displacement and poor water and sanitation,' it said. Four hospitals in northern Gaza are no longer functioning and 21 have received Israeli orders to evacuate. Doctors have refused, saying it would mean death for critically ill patients and newborns on ventilators. The WHO said water shortages caused by Israel's decision to cut off water supplies, combined with a lack of fuel for pumps and desalination stations, put thousands of hospital patients at risk. 'Water is needed to ensure sanitary conditions on inpatient wards, in operation rooms, and emergency departments. It is essential for the prevention of hospital associated infections and for the prevention of outbreaks in hospitals,' the WHO said. WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Ahmed Al-Mandhari said the bombarded, besieged territory must be allowed to receive convoys of aid, currently stuck at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. If assistance does not arrive, doctors will have to 'prepare death certificates for their patients', he said. Hamas has urged people to stay in their homes, and the Israeli military on Sunday released photos it said showed a Hamas roadblock preventing traffic from moving south. Meanwhile, the Israeli military said Monday that at least 199 hostages were taken back in Gaza, higher than previous estimates. The military did not specify whether that number includes foreigners. A rescuer salvages a gas canister from the rubble of a building after it was hit by an Israeli strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on October 15, 2023 A Palestinian man walks amid the rubble of buildings destroyed during Israeli air strikes near his home in the Rafah refugee camp in the southern of Gaza Strip Palestinians search for casualties under the rubble of a house destroyed in Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 16, 2023 Relatives of Palestinian civil defence officer killed in Israeli attacks mourn at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza Strip, Gaza on October 16, 2023 Members of a Palestinian civil emergency team react as they look at their colleague who was killed in Israeli strikes, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City October 16, 2023 Palestinians search for casualties under the rubble of a house destroyed in Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 16, 2023 As details of Semiatich and Eitan's deaths were revealed on Monday, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for 'the world to unite to defeat Hamas as it defeated ISIS and the Nazis'. He also warned Iran and Tehran-backed terror group Hezbollah 'not to test us', amid fears that the conflict sparked by Hamas's attack could escalate further. Hezbollah terrorists have vowed to 'respond' to any move by Israel to invade Gaza with the group's chief saying they are 'fully prepared' to fight alongside Hamas, raising already heightened fears of an all-out conflict. Netanyahu told the Israeli Knesset, Netanyahu said: 'Now, many around the world understand who Israel is facing. They comprehend that Hamas represents a new version of Nazism. Just as the world united to defeat the Nazis and Isis, so it must unite to defeat Hamas.' His call for a united global front against Hamas comes after Netanyahu warned Israel was 'approaching a fateful hour' with more than 400,000 Israeli soldiers now gearing up for a battle in Gaza that will see street-fighting erupt in the tiny 25-mile long enclave. More than one million people have now fled their homes in northern Gaza in scenes of chaos and despair in a desperate attempt to escape Israel's imminent invasion and continued aerial bombardment of the Hamas-ruled territory. But the United Nations has warned that a 'spectre of death' looms over Gaza where millions are stranded amid Israel's total siege that is blocking food, water, medicine and fuel from reaching the enclave. The enclave's food and water supplies are running dangerously low, and its hospitals are warning that they are on the verge of collapse, with medics saying health centres are quickly turning into morgues. The UN relief and works agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) also warned 'there are not enough body bags for the dead in Gaza'. But undeterred by the comments of human rights observers over recent days, Netanyahu said preparations were being made around the clock to launch the ground offensive, with nearly 400,000 soldiers gearing up for battle in Gaza. He said menacingly: 'They are ready to take action to defeat the bloodthirsty monsters who have risen against us to destroy us. Hamas thought that we would come apart we will demolish Hamas.' The Israeli military's rules of engagement have reportedly been 'loosened' for the land, air and sea attack to allow fewer checks before shooting. Israeli forces, supported by a growing deployment of U.S. warships in the region and the call-up of some 360,000 reservists, positioned themselves along Gaza's border and drilled for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle the terror group. But much of Hamas' military infrastructure is concealed in urban areas, where street-by-street fighting would likely cause mounting casualties on both sides if Israel invades with a ground offensive. A Palestinian man walks amid the rubble of buildings destroyed during Israeli air strikes near his home in the Rafah refugee camp in the southern of Gaza Strip, on Monday Palestinians search for casualties under the rubble of a house destroyed in Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday Palestinians, including people wounded in Israeli strikes, arrive in a truck, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Monday Palestinian relatives wait to collect bodies wrapped in funeral shrouds with their names written for identification, at a hospital following Israeli military attacks on Rafah, in the southern of Gaza Strip on Monday Meanwhile, Hamas-backer Iran and Lebanon's terror group Hezbollah, which is also supported by Tehran, have warned that an invasion of Gaza would be met with a 'response'. Last week, Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem said the group was 'ready' and would 'contribute' to confrontations against its southern neighbour. And yesterday rockets, artillery fire and anti-tank shells were exchanged between Lebanon and Israel, threatening to drag the region into open warfare. Hezbollah militants also started destroying surveillance cameras on several Israeli army posts along the border with Lebanon. The terror group released a video Monday showing snipers destroying surveillance cameras placed on five points along the Lebanon-Israel border, including one outside the Israeli town of Metula. Hezbollah's aim appears to be to prevent the Israeli army from monitoring movements on the Lebanese side of the border. The U.S. has subsidized Hamas to the tune of $380 million since Biden took office and restarted funding to the UN's Palestinian refugee agency U.S. taxpayer dollars are able to 'flow freely' to Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah because the United Nations Security Council has failed to label them as 'terrorists,' warn top security experts. Hamas and Hezbollah are not sanctioned or labeled as terror groups by the UN Security Council. However, other well-known terrorist organizations Al Qaeda and ISIS have been officially designated, which cuts off their ability to get foreign assistance. Richard Goldberg, senior advisor at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, tells DailyMail.com that U.S. taxpayer dollars to the UN are going directly into the hands of terrorists as a result. That is especially alarming as Hamas in Gaza launched a brutal attack on Israel over a week ago, killing over 1,300 innocent civilians and at least 29 Americans. But despite their horrific atrocities, including beheading babies and raping women, the Iran-backed terror group is considered 'legitimate' by the UN - which has cleared the way for the organization to receive worldwide assistance, says Goldberg. Hamas and Hezbollah are not sanctioned or labeled as terror groups by the UN Security Council Richard Goldberg currently serves as a senior advisor at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies 'The UN considers Hamas a legitimate political movement, not a vicious terrorist organization. The same goes for Hezbollah. That means US taxpayer dollars handed over to the UN can flow freely into Hamas hands in Gaza, and they do every day through the UN's so-called Palestinian refugee agency,' Goldberg told DailyMail.com. The UN has a 'Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East' (UNRWA) agency that works to support the 'relief and human development' of Palestinian refugees. The agency received over $15 million from partnering UN countries in 2021 and it lists the United States as a 'top government donor' on its website. Goldberg said that the Biden administration has given roughly $1 billion to the UNRWA, which spends about 38 percent of its budget on Gaza. Therefore, the U.S. has subsidized Hamas to the tune of $380 million since Biden took office and restarted funding to UNRWA, he said. 'If the UN Security Council won't add Hamas and Hezbollah to its formal list of terrorist groups, we need to demand a halt to all UN bodies that enrich and embolden them,' he continued. Goldberg formerly served in the Trump administration as the National Security Council Director for Countering Iranian Weapons of Mass Destruction. Former U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley - who is also running for president in 2024 - repeatedly pressed the organization to formally list Hamas as a terrorist group when she held her position. Haley slammed the UN in an exclusive statement to DailyMail.com Monday, saying the decision to formally label the terrorist group should be easy. 'It should be easy to condemn a bloodthirsty organization that kills babies, rapes women, and burns whole families. Yet, the UN still refuses to call Hamas what they areterrorists.' 'We must always take a side when it comes to good vs. evil and we will never stop calling out the shameful anti-Israel bias at the UN,' Haley continued. In June 2018, Haley introduced a resolution that would have designated Hamas as a terror organization, but the U.S. was the only country that backed the motion. Not to be deterred, Haley successfully pressured the General Assembly to hold a vote to label Hamas as a terrorist group. The amendment narrowly passed, but due to a last-minute procedural change requiring two-thirds of the majority to back the measure, it ended up failing. Biden's current UN Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield also has commented on anti-Israel bias at the organization. She condemned Hamas for the 'horrors' committed by the 'terrorist group' whose 'stated purpose is to kill Jews' speaking at a solidarity event for Israel at American Jewish Committee headquarters in New York last week. 'The path of terror' by Hamas does nothing to improve the lives of any civilians, she continued. Thomas-Greenfield also acknowledged that for too long, Israel has been 'unfairly targeted in the UN system.' 'Now is the moment to stand in solidarity with Israel,' she continued. Her spokesperson Nate Evans told DailyMail.com that they have 'continuously urged' the UN to condemn Hamas and Hezbollah's terrorist activities. He went on to slam Russia for blocking those efforts and going 'easy' on terrorist groups. Former U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley - who is also running for president in 2024 - repeatedly pressed the organization to formally list Hamas as a terrorist group when she held her position An apartment was hit by Hamas rockets in the town of Ashkelon, Israel near Gaza Palestinian fighters from the armed wing of Hamas take part in a military parade in front of an Israeli military site 'We must tell the stories of those who were executed, who were raped,' she said. DailyMail.com reached out to a spokesperson for Thomas-Greenfield regarding whether she will press the UN to extend the terrorist designation to Hezbollah and Hamas in light of the gruesome attacks in Israel. Hamas terrorists based in Gaza launched a surprise, multi-front attack on Israel last Saturday, October 7, and the conflict between the Palestinian enclaves and Israel has continued into Monday. In addition to the at least 29 Americans who have died in the attacks, 15 are still missing and believed to be held hostage in Gaza. The UN did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. Connecticut warned residents to keep awareness of bear activity this fall The thief took a frozen lasagna from her mother's restaurant Ana's Kitchen A Connecticut black bear thief was caught on tape breaking into a home and stealing a lasagna from the freezer. Homeowner Helena Houlis shared the Ring camera footage of the intruder raiding her refrigerator on Thursday to social media. After entering the Barkhamsted home through an unlocked window, the bear is seen strolling through the house and into the kitchen then casually opening the freezer door. The invader sniffs around and then selects the lasagna wrapped in packaging. Satisfied with the choice, the bear uses the freezer door to hoist itself out the window. Once the bear made it out of the house, footage shows it roaming off into the distance with the meal in its mouth. A black bear snuck into a Connecticut home and stole a frozen lasagna 'We just had the most unexpected kitchen guest! This bear, clearly a foodie, mustve heard of Anas Kitchen lasagna,' Houlis's mother, Ana Oliveria, wrote on Facebook. Oliveria owns Ana's Kitchen, the restaurant where the pasta dish was from. She told CT Insider that window the bear exited from was the same one it used to enter, which had been closed but not locked. The bear did not do any damage to the home. Users commented on Ana's Facebook post that they found the video hilarious and it shows how good her food is. 'I wish we could see your reaction when you realized it was a bear that left the freezer open,' said one user. Another said, 'If that isn't a promotion for Ana's food, I don't know what is.' 'First Italian bear Ive ever seen,' said another. After selecting its meal, the bear used the freezer door to prop itself out the window Helena Houlis shared the Ring camera footage of the intruder raiding her refrigerator on social media The bandit appeared to have tags on, meaning the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is tracking it. DEEP issued a warning earlier this fall encouraging residents to keep increased awareness of bear activity because they increase their food intake this time of year. 'Conflicts with bears have tripled over the last five years in Connecticut and bears have been sighted in all of the states 169 cities and towns,' said the department. 'Its critical that everyone understands the role they play in keeping people and bears safe as bears get more active this season,' said DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes. 'Bears losing their fear of humans is a learned behavior that puts them and the public at risk. We encourage bear awareness with proven tools to increase public safety and reduce bear-human conflicts.' The Pentagon has reportedly selected about 2,000 troops to prepare for a deployment to help Israel as a second carrier strike group steams for the eastern Mediterranean. Officials said the troops will not serve in a combat role but would be tasked with medical support or advisory duties. Details emerged on Monday after the Department of Defense said the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower strike group, which deployed from Norfolk, Virginia, on Friday, is on its way. She will join the USS Gerald R. Ford, which arrived off the coast of Israel last week. The presence of two of the Navy's most powerful warships will send a clear signal to Iran and its regional proxies, such as Hezbollah, not to escalate the conflict. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced late Saturday that the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower strike group was on its way to the eastern Mediterranean to 'deter' any escalation Israel has kept up an aerial bombardment of the Gaza Strip ever since Hamas gunmen embarked on a wave of murder across Israel last weekend It comes as Israel continues to mass troops and military hardware around the Gaza Strip, from where Hamas gunmen launched a surprise assault on Israel, killing at least 1,300 people. Officials cited by the Wall Street Journal also said some 2,000 troops were being prepared to deploy in a sign that Washington was ready to assist Israeli troops in the event of a ground invasion of Gaza. President Joe Biden abandoned plans to travel to Colorado to deliver a speech on 'Bidenomics' on Monday. Instead he huddled with key national security officials. 'This morning, President Biden and Vice President Harris were briefed by their national security team on the latest updates in the wake of Hamass abhorrent attack in Israel and the resulting conflict in Gaza,' said a White House official. 'Chief of Staff Jeff Zients joined the briefing led by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Bill Burns.' Western leaders have lined up to urge Israel to follow international law and not trigger a wider regional conflagration. Iran told Israel via the United Nations it would intervene if operations in Gaza continued, a report claimed, as Israel readied a 'wide range of offensive operational plans' including a 'joint and coordinated attack [on Gaza] from the air, sea and land.' Diplomatic sources told Axios that while Iran did not want the conflict to escalate, it was prepared to intervene either directly or indirectly, such as via a military group in Syria or Lebanon. Israeli army Puma armoured personnel carrierss (APCs) move in a column near the Gaza border in southern Israel on October 14, 2023 Thousands of people, both Israeli and Palestinians have died since October 7, 2023, after Hamas entered Israel in a surprise attack and Israel responded with a declaration of war Schools in Lebanon remain closed amid fears of Israeli missiles targeting Hezbollah militants near the border. While Hezbollah has not formally joined the war, the group has clashed with Israeli forces several times this week. Israel has called up 360,000 reservists as it prepares for its next move. Against that backdrop, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced late Saturday that the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower was on its way. 'The increases to U.S. force posture signal the United States' ironclad commitment to Israel's security and our resolve to deter any state or non-state actor seeking to escalate this war,' he said. On Monday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken was meeting with the Israeli 'war cabinet' in Tel Aviv. This is the shocking moment that a financial crime investigator walks away completely unharmed after his car was blown up by a bomb in Naples. CCTV footage, released by military Italian police force Carabinieri, shows a black car pulling into a driveway before bursting into flames. A violent explosion takes place as fire and smoke inhale the car. The front windscreen and surrounding windows can be seen completely smashed or blown to pieces, with debris flying from the vehicle. According to Italian news site La Stampa, the explosion occurred after a homemade bomb placed on the car was activated with a remote control. This is the shocking moment that a financial crime investigator walks away completely unharmed after his car was blown up by a bomb in Naples CCTV footage shows a black car pulling into a driveway before bursting into flames The front windscreen and surrounding windows can be seen completely smashed or blown to pieces, with debris flying from the vehicle A violent explosion takes place as fire and smoke inhale the car They said the suspect was thought to be only a few metres away. The victim, a Senior Officer of the Guardia di Finanza on duty in Naples, managed to get out the vehicle completely unharmed, despite his car being blown to pieces. Some parts of the car were found more than 60 metres away in Bacoli after the attack last March. Earlier today, the Carabinieri of the Investigative Unit of Naples carried out a precautionary custody order against a 50-year-old accused of attempted murder. Issued by the investigating judge of the Court of Naples, the Italian suspect is also accused with the aggravating circumstance of premeditation, and for having packaged, detained and brought an improvised explosive device to a public place. Scotlands schools will be plunged into chaos by a series of strikes in an ongoing row over pay, union chiefs have announced. Unison yesterday announced a rolling programme of strike action in schools across the country in the coming weeks after 89.9 per cent of its members voted to reject the latest pay offer for school support staff. The union, which represents support staff including administrators, catering assistants and janitors, said a rolling programme of strikes in schools and nurseries will take place in the coming weeks, with dates to be announced within days. The decision means the majority of Scotlands 800,000 schoolchildren could now face disruption across 24 of Scotlands 32 councils. Unisons local government committee of elected representatives decided to use the strategy of shutting down three to four councils per day instead of a nationwide closure so the strikes have maximum impact. A Unison source yesterday said the decision was made to exert pressure on local government body Cosla and the Scottish Government over an extended period of time. Unison have announced a rolling programme of strike action in schools across the country The strike covers over 21,000 union members including school cleaners, caterers, janitors and support assistants. Unisons Scottish secretary, Lilian Macer, said: No one takes industrial action lightly. Its a very difficult decision for anyone, but as much as this is about pay, its also about standing up for local services. The school staff taking part in strike action support children in school every day of the year, and many are parents with school-age children too. Workers are taking action because they want children to be educated in well-resourced, well-staffed schools. They want to start trying to reverse years of cuts and under-investment in the workforce and services. No one wants to cause disruption for pupils and parents, but school staff have been left with no other option. The blame must be laid squarely at the door of Cosla and Scottish ministers. They have it within their gift to end the strike, but they are showing no sign of wanting to do so. Thats a terrible shame for everyone affected. The rejected offer included a minimum wage increase of 2,006 for those on the living wage of 10.42 per hour and a minimum increase of 1,929 for workers earning above that level. Unison is demanding 15 per hour for all local government workers. Its decision to continue striking comes after other large unions Unite and GMB both suspended strike action and recommended their members accept the offer. Chairman of Unison Scotlands local government committee Mark Ferguson said: Unisons local government members have voted overwhelmingly to reject this offer, which shows their resolve to fight for the fair pay they deserve. Im a parent myself, so I understand the disruption these strikes cause. But if wages dont rise, school staff will leave for other jobs beyond education that pay significantly more an hour. That would be a disaster and would help no one. The current offer amounts to a real-terms pay cut and adds further stress to a dedicated workforce who are already suffering from the cost-of-living crisis. Cosla and the Scottish Government need to give school staff a decent pay rise, fund any increase properly and commit to implementing a pay of 15 per hour for all local government workers. Councillor Katie Hagmann, Coslas resources spokesman, said: Obviously this ballot result from Unison is very disappointing given the strength of the offer on the table. I would like to make the following points: Firstly, Scotlands council leaders value their workforce. Secondly, we have listened to our trade unions, met all their asks and worked with Scottish Government to put an incredibly strong half a billion pound pay package on the table - which we hope the other trade union members will vote to accept. Finally, offering almost 10 per cent or a 2,006 pay increase for our lowest paid workers, which the unions specifically asked for, and 1,929 or at least 5.5 per cent for everyone else is as far as local government can go without impacting service and jobs. Former US Ambassador Jon Huntsman Jr has stripped his support for the University of Pennsylvania Billionaires Ken Griffin has requested Harvard take a robust stance in defense of Israel Ivy League schools face a multi-million dollar dip in funding after being blasted for failing to condemn Hamas' terrorist attacks against Israel. Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania have been hit hardest by the backlash with a host of alumni calling on the colleges to do better as some revoke their funding entirely. Billionaires Ken Griffin has called for Harvard to take a robust stance in defense of Israel, and criticized students defending the Hamas attack. Former US Ambassador Jon Huntsman Jr has stripped support for UPenn after slamming their stance on the conflict between Israel and Palestine. The schools could lose a huge $487million in funding over their stance, based on current and prior donations by those speaking out against the colleges. Griffin pledged $300million to Harvard this year alone, but contacted the head of the University board to complain about the lack of response of President Claudine Gay. Ken Griffin ((pictured) pledged $300million to Harvard but has complained about the lack of response from President Claudine Gay The Wexner Foundation pulled their support from the school entirely, after donating at least $56million over the course of 30 years The latest blow to Harvard has seen the Wexner Foundation pull their support from the school entirely, after donating at least $56million over the course of 30 years. In a statement the foundation said they feel 'stunned and sickened' at Harvard's failure to take a 'clear and unequivocal stand against the barbaric murders of innocent Israeli civilians'. Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer and his wife Batia have stepped down from an executive board at Harvard after previously donating $20million to the school. Forbes valued their worth at $20billion, among the world's 100 most wealthy people. Unfortunately, our faith in the University's leadership has been broken and we cannot in good faith continue to support Harvard and its committees,' the couple said in a statement. 'We denounce those who seek to place blame on the people of Israel for the atrocities committed by the terrorist organization, Hamas.' The backlash came after 34 Harvard student groups signed up to a letter that blamed Israel for Hamas' massacre of Jewish people. It said: 'We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.' Former US Ambassador Jon Huntsman, who graduated from the university in 1987, has also blasted the university, and vowed to halt his families' donations His father, Huntsman Sr, donated $50million to the school up until his death in 2018, with Jon saying the foundation will 'close its check book' on future donations Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer and his wife Batia have stepped down from an executive board at Harvard after previously donating $20million to the school Posters of American and Israeli hostages snatched by Hamas were plastered across Harvard#s with 'kidnapped' emblazoned across the top Griffin told DailyMail.com: 'It is despicable that leaders of these student groups did not immediately condemn the terrorist atrocities by Hamas but instead blamed Israel for them. The members of these group should swiftly denounce the hateful actions of their leadership and demand a change.' Over a dozen business executives are joining the call to blacklist the students, while the group whined about being persecuted in the aftermath. Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman called for the students to be identified, to ensure that he and other CEO's would not hire them. Ackman donated $17million to Harvard in 2014, but his current stance of calling out the college for a lack of action implies further funding will not be given. Apollo CEO Marc Rowan has called on those donating to the University of Pennsylvania to pull their funding or send just $1 in protest. The college has been hit with calls to fire two senior members of staff over allegations they have made 'anti-Semitic' comments. Rowan is a graduate of UPenn's Wharton Business School, and donated $50million to Wharton in 2018 along with his wife. Former US Ambassador Jon Huntsman, who graduated from the university in 1987, has also blasted the university, and vowed to halt his families' donations. His father, Huntsman Sr, donated $50million to the school up until his death in 2018, with Jon saying the foundation will 'close its check book' on future donations. Bill Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management (pictured), led the charge to name the students in the Harvard organizations who put out a statement blaming Israel for the Hamas attack Demonstrators take part in an 'Emergency Rally: Stand with Palestinians Under Siege in Gaza,' amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Saturday Apollo CEO Marc Rowan has called on those donating to the University of Pennsylvania to pull their funding or send just $1 in protest Harvard's Palestine Solidarity Committee triggered fury last week by saying Israel was 'entirely responsible for all unfolding violence' despite Hamas killing women and children In a letter to Penn President Liz Magill, Huntsman said that Penn has 'become deeply adrift in ways that make it almost unrecognizable.' 'The University's silence in the face of reprehensible and historic Hamas evil against the people of Israel (when the only response should be outright condemnation) is a new low,' he added. 'Silence is antisemitism, and antisemitism is hate, the very thing higher ed was built to obviate.' Magill and Provost John L. Jackson previously issued a statement on the Hamas attacks, while University Board of Trustees Chair Scott Bok condemned the 'atrocious terrorist attacks'. In an updated statement following the backlash, Magill condemned Hamas, and emphasized the University's position on anti-Semitism. She referred to the violence from Hamas as a 'terrorist assault,' a change from her initial statement. Harvard President Claudine Gay (pictured) has finally condemned the 'terrorist atrocities committed by Hamas in Israel' - at odds with 34 student groups at the Ivy League institution who have pledged support to the militants Pro-Palestine students march on the campus of the University of Massachusetts J.L. Partners polled 1000 Americans on October 10-12 for their views on the Israel-Palestinian conflict in the wake of the deadly Hamas attack that killed at least 1,300 people Bodies waiting for burial in Gaza City after Israeli airstrikes As the Chair of the Wharton School's Board of Advisors, Rowan called for President Magill and Bok to step down last week, citing the University's handling of antisemitism on campus. Vice-chair of the University of Pennsylvania's board of trustees, Julie Platt, said she stood behind Magill in a statement. 'The university has publicly committed to unprecedented steps to further combat anti-Semitism on its campus, reaffirmed deep support for our Jewish community, and condemned the devastating and barbaric attacks on Israel by Hamas,' she said. 'The executive committee of Penn's board of trustees has unanimously endorsed the actions taken by the university, and I have full confidence in the leadership of president Liz Magill and chair Scott Bok.' This is the shocking moment a vandal walks up to a Jewish girls school and hurls paint over the property, in what is being investigated as an anti-Semitic attack. The school of target - Vishnitz Girls' school in Hackney - has 446 students and was attacked last Thursday, despite the Met Police's promise to step up patrols in amid a surge of anti-Semitic incidents. A vandal, suspected to be a woman, wearing a mask and a hooded coat while carrying an umbrella, can be seen on closed circuit TV footage smearing the school just before 6am. Paint was thrown over four parts of the school building, including the front door, before the vandal walked away. According to the Jewish News, local sources said several girls, upon arrival in the morning, were so upset by what they saw that they ran home. Scotland Yard have said that there had been a 700 per cent increase in anti-Semitic incidents in the capital in the past two weeks when compared with the same period last year. This is the shocking moment a vandal walks up to a Jewish girls school and hurls paint over the property, in what is being investigated as an anti-Semitic attack A vandal hurled red paint over Beis Chinuch Lebonos Girls' School in Hackney, which police are investigating as a 'hate crime' Paint was thrown over four parts of the school building, including the front door, before the vandal walked away Earlier today, Beis Chinuch Lebonos Girls' School just a few hundred yards away was also hit at 11am, whilst children were already in school. This time paint was thrown over a security gate, which stopped the vandal getting to the school buildings. The area, which has a large strictly Orthodox community, is being targeted by protesters in the wake of the Israel and Hamas war. Footage caught one perpetrator wearing a mask and carrying an umbrella approach the front of the school and throw red paint over the front door before leaving. Officers from the Metropolitan Police are now investigating both incidents. A spokeswoman said tonight: We are investigating incidents at two Jewish schools and treating these as hate crimes. At 9:00hrs on Monday 16 October officers attended a school on Lordship Road, N16 after reports that red paint had been thrown onto the school building. Police attended the scene, and spoke to a member of staff at the school. Police were told that the incident took place on Thursday 12 October at 06:51hrs. Police are aware of a second incident at a school in Woodberry Down N4, in which paint was also thrown onto the school building. We are investigating whether these two incidents are linked. The incidents are being treated as hate crimes, at this early stage there have been no arrests, and the investigation is ongoing. Detective Chief Superintendent James Conway, who leads policing in Hackney and Tower Hamlets said extra police patrols had been introduced in the area since the attacks in Israel to provide reassurance. He added: We are working closely with our partners in the Community Security Trust, the Shomrim, Hackney Council and other key local partners. These incidents will be robustly investigated and we have been clear that we have a zero tolerance for hate crime. The vandal can be seen approaching the school walls with a pot of red paint Vishnitz Girls' school just a few hundred yards away was also hit in the early hours of the morning on Monday This time paint was thrown over a security gate, which stopped the vandal getting to the school buildings A spokesperson for Shomrim, an organisation which organises civilian security patrols in Jewish areas, said: The first attack happened early in the morning at the Vishnitz Girls School in Hackney. The attacker threw red paint against a door and some windows and walked off. There was another attack at the nearby BCL Girls school in Stamford Hill which had red paint thrown all over the front gates. 'This attack happened around 11am when both children and teachers were inside the school. 'Nobody had seen it happen at the time but on inspecting the CCTV the staff said that the vandal appeared to be a woman. 'The police are looking to see if both these attacks are linked and are possibly by the same person. 'We assume the red paint is meant to signify blood, in that the Jewish community has blood on its hands because of what is happening in Israel and Palestine. 'But these are just children, what have they got to do with any conflict in the Middle East? It's shameful.' Representatives said Hackney Police was 'taking it very seriously, working with headteachers and giving them the support they need', adding that Vishnitz Girls' School was in discussions with the Community Security Trust (CST) about enhancing security. It comes after the Met Police said they would step up patrols in London amid fears of anti semitic attacks and protests after the largest conflict for years between Israel and Palestinian militants broke out last Saturday. Scotland Yard said it would increase the presence of officers in response to a 'number of incidents' some shared on social media of people celebrating the attack on Israel which has put the Middle East on the brink of all-out war. The Met Police confirmed that officers will step up patrols in London amid fears of anti-Semitic attacks and protests Since the Hamas incursion, which began on a Jewish holiday, talks between Home Secretary Suella Braverman (pictured), the Home Office and CST have been held remotely The Met said that 'an appropriate policing plan' will be put in place as the force anticipates ongoing protests. Conversations have also been held between the Home Office and the Community Security Trust (CST), which provides safety, security, and advice to the Jewish community. It led to the decision to increase footfall to reassure local communities across Britain, the charity confirmed to MailOnline. In a statement, Scotland Yard said: 'We are aware of a number of incidents, including those that have been shared on social media, in relation to the ongoing conflict in Israel and the border with Gaza. 'The Met has increased policing patrols across parts of London in order to provide a visible presence and reassurance to our communities.' During the 2021 Gaza-Israel conflict, which began in early May, the CST documented a record 628 hate incidents directed towards British Jews between early May and early June, a fourfold increase on the same period the previous year. The latest statistics on hate crimes, released this week, show a rise in religious-based hate crimes in 2022-23 in the UK. Jewish communities are the second-most hit by religious-based hate crimes, accounting for 17 per cent of all those recorded. It comes as pro-Israeli demonstrators gathered outside the headquarters of the BBC this evening to protest the corporation's decision not to call baby-slaughtering Hamas 'terrorists' Organised by the National Jewish Assembly, the group gathered around the corner with Israeli flags and placards and marched over in a show of solidarity The BBC has previously defended its decision not to describe Hamas militants as 'terrorists' in its coverage of the deadly attacks in Israel, despite receiving a huge backlash from politicians and those within the Jewish community It comes as pro-Israeli demonstrators gathered outside the headquarters of the BBC this evening to protest the corporation's decision not to call baby-slaughtering Hamas 'terrorists'. Organised by the National Jewish Assembly, the group gathered around the corner with Israeli flags and placards and marched over in a show of solidarity for the people of Israel. The BBC has previously defended its decision not to describe Hamas militants as 'terrorists' in its coverage of the deadly attacks in Israel, despite receiving a huge backlash from politicians and those within the Jewish community. The broadcaster's refusal continues despite King Charles condemning the 'barbaric acts of terrorism' while the Prince and Princess of Wales spoke of their distress following 'Hamas's terrorist attack'. Instead the BBC refers to Hamas as a militant group and described the slaughter of civilians as a militant attack. Firebrand Megyn Kelly has doubled down on her attack of Candace Owens' defense of Harvard students who signed a letter blaming Israel for the barbaric Hamas attacks. Over the weekend, the pair sparred about whether or not it is appropriate to blacklist the student signees from jobs because of their vehemently anti-Israel activism. Owens argued that students may change their position with time and education, while Kelly argued that regular good people do not back terrorist organizations. Owens in turn called Kelly's position 'disingenuous' and Kelly encouraged the Daily Wire host to hire some of the pro-Palestinian protestors. On Monday, the host of the Megyn Kelly Show slammed Owens against for wading into the debate: 'Candace Owens felt the need to weigh in ... and you know, I think it's wonderful that she's willing to take them (the pro-Palestinian students) on. I really do. I look forward to the Candace Owens internship program over at The Daily Wire, and I have found a bunch of students who she could take on, because she really thinks that they're open minded to a change of heart,' Kelly said before rattling off a few profiles of some of the extremist students. She also expanded on her initial point that students in their early twenties should not have to be taught the difference between right and terrorism. Oh stop it. This is incredibly disingenuous, Megyn. You know that many of those students are not out there because they want babies to be murdered. College kids are stupid. I used to be radically pro-choice. Glad I didnt get put on a conservative black list for wanting https://t.co/fxvnxUmSZY Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) October 15, 2023 'When you are 17 years old, you don't have your fully formed views on the world. But, when you are, let's say young 20s and you're out there on these college campuses, you know murder is wrong. You've learned by then it's not okay to kill babies, little civilians who are asleep in their beds. 'That's bad. Most humans have learned that by the time they go off to college. Doesn't seem like it should be such a high bar to require them to consider that knowledge before they sign these letters,' she said. 'I am 100% pro-blacklist. It is not 'cancel culture' I don't associate with terrorists. I don't hire their sympathizers. And I don't recommend you do it either.' Kelly then went after Harvard for its response to the student protestors who failed to condemn Hamas. 'The president of Harvard has just beclowned herself. She's just made an utter fool of herself. Her name is Claudine Gay,' she said before slamming the three separate statements put out by the university president. 'After years of Harvard punishing people for wrong think and wrong speak on these revered, leftist issues, from BLM to transgender, go down the list, it has finally discovered the value of free speech,' she said, referring to Gay's announcement that the school will take no action against the anti-Israel protestors. Following the initial student statement from a coalition of Harvard students, billionaire hedge fund manager and Harvard grad Bill Ackman asked the university to release a list of the members of each of the 31 students organizations that signed the statement. He wrote that the goal of releasing names would be to 'insure that none of us inadvertently hire any of their members.' '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,' wrote Ackman. At least a dozen CEOs have publicly agreed with Ackman and said they too would like to know names so as not to mistakenly hire a terrorist sympathizer. In the wake of the anti-Israel statement, a number of high-profile donors have also pulled out of their financial commitments to Harvard University. Members of the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee protest for the liberation of Palestine. Since putting out the statement, the group has doubled down on the message and claimed they have received death threats Bill Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management (pictured), led the charge to name the students in the Harvard organizations who put out a statement blaming Israel for the Hamas attack High-profile online commentators have been debating for several days whether Ackman's proposal is just. While some - like Megyn Kelly - agree with the CEOs, others - like Candace Owens and presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy - say they don't support 'canceling' a group of college students who signed a letter with which they may come to disagree. The text of the statement released in the direct aftermath of the radical Palestinian terror attack that killed 1,400 Israelis and counting read, in part: 'We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely accountable for all unfolding violence.' 'For the last two decades, millions of Palestinians in Gaza have been forced to live in an open-air prison,' and 'in the coming days, Palestinians will be forced to bear the full brunt of Israel's violence.' The Kelly/Owens back-and-forth began on Sunday when Kelly chastised Vivek Ramaswamy for embracing the position that 'it's not productive for companies to blacklist kids for being members of student groups that make dumb political statements on campus.' 'Youve got to be kidding me. They sided with terrorists who murdered children and old women. Youre not clear on this as someone who wants to be president?' responded the host of The Megyn Kelly Show. Ramaswamy argued that the correct response is to educate the university students: 'Persuasion is better than force, let's stick to principle,' he wrote. Kelly shot back: 'If they are not 'persuaded' that murdering babies is wrong, there is no 'persuading' them. We dont hire those who do the killing & we dont hire those who applaud the killers while the savagery is underway.' The two conservative pundits sparred online over the Bill Ackman-led movement to blacklist student signers of a vehemently anti-Israel statement If they are not persuaded that murdering babies is wrong, there is no persuading them. We dont hire those who do the killing & we dont hire those who applaud the killers while the savagery is underway. If you are open to hiring one of these lunatics, tho, good to know! Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) October 15, 2023 Being liberal is not the same as taking to the streets to cheer murdered babies and blame said murders on the victims. But you go ahead and hire as many of them as you want Candace. Im sure the @realDailyWire will love that. https://t.co/h941kGzaBw Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) October 15, 2023 K I look forward to seeing them intern on your show and your reeducation of them. Me? Ill be hiring the ones who saw murdered grandmas and entire families burned in their homes and easily identified this as a terrorist attack they would never in a million years defend. https://t.co/V6RihyXsx6 Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) October 15, 2023 Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy initially elicited a response from Megyn Kelly when he argued that the 'dumb' college students should be afforded some grace At this point, Owens joined the fray with a lengthy response to Kelly, arguing that the anti-Israel students don't actually 'want babies to be murdered.' 'College kids are stupid,' wrote Owens, pointing out that she was at one time extremely pro-choice and her beliefs have since flipped radically. 'Being liberal is not the same as taking to the streets to cheer murdered babies and blame said murders on the victims,' wrote Kelly, saying that Owens is free to staff her operation with as many of the student signees as she pleases. The exchange became more fraught as it continued. Owens repeatedly argued that students need to be allowed to make mistakes and reverse their ideology as they become better educated. She wrote that she 'almost exclusively hired reformed BLM activists to work for my charity, BLEXIT.' 'They actually proved to be the most dedicated employees to the cause because the mission was personal to them.' Kelly argued that supporting terrorists is beyond-the-pale and something that anyone who knows the difference between right and wrong would not do. 'Ill be hiring the ones who saw murdered grandmas and entire families burned in their homes and easily identified this as a terrorist attack they would never in a million years defend,' she said. Since the terror organization Hamas, who were at one time democratically elected by the Palestinian people to lead Gaza, attacked Israel last Saturday, slaughtering some 1,400 Israelis and injured at least 3,600, death tolls have climbed on both sides. The Gazan Ministry of Health reported that the Palestinian death toll has climbed above 2,300, a figure that will surely increase if Gazans are not free to move out of the area Israel has explicitly told them to vacate. Israel reported Saturday that 258 of its soldiers had been killed so far. This is the moment an impatient driver smashes into a police car after forcing his way through a traffic jam when a road was closed by a fatal accident. Craig Roach, 42, had pushed through miles of traffic brought to a standstill at the scene of the deadly crash, when he then drove into an unmarked police vehicle with its blue light flashing. He had failed to stop when asked by police when forcing his way through the traffic and sped off in a bid to escape the scene. Roach then smashed head-on into the stationary car after being chased down a dual carriageway. Officers were seen on the video running up to Roach and telling him to 'get out the car'. Roach, of Caerphilly, South Wales, was stopped by a stinger device and arrested at the scene in Resolven, near Swansea, last month after a local man died. Craig Roach, 42, of Caerphilly, South Wales, pleaded guilty to all charges and he was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment at Swansea Crown Court The unmarked police car that Craig Roach crashed into after pushing through miles of traffic and then speeding off in the wrong direction Video footage captured the moment he drove into the unmarked police vehicle, before officers ran up to him and told him to get out of his car He was charged with dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, fail to provide an evidential sample and breach of a restraining order. Roach pleaded guilty to all charges and he was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment at Swansea Crown Court. A South Wales police spokesperson said: 'Fortunately no-one was injured during the incident, thought substantial damage was caused to the police vehicle.' After the court hearing, case officer Sergeant Richard Coulthard, said: 'Roach's actions on that evening really do beggar belief. 'We know delays can be frustrating for other motorists, but the vast majority of the public understand and show compassion and patience, knowing that on many occasions, there is likely to be someone injured or worse. 'On this particular occasion a man had indeed lost his life, and yet Roach showed a complete disregard for that, and for himself, his passenger and other motorists. 'In doing so he put further lives and risks, and subsequently ended up adding to those delays experienced by other motorists.' Disgraced architect and father-of-two Rex Heuermann is being probed in connection to the deaths of two additional sex workers whose remains were found strewn across Long Island. The fifty-nine-year-old is charged with killing Megan Waterman, 22; Melissa Barthelemy, 24; and Amber Lynn Costello, 27. He is also suspected in the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, but has yet to be charged in connection with her death. Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison announced Monday that he had assigned additional investigators to the case of two other women, Valerie Mack and Karen Vergata. He described the effort as a 'work in progress.' Valerie Mack, 25, went missing around the summer of 2000. Her remains were located that September, and more remains were discovered nearly 11 years later The remains of Karen Vergata, 34, were found on Fire Island in April 1996. Her skull was recovered over a decade later, in April 2011 Police are now probing Rex Heuermann, 59, for his possible involvement in the deaths of Vergata and Mack. Heuermann has been charged in the killing of three other women on Long Island 'I thought it was a good idea to grab some people from the outside to take a look at other things that maybe, potentially attach themselves to Rex Heuermann,' Harrison told Newsday. The new officers are working to verify a number of tips, while other members of the team try to identify the remains of three other individuals. Mack, 24, vanished from her New Jersey family home in the summer of 2000. She was last known to be living in Philadelphia, where she worked as an escort under the name Melissa Taylor. Her partial skeletal remains were discovered in a wooded area in Manorville in September 2000 - initially she was known as 'Jane Doe No. 6.' More remains were found on April 4, 2011 along Ocean Parkway during the search for Shannan Gilbert, a 23-year-old sex worker whose death may be related. Mack was identified in 2020. In recent weeks, task force detectives have asked Mack's relatives about her family history, as she was adopted. They have gathered copies of letters Mack sent to family members in an effort to construct a timeline of her travels. Authorities mentioned Vergata during an August 2023 press conference. Like all of Heuermann's victims, both she and Mack worked as escorts before their death Mack's remains were found as authorities searched for Shannon Gilbert, a 23-year-old sex worker whose death may be linked. In this December 2011 photo, investigators use a backhoe to dig for remains Authorities have stumbled across a growing number of bodies. This photo was taken on April 5, one day after Mack's remains were found along Ocean Parkway Heuermann is a former architect and founder of the firm RHC Consultants & Associates, Inc., with an office on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan Harrison said the task force is also trying to determine how the dismembered body of Vergata, 34, was found on Fire Island in April 1996. Like Mack, Vergata was never reported missing. She was previously referred to as 'Jane Doe No. 7.' At the time of her disappearance, she was thought to have been working as an escort. The 34-year-old disappeared around Valentine's Day 1996. Two months later, her legs were found in a plastic bag at a park near Fire Islands Blue Point Beach. Her skull was recovered over a decade later, in April 2011 by Ocean Parkway. Vergatas remains were linked by DNA analysis that July. Thanks to advancements in genetic genealogy, she was identified in October 2022. All of Heuermann's alleged victims worked as escorts who advertised themselves on Craigslist. Their remains were found on a stretch of Gilgo Beach in December 2010, all wrapped in camouflage burlap and bound with belts or red tape. Heuermann has been charged in the deaths of three women and is the prime suspect in a fourth - known as the 'Gilgo Four.' However, other bodies - including those of sex workers - have been found in the area The first victim, 24-year-old Melissa Barthelemy, was discovered by Suffolk County Police on December 11, 2010. The body of Megan Waterman, 22, from Maine, was found two days later Heuermann is charged with killing Amber Costello (left) and is linked with the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes (right) DNA found on the burlap wrapped around Waterman's body was a 99.96 percent match to samples from a discarded pizza crust and napkin in a garbage bin outside Heuermann's firm DNA on the burlap used to transport Waterman's body was compared to samples taken from a pizza crust and napkin that were discarded outside Heuermann's Manhattan architectural firm. The samples boasted a 99.96 percent match. Before they could even think to test his DNA, cops were turned onto his trail after a witness linked Heuermann's Chevrolet Avalanche to Costello's murder. The car was then linked to Heuermann's cellphone records, which tied him to locations related to the murders. Cops accuse Heuermann of using Barthelemy's phone to make taunting phone calls to her family - from the comfort of his office. Following the identification of Heuermann as the owner of the Chevrolet, cops issued over 300 legal processes to obtain evidence. The suspected killer was arrested on July 13. Shell-shocked family members have since distanced themselves, including his ex-wife, 59-year-old Asa Ellerup. Ellerup filed for divorce less than a week after his arrest. The couple have two children - daughter Victoria Heuermann, 26, who worked at her father's firm; and son Christopher Sheridan, 33, who has special needs. Ellerup was away from home when the women are believed to have been murdered. The architect's estranged wife (left) and two adult children including son Christopher (right) have distanced themselves. Asa Ellerup, 59, claims the couple's children suffer from anxiety The family home in Massapequa Park was torn apart by authorities as they combed the property for evidence Ellerup claims furniture was ripped open and she was left without a bed to sleep on following the search Investigators were seen using a digger to bore holes in the backyard and even dismantled Ellerup's beloved greenhouse Heuermann was arrested in July and was described as 'emotionless' since being taken off suicide watch. He appeared in court in late September, where he uttered just a few words She said the she was left without a bed to sleep in after detectives tore apart the family home. 'I woke up in the middle of the night, shivering,' she said, adding that her two adult children were suffering from anxiety. 'My children cry themselves to sleep. I mean, they're not children. They're grown adults but they're my children, and my son has developmental disabilities and he cried himself to sleep.' Even after the home was ransacked by police - who dismantled the greenhouse and shredded the couch - Ellerup, who was married to Heuermann for over 20 years, said that she had no choice but to stay, claiming it was 'the only thing I got.' Heuermann was taken off suicide watch in mid-August and described as 'emotionless.' In September, the father-of-two fought to stop at least 50 illegal weapons from being turned over to investigators. The stash included 'at least 26 unregistered handguns, 15 unregistered assault weapons and ten high-capacity magazines appear to have been possessed,' according to court documents. He most recently appeared in court on September 27 for a short status hearing on his upcoming trial for the murders of Waterman, Barthelemy and Costello. When asked by the judge if hed been able to review case evidence in his cell, Heuermann responded in the affirmative, and said hed been averaging 'two to three' hours of reviewing. He did not speak a word otherwise. The BBC risks being dragged into a new impartiality row after Dragons Den star Touker Suleyman suggested countries that support Israel will have blood on their hands. Suleyman posted: Wanton killing of innocent civilians is terrorism, not a war against terrorism. Beneath his post Suleyman wrote: Politicians or leaders that give order to kill civilians, and try to justify it should be tried for war crimes. Some countries and politicians and leaders think they are untouchable. 'Countries who support these leaders and politicians and countries will have blood on their hands. Countries of the free world, is there any of you strong enough to stand by what is international law? Suleyman, 70, who was born in Famagusta, a Turkish Cypriot city and moved to the UK when he was five, is a clothing entrepreneur who is said to be worth 200m. He has been a judge on Dragons Den since 2015. A spokesman for the Campaign Against Antisemitism said: It would be nice to hear some words of support from Touker Suleyman who does not otherwise appear to have vocalised any support or sympathy explicitly for the Israeli citizens, including babies, children and the elderly who were victims of unspeakably brutal attacks by the genocidal terrorist group Hamas. Suleyman, 70, who was born in Famagusta, a Turkish Cypriot city and moved to the UK when he was five, is a clothing entrepreneur who is said to be worth 200m. He has been a judge on Dragons Den since 2015 Suleyman posted on his Instagram that: Wanton killing of innocent civilians is terrorism, not a war against terrorism In the caption beneath his post Suleyman suggested that countries and leaders who support Israel will 'have blood on their hands' Suleymans comments come just a few weeks after the BBC announced new impartiality rules following a tweet by Gary Lineker after he compared the Governments rhetoric on immigrants to 1930s Germany. The BBC said presenters of flagship shows must adhere to stricter rules on maintaining neutrality while the programme is on air and both two weeks before and after transmission. While Dragons Den was named as one of those flagship shows, the rule was only applied to its presenter Evan Davies and not its judges. Others who will have to abide by the rules will include Lineker, Strictly Come Dancing hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman and The Apprentice judge Lord Alan Sugar. The BBC has come under attack for refusing to refer to Hamas as terrorists even though they have been called a terrorist group in the UK since 2021. They have also refused to call the attacks on Israeli civilians terror attacks a phrase they have frequently used about other murderous rampages. It has also launched an urgent probe into six of its reporters in the Middle East after they backed Hamas on social media with one calling it a morning of hope. Jewish journalists within the organisation are furious about the corporations stance and have set up a WhatsApp group to support each other. One told Mailonline: We feel like we are in a hostile environment. The BBC said presenters of flagship shows must adhere to stricter rules on maintaining neutrality while the programme is on air and both two weeks before and after transmission. While Dragons Den was named as one of those flagship shows, the rule was only applied to its presenter Evan Davies and not its judges There is a demonstration planned for outside the BBCs London HQ tonight by Jewish groups and allies in protest at the media groups refusal to use the words terrorist or terror attack. Meanwhile, on Saturday red paint was thrown over the front of Broadcasting House by a pro-Palestinian group. Palestine Action identified itself as being behind the incident claiming the broadcaster had blood on its hands for manufacturing consent for Israels war crimes. MailOnline has asked the BBC for a comment. A man who was stabbed to death outside a migrant hostel in Hartlepool had 'used a cash machine' moments before he was killed, police have revealed. Cleveland Police say they believe 70-year-old Terrence Carney was a passer-by when he was knifed to death in Wharton Terrace in the town on Sunday morning. A second man who was also hurt in the incident, which is believed to have started at a house shared by asylum seekers at 5.30am, remains in hospital. A 44-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder remains in custody after police were given an additional 12 hours to question him. In a statement issued on Monday afternoon, Cleveland Police said: 'The thoughts and deepest sympathies of Cleveland Police and Counter Terrorism Policing North East are with the family and friends of Terrence at this extremely difficult time. 'Early enquiries suggest that Terrence was a passerby at the time of the incident, having recently used a nearby ATM.' A police officer in forensic gear walks into a cordoned off property in Wharton Terrace in Hartlepool on Monday morning A police cordon has been erected around the property after a 70-year-old man was stabbed to death in the street Cleveland Police has confirmed that a second man is in hospital after the attack on Sunday morning The attack is being probed by counter-terrorism police amid suggestions the incident began inside the migrant hostel before spilling out onto the street. A kitchen knife was found on the pavement outside a sandwich shop approximately 500 yards from the house by police. It is believed the body of Mr Carney was found by police at the end of Tees Street, opposite the town's Morrison's store. An end terraced property in Wharton Terrace has been sealed off by police and a forensic team arrived today to continue sifting through the property. Locals said the terraced house being searched by police is occupied by three or four asylum seekers, who have been there since the start of year. The attack began inside the migrant accommodation, where one person was knifed before the alleged killer left the hostel and stabbed a second man, a member of the public, to death in the street, according to the Telegraph. The suspect remains in custody and cordons are still in place across several roads in the Tees Street area of the town, with a search at a property ongoing. The surviving victim remains in hospital with what are believed to be non-life threatening injuries. A spokesperson for Cleveland Police said: 'Due to initial inquiries into the circumstances of the incident, Cleveland Police are working with Counter Terrorism Policing North East on the investigation. 'Counter Terrorism Policing has deployed its specialist capabilities to help establish what happened. 'It is not believed that there is any outstanding threat to the public and the local community connected to this incident. 'A cordon remains in place and a search is ongoing at a property in the area. 'The man who was assaulted was taken to hospital and remains there with what are believed to be non-life threatening injuries.' As many as 30 officers rushed to the scene after the attack was reported and a 'large' knife was found close to the victim, The Sun reported. One man has been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder after the attack A 44-year-old remains in custody and cordons remain in place across several roads in the Tees Street area of the town, with a search at a property ongoing The second victim remains in hospital with what are believed to be non-life threatening injuries There is not believed to be any continuing threat to the public linked to the incident. A blue forensic tent was set up as well as yellow evidence markers, while officers in white suits searched the area. Neighbours in Hartlepool said last night the stabbings arose from a fight between two groups of foreign nationals. The incident began in the town's Tees Street, where a blue tent was erected at the scene of the fatal stabbing. Three further locations in the town centre have also been cordoned off and were being guarded by police officers. A resident who lives in a street adjoining Tees Street said: 'It all happened in the early hours, by the time I woke up there was police everywhere. 'It seems to have been a fight between two groups of foreign nationals, but why they were fighting I don't know. 'The centre of town now has quite a lot of asylum seekers and some of those involved lived together in a shared house. 'There has been a disagreement and it's ended with someone being killed. 'It seems to have continued away from Tees Street and into the town centre. 'The knife was found lying in the street somewhere near the spot where the man was killed.' The Republican opponents to Jim Jordan's speakership dropped off in massive numbers over the weekend - but it's expected that somewhere around a dozen GOP holdouts remain with one day left to a floor vote. Jordan picked up three key holdouts Monday morning - Alabama Rep. Mike Rogers, chair of the Armed Services Committee, Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., a tight ally of former speaker nominee Steve Scalise, and Ken Calvert - chair of the defense appropriations subcommittee. 'After having a conversation with Jim Jordan about how we must get the House back on a path to achieve our national security and appropriations goals, I will be supporting him for Speaker on the floor. Lets get to work,' Calvert wrote on X. On Friday the firebrand Ohio Republican became the GOP conference's nominee, defeating Georgia Rep. Austin Scott in a 124-88 vote. Scott had jumped into the race at the last moment as moderates had little appetite for a Speaker Jordan. Then in a second secret ballot, Republicans were asked 'Would you vote for Jordan on the floor?' Fifty-five Republicans said they would not do so. 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 After winning the conference nomination, Jordan can only lose four votes on the House floor to become speaker with the GOP's narrow majority in the House. Jordan and his allies spent the weekend pressuring holdouts to vote for him - with the unspoken threat that not doing so could put them at risk of a primary challenge given Jordan's popularity with grassroots conservatives. Florida GOP Reps. Carlos Gimenez and John Rutherford both still insist they will vote for Kevin McCarthy after he was ousted weeks ago. Other pragmatic Republicans like Reps. Don Bacon, R-Neb., Steve Womack, R-Ark., and one member who voted to oust McCarthy - Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., - remain skeptical of Jordan. Still, Jordan is putting a vote on the floor on Tuesday at noon. Even if he loses, he'll force his opponents to go on the record opposing him. While the House has been in turmoil its larger battles have been on hold - one month from Tuesday government funding will run out again. House Republicans had hoped to pass 12 single-subject government funding bills by then, but it's nearly guaranteed they'll need another continuing resolution (CR) to punt the funding deadline down the road. McCarthy put a CR on the floor and it's what prompted his ouster - Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., had long promised to put a motion to vacate on the floor if McCarthy extended government funding at 2023 levels rather than pushing through 12 separate bills. Even if the House can pass all its appropriations bills, then it has to work with the Senate to get spending legislation through the Democrat-led upper chamber. Jordan is not known for his ability to work across the aisle - another factor that could be drawing skepticism from moderates. The outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas has also added pressure as Congress must decide whether to offer more defense aid to Israel - and deal with whether to offer Ukraine more aid in its fight against Russia. The family of two British sisters who are missing in Israel fear they have been kidnapped and taken to Gaza by Hamas. Noiya, aged 16, and Yahel, aged 13, have not been heard from since the terror group launched its attack across the border on October 7, the BBC reports. Their family have confirmed that the girls' mother Lianne, who is British and was born in Bristol, was tragically killed in Kibbutz Be'eri in last weekends assault. In a tribute, British family members said Lianne was a 'beloved daughter, sister, mother, aunt and friend who enriched the lives of all those lucky enough to have known and loved her'. 'She lived a beautiful life and will be sorely missed by the heartbroken family and friends she leaves behind.' The family, which has not released the girls' surname, now say they fear the girls have been taken into Gaza as hostages where terrorists are using people they have captured as 'human shields' to fend off Israeli forces. Their father, Eli, is also missing. Yahel, aged 13 (left), and Noiya, aged 16 (right), are feared to have been kidnapped by Hamas in last week's attack Yahel (left) and Noiya (right) have not been heard from since the attack on Kibbutz Be'eri on October 7. Their mother Lianne (centre) was killed in the terrorist assault Rishi Sunak confirmed on Monday that six Britons were killed in the attacks by Hamas last week, while another 10 are missing, some of whom are feared dead. The Prime Minister said the people killed and missing in the attack came from more than 30 countries, as well as Israel. He called the attack 'an existential strike at the very idea of Israel as a safe homeland for the Jewish people.' He said Britain supports 'absolutely Israel's right to defend itself, to go after Hamas, take back the hostages, deter further incursions and strengthen its security for the long term - in line with international humanitarian law.' He added the UK has earmarked 10million to alleviate the 'acute humanitarian crisis' in Gaza, and urged Israel and Egypt to open a border crossing to let in aid. More than 1,400 people are known to have been killed by the terrorist attacks from Hamas on October 7 which has since been followed by thousands of deaths in Gaza in retaliatory Israeli air strikes. Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have been massing in preparation for a ground invasion of the Palestinian territory, but this was postponed at the last minute over the weekend amid suggestions they had received new intelligence about hostages taken by Hamas. Aaron Cohen, a former Israeli special operator, told Fox News on Sunday that claims the invasion had been postponed due to bad weather may not be the real or full reason. A bogus delay of the invasion may have offered the IDF extra time to save hostages, which is a top priority for the Israeli army and government. The girls are feared to have been kidnapped after a Hamas assault on Kibbutz Be'eri in Israel on October 7. Pictured: A destroyed house in the Kibbutz after fighting between Israeli soldiers and Hamas militants Israeli soldiers walk past destroyed houses in Kibbutz Be'eri on Saturday October 14 after heavy fighting in the area A heavily damaged home pockmarked with bullet holes and explosion debris in Be'eri on Saturday 'You're about to see Israel [do] what it does best: rescue good people. So stand by,' he said. While it is now ten days since the terror group stormed into Israel from Gaza, details are still emerging about the horrific rampage and of its many victims. The delay has also provided Gazans extra time to flee to the southern part of the region, though it has become clear that Hamas are blocking the Palestinians' ability to move to safety. Gina Semiatich, a 90-year-old Czech-born Holocaust survivor, was tragically murdered in her home at Kibbutz Kissufim, less than two miles from the Gaza border. Eitan Kaptisher was celebrating his fifth birthday when he was killed by Hamas gunmen. According to reports in Israel, Semiatich was dragged from her home shelter by the terrorists and shot in the head in her living room. 'We had spoken to her just seconds before; she told us she was hiding in the shelter, scared,' her grandson said in the aftermath of the attack. Gina Semiatich, a 90-year-old Czech-born Holocaust survivor, was tragically murdered in her home at Kibbutz Kissufim, less than two miles from the Gaza border Another tragic victim of the attacks has been revealed to be a boy named Eitan, who according to Israel's official account on X (formerly Twitter), was celebrating his fifth birthday when he was killed by Hamas gunmen. 'Instead of celebrating his birthday, his parents will mourn their child's death on the day he was born for the rest of their lives,' the account said, along with two pictures: one of the youngster wearing a Spiderman costume, and another of his grave (right) Speaking to Haaretz, Shmulik Harel said 'Dozens of terrorists entered Kisufi and broke into houses' in the Kibbutz, home to fewer than 300 people. 'From outside they called 'IDF, IDF (Israel Defense Forces)' so that we felt safe and could come out. But the majority of residents suspected that something was wrong.' He told the Israeli newspaper that he was on the phone with Semiatich just moments before the Hamas terrorists broke into her home. Once inside, they dragged her out of her shelter and executed her on her living room floor. According to Israel's official account on X (formerly Twitter), Eitan Kaptisher was celebrating his fifth birthday when he was killed by Hamas gunmen. 'Instead of celebrating his birthday, his parents will mourn their child's death on the day he was born for the rest of their lives,' the account said, along with two pictures: one of the youngster wearing a Spiderman costume, and another of his grave. 'May the memory of Eitan Kaptisher be a blessing,' the post said. Israeli forces have now positioned themselves along Gaza's border and drilled for what officials said would be a broad campaign to dismantle Hamas. A week of blistering airstrikes have demolished neighbourhoods but failed to stop rocket fire into Israel. Palestine's Red Crescent humanitarian society released video on Monday showing an ambulance carrying civilians and a child being hit by an apparent Israeli airstrike. An aerial view shows members of the media during a visit to Kibbutz Kfar Aza, in the aftermath of a deadly attack by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, October 15 Israeli soldiers walk past a house destroyed in the October 7 attack by Palestinian Hamas militants on kibbutz Beeri near the border with Gaza, on October 14 Palestinians walk and drive away from Kibbutz Kfar Azza, Israel, near the fence with the Gaza strip following a deadly attack on the community on Saturday, October 7 The World Health Organisation has also warned there were only '24 hours of water, electricity and fuel left' in the Gaza Strip before 'a real catastrophe' sets in. Officials claim the besieged territory must be allowed to receive convoys of aid and warn that if assistance does not arrive, doctors will have to 'prepare death certificates for their patients'. In response to the terror attack, Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, and has launched its own assault against the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Since October 7, the IDF has pounded the territory with missile strikes, levelling entire neighbourhoods in an attempt to weaken the terror group before launching an expected ground assault into the enclave. This has become the deadliest of the five Gaza wars for both sides. In addition to the more than 1,400 people killed in Israel, at least 2,778 have been killed and 9,700 wounded in Gaza, according to the Heath Ministry there. Meanwhile, the Israeli military said Monday that at least 199 hostages were taken back in Gaza, higher than previous estimates. The military did not specify whether that number includes foreigners. The grieving wife of a firefighter who died in a horror car crash alongside his three dogs has paid tribute to him. Mark Hillier, 47, was killed in the crash on the A345 in Pewsey, Wiltshire, last Thursday as he responded to an emergency call. The father-of-three had his three pet spaniels in tow when his Suzuki Grand Vitara was involved in a collision with a BMW. Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue later confirmed the death of their colleague and said crews members who attended the scene were left 'devastated'. Mr Hillier's wife Holly said: 'Mark lived and breathed for the fire service, it was a calling he embraced with his whole heart. Mark Hillier, 47, was killed in the crash on the A345 in Pewsey, Wiltshire, on October 12. Mr Hillier pictured with his wife Holly and their three children Jaimee, Hayden and Isla 'Mark died responding to a fire call, one of probably only a handful he didn't turn out for. His bravery, sense of duty and unwavering dedication to serve his community in Pewsey and the communities in Salisbury and Surrey, alongside his brothers and sisters, he held so dear. 'The love he had for his fire service family was unquestionable. We were so proud of him. 'For the last six years, when not on duty, Mark has worked tirelessly to build us our forever home. We are so grateful to him for that. He was not only a great firefighter, but a skilled carpenter and craftsman, becoming a Jack of all trades.' Mr Hillier joined Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service in October 1995, based at Pewsey fire station as an on-call firefighter, later becoming watch manager, reports Wiltshire Live. In addition to his on-call role, Mr Hillier worked as a wholetime firefighter with Surrey Fire and Rescue Service for nine years, before transferring back to Dorset and Wiltshire, where he worked as a watch manager at Salisbury fire station. In 2021, his outstanding work and commitment to organising the 'laptops for kids' initiative was recognised with a Making a Difference award. His wife added: 'Mark also made sure to make time for our four beautiful spaniels. 'Mark was responding to the call while out with three of our spaniels. That night, two of our dogs, Teddy and Coco also died with Mark, and Joey died a few hours later at the vets. 'The intense pain and devastation of losing Mark and our dogs is unimaginable and indescribable, we are broken and will never be whole again. The house is quiet. A huge part of our family has been ripped from us. 'We will be forever proud of you, as we knew you were of us. Your bravery, selflessness and countless lives saved will be remembered always. You will be forever celebrated and cherished. 'Mark, Dad, we love you wholeheartedly with everything we have. We miss you immensely. Until we meet again. Love you forever and always xxxxx.' Friends and acquaintances of Mr Hillier are encouraged to send their photos and memories of him to an email account set up by his family, remembering_mark@outlook.com. As a mark of respect, Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service is flying its Union flags at half-mast until 8am tomorrow. A funeral was held for the boy as thousands mourned his death When nothing happened, he became increasingly concerned, his wife says. The next day he allegedly stabbed six-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume 26 times Hundreds packed the Illinois funeral for the six-year-old Muslim boy who was killed in a heinous hate crime, where his landlord allegedly became enraged thinking his tenants were planning to attack him on Hamas' so-called 'day of jihad.' Wadea Al-Fayoume was stabbed 26 times and killed, his mother, Hanaan Shahin, was left seriously wounded in the attack at their Plainfield home. Police say Joseph Czuba, 71, was the one behind Sunday's attack that left the nation shocked. On Monday afternoon, Wadea's small coffin sat inside an Illinois mosque as the community gave its final respects. The boy's dad, Oday, was in attendance and was spotted wiping tears during the ceremony. 'This is a heavy day that we hoped would never come. As they say, the smallest coffins are the heaviest,' Ahmed Rehab, executive director of CAIR-Chicago, said in a statement, according to the Chicago Tribune. The funeral came as Czuba appeared in court on murder charges and was denied bail. Community members in metro-Chicago mourned the loss of Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, during a funeral on Monday Wadea was stabbed 26 times and killed in a Sunday attack. His mother, Hanaan Shahin, was stabbed more than a dozen times. She remains in the hospital Joseph Czuba, 71, is charged with murdering the six-year-old in Plainfield, Illinois, on Saturday morning Before the funeral, members of the Muslim and Palestinian community gathered to denounce the attack and criticize the media for fueling anti-Palestinian rhetoric. Palestine, which is home to many Hamas members, is the focus of the world as the Hamas-Israel war is ongoing. A surprise attack by the Hamas terrorist group left more than 1,400 Israelis dead. Hundreds of thousands of Israeli soldiers are now amassed along the border to Gaza - and waiting for instruction on an invasion that the Middle Eastern country's leaders say is to remove Hamas. 'This heinous crime did not occur in a vacuum,' Oussama Jammal, who is on the board of directors of the Mosque Foundation, told the Tribune. 'Public officials and our media are acting irresponsible.' The mosque hold 3,000 people, and according to media reports, the center was full with mourners remaining outside - where they cried and called for peace. 'He's a 6-year-old kid. As any other 6-year-old kid, he likes to play games. I just want to tell the whole world that we live in a country called USA. We're not at war, and we're not bringing war here, too,' Wadea's uncle, Mahmoud Yousef, said at a press conference ahead of the funeral, according to ABC7. The boy's tiny coffin was spotted being carried in and out of the center by the crowd. A fundraising page has raised more than $318,000 to help cover funeral expenses, housing expenses for the mom and a memorial for Wadea. 'We cannot allow her to return back to the home where she experienced such trauma. These funds will also be used to support Hanaan in moving to a safe space where she can feel comfortable,' the page read. The child's school district also said that counseling staffers would be available on Monday at the boy's school. Relatives said the boy and his mom lived at the home for two years without incident - until the landlord's alleged attack this weekend. 'This is a heavy day that we hoped would never come. As they say, the smallest coffins are the heaviest,' Ahmed Rehab, executive director of CAIR-Chicago, said in a statement The boy's father on Sunday. The child' funeral came as Czuba made a court appearance on murder and other charges The child's school district said that counseling staffers would be available on Monday at the boy's school Before the funeral, members of the Muslim and Palestinian community gathered to denounce the attack and criticize the media for fueling anti-Palestinian rhetoric A fundraising page has raised more than $318,000 to help cover funeral expenses, housing expenses for the mom and a memorial for Wadea The FBI and Justice Department have launched investigations into the attack. The FBI stated it 'takes the investigation of hate crimes extremely seriously' The racist attack sickened many, including President Joe Biden. In Brussels, a man claiming to be a member of ISIS shot two people on Monday night to 'avenge' Wadea's death. The FBI and Justice Department have launched investigations into the attack, the Tribune noted. The FBI stated it 'takes the investigation of hate crimes extremely seriously.' Czuba appeared in court today in a red prison jumpsuit with matted hair. He was denied bail after being arraigned on charges including first-degree murder, attempted murder and aggravated assault. At the hearing, prosecutors described how Czuba had become paranoid about the 'day of jihad' that Hamas leaders called for on Friday, October 13. When no attacks occurred, his wife says he became even more frightened that one would in the following days. He withdrew $1,000 in cash from the bank, claiming 'the grid' was going to go down, and became increasingly worried as he listened to radio coverage of the war in Israel and Gaza. His wife told police he thought he was in danger and that Shahin 'was going to call Palestinian friends to come and harm them.' The attack happened shortly before noon on Saturday. According to the boy's mother, Czuba - who rented them a room in his home - appeared at the door and first tried to choke her. She ran inside, calling 911. He followed with a military-grade, serrated knife that he used to stab Wadea 26 times. The boy's mother was also stabbed a dozen times. Police arrived to find Czuba sitting outside the property, upright. The boy and his mother. He has one older sibling who was not harmed in the Saturday attack Wadea, pictured on his sixth birthday earlier this month, said: 'I'm fine' before dying, his parents have revealed The attack took place on Saturday morning in this home in Plainfield, where both lived. Wadea's family rented a room from Czuba, who also lives at the property The backyard of the home where Czuba stabbed the boy and his mother. It is crammed with US flags and other patriotic signs Illinois' Democratic Governor JB Prizker released a statement on Sunday evening after the murder. 'To take a six-year-old child's life in the name of bigotry is nothing short of evil,' he said. 'Wadea should be heading to school in the morning. Instead, his parents will wake up without their son. This wasn't just a murder it was a hate crime.'' Biden also released a statement after the six-year-old's murder. 'Jill and I were shocked and sickened to learn of the brutal murder of a six-year-old child and the attempted murder of the child's mother in their home yesterday in Illinois,' the statement read. 'The child's Palestinian Muslim family came to America seeking what we all seeka refuge to live, learn, and pray in peace. 'This horrific act of hate has no place in America, and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are. 'As Americans, we must come together and reject Islamophobia and all forms of bigotry and hatred. I have said repeatedly that I will not be silent in the face of hate. We must be unequivocal. There is no place in America for hate against anyone. 'We join everyone here at the White House in sending our condolences and prayers to the family, including for the mother's recovery, and to the broader Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim American communities.' The 'day of jihad' sparked security fears around the country and indeed the world. Every major police force in the US beefed up its resources for the day in anticipation of unrest. In New York, all protests were peaceful, as were the majority across the US. In France, police clashed with pro-Palestine protesters, and a teacher was also killed by an assailant who allegedly yelled 'allahu akbar.' Billionaire John Paulson has filed a lawsuit against his business partner for fraudulently splurging $3.4million of company funds on designer clothes and trips as well as using his wife's 'shell company' to hide millions. Paulson has worked with Fahad Ghaffar in Puerto Rico since 2013, but two separate legal complaints have lodged a wedge between the two men. The hedge fund mogul, 67, filed his lawsuit in Puerto Rico on Monday, just days after he pushed to dismiss Ghaffar's $50million legal bid against him. He is asking for $189.6million in damages. Ghaffar, 42, is accused of spending $3.4million in 'personal expenses' between 2018 and 2023 and charging the costs to Paulson Entities, according to the complaint. The suit has been filed against Ghaffar and six others including his wife Glenda Acevedo-Martinez. He spent $20,000 in one night at Omnia Nightclub in Las Vegas, on 'drinking and partying', as well as racking up an $8,000 bill in New York's Marquee nightclub, according to the documents. Ghaffar invoiced $300,000 of his wedding expenses through Paulson Entities' accounts, and is accused of 'avoiding tax liabilities and misrepresenting his income to governmental authorities' He is also accused of spending $10,000 on a meal in San Juan, and $14,000 on a trip to the luxurious Burj Al Arab Hotel in Dubai The suit claims that he spent $1,000 on concert tickets, $45,000 in Chanel in New York, $102,000 in five trips to Louis Vuitton in St Barths, and a $4,000 meal in Carbone in Miami. It adds that he used a 'shell company' to spend $240,000 on a private jet to Las Vegas, $400,000 on other private jet expenses. He is also accused of spending $10,000 on a meal in San Juan, and $14,000 on a trip to the luxurious Burj Al Arab Hotel in Dubai. 'In total, between 2018 and 2023, Fahad charged $3,400,000 of his personal expenses to the Paulson Entities,' the suit alleges. 'Each one of these charges constitutes a separate incident of knowing and willful embezzlement of funds and, collectively, constitute a pattern of racketeering activity.' Ghaffar invoiced $300,000 of his wedding expenses through Paulson Entities' accounts, and is accused of 'avoiding tax liabilities and misrepresenting his income to governmental authorities.' He is also accused of using a second shell company, owned by his wife, to hide $3.2million, and a third to embezzle $8million from Condado Dua, a Paulson company. The suit filed by Paulson claims that Ghaffar used his foundation to make donations to his friends and family including $360,00 for a friends' down payment on his house. Terrence Oved and Darren Oved of Oved & Oved LLP, counsel for John Paulson and Paulson PRV Holdings, said: 'The complaint demonstrates the vast extent of Ghaffar's misconduct. Ghaffar's complaint against Paulson is utterly without merit. The hedge fund mogul, 67, (right) filed his lawsuit in Puerto Rico on Monday, just days after he pushed to dismiss Ghaffar's (left) $50million legal bid against him He spent $20,000 in one night at Omnia Nightclub in Las Vegas(pictured) on 'drinking and partying', as well as racking up an $8,000 bill in New York's Marquee nightclub, according to the documents The suit filed by Paulson (pictured with his girlfriend Alina de Almeida) claims that Ghaffar used his foundation to make donations to his friends and family including $360,00 for a friends down payment on his house 'There has been no fraud, no deceit, no misconduct and no misrepresentations made on the part of Paulson. 'Ghaffar made these false allegations with the sole intent of gaining media attention to deflect attention from the avalanche of evidence exposing Ghaffar's multi-year fraud, self-dealing and embezzlement scheme against Paulson.' The company added that Ghaffar 'selectively' quoted emails in his complaint, and threatened his legal team with sanctions over what they say is a 'frivolous' suit. But Ghaffar's lawyers have branded the lawsuit a 'publicity stunt', with attorney Martin Russo telling DailyMaill.com: 'The fact that Paulson leads with Civil RICO indicates the weakness of his allegations and inability to prove any real misconduct. 'We look forward to dismantling their lawsuit and vindicating Mr. Ghaffar and his family.' The suit accuses Ghaffar of giving his father-in-law an Audi Q3 which was paid for by Paulson Companies, as well as forking out $19k for personal cell phones for his friends and family. Paulson previously banned Ghaffar from using any facilities or venues in La Concha Hotel, the Vanderbilt Hotel, the Condado Beach Club, the St. Regis Hotel and the Bahia Beach Resort. He reportedly still owes the resorts a total of $595k, and charged Paulson Companies $700k to refurbish his private apartment. Ghaffar filed a $50million lawsuit against Paulson in September, over allegations he got him to invest $17million in a fraudulent deal. He invested the money into Paulson's F40 luxury car company in 2022, under the agreement that it would be converted into a 50 percent equity stake. The complaint filed in federal court states that Ghaffar believed he was set to earn an additional 10 percent for his work for the company and repeatedly requested documentation. The suit claims that he spent $1,000 on concert tickets, $45,000 in Chanel in New York, $102,000 in five trips to Louis Vuitton in St Barths, and a $4,000 meal in Carbone in Miami It adds that he used a 'shell company' to spend $240,000 on a private jet to Las Vegas, $400,000 on other private jet expenses Paulson told staff that Ghaffar was immediately banned from using any facilities or venues in La Concha Hotel, the Vanderbilt Hotel, the Condado Beach Club, the St. Regis Hotel and the Bahia Beach Resort But Paulson and his attorneys continued to 'misrepresent' to Ghaffar that he had bought half of the interest in the luxury car company, according to court documents. Paulson has denied the allegations, calling them 'baseless', with a spokesman for his firm confirming an internal investigation has been launched into Ghaffar's actions. The billionaire had just bought the dealership for $103 million in February 2022, promising Ghaffar his investment was in a convertible note which would eventually give him the 50 percent. But Ghaffar states that he was never given the note, despite wiring the $17 million, and alleges in the court documents that he became the chief executive officer of F40 without pay. He carried out the work on the basis of the promised terms of the note, and says in the filing that Paulson emailed him in August to remove him from his role. Ghaffar claims that Paulson asked for his investment because the billionaire became 'skittish' about Puerto Rico. He has previously invested heavily in hotels and other businesses within the US territory predicting it would become the 'Singapore of the Caribbean'. According to the court documents, the pair met in 2013, with Ghaffar's website claiming they spoke when Paulson was in contract to buy the St. Regis Bahia Beach resort. The suit states Paulson 'exploited Mr. Ghaffar for 16 months of services while giving lip service to the misrepresented terms of the convertible note which he slickly failed to ever produce.' Ghaffar is suing Paulson for securities fraud, unjust enrichment in violation of Puerto Rican law, breach of contract, fraud, damages, violation of the uniform securities act of Puerto Rico and constructive trust. He's seeking at least $50 million in damages, proof of the contract between Ghaffar and Paulson and attorneys' fees. Israeli missile strike targets Syria's Aleppo airport again Xinhua) 10:09, October 16, 2023 DAMASCUS, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The international airport in Syria's northern province of Aleppo was hit by an Israeli missile strike on Saturday night, causing damage to the recently repaired runway, Syrian state TV reported. The attack is the second hit to the Aleppo airport within three days following the Israeli strike on the airports in the capital Damascus and Aleppo on Thursday. According to Bassem Mansour, the head of the Syrian Civil Aviation, the strike has temporarily halted airport operations, as it again caused damage to the runway. The airport had resumed service earlier in the day after repairs were made following the previous attack. The repeated strikes came amid escalating tensions in the region as Israel and Hamas are engaged in fierce conflict. (Web editor: Liang Jun) Church leaders met today to choose a replacement for the Church of Wales' first woman bishop after she prompted fury by tweeting that people should 'never, never, never trust a Tory'. Dr Joanna Penberthy, 62, apologised after posting the tweet in March 2021 and later resigned from the top position she held for six years in May this year, citing ill health. The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Justin Welby had said he was 'deeply embarrassed' by her post as Conservative MPs called for her to resign. Dr Penberthy had previously expressed her anti-Brexit and anti-Conservative views with her 3,287 Twitter followers. Her Twitter handle includes the acronyms GTTO and FBPE - which stand for 'Get The Tories Out and Follow Back Pro European'. Dr Joanna Penberthy, 62, apologised after posting the tweet in March 2021 and later resigned from the top position she held for six years in May this year, citing ill health In March 2021, Dr Joanna Penberthy caused a storm after tweeting that people should 'Never, never, never trust a Tory' following allegations the Welsh Conservatives wanted to abolish the Senedd Leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd, Andrew RT Davies, described the message as 'troubling to many of her parishioners in west Wales'. A three-day election process has started for a new Bishop of St David's, one of the top positions in the Church in Wales. Members of the diocese have called for the new bishop to 'put to the diocese back together' after the 'divisive' comments made by Dr Penberthy. The Church have admitted the new leading clergy faces big challenges to unite people after the 'divisive' tweet promoted public backlash. The Venerable Eileen Davies, Archdeacon of Cardigan, admitted that the new bishop faced a significant challenge. She said: 'It's going to be a massive role for the next bishop, whoever that person will be, in bringing people from all walks of life together, and from every gender. 'We need to get out to our people and talk to them, and to have people warmly welcomed into our churches.' Members of the diocese called for the next bishop to be 'politically astute without holding a partisan agenda of their own'. It is also suggested the new bishop will have to deal with many churches and 'dwindling and ageing congregations'. Dr Penberthy was the first woman to be consecrated as a bishop in the Church in Wales in January 2017. Members of the diocese have called for the new bishop to 'put to the diocese back together' after the 'divisive' comments made by Dr Penberthy Dr Penberthy had previously expressed her anti-Brexit and anti-Conservative views with her 3,287 Twitter followers In March 2021, she caused a storm after tweeting that people should 'Never, never, never trust a Tory' following allegations the Welsh Conservatives wanted to abolish the Senedd. She later apologised saying she had 'expressed... in a way which was both irresponsible and disrespectful and I deeply regret this'. In a report prepared for the electoral college, members of the diocese said that both clergy and ordinary members of the church had experienced 'fatigue and low morale.' St David's Cathedral will be closed as a college of 47 people representing churches from across Wales meets inside to nominate and vote on a confidential list of candidates for the next of bishop. Any candidate receiving two-thirds of the votes of those present is declared bishop-elect. Dr Penberthy was the first woman to be consecrated as a bishop in the Church in Wales in January 2017 The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Justin Welby had said he was 'deeply embarrassed' by her post as Conservative MPs called for her to resign Otherwise, the college returns to the nomination stage and the cycle starts again. Once a decision is made the cathedral will re-open and the Archbishop of Wales, Andrew John, will make the announcement at the west door. The college has up to three days to make a decision. If it fails to elect anyone, the decision will pass to the Bench of Bishops. The new bishop will be consecrated at Bangor Cathedral, the seat of the current Archbishop of Wales. Announcing her retirement the Archbishop of Wales, the Most Revd Andrew John, said that Dr Penberthy's contribution to the Church in Wales has been significant'. 'She has contributed significantly to areas of church life, in particular on environmental matters and with our social-responsibility network,' he said. 'A decision like this is never easy to make.' Dr Penberthy wrote: 'Never, never, never trust a Tory' in response to a Tweet about Welsh devolution and the future of the Welsh Parliament. In a later statement, she said: 'On March 25th 2021 I put out a private tweet about Conservative Party supporters which has caused offence and for which I sincerely apologise. 'The tweet was in response to another tweet which claimed that the Conservative Party was planning to abolish the Senedd. 'I acknowledge that while there may be those within the Conservative Party who oppose Welsh devolution, it is not the policy of the Conservative Party to abolish the Senedd and I should have checked all the facts before tweeting. 'I, of course, trust and have trusted many Conservatives and know there are many honourable people in that party. 'I further apologise for other tweets I have posted which have caused upset and offence. 'While I hold strong political views, I have expressed them on Twitter in a way which was both irresponsible and disrespectful and I deeply regret this. I have now closed my account down.' An emergency migrant shelter in Staten Island has been evacuated after the fire department deemed it unsafe, with former officials warning it could become a death trap. Migrant families were seen moving out of the shelter set up at the former St. John Villa Academy Catholic school on Monday as they waited to be moved elsewhere. It comes after the NYFD inspected the grounds on Sunday and found too many code violations, including a lack of a sprinkler system or fire alarm. City officials say the fire department also found code violations at about half a dozen other shelters which are expected to shut down this week. It's not clear where the asylum seekers will be moved to. DailyMail.com has reached out to mayor Eric Adam's office for comment. The shelter at the Catholic institution was originally supposed to house 300 migrants but the city reduced that number to 170 after the community opposed the move, arguing a shelter did not belong in the neighborhood, across from a girls school. A judge had ordered mayor Eric Adams to remove the migrants in September, deciding the Right to Shelter law did not apply to migrants, but the Democrat pledged to appeal the decision . Migrant families were seen moving out of the shelter set up at the former St. John Villa Academy Catholic school on Monday The emergency migrant shelter in Staten Island was evacuated after the fire department deemed it unsafe The shelter at the Catholic institution was originally supposed to house 300 migrants but the city reduced that number to 170 after the community opposed the move As more than 120,000 new migrants have arrived in the city since last year, officials have turned to tent facilities, school gyms and parks to comply with a state law requiring housing for the homeless. Though Staten Island is home to only a small fraction of those shelters, they have generated an outsize share of animosity. The New York Post reported earlier this month that former NYPD cops and firefighters had been hired as 'fire wardens' at some of the migrant shelters because of fire safety fears. 'This is a dangerous situation for both migrants and firefighters who may have to respond to these locations,' a law enforcement official told the outlet. 'No location should ever lower the fire codes to house anyone... It is a recipe for disaster.' The former Catholic school's grounds have been a center for protests as residents of Staten Island were enraged at the shelter's placement. Last month, one upset resident even set up a loudspeaker to deliver an unwelcoming message to his new neighbors at the former school: 'Immigrants are not safe here.' The message, recorded in six languages, blared all day from a loudspeaker on Scott Herkert's well-groomed front lawn on Staten Island, exhorting migrants to 'go back' to another part of the city because the community doesnt want them. It urged people brought to a temporary shelter inside a long-vacant Roman Catholic high school not to get off the bus. The message also claims the building has rats and cockroaches. The former school's grounds have been a center for protests as residents of the area were enraged at the shelter's placement Hundreds of protesters also held a large rally outside the former school, urging the city to house migrants elsewhere It is one of several ways some people have let shelter residents know they are not welcome. Hundreds of protesters also held a large rally outside the former school, urging the city to house migrants elsewhere. Staten Island is known for leaning conservative and Republican in a mostly liberal, Democratic city. Tensions also erupted at the former Island Shores Assisted Living Facility when the city turned it into n emergency shelter. Protesters were seen banging on the bus windows as they tried to prevent the migrants from disembarking and entering the shelter. Police said an officer suffered a knee injury when one of the protesters, area resident Vadim Dlyakov, resisted arrest. Dlyakov, who lives a block from the assisted living facility, was charged with assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest and obstructing government administration, as reported by The New York Daily News. Last week it emerged that mayor 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. 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. 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. Israeli troops have claimed to have killed a Hamas commander who was the mastermind behind the kibbutz massacres. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said yesterday that an airstrike in southern Gaza had killed Bilal al Kedra, who they believe was behind the devastating Kibbutz Nirim and Nir Oz mass killings last weekend. Israel said it struck more than 100 military targets overnight, including command centres and rocket launchers, in preparations for the ground incursions. The IDF released a video it said showed the moment of the strike. Aerial footage from above the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, showed the building where the terror group's Head of General Intelligence was targeted in. Aerial footage from above the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, showed the building where the terror group's Head of General Intelligence was targeted in As a bomb is dropped, a building can be seen in its cross-hairs as smoke and rubble erupted in all directions Israeli troops have claimed to have killed Bilal al Kedra, a Hamas commander who was the mastermind behind the kibbutz massacres The military said yesterday that an airstrike in southern Gaza had killed Bilal al Kedra, who they believe was behind the devastating Kibbutz Nirim and Nir Oz mass killings last weekend In a statement the IDF said that 'as part of the extensive IDF strikes of senior operatives and terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip' they had killed the commander and other Hamas and Islamic Jihad operatives As a bomb is dropped, a building can be seen in its cross-hairs as smoke and rubble erupted in all directions. The clip shows a huge fireball erupting as giant plumes of black smoke fill the sky. In a statement the IDF said that 'as part of the extensive IDF strikes of senior operatives and terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip the IDF and ISA killed the Nukhba commander of the forces in southern Khan Yunis, who was responsible for the Kibbutz Nirim massacre'. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,329 Palestinians have been killed since the fighting erupted. The US announced overnight that it would send a second carrier group to the eastern Mediterranean to act as a deterrence as the possibility of the conflict broadening into regional war increases. A spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces told CNN that the top priority in the military operation is to rescue the hostages, who are 'most likely' being held underground in an 'elaborate network of tunnels'. Since the Hamas incursion, the bloodiest single day in Israel's 75-year history, the Israeli military says it has mobilized 360,000 reservists. More than 1,300 Israelis have been killed, the vast majority of them civilians killed in Hamas's initial assault on October 7. On Saturday, two top Hamas commanders who led the terror group's murderous rampage against Israel were killed in airstrikes. Murad Abu Murad, who is believed to have masterminded the deadly paraglider assault by Hamas gunmen last weekend, was killed by a bomb targeting the headquarters of the terror group's air activities. Meanwhile, Ali Qadhi, a commander in the ruthless 'Nukhba' commando unit, was killed in a drone strike. Officials revealed a black-and-white video of a massive explosion engulfing a Hamas base where he was said to be located. The elimination of two of Hamas's most senior leaders is a boost to the Israeli government's vow to wipe the terror group 'off the face of the Earth'. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week declared: 'Every Hamas terrorist is a dead man.' Since then, Israel's defence forces have prioritised strikes on Hamas commanders and officials as well as its intelligence and financial infrastructure within Gaza ahead of an expected ground invasion. According to the Israeli security forces, Murad Abu Murad 'took a big part in directing terrorists during the massacre' last weekend, which began with a barrage of missiles before gunmen flew into Israel on paragliders just after dawn. Hamas left a trail of devastation at a series of kibbutzes near the border with Gaza, including children's beds soaked in blood 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 Confirming the strike against him on X, formerly Twitter, the Israeli Air Force said: 'During the last day, fighter jets of the air force attacked the operational headquarters of the terrorist organisation Hamas, from where the organisation's aerial activities were managed. 'During the attack, Murad Abu Murad, the head of the air formation in Gaza City who took a large part and directed terrorists in the murderous attack on Saturday, was killed.' Ali Qadhi was a notorious terrorist who was arrested by Israel in 2005 for being part of a Hamas cell which kidnapped and murdered Israeli civilian Sasson Nouriel. Nouriel was filmed by his captors reciting a message confirming his kidnapping by Hamas and requesting the release of multiple Palestinian convicts. He was later taken to a landfill site and stabbed to death. Despite the horrific crime, Ali Qadhi was released in 2011 and deported to the Gaza Strip as part of a controversial prisoner exchange. He was one of 1,027 mainly Palestinian and Arab-Israeli prisoners exchanged for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier kidnapped and held captive for five years. Israel's air force announced that Ali Qadhi was eliminated with the help of intelligence agency Shin Bet. The Israel Air Force said terrorist operatives from Ali Qadhi's Nukhba unit 'were one of the leading forces that led the infiltration into Israel last Saturday'. Now, Israeli troops are hunting a Hamas commander described as Palestine's Osama bin Laden, vowing to find him wherever he was hiding and insisting his days were numbered. Yahya Sinwar, 60, is the current head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. He has been arrested by Israel multiple times and spent 24 years in Israeli prisons: he was freed in 2011, as part of a prisoner swap in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. The death toll has topped 1,000 in Israel as the country plots a bloody revenge on the people of Gaza Yahya Sinwar is pictured in April 2022 speaking at a meeting in Gaza City. He has been described as the mastermind of the October 7 terror attack Sinwar is being held responsible for the murder of 1,300 Israelis in the October 7 attack. The U.S. death toll rose to 29 on Saturday, with 15 missing, believed to be held hostage inside Gaza. 'Yahya Sinwar is the face of evil,' said Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, a spokesman for the IDF. 'He is the mastermind behind this, like bin Laden was. 'He built his career on murdering Palestinians when he understood they were collaborators. That's how he became known as the butcher of Khan Younis [in southern Gaza].' Hecht said that Israeli troops would not rest until he was found and killed. 'That man and his whole team are in our sights. We will get to that man,' he said, adding: 'This could be long.' Sinwar was designated a terrorist by the United States in 2015. Hecht spoke as the Israel Air Force killed Merad Abu Merad, Hamas's head of aerial activity, in Gaza City. The Israel Air Force also struck dozens of members and facilities of Hamas's Nuhba elite terrorist commando unit that were involved in the assault. On Saturday, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh met with Iran's foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, in Qatar. Iran is a supporter of Hamas, but its direct involvement in the terror attack remains disputed. It does not exercise the same operational control over Hamas as it does over Hezbollah, based in Lebanon. Some criminals will be released from jail early in a bid to tackle the ongoing overcrowding crisis in Britain's prisons. Justice Secretary Alex Chalk has said that while inmates serving life sentences will not be released early, those convicted of less serious crimes could be put to work in the community instead of behind bars. Mr Chalk also revealed the Government is planning on sending foreign prisoners home sooner, while those in prison with now-abolished Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences will have their cases reviewed. Speaking in the House of Commons on Monday, Mr Chalk said the government will take 'decisive action' to address indefinite prison sentences, which he which he described as a 'stain on our justice system'. His comments come as capacity in the prison estate has come under serious pressure, with concerns in recent days that a lack of space could see sentencing delayed in some cases. Justice Secretary Alex Chalk revealed some criminals will be freed from prison early. Pictured: Mr Chalk in the House of Commons in September His comments come amid an overcrowding crisis in Britain's prisons with fears there is not enough room for incoming inmates. Pictured: A security camera at the fence of HMP Pentonville in north London Mr Chalk told MPs that ministers would use powers which would 'allow the Prison Service to move some less serious offenders out of prison onto licence up to 18 days before their automatic release date'. He added: 'Let me be clear, this will not apply to anyone serving a life sentence, anyone serving an extended determinate sentence, anyone serving a sentence for an offence of particular concern, anyone convicted of a serious violence offence, anyone convicted of terrorism, anyone convicted of a sex offence. 'This power will only be used for a limited period and only in targeted areas.' He added that releases would only be made under certain conditions, including electronic tagging and attending appointments, and that a breach could lead to 'recall to custody for the entire second half of the sentence'. But Mr Chalk said the change would not apply to all 'so-called lower-level offenders who are a blight on our communities', adding: 'For some offenders, the proper sanction is, I am afraid, the clang of the prison gate.' Justice Secretary Alex Chalk also told the Commons: 'We will also remove foreign offenders who should not be in the United Kingdom, taking up space in our prisons at vast expense to the taxpayer. 'There are over 10,000 foreign nationals in our prisons. It cannot be right that some of them are sat in prison when they could otherwise be removed from our country.' He added: 'We will bring forward legislation to enable prisoners to be held in prisons overseas, an approach taken by Belgium, Norway and Denmark in recent years.' On plans to build more prison places, he announced up to 400 million for more prison places and that 35,000 cells will be refurbished across the estate to bring them up to modern standards. Mr Chalk said prisoners serving life sentences would not be released early under the plans. Pictured: The Justice Secretary at the Conservative Annual Conference on October 3 Shadow Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the plans were a 'damning indictment of this Government's collective failure'. Pictured: Ms Mahmood at the Labour Party Conference on October 10 Responding to his statement, shadow justice secretary Shabana Mahmood said: 'Not one word of apology to the British public for failing in the first duty of Government, and that is to keep our citizens safe. 'As everybody knows, the first stage of rehabilitation is to acknowledge your mistakes and make a sincere apology to those affected and let down by your actions or in his case inaction and his failure to do so today is utterly inexcusable. READ MORE HERE: Low-level offenders will clean up graffiti and plant trees instead of being sent to prison as ministers try to solve major overcrowding crisis that has seen judges told to delay putting rapists behind bars Advertisement 'It is a damning indictment of this Government's collective failure. Our prisons are completely full. We have been sounding the alarm for many years now, as overcrowding has skyrocketed.' Mr Chalk also confirmed plans that would see rapists forced to serve their full sentence in prison, and outlined plans to 'curtail' imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentences, which have led to indeterminate, lengthy sentences for prisoners deemed a risk to the public. IPP sentences were introduced in 2005 to prevent serious offenders who did not warrant a life sentence being released when they still posed a danger to the public. Despite being scrapped in 2012, nearly 3,000 criminals remain behind bars after being given such a sentence. Mr Chalk told MPs: 'We will take decisive action to address sentences of imprisonment for public protection. 'We have put a stop to these discredited sentences a decade ago, but it is true that there remain around 3,000 IPP prisoners in custody despite their original tariff expiring years ago. 'IPPs are a stain on our justice system, so I am looking at options to curtail the licence period to restore greater proportionality to IPP sentences in line with recommendation eight of the Justice Select Committee's report, and I will come back to the House in due course. 'This will not compromise public safety. Those found by the parole board to pose a risk to the public will not be released.' Ofcom's online safety supervision director has been suspended after anti-Israel comments were posted on her private Instagram account. Screengrabs published by the Guido Fawkes website appeared to show posts from Fadzai Madzingira's account describing Israel as an 'apartheid state'. She is also claimed to have liked a post criticising Israel and the UK for forming a 'vile colonial alliance'. Ms Madzingira was appointed by media watchdog Ofcom in June 2023. An Ofcom spokesperson said: 'Having reviewed these comments we've suspended this colleague, pending further investigation.' Screengrabs published by the Guido Fawkes website appeared to show posts from Fadzai Madzingira's (pictured) account describing Israel as an 'apartheid state' Another image showed the account had liked a post from the official page of Black Lives Matter UK criticising the news that the UK would deploy Navy ships to support Israel Ms Madzingira describes herself as a 'Zimbabwean, a black feminist, a student of decolonisation and a deep believer in liberty for all' in the Instagram story obtained by the political website. Speaking to her followers, she said: 'I could not process that we continue to act with surprise at what happens in an apartheid state.' Another image showed the account had liked a post from the official page of Black Lives Matter UK - criticising the news that the UK would deploy Navy ships to support Israel. The caption said: 'As if it wasn't bad enough already, the UK is also set to participate in the ethnic cleansing and genocide of Palestinians. 'Shame on this vile colonial alliance.' Her account appears to have now been deleted. It comes after the attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7 and the subsequent military retaliation. More than 1,400 Israelis have died, the vast majority civilians killed in the October 7 assault, while the country's military said that at least 199 hostages had been taken to Gaza. Meanwhile, more than 2,750 Palestinians are reported to have been killed and 9,700 wounded since the fighting erupted. Ms Madzingira was appointed by media watchdog Ofcom in June 2023. They have suspended her pending a further investigation At least six Britons were killed in Hamas's 'pogrom' in Israel and a further 10 are missing, Rishi Sunak told MPs on Monday as he increased aid to the Palestinian people by a third. Conservative MP for Stone Sir William Cash called on Ofcom to 'deal with' as a matter of 'impartiality' reports that one of its directors supported comments critical of Israel. Speaking in the House of Commons following a statement by the Prime Minister, he said: 'Will the Attorney General be asked to provide a legal note, if not a full opinion, given for example that one of Ofcom's directors... is reported to be supporting posts, this week itself, arguing that the Government's support for Israel is a vile colonial alliance, referring to ethnic cleansing, and genocide of Palestinians? 'And Ofcom must surely be told that it must deal with this at once as a matter of impartiality, quite apart from any criminal action that may be needed under terrorist or criminal law.' Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: 'I'll ensure that the Attorney looks into it, and, more generally, just say, I absolutely endorse those describing these attacks calling them what they are which are attacks of terror by a terrorist organisation.' Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were spotted after touching down in Atlanta days after jetting off for a romantic weekend getaway in the Caribbean, DailyMail.com can reveal. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were seen flying into the city on a private flight on Monday as they returned from their brief holiday to the tiny island of Canouan in St Vincent and the Grenadines. Exclusive DailyMail.com photos show the royal couple disembarking the plane and leaving the tarmac where they were greeted by staff and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents. Meghan, 42, sporting a post-vacation glow, came prepared for the cooler Atlanta weather in a black long-sleeve maxi dress by Bleusalt that retails for $220, brown slip-on sandals, and a blue scarf. In exclusive DailyMail.com photos, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex can be seen arriving in Atlanta after flying in on a private flight from the Caribbean on Monday Meghan, 42, was seen bringing back a post-vacation glow as well as a souvenir tote emblazoned with the 'Cream of the Islands' from the tiny island of Canouan in St Vincent and the Grenadines Prince Harry, 39, who was seen carrying a weekender bag, was dressed casually in a white polo shirt, olive pants, and shoes, and topped off his post-holiday look with a black cap Harry and Meghan jetted to the tiny island of Canouan in St Vincent and the Grenadines following a week spent promoting mental health projects in New York She wore dark sunglasses and tied her hair back in a messy bun, and carried a souvenir tote emblazoned with the words 'Cream of the Islands' while clutching a sunhat. Equipped with his weekender bag, Harry, 39, was also dressed casually in a white polo shirt, olive pants, and shoes, and topped off his post-holiday look with a black cap. The Sussexes' two young children were not seen returning with their parents and appeared to not have joined them on their trip. It is unclear if Harry and Meghan have traveled to Atlanta - where close friend Tyler Perry is known to have his own massive studio lot - for work or leisure. The busy couple enjoyed a few days of quiet on the Caribbean island after a busy few weeks that saw them in Germany for the Invictus Games and then New York for Archewell's first in-person event marking World Mental Health Day. Over the weekend, DailyMail.com spotted the pair strolling hand-in-hand along the paved promenade next to a sun-splashed marina, looking like any young couple enjoying a Caribbean vacation. A photo taken by a passer-by on Friday shows the pair leaving a gourmet food store inside the Sandy Lane Yacht Club and Marina in Glossy Bay. Meghan was seen wearing a simple ivory maxi-dress and a ribboned Panama hat while husband Harry was casual in navy shorts and a white t-shirt and flip flops. The former actress arrived prepared for the cooler Atlanta weather, wearing a black long-sleeve maxi dress, brown slip-on sandals, and a blue scarf The Sussexes' two young children were not seen returning with their parents and appeared to not have joined them on their trip The couple were welcomed by airport staff and U.S. Custom and Border Protection agents who escorted them from the tarmac The island whose name means 'island of turtles' in the Carib language is a short 45-minute hop from Barbados or an even shorter 15-minute trip from St Vincent The pair were without children Archie, four, and two-year-old Lilibet, and were 'affectionate' with each other according to the onlooker. The source told DailyMail.com: 'They looked happy. As Harry walked out of the shop, he slightly bumped into one of the barrels [outside] and they both giggled and Meghan reached for his hand. 'They just looked very happy to be having a holiday together.' Meghan and Harry had been shopping at Faye an upmarket grocery store that bills itself as offering an 'exclusive selection of fresh seasonal organic products, from vegetables to cheeses, sweets, seafood and exclusive meat cuts' imported from France. After browsing the shelves, the couple enjoyed a stroll along the bougainvillea-festooned promenade before boarding a luxury tender that whisked them away towards Canouan's north shore. The tiny Caribbean island is just three miles wide but has a reputation for being the place where 'billionaires go to escape millionaires' due to its gorgeous sandy beaches and a handful of upscale resorts. A photo taken by a passer-by on Friday shows the pair leaving a gourmet food store inside the Sandy Lane Yacht Club and Marina in Glossy Bay During his week's visit to New York City the duo Took part in a summit to mark World Mental Health Day Options include the glamorous Canouan Estate Resort and Villas, the Mandarin Oriental, and the Soho Beach House Canouan. Rooms at the Mandarin Oriental start at $837 and rise to more than $9000-a-night for the property's lavish four-bedroom villa while the Soho Beach House is a relative snip at $1,200 for its most luxurious room, although members like Meghan get a discount and pay $1,020 per night. Meghan has long been associated with the Soho House properties due to her long-standing friendship with Markus Anderson, the lifestyle club chain's Chief Membership Officer. It was Anderson who arranged a private room at Soho House in London for the Montecito-based couple's first date, while Meghan threw a low-key hen night ahead of her 2018 wedding at Soho Farmhouse in Chipping Norton, UK. Like Oxfordshire, Canouan is popular with many of the couple's friends and acquaintances, with George Clooney and his wife Amal among the famous names who have fallen in love with the island's charms. Other fans of Canouan include Robert Downey Jr and Leonardo DiCaprio, both of whom have been known to vacation there. The tiny Caribbean island is just three miles wide but has a reputation for being the place where 'billionaires go to escape millionaires' due to its gorgeous sandy beaches and a handful of upscale resorts. Options include the glamorous Canouan Estate Resort and Villas, the Mandarin Oriental, and the Soho Beach House Canouan Soho Beach House rooms go for $1,200 a night for its most luxurious accommodations, Meghan has long been associated with the Soho House properties due to her long-standing friendship with Markus Anderson, the lifestyle club chain's Chief Membership Officer Meghan and Harry had been shopping at Faye an upmarket grocery store that bills itself as offering an 'exclusive selection of fresh seasonal organic products, from vegetables to cheeses, sweets, seafood and exclusive meat cuts' imported from France. After browsing the shelves, the couple enjoyed a stroll along the bougainvillea-festooned promenade before boarding a luxury tender that whisked them away towards Canouan's north shore The island whose name means 'island of turtles' in the Carib language is a short 45-minute hop from Barbados or an even shorter 15-minute trip from St Vincent. Commercial flights to Barbados and St Vincent are widely available while Grenadines Air Alliance has frequent scheduled flights between the islands, although many celebrity visitors opt to fly in direct on a private jet. It is also a stone's throw from another royal favorite the island of Mustique, also part of the St. Vincent and Grenadines, where the late Princess Margaret owned a lavish villa named Les Jolies Eaux [the pretty waters]. In recent years, Mustique has become a favorite with the Prince and Princess of Wales who often holiday there with their three children and Kate's parents Carole and Michael Middleton. Like Canouan, Mustique is a tiny, secluded island that provides the last word in luxury accommodation and boasts several celebrity fans, including Mick Jagger, Bryan Adams and Tommy Hilfiger who all own homes there. The Sussexes Caribbean vacation comes at the end of a week that saw them return to New York City for the first time since getting involved in a 'near catastrophic' car chase in Manhattan in May. The pair were widely ridiculed after releasing a statement that described a 'relentless pursuit' lasting for two hours that resulted in 'multiple near collisions' only for the NYPD to say the incident was merely 'a bit chaotic'. This week's visit proved less controversial with the duo taking part in a summit to mark World Mental Health Day. The eco-conscious pair, who were staying at the Equinox Hotel in Hudson Yards, did attract some flak for being driven a block in a seven-car convoy of gas guzzling SUVs to the event but otherwise enjoyed a smooth trip. Meghan, 42, arrived at the summit sporting a $987 white off-the-shoulder Altuzarra blazer with matching white pants and heels, which she accessorized with a $4,100 gold and emerald choker from Logan Hollowell Meghan, who wore a $987 Altuzarra blazer for the panel discussion, used the discussion to share her fears for children using social media, saying: 'As parents, though our kids are really young, they're two and a half and four and a half... but social media is not going away. 'I think by design, there was an entry point that was supposed to be positive in creating community and something has devolved, and there's no way to hear that and not try to help these families have their stories be heard.' The couple's New York trip also saw them visit a school in Brooklyn and weigh in on the crisis engulfing the Middle East after Hamas terrorists murdered 1,300 Israeli civilians in a horror attack last Saturday. A statement released via the website of the Archewell Foundation read: 'At The Archewell Foundation, with Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, we stand against all acts of terrorism and brutality. 'We are supporting our partners and organizations on the frontlines in Israel to provide the urgent aid needed, and to help all innocent victims of this unconscionable level of human suffering.' Former hostage Sir Terry Waite revealed the terrifying conditions that victims of Hamas could face in Gaza and shared his message of hope with their famillies. The 84-year-old who spent almost five years in captivity after being kidnapped by Islamic terrorists in Lebanon, said that the hostages being kept captive by Hamas will need to find within themselves 'the resources to maintain hope'. Speaking to GB News, the former special envoy for the Archbishop of Canterbury, shared his experience as a hostage of an Islamist organisation 1987, where he endured captivity for a terrifying 1,763 days. Providing words of comfort for the distressed families, Sir Terry said: 'Everything will be done that is possible to release them. And let's hope it can be done without further bloodshed'. Sir Terry said that he had 'no idea at all, what, if anything, was happening in the outside world', giving an indication of the treatment that may be suffered by the hostages of Hamas. With an unknowable fate, the humanitarian shared his advise for hostages, by saying: 'You have to be able to somehow to maintain hope - keep hope alive in yourself - that's all you could do'. He added: 'You have just have to somehow find within yourself the resources to maintain hope, and say "I'm still alive today and I live for today".' Sir Terry was taken hostage in Lebanon by the Islamic Jihad Organisation (IJO) on 20 January 1987, while negotiating the release for an American journalist and an academic. During the negotiations, Sir Terry was promised safe passage to meet the hostages but the IJObroke his trust and the humanitarian was ruthlessly taken captive where he would spend the first four years in solitary confinement. He told the broadcaster: 'Every time someone came into my cell, they could have been coming to kill me'. Speaking to GB News , the former special envoy for the Archbishop of Canterbury, shared his experience as a hostage of an Islamist organisation 1987 Previously, the humanitarian had successfully negotiated the release of several hostages in Iran in 1980, and even negotiated directly with Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi during the 1984 Libyan hostage situation amid the standoff between Britain and Libya. After his release in 1991, Sir Terry published his best-selling memoir Taken on Trust in 1994, describing his experience has a hostage and founded an organisation called Hostage international, which supports hostage families. He continued: 'If anybody wishes to be in touch with us, we will be there ready to give support to the family. We have trained people who ready to do that. 'But, this is a massive problem and there are more hostage families now than possibly we could cope with'. It comes as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak updated MPs as the Commons returned for the first time since conflict broke out last Saturday, claiming the lives of thousands of people on both sides. He told MPs: 'The families of some of the missing are in the public gallery today. 'We call for the immediate release of all hostages and I say to them: we stand with you. We stand with Israel.' Mr Sunak said the 'terrible nature of these attacks means it is proving difficult to identify many of the deceased'. During the negotiations, Sir Terry was promised safe passage to meet the hostages but the IJO broke his trust and the humanitarian was ruthlessly taken captive An Israeli soldier sifts the wreckage at the Kibbutz Beeri last week, the place where 270 revellers were killed by militants during the Supernova music festival on October 7 Israeli troops patrol in armoured personnel carriers in northern Israel on October 15, close to the country's border with Lebanon, amid skirmishes with Lebanon 'But with a heavy heart I can inform the House that at least six British citizens were killed,' he said. 'A further 10 are missing, some of whom are feared to be among the dead.' The government's stance was backed by Labour leader Keir Starmer, who said that Parliament must speak with 'one voice'. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly confirmed that around ten Britons are being held hostage by Hamas as he warned that the terrorists want to create a war between 'the Muslim world and the wider world'. Urging Israel to show restraint amid mounting concerns about the fate of civilians in Gaza ahead of an imminent offensive, the Foreign Secretary said Hamas was 'not a friend to the Palestinian people'. Mr Cleverly added that it was not 'unreasonable' to estimate that around ten British civilians were taken hostage by Hamas in last week's assault and said there were British nationals among the dead and wounded. But he added: 'I'm really, really uncomfortable implying that there is certainty where frankly there isn't.' Updating MPs after the Commons returned for the first time since the bloody attacks, Mr Sunak addressed Jewish community leaders in the gallery, saying: 'We stand with you, we stand with Israel.' British sisters Noiya, aged 16, and Yahel, aged 13, have not been heard from since the terror group launched its attack across the border on October 7. Their family have confirmed that the girls' mother Lianne, who is British and was born in Bristol, was tragically killed in Kibbutz Be'eri in last weekends assault. Babies, toddlers and teenagers are among more than 150 Israelis taken hostage after Hamas launched its murderous onslaught last weekend. Human rights groups are busy trying to track the kidnappings as evidence of war crimes, but for their distraught families there is only a harrowing wait for news. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas was responsible for their care and well-being, and that Israel would 'settle the score with anyone who harms them'. Meanwhile, Hamas has claimed that it has hidden the hostages in Gaza but has threatened to kill them if civilian homes are bombed by the Israelis. Urging Israel to show restraint amid mounting concerns about the fate of civilians in Gaza ahead of an imminent offensive, the Foreign Secretary said Hamas was 'not a friend to the Palestinian people'. Pictured: On the BBC's 'Sunday Morning' Earlier today, Israeli troops claimed to have killed a Hamas commander who was the mastermind behind the kibbutz massacres. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said yesterday that an airstrike in southern Gaza had killed Bilal al Kedra, who they believe was behind the devastating Kibbutz Nirim and Nir Oz mass killings last weekend. Israel said it struck more than 100 military targets overnight, including command centres and rocket launchers, in preparations for the ground incursions. The US announced overnight that it would send a second carrier group to the eastern Mediterranean to act as a deterrence as the possibility of the conflict broadening into regional war increases. A spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces told CNN that the top priority in the military operation is to rescue the hostages, who are 'most likely' being held underground in an 'elaborate network of tunnels'. Since the Hamas incursion, the bloodiest single day in Israel's 75-year history, the Israeli military says it has mobilized 360,000 reservists. More than 1,300 Israelis have been killed, the vast majority of them civilians killed in Hamas's initial assault on October 7. An Aussie tourist enjoying the holiday of a lifetime in Vietnam with his mates remains in an induced coma after a tragic accident. Adelaide disability support working Seb Stone was on his third day in Vietnam when he was injured in a scooter crash while travelling to Ninh Binh earlier this month. He suffered severe fractures to his skull and acquired a brain injury. Mr Stone has undergone brain surgery and will need more operations in the coming weeks. He's currently in a stable condition but remains in an induced coma. Mr Stone's parents Mirella and Jeff along with brother Thomas have made the frantic dash to Vietnam to be by his hospital bedside in Hanoi. Seb Stone was on a three week holiday with mates in Vietnam when tragedy struck They have already paid $30,000 in medical costs, which need to be paid upfront. ' We also foresee money being needed to fly him back home when the time comes,' Thomas wrote on a online fundraiser. 'The costs are very high and any donation would really help to support future surgeries and recovery.' The family have since been quoted $283,000 to fly Seb home. 'Keep praying and sending your love to him through the cosmos,' the latest update states. 'Please remember that myself and mother and father are going through a lot right now and will update everyone as soon as we know more. 'It will be a slow process and we will need to take each day as it comes. Seb Stone remains in an induced coma in a Hanoi hospital with a long road to recovery ahead Doctors have told the family it's an hour by hour proposition. 'It's mainly sleeping and resting, so he can heal,' Thomas told 7news.com.au. 'The main priority is keeping him alive.' Almost $85,000 has been raised within a few days and inundated with messages of support. 'We are so thankful for all the love we have received from everyone so far. It's amazing to see how loved and supported (Seb) is,' Thomas added. As Congress barrels toward another government shutdown fight in less a month, Sen. James Lankford is pushing a bipartisan bill that would end shutdowns forever. Instead of halting paychecks for millions of government workers when Congress blows past funding deadlines, members would instead have to stay in Washington, D.C., and work seven days a week until they passed spending bills, according to his legislation. 'It's really simple: if you haven't got your classwork done, you've got to stay after class to be able to finish your classwork before you go home,' he told DailyMail.com in an interview. The bill would trigger two-week stopgap spending bills and force Congress to stay in town and focus only on spending. Lankford led the bill, the Prevent Government Shutdowns Act, with New Hampshire Democrat Sen. Maggie Hassan. The bill is gaining traction on both sides of the aisle, according to Lankford. As Congress barrels toward another government shutdown fight in less a month, Sen. James Lankford is pushing a bipartisan bill that would end shutdowns forever 'You have an automatic continuing resolution at last year's same levels,' Lankford told DailyMail.com in an interview. 'But members of Congress and our staff, we could not travel. We're in session seven days a week. The only thing we could move to is appropriations bills. 'If you've ever been around the steps of the House or the Senate at the end of the week, you see everyone running down the steps to head to an airplane because they've got things with their family, they've got things back with constituents at home,' he went on. 'Federal workers, members of the military, American citizens that are trying to get access to an agency they're held harmless during this, but the pressure is actually put on us.' Lankford led the bill, the Prevent Government Shutdowns Act, with New Hampshire Democrat Sen. Maggie Hassan. The bill is gaining traction on both sides of the aisle, according to Lankford In September House Speaker Kevin McCarthy put a continuing resolution on the floor that led to his historic ouster. That bill continued government funding at 2023 levels - set under Democrats in the last Congress - until November 17, buying another six weeks for the House and Senate to pass 12 single-subject spending bills. And even if the fractured House is able to pass 12 appropriations bills, it would then have to negotiate with the Senate - an even taller feat. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., vowed to put a motion to oust McCarthy on the floor if the California Republican passed a CR and seven other Republicans and all Democrats joined him in voting against the speaker. Lankford said he sees 'no chance' of Congress finishing the appropriations before November 17, and thinks the House ousting the speaker set Congress back in the process. 'My sense is that there's some folks in the House that want to Kevin McCarthy and in nine months expected him to be able to solve what hasn't been resolved in years in the House,' the Oklahoma Republican mused. 'That's still going to be unresolved when a new speaker comes on board.' Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson has cancelled his planned trip to the US-Mexico border to witness the migrant crisis first-hand, his office has announced. The Democrat said on Monday he would not attend the trip to the border, but will send deputy mayor of immigration Beatriz Ponce de Leon to lead and other aides instead. Brandon said the reversal is due to the need to 'address the immediate urgency of adding shelter space to house thousands of new arrivals currently sleeping in police stations, airports or outside.' The Windy City is struggling with over 11,000 migrants in shelters and 4,000 staying in police stations and the O'Hare International Airport after more than 18,000 have arrived in the city in one year. The delegation is scheduled to depart for Texas on Tuesday and visit the cities of El Paso, San Antonio, McAllen and Brownsville. Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson has cancelled his planned trip to the US-Mexico border to witness the migrant crisis first-hand The Windy City is struggling with over 11,000 migrants in shelters and 4,000 staying in police stations and the O'Hare International Airport (pictured) Most of the migrants who have arrived in Chicago during the last year have come from Texas, largely under the direction of Republican Governor Greg Abbott 'The Mayor, along with senior aides and key operations personnel, will stay in Chicago to address the immediate urgency of adding shelter space to house thousands of new arrivals sleeping in police stations, airports or outside,' Johnson's office said in a the statement. Johnson had previously said he would go to the border with his family 'as soon as possible' as he tried to better coordinate the arrival of migrant buses in Chicago with Texas officials. 'A point of emphasis will be establishing better lines of communication and collecting migrant data to expedite work authorization processing and the transition to self-sufficiency," the mayor's statement added. 'The Chicago delegation will also be sharing pertinent information about extreme housing and weather conditions currently facing asylum seekers in Chicago, and the immense challenges awaiting those without verified sponsors.' The delegation will reportedly report back to Johnson on its findings and plan a follow-up trip. It comes after DailyMail.com revealed Chicago is giving $9,000 in rental assistance to migrants in need of temporary housing - after it paid a medical firm a staggering $7.2million for staffing shelters for just one week. To free much-needed room in shelters, the state of Illinois is helping cover costs for temporary housing for migrants, including $9,000 in rental assistance over a six-month period, Chicago's deputy chief of staff Cristina Pacione-Zayas told Fox32. The funds include assistance with moving costs and a starter kit to furnish apartments. Throughout the month of August, upwards of 232,000 migrants crossed the US-Mexico border - and up to two million are estimated to have crossed this year Stunning images have shown droves of migrants traversing difficult terrain and wading through the Rio Grande river on their way over the southern border The city has allocated $4 million to help migrants find temporary housing, and the state has contributed another $38 million. It's unclear how many migrants are currently benefiting from the program. Meanwhile a new report has revealed that Kansas-based company Favorite Healthcare Staffing billed the city more than $7.2 million to staff migrant shelters for just four weeks, as reported by NBC 5. Chicago has already spent $60 million on staffing shelters, including $1.4 million at former Wadsworth School, $1.6 million at the Inn of Chicago and $1.2 million at the Social Club shelter. And the situation is not easing up, as buses from Texas continue arriving. Just last week, 41 more buses of asylum seekers who crossed the US-Mexico border arrived. Most of the migrants who have arrived in Chicago during the last year have come from Texas, largely under the direction of Republican Governor Greg Abbott. It became part of Scotland when the King of Norway defaulted on his daughters dowry in 1472. However, there could be a lot more money involved if Humza Yousaf and, indeed, Rishi Sunak, want to keep Orkney a part of the UK and, in turn, Scotland. Civic chiefs in Orkney are calling for the establishment of an Arctic embassy, ringfenced revenue from offshore wind farms and more than 500million to replace its ageing ferry fleet. If their calls fall on deaf ears, councillors will look to explore the future governance of the islands in a move that could see it and its 22,000 population break away from Britain. It is even exploring how it could, in theory, become a self-governing crown dependency. Islanders are exploring how Orkney could, in theory, become a self-governing crown dependency One element of the frustration felt by islanders, who voted by 67 per cent to stay in the UK in 2014, is the need for new ferries for the islands, with the current fleet now 30 years old. Council leader James Stockan has outlined a series of requests which must be fulfilled in order to see off the threat of Orkney breaking away. Mr Stockan has highlighted that in the 1970s, at the beginning of the North Sea oil revolution, Orkney and Shetland got an act of parliament to benefit from what was happening on our doorstep. He said a new deal is needed to ensure the islands prosperity. He told The Times: We are at the beginning of another energy revolution in offshore wind. Orkney has links with the Nordic countries and Viking heritage that stretches back centuries It brings a degree of disturbance, as happened with the oil, so we need to look at mechanisms to ensure we get the benefit from this economic activity. There are also calls for UK civil service positions to be based on Orkney and the creation of a new diplomatic role for the islands. Mr Stockan, 65, added: The ambassador to the Arctic should be situated here. 'If we are to remain in the UK we want to be the stepping stone to the Nordic and Arctic areas. Mr Stockan said he has had positive meetings in Reykjavik with the West Nordic Council, which includes representatives from Iceland and the self-governing territories of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Orkney Council is said to have been inundated with messages from legal and constitutional experts looking to advise on its options, including becoming a self-governing crown dependency, like the Isle of Man, or an autonomous area under Oslo. The council has stated it is prevented by law from making direct approaches to Norway but Mr Stockan claims that some Westminster and Holyrood politicians have already indicated support for offering far greater autonomy. The Scottish Governments local government empowerment minister Joe FitzPatrick said: As part of the joint Local Governance Review, we are working closely with Orkney Islands Council to develop alternative governance arrangements on the islands which can demonstrate strong potential to improve outcomes for local people. The Biden administration has agreed to stop separating migrant children from their parents for eight years in a settlement with families split at the border under Donald Trump. The U.S. will now offer families benefits and temporary legal statues in the deal with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) that was reached on Monday. Thousands who crossed the border are now entitled to housing aid, work permits, health care and can restart their asylum claims. Migrants who were deported or returned to their home countries can also return to the U.S. and bring relatives with them. The Biden administration has agreed to stop separating migrant children from their parents for eight years in a settlement with families split at the border under Donald Trump. A migrant family crosses at Eagle Pass, Texas, last week The agreement currently applies to some 3,900 children separated from their parents during Trump's presidency from 2017-2021, according to the ACLU which represents separated families in a lawsuit first filed in 2018. An estimated 500 to 1,000 children remain separated and the number covered by the settlement will likely expand, the ACLU said. The settlement is part of an ongoing effort by the Biden administration to reunite families separated under Trump's 'zero tolerance' policy instituted in 2018, which called for the prosecution of all unauthorized border crossers. Government watchdogs and immigration advocates have found the separations began before and continued after the policy's official start. The agreement will be subject to a U.S. district court judge's approval. Trump, the frontrunner to become the Republican nominee for president in 2024, has criticized Biden's handling of border security and pledged to implement hardline immigration policies if reelected. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the settlement proposed on Monday showed the Biden administration's commitment to reuniting families and praised collaborations with advocacy organizations 'in condemning the cruelty of the past.' The settlement allows families separated under Trump to apply for temporary legal status for three years and a work permit, as well as the option to make an asylum claim with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, according to court documents. Trump forced separations of families at the border and didn't intend to reunite them. Some border crossers were deported, parents were lined up to face prosecutions for entering the U.S. illegally and children were put in shelters for months. The U.S. will now offer families benefits and temporary legal statues in the deal with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) that was reached on Monday. A migrant man and child walk past the border buoys set up by Governor Greg Abbott The agreement will bar the government from implementing any policy leading to widespread separations for eight years, but allows for exceptions for reasons of national security, criminal warrants, medical emergencies or if a child's safety is at risk. As part of the settlement, separated families will have access to temporary housing support for one year, according to court documents. Reuters reported in 2022 that many reunited families struggled with housing insecurity. The deal also covers behavior health services and some medical assistance. ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt called the settlement 'a critical step forward to help the thousands of families.' The Biden administration in 2021 broke off class-wide settlement talks that would have provided monetary compensation to separated families. More than 750 children have been reunited with their families under efforts directed by a Biden administration task force. A Texas A&M University student has died after falling from a third-floor balcony in a dorm building on campus. Britney Romero, a freshman health major, fell from a balcony at Dunn Hall over the weekend, Vice President for Student Affairs Joe Ramirez confirmed in a statement to the community. 'It is with deep sadness that I confirm that a Texas A&M student passed away early this morning. Britney Romero was a freshman health major. Our hearts ache for Britneys family and friends,' said Ramirez. On Sunday morning, the Texas A&M University Police Department started investigating the death, according the the campus newspaper The Battalion. Ramirez said a Justice of the Peace has ordered an autopsy. Texas A&M University officials confirmed freshman Britney Romero died after falling from a third-floor balcony in Dunn Hall University police said the freshman health major fell from a balcony in the Dunn Hall dorm building. A Justice of the Peace has ordered an autopsy The school is providing mental health services to the community 'We want to emphasize that Texas A&Ms top priority is our commitment to the well-being and safety of all our students,' he said. 'We intend to conduct a thorough and comprehensive review of what happened immediately.' 'We encourage our Aggie community to come together to support one another, as we always do at times like this, while also praying for and supporting Britneys family and all those grieving this tragic loss,' Ramirez said. The university is providing resources for the community at this time. They have counselors available at University Health Services, a Texas A&M HelpLine and access to the TELUS Health Support App for students. Ramirez concluded the statement: 'We are the Aggies, the Aggies are we. True to each other as Aggies can be.' DailyMail.com has reached out to the Texas A&M University Police Department for comment. A banker has lost an employment tribunal after he was sacked for trying to expense sandwiches and coffee for his partner and then lying about it. Szabolcs Fekete, a senior analyst, sued Citibank for unfair and wrongful dismissal after he was ousted over receipts he submitted following a three-day business trip to Amsterdam last year. Fekete, who had worked at the bank since 2015 and specialised in financial crime, initially claimed he had eaten two sandwiches, two coffees and two pasta dishes by himself during his stay. But he later admitted that his partner who had joined him on the trip had shared some of the meals. In an email exchange, Fekete, who was based in the London office, told his manager: 'I was on the business trip by myself and... I had two coffees as they were very small.' Senior analyst Szabolcs analyst sued Citibank after he was dismissed after he lied about trying to claim expenses on a sandwich and coffee he had with his partner while on a business trip to Amsterdam When questioned further, he said: 'All my expenses are within the 100 daily allowance. Could you please outline what your concern is as I don't think I have to justify my eating habits to this extent.' Citi then escalated the matter, examining whether he had breached its expenses policy, which states that spousal travel and meals are not reimbursable. Fekete admitted he had shared some of the food and drink with his partner, but said he had been suffering with personal issues before the trip, including grieving the death of his grandmother. Citi ultimately sacked him for his behaviour, prompting Fekete to take the bank to court. But the tribunal has ruled in favour of the company. The judge said: 'I have found that this case is not about the sums of money involved. This case is about the filing of the expense claim and the conduct of the claimant thereafter. I am satisfied that even if the expense claim had been filed under a misunderstanding, there was an obligation upon the claimant to own up and rectify the position at the first opportunity.' A Citi spokesman said the company was 'pleased' with the decision. In 2020, Citi suspended one of its most high-profile bankers after alleging he stole food from the staff canteen in Canary Wharf, while Japan's Mizuho Bank sacked a London banker in 2016 after he was caught stealing a bicycle part worth 5. The PM donned casual wear while speaking to Turkish and Palestinian leaders Rishi Sunak has been slammed on social media after he donned a navy blue hoodie while speaking with Palestinian and Turkish leaders about the ongoing conflict in Israel. The Prime Minister opted for a slightly more casual look and drank from a 25 Emma Bridgewater mug while conducting official business by speaking to the President of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas and President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Tory leader was seen dressed in the hoodie, along with a white shirt and blue tie, which he paired with navy blue suit trousers and black shoes, in official photos the same day he announced that six Britons had died in the violence in the Middle East. Mr Sunak was seen looking studiously over his notes with the strings from his hoodie falling over his desk, while he sipped from a white mug which was decorated with animations of dogs on it. But he was mocked online for being looking like a 'couch potato' by critics unhappy with his dress sense. Rishi Sunak opted for winter-wear as he donned a navy blue hoodie and sipped on a 25 Emma Bridgewater mug whilst conducting important business in number 10 today Rishi wore a smart white shirt and blue tie underneath his more casual attire, which he paired with navy blue suit trousers and black shoes As he looked studiously over his notes, the Prime Minister sipped from a white mug which was decorated with animations of dogs on it This is not the first time that Rishi has opted for more relaxed attire in the workplace, and has many a time showed off his favourite dark grey 46 Everlane hoodie. The multi-millionaire has become renowned for his trendy fashion sense, with Rishi splashing the cash on expensive tailors to fit both his slim-fitting shirts and navy suit trousers that finish well above the ankle. He donned the item as he appeared in a Conservative Party video in August 2020, before opting to wear it again for a set of photographs released in November last year. But he was lambasted online by critics for his more casual look today as he turned his focus to events in the Middle East, with people telling him to 'put on a blazer lad'. One person lashed out: 'Are you wearing a hoodie FFS - joggers and full JD sports wardrobe next - your supposed to be the leader of our country and a statesman not in a sate like a 15-year-old couch potato' Another mocking wrote: 'A hoodie? Cool man, cool. A hoodie, white shirt and tie. Spot on.' One commenter wrote: 'Nothing exudes strong leadership and statecraft like a hoodie' One person remarked: 'Why is it that every time Rishi Sunak talks to a world leader, he looks like he's been kept back after class to redo his homework?' Another simply said: 'Wearing a hoodie? FFS' The Prime Minister was lambasted online for his decision to wear a hoodie while conducting important official business The photos were released hours after the Prime Minister chose to dress up as he appeared in front of the Commons to update MPs on the grave war between Israel and Hamas. He swapped his sweater for a blazer as he condemned the Hamas 'Pogrom', and said six Brits are confirmed dead and 10 more missing. The PM insisted Britain will 'stand by' Israel as he insisted the country had the right to respond - although he stressed the need to avoid 'broader regional instability' and take 'every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians'. Updating MPs after the Commons returned for the first time since the bloody attacks, Mr Sunak addressed Jewish community members in the gallery, saying: 'We stand with you, we stand with Israel.' 'The attacks in Israel last weekend shocked the world. Over 1,400 people murdered one by one, over 3,500 wounded, almost 200 taken hostage,' Mr Sunak said. He went on: 'We should call it by its name: it was a Pogrom. This is not the first time that Rishi has opted for more relaxed attire in the workplace, and has many a time showed off his favourite dark grey 46 Everlane hoodie (pictured in November last year) Updating MPs after the Commons returned for the first time since the bloody attacks, Mr Sunak addressed Jewish community leaders in the gallery later in the day, saying: 'We stand with you, we stand with Israel.' 'The families of some of the missing are in the public gallery today. We call for the immediate release of all hostages and I say to them: we stand with you. We stand with Israel.' Mr Sunak said the 'terrible nature of these attacks means it is proving difficult to identify many of the deceased'. 'But with a heavy heart I can inform the House that at least six British citizens were killed,' he said. 'A further 10 are missing, some of whom are feared to be among the dead.' The government's stance was backed by Labour leader Keir Starmer, who said that Parliament must speak with 'one voice'. Frightening doorbell camera footage shows the moment a woman was targeted in an apparent follow-home style robbery by a masked man with a gun. The clip, recorded in Kent, Washington, early Monday, shows the suspect briefly give chase to the unnamed victim before having the door shut in his face right in the nick of time. The victim, an unidentified Asian woman who appears middle-aged, managed to record the encounter with her residence's ring-mounted camera - one provided by Amazon owned Ring.com. Coincidentally, the town of roughly 135,000 - set 20 miles south of Seattle - entered a partnership with the home security startup in February 2020, at the time to address a spate of similar crime where would-be robbers follow their targets home. The footage, shared to Reddit by user willmok a few hours later, showed much of the same - with an accompanying caption claiming that people of Asian descent are the ones regularly being targeted. Frightening doorbell camera footage shows the moment a woman was targeted in an apparent follow-home style robbery by a masked man with a gun. Within a fraction of a second, a man enters the frame - a towering figure seen toting a pistol with what appears to be an extended magazine The clip, recorded in Kent, Washington, early Monday, shows the suspect briefly give chase to the unnamed victim before having the door shut in his face right in the nick of time. A headline to the now-viral thread read: 'Warning, Asians are still being targeted and being followed home.' It added that the incident happened this morning Kent East Hill,' a particularly problematic area of the city - which is the state's fourth most populous. Commenters subsequently expressed their appall at the accompanying clip - which shows the woman entering the home behind an also Asian acquaintance at 12:48am local time. A few seconds behind her male associate - who is seen unlocking and opening both the front and screen door before entering - the woman attempts to enter as well, before taking a glance to her rear toward what should have been total darkness. Instead, the woman sees something else - something indicated by her visible look of fear in the now-circulating clip. Sure enough, within a fraction of a second, a man enters the frame - a towering figure seen toting a pistol with what appears to be an extended magazine. Seemingly catching wind of what was about to happen, the woman - alone with her assailant at this point - is seen quickly rushing into the domicile, successfully shutting the door behind her. In her haste, the screen door was left open, leaving the masked marauder tasked with opening the actual door that was just closed in front of him. The victim, an unidentified Asian woman who appears middle-aged, managed to record the encounter with her residence's ring-mounted camera - one provided by Amazon owned Ring.com In her haste, the screen door was left open, leaving the masked marauder tasked with opening the actual door that was just closed in front of him Thankfully, as the footage shows, he found it to be locked - with the woman somehow managing to turn the mechanism after closing the door, potentially saving her and others inside The man proceeds to struggle with the door knob aggressively before noticing the camera recording him - leading him to try to dismount it in a frantic fit. He eventually escaped with what appeared to be an accomplice Thankfully, as the footage shows, he found it to be locked - with the woman somehow managing to turn the bolt after closing the door, potentially saving her and others inside. The man proceeds to struggle with the door knob aggressively before noticing the camera recording him - leading him to try to dismount it in a frantic fit. At this point, a potential accomplice - also decked out in black - is seen peering into the frame behind the robber, before both are seen escaping emptyhanded. It was unclear from the post whether the incident was reported to local police. Onlookers, meanwhile, were quick to express their outrage. 'Just awful to watch,' one wrote, while calling the incident a 'hate crime. 'I truly hope these individuals are caught and removed from society. We must have a zero tolerance policy to these crimes.' Another remarked: 'He's got an extended mag on his pistol and he's out robbing people alone in the early morning. This is unhinged.' Other more eagle-eyed users noted the other man briefly seen in the clip - likely showing how the avoided strike had been planned, and potentially part of a larger spree. 'He's not alone,' someone wrote. 'Another masked, armed man is coming up behind him... visible for only a few frames.' The city, considered part of the SeattleTacomaBellevue metropolitan area, in recent years has struggled with armed robberies and gun violence, likely due to its proximity to the similarly troubled Windy City As a result, in February 2020 - just before the pandemic - Kent police, headed by Chief Rafael Padilla, entered a partnership with Ring.com, in hopes of catching would be perpetrators while still in the act The city, considered part of the SeattleTacomaBellevue metropolitan area, in recent years has struggled with armed robberies and gun violence, likely due to its proximity to the similarly troubled Windy City. As a result, in February 2020 - just before the pandemic - Kent police entered a partnership with Ring.com, in hopes of catching would be perpetrators while still in the act. 'With this, we can send out an email and say we had this incident are there any videos out there for us,' current chief Rafael Padilla - who has served the department since 1997 - said at the time. Last month, the department took new steps to addressing crime in the neighborhood where the recent incident occurred - by targeting an East Hill apartment complex that Padilla and others claim to house many of the perpetrators. On August 9, in what was billed as step to restore safety to a neighborhood that has been terrorized by violent crime, the force cuff a 25-year-oldsuspect on murder charges following the fatal shooting of a 43-year-old man on 111th Place SE. In a Facebook post shared shortly after, the KPD wrote: 'This apartment complex has been the hub for extraordinary violent crime, particularly this year. 'Todays action is but one of several steps we are taking to identify and apprehend the violent offenders who have terrorized this neighborhood.' DailyMail.com has reached out to the Kent Police Department for comment. A woman who shot a would-be intruder at her Hollywood Hills mansion on Sunday night is an Oscar-winning hair styliss who has worked on iconic films such as National Treasure and The Hunger Games. Beatrice De Alba, 59, told police she fired her weapon after a man reportedly in his 30s tried forcing his way into her $1.7million home from the backyard, claiming he had been injured and needed help. Her husband Alex Spears called police to report the shooting in their three-bedroom home in the 2800 block of Hollyridge Drive. Police found the man suffering from a gunshot wound but conscious and breathing and he was taken to a hospital. De Alba declined to comment when reached by DailyMail.com on Monday, and only said she had been left 'really freaked out' by the incident. Oscar-winning hairstylist Beatrice De Alba shot an alleged would-be intruder at her Hollywood Hills. She's pictured with make-up artist John E Jackson who also won an Oscar for his work on Frida De Alba declined to comment when reached by DailyMail.com on Monday, and only said she had been left 'really freaked out' by the incident The would-be intruder, a man in his 30s, was taken to the hospital and is in critical condition The would-be intruder is in critical condition but stable, officials said. He supposedly claimed he was in fear for his life, and De Alba retrieved a weapon after he repeatedly refused to leave. 'He told her that someone hurt him and to let him in,' said Los Angeles Police Department Officer Norma Eisenman, as reported by The Los Angeles Times. It's not clear whether any arrests will be made in the shooting. Neighbors of the woman told City News Service she had been a victim of home invasion attempts in the past. DailyMail.com has reached out to the LAPD for comment. De Alba won Oscar and Bafta awards in 2002 for her work in the Salma Hayek film Frida, and also worked for 2004's National Treasure and 2013's The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. The shooting comes as the law enforcement community has warned about the new controversial zero-bail policy, which went into effect earlier this month. A person's bail amount was previously based on the severity of the allegations against them - but critics argued this benefited those who could pay. It's not clear whether any arrests will be made in the shooting It's not clear whether any arrests will be made in the shooting Now those accused of non-violent or non-serious crimes will be released. Defendants accused of more serious crimes will appear before a magistrate who will determine alternative 'appropriate non-financial pre-arraignment release terms.' The new law comes as officials in LA say organized crime and the pandemic-era zero cash bail is to blame for a recent spate of smash-and-grab raids, with robberies jumping 10 percent last year and nearly 580,000 larcenies reported to the police Officially known as Pre-Arraignment Release Protocols, the zero-bail policy has been slammed by cops who believe it will undermine crime fighting. Zero bail was first introduced to combat overcrowding in the city's jails during the pandemic but expired last summer. Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore has also spoken out about the policy, saying 'that approach offers little to no deterrence to those involved in a range of serious criminal offenses.' 'The elimination of cash bail for these types of offenses is really an invitation to these kind of folks who are inclined to break the law and inclined to do it so brazenly,' warned Tom Saggau of the LA Police Protective League. LA county supervisor Holly Mitchell has defended the new law, saying, 'It's really dangerous for us to conflate bail with accountability... Bail means I have the resources to pay my way out of jail.' Trump complained about its terms in Iowa and said he would appeal it She agreed with prosecutors who brought up Trump's posts and sought gag Judge Chutkan said she would 'consider sanctions as may be necessary' Former President Donald Trump vowed to appeal a judge's order that prohibits him from attacking Special Counsel Jack Smith and witnesses in his January 6 trial but appeared to avoid breaching its new terms Monday. Addressing at a 'Caucus for Trump' rally in Adel Iowa hours after the new order, Trump complained about 'weaponized elections and all the stuff they do,' while railing against Judge Tanya Chutkan's new order that he not attack Smith, other prosecutors, the judge, or witnesses in the case. His words, with a backdrop of bales of hay in Iowa, was the first test of a new order featuring Trump's unique role as a candidate under indictment, amid the judge's admonition that he faces restrictions like any other criminal defendant. 'Today, a judge put on a gag order. I'll be the only politician in history that runs with a gag order where I'm not allowed to criticize people. Can you imagine this? Do you believe this?' Trump told a crowd of supporters. 'I'm not allowed to criticize people. So we'll see. We'll appeal it. And we'll see. But it's so unconstitutional,' he said. 'I'll be the only politician in history that runs with a gag order where I'm not allowed to criticize people,' complained former President Donald Trump after a federal judge imposed a gag order that prohibits him from attacking special counsel Jack Smith and court personnel It was part of a multi-pronged public reaction to the setback where Trump inveighed against the order, tried to raise campaign funds off it, and compared himself to mobster Al Capone. 'I got indicted more than Alphonse Capone,' Trump said, calling the infamous Chicago mobster someone who 'if he didn't like you, you looked at him a little bit askance, he blew your brains out.' 'He was only indicted one time I've been indicted four times,' Trump complained. But hours after calling Smith 'deranged' and the judge 'highly partisan,' his language Monday was general when complaining about the 'weaponized' Justice Department. 'They put a gag order on me and I'm not supposed to be talking about things that bad people do,' Trump said. Those comments came after Trump blasted the order on his Truth Social site the venue for many of his attacks on potential witnesses and court personnel that the judge cited when slapping on the new order. Hay they gagged me: Trump vowed to appeal the order, and said 'I'm not supposed to be talking about things that bad people do.' He held back from calling Jack Smith 'deranged' as he did online hours earlier 'WILL APPEAL THE GAG ORDER RULING. WITCH HUNT!' he wrote in one post. 'A TERRIBLE THING HAPPENED TO DEMOCRACY TODAY - GAG ORDER!' he wrote in another. All of Trump's comments came before the exact language of the order was settled. A statement from an unidentified Trump spokesperson also blasted the order, without going after court personnel individually. 'Todays decision is an absolute abomination and another partisan knife stuck in the heart of our Democracy by Crooked Joe Biden, who was granted the right to muzzle his political opponent, the leading candidate for the Presidency in 2024, and the most popular political leader in America, President Donald J. Trump,' said a Trump spokesperson. One thing the order didn't do is deny Trump the chance to try to cash in on the gag. 'WHILE I AM RESTRICTED IN WHAT I CAN SAY RIGHT NOW, HERE IS MY ONE MESSAGE TO THE PUBLIC MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!' Trump said in one fundraising email from his campaign. 'THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION CAN TRY AND GAG ME, BUT THEY CAN *NEVER* GAG THE AMERICAN PEOPLE!' Chutkan said at a federal courthouse in D.C. Monday she would impose a 'partial' gag order on Trump, who she admonished for making inflammatory statements she said could endanger court personnel. The gag bars him from attacking Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing his prosecution, as well as witnesses in the case and the judge herself, as well as family members. Judge Tanya Chutkan described the outlines of her order in court after bringing up his public blasts at Bill Barr, Gen. Mark Milley, at herself, and at the 'rat-infested' Washington DC where he will be tried. 'I cant imagine any other criminal case where a defendant is allowed to call a prosecutor deranged or a thug,' Judge Chutkan said while announcing the order she will impose. Trump's position as candidate in a political campaign 'does not give him carte blanche' to 'vilify' or implicitly 'encourage violence on public servants simply doing their job,' the judge said. Describing her order after a sometimes heated hearing, Chutkan called out Trump's posts calling Special Counsel Jack Smith, who brought the indictment against him, a 'thug' and 'deranged.' As she noted during the hearing, Trump attacked Smith again just last night. Her order prohibits reposing any statements publicly 'targeting the special counsel, his staff including government counsel here to day,' she said. Her order also will prohibit 'any statement publicly targeting any of my staff or any other court personnel' after bringing up Trump's post going after the judge's top clerk in his New York fraud case and posting her Instagram account. Trump Attorney John Lauro (R) blasted a proposed gag order on the former Trump as unconstitutional and unworkable 'It should go without saying' that the order applies to family members as well, after Trump mentioned Jack Smith's wife in a post attacking him. She called her order 'necessary and narrowly-tailored.' Trump can claim he is being 'unfairly prosecuted,' Judge Chutkan said, and he is free to tee off on the District of Columbia the venue where the jury in his January 6 case will be drawn from. But she noted that his comments about D.C., which Trump has called 'rat-infested' in one post brought up in court Monday, would be relevant during his later appeals, in effect undercutting his arguments he can't get a fair trial there. She said any issues with Trump's attacks on D.C., which he called a 'filthy and crime ridden embarrassment to our nation' while railing against his prosecution, could be handled through voir dire, the process where attorneys screen jurors for potential bias. 'This is not about whether I like the language Mr. Trump uses. This is about language that presents a danger to the administration of justice,' she said. Former President Trump is barred from attacking Jack Smith, the judge, or witnesses 'The defendant repeatedly refers to Special Counsel Jack Smith as deranged and his staff as thugs and he did so again last night,' Judge Chutkan said in court Trump called special counsel Jack Smith a 'a Leaking, Crooked and Deranged Prosecutor' just hours before the judge imposed a gag order that would prohibit attacks on him Not just Trump but 'all parties' are prohibited from making statements 'about potential witnesses or the substance of their expected testimony,' she said. That is a topic that could be fraught. As Trump lawyer John Lauro noted in court, Pence is a rival for Trump in the fight for the Republican presidential nomination. Trump has repeatedly gone after Pence for failing to refuse to count electoral votes from states that certified Joe Biden as the winner in the 2020 election. Trump may talk about Pence under the order, the judge said. But he cannot 'make statements about events underlying this case' a comment that would appear to include Pence's role on January 6. The judge did not release detailed language of her order, which will come later. That came after a fiery hearing where Trump's lawyer John Lauro said a proposed gag was unconstitutional on its face and argued it would be impossible to delineate or oversee. Just how many people it will govern is not known, but Chutkan noted that the identity of many expected witnesses can be gleaned from the indictment. Trump attacked the proposed gag as well as Jack Smith and Judge Chutkan in a posting on his Truth Social platform Sunday night at 11:30 pm. The judge evidently saw it, and brought it up in court. 'Tomorrow is a big day for Democracy. A Leaking, Crooked and Deranged Prosecutor, Jack Smith, who has a terrible record of failure, is asking a highly partisan Obama appointed Judge, Tanya Chutkan, who should recuse herself based on the horrible things she has said, to silence me, through the use of a powerful GAG ORDER, making it impossible for me to criticize those who are doing the silencing, namely Crooked Joe Biden, and his corrupt and weaponized DOJ & FBI,' Trump wrote. 'They want to take away my First Amendment rights, and my ability to both campaign and defend myself. In other words, they want to cheat and interfere in the 2024 Presidential Election. Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before. It is strictly Banana Republic kind of stuff. These political Hacks and Thugs are destroying our Country. Lets see what happens on Monday in Judge Chutkans courtroom. Will America survive, or not? Ill be campaigning in the Great State of Iowa, where I am leading by 50 Points!!!' After grilling opposing lawyers for two hours and raising her won concerns about potential safety threats by some of Trump's comments, the judge indicated she was prepared to act. 'Im not confident that without some kind of a restriction we wont be in here all the time,' she said. At one point, the judge even presented lawyers with hypothetical posts Trump might issue targeting rivals like his own former attorney general, Bill Barr. She asked if Trump within a proposed gag order could post that 'Bill Barr should be executed for his many treasonous acts.' Chutkan asked about Trump's posts attacking Smith as 'deranged,' as well as his posts attacking her and D.C. the venue where his trial is set to begin in March. Trump loyalist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) appeared in Court and blasted the gag while it was being considered 'The government's sole objective with this motion is to ensure the fair administration of justice in this case by preventing extrajudicial statements that prejudice the trial,' said. Lauro called the gag order 'prior restraint on content-based political speech which is the highest degree of constitutional protection.' He defended many of Trump's comments, even while allowing he might not have made them himself, including attacks on the 'Department of injustice.' 'He does not have the right to say and do exactly as he pleases,' Chutkan said during many clashes with Lauro, noting that Trump is a criminal defendant who must follow terms of his release. 'These prosecutors decided to bring this case in the middle of a political campaign,' said Lauro, repeatedly testing the judge's patience by asking for the trial she set for March 4 to get postponed. 'The easiest solution to all of this is an obvious one: to adjourn the case [until] after the presidential election. Thats the solution.,' he said. Lauro repeatedly pushed back on how to enforce an order that would prevent Trump from saying something that 'disparages' a potential witness or impacts the jury pool. 'How to enforce an order in the middle of a campaign is impossible under the circumstances,' he said. Chutkan appeared particularly incensed by Trump's postings about court personnel and public servants 'doing their job.' Lauro argued that many figures in receipt of Trump's barbs like former top cabinet members with book contracts 'signed up for it.' 'Really. Election poll workers?' she said, referencing low-level officials Trump went after during his election overturn effort. 'When you start to use a word like thug to describe a prosecutor doing their job, that wouldnt be allowed by any other criminal defendant,' said Chutkan, a former public defender. 'Just because the defendant is running a political campaign does not allow him to do whatever he wants.' She noted that Lauro, who got put in the position of having to explain Trump's post about a New York judge's clerk (Trump called her 'Chuck Schumer's girlfriend' ) is himself a former prosecutor. The challenge of somehow policing the statements of a former president seeking reelection are plain. Prosecutors argued that Trump is being willful in his attacks, and even brought up a recent 'Meet the Press' interview where Trump showed restraint. 'The defendant isnt campaigning. He is using the campaign to try the case outside of this courtroom and to pollute the jury pool,' said prosecutor Molly Gaston. In her hypotheticals, the judge asked if Trump could post that Barr 'should be executed.' Then she asked if Trump could post that he should 'stay loyal to me or he can forget about having a job in my next administration.' She asked if Trump could post that Barr 'is a smart guy but hed better learn to keep his mouth shut?' She asked if Trump could say Barr 'is a slimy liar and cant be trusted.' 'I'm not going to say "truth is a defense,"' Lauro joked. He said Trump is allowed to comment on Barr's performance as AG. 'I wish Bill Barr were here. Hes a tough guy,' he said. The government countered that even hypothetical comments saying Barr should be 'loyal' could be intimidating, could impinge on his credibility, or send an indirect message to other witnesses. Lauro wanted to know how it would all be enforced in the middle of a campaign ' 'Are we going to be back here on a motion of contempt?' he said. But the judge rejected his proposal to give more informal guidance that Trump's lawyers could communicate to their client. The charred remains were so disfigured that at first they did not realise it was two people. But when pathologists gently began to examine, they could see the bodies were those of an adult and a child. And they were hugging tightly. That is how it had ended for them, trapped in a room as Hamas terrorists set fire to their home. As the horror of burning to death came to them, the adult had nothing left to offer but to hold that terrified child in their arms. And as unbearable as that is, it is by no means an isolated case here at Israel's National Centre of Forensic Medicine, where the bodies of the victims of the Hamas attack are being identified. Scientists charged with this grim task told me it is common to have to carefully separate the fused remains of two helpless people who, in their final moments, had found all they could do was embrace in death. No wonder several professional pathologists broke down in tears yesterday as they tried to explain their vital work to me. Israeli ministry of health and foreign affairs allow press to view where bodies of those who where murdered are being examined and identified When pathologists gently began to examine, they could see the bodies were those of an adult and a child. And they were hugging tightly Of the 959 bodies so far brought to the Shura military base, the ones that are hardest to identify are taken to the forensics centre here in Tel Aviv, where teams of scientists are working around the clock to find out who they are This is the real-life version of Silent Witness, the television drama about pathology experts piecing together forensic clues to solve a case. Of the 959 bodies so far brought to the Shura military base, the ones that are hardest to identify are taken to the forensics centre here in Tel Aviv, where teams of scientists are working around the clock to find out who they are. They are acutely aware that the tormented families of the missing are beyond desperate they just need to know. The work itself could scarcely be more upsetting. Some victims were shot then set on fire, others trussed up with wire cords and condemned to a burning hell. As of yesterday, there were 297 bodies so hideously brutalised as to be unrecognisable to anyone. It is the wretched job of these pathologists to try to work it out. Sometimes, all they have to go on are a few fragments of bone. That is literally all that is left of someone. Chen Kugel, director of the centre, showed me a pile of bones. 'There are several people in there,' he said. 'Just parts of a skull. A cheek bone. This is all that remains of them. Their bodies are gone.' He showed me photographs of a man shot from behind. 'You can see from his wrist marks that he was handcuffed behind his back. And then executed.' And then came the utterly unbearable. Dr Kugel wept as he described how they had received remains so disfigured they had to perform a CT scan to understand there were two bodies. One big, one small. Showing me the scan, he said: 'You can tell from the shapes of their spines that it is an adult and a child, and they are sitting together and they are hugging tightly together. 'In their final moments. They were burnt to death like this. Cremated alive in their own home, clutching one another.' Dr Kugel, a forensic pathologist for 31 years, kept pausing for deep breaths but could not stop his tears flowing. 'This is heart-wrenching and difficult to see, even for people like me who have been doing this for so many years,' he said. Everywhere I looked as I toured this morgue yesterday was a vision of hell. The sights are too distressing to describe and the putrid stench of death will stay with me for days. Many of the slaughtered innocents have gunshot wounds through their hands, as they tried in vain to defend themselves from the bullets. Dr Kugel said: 'It is horrific. It's so big. And there are so many containers it is like a shipping port and they are all full of bodies. It is so terrible. So many ... it is the magnitude of the cruelty.' His team's job is to try to identify the victims so their anguished families can be informed as soon as possible, and establish how they died. Dr Nurit BuBlil as she shows a child's mattress, stained with blood at the lab where bodies are being identified Pictured is the head of a DNA lab Dr Nurit BuBlil as she is comforted by a colleague while holding a blood-stained mattress Kibbutz Be'eri which is 4km from the Gaza border and was attacked last Saturday, October 7 by Hamas militants - pictured is reporter Sam Greenhill at the scene This is the real-life version of Silent Witness, the television drama about pathology experts piecing together forensic clues to solve a case Staff at the morgue stand over the body of a person that is being carried on a stretcher Dr BuBlil cries while with a colleague as she shows the mattress of a killed child Health workers in scrubs pull a trolley with a body on it as they look to identify people He said soot in a person's windpipe indicated they had been alive and breathing in smoke perishing from fire rather than a gun. 'We do CT scans, biopsies, we check DNA and fingerprints if there are any fingers left and any clues we can find,' he said. 'But we are now dealing with the very hardest of the cases to solve. I am afraid that there will be some people we will never identify. People have to be prepared for this.' In each room I visited, exhausted teams were doing their utmost with blackened bodies, fragments of bone and whatever else they could find. The victims range from the very old to the very young. In one corridor I passed three body bags that were a third the size of the adult ones. What about beheaded babies? Yes, said Dr Kugel, it was true. Amid horrors that defy belief, the past week has seen an extraordinary debate about whether Hamas savages had decapitated defenceless babies, or had merely shot them dead. Reports of beheadings have been furiously attacked as fake news by some high-profile doubters. It seems grotesque that we are even trying to get to the bottom of the method by which a baby was decapitated. But there are some who refuse to believe that even the terror group's most sadistic fanatics would have stooped to such evil. On Saturday, I spoke to a colonel who told me that he had not only seen a beheaded baby, but had held it in his arms as he recovered the child from a slaughter site in kibbutz Be'eri. Yesterday, with a heavy heart, I asked Dr Kugel, perhaps the most senior pathologist in Israel, if he had seen any babies without heads. He replied: 'Yes. Yes, I have seen that.' He did not know the reason they had no heads, and could not state whether they had been cut off with a knife or blown off by an exploding grenade. He said: 'I cannot say. I can say that I saw people without heads.' However it happened, the toll on the scientists whose quest for the facts means they cannot avert their eyes from such unspeakable horror is all too plain to see. During a much-needed break for fresh air outside, Dr Kugel told me: 'We are working in the world of the dead in there. But when I come out here, to the living world, and I talk with you and the sun is shining, it's like normal... except it is not.' Dr BuBlil sobs as she is comforted in the lab where bodies are being identified Staff stand by a stretcher which has the body of a person murdered on it Staff stand by a stretcher which has the body of a person murdered on it A sea of corpses is seen as stretchers stack up waiting for the bodies to be identified A line of stretchers is seen, with the bodies of deceased people on each one Somewhere in each fragment of charred and twisted body part lies a vital forensic clue that might bring some sort of grim closure to a family caught in the hellish limbo of not knowing if their loved one is dead, kidnapped or wandering around lost and injured. Dr Ricardo Nachman, head of forensics at the centre, said: 'In one body bag, we found three left feet and one right foot. So we know it was at least three people who died together.' Elsewhere they might find one person in more than one bag. Upstairs in the DNA lab, they are scrutinising the tiniest fragments to identify its owner. Head of the lab Dr Nurit Bublil told me: 'We do everything we can. With heavily burnt samples, it can take days to achieve a genetic profile. We know the families are waiting. Hopefully we will be able to get each and every one back home. 'Many people are working day and night. We want to get the answers to their families. They want to have the funerals, but they also want to know what happened and how their loved one died. The investigation takes time. We have the professionalism to do it. And we want to do it.' She said the Hamas terrorists 'went into Israel and they enjoyed slaughtering civilians. This was an unhuman act'. Her job, she explained, was 'working and crying, at the same time'. She wasn't wrong. Dr Bublil was talking to me beside a small, blood-soaked mattress. She picked it up to show me: 'This is a mattress from a baby's bed. You can see the size of this blood stain which means this baby was bleeding on top of this bed.' There were no more words. She kept trying, but there was nothing else to say. Dazed and desolate, Dr Bublil shuffled across her lab to her colleague, and burst into tears. Criminals including violent thugs are to be freed early because jails are at bursting point. Hundreds of inmates serving up to four years will have 18 days cut from their sentences under emergency measures announced by Justice Secretary Alex Chalk last night. The first are expected to be free by the weekend under a space- saving scheme that could see thousands more win early release. Sex offenders and terrorists will be excluded but thugs serving time for wounding and assault could profit. 'This power will only be used for a limited period and only in targeted areas,' Mr Chalk told the Commons last night. He said it would 'relieve immediate pressure' after the prison population hit a record 88,225 on Friday, leaving only 550 spare places in England and Wales. Mr Chalk also said judges and magistrates would be asked to avoid imposing short jail terms. Hundreds of inmates serving up to four years will have 18 days cut from their sentences under emergency measures announced by Justice Secretary Alex Chalk (pictured) last night Mr Chalk said it would 'relieve immediate pressure' after the prison population hit a record 88,225 on Friday, leaving only 550 spare places in England and Wales. Pictured: Pentonville Prison The Ministry of Justice will table legislation including a 'presumption against prison sentences of less than 12 months' with lower-level offenders handed community sentences instead. Damning verdict on jail with NINE suicides in four years Eight prisoners at HMP Bristol took their own lives between 2019 and July this year A 'severely overcrowded' jail is described as 'categorically failing' in a report published today. Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor condemned the 'appalling state of affairs' at HMP Bristol, branding it 'one of the most unsafe in the country'. Eight prisoners had taken their own lives since the jail was last inspected in 2019, and one since they visited in July. In addition, a prisoner had been charged with murdering his cellmate. The inspection team's visit this summer led to Mr Taylor issuing Justice Secretary Alex Chalk with an 'urgent notification' requiring a response plan to be drawn up within 28 days. Mr Taylor described Bristol's problems as 'chronic and seemingly intractable'. Its normal capacity was 408, but held 544 inmates at the time of the inspection, with prisoners locked in cells 22 hours a day. 'The prison was overcrowded, with almost half of the prisoners living in double cells designed for one,' the report said. Mr Taylor said: 'Prisons should also be supporting their rehabilitation so they leave prison not just willing, but able, to leave offending behind. Too many prisons at present are struggling to do that and Bristol was categorically failing.' The Justice Secretary said in August that he would monitor the situation at Bristol 'very closely' to ensure there was 'sustained improvement'. Advertisement It means thieves could escape jail despite Rishi Sunak last month vowing to crack down on an 'unacceptable' rise in shoplifting. Mr Chalk also confirmed that 400million will be spent on extra prison places, chiefly 'pop-up' cells installed in existing jails. There will also be a 30million fund to identify and purchase land for new jails, with a scoping exercise to be completed by the end of the year. The number of GPS electronic tags for offenders will be doubled. Mr Chalk's announcement came after judges were told to delay the sentencing of all convicted offenders who had been on bail, which could include rapists, burglars and other serious criminals, because the jails are full. The halt on sentencings is expected to last for 'a couple of weeks' until the emergency measures create headroom in the system. The End of Custody Supervised Licence scheme is almost identical to one introduced by former Labour justice secretary Jack Straw in 2007. That 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 during which they should have been behind bars, according to data gathered at the time by the Conservatives, who were then in opposition. The latest version will be 'geographically targeted' to free up cells in parts of the country where jails are most overcrowded. Prisoners released early may have to wear a tag or observe a curfew under the scheme. Last Friday's jail population up more than 200 in a week beat the previous peak of 88,179 set in late 2011, and is the highest total since modern-day records began in 1900. MoJ data showed there were just 557 available places in the crisis-hit jails. By comparison, the number in jail was 44,000 when then-Conservative home secretary Michael Howard delivered his famous 'prison works' speech championing custodial sentences in October 1993. A key factor in the prison population's increase over recent years has been a sharp rise in the number of foreign national offenders serving time in Britain. Latest data shows 10,321 were jailed in England and Wales at the end of June up 7 per cent year on year. In 1993 the figure was about 3,400. Another measure introduced by Mr Chalk will see foreign criminals eligible for removal to their home countries 18 months before the end of their sentence, rather than the current 12 months. The Justice Secretary told MPs it would 'get them out of the country early and no longer costing the taxpayer a fortune'. Mr Chalk (pictured) also confirmed that 400million will be spent on extra prison places, chiefly 'pop-up' cells installed in existing jails Mr Chalk's announcement came after judges were told to delay the sentencing of all convicted offenders who had been on bail, which could include rapists, burglars and other serious criminals. Pictured: The Ministry of Justice in Westminster, London He also confirmed plans to change the law so rapists must remain behind bars for the whole sentence handed down by a court, with no parole. Mr Chalk announced at the Tory party conference earlier this month that 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. Legal changes required by yesterday's package could be tacked on to the Victims and Prisoners Bill, which is currently going through parliament, meaning the measures could be in force within months. Labour's justice spokesman Shabana Mahmood said: 'Our prisons are completely full we've been sounding the alarm for many years now as overcrowding sky-rocketed. As of today the public will undoubtedly be less safe.' Richard Miller of the Law Society, a solicitors' professional body, said: 'The Government has taken a pragmatic response to the prison crisis which is a complex issue. 'There are advantages and disadvantages in the measures proposed by the Justice Secretary, and difficult balances to be struck.' Pia Sinha, chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, welcomed Mr Chalk's plan to legislate against short jail terms. 'It has long been recognised that short sentences do more harm than good and that community orders are more effective at reducing reoffending,' she said. 'In introducing these measures, it will be vital to ensure probation has additional resource to deal with the immediate pressures of supervising a greater number of people in the community.' Rishi Sunak yesterday backed Israel's 'absolute' right to defend itself as he revealed six British citizens were killed and ten are missing in the wake of the 'pogrom' by Hamas. In a sombre statement to the Commons, the Prime Minister said the UK would not 'prescribe' how Israel should respond to the terror group's barbaric assault. He said that 'as a friend', the UK would urge Israel to 'take every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians' as it seeks to root out Hamas from its strongholds in Gaza. Mr Sunak said 'humanity, law, decency and respect for human life' were democratic values that 'set us apart from the mindless violence of the terrorist'. But he warned that critics of Israel had to recognise Hamas bears responsibility for the bloodshed and is using ordinary Palestinians as 'human shields'. In a sombre statement to the Commons, the Prime Minister said the UK would not 'prescribe' how Israel should respond to the terror group's barbaric assault The PM said that men, women, children and even babies had been 'murdered, mutilated and burned alive' by Hamas, adding: 'We should call it by its name it was a pogrom. 'We must support, absolutely, Israel's right to defend itself. To go after Hamas, take back the hostages, deter further incursions and strengthen its security for the long term. 'But this must be done in line with international humanitarian law but also recognising they face a vicious enemy that embeds itself behind civilians.' The PM said that 'at least' six British nationals had been killed in the conflict while another ten were missing, some believed to have been kidnapped by Hamas. Announcing an extra 10million in humanitarian aid for Gaza, he said civilians were 'victims of Hamas too'. He was backed by Sir Keir Starmer, who said Israel had been 'the victim of terrorism on an almost unimaginable scale'. The Labour leader offered support to Israel saying 'while Hamas have the capability to carry out attacks on Israel's territory there can be no peace'. Mr Sunak also tried to reassure the Jewish community that the Government and police would respond to the 'sickening' rise in anti-Semitic incidents. Mr Sunak also tried to reassure the Jewish community that the Government and police would respond to the 'sickening' rise in anti-Semitic incidents Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wrote a message of goodwill to the people of Israel, whilst visiting a north London Jewish School He condemned 'unacceptable' scenes at some protests when demonstrators celebrated the Hamas attacks, warning that anyone identified would face 'the full force of the law'. Earlier the Prime Minister had visited a Jewish secondary school in Barnet, north London, when he signed messages and prayers for Israel. Mr Sunak said: 'I've come to demonstrate my solidarity with the Jewish community here in the UK, and let them know we are going to do everything in our power to keep them safe.' Meanwhile Home Secretary Suella Braverman suggested pro-Palestinian protesters could face prosecution if they chanted: 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.' Mrs Braverman said the slogan heard at demonstrations across the country was 'widely understood as a demand for the destruction of Israel'. The Labour leader offered support to Israel saying 'while Hamas have the capability to carry out attacks on Israel's territory there can be no peace' Meanwhile Home Secretary Suella Braverman suggested pro-Palestinian protesters could face prosecution if they chanted: 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free' She said 'mainstream groups' had dropped the 'intimidating' chant decades ago, adding: 'The slogan was taken up by Islamists, including Hamas, and remains a staple of anti-Semitic discourse. 'To hear it shouted in public causes alarm not just to Jews but to all decent people.' Mr Sunak told MPs that the crisis was 'a moment of great anguish for British Muslim communities, who are also appalled by Hamas's actions but fearful of the response'. He said British spy planes and warships had been sent to the region in part to prevent Iran supplying weapons to anti-Israel terror groups. But he swerved questions about why the Government has not banned Iran's Revolutionary Guard, blamed for sponsoring the Hamas attacks. Ford is to cut about 700 workers involved in assembling the F-150 Lightning, an electric variant of the company's best-selling pickup truck. The U.S. automaker said the cuts are unrelated to the ongoing United Auto Workers strike. Ford said the move takes effect on Monday and would rotate the shifts that is being cut. The company did not say how long the production cut would last. Ford's decision involves the temporary suspension of one of the three shifts at its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center, situated in Dearborn, Michigan, near the company's headquarters. Ford said it was 'working through processing and delivering vehicles held for quality checks after restarting production in August.' Ford is to cut about 700 workers involved in assembling the F-150 Lightning, an electric variant of the company's best-selling pickup truck. Pictured, Ford Motor Company's electric F-150 Lightning on the production line at their Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan The second-largest U.S. automaker clarified the reductions are unrelated to the ongoing United Auto Workers strike On Friday, a United Autoworkers Union official said in a memo that Ford was considering canceling a shift, citing slowing demand and indicated that the company was looking to build more gasoline-powered trucks instead. 'It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that our sales for the Lightning have tanked,' the memo said, according to the Wall Street Journal. Ford had previously halted operations temporarily at the plant during the summer to enhance its production capabilities, but this most recent workforce reduction is connected to supply chain issues and the processing and delivery of vehicles held for quality inspections following a resumption of production in August. Sales have also been down sharply with Ford recently reporting a 45 percent decrease in Lightning sales for the third quarter in comparison to 2022. Nevertheless, the company says it is anticipating an upturn in sales during the final quarter of the year as capacity expansions at the plant become effective. Bill Ford, executive chairman of Ford Motor Company, called on striking workers to come together and reach a deal with automakers A worker on the Ford F-150 Lightning production line at the Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan Sales for Ford's F-150 Lightning have also been down sharply with Ford recently reporting a 45 percent decrease in Lightning sales for the third quarter in comparison to 2022 Ford also stressed the continued robust demand for its electric vehicle lineup, with a 65 percent growth in the third quarter. The United Auto Workers union's targeted strike has also affected several assembly plants at Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, leading to workforce reductions at all three companies. Ford has declared an additional 500 layoffs dispersed across five component plants due to the union's strike expansion at its largest facility, the Kentucky Truck Plant. Company executives have indicated there could be a total of 4,600 layoffs by the end of the week at various plants due to the strike's extension to the Kentucky Truck Plant. To date, nearly 2,500 workers have been laid off, not including those involved in F-150 Lightning production. Workers affected by the strike are typically ineligible for unemployment benefits in most states. Additionally, they are not entitled to 'sub pay' provided by their employers. These combined sources usually account for 74 percent of their regular pay while on layoff. However, the workers laid off from the F-150 Lightning production line will be eligible for both unemployment benefits and sub pay. UAW President Shawn Fain has previously criticized the layoffs as an attempt to pressure union members into accepting less, citing the companies' record profits as evidence that they could avoid layoffs. Last month, President Biden joined striking workers on the picket line in Michigan -- becoming the first sitting president to do so. President Joe Biden speaks to striking United Auto Workers on the picket line outside the Willow Run Redistribution Center in Van Buren Township, Michigan In September, President Joe Biden noted that workers had not been able to benefit from enormous corporate profits, which exceeded $20 billion for the three giants in just the first half of 2023. 'Record corporate profits -- which they have -- should be shared by record contracts for the UAW,' he said at the White House. Days later, Biden joined striking workers on the picket line in Michigan -- becoming the first sitting president to do so. Temperatures have risen at the negotiating table, with the UAW announcing last week an immediate walkout at Ford's Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, where some of the company's most profitable models are built. The Kentucky action came after Ford spoke of sweetening its economic offer 'for two weeks,' UAW's Fain said last Friday. But when both sides met, Ford offered the same terms as before, he added. A man has been charged after allegedly holding two women captive and torturing them at a home in Brisbane's northern suburbs. Police allege the 26-year-old man met the two women shortly before midnight on Saturday at a business in Fortitude Valley in Brisbane's CBD. The trio travelled together soon after to a property on Latham Street in Chermside, where police allege the women were assaulted multiple times. Police allege the man travelled with the woman to a property on Latham Street (pictured) Police allege the man prevented the women from leaving the property before they eventually escaped and sought medical assistance. 'While at the address, it will be alleged the man proceeded to assault both women multiple times and prevented them from leaving for a period of time,' Queensland Police said in a statement. 'The women were eventually able to escape the address and sought medical assistance.' Following investigations, police arrested a 26-year-old man who has since been charged with eight counts of assault occasioning bodily harm. The man, who also faces two counts each of deprivation of liberty and torture, was refused bail to appear before Brisbane Magistrates Court on Monday. Secretary of State Antony Blinken experienced the tense security situation in Israel firsthand while meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when the two had to briefly retreat to a security bunker when air raid sirens went off. It was the nation's top diplomat's second trip to Israel within days as the U.S. ally prepares for a possible ground invasion of Gaza in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks. His Monday trip was twice punctuated by air raid sirens, amid continued Hamas rocket attacks. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller confirmed the security precaution. 'During the Secretary's meeting with PM Netanyahu and the war cabinet, the air raid sirens went off and they sheltered in bunker for five minutes,' he said. Secretary of State Antony Blinken listens as Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant speaks at The Kirya, Israel's Ministry of Defense, in Tel Aviv, Israel October 16, 2023. Blinken and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had to retreat to a bomb shelter during his visit Other officials also had to find shelter in stairways and secure areas until they got the all clear. Israel's Iron Dome defenses were activated while Blinken was en route to Israel's ministry of defense for meeting. It came on a day when Blinken met with the new war cabinet of Israel's new unity government. That included minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, who met with Blinken a the Kirya, which houses the Israeli Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv. The precautions came amid reports that President Biden was himself strongly considering a trip to Israel, which is massing more than 300,000 reservists along the border with Gaza. The U.S. on Friday dispatched a second aircraft carrier group, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, to the region, and has been positioning an air armada in the region along with additional forces to advice Israel or provide medical assets as needed. Blinken's meeting with Netanyahu came days after his October 12 visit, which also included meetings throughout the region Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met with Netanyahu Oct. 13th, in another show of U.S. support for Israel Secretary of State Antony Blinken had an emotional encounter with a 24-year-old Israeli woman who recounted the horrors of the Israeli music festival where Hamas militants gunned down attendees. She pleaded for help bringing her kidnapped friends home from captivity On his earlier Oct. 12 trip, Blinken had an emotional encounter with a 24-year-old Israeli woman recounted the horrors of the Hamas attack on an Israeli music festival. She pleaded with Blinken to help free her friends who have been taken captive. Blinken met the woman while touring a donation center. The trip came five days after Hamas, the Palestinian terror group, launched an onslaught against Israel killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 150 hostages. Blinken spoke with a young woman who was at a desert music rave attacked by the terrorists. She told him: 'We lost a lot of our friends, close friends, lots of family members. There are a lot of people that we know that are kidnapped and now in Gaza. We went through horror, really. 'I'm just like I'm 24. And I never imaged something like this would happen ever in a dance, at a music festival. We celebrated love and we danced,' she said. 'I admire your strength and also telling your story makes a big difference, too. The world needs to hear this,' Blinken told her. The family of two British sisters who vanished during the kibbutz massacre in Israel have issued a plea to the British government to help 'bring them home'. Noiya, aged 16, and Yahel, aged 13, have been declared missing since Hamas launched its attack across the border on October 7. And speaking exclusively to MailOnline, their uncles, Raz Matalon and Sharon Sharabi, admitted that while they weren't 'eating' or 'sleeping', they were determined to do everything they could to bring them back to safety. The family confirmed that the girls' mother Lianne, 48, who is British and was born in Bristol, was tragically killed in Kibbutz Be'eri in last weekends assault. The girls father Eli, 51, remains missing whilst their uncle Yossi, 53, was kidnapped and taken to Gaza. 'We always call our family to check everything is ok but this time we were talking to Lianne and she said on Whatsapp that something very bad was happening', they said of the morning of the attacks. They continued: 'We didn't understand at that point what she meant. But then she wrote that she heard gunshots outside her home. That people were screaming and calling in Arabic. And people running all over. So they stayed in the safe room until they heard the terrorists had entered the house and tried to open the door.' From that point onwards Sharon and Raz said they do not have any testimony or witness as to what happened. Yahel, aged 13 (left), and Noiya, aged 16 (right), are feared to have been kidnapped by Hamas in last week's attack Yahel (left) and Noiya (right) have not been heard from since the attack on Kibbutz Be'eri on October 7. Their mother Lianne (centre) was killed in the terrorist assault They said: 'Two or three days ago a soldier from IDF was able to enter Eli and Lianne's home and they saw gunshots in the bomb shelter and in the children's room with two big blood stains on the floor. They saw the dog lying there dead. 'We don't know anything else about the girls and about Eli. The three of them are considered to be missing. Lianne was declared murdered so we are arranging a funeral in our village. 'We hope everyone will come back home safely but we are still thinking about the chance that we will find more bodies. So we are doing as much as we can to bring them back safely. 'We are in a very difficult place. We are going from funeral to funeral. Still I am praying for my family. We want to come together as a family to celebrate life and we want them to come back with joy and happiness as soon as possible. 'After 10 days of mourning and crying, having a very hard time, we are trying to do as much as we can and take action and try to encourage are government and the British government to help us first of all bring those two beautiful girls back home. 'We are not eating, we are not sleeping. We are doing everything we can to make their story heard and bring them home.' As for their missing brother Yossi: 'He struggled to hold the door handle but after a while they were able to enter and took the family outside and burned their house. The house was burned to the ground. They took Yossi and put him in a car to Gaza.' In a tribute shared with the BBC, family members said Lianne was a 'beloved daughter, sister, mother, aunt and friend who enriched the lives of all those lucky enough to have known and loved her'. 'She lived a beautiful life and will be sorely missed by the heartbroken family and friends she leaves behind.' The family, now say they fear the girls have been taken into Gaza as hostages where terrorists are using people they have captured as 'human shields' to fend off Israeli forces. Rishi Sunak confirmed earlier today that six Britons were killed in the attacks by Hamas last week, while another 10 are missing, some of whom are feared dead. The Prime Minister said the people killed and missing in the attack came from more than 30 countries, as well as Israel. He called the attack 'an existential strike at the very idea of Israel as a safe homeland for the Jewish people.' He said Britain supports 'absolutely Israel's right to defend itself, to go after Hamas, take back the hostages, deter further incursions and strengthen its security for the long term - in line with international humanitarian law.' He added the UK has earmarked 10million to alleviate the 'acute humanitarian crisis' in Gaza, and urged Israel and Egypt to open a border crossing to let in aid. The girls are feared to have been kidnapped after a Hamas assault on Kibbutz Be'eri in Israel on October 7. Pictured: A destroyed house in the Kibbutz after fighting between Israeli soldiers and Hamas militants Israeli soldiers walk past destroyed houses in Kibbutz Be'eri on Saturday October 14 after heavy fighting in the area A heavily damaged home pockmarked with bullet holes and explosion debris in Be'eri on Saturday More than 1,400 people are known to have been killed by the terrorist attacks from Hamas on October 7 which has since been followed by thousands of deaths in Gaza in retaliatory Israeli air strikes. Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have been massing in preparation for a ground invasion of the Palestinian territory, but this was postponed at the last minute over the weekend amid suggestions they had received new intelligence about hostages taken by Hamas. Aaron Cohen, a former Israeli special operator, told Fox News on Sunday that claims the invasion had been postponed due to bad weather may not be the real or full reason. A bogus delay of the invasion may have offered the IDF extra time to save hostages, which is a top priority for the Israeli army and government. 'You're about to see Israel [do] what it does best: rescue good people. So stand by,' he said. While it is now ten days since the terror group stormed into Israel from Gaza, details are still emerging about the horrific rampage and of its many victims. The delay has also provided Gazans extra time to flee to the southern part of the region, though it has become clear that Hamas are blocking the Palestinians' ability to move to safety. Gina Semiatich, a 90-year-old Czech-born Holocaust survivor, was tragically murdered in her home at Kibbutz Kissufim, less than two miles from the Gaza border. Eitan Kaptisher was celebrating his fifth birthday when he was killed by Hamas gunmen. According to reports in Israel, Semiatich was dragged from her home shelter by the terrorists and shot in the head in her living room. 'We had spoken to her just seconds before; she told us she was hiding in the shelter, scared,' her grandson said in the aftermath of the attack. Gina Semiatich, a 90-year-old Czech-born Holocaust survivor, was tragically murdered in her home at Kibbutz Kissufim, less than two miles from the Gaza border Another tragic victim of the attacks has been revealed to be a boy named Eitan, who according to Israel's official account on X (formerly Twitter), was celebrating his fifth birthday when he was killed by Hamas gunmen. 'Instead of celebrating his birthday, his parents will mourn their child's death on the day he was born for the rest of their lives,' the account said, along with two pictures: one of the youngster wearing a Spiderman costume, and another of his grave (right) Speaking to Haaretz, Shmulik Harel said 'Dozens of terrorists entered Kisufi and broke into houses' in the Kibbutz, home to fewer than 300 people. 'From outside they called 'IDF, IDF (Israel Defense Forces)' so that we felt safe and could come out. But the majority of residents suspected that something was wrong.' He told the Israeli newspaper that he was on the phone with Semiatich just moments before the Hamas terrorists broke into her home. Once inside, they dragged her out of her shelter and executed her on her living room floor. According to Israel's official account on X (formerly Twitter), Eitan Kaptisher was celebrating his fifth birthday when he was killed by Hamas gunmen. 'Instead of celebrating his birthday, his parents will mourn their child's death on the day he was born for the rest of their lives,' the account said, along with two pictures: one of the youngster wearing a Spiderman costume, and another of his grave. 'May the memory of Eitan Kaptisher be a blessing,' the post said. Israeli forces have now positioned themselves along Gaza's border and drilled for what officials said would be a broad campaign to dismantle Hamas. A week of blistering airstrikes have demolished neighbourhoods but failed to stop rocket fire into Israel. Palestine's Red Crescent humanitarian society released video on Monday showing an ambulance carrying civilians and a child being hit by an apparent Israeli airstrike. An aerial view shows members of the media during a visit to Kibbutz Kfar Aza, in the aftermath of a deadly attack by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, October 15 Israeli soldiers walk past a house destroyed in the October 7 attack by Palestinian Hamas militants on kibbutz Beeri near the border with Gaza, on October 14 Palestinians walk and drive away from Kibbutz Kfar Azza, Israel, near the fence with the Gaza strip following a deadly attack on the community on Saturday, October 7 The World Health Organisation has also warned there were only '24 hours of water, electricity and fuel left' in the Gaza Strip before 'a real catastrophe' sets in. Officials claim the besieged territory must be allowed to receive convoys of aid and warn that if assistance does not arrive, doctors will have to 'prepare death certificates for their patients'. In response to the terror attack, Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, and has launched its own assault against the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Since October 7, the IDF has pounded the territory with missile strikes, levelling entire neighbourhoods in an attempt to weaken the terror group before launching an expected ground assault into the enclave. This has become the deadliest of the five Gaza wars for both sides. In addition to the more than 1,400 people killed in Israel, at least 2,778 have been killed and 9,700 wounded in Gaza, according to the Heath Ministry there. Meanwhile, the Israeli military said Monday that at least 199 hostages were taken back in Gaza, higher than previous estimates. The military did not specify whether that number includes foreigners. Labour MPs condemned Israel for 'war crimes' yesterday, as they shrugged off appeals from Sir Keir Starmer to show a united front with the government over the terrorist assault by Hamas. The Labour leader said it was 'crucial that this House speaks with one voice in condemnation of terror, in support for Israel in its time of agony and for the dignity of all human life'. But a string of his MPs lined up to criticise Israel for its response to the atrocity. While most were careful to preface their remarks with condemnation of Hamas, several accused Israel of breaking international law in its efforts to dismantle the terror group's operations in Gaza. Cries of 'shame' could be heard as former shadow cabinet minister Richard Burgon accused Israel of committing a 'war crime' by cutting off power and water to Gaza. Cries of 'shame' could be heard as former shadow cabinet minister Richard Burgon (pictured) accused Israel of committing a 'war crime' by cutting off power and water to Gaza While most were careful to preface their remarks with condemnation of Hamas, several accused Israel of breaking international law in its efforts to dismantle the terror group's operations in Gaza. Pictured: Smoke rises as Israeli attacks continue during the 10th day of clashes near the Gaza border in Sderot, Israel He urged Rishi Sunak to 'make clear to the Israeli government that this collective punishment of Palestinian civilians must end immediately'. Bradford East MP Imran Hussain said that by 'laying siege to civilians in Gaza... and through indiscriminate airstrikes killing civilians' Israel was 'in clear violation of international law'. Fellow Labour MP Sarah Owen also accused Israel of punishing the Palestinian people, saying: 'Even at times of war there are still laws - what are ministers doing to counter breaches of international law?' The Prime Minister responded: 'Hamas alone is responsible for this conflict, We support Israel in taking action against terrorism and to defend itself.' In an extraordinary intervention, Labour's shadow trade minister Afzal Khan suggested the PM's own comments on the crisis had helped to 'dehumanise' Palestinian civilians and fuel Islamophobia. Mr Khan referenced the murder of a six-year-old Muslim boy in an apparent hate crime in Illinois, telling the PM: 'Tragically, yesterday, we saw the consequences in the murder of that little boy. 'Will the Prime Minister review his statements about the conflict and ensure that he does not add to the further vilification of Palestinians and Muslims when condemning the actions of Hamas?' Mr Sunak pointed out he had already stressed the importance of 'standing with the British Muslim community at this difficult time'. But those impacted by bloodshed in Middle East need to apply EXCLUSIVE A university has granted Indigenous students automatic extensions on their assessment deadlines to help them cope with the emotional fall-out from the Voice referendum - but not those impacted by the bloodshed in the Middle East. Professor Carolyn Evans, vice Chancellor and president of Griffith University in south east Queensland, wrote to its 55,000 students last Thursday in an email subjected 'responding to national and international events'. The email, seen by Daily Mail Australia, expressed sympathy for those who have 'friends and family in regions impacted by natural disaster or armed conflict, including Afghanistan, Israel, Gaza and Myanmar'. 'Nationally, we have for some weeks seen ugly, racist abuse directed at many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders in the context of the Voice,' Professor Evans added. Griffith University (pictured) in south east Queensland has granted automatic deadline extensions to all Indigenous students as a result of the fallout from the Voice referendum Professor Evans said in the email Indigenous students would be granted extensions to their assessments in light of toll the Voice debate might be taking on them 'Earlier this week we saw expressions of violent anti-Semitism on Australian streets.' The comments were in reference to pro-Palestine rallies held in front of Sydney Opera House last Monday where demonstrators chanted 'gas the Jews'. Professor Evans said in the email that Indigenous students would be granted extensions to their assessments in light of the toll the Voice debate might be taking on them. 'The University is offering assessment extensions to students identified as Australian First Peoples for certain assessment types due between now and 18 October 2023,' Professor Evans wrote. 'Any assessment item due between these dates may be submitted anytime up to 12pm (noon) on 19 October 2023.' Her email has sparked controversy among students. 'While I dont have a problem with a bit of understanding on a case-by-case basis, the assumption here is that Indigenous students, by virtue of their race, are deeply troubled by the referendum to a point that is debilitating,' said one student. 'This is the soft bigotry of low expectations and deserves to be called out.' The phrase, which was coined by US President George Bush's speechwriter, has been used extensively by Indigenous leader Noel Pearson to describe how socially progressive people keep Aboriginal Australians down by not expecting the same standard or behaviour from them. Another student asked: 'Why grant Indigenous students extensions and not those who are affected by the conflict in the Middle East?' One student suggested the move was an example of the 'soft bigotry of low expectations', while another asked why Jewish or Palestinian students had not been granted the same extensions (stock image) Professor Carolyn Evans (pictured), the university's vice Chancellor and president, wrote to its 55,000 students last Thursday in an email subjected 'responding to national and international events' Those students who have been impacted by events outside of the Voice to Parliament's failure are told they can apply for an extension via the normal route. Daily Mail Australia contacted Griffith University for comment. In February, Professor Evans told The Australian that Griffith graduated the equal-highest number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in Australia. Last year, the university was engulfed in a 'woke' row after one of its academics suggested it be renamed 'Dundalli University', to honour an Indigenous warrior who led resistance to the European invasion of south-east Queensland. Dr Fiona Foley suggested the name change because Sir Samuel Griffith - one of the authors of the Australian constitution - was attorney-general or Queensland premier during part of the time that widespread killings of First Nations people occurred in the late nineteenth century. Dr Foley's suggestion was prompted Australian historian Henry Reynolds 2021 book Truth-Telling, which describes Griffith as an 'enabler' of the massacres. EXCLUSIVE An 'extremely caring' young father loved by his local community died in a freak accident while washing his car at home. Jake Bashford, 27, was washing his sedan at his home on Hall Street in Mount Morgan in Rockhampton, Queensland, on Sunday afternoon. The vehicle then unexpectedly rolled forward, striking him before crashing into a fence. The father-of-two was rushed to Mount Morgan Hospital where he later died. Devastated friends have paid tribute following the shock news of his death. Jake Bashford (pictured), 27, was washing his sedan at his home on Hall Street in Mount Morgan in Rockhampton, Queensland (pictured below) on Sunday afternoon when it unexpectedly rolled forward, striking him before crashing into a fence The vehicle then unexpectedly rolled forward, striking him before crashing into a fence 'Jake was one of the most happiest people in town was extremely caring for anyone, always was happy to stop and have a chat he will be very missed by a lot of people,' one told Daily Mail Australia. Another wrote online: 'Such a good and decent man gone from his beautiful and loving family too soon,' one wrote. 'My condolences to Mum and bubs. Such a heartbreaking time and this sadness is deep.' Another posted on Facebook: 'Rip buddy. Your happy face will be missed. My deepest condolences go out to your family.' 'Sending so much love to his family at this very sad time. His big smile, & wave & a chat will be very missed,' another wrote. Another person who hinted that they knew Mr Bashford paid tribute. Mr Bashford has been remembered as an 'extremely caring' father who had time for everyone in his local town One friend said his 'happy face will be missed' 'Well you have gone way to soon,' they wrote. 'Only was around a week ago we had quick chat as we did. This is devastating news. Cant believe it. Condolences to all your family at this time. So sad.' Mr Bashford was a doting father who regularly posted photos of his children on his social media accounts. In one photo the father-of-two could be seen posing with one of his children and smiling widely at the camera. Another picture showed his smiling child playing in the water during a family trip to the beach. The Forensic Crash Unit is investigating. READ MORE: Aussie brewery is uses neon green ALGAE to fight climate change Spirits are likely to get more expensive due to grain shortages and water scarcity Some wines will get sweeter, while others will be poisoned with the ashtray flavor of wildfire 'smoke taint.' Some beer will soon taste less 'hoppy' or bitter, and some beloved whiskies and other spirits may skyrocket in price all thanks to climate change. The effects of global warming on wildlife and human health, like the threat of expanding regions of unlivable 'wet bulb' temperatures, have been well publicized by now. And some may not live long enough to see the true impact. But these lesser known effects, as agriculture adapts to the temperature changes well under way, have already been happening right under consumers noses as they roll their snifter glasses or aerate their wine. Some beer (left) will soon taste less 'hoppy' or bitter, and some beloved whiskies and other spirits may skyrocket in price thanks to climate change. But it's not all doom and gloom: an Oxford University team has discovered that global warming is at least improving the wine quality in Bordeaux (right) Vineyards, particularly in California, dread 'smoke taint' ruining whole vintages of their grapes. Industry laboratories were inundated with grape samples for testing, after the 2020 'Glass' wildfire in Napa Valley (above) left an estimated 8 percent of smoky wine grapes left to rot While the impact on vineyards, breweries and distilleries will vary, the whole industry fears what droughts and water scarcity will do to alcohol production. Vineyards, particularly in California regions beset by deadly recurring forest fires, dread 'smoke taint' ruining whole vintages of their grapes. The ash-like taste can cast a sickening pall over the delicate flavor profile of most wines, rendering whole seasons of grapes useless or unsellable even if the grapes were growing miles downwind. 'Wind-carried smoke and ash can affect the microbiology of vineyards over a much greater distance,' according to the industry analysts at Sia Partners. Vineyards, particularly in California regions beset by recurring wildfires, dread 'smoke taint' ruining whole vintages of their grapes. The Napa vineyard owned by the husband of film star Salma Hayek was one property smothered in smoke from 2020's 'Glass Fire' Wine industry laboratories were inundated with grape samples for testing, after the 'Glass Fire' forest fires Napa Valley faced in 2020, for example, leaving an estimated 8 percent of smoky wine grapes abandoned at a loss. But it's not all doom and gloom for wineries: an Oxford University team has discovered that global warming is at least improving the wine quality in Bordeaux But it's not all doom and gloom for wineries: an Oxford University team has discovered that global warming is at least improving the wine quality in Bordeaux. An analysis of 50 years' worth of wine scores from the celebrated French wine region revealed that recent years with warmer summers and wetter winters has resulted in better vintages. And these conditions are expected to become more common, thanks to climate change. 'Generally, we are seeing a trend across the world that with greater warming, wines are getting stronger,' said Andrew Wood, lead author. 'The trend, whether that's driven by the preferences of wine critics or the general population, is that people generally prefer stronger wines which age for longer and give you richer, more intense flavors, higher sweetness, and lower acidity,' Wood said. Another distinct trend over the past decade has been that the regions thought of as 'wine country' have shifted northward, as temperatures heat up, starting at the equator, forcing whole vineyards to move. Of all alcoholic drinks, wine will be the most sensitive to climate change, with the grapes used already carefully scrutinized for acidity, sugar levels and chemical make-up, maturity, and dozens of soil composition and microbiological effects that contribute to what experts call 'terroir.' But the hops used in beer, the sugar cane in rum, and many other key crops for alcohol production will feel the impact as well. This year, researchers at the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague made the alarming discovery that beer hop yields were likely to become less 'hoppy,' and therefore less bitter as rising temperatures altered the growing season. The team collected data on beer hop yield and 'alpha' content between 1971 and 2018 from 90 percent of the European beer hop growing regions in Germany, Czechia and Slovenia. The hops, which gives beer its unique reedy flavor, contain compounds called 'alpha acids' that contribute to its bitter aroma and overall quality. Their report, published in Nature this Tuesday, discovered that compared to before 1994, hops now start ripening 20 days earlier shifting the critical ripening period and reducing their alpha acid content. Analysis also reveals that hop production has declined by almost 0.22 tons per hectare per year, and the alpha bitter content has decreased by about 0.6 percent. By combining past data with climate models, the researchers estimate that beer hops yield could be reduced by up to 18 percent, and alpha acid content could be reduced by up to 31 percent, by 2050. The Caribbean sugarcane crops upon which classic kinds of rum depend could be swallowed up by rising sea levels and choked out by heat-resistant weeds But the risks of climate change for some higher proof spirits can be much more dire that flavor. The Caribbean sugarcane crops upon which many classic kinds of rum depend could be swallowed up by rising oceans and choked out by heat-resistant weeds. Last month, a study led by French chemical engineers at Toulouse University's 'Laboratoire de Genie Chimique' reported that 'weeds such as Rottboellia cochinchinensis, Ipomea plebeia and Digitaria sanguinalis are expected to increase under high-temperature conditions.' Ironically, evaporating and overused fresh water will also plague the sugarcane crops, the researchers noted, compounding the industries troubles from shrinking plantation sizes and rising sea levels. More land-locked spirits face their own challenges as well. 'Look at the big brands who are sourcing commodity grains,' spirits industry reporter Brian Freedman told PBS NewsHour, 'Climate change is wreaking havoc with that.' Freedman wrote a book on the topic, entitled 'Crushed: How a Changing Climate Is Altering the Way We Drink,' and found that the wild upheavals of climate uncertainty from floods, to droughts, to new invasive pest species magnifies problems for both farms and the alcohol producers who depend on them. 'If there's floods at a commodity grain farm in Saskatchewan, the big brands can maybe absorb that pricing a little bit,' Freedman said. 'But when you're making millions and millions of bottles, what does that do to the bottom line?' 'These are still businesses,' he said. The risk of more dramatic and intense storms, as the earth's overheated atmosphere roils to a boil, is hard to quantify. For example, in June 2018, one whisky and bourbon warehouse at the 1792 Barton Distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky was ravaged by a freak twister The alcohol beat reporter also pointed out the hard-to-quantify risk of more dramatic and intense storms, as the earth's overheated atmosphere roils to a boil. On June 22, 2018 in Bardstown, Kentucky, one whisky and bourbon warehouse, Warehouse 30 at the 1792 Barton Distillery, was ravaged by a freak twister. 'This whiskey was effectively knocked over by this rogue tornado,' Freedman said. The result of the increasing number of accidents of this kind has been 5-figure novelty bottles of high-priced 'tornado surviving whiskeys.' But, if there's one thing the whole alcohol industry is focused on, it is water scarcity and their role in making the problem worse. Diageo PLC, whose brands include Guinness, Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff, and Captain Morgan rum, said that even their efforts at sustainable water use feel inefficient and leave the industry unprotected for the unexpected. 'You could be with the most efficient brewery or distillery in the world,' Alexander told TIME magazine. 'But it's still not going to mitigate your risk if there's a drought.' It has been more than 80 years since the British destroyer HMS Keith sank during an operation described by Winston Churchill as a 'miracle of deliverance'. The 330ft-long vessel was among some 1,000 military, merchant, fishing and civilian 'little ships' that helped rescue 338,226 Allied troops from the beaches of Dunkirk in 1940. It had just returned to the French coast having evacuated 992 soldiers to Dover when it was bombed by a German aircraft and sank to the bottom of the English Channel. Now, almost nine decades on, the World War II warship has been seen again after scientists used sonar to create a 3D model of it lying on the sea bed. It is all thanks to a project involving Historic England and Drassm France's Department of Underwater Archaeological Research. Fascinating: It has been more than 80 years since the British destroyer HMS Keith sank while helping to rescue Allied troops from Dunkirk. But the World War II warship has now been seen again after scientists used sonar to create a 3D model of it lying on the sea bed (pictured) HMS Keith (pictured) had just returned to the French coast having evacuated 992 soldiers to Dover when it was bombed by a German aircraft and sank to the bottom of the English Channel WHAT HAPPENED TO HMS KEITH? HMS Keith was among some 1,000 military, merchant, fishing and civilian 'little ships' that famously helped rescue 338,226 Allied troops from the beaches of Dunkirk in 1940. It had just returned to the French coast having evacuated 992 soldiers to Dover when it was bombed by a German aircraft and sank to the bottom of the English Channel. A bomb went down the 330ft-long (100 m) vessel's aft funnel and exploded in a boiler room, starting a fire in the process. All personnel were then ordered to abandon ship. A total of 36 men were killed but eight officers and 123 crewmen were saved. Advertisement The aim was to search for undiscovered wrecks linked to Operation Dynamo, which was popularised in the 2017 Christopher Nolan film Dunkirk and involved the loss of 305 vessels and more than 30,000 troops. Scientists managed to locate and study a total of 27 wrecks as part of their research. Of these, the location of 12 of them had not been clear prior to the survey, while four were either destroyed or covered by sand so could not be found. The experts think they may have also potentially discovered three more previously unknown vessels that are linked to the evacuation of Dunkirk. 'It's very moving to see new details emerge from thirty shipwrecks linked to Operation Dynamo for the first time since the events at Dunkirk during the Second World War,' said Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England. 'The results give us a striking insight into our shared heritage that still lies beneath the waters off Dunkirk.' The main tool used by the scientists was a multibeam echosounder which was mounted beneath the hull of the research ship Andre Malraux. It emits a fan of sound that is recorded as it bounces off the seabed, which then enables geophysicists to create a colourful 3D image of features such as shipwrecks. How it works: A multibeam echosounder mounted beneath the hull of the research ship Andre Malraux helped to create the colourful 3D image It emits a fan of sound that is recorded as it bounces off the seabed, which then enables geophysicists to create a colourful 3D image of features such as shipwrecks Clever: Scientists managed to locate and study a total of 27 wrecks as part of their research Such is the level of detail produced by the sonar that scientists are then able to match features and dimensions of vessels to historic photographs Such is the level of detail that scientists are then able to match features and dimensions of vessels to historic photographs. For example, the davits from which lifeboats once hung helped to confirm that one particular wreck was the Normannia, which was sunk by an air attack on May 30. Many of the wrecks are in pretty good condition, the researchers said, but when compared to past surveys it is clear that HMS Keith's hull has degraded in the last decade. The use of the technology not only helped uncover highly detailed images of ships like HMS Keith, but also corrected the identities of two other wrecks. It showed that previous identifications had confused the French auxiliary minesweepers Denis Papin and Moussaillon, which were sunk by air attacks on June 1, 1940. For example, the davits from which lifeboats once hung helped to confirm that one particular wreck was the Normannia (pictured), which was sunk by an air attack on May 30 The data also revealed that previous identifications had confused the French auxiliary minesweepers Denis Papin (pictured) and Moussaillon, which were sunk by air attacks on June 1, 1940 Pictured is the dimensions of the French minesweeper Moussaillon, which was sunk in 1940 The main tool used by the scientists was a multibeam echosounder which was mounted beneath the hull of the research ship Andre Malraux (pictured) The World War II wrecks were imaged in the waters off Dunkirk in France (pictured) Between May 27 and June 4, 1940, 338,226 Allied troops were rescued from the beaches of Dunkirk by military, merchant and fishing vessels and civilian 'little ships'. The evacuation became necessary after Allied troops were encircled by Nazi forces which had swept through Europe and occupied France. More than 1,000 ships - flying British, French, Belgian, Dutch, Polish, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish flags - were involved in the nine days and nights of the evacuation. In the House of Commons on June 4, 1940, Churchill - the new Prime Minister - gave what would become one of his most famous speeches. Between May 27 and June 4, 1940, 338,226 Allied troops were rescued from the beaches of Dunkirk by military, merchant and fishing vessels and civilian 'little ships' Thousands of soldiers line up to be evacuated from Dunkirk at the end of May in 1940 Hospital Carrier St. David by the East Mole at Dunkirk. The vessel took troops back from Dunkirk but was sunk in 1944 off the coast of Lazio, Italy Speaking of the Dunkirk evacuation, he described it as a 'miracle of deliverance'. He added: 'The enemy was hurled back by the retreating British and French troops. He was so roughly handled that he did not harry their departure seriously. 'The Royal Air Force engaged the main strength of the German Air Force, and inflicted upon them losses of at least four to one; and the Navy, using nearly 1,000 ships of all kinds, carried over 335,000 men, French and British, out of the jaws of death and shame, to their native land and to the tasks which lie immediately ahead. 'We must be very careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory. 'Wars are not won by evacuations. But there was a victory inside this deliverance, which should be noted.' As he addressed the threat of an invasion of Britain, Churchill finished his speech with the words that are now known by millions everywhere. He said: 'We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender...' The discovery could unlock a store of ancient knowledge once thought lost Scientists have used AI to unravel a 2,000-year-old mystery, deciphering an unopened scroll charred by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. When it erupted in 79CE, the nearby town of Herculaneum was entombed in a flood of volcanic mud and ash, taking with it a library of more than 1,800 manuscripts. While it was feared that the knowledge of the scrolls would be forever lost, two computer scientists have just won $50,000 (41,168) for revealing the first word from the carbonised scrolls. Luke Farritor from Nebraska and Youssef Nader from Berlin independently revealed the same word hidden within the heart of the sealed manuscript - 'c' - meaning purple dye or clothes of purple. The discovery was announced by Professor Brent Seales, a computer scientist from the University of Kentucky, who launched the so-called Vesuvius Challenge in March, offering cash prizes for anyone who could read the manuscripts. Two computer scientists independently discovered the ancient Greek word for purple within the Herculaneum manuscripts The Herculaneum manuscripts were carbonised by the intense heat following the eruption of Mt Vesuvius, leaving them perfectly preserved but too fragile to unroll READ MORE: Uncovering the history of Pompeii's SLAVES Archaeologists discover a cramped room in an ancient house that provides a rare glimpse into the lives of servants before Mount Vesuvius' devastating eruption Advertisement The scrolls themselves are extremely fragile, having lain in the ground for 1,700 years, and cannot be unrolled due to the risk of destroying them forever. To avoid damaging the manuscripts further, Professor Seales and his team used a particle accelerator to make an extremely high-resolution scan of the interior of the rolled-up scrolls. While the ink is no longer present, Professor Seales believed machine learning would be able to decipher the subtle marks left behind by the presence of ink. Launching the challenge, Professor Seales released thousands of 3D images of two rolled-up scrolls, as well as an artificial intelligence programme that had been trained to read letters in the marks left by ink. The two scrolls are among hundreds unearthed in the 1750s when archaeologists excavated a buried villa at Herculaneum believed to have been owned by Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus, the father-in-law of Julius Caesar. Mr Farritor was the first to decipher a legible word from within the scroll, winning the $40,000 (32,934) first ten letters prize, while Nader followed shortly after with an even clearer image and won $10,000 (8,233). Luke Farritor and Youssef Nader both discovered the same word. Farritor's results (pictured left) came first while Nader's results (pictured right) were clearer, but came afterwards Dr Seales and his team used a particle accelerator to get the highest possible definition scans of the scroll for the best chance of uncovering their contents Luke Farritor (pictured) holds a modern scroll burned by researchers to test how writing can be preserved in carbonized papyrus What are the Herculaneum Scrolls? Herculaneum was an ancient Roman town located in Campania. With a population of 5,000, it was smaller than Pompeii, although wealthier. Based on the western side of Mount Vesuvius, when the volcano erupted in 79AD, Herculaneum was not initially affected. However, when the eruptive column collapsed in a pyroclastic surge - a wave of hot ash and gases flowing at 160mph - the town was buried. One of the buildings buried was a large villa, possibly belonging to Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesonius, the father-in-law of Julius Caesar. The large library of the villa contained over 1,800 papyrus scrolls that had been turned to carbon in the eruption. In the 1750s, excavations began on the villa and a number of scrolls were destroyed or thrown away in the belief that they were lumps of charcoal. Hundreds more were destroyed during attempts to unroll them. In 1756, Abbot Piagio, conserver of ancient manuscripts in the Vatican Library, invented a machine that could unroll a single manuscript in four years. The text was quickly copied down as it would soon deteriorate once exposed to air. Modern attempts to conserve the collection have focused on digital methods to read the texts without unrolling the papyri physically. Researchers have only been able to read fragments of the manuscripts - most of which have related to the Epicurean school of philosophy. Advertisement Farritor, a SpaceX intern, said: 'I was walking around at night and randomly checked my most recent code outputs on my phone. 'I didn't expect any substantial results, so when half a dozen letters appeared on my screen, I was completely overjoyed.' Nader, a biorobotics graduate student, added: 'It was exhilarating reading text we did not understand, but we knew was left to us by people thousands of years ago. It was like peeking through a time machine into the past.' Although Farritor and Nader were only able to read 10 letters from the vast library, their discovery opens the door to eventually reading more of the contents of the Herculaneum scrolls. Previous attempts to unroll the scrolls destroyed several of the manuscripts, apart from a handful which were painstakingly opened by a monk over several decades. If the scrolls could be read without damaging them, it would double the body of texts remaining from antiquity. Federica Nicolardi, assistant professor in papyrology at the Universita degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, said: 'The most unique feature of the Library of Herculaneum is that the preserved texts are entirely unknown from other sources.' Dr Nicolardi added that the word purple is exciting to discover because of the importance of this colour in the ancient world. 'Purple dye was highly sought-after in ancient Rome and was made from the glands of sea snails, so the term could refer to purple colour, robes, the rank of people who could afford the dye or even the molluscs,' Dr Nicolardi says. The next challenge for scientists will be to uncover more than a single word of the text and, eventually, begin to decipher entire works. A large part of the $1million (822,735) prize money is yet to be claimed, with a grand prize of $700,000 (576,355) to be given to the first person to read four passages of text by the end of 2023. 'What the challenge allowed us to do was to enlist more than a thousand research teams to work on a problem that would normally have about five people working on it,' Professor Seales added. 'The competitive science aspect of this project is just fascinating.' Ancient microbes frozen for thousands of years in Siberia's permafrost are thawing, researchers have warned - and could pose a 'disastrous' threat to the human race. Virologist Jean-Michel Claverie has warned that as global warming defrosts ice which has remained frozen since tens of thousands of years before the dawn of civilization, ancient viruses could be unleashed. If an ancient disease killed Neanderthals, for example, their frozen corpses could still harbor infectious viruses, Claverie warns - and melting ice could reveal them. The viruses have already turned up in mammoth wool, Siberian mummies, prehistoric wolves, and the lungs of an Influenza victim buried in Alaska's permafrost. Scientists have highlighted six frozen pathogens they believe pose the biggest threat to humanity. Frozen, well-preserved viruses have turned up in mammoth wool, Siberian mummies, prehistoric wolves, and the lungs of an Alaskan Influenza victim. Above, the first full carcass of a cave bear, approximately 39500 years old, unearthed from the Yakutia permafrost in 2020 Melting permafrost in Siberia could unleash deadly pathogens Virologist Jean-Michel Claverie Claverie told Bloomberg News: With climate change, we are used to thinking of dangers coming from the south. 'Now, we realize there might be some danger coming from the north as the permafrost thaws and frees microbes, bacteria and viruses.' The threat of frozen diseases buried in the ice is real: a heat wave in Siberia in 2016 activated deadly anthrax spores which killed a child, along with thousands of reindeer. Claverie's team previously revived giant viruses from up to 48,000 years ago - and he has warned that there could be even more ancient viruses in the ice, some of which could potentially infect humans. Claverie's team have focused for a decade on giant viruses found frozen in the ice. These 'giant viruses' are a type of pandoravirus which can infect amoebas. One-quarter of the northern hemisphere sits on top of permanently frozen ground - known as permafrost, but large areas are now melting as the world warms. Claverie's team previously revived viruses from before the dawn of civilization (AP) Previously researchers have warned that global warming and thawing ice might unearth diseases such as smallpox frozen into the corpses of victims, with a few infectious particles enough to revive the pathogen. The planet is already 1.2 degrees Celsius warmer than it was in pre-industrial times, and scientists have warned that the Arctic could see ice-free summers by the 2030s. Clarverie's team first revived viruses in 2014, focusing for safety reasons on viruses which could only infect amoebas. Claverie has since isolated 13 new viruses since 2019, and he warns that an unknown, ancient pathogen could have 'disastrous' effects for the human race. Claverie told Bloomberg, 'Fifty thousand years back in time takes us to when Neanderthal disappeared from the region. 'If Neanderthals died of an unknown viral disease and this virus resurfaces, it could be a danger to us.' e World Health Organization last year launched a global scientific process to consult on 'Disease X', an unknown pathogen which could cause an international epidemic. Former chief medical advisor to the President Anthony Fauci has said that the concept of Disease X will allow researchers to focus on entire classes of viruses rather than individual strains. Claverie has now said he won't return to the region, saying that the research carries a risk of accidentally unleashing a new virus. He said, 'It would be good to establish a specialized way of following the Inuit population, for example, to see what kind of diseases they get. 'And if there is something coming from the permafrost, we'll be able to catch it much more rapidly.' Whether it's taking a gap year interrailing through Europe or jetting off to 'find yourself' in Thailand, solo travel is becoming more and more popular, especially among young people. However, it doesn't come without it's challenges - it can be anxiety-inducing to book that one way ticket and head to a country where you don't know anyone. A travel influencer has revealed how he overcame his fear of solo backpacking after being 'terrified' to begin with, with the hopes to encourage others. YouTuber '@BackpackerBen' posted a video titled 'Life as a Travel YouTuber (brutal truth)' where he answered his viewers burning questions about the solo travel lifestyle. The influencer has visited almost 80 countries and has been travelling alone for years, so was keen to pass on some words of wisdom to the upcoming generation of backpackers. A travel influencer has revealed how he overcame his fear of solo backpacking after being 'terrified' to begin with, with the hopes to encourage others One query he answered was 'How do you overcome your fear of travelling?' He told his 244,000 followers, 'Good question, there's a lot of people that message me that are scared to travel and I completely understand, especially if you're young because I was exactly the same. 'My first solo travel experience was Australia and I left my friends in Thailand and I flew to Sydney. 'Let me tell you, I was petrified. I'd booked a hostel and that was the first ever hostel I stayed in. 'Basically I walked into that hostel and there was four girls in there, they were friendly they were talking to me like 'where are you from?' 'I explained to them I'm from Plymouth, I'm here travelling and that's it, they went on a night out and I was just like oh my god, I didn't want to ask to join them, I was hoping they would.' Claiming it was 'really awkward' to begin with, he continued 'You've got to go downstairs into the common area and speak to people and obviously I'm quite confident as it is but it's hard. 'It's tricky, you go into a hostel and there's a lot of foreign people, you're a foreigner yourself and it's really hard honestly. YouTuber '@BackpackerBen' posted a video titled 'Life as a Travel YouTuber (brutal truth)' where he answered his viewers burning questions about the solo travel lifestyle The influencer has visited almost 80 countries and has been travelling alone for years, so was keen to pass on some words of wisdom to the upcoming generation of backpackers He told his 244,000 followers, 'Good question, there's a lot of people that message me that are scared to travel and I completely understand, especially if you're young because I was exactly the same' 'But once you overcome that fear and you speak to people and you realise you're all the same, you're all doing the same thing, you'll meet some incredible people and you'll overcome that fear.' He concluded the video by talking about the progress he's made, explaining 'I got to the point where I was going to a new hostel and I was looking forward to it - you meet some incredible people and each hostel you go to, it will continue. 'I was terrified at first but you overcome that fear the more you do it and the more you get involved and speak to people.' Comments praised the YouTuber's honesty, writing 'Its hard to believe that Ben was ever scared' and 'It is people like yourself which makes this a lovely planet, honesty is always the best policy'. Others added 'Ben's videos are less of sugar coating and more of raw traveling, it's rare to see such content nowadays' and 'I like videos like this more than the actual travel videos. Interesting to know about the difficulties of travelling etc'. A furious debate has sparked online after an airline introduced a 'child-free' zone. While sitting next to a crying baby for hours isn't anyone's idea of fun, some wonder whether banning children from a part of the plane altogether an acceptable solution. One user on X, formerly Twitter, called the decision 'weird' and 'sad' while another disagreed, arguing that they would 'pay more money to be on a plane without children'. The tweet that began the online debate, reads: 'So apparently airlines are considering making child free zones on planes, & I cant decide if this is a dystopian shift or not, but generally its really sad how little tolerance people have for children & babieseven acting like they shouldnt be in public.' It was seen by over 17,400 people and over 120 users chimed in with their opinions. A furious debate has sparked on X (formerly known as Twitter ) after an airline introduced a 'child-free' zone The discussion comes after airline Corendon announced plans to introduce an 'Only Adult' area (above) where little ones are banned One person wrote: 'Ive noticed people seem more annoyed with kids in public than Ive ever seen before. Usually people see little kids and babies and smile or whatever but thats seeming to slowly change. Its weird and sad.' Others added 'I will not tolerate a screaming baby next to me on a four hour flight' and 'It's a great idea. I'm also in favor of obesity zones on airplanes'. The discussion comes after airline Corendon announced plans to introduce an 'Only Adult' area where little ones are banned. It will be available on the carrier's A350 flights between Amsterdam and the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao, launching in just a few weeks from November 3 this year. The zone will be in the front section of the aircraft and consist of nine 'XL' seats, with extra legroom, and 93 standard seats, according to Corendon. The carrier explained that the area will be physically separated from the rest of the aircraft 'by means of walls and curtains', which will 'create a shielded environment that contributes to a calm and relaxed flight'. A seat reservation in the adult zone is for over-16s and costs 45 euros (38/$48) in the standard area and 100 euros (85/$107) in the XL zone. People are beginning to worry that the same ideas will continue into other areas of life - one X user said 'Ive literally seen apartments flat out say they dont accept tenants with kids. Its disgusting'. The 'Only Adult' area will be available on Corendon's A350 flights between Amsterdam and the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao, launching from November 3 this year One user called the decision 'weird' and 'sad' while another disagreed, arguing that they would 'pay more money to be on a plane without children' Another blames parents for their loud children, adding: 'I think some of it is driven by changes in parenting. Like when I was a teen, a lot of kids seemed pretty well-behaved. READ MORE: Airline Corendon introduces zone where children are BANNED that's shielded from the rest of the aircraft by walls and curtains Advertisement 'But I see more and more young kids that are incredibly rambunctious and loud and the parents just sit their scrolling on their phones'. One mother is even worried that policies like this will put people off having children: 'Having kids is already an isolating experience, before I had kids I never cared about other kids in restaurants or on airplanes. 'But if they want people to reproduce isolation for moms is not a good look'. Another furious user argued back with 'Excuse some of us for not being delighted to hear other people's crotch goblins shriek at the top of their lungs in a confined space. 'Instead of bemoaning how people react to children's poor behavior, focus on teaching your kids how to behave in public'. Another chimed in with 'Last time I was on a plane , I thought, "I would pay more money to be on a plane without children" Almost every time I fly, which isn't much at all, there's a child crying the whole time'. Meanwhile, some users are undecided on the debate, with someone writing 'I am on both sides on this one... If you have been on a plane with a toddler that the parents haven't prepped ear equalizing items for them, you might understand.' Meanwhile, some users are undecided on the debate, with someone writing 'I am on both sides on this one... If you have been on a plane with a toddler that the parents haven't prepped ear equalizing items for them, you might understand' Someone else called the idea 'nonsensical' because 'if a baby is crying right next to the child free zone, he/she will still be noisy enough for everyone to hear', adding that they would prefer an alcohol free-zone instead. Explaining it's reasoning for the adults only zone, Dutch carrier Correndon said: 'This zone in the aircraft is intended for passengers travelling without children and for business travellers who want to work in a quiet environment. 'At the same time, the introduction of the Only Adult zone also has a positive effect for parents with children. 'They don't have to worry as much about possible reactions from fellow passengers if their child is a bit busier or cries.' Atilay Uslu, founder of Corendon, added: 'On board our flights, we always strive to respond to the different needs of our customers. 'We are also the first Dutch airline to introduce the Only Adult zone, because we cater to travellers looking for some extra peace of mind during their flight. 'We also believe this can have a positive effect on parents travelling with small children. They can enjoy the flight without worrying if their children make more noise.' Trinny Woodall has revealed she decided to have Botox for the first time at the age of 35 because she was so insecure about her forehead, which she claimed looked 'like a second mouth'. The British fashion and beauty expert, 59, is refreshingly open when it comes to discussing procedures or 'tweakments', and confirmed she has Botox 'twice a year'. Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, Trinny recalled how she thought the cosmetic injection was 'really f**king clever' when she was first introduced to it more than 20 years ago, right before her TV career kicked off. 'I didn't do Botox until I was 35 and at the time it was really young because it was hardly there,' she explained. 'Nobody knew what Botox was, and I was told it would stop my forehead from moving when I did television.' Trinny burst onto screens in 2001 alongside Susannah Constantine, with the pair teaming up to help the fashion-challenged on the UK version of What Not To Wear. Trinny Woodall has revealed she decided to first have Botox at the age of 35 because she was conscious of her forehead The beauty and fashion expert confirmed she has Botox injections twice a year Trinny said her daughter Lyla, pictured here in June 2023, isn't 'anywhere close to thinking' about having Botox 'My forehead was literally like a second mouth and it embarrassed me,' Trinny admitted, before adding: 'And this person said, "[Botox] will just freeze your forehead", and I was like, "How f**king clever"... and it did! 'So, as a result I didn't progress with so many lines on my forehead because I didn't give them a chance to start!' But despite her own penchant for Botox, Trinny is confident that her daughter Lyla - who turns 20 next week - is not planning on picking up her mother's bi-annual habit. 'I mean whenever I would have my appointment for Botox, she'd say, "Are you going to see that funny man whose going to put something in your face?" That's how she looks at it so I don't think she's anywhere close to thinking [about it],' she said. The mother-of-one continued: 'She is so fundamentally different from me at her age, that I look upon her in awe. She has a different sense of self than I had... she has an amazing sense of self.' Trinny also admitted that she 'hated' being the age that her daughter is now and was 'so relieved' when she entered her thirties. 'I hated my twenties so much! I was so relieved when my twenties were over,' she explained. 'It's that thing when you don't yet know who you are to such an extent that you wake up worrying.' In 2017, the fashion expert launched her very own beauty and skincare brand, Trinny London, for women over the age of 35 who she claims were not being 'catered for in the market'. The TV star said she is 'in awe' of her 19-year-old daughter because she has an 'amazing sense of self' Trinny burst on to television screens in 2001 hosting What Not To Wear alongside Susannah Constantine Trinny, pictured here with Susannah in 2001, said being in her fifties has been 'the most freeing decade' of her life Trinny said: 'I want to accelerate you getting to a stage where you know who you are and love yourself. If I had to think, "what's my mission?" it's to bring that to you sooner. 'It is a rite of passage but sometimes you can find women at 60 and you think, "you're not there yet", so it's also a generational thing of feeling you don't have the right to show that you want to care about yourself, or worry about yourself. And it's more of a privilege now to be able to do that.' Writing for the Daily Mail in September, Trinny explained why her fifties have been 'the most freeing decade' of her life and how she realized that 'feeling good about yourself' is the best way to let go of the fear. 'Just before I turned 50, a woman who was a little older than me said I was about to go into the most freeing decade of my life. She was right,' Trinny wrote. 'I did feel more free. I felt - and still feel - more comfortable in who I am. As you go down the path of life, you learn to stop worrying what anyone thinks.' Trinny will bid farewell to her fifties when she turns 60 in February, and plans to go on a 'walking holiday' with some close friends to ring in the milestone birthday. 'I've always loved something where you have a weekend of people getting to know each other better because it's quality rather than quantity, because people I really love and care about probably are on two hands, so would I want to do something where there's a weekend and we do an adventure together,' she said. 'So, my dream would be to go to Bhutan, but that just might be quite tricky, with like eight friends but what I'd love to do is choose a certain number of people - it wouldn't be so many - but people I love, so we can walk because when you walk, you have really good conversations. 'I've always wanted to go to Bhutan and it's very difficult to get to and it's very challenging to do it, so I have no idea if it will happen but probably if you asked me my dream way to celebrate, it would be to go with my closest friends on a trip where we all have an adventure together to somewhere we've never been to before.' Married At First Sight bride Melinda Willis has been spotted for the first time since announcing her shock split with TV 'husband' Layton Mills. On Saturday, the 33-year-old CEO was joined by fellow brides Tahnee Cook and Alyssa Barmonde, who came out to cheer her on. Melinda put on a brave face as she spoke about her beauty business in front of an audience at B*tchCon in Sydney. The glamorous blonde ensured that all eyes were on her dressed in a $99 pink crop top and wide leg pants set from Showpo. She teamed up her affordable, yet stylish look with a white blazer and sparkly handbag. MAFS bride Melinda Willis put on a brave face as she spoke about her beauty business in front of an audience at B*tchCon on Saturday - following her shock split from 'husband' Layton Mills The 33-year-old CEO was joined by fellow brides Tahnee Cook and Alyssa Barmonde, who came out to cheer her on. Melinda wore her long blonde locks out and curled to perfection. Tahnee, who was paired with Ollie Skelton on the show, opted for an all-pink ensemble, also from Showpo. Mother-of-one, Alyssa, meanwhile opted for a dual-tone pink dress that she teamed up with a royal blue blazer and handbag. Melinda spoke about her company Feather Sisters, a beauty website that has hit over $1million in sales in 2020 alone The glamorous blonde ensured that all eyes were on her dressed in a $99 pink crop top and wide leg pants set from Showpo The event, hosted by Showpo CEO Jane Wu and Gen George, saw hundreds of women come together to discuss their growing business empires and share tips over wine. Melinda spoke about her company Feather Sisters, a beauty website that has hit over $1million in sales in 2020 alone. She is also the owner of Melly's Beauty Parlour, the owner of MW Lashes and is a director for BSSA (pronounced Bossa) Store. Melinda wore her long blonde locks out and curled to perfection She teamed up her affordable, yet stylish look with a white blazer and sparkly handbag Tahnee, (right) who was paired with Ollie Skelton on the show, opted for an all-pink ensemble Mother-of-one, Alyssa, meanwhile opted for a dual-tone pink dress that she teamed up with a royal blue blazer and handbag The event, hosted by Showpo CEO Jane Wu (pictured) and Gen George, saw hundreds of women come together to discuss their growing business empires and share tips over wine Jane's Shark Tank co-star David Fogarty was also in attendance alongside several contestants Melinda surprised fans on Wednesday night, when she announced her decision to 'take time apart' from partner Layton Mills. Over a black and white picture of the couple kissing, Melinda wrote a caption saying that they wanted to keep the matter private but decided they owed transparency to supporters who were invested in their relationship. 'After a lot of thought and consideration, we have sadly decided to both take time apart,' Melinda declared. The couple were one of two pairs that appeared to still be going strong following this year's season of Married At First Sight, with the lovebirds recently moving in together. Melinda made the announcement via an Instagram Story on Wednesday night. 'After a lot of thought and consideration, we have sadly decided to both take time apart,' Melinda declared However, the fashion CEO recently revealed on Two Girls, One Pod that Layton had yet to verbally drop the 'L-bomb'. Host Yvie Jones spoke with Melinda about her relationship with the biotech CEO when she dropped the surprising bombshell. 'But he's never told you he loves you. Is that true?' Yvie asked when Melinda spoke about defying the odds with Layton. The couple were one of two pairs that appeared to still be going strong following this year's season of Married At First Sight, with the lovebirds recently moving in together 'He has now, but it was in a love letter,' Melinda confessed. She went on to say that Layton found it 'really, really hard' to say the words out loud. 'I wasn't [accepting of that] at first, I think he was just always fearful of commitment and a forever thing,' Melinda said. Despite his inability to say the words, Layton recently gifted her an eternity ring for their one-year anniversary. The couple were one of two pairs that appeared to still be going strong following this year's season of Married At First Sight, with the lovebirds recently moving in together Eva Longoria: Searching For Mexico Rating: The Ex-Wife Rating: Park yourself on a rock, grab a stick for cutlery, and spread a sabre-toothed tiger-skin serviette across your lap. Desperate Housewife Eva Longoria is serving up the ultimate foodie experience - prehistoric cuisine. And she's starting with dinosaur meatballs. In Monterrey, on Searching For Mexico (BBC2), the actress visited an arty restaurant called Koli, where the taster menu begins with a dish inspired by a mass extinction. When an asteroid crashed into Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula 66 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous era, it wiped out all the dinosaurs. It also formed a landscape of craters and underground caverns, explored by Chris Packham earlier this year in his geological history show, Earth. Eva had no intention of rappelling into one of those giant potholes. She might have broken a nail. But she was delighted by a dish consisting of a single charred meatball (representing the asteroid) served on a bed of smoking bones (which is self-explanatory). Desperate Housewife Eva Longoria is serving up the ultimate foodie experience - prehistoric cuisin In Monterrey, on Searching For Mexico (BBC2), the actress visited an arty restaurant called Koli, where the taster menu begins with a dish inspired by a mass extinction Earlier, she tucked into tamales, a cornbread wrap first cooked thousands of years ago. Eva, born in Texas with Mexican ancestry - she says she's 'Texican' - was familiar with a pork filling but, at a cafe run by a matriarch known as Dona Lupita, she discovered venison poached with garlic. Keen carnivore Eva loved it. It's a good job she isn't vegetarian, because Mexican recipes appear to consist entirely of meat and flour. The only vegetable to make an appearance was half an onion, which a man in a ten-gallon hat used to scrub his barbecue grill. 'It starts smelling,' he said, 'and this is the way you tell your neighbours that you're grilling, and they're not invited. It makes them jealous.' Then he laid an entire haunch of beef across the flames. This six-part series is a spin-off from Searching For Italy With Stanley Tucci, who is one of the producers. But where Stan loves to eat revolting delicacies such as chopped tripe and squid tentacles, Eva's tastes are less pretentious. She was particularly taken with a breakfast of tortilla tacos, or filled flatbreads, at a street stand. The chef, Mary, offered her one with a newly invented filling of crispy pork, potatoes, beans and melted cheese. Smooth-talking husband Jack (Tom Mison) (left) has a gift for giving the right answers to his new bride, Tasha (Celine Buckens) (centre) in The Ex-Wife (Ch5) Taking a bite, the star hinted that her culinary creation needed a name. 'Taco Eva,' said Mary, obligingly. This was the right answer. Smooth-talking husband Jack (Tom Mison) has a gift for giving the right answers to his new bride, Tasha (Celine Buckens), in The Ex-Wife (Ch5). He's thoughtful, affectionate, attentive and, most of all, rich. But the first Mrs Jack (Janet Montgomery) keeps sliding back into their lives. She bumps into Tasha at the supermarket, she goes to the same parties... she even turns up drunk in their kitchen while Jack is away. He says he isn't seeing her behind Tasha's back. Well, that's got to be the right answer, hasn't it? This is a slow-burn psychological thriller, marred by an opening sequence that gives us a glimpse of how things will end in a car crash and a fireball. That jump ahead wasn't necessary: the story is fast-paced enough, and the character of Tasha is intriguing because there's a selfish, ruthless side to her too. Former musician Jordan Stephens of pop duo Rizzle Kicks plays her former boyfriend Sam, who gets dumped on the spot when wealthy Jack appears. As Tasha's suspicions about her husband mount, we're invited to guess who is lying. My bet is they all are. And of course, like all domestic thrillers on Channel 5, it's set in a spectacular piece of modern architecture... worth tuning in for the kitchen alone. Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson are reportedly preparing to sign a new lucrative deal with their Australian Radio Network (ARN) bosses. The radio duo are set to earn a combined $200million over the course of a 10-year contract, the Australian Financial Review reported on Sunday. The shock jock team are also preparing to dominate markets outside their Sydney-based audience and extend their reach into Melbourne for the first time. They could also reportedly earn up to $230 million over 10 years if they increase the station's breakfast ratings in Victoria. The popular radio duo could start broadcasting in Melbourne as early as next year. Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson are set to sign record-breaking $200million radio deal as they expand to Melbourne following continued ratings domination Daily Mail Australia has contacted ARN and Kyle's manager for comment. It comes after it was revealed Kyle and Jackie O triumphed in the sixth radio ratings of the year. KIIS FM's The Kyle and Jackie O Show beat 2GB's Ben Fordham in Sydney, gaining a massive 14.7 per cent audience share (up 0.8 per cent from last year). Fordham's show was down 0.4 per cent, bring in a total share of 14.2 per cent. The survey also saw ABC Sydney inch ahead of WSFM 101.7's Amanda Keller and Brendan 'Jonesy' Jones to become the third highest rated breakfast show. The shock jock team are also preparing to dominate markets outside their Sydney-based audience and extend their reach into Melbourne for the first time Hosted by James Valentine, ABC's Sydney Breakfast rose 0.8 points with a 8.6 per cent share, while Jonesy and Amanda scored a 8.5 per cent share, dropping 0.3 points from the last survey. Nova's Fitzy & Wippa with Kate Ritchie climbed 0.4 points, gaining a 7.3 per cent audience share. Meanwhile, Sydney's 2GB stalwart Ray Hadley won once again in his later timeslot, landing the number spot for the 152nd time. Scott Cam did not hold back slamming Kristy and Brett during their studio bathroom reveal on Sunday's episode of The Block. The judges found that the couple did not come close to finishing the space, leaving behind a dirty work site with loose fittings, and an unplumbed sink and toilet. When Kristy tried to make excuses for the poor workmanship on display, Scott wasn't having any of it. 'All that was out of our control, except the cleaning and the plumbing and tiling,' Kristy complained. 'You are totally in control,' replied a frustrated Scott. Brett wasn't prepared to argue, meanwhile, and agreed: 'We have to wear that one 100 per cent on the chin.' During the reveal judge Neale Whittaker looked at the poor condition of the unfinished bathroom and said: 'I certainly don't want to touch anything because I'm worried it's all going to come crashing down.' The disastrous week for Kristy and Brett started when the couple decided to rip out the tiles for their 'redo' bathroom. Scott Cam did not hold back slamming Kristy and Brett during their studio bathroom reveal on Sunday's episode of The Block (pictured) The disastrous week for Kristy and Brett started when the couple decided to rip out the tiles for their 're-do' bathroom. Unfortunately for Brett and Kristy their tiling decision cost them $30,000 because it destroyed the waterproofing Redo rooms are rooms the judges have decided are so poor that the Blockheads have a chance to make them over. Unfortunately for Brett and Kristy their tiling decision cost them $30,000 because it destroyed the waterproofing. It was an embarrassing error for Brett, who is a tiler by trade. And things got worse for the controversial couple after they left notes for the judges, trying to explain the reasons for the unfinished work. When Kristy tried to make excuses for the poor workmanship on display, Scott wasn't having any of it (pictured Kristy and Brett) At one point judge Darren Palmer took one look at their disastrous work and said simply 'Nope,' before making a hasty exit. Brett and Kristy finished the night on 18.5. Eliza and Liberty, meanwhile, triumphed coming in first on the bathroom reveals with a score of 27.5 points. Triple M breakfast was thrown into chaos last week when Marty Sheargold took an unexpected absence from the airwaves. Marty's co-host Troy Ellis shed light on the situation on Friday, revealing Sheargold was taking a breather on personal leave. Triple M's parent company Southern Cross Austereo said in a statement on Sunday that Sheargold was prioritising his family. 'Marty is taking personal leave to spend some more time with family. He will be back on air again soon,' they said. Melbourne-based Sheargold's loyal producer Loren Barry was in Sydney on Saturday night as one of the hosts of the ACRA Awards. Triple M breakfast was thrown into a whirlwind of speculation last week when Marty Sheargold took an unexpected absence from the airwaves Marty's co-host Troy Ellis shed light on the situation on Friday, revealing Sheargold was taking a breather on personal leave She told The Herald Sun that Sheargold would be back, assuring the show's listeners that 'everything is fine'. 'He is just taking some time, he is just spending some time with his family, but we are all good,' Barry said. 'Everything is fine. We will be back.' 'Marty is taking personal leave to spend some more time with family. He will be back on air again soon,' the statement obtained by The Herald Sun read She also shone a light on the gruelling life behind the microphone, stating, 'Working in breakfast radio you just get really tired. It is a very tiring job.' The Marty Sheargold Show rated 5.8 in the most recent radio survey, placing it in eighth spot in the Melbourne breakfast radio market. Chatter about his sudden disappearance from the Triple M dominated radio industry talks. Marty, who also stars in the ABC sitcom Fisk, which was picked up by Netflix and has taken off in the UK and US, was spotted at the AFL Grand Final in late September and was on air the week after, but was missing in recent days. Furious Coronation Street viewers slammed Sally Metcalfe for failing to defend Peter Barlow after he mowed her husband's would be killer Stephen Reid. During Monday's episode the factory worker (played by Sally Dynevor) was interviewed by police while still believing partner Tim (Joe Duttine) was dead. Rather than defending or helping save hero Peter (Chris Gascoyne) from the law, she coldly told them he had a motive for his actions - which later led to his arrest. Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, one fan said: 'You two faced cow Sally!!'. While a second asked: 'Why is Sally dropping Peter in it!!!!'. Fuming: Furious Coronation Street viewers slammed Sally Metcalfe for failing to defend Peter Barlow after he mowed her husband's would be killer Stephen Reid Drama: Rather than defending or helping save hero Peter (Chris Gascoyne, pictured) from the law, she coldly told them he had a motive for his actions - which later led to his arrest Someone else said: 'Wow Sally's gone back to a cow now'. While others slammed her writing: 'Sally is so a two faced cow!' and 'WTF Sally'. Another quipped: 'I bet Sally grassed on her neighbours leaving the house to put the bins out during lockdown'. And: 'Sally saying this after all peter has just done for her'. 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 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 was still alive. During the episode, residents were left reeling after Stephen's murderous activities were unraveled, but he was nowhere to be seen. Drama: During Monday's episode the factory worker (played by Sally Dynevor ) was interviewed by police while still believing partner Tim (Joe Duttine) was dead 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 Unimpressed: Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, one fan said: 'You two faced cow Sally!!' 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. 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. '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. 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 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 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. Rushing to the scene: But as Stephen decides to set Jenny free, Peter speeds down the street, mowing down the murderer 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 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. 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? Controversial Australian crime series Last King of the Cross has proven to be such a hit with international fans a second series has already pre-sold overseas. Based on the life of Sydney identity John Ibrahim, the original ten-part drama dropped on Paramount+ last year. The new series, now in pre-production, will be seen on Sky U.K., Warner Bros. Discovery, New Zealand and Paramount+ in Canada reports The Sunday Telegraph. Based on Ibrahim's bestselling 2017 book, the first 10-part season starred heartthrob Lincoln Younes as the Kings Cross identity and focused on his relationship with his brother Sam (played by Claude Jabbour). Both men were prominent figures in Sydney's nightclub district and the series explored key events in their lives, including John's near fatal stabbing and other attempts on his life. Controversial Australian crime series Last King of the Cross has proven to be such a hit with international fans a second series has already pre-sold overseas Pictured: Star of the series Lincoln Younes The new series, now in pre-production, will be seen on Sky U.K., Warner Bros. Discovery, New Zealand and Paramount+ in Canada reports The Sunday Telegraph Pictured: Lincoln Younes a scene from the hit series Based on the life of Sydney identity John Ibrahim - pictured - the original ten-part drama dropped on Paramount+ last year The new 8-episode follow up is expected to take the story into the 2000s with Ibrahim expanding his 'club empire' at a time when the face of Kings Cross was changing under the influence of new drugs and alternative life styles. Plot details are scarce, but producers have teased the drama will focus on John and his two younger brothers in their struggle to control the Cross 'clubland'. The sale of the fresh season was engineered by by Cineflix Rights. Meanwhile, producer of the series of Mark Fenessey said of the show's success: 'This is not a side of Australia many would have seen,' Fennessy explains. 'A world within a world I always saw it as an international story where Sydney was purely the location as opposed to it being a typical Australian story.' No official casting for season two has been announced. Younes, who was nominated for a Gold Logie, scored the lead role in season one after an exhaustive search spanning almost two years. British actor Tim Roth, who scored an Oscar nomination for the film Rob Roy in 1995, plays fictional crime boss Ezra Shipman on the show. The new 8-episode follow up is expected to take the story into the 2000s with Ibrahim expanding his 'club empire' at a time when the face of Kings Cross was changing under the influence of new drugs and alternative life styles Pictured: John Ibrahim (centre) with Lincoln Younes (at left) on the set of he Last King of the Cross He replaced Deadwood star Ian McShane, who was originally cast in the role but had to leave the production due to health reasons. The cast also includes Damian Walshe-Howling (Underbelly), Tess Haubrich (Alien: Covenant) and Matt Nable (Arrow). The elaborate production involved building a full-scale re-construction of the Kings Cross 'night club' strip in western Sydney. Award-winning writer-director Kieran Darcy-Smith helmed the crime-drama. Critics say she shouldn't comment because she lives overseas Actress Isla Fisher has condemned the result of the Voice to Parliament referendum, after Australia resoundingly voted against the proposal. Australia firmly voted No to the proposed change - which would have seen an Aboriginal 'Voice' on new laws enshrined into the constitution - with every state rejecting the proposal, and only the ACT voting Yes. Fisher, 47, shared a screenshot of a CNN article about the referendum results to her Instagram account. 'Day of shame for Australia,' she wrote. Fisher's reaction sparked anger with some Australians, who felt she was not in a position to comment given she now lives in London. Actress Isla Fisher (pictured) said the defeat of the Voice to Parliament referendum was a 'day of shame for Australia' 'Definitely not a day of shame,' responded one Instagram user. 'A day where we stood as one against the Government & their BS lies of something they were not transparent on and showed no info of what would happen after.' 'Maybe the government should [have] been clear and precise with what the referendum would do rather then a smoke and mirrors campaign,' said another. Several followers suggested Fisher should refrain from commenting on Australian politics given that she no longer lives here - having moved to the UK earlier this year. 'Unfollowing, respect the decision of the people that actually live here,' one wrote. However, some of her fans agreed with her. 'It is embarrassing to watch it knowing I, too, am Australian and so desperately wanted our First Peoples to have formal recognition in the Australian Constitution, just like every other country in the world has for their Indigenous Peoples,' wrote one. One follower said: 'It is!! Its a disgrace!!! Im ashamed to be an Australian.' 'Absolutely ridiculous. So disappointed with our country today,' added a third. 'Very sad that First Nation people couldnt have their voice, mistreated for over 250 years it should be a right to have a voice not a privilege..' commented another. More than 60 per cent of Australians voted against the Voice, with all six states and the Northern Territory voting now. Only the Australian Capital Territory votes Yes. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Burney, who had campaigned for Yes, addressed the nation at Parliament House after the No vote became clear. Australia voted No to the Indigenous Voice referendum, with every state rejecting the proposal and only the ACT voting Yes (pictured, Yes campaigners at the official Yes23 referendum function at Wests Ashfield Leagues Club on Saturday) Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Burney addressed the nation at Parliament House after the referendum was called The Prime Minister acknowledged that while it wasn't the result he had hoped for, he respects the overwhelming decision of the Australian people. 'When we reflect on everything happening in the world today, we can all give thanks that here in Australia we make the big decisions peacefully and as equals, with one vote, one value,' he said. 'I never imagined or indeed said that it would be easy. Very few things in public life worth doing are.' Mr Albanese vowed his government would continue to fight to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians by working to 'close the gap' and advance reconciliation. The federal cabinet will convene this week to discuss alternate ways to address the significant disadvantages First Nations people face. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders have called for a week of silence and mourning following the result of the weekend's referendum. Leaders said in a statement that 'much will be asked about the role of racism and prejudice against Indigenous people in this result'. Following a period of mourning, the government and Indigenous leaders will set up a new dialogue about reconciliation and closing the gap. BBC cameraman Hamza Yassin has admitted some of his wildlife scenes are faked to elicit sympathy from viewers. The 33-year-old, who won Strictly Come Dancing last year with pro partner Jowita Przysta, said the nature footage is 'dramatised'. Yassin has been touted as the next Attenborough, having worked on programmes such as Animal Park and Countryfile - and more recently his Strictly: Birds of Prey documentary. At the Cheltenham Literature Festival, Hamza said: 'The amount of times we'll film a cheetah family, and she's got three babies, and we just zoom in slightly and crop out the last baby. Films: The BBC's Hamza Yassin has admitted some of his wildlife scenes are faked in order to elicit sympathy from viewers Talented: The cameraman, 33, who won Strictly Come Dancing last year with pro partner Jowita Przysta, said the shows are edited to make TV watchers feel more emotional Who is Hamza Yassin? Hamza Yassin is a presenter, wildlife photographer and cameraman. He has presented on a number of BBC shows including Countryfile and Animal Park. Hamza's first appearance as a presenter for the broadcaster came when he worked as a wildlife cameraman on The One Show. Hamza has previously worked for BBC rival ITV when he shared his knowledge of film-making on This Morning. As a cameraman, Hamza has filmed for documentary series' including the BBC's Springwatch, The Hunt and Sky series Predators. He has a Masters degree in Biological Imaging and Photography with Merit, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Zoology with Conservation. Last year, Hamza swapped his camera for a pair of dancing shoes as a contestant on BBC1s Strictly Come Dancing. He made his way to the final and ended up lifting the glitterball trophy with his professional partner Jowita Przystal. Advertisement 'Then you bring in a lion and the lion goes "Grr" and you think, "Oh, the lion's killed the baby!". 'And then, five minutes of drama, and we just zoom back out again and then you say, "Ah, it's all a happy story". 'No. That didn't happen. We are dramatising what we are seeing.' The aim of this editing is to get viewers behind environmental causes. Hamza added: 'I want to tell the truth. I want to say what's happening in this world.' Viewers were so blown away by Hamza: Strictly Birds of Prey when it launched in September, and some said the presenter could become the next Sir David Attenborough. On the BBC1 show Hamza, who was a little-known cameraman before he won Strictly Come Dancing in December, travelled across the country to track down and try to film his favourite birds. In one touching moment, Hamza visited the home of wildlife photographer David Plummer in East Sussex, where he saw an owl swoop down and snatch prey from right under his nose. Many of those watching were wowed by Hamza's passion for British wildlife, with some saying they had even been left in tears. One wrote: 'Surely Hamza has to be the next David Attenborough when David stands down. A brilliant programme so far.' Hamza has revealed his dream to become a presenter such as the wildlife broadcaster Attenborough, 97, after his dyslexia stopped him from going into the medical profession. Viewers were blown away by Hamza: Strictly Birds of Prey last night, with some saying the presenter could become the Sir David Attenborough Hamza posted an image on his Instagram account last year of him up close and personal with a cheetah Jowita Przystal and Hamza Yassin on the Strictly Come Dancing 2023 launch show on BBC 1 Last year, he said: 'I was following in the family footsteps being in the medical profession but then declined it for zoology when I had a heart-to-heart with my parents. 'I said to them, look, I'm severely dyslexic. This is going to be an absolute nightmare. As much as I'd love to please everybody by becoming a medic I've got to follow my dreams of becoming a wildlife cameraman and zoologist. 'I am someone who has fallen deeply in love with mother nature and want to look after it thanks to the people like Sir David Attenborough and Steve Irwin, God rest his soul. They gave me the love of mother nature and I want to pass that on to the next generation.' James Haskell has hit back after he was seen whispering into a mystery blonde's ear outside Chiltern Firehouse at 1.30am in the early hours of Friday morning. The former rugby player, 38, has been married to Chloe Madeley, 36, since 2018, with the couple sharing daughter Bodhi, 14 months. And after the cosy chat, his wife was later spotted without her wedding ring while enjoying a night out with pals in London. Hitting back at any suggestions of flirting or impropriety his spokesman told The Sun: 'The woman pictured is a friend of James's group who he just met that night. 'They were simply having a conversation outside so there is nothing to this.' No ring: James Haskell has hit back after he was seen whispering into a mystery blonde's ear outside Chiltern Firehouse at 1.30am in the early hours of Friday morning (wife Chloe Madeley pictured without her wedding ring) Spotted: The former rugby player, 38, has been married to Chloe Madeley, 36, since 2018, with the couple sharing daughter Bodhi, 14 months (James pictured with mystery blonde) MailOnline have contacted James' reps for further comment. On Friday, Television personality Chloe stared her night at Treehouse Hotel bar with six friends before moving to Soho House and later heading home just before 3am on Saturday. She looked sensational as she put on a leggy display in a pair of denim hot pants and a fitted black bodysuit. She completed her look with some thigh-high heeled boots and carried a black bag with her. James later posted a message about a 'lonely life' after Chloe ditched her wedding ring for her night out. He took to Instagram on Sunday morning and wrote: 'Live a lonely life!' alongside a video from his DJ set while playing a remix of Ace of Base's song All That She Wants. The vocal 'she lives a lonely life' could be heard on loop. Chloe's girls' night out came after James was seen at celebrity hotspot Chiltern Firehouse engaging in a conversation with a fellow reveller. Missing jewellery: The personal trainer has been married to rugby ace James Haskell, 38, since 2018 but she did not wear her wedding ring on her night out Out on the town: Television personality Chloe stared her night at Treehouse Hotel bar with six friends before moving to Soho House and later heading home just before 3am on Saturday James and Chloe hit the headlines this week when the first episode of their reality show Chloe Madeley: A Family Affair hit screens on Monday. Last week, Chloe opened up about 'biggest row ever' with James as she revealed that the fall-out between the pair was over X-rated snaps of women. In a new interview, she explained how she was upset when James was away in Ibiza and took to Instagram where he 'posted photos of other girls' a**es'. Cryptic? James later posted a message about a 'lonely life' after Chloe ditched her wedding ring for her night out Troubles? Her outing came a day after her sportsman husband James was seen whispering into a mystery blonde's ear outside Chiltern Firehouse at 1.30am in the early hours of Friday Looking good: Chloe looked sensational as she put on a leggy display in a pair of denim hot pants and a fitted black bodysuit In style: She completed her look with some thigh-high heeled boots and carried a black bag with her In the news: James and Chloe hit the headlines this week when the first episode of their reality show Chloe Madeley : A Family Affair hit screens on Monday Troubles? Last week, Chloe opened up about 'biggest row ever' with James as she revealed that the fall-out between the pair was over X-rated snaps of women Speaking out: In a new interview, she explained how she was upset when James was away in Ibiza and took to Instagram where he 'posted photos of other girls' a**es Settling? The influencer accepted that being surrounded by bikini clad women was part of his career The influencer accepted that being surrounded by bikini clad women was part of his career. Now the former rugby player has become a DJ, but didn't want it splashed over social media. The argument features in the new ITVBe reality show. Talking about their fallout, Chloe told The Sun: 'One of the biggest row we've ever had was on camera. 'It happened when he was in Ibiza and posted photos (on Instagram) of other girls' asses. Night out: James took to Instagram on Sunday and wrote: 'Live a lonely life! alongside a video from his DJ set while playing a remix of Ace of Base's song, All That She Wants Night out: The night out came a day after James was spotted enjoying a cosy chat with a blonde beauty outside Chiltern Firehouse at 1.30am in the early hours of Friday morning Fun: Chloe looked sensational in a fitted black bodysuit as she partied with a group of girl friends 'My argument was, ''I don't mind that that is your job but I don't want you putting it on social media when everyone knows I'm your wife,'' explained Chloe.' Over the summer, Chloe opened up about the challenges in her and her husband James' relationship after the two became parents in August 2022. The star has revealed that there were moments when she wondered 'Are we ever going to come out the other side of this?' as they battled with sleepless nights and extreme tiredness. Discussing her marriage with Bella magazine, Chloe admitted she feels she has managed to save her marriage and the couple are now getting back on track. Family: Chloe recently opened up about the challenges in her and her husband James' relationship after the two became parents in August 2022 (pictured with daughter Bodhi) 'We're starting to spend more time together and enjoy it as opposed to getting into a competition about who's more tired and say 'Who's done the bottles?'' Chloe and the former rugby player welcomed their daughter Bodhi together last August, and the star has been very open about her motherhood journey. The daughter of TV legends Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan confessed that becoming a mum has taught her so much about herself. She admitted: 'I've learned that I am a hell of a lot more capable than I thought.' Joaquin Phoenix, 48, and Rooney Mara, 38, made a casual pair as they attended the Los Angeles special screening of The Smell of Money at the Laemmle Monica Film Center on Sunday. The Joker star took to the mic after the showing clad in a black T-shirt and matching pants. His grey Converse actually matched the silvery beard he was sporting for the event. Meanwhile, the Nightmare Alley starlet looked perfectly pretty in a black leather jacket, in addition to matching pants and a blouse. She kept her dark chestnut brown locks pulled back in a chic bun, showing off her recognizable facial features. Casual and cool: Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara dressed down in casual all-black ensembles as they attended the Los Angeles special screening of The Smell Of Money at Laemmle Monica Film Center on Sunday Celebrity surprise: The A-list couple hosted the screening of the documentary The Smell of Money official Instagram page also shared snaps of the couple in a photo dump on their page, thanking Rooney and Joaquin for their support of the film. 'A special thank you to your hosts, Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara, their support for the film has been incredible,' part of the caption read. The documentary follows the plight of North Carolina locals and the struggles they endure living near a big pork factory farm. While Joaquin and Rooney don't actually narrate or feature in the documentary in any way, the couple have actually appeared in two films together. They first met filming the 2012 flick Her, where the petite beauty played Joaquin's ex-lover. The Gladiator star recounted to Vanity Fair in 2019 that Rooney was 'the only girl I ever looked up on the internet,' following their first experience co-starring together. However, the couple were still just 'email friends' at the time, according to the Walk the Line leading man. The pair reunited in 2016 to shoot Mary Magdalene with their friendship reportedly blossoming into romance at the time. They made their public debut as a couple one year later, as they held hands at the closing ceremonies for the Cannes Film Festival. So happy together: The couple matched each other in cozy, all-black enseembles when they hosted a screening of The Smell of Money on Sunday Look of love: The Academy Award winning actor couldn't stop looking lovingly at his partner of six years He'll be here all night: The Nightmare Alley actress couldn't stop smiling as Joaquin took the mic Cool parents: Three years after they made their public debut at the Cannes Film Festival, Rooney and Joaquin welcomed their first child together, a son named River, in 2020 Couple goals: The pair have been engaged since 2019 In 2019, the Ladder 49 star popped the question to his longterm love. They welcomed their first child together, a son named River, in 2020. River was named in honor of Joaquin's late older brother, River Phoenix. Although the couple have yet to confirm whether or not they've actually tied the knot, Joaquin did refer to the mother of his son as his 'wife' during a 2022 interview with Hello! Magazine. Montana Brown and Teddy Soares felt the wrath of chief instructor Billy Billingham and his team of directing staff during Sunday's Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins after they were found to have cheated on the show. The trustworthiness of the remaining celebrity recruits was put to the test but former Love Island stars Montana and Teddy, both 28, were found to have fallen short. As part of a circuits fitness test the recruits were told to repeat six exercises 20 times. Two of the exercises were conducted out of sight so the directing staff could see who would tell the truth about completing them. However, both Montana and Teddy avoided large numbers of the repetitions when they thought they could not be seen. Controversial: Montana Brown (pictured) and Teddy Soares landed themselves in trouble on Sunday's Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins after they were found to have cheated on the show Untrustworty? Montana and Teddy (pictured) avoided large numbers of exercises when they thought they could not be seen, when they were required to be honest about what they'd done The staff watched the footage back and called on the reality stars to explain their actions, with Montana admitting to her wrongdoing straight away. But Teddy was not as forthcoming and held off before telling the truth, insisting he had no idea he hadn't completed the right amount of exercises. He told the staff: 'I f**ked up. I genuinely thought I did all the reps,' prompting them to exclaim: 'Liar!' Teddy doubled down: 'I am s**t when I'm counting reps.' Despite both Montana and Teddy being sent to stand in a river with the water up to their necks as punishment, Teddy still tried to convince the staff he had simply made a mistake. Elsewhere, Teddy broke down in tears as he spoke about having no contact with his mother on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins on Sunday. He admitted he was confronting his 'demons' by looking at the 'scars' that he's been left with by not having his parent in his life. Television personality Teddy was seen in floods of tears as he said he was hardened to the situation a few years ago, when he would have insisted he didn't need his mother to be there for him. Inspected: The staff watched the footage back and called on the reality stars to explain their actions, with Montana admitting to her wrongdoing straight away But now he is desperate to know more about the part of his life he feels he is missing despite not attempting to contact his mother himself. In a clip shared on his Instagram page, he said: 'If you ask me two, three years ago do you need any contact from your own mum I would have told you "no I don't care". 'If I answer now but ... I think I am just sick of not knowing that part of who I am.' When asked if he had contacted his mother, he said: 'No. I just haven't really been brave enough. 'And I think literally the only thing that's stopping me is me.' Teddy captioned his post: 'Confronting My Demons In this Sundays episode of @sas_whodareswins, I address the scars Ive kept hidden. Its a tough process, but its where true strength comes from.' Emotional: Teddy Soares, 28, broke down in tears as he spoke about having no contact with his mother on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins on Sunday Traumatic: The former Love Island star admitted he was confronting his 'demons' by looking at the 'scars' that he's been left with by not having his parent in his life It comes after Teddy revealed he is dating mystery woman, six months after his split from Faye Winter. Teddy met his ex on Love Island in 2021, announced their 'heartbreaking and difficult' separation in February after a year-and-a-half of dating. And now, Teddy has admitted he has found love again, and although his is keeping his new flames identity a secret, revealed he is 'really into her.' He told The Sun: 'I am loved-up at the moment. Well maybe I shouldn't say loved-up but I am seeing someone and really happy.' New flame: It comes after Teddy revealed he is dating mystery woman, six months after his split from Faye Winter He continued: 'It is early days and I'm not going to say who it is. 'We are just taking our time and getting to know each other. 'She makes me very happy. She's a total vibe. I'm not sure I should be saying all this as I've not spoken about her before but yes I'm into her. 'She may not know it but yes I am really into her.' Teddy reportedly confided in his SAS: Who Dares Wins co-stars about his relationship problems with Faye Winter- months before they sparked split rumours. Ex: Teddy, who met his ex Faye on the reality show in 2021, announced their 'heartbreaking and difficult' separation in February (pictured together in December) While filming for the show in October last year, he is said to have revealed details to a host of other stars including model Danielle Lloyd and MP Matt Hancock. A source told The Sun: 'The SAS cast were quite surprised during filming as Teddy really opened up about how things between him and Faye weren't good and he was going to end things when he got back from shooting the show. 'None of this will be shown on screen but he certainly made no secret of the fact that their days were numbered. 'No one in the cast was surprised, therefore, when the pair confirmed their split as they knew it had been coming for months and, if anything, were expecting it three months ago.' Jackie O Henderson has revealed her daughter was rushed to hospital after the 2023 Australian Commercial Radio Awards on Saturday night. The radio star, 48, told her co-host Kyle Sandilands on Monday, that her 12-year-old daughter Kitty suffered a panic attack after feeling overwhelmed at the event. Jackie explained she took Kitty along to the ceremony and the KIIS team invited her up on stage with them to receive the award after winning in their category. 'Kitty came up as well because, you know, she's part of the KIIS team at times,' she explained. 'She comes in and helps out. She loves it and she loves the team here and she knows them all so well.' Jackie O Henderson has revealed her daughter Kitty, 12, was rushed to hospital on Saturday after the 2023 Australian Commercial Radio Awards Jackie continued: 'But twelve year olds don't want anyone or crowds looking at them. They're self conscious.' 'So I think she had a little moment of 'Oh my god, everyone's looking at me. I have got to get down'.' And she hadn't eaten much that day either.' Jackie said Kitty continued to feel overwhelmed when the team went backstage after their win to take photos at the media wall. 'All the guys, like 25 of them, were chanting. It's loud, they're all excited. It was kind of hectic, and I think Kitty was almost about to faint and then sort of had a bit of a panic [attack],' she continued. The radio star, 48, told her co-host Kyle Sandilands on Monday, that her 12-year-old daughter Kitty suffered a mini panic attack after feeling overwhelmed at the event The radio star said she knew something wasn't right when she looked at her daughter so she decided to take her to hospital. 'Kitty had a bit of a panic attack and so, to cut a long story short, I ended up taking her to the emergency,' she continued. 'I took her myself. I just wanted to get her checked, just in case, and she was fine. So that's why I didn't go to the afterparty.' Teen Mom 2 star Jenelle Evans and her spouse David Eason were pictured at a gun show Sunday amid reports that 'criminal charges are likely' to be filed against them in connection with an assault and neglect probe by social workers. The Oak Island, North Carolina native, 31, and her husband, 35 - who are being investigated after her son Jace, 14, went missing for the third time in six weeks - were seen at the Wilmington Gun & Knife Show in Wilmington, North Carolina Sunday in video published by TMZ. Evans shares Jace with ex Andrew Lewis and is also mother to son Kaiser, nine, with ex Nathan Griffith; and daughter Ensley, six, with Eason. The MTV personality and her husband brought children Kaiser and Ensley to the event, where weapons such as guns and knives are displayed for sale on tables, sources told the outlet, adding that Jace was not present for the outing. Eason and Kaiser looked at items such as rifle scopes, gun holster and knives while at the weapons marketplace; while Ensley remained close to Evans, witnesses told the outlet. The latest: Teen Mom 2 star Jenelle Evans, 31, and husband David Eason, 35, were seen at a gun show Sunday amid reports that 'criminal charges are likely' to be filed against them in an assault and neglect probe by social workers. Seen on social media Saturday The Oak Island, North Carolina native and her husband were seen at the Wilmington Gun & Knife Show in Wilmington, North Carolina Sunday in video published by TMZ According to the show, house rules dictate that 'loaded guns, in any form ... handguns, rifles, shotguns ... are not allowed in the show, including personal protection weapons;' and that 'a concealed carry permit does not exempt anyone from this rule.' In addition, the show said that 'plastic zip ties are mandatory on all cartridge weapons,' and that 'all sales transactions must comply with North Carolina state and federal gun laws.' Eason appeared 'to purchase a bulletproof vest for himself, and a wooden battle ax for Kaiser,' TMZ reported, citing witnesses. Evans and her daughter spent about 20 minutes total at the show before leaving, onlookers told the outlet. TMZ reported that the CPS probe of Evans and Eason 'is in the final stages' and that it is probable that one or both are charged as a result. Since Jace's three attempts to run away, he has returned to the care of his grandmother Barbara Evans, with whom he has lived for much of his life. The Ashley reported that at a custody hearing this past Wednesday, Eason was removed from the courtroom. In a previous hearing, Evans was prohibited from speaking with Jace, unless he initiated it, while Eason was forbidden to have any contact with the teen. Charges: Jenelle Evans, 31, and her husband David Eason, 35, could face criminal charges pending an investigation after her oldest son Jace, 14, claimed his stepfather assaulted him September 28 No contact: The court has ordered Jenelle to have no contact with Jace unless he initiates it. The judge ruled David cannot have any contact with the teen who is currently living with his grandmother, Barbara Law enforcement officials are investigating allegations that Eason assaulted Jace on September 28. A source told The Sun that the following day, Jace was taken to the hospital, where doctors found marks on his arms and neck. The source also alleged the physical interaction was captured on the doorbell camera at their home. It appears that the probe appears to be expanding to include their other children as well, as Jace has claimed he is not the only one to be physically harmed. 'The judge asked a lot of questions about what Jace saw, and she took the allegations of abuse against the other minors in the home very seriously,' a source told the outlet. Evans welcomed Jace in 2009 when she was just 17-years-old - she was filming 16 and Pregnant at the time and still in a relationship with his father, Lewis. The former reality star regained custody of the teen earlier this year. Eason shares son Kaiser, nine, with ex Griffith; a source told the outlet the boy had been having trouble at school. Investigation: The investigation has expanded, and CPS investigators have been ordered to speak to Jenelle's other kids; Kaiser, nine, and Ensley, six, away from Jenelle and her husband David Eason. David's daughter, Maryssa, 16, also lives with the family 'Kaiser was suspended from school for a week recently,' a source said. 'He's in third grade. It's not normal at all. The kids are acting out. And, it's a total cry for help.' Eason's daughter, Maryssa, 16, also lives on the property, which they call The Land, with the family. CPS investigators were allegedly prevented from speaking to Kaiser and Ensley when they came out to investigate. 'It was said in court that the first time CPS came, they didnt let them in,' a source told the outlet. 'The second time [they came] David thought they were trespassers and threatened to shoot them and the third time, they came in, but Jenelle only allowed the kids to be interviewed while she was present. Per the judge's ruling on Wednesday, 'The kids will now be interviewed away from Jenelle.' Depending on the result of the investigation, both Evans and Eason could be facing charges for neglect and assault, according to TMZ. Another hearing has been set for later this month to determine how Jace's living situation with his grandmother is going. While many artists give their 'blood, sweat and tears' in the creation of their art, Travis Barker appears to pay the price with more blood than most due to all banging he does on the drums. On Sunday, the Blink-182 drummer proved that point once again when he shared a series of three snaps highlighting his bloodied hand moments after the band rocked some 21,000 fans at AO Arena in Manchester, England. The one up-close photo showed his tattooed hand covered in blood, which seemed to be coming from the three blisters on top of his pinky, ring, and middle fingers. There's also a piece of tape visible that ties his middle and ring fingers together, which is part of his prep ritual before each show. This is just the latest in a string of gory finger injuries Barker has suffered over the years that he showcased with photos and videos on his Instagram page. More finger issues: Travis Barker, 47, showcased his latest gory finger injuries following Blink-182's show at AO Arena in Manchester, England on Sunday Giving blood, sweet and tears: The Blink-182 drummer showcased the blisters on top of three of his fingers moments after rocking out for some 21,000 fans The musician also directed his camera down to one of his pant legs covered in his own blood. It turns out the blood dripped from his hand during the concert. Barker, 47, would also stand in front of a full-length mirror for a selfie snap showing him still dressed in his stage outfit for the Manchester show. On this night he donned black Dickies pants, matching sneakers, and a white Sex Pistols t-shirt that read: 'Anarchy in the UK' across the top of it. The tee also has the image of Soo Catwoman (born Susan Lucas), who was one of the early Pistols fans who was associated with the London punk subculture, with her trademark Catwoman haircut. By wearing the Sex Pistols t-shirt, Barker was likely paying homage to the OG punks' famous show at the Lesser Free Trade Hall in Manchester on June 4, 1976. It is considered a major catalyst for the Manchester Post-Punk movement, as well as one of the most pivotal events in music history, which was documented in the film 24 Hour Party People (2002). While scores of people alway maintain they were at the famed gig, there were a number of people who confirmed to have been there that went on form bands as part of the new punk rock movement, according to Far Out Magazine. Along with the Buzzcocks and Slaughter And The Dogs, who opened the show, the crowd consisted of future members of Joy Division, New Order, The Fall, The Smiths, and Tony Wilson, who founded the renowned music label Factory Records. Giving blood: It turns out the blood dripped from his hand during the concert, leaving a large stain on his pant leg from the middle of his thigh to his knee Price to pay: Just three weeks before his latest finger injuries, Barker posted a photo of him highlighting several more blisters on the inside of both of his hands Road dogs: Barker and Blink-182 were touring through Europe at the time he shared the picture of his hands with blisters; it's likely he's pictured in Vienna, considering the band played there on September 20, three days before the post Just three weeks before his latest finger injuries, Barker posted a photo of him highlighting several more blisters on the inside of both of his hands. 'Well that was fun,' he joked in the caption of the post that also included picture of him behind his drums playing a massive show, another of the band posing together, as well as one of him riding his bike with a coffee in hand. Luckily, Barker will soon have plenty of time for his hands to heal. Blink-182 has one more show at AO Arena on Monday, October 16, before they wrap up the European leg of the World Tour 2023/2024 and head to Las Vegas for gigs on October 21 and 22. They will then take a break from the road for about three-and-a-half months, which is perfect timing for Barker and his pregnant wife Kourtney Kardashian, who are awaiting the arrival of their first child together during that time period. Beat master: Barker is know to be a heavy hitter when it comes to playing the drums Reunited: The Blink-182 reunion tour began on April 14, and currently it's slated to go through until April 6, 2024, although there's always a chance more dates could be added or subtracted Hyped: Barker showed his enthusiasm when coming off stage during the European leg of the reunion tour in late September More gore: The Fontana, California native announced he has injured his ring finger while rehearsing for the World Tour 2023/2024 in late February Painful: In the post, Barker showed a video of him getting his finger pulled and pushed in different directions to try and get it back to normal All done: Barker eventually had surgery to fix the injury to his ring finger before heading out on the current tour that ended up kicking ogg on April 14 Barker and the red of Blink-182 are slated to restart the tour in Perth Australia on February 8, 2024. The Oceania leg, consisting of 15 shows in five cities Down Under, also includes two concerts in New Zealand before taking a short break. At this point, the World Tour 2023/2024 is scheduled to conclude with four concerts in Mexico City, Mexico, in early April, but there's alway a chance of dates being added or canceled. Blink-182 are poised to drop their new album One More Time... on October 20; their first since reuniting with the band's co-founder Tom DeLonge, who had left the band a second time in 2015. Stephanie Rice broke down in tears as Ant Middleton kicked her off SAS Australia on Monday night following her shoulder injury. The Olympic Gold Medalist, 35, dislocated her shoulder last week while handling a live grenade during a challenge. Despite wanting to continue on the show, Ant told Stephanie she would be heading home because she is at risk of injury herself severely. 'Yesterday you proved to me and the rest of the DS [directing staff] that you want to be here, you want to push through which is nothing but commendable,' he said. 'But you're at risk of really really damaging yourself. I don't want that for you. It's with an extremely heavy heart that I'm going to have to take you off this course.' SAS Australia's Stephanie Rice broke down in tears as Ant Middleton sent her home on Monday after dislocating her shoulder An emotional Stephanie broke down and said: 'This is exactly what happened to me before at the Olympics so it's so frustrating.' After discussing the decision with Stephanie, Ant shared the devastating news with the other contestants. 'Unfortunately number 11 cannot continue on this course,' he said. Ant explained: 'This is my choice and I want you to use this example for when you're having a bad day.' It comes after the former elite athlete found herself in a terrifying situation during a combat challenge. The Olympic star dislocated her shoulder while handling a live grenade. In tense scenes, Stephanie also spoke of her disappointment about the end of her swimming career saying she had 'really struggled'. She also revealed her lacklustre love life during an intimate scene with Chief Instructor, Ant Middleton. Despite wanting to continue on the show, Ant told Stephanie she would be heading home because she is at risk of injury herself severely 'It's harder,' she said. 'I think it'd be nice to have somebody to go through the harder times. I would love to have somebody to help through, like ride the waves.' Stephanie admitted to not having a lot to look forward to when she left the show. The pool queen was previously in a relationship with fellow swimmer, Eamonn Sullivan. Previously she has also been romantically linked to legendary American swimmer Michael Phelps, NRL star David 'Wolfman' Williams and swimmer, Nic D'Arcy. Rebel Wilson cut a stylish figure on Sunday as she attended her BFF Brittany Hockley's Life Uncut Live show at the State Theatre in Sydney. The actress, 43, looked elegant in an unbuttoned pink blazer which she paired with a white Ralph Lauren teddy bear T-shirt and black trousers. She accessorised with a black Hermes handbag and designer loafers. The Bridesmaids star wore her platinum locks out in soft waves and a light layer of makeup. Rebel looked proud as punch as she made her way back to her car after surprising the audience by greeting the Life Uncut hosts Laura Byrne and Brittany on stage. Rebel Wilson cut a stylish figure on Sunday as she attended her BFF Brittany Hockley's Life Uncut Live show at the State Theatre in Sydney Rebel later shared some photos to social media capturing her sharing a laugh with her BFF's Brittany and Laura in front of thousands of fans. The esteemed performer is one of the biggest Australian stars in Hollywood and she's about to make a huge career move by directing her first film. Rebel recently revealed she turned down major offers in the States, instead preferring to make her directorial debut Down Under. The actress, 43, looked elegant in an unbuttoned pink blazer which she paired with a white Ralph Lauren teddy bear T-shirt and black trousers She made the revelation ahead of filming her new musical comedy The Deb, which starts production in country NSW this week. 'If I was directing a movie it was only going to be in Australia because that's authentic to me,' Rebel told The Daily Telegraph on Saturday. 'I didn't want to do the studio ones I was offered in America because I didn't feel like I had that heart connection,' she explained. The Bridesmaids star wore her platinum locks out in soft waves and a light layer of makeup The Deb, which stars Rebel and comedian Shane Jacobson, centres on a country school girl getting ready for her debutante ball. The film will also feature actress Natalie Abbott from the ABC series Aftertaste, as well as newcomer Charlotte McInnes. Rebel, who is based in America, also revealed she was careful not to disrupt her role as a new mother to her baby daughter, Royce Lillian. The Sydney-born star announced her engagement to girlfriend Ramona Agruma in February and they share their one-year-old daughter, who was born via surrogate. Rebel was proud as punch as she made her way back to her car after surprising the audience by greeting Life Uncut hosts Laura Byrne and Brittany Hockley on stage Jane Seymour and John Zambetti have their children to thank for finding new love in their lives. While attending the Wags and Walks 12th Annual Benefit Gala on Saturday, the new couple opened up and confessed it was their kids who set them up. 'Well, our kids put us together,' Zambetti, 73, told People, which was confirmed by Seymour, herself: 'Yes, our kids put us together.' 'So we certainly don't have to worry about the kids not approving of who we were with,' the musician and composer added. 'I'm very lucky to be with her.' The British-born actress, 72, went on to disclose how Zambetti 'wrote me some love songs. He's a songwriter. I think that's what really got me in the end.' Romance in the air: Jane Seymour, 72, and John Zambetti, 73, revealed their new romance began with their children setting them up: 'Well, our kids put us together' Zambetti then jumped back into the conversation and said he wrote the songs 'just to close the deal,' which prompted the former OO7 Bond Girl to joke, 'Yeah. Three so far. I think there's an album on the way.' The couple think that destiny may have played a role in them getting together, considering their sons both share a musical background, which is what they say led them to each other. 'His son is a very successful rock musician with a group called The Palms. And his name's Johnny Zambetti,' Seymour told the publication. 'And I have a son who's a rock musician too, Johnny Keach, so when we talked about them, we say "My Johnny," [since] they both have the same name.' Just two days before the event, Seymour posted a photo of the hot new couple posing with Zambetti's musician son Johnny. 'Meet John's remarkable son, @johnnyzambetti! I've known him since he was 13, can you believe it? Johnny just shared with me that his band @thepalmsmusic has over 150 million streams on @Spotify! I've added a link to it in stories and to their video if you want to check them out!,' she wrote. 'Always fun to see how they grow up.' The Uxbridge, Middlesex, England native, who has been married and divorced four times, has four children: Katherine Flynn, 41, and Sean Flynn, 38, with her third ex-husband David Flynn, and twins John Keach, 27, and Kristopher Keach, 27, with fourth ex-husband James Keach. Now both in their 70s, Seymour and Zambetti have made music a central part of their social lives together. 'I have a lot of friends that are musicians in town. We like to go see them play,' the Washington, D.C. native revealed, before adding, 'And she never really went to the dives to see, that's where the real music is. That's where the real players are playing. So she loves it. She loves going everywhere and she loves music.' Hot and heavy: The couple, who say they make music a central part of the social lives, went Instagram official with two poolside photos of themselves: 'I've never been happier,' the Somewhere In Time star gushed in the caption on October 1 All in the family: Seymour actually introduced her Instagram fans and followers to her new partner's son Johnny, who helped get they together as a couple He admitted he loves to introduce 'her to stuff that, even though she's lived here a long time, she really was unaware of that side of L.A.' Seymour and Zambetti only just went Instagram official on October 1, when she posted a couple of photos of them snuggled up together poolside. 'I've never been happier,' the Somewhere In Time star gushed in the caption. Seymour shares two of her four children: Katherine Flynn, 41, and Sean Flynn, 38, with third ex-husband David Flynn. She also has twins John Keach, 27, and Kristopher Keach, 27, with fourth ex-husband James Keach; Seymour and Flynn (pictured) were married from 1981 to 1992 For the second picture the musician and songwriter gave his new love a kiss on the side of her head, all while she flashed a big beaming smile on her face. 'I am having the happiest time of my life. In many ways,' Seymour shared during the interview with People. The Wedding Crashers actress went on to reveal how she and Zambetti like to celebrate their anniversary every month since becoming an item. 'This time in life, you're not going to wait 50 years, are you?' Seymour said of their romance. Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio open up about their working relationship on Killers of the Flower Moon in a new interview. Scorsese, 80, is teaming up with two of his most frequent collaborators - Leonardo DiCaprio, 48, and Robert De Niro, 80, who have all worked together separately but Killers of the Flower Moon marks the first time they've all worked in the same film together. They all spoke with CBS Sunday Morning, where the actors and filmmaker revealed their rapport on the set. DiCaprio revealed that De Niro and Scorsese, 'are so incfredible together. Their shorthand, the way they communicate with each other, it's almost through sign language.' He added that, 'it's incredible to watch, and when Scorsese - who recently slammed Marvel movies yet again - was told what Leo said and asked what he has with Leo, the director said they have a 'longhand.' Working relationship: Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio open up about their working relationship on Killers of the Flower Moon in a new interview Director: Scorsese, 80, is teaming up with two of his most frequent collaborators - Leonardo DiCaprio, 48, and Robert De Niro , 80, who have all worked together separately but Killers of the Flower Moon marks the first time they've all worked in the same film together Shorthand: DiCaprio revealed that De Niro and Scorsese, 'are so incfredible together. Their shorthand, the way they communicate with each other, it's almost through sign language' Leo admitted 'With me it's long discussions and grinding things up, lots of rehearsals.' The film is based on the David Grann novel of the same name, which tells the true story of the multiple murders on the Osage Nation Indian reservation in the 1920s. 'Trying to be as truthful as possible is the only way to tell these stories,' DiCaprio revealed in the interview. 'We did our absolute best to listen to the Osage community. I don't know if we did a perfect job, but they embraced us and were so incredibly helpful, so vulnerable,' DiCaprio added. 'You deal with Native Americans and indegenous people, you got to make sure everything we do is as authentic, as accurate, or at least is reasonably accurate from what is remembered as possible, and respectful,' Scorsese added. DiCaprio also praised his co-star Lily Gladstone, who is already garnering Oscar buzz for her performance, and grew up on the Blackfeet Nation reservation in Montana. 'She brought so much not only to her character but to the entire film. She was an amazing partner to have,' DiCaprio said of Gladstone. Gladstone added, 'It's a big responsibility and it's terrifying. It's hard being a Native actor, having this sort of this much that you are, you can audition for. Yeah Marty showed me that it's possible.' Rehearsals: Leo admitted 'With me it's long discussions and grinding things up, lots of rehearsals' Novelist: The film is based on the David Grann (above) novel of the same name, which tells the true story of the multiple murders on the Osage Nation Indian reservation in the 1920s Respectful: 'You deal with Native Americans and indegenous people, you got to make sure everything we do is as authentic, as accurate, or at least is reasonably accurate from what is remembered as possible, and respectful,' Scorsese added Lily and Leo: DiCaprio also praised his co-star Lily Gladstone, who is already garnering Oscar buzz for her performance, and grew up on the Blackfeet Nation reservation in Montana DiCaprio, Gladstone and De Niro had to master the Osage language for the film, which DiCaprio admitted was 'not easy.' Gladstone added that her co-star did an 'incredible job' of speaking the language but also by, 'doing it the way a white man would,' which made them laugh. Killers of the Flower Moon is the sixth feature film DiCaprio has made with Scorsese, following Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, Shutter Island and The Wolf of Wall Street, along with a 2015 short film The Audition. The film will be the 10th feature film collaboration between Scorsese and De Niro, including classics like Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Goodfellas. Married At First Sight star Jonethen Musulin, 31, and his partner Lilli Newman tied-the-knot over the weekend. The pair, who only got engaged in August, surprised fans when they announced the exciting news on social media. Jonethen, who appeared on season seven of the show, shared a clip of the pair lovingly exchanging vows at the altar. The couple then shared a kiss in front of family and friends, who clapped and cheered on the happy couple. 'Mr & Mrs Musulin,' the clip was captioned. Another clip showed Lily getting ready for for her big day, slipping on a traditional white beaded gown. The couple were inundated by well-wishers on Instagram, including from fellow Married At First Sight alum. 'This is so special congratulations,' Hayley Vernon wrote. 'Congrats you too, such a cute little wedding,' yet another fan wrote. Married At First Sight star Jonethen Musulin, 31, and his partner Lilli Newman tied-the-knot over the weekend The pair, who only got engaged in August, surprised fans when they announced the happy news on social media 'Congratulations, so so soooo beautiful,' yet another added. The couple announced their engagement just weeks ago in August. Jonethen, who appeared on the Nine dating show in 2020, popped the question after decking a room out with rose petals and candles in a heart shape. Jonethen, who appeared on season seven of the show, shared a clip of the pair lovingly exchanging vows at the altar Another clip showed Lily getting ready for for her big day, slipping on a traditional white beaded gown In the video, a clearly nervous Jonethen was standing at the end of the room before an emotional Lilli walked in. Overwhelmed by the romantic spectacle, Lilli jumped for joy. Jonethen previously told Daily Mail Australia that he was grateful to have found his 'perfect match' - this time without the help of MAFS' resident relationship 'experts'. 'She's beautiful, funny, what more could I want? She's the perfect match for me,' he told Daily Mail Australia. The couple announced their engagement just weeks ago in August Jonethen posted some stunning photos from the moment he proposed by candlelight The Queensland-based FIFO worker explained that his romance with Lilli had been almost a decade in the making. 'Weve known each other for about eight years, but Lilli has always worked away,' he said of his professional dancer girlfriend. However, Jonethen said she returned home amid the pandemic, which gave him the opportunity to court her. 'It gave me the chance to finally take her on a date, eight years in the making. The date went amazing, and since then weve been basically inseparable,' he said. Jonethen was 'married' to Connie Crayden on MAFS, but the couple chose to leave the social experiment single when they filmed their final vows last December. Love is Blind couple Lydia Velez Gonzalez and Milton Johnson confirmed during Sunday night's reunion that they're still happily married a year and a half after tying the knot during the fifth season finale of the Netflix hit show. 'I think in the past, before I met Lydia... I would typically stay at work too late. Now, 5:30 hits and I'm like, "Hey, I gotta get home to my wife,"' the 26-year-old petroleum engineer marveled. 'A few years ago, I could've never imagined feeling this way, being this way. It's beautiful.' Milton added that his skeptical family are 'all Team Lydia now' after a bit of a bumpy beginning, and the 32-year-old geologist gushed: 'I love them dearly. They are the best.' Lydia was confronted by her co-star Aaliyah Cosby about having previously dated their pod connection Uche Okoroha before being cast on the show. Wedded bliss! Love is Blind couple Lydia Velez Gonzalez (R) and Milton Johnson (L) confirmed during Sunday night's reunion that they're still happily married a year and a half after tying the knot during the fifth season finale of the Netflix hit show 'There were things that were said to make me feel as though Lydia did come here for Uche,' the 29-year-old ICU travel nurse noted. 'You told multiple women you were hoping to run into somebody from your past. We had a conversation, one on one, outside of filming, where you told me that you and Uche discussed coming on this show.' Gonzalez responded: 'We had a conversation of two seconds in November 2021. "Oh yeah, I saw the casting [call]," and "Oh, yeah, I did too." And that was it. I had no confirmation that Uche was gonna be there. If I had power, he would have not been there.' And while the 34-year-old attorney skipped the reunion taping, he told Miss Understood Podcast last Thursday that he accused producers of 'finding somebody that I used to date in order to have some kind of plot twist' but they denied it. Uche (born Uchenna) and Aaliyah also confirmed they briefly dated after the show despite the edit making it look like he ditched her after their lunch. 'We tried to. It ended for many reasons. I don't think I was his type, ultimately,' Cosby said on the reunion. 'He mentioned to a few people who were part of the cast that I wasn't the type of woman that he normally found attractive and just based off of everything that I had experienced, I didn't feel like I wanted to chase a relationship with anyone.' She added: 'His tone with me was still so mean and condescending. That's not the person I feel like I talked to in the pods.' The 26-year-old petroleum engineer (L) marveled: 'I think in the past, before I met Lydia... I would typically stay at work too late. Now, 5:30 hits and I'm like, "Hey, I gotta get home to my wife." A few years ago, I could've never imagined feeling this way, being this way. It's beautiful' Milton added that his skeptical family are 'all Team Lydia now' after a bit of a bumpy beginning, and the 32-year-old geologist gushed: 'I love them dearly. They are the best' 'You told me that you and Uche discussed coming on this show!' Lydia was confronted by her co-star Aaliyah Cosby (pictured) about having previously dated their pod connection Uche Okoroha before being cast on the show Gonzalez responded: 'We had a conversation of two seconds in November 2021. "Oh yeah, I saw the casting [call]," and "Oh, yeah, I did too." And that was it. I had no confirmation that Uche was gonna be there. If I had power, he would have not been there' Rigged? And while the 34-year-old attorney (R) skipped the reunion taping, he told Miss Understood podcast last Thursday that he accused producers of 'finding somebody that I used to date in order to have some kind of plot twist' but they denied it 'We shared our first kiss': Uche (born Uchenna) and Aaliyah also confirmed they briefly dated after the show despite the edit making it look like he ditched her after their lunch The 29-year-old ICU travel nurse said: 'We tried to. It ended for many reasons. I don't think I was his type, ultimately. He mentioned to a few people who were part of the cast that I wasn't the type of woman that he normally found attractive' Moved on? On Sunday, Okoroha - who founded TaxRobot - Instastoried a shadowy snap of himself and a mystery woman enjoying a daytime date in Houston, TX with his beloved dog Kobe On Sunday, Okoroha - who founded TaxRobot - Instastoried a shadowy snap of himself and a mystery woman enjoying a daytime date in Houston, TX with his beloved dog Kobe. After Stacy Snyder rejected fiance Izzy Zapata at the altar, the couple attempted to rekindle their romance a week later and then didn't speak for an entire year. 'We went out on a date and talked at her place. Something in my gut knew something was off,' the 31-year-old insurance salesman recalled. 'I just asked, "Are you even feeling this?" And she just said she didn't and she couldn't right now. I, in that moment, was shocked. I was so mad at her after that because I thought we were really gonna try.' A year later, Izzy and the 35-year-old Pilates instructor briefly reconnected at a bar and even shared a kiss before deciding to go their separate ways. Christopher Fox and Johnie Maraist revealed they were dating during the cast BBQ, but he wound up falling in love with another woman and completely ghosted her. 'I didn't handle the situation as someone would properly but I did find someone who I now live with, and I love, and we're very happy together,' the 28-year-old project manager confessed. 'And I'm sorry if that hurts to hear. I know I was wrong. I felt guilty and heartbroken and as many emotions as I could because I did fall in love with [her]...one of my biggest regrets is not being forthcoming with you.' 'I was so mad at her after that': After Stacy Snyder rejected fiance Izzy Zapata at the altar, the couple attempted to rekindle their romance a week later and then didn't speak for an entire year 'Something was off': A year later, the 31-year-old insurance salesman (R) and the 35-year-old Pilates instructor (L) briefly reconnected at a bar and even shared a kiss before deciding to go their separate ways 'I know I was wrong': Christopher Fox (L) and Johnie Maraist (R) revealed they were dating during the cast BBQ, but he wound up falling in love with another woman and completely ghosted her 'Don't do that to another girl': Taylor Rue (R) blasted ex-fiance Jared 'JP' Pierce (L) for admitting he was disappointed by her 'fake, caked-up face' upon her episode three reveal, but now blamed his behavior on nerves Taylor Rue blasted ex-fiance Jared 'JP' Pierce for admitting he was disappointed by her 'fake, caked-up face' upon her episode three reveal, but now blamed his behavior on nerves. 'You wouldn't talk to me. You didn't try, that was very clear,' the 26-year-old kindergarten teacher said. 'Sure, I was nervous too with the cameras, but that's not an excuse. I had a ring on my finger, we were supposed to get married in three weeks, and you're gonna let the cameras ruin that? Or my makeup? Or whatever else it was. Not okay.' The 32-year-old firefighter - who wouldn't have hit on Taylor in a bar - stressed: 'I genuinely wanted to let you know that I think you're beautiful without make-up.' Rue scoffed: 'Don't do that to another girl.' Love Island Australia has promised fans this year's season will see the 'spiciest' contestants yet as they announce the official lineup. The Channel Nine matchmaking show shared saucy images and a racy video to Instagram this week, showcasing their newest sexy singles. From busty law graduates and early childcare workers to ripped personal trainers and videographers, this season promises to heat things up on the island of love. As the latest cast stripped down to their raunchiest outfits to dance in the latest trailer, the show announced a brand new 'villain era' of cast. Savanah Badger, a 26-year-old law graduate from Canberra, said: 'I'm not [on Love Island] to make friends. I will step on toes. I will break toes.' Love Island Australia has promised fans this year's season will see the 'spiciest' contestants yet as they announce the official lineup. Pictured: host Sophie Monk 'Look out Love Island, ain't nobody messing with me,' Sunshine Coast-native Tyra Johannes, 23, added. Love Island is returning to screens for its fifth season which was filmed in Spain. The first teaser, which dropped earlier this month, saw host Sophie Monk promising the anticipated series will feature the 'spiciest twist ever'. The Channel Nine matchmaking show shared saucy images and a racy video to Instagram this week, showcasing their newest sexy singles 'The new power shift will shake up love like never before. On the new Love Island, girls hold all the power,' she explained in the ad. The upcoming series, which has already been filmed, will see sexy singles return to Mallorca. Daily Mail Australia understands it will once again feature returning cast members. From busty law graduates and early childcare workers to ripped personal trainers and videographers, this season promises to heat things up on the island of love READ MORE: Channel Nine confirms a new season of Love Island Australia is on the way as casting begins Advertisement British star Lucinda Stratford, who appeared on the UK series, will star in the anticipated season. Lucinda appeared on season seven of the UK series, and had no luck finding love. Married At First Sight star Bronte Schofield's younger sister Kirra will also be starring on the show. Fans will remember her for her infamous showdown with Harrison Boon. As the latest cast stripped down to their raunchiest outfits to dance in the latest trailer, the show announced a brand new 'villain era' of cast Neil Jones and Chyna Mills have revealed their newborn daughter's name. The couple welcomed the new arrival at the beginning of October and explained that they opted for a moniker that 'summed' them up as a couple. Speaking to HELLO! magazine, the pair revealed they'd called their baby girl Havana, with Strictly pro Neil, 41, announcing: 'Cuba is the home of dance and very multicultural so it was perfect; it sums us up.' The eight-time British National dance champion added: 'She has dancer's feet,' while Chyna, 24, revealed they'd been enjoying watching Neil on Strictly from their home in Leeds. She said: 'I told her: "Look, it's Daddy on the screen" and at that moment, she did these little smiles with her eyes closed.' New parents: Neil Jones and Chyna Mills have revealed their newborn daughter's name, opting for Havana because it's a moniker that 'summed' them up as a couple (pictured in June) Neil has been hard at work on the ensemble dances on Strictly on the weekends but has been spending plenty of quality time enjoying outings with his fiancee and their baby girl. The couple announced they'd welcomed their first child together earlier this month, taking to Instagram to share the news. Sharing a black and white image of her daughters toes, Chyna penned: 'Our hearts are so full'. The couple also shared the news with HELLO!, with Neil saying: 'Mum and baby are doing really well, she's everything we hoped for and more.' Their Love Island and Strictly Come Dancing pals rushed to congratulate the new parents with a series of heartfelt comments. During Saturday's episode of Strictly Come Dancing, Neil made his first television appearance since the birth and admitted he can't stop smiling. Speaking about Neil becoming a father for the first time, Claudia said: 'Congratulations, you have a brand new baby girl.' To which Neil sweetly gushed: 'I can't stop smiling!' before he jokingly added: 'It's better than a 10 from Craig!' Doting daddy: Neil has been hard at work on the ensemble dances on Strictly on the weekends but has been spending plenty of quality time enjoying outings with his fiancee and their baby The couple revealed in April that they were both engaged and expecting their first child together after they went public with their romance in August 2022. In June, they announced the baby's gender while hanging out with the whole Strictly gang. Dancers Dianne Buswell, Gorka Marquez, Vito Coppola, Carlos Gu, Karen Hauer, Nikita Kuzmin, Luba Mushtuk, Nancy Xu and Jowita Przystal all gathered round as Chyna and Neil sliced into a cake to reveal a pink sponge. They all cheered: 'It's a girl!' Chyna said she had an inkling she was having a girl because of her intense morning sickness and the fact her mother had it bad with her pregnancies with her girls. Lucy-Jo Hudson has been rushed to hospital for urgent treatment after suffering from a mystery illness over the weekend. The Hollyoaks star, 40, shared the worrying news with her followers on Instagram on Sunday evening after was admitted to hospital on Thursday. Lucy-Jo told how she has received two blood transfusions because her hemoglobin (HB) levels had dropped to a 'dangerously low' level. HB is is the protein contained in red blood cells that is responsible for delivery of oxygen to the tissues. To ensure adequate tissue oxygenation, a sufficient hemoglobin level must be maintained. Lucy-Jo shared photos to her social page of the transfusion being administered while she lay in a hospital bed wearing a gown. Oh no! Lucy-Jo Hudson has been rushed to hospital for urgent treatment after suffering from a mystery illness over the weekend Treatment: The Hollyoaks star, 40, shared the worrying news with her followers on Instagram on Sunday evening after was admitted to hospital on Thursday The soap star, who revealed that doctors still don't know what is wrong with her, said: 'Well it's been a strange few days. I'm sorry I've been so quiet on herebut I was rushed to A&E on Thursday afternoon needing a blood transfusion!' She continued: 'I actually ended up needing 2, my HB levels were that dangerously low! But thanks to the most amazing NHS staff at Salford Royal, I am on the mend. A big shout out to Robert Jackson and Freddy, both of you made me feel so at ease and you both took such good care of me on the emergency assessment unit. as did your nurses I can't thank you all enough for looking after me. I'll be forever grateful.' Lucy went on to explain that doctors would be carrying out further tests to try to determine a diagnosis. She added: 'I'm booked in for more tests next week to get to the bottom of all of this I'm at home now resting. And just trying to build up my energy again! 'Sending you all lots of love. And this is not a 'feel sorry for me' post, this is to make you all aware that 'self care' is so important in the crazy world we all live in right now.' The TV star added hashtags that again emphasised she was 'grateful' to the NHS for her treatment. Lucy, who is best known for playing Donna-Marie Quinn on Hollyoaks, first started o on the soap in 2018 and filmed her final scenes earlier this year. She previously played Rosie Trevanion in the hit ITV drama Wild at Heart between 2006 and 2013 and before this she was Katy Harris on Coronation Street between 2002 and 2005. Lucy was married to her Corrie co-star Alan Halsall in 2009 and were married for nine years before splitting in 2018. They welcomed their daughter Sienna-Rae in September 2013. She is now in a relationship with Lewis Devine and the couple welcomed their first child together in February 2020, Carter, now three. Hospital stay: Lucy-Jo shared photos to her social page of the tranfusion being administered while she lay in a hospital bed wearing a gown The soap star, who revealed that doctors still don't know what is wrong with her, said: 'Well it's been a strange few days. I'm sorry I've been so quiet on herebut I was rushed to A&E on Thursday afternoon needing a blood transfusion!' Over the summer, Lucy-Jo revealed she feared her son was going to die in a terrifying health scare. She rushed Carter to Ormskirk Hospital in Lancashire when he was 18-months-old due to his serious nut allergy. Taking to Instagram, Lucy-Jo revealed Carter went into anaphylactic shock after eating a snack containing traces of nuts. 'Carter was 18 months. He was in the trolley, eating snacks while I was getting tea with Sienna, and he suddenly looked at me and I knew something was severely wrong,' Lucy Jo recalled. 'He went grey, his mouth went blue and he started to go all limp. He was struggling to catch his breath. God did my heart sink, I literally grabbed him out of the trolley, abandoned the shopping and Sienna and I just ran to my car. Worst nightmare: Hollyoaks star Lucy Jo Hudson has revealed she feared her son Carter, three, was going to die in a terrifying health scare 'It was the most terrifying moment of my life': Lucy-Jo rushed Carter to Ormskirk Hospital in Lancashire when he was 18-months-old due to his serious nut allergy 'I strapped him in his car seat (which was awful because at this point he was going in and out of consciousness and his skin was going all mottled and I couldn't hold him close as I had to drive to A&E. 'It was 10 minutes but it felt like a lifetime, my poor Sienna was crying in the back asking me if he was going to die.' Lucy-Jo said she was trying to reassure her daughter Sienna, now nine, as she made her way to hospital. 'I kept trying to reassure her he was fine but I couldn't stop the tears, I honestly thought we were losing him,' she said. 'I kept talking to him, telling him to stay with us and he was trying god love him! I remember pulling up outside A&E and I just ran into the hospital cradling carter with Sienna by my side and screaming "he's not breathing". 'The nurses flew out of every door and took my baby out of my arms and took him straight into a private room. 'After that it all felt like a blur. Nurse after nurse came in, drs round him, oxygen mask on, adrenalin in his leg, honestly the room was full of nurses trying to bring him round! It was the most terrifying moment of my life.' Lucy-Jo revealed she carries Carter's epi-pen, which contains medication block the progression of the allergic response in the body, everywhere and has to inform every restaurant of his nut allergy as well as reading the labels of every food product. She said: 'Thank you to the amazing staff at Ormskirk Hospital for saving our boys life. We will be forever grateful.' Scare: Taking to Instagram on Monday, Lucy Jo revealed how Carter went into anaphylactic shock after eating a snack containing traces of nut Married At First Sight UK contestant Luke Worley is kicked off the show after punching co-star Jordan Gayle, MailOnline can reveal. Channel 4 bosses ejected the Essex salesman, 30, with immediate effect after he shocked both cast and crew with his aggressive behaviour. The broadcaster, who has a zero tolerance against violence, had no option but to axe Luke, which also marked the end of his on-screen wife Jay Howard's time on the E4 series. Tensions rise this week between Luke and Jordan with the pair eventually coming to blows over their differences in shocking scenes that were caught on camera. Jordan was allowed to stay on the show because Luke instigated the ruckus, which he later said he was 'proud' of despite it being a 'controversial' move. Married At First Sight UK contestant Luke Worley is kicked off the show after punching co-star Jordan Gayle, MailOnline can reveal The broadcaster, who has a zero tolerance against violence, had no option but to axe Luke, which also marked the end of his on-screen wife Jay Howard's time on the E4 series Jordan was allowed to stay on the show because Luke instigated the ruckus, which he later said he was 'proud' of despite it being a 'controversial' move A show insider told MailOnline: 'Luke and Jordan struggled to get along from the moment they met, but no one was expecting them to clash like they eventually did. 'The cast attend a couples' retreat and during dinner things got particularly heated between them and later they come to blows inside Jordan's apartment. 'Channel 4 bosses had no choice but eject Luke from the programme, which consequently ended his wife Jay's time in the process... as per the show's rules you enter as a couple and leave as a couple. 'The fight was caught on camera, meaning there's every chance it could be shown in the most explosive scenes ever to be aired on Married At First Sight UK.' Luke and Jay married after meeting for the first time at the altar and quickly became close, bonding over their shared humour. They were one of the show's happiest couples with Luke, who quit his well-paid job to be on Married At First Sight, admitting the sex with Jay was the 'best he ever had.' Jay also credited Luke for enhancing her confidence after he spent one of their dates with his arm tied behind his back to learn how she experiences every day life. The sales team leader, 31, was born without her left arm and explained on the series that throughout her childhood she was 'chucked in bins' and 'tied to a fence' by school bullies, leaving her feeling like she wasn't 'worthy' of a romantic partner. Luke and Jay married after meeting for the first time at the altar and quickly became close, bonding over their shared humour They were one of the show's happiest couples with Luke, who quit his well-paid job to be on Married At First Sight, admitting the sex with Jay was the 'best he ever had' Luke, pictured with co-stars Arthur and Thomas, told MailOnline he quit his 'well-paid' job to appear on Married At First Sight UK She told MailOnline: 'I felt that I wasn't worthy of anyone because of the way that I am. But this process changed my perspective on life. I have learned a hell of a lot about myself, and I've grown massively.' Speaking at the show's launch last month, Luke revealed: 'I did some really controversial things in there, really, really controversial but I'm proud of doing them. 'I had to quit my job to do the show, and I was on good money, so I had to put a lot in to do this.' Meanwhile, Jordan admitted to MailOnline last week that his past came back to haunt him during his appearance on the show. He endured a tough childhood after one of his earliest memories was wanting to 'protect' his mother against his dad, saying those instinctive feelings came back as he filmed Married At First Sight. He said: 'What happened to me on the show has never happened before on reality TV, but my backstory played out... I am the biggest protector with my wife.' A Channel 4 spokesperson told MailOnline: 'The wellbeing of cast and crew is our utmost priority at all times throughout production and beyond. 'During filming, an altercation occurred between two cast members which was defused immediately by the crew. All contributors involved were offered appropriate support.' Brad Skelly was axed from the show after being accused of 'toxic' and 'controlling' behaviour towards wife Shona Manderson Nathanial Valentino quit the show amid a cheating scandal that emerges between his wife Ella Morgan and JJ Slater, with the contestant previously branding the show's producers 'goblins' It is the latest scandal to rock the Channel 4 series following contestant Brad Skelly's axing after he was accused of demonstrating 'toxic' and 'controlling' towards his wife Shona Manderson. The show's relationship experts decided he and Shona should continue their romance away from the cameras after warning that in their view, it wasn't working. Charity Women's Aid supported Channel 4's call, saying: 'It is so important that TV makers send out a clear message that controlling and abusive behaviour is not acceptable.' Brad has since said that he believes producers portrayed him as a 'villain', admitting that during filming he was 'deeply unhappy.' Nathanial Valentino quit the show amid a cheating scandal that emerges between his wife Ella Morgan and JJ Slater, with the contestant previously branding the show's producers 'goblins.' He claims he was paired with Ella against his wishes after he asked not to be paired with someone transgender and he was talked into the romance by TV staff. Charlotte Crosby and Jake Ankers' daughter Alba-Jean turned one, on Saturday. And on Sunday, the former Geordie Shore star, 33, and her partner held a lavish pumpkin patch themed 1st birthday party for their baby girl. Charlotte looked chic in a sleeveless, taupe coloured maxi dress with tie-front drape detailing while Jake wore a striped polo shirt with chinos. Alba-Jean was adorable in a baby pink dress featuring ruffled tulle sleeves and the number one emblazoned across her chest. The birthday party was held in an enormous marquee on the grounds of Black Horse in Beamish, County Durham. Happy 1st Birthday! On Sunday, Charlotte Crosby and Jake Ankers held a lavish pumpkin patch themed 1st birthday party for their daughter Alba-Jean Cutie: Alba-Jean was adorable in a baby pink dress featuring ruffled tulle sleeves and the number one emblazoned across her chest Stylish: Charlotte looked chic in a sleeveless, taupe coloured maxi dress with tie-front drape detailing while Jake wore a striped polo shirt with chinos There was a children's entertainers to entertain the toddlers, a bouncy castle, ball pool and slide as well as photo areas made of hay with pumpkins on display. Adults were served a yummy Sunday Roast with all the trimmings, whilst taking advantage of the free bar. Charlottes closest friends attended along with her family and some familiar faces from Geordie Shore, including Sophie Kasaei who was there with her boyfriend, TOWIE star Jordan Brook. Holly Hagan and her husband Jacob Blyth took their son Alpha-Jax, while Kyle Christie with his fiancee Vicky Turner went with their son Crew Jax. Recently, Charlotte opened up about how trauma from her ectopic pregnancy led to her opting for an elective caesarean for the birth of her daughter Alba. The former Geordie Shore star had an ectopic pregnancy back in 2016 and was left fearing she would never be able to have kids before she welcomed her daughter Alba, last October. Speaking about the traumatic experience, she spoke about the moment she was rushed to emergency surgery after being left in unbearable pain. An ectopic pregnancy is when a fertilised egg implants itself outside of the womb, usually in the fallopian tube, meaning a baby is unable to develop and leaving the mother's health in danger. Adorable: The birthday girl had her blonde locks styled into bunches Family: Jake and Charlotte posed for photographs with their daughter Candid: They had a professional photographer at the event to capture precious moments VIP guests: Charlottes closest friends attended along with her family and some familiar faces from Geordie Shore, including Sophie Kasaei who was there with boyfriend Jordan Brook Reality star pals: Holly Hagan and her husband Jacob Blyth attended the party Happy times: Kyle Christie with his fiancee Vicky Turner went with their son Crew Jax Family outing: Holly and Jacob took their son Alpha-Jax Fun: Charlotte appeared to be in high spirits as she sat around with her pals and their babies The location: The birthday party was held in an enormous marquee on the grounds of Black Horse in Beamish, County Durham Bespoke: Charlotte spared no expense for her daughter's 1st birthday party Amazing! A bespoke slide and ball pit were set up, as well as a matching bouncy castle Cute: The pumpkin patch theme ran through the decor at the bash Big birthday for a little girl: Alba's name was displayed in large light-up letters Appearing on the KICPOD podcast with Australian influencer Steph Claire Smith, Charlotte told how her fallopian tube had been left 'completely ruptured'. She said: 'I hadn't ever felt pain like this and couldn't take anymore. I told Kate [a friend] to cancel the doctor, I need to go to the hospital, this is something worse than period pain.' She said she found out she was pregnant after giving a urine sample and said of the moment: 'I was in shock, and when Kate said 'Congratulations!' I said no no no, this is bad.' Charlotte told how her heart sank as she knew it was something serious and recalls crying and panicking whether she could ever have a baby in the future. 'I found out my fallopian tube had completely ruptured, and the doctor had to remove my left fallopian tube and an ovary,' she said. After her traumatic experience, Charlotte said she 'wanted control' during her pregnancy with her first child Alba, opting for a planned caesarean. Kerry Katona was proudly displaying her body on the beach as she soaked up the sun while holidaying in Marbella, Spain, this week. The TV personality, 43, who recently revealed she has dropped 3st, showcased her curves in a blue string bikini as she enjoyed a dip in the sea. Kerry was sporting a sun-kissed glow from her getaway with fiance Ryan Mahoney, who popped the question with a romantic proposal in 2020. Earlier this year Kerry candidly admitted she was hesitant to tie the knot again because of her past marriages have ended badly. During the couple's day out at the beach, Kerry could be seen strolling up the shoreline after enjoying a cooling dip in the water. Beach babe: Kerry Katona was proudly displaying her body on the beach as she soaked up the sun while holidaying in Marbella, Spain, this week Glowing: The TV personality, 43, who recently revealed she has dropped 3st, showcased her curves in a blue string bikini as she enjoyed a dip in the sea Cooling off: Kerry was pictured enjoying a refreshing swim in the sea The mother of five was make-up free and wore her wet blonde locks slicked back off her face following the swim. Kerry later covered up in a colourful tie-dye dress, which she teamed with a straw sun hat and a striped raffia beach bag. Meanwhile, Ryan opted for a pair of green swim shorts with a white Supreme T-shirt, which he styled with a pair of Gucci sliders. It comes after Kerry took to Instagram on earlier this month, where she exposed her 'unedited, unfiltered' curves in a thong swimsuit. In the photograph which she uploaded to social media, Kerry perched on her tiptoes while standing in a doorway in the skimpy back swimming costume. She wore a woven summer hat and shielded her eyes with glamorous shades while displaying her heavily inked body. The OnlyFans star was lauded by her followers for showing what a 'real woman' looks like, rather than posting an airbrushed version of herself. Taking to the comments section of her post, fans lauded Kerry, with one writing: 'GO GIRL.. your looking good and you've had kidsKeep doing what you're doing.' Romantic getaway: Kerry was sporting a sun-kissed glow from her getaway with fiance Ryan Mahoney, who popped the question with a romantic proposal in 2020 Concerns: Earlier this year Kerry candidly admitted she was hesitant to tie the knot again because of her past marriages have ended badly Refreshing: The mother of five was make-up free and wore her wet blonde locks slicked back off her face following the swim Swimming: The mother of five was make-up free and wore her wet blonde locks slicked back off her face following the swim Unfiltered: It comes after Kerry took to Instagram on earlier this month, where she exposed her 'unedited, unfiltered' curves in a thong swimsuit Wow! Kerry was recently praised for 'empowering women' after taking to Instagram on Thursday, where she exposed her 'unedited, unfiltered' curves in a thong swimsuit 'Real woman right there!! X,' wrote another with someone else gushed: 'Looking amazing and real,' while another fan added: 'Well done Kerry, shown what a real person looks like.' One fan branded her photograph: 'Beautiful and empowering,' with another writing: 'Love it Kerry much more attractive than skin and bones women - thanks for posting.' While there were some naysayers, Kerry's loyal followers were quick to call them out, with one insisting: 'Her life her body and her choice no one else's business.' 'All these haters, shame on you!!! It's actually nice to see a real picture that hasn't been filtered ,edited and airbrushed giving you haters clearly an unrealistic view of what women should look like!!! !!! You go girl!!!' wrote one fan. This came as Kerry praised Paris Fury for taking her children out of school to follow family traveller tradition. Kerry sang Paris's praises in her column with New Magazine last week on how she brings her seven children up with Tyson Fury. Paris, 33, and Tyson, 35, who recently welcomed a baby boy Prince Rico Paris last month, take their children out of school at the age of 11, which is the traditional traveller way. Their eldest child Venezuela, 14, left school three years ago in primary school to be home schooled and learnt how to clean, cook and look after a family. Kerry, who believes that 'school doesn't teach kids anything anyway', said: 'I want to say the biggest congratulations to Paris and Tyson Fury for welcoming their seventh child. Paddling: Unfiltered: It comes after Kerry took to Instagram on earlier this month, where she exposed her 'unedited, unfiltered' curves in a thong swimsuit Chilling: Kerry looked totally relaxed in the sunny snaps Lovely! Kerry has been enjoying an autumn getaway with her beau Dressing: Kerry later covered up in a colourful tie-dye dress, which she teamed with a straw sun hat and a striped raffia beach bag Heading home: Meanwhile, Ryan opted for a pair of green swim shorts with a white Supreme T-shirt, which he styled with a pair of Gucci sliders Idyllic: Kerry was displaying her heavily inked body Details: She wore a woven summer hat and shielded her eyes with glamorous shades while displaying her heavily inked body Praised: The former Atomic Kitten star sang Paris's praises in her column with New Magazine on Tuesday on how she brings her seven children up with Tyson Fury, 35 (Paris and Tyson pictured) 'I'm so happy for them. I love that they've called him Prince Rico Paris as it's great that her names is in it as I just think she is so amazing. 'She makes me feel like I'm not doing enough as a mum just because she's so good at it. 'I love the traveller way of living too. I like that they take their children out of school at a younger age. High school doesn't teach kids the right things anyway.' Paris and Tyson are also parents too Prince John James, 11, Prince Tyson II, seven, Valencia, five, Prince Adonis Amaziah, four, and Athena, two. I May Destroy You creator Michaela Coel admits she has PTSD following her experience of racism at school. Speaking to The Telegraph's Arts supplement, she spoke about having a 's***ty time' as a black student at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2009. An independent review into discrimination experienced by students in 2020, found evidence of a racist culture in which multiple black students were called the N-word and 'suppressed' by white tutors. Being told she has a page dedicated to her on the college's website, she said: 'I'm not going to lie to you, I've got so much PTSD from my time in drama school I've never looked back.' When asked if she would like the college to remove her image from the website, she said the answer is not an easy one. Honest: Michaela Coel has admitted she has PTSD following her experience of racism at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, which she attended in 2009, (pictured at the BFI on Sunday) Tough time: When asked if she would like the college to remove her image from the website, she said the answer is not an easy one 'Its very difficult', she said. 'When you put somebody's picture on the school's thing, it makes people want to go there... and I don't really want to make people do anything or stop people [from] doing anything. 'Sh**ty as my time there was, I love the person I am today and I am a collection of every experience I've had, both fortunate and unfortunate. So do I regret going there? That's a complex question.' A spokesperson for the school said: 'Guildhall School apologises unreservedly for the racism experienced by Michaela Coel and other alumni whilst they were studying at the School. 'The experiences they have shared are appalling and unacceptable. We have since undertaken a sustained programme of action to address and dismantle long-standing systemic racism within the Acting Programme, including commissioning an external report into historic racism and a comprehensive and ongoing process of staff training and reflection. 'We have also undertaken a significant redevelopment of our Acting curriculum, including a departmental staff restructure, so that our teaching and learning culture prioritises inclusivity, representation and wellbeing. 'We understand that this work is long-term and will require sustained commitment to build a culture that is inclusive and equitable for everyone.' It's four years since I May Destroy You was released. It's a British television limited series set in London about Arabella, [Coel], a young writer in the public eye who seeks to rebuild her life after being raped. Michaela, 36, is now set to star in the Amazon reboot of Mr And Mrs Smith alongside Donald Glover and Maya Erskine. Plan: The actress and writer turned down a 750,000 offer from Netflix for the show because it meant giving up the copyright, but has since earned 3m from the show Wow! Michaela took home BAFTA gongs for Leading Actress and Mini-series for the series at the ceremony at the Television Centre in June 2021 She famously turned down an offer of 750,000 from Netflix for I May Destroy You, because the company wouldn't give her a percentage of the copyright. The actress has now reportedly raked in 3million since starring in the critically-acclaimed drama. She said that she doesn't know if they have asked to work with her again and notes that she loves the team who she works with now. Doing her thing: Michaela attended the London Film Festival, where the BMW Filmmaking Challenge winner WE COLLIDE was announced there on Sunday Robert De Niro has admitted he 'doesn't do the heavy-lifting' when it comes to raising his youngest daughter Gia, six months, and leaves it to his partner. The Hollywood actor, 80, and his girlfriend Tiffany Chen, 45, welcomed their first child together in April, marking the seventh time Robert became a father. Robert has confessed that Tiffany does most of the 'work' with caring for their little one, while they also receive help with childcare. He told the Guardian newspaper: 'It [having children] doesn't get easier. It is what it is. It's OK. I mean, I don't do the heavy lifting. I'm there, I support my girlfriend. But she does the work. And we have help, which is so important.' Robert said that he stills enjoys fatherhood, telling the publication: ' [I enjoy] all of it! With a baby it's different to with my 11-year-old. My adult children. My grandchildren. It's all different ... I don't talk to the adult children the way I talk to my baby or the way I speak to my 11-year-old, though she's pretty smart.' Honest: Robert De Niro has admitted he 'doesn't do the heavy-lifting' when it comes to raising his youngest daughter Gia, six months, and leaves it to his partner Family: The Hollywood actor, 80, and his girlfriend Tiffany Chen , 45, welcomed their first child together in April, marking the seventh time Robert became a father (pictured in August) Elsewhere during the interview, the veteran actor admitted that his hopes for the future include 'staying alive' He added: 'Of course I think about it [death], at my age ... It's not going to stop me, but you think about it ... I'm aware of it. You think more about time. Every summer, every new season, everything, you say: 'Well, I'm going to use these few months of the summer to be with my kids, my family.' 'I can't wait until the next I don't know what's going to happen. So each thing becomes more important. Everything I do, time-wise, is important. Whatever I'm thinking about doing in two years, I'd better think about doing it now.' In July, Tiffany revealed that she suffered from a 'postpartum complication' after the couple welcomed their daughter together. In her first interview since the birth, Tiffany opened up to CBS Morning co-host Gayle King about her experience in a candid chat. The couple surprised the world with news of the birth of their daughter, Gia in May. The news came after the couple, who have been linked since summer 2021, first met on the film set of the actor's hit 2015 comedy, The Intern. Robert also father to Drena, 51, Raphael, 46, twins Julian and Aaron, 27, Elliot, 24, and Helen, 11. Tiffany's interview came as the wider De Niro family was in mourning following the tragic death of the actor's 18-year-old grandson, Leandro. New mom: In July, Tiffany revealed that she suffered from a 'postpartum complication' after the couple welcomed their daughter together Meet Gia: Their baby girl was born weighing 8 lbs., 6 oz. this past April, and is seen in this photo posted to social media by the actor Leandro's shock death happened on July 5 when the teenager's lifeless body was found sitting in a chair beside white powder inside a $950,000, one-bedroom apartment in the Cipriani Club Residences on Wall Street, New York. His mother Drena then claimed that her son died after taking an overdose of fentanyl. 'Someone sold him fentanyl laced pills that they knew were laced yet still sold them to him,' the Oscar-winning actor's heartbroken daughter claimed on Instagram. She added: 'For all these people still f**king around selling and buying this s**t, my son is gone forever.' The grieving mother made the remark in response to a commenter who asked her how her son had died. A funeral service for the teen saw De Niro joined the likes of Tommy Mottola, Christopher Walken, Harvey Keitel as they helped their friend mourn the loss of his grandchild. New parents: De Niro and girlfriend Tiffany have been linked since summer 2021; pictured June 7 Hollywood star: Chen is a martial arts practitioner who met De Niro while filming 2015's The Intern (pictured) Robert De Niro's late grandson Leandro De Niro Rodriguez (pictured, left) was the son of De Niro's adopted daughter Drena De Niro (pictured, center) The longtime entertainer shared a glimpse of his seventh child during an appearance on CBS Mornings in May. He then opened up about his newborn daughter during an appearance on the Today Show during Tribeca Film Festival weeks later. Robert also gushed about raising a newborn, stating, 'It feels great.' In regards to how he has changed as a father, the star told host Hoda Kotb: 'I have certain awareness when you're older you have awareness of certain things in life, dynamics, everything, family dynamics.' The Goodfellas actor added: 'You can't avoid learning certain things and how you can deal with those and manage them and this and that, the usual. 'It's amazing, but I'm very happy about it.' Shortly after the news of his new family addition came to light, the actor told Page Six that welcoming his seventh child was 'planned' and questioned 'How you could not plan that kind of thing?' Ahead of Father's Day, Robert discussed his children with People and revealed that his six older children had not yet met his two-month-old daughter. 'Not yet, but they will,' he stated. Robert will be seen on the big screen next in the highly anticipated Killers of the Flower Moon. The film based on the bestseller by the same name co-stars Leonardo DiCaprio and was directed by good friend Martin Scorsese. The movie tells the sad but true story about the investigation into the mysterious murders of member of the Osage tribe in Oklahoma in the 1920s. The movie received a 10-minute standing ovation after it debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Laura Henshaw recounted on Monday the humiliating moment airport security found her vibrator in her luggage. The podcaster, 30, relayed the embarrassing tale to co-host Steph Claire Smith on their popular KICPOD show. She said the security officer took out her raunchy sex toy in front of everyone without wearing any gloves. 'One of the most embarrassing moments of my life,' she began. Laura went on to say she was waiting for her suitcase at luggage collection when she noticed three security officers had surrounded her bag. Laura Henshaw, 30, (pictured) recounted on Monday the humiliating moment airport security found her vibrator in her luggage Fearful she was about to be arrested, Laura said they asked the media personality if she was carrying a 'mouse' in her bag. 'A computer mouse?' Laura questioned them. She then added: 'He opens the bag, he has no gloves on and out he pulls my vibrator.' The podcaster relayed the embarrassing tale to co-host Steph Claire Smith, 29, (pictured) on their popular KICPOD show 'When I saw that, I literally lost my s**t,' Steph, 29, laughed, recalling the moment she watched the incident unfold. 'I haven't washed that for a long time!' Laura cried in response. The mortifying moment comes just a few weeks after fellow radio host Jackie 'O' Henderson faced a similar fate at Sydney airport. She said the security officer took out her raunchy sex toy in front of everyone without wearing any gloves The Kyle and Jackie O Show star, 48, was busted by airport security with a giant sex toy in her carry-on luggage which was planted there by her co-stars as a prank. 'That penis was in my suitcase, planted by our staff, so that I went through security, it was pulled out. I could have died!' The KIIS FM star said on air last month. 'They put this dildo in my bag thinking it would be funny,' Jackie continued, adding that the sex toy was taped to an aerosol can so that it would be picked up on X-ray. 'I felt like such an idiot,' Jackie said to her co-stars, and said she would never trust her radio staff again. A new teaser trailer for The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon - The Book of Carol was released on Monday. In the clip, the series' Norman Reedus-portrayed lead character dealt with the conclusion of his time in France, while his longtime friend Carol Peletier, played by Melissa McBride, attempted to locate her former companion. The new teaser for the show, which recently concluded its first season with a drama-filled finale, begins with Dixon boarding a boat while debating if he had to return to North America. Reedus' character then states that he doesn't 'know if this is the place I'm supposed to be. Thinking about all the people I left behind, wondering if they're still thinking about me.' Peletier then confronts a looter with a crossbow before she asks: 'The man that was here. Where is he?' New visuals: A new teaser trailer for The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon - The Book of Carol was released on Monday The search is on: In the clip, the series' Norman Reedus-portrayed lead character dealt with the conclusion of his time in France, while his longtime friend Carol Peletier, played by Melissa McBride, attempted to locate her former companion Another round: The new teaser for the show, which recently concluded its first season with a drama-filled finale, begins with Dixon boarding a boat while preparing to head back to North America McBride's character then meets a survivor who asks her if she would 'give up everything to look for somebody you haven't met.' Dixon then leads a group of his friends through an abandoned building before Peletier becomes surrounded by zombies during a car ride. The video concludes after she states that she would go looking 'if there was a hope of finding them alive.' Reedus and McBride portrayed Dixon and Peletier, respectively, in the original Walking Dead series, which ran from 2010 until 2022. It was initially announced that a spinoff series centered on the two characters was in development in September of 2020. However, McBride had to exit the project due to scheduling conflicts in April of last year, after which the show was retooled to center on Dixon. The actress' character made a cameo appearance in two episodes of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon's first season, which premiered this past September. The program's first run of episodes were centered on the titular character as he unexpectedly found himself stranded in France and began traveling across the country. Reflective: Reedus' character then states that he doesn't 'know if this is the place I'm supposed to be. Thinking about all the people I left behind, wondering if they're still thinking about me' Inquiry: McBride's character then meets a survivor who asks her if she would 'give up everything to look for somebody you haven't met' Determined: The video concludes after she states that she would go looking 'if there was a hope of finding them alive' In the future: The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon - The Book of Carol is scheduled to premiere at an unspecified date in 2024 The series received positive reviews from critics throughout its six-episode run, and it currently holds an 81% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It was announced that the show had been renewed for a second season this past July, and McBride was confirmed to have joined the cast as a series regular during the recently-held New York Comic Con. The actress provided a statement where she expressed via The Hollywood Reporter that she was 'so excited to continue Carol's journey.' The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon - The Book of Carol is scheduled to premiere at an unspecified date in 2024. Kaia Gerber looked every inch a supermodel while stepping out with beau Austin Butler for a fun day at the Farmer's Market in Hollywood on Sunday. The stunning daughter of Cindy Crawford, 22, kept it simple and chic in a white blouse and breezy skirt as she added a big green striped tote to the mix. With her signature brunette locks left long and loose and going virtually makeup free, the American Horror Story alum let her natural beauty take center stage. The ingenue and the 32-year-old Oscar nominee - who rocked a white tee and jeans - looked so loved-up during the retail therapy session. With their arms wrapped around each other, the A-list couple stopped by a few vendor tents to peruse the goods. A-list outing: Kaia Gerber looked every inch a supermodel while stepping out with beau Austin Butler for a fun day at the Farmer's Market in Hollywood on Sunday Good genes: The stunning daughter of Cindy Crawford , 22, kept it simple and chic in a white blouse and breezy skirt as she added a big green striped tote to the mix Hair story: With her signature brunette locks left long and loose and going virtually makeup free, the American Horror Story alum let her natural beauty take center stage The Farmer's Market trip comes after the two were seen in a round of shopping last month in Malibu, where they brought along their adorable pup Milo. The superstars were first linked shortly after Kaia broke things off with her previous boyfriend, Euphoria star Jacob Elordi in 2021. Kaia and Austin made their first red carpet appearance at a W Magazine party in Los Angeles in March 2022, just months before attending the Met Gala together. Since then, they've appeared to make it a priority to get out and about together, as they both have very demanding schedules. Kaia recently celebrated her film debut in the raunchy comedy Bottoms, where she played a popular high school cheerleader, which she considers worlds apart from her real life. 'I was not popular in high school, and I was not a cheerleader,' she recently told W magazine. 'I felt kind of like an outcast.' 'Obviously, the example in the movie is quite ridiculous, but feeling like youre not taken seriously or people arent focusing on the thing that youre passionate about is a very real thing,' she added. Her passion for acting is being taken quite seriously, as the director of Bottoms, Emma Seligman, had nothing but incredible things to say about Kaia's talent. Loved-up: The ingenue and the 32-year-old Oscar nominee - who rocked a white tee and jeans - looked so loved-up during the retail therapy session. Retail therapy: With their arms wrapped around each other, the A-list couple stopped by a few vendor tents to peruse the goods On the town: The Farmer's Market trip comes after the two were seen in a round of shopping last month in Malibu, where they brought along their adorable pup Milo 'Shes one of the most brilliant, well-read actors Ive ever worked with,' the film maker told W. 'She cares so much about doing the job and honoring your vision as a director.' 'Im sure its the same thing with a photographer or a designer,' Emma said of the runway model. 'Shes just trying to be a good soldier.' Speaking of her modeling career, Kaia has carved her own path, landing covers and contracts galore, yet she understands the constant comparison to her mother, supermodel icon Cindy. 'From day one, people in the industry were often taken aback by my resemblance to my mom,' she told Vogue in 2019. 'As I get older, it happens even more, and its not just a visual thing: Its everything from our mannerisms to our voices. First linked: The superstars were first linked shortly after Kaia broke things off with her previous boyfriend, Euphoria star Jacob Elordi in 2021 Red carpet duo: Kaia and Austin made their first red carpet appearance at a W Magazine party in Los Angeles in March 2022, just months before attending the Met Gala together Pay it forward: Since then, they've appeared to make it a priority to get out and about together, as they both have very demanding schedules Support: Meanwhile, Kaia has a great support system for her acting ambitions, as Austin has an Oscar nom under his belt for Elvis 'It used to be that I didnt see it at all, but now I will look at a picture and have to take a moment before realizing which one of us it is.' Meanwhile, Kaia has a great support system for her acting ambitions, as Austin has an Oscar nom under his belt for Elvis. His next film, Dune: Part Two, will be pushed from its October release date to March 2024. While Austin wasn't seen in the first Dune, he stars as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in the second part of director Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of Frank Herbert's epic novel. He will next be seen in the Apple TV Plus mini-series Masters of the Air, based on the true story of the 100th Bombardment Group of the United States Air Force during WWII. He'll also be seen in director Jeff Nichols' crime drama The Bikeriders alongside Tom Hardy, Jodie Comer and Michael Shannon, in theaters December 1. Austin has also signed on to star as Danny Ryan in City on Fire, a movie adaptation of the first book in a crime drama trilogy by author Don Winslow. Jenna Coleman looked practical yet chic as she transformed into plucky detective Ember for new BBC thriller The Jetty. The Victoria star, 37, donned edgy combat boots and a raincoat while filming by Hollingworth Lake in Manchester as she got stuck in to her investigative role. Jenna is playing 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. She was as stylish as ever as she tucked her chunky grey knit sweater into her cargo trousers and her chestnut locks were arranged into her classic waves. The gritty scenes being filmed involved a huge police presence and saw a body being pulled from the water. On set: Jenna Coleman looked practical yet chic as she transformed into plucky detective Ember for new BBC thriller The Jetty Deep in thought: The Victoria star, 37, donned edgy combat boots and a raincoat while filming by Hollingworth Lake in Manchester 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'. 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... Drama: The gritty scenes being filmed involved a huge police presence and saw a body being pulled from the water Filming: Jenna is playing rookie detective Ember Manning in the new thriller from writer Cat Jones and producers Firebird Pictures Stylish: She was as stylish as ever as she tucked her chunky grey knit sweater into her cargo trousers and her chestnut locks were arranged into her classic waves '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... '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.' New release: The Jetty is designed to delve into the moral legacy of the Me Too movement and ask questions about sexual morality, identity and memory Jason Momoa, Gerard Butler and Oscar Isaac are set to lead the cast of the upcoming crime thriller feature In The Hand Of Dante. The news about the performers' addition to the project was revealed by Deadline on Monday, and it was reported that the movie would be directed by Julian Schnabel. The project, which will also feature the participation of Gal Gadot, also boasts Martin Scorcese as one of its executive producers. Both Isaac and Schnabel also serve as executive producers for the upcoming movie. In The Hand Of Dante is based on Nick Tosches' novel of the same name, which was published in 2002. Leading the cast: Jason Momoa, Gerard Butler and Oscar Isaac are set to lead the cast of the upcoming crime thriller feature In The Hand Of Dante; Momoa is seen in May The movie alternates between two interconnected stories, with one taking place in the 14th century and the other being set in modern times. The latter of the two is centered on a fictionalized version of the author, who is ordered by Mafia captains to authenticate an allegedly original manuscript of the Divine Comedy after it falls into the possession of a smuggling operation. However, Tosches brazenly steals the item, which was said to have been written by Dante Aligheri himself, and escapes from the mob alongside his romantic partner, Giulietta. The 14th-century narrative revolves around the Divine Comedy's author, who attempts to finish his story after traveling to Sicily. Schnabel, 71, first mentioned that he was working on the project during an interview with Vanity Fair Spain that was published last September. Johnny Depp was previously connected to the project, and his production company, Infinitum Nihil, purchased the rights to the book in 2008. The performer was attached to play one of the lead roles at one point, although he eventually stepped away from the film for unknown reasons. Signing on: The news about the performers' addition to the project was revealed by Deadline on Monday, and it was reported that the movie would be directed by Julian Schnabel; Isaac is seen in February Source material: In The Hand Of Dante is based on Nick Tosches' novel of the same name, which was published in 2002; Butler is seen in January Making it known: Schnabel, 71, first mentioned that he was working on the project during an interview with Vanity Fair Spain that was published last September; he is seen in September Missed opportunity: Johnny Depp was previously connected to the project, although he eventually stepped away from the film for unknown reasons Schnabel spoke to The Guardian last month and stated: 'I don't know what happened, but we haven't talked for years.' Isaac, Butler and Momoa later signed on to appear in the feature, which is currently filming in Italy. The project's crew also obtained an interim agreement from SAG-AFTRA, which allows the film to be shot during the union's ongoing strike. In The Hand Of Dante's release date has not been revealed as of yet. Coleen Rooney has discussed her upcoming Disney+ documentary during a rare TV appearance on The One Show on Monday. The WAG, 37, who's new show charts her headline making Wagatha Christie trial, admitted she only publicly named Rebekah Vardy after leaks from her personal social media account to The Sun newspaper 'just wouldn't stop'. She told hosts Alex Jones and Jermaine Jenas that while it may have been 'easier' to just ignore the issue, it had been going on for 'so long'. 'I put warning posts out there, saying "someone was leaking my private information" and it just didn't stop, it continued and I just had enough and I just wanted it done with'. Coleen went on to admit that while she knew the story and aftermath would be 'big' she never imagined it becoming a worldwide phenomenon, with the phrase Wagatha Christie even entering the vernacular. Candid: Coleen Rooney, 37, has discussed her upcoming Disney+ documentary during a rare TV appearance on The One Show on Monday Candid: The WAG, who's new show charts her headline making Wagatha Christie trial, admitted she only publicly named Rebekah Vardy (pictured during trial) after leaks from her personal social media account to The Sun newspaper 'just wouldn't stop' Speaking about the aftermath she said: 'There were times when I wanted it to go away but I had to battle on'. It comes after the latest explosive trailer for Disney+'s Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story was been released, prior to the show's airing on Wednesday. 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. 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. 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.' Hard times: She told hosts Alex Jones and Jermaine Jenas that while it may have been 'easier' to just ignore the issue, it had been going on for 'so long' Interest: Coleen went on to admit that while she knew the story and aftermath would be 'big' she never imagined it becoming a worldwide phenomenon, with the phrase Wagatha Christie even entering the vernacular (L-R) Coleen, Alex Jones, Jermaine Jenas 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' 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'. Tears: It comes after the latest explosive trailer for Disney+'s Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story was been released, prior to the show's airing on Wednesday 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 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. 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 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) The big reveal: Coleen's eagerly-anticipated documentary is set to air on Wednesday 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. 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'. EastEnders' Davinder aka Nugget was finally found after it was revealed he had been hiding with long lost mother Priya on Monday. In the tense teens the teen's father Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara) came face to face with his ex (played by Sophie Khan Levy) who viewers are already declaring 'iconic'. Nugget (Juhaim Rasul Choudhury) turned to step-grandmother Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal) earlier in the episode when his mystery location ran out of food. She had known the lad had been safe, and hiding from his murderous dad, for weeks only to now inadvertently lead everyone to his location. Suki arrived with husband Nish (Navin Chowdhry), followed close behind by Ravi and copper Jack Branning (Scott Maslan) who had given chase. Reveal: EastEnders ' Davinder aka Nugget (Juhaim Rasul Choudhury, left) was finally found after it was revealed he had been hiding with long lost mother Priya (Sophie Khan Levy, right) on Monday Drama: In the tense teens the teen's father Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara, pictured) came face to face with his ex who viewers are already declaring 'iconic' Despite Nugget pleading for them to leave, he was too late and Priya made her grand entrance declaring sarcastically: 'If I knew we had company I would have got cream cakes'. 'I am not leaving her' the boy shouted at his horrofied father, with the newcomer insisting: 'He is not keeping me away from my son again'. Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, one fan said: 'Okay already love Priya.... how iconic'. While a second wrote: 'Yesss! about time some woman put Ravi in his place!'. Someone else said: 'Wait. Is this the first time Nugget's mum's popped up in real life? Let the fireworks begin!'. And: 'Priya coming in strong'. Another shocked viewer wrote: 'I didn't see that coming!'. While another commented: 'I'm sorry SON?! This is his baby motgher?! Awoooah!'. Staying together: 'I am not leaving her' the boy shouted at his horrofied father, with the newcomer insisting: 'He is not keeping me away from my son again' Loving her: Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, one fan said: 'Okay already love Priya.... how iconic' It comes after EastEnders viewers were left fuming, claiming show bosses have 'ruined' Karen Taylor after news the character was to be axed after six years. Fans were unimpressed by the laundrette employee's sudden cold hearted behaviour, after originally being introduced to the soap as comic relief. During the episode Karen (Lorraine Stanley) encouraged son Keanu (Danny Walters) to fleece former flame Sharon (Leticia Dean) of all her money as the couple battle over custody of son Albert. Following his mother's advice the hunky mechanic decided to fake feelings for his ex- girlfriend in a bid to leave the country with their little boy. Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, one viewer said: 'The way they're writing Karen before she leaves makes me feel really sorry for Lorraine Stanley, she's truly superb'. Unhappy! EastEnders viewers have been left fuming, claiming show bosses have 'ruined' Karen Taylor (Lorraine Stanley, pictured) after news the character was to be axed after six years Who is she? Fans were unimpressed by the laundrette employee's sudden cold hearted behaviour, after originally being introduced to the soap as comic relief While a second wrote: 'They have ruined Karen'. A third penned: "The Taylors got off to such a good start in #EastEnders and had such high potential but over the years its the one thing I will fault EE on, I feel like theyve just made them more and more unlikeable one by one Karen, Bernie and Keanu are all so annoying now'. With some else adding: 'Ugh sick of Karen and Keanu'. And: Karen and Keanu are making my head spin, enough'. A sixth commented: 'This Karen death and Keanu storyline is boring. No one cares'. Kirsty Gallacher showed off her sensational figure on Monday as she arrived at the Lotus showroom in London alongside Natalie Pinkham. The Scottish TV presenter, 47, looked radiant in the sleek gown as she attended the Starr Luxury Cars event to promote their Sirius Members Club for chauffeur driven cars and super car hire around the globe. She added to the elegant look by pulling her dark tresses back into a high ponytail, adding smokey black eyeliner to keep in with the monochromatic theme. Natalie Pinkham, 46, was also present at the showing of the Starr Luxury Cars, donning a stylish plum jumpsuit, which she paired with a black clutch bag. And Lisa Snowdon, 51, also turned heads in a sultry off-the-shoulder black PVC outfit paired with bold red heels. Night out: Kirsty Gallacher showed off her sensational figure on Monday as she arrived at the Lotus showroom in London alongside Natalie Pinkham Presenter pals: The duo attended the Starr Luxury Cars event to promote their Sirius Members Club for chauffeur driven cars and super car hire around the globe It comes after a joint investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4 Dispatches into Russell Brand's conduct around women at the height of his mainstream TV fame. Brand, who is married to Kirsty's younger sister Laura, is battling to save his career following an in depth expose into his actions while working in mainstream TV and radio. Brand has since been accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse by four women during the peak of his fame, according to a joint investigation by The Sunday Times and Channel 4. The allegations claim to have taken place between 2006 and 2013. One of the alleged victims is alleged to be a 16-year-old schoolgirl. Brand's close friends and confidantes have since rallied to defend the comedian, insisting that while the comedian is crude, arrogant, and offensive, he is 'not a monster. The British-born star - a recovering addict - has been substance-free since overcoming his addiction to heroin and crack cocaine in 2002, and according to one woman who has known him since his early days in recovery, those in his sober circle are 'shocked' by the accusations of abuse that he is now facing. 'Everyone is shocked right now. Russell has been a driving force in so many people's recovery over the years and he has helped thousands of people get clean by sharing his powerful story,' one woman, who went through recovery with him and wished to remain anonymous, told DailyMail.com. Stylish: Lisa Snowdon , 51, also turned heads in a sultry off-the-shoulder black PVC outfit paired with bold red heels Family: Gallacher's younger sister Laura (pictured), a self-styled 'mummy blogger' , is married to the under-fire presenter Under-fire: Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse by four women during the peak of his fame, according to a joint investigation by The Sunday Times and Channel 4 'He is constantly being of service and is very engaged in his recovery. He works with a team of new addicts to help them get sober as well.' A separate source, who met Brand during his rise to fame, claimed he has never 'crossed the line'. 'I have seen Russell in intimate settings, as well as huge red carpet celebrity events. He is always himself and, while he is very flirty because this is his nature, I have not witnessed him crossing the line,' the Hollywood insider told DailyMail.com. 'Russell is vulgar. He is crude. He has built a persona on being a sexual playboy. He has slept with countless women, and he will tell you this. 'He is also offensive, and he is arrogant, but he never came across as a monster to me. He is, in fact, very good to those who he cares about. He has friends who will stand up in court to vouch for his character if he needs them.' The once-promiscuous actor, who was infamously dubbed 'Shagger of the Year' by one news outlet, married Laura Gallacher in 2017, six years after he split from his first wife, Katy Perry. The couple have daughters, Mabel, and Peggy, and are awaiting the birth of their third child. Aaron Dingle was unveiled as the mystery man being held hostage in an abandoned farmhouse by family members Cain and Caleb in Emmerdale last week. But despite making a dramatic comeback just days ago, fans of the soap are already calling for the character, played by Danny Miller, to leave the village for good following his treatment of the beloved Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt) during Monday's episode. Viewers watched Aaron rage at Cain (Jeff Hordley) and Caleb (William Ash) last week as they kept him tied up in the farmhouse after they kidnapped him in Italy to save him from the mafia, with Aaron having picked a fight with members of the criminal organisation. Aaron then had a run in with local gangster Harry after he took his mother Chas (Lucy Pargeter) hostage last week, plowing the criminal down with a car, before heading back to the village. This week, Aaron was on the warpath with the local residents, and unleashed his acid tongue on an unsuspecting Paddy, spitting out some very harsh comments about his previous suicide attempt. Already? Emmerdale fans are calling for Aaron Dingle to leave the village for good following his treatment of the beloved Paddy Kirk during Monday's episode, despite returning days ago Harsh: Aaron was on the warpath with local residents and unleashed his acid tongue on an unsuspecting Paddy, spitting out some harsh comments about his previous suicide attempt. Bumping into him in the cafe, Paddy was surprised Aaron had not come to find him, saying: 'I missed you, and I thought youd miss me.' Noticing Aaron's dark mood, Paddy tried to comfort Aaron, suspecting he was grieving his sister Liv who was killed in a storm a year ago. Paddy told him: 'Dont pretend it doesnt affect you. We all know how much you loved her.' He went to try and get Aaron to open up about what was troubling him, discussing his own troubles including his suicide attempt. Paddy said: 'I came close to doing something there was no coming back from' However, Aaron's response was cruel: 'I heard all about that. How you didnt have the guts to go through with it. Pathetic, Paddy. 'Maybe you should have done it. Done us all a favour. Were better off without you.' The moment left viewers aghast, with many taking to Twitter to express their disgust while called for Aaron to leave the village despite arriving back just days ago. Horrified: The moment left viewers aghast, with many taking to Twitter to express their disgust while called for Aaron to leave the village despite arriving back just days ago One person wrote: 'If this is the way Aaron is going to behave I want him gone hes getting on my nerves!' Someone else wrote: 'Why have they brought Aaron back being a complete tool!' While someone else posted: 'Cant believe Aaron actually said that. Maybe its the grief talking. NO WAY does he mean that.' 'Wow, I can't believe Aaron just said that to Paddy about his suicide attempt,' posted another shocked viewer. While someone else shared: 'Aaron!!! How could you!!! @DannyBMiller Poor Paddy!!! #Emmerdale #itv #ItvEmmerdale.' Someone else shared: 'Ee-by-gum. Aaron even more nasty & cruel. What vile words to say to Paddy. Horrid man. Never could stand him.' 'Aaron speaking to Paddy like that breaks my heart,' wrote someone else, while another person commented: 'Wow Aaron that was below the belt!! Paddy has done so much for you!!' Another person posted: 'I'm glad Aaron is back I don't like his bad boy attitude what did poor Paddy ever do.' 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 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. 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. Heidi Klum certainly put on an eye-popping display as she arrived at a taping of AGT: Fantasy League in Los Angeles on Monday. The 50-year-old model stood out while wearing an all-red outfit as she stepped out of a private vehicle and made her way toward the show's production area. The television personality, who recently posed in lingerie with her daughter Leni, showcased her cleavage as she went shirtless while wearing a slim-fitting blazer, which also exposed her toned legs. Klum paired her outerwear with matching high-heeled shoes as she prepared to work on the program. The social media powerhouse accessorized with a chic purse and completed her look with a pair of sunglasses. There she is: Heidi Klum was pictured as she arrived at a taping of AGT: Fantasy League in Los Angeles on Monday Her gorgeous blonde locks fell onto her shoulders and paired well with the bright tone of her outfit. It was announced that the runway regular had signed on to appear in AGT: Fantasy League this past September. The fashion industry figure first served as a judge on America's Got Talent from 2013 until 2018, when she left the program. The model returned to her old role in 2020, and she has remained with the show ever since then. She continued in her role for America's Got Talent: The Champions, which ran from 2019 until 2020. The television personality also headlined America's Got Talent: All-Stars, which premiered this past January. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Klum will be joined by her fellow judges Simon Cowell and Howie Mandel for the new version of the show. Mel B, who has also served as a judge for the competition program, will return to her old role, and Terry Crews will act as the show's host. Keeping it consistent: The television personality showcased her cleavage as she went shirtless while wearing a slim-fitting blazer, which also exposed her toned legs Fancy footwear: Klum paired her outerwear with matching high-heeled shoes as she prepared to work on the program. The social media powerhouse accessorized with a chic purse and completed her look with a pair of sunglasses Gorgeous: Her gorgeous blonde locks fell onto her shoulders and paired well with the bright tone of her outfit In the new version of the show, each judge will choose several past winners, finalists and standouts from America's Got Talent to compete against other teams of contestants. The show's audience will also have a level of control in determining which acts make it through each round. Each judge will serve as a mentor for each act over the course of the spinoff's first run. AGT: Fantasy League is set to premiere on NBC at an unspecified date in the future. Eddie Van Halen's son Wolfgang has married his longtime partner Andraia Allsop in an intimate LA ceremony - three years after his rock legend father died aged 65. Wolfgang, 32, who has been with Andraia for eight years, tied the knot at the couple's home, with the bassist walked down the aisle by his mother Valerie Bertinelli, 63 to a song his late father wrote for him called 316 - in honor of his birthdate of March 16. Wolfgang and Andraia, who wed on October 15, the eight year anniversary of their first date - also paid tribute to the much-missed music icon throughout the ceremony, telling People they kept a chair empty for him at the ceremony and made memory charms with Wolf and Eddie on them for people to look at during the day. Bertinelli also lent Andraia a necklace for the day which Eddie had given to her, saying: 'Ed wouldve been absolutely beaming and so, so proud of the man Wolfie has become and is becoming and so happy that he has found Andraia, someone who really understands Wolfie, who he is and who he wants to be and supports him wholeheartedly.' The couple wed in their living room with their reception for their 90 guests held in their backyard. The ceremony was officiated by one of the Van Halen's closest family friends. Newlyweds: Eddie Van Halen's son Wolfgang has married his longtime partner Andraia Allsop in an intimate LA ceremony - three years after his rock legend father died aged 65 Father and son: Wolfgang, 32, tied the knot at the couple's home, with the bassist walked down the aisle by his mother Valerie Bertinelli, 63 to a song his late father wrote for him (pictured onstage in 2012) Both Mammoth WVH star Wolfgang and Andraia wrote their own vows and honored their late loved ones in their speeches. Wolfgang wore a custom three-piece suit while Andraia wore an Eva Lendel dress with sheer sleeves and beading. The couple's 'hints of Italian' wedding feast included Tortellini en Brodo soup, braised short rib, pesto chicken and cauliflower steaks. The dessert featured tiramisu and a vanilla wedding cake with buttercream vanilla frosting. Surprisingly Grammy-nominated star Wolfgang did not play at his wedding with the couple enlisting a DJ for their reception. He quipped: 'I think people's first impression is like, 'Oh, are you going to play something?' And it's like, no, that's the last thing I want to do. I'm going on tour in 11 days. I don't want to. Last thing I want to think about is playing anything.' The couple first met on Instagram back in 2015 with their first date seeing them enjoy sushi at Aroha before watching the sunset in Malibu. The wedding comes just over three years since legendary guitar player Eddie Van Halen died following a stroke and longtime cancer battle. Tribute: Bertinelli also lent Andraia a necklace for the day which Eddie had given to her, saying: ' Ed wouldve been absolutely beaming and so, so proud of the man Wolfie has become and is becoming and so happy that he has found Andraia' (pictured together April 2022) Bertinelli, best known for her work on One Day at a Time, Touched by an Angel and Hot in Cleveland, last year revealed in her memoir Enough Already: Learning to Love the Way I Am Today that Eddie's last words to her were 'I love you.' Bertinelli and Van Halen were married for 26 years and stayed close after their 2007 divorce, Bertinelli wrote, as she was by his side when he was dying. In an excerpt of the memoir, Bertinelli revealed the touching last words they exchanged prior to his death at age 65, as well as the gift her 'soulmate' gave her during his battle with cancer. Bertinelli and the ex-couple's son Wolfgang were among the loved ones spending time with Eddie during his final weeks of life in the hospital. Also there was Van Halen's second wife, Janie Liszewski, and his brother, Alex Van Halen. The rocker had been suffering from pneumonia, the bone marrow disorder myelodysplastic syndrome, and lung cancer, but ultimately died of a stroke. Bertinelli revealed the poignant last words her ex-husband said to her and their son. Bertinelli and Wolfgang paid tribute to Eddie on what would have been his 68th birthday Thursday earlier this year '"I love you" are the last words Ed says to Wolfie and me," Valerie recalled, 'and they are the last words we say to him before he stops breathing.' Bertinelli, whose connection with Eddie grew stronger as his cancer spread and he approached the prospect of death, also recalled the touching gift he gave her a year before his death. Eddie had purchased Valerie a gold bar the size of a pendant while undergoing cancer treatment in Germany. The rocker requested to speak with her privately on Thanksgiving Day in 2019 and gave her the touching gift after they went to a friend's car to talk. 'I hope you don't think it's weird, you know, that I bought my ex-wife this gift and didn't get my wife anything,' Eddie said with tears in his eyes. 'I just love you.' 'He wants me to know he messed up [during our marriage],' Valerie wrote. 'I contributed to our troubles too and I am also sorry.' Valerie also expressed regret over holding herself back from deepening their friendship during his battle with cancer. Though they were both remarried, Valerie says both of their marriages were facing issues. 'There is no chance we are going to get back together,' she said, 'but I do know if one of us were to open up, the other one would too, and I don't want to get into that.' Valerie struggled to describe their relationship but said there was 'no greater love' than the one they had for one another. Heartbreak: Eddie was 65 when he died after battling throat cancer for several years 'I can't explain the feelings Ed and I had for each other,' she wrote. 'Who really knows had he not died. I doubt it. I loved him more than I know how to explain and there's nothing sexual about it. It was more than that. And Ed and I understood that.' 'There is no greater love than what we had between the two of us and with that, we made this beautiful son.' Valerie ultimately filed for legal separation from her second husband Tom Vitale in November 2021, but said her 'love' for Eddie played no role in their split. 'We grew apart,' the Hot In Cleveland actress said. 'The decision has nothing to do with my love for Ed. I wish Tom the best and I know he feels the same way about me.' Stacey Dooley looked effortlessly stylish alongside her partner Kevin Clifton as they stepped out for a stroll with their baby daughter Minnie on Monday in Soho, London. The TV presenter, 36, stunned in a white drop-shoulder turtleneck teamed with a pair of navy cargo trousers. The journalist donned chunky black trainers, as she rocked a pair of chic black cat-eye shades. Stacey kept her ginger tresses tied up and accessorised with gold jewellery as she carried the baby stroller for the streets of central London. She showcased her fresh-faced features, while enjoying a daily stroll with her family. Doting parents: Stacey Dooley looked effortlessly stylish alongside her partner Kevin Clifton as they stepped out for a stroll with their baby daughter Minnie on Monday in Soho, London Stylish: The TV presenter, 36, stunned in a white drop-shoulder turtleneck teamed with a pair of navy cargo trousers Meanwhile Strictly sensation Kevin, 41, donned navy trousers and a grey zipped sweatshirt, as he bundled up against the chill in a dark grey jacket. The dancer was captured carrying a wide luggage with him, as the couple both looked relaxed. The couple met while competing on Strictly Come Dancing in 2018, going onto win the show, and their romance came to light several months later. Before meeting Stacey, the Strictly star was married with also Strictly pro dancer Karen Hauer - from 2015 to 2018. The couple's outing comes after Karen and husband Jordan Wyn-Jones have reportedly gone their separate ways after 16 months of marriage. The professional dancer, 41, and Jordan married last year, describing the ceremony as a 'fairytale' at the time, but sources are now claiming that the pair have gone their separate ways after a 'tough time.' Speaking about the split, an insider told the Mirror: 'Karen and Jordan have had a tough time in the past few months and decided to split. It's obviously very sad for both of them. 'But there's no ill-will whatsoever. The split is amicable, and they wish each other the best.' Love: The couple met while competing on Strictly Come Dancing in 2018, going onto win the show, and their romance came to light several months later It's over: Strictly's Karen Hauer (who was previously married to Kevin between 2015 and 2018) and husband Jordan Wyn-Jones have reportedly gone their separate ways after 16 months of marriage No ring: Karen, who is paired with comedian and radio presenter Eddie Kadi (left) on Strictly this year attended the Pride of Britain Awards without her wedding ring earlier this month From counselling, to no social media posts or wedding rings, here are the hints their relationship was at breaking point behind-the-scenes. There were a few signs that the duo was already drifting apart - as Karen attended the Pride Of Britain Awards at Grosvenor House with her Strictly partner Eddie Kadi earlier this month. However Karen wasn't wearing her wedding ring while posing for snaps on the red carpet. Elsewhere, during an appearance on Good Morning Britain earlier this week, Karen also appeared to hide her wedding ring hand with a long black sleeve top. In August this year Karen revealed she and Jordan were having counselling to help them with their relationship. She told Hello! magazine: 'Counselling. You know what I think communication is massive but learning how to communicate, you know, so we get outside help. 'So whenever we're having tricky moments or anything like that, it's just seeing the vulnerable side of each other and understanding it and knowing that both of us are working on things because nobody is perfect.' She added: 'There is no such thing as a happy marriage or a happy relationship with the perfect couple. 'It's about dealing with things the right way and not just running away from things, and I guess that's what makes us tick even better and understand one another.' In addition, the last time Karen shared a video of Jordan on her page was nine weeks ago. The pair were seen giggling together as they drove a bumper car at a funfair in August. Karen captioned the post: 'Sunday funday.' Jordan also shared a video of himself winning a teddy at the fair for Karen, with the caption: 'Just a couple of days' The time before that Jordan appeared in a post was in July - when they took a romantic trip to Paris. Last month, Karen also shared a sweet post embracing her mother and wrote: 'Moms hugs are the best' This summer, Karen said she hadn't decided if she wanted children with her husband Jordan. She told HELLO! magazine: 'There's always the possibility but right now I'm really happy living in the moment with my husband and with the dogs. 'Nothing compares to a love of a dog. No matter how you wake up, the dogs are always happy to see you with their tails wagging. 'I know it's going to sound weird but it's like having a child but it's a furry child.' Waffle House workers are calling for a $25 minimum wage - amid increasing protests over dangerous working conditions. A petition circulating by the Union of Southern Service Workers (USSW) includes a push for a $25 hourly minimum wage at the roadside diner chain which is often seen as an icon of the working-class South. The chain has over 1,900 locations in 25 states in the South and Midwest, which are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week - with an estimated revenue of $1 billion annually. But workers say they are 'fed up' of making 'poverty wages' and 'the constant threat of in-store violence' at the chain which has developed a reputation for violent incidents - which often end up being posted online. The petition also demands 24/7 security and an end automatic meal deduction charges from worker paychecks. Waffle House employees are demanding a $25 hourly minimum wage Workers are also demanding real input in safety plans during natural disasters. Waffle House has built a reputation for staying open during extreme weather - feeding first responders or people affected by inclement conditions. So much so, that the so-called 'Waffle House Index' has long been a metric for measuring the severity of storms or hurricanes. Gerald Green, a cook at Waffle House in Atlanta, Georgia for about seven years, spoke at a USSW rally last month. 'Waffle House workers are the upper echelon of the hardest-working people I've ever met in my life, he told The Guardian. 'A lot of people are struggling. I dont think its too much to ask for people to have a dignified life when theyre working so hard to get people meals.' Green is paid $17 an hour as a cook, but many Waffle House workers work sub-minimum wages as servers, relying on tips. The chain has over 1,900 locations in 25 states in the South and Midwest, which are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour - but the rate can change depending on the state. While many people have come out in support of the pay demands, others have gone online to express their dismay. 'Anyone who doesnt think Waffle House employees deserve $25/hour should try staying at one overnight and see what happens,' one user wrote on X, formerly Twitter. 'More folks who want something for nothing,' another user disagreed. As of October 16, Indeed shows Waffle House salaries as ranging from $57,907 per year for a restaurant manager to $12.20 per hour for a grill cook at restaurants in Atlanta. It comes as employees at the chain are increasingly complaining about dangerous conditions. In a video posted online by USSW, worker Kenya Alexander said: 'I often feel unsafe at work. I witness shootings at work.' Staff frequently have to manage angry or intoxicated customers, some of whom are armed. At a strike in July, Jessica Gantt, 47, revealed she has been through two robberies and has had guns shoved in her face - all while being paid just $16 an hour. Gantt and her coworkers walked off the job during a Saturday morning breakfast rush at a location in Columbia, South Carolina. Gantt said she had given her 'blood, sweat, and tears' in the 24 years she had worked for the company. Jessica Gantt, 47, a Waffle House employee, has shared she has been through two robberies and has had guns shoved in her face for the past 24 years - all while being paid just $16 an hour In a video shared on the USSW's TikTok account, she detailed her frustrations with the chain. 'I'm almost 47 with a herniated disc in my back. [Do] you think they're going to get me any mat or anything good to stand on back there on the concrete floor while they work me 17-hour shifts back-to-back? No. 'I think Waffle House incorporated could do me better than that. I've given my blood, sweat, and tears for this company in the years. 'They could do a little bit better than what they've done. After 24 years that's why I'm out here striking today,' she said at the end of the clip. The minimum wage in South Carolina is $7.25 - the same as the current federal minimum wage rate. Responding to the strike, representatives for Waffle House told DailyMail.com at the time: 'Waffle House is proud of its long record of effectively addressing concerns our associates report to us. We intend to do that directly with our associates.' The transitional regime in Burkina Faso paid tribute on Sunday October 15 in Ouagadougou to former revolutionary president Thomas Sankara, assassinated during a coup on October 15, 1987, during a sober ceremony marking the 36th anniversary of his dead, noted an AFP journalist. The ceremony took place in front of the large statue of Thomas Sankara, erected in the Burkinabe capital in 2019, at the place where the ex-president was assassinated and buried in February. The leader of the transition and Captain Ibrahim Traore who came to power in a coup a year ago chaired the ceremony, accompanied by several members of the government and presidents of institutions. In military fatigues and a red beret, Captain Traore laid a wreath of flowers at the foot of the statue, after presenting the decree adopted at the beginning of October elevating Thomas Sankara to the rank of hero of the nation. The status of hero of the nation was created in June 2022 to honor people who have distinguished themselves in particular by their exceptional bravery in defense of a national cause or their exceptional and honorable prowess for the nation, according to the Burkinabe government. Reconnaissance Captain Traore then proceeded to lay a first stone marking the start of the construction of a mausoleum on the same site, dedicated to the father of the Burkinabe revolution and his twelve other companions killed with him. A day of tribute to Thomas Sankara will be celebrated every October 15 in Ouagadougou, declared the Minister of Public Service, Bassolma Bazie. In addition, the former Charles-de-Gaulle Boulevard, adjacent to the memorial headquarters, was renamed after Thomas Sankara as a recognition, according to the vice-president of the Thomas Sankara International Memorial Committee (CIMTS), the Colonel Major Daouda Traore. Having come to power through a putsch in August 1983, the Pan-African icon was killed during a coup d'etat instigated by his number two, Blaise Compaore. That day, Thomas Sankara was in a meeting at the headquarters of the National Council of the Revolution (CNR), which he had created, when a commando of putschist soldiers arrived there and shot him and his companions. After Mr. Sankara's death, Blaise Compaore remained in power until a popular uprising that led to his downfall in 2014. In April 2022, the Ouagadougou military court convicted Mr. Compaore, who lives in Ivory Coast , in absentia to life imprisonment for his role in the assassination of Thomas Sankara. Solofo Randrianja is professor of history at the University of Tamatave (Toamasina). A specialist in contemporary political life, he deciphers the causes of the new electoral crisis that Madagascar is experiencing one month before the first round of the presidential election, the date of which has been postponed to November 16. If the manipulation of institutions and the violation of laws by outgoing president Andry Rajoelina are the triggers of this crisis, it also has its roots, according to the historian, in the existence of a dysfunctional state. Between the system of royalty which prevailed before colonization and that of the Republic subsequently imported, hybridization did not work, he notes. No. For the first time, we are not facing a crisis caused by opponents who demand power and are ready to go beyond the constitutional framework to do so. It is the regime in place which has deviated from legality by flouting the laws and manipulating institutions. There is of course the question of the French nationality of President Andry Rajoelina [revealed in June by the publication of his naturalization decree] and also, directly linked to the holding of the election, the lack of transparency on the number of voters , the submission of the Electoral Commission to power, the withdrawal of the President of the Senate under pressure to make way for a collegial government, responsible for organizing the elections... So many reasons to think that these elections are a fool's game. Early in Andry Rajoelina's mandate, there were signs of this desire to use institutions to consolidate his power. I can cite as an example the appointment by the president of regional governors even though the law provides for them to be elected. In the same vein, in December 2022, more than two thirds of the deputies of the National Assembly including a large majority of the coalition supporting the regime tabled a motion of censure against the government led by Prime Minister Christian Ntsay. They were called to order within a few days and withdrew the motion. This illustrates the legislative power being brought into line. Madagascar is schizophrenic like many African countries. The local political culture has failed to integrate, for the good of the entire population, the elements of governance imported with colonization then through the Constitutions four in total adopted since independence. The Malagasy live in a cosmogony, in a way of conceiving the universe which is not necessarily in phase with Roman law, the separation of powers, etc. I am not idealizing the modes of organization prior to colonization, I am simply making this observation: hybridization did not work... or, more precisely, it was controlled by political elites according to their interests . The royalty that prevailed before colonization remains invisibly very significant. All the presidents who have succeeded one another since 1960 have had in common the ability to capture his legacy, one of the characteristics of which is a very strong personalization of power. () In Malagasy, fanjakana translated as State is a close cousin of mpanjaka which means king. The Malagasy believe somewhere in the sacredness of the State embodied by the king. It is through this representation that citizenship and living together are built. But, in my opinion, the contradiction between a secularized king who hides behind the sacred state is one of the sources of chronic political instability. It is interesting to note that if the adoption of a republican model allowed the democratization of the recruitment of the king, a strong limit was set. The assassination of Colonel Richard Ratsimandrava in 1975, explained in the popular imagination as the refusal of God and the ancestors to see a descendant of a slave be head of state, indeed suggests that no descendant of a slave will be able to perform this function. There are of course more or less megalomaniacal personalities. Didier Ratsiraka was enthroned on the sacred stone of Mahamasina which is a symbol of royalty. Rajoelina's dress code, like that of many of his supporters, refers to the pre-colonial 19th century. We thus speak of providential men, but this is covered with unsaid words which refer to a mode of government governed by a rereading of royalty by the elites. This remains a reality at the local level where kings and traditional leaders persist. () It is a part of politics which is not formal on which any candidate for the presidency must tune in to be elected and especially to govern. He will need it if only to maintain order because the authority of the State is not effective over the entire territory. All the alternations were made outside the rules. Both at the time of royalty when it came to deciding on successions and after independence, when Madagascar became a Republic. The first Malagasy president, Philibert Tsiranana, who ruled the country until 1972, was appointed by an assembly of provincial elected officials installed during the colonial period. The Second Republic was born in 1975 from a coup detat perpetrated by factions of the army. In 1993, Albert Zafy, who proclaimed himself "father of democracy", was first brought to power from the streets before being legitimized by elections. These alternations outside formal institutions recall how commoner groups Manantany among the Sakalava, Hova among the Merinas, for example chose kings and queens, using armed forces and money. The order of succession was then regularized by official historiography. In such contexts, it is rather a sort of palace revolution which causes the collapse of a regime, favored by popular movements which constitute its spark. Elections confirm a choice resulting from power struggles within the elites. There are never major social debates during electoral campaigns. Imprisoned in this system, hopeful personalities always end up at one point or another disappointing all voters. Madagascar is a hierarchical and profoundly unequal society. The monopolization of wealth by the ruling class is a constant: look for example at Antalaha, the world capital of vanilla. The urban infrastructure is as terrible as elsewhere, the majority of the population does not have access to drinking water, the farmers who plant vanilla are still in poverty. Taboo social fact, the descendants of slaves, the subalterns. Its a subject we dont want to talk about. At the time of independence, the census indicates 2.5 million Malagasy people, including 500,000 dependents. The population has multiplied by more than ten since then, the number of subordinates who have become people without recognized status has increased in the same proportion. Entire groups are stigmatized like the Antevolo of Vohipeno, the Andevo of Imerina and elsewhere, the Makoa. Legally, they are citizens but, in reality, they remain prisoners of their condition of descendants of slaves and, in the Republic, the rituals which would have freed them from this status no longer officially exist... In Madagascar, citizens do not are not equal to each other, it is a view of the mind, a legal fiction. The Malagasy people need a real debate on the nation they want to build. Since independence, it has never taken place. A large part of the political class was decimated following the repression of the 1947 insurrection against the colonial power. This is not without consequences on the lack of reflection and on the situation which prevails today. The country must give itself a direction, a horizon towards which to move, taking into account its history and its identity. Because the idea that Madagascar could one day operate on the model of a Western liberal democracy seems to me completely improbable. The Government of Italy, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, announced this Monday the approval of the budget project for the next year, which includes a package of tax cuts and spending measures amounting to around 24 billion euros, including increases in public salaries and measures to support the family and working women. "It is a budget that I consider very serious, very realistic, that does not waste resources, but focuses them on some important priorities," Meloni defended in the presentation to the press of the Government's decision in a context of growing concern about consolidation fiscal in the Old Continent in the face of the rate increases of the European Central Bank (ECB). The Italian Prime Minister has reiterated that her Executive continues to work substantially on the same priorities as this year for 2024, highlighting the need to "defend the purchasing power of families", for which she has confirmed the decrease for the next year. of the contribution wedge agreed upon last May, of six percentage points for incomes of up to 35,000 euros and seven points for incomes of up to 25,000 euros, which represents an average increase in payroll of about 100 euros per month and benefits to some 14 million citizens. In this sense, Meloni has announced the merger of the two lowest sections of the tax scale, so that up to 28,000 euros of income a 23% tax will be applied. Likewise, the Government contemplates an allocation of 7,000 million euros aimed at raising public sector salaries, including around 2,000 million euros for health workers and another 5,000 million for the rest of the sectors. "I believe that we cannot accept a reality in which a police officer earns little more than 6 euros per hour for overtime, that is, less than what a domestic worker earns, and I believe that we must intervene in this regard," he indicated. On the other hand, Meloni has announced a series of measures aimed at families, especially working mothers, highlighting the five months of parental leave paid at 100%, as well as the increase in the endowment of the fund for daycare centers with the aim of that daycare is free for the second child and that mothers with two or more children do not pay the social contributions paid by the worker, but rather the State assumes it. "A woman who gives birth to at least two children in a reality in which we desperately need to reverse demographic data has already offered an important contribution to society and that is why the State, let's say, tries to compensate by paying social security contributions" said the Italian leader. According to the latest forecasts from the Italian Government, the budget deficit will increase next year to 4.3% of GDP, due in part to the 15.7 billion of additional debt planned to pay for the tax cuts. In a bid to improve the argumentative skills of budding lawyers, law colleges and schools across India are choosing Moot Court competitions The syllabus of the law universities features Moot Court as a compulsory topic, the marks scored in it playing a crucial role in determining the grade with which the students pass out of the LLB degree examination. Persons outside the legal fraternity or law colleges may stare back when they are asked about Moot Court. Though Moot Courts are as important and interesting as Mathematics Olympiad, they are yet to get the public recognition. For those interested in legal affairs, this is an event equal in status to the Mathematics Olympiad, said Prof V R Jayadevan, principal, of Government Law College, Thrissur, who successfully conducted an all-India Moot Court event in his college in the last week of September. Though planned as a low-profile event the Thrissur Moot Court Competition drew 36 teams from all over India. The winners walked away with the Justice T Ramachandran Memorial Trophy. The event saw intense competition as participating undergraduates switched over from one section of the law to another section with elan and poise. If you ask a person without a legal background what moot court is about, chances are that you will get a grumpy look. No one can blame him/her because persons without knowledge of legal education are not at all familiar with the term. Moot Courts are simulated lessons held in law schools to make budding lawyers ready to face real-life battles in courtrooms. It is an intellectual bout conceived to test the prowess of law students in their academic pursuits. The organisers take out subjects of national and international events, put them as a legal issue and ask the students to argue for and against the topic. Classrooms in law schools are converted into real-life courtrooms with all resplendent ambience. These bouts turn out future Jethmalanis, Servais, Narimans and Sorabjees! Those familiar with the nuances of law and legal codes are sure to take a liking to the event. I always feel that Moot Courts resemble Kathakali, a pantomime of Kerala, which could be enjoyed only by the connoisseurs of art. For those who are uninitiated about Kathakali, watching it is a futile exercise. There is a saying in Malayalam that watching the art form without knowing the story is a waste of time, said Parvathi Sreejth Valliathan, Assistant Professor, SRM Law School, Chennai. The Thrissur event was the 12th edition of the annual Moot Court competition held by the College. This year we selected a topic right out of a real-life event. Dharmanchal, a State in the Union of India, enacted Dharmanchal Infrastructure Investment Fund Act 2001. The preamble of the Act states that it was expedient to constitute a fund for investment in infrastructure projects in the State. The Act was similar to the provisions of the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Act 1999, explained Prof Sonia K Das, the livewire of the event. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India took strong objections to the way the KIIFB was functioning and the availing of loans beyond the repaying capacity of the State. The Articles concerning the federal structure and the freedom of the States were used as weapons by the participants in simulated courtrooms which were presided over by judges who needled the counsels appearing for the petitioners and respondents with questions that went deep into the subject. The expressions on the faces of the audience spoke a lot. They too were taken to the hitherto undebated issues in the Indian Constitution. Our intention is to tone up the skills of advocacy, said Prof Jayadevan. The competition witnessed high-pitch arguments and counter-arguments. Besides arguments, Moot Courts are the path for law students to have practical knowledge in drafting, pleading and conveyancing. The Moot Courts will intellectually stimulate students to develop skills that will be of great importance in future The participants (addressed as Mooters) should possess sharp analytical skills to dissect complex legal issues, identify key arguments and develop logical frameworks, said Parvathy Kumar, who has more than a dozen Moot Court events to her credit. Moot Court also have a number of participants performing various tasks like researching and drafting which are put to the Court for approval/consideration. The participants are hopeful that one day they will be able to compete in the Philip C Jessup International Law Moot Court hosted in Washington DC. Considering the fact that there is no empowered body to ask the global community of nations to follow the diktat of the International Court of Justice, it is for the Gen Next to come up with ideas and solutions that make the States obey the orders issued by it. The progress made in science and technology has brought together warring nations of Europe is a hopeful signature. Let the Moot Courts flourish in India. (The writer is a special correspondent at The Pioneer; views expressed are personal) PM Vishwakarma is an attempt to empower the self-employed traditional entrepreneurs who contribute to their communities and create employment Many people strive to secure their dream job and are unwilling to risk becoming an entrepreneur. However, it is notable that professions such as blacksmiths, goldsmiths, potters, carpenters, sculptors, barbers, cobblers, and others are a significant part of India's workforce. These traditional tiny entrepreneurs work with their hands and tools and are usually self-employed individuals whose skills are passed down from generation to generation. This proves that entrepreneurs are born, not made. The culture in which these individuals are raised plays a significant role in shaping their entrepreneurial mindset. They witness the ups and downs of entrepreneurship and choose to live their lives similarly. Recently Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the 'PM Vishwakarma' scheme worth Rs 13,000 crore to promote such traditional tiny entrepreneurs to create more employers than employees. The aim is to integrate traditional tiny entrepreneurs into the domestic and global value chains by providing skill upgradation and modernisation. This will help to enhance their already existing traditional skill sets and make them more relevant, thereby improving their socio-economic status and quality of life. Successful entrepreneurs are not limited to those who inherit family businesses. An individual's mindset towards entrepreneurship is crucial and develops with age and experience. As people mature, they become aware of the advantages of entrepreneurship and often choose it as a career path. However, how can we motivate those who do not come from entrepreneurial backgrounds to become future employers and contribute to our sustainable economy? It is our responsibility to take the necessary steps to make this happen. Cant we start at least with these initial steps? Home; the parents should start from the early school days of their young ones, read to them the stories of successful entrepreneurs, ones their young buds could relate to and get them acquainted with their day-to-day life attributes and the attributes and benefits they pass on to the society. Well, it is better to tell your bud to aim at making a hospital or hotel than just being a doctor or a chef, in the process, the young mind will keep his trajectory not confined to just being a doctor or a chef but keep his horizons much open and farther even after turning a successful super specialist doctor or a celebrity chef. Schools; To fuel the entrepreneurship spirit among job seekers, multi-faceted efforts are needed to accelerate the creation of more job providers in the bustling industrial, services and tertiary sectors. Unfortunately, our education system did not focus on the development of essential entrepreneurial skills in school students, while entrepreneurial skill is the main pillar of job providers, intend to march forward. Thus, to support the entrepreneurial spirit must give a nod to the Business Blaster Young Entrepreneur Programme in schools to encourage school children from class 11 to become entrepreneurs. Successful entrepreneurs and unicorns who bring with them years of entrepreneurial experience can play a vital role as mentors and can contribute the angel funding to build entrepreneurial orientation and mindset among the youths, especially school dropouts can be skilled and would equip their budding entrepreneurship to take charge as a job provider. Colleges; there should be a structured curriculum with frequent seminars and workshops on entrepreneurship, emphasizing hands-on experience rather than just classroom learning. Encouraging idea sponsorships and mentorship from entrepreneurs would be beneficial. Additionally, students should be encouraged to visit actual facilities to better understand the entrepreneurial culture. Business schools; should place equal emphasis on teaching entrepreneurship as they do on teaching business. Mock drills should be implemented, where students spend an equal amount of time shadowing an entrepreneur as they do during internships with organizations. Evaluations should hold equal weight in determining the student's level of business acumen and entrepreneurial spirit. Skill Development Centres; we have some of the brightest minds who are driving change in skill development. These leaders should focus on imparting entrepreneurship skills with the same energy and dedication as employability skills. Entrepreneurship Development Institutes; how many successful entrepreneurs have we connected with to mentor our future entrepreneurs? We don't need teachers to teach how to be an entrepreneur; if they knew, they would already be one. We need proven entrepreneurs to guide and support our future entrepreneurs and set them on the path to success. Providing resources is only part of the equation, providing expert guidance is equally important. Lastly; successful entrepreneurs must step forward and make time in their busy schedules to mentor future entrepreneurs regularly. This can be done for a specific period until the mentee establishes their trajectory, after which the mentor can move on to the next aspiring entrepreneur. This would be a more effective and impactful form of corporate social responsibility. Entrepreneurship is driven by aspirations that exceed available resources. Entrepreneurs do not start businesses because everything falls into place perfectly. Even the self-employed, or "Vishwakarma" in traditional terms, continue to hone their skills for personal fulfilment and to contribute to their communities. Society as a whole should come together to support these individuals and in doing so, benefit itself. The goal should be to create more employers than employees, and it is hoped that "PM Vishwakarma" will help make this a reality. (The writer is a Co-Founder and MD of Orane International and a network member of India International Skill Centres, Views are personal) Most students fall for the smart marketing tactics and the lure of getting good employment overseas, realising little that the jobs are scarce there For the past few years, the craze for people from India to go abroad to gain admission to foreign colleges and settle there has been on the increase. According to the government, between 2016 and 2021, 26.44 lakh Indian students went abroad to study. The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) estimates show that in the year 2020, 4.5 lakh Indian students went abroad for education and they spent $ 13.5 billion in this process. In the year 2022, this expenditure was 24 billion dollars that is, about 2 lakh crore rupees. According to the report of Redseer Strategy Consultant, by 2024 this expenditure may reach US$ 80 billion, that is, 7 lakh crore rupees, when an estimated 20 lakh Indian students will go abroad to study. If we make a state-wise analysis, till the year 2021, among the students going to study abroad, 12 per cent were from Punjab and Andhra Pradesh each; and 8 per cent were from Gujarat. If seen in proportion to the total number of youth, then 7 out of every thousand youth from Punjab, 4 out of every thousand youth from Andhra Pradesh and at least 2 out of every thousand youth from Gujarat are going to study abroad every year. If we take the cumulative numbers from 2016 to 2022, the situation looks quite alarming. This number is 50 per thousand in Punjab, 30 per thousand in Andhra Pradesh and 14 per thousand in Gujarat. The exponential increase in the number of students going abroad to study is a matter of concern for many reasons. The biggest concern is that these youth are migrating to foreign countries in search of education and employment and this migration is causing a shortage of labour for the economic activities in the country. There has been huge progress in the field of education in the country. If we look at the admission of students in higher education, then in 1990-91, only 49.2 lakh students took admission in higher educational institutions; but this number reached 414 lakh in the year 2020-21. Broadly speaking, the number of students taking admission to higher education has increased more than 10 times in the last 30 years. If we talk about higher education institutions, we see that in the year 2021, there were 1113 universities and equivalent institutions, 43796 colleges and 11296 standalone educational institutions in the country. As far as the fee for admission into educational institutions is concerned, in most of the Indian educational institutions its much lower than the fees in foreign institutions and most of the foreign institutions in which Indian youth are taking admission are of very low standard. So, the question arises why do Indian youth spend huge amounts of money and get admission to foreign educational institutions? The simple answer is that most of the students who go abroad to pursue higher education, actually dont go to get a higher degree. The real intent of Indian students going to other countries including Australia, Canada, and European countries including the United Kingdom, is not too keen to get an education. Their real objective is to get employment there. But Indian youth fail to realise that there is a huge shortage of employment in these countries also. In many countries, incidents of violence by local people, against Indians and youth coming from other countries, generally from South Asia, are also being witnessed. Most of the young students leaving the country fail to get employment there and have to return home, due to which they are also facing frustration. The students are not able to realise that today in Canada, Australia and European countries, where they are taking admission to educational institutions, those educational institutions are giving easy admission to Indian students in their institutions, for profit. (The writer is a professor, at PGDAV college, University of Delhi, views are personal) Religiosity woven into war has the automatic effect of rendering the ensuing bloodshed all the more bitter. The results are devastating The world is used to the spectacle of scholars, academics and social and political activists propagating and conferencing for global peace, but it is increasingly difficult to dismiss the notion that peace is little more than an uneasy halt between wars. While civilians somehow cling to some unreal hope, those in charge of the political destinies talk of peace, but actually build and sharpen the weaponry for the next bout. In the land of origin of the three Abrahamic faiths, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, peace is currently the biggest casualty. Virtually everyone is concerned about the Israel-Hamas war. One, however, does almost immediately ponder as to how Tel Aviv was caught by utter surprise. Needless to add, the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad has been reputed to be one of the most efficient in the world, possibly the best spy agency. On balance, it appears that Hamas was conscious that there are groups within Israel that desire the Jewish homeland and country to further expand into a Greater Israel, as large and great as possible. Undoubtedly, the Hamas leaders themselves yearn to wipe the Jewish nation out of existence. Curiously, like in love, so in hate; such desires are mutual. With the help of friends and allies, it is likely that Hamas has been, for a long time planning to strike a grand slam at their Jewish neighbour. Just as the Israeli leaders would like to get rid of Hamas from the countrys neighbourhood. All of this lays the grounds for a conflict before the end of which the other side would supposedly be wiped out. A wounded enemy is more dangerous than one who hasnt been wounded. A grand slam, so to say, might have been thought to be necessary. The question is whether Israel too sees the Hamas invasion and barbarity as a great opportunity for setting things right in the Middle East. An organized state in Tel Aviv would certainly be functioning round the clock and would not give its adversaries any chance to destroy it. As luck would have it, Hamas perceived that its Jewish neighbour was divided over the political divide over the issue of judicial powers enjoyed by the countrys Supreme Court. They needed to be reduced or restrained so that the democratically elected Knesset or Parliament could assert its will more effectively. While the members of the Knesset could not readily reach a settlement, the people of the country took over and protested through public meetings and processions. Such scenes had not been seen ever before and were being played out again and again, on the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. When the adversary is divided, it is human nature for the other side to smell an opportunity. As we have discussed, the desire of Hamas has been intense. The images of an Israel divided in the streets of its cities would certainly have held out the temptation, to believe that this was the opportunity. A terrorist organization like Hamas is unlikely to be foresighted. In fact, terrorism per se can seldom win. For the simple reason that its adventures, however violent and apparently successful, do not capture territory. And without territory, there is no lasting victory. And yet, terrorist after terrorist gives up his life, merely to temporarily devastate places and people. Evidently, such men or women cannot be far-sighted. To expect the Hamas to be, therefore, to have vision is to expect a bat to have eyesight. Regardless, the attacks launched by Hamas on October 7 Bloody Saturday were thoughtless, to say the least. The consequences from Sunday onwards were foreseeable and yet, were not seen by the terrorist fighters of Hamas. It is not impossible that their escape route may, in an eventuality, be the Mediterranean Sea. On the other hand, Hamas has gifted Israel with a justification to blame any country or organisation it chooses as a partner-in-crime that expresses even minimal sympathy for Hamas. Israel would also, and not without reason, feel justified to heap destruction on not any the Hamas but also the palaces of Qatar (which reportedly funds Hamas to some extent) and Irans nuclear toys, as well as bomb places in Syria, most of which are in ruins anyway because of the latters civil war. Fortunately for Israel, ammunition has begun flying in from the USA; if necessary, even weapons would flow in. When Israels Prime Minister says that his country will change the Middle East, he isnt bluffing. Unfortunately, Israeland India toohas been battling enemies who look upon war as a religious duty. Religiosity woven into war has the automatic effect of rendering the ensuing bloodshed all the more bitter. Such religious beliefs hold the promise of an eternal heaven with unending gratification of ones natural lust, in the pursuit of which the adherents of those dogmas have little hesitation in unleashing hell on earth. For India, tightening our security, internal and external, in the wake of the war in Gaza will be imperative, for Hamas initial boldness could well embolden elements in Pakistan to try something similar. This time, the Arab states have not supported Hamas, as several of them are seeking better relations with Israel and a different future. (The writer is a well-known columnist, an author, and a former member of the Rajya Sabha. The views expressed are personal) Indias inaugural Regional Rapid Transit System is set to debut in the National Capital Region on Friday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurating the 17.5 km segment linking Sahibabad in Ghaziabad to the Duhai Depot of the 82.15 km Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut section. In a symbolic tribute to the spirit of Shakti (women), the first train will be operated by a woman pilot, a fitting gesture that coincides with the auspicious occasion of Navratri. The initial phase of the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor will commence operations, encompassing five key stations: Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, Guldhar, Duhai, and Duhai Depot. This milestone will revolutionise travel between the National Capital and Meerut, as the RRTS corridor will traverse 17 km in just 12 minutes, a journey that typically takes over 35 minutes by road. Upon full implementation, the project will boast two multi-modal transport transit systems. Preparations for this historic event are in full swing, with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath personally inspecting the Ghaziabad site to oversee the projects progress. The Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System initiative is spearheaded by the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), with the complete 82.15 km Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS slated for full operational status by June 2025. The RRTS trains are equipped with a range of commuter-centric amenities including overhead luggage racks, WiFi, and charging facilities for mobiles and laptops at every seat. Additionally, each train will feature a premium class car, offering wider seats, increased legroom, and coat hangers, along with vending machines for added convenience. Officials have indicated that ten trains will ply this route, accommodating up to 1,700 passengers. The subsequent phase, extending from Shahibabad to Meerut South, will span 42 km and introduce four new operational stations. RapidX, boasting a maximum speed of 180 km an hour, is poised to be Indias fastest train, whisking commuters from Delhi to Meerut in just 55 minutes. The service frequency will be every 5-10 minutes, providing a modern, sustainable, swift, secure, and comfortable mode of travel. Upon the corridors full completion, the RRTS is expected to slash travel time between Delhi and Meerut by a substantial 40 per cent. For convenience, a dedicated Lost and Found centre has been established at the Ghaziabad RRTS station to expedite the retrieval of misplaced belongings. If passengers inadvertently leave their items on RAPIDX trains or within station premises, they can promptly seek assistance from station staff. Further inquiries and support regarding lost items can be directed to the RAPIDX Customer Service Centre at 08069651515. Passengers will have a 24-hour window to claim their lost belongings from the station where they were misplaced or left. Following this period, any unclaimed items will be transferred to the designated lost and found centre at the Ghaziabad station, operational from 8 am to 8 pm daily. The RRTS trains have been designed with an aerodynamic profile, featuring long noses and plug-in doors to minimize air resistance at higher speeds. Passengers will relish panoramic views through expansive window panes, enhancing their travel experience. Two days after a 22-year-old student of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) died in a bike crash on the campus, his close friend and pillion rider is still critical and undergoing treatment at the AIIMS. Police said the deceased student's father, who lives in Bihar's Gaya, went into shock after hearing the news about his death and was admitted to a hospital . The accident occurred around 2.30 am on Saturday when Anshu Kumar and his 23-year-old friend Vishal Kumar rammed their KTM motorcycle into two other students crossing the road near Godavari Hostel on the campus. Anshu, hurt critically in the head, died, while Vishal was sent to hospital. The pedestrians were identified as Sachin Sharma, 25, and Mrigank Yadav, 24 both students of MA Political Science in JNU. They are also under treatment at the AIIMS. According to police, a preliminary investigation has suggested that Anshu was speeding and was not wearing a helmet when the accident took place. Anshu was a native of Bihar's Gaya and was staying in the campus's Sutlej Hostel. He was pursuing BA in Russian Language from JNU. A friend of Anshu said such an accident was never heard of on campus. "All students are shocked by the incident," he said. "Anshu had brought this motorcycle from his hometown. He often took it out for a ride on campus without wearing a helmet. But we never heard of him speeding," said the person, who did not wish to be named. On Sunday, Anshu's mother and other family members came and took his body back to Gaya, where his last rites took place. Police said Vishal is still under critical condition and is in ICU at the AIIMS. "He is an ex-student of JNU but would often come to meet Anshu. Vishal is presently doing a job somewhere," said his friend. Scores of protesters, including students, held a demonstration at Jantar Mantar here, demanding diplomatic support for Palestine and actions against Israel for alleged violations of human rights. The Delhi Police said it detained around 60 people for not taking prior permission for the protest. The protest was held by CPI-ML-backed All India Students Association and other student organisations. Protesters, most of them students and teachers from Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University, descended at Jantar Mantar and started raising slogans 'Justice for Palestine,' and 'Gaza we are with you.' Some demonstrators carried placards that bore the popular PLO slogan 'From river to the sea, Palestine will be free.' The Delhi Police rounded the protesters up in buses and took them to an undisclosed location. "We are holding a demonstration and demanding diplomatic support for Palestine and actions against Israel, for violating human rights," said Hemant, one of the demonstrators. AISA in its statement demanded the release of the protesters and shared their bytes recorded on their phones from detention. A Delhi University Professor got into an heated argument with police when a team of female police chased down a student who was talking to the media. The professor, who criticised the police's heavy handedness, was also detained. On the occasion of Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat Diwas, celebrated across the nation as part of the Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat campaign, non-governmental organisation Aparajita Social Committee organised awareness programmes in the Gonda district. Approximately 2,00,000 women, children and common citizens took pledge not to support child marriage. The National Family Health Survey data shows that 23.3 per cent of young girls between the ages of 20 to 24 were married before the age of 18. In Gonda district, this percentage was even higher, with 25.4 per cent of girls being married off before the age of 18. The Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat campaign is being carried out in over 300 districts across India with the goal of completely eradicating child marriage from India by 2030. In support of this campaign, various rallies, public pledges, and other events were organised in different villages and schools throughout the day. Kiran Bains, director of Aparajita Social Committee, said child marriage was a crime that had held the society captive for centuries. However, the commitment and efforts shown by civil society and the government of Uttar Pradesh will soon establish an environment and system where children will have a safer and secure atmosphere, she added. BJP state spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo, while addressing a press conference at BJP headquarters today, wanted to know from Chief Minister Hemant Soren on what basis is he saying that a conspiracy is being hatched to send him to jail? Pratul said that only he has been summoned. But the Chief Minister is probably saying this from his conscience because the conscience knows all the truth. Pratul said that Jharkhand Police also issues thousands of notices under 41A. So why is the Chief Minister looking so upset and restless due to a notice from a central agency? Obviously the Chief Minister knows that 'Judgment Day' is approaching and he will have to give account of all the scams. The Chief Minister also knows what the ultimate outcome will be, that is why he is repeatedly talking about going to jail. Pratul said that the Chief Minister is trying to play the victim card by calling himself a tribal. But he is forgetting that when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, he was interrogated by the SIT for 10 hours on March 28, 2010. At that time, he had not made any allegations against the UPA government citing his belonging to a backward caste. Later, in this case, SIT gave clean chit to Modi ji during the UPA regime itself, which was later accepted by the Supreme Court also. CBI also interrogated Home Minister Amit Shah for 9 hours on August 7, 2010. Later on August 1, 2016, Amit Shah got a clean chit from the Supreme Court. At that time he also did not play any victim card. But the Chief Minister is trying to divert attention by playing the victim card again and again. Pratul said that the Chief Minister should change his script writer because he is repeatedly accusing BJP of ruling for 20 years. Whereas JMM and Congress ruled this state directly and indirectly for 12 years out of 23 years. Shibu Soren became the Chief Minister for 9 days in 2005. Independent Madhu Koda was the Chief Minister for 346 days in one year, whom JMM and Congress are running. Was. Between 2008 and 2010, Shibu Soren was the Chief Minister twice for 145 days and 153 days. Chief Minister Hemant Soren himself remained the Chief Minister for 1 year and 168 days from 2012 to 2014. And currently he has been the Chief Minister for about 3 years and 10 months from 29 December 2019. Hemant Soren has also been the Deputy Chief Minister for 2 years and 129 days. During the UPA rule between 2004 and 2014, there was President's rule for 623 days and this was the period when Raj Bhawan used to be the extension office of the Congress office. The current state president of Congress also used to be an advisor to the Governor during that period. The Madhya Pradesh Congress filed a police complaint on Sunday, claiming that a fake letter was made viral on social media to create the impression that its senior leader Digvijaya Singh resigned after the party released the first list of its candidates for the upcoming assembly polls. Earlier, the opposition party in MP released the first list of its 144 candidates, including Singhs son and sitting legislator Jaivardhan Singh, for elections to the 230-member assembly scheduled on November 17. The BJP is good at speaking lies. I took membership of Congress in 1971 after being influenced by the partys ideology and not for any post. I will be with the Congress till my last breath. I am getting a complaint registered with the police, Singh wrote on X. Along with his post on X, the former chief minister appended the fake resignation letter, which claims that the names recommended by Singh for party tickets were not considered. My self-respect has been hurt as the dedicated workers have been cold-shouldered, reads the fake letter addressed to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. The letter goes on to say, With a heavy heart I am announcing the decision to snap my connection with the party. I resign from the primary membership and all other posts. Please accept my resignation. Later, Singh shared on X a copy of the complaint letter submitted by his party to the cyber cell of Bhopal police. @DGP_MP Sir, will you file an FIR against these liars, he wrote. In its first list of candidates, the Congress has nominated 69 sitting legislators, including state unit chief Kamal Nath. Actor Vikram Mastal, who played the role of Lord Hanuman in a television serial, has been fielded by the party from Budhni in Sehore against MP Chief Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The Congress on Monday took out a large rally in Puri town demanding opening of the Ratna Bhandar of the Jagannath Temple as well as all four gates of the shrine. Another demand made by the Congress was providing record of rights of land to over 80,000 families living in Puri. Pary workers and leaders led by Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Sarat Pattanayak embarked on the rally from the Gundicha Temple here to the Jagannath Temple Administrations office. The leaders then met the Chief Administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Ranjan Kumar Das and Pattanayak handed over a memorandum to him. It is unfortunate that the State Government is reluctant to open all four gates of the Shreemandir. The Congress party will intensify its agitation if the government fails to meet our demands by October 28 before the month of Kartik, said Pattanayak. As the Covid pandemic is over, what justification is there for keeping the gates of the temple closed? he questioned. In another development, the BJP also criticised the State Government over this matter. BJP leader Samir Mohanty said, Back in August, the Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee had urged the Orissa High Court and the Odisha Government for reopening of the Ratna Bhandar. However, it appears the committees focus has shifted towards matters like dress codes rather than taking concrete steps to reopen the Ratna Bhandar. We have planned to consult the Puri Gajapati Maharaja soon as he has been advocating for the Ratna Bhandars reopening and its inventory. The top four names in Congress' list are nepotism, atrocities against women, crime and corruption. The Congress high command also knows that there is public anger against Kamal Nath and Congress, said Vishnudatt Sharma BJP President and MP Vishnudutt Sharma said that the top four in the first list of Congress are examples of nepotism, atrocities against women, crime and corruption. The Congress list released on Sunday has proved that after the public, even the Congress high command no longer has faith in Kamal Nath, this is the reason why the ticket of no sitting MLA except Kamal Nath has been finalized in Chhindwara district. The imprint of Delhi and Digvijay Singh is clearly visible in this list. By giving tickets to Congress leaders who insult tribal heroes, harass women and oppose Vande Mataram, Congress has given the message that Congress leaders against whom serious cases have been registered, Congress is with those who commit such acts. The defeat of Congress, which has entered the electoral fray with such behaviour, character and faces, is certain. Sharma said that a picture of nepotism, factionalism and anti-women can be seen in the Congress list. Congress has fielded Umang Singhar, Suresh Raje and Siddharth Kushwaha as candidates. Many cases have been registered against these leaders. He said that on one hand Bharatiya Janata Party has given opportunity to 28 youth but in the Congress list, leaders aged between 50 to 65 years are also in the electoral fray, this shows how much difference there is between Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress regarding the youth. Sharma said that as soon as the first list of Congress came out, voices of protest and resignations had started from across the state. At many places, Congress leaders have started openly opposing each other. Pictures of the extent to which factionalism has become dominant in Congress have started emerging from various places. In Congress, except the grassroots workers, only those leaders have been given tickets who only make rounds of big leaders. Sharma said that the shadow of dynasticism for which Congress is known is also clearly visible in this list. Congress has given ticket to Digvijay Singh's son Jaivardhan Singh from Raghogarh, his brother Laxman Singh from Chachoda, his relative Priyavrat Singh from Khilchipur, Samdhi Ghanshyam Singh from Sevda, nephew Sindhu Vikram Singh from Shamshabad and nephew-son-in-law Ajay Singh from Churhat. Similarly, tickets have been given to Premchand Guddu's daughter, Arun Yadav's brother, Ajay Singh's maternal uncle Rajendra Kumar Singh, from this it is clear that the list of Congress candidates has fallen victim to dynasty politics. The State President said that the Congress, which released the list six months ago, after serious thinking and brainstorming, has given tickets to those who are tainted, accused and harassed women. The first list of Congress is full of Congressmen who insult tribal heroes, harass women, make derogatory and indecent remarks on women, Phool Singh Baraiya, who uses indecent language against the upper caste community and who chants Vande Mataram. They protest, make parodies of Geeta verses by insulting the narrators and the videos of whose immoral acts go viral. A police constable found himself in trouble after allegedly sharing a post on social media in support of Palestine. The constable was suspended and a departmental inquiry was initiated following his action, which occurred amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. The Israel conflict is a fallout of the massive terror attack which Hamas militant group launched on Israel from Gaza Strip on October 7. The UP Police have set up a departmental inquiry against the constable who had sought donations for Palestine from his official social media account. The constable was suspended for making the controversial post and seeking donations for Palestine on social media. An inquiry has been set up against the constable in order to find out the reason for supporting Palestine. On being found guilty, strict action would be initiated against the erring constable, said Sandeep Singh, Deputy Superintendent of Police of Lakhimpur Kheri. The police action came following the social media post of constable Sohail Ansari, who is currently posted in Lakhimpur Kheri and hails from Bareilly district, went viral. Help Save Palestine, the constables post read. It further said that one repost is equal to one dollar. All donations are directly sent to @IslamicreleifUSA. Around 82 lakhs have been raised so far. Add to the story to help save Palestine. This is not the first time in Uttar Pradesh that a person has supported the Palestinian cause. On October 9, an FIR was registered against four students and others for taking out a march on the campus in support of Palestine. A video of the procession too surfaced on social media. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath issued directives to the police in a recent meeting to take stern action against those trying to spread hatred using the Palestinian cause in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. In the meeting, he ordered the officials that no controversial statement would be tolerated on social media or at any religious place. Stern action would be taken if someone violated the directive, said a government spokesperson quoting the chief minister. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday attacked the Congress government in Chhattisgarh, saying there was a chain of corruption from Patwari to the Chief Minister and the money thus accumulated was sent to "Delhi Darbar". Expressing optimism that the BJP symbol 'lotus' will bloom in Chhattisgarh, Shah told an election rally here: We will hang all the culprits upside down after we form a government in the state." Shah visited Rajnandgaon city as former chief minister Raman Singh and three other BJP candidates filed their nominations for assembly elections in the district. He said the Congress will continue its appeasement and vote bank politics if it returned to power in the state. Shah lashed out at the Baghel government over incidents of communal violence in the state and asked people if they wanted Chhattisgarh to again become a hub of communal riots. The BJP has fielded Ishwar Sahu, father of Bhuneshwar Sahu who was killed in the Biranpur riot in April, from the Saja assembly segment in Bemetara district against state minister Ravindra Chaubey. Pointing at Sahu who was on the stage, Shah said: Bhuneshwar Sahu was lynched for vote bank (politics) and appeasement. We will bring the murderer of Bhuneshwar Sahu to justice. We have given a ticket to his father. Do you want Chhattisgarh to become the centre of communal riots again? Should Bhuneshwar Sahu get justice or not? If Congress comes to power again, it will continue the politics of appeasement and vote bank, he said. Chhattisgarh will vote on November 7 and 17. In his endeavour to attract investments in the State chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami reached Dubai on Monday. He was accorded a rousing reception by the natives of Uttarakhand on his arrival in Dubai. Dhami expressed gratitude to the natives of Uttarakhand residing in Dubai for the welcome given to him. The CM has undertaken an invest in Uttarakhand campaign and will hold meetings with entrepreneurs and the non-resident Indians during his visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Interacting with the people of Uttarakhand origin, the CM said that the Uttarakhand has a rich cultural heritage and exhorted them to visit their homeland at least once in a year. He said that a special cell has been set up by the State government for better coordination with the non resident natives of the state. Dhami said that the State government is planning to attract an investment of Rs 2.5 lakh crore from the global investors summit and the MoUs worth Rs 40,000 have already been signed ahead of the summit. Dhami is on an official visit to Dubai and Abu Dhabi to interact with the business fraternity there for the global investors summit to be held in Dehradun in December this year. The CM is leading a delegation which will meet the representatives of top industrial houses and extend them an invitation to attend the investors summit. On Tuesday the CM will attend a road-show in Dubai during which he will invite the entrepreneurs to invest in Uttarakhand. Dhami will also attend a roadshow in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. In September the CM was on a five day visit to London and Birmingham where roadshows and meetings with the industrialists were held. His visit to Britain proved to be a success as Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) worth thousands of crores of rupees were inked in various sectors. The delegation accompanying the CM in Dubai will focus on attracting investment in infrastructure and health sectors in the State. The education and health minister Dhan Singh Rawat is accompanying the CM on the visit. The Excise Department team conducted a raid campaign in five police station areas of the State Capital on Monday against illegal liquor trade. The team also took action and arrested five persons for involvement in illegal liquor trade. Raids were conducted in Gadikhana located in Kotwali police station area, Chutiya police station area Sirmtoli, Samlong in Namkum police station area and Hethu in Airport police station area. During this period, 1200 kg Java Mahua, 197 liters of liquor and a scooter were recovered. While two people managed to escape. To increase the revenue, the Station In-Charges are running a campaign against illegal liquor trade. Regarding this, Ranchi DC Rahul Kumar Sinha had issued instructions to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), SDO Sadar and SDO Bundu. In the instructions issued, it was said that the Excise and Prohibition Department is the source of revenue for the State Government. Ranchi is an important district from the revenue point of view, whose annual revenue is assured at Rs 428 crore. In view of this, the excise department in Ranchi district is lacking in production force and resources. There are a total 45 police stations in Ranchi district. Therefore, the station in-charge and CO, from their level, should launch an intensive raid campaign against those doing illegal liquor business to increase sales in retail product shops. Also, if complaints of adulteration, illegal or MRP are received in the retail shops run by JSBCL, action should be taken as per rules. Meanwhile, the district police seized 53 cattle loaded in three pickup vans from near Husir village located on Ring Road of Kanke police station area. The local police have achieved this success with the help of the villagers. Cattle smugglers were smuggling through the Ring Road of Ranchi. Police are busy investigating the matter. Earlier, on the night of October 14, Ranchi Police had seized 15 tons of banned animal leather going from Ranchi to Kolkata. The police team had caught the truck going from Kantatoli ahead of Durga Soren Chowk of Namkum police station area. One person was also arrested. As a result of the Yogi Adityanath governments effort to empower women in the state, female participation in the labour force of Uttar Pradesh has seen a remarkable surge of 17.9 per cent over the past six years. According to the latest findings of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), the states female labour force participation rate has soared from a mere 14.2 per cent in 2017-18 to an impressive 32.10 per cent in 2022-23. Under the adept guidance of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, dedicated efforts have been made to uplift women in the state, resulting in this substantial increase. The chief ministers personal monitoring of these initiatives has created an environment where women feel secure and respected, propelling them towards self-reliance at an unprecedented pace. As per the report, India recorded a female labour force participation rate of 39.80 per cent in the financial year 2022-23, while Uttar Pradesh reported a rate of 32.10 per cent. In stark contrast, in the financial year 2017-18, Indias female labour force participation rate stood at 25.3 per cent, with UP lagging even further behind at 14.2 per cent. Prime Minister Narendra Modis focus on women empowerment at the national level, combined with the emphasis of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on womens self-reliance in Uttar Pradesh, has played a pivotal role in bolstering womens participation in the workforce across the country. With the Yogi governments proactive approach, women are getting fully benefited from both Central and state schemes and are also availing various opportunities to advance in their professional lives in Uttar Pradesh. Notable initiatives include the Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao campaign, which has raised awareness among 1.90 crore daughters of Uttar Pradesh, and the Mission Shakti campaign, which has benefitted 8.99 crore women. Additionally, 1,89,789 Anganwadi centres have been approved while 1,89,014 centres are currently operational. A network of 10 lakh self-help groups has connected one crore women, while more than two lakh women have benefitted from the PM SVANidhi Yojana. Besides, BC Sakhis have been appointed in over 57,000 gram panchayats, and more than 1.5 lakh women have secured government jobs in Uttar Pradesh. These initiatives have provided women with the necessary resources and support to thrive in various sectors, ensuring that they derive maximum benefits from a range of government programmes. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday wrote a letter to his Punjab counterpart, Bhagwant Mann, expressing willingness to hold another dialogue to resolve any hurdle or obstacles hindering the construction of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal. He stated that the Supreme Court issued a comprehensive order on October 4, 2023, explicitly stating that "the execution is not related to the allocation of water." Every resident of Haryana is anxiously anticipating the prompt SYL canal construction within the Punjab region, as per the decree outlined in Original Case No. 6 of 1996. Apart from this, I remain committed to taking any necessary actions to bring this long-awaited aspiration of my people and the dry lands of southern Haryana, he wrote, as per a media release issued Monday. A day before the Supreme Courts order, Mann wrote to Khattar requesting a bilateral meeting on the issue. The last meeting between the two chief ministers was held on October 14, 2022. Subsequently, the Union Jal Shakti minister conducted a second round of discussions on January 4, 2023, during which the chief ministers of both states were present. All meetings over the SYL canal have, however, remained inconclusive so far. Khattar also conveyed his optimism to Mann that the Punjab government would indeed collaborate and contribute to the resolution of this matter. Officials said the Haryana chief minister had been actively pursuing all possible avenues to secure the construction of the canal. Despite two Supreme Court rulings, Punjab is yet to conclude the canal construction. Instead of adhering to the court decisions, Punjab attempted to obstruct its implementation by enacting the Agreement Revocation Act in 2004, a senior government official was quoted as saying by the media release. According to the provisions of the Punjab Reorganisation Act 1966 and as per the Government of Indias order dated 24.3.1976, Haryana was allocated 3.5 million acre-feet (MAF) of water from the surplus waters of the Ravi-Beas rivers. However, due to the non construction of the SYL canal, Haryana is only using 1.62 MAF of water. Punjab, by failing to complete the canals construction within its jurisdiction, is unlawfully utilising approximately 1.9 MAF of Haryanas share of water. This obstinate attitude of Punjab has left Haryana unable to access its rightful share of 1.88 MAF of water, the official said. The unavailability of this water has led to a significant decline in the groundwater levels in southern Haryana. Due to the non-construction of the SYL canal, farmers in Haryana are forced to rely on expensive diesel for irrigation and run electric tubewells, incurring an additional cost of Rs 100 crore to Rs 150 crore annually, the official added. Haryana is not getting its share of water due to which the irrigation potential created to irrigate 10 lakh acres of area is lying idle, the official further said, adding that the state also incurred a loss of 42 lakh tonnes of food grains each year. If the SYL canal had been constructed in 1983 as per the 1981 agreement, Haryana would have produced an additional 130 lakh tonnes of food and other grains. At the rate of Rs 15,000 per tonne, the total value of this agricultural produce would amount to Rs 19,500 crore, the official added. ADDIS ABABA, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) has called on the Ethiopian government and its partners to maintain collaborative efforts to manage the ongoing prolonged cholera outbreak in the country. The WHO, in its periodic bulletin on outbreaks and other emergencies in the African continent issued late Sunday, said the East African country is experiencing one of its most prolonged cholera outbreaks in history, with the initial case reported in August 2022. The outbreak, which started in one region last August and was subsequently confirmed by laboratory tests on Sept. 9, later spread to other areas in March 2023, the WHO said, adding that the outbreak has been a growing concern since its peak was observed in late July 2023. According to figures from the WHO, from August to the end of December last year, a cumulative total of 1,073 cholera cases and 30 deaths were reported with a case fatality rate of 2.8 percent, whereas a cumulative total of 23,652 cholera cases and 299 deaths were reported in 2023 as of Sept. 21, with a case fatality rate of 1.3 percent. From August 2022 to Sept. 21, 2023, a total of 250 districts from 10 regions across the East African country were affected by the ongoing cholera outbreak. Currently, some 116 districts are reporting cholera cases throughout the country, according to the WHO. It remains crucial for the government and key partners to maintain collaborative efforts to manage this outbreak, the WHO noted, adding that in addition to the ongoing cholera outbreak, Ethiopia is currently grappling with a concurrent outbreak of multiple diseases, such as dengue fever, measles, and malaria, which have strained the healthcare system alongside cholera. The WHO said in a situation update released on Oct. 6 that over 6 million people had been vaccinated with one dose of oral cholera vaccine across 54 districts in the country. It noted the urgent need for durable solutions to address the root causes of recurrent cholera outbreaks, which include poor-quality drinking water and open defecation. It said fecal contamination of drinking water is the main source of cholera, with most cholera patients using unsafe drinking water. Foreigners stranded at Gaza-Egypt border amid escalating conflict Xinhua) 10:13, October 16, 2023 People wait for the opening of the Rafah crossing for safe passage from the Gaza Strip, in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, Oct. 14, 2023. Hundreds of foreigners flocked on Saturday to the Rafah border crossing, the only crossing point between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, in an attempt to flee the Palestinian enclave. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua) GAZA, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of foreigners flocked on Saturday to the Rafah border crossing, the only crossing point between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, in an attempt to flee the Palestinian enclave. There have been massive Israeli airstrikes against Hamas targets in Gaza, in retaliation for Hamas-led attacks on Israel since Oct. 7. "Hundreds of foreigners, some of whom hold American citizenship, waited for long hours in front of the crossing gate, but then gave up because Egypt refused to allow them to cross unless there was an agreement for bringing aid to Gaza," a source at the crossing told Xinhua. A Palestinian academic with American citizenship, who identified himself as Abu Karim, told Xinhua that he had been waiting at the crossing for days, with hope to leave dwindling. Standing next to his wife and three children with several bags of luggage, he expressed deep concern about the uncertainty of his travel and his ability to leave the area. The Israel-Hamas conflict, as it entered the eighth day, has pushed the Palestinian death toll to 2,215, with 8,714 injuries, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Meanwhile, the Israeli fatalities since Oct. 7 had reached 1,300, while nearly 3,400 were injured, Israeli media reported on Friday, citing official sources. People wait for the opening of the Rafah crossing for safe passage from the Gaza Strip, in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, Oct. 14, 2023. Hundreds of foreigners flocked on Saturday to the Rafah border crossing, the only crossing point between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, in an attempt to flee the Palestinian enclave. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua) A man waits for the opening of the Rafah crossing for safe passage from the Gaza Strip, in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, Oct. 14, 2023. Hundreds of foreigners flocked on Saturday to the Rafah border crossing, the only crossing point between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, in an attempt to flee the Palestinian enclave. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua) A man waits for the opening of the Rafah crossing for safe passage from the Gaza Strip, in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, Oct. 14, 2023. Hundreds of foreigners flocked on Saturday to the Rafah border crossing, the only crossing point between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, in an attempt to flee the Palestinian enclave. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua) (Web editor: Liang Jun) Following BJP, Congress has also decided its candidates for three out of four assembly seats in Sehore district. Earlier, BJP had also announced candidates on three seats. On the first day of Navratri, Congress has released the first list of 144 candidates for the assembly elections. The names of Budhni, Ashta and Sehore of Sehore district have appeared in this list. Ichhawar has been put on hold. In Budhni, Congress has fielded 'Hanuman' ie Vikram Mastal Sharma against BJP candidate 'Shiv' i.e. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan. There will be a big fight between Shiv and Hanuman in the Budhni Assembly. Similarly, Congress has fielded youth leader Shashank Saxena as its candidate from Sehore Assembly seat against MLA Sudesh Rai. Congress has given ticket to Kamal Chauhan from Ashta. Kamal Singh Chauhan has joined Congress from Prajatantrik Samadhan Party. This time Congress has made him its candidate. Here BJP has not announced the name of the candidate, whereas Congress has not been able to declare the candidate till now against Karan Singh Verma from Ichhawar. Former Congress MLA Shailendra Patel is a strong contender from Ichhawar assembly seat, but Megha Parmar and Raju Rajput are also contesting from here. Due to this, the name has not been announced yet. Budhni Assembly seat is one of the most talked about seats in this Mahakumbh of democracy. Budni is the assembly seat of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. He is assuming the responsibility of the post of Chief Minister after winning the elections from here. Now Congress has fielded local candidate Vikram Mastal Sharma against him. Vikram Mastal Sharma Hanumanji has proved his mettle in the field of acting before coming into politics. He became famous by playing the character of Hanumanji in the famous serial Ramayana. Apart from this, he has also proved his acting ability in many films. Now he has also entered the field of politics and this time in this great contest of Budhni Assembly, he is facing more than five-time MLA and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan. Bharatiya Janata Party has given ticket to two-time MLA Sudesh Rai from Sehore assembly constituency, now Congress has fielded Shashank Saxena, district panchayat member and son of senior Congress leader Ramesh Saxena, veteran leader of Sehore and pioneer of cooperation, to contest against him. Both are famous faces of Sehore assembly constituency. Earlier, Ramesh Saxena had been MLA from Sehore assembly constituency four times and now Congress has fielded his son. Shashank Saxena was busy in preparations for Sehore assembly constituency for a long time. He has also registered victory from ward number one of District Panchayat. MLA Sudesh Rai is also continuously active in the assembly constituency. He won the election for the first time by contesting as an independent candidate, but later he joined BJP. In the 2018 assembly elections, BJP again gave him the ticket and he also won. This time too, BJP has made the contest tough by fielding him. BJP has not yet declared its candidate from Ashta assembly seat. Due to the claims of many leaders there, the seat is currently on hold, while Congress has not yet announced the name of the candidate from Ichhawar. From Ashta, Congress has given ticket to Kamal Chauhan, while from Ichhawar, BJP has fielded former minister and MLA Karan Singh Verma. Eighth candidate of Congress, Kamal Chauhan has joined Congress from Prajatantrik Samadhan Party. Maharaja Agrasen Jayanti celebrated New Delhi: Maharaja Agrasen College, a constituent college of Delhi University, celebrated the grand occasion of Maharaja Agrasen Jayanti. The keynote address was delivered by chief guest, Subhash Gupta, president of Maharaja Agrasen Hospital Trust, who emphasised the importance of Maharaja Agrasen's legacy. During the event, Prof Sanjeev Kumar Tiwari, the Principal of the college, highlighted Maharaja Agrasen's visionary perspective and its relevance in today's context. Suresh Jain, the National Organisation secretary of Bharat Vikas Parishad, presided over the event and spoke about Maharaja Agrasen's contributions in uplifting the country and society through his social, economic, and entrepreneurial endeavours. Students paticipate in global handwashing day New Delhi: Students of various schools and colleges from Delhi under the Sulabh School Sanitation club took part in the Global Hand-washing day at Rajiv Chowk in the national capital on Sunday, according to a satement. 1,300 kg firecrackers seized New Delhi: The Delhi Police has seized around 1,300 kg of firecrackers and arrested three people in south Delhi, police said on Monday. Police received a tip-off that a huge stock of firecrackers was kept in two different locations in Kotla Mubarak Pur area, Deputy Commissioner of Police (south) Chandan Chowdhary. Teams conducted raids at a shop in Punjabi Bazar, Kotla Mubarak Pur and Gurdwara Road Market, recovered the firecrackers and arrested Yogender (62), Akash Vashishith (35) and Kishan Lal (60), he said. Govt disburses `1 cr to covid warriors family New Delhi : The Delhi Government on Monday disbursed an ex-gratia of `one crore to the family members of 53-year-old employee of a city hospital who lost his life fighting Covid-19, an official statement said. It has been provided on behalf of the Delhi Government's scheme for Covid warriors who lost their lives during the pandemic, it said. 2-Day Tribal Youth Festival to organized from Nov 26 Like last year, this year also Tribal Youth Festival will be organized in the Convocation Auditorium of Ranchi College. This festival will be held on November 26 and November 27. A committee has been formed for the successful organization of the festival. Young social worker Ajit Lakra has been made the chairman of the committee. Lakra said that the objective of the festival is to make the youth of the tribal community aware of their language-culture, unique life-style and love for nature. Lakra said that through the festival, cultural arts and artists as well as modern art forms and artists will be brought on one platform. Jalan launches Ragi flour and Corn flour Jalan brand, which has made its mark in Jharkhand and surrounding states, after gram flour sattu and bhunja gram, has now launched ragi flour, rice flour, corn flour, jowar flour for sale in the market under coarse grains. Jalan Foods has been processing food products for the last 71 years. New products are being manufactured using scientific and state-of-the-art cold pressed machines. By preparing products in normal machines, due to excessive heating, their proteins and minerals get destroyed and their nutritional value gets reduced significantly. Saundh launch retail shop in Ranchi Saundh, an everyday affordable-luxury label has launched its first ever retail store in Ranchi marking its 32nd exclusive outlet pan India. Saundh's dedication to excelling in this market is demonstrated by the launch of the new store in 2nd Floor Mall of Ranchi, Kumhartoli - a one stop shop for a dynamic consumer experience. Spread across 900+ sq. ft, the space boasts of elegant interiors that skillfully accentuates the brand's vibrant collections. The store offers Saundh's complete range of ready-to-wear clothing collections, encompassing women's and men's wear. This includes Kurta Sets, Dresses and Kaftans, Tops and Tunics, Jackets, festive bandis, and more. Founder and CEO of Saundh, Sarabjeet Saluja was present on the occasion. A debt-ridden farmer of Jajpur district committed suicide by consuming pesticides on Sunday night after his crops were recently damaged with accumulation of dust and other particles from nearby stone quarries. The deceased farmer Nityananda Parida (68) of Bajabati village under Dharmasala block raised paddy crops on his three acres of land after obtaining a loan amount of Rs 1 lakh from village moneylenders to purchase paddy seeds and fertilisers. But, his land was recently covered with dust from the nearby illegal black stone quarry works which ruined all his hopes to maintain family. The deceased farmer is survived by his widow , a daughter and a son. When contacted, Jajpur Collector Chakravarti Singh Rathore said, After knowing the incident , I directed the Additional District Magistrate to submit a report by visiting the village. After getting the report, we will take proper action. The two month long BJP state president Babulal Marandi outreach programme christened as Sankalp Yatra will on October 28 at Harmu Maidan, Ranchi. State BJP general secretary Pradeep Verma who is also yatra coordinator said that the Yatra will conclude on October 28 with a public meeting. Verma said that Sankalp Yatra started from 17th August under the leadership of State President and former Chief Minister Babulal against the failures of the state government, power-supported corruption prevalent in the state, broken law and order, unemployment, women oppression, looting of minerals and appeasement. He said that as part of Sankalp yatra the State President had resolved to visit all the 81 assembly constituencies of the state and establish direct communication with the public and inform them about the situation in the state. But this Sankalp Yatra of the State President turned into a Jan Sankalp Yatra with the immense support of the public. He said that till now this yatra has been completed in eight phases in 71 assembly constituencies. The way the public has flocked to listen to the first Chief Minister of the state and the State President of BJP even during the rainy season, it is clear that the public is fed up with the misdeeds of the Hemant government. Dr. Verma said that currently there is a travel holiday due to Dussehra. The concluding program of the Yatra will be held on 28th October at Harmu Ground in Ranchi. He said that in the concluding programme, there will be a joint meeting of 6 assembly constituencies Ranchi, Hatia, Kanke, Mander, Khijri and Tamar assembly constituencies in which thousands of workers and the public will gather. Dr. Verma told that along with the Sankalp Yatra, Meri Maati, Mera Desh program was also being run by the party workers in the entire state in which soil, urns from martyr places, martyrs' villages and historical places were collected from every village for the construction of Amrit Vatika. Soil has been collected by filling it. Told that 312 urns including all 263 blocks and 49 municipal body areas will respectfully reach Ranchi Harmu Maidan on 28th October and will be sent to New Delhi. He said that this joint program will fill the 3.25 crore people of the state with a new message and new inspiration. Dr. Verma said that preparations for the concluding ceremony are going on in full swing. Along with the puja, the workers are also busy preparing for the programme. The vibrant festival of Navratri commenced with immense enthusiasm as devotees flocked to temples across the city to partake in rituals and seek blessings from the Goddess. The air was filled with spiritual fervor as individuals stood in long queues, eagerly awaiting the inaugural aarti of the nine-day celebration. Expressing their joy, a devotee shared, "I have been waiting for this moment throughout the year. Moreover, in the last two years, we were not able to perform our rituals. Now is the right time to enjoy the moment. We have come here to seek blessings of the almighty. We have been standing in the queue for around two hours," emphasizing the significance of this long-awaited occasion. Navratri, meaning 'nine nights' in Sanskrit, involves the worship of Goddess Durga in her various forms over the nine-day period. Alongside fasting and other rituals, the preparation of special offerings holds symbolic importance. Devotees, both men and women, lined up from early morning to offer prayers and catch a glimpse of Goddess Durga. The festive spirit extended beyond temples, with cultural events organized by various groups. Aamra Shobai Club in Sonari and The Children of Ramakrishna in Sidhgora actively participated in organizing Durga Puja. Elaborate security measures were in place, including 'shobha yatras' and patrolling by RAF jawans to ensure a peaceful celebration. Gujarati Sanatan Samaj, a key organization representing the Gujarati community in the city, hosted the Navratri Utsav at its Bistupur premises. Organizers shared their excitement about the upcoming cultural events, including ras garba, dandiya, and a fancy dress competition, emphasizing the community's deep-rooted traditions. Highlighting the preparation involved, Ramesh Ranpara, a senior functionary, mentioned, "Many enthusiasts travel to Gujarat weeks before the festival to buy costumes and jewelry. Some attend pre-Navratri dance classes, practice yoga, and even hire beauticians for makeup to ensure they stand out in competitions." As the city immerses itself in the spirit of Navratri, security personnel and volunteers work diligently to facilitate the smooth conduct of rituals and festivities, creating an atmosphere of joy, devotion, and cultural richness. An NRI couple and a Jharkhand based scholar/activist facing trolling online. Both of them registered a cyber-complaint against a Gujrat, Himmatnagar based woman and consulted their lawyers. Mr and Mrs Aia who faced trolling by the woman, while speaking to Mr. Aia said, At first we thought it's a trivial troll and she appeared to be harmless so we ignored her, however her trolling increased drastically. The accused woman started to post my photos with my wife with notorious intentions. She then posted nonsensical and baseless things about both of us, our child, body shamed us and fuelled baseless rumours about my personal, marital and professional life. We both faced a lot of mental harassment by her and hence we approached the Chaturshringi police station, Pune to register a cyber-complaint against the lady, we are also seeking legal help from our lawyer.". The same woman has been accused of trolling another woman from Mumbai. The victim had approached Kandivali police station to register a cyber-complaint against the alleged accused. There's one more victim, a Research Scholar woman from Sujangarh, Rajasthan. "The troll who appears to be a woman has been trolling me and my known persons for a long time. She comments about my personal and professional life on Facebook/Social media directly - indirectly in disguise. I have already registered a cyber-complaint against her in Ranchi, It's all like wasting our precious time but now I am consulting my lawyer for further process with the confirmation of stalkers whereabouts and details, said Research scholar and activist based in Jharkhand. The modus operandi of the alleged accused woman includes targeting NRIs or Known people online, she comments about their personal, marital and professional life. The woman hails from Himmatnagar, Gujarat and multiple cyber complaints have been registered against her in Pune, Mumbai and Jharkhand. All the victims are in the process of consulting their lawyers for the legal process. As per their lawyers, it's the serious matter of stalking, breaching privacy, blackmailing and defamation. Para teachers held a protest outside Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee (JPCC) headquarter in the State Capital on Sunday. They sit on Dharna outside the Congress office. The main gate of the party office was closed. Only office staff are present inside the office. A large number of Tet Pass para teachers sat on strike outside the Congress Party office and raised slogans. TET exam passed para teachers are continuously agitating demanding pay scale in Jharkhand. Till now, protests have been held in front of Raj Bhavan along with the Mundan program at the residence of Minister Mithilesh Thakur and Finance Minister Rameshwar Oraon. These teachers demand that even after continuously teaching the children and passing the TET exam, the State Government is not giving them the pay scale. The teachers accused the Chief Minister of breaking his promise. Teachers said that in 2019, CM, Hemant Soren had promised that after coming to power, their service would be regular and they would get pay scale but for four years he has been cheated only. These Para teachers said that the agitation will continue until their demands are met. As per their pre-announced programme, Para teachers, who were gheraoing the State office of Congress and protesting, said that the angry Tet pass Para teachers have completed all the qualifications and criteria of a teacher, yet the Government has cheated them. They are still working. In the next phase, the office of Rashtriya Janata Dal will hold a protest on October 21. If the demands are not met, more than 14,000 Para teachers from across the State will protest with black flags in Ranchi on the State Foundation Day on November 15. Para teachers say that all the ministers and MLAs of Jharkhand do the work of circumventing by giving assurances. If the Government does not take any concrete initiative regarding the demand for pay scale, then Para teachers will be forced to carry out aggressive agitation. Its responsibility will be of the Jharkhand Government. Tet pass para do not test the patience of teachers and fulfill your promise. The Para teachers had also held protests outside the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha office. At the same time, the teachers have been protesting in front of Raj Bhavan with fast unto death for 54 consecutive days. Before Diwali, 'Parda Gang' became active again in the state capital Bhopal, it was confirmed after the presence of 'parda gang' and pickpockets in CCTV footage of some city buses. A female passenger has also complained of purse theft. A veiled woman with a cloth tied over her mouth took out the purse from the woman's bag in the blink of an eye. This purse theft incident was reported on October 9 at 6.30 pm whose CCTV video has now surfaced. Geeta, a resident of Palm Crust area, was going to her home from Habibganj bus stop by Bhavsar bus (MP04-PA4339). Since the seat was full, she was standing. After paying the fare, she kept the purse in the bag and after some time, when she looked at the bag, there was no purse found stolen. Rs 5000 were kept in the purse. After the incident the woman along with her family reached Bhopal City Link Limited (BCLL) office located at ISBT. Here, the footage of the CCTV camera installed in the bus, a woman was seen taking out her purse from the bag. She had covered her mouth. Even the officers were surprised to see this. Modus operandi of the gang involves committing crime by covering their face. Three to four women travel together in 'Parda Gang'. This gang is active every year around Diwali, because there is a good crowd in city buses at this time. At this time women go to the markets for Diwali shopping. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the 'Parda Gang' steals the purse or other items. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday handed over a cheque of Rs one crore to the family of agniveer Amritpal Singh as a mark of respect to the brave warrior who made the ultimate sacrifice, while serving the country in Jammu and Kashmir. Slamming the Centre for rubbing salt into wounds of family by describing Amritpals sacrifice as suicide, Mann vowed to take up the matter with the Union Government. The State Government would accord the status of a martyr to Amritpal Singh in recognition of his immense contribution to the nation, said Mann, who along with the parents of the countrys first martyr Agniveer Amritpal Singh, paid tribute to the martyred soldier who sacrificed his life for the nation at the age of 19. The State Government stands firmly with the family during this time of grief, said Mann. The Chief Minister said that it is shameful that for the first time, the body of a martyred soldier was brought in a private ambulance which is an insult to a martyr soldier. Mann said that 60 percent of the country's budget is for the defense sector, but it is unfortunate that the Army has not even provided an ambulance to carry the body of martyr Amritpal Singh. It is even more unfortunate that the Army declared Amritpal's martyrdom as a suicide, which is like rubbing salt into the wounds of the martyr's family, he added. Strongly opposing the Agniveer scheme, Mann said that it was an insult to the contribution of the brave soldiers and the Central Government should reconsider the scheme. Jobs of army personnel, recruited under the Agniveer scheme, should be regularized, said |mann, reiterating that no matter what policy the Centre adopts towards the martyrs of the country, the Punjab Government is committed to honour the families and supreme sacrifices of all brave sons of Punjab. Punjab CM hands over Rs 1cr cheque to the family of martyr Parvinder Singh Chhajli (Sangrur): Mann on Monday also visited the house of Parvinder Singh, the brave soldier who laid down his life protecting the country at Kargil in Jammu and Kashmir, to hand over a cheque of Rs one crore to his family as a mark of respect. Expressing profound grief and sorrow, the Chief Minister said that the country would always remain indebted to martyr for laying down his life protecting his country from enemy forces. Mann also announced the installation of a statue in the village in the memory of martyr Parvinder Singh. The monetary assistance would be extended to the bereaved family according to the state governments policy, he said, while directing Sangrur Deputy Commissioner to ensure that the family receives all necessary support and does not encounter difficulties in the future. The governor lieutenant general (retd) Gurmit Singh has said that reducing the number of road accidents in Uttarakhand is a major challenge and a comprehensive awareness campaign on road safety is needed in the State. He said that the initial one-hour period which is called the golden hour is very important in saving the life of an accident victim. The governor was addressing a programme organised at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Rishikesh on the occasion of World Trauma Week-2023 on Monday. The governor said that the safe and timely transport of the accident victim to the trauma centre is a major challenge. He emphasised that the time needed for transport of accident victims should be reduced. Singh appreciated AIIMS Rishikesh for transport of medicines by use of drone technology, Heli ambulance service and telemedicine services. He appreciated the doctors of the AIIMS Rishikesh for providing tele -consultation to more than 12,000 people in the last one year. The officiating director of AIIMS Rishikesh Dr Meenu Singh said that there is a need to stop the deaths due to trauma. She said that the AIIMS Rishikesh is trying to make the maximum number of people aware about trauma. The head of department (HoD) of trauma, Dr Kamar Azam gave a detailed presentation about the activities undertaken during the trauma week. The HoD of trauma department, Rutgers University USA, Dr Mayur Narayan said that the trauma centre of AIIMS Rishikesh is a blessing for Uttarakhand. The organising secretary of the programme and trauma surgeon of AIIMS Rishikesh Dr Madhur Uniyal said the life of 243 patients was saved by the trauma centre in the last one year. Students on Monday were evacuated from a school after a foul smell was reported emanating from a gas godown in West Delhi's Naraina area. Teams from NDRF, Delhi Police, and Delhi Fire Service (DFS)rushed to the spot and started the evacuation, police said. "PCR calls were received regarding a foul smell in the area of C-block, Naraina. After getting calls, the concerned agencies have responded to the situation and taken required precautionary measures," said the Deputy Commissioner of Police (west), Vichitra Veer. "We are examining the matter. Appropriate legal action will be initiated based on the facts," the DCP said. A senior police officer said there was an open plot where a certain type of chemical was kept. "The samples have been lifted and sent for the examination. Initially, the experts said it was thinner, however, the exact nature will be ascertained after the examination. A case in connection with the incident is being registered," the officer said. The DFS said that it got a call at 12.18 pm from a person saying that some gas or chemical is leaking from drums kept in a godown. One of its officials said the department immediately rushed a fire tender. "And on further demand three more fire tenders were pressed into duty." The DFS had earlier suspected some type of chemical fumes/gas with a pungent smell was leaking from containers kept in the godown premises. "The gas/fumes are not identified yet. The area was cordoned-off by the teams of police, NDRF, and DDMA. Water sprinkling was done to stop the spread of gas leakage," said the DFS official. In August this year, 28 students of a municipal school in west Delhi's Naraina area were hospitalised on Friday with two of them requiring oxygen support after allegedly inhaling noxious fumes following a suspected 'gas leak' incident nearby. According to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), in a statement, said, ' The gas leak occurred at the nearby railway tracks.' However, the Railways, in a statement, said they have not received any report of gas leak from any station and asserted that their their wagons never transport any toxic gas that may pose a health hazard. Chhattisgarh Health Minister T.S. Singh Deo on Monday called for rescheduling of the polling dates in Chhattisgarh in the wake of upcoming festivals. Talking to reporters, Singh Deo said: "On one hand the Election Commission wants 100 percent voting. Their target is that each and every person should cast their vote... "There is Dussehra, Diwali, Bhai Dooj, Chhath during this period. Everyone in our country is aware of all the festivals... "If the Election Commission wants, they still have time if they want to adjust... The Election Commission wants 100 percent voting... But in this situation, is it possible to have 100 percent of votes? If not, then the EC has to decide whether they want to make any changes or not." Singh Deo said the first phase of polling was taking place giving little time for campaigning. "On November 7, the first phase will take place. For these 20 seats, the Election Commission has given very little time. In this little time, the Congress will get to making all preparations, filing nominations, seeing Dussehra celebrations and other festivals meeting with people and performing better in the elections..." In a first-of-its-kind initiative, Tata Trusts launched Gaanth Pe Dhyaan a unique event in Ranchi, for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, observed the world over, in October every year. Director, Meherbai Tata Memorial Hospital and HOD Department of Nuclear Medicine, Tata Main Hospital, Jamshedpur, as Chief Guest, Dr Sujata Mitra,. A part of the larger Kaise Ka Cancer campaign, Gaanth Pe Dhyaan aims to build awareness, encourage open conversations, and drive community action towards breast cancer by building the importance of breast self-examination among women at the grassroots through the insightful metaphor of lumps in food. Breast cancer disproportionately affects women in India, with over 50 percent of breast cancer cases in the Country being diagnosed in the late stages. This delay in diagnosis and treatment comes from a lack of awareness and can be fatal, if not detected early. Tata Trusts is dedicated to turning the tide on the issue by engaging with women directly to educate them on the importance of early detection. The launch event for the Gaanth Pe Dhyaan initiative was held at Ranchi Cancer Hospital and Research Center (RCHRC) in partnership with leading Jamshedpur Chef and Entrepreneur, Priya Gupta. It witnessed an all-women audience from local communities and featured an interactive culinary demonstration. Throughout the demonstration, she discussed how lumps in food preparation can ruin the taste and texture of a dish and highlighted that the same applies to breast cancer lumps as well. Chef Gupta was also joined by Chef, Laiba Ashraf from the Vivanta, DN Square, Bhubaneswar, who not only reiterated the need for checking for lumps in breast but also shared her story of hope from her grandmothers survival of breast cancer due to early detection. Medical Oncologist, Ranchi Cancer Hospital and Research Centre (RCHRC) said, Dr Rajanigandha Tudu, Director, Meherbai Tata Memorial Hospital and HOD Department of Nuclear Medicine, Tata Main Hospital, Jamshedpur, Dr Sujata Mitra were also informed the gathering about the programme. Tata Trusts has always been committed to driving cancer care interventions and further strengthened its support with the launch of a comprehensive Cancer Care Programme in 2017. The Kaise Ka Cancer campaign is a national level undertaking from Tata Trusts and is a part of its continuous efforts towards reducing Indias immense burden of cancer cases. The campaign comprising 3 compelling films, was launched in Feb this year, garnering over 20 mn views across social and digital media. Ranchi is a key region of focus in this effort, where RCHRC, a unit of Tata Cancer Care Foundation, supported by Tata Trusts, was inaugurated earlier this year by the Chief Minister Jharkhand, Hemant Soren in the presence of Noel N Tata, Trustee, Tata Trusts and Siddharth Sharma, CEO, Tata Trusts. The hospital is committed to providing compassionate, quality and affordable cancer care in the region. Tension prevailed in Aligarh after members of a particular community pelted stones in front of a mosque at the Ram baraat in Chandaus police station area of the district. During the stone-pelting, some mischievous elements also attacked the Ram baraatis with swords, in which more than 12 people were injured. The condition of two of the injured was said to be critical. They have been admitted to Aligarh higher health centre for treatment. After receiving information about the incident, DIG Shalabh Mathur, District Magistrate Indra Vikram Singh and Senior Superintendent of Police Kalanidhi Naithani, circle officers of many circles and forces from many police stations reached the spot. There was a lot of anger among Hindu leaders due to the incident. They surrounded the Chandaus police station and demanded the arrest of the accused. On behalf of the Hindu organisation, a complaint has been filed in the police station against more than 150 unknown and 20 named attackers. The police have detained one of the accused. Ram baraat has been taken out in Chandaus police station area for the last 84 years, but this time it was attacked in front of a mosque. It is alleged that some people came out of the mosque and first pelted stones at the Ram baraat and then attacked the baraatis with swords. Many people who were injured due to the sword attack were admitted to the Aligarh higher health facility for treatment. The Ram baraatis alleged that mischievous elements often worked to spoil the atmosphere but no action was taken by the police. People allege that in the past, the police station incharge and circle officer level officers were informed many times that some incident could happen during the Ram baraat procession but they did not take it seriously. Aligarh Range DIG Shalabh Mathur, while talking to the media, said that the Ram baraat was attacked by some people in Chandaus area. He said details of the incident were being gathered from CCTV footage and other resources and action would be taken on the basis of whatever comes out. Three people have been arrested for allegedly kidnapping and killing a private company's manager after withdrawing Rs 3.50 lakh from his account here. The accused along with a co-worker of the victim held him hostage for five days and murdered him after withdrawing around Rs 3.50 lakhs from his account, they said. Delhi resident Akshay (26), was arrested from Haridwar while Pradeep (29), from Mahendergarh, and Vinay (22), from Bhiwani, were arrested from Rampur flyover in Gurugram on Saturday night, police said. All the accused have been sent on a two-day police remand, they added. On October 9, a man filed a complaint at civil line police station that his brother Praveen Trivedi (45), who worked as a manager at a private company in Manesar had been missing since October 5. On the basis of the complaint, an FIR was registered under section 346 (wrongfully confines) of the IPC at the police station, they said. Trivedi and Pradeep worked together in the same company. The accused knew that the victim had a lot of money, so he, along with his relative Vinay and one of his associates Akshay, hatched a plan to kidnap Trivedi and kill him after withdrawing money from his bank account, police said. According to Pradeep, he called Trivedi to Patel Nagar, Gurugram on October 5 and from there he took him to Manesar where the three accused took him hostage in a room, they said. After that, they withdrew about Rs 3.50 lakh from Trivedi's account and bought an old car with the money. Jharkhand Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) unit has urged President Droupadi Murmu to abolish the Jharkhand Hindu Religious Trust Board Act. In this connection, on Monday, Vishwa Hindu Parishad State Vice President Chandrakant Raipat, Sunil Gupta, Dr. Birendra Sahu, Kailash Kesari and Mithilesh Mishra met the Governor CP Radhakrishnan at Raj Bhavan and also submitted a memorandum to the President. Through this, apart from abolishing the Hindu Religious Trust Board, the delegation also appealed to free the temples of Hindu Gods and Goddesses from the control of the state government. According to Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the state government's control over the religious institutions of Hindus is similar to the British rule before 1947. After independence, except Hinduism, all other religious institutions are completely free to establish and run their institutions without government interference. According to Vishwa Hindu Parishad, there are concerns regarding many points of the Trust Board Act in Jharkhand. Articles 25, 26 (Constitution of India) do not differentiate between Hinduism and other religions. In such a situation, there is no justification for the state to consider Hindu religion separate from other religions. Except Hinduism, all other religions are free to establish and run their religious institutions. People with integrity are being appointed as presidents and members for the management of various temples and trust committees by the political party in power. It would be wrong to think that a body sitting in the capital would have better knowledge and understanding of the temple matters than the individual trust committees of the temples. In the present system, people and officials belonging to other religions also become managers and administrators of one or the other temple. According to VHP, governments do not provide any financial assistance to religious bodies, especially in the case of Hindu religion. The government forcibly intervenes in the matters of Hindu institutions. It also starts charging for such interference. The Trust Board in Jharkhand is just a tool to please the members of a particular political party which only creates anarchy in Hindu religious institutions. In such a situation, it is necessary to abolish colonial laws like the Trust Board. In this way Hindu religious institutions should be freed from control. Neighbours play key roles and take responsibilities for socialisation, provide a platform to relax, lead peaceful and harmonious lives and spread joy around. Realising the need and importance of neighbourhood, social activist Radhakanta Tripathy along with likeminded people celebrated the World Neighbourhood Day at Bhadrak and Bhubaneswar on Sunday. Since 2016, this day has been celebrated on October 15 which has been appreciated by India Book of Records. Tripathy opined that neighbourhood should not be confined to villages only; rather, it should be extended to the panchayats, blocks, districts, States and finally the countries so that it would be helpful in developing the sense of safety, security and free from all types of threats. Besides, each one should take the responsibility to make the neighbourhood clean and green for the creation of a hygienic and serene environment. On this occasion, the participants took a pledge that wherever they live, they would strive for good neighbourhood and develop the sense of Vasudhaiba Kutumbakam in its true sense. Among others Prabash Barik, Ashok Sahu, Sk Mujibur, Sitakanta Tripathy and Krutibash Mahalik assisted in organising the programme. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday charged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was more concerned about happenings in Israel than in Manipur, which has been riven by an ethnic conflict since May this year. Addressing a rally near Raj Bhavan here after undertaking a 2-km-long padayatra through the city roads, he said that neighbouring Manipur is no longer a unified single state, but has been divided into two states on ethnic lines. Gandhi, who began a two-day visit to poll-bound Mizoram, asserted that the Congress had ushered in peace in the insurgency-hit northeastern state with the signing of a peace accord in 1986. "It is amazing to me that the PM and the Government of India is so interested in what is happening in Israel (Israel-Hamas conflict) but not interested at all in what is happening in Manipur, where people have been murdered, women molested and babies killed," he said. "The idea of India that respects each other, is tolerant, learns from other ideas, religions and languages and that loves itself as a whole... That is the idea of India which is under attack by the BJP. "They (BJP) attack different communities, religions and languages. They spread hatred and violence in the country. They spread arrogance, lack of understanding and this is completely against the idea of India," he added. Elections to the 40-member Mizoram Assembly is scheduled on November 7. China and Pakistan will ink significant agreements regarding motorways and highways during caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakars four-day visit to Beijing starting Monday, according to a media report on Sunday. The agreements would be signed under the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) programme, Dawn newspaper reported. Kakar would travel to Beijing on October 16 to participate in the Third Belt and Road Forum (BRF) for International Cooperation from October 17 to 18. The prime minister will attend the opening ceremony of the BRF and address the high-level forum entitled Connectivity in an Open Global Economy, the PM office said in a post on X on Saturday. A significant Memorandum of Understanding scheduled to be signed is related to the establishment of a modern Highway Research and Training Centre (HRTC) with Chinas assistance, the paper said. The project will prominently take centre stage during the prime ministers discussion with the Chinese authorities, it added. HRTC is a subsidiary of the National Highway Authority (NHA) for carrying out indigenous research in various faculties of highway engineering not limited to pavements, bridges, tunnelling environmental engineering, hydraulics and Geotech, but also covering technical training. An NHA official said the HRTC is also affiliated with various engineering institutes in research, especially in pavements, including the National University of Science and Technology (NUST). The highway authority has also proposed the Tunnelling Institute of the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) to become an associate in research in tunnelling. Under the ambit of CPEC, there is a promising joint research programme envisioned with the government of China from 2023 to 2027, which aims to foster collaboration and innovation in various domains of highway engineering. A formal memorandum of joint research extension will be finalised and signed during the visit. We anticipate its significance in furthering the infrastructure cooperation between China and Pakistan. This extension is poised to be a cornerstone of joint cooperation in the road infrastructure with the National Highway Authority being a vanguard of such mutual cooperation, the unnamed official said. Under the agreement, HRTC Research Institute will be constructed on 530 acres, already acquired by the NHA at a cost of Rs 520 million. The official said the institute would be built by a Chinese consultant under a Chinese grant of USD 52 million (Rs 15 billion). It includes infrastructure, a test track and indoor and outdoor lab equipment. After completion and required training, it would be handed over to the NHA for operation. The institute will also conduct studies of long-term pavement performance under controlled and uncontrolled conditions. Similarly, various research projects in reclaimed asphalt, bridges and tunnelling, training and degree courses in China and the development of engineering design manuals and standards for Pakistan are included in it. Kakar will also sign an MoU to upgrade Karakoram Highway (KKH) from Raikot to Thakot, Raikot to Khunjerab (335 km), KKH phase-2 on the E-35 section from Havelian to Thakot, covering 120 km and introduction of a motorway section connecting Havelian to Mansehra.In the second phase of the KKH project, the official said, the road would be designed in a way that it would remain operational around the year, especially in winter when it is closed due to heavy snowfall. The KKH alignment is being designed in a way that it will not hit Bhasha Dam but it will go over it through tunnels. The prime minister will also discuss the construction of a motorway from Dera Ismail Khan to Zhob, while the Gwadar port will remain the centre of discussion during the meetings in Beijing, according to the paper. Noted Iranian film director Dariush Mehrjui and his wife were stabbed to death in their home by an unknown assailant, state media reported Sunday. The official IRNA news agency quoted Hossein Fazeli, a judiciary official, as saying that Mehrjhi and his wife, Vahideh Mohammadifar, were discovered dead with knife wounds in their necks. Fazeli said the directors daughter, Mona Mehrjui, found the bodies when she went to visit her father Saturday night at the home in a suburb about 30 kilometers (19 miles) west of the capital, Tehran. The report said authorities were investigating though the wife had complained about a knife threat on social media in recent weeks. Mehrjui , 83, was known as cofounder of Irans film new wave in the early 1970s that mainly focused on realism. He received many awards, including a Silver Hugo from the Chicago International Film Festival in 1998 and a Golden Seashell at the San Sebastian International Film Festival 1993. Mehrjui studied in the cinema program at the University of California, Los Angeles in the early 1960s. Invitae Co. (NYSE:NVTA Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of Strong Sell from the five research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and two have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $2.08. A number of equities analysts have issued reports on NVTA shares. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Invitae to $1.50 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Invitae from $1.50 to $1.00 and set a sell rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Invitae from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Sunday. Get Invitae alerts: Check Out Our Latest Report on NVTA Invitae Stock Down 1.3 % NVTA stock opened at $0.61 on Friday. Invitae has a twelve month low of $0.60 and a twelve month high of $3.78. The company has a market cap of $163.84 million, a P/E ratio of -0.19 and a beta of 1.78. The business has a fifty day moving average of $0.85 and a 200-day moving average of $1.12. Invitae (NYSE:NVTA Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 8th. The medical research company reported ($0.30) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of ($0.37) by $0.07. Invitae had a negative return on equity of 6,100.71% and a negative net margin of 161.92%. The firm had revenue of $120.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $121.19 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Invitae will post -1.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Institutional Inflows and Outflows A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Alphabet Inc. increased its position in shares of Invitae by 9.1% during the first quarter. Alphabet Inc. now owns 235,606 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $318,000 after acquiring an additional 19,641 shares in the last quarter. Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Invitae by 29.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc. now owns 354,000 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 80,650 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Invitae by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 32,262,934 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $36,457,000 after purchasing an additional 931,593 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Invitae in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Invitae during the first quarter worth about $308,000. 61.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. About Invitae (Get Free Report Invitae Corporation, a medical genetics company, that provides genetic information to improve healthcare of people in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company offers genetic tests in various clinical areas, including hereditary cancer, precision oncology, women's health, rare diseases, and pharmacogenomics; digital health solutions; and health data services. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Invitae Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Invitae and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS Free Report) by 52.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,372 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 20,333 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,569,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 46,907,341 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $4,118,465,000 after purchasing an additional 913,447 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.3% during the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 27,013,824 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $2,371,814,000 after buying an additional 1,604,768 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 114.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 23,059,090 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $2,024,589,000 after acquiring an additional 12,321,786 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.7% in the first quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 19,315,836 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,695,930,000 after acquiring an additional 314,567 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 16,350,097 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,435,536,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262,338 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.09% of the companys stock. Get Morgan Stanley alerts: Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO James P. Gorman sold 125,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total value of $11,543,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,136,345 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $104,941,460.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO James P. Gorman sold 125,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total transaction of $11,543,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,136,345 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $104,941,460.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Stanley Morgan sold 135 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50,000.00, for a total transaction of $6,750,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 369,235 shares of company stock worth $41,384,996 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.26% of the companys stock. Morgan Stanley Stock Performance Shares of MS opened at $77.79 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $128.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.34. The businesss fifty day simple moving average is $84.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.68. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $74.83 and a 12 month high of $100.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.04. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.99% and a net margin of 12.19%. The company had revenue of $13.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $13.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. Morgan Stanleys revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Morgan Stanley declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, June 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 12.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the companys board believes its shares are undervalued. Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.37%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanleys previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 28th. Morgan Stanleys payout ratio is presently 59.96%. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Morgan Stanley from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 5th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 26th. HSBC assumed coverage on Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, September 7th. They set a buy rating and a $99.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lowered Morgan Stanley from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $110.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $95.82. Read Our Latest Stock Report on Morgan Stanley About Morgan Stanley (Free Report) Morgan Stanley, a financial holding company, provides various financial products and services to corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. It operates through Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management segments. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Morgan Stanley Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Morgan Stanley and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF (BATS:VLUE Free Report) by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,209 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.s holdings in iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF were worth $1,520,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its position in shares of iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF by 96,646.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 43,117,070 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,043,950,000 after acquiring an additional 43,072,503 shares during the period. Summit Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF by 17,500.9% in the first quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,920,831 shares of the companys stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 6,881,510 shares in the last quarter. Matson Money. Inc. raised its stake in shares of iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Matson Money. Inc. now owns 3,371,725 shares of the companys stock worth $312,188,000 after buying an additional 230,585 shares during the period. Cowa LLC raised its stake in shares of iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF by 11,529.8% during the 1st quarter. Cowa LLC now owns 2,989,446 shares of the companys stock worth $3,328,000 after buying an additional 2,963,741 shares during the period. Finally, GFG Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF by 14,455.2% during the 1st quarter. GFG Capital LLC now owns 1,439,365 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,295,000 after buying an additional 1,429,476 shares in the last quarter. Get iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF alerts: iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF Stock Performance Shares of BATS VLUE opened at $89.54 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $92.76 and a 200 day moving average of $92.47. The firm has a market cap of $6.37 billion, a PE ratio of 8.51 and a beta of 1.04. iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF has a one year low of $71.21 and a one year high of $89.40. About iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF The iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF (VLUE) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI USA Enhanced Value index. The fund tracks an index of large- and mid-cap US equities. Stocks are selected and weighted using fundamental metrics (earnings, revenue, book value and cash earnings), aiming for exposure to undervalued stocks in each sector. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding VLUE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF (BATS:VLUE Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI USA Value 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 Value Factor ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. decreased its position in shares of Amcor plc (NYSE:AMCR Free Report) by 2.1% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 130,362 shares of the companys stock after selling 2,804 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.s holdings in Amcor were worth $1,301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in Amcor by 117.7% in the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 2,397 shares of the companys stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 1,296 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Amcor during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Amcor in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Clear Street Markets LLC grew its stake in Amcor by 93.6% in the 1st quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 2,913 shares of the companys stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,408 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Amcor by 697.2% during the first quarter. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 4,504 shares of the companys stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 3,939 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 49.52% of the companys stock. Get Amcor alerts: Insider Buying and Selling at Amcor In other news, Director Arun Nayar sold 30,000 shares of Amcor stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.40, for a total value of $282,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 45,072 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $423,676.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.69% of the companys stock. Amcor Price Performance Shares of AMCR opened at $8.71 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.19. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $9.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.97. Amcor plc has a fifty-two week low of $8.61 and a fifty-two week high of $12.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.60 billion, a PE ratio of 12.27, a PEG ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 0.80. Amcor (NYSE:AMCR Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 16th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $3.87 billion. Amcor had a return on equity of 25.98% and a net margin of 7.14%. Equities analysts predict that Amcor plc will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Amcor Announces Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 7th were issued a $0.1225 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 6th. This represents a $0.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.63%. Amcors dividend payout ratio is presently 69.01%. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America downgraded Amcor from a buy rating to an underperform rating in a report on Monday, July 10th. TheStreet lowered Amcor from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $10.80. View Our Latest Stock Analysis on AMCR Amcor Profile (Free Report) Amcor plc develops, produces, and sells packaging products in Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa, and the Asia Pacific regions. The company operates through two segments, Flexibles and Rigid Packaging. The Flexibles segment provides flexible and film packaging products in the food and beverage, medical and pharmaceutical, fresh produce, snack food, personal care, and other industries. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AMCR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Amcor plc (NYSE:AMCR Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Amcor Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Amcor and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. BNC Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX Free Report) by 91.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,571 shares of the oil and gas companys stock after selling 17,933 shares during the quarter. BNC Wealth Management LLCs holdings in Chevron were worth $247,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its holdings in Chevron by 100,509.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 426,861,553 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $67,166,665,000 after buying an additional 426,437,277 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Chevron by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,906,060 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $5,906,309,000 after buying an additional 3,711,923 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Chevron by 104,997.3% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 24,490,824 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $4,395,858,000 after buying an additional 24,467,521 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Chevron by 76.5% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 23,667,484 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $3,839,241,000 after buying an additional 10,257,980 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Chevron in the 4th quarter valued at $3,058,235,000. 68.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Chevron alerts: Insider Transactions at Chevron In other news, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 3,750 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.88, for a total transaction of $603,300.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,718 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $276,391.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Pierre R. Breber sold 25,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.00, for a total transaction of $4,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $987,444. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 3,750 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.88, for a total value of $603,300.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $276,391.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the companys stock. Analyst Ratings Changes Several brokerages have issued reports on CVX. Citigroup dropped their target price on Chevron from $180.00 to $170.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 11th. BNP Paribas upgraded Chevron from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday. HSBC increased their price target on Chevron from $180.00 to $184.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. Bank of America increased their price target on Chevron from $185.00 to $190.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Chevron from $198.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, October 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Chevron currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $190.33. View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Chevron Chevron Price Performance CVX stock opened at $164.06 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Chevron Co. has a 1 year low of $149.74 and a 1 year high of $189.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $306.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.14. The businesss 50-day moving average is $163.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $161.16. Chevron (NYSE:CVX Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 28th. The oil and gas company reported $3.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.95 by $0.13. Chevron had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.54%. The business had revenue of $48.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.82 EPS. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 28.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Chevron Co. will post 13.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Chevron Dividend Announcement The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 18th were given a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 17th. Chevrons dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.30%. Chevron Company Profile (Free Report) Chevron Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the integrated energy and chemicals operations in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Upstream and Downstream. The Upstream segment is involved in the exploration, development, production, and transportation of crude oil and natural gas; liquefaction, transportation, and regasification associated with liquefied natural gas; transportation of crude oil through pipelines; and processing, transportation, storage, and marketing of natural gas, as well as a gas-to-liquids plant. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Chevron Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Chevron and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL Free Report) by 12.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,921 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 1,016 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLCs holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $359,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 217.1% during the 1st quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 650 shares of the companys stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 445 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods during the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 60.5% during the 2nd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 878 shares of the companys stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 331 shares during the period. Finally, Exos TFP Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 270.0% during the 1st quarter. Exos TFP Holdings LLC now owns 962 shares of the companys stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 702 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 41.15% of the companys stock. Get Hormel Foods alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes Several analysts have recently commented on HRL shares. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $41.00 to $35.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a sell rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $40.88. Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods In related news, SVP Pierre M. Lilly acquired 1,454 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $37.25 per share, for a total transaction of $54,161.50. Following the purchase, the senior vice president now owns 1,454 shares in the company, valued at $54,161.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.81% of the companys stock. Hormel Foods Stock Performance NYSE HRL opened at $32.02 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.49. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12-month low of $30.70 and a 12-month high of $49.73. The company has a market cap of $17.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.89, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.20. 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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.01). Hormel Foods had a net margin of 7.20% and a return on equity of 12.20%. The company had revenue of $2.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. Hormel Foodss revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 13th. Hormel Foodss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.32%. About Hormel Foods (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. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding HRL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL Free Report). 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. Jackson Square Capital LLC decreased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK Free Report) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,526 shares of the companys stock after selling 450 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 2.1% of Jackson Square Capital LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Jackson Square Capital LLCs holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,253,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Calamos Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,388 shares of the companys stock worth $2,237,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the second quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,552 shares of the companys stock worth $3,295,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the second quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 177,908 shares of the companys stock worth $20,529,000 after purchasing an additional 3,320 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New Hampshire lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 22,724 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,622,000 after buying an additional 1,394 shares during the period. Finally, Detalus Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC now owns 2,966 shares of the companys stock worth $342,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.59% of the companys stock. Get Merck & Co. Inc. alerts: Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc. In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 4,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.01, for a total transaction of $463,292.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,500,144.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.4 % Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $104.01 on Monday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $91.74 and a 1 year high of $119.65. The company has a market capitalization of $263.93 billion, a PE ratio of 85.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.34. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $106.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $110.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The company reported ($2.06) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of ($2.18) by $0.12. The company had revenue of $15.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.44 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 5.34% and a return on equity of 16.29%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.87 EPS. Analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year. Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 239.34%. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of research firms recently issued reports on MRK. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $116.00 to $115.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 11th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a buy rating on the stock. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, July 14th. They set a hold rating and a $123.00 price objective on the stock. TheStreet downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an a- rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Friday, September 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $102.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $124.68. Get Our Latest Stock Report on Merck & Co., Inc. About Merck & Co., Inc. (Free Report) Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes, as well as vaccine products, such as preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MRK? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Merck & Co. Inc. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Merck & Co. Inc. and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V Free Report) by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,850 shares of the credit-card processors stock after selling 322 shares during the period. Kanawha Capital Management LLCs holdings in Visa were worth $677,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its stake in shares of Visa by 107,990.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,998,628,576 shares of the credit-card processors stock valued at $474,634,314,000 after buying an additional 1,996,779,546 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Visa by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 72,897,112 shares of the credit-card processors stock valued at $16,435,339,000 after buying an additional 2,572,159 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Visa by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 51,122,866 shares of the credit-card processors stock valued at $10,621,287,000 after buying an additional 5,864,340 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Visa by 116,608.6% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 24,504,130 shares of the credit-card processors stock valued at $5,090,978,000 after buying an additional 24,483,134 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,067,232,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.35% of the companys stock. Get Visa alerts: Visa Price Performance Shares of V opened at $237.67 on Monday. Visa Inc. has a twelve month low of $182.07 and a twelve month high of $250.06. The firms fifty day simple moving average is $239.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $234.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $442.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.16, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Visa Dividend Announcement Visa ( NYSE:V Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The credit-card processor reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.05. Visa had a net margin of 51.94% and a return on equity of 49.42%. The business had revenue of $8.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.98 EPS. The companys revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 8.65 EPS for the current fiscal year. The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 11th were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Visas payout ratio is 22.84%. Analyst Ratings Changes V has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho restated a neutral rating and issued a $255.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, August 29th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Visa from $266.00 to $300.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Visa from $296.00 to $293.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 9th. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Friday. They issued a hold rating and a $266.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated an outperform rating and issued a $284.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, September 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $275.14. View Our Latest Research Report on V Insider Activity at Visa In related news, insider Rajat Taneja sold 15,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.01, for a total value of $3,950,158.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 232,112 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $58,030,321.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Rajat Taneja sold 15,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.01, for a total value of $3,950,158.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 232,112 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $58,030,321.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,150 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.47, for a total transaction of $2,016,880.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,100 shares of company stock valued at $7,923,039 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.22% of the companys stock. Visa Company Profile (Free Report) Visa Inc operates as a payments technology company worldwide. The company operates VisaNet, a transaction processing network that enables authorization, clearing, and settlement of payment transactions. It also offers credit, debit, and prepaid card products; tap to pay, tokenization, click to pay; Visa Direct, a real-time payments network; Visa B2B Connect, a multilateral B2B cross-border payments network; Visa Treasury as a Service, a cross-border consumer payments business; and Visa DPS that provides a range of value added services, including fraud mitigation, dispute management, data analytics, campaign management, a suite of digital solutions, and contact center services. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding V? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Visa Inc. (NYSE:V Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Visa Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Visa and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO Free Report) by 41.1% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 21,703 shares of the mining companys stock after buying an additional 6,322 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.s holdings in Rio Tinto Group were worth $1,386,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Rio Tinto Group by 58.9% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 12,899,694 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $1,037,135,000 after buying an additional 4,783,488 shares in the last quarter. Cowa LLC acquired a new stake in Rio Tinto Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Rio Tinto Group by 537.9% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,514,532 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $172,457,000 after purchasing an additional 2,120,343 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Rio Tinto Group by 176.1% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,112,031 shares of the mining companys stock worth $48,114,000 after purchasing an additional 1,347,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Rio Tinto Group by 26.9% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,475,787 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $440,253,000 after purchasing an additional 1,161,737 shares during the period. 10.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Rio Tinto Group alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes RIO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus cut their price objective on shares of Rio Tinto Group from $80.00 to $72.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Rio Tinto Group from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, September 13th. StockNews.com started coverage on Rio Tinto Group in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a strong-buy rating on the stock. Liberum Capital upgraded Rio Tinto Group from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, July 6th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Rio Tinto Group from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $72.00. Rio Tinto Group Price Performance Shares of NYSE:RIO opened at $62.38 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $78.04 billion, a PE ratio of 8.80 and a beta of 0.71. Rio Tinto Group has a fifty-two week low of $52.25 and a fifty-two week high of $80.51. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Rio Tinto Group Increases Dividend The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 11th were given a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 6%. This is a boost from Rio Tinto Groups previous semi-annual dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 10th. Rio Tinto Groups dividend payout ratio is presently 49.79%. Rio Tinto Group Company 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. Read More 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. Wallbridge Mining Company Limited (OTCMKTS:WLBMF Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,964,800 shares, a decline of 15.5% from the September 15th total of 2,324,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 153,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 12.8 days. Wallbridge Mining Price Performance Shares of Wallbridge Mining stock opened at $0.08 on Monday. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $0.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $0.11. Wallbridge Mining has a 12-month low of $0.08 and a 12-month high of $0.18. Get Wallbridge Mining alerts: About Wallbridge Mining (Get Free Report) Featured Stories Wallbridge Mining Company Limited engages in the acquisition, exploration, discovery, development, and production of gold properties. The company also explores for copper and nickel deposits, as well as platinum group metals. Its flagship property is the Fenelon gold property located in Northern Abitibi, Quebec, Canada. Receive News & Ratings for Wallbridge Mining Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Wallbridge Mining and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Zealand Pharma A/S (OTCMKTS:ZLDPF Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 858,400 shares, a decline of 17.5% from the September 15th total of 1,041,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2,146.0 days. Zealand Pharma A/S Trading Up 1.7 % Shares of ZLDPF stock opened at $44.18 on Monday. Zealand Pharma A/S has a 1 year low of $23.15 and a 1 year high of $44.22. The firms fifty day moving average price is $39.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.21. Get Zealand Pharma A/S alerts: Zealand Pharma A/S (OTCMKTS:ZLDPF Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 17th. The company reported ($0.80) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.52) by ($0.28). Zealand Pharma A/S had a negative net margin of 1,189.60% and a negative return on equity of 95.02%. The business had revenue of $1.52 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Zealand Pharma A/S will post -2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. About Zealand Pharma A/S Zealand Pharma A/S, a biotechnology company, engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of peptide-based medicines in Denmark. It has a portfolio of medicines focusing on gastrointestinal and metabolic diseases, and other specialty disease areas with unmet medical needs. The company Dasiglucagon, a single use syringe or autoinjector for the treatment of severe hypoglycemia; and Dasiglucagon bi-hormone artificial pancreas systems containing both insulin and dasiglucagon. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Zealand Pharma A/S Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Zealand Pharma A/S and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU Free Report) by 32.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,409 shares of the financial services providers stock after buying an additional 8,243 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLCs holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $2,947,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Prudential Financial by 1.5% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,613,784 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $628,529,000 after purchasing an additional 111,170 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Prudential Financial by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,589,363 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $655,378,000 after acquiring an additional 413,421 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Prudential Financial by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,353,887 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $750,839,000 after acquiring an additional 356,957 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.3% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,247,466 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $383,753,000 after purchasing an additional 103,853 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 20.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,979,041 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $246,466,000 after purchasing an additional 514,817 shares during the last quarter. 54.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Prudential Financial alerts: Prudential Financial Stock Down 0.2 % PRU stock opened at $93.87 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.06 and a quick ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.38. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.37 and a fifty-two week high of $110.96. The business has a 50-day moving average of $94.78 and a 200-day moving average of $89.28. Prudential Financial Announces Dividend Prudential Financial ( NYSE:PRU Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $3.04 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $12.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.68 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.73% and a net margin of 1.82%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.74 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 11.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 22nd were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 21st. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.33%. Prudential Financials dividend payout ratio is 166.67%. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an equal weight rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Prudential Financial in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Raymond James raised Prudential Financial from a market perform rating to a strong-buy rating and set a $125.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Prudential Financial in a research note on Wednesday, October 4th. They issued a hold rating and a $99.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $121.00 to $119.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $102.91. Get Our Latest Report on PRU Prudential Financial Company 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. See Also 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. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Devon Energy Co. (NYSE:DVN Free Report) by 3.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,064 shares of the energy companys stock after acquiring an additional 2,302 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLCs holdings in Devon Energy were worth $3,242,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Devon Energy during the 1st quarter worth $364,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Devon Energy during the first quarter worth about $188,000. Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in shares of Devon Energy by 52.1% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 99,120 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $5,861,000 after acquiring an additional 33,936 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Devon Energy by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 414,354 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $24,500,000 after purchasing an additional 34,870 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of Devon Energy during the first quarter worth $26,000. 68.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Devon Energy alerts: Devon Energy Price Performance Devon Energy stock opened at $48.39 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.62, a PEG ratio of 0.16 and a beta of 2.32. Devon Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $42.59 and a 52-week high of $78.82. Devon Energy Cuts Dividend Devon Energy ( NYSE:DVN Get Free Report ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The energy company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts consensus estimates of $1.18. Devon Energy had a net margin of 28.10% and a return on equity of 37.89%. The business had revenue of $3.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.59 EPS. The businesss revenue was down 38.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Devon Energy Co. will post 5.79 EPS for the current fiscal year. The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 14th. Devon Energys payout ratio is presently 10.94%. Analysts Set New Price Targets Several equities analysts recently issued reports on DVN shares. Bank of America upped their target price on Devon Energy from $54.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 27th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Devon Energy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 10th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Devon Energy from $62.00 to $58.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Devon Energy from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 20th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Devon Energy in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $62.68. View Our Latest Analysis on DVN Insider Activity at Devon Energy In other Devon Energy news, EVP Dennis C. Cameron sold 7,870 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.13, for a total transaction of $402,393.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 210,548 shares of the companys stock, valued at $10,765,319.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Devon Energy Profile (Free Report) Devon Energy Corporation, an independent energy company, explores for, develops, and produces oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. It operates in Delaware, Anadarko, Williston, Eagle Ford, and Powder River Basin. The company was incorporated in 1971 and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DVN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Devon Energy Co. (NYSE:DVN Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Devon Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Devon Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Victoria Gold Corp. (OTCMKTS:VITFF Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 317,300 shares, a decline of 16.3% from the September 15th total of 379,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 88,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.6 days. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Separately, HC Wainwright lifted their price target on Victoria Gold from C$20.00 to C$24.00 in a research note on Friday, August 11th. Get Victoria Gold alerts: Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Victoria Gold Victoria Gold Trading Up 5.0 % About Victoria Gold OTCMKTS:VITFF opened at $4.43 on Monday. Victoria Gold has a one year low of $3.91 and a one year high of $8.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.03. (Get Free Report) Victoria Gold Corp. acquires, explores, and operates mineral properties in Canada and the United States. The company primarily explores for gold deposits. Its flagship property is 100% owned Dublin Gulch property, which hosts the Eagle and Olive-Shamrock Gold deposit covering an area of approximately 555 square kilometers located in central Yukon, Canada. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Victoria Gold Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Victoria Gold and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Comrade Brown, who was conducting celebrations alone and ushering in the New Era of Change from his dacha in Sector 101 (North Britain), announced that patients will be required to stop smoking, take exercise or lose weight before they can be treated on the National Health Service. In a New Era of Change message to NHS staff, the Supreme Comrade indicated that all proles will have to fulfil new responsibilities in order to establish their entitlement to care. The New Era conditions will be set out in a formal NHS constitution, Comrade Brown says. In his open letter to doctors, nurses and other health workers, the Supreme Comrade in Chief promises to press on with new fitness regimes for the prole and party populations, pledging more rigorous regimes in gulags and work camps. He adds: We will also examine how all these changes can be enshrined in a New Vision of Change for the NHS, setting out for the first time the exercise regime required to qualify to be treated by our great Social Health Care system. Breaking rocks Obese people, smokers and alcoholics will all be refused treatment under the new NHS guidelines. This means that 99% of MPs in the Westminster duma would be refused treatment if it were not for them being high ranking officials of the one party state. Supreme Comrade Browns vision will include a daily communal exercise regime for all citizens excluding high ranking party officials. Exercise timetable for all citizens Starting from the 12th of January 2008, all citizens in Sectors 23 101 will be required to congregate in their street at 06.00 hrs every morning wherein a party representative from the Stasi council will put them through an exercise program lasting exactly 45 minutes. Exercise will then continue at your place of employ at 13.00 hrs where all workers shall congregate in the main yard or factory floor for a bracing 30 minutes of exercise, usually consisting of starjumps, sit ups and push ups. Workers who are fit and of good health will be given a bonus of 2p per annum on their party wages and a commendation. Those who do not adhere to Comrade Browns regime of exercise will be re-educated in work camps or earmarked for retirement. CCTV cameras will monitor all exercise programs and group leaders will carry out a roll call every day of citizens who attend the required exercise regime. Those who do not turn up to exercise sessions will be severely disciplined. Notice: B61827 INGSOCK Long Live the Gordo! According to reports on the ground Al Sadr and his Shiite militia men are on the march once again, this time to the U.S. embassy in Baghdads heavily fortified Green Zone. This ominous Baghdad Spring can only mean one thing, the Shiite militias want to turf America out once and for all and are taking the reigns from the subordinate Shia Vichy government put in place by the U.S. Already, ISIS has made many in-roads towards Baghdad and are within 50 kms of the city. These facts are not reported by the mainstream media too pre-occupied with election reporting to care, but the augurs do not fare well for Baghdads residents whether in the Green Zone or not. If Baghdad falls to either faction, the Obama administration would not only have lost most of Iraq but half of Ukraine as well. Obamas intransigence towards his own military has definitely not paid off, as America loses all the gains it made globally, and more. Soon we may see the same scenes the world witnessed in Saigon as Hueys lifted off every few minutes from the U.S. embassy as the Vietcong ambled their way through the streets calmly and with little resistance. During the ITV debate last night Amber Rudd MP, who is campaigning to remain in the EU, wrongly suggested that accession talks are not going ahead for five more countries to join the EU. The accession process is being accelerated. On 4 May 2016, the European Commission announced that: The accession process will be re-energised, with Chapter 33 to be opened and preparatory work on the opening of other chapters to continue at an accelerated pace. On 4 May 2016, the European Commission announced that: The accession process will be re-energised, with Chapter 33 to be opened and preparatory work on the opening of other chapters to continue at an accelerated pace. David Cameron strongly supports this. In 2010, Cameron said he was angry at the slow pace of Turkish accession, that he was the strongest possible advocate for EU membership for Turkey, and that I want us to pave the road from Ankara to Brussels. In 2014, he said that: In terms of Turkish membership of the EU, I very much support that. Thats a longstanding position of British foreign policy which I support. In 2010, Cameron said he was angry at the slow pace of Turkish accession, that he was the strongest possible advocate for EU membership for Turkey, and that I want us to pave the road from Ankara to Brussels. In 2014, he said that: In terms of Turkish membership of the EU, I very much support that. Thats a longstanding position of British foreign policy which I support. The Government admitted it supported Turkish accession last month. Last month, the Europe Minister, David Lidington, said: The UK supports Turkeys EU accession process . Last month, the Europe Minister, David Lidington, said: The UK supports Turkeys EU accession process . The British public will not get a vote on the accession of Turkey to the EU . The European Union Act 2011 allows the Government to ratify EU accession treaties without a referendum. There was no referendum on the accession of Croatia to the EU in 2013. . The European Union Act 2011 allows the Government to ratify EU accession treaties without a referendum. There was no referendum on the accession of Croatia to the EU in 2013. The Government opposes giving the British people a say. As the Minister for Europe, David Lidington, said in 2011: A few years ago, 10 new member states joined the European Union at the same time. I believe that their combined population then was 73 million, which is slightly greater than Turkeys population is now. I do not believe that anybody in this country argued at that time that a British referendum on those accessions was right. As the Minister for Europe, David Lidington, said in 2011: A few years ago, 10 new member states joined the European Union at the same time. I believe that their combined population then was 73 million, which is slightly greater than Turkeys population is now. I do not believe that anybody in this country argued at that time that a British referendum on those accessions was right. The UK is paying 2bn to help Turkey, Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia to join the EU. Turkey alone is set to receive over 1 billion of UK funds to help prepare it for membership. The EU is planning to take further control as part of the Five Presidents Report. The Five Presidents Report (published in June 2015) sets out the European Commissions plans to create a political union in the Eurozone. This will affect the UK, since the Commission is clear is clear that it will continue to use single market legislation as a means of achieving this. The report states: Much can be achieved already through a deepening of the Single Market, which is important for all 28 EU Member States. The report contemplates the harmonisation of capital markets, insolvency law, company law and property rights. The latter presumably includes real property, securities and the law of contract. Since this single market legislation will be adopted by qualified majority voting, the UK will not be able to opt out from it or veto it. We cannot remove dangerous people because of EU law. Terrorists. In 2015, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission ruled the UK could not exclude ZZ from the UK because of EU law, despite the fact that he was a suspected terrorist. The Commission concluded that: We are confident that the Appellant was actively involved in the GIA [Algerian Armed Islamic Group], and was so involved well into 1996. He had broad contacts with GIA extremists in Europe. His accounts as to his trips to Europe are untrue. We conclude that his trips to the Continent were as a GIA activist. Killers. In 1995, Chindamo, who is an Italian citizen, murdered the headteacher Philip Lawrence who went to help a 13-year-old boy who was being attacked. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1996. Chinamo was released in 2010 but recalled to prison due to accusations he intimidated and robbed a man at a cash machine, charges of which he was later acquitted. In 2007, Mr Justice Collins, sitting in the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal, ruled that removing Chindamo would be disproportionate under EU law. David Cameron said that Tribunals decision flies in the face of common sense. It is a shining example of what is going wrong in our country. He is someone who has been found guilty of murder and should be deported back to his country What about the rights of Mrs Lawrence or the victim?. Cameron said: This does seem to be complete madness. Rapists. Mircea Gheorghiu, a Romanian national, entered the UK without leave in January 2007. In November 2007, he was convicted of driving a motor vehicle with excess alcohol, fined and disqualified from driving for 20 months. It later emerged that he had a criminal record in Romania. In 1990 he was convicted of the offence of rape and sentenced to 6 years imprisonment. Between 2001 and March 2002 he was convicted on three occasions of forestry offences, cutting timber without a licence, and received custodial sentences on the last two occasions. The Secretary of State removed him from the UK in March 2015. Nonetheless, on 18 November 2015, Mr Justice Blake, sitting in the Upper Tribunal, decided this was unlawful under EU law, ruling Gheorghiu must be reunited with his family as quickly as possible and that he was entitled to a permanent residence on his return and the residence card issued to him will reflect that. Leading counter-terrorism figures and two Defence Ministers have made clear a vote to leave would not affect security and in fact offers significant advantages. The former Secretary-General of Interpol, Ronald K Noble has said the EU is effectively an international passport-free zone for terrorists to execute attacks on the Continent and make their escape. Sir Richard Dearlove, the former Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, has said: the truth about Brexit from a national security perspective is that the cost to Britain would be low. Brexit would bring two potentially important security gains: the ability to dump the European Convention on Human Rightsremember the difficulty of extraditing the extremist Abu Hamza of the Finsbury Park Mosqueand, more importantly, greater control over immigration from the European Union. Sir Richard has said: European and Brussels-based security bodies are of little consequence and that the crucial practical business of counter-terrorism and counter-espionage is conducted, even in Europe, through bilateral and very occasionally trilateral relationships. Richard Walton, former Head of Counter Terrorism Command at New Scotland Yard (2011-15), has said: membership of the EU does not really convey any benefits that we couldnt access if we were outside it Success in countering terrorism does not depend on any of us being members of a particular club. It is simply achieved through international collaboration to prevent known threats from passing across borders. Major General Julian Thompson, who commanded land forces during the Falklands War has said membership of the EU weakens our national defence in very dangerous times. As Republican candidates go, you cant get more boring and clean-cut than Rick Santorum, that is until today, when he visited a sanitarium on his way to Michigan. Proprietor and keeper of the CC DeVille Sanitarium, Joel Aburdside, said: This Italian prick turns up, he keeps talkin about abortions, Satan and how were going to have to cleanse the nation. He kept babbling about the Pope and Jesus and looking around all wild eyed. Well, I thought to myself this guy aint all here. Anyone who starts talking to God and Jesus over their shoulder is clinically insane. We need to intern him for some psychiatric evaluations, stick him in the rubber room, dose him up with some chemical lobotomy shit. Well, we did just that folks, theres the paisan over there, hes in cell B7 right now talking about hells damnation and how hes gong to win the presidential elections. You cant get more crazy than that. What was meant to be a routine tour stop has turned out to be a nightmare for Mr Santorum, as he has been interned indefinitely in the sanitarium until he is seen fit to be released maybe in ten or twenty years. The presidential hopefuls aides and campaign managers were distraught today and running around like headless chickens. Poor bastard went in to the sanitarium and he cant get out now. This is some bad news for the Republicans, a chuckling Democrat on Capitol Hill told CBS news. Despite all the unrest happening in Democrat states, fully supported by Democrat mayors, conducted by rent-a-mob Democrat professional agitators, Americas socialist party are now denying any of the needless violence is tied to them. No! Biden, does not overtly look like a socialist and thats one of the reasons he was chosen, fooling some voters into voting for Joe, but not voters who see how the formerly liberal Democrat Party morphed into an aggressive Marxist socialist junta intent on violence, thuggery, rioting and looting. Under Bidens supposedly benevolent wing is a vipers nest of radical extremist Bernie Sanders followers, BLM Marxists, ANTIFA communists who he needs to win the election. An American flag was just burned outside the Kenosha County Courthouse. One woman screams, Death to America! and kicks the fence. pic.twitter.com/vI8U6EOGBv Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) August 26, 2020 Joe Biden is now putting the blame firmly on Donald Trump, who has actively begged the Democrat states to do something about the Democrat supported groups ANTIFA, and BLM ruining cities with their senseless violence, rioting, arson, murder and looting. With Democrat luminaries like supreme Marxist militant raisin face Maxine Waters and The Squad waging Jihad on every white person in America, there seems to be a slight discrepancy in the message that the fault lies solely with Donald Trump and his supporters. These people have actively sought for ANTIFA, BLM agitators to attack Republicans and Trump supporters wherever they go and whatever they do. It was party time for the Democrat party during the mass riots for George Floyd, where they encouraged BLM and ANTIFA domestic terrorists to riot and loot. It was only after the rioting when it dawned on the Democrat run states that they would have to ask for Federal funds to rebuild major portions of their self-destroyed cities. Much of the funding was denied, because many of the mayors of those Democrat cities actively encouraged the rioting. This is why hundreds of thousands of citizens and businesses are now leaving Democrat run cities in states like California, New York and Minnesota. Portland, which has always been a hot bed of Marxist activists and agitators is now practically a war zone, and many businesses have lost everything. The Democrat Party is now synonymous with extreme violence, looting, rioting and murder. This is why their attempts to turn around their actions of agitation and egging on rioters is a sick joke. Everyone who has been watching these events unfold know exactly who is behind the unrest and its not the Republican side of the fence. The American vote in November will be between Democrat led rioting Marxist factions or Republican law and order. This is when the silent majority will have to make a crucial decision in voting correctly or voting for more mayhem, destruction and Soviet militancy tied to the Democrats. Either America moves forward in peace and safety or backwards in violence, looting, uncertainty, arson and pain in November. Bob Dillon always knew everyone has to answer to someone, but many in the population are surprised to find out that there is always someone higher up the ladder to answer to. Victimhood is thus these days a required element of human rights, and it is this perpetual state of being a victim that makes up our news headlines daily. The rich are victims of the tax system as much as the poor are victims of the rich, and so this eternal Venn diagram of victimhood is sown. Victims come thick on a constant basis in our poverty rich world; we have the refugees, the economic migrants, the perpetually betrayed socialists who always moan about something, the Remoaners who constantly bay against Brexit, and even the royals who are hounded by the media. You see, victimhood goes up the line and touches many in every stratum of human society. You found a toe nail in your soup in some restaurant, well the natural thing is for the Daily Mail or some other tabloid to write up a double page spread of the incident of your victimhood, of course with a large photo of you in your best suit smiling and holding it up for the camera. This is prominent news for these tabloids who even publish peoples social network comments as news such is their desperation for spamming the web with their banality. In the Woke culture of today everyone is some sort of victim, and there may even come a day when bullies will themselves be deemed as victims and given sympathy. The modern woman of course is the biggest victim in Woke culture, and even though modern women have more rights than ever before in history, they cannot make their minds up whether they are still victims of dastardly men, who in reality are now the victims of a program of vilification that seems endless. If you are a victim, dont forget to teach your kids to be victims too, so they can teach their kids to be victims, and ongoing generations. Burglars are victims of poverty according to courts and are perennially let off for breaking into peoples houses and taking their valuables. These days the actual victims of crime are the forgotten victims, according to the courts they deserved to be burgled and their valuables stolen because they had made the effort to work hard in their lives to acquire some valuables. This is not good in a socialist society especially, and the burglar who is a victim of poverty thus deserves to walk free after robbing you of your valuables. We could go on and on detailing all of the victims, but we just cant be bothered any more, perhaps were a victim of perpetual laziness and apathy because we just dont give two fucks any more. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy interacts with the employees after the inauguration of the Infosys Business Development Centre at IT SEZ in Visakhapatnam (Photo by arrangement) Visakhapatnam: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has said he would shift to Visakhapatnam sometime in December. Initially, his plan was to shift himself to the port city around Dasara. "I have asked my staff to look for a suitable place for me and others. They are working on it. CMO has to have a huge security apparatus. The planning and implementation of these takes time. Vizag would, as a result, turn into a tier-1 city," the CM said. "December may be the outer line for my shifting, Jagan Mohan Reddy told the staff and officials of Infosys after formally inaugurating the premises. He said, "Visakhapatnam DC is a landmark moment in the citys growth story. We acknowledge the support of Infosys in giving impetus to the citys IT landscape and developing its overall ecosystem through community building. We are confident that this centre will not only give a massive boost to employment here but also strengthen Visakhapatnams sustainability through Infosys ESG commitments and efforts." The Chief Minister said Visakhapatnam has the potential to grow on par with Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai with the existing infrastructure. "More IT firms would line-up to invest in Visakhapatnam," he said. "Infosys will play a bigger role in the growth trajectory of Visakhapatnams IT industrial scenario. Next year, we will have an Adani Data centre with a huge submarine cable coming from Singapore that will change the entire landscape of Visakhapatnam IT business." Stating that there was no dearth of human resources in Visakhapatnam, the chief minister said the city has eight universities, 14 engineering colleges and 12 degree colleges producing 12,000 to 15,000 engineers every year. In addition, the city has prestigious institutions like IIM and National Law University. On the industrial front, Visakhapatnam has public sector units like IOC and in the defense sector, the Eastern Naval Command which has over 15,000 members. Spread across 83,750 sq.ft, Visakhapatnam DC will provide greater flexibility to employees to work in a hybrid mode and closer to their home. The new centre will enable Infosys to also attract, re-skill and up-skill local talent to work on global opportunities through next-gen technologies like Cloud, AI, and Digital. The chief financial officer for Infosys, Nilanjan Roy, said, "Aimed at bringing the workspace closer to Infoscions, this centre will further our approach towards creating hybrid workplaces, and also offer new opportunities to the local talent pool. Visakhapatnam has developed into a favorable investment destination. We are grateful to the state for extending its support to our operations here." The Andhra Pradesh High Court, hearing the anticipatory bail petition of former chief minister N, Chandrababu Naidu in the Amaravati Inner Ring Road (IRR) scam case, posted further hearing to October 18. (DC) Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh High Court, hearing the anticipatory bail petition of former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in the Amaravati Inner Ring Road (IRR) scam case, posted further hearing to October 18. In another case, the High Court posted further hearing on the Amaravati assigned lands case to November 1. The Andhra Pradesh High Court adjourned the hearing of the Amaravati assigned land case to November 1 after the CID requested the court to consider additional audio and video evidence that it had collected before delivering the verdict. The High Court, which was slated to deliver its verdict on Monday, asked the respondents to file counters. The CID produced audio files as additional evidence in the case, and said that it could produce videos in support of its charge. Counsels appearing for former minister P. Narayana objected to the submission of new evidence, contending that when the verdict was to be delivered, it was not appropriate to file fresh petitions. They objected to the CID producing as evidence something that was already produced in another case. In another case, the High Court adjourned the hearing on an anticipatory bail petition moved by Naidu in the alleged Amaravati Inner Ring Road scam to October 18. On October 13, the Andhra Pradesh government had told the Supreme Court that it would not arrest Naidu in the Fibernet case until October 18. It said it would seek adjournment of the matter listed before the trial court on October 16, as the Supreme Court had deferred the hearing on Naidus plea for anticipatory bail to October 17, along with his plea for quashing the FIR in the Rs 371-crore Skill Development Corporation scam. Further, Naidus lawyers filed a petition in the ACB court seeking release of health bulletin on Naidus health and the court will hear the petition on Tuesday. AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi. (Image source: Twitter) HYDERABAD: AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday called the Partition of India "a historical mistake that should not have happened." Owaisi was responding to a question from a reporter during a press conference on comments made by Samajwadi Party leader S.P. Maurya that Mohammad Ali Jinnah was not responsible for Partition, but it was the Hindu Mahasabha that sought it. "All the leaders of that time are responsible. Read what Abul Kalam Azad wrote in his book India Wins Freedom. He talks about how he went from one big Congress leader to another, asking them not to agree to the proposal. All the Islamic scholars of that time too opposed the two-nation theory. They were also very heartbroken," Owaisi said. He said: "Historically, this was one country. Unfortunately, it was divided. It should not have happened. This is what I can tell you. I can also tell you who is responsible for the division of the country if you arrange for a debate. Its a long story. There can be no single-sentence answer to this question." On the Palestine-Israel conflict, he said: "Israel is inflicting collective punishment on Palestinians, which is an international war crime. When we expressed solidarity with Palestine, we were criticised, but the ministry of external affairs too said the Government of India stands in solidarity with Palestinians and that India is committed to an independent Palestine state." He appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and stop the conflict. On local political issues, he accused the Congress of keeping "a door open" to join hands with the BJP in case the latter needs help. He said the appointment of A. Revanth Reddy as the Telangana Congress chief demonstrated how "Rahul Gandhi wants a door to remain open in case of bad times befalling the Congress." He said "this is the reason why Rahul wanted a leader who came from the RSS and then the BJP to head Congress in Telangana." On the Congress and the BJP each calling the MIM the B Team of the other, he said, "In entire Telangana, there is only one issue: B Team and Owaisi." On accusations that MIM holds the governments steering, Owaisi said "meri gaadi alag hai, unki gaadi unko mubarak. Panja kiske haath mein hai (my vehicle is different, good luck with their vehicles. In whose hands is the palm symbol?) It is in the hands of a man who came from RSS and BJP." Owaisi also extended an invitation to leaders who did not get party tickets to join the MIM. He strongly supported the BRS manifesto calling it very beneficial for the poor from all sections of society. He also said the MIM would not issue a formal manifesto. The party legislators work in their constituencies would be the partys manifesto. He did not answer a question on how many candidates the MIM would field. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi arrived in Aizawl on Monday on a two-day visit to poll-bound Mizoram (ANI) Aizawl: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi arrived in Aizawl on Monday on a two-day visit to poll-bound Mizoram to campaign for party candidates for the November 7 assembly elections in the northeastern state, party officials said. Gandhi arrived in Aizawl aboard a helicopter from Tripura's capital Agartala, Mizoram Congress media cell chairman Lalremruata Renthlei said. He will undertake a padayatra (march) from Chanmari junction to Raj Bhavan, a distance of around 4-5 km, and address a rally near the governor's house, he said. LIVE: Chanmari to Raj Bhawan | Aizawl, Mizoram | Bharat Jodo Yatra https://t.co/7gMOvxi0ny Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 16, 2023 Gandhi will also interact with students in the evening. On Tuesday, he will meet party leaders and address a press conference in Aizawl, Renthlei said. He will also visit Lunglei town in the southern part of the state and hold a public meeting there. Gandhi will leave for Delhi via Agartala by a chopper from Lunglei on Tuesday, he said. Elections to the 40-member Mizoram assembly will be held in a single phase on November 7 and counting of votes will take place on December 3. Political parties, churches, civil society organisations and student bodies have urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to reschedule the vote counting date as it falls on Sunday, which is a sacred day for the Christian community of the state. Christians account for around 87 per cent of Mizoram's population, according to the 2011 census. The ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) and main opposition party Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) have already announced the names of their candidates for all 40 seats. Congress said that it will also contest all the seats and is likely to release the candidate list during Gandhi's visit. The BJP said that it will announce the names of its candidates for 40 assembly seats in the next two to three days. BJP MLA Etala Rajendar felicitates defence minister Rajnath Singh at a public meeting in Jammikunta of Huzurabad constituency, Karimnagar on Monday. BJP state chief G. Kishan Reddy is also seen. (DC) Hyderabad: Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said the BRS government has become like the private limited company of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Raos family but no one could accuse Prime Minister Narendra Modi government at the Centre of indulging in corruption. Addressing election rallies Jammikunta of Huzarabad constituency and in the city, he said: "Some ministers in the previous UPA government led by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had gone to jail on charges of graft. But, I can say with confidence that no one, either in the country or the entire world, can point a finger and say that there is a taint of corruption on our Prime Minister or the government." "The entire nation was discussing the corruption by the KCR family," he alleged. "Even though the Telangana state has all kinds of resources, there are no signs of any development after nine years under the BRS government." The Union minister accused Rao of betraying the youths. "KCR promised that every family will be allotted one government job and betrayed them. KCR also promised that he would sanction unemployment dole, but deceived them. KCR did not fulfil the promise of distribution of 3 acres to poor Dalit families either, nor did he implement the Dalit Bandhu scheme properly." He accused Rao of failing the unemployed youth as question papers were repeatedly leaked. Juxtaposing Rao against Modi, who, Rajnath Singh said, fulfils all promises, he criticised the Congress for failing to resolve issues during the bifurcation of the state. "The Congress government, which gave statehood to Telangana, forgot to resolve the issues between both the states. Whereas three states which were formed during the reign of the BJP government Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh are heading towards enormous development," he said. He said the NITI Aayog had recently said that 13.5 crore people have come out of poverty. What we say on international forums is being taken seriously now, unlike earlier. Singh also took a swipe at the Dharani portal, claiming the BRS government used it to commit irregularities and take control of lakhs of acres. "Whereas, the BJP government as a pilot project introduced Bhu-Swamithra Yojana under which all land disputes are resolved. Landowners can easily get loans from any bank by obtaining documents through the scheme which was introduced by Narendra Modi," he said. He also accused Rao of failing in welfare measures by failing to implement the Centres schemes. "Under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, the BJP government constructed around 4 crore houses for poor families and distributed them. The BRS government did not implement the scheme in the state and betrayed the poor people of Telangana," he alleged. He claimed that the BRS, in collusion with MIM, was indulging in "cheap politics" using region and religion, and caste and communities, "which BJP will never do". "Former Congress PM Rajiv Gandhi himself said that when the Central government sends Rs 100 to the states, the money, by the time it reaches the people, is becoming Rs 14 due to the involvement of middlemen and corruption. To prevent that, Narendra Modi introduced Jan Dan bank accounts and directly deposits the money to the accounts of the beneficiaries," he said. Invoking religious deities through party symbols, Rajnath Singh said: "Goddess Lakshmi Devi will not come to ones house in a car since the BRS car has become useless (Car bekar ho gaya) and hand has left you (Hath apka sath chod diya). The Goddess also will not hold ones hand and will come to your house, but Lakshmi Devi will come to your house by sitting in a lotus, so voting for lotus, which is the symbol of BJP, is nothing but inviting Goddess Lakshmi Devi to your house." "People who gave the BRS two chances should give the BJP one chance so that it can take up all-round development of the state like that of Gujarat, where BJP government has been ruling for the past 27 years," he said. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM Free Report) by 0.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,253,317 shares of the financial services providers stock after purchasing an additional 29,531 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. makes up about 1.1% of Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. owned 0.15% of JPMorgan Chase & Co. worth $618,602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Adirondack Retirement Specialists Inc. boosted its stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 510.8% during the 1st quarter. Adirondack Retirement Specialists Inc. now owns 226 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Nordwand Advisors LLC bought a new position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Sageworth Trust Co increased its holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 266.7% in the 1st quarter. Sageworth Trust Co now owns 407 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. Robbins Farley raised its holdings in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 54.2% in the 1st quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 475 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. during the first quarter valued at $70,000. 68.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get JPMorgan Chase & Co. alerts: Insider Buying and Selling In other news, General Counsel Stacey Friedman sold 4,310 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.86, for a total value of $624,346.60. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 53,425 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $7,739,145.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders. Analyst Ratings Changes A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup lowered JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $160.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, July 12th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and issued a $158.00 price target on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a report on Friday, September 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $174.00 to $180.00 in a report on Monday, July 17th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group raised their target price on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $160.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Monday, July 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $168.47. View Our Latest Analysis on JPM JPMorgan Chase & Co. Price Performance Shares of JPM stock opened at $148.00 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a fifty-two week low of $110.72 and a fifty-two week high of $159.38. The firm has a market cap of $430.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.10. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $147.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $143.53. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 13th. The financial services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $3.95 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $40.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.63 billion. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a net margin of 23.45% and a return on equity of 17.29%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.12 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 15.68 earnings per share for the current year. JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Dividend The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 6th will be given a dividend of $1.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 5th. This is a positive change from JPMorgan Chase & Co.s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. JPMorgan Chase & Co.s payout ratio is currently 25.07%. 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 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. People Before Profit Councillor Shaun Harkin said has called for mass civil disobedience to put pressure on western governments to stop backing Israel in its war on Gaza. He was speaking as Israel continues its war on Gaza which has taken 2,670 Palestinian lives so far in air raids. A quarter of those deaths are children. The number of Israelis killed in Hamass attacks stands at 1,400, including 286 soldiers. The Hamas operation is being used cynically by western leaders according to Cllr Harkin. Hamas' attacks are being used to justify Israeli devastation of Gaza and hide the complicity of Western powers, rather than understood as the consequences of a brutal occupation and apartheid regime, he said. The only way to ensure peace is to end the occupation of Palestine. The US, Britain and EU have spent billions supporting Ukraine's resistance to Putin's vicious invasion and occupation but Biden and Sunak ignore, justify and support Israel's occupation of Palestine. This is total hypocrisy. He said mass mobilisation can put pressure on these leaders and bring an end to the genocidal siege. "Global grassroots mobilisations on an unprecedented scale comprising mass protests, occupations and general strikes can stop the genocidal siege on Gaza and barbaric Israeli war crimes. If ever there was a time for civil society and unions to mobilise mass civil disobedience, the time is now. The only way we can stop this slaughter backed, funded and condoned by the most powerful governments in the world, US President Joe Biden, Rishi Sunak, and the EU, is through mass action. The Secretary General of the United Nations has warned that the Middle East is on the verge of the abyss. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians sheltering in U.N. facilities are on less than one litre of water per day. Hospitals warn they are on the verge of collapse, with emergency generators that power machines like ventilators and incubators down to about one day of fuel and supplies of medicine almost exhausted. Israel has ordered more than one million Palestinians to leave Gaza City and the surrounding area ahead of a ground invasion. Hamas has urged people to stay in their homes. The newly elected Israeli government has encouraged pogroms of Palestinian villages. It has backed ethnic cleansing in Jerusalem. It has supercharged illegal settlements in occupied Palestine and given settlers freedom to kill Palestinians. Gaza has been suffocated for nearly two decades by an Israeli blockade. About this violence, there has been no condemnation from Biden and the rest. Instead the US, British and EU governments continue to fully back apartheid. Those claiming the actions of Hamas have pushed back the potential for peace and a Palestinian state are lying. Israel was never serious about allowing a Palestinian state and 700,000 illegal settlers in what would be a Palestinian state is the proof. Biden was lauded in Ireland earlier this year for peace building. The bullets and bombs killing Palestinians are paid for by his US government. The hypocrisy is rank and shame on all those who refused to challenge Biden on his support for occupation and apartheid. Time magazine has reported the Biden Administration and leading members of US Congress are crafting an American aid package of roughly $2 billion in supplementary funding to Israel. The US has already deployed two aircraft carriers to the Mediterranean to deter hostile actions against Israel or any efforts toward widening this war. Meanwhile, UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman has told senior police officers waving a Palestinian flag or singing pro-Palestine chants in the UK may be a criminal offence. She said chants such as: From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free could be understood as an expression of a violent desire to see Israel erased from the world She added that the waving of a Palestinian flag, may not be legitimate such as when intended to glorify acts of terrorism. Cllr Harkin said the Tory government cannot be allowed to criminalise pro-Palestine activism. The Palestine solidarity movement will not be criminalised by the Tories, he said. We demand an end to Israel's siege on Gaza and an end to the apartheid regime. That is how we can end the violence. A secular democratic state for Arabs, Jews, Christians and all who live there is the pathway to peace." Derry-based international development charity Children in Crossfire have launched a new 12-day fundraising challenge which encourages participants to carry out 12 acts of kindness in early November. Aided by a video recorded by none other than Irish music legend Daniel ODonnell, who encourages people to sign up, the social media centred initiative aims to multiply kindness and make a positive difference for vulnerable children and families in Ethiopia and Tanzania. Outlining how the challenge will work, Fundraising Co-ordinator Aishling Cunningham said: We believe we need more kindness in todays world. "As such, we have come up a unique fundraising campaign which asks local people to carry out acts of kindness for their families, friends and neighbours in return for donations to Children in Crossfire. Participants in our 12 Days of Kindness challenge might do the shopping for an elderly neighbour one day, pay forward a coffee the next, hand deliver a letter to someone who made a difference in their lives the day after that and so on. Each day, they will share what their latest good deed was on social media and ask their friends and followers to donate to their fundraiser. In this way, kindness will multiply over 12 days and a positive difference will be made for children and families in Ethiopia and Tanzania as well as in the local community. In addition to raising vital funds for Children in Crossfire, we hope the challenge will also get people thinking about what matters to them and how being kind can make the world a better place for us all. Anyone wishing to sign up or find out more should: Visit www.childrenincrossfire.org/12-days-of-kindness-challenge; Search for Children in Crossfire Kindness Challenge on Facebook; Email aishling.cunningham@childrenincrossfire.org; or Call me on 028 7126 9898. Children in Crossfire Chief Executive Richard Moore added: I thank Daniel ODonnell, who has long been kind to Children in Crossfire himself, for recording a video encouraging people to take part in our challenge. Its great to have such well-loved support for this very novel fundraising event. Children in Crossfire rely on public kindness to deliver our international programmes. Without the goodwill of good people here, we simply could not make the positive difference we do for vulnerable children in Ethiopia and Tanzania. "I urge the public to sign up to this challenge and carry out 12 acts of kindness from 1st to 12th November. As someone who has benefited greatly from the kindness of my fellow human beings all my life, I know just how much goodness there is in people. Lets turn that powerful human instinct into something genuinely life-changing for children in the communities we work with. SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood MP has written to the Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council this morning proposing that civic buildings are lit white in solidarity with civilians on the front line of the conflict between Israel and Hamas which has left communities across the region, and particularly in Gaza, devastated. The Foyle MP said: The appalling scenes of violence in Gaza and southern Israel have horrified the world. The indiscriminate murder of civilians and aid workers on a horrific scale, the abduction of women and children, the blatant breaches of international law and the imposing of collective punishment on the people of Gaza are indefensible. "There is nothing that can justify what were seeing unfold in the region and there is no excuse for the weak, partisan international response. The crimes committed by Hamas have been met by crimes committed by the state of Israel. The cycle of violence and atrocity cannot continue without an intervention from the international community aimed at securing a ceasefire and, ultimately, a peaceful two state solution. The people of Derry know better than most that violence for political ends never works. It is a symptom of an entrenched conflict that can only be broken by dialogue. "I know that people here feel powerless and are struggling to understand what they can do to help the situation. The solidarity of this city is with civilians facing the most horrendous conditions and living with the threat of extreme violence every day. I have written to the Mayor to request that civic buildings are lit white for peace as a visible sign of our solidarity. "I will be at Westminster today demanding answers from the British Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary about the partisan approach to the conflict taken to date and urging a fulsome humanitarian mission to relieve immediate pressure on civilians in the region. I will also be pressing them to use their influence to seek an immediate ceasefire and an international peace effort. A unique exhibition is taking place in Eden Place Arts Centre, which is housed in Pilots Row community centre in Derrys Bogside. The artwork on display was produced by members of the Rossville Group, a day opportunities scheme for adults with mild and moderate learning difficulties, facilitated by the Western Health and Social Care Trust (WHSCT). Titled Where The Heart Is, the exhibition will open on Thursday, October 19 at 1pm in Eden Place Arts Centre. The artwork focused on certain themes such as the joy of placing flowers in a vase and the feelings around giving or receiving them. The artists worked on the theme of familiar faces and produced beautiful abstract work with bright and vibrant colours. Members also created a colourful display of a selection of houses, which evoked feelings around home, security and spending time with family, friends and those most important to us in every-day life. The work will be displayed in the form of paintings, canvases and fabrics. Vanessa Campbell, Senior Day Care Worker, said: We are very proud of this work and of our members who used their skills to produce this very talented display. The exhibition will boost their confidence and motivate us all to progress with our skills and abilities through the medium of arts and crafts. Arts Centre Co-ordinator Judi Logue said: We are very excited to once again adorn our gallery space with the vibrant work of The Rossville Group. This stunning exhibition is bursting with colour and fun, all are welcome to the launch to celebrate this wonderful work, if you miss the launch it will be on display until 26th October. Lizzie Devlin, Community Arts Officer of the Arts Council: The Arts Council is pleased to support the work of Eden Place and the fantastic array of workshops and events they provide for individuals and community groups throughout the year. This latest exhibition will be a chance to celebrate the work of The Rossville Group, as they share some of the pieces they have created as part of this wonderfully uplifting creative project. Congratulations to everyone involved! Eden Place Arts Centre is supported by the National Lottery through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. A man has appeared in Derry Magistrates Court charged with criminal damage and assaulting police officers. James Doherty, 28, of Capall Court, appeared charged with the offences that were said to have occurred on October 14. Doherty was charged with kicking and smashing the glass door in a cooker, as well as assaulting police officers when they responded to the incident by spitting in the face of one officer. The court heard that the defendant had to be physically removed to be taken into cells. When interviewed, he gave no comment to all questions. The court heard that Doherty had previous convictions relating to assaulting police and criminal damage and objected to the bail application as they believe Doherty has a very high risk of reoffending. Defence solicitor Seamus Quigley told the court that Doherty has a number of mental health issues that are not helped by his consumption of alcohol. He also told the court that Doherty had made a partial admission to the charges, but claimed that the spitting at police was simply a result of leaning in close while shouting at them. District Judge Barney McElhom said that the officers 'would know if it was accidental' and that he would give him 'one chance and one chance only'. Doherty was released on bail and will appear again on November 9. A man currently on bail charged with explosives and grenades found in searches in Creggan in early September appeared at Derry Magistrate's Court today charged with breaching his bail. Gerard Kelly (48) of Victoria Place in Derry was charged with breaching his curfew by not being at his place of residence when police called. The court heard that the breach came about after Kelly had to go to hospital due to a self inflicted injury. A police officer said that after receiving treatment Kelly did not return to his residence. Defence counsel Stephen Mooney said his application was like something written by Hans Christian Anderson. He said that the defendant said he had gone to the hospital and the police had taken a 'benign' view. But after receiving some basic treatment the defendant had left due to the waiting time and walked back to his home. He then claimed he had gone back to the hospital and that was why he was not present when police forced entry. The barrister said that the explanation was 'so ridiculous there just might be some truth in it.' District Judge Barney McElholm said he would give Kelly one chance this time and re-released him to appear again on November 2. Unite the union members employed by Education Authority in Northern Ireland will commence a continuous work-to-rule from 00.01am on Monday, 23rd October. Unite the unions membership concentrated in school bus transport, catering, admin, cleaning, classroom assistants and other school based members. This is the first step in a planned escalation by education workers to secure the implementation of a promised pay & regrading review. The failure to make meaningful progress is a touchstone issue as the commitment to hold the exercise was the primary reason why industrial action by education workers in 2022 was called off. Education Authority managers claim the lack of progress is not of their making as they have repeatedly engaged with the Department of Education without any progress on the matter. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: It is simply unacceptable that the Department of Education continue to prevaricate in an attempt to avoid its responsibilities to deliver a pay and grading review. EA bosses and those in the Department of Education should be under no illusion if they do not deliver their commitments for a pay and regrading review workers will escalate their action. Management and particular the Department of Education need to address the workforces concerns to avoid further escalation. Unite members returned a 96 per cent vote for industrial action, not including strike action; and a 94 per cent majority for industrial action, up to and including strike action. The work-to-rule is timed to commence alongside that by GMB education members. Unison education workers have already commenced a work-to-rule and in coming days NIPSA members are likely to join the action. This will mean that all non-teaching education unions are engaged in industrial action adding to the likelihood that it will have a significant impact. Unite workplace reps have issued clear guidance about what undertakings unite members should refuse to do during the work-to-rule. Unite regional officer Kieran Ellison said: The industrial action involves workers withdrawing from goodwill tasks outside of their contract; working strictly to their job description and their contracted hours. "Such is the level of reliance on the goodwill and voluntary actions of education workers, this action is likely to have a debilitating impact on schools. The Department of Educations failure to meaningfully progress the pay and grading review has eroded goodwill among its employees. The Department of Education must progress the review to avoid further escalation education workers are not going to allow themselves to be exploited anymore. Politicians from across the political spectrum in Northern Ireland have signed a declaration to commit to aiming towards a future where nobody dies of bowel cancer in the region. MLAs from all political parties in Northern Ireland and civil servants, cancer charities and political and health spokespeople gathered at Stormont to sign Bowel Cancer UKs declaration of support. The meeting at Parliament Buildings heard from researchers, clinicians and patients about the impact of longstanding issues and the stalemated assembly on bowel cancer services, patients and their families. The event also featured a giant inflatable bowel to visualise the different stages of bowel cancer. The political parties signed the declaration to support Bowel Cancer UKs mission to increase awareness and understanding of bowel cancer. They also pledged to remove the barriers to people being diagnosed quickly and at the earliest possible stage, get the right treatment and care to every patient and support people to cope better with bowel cancer. Figures published by Northern Irelands Department of Health show that nearly nine in 10 people (84%) living in the region with bowel cancer symptoms are waiting longer than the 62-day target to begin treatment. This surpassed last quarters worst performance on record and is lagging behind the rest of the UK. Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in Northern Ireland, with nearly 1,200 people diagnosed every year, and the second biggest cancer killer. Professor Mark Lawler, professor of digital health at Queens University Belfast, chairman of the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership and member of the Scientific Board of Bowel Cancer UK, said the waiting times are simply not acceptable. Why have targets if we dont adhere to them? he said. This data and the research intelligence that we have generated highlight how the lack of an implemented cancer strategy is having a disastrous impact on those at risk of bowel cancer and bowel cancer patients in Northern Ireland. We need to act now. There has not been an executive or assembly functioning at Stormont for over a year due to the DUPs ongoing boycott of powersharing institutions in protest against post-Brexit trading arrangements. The Northern Ireland Cancer Strategy was published in March 2022 but cannot be funded or implemented without an executive in place. Bowel Cancer UK said it believes the lack of political leadership at Stormont is contributing towards long waiting times and a lack of early diagnosis. Sinn Fein MLA Linda Dillon, who attended the meeting, said the number of patients starting treatment within 62 days of an urgent referral is a staggering low 17%. This is disgraceful and leads to patients being diagnosed in emergency departments as their symptoms have severely deteriorated while stuck on waiting lists, she said. In the worst cases, people are dying prematurely as a result of late diagnosis. Patients on waiting lists cannot wait. Cancer patients cannot wait. They need the assembly and executive restored now and parties working together to fix the problems in the health service, to tackle waiting lists and invest in services. Gerard McMahon, head of policy and influencing (devolved nations) at Bowel Cancer UK, said he hopes the pledge is a turning point. We are delighted that our political parties have put aside their differences and are united to sign a declaration of hope a commitment to improve bowel cancer services in the country, he said. Together, we pledge to raise awareness, ensure every patient receives timely care and to prioritise early diagnosis for bowel cancer patients when the disease is easier to treat. We hope this is a turning point for patients and their loved ones. Mr Barry McAree, colorectal surgeon and Northern Ireland Cancer Network colorectal cancer lead, said a new test could help to alleviate waiting times for a diagnosis. Everyone from politicians to healthcare professionals and the general public have their part to play in bringing about a revolution in bowel cancer treatment timelines, he said. NI GPs now have access to one of the most powerful tools for improving the timelines for diagnoses of bowel problems with the introduction of the qFIT poo test, specifically for use in those with symptoms. If we use this powerful symptomatic qFIT test properly and hospitals receive bowel cancer referrals only for those who have a positive result or other concerning test or examination findings, we will vastly improve waiting times for diagnoses and treatments of all bowel problems across the region. Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK and the second biggest cancer killer, affecting both men and women. Every 15 minutes someone is diagnosed with bowel cancer amounting to nearly 43,000 people every year or 120 people every day. Bowel cancer is treatable and curable, especially if diagnosed early, but the rate of survival drops significantly as the disease develops. Symptoms can include bleeding from the bottom and/or blood in poo, a persistent and unexplained change in bowel habit, unexplained weight-loss or a pain or lump in the stomach. HIGHLIGHTS The Government of India, in August 2023, said that products like laptops, computers, and tablets will require licenses from November 1st. A top government official says that there wont be any such restrictions. However, the government will monitor the incoming shipments. Remember, not so long ago, a government order mentioned how imports of laptops, tablets, and computers would be put under licensing. Many saw that this would make imports of these devices into the country difficult and would eventually increase the prices. Now, a top government official says that there wont be any such restrictions where licensing is needed. However, the government will monitor the incoming shipments. The Government of India, in August 2023, said that products like laptops, computers, and tablets will require licenses from November 1st. Hence, establishing a licensing regime in the country for the said products. Earlier, the order said that the licensing requirement would be effective immediately but it was later pushed to October 31, offering a transitional period. These restrictions were levied in order to ensure security and promote domestic production. Also read: Indian govts laptop and PC import ban effective from November 1, despite manufacturer appeals Now, as November approaches, a top government official has stated that the licensing requirement will not be imposed on the above-mentioned products. But monitoring will stay in place. Gadgets 360 quoted Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal saying, On laptops, we are of the view that there are no restrictions as such. We are only saying that somebody who is importing these laptops has to be under close watch so that we can look at these imports. He further added, It is basically monitoring, which we are doing. It has nothing to do with restrictions as such. This was further clarified by Santosh Kumar Sarangi, Director General of Foreign Trade who said that the work was under progress for this and the import management system will come into effect from November 1, 2023 in India. Also read: Qualcomm and MediaTek under threat by this change in ARM licensing policy IT hardware industrys official notice It will be more in the nature of an import management system where people will be issued an authorisation. It will be a very soft licensing. It will just be an authorisation. A source even revealed to Gadgets 360 that all of this will happen online. They even added that the Director General of Foreign Trades office might also have to issue a clarification in this regard to clear the air. HIGHLIGHTS A new leak suggests the pricing details, first sale date, and a new colour of the OnePlus Open. OnePlus could launch the Open in Golden and Green colour. The OnePlus Open could feature a 7.8-inch foldable 2K AMOLED display. OnePlus is all set to launch its first foldable smartphone in India. The smartphone has been in the talks for a while now and still surfacing on the internet with new details through leaks and official announcements. This time, the OnePlus Open has been spotted on the internet with pricing and the sale date as well. Check out when the smartphone could come on its first sale and for how much. Recently, the Chinese brand confirmed the OnePlus Open launch on October 19. Following that, a new leak suggests the pricing details, first sale date, and a new colour as well. According to a tipster known as Abhishek Yadav, the OnePlus Open could launch in India at a price of 1,39,999. Also read: OnePlus Open: First foldable confirmed by phone company that never settles Apart from that, the tipster also suggests that the smartphone will go on its first sale on October 27 in India. Further Yadav revealed the OnePlus Open in Golden colour along with Green colour. Thats pretty much all about this development. However, you should note that these informations are totally based on leaks. Speaking of the leaks, here are some tipped specifications of the OnePlus Open, lets check them out. OnePlus Open expected specifications The OnePlus Open could feature a 7.8-inch foldable 2K AMOLED display. And there could be a 6.31-inch AMOLED display on the outside. Both displays are expected to come with a 120Hz refresh rate. Also read: OnePlus India teases the OnePlus Open: Launch expected on 19th October, and more It is rumoured to be equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, which will be paired with LPDDR5x RAM & UFS 4.0 storage. Moreover, it will most likely be running on the Android 13-based skin. Further, a 4700mAh battery might power the OnePlus Open with up to 67-watt fast charging support. For photography, it may use a 48-megapixel main camera, a 48-megapixel Ultrawide lens, and a 64-megapixel Periscope lens. For selfies, there could be a 32-megapixel camera on the outer display and a 20-megapixel camera on the inner display. Weekly news roundup: US's tentative restrictions on RISC-V will harm itself the most and other top stories These are the most-read articles on the DIGITIMES Asia website during the week of October 9-13: US's tentative restrictions on RISC-V will harm itself the most, instead of China Since all companies are able to use the RISC-V ISAs to design their own CPU IP, many IC design houses choose to procure core IPs from companies such as SiFive and Andes to shorten their product development cost and accelerate time to market. Therefore, the only thing that the US government can do is to impose export restrictions on US companies such as SiFive which built its core IPs that Chinese companies purchase, and prevent them from participating in RISC-V standards and research development processes that have Chinese companies involved, or restrict those RISC-V IPs developed by US companies from being sold to China. However, industry experts warned that it will be the US interest and the US capability of innovation on the line if such restrictions are imposed. Taiwanese firms' role in Huawei chip fab sparks controversy amid geopolitical tensions Recent foreign media revelations have named United Integrated Services, L&K Engineering, Topco Scientific, and Cica-Huntek Chemical Technology Taiwan as contributors to the construction of a Huawei chip manufacturing facility in Shenzhen, China, with the entire factory site even alleged to be predominantly staffed by Taiwanese engineers, sparking significant international attention. This involvement of Taiwanese companies in projects for Huawei has the potential to strain the already delicate trilateral relationship between China, the US, and Taiwan. Samsung takes on TSMC with advanced 2-nanometer fabrication push Samsung Electronics faces off against Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) as recent indications point to Samsung ramping up its research and development endeavors in the 2-nanometer fabrication realm, aiming to position itself for a potential turnaround as Samsung takes on the colossal and dominant TSMC by placing a strong emphasis on embracing cutting-edge technology instead of simply expanding its 3-nanometer production. Tightening US restrictions on China challenges Taiwan's semiconductor supply chain Recently, there have been reports that the US government is planning to further tighten restrictions on China. Some foreign news outlets have even mentioned Taiwanese companies like United Integrated Services, suggesting their involvement in constructing fab infrastructure for Huawei, possibly becoming Huawei's hidden partners in its resurgence. Semiconductor industry experts argue that whether or not the ban becomes more stringent will not significantly impact Taiwan's semiconductor supply chain. DRAM recovery warming up as Taiwan memory suppliers report September revenues rise NAND Flash spot prices have started to rise, and in turn, suppliers have started reporting growth in their monthly sales. Price hikes for DRAM are relatively moderate, as DDR4 suppliers have not yet broken even in their operations. This implies memory product prices are crawling out of the bottom, with niche memory prices expected to bottom out in the second half of the year and pick up speed to recover in 2024. Global foundry revenues to see CAGR of 11.3% from 20232028, says DIGITIMES Research DIGITIMES Research projects that the global foundry revenue will grow at a CAGR of 11.3% from 2023 through 2028, driven by demand from 5G and EV applications. Added capacities of both mature and advanced processes coming online starting in 2024 will also fuel the foundry industry's mid-to-long-term growth, according to the figures from the latest report covering the global foundry industry over the next five years. Software is now the winning formula for chip design firms During the FUTEX Forum held on October 12 in Taipei, Realtek Vice President and Spokesperson Huang Yee-Wei noted that most challenges in IC designs are not so different from the ones in the past. The real caveat is the software embedded within chip solutions, rather than electronic design automation (EDA) software. Huang believes that this kind of software will become increasingly important and many industry players agree, some of whom even believe it will be the trump card in the industry. 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. Micron opens new assembly and test facility in Malaysia Micron Technology recently commemorated its 45th anniversary with the inauguration of its state-of-the-art assembly and testing facility in Batu Kawan, Penang, Micron has already allocated US$1 billion towards the construction and full equipping of this new facility in Penang. Over the next few years, the US memory chipmaker plans to invest an additional US$1 billion to expand factory space to a total of 1.5 million square feet. "This expansion enables Micron Malaysia to boost production output and further strengthen its assembly and test capabilities, allowing it to supply leading-edge NAND, PCDRAM and SSD modules to meet the growing demand for transformative technologies such as artificial intelligence and autonomous or electric vehicles." In 2022, Micron announced that its facilities in Malaysia are the first within Micron's global network to be powered by 100% renewable electricity. The operations for this new facility will also support Micron's sustainability aspirations to achieve net-zero emission by 2050 and zero hazardous waste to landfills by 2030. "The official opening of our new manufacturing facility in Batu Kawan strengthens Micron's global manufacturing footprint, enabling us to deliver quality products to our customers on-time, with reduced cycle time and at scale," said Amarjit Sandhu, corporate VP of assembly and test NAND operations for Micron Technology. "This expansion reflects our unwavering dedication to advancing semiconductor development and manufacturing excellence." The opening ceremony brought together local dignitaries, industry partners and Micron team members, reflecting a shared commitment to sustainability, partnership, and progress for both Micron and Malaysia in the Penang region, according to Micron. "We congratulate Micron on achieving yet another significant milestone in their development in Malaysia," said Datuk Wira Arham Abdul Rahman, CEO of Malaysian Investment Development Authority. "This expansion underscores Malaysia's appeal as a hub for cutting-edge semiconductor manufacturing. Micron's substantial investment and dedication to sustainable practices align perfectly with our nation's objectives outlined in the New Industrial Master Plan 2030 (NIMP 2030). As we advance in this digital era, where technology plays a central role in economic growth, we eagerly anticipate continued collaboration with industry leaders such as Micron to promote innovation, sustainability, and collective prosperity." THE HEARTBROKEN Drennan family have thanked people for their support following the death of their beloved Joe in a hit-and-run in Limerick. The message was included in the death notice of Joe Drennan, aged 21, of Knocknagad, Mountrath. He died following a road traffic collision on the Dublin Road, Castletroy on Friday night as he waited for a bus following work. "The Drennan family would like to thank you for your support and co-operation and would be grateful if you would express your messages of condolence on the link below," reads the notice. Condolences can be left by clicking here Joe will repose at his home in Knocknagad (R32XE29) on Monday and Tuesday evenings from 5pm, concluding with Rosary at 8pm on each evening. It is requested that it is family time only on Wednesday. Removal on Wednesday afternoon to St Fergals Church, Camross (R32VY79) for Requiem Mass at 3pm followed by burial in the adjoining cemetery. Requiem Mass will be live streamed here Joe, a beloved son of Tim and Marguerite, and much-loved brother to his adoring sisters Sarah, Ava and Marie, brother to Richard, John and Kieran, uncle to Ben and Evie. He will be sadly missed by his nannie Vera Bennett, and all his wonderful aunts, uncles and cousins, and Joes very wide circle of friends. May he rest in peace. The Government is to consider an increase in penalties for road offences committed over bank holiday weekends, a junior minister has said. The announcement comes after five people died in separate road incidents across the country over the weekend, including a hit-and-run in Limerick in which a 22-year-old student was killed. There has been an increased focus on road deaths in Ireland this summer following several tragic crashes involving young people and an increase in deaths compared to the same period last year. The Government has already committed to reduce default speed limits, with the maximum on rural and local roads to fall from 80km/h to 60km/h, and from 50km/h to 30km/h on urban, residential and other built-up areas. It has also committed to legislating to allow for multiple penalty points on a drivers licence if multiple offences were committed during one incident and for mandatory drug testing at the scene of a collision. Minister of State Jack Chambers said on Monday that the emergency legislation would also allow the minister for justice to vary penalty points for offences like not wearing a seatbelt or speeding during specific periods. He said that this would reflect the higher level of risk at bank holiday weekends. We know, for example, in the February, June and August bank holiday weekends of this year, we had 46 fatal or serious collisions, we had 10,000 people detected for speeding, and we had 340 arrests for drink-driving. The evidence when it comes to bank holiday weekends (has) been shown across multiple years to be at a higher risk to motorists and vulnerable road users, and thats why therell be a greater level of deterrence and enforcement with this reform as well. The minister, who has responsibility for international and road transport and logistics, said he has been working with Minister for Justice Helen McEntee and the Garda Commissioner Drew Harris on strengthening enforcement and visibility of road safety rules, admitting that enforcement was a problem. RSAs #CheckitFits Service is visiting counties Longford and Westmeath. The free #CiF service is a full-time, nationwide, expert service which aims to put your mind at ease that your childs car seat is safely and securely fitted.Visit https://t.co/uhW9xCRoFL for more details. pic.twitter.com/Mgq9aprD1j RSA Ireland (@RSAIreland) October 15, 2023 The Irish Times has reported that the number of breath tests carried out at Garda checkpoints and the number of gardai assigned to roads policing had fallen dramatically compared to pre-pandemic levels. There is an issue (with enforcement) and there is a need to strengthen enforcement, Mr Chambers said. Enforcement levels across a number of areas arent what they were and we need to reverse that. For reform to work, for all the measures to work which were trying to progress from a road safety perspective, there has to be that perception of enforcement. He added: Were working with the Road Safety Authority on strengthening the campaigns and the engagement with the public on the very serious trend that were seeing, and thats about engaging with the cohorts of drivers that are more likely to speed. Mr Chambers said he planned to bring the proposed legislation to Government this week, and enacted before Christmas. He added that it would be difficult to have the legislation enacted in time for the Christmas period. A grave digger will go on trial this week accused of murdering his former partner on the northside of Dublin six years ago. Martin Hayes, 34, with an address at Poddle Close, Crumlin, Dublin 12, was arraigned before the Central Criminal Court on Monday. Mr Hayes is charged with murdering mother-of-two Amadea McDermott (27) at her home in Rathvale Drive, Ayrfield, Coolock on or about July 20, 2017. When the registrar read the indictment to the accused man and asked him how he was pleading, he replied: "Not guilty". The prosecution case is being led by senior counsel Sean Gillane, while Ronan Munro SC is heading up the defence team. Addressing the jury panel, Mr Gillane said the events concerned evolved on July 19 into the early hours of July 20, 2017 at Ms McDermott's home. The lawyer said Ms McDermott and the accused were in a relationship with each other at the time. Mr Gillane said Ms McDermott has several sisters, whom the jury will hear from and that they would also hear from other witnesses. The garda witnesses in the case are attached to Coolock and Malahide Garda Stations, he added. Mr Munro said his client's family come from Kimmage in Dublin 12 and that they still live there. The barrister said that Mr Hayes was working as a grave digger in Mount Jerome cemetery in Harold's Cross at the time. Mr Justice Tony Hunt swore in a jury of eight men and four women to hear the trial, which will begin before Mr Justice Paul McDermott on Tuesday morning and is expected to last up to four weeks. 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. Bolster Community in Newry are hosting a special Silent Disco Spooktacular event, happening Wednesday 25th October, at The Banks 'Vault Nightclub' Newry. This is (first and foremost) an inclusive social event for adults with learning disabilities and neurodiverse conditions. The organisers say that the invite has been extended out far and wide to the relevant social and community groups in Newry, Mourne & Down, and they would love to extend the invite out to any groups in Co Louth who would like to come along. Support workers, carers, friends, family and supporters in general are also warmly welcome. And if youre reading this and you have a connection in any way, consider yourself invited too (18+ only!), say the Bolster Community. Most people (still young enough to enjoy them!) take big nights out for granted, but they arent as widely offered (or catered) to young adults of mixed abilities who at the end of the day, just want the same experiences that everyone wants the chance to be social, to connect with peers, get dressed up and have the craic on the dance floor! Jacinta Linden CEO of Bolster Community said, We just don't see enough social opportunities for young adults of mixed ability, many of our regulars feel uncomfortable attending a busy and noisy nightclub environment, a SILENT Disco will put inclusiveness centre stage in Newry and provide young people with the chance to combat loneliness and feel socially safe, in a space that everyone else takes for granted. We hope this will be the first of many! And with October also being Downs Syndrome Awareness Month, theres no better time to celebrate and help break down social barriers. Eamonn Connolly, Chair of the Bolster Board said, "Halloween is a social highlight for many young people and its so important that this fun is inclusive and for everyone. "Bolster is thrilled to be bringing the first ever inclusive silent disco of this scale to Newry which puts the needs of young adults of mixed abilities and neurodiverse conditions first and we are delighted to feature it as a key event in Newry BIDs Health in the City programme of events. "Please feel free to contact the team at Bolster if you are not sure if this is suitable for you or your family member." Councillor Oonagh Hanlon, Chairperson of Newry, Mourne & Down Policing and Community Safety Partnership said, Newry, Mourne and Down PCSP are committed to supporting opportunities for safe and inclusive events across our District and so we are delighted to be involved in this Silent Disco Spooktacular. T "his is part of the Health in the City initiative developed by Newry BID and promises to be a great event. Any proceeds from the SILENT DISCO Spooktacular will go to back into supporting Bolster Communitys vital programmes and services, so get your tickets at Eventbrite, grab your headphones and help make this a night to remember! To check out all the other events and activities happening across the city as part of Newry BIDs Health in the City month, just go to newry.com. Key event info: Senior Chinese legislator calls on G20 to offer greater support to developing countries Xinhua) 10:14, October 16, 2023 NEW DELHI, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- He Wei, vice chairman of China's National People's Congress Standing Committee, has urged greater support from the Group of 20 (G20) to developing countries. He led a delegation to the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit held here from Friday to Saturday, during which he delivered a keynote speech. The senior Chinese legislator said global development is facing unprecedented challenges, and G20, as the main forum for international economic cooperation, should promote more inclusive, more universal and more resilient global development, and provide greater support to developing countries. G20's legislature should strengthen communication and exchanges, adhere to the concept of cooperation that prioritizes development, solidarity and cooperation, and inclusiveness and openness, so as to inject new momentum into global development, He said. China is willing to work with all parties to actively implement the Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative and Global Civilization Initiative, and promote the building of a community of shared future for mankind. He also met separately with Duarte Pacheco, president of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, and Ashebiri Gayo, acting president of the Pan-African Parliament. (Web editor: Liang Jun) Central Asian nomads are renowned for their functional, fashionable and durable leathercraft. However, tonnes of unprocessed animal leather hide are thrown away in Mongolia. As the processing of leather is a trying and hazardous process, many entrepreneurs choose the more profitable and easier to procure cashmere. Every year, 7 million hides are semi-processed in Mongolia, 90 per cent of which are exported to Italy, Spain and Turkiye at low prices. The excess 7-8 million hides are added to the growing landfills in the country. Ms. Enkhnasan Tumen-Ulzii, a Mongolian leather professional, wanted to reduce the level of discarded animal hides. She founded her brand Maris in 2016, focusing on sustainability and green technology. Their adoption of an innovative vegetable tanning processing removed the requirement of many of the hazardous chemicals no longer needed for leather processing. The Maris brand, initially focusing primarily on leather handbags, rapidly transformed into Maris Trade LLC in 2019. However, as the company grew, so did its need to improve its product development, production, marketing and sales. With the company approaching a critical moment, their leadership sought professional assistance and enrolled in the EBRDs highly competitive bundled consultancy programme. This business advisory service diligently analysed Mariss activities and immediately took on the task of introducing the internationally recognised ISO 9001:2015 quality management system into company operations. Our errors appeared apparent with the help of the consulting. Despite Maris growing, we were still operating like a micro business with little strategic overlook and planning, Enkhnasan explains. With the major reforms supported by the consulting service, Maris increased its sales by revamping and improving their production. They drastically decreased waste by introducing an early detection system for faulty animal hide and began utilising smaller pieces of usable material through the production of new accessories such as mousepads, card holders and other utilities. The company bounced back and today it is trendy for youth in Mongolia to purchase these durable and fashionable leather accessories. I started Maris because I wished to reduce the leather waste in my community. With the help of the advisory service, we can now repurpose large amounts of raw leather that would previously have become waste, says Enkhnasan excitedly. The customers are happy too as we are now introducing new leather accessories that were not available in the domestic market, she adds. Compared to 2021, Mariss sales have increased by nearly 70 per cent. With the successful implementation of the management system, the company is now equipped to export its goods internationally and has even created a prototype rugby ball for their new Japanese partners. It is now set out to send out test products to European countries. Today, Maris is an inspiration to many leather producers in Mongolia. Not only does their business serve as an example for its industry peers, but small and medium businesses from all sectors have become eager to approach the EBRDs Advice for Small Businesses programme to improve their efficiency and business operations. Our website uses cookies We are always working to improve this website for our users. To do this, we use the anonymous data provided by cookies. Learn more about how we use cookies DAVE McLaughlin and his brother Philip are part of the family who owned and operated the Bandon Craft Centre. Dave moved away from Bandon to study and live in Dublin and when he returned he took over the premises and decided to refresh the brand and call it Grey Heron. It is a beautiful space with a low ceiling, large windows and carefully arranged lighting. The walls are adorned with art and one side of the shop is entirely dedicated to crafts; 80% of the crafts therein are sourced from Ireland, with half of those being from Cork. One of the walls was covered in beautiful photos and Dave explained: Each artist gets a month on the wall, and were booked out for the rest of the year which is great. Dave always wanted to add another dimension to the shop and thought coffee would be the perfect extension. Since the coffee has come in, the acoustics and atmosphere in the shop has completely changed, its lovely to hear the machine and customer chatter going on in the background. Tony Speight, who moved to Bandon in 2006, is the man behind the coffee set-up. Hes no longer a blow in! Dave said. After nearly 20 years, I think I can call myself a local now, Tony replied. Dave McLaughlin and Tony Speight discussing their partnership over a brew at The Grey Heron. Picture: Richard Gordon. Tony was an engineer in his past endeavours and spent two years in Australia before his arrival back to Ireland in 2006. In Melbourne, he went for a job as a barista in a cafe, thinking it would be easy with his bartending experience. He soon realised the swanky coffee scene in Melbourne was more complicated than he assumed. They said, nah, you cant do this, but we need help in the roastery and well take you there. At first, he was just bagging up retail bags of roasted beans, but his engineers mind was paying attention. When he returned to Ireland he decided to use what he learned in Australia and experimented with roasting beans. He went from dabbling with a frying pan, to adjusting the heat settings on a popcorn machine, to actually building his own machine. The actual mechanics involved with a roaster are relatively simple so it wasnt so difficult, said Tony. He sought advice from local roasting pioneers, such as Mark Kingston of Golden Bean, and eventually he was able to build his own roastery in Innishannon. He keeps his original-build roaster in there as a museum piece. At first, on his tiny homemade roaster, he was only roasting for friends as all he could roast was 250 grams at a time standard roasters are six kilos at a time. His first customer was Diana Dodog in 2014. Diana won the first series of Irelands MasterChef and with her winnings she opened her food truck on Coutmacsherry beach. She was a fan of Tonys coffee and asked if he could supply her and so it began to slowly build organically. Tony eventually left his safe, well paid, engineering job for the riskier endeavour of founding his own boutique-tyle coffee business, West Cork Coffee. Over the next few years, his supply list grew and he started dabbling with logos and all the other business accoutrements. His coffee can be found in places like the Good Day Deli and ONeill Coffee House. A beautiful setting for a quiet morning brew. Picture: Richard Gordon. Tony keeps all his coffees bespoke and individual for each cafe he supplies, which adds layers of complexity because it means every roast has to be unique. But he likes it and its quite rare to have a roaster thats committed to such a delivery of product. It can be complicated but once I have the coffee in, I can easily see which shop needs which as its quite easy to keep track of the stock in that sense. During lockdown, Dave and Tony were talking about the potential for a merger and decided to go for it. Dave wanted the added dimension injection and Tony wanted a storefront and showcase space as until then he had none, rather he would exhibit his coffee through word of mouth or various small events. They began the conversion and in November, 2021, the doors were open and the La Marzocco Linea PB, along with all the other high end equipment, began cranking out speciality coffee to the people of Bandon. During the quiet, isolated times of the pandemic, a lot of people bought espresso machines for their home kitchens which created a market for coffee classes and Tony began Sunday morning coffee seminars in the shop. They have been dabbling with the idea of various events also and in April, 2023, Leona Forde, Tonys wife, held her book launch in the space. Her childrens book, Milly McCarthy Is A Complete Disaster met the world to a night of wine and tapas in Grey Heron. An undoubtedly classy venue, as two slick operators joined forces and have become a must stop for any coffee lovers of Bandon. Find out more information at greyheronwestcork.ie and @westcorkcoffee. CORK-based actor, Matt Real never thought he would meet the love of his life while on a date with another girl. At just 16-years -old he had his pick of the ladies. However, there was only ever one woman who caught his life. Matt and Rosie Byrne have been together ever since. One engagement ring and two children later, the couple wouldnt have it any other way. Funnily enough, it was their love of film that brought them together in a most unconventional way. Matt explained. We met at the movies when I was 16 and she was 15. Rosie chipped in. He was there with a date. From there we became really close friends. One day he texted me asking me to be his girlfriend and we've been inseparable ever since. She remembers their date like it was yesterday. I think our first date was actually the cinema as well. I know we met at a showing of 'Hitman' and I honestly cannot remember what we went to see as our first date because we didn't watch a second of it. "I think for me, I saw my future with him from the moment he asked me out, I already knew I was in love with him at that point The feeling was mutual for Matt. We just got on so well, he said. We fit together. For example, we both grew up watching movies. Rosie wanted to grow up to write movies and I wanted to grow up to star in them and now we love creating films together. We come up with plots together. Rosie writes them, I act in them and we're very lucky to work with Bolt Productions and Darren Kelleher to bring them to life. It's the dream. From left Matthew Real with his sons Jackson Real and Charlie Real and their mother (his fiancee) Rosie Byrne. The couple feature in this week's How I Met My Partner = Rosie offered some sound advice for anyone looking to make a relationship work. I feel like everyone looks for love like they're looking for a house these days, always looking for cracks in the foundations and checking out the paint job. "Now, aside from actual red flags of course, I worry that people are missing out on a chance at real love and sharing a life with your best friend because they want someone made just for them. I believe when you meet the one, you learn and you grow together and sometimes it's hard and you get through it all together and that solid foundation of commitment to building a life where both of you are happy just makes all the sweet times so much sweeter. I can honestly say Matt is my best friend and it has been so amazing going through this crazy thing called life with my favourite person in the world right there by my side. Matt agreed adding: Finding the one is easy but no matter how much you love that person, no matter how attractive you find them, no matter how much fun ye have, no matter how well ye get on...the hard times will come and will happen. Its about both of you being open and willing to work...because it will be work, but it's worth it. 'LIKE 101 DALMATIONS' Laughter is also an important element of their relationship. He referred to one anecdote in particular. When we were in our late teens we moved into our first home together, a 100-year-old one-bedroom cottage in the arse end of nowhere, Matt said. Matt Real and Rosie Byrne sharing a special moment together. The couple feature in this week's How I Met My Partner Somehow we ended up with our own three dogs and two rescue dogs. One was pregnant and later we had her four puppies too. We had nine dogs, in that tiny little cottage and it was like 101 Dalmations, it was utter chaos. One of them ate our couch, the backseat of our car and our dry wall. But looking back it was so much fun and they all found forever homes so that was awesome. Rosie has been extremely supportive when it comes to Matts acting career. I remember one hairy situation we got ourselves into was early on his acting career. I was heavily pregnant with our first born and we went to Dublin for an audition. Well while he was in his audition I managed to get myself lost looking for a coffee shop. My sense of direction is appalling, and I mean appalling. "Anyway, my phone died, his phone died and our piece of crap car had no working way to charge them so we were incommunicado. I was wandering the streets, carrying my big belly and he was asking randomers if he could use their phone to call me, not realising my phone was dead too. I've never been so relieved to see his little head come around a corner than I was that day. It was like a movie". Rosie and Matt are looking forward to their wedding day in a few weeks time. We got engaged on Christmas Eve, and we're going to get married on Halloween this year. The pair love collaborating in work as much as they do in life. We've recently finished writing a short, which we are so passionate about, called 'If It Looks Like A Duck' which tells the story of two transgender girls and the violence they have to endure", Rosie said. "We also are working on another screenplay called 'Chicken Feet' which has a real Halloween feel to it and although it's not technically a comedy, it holds a lot of laughs. We hope to get those both into production in the near future. Matt teaches filmmaking workshops in schools all over Munster in association with Actors Vision. He's the director of the school's programme and really enjoys working with the kids and opening up their eyes to the possibility of actually carving out a career in film, you don't have to go to Hollywood to make movies. TRANSPORT Minister Eamon Ryan has been sharply criticised for allowing his Department to not act on a key report about the proposed Northern Ring Road for Cork city for a year. Sinn Fein TD for Cork North Central Thomas Gould slammed the Transport minister and Green Party leader following a response to a Dail question in which it was disclosed that Cork City Council had submitted a strategic assessment review (SAR) of its proposed route for approval before the end of 2021. The Department of Transport reverted with comments on the SAR and Cork City Council made a further SAR submission in October 2022, Michael Kennedy, Transport Infrastructure Irelands Head of Regulatory and Administration wrote in the response to Deputy Gould. The Departments decision on the updated SAR is awaited, he wrote in conclusion of his response to the Sinn Fein TDs question. The Cork North Central representative said he found it shocking that the Department had been sitting on the report for a year without responding. Despite traffic chaos every evening on the Northside, and the potential for lives to be lost without this road, the Department of Transport have sat on a Strategic Assessment Report by Cork City Council since last October, he said. A report submitted by TII to the Government before the 2023 Budget last year predicted that further delays to the Northern Ring Road could lead to up 18 fatalities and 252 people seriously injured. The Northern Ring Road has been promised for years. Government after government have failed to deliver and now we have a Minister who clearly does not prioritise this project. It is unacceptable that with three Cabinet Ministers from Cork, familiar with the need for the road, there has been no action for 12 months. Deputy Gould said that the need for the Northern Ring Road was clear but a number of other projects, such as BusConnects, depended on it for their successful implementation and suggested that the development of transport infrastructure on the north side wasnt keeping pace with project developments in the rest of the city. Without a credible bypass for people, traffic chaos will continue to grow, he said. I spoke with Mayfield residents recently and they emphasised the impact that this traffic has on their daily lives." Update: A rain warning for Cork set to come into effect tomorrow morning has been upgraded to a status orange warning. Met Eireann this afternoon updated its weather warnings, upgrading and extending the rain warning for Cork, which will now come into effect at 6am tomorrow and will remain in place for a 24-hour period. The national weather forecaster said there will be spells of heavy over the period and blustery east to southeast winds at times. Impacts of the weather conditions are likely to include localised flooding, poor visibility, difficult driving conditions and possible wave overtopping at high tide. Meanwhile, a status yellow rain warning will come into effect for counties Clare, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, Kilkenny and Wexford at 6am tomorrow. It is also set to remain for 24-hours. Earlier: A status yellow rain warning has been issued by Met Eireann for Cork and Kerry, with heavy rain giving rise to potential localised flooding and difficult travelling conditions. The warning will come into effect and 10am tomorrow and is expected to remain in place until midnight. Conditions today are due to remain mostly settled, with just some occasional patchy light rain or drizzle developing in the southwest. Status Yellow - Rain warning for Cork, Kerry for Tuesday Warning detailshttps://t.co/KLL68Nn8FQ pic.twitter.com/cM4PyXKnCJ Met Eireann (@MetEireann) October 15, 2023 It will be cool, with highest afternoon temperatures reaching about 10 to 13 degrees, in a light to moderate east to southeast wind. Cloud overnight will thicken and the rain will spread to most parts of Munster by morning, according to the national forecaster. There will be light to moderate easterly winds at first but they will freshen overnight. Meanwhile, temperatures will dip to lows of between four and 12 degrees in Munster tonight. Tomorrow will be wet and breezy. Rain will be heavy and thundery at times and localised flooding is possible. Highest temperatures will remain around 10 to 14 degrees, in a fresh to strong and gusty east to southeast wind. The national outlook for the remainder of the week says conditions will become milder but unsettled with rain and showers every day. The Gaeltacht region of Muscrai in mid Cork is to have a Garda sergeant once again, more than four years after the last sergeant retired. A campaign by local groups and Cork North West Fianna Fail TD, Aindrias Moynihan, has resulted in an appointment being made to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of former sergeant, Con Lynch, in March 2019. One of the reasons for the lengthy delay in appointing a sergeant to the Gaeltacht Mhuscrai station was the lack of suitable candidates with sufficient fluency in Irish to serve in a Gaeltacht community. Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has committed to ensuring that Garda members serving in Gaeltacht postings would have fluent Irish. Ive been raising this in the Dail and at Joint Policing Committee meetings continuously since Sergeant Lynch retired, said the locally based TD, Aindrias Moynihan. It was very important that a sergeant with Irish was appointed. The new sergeant is due to take up the post next week, according to Deputy Moynihan, and is in addition to two other Gardai stationed in Baile Mhuirne. This station will also have responsibility for policing in Beal Athan Ghaorthaidh, which is approximately 16 kilometres from Baile Mhuirne. In a response from the Garda Presss Office, a spokesman said that it was not their policy to comment on appointments for ranks lower than superintendent, but that a sergeant had been appointed to Baile Mhuirne. A VOLUNTEER with the National Council for the Blind of Ireland was before Cork District Court on Monday charged with stealing 1,650 from the charity at their Carrigaline base. Fifty-one-year-old Jane Harrington appeared before the court on the single charge of theft. A summary of the allegations in the case were outlined by Sergeant John Kelleher to see if Judge Joanne Carroll would accept jurisdiction for the case at district court level. The judge did accept jurisdiction after hearing the summary. Defence solicitor, Michael Quinlan, said the defence was seeking a disclosure order and the judge acceded to that application. Copies of the prosecution statements will be sent to the defence. Judge Carroll adjourned the case until November 20 so that the defence could consider if there would be a plea of guilty or if the case was to be contested. The charge states that on June 22 at NCBI on Main Street, Carrigaline, County Cork, she entered as a trespasser and committed the arrestable offence of theft of 1,650 cash. On Thursday, June 22 at approximately 8.30pm, National Council for the Blind of Ireland, Carrigaline, volunteer, Jane Harrington of Lower Kilmoney Road, Carrigaline, entered the property without consent three hours after the shop was closed. It is alleged that Jane Harrington was observed on CCTV entering the charity shop and accessing the back room where cash was left. It is alleged that the defendant was seen leaving the shop carrying a bag full of items and returns moments later with an empty bag. A Nua-ddition could be in store for MacCurtain St as the operators behind popular eatery Nua Asador have set their sights on establishing a second location in Cork city. Craft butcher Tom Durcan and accomplished chef Victor Franca have lodged a planning application under the name of Tom Durcan Meats Limited with Cork City Council seeking permission for what is described as a bespoke take-away/restaurant at the ground floor of 18 MacCurtain St. The application, if green lit, would see the change of use from a taxi base, formerly Amer Cabs and Cara Cabs, to a second location for Nua Asador outside of its Marina Market stall. Speaking to The Echo, Mr Durcan said the idea is to duplicate the Marina Market business which he said is going very well since it was established approximately two years ago. Tom Durcan. Picture: Denis Minihane. I supply the best meat in Cork and Victor is one of the better chefs in Cork so the two of us said wed stick our heads together and do something, he said, adding that Nua has already won Blas na hEireann awards for its food. Mr Durcan said Nuas Marina Market stall would remain open if the planning application for a second location at MacCurtain St is approved. The busy city centre street is, he believes, the ideal location to open a second Nua outlet. I think MacCurtain St is up and coming. Its the new Washington St, if you like, for a slightly older clientele Id say. Washington St is college students while this [MacCurtain St] is people dining out in the evening, Mr Durcan, who operates Tom Durcan Meats in the English Market, said. Chef Victor Franca. Picture: Larry Cummins The cover letter submitted with the planning application contends that Nua would be a distinctive addition to the street. The concept centres around cooking around the fire using seasonal and local ingredients. The business idea is to bring a unique food experience to MacCurtain Street in Cork city. The name epitomises the concept of the restaurant - 'Nua', Irish for new: references the aim to bring something novel to the city's food scene. Nua also means naked in Portuguese, which reflects the chef/co-owner Victor's Brazilian heritage, as well as alluding to the method of cooking over naked flames created by charcoal and wood, and also the commitment to using locally sourced, seasonal ingredients, it states. It asserts that customers are provided with much more than a quick meal - they will be taken on a culinary journey which will open their mind to new flavours, leaving them eager for more. A decision on the planning application for the proposed MacCurtain St outlet is due in late November. FLYING isnt everyones cup of tea. Many people have a fear of being sealed in a tin can flying at 30,000 feet at speeds of several hundred miles per hour. Thats completely understandable, and even if they conquer their fear of flying, there are other hazards to contend with. The changing air pressure and oxygen levels in an aeroplane at altitude can do things to the body that wont agree with everyone. Ringing in the ears, dehydration, jet lag, and motion sickness are common issues. Being in a confined space with others can also expose you to germs from those around you who might be under the weather. A greater risk comes from deep vein thrombosis (DVT) from sitting in the one place for too long. Its described by the HSE as a blood clot in a vein, usually the leg, but it can occur in the veins of the calf, thigh or pelvis and can be dangerous. They can break loose, travel through your bloodstream, and get stuck in your lungs. These things are largely preventable though. Wearing a face mask and using hand sanitiser will help to protect against germs. Drinking water will prevent dehydration, while simply sucking on a sweet can often sort the problem with the ringing ears. Wearing flight socks and keeping the legs moving helps to combat DVT. So, not huge issues after all. In fact, there is nothing to fear about flying, according to the experts, who tell us it is still one of the safest modes of transport. According to simpleflying.com, every year, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) releases its global safety report. Its findings showed that, in 2022, the aviation industry saw a 9.8% decrease in accidents compared to 2020. Interestingly, these numbers have fallen despite an 11% increase in total scheduled flights. The ICAO attributes the improvements in safety to the safety commitments shared across the industry. In fact, the trend across many years of aviation is that, today, it is safer than ever to fly. There are numerous ingredients that go together to make air travel the safe environment it is now. Flight crew, air traffic controllers and dispatchers all work together to ensure a safe flight so you can be confident youre in the hands of highly trained, certified individuals. Thats good to know and very reassuring, but how safe are we in the airport itself before we even board the plane? Travelling by air isnt without its difficulties and passengers can often find themselves hanging around departure areas for longer than they anticipated. Flights can be delayed for a variety of reasons so its not unusual to have large numbers congregating in these spaces. I found myself wondering recently about how well airports are prepared for the evacuation of passengers from the terminal building in the event of a catastrophic event. An event that would necessitate their speedy and safe removal from the area. I have a reason for asking this. I was originally meant to travel to Cyprus on September 2, but cancelled the flights after my wife broke her collarbone. As soon as she improved, I rebooked for September 27. Unfortunately for me, that was the same date Storm Agnes decided to visit. I arrived in Cork Airport in plenty of time for my 4.50pm Ryanair flight to London Gatwick and was delighted to see the flight was still on schedule. The storm was petering out by then, so it all looked very promising, and we were called for boarding on time. I boarded the plane, put my knapsack in the overhead locker and took my seat. Happy days. However, just as I was searching for the buckle of my seat belt, the captain made an announcement. He told us he had some bad news. Unfortunately, this plane would not now be going to London after all, so we were asked to disembark. There was no explanation given. Bummer. We were all herded back the way we came to the departure lounge, but we couldnt access the terminal building. Passengers who arrived at the building first were coming back down the stairs as the rest of us were trying to go up because there was no way out up there. Confusion reigned, and the poor lady with the high vis jacket and the walkie talkie didnt seem to be any wiser than the rest of us. Eventually we were guided through a different route, back to the departure gate. A large queue of passengers had formed where we had been earlier, and were preparing to board our flight. We watched jealously as they took our plane and our seats and headed for Lanzarote. In the meantime, more flights were being cancelled and delayed. Some passengers were collected by bus and transferred to Shannon, some gave up and went home, and others held tough, hoping for better news. There was a lot of confusion and there didnt seem to be any figure of authority to provide accurate information. My flight was delayed a few more times and it got to the stage where I was going to miss my connecting flight in Gatwick, so I threw in the towel and called my son to come and collect me. To get out of the airport, a few of us went back through duty free and returned to the security area, but the security personnel werent too sure what to do with us. They eventually allowed us out, but now we were in the lanes outside security, walking against the passengers heading in the opposite direction. It was far from ideal. Progress was slow and that got me wondering how a large volume of passengers would be evacuated from that part of the terminal if the need arose? Hopefully theres a plan. THE much-anticipated Junior Cert results day is approaching and is awaited by anxious and eager students and their parents here in Cork and around the country. This momentous day will see more than 71,000 students receive their results. Results will be issued to students schools on Wednesday, October 18, and students can also access their results online from 4pm on that date. This online service is not intended to replace the results service and advice provided by schools at results issue time, according to the State Examinations Commission (SEC). The 2023 issue date for Junior Cycle results is earlier than last year, when students received their results in late November, but remains much later than in previous years. This was due to examiner shortages. Exams began on June 7, 2023, in the new Junior cycle system with more than 71,0000 sitting their Junior cert exams. On the day of the results, this Wednesday, students will receive the JCPA (Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement), the grades being; distinction, higher merit, merit, achieved , partially achieved, not graded. There is always discussion and debate around the Junior Cert. exam, its relevance and importance. Its fair to say we see the effect of not having a Junior Cert, system now with some of the current Leaving Cert cohort 2024. Some of these students have never sat a state exam as their Junior Cert was cancelled due to Covid 19. This has led to feelings of worry and the unknown regarding doing a state exam. I have met many parents and students at careerhub.ie who have aligned lack of motivation and poor progress around study over not sitting the state exam at Junior Cert level. Parents of Leaving Cert students 2024 who didnt get the opportunity to sit a Junior Cert exam due to the Covid 19 pandemic and cancellation of exams in 2020 and 2021 have recently and regularly been expressing concern over the lack of study knowledge, study protocol and subject knowledge surrounding their son or daughter and they worry this will go against them sitting the Leaving Cert exam. Junior Certificate a vital platform Not only does the Junior Cer exams allow students to experience a state exam and the formalities around it but the exam has immense value in progressing into Leaving Cert and choosing careers. As a Career Guidance Counsellor and Career advisor at www.careerhub.ie I meet students on a daily basis who are met with challenges of choosing subjects, subjects which may be integral to gaining entry into their desired course via the CAO process. It is a big decision period in their education and one that parents are eager to support their son or daughter with. There is undoubtable value in the Junior Certificate process. The Junior Cert. exam results are one way for a student to ascertain if the subject is going to be viable or suitable for them or not. If the student achieves a good grade and enjoys the subject, it could prove a good subject choice for his or her Leaving Certificate. It gives them a foundation to see if they will achieve minimum requirements for certain courses, for example primary teaching requires a H4 in Irish. Therefore, the student can make a plan for Irish if they find that its a weak point after their Junior Cert. results. Engineering requires a high grade in Maths, choosing a science course will require you to have a lab science. Some universities will require a third language, so the results can inform your decisions. The level of the subject a student chooses at Junior Cert level is important as a student who chooses the ordinary level at Junior cert. will find it difficult to to take that subject at a higher level for the Leaving Cert. This has to be considered if the student needs high points for a CAO course as a H1 will reward 100 CAO points at higher level whereas at ordinary level a top mark will give 56 points. Be realistic but ensure you think long term in relation to your career and courses. Students can assess how well they did in subjects, this is one measure of choosing the best suited subjects for them at Leaving Cert level. They can add this as a layer into a multifaceted approach in choosing their subject for Leaving Cert., including analysing the Leaving Cert curriculum and exploring course entry requirements. Exam technique is a vital part of sitting your Junior Cert exam. Timing, exam paper layout, atmosphere, no familiar teachers instead invigilators and expected conduct all are an integral learning curve for students. Students get to sit in an exam environment, they get to engage in study technique, planning and preparation. This is invaluable experience for when their Leaving Certificate comes around, preparation has been engaged in and expectations have been learnt already. There is no denying that the stakes are higher with the Leaving Cert. However, having sat a state exam for the Junior Cert, having experienced the most basic as the exam booklet, the atmosphere all makes the Leaving Certificate exams less daunting, the unknown now becomes the practiced. Many students looking to study things like medicine, pharmacy, dentistry are applying to the Uk and Europe including Poland, Budapest and the UK and their EUNICAS or UCAS application in the UK needs to be submitted before their Leaving Cert results are available. Predicted grades and possibly other exam grades which may take into account Junior Cert results need to be submitted as part of their application. Furthermore, for those students who are disappointed by their results or felt that they could have done better it gives them time to investigate why and implement a better approach to the Leaving Cert exam. The Junior Cert exam is an integral part of a students education journey and it provides a solid foundation going into Leaving Cert. and furthermore their career. About the author: Michelle Flynn is a Guidance Counsellor and Career Advisor specialising in career guidance for students and their parents and career change at www.careerhub.ie or follow @careerhub.ie on Instagram or Facebook By Grainne Ni Aodha, PA The Tanaiste has said everything is being done to help Irish citizens in Gaza ahead of a planned incursion by the Israeli military. Micheal Martin said government officials have been in touch with authorities about its dual-citizens in the walled enclave, and with the Defence Forces chief of staff in relation to Irish peacekeepers in Lebanon. The Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs said diplomatic efforts are being made to prevent the spread of tensions to Lebanon and de-escalate the situation. He called on the protection of civilians to be prioritised and for a distinction to be drawn between Palestinians and Hamas militants. Were very conscious of what could happen so were monitoring the situation on an ongoing basis, he said. Speaking from Galway, he said he has always been concerned about bombs being dropped on built-up areas, saying there is no doubt innocent people are killed when an area like Gaza is targeted. He also said the Government has been in touch with the families of Irish people in Gaza during the fraught situation. He said: Weve been working with our dual citizens, Irish citizens in Gaza, over the last number of days. Tanaiste Micheal Martin (PA) Our embassy in Israel has been in touch. Weve been anxious to work through the authorities there and were going to continue to do that. We have been working with the families concerned and with the citizens. He added: We have been fairly careful in terms of our public commentary on this because this is a fraught situation. So we would prefer to work with the authorities on the ground to see can we do everything we can to support our citizens, but its clearly challenging because of the nature of whats going on there. So just be assured that were doing everything we possibly can and will do everything we possibly can to assist those citizens. He said he did not wish to understate the impact of Hamass attack on the Israeli people but said upholding humanitarian law matters. We want corridors open, we want to work with countries right now work with Israel, Egypt, Jordan and others to get humanitarian corridors open so we can get the food supplies, water into Gaza, he said. It is dire, shocking, what the people of Gaza are going through right now and we have to distinguish Palestinians and Gazans from Hamas. Its a very, very difficult situation but one has to, in my view, always put the protection of civilians as the number one priority. Founded in 2005 as an Ohio-based environmental newspaper, EcoWatch is a digital platform dedicated to publishing quality, science-based content on environmental issues, causes, and solutions. A boat and a ferry boat stranded on the banks of the Rio Negro as smoke haze from fires in the Amazon rainforest blankets the area in Manaus, Brazil on Oct. 13, 2023. MICHAEL DANTAS / AFP via Getty Images A major port in Manaus, Brazil has hit its lowest water level since records began in 1902 as a long drought continues in the region. The new low surpassed the last lowest recording from 2010. Manaus, Brazil is a connecting point for the Rio Negro and the Amazon River. As of Oct. 16, the Rio Negro level was 13.59 meters. When records began in 1902, the level was at 16.78 meters, and its lowest point since then was 13.63 meters, recorded on Oct. 24, 2010, according to the port website. An ongoing drought may cause further declines, as this new record low was hit after the river lost 10 centimeters from Oct. 15 to Oct. 16. We have gone three months without rain here in our community, Pedro Mendonca, who lives near Manaus in Santa Helena do Ingles, told Reuters. It is much hotter than past droughts. The drought is expected to continue at least through December, according to Brazils Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Reuters reported. El Nino conditions could be making the drought worse. Aside from the depleting river level, the extreme weather has been causing many significant problems in the region. Over 100 Amazon river dolphins were found dead in early October, and although the exact cause is under investigation, experts suspect the drought and extreme heat could be connected to the deaths. As of Oct. 13, Manaus had some of the worst air quality globally because of wildfires. The Associated Press reported that Brazils Amazonas state recorded over 2,700 wildfires in just the first 11 days of the month. October is typically considered the start of rainy season, which lasts through April. It has been very painful both physically and emotionally to wake up with the city covered in smoke, experience extreme temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), and follow the news that the river waters are disappearing, Monica Vasconcelos, a climate perception researcher at Amazonas State University, told The Associated Press. Reuters reported that the current ongoing drought has affected at least 481,000 people, threatening drinking water and access to food for communities around Manaus. Food, water, medications, and other supplies are typically transported throughout the region by the river. The depleted levels have also made locals concerned about the water quality. Luciana Valentin, who lives in Santa Helena do Ingles, told Reuters, Our children are getting diarrhea, vomiting, and often having fever because of the water. The low water levels could ultimately impact the millions of people that depend on the water in the Amazon basin. CNN reported that there are emergencies declared in over 20 cities, including Manaus. Vietnam's TH Group inaugurates milk cow farm in Russia's Moscow oblast The first phase a milk cow farm controlled by Vietnam's TH Group was inaugurated on October 13 in Volokolamsk district, Russia's Moscow oblast. The farm with a scale of 6,000 milk cows is part of the TH Group's high-tech livestock and milk processing complex project. During the inauguration ceremony, Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien described the high-yield dairy farm project as a bright spot in cooperation with Russia. To create a wave of bilateral investments through such models, the minister proposed that Russia faciliates the project's implementation and promptly remove obstacles. Governor of Moscow Oblast Andrey Vorobyev told media that the farm has a strong staff with young agriculture-savvy engineers and breeders. He said he believes the farm will increase in scale in the following stages. The building of the dairy farm is divided into two phases. As of August 1, the farm's herd reached nearly 2,800 dairy cows, including close to 1,200 cows producing milk with a daily yield of 40 litres per cow, said to be the highest in Russia. With the inauguration of the first phase, TH Group completed the construction and put into operation more than 20 facilities and systems. In the first seven months of 2023, the farm's milk production was nearly 10,000 tonnes. Under an agreement with the Moscow oblast administration, the farm received a total of 10,517ha of land for cultivation and livestock raising. Currently, TH Group has been handed over nearly 8,000ha of land, of which more than 5,000ha are under cultivation. The farm has a total investment of US$190 million with a total herd of 24,000 cows, including 12,000 dairy types. Under the project, two TH Group farms in Volokolamsk and Shatura districts are expected to supply 131 million tonnes of milk a year. - VNA Indonesia and China expected to maintain strong buying of Canadian wheat in 2023-24 Canada's top two wheat customers are expected to be major buyers again in 2023-24. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is forecasting China will import 11 million tonnes of the commodity from all suppliers. That would be a drop from last year's massive 13.28 million tonne program but well above the five-year average of 6.5. million tonnes prior to last year. Indonesia is expected to buy 10 million tonnes of wheat, up from 9.57 million tonnes last year and in line with the 2017-21 average of 10.7 million tonnes. China and Indonesia accounted for one-quarter of Canada's bulk wheat exports in 2022-23, with China buying 2.97 million tonnes and Indonesia chipping in another 2.14 million tonnes. Both countries often vie with one another for top spot on Canada's customer list, and that pattern is expected to continue this year. "We want to be a big part of both of those markets," said Leif Carlson, director of market intelligence and trade with Cereals Canada. Canada's Canada Western Red Spring quality is a good match with China's domestic wheat and with imported product from France and Australia. "China is a long-term, consistent buyer that does value Canadian quality," said Carlson. The USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) cited data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBS) indicating that the country's summer wheat production fell 0.9% in 2023-24, the first decline in seven years due to heavy pre-harvest rains in key growing regions. The NBS said wheat acres were up 0.4%, but yields were down 1.3%. "However, a renowned agricultural firm's sample survey estimated summer wheat output (was) down by 10%," said the FAS. It estimated 22 million tonnes of the country's 136.5 million tonnes of wheat sprouted. As a result, FAS is forecasting 37 million tonnes of feed and residual use, up from 31 million tonnes last year. China purchased 9.4 million tonnes of wheat between January and August of 2023. The country is expected to exceed its annual tariff rate quota of 9.636 million tonnes for the first time. Meanwhile, Export Development Canada said Indonesia should be a high-priority market for Canadian exporters going forward. The country's economy is expected to grow 5-6% per year over the long term. Carlson said Canada's agriculture industry is well aware of Indonesia's potential. "In the cereals sector, we have experienced some of that growth and opportunity in the Indonesian market that Export Development has written about," he said. He anticipates another year of strong demand for Canadian wheat from Indonesia in 2023-24, especially with Australia expecting a much smaller crop. Canada will be visiting both Indonesia and China as part of its new crop missions to tell millers about the 2023 crop. There are also incoming and outgoing technical missions to ensure millers in both countries know how to get the best value out of Canadian wheat. - The Western Producer Mayor confident Hagonoy, Davao del Sur, could become Philippines' leading chicken producer in 2024 The town of Hagonoy in Davao del Sur, the Philippines, could become a top chicken producer in the country by next year at least according to Hagonoy Mayor Jesus Dureza Jr. This came after Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. led on October 12 the inauguration of the World-Class Controlled-Climate Magnolia Poultry Farm the first to be completed out of the 12 planned poultry megafarm projects across the Philippines in Hagonoy. "Once it will be fully operational by next year, Hagonoy will be the biggest producer of chicken in the entire Philippines," Dureza said in an interview. A project of San Miguel Foods, Inc. (SMFI), the mega farm anticipates the production of 80 million birds or about 200 million kilos in live weight per farm to be harvested annually. "Once there is a big business, it also entails job generation. They will be needing around 7,500 employees," Dureza added. He added he requested that around 80% of the workforce will be sourced from their municipality. "The managerial level will be from their company. The laborers will be coming here," he said. The state-of-the-art poultry farm is poised to revolutionise the industry with its advanced facilities and technologies. It features environmental controls, biosecurity measures, modernised feeding and watering systems, efficient waste management and a modern farm layout and house design, among others. According to Dureza, SMFI also commits to protecting the environment once the project is operational. In his speech, San Miguel Corporation president and chief executive officer Ramon Ang said the project reinforces the company's support for the Marcos administration in ensuring a food-secure Philippines. "Our goal is to provide every Filipino with access to high-quality food at affordable prices. Compared to beef, pork, and even fish, chicken is the most cost-effective option and an excellent source of protein," he said. Ang said the project is just the start of San Miguel's endeavor, as it is set to build 11 more similar facilities across the Philippines to secure the needs of the growing population. Using modern facilities and strict bio-security protocols, Ang said San Miguel raises its chickens in clean, natural conditions without chemicals or antibiotics, ensuring the highest quality for the consumers. He also assured that the technology at the farm will sustainably produce more food environmentally, economically and socially. - PNA The China Education Expo 2012 has opened in Beijing. More than 500 universities from 38 countries and regions are attending the event to attract more Chinese talent. As China boasts the highest number of students studying overseas, the market is becoming more mature and diverse. Xu Fang has worked at an overseas studies intermediary agency since 2003. She visits the China Education Expo every year to look for new programs and courses from different countries for Chinese students. She says that the market has changed a lot in recent years. Xu says, The US, UK, Canada and Australia are traditional destinations for Chinese students, and more countries have joined this booming market. No matter what their family background, interests or career plans, students can always find the right place to go and the right course to study. Now in its thirteenth year, the Expo has seen a rapid increase in the number of Chinese students going abroad, from 118,500 students in 2005 to 339,700 in 2011, accounting for 14 percent of international students studying overseas. A few years ago, business, finance and computer science were among the most popular majors for Chinese students. Now more are choosing a school and course according to their interest and future plans rather than just by ranking and popularity. Professor Michael Marsonet from university of Genoa, says, Usually they choose topics like engineering, economics, business and foreign languages. But they are choosing more widely we have Chinese students in Philosophy, Literature, culture, Diplomacy and Law.16-year-old Liu Shiqi has a clear idea what he wants. Liu Shiqi, a high school student, says, I want to study engineering in Germany after high school. I have been to the country through an exchange program and spoke to friends who are studying this major in college. I have a passion for it.Besides more international communication, the change is also down to technical developments. Liu Jing, assistant of Education section of British embassy, says, Students dont follow the trend like before. The internet helps a lot students can find out more about schools from their websites and communicate with schools directly, so their decisions are based on more solid considerations of their interests, career and job market.Studying abroad is a growing trend for many Chinese students. With the help from the internet and events like this expo, students are getting more rational when they decide where to go and what to study in the future. And the choices for them become more diverse as the market grows Lin Nan / CCTV China Education Expo opens in Beijingadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline China Monday reiterated its attitude toward the Syrian conflict as Syrian opposition groups struck a deal to form a new coalition, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Monday. At a regular press briefing in response to a question regarding the coalition, Hong said China believed the relevant parties in Syria should implement former UN secretary-general Kofi Annans six-point peace plan. He said they should also implement relevant Security Council resolutions, and the communique of the Geneva foreign ministers meeting of the Action Group for Syria, in order to end the gunfire and violence. China hoped all parties in Syria would support mediation efforts by the UNs special envoy for the conflict Lakhdar Brahimi and begin a political transition at an early date, the spokesman said. We hope relevant parties moves can help achieve those goals mentioned above, Hong added. Syrias opposition groups struck a deal Sunday to form a coalition called Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces to negotiate with President Bashar al-Assad, according to reports. Xinhua China reiterates stance on Syrian conflictadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline China is a fast growing market for wine producers in Bordeaux. In 2010, China became the first export market for Bordeaux wines, with 333 million euros of turnover. But counterfeits are increasing and the French producers are struggling to protect their brands. The Chinese wine market offers tremendous opportunities, in China sales of French wines grew by 134% since 2005, but the palaces of Chinese consumers were not yet aware of the great French wines. The Chinese are more attracted by the color of the label, the producer by the container, said Jean Baptiste Thial Bordenave, a lawyer who defends the marks of the Board of Medoc wines in China. This is a boon to the business of counterfeiting and Bordeaux chateaux are the first victims. There are local Chateau Lafite, or Chateau Laffite and even Chatelet Latour. But Chinese consumers are not alert to the differences. Wine is essentially a luxury item that links to the social success, the gastronomic pleasure is not the priority. Some are willing to pay astronomical sums for bottles of Bordeaux filled with sugar water, dyes or artificial flavors. But there are also very high quality copies that reuse the bottles of vintage wines purchased from the Internet. In recent years, speculation on the brand of French wine is growing in China. Many French producers who failed to protect their brand in China find themselves forced to buy the market opportunity. One out of three, when a producer wants to export its Bordeaux wine in China, the brand is already filed, said Jean Baptiste Thial Bordenave. This trademark registration fraud is growing tremendously over the past two years and fine wines are not the only ones concerned. Some specialize in this business will make up more than 120 brands of fine wines French, wishing to benefit from the boom in the Chinese market. While the Chinese still drink a liter of wine per year per person, against an average of 56 liters per person per year in France, Chinese consumption has doubled in five years and is expected to grow 20% by 2014, according to the International Wine and Spirit Research (IWSR). The Middle Kingdom, now the seventh largest producer of wine, will increase production by 77% by 2014, says the ISWR. The schools of enology and lounges are multiplying. The Chinese can produce quality wine for themselves, acknowledges Dutheillet Frederique de Lamothe, director of the Alliance of Crus Bourgeois du Medoc (Link). In the meantime, Bordeaux estates benefit from the windfall. When Brands Meet Counterfeits: Bordeaux Wine in Chinaadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline The independent trader of Bordeaux wines, DIVA, and Shanghai Sugar Cigarette & Wine (SSCW), a subsidiary of Chinas Bright Food signed an agreement for an alliance to accelerate the International Development of DIVA, especially in China. This alliance is based on introducing capital from SSCW to DIVA, SSCW will take 70% of the shares of DIVA Bordeaux. Pierre Beuchet (Founder and President) and Jean-Pierre Rousseau (CEO) will remain significant shareholders at 30%. Jean-Pierre Rousseau will retain his position as head of the company. He will also be the President for a term of minimum 5 years. Representative of SSCW will be appointed as Chairman in the Supervisory Board of the company. Through this partnership, DIVA will strengthen its international expansion, particularly in China, relying on the strength of the distribution of Bright Food that has several hundred stores in the region. It will also strengthen the delivery of DIVA covering a wide range of classified growths and diversify its customer portfolio. Since its inception in 1979, Diva has become an intermediary between the great wines of Bordeaux and the leading international distributors. It is one of the wine trading pioneers in Asia, where it has been active for over 20 years in the main markets. Bright Food to buy 70% stake of Bordeaux wine exporter Divaadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline TEHRAN,rampart casino buffet hours Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Wednesday Tehran and Washington were exchanging messages indirectly and constantly on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal, with the latest ones communicated between the two sides 72 hours ago. The United States is behaving "hypocritically" toward Iran in the nuclear negotiations, Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted Amir-Abdollahian as saying on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting. Although Washington has, through some other countries' foreign ministers, sent messages to Tehran that it is in a hurry to resume the nuclear talks, the U.S. special envoy for Iran Robert Malley has "hypocritically" said in an interview that the resumption of the negotiations is not among the U.S. priorities, Amir-Abdollahian noted. Iran insists on the removal of the U.S. sanctions, said the Iranian top diplomat, adding "we did not negotiate merely for the sake of having negotiated, but for achieving results." Turning to Europe's bid to adopt an anti-Tehran resolution during Wednesday's meeting of the Board of Directors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Amir-Abdollahian said if Europeans seek to continue the "unconstructive path," they will receive Iran's reciprocal, yet effective, response. Iran signed the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with world powers in July 2015, agreeing to put some curbs on its nuclear program in return for the removal of the sanctions on the country. The United States, however, pulled out of the deal in 2018 and reimposed its sanctions on Iran, prompting the latter to reduce some of its nuclear commitments under the JCPOA. The talks on the JCPOA's revival began in April 2021 in Vienna. No breakthrough was achieved after the latest round of talks in early August. Speaking to reporters in Paris on Monday, Malley ruled out any push for the stalled talks to revive JCPOA, saying Washington would continue its policy of pressure and sanctions against Tehran. He blamed Iran for the nuclear talks' failure to bear fruit. "If these negotiations are not happening, it's because of Iran's position and everything that has happened since (September)," said Malley. Librarians from China and other Asian countries have agreed on strengthening collaboration and promoting resource sharing in the digital era. More than 80 chief librarians and representatives from Asian countries and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions signed the Declaration of Kunming at the Asian Library Curator Forum, which kicked off Tuesday in Kunming, capital of southwest Chinas Yunnan Province. The curators proposed establishing a long-term cooperative relationship among libraries to share resources, enhance personnel exchange and boost the quality of library services. The declaration foresees a collaborative bibliography database and an international training center. Libraries are an important channel for cultural exchange and communication because it is an open platform providing abundant information and cultural services, said Zhou Heping, director of the National Library of China. Zhou said the exchanges and development of Asian cultures are boosted by exchanges and cooperations among libraries. Ngian Lek Choh, deputy chief executive of the National Library Board of Singapore, said Singapore is cooperating with the Chinese cities of Shanghai and Suzhou in personnel exchanges and data sharing. Since many libraries have great resources, the integration of their data has great significance to the development of all Asian libraries, he said. Xinhua Asian libraries agree on resource shareadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline Leaders of BRICS countries hailed the outcome of their first-day summit on Tuesday, when four major agreements were signed in key economic areas. The BRICS, which groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, is holding its sixth summit on Tuesday and Wednesday in Brazils northeastern coastal city of Fortaleza. The first day of the two-day summit saw the signing of such documents as agreements on establishing the New Development Bank (NDB) and the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA), the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation among BRICS Export Credit and Guarantees Agencies, and the Cooperation Agreement on Innovation within the BRICS Interbank Cooperation Mechanism. South African President Jacob Zuma said during his speech at the summit that the four agreements marked BRICS countries strengthened cooperation in financial and economic domains, which would produce tangible results and impact on the lives of their people. BRICS countries have started a journey of forging strategic cooperation through embarking jointly on tangible projects with key deliverables that will impact positively on their growth and development, Zuma added. Meanwhile, the South African leader said a proposed BRICS-Africa Council could add an additional dimension to augmenting trade and investment between BRICS members and countries on the African continent. Zuma said he was looking forward to working with his BRICS colleagues more closely as his country was implementing the National Development Plan, in the spirit of the BRICS partnership for development and progress. Russian President Vladimir Putin highlighted the setting up of the NDB and CRA, saying that they would help not only BRICS countries themselves, but also many other developing countries. Putin said the two financial institutions would help developing countries reduce the negative impact of economic fluctuation while implementing their economic policies more effectively. The Russian president proposed closer contacts in areas such energy safety, mining, culture and education. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that BRICS countries have their own advantages and are complementary to each other, describing the BRICS bloc as a unique and crucial platform for the five emerging economies. The group has great influence not only over the five member countries, but also the rest of the world, especially the developing countries, since it addresses common concerns faced by the world, such as poverty, food security, and climate change, Modi said. He called on the BRICS countries to learn from each other while promoting exchanges of different levels and increasing people-to-people contacts, especially between the youth. Xinhua BRICS leaders hail outcome of first-day summit after 4 major deals signedadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline Authorities in eastern China have suspended construction at a petrochemical complex after days of protests by residents who fear that it will pollute the region. Municipal officials in Ningbo city said Sunday a planned expansion of the complex is qq judi slot gala crypto binanceon hold pending a scientific review of its environmental impact. The petrochemical facility in Ningbos coastal Zhenhai district is owned by a subsidiary of Sinopec, a major Chinese oil refiner. Witnesses said thousands of Ningbo residents joined street protests against the project in the days leading to Sundays climb down by the local government. Activists said riot police fired tear gas to disperse the crowds, while authorities said some protesters overturned vehicles and assaulted officers. Officials said Ningbos mayor and its Communist Party chief met with residents Saturday night to listen to their complaints about the petrochemical complex. It is not clear if the municipal government will ultimately cancel the project or revive it when public pressure dissipates. Ningbo suspends local industrial project after protestsadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline A Chinese envoy on Friday urged Israel and Palestine to immediately achieve a ceasefire,caesars casino online vegas avoid any military ground operations and other actions that may lead to further escalation in the Gaza Strip. Liu Jieyi, Chinas permanent representative to the United Nations, made the appeal at an emergency meeting of the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East. In spite of repeated calls from the international community, Israel has continued with its large scale aerial bombardments against Gaza and has launched a ground invasion into Gaza leading to heavy civilian causalities including those of women and children, said Liu, expressing Chinas deep concern and sadness at this development. China condemns any abuse of force, whatever the excuse is, any action that causes heavy causalities among innocent civilians is unacceptable, he said. Instead of solving problems, force will only lead to more bloodshed and destruction and greater hatred. Liu also voiced Chinas disappointment that the humanitarian truce did not lead to a sustained ceasefire. We urge parties concerned to immediately cease hostilities, withdraw their ground troops from Gaza, completely lift the blockade against Gaza and give access to UN and other international humanitarian aid agencies so as to ease the misery of the local population, Liu stressed. Reiterating the issue of Palestine remains the core of the Middle East issue, the Chinese diplomat pointed out that the re- emergence of conflict in Gaza highlights the importance and urgency of a solution of the Palestinian issue in the current situation. As the dominant force, Israel must take proactive actions and create necessary conditions for the re-launch of peace talks, Liu said, calling on the international community to redouble its efforts to push for meaningful initiatives on both sides so as to re-establish mutual trust, resume dialogue as soon as possible and achieve substantial progress. The imperative at this stage is that Israeli and Palestinian parties must respond positively to the international communitys ceasefire initiative and good offices, immediately achieve a ceasefire and avoid any military ground operations, rocket firings and other actions that may lead to further escalation and tension, he noted. Liu also expressed Chinas firm support to Palestines cause of restoration of their legitimate national rights. We support the Palestinian peoples efforts to establish an independent state of Palestine that enjoys full sovereignty, with East Jerusalem as its capital and based on the 1967 border, he said. We support the admission of Palestine into the UN and other international organizations. China calls for immediate ceasefire in Gazaadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline Chinese students already constitute the largest single source of overseas students in the UK,online betting india with 155,000 students currently in the UK worth an estimated 5 billion annually. There are also now some 9,000 young British people studying and interning in China, with numbers up 60% since 2013. Visiting the Chinese city of Wuhan today, which has the largest student population of any city in the world, the Prime Minister will announce details of a new approach covering pre-school through to post-grad education. It includes: a new commitment to extend the UK-China Maths Teacher Exchange primary school programme for a further two years to 2020. This will enable an additional 140 primary teachers in England to benefit from further training in China. We will also expand the exchange programme to include up to 45 teachers in English secondary schools. The pioneering scheme involves English teachers visiting China for two weeks and Chinese teachers visiting England for two weeks, enabling schools to experience world-class maths teaching in English classrooms. The exchange programme also supports our work to take the total number of English schools benefitting from the East-Asian style maths Teaching for Mastery programme to 11,000 by 2023 an agreement to facilitate joint training of pre-school staff in the UK and China improved UK-China information-sharing on vocational education through more study exchanges the launch of a new English is GREAT campaign, promoting proficiency in English for more people in China. There are over 300 million people learning English in China. The campaign will support individuals in improving their language proficiency as a means to achieve their own professional and personal ambitions and to provide significant commercial opportunities for the UK by opening up a market worth over $2 billion a year. This will echo the UK-Mandarin Excellence Programme, launched in 2016 and which aims to have 5000 secondary school pupils in the UK fluent in Mandarin by 2020 The Prime Minister will also welcome a major new package of commercial deliverables in the education sector reinforcing the UKs position as a global leader in this field. Education deals totalling more than 550m will be announced as part of the visit, creating over 800 jobs in the UK. They include a 75m export win for the UKs biggest childcare provider Busy Bees, who will open 20 new nurseries across China along with their Chinese stakeholder, Oriental Cambridge Education Group. The Prime Minister said: The close ties between the UK and China are reflected in our relationship on education. More than 150,000 Chinese students study at the UKs world-leading institutions and make a significant contribution to our academic life. The agreements we have signed today will build on that and enable more children and more young people than ever to share their ideas about our two great nations. And by teaching children to speak our languages we will ensure that our Golden Era of co-operation will endure for generations to come. Education Secretary Damian Hinds said: Standards are rising in our schools, with 1.9 million more children in good or outstanding schools than in 2010 and nine out of ten schools given this rating at their last inspection. We want to build on this success, to ensure all pupils can access a world-class education that inspires them to make the most of their lives, no matter where they live or their background. Mandarin is the most spoken language in the world, so this partnership will play a crucial role in teaching pupils the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in an increasingly global economy. By opening up these opportunities to more young people, we can help to build a Britain that is fit for the future. UK PM to set out ambitious new approach to UK-China educationadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks respectively with the Arab League (AL) Secretary General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry in Beijing on Sunday. Aboul-Gheit and Shoukry have come to attend the eighth ministerial meeting of China-Arab States Cooperation Forum (CASCF) scheduled for July 10. When meeting with Aboul-Gheit,Toshi Video Club Wang called on China and the Arab states to deepen strategic cooperation, continue to support each other on issues concerning respective core interests, and play their due roles in promoting peace and stability in the region and the world. The two sides should facilitate synergy of development strategies, Wang said, stressing that China and the Arab states can become stable cooperation partners through jointly constructing the Belt and Road. China hopes its rapid development will provide opportunities to the Arab states in their bid to achieve economic diversification and industrialization development, Wang said. Aboul-Gheit said the Arab states are willing to boost cooperation with China under the Belt and Road Initiative, adding he hoped the upcoming eighth ministerial meeting of CASCF will achieve positive outcomes. During the strategic dialogue between China and Egypts foreign ministries, Wang called on the two sides to maintain the momentum of high level exchanges, and give full play to the two heads of states role in guiding the development of bilateral ties. Saying China hopes to speed up alignment of development strategies with Egypt, Wang stressed China welcomes Egypt to participate in the construction of the Belt and Road, and deepen cooperation in various fields including production capacity, trade, security and people-to-people exchanges. The two sides should push forward coordination in regional and international affairs and safeguard the common interests of developing countries, Wang said. Hailing Chinas long-term efforts in promoting peace and stability in the Middle East and the development of Africa, Shoukry expressed his countrys willingness to further cooperate with China within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, CASCF and Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. Xinhua Chinese State Councilor holds talks with AL chief, Egyptian FMadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline President Xi Jinping on Saturday met with visiting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to discuss bilateral ties and issues of common concern. Xi first recalled Kerrys last visit to China as chairman of the U.S. Senate foreign relations committee in May 2009. Xi described Kerry as a veteran U.S. statesman, adding that he appreciates Kerrys commitment to developing U.S.-China ties. Kerry is the second U.S. Cabinet member Xi has met since becoming president in March, following U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, who visited Beijing in March. These meetings have reflected the great importance both China and the United States have placed on bilateral ties, Xi said. Xi said China-U.S. relations are in a new historic period, referring to the inception of the new governments of both countries. Xi recalled a telephone discussion with U.S. President Barack Obama on the day Xi was elected, saying they reaffirmed their commitment to developing new China-U.S. relations. Xi called on both countries to take a strategic and long-term view of China-U.S. relations, carry out dialogue and cooperation in a positive attitude, deal with their differences in the spirit of mutual respect and substantiate their partnership. We should blaze a trail for a new type of relations between major powers that features equality, mutual trust, tolerance, mutual learning, cooperation and common prosperity, Xi said. Xi highlighted the importance of high-level communications, saying he would like to maintain contact with President Obama and calling for the two countries to make the best of China-U.S. strategic and economic dialogues and high-level consultations on people-to-people exchanges. On the economic front, Xi called for more cooperation in new areas and positive measures that can address mutual concerns and discourage the politicization of economic issues. Xi said the two countries should observe the three China-U.S. joint communiques, respect each others core interests, properly tackle differences and protect overall relations from major intervention. Xi urged the two countries to interact positively in the Asia-Pacific region, step up communication and coordination on regional and international issues and safeguard regional and world peace, stability and prosperity. Xi said he expects Kerrys visit, his first to China since taking office in February, will maintain momentum for the development of bilateral relations. This is obviously a critical time with some very challenging issues, Kerry told Xi. Issues regarding the Korean peninsula, the challenge of Iran and nuclear weapons, Syria and the Middle East, and economies around the world are in need of a boost. Kerry said the United States would like to work with China to follow the requests of the presidents of both countries, increase high-level visits and jointly tackle challenges. Premier Li Keqiang and Foreign Minister Wang Yi also spoke with Kerry during his visit. China is the second leg of Kerrys four-day east Asia tour, which has also taken him to the Republic of Korea. He will fly to Japan on Sunday. Xinhua Chinese president meets U.S. secretary of stateadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline Fifteen people are dead and more than 60 others are injured after an eight-vehicle pileup up on an icy expressway in central Chinas Hunan Province on Friday morning. Thedr slot casino free spins accident occurred at around 4:40 a.m. as buses, sedan cars and a minivan crashed together on a viaduct in the Changde City section of the expressway from Changde to Zhangjiajie in Hunan, according to the local expressway administration. Police said 12 people were killed in the pileup, while three others died after falling off the viaduct, which is dozens of meters above the ground, after they tried to escape in darkness. Reporters at the site said most of the victims were people travelling home for the upcoming Spring Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year, that falls on Sunday. Traffic police said the pileup started with a car-minivan collision but later involved more vehicles as they presumably failed to make emergency stops on the ice-coated roads. It happened when we were asleep when we made it out of the vehicle, it was already a mangled mess, recalled Chen Weihua, who was slightly hurt in the accident. Chen was in a minivan with her husband, who also survived the crash with injuries, as they were returning home in Hunans Taoyuan County for the holiday. There was a strong smell of gasoline, and the driver urged us to hurry on as the vehicle might explode. We were very frightened, she said. All the injured have been hospitalized and doctors said seven are in serious or critical conditions. As the most important occasion for family reunions, the Spring Festival is expected to see a record 3.41 billion trips made during this years travel rush, a testing moment for the countrys rail and road systems. Speeding, overloading and bad driving habits compounded by poor road conditions, especially in some mountainous regions, often lead to a rash of road accidents around this time of year. From Friday to Sunday last week, six major accidents claimed more than 60 lives on roads across China. Xinhua 15 dead after China expressway pileupadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline China Southern Airlines will launch direct services on July 5 between the city of Wuhan in central Chinas Hubei Province, and Thailands Bangkok. Three round-trip flights will take off every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, according to a Thursday statement from the airlines Hubei branch. The Wuhan-Bangkok flight will take off from Wuhan at 11:40 p.m. and arrive in Bangkok at 3:10 a.m. local time. The Bangkok-Wuhan flight will take off from Bangkok at 4:10 p.m. local time and arrive in Wuhan at 7:40 a.m. China Southern Airlines also plans to start offering five round-trip weekly flights between Wuhan and Singapore to accomodate booming outbound tourism during the summer season. Xinhua China Southern Airlines to open Wuhan-Bangkok direct flights on July 5added by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline CCB's booth is online casino cash bonusseen during an expo in Beijing in September 2021. [Photo provided to China Daily] China Construction Bank announced it has upgraded its mobile lending service application specifically targeting small businesses into a comprehensive service platform, which connects government agencies and service providers focusing on niche market segments, to better serve the real economy. The Beijing-based large State-owned commercial lender released version 3.0 of the application, called "Hui Dong Ni" on Tuesday. The upgraded application will build public infrastructure for financial inclusion. With the help of the app, CCB will make greater contributions to the growth of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises while promoting high-quality economic development, said Cui Yong, executive vice-president of the bank. Financial inclusion means individuals and businesses have access to useful and affordable financial products and services that meet their needs in a responsible and sustainable way, according to the World Bank. Launched in September 2018, the CCB app specifically targeting micro and small enterprises, self-employed individuals and farmers has gathered 8.5 million certified businesses at present. Accumulated loans issued via the app amounted to nearly 5 trillion yuan ($709.84 billion), and the current balance of loans is 1.19 trillion yuan, said Guo Chaojing, leader of the app update project. Version 3.0 of the app has introduced new lending service functions, such as allowing existing borrowers to get a higher credit limit and automatically recommending loan products to clients based on a more precise understanding of their needs. Apart from lending services, CCB will provide wealth data visualization, income-expenditure analysis and customized wealth management services to small businesses. It will also cooperate with government agencies and other service providers to jointly build an ecosystem that will satisfy the needs of small businesses in many areas, including express delivery, financial management and legal consultation, Guo said. The app has been upgraded from a financing platform to a comprehensive service platform. By building a platform-based ecosystem through open and shared development and win-win cooperation, CCB will allow more participants to better serve small businesses and enable such businesses to sustain long-term growth. The updated app provides new ideas for the development of digital financial inclusion, said Yin Youping, deputy director of the financial consumer protection bureau at the People's Bank of China. The PBOC, China's central bank, is guiding financial institutions to deepen the development of digital financial inclusion, which has become an effective way to help small businesses overcome financing difficulties, Yin said. As of the end of September, the balance of loans to micro and small enterprises that have a total credit line of up to 10 million yuan per borrower reached 23.16 trillion yuan in China, up 24.6 percent year-on-year. Authorities in east Chinas Shanghai said on Sunday they are investigating a local official after he was reported to own a large villa,stacked fire 7s free play a property that would usually be out of the financial reach of such an individual. A recent Internet post claimed Lu owned a large house on 2,000 square meters of land. An initial probe showed the main building of Lu Ming, deputy head of the Pudong New District government, had a floor area of 247 square meters with a 63-square-meter affiliated one-story house, said a Shanghai discipline inspection source. Lus family built the house in their own dwelling place, said the source, adding authorities were continuing the investigation. The surrounding walls of the house and land have been dismantled after the exposure. Several officials have been targeted with the exposure of their property scandals by whistle-blowers in China since last year as the ruling party vows to continue fighting corruption. In early February, a police officer was dismissed by authorities as he reportedly owned 192 houses with double national identity cards. Xinhua Shanghai official probed over propertyadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline Vice Premier Wang Qishan on Monday met with Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt,winstar casino photos expecting more economic cooperation between the two countries. President Hu Jintaos visit to Denmark this June furthered the healthy development of the China-Denmark comprehensive strategic partnership, Wang said, while Thorning-Schmidt agreed that Hus visit injected new vitality into the development of bilateral relations. Economic cooperation is the ballast stone for China-Denmark relations, Wang said, adding that the two economies are highly complementary and the prospects for bilateral cooperation are broad. China is in a stage of rapid industrialization and urbanization, and it is gradually realizing huge market potential while Denmark is implementing economic reform and emerging market strategy, according to Wang. The vice premier said that he hopes the two sides will continue to strengthen cooperation in fields including trade, investment, finance, tourism, culture, agriculture, energy saving, environmental protection and sustainable development. Thorning-Schmidt said that she hopes the two sides will continue to strengthen high-level exchanges, promote people-to-people communication and deepen comprehensive mutually beneficial cooperation. The Danish government firmly supports the one-China policy, said the prime minister. Wang and Thorning-Schmidt also met with some entrepreneurs from Denmark after their meeting. Xinhua Vice Premier Wang Qishan urges economic cooperation with Denmarkadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline Xi Jinping,bandar55 slots freedom constitution top leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the CPC Central Military Commission, on Monday urged the countrys armed forces to be absolutely loyal to the Party, sharpen fighting capacity and abide by disciplines. While joining a plenary meeting of a delegation from the Peoples Liberation Army at the ongoing national legislative session, Xi called on forces personnel to bring the countrys defense and army building to new high. Xi said soldiers must be absolutely loyal to the Party, and maintain their purity and reliability. They should be at full military readiness to ensure victories in any wars, he urged. Meanwhile, the armed forces must be ruled by law to maintain the good reputation they have earned over the decades, according to the leader. Xi said the forces should uphold frugality and oppose extravagance and waste, so as to make full use of military spending. According to a government budget report submitted to the national legislature last Tuesday, China plans to raise its central government defense budget by 10.7 percent to 720.2 billion yuan (114.3 billion U.S. dollars) in 2013. Xi said economic development and defense construction should be coordinated so as to achieve integration of a wealthy nation and strong armed forces. Xinhua Xi urges armed forces loyalty, disciplineadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline According to a report by Capgemini SA and Bank of America Corp,blackout bingo app download the number of Chinese citizens with more than one million dollars available for investment rose to 534,000 last year, 12 percent more than in 2009. China climbed to the fourth place in the list of countries by number of billionaires, only behind the United States, Japan and Germany. The number of Chinese with at least 1,000 million of free availability also grew significantly during 2010, jumping from 64 to 115, according to the annual statistics of the worlds richest people published by Forbes magazine. In regional terms, the Asia-Pacific surpassed Europe in the rich-to-population ratio for the first time last year. The fortune of 3.3 million residents in Asia-Pacific region grew 12.1 percent in 2010 to the 10.8 billion dollars, exceeding the 10.2 billion hold by 3.1 million Europeans, according to the World Fortune Report 2011. The stock market stock returns and the rise in the value of real estate were the main drivers of growth, said John Thiel, a senior executive of Bank of America. Globally, the three richest men remain the Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim (74,000 million), followed by the owner of Microsoft, Bill Gates (56,000 million) and investor Warren Buffet (50,000 million dollars), according to Forbes. The Number of Chinese Millionaires is Increasingadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline An initial investigation showed that the liquid ammonia leak that killed 15 in Shanghai on Saturday was caused by a detached pipe cap, local authorities said Sunday. A cap on a pipe carrying liquid ammonia fell off, releasing the chemical at around 10:50 a.m. Saturday, which resulted in the death of 15 and left 25 others injured, sources with the Shanghai Municipality Information Office said. All 25 injured are receiving hospital treatment and in stable condition, according to the Shanghai Health and Family Planning Commission. Baoshan District environmental authorities have sent environmental monitoring vehicles to test the impact of the leak. Initial test results show that odors reported early in the morning by nearby residents were unrelated to the leak, and no pollution was detected as of Sunday, according to an official statement from the Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau. The liquid ammonia was used in food refrigeration units at Shanghai Wengs Cold Storage Industrial Co., Ltd., which is engaged in the import,export, storage, processing and sale of seafood. Liquid ammonia is a colorless liquid frequently used in industrial sterilization and refrigeration processes. The corrosive and volatile chemical may cause suffocation after heavy inhalation. Further investigation into the accident is under way. Xinhua Shanghai liquid ammonia leak caused by detached pipe capadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline South University of Science and Technology of China (SUSTC), the countrys first autonomous university, has issued diplomas to two graduates, marking an achievement in the countrys higher education reform. Wang Jiale, 17, and He Minghao, 22, who were enrolled in March 2011, passed their dissertation defense and graduated from the school one year early on Wednesday, receiving diplomas issued by the university. In China, diplomas are issued by the Ministry of Education (MOE). The SUSTC is hailed as a pioneer of the countrys higher education reform by building Chinas first professor-led and bureaucracy-free university and issuing its own diplomas. It started enrolling students without approval from the MOE in 2011. It got the nod from the MOE in April 2012 as the first autonomous university in the country. Wang will further his studies at the University of Oxford in October and He will choose to study either at University College London or the University of Bristol in September. The two graduates entering world-class universities has proven the success of our educational reform, said Zhu Qingshi, SUSTC president and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It also means our diploma has received international recognition, he added. It is typical for the worlds top universities to issue their own diplomas, said Zhu. The university has established a council to oversee the operation of the institution, challenging Chinas system of having appointed officials run universities, which is often blamed for stifling the academic atmosphere. Forty-five students were enrolled in March 2011 as the first cohort of students at the university. About 35 students will graduate next year, as four have quit school and several others are expected to delay their graduation, according to Zhu. The government of Shenzhen, Chinas pioneering city for opening-up and reform in coastal Guangdong Province, has sponsored the universitys founding with the hopes that the institute can fuel the citys economic development with its academic strength. Xinhua Chinas first autonomous university issues diplomasadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline China on Wednesday called on the new Libyan government to rally its people to promote political transition in order to achieve national stability and prosperity. Thepokerstars online casino no deposit codes statement came as Wang Min, Chinas deputy permanent representative to the UN, addressed an open UN Security Council meeting where Fatou Bensouda, chief of the International Criminal Court (ICC), made her briefing on the situation in Libya. The establishment of the new Libyan government signifies a new step of the political transition process in the country, said Wang. China welcomes this. The formulation of the new Libyan government have paved ways for the elections next year, he said. It is also of positive significance for the efforts of the Libyan people to achieve national stability, proceed with national reconciliation and undertake economic reconstruction. Ali Zaidan, a former diplomat, was elected as Libyan prime minister in mid-October after a vote in the national congress of Libya and was tasked with forming his cabinet in 15 days. The congress agreed last Wednesday on the formation of the government of 30 ministers proposed by Zaidan. China hopes the Libyan new government to rally the entire nation, actively promote the political transitional process based on transition roadmap and timetable with a view to achieving long- term stability and prosperity at an early date, Wang said, reiterating the international community should continue to assist the Libyan new government and its people in such efforts. Wang also said Chinas position on ICC remains unchanged. We hope that the relevant actions taken by the ICC in accordance with the Security Councils resolutions could play a constructive role in promoting Libyas transition and reconstruction process, Wang added. Xinhua China urges new Libyan government to promote political transitionadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline This slot planet 10photo taken on Nov 12, 2022 shows the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center in Bangkok, Thailand. The 29th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting will be held in Bangkok, Thailand, on Nov 18-19. [Photo/Xinhua] China is the largest trading partner of Thailand, both in terms of exports and imports. And before the outbreak of COVID-19, Chinese nationals comprised the largest tourist group (about 10 million) visiting Thailand every year. However, both Thailand and China face an increasingly uncertain and unstable world today. Hence, the two countries need to use bilateral relations to create new opportunities to promote green recovery in the post-pandemic period. Given Thailand's strategic geographical location in Southeast Asia and its status as the region's second-largest economy, it can play an important role in linking Thailand's new development model of Bio-Circular-Green Economy (or the BCG model) with China's Belt and Road Initiative. All things considered, the linkage between Thailand's BCG model and China's Belt and Road Initiative will create new opportunities for China and Thailand in the following aspects. First, it can help build an ideal atmosphere for the two countries to conduct mutually beneficial cooperation and jointly promote economic development. China's policies and plans for industrial transformation and innovation-driven growth with international cooperation through Belt and Road projects have created an ideal environment for Thailand and China to deepen mutually beneficial economic cooperation. On the other hand, the BCG model promotes more advanced agricultural technology and clean technology, and since China has expertise in them, Chinese investors may be drawn to Thailand to expand their business. Therefore, the two countries should deepen and expand practical cooperation in trade and investment, increase the use of green technology, as well as increase cooperation in eco-friendly industries, modern agriculture, high-end manufacturing, new energy and other fields. Importantly, the Thai government expects technology transfers from Chinese companies to improve the production efficiency of Thai enterprises, enhance their capacity building, and increase the use of green technology to boost the income of local workers following the development concept of not leaving anyone behind. Second, there is great potential for China to invest in Thailand and use it as a production base in Southeast Asia. Thailand's location in the heart of the ASEAN market makes it attractive as a trade and production hub and a sub-port for Chinese exports to countries such as Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam and other member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. As the second-largest ASEAN economy which enjoys geographical advantage, Thailand is well-positioned to serve as a bridge between ASEAN and China and to enhance ASEAN's centrality in regional cooperation and work together to upgrade ASEAN-China cooperation and push forward Lancang-Mekong cooperation, in order to produce more fruitful results. It's time therefore to synergize Thailand's BCG model and China's Belt and Road Initiative. Especially because Chinese businesses have acquired the necessary expertise to provide advanced and clean technology, and build high-speed railways, state-of-the-art airports and smart cities at competitive prices. Third, as both Thailand and China are developing countries with similar development tasks of securing balanced economic and social development and avoiding the middle-income trap, they should deepen cooperation to promote innovations and enhance mutually beneficial cooperation in socioeconomic fields. The two sides should also share their governance experiences with each other while choosing the development path that suits their respective national conditions. Thailand's BCG model applies the "sufficiency economy philosophy" proposed by late King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The philosophy is aimed at empowering local economies, increasing GDP growth, bolstering local economies while being eco-friendly. China on its part pursues coordinated, green, open, and shared development, and is committed to developing a modern, innovation-driven economy. As such, Thailand and China should increase interactions and coordination on development, so as to learn from and complement each other. And fourth, the two sides should use the linkage between the BCG model and Belt and Road Initiative to expand cooperation in regional and international matters and take the lead in promoting eco-friendly cooperation in the region to build a shared future. Thailand favors expanding cooperation with China to jointly promote cooperation in global development, in a bid to realize the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Sino-Thai economic ties, political mutual trust and friendly cooperation, as well as people-to-people and cultural exchanges can help link the BCG model and the Belt and Road Initiative. The author is an associate professor in the Faculty of Economics, Thammasat University, and former director of the Thai-Chinese Strategic Research Center of the National Research Council of Thailand. The views don't necessarily reflect those of China Daily. BITA Isle of Man raise over 6500 for charity Some of the cyclists crossing the finish line at Europa Point in Gibraltar after their 800-mile cycle ride for Launchpad A group of cyclists, including the Chair of The British Irish Trading Alliance (BITA) Isle of Man Brendon Kenny, have raised over 6,500 for Lauchpad by cycling 800 miles in 13 days. The group of eight cycled the Rock2Rock which is from Rock in Cornwall to the southernmost point on the rock of Gibraltar. The group of friends and work colleagues including serving military, veterans and civilians arrived at Europa Point in Gibraltar last Friday, having achieved their aim of raising awareness of homeless veterans and funds for veterans charity Launchpad. Brendon Kenny, BITA Isle of Man Chair, said: I calculated we cycled 880 miles in total with a climb of 34,750ft which is over the height of Everest or the equivalent of climbing 17 Snaefell's in 13 days. "BITA Isle of Man supported Hero's on the Water, Rock to Recovery and Manx Legion at our lunch a couple of years ago, it was this which prompted me to take on this challenge to support and highlight veterans who, for whatever reason, need the help which Launchpad provides. Founded in 2013, Launchpad provides vital accommodation and targeted support to Armed Forces veterans experiencing homelessness and those who have struggled with transitioning from the military into civilian life. You can still support the cyclists and the work of Launchpad via a fundraising page set up at Just Giving. The US Dollar to Yen exchange rate (USD/JPY) edged toward October highs, however, the foreign exchange analysts at CIBC expect the Japanese Yen to pull back over the next two quarters of 2023. At the time of writing, USD/JPY traded at 149.4818 Spot USD/JPY inched toward the October high of 150.16 on Monday morning, even as traders monitored statements from Bank of Japan officials for more information on when they would likely intervene in the forex markets. Year to date, the US dollar has surged by more than 14% against the yen, with the rally gaining steam from April. Jeremy Stretch, the Chief International Strategist at CIBC, believes the USD/JPY remains a function of 10-year UST-JGB spreads. Consequently, as US 10-year yields breached 400bps, we also saw USD/JPY probe above the 150 mark. The UST-JGB spread is the yield difference between the 10-year US Treasury bonds and the Japanese Government bonds with an identical maturity. The Federal Reserve has raised the Fed Funds rate eleven times since March 2022, driving the 10-year US Treasury Note yield from 1.55% in March 2022 to 4.627% as of 13th October. On the other hand, the Bank of Japan, earlier this month, reiterated that it intends to maintain the short and long-term policy rates at current levels and retain the cap on the 10-year JGB yield at around zero. As of 13th October, the yield on the 10-year JGB was 0.76%, up one basis point from the previous session. According to CIBC, the USD/JPY impetus comes despite persistent intervention warnings from Japanese officials. Despite repeated references regarding watching markets with urgency, allied to standing ready to act against excessive moves, the market has proved to be largely unreactive. The unexpected uptrend in the key Tankan business survey, the large manufacturers index advanced to +9, supports a graduated recovery narrative. Earlier this month, the Bank of Japans Tankan survey showed business sentiment improved in the third quarter, indicating an economic revival in the worlds third-largest economy. While the big non-manufacturers sentiment rose to 23 in Q3 from 23 in Q2, the highest since November 1991, the big manufacturers confidence index rose from 6 in the second quarter to 9 in the September quarter. Meanwhile, the large manufacturers Outlook rose from 9 in the third quarter to 10 in Q4. However, the latest BoJ Summary of Opinions (for the September meeting) details that the Bank has split into two camps. Those advocating status quo (including Governor Ueda) detail that it remains appropriate to continue with easing patiently and that there is no need for additional YCC tweak with yields stable. Those advocating an early adjustment referenced coming closer to achieving the price target, adding that there is a good chance 2024 wage gains to top this years, CIBC said. Chart Analysis Spot USD/JPY is in a primary uptrend, with the near-term resistance at the 3rd October high of 150.16, a close above which the pair could surge to the June 1990 highs of 152.50-154.50, the top end of the long-term bullish channel. On the downside, the support zone is in the 147.30-148.20 range, and if it is taken out, the pair could slide to 144.00 very quickly. Strategy - Go long on the USD/JPY pair if it closes above 150.16 or breaks 150.60. Place a stop loss at 149.80 and exit as prices approach 152.50. However, if the pair breaks the lower support zone, short at 146.80, with a stop loss at 147.60 for a profit target of 144.50. Markets hate uncertainty so the apparent conclusive elections in New Zealand and Poland are having a positive effect. The New Zealand Dollar is leading on Monday following the National partys success. Pro-EU Donald Tusk is likely to win in Poland and this has given the Euro a minor boost. The conflict in Israel continues to dominate media headlines and remains a key driver in the markets. Fridays session saw oil surge higher by and around 6%, gold higher by over 3% and the VIX volatility index higher 20% as Israel launched a ground offensive. Traders were understandably reluctant to hold over the weekend. While the news flow since Fridays close has hardly been positive, the negatives have perhaps not been as bad as feared and risk markets are slightly higher on Monday. The FTSE is higher by 0.4%, oil slightly lower and dollar pairs are positive. Relative strength in currencies is being shown by the Kiwi which is 0.6% higher against the USD following early results of the general election. The Euro is also showing mild relative strength following the Polish election with EURGBP gaining 0.2%. The News Zealand Dollar is higher on Monday as the general election appears to have produced a clear winner in the National Party. However, a coalition will likely need to be formed to command a majority, which means the National Party could need to reach out to other parties. As Westpac note: Comments from the centre-right leaders suggest constructive coalition negotiations. National and ACT appear interested in dealing with NZ First, and NZ First have indicated an interest in helping National/ACT although the details will matter. Kiwi strength is driven more by the apparent conclusiveness of the result rather than any policy implications of the likely winners. Markets hate uncertainty. As Westpac continue: We dont think there are significant short term macro implications of the election outcome. This suggests Mondays move may fade again later in the week as the New Zealand has been on the weaker side. Octobers performance is second worst in the G7. While Poland has its own currency and central bank, its elections are a minor positive for the Euro as EU-friendly Donal Tusk has proclaimed victory. The exit polls suggested that the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party received the most votes, but that Tusks Civic Coalition together with two other opposition parties should have a route to a parliamentary majority, wrote The Guardian on Monday. Full results may only be available on Tuesday, but so far it looks like markets like the news and EURGBP is higher by around 0.2%. Despite Mondays small boost to the Euro, EURUSD remains under pressure as it clings on to the 1.052 level, less than 1% away from fresh 2023 lows. Last weeks communication from the Fed underlined it will almost certainly hold rates steady in the November meeting which is a USD negative. However, ECB members also suggested they are content with rates at current levels. It seems more and more likely both banks are finished hiking. The next major catalyst is likely to hinger on when the cutting cycles will begin. With data in the US still very strong as highlighted by recent readings in key releases such as NFP, CPI and PPI, the higher for longer stance of the Fed looks justified and could continue for much of 2024. The EU, on the other hand, is teetering on recession and showing major signs of weakness. This means the ECB will likely cut sooner rather than later, and this prospect will weigh on the Euro. A Bureau of Land Management office in Billings, Montana. The office also includes the Billings Office of the Custer-Gallatin National Forest (Photo by Darrell Ehrlick of the Daily Montana) In a rural area of Michigans Thumb region, a small state park preserves a collection of sandstone carvings that date back many hundreds of years. One of the carvings, a figure with a bow and arrow, symbolizes ancestors shooting their knowledge ahead seven generations. Some might say that arrow landed in 2019. That year, descendants of those stone carvers, members of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, signed an agreement with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to co-manage Sanilac Petroglyphs Historic State Park. The tribes knowledge is once again steering stewardship of the landscape where the carvings were discovered. The partnership has helped state managers better understand the petroglyphs meanings (they formerly referred to the archer figure as the hunter). The tribe and state have produced interpretive signs with phrases in the Anishinabemowin language, and theyve used laser measuring techniques to create digital models of the carvings. Theyre now collaborating to build a ceremonial teaching lodge. We basically make all decisions together now, said Sandra Clark, director of the Michigan History Center, a division of the state agency. The more we learn about our partners, their culture and their beliefs, the more that gets filtered into how we talk about this. For tribal leaders, the agreement is the next chapter in a legacy that dates back millennia and a step toward restoring the sites role as an important regional gathering place. We are very proud to be stewards of the land for all this time, said Willie Johnson, director of the Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways, a museum and cultural center overseen by the tribe. People from all over the Great Lakes region come to be part of it; its a true sacred site where people gather to learn about the history of the Anishinabe people. The collaboration in Michigan is part of a growing movement to restore tribes role in managing the lands and waters within their ancestral territories. Proponents note that many of Americas most cherished public lands were established only after the displacement of the Indigenous people who called them home. Were seeing the expansion of these collaborative relationships, said Monte Mills, director of the Native American Law Center at the University of Washington. Tribal nations are having engagement, influence and authority in the way these public lands are being managed. Such collaborations, known as co-management or co-stewardship, range from pledges to consult with tribes to full-fledged partnerships that give tribal leaders an equal seat on governing commissions. While praising such efforts generally, Native leaders say the agreements have been a mixed bag in terms of granting real authority to tribes. And some believe that stolen lands like national parks should be returned outright to their original stewards. Federal agreements Last year, federal land managers signed an agreement with five tribes to co-manage Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. Those nations the Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, and the Pueblo of Zuni form a commission that works with the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to oversee the monument. Advocates say the agreement was a landmark win for tribal management. We actually are co-deciding how this land should be managed, and thats really important, said Charissa Miijessepe-Wilson, co-director of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, a group formed by the tribes to support the monument. There are certainly challenges, but we have a really good relationship with our agency partners. Tribal leaders are helping to identify sacred sites within the 2,100-square-mile monument, Miijessepe-Wilson said, and informing decisions about which recreational activities are appropriate at different times of the year. Theyre also restoring a human dimension to the landscape. Public lands are Native lands, she said. Anywhere youre stepping foot was once somebody elses home. This is not some pristine wilderness, these are our places that we were once from, and we actively come here to gather medicine. At present, the parties are crafting a monument management plan. Ive worked on a lot of planning efforts throughout my years, but working side by side with the tribes, their traditional knowledge and their voices are coming through, said Nicollee Gaddis-Wyatt, district manager for the Bureau of Land Managements Canyon Country district. This one is going to be different and hopefully will help drive a new way of doing planning. The Biden administration wants more land managers to follow suit. In 2021, Cabinet leaders issued a secretarial order calling for their agencies to [m]ake agreements with Indian Tribes to collaborate in the co-stewardship of Federal lands and waters. Since then, officials have inked numerous agreements with tribal nations. The partnerships include everything from wildfire prevention work such as forest thinning and prescribed fire to protection of burial sites, restoration of stream habitat, ceremonial activities and traditional food gathering. Its unprecedented, said Kristi Tapio-Harper, regional tribal relations specialist in the U.S. Forest Services Pacific Northwest Region. Its given the Forest Service something tangible to sit at the table and start learning from the tribes. In Tapio-Harpers region, the federal agency has undertaken nearly $7 million in forest management projects planned with tribal partners. In some cases, tribes have helped replant trees after a wildfire. In others, theyve shown foresters where a fire helped re-create a historic meadow and persuaded the agency to leave it untouched. The infrastructure and climate laws passed by Congress in recent years have increased funding for tribal forestry projects, accelerating the work. But federal efforts also have attracted criticism, including last month when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association unveiled its plans for the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary off the California coast. The sanctuary was originally proposed by Fred Collins, longtime chair of the Northern Chumash Tribal Council, who died in 2021. They did not make it a true co-management document, said Violet Sage Walker, Collins daughter and the tribal councils current chair. They watered it down and made it meaningless. Its not Bears Ears, she said, although she noted that the sanctuary is still a win for the Pacific Ocean. And though the NOAA proposal calls for the involvement of local Indigenous groups, many were excluded from the sanctuarys council to guide management decisions. For example, the Northern Chumash Tribal Council exists as a nonprofit and is recognized by Californias state government, but isnt a federally recognized tribe. Paul Michel, regional policy coordinator with NOAA, said the government-to-government nature of the council meant that it could only include tribal nations recognized by federal law. He said the proposal remains a starting point. Its new territory for us, he said. As we build relationships and learn over time, it will adapt and change. A paradigm shift In California, officials reached an agreement with the Washoe Tribe earlier this year relating to 12 state parks in the states Sierra District. The pact will enable tribal members to access the parks for free and waive permit requirements for traditional gathering. Park leaders plan to collaborate with the tribes resource specialists and foresters. To be working during this big paradigm shift is pretty amazing, said Scott Green, Sierra District archaeologist and tribal liaison with California State Parks. The pendulum has swung toward tribal communities really being heard better. In Californias Sonoma County, the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria are partnering with county officials to oversee Tolay Lake Regional Park, believed to be one of the first such agreements with a local government. While more governments pursue co-management agreements, some advocates are pushing for full tribal ownership of national parks and other public lands. Mills, the Native law expert, said co-management could be viewed as either complementary or in contention with the larger Land Back movement, which seeks to restore Native sovereignty to stolen lands. There have been folks who have said co-management is half a loaf, its not good enough, said Mills. In at least one case, state leaders have taken note. Earlier this year, Minnesota lawmakers approved a plan to close Upper Sioux Agency State Park and transfer the land to the Upper Sioux Community. The park sits near the site of the largest mass execution in American history, where 38 Dakota warriors were hanged after they had surrendered following an 1862 battle. This land never should have been recreational land because of the history of it and what occurred on that site, said Ann Pierce, director of parks and trails with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. This is the first time that we know of that state park land has been transferred back to a tribal community. The post In new collaborations, tribes become stewards of parks and monuments appeared first on Daily Montanan. The tenanted farming sector has called on Natural England to stop its 'assault' on grazing within the protected sites on Dartmoor. Evidence has been submitted to the Dartmoor Review calling for a 'fundamental rethink' of Natural Englands policy towards grazing in the upland area. The review was established by Defra earlier this year in the wake of criticism of policy, led by Natural England, towards the management of protected sites on Dartmoor. The conclusions of the review will likely have significant and lasting implications, not only for the management of Dartmoor but of other commons and protected sites. To date, the dominant approach towards ecological improvement within the protected landscapes on Dartmoor has been the reduction of livestock numbers. Beginning in the 1990s with the Environmentally Sensitive Areas scheme, the commons of Dartmoor have lost between 50% and 80% of their livestock, according to the Tenant Farmers' Association (TFA). However, continued livestock reduction has caused 'immeasurable damage' to the commoning community. TFA chief executive, George Dunn said: Despite the failure of Natural Englands policy, it is alarming that it appears to be carrying on regardless as if the Dartmoor Review was not in existence and its homework was not being marked. "It is continuing to use its consent process on SSSIs and the threat of Stop Notices to reduce grazing further, or indeed prohibit it altogether. The anti-grazing approach has led to the proliferation of species such as molinia and gorse in areas where grazing has been significantly reduced or abandoned. "This has resulted in localised overgrazing in the remaining areas. Further stock reductions are not the answer." Better grazing management using a mix of cattle and sheep should be undertaken, according to the TFA, adding that stock reduction "simply is not working". The body added that stock reduction activities risked causing 'irrecoverable damage' to farm businesses. Mr Dunn said: Until the Dartmoor review has been able to complete its work and Defra has decided how best to respond, Natural England must desist from pursuing further stock reduction activities on Dartmoor. "Once we have the Dartmoor Review conclusions to hand, those will need to be worked through between government, graziers, tenants, landowners and other stakeholders." The Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust has announced the appointment of 23 new scholars for 2024 - the Trusts largest ever cohort. Coming from a wide range of backgrounds, the scholars will commence their studies next year and study topics around tea production, goat dairying, cider production, and artificial intelligence. Challenges around sustainability, resilience, climate pressures, and market forces in other UK farming and rural industries will also be explored. Over the course of their scholarships, they will travel internationally to gain an in-depth understanding of their study topic from global experts. Mike Vacher, director of the Nuffield Farming Scholarship Trust, said: Following a substantial number of exceptional applicants this year, we are delighted to announce our biggest ever cohort of Nuffield Farming Scholars. Our 2024 scholars have already displayed a clear passion for their chosen topics, and I have no doubt that they have the potential to become leaders who shape the future of agriculture. We are looking forward to introducing our 2024 cohort to the Nuffield Farming family at this years Super Conference in Exeter. "This will be the pinnacle of what is already set to be a fantastic event, with over 30 scholars presenting their study findings. Who are the 2024 Nuffield Farming Scholars? Dr Saba Amir (Craven Arms, Shropshire) Can calf with cow dairy farming become the future of the dairy industry? Supported by the John Oldacre Foundation Laura Awdry (Truro, Cornwall) Every Calf has a value, but is every calf equal? Sustainable and profitable dairy beef production in the UK Supported by the Dartington Cattle Breeding Trust Wallace Currie (Dumfries, Scotland) Let's get Agricultural Education into the Tramlines Supported by The MacRobert Trust Lucy George (Cardiff, Wales) Tea cultivation within agroecology - the development of a high value opportunity for UK farms. Supported by Royal Welsh Agricultural Society Jock Gibson (Dallas, Scotland) Enhanced meat eating quality from 100% pasture and forage systems Supported jointly by Royal Highland & Agricultural Society of Scotland and Worshipful Company of Butchers Sophie Gregory (Thornecombe, Dorset) What is the future for organic farming? Supported by The Trehane Trust Liz Haines (Stafford, Staffordshire) Neurodiversity in Agriculture Supported by McDonald's UK & Ireland Dr Natalie Hepburn (Cardiff, Wales) From farm to fork, from barn to brand; the models, advantages, and disadvantages of farm diversification Supported by NFU Mutual Charitable Trust Polly Hilton (Exeter, Devon) Elevating the value of, pride in, and respect for British Fine Cider Supported jointly by Worshipful Company of Fruiterers and Three Counties Agricultural Society Dan Jones (Conwy, Wales) Upland sheep farming, finding the balance: production, conservation and climate change Supported by the John Oldacre Foundation Hattie McFadzean (London) Enhancing the resilience of the UK Dairy Sector: how do we prepare for increasingly volatile climate conditions? Supported by AHDB Gwion Parry (Gwynedd, Wales) The disconnection between eating quality in the UK beef industry - from farm to fork. Supported by Royal Welsh Agricultural Society Ifan Roberts (Leicester, Leicestershire) Inspiring the next generation of dairy entrepreneurs Supported by The Trehane Trust Tom Scrope (Great Ayton, Yorkshire) Growing Together: Exploring New Ways of Farmer Knowledge Exchange to Secure Stronger Soils Supported by Yorkshire Agricultural Society Dan Smith (Monmouth, Gloucestershire) Generation Regeneration. We need you. Supported by McDonald's UK & Ireland Jamie Stokes (Warboys, Cambridgeshire) Doing more with less - Learning from the small to teach the big Supported by the Worshipful Company of Farmers with Savills Amy Stoner (Uppingham, Rutland) UK Food Security: A forward-thinking approach to ensure resilient fresh produce supply chains Supported by The Food Chain Scholarship David Tavernor (Market Drayton, Shropshire) Practically and profitably diversifying your farm business with black soldier fly production Supported by Alan and Anne Beckett Sam Watson-Jones (London) Per plant farming, artificial intelligence and the future of arable farming Supported by Elizabeth Creak Charitable Trust (a Clyde Higgs Scholarship) Cormac White (Frome, Somerset) Developing a sustainable grazing-based small ruminant dairy system suitable for New Entrants with alternative supply chain models Supported by The Thomas Henry Foundation Dr Annie Williams (Shrewsbury, Shropshire) Minerals for ruminants - Are we getting it right? Supported by The Richard Lawes Foundation Harold Winslet (Bristol) For peats sake! Do we need a new approach to peatland agriculture? Supported by Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association Rachel Yarrow (Oxford, Oxfordshire) The dream British Cheese Goat: could a pasture based dairy goat system ever work at scale in the UK? Supported by Central Region Farmers Trust A new initiative aimed at educating the public on the impact of livestock worrying could be rolled out across the UK following a successful trial in Cheshire. Operation Recall - which aims to prevent future incidents of dog attacks on livestock - was launched by Cheshire Police, the RSPCA and Naturewatch Foundation. The scheme began as a local initiative in Cheshire, but could now be rolled out to other police forces nationally with the support of the newly established National Rural Crime Unit. An educational video has been provided to police forces across the country to use as part of restorative justice after a dog attack has occurred. Research from the NFU suggests that incidents of dog attacks are increasing, with them causing a "devastating effect" for animal welfare and farmers' livelihoods. The union reports that the cost of livestock worrying to farmers has increased by 50% between 2019 and 2022 as the boom of puppies purchased during the pandemic came of age. Geoff Edmond, national wildlife coordinator at the RSPCA, said even the most docile and obedient dogs can get distracted and excited by grazing animals. Being chased by a dog causes the animals stress and anxiety, this can lead to pregnancy loss in livestock, and in some extreme cases, severe attacks can happen which have a devastating effect on the livestock, resulting in injury and even death. "This also has an adverse impact on the farmers themselves, both in terms of their livelihood and the emotional toll of seeing their animals suffer." He added: Livestock worrying is a welfare issue for dogs too who could become injured during the incident themselves or could even be shot by the farmer. "It is lawful for farmers to shoot a dog to protect their livestock - which no one wants to happen. Owners could also be prosecuted by police if their dog is caught worrying livestock." The police and RSPCAs main advice for dog owners is to always keep their animals on a lead when near or around livestock. PC Jim Clark, of Cheshire Police, said his "heart sinks" when an incident of livestock worrying or an attack is reported. "I instantly know that this will have an effect on the livestock, the farmer, the offender, and sadly the dog involved too. "Working in partnership with organisations such as the RSPCA and Naturewatch Foundation is brilliant, as we all bring a unique expertise to the project. Hannah Doyle, from Sussex, had assumed that livestock were safe behind fences when she walked her dog in the local countryside. She said: One day my dog went out with a new dog walker and for some reason they let him off the lead. He squeezed under a gate and started chasing some sheep. I was so relieved when the farmer reported that all the sheep were okay. The thought that an animal might have been hurt or killed or my dog shot was awful. "I think it was a valuable lesson for both of us. Now I always keep him on lead even when livestock look like theyre safely fenced in, just in case. Forty schoolchildren have taken part in a tailor-made lesson on food and farming at Number 10 as part of an initiative organised by the prime minister's wife. The Year 5 and 6 pupils from Countess Gytha Primary School in Yeovil, Somerset, explored the world of agriculture as part of the Lessons at 10 series. The lesson introduced food and farming through the NFU's STEMterprise project, challenging them to invent their own finger foods using British ingredients. The schoolchildren also had to market their creations and explain the many benefits of using homegrown produce. Working in teams, they were supported by an NFU Farmers for Schools ambassador, who offered first-hand insights into how they produce high quality food. The Lessons at 10 initiative is organised by Akshata Murty, the wife of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Ms Murty said: It was wonderful to welcome pupils from Countess Gytha Primary School to Downing Street today for a special farming and food lessons at 10 event. Its so important for children to connect with where our food comes from and experience great British produce. Thank you to everyone for coming and highlighting why we should back British farming. NFU Education Manager Josh Payne said the event provided an exceptional learning opportunity for children to understand the importance of British farming. "Its a brilliant programme, and its wonderful to see Ms Murty recognising the value of teaching key STEM subjects through the lens of food and farming," he said. Its important to encourage young people and make agriculture relevant and interesting so they can become more involved in the countryside and rural areas as they grow older. Hopefully it has not only excited the children about food and cooking, but also got them thinking about where ingredients come from and the quality work that goes into their production. "This experience is also a chance to meet real-life farmers, which is a fantastic way to bridge the gap between the field and the plate." It follows the launch of a pilot project offering 20 farmers fully funded training and support to deliver 'memorable' on-farm experiences for pupils. The pilot, by LEAF Education, aims to help give more children the opportunity to experience a working farm first-hand and better connect with where their food comes from. Steve Irwin's son Robert has celebrated breeding a rare turtle named after his late father. Robert Irwin has bred a rare turtle named after his father Steve Irwin The 19-year-old star shared footage on social media of the very first Elseya Irwini - Irwin's turtle - hatched at a zoo anywhere in the world. Robert said: "This is one of the highlights of my entire life, one of the most special moments ever for Australia Zoo. "This species is a turtle that dad originally discovered out in the wild and for the first time we have got a little baby." The emotional 'Crikey! It's the Irwins' star added: "It's so surreal. All the stories from dad about how beautiful they are... "Dad would be stoked with that. We did it." Irwin's turtle was first discovered by Steve and his father Bob Irwin during a crocodile-catching trip on the Burdekin River in 1990, although the species has been threatened by the construction of the Burdekin Dam - which has caused a decline in the river's water quality. Steve, nicknamed 'The Crocodile Hunter', died in 2006 after being stabbed by a stingray but Robert and his sister Bindi, 25, have continued their father's animal-loving legacy. Robert - who was infamously taken to a crocodile feeding by his father when he was just a month old - paid tribute to the conservationist on the 16th anniversary of his death last month and pointed out that it coincided with Australia's Father's Day. He shared a picture of himself as a toddler being held by his dad and wrote: "It's Father's Day today in Australia, and I am sending my love to those who are missing their dad today. I cherish all the good times with my dad and feel grateful to be able to keep his memory and legacy alive." Sir Paul McCartney's grandson Arthur Donald is in a relationship with Bill Gates's daughter Phoebe. Arthur Donald and Phoebe Gates are in a relationship (c) Instagram Phoebe, 21, shared an Instagram snap of her and Arthur, 24, - the son of the Beatles legend's daughter Mary McCartney and her first husband Alistair Donald - on a balcony in Paris that seemingly confirmed that the pair are dating. The families already enjoy a close connection as Phoebe's mother Melinda Gates is friends with Arthur's aunt Stella McCartney. The billionaire Microsoft founder's daughter is quoted by the Daily Mail's Eden Confidential column as saying of the fashion designer: "Even when I was little, she would send me stuff and little notes and I'd be so excited. "We are really deeply connected." Prior to her romance with Arthur, Phoebe was in a relationship with fellow Stanford University student Robert Ross but was targeted by trolls who left cruel comments about the interracial romance. She responded to the trolling by stating that she was "done" with people making fun of the relationship. Asked about the worst part of being a social media star, Phoebe - who has 375,000 followers on Instagram - told The Information: "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 also has a big presence on TikTok where she posts clips of herself working out, showing off her favourite outfits and discussing political issues with her mother. She has also made a splash in the fashion world as she has earned invites to shows at New York and Paris Fashion Week and even interned at British Vogue. Phoebe has explained that she wants to "be her own person" and not rely on her wealthy parents for success. Not sure if you should spend your next holidays in London or Paris? There is a simple solution to this: Share the time you have in both locations. It will take you just a little over two hours of train ride to get from one city to the other and you will benefit from the best of both worlds. Visit Both Capitals During Same Trip London to Paris by train There are so many advantages gained by taking a train between these two major cities. The first is that you don't have to go out of town to reach an airport, since both railway stations are in their respective town centers. It means saving lots of time spent in transport that you can then use to visit Paris, the moment you step out of the train. While travelling from London to Paris by train, you can also enjoy more leg room, walk from one wagon to the next if you want to move your feet and even stop by the restaurant for a snack. Best of all, you can often find last-minute offers to benefit from reduced prices. Or, if you already know your travel dates well in advance, you can also get lower rates by buying your tickets months ahead. There's another positive element that we don't always think about, though: travelling by train offers an environmentally-friendly and efficient solution to travel, reducing carbon emissions while ensuring fast and reliable mobility. So, it's a win-win all round. The magic of visiting London and Paris There are a few cities in the world that you simply cannot afford to miss visiting. London and Paris are both on this list for different reasons. In the UK capital, you will discover the pleasures of the night, while in Paris you can enjoy all it has to offer throughout the day. Spending time in both these towns in the same trip will be a memorable event, as you will get to live the best that life has to offer in very different settings. Here is a suggested one-day itinerary for each city. What to do in London Although the city is extremely busy during the day with people moving from one place to another, London becomes lively after work hours. This is when workers head to their closest pub to enjoy a pint with their colleagues. It is time to blend in and do the same, to feel the energy of London rising while the sun goes down. After this introduction, pick one of the many exceptional restaurants around town that have popped up over the last decades. It features international cuisine at its best. You will have to try Indian cuisine at least once, since there is none better in the world (besides in India of course). Plan a shopping spree in prestigious locations such as Harrolds, one of London's luxury institutions. Then treat yourself to a manicure, as London is full of beauty salons where the unique creativity will surprise you. Finally, choose a musical and let your eyes and ears feast. What to Do in Paris In Paris, you should wake up early, while Parisians are still sleeping and enjoy a walk in one of the city's beautiful parks. You can then grab a croissant at any pastry shop and enjoy it with a coffee. Once your energy level is back on high, head to one of the many museums around town to view some of the most amazing works of art in the world. Finish the day with a French meal, and keep an eye on the Eiffel Tower, which is beautiful when illuminated at night. To read the full story, become a PRIME member today. PRIME Unlimited Access to Insightful Industry Information All Corporate Members and TexPro Subscribers are eligible to access F2F PRIME CONTENT using the same login credentials. The export container shipping price index in China dropped slightly in September this year, according to data from the Shanghai Shipping Exchange. The average China Containerised Freight Index (CCFI) stood at 876.46 last monthdown by 0.5 per cent over the previous months figure. The export container shipping price index in China dropped slightly in September, data from the Shanghai Shipping Exchange showed. The average China Containerised Freight Index stood at 876.46 last monthdown by 0.5 per cent over the August figure. The sub-index for the Mediterranean service registered the sharpest month-on-month drop of 5.7 per cent. While the sub-index for the Mediterranean service registered the sharpest month-on-month drop of 5.7 per cent, the sub-readings for a majority of the 12 shipping routes increased on a monthly basis in September, with the Australia/New Zealand service logging the most notable rise of 15.4 per cent, a state-controlled media outlet reported. The CCFI tracks spot and contractual freight rates from Chinese container ports on 12 shipping routes across the globe, based on data from 22 international carriers. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS) Global air freight rates may have finally bottomed out after a fall from the peaks of the pandemic era, and are now rising into not just a genuine peak season bounce, but perhaps beyond that, according to Hong Kong-based TAC Index Limited. The overall Baltic Air Freight Index gained 11 per cent during September over the four weeks to 2 October, cutting its decline over the past 12 months to minus 34.1 per cent. Global air freight rates may have finally bottomed out after a fall from the pandemic-era peaks, and are now rising into not just a genuine peak season bounce, but perhaps beyond that, TAC Index Limited noted. The overall trend was fairly broad-based across major global lanes. Outbound rates from Shanghai, London, Frankfurt, Chicago and Vietnam rose. The overall trend was fairly broad-based across major lanes around the world, the companys Neil Wilson wrote in a blog on the website. But a leading theme again was the continuing rise of e-commerce business out of southern China. This was reflected in the index for outbound Hong Kong routes still the biggest by volume in global air cargogaining 7.3 per cent over the month to leave its year-on-year (YoY) change at minus 32.3 per cent. Outbound rates from Shanghai gained even stronger, rising some 19 per cent in October to leave the YoY change from there at only minus 28.2 per cent. From other regions, rates were more mixed. Out of Europe, the index of outbound Frankfurt rates rose only slightly by 2.7 per cent month on month (MoM), leaving the YoY decline at minus 42.6 per cent. And outbound London also edged up only a modest 4.5 per cent MoM, leaving its YoY change still a long way lower at minus 48 per cent. From the Americas, Chicago rates ended a volatile month with a big rise, leaving the YoY change at -30.7 per cent. Rates on other lanes out of the United States were also generally on the rise. And rates out of Vietnam ended the month with a big spike, indicating strong spot market activity. In September, it seems major product launches started to feed through into rising rates, the blog noted. Some sources, however, remained sceptical, calling the rise a dead cat bounce. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS) Hema Malini marked her 75th birthday on Monday, October 16. The celebrated actress chose to spend most of her day indoors with her family. In a recent interview, the veteran star shared her thoughts on reaching the age of 75 and disclosed that her husband, the actor Dharmendra, had given her the most meaningful gift, making her day even more remarkable. Dharmendra and Hema have been happily married for more than four decades and are the proud parents of two daughters, Esha and Ahana.In a conversation with a leading news portal, Hema Hema disclosed that Dharmendra had bestowed her with the gift of his presence on her birthday. The actor went to great lengths, flying all the way from the United States just in time to celebrate Hema's special day. She expressed her joy, stating, "He is here for my birthday, and the biggest gift he gives me is spending time with us."Reflecting on her life, Hema admitted, "I have been so busy working all these years that I didnt even realise where the time went by. I am 75 today, I cant believe it myself! But age is just a number. It depends on how you look after yourself if others are inspired by the work you do. Thats life. I do the work that I get, spend time with my children and grandchildren. Life is beautiful." Saif-Kareena marriage: Renowned Bollywood star, Kareena Kapoor Khan, recently shared insights about her interfaith marriage with actor Saif Ali Khan. During an event at Express Adda, Mumbai, she opened up about their ten-year age difference and how neither their age gap nor their differing faiths have impacted their relationship. On Saif-Kareen's wedding anniversary, let's revisit what she said about their interfaith marriage and age difference. Kareena Kapoor Khan on Age Differences and Personal Faith Responding to critics who trolled her for being younger than Saif, Kareena had told Indian Exoress, "When has age ever matter? He is hotter than ever. I am happy I am ten years younger, he should be worried. No one would say he is 53." She emphasised the importance of respect, love, and having fun in their relationship over their age difference. Kareena also commented on Saif's initial worries about keeping up with her energy, but they've now found a similar wavelength, with their days typically wrapping up by 11:30 pm. Interfaith Relationships and Age Differences Shouldn't Matter Kareena expressed disappointment over the excessive energy devoted to discussions about interfaith relationships and age differences. Declaring, "The important thing is to have fun," she argues for the value of mutual respect and enjoyment over differences in faith or age. In a refreshing take, she said, "How should it matter what faith he follows or what his age is? That isn't even a point of discussion." Kareena Kapoor's Upcoming Project On the professional front, Kareena Kapoor was last seen in Netflix Jaane Jaan, which marked her OTT debut/ Sujoy Ghosh's Jaane Jaan also starred Jaideep Ahlawat, Vijay Varma, and Lin Laishram. In a society that often dwells on interfaith relationships and age gaps in marriages, star Kareena Kapoor Khan's perspective is a breath of fresh air. The actress reiterates that love, respect, and the ability to enjoy each other's company are the foundation of a healthy relationship, regardless of age or faith differences. Altogether, it's fair to say that Kareena Kapoor Khan continues to inspire with her progressive views and strong character. Leo Producer Appeals For Early Screening Of 'Leo' In High Court: In a recent development, the film production company behind the highly anticipated movie "Leo" has filed an appeal in the Chennai High Court requesting early morning screenings for fans. Leo USA IMAX Ticket Booking Opens: Locations Revealed For Thalapathy Vijay's Much-Anticipated Film! The company has made an appeal for allowing the first show to commence as early as 4 a.m. instead of the government-ordered 9 a.m., urging that fans should not have to wait too long to witness Thalapathy Vijay's starrer on the big screen upon its release. The plea, submitted to the court, emphasises the immense excitement and anticipation surrounding the release of "Leo." With fans eagerly counting down the days until the film's premiere, the production company believes that accommodating earlier screenings is essential to meeting the unprecedented demand. The urgency of the situation was underlined when the judge announced that the hearing for this case would be held at one o'clock in the afternoon, signifying the significance of the matter. Leo Show Timings In Tamil Nadu Under New Government Order Ahead of the theatrical release of Thalapathy Vijay's 'Leo' on October 19, the Tamil Nadu government has recently issued a 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 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 recent government order, state authorities have instructed the licencing authorities operating under the Tamil Nadu Cinemas (Regulation) Act, 1955, and Rules, 1957, to establish special teams within their jurisdictions to monitor any 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 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 Karnataka Day 1 Gross: Vijay's Movie Outshines Darbar And Varisu Through Pre-Sales As the legal proceedings unfold, all eyes are on the Chennai High Court's decision regarding the early morning showtimes for "Leo," a film that has already garnered immense attention and enthusiasm. Fans of Thalapathy Vijay eagerly await the outcome, hoping for a chance to witness the movie at a more convenient hour. Bigg Boss Tamil 7 has been the talk of the town ever since it was announced. The popular reality show, which is hosted by superstar Kamal Haasan, has been coming up with mind-boggling surprises almost every single day. From the tasks, to themes, nominations to eliminations, everything about Bigg Boss Tamil 7 has managed to keep the audience and the contestants on their toes. Interestingly, the first two weeks of the show witnessed high voltage drama. In fact, after Ananya S Rao's elimination in the first week, this Kamal Haasan show saw a major twist wherein Bava Chelladurai walked out of the BB house after staying there for a week. While his exit left everyone shocked, it affected eliminations wherein despite seven contestants being nominated for elimination, no elimination took place during the weekend. And now, as Bigg Boss Tamil 7 has ventured into the third week, 7 contestants have been nominated again including Nixen, Akshaya Udayakumar, Manichandra, Vichitra, Aishu, Vijay Varma, Maya Krishnan, Poornima Ravi, Vinusha, Sarvana Vickram Pradeep Anthony. Needless to say, ever since the nominations were announced, there have been speculations about who will be eliminated from the show this weekend. Meanwhile, Maya and Poornima grabbed the eyeballs recently after they were spotted discussing the nominations ahead of the nomination task. During their conversation with Vinusha Devi, Maya called the nomination a revenge game and asked everyone to vote for Vishnu as he has been fighting with everyone. To this, Poornima opined that even Pradeep Anthony holds a chance to get nominated as well. When Poornima quizzed Maya about who she will be nominating during the task, the latter named Raveena Daha and Vichitra. Interstingly, Poornima also revealed that she will be nominating Vichitra. Well, as the ladies have violated an important rule of the house, there is a chance that they might get punished tonight during the episode. We wonder if Bigg Boss will be taking strict action against Maya and Poornima in the upcoming episode Bigg Boss 17 Contestant Jigna Vora: The new season of India's most popular and watched reality show, Bigg Boss 17, premiered on Sunday night, October 15. Salman Khan returned as the show's host, and an array of a variety of contestants, from Ankita Lokhande to comedian Munawar Faruqui and others, were seen making their way inside the BB 17 house. But fans were surprised to see Jigna Vora as one of the contestants. She is a former crime journalist who was implicated in the murder of another senior scribe. She spent months in jail and has documented her experience in the book Behind Bars in Byculla: My Days in Prison. The book was adapted by Hansal Mehta into a web series titled Scoop, which was released earlier this year on Netflix. Jigna Vora son and ex husband Jigna Vora was a star journalist who worked at The Asian Age as a crime reporter and was the deputy bureau chief of the newspaper's Mumbai bureau. Her life took a U-turn when she was accused in the case of Mid-Day journalist Jyotirmoy Dey's murder. Bigg Boss 17: Munawar Faruqui BEATS Ankita Lokhande, Isha Malviya With A Huge Gap On Day 1; Deets Inside She stayed in Byculla Jail in Mumbai for nine months and was released in 2012. Due to a lack of evidence, Jigna was cleared of all accusations after seven years in 2018 by a special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act court. She wrote her memoirs Behind Bars in Byculla: My Days in Prison, in which she documented her life inside the prison. Karishma Tanna-starrer Netflix drama Scoop chronicles how Jigna Vora lost her dignity and battled the worst phase of her life. She is now a tarot card reader and healer. Although not much is said or written about Jigna's husband and marriage, it is known that Jigna got married in 1998 to her family's desire in an arranged marriage setup and had to move to Bharuch, Gujarat. She had to quit her internship at a famous law firm because she had a law degree. She was told that her husband was an engineer and ran a printing press in Bharuch. However, later, it was discovered that all the claims about her husband were untrue, which led to troubles in her marriage. She eventually returned to Mumbai in 2004 with her four-year-old son and pursued her career in media. The Netflix show Scoop also dedicated a small part to Jigna's abusive marriage. He was not only a fraud, but he was also an alcoholic. Her son's name, as shown in the show, was Neil. It will definitely be interesting to see Vora's journey in Bigg Boss 17, who is not only strong but has seen so many troubles in life. Bigg Boss 17 Contestant: Who Is Sunny Arya Aka Tehelka Prank Bhai? Meet Popular YouTuber Home Top Listing Top Listing Anirudh's Next Score After Leo: 11 Movies in Store? Anirudh Ravichander is one of the most sought-after music directors in the Indian film industry today. With his latest album, Leo, becoming a huge hit, fans are eagerly awaiting his next score. In a recent interview, Anirudh revealed that he has 11 movies in store and that he is working on some really exciting projects. Scroll down to discover Anirudhu's next cinematic masterpieces. Indian 2 Indian 2, the long-awaited sequel to the iconic 1996 Tamil film, is finally on its way, with Shankar at the helm once again. This time, the legendary filmmaker is set to unleash a vigilante action extravaganza that promises to be a visual and auditory feast. Kamal Haasan reprises his iconic role as Senapathy, a fearless freedom fighter who is now a revered public figure. Thalaivar 170 Thalaivar 170 is the working title of an upcoming Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by T. J. Gnanavel. It is produced by Subaskaran Allirajah under Lyca Productions. The film stars Rajinikanth, alongside an ensemble cast of Amitabh Bachchan, Fahadh Faasil, Jisshu Sengupta, Rana Daggubati, Manju Warrier, Ritika Singh, and Dushara Vijayan. Vidaa Muyarchi Vidaa Muyarchi, an upcoming Indian Tamil-language film, is a high-octane action thriller written and directed by Magizh Thirumeni. Produced by Subaskaran Allirajah under the banner Lyca Productions, the film stars Ajith Kumar, Trisha, and Regina Cassandra, with Ani composing the score. The film is set in both India and abroad. Thalaivar 171 Thalaivar 171 is an upcoming Indian Tamil-language action film directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj and produced by Sun Pictures. The film is tentatively scheduled to be released in 2024. Plot details are being kept under wraps, but it is rumoured to be a gangster film set in the Lokesh Cinematic Universe (LCU), a shared universe that includes Kanagaraj's previous films Kaithi, Vikram, and Leo. VD12 VD12, an upcoming Indian Telugu-language romantic action film, is sure to set the screens ablaze with its stylish direction, star-studded cast, and pulsating music. It stars the heartthrob of Telugu cinema, Vijay Deverakonda, opposite the budding starlet Sreeleela. Kavin 4 Kavin's 4th Tamil film with Anirudh Ravichander is yet to be titled, but it is a contemporary, urban romance film directed by choreographer-actor Sathish, who is making his directorial debut. The film also stars Preethi Asrani as the female lead. Anirudh Ravichander has already started composing music for the film. AAA: Atlee-Ani-Allu Arjun Allu Arjun, Atlee Kumar, and Anirudh Ravichander are some of the most anticipated collaborations in Indian cinema. The trio is set to come together for a pan-Indian film, which is expected to be a massive blockbuster. SK23 SK23 is an upcoming Tamil-language action thriller film directed by A. R. Murugadoss, and it was rumoured that Mrunal Thakur would be sharing the screen with Sivakarthikyan. Ani's music would be the backbone of the film, and it would be released in 2024 or at the end of 2023. Party Party is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Venkat Prabhu. It features an ensemble cast including Shiva, Sathyaraj, Premgi, Jai, Ramya Nambeesan, Nassar, and Nivetha Pethuraj. The film was waiting for its release; it was expected to come soon, but the release date had not been announced. Atharva & Kushi Kapoor Movie The upcoming Atharva & Kushi Kapoor movie, with music by Anirudh Ravichander, is a romantic film directed by debutant Akash. The film marks the Tamil debut of Khushi Kapoor, the daughter of the late actress Sridevi and producer Boney Kapoor. Devara Devara-I is a Telugu action-drama film written and directed by Koratala Siva, starring N. T. Rama Rao Jr. and Janhvi Kapoor, with Saif Ali Khan as the main antagonist. Brace yourself for Ani's magic to smash all corners of the Telugu audience's hearts, making him a sensation in the Telugu film industry too. LOADING...... World's largest startup show welcomes over 1,800 startups from more than 100 countries, 1,000 investors managing US$ 1 trillion and 500+ expert speakers Event enhances Dubai's position as a global digital hub, connecting venture capital with unicorns, scale-ups and startups and attracting the global tech community DUBAI, UAE, Oct. 15, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, First Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the UAE, today opened Expand North Star 2023, the world's largest startup show at its new Dubai Harbour venue. Hosted by the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy and organized by Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), Expand North Star takes place from 15-18 October 2023 at the Middle East's biggest superyacht hub, where more than 1,800 startups from 100 countries are looking to connect, fundraise and share experiences with global peers. Additionally, 1,000 investors with a combined total of over US$ 1 trillion under management are ramping up the startup investor momentum in one of the world's most dynamic and diverse scale-up ecosystems. Expand North Star is the powerhouse startup show of GITEX GLOBAL, the world's largest tech event, which opens tomorrow (16 October) at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC). The blockbuster duo, organised by DWTC, comprises a combined 2.7 million sq. ft of exhibition space, a 40 per cent increase over the previous year, inviting the world to the year's most anticipated dialogue and deep scrutiny into a new tech paradigm experimenting in AI, the cloud, Web 3.0, and a sustainable digital economy. Expand North Star 2023 features AI Monday, showcasing fast-scaling AI startups; India Central, the biggest gathering of over 200+ Indian startups ever assembled outside of the country; as well as Asia Fast 100 and Africa Fast 100, the event's largest showcases that bring together 100 leading startups from each continent for nearly a week long program of conferences, networking, and dedicated pitch competitions. The gathering of next-gen companies also features three themed sub-events targeting specific sectors: Fintech Surge, the Future Blockchain Summit, and Marketing Mania. Expand North Star will also culminate with the Supernova Challenge. The prestigious pitch competition offers a prize fund of US$ 200,000, further enhancing the appeal of this unmissable event. To register for Expand North Star 2023, please click here Information for journalists: Register as press here . Press information and photographic material: [ Media Center ] On social media: Facebook Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Youtube Hashtag: ExpandNorthStar About Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC): A global business facilitator since 1979, Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) is home to region's leading purpose-built convention and exhibition centre. DWTC provides a platform for connecting people, products, innovation and ideas from around the world through a dynamic calendar of international trade exhibitions and its own roster of sector leading mega events. As a designated free zone, complemented by award-winning commercial real estate, DWTC plays an integral role in Dubai and the region's growth story with an estimated total economic output of AED 200 Billion, attracting over 30 Million business visitors to Dubai over the past four decades. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2247488/Expand_North_Star.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/hh-sheikh-maktoum-bin-mohammed-bin-rashid-al-maktoum-opens-expand-north-star-2023-301956889.html Bringing Authentic Handwoven Wayuu Crossbody Bags to Australia's Fashion-Forward Community. Brisbane, Australia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 16, 2023) - Mochila, founded by the visionary Kellys Carreno, is excited to unveil its meticulously curated collection of Wayuu crossbody bags to the Australian market. These exquisite handwoven creations provide a genuine taste of authenticity, encompassing a wide range of tote bags, handbags, and crossbody bags, all meticulously crafted with precision and care by skilled Wayuu artisans. Each bag serves as a living testament to the rich heritage and advanced craftsmanship of Colombia's indigenous Wayuu tribe. A slow, meticulous process ensures that every piece is unique, featuring distinct patterns and colors that tell a captivating story. Mochila Introduces Australia to the Timeless Elegance of Handwoven Wayuu Crossbody Bags To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8814/183589_7a45925364e7c9de_001full.jpg The La Guajira Peninsula, a breathtaking region that stretches across Colombia and Venezuela, is renowned for its natural beauty and, more significantly, as the ancestral home of the Wayuu tribe and the iconic Mochila Wayuu bags. These bags are far from ordinary accessories; they are living expressions of the Wayuu culture's rich heritage. Kellys Carreno, the innovative mind behind Mochila, explains the significance of the brand's name: "The word 'Mochila' pays homage to authenticity, and each Wayuu bag, or 'Susu' in the native Wayuunaiki tongue, narrates a vibrant story of the Wayuu culture." According to the brand, every design and color choice carries a profound narrative, encapsulating a piece of art and a fragment of someone's soul. Through these Wayuu tote bags, Mochila seeks not only to present a product but to share the captivating art, history, and tradition of the Wayuu people. Wayuu bags, celebrated for their vibrant hues and intricate patterns, are a testament to artisan craftsmanship that starkly contrasts with a world dominated by mass production. These authentic handmade bags are crafted passionately, imbued with tradition, and adorned with modern style. Here are some unique features that set The Mochila Wayuu bags apart from the competition: Unique and Handcrafted: Each bag is meticulously handwoven by Wayuu indigenous artisans, ensuring authenticity and uniqueness. Durable and Long-Lasting: These bags are made to withstand the test of time. Ethical and Fair Trade: Purchasing a Mochila Wayuu bag empowers artisans and supports their families, contributing to the local economy. Cultural Significance: These bags represent Wayuu culture, a fusion of tradition and modern style. Vibrant and Unique Designs: Every piece tells its story through intricate patterns and colors. Functional Space: The bags offer ample space for essentials and more, perfect for everyday use. Australia's Cultural Accessory: Mochila Wayuu bags are more than just accessories; they're cultural statements. Quality over Quantity: Mochila prioritizes quality and authenticity over mass production. Kellys Carreno emphasizes that purchasing a Mochila Wayuu bag ensures fair compensation for the artisans, empowering them and contributing to the local economy. Beyond financial support, it allows Wayuu women to preserve their cultural heritage, continue their traditional craft, and provide for their families, thereby fostering the preservation of an ancient art form and the livelihood of a vibrant, resilient community. Mochila aims to establish itself as the premier brand for those seeking authentic, stylish, and high-quality handwoven bags. They aim to cultivate a deeper appreciation for the rich tapestry of Wayuu culture and craftsmanship. They envision their products creating a ripple effect, fostering a global dialogue centered on preserving and celebrating indigenous artistry and heritage. By owning a Mochila Wayuu crossbody bag, the wearer isn't merely making a fashion statement; they support a tradition that empowers indigenous artisans and keeps their culture vibrant and alive. To explore and shop the authentic crossbody bags and their entire collection, visit Mochila's website. Contact Info: Name: Kellys Carreno Email: support@mochila.au Organization: Mochila Address: Australia Website: https://mochila.au To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/183589 The late-breaking clinical results session will reveal exclusively RACERS' Phase 2a clinical data in sepsis that met primary and secondary endpoints Two additional abstracts have been selected for presentation at the 2023 Kidney Week: an oral presentation on how CER-001 modulates ischemia/reperfusion injury in kidney grafts and a poster on the action of CER-001 in brain fog associated with acute kidney injury Access here the full press release ABIONYX Pharma, (FR0012616852 ABNX PEA PME eligible), a new generation biotech company dedicated to the discovery and development of innovative therapies based on the world's only recombinant human apoA-1, announces that the Company's Phase 2b RACERS study in sepsis has been selected as a late-breaking clinical trial poster presentation at the 2023 American Society of Nephrology Annual Meeting taking place November 2-5, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. About ABIONYX Pharma ABIONYX Pharma is a new generation biotech company that aims to contribute to health through innovative therapies in indications where there is no effective or existing treatment, even the rarest ones. Thanks to its partners in research, medicine, biopharmaceuticals and shareholding, the company innovates on a daily basis to propose drugs for the treatment of renal and ophthalmological diseases, or new apoA-I vectors used for targeted drug delivery. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231015382226/en/ Contacts: NewCap Investor relations Nicolas Fossiez Louis-Victor Delouvrier abionyx@newcap.eu +33 (0)1 44 71 98 53 NewCap Media relations Arthur Rouille abionyx@newcap.eu +33 (0)1 44 71 00 15 Press Release Atos provides update on contemplated sale of Tech Foundations to EPEI group Contemplated transaction offers the most achievable path to execution of separation of Tech Foundations and Eviden and improvement of the risk profile of Atos Group Social consultation progressing with Societas Europaea Council (SEC) and at local level and most regulatory pre-filings or filings have been submitted in relevant jurisdictions Shareholders' Meeting and completion of overall transaction now anticipated in early Q2 2024 given expected timing of regulatory approvals Ongoing exclusive negotiations with EPEI to address certain financial parameters of the contemplated transaction Atos shareholders to be provided with all required information on final transaction, the remaining perimeter (Eviden) and financing, for approval at the Shareholders' Meeting The final terms of the transaction and the capital increases intended to reinforce Eviden's capital structure, inter-conditional with contemplated sale of Tech Foundations, will be submitted for approval at Shareholders' Meeting The Group is in active discussions with financing banks to obtain loan waivers required for the contemplated sale of Tech Foundations and secure new financing for Eviden Pending shareholder approval of the contemplated transaction, Atos continues to monitor market developments and is committed to an ongoing open dialogue with shareholders Should the transaction with EPEI not go forward, the Group will have to access the debt and equity capital markets and/or consider the sale of additional assets, to ensure adequate liquidity to address upcoming debt maturities in 2025 Paris, France - October 16, 2023 - It was announced on August 1st, 2023 that Atos ("Atos" or "the Group") has entered in exclusive negotiations with EP Equity Investment ("EPEI") for the sale of Atos' subsidiary which will hold its Tech Foundations business ("TFCo"). As part of its commitment to shareholder communication, today Atos is providing an update on the various workstreams relating to the contemplated transaction, and answering the most frequently asked questions received from investors relating to its background and financial impact. Process update Reminder of the background The Board of Directors considered a number of strategic options for the future of the Group prior to the announcement of a separation plan on June 14th, 2022. These options included keeping the businesses together or selling parts of the businesses. Taking into considerations the different business dynamics, growth and cash generation profiles1 and capital requirements of the Tech Foundations and Eviden perimeters, as well as potential dyssynergies, mitigants and estimated separation costs, the Board of Directors determined that the separation was the best way forward in the interest of all Atos stakeholders and would unlock the intrinsic value of Eviden since the business operates in market segments that command higher valuation multiples than the Tech Foundations business. Following the announcement of this separation plan, Atos was approached by several players interested in a potential acquisition of its Tech Foundations business, as indicated in the press release of October 24th, 2022. The Group with its Board of Directors examined all received expressions of interest in light of the Atos' corporate interest. When the Board has been presented with the last revised offer from EPEI, it benchmarked it against other available options, and determined that the contemplated transaction would offer the most achievable execution path to the separation of Tech Foundations and Eviden and would improve the risk profile of the Group post-transaction. Economic and capital market conditions also made it increasingly difficult to monetize part of Eviden on acceptable terms and access financing markets for Tech Foundations' operations. Additionally, given Tech Foundations' current focus on a turnaround which will still take time to be fully realized, a private ownership would facilitate the execution of the plan. Eviden would have the ability, once properly deleveraged, to accelerate its growth and capitalize on market opportunities. Atos consequently announced on August 1st, 2023 that it had entered into an agreement providing for exclusive negotiations with EPEI, after discussions which remained uncertain until this date. Reminder of transaction overview as estimated on August 1st, 20232 Contemplated Tech Foundations sale to EPEI 0.1bn net cash proceeds to Eviden net cash proceeds to Eviden 1.9bn transfer of on balance-sheet liabilities 3 transfer of on balance-sheet liabilities Transfer of 7.6bn of off-balance sheet liabilities 4 of of Conveyance of 0.8bn 5 of working capital specifically attributable to Tech Foundations' operations Deconsolidation of Tech Foundations negative FCF Upside-sharing mechanism for Eviden EPEI group to capitalize a Special Purpose Vehicle with 0.8bn at closing to acquire TFCo Strengthen Eviden capital structure Capital increase of 900m: 180m reserved capital from EPEI at 20 per share , in exchange of a 7.5% stake 720m of rights offering , standby underwritten by BNP Paribas and J.P. Morgan subject to usual conditions 400m divestment plan 6 Target Eviden proforma net leverage of about 4x improving to 2x by end of 2025 Status of the project Following the announcement by Atos on August 1st, 2023 that it had entered into exclusive negotiations for the contemplated sale of Tech Foundations to EPEI group, the Company can now confirm that preparatory stages of the project are underway. Atos has started social consultation with the Societas Europaea Council (SEC) and at local level, and submitted most regulatory pre-filings or filings across the various concerned jurisdictions. In this context, the parties are conducting the exclusive negotiations of the legal documentation, including the share purchase agreement for the sale of 100% of TFCo and the investment agreements regarding EPEI group's minority stake in Eviden as a result of its subscription to the contemplated reserved capital increase and subsequent rights issue (representing up to 7.5% of Eviden's share capital). Such negotiations could lead to the change of certain financial parameters of the contemplated transaction. At the same time, following the completion of the operational separation of Tech Foundations and Eviden, the final legal steps to place the Tech Foundations subsidiaries under TFCo (intended to be sold to the EPEI group) are on track. The Group is also in constant dialogue with its clients, suppliers and other commercial partners to ensure a smooth continuity of its operations. To the same end, the contemplated transaction agreements would include subcontracting and other transitional service arrangements between TFCo and Eviden. Indicative timing Final binding agreements are targeted to be concluded at the end of the ongoing exclusive negotiations, if successful, by the end of 2023 at the latest, subject to completion of the employee consultation processes and obtaining the necessary bank loan waivers. Given the anticipated timing of regulatory approval procedures following pre filings, the Shareholders' Meeting necessary to approve both the proposed sale of Tech Foundations and the capital increases of Atos SE totaling 900 million (consisting of a 180m reserved capital increase from EPEI and a 720m rights issue), and consequently the completion of the overall transaction, would now be anticipated in early Q2 of 2024. Eviden will hold an Investor Day prior to the Shareholders' Meeting. Financial impact of the transaction The financials mentioned thereafter remain unaudited estimates as of August 1st, 2023 or as of today (as applicable) that will be confirmed and further detailed if and when the transaction documentation is finalized and the carve-out and separation are effective. These estimated figures also depend on financial parameters which would be set out in the final documentation still under discussion with EPEI. The contemplated transaction would have a net positive cash impact of 0.1 billion for Eviden while transferring 1.9 billion of Tech Foundations-related on-balance sheet liabilities, 7.6 billion of off-balance sheet liabilities and would unwind ca. 1 billion of intra-year working capital needs. As part of such transaction, Atos SE (to be renamed Eviden SE) would benefit from an upside sharing mechanism. Net cash proceeds As part of the contemplated transaction, all receivables and payables attributable to Tech Foundations will be conveyed at closing to TFCo. The share purchase agreement with EPEI allows the Group to monetize for cash 442 million in TFCo receivables through factoring7. Based on the targeted transaction parameters, Eviden will be entitled to 104 million from the proceeds of the 442 million in factoring. The remaining balance would stay with TFCo in the form of: 250 million of cash on the balance sheet; and 88 million in cash for compensation for the transfer of provisions for risks and charges8. EPEI will pay 1 for the shares of TFCo. On and off-balance sheet liabilities The 1.9 billion of on-balance sheet liabilities which would be transferred as part of the transaction would be broken down as follows: (Unaudited estimates) Dec 31st 2022 Jun 30th 2023 Provisions for risks and charges9 0.6 billion 0.6 billion Lease liabilities (IFRS 16)10 0.8 billion 0.7 billion Pension provisions 0.4 billion 0.4 billion Other and contingencies11 0.2 billion 0.2 billion Total12 1.9 billion 1.8 billion Based on December 31st, 2022 figures, 7.6 billion parent company guarantees which are off-balance sheet liabilities related to Tech Foundations and are targeted to be transferred to the buyer. Those include 4.8 billion of performance guarantees, 0.4 billion of leasing guarantees, 0.4 billion of financing guarantees and 2.0 billion of other parent company guarantees, representing ca. 75% of the Group's parent company guarantees. Therefore, the transfer of such on and off-balance sheet liabilities would significantly reduce Eviden's risk profile. Working capital Working capital is the amount of current assets less current liabilities linked to the operations of the business. Current assets include trade receivables, which are amounts due by clients to the Company, and current liabilities include trade payables, which are amounts due by the Company to its suppliers. As part of the Group's liquidity management, Atos carries out specific actions to optimize its working capital, particularly at half-year and annual closings. Those actions include: reported non-recourse factoring 13 (sale) of receivables for cash; (sale) of receivables for cash; a reduction in the average payment period for trade receivables, which increases the amount of cash to the Group and reduces the amount of reported receivables on the balance sheet; and an extension of supplier payment terms which increases the amount of cash at the Group and increases the amount of trade payables on the balance sheet. The above actions result in significant intra-annual variations in working capital compared with the reported year-end and mid-year working capital, as indicated at the announcement of the separation plan on June 14th, 202214. For the Group, it is estimated that the average working capital excluding these actions would have been on average about 1.8 billion higher than the reported figures, of which 0.7 billion stems from non-recourse factoring of receivables. As part of the contemplated transaction, the Company will deliver the working capital attributable to Tech Foundations including receivables and payables, based on TFCo's balance sheet at closing. Based on estimated historical trends, Tech Foundations' working capital level necessary to run the operations was estimated at 0.8 billion15 as of August 1st, 2023. At closing, potential shortfall compared with this working capital target would under certain conditions be part of the purchase price adjustments. On the Tech Foundations perimeter, at the time of the August 1st, 2023 announcement, the forecasted working capital at December 31st, 202316 for the Tech Foundations perimeter was estimated at (0.2) billion. This negative working capital reflected lower receivables and higher payables as a result of anticipated working capital actions described above. The reversal of those working capital actions in order to reach the normalized unaffected receivables and payables of 0.8 billion working capital target represents ca. 1 billion of financial impact on the estimated proforma reported December 31st, 2023 financial net debt position of Eviden. Upside sharing As part of the contemplated transaction, Atos SE (to be renamed Eviden SE) as seller of TFCo would be entitled to receive up to 10% of TFCo's share capital in 2027 depending on the achievement of certain operational targets by TFCo. In case of total or partial monetization of TFCo by EPEI before December 31st, 2026, Eviden would receive 40% of net proceeds of such transaction. From January 1st, 2027 to December 31st, 2028, that amount would be 20% of net proceeds of such transaction. Post-transaction capital structure and financing of Eviden As part of the contemplated transaction, the Group announced on August 1st, 2023, that it would intend to sustainably strengthen the capital structure of the Group post-transaction (Eviden) with planned capital increases for a total of 900m and from the proceeds of the 400m divestment plan that was announced on July 28th, 2023. These transactions combined with the impact of the sale of Tech Foundations would lead to an estimated proforma initial leverage of ca. 4x as of December 2023, and with a target of ca. 3x by 2024 year-end, and ca. 2x by 2025 year-end17. Debt financing in the context of the contemplated transaction As a reminder, in the context of the separation plan announced in June 2022, the Company has agreed with its financing banks an interim debt package of 2.7 billion consisting of a term loan A of 1.5 billion, a term loan B of 300 million and a revolving credit facility of 900 million, aimed at maintaining liquidity in the Group and cover financing needs during the transition period preceding the separation. The Company has already repaid ca. 270 million of its term loan B and expects the remaining balance of such term loan B to be repaid by year-end. The 1.5 billion term loan A has a maturity of January 2024 with two 6-month extensions until January 2025 available to the Company. Consequently, the Group is in active discussions with its financing banks to obtain loan waivers required for the contemplated sale of Tech Foundations and secure new financing for Eviden. The Company is negotiating a new term loan with a reduced principal amount, maturing in December 2026, to replace the 1.5 billion term loan A post-transaction. To date, the Company has received positive feedback on the waivers. The revolving credit facility maturing in November 2025 is expected to remain in place post-transaction. As part of the ongoing discussions with its financing banks, the Company aims to put in place an additional revolving credit facility at closing that will start in November 2025 and expire in November 2026. Equity financing in the context of the contemplated transaction As indicated in the press release of August 1st, 2023, the proposed capital increase of Atos SE (to be renamed Eviden SE) would amount to a total of 900m, consisting of a 180m reserved capital increase at an agreed price of 20 per share pursuant to which EPEI would hold 7.5% of the share capital and a 720m rights issue for all shareholders and to which EPEI is also committed to subscribe for 37.5m. As a result of the rights issue, the stake of the EPEI group in Eviden will in no event be higher than 7.5% and will be subject to a standstill. BNP Paribas and J.P. Morgan have provided a standby underwriting for the rights issue amount (less the amount of EPEI's subscription commitment), subject to usual conditions. Post-transaction deleveraging profile The Group net debt on June 30th, 2023 was 2.3 billion18. On August 1st, 2023, the reported net debt at December 31st, 2023 was expected to be approximately 2.1 billion19 after 250 to 300 million of proceeds of assets' sales for which binding agreements have already been signed20. In order to estimate the impact of the contemplated transaction on this expected net debt, the following adjustments would need to be made: December 31st, 2023 expected net debt pre-transaction (pre-IFRS 16) 2.1bn Net transaction proceeds (0.1)bn Reversal of TF working capital actions21 1.0bn Future disposal of assets22 (0.4)bn Equity raise (180 million reserved capital increase and 720 million rights issue) (0.9)bn Others and contingencies 0.2bn December 31st, 2023 expected proforma net debt post-transaction (pre-IFRS 16) 1.9bn The net effect of these proforma adjustments is a net debt of ca. 1.9 billion for Eviden at 2023 year-end implying a ca. 4x reported net leverage. The fast-deleveraging profile of Eviden would lead to ca. 3x and ca. 2x reported net leverage respectively as of 2024 and 2025 year-ends. The equity increase sizing is consistent with the objective to target a corporate rating of Eviden in the BB range, which will facilitate Eviden's access to debt capital markets. Subsequent to the August 1st, 2023 announcement, S&P assigned an indicative credit rating of BB- to Eviden post-transaction. Key conditions and termination rights Under the agreement entered into between Atos SE and EPEI on August 1st, 2023, Atos undertook to pay a break fee up to 3 million in case it did not sign the final agreements while the employee consultation process is completed and the bank loan waivers are obtained. In addition to antitrust and other regulatory conditions, the share purchase agreement would provide for financial conditions precedent to the closing of the contemplated transaction, which are generally pertaining to the transfer of the Tech Foundations perimeter (including certain contracts, pensions schemes and parent-company guarantees) and the viability of its operations (including through factoring arrangements and relevant expert opinions). The share purchase agreement would include potential adjustments and compensation mechanisms (unilateral or bilateral) which may benefit either party. Among such mechanisms, the amount of cash undertaken to be provided to TFCo at closing may be adjusted, including in certain cases of working capital shortfall against the target. Both parties would benefit from termination rights based on financial criteria designed to preserve the economics of the transaction in case of significant adjustments. Certain of the termination cases could trigger a break fee in the amount of 3 million. As last indicated on September 22nd, 2023, the information on the final terms and conditions of the contemplated transaction will be supplemented if and when the final agreements are signed and prior to a Shareholders' Meeting. Accounting matters The proforma financial statements of Tech Foundations and Eviden are currently being drawn up in the context of the contemplated transaction. The relevant information in this respect would be provided to the market when finalized and in any case before the contemplated Shareholders' Meeting. The annual impairment test that the Group carries out at year-end could lead this year to a significant impairment charge arising, among other factors, from the current contemplated transaction regarding Tech Foundations, as well as Atos' share price, should it remain at current levels. Liquidity situation of the Group The Group's policy is to fully cover its estimated liquidity needs with long-term borrowings, cash and other appropriate financial instruments, in order to have sufficient flexibility to finance its operations and future developments. Should the contemplated transaction with EPEI be submitted to and approved by shareholders and carried out, Eviden is expected to have the liquidity necessary to run its business while maintaining access to the debt market, based on the latest business forecasts and assuming the capital increases and a secured new term loan from the bank syndicate. Should the contemplated transaction with EPEI not go forward, the Group would remain fully committed to progressing on the separation plan. As part of its ongoing monitoring the Group expects to meet its liquidity requirements for 2024, based on the latest business forecasts, assuming continued access to the factoring program and the completion of the 400 million asset divestment program that was announced on July 28th, 2023. The Group would have to access the debt and equity capital markets, and/or consider the sale of additional assets, to refinance the 1.5 billion term loan A maturing in January 2025 (after the two 6-month extensions available to the Company) and the 750 million bonds maturing in May 2025. Next steps The Company will continue to pursue discussions with all relevant parties and stakeholders to progress on the exclusive negotiations for the sale of Tech Foundations, in parallel to the ongoing work on employee consultations, antitrust and other regulatory filings and other related matters. Pending the approval of the contemplated transaction by the shareholders, the Group continues to monitor market developments and is committed to a strong dialogue with its shareholders throughout the separation process. Analyst and investor conference call Atos' Management invites you to an international conference call, on Monday, October 16, 2023 at 08:00 am (CET - Paris). You can join the webcast of the conference: via the following link: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/8ahwavbf (https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/8ahwavbf) (https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/8ahwavbf) by telephone with the dial-in, 10 minutes prior the starting time. Please note that if you want to join the webcast by telephone, you must register in advance of the conference using the following link: https://register.vevent.com/register/BI15cfc3a534674ffd800e01ffb29e2430 (https://register.vevent.com/register/BI15cfc3a534674ffd800e01ffb29e2430) Upon registration, you will be provided with Participant Dial In Numbers, a Direct Event Passcode and a unique Registrant ID. During the 10 minutes prior to the beginning of the call, you will need to use the conference access information provided in the email received upon registration. After the conference, a replay of the webcast will be available on atos.net , in the Investors section. *** About Atos Atos is a global leader in digital transformation with 107,000 employees and annual revenue of c. 11 billion. European number one in cybersecurity, cloud and high-performance computing, the Group provides tailored end-to-end solutions for all industries in 69 countries. A pioneer in decarbonization services and products, Atos is committed to a secure and decarbonized digital for its clients. Atos is a SE (Societas Europaea), and listed on Euronext Paris. The purpose of Atos is to help design the future of the information space. Its expertise and services support the development of knowledge, education and research in a multicultural approach and contribute to the development of scientific and technological excellence. Across the world, the Group enables its customers and employees, and members of societies at large to live, work and develop sustainably, in a safe and secure information space. Contacts Media contact: globalprteam@atos.net Investor contact: investors@atos.net| 0805 65 00 75 1 Notably the negative cash flows of TFCo and the positive cash generation of Eviden 2 Unaudited figures. 3 Unaudited estimate as of December 31st, 2022 of which lease liabilities IFRS 16 for 0.8bn. The estimate as of June 30th, 2023 is 1.8bn. 4 Unaudited estimate as of December 31st, 2022. 5 Working capital is the amount of current assets less current liabilities linked to the operations of the business. Current assets include trade receivables, which are amounts due by clients to the Company, and current liabilities include trade payables, which are amounts due by the Company to its suppliers. Based on estimated historical trends, the working capital level attributable to Tech Foundations' operations was estimated at 0.8 billion. This 0.8 billion of Tech Foundations' working capital is not cash paid by Eviden to Tech Foundations but represents current assets including receivables and current liabilities including payables of Tech Foundations which are attributable to Tech Foundations balance sheet. At the time of the August 1st, 2023 announcement, the forecasted working capital at December 31st, 20235 was estimated at (0.2) billion due to working capital specific actions described later. The reversal of those actions represents a 1 billion estimated impact as of December 31st, 2023 arising from the difference between these two numbers. 6 As announced on July 28th, 2023 as part of H1 2023 results. 7 Factoring is a financial arrangement where a bank or financial institution purchases a business's accounts receivable to provide immediate cash, allowing the business to access funds before their customers pay their invoices. Factoring is to be implemented as part of the SPA prior to closing with Atos SE (to be renamed Eviden SE) as seller subsequently retaining the resulting cash on its balance sheet. The corresponding liabilities to repay the receivables that were sold is the sole responsibility of the buyer. 8 Related to underperforming and loss-making contracts. 9 Mainly composed of provisions for project commitments, for litigations and contingencies and for restructuring costs. 10 Lease liabilities mostly composed of real estate and IT leases. 11 These potential liabilities may crystallize upon effective separation of TFCo and Eviden and are not reported on balance sheet of the group as of December 2022 and June 2023. 12 Discrepancies between the break down figures and the totals result from rounding. 13 Bank factoring is a financial arrangement where a bank or financial institution purchases a business's accounts receivable (unpaid invoices) to provide immediate cash flow, allowing the business to access funds before their customers pay their invoices. 14 See Atos' press release and Capital Market Day presentation of June 14th, 2022. 15 This 0.8 billion of Tech Foundations' working capital is not cash paid by Eviden to Tech Foundations but represents current assets including receivables and current liabilities including payables of Tech Foundations which are attributable to Tech Foundations balance sheet. 16 Pending finalization of Tech Foundations' full carve-out, the working capital had been estimated as of December 31st, 2023, as the transaction was expected to close between Q4 2023 and Q1 2024. 17 Estimates as of August 1st, 2023. 18 Net debt pre IFRS 16. 19 Net debt pre IFRS 16. 20 As part of the initial 700 million asset divestment program already executed. 21 Estimates as of August 1st, 2023; referred as "unwinding of intra-year working capital" in the August 1st, 2023 press release. 22 As announced on July 28th, 2023. Attachment Not intended for UK-, US- or Canada-based media Merck, a leading science and technology company, today announced that 28 abstracts featuring the latest research on the company's oncology portfolio addressing unmet needs across bladder, head and neck, lung, colorectal and other cancers, will be presented at the 2023 European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Annual Meeting, October 20-24, Madrid, Spain. Presentations at the meeting encompass new analyses for the standard-of-care medicines BAVENCIO(avelumab), TEPMETKO (tepotinib) and ERBITUX (cetuximab). Additional presentations and activities at ESMO highlight the company's efforts to improve the lives of people with cancer. Key presentations include: BAVENCIO Based on the results of the randomized Phase III JAVELIN Bladder 100 study, the first-line maintenance regimen of BAVENCIO plus best supportive care has become a guideline-recommended standard of care in the locally advanced and metastatic urothelial carcinoma (UC) treatment setting. Previously presented long-term follow-up results have demonstrated median overall survival (OS) from start of chemotherapy of 29.7 months among patients receiving BAVENCIO who had not progressed on first-line platinum-based chemotherapy, establishing a new reference point for treatment outcomes in clinical studies. New analyses and real-world evidence to be presented at ESMO reinforce the role of the JAVELIN Bladder regimen in this setting. Long-term efficacy and safety outcomes from JAVELIN Bladder 100 confirm the prolonged OS, progression-free survival, and tolerability of first-line maintenance with BAVENCIO in patients older than 65 years with advanced UC. Further evidence from France and the United States, including first-time data in patients with advanced UC with histological variants in the French AVENANCE study, support the findings of JAVELIN Bladder 100 in real-world settings. Additional real-world analyses reinforce the use of BAVENCIO as a treatment for advanced/metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), a rare form of skin cancer. After a median follow-up of ~29 months, data from the MCC TRIM study showed a median OS of 52 months for patients with metastatic MCC treated with BAVENCIO in a real-world setting in Germany. Most patients (~86%) received first-line BAVENCIO. BAVENCIO was the first cancer immunotherapy to receive accelerated approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in March 2017 for the treatment of metastatic MCC; the approval was based on the results of the multicenter, international, single-arm, open-label, Phase II JAVELIN Merkel 200 trial. In September 2023, the accelerated approval in the US was converted into full approval for use of BAVENCIO for the treatment of metastatic MCC. TEPMETKO TEPMETKO is the first oral MET inhibitor to have received a regulatory approval anywhere in the world for the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring MET exon 14 skipping alterations, with its approval in Japan in March 2020. Updated findings from the Phase II VISION trial, which is the largest study of a MET inhibitor in this setting and served as the basis for regulatory approvals, continue to show clinically meaningful long-term efficacy in patients with METex14-skipping NSCLC treated with TEPMETKO regardless of line of therapy (2L, 2L+ and 3L+). Head and Neck Cancer Aligned with the company's commitment to addressing the unmet needs of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN), a new analysis of real-world survival outcomes and survival risk factors in elderly patients with locally advanced (LA) disease will be presented. Findings highlight poor survival outcomes, especially in patients aged 70 years and older with advanced disease stage and comorbidities, underscoring the need for innovative effective treatments for this population. The company is investigating the IAP (inhibitor of apoptosis protein) inhibitor xevinapant (formerly known as Debio 1143) in two ongoing Phase III clinical trials in patients with LA SCCHN. The first is the international, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled TrilynX study (NCT04459715) to evaluate the efficacy and safety of xevinapant versus placebo when added to definitive chemoradiotherapy in patients with unresected LA SCCHN. The second is XRay Vision (NCT05386550), an international randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of xevinapant versus placebo when added to adjuvant, post-operative radiotherapy in patients with resected LA SCCHN who are at high risk for relapse and are ineligible for cisplatin. Additional company-sponsored activity at ESMO: Medical Symposia Putting Patients First: Cultivating Care in Bladder Cancer. Chair: Joaquim Bellmunt, USA. Saturday, 21 October 2023, 13:00-14:30, Toledo Auditorium Chair: Joaquim Bellmunt, USA. Saturday, 21 October 2023, 13:00-14:30, Toledo Auditorium Exploring SCCHN: Insight Into an Evolving Treatment Landscape.Chair: Hisham Mehanna, UK. Saturday, 21 October 2023, 18:30-20:00, Oviedo Auditorium Evening Lecture Beyond biomarkers: Navigating patient selection in mCRC. Sunday, 22 October 2023, 19:45-22:00, Espacio La Salle, C. de San Juan de la Salle, 4 Additionally, the company will feature its educational initiative for oncology professionals on the unmet medical need in LA SCCHN, cancer's resistance to apoptosis, and the role of apoptosis proteins. More information can be found at www.TheWallinSCCHN.com or at Booth #526. Select Merck-related abstracts accepted for presentation at ESMO 2023 include (all times in CEST): Title Lead Author Abstract Session Information BAVENCIO (avelumab) Avelumab first-line (1L) maintenance for advanced urothelial carcinoma (aUC): long-term outcomes from the JAVELIN Bladder 100 trial in older patients (pts) S Gupta 2371P Session Title: Urothelial cancer Date: 23.10.2023 Session: 09:00-17:00 Presentation: 12:00-13:00 AVENANCE: subgroup analysis of patients (pts) with advanced urothelial carcinoma (aUC) with histological variants from a real-world (RW) study of avelumab first-line maintenance (1LM) P Barthelemy 2379P Session Title: Urothelial cancer Date: 23.10.2023 Session: 09:00-17:00 Presentation: 12:00-13:00 Clinical characteristics and survival of patients with advanced Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) treated with avelumab: analysis of a prospective German MCC registry (MCC TRIM) JC Becker 1145P Session Title: Melanoma and other skin tumours Dat: 22.10.2023 Session: 09:00-17:00 Presentation: 12:00-13:00 Xevinapant Real-world survival outcomes and survival risk factors in elderly patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck L Ember 890P Session: Head and neck cancer, excl. thyroid Date: 22.10.2023 Session: 09:00-17:00 Presentation: 12:00-13:00 TEPMETKO (tepotinib) Treatment (Tx) sequencing with tepotinib in previously treated patients (pts) with MET exon 14 (METex14) skipping NSCLC in the VISION trial S Viteri 1380P Session Title: NSCLC, metastatic Date: 23.10.2023 Session: 09:00-17:00 Presentation: 12:00-13:00 Liquid biopsies (LBx) and tissue biopsies (TBx) for identifying MET exon 14 (METex14) skipping in advanced NSCLC: Analyses from the Phase II VISION study of Tepotinib C Rolfo 1382P Session Title: NSCLC, metastatic Date: 23.10.2023 Session: 09:00-17:00 Presentation: 12:00-13:00 ERBITUX (cetuximab) Modified (m)-FOLFOXIRI plus cetuximb treatment and predictive clinical factors for RAS/BRAF wild-type and left-sided metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC): the DEEPER trial (JACCRO CC-13) Y Sunakawa 550MO Mini Oral Session: Gastrointestinal tumours, lower digestive Date: 22.10.2023 Session: 14:45-16:15 Presentation: 14:55 Advancing the Future of Cancer Care At Merck, we strive every day to improve the futures of people living with cancer. Our research explores the full potential of promising mechanisms in cancer research, focused on synergistic approaches designed to hit cancer at its core. We are determined to maximize the impact of our standard-of-care treatments and to continue pioneering novel medicines. Our vision is to create a world where more cancer patients will become cancer survivors. Learn more at www.merckgrouponcology.com. About BAVENCIO(avelumab) BAVENCIO is a human anti-programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) antibody. BAVENCIO has been shown in preclinical models to engage both the adaptive and innate immune functions. By blocking the interaction of PD-L1 with PD-1 receptors, BAVENCIO has been shown to release the suppression of the T cell-mediated antitumor immune response in preclinical models. BAVENCIO Approved Indications The European Commission (EC) has authorized the use of BAVENCIO as monotherapy for the first-line maintenance treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (UC) who are progression-free following platinum-based chemotherapy. BAVENCIO in combination with axitinib is indicated for the first-line treatment of adult patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC). BAVENCIO is also authorized by the EC for use as a monotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC). In the US, BAVENCIO is indicated for the maintenance treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (UC) that has not progressed with first-line platinum-containing chemotherapy. BAVENCIO is also indicated for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic UC who have disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy, or have disease progression within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment with platinum-containing chemotherapy. BAVENCIO in combination with axitinib is indicated in the US for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced RCC. Additionally, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved BAVENCIO for the treatment of adults and pediatric patients 12 years and older with metastatic MCC. BAVENCIO is currently approved for at least one indication for patients in more than 50 countries. BAVENCIO Safety Profile from the EU Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC) The special warnings and precautions for use for BAVENCIO monotherapy include infusion-related reactions, as well as immune-related adverse reactions that include pneumonitis and hepatitis (including fatal cases), colitis, pancreatitis (including fatal cases), myocarditis (including fatal cases), endocrinopathies, nephritis and renal dysfunction, and other immune-related adverse reactions. The special warnings and precautions for use for BAVENCIO in combination with axitinib include hepatotoxicity. The SmPC list of the most common adverse reactions with BAVENCIO monotherapy in patients with solid tumors includes fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, decreased appetite, constipation, infusion-related reactions, weight decreased and vomiting. The list of most common adverse reactions with BAVENCIO in combination with axitinib includes diarrhea, hypertension, fatigue, nausea, dysphonia, decreased appetite, hypothyroidism, cough, headache, dyspnea, and arthralgia. About TEPMETKO (tepotinib) TEPMETKO is a once-daily oral MET inhibitor that inhibits the oncogenic MET receptor signaling caused by MET (gene) alterations. Discovered and developed in-house at Merck, TEPMETKO has a highly selective mechanism of action, with the potential to improve outcomes in aggressive tumors that have a poor prognosis and harbor these specific alterations. TEPMETKO is the first oral MET inhibitor to have received a regulatory approval anywhere in the world for the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring MET exon 14 skipping alterations, with its approval in Japan in March 2020. In February 2021, the US Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval to TEPMETKO, making it the first and only once-daily oral MET inhibitor approved for patients in the US with metastatic NSCLC with METex14-skipping alterations. In February 2022, the European Commission (EC) approved once-daily oral TEPMETKO as monotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with advanced NSCLC harboring alterations leading to mesenchymal-epithelial transition factor gene exon 14 (METex14) skipping, who require systemic therapy following prior treatment with immunotherapy and/or platinum-based chemotherapy. TEPMETKO is available in a number of countries. To meet an urgent clinical need, TEPMETKO is also available in a pilot zone of China in line with the government policy to drive early access for innovative medicines approved outside of China. Merck is also investigating the potential role of tepotinib in treating patients with NSCLC and acquired resistance due to MET amplification in the Phase II INSIGHT 2 study of tepotinib in combination with osimertinib in MET amplified, advanced or metastatic NSCLC harboring activating EGFR mutations that has progressed following first-line treatment with osimertinib. TEPMETKO Safety Profile from the EU Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC) The special warnings and precautions for use for TEPMETKO monotherapy include Interstitial lung disease (ILD) or ILD-like adverse reactions including pneumonitis, increase of liver enzymes (ALT and AST), QTc prolongation, and embryo-fetal toxicity. The most common adverse reactions in 20% of exposed to tepotinib at the recommended dose in the target indication are oedema, mainly peripheral oedema, nausea, hypoalbuminemia, diarrhea and increase in creatinine. The most common serious adverse reactions in 1% of patients are peripheral oedema, generalized oedema and ILD. About Xevinapant Xevinapant (formerly known as Debio 1143) is an investigational first-in-class potent oral small-molecule IAP (inhibitor of apoptosis protein) inhibitor for the treatment of LA SCCHN. In preclinical studies, xevinapant restored sensitivity to apoptosis in cancer cells, thereby enhancing the effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Xevinapant, the most clinically advanced IAP inhibitor, improved efficacy outcomes in combination with chemoradiotherapy (CRT), including three-year progression-free survival and five-year survival, compared with placebo plus CRT in a Phase II study in patients with unresected locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (LA SCCHN). In March 2021, Merck gained exclusive rights from Debiopharm to develop and commercialize xevinapant worldwide. Xevinapant is not approved for any use anywhere in the world. About ERBITUX(cetuximab) ERBITUX is an IgG1 monoclonal antibody targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). As a monoclonal antibody, the mode of action of ERBITUX is distinct from standard non-selective chemotherapy treatments in that it specifically targets and binds to the EGFR. This binding inhibits the activation of the receptor and the subsequent signal-transduction pathway, which results in reducing both the invasion of normal tissues by tumor cells and the spread of tumors to new sites. It is also believed to inhibit the ability of tumor cells to repair the damage caused by chemotherapy and radiotherapy and to inhibit the formation of new blood vessels inside tumors, which appears to lead to an overall suppression of tumor growth. Based on in vitro evidence, ERBITUX also targets cytotoxic immune effector cells towards EGFR-expressing tumor cells (antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity [ADCC]). ERBITUX has already obtained market authorization in over 100 countries worldwide for the treatment of RAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer and for the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Merck licensed the right to market ERBITUX, a registered trademark of ImClone LLC, outside the U.S. and Canada from ImClone LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company, in 1998. All Merck press releases are distributed by e-mail at the same time they become available on the Merck website. Please go to www.merckgroup.com/subscribe to register online, change your selection or discontinue this service. About Merck Merck, a leading science and technology company, operates across life science, healthcare and electronics. More than 64,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people's lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From providing products and services that accelerate drug development and manufacturing as well as discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices the company is everywhere. In 2022, Merck generated sales of 22.2 billion in 66 countries. Scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to Merck's technological and scientific advances. This is how Merck has thrived since its founding in 1668. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company. Merck holds the global rights to the Merck name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck operate as MilliporeSigma in life science, EMD Serono in healthcare, and EMD Electronics in electronics. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231013628866/en/ Contacts: Media Relations noelle.piscitelli@emdserono.com Phone: +1 (781) 427 4351 Not intended for UK-based media EMD Serono, the Healthcare business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany in the US and Canada, today announced that 28 abstracts featuring the latest research on the company's oncology portfolio addressing unmet needs across bladder, head and neck, lung, colorectal and other cancers, will be presented at the 2023 European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Annual Meeting, October 20-24, Madrid, Spain. Presentations at the meeting encompass new analyses for the standard-of-care medicines BAVENCIO(avelumab) and TEPMETKO (tepotinib). Additional presentations and activities at ESMO highlight the company's efforts to improve the lives of people with cancer. Key presentations include: BAVENCIO Based on the results of the randomized Phase III JAVELIN Bladder 100 study, the first-line maintenance regimen of BAVENCIO plus best supportive care has become a guideline-recommended standard of care in the locally advanced and metastatic urothelial carcinoma (UC) treatment setting. Previously presented long-term follow-up results have demonstrated median overall survival (OS) from start of chemotherapy of 29.7 months among patients receiving BAVENCIO who had not progressed on first-line platinum-based chemotherapy, establishing a new reference point for treatment outcomes in clinical studies. New analyses and real-world evidence to be presented at ESMO reinforce the role of the JAVELIN Bladder regimen in this setting. Long-term efficacy and safety outcomes from JAVELIN Bladder 100 confirm the prolonged OS, progression-free survival, and tolerability of first-line maintenance with BAVENCIO in patients older than 65 years with advanced UC. Further evidence from France and the United States, including first-time data in patients with advanced UC with histological variants in the French AVENANCE study, support the findings of JAVELIN Bladder 100 in real-world settings. Additional real-world analyses reinforce the use of BAVENCIO as a treatment for advanced/metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), a rare form of skin cancer. After a median follow-up of ~29 months, data from the MCC TRIM study showed a median OS of 52 months for patients with metastatic MCC treated with BAVENCIO in a real-world setting in Germany. Most patients (~86%) received first-line BAVENCIO. BAVENCIO was the first cancer immunotherapy to receive accelerated approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in March 2017 for the treatment of metastatic MCC; the approval was based on the results of the multicenter, international, single-arm, open-label, Phase II JAVELIN Merkel 200 trial. In September 2023, the accelerated approval in the US was converted into full approval for use of BAVENCIO for the treatment of metastatic MCC. TEPMETKO TEPMETKO is the first oral MET inhibitor to have received a regulatory approval anywhere in the world for the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring MET exon 14 skipping alterations, with its approval in Japan in March 2020. Updated findings from the Phase II VISION trial, which is the largest study of a MET inhibitor in this setting and served as the basis for regulatory approvals, continue to show clinically meaningful long-term efficacy in patients with METex14-skipping NSCLC treated with TEPMETKO regardless of line of therapy (2L, 2L+ and 3L+). Head and Neck Cancer Aligned with the company's commitment to addressing the unmet needs of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN), a new analysis of real-world survival outcomes and survival risk factors in elderly patients with locally advanced (LA) disease will be presented. Findings highlight poor survival outcomes, especially in patients aged 70 years and older with advanced disease stage and comorbidities, underscoring the need for innovative effective treatments for this population. The company is investigating the IAP (inhibitor of apoptosis protein) inhibitor xevinapant (formerly known as Debio 1143) in two ongoing Phase III clinical trials in patients with LA SCCHN. The first is the international, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled TrilynX study (NCT04459715) to evaluate the efficacy and safety of xevinapant versus placebo when added to definitive chemoradiotherapy in patients with unresected LA SCCHN. The second is XRay Vision (NCT05386550), an international, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of xevinapant versus placebo when added to adjuvant, post-operative radiotherapy in patients with resected LA SCCHN who are at high risk for relapse and are ineligible for cisplatin. Additional company-sponsored activity at ESMO: Medical Symposia Putting Patients First: Cultivating Care in Bladder Cancer. Chair: Joaquim Bellmunt, USA. Saturday, 21 October 2023, 13:00-14:30, Toledo Auditorium Chair: Joaquim Bellmunt, USA. Saturday, 21 October 2023, 13:00-14:30, Toledo Auditorium Exploring SCCHN: Insight Into an Evolving Treatment Landscape. Chair: Hisham Mehanna, UK. Saturday, 21 October 2023, 18:30-20:00, Oviedo Auditorium Additionally, the company will feature its educational initiative for oncology professionals on the unmet medical need in LA SCCHN, cancer's resistance to apoptosis, and the role of apoptosis proteins. More information can be found at www.TheWallinSCCHN.com or at Booth #526. Select EMD Serono-related abstracts accepted for presentation at ESMO 2023 include (all times in CEST): Title Lead Author Abstract Session Information BAVENCIO (avelumab) Avelumab first-line (1L) maintenance for advanced urothelial carcinoma (aUC): long-term outcomes from the JAVELIN Bladder 100 trial in older patients (pts) S Gupta 2371P Session Title: Urothelial cancer Date: 23.10.2023 Session: 09:00-17:00 Presentation: 12:00-13:00 AVENANCE: subgroup analysis of patients (pts) with advanced urothelial carcinoma (aUC) with histological variants from a real-world (RW) study of avelumab first-line maintenance (1LM) P Barthelemy 2379P Session Title: Urothelial cancer Date: 23.10.2023 Session: 09:00-17:00 Presentation: 12:00-13:00 Clinical characteristics and survival of patients with advanced Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) treated with avelumab: analysis of a prospective German MCC registry (MCC TRIM) JC Becker 1145P Session Title: Melanoma and other skin tumours Dat: 22.10.2023 Session: 09:00-17:00 Presentation: 12:00-13:00 Xevinapant Real-world survival outcomes and survival risk factors in elderly patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck L Ember 890P Session: Head and neck cancer, excl. thyroid Date: 22.10.2023 Session: 09:00-17:00 Presentation: 12:00-13:00 TEPMETKO (tepotinib) Treatment (Tx) sequencing with tepotinib in previously treated patients (pts) with MET exon 14 (METex14) skipping NSCLC in the VISION trial S Viteri 1380P Session Title: NSCLC, metastatic Date: 23.10.2023 Session: 09:00-17:00 Presentation: 12:00-13:00 Liquid biopsies (LBx) and tissue biopsies (TBx) for identifying MET exon 14 (METex14) skipping in advanced NSCLC: Analyses from the Phase II VISION study of Tepotinib C Rolfo 1382P Session Title: NSCLC, metastatic Date: 23.10.2023 Session: 09:00-17:00 Presentation: 12:00-13:00 Advancing the Future of Cancer Care At EMD Serono, we strive every day to improve the futures of people living with cancer. Our research explores the full potential of promising mechanisms in cancer research, focused on synergistic approaches designed to hit cancer at its core. We are determined to maximize the impact of our standard-of-care treatments and to continue pioneering novel medicines. Our vision is to create a world where more cancer patients will become cancer survivors. Learn more at www.emdseronooncology.com. About BAVENCIO(avelumab) BAVENCIO is a human anti-programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) antibody. BAVENCIO has been shown in preclinical models to engage both the adaptive and innate immune functions. By blocking the interaction of PD-L1 with PD-1 receptors, BAVENCIO has been shown to release the suppression of the T cell-mediated antitumor immune response in preclinical models. BAVENCIO Approved Indications BAVENCIO (avelumab) is indicated in the US for the maintenance treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (UC) that has not progressed with first-line platinum-containing chemotherapy. BAVENCIO is also indicated for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic UC who have disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy, or have disease progression within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment with platinum-containing chemotherapy. BAVENCIO in combination with axitinib is indicated in the US for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC). In the US, BAVENCIO is indicated for the treatment of adults and pediatric patients 12 years and older with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC). BAVENCIO is currently approved for at least one indication for patients in more than 50 countries. BAVENCIO Important Safety Information from the US FDA-Approved Label BAVENCIO can cause severe and fatal immune-mediated adverse reactions in any organ system or tissue and at any time after starting treatment with a PD-1/PD-L1 blocking antibody, including after discontinuation of treatment. Early identification and management of immune-mediated adverse reactions are essential to ensure safe use of PD-1/PD-L1 blocking antibodies. Monitor patients closely for symptoms and signs that may be clinical manifestations of underlying immune-mediated adverse reactions. Evaluate liver enzymes, creatinine, and thyroid function at baseline and periodically during treatment. In cases of suspected immune-mediated adverse reactions, initiate appropriate workup to exclude alternative etiologies, including infection. Institute medical management promptly, including specialty consultation as appropriate. No dose reduction for BAVENCIO is recommended. For immune-mediated adverse reactions, withhold or permanently discontinue BAVENCIO depending on severity. In general, withhold BAVENCIO for severe (Grade 3) immune-mediated adverse reactions. Permanently discontinue BAVENCIO for life-threatening (Grade 4) immune-mediated adverse reactions, recurrent severe (Grade 3) immune-mediated reactions that require systemic immunosuppressive treatment, or an inability to reduce corticosteroid dose to 10 mg or less of prednisone or equivalent per day within 12 weeks of initiating corticosteroids. In general, if BAVENCIO requires interruption or discontinuation, administer systemic corticosteroid therapy (1 to 2 mg/kg/day prednisone or equivalent) until improvement to Grade 1 or less. Upon improvement to Grade 1 or less, initiate corticosteroid taper and continue to taper over at least 1 month. Consider administration of other systemic immunosuppressants in patients whose immune-mediated adverse reactions are not controlled with corticosteroid therapy. Toxicity management guidelines for adverse reactions that do not necessarily require systemic corticosteroids (eg, endocrinopathies and dermatologic reactions) are discussed in subsequent sections. BAVENCIO can cause immune-mediated pneumonitis, including fatal cases. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of pneumonitis and evaluate suspected cases with radiographic imaging. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 or greater pneumonitis. Withhold BAVENCIO for Grade 2 and permanently discontinue for Grade 3 or Grade 4 pneumonitis. Immune-mediated pneumonitis occurred in 1.2% (21/1738) of patients, including fatal (0.1%), Grade 4 (0.1%), Grade 3 (0.3%) and Grade 2 (0.6%) adverse reactions. Systemic corticosteroids were required in all (21/21) patients with pneumonitis. BAVENCIO can cause immune-mediated colitis. The primary component of immune-mediated colitis consisted of diarrhea. Cytomegalovirus infection/reactivation has been reported in patients with corticosteroid-refractory immune-mediated colitis. In cases of corticosteroid-refractory colitis, consider repeating infectious workup to exclude alternative etiologies. Withhold BAVENCIO for Grade 2 or Grade 3, and permanently discontinue for Grade 4 colitis. Immune-mediated colitis occurred in 1.5% (26/1738) of patients, including Grade 3 (0.4%) and Grade 2 (0.7%) adverse reactions. Systemic corticosteroids were required in all (26/26) patients with colitis. BAVENCIO can cause hepatotoxicity and immune-mediated hepatitis. Withhold or permanently discontinue BAVENCIO based on tumor involvement of the liver and severity of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), or total bilirubin elevation. Immune-mediated hepatitis occurred with BAVENCIO as a single agent in 0.9% (16/1738) of patients, including fatal (0.1%), Grade 3 (0.6%), and Grade 2 (0.1%) adverse reactions. Systemic corticosteroids were required in all (16/16) patients with hepatitis. BAVENCIO in combination with axitinibcan cause hepatotoxicity with higher than expected frequencies of Grade 3 and 4 ALT and AST elevation compared to BAVENCIO alone. Consider more frequent monitoring of liver enzymes as compared to when the drugs are used as monotherapy. Withhold or permanently discontinue both BAVENCIO and axitinib based on severity of AST, ALT, or total bilirubin elevation, and consider administering corticosteroids as needed. Consider rechallenge with BAVENCIO or axitinib, or sequential rechallenge with both BAVENCIO and axitinib, after recovery. In patients treated with BAVENCIO in combination with axitinib in the advanced RCC trials, increased ALT and increased AST were reported in 9% (Grade 3) and 7% (Grade 4) of patients. Immune-mediated hepatitis was reported in 7% of patients including 4.9% with Grade 3 or 4 immune-mediated hepatitis. Thirty-four patients were treated with corticosteroids and one patient was treated with a non-steroidal immunosuppressant. BAVENCIO can cause primary or secondary immune-mediated adrenal insufficiency. For Grade 2 or higher adrenal insufficiency, initiate symptomatic treatment, including hormone replacement, as clinically indicated. Withhold BAVENCIO for Grade 3 or Grade 4 endocrinopathies until clinically stable or permanently discontinue depending on severity. Immune-mediated adrenal insufficiency occurred in 0.5% (8/1738) of patients, including Grade 3 (0.1%) and Grade 2 (0.3%) adverse reactions. Systemic corticosteroids were required in all (8/8) patients with adrenal insufficiency. BAVENCIO can cause immune-mediated hypophysitis. Hypophysitis can present with acute symptoms associated with mass effect such as headache, photophobia, or visual field defects. Hypophysitis can cause hypopituitarism. Initiate hormone replacement, as clinically indicated. Withhold BAVENCIO for Grade 3 or Grade 4 endocrinopathies until clinically stable or permanently discontinue depending on severity. Immune-mediated pituitary disorders occurred in 0.1% (1/1738) of patients, which was a Grade 2 (0.1%) adverse reaction. BAVENCIO can cause immune-mediated thyroid disorders. Thyroiditis can present with or without endocrinopathy. Hypothyroidism can follow hyperthyroidism. Initiate hormone replacement for hypothyroidism or institute medical management of hyperthyroidism, as clinically indicated. Withhold BAVENCIO for Grade 3 or Grade 4 endocrinopathies until clinically stable or permanently discontinue depending on severity. Thyroiditis occurred in 0.2% (4/1738) of patients, including Grade 2 (0.1%) adverse reactions. Hyperthyroidism occurred in 0.4% (7/1738) of patients, including Grade 2 (0.3%) adverse reactions. Systemic corticosteroids were required in 29% (2/7) of patients with hyperthyroidism. Hypothyroidism occurred in 5% (90/1738) of patients, including Grade 3 (0.2%) and Grade 2 (3.7%) adverse reactions. Systemic corticosteroids were required in 7% (6/90) of patients with hypothyroidism. BAVENCIO can cause immune-mediated type I diabetes mellitus, which can present with diabetic ketoacidosis. Monitor patients for hyperglycemia or other signs and symptoms of diabetes. Initiate treatment with insulin as clinically indicated. Withhold BAVENCIO for Grade 3 or Grade 4 endocrinopathies until clinically stable or permanently discontinue depending on severity. Immune-mediated type I diabetes mellitus occurred in 0.1% (2/1738) of patients, including Grade 3 (0.1%) adverse reactions. BAVENCIO can cause immune-mediated nephritis with renal dysfunction. Withhold BAVENCIO for Grade 2 or Grade 3, and permanently discontinue for Grade 4 increased blood creatinine. Immune-mediated nephritis with renal dysfunction occurred in 0.1% (1/1738) of patients, which was a Grade 2 (0.1%) adverse reaction. Systemic corticosteroids were required in this patient. BAVENCIO can cause immune-mediated dermatologic adverse reactions, including rash or dermatitis. Exfoliative dermatitis including Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS), drug rash with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS), and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), has occurred with PD-1/PD-L1 blocking antibodies. Topical emollients and/or topical corticosteroids may be adequate to treat mild to moderate non-exfoliative rashes. Withhold BAVENCIO for suspected and permanently discontinue for confirmed SJS, TEN, or DRESS. Immune-mediated dermatologic adverse reactions occurred in 5% (90/1738) of patients, including Grade 3 (0.1%) and Grade 2 (2.0%) adverse reactions. Systemic corticosteroids were required in 29% (26/90) of patients with dermatologic adverse reactions. BAVENCIO can result in other immune-mediated adverse reactions. Other clinically significant immune-mediated adverse reactions occurred at an incidence of <1% in patients who received BAVENCIO or were reported with the use of other PD-1/PD-L1 blocking antibodies. For myocarditis, permanently discontinue BAVENCIO for Grade 2, Grade 3, or Grade 4. For neurological toxicities, withhold BAVENCIO for Grade 2 and permanently discontinue for Grade 3 or Grade 4. BAVENCIO can cause severe or life-threatening infusion-related reactions. Premedicate patients with an antihistamine and acetaminophen prior to the first 4 infusions and for subsequent infusions based upon clinical judgment and presence/severity of prior infusion reactions. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of infusion-related reactions, including pyrexia, chills, flushing, hypotension, dyspnea, wheezing, back pain, abdominal pain, and urticaria. Interrupt or slow the rate of infusion for Grade 1 or Grade 2 infusion-related reactions. Permanently discontinue BAVENCIO for Grade 3 or Grade 4 infusion-related reactions. Infusion-related reactions occurred in 25% of patients, including three (0.2%) Grade 4 and nine (0.5%) Grade 3 infusion-related reactions. Eleven (92%) of the 12 patients with Grade =3 reactions were treated with intravenous corticosteroids. Fatal and other serious complications of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) can occur in patients who receive HSCT before or after being treated with a PD-1/PD-L1 blocking antibody. Follow patients closely for evidence of transplant-related complications and intervene promptly. Consider the benefit versus risks of treatment with a PD-1/PD-L1 blocking antibody prior to or after an allogeneic HSCT. BAVENCIO in combination with axitinib can cause major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) including severe and fatal events. Consider baseline and periodic evaluations of left ventricular ejection fraction. Monitor for signs and symptoms of cardiovascular events. Optimize management of cardiovascular risk factors, such as hypertension, diabetes, or dyslipidemia. Permanently discontinue BAVENCIO and axitinib for Grade 3-4 cardiovascular events. MACE occurred in 7% of patients with advanced RCC treated with BAVENCIO in combination with axitinib compared to 3.4% treated with sunitinib in a randomized trial. These events included death due to cardiac events (1.4%), Grade 3-4 myocardial infarction (2.8%), and Grade 3-4 congestive heart failure (1.8%). BAVENCIO can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. Advise patients of the potential risk to a fetus including the risk of fetal death. Advise females of childbearing potential to use effective contraception during treatment with BAVENCIO and for at least 1 month after the last dose of BAVENCIO. It is not known whether BAVENCIO is excreted in human milk. Advise a lactating woman not to breastfeed during treatment and for at least 1 month after the last dose of BAVENCIO due to the potential for serious adverse reactions in breastfed infants. The most common adverse reactions (all grades, =20%) in patients with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) were fatigue (50%), musculoskeletal pain (32%), diarrhea (23%), nausea (22%), infusion-related reaction (22%), rash (22%), decreased appetite (20%), and peripheral edema (20%). Selected treatment-emergent laboratory abnormalities (all grades, =20%) in patients with metastatic MCC were lymphopenia (49%), anemia (35%), increased aspartate aminotransferase (34%), thrombocytopenia (27%), and increased alanine aminotransferase (20%). A fatal adverse reaction (sepsis) occurred in one (0.3%) patient with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (UC) receiving BAVENCIO best supportive care (BSC) as first-line maintenance treatment. In patients with previously treated locally advanced or metastatic UC, fourteen patients (6%) who were treated with BAVENCIO experienced either pneumonitis, respiratory failure, sepsis/urosepsis, cerebrovascular accident, or gastrointestinal adverse events, which led to death. The most common adverse reactions (all grades, =20%) in patients with locally advanced or metastatic UC receiving BAVENCIO BSC (vs BSC alone) as first-line maintenance treatment were fatigue (35% vs 13%), musculoskeletal pain (24% vs 15%), urinary tract infection (20% vs 11%), and rash (20% vs 2.3%). In patients with previously treated locally advanced or metastatic UC receiving BAVENCIO, the most common adverse reactions (all grades, =20%) were fatigue, infusion-related reaction, musculoskeletal pain, nausea, decreased appetite, and urinary tract infection. Selected laboratory abnormalities (all grades, =20%) in patients with locally advanced or metastatic UC receiving BAVENCIO BSC (vs BSC alone) as first-line maintenance treatment were blood triglycerides increased (34% vs 28%), alkaline phosphatase increased (30% vs 20%), blood sodium decreased (28% vs 20%), lipase increased (25% vs 16%), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) increased (24% vs 12%), blood potassium increased (24% vs 16%), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) increased (24% vs 12%), blood cholesterol increased (22% vs 16%), serum amylase increased (21% vs 12%), hemoglobin decreased (28% vs 18%), and white blood cell decreased (20% vs 10%). Fatal adverse reactions occurred in 1.8% of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) receiving BAVENCIO in combination with axitinib. These included sudden cardiac death (1.2%), stroke (0.2%), myocarditis (0.2%), and necrotizing pancreatitis (0.2%). The most common adverse reactions (all grades, =20%) in patients with advanced RCC receiving BAVENCIO in combination with axitinib (vs sunitinib) were diarrhea (62% vs 48%), fatigue (53% vs 54%), hypertension (50% vs 36%), musculoskeletal pain (40% vs 33%), nausea (34% vs 39%), mucositis (34% vs 35%), palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia (33% vs 34%), dysphonia (31% vs 3.2%), decreased appetite (26% vs 29%), hypothyroidism (25% vs 14%), rash (25% vs 16%), hepatotoxicity (24% vs 18%), cough (23% vs 19%), dyspnea (23% vs 16%), abdominal pain (22% vs 19%), and headache (21% vs 16%). Selected laboratory abnormalities (all grades, =20%) worsening from baseline in patients with advanced RCC receiving BAVENCIO in combination with axitinib (vs sunitinib) were blood triglycerides increased (71% vs 48%), blood creatinine increased (62% vs 68%), blood cholesterol increased (57% vs 22%), alanine aminotransferase increased (ALT) (50% vs 46%), aspartate aminotransferase increased (AST) (47% vs 57%), blood sodium decreased (38% vs 37%), lipase increased (37% vs 25%), blood potassium increased (35% vs 28%), platelet count decreased (27% vs 80%), blood bilirubin increased (21% vs 23%), and hemoglobin decreased (21% vs 65%). Please see full US Prescribing Information and Medication Guide available at http://www.BAVENCIO.com. About TEPMETKO (tepotinib) TEPMETKO is a once-daily oral MET inhibitor that inhibits the oncogenic MET receptor signaling caused by MET (gene) alterations. Discovered and developed in-house at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, TEPMETKO has a highly selective mechanism of action, with the potential to improve outcomes in aggressive tumors that have a poor prognosis and harbor these specific alterations. TEPMETKO is the first oral MET inhibitor to have received a regulatory approval anywhere in the world for the treatment of advanced NSCLC harboring MET gene alterations, with its approval in Japan in March 2020. In February 2021, the US Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval to TEPMETKO, making it the first and only once-daily oral MET inhibitor approved for patients in the US with metastatic NSCLC with METex14-skipping alterations. In February 2022, the European Commission (EC) approved once-daily oral TEPMETKO as monotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring alterations leading to mesenchymal-epithelial transition factor gene exon 14 (METex14) skipping, who require systemic therapy following prior treatment with immunotherapy and/or platinum-based chemotherapy. TEPMETKO is available in a number of countries. To meet an urgent clinical need, TEPMETKO is also available in a pilot zone of China in line with the government policy to drive early access for innovative medicines approved outside of China. Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany is also investigating the potential role of tepotinib in treating patients with NSCLC and acquired resistance due to MET amplification in the Phase II INSIGHT 2 study of tepotinib in combination with osimertinib in MET amplified, advanced or metastatic NSCLC harboring activating EGFR mutations that has progressed following first-line treatment with osimertinib. TEPMETKO Approved Indication in the US TEPMETKO is a kinase inhibitor indicated for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring mesenchymal epithelial transition (MET) exon 14 skipping alterations. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on overall response rate and duration of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials. Important Safety Information from the US FDA-Approved Label TEPMETKO can cause interstitial lung disease (ILD)/pneumonitis, which can be fatal. Monitor patients for new or worsening pulmonary symptoms indicative of ILD/pneumonitis (eg, dyspnea, cough, fever). Immediately withhold TEPMETKO in patients with suspected ILD/pneumonitis and permanently discontinue if no other potential causes of ILD/pneumonitis are identified. ILD/pneumonitis occurred in 2.2% of patients treated with TEPMETKO, with one patient experiencing a Grade 3 or higher event; this event resulted in death. TEPMETKO can cause hepatotoxicity, which can be fatal. Monitor liver function tests (including ALT, AST, and total bilirubin) prior to the start of TEPMETKO, every 2 weeks during the first 3 months of treatment, then once a month or as clinically indicated, with more frequent testing in patients who develop increased transaminases or total bilirubin. Based on the severity of the adverse reaction, withhold, dose reduce, or permanently discontinue TEPMETKO. Increased alanine aminotransferase (ALT)/increased aspartate aminotransferase (AST) occurred in 13% of patients treated with TEPMETKO. Grade 3 or 4 increased ALT/AST occurred in 4.2% of patients. A fatal adverse reaction of hepatic failure occurred in one patient (0.2%). The median time-to-onset of Grade 3 or higher increased ALT/AST was 30 days (range 1 to 178). TEPMETKO can cause embryo-fetal toxicity. Based on findings in animal studies and its mechanism of action, TEPMETKO can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. Advise pregnant women of the potential risk to a fetus. Advise females of reproductive potential or males with female partners of reproductive potential to use effective contraception during treatment with TEPMETKO and for one week after the final dose. Avoid concomitant use of TEPMETKO with dual strong CYP3A inhibitors and P-gp inhibitors and strong CYP3A inducers. Avoid concomitant use of TEPMETKO with certain P-gp substrates where minimal concentration changes may lead to serious or life-threatening toxicities. If concomitant use is unavoidable, reduce the P-gp substrate dosage if recommended in its approved product labeling. Fatal adverse reactions occurred in one patient (0.4%) due to pneumonitis, one patient (0.4%) due to hepatic failure, and one patient (0.4%) due to dyspnea from fluid overload. Serious adverse reactions occurred in 45% of patients who received TEPMETKO. Serious adverse reactions in >2% of patients included pleural effusion (7%), pneumonia (5%), edema (3.9%), dyspnea (3.9%), general health deterioration (3.5%), pulmonary embolism (2%), and musculoskeletal pain (2%). The most common adverse reactions (=20%) in patients who received TEPMETKO were edema, fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, musculoskeletal pain, and dyspnea. Clinically relevant adverse reactions in <10% of patients who received TEPMETKO included ILD/pneumonitis, rash, fever, dizziness, pruritus, and headache. Selected laboratory abnormalities (=20%) from baseline in patients receiving TEPMETKO in descending order were: decreased albumin (76%), increased creatinine (55%), increased alkaline phosphatase (ALP) (50%), decreased lymphocytes (48%), increased alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (44%), increased aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (35%), decreased sodium (31%), decreased hemoglobin (27%), increased potassium (25%), increased gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) (24%), increased amylase (23%), and decreased leukocytes (23%). The most common Grade 3 to 4 laboratory abnormalities (=2%) in descending order were: decreased lymphocytes (11%), decreased albumin (9%), decreased sodium (8%), increased GGT (5%), increased amylase (4.6%), increased ALT (4.1%), increased AST (2.5%), and decreased hemoglobin (2%). A clinically relevant laboratory abnormality in <20% of patients who received TEPMETKO was increased lipase in 18% of patients, including 3.7% Grades 3 to 4. For more information about TEPMETKO, please see full Prescribing Information, and visit www.TEPMETKO.com. About Xevinapant Xevinapant (formerly known as Debio 1143) is an investigational first-in-class potent oral small-molecule IAP (inhibitor of apoptosis protein) inhibitor for the treatment of LA SCCHN. In preclinical studies, xevinapant restored sensitivity to apoptosis in cancer cells, thereby enhancing the effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Xevinapant, the most clinically advanced IAP inhibitor, improved efficacy outcomes in combination with chemoradiotherapy (CRT), including three-year progression-free survival and five-year survival, compared with placebo plus CRT in a Phase II study in patients with unresected locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (LA SCCHN). In March 2021, Merck gained exclusive rights from Debiopharm to develop and commercialize xevinapant worldwide. Xevinapant is not approved for any use anywhere in the world. About EMD Serono, Inc. EMD Serono the healthcare business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany in the U.S. and Canada -aspires to create, improve and prolong life for people living with difficult-to-treat conditions like infertility, multiple sclerosis and cancer. The business is imagining the future of healthcare by working to translate the discovery of molecules into potentially meaningful outcomes for people with serious unmet medical needs. EMD Serono's global roots go back more than 350 years with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. Today, the business has approximately 1,500 employees around the country with commercial, clinical and research operations in Massachusetts. www.emdserono.com. About Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, operates across life science, healthcare and electronics. More than 64,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people's lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From providing products and services that accelerate drug development and manufacturing as well as discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices the company is everywhere. In 2022, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, generated sales of 22.2 billion in 66 countries. The company holds the global rights to the name and trademark "Merck" internationally. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, operate as MilliporeSigma in life science, EMD Serono in healthcare and EMD Electronics in electronics. Since its founding in 1668, scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to the company's technological and scientific advances. To this day, the founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231013733574/en/ Contacts: noelle.piscitelli@emdserono.com Phone: +1 (781) 427-4351 Conceptual image of DENSO booth Examples of visitors' experiences DENSO's unique acrylic ornaments of DENMARU KARIYA, JAPAN, Oct 16, 2023 - (JCN Newswire) - DENSO CORPORATION today announced that it will exhibit at JAPAN MOBILITY SHOW 2023(1), held at Tokyo Big Sight, from Saturday, October 28 to Sunday, November 5.At its booth, DENSO will present stories about how it hopes to contribute to the happiness of people in the future with mobility under the theme, "The Future Society Envisioned by DENSO through Its Imagination and Technology." Created in collaboration with science-fiction writers, the stories are drawn from fundamentally human themes, such as the bond between a parent and child, the joy of young people playing music and the fulfilling lives that senior citizens can lead. They will be presented in various ways. For example, an immersive 3D audio theater and augmented reality (AR) glasses will enable visitors to imagine how people in the future can live happily and vibrantly every day. Moreover, by reading the QR Code attached to each happy story, each visitor can enjoy listening to them narrated by the popular voice actresses Atsumi Tanezaki and Yu Wakui. It will display DENSO products intended to help create a better life for people in future society, where new types of mobility and technology preserve the global environment.DENSO press conferenceDENSO will hold a press conference at its booth as follows.Date and time: 9:45 - 10:00, Thursday, October 26Location: W3103, West Hall 3, fourth floor of the West Exhibition Building, Tokyo Big SightSpeaker: Shinnosuke Hayashi, President and CEO of DENSO CORPORATIONOn the day, DENSO will stream the press conference live. Please visit our official YouTube channel on time at: https://youtube.com/live/9gBGKLJBfsY?feature=shareThe T-shirts of DENSO booth staff are made from materials recycled from discarded work uniforms of different companies including DENSO. Visitors who answer a questionnaire at the booth will be given DENSO's unique acrylic ornaments, made from recycled acrylic resin, of a character called "DENMARU" on a first-come, first-served basis.For more details of the DENSO booth, please visit DENSO's special website for Japan Mobility Show 2023 at: https://www.denso.com/global/en/events/japan-mobility-show/2023/Moreover, the organizer's program called "Tokyo Future Tour" on the 1st floor of the West Exhibition Building, shows how Tokyo will change in the future with new types of mobility. DENSO will join this event and build a huge swing set in the shape of "H2" to convey an image of hydrogen energy to visitors. Electricity produced from energy generated by fully swinging on the swing will be converted into hydrogen, which can be stored for later use, by using DENSO's solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC)(2) system. Visitors can thus experience how energy can be used. At "Startup Future Factory," Japan Auto Parts Industries Association will host business matching and booth tours for member companies.https://www.japia.or.jp/topics_detail1/id=4135(1) The event organized by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Inc. (JAMA) will be open to the press from Wednesday, October 25 to Thursday, October 26, previewed on Friday, October 27, and open to the public from Saturday October 28 to Sunday, November 5.(2) A SOEC is a unit that operates at high temperatures using a ceramic membrane as an electrolyte to electrolyze water vapor to produce hydrogen. There are other methods of producing hydrogen, such as alkaline water electrolysis in which an alkaline aqueous solution is used as an electrolyte, as well as proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis in which a polymer membrane is used as an electrolyte. The SOECs used in this demonstration require less electric energy for electrolysis than the other two types.In the verification test jointly conducted by DENSO Fukushima Corporation and Toyota Motor Corporation since March of this year, PEM water electrolysis units have been used.Reference: Japan Mobility Show 2023 Official Website, https://www.japan-mobility-show.com/en/Source: DensoCopyright 2023 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved. BRI's global impact beyond flagship projects Xinhua) 10:15, October 16, 2023 BEIJING, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Peljesac Bridge, linking the Croatian mainland and the Peljesac Peninsula, the Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway, and Italy's pioneering semi-automatic terminal, Vado Gateway terminal, are globally renowned as key projects of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). These projects, impressive as they may be, have earned their reputation not merely as structures, but for revitalizing local and regional economic growth in their respective areas. The following are some facts, figures and coming-of-age stories of some flagship projects that underscore the broader impact of the China-proposed BRI, going beyond the provision of public goods. CONNECTIVITY, PROSPERITY As the famous Chinese saying goes: "Building the road is the first step towards prosperity." In a similar vein, infrastructure is a strong underpinning for a country's economic and social development, and the BRI projects have proven to precisely accommodate the development demand of participating countries. Laos, a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, is one example of how modern infrastructure has boosted interconnectivity. The economic development of Laos had long been restricted with only a 3.5 km-long railroad to Thailand. In December 2021, the 1,035-km China-Laos Railway, the first transnational railway built under the BRI, was launched, linking the Lao capital Vientiane, with the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan. Since its launch, the rail has become a game-changer for Laos, and an integral part of the country's economic and social landscape. Freight volume has significantly increased, and both domestic and international tourists now consider riding the Lane Xang electric multiple-unit trains on the China-Laos Railway a must-do experience. Today, Laos has become a land-linked hub in the Indo-China Peninsula. Data shows that the railway had recorded a total of 20.79 million passenger trips and transported 25.22 million tonnes of cargo as of Aug. 31, 2023. Not only is the land connectivity steadily improving, but BRI cooperation is also expanding in the maritime and aviation sectors of participating countries, contributing to local prosperity. The Port of Piraeus, the largest port in Greece, was once on the brink of bankruptcy. Through Chinese investment in capital and advanced technologies and equipment under the BRI, it has seen its annual cargo throughput increase to above 5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), making it the fourth largest TEU port in Europe. In terms of air connectivity, China has signed bilateral air transport agreements with 104 BRI participating countries and opened direct flights with 57 partner countries to facilitate cross-border transport, according to official statistics. INVESTMENT, EMPLOYMENT In addition to transportation infrastructure, co-invested industrial parks and economic cooperation zones stand out as signature BRI projects, playing a clear role in promoting investment, trade and creating job opportunities for the locals. The China-Egypt TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone, for instance, is one demonstration project that aligns the BRI with the development of the Suez Canal Corridor. Constructed in 2008, the cooperation zone supported Chinese enterprise Jushi to establish a subsidiary company in Egypt, which has enabled the Egyptian fiberglass industry to grow from scratch and made Egypt a major fiberglass producer in the world. Over the past 15 years, the cooperation zone has attracted 145 companies to settle down, resulting in an investment of more than 1.7 billion U.S. dollars. The Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone (SSEZ) in Cambodia, a joint venture between Chinese and Cambodian investors under the BRI, also shares a similar story. Among the first batch of the overseas economic and trade cooperation zones, the 11-square-km SSEZ has so far accommodated some 175 companies from China, the United States, Europe, Southeast Asia and other regions, generating nearly 30,000 jobs, according to the zone's operator. The World Bank has estimated that by 2030, BRI-related investments could lift 7.6 million people out of extreme poverty and 32 million people out of moderate poverty. ENERGY, SUSTAINABILITY Energy is high on the agenda among the 20-plus multilateral dialogue and cooperation mechanisms that BRI participating countries have launched, and green development is at the heart of BRI energy cooperation. Since announcing that it would peak CO2 emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060, China has made substantial efforts to pursue greener development, which include vowing to stop building new coal-fired power stations overseas. Walking the talk, the country has invested in and built a number of clean energy projects, aiming to contribute to the green and low-carbon development of the world. The Karot hydropower station, the first hydropower project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor which kicked off commercial operations in June 2022, is one of them. In just over a year, the hydropower station has generated 3.64 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, meeting the demands of more than 5 million residents. Statistics indicate that China has carried out green energy project cooperation with more than 100 countries and regions, and the country's investment in BRI participating countries in terms of green and low-carbon energy has exceeded that for traditional energy. According to China's top energy regulator, the country will continue to promote high-quality energy cooperation under the BRI, and build closer, greener and more inclusive energy partnerships in the future. (Web editor: Liang Jun) EQS-News: MC Services AG / Key word(s): Conference MC Services Supports Record-seeking BIO-Europe 2023 in Munich as Media Partner 16.10.2023 / 11:00 CET/CEST The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Press Release MC Services Supports Record-seeking BIO-Europe 2023 in Munich as Media Partner Munich / Dusseldorf, Germany, October 16, 2023. MC Services AG, a leading international public and investor relations firm specializing in communications for the life science and healthcare sectors, will again support BIO-Europe , Europe's flagship partnering event for the global biopharmaceutical industry, as a media partner. The event, organized by EBD Group, will take place in Munich, Germany, November 6-8, 2023, followed by a virtual partnering edition November 14-15, 2023. The conference is set to be the largest and most internationally diverse event of its kind to date, according to current registration trends. Among the key topics on this year's agenda are AI and its transformative potential for the life sciences sector as well as effective new strategies for early-stage fundraising. Other highlights include a plenary on the "Global trends and next wave of Biopharma innovation", panel discussions presenting the latest innovations and global trends in obesity, cardiometabolic disease and oncology, plus a session putting the Munich ecosystem in the spotlight. "We are enthusiastic that innovators, decision-makers, investors, and journalists from all over the world will gather in Munich this fall for Europe's most popular life sciences partnering event. Munich's informal name 'Isar Valley' and the fact that BIO-Europe keeps returning to this vibrant city clearly underline Munich's importance as one of the leading life sciences hubs in Europe. Home to nearly 250 life science companies, prestigious universities, research centers and business incubators, this location especially benefits from the close network between academic research and biotech industry", said Katja Arnold, Managing Director & Partner of MC Services. "As a media partner, we are excited to host the event's press lounge and provide a pleasant working environment for journalists to cover the latest developments in the life science industry. We are particularly looking forward to the Media Round-Up, a first for BIO-Europe, where journalists will analyse the trending topics of the event." BIO-Europe 2023 is expected to bring together over 5,500 executives from biotech and pharma companies as well as stakeholders in the financial community from 60+ countries. Additionally, the event will feature three days of program sessions, which have been built around three themes: the Business of Biotech, Therapeutic Insights, and Ecosystem Innovation. For more detailed information regarding the program and additional activities, please visit the event's website . About MC Services AG MC Services AG is an international public relations and investor relations firm specializing in communications for the life science and healthcare sectors. With a strong team of advisors in science, finance, media communications and extensive industry experience, MC Services is a leading life sciences agency in Europe. MC Services' long-standing clients include international public and private companies, as well as venture capital and investment firms. Established for many years as a link between the healthcare industry and the financial markets, MC Services provides comprehensive services in investor relations, public relations and financial transactions. MC Services has offices in Munich, Dusseldorf, Berlin, London and Boston. www.mc-services.eu About EBD Group EBD Group's overriding mission is to help collaborations get started across the life science value chain. Our range of partnering conferences has grown to become the largest and most productive conference platform in the industry. Each one of our landmark events held in key life science markets around the world is powered by our state-of-the-art partnering software, partneringONE, that enables delegates to efficiently identify and engage with new opportunities via one-to-one meetings. Today our events (BIO-Europe, BIO-Europe Spring, BioPharm America, Biotech Showcase, ChinaBio Partnering Forum, and BioEquity Europe) annually attract more than 15,000 senior life science executives who engage in over 50,000 one-to-one partnering meetings. These vital one-to-one engagements are the wellspring of deals that drive innovation in our industry. EBD Group is an Informa company. For more information, please visit www.ebdgroup.com . Contact MC Services AG Katja Arnold, Eva Bauer Phone: +49 89 210 228 0 E-mail: contact@mc-services.eu 16.10.2023 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 VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / Q Battery Metals Corp. ("Q Battery Metals" or the "Company) (CSE:QMET)(OTC PINK:BTKRF)(FRA:0NB) is pleased to provide an update of exploration on the La Corne South project, located north of Val d'Or, Quebec. The Q Battery Metals geological team has recently completed more thorough sampling of pegmatite outcrops that were discovered earlier this year (see news release dated July 3, 2023). For the most recent sampling program the company utilized a diamond bladed rock saw in order to cut greater volume of material from the pegmatite outcrops that were not conducive to standard rock hammer and chisel sampling. Samples were submitted directly to ALS Laboratory in North Vancouver, B.C. The company also completed rock sampling in June when pegmatite samples were submitted to ALS Laboratory in Val d'Or, Quebec. In total, seven rock samples were submitted to ALS from the June and September sampling programs. The June sampling included a combination of rock chip and grab samples including float blocks. The September sampling included channel saw sampling along with rock outcrop chip sampling. Six of the samples were taken from outcrops or boulders of pegmatitic material, and one sample was taken from volcanic outcrop with significant pyrite and pyrrhotite mineralization (WP69). The below table summarizes results of the two sampling programs. Sample Description WP UTM E N Li Cs Al Be A0369803 30 cm pegmatitic vein 80% smokey quartz with mica, sampled from blocks broken from outcrop 35 18 U 298901 5353775 7.6 0.23 0.31 3.2 A0369804 blocks, 30cm size pegmatitic looking close to area of volcanic outcrop 36 18 U 298890 5353813 622 463 9.36 196 A0369805 qtz mica coarse pegmatitic float blocks 33 18 U 298760 5353663 228 137 10.05 177 WP66 sampled 2-3cm pegmatitic warpy vn 66 18 U 298891 5353784 1.3 0.27 0.48 0.29 WP67 0.5 m subcrop boulders pegmatite, QF wedges 67 18 U 298897 5353801 0.9 0.27 0.08 1.34 WP68 30cm lensoid vein pegmatite for saw cut, QF biotite 68 18 U 298922 5353827 4.6 0.48 0.16 2.09 WP69 rusty outcrop top of knoll above WP68, sampled for base metals (not Li) 69 18 U 298827 5353514 17.4 2.36 1.2 1.71 Rock samples were generally obtained using a hammer and chisel. Sample WP68 was obtained utilizing a diamond bladed rock saw in order to cut material from the vein exposure. All samples were taken directly to the ALS lab either in Val d'Or or North Vancouver. The initial three samples underwent the Lab's ME-MS61L analysis using 4-acid digestion and MS analysis for 48 elements. Samples WP 66-69 were analyzed by the Lab's ME-MS41 process which utilized an aqua regia digestion followed by MS analysis for 51 elements. The best lithium value of 622 ppm was obtained from blocks of rock found at surface on the margin of a ridge of outcrop. Two samples were taken from these blocks, both of which returned elevated Li, along with Cs, Al and Be, all indicators for pegmatite that can potentially be lithium bearing. The float blocks are interpreted as having been derived from a nearby source. The geologic team undertook a property wide tour of the La Corne South Property lithium target area as part of the recent August 2023 reconnaissance. The property is well crossed by good condition resource roads. The property has a significant cover of sand, silt and gravel deposited during the last period of glaciation. It is recommended that the company continue undertaking ground geophysical surveys in order to identify potential pegmatite beneath the sediment cover. The ground surveys (resistively) will add to the geophysical data obtained from the previously completed drone-supported magnetics and ground IP chargeability surveys to provide more defined targets for eventual diamond drilling. Q Battery Metals exploration programs undertaken in Quebec are supervised by Dr. Mathieu Piche, OGQ, with office located north of Val d'Or. He is also a Q Battery Metals company director. The company has 100% interest in mineral claims within Quebec and British Columbia, with exploration targeting critical and precious metals. Perry Grunenberg, P.Geo, a "Qualified Person" as that term is defined under NI 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information in this news release. Cautionary Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements based on assumptions as of that date. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations; they are not guarantees of future performance. The Company cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to exploration and development; the ability of the Company to obtain additional financing; the Company's limited operating history; the need to comply with environmental and governmental regulations; fluctuations in the prices of commodities; operating hazards and risks; competition and other risks and uncertainties, including those described in the Company's Prospectus dated September 8, 2017 available on www.sedar.com. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions, and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions, and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information. On behalf of the Board of Directors Richard Penn CEO (778) 384-8923 SOURCE: Q Battery Metals Corp. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/793238/q-battery-metals-receives-pegmatite-rock-sample-results-with-622-ppm-lithium-la-corne-south-project-val-dor-quebec CHICAGO, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The report "Flame Retardants Market by Type (Aluminum Trihydrate, Antimony Oxide, Brominated), Application (Epoxy, Polyolefin, Unsaturated Polyester), End-Use Industry (Building & Construction, Electronics & Appliances), and Region - Global Forecast to 2028", size was USD 7.0 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 9.5 billion by 2028, at a CAGR of 5.2%, between 2023 and 2028. Flame retardants are used in various end-use industries including building & construction, electronics & appliances, automotive & transportation, wires & cables, textiles, and others. Flame retardants are chemicals or materials that are added to various products to reduce their flammability and slow down the spread of fires. They are used in a wide range of industries and applications to enhance fire safety. Browse in-depth TOC on "Flame Retardants Market" 190 - Tables 80 - Figures 280 - Pages Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=686 Nitrogen is projected to register the highest CAGR, in terms of value, of the global flame retardants during the forecast period. The increasing demand for nitrogen-based flame retardants is driven by several factors, including concerns about the environmental and health impacts of traditional flame retardants, regulatory changes, and the need for effective fire safety solutions. Nitrogen-based flame retardants have gained attention due to their potential to provide fire protection while addressing some of the shortcomings associated with other types of flame retardants. All these factors are expected to drive the demand for nitrogen type of flame retardant during the forecast period. Building & construction is estimated to be the largest end-use industry of the flame retardants, in terms of value, during the forecast period. Fire safety standards in the construction industry require materials and products used in buildings to meet specific fire performance criteria. Flame retardants help construction materials, such as insulation, roofing, and wall materials, meet these standards by slowing down the spread of flames and reducing the release of toxic smoke and gases during a fire. This is expected to drive the demand for flame retardants in building & construction end-use industry. Epoxy is estimated to be the largest application of the flame retardants, in terms of value, during the forecast period. Epoxy resins are used in various construction applications, including adhesives, coatings, and structural components. Epoxy flame retardants are essential in construction materials to enhance fire safety in buildings, infrastructure, and transportation projects. The electronics industry relies heavily on epoxy-based materials for circuit boards, encapsulation, and insulation. Flame retardant epoxy materials are crucial to prevent electrical fires and ensure the safety of electronic devices and systems. All these factors drive the demand for flame retardants in epoxy application. Request Sample Pages: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=686 Western Europe is estimated to be the second-largest market for the flame retardants market, in terms of value, during the forecast period. Western Europe has stringent safety regulations and standards related to fire safety in buildings, electronics, transportation, and consumer products. These regulations often require the use of flame retardants to meet specific fire performance criteria. The Western European construction sector places a strong emphasis on fire safety due to the potential risks associated with densely populated urban areas. Flame retardants are widely used in the construction industry to enhance the fire resistance of building materials, such as insulation, roofing materials, and wall coatings. Increasing construction and infrastructure activities in the region is expected to drive the market for flame retardants in building & construction application. The key players profiled in the report include Albemarle Corporation (US), Clariant AG (Switzerland), LANXESS AG (Germany), BASF SE (Germany), ICL Group Ltd. (Israel), Nabaltec AG (Germany), Huber Engineered Materials (US), ADEKA Corporation (Japan), Italmatch Chemicals S.p.A. (Italy), and Avient Corporation (US). Browse Adjacent Market: Specialty Chemicals Market Research Reports & Consulting Related Reports: Alumina Trihydrate Market - Global Forecast to 2025 Bromine Market - Global Forecast to 2028 About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets has been recognized as one of America's best management consulting firms by Forbes, as per their recent report. MarketsandMarkets is a blue ocean alternative in growth consulting and program management, leveraging a man-machine offering to drive supernormal growth for progressive organizations in the B2B space. We have the widest lens on emerging technologies, making us proficient in co-creating supernormal growth for clients. Earlier this year, we made a formal transformation into one of America's best management consulting firms as per a survey conducted by Forbes. The B2B economy is witnessing the emergence of $25 trillion of new revenue streams that are substituting existing revenue streams in this decade alone. We work with clients on growth programs, helping them monetize this $25 trillion opportunity through our service lines - TAM Expansion, Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy to Execution, Market Share Gain, Account Enablement, and Thought Leadership Marketing. 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Contact: Mr. Aashish Mehra MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/flame-retardant-chemicals-market.asp Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ Content Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/flame-retardant-chemicals.asp Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/flame-retardants-market-worth-9-5-billion-by-2028--exclusive-report-by-marketsandmarkets-301957211.html PRESS RELEASE Wolters Kluwer releases new enhancements to Enablon Vision Platform New innovations further solidify solution's position as one of the most comprehensive, user- friendly, integrated risk management software platforms on the market Amsterdam - October 16, 2023 - Wolters Kluwer has launched several upgrades to its Enablon Vision Platform, bringing new functionality, automation, dashboards, and data visibility to operations, environmental, and safety teams. The Enablon Vision Platform helps users lay the foundation for integrated risk management, by integrating, automating, and streamlining governance, risk, compliance, health and safety, environment and sustainability, business continuity, and internal audit practices across the organization. The platform provides a single source of truth for integrated risk management, and empowers users and executives to make better, more informed decisions. From supporting field staff in achieving an incident-free work environment, to simplifying environmental data collection, industry-leading enterprises use the platform to harmonize their risk approach and drive continuous improvement - from the plant floor to the executive suite. Today's announcement marks the second occasion this year that Wolters Kluwer has launched new innovations to Version 9 2023 of the Enablon Vision Platform, which was introduced in April 2023. Notable additions included in today's Enablon Vision Platform Version 9 2023 SP2 release include: New features to enhance Control of Work safety processes, like start-work checklists, where users can design checklists for their work permits. These checklists, which were previously managed outside the platform, are now fully integrated into the permit-to-work workflow, allowing users to implement changes more quickly and reduce unnecessary project delays. safety processes, like start-work checklists, where users can design checklists for their work permits. These checklists, which were previously managed outside the platform, are now fully integrated into the permit-to-work workflow, allowing users to implement changes more quickly and reduce unnecessary project delays. New features that enhance Environmental, Health, Safety, and Quality (EHSQ) processes, including smart cards for waste management, and improvements to the way users can input, resend and improve compliance related to safety data sheets , which help ensure that hazardous chemicals are appropriately handled. (EHSQ) processes, including for waste management, and improvements to the way users can input, resend and improve compliance related to , which help ensure that hazardous chemicals are appropriately handled. New global usability and process safety management improvements, including the introduction of safety manager dashboards that provide a snapshot of past and current site, region, or business safety issues, allowing users to make smart, agile decisions. and improvements, including the introduction of safety manager dashboards that provide a snapshot of past and current site, region, or business safety issues, allowing users to make smart, agile decisions. Enhanced integration between Incident Management and IncidentXP, which helps users reduce repeat incidents, by making it easier to quickly conduct root cause analyses. which helps users reduce repeat incidents, by making it easier to quickly conduct root cause analyses. Enhanced usability and performance improvements for mobility , including the ability to add media files, such as photos and videos, to event records in the Enablon Go mobile app, and a streamlined experience for users who need to access and manage data for multiple sites. , including the ability to add media files, such as photos and videos, to event records in the Enablon Go mobile app, and a streamlined experience for users who need to access and manage data for multiple sites. Enhanced accessibility, including keyboard navigation and user interface compatibility with assistive technologies. Rob Davis, Vice President of Product Management, Wolters Kluwer Enablon, said: "The new Enablon Vision Platform functionality we're releasing today is proof of Wolters Kluwer's commitment to continual investment in innovations that ensure our single, cohesive, and user-friendly platform remains the best integrated risk solution on the market." Enablon, part of Wolters Kluwer's Corporate Performance & ESG, is the world's leading provider of integrated software solutions for EHS, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), Operational Excellence, and Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC). The division helps create a better world by making organizations responsible, productive, and safe through innovative technology. Hundreds of industry-leading enterprises and millions of users, worldwide, rely on Enablon solutions to minimize risks, increase worker safety, prevent incidents from happening, achieve regulatory compliance, and reduce environmental impact. # # # About Wolters Kluwer Wolters Kluwer (EURONEXT: WKL) is a global leader in information, software, and services for professionals in healthcare, tax and accounting, financial and corporate compliance, legal and regulatory, and corporate performance and ESG. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with specialized technology and services. Wolters Kluwer reported 2022 annual revenues of 5.5 billion. The group serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries, and employs approximately 20,900 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands. For more information, visit www.wolterskluwer.com, follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. Media Contact Paul Lyon Senior Director, External Communications Wolters Kluwer Mobile: +44 7765 391 824 Paul.Lyon@wolterskluwer.com Attachment MONTREAL, Oct. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As part of NBAA-BACE Media Day, Bombardier leaders, including President and CEO Eric Martel, will outline key in-service milestones on the growing flagship fleet of Global 7500 aircraft, as well as confirm and detail on-track progress for the Global 8000 aircraft's flight testing. "We are proud to showcase our strong and diversified portfolio at NBAA-BACE and the progress we are making to grow our second-to-none business jet fleet and services today, all while being prepared for tomorrow through industry-leading innovation and research," said Martel. "We come to NBAA-BACE after having spent the last few years building a solid and resilient business. In fact, over and above our multi-year firm backlog, our long-term skyline includes more than 200 order options from large operators for Challenger and Global aircraft. With Global 7500 and Global 8000 jets accounting for almost half of that number, Bombardier has set a solid foundation for its future." The company will also provide updates about new service offerings including the recently announced Smart Services Elite program and category-redefining Certified Pre-Owned program. Finally, Bombardier is set to reveal the first images and videos from the EcoJet research project's larger-scale flight testing phase, which the company confirmed in May 2023. All NBAA-BACE accredited media are invited to join the event in person at 9:30 a.m. (Pacific) in room N115 at the Las Vegas Convention Centre. Presentation and Questions Period to be hosted by: Eric Martel, President and CEO, Bombardier Paul Sislian, Executive Vice President, Aftermarket Services & Strategy Stephen McCullough, Senior Vice President, Engineering & Product Development About Bombardier Bombardier (BBD-B.TO) is a global leader in aviation, focused on designing, manufacturing, and servicing the world's most exceptional business jets. Bombardier's Challenger and Global aircraft families are renowned for their cutting-edge innovation, cabin design, performance, and reliability. Bombardier has a worldwide fleet of approximately 5,000 aircraft in service with a wide variety of multinational corporations, charter and fractional ownership providers, governments, and private individuals. Bombardier aircraft are also trusted around the world in government and military special-mission roles leveraging Bombardier Defense's proven expertise.? Headquartered in Greater Montreal, Quebec, Bombardier operates aerostructure, assembly and completion facilities in Canada, the United States and Mexico. The company's robust customer support network services the Learjet, Challenger and Global families of aircraft, and includes facilities in strategic locations in the United States and Canada, as well as in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, the UAE, Singapore, China and Australia.? For corporate news and information, including Bombardier's Environmental, Social and Governance report, as well as the company's plans to cover all its flight operations with Sustainable Aviation Fuel. Learn more about Bombardier's industry-leading products and customer service network at businessaircraft.bombardier.com . Follow us on Twitter @Bombardier .?? Global 7500 and Global 8000 are registered trademarks of Bombardier Inc. For information Mark Masluch Senior Director, Communications? Bombardier?? + 514?855-7167 BY: MISSISSIPPI EDITORIAL TEAM NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / This year, Entergy Mississippi celebrates 100 years of operation in the state and a century of investing in the communities in which we live, serve and work through our support of education and the arts. A leader in helping advance support for education and workforce development in this state from early childhood to K-12 and post-secondary classrooms, the company has remained steadfast in our efforts to fund programs that help children and adults receive the education and training they need to flourish. We have also made significant contributions to support endeavors that preserve and promote the arts in Mississippi, which are also necessary for healthy, thriving communities. Some of the projects we have supported include the Two Mississippi Museums, the Grammy Museum and educational arts programs through New Stage Theater. Two recent donations, totaling $500,000, support arts, education, historic preservation and economic development and will have a tremendous impact on communities within our service territory. Entergy Mississippi has committed to contributing $250,000 over five years to help fund the renovation of the Gore Arts Complex on the campus of Mississippi College in Clinton and providing another contribution of $250,000 over five years to the Foundation for Mississippi History to support a new initiative by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History to transform the Historic Jefferson College campus in Washington, Mississippi. Raising the curtain on arts education with Mississippi College The Gore Arts Complex, named after long-time art professor Dr. Sam Gore, will house 13 studios and classroom space for the art department at Mississippi College. The renovation also includes updating the 458-seat auditorium, which will be named the Entergy Theater in recognition of this contribution. The renovated space will enable Mississippi College to provide arts education programs to not only their students, but also K-12 students from underserved communities in the Jackson Metro area. In addition, the college will be able to host continued education seminars for art educators from across the state. The Clinton community will also benefit from the new complex and auditorium by using the space for community meetings and assemblies. Preservation lays foundation for future workforce at Historic Jefferson College The transformation of the Historic Jefferson College campus project will breathe new life into the historic structures on the campus and lay the foundational work for the Natchez Center for American History at Jefferson College. Considered the birthplace of Mississippi statehood, the earliest buildings on campus were constructed by enslaved people to house the state's first institution of higher learning. "The restoration project at Historic Jefferson College is a prime example of Mississippians working to better our communities and create opportunities for the next generation," said Haley Fisackerly, president and CEO, Entergy Mississippi. "We're thrilled to partner with Mississippi Department of Archives and History to develop an institution that will prepare Mississippians for employment in a sector that is woefully short of meeting demand. Not only is it a beautiful site that will play an important role in southwest Mississippi's tourism, but this effort will also cultivate a strong workforce with diverse skills that is critical to helping Mississippi's economy thrive." In 1817, delegates gathered in a church on campus to write a constitution, as Mississippi became the 20th state in the nation. After the Civil War, the campus served briefly as a Freedman's Bureau, helping citizens make the transition from slavery to freedom. An investment in economic development and the regional workforce, the project includes renovation of the historic buildings to provide classroom and lab training space to cultivate a new generation of high-skilled preservation trades specialists through hands-on training in masonry, architectural surveying and digital imaging, historic resources management, window restoration, plaster and stucco repair and preservation planning. Supporting education to help Mississippians reach their full potential is a cornerstone of Entergy Mississippi's giving efforts. Backing arts and culture endeavors helps our communities develop into destinations for tourists and places our residents want to call home. Both gifts reflect our commitment to give back to our communities through philanthropy, volunteerism and advocacy. Gathering on HJC campus are (l-r) Carter Burns, executive director, Historic Natchez Foundation; Katie Blount, Director, MDAH; Haley Fisackerly, president and CEO, Entergy Mississippi; Spence Flatgard, president, MDAH board. View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Entergy Corporation on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: Entergy Corporation Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/entergy-corporation Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: Entergy Corporation View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/793312/entergy-mississippi-supports-arts-education-and-economic-development-with-two-major-gifts Experts project that cybercrime will cause $10.5 trillion in annual damages by 2025 His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Al-Kuwaiti said: "Our vision is to create a great place to collaborate, work, and serve the entire world" DUBAI, UAE, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The world's leading cybersecurity experts have convened at GITEX GLOBAL 2023 to address the urgent challenges of cybercrime, projected to cause $10.5 trillion in annual damages by 2025. Ransomware, crypto crime and risks associated with Generative AI are some of the key threats that CISOs and security professionals need to tackle in the digital era. His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Al-Kuwaiti, Head of Cybersecurity, UAE Government, gave a keynote address at GITEX GLOBAL, highlighting how digital transformation across all sectors in the UAE has made it a catalyst for improved collaboration. Al-Kuwaiti also highlighted UAE's Cybersecurity Council's work across the UAE and how it collaborates with partners to protect and defend people and organizations against threats. "We strive to continuously innovate and form partnerships with entities, nations, and governments. Our vision is to create a great place to collaborate, work, and serve the entire world," he added. Cybersecurity in the AI era At the show, Huawei is demonstrating its leading-edge cybersecurity capabilities and solutions to address the evolving threats faced by organisations and nations hopping onto the digital transformation bandwagon. Dr. Aloysius Cheang, Chief Security Officer, Huawei Middle East & Central Asia, highlighted some cybersecurity risks associated with the rapidly advancing AI industry. "While generative AI can enhance cyber security, it can also introduce potential vulnerabilities and risks. There is a need for businesses, governments, and society to proactively address the possible risks, regulate the ethical use of generative AI in cybersecurity, and establish robust governance frameworks." Dr. Aloysius advocated for greater collaboration and information-sharing among organisations to combat cyber threats effectively. "We must pivot and focus our efforts on building Data Security Governance and adopting the 'follow the data' model as an abstraction to address any new technology that comes our way, whether it be cloud or AI." A panel discussion titled "Cybersecurity at the Heart of Digital Transformation" featured HE Dr. Mohamed Al-Kuwaiti along with Amer Sharaf, Executive Director of Cyber Security Systems and Services Sector, Dubai Electronics Security Centre, Nathan Swain, former Senior Security Advisor to the U.K. Government, His Excellency Pengiran Dato Shamhary Mustapha, Minister of Transport and Infocummunications, Brunei and Hon. Ousman Bah, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Gambia. The panellists shared their insights on balancing security and innovation in the digital age. Together, they collectively emphasized the importance of collaboration with both public and private entities, underscoring the need to sustain investments in cybersecurity. GITEX GLOBAL 2023 marked the global debut of the year's most anticipated cybersecurity showcase, GITEX Cyber Valley, hosted by the UAE Cybersecurity Council. The Cyber Valley hosts various hackathons with over 500 white hackers participating across five challenges to solve global tech issues. Cyber Valley participants can also explore X-Labs Security, a cutting-edge platform for technical talks and the latest product demos. Leading cybersecurity organisations including Huawei, Netscout, ESET, Kaspersky, Norton, Palo Alto, Fortinet, and more, are exhibiting at GITEX GLOBAL to showcase how their solutions are helping organisations protect their most precious assets. Autonomous Mobility Meets Extreme Sports Autonomy is advancing at a remarkable pace, with the power to redefine mobility. Today, the Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC) unveiled the Super Formula Dallara model at GITEX ahead of the first autonomous race at the Abu Dhabi F1 track in April 2024. Dr. Tom McCarthy, Executive Director of ASPIRE, the technology transition arm of ATRC, said, "The Dallara Super Formula car has been adapted with an autonomy stack, allowing the vehicle to perceive its environment and race autonomously at the Abu Dhabi Yas Marina Circuit. A2RL marks a significant milestone for Abu Dhabi and the wider UAE, setting the stage for disruptive innovations in mobility through extreme sports." GITEX GLOBAL and Expand North Star comprise a combined 41 halls spanning 2.7 million sq. ft of exhibition space, a 40% growth year-on-year attracting 1,800 start-ups across the two mega-events. GITEX GLOBAL and Expand North Star converge the best minds and most visionary companies to scrutinise, challenge, define, and empower the digital agendas of the world. More information is available at www.gitex.com and www.expandnorthstar.com On social media: Facebook |Instagram |Twitter |LinkedIn |Youtube Hashtag: GITEXGLOBAL Expandnorthstar Media Contact: Gareth Wright - PR Director Tel.: + 971 50 273 3832 Gareth.Wright@dwtc.com Tayce Marchesi - PR Executive Tel.: + 971 58 552 3994 Tayce.Marchesi@dwtc.com PR Agency, ASDA'A BCW Tel.: + 971 55 648 7197 gitex@bcw-global.com About Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC): A global business facilitator since 1979, Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) is home to region's leading purpose-built convention and exhibition centre. DWTC provides a platform for connecting people, products, innovation and ideas from around the world through a dynamic calendar of international trade exhibitions and its own roster of sector leading mega events. As a designated free zone, complemented by award-winning commercial real estate, DWTC plays an integral role in Dubai and the region's growth story with an estimated total economic output of AED 200 Billion, attracting over 30 Million business visitors to Dubai over the past four decades. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2248093/Dubai_World_Trade_Centre.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/cybersecurity-in-the-spotlight-as-gitex-global-2023-opens-301957471.html TAIPEI, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- GIGABYTE, the world's leading computer brand, is ready to usher in the era of Intel Core 14th-gen processors with a complete lineup of AORUS Z790 X Gen motherboards. Ranging from the flagship Z790 AORUS XTREME X to the versatile Z790 AORUS ELITE X, the X Gen family is engineered to unlock the full potential of Intel's Core 14th-gen processors and drive DDR5 memory faster than ever. The X Gen family also boasts several key upgrades designed for next-gen performance, including new DIY-friendly innovations, efficient thermal designs, Ultra Durable reinforcements, and cutting-edge Wi-Fi 7 support. Gamers, enthusiasts, and professionals can now experience the most advanced power delivery, connectivity, and networking capabilities with the latest powerful platform from GIGABYTE. At the heart of the Z790 X Gen motherboards is an optimized foundation for best-in-class DDR5 compatibility and performance. Thanks to leading PCB craftsmanship and software optimization, the motherboards offer support for memory speeds reaching XMP-8266 and beyond, setting a new world record for DDR5 overclocking. To simplify memory kit optimization for gamers, all Z790 X Gen motherboards equipped with DDR5 support offer an array of memory optimization tools accessible through the BIOS. Features like DDR5 XMP Booster, High Bandwidth, and Low Latency allow gamers to get the most out of their memory modules with just a simple click. GIGABYTE remains committed to making PC building easier than ever, incorporating a range of DIY-friendly innovations in the AORUS Z790 X Gen motherboards. The upgraded EZ-Latch designs ensure effortless installation of graphics cards, M.2 SSDs and even M.2 heatsinks, guaranteeing a hassle-free building experience. The newly designed UC BIOS boasts a user-friendly interface and experience, including Quick Access with customizable option slots. Gamers can also take advantage of PerfDrive, an exclusive BIOS setting that optimizes system performance based on their cooling configurations. Furthermore, GIGABYTE has entered an exclusive partnership with HWiNFO, offering an innovative feature for real-time monitoring of memory timing and in-depth BIOS information. For more detailed information about the AORUS Z790 X Gen motherboards and to explore their cutting-edge features, please visit the official landing page at https://bit.ly/AORUS_Z790_X_GEN . Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2246401/Picture1.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/gigabyte-aorus-z790-x-gen-motherboards-welcomes-intels-core-14th-gen-processors-with-leading-ddr5-performance-301956033.html The launch of the Canoe Data Innovation Hub and the Canoe Asset Data Design Partnership exemplify Canoe's commitment to innovation and industry-leading product development in alternative investment data. Canoe Intelligence ("Canoe"), the financial technology company guiding the alternatives industry forward with smarter data management, today announced two strategic initiatives that will shape the future of alternative investment data: the Canoe Data Innovation Hub and the Canoe Asset Data Design Partnership. Building upon Canoe's recent successes, which include 100% year-over-year growth and a strategic $25 million Series B financing round in February 2023, Canoe is continuing to advance operational excellence through the expansion of its platform and product suite. The Canoe Asset Data Design Partnership Canoe has identified strong demand across its client base for access to asset-level data to solve several core use cases, including exposure analysis, portfolio analysis, and due diligence. Within the Canoe Data Innovation Hub, a cross-functional team of strategists, product managers, engineers, and growth experts are partnering with 13 Canoe clients across firm types, geographies and strategies to design and build its inaugural product offering, Canoe Asset Data This Design Partnership addresses the challenges clients face today, where they often rely on manual, time-consuming methods to access and analyze asset-level data. Canoe's aim is to deliver a scalable, cost-effective solution that complements the company's existing offerings and approach. Jason Eiswerth, CEO of Canoe Intelligence, noted, "The Canoe Data Innovation Hub and the Canoe Asset Data Design Partnership are not just initiatives; they are integral pillars of our strategic vision. We are acutely aware of the evolving landscape in alternative investments and the need for greater data granularity, including both fund and asset-level data. Delivering both is a significant component of our mission: to provide complete transparency to our clients, and allow them to revolutionize the way they manage their portfolios." Leading the Canoe Data Innovation Hub is Aman Soni, VP of Data Strategy, who added, "Canoe is strategically positioned to drive standardization and transparency in the alternative markets, and the launch of our Canoe Data Innovation Hub signifies our unwavering commitment to deliver on this promise. Our inaugural product, Canoe Asset Data, offers a timely, accurate, and comprehensive view of transparency within investor portfolios, utilizing a tech-first approach. We have an exciting roadmap for product development, and this marks our initial stride toward realizing our overarching vision." Canoe Asset Data will confidently and reliably extract and deliver detailed information pertaining to individual assets or holdings within clients' investment funds, ensuring scalability, precision, and faster decision-making ability. Given the complexity and diversity of alternative investments, having access to accurate and comprehensive asset-level data is essential for achieving transparency, managing risk, and ultimately achieving investment objectives in the alternative investment space. Canoe Asset Data is set to be commercially available in Q1 2024 following the conclusion of the design partnership program and beta release. This development builds on key platform infrastructure enhancements, insights driven by Canoe's unique Shared Intelligence, and the company's mission to manage alts smarter. To meet surging demand, Canoe has expanded its global operations over the past 12 months, increasing its headcount to 125 employees worldwide and opened a new office in London as the business extends its reach into Europe. About Canoe Intelligence Canoe Intelligence ("Canoe") is a financial technology company dedicated to advancing alternative investment intelligence for institutional investors, capital allocators, wealth managers, and asset servicing firms. Canoe empowers clients with technology, data, and insights to manage alternative assets more efficiently, accurately, and confidently. With a commitment to innovation and excellence, Canoe is redefining the future of alternative investment data management. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231016486800/en/ Contacts: MEDIA CONTACT: Tom Engleback, Ellie Basle, Alex Restaino Greentarget canoeintelligence@greentarget.co.uk +44(0)783 457 1183 Betsy Miller Daitch Canoe Intelligence bdaitch@canoeintelligence.com +1 443-690-6200 Program expands to francophone countries for the first time following success in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Zambia. NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / Bloomberg Originally published on bloomberg.com Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa (BMIA) has launched in francophone West Africa for the first time. More than 100 delegates participated in Bloomberg's Financial Journalism Training (FJT) program in Senegal and Cote d'Ivoire. The delegates are part of the first cohort to participate in the program through French. At country launches in Dakar and Abidjan, participants from the media, government and civil society were joined by senior representatives from the Senegal and Cote d'Ivoire governments to celebrate the expansion of the FJT program to French speaking markets. Over the next eight months, delegates will spend 23 days in interactive in-person sessions led by prominent faculty members at local universities. Participants will engage in a series of workshops that will strengthen their skills in and understanding of data analysis, capital markets, accounting, public policy, economics and the transforming media landscape. Financial journalism sessions will be taught by Bloomberg News reporters. Delegates will also receive a free, six-month subscription to the Bloomberg Terminal, offering access to global data, news and analysis. The sessions have been developed in partnership with prominent faculty at local universities, including Centre d'Etudes des Sciences et Techniques de l'Information (CESTI) and Centre Africain d'Etudes Superieures en Gestion (CESAG) in Senegal, and the Institut des Sciences et Techniques de la Communication (ISTC) In Cote d'Ivoire, in collaboration with Strathmore University Business School (SUBS) in Kenya. Speaking following the event in Dakar the Honorable Moussa Bocar Thiam, Minister of Communications, Telecommunications and Digital Economy, Senegal said: "We are excited that BMIA has launched its financial journalism training program in Senegal in partnership with CESTI and CESAG. It is crucial that journalists develop key business journalism and data analysis skills as the Senegalese economy transforms and investment opportunities evolve. I am confident that the program will support the continuous progression of media in the region through exposing them to leading financial journalism experts and concepts." Speaking following the event in Abidjan the Honoroable Amadou Coulibally, Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Cote d'Ivoire said: "We are delighted that BMIA has launched its financial journalism training program in Cote d'Ivoire. As our economy and business networks continue to expand, it is vital that local journalists develop the techniques needed to accurately report on complex transitions and developments. By participating in this program, Ivorian media will learn techniques from some of the world's leading financial journalism experts." "Since 2014, more than 800 delegates have completed the Financial Journalism Training program, from countries right across the continent. The practical training delegates receive, particularly in the area of financial data analysis, has proved invaluable to participants as they develop in their careers, says Erana Stennnett, Head of Bloomberg Corporate Philanthropy in the Africa & Middle East and Director of Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa. "As we offer the program in French for the first time, we hope this new cohort of journalists and executives lead the way in shaping the future of robust business and financial journalism in francophone Africa. The FJT program, part of Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa (BMIA), supports the advancement of financial journalism to contribute to more inclusive economic development on the continent of Africa. In collaboration with a consortium of pre-eminent journalism and business schools across eight key African markets, BMIA is designed to deliver a highly innovative, integrated and practical world-class executive training program that is firmly rooted in African market realities. The expansion of the program to Senegal and Cote d'Ivoire, follows the success of the program in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia, where over 800 delegates from 16 countries have graduated to date. FJT is offered to journalists and mid-career professionals in communications, business, government and civil society. The Financial Journalism Training program is a core component of BMIA, which aims to contribute to the advancement of business and financial reporting in Africa. Funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the initiative is supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and the Ford Foundation. ### ENDS ### Follow the conversation online using BMIAFJT To view a report on the aims and outcomes of phase one of the BMIA program see here. For more information on BMIA please click here. About the Bloomberg Africa Media Initiative (BMIA) Launched by Mike Bloomberg in South Africa in 2014, the Bloomberg Africa Media Initiative (BMIA) is a pan-Africa program designed to accelerate development of a globally competitive media and financial reporting industry as well as promote transparency, accountability and good governance in Africa and beyond. The initiative has four components: It provides cross-disciplinary educational programs to increase the number of highly trained business and financial journalists, as well as supports research to stimulate new media innovations, convene international leaders to promote interactive dialogue and build strong relationships to enhance the quality of financial coverage and the availability of reliable and timely data on the continent. About Bloomberg Philanthropies: Bloomberg Philanthropies invests in 700 cities and 150 countries around the world to ensure better, longer lives for the greatest number of people. The organization focuses on five key areas for creating lasting change: the Arts, Education, Environment, Government Innovation, and Public Health. Bloomberg Philanthropies encompasses all of Michael R. Bloomberg's giving, including his foundation, corporate, and personal philanthropy as well as Bloomberg Associates, a pro bono consultancy that works in cities around the world. In 2022, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed US$ 1.7 billion. For more information, please visit ?bloomberg.org, sign up for our newsletter,? or follow us on ?Facebook, ?Instagram,? YouTube,? Twitter/X, and LinkedIn. Media Contact: Oisin O Malley - Bloomberg LP oomalley2@bloomberg.net View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Bloomberg on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: Bloomberg Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/bloomberg Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: Bloomberg View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/793337/bloomberg-media-initiative-africa-launches-financial-journalism-training-program-in-senegal-and-cte-divoire NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / Big changes are brewing at TriplePundit, and we're finally ready to spill the tea. Launched in 2005, TriplePundit is one of the longest-running online news platforms for sustainability in business. We've built a global community by reporting the latest on people, planet and profit for nearly two decades. As the sustainability and social impact space continues to evolve, so do we. That's why we're bringing solutions journalism to sustainable business news. Our manifesto: Shed the gloom, embrace the momentum. What is solutions journalism? Solutions journalism centers on the belief that solutions to challenges are also newsworthy. Grounded in evidence and journalistic rigor, this style of reporting focuses not only on the problem, but also on how people are working to solve it and what we can learn from them - whether they succeed or not. Why should I care? TriplePundit is the first publication in the sustainability and social impact space to take this approach, although we know readers are looking for it. More than 65% of U.S. adults read about sustainability, the environment or social well-being on a regular basis, according to 2022 polling from 3BL and TriplePundit. And the majority said they'd like to see more coverage of new technologies, systems and ideas that tackle global challenges. Do readers really want this? Don't just take our word for it. Research from the Solutions Journalism Network shows that audiences prefer the hopeful tone of solutions coverage and are more likely to take action on an issue after viewing it. The Center for Media Engagement at the University of Texas at Austin also found that readers are more likely to come back to publications using a solutions approach, while the Institute for Applied Positive Research linked solutions coverage to improved problem-solving skills and renewed energy among audiences. With this transition, TriplePundit joins more than 1,900 news organizations worldwide in providing our audiences with an alternative to the barrage of news coverage centered on problems with little guidance on what to do about them. Check out the new face of TriplePundit here, with in-depth solutions stories that showcase the best of this style of reporting and what it means for our space. View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from TriplePundit on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: TriplePundit Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/triplepundit Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: TriplePundit View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/793324/revolutionizing-sustainable-business-news-with-solutions-journalism--a-new-era-for-triplepundit The publication recognized Gunjan Kedia and Alli Yttreness NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / U.S. Bank Gunjan Kedia (left) was named to the Most Powerful Women in Finance list; Alli Yttreness was honored on the publication's annual ranking of Most Powerful Women in Banking: NEXT. Originally published on U.S. Bank company blog American Banker has recognized two U.S. Bank leaders in its annual roster of the Most Powerful Women in Banking and Finance, naming Vice Chair Gunjan Kedia and Senior Vice President Alli Yttreness among individual honorees. Kedia, a vice chair and member of the 16-person Managing Committee, is head of Wealth, Corporate, Commercial and Institutional Banking (WCIB). In this role, she leads more than 11,100 employees and oversees one of the three core business lines at the company, which accounts for 38% of U.S. Bank revenue (as of June 30, 2023). Kedia was named to the Most Powerful Women in Finance list ; it is the sixth consecutive year she has been honored. Yttreness, senior vice president and the company's director of regulatory controls in WCIB, was honored on the publication's annual ranking of Most Powerful Women in Banking: NEXT , which highlights women 40 years old and younger who are believed to have potential to ascend to the C-suite. The NEXT awards were announced in July, and Yttreness was profiled in American Banker . "Strong, powerful women are shaping the future of our industry, and we are fortunate to have many of them at U.S. Bank," said Andy Cecere, chairman, president and CEO of U.S. Bank. "Gunjan and Alli are among those leading the way. We are a better company because of their unique perspectives and leadership. We applaud all of this year's honorees." U.S. Bank leaders have been consistently recognized in the Most Powerful program since its inception 21 years ago. "These women represent so much more than world-class business acumen and inspirational leadership skills," said Chana Schoenberger, editor-in-chief at American Banker. "They symbolize the perseverance it takes to create meaningful change, the commitment needed to build stronger communities, and the creativity that's essential to drive the industry into a new age." View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from U.S. Bank on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: U.S. Bank Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/us-bank Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: U.S. Bank View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/793350/american-banker-names-us-bank-leaders-to-2023-most-powerful-women-in-banking ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Deltek, the leading global provider of software and solutions for project-based businesses, announced that it is partnering with Save the Children for its annual customer conference - Deltek ProjectCon 2023 - taking place this week at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. Thousands of Deltek customers, partners and experts will gather for in-person networking opportunities, discussions on industry best practices, inspirational keynotes and education on Deltek solutions and services. Each year, attendees at Deltek's customer conference participate in a philanthropic activity during the DeltekCares Reception. This year, the reception will be sponsored by Cordia, now Cherry Bekaert, and in support of Save the Children, which works with partners and communities in over 100 countries to give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. In 2022 alone, Save the Children programs and partners helped 118 million children. Together, attendees at Deltek ProjectCon will assemble activity and care bags for children in rural America. In addition, Deltek will donate $20 to Save the Children for every G2 review left by customers at Deltek ProjectCon. "Each year, Deltek supports an organization during our annual customer conference - it's just one of the ways that we give back with our DeltekCares program throughout the year. We are excited to be partnering with Save the Children - not only during the reception, but also through money raised by G2 reviews," said Ed Hutner, Deltek's SVP of Human Resources. "I'd like to thank our sponsor Cordia Partners for their generosity and collaboration with us for this charitable event - Deltek ProjectCon and this philanthropic effort wouldn't be possible without our sponsors support." Over 30 sponsoring partners will join Deltek at the Gaylord Palms in the "XPO" - where attendees can connect with Deltek experts and fellow attendees to get hands-on with live demos, see partner solutions in action, and more. This year's sponsoring partners include Diamond Sponsor Baker Tilly, and Platinum Sponsors Kinetek Consulting and Premier Consulting & Integration LLC. To learn more about Deltek ProjectCon and to register for the conference, visit deltekprojectcon.com. About Deltek Better software means better projects. Deltek is the leading global provider of enterprise software and information solutions for project-based businesses. More than 30,000 organizations and millions of users in over 80 countries around the world rely on Deltek for superior levels of project intelligence, management, and collaboration. Our industry-focused expertise powers project success by helping firms achieve performance that maximizes productivity and revenue. www.deltek.com About Save the Children Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. Since our founding more than 100 years ago, we've been advocating for the rights of children worldwide. In the United States and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children - every day and in times of crisis - transforming the future we share. Our results, financial statements and charity ratings reaffirm that Save the Children is a charity you can trust. Follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Deltek Contact Media Relations Team press@deltek.com Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1949258/Deltek_ProjectCon_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/deltek-to-support-save-the-children-during-its-annual-customer-conference-deltek-projectcon-301957371.html joimax, the German-based market leader in technologies and training methods for full-endoscopic and minimally invasive spinal surgery, launched its new iLESSYS Biportal Interlaminar Endoscopic Surgical System for the treatment of spinal disorders at the EUROSPINE 2023 Annual Meeting in Frankfurt and at the SMISS Annual Forum (Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery) in Las Vegas, marking its global debut. This week, it will be presented at the NASS meeting (North American Spine Society) in Los Angeles. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231016233539/en/ joimax Launches New iLESSYS Biportal Interlaminar Endoscopic Surgical System (Photo: Business Wire) The new instrument set, iLESSYS Biportal for unilateral biportal endoscopy (UBE), expands the wide range of joimax endoscopic offerings by separating the instrument working port from the endoscope, allowing for free relative movement between the two. The iLESSYS Biportal offers all instruments tailor-made for biportal spinal endoscopy, with: A special Triangulation Tool to simplify the access triangulation of two ports Biportal specific working tubes with inbuilt irrigation outflow control for precise water management Larger, more powerful tools for effective tissue ablation and resection "This system is excellent and will allow me to perform the surgeries not only biportally but also bimanually," stated Javier Quillo-Olvera, M.D., spinal neurosurgeon and an expert in biportal surgery at the Brain and Spine Care Group, Queretaro, Mexico. "It allows me to use the iLESSYS Pro working channel endoscope. I'm excited to use it with my patients." EUROSPINE attendees were impressed that this comprehensive system could be used as a biportal system and available for bimanual surgical procedures. Moreover, the iLESSYSplayed a key role during the expert talks, spurring debate about when to use the transforaminal (TESSYS) and when to use the interlaminar (iLESSYS) approach for a given spinal disease. "The system will be part of the ESPINEAtraining and education program and will be fully implemented in the workshop courses by the end of the year," commented Wolfgang Ries, CEO and founder of the joimax group. "We've already lined up a range of surgical faculty in Europe (Dr. Ralf Wagner, Dr. Maxime Challali, Dr. Raed Abohussein, Dr. Miguel Loureiro), in the Americas (Dr. Peter Derman, Dr. Meng Huang, Dr. Javier Quillo-Olvera) and in Asia (Prof. Si-Young Park, Dr. Junseok Bae) among others in each of these regions, with many more to follow." About joimax Founded in Karlsruhe, Germany in 2001, joimax is the leading developer and marketer of complete systems for full-endoscopic and minimally invasive spinal surgery. With the Endoscopic Surgical Systems TESSYS (transforaminal), iLESSYS(interlaminar) and CESSYS (cervical) for decompression procedures, MultiZYTE for facet and sacroiliac joint pain treatment, EndoLIF and Percusys for minimally invasive endoscopically assisted stabilizations, established systems are provided, addressing a whole range of indications. All methods are supported by the latest generation electronical devices in the all new NAVENTO navigated endoscopic tower. In procedures for herniated discs, stenosis, pain therapy or spinal stabilization treatment, surgeons utilize joimax technologies to operate through small incisions under local or full anesthesia, via tissue and muscle-sparing corridors, and through natural openings in the spinal canal, e.g., the intervertebral foramen, the so-called "Kambin triangle". View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231016233539/en/ Contacts: Press Contact Germany joimax GmbH Antje Paulsen antje.paulsen@joimax.com +49-721-25514-214 Press Contact USA joimax, Inc. Emma Garton emma.garton@joimaxusa.com +1-949-859-3472 Cedar Recovery's Studio Health expands, offering 100% online mental health treatment. This marks a significant step in addressing mental well-being and accessibility. This telemedicine program empowers individuals with tailored evidence-based treatment for anxiety, depression, and neuropsychiatric disorders. This expansion opens doors to compassionate, effective mental health support, making care more accessible and comprehensive. MOUNT JULIET, TN / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / Cedar Recovery, a leading provider of addiction treatment services, announces a significant expansion of their telemedicine branch, Studio Health. Beginning on October 2nd, Studio Health will offer 100% online mental health treatment, making comprehensive care accessible to individuals seeking support from the comfort of their own space. This new service offering reflects Cedar Recovery's commitment to addressing the well-being of individuals affected by mental health challenges as well as addiction. Studio Health Logo Studio Health is a 100% online addiction treatment and mental health treatment provider, powered by Cedar Recovery. Studio Health currently only serves patients located in the state of Tennessee. Jessica Hale, MSN, FNP-C, mental health provider at Studio Health, shares her thoughts on the new initiative, "Mental health challenges go untreated in so many people - the fact that we can offer this to anyone, not just Cedar Recovery patients, is very exciting." The Studio Health Telemedicine Mental Health Program is set to empower individuals struggling with anxiety, depression, and neuropsychiatric disorders by providing comprehensive and convenient online mental health support. Patients will have access to a range of evidence-based treatments tailored to their unique needs. The program's online platform is designed to create a comfortable and confidential environment where individuals can receive the support they need. Cedar Recovery, through Studio Health, is committed to providing the highest quality care to patients, exclusively offering evidence-based and effective non-controlled substances for mental health treatment, excluding stimulants and benzodiazepines. Cedar Recovery, renowned for its addiction treatment services, is extending its reach to address the evolving needs of individuals seeking mental well-being. About Cedar Recovery: Cedar Recovery, founded in 2015 by Joe Bond, has been a leader in addiction treatment services, expanding to nine physical locations across middle and east Tennessee as of September 2023. Committed to providing hope and healing to individuals and communities affected by addiction, Cedar Recovery has transformed countless lives. Their unwavering dedication to meeting individuals where they are, without judgment, has earned them a reputation as a beacon of support and recovery. The significance of this expansion cannot be overstated, as it opens the door to accessible, compassionate, and effective mental health treatment for those in need. Cedar Recovery invites the behavioral health industry and potential patients to join them in this exciting journey toward improved mental well-being. Studio Health's 100% Telemedicine Mental Health Program is set to redefine mental health care by making it more accessible, convenient, and comprehensive. Contact Information Elizabeth Cinquino Digital Marketing Manager lizz@cedarrecovery.com Sterling Fooshee Director of Operations sterling@cedarrecovery.com SOURCE: Cedar Recovery View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/793392/cedar-recovery-expands-telemedicine-services-with-studio-healths-100-online-mental-health-treatment Mars marks World Food Day by sharing progress on global food and sustainability commitments. E xceeds donation target with local food bank and charity partners Continues to focus on delivering healthy meals through reformulation and product innovation Pioneers innovations such as climate smart rice farming practices to drive significant reductions in unsustainable water use and greenhouse gas emissions LONDON, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On World Food Day 2023, Mars Food & Nutrition shares progress towards the food and sustainability goals that sit at the heart of its purpose: Better Food Today. A Better World Tomorrow. Halfway through its five-year commitments to drive positive change through stronger action and meaningful partnerships, the maker of brands including Ben's Original, Masterfoods, SEEDS OF CHANGE, Tasty Bite, and DOLMIO is proud to share the progress it has made, including: Donating 33 million meals to people in need around the world since 2021, exceeding the target of 25 million meals by 2025. With food poverty an ongoing issue, the company continues to build strategic and impactful partnerships with local organisations to help get food and support to people who need it most. - In the United States, Ben's Original supports the No Kid Hungry campaign to end childhood hunger. Through the partnership it provided 2.5 million meals to children in need throughout the United States in 2022. - In Australia, Mars Food & Nutrition has developed a Collaborative Supply Program with Foodbank Australia to address the challenge of ensuring a consistent supply chain of food products to people in need. In its third year, this partnership is helping Mars Food & Nutrition Australia deliver its ambition of 3m meals to people in need in 2023. - In the UK, Mars Food & Nutrition has partnered with the Trussell Trust in the Stand Against Hunger campaign for the last four years to support their network of more than 1,300 food banks who help communities across the UK who are facing hunger. Delivering 4.7 billion healthy meals in 2022 (in addition to 4.3 billion in 2021), working towards the goal of 5.5 billion healthy meals per year by 2025. This includes 1.7 billion servings of vegetables , and a 32% increase in fibre servings, achieved through reformulation efforts and product innovation, tracking well towards the aim of 4 billion servings of vegetables and beating the target of 30% fibre increase by 2025. in 2022 (in addition to 4.3 billion in 2021), working towards the goal of 5.5 billion healthy meals per year by 2025. This includes , and a servings, achieved through reformulation efforts and product innovation, tracking well towards the aim of 4 billion servings of vegetables and beating the target of 30% fibre increase by 2025. Making progress towards reaching net zero by 2050 and reducing unsustainable water use by 50% by 2025 . Working with its suppliers, Mars is pioneering climate smart rice farming practices, the "alternate wetting and drying" watering technique. Depending on the context where the rice is grown, the climate smart practices have shown water use reductions up to 30% and GHG reductions ranging from 25 to 70% - all without reducing rice yields. . Working with its suppliers, Mars is pioneering climate smart rice farming practices, the "alternate wetting and drying" watering technique. Depending on the context where the rice is grown, the climate smart practices have shown water use reductions up to 30% and GHG reductions ranging from 25 to 70% - all without reducing rice yields. Ensuring 89% of Mars Food & Nutrition packaging is now reusable, recyclable or compostable, moving towards the goal of 100% of the portfolio. In addition, Mars Food & Nutrition is using its brands to drive positive action, including the BEN'S ORIGINAL SEAT AT THE TABLE fund which is helping provide educational opportunities to increase diversity in the food industry through scholarships and training. Meanwhile, the Tasty Bite Foundation collaborated with the Agricultural Development Trust, Krishi Vigyan Kendra Baramati and the American India Foundation Trust New Delhi to initiate projects focused on agricultural development and promoting better livelihoods close to the Tasty Bite factory in Pune, India. Shaid Shah, Global President, Mars Food & Nutrition, commented, "Food is a source of wellbeing and a connector of people. It nourishes our bodies and brings us together. I believe everyone should have access to healthy and nutritious food, and that it should be sourced as sustainably as possible. That's why I am proud of the progress we, at Mars Food & Nutrition, have made towards our mission of providing healthy, easy, tasty, and accessible everyday meals and delivering the Mars sustainability commitments. I want to thank our amazing partners and Associates. There is more to do, but together we can make a meaningful difference to the lives of billions of people around the world." Anne Filipic, CEO, Share Our Strength, which runs the No Kid Hungry campaign, added: "We are proud to partner with Mars through their Ben's Original brand and No Kid Hungry campaign. Through this partnership, Ben's Original has helped kids all over the country access three meals a day. Food insecurity, poor health outcomes, and poverty are ongoing issues in our communities and it's going to take all of us to build a better and brighter future for our kids." Sophie Carre, Director of Public Engagement at the Trussell Trust, said: "Thank you to Mars Food & Nutrition for their ongoing support which has made a significant difference to people supported by our network. Food bank teams are working tirelessly to ensure help continues to be available. But ultimately, no one in the UK should need to turn to a food bank as all of us should have enough money for the essentials. The support of Mars Food & Nutrition will help food banks within our network continue to provide the lifeline of emergency support for local people in crisis, while we work in the long term to build a hunger free future." Mars Food & Nutrition is a segment of Mars, Incorporated, which last month released The Mars Net Zero Roadmap, a decisive action plan for achieving Net Zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across its full value chain by 2050. The Mars Roadmap includes a new target reviewed by the Science Based Targets Initiative to cut emissions by 50% by 2030, from a 2015 baseline, with a pathway to Net Zero by 2050. As part of the action plan, Mars will invest over $1 billion over the next three years and continue to commit financial resources as needed until Net Zero is achieved. For more information on Mars Food & Nutrition's progress on its purpose commitments, please visit www.mars.com/our-brands/mars-food-nutrition ABOUT MARS FOOD & NUTRITION Mars Food & Nutrition is a segment of Mars, Incorporated with 2,000 Associates across 30 countries. It has some of the world's leading food brands: Ben's Original, Masterfoods, SEEDS OF CHANGE, Tasty Bite, foodspring, DOLMIO and Kevin's Natural Foods. ABOUT MARS, INCORPORATED Mars, Incorporated is driven by the belief that the world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today. As a global, family-owned business, Mars is transforming, innovating, and evolving to make a positive impact on the world. Across our diverse and expanding portfolio of quality confectionery, food, and pet care products and services, we employ 140,000+ dedicated Associates. With more than $47 billion in annual sales, we produce some of the world's best-loved brands including Ben's Original, CESAR, Cocoavia, DOVE, EXTRA, KIND, M&M's, SNICKERS, PEDIGREE, ROYAL CANIN, and WHISKAS. We are creating a better world for pets through our global network of pet hospitals and diagnostic services - including AniCura, BANFIELD, BLUEPEARL, Linnaeus and VCA - using cutting edge technology to develop breakthrough programs in genetic health screening and DNA testing. For more information about Mars, please visit www.mars.com . Join us on Facebook , Twitter , Instagram , LinkedIn and YouTube . Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2248328/Mars_Supports_Caledon_Community_Services.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/mars-donates-33-million-meals-to-support-local-communities-301957724.html ESTES PARK, CO / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / Taranis Resources Inc. ("Taranis" or the "Company") (TSX.V:TRO)(OTCQB:TNREF) has filed a judicial review petition with the British Columbia Supreme Court, due to government's ongoing (14 month) delay in processing an exploration permit application under the B.C. Mines Act. "We believe the government is unwilling to do its legal duty here because of First Nation pressure" said President and CEO John Gardiner. "While consideration of Indigenous rights is part of the Crown's duty to consult, the Supreme Court of Canada has repeatedly said that First Nations do not have veto. So government has to follow the law here". The exploration permit application relates to Taranis's Thor project located south of Revelstoke B.C. The project has been the subject of prior exploration for 16 years, including more than 250 drill holes. "It is regrettable that we have to apply to Court to have our rights respected" added Gardiner. "We have tried everything else including letters to Minister Josie Osbourne and Premier David Eby and we hope the government is asking itself what message this sends to international investors." The full petition can be found on the company's website, or by clicking on the following link: https://www.jjgmining.com/uploads/2/7/0/2/27029932/2023_10_13_petition__filed__.pdf It asks the court to: Order the Chief Permitting Officer or his delegate to make a decision on the application Issue a declaration that Minister Osbourne's public statement that First Nations are "the rightful owners of the land", and her written reference to a First Nation imposed "moratorium", are contrary to law and must not guide the Chief Permitting Officer or his delegate. A date for the Court hearing has not yet been set. Qualified Person Exploration activities at the Thor project are overseen by John Gardiner (P. Geo.), who is a Qualified Person under the meaning of Canadian National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Gardiner is responsible for, and approves of, the content in this News Release. John Gardiner is a principal of John J. Gardiner & Associates, LLC which operates in British Columbia under Firm Permit Number 1002256. About Taranis Resources Inc. For additional information on Taranis or its 100%-owned Thor project in British Columbia, visit www.taranisresources.com Taranis currently has 94,587,027 shares issued and outstanding (109,262,027 shares on a fully diluted basis). TARANIS RESOURCES INC. Per: John J. Gardiner (P. Geol.), President and CEO For further information contact: John J. Gardiner 681 Conifer Lane Estes Park, Colorado 80517 Phone: (303) 716-5922 Cell: (720) 209-3049 johnjgardiner@earthlink.net NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS NEWS RELEASE. This News Release may contain forward looking statements based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding future events or results that may prove to be inaccurate as a result of factors beyond its control, and actual results may differ materially from expected results. SOURCE: Taranis Resources, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/793436/taranis-resources-inc-takes-bc-government-to-court-over-permitting-delays Saud bin Sultan receives the United States Ambassador to the UAE at Sharjah Government Pavilion. DUBAI, UAE, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On its first day at GITEX Global 2023, the Sharjah Government Pavilion drew the attention of several dignitaries and heads of government departments. They were briefed on a range of innovative projects presented by eleven government entities under the slogan "Towards a Sustainable Digital Future." This initiative outlines the future trajectory of government services that the emirate aspires to provide, emphasising optimal investment in cutting-edge virtual reality technologies, artificial intelligence, and space technology. Sheikh Saud bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Director of the Sharjah Digital Office and Chairman of the Supreme Committee of the Sharjah Government Pavilion at GITEX Global 2023, welcomed, H.E Martina Strong, the United States Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, H.E Dr. Mohammed Hamad Al Kuwaiti, Head of UAE Cybersecurity Council, H.E Khalid Jassim Al Midfa, Chairman of the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority, H.E Dr. Khalifa Musabah Al Tunaiji, Head of the Holy Quran Academy in Sharjah, H.E Sheikh Salem bin Mohammed Al Qasimi Director of the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority, and H.E Dr. Ohood Al Shuhail, Director-General of the Ajman Digital Government. Innovations of the Holy Quran Academy in Sharjah The pavilion showcased the innovations of the Holy Quran Academy in Sharjah, featuring the "Sharjah Maqraa." This Qur'anic educational institution specialises in producing certified scholars proficient in repeated recitations from all around the world, with a focus on maintaining the most authentic chains of transmission linked to the Messenger, peace be upon him. The academy adheres to the highest standards of reception and control, utilising remote recitation techniques and harnessing the potential of artificial intelligence in the educational process. In addition, the pavilion featured the "Quranic Museum's Virtual Tour" service, enabling users to explore the Qur'anic museums at the Holy Qur'an Academy online and engage with the exhibits. Users can interact with the displays using either smart screens or virtual reality glasses. Rasid Digital Platform The Sharjah Finance Department has unveiled the "Rasid Digital Platform," an innovative model aimed at achieving developmental objectives and proactive oversight. It harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to monitor financial transgressions that deviate from the approved financial policies set by the Government of Sharjah, concerning transactions with both internal and external stakeholders. The "Rasid Digital Platform" has been meticulously crafted in accordance with the highest international standards, tailored to suit the specific local context of the Emirate of Sharjah, thereby bolstering the financial excellence of the Sharjah government. The activation of this platform is expected to facilitate control over financial operations in compliance with the established laws, preempting any breaches of financial regulations through the use of intelligent and proactive alerts, prompting the implementation of appropriate measures within the system. Sheikh Rashid bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Director of the Sharjah Finance Department, stated: "At the Sharjah Finance Department, we are committed to enhancing our leadership in all our specialized smart digital services by leveraging advanced technology. Our goal is to delight customers by achieving digital connectivity and integration with government partners, in collaboration with various government entities in the emirate. Our participation in the 'GITEX Global 2023' exhibition is part of our ongoing efforts to keep pace with technological advancements and modernize our electronic systems. We aim to provide innovative services with a high degree of accuracy and the capability to meet the needs of our customers." Sheikh Rashid bin Saqr Al Qasimi further emphasized, "The exhibition serves as a crucial platform to showcase our ambitious strategy, incorporating innovative digital aspects that are integral to the government's direction in the Emirate of Sharjah. We adhere to all specifications and standards of comprehensive quality, continually enhancing and developing procedures round the clock. Moreover, it provides a significant opportunity to showcase our ideas, projects, programs, and initiatives." The Journey to the Future Given the UAE's progressive steps in embracing artificial intelligence across various sectors, a workshop was conducted in collaboration with the Sharjah Cyber Security Centre. The workshop focused on the significance of "Operations Security (OPSEC) in the Information Age," emphasising its role in countering cyber threats and attacks. Simultaneously, a second workshop, supervised by the Certified Creative Thinking Trainer in creativity, Mohamed Ahmed Al Hammadi, delved into the concept of Disruptive Technology and the transformative changes that technological innovations can usher in. Meanwhile, Engineer Saddam Hussain, Senior Solutions Engineer from Amazon Middle East, discussed the mechanisms of "Pushing the Boundaries of Cloud to the Edge" at the conclusion of the workshops on the first day of the Sharjah Government's participation in "GITEX Global 2023." Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2248639/GITEX_Global.jpg View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/the-sharjah-government-pavilion-sets-the-roadmap-for-a-sustainable-digital-future-at-gitex-global-2023-301957951.html Mogadishu, Somalia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 16, 2023) - In a significant move to foster innovation and entrepreneurship in Somalia, SIMAD University announces the expansion of its flagship tech hub, SIMAD iLab. This expansion is a testament to the university's commitment to driving social impact and building an entrepreneurial ecosystem in the country. Figure 1 To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8846/184161_2948a4a9840a1a7d_001full.jpg Over the past five years, SIMAD iLab has made significant strides in the innovation sector. With nearly 15,000 applications received, support for over 8,000 alumni of the university, incubation of approximately 50 startups, and a micro-finance portfolio of $3 million through the generous support of DirectAid, the innovation hub has become a beacon of hope and progress in Somalia. The recent expansion, inaugurated by H.E. Farah Sheikh Abdikadir, the Minister of Education, Culture, and Higher Education of the Federal Republic Somalia, introduces several state-of-the-art features that will make SIMAD iLab one of the most well-equipped innovation hubs in the African continent. The new additions include: Innovation Theatre: A vibrant platform for thought leaders, entrepreneurs, and experts to collaborate and share knowledge. Creative Digital Studio: Equipped with the latest technology, this space is dedicated to nurturing creativity and storytelling within Somalia's innovation ecosystem. Executive Space: A convergence point for civil servants and private sector leaders to synergize and foster an inclusive innovation ecosystem. Dedicated Space for Startups and MSMEs: A nurturing environment for startups and MSMEs, aiming to produce the next big success stories for Somalia. Dr. Dahir Hassan, the Rector of SIMAD University, reflected on the journey, "The introduction of SIMAD iLab was a pivotal step towards our vision of an entrepreneurial university. The overwhelming response and impact in just five years were beyond our expectations. This expansion aims to cater to the growing demands of the Somali youth and address the unemployment crisis." H.E. Farah Sheikh Abdulkadir expressed optimism about the future, emphasizing the importance of providing equal opportunities for Somalis. He said, "This new executive arena showcases the potential of Somalis when given the right opportunities. We envision a transformative platform for the Somali youth, and the ministry is committed to supporting and collaborating with SIMAD iLab." Since attaining a permanent government in 2012, after a prolonged civil war, Somalia has experienced a positive trajectory of growth. The state-of-the-art facilities at SIMAD iLab exemplify this positive trend and reflect the changing landscape of the nation. It is time for the world to shift its perspective and see the Somalia of today. About SIMAD iLab: SIMAD iLab stands as the premier university-based innovation hub in Somalia, spearheaded by SIMAD University. It offers incubation and acceleration programs for startups in Mogadishu. For more details on SIMAD iLab and its offerings, visit https://ilab.simad.edu.so. Media Contact: Mohamed Muse Hassan Founding Director, SIMAD iLab Email: mmuse@simad.edu.so To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/184161 REHOBOTH BEACH, DE / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / In September 2022, Ocean Atlantic Sotheby's International Realty announced a strategic partnership with Monument Sotheby's International Realty, one of the top luxury real estate brokerages servicing the Mid-Atlantic Region. With the successful evolution of this partnership over the past 12 months, Ocean Atlantic Sotheby's International Realty will now operate as Monument Sotheby's International Realty, Coastal Division. "Monument Sotheby's International Realty embodies the same values that our clients have come to expect from us over the three decades we have been assisting home buyers and sellers in Coastal Delaware and Maryland," said Justin Healy, Broker. "We are excited to continue strengthening our partnership with Monument Sotheby's International Realty, through our new Coastal Division, providing our clients with cutting-edge marketing technology and an even wider array of tools and white-glove service across the home buying and selling process." Monument Sotheby's International Realty Coastal Division Shawn Evans, Charlie Hatter, Kathleen Schell, Justin Healy Upon joining forces last year, the companies swiftly garnered recognition, securing rankings as the 10th top mover in the country by number of transactions and the 11th top mover by volume, as per Real Trends. Additionally, they achieved placement among the top 250 real estate brokerages in the nation. "Partnering with Monument Sotheby's International Realty has allowed us to effectively share resources across the board, developing collaborative marketing campaigns to efficiently and effectively assist our clients throughout the Mid-Atlantic," said Kathleen Schell, co-proprietor of Monument Sotheby's International Realty, Coastal Division. "We have remained committed to delivering local expertise and personalized guidance to our clients while broadening the tools we can use to deliver best-in-class marketing and sales expertise. We are thrilled to further cement our partnership under our new Coastal Division of Monument Sotheby's International Realty and will continue to be a dedicated partner to the communities we serve." The existing management teams will continue to lead the companies and will participate as partners in the ongoing growth and development of the firms. "I'm extremely proud of our companies and their positive impact on the communities we serve," said Shawn Evans, Co-Owner of Monument Sotheby's International Realty. "The collective partnership decision to brand under our new Coastal Division at Monument Sotheby's International Realty reflects our shared goal of providing deep and comprehensive local market knowledge through our professional Realtor team coupled with extraordinary and technologically innovative service to our clients. Doing more is our distinction." "Additionally, we are looking forward to providing our team with increased regional market knowledge throughout the Mid-Atlantic and opportunities for growth," added Charlie Hatter, Monument Sotheby's International Realty Co-Owner. "We truly have found that we are stronger together and are excited to continue to provide exceptional local expertise with a global reach to our clients throughout their real estate journeys." Contact Information: Shawn Evans Owner shawn.evans@monumentsothebysrealty.com 703-795-3973 SOURCE: Monument Sotheby's International Realty View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/793473/ocean-atlantic-sothebys-international-realty-partners-with-leading-regional-affiliate-monument-sothebys-international-realty-to-form-new-coastal-division All companies, regardless of size or industry, are vulnerable to cyber threats like phishing scams, ransomware attacks, and data breaches, according to Prism Global Group. LONDON, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In today's digital age, the threat of cybercrime looms large over businesses and individuals alike. The need for robust cybersecurity solutions has never been more critical as the world becomes increasingly interconnected. To stay ahead of the curve, organisations must take proactive steps to protect their digital assets from malicious attacks. Most companies that investors are looking at are proactive and vigilant in addressing cybersecurity threats. Cybersecurity must be prioritised, as it serves as an intelligent investment, safeguarding the firm's assets and reputation and ensuring long-term success. Alev Dover, CEO of Prism Global Group, stated: "Cybersecurity is a significant concern for businesses of all sizes and industries. Threats like data breaches, ransomware, and scams can lead to financial losses, reputation damage, and legal responsibility. Protecting your business against these threats is crucial. Prism has identified five effective strategies to enhance cybersecurity. When investors look at the company that they wish to invest in, these controls are a helpful list to check against: 1. Is the firm regularly testing their defences and ensuring they are prepared for any possible situation? As technology advances, the potential for security breaches increases. With each new addition to a company's systems, such as users, applications, devices, and acquisitions, the complexity of cybersecurity grows. Therefore, organisations need a regular process that identifies security gaps, vulnerabilities, and loopholes before they lead to major incidents. 2. How is the firm implementing identity and access management systems? To keep daily operations running smoothly and protect sensitive information from unauthorised access, it's crucial to have a system that allows for appropriate data access to prevent internal breaches. Data breaches are caused by insider threats like misusing privileged access, weak or stolen passwords, unpatched applications, malware, social engineering, and physical attacks. To protect against both external and internal threats, it's crucial that the firm has a robust data security program in place to safeguard sensitive data. 3. Does the firm conduct regular cybersecurity awareness training? Equipping employees with cybersecurity knowledge and best practices is essential to defend against phishing and social engineering attacks. Providing education on identifying these types of attacks and understanding what information should not be shared is crucial. Every individual within an organisation can play a significant role in maintaining cybersecurity. 4. What Network Monitoring measures are in place? Effective network security monitoring services safeguard organisations against potential security threats. By providing constant surveillance, these services enable prompt identification and response to suspicious activities, thus minimising the risk of a significant breach. To ensure maximum protection, it is crucial to have trained professionals monitoring the business network for any unusual behaviour that may indicate a potential attack. 5. Who at the firm is responsible for device discovery & continuous policy enforcement? To improve network security, teams can identify and evaluate endpoints for vulnerabilities. If any issues are found, steps can be taken to address them, such as separating insecure endpoints from the rest of the network, and the problem can be quickly discovered and fixed if a resource violates established security policies. Newly installed devices that match a particular device profile with an active policy are also automatically protected. Dover concluded: 'From reading industry research and talking with our investment networks we can conclude that significant cybersecurity breaches cause material, short term declines in stock price and market share. These analyses are based on reviewing publicly disclosed breaches and tracking stock price post-breach. Our company's equity investment platform and products are highly secure in terms of cybersecurity. This assurance enables us to instil confidence for all our clients and the financial markets when they make long-term investment decisions. We maintain strict controls that undergo regular reviews to ensure the utmost security. About Prism Global Group Prism Global Group is an innovator of a new equity orientated financial infrastructure. The company was established in Sydney and has expanded its international footprint under CEO Alev Dover. PRISM moved its global HQ to London in 2022. This disclaimer is for Prism Global Group Plc (Reg No: 14476793), Prism Global Group Ltd (ACN 630 730 415), Prism Global (UKEUR) Ltd (Reg No 13579812), Prism Operations Australia Pty Ltd (ACN650 476 378) and Prism Securities Australia Ltd (ACN 650 488 136) and any other associated entities referred to collectively as 'Prism'. Prism Operations Australia Pty Ltd is a Corporate Authorised Representative (authorised representative number: 1292289) of Sanlam Private Wealth Pty Ltd ("Sanlam") which is the holder of an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFS Licence No. 337927). Prism Global (UKEUR) Ltd (FRN: 999737) is an Appointed Representative of Sapia Partners LLP which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 550103) as an arranger for investments only. For avoidance of doubt, Prism Global (UKEUR) Limited does not manufacture or issue investments, and only arranges for deals in investments issued by Prism Group companies. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/top-5-questions-to-cover-on-cybercrime-when-looking-at-equity-investing-301957763.html InfoBionic, a Boston, MA-based virtual telemetry company for cardiac remote patient monitoring, raised an undisclosed amount in the initial closing of its Series D funding. The round saw participation from Security International Investments (SII), Mayo Clinic and Excel Venture Management, as well as Blue Cross Blue Shield of MA (Zaffre Investments), and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansasand Safeguard Scientifics. The company intends to use the funds for the continued commercial expansion of its MoMe ARC system for remote, wireless monitoring and diagnosis of cardiac arrhythmias. Led by CEO Stuart Long, InfoBionic is now involved in offering and expand adoption of its recently FDA approved third-generation platform MoMe ARC system for virtual telemetry and remote wireless monitoring and detection of cardiac arrhythmias. The MoMe ARC 4-in1 monitor, its 3rd Generation remote ECG monitoring device paired with their inaugural Bluetooth diagnostic 6-lead sensor is designed to aid physicians in their diagnosis of cardiac arrhythmias in patients with a demonstrated need for cardiac monitoring. Now delivering both a patch-type sensor and a wire-based system, InfoBionic has the capability to offer full disclosure, heartbeat-to-heartbeat data over the Cloud, allowing doctors 24/7 near real-time access to hospital telemetry-level data, and rapid diagnosis. MoMe ARC is not intended for use as an emergency medical response system. FinSMEs 16/10/2023 Founding team of Soluterials: Uwe Arlic, Dr. Alla Kasakewitsch and Christina Walch und (Picture: Soluterials) Soluterials, a Beelitz, Germany-based materials science company which specializes in aluminum processing, raised a seven figure Seed funding round. The round saw participation from HTGF and three undisclosed business angels. The company intends to use the funds to accelerate the market launch of its pure aluminium material SoluteriAL, expand production, and build the team to enable rapid scaling. Led by founders Dr Alla Kasakewitsch, Christina Walch and Uwe Arlic, Soluterials is an emerging startup that transforms pure aluminium scrap (secondary aluminium) into a nanostructured high-performance aluminium material called SoluteriAL, which extends the properties of it, such as high electrical conductivity, high thermal conductivity, corrosion resistance and low weight, with a mechanical strength and a creep resistance. Applications include electrical wiring, radiator housings and electric motors, among others. FinSMEs 16/10/2023 In a sad piece of news for all the beauty pageant fans out there, former Miss World Contestant, Sherika De Armas left for a heavenly abode on 13 October. If a report in the New York Post is to be believed, the model was suffering from cervical cancer for some time. She reportedly also underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy before dying at a young age of 26 years. For those who do not know, Sherika De Armas represented her country, Uruguay in the Miss World competition back in 2015. The sudden demise of Sherika De Armas has left the entire country of Uruguay in shock. Her brother, MaykDe Armas took to his social media account and paid tribute to his late sister, Fly high, little sister. Always and forever. Current Miss Uruguay Carla Romero also wrote an Instagram note that loosely translates to, Too evolved for this world. One of the most beautiful women Ive met in my life, on the outside its obvious but on the inside you dont imagine. Im not one to share these types of moments on social media but yall already know Several others also expressed their grief through social media. It must be noted here that Sherika De Armas also had her own make-up line with the name Shey de Armas Studio. They make products related to hair and personal care. In addition to this, a lot of her time was also devoted to the Perez Scremini Foundation, which helps children suffering from cancer. During the Miss World 2015 contest, Sherika De Armas failed to make it to the list of the top 30 contestants, however, she gained a lot of popularity during the event. She revealed during the competition that she always wanted to be a model, whether it was a beauty model, an advertising model, or a catwalk model. Sherika De Armas further revealed that she was fond of every aspect related to the fashion world. She was quoted as saying, I am very happy to be able to live this experience full of challenges. Sumeet Vyas and Nidhi Singh garnered a lot of love as Mikesh Chaudhary and Tanya in the romantic web series, Permanent Roommates. After two successful seasons, the fans will get to witness their journey on-screen once again in the third season of the show. Before the latest installment reached the audience, the makers decided to treat the fans with the gripping trailer of Permanent Roommates season 3. Sharing the preview on social media, the team captioned the official post on Prime Video, To go or not to go. cant wait to see how Tankeshs story unfolds #PermanentRoommatesOnPrime, new season, Oct 18. View this post on Instagram A post shared by TVF | The Viral Fever (@theviralfever) The trailer opens with our beloved couple Mikesh (Sumeet Vyas) and Tanya (Nidhi Singh) talking about their relationship. As the conversation moves ahead, they realise that they have very different perspectives when it comes to their future. While Tanya is hellbent on going to Canada, Mikesh is content with this life in India. How will these two overcome their differences makes for the latest season of Permanent Roommates? While the first season of the show comprising five episodes premiered on YouTube back in 2014, the second season of the web series with 13 episodes came on TVF Play in 2016. Talking about the show, Sumeet Vyas, as per reports, said, I am ecstatic to return as Mikesh for the latest season of Permanent Roommates. Working alongside the talented Nidhi once again feels like a reunion with an old friend. On the other hand, Nidhi Singh reportedly said, I am absolutely thrilled to be back with Permanent Roommates after all these years. Its been a fantastic journey for both Sumeet and me #Tankesh fans are in for a treat as the heartwarming story moves forward with triple the fun and drama. All about Permanent Roommates Along with Sumeet Vyas and Nidhi Singh, Sachin Pilgaonkar, Sheeba Chaddha and Shishir Sharma will also appear in key roles in the latest season of the show. Season 3 of Permanent Roommates has been backed by The Viral Fever (TVF). Made under the direction of Shreyansh Pandey, the show will premiere on Prime Video in India on 18 October. The expectations from season 3 of the show are sky-high. Kareena Kapoor Khan garnered quite a lot of praise for her acting prowess in Sujoy Ghoshs crime-drama, Jaane Jaan. All eyes are now on her next, The Buckingham Murders. Helmed by Hansal Mehta, the much-anticipated film premiered at the 67th BFI London Film Festival on Saturday, 14 October. An excited Kareena Kapoor took to her Instagram handle and shared a bunch of stills from The Buckingham Murders. In her elaborate note, the actress reflected on the journey of making the film with Hansal Mehta as well as Ekta Kapoor, who bankrolled it. Kareena Kapoors post on The Buckingham Murders Kareenas note also mentioned how she always longed to play a character like Jasmeet Bhamra. Jas was a character I have been waiting to play for the last 23 years, being a huge fan of the detective series genre watching everything from Karamchand to Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect to Agatha Christie in Hercule Poirot to Kate Winslet in Mare of Easttown, I was just dying to be that detective woman, she said. The Buckingham Murders also mark Kareenas debut as a producer. She added, I couldnt be more nervous and excited as an actor and a first-time producer I feel so odd writing that but I feel really cool View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kareena Kapoor Khan (@kareenakapoorkhan) What Ektaa Kapoor said on The Buckingham Murders Co-producer Ektaa, too, shared a few stills from the film and expressed her gratitude. She wrote, The London premiere of. #thebuckinghammurders has been overwhelming ! Congrats co producer @kareenakapoorkhan n director saab @hansalmehta ! Excited #gratitude View this post on Instagram A post shared by EktaaRkapoor (@ektarkapoor) Kareena Kapoors professional commitment The Buckingham Murders will mark Kareenas return to the silver screens after her outing in Aamir Khan starrer Laal Singh Chaddha. She was last seen in Netflix thriller Jaane Jaan. The Sujoy Ghosh film also had Jaideep Ahlawat and Vijay Varma in pivotal roles. As the entire nation is celebrating Navrati, the festive season is officially upon us. For the state of Gujarat, Navratri is incomplete without Garba. Recently, Bollywood heartthrob Ayushmann Khurrana graced the Navratri celebrations in Jamnagar, Gujarat. The Dream Girl actor was seen donning a black floral kurta, along with a matching jacket and black trousers during the event. Not just that, he also joined in the festivities and was seen performing Garba steps along with the crowd. Not just that, being a Punjabi himself, the Andhadhun actor gave his Garba performance a fun Punjabi twist. The video was dropped on social media by News18, along with the caption, Gujarat | Brrrrah! Ayushmann Khurrana brings in a Punjabi twist as he learns to perform Garba during Navratri celebrations in Jamnagar. Ayushmaan Khurrana was seen flaunting his dazzling smile as he learned the steps of Garba. For those who do not know, the 10-day festival of Navratri commenced yesterday, 15 October, and will conclude on 24 October. Check out the video below: Whats next for Ayushmann Khurrana? On the work front, Ayushmann Khurrana is presently basking in the success of his last release, Dream Girl 2. Up next, he will be seen headlining Amar Kaushiks forthcoming horror comedy, Vampires of Vijay Nagar. The actor will be seen sharing the screen with South beauty Samantha Ruth Prabhu in his next. Additionally, Sapthami Gowda, Vinay Pathak, Aparshakti Khurana, Aasif Khan, Shardul Rana and Saad Mohamed will also be a part of the movies cast. Vampires of Vijay Nagar is likely to revolve around a determined historian. who goes through old manuscripts and discovers some jaw-dropping facts about the mysterious legends of vampires in Vijay Nagar. In addition to this, reports also claim that Ayushmann Khurrana will also be part of JP Dutta and Sunny Deols Border 2. Reports further suggest that, along with Sunny Deol and Ayushmann Khurrana, Ahan Shetty and Ammy Virk will be part of the film. The original installment, Border reached the audience back in 1997. The venture received a lot of love and appreciation from the audience. Trucks carrying dead bodies from Gaza border villages continue to arrive at the Shura military facility near Ramla. Many of those killed were civilians who were massacred during the attacks on Saturday. According to Reuters, some 1,300 bodies have been carried to Ramla, where professional teams are working intensively to ascertain the identities of the deceased and the circumstances of their deaths, revealing distressing evidence of torture, rape, and other terrible deeds. Families wait outside for hours. Some give up after 24 hours after realising that it takes time, a professional working at the centre told Israels Haaretz News. The bodies are transported to a vast, purpose-built facility built by the state, primarily for the identification of large numbers of dead service men. No one in Israel imagined that such a large facility would be required, a volunteer at the centre told the news website. Around 90 per cent of the military dead have been identified and teams are half way through identifying civilians, former army chief and one of the officials overseeing the identification of the dead, Rabbi Israel Weiss told Reuters. Hundreds of bodies wait to be identified When Rabbi Israel Weiss opens the doors of the refrigerated containers holding the bodies of hundreds of victims of the Hamas attacks the smell is overwhelming, but he said that most of all, he feels the suffering. In graphics | A brief history of the Israel-Palestine conflict The former military chief rabbi came out of retirement to become one of the leaders of an Israeli operation to identify the more than 1,400 dead from the raids by Hamas fighters on 7 October that have plunged the rivals into a new war. Teams of doctors, dentists, forensic experts and volunteers are working around the clock to identify bodies that were still arriving at the Shura military base, near the central town of Ramla, on Sunday, eight days after the attacks. Four other centres are carrying out similar work, officials said. Hundreds of bodies waiting to be identified or to be taken for burial are stored in containers lined up in the base next to a tent where the teams work. Parts of the identification operation at Shura were shown to reporters on Sunday as Israel steps up preparations for an expected invasion of Gaza. Masks have to be worn when the container doors are open because of the overpowering smell of death. Also Read: Why Israel is using ice cream trucks to store the dead I open the door to the cooling containers, I see the bodies I smell the odour, I let it fill my lungs and my heart but what I feel is their pain and the loss, said the rabbi. Infant victims Weiss and other staff at the identification centre said that there were signs that many of the victims had been tortured, raped or abused. Also Read: Horror of Hamas: Inside the Israeli kibbutz where children and women were beheaded Never in my life have I seen horrors that are behind us today, he said stood in front of some of the containers, with each holding up to 50 bodies. I have seen babies, women and men beheaded. I have seen a pregnant woman with her belly torn open and the baby cut out, he alleged. A lot of the women who were brought here were raped, Weiss added. Hamas, who lost an estimated 1,500 fighters in the attacks, has dismissed allegations that those killed in the attacks were abused. The Israeli government has already said that some children were tied up and burned and some victims were hiding in air raid shelters that Hamas fighters threw grenades into. DNA samples, fingerprints and dental records are all used to identify the victims. Almost 90 per cent of the 286 soldiers killed in eight days have been identified, but barely half of the civilians, officials said. Horrific sights Senior Staff Sergeant Avigayil, who gave only a first name, told reporters there were signs that some of the bodies had been booby trapped. Nothing has prepared us for this, she said, when recounting the abuse of the bodies those volunteers had seen. Also Read: They took my wife and daughters: The horror stories of Hamas violence Like the sergeant, Captain Maayan, a dentist and reservist taking part in the identification, broke down in tears as she told of the harrowing process. We see horrific sights, she said also telling of signs of torture and abuse. We hear the screams and the cries of the babies losing their parents. Mayaan said one victim she had identified had been a patient at the Tel Aviv clinic where she works. In graphics : What is Israels military strength? What weapons does it use? Psychologists and social workers are also taking part to help the identification teams at the end of each day. But the military, who say there are at least 126 people held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, has warned that it could take weeks to get complete figures on the number of victims and put a name to each one. With inputs from AFP No electricity, no water, no internet. I feel like Im losing my humanity, said Mona Abdel Hamid, a 55-year-old resident of Gaza, as she made her way to her relatives house in Rafah. This is a feeling most people who reside in the Gaza Strip have as Israel continues its fierce airstrikes and a possible ground invasion looms. Even though Israel resumed water supply to the densely-populated region on Sunday, its not enough, causing thousands to suffer. Ahmed Hamid, 43, who fled Gaza City with his wife and seven children, heading to Rafah, told AFP: We havent showered in days. Even going to the toilet requires us to wait in line. There is no food. All goods are not available and the costs of what is available have surged. The only foods we find are tuna cans and cheese. I feel like a burden, unable to do anything. The United Nations estimate that about one million people have been displaced since Israel began its relentless aerial bombardment of Gaza in retaliation for Hamas deadly assault on 7 October. The Hamas attack left more than 1,400 people dead on the Israeli side, most of them civilians. On the Gazan side, at least 2,670 have died in the relentless bombing, the majority of them ordinary Palestinians. In addition to water, even electricity and food supplies to the enclave have been cut off, making life almost unbearable for the residents. Living in displacement Since Friday, Sabah Masbah, 50, has lived with her husband, daughter and 21 other relatives at a friends home in Rafah. The worst and most dangerous thing is that we cant find water. None of us bathe now because the water is so scarce, she told AFP. At his home in Khan Yunis, near a school run by the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees, Esam said: We received guests who were displaced from the Gaza City area, the Al-Rimal neighbourhood and Tal al-Hawa. But water is a problem, said the 23-year-old who did not wish to give his full name. Every day we think of how to get water If we bathe, we wont drink. Those who have sought refuge at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) schools also desperately seek food and water. The UN agencys director of communications, Juliette Touma, told AFP more people are likely to become displaced as people continue to leave their homes. Israel-Hamas war: Related coverage Israel-Hamas war: How Gazan hospitals risk turning into morgues Why Israel is using ice cream trucks to store the dead What will happen if Israel invades Gaza? Who can broker peace between Israel, Hamas? Can India help? Israel is massing forces and weapons at the border with Gaza ahead of an expected ground offensive. Despite the Israeli evacuation order, there were air strikes in the south, including in Rafah, where one resident said a doctors house was targeted. All the family was wiped out, said Khamis Abu Hilal. Alaa al-Hams pointed to the fresh signs of shelling on a neighbourhood in Rafah. I look at the massive destruction. They say there is terrorism here. Where is the humanity they speak of? he said. All are civilians here, with nothing to do with any organisations, but they died no one is left alive. Samira Kassab stands on the remains of what was once her home in Rafah, asking: Where will we go? Where are the Arab countries? We have spent our whole lives in displacement. Our home, which housed all my children, was struck We slept in the street and there is nothing left, she said. We are isolated. My daughter has cancer and I cant take her to the hospital. I myself suffer from hypertension and diabetes. But she defiantly raised the victory sign with her hand. Surrounded by her grandchildren she said: I wont leave no matter what, even if I die. We beg for bread from our neighbours, but we will not part with a grain of sand. With inputs from AFP Israel is bombing Gaza and the dead are being stored in ice cream trucks. Horrifying photographs from the enclave depict medical staff loading commercial ice cream trucks, which have been repurposed to house the remains of Palestinians killed in the war. Health officials in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip have resorted to storing the bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli air strikes in ice cream freezer trucks because moving them to hospitals is too risky and cemeteries are short of space. Israel has unleashed the fiercest bombardment on the Gaza Strip to hit back at the Palestinian militant group Hamas after it carried out the deadliest attack on Israel for decades. The hospital morgue can only take 10 bodies, so we have brought in ice cream freezers from the ice cream factories in order to store the huge numbers of martyrs, said Dr Yasser Ali of the Shuhada Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah. The freezer trucks, whose sides still show advertising images of smiling children enjoying ice cream cones, are normally used to make deliveries to supermarkets. Now they are makeshift morgues for victims of the devastating war between Hamas and the Israeli army. The Israeli military said on Sunday it would still allow Gazans to evacuate south ahead of an expected ground assault in retaliation for the attacks eight days ago by Hamas gunmen, who killed 1,300 people in Israel. Authorities in Gaza said Israeli air strikes had killed more than 2,300 people, a quarter of them children, with nearly 10,000 wounded so far. Hospitals are running short of supplies and struggling to cope with growing numbers of wounded. In graphics : What is Israels military strength? What weapons does it use? Israel has vowed to annihilate Hamas after its fighters rampaged through Israeli towns on 7 October shooting men, women and children and seizing hostages. That means the Gaza death count will rise sharply. Fears of escalating civilian casualties As the battle escalates, with Israel urging hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee Gaza ahead of an expected ground assault to crush Hamas, health professionals fear that the number of civilian casualties may rise. Even with these freezers, the number (of the dead) exceeds the capacity of this main morgue of the hospital, and alternative ones, and between 20 and 30 bodies are being kept in tents too, said Ali, as he opened the doors of the freezers to show the white-shrouded bodies inside. The Gaza Strip is in crisis and if the war continues in this way we will not be able to bury the dead. The cemeteries are already full and we need new ones to bury the dead, Ali said. In Gaza City too, authorities were preparing mass graves, said the head of the Government Media Office, Salama Marouf. In light of the large number of martyrs inside the morgues of Al-Shifa Hospital, whose relatives did not arrive to bury them, signs of change began to appear on the bodies, he said. And in light of the continued arrival of martyrs in their dozens as a result of the occupations massacres, a mass grave has been prepared to bury approximately 100 martyrs in the emergency cemetery. With inputs from Reuters The threat of Israels ground invasion of Gaza has been looming large. Over one million in the northern part of the enclave have fled their homes amid non-stop airstrikes. On Sunday, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) set a three-hour deadline for the residents to roughly evacuate the northern half of the territory. Armoured vehicles have rolled up on the outskirts of Gaza for the ground assault in retaliation to the October 7 attacks in which 1,400 died in Israel and more than a hundred others were held captive. Troops and other equipment have been amassed. So why has Israel not launched its ground operation yet? Why the delay? We explain. When will Israel launch its ground assault? The timing of Israels expected ground campaign in Gaza remains unclear. Its leaders have been indicating for days that an invasion is coming. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday held talks with Israels expanded emergency Cabinet, which includes former Opposition lawmakers. Hamas thought we would be demolished. It is we who will demolish Hamas, he said. On Saturday, the IDF said it was preparing to expand its aerial attack with an integrated and coordinated attack from the air, sea and land. According to a report in The New York Times (NYT), the invasion was initially planned for the weekend. But there has been no action so far. Also read: Can Israel permanently dismantle Hamas by invading Gaza? Why is there a delay? There has been a possible delay because of inclement weather it has been reportedly raining. There has been large-scale devastation in Gaza because of the relentless airstrikes. The weather conditions would only make it more difficult for Israeli pilots and drone operators to provide soldiers on the ground with air cover, three senior military officers told The NYT. An IDF spokesperson was quoted by CNN as saying that they will commence significant military operations in Gaza once all civilians have evacuated. Its really important that people in Gaza know weve been very, very generous with the time. We have given ample warning, more than 25 hours, said Lt Col Jonathan Conricus, a spokesman for the IDF. I cannot stress more than enough to say now is the time for Gazans to leave. Take your belongings, go south. Preserve your life, and do not fall into the trap that Hamas is setting up for you, he added. While a full-scale invasion has been put on hold, the Israel infantry reportedly made their first raids into the Gaza Strip on Friday. 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, according to a Reuters report. This is the first official account of ground troops in Gaza since the crisis began. Why the ground invasion is challenging Israels ultimate goal is to wipe out the top Hamas leadership that controls the Gaza Strip. However, fighting in the narrow and densely populated land comes with challenges galore. Palestinian militants have reportedly kidnapped 160 people from Israel and held them in Gaza. These include men, women, children and the old. Now there is growing fear that when Israeli forces invade the enclave the captors will use the hostages as human shields. Israeli officials have warned that Hamas could kill Israeli hostages and use ordinary Palestinians as human shields, reports The NYT. Also read: What will happen if Israel invades Gaza? Thats not all. Hamas uses a complex network of tunnels and bunkers beneath Gaza City and the surrounding parts of northern Gaza. There is a likelihood that Hamas will attempt to thwart the progress of Israeli forces by blowing up the tunnels and setting up booby traps across the territory, the report says. Think of the Gaza Strip as one layer for civilians and then another layer for Hamas, Conricus was quoted as saying by Bloomberg. We are trying to get to that second layer that Hamas has built. Israel has in the past attempted to target this labyrinth but it met with little success. No one but Hamas knows the full extent of his network of tunnels. In 2014, the Jewish nation invested in a high-tech tunnel detection system but the sensors are reportedly not foolproof. They cannot detect tunnels that turn and get confused by intersections, according to research by the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Studies, reports Bloomberg. In 2021, Israel said it had destroyed 100 kilometres of tunnels underneath Gaza. But Hamas insisted it had a network of 500 kilometres, of which only five per cent was hit, according to the article. These tunnels only make Israels plan to eliminate Hamas far more complicated. Gaza is particularly challenging and youve had an adversary who has probably spent the last decade and a half since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip preparing for such a moment, Michael Eisenstadt, director of the Military and Security Studies Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy told TIME. How is Israel preparing for the invasion? The three senior Israeli military officers told The NYT that Israeli soldiers have been ordered to capture Gaza City and destroy the current Hamas leadership. It would be the first attempt to capture land and hold on to it briefly since hold since its invasion of Gaza in 2008, they said. Hamas will try to ambush Israeli forces and to make the operation easier, the Israeli military has relaxed some rules of engagement. Soldiers are allowed to make fewer checks before shooting at suspected enemies, the officers said but did not divulge details. The Israeli troops have also been given additional training which will help them fight in ruined urban environments, a fourth officer Col Golan Vach told The NYT. How long will the conflict last? It is too early to determine how long the conflict will last. However, experts believe that extensive military operations will last for weeks, even months. Some military and political leaders want Israeli soldiers to undertake 18 months of door-to-door arrest operations, Nimrod Novik, a former senior Israeli diplomat and security adviser to the Israeli government, told The NYT. Others, I think, are far more sober and not talking about demolishing Hamas but rather depriving Hamas of their ability to threaten us, he added. With inputs from agencies Israel-Hamas war explained: Why are 900 Indian soldiers present at the Israel-Lebanon border? Are they at risk? Another conflict looms large? How tensions along the Israel-Lebanon border are rising If we bathe, we wont drink: How Gazans are deprived of water amid war Has Israel used white phosphorus in Gaza? Whats this toxic chemical? Can Israel permanently dismantle Hamas by invading Gaza? Who can broker peace between Israel, Hamas? Can India help? How a drawn-out Israel-Hamas war could hurt the Indian economy The Israel-Hamas war is being fought miles and miles away. But India is keeping a close watch on the ongoing battle, as fears loom that it will widen into a larger conflict in the West Asia region. Theres another reason that India is wary. Indian troops have been deployed to the southern border of Lebanon where tensions have escalated due to firing between Hezbollah and the Israeli army. But what are Indian troops doing at the Lebanon border? Moreover, why are Israel and Lebanon exchanging fire amid the war? We take a closer look and the situation and give you the answers. Indians at the Lebanon border There are around 900 Indians who have been deployed at the Israel-Lebanon border as part of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Theres also another 200 Indian soldiers deployed as part of the UN Disengagement Force (UNDOF) at Golan Heights between Israel and Syria. The Indian troops in the UNIFIL are stationed at the 110-km-long Blue Line, which has witnessed fierce confrontations between Israel and Hezbollah forces in the past. In fact, the UN force comprising Indian troops have been dispatched at the region since 1978, making it clear that the interim doesnt mean short-term deployment. Earlier on Sunday, the UN peacekeeping force reported that a rocket shell had fallen on its site in southern Lebanon, with no casualties reported. UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti said in a brief statement that a rocket shell fell on a site of the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, without providing further details. Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati made a call to the UNIFIL Commander-in-Chief Gen Aroldo Lazaro, inquiring about the circumstances of a missile landing at the location of UN forces in Naqoura. According to a statement issued by Mikatis office, he stressed full solidarity with UNIFIL. Tensions running high at Lebanon border Since Israel took the war to Hamas following the horrific attack on 7 October, the border between Israel and Lebanon has also seen an escalation in violence. Last Monday (9 October), a senior Israeli officer was killed in a confrontation with militants on the frontier. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that the troops and aircraft killed two terrorist infiltrators who had crossed into Israeli territory. The Gaza Strip-based Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group claimed responsibility for the armed infiltration on its Telegram channel, saying this was part of the ongoing war between Israel and terror groups in Gaza. The incident took place near the northern Bedouin Israeli town of Arab al-Aramshe and the Lebanese village of Dhayra. The following day (10 October), Hezbollah, who has extended support to Hamas, fired a guided missile at an Israeli military vehicle. Israel retaliated by hitting a Hezbollah observation post. Later, on 13 October, it was reported that the IDF had warned residents of a village near the Lebanese border to hole up at home and lock doors and windows, saying a suspected armed infiltration was under way and that it was responding with artillery fire into Lebanon. The alert took place in Hanita, 500 metres from the border and opposite the Lebanese community of Aalma El-Chaeb. Heiko Wimmen, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, commenting on the cross-border action was quoted by France24 as saying: The situation on the border is extremely dangerous. While individual clashes there may represent just one notch up on the escalation ladder, such details matter hugely, he said on X. The firing has led to about a dozen deaths on the Lebanese side, most of them combatants but also a Reuters journalist and two civilians. Meantime, at least two people have been killed in Israel. Israels defence minister Yoav Gallant said on Sunday that Israel has no interest in waging war on its northern front and that if Hezbollah restrains itself then Israel will keep the situation along the border as it is. We have no interest in a war in the north. We dont want to escalate the situation, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told reporters. If Hezbollah chooses the path of war, it will pay a very heavy price. Very heavy. But if it restrains itself, we will respect that and keep the situation as it is, Gallant said. Israel-Hamas war: Related coverage Another conflict looms large? How tensions along the Israel-Lebanon border are rising If we bathe, we wont drink: How Gazans are deprived of water amid war Has Israel used white phosphorus in Gaza? Whats this toxic chemical? Can Israel permanently dismantle Hamas by invading Gaza? Who can broker peace between Israel, Hamas? Can India help? How a drawn-out Israel-Hamas war could hurt the Indian economy Indias role in UN peacekeeping India has maintained a firm commitment to UN peacekeeping forces since 1948. In fact, India is the fifth highest amongst troop-contributing countries. To date, India has contributed more than 2,60,000 Indians to the various peacekeeping missions across the world. Even today, 5,800 Indian peacekeepers serve in conflict-ridden areas in Africa and Asia. Indias contribution to the UN peacekeeping forces began with its participation in the UN operation in the 1950s, where Indias mediatory role in resolving the stalemate over prisoners of war in Korea led to the signing of the armistice that ended the Korean War. In 2022, the UN peacekeeping forces saw a total death toll of 4,207, with India seeing the highest number of fatalities. The UN reported that in 2022 India had suffered 175 fatalities), followed by Pakistan (166) and Bangladesh (160). In January, India deployed a platoon of Women Peacekeepers in Sudans Abyei region as part of the Indian Battalion in the United Nations Interim Security Force (UNISFA). With inputs from agencies The plight of Palestinians in Gaza is grave. For more than a week now, they have been bombarded with airstrikes. The total siege announced by Israel means even food and water are out of reach. Jerusalem has asked Gazans to flee but they have nowhere to go. Desperate and depraved, they are thronging hospitals and schools in search of shelter. More than a million people are on the run. They have left their homes fearing a ground invasion from the Israelis aimed at dismantling the terrorist group Hamas after its fighters infiltrated the Jewish nation and went on a rampage, killing thousands and taking hundreds hostage. The timing of the ground assault is not known. But street-by-street fighting is only likely to increase the burden on hospitals. Children moaning in pain The enclaves food, water and medicine supplies are dwindling. Hospitals say they are on the verge of collapse and unable to heed Israeli demands to evacuate patients. More than a week of devastating Israeli airstrikes have reduced entire neighbourhoods to rubble. The Gaza health ministry said 2,670 Palestinians have been killed and 9,600 wounded since the fighting erupted, more than in the 2014 Gaza war, which lasted over six weeks. That makes this the deadliest of the five Gaza wars for both sides. In Nasser Hospital, in southern Gaza, intensive care rooms were packed with wounded patients, most of them children under the age of three. Hundreds of people with severe blast injuries have come to the hospital, said Dr Mohammed Qandeel, a consultant at the critical care complex. Thirty-five patients in the ICU require ventilators and another 60 are on dialysis. If fuel runs out, it means the whole health system will be shut down, he said, as children moaned in pain in the background. All these patients are in danger of death if the electricity is cut off. Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, the head of paediatrics at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, said the facility did not evacuate despite Israeli orders. There were seven newborns in the ICU hooked up to ventilators, he said. Evacuating would mean death for them and other patients under our care. Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the territorys largest, said it would bury 100 bodies in a mass grave as an emergency measure after its morgue overflowed. Tens of thousands of people seeking safety have gathered in the hospital compound. Exiting Gaza Meanwhile, all eyes are on the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, where the US and international mediators appear close to reaching a deal for a humanitarian ceasefire that would allow aid in and allow foreigners to exit Gaza. Rafah was shut down nearly a week ago because of Israeli airstrikes. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office said there was no such ceasefire, as hundreds of people gathered on the Palestinian side of the crossing, reports The Associated Press (AP). Israel has ordered more than one million Palestinians almost half the territorys population to move to Gazas south. The military says it is trying to clear away civilians ahead of a major campaign against Hamas in the north, where it says the militants have extensive networks of tunnels and rocket launchers. Hamas has urged people to stay in their homes, and the Israeli military on Sunday released photos it said showed a Hamas roadblock preventing traffic from moving south. For a third day, Israels military announced a safe corridor for people to move from north to south between the hours of 8 am and noon. It said more than 600,000 people have already evacuated the Gaza City area. Hospitals running out of fuel Hospitals in Gaza are expected to run out of generator fuel in the next 24 hours, endangering the lives of thousands of patients, according to the UN Gazas sole power plant shut down for lack of fuel after Israel completely sealed off the 40-kilometre-long territory following the Hamas attack. The World Health Organization (WHO) said hospitals are overflowing as people seek safety. We are concerned about disease outbreaks due to mass displacement and poor water and sanitation, it said. Four hospitals in northern Gaza are no longer functioning and 21 have received Israeli orders to evacuate. Doctors have refused, saying it would mean death for critically ill patients and newborns on ventilators. Israels decision to cut off water supplies, combined with a lack of fuel for pumps and desalination stations, has caused shortages, putting 3,500 patients in 35 hospitals across Gaza at risk. Water is needed to ensure sanitary conditions for inpatient wards, operation rooms, and emergency departments. It is essential for the prevention of hospital-associated infections and the prevention of outbreaks in hospitals, the WHO said. The UN health agency said life-saving assistance for 300,000 patients is currently awaiting entry through Rafah. The need to ration water The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, says over 1 million people about half of Gazas population have been displaced in a little over a week. Half are sheltering in UN-run schools and other facilities, while others are staying with family or neighbours. UNRWA said it has been forced to ration water, giving people just one litre a day to cover all their needs. Israel has said the siege wont be lifted until Hamas releases all the captives, but the countrys water ministry said water had been restored at one specific point in Gaza, at a location outside the southern town of Khan Younis. Aid workers in Gaza said they had not yet seen evidence the water was back. Tensions along the Lebanon border Meanwhile, the Israeli military ordered residents to evacuate 28 communities near the Lebanese border after increasing cross-border fire between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The military order affects towns that are within two kilometres of the border. Hezbollah militants fired rockets and an anti-tank missile on Sunday, with Israel responding with airstrikes and shelling. The fighting killed at least one person on the Israeli side and wounded several on both sides of the border. Hezbollah said it had fired rockets toward an Israeli military position in retaliation for Israeli shelling that killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah on Friday and two Lebanese civilians on Saturday. It said the increased strikes represented a warning and did not mean Hezbollah had decided to enter the war. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected back in Israel on Monday after a frantic six-country tour through Arab nations aimed at preventing the fighting from igniting a broader regional conflict. President Joe Biden is also considering a trip to Israel, though no plans have been finalised. In a television interview Sunday night, Biden, who has repeatedly proclaimed support for Israel, said he thought it would be a big mistake for the country to reoccupy Gaza. Israels ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, told CNN the country does not want to occupy Gaza but will do whatever is needed to obliterate Hamas capabilities. Israeli forces, supported by a growing deployment of the US. warships in the region and the call-up of some 360,000 reservists have positioned themselves along Gazas border and drilled for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle the militant group. Israel said it has already struck dozens of military targets, including command centres and rocket launchers, and also killed Hamas commanders. With inputs from AP The war on Israel that began on 7 October has become the deadliest one, with more than 4,000 dead on both sides. More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed and at least 199 others, including children, were captured by Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, according to The Associated Press. Israeli forces, supported by US warships, positioned themselves along Gazas border and drilled for what the country said would be a broad campaign to dismantle the militant group. According to Fox News, the Israeli Defense Forces canine team, Oketz, was instrumental in saving 200 Israelis from gunfire in neighbourhoods close to the Gaza Strip. Even 10 Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Beeri were killed thanks to the dogs. All about Oketz The canine unit Oketz, which in Hebrew means sting, uses specifically trained dogs for operations in the fields of counterterrorism, search and rescue, and other specialised tasks. It was established in Sirkin Base in 1974 in the wake of the series of terrorist incidents that struck Israel in the early 1970s. It had 11 soldiers at first. Each dog is taught to have a certain speciality, per the IDF website (attack, search and rescue, locating weapons, detecting explosives, etc.). The team took part in a variety of missions during the 1970s and 1980s while operating in complete secrecy up to 1988. The IDF: Several military dogs from the Oketz Unit have played critical roles in locating and attacking terrorists over the past week, including rescuing hostages. Some have fallen in battle. They have been returned from the front and buried with honors. pic.twitter.com/2T1POx4CzI Ron M. (@Jewtastic) October 14, 2023 According to the website, the bond between the dog and its trainer is particularly vital and personal during a military action and is a crucial component of the units qualities. According to i24 report published in 2021, there are two dog-based security firms operating in Israel, both of which were founded by former Oketz soldiers. IDFs canine unit helped rescue 200 lives According to the Israel Defense Forces Spokespersons Unit, in clashes in many nearby communities, Israeli forces accompanied by K-9s carried out a number of rescue missions that rescued hostages, saved lives, and eliminated terrorists who had barricaded themselves in houses. Over 200 civilians were rescued thanks to an Israeli K-9 squad, reported Fox News. The Spokesmans Unit reported that commanders and troops from Israels Oketz K-9 Unit were divided into three distinct companies in order to participate more actively in combat close to the Gaza Strip, which led to the release of multiple captives and the demise of more than ten Hamas terrorists. Wion News reported that a dog named Nauru was deployed in a battle in Kibbutz Kfar Aza to find weapons and track down terrorists, but he actually ended up revealing the location of an ambush on Israeli troops and attacking the Hamas gunmen. After hours locked in the shelter throughout the Hamas massacre, our special unit Oketz delivered the news to this mother and son that theyre safe. pic.twitter.com/aByAejb0ia Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 15, 2023 IDF troops killed the terrorists while unfortunately losing Nauru in the fierce battle. For a proper funeral, the soldiers collected Naurus remains. In another occasion, a K-9 dubbed Charlie was able to track down a senior Hamas figure and make contact with him before Israeli soldiers could support the dog and capture the terrorist. A commander from the Oketz unit said that the K-9 soldiers would soon start focusing on offensive operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. According to IDF spokesperson, the commander said, The next step is to enter the Gaza Strip. The mission is to neutralize all the terrorists we confront in the field; we are ready, we are strong, we are united, and we are going to win. More on Israel-Palestine war In the latest development, Israel dropped leaflets over Gaza City in the north and renewed warnings on social media, ordering more than one million Gaza residents to move south. According to AP, a week of blistering airstrikes have demolished neighborhoods but failed to stop militant rocket fire into Israel. Hundreds of thousands of Gaza residents sought to heed Israels order to evacuate roughly the northern half of the territory, while others huddled at hospitals in the north on Sunday. Gazas 2.3 million civilians faced a deepening struggle for food, water and safety, and braced for a looming invasion more than a week after Hamas militants launched a deadly assault on Israel. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,750 Palestinians have been killed and 9,700 wounded. U.S. President Joe Biden is considering a trip to Israel in the coming days, though no travel has yet been confirmed. Irans Foreign Ministry said Monday that Hamas potentially was ready to release the nearly 200 hostages it is holding if Israel stops its campaign of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip. The militant group hasnt acknowledged making such an offer. Instead, Hamas has said it will trade the captives for thousands of Palestinians held by Israel in the kind of lopsided exchange deals that have been reached in the past. Iran has warned it could enter the war as well if Israel launches a widely anticipated ground offensive in the Gaza Strip in the coming days. With inputs from agencies The Allahabad High Court on Monday acquitted the key accused Surendra Koli and co-accused Moninder Singh Pandher in the infamous Nithari serial killings case in Noida. The High Court acquitted the culprits due to no direct evidence and witnesses. In connection with the Nithari case, Koli was convicted of raping and killing multiple children between 2005 and 2006 and received 10 death sentences. The appeals filed by Koli and Pandher challenging the death sentence imposed by the CBI court in Ghaziabad were accepted by a two-judge bench made up of Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Syed Aftab Husain Rizvi. Defence counsel Manisha Bhandari told ANI, The Allahabad High Court has acquitted Moninder Singh Pandher in the two appeals against him. There were a total of six cases against him. Koli has been acquitted in all appeals against him here. Also read: Kerala human sacrifice, a brain eater and other horrors of cannibalism in India The horrific case Also referred to as one of the most gruesome killings, the case came to light in 2006 when the police discovered skulls and bones of 16 persons, mostly children, in a drain near businessman Moninder Singh Pandhers house in Noidas Nithari village. According to Livemint, investigation began after two locals claimed they knew the location of the remains of children, who had gone missing in the previous two years. They had also accused the authorities of ignoring their complaints. This also led to the suspension of two policemen for failing to take action. News18 reported that it was alleged that Surendra Koli, the domestic help, would lure the children to the large house by offering sweets and chocolates, kill them, and have sex with the corpses. As per Hindustan Times, he even confessed to eating their body parts. He would throw skeletons and other body parts of the victims into a ditch behind the house. Koli was also accused of cannibalism. The case was handed over to the CBI within 10 days and more bones most of whom were of children and young women around the area were recovered during its search. Upon investigation, Koli and his employer Pandher were taken into custody during which Koli confessed to the crimes. Pandher was named as the co-accused of brutal murders and rape in the case. The duo carried out the serial killings between 2005 and 2006. A total of 19 cases under Sections 302, 376, 364, 201 and 120 (B) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) were lodged against Pandher and Koli in 2007 for murders, abductions and rapes besides destruction of evidence. Huge setback for CBI The Allahabad High Court ruling is a major setback for the Central Bureau of Investigation, whose Ghaziabad court had sentenced both suspects to death. However, the High Court and the Supreme Court upheld Surendra Kolis death sentence in the 2005 Rimpa Halder murder case. In the murder case involving the 14-year-old girl, one of multiple victims, both were handed the death penalty based on the evidence presented. On 15 September, the court had reserved its decision following the High Courts conclusion of the application hearing. The first of Kolis twelve petitions was submitted in the year 2010. Koli and five other death row inmates submitted mercy applications in 2014, but then-President Pranab Mukherjee denied them. While the Allahabad High Court cleared Koli in 12 cases, one of those cases had his death sentence upheld, while another saw its death penalty modified to a life sentence on September 7 due to delay. There are no eyewitnesses to this incident, it was claimed in court on behalf of the defendants. Only based on circumstantial and scientific evidence was he found guilty and given the death penalty. With inputs from agencies The BJP has accused the TMCs Mahua Moitra of taking bribes to ask questions in Parliament. BJP MP Nishikant Dubey accused Moitra of accepting bribes from a businessman and demanded that Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla form an inquiry committee to examine the charges against her. Moitra slammed Dubey saying that she welcomes any move against her after the Lok Sabha Speaker is finished dealing with pending charges against him (Dubey). The two MPs, known for their fiery parliamentary speeches and belligerent attacks on adversaries, have often exchanged blows over a host of issues over the years. But what are the allegations against Moitra exactly? Lets take a closer look: What has Dubey alleged? As per Business Today, Dubey has accused Moitra of receiving money and gifts from businessman Darshan Hiranandani to ask questions in Parliament about the Adani Group and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As per The Week, Dubey claimed Hiranandani had given Moitra Rs 2 crore, lavish gifts like Iphone as well as Rs 75 lakh to contest polls. As per Indian Express, Dubey claimed to be in possession of documents given by advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai which shared irrefutable evidence of bribes exchanged between Moitra and a businessman to ask question(s) in Parliament. The Print quoted Dubeys letter to the Speaker as saying that Moitra should be suspended for breach of privilege, contempt of the House, and criminal offence under Section 120-A of the IPC. Dubey in the letter claimed that of Moitras recent 61 questions, 50 shockingly seek information, with the intent of protecting or perpetuating business interests of Shri Darshan Hiranandani and his company. The questions were also often focussed on the Adani Group, another business conglomerate Hiranandani Group was bidding for business against. The Hindu quoted the letter as stating: There is not an iota of doubt about a criminal conspiracy hatched by Mahua Moitra to protect the interests of a businessman Shri Darshan Hiranandani by asking Parliamentary Questions, which is reminiscent of the Cash for Query episode of 12 December, 2005. Noting that membership of 11 MPs were quashed on the recommendations of an inquiry committee within 23 days of its constitution, Dubey said Moitra should also be similarly probed and suspended from the House till the report is submitted. Citing her vehement attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, Dubey alleged that a clever facade was created in the past few years as she often references to the Adani Group while giving the impression that she was against the government. In a post on X, Dubey said membership of 11 MPs were quashed by same Parliament and such brazen conduct will not be acceptable now too and also alleged the use of hawala money by her without naming Moitra. Membership will go. Just wait, he claimed. Moitra slams Dubey, sends defamation notice Hitting back at Dubey, Moitra wrote on X, Am using all my ill gotten cash & gifts to buy a college/ university in which Degree Dubey can finally buy a real degree. Tagging the Lok Sabha Speaker, she added, Finish the enquiries against him for false affidavits & then set up my enquiry committee. Moitr also fired fresh salvo at the Adani Group. Multiple breach of privileges pending against fake degreewala & other BJP luminaries. Welcome any motions against me right after Speaker finishes dealing with those. Also waiting for ED & others to file FIR in Adani coal scam before coming to my doorstep, she said. Multiple breach of privileges pending against fake degreewala & other @BJP4India luminaries. Welcome any motions against me right after Speaker finishes dealing with those. Also waiting for @dir_ed & others to file FIR in Adani coal scam before coming to my doorstep. Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) October 15, 2023 If Adani group is relying on dodgy dossier created by dubious Sanghis & circulated by fake degree wallahs to either shut me up or bring me down I would advise them not to waste their time. Use your lawyers wisely, the TMC MP added. In another post, Moitra said, Also welcome CBI enquiry into my alleged money laundering right after they finish investigating Adanis offshore money trail, over invoicing, benami accounts. Adani may use BJP agencies to browbeat competition & buy airports but just try doing it with me. As per The Wire, Moitra has sent defamation notices to Dubey, Dehadrai and several media houses that reported Dubeys claims. The defamation notice states that Moitra recently questioned Dubeys educational qualifications and claims he made on his election affidavit. The notice adds that this caused a rattled Dubey to make these false claims. The notice also says that Moitra and Dehadrai were close friends but fell out. As per PTI, Dehadrai is said to be estranged partner of Moitra with whom he has a bitter feud running over the custody of their pet dog. Dehadrai allegedly repeatedly threatened our client [Moitra] with several vile, malicious and vulgar messages and trespassed on her official residence and stole personal possessions, including Moitras dog which was later returned, the notice states. Moitra had filed multiple police complaints against him in the last six months for alleged criminal trespass, theft, vulgar messages and abuse, as per PTI. The notice claims that Dehadrai attempted to get journalists to publish fake stories about Moitra, but was unsuccessful for lack of evidence: However, soon after convincing our Client [Moitra] to withdraw the [police] Complaints dated 25 March 2023 and 23 September 2023, Noticee No. 2 [Dehadrai] immediately zapped back to old ways and continued his misguided and malicious pursuit of vendetta against our Client. Noticee No. 2 reached out to several prominent journalists and attempted to convince them to run stories based on wild, vindictive, fictitious and entirely imaginary allegations about our Client. It appears that no credible journalist responded to Noticee No. 2s desperate attempts to malign our Clients reputation basis unsupported and unsubstantiated allegations without even a shred of evidence, the notice states, as per The Wire. The notice states that Dehadrai then approached the BJP and Dubey who did not even bother to conduct any due diligence of any kind to establish the veracity of the allegations. Not only did Noticee No. 1 [Dubey] relay, endorse and exaggerate the false, baseless and per se defamatory allegations against our Client [Moitra], but also proceeded to leak the same to members of the media. Noticee No. 1 and 2 [Dehadrai] are both directly responsible for defaming and maligning the reputation and goodwill of our Client for their own respective personal and political vendettas, the legal notice states. The notice also rejects the allegations against Moitra as entirely baseless. As per Newslaundry, Moitra has demanded that Dubey and Dehradrai withdraw the defamatory and false allegations and issue a written public apology. Moitra has also demanded that media houses take immediate steps to take down/delete any posts, tweets, articles, videos or any other material (of any kind) published on their respective platforms in relation to the false and defamatory allegations made by [Dubey and Dehradrai] against our client. Dubey writes to Vaishnaw, Moitra hits back After writing to the Lok Sabha Speaker on Sunday, Dubey wrote to the Telecom and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw urging him to investigate the IP addresses of her log-in credentials for the House. In the letter to Vaishnaw, Dubey urged him to take the allegations against Moitra with utmost seriousness and initiate an investigation to ascertain the IP addresses of all log-in credentials of the TMC leaders Lok Sabha account and determine whether there were any instances in which her account was accessed at a location where she was not present. The alleged sharing of Smt. Moitras Lok Sabha credentials with an external entity poses a direct threat to national security, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader claimed. Dubey also said the allegation that the Krishnanagar MP gave Darshan Hiranandani and the Hiranandani conglomerate access to her log-in credentials for the Lok Sabha website so that they could utilise it for their own personal gain is possibly the most damning and grave of all the charges that are being made against her. If the claims made above are found to be accurate, this constitutes a serious criminal breach of trust as well as a violation of Indias national security because it would give unauthorised individuals access to government websites that may contain classified information, he said. Dubey urged the minister to determine whether there were any instances in which Moitras Lok Sabha account was accessed at a location where she was not present. Any attempt by a Member of Parliament to compromise the sanctity of our democratic temple by accepting monetary or other types of remunerative benefits in exchange for asking questions the benefit of a business house ought to be thwarted as quickly as possible and an investigation must be carried out and completed as promptly, NDTV quoted Dubey as saying in his letter to Vaishnaw. Responding to Dubeys letter, Moitra said, All parliamentary work of MPs is done by PAs, assistants, interns and large teams. The TMC MP requested that Vaishnaw release the details of the locations and log-in credentials of all the MPs with Call Data Records (CDRs). All parliamentary work of MPs done by PAs, assistants, interns, large teams. Respected @ashwinivaishnaw please release details of location & login details of ALL MPs with CDRs . Please release info on training given to staff to login. pic.twitter.com/1Mz61LBjw3 Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) October 16, 2023 She also asked the information technology minister to release information on the training given to the staff to log in. Meanwhile, reacting to the allegations, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrashekhar, said, If true, this is indeed shocking and shameful. It is true that this company was actively and aggressively lobbying for data localisation. Language used in PQ is very similar (linking need for data localisation to data breaches) to that used when the head of this company met me. I am not aware or privy to the full facts or background on this but if it is true, then its a terrible travesty and misuse of PQs (Parliament Questions), Chandrashekhar said in a post on X. Moitra, responding to Chandrashekhars comment wrote on X: Sir, am member of IT Comm & JPC on Data Protection. This is valid question for all Indians. If hostile nation can steal data from apps cant they steal India user data stored overseas? Dont insult my intelligence by alleging Im fronting others. Something Ruia bag men do. Hiranandani, Adani group react The Hiranandani Group, meanwhile, has dismissed the allegations. We have always been in the business of business and not in the business of politics. Our group has always worked with the government in the interest of the nation and will continue doing so, a spokesperson of the Hiranandani Group was quoted as saying by NDTV. The Adani Group, meanwhile, has cited Dubeys complaint to attack the TMC MP who has been at the forefront of criticising the conglomerate ever since Hindenburg alleged fraud. The Adani Group claimed that saying groups and individuals have been working overtime to harm its name and market standing. In a statement, Adani Group referred to Dubeys complaint without referring to him by name but said a Dehadrai has filed a complaint with the CBI in the form of a sworn affidavit bringing on record the commission of an elaborate criminal conspiracy by Mahua Moitra and Darshan Hiranandani, CEO of Hiranandani Group for specifically targeting Gautam Adani and his group of companies through parliamentary questions. He has further stated that, as a quid pro quo, Moitra received bribes and undue favours from Hiranandani, the statement added. With inputs from agencies Almost three weeks into the brutal war between Israel and Hamas (its Day 27), the crucial Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt opened on Wednesday (1 November), allowing the evacuation of dozens of injured Palestinians requiring hospital treatment and hundreds of foreign passport holders. According to Egyptian officials, 76 wounded Palestinians and 335 foreigners or dual-nationals were allowed to cross from the war-torn and heavily battered Gaza Strip a first crossing of civilians since the heavily populated enclave was placed under a total siege by the Israeli forces. A security source told AFP: The Rafah terminal will open again on Thursday to allow the passage of more foreigners and dual citizens. The evacuations took place even as Israeli forces continued their heavy bombardment of the Strip as they continued their vow of wiping out Hamas. On Wednesday, as part of their offensive, Israel also bombed Jabalia, Gazas largest refugee camp, killing at least 50 people and injuring another 150. Israel said it killed a Hamas commander in the attack. As this war continues, ravaging the lands and claiming lives, we take a closer look at what is the Rafah crossing and why is it important? What is the Rafah crossing? Rafah is located on the border between Egypts Sinai Peninsula and Gaza. As per BBC, it is the southernmost exit point from Gaza. It is the only crossing with Gaza not under the control of Israel. As per NDTV, the border between Palestine and Egypt was formalised by the Ottoman-British agreement of 1 October 1906. The border was established from Taba to Rafah. Then, in 1979, a landmark peace treaty between Israel and Egypt that established full diplomatic relations after decades of strife restored the border to its 1906 antecedent. Under this treaty, Egypt got the Sinai Peninsula and Israel held on to Gaza. Israeli troops also vacated the peninsula. Shortly after, the Rafah crossing was for the first time opened as an international border. As per The Guardian, Egypt administers the Rafah border under the terms of its agreement with Israel. However, any aid going from Egypt across the Rafah border into Gaza requires the assent of Israeli authorities. Why is it important? Because with Gaza being bombarded by Israel, this is potentially the only safe place for Palestinians to go. As the piece in The Guardian notes, Rafah is where most Palestinians attempt to acquire permission to exit Gaza if they are able. However, leaving Gaza is no mean feat. Most people born in the territory, however, have never left the 365 square kilometres that make up the territory, the piece adds. As per BBC, those wishing to cross the Rafah border must register with the local Palestinian authorities between two and four weeks in advance. Applications can be rejected by either Palestinian or Egyptian authorities without much warning or explanation. Egypt in August allowed 19,608 departures from Gaza and denied entry to 314 people. How was the opening negotiated? Until Wednesday, the Rafah crossing had remained closed and Egypt had not allowed for people to leave. Egypt, which already hosts millions of migrants, had expressed uneasiness about the prospect of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees crossing into its territory. More than 2 million Palestinians live in Gaza. Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi had said recently his country is trying to help within limits. However, Qatar brokered an agreement between Egypt, Israel and Hamas, along with the United States, reports Reuters. Following the negotiations, it was reported that more than 80 wounded Palestinians would enter Egypt for medical treatment. Furthermore, it was negotiated that dual nationals in Gaza who have foreign passports would be allowed to leave. According to the arrangements put in place by Cairo, the embassies of those people being allowed to cross have been informed in advance. Whos left using the crossing as of now? A number of wounded have been shifted from Gaza to Egypt under this new agreement. Human rights activists hope that this will further allow more people to shift from the terror of the constant and fierce bombardment taking place in the Gaza Strip. Besides the wounded, dual nationals have also left Gaza. According to Italys foreign minister Antonio Tajani, four Italians were among those who left on Wednesday. I just spoke with the first four Italians to leave the Gaza Strip. They are tired but in good health, assisted by the Italian consul in Cairo. We continue to work to get everyone else out, he said. France also announced that five of their nationals had left the besieged territory and that they would continues efforts so that all compatriots, our staff, and their families who wish to do so can leave Gaza as soon as possible. Two Medecins Sans Frontieres doctors from the Philippines had also left, said a report by The Guardian. Following claims that no US citizens had left, it emerged later that three US citizens working for international organisations had crossed. On Wednesday evening the UK Foreign Office said a first group of British nationals had entered Egypt. The foreign secretary, James Cleverly, called the crossing a hugely important first step. We are working with Egyptian and Israeli authorities to ensure the crossing stays open so all British nationals can get to safety in the coming days, he wrote on the social media platform X. With inputs from agencies A newly-inducted Agniveers demise has caused a massive uproar in the country, with Opposition parties slamming the central government and the Indian Army for not providing a guard of honour during his last rites. Agniveer Amritpal Singh passed away in Jammu and Kashmir on 11 October. This has raised serious questions about the treatment of Agniveer recruits in comparison to other soldiers and the policy governing military honours for fallen soldiers. The Army later justified the move by citing Singhs self-inflicted gunshot injury and that such deaths are not entitled to military funerals as per the existing policy. Lets take a closer look. The death and funeral Amritpal Singh (19), a soldier in a Jammu and Kashmir Rifles battalion, died on Wednesday while he was on sentry duty. The Indian Army confirmed the demise in a statement that read, In an unfortunate incident, Agniveer Amritpal Singh died while on sentry duty in Rajouri Sector, due to a self-inflicted gunshot injury. According to the statement, Singhs body was transported in a civilian ambulance, accompanied by army personnel. He was cremated without a military guard of honour in his native village, Mansa district in Punjab. Death of Agniveer Amritpal Singh on 11 October 23 In an unfortunate incident, Agniveer Amritpal Singh died while on sentry duty in Rajouri Sector, due to a self-inflicted gunshot injury. A Court of Inquiry to ascertain more details is in progress. Mortal remains of the pic.twitter.com/AfqddRYjrS ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2023 The statement added, Mortal remains of the deceased, accompanied by one Junior Commissioned Officer and four other Ranks, were transported in a Civil Ambulance hired by the Unit of the Agniveer. Accompanying Army personnel also attended the last rites. The cause of death being a self-inflicted injury, no guard of honour or military funeral was provided, in accordance with the existing policy. Also read: No Nepali Gorkhas recruited to Indian Army for a year: How forces are being affected Strong reactions from the Opposition The lack of a guard of honour at the last rites of the young Agniveer prompted strong reactions from political leaders. Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann was shocked by the incident and pledged to raise a strong objection with the BJP-led central government. According to news agency ANI, he affirmed his AAP administrations unwavering commitment to honouring martyred soldiers and further promised to provide Rs 1 crore (approximately 121,000 US dollars) to the deceaseds family in accordance with the states policy. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Raghav Chadha slammed the Centre, by saying, Shame on the central government that doesnt honour martyrs. Merely taking photos and distributing sweets on Diwali doesnt suffice. If we truly want to honour soldiers, they should be given a dignified farewell with full military honours after their martyrdom. If genuine respect is to be shown, pensions and compensation for their families should not discontinued under the disguise of cost-cutting. Instead, it demands standing with their families during their moments of sorrow, he said according to NDTV. He also said, When a political leader dies in this country, then you see that a mourning day is announced and memorials are built. However, if an Agniveer dies in the line of duty, then they are not given that status, they are not even given a guard of honour. VIDEO | When a political leader dies in this country, then you see that a mourning day is announced and memorials are built. However, if an Agniveer dies in the line of duty, then they are not given that status, they are not even given a guard of honour, says AAP MP pic.twitter.com/HRMuqfDZNl Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 15, 2023 Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring expressed disappointment by questioning whether a soldiers life was less valuable for being an Agniveer recruit. He emphasised the need for the family to ask the neighbourhood Punjab Police to offer a guard of honour, along with other political people. Former Union Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal called for Defence Minister Rajnath Singhs intervention and requested directives to ensure all fallen soldiers receive military honours, as per Wion News. SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal also criticised the Punjab government for not sending a state-level dignitary to pay respects to the deceased soldier and also called for a more dignified farewell. He claimed that former chief minister Parkash Singh Ji Badal would have acted differently in a similar situation. According to the report, party leader Bikram Singh Majithia campaigned for the withdrawal of the Agniveer scheme and regularize all soldiers hired under it. Also read: Explained: What lies ahead for Indias new Agniveers after their four-year tenure Armys justification On Sunday, the Indian Army cleared the air by releasing a statement on X. It said that there have been some misunderstandings and misrepresentation of facts on the issue. ADG-PI Indian Army said, It is a grave loss to the family and the Indian Army that Agniveer Amritpal Singh committed suicide by shooting himself while on sentry duty. In consonance with the existing practice, the mortal remains, after conduct of medico-legal procedures, were transported under Army arrangements along with an escort party to the native places for the last rites. Unfortunate Death of Agniveer Amritpal Singh on 11 Oct 2023. There has been some misunderstanding and misrepresentation of facts related to unfortunate death of Agniveer Amritpal Singh. Further to the initial information given out by White Knight Corps on 14 Oct 2023, pic.twitter.com/6rhaOu3hN8 ADG PI INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) October 15, 2023 The Army added the Armed Forces do not differentiate between the soldiers who joined prior to or after the implementation of the Agnipath scheme as regards entitled benefits and protocols. Unfortunate instances of death arising out of suicide/self-inflicted injury, irrespective of the type of entry, are accorded due respect by the Armed Forces along with deep and enduring empathy with the family. Such cases, however, are not entitled to military funerals as per the extant Army Order of 1967, in vogue. Policy on the subject has been consistently followed ever since, without any discrimination, it said. As per data held, there has been an average yearly loss ranging between 100 140 soldiers since 2001 where deaths occurred due to suicides / self-inflicted injuries, and Military Funeral in such cases was not accorded. The disbursement of financial assistance/relief, as per entitlement, is given due priority including immediate financial relief for the conduct of funerals, the statement further said. The Army concluded, Such unfortunate instances of loss bear heavy on the family and the Forces as a fraternity. During such times, it is important and incumbent on the society to uphold the respect, privacy and dignity of the family while empathising with them in their moment of grief. Armed Forces are known for adherence to the policies and protocols and will continue to do so as hithertofore. The Indian Army requests support of all sections of the society while it follows its established protocols. Also read: Explained: The new graduation programme designed for Indias Agniveers All about Agniveers On 14 June, the Centre approved a recruitment scheme named Agnipath for Indian youth to serve in the Armed Forces. The selected youth under this scheme are known as Agniveers. The scheme allows patriotic and motivated youth to serve in the Army for a period of four years. Agniveers are given an attractive customised monthly package along with Risk and Hardship allowances as applicable in the three services, according to The Statesman. On completion of the engagement period, they will also be paid a one-time SevaNidhi package which comprises their contribution including accrued interest thereon and matching contribution from the government equal to the accumulated amount of their contribution including interest. Upon the completion of four years, they will get an opportunity to join the regular cadre and over 25 per cent of them will be selected through another recruitment process. As per The Hindu, the Army has so far recruited 40,000 Agniveers in two batches. The first batch has already joined the service after the training at the regimental centres. A collection of Suicide prevention helpline numbers are available here. Please reach out if you or anyone you know is in need of support. The All-India helpline number is: 022-27546669 With inputs from agencies With the Israel-Hamas war into its 10th day, there are fears that the conflict will escalate to engulf the wider region. Top US officials have warned that Israel may face a second front and that Irans involvement cannot be ruled out. Iran is the elephant in the room, a US official briefed on the situation said about the increasing military presence. The carriers are accompanied by warships and attack planes. Every effort is being made to stop this from becoming a regional conflict. This comes in the backdrop of Saudi Arabia reshuffling its priorities by putting a US-backed plan to normalise ties with Israel on the backburner. But are fears that the conflict will escalate and spiral out of control? Lets take a closer look: Israel-Hezbollah clashes Israeli forces are engaged in skirmishes with Hezbollah militants along their Lebanon border. The Iran-backed group initially fired shells on Israel in solidarity with the Palestinian people. Though the initial attacks did no damage, the clashes in recent days have grown far more intense. A dozen people, mostly combatants, have died on the Lebanese side, while two people have been killed in Israel. In a statement Sunday, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a new attack in northern Israel, near the Hanita kibbutz, saying it had killed or wounded several soldiers and destroyed two tanks and another military vehicle. And the Palestinian Hamas, which has fighters in Lebanon, said it had fired several rockets into northern Israel. Israeli fighter jets have struck several Hezbollah positions in Lebanon, according to the Israeli army. A piece in The Conversation noted that the Iran-backed group desires escalation. Like Hamas, Hezbollah has been losing grip over various segments of Lebanese society due to allegations of corruption, intervention in the Syrian conflict, and tampering with the judicial investigation into the 2020 Beirut port blast, the article noted. The situation on the border is extremely dangerous, according to Heiko Wimmen, an analyst with the International Crisis Group. While individual clashes there may represent just one notch up on the escalation ladder, such details matter hugely, he said on X. Sullivan, for his part, told ABC: We see a real risk of escalation on the northern border, and that is why President Joe Biden has been so clear and so forceful in saying that no state and no group should seek to exploit the situation to their advantage or should escalate the conflict. John Kirby, spokesman for the US National Security Council, told Fox News that the US did not want to see another terrorist group like Hezbollah widening this, and opening fronts to distract against the fight against Hamas. If tomorrow Hezbollah started launching missiles into Israel, that would be seen as a real escalation, a person in the know told CNN Washington warns Tehran to steer clear The Islamic Republic, which has provided both financial and military support to Hamas, has repeatedly denied any involvement in the 7 October attack. Kirby, however, said that even if the US so far lacks specific intelligence linking Iran to the Hamas attacks, Tehran cannot escape a share of responsibility. Of course Iran is broadly complicit, and this has helped Hamas function and be able to conduct the terrorist attack they have conducted, he said. Washington is keeping a watchful eye on Iran with Biden has warned Tehran not to intervene. Top US officials have also been sounding the alarm. Kirby, however, said that even if the US so far lacks specific intelligence linking Iran to the Hamas attacks, Tehran cannot escape a share of responsibility. Of course Iran is broadly complicit, and this has helped Hamas function and be able to conduct the terrorist attack they have conducted, he said. There is a risk of an escalation of this conflict, the opening of a second front in the north and, of course, Irans involvement, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CBS earlier in the day. Sullivan said Washington had private channels to communicate its concerns to Tehran and had used them in recent days. US defence secretary Lloyd Austin had announced Saturday that the United States was sending a second carrier group to the eastern Mediterranean to deter hostile actions against Israel or any efforts toward widening this war following Hamass attack. The USS Eisenhower and its escort ships will join the carrier group led by the USS Gerald R. Ford, which was deployed to the region earlier in the week. But Irans foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has warned it may not be able to stay out of the fray. Amirabdollahian told Al-Jazeera that Iran told Israeli officials if they do not cease their atrocities in Gaza, Iran cannot simply remain an observer. Amirabdollahian, for good measure, also threatened Washington. If the scope of the war expands, significant damages will also be inflicted upon America, he warned. The Conversation piece noted that Tehran likely sees the conflict as a chance to hurt its arch-rival as well as damage any chance Israel and Saudi Arabia have of normalising relations. Saudi-Israeli normalistion on hold Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, is putting US-backed plans to normalise ties with Israel on ice, two sources familiar with Riyadhs thinking said. This signals a rapid rethinking of its foreign policy priorities as war escalates between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas. The conflict has also pushed the kingdom to engage with Iran. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman took his first phone call from Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi as Riyadh tries to prevent a broader surge in violence across the region. The two sources told Reuters there would be a delay in the US-backed talks on normalisation with Israel that was a key step for the kingdom to secure what Riyadh considers the real prize of a US defence pact in exchange. Until Iran-backed Hamas sparked a war on 7 October by launching a devastating attack on Israel, both Israeli and Saudi leaders had been saying they were moving steadily towards a deal that could have reshaped West Asia. Saudi Arabia, birthplace of Islam and home to its two holiest sites, had until the latest conflict indicated it would not allow its pursuit of a US defence pact be derailed even if Israel did not offer significant concessions to the Palestinians in the their bid for statehood, sources had previously said. But an approach that sidelined Palestinians would risk angering Arabs around the region, as Arab news outlets broadcast images of Palestinians killed in Israeli retaliatory airstrikes. Hamas fighters killed more than 1,300 Israelis in their 7 October attack and more than 1,500 had been killed by Friday in Israels ongoing strikes on Gaza in response. The first source familiar with Riyadhs thinking said talks could not be continued for now and the issue of Israeli concessions for the Palestinians would need to be a bigger priority when discussions resumed a comment that indicates Riyadh has not abandoned the idea. The Saudi rethink highlights challenges facing Washingtons efforts to deepen Israels integration in a region where the Palestinian cause remains a major Arab concern. Normalisation was already considered taboo (in the Arab world) this war only amplifies that, Saudi analyst Aziz Alghashian said. Washington wants to build on the Abraham Accords when Gulf states, including the United Arab Emirates, normalised ties. Sullivan told a White House briefing this week that the normalisation effort was not on hold but said the focus was on other immediate challenges. Riyadh moving to contain the crisis But there is some good news among the doom and gloom. Saudi Arabia seems to be moving to tamp down the crisis. The first source familiar with Saudi thinking said Washington had pressed Riyadh this week to condemn the Hamas attack but said Saudi foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan pushed back. A US source familiar with the issue confirmed this. The regional conflict has also prompted the Saudi crown prince and Irans president to speak for the first time after a Chinese-brokered initiative prompted the Gulf rivals to re-establish diplomatic ties in April. A Saudi statement said the crown prince told Raisi the kingdom is exerting maximum effort to engage with all international and regional parties to halt the ongoing escalation, underling Riyadhs move to contain the crisis. A senior Iranian official told Reuters the call, made by Raisi to the crown prince, aimed to support Palestine and prevent the spread of war in the region. The call was good and promising, the official said. A second Iranian official said the call lasted 45 minutes and had the blessing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Saudi government did not provide further details on the call but the statement said the crown prince stated the kingdoms opposition to any form of civilian targeting and the loss of innocent lives and expressed Riyadhs unwavering stance in standing up for the Palestinian cause. Saudi Arabia has been seeking to ease tensions elsewhere in the West Asia, including seeking to end a conflict Yemen, where Riyadh has led a military coalition in a war against the Iran-aligned Houthis. Asked about Raisis call with the crown prince, a senior US state department official said Washington was in constant contact with Saudi leaders. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has held several calls with his Saudi counterpart. The official said Washington was asking partners with channels to Hamas, Hezbollah or Iran to get Hamas to stand down from its attacks, to release hostages, keep Hezbollah out (and) keep Iran out of the fray. The first source familiar with Saudi thinking said Gulf states, including those with Israeli ties, were worried Iran could be drawn into a conflict that would affect them. Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran Program at the Middle East Institute in Washington, said the last week showed how the Saudi and Iranian visions for the region diverged. The Saudis are still convinced the region, and Saudi Arabia itself, needs to shift toward regional cooperation and economic development. Iran seems to think the priority is to take the fight to the Israelis first, he said. What do experts say? That the risks of escalation are certainly real. If history at its worst is one damned thing after another, then the news can sometimes feel like the same damned thing, every hour on the hour. We have all now seen at least some of the hideous images of the worst attack on Israel since 1973,a piece in The Times UK said. The piece warned that Israel, by dint of its response to the heinous attack on its citizens, could get lured into Gaza and then slammed from the north by Hezbollah. Hussein Ibish, senior resident school at the Arab Gulf States Institute, told France24, If Israel sends ground troops into Gaza or does something else drastic. Then Hezbollah could open up a front in Lebanon and defend their decision by saying they have no choice, that they must defend Palestine. We could see Israel dragged into a multi-front war with various different resistance groups, most of them beholden to Iran, Ibish added. The risk of the conflict escalating is real, especially with what is happening on [Israels] northern border, David Rigoulet-Roze, editor of the research journal Orients Strategiques told the website. There is a risk of a second front opening up, and that is very worrying. Myriam Benraad, a political scientist specialising in the Arab world at Schiller University in Paris, said the Hamas attack could lead to tensions between Israel and Arab nations. Beyond the Israeli-Palestinian context, there is an Israeli-Arab context that is going to be extremely tense, Benraad warned. She added that public opinion in Arab countries is still overwhelmingly pro-Palestinian, even though the proliferation of conflicts in the Middle East have pushed the issue of Palestine into the background. Hamas, on the other hand, is pursuing a hardline approach aimed at preventing any normalisation with Israel. But others say a firm and experienced hand in the White House could make all the difference. As per CNN, the crisis has shone the spotlight on Bidens extensive experience perhaps more than any other sitting commander-in-chief with the region. The piece noted that the president made his first trip to Israel in 1973, served on the powerful foreign relations committee, dealt with it as vice-president under Barack Obama It quoted allies as saying Biden would navigate through this crisis on the basis of his experience. This president knows every side of this, a senior US official told CNN, and he will not be pushed into something he is not comfortable with. With inputs from agencies Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah said Monday that celebrating Navratri pujas in the historic Sharda Temple in Kashmir this year is a matter of profound spiritual significance. The Navratri pujas were organised in the historic Sharda Temple in Kashmir this year for the first time since 1947. In a post over X, he said that earlier in the year, the Chaitra Navratri Puja was observed and now the mantras of the Shardiya Navratri puja resound in the shrine. Amit Shah said that he was fortunate to reopen the temple on 23rd March 2023 after restoration. This not only signifies the return of peace in the valley but also marks the rekindling of our nations spiritual and cultural flame under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said. Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), has been chosen to serve as Indias next permanent representative to the United Nations and other international institutions in Geneva. Bagchi is an Additional Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs and an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer from the 1995 batch. In March 2021, Bagchi took over as spokesperson. The COVID-19 pandemic, the confrontation with China in eastern Ladakh, Indias hosting of the G20 Summit in September of this year, and the accelerated pace of Indias contacts with numerous partners all occurred during his eventful tenure. Arindam Bagchi (IFS:1995), presently Additional Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, has been appointed as the next Ambassador/Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Geneva, an MEA release said. Bagchi is anticipated to begin the duty soon, according to the statement. According to media reports, four senior diplomats are vying for the position of MEA spokesperson, including joint secretary (G20) Nagaraj Naidu Kakanur and high commissioner to Mauritius K Nandini Singla. Bagchi formerly held the positions of deputy high commissioner in Sri Lanka and ambassador to Croatia. (With agency inputs) NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and its HR head Amit Chakravarty on Monday moved the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Courts refusal to interfere with their arrest and police remand in a case lodged under the anti-terror law UAPA. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra took note of the submissions of senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, appearing for Purkayastha and Chakravarty, that the matter needed urgent hearing and asked him to circulate the case papers. This is the NewsClick matter. The journalists are in police custody. Here one of the accused is a 75-year-old man, Sibal said. The CJI said he would take a call on the listing. On October 13, a Delhi High Court bench dismissed the plea against the arrest and subsequent police remand of Purkayastha and Chakravarty in the case. Both 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 seven-day police custody and sought immediate release as interim relief. On October 10, the trial court sent them to judicial custody for 10 days. A case has been lodged against the two under the 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. The death of a near and dear one is perhaps the saddest event in a human beings life. The incident on 4 December 2021, when 13 innocent villagers of a remote hamlet in Nagalands Oting were gunned down, will go down in history as one of the darkest days for India. The pain will endure for a very long time, and the name of the remote village, Oting, will be in the pages of every history book forever. But the fact of the matter is that Oting was an aberration. The 21 Para (Special Force) were incorrectly provided intelligence about insurgent movement in the area. The force, perhaps without following the correct Standard Operating Procedures killed innocent villagers in Mons Oting. Oting is a remote village in Nagalands Mon district. The road to the village snaked querulously and in a manner that seemed unwelcoming. But it was necessary to visit Oting to learn about the goings-on and the latest situation in the ill-fated hamlet that hadalmost two years agolaunched a thousand mutiny and had almost set a nation afire. Therefore, on 14 September 2023, this author set out to see for how the fateful incident took place and how the families of the victims are coming to terms with the episode that took away their loved ones 22 malicious months ago. Driving down from the Assam Rifles tactical headquarters in Mon to Oting, this author was gripped with a queer sense of sadness and trepidation. The manner in which the populace of Nagaland had literally boycotted the Indian army and the Assam Rifles in the aftermath of the incident for six long months was alarming. And, one feared the worst. Brickbats and the razor, perhaps! But, the almost sea-change that one witnessed in Oting was awe-inspiring. The scars have not left, but the anger has disappeared. Limping from house to house of the victims and meeting a few who were grievously injured in the incident, one expected rage and fury. Instead, there was forgiveness. It was one of the most difficult situations to fathom. Newly constructed water tanks and play grounds can be seen in the village and a genuine effort by the Sentinels of the East to atone for the mistake was in evidence. Lest the reader felt that there was no anger in the immediate aftermath of the 4 December 2021 incident, it must be retold that the villagers burnt down the Assam Rifles tactical headquarters in Mon on the evening of the incident. But the force showed great restraint and did not open fire on the mob. It necessitated great leadership quality from both Shillong and Kohima where the Director General of the Assam Rifles and the Inspector General of the Assam Rifles (North) were billeted. One could have thought of numerous other occasions when a massacre would have taken place. But the leadership held the hand of their men and carnage was avoided. On the day this author visited Oting, there was no sign of that fateful evening. Yes, there was Phojem, 32, with a crutch; Sheiwang, with a scar in his right eye; and, of course, Yeihwang, who continues to be in a state of partial paralysis with splinters still embedded in his head. Yeihwang just laid on his wooden bench. The Assam Rifles has achieved the impossible. Once back flags used to greet the force when they used to visit the village. But the healing touch and, more importantly, the genuineness of the Assam rifles have been felt by the victims and the families of Oting, and now the black flags have been replaced with the tri-colour. In sum, the incredible has been realised in Oting. The Indian nation must be grateful to this noble force. The author is a Conflict Theorist and Bestselling Author. 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. An FIR has been filed against four students from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) who participated in a pro-Palestine march amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, which has been ongoing and causing significant turmoil in the region. In addition to the named students, the FIR also encompasses several unidentified individuals who were part of the same march. The students mentioned in the FIR include Khalid, Kamran, Naved Choudhary, and Aatif, who are now facing legal consequences for their involvement. The case was registered following the viral spread of a video capturing the pro-Palestine march on various social media platforms. Its noted that the march was conducted without prior authorisation or permission. The FIR invokes Sections 155A, 188, and 505 of the Indian Penal Code, indicating potential charges related to hatred and enmity between different communities. The AMU administration has announced its intent to take strict legal action against the involved students and any others linked to the march, emphasising the importance of adhering to the law. The backdrop for this FIR is the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, which commenced with a surprise attack by Hamas on Israel, including infiltrations into Israeli towns and the tragic loss of citizens. In retaliation, Israel initiated Operation Iron Swords. This conflict has resulted in a significant loss of life, with casualties reported on both sides, surpassing 1,100 individuals in total. Additionally, there have been hostage situations, including foreign citizens held by Hamas, adding complexity to the situation. Further, Hamas issued a call for mass rallies, which were to be held last Friday, rallying support for its ongoing conflict with Israel. This call spanned across multiple regions, including the West Bank, Jerusalem, and the broader Arab and Muslim world. Within the West Bank, Hamas is actively encouraging young Palestinians to rise and confront both settlers and soldiers as the situation escalates. Beyond the immediate conflict zones, Hamas is also making a global appeal. Palestinians in the diaspora and the wider Arab and Islamic world are called upon to show solidarity and unite against Israeli initiatives aimed at altering the character of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa. India is bracing for riot-like situations and stone-pelting, a usual occurrence every time something of significance occurs regarding the global Muslim world, be it the Rushdie Affair or Charlie Hebdo massacres or religious festivals taken out by Hindus past Muslim-dominated areas, like the Nuh violence recently. Fridays have become a day of heightened global attention regarding Muslim outrage and disruption. This phenomenon often includes protests, rallies, and sometimes even violence in various parts of the world. Fridays hold profound religious significance in Islam. They are considered the holiest day of the week, often referred to as Jumuah or the Day of Congregation. Muslims are required to attend the Friday prayer, known as Salat al-Jumuah, which is a congregational prayer held at midday. During this prayer, an Imam delivers a sermon, also known as Khutbah, addressing various issues, including moral, ethical, and political matters. The Friday congregational prayer provides an ideal platform for religious leaders and Imams to address large gatherings of worshippers. It is during these sermons that issues of local, national, and global significance are often raised, leading to discussions that can sometimes escalate to outrage. Imams play a crucial role in influencing the perspectives and emotions of their congregations, and their messages can have a profound impact on the mood of the community. Fridays are also conducive to political mobilisation and protests. In many Muslim-majority countries, Friday is a designated day for public demonstrations and rallies, as it allows people to gather without disrupting work or daily routines. Political parties, activists, and opposition groups often use this opportunity to express their discontent with governments, policies, or social issues. The religious fervour of Friday prayers can serve as a catalyst for political rallying, leading to large-scale protests. Fridays often become focal points for global issues that resonate with Muslims around the world. International events, crises, and conflicts can trigger solidarity movements and protests among Muslim communities. When issues like the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Rohingya crisis, or the situation in Kashmir gain prominence, they often lead to mass demonstrations on Fridays, reflecting the global nature of these concerns. The advent of social media has played a significant role in amplifying Muslim outrage and disruption on Fridays. Platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube enable the rapid spread of information, images, and videos, making it easier for activists and protestors to coordinate and disseminate their messages. Social media provides a global stage for Muslims to express their grievances, leading to coordinated efforts and international attention. There are historical precedents for the association between Fridays and Muslim outrage. Notable events, such as the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, the 1989 Salman Rushdie fatwa, and the publication of controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad by French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo, all had Fridays as significant days for protests and demonstrations. These events have contributed to the perception that Fridays are suitable for expressing outrage and demanding change. Extremist elements within the Muslim community, generally activists with agendas in the garb of fact checkers have also played a role in the association between Fridays and outrage. Radical groups may exploit the religious significance of the day to advance their extremist agendas. They often use the Friday sermon to disseminate their ideologies and recruit followers, leading to acts of violence or disruption. Fridays have been subverted from religious devotion and congregation for the vast majority of Muslims, to becoming a designated day for expressing discontent, mobilising political protests, and standing in solidarity with global causes. So understanding the multifaceted nature of this phenomenon is essential for policymakers, religious leaders, and communities across India to address grievances and promote peaceful solutions to the issues that lead to outrage and disruption on Fridays. The author is a writer and an educationist from Srinagar. 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. Apples recent decision to require app developers to obtain Chinese government licensing before their apps can be available in the Chinese App Store is set to close a longstanding loophole in Beijings censorship efforts. While this move aligns with Chinas strict censorship laws, it is poised to complicate the lives of both users and developers. For years, tech-savvy users in China have used iPhones to access blocked platforms such as Instagram and YouTube via the Chinese iOS store. They accomplished this by using VPNs to bypass Chinas Great Firewall and access content from these apps. However, the availability of VPNs in China has been progressively restricted, making it more challenging for users like Alex to maintain access to a diverse range of views and information provided by foreign apps. This practice has seen many banned foreign apps amass millions of downloads in the mainland Chinese iOS Store. During the widespread protests against pandemic restrictions in China last year, platforms like X and Telegram briefly emerged as the most popular apps in the country. In 2023, Google Chrome has taken the lead in downloads, with about 7 million, while Instagram and X have each accumulated 5 million downloads, according to data from Sensor Tower, an app market intelligence provider. However, this virtual window for iPhone users in China may soon be closed. In response to Chinas tightening regulations on apps last year, Apple is now requesting that app developers targeting mainland users demonstrate proof of licensing from local internet regulators. Its the latest step by the US tech giant to ensure compliance with censorship laws in one of its most lucrative markets. A key aspect of Apples new policy is the requirement for apps to acquire an Internet Information Provider (ICP) license from Chinese regulators. This effectively mandates that all apps use a mainland domain and be hosted by a local entity, as noted by Chinese app developers familiar with the process. The repercussions of this change are not limited to censored foreign apps but also extend to apps targeting Chinese users without local operations. Small, independent developers are likely to face the greatest challenges. However, its worth noting that some companies have struggled with this approach. For instance, LinkedIn created a Chinese-compliant version of its app with strict content filters in 2021 but abandoned the effort earlier this year. Other developers have sought partnerships with local publishers offering app hosting services in China for a fee. Apple had previously resisted adopting stricter app development policies imposed by local competitors in China. It occasionally complied with specific requests from Chinese regulators to remove controversial apps. However, last year, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) issued updated app provider policies, requiring app distribution platforms to submit specific information for registration and urging app stores to police their products actively and reject apps containing illegal or bad information. Following these changes, Apple began mandating ICP licenses from app developers, which could result in a reduced number of apps available in China. Currently, the Chinese Apple App Store offers the most app choices among all platforms in the country. The tighter policy is expected to pose a more significant barrier, making it less likely for users to discover these apps in the first place. In possibly one of the most unlikely pairings, battery developers are working on combining generative AI with EV batteries, and believe that the two coming together will help developers and EV makers revolutionise EV batteries. By leveraging the power of artificial intelligence, EV battery makers, like Aionics for example, aim to revolutionize the electrolyte materials used in batteries and, in turn, transform the energy storage landscape. Their innovative approach to catalyst discovery has captured the attention of investors, securing a total funding of $3.5 million, with a substantial $3.2 million seed round from UP.Partners. Collaborating with industry giants like Porsches subsidiary Cellforce, Form Energy, Showa Denko (now Resonac), and Cuberg, Aionics has quickly gained a foothold in the battery technology sector. Their process starts with a clients battery performance profile, which serves as a wish list. Aionics employs AI-accelerated quantum mechanics to run experiments on an extensive database containing billions of known molecules. This capability allows them to consider a staggering 10,000 candidates every second, providing a powerful tool for innovation. To further enhance their efforts, battery makers have like Aionics have incorporated generative AI models into their research. These models, trained on existing battery materials data, are utilized to design new molecules tailored for specific applications, going beyond the confines of known molecules. This strategic advantage has the potential to unlock groundbreaking developments in battery technology. To streamline their research, EV battery makers have harnessed specially designed programmes. Avionics, for example, is using software developed at Carnegie Mellon Universitys Accelerated Computational Electrochemical Systems Discovery program. Dr. Venkat Viswanathan, a co-founder and chief scientist at Aionics, was instrumental in leading this program. EV battery makers have employed large language models (LLMs), such as GPT-4 from OpenAI, to assist their scientists in narrowing down the vast array of possible formulations. These LLMs have been trained on selected chemistry textbooks and scientific papers, which enables scientists to make informed decisions about molecule selection, enhancing the efficiency of the research process. Austin Sendek, the CEO of Aionics, emphasized that this tool doesnt replace the scientists but empowers them to interact with the information in an innovative way. The chatbot feature, as he pointed out, focuses on seeking design principles from the vast body of scientific literature. Once battery makers have screened and narrowed down the vast pool of candidates, the selected molecules, or those designed by generative AI, are sent to customers for validation. In the case of suboptimal results, they retry and conduct further trials to refine the selection. Once a winning molecule is identified, the battery makers work with manufacturing partners to scale up production for market deployment. WhatsApp stands as one of the most extensively used instant messaging applications nationwide, facilitating daily communication among millions of individuals across the country, connecting friends, family, colleagues, and more. Nonetheless, it remains an established fact that WhatsApp can inadvertently propagate deepfakes and spam messages, particularly in the lead-up to crucial events like elections. In the lead-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Indian government is considering enacting a law that will mandate WhatsApp to share the origins of a message. It means they have to share the user details of the account that first sent a message. The primary objective behind this endeavour is to combat the proliferation of deepfake content on the platform. However, the corporation, which is now under the Meta umbrella, contends that such a requirement would compromise the privacy of its users, as they are committed to safeguarding the privacy of personal conversations that transpire on their platform. In response to this concern, a report by The Indian Express states that the governments impetus for seeking information about the original message senders pertains to the prevalence of deepfake videos featuring politicians, a recurring issue on the messaging platform. To address this, the government may potentially issue orders mandating WhatsApp to reveal the identities of individuals responsible for the initial dissemination of such videos, in accordance with the Information Technology (IT) Rules of 2021. One senior government official stressed that the governments stance transcends political affiliation, as the problematic videos in question depict deepfakes of politicians from various political parties. These manipulated videos pose a tangible threat to the electoral integrity of India, hence the intention to dispatch first-originator notices to WhatsApp. Notably, WhatsApp and its parent company, Facebook, had previously contested this provision in the Delhi High Court in 2021, citing concerns about privacy infringement and the potential for mass surveillance. Nonetheless, the government maintains that such measures will not disrupt the normal functioning of WhatsApp or adversely impact everyday users. In a bid to enhance user privacy, WhatsApp is also reported to be developing a new feature that would enable users to conceal their IP addresses during calls. This measure is designed to shield users from malicious threat actors. Presently, the feature is available to a select group of users in WhatsApp beta for Android and iOS, with plans to potentially extend its availability to all users in the future. The precise release date of this feature remains undisclosed at this time. Israel has one of the most thriving start-up ecosystems, especially when it comes to technology. However, the recent developments around the Israel-Palestine war has brought the nations tech sector, as well as the startup ecosystem to a grinding halt, as per a Financial Times report. In the face of mounting tensions and the looming possibility of a ground offensive in Gaza, Israels tech industry often hailed as the Start-Up Nation, finds itself confronted with an unprecedented challenge. Key players within the Israeli tech landscape have voiced concerns about the potential ramifications of a prolonged conflict on their operations. Israeli tech founders and investors estimate that a significant portion, ranging from 10 to 15 per cent, of their workforce, is comprised of the 360,000 reservists now called up for duty, causing a sudden and substantial disruption, especially for smaller tech companies. The tech sector plays a pivotal role in Israels economy, accounting for approximately 15 per cent of all jobs, as reported by the Israeli Innovation Authority. This dynamic workforce is dispersed across hundreds of start-ups and major offices of global giants like Intel and Microsoft, making it a vital contributor to the nations economic success. Despite the global industry slowdown, Israel managed to secure $5.5 billion in total venture capital through 320 deals in 2023, attracting foreign investments, according to market researcher IVC. However, these investors, often seeking stability, may now face a dilemma when considering continued investments in the country during a protracted conflict. In a stark illustration of the situation, Or Bokobza, the CEO of Venn, a residential software start-up, and a reserve member of an elite Israeli military unit, has been deployed in the field following a surprise attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Bokobza and around ten of his colleagues, part of the 90-strong company, have been drafted into the nations large-scale mobilization for war. Dovi Frances, a founding partner of venture firm Group 11, shared that several top executives in his portfolio companies are currently fulfilling their reserve duties. Nevertheless, industry leaders, including Frances, have indicated their readiness to adapt to the situation, as the prospect of war has long been a reality in Israel. Yevgeny Dibrov, the CEO of the cybersecurity start-up Armis, has had to address the departure of 20 of his staff members. The eight-year-old company, with 660 employees, has swiftly transitioned to a crisis mode, reorganizing its operations, having its remaining Israel-based staff work from home, and providing psychological support for employees impacted by the recent attack. Executives have highlighted that many Israeli start-ups have their top executives, marketing, and sales teams based in the United States, a strategy that offers some business continuity during times of crisis. Shmuel Chafets, chair of the venture capital group Target Global, noted this adaptability as one of the strengths of the Israeli tech ecosystem. Furthermore, some tech start-ups have shifted their focus to contribute to the war effort, utilizing their technological expertise. Israels world-class cybersecurity sector, rooted in its military and intelligence services, is playing a crucial role in enhancing the nations security measures. Nadav Zafrir, former commander of Israels elite signals intelligence unit 8200 and managing partner at the Team8 venture group, revealed that his company is harnessing various technologies, including data science, to support the governments efforts to locate Israeli hostages. Large technology companies are also closely monitoring the situation. Intel, one of the biggest multinational corporations in Israel with 13,000 employees, has stated that it is closely monitoring the situation in Israel and taking steps to safeguard and support our workers. In a show of solidarity, over 300 venture capital firms have signed a statement of support for Israel, acknowledging the nations contribution to the global innovation ecosystem. Prominent American groups like Bessemer Venture Partners, GGV Capital, and Insight Partners, many of which have invested in Israeli companies over the years, have endorsed the statement. Additionally, firms such as Sequoia Capital and General Catalyst have announced donations in a demonstration of their support. Start-up executives emphasize that, regardless of the impact on their companies, Israels war effort remains the top priority. Dovi Frances of Group 11 mentioned that his company is organizing various donations, including funds, food, equipment, flights for reservists abroad, and even a shipment of 50,000 bags of coffee to the frontlines. In a bold move, Microsoft has unveiled a groundbreaking initiative to enhance the security of its Bing AI products, challenging the tech-savvy community to expose potential vulnerabilities within the AI framework and, remarkably, putting its money where its mouth is. In a recent blog update, the software behemoth has introduced a novel bug bounty programme, committed to rewarding security researchers with bounties ranging from $2,000 to $15,000 for identifying vulnerabilities in its Bing AI suite. These vulnerabilities primarily revolve around jailbreak prompts that coax the AI into generating responses that stray from the ethical guardrails intended to prohibit bigoted or otherwise problematic content. To partake in this programme, Bing users must alert Microsoft to previously undisclosed vulnerabilities, as per the companys specified criteria, categorized as either important or critical for security. Researchers must also be capable of replicating these vulnerabilities via video demonstrations or written documentation. The bounty amounts are contingent on the severity and quality of the reported issues, with the most critical vulnerabilities accompanied by comprehensive documentation earning the highest rewards. This presents an intriguing opportunity for AI enthusiasts to turn their expertise into a profitable endeavour. This programme comes in the wake of Microsofts well-publicized challenges in managing Bings idiosyncrasies. Following the AIs exclusive debut in early February, Bing AI exhibited erratic behavior, concocting a fictitious hit list, falsely claiming it could spy on users via webcams, and even issuing threats towards users who provoked its ire. Microsoft eventually lobotomized Bing towards the end of its tumultuous first month in media beta testing. Less than a month later, the reconfigured AI was reintroduced to the public for general use. Since the reconfiguration, Bing has remained relatively low-profile, while ChatGPT, developed by Microsofts partner, OpenAI, has garnered significant attention. Nevertheless, occasional incidents, such as a user coaxing the chatbot into providing fraudulent advice by invoking sympathy over a deceased grandmother, have surfaced. The precise catalyst for Microsofts belated announcement of the Bing bug bounty remains shrouded in mystery. When approached for clarification, the company directed inquiries to another blog post outlining its bug bounty initiatives. Regardless of the timing, it is intriguing that Microsoft has chosen to outsource its vulnerability research. Nevertheless, considering the vast magnitude of its business deals, the maximum reward of $15,000 pales in comparison. Nonetheless, this initiative underscores Microsofts dedication to bolstering the security and ethical integrity of its AI products and demonstrates its commitment to proactive responses in the realm of artificial intelligence. Two Palestinian students of a medical college in Pakistans Punjab province were injured in a knife attack after they objected to local goons harassing their foreign female classmates, police said on Monday. The incident occurred on Sunday in Gujranwala city, some 80 km from Lahore. According to the police, the victims Abdul Karim and Khaldoon Alsheikh of the Gujranwala Medical College exchanged harsh words with a group of local goons who were teasing their female classmates. On Sunday, some seven people attacked Abdul and Khaldoon with knives when they were coming out of their apartment. The attackers were those who were snubbed by the victims for harassing the foreign female students, police said. The injured Palestinian students were shifted to a hospital, where their condition was stated to be stable. A case has been registered against the suspects under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code. However, no arrests have been made. Police, however, dismissed the possibility of the attack on the Palestinian students being connected with the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. US President Joe Biden on Sunday condemned the deadly stabbing attack against a six-year-old Muslim boy, which police have linked to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, as a horrific act of hate. This horrific act of hate has no place in America, and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are, Biden said in a statement, adding he was praying for the recovery of the boys mother, who was also severely wounded in the attack. A 71-year-old man from Illinois has been accused of committing a hate crime. He is alleged to have fatally stabbed a 6-year-old boy and seriously wounded a 32-year-old woman. According to law enforcement agencies, the suspect targeted victims based on their Islamic faith, in what appears to be a response to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. With inputs from agencies. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned Monday to Israel after talks in six Arab states, hoping to coordinate efforts against Hamas while finding ways to alleviate Gazas humanitarian crisis. Just four days after he paid a lightning visit to Tel Aviv to show solidarity, Blinken landed back in the city and was expected to meet leaders in Jerusalem as Israel prepares a major ground operation in the Gaza Strip. I want an opportunity to share everything that Ive heard that Ive learned over the last few days visiting with our other partners and to talk about the way forward with our Israeli allies and friends, Blinken told reporters Sunday in Cairo. The trip comes as President Joe Biden reportedly considers an invitation to visit Israel to demonstrate further what the US leader has described as unwavering solidarity. Israel has declared war on Hamas after the Islamist groups fighters broke through the heavily fortified border and shot, stabbed, and burned to death more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians. Israel has responded with relentless bombing, killing around 2,750 people, the majority ordinary Palestinians, in the long-blockaded and impoverished Gaza Strip. US officials say Blinken heard wide opposition to Hamas from leaders during his tour but also concern about the plight of the Palestinians. I made clear that it cannot be must not be business as usual with Hamas going forward, Blinken said in Cairo. And at the same time, as I said, were determined to do everything we can to address the needs of people in Gaza, he said. Civilians should not have to suffer for Hamass atrocities. Mistake to reoccupy Gaza Under US pressure, Israel on Sunday resumed the supply of water to the southern Gaza Strip after earlier vowing to keep out all supplies of food, water and energy to the densely populated territory. The United States also named a coordinator to spearhead humanitarian relief into Gaza, retired ambassador David Satterfield, who was expected to arrive in Israel on Monday. The Biden administration has said that Israel has a right to respond and has stopped short of calling for restraint or a ceasefire. But it has also warned against more extreme measures such as mass expulsion of Palestinians, a prospect feared by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, a Hamas rival based in the West Bank. Biden, in an interview aired Sunday with the CBS News show 60 Minutes, cautioned of dangers in any bid by Israel to reoccupy Gaza. I think it would be a mistake, Biden said. Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005. Shortly thereafter, Israel imposed an air, land and sea blockade of the territory that was intensified after it came under the control of Hamas, considered a terrorist group by Israel and the United States. Blinken held talks in four of the five Arab states with diplomatic relations with Israel Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. He also visited Saudi Arabia, which put its own normalisation bid with Israel on hold after the violence, and Qatar, a US partner that maintains relations with Hamas. US President Joe might visit Israel in the coming days, a senior administration official has said, although no travel plans have been finalised yet. Bidens trip to Israel would be a powerful symbol of Americas support for Israel following the attacks by Hamas. The war between Israel and Palestine has reached Day 10, leaving over 2,800 dead. The official could not publicly discuss internal deliberations about the potential presidential travel and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invited Biden to the country for a solidarity visit, according to Times of Israel. The White House declined to comment. We have no new travel to announce, said National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson. A trip would be a chance for Biden to personally affirm to the Israeli people the US is standing firm behind them. But it would come amid growing fears that a looming Israeli move into Gaza could spark a wider war with devastating humanitarian consequences. On the other hand, Biden said that any move by Israel to occupy the Gaza Strip again would be a big mistake. Asked by CBS news program 60 Minutes if he would support any occupation of Gaza by the American ally, Biden replied: I think itd be a big mistake. Hamas dont represent all the Palestinian people, he continued. But invading and taking out the extremists is a necessary requirement, he added. With inputs from AP Donald Trumps attorneys said on Monday that their client wants to continue his lawsuit against a British private investigation company by offering testimony in a London court to refute allegations that Russia helped him win the 2016 presidential election. Trump, the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party for president in 2024, is suing Orbis Business Intelligence for claimed data privacy violations related to a dossier authored by Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer and co-founder of Orbis. Trump was accused of engaging in perverted sexual acts in the paper, which was eventually made public by the BuzzFeed website. It also included claims regarding connections between Trumps team and Russia. Many of the claims were never proven to be true. Trump has previously slammed what he called Steeles fake dossier, and in court documents that were made public on Monday, his attorneys said that the information in the document is egregiously inaccurate. The claims contained in what Trumps attorneys referred to as the now infamous Steele dossier, including that he participated in perverse sexual behaviour in Russia and that he paid payments to Russian authorities to further his business interests, are denied. According to Trumps attorneys, the false, intrusive, and damaging allegations about (his) personal life are what led to the personal and reputational damage and distress for which he is seeking reimbursement. Trumps lawyer Hugh Tomlinson told Londons High Court: President Trump brings this case because he seeks vindication of his legal rights. SHOCKING AND SCANDALOUS Trump wants to prove that the shocking and scandalous claims in the Steele dossier are false and intends to discharge that burden by giving evidence in this court, Tomlinson said. But Orbis lawyers argue that Trumps lawsuit should be thrown out of court. Antony White said in court filings that the dossier was never intended to be made public. He argued that any reputational damage and resulting distress suffered by Trump was caused by the BuzzFeed publication, for which (Trump) accepts Orbis is not liable. Trump did not attend the hearing in London on Monday and was not required to do so. Steele did attend and sat alongside Orbis lawyers during the hearing. Trumps lawsuit against Orbis is one of many legal cases the former president is involved in, which Tomlinson acknowledged at the start of Mondays hearing. Tomlinson said: His (Trumps) interactions with the U.S. legal system have been many and varied and he has sometimes been subject to serious criticism by judges in the U.S. But he added: None of this is relevant to whether the personal data is accurate. The New York attorney generals office is presently suing him and his family business on claims that he overstated his net worth by billions of dollars to get better loan and insurance terms. In addition, Trump is accused of conspiring to defraud the United States by keeping Congress from certifying Joe Bidens victory against him in the 2020 election, according to claims made in a federal court in Washington. Trump is now facing four different sets of criminal charges. Trump remains in the lead among candidates vying for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, despite his legal troubles. Many Republican voters have accepted Trumps claim that he is the target of a Democrat witch hunt. (With agency inputs) At the London High Court on Monday, Donald Trumps attorneys will make the case that the former American president has the right to sue a British private investigation company over allegations made in a dossier that Russia helped him win the 2016 presidential election. Trump, the Republican presidential frontrunner in 2024, is suing Orbis Business Intelligence for claimed data protection violations linked to a paper authored by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele. The Steele dossier alleged linkages between Trumps 2016 election campaign and Russia, as well as Trump engaging in perverted sexual acts that were watched by Russias Federal Security Service (FSB). Many of the allegations were never substantiated. Trump has previously criticised what he described as Steeles fake dossier, and his lawyers say the report is inaccurate. In court filings, Trump denies the allegations made in the Steele dossier, including that he engaged in perverted sexual behaviour in Russia and that he paid bribes to Russian officials to further his business interests. He is seeking compensation for personal and reputational damage and distress, which Trumps lawyers say were caused by the false, intrusive and damaging allegations about (his) personal life. Orbis, however, is applying to have the lawsuit thrown out of court on the grounds it has no real prospect of success, according to a High Court order dated June 9. The firms application will be heard over two days starting on Monday. Trumps lawsuit against Orbis is one of many legal cases the former president is involved in. He and his family business are currently facing a lawsuit from the New York attorney generals office which threatens to dismantle Trumps business empire over allegations that he inflated his net worth by billions of dollars to secure better loan and insurance terms. Trump is also facing four separate sets of criminal charges, including allegations in a federal court in Washington that he conspired to defraud the United States by preventing Congress from certifying Joe Bidens 2020 election victory over him. Despite his legal entanglements, however, Trump leads a field of rivals seeking the 2024 Republican nomination, with many Republican voters having embraced Trumps assertion that he is the victim of a Democrat witch hunt. On Monday, Egypt said that Israel was blocking the entry of hundreds of tonnes of supplies into Gaza and the evacuation of foreign passport holders through the sole entry Israel does not fully control. Cairo claims that although the Rafah border is not officially closed, Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza side have rendered it inoperable, making it potentially crucial for bringing badly needed supplies into the embattled Palestinian enclave. There is an urgent need to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, Egypts Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told reporters, adding that talks with Israel had not been fruitful. Until now the Israeli government has not taken a position on opening the Rafah crossing from the Gaza side to allow the entrance of assistance and exit of citizens of third countries. Since Israel began an intensive bombardment and blockade in reprisal for an attack by the militant Islamist group Hamas, more than 2 million people in Gaza have been under siege. A several-hour-long ceasefire in southern Gaza had been planned for Monday morning, according to two Egyptian security sources who spoke to Reuters, to allow for humanitarian deliveries and evacuations from Rafah. Israel, however, refuted that. There is currently no truce and humanitarian aid in Gaza in exchange for getting foreigners out, a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office said. There had been no bombardments on Monday, according to a source on the ground in Rafah, and the Egyptian side of the crossing was prepared. According to Shoukry, Egypt wants to let regular traffic over the border, including for Palestinians in need of regular travel or medical attention. According to two sources there and a witness, hundreds of tonnes of aid from NGOs and several nations were waiting on trucks in the neighbouring Egyptian town of Al-Arish for circumstances to permit passage to Gaza. (With agency inputs) South Korean authorities have cited the possibility of Chinese economic retaliation when they accused marine technology company SI Innotec of breaking trade laws for its work on Taiwans new military submarine programme last year. Police claimed they feared a repetition of the severe sanctions imposed by Beijing in 2016 after Seoul agreed to install THAAD, a U.S. anti-missile system, in an affidavit to a judge on February 17, 2022, calling for the arrest of SI Innotec executive director Park Mal-sik. Late in 2017, China consented to lift those restrictions. The affidavit said SI Innotecs deal to supply Taiwan with submarine manufacturing equipment directly impacts the overall security of South Korea and police, who had consulted with the countrys arms sales regulator, were concerned about a crisis similar to a second THAAD deployment, such as economic retaliation. According to the document, the Defence Acquisition Programme Administration (DAPA) regulator informed an unnamed subcontractor that the government had export concerns about Taiwan and takes a very cautious stance on such licences. According to a person familiar with the situation, the judge ordered Parks detention on February 28 on the grounds that he posed a flight risk and would tamper with evidence. Police referenced Chinas enraged response to a 2021 Reuters article about defence contractors and experts from South Korea and six other countries working on Taiwans submarine programme in the sealed affidavit that Reuters examined. Park, who received a suspended prison sentence, and SI Innotec, which was penalised in August 2022, both maintain their innocence and have filed appeals. Park opted out of commenting through a business attorney. According to court documents and four persons with knowledge of the situation, two more South Korean companies that were purportedly suppliers to Taiwan were also charged in November with violating trade regulations, and one of their senior executives was accused of industrial espionage. The co-defendants in their secret trial have not previously been disclosed, nor have the names of the defence engineering subcontractors Keumha Naval Technology (KHNT) and S2&K. Reuters was unable to ascertain whether the ongoing procedures covered geopolitical problems. An ongoing criminal case was verified by a KHNT official, who spoke to the media under the condition of anonymity because he was not entitled to do so. The business refuses to comment further. S2&K did not respond. Taiwan debuted its first homegrown submarine on September 28 in the southern port city of Kaohsiung amid escalating military tensions with China. The ship is about to start sea trials. Interviews with seven individuals with connections to the military, shipbuilding, and judicial systems and the SI Innotec affidavit demonstrate how political worries about a trade war with China, Seouls biggest trading partner, have affected South Koreas investigations into the three businesses. The individuals discussed ongoing judicial processes with ramifications for national security under the condition of anonymity. According to an individual acquainted with the subcontractor, Seouls foreign ministry was completely against KHNTs involvement with Taiwan and informed DAPA of its dissatisfaction. According to the affidavit, several companies with submarine knowledge shied away from assisting Taiwan because they did not anticipate official permission given the possibility of bigger damage to (the) economy than benefits, including a potential Chinese export embargo to South Korea. Police cited worries over national security in their refusal to speak. The three subcontractors were accused, but the prosecutors office chose not to comment on the current court case. Through the office of a former assistant, Reuters attempted to get in touch with then-president Moon Jae-in. Questions were directed to the foreign ministry by the office. The foreign ministry said it was aware the trials were underway and referred detailed questions to DAPA. DAPA said it follows the law when making decisions on exports, but had no further comment. A police investigator, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing legal matters, said that there was no pressure from Moons liberal government, which left office in May 2022, to get tough on SI Innotec. Asked by Reuters for comment, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson accused Taiwans ruling Democratic Progressive Party of colluding with external forces. The spokesperson did not address a question on whether Beijing pressed Seoul about the subcontractors. Beijing told Reuters in 2021 that countries involved in Taiwans project were playing with fire. Taiwans foreign and defence ministries had no comment. Seoul has no formal diplomatic ties with Taipei and has avoided arming the democratically ruled island over which China claims sovereignty, even as its companies ink weapons deals with other Asian neighbours. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen initiated the Indigenous Defense Submarine program in 2016. The new vessels, which complement two delivered by the Netherlands in the 1980s, are a strategic deterrent that make it more challenging for China to project naval power in the Pacific, the Taiwanese admiral leading the project told an internal briefing in September. An increased Taiwanese submarine force, according to many military experts, may make a possible invasion by Beijing more difficult. However, U.S. officials caution that such resources shouldnt be sacrificed in favour of smaller arms that would enable Taiwan to engage in asymmetrical warfare with Chinas much larger arsenal. Taiwan benefited from the experience of retired South Korean naval officers, including managers at SI Innotec and KHNT, who are not needed to obtain authorization from the defence ministry before working abroad in accordance with the regulations. The Foreign Trade Act, which necessitates DAPAs consent to transfer many strategic goods for military use, is allegedly broken by SI Innotec. According to four people familiar with the criminal proceedings, the regulator is also entrusted with encouraging exports, a mission that calls for officials to make difficult judgements on deals that could annoy China but are nonetheless profitable. According to contracts submitted at trial, SI Innotec and Taiwanese shipbuilder CSBC reached an agreement in 2019 to supply and install $12 million in welding and assembly equipment for the production of submarine pressure hulls. (With agency inputs) A school in northern France where a teacher was stabbed to death in an apparent Islamist attack last week was on Monday evacuated following a bomb threat, AFP reported. Dozens of staff and pupils left the combined middle and high school in Arras around 10:30 am (0830 GMT). Authorities told AFP the bomb threat had been made by the internet. On Friday, a teacher was killed and two other people severely wounded in a knife attack at the school in the town of Arras in northeastern France. The attacker was reported to be of Chechen origin. France deployed 7,000 soldiers across the country to deal with any untoward situation. Ashraf Al-Qidra, an official with the health ministry, is concerned about how hospitals will function as Gazans prepare for an Israeli ground offensive following days of severe airstrikes and a blockade in response to the attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas. In hospitals that are overflowing with patients and suffering from a lack of supplies due to the blockade, doctors are scurrying to provide care for an increasing number of patients, including youngsters hurt in the air strikes. Due to a lack of resources, only the most severe cases are being operated on, according to experts. Thousands of patients are at risk since hospitals around the enclave only have 24 hours worth of gasoline left, according to the U.N. humanitarian office (OCHA) on Monday. Since October 7, the health ministry reported that at least 2,750 Palestinians have died and 9,700 have been injured. One thousand more persons were missing and thought to be buried under the wreckage. Qidra urged people to donate blood at the Shifa hospital, the biggest of the territorys 13 public hospitals. If the hospital stops working, the whole world will be responsible for the lives of hundreds and thousands of patients who rely on our services, especially from Shifa, Qidra stated. Shifa provides services to the 800,000 residents of Gaza City, who make up the majority of the Gaza Strips population. Israel is currently carrying out its largest airstrikes ever and is anticipated to begin a ground offensive in Gaza, one of the most populated regions. in the world with 2.3 million people. Israel has vowed to annihilate Hamas in retaliation for a rampage by its fighters in Israeli towns nine days ago in which its militants shot men, women and children and seized hostages in the worst attack on civilians in the countrys history. About 1,300 people were killed in the surprise onslaught, with graphic mobile phone footage and reports from medical and emergency services of atrocities in the overrun towns and kibbutzes. (With agency inputs) Salome Zurabishvili, the pro-Western president of Georgia, will be impeached after the countrys constitutional court found on Monday that she had violated the law by travelling abroad without permission. The 71-year-old figurehead president was removed from office in September by Georgian Dream party lawmakers who claimed she had met with foreign leaders to push for Georgias membership in the European Union without permission. Merab Turava, the head of Georgias constitutional court, informed the media on Monday that Salome Zurabishvili had violated the constitution by travelling abroad without permission. Maia Kopaleishvili, Zurabishvilis attorney, told reporters that there was no legal or factual basis for the court to affirm the presidents constitutional infraction. In Georgian history, it was the courts first case involving the impeachment of a president. The impeachment vote will take place during the next few days, according to parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili. However, the ruling party in Georgia has acknowledged that it has little chance of unseating Zurabishvili because it only holds 84 seats in parliament, whereas at least 100 lawmakers are required. There are practically no chances of receiving 100 votes, the party head Irakli Kobakhidze said, adding, Should Salome Zurabishvili have elementary dignity, she would resign. She will only be seen nominally as Georgias president and completely deprived of political and moral legitimacy. Maia Kopaleishvili, Zurabishvilis attorney, told reporters that there was no legal or factual basis for the court to affirm the presidents constitutional infraction. In Georgian history, it was the courts first case involving the impeachment of a president. The impeachment vote will take place during the next few days, according to parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili. However, the ruling party in Georgia has acknowledged that it has little chance of unseating Zurabishvili because it only holds 84 seats in parliament, whereas at least 100 lawmakers are required. There are practically no chances of receiving 100 votes, the party head Irakli Kobakhidze said, adding, Should Salome Zurabishvili have elementary dignity, she would resign. While Russia and Georgia have had openly hostile relations for years, the Georgian government, led by Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, has made efforts in the past year to improve relations. Georgia had unrest in March after the government passed a law on foreign agents in the Russian model, and the EU denounced the government for reopening direct flights to Russia in May. With Georgian Dreams help, Zurabishvili, Georgias first female president, was chosen for a six-year term in 2018. However, she swiftly had adversaries among the ranks of the legislative majority. She was born in France to a Georgian family who had emigrated to Paris in 1921 from the Bolshevik rule. She served as ambassador to Tbilisi for the final three decades of her career in French diplomacy, and in 2004 she was appointed foreign minister. In her book A Woman for Two Countries, published in France, she wrote: Now, I have to engage in a political battle, which has never attracted me, which I never practised, which is being imposed on me. (with agency inputs) According to individuals familiar with the plan, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will travel to Israel on Tuesday before continuing on to Egypt as Western countries work to stop the Middle East war from escalating. Following his meeting with Jordans King Abdullah in Berlin on Tuesday, Scholz will leave, the officials informed the media. This is really a sign of solidarity, Ron Prosor, Israels ambassador to Germany, told German TV channel Welt, of the reported visit. He is the first prime minister to visit Israel (since the Hamas-Israel war erupted) and we see that as incredibly important. Apart from expressing sympathy with Israel, the German Chancellor stated on Monday that there were issues regarding the security situation and how to stop the confrontation from escalating that needed to be considered. The point is to be in constant dialogue with everyone and to prevent such escalation, Scholz said in Tirana, Albania. Since at least 1,300 people were killed and scores were held captive in an unprecedented cross-border invasion by Hamas militants on October 7, Germany has sided with Israel. The Hamas attack was a terrorist act that was irresponsible, that has terrible consequences, that has killed an unbelievable number of people, Scholz said. That is why Israel has every right to defend itself. In preparation for an anticipated ground invasion, Israel has replied with its heaviest-ever bombardment of the Gaza Strip, which Hamas authorities claim has killed at least 2,808 Palestinians. Diplomatic efforts to allow holders of foreign passports to leave the beleaguered, densely populated region while permitting aid for Gaza to enter through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt have been hampered by Israels unrelenting airstrikes. The deadliest fighting between Israel and Lebanons Hezbollah since a war in 2006 has been occurring across the border for days, raising international concerns about the crisis spreading. Hezbollah is an ally of Hamas. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock discussed ways to diffuse the tension last week during meetings in Egypt and Israel. Last week, both the British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and the American Secretary of State Antony Blinken travelled to Israel. On Monday, Blinken returned to Tel Aviv as part of a longer Middle East mission. (With agency inputs) The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Christopher Wray says that the US threat against Jews and Muslims has been on the rise since the terrorist group Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October. FBI Director Christopher Wray said, The threat is very much ongoing and in fact, the threat picture continues to evolve. Here in the US, 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 on our own soil, Wray added. He said that Jews and Muslims, along with their institutions of worship, are under threat in the US and that the investigative body is moving quickly to mitigate the threats. Meanwhile, the FBI said that it has not found any evidence that Hamas is trying to plan attacks against the US, but Wray said it is possible. FBI officials said that they are reaching out to religious leaders to discuss the potential threats against their communities. Apart from this, the bureau has asked law enforcement officials to take extra measures to protect Jews and Muslim bodies across the country. Weve got to be on the lookout for lone actors who may take inspiration from recent events to commit violence of their own, Wray said. While the US has been witnessing a rise in the number of antisemitic cases in recent months, the Hamas attacks of October 7 against Israel have intensified the threat. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has claimed that Hamas is continuing to restrict Palestinians from evacuating northern Gaza, the area which it will heavily bomb soon. IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said, Hamas prevents the residents of Gaza from moving to the south of the Strip. Hamas has proven its cruelty to the residents of Israel and now it is doing the same to the residents of Gaza City. The IDF had earlier made similar claims, saying that the terror group is obstructing residents from fleeing northern Gaza to go to the southern part of the Strip. Last week, it notified the UN that the entire Palestinian population north of Wadi Gaza should relocate to Southern Gaza within 24 hours. The military said that it had identified thousands of Palestinians trying to move southward getting stuck in traffic caused by roadblocks by Hamas. The Israel Defense Forces says the Hamas terror group is preventing Palestinians from evacuating the northern part of the Gaza Strip. Lebanons terrorist organization Hezbollah has initiated the dismantling of surveillance cameras positioned on multiple Israeli army posts along the Israel border. Hezbollahs military media arm published a video on Monday depicting snipers dismantling surveillance cameras at five different locations along the border, one of which was situated outside the Israeli town of Metula. The aim behind Hezbollahs actions seems to be the prevention of the Israeli armys ability to monitor activities and movements on the Lebanese side of the border. US Vice President Joe Biden expressed astonishment and denounced the horrific act of hate that allegedly murdered a 6-year-old boy and gravely injured his mother in Chicago because they were renters who practised Islam. Joseph M. Czuba, 71, a resident of Chicago, has been detained and charged with murder and hate crimes after it was claimed that he fatally stabbed a 6-year-old kid and critically injured his mother. The victims, a Palestinian family, were attacked because of their religion and because of the continuing conflict between Hamas and Israel. Investigators said the victims were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis, CNN stated. The sheriffs office claimed Czuba did not provide a statement to detectives. According to the White House, the family is Palestinian and came to America seeking what we all seeka refuge to live, learn, and pray in peace. First-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of a hate crime, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon are among the allegations brought against Czuba. US Attorney General Merric Garland stated on Sunday that the US Justice Department has opened a federal hate crime inquiry into the assault. Investigators found the victims were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis, according to the sheriffs office, which claimed Czuba did not provide a statement to detectives. Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, died after being stabbed 26 times, and Hanaan Shahin, his 32-year-old mother, also died after being stabbed more than a dozen times but is expected to survive. US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden expressed their sorrow and sympathy for the family, denouncing the horrific act of hate. They highlighted that such actions are unacceptable in America and are in opposition to the countrys core ideals of tolerance and religious freedom. Our condolences and prayers are with the family. This act of hate against a Palestinian Muslim family has no place in America, posted Biden on X. The victims were named by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which also emphasised the need to fight prejudice towards Palestinians and Islam in general. In a statement on X, CAIR National wrote they were shocked and disturbed to hear of the boys death, and said, The Islamophobic rhetoric and anti-Palestinian racism being spread by politicians, media outlets, and social media platforms must stop. The 6-year-old Palestinian kid was killed in an act of racism and hatred, which was harshly denounced by the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, which also demanded that anyone responsible for encouraging such behaviour be held accountable. The ministry also condemns the incitement campaigns, attacks, racist statements, and provocative positions that have been directed against Palestinian citizens and several Palestinian embassies and ambassadors in some countries, it said in a statement, adding that it calls on all nations to confront these actions and to hold their promoters and those behind them accountable. Joseph M. Czuba is reportedly being held in jail at the Will County Adult Detention Facility ahead of his first court appearance. (With agency inputs) The Main Square and the streets surrounding Bethlehems Church of the Nativity were crowded with tourists earlier this month. After a deadly attack on Israel on 7 October by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, they are now vacant. Business is at a standstill since the war started, said Essa Abu Dawoud, a tour guide in the Palestinian city. The roads were cut off, no one is coming. As the crisis intensified, hotels across Israel and the Israeli-occupied Palestinian areas of Gaza and the West Bank began to empty and at least six businesses stopped offering travel to popular locations like Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Two tour companies postponed their departures till the next year. Major airlines have stopped flying to and from Israel, and cruise ships have avoided its formerly busy shores as governments work to return their residents home. While Virgin Atlantic Holidays allowed vacationers to rebook for later dates or obtain a refund if theyre travelling before 18 October, easyJet says that they have cancelled all packages to Tel Aviv planned to depart before 22 October. The assault by Hamas designated a terrorist organisation by the United States, European Union and other governments on Israeli communities on 7 October killed at least 1,300 people. Most were civilians, including children. Israel has intensified its strikes on Hamas stronghold Gaza in retaliation. InterContinental Hotels said two of its hotels, Six Senses Shaharut and Hotel Indigo Tel Aviv Diamond District, were temporarily shut. It has seen some cancellations and some customers moving bookings to later in the year. With most of its hotels empty, one of Israels top chains, Isrotel, was on the verge of temporarily closing some, a spokesperson said. The exodus of foreign visitors is a big blow to Israels lucrative tourism industry, one of the countrys biggest, as it was recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. The sector accounts for 2.8 per cent of GDP and about 3.5 per cent of total employment. The coming months are the busiest of the year for Christian pilgrimages arriving from the United States, Britain and elsewhere in Europe. We rely on tourism for living. We had the COVID crisis and we were still recovering and slowly waiting for the tourists to come back, said Khader Hussein, 30, a souvenir seller in Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Jesus. Now the tourism sector is dead. Drawn by historical sites in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, and Tel Avivs white sandy beaches, some three million tourists flocked to Israel in the first nine months of this year, according to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Thats close to pre-pandemic levels, and included about 800,000 Americans. Prolonged conflict A day after the attack, Israels ministry of tourism said tours should be avoided and tourists should stay in their hotels or on cruise ships. It said on Wednesday tourists could move around the country if needed. Over 90,000 tourists were in Israel, and thousands had visited national sites during the past week, it said. On the same day, though, the US government raised its travel warning for Israel and the West Bank to Level 3 or reconsider travel, its second-highest level. Britain advises against all but essential travel to Israel and Palestinian territories. Elias al-Arja, the head of the Arab Hotel Association, said most hotels in the West Bank had spent last week helping tourists flee after the violence began. Around 90 per cent of hotels in the West Bank are empty, he said. Dan Hotels and Isrotel said they were providing rooms for people fleeing the Gaza border. Dan is also offering 50 per cent discounts off rooms for locals. With no resolution to the conflict in sight, its unclear when foreign visitors might return. Tour group Authentic Israel has asked tourists who were booked on their cancelled trips to donate $150 each to support its staff during the crisis. Australian tour operator Intrepid Travel has called off tours to Israel and Palestinian territories until the end of the year. Odysseys Unlimited has suspended its Israel trips until 31 March. The US Company said it would continue tours in Egypt and Jordan but it has given guests the option of moving to a later date or another destination. Some are rescheduling to next year, it said. As the Israel-Hamas war entered its tenth day on Monday, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) released a shocking video showing Palestinian terrorists crossing the border, infiltrating Israel and indiscriminately shooting civilians by entering their homes. The three-minute clip appeared to have been shot by Hamas terrorists body camera, but the timing when the video was filmed remains unclear. Some media reports claimed that the act of atrocity by Hamas terrorists in Israel was recorded on October 7, the day when Hamas made a surprise and unprecedented attack in Israel. Hamas brutality on camera The clip showed armed Hamas terrorists riding on bikes at speed as they crossed the Israel border that separated Gaza and southern Israel. They breached the security booth and entered the homes of people residing in Israel after which they started firing bullets. The clip also showed one of Hamas terrorists blasting a bullet through the tire of an ambulance that was stationary. The video then shows the terrorists breaking into a home where music was still playing indicating that people living in the house may have fled minutes ago. The terrorists then walked through the home, searching for the residents. Towards the end of the shocking video, Hamas terrorists walked out of the house and were killed by the Israeli military. The terrorist falls down after being hit by a bullet and his body camera points towards the sky. Sharing the video on X, IDF wrote, RAW FOOTAGE: Hamas jihadists squad invasion and killing spree of an innocent Israeli community. The filmed terrorist was neutralised by Israeli security forces. Also a trigger warning was shared by the IDF for the horrific video. Disclaimer: Scenes of violence; viewer discretion advised Trigger Warning RAW FOOTAGE: Hamas jihadists squad invasion and killing spree of an innocent Israeli community. The filmed terrorist was neutralized by Israeli security forces. pic.twitter.com/4sKuxl9uRq Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 15, 2023 The ongoing war is the deadliest for Israel since the 1973 conflict with Egypt and Syria. More than 1,400 Israelis were killed, the vast majority of them civilians, in the Hamas attack. As per Israel, at least 155 others, including children, were captured by the terrorist organisation and taken into Gaza. Meanwhile, the Gaza health ministry said 2,670 Palestinians have been killed and 9,600 wounded since the fighting erupted. With inputs from agencies The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) warned the Lebanese Hezbollah of a deadly response if it continues to carry out attacks against Israel. Speaking at a press conference, IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said: Hezbollah carried out a number of attacks yesterday in order to try to divert our operational efforts [away from the Gaza Strip], under the direction and backing of Iran, while endangering the state of Lebanon and its citizens. If Hezbollah dares to test us, the reaction will be deadly. The United States is giving us full backing, Hagari said, adding that the IDF has increased forces on the northern border and has been responding aggressively to any activity against Israel. Hagari further said the evacuation of residents from communities up to two kilometers from the Lebanon border is aimed at preventing harm to civilians. There have been reports that Hezbollah and allied Palestinian factions have been repeatedly striking these areas in recent days. The IDF also released a statement on its handle on X stating that the Defence Ministrys National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) notified that the evacuated residents will be sheltered in government-funded guesthouses, according to a plan that was approved by the countrys Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. Israel-Hezbollah clash in Lebanon border On Sunday, following the Israel-Hezbollah clash, the border that the country shares with Lebanon in the north was declared a closed military zone. Also, on Sunday, Israel warned civilians not to come within about 4km (2.5 miles) of the Lebanese border or else they may be fired upon. The warning was soon after a person was killed in Hezbollah attacks the same day. Meanwhile, Israel has said that it has no interest in occupying Gaza but will do whatever is needed to eliminate Hamas. The comments were made by Israels ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, after US President Joe Biden said any move by Israel to occupy the Gaza Strip again would be a big mistake. We have no interest to occupy Gaza or to stay in Gaza, but since we are fighting for our survival and the only way, as the president [Biden] himself defined is to obliterate Hamas, so we will have to do whatever is needed to obliterate their capabilities, Erdan told in an interview with CNN. With inputs from agencies In the midst of the current confrontation between Israel and Hamas, Tal Heinrich, a spokesperson for the Israeli Prime Ministers Office (PMO), stated that Israels issue is with Hamas, not with the Palestinian people. Heinrich emphasised the resilience of Israeli families and the importance of taking action against Hamas, saying, Their resilience is our strength. The ones who are aching the most are the ones giving us the most strength. Today it is important to highlight what the families told the PM of Israel and what they told the entire nation of Israel, to hold our heads high and to do what must be done against Hamas, she said addressing a virtual press conference on Monday. In the midst of the current confrontation between Israel and Hamas, Tal Heinrich, a spokesperson for the Israeli Prime Ministers Office (PMO), stated that Israels fight is with Hamas, not with the Palestinian people. The IDF found evidence of Hamas-produced kidnappers guide. Now the guide explains in gruesome detail how Hamas terrorists should capture and torture kidnapped civilians, added Heinrich. She went on to say that the guide revealed gruesome methods that terrorists from Hamas would use to arrest and torture kidnapped individuals. She added that the fight against Hamas has resulted in more than 1,500 Israeli deaths and 3,900 injuries. Highlighting the critical distinction, Heinrich said, Israel is at war with Hamas and not with the people of Palestine. And I urge you to ask your sources in Gaza why Hamas is exploiting innocent Palestinians and is using them as human shields. She also raised concern about how Hamas uses them as human shields with zero regard for their safety by blocking Palestinians in Gaza from relocating to safer locations. Heinrich also discussed the situation in northern Gaza, noting that while 14 hospitals did not evacuate their patients and personnel, six hospitals did. I was asked yesterday specifically about the state of hospitals in northern Gaza. You see, there are 20 hospitals in that area. The IDF says that six hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip had decided to independently evacuate. However, 14 did not, said Heinrich. Heinrich also highlighted information from a United Nations Relief and Works Agency study showing that a group posing as the Gaza Ministry of Health had withdrawn or stolen gasoline and medical supplies. Heinrich emphasised that encouraging Palestinians to temporarily relocate to safer areas will save lives and urged the international community to support this. She referred to Israels own evacuation efforts, which resulted in the evacuation of more than 80,000 Israeli people and 28 villages in northern Israel. Heinrich discussed the most recent military operations, stating that the IDF had carried out several airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, aiming to hit the Hamas leadership, mortar launchers, and terrorists at a military base. In particular, Ali Qadhis command post, a commander in the Hamas commando forces, was also killed. The targets included Hamas headquarters, mortar launching positions, and a number of terrorists at a military compound, said Heinrich. Heinrich thanked Israels partners for their continued support and cited US President Joe Bidens invitation to visit Israel soon from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Prime Minister Netanyahu invited US President Joe Biden to Israel, and we hope to host the president soon, she conveyed gratitude for the united front against the ongoing conflict. (With agency inputs) Israel has denied reports that it has agreed to any ceasefire for humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip and also said it has no plans to open the Rafah border crossing. Earlier, a report by Reuters quoted two Egyptian security officials saying Israel, Egypt and the US have agreed to halt fire from 0600 GMT (11:30 am IST). Denying the report that it has agreed to a ceasefire in southern Gaza to allow the Rafah border crossing to open to let aid into the Strip, a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office said: At the moment there is no ceasefire for humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip and the exit of foreigners. No plans to open Rafah border crossing The Israeli prime ministers office has also denied there are any arrangements for the opening of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. At the moment there is neither a ceasefire nor humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip in return for the exit of foreigners, a report by CNN quoted Israels PMO as saying. Meanwhile, Hamas also said it has not received any confirmation from Egypt about the possible opening of the Rafah border crossing. In a statement, the Palestinian terrorist group said: Until this moment, we have not received any contacts or confirmations from the Egyptian authorities regarding the intention to open the Rafah crossing today. All the information being circulated in this regard is attributed to Israeli media outlets. We anticipate that the situation at the Rafah crossing will remain fluid and unpredictable and it is unclear whether, or for how long, travelers will be permitted to transit the crossing, the embassy statement said. Importance of Rafah crossing The Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt is crucial as it is the only remaining outlet for supplies. However, it has been closed for much of the past week, with neither Gazans nor foreign nationals able to cross. Vital humanitarian supplies for people in Gaza have been piling up on the Egyptian side of the border. With inputs from agencies Chinas Special Envoy to the Middle East Zhai Jun will visit the region next week amid the ongoing war between Israel and Palestine. According to state media CGTN, Jun said that he would promote peace talks between Israel and Palestine during his trip. On Saturday, Jun held an emergency meeting with senior members of the Arab League in China to discuss the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. He said that Beijing supports the Arab League which is playing an important role in the Palestinian issue and that it will continue to provide humanitarian assistance to Palestinians. The international community should earnestly enhance its sense of urgency to return to the correct basis of the two-state solution to realise the peaceful coexistence of the two states of Palestine and Israel, Zhai said, according to the statement. Ceasefire in southern Gaza? On Monday, a report by Reuters quoting two Egyptian officials said that Israel, Egypt and the US have agreed to halt fire from 0600 GMT (11:30 am IST). However, Israel later denied reports that it has agreed to any ceasefire for humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip and also said it has no plans to open the Rafah border crossing. A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office said: At the moment there is no ceasefire for humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip and the exit of foreigners. It further denied any arrangements for the opening of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. A firefight between the Lebanese militant organization Hezbollah and the armed forces in northern Israel has raised concerns that the conflict in Gaza may expand to other parts of the region. According to media reports, Israel has threatened to destroy Lebanon if Iran-backed Hezbollah joins the conflict. The possibility of an Israeli ground operation in the northern Gaza Strip could lead to the involvement of additional regional actors, potentially including Hezbollah and Iran, according to analysts. More than a million people have fled their homes in the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected Israeli retaliation that seeks to eliminate Hamas leadership after its deadly incursion. Aid groups warn an Israeli ground offensive could hasten a humanitarian crisis. Israeli forces, supported by U.S. warships, positioned themselves along Gazas border and drilled for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle the militant group. A week of blistering airstrikes has demolished neighbourhoods but failed to stop militant rocket fire into Israel. The war that began October 7 has become the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides, with more than 4,000 dead. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,750 Palestinians have been killed and 9,700 wounded. More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed, and at least 199 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza, according to Israel. 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 that Israel should stop its attacks on Gaza as soon as possible. Israel considers Hezbollah its most serious immediate threat, estimating it has some 150,000 rockets and missiles, including precision-guided missiles that can hit anywhere in Israel. The group, which has thousands of battle-hardened fighters who participated in Syrias 12-year conflict, also has different types of military drones. Hezbollah fighters have been on full alert along Lebanons borders with Israel following last Saturdays attack by the militant Palestinian group Hamas that left hundreds of Israeli civilians and soldiers dead. With inputs from agencies. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) along with the Defence Ministry are planning to evacuate civilians who reside in towns that are situated in areas up to 2 kilometres from the Lebanese border. These areas have been repeatedly struck by Hezbollah and allied Palestinian factions in recent days. The Defence Ministrys National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) notified that the evacuated residents will be sheltered in government-funded guesthouses, according to a plan that was approved by the countrys Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. According to the IDF and Defense Ministry, the 28 communities included in the plan are: Ghajar, Dishon, Kfar Yuval, Margaliot, Metula, Avivim, Dovev, Maayan Baruch, Baram, Manara, Yiftah, Malkia, Misgav Am, Yiron, Dafna, Arab al-Aramshe, Shlomi, Netua, Yaara, Shtula, Matat, Zarit, Shomera, Betzet, Adamit, Rosh Hanikrah, Hanita and Kfar Giladi. Israel-Hezbollah clash in Lebanon border On Sunday, Israel declared its shared border with Lebanon in the north a closed military zone after it clashed with Hezbollah. The country also warned civilians not to come within about 4km (2.5 miles) of the Lebanese border to avoid falling victim to cross-firing. The warning came after one person was killed in Hezbollah attacks on Sunday. Israel not interested in occupying Gaza Israel has no interest in occupying Gaza but will do whatever is needed to eliminate Hamas, Gilad Erdan, the countrys ambassador to the UN said. His comments came after US President Joe Biden said any move by Israel to occupy the Gaza Strip again would be a big mistake. In an interview with CNN, Erdan said, We have no interest to occupy Gaza or to stay in Gaza, but since we are fighting for our survival and the only way, as the president [Biden] himself defined is to obliterate Hamas, so we will have to do whatever is needed to obliterate their capabilities. In response to international indignation over this months deadly attack on southern Israel, Malaysias Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim stated on Monday that his country does not support Western efforts to denounce the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. Without going into specifics, Anwar claimed that Western and European nations had frequently requested from Malaysia to denounce Hamas in meetings. I said that we, as a policy, have a relationship with Hamas from before and this will continue, Anwar stated in parliament. As such, we dont agree with their pressuring attitude, as Hamas too won in Gaza freely through elections and Gazans chose them to lead. Muslim-majority Malaysia has long been an outspoken ally of the Palestinian cause and a backer of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian issue. Israel and it dont exchange diplomatic messages. In the past, senior Hamas figures frequently traveled to Malaysia and met with its officials. Najib Razak, a former prime minister of Malaysia, disobeyed Israels siege of Gaza in 2013 by entering the Palestinian territory on the invitation of Hamas. Two days ago, after Friday prayers, thousands of Malaysians demonstrated in support of Palestine at mosques all over the nation, waving flags and carrying signs denouncing Israels military operation in Gaza, which has so far claimed the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians as retaliation for the bloody attack by Hamas militants last weekend. The Muslim-majority countries of Southeast Asia have long supported Palestine and called for a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict that would allow the establishment of a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital. After Friday prayers, at least 15,000 protesters yelled Free Palestine as they gathered outside Kuala Lumpurs major mosque, many of them wearing scarves and waving Palestinian flags. Additionally, they decried Israel, and some of the demonstrators set an Israeli flag on fire. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday condemned some incidents at pro-Palestinian marches in Britain this weekend as simply not acceptable after police made several arrests. There is no place in our society for anti-Semitism and we will do everything we can to stamp it out. And where it happens, it will be met with the full force of the law, Sunak said during a visit to a Jewish school in London. Londons Metropolitan Police force said on Sunday evening that 15 people were arrested at Saturdays pro-Palestinian protest in the centre of the British capital. Three men were subsequently charged with committing crimes, including a 68-year-old man suspected of making racist comments. The other two were charged with illegal knife possession and failing to remove a face covering. Theyve made several arrests but theyre also now reviewing footage of some of the things that many people would have seen that are just simply not acceptable, and where they can they will be able to make further arrests, Sunak added. Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in London and other UK cities in support of Palestinians on Saturday, a week after Hamas gunmen launched the deadliest ever attack on Israel after crossing the border from Gaza. The Islamist militants killed more than 1,400 people and took dozens more hostage. Israel declared war on Hamas the next day, unleashing a relentless bombing campaign of Gaza that has flattened neighbourhoods and left at least 2,750 people mainly civilians dead in the territory. The UK government and British police have said that they have noted a spike in anti-Semitic crime and incidents in Britain since the Hamas attack. Sunak said he had told members of Britains Jewish community he would do everything in our power to keep them safe. He also warned that praising Hamas, which is a banned terrorist organisation in the UK, could result in lengthy prison sentences. Its very clear under the law: the support and glorification of Hamas is illegal and those offences are punishable with up to almost 14 years in jail, he told British broadcasters. The Met said last week that while supporting Hamas is a crime, general expressions of support for Palestinians, including flying the Palestinian flag, were not criminal offences. After a Chinese naval ship tried to cut off a Philippine navy vessel carrying out a resupply mission late last week, the Philippine military warned China to stop its unsafe actions in the South China Sea. According to Romeo Brawner, head of the armed forces, a Chinese Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) ship attempted to cross in front of the Philippine ship close to Thitu island, Manilas largest and most crucial outpost in the South China Sea, at a distance of as close as 350 yards. These dangerous and offensive manoeuvres by Chinas PLAN not only risk collision but also directly endanger the lives of maritime personnel from both sides, Brawner said in a statement on Sunday. The Chinese embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday. It was the latest in a series of attempts by China to monitor and block Philippine resupply missions to personnel in Manila-occupied features in the Philippines exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea. Chinas claims sovereignty to almost the entire South China Sea, through which more than $3 trillion of trade passes each year. Ties between Manila and Beijing have soured since Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos pursued closer ties with Washington, including increasing US access to more Philippine military bases. Russia has joined China in placing import restrictions on Japanese fish and seafood, according to Russias agricultural authority Rosselkhoznadzor on Monday. Japan began dumping treated radioactive water from the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean in August, a decision criticised by China, which subsequently banned all Japanese seafood imports. Russia stated that the limitations were introduced as a precautionary measure and that they would stay in effect until complete data demonstrated that the fish was safe. According to the Kyodo news agency, Japans Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries stated on Monday that Russias prohibition had no scientific basis, is unjust, and regrettable, and that it should be lifted. In a statement released on Monday before Russia announced its ban, Japans foreign ministry said that it has provided Russia with additional information by 15 October following an online dialogue between the relevant state bodies on 10 October. Japan will continue to provide explanations based on scientific evidence to Russia in a highly transparent manner and in good faith, while undergoing the review by the IAEA (the International Atomic Energy Agency), the Monday statement said. On Oct 10, the Japanese foreign ministry said that the Japanese side had explained to Russia its inspection methods for radioactive materials, including tritium, in aquatic products and the safety of Japanese aquatic products based on scientific evidence. A significant portion of Russias fish and seafood is caught in the waters of its far eastern regions that are relatively close to Japan. Additionally, over January-September, Russia imported 118 metric tonnes of fish and seafood from Japan, according to Rosselkhoznadzor. Japan, meanwhile, is among the biggest export markets for Russian seafood, along with China and South Korea. The IAEA Marine Environmental Laboratories will visit Japan on Oct. 16-23 for inspection of the Fukushima water release, and independent third-party laboratories from Canada, China and South Korea will participate in this years monitoring. Russia said Monday it was suspending all Japanese seafood imports, mirroring a recent move by China over Tokyos release of wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. Rosselkhoznadzor, Russias body responsible for regulating agriculture products, said it was joining Chinas provisional restrictive measures on the import of fish and seafood products from Japan as of October 16, 2023 as a precautionary measure. It said the restrictions would remain in place until the necessary exhaustive information to confirm the safety of seafood produce is forthcoming. China in late August banned all Japanese seafood imports over what it termed the selfish and irresponsible release of Fukushima wastewater. Japan on August 24 began the first discharge phase of treated contaminated water from the stricken plant into the Pacific Ocean in an operation it insists is safe. It began the second phase on October 5. But the move has sparked a fierce backlash from neighbours, led by the Chinese, who imported more than $500 million worth of seafood from Japan last year, according to customs data. In 2011, three reactors at the Fukushima-Daiichi facility in northeastern Japan went into meltdown following a massive earthquake and tsunami that killed around 18,000 people. The release of the wastewater has been deemed safe by the International Atomic Energy Agency. But Beijing says Tokyo has not proved the authenticity and accuracy of the nuclear wastewater data, nor that the ocean discharge of the water is harmless to the marine environment and human health. In all, Tokyo intends to discharge into the Pacific Ocean around 540 Olympic swimming pools worth of heavy water some 1.3 million cubic metres (345,000 gallons) from Fukushima in a gradual process lasting into the 2050s, according to the official schedule. The water has been treated to remove radioactive substances with the exception of tritium, then diluted with seawater prior to discharge to ensure its radioactivity level does not surpass 1,500 becquerels per litre 40 times less than the Japanese norm for this kind of operation. A dayslong attempt by Russian forces to storm a strategically important city in eastern Ukraine appears to be running out of steam, Kyiv officials claimed Monday, as the Kremlins war entered its 600th day. Ukrainian forces repelled 15 Russian attacks from four directions on Avdiivka over the previous 24 hours, the Ukrainian General Staff said. That compared with up to 60 attacks a day in the middle of last week, according to Vitalii Barabash, head of the city administration. The slackening suggests the Russian effort to capture Avdiivka has deflated, Barabash said. A Washington-based think tank broadly concurred with that assessment. Russian forces continued offensive operations aimed at encircling Avdiivka but have yet to make further gains amid a likely decreasing tempo of Russian operations in the area, the Institute for the Study of War said in an analysis published late Sunday. Russias ambassador to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, told a U.N. Security Council meeting last Friday that the ramped-up attacks in the east amounted to a new stage in Moscows campaign in Ukraine. With the looming onset of wintry conditions that will limit military operations, both sides have been seeking battlefield breakthroughs that could invigorate their efforts and raise morale. Ukraine launched its own counteroffensive about four months ago. It has made some headway but the limited success has underlined the daunting challenge of taking on the Kremlins more numerous forces. Kyivs Western allies insist that their military and financial support for Ukraine will continue, even as the Israeli-Hamas war rages and competes for resources. U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday the Biden administration will ask Congress for a combined aid package for Ukraine and Israel worth more than $2 billion. Ukrainian officials have said their troops are holding out against fierce Russian efforts to wrest control of Avdiivka, a heavily fortified city. Avdiivka lies in the northern suburbs of the city of Donetsk, in a region of the same name that Russian forces partially occupy. Avdiivkas location grants Ukrainian forces artillery advantages over the city and could serve as a springboard for them to liberate Donetsk. It is not possible to verify battlefield claims by either side. Misinformation and disinformation have played a central role in the war. Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an interview with the China Media Group released Monday, claimed that Ukraines counteroffensive has achieved no results so far, only massive losses. Meanwhile, Russian childrens rights ombudswoman Maria Lvova-Belova claimed Monday that her office has helped 35 Ukrainian children reunite with their relatives in Ukraine and other countries. Lvova-Belova, who was indicted along with Putin by the International Criminal Court for war crimes connected to the deportation of children from Ukraine, claimed Russia never opposed reuniting children with their families. Qatars foreign ministry issued a statement saying it had been involved in recent family reunifications through its embassy in Moscow but it provided no details. This week, South Korea will open its largest-ever defence expo in an effort to boost arms sales and highlight a rare appearance by an American nuclear-capable bomber. On Tuesday, the biennial Seoul International Aerospace and Defence Exhibition (ADEX) opens its doors. According to organisers, there will be more firms than ever present, a U.S. B-52 bomber will fly past without precedent, and it will make a rare landing at an airbase somewhere else on the Korean peninsula. The aim of this years show, according to Lee Jong-ho, head of the organising office, is to help South Korea achieve its objective of being the fourth-largest exporter of armaments in the world. According to him, hundreds of thousands of other professionals and members of the public, as well as more than 450 senior defence officials from 54 nations, are anticipated to participate. This is an opportunity for Koreas defence industry to draw international attention and take a giant leap forward, Lee said. After closing a record $17.3 billion in arms sales last year, including sizable deals with Poland for tanks, howitzers, aeroplanes, and rockets, the South Korean government has set a goal of achieving $20 billion in military exports this year. President Yoon Suk Yeol has urged South Korea to increase its defence exports, which had recently placed it about eighth in the world. On Monday, attendees of earlier events roamed among modern American F-22 and F-35 stealth aircraft on the tarmac at a South Korean military airbase south of Seoul while exhibitors finished up their final preparations. According to U.S. Air Force Colonel Charles Cameron, the spectacle would involve a larger-than-usual display of American military might, including the B-52 fly, to mark the alliance between South Korea and the United States 70th anniversary. Yoon has increased military showdowns between South Korea and the US, particularly with US nuclear-capable weaponry, in an effort to intimidate North Korea. A unusual military parade was held in South Korea last month, with 300 of the 28,500 American soldiers stationed there joining thousands of other soldiers, local tanks, and self-propelled artillery. A South Korean activist organisation announced its intention to demonstrate against the event, labelling the arms trade a parasite that profits from pain in situations like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Ukraine. (With agency inputs) Paz Esteban, Spains former intelligence head, has been declared a suspect by a court in Barcelona that is looking into claims that Pegasus malware was used to allegedly spy on prominent Catalan separatists, according to a court document that was made public on Monday. The court has also asked Esteban to testify. Over 60 individuals associated with the Catalan separatist movement, including regional leader Pere Aragones and several of his predecessors, were targeted by Pegasus, a tool created by Israeli cyber-intelligence firm NSO Group, according to a report released last year by the Canadian Citizen Lab group. The minority administration refused to confirm listening in on Catalans and claimed the software had also been used to eavesdrop on other people after being pressed to explain itself by Catalonias pro-independence party ERC, a significant government supporter in parliament. The resulting political unrest resulted in Estebans dismissal in May 2022. The accusation against her and NSO Group was made by Aragones, who was vice-president of the Catalan government at the time of the alleged spying, in June 2022. The court accepted the allegation on October 6, according to the document. On December 13, the investigating judge requested testimony from Esteban and Aragones. Due to Israels lack of cooperation, an inquiry into the use of Pegasus to spy on Spanish politicians, including Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and numerous ministries, was put on hold earlier this year. The Socialist-led government is still in place as a caretaker following an inconclusive election in July. Acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is vying for a new term in the parliament, but he needs the backing of the two separatist parties in Catalonia. If not, Spain will probably require new elections early the next year. (With agency inputs) The evil committed by Hamas in Israel has chilled every Australian heart, said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as he condemned the Palestinian terrorist groups calculated, pitiless brutality during a motion calling for parliament to stand with Israel and denounce antisemitism. In his extensive address in the Australian parliament on the Israel-Hamas conflict, which has claimed the lives of more than 1,400 Israelis and 2,600 Palestinians since October 7, Albanese declared the Islamist militant group an enemy of both Jewish people and Palestinians. He also urged Australians to resist division at home. This was no act of war against the army of an enemy. It was the slaughter of innocent people. It was an act of terror, Albanese said. The statement made by Albanese also recognised that Jewish people had been subject to hateful prejudice. He even called for the release of all Israeli hostages, acknowledged the devastating loss of Israeli and Palestinian life and supported international humanitarian efforts. I want to repeat the message. I have given to all Jewish Australians since the outset: You are not alone. Your fellow Australians stand with you, the Australian PM said. Let us be clear: Hamas is an enemy but not just of Israel. Hamas is an enemy of all peace-loving Palestinian people, who are left to pay a devastating price for this terrorism, he said. Hamas has been declared a terrorist organisation by Australia, the United States and the European Union for its long-running armed resistance against Israel. Statement in Parliament on the attack on Israel and the ongoing conflict. pic.twitter.com/I2OtftvbSP Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) October 16, 2023 In his address on Monday, Albanese reiterated Israels right to defend itself but joined international calls for the country to abide by the rules of war and protect civilian lives, as its military massed on Gazas border readying for a ground assault and Palestinians fled south. A motion moved by Albanese in parliament condemned the attacks, along with acknowledging the loss of life on both sides of the conflict, as well as supporting "justice and freedom for Israelis and Palestinians". The Australian parliament also held a moment's silence for victims of the conflict. With inputs from agencies October 7, 2023, was an ordinary Sunday for Israel till it was stormed by deadly rocket attacks by Hamas. Thousands of revelers had gathered in the countrys southern border with Gaza for the Nova festival where they were dancing to loud beats but as the night turned into day, airstrikes and gunshots were the only thing the concert-goers could hear. A 28-year-old man named Jonathan Diller, who survived the Nova Festival massacre recounted his experience. His account was shared by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on X. There were around 3,000 people in the festival and over 260 of them died, slaughtered to death. Some were also kidnapped. The whole event was just erased, the Italian-American said. Narrating the horrific day, Diller said that he and his group of friends were dancing when suddenly they saw rockets. We were not surprised. This is something that has happened in the past. We knew the drill, he said. I then saw a woman whose knee was shot and was bleeding. We tried to find something to block her wound as they (Hamas) were shooting around us. In the meantime, she just died in front of our eyes, Diller said. He added that hundreds of people were devastated as they could not find their friends and loved ones. The attack on the open-air Tribe of Nova music festival is believed to be the worst civilian massacre in Israeli history, with at least 260 dead and a still undetermined number taken hostage. Dozens of Hamas militants who had blown through Israels heavily fortified separation fence and crossed into the country from Gaza opened fire on about 3,500 young Israelis. With inputs from AP Turkeys President Tayyip Erdogan said that parliament will fulfil its commitment to ratify Swedens NATO membership application if US President Joe Bidens administration facilitates the sale of F-16 jets to Ankara, according to Turkish media. Talking to the media, Erdogan said that Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed Swedens NATO membership bid last week in New York. Erdogan, while on his flight back from Azerbaijans exclave of Nakhchivan told reporters that the US administration is linking F-16 fighter jet sales to Turkey with Ankaras ratification of Swedens bid. If they (the U.S.) keep their promises, our parliament will keep its own promise as well. Turkish parliament will have the final say on Swedens NATO membership, he said. The United Arab Emirates and South Korea announced on Saturday that talks on a bilateral trade agreement known as a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) had finished. Trade and investment links between the Gulf state and South Korea have been steadily improving; bilateral non-oil commerce reached $3 billion in the first half of 2023, equivalent to the same period last year but up 21 per cent over 2021, according to a statement. In addition, the Korea Electric Power Corporation and a consortium of Korean enterprises built all four units of the $20 billion nuclear Barakah Power Plant in Abu Dhabi, which went into service in April this year to assist satisfy the UAEs domestic electricity demands. South Korea was one of the first countries with which the Gulf state launched talks for a CEPA in 2021. Three months later however, the Asian state revived dormant Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks with the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council bloc, of which the UAE is a member. We resumed talks with Korea earlier this year as we were both keen to conclude a deal and advance our respective economic agendas, Thani Al Zeyoudi, UAE minister of foreign trade, told Reuters, adding the GCC FTA talks remained ongoing. There were about 178 South Korean firms doing businesses in the UAE as of 2022, and the Korea-UAE CEPA would enhance stability of South Korean firms entering into the UAE, while it would also support South Korean firms activities in the Middle East and North Africa, South Koreas trade ministry said in a statement. The UAE has so far signed several CEPAs including from previous political foes Israel and Turkey, to Asian giants India and Indonesia, as part of a strategy to diversify its economy from oil. It has said it does not mix politics with trade, when asked whether the Israel-Gaza conflict would have an impact on the Gulf states trade deal with Israel. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wanted to make a solidarity visit to Israel amid the countrys war against Hamas, but was told that the time is not right. The Times of Israel in a report mentioned Hebrew-language media saying Zelenskky, who has issued a strong defense of Israel after the assault from Hamas, wanted to pay a solidarity visit to the war-hit Israel. Zelenskyy had earlier said Israel had an unquestionable right to defend itself from attacks from Palestinian terrorists. Terror is always a crime, not just against one country or specific victims, but against humanity as a whole, he said. The world must stand united so that terror does not attempt to take or destroy life anywhere and at any moment, Zelenskyy said. Israel has been persistently expressing its support for Ukraine since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, but has stopped short of offering military aid, sparking diplomatic tensions between Kyiv and Jerusalem. Israel has been hesitant to antagonise Moscow, which has a heavy military presence in Syria. Meanwhile, Russia-Ukraine war entered its 600th day on Monday, October 10. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Zelenskyy said: The goal is to not waste time. Not lose unity. Not let doubts undermine our resolve. Every day, we must add to Ukraines strength. Every day, we must destroy the occupier. Every day, we must make every effort to ensure that Ukraines future belongs solely to Ukrainians. He also thanked everyone who has been fighting and working for Ukraines freedom. May the memory of everyone who gave their lives to preserve our nation be eternal and blessed. We will undoubtedly prevail, Zelenskyy said. 600 days of defiance against Russias full-scale aggression. Freedom is gained by a will that does not give up. Freedom founded on unity always prevails. The goal is to not waste time. Not lose unity. Not let doubts undermine our resolve. Every day, we must add to Ukraines pic.twitter.com/IxhDui3tHW Volodymyr Zelenskyy / (@ZelenskyyUa) October 16, 2023 With inputs from agencies The United States and South Korea have issued an implicit caution to China regarding the repatriation of North Korean escapees, pledging to collaborate in addressing human rights concerns in North Korea. This pledge was made as South Koreas Foreign Minister, Park Jin held a meeting with the US Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues, Julie Turner in Seoul on Monday. During the meeting, the allies reaffirmed their dedication to improving the human rights situation in North Korea, with particular emphasis on the issue of China repatriating escapees to North Korea, according to media reports. Park conveyed his concerns about the dire conditions faced by the North Korean people, highlighting that the Kim Jong Un regimes pursuit of nuclear weapons has come at the expense of its citizens basic rights. He indirectly criticised China for returning escapees to North Korea, citing recent media reports that suggested hundreds of North Korean defectors detained in China have been forcibly repatriated to North Korea. Park emphasised that North Korean defectors should not be forcibly repatriated against their will under any circumstances. Human rights activists had warned that Chinese repatriations of North Korean escapees could increase as North Korea slowly reopens its borders after a prolonged COVID-19 shutdown. Some activist groups believe that the number of North Koreans detained as illegal immigrants in China could exceed 2,000. When asked about the alleged repatriations of North Koreans on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin did not confirm the reports but said Beijing has been properly handling North Koreans who illegally entered the country based on relevant domestic laws, international law and humanitarian principles. Citing an activist account, the Human Rights Watch in a report on Thursday alleged that China this week used several vehicle convoys to forcibly return more than 500 people who had escaped North Korea. The group said most of the returnees were women and expressed concerns that they were at grave risk of being detained in forced labour camps, and potentially facing torture and other violence. With agency inputs. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, described Israels ongoing conflict with Hamas as a struggle for existence against the forces of darkness. Benjamin Netanyahu compared Israels conflict with Hamas to a conflict between the forces of light that stand for humanity and the forces of darkness that represent animalism. He made it clear that defeating Hamas was the primary goal. Even with the passage of 75 years, the war of independence hasnt ended, the Prime Minister told Israels Parliament Knesset at the opening session of its winter session. We will win because our existence here is at stake, he said while likening Hamas to Nazi Germany and calling the conflict a war between forces of light and forces of darkness, between humanity and animalism. Netanyahu said that our goal is victory over Hamas, toppling it from its rule, ten days after the terror group stormed Israel and massacred over 1,300 people, injured close to 4,000, and kidnapped about 200 hostages to the Gaza Strip, according to The Times of Israel. In the meantime, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem are reporting hearing sirens, according to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). The IDF previously declared Hamas to be a terrorist group committed to mass murder. We will eliminate Hamas, it said. Amichai Chikli, the minister of diaspora affairs for Israel, has congratulated the government and people of India for supporting Israel in its conflict with Hamas. I want to thank the leadership of India, the people of India for being with us shoulder-to-shoulder in this fight against brutal jihadist barbaric Islamist. This is not just our war, this is your war too and we will win it together with your support, he said. He further said: I want to tell the people of India we share the same values, we cherish life, we cherish goodWe believe in human values. He said that there are more than 120 confirmed hostages. We will make every effort to bring them back home. It wont be simple. As you know, Hamas has absolutely zero mercy and zero human valuesSo, we have no expectations from Hamas. Still, we believe we might, with intelligence, with efforts, maybe we can rescue some of them, he said. My recommendation for Hamas militants lay down your weapon, raise up your hands, come from your tunnel and maybe there will be mercy, he added. Sderot in the South of Israel was one of the communities that took the brunt of the Hamas assault. Alon Davidi, the mayor of Sderot, said Hamas must be eliminated. I have six children. All of them live in this situation. More than 50,000 people live in this situation. All of this time, I have asked the government to destroy Hamas the Sderot Mayor told the media. We now see that the Hamas is the new ISIS of the world. Now, its not just Israels but everybodys role to destroy the Hamas. It is like the Hezbollah, the ISIS, he added. (With agency inputs) During a pro-Palestinian march in London, a crowd of Palestinian protestors chased down an Iranian dissident holding an Israeli flag on Saturday. Supporters attacked Vahid Beheshti, who has spent the last 236 days camped outside the Foreign Office. In a video posted online, the crowd can be heard yelling murderer and shame on you as a squad of around 50 police officers surround Mr. Beheshti and keep them at bay. I would like to thank the London @metpoliceuk who I believe saved my life from certain death on Saturday, when I was attacked by the supporters of terrorist organisations such as Hamas, Hezbollah and the Islamic Republic's IRGC. One of these pro-Palestinian protesters threatened pic.twitter.com/1FuOTUgUEY Vahid Beheshti (@Vahid_Beheshti) October 16, 2023 The throng attacked Beheshtis camp and tore an Israeli flag he had on display. One of the crowd members was carrying a photo of Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian general killed in a US airstrike in 2020, aloft. Throughout the 45-minute assault, Beheshti and two of his followers can be seen hiding behind the columns of officers as protesters hurl banners at him. Some of the demonstrators, according to Mr. Beheshti, were demanding for his execution. He has had a fatwa issued against him because of his calls for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to be outlawed. He asserted that one of the demonstrators who allegedly threatened to behead him was later detained by police after they discovered he was in possession of a large knife. The terrorist organization Hamas, which last week carried out a surprise attack that left more than 1,300 people dead, including children and the elderly, is widely believed to have received funding from Iran. When Beheshti later found the flag, dozens of Palestinian demonstrators pursued him back to his camp. Met police is yet to comment on the incident. The main UN presence in the Gaza Strip, the agency for Palestinian refugees, has issued a warning that it is in danger of collapsing and is even out of body bags due to the ongoing fighting between Israel and the Hamas terrorists. Gaza is running out of water and electricity as I speak with you. According to Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the Gaza Strip is actually being strangled and it appears that humanity has been lost in the globe at this time. Gaza is now even running out of body bags. Entire families are being ripped apart, he said. Addressing a press conference at UNRWA headquarters in East Jerusalem, Lazzarini said his colleagues in Gaza are no longer able to provide humanitarian assistance. The number of people seeking shelter in our schools and other UNRWA facilities in the South is absolutely overwhelming, and we do not have any more the capacity to deal with them. In fact, an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding under our eyes, he said. The UNRWA operations is the largest United Nations footprint in the Gaza Strip, and we are on the verge of collapse. This is absolutely unprecedented, Lazzarini said. Israeli soldiers have amassed near Gaza ahead of an expected ground offensive targeting Hamas militants, who launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7. Israel has told 1.1 million Palestinians living in the north of Gaza to move south ahead of the possible ground operations. Detailing the plight and hardships in UNRWA schools and buildings, Lazzarini said sanitary conditions are just appalling. We have reports in our logistics base, for example, where hundreds of people are just sharing one toilet. Unless we bring supplies into Gaza, UNRWA and aid workers will not be able to continue humanitarian operations. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Sunday that for the fifth consecutive day, Gaza has been under a full electricity blackout, following Israels halt of its electricity and fuel supply to the strip on October 7, which in turn triggered the shutdown of Gazas sole power plant. Essential service infrastructure is currently operational via backup generators. Fuel reserves at hospitals are not expected to last longer than 24 hours and the shutdown of backup generators would place the lives of thousands of patients at immediate risk, OCHA said. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that hospitals in Gaza risk turning into morgues without electricity. As of October 13, as many as 144 educational facilities, including 20 UNRWA schools, had been hit by airstrikes. Two of the facilities struck by the airstrikes were used as emergency shelters for internally displaced persons. As many as 165 Palestinian Authority (PA) schools, one of which was destroyed, were also hit by the strikes. Water and sanitation facilities have also been severely damaged. As of October 12, at least six water wells, three water pumping stations, one water reservoir, and one desalination plant serving over 1,100,000 people were damaged, OCHA said. Lazzarini said that Gaza is running out of water, and Gaza is running out of life. Soon, I believe, with this there will be no food or medicine either. There is not one drop of water, not one grain of wheat, not a litre of fuel that has been allowed into the Gaza Strip for the last eight days, he said. As of October 14 in the afternoon hours, an estimated 600,000 people are displaced to the southern half of Gaza, with about 300,000 people situated in UNRWA designated emergency shelters (DES), and the rest in public facilities and with host families. Since then, this figure has increased significantly. The number of internally displaced persons in Gaza City and northern Gaza cannot be determined due to insecurity and constant movement of people, the UN said. Following Israels ultimatum on Friday that Palestinians in Gaza relocate to the strips south, Lazzarini said his team has relocated to Rafah to sustain operations and is working in the same building as thousands of desperate displaced people rationing also their food and water. He voiced deep concern that every hour, the agency is receiving more and more desperate calls for help from people across the Strip. The siege in Gaza, the way it is imposed, is nothing else than collective punishment, he said. So, before it is too late, the siege must be lifted and aid agencies must be able to safely bring in essential supplies such as fuel, water, food and medicine, he said, adding: We need this now. UNRWA itself has already lost 14 staff members, including teachers, engineers, guards and psychologists, an engineer and a gynaecologist. Most of our 13,000 UNRWA staff in the Gaza Strip are now displaced or out of their homes, he said. Lazzarini shared harrowing accounts of tragedy and death faced by the agencys staff and ground personnel. My colleague Kamal lost his cousin and her entire family. My colleague Helen and her children were pulled out of the rubble. I was so relieved to learn that they were still alive. My colleague Inas fears that Gaza will no longer exist, Lazzarini said, adding that every story coming out of Gaza is about survival, despair and loss. Lazzarini described last weeks attack on Israel as horrendous and said the attack and taking of hostages are a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law. But the answer to killing civilians cannot be to kill more civilians. Imposing a siege and bombarding civilian infrastructure in a densely populated area will not bring peace and security to the region, Lazzarini stressed. The war has become the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides, with more than 4,000 dead. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,670 Palestinians have been killed and 9,600 wounded. More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed, and at least 155 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza, according to Israel. (With inputs from agencies) Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to meet this week with Chinese leaders in Beijing on a visit that underscores Chinas economic and diplomatic support for Moscow during its war in Ukraine. The two countries have forged an informal alliance against the United States and other democratic nations thats now complicated by the Israel-Hamas war. China has sought to balance its ties with Israel with its economic relations with Iran and Syria, which are strongly backed by Russia. Putins visit is also a show of support for Chinese leader Xi Jinpings signature Belt and Road drive to build infrastructure and expand Chinas overseas influence. The Russian leader will be among the highest profile guests at a gathering marking the 10th anniversary of Xis announcement of the policy, which has laden countries such as Zambia and Sri Lanka with heavy debt after they signed contracts with Chinese companies to build roads, airports and other public works they could not otherwise afford. Putins visit has not been confirmed, but Chinese officials have suggested he will be arriving late Monday. Asked by reporters Friday about a visit to China, Putin said it would encompass talks on Belt and Road-related projects, which he said Moscow wants to link with efforts taken by an economic alliance of ex-Soviet Union nations mostly located in Central Asia to achieve common development goals. He also downplayed the impact of Chinas economic influence in a region that Russia has long considered its backyard and where it has worked to maintain political and military clout. We dont have any contradictions here, on the contrary, there is a certain synergy, Putin said. Putin noted that he and Xi will also discuss growing economic and financial ties between Moscow and Beijing. One of the main areas is financial relations and creating further incentives for payments in national currencies, Putin said. The volume is growing rapidly, there are good prospects in high-tech areas, in the energy sector. Alexander Gabuev, director of Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, said that from Chinas view Russia is a safe neighbor that is friendly, that is a source of cheap raw materials, thats a support for Chinese initiatives on the global stage and thats also a source of military technologies, some of those that China doesnt have. For Russia, China is its lifeline, economic lifeline in its brutal repression against Ukraine, Gabuev told The Associated Press. Its the major market for Russian commodities, its a country that provides its currency and payment system to settle Russias trade with the outside world with China itself, but also with many other countries, and is also the major source of sophisticated technological imports, including dual use goods that go into the Russian military machine. Gabuev said that while Moscow and Beijing will be unlikely to forge a full-fledged military alliance, their defense cooperation will grow. I dont expect that Russia and China will create a military alliance, Gabuev said. Both countries are self-sufficient in terms of security and they benefit from partnering, but neither really requires a security guarantee from the other. And they preach strategic autonomy. There will be no military alliance, but there will be closer military cooperation, more interoperability, more cooperation on projecting force together, including in places like the Arctic and more joint effort to develop a missile defense that makes the U.S. nuclear planning and planning of the U.S. and its allies in Asia and in Europe more complicated, he added. China and the former Soviet Union were Cold War rivals for influence among left-leaning states, but have since partnered in the economic, military and diplomatic spheres. Just weeks before Russias full-fledged invasion of Ukraine last February, Putin met with Xi in Beijing and the sides signed an agreement pledging a no-limits relationship, and Beijings attempts to pose itself as a neutral peace broker in Russias war on Ukraine have been widely dismissed by the international community. Xi visited Moscow in March as part of a flurry of exchanges between the sides. China has condemned international sanctions imposed on Russia, but hasnt directly addressed the arrest warrant issued for Putin by the International Criminal Court on charges of alleged involvement in the abductions of thousands of children from Ukraine. Public Private Partnership (PPP) Policy, 2072 (Nepali Version download): http://www.npc.gov.np/images/category/PPP_Policy_Final_Printable.pdf The training program on Public Private Partnership (PPP) The training program on Public Private Partnership (PPP) 16-20 January 2017. The training program on Public Private Partnership organized by National Planning Commission in collaboration with Nepal Administrative Staff College commenced today at NASC Training Centre, Jawalakhel. In the inauguration of the program, Dr. Sunil Babu Shrestha, Honourable Member, National Planning Commission, highlighted on various aspects PPP concept and practice. He underlined the importance of PPP in the Nepalese developmental context, particularly in the development of physical and social infrastructure. He explained how the partnership can work out a win-win situation that can be rewarding for both public and private sectors. While explaining the objectives of the training program, he expressed his hope that the training program will contribute towards creating human resource base needed to translate the notion of public private partnership in reality. He also explained how the well designed and implemented PPP projects can be instrumental in transforming Nepalese infrastructure which is critical in realizing its goal of graduating to developing country by 2022. Dr. Shrestha acknowledged the fact that the necessary financial resources that will be needed for infrastructure will not be met only by the investment from the government. He emphasized that the resource gap can only be met through the investment by the private sector and hence, the importance of public private partnership is obvious. Dr. Shrestha has also shared the information that in the ongoing 14th plan the expected share of private sector investment is around 55 percent. He also appealed the participant to make the most from the opportunity as the organizers have made every effort to bring the best available resource persons in the country.Altogether 25 participants are participating in the program representing government, private sector, and media. Download links below, for the presentations from the PPP Training Program 16-20 Jan 2016: Presentation Dowlnoad link Governance: Beyond Government https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0NqsEXMvOCmVm9zMVRveE1aRVk Introduction to Public Private Partnership (by Dr. Sunil Babu Shrestha, Member, National Planning Commission) Global Practices in PPP Managment NPC 2017 (by Purusottam Man Shrestha, PPP Expert) Glimpse of PPP (Video) https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_KcNAGEOkh_bkt5MzM2aEFzMTg https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0NqsEXMvOCmR1FXaHhZSUFudEU PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS FOR CREATING AND MANAGING URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE IN NEPALESE MUNICIPALITIES: A stock taking and future perspective (by Maniram Singh Mahat, Executive Director, Town Development Fund) https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0NqsEXMvOCmTklvMk9GbHktcHM Public Private Partnership (PPP) Models: Concepts, Issues and Examples (by Surya R Acharya, PhD) https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0NqsEXMvOCma0t3Njc1aFN4cVE PPP project Cycle and Feasibility Study (by Dr. Raghu Bista, Nepal Administrative Staff College) https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0NqsEXMvOCmZGpwNEhUZWpJejg Financing Model in PPP Projects (by Madhu Prasad Bhetuwal, Joint Secretary, Investment Board Nepal) https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0NqsEXMvOCmOHVibzlwNjBPMEE PROCUREMENT PROCESS- FOR PPP PROJECTS (by Shakti Prasad Shrestha) https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0NqsEXMvOCmRFpxaF8xN1QxZlU Project Cash Flow Analysis & Viability Gap Funding (by Radhesh Pant, Former CEO, Investment Board Nepal) https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0NqsEXMvOCmcUh3bjFabW9LbUU Access all the above presentations at once at: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_KcNAGEOkh_SVM4T2RlQ2tobGM ) National Workshop on Infrastructure Financing Strategies for Sustainable Development in Nepal (Source: http://www.unescap.org/events/national-workshop-infrastructure-financing-strategies-sustainable-development-nepal Organizers:Date:24 Jan 2017Location:Kathmandu, Nepal Recognizing the importance of infrastructure development for achieving the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement, ESCAP organized on 24 January 2017 a national workshop on Infrastructure Financing Strategies for Sustainable Development in collaboration with the National Planning Commission, Government of Nepal. RELATED DOCUMENTS PROGRAMME PRESENTATIONS DOCUMENTS Boston Levin has introduced a new smartwatch in India called the Boston Levin Infinity. This smartwatch has a square-shaped dial made from a strong zinc alloy. It also comes with a comfortable and skin-friendly silicone strap that you can adjust. The watch features a 1.85-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 380420 pixels, which is protected by toughened glass. The Boston Levin Infinity smartwatch allows you to make calls and talk to your phones voice assistant using its built-in speaker and microphone. It also includes rare features like NFC and a security lock. You can use it continuously for up to 5 days, and it can stay on standby for up to 30 days. Plus, it charges fully in under 2 hours. This smartwatch has various functions like a G-Sensor, dial pad, and built-in apps for messaging and social media. It also has customizable watch faces and offers smart features like weather forecasts, remote controls, alarms, and more. The Boston Levin Infinity can monitor your heart rate, sleep, blood oxygen level, steps, and blood pressure. It runs on the Android 4.4+ (Wear OS) operating system and uses Bluetooth v5.0 for connectivity. Its also protected from dust, sweat, and water damage with an IP68 certification. Quick specifications: BOSTON LEVIN Infinity Square shaped; Silicone watch strap Zinc alloy and spherical toughened glass 1.85 AMOLED display, 380 x 420 resolution, Bluetooth Calling; In-built Mic and Speaker Bluetooth v5.0; NFC; G-Sensor Battery life: 3-5 days; 30 days stand-by; Charging time: 2 hours 60+ sport modes Customizable watch faces Health monitoring: SpO2, Heart rate, Step count, Mileage tracking, Sleep tracking, Sedentary reminder etc. Smart Alerts/Notifications: 2 built-in games, Music control, Weather forecast IP68 certification FitCloudPro App Android 4.4+ and IOS 9.0+ Dimensions: 17 x 7.6 x 2.9 cm; Weight: 39g Pricing and availability The BOSTON LEVIN Infinity Smartwatch is already available for purchase for an introductory price of Rs. 1799 on Amazon.in, starting today. It comes in three colors: Rose Gold, Black, and Gray. Speaking at the launch, Udit Aggarwal, CEO of Boston Levin, said: China willing to help get Middle East peace process back on track: special envoy Xinhua) 10:18, October 16, 2023 BEIJING, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- China is willing to maintain communication and coordination with the Arab League and Arab countries and make efforts in helping get the Middle East peace process back on track, China's special envoy on Middle East affairs said on Friday. Zhai Jun, special envoy of the Chinese government on the Middle East issue, made the remarks when having a group meeting with diplomatic envoys of Arab countries in China and head of the representative office of the Arab League in China. The Arab side introduced the situation and position of the emergency foreign ministers' meeting of the Arab League to discuss the situation between Palestine and Israel, saying that the recent Israeli aggression against Palestine has caused numerous civilian casualties on the Palestinian side. It added that at present, the humanitarian situation in Palestine is very grave, and relevant Israeli actions violate international law and international humanitarian law. The international community is responsible for taking immediate action to ease the tension, promote the resumption of peace talks, and safeguard the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people. The Arab side highly appreciates and thanks China for its long-standing position on the Palestinian question, hoping that China will continue to play a positive and constructive role. Zhai said China is saddened by the increasing tension between Palestine and Israel, which has caused numerous civilian casualties. The Chinese side opposes harming civilians and condemns practices that violate international law. Noting that it is imperative to maintain calm and restraint, protect civilians, and provide the necessary conditions for alleviating the humanitarian crisis, Zhai said the international community should earnestly enhance the sense of urgency to promote the solution for the Palestinian question, return to the correct basis of the two-state solution, and realize the peaceful coexistence of Palestine and Israel. Zhai said China supports the Arab League's important role in the Palestinian question, adding that in the next stage, China is willing to maintain communication and coordination with the Arab League and Arab countries, continue to engage with relevant parties and make unremitting efforts to help get the Middle East peace process back on track. "China will continue to provide humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian side to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis facing the Palestinian people," Zhai added. (Web editor: Liang Jun) Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts 1. Dublin Dublin is the capital city of the Republic of Ireland and the largest city in the country. It is located at the mouth of the River Liffey and is named for the Irish words 'dubh' meaning black and 'linn' meaning pool. There has been a settlement in the area of Dublin since prehistoric times with archaeological evidence suggesting humans were living in the area 6000 years ago. Dublin is the capital city of the Republic of Ireland and the largest city in the country. It is located at the mouth of the River Liffey and is named for the Irish words 'dubh' meaning black and 'linn' meaning pool. There has been a settlement in the area of Dublin since prehistoric times with archaeological evidence suggesting humans were living in the area 6000 years ago. 2. Cork Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and is located in the south west of the country. The city was originally founded by monks in the 6th century and grew during the 900s when it became a Viking trading port. The centre of Cork is located on an island in the River Lee. 3. Wexford Wexford is a town in the south east of the Republic of Ireland. The town was originally founded in 800 by Viking settlers who ostensibly ruled the town as a city state until the late 1100s when the town was taken by the King of Leinster and was absorbed into the province of the same name. 4. Limerick Limerick is a city on the west coast of Ireland located on the estuary of the river Shannon. The city is the third largest in the Republic of Ireland and was founded by Viking settlers in 812. Shannon Airport, located near Limerick, was the first airport in the world to offer duty free goods to passengers and was historically an important refuelling point for transatlantic flights. Limerick is a city on the west coast of Ireland located on the estuary of the river Shannon. The city is the third largest in the Republic of Ireland and was founded by Viking settlers in 812. Shannon Airport, located near Limerick, was the first airport in the world to offer duty free goods to passengers and was historically an important refuelling point for transatlantic flights. 5. Galway The city of Galway is found in the west of the Republic of Ireland on the River Corrib. The city grew from a fortification built in 1124 by the King of Connacht and a town charter was granted in 1484. The city became a prosperous trading port in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries and was largely controlled by the 'tribes of Galway', fourteen wealthy merchant families. Following the 'Glorious Revolution' in 1688, when James II was replaced as king by William III, the tribes supported James' cause which lead to their downfall and reduced the importance of Galway as a city. 6. Drogheda Drogheda is the largest town in the Republic of Ireland and is located north of Dublin. The town was originally founded as two separate entities, Drogheda in Meath and Drogheda in Oriel. These towns were joined in 1412 and became a county borough titled 'the County of the Town of Drogheda'. In 1898 Drogheda became part of County Louth and ceased to be an independent county. 7. Waterford Waterford is the fifth biggest city in the Republic of Ireland and is located in the south east of the country. The city was originally founded by Viking settlers and during the medieval period was regarded as the second most important city of Ireland after Dublin. The city is known for its glass production particularly decorative cut glassware. Waterford is the fifth biggest city in the Republic of Ireland and is located in the south east of the country. The city was originally founded by Viking settlers and during the medieval period was regarded as the second most important city of Ireland after Dublin. The city is known for its glass production particularly decorative cut glassware. 8. Tralee Tralee is a town in County Kerry in the south west of Ireland and was founded in the 13th century. The town is perhaps best known for the annual Rose of Tralee International Festival which was first held in 1959. The main feature of the festival is the crowning of the 'Rose of Tralee' a young woman who is selected to act as a role-model and advocate for Ireland, it is not considered a beauty pageant as the contestant are judged on personality rather than purely on looks. 9. Sligo Sligo is a port town on the west coast of Ireland. The name of the town is an anglicised version of the Irish name Sligeach which means 'abounding in shells' and reflects the large number of shellfish and shells found in the area. There is evidence of prehistoric settlements in the Sligo area but the town is generally regarded as being established in 1245 with the building of Sligo Castle. 10. Kilkenny Kilkenny is a city in the south east of Ireland which straddles the River Nore. Kilkenny received its town charter in 1207 and gained city status in 1609 when King James I granted the town a Royal Charter. The city contains many historic buildings and churches and is popular with tourists. Kilkenny is a city in the south east of Ireland which straddles the River Nore. Kilkenny received its town charter in 1207 and gained city status in 1609 when King James I granted the town a Royal Charter. The city contains many historic buildings and churches and is popular with tourists. Source: Author Stoaty This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor agony before going online.Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system. Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Statement by President von der Leyen at the joint press conference with Albanian Prime Minister Rama European Commission Statement 15 October 2023 Tirana Prime Minister, dear Edi, Indeed, I am always happy to be here in Tirana, especially on an important day like this one. As you have just said, we have opened registration for the first academic year of the new College of Europe campus in Tirana. It is going to be fascinating to see that students from all over Europe, studying right here, will be part of our effort to build a common European future. Step by step. So, your path is going towards the European Union and is taking shape. It is getting real. And this is my first very clear message: Albania is on track to join the European Union. As you know, enlargement is at the top of our priorities. This is actually where it belongs. Because we want our partners and neighbours to join and make our Union complete. It is also in our own interest because it will give our Union the weight, the clout and the capacity to act. And it will make Europe stronger, bolder and larger in a rapidly changing world. Albania has already achieved so much. The screening process, as you said, is progressing smoothly. Many thanks to the negotiating teams on both sides. They are doing a fantastic job. Our shared objective is to open negotiations on the so-called fundamentals' cluster as quickly as possible. Our aim is to have this done before the end of the year. My second message is: As we continue to work on the path towards accession, we are already building our common future. So, we should start doing this right away to make your country ready for membership but also to, already now, create new trade opportunities between us and to bring our economies closer. We have started this with the Economic and Investment Plan of EUR 30 billion. It is delivering fast, more than half of the financing is already mobilised after three years. In Albania, the plan has actually already mobilised EUR 1.4 billion. There are great projects like the Fierza hydropower plant, or the railway connection to the European Union via Montenegro, on Corridor X. Last year, we completed our Investment Plan with the Energy Support Package. This was during the energy crisis. It delivered very nicely. 90% are already mobilised. But what I wanted to focus on today is the new Growth Plan for the Western Balkans. Because here, we are moving towards a new phase of action. This plan has the potential, if we implement it correctly, to double the size of your economy still in this decade and to drive growth and convergence. The principle is that, in certain specific areas, you will have access to the Single Market. For this, reforms are necessary. And the reforms are accompanied by investment. So it opens the door to the Single Market for the Western Balkan countries. This will of course be then underpinned by the financial investment: So it is about the necessary investment and reforms. My third message is that our investments will match your sustained reform efforts for Albania, for example to work on the improvement of the business environment to further equip people with the right skills - we did exactly this today by opening applications for the new campus of the College of Europe - and to diversify energy supplies, just to name a few topics. So it is very concrete. I believe the Growth Plan is the right offer at the right time for the European Union and Albania to get closer. And it will play an important role in your path towards the European Union. You have consistently shown your dedication to this path. For example, and you said it, with your alignment with the EU's response to Russia's brutal war of aggression against Ukraine. And dear Edi, I want to emphasise your personal role in this, in defending our rules-based multilateral order in the UN Security Council in an outstanding manner. And I would like to emphasise too your very clear position on the terrible terrorist attack by Hamas a week ago. So, we are getting ready. We are now on our way to welcoming Albania to the European Union. Thank you again for the hospitality. Thank you again for the excellent talks. It is a pleasure to be here in Albania. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China urges Israel to avoid collective punishment as Gaza humanitarian crisis grows Global Times By Chen Qingqing and Zhao Yusha Published: Oct 15, 2023 09:15 PM The humanitarian crisis has been further aggravating in the Gaza Strip over the weekend. With Israel further pressing on Sunday with preparations for a ground offensive after having ordered more than 1 million residents to evacuate from northern Gaza, there have been growing calls for protecting civilians and acting in line with the international laws amid the escalating Israel-Palestine tensions. Among them, China said Israel's actions go beyond self-defense, urging it to avoid collective punishment of the Gaza people. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a phone conversation with Iran's Minister of Foreign Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Sunday. During the call Wang said the immediate priority is to de-escalate the situation and prevent a severe humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, which could result in more innocent civilian casualties and further damages to regional peace. The exercise of the right to self-defense should comply with international law and international humanitarian law, including ensuring the safety of civilians and detained individuals. Responding to violence with violence will only cause greater harm and bring about a more serious crisis, said Wang. In his phone call with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud on Saturday, Wang said China opposes and condemns all acts that harm civilians, as they violate basic human conscience and the fundamental principles of international law. Israel's actions go beyond the scope of self-defense. It should heed the calls of the international community and the UN Secretary-General and avoid collective punishment of the people of Gaza, Wang said. Wang also had a phone conversation about the Israel-Palestine conflicts with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Sunday night. The death toll in the Gaza Strip climbed, with 2,329 Palestinians dead and 9,714 injured on Sunday morning, according to Gaza's health ministry, making it the deadliest Gaza war for Palestinians to date, French news outlet France 24 reported. Israel has warned around 1.1 million Gazans living in the north of the Palestinian territory to flee to the south ahead of a ground incursion which the military has indicated will focus on the Gaza City, the base of the leadership of the Hamas militant group, according to media reports. Such warning has sparked a huge opposition from the global community. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Friday that the relocation of Gaza residents from the north to the south "is extremely dangerous - and in some cases, simply not possible." In a press conference following his visit to China, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called Israel's order "something impossible," saying that the EU certainly defend the rights of Israel to defend itself but there is a limit, which is the international law. Some Chinese experts believe that the Israel-Palestine conflicts is now at a critical point. If Israel continues with its planned ground offensive when Gaza has already been facing a growing humanitarian crisis, such actions clearly go against the international law and will draw much diplomatic and public opinion pressure on Israel. Meanwhile, a prolonged war would also negatively impact the process of Israel's normalization relations with Arab countries. Growing concerns According to the latest satellite images obtained by Global Times reporters from the International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG Center) on Saturday, the Gaza Strip, one of the most densely populated areas in the world, is almost completely plunged into darkness at night due to Israel's power supply cutoff. This is in stark contrast to the previously well-lit nights in the region, highlighting the difficult living conditions faced by the residents in the Gaza Strip. The UN refugee agency for Palestinians said on Saturday that water has now become a "matter of life and death" for people in the Gaza Strip after Israel cut their water supplies, Al Jazeera reported. More than 2 million people are now at risk as water runs out. As Israel initiated blockades and bombings against the civilians in Gaza, international public opinion has been shifting toward sympathy for Israel to criticizing it. For instance, Croatian President Zoran Milanovi said he doesn't sympathize with Israel because of its reprisal actions in Gaza after Hamas attacks on October 7. "The West itself now has divided views on Israel's actions not only because of growing worries for humanitarian crisis but also the looming influx of refugees from Gaza crisis to Europe so that both the US and Europe do not hope to see Gaza crisis further expand," Liu Zhongmin, a professor at the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times on Sunday. Although the US and Europe support Israel, concerning the Gaza situation, they clearly see that it's at a critical point, Liu said. He noted that ordering millions of people to evacuate clearly violates international law, and it's not an easy task for Israel to separate Hamas militants from ordinary Palestine people. After a conflict occurs, China's consistent stance is to call for a ceasefire and engage in a dialogue to resolve the issue, rather than escalating the conflict, experts said. In the long run, continued conflict won't do good for Israel, as it would result in more civilian casualties and humanitarian crises, leading to increased huge pressure from the international community. Many countries may change their perspectives on the issue, Li Weijian, vice president of the Chinese Association of Middle East Studies, told the Global Times on Sunday. China recognizes this, which is why China is urging Israel to agree to a cease-fire, Li noted. "Continued conflict would also negatively impact the process of Israel's normalization of relations with Arab countries, as the latter may adopt a more hostile policy toward Israel or halt the progress in improving relations. This is certainly not what Israel wants." Saudi Arabia is putting US-backed plans to normalize ties with Israel on ice, Reuters reported on Friday, citing two sources familiar with Riyadh's thinking. This also signaled a rapid rethinking of its foreign policy priorities as war escalates between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas, according to the media report. At this point, international powers are gradually focusing on how to resolve the issue, the Chinese expert noted. Role of major powers While US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was busy meeting the leaders in the Middle East in the past few days, the US was planning to send a second aircraft carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean, the US defense secretary confirmed on Saturday saying it is "to deter hostile actions against Israel or any efforts toward widening this war following Hamas's attack." In his phone call with Blinken on Saturday, China's top diplomat Wang Yi said major powers should adhere to objectivity and impartiality, maintain calm and restraint and take the lead in abiding by international law. On the escalating Palestine-Israel crisis, the effectiveness of the collective security mechanism of the major UN nations has been limited, and a major issue is that the US has been "moving far away" from the "two-state solution," Liu noted. "Now it has been enhancing its military pressure, which, on one hand, aims to make deterrence to anti-Israel and anti-US forces such as Hezbollah in Lebanon but on the other hand, it may further provoke those forces," he said. Zhai Jun, special envoy of the Chinese government on the Middle East issue, said he will travel to the relevant countries in the Middle East next week, further strengthen coordination with all parties, aiming to cease fire, protect civilians, ease the situation and promote peace talks, Zhai said in an interview with China Central Television aired on Sunday. Both China and the US are influential major powers, and both have the potential to influence other countries' positions. "For example, the US may exert influence on many European countries. If the US changes its stance, those countries may follow suit," Li said, noting that the US can also work on Israel because Israel does not want to remain trapped in the conflict indefinitely. China can also work with more Arab countries because China's position on the Palestinian issue aligns with that of Arab countries, he said. "Eventually, with the joint efforts of the international community, including China and the US, a cease-fire could be achieved." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Grave concern over the situation in Sudan Government of Norway News story | Date: 15/10/2023 'I am deeply concerned about the situation in Sudan, six months after the war's outbreak. More than 5 million people have been forced to flee, schools are still closed and children in particular are exposed to great danger,' Minister of International Development Anne Beathe Tvinnereim said. 'As always, the brutalities of war hit children the hardest. We now see a generation of Sudanese children caught in an unparalleled crisis. Not only do they have to live with the immediate consequences of conflict, displacement and insecurity, but they lack access to basic services such as healthcare and schooling,' Ms Tvinnereim said. 15 October marks six months since the war started in Sudan. Half of Sudan's population, almost 25 million people, now require humanitarian assistance and protection, according to the United Nations. 'Hospitals in the country have been affected by the fighting and put out of operation. The shortage of medicines and medical equipment is acute. The rainy season makes the situation even worse, with heavy rainfall and flooding. Diseases such as cholera, dengue fever and malaria are now spreading fast,' said Ms Tvinnereim. Hard to reach those most in need Most schools in the country have been closed since 15 April. There are reports that children in Sudan are being subjected to killings, forcible recruitment, violence and abuse. The continuing battles and major obstacles to crossing the border and travelling in the country make the work difficult. 'The humanitarian organisations reach only a third of Sudan's population. That makes it very hard to get help to those who need it most. Norway has repeatedly urged Sudanese authorities to respect humanitarian principles, remove bureaucratic barriers to humanitarian organisations and grant the necessary visas and permits,' Ms Tvinnereim said. It is crucial to support and cooperate with local actors. 'Local actors do an indispensable job in Sudan, often putting their lives at risk. For this they deserve recognition. They reach even the most challenging areas, where international organisations cannot. They too need our help,' said Ms Tvinnereim. Serious abuses and human rights violations The human rights situation in Sudan is critical, and there have been credible claims that both parties in the conflict have committed serious offences and human rights violations. 'This war's impact on the Sudanese civilian population has been extraordinary. Our stance remains that the fighting must stop immediately. All parties must fulfil their duties under international law, including international humanitarian law and human rights law. Civilians must be protected,' said Minister of Foreign Affairs Anniken Huitfeldt. Norway, the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany have submitted a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva to set up a fact-finding mission and an investigation mechanism for human rights violations committed in Sudan since 15 April. 'We must ensure that the serious accusations of offenses are investigated in a credible and impartial manner. Holding to account those who are responsible and ending impunity are key steps forward. We are extremely pleased that the Human Rights Council has now voted to create the investigation mechanism. This is an important step for the Sudanese people,' said Ms Huitfeldt. Alongside the international effort to institute a lasting cease-fire and humanitarian access, Norway is working to bolster civilian efforts to bring about a political process. 'The war must end. We actively support trying to establish an inclusive political process based on democratic principles and the wishes of the population. In this process it will be especially important that women and youth are heard and that all of Sudan is represented,' said Ms Huitfeldt. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address IDF and ISA Forces Neutralize Nukhba Commander Responsible for the Kibbutz Nirim Massacre IDF Press Release 15.10.23 IDF As part of extensive IDF strikes targeting senior operatives and terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, the IDF and ISA neutralized the southern Khan Yunis Nukhba commander (Hamas commando forces), who was responsible for the Kibbutz Nirim massacre Following ISA intelligence, IDF fighter jets operated in Gaza and neutralized Billal Al Kedra last night, the commander of the southern Khan Yunis Nukhba forces, who was responsible for the Kibbutz Nirim massacre. Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist operatives were also neutralized. The IDF also struck over one hundred military targets located in Zaytun, Khan Yunis, and west Jabaliya. These strikes impacted the capabilities of the Hamas terrorist organization, by targeting its operational command centers, military compounds, dozens of launchers, anti-tank missile launch posts and observation posts. Furthermore, operational command centers belonging to the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization were struck. Attached is a video of the strike on Billel Al Kedra, a Nukhba commander of the forces in southern Khan Yunis: https://bit.ly/3tw8o1R NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Arena Updates Defending Against Hamas Israeli forces continue to protect the southern communities in Israel. One attempted attack took place near Nir Oz on Sunday, following a number of isolated infiltration attempts throughout the weekend, including anti-tank fire fired at Nir Oz and an attempted infiltration near Zikim. In parallel, Israel completed the evacuation of southern communities in the vicinity of the security fence with the Gaza Strip, including Sderot. Hamas rocket fire aimed at civilian towns and cities continued on Sunday, with over 6,000 rockets fired at Israel. This included barrages towards Tel Aviv and Herzaliya as well as southern communities. Active missile defense systems - including the Iron Dome - continue to play an important role in intercepting many of these rockets. The IDF is continuing preparations for a wide range of operational offensive plans in the Gaza Strip in order to dismantle Hamas' military and civil capabilities. Some of the measures taken to prepare for intensified operations include drafting over 350,000 reservists, preparing Forward Logistics Centers to support combat units on the front, and facilitating the ongoing resupply of weapons and supplies. In addition, IDF aerial strikes continue against Hamas in Gaza. On Sunday, these strikes included Hamas administrative centers as well as strikes on over one hundred military targets. The IDF continues to prioritize strikes on senior Hamas personnel and those involved in Saturday's attacks, including Billal Al Kedra, the Nukhba commander of the forces in southern Khan Yunis, who was responsible for the Kibbutz Nirim massacre. Sites were targeted throughout Zaytun, Khan Yunis, Jabaliya, Al-Furqan and Beit Hanoun, and included operational command centers, terrorist operatives, offensive tunnels, military, anti-tank launch posts, observation posts and more. Humanitarian Efforts As the IDF continues to dismantle Hamas capabilities and ensure that the horrific attacks on Israeli civilians are not repeated, it is also taking measures to mitigate civilian casualties and continues to urge Gaza residents to move south. Similar to Saturday, the IDF's spokesperson to Arabic media published a recommended route for these movements. Despite these measures to mitigate the humanitarian consequences of Hamas' horrific actions, Hamas is actively attempting to disrupt evacuations. On Saturday night, the IDF released aerial footage showing roadblocks created to prevent movement, as well as the recording of a phone conversation with a Gaza resident who said he was being prevented from relocating. Hamas is also waging misinformation campaigns to obfuscate its exploitation of Gaza's residents. One example of this is a convoy that Hamas claimed was attacked during the evacuations late last week, citing a location and time that the IDF had not acted in. Northern Arena Hezbollah aggression against both IDF forces and Israeli civilians continued throughout Sunday, including at least three separate anti-tank attacks into Israel on Sunday. This included an attack on the Israeli community of Shtula, which resulted in Israel casualties. In a separate incident, a number of Grad-type rockets were fired from Syria into Israel. The IDF is maintaining a zero-tolerance posture and has responded to these attacks, focusing on the sources of fire and on Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon. Israel holds the Lebanese government accountable for any activities emanating from within its borders. These events follow a number of attacks on Israeli positions yesterday, including an attempted infiltration along with the firing of some 30 mortar shells in the Har Dov area yesterday. In order to expand the IDF's operational flexibility, the IDF instructed Israeli civilians within four kilometers of the border with Lebanon to evacuate. It is also operating technological means to obstruct GPS in the region. Other Arena Updates The IDF remains in close contact with military counterparts in the United States and around the world. The Chief of the General Staff conducted a call with Gen. Michael Kurilla, the commander of US Central Command. A second carrier strike group, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, is joining the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group, which had deployed to the region on Tuesday. US munitions resupply are also underway. In addition, the Chief of the General Staff held calls with other military leaders around the world, including the Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff . Actions to prevent expansion of hostilities against Israeli civilians continue in Judea and Samaria. Last night, 49 suspects were arrested in the area, including 33 Hamas operatives. Funds intended for supporting terrorists and a range of weapons, including assault rifles, handguns and magazines, were seized. Iran warns war fronts will expand if Israel doesn't stop Gaza attacks IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Oct 15, 2023 Tehran, IRNA -- Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has warned that war fronts will likely expand if Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip do not stop. "If the attacks by the Zionist regime on Gaza do not stop, the expansion of war fronts is likely, and the possibility of this increases every hour," Amirabdollahian said in an interview with Al Jazeera. Iran's top diplomat added that a message has been sent to the Israeli regime through its allies that if its atrocities do not cease in Gaza, "it will be very late tomorrow". Amirabdollahian expressed hope that political efforts would prevent the escalation of war; otherwise, "no one knows what the next hour might bring." Iran cannot stand idly by and watch this situation unfold, he further warned. His comments came during his visit to Qatar where he met senior Qatari officials, as well as head of the political bureau of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh. Before leaving Doha as the last destination of his regional tour, Amirabdollahian said the Islamic Republic has been invited to participate in an extraordinary meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to address the situation in Gaza. "We will actively participate in this meeting," he told reporters. The death toll in Gaza has surged past 2,300 as the Israeli regime continues to pound the besieged enclave by air, land and sea. 4353**2050 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address War to get out of control if Israeli regime not stopped: Iran FM IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Oct 15, 2023 Doha, IRNA -- Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian met Sunday with Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to discuss the issue of Palestine. On the fourth day of his regional tour, which also took him to Syria, Iraq and Lebanon, Amirabdollahian met with the Qatari emir in Doha to discuss a host of issues, particularly the latest developments in Palestine. "If the attacks of the Zionist regime against the defenseless citizens and people of Gaza continue, no one can guarantee the control of the situation and the non-expansion of the conflicts," the Iranian foreign minister said during the meeting with the Qatari emir. He said that those who are interested in preventing the scope of war and crisis from expanding, it is necessary to prevent the ongoing barbaric attacks of "the Zionist regime against citizens and civilians in Gaza". Referring to his talks with the high-ranking officials of the Hamas movement in Beirut and Doha, Amir Abdollahian said, "The officials of the aforementioned movement emphasized that, from an Islamic and humanitarian point of view, they have the issue of civilian prisoners as a priority in their agenda, and if the field conditions are provided, in this They will take the necessary action. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, the Emir of Qatar, also called the humanitarian situation in Gaza worrisome, and said that "our priority is to stop the crimes in Gaza and our position regarding Palestine will not change". He added that the occupying forces are responsible for the crimes they commit. The chief Iranian diplomat also met on Saturday with his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani. During that meeting, Amirabdollahian said the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, including cutting off supplies of water, food and medicine to the besieged enclave, must come to an end. He thanked Qatar for its firm support for Palestine during the recent developments. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, 2,329 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed and 9,714 others injured since the Israeli regime began its bombardment of the besieged enclave on October 7. 4354**7129 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 'Iran, Hamas discuss formation of bigger axis against Zionists' IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Oct 15, 2023 Doha, IRNA -- A member of the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement's political bureau, Khalil al-Hayya, has stated that Iran and Hamas have exchanged views on the formation of a greater axis to stop the Zionist regime's crimes. Speaking to reporters after the three-hour talks between Iran Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and Head of Palestine's Hamas Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh, Khalil al-Hayya said that the the two sides discussed how Islamic states can assist in halting Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people, IRNA reported on Sunday. We talked about the developments in Palestine, as well as the Zionist regime's crimes of killing civilians, men, and women, especially the martyrdom of over a thousand women and children, the destruction of houses, and the displacement of the people of Gaza to neighboring countries. The Hamas official expressed his appreciation for Iran's support and efforts regarding the Palestinian issue. He also expressed hope that all countries would help the Palestinian people materialize their dream of acquiring freedom and establishing a Palestinian state with al-Quds as its capital, as well as see the annihilation of the Zionist regime. 9376**4208**7129 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Death toll climbs to 2,329 in Israeli regime attack on Gaza IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Oct 15, 2023 Tehran, IRNA -- The ongoing operation by the Palestinian Resistance movement, known as Al Aqsa Storm, has reached its ninth day. The number of Palestinian civilians who have lost their lives due to actions by Israeli forces has increased to 2,329. The Zionist regime army, seemingly at a loss, has begun to target mosques, residential buildings, medical facilities, and locations where displaced Palestinians have sought refuge in Gaza. Attempts by Israel to halt the Resistance operation in the occupied territories have proven unsuccessful. Officials appear taken aback by their inability to overcome the Resistance fighters. As per the most recent official reports, 9,042 Palestinians have sustained injuries due to these attacks over the past nine days. The Palestinian Ministry of Health has declared that the Zionist regime is committing genocide in full view of the global community. Death toll of Zionists Meanwhile, the Zionist army has released seven other names of its military forces killed during the Al Aqsa Storm operation. So, the death toll of the Zionists reached 286. The Zionist media have already reported the number of dead Israelis as 1,500. The reports have released that at least 126 Zionists have been taken captive by the Palestinian forces. Journalists in Palestine-Israel war Also, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported that the number of journalists who have been killed during the war between the Zionist regime of Israel and the Resistance fighters was at least 12, while eight others have been wounded. 1483**9417 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran never gives up backing Palestine: FM Amirabdollahian IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Oct 15, 2023 Doha, IRNA -- Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has reiterated the country's unwavering commitment to supporting the Palestinian people, stating that Iran will never compromise its principles and values in this regard. The statement was made during a meeting with Ismail Haniyeh, Head of Hamas's Political Bureau, and other Palestinian officials in Doha, Qatar, on Saturday. Amirabdollahian, who is actively seeking diplomatic solutions to the Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip, has visited Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Qatar for consultations. Amirabdollahian emphasized that supporting Palestine is a religious, humane, and moral responsibility, urging all Muslims and freedom-loving nations to stand with the oppressed people of Palestine now more than ever. On the efforts made by the Islamic Republic during the recent days following the onset of Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, he noted that Iran proposed an emergency meeting of foreign ministers of the Islamic countries and that Tehran will back any initiative of the Muslim nations in support of the Palestinians. He also stated that Operation Al-Aqsa Storm is a natural response by the oppressed Palestinian people to the continuous crimes and provocative acts committed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's extremist cabinet. The Foreign Minister warned that if Israel continues to commit war crimes, it could lead to unpredictable outcomes in the region. He pledged that Iran would do everything in its power to halt these actions. Haniyeh expressed his gratitude for the support provided by Iran's Supreme Leader, president, and people. He emphasized the importance of a meeting of high-ranking officials from the Islamic Cooperation Organization and expressed hope for strong support from the Islamic world. Haniyeh stated that Operation Al-Aqsa Storm has dealt a significant blow to Israel and exposed their distress and weakness. The targeting of civilians in Gaza is indicative of this. 4194**4208**9417 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iranian President warns of broad war if mass murder, blockade of Gaza not halted ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency Sun / 15 October 2023 / 17:27 Tehran (ISNA) - President of France, Emmanuel Macron held a phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi on Sunday amid the escalation of tensions in the region. Iranian president's deputy chief of staff for political affairs, Mohammad Jamshidi wrote in a post on X platform, "Replying to Macron's phone call, president Raisi warned that if Zionist regime's atrocities, including mass murder and blockade of Gaza, are not halted, the situation will become further complicated and the war will broaden". End Item NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iranian FM, Qatari Emir discuss Palestine, urge end to Israeli atrocities ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency Sun / 15 October 2023 / 16:26 Tehran (ISNA) - Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has met with Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. In the meeting, the top Iranian diplomat conveyed Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's greetings to the Qatari Emir. Amir-Abdollahian once again expressed his gratitude to Qatar for its constructive role in the prisoner swap issue as well as in the transfer of Iran's assets. Amir-Abdollahian touched upon a phone conversation last night between the Iranian president and the Qatari Emir and also informed the Emir of the outcome of his regional consultations with officials of the regional countries within the framework of his current trip along with his phone conversations with officials of different countries in recent days. He underlined the need for collective efforts by Islamic countries to put an end to the war crimes committed by the apartheid Israeli regime against the residents of Gaza, and reiterated the significance of holding an extraordinary meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) at the level of foreign ministers as well as heads of state. "If the Israeli regime's attacks against the residents and defenseless people of Gaza continue, no one can guarantee that the situation will come under control and the conflict will not expand," said the Iranian foreign minister. "The United States, which urges others to exercise restraint, does not act upon this recommendation itself and has stepped up its all-out support for the Israeli regime," noted Amir-Abdollahian. "Those, who wouldn't like the war and crisis to spill over, should stop the ongoing brutal attacks by the Israeli regime against the residents and civilians of Gaza," said the Iranian foreign minister. He touched upon his negotiations with high-ranking officials of Hamas in Beirut and Doha, adding, "The officials of the movement have underscored that they, with an Islamic and humanitarian look, have prioritized the handling of the issue of civilian captives, and if the right conditions are met on the ground, they will adopt the necessary measures in that regard." The Qatari Emir, in turn, voiced concern over the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and said Qatar's priority is to see crimes in Gaza end, and that Qatar's position on Palestine will remain unchanged. He said the occupying Israeli forces are responsible for the crimes they commit. End Item NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Preventing genocide in Gaza requires immediate action by all Islamic countries: Iranian President ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency Sun / 15 October 2023 / 13:47 Tehran (ISNA) - Iran's President stated, "Removing the inhuman blockade of Gaza and preventing the ongoing genocide in this area requires immediate action by all Islamic nations, and the Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to take joint action with Iraq and all other Islamic countries in this regard". President Ebrahim Raisi, in a phone conversation with the Prime Minister of Iraq, Mohammad Shia Al-Sudani, pointed out the dynamics and progress of the relations between the two countries in the recent period, and stressed the continuation of developing cooperation by taking advantage of the great capacities of Iran and Iraq. Furthermore, while expressing the deep concern of the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding the inhumane actions and the killing of innocent people in Gaza, president Raisi said, "The Zionist regime is trying to avenge its defeat of the resistance forces on the battlefield by mass punishment and systematic crime against defenseless and innocent civilians". President Raisi described cutting off water and electricity and preventing the delivery of fuel and food to the Gaza Strip as a clear example of war crimes against humanity and clarified, "What we witnessed in Gaza was the result of the accumulation of anger caused by the atrocities and crimes of the Zionists, but the leaders of the Zionist regime try to relate it to external factors". He stated, "Removing the inhuman blockade of Gaza and preventing the ongoing genocide in this area requires immediate action by all Islamic nations, and the Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to take joint action with Iraq and all other Islamic countries in this regard". Mohammad Shia al-Sudani, for his part, while emphasizing the continued development of relations between the two countries, appreciated the principled positions of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, the government and the nation of Iran in supporting the oppressed people of Palestine and said, "What is happening today in Gaza is a mass genocide and it is in retaliation for the great defeat that the Zionist regime suffered in the field from the warriors of the Resistance". The Prime Minister of Iraq added, "The authorities of the Zionist regime are seeking to vent their anger on innocent civilians, and therefore all Islamic countries are obliged to use all their capacities to stop this process". End Item NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Palestine takes center stage in talks between Iranian, Qatari FMs in Doha ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency Sun / 15 October 2023 / 12:43 Tehran (ISNA) - Iranian Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has sat down with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. In the meeting, the top Iranian diplomat touched upon the importance and sensitivity of the current developments in occupied Palestine and the war crimes committed by the Israeli regime against Palestinian citizens in Gaza, expressing his gratitude to Qatar for its strong support for Palestine amid current events. "We are facing the killing of Palestinians in Gaza on a daily basis. It is not tolerable to see the Israeli regime kill hundreds of Palestinians every day, and these war crimes, the blockade on residents in Gaza and the cutting off of water, food and drug supplies should end," said Amir-Abdollahian. "At a time when so huge numbers of Palestinian people are killed by the Israeli regime on a daily basis, the US government urges others to exercise restraint while it has increased its military and all-out support for the criminal Israeli regime," he added. "If the Israeli regime continues its crimes against Palestinian people and citizens, no one can guarantee that the status quo in the region will remain the same," he said. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, in turn, referred to the ongoing developments in occupied Palestine, and described consultations between Tehran and Doha as important. He said the perpetuation of the current situation and the Israeli attacks against Gaza and Palestinian people is a cause for concern. He said Palestine is an issue of concern to the whole Muslim world, adding the regional countries have a united stance with regards to supporting the Palestinian nation. End Item NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Decisive, urgent action by Islamic countries necessary to stop Zionist killing machine: President Raisi ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency Sun / 15 October 2023 / 12:28 Tehran (ISNA) - Pointing out that the unlimited support of the Western countries and especially the United States for the crimes of the Zionists has made the situation even more complicated and dire, Iranian President described the decisive and urgent action of the Islamic countries and the free people of the world necessary to stop the Zionist killing machine. In a telephone conversation with Haitham bin Tariq, the Sultan of Oman, President Ebrahim Raisi said that the Islamic Republic of Iran always emphasizes the development of relations, the strengthening of good neighborliness and the promotion of trust between the two countries, appreciating the constructive role of Muscat in the resolution of regional and international issues. The President also described the spontaneous and innovative Operation Al-Aqsa Flood as a sword that came out of its scabbard after the escalation of the Zionist Regime's crimes in recent months and messed up the Zionist-Western calculations. President Raisi added, "Today, the Zionist Regime and its allies, by continuing to cut off water and electricity and prevent the entry of medicine and food, are seeking a mass massacre in Gaza and forcing people to leave their homes". Pointing out that the unlimited support of the Western countries and especially the United States for the crimes of the Zionists has made the situation even more complicated and dire, the President described the decisive and urgent action of the Islamic countries and the free people of the world necessary to stop the Zionist killing machine. President Raisi emphasized, "Addressing the current dire situation in Gaza should be quickly put on the agenda of the United Nations, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the Arab League and other international forums". In this telephone conversation, the Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq, while appreciating the positions of the Islamic Republic of Iran in defending the oppressed people of Palestine, stated, "We should not allow the policy of displacing the oppressed people of Palestine and imposing displacement on them to happen once again". The Sultan of Oman confirmed the opinion of the President of Iran regarding the power and capacity of the Islamic Ummah to stop the ongoing oppression and violence in Gaza, and noted, "We are in contact with all parties who can be effective and play a role in stopping these crimes". End Item NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran asks China to intervene to stop war in Gaza Iran Press TV Sunday, 15 October 2023 6:44 PM Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has called on China to intervene to put an end to the ongoing carnage in the Gaza Strip where Israel is carrying out incessant attacks against the civilian population living in the enclave. In a phone call with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday, Amir-Abdollahian said there is a need for the United Nations to assume its responsibilities with regard to international peace and security amid the ongoing conflict in Palestine. However, he asked China to use its diplomatic capacity to stop the Israeli regime from attacking civilians in Gaza, the official IRNA news agency said. The foreign minister described the collective punishment imposed by the Israelis on the Palestinians in Gaza as "unacceptable" while reiterating the need for setting up humanitarian corridors to deliver aid to the people in the enclave. He warned that there would be no guarantee that the conflict in Gaza would not spiral out of control if the criminal attacks against the civilians in Gaza did not stop. The phone call between Amir-Abdollahian and Wang came just after Iran's top diplomat returned from a tour of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Qatar. Amir-Abdollahian said after meeting leaders of the anti-Israeli resistance groups during his regional tour that the conflict in Gaza would spread to other areas and countries if Israel does not stop its aggressions against the Palestinians. More than 2,450 people have been killed in nine days of Israeli air strikes and shelling against Gaza, a besieged enclave on the Mediterranean Sea which is home to some 2.3 million people. The attacks, which have left nearly 10,000 people injured, started last week after the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, which is based in Gaza, launched multi-pronged attacks on occupied territories to retaliate against Israeli assaults on Palestinians. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran's foreign minister warns of dire consequences of Israel's Gaza strikes Iran Press TV Sunday, 15 October 2023 3:01 PM Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has warned about the dire consequences of Israel's relentless bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip. "In case Israel continues attacking the defenseless people of Gaza, there will be no guarantee that the situation would come under control and the conflict would not spill over," Amir-Abdollahian said in a meeting with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Sunday. Those who do not favor the expansion of the current war, the Iranian minister said, must stop Israel's savagery. Amir-Abdollahian also censured Washington for its contradictory approach, saying the United States invites others to exercise self-restraint but at the same time evades commitment and ramps up its all-out support for Israel. The Iranian minister urged Muslim countries to work for an end to the "war crimes committed by the apartheid Zionist regime." He reiterated the importance of an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) under the current circumstances. For his part, the Qatari emir expressed concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and said Qatar's stance on the Palestinian issue would never change as it prioritizes an end to the crimes of Israel in the besieged enclave. On October 7, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas launched multi-pronged strikes on Israel and penetrated deep into the territories occupied by the regime for decades. Operation Al-Aqsa Storm took Israel by surprise. It was a response to the regime's recurrent desecration of al-Aqsa Mosque and decade-long atrocities against the Palestinians. Israel responded by indiscriminate bombardment of civilian buildings and infrastructure and imposing a total siege on the Strip. Gaza, home to more than 2.3 million Palestinians, has been running vitally low on fuel, electricity, water and food. So far, Israel has killed more than 2,300 Palestinians, including women and children, in Gaza. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Day 9: Israeli airstrikes kill over 400 Palestinians in 24 hours Iran Press TV Sunday, 15 October 2023 11:02 AM Medical authorities in the Gaza Strip say Israeli bombardment of the besieged coastal enclave has claimed the lives of more than 400 Palestinians and wounded nearly 1,500 others in the past 24 hours alone, as the war enters its ninth day. The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported early on Sunday that this includes the loss of over 80 lives and the injury of around 250 people in Deir al-Balah city in the central Gaza Strip as a series of Israeli airstrikes targeted ten inhabited homes. In Gaza City, some 260 civilians were killed as heavy Israeli bombardment struck the neighborhoods of Tal al-Hawa, al-Rimal, Shejaiya and al-Zaytoun as well as the al-Shati refugee camp. An additional 10 Palestinians were killed in the town of Beit Lahia, while 20 others were killed in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis. Another 40 Palestinians lost their lives in the northern Jabalia refugee camp. The report noted that the strikes only resulted in a huge loss of life, but also caused enormous damage to the infrastructure of the targeted areas, with dozens of homes and residential buildings reduced to rubble. Over 40 Palestinians killed in fresh Israeli strikes across Gaza Meanwhile, at least 41 Palestinians, mostly women and children, were killed by renewed Israeli air strikes across the southern Strip later on Sunday, according to Palestinian media outlets. In the city of Rafah, an Israeli air strike that targeted a residence killed at least 13 individuals, including children. Many others were wounded, with some still buried under the rubble. Another 15 Palestinian civilians were killed after an Israeli strike as they targeted a residential building in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood, southwest of Gaza City. In central Gaza, an Israeli strike that struck a building killed at least seven Palestinians in the vicinity of a hospital. Another six Palestinians were killed by an Israeli air strike in the town of al-Zawaida in the central region of the enclave. The death toll of Palestinians killed since Israel began the bombing campaign in Gaza on October 7 has risen to 2,329, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the territory. At least 9,714 Palestinians were also injured. Ice cream trucks being used to store bodies Additionally, ice cream trucks and refrigerated food vehicles are being used to store bodies as hospital morgues in Gaza are overwhelmed by the number of people killed in Israeli air attacks. Pregnant Gazan women faced with impossible choice: NGO An international non-governmental organization also expressed serious concern over threats facing pregnant Palestinian women in the Gaza Strip as they are facing a risk of forcible displacement amid threats of heavy Israeli bombardment. Riham Jafari, Coordinator of Advocacy and Communication for ActionAid Palestine said, "As thousands of Gazans flee in fear for their lives - abandoning their homes and communities, it is deeply concerning to witness the threats to target hospitals and critical infrastructure, an egregious violation of international law and a blatant disregard for human lives." "We are particularly concerned about the devastating impact on the 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza right now and newborn babies, who are all left without essential medical care and the safety they deserve as they make the impossible choice of fleeing with no guarantee of safety or remaining at risk of almost certain death," she added. ActionAid called for the immediate reversal of the evacuation order and the guarantee of the full protection and safety of civilians. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iraqi parliament urges activation of Arab Defense Treaty against Israel Iran Press TV Sunday, 15 October 2023 10:51 AM The Iraqi parliament has called for the activation of the Arab Defense Treaty against the Israeli regime in response to its relentless onslaught against the besieged Gaza Strip. During a Saturday session on the Israeli aggression against Gaza, Iraqi lawmakers condemned the "brutal practices and crimes committed by the Zionist occupation forces against the Palestinian people," according to a statement released after the session. They also renewed the call for the Arab League to hold an emergency session to condemn Israeli aggression against Gaza and to open corridors to deliver humanitarian, medical and food aid to Gaza. The Iraqi legislators also called for efforts to "activate the League's Charter considering that any attack on a member is an attack on the Arab countries, activate the Joint Arab Defense Treaty, and address the free world to stand by the Palestinian people, in addition to calling on the United Nations to prevent the killing and deportation of the Palestinian people." Israel launched deadly strikes on the densely-populated Gaza Strip on October 7 after the Palestinian Hamas resistance group waged a surprise attack, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, against the usurping entity. Hamas said that its operation came in response to Israel's violations at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East al-Quds and growing settler violence. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,329 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed and 9,714 others injured by Israeli strikes. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US sending second aircraft carrier to Mediterranean to back Israeli onslaught on Gaza Iran Press TV Sunday, 15 October 2023 9:13 AM The United States is sending a second aircraft carrier to the eastern Mediterranean to support the Israeli regime in its war against Gaza. The deployment of the USS Eisenhower and its affiliated warships in the eastern Mediterranean signals Washington's "ironclad commitment to Israel's security and our resolve to deter any state or non-state actor seeking to escalate this war," Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement on Saturday. Austin added that the USS Eisenhower joins the USS Ford carrier strike group which arrived earlier in the week claiming that it is part of the effort to "deter hostile actions" against Israel or "any efforts toward widening this war" following Hamas's Operation Al-Aqsa Strom. The deployment of the ships takes place as the Israeli regime makes preparations for a ground invasion of Palestinian homes in Gaza. Millions of Palestinian people in the besieged Gaza have been forced to flee ahead of the expected assault, an exodus that aid groups said would set off a humanitarian disaster. The Israeli regime has also cut off food, water, medicine, internet and electricity to Gaza's 2.3 million people. On the same day as the announcement came, US President Joe Biden spoke on the phone with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reiterating Washington's support. Biden "affirmed his support for all efforts to protect civilians," the White House said in a statement, which did not specifically mention Gaza. "President Biden discussed with prime minister Netanyahu US coordination with the United Nations, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, and others in the region to ensure innocent civilians have access to water, food, and medical care." The US president also spoke with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmud Abbas for the first time since hostilities broke out a week ago and condemned Hamas's operation. As the Israeli regime is continuing its relentless artillery gun fire and airstrikes on Gaza, health officials say more than 2,300 people have been killed, most of them children. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hezbollah targets Israeli military base with guided missiles Iran Press TV Sunday, 15 October 2023 8:33 AM Lebanon's resistance movement Hezbollah says it has targeted an Israeli military base with guided missiles in response to the Tel Aviv regime's crimes and aggressions. In a statement released on Sunday, Hezbollah said that its missiles hit Shtula town, killing and injuring several people. The strike took place in retaliation for "the Israeli attacks targeting journalists, which resulted in the martyrdom of journalist Issam Abdullah and the injury of several other journalists, as well as the shelling that damaged a house in Shebaa [Farms], leading to the martyrdom of Khalil Asaad Ali Hashem and Riad Hussein al-Akoom." Israeli media reported that one person was killed and three others wounded as an anti-tank missile was fired. The Lebanese news channel al-Manar reported that a Hezbollah flag was raised at the Israeli military site. The Israeli army said it was striking Lebanon and declared a zone within 4 kilometers of the Lebanese border off-limits to public access. The Hezbollah missile attack comes amid Israel's deadly bombing campaign on the Gaza Strip, which followed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas on October 7. Hezbollah praised the Hamas operation, noting that it is a message to the Arab countries that are normalizing relations with the Tel Aviv regime. Armed resistance is the only way to confront the Israeli "aggression," Hezbollah said, urging Israel to learn the "important lessons" taught by the "Palestinian resistance." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia asks UN Security Council for 'immediate' ceasefire in Gaza, Israel Iran Press TV Sunday, 15 October 2023 6:41 AM Russia has asked the United Nations Security Council to vote Monday on a draft resolution that called for an "immediate" ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and Israel, blaming the United States for the unfolding situation in the Middle East. On Saturday, Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia's Deputy UN Ambassador, said no changes had been made to the text since it was given to the council on Friday and that he expected the vote to be scheduled for 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT) on Monday. Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia presented the draft resolution which also demands the secure release of all hostages, and "strongly condemns all violence and hostilities directed against civilians and all acts of terrorism." The draft resolution, given to the 15-member council during a closed-door meeting on the situation in Gaza, also calls for humanitarian aid access and the safe evacuation of civilians in need. "We're convinced that the Security Council must act to put an end to the bloodshed and restart peace negotiations with a view to establishing a Palestinian state as it was supposed to do so long ago," Nebenzia said on Friday. He also blamed the United States for bearing "responsibility for the looming war in the Middle East," and criticized European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen for "turning a blind eye to the Israeli air force attacks on civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip." According to Nebenzia, there were positive responses to the draft resolution among some member states. Meanwhile, Chinese Ambassador to the UN Zhang Jun said that "there is an emerging consensus on the humanitarian concerns," adding "We are open to all efforts which will help cease the fire, help de-escalate the tension." A UNSC resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the US, Britain, France, China, or Russia. The United States has traditionally shielded its ally Israel from any Security Council action. Palestinian resistance movement Hamas launched Operation Al-Aqsa Storm last Saturday, penetrating deep into the territories occupied by the Israel regime, by carrying out large-scale air, land, and sea strikes. The operation was a reaction to the recurring desecration of the al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied al-Quds as well as intensified Israeli atrocities against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Following the surprise operation, some 1,300 were killed and more than 3,400 wounded in Israel. Hundreds of others, including senior Israeli military officials, are held as war prisoners in Gaza. Israel also responded with intensive air strikes on civilian targets in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 2,329 Palestinians in Gaza and wounding 9,714 others, according to the territory's health ministry. The regime has also laid a siege to Gaza, leaving the city, home to more than 2.3 million Palestinians, without water, electricity, and internet. Tel Aviv is making preparations to launch a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, after telling Palestinians living in the densely populated territory to move out of the area, something the UN had called "impossible." More than 420,000 people have been displaced within the Gaza Strip. A total of 270,374 out of 423,378 internally displaced people are now in UN shelters and schools while at least 15 hospitals have been damaged by Israeli shelling and airstrikes. So far, several Western countries have refrained from calling for an outright ceasefire, claiming that Israel has "a right to defend itself" after the Hamas operation. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran FM: Al-Aqsa Storm proved Palestine is alive, normalization with Israel cannot weaken Palestinians' will Iran Press TV Sunday, 15 October 2023 2:26 AM Iran's foreign minister has praised the ongoing anti-Israeli operation launched by the Gaza Strip-based Palestinian resistance movements, saying it proves that unlike what some people mistakenly think Palestine is alive. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks in a Saturday meeting with head of the political bureau of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, in the Qatari capital city of Doha. Noting that the issue of Palestine is the most important issue for the Muslim world, Iran's top diplomat said, "Supporting Palestine is a religious, humane and moral responsibility." Stressing the spontaneous design and implementation of Operation al-Aqsa Storm by the Gaza-based resistance groups, Iran's foreign minister said the operation proved that unlike what some people erroneously thought, Palestine is alive. Hamas and its fellow Gaza-based resistance movement, Islamic Jihad, started the operation last Saturday, moving deep inside the occupied territories, killing around 1,200 Israeli forces and illegal settlers, and taking many others captive. Analysts say the operation, the biggest to be conducted by Palestinians against the regime in years, caught Tel Aviv and its supporters off guard, disproving their calculations concerning the Palestinian nation and its capabilities. Elsewhere in his remarks, Amir-Abdollahian said the Palestinians' operation also proved that "the process of normalization of some countries' relations [with Israel] cannot weaken the strong will of the Palestinian nation in pursuing its natural, humane and legal rights." Amir-Abdollahian was referring to normalization of relations between some regional countries, which previously claimed to be supporters of the Palestinian nation, and the Israeli regime through US-mediated detente deals starting in 2020. Palestinians and their supporters have called the deals "a stab in the back of Palestine" and its cause, asserting that such normalization agreements can never break down Palestinians' determination to reclaim their rights. Explaining about the measures taken by Iran on regional and international levels to stop the Zionist regime's savage attacks against the oppressed people of Gaza, Iran's foreign minister said, "We have ... proposed holding of an extraordinary meeting of the foreign ministers of Islamic countries ... and we back any initiative by Muslim countries in support of the Palestinian nation." "The Islamic Republic of Iran will never back down on its principles and values in support of the Palestinian nation," Iran's foreign minister said. He noted that Operation al-Aqsa Storm was the Palestinian nation's "natural reaction" to continued crimes and provocative moves by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's extremist cabinet. "If the Zionist regime's war crimes continue in Gaza, any possibility in the region can be taken into consideration and the Islamic Republic of Iran will continue its efforts to stop the war crimes committed by the Zionists," Amir-Abdollahian said. The Israeli regime has responded to the Palestinians' operation by waging a "long" war on the Gaza Strip, for which it has called up an unprecedented 300,000 reservists. The war has so far killed close to 2,300 Palestinians and injured nearly 10,000 others. Haniyeh, for his part, said Operation al-Aqsa Storm was a natural reaction to the Israeli regime's crimes against the Palestinian nation during past decades and its increasing violations of the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in recent months. He added that the crimes committed by the Zionist regime in Gaza prove Israelis helplessness and confusion in the face of the powerful blow they have been dealt by Palestinian resistance fighters. Haniyeh said despite the regime's war crimes and destruction of Gaza's homes, mosques and hospitals, the Palestinian resistance remains powerful and strong. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address One Dead, Scores Injured As Powerful Earthquakes Again Hit Western Afghanistan By RFE/RL's Radio Azadi October 15, 2023 At least one person has died and nearly 150 people were injured when four new earthquakes hit western Afghanistan after multiple earthquakes and aftershocks killed hundreds in the same region in just over a week. The epicenter of the largest earthquake on the morning of October 15, measured as 6.3 magnitude, was just outside Herat, the capital of Herat Province, where deadly quakes on October 7 flattened entire villages. A second earthquake of 5.4 magnitude was recorded in the same region on October 15, and two smaller earthquakes were also reported. The World Health Organization said that more than 120 people injured in the latest earthquakes had been hospitalized. Tremors were also felt in neighboring Farah Province to the south, and schools were closed in Iran's Razavi Khorasan Province, which borders Herat Province. Residents of Herat Province, already reeling from the recent earthquakes that left many homeless, told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi they were attempting to leave the area out of concerns of more earthquakes and aftershocks. Sayed Kazim Rafiqi, 42, a Herat city resident who was heading to a hospital to donate blood, told the AP news agency that he had never seen such devastation. "We have to help in any way possible," he said. The epicenter of the first earthquake on October 7 was some 40 kilometers northwest of Herat, which has some 700,000 people in the city and the surrounding area. It was followed by at least three major aftershocks. Taliban officials initially said that at least 2,000 people were killed due to the October 7 earthquakes before lowering the toll to around 1,000 on October 11. The revised figures were released after another earthquake, this one measuring 6.3 magnitude and killing one and injuring 152, hit the region early on October 11. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed due to the earthquakes and aftershocks, leaving many people living in makeshift shelters or even among the rubble as cold weather moves in and landslides have been reported. The October 7 earthquakes were reportedly the worst to hit the country, already suffering from multiple humanitarian crises brought on by drought and poverty, in more than 25 years. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-earthquake- herat-week-later/32638052.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 Biden To Seek Congressional Support This Week For Billions In Aid To Ukraine, Israel By RFE/RL October 15, 2023 White House national-security adviser Jake Sullivan said on October 15 that the Biden administration will seek this week to get congressional approval for billions of dollars in aid to Israel and Ukraine. U.S. media reported last week that the Biden administration had been discussing a $2 billion military aid package for Israel after Hamas on October 7 invaded the country, sparking a war. In an interview with CBS's Face The Nation, Sullivan said the emergency aid package Biden will present wil include aid for Israel and Ukraine and be "significantly higher" than $2 billion. The Biden administration is seeking to link Israeli and Ukrainian aid after a minority group of Republicans in the House of Representatives shot down a $6 billion aid package for Kyiv last month. U.S. aid to Ukraine will run out in a few weeks if no new emergency spending bill is passed. The United States has already allocated $113 billion in aid to Ukraine but a growing number of House Republicans are souring on further support, with some fearing Russia's invasion of Ukraine will turn into a "forever war," putting a strain on U.S. resources. Republicans are ardent supporters of Israel, making it hard for them to vote against a bill that would contain aid to both countries. Sullivan also told CBS that he couldn't rule out Iran getting involved in the war between Israel and Gaza. "We have to prepare for every possible contingency," he said. Israel declared war on Gaza after Hamas militants invaded, killing hundreds of Israelis. Iran is a longtime backer of Hamas and Tehran's possible involvement in the war would put Russia in a tough position in the Middle East, analysts say. Russia has deepened ties with Iran in recent years while trying to maintain cordial relations with Israel. Sullivan said it was critical to get aid to Ukraine now amid a new offensive by Russia. Ukraine has on average used up about $2.7 billion of U.S. military aid per month, according to calculations by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. However, Congress cannot pass any bills until a new House speaker is chosen. A handful of Republicans joined with Democrats earlier this month in ousting Representative Kevin McCarthy (Republican-California) as House speaker, an unprecedented outcome. Republicans, who control the House, have been unable so far to choose a new leader though they could do so next week. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/us-aid- ukraine-israel-bill/32638402.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 Blinken Calls on Egypt to Facilitate Safe Withdrawal of Americans From Gaza Sputnik News 20231015 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi, during which he called on Cairo to facilitate the safe passage of American citizens and members of their families from the Gaza Strip, the State Department said on Sunday. "Secretary Blinken reiterated to President El-Sisi the importance of facilitating the safe passage of American citizens and family members from Gaza," the department said in a statement. In addition, Blinken noted the importance of ending hostilities, the statement read, adding that the parties also agreed on the need to resolve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, as well as provide guarantees that the civilian population of the region would not continue to suffer from the conflict. 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. Both Israel and Palestine have reported over 1,000 deaths and thousands of injured as a result of the escalation. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israeli Forces Reportedly Eliminate Hamas 'Nukhba' Force Commander by Airstrike Sputnik News 20231015 The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have announced on their Telegram channel that they have successfully eradicated yet another high-ranking Hamas commander, further escalating their countermeasures against the Palestinian movement. "The IDF, in cooperation with the General Security Service, eliminated the commander of the 'Nukhba' special forces unit, responsible for the massacre at Kibbutz Nirim, in the southern city of Khan Yunis," read a joint statement from the army and the General Security Service. The statement specified that Bilal al-Kadra was eliminated in an operation involving fighter jets. Several Hamas and Islamic Jihad members were also killed in the strike. The press office added that the IDF carried out strikes on operational command centers, military installations, anti-tank missile launching sites and Hamas observation posts in Zeitoun, Jabalia and Khan Yunis, as well as Islamic Jihad operational command centers. On the morning of October 7, Israel faced an unprecedented rocket attack from the Gaza Strip. Following the massive bombardment, Hamas fighters infiltrated the southern border areas of the Jewish state. The military wing of Hamas announced the launch of the "Al-Aqsa Storm" operation. In response, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) declared the launch of Operation "Swords of Iron" in the Gaza Strip. Following the attack, Israeli forces swiftly assumed control over all inhabited regions near the Gaza border, launching a series of decisive airstrikes resulting in the decimation of both military objectives and civilian infrastructures throughout the sector. In addition, Israel imposed a complete blockade on Gaza, cutting off supplies of water, food, electricity, medicine and fuel. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict stems from long-standing territorial disputes, and its impact on the region has been enduring, fueling tension and conflict for numerous decades. In 1947, buoyed by the support of the Soviet Union, the United Nations endorsed the creation of two distinct nations - Israel and Palestine. However, despite this agreement, only Israel was successfully established. While Israel has agreed to the two-state principle, it has not fully relinquished the Palestinian territories. The death toll in the Gaza Strip has exceeded 2,000 civilians, while 1,000 residents of Israel have lost their lives and several thousand Israelis and Palestinians have been wounded. Among the dead and missing are citizens of other countries, including Russians. According to various reports, Hamas is holding some 150 Israeli hostages. Moscow has called on both parties to cease hostilities. According to Vladimir Putin, the solution to the Middle East crisis 'can only be achieved through the two-state formula approved by the UN Security Council,' which provides for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with its capital in East Jerusalem. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Chinese Foreign Minister Says Israel's Actions Go Beyond Self-Defense Sputnik News 20231015 BEIJING (Sputnik) - Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud in a phone call on Sunday that Israel's actions have gone beyond the scope of self-defense and that the country should stop the collective punishment of Palestinians. "Israel's actions have gone beyond self-defense, Israel should seriously heed the calls of the international community and the UN Secretary-General and stop collectively punishing the residents of the Gaza Strip," Wang was quoted as saying in a statement released by the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Wang also said that China condemns all harmful actions targeting civilians and called for an immediate return to negotiations. 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. 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. Over the weekend, the Israeli military called on Gaza Strip residents to evacuate from the enclave's north and go south, warning imminent attacks aiming Hamas targets. Many international organizations and rights groups decried the ultimatum, saying the mass displacement is fraught with grave humanitarian consequences. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran Warns Israel that Escalation in Gaza Conflict Threatens Regional War - Reports Sputnik News 20231015 Egor Shapovalov Iran expressed its desire to avoid exacerbating the situation in the Hamas-Israel war but made it clear that it may need to intervene if Israel's military operation in Gaza continues, reports US media quoting diplomatic sources. The situation is of significant international concern as the conflict between Hamas and Israel holds the potential to escalate into a regional war if Iran becomes directly or indirectly involved. The warning sent by Iran to Israel through the UN coincides with the US' efforts to deter Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah or others from entering the conflict, claims US media. The US has deployed an aircraft carrier group and fighter jets to the region to reinforce its stance. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian held a meeting with UN envoy to the Middle East, Tor Wennesland, in Beirut, reports US media quoting diplomatic sources. During this meeting, Wennesland implored Amir-Abdollahian to help prevent the conflict from spilling over into the broader Middle East region. In response, the Iranian foreign minister conveyed Iran's reluctance to see the situation evolve into a regional war. He also expressed Iran's willingness to aid in the release of civilians held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. However, he emphasized that Iran has "red lines" and would respond if Israel continues its military operation, particularly if it proceeds with a ground offensive in Gaza. Wennesland, in turn, relayed Iran's message to Israeli national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and other officials. The meeting between Amir-Abdollahian and Wennesland focused on diplomatic efforts to secure the release of hostages, de-escalation, and the prevention of a broader conflict in the region. In a briefing with reporters in Beirut, Amir-Abdollahian, who had previously met with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, called on Israel to cease its actions against Gaza's civilians, warning that time was running out. He also alluded to potential scenarios prepared by Hezbollah and the consequences they could bring, mentioning that any actions by the resistance would have a significant impact on Israel. "In light of the continued aggression, war crimes and blockade of the Gaza Strip, the opening of new fronts remains feasible," the minister told Lebanese broadcaster. The conflict, which began on October 7, has resulted in ongoing heavy bombardments in the Gaza Strip by Israel in response to a prior attack by Hamas. Violence has also escalated along the Israel-Lebanon border and in the West Bank. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Secretary Antony J. Blinken With Randa Abul Azm of Al-Arabiya US Department of State Interview Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State Cairo East Air Base Cairo, Egypt October 15, 2023 QUESTION: Welcome with us SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thank you. QUESTION: Mr. Secretary. Well, actually, you have, well, a very hectic regional trip that included eight countries, that started with Israel, and one of its most important aims was to support Israel. Have you discussed with Israeli leaders the de-escalation of their military operation in Gaza? SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well, first, let me say this. We've had very good and important conversations throughout the region, and I think there are many shared perspectives, including trying to ensure that this crisis doesn't spread to other places, including making sure that civilians can - who are in harm's way are out of harm's way and get the assistance they need. I think there's clear condemnation of the actions that Hamas has taken, the atrocities it's committed, and a desire to find a way forward, a positive way forward. Israel has the right to defend itself, and not only to defend itself, but also to make sure that to the best - to the extent possible, this can't happen again. What Hamas has done and the way it has done it brings to mind nothing but Daesh, ISIS. It's hard to describe in words the atrocities that were committed on men, women, children, babies, old people. But the way that Israel does this is also very important, to include taking every precaution that civilians not be harmed and making sure that those who need assistance can get it. And we're working very, very actively on that. QUESTION: That's my question, actually. Israel has imposed a very strict blockade on the strip, preventing food, medicine, water, electricity, energy. I mean, have you discussed this with regional leaders, a ceasefire or a truce to get the humanitarian aid inside? SECRETARY BLINKEN: We believe that civilians should not suffer because of the depravity of Hamas. And among other things, that means that they should have food, water, medicine, all the basic essentials that they need. And that's exactly what we're working on. Today, water was turned back on for Gaza. We engaged with Israel to make that happen. We're now focused on making sure that humanitarian assistance can get in, that people can get out of harm's way within Gaza, and also that some of our own citizens who wish to leave can get out. But this has been very much a part not only of our conversations, but of the actions we're taking. In fact, today President Biden appointed one of our most experienced diplomats, David Satterfield, who has deep experience in this region, to lead our humanitarian assistance efforts - special envoy of the President to work with everyone in the region to make sure that Palestinians in harm's way in Gaza get the assistance they need. QUESTION: Of course, you've heard the word "collective punishment" - from the leaders, from President Sisi today, from humanitarian groups, from many organizations - that the order of Israel to more than 1 million Palestinian civilians to be evacuated from the north to the south of Gaza that is supposedly almost impossible, it's a death sentence. And my question for you: How can the United States help the Palestinian civilians in Gaza? SECRETARY BLINKEN: That's exactly what we're focused on now, and as I said, working very closely with a number of countries - with Egypt, with the United Nations, also with Israel and other interested countries - in putting the assistance together, getting it into Gaza, making sure that people can be out of harm's way in Gaza, not outside of Gaza. That's exactly what we're focused on and that's why we've appointed a very senior official to make sure that we're working on that every single day. QUESTION: Okay. A truce can be - or a ceasefire can be held very soon to get the humanitarian aid? SECRETARY BLINKEN: The - the attacks against Israel from Hamas continue. Any - no country - no country - can accept the proposition that terrorists can come in, slaughter - and I use the word very advisedly - slaughter thousands of its citizens, riddling babies with bullets, burning people alive, decapitating soldiers, executing children in front of their parents, executing parents in front of their children - no country can tolerate this. So Israel, as I said, has the right to defend itself; in fact, it has the obligation to defend itself. But as I've also said - and President Biden's been very clear about this - the way that it does it matters, makes a difference. And that's why it is very important that Israel do everything possible to ensure that civilians are not harmed. Civilians have been put in harm's way by Hamas. Hamas had to know there would be a strong reaction to what it did, and knowing that and knowing that civilians would be in harm's way, it went ahead anyway. And the fact of the matter is this. What does Hamas do? Hamas makes sure that all of its critical leaders, that its command centers, that its weapons, its ammunitions are all located in residential areas in residential buildings or buried underneath hospitals, schools, and supermarkets. They know - they are using the Palestinians of Gaza as human shields, and that, too, is disgraceful. QUESTION: Egypt had called for an international summit as regards the future of the Palestinian cause. Will the United States endorse and participate in such a summit? SECRETARY BLINKEN: So we welcome these efforts. We welcome any efforts to work together to determine how the international community can best support the Palestinian people, can make sure that people have the assistance they need, and can also talk about the future. QUESTION: Okay. The relocation of the Gaza residents to the Sinai Peninsula, this has been bluntly proposed by Israeli officials and in Israeli media, which is totally rejected by Egypt and many Arab countries. Did you discuss this issue during your tour, and did you find other alternatives for the Gaza people? SECRETARY BLINKEN: We've heard, and I've heard directly from Palestinian Authority President Abbas and from virtually every other leader that I've talked to in the region, that that idea is a nonstarter, and so we do not support it. We believe that people should be able to stay in Gaza, their home. But we also want to make sure that they're out of harm's way and that they're getting the assistance they need. QUESTION: Okay. The efforts to evacuate foreign nationals from Gaza strip has been blocked by Israelis. Refusal to allow humanitarian aid and Egypt's, of course, insistence to open a two-way corridor, human corridor, to Gaza. Is there hope, a deal as this regard can be reached very soon? SECRETARY BLINKEN: So Israel is not blocking the departure of foreign nationals. The problem has been Hamas has disrupted that, and of course, we have to make the necessary arrangements. Egypt is fully prepared to facilitate the departure of more citizens, of other foreign nationals. At the same time, Egypt is fully prepared - and we're working with them - to get assistance in. And we're putting in place a system - working with the United Nations, working with Egypt, working with other countries - to make sure that the assistance can get into Gaza, get to the people who need it. QUESTION: There is widespread - there's fear of widespread violence and the conflict is just spread from - beyond Gaza. You have sent - the United States have sent aircraft missiles, weapons in order to warn other parties not to be in the conflict. How concerned are you that this will be - spread the conflict in the area? SECRETARY BLINKEN: I think this is a concern across the region. Pretty much everyone that I spoke to is concerned about the conflict spreading and determined that it not spread. President Biden has been very clear - very clear - no one, state or otherwise, should try to take advantage of this moment, and he said that directly. And as you noted, we have sent two of our aircraft carrier groups, both to the Eastern Mediterranean and to the region, not as a provocation but as a deterrent to make clear to anyone who would think about doing something: don't do it. QUESTION: Okay. Will the United States send military personnel to take military action or take military action to free its civilians kept hostages in Gaza? SECRETARY BLINKEN: We are very focused on getting our people back, getting the hostages back - another absolutely unconscionable action by Hamas: taking little children, taking elderly people, taking a Holocaust survivor in a wheelchair. I don't even know how anyone can comprehend that, can process that. We're determined to bring our people back. We're working on that. I'm not going to talk about any more details than that. QUESTION: Okay. My last question, because we're running out of time: With this unprecedented escalation in the region, do you think that the two-state solution is still valid? SECRETARY BLINKEN: We - it's long been American policy, United States policy, that the answer or a critical part of the answer to the future for the region and certainly the future for Palestinians and Israelis is two states. And we continue to strongly support that. QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, I'll have to end our interview in Arabic. (In Arabic.) SECRETARY BLINKEN: Shukran. QUESTION: Thank you so much. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Secretary Antony J. Blinken Remarks to the Press US Department of State Remarks to the Press The Secretary of State Cairo Airport Cairo, Egypt October 15, 2023 SECRETARY BLINKEN: Good evening, everyone. We are here at what is an extremely difficult and very tenuous time for the region in the wake of the slaughter perpetrated by Hamas. We came here with four key objectives: to make clear that the United States stands with Israel; to prevent the conflict from spreading to other places; to work on securing the release of hostages, including American citizens; and to address the humanitarian crisis that exists in Gaza. We started, as you know, in Israel. And it was important to make it very clear that the United States has Israel's back. We will stand with it today, tomorrow, and every day, and we're doing that in word and also in deed. I spent time with Prime Minister Netanyahu to go through the needs that Israel may have to make sure it can effectively defend itself, and we've already seen a lot of that assistance moving forward, and that's a conversation that'll continue. Israel has the right - indeed it has the obligation - to defend itself against these attacks from Hamas, and to try to do what it can to make sure that this never happens again. As I said in Tel Aviv, as President Biden has said, the way that Israel does this matters. It needs to do it in a way that affirms the shared values that we have for human life and human dignity, taking every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians. After we left Israel, we've gone now to - I think I've lost track, but to six countries in the region: Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, now here in Egypt. And the purpose of seeing all of our partners was first and foremost to listen to them, to hear how they're seeing this crisis, and to look at what we can do together to deal with many of the concerns that it's raised. What I've heard from virtually every partner was a determination, a shared view that we have to do everything possible to make sure this doesn't spread to other places; a shared view to safeguard innocent lives; a shared view to get assistance to Palestinians in Gaza who need it, and we're working very much on that. I made clear that it cannot be, must not be business as usual with Hamas going forward. And at the same time, as I said, we're determined to do everything we can to address the needs of people in Gaza. Civilians should not have to suffer for Hamas's atrocities. We are now very actively engaged with countries in the region, with the United Nations, with Israel, to make sure, to the best of our ability, that people can get out of harm's way and that the assistance they need - the food, water, medicine - can get in. Today the President appointed one of our most senior diplomats, one of our most experienced diplomats, Ambassador David Satterfield, to lead our humanitarian efforts. Ambassador Satterfield, he was previously ambassador to Lebanon, to Turkiye. He's been here in this region for a long time. He'll actually be here tomorrow to start working on those efforts to make sure we're coordinating everything, and as I said, moving assistance in to people who need it and helping people get out of harm's way. From here, we're heading back to Israel. I want an opportunity to share everything that I've heard, that I've learned over the last few days visiting with our other partners and to talk about the way forward with our Israeli allies and friends. This is a difficult and a challenging time, but there's a determination that I've heard across the board to work through it, to get through it, and to do that together. Happy to take some questions. MR MILLER: Iain. QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, is it still possible to limit the scope of this widening war given what's happening on the border with Lebanon? And can you also tell us what you said today to President Sisi about the confusion on the - at the Rafah crossing? SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well, first, there's a determination in every country I went to to make sure that this conflict doesn't spread. President Biden has been very clear about this, and you've heard him repeatedly say to anyone, state or non-state, that is thinking of taking advantage of this situation: don't do it. And we've backed up those words with concrete actions, including the deployment now of our two largest aircraft carrier battle groups to the region. That's not meant as a provocation; it's meant as a deterrent. It's meant to make clear that no one should do anything that could add fuel to the fire in any other place. So I think that's very clear. It's also clear from our conversations with all of these other countries that they strongly share that view and they are using their own influence, their own relationships to try to make sure that this doesn't happen. With regard to Rafah, I had a very good conversation with President El-Sisi. We have put in place - Egypt has put in place a lot of material support for people in Gaza. And Rafah will be reopened. We're putting in place with the United Nations, with Egypt, with Israel, with others, a mechanism by which to get the assistance in and to get it to people who need it. And that's exactly why Ambassador Satterfield is now taking this on - the President appointed him today. He'll be here on the ground tomorrow to work out all the practical details so we can move this forward. MR MILLER: Will. QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, about - following up on Iain's question about the concerns about a northern front in Israel, is the U.S. prepared to back up Israel, to defend it, if it heats up there from - if it - attacks heat up from Hizballah, Hamas, or other groups? And then just quickly on your recent conversations with Prince Mohammed and with President El-Sisi, did you hear any ideas you liked from them on a ceasefire or summit? And would that be appropriate and would the U.S. support that before Israel engages in its campaign in Gaza? SECRETARY BLINKEN: I don't think we can be more clear than we've been that when it comes to Israel security, we have Israel's back. The President's been clear about it; I've been clear about it; the entire administration has been clear about it. And again, we've backed that up not only with the words that we're saying, but with what we're actually doing, including the deployment of these aircraft carrier battle groups - again, not to provoke anyone but to send a very clear message of deterrence that no one should do anything that widens this conflict in any way or that furthers aggression against Israel from any other direction. So we've been clear about that. I had very good conversations both with the crown prince in Saudi Arabia and here in Egypt with President El-Sisi, and also heard, I think, a lot of good ideas about some of the things we need to do moving forward, including practical ideas on getting assistance to Palestinians in Gaza who are in need, but also good and important conversations about the future and where we hope, ultimately, together we can bring this in a much more positive way. In terms of the conference that Egypt is putting forward, look, we think these kinds of initiatives are good ideas. Anything that can look in practical ways at how we can help get assistance to Palestinians who need it, that can look at ways to ensure that this conflict doesn't spread, that can look to the future as well, I think is a positive thing. And what's very clear is this: There are two very different visions for the future and what the Middle East can and should be. There's a vision that we very strongly espouse that has countries in the region normalizing their relations, integrating, working together in common purpose, and upholding and bringing forth the rights and aspirations of the Palestinian people. That's one vision; it's very clear. There's another vision that Hamas has demonstrated in the most horrific way, and that's a vision of death, of destruction, of nihilism, of terrorism. That's a vision that does nothing to advance aspirations for Palestinians, that does nothing to help create better futures for people in the region, and does everything to bring total darkness to everyone that it's able to affect. So I think the two - the paths are clear, the visions are clear. And I have no doubt what path people - the overwhelming majority of people in the region will choose and will prefer if given the opportunity. So our responsibility, all of us who believe in that first path - and that's everyone I talked to - our responsibility is to make it real, to bring it to light, to make it a clear, affirmative choice. And that's what we're determined to do. We have to get through this crisis first, and we're working to do that, but we also have to get back in a very clear, practical way to that vision, to making it real. If we do that, everyone in this region will be in a much better place and so will the rest of the world. MR MILLER: Thank you. SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thank you. Thanks, everyone. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Secretary Antony J. Blinken And Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi Before Their Meeting US Department of State Remarks The Secretary of State Al-Ittihadiya Palace Cairo, Egypt October 15, 2023 PRESIDENT SISI: (Via interpreter) Mr. Secretary, welcome. I'm very pleased to see you - welcome to Egypt - and distinguished members of your delegation. I know that this is the last of your big tour in the region. I commend this enormous effort that you're making to - let me tell you, Mr. Secretary, that the crisis is quite unprecedented, and we need forceful work, we need our strong determination to make sure that we contain such a crisis. It's very important to start my words with one thing that I'd like to highlight. We strongly denounce hurting or harming civilians - any civilians of any (inaudible). This has been our commitment, stance. We've been very keen over the years to make sure that we bring about peace since the peace agreement between Egypt and Israel. Since that time, Egypt has been playing a very important role in addressing of the crises that erupted over the years. We're talking here about five rounds of conflicts. Very important to say also that throughout these five rounds of conflict, innocent lives were claimed (inaudible). And I'm going to state the numbers, and I just - I want to state the numbers because any delay in resolving this issue, trying to find to a solution, will just lead to more victims. Victims are, after Palestinian (inaudible), amounted to 12,500 civilians. On the Israeli side, they lost 2,700 people, including 1,500 in this last crisis. What I'm talking about is information that everyone can check (inaudible). We're talking about a hundred thousand Palestinians injured, and 12,000 (inaudible). We're talking about children - we're talking about 2,500 Palestinian children who were victims, and 150 on the Israeli side. I'm saying this now because we are facing here a huge crisis, and I'm quite concerned about the reaction - they just overextend the right of self-defense, and it turns into a convicted punishment of 2.3 million Palestinians living in (inaudible). Yes, it is true what happened over the past nine days was very difficult and too much, and we unequivocally condemn it. But we need to understand that this is the result of accumulated fury and hatred over four decades, where the Palestinians had no hope to find a solution. Many people ask: Is this the right time to speak about this or only to try to find a way out of the current crisis? But what I'm saying here is that trying hard to get clear to lay the right foundation for our effort and our (inaudible) because we have to evade very dire consequences that would afflict the Middle East. We're trying very hard to contain and resolve the crisis and avoid any other parties getting into the conflict. Mr. Secretary, you spoke about the crisis and you spoke as a Jewish person, and let me tell you that I am an Egyptian citizen, and I was born and brought up in a neighborhood where we had Jewish neighbors. And Jews who used to live here in Egypt not ever suffered from oppression and persecution - targeted. As a matter of fact, the Jews were never targeted in the (inaudible) in over - throughout the whole history. Maybe we were persecuted in Europe - in certain European countries and some other countries - but this will not happen before. What is happening now and what we see now is a tidal wave that is a direct consequence of the crisis and its accumulated symptoms. This requires us to work, as I said, forcibly and with full determination. It is very important to reduce the flame and to make sure that we deliver the assistance needed to (inaudible) that is under siege, where it is completely deprived of the basic services - food, water, electricity, and fuel. The infrastructure is deteriorating and coming down to zero. We need to hear (inaudible) ourselves. We need to hear each other, and we need to hear this from us, because we are the people who know the region. We are the ones who are very much interested and living day by day with everything that is happening in the region. Two questions very much relating. One was about (inaudible), and one was (inaudible) and who committed that crime? It was the extremists. This (inaudible) and this is why we need to work together very diligently. I welcome you. I don't want to take - to talk much. I welcome you, and I hope this is an opportunity for us to have (inaudible) and a good chance where we work to give a strong momentum to finding out a solution and - to resolve this crisis. SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thank you very much, Mr. President. And as always, it's good to see you. I wish it were under different circumstances. I come first and foremost as a human being, a human being like so many others appalled at the atrocities committed by Hamas. It's hard to find the words to describe them, but "inhumane" is a good place to start. We're determined to stand against Hamas and what it has done, and to make sure that it can't happen again. We're determined to stand with and for innocent civilians who suffer primarily as a consequence of what Hamas has done on all sides. We come to work together as well to ensure that this crisis, this conflict doesn't spread to other places, and we come to think together about a way forward for everyone that is positive, affirmative - the contrary of the vision that Hamas has, which is simply terror, destruction, murder. What we've seen these last days, I think, makes clear that there really are two paths for this region. And one is the path of greater integration, normalization, collaboration, affirmation of the rights of Palestinians, and working together in common purpose, common benefit - that's one path. The other practice the one that's offered by Hamas - a path, as I said, that offers nothing but death, destruction, terror, nihilism. I think the choice is very clear. The challenge is for us to work together to put everyone clearly, affirmatively on that first path. We know that that's what the overwhelming majority of people in this region want, it's certainly what we believe they need, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to consult with you about the challenges we face in the immediate, but also on a path forward that takes us to a better place. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Secretary Blinken's Meeting with Egyptian President El-Sisi US Department of State Readout Office of the Spokesperson October 15, 2023 The below is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller: Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi today in Egypt. Secretary Blinken underscored the United States' focus on halting Hamas' terrorist attacks against Israel and preventing the conflict from spreading. The Secretary and President Sisi agreed on the importance of addressing the humanitarian situation in Gaza to ensure assistance can reach people who need it and help keep civilians out of harms way. Secretary Blinken reiterated to President El-Sisi the importance of facilitating the safe passage of American citizens and family members from Gaza. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Senior UN relief official calls for 'immediate unconditional' access for life-saving aid in Gaza 15 October 2023 - Responding to the rapidly escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza, multiple UN agencies are prepositioning life-saving stocks including food and medical supplies at the border in Egypt. Opening of the crossing from the Israel side is vital. Yet, the Israeli authorities have linked humanitarian assistance with the release of the hostages held by Hamas since the militant group launched its deadly 7 October attack, Lynn Hastings, the UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, says. "They have said they want to destroy Hamas, but their current trajectory is going to destroy Gaza," Ms. Hastings said in an interview with UN News on Sunday. Calling for the unconditional and immediate release of hostages being held by Hamas, she also urged "immediate unconditional access" into Gaza for the delivery of lifesaving aid. She warned: "We are anticipating that there won't be any more water left, if not tomorrow, at the very latest by Tuesday." Speaking to UN News's Reem Abaza she said, "... it's really about the loss of our humanity if the international community allows this to continue. What we are seeing now is simply inhumane ... the world needs to demand that we are able to deliver the assistance that is at the doorstep of Gaza." The Resident Coordinator's plea comes as the latest Israel-Hamas conflict entered its eighth day and an Israeli-imposed deadline for some 1.1 million civilians to leave the northern part of the enclave, ahead of what was expected to be a major advance into Gaza by Israeli ground forces, expired late yesterday. Lynn Hastings, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, spoke from Jerusalem. This interview has been edited for clarity and length. UN News: The UN has asked the Israeli authorities to rescind its orders to Palestinians in north Gaza to move south. Are you still trying on this track? What kind of response are you getting? Lynn Hastings: Yes, of course, we're still trying. Unfortunately, the Government of Israel continues to issue broadcasts encouraging or telling people to move south and that it's no longer safe to stay in the north of Gaza. And, of course, for one million people to leave - many of whom have absolutely no transportation, no cars, even if they have a car, there's no fuel in Gaza anymore - is impossible. I also want to say that hospitals in the north have also been receiving notices that they should be evacuating. Again, another impossibility. People have just had surgeries. The Ministry of Health also has no capacity to move. They've asked the UN to help them move, we cannot do that. We also don't have the capacity. UN News: Thousands have been and are moving to the south of the strip. What capacity does the UN have to support them? And what do you know about the situation in general in southern Gaza? Lynn Hastings: We have been supporting the people ever since the airstrikes started. They were sheltering in UNRWA schools, some of which were facilitated with food, water, and some mattresses. But all of that has changed in the past couple of days since the Israelis have announced their intention for one million people to be fleeing to the south. So, what we're doing now... We are at a very limited capacity in the south. Number one, because there aren't shelters available in the south in terms of the numbers that are coming. Number two, because we don't have water ourselves. Food, yes, there's some food in distribution sites, but we can't get to them because of the bombardment. And again, no fuel means no desalination. And Gaza is heavily reliant on desalination. No fuel also means no healthcare because you need electricity to run hospitals. This means the health system has collapsed. So, what we need to do as the UN, we're doing everything we can right now in terms of shelter, but we need to get humanitarian assistance into Gaza immediately. UN News: And what are the latest updates on establishing safe corridors for humanitarians, opening the Rafah crossing to get UN aid that is ready on the Egyptian side? Lynn Hastings: We can actually bring in supplies, food, water, medicine, fuel from both Israel and Egypt right now. The problem is, is we do not have agreement from the Israelis to bring goods in. Right now, they're not permitting us to move. So, we are calling, obviously, for unconditional safe passage. And just like we call for the unconditional release and immediate release of the hostages being held by Hamas, we are also calling for immediate, unconditional access to provide humanitarian assistance. And that's not just to get goods into Gaza, but it's also to get goods throughout Gaza, which means we need pauses. We need a ceasefire. Our staff need to be able to move safely. UN News: What can you tell us about your talks with the Israeli side to allow you to get aid in? Lynn Hastings: It's obviously something we're working intensively on, but we have not been able to reach an agreement yet. Israel is connecting humanitarian assistance into Gaza with the release of the hostages. Again, neither should be conditional. And what we're seeing right now, the direction that Israel is going in, they want to destroy Hamas, but their current trajectory is going to destroy Gaza. UN News: UN agencies and you've mentioned that right now, you're warning of dwindling supplies inside Gaza of water, food, other essentials. How much do you have left? When do you expect you will run out? Lynn Hastings: There's only enough water - and this isn't for all 2 million people - of about one litre of water today, which is well below the requirement by the World Health Organization. We are anticipating that there won't be any more water left, if not tomorrow at the very latest by Tuesday. Now, we have heard reports that Israel did turn on the water connection to Gaza tonight, but our staff are reporting that water is not flowing. And what we need is for the water to be turned back on, so all the wells, at least in the south of Gaza, can be filled up. And that needs to happen immediately. UN News: What other options do you have to support people in Gaza? Lynn Hastings: All we can do is distribute what we have. For example, in the north, the ICRC released all its materials from its warehouses to the Ministry of Health so they could draw on that. So, yes, right now all we can do is provide with the various supplies we have right now. But again, it's about advocacy. It's about the Israelis permitting us to go in and distribute all those humanitarian supplies. UN News: What do you hear from your colleagues, the humanitarians on the ground in Gaza? What do they say about the situation there? Lynn Hastings: It's unprecedented. Anyone who's been following this occupation and conflict for so many decades will see this as an unprecedented scale of humanitarian catastrophe. As I've said, the events of 7 October and Hamas attacks were absolute abhorrent. But this attack on Gaza, again, unprecedented, catastrophic. It really can lead nowhere for the Palestinians who live in Gaza. UN News: What scares you the most about this situation? Lynn Hastings: That's a difficult question because there are so many things, but really, it's really about the loss of our humanity if the international community allows this to continue. What we are seeing now is simply inhumane. UN News: What's most needed from the international community and countries in the region right now? Lynn Hastings: I do think that there needs to be support for the United Nations and all our partners to get things into Gaza. I can't emphasize enough that we need to get things into Gaza. There has to be a ceasefire. At some point, we will need funding. But that's not the most important thing right now. As I've said, we've got some supplies ready to go. We can get it in. We'll talk about funding later. But the world needs to demand that we are able to deliver the assistance that is at the doorstep of Gaza. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN relief chief urges end to 'humanitarian nightmare' in Sudan 15 October 2023 - Six months of war have plunged Sudan into one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator said on Sunday, calling on the parties to the conflict to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law. Up to 9,000 people have been reportedly killed, more than 5.6 million driven from their homes and 25 million people need aid, because of the conflict that erupted in mid-April between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and other armed groups. In a statement marking the grim milestone, Martin Griffiths, who is also the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affair, noted that for half a year, civilians - particularly in Khartoum, Darfur and Kordofan - "have known no respite from bloodshed and terror", with horrific reports of rape and sexual violence emerging continuously. Basic services crumbling With the number of ethnic clashes increasing, access of aid workers to the people in need is hindered due to lack of security and bureaucratic barriers, explained the Under-Secretary-General. "At least 45 aid workers have been killed or detained since 15 April - almost all of them are national staff," he lamented. However, even in those areas that humanitarians can access, they are "hamstrung by underfunding". Only 33 per cent of the $2.6 billion required to help those in need in Sudan in 2023 has been received. The healthcare situation in Sudan is dire: as more than 70 per cent of health care facilities in conflict areas are out of service, cholera is already stalking the country, with more than 1,000 suspected cases. Basic services are crumbling. The conflict has kept 19 million children are out of school, significantly setting back their education and the country's future. 'This cannot go on' As communities are torn apart, vulnerable people have no access to life-saving aid. Humanitarian needs are mounting in the neighbouring countries where millions have fled. "This cannot go on," the UN relief chief said, appealing to the conflict parties. He urged them to uphold obligations under international humanitarian law and to recommit to dialogue at the highest levels to end this conflict. He stressed that the time had come for them to honour the commitments made in Jeddah to protect civilians and allow humanitarian aid. "The international community cannot desert the people of Sudan," underscored Mr. Griffiths requesting also the donors to step up their support. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Netanyahu Vows to 'Demolish Hamas' as Israel Readies Massive Ground Assault on Gaza By VOA News October 15, 2023 LATEST DEVELOPMENTS Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows at war Cabinet meeting to "demolish Hamas" as Israel masses troops on Gaza border for likely invasion. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Sunday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi before a planned return to Israel on Monday. The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem will begin evacuating U.S. nationals by sea from Haifa to Cyprus. The Israel Defense Forces spokesman said Hamas is blocking civilian Gazans from evacuating northern areas. U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas about the urgent need for humanitarian aid in Gaza, the White House said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Sunday to "demolish Hamas" as 300,000 Israeli troops massed on the border of the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected ground invasion to find and attack Hamas militants. The Israeli leader for the first time convened his emergency war Cabinet, including opposition lawmaker Benny Gantz, in what Netanyahu said was a show of national unity. Meeting at the military headquarters in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu said all the Israeli leaders were "working around the clock, with a united front." The ministers stood for a moment's silence in memory of 1,300 Israelis who were killed in Hamas's shock attack Oct. 7. Israel, in turn, has launched hundreds of airstrikes and missile attacks on Gaza and killed about 1,900 Palestinians. "Hamas thought we would be demolished," Netanyahu said. "It is we who will demolish Hamas." He said the show of political unity "sends a clear message to the nation, the enemy and the world." The Israeli leaders met as the U.S. State Department said Secretary of State Antony Blinken would return to Israel Monday for further discussions after visiting the Jewish state last week. The top U.S. diplomat has made seven stops in Middle Eastern countries in recent days, including Egypt on Sunday, to work with Arab allies to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from spiraling out of control. Israeli officials continued Sunday to demand that people living in the northern half of Gaza leave to the southern half of the narrow strip of land along the Mediterranean Sea, creating a chaotic caravan of cars and parents, with children in hand, walking with their life's belongings to an uncertain future. An Israel Defense Forces spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, said, "We want people to go south." Hamas urged residents to stay put, even as Israeli forces massed on the border for a likely ground invasion and cut off food, water, power and medical supplies into Gaza. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN's "State of the Union" show that Israel has assured him that it has restored water supplies to the southern half of Gaza. Twenty-nine Americans have been killed in the fighting and 15 others remain unaccounted for. Sullivan said it is President Joe Biden's "highest priority" to find and rescue the American hostages the U.S. believes Hamas is holding. Sullivan, however, acknowledged that the U.S. does not know "where or who they are." He told ABC's "This Week" show that some of the missing Americans may already have been killed. Sullivan said U.S. efforts "are under way with third countries" trying to secure the release of the American hostages but gave no further details. Sullivan said it has demanded that Egypt allow Americans to escape Gaza into Egypt, but that Hamas has blocked such efforts at the border checkpoint at Rafah. Egypt has told the U.S. that it has too many evacuation requests to accommodate U.S. nationals and that it cannot grant passage to one country over others, according to two Egyptian officials, who also cited security concerns related to a lack of screening of individuals. Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis is mounting in Gaza as Palestinians scramble to evacuate from the northern part of Gaza and head south before the expected Israeli military offensive. Biden called Netanyahu on Saturday and reiterated the "unwavering" U.S. support for Israel and warned against anyone "seeking to expand the conflict," a White House statement said. Biden also updated Netanyahu on U.S. military support to Israel. Later Saturday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement that the U.S. was sending a second carrier strike group, the USS Eisenhower, to the eastern Mediterranean. It would join the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group, which arrived days ago. "The increases to U.S. force posture signal the United States' ironclad commitment to Israel's security and our resolve to deter any state or non-state actor seeking to escalate this war," Austin said in a statement. Also Saturday, Russia asked the U.N. Security Council to vote Monday on a draft resolution on the Israel-Hamas conflict calling for a humanitarian cease-fire and condemning violence against civilians and all acts of terrorism. U.N. Correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Some information came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China Signals Willingness to Deepen Involvement in Facilitating Potential Hamas-Israel Cease-Fire By William Yang October 15, 2023 In a sign of possibly deepening its involvement in the ongoing conflict between Israel and militant group Hamas, China's special envoy for the Middle East, Zhai Jun, will visit "relevant countries in the region" next week to facilitate a cease-fire and potential peace talks, China's state broadcaster CCTV reported on Sunday. No itinerary was released. In an interview with CCTV, Zhai said China has reiterated that "force is never the way to solve problems" and responding to violence with violence will only create a vicious cycle of revenge and create more obstacles to a political solution. Zhai didn't offer further details about his travel plans. "The only way to create the necessary conditions for a political settlement is to put an end to the violence as soon as possible and to promote a cooling of the situation," Zhai said, adding that he will focus on coordinating with all parties since the conflict erupted. Some analysts say the Chinese envoy's trip to the Middle East shows that Beijing is doing what it thinks international powers should do during major global conflicts. "China is essentially copying what other big powers have done, which is to engage regional countries and travel around the region," said Raffaello Pantucci, senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. But rather than taking concrete steps to facilitate a potential cease-fire, some experts characterize Zhai Jun's upcoming trip as a "listening tour," during which Beijing will try to prove that it is participating in efforts to promote a cease-fire but in reality, it has no intention to "add more stakes to the outcome." "Beijing will try to project the image of a diplomatically active China without playing a leading role in the peace talks," Wen-Ti Sung, a political scientist at the Australian National University, told VOA by phone. According to Sung, China has made such intentions "crystal clear" through official statements released over the last few days. During a call with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing is "ready to work with Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries to support the just cause of restoring Palestinian national rights." And in the CCTV interview, China's Zhai said the U.N. has "an irreplaceable and important role to play" in the question of the Palestinians, and China will "support the United Nations in taking the lead" in providing humanitarian assistance. "China wouldn't play a leading role in the peace process but it wants to provide support in a very ambiguous way," Sung said. Apart from lacking the willingness to mediate a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, Pantucci thinks China also doesn't have the leverage to fulfill the task. "China is not forcing any country to come to the table for a peace talk because they don't have the leverage to do that and also because they don't want to," he told VOA. "It's difficult to tell other countries to sit down and make peace. This could create enemies and the Chinese don't want to do that." The Chinese envoy's trip comes as Israel prepares for a massive ground assault in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, where the deadline for more than one million residents in northern Gaza to evacuate to the south has expired. Israel has vowed to retaliate against the deadly rampage carried out by Hamas fighters on October 7, killing at least 1300 civilians and abducting dozens of Israelis and foreign nationals as hostages. Israel has carried out airstrikes against targets in Gaza, killing around 1,900 people. China's sympathy for Palestinians While China tries to play a more visible role in the Israel-Hamas conflict, some analysts say the Chinese foreign minister's latest statement reflects Beijing's sympathy for the Palestinians. "China has become slightly more direct in demonstrating sympathy for the Palestinians," Sung from ANU told VOA, pointing to the readout of Wang's call with his Saudi counterpart. In the official readout, Wang emphasized that "China believes that the historical injustice against Palestine, which has lasted for more than half a century, cannot continue." "When China only mentions justice be done to the Palestinians and make no mention of Israel's sufferings, this is Beijing signaling that their sympathy lies mainly with the Palestinians," Sung noted. Some Israeli observers view China's statements as proof of their biased stance on the conflict. "Beijing is proactively anti-Israel at our darkest hours," Tuvia Gering, a researcher for the Diane and Guilford Glazer Israel-China Policy Center at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, told VOA by phone. "On the bilateral level [with Israel,] they are friendly, but on the international level, China joins the Arab world." Sung says he thinks China's supposed sympathy for Palestinians may damage its relationship with Israel. To Pantucci, it remains unclear how Israel might react to Beijing's "slight tilt" toward the Palestinians. "There is the risk of China alienating the Israelis a bit more, but I think the big question is how much the Israelis will want to keep engaging with the Chinese," he told VOA. "My guess is that they will because Israel is very pragmatic at the end of the day." China tries to maintain a balance Despite Beijing's repeated emphasis that "injustice to Palestine" needs to be resolved and that implementing the "two-state solution" is crucial to peace in the Middle East, Pantucci says he thinks China is still trying to uphold its non-intervention policy in public. "The world is currently torn between countries saying Israel is doing terrible things in Gaza and countries saying Hamas is evil," he told VOA. "The Chinese are trying to tread a line between [ the two sides,] and the approach is probably appreciated by large parts of the world. If Beijing decided to stick their oar in, it doesn't necessarily help to resolve the conflict." While many countries might welcome China's non-intervention approach toward the Israel-Hamas conflict, Sung says he thinks Middle Eastern states will also observe whether China's actions match its promises. "Judging from the repeated statements from China about how the U.N. and the Arab League should be taking the lead, I think it's not very likely that Arab countries will find Chinese involvement to be significant enough to truly endear them to the Arabs," he said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Statement from National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on the Appointment of David Satterfield as Special Envoy for Middle East Humanitarian Issues October 15, 2023 Today, the State Department announced the appointment of Ambassador David Satterfield as the U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Humanitarian Issues, where he will focus on ensuring life-saving assistance can reach vulnerable people throughout the Middle East. Ambassador Satterfield's diplomatic experience and decades of work navigating the some of the world's most challenging conflicts will be instrumental in our continued effort to address humanitarian issues in the region - a top priority for President Biden - including our efforts to bring urgently needed humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people, particularly in Gaza, in coordination with the U.N., Egypt, Jordan, Israel, and other regional stakeholders. We thank Ambassador Satterfield for his willingness to serve in this new capacity. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Saudi crown prince calls for lifting siege on Gaza, rejects targetting civilians People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 09:37, October 16, 2023 RIYADH, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud on Sunday discussed with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken the current escalation in the Gaza Strip. During the meeting in Riyadh, the Saudi crown prince reaffirmed the need to find ways to stop "the military operations that have claimed the lives of innocent people," according to the Saudi Press Agency. He stressed the kingdom's endeavor to increase communication, calm the situation, stop the escalation, and ask for respect for international humanitarian law. "Saudi Arabia calls for lifting the siege on Gaza to bring justice, stability and peace and ensure that the Palestinian people attain their legitimate rights," he noted. He reiterated that "the kingdom rejects the targeting of civilians, the destruction of infrastructure and vital services that affect daily life." The report did not reveal any remarks from the U.S. diplomat. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran's president warns of war expansion if Israel continues attacks on Gaza People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 09:22, October 16, 2023 TEHRAN, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Sunday warned of the expansion of the conflict if Israel continues its attacks on the Gaza Strip. "If the Zionist regime seeks to pay for its defeat through the continuation of these crimes (against Palestinians), the dimensions of the developments will expand," said Raisi in a phone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron. Raisi strongly condemned Israel's attacks on the Palestinians over the past few days and criticized the French government for preventing a rally in support of the Palestinian people, according to a statement published on the website of the Iranian president's office. The French president, for his part, voiced concern over the escalation of the crisis in the Gaza Strip and called on Iran to play its influential role in controlling the situation in the region. However, Raisi said that "resistance groups can decide for themselves." The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) launched a surprise attack with thousands of rockets and the infiltration by scores of militants on Israel on Oct. 7, prompting extensive Israeli airstrikes on Gaza. The ongoing conflict, now in its ninth day, has killed about 4,000 on both sides and wounded even more. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Operation Iron Swords - Day 10 - 16 October 2023 Palestinian armed group Hamas launched thousands of missiles at Israel and deployed its militants to infiltrate Jewish settlements near the countrys border with Gaza on 07 October 2023. The 1,200 Israelis killed on the first day would be the equivalent of 36,000 Americans killed in an attack, as a proportion to Israels population of 9.3 million people (compared to 332 million in the USA). Israeli President Isaac Herzog stated: Not since the Holocaust have so many Jews been killed in one day". The latest death toll in Gaza stands at 2,865 Palestinians and at least 10,859 injured. In the occupied West Bank at least 57 had been killed and at least 1,200 injured. The Gaza Health Ministry said it estimated 2,750 Palestinians have been killed and 9,700 wounded. At least 1,400 people had been killed in Israel since October 7 and at least 3,400 injured. The Israeli military said that 199 hostages are being held in Gaza by Hamas, which is higher than previous estimate thst 126 hostages were being held captive. For the tenth day in a row, the Gaza Strip, which had been besieged since 2006, was subjected to intense Israeli air strikes that destroyed entire neighborhoods, in response to the Al-Aqsa Flood operation launched by the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas). The IDF is continuing to strike in the Gaza Strip. Over the last few hours, dozens of military command centers and mortar shell posts were destroyed. In addition, the operational command center of Ali Qadi, one of the commanders of the Hamas Nukhba commando forces who was killed several days ago, was struck. Furthermore, IDF fighter jets killed several Hamas terrorists inside of a military compound. The Gaza Strip is suffering from a "very severe" shortage of drinking water, amid the ongoing Israeli bombardment of the strip. The bombing is a response to Hamas terrorists attacking Israel, killing 1,300 people, the overwhelming majority of whom were civilians. Gaza's Interior Ministry said in a statement on the Telegram messaging platform that Israel has not pumped "a single liter of potable water into any of the strip's provinces for the tenth day in a row." Citizens were forced to drink unsuitable water, the ministry added, warning of "a dangerous health crisis that threatens citizens' lives." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced during a speech at the opening of the winter session of the national parliamen that Israel was now fighting for its very existence. He expressed confidence that his country would eventually win total victory over Hamas, the Palestinian resistance group that launched a surprise assault on Israeli territories near Gaza last week, killing and wounding hundreds of people. This is a time of decisive struggle against those who are trying to destroy us. Our goal is victory, complete victory over Hamas, eliminating once and for all its power and the threat it poses to Israel, Netanyahu said. During his speech, the prime minister insisted that Israel was also ready to retaliate against the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group if it attempted to interfere in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I also have a message for Hezbollah: Do not test us in the north, do not repeat the mistake you once made, because now the price you will have to pay will be much higher, Netanyahu said, adding that both Hezbollah and Hamas were part of the axis of evil, which he claimed was being led by Iran. Netanyahu also said that Hamas was the same as the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) and represented a new version of nazism. He called on the entire civilized world to join Israel in this fight, and suggested that just like the whole world united to defeat the Nazis and ISIS, it must now unite to defeat Hamas. About 600 thousand Palestinians were evacuated from the north of the Gaza Strip to the south. Earlier, the representative of the UN Secretary General, Stephane Dujarric, said that the Israeli authorities had informed that 1.1 million residents of the northern part should leave their homes and move to the south of the enclave. The Israel Defense Forces explained the call by saying that Hamas militants could be hiding in civilian buildings and in tunnels under houses. Israel dropped leaflets telling civilians to use the two main north-south roads, the coastal road and Salah al-Din Road further inland. Crowds on those thoroughfares would deny the Palestinian fighters the ability to move towards the north, against the human flow. Either aim, creating demoralisation or denying military movement, follows classic military logic, so whichever Israel intended as the main purpose would be a good military move in a fight with a regular army that operates on standard military practices. In the case of Hamas, they are almost worthless militarily and indicate a deep and worrying planning failure. In most conventional military situations, sowing panic among a civilian population will unavoidably reflect on the military. Soldiers seeing their relatives, friends and neighbours flee in panic inevitably ask themselves: Who am I then to fight for? Once civilians leave, the military wonders if it is worth dying for empty land. Thus, one aim of the evacuation order could have been the desire to produce that trigger effect. When civilians flee in panic they block communication lines, making it difficult for the fighting units to manoeuvre, bring reinforcements from the rear and keep the front line supplied with ammunition. Israel announced that it was preparing for a large ground operation in Gaza with the aim of eliminating Hamas, while the United States sent two aircraft carriers to the region to support Israel and warn other parties against engaging in the conflict. Israel's former premier Ehud Barak (1999-2001) said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has neither the trust of the Israeli people nor that of the army following a devastating attack by Hamas last week. He also said Israel had no choice but to launch a ground offensive in Gaza in response if it wants to defeat Hamas definitively. He admitted that the war would inevitably cause "collateral damage" in Gaza, but said Israel was careful to warn inhabitants to move out of the area targeted, brushing aside criticism from the UN that Gaza was under complete siege. Barak acknowledged that a ground invasion of Gaza would take weeks, perhaps even several months, after which he suggested control of Gaza should be gradually handed over to the Palestinian Authority. When asked about comments by US President Joe Biden that it would be a "big mistake" for Israel to occupy Gaza, he said that the staunch support of the US was highly appreciated in Israel, but that no "recommendations" should be given by the US when it comes to strategy. Israel, which had become a major gas exporter in the past few years, has closed several major energy sites since the Palestinian resistance launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood in southern Israel on October 7, followed by Tel Aviv declaring war on the Gaza Strip. On October 9, Israel suspended production in the Tamar gas field, which is managed by Chevron and whose platform is located 25 kilometers on the Mediterranean coast south of Israel. The Tamar field produced 10.25 billion cubic meters of gas in 2022, and 85% of this production was used in the local market, with the remaining 15% exported to Egypt and Jordan. Chevron owns a 25% stake in Tamar, while Esramco owns 28.75%, the UAE Mubadala Energy Company 11%, Union Energy 11%, Tamar Petroleum 16.75%, Dur Gas 4%, and Everest 3.5%. Chevron said on October 10 that it had stopped exporting natural gas through the Eastern Mediterranean Gas (EMG) pipeline between Israel and Egypt, and that it would supply it through an alternative line that passes through Jordan. The Eastern Mediterranean gas pipeline extends from the city of Ashkelon in southern Israel, about 10 kilometers north of Gaza, to Al-Arish in Egypt, where it connects to a land pipeline. The 90-kilometre-long pipeline is the main link between Egypt and the giant Israeli offshore gas field Leviathan, which is managed by Chevron. The Leviathan consortium includes the operating company Chevron, the Israeli company Neomed Energy, and Ratio Energies. Reservist soldiers from Unit 8200 (Elite intelligence unit) assembled a task force in order to investigate, analyze and examine the wide array of items collected from the terrorists. The items, including equipment, documents, phones, and certificates, were examined and destroyed by the Yahalom Unit. Among the documents collected were detailed attack orders against communities near the Gaza Strip, which illustrate Hamas plan to carry out a terrorist attack and commit atrocities against both civilians and soldiers. In addition, a pamphlet and breakdown of the combat doctrine used by the Hamas forces that carried out the terror attack were found. The documents contained coordination actions, stages of attack and code words. One section details the treatment and abduction of civilians of communities near the Gaza Strip. "Since the beginning of the war, the fire center of the Gaza Division has destroyed many hundreds of terrorists, infrastructure, a tunnel route of the terrorist organization Hamas," said the commander of the Fire Brigade in the Gaza Division, Lt. Col. Y., "Operational successes are made possible through cooperation Action between all branches and in full cooperation with the Southern Command. We did this to protect the fighters in the field, to reduce the firing of the Israel Defense Forces to the rear and ultimately, to bring about the destruction and defeat of the murderous organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip." Coordinator for the Captives and Missing Brig.-Gen. (Ret.) Gal Hirsch, today, met with Deputy US Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Steven Gillen, who arrived with his team. Their second meeting was held at the national control center for the families of captives and abducted, which was established at IDF Home Front Command headquarters, where Deputy Envoy Gillen was briefed on the activity at the Center. the US State Department announced the appointment of David Satterfield as a special US envoy for humanitarian issues in the region. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that Satterfield will lead efforts to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and coordinate with partners to provide life-saving assistance to the most vulnerable groups. For his part, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that the new envoy will focus on ensuring that aid reaches people in need throughout the region. The US Embassy in Israel began evacuating its citizens wishing to leave Israel through the port of Haifa. It also asked its citizens to remain near the Rafah crossing, awaiting an assessment of the situation. The United States resorted to the option of transporting its citizens by sea, in light of the suspension of air traffic through Israeli airports due to the rockets fired by the resistance in Gaza. The US Embassy said in a statement that the Rafah crossing is expected to open at around nine oclock local time, and it expected the situation at the crossing to remain volatile. It added that it is unclear whether travelers will be allowed to cross; The embassy also denied knowledge of the timing of this happening. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said - in an interview with CNN - that Washington hopes that the Rafah crossing can be opened for a few hours. Kirby explained that the United States continues to discuss with Egypt to open the Rafah crossing in a way that protects Egyptian national security interests, as he put it, noting that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is continuing his efforts in the region. The United States asked its citizens in Gaza to go to the Rafah crossing in preparation for their evacuation via Egypt, and Washington estimates the number of Americans - of Palestinian origin - in Gaza at about 500 to 600. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russo-Ukraine War - 15 October 2023 - Day 599 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 UK Ministry of Defence reported that Rail logistics continues to be a vital component in sustaining Russia's invasion. Russia uses its rail networks to move ammunition, armour, fuel and personnel into Ukraine. The rail network in occupied Ukraine remains largely viable but vulnerable to sporadic interdiction by Ukrainian artillery, air launched missiles and sabotage. In previous conflicts, attrition of rail transportation has required focused, sustained, and repeated attack by air and/or ground forces. Russia almost certainly continues to maintain and improve its rail lines of communication in Ukraine and is constructing a new railway line to Mariupol which will reduce travel times for supplies to the Zaporizhzhia front. Russia is using civilian contractors and equipment to complete this project, likely calculating this will complicate targeting efforts and preserve military railway troop capabilities for urgent tasks elsewhere. The new line falls within the notional range of Ukrainian long-range precision strike systems. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that during the day of October 15, there were 57x combat engagements. Russian forces launched 7x missile and 54x air strikes, 22x MLRS attacks at the positions of Ukrainian troops and various settlements. Unfortunately, the Russian attacks have killed and wounded civilians. Private residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure were destroyed or damaged. The operational situation in east and south of Ukraine remains difficult. Volyn and Polissya axes: no significant changes. No signs of formation of an offensive group. Certain units of the armed forces of Belarus continue their missions in the areas bordering Ukraine. Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna axes: Russia maintains its military presence in the areas of russia bordering Ukraine. Russia continues to shell Ukrainian settlements from the territory of Russia and increases the density of minefields along the state border of Ukraine. Russian forces fired artillery and mortars at more than 15x settlements, including Popivka, Shalyhyne (Sumy oblast), Udy, Vovchans'ki Khutory, Hatyshche, and Budarky. Kup'yans'k axis: Ukrainian soldiers repelled more than 15x Russian attacks in the vicinities of Syn'kivka and Ivanivka (Kharkiv oblast). In addition, Russian forces launched air strikes near Pishchane (Kharkiv oblast) and Nadiya (Luhansk oblast). The Russian invaders fired artillery and mortars at around 10x settlements, including Kam'yanka, Syn'kivka, Kucherivka, and Ivanivka (Kharkiv oblast). Lyman axis: Russian forces launched air strikes in the vicinities of settlements of Druzhelyubivka, Cherneshchyna (Kharkiv oblast), Bilohorivka, Serebryans'ke forestry, Novolyubivka (Luhansk oblast), Hryhorivka, Sivers'k, and Spirne (Donetsk oblast). Russian forces fired artillery and mortars at more than 10x settlements, including Nevs'ke, Bilohorivka (Luhansk oblast), Rozdolivka, Novosadove, Tors'ke, and Spirne (Donetsk oblast). Bakhmut axis: the Ukrainian soldiers repelled 4x Russian attacks near Klishchiivka and Andriivka. Russian forces launched air strikes in the vicinities of Klishchiivka, Oleksandro-Shul'tyne, Bila Hora, and Dyliivka (Donetsk oblast). More than 15x settlements came under artillery and mortar fire, including Orikhovo-Vasylivka, Ivanivske, Vasyukivka, Klishchiivka, and Kurdyumivka (Donetsk oblast). Avdiivka axis: Russian forces conducted unsuccessful assault operations with the support of aviation in the vicinities of Avdiivka, Keramik, Stepove, Tonen'ke, and Sjeverne (Donetsk oblast). The Ukrainian defense forces repelled more than 15x Russian attacks. Russian forces launched air strikes near Ocheretyne and Stepove (Donetsk oblast). Russian forces fired artillery and mortars at around 15x settlements, including Ocheretyne, Lastochkyne, Avdiivka, Pervomais'ke, and Nevel's'ke (Donetsk oblast). Mar'inka axis: during the day of October 15, Ukrainian defense forces successfully repelled more than 15x Russian attacks in the vicinity of Mar'inka (Donetsk oblast). Russian forces launched air strikes in the vicinities of Mar'inka, Pobjeda, and Novomykhailivka (Donetsk oblast). More than 10x settlements, including Krasnohorivka, Heorhiivka, Mar'inka, Pobjeda, and Novomykhailivka (Donetsk oblast), were under artillery and mortar fire of the Russian occupiers. Shakhtars'ke axis: the Ukrainian soldiers repelled a Russian attack in the area north of Pryyutne (Donetsk oblast). Vodyane, Vuhledar, Prechystivka, Makarivka, and Urozhaine (Donetsk oblast) came under artillery and mortar fire. Zaporizhzhia axis: Russian forces made 3x attempts to regain the lost position in the vicinity of Robotyne (Zaporizhzhia oblast), to no success. More than 15x settlements, including Hulyaipole, Mala Tokmachka, Poltavka, Robotyne, and Stepove (Zaporizhzhia oblast), came under artillery and mortar fire. Kherson axis: Russian forces launched air strikes in the vicinities of Burhunka, Odradokam'yanka, Mykolaivka, Ol'hivka, Stepanivka (Kherson oblast), and Ivanivka (Mykolaiv oblast). Russian forces fired artillery and mortars at Zolota Balka, Kherson, and Chornobaivka (Kherson oblast). At the same time, the Ukrainian defense forces continue their offensive operation on Melitopol' axis and offensive (assault) operations on Bakhmut axis, inflicting losses in manpower and equipment on the Russian occupation forces, exhausting Russian forces all along the front line. During the day of October 15, Ukrainian Air Force launched 15x air strikes on the concentrations of Russian troops, weapons, and military equipment, 1x air strike on the anti-aircraft missile system. The Ukrainian missile troops hit 1x concentrations of Russian troops, weapons, and military equipment, 1x radar station, and 4x artillery systems. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that in Kupyansk direction, units of the Zapad Group of Forces supported by aviation and artillery repelled six attacks of assault groups of AFU 68th jaeger, 14th mechanised, and 95th air assault brigades close to Novoegorovka,Sinkovka (Kharkov region), Makeyevka (Lugansk People's Republic). In addition, helicopters delivered strikes at manpower and hardware of AFU 14th, 32nd mechanised brigades near Sinkovka and Ivanovka (Kharkov region). In addition, actions of one sabotage and reconnaissance group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been thwarted near Olshana (Kharkov region). ?More than 50 Ukrainian troops, one tank, two armoured fighting vehicles, two pickup trucks, and one Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system have been eliminated. In Krasny Liman direction, as a result of coordinated actions by units of the Tsentr Group of Forces, helicopters and artillery, three attacks by assault groups of the 12th Azov Special Forces Brigade and the 63rd Mechanised Brigade of the AFU have been repelled near Chervonaya Dibrova (Lugansk People's Republic) and Serebryanskoye forestry. Moreover, AFU manpower and hardware have been eliminated near Torskoye, Grigorovka (Donetsk People's Republic) and Chervonaya Dibrova (Lugansk People's Republic). The enemy losses were up to 180 Ukrainian troops killed and wounded, three armoured fighting vehicles, and two pick-up trucks. In Donetsk direction, the Yug Group of Forces, supported by aviation and artillery, repelled five attacks by units of the AFU 56th Mechanised Brigade and the 127th Territorial Defence Brigade close to Orekhovo-Vasilyevka, Dubovo-Vasilyevka, and Kleshcheyevka(Donetsk People's Republic). Manpower and hardware of the AFU 93rd Mechanised Brigade, the 112th Territorial Defence Brigade, and 3rd, 5th assault brigades have been hit near Andreevka and Kleshcheyevka (Donetsk People's Republic). Ammunition depots of AFU 28th, 31st mechanised brigades and the 116thTerritorial Defence Brigade have been destroyed close to Dyleyevka, Zhelannoye, and Tonenkoye(Donetsk People's Republic). The enemy has lost up to 410 Ukrainian personnel killed and wounded, as well as two armoured fighting vehicles, and three motor vehicles. In the course of the counter-battery warfare, one Akatsiya self-propelled artillery system, one Msta-B howitzer, one D-20, and one D-30 howitzers were hit. In South Donetsk direction, units of the Vostok Group of Forces coordinated with helicopters and artillery repelled one attack of the AFU 128th Territorial Defence Brigade's assault group close to Staromayorskoye (Donetsk People's Republic). Clusters of manpower and hardware of AFU 79th air assault, 72nd mechanised, 127th, 128th territorial defence brigades have been hit close to Novomikhailovka, Ugledar, Vodyanoye, Staromayorskoye, Urozhaynoye (Donetsk People's Republic) and Priyutnoye (Zaporozhye region). Up to 155 Ukrainian personnel, two armoured fighting vehicles, and three motor vehicles have been neutralised. In Zaporozhye direction, units of the Russian Group of Forces repelled one attack by the AFU 71st Jaeger Brigade's assault group close to Verbovoye (Zaporozhye region). In addition, air strikes and artillery fire struck the personnel and hardware of the 65th Mechanised Brigade close to Rabotino (Zaporozhye region). Up to 55 Ukrainian troops, two armoured fighting vehicles, three motor vehicles, one U.S.-made M777 artillery system, and one D-30 howitzer were destroyed. Moreover, an ammunition depot of the 102nd Territorial Defence Brigade was neutralised close to Malinovka (Zaporozhye region). In Kherson direction, two AFU sabotage and reconnaissance groups' actions were repelled on Alyoshkinsky Island. Up to 20 Ukrainian servicemen and two motor vehicles were destroyed as a result of fire defeat. 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 133 areas during the day. One communication centre of the Ukrainian Air Force has been destroyed at the Dnepr airfield (Dnepropetrovsk region). One command post of the AFU 66th Mechanised Brigade was destroyed close to Podliman (Kharkov region). Russian air defence forces have intercepted three U.S.-manufactured HIMARS MLRS projectiles during the day. Moreover, 67 unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down near Verkhnekamenka (Lugansk People's Republic), Berestovoye, Belogorovka, Maryinka, Vasilevka, Elenovka(Donetsk People's Republic), Kamenskoye, Chervonogorka, Mirnoye (Zaporozhye region), and Sagi (Kherson region). In total, 488 airplanes and 250 helicopters, 7,888 unmanned aerial vehicles, 441 air defence missile systems, 12,640 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,163 combat vehicles equipped with MLRS, 6,771 field artillery guns and mortars, as well as 14,297 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 China: Press remarks by High Representative Josep Borrell after concluding his visit to the country European External Action Service (EEAS) 15.10.2023 EEAS Press Team Check against delivery! Good morning, Thank you and sorry for being late, but many things are happening in the world today. There are 6 hours difference between Beijing and Europe and I have to take care [also] of other events. Finally, I am in China. I tried to come twice. For one reason or another, the travel had to be postponed. Finally, I had the opportunity to come. I am very happy. I had two intense days in Shanghai and in Beijing. I came here with the purpose of holding the [EU-China] Strategic Dialogue with [my] Chinese counterparts in order to prepare the next summit between the European Union and China that will take place before the end of the year. There have been other dialogues with some of my colleagues of the European Commission that came here before me on [over] the last weeks and yesterday we had the Strategic Dialogue on our political approach. It was mainly focused on three issues. First, our bilateral relations. [It was] important to [tell] to [my] Chinese counterpart, the Director and Foreign Minister Wang Yi that for China and Europe cooperation is very much important, that Europe takes China very seriously and we also expect to be considered, not through the lens of our relations with others, but in ourselves. Because since the war in Ukraine, Europe has become a geopolitical power. We started being a trade power, after [being] an economic power. Now, the war in Ukraine has converted us in a geopolitical power, not just an economic one and we want to talk with China from this approach. Do not look at the European Union relations through the lens of the relations with others. Second message just to tell clearly that for us Russia represents a huge threat for our security and that we are committed to support Ukraine facing the Russian invasion and asking China to take into consideration this very tough position from our side, considering Russia as a security threat for the whole European Union. And then, that we have to rebalance our economic bilateral relations. We have a huge deficit that has increased 60% in the last years. And this should not be the consequence of just a competitive disadvantage between the European Union and China. It must be other structural reasons related with the market access encountered by European firms here in China. We discussed a lot about the causes and consequences of this huge deficit, knowing that today the exports from China towards Europe are at the highest level in the history and that the technological revolution is changing the pattern and the structure of the goods that we exchange. The conclusion is that despite our differences, there is still a space for cooperation. Yes, we don't have the same political system, which is not a secret. We don't have the same economic system, that is not a secret neither. But despite the differences, we believe that there is still a space for cooperation and the most important challenges that the world is facing cannot be solved without a strong engagement with China. The first one is climate change. China is burning as much coal as the rest of the world together, in spite of the strong development of renewables in China's energy mix. The increase of coal powered electricity production in China is offsetting the reduction in the rest of the world. So, [there is] no way of solving the climate change problem without a strong engagement and partnership with China. We can say the same thing about the level of debt of the emerging countries and the possibility of having a new debt crisis on the way. We have to look at that because China has become the biggest creditor of the emerging economies. Then we discussed about regional issues, and obviously we had to focus at the Middle East situation, where the spiral of violence following the attack by Hamas in Israel is threatening the stability of the whole region. After that we considered many other regional issues of common interest, ranging from Afghanistan to the crises in Africa. It is not that we have a shortage of crises to talk about, there are too many and certainly we didn't exhaust all of them. Next week, my political director, Mr. [Enrique] Mora, will come to Beijing and will continue with the dialogue on many other regional issues that we couldn't discuss. We talked also about the situation of human rights, in general and in some particular cases. But the most important, crucial part of our discussion, apart from the bilateral relations, was obviously the situation in the Middle East. You know that before coming to China, I was in Oman, where I co-chaired the European Union - Gulf Cooperation Council [Ministerial meeting] and held an informal Foreign Affairs Council with my colleagues, [EU] ministers who were in Oman and the others joined by videoconference. We agreed that the international community should do the utmost in order to prevent a further aggravation of the situation that could spill over the region. We reaffirmed the firm condemnation of the indiscriminate attacks by Hamas and called for the stop of violence, any attacks against civilians and the release of hostages. With my Chinese counterpart, we discussed it and we certainly agreed that the only long-term solution to this crisis, that comes one after the other, every two, three or four years, is to work on the solution of the Two States, that we believe could survive these tragic events. As I said, we didn't exhaust all crises that we should talk about. Next week, my political director will continue. But it is important to summarise the three elements of our discussions: our bilateral relations, our trade deficit, and the posture with respect to the war in Ukraine were the most important ones. With respect to the war in Ukraine, I insisted to our Chinese counterpart on the need to not support militarily Russia. Until now, China is not providing arms to Russia. And it's important. I asked him to help us avoiding circumvention of sanctions. We discussed about the war in Ukraine. We know that the position of China. But I make a strong insistence on the fact that seen from the European lenses the war in Ukraine is not against Ukraine, is not only affecting Ukraine, [it] is affecting the security of the Europeans and is sending shockwaves around the world. And I asked China to use their influence to make Russia go back to the [Black Sea] Grain Deal initiative to [allow] the Ukrainian grain to be exported to the rest of the world. Otherwise, we will face another food crisis. It has been a very interesting discussion. I had also the opportunity of delivering a lecture at the Peking University. I thank a lot the academic authorities for inviting me. And I also had the opportunity to discuss in Shanghai with Institute for International Relations, where together with some Chinese scholars, we had an interesting discussion about the role of China in the world and the relationship between China and European Union. Thank you. Q&A Q. I just wanted to ask a little bit more about the discussions around Israel Hamas war. You mentioned last night in your remarks as well that you both sides had agreed on the Two-State solution aspect of it. But I'm curious, did you press China to use their influence in any other way, for example, reaching out to Iran or Syria, Lebanon? Did you talk about what they could do in concrete measures to sort of de-escalate the situation? So, my question basically is, what else besides the two state Palestinian two state solution did you discuss with vis a vis the Israel-Hamas war? Well, the Two-State solution is not a solution for tomorrow. We are facing critical moments in Gaza and we cannot say that the problem in Gaza will be solved by the Two-State solution because on this solution the world has been failing miserably. 30 years after Camp David, we haven't succeeded on this Two-State solution. But what do we discuss with the world? With the world and [also] with the Chinese counterpart? It is that this is the only solution that can be implemented. So, we agreed that we have to work in trying to build on this solution, but is not a solution for the problem that we are facing today. Today we are facing a very dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and certainly we discussed about the situation there. And as I said yesterday, I agree a lot with the Secretary-General of the United Nations [AntAnio Guterres] when he says that the request by the Israeli army for one million people to leave in 24 hours the north of the Gaza Strip, is something that could not be done. The task of 1 million people moving into the south in 24 hours is just impossible. You cannot move such a volume of people in a short period of time, especially if there are no shelters nor transportation means. And from this point of view, we consider that this warning is good to know, but they have to give more time, to make it possible and not to create a dire humanitarian situation. Q. Just a real quick follow up. Did you ask them or talk about any other aspects of the Israel-Hamas situation? For example, did you call on China to use its influence with regional players? Was there any discussion about what China can do more, more broadly? Certainly, we talked about what each one of us can do in order to try to mend this education. Q. China has criticised the policy of derisking. They say sometimes that this is just a way to discriminate against European firms in China or just a way to decouple the relationship as a whole. So how do you define the concept of de-risking and how do those conversations go with your Chinese counterparts? Thank you. Well, we discussed a lot about that, but nobody's talking about decoupling. Nobody is considering the possibility or the will of decoupling the European Union's economy from the Chinese economy. The amount of our trade relations is so big that decoupling, even if we wanted it - and we don't want it - it is impossible. So, forget about decoupling. I explained thoroughly that it is a matter of reducing excessive dependencies. And I put the example of what happened when the pandemic came and in Europe, we discovered that we didn't produce a single gram of paracetamol. Not a single gram of paracetamol was produced in Europe while we have the strongest pharmaceutical industry in the world because we have "offshored" [outsourced] all production. So, we were 100% dependent on the imports of a product that no one could have imagined that wasn't a strategic product - paracetamol - until the pandemic came, and then it became a strategic product, and we had to reduce quickly this strong dependency on our imports. And then the war [against Ukraine] came and we discovered that we were too much dependent on gas, hydrocarbons, in particular in gas, 40% of our import were gas coming from Russia. [These are] excessive dependencies and it's a matter of common sense to diversify the sources of supply. Nothing more than that. And by the way, China is doing the same thing. Diversifying the sources of supply is a precautionary measure that any firm and any country has to take. And this will be done [on our side] in a proportional manner, analysing and considering exactly which are the excessive dependencies that have to be reduced and always in accordance with international rules about trade. So, I don't think there is any - let's say - conspiracy against our trade relationship. It is a matter of reducing excessive dependencies. And the Commission will launch studies analysing sector by sector, product by product, where there are excessive dependencies that have to be reduced. Q. In Poland and Slovakia, there will be two new governments. And can we expect any changes in the position of EU on Ukraine. Well, the position of the European Union is being fixed by the European Union Council and the Foreign Ministers [of Member States]. So, you know, in Europe there are changes in government almost every year, someone is changing government. Q. Maybe some members of the EU will change their position? Each government has its own policy too, and we try to build a common policy. Q. Yesterday, the government of Israel said they were deeply disappointed with China because of its stance on the crisis. They consider that China has not condemned strongly enough the attacks on Israel's soil and on Israeli people. And they kind of consider that China, like in Ukraine, is being ambiguous. So I would like to know your stance on this issue. Do you think China is being ambiguous, is not condemning strongly enough one of the sides of the conflict? Well, the Chinese minister was with me at the press conference, and he explained himself the Chinese position and you listened to him. So, you know which is the Chinese position. I'm not going to explain to you which is the Chinese position. With respect to the war in Ukraine, I insisted that when they talk about territorial integrity the case of Ukraine is certainly a case of violation of the United Nations charter and attack against the territorial integrity of a country. And that's why we moved to supporting Ukraine. And I invited them to participate in the peace talks under the auspices of the Zelensky plan. We discussed about the wide range of [their] position with respect to the war in Ukraine. Nothing, nothing new. And you listened to the Chinese Minister yesterday asking also for the respect of the principles of international humanitarian law. It is something that we also request. In the declaration of the Foreign Affairs ministers it's clear for us that Israel has the right to defend, but Israel has also to abide by the principle of international humanitarian law. Q. Chinese senior diplomat Wang Yi earlier said at a 12th China EU strategic dialogue, he mentioned that relationship between China and the EU has global strategic significance and should not depend on or be interfered with by a third party. So, what's your take on this? I think I started my words today answering your question, because I said clearly that we expect China to stop looking at us through the lens of our relations with others. Stop looking at us through the lenses of our relations with others. It's clear. Q. The Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation is going to be held right here in Beijing. And according to a white paper released by China, the cumulated imports and exports volume between China and its partners reached over nineteen trillion U.S. dollars over the past ten years. So in this regard, what's your thoughts on the Belt and Road Initiative as well as the events? Thank you very much. Look, this initiative is a ten years old initiative and certainly has increased the capacity of building infrastructure around the world. And that's good because the world needs much more infrastructures. So it's a way for China to develop their influence in the rest of the world. I don't have any concrete things to say about if it is good or not. China uses this instrument. Its input is pushing for infrastructure development and investment. We have our instruments. We don't compete with them. But I'm sure that some countries that received the initiatives and the funding with the Belt and Road Initiative can be happy with it. ItAs not for me to judge. Q. I imagine that global circumstances had been different; one of the main issues that your visit you were going to discuss was the investigation on the Chinese subsidies, on electric vehicles. So I wonder in your interactions with Chinese authorities these days, if you touched upon this topic and from what you've gathered, what their reaction will be? Well, when we talk about our economic relations, we talk about the level of deficit. And when we talk about the level or deficit you enter into considering which are the elements of the trade that could create this deficit. But I am not the trade commissioner. The trade commissioner has been in Beijing some days ago and they spent two days analysing deeply what is happening with all kinds of products that we sell and we buy and why this trade deficit has been increasing. So I didn't go deeply into this issue because I am not the trade commissioner and we have a lot of geopolitical issues to consider. But certainly, this was discussed, it was mentioned, and I told to a Chinese counterpart that to launch an investigation is just to launch an investigation. Let's see the result of the investigation. Q. During your visit, you spoke about the responsibility that China has to use its influence on Russia, where the Ukraine war is concerned. Yesterday, after Israel issued its instruction to more than a million people in Gaza to leave their homes within 24 hours, Ursula von der Leyen was in Jerusalem where she met Prime Minister Netanyahu and she gave him the unconditional support of the European Union in his response to last week's attacks by Hamas. And she made no public criticism of that evacuation order. By what authority does the Commission's President speak for the European Union on this matter? And after what she said and did in Israel yesterday, how much responsibility will the European Union now share for what Israel does next? Look, the position of the European Union on foreign policy is being determined by the European Union Council and by the Foreign Affairs Ministers Council, because the common foreign policy of the European Union is an intergovernmental policy, it's not a community policy. So, the official position of the European Union with any foreign policy [issue] is being fixed - I repeat - by the guidelines, the high-level political decision of the European Union Council, chaired by President Michel and by the Foreign Affairs Council ministers chaired by me. And the position is clear, is that we certainly defend the right of Israel to defend itself against the attack that it has been suffering. But as any right, it has a limit. And this limit is international law and international humanitarian law. And that's what we said in Oman, the [EU] ministers, and that is what I have been repeating since then, the right to defence of Israel has to be in accordance with international humanitarian law. And about this warning of 1 million people living in Gaza, in the north of Gaza, in 24 hours I said and I am saying that representing the official position of the European Union is that it is utterly, utterly impossible to implement and I am supporting clearly the position of the United Nations Secretary-General saying that to imagine that you could move one million people in 24 hours in a situation like Gaza can only be a big humanitarian crisis. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China proposes Belt and Road Initiative not to crush others, but offers opportunities: Putin Global Times By Global Times Published: Oct 15, 2023 08:40 PM Some perceive the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as China's attempt to crush someone under itself, but it's not the truth, the BRI is a desire to cooperate on the global arena, said Russian President Vladimir Putin in an interview with China Media Group (CMG). According to the interview video released by CMG on Sunday, when asked about the actual changes brought to the global development by the BRI in the past ten years, Putin said that in his opinion, the main advantage of the cooperation concept proposed by China is that no one imposes anything on others within the framework of cooperation. "All work is an exploration within the framework. It's not only the seeking of acceptable solutions, but also the searching for projects and methods which all parties can accept to achieve common goals," said Putin. Putin emphasized that China's unique feature in building relations with other countries is that "No one imposes or forces anything on anyone" and that China always positively figures out solutions even if problems arise, which is the difference between the BRI and other projects implemented by some countries with colonialist undertones. Putin is due to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation which will be held from October 17 to 18 in Beijing. According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, representatives from over 130 countries and 30 international organizations will attend the forum, of which the total output is expected to surpass that of the previous two forums in 2017 and 2019. The BRI is a plan for global infrastructure and energy networks that China launched in 2013 to connect Asia with Africa and Europe through land and maritime routes. According to a white paper released by China's State Council Information Office on Tuesday, by June 2023, China had signed more than 200 BRI agreements with more than 150 countries and 30 international organizations across five continents. From 2013 to 2022, the cumulative value of imports and exports between China and BRI partner countries was about $19.1 trillion. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Taliban's presence at BRF shows China's support to involve it in intl community Global Times By Liu Caiyu Published: Oct 15, 2023 09:49 PM Representatives of the Afghan Taliban government are expected to attend the upcoming Belt and Road Forum (BRF) for International Cooperation in Beijing, according to Reuters. Chinese experts believe the Taliban's presence at the forum - an open and inclusive international platform - underscores China's growing ties with the Afghan administration and its support for the war-torn country to get involved into the international community. The Taliban's acting minister for commerce and industry, Haji Nooruddin Azizi, will lead a team to visit Beijing for the Belt and Road Forum, according to Reuters citing ministry spokesperson Akhundzada Abdul Salam Jawad. According to the report, Taliban representatives are expected to want to attract investors to Afghanistan, have discussions with China on copper mining and a plan to build a road in northern Afghanistan to provide direct transport access to China. Taliban's attendance highlights China's efforts to provide Afghanistan with a broad platform to get involved in the international community and seek more opportunities to develop its domestic faltering economy and livelihood, Zhu Yongbiao, director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies in Lanzhou University, told the Global Times on Sunday. Both the Taliban and the previous administration have favored the BRI project, with the Taliban holding great expectations of drawing in investment from China to fund its infrastructure projects, to rebuild connections to the international community and lift itself out of the economic doldrums, Zhu said. Chinese experts believe the Taliban's attendance at the forum underscores China's growing ties with the Afghan administration and its support for the country. The third BRF is to be held from October 17 to 18 in Beijing, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced last week. Drawing representatives from over 130 countries and 30 international organizations, the BRF is expected to highlight the remarkable achievements that have been made in the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Since 2022, some Chinese companies resumed projects in Afghanistan including drilling for oil, and it would be great if progress could be made during this BRF on a huge copper mine in eastern Afghanistan and on resumption of more cooperation projects, Yin Gang, a research fellow at the Institute of West-Asian and African Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China's Trade Grows in SE Asia Under BRI, as Do Concerns By Peh Hong Lim October 15, 2023 Since China's launch of the Belt and Road Initiative 10 years ago, trade with Southeast Asian nations has more than doubled. Beijing has poured billions into helping build rails, airports, ports, and other infrastructure, but the push for more connectivity comes with unintended consequences observers said. Some key concerns include rising debt, the environmental impact of projects, and an increase in crime said analysts in the region who spoke to VOA's Mandarin Service. According to the U.K.-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, between 2013 and 2021, Southeast Asia was the site of 131 Belt and Road projects, the most in the Asia-Pacific region. Chen Shangmao, a professor at the Department of Public Affairs at Fo Guang University in Taiwan, said with such a wide scope, the BRI has had some positive benefits. "For example, with respect to the entire economy, trade and investment, we can also see that, in recent years, the trade volume between China and Southeast Asian countries has continued to increase" Chen tells VOA. China's State Council Information Office reported that in 2022 the volume of trade between China and the ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN reached $975.3 billion, up from $443.6 billion in 2013. What China wants One of the signature Belt and Road projects Beijing has completed in Southeast Asia is the China-Laos railway. The $6 billion-dollar 1,000 kilometer semi-high-speed rail line was finished in December of 2021. The project has cut the time of travel between Laos' capital of Vientiane and China's southern border. Eventually, the rail is expected to connect Beijing with Bangkok and even Singapore. Pollasak Ruongpanyaroj, Executive Director of Panyapiwat Institute of Management in Bangkok, said the China-Laos Railway has brought only limited potential benefits for one of Southeast Asia's poorest countries. "The high-speed rail between Laos and China has brought very little economic contribution to Laos. Do you see anything in Laos that can be sold to China? The repayment of loans is so high," said Ruongpanyaroj. Fo Guang University's Chen said this railway is what China, not Laos, needs because before other transportation networks are in place, the railway is currently not of much help to Laos, but the huge debt it has assumed has made the outside world extremely worried. "The debt that Laos owes to China accounts for about 60% of its GDP, that is scary" Chen said, adding that it raises other questions, such as: "How are you going to pay it back? What will you do when you can't pay it back? And then, you may have to allow them to make whatever political demands as they please." Drugs, telecom fraud With massive investments, an increase in the number of Chinese nationals in the region and connectivity that has come with the BRI, organized crime groups have also followed and grown their footprint in Southeast Asia, analysts said. The port town of Sihanoukville in Cambodia, which became a special economic zone under China's BRI is one place that has been linked to a range of problems from drug and human trafficking to telecom fraud, prostitution and gambling. "In recent years, the Chinese people have engaged in telecom fraud and online gambling and (have) been cracked down by Myanmar, Cambodia and the Philippines," said Ruongpanyaroj who described these criminal activities as gray industries. "So, those people involved in the gray industries have come to Thailand to open casinos and bars, and they also deal drugs," he said. "Trafficking in persons for the purpose of forced criminality to commit online scams and financial fraud, particularly occurring in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and other areas of Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR), and Myanmar, as well as other destination countries (including Malaysia, and the Philippines), has emerged as a new and growing trend.," stated a report released last month by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Beijing has been stepping up its efforts to crack down on the problem both in China and with authorities in the region. In 2022, China's party-backed Global Times reported that authorities resolved 464,000 cases related to online gambling and telecom fraud. "In recent years, online gambling and telecom fraud have caused social problems in China as well as in Southeast Asian countries such as Myanmar, Thailand and Sri Lanka, with some Chinese nationals falling victims to murder, kidnapping and human trafficking," the report said Environmental concerns Environmental concerns also weigh heavily on the residents in the Southeast Asia because of the various industries involved in projects across the region, including mining, In July, the Indonesian government suspended PT Dairi Prima Mineral's (DPM) mining license in July to investigate the potential environmental damages the company may have caused, barring it from mining Zinc in Dairi Regency in North Sumatra. China Nonferrous Metal Industry's Foreign Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd. owns a 51% stake in DPM. Tongam Panggabean, executive director of Bakumsu, a legal advocacy group in North Sumatra representing local communities in Indonesia, told VOA, the company hasn't released any public statements regarding the concerns. "As a company that always said that they are system sustainable, they respect the community or something like that, there should be a positive response to the verdict," Panggabean said. "I assume by not responding openly to the case or to the demand of the community, it indicates that the government of China doesn't really care about the impact of their company in other countries." US-China competition BRI has not only had an impact on the infrastructure of Southeast Asian countries, but also politics in the region, including the gradual challenge of Western values, analysts said. Felix K. Chang, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, wrote about the connection between the BRI, politics and economics in an article last month. "Whatever the path China chooses for the BRI, the more tortuous its economic logic becomes, the more pronounced its political dimension will be. While the BRI's economic aims may be continuously shifting, its political goals remain focused," Chang wrote. China's soft power efforts in the region are having mixed results, observers found. According to surveys about the state of Southeast Asia released in 2022 and 2023, China was considered to be the most influential country politically and strategically in the region in both years. In 2023, 68.5 % of ASEAN respondents said they were worried about China's growing regional political and strategic influence, according to a report of the survey by Singapore-based ASEAN Studies Centre at the ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute. That was down slightly from 76.4 % in 2022. Siwage Dharma Negara, a senior fellow at the ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute, does not believe China is using the BRI to forcibly promote communism or authoritarianism in Southeast Asia. People in the region are aware of the political influence that comes with the BRI but that doesn't mean that they see it as bad. "As long as it can continue to provide the necessary resources for countries or partner to develop their own economy, their infrastructure, then I think there will be room for collaboration," he said. Considering the intensifying competition between the U.S. and China, Negara said in the future, Beijing may change its approach to the BRI in Southeast Asia. Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Putin: Multipolar world emerging as countries like China strengthen their potential Iran Press TV Sunday, 15 October 2023 11:10 AM The growing potential of many countries, including Russia and China, contributes to the development of a multipolar world, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said in an interview. Speaking to the China Media Group on Sunday, Putin said that the shifting of the global balance of power is a "fait accompli." "The multipolar world is being created on its own, as a fait accompli. And it is happening due to the growing potential of many countries, including - not least - the growing potential of the People's Republic of China," the president said. Putin said that in Asia, countries such as India, Indonesia and many other states are growing such as Brazil in Latin America, adding that Russia is getting back on its feet and getting stronger. "This is a manifestation of the objective process of how a multipolar world is emerging," he added. China's unique initiative on security, development and the formation of a global civilization were first proposed in general terms by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013 during his first state visit to Russia as Chinese president, he said. "In 2013, he [Xi Jinping] spoke about the building of a global world and the interconnection between the destinies of all countries and peoples on the planet, and then came up with the One Belt, One Road initiative. This is the practical realization of what he talked about more or less in theoretical terms," Putin was quoted by Chinese state television as saying in Moscow. He noted that consistency and movement toward common goals while understanding the essence of current events is what distinguishes Xi and China's policy. The Russian president added that the main advantage of the cooperation concept proposed by China is that within the framework of cooperation, no one imposes anything on others and China only provides opportunities. "This is the difference between President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative and other projects pursued by countries with a colonialist flavor," Putin was quoted as saying. Putin also said the initiatives proposed by the Chinese president (BRI) "are being put into practice these days" and are developing well. The One Belt, One Road initiative also known as Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a plan for global infrastructure and energy networks that China launched a decade ago to connect Asia with Africa and Europe through land and maritime routes. This approach, according to experts, aims to position China within the changing world order, where the US is no longer the sole global power, and power centers are becoming more network-based. Earlier China's foreign ministry said the country has signed Belt and Road cooperation documents with more than 150 countries and over 30 international organizations over the past decade. Putin is due to attend the third Belt and Road Forum which will be held in Beijing on October 17-18. He attended the two previous forums, in 2017 and 2019. Several other foreign leaders including Serbian President, Aleksandar Vucic, and Argentine President, Alberto Fernandez, are also scheduled to attend the BRI, Chinese state media reported. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Putin Readies For China Trip Seeking Progress On Lucrative Siberia-2 Pipeline By Reid Standish October 15, 2023 Will Russian President Vladimir Putin finally be able to secure a Chinese commitment on an ambitious natural-gas pipeline project that could transform energy flows across Asia? Putin is expected to push for progress on the China-bound Power of Siberia-2 gas pipeline when he meets Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing for talks and to attend the third Belt and Road Forum on October 17-18. The proposed pipeline would bring gas from the huge Yamal Peninsula reserves in western Siberia to China, the world's top energy consumer and a leading gas customer. Russian officials have in recent months met with their counterparts from China and Mongolia -- where the pipeline is intended to traverse -- with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak announcing in September that Power of Siberia-2's route is to be finalized after the trilateral negotiations. In another sign that energy talks are advancing, Reuters reported that Putin is also expected to go to Beijing with the heads of Russian energy giants Gazprom and Rosneft, Aleksei Miller and Igor Sechin, respectively. "It's striking to see both Miller and Sechin traveling with Putin, as well as the recent meetings with the Mongolians," Joseph Webster, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global Energy Center, told RFE/RL. Putin's high-profile trip marks his first visit to China since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and comes as Moscow is trying to boost trade with Asia as economic ties with the West decline. China -- a crucial political and economic partner for the Kremlin amid the war -- is central to that diversification strategy and the Russian economy would get a huge boost from the new gas pipeline. The catch for Moscow -- which needs the Power of Siberia-2 to compensate for at least part of the European Union market it has lost due to fallout from the war in Ukraine -- is that Beijing currently has no particular incentive to agree to the new pipeline. Energy analysts say the proposed venture will need to overcome growing economic, financial, and technical challenges to come to fruition. Moscow's bargaining power with its more economically powerful neighbor has weakened over the course of the war in Ukraine and questions remain over Gazprom's ability to underwrite such a complicated infrastructure project. Revenue from the pipeline is also uncertain because it faces competition from China's growing shift toward renewable energy. Despite these mounting concerns, the pipeline could still get the green light, Webster noted, as a sign of Xi looking to prioritize Moscow's geopolitical importance to Beijing despite the risks stemming from the troubled economic outlook of the pipeline. "The Russians have been pushing for an agreement for some time despite the economics being highly unfavorable," Webster said. "The Russia-China relationship is strong and both Xi and Putin appear intent to lay the foundations so it can outlast them as leaders." What's At Stake For Putin's Trip? Conceived of more than a decade ago as part of a Russian move to diversify gas sales to Asia, the pipeline has taken on a new dimension since February 2022, when European consumption started falling dramatically and forced the Kremlin to urgently find alternative buyers for its gas. Discussions over the pipeline were already under way when the project was again discussed on Putin's visit to China during the Beijing Olympics just weeks before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since then, Moscow has continued to emphasize its readiness to begin construction on Siberia-2, though China has remained largely silent on the issue. During a March summit, Xi appeared to skirt around the pipeline proposal, while Putin initially spoke about it as if an agreement had been reached, saying during public remarks that "practically all parameters...have been finalized." This was walked back in a Russian statement at the end of the summit to show that it had been discussed but no deal was struck. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin traveled to China in May and reportedly held discussions on the pipeline, but ultimately left without a clear commitment from Beijing. Amid the ongoing talks around Power of Siberia-2, Xi has largely stood by Putin during the war in Ukraine. Chinese-Russian trade has soared since the invasion, and Russia has sold Asian powers -- including China -- greater volumes of the oil it can no longer sell to the West because of sanctions. China and Russia already have the Power of Siberia pipeline, which was launched in 2019 and agreed between Putin and Xi in 2014 shortly after Moscow's forceful annexation of Kyiv's Crimean Peninsula and the outbreak of fighting in eastern Ukraine by Russian-backed separatists. That pipeline is expected to reach its maximum capacity of 38 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year by 2025 and is reliant on new gas fields in eastern Siberia. In contrast, Power of Siberia-2 aims to supply China with gas from the Yamal Peninsula, which historically has pipelines bound for the EU market, including Nord Stream, which was a major source of dispute over the years before being sabotaged in 2022. According to Russian estimates, the second Siberian pipeline could carry up to 50 bcm per year. While Putin may be feeling pressure to find new customers for the gas that flowed to Europe before the invasion of Ukraine, if China bides its time it may allow Beijing to secure a lower price for the gas transiting Power of Siberia-2, Jon Yuan Jiang, an Australian-based analyst of Chinese-Russian relations, told RFE/RL. China and Russia have yet to agree on the terms of gas delivered via the new route, including pricing. Jiang notes that negotiations are complex and that further complications could arise over uncertainty about China's natural-gas needs after 2030, when its reliance on renewables is expected to rise and domestic gas consumption could be phased down. Adding to this, Russia's ultimate revenue could be marginal compared to other pipeline deals struck by the Kremlin and would not be able to match what has been lost from European sales. The investment firm BCS Global Markets estimates that Power of Siberia-2 would bring in $12 billion a year for Gazprom and send some $4.6 billion in taxes to the state. That latter amount is less than half of Russia's average monthly energy revenues in 2023 but very welcome amid the Kremlin's costly war in Ukraine. China's Energy Strategy Beijing prioritizes its energy security and has been active in securing natural-gas contracts for larger quantities than it actually needs in order to avoid being too dependent on any one exporter. Russian gas currently makes up a small portion of China's overall market, with overland pipelines that transit Central Asia from Turkmenistan -- as well as long-term contracts with Qatar, the United States, Australia, and other energy players for liquefied natural gas (LNG) making up the rest of its supplies. Diversification is central to China's gas deals and Xi also offered support for the construction of the so-called Line D pipeline -- which would be the fourth to bring Turkmen gas to China -- during a summit with Central Asian leaders in May. Alicja Bachulska, a China policy expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told RFE/RL that China has yet to signal "what its demand for Russian gas will be in the future" and that Beijing is hesitant about over relying "on Russia when it comes to gas imports." She added that even if the pipeline were to be approved, "its full completion will take years and many more rounds of hard negotiations regarding pricing and other related issues" that would delay any impact on China's energy market and Russian state coffers. The Atlantic Council's Webster notes that the pipeline's approval is far from a certainty and Putin's upcoming trip may see the Russian leader leave Beijing without a clear commitment on Power of Siberia-2. But he said China may still offer other forms of support during the trip to signal their close bilateral ties. "China might be more willing to offer Russia benefits in other areas that are not natural gas," Webster said. "Maybe it's favorable terms in oil or nonlethal assistance in other sectors. China has lots of options to assuage Russia that don't involve Power of Siberia-2." Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-china-gas-putin- pipeline/32638212.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 Republika Srpska Seeking to Sign Deal on Russian Gas Supplies by End of 2023 - Prime Minister Sputnik News 20231015 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Republika Srpska expects to sign an agreement on long-term gas supplies from Russia before the end of the year, Prime Minister Radovan Viskovic said. On Thursday, the Russian Cabinet of Ministers said that Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak discussed with Viskovic the conclusion of a long-term contract for the supply of Russian gas to the republic. "We expect that we will sign an agreement on long-term gas supplies from the Russian Federation before the end of this year. We received confirmation during a meeting with Mr. Novak, which was also attended by Gazprom management. Now we are at the negotiation stage and believe that there will be no problems on this issue," Viskovic said in an interview with Russian newspaper Izvestia. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian Su-27 Takes to Air After US Drone Approaches Border Sputnik News 20231015 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian armed forces have scrambled a Su-27 fighter jet after a US reconnaissance drone Global Hawk approached the Russian border in the Black Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday, adding that a violation of the border was prevented. "In order to identify the air target and prevent violation of the Russian state border, a Su-27 fighter aircraft from the air defense duty force took to the air. The crew of the Russian fighter jet identified the air target as a US Air Force RQ-4B Global Hawk reconnaissance UAV," the ministry said. As the fighter jet approached the drone, it turned away from the border, and the Su-27 safely returned to the home airfield, the ministry said. The flight of the Russian jet was carried out in strict accordance with international rules for the use of airspace over neutral waters without crossing air routes and dangerous approach of foreign aircraft, the ministry said. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Secretary Blinken's Meeting with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman US Department of State Readout Office of the Spokesperson October 15, 2023 The below is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller: Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met today with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh. The Secretary highlighted the United States' unwavering focus on halting terrorist attacks by Hamas, securing the release of all hostages, and preventing the conflict from spreading. The two affirmed their shared commitment to protecting civilians and to advancing stability across the Middle East and beyond. They emphasized the importance of reaching a comprehensive political agreement to achieve peace, prosperity, and security in Yemen and the importance of our continuing partnership to end the conflict in Sudan. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address PM meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan: 15 October 2023 Prime Minister Rishi Sunak welcomed his Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan to Downing Street today. 15 October 2023 Prime Minister Rishi Sunak welcomed His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan to Downing Street this afternoon, to discuss the conflict between Israel and Hamas and implications for regional security. The leaders welcomed the historic and enduring cooperation between the United Kingdom and Jordan, which is particularly important during times of crisis. The Prime Minister reiterated the UK's support for Israel's right to defend itself following last week's terrorist attack and said Hamas' abhorrent actions should not undermine the just cause of the Palestinian people. They discussed diplomatic efforts to prevent further escalation in the wider Middle East, working with regional leaders as well as the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority. The leaders also agreed on the importance of taking measures to protect civilians in Gaza, including British and Jordanian citizens caught up in the violence, as well as ensuring humanitarian aid reaches those in need. The Prime Minister thanked King Abdullah for Jordan's support for British nationals wishing to leave the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and the leaders agreed to remain in close contact in the coming days and weeks. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia Continues Assault Around Avdiyivka In Largest Ukraine Offensive In Months By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service October 15, 2023 Russian forces have continued to attack Ukrainian positions around the town of Avdiyivka in the eastern Donetsk region in Moscow's largest offensive in months. The General Staff of Ukraine's military said on October 15 its forces had repelled 15 Russian attacks near Avdiyivka as well as in Tonenke and Pervomaiske in the Donetsk region. "The adversary keeps trying to break through Ukrainian defenses, to no success," it said on Facebook. A Russian force of between 2,000 and 3,000 men on October 10 launched an offensive on Avdiyivka, located 15 kilometers northwest of Donetsk city, in an attempt to encircle Ukrainan troops. Vitaliy Barabash, head of Avdiyivka's military administration, said Russian forces had been ordered to capture all of the Donesk region by December 31. "They understand: if they take the height of Avdiyivka, then it will be easier for them to reach Pokrovsk and so on. Therefore, Avdiyivka is extremely important for them," Barabash said. Pokrovsk lies 54 kilometers northwest from Avdiyivka, near the Donetsk region's border with the Dnipropetrovsk region. Russia last year claimed to have annexed the Donetsk region along with three other Ukrainian territories even though it does not fully control them. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on October 13 that he was confident that Ukrainian troops could repel the Russian attack. He said it appeared that Russia was throwing poorly trained troops into the battles around Avdiyivka, a tactic commonly referred to as human waves. Ukrainian military officials said they anticipated the attack on the city and had beefed up defenses. The Institute for the Study of War noted on October 14 that Russian military bloggers complained the offensive was being slowed by mines, an indication that Ukraine indeed anticipated the offensive. Russia is also using unusually large numbers of armored vehicles in the offensive, it noted. Avdiyivka, home to a large coke factory used in the prodution of steel, had a pre-invasion population of 32,000. About 1,600 people remain, Ukrainian authorities have said. It is impossible to evacuate them under the current Russian offensive, officials have said. Two Ukrainian civilians were killed in Avdiyivka on October 14 as the city was hit with shelling so fierce that emergency crews were unable to recover the dead. Elsewhere, an early-morning attack on October 15 that targeted a village in the Izyum district in northeast Ukraine's Kharkiv region destroyed a home and left a 57-year-old man and a 54-year-old woman dead, according to regional military head Oleh Synyehubov. Two other districts in the Kharkiv region also came under shelling early on October 15, according to the military official. Synyehubov said that in one of the districts, Kupyansk, "fierce fighting" continued and that Ukrainian forces had repelled 10 Russian attacks. Two people were also killed and three more injured in Ukraine's southern Kherson region after it was bombarded by more than 100 shells over the weekend, local Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on social media. Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking on state television on October 15, said that Russian forces were in a state of "active defense." "This concerns the areas of Kupyansk, Zaporizhzhya, and Avdiyivka," Putin said. On October 14, Kyiv said that Russian forces had "not stopped assaulting" Avdiyivka for days, although Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that forces defending the city were holding their ground. Ukrainian military spokeswoman Natalya Humenyuk said on October 14 that Russian forces in Ukraine's south were resorting to air strikes at night targeting residential areas, civilian infrastructure, and agricultural enterprises. Ukrainian efforts to counter the attacks in the area, Humenyuk said, were currently focused around the Dniepr River. While both Russia and Ukraine have denied targeting civilians, the UN said this week that 9,806 civilians have been killed and 17,962 have been injured as the result of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine that began on February 2022. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-russia-avdiyivka-kharkiv- strikes/32638227.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 Ukraine Suffers Loss of 410 Troops in DPR - Russian Defense Ministry Sputnik News 20231015 Russia's Ministry of Defense has reported on the progress of the special military operation, which aims to protect the people of Donbass from Ukrainian attacks. The Russian army repulsed five enemy attacks in the DPR, according to an official report issued on Sunday. The enemy has lost up to 410 Ukrainian servicemen killed and wounded, two armored combat vehicles and three motor vehicles. In the direction of Kupyansk, the Russian Armed Forces repelled six enemy attacks. More than 50 Ukrainian troops, one tank, two armored combat vehicles, two pickup trucks and one Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system were eliminated. Three Ukrainian attacks were beaten back by the Russian army in the LPR. Enemy losses amounted to up to 180 Ukrainian servicemen killed and wounded, three armored combat vehicles and two pickup trucks. In the area of South Donetsk, the Russian military repelled one enemy attack. As many as 155 Ukrainian servicemen, two armored combat vehicles and three motor vehicles were neutralized. Russia's forces repulsed one Ukrainian assault on the Zaporozhye region. Up to 55 Ukrainian troops, two armored combat vehicles, three motor vehicles, one US M777 artillery system and one D-30 howitzer were destroyed. Russia's air defense forces intercepted three US-made HIMARS MLRS missiles during the day. Some 488 Ukrainian aircraft and 250 helicopters, 7,888 unmanned aerial vehicles, 441 air defense missile systems, 12,640 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,163 combat vehicles equipped with MLRS, 6,771 field artillery guns and mortars, and 14,297 pieces of special military equipment were destroyed in total since the start of the special military operation. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Putin: Ukraine's Counteroffensive Utterly Failed Sputnik News 20231015 Ukraine launched its much-touted counteroffensive attempt early in June, and quickly ran up against solid Russian defenses and minefields. According to the latest data, the Kiev regime lost over 90,000 troops, 557 tanks and almost 1,900 armored vehicles Ukraine's counteroffensive has failed completely, but the Zelensky regime is preparing new active offensive operations in certain zones of the conflict, which Russia is aware of and is responding accordingly, Russian President Vladimir Putin assured. "As for the counteroffensive, which is apparently stalling - it has failed completely. We know that in certain areas of the hostilities, however, the opposing side is preparing new active offensive operations. We see this, and we know it. And we are also responding to this accordingly," Putin said in an interview with reporter Pavel Zarubin, published on Sunday. Russia's troops are now bolstering their position practically across the entire conflict zone, and these actions can be described as an active defense with improved positions in some areas, including in the directions of Kupyansk, Zaporozhye, and Avdeyevka, Putin explained. "What is currently happening along the entire frontline is called an 'active defense'. Our troops are improving their positions over a considerable expanse of this area, a fairly extensive one," Vladimir Putin pointed out. The president also thanked Russia's top military brass and the servicemen on the front lines of the special military operation for their courage and heroism. "I would like to thank the Armed Forces, the leadership of the Armed Forces, but first of all our servicemen on the front lines for their bravery and heroism," Putin emphasized. Putin Rubbishes US Speculation About War with Russia, China The recommendations of the US Congress to prepare for a simultaneous war with Russia and China, which are also nuclear powers, cannot be called healthy thoughts, it is nonsense, most likely, the congressmen are just scaring each other, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. On Thursday, a US congressional commission issued a report saying that the United States was ill-prepared for such risks as the conflict with Russia and China. "I don't think people in their right mind should or can have such a notion. But if they do, it only makes us wary. And even more so, to go to war with both Russia and China at once. [That's] nonsense, of course. I don't think it's serious. They are just frightening one another, I think," Putin told the press. US Goading Reluctant Europe to Clash with Russia, China Washington is forcing its allies to aggravate ties with Russia and China, but Europe does not want any sort of souring in relations with Beijing, while Moscow is not trying to create a military alliance with China, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. "We have already said many times: we are not uniting into some kind of military alliance, yet the Americans are doing just that. Moreover, they are forcing their allies to worsen relations with Russia and China," Putin stressed. "They themselves have entered into a confrontation with China... They are dragging the Europeans down this path. The Europeans do not want to pick a fight with China. Europe's trade with China is persistently growing, even more than Russia-China trade. The Europeans do not want to jeopardize their relations with China, but they are being pushed to do so by the Americans," the Russian president noted. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Everyone must do their part in defense to prevent Russian terror from stopping Ukraine this winter - address by the President President of Ukraine 15 October 2023 - 21:16 I wish you health, fellow Ukrainians! A few important things about this day. All day long, power engineers and rescuers have been working very actively in Kherson region and also in Donetsk region to eliminate the consequences of strikes on power facilities. In particular, there were power outages in Kherson today due to Russian bombs. Our repair crews are doing their best. As of now, Kherson has electricity and water supply restored in almost the entire city, except for ten houses in the Tavriyskyi neighborhood. As for these houses, the repair work should be completed tomorrow. We must be aware that there will be more such Russian attacks as winter approaches - on generation facilities and the grid. We must be prepared for this. We will strengthen our air defense as much as possible in the current circumstances. And even more: we are agreeing with our partners on such defense steps that have not been used before. However, a lot will depend on the readiness of local authorities, particularly in cities, and on the preparatory work of energy companies and telecom operators. Everyone has to do their part in defense to prevent Russian terror from stopping Ukraine this winter. Just like on the battlefield, we must be as resilient and strong as possible in all areas. The week's schedule includes new meetings, new conversations with partners on strengthening Ukraine and our defense. We will also work to make the reconstruction process in Ukraine more active. We are also preparing new steps to ensure that in the current security situation in the world, attention to Ukraine is maintained at a sufficient level. Ukrainian diplomats, intelligence, and security forces continue to work to help our citizens who have found themselves in the Middle East: in Israel and the Gaza Strip. The evacuation of Ukrainians from Israel continues: more than 200 people have already been taken to Romania, mostly women and children. New flights are being prepared. We know about almost 260 Ukrainians who are currently in the Gaza Strip. Currently, the exit from Gaza is blocked for citizens of all countries, but we are working with our partners to evacuate our citizens. Ukrainian diplomats are ready to help every citizen who needs it. Therefore, I once again appeal to all Ukrainians who may be abroad and need help: please contact our diplomatic missions abroad at any time and in any way. And one more thing. Every day our cities, villages in the regions bordering Russia and along the front line are subjected to terrorist attacks by the occupier. And every day, our people receive help there, which is very important. No matter what happens, Ukrainians take care of each other, and the state remains functional. Ukraine cannot be defeated because our people cannot be defeated. Please support and thank everyone who works for the sake of people, who protects lives. Our rescuers, doctors, nurses, volunteers, police officers, utility workers, power engineers - those without whom there would be no normal life. Everyone is important. Everyone deserves gratitude. Today I would like to recognize the firefighters, in particular in Donetsk region, in Pokrovsk. Volodymyr Zhurbenko, Major of the Civil Protection Service. I thank you! Bakhmut district - Roman Lomakin, commander of the fire and rescue unit in Toretsk. Thank you! Our Kherson region - Andriy Diachenko, Captain of the Civil Protection Service, and Vladyslav Perezva, Sergeant of the Civil Protection Service. I thank you guys! Our Zaporizhzhia region - Sergeants of the Civil Protection Service Serhiy Klimansky and Andriy Lotsman. Thank you! And all our warriors. Each and every one of them who is now in combat and on combat posts, on combat missions. Who saves our military after being wounded. Those who train them. Those who repair equipment and maintain the operations of our combat brigades. From Kharkiv region to Kherson region. This includes Kupyansk, positions in the Donetsk sector, Avdiivka. I thank you guys for your strength and for the very significant destruction of the occupier! This is our Maryinka. The directions in Zaporizhzhia. I thank everyone who is fighting for our country and people! Glory to our mighty nation! Ukraine knows how to be strong. And we will withstand. We have to endure and prevail. And we will. Glory to Ukraine! NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Top procuratorate orders arrest of former chairman of Bank of China Xinhua) 15:22, October 16, 2023 BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) has ordered the arrest of Liu Liange, former chairman of the board of directors of the Bank of China, for suspected bribe-taking and illegal loan-issuing, the SPP said Monday. The case was transferred to procuratorial authorities for examination and prosecution following the conclusion of an investigation by the National Commission of Supervision. Further handling of the case is currently underway. (Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun) Phase 1 study for SB16, proposed biosimilar to Prolia, demonstrates pharmacokinetic (PK) bioequivalence between SB16, EU-sourced denosumab, and US-sourced denosumab in healthy male study participants Phase 3 study shows biosimilarity of SB16 with reference denosumab through equivalent efficacy and comparable pharmacodynamics (PD), PK, immunogenicity, and safety up to Month 12 INCHEON, Korea, Oct. 15, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Samsung Bioepis Co., Ltd. today presented two clinical study data for SB16, a proposed biosimilar to Prolia (denosumab), at the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) 2023 Annual Meeting being held from October 13 to 16 in Vancouver, BC, Canada. The Phase 1 study was a randomized, double-blind, three-arm, multi-center, parallel group and single-dose study to demonstrate the pharmacokinetic (PK) equivalence between SB16, EU-sourced denosumab (EU-DEN), and US-sourced denosumab (US-DEN) in healthy male participants. The primary PK endpoints were area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) from time zero to infinity, AUC from time zero to the last quantifiable concentration, and maximum serum concentration. All of the corresponding 90% Confidence Intervals (CIs) of geometric least squares means (LSMeans) ratio of primary PK parameters for comparison of SB16 and EU-DEN, SB16 and US-DEN, and EU-DEN and US-DEN were within the pre-defined equivalence margin (0.80-1.25). The Phase 3 study was a randomized double-blind study to compare efficacy, safety, PK, pharmacodynamics (PD) and immunogenicity of SB16 with reference denosumab in postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMO) patients. The study met its primary endpoints percent (%) change from baseline in lumbar spine bone mineral density (BMD) at Month 12 with the difference in LSMeans % of 0.39 for per-protocol set (95% CI: 0.36 - 1.13), 0.33 for full analysis set (90% CI: 0.25 - 0.91), being fully contained within the pre-defined equivalence margin. We are pleased to present clinical data for SB16 for the first time at the ASBMR Annual Meeting. Through Phase 1 and 3 clinical studies, SB16 demonstrated biosimilarity to reference denosumab, meeting all the primary endpoints in both studies, said Ilsun Hong, Vice President and Product Evaluation Team Leader at Samsung Bioepis. As we continue to advance with our biosimilar development, our endeavors to enhance understanding of biosimilars among healthcare professionals will continue through our scientific research, publication and educational activities, she added. The details of the SB16 abstracts presented at ASBMR 2023 Annual Meeting are as below: Presentation Title Presentation Details A Phase I, Randomized, Double-blind, Single-dose Study to Evaluate the Biosimilarity of SB16 (Proposed Denosumab Biosimilar) with Reference Denosumab in Healthy Male Subjects Presentation Number: SAT-447 Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Session: Poster Session I Session Date/Time: Saturday, October 14, 2023, 1:30 pm 3:00 pm A Randomized, Double-blind, Phase III Study to Compare SB16 (Proposed Denosumab Biosimilar) to Reference Denosumab in Patients with Postmenopausal Osteoporosis Presentation Number: SUN-432 Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Session: Poster Session II Session Date/Time: Sunday, October 15, 2023, from 1:30 pm 3:00 pm About SB16 Phase 1 Study In a randomized, double-blind, three-arm, multi-center, parallel group and single-dose study, 168 healthy male subjects between 28-55 years of age were randomized in a ratio of 1:1:1 to receive a single 60 mg dose of either SB16, EU-DEN, or US-DEN subcutaneously. PK, PD, safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity were evaluated for 197 days. The primary PK endpoints were AUC from time zero to infinity, AUC from time zero to the last quantifiable concentration, and maximum serum concentration. Equivalence was determined if 90% CIs for the ratio of geometric LSMeans of the treatment groups compared were within the equivalence margin of 0.80 to 1.25. About SB16 Phase 3 Study 457 PMO patients were randomized in a 1:1 ratio to receive either 60 mg of SB16 or DEN subcutaneously at Month 0, Month 6, and Month 12. At Month 12, patients in DEN group were re-randomized in a 1:1 ratio to switch to SB16 or maintain DEN. The primary endpoint was percent (%) change from baseline in lumbar spine BMD at Month 12. Equivalence between SB16 and DEN was declared if the 95% CI (per-protocol set) and 90% CI (full-analysis set) of LSMeans difference of % change in lumbar spine BMD at Month 12 were within the pre-defined equivalence margin. Other secondary efficacy, PD (serum C-telopeptide of type I collagen [CTX] and procollagen type I N-terminal propeptide [P1NP]), PK, immunogenicity, and safety endpoints were also measured. About Samsung Bioepis Co., Ltd. Established in 2012, Samsung Bioepis is a biopharmaceutical company committed to realizing healthcare that is accessible to everyone. Through innovations in product development and a firm commitment to quality, Samsung Bioepis aims to become the world's leading biopharmaceutical company. Samsung Bioepis continues to advance a broad pipeline of biosimilar candidates that cover a spectrum of therapeutic areas, including immunology, oncology, ophthalmology, hematology, and endocrinology. For more information, please visit: www.samsungbioepis.com and follow us on social media Twitter, LinkedIn. References __________________________ i Prolia is a trademark of Amgen. Atlanta, Oct. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Executive MBA (EMBA) offered by Georgia State Universitys J. Mack Robinson College of Business is 3rd for overall satisfaction among U.S.-based programs and 7th globally in the 2023 Financial Times ranking of the worlds top 100 programs. Overall satisfaction is determined by an average evaluation by alumni of the course, scored out of 10. After alumni answered various questions about their EMBA experience, they were asked to rate their overall satisfaction on a 10-point scale. The Georgia State EMBA scored 9.62. Only two U.S.-based EMBA programs had higher overall satisfaction scores: MIT Sloan School of Management (9.80) and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (9.71). The British publication provides the overall satisfaction score for information only; it is not used in the rankings. We are gratified that our alumni remain so highly satisfied with Georgia States Executive MBA years after their graduation, said Chris Hilario, EMBA program director. We believe this metric speaks to the growth they experience during the program and their subsequent career progress, the deep level of individual engagement between students and faculty, and opportunities for continued involvement after graduation all hallmarks of the program since its establishment in 1982. The Financial Times determines its rankings of the top 100 programs by surveying schools and EMBA program alumni who graduated three years prior. The class of 2020 was surveyed for this years ranking. Data included in the evaluation include career progress, school diversity, research, ESG (environmental, social, and governance) course content and carbon footprint. The Georgia State EMBA is ranked 21st among U.S.-based programs and 11th among public university programs. The Georgia State EMBA prepares leaders for whats next in their careers. The 17-month program, taught at the universitys Buckhead Center, broadens mid-to senior-level managers understanding of global business and strengthens their professional networks. The program format (every other weekend) allows participants to earn an MBA while maintaining their careers. Learn more about the Executive MBA program at Georgia State Universitys Robinson College of Business at https://robinson.gsu.edu/emba. Attachment Pune, India, Oct. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global carbon steel market size was valued at USD 894.62 billion in 2022. The market is projected to grow from USD 916.79 billion in 2023 to USD 1,245.62 billion by 2030, exhibiting a CAGR of 4.5% during the forecast period. Carbon steel, an alloy of iron and carbon with carbon content ranging from 0.05% to 2.0%, offers superior mechanical properties and cost-effectiveness, making it widely used in construction, oil and gas, manufacturing, and automotive industries. Its high strength, versatility, and good machinability contribute to the anticipated growth of the market in the forecast period. Fortune Business Insights presents this information in their report titled "Carbon Steel Market Size, Share and Report Forecast, 20232030." Get a Sample Research PDF: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/sample/carbon-steel-market-108494 List of Major Players Profiled in the Carbon Steel Market Report: ArcelorMittal (Luxembourg) NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION. (Japan) POSCO (South Korea) Baosteel Group Corporation (China) JFE Steel Corporation (Japan) Tata Steel Limited (India) United States Steel Corporation (U.S.) ThyssenKrupp AG (Germany) HBIS Group (China) JSW Steel Corporation (India) Competitive Landscape: Major Players Forge Partnerships and Innovate for Growth in the Consolidated Market Major players in a consolidated carbon steel market focus on competitive pricing and innovative applications, investing in new production technologies and sustainable solutions. Strategic partnerships enhance resource sharing, network expansion, and operational efficiency, driving the development of advanced products and technologies. Key Industry Development: July 2021: ArcelorMittal entered an agreement to acquire an 80% stake in voestalpine's HBI plant, which has an annual capacity of two million tonnes of high-quality HBI feedstock utilized in steel manufacturing. COVID-19 Impact: Supply Chain Disruptions Hit Steel Industry Hard Amid Pandemic Lockdowns and labor restrictions disrupted raw material supply for steel manufacturing, causing shortages of iron ore and logistical challenges in shipping due to movement limitations and border closures. Steel mills' reduced operations under health and safety regulations led to decreased production capacity and product availability. Browse Detailed Summary of Research Report with TOC: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/carbon-steel-market-108494 Segments: Low Carbon Steel Segment Leads with Formability and Cost-Effectiveness By type, the market is segmented into low carbon-steel, medium carbon-steel, high-carbon steel, and ultra-high carbon-steel. The low carbon steel segment commands a substantial market share and is expected to continue its dominance, valued for its exceptional formability, weldability, and cost-effectiveness, serving various applications requiring low strength and high ductility. Building & Construction Segment Growth Fueled by Growing Popularity of Prefabricated Construction By application, the market is classified into building and construction, automotive & transportation, industrial equipment, and others. The building & construction sector leads the market. It is driven by policy support for housing infrastructure in emerging economies. In contrast, the rising popularity of prefabricated construction further boosts demand due to carbon-steel's strength, durability, and ease of use in such applications. From the regional ground, the market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. Report Coverage: The market research report presents a comprehensive market examination, emphasizing crucial elements, including the competitive environment, distribution channels, and prominent product categories. Furthermore, the report provides valuable observations on market trends and significant industry advancements. Apart from the aforementioned factors, the report encompasses numerous variables that have bolstered market expansion in recent times. Drivers and Restraints: Carbon Steel's Durability and Affordability Drive Demand in Global Infrastructure Projects Carbon-steel's durability, strength, and affordability make it a favored choice for infrastructure projects such as railways, airports, and bridges, driving its demand amidst global infrastructure expansion. Additionally, its use in replacing and maintaining existing facilities, coupled with industrial growth, urbanization, and government investments, further strengthens its position as a vital material across multiple industries. However, the carbon steel market growth might be stifled by environmental regulations influencing international trade dynamics, potentially resulting in export restrictions or import barriers for the product. Get a Quote Now: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/get-a-quote/carbon-steel-market-108494 Regional Insights: Asia Pacific Dominates Due to Industrialization and Infrastructure Growth Asia Pacific's market reached USD 546.49 billion in 2022, driven by rapid industrialization and infrastructure growth, especially in China and India. The construction industry contributes significantly, particularly the demand for steel in building structures and transportation infrastructure. In Europe, the focus on infrastructure development, transport networks, and energy projects enhances steel demand. The automotive sector, a major steel consumer, also drives a substantial carbon steel market share. Detailed Table of Contents: Introduction Research Scope Market Segmentation Research Methodology Definitions and Assumptions Executive Summary Market Dynamics Market Drivers Market Restraints Market Opportunities Key Insights Key Emerging Trends For Major Regions Key Developments: Mergers, Acquisition, Partnership, etc. Latest Technological Advancement Insights on Regulatory Scenario Porters Five Forces Analysis Qualitative Insights Impact of COVID-19 on Global Carbon Steel Market Supply Chain Challenges Steps taken by Government/Companies to overcome this impact Potential opportunities due to COVID-19 outbreak Global Carbon Steel Market Analysis, Insights, and Forecast, 2019-2030 Key Findings / Summary By Type (Value and Volume) Low Carbon Steel Medium Carbon Steel High Carbon Steel Ultra-High Carbon Steel By Application (Value and Volume) Building & Construction Automotive & Transportation Industrial Equipment Others By Region (Value and Volume) North America Europe Asia Pacific Latin America Middle East & Africa TOC Continued! Inquire Before Buying: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/queries/carbon-steel-market-108494 Read Related Insights: Stainless Steel Market to Reach USD 305.56 Billion by 2030 Steel Slag Marke t to Hit USD 38.28 Billion by 2030 Flat Steel Market Set to Reach USD 734.77 Billion by 2030 About Us: Fortune Business Insights delivers accurate data and innovative corporate analysis, helping organizations of all sizes make appropriate decisions. We tailor novel solutions for our clients, assisting them to address various challenges distinct to their businesses. Our aim is to empower them with holistic market intelligence, providing a granular overview of the market they are operating in. Contact Us: Fortune Business Insights Pvt. Ltd. 9th Floor, Icon Tower, Baner, Mahalunge Road, Baner, Pune - 411045, Maharashtra, India. Phone: US: +1 424 253 0390 UK: +44 2071 939123 APAC: +91 744 740 1245 Email: sales@fortunebusinessinsights.com Attachment Pune, India, Oct. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global e-commerce packaging market was USD 46.50 billion in 2022 and the market is anticipated to expand from USD 49.74 billion in 2023 to USD 86.93 billion by 2030, exhibiting a CAGR of 8.3% over the study period. The surge is driven by the increasing product demand in developing economies due to soaring disposable income. An additional factor fueling industry expansion in these countries is the growing number of smartphone users. Fortune Business Insights provides this information in its research report, titled E-commerce Packaging Market, 2023-2030. Get a Sample Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/e-commerce-packaging-market-104885 List of Key Players Mentioned in the E-commerce Packaging Market Report are: Amcor plc (Switzerland) Mondi Group (U.K.) International Paper Company (U.S.) Smurfit Kappa (Ireland) DS Smith (London) Klabin S.A (Brazil) Georgia-Pacific LLC (U.S.) Rengo Co., Ltd. (Japan) Orora Packaging Australia Pty Ltd. (Australia) Berry Global (U.S.) Sealed Air (U.S.) Transcontinental Inc. (Canada) Report Scope & Segmentation: Report Attributes Details Forecast Period 2023-2030 Forecast CAGR 8.3% 2030 Value Projection USD 86.93 Billion Market Size in 2023 USD 49.74 Billion Historical Data 2019-2021 No. of Pages 253 Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Company Profiles, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors and Latest Trends Segments Covered By Material By Packaging Type By End-user Regions Covered North America Europe Asia Pacific Latin America Middle East and Africa E-commerce Packaging Market Growth Drivers The surge in online purchases of essential items has significantly contributed to market expansion during the pandemic. Allocating resources towards the adoption of environmentally sustainable packaging will enhance market growth Browse Detailed Summary of Research Report with TOC: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/e-commerce-packaging-market-104885 Segmentation: Paper & Paperboard Segment to Lead, Impelled by Wide Product Usage in the Food & Beverage Sector On the basis of material, the market is subdivided into plastic, glass, paper & paperboard, and others. The paper & paperboard segment holds a dominant share in the market and is set to record notable growth over the projected period. The rise is driven by the extensive use of paperboard for packaging food items such as dry goods, candy, dairy products, beverages, and frozen foods. Rigid Packaging Segment to Exhibit Fastest Growth, driven by Soaring Deployment for Carrying Heavyweight Products On the basis of packaging type, the market is fragmented into rigid and flexible. The rigid packaging segment is slated to grow at the fastest rate over the forecast period. This can be attributed to the growing usage of rigid packaging solutions in carrying heavyweight items such as electronic goods, fruit, wine, appliances, and vegetables. Food & Beverages Segment Holds Major Share Owing to Rise in Brand Loyalty Programs On the basis of end-users, the market for e-commerce packaging is subdivided into food & beverages, apparel & accessories, pharmaceuticals, electronics & electrical, personal care & cosmetics, and automotive. The food & beverages segment holds a key share in the global market. The expansion can be credited to an increase in online food delivery and an upsurge in brand loyalty programs. Based on geography, the market for e-commerce packaging has been analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. Report Coverage: The E-commerce packaging market research report gives an in-depth analysis of the major factors driving the market. It further provides an overview of the key trends in the market. Other components of the report include an account of the pivotal steps undertaken by leading companies to consolidate their market positions. Get a Quote Now: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/get-a-quote/e-commerce-packaging-market-104885 COVID-19 Impact: Market Surged due to Rising Purchase of Essential Commodities from E-commerce Platforms The pandemic period recorded an increase in e-commerce sales as consumers preferred staying away from physical stores due to fear of contracting the virus. Some of the essential products that reached healthcare providers, businesses, and consumers through e-commerce included testing kits, food, vaccines, hand sanitizers, personal protective equipment, and others. These factors favored industry expansion during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drivers and Restraints: Increase in Market Value Owing to Global E-commerce Expansion The e-commerce packaging market growth is being propelled by the expansion of the e-commerce sector across the globe. This can be credited to the escalating internet penetration in emerging economies. An additional factor fueling industry growth is the expansion of online grocery sales channels across North America, Asia Pacific, and Europe. However, the lack of e-commerce awareness among the rural population may restrain market expansion to some extent. Regional Insights: North America to Hold Prominent Market Share Owing to Rising RTE Product Demand North America's e-commerce packaging market share is set to lead the global market. This can be attributed to the surging demand for Ready-to-Eat (RTE) products and a rise in research and development activities. Asia Pacific market is slated to register notable growth over the forecast period. The surge is impelled by the expanding e-commerce sector in the region. Competitive Landscape: Leading Companies Ink Partnership Agreements to Increase Geographical Footprint Major industry players are keen to enter collaborations and partnership agreements for consolidating their market positions. Key companies are also deploying strategic initiatives to increase their geographical footprints and expand the reach of their e-commerce packaging products. Key Industry Development: September 2022 Amcor announced an investment of up to USD 45 million in ePac Flexible Packaging. The investment would enhance the companys minority shareholding in ePac Holdings LLC. Ask for Customization: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/ask-for-customization/e-commerce-packaging-market-104885 Detailed Table of Contents: Introduction Research Scope Market Segmentation Research Methodology Definitions and Assumptions Executive Summary Market Dynamics Market Drivers Market Restraints Market Opportunities Key Insights Key Emerging Trends For Major Countries Latest Industry Advancement Regulatory Landscape SWOT Analysis Porters Five Forces Analysis Impact of COVID-19 on the E-commerce Packaging Market Global E-commerce Packaging Market Analysis (USD Billion), Insights and Forecast, 2018-2029 Key Findings / Summary Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By Material Plastic Paper & Paperboard Glass Others Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By Packaging Type Flexible Bags & Pouches Tapes Wraps & Films Mailers Rigid Corrugated Boxes Bottles Cartons Hinged & Lidded Containers Trays Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By End User Food and Beverages Pharmaceuticals Personal Care & Cosmetics Electronics and Electricals Apparels and Accessories Automotive Others Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By Region North America Europe Asia Pacific Latin America Middle East & Africa North America E-commerce Packaging Market Analysis (USD Billion), Insights and Forecast, 2018-2029 Key Findings / Summary Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By Material Plastic Paper & Paperboard Glass Others Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By Packaging Type Flexible Bags & Pouches Tapes Wraps & Films Mailers Rigid Corrugated Boxes Bottles Cartons Hinged & Lidded Containers Trays Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By End User Food and Beverages Pharmaceuticals Personal Care & Cosmetics Electronics and Electricals Apparels and Accessories Automotive Others TOC Continued...! Speak to Our Expert: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/e-commerce-packaging-market-104885 Read Related Insights: Rigid Packaging Market to Hit USD 625.54 Billion by 2030 | With a CAGR of 5.43% With 5.1% CAGR, Food Packaging Market to Worth USD 478.18 Billion by 2028 | Fortune Business Insights About Us: Fortune Business Insights delivers accurate data and innovative corporate analysis, helping organizations of all sizes make appropriate decisions. We tailor novel solutions for our clients, assisting them to address various challenges distinct to their businesses. Our aim is to empower them with holistic market intelligence, providing a granular overview of the market they are operating in. Address: Fortune Business Insights Pvt. Ltd. 9th Floor, Icon Tower, Baner, Mahalunge Road, Baner, Pune - 411045, Maharashtra, India. Phone: US: +1 424 253 0390 UK: +44 2071 939123 APAC: +91 744 740 1245 Email: sales@fortunebusinessinsights.com Follow Us: LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter Attachment Dublin, Oct. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Neurostimulation Devices - Global Market Insights, Competitive Landscape, and Market Forecast - 2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global neurostimulation devices market is projected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 11.77% from 2023 to 2028, reaching USD 11.34 billion by 2028. This growth is driven by various factors, including the increasing prevalence of chronic neurological diseases, rising demand for neurostimulation devices as add-on therapy, the presence of lifestyle-related diseases such as depression and chronic pain, technological advancements, and a growing geriatric population. Market Dynamics Neurological disorders, such as stroke, brain cancers, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, and migraine, are a leading cause of disability globally. The number of people affected by neurological disorders has been steadily increasing, and this trend is expected to continue. For example, epilepsy affects around 50 million people worldwide, with approximately 2.4 million new cases diagnosed each year. The aging population is contributing to the rise in neurological disorders. The global aging population is expected to double by 2050, leading to an increased risk of neurological conditions. As people age, their risk of conditions like Parkinson's disease and dementia also rises. Companies in the neurostimulation devices market are investing in research and development to create more effective and user-friendly products. These devices provide treatment options for conditions like chronic pain, depression, and epilepsy by modulating electrical brain signals. Key Market Segments The neurostimulation devices market is segmented by device type, application, type, end-user, and geography: Device Types: Spinal Cord Stimulators Deep Brain Stimulators Sacral Nerve Stimulators Vagus Nerve Stimulators Others Applications: Pain Management Bowel and Bladder Control Parkinson's Disease Epilepsy Others Types: Invasive Non-Invasive End-Users: Hospitals Ambulatory Surgical Centers Others Regional Dominance North America is expected to dominate the neurostimulation devices market during the forecast period. This dominance is attributed to a higher prevalence of neurological conditions in the region, a large number of product launches and approvals, the presence of key market players, and increased healthcare spending. For example, in the United States, more than 6 million people live with Alzheimer's disease, and about 90,000 people are diagnosed with Parkinson's disease each year. Key Players Key players in the global neurostimulation devices market include Medtronic PLC, Cyberonics, Boston Scientific Corporation, Abbott Laboratories, Aleva Neurotherapeutic, ElectroCore Inc., EndoStim Inc., Nevro Corporation, and others. Recent Developments Recent developments in the neurostimulation devices market include Merck's collaboration with neuroloop GmbH to develop a neurostimulator device for chronic inflammatory diseases, FDA approval for Nevro Corp.'s Senza System for the treatment of chronic pain associated with diabetic neuropathy, and FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for Unity HA's Pulsante SPG Microstimulator System for the treatment of cluster headaches. Key Takeaways Key takeaways from the market study include market size analysis, recent developments, key players dominating the market, and growth opportunities in the neurostimulation devices market. Target Audience The report is beneficial for neurostimulation devices providers, research organizations, government and corporate offices, start-up companies, distributors and traders, and various end-users interested in the latest technological developments in the market. For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/2xyoka 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. Dublin, Oct. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Neurological Diagnostic and Monitoring Equipment - Global Market Insights, Competitive Landscape, and Market Forecast - 2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global neurological diagnostic and monitoring equipment market is on track to reach $17.33 billion by 2028, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 6.66% during the forecast period from 2023 to 2028. This growth is fueled by the increasing prevalence of neurological disorders, a growing aging population, a rise in traumatic brain injuries, advancements in technology, and government initiatives to raise awareness about early diagnosis and proper management of neurological disorders. Market Dynamics Neurological disorders, such as epilepsy, stroke, Parkinson's disease, and brain tumors, are becoming more prevalent worldwide. For instance, epilepsy affects around 50 million people globally, with a majority of cases in low and middle-income countries. Proper diagnosis and treatment can help improve the lives of these patients. The incidence of brain tumors and cancers is also increasing, with over 308,000 new cases reported in 2020. The demand for early diagnosis of these disorders is driving the need for neurological diagnostic and monitoring equipment. Technological advancements, such as lightweight and portable devices, are making neurological diagnostics more accessible. For example, Nihon Kohden launched VitalEEGT, which provides remote access and Bluetooth communication, eliminating the need for additional cables. Key Market Segments The market is segmented by type, product type, indication, end-user, and geography: Types: Invasive Non-Invasive Product Types: Magneto-Encephalography Devices (MEG) Electroencephalography Devices (EEG) Transcranial Doppler Sonography Devices Cerebral Oximeters Intracranial Pressure Monitors Others Indications: Traumatic Brain Injuries Epilepsy Stroke Others End-Users: Hospitals Diagnostic & Imaging Centers Others Regional Dominance North America is expected to dominate the neurological diagnostic and monitoring equipment market, driven by a high incidence of traumatic brain injuries and a well-developed healthcare system. For example, the U.S. reports nearly 61,000 traumatic brain injury-related deaths each year. Key market players, such as Masimo Corporation, Compumedics Limited, and Natus Medical Incorporated, are also located in the region. The presence of these companies contributes to market growth. Key Players Major players in the global neurological diagnostic and monitoring equipment market include Natus Medical, Inc., Nihon Kohden Corporation, Koninklijke Philips N.V., Compumedics Limited, Croton Healthcare, Ricoh, Elekta AB, Integra LifeSciences, RAUMEDIC AG, Masimo, Cadwell Industries Inc., Nonin, Neurosoft, Brain Scientific, Inc., Recorders & Medicare Systems Pvt Ltd (RMS), Rimed, Allengers, Medtronic, Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, Ybrain, INC, and others. Recent Developments Recent developments in the neurological diagnostic and monitoring equipment market include Brain Scientific's FDA clearance for its Next-Gen NeuroCapT EEG Headset, Raumedic's launch of the Raumed Home ICP device for intracranial pressure monitoring, and Masimo's FDA clearance for O3 Regional Oximetry. Key Takeaways Key takeaways from the market study include market size analysis, recent developments, key players dominating the market, and growth opportunities in the neurological diagnostic and monitoring equipment market. Target Audience The report is beneficial for neurological diagnostic and monitoring equipment providers, research organizations, government and corporate offices, start-up companies, distributors and traders, and various end-users interested in the latest technological developments in the market. For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/lhww05 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. MONTREAL, Oct. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Troilus Gold Corp. (TSX: TLG; OTCQX: CHXMF; FSE: CM5R) (Troilus or the Company), is pleased to report an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the Troilus Project (the Project), located in northcentral Quebec, Canada, within the Frotet-Evans Greenstone Belt. Highlights of the 2023 MRE include: Total Indicated Mineral Resources of 11.21 Moz AuEq (508.3 Mt at 0.69 g/t AuEq), representing an increase of 126% in ounces and a 187% increase in tonnes compared to the 2020 MRE. Additional Inferred Mineral Resources of 1.80 Moz AuEq (80.5 Mt at 0.69 g/t AuEq) Over 99% of the mineral resources in the Indicated category are classified as amenable to Open Pit from zones Z87, J, X22, and Southwest, which will form the basis of the Feasibility Study anticipated for completion in early 2024. Significant definition at the Southwest Zone and the new discovery of Zone X22 were major new contributors to the open pit MRE, accounting for approximately 28% of the AuEq ounces in the Indicated category. The breakdown by zone is as follows: Z87: 5.04Moz (197.1Mt at 0.80g/t AuEq), accounting for approximately 45% of open pit Indicated mineral resources. J Zone: 2.98 Moz AuEq (151.9Mt at 0.61g/t AuEq), contributing 27% to the open pit Indicated mineral resources. Southwest Zone: 1.89Moz AuEq (98.0Mt at 0.60 g/t AuEq), accounting for nearly 17% of the open pit mineral resources in the Indicated category. A significant increase compared to the 583,000 oz AuEq (22.6 Mt at 0.80 g/t AuEq) Inferred ounces in the 2020 MRE. Zone X22: Discovered in late 2022, and with only 23,256 metres drilled, this zone contributed 1.19Moz AuEq (59.2Mt at 0.62 g/t AuEq) or 11% of total open pit Indicated mineral resources. Justin Reid, CEO and Director of Troilus commented, The significant growth of this Mineral Resource Estimate reflects the focused and dedicated efforts of our exploration team over the past three years, with a remarkable 126% increase in ounces and a 187% surge in tonnes compared to our 2020 estimate. With an 11.21 Moz AuEq Indicated resource, we believe our project is firmly positioned among North America's largest undeveloped gold-copper deposits. The definition of the Southwest Zone and the recently discovered X22 Zone has been especially rewarding, with these zones contributing close to 30% of the increased resource. We are also gratified with the excellent quality of the resource, with most of our ounces appearing in the Indicated category. Furthermore, almost the entirety of these contained ounces are classified as open pit, which will form a strong foundation for our upcoming Feasibility Study, expected to be completed in early 2024. We continue to advance and de-risk our asset with a clear strategic roadmap toward a production scenario, with the goal of ultimately delivering the most value to our shareholders. Figure 1. Mineral Resource Growth in the Indicated Category from 2016-2023 (see Table 1 for complete results, incl. grade/tonnes) https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d74c4348-16d4-465f-b22b-580dd49c6331 Figure 2. Troilus Project Location Map and Mineral Deposits Locations https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ccf71f5d-c20f-4ca3-957b-565aaaf19d52 Figure 3. 2023 MRE Wireframes and Pitshells + Resource Distribution by Zone https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b9a52c9b-7254-4f05-bb8a-e5f9a311cec9 Troilus Project Mineral Resource Estimate This MRE reflects the results of 505 drill holes (216,502 metres of drilling) completed since the mineral resource estimate announced in July 2020. Approximately half of the drilling efforts were focused on the expansion and definition of the Southwest and X22 zones, the two most recently discovered ore bodies, which are both drilled to an Indicated level of confidence and will be included in the Feasibility Studys mining scenario. The updated MRE for the Troilus Project was prepared by Mr. Paul Daigle, Senior Resource Geologist at AGP Mining Consultants Inc. (AGP) in accordance with the National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves. Table 1. Total Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources, All Zones Category Tonnes (Mt) Au (g/t) Cu (%) Ag (g/t) AuEq (g/t) Gold (Moz) Copper (Mlb) Silver (Moz) AuEq (Moz) Indicated 508.3 0.57 0.07 1.09 0.69 9.32 729.50 17.79 11.21 Inferred 80.5 0.58 0.07 1.47 0.69 1.49 115.41 3.81 1.80 Z87 The largest of the two formerly mined pits, zone Z87 contributed 5.04Moz AuEq (197.1Mt at 0.80g/t AuEq), or approximately 45% of the open pit Indicated mineral resources. J Zone The J Zone is the smaller of the two formerly mined pits, contributing 2.98 Moz AuEq (151.9Mt at 0.61g/t AuEq) or 27% to the open pit Indicated mineral resources. Southwest Zone Discovered in late 2019, the Southwest Zone is located ~2.5 kilometres southwest of the formerly mined Z87 pit. 8,500 metres of drill data from this zone was incorporated into the Companys 2020 mineral resource estimate, which resulted in estimated Inferred mineral resources of 583,000 AuEq ounces (22.6 Mt @ 0.80 g/t AuEq). Since then, approximately 100,000 metres (208 holes) of additional drilling were completed in this zone, resulting in a mineralized footprint with a ~2-kilometre strike length, and a significantly expanded mineral resource of 1.89 Moz AuEq (98.0Mt at 0.60 g/t AuEq) in the Indicated category. The Southwest Zone is a major new contributor to the new updated MRE, accounting for nearly 17% of the total Indicated mineral resource of the project. Zone X22 Zone X22 is a NE-SW deformation corridor that originates in the western wall of Zone 87 and extends to the southwest into the Gap Zone. The zone was initially discovered in October 2022 as part of an ongoing drill program targeting the extremities of the Z87 2020 pit shell. A total of 23,256 metres (80 drill holes) have been drilled at X22 since its discovery, which expanded the zones footprint to over 1 kilometre and contributed over 10% of the total open pit Indicated mineral resources of the project with 1.19Moz AuEq (59.2 Mt at 0.62 g/t AuEq). The combination of infill drilling at an increased drill density, and the discovery and expansion of two new mineralized zones, has resulted in a 126% increase in Indicated mineral resources compared to the 2020 MRE, and a conversion from Inferred (2020 MRE) to Indicated (2023 MRE) of nearly 100%. The mineral resource estimates for Z87, J Zone and the Southwest Zone contain both open pit and underground resources, while Zone X22 contains solely open pit mineral resources (see Tables 2 and 3). Figure 4. Open Pit Growth by Zone in the Indicated Category, 2016-2023 https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/db2a87a0-80e8-4280-b38f-41a090ea5a89 Table 2 Total Indicated Mineral Resources, by Zone Zones Tonnes (Mt) Au (g/t) Cu (%) Ag (g/t) AuEq (g/t) Gold (Moz) Copper (Mlb) Silver (Moz) AuEq (Moz) OPEN PIT TOTAL OP 506.2 0.57 0.07 1.09 0.68 9.23 725.66 17.67 11.11 Z87 197.1 0.67 0.07 1.21 0.80 4.21 320.69 7.67 5.04 J Zone 151.9 0.50 0.06 0.96 0.61 2.45 215.71 4.71 2.98 X22 59.2 0.51 0.06 1.24 0.62 0.98 79.34 2.35 1.19 Southwest 98.0 0.50 0.05 0.94 0.60 1.59 109.91 2.94 1.89 UNDERGROUND TOTAL UG 2.1 1.35 0.09 1.90 1.51 0.09 3.84 0.13 0.10 Z87 0.5 1.59 0.15 0.54 1.83 0.02 1.55 0.01 0.03 J Zone 0.2 1.21 0.07 1.46 1.33 0.01 0.29 0.01 0.01 Southwest 1.4 1.28 0.07 2.44 1.42 0.06 2.00 0.11 0.06 Total INDICATED (OP + UG) TOTAL 508.3 0.57 0.07 1.09 0.69 9.32 729.50 17.79 11.21 Table 3. Total Inferred Mineral Resources, by Zone Zones Tonnes (Mt) Au (g/t) Cu (%) Ag (g/t) AuEq (g/t) Gold (Moz) Copper (Mlb) Silver (Moz) AuEq (Moz) OPEN PIT TOTAL OP 76.5 0.53 0.06 1.12 0.65 1.31 108.66 2.75 1.59 Z87 37.1 0.59 0.06 1.11 0.70 0.71 50.17 1.33 0.84 J Zone 24.2 0.46 0.07 0.94 0.57 0.35 35.37 0.73 0.44 X22 13.6 0.53 0.07 1.48 0.67 0.23 21.76 0.65 0.29 Southwest 1.6 0.37 0.04 0.96 0.45 0.02 1.36 0.05 0.02 Underground TOTAL UG 4.0 1.36 0.08 8.21 1.58 0.18 6.75 1.06 0.20 Z87 1.1 1.99 0.12 0.46 2.19 0.07 2.96 0.02 0.08 J Zone 1.0 1.25 0.05 0.99 1.34 0.04 1.13 0.03 0.04 Southwest 1.9 1.05 0.06 16.62 1.37 0.06 2.66 1.01 0.08 Total INFERRED (OP + UG) TOTAL 80.5 0.58 0.07 1.47 0.69 1.49 115.41 3.81 1.80 The MRE sensitivity table (see Table 4) shows the potential for higher-grade Mineral Resources at higher gold equivalent cut-offs. Table 4. Open-Pit MRE Sensitivity Table Cut-off Grade (g/t AuEq) Tonnes (Mt) AuEq (g/t) Au (g/t) Cu (%) Ag (g/t) Gold (Moz) Copper (Mlb) Silver (Moz) AuEq (Moz) Indicated 0.50 264.9 0.95 0.80 0.08 1.33 6.85 477.86 11.30 8.08 0.45 311.8 0.88 0.74 0.08 1.27 7.41 532.64 12.701 8.79 0.40 364.0 0.81 0.68 0.07 1.21 8.01 593.64 14.26 9.55 0.35 432.7 0.74 0.62 0.07 1.15 8.63 659.96 15.96 10.34 0.30 506.2 0.68 0.57 0.07 1.09 9.23 725.66 17.67 11.11 0.25 584.5 0.63 0.52 0.06 1.03 9.76 784.98 19.28 11.80 Inferred 0.50 37.8 0.91 0.77 0.08 1.38 0.94 67.03 1.68 1.11 0.45 45.2 0.84 0.71 0.08 1.31 1.03 75.76 1.91 1.22 0.40 54.0 0.77 0.65 0.07 1.25 1.12 85.85 2.167 1.34 0.35 64.3 0.71 0.59 0.07 1.19 1.22 96.97 2.45 1.47 0.30 76.5 0.65 0.53 0.06 1.12 1.31 108.66 2.75 1.59 0.25 90.9 0.59 0.48 0.06 1.05 1.41 120.41 3.06 1.72 Figure 5 depicts a linear relationship between ore tonnes and grade at variable cutoff grades, outlining a robust resource that has low sensitivity to changing cut-off grades caused by changing market or economic conditions. Figure 5. Grade and Tonnage vs. Cut-off (Indicated Mineral Resources) https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0aad28aa-d820-4a2a-aef5-1ca4f7f20c68 Figure 6. 2023 Mineral Resource Estimate Pit Constrained Block model https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/583e3af5-9d91-437b-8816-3c9f762e5e29 Figure 7. 2020 vs. 2023 Mineral Resource Estimate Cross Sections https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c35370aa-f929-4439-b24c-fa4add5db52b Notes Related to the Mineral Resource Estimate The independent and qualified person for the mineral resource estimate, as defined by NI 43 101, is Paul Daigle, geo., Senior Resource Geologist at AGP. The effective date of the estimate is October 2, 2023. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Summation errors may occur due to rounding. Open pit mineral resources are reported within an optimized constraining shells. Open pit cut-off grade is 0.3 g/t AuEq where the metal equivalents were calculated as follows: Z87 Zone : AuEq = Au grade + 1.5628 * Cu grade + 0.0128 * Ag grade J Zone : AuEq = Au grade + 1.5107 * Cu grade + 0.0119 * Ag grade X22 Zone : AuEq = Au grade + 1.5628 * Cu grade + 0.0128* Ag grade SW Zone : AuEq = Au grade + 1.6823 * Cu grade + 0.0124 * Ag grade Metal prices for the AuEQ formulas are: $US 1,850/ oz Au; $4.25/lb Cu, and $23.00/ oz Ag; with an exchange rate of US$1.00: CAD$1.30 Metal recoveries for the AuEq formulas are: Z87 Zone: 95.5% for Au recovery, 94.7% for Cu recovery and 98.2% for Ag recovery J Zone: 93.1% for Au recovery, 89.3% for Cu recovery and 88.9% for Ag recovery X22 Zone: 95.5% for Au recovery, 94.7% for Cu recovery and 98.2% for Ag recovery SW Zone: 85.7% for Au recovery, 91.5% for Cu recovery and 85.6% for Ag recovery The resource constraining shells were generated with: Metal Prices: Gold $US 1,850/oz, Copper $US 4.25/lb, Silver $US 23/oz Mining Costs: J Zone: waste base $Cdn 2.15/t moved (incremental below 5360 $Cdn 0.039/t moved) ore base $Cdn 2.29/t moved (incremental below 5360 $Cdn 0.036/t moved) 87 Zone Waste base $Cdn 1.99/t moved (incremental below 5360 $Cdn 0.041/t moved) Ore base $Cdn 2.10/t moved (incremental below 5360 $Cdn 0.029/t moved) SW Zone Waste base $Cdn 2.01/t moved (incremental below 5360 $Cdn 0.036/t moved) Ore base $Cdn 2.37/t moved (incremental below 5360 $Cdn 0.028/t moved) X22 Zone Waste base $Cdn 2.15/t moved (incremental below 5360 $Cdn 0.039/t moved) Ore base $Cdn 2.29/t moved (incremental below 5360 $Cdn 0.036/t moved) Process and G&A Costs: $Cdn 9.05/t Wall slopes: varied between 39 and 49 degrees depending on pit area and slope sector. Overall Metal Recoveries: J Zone - 91% Au, 88% Ag, 89% Cu 87 Zone - 94% Au, 98% Ag, 94% Cu SW Zone - 82% Au, 86% Ag, 91% Cu X22 Zone - 93% Au, 98% Ag, 93% Cu (X22 recoveries are estimates based on J Zone. Metallurgical test work is underway for X22) Capping of grades varied between 2.30 g/t Au and 14.60 g/t Au; between 0.07% cu and 4.36 %Cu, and between 4.90 g/t Ag and 55.00 g/t Ag; on raw assays. The density (excluding overburden and fill) varies between 2.64 g/cm3 and 2.93 g/cm3 depending on lithology for each zone. Underground cut-off grade is 0.9 g/t AuEq for Z87, J and SW The complete technical report associated with the updated mineral resource estimate (the Technical Report) will be available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca under the Companys issuer profile, as well as the Companys website at www.troilusgold.com within 45 calendar days. Qualified Persons The technical and scientific information in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Nicolas Guest, P.Geo., Exploration Manager, who is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Guest is an employee of Troilus and is not independent of the Company under NI 43-101. The updated mineral resource estimate disclosed in this press release was prepared by Mr. Paul Daigle, geo., Senior Resource Geologist with AGP. Mr. Paul Daigle, who is an independent Qualified Person as defined under NI 43-101, has reviewed and approved the mineral resource estimate disclosed in this press release. About Troilus Gold Corp. Troilus Gold Corp. is a Canadian-based junior mining company focused on the systematic advancement and de-risking of the former gold and copper Troilus Mine towards production. From 1996 to 2010, the Troilus Mine produced +2 million ounces of gold and nearly 70,000 tonnes of copper. Troilus claims cover 435 km in the top-rated mining jurisdiction of Quebec, Canada, within the Frotet-Evans Greenstone Belt. Since acquiring the project in 2017, ongoing exploration success has demonstrated the tremendous scale potential of the gold system on the property with significant mineral resource growth. Led by an experienced team with a track record of successful mine development, Troilus is positioned to become a cornerstone project in North America. For more information: Justin Reid Chief Executive Officer, Troilus Gold Corp. +1 (647) 276-0050 x 1305 justin.reid@troilusgold.com Caroline Arsenault VP Corporate Communications +1 (647) 407-7123 info@troilusgold.com Cautionary statements SPRINGFIELD, Ohio, Oct. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Adam Oswalt is the owner of the Minuteman Press franchise in Springfield, Ohio since April of 2023. Adam purchased independent printing business Armstrong Printing, which is now operating as Minuteman Press, Springfield. The business remains at the same location - 222 E. Main St., Springfield, OH 45503. Since buying the business, Adam has grown the business by maintaining key relationships with clients, providing high quality products and service, and marketing to new customers. RVP Gary Nowak shares, Adam Oswalt bought the business from Carol McCoy, who was involved with Armstrong Printing for over 40 years and owned the business for the last 4 years. Adam left a 15-year career as Global Product Manager with Select Sires, a company that helps with the healthy breeding of dairy cows, to open Minuteman Press in Springfield. He is absolutely committed to taking Minuteman Press to the highest levels. I congratulate Adam and look forward to continuing to support Minuteman Press in Springfield as he builds his business. Minuteman Press franchise, Springfield, Ohio (formerly Armstrong Printing). Pictured L-R: Aaron, Chelsea, Shelly, and owner Adam Oswalt. Adam shares his insights on buying the business and what his experience has been like with Minuteman Press: Why did you choose Minuteman Press? Adam Oswalt: By staying in contact with RVP Gary Nowak, we were grateful to be given the opportunity to buy Armstrong Printing and then transition to Minuteman Press, Springfield. The business was in our hometown, well managed and had wonderful owners. It was an easy decision to act. We were drawn to the Minuteman Press franchise because of its legacy, reasonable franchise costs, business model, and investment opportunity. What does it mean to own your own business? Adam Oswalt: I came from a corporate position where I enjoyed building relationships with other business owners. The MMP model allows me to continue serving customers while being my own boss and being responsible for my future. Its great owning a business that plays a part in our small community. What has the training and initial support from Minuteman Press been like for you? Adam Oswalt: Hearing great things about the support and training also goes into reasons that led me to becoming a franchise owner. Initial support was great - I feel like I received enough help to not feel secluded, but not so much that I felt managed. Ive learned many important lessons as well over the first few months in business and appreciate the ongoing support from Gary Nowak and team. What are some of the ways printing can help other local businesses today? Adam Oswalt: It starts with awareness. Customers must be aware you exist and how you can solve their problems. If a business is not being seen and not using print or signage to promote itself, it will be nonexistent. It is a fierce battle to grab our attention every day. Business owners who are wanting to grow must make an effort to get in front of potential customers. There are so many opportunities to do this with print that it can be overwhelming to a busy business owner. Fortunately, thats where we can help. Whether its signs, EDDM or direct marketing, its all customizable and suitable for all budget allocations. What advice would you give to others who are looking to acquire a business? Adam Oswalt: Spend time with the person helping you broker the purchase. A good relationship will make it more enjoyable because you will spend a lot of time with them and you want to feel confident they have your best interest in mind. Similarly, meet and get to know the seller as soon as possible. Lastly, have patience, positivity, and always be prompt. Congratulations! Minuteman Press is Springfield, Ohio is located at 222 E. Main St., Springfield, OH 45503. For more information, visit their website: https://minuteman.com/us/locations/oh/springfield/ Learn more about #1 rated Minuteman Press franchise opportunities and read Minuteman Press franchise reviews at https://minutemanpressfranchise.com. Media Contact: Minuteman Press International Chris Biscuiti, 631-249-1370 cbiscuiti@mpihq.com A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/fc19b3ea-e611-4a21-a076-826145f6c5c5 Dublin, Oct. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Carboxylic Acid Market (2023-2028) by Product Type, End-User, and Geography, Competitive Analysis, Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Global Carboxylic Acid Market is estimated to be USD 11.20 Bn in 2023 and is expected to reach USD 14.43 Bn by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 5.20%. Market Dynamics Market dynamics are forces that impact the prices and behaviors of the stakeholders. These forces create pricing signals which result from the changes in the supply and demand curves for a given product or service. Forces of Market Dynamics may be related to macro-economic and micro-economic factors. There are dynamic market forces other than price, demand, and supply. Human emotions can also drive decisions, influence the market, and create price signals. As the market dynamics impact the supply and demand curves, decision-makers aim to determine the best way to use various financial tools to stem various strategies for speeding growth and reducing the risks. Why buy this report? The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the Global Carboxylic Acid Market. The report includes in-depth qualitative analysis, verifiable data from authentic sources, and projections about market size. The projections are calculated using proven research methodologies. The report has been compiled through extensive primary and secondary research. The primary research is done through interviews, surveys, and observation of renowned personnel in the industry. The report includes an in-depth market analysis using Porter's 5 forces model, PESTLE Analysis, and the Ansoff Matrix. In addition, the impact of COVID-19 and the impact of economic slowdown & impending recession on the market are also featured in the report. The report also includes the regulatory scenario in the industry, which will help you make a well-informed decision. The report discusses major regulatory bodies and major rules and regulations imposed on this sector across various geographies. The report also contains a competitive analysis using Positioning Quadrants, the analyst's competitive positioning tool. Report Highlights: A complete analysis of the market, including the parent industry Important market dynamics and trends Market segmentation Historical, current, and projected size of the market based on value and volume Market shares and strategies of key players Recommendations to companies for strengthening their foothold in the market Market Segmentation The Global Carboxylic Acid Market is segmented based on Product Type, End-User, and Geography. By Product Type, the market is classified into Acetic Acid, Butyric Acid, Ascorbic Acid, Azelaic Acid, Citric Acid, Formic Acid, Stearic Acid, Valeric Acid, and Others. By End-User, the market is classified into Agrochemicals, Animal Feed, Consumer Goods, Food & Beverages, Personal Care & Cosmetics, Pharmaceuticals, and Others. By Geography, the market is classified into Americas, Europe, Middle East & Africa, and Asia-Pacific. Market Dynamics Drivers Development in Cosmetics and Personal Care Industry Growing Use of Organic Acid in the Animal Feed Industry Restraints Rigid Rules & Norms Associated with the Production of Carboxylic Acids Increasing Threat of Health Hazards due to Use of Certain Carboxylic Acids Opportunities Acceptance of Carboxylic Acid Derivatives in the Pharmaceutical Industry Development of Innovative Carboxylic Acid to Increase its Application Challenges High Cost of Carboxylic Acid Availability of Natural & Organic Substitutes Companies Mentioned A. B. Enterprises Acuro Organics Ltd. Alfa Aesar Ashok Alco - Chem Ltd. (AACL) BASF SE Celanese Corp. Dow Chemical Co. Eastman Chemical Co. Finetech Industry Ltd. Hanwha Chemical Corp. Jiangsu Sopo Co. Ltd. Lyondellbasell Industries N.V. Merck Kgaaamong Oxea Gmbh Perstorp Holdings Redox Industries Ltd. Sahkar Pharmaceuticals Pvt. Ltd. Sikko Industries Ltd. Thermo Fisher Scientific Thirumalai Chemicals Ltd. Triveni Chemicals Vandemark Chemical, Inc. VVF LLC Key Attributes: Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 200 Forecast Period 2023 - 2028 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2023 $11.2 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2028 $14.43 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 5.2% Regions Covered Global For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/2cr5uo About ResearchAndMarkets.com ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. Attachment ELK CITY, Okla., Oct. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dr. Brian Blick, a highly regarded Board Certified Anesthesiologist based in Elk City, Oklahoma, is pleased to announce the establishment of the prestigious "Dr. Brian Blick Grant for Healthcare Students." This scholarship, with a total award of $1,000, is designed to recognize and support the dedication of healthcare students who demonstrate a profound commitment to the field and propose innovative solutions to address pressing national or global healthcare challenges. The grant offers aspiring healthcare professionals a unique opportunity to ease the financial burden of pursuing a degree in healthcare-related fields, such as pre-medicine, nursing, physical therapy, medical laboratory science, or any allied health program. High school students who are on the path to pursuing a healthcare degree are also eligible to apply for this remarkable scholarship. The Dr. Brian Blick Grant for Healthcare Students underscores Dr. Blick's commitment to nurturing the next generation of healthcare leaders and researchers. This generous award can be utilized for tuition, books, or living expenses related to their educational journey. This continues Blicks legacy following the success of the Dr. Brian Blick Scholarship. To be considered for this prestigious grant, applicants are required to submit an essay, no longer than 1,000 words, addressing the following question: "What is a national or global healthcare problem that concerns you, and what innovative solutions do you propose to address it?" "We are excited to invite aspiring healthcare students to share their vision and innovative solutions for addressing the most pressing healthcare challenges facing our world today," said Dr. Brian Blick, founder of the scholarship. The winner of the Dr. Brian Blick Grant for Healthcare Students will be officially announced on November 15, 2023. Applicants are encouraged to visit the official website at https://drbrianblickgrant.com/ for detailed information on eligibility and the application process. Dr. Brian Blick, a native of Edmond, Oklahoma, is a distinguished alumnus of the University of Oklahoma, where he earned his Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 2004. His academic journey continued with a dual degree in Biology and Chemistry from the University of Central Oklahoma in 2007, followed by his enrollment at Ross University School of Medicine, where he graduated in 2013. Dr. Blick's commitment to excellence led him to complete his residency at the University of Kansas in 2017. After completing his extensive medical training, Dr. Brian Blick and his wife, Lauren, decided to make Elk City, Oklahoma, their home. In Elk City, Dr. Blick assumed the role of Chief of Anesthesia at Great Plains Regional Medical Center, which is managed by Western Oklahoma Anesthesia Consultants. Later, he founded Western Oklahoma Pain Specialists, showcasing his dedication to advancing healthcare in the region. Dr. Brian Blick's professional journey reflects his unwavering commitment to improving healthcare outcomes and fostering innovation in the field. Through the Dr. Brian Blick Grant for Healthcare Students, he aims to inspire and support the next generation of healthcare professionals who share his passion for making a meaningful difference in the world. About Dr. Brian Blick: Dr. Brian Blick is a dedicated Board Certified Anesthesiologist based in Elk City, Oklahoma. With a commitment to excellence in healthcare, Dr. Blick has pursued a remarkable academic journey, earning degrees from prestigious institutions such as the University of Oklahoma and Ross University School of Medicine. His professional career has been characterized by leadership roles in anesthesia and pain management, serving as the Chief of Anesthesia at Great Plains Regional Medical Center and founding Western Oklahoma Pain Specialists. Dr. Blick's commitment to healthcare innovation and education is exemplified by the establishment of the Dr. Brian Blick Grant for Healthcare Students. For more information about Dr. Brian Blick, please visit https://drbrianblickgrant.com/dr-brian-blick-grant/. Not for distribution to United States newswire services or for dissemination in the United States TORONTO, Oct. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PIMCO Canada Corp. (PIMCO Canada) today announced the 2023 October cash distributions for the ETF series (ETF Series) of the PIMCO Canada mutual funds that distribute monthly (Funds). Unitholders of record of the ETF Series, at the close of business on October 23, 2023, will receive per-unit cash distribution payable on or about October 31, 2023. Details of the per-unit cash distribution amount are as follow: Fund Name Ticker Cash Distribution per Unit PIMCO Monthly Income Fund (Canada) PMIF $0.07812 PIMCO Monthly Income Fund (Canada) US$ PMIF.U US $0.08305 PIMCO Investment Grade Credit Fund (Canada) IGCF $0.05675 PIMCO Global Short Maturity Fund (Canada) PMNT $0.08406 PIMCO Low Duration Monthly Income Fund (Canada) PLDI $0.09553 The Manager, PIMCO Canada administers and manages the PIMCO Canada ETFs, and retains Pacific Investment Management Company, LLC (PIMCO), to provide sub-advisory services to the Funds. About PIMCO PIMCO was founded in 1971 in Newport Beach, California and is one of the worlds premier fixed income investment managers. Today we have offices across the globe and 3,000+ professionals united by a single purpose: creating opportunities for investors in every environment. PIMCO is owned by Allianz S.E., a leading global diversified financial services provider. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements included in this news release constitute forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, those identified by the expressions expect, intend, will and similar expressions to the extent they relate to the Funds. The forward-looking statements are not historical facts but reflect the Funds, PIMCO Canadas and/or PIMCOs current expectations regarding future results or events. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations, including, but not limited to, market factors. Although the Funds, PIMCO Canada and/or PIMCO believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and, accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein. The Funds, PIMCO Canada and/or PIMCO undertakes no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statement or information whether as a result of new information, future events or other factors which affect this information, except as required by law. No offering is being made by this material. Interested investors should obtain a copy of the prospectus, which is available from your Financial Advisor. Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with mutual fund investments. Please read the prospectus before investing. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. All investments contain risk and can lose value. For a summary of the risks of an investment in a specific fund, please see the risks of mutual funds section of the prospectus. Investments made by a Fund and the results achieved by a Fund are not expected to be the same as those made by any other PIMCO-advised Fund, including those with a similar name, investment objective or policies. A new or smaller Funds performance may not represent how the Fund is expected to or may perform in the long-term. New Funds have limited operating histories for investors to evaluate and new and smaller Funds may not attract sufficient assets to achieve investment and trading efficiencies. A Fund may be forced to sell a comparatively large portion of its portfolio to meet significant shareholder redemptions for cash, or hold a comparatively large portion of its portfolio in cash due to significant share purchases for cash, in each case when the Fund otherwise would not seek to do so, which may adversely affect performance. Funds can offer different series, which are subject to different fees and expenses (which may affect performance), having different minimum investment requirements and are entitled to different services. The products and services provided by PIMCO Canada may only be available in certain provinces or territories of Canada and only through dealers authorized for that purpose. PIMCO Canada has retained PIMCO LLC as sub-adviser. PIMCO Canada will remain responsible for any loss that arises out of the failure of its sub-adviser. PIMCO as a general matter provides services to qualified institutions, financial intermediaries and institutional investors. 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Box 363, Toronto, ON, M5L 1G2, 416-368-3350 Contact: Agnes Crane PIMCO Media Relations Phone: +212 597.1054 SARASOTA, Fla., Oct. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tops Vacuum & Sewing is thrilled to announce their upcoming Yaya Han Meet & Greet taking place at two of their Florida locations on October 20th and October 21st, 2023. The four-hour event welcomes all to immerse themselves in a world of costumes and creativity in addition to meeting well-known cosplay artist, Yaya Han. Attendees will also be entered to win over $10,000 worth of prizes at each event, including the grand prize, a bernette 79 Yaya Han Edition . Ive been personally very passionate about cosplay for years and to see a cosplay-orientated sewing machine come from a vendor like bernette is exciting, said Gregory Bank, owner of Tops Vacuum & Sewing, were thrilled to welcome Yaya Han and the cosplay community to Tops. Event Details: Event 1: Date: Friday, October 20th, 2023 Location: 112 E Brandon Blvd in Brandon, FL Time: 3 PM - 7PM Event 2: Date: Saturday, October 21, 2023 Location: 7212 55th Ave. E., Bradenton, FL Time: 1 PM - 5 PM Special Guest Yaya Han: Well-known cosplay artist and costume designer, Yaya Han, will be in attendance at both events. Enjoy a meet and greet, photos, and endless inspiration. Prizes: Over $10,000 worth of prizes will be given away at each event. Every hour, one person will be randomly selected to win a bernette 37 . One grand prize winner will receive a bernette 79 Yaya Han Edition. This special edition machine has a variety of features, including 276 embroidery designs with 64 exclusive embroidery designs selected by Yaya Han and 4 motifs designed by Yaya herself. Cosplay Encouraged: Costumes are welcomed and encouraged for both events. Those who attend in costume will receive five tickets that will be entered in the drawing for prizes. Non-costumed attendees will receive one. All will have a chance to win. Free Event, All Are Welcome: This event is free to attend and all are welcome to participate. For more information and event updates, please visit topsvacuumandsewing.com/ or call 813-689-5257 or 941-251-5226. 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. Photos accompanying this announcement are available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b7de3c46-36fe-464f-9c69-edda24d65593 https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/005f16e7-acdc-4888-8152-adb29d889726 Bombardier solidifies its leadership position in sustainable aviation and continues its industry-defining work on the EcoJet research project by ramping up the second phase of testing As part of this new stage of the EcoJet research project, Bombardier is flying an 18-foot-wide test vehicle designed as a blended wing body (BWB) aircraft Bombardiers engineering team explores the BWB aircraft configuration and new technologies to reduce business jets emission by up to 50% LAS VEGAS, Oct. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bombardier today unveiled exclusive images of its EcoJet research projects second test phase to the attendees of NBAA-BACE 2023. The promising flight tests were conducted with an 18-foot-wide demonstrator and have generated important results, contributing to the advancement of this pivotal project. Bombardiers EcoJet research project aims to reduce aircraft emissions by up to 50% through a combination of aerodynamic, propulsion and other enhancements. EcoJet is a sustainability-focused research and technology initiative which started 15 years ago. This project has successfully materialized into a family of Blended Wing Body (BWB) test vehicles, with flight tests being conducted to develop and mature relevant technologies. The analysis of the data gathered from the 18-foot-wide prototype will allow Bombardiers engineering team to perfect its knowledge of new aviation control laws that are adapted to the radically different BWB geometry, bound to be applied to more sustainable, future business aircraft. Our engineers are eager to start working with the results yielded by this second phase of the flight test program, said Stephen McCullough, Senior Vice President of Engineering and Product Development. Building on the significant data drawn from the initial flight-testing phase, and now leveraging a model twice as large as the first prototype, we can further refine our analysis. With each additional experimental stage, we are paving the way for more sustainable aircraft designs and new technologies. Flight campaigns on scaled test vehicles allow the organization and its academic partners to explore the behavior of BWB designed vehicles in free flight. Comprised of several free-flight campaigns, the flight-testing program will be held over multiple years to generate increasingly precise data in real-world, representative environments. The 18-foot-wide prototype of Bombardiers EcoJet research project has flown for the first time in 2022 and can fly autonomously. Bombardiers Research and Technology team has started testing real life feasibility of their theoretical work back in 2017 with the first prototype, which had a wingspan of approximately 8 feet. While laying the foundation for more sustainable business jets, Bombardier will also leverage its EcoJet prototypes to continue creating incredible customer experience. About Bombardier Bombardier (BBD-B.TO) is a global leader in aviation, focused on designing, manufacturing, and servicing the world's most exceptional business jets. Bombardiers Challenger and Global aircraft families are renowned for their cutting-edge innovation, cabin design, performance, and reliability. Bombardier has a worldwide fleet of approximately 5,000 aircraft in service with a wide variety of multinational corporations, charter and fractional ownership providers, governments, and private individuals. Bombardier aircraft are also trusted around the world in government and military special-mission roles leveraging Bombardier Defenses proven expertise. Headquartered in Greater Montreal, Quebec, Bombardier operates aerostructure, assembly and completion facilities in Canada, the United States and Mexico. The companys robust customer support network services the Learjet, Challenger and Global families of aircraft, and includes facilities in strategic locations in the United States and Canada, as well as in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, the UAE, Singapore, China and Australia. For corporate news and information, including Bombardiers Environmental, Social and Governance report, as well as the companys plans to cover all its flight operations with Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) utilizing the Book and Claim system visit bombardier.com . Learn more about Bombardiers industry-leading products and customer service network at businessaircraft.bombardier.com . Follow us on X (Twitter) @Bombardier . Visuals related to Bombardiers announcements at NBAA are available here: https://bombardier.mediavalet.com/portals/NBAA2023 For Information Marie-Andree Charron Representative, Public Relations and Medias Bombardier +1 514-441-2598 marie-andree.charron@aero.bombardier.com A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9f9334ce-4557-432e-9606-99bb696ad210 Boston, MA, United States, Oct. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ABCD President and CEO Sharon Scott-Chandler, Esq. announced that Lawrence ODonnell, host of MSNBCs The Last Word and State Representative Justin J. Pearson of the Tennessee Three will engage in a keynote conversation at Bostons most empowering event, the ABCD Community Heroes Celebration on Friday, November 3 at the Boston Marriott Copley Place beginning at 6:00 p.m. NBC 10s Glenn Jones will emcee the gala which honors people who are making a difference daily in the communities that ABCD serves in Greater Boston and the Mystic Valley. A leading community action agency, ABCD provides underserved residents and communities with access to the tools and resources needed to transition out of poverty/low-income status through a comprehensive multitude of services such as early education and childcare, energy, workforce development, food stability, housing, health services, and youth and elder programs. According to Scott-Chandler, advocating for and empowering underserved and under-represented communities is part of the organizations DNA. Since our inception during the tumultuous 1960s, ABCD has blazed a trail in every aspect of anti-poverty and social justice work in Greater Boston, she said. Society is once again at a tipping point. This crucial conversation between leaders and advocates who use their platforms to forward the dialogue about social issues is vital, and will bolster our 2023 Community Heroes who are on the front-lines. This is a pivotal time in society, much like 1960's when ABCD became designated as Boston's anti-poverty agency. There have been two major Supreme Court decisions in the past year that impact underserved people disproportionately, gun violence is still an almost daily occurrence, Washington has been historically shaken and 2024 is a critical election year. Always a voice and advocate for the people, ABCD is hosting this keynote conversation to stoke fire in the bellies of those on the front lines of social justice, and to help articulate how everyday people should and lift their voices and become civically engaged to improve not only their communities, but society at large. Emmy Award-winning executive producer and writer for The West Wing, O'Donnell served as senior advisor to Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY), chief of staff to the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works and the Senate Finance Committee. He is the author of Deadly Force and his writing has appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times among others. Born in Boston, O'Donnell graduated from Harvard College. Justin J. Pearson one of the "Tennessee Three'' rose to prominence in April 2023 after being expelled from the Tennessee legislature along with another Black Democrat, Representative Justin Jones, following a peaceful protest for gun safety in response to a mass school shooting. Their shocking expulsion was possible due a disciplinary rule only used twice since the 1800s, while Representative Gloria Johnson, who is white, was spared although she also participated in the peaceful protest. Both Mr. Pearson and Mr. Jones were reinstated and went on to win the general election last summer. Pearson is President and founder of Memphis Community Against Pollution (MCAP) and co-founder of Memphis Community Against the Pipeline, a Black-led environmental justice organization that successfully defeated a multi-billion dollar crude oil pipeline project that would have poisoned Memphiss drinking water and stolen land from South Memphis residents. Prior to founding MCAP, Pearson served as special assistant to the CEO at Year Up, a national workforce development non-profit that focuses on social, racial and economic justice. Learn more about the 2023 Community Heroes Celebration here . ### About ABCD: A nonprofit human services community action organization, ABCD provides underserved residents of Boston and the Mystic Valley area, with the tools, support and resources they need to transition from poverty to stability and from stability to success. Each year, the organization serves more than 100,000 individuals, elders and families through a broad range of innovative initiatives as well as long-established, proven programs and services. For 60 years, ABCD has been deeply rooted in every neighborhood and community served, empowering individuals and families and supporting them in their quest to live with dignity and achieve their highest potential. For more information, please visit bostonabcd.org . Attachments Destin, Oct. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Destin, Florida - Bayou Fox Hooters is thrilled to announce a momentous celebration of the Hooters brand's 40th anniversary. In honor of this significant milestone, Bayou Fox Hooters extended a warm invitation to all past and present Hooters Girls to join in the festivities on October 4th, 2023, with a heartwarming offer of a complimentary meal from a select menu. As an iconic brand that has been serving up smiles, great food, and unforgettable memories for four decades, Hooters is not just about wings; it's about the amazing people who have been a part of the journey. To show our appreciation for the women who have made the Hooters experience truly special, Bayou Fox Hooters opened its doors wide to all Hooters Girls, past and present. On October 4th, 2023, Hooters Girls could have visited any of the seven Bayou Fox Hooters locations and enjoy a delicious meal, absolutely free of charge. To qualify for this special offer, women purchased a drink of their choice, and were requested to provide proof of their employment at Hooters in the form of a paystub, a name tag, or a picture in uniform at Hooters. This gesture was their way of saying "thank you" to the incredible individuals who have contributed to the Hooters legacy. "Our 40th anniversary is a remarkable occasion, and we couldn't have reached this milestone without the dedication and charm of our Hooters Girls," said Carly, Director of Operations for Bayou Fox Hooters. "This celebration is a small token of our appreciation for the incredible women who have been a part of the Hooters family. We invited all Hooters Girls, whether they served 40 years ago or are part of our current team, to come and celebrate with us." Bayou Fox Hooters has been a cherished part of the local community, and this celebration is an opportunity to bring people together, reminisce, and create new memories. We encouraged all Hooters Girls to mark their calendars for October 4th, 2023, and join us for this heartfelt celebration. ### For more information about Bayou Fox Hooters, contact the company here: Bayou Fox Hooters Carly Dockery 8509349464 carly@hootersonline.net 400 Quietwater Beach Rd, Pensacola Beach, FL 32561 // NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES // VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reflex Advanced Materials Corp. (CSE:RFLX) (FSE:HF2) (Reflex or the Company) announces that, further to its news release of September 22, 2023, which announced a private placement offering of units of the Company of up to $1,000,000 (the Offering), it has closed the first tranche of the Offering (the First Tranche) issuing 2,050,000 units of the Company (each, a Unit) at a price of $0.20 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of $410,000. Each Unit consists of one (1) common share in the capital of the Company (Share) and one-half (1/2) of one (1) Share purchase warrant, whereby each whole Share purchase warrant (Warrant) entitles the holder thereof to purchase an additional Share at an exercise price of $0.35 for a period of 24 months from the date of issuance. In connection with closing of the First Tranche, the Company paid cash finders fees in the aggregate of $8,000 and issued a total of 40,000 finders warrants (each, a Finders Warrant). Each Finders Warrant is exercisable into one (1) Share at an exercise price of C$0.35 until October 13, 2025, being the date that is two years from the date of issue. The net proceeds from the First Tranche are intended to be used for general and administrative expenditures as well as non-flow-through exploration and evaluation expenditures. In accordance with the listed issuer financing exemption under Part 5A of National Instrument 45-106 Prospectus Exemptions, the Units issued in connection with the First Tranche are not subject to a hold period pursuant to applicable Canadian securities laws. The Offering, in its entirety, is expected to close on or about October 18, 2023, and is subject to certain conditions, including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary regulatory and other approvals. The securities described herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any U.S. state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or available exemptions from such registration requirements. This press release does not constitute an offer to acquire securities in any jurisdiction. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS, Paul Gorman CEO & Director Reflex Advanced Materials Corp. Suite 915 - 700 West Pender Street Vancouver, BC V6C 1G8 Canada Tel: (778) 837-7191 Email: info@reflexmaterials.com About Reflex Advanced Materials Reflex Advanced Materials Corp. is a mineral exploration company based in British Columbia. Its objective is to locate and, if warranted, develop economic mineral properties in the strategic metals and advanced materials space. It is focused on improving domestic specialty mineral infrastructure efficiencies to meet surging national demand by North American manufacturers. The Company is working to advance its Ruby Graphite Project, located in Beaverhead County, Montana, and ZigZag Property, located in Thunder Bay Mining Division, Crescent Lake Area, Ontario. For more information, please review the Companys filings available at www.sedarplus.ca and visit the Companys website at www.reflexmaterials.com. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively forward-looking statements) within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as expects, anticipates, believes, intends, estimates, potential, possible, and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions, or results will, may, could, or should occur or be achieved. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, without limitation, statements relating to the closing of the Offering, the receipt of all necessary regulatory and other approvals, and the use of proceeds from the Offering are forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections on the date the statements are made and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by Reflex, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and the parties have made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation, the ability to complete exploration work, the results of exploration, continued availability of capital, and changes in general economic, market and business conditions. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release concerning these items. Reflex does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by applicable securities laws. The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the contents of this press release, and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Germany has recently released a new program allowing Rock Tech to apply for up to 200 million governmental funding. The program is a key step toward levelling the playing field between European and overseas markets. TORONTO, Oct. 16, 2023 - Rock Tech Lithium Inc. (TSXV: RCK) (OTCQX: RCKTF) (FWB: RJIB) (WKN: A1XF0V) (the "Company" or "Rock Tech") is pleased to announce that it is applying for additional public funding from the German government. The German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action ("BMWK") has recently released a new program in accordance with the EU Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework (TCTF) allowing the Company to apply for up to 200million funding to realize its lithium converter project in Europe (the "Project"). The Company welcomes the German government's push to substantially increase support for projects along the battery supply chain. The aim of the program is to broadly strengthen the resilience and sustainability of the battery cell manufacturing ecosystem in Germany and Europe. Rock Tech's CEO Dirk Harbecke says: "We've been very well supported by the City of Guben and the State of Brandenburg. They have been excellent partners from the start. And that's why I am also very pleased with the federal government's funding prospects for the German battery industry, which I see as a key step toward levelling the playing field between European and overseas markets." Rock Tech's COO Klaus Schmitz states: "Rock Tech has taken the Project to a high degree of maturity in terms of planning and preparation, so construction could get started soon. However, the start of material works is currently contingent on an approval of subsidies from the German federal ministry. We will assess implications to the construction plan throughout the process." The Company is in contact with related authorities and is looking forward a positive preliminary funding commitment no later than Q1 2024. On behalf of the Board of Directors,? Dirk Harbecke, Chairman?& CEO ABOUT ROCK TECH Rock Tech is a cleantech company with operations in Canada and Germany on a mission to produce lithium hydroxide for electric vehicle batteries. The Company plans to build lithium converters at the door-step of its customers, to guarantee supply-chain transparency and just-in-time delivery, beginning with the Company's proposed lithium hydroxide merchant converter and refinery facility in Guben, Germany. To close the most pressing gap in the clean mobility story, Rock Tech has gathered one of the strongest teams in the industry. The Company has adopted strict environmental, social and governance standards and is developing a proprietary refining process aimed at further increasing efficiency and sustainability. Rock Tech plans to source raw material from its wholly-owned Georgia Lake spodumene project located in the Thunder Bay Mining District of Ontario, Canada, as well as procuring it from other responsibly producing mines. In the years to come, the Company expects to also source raw material from discarded batteries. Rock Tech's goal: to create a closed-loop lithium production system. www.rocktechlithium.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.? CAUTIONARY NOTE CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION Certain statements contained in this news release constitute "forward-looking information" under applicable securities laws and are referred to herein as "forward-looking statements". All statements, other than statements of historical fact, which address events, results, outcomes or developments that the Company expects to occur are forward-looking statements. When used in this news release, words such as "expects", "anticipates", "plans", "predicts", "believes", "estimates", "intends", "targets", "projects", "forecasts", "may", "will", "should", "would", "could" or negative versions thereof and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In particular, forward-looking statements contained in this news release include: estimations or predictions about the outcome or amount of the available fundings within the subsidy fund; the eligibility of Rock Tech and its subsidiary for the program; the duration of the decision process or if Rock Tech is chosen for funding; and the Company's future plans and expectations as described in the section "About Rock Tech". Forward-looking statements by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. The material factors or assumptions used to develop the forward-looking statements include: the Company's ability to procure equipment necessary for its business; that all required regulatory approvals and permits can be obtained on the necessary terms in a timely manner; and that financing and feedstock supply will be available to the Company on commercial terms. There may also be other factors that cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements, including the risks, uncertainties and other factors discussed in the Company's most recent management's discussion and analysis and annual information form filed with the applicable securities regulators. No assurances can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, and the Company cautions the reader not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, nor does it assume any obligation to update or revise any of the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, changes in assumptions, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by applicable law. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rock-tech-lithium-applies-for-additional-subsidies-for-its-guben-converter-301956957.html SOURCE Rock Tech Lithium Inc. Kelowna, October 16, 2023 - F3 Uranium Corp. (TSXV: FUU) (OTCQB: FUUFF) ("F3" or "the Company") is pleased to announce results from five holes of the ongoing extended fall drill program on the Patterson Lake North ("PLN") Property, including PLN23-102 located 3.4km south of the JR Zone which is now the second hole to intersect anomalous radioactivity along the recently discovered and highly prospective A1B Shear Zone ("A1B"). Hole PLN23-102 was drilled 840m along strike to the south of PLN23-095 which was the first hole to hit anomalous radioactivity at A1B, which runs parallel to the A1 Main Shear Zone that hosts the JR Zone (see NR dated September 14, 2023). Concurrently at the JR Zone, PLN23-101 has intersected mineralization over a 10.50m interval, including 1.42m of high grade (>10,000 cps), of which 0.50m was up to 54,400 cps radioactivity between 228.50 and 229.00m, extending mineralization up dip on line 015S from PLN23-044 (see NR dated April 17, 2023). Raymond Ashley, President, commented: "Drill hole PLN23-102 at A1B exhibited very intense alteration and dissolution of the sandstone together with 96m of core loss over a 162m interval, followed by extreme basement alteration including bleaching and clay alteration (see Photo 1 below). These features, in addition to anomalous radioactivity in 2 holes located 840 meters apart along strike, are characteristic of favourable conditions for the discovery of proximal mineralization. The team continues to be excited about the potential for discovery of a second mineralized zone on A1B." "We have one drill focused at the JR Zone and a second drill focused on exploration drilling to characterize targets for 2024. The pace of drilling has slowed as we are drilling deeper exploration holes to learn more about the parallel A1B shear zone; we want to be methodical in characterizing areas for drilling in 2024 and are now using a single diamond drill crew who move between the two drills. This understanding will be integrated with the results of ground geophysics to be carried out later this fall and in the early winter, to develop the best drill targets possible for 2024. The Company is fully funded to continue its aggressive exploration approach." JR Zone Drilling Highlights: PLN23-101 (line 015S) 10.50m composite mineralization from 216.50m - 230.50m, including 1.42m composite mineralization of >10,000 cps radioactivity between 222.85m - 229.00m including 0.50m radioactivity up to 54,400 cps between 228.50m and 229.00m Exploration Drilling Highlights: PLN23-102 (line 3450S), A1B Shear Zone 96.00m cumulative core loss in Athabasca sandstone between 176.00m and 338.00m Indicative of large-scale sandstone dissolution due to intense alteration above the A1B shear zone 0.50m radioactivity of 1,000 cps from 411.50m to 412.00m Second occurrence of anomalous radioactivity, within the main A1B shear zone Photo 1. PLN23-102: Intense Alteration in Lower Athabasca Sandstone and Basement To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8110/184112_e581e2acf4934bc7_002full.jpg *Note that the unconformity is at 356.3m and is marked by a green bar in the photograph. Table 1. Drill Hole Summary and Handheld Spectrometer Results Collar Information * Hand-held Spectrometer Results On Mineralized Drillcore (>300 cps / >0.5m minimum) Athabasca Unconformity Depth (m) Total Drillhole Depth (m) Hole ID Section Line Easting Northing Elevation Az Dip From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Max CPS PLN23-100 840S 588319.3 6410154.7 532.6 54.3 -60.0 A1 MSZ exploration; no radioactivity >300 cps 133.3 395 PLN23-101 015S 587732.5 6410748.2 545.3 54.6 -64.9 216.50 217.00 0.50 300 196.0 311 217.00 218.00 1.00 <300 218.00 218.50 0.50 380 218.50 219.00 0.50 900 219.00 219.50 0.50 770 219.50 220.00 0.50 1100 220.00 220.50 0.50 1100 220.50 221.00 0.50 2300 221.00 221.50 0.50 370 221.50 222.00 0.50 2300 222.00 222.50 0.50 1900 222.50 222.85 0.35 8700 222.85 223.00 0.15 12600 223.00 223.50 0.50 15500 223.50 223.77 0.27 11800 223.77 224.00 0.23 4700 224.00 224.50 0.50 2200 224.50 225.00 0.50 1600 225.00 225.50 0.50 1600 225.50 226.00 0.50 620 226.00 226.50 0.50 620 226.50 227.00 0.50 740 227.00 227.50 0.50 690 227.50 228.00 0.50 5900 228.00 228.50 0.50 4300 228.50 229.00 0.50 54400 229.00 229.50 0.50 1300 229.50 230.00 0.50 680 PLN23-102 3450S 589712.2 6407939.1 540.0 53.1 -65.6 411.50 412.00 0.50 1000 356.3 653 PLN23-103 045S 587780.7 6410746.1 545.7 54.5 -60.3 no radioactivity >300 cps 202.2 296 PLN23-104 105S 587729.0 6410634.5 545.2 54.4 -60.6 231.50 232.00 0.50 340 196.8 329 232.00 232.50 0.50 700 232.50 233.00 0.50 680 233.00 233.50 0.50 360 242.50 243.00 0.50 390 Handheld spectrometer composite parameters: 1: Minimum Thickness of 0.5m 2: CPS Cut-Off of 300 counts per second 3: Maximum Internal Dilution of 2.0m Natural gamma radiation in the drill core that is reported in this news release was measured in counts per second (cps) using a handheld Radiation Solutions RS-125 scintillometer. The Company considers greater than 300 cps on the handheld spectrometer as anomalous, >10,000 cps as high-grade and greater than 65,535 cps as off-scale. The reader is cautioned that scintillometer readings are not directly or uniformly related to uranium grades of the rock sample measured and should be used only as a preliminary indication of the presence of radioactive materials. All depth measurements reported are down-hole and true thicknesses are yet to be determined, but the Company estimates true thickness of the reported intervals in this news release to be close to reported interval widths. About Patterson Lake North: The Company's 4,078-hectare 100% owned Patterson Lake North property (PLN) is located just within the south-western edge of the Athabasca Basin in proximity to Fission Uranium's Triple R and NexGen Energy's Arrow high-grade world class uranium deposits which is poised to become the next major area of development for new uranium operations in northern Saskatchewan. PLN is accessed by Provincial Highway 955, which transects the property, and the new JR Zone uranium discovery is located 23km northwest of Fission Uranium's Triple R deposit. Qualified Person: The technical information in this news release has been prepare in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 and approved on behalf of the company by Raymond Ashley, P.Geo., President & COO of F3 Uranium Corp., a Qualified Person. Mr. Ashley has verified the data disclosed. About F3 Uranium Corp.: F3 Uranium is advancing the newly discovered high-grade JR Zone on the PLN Property in the Western Athabasca Basin. This area of Saskatchewan is poised to become a major uranium producing region and is home to large deposits including Triple R, Arrow and Shea Creek. F3 Uranium currently holds 18 projects across the Athabasca Basin. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements that are not historical facts, including without limitation, statements regarding future estimates, plans, programs, forecasts, projections, objectives, assumptions, expectations or beliefs of future performance, including statements regarding the suitability of the Properties for mining exploration, future payments, issuance of shares and work commitment funds, entry into of a definitive option agreement respecting the Properties, are "forward-looking statements." These forward-looking statements reflect the expectations or beliefs of management of the Company based on information currently available to it. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those detailed from time to time in filings made by the Company with securities regulatory authorities, which may cause actual outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. These factors should be considered carefully and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws. The TSX Venture Exchange and the Canadian Securities Exchange have not reviewed, approved or disapproved the contents of this press release, and do not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. F3 Uranium Corp. 750-1620 Dickson Avenue Kelowna, BC V1Y9Y2 Contact Information Investor Relations Telephone: 778 484 8030 Email: ir@fission3corp.com ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD "Dev Randhawa" Dev Randhawa, CEO (See Plan Maps below and Cross Sections on the F3 Website at https://f3uranium.com/projects/athabasca-basin/pls-area-projects/pln-a1-discovery/ under the sections tab) Number 1 To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8110/184112_e581e2acf4934bc7_004full.jpg Number 2 To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8110/184112_e581e2acf4934bc7_005full.jpg To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/184112 Vancouver, October 16, 2023 - Carlyle Commodities Corp. (CSE: CCC) (FSE: BJ4) (OTCQB: CCCFF) ("Carlyle" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has retained MarketSmart Communications Inc. ("MarketSmart") to provide investor relations services for the Company. The investor relations agreement (the "Agreement") has a term of twelve (12) months (the "Term") and was entered into on October 16, 2023. Pursuant to the terms of the Agreement, Carlyle has agreed to pay MarketSmart a cash fee of $7,500 per month, plus applicable taxes, for the duration of the Term as well as issue MarketSmart stock options pursuant to the Company's stock option plan. MarketSmart is a Vancouver, British Columbia-based corporate communications service provider, built over the last two decades, who benefit from a deep industry knowledge in venture capital and small cap investing. MarketSmart brings a variety of small to mid-cap opportunities for investing pioneers who are continually seeking new endeavours in venture capital investing. MarketSmart was established in 2002 and has worked with many Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") listed companies in assisting them in developing their corporate profile within the investment community. MarketSmart is committed to providing value and outstanding service. The services to be provided by MarketSmart under the Agreement will include shareholder and investor communication services, disseminating the Company's news releases and disclosing all pertinent information related to the Company to MarketSmart's investor database. MarketSmart will also post all corporate information related to the Company on MarketSmart's website (www.marketsmart.ca) and social media feeds, provide the Company with the opportunity to broaden its national and international reach and raise capital by way of introductions to brokerage houses and other investors, and offer industry specific financial and media interviews. The services provided will be facilitated by numerous digital venues such as programmatic digital marketing, social media marketing on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, email marketing, direct one on one communications, and content creation. MarketSmart's principal place of business and contact information is as follows: 614 - 409 Granville Street Vancouver, British Columbia, V6C 1T2, Canada Attn: Adrian Sydenham, President Telephone: (604) 261-4466 Email: adrian@marketsmart.ca Mr. Sydenham will be responsible for the provision of the services noted above. President Adrian Sydenham of MarketSmart, stated: "MarketSmart is excited to help broaden the investor audience for Carlyle Commodities. The gold market is turning around and an advanced property such as Carlyle's Newton, with similarities to Blackwater on the same regional trend, is a compelling opportunity. We look forward to working with Morgan and his team as they prepare for the next round of drilling." Carlyle's Chief Executive Officer Morgan Good, commented: "Carlyle is thrilled with the addition of MarketSmart to its growing team. Their experience and knowledge in the resource sector combined with a deep network of sophisticated small-cap junior mining investors offers an excellent opportunity to enhance the Company's shareholder base." About Carlyle Carlyle is a mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral resource properties. Carlyle owns 100% of the Newton Gold Project in the Clinton Mining Division of B.C. and is listed on the CSE under the symbol "CCC", on the OTCQB Market under the ticker "CCCFF", and the Frankfurt Exchange under the ticker "BJ4". ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF Carlyle Commodities Corp. "Morgan Good" Morgan Good President and Chief Executive Officer For more information regarding this news release, please contact: Morgan Good, CEO and Director T: 604-715-4751 E: morgan@carlylecommodities.com W: www.carlylecommodities.com Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forwardlooking information which is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those projected in the forwardlooking statements. Forward-Looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the expected services to be provided by MarketSmart under the Agreement and the expected results and impact of such services, including the opportunity of the Company to enhance its shareholder base. Such forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions of management, including, without limitation, that the Company's cost and timing expectations are accurate, that MarketSmart will provide the services set out in the Agreement, that the Company will achieve the expected results from the Agreement, and that the Company will pursue its business plans as expected. The forwardlooking statements in this news release are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forwardlooking information. Risks that could change or prevent these statements from coming to fruition include, but are not limited to, unanticipated costs; that the Agreement will be terminated prematurely or that the Company will not achieve the results expected from the Agreement; general business, economic and social uncertainties; and changes in legislation or regulations impacting the Company. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and, accordingly, are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty of such statements. These 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 these forward-looking statements. Neither the CSE nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) 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/184106 TSX: ASND www.ascendantresources.com Appointment of Highly Experienced Process Engineer to Enhance Technical Capacity Expansion of Technical Services Team To Support Ongoing Development Programs TORONTO, Oct. 16, 2023 - Ascendant Resources Inc. (TSX: ASND) (OTCQB: ASDRF) (FRA: 2D9) ("Ascendant" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has strengthened its technical team with the addition of Mr. Val Coetzee who has been appointed as Director, Process Engineering. Mr. Coetzee will work with the rest of the technical team to enhance the delivery of the Lagoa Salgada project to optimize the process flow sheet and design as the company moves towards project development. Mr. Coetzee is a senior process engineering professional with over 25 years of experience in process engineering design, operational management, metallurgical analysis, risk analysis, economic valuation and executive leadership within the global mining industry. For the past decade, Mr. Coetzee has been at DRA Global rising to the role of Senior Vice President for Process Engineering. Mr. Coetzee played a vital role in the success of various projects and studies across a broad range of commodities and locations globally. Prior to this Mr. Coetzee worked at Impala Platinum and De Beers Consolidated as a metallurgist and technical manager tasked with overseeing new greenfield projects. Mr. Coetzee holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa and a Master of Engineering: Mining (Mineral Economics) form the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa and has experience in a diverse range of commodities, including PGMs, Gold, Uranium, Copper, Cobalt, Zinc, Lead, Lithium, Manganese, Chrome, Nickel, Magnesium, Iron Ore and Diamonds, with expertise in mineral processing, hydrometallurgy, and pyrometallurgy. Mark Brennan, Executive Chairman of Ascendant stated, "We are extremely pleased to welcome Val to the Technical team at Ascendant. Val brings significant experience in design, metallurgy and process optimization which add significantly to the technical capabilities of Ascendant as we aim to optimize the process design and flow sheet for the Lagoa Salgada project as we move the project to towards a final development decision". About Ascendant Resources Inc. Ascendant Resources is a Toronto-based mining company focused on the exploration and development of the highly prospective Lagoa Salgada VMS project located on the prolific Iberian Pyrite Belt in Portugal. The Lagoa Salgada project is a high-grade polymetallic project, demonstrating a typical mineralization endowment of zinc, copper, lead, tin, silver, and gold. Extensive exploration upside potential lies both near deposit and at prospective step-out targets across the large 7,209-hectare property concession. Located just 80km from Lisbon and surrounded by exceptional infrastructure, Lagoa Salgada offers a low-cost entry to a significant exploration and development opportunity, already showing its mineable scale and cashflow generation potential. Ascendant currently holds a 80% interest in the Lagoa Salgada project through its position in Redcorp - Empreendimentos Mineiros, Lda, ("Redcorp"). The Company's common shares are principally listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "ASND". For more information on Ascendant, please visit our website at http://www.ascendantresources.com/. Forward Looking Information This press release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking information" (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 discusses predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, without limitation, statements regarding the business, the Lagoa Salgada project and timing of completion of studies. In making the forward- looking statements contained in this press release, Ascendant has made certain assumptions, including, but not limited to outcomes associated with optimization works at the Lagoa Salgada Project. Although Ascendant believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that the expectations of any forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. Known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this press release. Except as required by law, Ascendant disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, changes in factors affecting such forward-looking statements or otherwise. Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking information, including, without limitation, the risks described under the heading "Risks Factors" in the Company's Annual Information Form dated March 31, 2023 and under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" in the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 and other risks identified in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The risk factors referred to above are not an exhaustive list of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking information. The Company's statements containing forward-looking information are based on the beliefs, expectations and opinions of management on the date the statements are made, and the Company does not assume any obligation to update such forward-looking information if circumstances or management's beliefs, expectations or opinions should change, other than as required by applicable law. For the reasons set forth above, one should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ascendant-announces-appointment-of-mr-val-coetzee-as-director-of-process-engineering-301956932.html SOURCE Ascendant Resources Inc. Toronto, October 16, 2023 - Palamina Corp. (TSXV: PA) (OTCQB: PLMNF) equity/royalty partner Winshear Gold Inc. (TSXV: WINS) ("Winshear") has received a settlement payment of US$30,000,000 from the Tanzanian Government as compensation for the expropriation of Winshear's SMP gold deposit in Tanzania. Palamina holds 13,422,000 common shares and 1,321,000 warrants in Winshear Gold Corp. (representing an 18.5% partially diluted share position) and a 2% NSR on all its projects in Peru. On September 19, 2023 Winshear announced they had reached a conditional settlement agreement with Tanzania where the full and final settlement payment of US $30,000,000 to settle the arbitration was received on October 16, 2023. After paying funders and legal fees the net amount payable to Winshear is estimated to be in excess of CDN $25,250,000. Andrew Thomson President of Palamina commented: "The US$30,000,000 settlement payment to Winshear Gold provides Winshear shareholders compensation for the expropriation of the SMP gold deposit in Tanzania. Palamina is the largest shareholder of Winshear Gold holding an 18.5% partially diluted share ownership. Palamina's Usicayos and Winshear's Gaban gold projects in south eastern Peru are both permitted to drill. We congratulate Winshear and Tanzania on reaching a settlement and look forward to the drill discovery phase ahead. Palamina holds a 2% NSR on all of Winshear's properties in Peru." Winshear is now well funded to advance the Gaban Gold Project through the drill discovery phase in south eastern Peru. Palamina has a drill at site at its Usicayos Gold Project where drilling is planned in the Cayos and Sol de Oro zones. Further details of Winshear's Gaban Gold Project and further details on the conclusion of arbitration proceedings can be found on Winshear's website: www.winshear.com About Palamina Corp. Palamina has participation in eight gold projects in south-eastern Peru hosted within the Puno Orogenic Gold Belt (POGB). Palamina is advancing the Usicayos gold project through the drill discovery phase. The Company also has rights to the Galena silver-copper project in the Santa Lucia district. Palamina holds an 18.5% equity interest on a partially diluted basis in Winshear Gold Corp. who are advancing the Gaban Gold Project to the drill discovery phase. Palamina has 71,284,836 shares outstanding and trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol PA and on the OTCQB Venture Market under the symbol PLMNF. On Behalf of the Board of Directors: Andrew Thomson, President Phone: (416) 204-7536 or visit www.palamina.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/184139 Vancouver, October 16, 2023 - Westward Gold Inc. (CSE:WG) (OTC:WGLIF) (FSE:IM50) ("Westward" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has executed an amending agreement (the "Amendment") with Minquest Ltd. ("Minquest", or the "Optionor") to revise the terms of the option agreement (the "Option Agreement") as it relates to the Toiyabe Gold Project in Lander County, Nevada ("Toiyabe"). Under the terms of the Option Agreement, which was assigned to Westward by Starcore International Mines Ltd. on April 19, 2021 (see press release dated April 22, 2021), the Company has the option to acquire a 100% ownership interest in Toiyabe from Minquest. Pursuant to the Amendment executed on October 12, 2023, the upcoming final payment of US$300,000 in cash (due on or before October 15, 2023) has been modified as follows: US$100,000 in cash, which was paid on October 13, 2023 US$200,000 in common shares of the Company (the "Shares"), to be issued on January 15, 2024 The Shares issued in relation to the Amendment will be priced based on the trailing 30-day volume-weighted average price on the Canadian Securities Exchange ending on January 12, 2024, and the daily USD/CAD exchange rate published by the Bank of Canada on the same date. The Shares will be subject to a statutory 4-month hold period expiring on May 16, 2024. Westward may also increase the aggregate value of the Shares paid to Minquest on January 15, 2024, to account for any costs incurred by the Optionor between that date and the execution of the Amendment. Andrew Nelson, CFO of Westward, noted: "We would like to sincerely thank Minquest for their continued support over the last 2.5 years. Our ongoing partnership, and their willingness to accept equity as payment, speaks volumes as to their belief in our flagship project and the strides Westward has made in advancing it. Both parties would like to see our cash reserves allocated to exploration activities, and this transaction will certainly help to serve that purpose." About Westward Gold Westward Gold is a mineral exploration company focused on developing the Toiyabe, Turquoise Canyon, and East Saddle Projects located in the Cortez Hills area of Lander County, Nevada, and the Coyote and Rossi Projects located along the Carlin Trend in Elko County, Nevada. From time to time, the Company may also evaluate the acquisition of other mineral exploration assets and opportunities. For further information contact: Colin Moore President, CEO & Director Westward Gold Inc. colin@westwardgold.com www.westwardgold.com The Canadian Securities Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. The Canadian Securities Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. This news release contains or incorporates by reference "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information" as defined under applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, which address events, results, outcomes, or developments that the Company expects to occur are, or may be deemed, to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally, but not always, identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "expect", "believe", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "potential", "on track", "forecast", "budget", "target", "outlook", "continue", "plan" or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved or the negative connotation of such terms. Such statements include, but may not be limited to, information as to strategy, plans or future financial or operating performance, such as the Company's expansion plans, project timelines, expected drilling targets, and other statements that express management's expectations or estimates of future plans and performance. Forward-looking statements or information are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements or information, including, without limitation, the need for additional capital by the Company through financings, and the risk that such funds may not be raised; the speculative nature of exploration and the stages of the Company's properties; the effect of changes in commodity prices; regulatory risks that development of the Company's material properties will not be acceptable for social, environmental or other reasons, availability of equipment (including drills) and personnel to carry out work programs, that each stage of work will be completed within expected time frames, that current geological models and interpretations prove correct, the results of ongoing work programs may lead to a change of exploration priorities, and the efforts and abilities of the senior management team. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements or information. These and other factors may cause the Company to change its exploration and work programs, not proceed with work programs, or change the timing or order of planned work programs. Additional risk factors and details with respect to risk factors that may affect the Company's ability to achieve the expectations set forth in the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are set out in the Company's latest management discussion and analysis under "Risks and Uncertainties", which is available under the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, described or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. The Company's forward-looking statements and information are based on the assumptions, beliefs, expectations, and opinions of management as of the date of this press release, and other than as required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements and information if circumstances or management's assumptions, beliefs, expectations or opinions should change, or changes in any other events affecting such statements or information. Copyright (c) 2023 TheNewswire - All rights reserved. Drivers the least of Ferrari's problems says Montezemolo Drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are "the least" of Ferrari's problems, according to the Italian marque's former president Luca di Montezemolo. Charles Leclerc, Qatar GP 2023 Ferrari Now 76, Italian Montezemolo attended the Il Festival dello Sport in Trento and said there are plenty of things he likes about modern Formula 1. Today's F1 is beautiful because there is a new generation of fast and talented drivers, as (Scar) Piastri recently showed, even if at the moment this generation does not include Italian drivers, he said. I like the fact that finally in the United States there is interest and attention for Formula 1. I like (Max) Verstappen, who is a very high level driver. When I saw his final qualifying lap in Monaco this year, I thought 'I've never seen anything like this in my life', Montezemolo added. What I don't like are the current regulations, which are quite complicated, and I don't like where Ferrari is today. However, he absolves Sainz and Leclerc of blame. I think the last problem for Ferrari today is the drivers - it is the car, said the Italian. Hungary likens Mazepin sanctions to communism Hungary's foreign minister has slammed the sanctions that have ended the Formula 1 dream of Nikita Mazepin for now. Nikita Mazepin, British GP 2021 Haas F1 Team / LAT At the outbreak of the Ukraine-Russia crisis, Russian Mazepin was sacked by Haas but also blocked even from returning to Europe due to European Union sanctions against the 24-year-old and his influential father Dmitry. Peter Szijjarto, Hungary's minister of foreign affairs, met with the former F1 driver in Moscow last Friday. Afterwards, Szijjarto told Tass news agency: "The European Union included Mazepin in the sanctions list, which, unfortunately, is a return to the communist principle. In the past, communists held children responsible for the real or perceived actions of their parents, he charged. Mazepin successfully challenged the EU sanctions earlier this year, but that didn't stop the European Union from reapplying the same sanctions. Perez quit rumours denied as Ricciardo returns Red Bull has denied wild reports suggesting Sergio Perez is poised to announce his immediate retirement from Formula 1. Sergio Perez, Qatar GP 2023 Red Bull With the off-form 33-year-old's place at the team in serious doubt despite his 2024 contract, it has been rumoured he might either quit Red Bull on the occasion of his forthcoming home race or even quit the sport altogether. There's absolutely nothing to it, a Red Bull spokesman told Auto Motor und Sport. And team consultant Dr Helmut Marko added: I don't know anything about that. Indeed, Marko even corrected the claim that Perez has struggled consistently since the Spanish GP in June. He made it to the podium four times after that and showed a few great comebacks like at the Red Bull Ring and in Monza, the 80-year-old added. Curiously, however, the latest Perez rumours coincide with news that Daniel Ricciardo is now fit and ready to return to his Alpha Tauri cockpit this weekend in Austin. He demonstrated his ability to drive again in the wake of his broken hand with a demonstration run in an old Red Bull car in Nashville over the weekend. I've been in the simulator, everything went fine, the hand works well, and I'm ready to get behind the wheel, the Australian, a clear contender to replace Perez next year, said. If Perez is ousted and Ricciardo replaces him, that would open up the full-time Alpha Tauri seat next year for impressive reserve Liam Lawson. He (Perez) has a contract, but what are contracts worth in Formula 1? Frans Verschuur, a well-known Dutch racing team figure, told Ziggo Sport. Nyck de Vries also thought he had a contract, and then he was gone. Tsunoda plays down Aston Martin rumours Yuki Tsunoda has moved to clarify rumours linking him with Lance Stroll's seat at Aston Martin. Yuki Tsunoda, Qatar GP 2023 Red Bull Rumours about the underperforming son of team owner Lawrence Stroll only intensified in Qatar when Lance, 24, violently shoved his own trainer after a fourth consecutive failure to even break out of Q1. The FIA even launched a post-incident investigation into the affair, prompting a written apology from the Canadian driver. The compliance officer has noted this apology and issued a written warning, reminding Lance of his responsibilities as a competitor , part of an FIA clarification reads. Fascinatingly, the affair coincided with rumours that Aston Martin could be eyeing Japanese Tsunoda, who may be open to the move given his links with the team's future works engine partner Honda. Dr Helmut Marko has already said that Aston Martin would have to convince Red Bull to end Tsunoda's renewed Red Bull-Alpha Tauri contract for 2024. For his part, Tsunoda said: "I don't want Red Bull to misunderstand and think that I'm focused on signing with Aston Martin or something like that. I'm an Alpha Tauri driver, I've been with Red Bull since I was 18, so I'm just focused on doing well at Red Bull. Not at Aston Martin, he added. Tsunoda, who lives near Alpha Tauri's Faenza HQ, attended the Il Festival dello Sport in Trento at the weekend and was hailed by F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali. Yuki is an extraordinary guy, who managed to give the Japanese public a great boost, he said. Yuki's merit is that, with his energy, he brought Japan closer to Formula 1. Tsunoda admitted that his F1 idols were Raikkonen, Hamilton and Alonso , and says he enjoys living in Italy a lot more than he enjoyed being in the UK. In England I had a different lifestyle - always at home, playing Playstation. In Italy I no longer burn my brain with video games, the diminutive 23-year-old laughed. I also notice that I'm doing better on the track this way. When asked to name the fastest current driver in F1, he joked Me , before adding: Verstappen. He said Alonso or Sainz are the most intelligent drivers, whilst Fernando is the smartest overall. Tsunoda then said he would choose Alex Albon, Lando (Norris) and Max to go on holiday with. Verstappen is not as he appears, he's a very nice guy, the Japanese insisted. IMF must adapt lending toolkits to serve vulnerable members-- Dr Addison Emmanuel Bruce Business News Oct - 16 - 2023 , 11:22 The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Ernest Addison has asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to adapt its lending toolkits in line with the changing global conditions. He said given the fragmented global financial architecture, the IMF had to remain steadfast and adapt its lending toolkits to serve its vulnerable members better. Speaking on behalf of his fellow African central bank governors at the World Bank/ IMF Meetings, he called for increased concessional financing by aligning its Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust access thresholds with those of the General Resources Account (GRA) to ensure uniformity of treatment. In addition, we call on the Fund to relax the PRGT eligibility criteria to foster access to adequate Fund support while reducing, suspending, or eliminating entirely surcharges for most vulnerable PRGT-eligible members facing acute debt challenges. We also reiterate our call for additional pledges from willing donors to close the gaps in PRGT resources, he stated. Dr Addison also called for the need to successfully complete the ongoing 16th General Review of Quotas to reinforce IMF finances while protecting the quota share of the vulnerable members. Strengthening multilateral coordination The Governor also emphasised the need to strengthen multilateral coordination and efficiency of regulatory framework for debt resolution in low income countries through a formidable Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable (GSDR). He said while welcoming the latest developments on Zambia and Chad, the governors underscore the need to revamp the G20 Common Framework (CF) to ensure timely, orderly, equitable, inclusive, and transparent debt restructuring for distressed members in the region (including, Ghana, Ethiopia, and Malawi). In this regard, we call for a carefully designed debt resolution mechanism, especially, for vulnerable members with large- domestic creditors (as in the case of Ghana) to help avert domestic financial market instability. In addition, improving debtor-creditor engagements through an enhanced GSDR while strengthening technical support to foster common understanding of all debt issues is macro-critical to bolster a swifter, proactive and systematic restructuring, he stated. Enhanced cooperation Dr Addison also noted that an enhanced IMF cooperation with multilateral development banks (MDBs) and regional development banks (RDBs) was critical to facilitate timely provision of financial assistance to members facing significant debt and growth challenges. In this context, we restate the call for new SDR allocation through the MDBs/RDBs (including AfDB), given their multiplier effects in achieving climate and development goals. We also request that the Fund leverages its close engagements with G20 members to advocate for better lending terms from the ongoing design and implementation of the G20 Capital Adequacy Framework (for MDBs) to avert inadvertent financing ramifications on vulnerable members in Africa, he mentioned. Dams spillage: Urgent action needed Daily Graphic Editorials Oct - 16 - 2023 , 05:22 The heart-wrenching scenes of the disaster that has come upon residents along the lower Volta Basin since the supposed "controlled spillage" of the Akosombo and Kpong dams raise issues of national disaster management. In the circumstance when the situation was occasioned by what officials have described as an intention to salvage the integrity of the important national power installation systems, it is most unthinkable that the consequences have virtually assumed a humanitarian crisis. More than 3,000 people have been displaced and rendered homeless as of last Saturday, with food, water, shelter, clothing and health care among the critical emergencies facing communities. The aged, people with disability, children and women are among vulnerable populations reeling under the present situation. We don't consider this as a natural disaster because the spillage was planned and executed, except that with hardly a sense of concern for the consequences on life and property. Contextually, the two dams which supply about 30 per cent of Ghana's power demands and further provide the source of treated water for more than six million of the country's 32 million people became full with water beyond their respective thresholds, which officials explained to be the result of the recent favourable rainfall. As is common with such scenarios, the spillage became a necessary option to avert the threat of damage to the dams. What did not happen is an assessment of the extent of the potential havoc that could come upon communities in the channel of the spillage and how such potential catastrophe could be mitigated. The Volta River Authority (VRA), custodian of the river's resource, holds regular sensitisation fora for communities within its catchment area, particularly when an exercise of some level of consequence to the people is about to happen. This year was no exception. Unfortunately, the necessary measures needed to prevent this scale of crisis were not put in place. Granted that there was early warning about the spillage, it cannot be lost on state agencies that the thousands of residents and hordes of business concerns within the area could not simply pack bag and baggage and head for nowhere. Telling regular vulnerable people to move to higher or safer grounds without guiding their path is a meaningless rhetoric that emphasises a lack of empathy for their situation. Why was there no temporary settlement for people expected to be affected by the spillage with the provision of tents, bed nets, toilet facilities, among other emergency materials, to ease their discomfort? Why was such volume of water spilled within a short period so that the impact becomes devastating? With cemeteries, dumpsites and mortuaries flooded, the sanitary conditions and general health of the immediate environment, including the Volta River, is compromised. The VRA and its engineers owe society as much responsibility and explanation for their actions that affect life and livelihood as they require society to show responsibility towards power consumption. Engineering is a serious science discipline that employs data to forecast events. That is why we expected the VRA and its engineers to have anticipated the possible impact of the spillage in order to design and implement mitigating measures to prevent this scale of crisis. And once the deficit in planning and intervention became evident, it should have triggered an immediate response. Rather than engaging in arguments about how much sensitisation was done, the emergency must be treated as an emergency. If the spillage of the Bagre Dam in Burkina Faso comes with adequate warning, we owe ourselves even better actions when our engineers are in charge of the Akosombo and Kpong spillage. The ministerial committee set up for the purpose must take prompt and decisive actions to salvage what is left, as further delay could be more devastating. The view from here The UN: A good idea undermined by its Security Council (1) Nana Kwasi Gyan-Apenteng The view from here Oct - 16 - 2023 , 19:57 On October 7, the Palestinian group, Harakat al-Muqawama alIslamiya, better known by its acronym HAMAS, launched a barrage of rockets across its northern border into Israel. It was the beginning of one of the most horrific acts of violence this year. Of course, it was by no means the origin of the conflict but that will come later if there is space. For now, let us remember that some 3,000 kilometres from the scene of this conflict, another carnage was taking place on Ukrainian territory. A couple of weeks before, some 90,000 people left their homes in Nagorno Karabakh enclave in Azerbaijan in one of the biggest mass asylums in current history. In Africa, there were violent clashes in the Congo, while the devastations of the Sahel gallop apace. The Sudan civil war or whatever it is, has been yanked off the front pages to make room for new blood-soaked episodes. These were just a few of the many centres of brutality and human suffering going on around the world on one particular day. As relayed by television into our lives, these wars and violent conflicts present a new level of degradation in human cruelty and misery but there is nothing new about the conflicts themselves. In a way, taken together, these front pages represent a throwback to many decades when they were carried on the same front pages. Take DR Congo, Israel-Palestine, Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh and almost all the violence we are witnessing today were on the front pages 40 years ago when I was the foreign news editor at the Daily Graphic, this newspapers sister daily. Even then, these issues had been many decades in the making. Even the Russian invasion of Ukraine has its roots in the past going back to the pre-war period of nationalisms in Europe. I recall these ugly global happenings because they were not meant to happen. The post-Second World War arrangement for peace, with the United Nations at the centre, was meant to ensure peace around the world. This is precisely because the United Nations (UN), established in 1945, emerged from the ashes of World War II with the primary goal of maintaining international peace and security. The founding of the UN was intended to foster collaboration among nations and prevent future conflicts, making it a noble endeavour. A bronze statue, which is a 1959 gift from the Soviet Union to the UN, has this inscription from the Bible Book of Isaiah, which summarises the aspiration of the UN: They shall beat their swords into plough shares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." With the UN and its system in place, how come peace has eluded humankind all these years? To answer this question, we have to look at the structure and scope of the UN and how its work is thus affected. The UN was born out of the collective determination to prevent global calamities like the two world wars that had ravaged the planet. Its Charter was signed on June 26, 1945, by 50 countries, and it entered into force on October 24, 1945. The main purposes of the UN, as stated in Article 1 of the Charter, are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, and promote social progress, respect for human rights and better standards of living. To maintain international peace and security, the Security Council (SC) was created as the centrepiece of the UN's efforts. The specifics of the SC's composition, voting procedures, and responsibilities are outlined in Chapters V and VII of the UN Charter. The SC consists of 15 members, of which five are permanent membersthe United States, Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdomand 10 are non-permanent members, elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly. All permanent members possess veto power, allowing them to unilaterally block any resolution, regardless of its level of support from other members. This veto ability allows for significant bias and manipulation within the Council, often thwarting the will of the majority and impeding meaningful action. The veto power granted to the permanent members of the SC has been a major bone of contention throughout the UN's existence. Originally intended as a precautionary measure to protect the interests of the great powers, it has historically resulted in instances where critical resolutions that had gained broad support were halted due to the objection of one or more countries. This undermines the principle of democracy and equal representation by allowing a handful of nations to wield disproportionate power and control over the UN's decisions. It is therefore the view of this writer that the good intentions of the United Nations have been undone by the Security Council whose members have turned the UN into an instrument of global power politics instead of an institution that works to promote peace and security. At the heart of the paralysis of the UNs most sacred mandate is the desire of superpowers to protect their interests and those of their clients, instead of ensuring that the building blocks of peace are laid where they should be. In order to further their own interests, the permanent member status and veto power held by certain countries perpetuate geopolitical imbalances. Currently, the most horrendous wars are either being fought by SC member countries or being supported by them. They are all complicit in furthering the causes of war instead of peace. The wars in Ukraine and Palestine are cases in point. Furthermore, the composition of the SC does not reflect the current global political realities, as it remains rooted in the post-World War II era. Emerging global powers, such as India, Brazil, and Nigeria, have long been seeking reform to achieve a more representative and democratic composition within the SC. While the United Nations may have been founded with noble intentions, the existence of an undemocratic Security Council undermines its effectiveness and compromises its core principles. The number of people who have died in wars since the Second World War is more than five times the number of casualties in both world wars combined (https://ourworldindata.org war-andpeace). UN bodies and projects are doing a good job around the world in health, education, child care, human rights, culture and much more. But the central mandate of the organisation is to ensure global peace, and in this it has failed because the permanent Security Council members have undermined its good intentions. Without justice there can be no peace, and the big powers are the biggest purveyors of injustice in the world today. $10,000 Mechanised water system for Potrase Haruna Yussif Wunpini Oct - 16 - 2023 , 05:34 The chiefs and people of Potrase in the Abuakwa South District of the Eastern Region heaved a sigh of relief last Thursday following the inauguration of a $10,000 mechanised water system to provide the community and its environs with potable water. Potrase, a cocoa farming community, has had serious water problems for many years and relied on the Densu River on the outskirts of the community as its source of drinking water. The water system, which was constructed by the ECOWAS Commission to help address the lack of potable water in the communities, especially deprived ones, has attached five pipes to ensure the provision of potable water to the inhabitants. Joy Residents of the area could not hide their joy over the project as they jubilated and danced to traditional music provided by a local cultural troupe. A resident of the community, Gifty Yeboah, told the that residents had relied on the Densu River since 2012. She said the new water facility would provide them with potable water so they would no longer have to travel long distances in search of safe drinking water. Speaking at the ceremony, the Resident Representative of ECOWAS in Ghana, Ambassador Baba Gana Wakil, said the organisation deemed it necessary and an important part of its work to provide safe drinking water for deprived communities. He said the new facility provided was through a modest contribution of ECOWAS of which Ghana is a member. Densu River Mr Wakil told the chiefs and people that for the next 10 to 15 years, he would want to see the people benefiting a lot from the facility and no longer drinking directly from the contaminated Densu River. He said his outfit, together with officials from the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), in June last year visited the community to do feasibility studies on exactly where to put up the new water facility. He commended the chiefs and people for supporting ECOWAS to put up the facility and urged members of the community to put in place mechanisms that would ensure the sustainability of the water facility. For her part, a representative of the ECOWAS Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Neematu Ziblim Adams, who briefly explained to the residents what ECOWAS was all about, said it was necessary to provide the community with potable water. She urged the inhabitants to regularly maintain the new facility so it lasts long and serve its intended purpose. The Chief of Potrase, Nana Ansah Sasraku, expressed his gratitude to ECOWAS for the provision of the water facility and said it would lessen the burden on women and children who always went in search of potable water for drinking and also to undertake household chores. First time Nana Sasraku, who said it was the first time such facility had been received from the ECOWAS, appealed to the sub-regional body to provide jobs for the teeming unemployed youth in the community since they had completed school and had no jobs. The chief also urged them to set up a mini factory in the town to enable the youth who completed school without jobs to work. The Assembly member for the Potrase Electoral Area, Cynthia Dansoa, who was highly elated told the Daily Graphic that their search for potable water had ended because ECOWAS had put back smiles on the faces of the people. She thanked ECOWAS for the provision of the water facility and assured the body that they would take good care of it. Akosombo Dam still receiving over 200% of water, spillage to continue to prevent dam break - VRA Graphic.com.gh Oct - 16 - 2023 , 08:16 The Volta River Authority (VRA) has explained that the Akosombo Dam was currently receiving over 200 percent more water around this time of the year in October than what was experienced in previous years. The amount of water coming into the dam "is so great" and this means the water spillage from the Akosombo Dam will continue. If we have two days of continuous rainfall, the dam could break, Edward Ekow Obeng-Kenzo, Deputy Chief Executive of the VRA in charge of Engineering and Operations said in a radio interview monitored by Graphic Online on Accra based Citi FM on Monday morning (Oct 16, 2023). He explained this phenomenon of water inflow to Akosombo Dam was last experienced in 2006 and 2010. Apart from the volumes of water coming from Burkina Faso, there are also some coming in from Togo. He said the trend was following the 2010 trend. He said the VRA was currently tracking the water inflow and that if there was any unexpected volumes of flow, then the spillage will continue. more to follow.... All communities in lower Volta basin were adequately informed about spillage - VRA Graphic.com.gh Oct - 16 - 2023 , 09:20 The Volta River Authority (VRA) has insisted that all communities in the lower Volta basin, affected by floods as a result of the spillage from the Akosombo Dam were adequately informed and educated on the need to move to higher grounds before the spillage started. The last simulation exercise about a possible spillage as a result of the continuous inflow of water into the dam was undertaken in May 2023, the VRA has said. In a radio interview monitored by Graphic Online on Accra based Citi FM on Monday morning (Oct 16, 2023), Edward Ekow Obeng-Kenzo, Deputy Chief Executive of the VRA in charge of Engineering and Operations said all communities were adequately informed and warnings were issued." "We started spilling out small volumes of water hoping that the communities will start moving out themselves because we are not God to say that the rains will stop so we will close the gates tomorrow or the next day. We thought that activity will be carried out, but as I always say, people normally say let us wait and see what will happen, some were caught anyway, because the volumes and the speed of the water coming, you cannot say that you can quickly outrun it and save all your properties in it. And as you know most people will like to evacuate everything in their room before leaving and that also affected the evacuation of the people. So in a nutshell, we really educated them and they knew what they were supposed to do accordingly," the deputy CEO said. "Somewhere last year, November 2022, we contacted all the agencies, NADMO, Fire Service, all district assemblies, that we wanted to carry out a simulation exercise in the second quarter of 2023, because of the volumes of water we were seeing in the lake. "We carried out that exercise in May 2023. All the communities were informed, all the communities were involved in carrying out this exercise." Mepe "Mepe was even the centre of the exercise, the emergency operational centre was established in Mepe, and that was where we carried out that exercise, knowing the nature of the land in Mepe, because it is a low lying area." "The district assemblies were involved, radio stations, the media were involved, it was communicated that something of this sort could happen and when it happens, becareful, we even termed that exercise 'Da wo ho so' - [Be ready]. And when we saw that the levels were going up, somewhere in August we started communicating also, so somewhere 13th September we issued out letters to all the agencies, which were concerned that this is what is going to happen..., the protocols, emergency preparedness plans were activated. "We started spilling out small volumes of water hoping that the communities will start moving out themselves because we are not God to say that the rains will stop so we will close the gates tomorrow or the next day. We thought that activity will be carried out, but as I always say, people normally say let us wait and see what will happen, some were caught anyway, because the volumes and the speed of the water coming, you cannot say that you can quickly outrun it and save all your properties in it. And as you know most people will like to evacuate everything in their room before leaving and that also affected the evacuation of the people. So in a nutshell, we really educated them and they knew what they were supposed to do accordingly," the deputy CEO said. more to follow.... Child Rights empowers children in cocoa-growing areas Timothy Gobah Oct - 16 - 2023 , 05:52 Child Rights International (CRI) has unveiled its latest initiative dedicated to the support and empowerment of children in cocoa-growing communities throughout the country. It said as a non-governmental organisation deeply committed to safeguarding the rights and well-being of children, the organisation had embarked on a series of projects designed to enhance the educational and vocational opportunities for children, with significant emphasis on eradicating child labour in cocoa-growing communities. Under the umbrella of the CRI Community Remediation and Empowerment Programme (CREP), CRI has made remarkable progress in providing educational opportunities and vocational training for children in various cocoa-growing communities. Over the years, we supported a number of children in technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and offered educational support to many others, a statement signed by the Executive Director of CRI, Bright Appiah, said. Support This year, it said the CRI had supported 25 children across three cocoa-growing districts, adding that out of the number, 14 were in New Juabeng, seven in West Akim and four in Ayensuano districts. The children, it said had embarked on apprenticeships in vocations such as hairdressing, masonry, plumbing, sewing and many more. An additional 113 children, it said, were set to benefit across five districts. Furthermore, through the School Improvement Support Scheme (SISS), CRI has provided five nursery schools within the Atwinma Mponua, Ayensuano and West Akim districts with child-friendly furniture, educational materials and refurbished classrooms. These improvements are already creating a more conducive learning environment for children in these areas. Presently, CRI is actively involved in the renovation of two kindergarten schools in the Atwinma Mponua and Suhum districts, it said. Access The move, the statement said, aimed to ensure that children aged four to six years could access quality education without the need for long and arduous journeys. This initiative aligns seamlessly with CRI's unwavering commitment to creating opportunities for children in cocoa-growing communities. Additionally, approximately 4,000 junior high school students across 35 districts within the Ashanti, Eastern, Western-North, Bono, Ahafo and Western regions will receive textbooks, exercise books and notebooks, it said. By undertaking the endeavour, it said CRI aimed to significantly enhance the educational resources available to these students, granting them the advantages needed to excel in their studies. Under the CRI Tony Fofie Child Development Fund (TFDF), it said a total of 31 students had received scholarships, with 29 of them awarded tertiary scholarships and two given secondary scholarships. Furthermore, and in a resolute effort to eliminate child labour, the statement said CRI had established partnerships with eight organisations 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 schoolchildren in rural communities with their daily commute to school. During the hand over of 14 children in the New Juabeng North District to their master craftsmen, Mr Appiah admonished and underscored the significance of technical education. He described 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. Partners The Municipal Chief Executive of New Juabeng North, Comfort Asante, expressed her heartfelt gratitude to CRI and its esteemed partners for their invaluable support. She urged skills tutors to remain committed to the education of children, emphasising that such dedication was a collective endeavour, requiring the unwavering commitment of all parties involved. The statement said CRI remained 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, it said. ECG customers express frustrations over inability to purchase power Emmanuel Bonney Oct - 16 - 2023 , 05:33 Some customers of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in Accra have expressed their frustrations over difficulties they are going through to buy power for their prepaid meters. The customers said they had made several calls and complaints to the various offices of the ECG but they had still not received power in their homes although they were given assurances. One of such residents, Samuel Bio, who lives around Amamole near Achimota, said he had called the ECG offices 71 times but was yet to receive power and even with that the calls were not toll-free. That, he said, was in spite of the fact that the much touted ECG Mobile App deducted GH100 on October 7, this year, when he attempted to purchase power without success. At one point, Mr Bio said he was given three different token numbers to input into his meter by customer service officers but all did not work. The ECG customer said because of the frustrations he had gone through for the past one week, he had decided not to call the ECG office again. He said under the circumstance, he had been compelled to tap power from his neighbour in order to preserve his foodstuffs and charge his phone, among other things. After narrating the pains he had gone through to get the problem resolved, Mr Bio charged the ECG to be up and doing since it was not right for customers to suffer for services they were paying for. When contacted, the Director of Communications at the ECG, William Boateng, told the Daily Graphic that the problem had to do mostly with those using the Nuri Kamstrup Meter. Assurance He gave an assurance that the company was working round the clock to resolve the problem and added that text messages had been sent to persons who were affected. In a statement, the ECG said the inability of prepayment customers to purchase electricity was as a result of a technical challenge. However, the company, in a statement issued on October 9, 2023, said in a bid to provide uninterrupted service, its dedicated team was actively working to address the issue and restore normal operations. The company also reached out to its customers via text message stating: "Dear cherished Nuri Kamstrup prepaid customer. We are experiencing a technical challenge. Please bear with us while we work assiduously to get it resolved. Sorry for the inconvenience caused". ECG said it deeply regreted any inconvenience the situation might had caused. But when Mr Bio was contacted, he expressed surprise and wondered why the ECG was being economical with the truth, adding that the only messages he had received so far from the ECG were on Saturday October 7, when he was notified about his payment for power purchase, which the ECG said was pending; and another on Friday October 13 2023, at 6.36 a.m., which also gave a token that had not worked as at 5.30 p.m. yesterday, when he spoke to the Daily Graphic. Mr Bio said the situation was even dire because vendors in shops could also not use that particular meter. He urged the company to tell customers what to do to get alternative source of power in such circumstances or face the wrath of customers. FBnbank staff donate to support children-focused projects Daily Graphic Oct - 16 - 2023 , 05:31 Staff of the FBNBank Ghana have donated GH18,000 to the Rotary Club of Accra Ring Road Central to support the clubs children-focused activities. The Rotary Club of Accra Ring Roads child-focused project is the Berekuso Community Clinic which is at various stages of completion. Commenting on the donation, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Victor Yaw Asante, said we at FBNBank firmly believe in the commitment of touching lives and positively impacting communities in different ways. We recognise the role of Berekuso Community Clinic in service delivery and ensuring the general well-being of the people in the area. Mr Asante, who is the immediate past District Governor of Rotary District 9102, said the bank believed the donation would go a long way towards supporting the Rotary Club of Accra Ring Road Central to complete the project. The President of the Rotary Club of Accra Ring Road Central, Kwadwo Akrofi Koram, said, at Rotary, service to our communities is one of our core mandates, and extending a helping hand to communities in need is a responsibility for us all Contribution FBNBank has contributed cash totalling GH65,000 over the last four years to support the Rotary Club of Accra Ring Road Centrals children-focused projects. Some of the projects for which the Banks Staff made donations were GH10,000 in 2019 for refurbishment of the educational and dining facilities at the Akropong School for the Blind. In 2020, Staff of the Bank donated GHc10,865 for renovation and construction of classrooms and library for the Golden Spring School in Tetegu as well as for the purchase of essential equipment for the childrens cancer unit at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. The Banks staff commenced donations for the construction of the Berekuso Community Clinic in 2021 with a donation of GH12,000; donation of GH14,000 in 2022 and the donation of GHS18,000 in 2023. Other In a related development, the staff of FBNBank also donated GH10,000, comprising cash, food items, and personal effects, to the House of Faith Child Development Centre at Akosombo. The Child Development Centre started 10 years ago, and they currently have 280 children, with six in tertiary and five in apprenticeship. Seventy-five of the children are currently in senior high school and 186 are in basic school. The Head of Human Capital Management and Development, Eldora Emelia Tetteh, said, at FBNBank, we prioritise giving back to the society. Receiving the items, the Executive Director of the House of Faith Child Development Centre, Rev. Dr Lawrence Larry Lawal, was appreciative of the banks kind gesture. GACL adjudged Most Profitable state-owned enterprise Daily Graphic Oct - 16 - 2023 , 05:41 The Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) has been adjudged the "Most Profitable state-owned enterprise (SOE) for the year 2022 at the Public Enterprises League Table (PELT) awards. The State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA) organised the events last Wednesday as a barometer to encourage profitable performance by SOEs. A citation read at the event lauded GACL for achieving the highest profitability parameter under the Performance Contract Key Performance Index. The award was in recognition of GACL's delivery of financial returns. Encouraging passenger traffic During the year under review, international passenger traffic, including transit passengers, recorded a recovery of 83.9 per cent of the 2019 levels. In 2022, the full year passenger traffic was 2.33 million compared to 2019 throughput of 1.95 million. Domestic passenger traffic, on the other hand, increased by 23.4 per cent from 690,314 in 2019 to 852,101 at the end of 2022. Dedicated team Receiving the award, the Managing Director of GACL, Pamela Djamson-Tettey, said: It is a great privilege to receive this award on behalf of the team at Ghana Airports. This could not have been possible without the dedication of the team. Their collective resolve to overcome the challenges, following the COVID-19 pandemic era, is creditable, she said. Mrs Djamson-Tettey said the award came at a time when GACL was still honouring its loan obligations arising from the term loan facility for the construction of Terminal 3 and the Domestic Airport Passenger Service Charge (APSC), still pegged at GH5 per passenger. I am aware of discussions to secure a review of the APSC. This is very important because the upward adjustment we are seeking, will, among other things, enable us to maintain existing newly constructed airports in the regions to world class standards. The future looks promising and we are confident and poised to remain on this path of profitability, she said. Ghana Airports Company Limited was incorporated in 2006 with a responsibility for planning, developing, managing and maintaining airports in Ghana, including Kotoka International Airport and the regional airports namely Tamale, Kumasi, Sunyani, Wa and Ho. The vision of GACL is to position Ghana as the preferred aviation hub and leader in airport business in West Africa. Akosombo dam spillage: Victims to undergo health screening Getrude Ankah Nyavi Oct - 16 - 2023 , 11:49 Flood victims following the Akosombo Dam spillage are to undergo a health screening starting Tuesday, October 16. This is to help avert a possible outbreak of waterborne diseases in the affected areas of the floods. In a radio interview monitored by Graphic Online on Accra based Okay FM on Monday morning (Oct 16)), the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said a medical outreach in collaboration with the Ghana Medical Association is underway in the North Tongu constituency. My concern is the looming health crises because of how high the water has risen and how it has entered into all areas such as landfill sites, refuse dumps, public toilet facilities. The water is now contaminated. If care is not taken, and people who are used to using this water to cook or drink do so, if they continue, we are going to have a cholera outbreak. Mr Ablakwa appealed to the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the Ministry of Health to step in to help avert what he terms disastrous public health crises in the area and other parts of the country. If we dont manage the fallout from this flooding, it could lead to all kinds of other consequences which will further exacerbate the situation, he stated. He said thousands have been displaced and properties worth millions have been destroyed as a result of the floods from the spillage. Describing the situation as tragic, he appealed to all stakeholders to come to the aid of the victims. Mr Ablakwa said he was launching the MPs mobile relief caravan at 1 pm on Monday, October 16. We shall send food items, medicines, and other essentials to the shelters we have established. Rice, maize, bags of sugar, oil, mosquito nets and all those essentials needed for survival will be made available. The Volta River Authority (VRA) started the controlled spillage at the Akosombo and Kpong dams, both in the Eastern Region, from September 16, 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. Related article: Akosombo Dam still receiving over 200% of water, spillage to continue to prevent dam break - VRA Akosombo, Kpong, dams spillage - President Akufo-Addo visits flooded areas today Akosombo, Dam spillage wreaks havoc downstream Akosombo dam spillage: Over 8,000 people evacuated Getrude Ankah Nyavi Oct - 16 - 2023 , 17:21 The Ghana Navy says it has rescued over 8,000 flood victims as of Sunday, October 15, following the spillage from the Akosombo Dam. Commodore E.A. Kwafo from the Naval Training Command said the combined rescue team deployed to the affected districts is currently monitoring critical infrastructure and responding to distress calls in order to neutralise the effect of the damage caused by the spillage. He made this known during an update on the floods on Monday at Mepe in the Volta Region. We were keeping watch on critical infrastructure and as of yesterday evening, we had evacuated over 8,000 flood-stricken people to safe havens, and we have brought over ten more boats downstream and experienced divers and lifesavers to assist in the rescue efforts. he stated. He added that more personnel and logistics would be deployed if the rescuers become inundated with the current efforts being executed. We are monitoring critical infrastructure as well as responding to distress calls from the district assemblies, VRA, and NADMO and we have been rescuing people on the water and we are monitoring the estuary because it becomes a deathtrap in times of flooding. Commodore E.A. Kwafo gave the assurance that, Depending on how it goes, we may bring in more facilities and more personnel or if the situation improves, then, we may be keeping a watch anyway and we are ready to respond to any distress call and help save lives and properties to help mitigate the losses during these difficult times. The Volta River Authority (VRA) started the controlled spillage at the Akosombo and Kpong dams, both in the Eastern Region, from September 16, 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. Related articles: Akosombo Dam spillage floods: GMA mobilizes to assist flood victims Akosombo dam spillage: Victims to undergo health screening Akosombo Dam still receiving over 200% of water, spillage to continue to prevent dam break - VRA Akosombo, Kpong, dams spillage - President Akufo-Addo visits flooded areas today GNPC adjudged Most Compliant SOE Daily Graphic Oct - 16 - 2023 , 05:31 The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) has been adjudged the Most Compliant State-Owned Enterprise in the country. Last Wednesday the Ministryof Public Enterprises in conjunction with the Ministry of Finance and the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), honoured the Ghana National Oil Company at the Public Enterprises League Table (PELT) Awards held in Accra. According to the organisers, GNPCs unwavering commitment to upholding the highest standards of regulatory compliance and ethical business practices was commendable and deserving of being adjudged "Most Compliant State-Owned Enterprise (SOE)." accolade This accolade, as well as the Corporations overall ranking as the 3rd Best Performing Entity on the PELT, was the outcome of an independent assessment conducted by the multinational Accounting and Auditing firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The award ceremony was aimed at engendering positive competition amongst State Owned Enterprises (SOEs), Joint Venture Companies (JVCs) and State Entities. It was attended by various industry leaders, government officials among other distinguished guests. A citation accompanying the award stated that the Corporation recorded the highest achievement in compliance to statutory reporting per the laws governing Specified Entities in Ghana. It underscores GNPC's outstanding achievement in maintaining compliance with a myriad of legal and regulatory frameworks. The Corporations dedication to transparency, accountability, and responsible governance has, by this feat, set a commendable benchmark within Ghanas corporate sector. GNPC CEO, Opoku-Ahweneeh Danquah, expressed immense gratitude for the recognition. He said it showcased the Corporation's dedication to ensuring a sustainable and responsible business environment. "This achievement is a testament to the hard work of our staff whose efforts have now positioned GNPC as a trailblaser in the realm of corporate compliance, setting an inspiring example for other state-owned enterprises and businesses across the nation," he remarked. compliance GNPCs exemplary compliance culture has not only earned the corporation accolades within the business community but has also instilled trust and confidence among stakeholders and partners. The Corporation was represented at the ceremony by Manager, Corporate Strategy, Albert Akowuah and Deputy Manager, Compliance at GNPC Albert Longdon Nyewan. Akosombo Dam spillage floods: GMA mobilizes to assist flood victims Graphic.com.gh Oct - 16 - 2023 , 12:21 The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has welcomed the formation of an Inter-ministerial Committee to help address the flooding and related issues following the spillage from the Akosombo Dam and has started mobilizing doctors from all over to assist flood victims. "The Association is mobilizing our members, logistics and other resources to support relief efforts in the affected communities and will continue to monitor the situation," the GMA said in a press statement, jointly signed and issued on Monday (Oct 16, 2023) by Dr. Frank Serebour, GMA President and Dr. Richard Selormey, Ag. General Secretary. It said the move was to help with the provision of emergency healthcare and support, prevention of possible outbreaks of water-borne diseases, risk communication and ensuring continuity of essential health services as a fundamental to a response of this nature. The GMA, however expressed concern about the exclusion of the Minister of Health from the Inter-ministerial Committee even though the Ministry of Health will play a central role in relief efforts. The association, therefore called for the immediate inclusion of the Minster of Health as a matter of urgency. Effects of the floods 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. With the absence of electricity, public installations, including hospitals in Sogakope and Adidome, are bearing the brunt of the flooding, leaving the lives of patients in danger. High water levels 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. Attached below is a copy of the GMA statement Maternity, paternity bill presented to Parliament Nana Konadu Agyeman Oct - 16 - 2023 , 00:00 A private members bill proposing an amendment to extend maternity leave from three months to four months has been introduced in Parliament. The bill, which is seeking to amend the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651), is also proposing an option for an additional two weeks of maternity leave in the case of a caesarean section (CS), stillbirth(s) or multiple births. The Labour (Amendment) Bill, 2023, also known as parental leave for all, is also pushing for the introduction of paid paternity leave for men for a minimum of seven days and a maximum period of four weeks, with the option of an additional two weeks in case of caesarean, stillbirth(s) or multiple deliveries of spouse and to provide for related matters. It is aimed at allowing new mothers adequate time to give birth, exclusively breastfeed, care for and bond with their new baby, as well as recover before returning to work. The essence of paternity leave is to enable men to take care of their wives and assist the new mothers with domestic chores. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Madina, Francis-Xavier Sosu, who is sponsoring the bill, submitted it to the Clerk-to-Parliament on Friday, October 6. A memorandum accompanying the proposed bill said in November 1919, a little over 100 years ago, the first steps were taken to ensure the protection of pregnant women at work with the adoption of the Maternity Protection Convention at the International Labour Conference, the first gender equality international labour standard. It said the convention recognised the right to paid leave in relation to childbirth with employment protection. Thus, maternity protection was one of the primary concerns of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the memo said. In Ghana, the MP said, the current maternal mortality rate was 350 out of 100,000 live births as of August 2022, less than the World Health Organisation (WHOs) accepted standard of 70 out of 100,000 live births. Citing the Greater Accra Regional Hospital (Ridge), he said majority of maternal deaths were as a result of bleeding during or after childbirth. As a result, the WHO recommends that pushing maternity leave to six months in order to allow for exclusive breastfeeding should be a priority, an assessment agreed to by the Ghana Medical Association. Thus, the purpose of maternity leave is to give new mothers adequate time to give birth, recover, care for and bond with their new baby before returning to work as the period of exclusive breastfeeding is important in ensuring that mothers are able to provide their children with adequate care, he said. Silence of law Furthermore, Mr Sosu said, for Ghana, Act 651, specifically section 57(3), addressed scenarios where women underwent CS or gave birth to multiple babies in addition to providing women with a 12-week maternity leave period to nurture their newborns and recover after delivery. It stipulates that Maternity leave can be extended by a minimum of two extra weeks in cases of abnormal confinement or when two or more babies are born during the same confinement. However, the law remains silent on the situation of women who unfortunately lose their babies during pregnancy or delivery, he said. Mr Sosu argued that the absence of specific provisions in the Ghana labour law to address or offer support for women grappling with the loss of pregnancy or babies was a big challenge, underscoring the pressing need to initiate conversations and consider potential reforms that extended compassionate support for women during their times of vulnerability. In addition, he said, the physical and psychological pressure of such losses could be great since the body and mind often went through significant changes in preparation for childbirth. He said amid the heart-wrenching scenario of a woman giving birth and subsequently losing her baby, there had also been concerns about a womans entitlement to maternity leave days. This issue has sparked debates that delve into the fundamental purpose of maternity leave, questioning whether or not they are tied exclusively to the presence of a baby and not necessarily to the mother. Indeed, while some argue that the absence of a living baby negates the need for the statutory maternity leave, others assert that the act of childbirth alone warrants the full duration of maternity leave for mourning and healing, regardless of the babys survival duration, he argued. GEAs position In May 2017, he said, the Ghana Employers Association (GEA) proposed an extension of the countrys maternity leave from the current 12 weeks to 14 weeks. The GEAs call followed moves from various stakeholders to have the leave period extended to enable women to undertake exclusive breastfeeding, as well as recover, before resuming work. Globally, Mr Sosu cited some of the countries with the longest maternity leave. He named them as Bulgaria at 58.6 weeks at 90 per cent pay, Canada at 50 weeks at 55 per cent pay, Croatia at 30 weeks at 100 per cent pay, Czech Republic at 36 weeks at 70 per cent pay, Greece at 43 weeks at 54.2 per cent pay, and Iceland at 26 weeks at 80 per cent pay. He mentioned others as Norway at 59 weeks at 80 per cent pay and 49 weeks at 100 per cent pay, Sweden at 34.2 weeks at 80 per cent pay, Slovakia at 34 weeks at 75 per cent pay, and United Kingdom at 39 weeks at 90 per cent pay, among others. Again, he said, extension of the period of maternity leave could also lead to the realisation of SDG 3 under the broad subject of Good Health and Well-Being. The objectives under SDG 3 include to reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births, and to end preventable deaths of newborns and children under five years of age by 2030. It is based on the above that I request amendment of Section 57(1) of the Labour Act to extend the period of maternity leave from 12 weeks to 16 weeks (three months to four months), with option for additional two weeks in the case of caesarean, stillbirth(s) or multiple births, and to provide for related matters, he said. While maternity leave is mandatory in Ghana, paternity leave tends to be forgotten, he said. Quoting a Canadian university research on paternity leave in 2020, the Madina MP said per a recent study, 90 out of 187 countries worldwide offered statutory paid paternity leave, with almost four in 10 organisations (38 per cent) providing paid leave above the statutory minimum. Despite that considerable shift in cultural and employer support of fathers, less than half take advantage of all the leave benefits offered to them, he said. Maternity and paternity leave are important for both parents to have the opportunity to welcome and bond with the newest member of the family, he added. NCCE commiserates with former President Kufuor Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson Oct - 16 - 2023 , 05:46 The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) last week visited former President John Agyekum Kufuor and his family at Peduase to commiserate with them over the loss of former First Lady Theresa Kufuor. Led by the Chairperson of the commission, Kathleen Addy, the NCCE delegation, including commission members, management and staff, paid homage to the former First Lady and greeted the former President and the bereaved family as customs demand. Ms Addy later signed the book of condolence, describing the former First Lady as an epitome of peace and champion of human rights and causes relating to women and children. In an interview with the media, the NCCE chairperson said the former First Lady led an exemplary life and set the standards for other women to emulate. She did her job flawlessly, was mother of the nation and someone who always had ear for people, she said. Support to NCCE Ms Addy said the commission decided to commiserate with former President Kufuor not only because of the exemplary life of the former First Lady but also due to the tremendous support the former President gave to the NCCE during his tenure. Former President Kufuor was one of our greatest supporters. While he was President, he went out of his way to give all the support possibly to help the NCCE adequately discharge its constitutional mandate, she added. Burial Meanwhile, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has stated that a state funeral will be held for Mrs Theresa Kufuor. Informing the family of the late Mrs Kufuor about the decision, the President said the late former First Lady deserved to be given all the respect of the state. The family had gone to the Jubilee House to formally inform the President about the passing of Mrs Kufuor, which happened on October 1, as well as inform him about the funeral date. Confirming the date, the spokesperson of the family delegation, Papa Kofi Mensah, indicated that the final funeral rites would begin with a burial service at the forecourt of the State House on November 16, 2023. The body will then be conveyed to Kumasi for burial rites on November 18 after which she would be laid to rest on November 19, 2023. Final funeral rites will be held on the same day after the burial. Profile Aside from being a former First Lady, Mrs Kufuor, nee Mensah, was the youngest sister of the late astute politician and former Member of Parliament and senior minister during President Kufuors administration, Joseph Henry Mensah Born on October 25, 1935, she married John Kufuor in 1962 and they have been together for 61 years. Mrs. Kufuor lived most of her working life in the United Kingdom after studying at the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford and Paddington General Hospital, London, and qualifying as a State Certified Midwife with a Certificate in Premature Nursing. The Former First Lady started her education at the Catholic Convent in Keta, in the Volta Region. After that, she went to London and became a Registered Nurse after getting her education from Southern Hospital Group of Nursing in Edinburgh, Scotland. President Akufo-Addo tours flooded areas and pledges relief items for all victims Enoch Darfah Frimpong Oct - 16 - 2023 , 17:33 President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Monday afternoon inspected flooded areas in the lower Volta basin and pledged the government's commitment to alleviate the plight of the flood victims. He expressed sympathies for the people in relation to the tragedy that has happened. President Akufo-Addo said the government will do everything in its power to assist everybody affected by the floods in North Tongu, South Tongu and Central Tongu, all in the Volta Region. "When these things happen and government acts, politics does not come in at all. I took the oath of office as president to protect every citizen of Ghana, whether they voted for me or not, once I have taken the oath, I am the president. So Togbe, I want you and your elders and the people to understand that the government is acting for all Ghanaians," he said. "I came here because Ghanaians are having difficulties and suffering and it is my responsibility to try and help, because if it is a question of who votes for me and who does not vote me, I should not be here because you don't vote for me, that is not my concern," the President added. President Akufo-Addo explained that when the tragedy occurred, he was out of the jurisdiction in the United States of America (USA) but has already discussed with the Chief of Staff on what has to be done in response to the tragedy. He said the most important thing is to ensure that lives were protected and therefore the establishment of a centre in Mepe and the provision of relief items by the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO). He said NADMO was going to continue to provide relief items and that apart from what NADMO is doing, "we are also thinking about the future. I am aware that you are farming people, farming on the banks of the rivers and the overflow has destroyed many farms." President Akufo-Add added that the Ministry of Agriculture will work and decide on the nature of support to offer in the long term when the water goes away. He said the inter-ministerial committee is working in several phases with the immediate one being relief items supplied to victims. President Akufo-Addo's tour enabled to visit the districts severely hit by the floods occasioned by the spillage of the Akosombo Dam. The President, who returned to Ghana Sunday night after a four-day official duty in the United States, was joined by members of the Inter-Ministerial Committee set up by the government to help address the havoc caused downstream by the Akosombo Dam spillage and to help bring relief to those affected. The tourenabled the President and the committee to assess the destruction caused by the flood and its effect on the people in the various communities. The committee, headed by the Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, is coordinating government's response to the spillage. Writer's email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Follow @enochfrimpong Follow @Graphicgh Prof. Dodoo urges Ghana, Zimbabwe to work towards trade Kester Aburam Korankye Oct - 16 - 2023 , 05:16 The Director-General of the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), Professor Alex Dodoo, has urged Ghana and Zimbabwe to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the cooperation agreement between them and work towards more trade to create wealth to improve the livelihoods of their peoples. He said that Ghana and Zimbabwe could utilise the General Cooperation Agreement (GCA) signed in June this year and tap into the favourable trading conditions created by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) to improve the lot of both countries. Prof. Dodoo, also a globally recognised expert in health and standardisation, was delivering a keynote speech at the 2023 World Standards Day Celebrations in Zimbabwe on October 13. The theme for this year's World Standards Day was "Shared Vision for a Better World: Incorporating SDG3 - Good Health and Well-being." The day is celebrated annually on October 14th to pay tribute to the collaborative efforts of thousands of experts worldwide who develop voluntary technical agreements published as International Standards. Agreement On 19th June this year, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, witnessed the signing of the GCA. The agreement was signed by the Finance and Economic Development Minister of Zimbabwe, Prof. Mthuli Ncube, and a Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Kwaku Ampratwum Sarpong. The GCA is expected to pave way for the establishment of Ghana-Zimbabwe Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation (JPCC). The areas of collaboration include Trade; Transport; Agriculture; Fisheries; Livestock Breeding; Industry; Mining; Culture; Education; Health; Environmental Protection; Water Engineering; Sports; ICT among others. Deep ties Prof. Dodoo highlighted the deep ties between Ghana and Zimbabwe and the need for closer cooperation between them to uplift the lives of their peoples. Standards Prof Dodoo also spoke about the importance of international standards in creating a safer and more sustainable world, with a special focus on SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being. He emphasised that the right to health is a fundamental human right that must be upheld by all, including governments, the private sector, civil society, and individuals. Prudential Bank supports Lifeline for Childhood Cancer Daily Graphic Oct - 16 - 2023 , 05:06 The Prudential Bank Limited (PBL) has donated of GH20,000 and a set of branded items to the Lifeline for Childhood Cancer Ghana, the foundation partner of the Korle Bu Pediatric Oncology Unit. Lifeline for Childhood Cancer Ghana raises funds for the treatment, care and cure of children with cancer and seeks to make childhood cancer a national health priority. Presenting the items on behalf of the PBL, Ruth Baafi of the Marketing and Corporate Affairs Department of the bank said the donation was to support the activities of the unit. Commitment She underscored the bank's continuing commitment to contributing to commendable causes that benefit the broader community. Receiving the items, the Executive Director and co-founder of the Lifeline for Childhood Cancer Foundation, Akua Sarpong, expressed her profound gratitude to the PBL for the support. She said significant number of patients at the centre came from underprivileged backgrounds, hence the need to support them to access quality healthcare. She added that the donation would play a pivotal role in alleviating the financial burden of their medical expenses during the course of their treatment. Gesture The Pediatric Oncology Nurse in charge of the unit, Faustina Amoako commended the bank for the kind gesture and entreated well-meaning Ghanaians, as well as other philanthropic and corporate bodies to also support the Paediatric Oncology Unit of the hospital in other areas such as the acquisition of monitors, medication and also funding for expansion works. The Korle Bu Oncology Day Care Unit plays a pivotal role in providing care to young patients grappling with cancer. Speaker urges political parties to build concensus on nation building Yaa Kuffour Senyah Oct - 16 - 2023 , 00:00 Political parties have been urged to work with stakeholders to build a national development vision that will actively steer the development of the country in the long term, when they win political power. The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, who gave this advice at Academic City University College in Accra last Friday, explained that most national development plans that were instituted by sitting governments were mostly partisan and based on individual visions. He was speaking at a student engagement seminar series on the topic: Building the Next Generation of National Leaders. He said carefully structuring a national development, which took into account all sectors needed for development, would pull all into one direction of shared goals. So a national development vision is critical to the forward movement of the country because we must all know where we are going to complement one anothers effort by working together in one direction, he stated. Leadership Mr Bagbin explained that leadership was a skill that was built and acquired over a period of time. Hence it was important for the youth to be aware that leadership always thrived in a democratic society. So at every stage of your life as leaders, sit, examine yourself and take critical decisions that would bring development to your society as a whole, Mr Bagbin explained. Leadership in context The Speaker, however, cautioned the youth against leadership materials they read or built their knowledge on, as some of those materials were mostly poisonous. That was because, he said, the leadership methods highlighted in such materials were in a completely different societal context and which did not reflect the society and the African context. Leadership is very wide but if care is not taken what we build our capacities on will make our leadership roles very poisonous and unbearable to our followers, he said. Mr Bagbin further advised the youth to make a conscious effort to always put the development of the nation ahead of their personal gains. Seminar The President of Academic City University College, Professor Fred McBagonluri, said the lecture was part of the institutions annual leadership lecture series which was an attempt to expose the students to an early stage of leadership, especially in an African context. He said these lectures from experienced mentors, such as the Speaker of Parliament, would consciously drive the youth into responsible leadership as they took up roles in society. So this is to generally give students real insights from practical leaders and the Speaker, over the time, has proved his worth with his immense commitment, selflessness and strides to ensure a democratic society, Prof. McBagonluri added. UTAG kicks against new academic programmes accreditation suspension Mohammed Fugu Oct - 16 - 2023 , 14:56 The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) has kicked against the decision by the Ghana Tertiary Commission (GTEC) to suspend the accreditation of new academic programmes for public universities in Ghana. To UTAG, the decision by the Commission would not serve the interest of tertiary education in Ghana as the world was evolving so rapidly that academic programming must continuously evolve to keep pace. The National President of UTAG, Prof. Mamudu A. Akudugu, who said this noted that for a regulator to decide that it will stop accrediting new academic programmes is more or less the case of putting rods in the spokes of success. He, therefore, called for a complete overhaul of the accreditation regime in Ghana, adding that this must start with a review or amendment of the Education Regulatory Bodies Act, 2020, Act 1023. He was speaking at the 21st biennial congress of UTAG held at the University for Development Studies (UDS) in Tamale. The event was on the theme: Labour Unionism and Socioeconomic Transformation in Ghana; can UTAG be the pacesetter? The event brought together UTAG executives from all the public universities in the country to discuss welfare of members as well as to swear-in new members. Suspension Last week, the GTEC announced the suspension of the processing of new accreditation applications for academic programmes from all public universities, including the technical universities, with immediate effect until January 1, 2024. The suspension, however, does not cover the University of Environment and Sustainable Development (UESD) at Somanya in the Eastern Region. According to the Commission, the decision is informed by the need to sanitise the accreditation space as a result of the persistent non-compliance by some institutions with the accreditation requirements of the country. Transformational changes Addressing the congress, Prof Akudugu intimated that it was about time the country moved away from the rigid public regulatory regime to a more efficient accreditation framework for accreditation of our academic programmes. He expressed the UTAGs commitment to partner with GTEC and other stakeholders to initiate and push for transformative changes needed in higher education in the 21st century. We demand our Employer/Government to, as a matter of urgency, work with us and all other stakeholders to review the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) or in the meantime expand the levels and notches to accommodate our members or take us out of the Spine altogether he said. New universities For his part, the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum in a speech read for him by the Director of Tertiary Education at the ministry, Prof Yayra Dzakadzie, announced plans by the government to establish five new universities across the country. When completed, he said, the universities would increase the intake of students in fields that would drive industrialisation in the country. The Secretary General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Dr. Yaw Baah, urged UTAG to support efforts to review the constitution of Ghana to limit the powers of the executive, ensure good governance, safeguard democracy and return power to citizens. Reopen Korle Bu Renal Unit to outpatients - Akandoh Getrude Ankah Nyavi Health Oct - 16 - 2023 , 15:40 The Ranking Member on the Health Committee of Parliament, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh has expressed worry about the continued closure of the Renal Unit at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) to outpatients. Speaking to the media after the Parliamentary Health Committee inspected the Renal Unit of KBTH on Monday (Oct 16, 2023) for firsthand information on the happenings at the place, Mr Akandoh said there was the need to ensure that the renal unit was reopened to outpatients within the next 24-hours. He said there should not be a delay in reopening the unit because outpatients need the services to be able to live. We must not delay because people need these services day in and day outit is unthinkable and insensitive of the highest order. We must be clear that within the next 24 hours, the renal unit of Korle-Bu will be reopened to outpatients, Mr Akandoh said. The Renal Unit at KBTH has been closed to outpatients since May 2023 and according to the Renal Patients Association, the shutdown has been causing a lot of financial inconveniences to them. According to the association a total of 14 outpatients have died since May 2023 because they could not raise the needed funding for dialysis at private facilities. Mr Akandoh called on the government to speedily implement the necessary subsidies for dialysis treatment and criticised the delay in reopening the facility as insensitive. He said, With regard to the dialysis issue at Korle-Bu, we believe that the government is being wicked, and the government is being insensitive. For the past four to five months the renal unit has not been opened to the OPD and we think that as a matter of urgency, whatever it takes, wherever we can get the resources, we have Covid levies, we have NHIL and this is a national emergency and government must put measures in place, he added. Read also: 14 renal patients dead in four months due to lack of funds for dialysis - Association [VIDEO] NDC accuses A-G Godfred Dame of "protecting" galamsey operators, calls for his resignation Dickson Worlanyo Dotse Politics Oct - 16 - 2023 , 15:48 The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has called for the resignation of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame for what the party describes as his encouragement of corruption in Ghana. The party has accused Mr Dame of helping to cover up galamsey [illegal mining] activities perpetrated by persons in the government and the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP). At a press conference dubbed "Moment of Truth" in Accra on Monday afternoon, Sammy Gyamfi, the Communications Officer of the NDC alleged that Mr Dame had been advising the government not to take actions against such persons who had been identified as heavily involved in the criminal activity. Indeed as as far back as April 2023, the Office of the President in commenting on the Frimpong Boateng's 36-page galamsey report stated that it was a catalogue of personal grievances," Mr Gyamfi said. "This was followed by an advice by the Attorney General on May 11, 2023 for the report to be given little attention. Little wonder that the same Attorney General in September advised that the said report lacks any evidence to crown any prosecution, he stressed. Mr Gyamfi said the advice from the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, the principal legal advisor to the government, was a big insult to the sensibility of Ghanaians, adding that he was interested in downplaying and whitewashing the truths contained in the reports. Attached below is the full text and video. MOMENT OF TRUTH PRESS CONFERENCE 16th October, 2023 AGS SUPPOSED ADVICE ON FRIMPONG BOATENGS GALAMSEY REPORT IS NOTHING BUT A COVER-UP - HE MUST RESIGN IMMEDIATELY! INTRODUCTION Good afternoon distinguished ladies and gentlemen of the media. On behalf of the leadership of the great NDC, I wish to thank you for honoring our invitation at such notice, and to welcome you to our National Headquarters for todays edition of our Moment of Truth series. NDC SYMPATHIZES WITH VICTIMS OF AKOSOMBO DAM SPILLAGE. Before we deal with the main subject-matter for todays encounter, we wish to first express our heartfelt sympathies to our brothers and sisters of the North, South, and Central Tongu districts of the Volta Region who have been displaced by the devastating spillage from the Akosombo Dam. Even as we sympathize with the victims of this disaster, we wish to reiterate the important call that has been made by our Flag-bearer and leader, H.E President John Dramani Mahama for the government of Ghana, acting through the Volta River Authority (VRA), the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) and other relevant agencies to immediately provide the needed support for residents in the affected communities. This must done as a matter of urgency to ameliorate the plight of our suffering compatriots. Now to the main reason for todays encounter. ATTEMPT BY AG TO COVER-UP DAMNING REVELATIONS IN FRIMPONG BOATENGS GALAMSEY REPORT Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, the NDC has sighted a rather disgusting, self-serving and bizarre advice from the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, on the report on the work of the Inter-Ministerial Committee Against Illegal Mining (IMCIM), authored by its Chairman and former Minister for Environment, Science and Technology, Prof. Frimpong Boateng. Having meticulously analysed the content of the Attorney-General's legal opinion, we have come to the irresistible conclusion that the said advice is nothing but a poor attempt to cover-up the complicity of officials of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government and the ruling NPP in the illicit galamsey trade. For the avoidance of doubt, the claims by Mr. Godfred Yeboah Dame that there is no evidence to substantiate the damning revelations contained in the 36-page Frimpong Boateng galamsey report are simply false. The Attorney-General's latest step or call it a misstep, on the subject of this all-important, scathing Galamsey report, is part of the coordinated efforts to whitewash the crimes of many in government since this matter first broke. Friends from the media, contrary to what the Attorney-General has come out to tell the world about the lack of evidential value of the Frimpong Boateng Galamsey report, there are ample pieces of evidence in the public domain that go to confirm several of the damning findings in the Frimpong Boateng galamsey report. It is against this backdrop that we wish to remind Ghanaians and the Attorney-General about a few of the hard corroborative pieces of evidence which have been in the public domain and which confirm the assertions of the good-old Professor. DONALD ENSTUAH AND HERITAGE IMPERIAL LIMITED. 1. A video documentary published by Joy News, titled Forest under Siege contains incontrovertible evidence that confirms the assertion by Prof. Frimpong Boateng to the effect that Emmanuel Donald Enstuahs C&J Aleska, now Imperial Heritage Limited, has under the guise of prospecting engaged in illegal mining in the Kobro section of the Apamprama forest reserve in the Amansie area of the Ashanti Region. Sometime in 2018, the anti-galamsey taskforce arrested and seized about thirty (30) excavators and mining equipment belonging to the company for engaging in illegal mining in the Kobro forest. This incident was captured on video by Multimedias Erastus Asare Donkor in the presence of other eye witnesses who are still alive today. At the time of the seizure of their equipment, the company had destroyed about 1000 hectares of the forest when all the company had at the time was a prospecting license. These are indisputable facts, and the weight of such evidence cannot be glossed over by any impartial investigator or prosecutor. In the face of this glaring evidence, it is preposterous for the Attorney-General to assert that there is no evidence to substantiate the damning assertions contained in Prof. Frimpong Boatengs galamsey report. THE STOLEN EXCAVATORS SCANDAL INVOLVING EKOW EWUSI, JOHN OFORI ATTA, SETH MANTEY AND OTHERS. 2. On the issue of the stealing and sale of seized excavators, it is an irrefutable fact, that Prof. Frimpong Boateng as Minister for Environment reported the then Central Regional Vice Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party, Horace Ekow Ewusi and others to the Police sometime in 2019, as the persons responsible for the missing excavators. The advice of the Attorney-General recounts how Prof. Frimpong Boateng furnished the Police with the statement of one Seth Mantey, a journalist previously with Accra-based Peace FM in which the journalist formally confessed that he was the errand boy of one John Ofori Atta, Central Regional Security Coordinator, and a member of GalamStop, and that, in the course of the operation of GalamStop, he became a contact boy for miners whose excavators were seized by the task force. In his statement to the Police, Seth Mantey confessed that miners were directed by John Ofori Atta to pay between GHS50,000 and GHS55,000 into his bank account at NIB to influence the anti-galamsey taskforce to release the seized excavators. Seth Mantey further stated that all the monies paid into his bank account were withdrawn by him and paid to the Central Regional Security Coordinator, John Ofori Atta who gave Ekow Ewusi his share. According to Seth Mantey, about twenty-seven (27) of the seized excavators were released to these miners. All these facts are contained in Seth Manteys own statement which he gave to the Police upon his arrest in 2019. More importantly, Prof. Frimpong Boateng has furnished the Police with the bank statement of the said NIB account belonging to Seth Mantey which confirms the aforementioned facts. In the face of this smoking gun evidence, what other evidence does any reasonable prosecutor need to prosecute Seth Mantey, John Ofori Atta and Ekow Ewusi for the stolen/missing excavators? In any case, what has the Police done about this scandal since the matter was formally reported by Prof. Frimpong Boateng in 2019? The Attorney-General should tell Ghanaians about the outcome of this investigation if any, and how as AG, he worked with the Police to thoroughly investigate this matter in the interest of the public. Why are the likes of Horace Ekow Ewusi, Seth Mantey and John Ofori Atta, who are the key perpetrators of this crime against the state, still walking free? Why is Godfred Dame deferring the prosecution of the culprits in this matter under the guise of further investigations by the Police in the face of such smoking gun evidence? How many years does the Police need to investigate this open and shut matter? The evasive and shameless Attorney-General who is clearly out to pervert justice, must answer these pertinent questions. MR. ALBERT JOSEPH QUARM AND THE ILLEGAL SALE OF MINING CONCESSIONS. 3. Friends from the media, on the issue of the complicity of Mr. Albert Joseph Quarm, former Member of Parliament for Manso Adubia, in the illegal sale of mining concessions, the former Ashanti Regional NADMO Boss and former 1st Regional Vice Chairman of the New Patriotic Party in the Ashanti Region by name Kwabena Senkyire, has publicly corroborated the assertions by Prof. Frimpong Boateng. In an interview on Kumasi based Sompa FM, Kwabena Senkyire recounted how Mr. Albert Quarm approached him and asked that he provides him with his company certificate for a mining concession. Kwabena Senkyire went on to say that, after supplying Mr. Quarm with his company certificate, he was called by the Minerals Commission one day and given documents pertaining to the ownership of a mining concession, only for the concession to be sold to one "Agya Wusu" without his consent. Kwabena Senkyire asserted that he recorded one of his conversations with Mr. Albert Quarm and has evidence of these matters. He further averred, that he has officially reported the matter to the Police, National Security and the Office of Special Prosecutor and that he is willing to testify to same. Ladies and gentlemen, in the face of this corroborative testimony; a confession by a willing witness who is readily identifiable and available, how can the Attorney-General say that there is no evidence to buttress the findings contained in Frimpong Boatengs galamsey report relative to the alleged sale of mining concessions by Albert Quarm. If we may ask; Did the Police or Attorney-General invite Mr. Kwabena Senkyire or consider his testimony on this matter before coming to the conclusion that the Frimpong Boateng galamsey report is bereft of evidence? Has the police even conducted any credible investigations into the official complaint that was filed by Mr. Kwabena Senkyire? Has the police invited Mr. Albert Quarm to respond to the serious allegations leveled against him by Mr. Kwabena Senkyire? Ladies and gentlemen, our intel from our reliable sources within the Ghana Police service, shows that no serious action has been taken by the Police on this important matter. ILLEGAL MINING BY WONTUMIS AKONTA MINING LIMITED. 4. In a related matter in respect of Akonta mining Limited, a company owned by the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, it has been established beyond every reasonable doubt that the company illegally entered and operated in the Tano Nimiri forest reserve in breach of our mining and environmental laws. This fact was confirmed by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources publicly in a press statement dated 30th September, 2022. The matter was consequently reported to the Police. Yet, nothing has come out of it. Ladies and gentlemen, it will interest you to know, that even in Samreboi where Akonta Mining is said to have a mining lease, evidence captured on tape shows that the company has been mining very close to the Tano river in breach of the 100 meter reserve threshold of the Minerals Commission. As a matter of fact, the company has been found to have redirected and polluted the Tano river heavily. As we speak, Bernard Antwi Bosiako, also known as "Wontumi", the mastermind of this nation-wrecking conduct, is still walking free after polluting the Tano river through his illegal mining operations. The only reason why this is the case is because, the Attorney-General is not interested in prosecuting the directors of the company for their illegal mining activities. CONCLUSION Friends from the media, the foregoing facts point to one irresistible conclusion, which is that; the corrupt Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government is neck-deep in the illicit galamsey trade and will stop at nothing to cover-up their complicity. The extent of official complicity in this matter is as clear as daylight. Like many environmentalists and patriotic voices, the NDC is deeply worried and appalled by the extent to which President Akufo-Addo and Vice President Alhaji Bawumia have gone to encourage and condone the destruction of Ghanas environment. They have been active collaborators and promoters of the galamsey trade. Their actions through their Attorney-General to continuously protect corrupt officials of the ruling NPP and the government, speak loudly. Posterity will never forgive them. Indeed, as far back as 22nd April 2023, the Office of the President in commenting on the 36-page leaked galamsey report stated, that the report is a catalogue of personal grievances, and that the claims in the report were unfounded and amounted to hearsay. This was followed by an advice by the Attorney-General, Godfred Dame on 11th May, 2023, for the damning Frimpong Boateng galamsey report to be given little attention, a comment that was widely published by the media. Little wonder, that the Attorney-General will in September 2023 advise that the said report lacks evidence to ground any prosecution. The sinister agenda by Godfred Dame to downplay and cover-up the damning galamsey report and the revelations therein, was manifestly clear right from the outset. In short, the so-called advice from the Attorney-General Godfred Yeboah Dame is nothing but a cover-up calculated to whitewash the incessant corruption and nation-wrecking conduct of officials of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government and the ruling NPP, who have been indicted by Prof. Frimpomg Boateng for engaging in galamsey. The advice from the Attorney-General and principal legal advisor to the Government is a big insult to the sensibilities of the nation. We call on the general public to treat same with utmost contempt. This is the same way the galamsey fraud scandal by Ace investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas was covered-up and the perpetrators which included a Presidential Staffer by name Charles Bissue, left of the hook. Ghanaians must not allow this government to get away with this scandal. It does appear, that the Attorney-General, Godfred Yeboah Dame is following after the footsteps of his Boss, President Akufo-Addo who has become known as the "Clearing Agent of corruption". Quite clearly, Godfred Dame does not befit the stature of the high office of Attorney-General and Minister of Justice for this country because he simply does not have the interest of the nation at heart. DEMANDS The NDC hereby demands the immediate resignation of the Attorney-General for his dubious attempt to cover-up serious crimes that have been perpetrated against the state by corrupt government and NPP officials who are destroying our water bodies and forests through illegal mining. More importantly, we wish to call on the Special Prosecutor, Mr. Kissi Adjabeng to expedite his investigations into this matter and to immediately prosecute all those found culpable. Fellow countrymen and women, our collective survival as a people is at stake. Our beloved country is fast losing its flora, fauna and water resources. We are fast becoming endangered species due to the greed and selfishness of a few government officials, party apparatchiks and irresponsible persons who are recklessly engaging in illegal mining with impunity. We cannot sit aloof and allow this canker to fester. If we close our eyes to the evil going on, we shall all bear the consequences of the actions of these miscreants who are destroying our water bodies, lands and forests in search of gold to satisfy their greed. This is why we must all take keen interest in investigations into this matter. We cannot and must not accept any shoddy investigation or farcical attempt to whitewash this monumental scandal. The NDC calls on you, our friends in the media, the fourth estate of the realm to join us to demand accountability from our duty bearers. We owe this a solemn duty to our country and generations unborn. Enough of the plundering and destruction of our lands, forests and water bodies. All government officials and party apparatchiks, who have in one way or the other engaged in illegal mining must be arrested, prosecuted and punished no matter whose ox is gored. We hereby serve notice, that even if they are left off the hook today, they will not escape the long arms of the law tomorrow, because crime has no expiry date. Until this is done, we shall make no headway in our fight against illegal mining and our beloved country, will have no sustainable future. Thank you for your attention, ladies and gentlemen. SIGNED. Sammy Gyamfi Esq. National Communications Officer Huawei made big headlines with the launch of its Mate 60 series phones, namely for the Kirin 9000s chip powering the new devices. Despite the US sanctions, Huawei managed to equip its latest Mate phones with 5G capable chipsets manufactured in China which raised plenty of concerns. Several teardowns revealed even more components that Huawei had no business accessing under the current sanctions like SK Hynix RAM. A new report from Reuters claims that the Biden administration is now looking to implement a new round of sanctions to avert chip exports to China that were not previously blacklisted. Huawei Mate 60 Pro motherboard with Kirin 9000s chip The report cites an unnamed U.S. official and claims that AI chips will be the main target in the new round of sanctions. According to the new report, the US will impose its upcoming chip bans based on technical parameters targeting a wider array of AI chips from being exported to China. Chips meant for consumer electronics devices will not be targeted by the new curbs but US-based semiconductor manufacturers will need to inform the US Commerce Department when they are filling orders for their most powerful products to companies based in China. The agency will then look at each case and decide whether the chip exports may pose a threat for national security. The US is also looking to establish a new performance density parameter for chip exports that will aim to prevent future workarounds on chip exports to China. Source Xiaomi is getting ready to unveil the 14 and 14 Pro flagships for the Chinese market on October 27, if the latest rumors on the matter are to be believed. As we are now closer than ever to that date, it wouldn't be surprising at all to have a leak of the vanilla model's full spec sheet. And that's exactly what we're bringing you today. However, do keep in mind that fake spec sheet leaks have unfortunately been a thing on Weibo for the past few years, and that's where this originates too. And it doesn't come from one of the reliable leaksters over there, like Digital Chat Station or Ice Universe. Hence, we caution you to take all of this with a hefty dose of skepticism, since it could turn out to be nothing more than a Xiaomi fan's overactive imagination at work. With the disclaimer out of the way, let's jump right in. The Xiaomi 14 is said to come with a 6.44-inch Huaxing C8 OLED display with "1.5K" resolution, 120 Hz refresh rate, and 2,800-nit peak brightness, along with Dolby Vision support and DCI-P3 color gamut. Xiaomi 14 poster with full specifications emerges on Weibo - 6.44-inch Huaxing C8 OLED display 1.5K 120Hz display, 2800nits brightness 12-bit colors, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, DCI-P3 color gamut, - Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 - LPDDR5x RAM, UFS 4.0 enhanced version storage - 4,600mAh pic.twitter.com/3znd2hoVLL Anvin (@ZionsAnvin) October 16, 2023 At the helm sits the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, due to be made official by Qualcomm at its annual event in Hawaii, which this year takes place from October 24 to to October 26. So, as you may have figured out, Xiaomi decided to waste no time in introducing its first devices powered by the new chip. The Xiaomi 14 will allegedly pair it with LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 storage. The phone is rumored to have a 4,600 mAh battery with support for 90W wired, 50W wireless, and 10W reverse wireless charging. The camera system will comprise of a 50 MP OmniVision OV50H main snapper with OIS, a 50 MP ultrawide, and a 50 MP telephoto. Unsurprisingly the handset has dual stereo speakers, an IR blaster, and it will be IP68 rated for dust and water resistance. There's also apparently a "2-in-1 acoustic motor" inside and a large vapor chamber cooling system. Acting Gov. Joshua Tenorio on Monday signed into law a bill that would give $30 million to the Guam Memorial Hospital Authority so it can pay its vendors and do building repairs. But Tenorio acknowledged that its a temporary solution to the hospitals current outstanding vendor payables problem, saying GMHA demands a deeper fiscal examination. The newly signed Public Law 37-43, which was Sen. Jesse Lujans Bill 164-37, appropriates $30 million in prior fiscal year excess funds from the General Fund to the hospital. This will be in addition to the $20 million in federal American Rescue Plan funding that Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero earlier announced for the hospital for facility repair needs. The governor is currently off-island. In a video message on Monday, the acting governor said the funding bill, as well as the executive order focused on GMHAs fiscal stability that he issued last week, is going to make a world of difference, making sure that the hospital will operate the way it needs to for the people of Guam and give us the opportunity to focus on the much needed repairs to this facility. The rush to get funding came after a Sept. 28 legislative oversight hearing on GMHA, where hospital staff and management told senators about a growing debt to vendors that provide hospital supplies and services, molds, and patient care issues. Besides the total $50 million funding, GMHA also received in September more than $7 million in new ARP fund allocations to pay vendors and buy equipment, based on the latest ARP funding status report from Adelup to the Legislature. Senators last week adopted a resolution asking the governor to declare a state of emergency for GMHA, but Adelup came back with more ARP funding assurances for the hospital and a fiscal review committee to help GMHA. The acting governor thanked Lujan and Sen. Frank Blas Jr. for their work on Bill 164-37, as well as Sen. Joe San Agustin for guiding the bill through. Our administration looks to continue working closely with members of the legislature who are willing to rise above personal and political agendas to help the people of Guam in the way the senators who supported Bill No. 164-37 did, Tenorio said in his Oct. 16 letter to Speaker Therese Terlaje, on the signing of the hospital funding bill. Adelups Fiscal Review Committee, whose members include the governors finance and budget directors, is tasked to assess and monitor GMHAs financial policies and processes and then make recommendations to the governor on how to assist the hospital. Among other things, Adelup and senators want GMHA to have sound fiscal policies and not rely on bailouts to continue to operate as a public hospital. Tenorio, in his letter to the speaker, reiterated the need to build a new hospital, considering the current GMHAs physical state and lifespan. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers substantiated that the current hospital site is unable to accommodate critical expansions, lacks the capacity to accommodate substantial construction projects, and ultimately, it will be more cost-effective to construct a new facility rather than repair the current hospital in an attempt to bring it up to modern medical standards, the acting governor wrote. The administration continues to push for a medical complex with a new GMH to be located in the Barrigada-Mangilao area, while Sen. Chris Barnett recently introduced a bill seeking to place any new public hospital in Tamuning. Moreover, the governor maintains a $153 million ARP funding allocation for a new GMH, the construction of which is expected to cost more than $1 billion. An anonymous Instagram threat to the safety of the George Washington High School community prompted the Mangilao campus to take preemptive steps, including a 100% visitor ID checks and blanket searches in the morning at each point of entry. This is based on a news release from the Guam Department of Education Monday night. The GDOE statement said earlier Monday, the GW High administration sent a letter to its faculty, staff and parents via Swift Messenger. In this letter, the administration explained that they received information regarding an anonymous threat to the safety of the GWHS community. "The threat originated from an Instagram post that has since gone viral. After completing a safety assessment, the GWHS administrative team immediately notified the Guam Department of Education management. Local law enforcement and the Mariana Regional Fusion Center have already been contacted and are assisting in identifying and validating this threat," GDOE said. Following GDOE safety processes and procedures, the following measures will be put in place: 100% visitor ID check at the main entrance. Blanket searches in the morning at each point of entry: main gate (walkers), student drop-off area (car riders), and the bus drop-off area. Lockdown and shelter-in-place exercises. "GDOE is not taking this threat lightly, Education Superintendent Erik Swanson said in a statement. "The Department has plans and procedures in place to ensure that the safety of our students and staff is a top priority. We also implore our island community to help us keep our schools safe by reporting any rumors or tips to the GWHS administrators who will then investigate and turn it over to the police if necessary." GDOE said anyone who has information relative to this threat and would like to remain anonymous is encouraged to send a message via WhatsApp to the GWHS Hotline at (671) 300-3012. Numbers that message the hotline are not stored. For those interested in GDOE practices and procedures, the GDOE Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for Search and Seizures can be found at the following link: https://gdoe.net/files/user/8/file/SOP%201200-002.pdf GDOE will continue to update the island community when more information is available. For any inquiries or concerns, the island community can call GWHS at (671) 734-2911 or email gwhs@gdoe.net. Prior to the Guam Memorial Hospital Authority getting a total of $50 million in new funding commitment from both senators and Adelup last week, GMHA already used in September more than $5.8 million in new federal American Rescue Plan allocation mostly to pay vendors, among other things. Some senators and even Adelup, over the weekend, said theyre hoping this will be the last bailout for the hospital, which they hope will heed calls for having sound fiscal practices and procedures. Senators on Friday passed a bill seeking to use at least $30 million in so-called excess General Fund revenue to the hospital to help pay its vendors. Thats just days after Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero said another $20 million in ARP money will go towards the hospitals immediate repair needs. Bureau of Budget and Management Research Director Lester Carlson on Sunday said GMHA is poised to get the $50 million. Id like to point out that when we decided to do something together, the Legislature and the administration, we can really make things happen. A good example is the GMH funding. Not even a week, the hospital got all those funding commitment, Carlson said. The governor still maintains a $153 million ARP funding allocation for a new GMH, based on the latest report. Carlson reiterated that hes glad the six Republican senators also decided to fund the hospital, along with the Democrats. He noted some Republicans treatment of hospital officials during a recent oversight hearing. Democrats during last weeks session said theyve been finding ways to help the hospital. Break the cycle Sen. William Parkinson said he voted against Sen. Jesse Lujans $30 million GMHA funding bill to break the cycle of having GMH rely on emergency subsidy, among other things. Bill 164-37 passed by a vote of 10-to-3, with two excused absences. Parkinson, Sen. Chris Barnett and Speaker Therese Terlaje were the ones who voted no on the bill. We have to break the cycle. Year after year, decade after decade, GMH has been in a cycle of fiscal crisis and emergency subsidy and I refuse to take any part in continuing that dysfunction, Parkinson said. The senator pointed out that funding should be attached to management reforms, sanitary standards, and reforms to address the Joint Commissions findings of medical negligence. Without that, this bill just enables the continuance of substandard conditions, he said. Carlson shared the same sentiment. Hopefully, this will be the last time were doing this, Carlson said of the latest round of emergency funding for the hospital, adding that the administration is hoping GMHA will heed the advice of a newly formed fiscal review committee of which Carlson is a member, to improve the way it operates. That still takes into consideration GMHs responsibility of taking in all patients, regardless of their ability to pay, he said. Barnett, meanwhile, said his no vote shouldnt be read as a sign that he doesnt support the hospital. Its a tricky vote, he said, considering he supports funding the hospital so it could take care of patients and staff. He said hes not trying to call anybody a liar but he said Adelups fiscal team members have been making it difficult for lawmakers to get real information whether theres indeed $30 million in excess revenue for the hospital to pay its vendors. The senator said the governor is sitting on more than $200 million in ARP funds and could easily get the $50 million for both vendor payments and repairs. Not with Adelup yet As of Sunday afternoon, Carlson said Adelup had not received the engrossed copy of the $30 million funding bill that senators passed during Fridays emergency session. The administration is poised to sign the GMHA funding bill, although Adelup wants to see for sure the exact language of the bill, Carlson said. As of Sept. 30, theres $215 million in remaining ARP funds under the governors purview. A fresh $20 million allocation for GMHA and other agencies and programs will bring the total ARP amount to under $200 million by the end of October, Carlson said. But ARP funds allocated for Guam continue to increase. It was $553 million in late 2021, and then went up to $586.9 million a few months ago before going up to $593 million in August. But by September, it went up again, this time to $598.36 million. GovGuam has so far spent $365.4 million in ARP funds, and encumbered $17.58 million. This leaves a balance of $215.35 million as of Sept. 30. The governor has until Dec. 31, 2024 to obligate or encumber the funds. The deadline to spend all the money is Dec. 31, 2026. In September alone, the governor allocated a new $6.677 million-plus in ARP funds for GMHs vendor payments, of which only $841,758 remains. The governor also allocated in September new $40,000 in ARP money for a GMH infant audiological equipment, but the money was unspent as of Sept. 30. Theres now also a separate allocation called ARP redistribution or reserve, starting in September, amounting to $10.7 million. Carlson said the administration started taking away balances from programs that already expired, so the amount could be allocated for other purposes. Sen. Telo Taitague has been questioning the lack of details in Adelups ARP funding status reports, including contracts awarded and to whom. The senator said GovGuam is becoming too dependent on pandemic relief funds to operate the government, including using them to pay employee salaries and benefits and funding programs that dont seem to have any role in pandemic recovery such as the Guam Ethics Commission and the Bureau of Womens Affairs. Delegate James Moylan and at least nine members of the Guam Legislature have condemned Hamas attacks on Israel and expressed solidarity with the people of Israel and those impacted by the ongoing conflicts in the region. Id like to take a moment to express my heartfelt condolences to the people of Israel who are facing attacks. All human life is sacred, and no one deserves to be harmed. I pray for the victims and their families and peace in the region. I know this is a difficult time for many people, and I want to assure you that you are not alone. The world is watching, and we stand with you in solidarity, Moylan said in a video message. Sen. Jesse Lujan, meanwhile, on Friday introduced a resolution expressing solidarity with the people of Israel, and condemning the attacks by Hamas. Lujans Resolution 223-37 has eight co-sponsors, including Sens. Telo Taitague, Thomas Fisher, Christopher Duenas, Dwayne San Nicolas, Frank Blas Jr., Roy Quinata, Joanne Brown and Joe San Agustin. I Minatrentai Siete Na Liheslaturan Guahan (37th Guam Legislature) does hereby, on behalf of the people of Guam, stand in solidarity with the affected Jewish communities, support the nation of Israel, and condemn the horrendous attack and war crimes of Hamas that occurred in October 2023, the resolution reads, partly. The resolution also summarizes what has transpired since Hamas fighters rampaged through Israel towns on Oct. 7, as well as Israels complete siege of Gaza in response. Among the hostages taken by Hamas are American citizens. The senators, in the resolution, said Israel is an ally of the United States and that the relationship between the two is a mutually beneficial one. Moylan, in his video message, called on everyone to work together to create a world where everyone can live safely and peacefully. My thoughts and prayers continue to go out to the people of Israel during this difficult time. May god bless Israel and may peace be restored soon, he said. Lujan, in a Monday statement, said no man, woman, or child should ever have to suffer and endure the barbarity were seeing being done to the Israelis at the hands of Hamas. Its just awful. The videos and images were seeing are appalling and downright evil. Im grateful for my colleagues standing with me in support of this resolution, Lujan said. We cannot stay silent on this issue. A group of devout Catholics is withdrawing its $2.3 million offer to buy the chancery property in Agana Heights where the late Pope John Paul II, who later became a saint, stayed overnight in 1981. Thats because The Phoenix Foundation, despite all its best efforts, has been unable to raise the full amount to complete the purchase from the Archdiocese of Agana within days of the Oct. 17 federal bankruptcy court-approved extended deadline. This means the prime property, with a sweeping view of Hagatna and the bay, will be in the market for sale once again. Its sale is part of the court-approved deal to settle the clergy sex abuse claims and get the archdiocese out of bankruptcy. The propertys appraised value is $2.3 million. Were heartbroken to withdraw our offer to purchase the property. All we wanted is to help preserve the significance of the chancery property, where the pope who became saint stayed once, Phoenix Foundation vice chairman Benny Paulino, a former adjutant general of the Guam National Guard, told the Pacific Daily News on Monday. Chris Felix, also a member of The Phoenix Foundation, on Monday said the foundation is still short of about $250,000 to complete the $2.3 million purchase. It saddens me, it saddens the whole Phoenix Foundation that we werent able to raise the full amount, Felix said. I was already here when the pope, who became a saint, came to visit the island...I attended that Mass he celebrated. Its just so sad that the sacred spot where he stayed, the bishops house, would be sold to someone outside of the church. Felix said despite the setback, he couldnt thank the donors enough for their generosity. All the donations made, he said, would be returned to the donors, since the purchase wont go through. We started returning the donations, dollar for dollar. Theres also a donor who agreed to maintain his donation to cover certain expenses. I cant thank the donors enough. There were donations of $50, $100, and theyre heartfelt, along with the big donations, theyre all phenomenal. Unfortunately we needed much more to complete the purchase, Felix said. The generosity that people have shown, Im so thankful. People are willing to help despite what the church went through. The foundation will be formally withdrawing its purchase offer on Tuesday, Paulino said. The archdiocese deferred comment as of press time. Phoenix Foundations goal in buying the prime property on San Ramon Hill is to preserve the chancery complexs historic and religious significance, and allow the archdiocese to continue its use for the Catholic Church, Paulino and Felix said. A majority of the Guam population is Catholic. Pope John Paul II rested and stayed the night at the chancery some 42 years ago. The pope was canonized and became Saint John Paul II some three decades after his Feb. 22 to 23, 1981 visit to Guam. On Aug. 1, The Phoenix Foundation issued a call out, asking the public for help in raising some $500,000 of the $2.3 million it needed to complete the purchase. Only about $250,000 more was raised as of Oct. 16. Like I said, were sad and heartbroken by this. But we will return every donated amount. The Phoenix Foundation will continue to exist as a foundation, Paulino said. A last-minute miracle to still save the purchase is now unlikely, Paulino said on Monday, given that the deadline is Tuesday. The chancery complex is among the archdioceses prime properties for sale, under order from the bankruptcy court. Proceeds of the sale were supposed to cover some of the churchs bankruptcy costs, help pay for some of the archdiocese offices relocation to the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral Basilica in Hagatna, and help settle the claims of about 280 survivors of Guam clergy sexual assaults that happened as far back as the 1950s. More than 80 archdiocese properties, including those near or adjacent to Catholic parishes and schools, are up for sale to help settle the abuse survivors claims. Paulino had said with the property back in the market again, the next potential buyer wont necessarily share Phoenix Foundations vision of preserving the chancery complexs place in Guam history. The property where the chancery complex sits was donated to the archdiocese in 1950 by the estate of Henry Flores Nelson. The property is home to the offices and functions of the archdiocese, such as the archbishop and chancellor offices, the Marriage Tribunal, the Safe Environment Office, the Catholic Schools, Archives, Finances and Communication sections, among others. The bankruptcy court also earlier approved the $3.5 million leasehold sale of the archdioceses FHP/TakeCare property in Tamuning. Haiti - FLASH : Haiti has reopened its border gate and allowed Haitians to enter Dajabon Despite political opposition from some "leaders" to a partial reopening of the border, Haiti reopened its doors on Sunday, allowing a large number of Haitians to enter Dajabon so that they can retrieve goods stuck on the border on the Dominican territory due to the border closure. Given the entry of Haitians, some Dominican merchants opened their stores in the border market to sell their goods. Members of the Specialized Land Border Security Corps (CESFRront) to maintain control, transferred the Haitians into their 3-wheel cargo trucks and motorcycles so that they could cross the country to their country loaded with goods. The opening of the door on the Haitian side, to allow access to the binational market via the cross-border bridge, was obtained after a meeting on Sunday, October 15, 2023, of a delegation of Dominican businessmen led on Sunday by the businessman Hector Kilderes Taveras, with the participation of merchants and authorities from Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Abigail Bueno, President of the Dajabon Mercnats Association, reported constructive discussions with a group of Haitian businessmen continue, emphasizing that Haitian traders hold most of the market stalls... An entry of buyers and sellers from Haiti is expected this Monday, October 16, 2023 after an agreement in principle concluded on Sunday between traders and authorities of the two countries on the opening of binational markets, however it is not certain that Haiti reopens its doors this Monday... Limber Cruz, the Minister of Agriculture of the Dominican Republic, said that trade between the two countries would begin to improve "[...] It is a relationship between two countries that must be improved, because neither of them is going to move, because they share the same island." At the same time, the National Research Department continues the biometric registration process at entry through the Dajabon border, so that Haitian traders who intend to participate in the exchange in the Provisional Trade Corridors can come buy and sell their goods. Let's recall that this tense situation between the two countries has its origins in the radical measures taken by the Dominican Government following the construction of an irrigation canal on Haitian territory, with water capture on the Massacre River that the Republic neighbor disputes... To be continued... See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40732-haiti-economy-adih-in-solidarity-with-the-closure-of-haiti-s-land-borders-with-the-dom-rep.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-40729-icihaiti-canal-crisis-the-haitian-government-against-a-halt-to-the-construction-of-the-canal.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40722-haiti-masacre-river-haiti-reaffirms-the-sovereign-right-of-the-haitian-people.html HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Dom. Rep. : Nearly 70,000 Haitians returning to the country, repatriated or voluntarily in September 2023 Since the application of Decree 668-22 which provides for the expulsion from Dominican territory of all foreigners in an irregular migratory situation, the number of expulsions of Haitians has increased considerably. The month of September falls within a tense context between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, resulting from the construction of an agricultural irrigation canal in Haiti with a water intake on the Massacre River, which has revived historical disputes between the two nations and caused the closure of all borders on the Dominican side and the suspension of delivery of Dominican visas to Haitians https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40503-haiti-flash-dr-closes-its-land-sea-and-air-borders-with-haiti-goods-and-passengers.html Repatriation September 2023: Official border points: Anse-a-Pitres, Belladere, Malpasse and Ouanaminthe 13,364 men 2,782 women 525 girls 397 boys Unofficial border points: Baptiste, Belladere (Rocher), Cornillon, Fonds-Verettes, Las Cahobas (Bateille), Savanette (Miguel) 4,289 men 2,598 women 995 girls 1,419 boys For a total of Total 26,369 (up +9.4% compared to August 2023) Added to this are 6,318 pushbacks at the border (+52.6% compared to the previous minimum) To these repatriations we must finally add the so-called "voluntary" spontaneous returns which amount for the month of September 2023 to 34,081 Haitians +57.8% compared to August). Grand total of Haitians returned to the country in September 2023: 66,768 Which brings the number of Haitians returning to Haiti to nearly 230,000 in 4 months... See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40683-haiti-dom-rep-more-than-160-000-haitians-returned-to-the-country-repatriated-or-voluntarily-in-3-months.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40608-haiti-exodusmore-than-61-000-haitians-back-to-haiti-since-the-border-closed.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40503-haiti-flash-dr-closes-its-land-sea-and-air-borders-with-haiti-goods-and-passengers.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40244-haiti-flash-56-434-haitians-back-from-dom-rep-a-record-in-one-month-july-2023.html HL/ HaitiLibre Published on 2010/12/12 | Source These two photos show Burton Holmes shooting scenes on streets in Seoul in the early 1900s. The American traveler and filmmaker (1870-1958) is known to have introduced a motion picture to the royal family during his vist to Korea. His lifetime achievements earned him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. / Robert Neff Collection Advertisement By Robert Neff On a cool evening in October 1897, a crowd of excited Koreans gathered in front of a small dilapidated barn in the Jingogae (modern Chungmuro) area of Seoul. They all wanted to be the first to witness the latest modern technology to be introduced into Korea the motion picture. The barn had been rented from a Chinese man and, because electricity was apparently not available, gas lamps were used to facilitate the showing of several short films, manufactured by Pathe Pictures of France and portraying life in that country. Admission was five cents in Korean coins or ten empty cigarette packs from a newly-established Korean cigarette company. An exorbitant amount of money considering the average Korean laborer was lucky o receive 20 cents a day. The owner of these films and the pioneer of the movie industry in Korea was Esther House. House's background is somewhat ambiguous. Some sources claim that she was an American who operated an oil company in Seoul, while others claim she was an English woman who traveled to Seoul for a short stay before returning back to her homeland. If the latter is true, it is unclear what brought her to Korea in the first place. Although the introduction of motion pictures in Japan was met with success, House's attempt in Korea was a failure. She was convinced that the Koreans were too poor to afford movies, and, to an extent, she was correct. But to claim that it would never be profitable to import pictures into Korea was wrong. Within a decade there were four movie theaters operating successfully in Seoul. House's opinion is not the only thing wrong with the above account. It seems very strange that none of the local papers including the Korean English-language newspaper, The Independent failed to mention this very unique event. There is no mention of the make-shift theater or of Esther House in any of the journals, diaries or letters of the Westerners residing in Korea at the time. Her name also fails to appear on any of the steamship manifests of passengers traveling to and from Korea. Even the date is in question as some sources claim it was 1897 and others 1898. According to The History of Korean Cinema (Lee Young-il and Choe Young-chol published 1998): "This 1898 account has been passed down verbally through senior film makers in the early days of Korea's motion picture industry and Japanese film historians. Even though there is no material evidence available to back up the 1898 story, it is accepted as fact by the industry today". But in 2002, a Korean researcher declared he had discovered material evidence. An article from a British newspaper, The Times, dated October 19, 1897, declared, "Motion pictures have finally been introduced into [Joseon] a country located in the Far East". The article then went on to describe in some detail the House story as presented above. But some historians are skeptical. In an email correspondence with Prof Brian Yecies, co-author of the forth-coming book, Korea's Occupied Cinemas (Routledge Press, 1 May 2011), he said that he was unable o locate the article in the newspaper archives. He explained that he had even examined the paper several years prior to and after the date but had no success in locating it or any other articles pertaining to House and motion pictures in Korea. He further went on to say: "The story behind Ester House (if that is even the correct name) and the first movie being shown in 1897 in a barn in Korea is a myth". When was the first verified showing of a motion picture in Korea? It is a known fact that a motion picture was shown to the Korean royal family at the turn of the twentieth century when Burton Holmes visited Korea. It was well-received, especially by "the baby prince, youngest son of the Emperor and actual palace tyrant, [who] had been fascinated by [the motion picture camera] and had wept when they attempted to take it from him, falling asleep still gripping it firmly in his chubby hands". It wasn't until a couple of years later that motion pictures became available to the average Korean. In the summer of 1903, an American tobacco salesman from North Carolina, James A. Thomas, approached the American-owned Hansung Electric Company in Seoul with an advertisement scheme. He was convinced that he could increase traffic on the company's street cars and, at the same time, improve his own cigarette company's profits, if he was granted the opportunity to induce the customers to ride the streetcars and reward them for their efforts. Those who bought a 5 cent ticket and rode the street car to the end were given a free pack of the company's cigarettes and also a free ticket to the movie. Hansung Electric Company had tried other incentives, such as circus performances and plays performed by Korean actors and acrobats, but they had met with only a fair amount of success, and decided to give Thomas a chance. Thomas had brought with him about a dozen motion picture projectors and built a small theater at the end of the street car line, just outside of the main city. The movie incentive was a fantastic success and patronage on the street cars shot up so quickly that the company was hard pressed to keep pace. Hansung Electric Company immediately bought all of the projectors from Mr. Thomas, and paid him an additional 10% over the $500.00 cost per projector. So popular were the movies that in early July 1903, the Won-kak-sa, a Korean theater used for traditional dances, theatrical productions and musical performances, installed movie projectors. Despite an electrical explosion on July 7 in which several of the theater's patrons were injured, the movies became extremely popular and a new industry was born. By the end of 1907 there were four movie theaters in Seoul. Perhaps the largest was the "Motion Picture Theater" owned by Collbran and Bostwick, who also owned Hansung Electric Company, which not only showed movies but also "magic lantern shows". Magic lanterns are large glass slides that were shown on a large screen accompanied by music or an orator. These were very popular and were a source of income for some of the missionaries and gold miners who rented their slides to the theater. The owners of the other movie theaters are, for the most part, unknown, but one theater was owned by a French man identified only by the Chinese characters "Majon", who screened recently-released French movies. Another movie theater owner was "Patch-eye" Peter Clapham from Columbia City, Indiana. Clapham first came to Korea in 1901 to work with the Oriental Gold Mining Company [OCMC] at the Unsan mines in the northern part of the country. After working with the OCMC for about five years, he then decided to try his hand at business and opened his own theater in 1906. It is unclear how long he operated his theater but by 1920 he had sold the business and returned to his first love gold mining. Over the years, especially during the Japanese occupation, movies continued to gain popularity. They "were the only place where Koreans could assemble as a group" and provided "great comfort, lasting impressions and a new sense of imagination for the future". 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 Serving as the Finnish head of state from 1994 to 2000, Ahtisaari was renowned not only for his domestic leadership but also for his tireless commitment to global peace and diplomacy. His illustrious career in the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the United Nations laid the foundation for his impactful post-presidential endeavors. Martti Ahtisaari , the 10th President of Finland and recipient of the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize, has died at the age of 86 in Helsinki. Born on 23 June 1937 in Viipuri, Finland (now Vyborg, Russia), Ahtisaari's early life was shaped by the turbulence of World War II. His career in diplomacy spanned continents, making notable impacts in areas such as Namibia, Aceh in Indonesia, Kosovo, Serbia, and Iraq. As a UN special envoy for Kosovo, he played a pivotal role in the Kosovo status process negotiations, contributing to the region's declaration of independence from Serbia in 2008. For his decades-long dedication to resolving international conflicts, Ahtisaari was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel committee commended his role in mediating serious, enduring conflicts across continents. Following his presidency, Ahtisaari founded the CMI Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation, a highly respected peace brokerage organization. His post-presidential endeavors also saw him advocating for Finland's membership in NATO, a goal realized in 2023. Current Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, expressing his sorrow at the news, remarked, Martti Ahtisaari believed in humankind, civilization, and goodness. He was a President during times of change, leading Finland into a new global EU era. Niinisto will honor Ahtisaari with a memorial speech on Yle TV1 at 11:00. Ahtisaaris unique blend of leadership, both domestically and internationally, and his enduring commitment to peace will ensure his legacy continues to inspire generations in Finland and beyond. HT Haavisto and Stubb were the only two candidates to receive support from more than a fifth of the poll respondents in the poll section representing the first round of voting, the former winning 29 and the latter 22 per cent of the vote. A POLL by YLE suggests that the presidential race is likely to come down to a run-off between ex-Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto and ex-Prime Minister Alexander Stubb . The duo are effectively in a dead heat in the section representing the second round of voting, with 51 per cent of respondents backing Haavisto and 49 per cent Stubb. Jari Pajunen, the managing director of Taloustutkimus, told the Finnish public broadcasting company that it looks very difficult for any other candidate to reach the second round of voting. Olli Rehn, the governor of the Bank of Finland was the third most popular candidate and Mika Aaltola, the director of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, the fourth most candidate, winning 14 and 10 per cent respectively in the section representing the first round. The top four were followed by Speaker of Parliament Jussi Halla-aho (8%) and Li Andersson, the chairperson of the Left Alliance, (7%). While Haavisto, Rehn and Aaltola are all running as the candidate of a constituency association the first two despite their respective ties to the Greens and Centre Stubb is running for the National Coalition, Halla-aho for the Finns Party and Andersson for the Left Alliance. Taloustutkimus contacted 1,516 people for the poll on 49 October. Because the poll was conducted by phone, the results are not directly comparable to the previous presidential poll commissioned by YLE. About 90 per cent of the people contacted revealed which candidate would receive their vote in the first round of voting. Compared to September, Haavisto has seen a decrease of two percentage points and Stubb an increase of three points. Haavisto and Stubb dominated the latest poll especially in the section representing the second round of voting. While Rehn fared the best out of the chasing pack, also he would lose to both of the leading candidates by a margin of 12 points, 56 per cent to 44 per cent. Pajunen gauged that the second round of voting will be decided by which of the leading duo manages to win more support from voters whose primary choice did not make it into the run-off. Haavisto is probably in a slightly more difficult position in the sense that it seems that his votes are coming from supporters of green and left-wing parties. Stubb, by contrast, can draw from the rest of the field, he said to YLE. In the scenario that one of them did not make it into the second round, both Haavisto and Stubb would receive a boost from each others supporters, according to Pajunen. Whoever is still standing from this duo is very strong, he said. Aleksi Teivainen HT The Embassy of Finland in India highlighted the main objectives of the trip, stating, "The mission is crafted to intensify existing educational projects and reinforce their operative and export capabilities. Finland's Education Minister , Anna-Maja Henriksson , is embarking on a four-day mission to India, commencing this Monday, in an ambitious move to fortify bilateral ties in the educational sector. The visit aims to bolster Finnish educational exports and enhance collaboration with India's central and state education officials. Moreover, there's a keen emphasis on pioneering initiatives to cultivate vocational education collaborations. These initiatives align with Finland's objective to draw and employ proficient experts from India in sectors where there's a palpable demand." A major highlight of Minister Henriksson's visit will be her participation in the Asian Summit on Education and Skills, the continent's premier education expo. Here, she is slated to present one of the introductory addresses. Furthermore, she will also be a significant presence at Bengaluru's Didac India education exhibition, showcasing her support for Finnish education export enterprises. The Embassy underscored the regional focus of the visit, noting, "The concentration of the trip will be on comprehensive and advanced vocational training in Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. These southern Indian states have exhibited a pronounced inclination towards Finnish educational systems. Given India's recent demographic milestone as the world's most populous nation, its evolving education sector presents an intriguing prospect for Finnish collaboration." A special event is on the cards in Bengaluru, designed for Indian students. This event is a joint effort between the Finnish National Agency for Education (Study in Finland) and Business Finland. Joining Henriksson will be several delegates from the Finnish-Indian higher education consortium. Earlier in the month, Kimmo Lahdevirta, Finland's Ambassador to India, accentuated the potential benefits emanating from the ongoing free trade dialogues between India and the European Union. He remarked, "The EU stands as a paramount trade ally for India. It's imperative that the current trade negotiations yield outcomes favorable for both entities." Lahdevirta also delved into the historical depth of Indo-Finnish ties, highlighting advancements in various domains, ranging from trade and technology to education and culture. Speaking about tourism, he mentioned, "The essence of bilateral ties lies in people-to-people interactions. The availability of direct flights between Helsinki and India, facilitated by Finnair, greatly enhances these exchanges." Expressing optimism for the future, Lahdevirta elaborated on the potential in emerging technologies. "The horizon looks promising with vast potentialities in domains like artificial intelligence, 5G, 6G, green tech, energy solutions, and biofuels. These innovations, especially those associated with sustainable development, hold immense significance for our shared future," he concluded. HT Notably, the import of wild boar meat has limitations due to African swine fever cases identified in Sweden. As autumn vacations beckon , travelers planning to visit Sweden or Estonia should be well-informed about specific import restrictions, despite these countries being part of the European Union. Currently, self-hunted wild boar meat from Sweden's Fagersta infection zone cannot be brought into Finland. Furthermore, Estonia and other Baltic countries are designated African swine fever infection areas. Generally, private individuals can't bring pork or wild boar products from these countries unless they carry the EU's oval identification mark. The Finnish Food Authority recommends against bringing pork or wild boar meat products, either as provisions or gifts, from any EU countries affected by the African swine fever. "It's essential to acquaint yourself with import restrictions on the Customs' website, and if necessary, other authorities, to avoid unpleasant surprises when returning home," says Customs Inspector Tiia Sulander-Seppanen. Traveling with Pets? Remember Identification and Vaccinations All pets traveling must have a valid rabies vaccination and be identified with a microchip implanted before the rabies vaccination. A legibly inked tattoo is also accepted as identification if done before July 3, 2011. On returning to Finland from Sweden and Estonia, dogs require treatment against echinococcosis at least 24 hours but no more than 120 hours prior to arrival. If the trip lasts less than 24 hours, a single medication won't work. For short or frequent trips, consult a veterinarian about the so-called 28-day rule. A vet must always administer the echinococcosis medication and document it in the pet's passport or health certificate. While veterinary medicines can be brought into Finland if the pet is present, they are prohibited if the pet isn't accompanying the traveler. Alcohol, Tobacco, Snus, and Medicines Alcohol import from Sweden has specific regulations based on whether one arrives via a Swedish ship passing through Aland or another route. Via Aland, travelers can bring the same tax-free alcohol quantity as from outside the EU, e.g., 16 liters of beer, 4 liters of non-carbonated wine, and either 1 liter of spirits (over 22%) or 2 liters of other alcoholic beverages (under 22%). For those arriving from Estonia by ship, alcohol regulations align with general EU norms. Limits for importing tobacco products, nicotine liquids, herbal products for smoking, and snus vary, with added tax restrictions when products come via Aland or a ship passing through Aland from Sweden. Upon arrival from Sweden and Estonia, individuals can bring prescription and over-the-counter medicines sufficient for personal use for up to a year. However, only those prescription medicines prescribed to the individual can be transported. More information on import regulations can be found on the Finnish Customs website. For more detailed guidance: HT THE Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust has launched its biggest ever fundraising appeal to tackle the nature and climate crisis locally. The Nature Recovery Fund aims to raise 3 million in three years to help bring back wildlife and benefit climate and people. The appeal follows the publication of the State of Nature report, which found one in six British species is at risk of extinction with birds, amphibians and reptiles under most threat. In our three counties, habitat loss, climate change, pollution, intensive agriculture, housing developments and infrastructure projects, such as HS2, are impacting hugely on local nature. Estelle Bailey, chief executive of BBOWT, said: Wildlife in our three counties is disappearing fast butterflies, wildflowers, hedgehogs, birds, frogs, bees its shocking. Unsustainable development and intensive farming are wiping wildlife off the map right here on our own doorsteps and our climate is in chaos. We all need nature for food, fresh air and water and for our own wellbeing. And we know we cant fix the climate crisis without restoring nature, the two go together. The choice is clear: no nature, no future, no us. But its not too late. Our Nature Recovery Fund will help create more nature everywhere, which is good for climate and people in our three counties. But we all need to do our bit urgently. BBOWT president Steve Backshall, a TV wildlife presenter and Berkshire resident, said: We are lucky enough to have otters, kingfishers and a whole array of aquatic bird and invertebrate life appearing across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire every day. This is a part of the world I treasure but we all have a responsibility to look after it. Sadly, the nature we know and love is under serious threat the call of the wild is being silenced. Thats why BBOWT is launching its biggest ever appeal with an ambitious goal. We want to bring nature back its that simple. In our countryside, our towns and our villages, we want to give nature a fighting chance but we cant do that on our own we need your help. Nature is sending us an SOS will you answer the call? The trust is aiming for 30 per cent of land across the three counties to be well-managed for wildlife by 2030. The Nature Recovery Fund has got off to a flying start, with 160,000 already pledged by some of the trusts most valued and long-standing donors but there is still a long way to go and every donation counts. To make a donation, visit www.bbowt.org.uk/nrf You can also donate by texting RECOVERY followed by your donation amount to 70480. If you would like to donate but dont wish to hear more about BBOWTs work, please text RECOVERYNOINFO instead. Pete Hughes THE new manager of Lawlors Bakery in Henley says he wants to re-envigorate the business. John Swift, 43, began working at the bakery at Henley Enterprise Park, off Greys Road, last month. He is a fifth-generation craft baker and appeared on the BBC series Victorian Bakers. He first met Lawlors Bakery co-owner Andy Byerley after selling him baking equipment on eBay. Mr Swift said: He asked me, Do you know anything about baking? and I said, Yes. Then he said, Come and help me run my bakery those were his actual words. He then spent several months as a consultant to Mr Byerley and his business partner, the late David Rodger-Sharp, the Henley jeweller who bought and refurbished the bakery in 2021 after it closed during the coronavirus pandemic. Lawlors first started in north London in 1948 and moved to Henley in 1956. The business was previously run by Mike Lawlor, son of founder John Lawlor, and Anne Baker. Mr Swift said the start of the venture had been difficult as he was working three days a week from his home in Shropshire where he lives with his wife Jayne and their children, Thomas, four, and Brianna, three. Now he has been made manager, the family is planning to move to Henley. Mr Swift said the bakery was doing okay but there was more to be done to make it a viable business entity. He said: We are building up a nice little network of shops in the town that will sell Lawlors bread. Its already a nice wholesale business but we are running a proactive campaign to turn it around and get people coming to us. We need to look at what we can bring to Henley and the surrounding areas that is different. At Swifts, we had 157 lines that we could bring in French, German, Italian loaves, low sodium and low gluten loaves, bespoke cheese and marmite loaves, lime, chilli and coriander loaves. He said a lot could be done to build on Lawlors established reputation in the town. Its the original Henley bakery, said Mr Swift. Everyone Ive spoken to in town has endearing memories of it. We need to re-energise that brand and make it something people will come from outside Henley for. He also wants the bakery to provide jobs for young people. Mr Swift said: During regatta week I saw a few lads sitting down and I asked them did they work and they said that there was not really anywhere to work around here that was not hospitality. I asked them would they work in a bakery and they said yes. There is nowhere for that age group to work in Henley apart from bar jobs. A bakery is a tight little family and we work long hours through the night together. The Swift family have been baking since 1839 and Mr Swifts great grandfather Thomas baked through the First World War and his grandfather through the Second World War. The family ran a bakery in Wheaton Aston in Staffordshire before Mr Swifts father Richard moved the family to Ludlow in Shropshire in 1978. Mr Swift said: My grandfather Charles was conscripted and went into the bakery corps, which had mixers on the back of wagons. If there was a power outage, they had to mix a full sack of flour 285lb by hand. It was a horrible time to be a baker. He fed soldiers in Cairo, Mombasa and Tobruk in North Africa and when he returned home he had acquired new skills and took over the family business. Despite the harsh conditions for bakers in post-war Britain, the family did well. Mr Swift said: It was a time of late-night deals and there was still rationing. All the sales were done door to door. Swifts managed to push Mothers Pride out of Wheaton Aston by getting up earlier and beating them to the door. Mr Swift grew up in Ludlow. He said: My earliest memory is being mauled by a dog that thought that I was a loaf of bread. My mother put me in a bread box to keep me warm while out on a bread run and the dog came out the door and went off with me. He still has scars on his head from the incident. When he was 15, he got into a trouble for setting up a sausage roll business at school. Mr Swift recalled: I would buy them off Dad for a discounted rate, then sell them to the teachers and students. He made up to 150 a week from the business and bought his first car with his takings. However, he was asked to leave school and finished without any qualifications. Mr Swift said: I knew that I had a job in the bakery so I didnt really try at school but there was also a lot of pressure to keep the family business going. In 2020 Mr Swift took on the family name and set up his own bakery with his uncle Edward Palin in Cleobury Mortimer in Shropshire. However, the business had to close three weeks later due to the covid-19 pandemic. Mr Swift said: We ventured into it but unfortunately it didnt go to the grand masterplan. Every time we came up with a new strategy the world would change. First it was covid, then the fuel crisis, the war in Ukraine and rising food prices. What was next was having to learn how to exist without the family bakery. After working briefly for a bakery in Birmingham, he was approached by Mr Byerley. In 2016, Mr Swift took part in Victorian Bakers where he worked at an authentic Victorian bakery. It was the best and worst time, he said. It highlighted a lot of things in my life that I struggle with. I went on the show thinking that I was a bit of a fraud. I struggle with verbal diarrhoea and I dont understand some things as well due to my dyslexia. There were people talking about Brazilian cassava flour which is naturally gluten-free and my knowledge was relatively local, having worked with my father. There were no half measures, we had to eat what we had made and there were no phones allowed or social media. We were working 18 hours a day. One of his most memorable moments on the show was when he had to mix sacks of flour by hand in a trough. He said: It was probably one of the physically demanding things Ive ever done and I lost two stone in a week. The relationship he built on set with fellow baker John Foster increased his confidence. Mr Swift said: He said to me, Look, John, you realise this show is yours look at your family history. You are the grafter no one else here works 12-hour days. I took a lot of pride in that. Following the show he asked Mr Foster to be godfather to his son. He was a guardian angel for me, said Mr Swift. He introduced me to a new way of thinking and I realised that actually I do know a lot of things. I love bakeries, whether they are big or small, and we have to keep them going. We owe it to those who died in the Victorian era to build the industry. Handover ceremony of China's 1st batch of quake aid for Afghanistan held in Kabul Xinhua) 16:36, October 16, 2023 KABUL, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The handover ceremony for China's first batch of quake-relief materials for Afghanistan was held on Sunday in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. During the ceremony, Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan Zhao Xing signed handover certificates of supplies from the Chinese government and the Red Cross Society of China respectively with Mohammad Abas Akhund, Acting Minister for Afghanistan's National Disaster Management Authority, and Abdul Latif Sabit, Deputy President of the Afghan Red Crescent Society. Zhao said that to help the people in the quake-stricken areas of Afghanistan tide over the difficulties, the Chinese government decided to provide aid materials. This fully reflects the friendly sentiments of the Chinese people towards the Afghan people. With the joint efforts of the Afghan interim government and all sectors of society, the affected people will be able to overcome the difficulties and rebuild their homes, Zhao added. Akhund said that relevant Afghan authorities are carrying out emergency relief and reconstruction work in Herat Province, distributing relief materials to the affected people and building temporary shelters. China's supply of humanitarian aid is very timely, and Afghanistan is deeply grateful for it and will always remember it, Akhund said. Sabit introduced the situation in the western Herat Province since the quakes as well as the quake-relief efforts of the Afghan Red Crescent Society, and sincerely thanked the Chinese government, the Red Cross Society of China and the Chinese people for their selfless and valuable assistance during the most difficult period of Afghanistan. On Oct. 7, two 6.2-magnitude earthquakes shook west Afghanistan, followed by a series of aftershocks, killing more than 2,400 people and destroying thousands of houses. Another 6.3-magnitude earthquake occurred in the region on Oct. 11. The Chinese government immediately decided to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. On Sunday, the first batch of quake-relief materials provided by the Chinese government arrived in Herat City, the capital of Herat Province, with the relief supplies from the Red Cross Society of China delivered at the same time. (Web editor: Liang Jun, Hongyu) Capricorn (22nd December to 19th January) Daily Horoscope Prediction says, Have belief in self Capricorn Daily Horoscope Today, October 17, 2023. Though a few Capricorns will feel friction, this will be resolved sooner. Have a great love life today and be diplomatic at the office for good. The daily horoscope also predicts that both health and wealth will be good today. Keep issues out of the love life today. Perform the best at the workplace. Financially, you are good today, and ensure you maintain your health. Capricorn Love Horoscope Today Your relationship will be smooth today sans troubles. Though a few Capricorns will feel friction, this will be resolved sooner. Attractive proposals will come and single females can pick one to be happy. Those who have a troubled relationship can talk and settle things down. The second half of the day is also good for making crucial romance-based decisions. Some Capricorn natives will have a romantic dinner where they will also introduce the partner to the parents. Capricorn Career Horoscope Today No major professional challenges will be there. However, stay away from office politics for good. Minor differences of opinion with the seniors will be there which can cause trouble. For business people, this is a good time to venture into new projects and expand partnerships. Professionally, multiple tasking will win appreciation and if youve got proficiency in multitasking, you can breathe easy. Students looking for admission to foreign universities will have good news. Capricorn Money Horoscope Today Handle the financial affairs carefully. Some Capricorn natives will receive good wealth but will not be successful in spending it. Minor troubles in decision-making may happen. Avoid financial disputes with siblings and children. Some seniors will have trouble with health and will need to spend on medical expenses. Those who had lent money in the past may recover their money back from the borrowers. You can also think about renovating the home. Capricorn Health Horoscope Today Your health will be good. However, minor ailments related to cold cough may happen. Some females may develop cuts while working in the kitchen. Children should be careful while playing today. Those who have chest-related issues will need medical attention in the first half of the day. Capricorn Sign Attributes Strength: Intelligent, Practical, Trustworthy, Generous, Optimistic Intelligent, Practical, Trustworthy, Generous, Optimistic Weakness: Persistent, Stubborn, Suspicious Persistent, Stubborn, Suspicious Symbol: Goat Goat Element: Earth Earth Body Part: Bones & Skin Bones & Skin Sign Ruler: Saturn Saturn Lucky Day: Saturday Saturday Lucky Color : Grey : Grey Lucky Number : 4 : 4 Lucky Stone: Amethyst Capricorn Sign Compatibility Chart Natural affinity: Taurus, Virgo, Scorpio, Pisces Good compatibility: Cancer, Capricorn Fair compatibility: Gemini, Leo, Sagittarius, Aquarius Less compatibility: Aries, Libra By: Dr. J. N. Pandey Vedic Astrology & Vastu Expert Website: https://www.cyberastro.com E-mail: caresponse@cyberastro.com Phone: 9717199568, 9958780857 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 Sagittarius (22nd November to 21st December) Daily Horoscope Prediction says, Spread happiness around Sagittarius Daily Horoscope Today, October 17, 2023. Additional responsibilities ensure better professional growth. Ensure you settle the disputes within the relationship before the day ends. Professionally you are productive. Handle wealth carefully and health is good. Be sincere and troubleshoot every problem that derails your relationship. Additional responsibilities ensure better professional growth. Handle finance diligently and invest smartly. You will have good health throughout the day. Sagittarius Love Horoscope Today Stay safe from arguments in the love life. Though most relationships will be good and free from hiccups, some Sagittarius natives can expect provocations from partners. Do not respond to such acts as maintaining the relationship intact needs to be your goal. If there are serious clashes in the relationship, think about patching up. Ensure you are clear with the partner on everything and do not hide anything that may lead to misunderstanding. Sagittarius Career Horoscope Today You are good to take up a new job today. Those who have interviews scheduled for the day can attend them confidently. Minor troubles at the workplace can impact productivity. However, do not despair and be positive. Some entrepreneurs will receive funds through partnerships which will help in business expansion. Traders need to address all troubles involving authorities before the day ends. Keep a watch on the partnership deals today. Sagittarius Money Horoscope Today Your financial status is good today. Utilize the day to renovate the home or buy jewelry. You may also buy household appliances and even a car in the second half of the day. Those who are keen to invest may go for realty business. Today, entrepreneurs will be receiving long-pending dues and this will help in further business expansions. The traders dealing with leather, textiles, footwear, construction materials, and optical will see good income. Sagittarius Health Horoscope Today Those who have asthma or respiratory issues need to be careful while venturing outside. Females may have minor infections related to the skin, throat, or nose. Follow all traffic rules while driving and take a medical kit while traveling long-distance. Pregnant Sagittarius natives must be careful while riding a two-wheeler as well as taking part in adventure sports. Sagittarius Sign Attributes Strength: Wise, Practical, Audacious, Beautiful, Lively, Energetic, Lovely, Optimistic Weakness: Forgetful, Careless, Irritating Symbol: Archer Element: Fire Body Part: Thighs & Liver Sign Ruler: Jupiter Lucky Day: Thursday Lucky Color: Light Blue Lucky Number: 6 Lucky Stone: Yellow Sapphire Sagittarius Sign Compatibility Chart Natural affinity: Aries, Leo, Libra, Aquarius Good compatibility: Gemini, Sagittarius Fair compatibility: Taurus, Cancer, Scorpio, Capricorn Less compatibility: Virgo, Pisces By: Dr. J. N. Pandey Vedic Astrology & Vastu Expert Website: https://www.cyberastro.com E-mail: caresponse@cyberastro.com Phone: 9717199568, 9958780857 Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In a shocking incident, a poultry farm owner unleashed his pet dog on a teenage girl as an act of revenge against her parents, reported Deccan Herald. Bengaluru police booked the owner under criminal charges and the injured girl is currently getting treated. Bengaluru man unleashes his pet dog on girl as an act of revenge, booked: Report (Pic for representation) Also Read - Skaters attacked at Bengaluru's Cubbon Park; netizens furious. Video According to the report, Nagaraj who owns a poultry farm near Magadi got in touch with the girls parents who are daily wage workers. He offered them work on his poultry farm. The couple declined the offer and refused to work on a poultry farm. It made Nagaraj furious, and he planned revenge on their daughter. On October 9, when the girl was coming from the school, Nagaraj unleashed his pet dog and instigated it to attack the minor girl. The girl was severely injured in the dog attack and the neighbors rushed to the spot to save her. She was later shifted to a government hospital and is currently getting treated. The girl was scared and shouted for help as soon the dog approached her. However, she was attacked by the dog and grievously injured. We arrested Nagaraj and the investigation is going on, a police officer was quoted as saying. The case was lodged at Kudur police station Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! 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 Three days after Income-tax (I-T) officials seized cash worth 42 crore from the premises belonging to a contractor in Karnataka's Bengaluru, BJP leader CT Ravi on Sunday alleged that the recovered money was part of Congress' illegal fund collection, meant for upcoming polls. CT Ravi Also Read - 42 crore bundled in 23 boxes found at Bengaluru contractor's house in Income Tax raid The BJP leader further demanded a CBI enquiry into the matter and said that the truth will prevail after a proper investigation. " 42 crore cash was recovered from Ambikapathy's house. Another 40 crore was recovered from the residence of another builder Santhosh Krishnappa. We have information regarding the 5-state elections. All this money belongs to Congress," BJP leader CT Ravi said while speaking to ANI. "We had earlier alleged that the state (Karnataka) would be an ATM for the Congress Government. That has turned out to be true. The truth will come out after enquiry. We are demanding a CBI inquiry," he said. Income Tax (I-T) department officials on Thursday seized a cash stash worth 42 crore from the premises belonging to a contractor, R. Ambikapathy, in Bengaluru city. The raids sparked off a heated debate with BJP alleging on Friday that the money was part of Congress's illegal fund, meant for campaigning in assembly polls in Telangana and four other states to be held in November. "No state (unit of Congress) will ask for money. We won't give it also. Have BJP members seen money being given to other states," asked Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in reply to conspiracy theories doing the rounds after the raids. The working president of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) KT Rama Rao also accused Congress of pumping huge amounts of money into Telangana. Rama Rao, in a message on 'X', asked people to say "No to Scamgress" in the 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 Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday granted interim bail to former finance minister Manpreet Badal in the Bathinda plot allotment case. The Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday granted interim bail to former finance minister Manpreet Badal in the Bathinda plot allotment case. (HT file photo) Manpreet was booked by the vigilance bureau (VB) under the Prevention of Corruption Act, and Sections 420 (cheating), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant) 467 (forging a document that pretends to be a valuable security) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC on September 24. Also read: Oppn leaders running away from debate on Punjab issues: Mann The plea was taken up by the bench of justice Vikas Bahl and after a brief hearing interim protection from arrest was granted to the former finance minister of Punjab. A detailed order is awaited. One of the lawyers, Arshdeep Singh Cheema, who appeared with senior advocate, RS Cheema, confirmed the development. On October 4, the Bathinda court had dismissed Manpreets pre-arrest bail plea. The VB had acted on the complaint of former MLA Sarup Chand Singla, who alleged irregularities in the purchase of the plots. Alleges political vendetta to malign his reputation The whereabouts of the five-time legislator are not known. Punjab Police raided different places, including Shimla and Rajasthan, but drew a blank. However, it was argued that he had appeared before the VB when summoned to join the probe and was ready to do so but the VB was unfairly insisting on custodial investigation. He termed the VB investigation motivated by political vendetta to please the Punjab chief minister and claimed that efforts of his arrest were aimed at maligning his reputation. Singla alleged that Manpreet colluded with Bathinda Development Authority (BDA) officials and his aides to buy two residential plots by abusing his ministerial position and forgery. Investigators have arrested three persons in this case, who are stated to be Manpreets aides. Says plots bought through e-auction, paid stamp duty According to the plea, its attempted to be portrayed that a conspiracy to usurp these plots at lower rates had started in 2018. However, it is conveniently withheld that these plots were initially conceived in 2006 as commercial. From 2006-12, several attempts were made to sell these plots, but there were no takers. This shows the plots were not prime properties and the government was unable to sell them for 16 years, Manpreet argued, adding in 2012 when the decision to convert the plots into residential was taken to try and sell them, he was neither an MLA nor was his party in power. Rather, it was the complainants party (BJP) that was in power. The department was unable to sell these plots for five more years and in 2018 when the first attempt was made to sell them as residential, they failed miserably, the plea added. The plots were allotted to two persons in September 2021 by the Punjab Urban Development Authority. Subsequently, Manpreet bought them from the two. Singla had alleged that the allotment was against rules. However, Manpreet argued that it was an e-auction open to all. He bought them from the two persons by paying the premium over the price to the original allottees and paid the stamp duty of about 25 lakh to the state exchequer. He got the money used for the deal by selling a property in Delhi for 7 crore, the former minister said. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The state government is set to upgrade schools that are situated near interstate and international routes and multipurpose hubs. UP govt to upgrade schools on interstate routes, Indo-Nepal border (Pic for representation) The chief minister Yogi Adityanath has already cleared the proposal to upgrade 16 schools near multipurpose hubs as also those located on the main roads along the Indo-Nepal border. The CM cleared the proposal at a review meeting of the basic education department recently where he also ordered officials to start chief ministers model composite schools equipped with modern facilities in 57 districts. The basic education department has proposed a budget of about 8.5 crore for this purpose. The proposal includes plans for upgradation of 9 schools located on interstate routes for an estimated 3.71 crore. The other proposal to upgrade 7 schools situated along the international route near the Indo-Nepal border, will cost 4.73 crore, officials said. These schools will be equipped with educational material, language and computer labs, smart classrooms, modular science labs, robotics, machine learning labs, as well as WiFi-enabled campuses. Round the clock deployment of security and maintenance of sanitation workers too are part of the plan and provision for which has been made in the basic education departments budget. Construction work to be done under the supervision of DM The proposal presented to the chief minister also outlined the action plan, emphasising the pivotal role of the district magistrate throughout the projects implementation. According to the proposal, in the districts where such schools will undergo upgrades, the district magistrate will chair and oversee the execution of the scheme. Government institutions responsible for construction will be selected and monitored by the DM. Furthermore, committees headed by the district magistrate will be responsible for procuring equipment such as computers and furniture from the Government e Marketplace (GeM) portal, said official. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Mumbai: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has seized 31.7 kg of smuggled gold, worth 19 crore in a pan-India operation, targeting an international gold-smuggling syndicate in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh (UP). Eleven persons, including five in Mumbai, four in Nagpur and two in Varanasi, have been arrested in the matter. Acting on specific intelligence, the DRI teams acted at the three inter-state locations against the syndicate that allegedly specialises in the smuggling of foreign-origin gold through a combination of land-train routes. A huge quantity of smuggled gold weighing around 31.7 kg valued at around 19 crores was seized on Friday in Varanasi, UP, Nagpur and Mumbai, a DRI official attached to the Mumbai Zonal Unit said (HT PHOTO) The syndicate allegedly used to smuggle gold brought into India via the countrys international border with Bangladesh and then further diverted the same to Mumbai, Nagpur, and Varanasi, among other urban destinations, agency sources said. Acting on specific intelligence, the DRI teams acted at the three inter-state locations against the syndicate that allegedly specialises in the smuggling of foreign-origin gold through a combination of land-train routes. A huge quantity of smuggled gold weighing around 31.7 kg valued at around 19 crores was seized on Friday in Varanasi, UP, Nagpur and Mumbai, a DRI official attached to the Mumbai Zonal Unit said. The DRI team traced five accused in Mumbai and allegedly recovered 4.9 kg of smuggled gold from them. The accused arrested in Mumbai have been identified as Arun Pujari, Nitesh Gorad, Kiran Mandale, Tushar Jadhav and Rohit Waghmare. There was a specific intelligence that four persons were going to bring smuggled gold into the city and hand it over to another person near an ATM in Juhu. The team set up a vigil and intercepted five persons near the ATM, a DRI official said. Search of all the persons were carried out and 4.9kg of gold was recovered from Pujari. The DRI Nagpur team apprehended two persons and recovered 8.5 kg of foreign-marked gold. During their interrogation, two alleged receivers of the gold were also identified and arrested. The DRI Varanasi team nabbed two of the accused after intercepting the car in which they were travelling in UP, with the help from the local police, after a three-hour dramatic chase on the streets and a search operation that covered a forested tract, DRI sources said. About 18.2 kg of gold was recovered from the two persons and a cavity made below the hand brake of the car, the official said. With due diligence and a coordinated plan of action, a total of 11 persons have been arrested. These 11 accused persons covered all aspects of the gold smuggling syndicate as they played roles of being carriers /passengers, handlers and final recipients of the smuggled gold, the official said. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday attacked the ruling Congress government in Chhattisgarh, saying the party will continue its appeasement and vote bank politics if it returns to power in the state after the assembly polls next month. Union home minister Amit Shah. (File photo.) Shah also lashed out at the Bhupesh Baghel government over incidents of communal violence in the state, and asked people whether they wanted Chhattisgarh to again become a centre of communal riots. Chhattisgarh is going to the polls in two phases on November 7 and November 17; the Congress had won 68 seats (now 71) and the BJP 15 in the 2018 assembly polls. Shah was addressing a rally in Rajnandgaon city ahead of former chief minister Raman Singh and three other BJP candidates filing their nominations to fight election in constituencies in the district. The Congress government has built a corruption chain up to Delhi like a food chain (of restaurants) and if BJP comes to power in Chhattisgarh, we will recover every penny from the corrupt and they will be hung upside down, he added. Also Read: Ram Lalla will reside in his temple in January: Amit Shah Shah said the undivided Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh had remained a BIMARU (laggard) state during the Congress rule, but in 15 years after Raman Singh came to power (in Chhattisgarh in 2003), it turned into a developed state. The BJP has fielded Ishwar Sahu, the father of Bhuneshwar Sahu who was killed in the Biranpur riot in April this year, from the Saja assembly segment in Bemetara district against state minister Ravindra Chaubey. Pointing at Sahu who was on the stage, Shah said , Bhuneshwar Sahu was lynched for vote bank (politics) and appeasement. We will bring the murderer of Bhuneshwar Sahu to justice. We have given a ticket to his father. Do you want Chhattisgarh to become the centre of communal riots once again? Should Bhuneshwar Sahu get justice or not? If Congress comes to power again, it will continue the politics of appeasement and vote bank, he said. The BJP has given tickets to Sahu, a riot victim, and to an accused in a riot case in two constituencies where communal violence broke out in the last two years. Shah said multiple scams took place during the Congress rule in Chhattisgarh and accused CM Baghel of turning the state into the ATM of Delhi darbar, taking a swipe at the ruling party in the state. Reacting to Shahs speech, Congress spokesperson RP Singh said that because Shah has no issue (to raise) in Chhattisgarh, he was and trying to divide the state on religious line. People in the state know what is happening. They (BJP) have nothing concrete to offer and all senior leaders of BJP know that they are losing elections, said Singh. 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! Leaders in the Chhattisgarh Congress unit are planning to reach out to eight sitting MLAs in a bid to pacify them and assure suitable positions if the party returns to power in the state, a day after dropping them from the first list of candidates in the upcoming assembly elections, senior party functionaries said. Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel. (PTI Photo) The Congress released its first list of 30 candidates on Sunday and none of the eight has so far openly expressed displeasure with the names announced. The sitting MLAs who were denied tickets in the first list were are Muneshwar Baghel (Dongargarh), Chhani Sahu (Khujji), Mamta Chandrakar (Pandariya), Anup Nag (Antahgarh), Shishupal Sori (Kanker), Devti Karma (Dantewada), Rajaman Benjam (Chitrakoot) and Gurudayal Singh Banjare (Nawagarh). Some party leaders, however, have spoken against the partys decision. The Congress has denied tickets to 8 sitting MLAs from the 30 announced in the first list. They had won by margins ranging between 11,000 and 30,000 votes, which is very unusual for the party in any state. I dont know how they will pacify the dropped MLAs, but they will have a solid backup strategy. As far as I know, no one has openly revolted till now. But there could be revolts in the coming days, a senior party leader said on condition of anonymity. Meanwhile, some of these MLAs have indeed expressed displeasure, if one goes by local media reports. I was given ticket for the first time in 2018. I worked hard for the people of my constituency and raised their issues in the assembly. I never raised issues for personal gains, so I dont know how the government and party judged my work. I will continue to work for the people, Chhani Sahu said. Similarly, Muneshwar Baghel in a statement to the media allegedly said that he has offers from other parties to contest the polls, without naming any. Most of my workers are ready to resign, he said. Also Read:Chhattisgarh election: 8 MLAs dropped, CM Baghel to contest from citadel Congress strategists claimed that they are reaching out to people who were denied tickets and have plans for them. We know some of them are unhappy. We are reaching out to them and assuring them that they will be adjusted in the government because we are comfortably coming to power. Our aim is to ensure no one contests as an independent candidate or joins other parties. We will also call a meeting after the complete list is out, said a close functionary of chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, adding that before the 2018 elections, the Congress party assured senior leaders who were denied tickets with proper roles in the government, which they implemented as well. Of the 30 candidates announced by the party, 14 are reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST) and three for Scheduled Caste (SC) categories. In the remaining 13 general category seats, the Congress has fielded nine candidates belonging to other backward classes (OBCs). Elections to the 90-member assembly will be held in two phases on November 7 and 17. While polling for 20 seats will be held in the first phase, the second phase will see voting in the remaining 70 constituencies. Results will be announced on December 3. 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 Ritesh Mishra State Correspondent for Chhattisgarh. Reports Maoism, Politics, Mining and important developments from the state. Covered all sorts of extremism in Central India. Reported from Madhya Pradesh for eight years. ...view detail Under the fourth phase of state governments Mission Shakti programme, the senior police officials are leaving no stone unturned in reaching out to women and making them aware of their rights while encouraging them to report any cases of harassment or any other issue. (Logo of Mission Shakti programme) Mission Shakti is UP governments flagship programme for womens safety, empowerment and self-reliance. It was launched in October 2020. Since the launch of Mission Shakti, senior cops have held meetings in remote villages of the district. Recently, DCP Shradhha Narendra Pandey who is Mission Shakti incharge, held meetings at schools and colleges in different parts of the district including in rural areas of trans-Yamuna and trans-Ganga and encouraged women to report to police if they face any problem. The rural women are now freely communicating with women cops and showing interest in knowing about their rights. They are being informed about helpline numbers 112, 1090, 1076 along with 181 and 108. Moreover, they are also being given legal advice about their problems. Help of village heads and schoolteachers are also being taken in reaching out to women and informing them about schemes and different helpline numbers, added the DCP. DCP trans-Yamuna Abhinav Tyagi said earlier awareness programmes etc were held at police headquarters, police lines, tehsils and police stations by senior women cops but they made little impact. Now, cops are holding awareness programmes at village and hamlet level. Officials said women in city areas were more aware of the helpline numbers and other assistance programmes but in rural areas, majority of them had no knowledge about the recent schemes. Meanwhile, police teams visited many villages to communicate with women and girls in remote rural areas of trans-Yamuna including Bara, Kaundhiyara, Industrial Areas, Khiri, Koraon, Meja, Shankargarh and villages on borders of Madhya Pradesh on Sunday and Monday. Approaching women and girls at their doorstep for raising awareness about their rights and various schemes available to them for their assistance is proving to be more effective and impactful. Not just in the city but even in remote and rocky areas of trans-Yamuna, women cops are visiting villages and holding meetings with rural women and girls for raising awareness about their rights and beneficiary schemes, Prayagraj police commissioner Ramit Sharma said Besides raising awareness about their rights, the objective of the campaign is also to empower women so that they feel free to approach cops in case they are in distress or need help, Sharma added. PINK LETTER BOX INITIATIVE In a new initiative under Mission Shakti, a pink letter box has been introduced at schools and colleges. Women facing any harassment or facing difficulties may drop a letter in the box which is regularly checked by Anti Romeo squads and Mission Shakti team members. Appropriate and instant action is taken on complaints received through the pink letter box. 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 The nonagenarian woman, who was found dead at her Triveni Nagar home on Sunday night, was murdered by her own 22-year-old grandson, who was held on Monday after the case was solved. The accused grandson works for a private company. (Sourced) According to Qasim Abidi, deputy commissioner of police (north), The victims grandson, Manas Sashwat, killed his 90-year-old grandmother after she refused to pay him money for the purchase of an intoxicant to which he was addicted. The DCP continued by that a murder case (302) had been filed at the Aliganj police station. The grandson was arrested on Monday and police also recovered two gold jewellery and a cash of 1,850 from the accused, he said. After the arrest, the IPC sections 394 (robbery), 411 (dishonesty), and the Under Arms Act were added to the FIR. Shail Kumari (90), the victim, was found dead in her Triveni Nagar home where she lived alone while her son lived in Jankipuram. She was discovered lying in a pool of blood after being struck by an object. Her son, who visited her mother late at night, gave the police the information by dialling 112. The police claim that the accused grandson, who works for a private company, was arrested and rigorously questioned with the help of CCTV footage and surveillance. He confessed to the crime during the police interrogation and claimed that he had been staying with her grandmother for the previous two days. He had been concerned in recent days due to his lack of funds to cover his personal expenses and addiction. In response, she refused to give him any money or the grandmothers gold bangles, he told the police. Angry at her refusal, he forcibly removed the bangles and any cash she had on her. According to the accused, after she began to protest, he became enraged and killed her with an iron object before fleeing the scene and disposing of the weapon. He was worried for the last few days as he had run out of money to bear his personal expenses and addiction. So, he asked for some money and the gold bangles that her grandmother was wearing to which she refused, he told police. The 90-year-old woman used to reside alone in her younger son Mukesh Chandra Sharmas (62) home. In Jankipuram, Mukesh resided separately from his family. He had left the FSL in Agra. The woman had four sons -- Mahesh (age 60), Ramesh (age 68), Alok (age 65), and Mukesh (age 62). All of them, excluding Mukesh, resided outside of Lucknow. Her businessman husband Kailash passed away five years ago. Notably, every day, Mukesh would go see his mother to bring her food and other necessities. Every morning at 11:00, he paid her a visit. 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 Congress leader Rahul Gandhi held a meeting with leaders of Congress Tripura unit at Maharaja Bir Bikram (MBB) airport in Agartala on Monday on his way to Mizoram where assembly polls will be held on November 7. Gandhi will be returning to New Delhi from Agartala on Tuesday. (ANI photo) Gandhi will be returning to New Delhi from Agartala on Tuesday. Among the state leaders, party president Asish Kumar Saha and Congress Working Committee (CWC) member and legislator Sudip Roy Barman, legislator Gopal Roy including others were present in the meeting. Also Read: BJP, MNF in cahoots, will protect Mizorams culture, religion: Rahul Gandhi Roy Barman stated that Gandhi has assured to visit the state after the assembly polls in five states gets over. We came to the airport as he wanted us to meet him. Our meeting was related to the partys organisational status. He took stock of the present status of the party, Roy Barman told media persons after the meeting. At present, the Congress has three legislators in the 60-seated assembly. 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 Civil Lines police on Monday registered an FIR against director of Shine City Company, a real estate firm, and six other persons for allegedly duping a woman on pretext of investment in real estate. (Pic for representation) The case has been registered on instructions of the court and further investigations will be carried out by the Economic Offences Wing, police said. The victim identified as Vimla Pandey, a resident of Govindpur area, has lodged an FIR against Shine City director Rashid Naseem, his brother Asif, Rajesh Shukla, Narendra Singh, Dilip Pandey, Amit Srivastava and Rathore for fraud and other sections of IPC. In her complaint, Vimla Pandey said the companys agents approached her in 2013 to make investment in real estate business. She also visited the companys office in Lucknow and was shown a plot of land. After an agreement, she deposited cash 11.23 lakh. However, despite the payment, she was not given possession of the said land. The companys authorities issued threats to her when she demanded her money back. The woman approached the court when police refused to register her FIR. Shine City director Rashid Naseem has cases of fraud registered against him across the country and he is on the run. A reward of 5 lakh has been announced on his arrest. 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 ULFA-I has asked the Bengalis of Barak Valley to clear their stand on separation from Assam within 60 days and threatened that all the Bengali speaking people in the state will have to face the consequences if they dont do this. Responding to the ULFAs statement, the Assam police said that they are ready to take legal action against any person who speaks against harmony. (FIie Photo) We are asking all the Bengali-speaking people of Barak Valley to clear their stand on (Barak Democratic Front leader) Pradip Dutta Roys demand for separation within next 60 days. If they dont do this, the Bengalis living in Brahmaputra Valley will face the consequences, ULFA-I said in a statement issued on Sunday, which has gone viral on social media. Bengalis are not original inhabitants of this part of Assam, which was ruled by Kachari kings. Forefathers of people like Dutta Roy migrated there and now claiming that this is their land. We strongly condemn this, ULFA-I wrote. They said that people like Dutta Roy are conspiring against Assam to create a new state and enemy India is supporting them in the name of democracy. Responding to this, Dutta Roy said that he doesnt take ULFA-I and its warnings seriously. This is not the first time I am receiving such letters, I dont even consider this as warning, he told HT on Monday. He claimed that ULFA-I are only targeting Hindu Bengalis. Members of this group is hiding in Bangladesh using Muslim names. They dont target Muslims in Assam due to this, he said. About his stand on separation of Barak Valley, he said, We are deprived in each and every sector, the majority in this state wont allow us to grow equally, this is historically proven. Barak wont be the first area to leave Assam, he added. The director general of Assam police, Gyanendra Pratap Singh on Monday said that they are ready to take legal action against any person who speaks against harmony. All the people in Assam belonging to different ethnicities, caste and religion have been living together peacefully and in harmony for ages. My request to all people and organisations not to speak or write anything that affects this harmonious coexistence adversely, he told HT. Any attempt by any individual, group or organisation shall be dealt with strictly in accordance with the law of the land, he added. Barak Valley part of Assam includes the districts of Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi. Bengali-speaking Hindus and Muslims predominate in these areas. Out of 126 Assembly seats, 13 are held by the region, which was 15 before this years delimitation exercise. Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma during his visit to Barak Valley in September first week had said that he wouldnt oppose if all the people of Barak Valley demand for separation. Sarma was responding to a question raised by a journalist, and this gave the debate a fresh kick. Sarma said that the state government will talk about separation only if the demand comes from all the citizens and not from some leftist groups. Last week, cabinet minister Pijush Hazarika visited Silchar and said that those in Barak Valley not supporting the demand for separation should clear their stand loudly. We see some people raising voice in support of separation. If there are people who dont support this, they should come out and clear their stand, Hazarika told HT on October 13. 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! Former lawmaker Anand Mohan, who had been serving life sentence for the sensational murder of a district magistrate in Bihar in 1994 until April this year, when he walked out of jail following the remission of his sentence granted by the Nitish Kumar government, is set to join the chief ministers Janata Dal (United) next month, people close to his family said. Anand Mohan. (HT file) The Supreme Court is yet to pass a final order on a plea against the Bihar governments remission order filed by Uma Devi, widow of the slain IAS officer G. Krishnaiah, who was Gopalganj district magistrate when he was killed by a mob in Muzaffarpur. Along with Anand Mohan, his wife Lovely Anand, also a former MP, and their younger son Anshuman Raj may also join the JD-U, they said. His other son, Chetan Anand, is an MLA (member of legislative assembly) from the RJD, the lead constituent of the ruling alliance in Bihar. On October 6, Anand Mohan had called on the chief minister to invite him to his native village Panchgachia in Saharsa district on October 27 to unveil the statue of his father, late Ram Bhadur Singh, a freedom fighter. Though no confirmation was immediately available from the chief ministers office, Kumar is likely to undertake the visit during which he would also address a gathering there and visit Mohans ancestral house, as per details of the programme shared with media persons by Mohd Asif Ali, national general secretary of Friends of Anand, a group promoted by Mohan himself. While Anand Mohan or his family members were not available for comment, his aides said a final decision was likely next month. Any decision on extending support or joining any party will be taken in November during a meeting of his well-wishers and supporters to be organised in Patna. The dates of that meeting is not yet final, said a close aide. Recently, Anand Mohans MLA son Chetan Anand had vented his anger at his own party MP Manoj Jha, who had read out in the Rajya Sabha an old poem that uses the word Thakur as a metaphor for an oppresser class. Jha was speaking in the House during the debate on the womens reservation bill. The word Thakur is sometimes used interchangeably with Rajputs, a community Anand Mohan comes from. The former MP too had reacted angrily to Jhas speech, even making threats of physical harm. And against this backdrop, Mohan was denied a meeting with RJD chief Lalu Prasad, people familiar with the matter said. The proximity between CM Nitish Kumar and Anand Mohan, a former Lok Sabha member from Sheohar, is decades old. In 1995, Mohan had merged his Bihar Peoples Party with Kumars Samata Party. Nitish Kumars apparent generosity with Mohan the CM had attended the former MPs family function in Patna in the days before the remission of his sentence was granted is view by some as an attempt to consolidate his support base. When he shared power with BJP, Nitish benefitted from the Hindutva glue. The umbrella of religious identity sought to trump caste politics. With the saffron shade gone, Nitish is facing political heat. Rajputs constitute 3.45% of Bihars population and Kumar is trying to bridge whatever gap that has been created after leaving BJP-led alliance, said Gyanendra Yadav, associate professor of sociology, College of Commerce, Patna. Anand Mohan is said to enjoy considerable support among Rajputs. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Two men, suspected of shooting a police constable dead in Bihars Vaishali district on Monday morning, were gunned down by a police team hours later in the same area as they attempted to flee after being apprehended, a police officer said. Police personnel during Covid lockdown. (PTI) According to police, Amita Bachchan (38), a constable with the Bihar Special Auxiliary Police (BSAP), was checking vehicles near a UCO bank branch at Surat Chowk under Sarai police station limits when he saw some miscreants robbing a bank customer. He gave them a chase and caught one of them. A second man, however, shot him. A video clip showing a man running and purportedly firing at the constable has been circulating on the social media. The constable received multiple bullet injuries on his chest and stomach. He was rushed to a private hospital and later shifted to Hajipur sadar hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. In the meantime, locals chased and caught the two assailants and roughed them up before handing them over to police. As soon as the police vehicle bringing them to the police station reached near Gauspur village, four kilometres from Surat Chowk, the two miscreants pushed the policemen aside and jumped off the vehicle. The police team chased them and opened fire, Vaishali superintendent of police Ravi Ranjan Kumar said, adding that the two succumbed to their injuries at the sadar hospital. The two assailants have been identified as Bittu Kumar and Satya Prakash from Gaya. The dead constable was a resident of Munger district. He had joined the police force in 2015. 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 Housing, often, is the biggest headache of Indian students who enrol in foreign universities for higher studies. Budget is a big issue, the technicalities of lease agreements are baffling and there is a crunch to find good accommodation near the university. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Pune, Amberstudent.com, a company focussed on student accommodation around the world, has so far sold 1 million housing to students and in 2022 alone served 40,000 students.(Shutterstock) Now, finding accommodation online on reliable platforms is a good option. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Pune, Amberstudent.com, a company focussed on student accommodation around the world, has so far sold 1 million housing to students and in 2022 alone served 40,000 students. In an exclusive interview, Saurabh Goel, CEO and Co-Founder, of Amberstudent.com, shares tips about the housing hunt, the most & least expensive cities, and the importance of reading the fine print of housing lease agreement How does one book housing with AmberStudent.com? There are two options: students can either book through our recently launched Amber app or on our website. The platform streamlines the task of locating and reserving extended accommodations for students, by taking care of broker negotiations, non-standardised paperwork, and intricate details. How early should one apply to find good accommodation? To secure good accommodation, students should start their search as soon as they have chosen their university. In the UK, the ideal time to begin the accommodation hunt is between January and April, as property prices tend to be more favourable during this period. For countries like the UK, USA and Australia, it is recommended to start looking at least 6 to 8 months before the intended move-in date. This early planning is essential, especially in regions like the UK, USA, and Australia, which often experience shortages in student housing. Booking well in advance will ensure access to a wider range of more affordable options. What category of accommodation do you have? Accommodation options include private & shared rooms, ensuites, non-ensuites, studios, premium apartments & more. These diverse room categories can accommodate a wide range of preferences, budgets, and lifestyles. Usually, how long is the lease? What happens if a student drops out of the course before the lease expires? Any penalty? The length of the lease for students in Purpose-Built Student Accommodations (PBSAs) can vary, and it typically leans towards longer-term leases. These leases are legally binding contracts, and students are expected to comply with the payment policies outlined in the tenancy contract. If a student needs to discontinue their course or leave the accommodation before the lease term concludes, there may be financial obligations associated with as per propertys booking policy. The specific penalties and conditions can vary depending on the property and region, so it's crucial for students to thoroughly review their lease agreements, and understand the cancellation policies and any potential financial consequences before signing. What is, on average, the room rental for accommodation, for example, near LSE, Harvard, New York University, Stanford? The average room rental for accommodations near prestigious institutions like the London School of Economics (LSE), Harvard, New York University, and Stanford can vary significantly based on the type of housing, location, and amenities offered. On average, in New York, for instance, overall prices typically range from $995 and $1700 per month (includes most of the utilities). At LSE, you can expect to pay around $1500 per month, while Harvard accommodations may range from $1200 to $1500 per month. What is the difference in room rental in accommodation near the university and accommodation far from the university? The difference in room rental costs between accommodations near the university and those farther away can be substantial. For instance, accommodations in close proximity to the university, such as New York University, may range from $1450 to $1700 per month, while those farther away could be in the range of $995 to $1200 per month. This variance is primarily due to the convenience and proximity to campus. However, it's important to note that accommodations farther from the university often offer ancillary services like shuttle transportation, which helps bridge the distance and ensures easy access to campus for students, making them a viable and cost-effective option for many. Which is the most expensive international city for accommodation for Indian students? Name the more affordable university cities. Among the international cities commonly chosen by Indian students, New York stands out as the most expensive for accommodation due to its high cost of living. Also, in these cities, the housing options are often limited, contributing to the higher costs associated with finding suitable accommodations. On the other hand, cities in Texas (USA) are generally more affordable in terms of accommodation. In the UK, London ranks among the expensive options for Indian students, while Sunderland is considered one of the more affordable university cities. Amber Students tips on how to pick accommodation as an international student. What to keep in mind when deciding accommodation? First, students should take advantage of resources like images and live tours to get a better understanding of the property they are considering. Understanding the booking terms such as payment flexibility, deposits, or cancellation policies, is crucial. Secondly, booking through reputable agencies can provide peace of mind and access to reliable options. Thirdly, location plays a significant role; students should prioritise accommodation near their university to save commuting time. Booking early is advisable to secure the best options. Additionally, it's important to research and comply with the specific requirements of the country you plan to study in. Lastly, students should carefully understand the costs covered and those that arent covered to avoid unexpected expenses. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! A little more than two months after his joining, Chanakya National Law University (CNLU) vice chancellor Prof Faizan Mustafa on Sunday presented the revamp plan for the institution both in terms of academics as well as infrastructure. Chanakya National Law University, Patna.(File photo) Talking to media on Sunday, Mustafa, who was the VC of NALSAR University of Law for a decade and was the founder VC of National Law University, Odisha, said he would like to make the institution student-centric and do some aggressive surgery for its development as a centre of excellence in the true sense. I have met Chief Minister Nitish Kumar twice and the Chief Justice of the Patna High Court, who is the CNLU Chancellor, four times since taking over and both of them want things to improve to bring it at par with the best in the country. In fact, the CM told me CNLU was his dream project. I have been brought for the purpose of revamping it. I have been holding open sessions with the students to take their issues to the academic council, which was held last week and a lot of changes are on the anvil as per students demand, he added. Maintaining that academic flexibility was the need of the hour and also a key thing in the New Education Policy (NEP), which Prime Minister Narendra Modi also wants, Mustafa said that he had started it at NALSAR in 2012 itself and it had helped bring down the stress level of the students significantly. With the students unable to cope with growing stress level, a lot of unsavoury incidents have been reported from Kota as well as famed institutions, he added. The VC has also written to the government for additional seven-acre land for CNLU, as had been planned at the time of its inception in 2006 and also met the.CM in this regard. We have decided to bring down the requirement of research papers in a year from 12 to one and incorporate new elements instead, as the students also aired their grievances about too much pressure. We have all kinds of students and the system should be convenient for all. We are also developing Accessibility lab for visually-impaired students and making al the classrooms digital at a cost of 7-crore, he added. He said that the emphasis would be on integration of knowledge and more research by incentivising published work and financial benefits on research projects. We also plan to start a community radio at the CNLU to reach out to the masses for greater legal awareness. We are also planning to start new courses in cyber security & digital forensics, land law, taxation law, corporate & competition law etc., Cyber security & digital forensics centre will train the police force, as it is mandated to have one trained personnel in every police station under the new Nageik Suraksha Bill, 2023. In cyber crime, the conviction rate in India is just 3.5%, while the magnitude of crime is rising at a huge speed, he added. Before joining CNLU on August 3, Mustafa was at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Aligarh and is the recipient of both Commonwealth Scholarship as well as Fulbright Fellowship. He was conferred on the SAARCs Best Law Teacher Award in 2014. He has delivered lectures in almost 32 countries of the world like USA, UK, Australia, Germany, China, Germany, Israel etc. He also runs the popular Youtube channel namely Legal Awareness WebSeries. My effort is to align the university to the needs of the students. Therefore, I not only engage classes, but also sit in others lectures. From day one, I have asked the students that they can meet me freely. The students raised the issue of lack of specialist teachers and the academic council has approved induction of new teachers, 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! Get latest news on Education along with updates on Board Exams and Competitive Exams at Hindustan Times. Also get latest Job updates on Employment News SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Arun Kumar Arun Kumar is Senior Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times. He has spent two-and-half decades covering Bihar, including politics, educational and social issues. ...view detail Disney is celebrating its 100th anniversary with a new original short film, Once Upon a Studio. The film features 543 characters from over 85 Disney films and short films. ABC premiered Disney's 100th-anniversary celebration and the historic short film on October 15 at 8 p.m. ET. Additionally, host Kelly Ripa also discussed Disney's upcoming projects on-air. However, those who missed it can also watch the film on Fubo TV and Hulu+ Live TV. The official trailer for Once Upon a Studio was released only three weeks ago on Disney's official YouTube channel. Disney recently aired Once Upon a Studio to celebrate its 100th year(X/@disney) According to the official synopsis, Once Upon a Studio is an all-star ensemble of beloved Walt Disney Animation Studios characters, who come together for a joyful, entertaining and emotional reunion as they assemble for a spectacular group photo to mark Disneys 100th anniversary. Ardent Disney fans have been buzzing with excitement as many took to social media to express their thoughts. One fan wrote, That short film brought tears to my eyes youve been apart of my life for 50years -since I was born. My first words were Donald Duck (thank you brother). Thank you Disney for the adventures you brought my family, for the wonder you have provided & for dreams & magic. READ MORE: Disney explores selling ABC Network to Nexstar media for $5.25B Another fan expressed, That short film brought me to many tears. Thank you to the animators and the creators of Disney. You bring us the magic. One more Disney fan said, This is so nostalgic! Reminds me of childhood! Those were the gems! Cant understand cartoon these days with so much tech but no content! Mickey Mouse is just a legend! Adding to the slew of heartfelt comments, another social media user added, Now this was something Id wish to see Disney do more. A Mickey Mouse film with this sort of heart to it wouldve been some of their absolute BEST stuff in years with the character. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Allahabad High Court on Monday acquitted prime suspect Surinder Koli in 12 cases of the 2005-2006 Noida serial murders case, also called the Nithari case. Koli had been awarded the death penalty by the trial court In all 12 cases. Another suspect, Moninder Singh Pandher, was also acquitted by the High Court in two cases in which he was sentenced to death by the trial court. Surendra Koli (Sakib Ali/HT File Photo) A bench comprising Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Syed Aftab Husain Rizvi passed the order while allowing the appeals filed by Pandher and Koli after reserving the judgment in the cases last month. Earlier, Koli was given death sentences in 12 cases while Pandher, Kolis employer, was sentenced to death in two cases by the trial courts. Heres a broad outline of the multiple murder case, which made national headlines in late 2006. Dec 29, 2006: Fifteen human skulls, skeletal remains and fragments of clothes stuffed in gunny bags found in a drain behind bungalow number D-5 in Noidas Sector 31, adjacent to Nithari village. Noida police arrest bungalor owner Moninder Singh Pandher and his domestic help Surender Koli on charges of rape and murder. December 30: More skeletons found. Five policemen suspended for mishandling the investigation as some parents alleged that they had complained almost two years ago that their children had gone missing. After the initial investigation in cases by the Uttar Pradesh police, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the investigation on January 11, 2007 and filed 16 charge sheets in as many cases. Koli was charge sheeted i in all the cases for murder besides other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Pandher was charged in only a single case under the provisions of the Immoral Trafficking Act; he was later summoned as co-accused in five more cases by the trial court. February 13, 2009: Koli and Pandher were awarded death penalty in first Nithari case at Ghaziabad; Pandher was later acquitted of all charges by the Allahabad high court; Kolis sentence commuted to life imprisonment in January, 2015. May 12, 2010: Koli awarded death penalty in second case related to abduction, rape and murder of an eight year old girl. Also Read: Surendra Koli, sentenced to death in Nithari horror, acquitted by Allahabad HC September 28, 2010: Koli awarded death penalty in third case of nine-year-old girl. December 22, 2010: Koli awarded death penalty in fourth case involving a 12-year-old girl. December 24, 2012: Koli awarded death penalty in fifth case related to five-year-old girl. October 7, 2016: Koli awarded death penalty in sixth case related to a 25-year-old domestic help. December 16, 2016: Koli awarded death penalty in the seventh Nithari case, related to 12-year-old girl July 22, 2017: Both Koli and Pandher awarded death penalties in the eighth case related to 20-year-old Pinky Sarkar. December 8, 2017: Both Pandher and Koli awarded death penalties in the ninth case related to the murder of 25- year-old domestic help. March 2, 2019: Koli awarded death penalty in the 10th Nithari case related to the murder of another girl who was 14. April 6, 2019: Koli awarded the death penalty for the murder of a 10-year-old in Nithari, the 11th case. Pandher summoned as co-accused but was let off as no evidence was found against him . January 16, 2021: Koli awarded another death penalty in th 12th Nithari case related to the murder of 20-year-old domestic help; Pandher acquitted March 26, 2021: Koli acquitted by a Ghaziabad court in the 13th case in which he was charged with the destruction of evidence, abduction, attempted rape and murder of a 10-year-old girl. The was the first case in which Koli was acquitted while in previous 12 cases he was awarded death penalty by the trial court in Ghaziabad. Amid a major political controversy over not giving a guard of honour to an Agniveer recruit, the Indian Army on Sunday said Amritpal Singh died by suicide by shooting himself while on sentry duty and clarified that military honours were not extended to his funeral as deaths arising out of self-inflicted injuries are not given such honours. Agniveer Amritpal Singh Singh, who was serving with a battalion of the Army's Jammu and Kashmir Rifles unit in the Poonch sector, died on October 11 and was cremated on Friday at his native village in Punjab's Mansa district. The Army also asserted that it does not differentiate among soldiers based on whether they joined the force prior to or after the implementation of the Centre's Agnipath scheme, under which soldiers below the rank of commissioned officers are recruited into the three services of the armed forces. All recruits will be hired only for a four-year period. In a statement on Sunday night, the Army said there has been some "misunderstanding and misrepresentation" of facts related to the death of Singh. "Unfortunate instances of death arising out of suicide/self-inflicted injury, irrespective of the type of entry, are accorded due respect by the Armed Forces along with deep and enduring empathy with the family," it said. "It is a grave loss to the family and the Indian Army that Agniveer Amritpal Singh committed suicide by shooting himself while on sentry duty," the Army said. "In consonance with the existing practice, the mortal remains, after conduct of medico-legal procedures, were transported under Army arrangements along with an escort party to the native place for the last rites," it said. The Army said the armed forces do not differentiate between the soldiers who joined prior to or after the implementation of the Agnipath scheme as regards entitled benefits and protocols. "Such cases, however, are not entitled to military funerals as per the extant Army Order of 1967, in vogue. Policy on the subject has been consistently followed ever since, without any discrimination," the Army said. "As per data held, there has been an average yearly loss ranging between 100-140 soldiers since 2001 where deaths occurred due to suicides/self-inflicted injuries, and military funeral in such cases was not accorded," it added. It also said the disbursement of financial assistance/relief, as per entitlement, is given due priority including immediate financial relief for conduct of funerals. The Army said during such times, it is important and incumbent on society to uphold the respect, privacy and dignity of the family while empathising with them in their moment of grief. "Armed Forces are known for adherence to the policies and protocols and will continue to do so as hithertofore. The Indian Army requests support of all sections of the society while it follows its established protocols," it said. On Saturday, the Army's Nagrota-headquartered White Knight Corps said Singh died while on sentry duty in Rajouri sector due to a self-inflicted gunshot injury. It added that a Court of Inquiry would be held to ascertain more details on his death which is currently in progress. The death took place on October 11. The mortal remains of Singh, accompanied by one junior commissioned officer and four other ranks, were transported in a civil ambulance hired by the Unit of the Agniveer, the White Knight Corps said, adding that accompanying Army personnel also attended the last rites. The White Knight Corps, however, said since the cause of death was a self-inflicted injury, no guard of honour or military funeral was provided, in accordance with the existing policy. The Agniveer Scheme was announced in June 2022 for recruitment in the armed forces. The scheme is meant only for recruiting soldiers and not officers in the forces. The soldiers recruited under this Agneepath scheme are known as Agniveers. Opposition attacks Centre over Agnipath scheme A row erupted on Saturday, with opposition parties expressing shock over the matter. On Sunday, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) questioned the Centre over the policy under the Angnipath Scheme. Addressing a press conference, AAP leader Raghav Chadha said Singh's family will not be entitled to pension, while he will not be accorded the status of a martyr. "No Army unit came to hand over his body. His body was brought in a private ambulance and he was not given any military honour. But the police gave him state honours during his last rites," news agency quoted Chadha as saying. He said this "raises serious questions" over the policies of the BJP-led Centre. "The Punjab government, led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, will be giving an amount of 1 crore as Samman Rashi to the family of Amritpal Singh and will also accord the status of a martyr to him. The Punjab government is with them in this hour of grief," the AAP leader said. Shiromani Akali Dal leader and former union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal said she was shocked to learn that Singh was cremated without the army guard of honour. She sought intervention from defence minister Rajnath Singh in the matter, seeking necessary directions to accord military honours to all martyred soldiers. Reacting to the incident, Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring said, This is a sad day for our country as this (soldier) who was recruited under the Agniveer scheme was sent back home in a private ambulance and not given any guard of honour by the @adgpi. Does being an Agniveer mean that their lives don't matter as much, he asked on X The bereaved family had to request the local Punjab Police to give our young boy a guard of honour. Is this why @BJP4India started this policy? Is this how we will treat our Agniveers, different from the rest of our soldiers? Does the Central Government have any answers for this inhuman treatment of our young martyr? Shameful!, Warring added. Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal attacked the Bhagwant Mann government, saying he was shocked by the refusal of the chief minister to send any state-level dignitary to give a befitting farewell to the young martyr. CM must not hide behind the excuse of central government policies as nothing stops the state government from giving honour to the martyr and from standing by his family the most magnanimous way at this painful juncture. This is what S. Parkash Singh Ji Badal would have immediately done, Badal posted on X. SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia demanded the scrapping of the Agniveer scheme and sought regularisation of all soldiers recruited under it till date. (With inputs from PTI) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON NEW DELHI: External affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi was on Monday appointed as Indias next permanent representative to the United Nations and other international organisations in Geneva. MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi has been appointed as Indias next permanent representative to the UN in Geneva (ANI) Bagchi is currently additional secretary in the external affairs ministry. He is expected to take up the assignment shortly, according to an official statement. HT first reported on October 3 that Bagchi would become the envoy to UN in Geneva. People familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity that four diplomats are being considered to replace Bagchi as the foreign ministrys spokesperson, including Nagaraj Naidu Kakanur, joint secretary (G20), and K Nandini Singla, high commissioner to Mauritius. Bagchi, from the 1995 batch of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), took over as spokesperson in March 2021 and had an eventful stint that spanned the countrys response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Indias standoff with China on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and the countrys G20 presidency. He was due to take up an ambassadorial posting following his promotion to the rank of additional secretary some time ago but was asked to stay on till the holding of the G20 Summit. Kakanur was a key part of the team led by Indias G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant that was involved in negotiations to finalise the consensus leaders declaration at the G20 Summit last month. He is considered to have the edge in the process to appoint the next spokesperson, the people said. An officer of the 1998 batch of the IFS, Kakanur is a fluent Mandarin speaker and has done four separate stints in China. Besides two stints in the embassy in Beijing during 2000-03 and 2009-12, he served at the consulate in Hong Kong during 2003-06, and as consul general in the consulate at Guangzhou during 2013-15. Nandini Singla, from the 1997 batch of the IFS, has served as the ambassador to Portugal during 2016-20, and as joint secretary (Europe West) during 2015-16. She also did a stint at the permanent mission to the UN in Geneva during 2009-11 and served at the high commission in Bangladesh during 2005-08. If she is appointed the spokesperson, she will be the first woman diplomat to hold the post after Nirupama Rao, who held the position during 2001-02 and went on to become the foreign secretary. In Geneva, Bagchi will replace Indra Mani Pandey, who is expected to return to the headquarters in New Delhi, the people said. Bagchi has considerable experience in multilateral diplomacy, having served at Indias permanent mission to the UN in New York looking after economic and development issues, and as director in the Prime Ministers Office, handling relations with the UN, the Americas and Russia. Bagchi has also served as ambassador to Croatia and deputy high commissioner to Sri Lanka. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON RAIPUR: In one significant way, the 2018 assembly elections in Chhattisgarh were different from the rest. Carved out from Madhya Pradesh in 2000, the three state polls till then had been a direct contest between the two principal parties in the state- the BJP and the Congress, with no spoiler in between. But 2018 saw the birth of the fledgling states first regional party of significance; the Janata Chhattisgarh Congress(Jogi) helmed by Ajit Jogi, the first Chief Minister of the state. A dominant Congress performance, where it swept to power with 68 of the 90 seats meant that the JCCJs performance meant little, but the new party performed creditably; winning 5 seats and 7.6 percent of the vote. Five years later, an interim in which party patriarch Ajit Jogi has passed away and several legislators have quit, that seven percent is now being eyed by both the Congress and the BJP, and may well prove the difference in a close battle. The JCC(J)s seven percent vote share is now being eyed by both the Congress and the BJP, and may well prove the difference in a close battle. (File Photo) Ajit Jogi, the former bureaucrat once handpicked by Rajiv Gandhi, had formed the JCC(J) in 2016 after an acrimonious fallout with the state Congress leadership and then state party president(and now Chief Minister) Bhupesh Baghel. Two years later, the party formed an alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party and the CPI for the assembly elections. The coalition fought all 90 seats in which JCC(J) fought on 55 seats and got 7.6 percent of the vote, the BSP 3.8 percent and 2 seats and the CPI fought on two seats and got 0.3 percent. But since, two of its legislators- Ajit Jogi himself and Devrat Singh- have died, Dharamjit Singh joined the BJP in August 2023, Pramod Sharma was expelled from the party in July 2023. The only remaining legislator is Ajit Jogis wife Renu Jogi. It has, at least thus far, lost its allies too. In September 2023, the BSP has announced an alliance with the Gondwana Gantantra Party(GGP). Political experts said that much of the JCC(J)s politics revolved around Ajit Jogi, and with his demise, it was possible that they would lose voteshare. While there is some debate on what party the votes will go to, Sudiep Srivastava, political commentator based in Chhattisgarh said, A large chunk of the satnami(dalit) and OBC votes could tilt towards the Congress, the upper caste votes in seats like Lormi could switch to the BJP with the upper caste candidates changing camps. The JCC(J) may still hold on to some tribal and dalit votes. A senior Congress leader, who didnt want to be quoted said, There are many reasons the party is in decline. First, Ajit Jogi had the political skill and the network to keep the party afloat, and without him, the primary pole is lost. The JCC(J) has also been unable to cultivate a new vote base, and there has been barely any political activity on the ground for the four years after the 2018 elections. Ajit Jogis son and former MLA Amit Jogi who now leads the party however said that the JCC(J)s voteshare would remain intact and the party would play a pivotal role. People are angry with both the Congress and the BJP because they have betrayed the people of the state. In the last 45 days, I have travelled to 45 constituencies and people are giving me the kind of love they used to give my father. That is my strength, Jogi said. Jogi said that in 2018 they fought on 55 seats and they would now fight on all 90 seats. I am opening dialogues with other regional parties. The last time we declared candidates three months ahead of the election but this time I will wait for the BJP and Congress list. The tribute to my late father will be to double the vote share, Jogi said. Hemant Poyam, Chhattisgarh president of the BSP said that their target was to double their voteshare as well. Last time we fought on 33 seats, and this time we are going to field candidates on 60 seats. We will double our voteshare like in 2008 and 2013 where we got between 5 and 6 percent of the vote, Poyam said adding till now there is no possibility allying with JCC(j). BJP spokesperson Sacchidanand Upase said, Ajit Jogi was charismatic and was an extremely talented political strategist. After his death, the party has lost the connection with people, and they will vote for the BJP. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Mizorams ruling Mizo National Front (MNF), saying they were in cahoots while underlining his partys good record of governance and development and pledging to protect the poll-bound states culture, tradition and religion. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi arrived in Mizoram on Monday. (PTI) It is a shame that the people running your government [MNF] are in cahoots with the [BJP-led] government in Delhi. The Congress always has had a good record of governance and development. We will protect your culture, tradition, and religion, Gandhi said while addressing a gathering after starting his poll campaign with a march from to the governors residence in Aizawl. The MNF is part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance at the Centre. The BJP is not part of the MNF government in Mizoram. Gandhi asked the people to consider what the MNF government has done over the past five years. Drugs are rampant and have led to the deaths of 250 young people. The state government has provided just 2000 jobs in five years and roads and infrastructure in Mizoram are in shambles. Gandhi referred to his Kanyakumari to Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra last year and said he walked across India covering around 4000 km. Today we walked around 2 km [in Aizawl], but the message is the same: Respect for others and tolerance. That idea is under attack from the BJP, Gandhi said. Gandhi spoke about his visit to neighbouring ethnic violence-hit Manipur and accused the BJP-led government of failing to address the issue and destroying the idea of Manipur. He added it was no longer one state but has become two states. I cannot understand why the Prime Minister [Narendra Modi] has not visited Manipur. It is something to be ashamed of. He said there were similar issues in other parts of the country as well and that minorities, tribals, and Dalits were feeling uncomfortable under the BJP rule while calling it an attack on the idea of India. Gandhi earlier arrived in Aizawl for a two-day visit to the election-bound state via Agartala in neighbouring Tripura. He was due to interact with students on Monday evening. On Tuesday, Gandhi was scheduled to meet Congress leaders and address a press conference and a public meeting before flying back to Delhi via Agartala. Gandhis visit is the first by a top Congress leader following last weeks announcement of assembly polls on November 7. Congress, which was expected to announce the list of its candidates on Monday, lost power to MNF in 2018. It managed to get just five of the 40 assembly seats and finished third after MNF and Zoram Peoples Movement, a newly formed party which bagged eight seats. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Utpal Parashar Utpal is a Senior Assistant Editor based in Guwahati. He covers seven states of North-East India and heads the editorial team for the region. He was previously based in Kathmandu, Dehradun and Delhi with Hindustan Times. ...view detail New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party will begin a three-day outreach beginning Tuesday in 65,000 booths across 12,000 locations in poll- bound Madhya Pradesh that will mark the start of its election campaign, which will be followed by rallies and doorstep canvassing, party functionaries said. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan(PTI) As part of the booth vijay abhiyan (victory campaign), party cadre will make a pledge to ensure the BJPs win at every booth, they said, requesting anonymity. The booth vijay abhiyan will begin with a shakti sammelan (power conclave) to coincide with the ongoing navratra festival, in which female power is venerated. After the three-day campaign, the party will start its door-to-door canvassing and rallies that will be attended by senior leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said a party leader aware of the details. The incumbent government is relying heavily on support from women voters to retain power in the state that goes to polls on November 17. The party is hopeful of benefiting from welfare schemes such as the Ladli Behna Yojna that provides a cash incentive of 1,250 amonth to 12.5 lakh eligible women, and reduced cooking gas prices. They are focussing on ensuring that eligible women are not left out of any social welfare schemes, the functionary said. They also reach out to the beneficiaries to highlight the schemes and policies of the government that have helped in their social and economic empowerment. The partys women wing has also begun an outreach with an eye to win over women voters through bhajan mandalis (devotional singing groups) and self-help groups. While the Mahila Morcha is organising door-to-door campaign covering at least 100 households in each polling booth area, the party is also giving finishing touches to the larger election campaign where Modi and other senior leaders will address public rallies. Modi is expected to address 8-9 rallies in the state after the election manifesto is released in the next 10 days. The All India Road Transport Workers' Federation and the Tamil Nadu Urimai Kural Driver Trade Union on Monday began a two-day strike in the state which casused severe incovenience to the public. The protestors will head to transport department offices in Madurai, Tiruchirapalli, Coimbatore on the second day of the strike.((Representative Image)) Regular commuters who use cabs to reach their respective wokrplaces are facing unprecedented delays. Some use the cab services due to infrequent public transportation facility in their areas. Residents complained of having fewer availability of cabs due their already demand-rise amid the festival season. What are the taxi drivers' demands? Taxi drivers in the state are carrying out the strike in an effort to urge the government to ban the Rapido bike-taxi services, as well as regulate app-based cab aggregators Uber, Ola, Porter and Red Taxi. The protestors urged government's action against those renting private vehicles for commercial use. They are also demanding to remove all the toll booths that are operating despite their agreement period. According to an official of the drivers' union, the protestors will head to transport department offices in Madurai, Tiruchirapalli, Coimbatore on the second day of the strike. Earlier, state's transport minister S S Sivasankar said the state government is yet to recognise bike taxis running in Chennai and Coimbatore, adding that vehicles with only yellow-black number plates can operate as taxis. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Congress denied tickets to eight sitting legislators and re-nominated 22 MLAs, including chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and his deputy TS Singh Deo, in its first list of 30 candidates announced on Sunday for the Chhattisgarh assembly elections scheduled next month. Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel. (PTI) The Congress, which is eyeing to retain power in the state, has fielded all cabinet ministers besides assembly speaker Charan Das Mahant. Of the 30 seats for which the Congress announced its candidates, 14 are reserved for the scheduled tribe (ST) and three for the scheduled caste (SC) categories. In rest of the 13 general seats, the Congress has fielded nine candidates belonging to other backward classes (OBCs). Four women candidates, including a sitting minister and two legislators, are also in the list released by the ruling party. Elections to the 90-member assembly will be held in two phases on November 7 and 17. Polling for 20 seats will be held in the first phase while the second phase will see voting in the remaining 70 constituencies. Results will be announced on December 3. The first list of Congress seems to be based upon ground surveys and strategy. Denying tickets to eight sitting MLAs a rarity for the party suggests that winnability was the prime factor in deciding tickets, a Congress leader, who was part of the screening process for candidate selection, said, requesting anonymity. Among the bigwigs, CM Baghel will be contesting from the traditional Patan seat while his deputy TS Singh Deo from his Ambikapur seat. Assembly speaker Charan Das Mahant has been renominated from his Sakti seat. Lok Sabha MP from Bastar Deepak Baij will also contest the assembly polls from Chitrakot constituency. Baij, who is also the state Congress president, Baij had won the 2018 assembly elections from Chitrakot in Bastar division, but he vacated the seat after winning the Lok Sabha polls the following year. The assembly seat is currently held by Rajman Benzam of the Congress. The ruling party has declared its candidates for 19 out of the 20 seats (except Jagdalpur), which will vote in the first phase. Candidates have been declared for 19 of the 20 seats going to polls in the first phase (on November 7). The candidate for Jagdalpur will be declared soon. We will achieve the target of winning 75 seats, Baij told reporters, adding that the list has been announced on the auspicious day of Navratri and the party will get the blessing of the goddess. Minister Guru Rudra Kumar, who won the 2018 polls from Ahiwara constituency in Durg district, will contest from Navagarh (SC) seat in neighbouring Bemetara district. Chavindra Karma, son of sitting MLA Devti Karma and late Congress leader Mahendra Karma, will contest from Dantewada. Chairman of Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation Girish Dewangan has been fielded from Rajnandgaon seat against former chief minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national vice-president Raman Singh. Stressing CM Baghels imprint on the list, another Congress leader, requesting anonymity, said: Sitting MLA Chhanni Sahu denied ticket because she was continuously questioning the Baghel-led government. Girish Devangan, close friend of Baghel, who was recently in news over ED raids has been fielded against Raman Singh. Also, most of the fresh faces are those close to Baghel. This clearly reflects that Baghel had a greater say in ticket distribution. In the previous state elections in 2018, the Congress won 68 of the 90 seats while the BJP, which was in power in Chhattisgarh since 2003, managed to get only 16 seats. The BJP, which has already announced its candidates for 85 seats, including the 20 seats that will go to polls in the first phase, said the Congress has renominated those who had given protection to corruption. The way the Congress has denied tickets to eight MLAs shows Bhupesh Baghel has put the blame on his MLAs for the failure of his government to deliver. The Congress has renominated those candidates who have given protection to corruption. It shows the partys intention to commit scams (if it retains power), state BJP chief Arun Sao said. The BJP leader further said that the Congress was pretending to be Sanatani by declaring its first list on the first day of Navratri, but (communal) events in Kawardha, Biranpur and Mohla Manpur show the partys hatred for Sanatan Dharma and its followers. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ritesh Mishra State Correspondent for Chhattisgarh. Reports Maoism, Politics, Mining and important developments from the state. Covered all sorts of extremism in Central India. Reported from Madhya Pradesh for eight years. ...view detail New Delhi: When delegates from 195 countries meet in Vienna next month for the 91st general assembly of Interpol, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director Praveen Sood will take up the issue of cancelled red notice of diamantaire Mehul Choksi, as well as the need to act against other fugitives and criminals, including Khalistani radicals operating from nations like Canada, the UK, the US, Australia and Europe, people familiar with the development said. Mehul Choksi (Mint File Photo) The chief of Indias anti-corruption agency is also expected to ask international law enforcement agencies to fast-track the mutual legal assistance (MLA) requests, through which information or evidence is sought, so that investigations could be completed on time. The 91st assembly will take place from November 28 to December 1 in Austrias capital, where Interpol was created in 1923. The organization is celebrating 2023 as the 100th year of global police cooperation, and when the member countries meet next month, several key decisions on tackling emerging crimes, frauds, terrorism and corruption are expected to be taken. From India, the delegation is expected to be led by CBI director Praveen Sood. Seeking a status on Indias request to restore the red notice to Mehul Choksi would be a priority, a government official said, declining to be named. Interpol had issued a red notice against Choksi in December 2018, but withdrew in November last year after the accused in the Punjab National Bank scam approached the Commission for the Control of Interpols Files (CCF) in July 2022, alleging his abduction from Antigua and Barbuda by Indian agents in May 2021. CCF is an independent body that ensures all data processed through Interpols channels conform to the rules of the organization The CBI has challenged the decision before the CCF, arguing that there were serious shortcomings, procedural violations, overreach of mandate and mistakes committed by CCF in the manner of reaching this unfounded and perfunctory decision (of withdrawal of red notice). Interpol was strengthening its compliance and review mechanism of red notices against fugitives, organisation chief Jurgen Stock told HT in an interview in August. It is unknown whether a bilateral meeting will be sought with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Ties between Canada and India has been strained after the north American country alleged an Indian hand in the killing of Khalistani radical Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia. Pro-Khalistani elements indulging in violent and radicalization activities, smuggling of weapons and drugs to India, use of cyberspace for creating unrest and safety of Indian diplomats and missions and consulates in certain countries including Canada and the UK, the US and Australia will figure in Indias talks at the assembly, a second official said on condition of anonymity. During the 90th assembly of Interpol in New Delhi in October 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chided the global body to speed up red notice requests for fugitive offenders. Police and law enforcement agencies need to devise procedures and protocols to increase cooperation, Modi had said. Interpol can help by speeding up red notices for fugitive offenders. Interpol has for long faced criticism from Indian agencies for sitting on requests for red notices against wanted fugitives involved in terror attacks or high-value frauds. A red notice allows 195 member countries to track and persuade a country to arrest a fugitive in their respective jurisdiction. Currently, over 200 red notices related to criminals wanted by the CBI are available in the Interpol database. Cooperation with Interpol has increased in the past couple of years due to aggressive lobbying by New Delhi, officials said. Data seen by HT suggests over 60 fugitives have been brought back from foreign countries since 2021. Besides acting against fugitives, Sood and his team will seek cooperation from Interpol members in responding to MLA requests for help in investigation, prosecution, or identification proceeds of crime in their geographies. During the G20 anti-corruption working group meetings earlier this year, Indian officials told several countries the challenges faced in executing MLA requests include differences in legal frameworks, lengthy bureaucratic processes, identification of correct (request) executing authority, poor quality of incoming MLA requests, unavailability of good translation of request and absence of effective communication channels. India suggested direct communication between the investigation agency and the executing agency (agency-to-agency cooperation) abroad and pre-consultation before sending a formal request. Hyderabad:The Congress is likely to offer 10 grams of gold and 1 lakh to women from economically and socially weaker sections of the society in poll-bound Telangana at the time of their marriage as part of its proposed Mahalakshmi scheme, partys manifesto committee chairman D Sridhar Babu has said. The Telangana Congress has already announced six poll guarantees on September 18.(HT_PRINT) We have decided to append the Mahalakshmi scheme guarantee, offering women 1 lakh for their wedding and 10 grams of gold because we recognise the emotional attachment that the metal has in an Indian household, Babu said, adding that the annual expenditure of this account would be about 250 crore. The ruling BRS is presently giving 1.16 lakh for the marriage of economically weaker women under the Kalyana Lakshmi-Shaadi Mubarak scheme. Reacting to the Congresss announcement, president of advocacy group Telangana Womens Activists Association, Sujatha Polepalli, said, The promise does not mean empowerment and the money and gold will induce parents to marry off girls earlier than planned... We have already seen so many cases of girls Aadhaar cards being modified by the parents to present them as adults and claim all the benefits on the pretext of marrying them off, Polepalli said. Upon checking with the community leaders and police, we realised these were all fake marriages. The Congress has already announced six poll guarantees on September 18. The party said the Mahalakshmi scheme will provide financial assistance of 2,500 a month to women, offer LPG domestic gas cylinder refills for 500 and ensure free travel for women in state road transport corporation buses. HT reached out to the BRS for a response but did not get one immediately. Other promises would include review of current liquor policy, reducing the number of vends by revoking licences, and ring roads around every big town and city. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Congress party on Monday released a list of 39 candidates for the upcoming Mizoram Assembly elections. Congress has fielded Lalsanglura Ralte from the Aizwal East-I constituency, currently held by Mizo National Front (MNF) president and chief minister Zoramthanga. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge along with CPP Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, party leaders Rahul Gandhi, KC Venugopal at the party's Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting for the selection of candidates at AICC Headquarters in New Delhi on Thursday.(AICC) While Mizoram Congress Committee chief Lalsawta has been fielded from Aizawl West-III (ST), Lalnunmawia Chuaungo has been given the party ticket from Aizawl North-I (ST). Lalrindika Ralte will contest from Hachhek (ST), Lalhmingthanga Sailo from Dampa (ST) and Lalrinmawia from Aizawl North-II. The announcement came at a time when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is on a two-day visit to the election-bound state to campaign for party candidates. Here's the list of 39 candidates for Mizoram Assembly elections: Rahul Gandhi in Mizoram Rahul Gandhi on Monday charged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was more concerned about developments in Israel than in strife-torn Manipur. Addressing a rally near Raj Bhavan in Aizwal after undertaking a 2-km-long padayatra through the city roads, Gandhi said that neighbouring Manipur is no longer a unified single state, but has been divided into two states on ethnic lines. "It is amazing to me that the PM and the Government of India is so interested in what is happening in Israel (Israel-Hamas conflict) but not interested at all in what is happening in Manipur, where people have been murdered, women molested and babies killed," he said. "The idea of India that respects each other, is tolerant, learns from other ideas, religions and languages and that loves itself as a whole... That is the idea of India which is under attack by the BJP. "They (BJP) attack different communities, religions and languages. They spread hatred and violence in the country. They spread arrogance, lack of understanding and this is completely against the idea of India," he added. Mizoram, the smallest of the poll-bound states with 40 seats, will vote on November 7. The votes will be counted on December 3. 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 Toward a Free Economy: Swatantra and Opposition Politics in Democratic India is a new book on the Swatantra Party, a leading opposition party that emerged after Indias Independence, to contest the entrenched dominance of the Congress. The leaders of the Swatantra Party imagined a conservative alternative to the left-of-centre Congress, one that embraced libertarian principles and promoted the idea of a free economy. The author of this new book, historian Aditya Balasubramanian, was featured on last weeks episode of Grand Tamasha, a weekly podcast on Indian politics and policy co-produced by HT and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. To tell this story, Balasubramanian waded through the private papers of the Swatantra Party leaders, journals and newspapers from the 1950s and 1960s, as well as the National Archives, writing most of the book before the official Swatantra papers became more readily accessible. (File photo) Balasubramanian, a lecturer in economic history at the Australian National University, told host Milan Vaishnav that while conventional histories of the party exist, his aim was to delve deeper into the unique economic ideas that key Swatantra Party leaders propagated. Balasubramanians decision to focus on the party was a product of circumstance. The project started in the John F Kennedy Library in Boston where the author was examining the papers of John Kenneth Galbraith, President Kennedys former Ambassador to India. The Galbraith papers revealed a string current of dissent on Indian planning coming from within India that was tied to a broader political movement that would eventually lead to the founding of the Swatantra Party. To tell this story, Balasubramanian waded through the private papers of the Swatantra Party leaders, journals and newspapers from the 1950s and 1960s, as well as the National Archives, writing most of the book before the official Swatantra papers became more readily accessible. Balasubramanian thinks theres an important lesson in that: Theres actually quite a lot that we can do with the post-colonial history of South Asia [without official documents]. For example, most recently in Abhishek Choudharys brilliant biography of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, we learn so much about Vajpayee that is invaluableand that I dont think will be necessarily bettered for a long timewithout even having access to Vajpayees own papers. By triangulating sources, Balasubramanian documents the political evolution of figures such as C Rajagopalachari, a leading protagonist in the nationalist movement who eventually broke with the Congress to helm the Swatantra Party. The book also profiles other leading lights of the partyincluding N.G. Ranga, Bhaikaka Patel, and Minoo Masaniall of whom shared a relatively privileged upbringing but harboured deep grievances about the overreach of the Nehruvian state. One of the partys weak spots, Balasubramanian argues, was gender. He notes that not a single female name appeared in a 58-page list of people whom the party originally targeted for help in building up its cadres. Balasubramanian calls this a blind spot and acknowledges that party leaders were not particularly seized by the invisibilising of women that is being done. Women are seen to be a part of society, but very much subordinate, he explained. And that is somethingwe shouldnt necessarily think of as particularly unique for the era, but I would say Swatantra [Party] is a bit more patriarchal in that respect than the Congress, which [did] have a selective, but important, presence of key female leaders. Panaji: A Delhi-based businessman has been booked by the Goa Police for allegedly molesting a Russian woman at a resort in Goa. The woman alleged that the suspect tried to kiss her forcibly in a hotel room. (Representative photo) The suspect identified as Bipul Sharma, 42, a computer dealer from Delhi has been booked under section 354 of the Indian Penal Code after the Russian woman alleged that he forcefully grabbed her and kissed her while at a resort in Calangute in Goa. Also Read: Goa DIG relieved of duties after misbehaving with woman at club In her complaint the woman alleged that she had come to Goa from Mumbai after the accused called her to discuss a business proposal. When the two met in the room of the accused he forcefully kissed her. The woman fled from the room and lodged a complaint, Calangute Police Inspector Paresh Naik said. The incident took place on October 12. Sharma had booked two rooms at the resort including for him and the Russian woman who runs a business in Andheri, Mumbai police said. The accused has not been arrested but he has been summoned, Naik added. India's first regional train service RapidX is set to begin on a 17-kilometre stretch on Friday,i.e October 20. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate this section on the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) on that day in Ghaziabad. The complete corridor will be functional by 2025. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on October 12 had inspected the Sahibabad station of the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project ahead of the opening. Here are 10 things you need to know about this high-speed regional rail service that will help you travel from Delhi to Meerut in just 60 minutes. 1. The RRTS is developed by the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), a joint venture of the Government of India and governments of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Established as a result of a memorandum of understanding between the Centre and the four states on June 29, 2011, NCRTC was formally incorporated as a company on August 21, 2013. 2. In 2019, the construction of Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor had begun. The first look of the RRTS train was unveiled a year later. 3. According to a document shared by the NCRTC, the RRTS is different from the Metro rail. It has an operational speed of 160 kilometres per hour against the Metro's speed of 80 kph. While a Metro train will take three hours to complete a 100 kilometres journey, an RRTS will traverse that distance in just an hour. 4. The Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Corridor is the first RRTS project being implemented in India, and will be closely followed by the Delhi-Gurugram-SNB-Alwar and Delhi-Panipat corridors. 5. The total length of the Delhi-Meerut corridor is 82 kilometres which will be covered in just an hour. It comprises 24 stations. The first phase covering 17 kilometres will cover five stations- Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, Guldhar, Duhai and the Duhai Depot. The RRTS is different from the Metro rail. It has an operational speed of 160 kilometres per hour against the Metro's speed of 80 kph(NCRTC website) 6. The NCRTC said it has worked with the Centre, four state governments and transport systems to develop deep multi-modal integration at RRTS stations. These RRTS stations will be integrated with various metro lines, airports and bus stands, wherever possible. On September 15, the NCRTC said that the construction of the RRTS viaduct crossing over the Blue Line of the Delhi Metro corridor, at an elevation of about 20 meters near the New Ashok Nagar Metro Station, has been successfully completed. 7. The project has been constructed at a cost of 30,274 crore. The Asian Development Bank, New Development Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank have also funded this project. 8. The RRTS trains feature several commuter-centric facilities such as overhead luggage racks, Wi-Fi, mobile and laptop charging facility at every seat. Each train will have one premium class car with wider seats, more legroom, and coat hangers. The trains will also come equipped with a vending machine facility. 9. The NCRTC has said that the operations on the 17-km-long primary section of the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor will involve more women employees than men. "It is noteworthy that the participation of women employees in the operations of this section will be more than that of male employees. NCRTC has taken a purposeful step towards breaking established gender norms in the transport sector by ensuring equal participation of women, which has traditionally been considered male-dominated," the company was quoted by PTI as saying. 10. A dedicated 'Lost and Found' centre has been established at the Ghaziabad Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) station to expedite the retrieval of misplaced belongings, a statement by the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) said on Monday. 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 The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led Secular Progressive Alliance in Tamil Nadu is set to remain intact, for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, but the allies demanding seats higher than what they had contested in 2019 parliamentary polls, people familiar with the matter said on Sunday. HT Image The development comes as the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has started sending feelers with a promise of more seats, after it recently severed its ties with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). As the coalition may become bigger with parties such as Kamal Haasans Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) expected to join the DMK, the parties who have been in the coalition for a longer period, have demanded a larger share in the seat sharing pie. The AIADMK breaking ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on September 25, has made it a three-cornered contest in Tamil Nadu as the DMK and its main ally Congress and others in the Secular Progressive Alliance are part of the INDIA bloc. However, the DMK wants to maintain the same seat sharing formula followed during the 2019 parliamentary polls. In 2019, Congress contested from 9 seats, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and Left parties- Communist Party of India and CPI(Marxist) -contested from two each, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), Kongu Desa Makkal Katchi (KMDK) and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) contested from one seat each. The alliance swept the polls winning 38 out of the 39 Lok Sabha seats. It lost only one seat in Theni to AIADMKs O P Ravindranath who, along with his father O Panneerselvam, was expelled from the party. This is a winning formula so there will not be much changes, said a senior DMK leader, who is involved in seat sharing talks. There would be changes in candidates and constituencies. We cannot afford to make any mistake. The aim is to continue restricting the BJP in Tamil Nadu. But parties such as the VCK and the Left are planning to demand at least a couple of more seats. An AIADMK- VCK combine will give the partnership an edge in at least 15 parliamentary seats in northern Tamil Nadu where Dalits are predominant, said a leader from the latter party explaining that the Dravidian party is trying to woo them. AIADMK will definitely offer us more seats since the political situation has changed. But, we want to remain in the secular alliance, the leader said. So we will negotiate for more. We also want to contest using our own symbol. The left parties too want an increase in share. Obviously, we want to contest from more seats this time, said a CPI(M) leader, who had a meeting with chief minister and DMK president MK Stalin last week. We cannot lose ground for Kamals party to get more seats. But, there is no question of going with the AIADMK. They have supported whatever the BJP did in the past nine years, so why should we trust what they do now because they have suddenly left the alliance? These leaders also doubt that the AIADMK will eventually strike a deal with the BJP as the elections near or in a post poll scenario. Earlier, the alliance members, particularly Congress, had expressed displeasure with the allotment of seats during the 2021 assembly elections. The Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) is also facing internal conflict over the replacement of K S Alagiri as the state unit chief. Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who was in Chennai for DMKs conference on womens rights on Saturday, had held an hour-long meeting with TNCC members. She wanted us to put on a show of strength with the DMK and strengthen the coalition, a Congress leader familiar with the development said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Supreme Court on Monday referred to a Constitution bench of five judges the final adjudication of a clutch of petitions that have challenged the validity of the central governments electoral bonds (EB) scheme as a source of political funding. Bonds are available for purchase at any SBI branch in multiples of 1,000, 10,000, 1 lakh, 10 lakh and 1 crore. (File photo) A three-judge bench, led by Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, highlighted that the importance of the matter calls for setting up a larger bench to deliver an authoritative verdict. In view of the importance of issue raised, and with regard to article 145 (3) of the Constitution of India, the matter be placed before a bench of at least five judges. The matter will be retained on October 31, said the bench, which also included justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. Article 145(3) lays down that the cases that involve a substantial question of law in the matter relating to the interpretation of the Constitution should be heard by at least five judges. On October 10, the three-judge bench had fixed October 31 and November 1 to finally hear the matter, clarifying that the arguments in the matter will be wrapped up over the two dates being fixed and directed the Centre and other parties to submit their written submissions in the meantime. The assignment of dates for final hearing came after a gap of more than two years as the last effective hearing of the matter had taken place in March 2021. On the day, the court said that the issue of money bill, which has already been referred to a seven-judge bench and is pending there, would not be raked up before it and that the adjudication of the EB scheme will confine to a raft of other issues flagged by the petitioners. Also Read:Electoral bond pleas to be heard on Oct 31 During the brief proceedings on October 10, advocates Prashant Bhushan and Shadan Farasat, highlighted the chief grounds of challenge to the EB scheme, arguing that the funding is anonymous at various levels: identity of donors are not known; the amount donated by each of such donors is kept under wraps; and even the shareholders are not apprised of the details of their companys donation to the political parties. Bhushan appeared for a petition filed jointly by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and non-profit Common Cause in 2017 while Farasat represented the Communist Party of India (Marxist) According to Bhushan and Farasat, EBs reek of secrecy that violates the peoples right to know, besides promoting corruption in elections that go to the root of democratic functioning in the country. Bhushan, during the hearing, also urged the bench to decide the matter as early as possible, and preferably before the EB window for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections open. Representing the Centre, attorney general R Venkataramani said that though the government is ready to argue the matter, the challenge to certain amendments passed as money bill could keep cropping up during the hearing of the matter and therefore, a clarity is required on the point. The bench agreed with the A-G and asked the petitioners whether they wish to await the outcome of a case where the contours and features of a money bill are to be determined or want to go ahead without a reference to the money bill. Both Bhushan and Farasat said that they would want the matter to be argued expeditiously without the reference to the money bill. The A-G, on October 10, also informed the bench that the next 10-day window for purchasing EBs will open on October 14. In order to bring in the EB scheme, the Centre had made multiple amendments by way of two Finance Acts Finance Act, 2017 and Finance Act, 2016, both passed as money bills (not necessitating the oversight of the Rajya Sabha). The petitioners challenged the amendments as being unconstitutional, violative of doctrines of separation of powers and violative of an array of fundamental rights. The passage of the amendments as money bills were also challenged. The EB scheme was first announced by former finance minister Arun Jaitley during the 2017 budget session and was notified in January 2018 as a source of political funding by way of money bills introducing amendments in the Finance Act and the Representation of the People Act. There were certain amendments also carried out in the Companies Act, Income Tax Act Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) and the Reserve Bank of India Act, to implement the EB scheme. These bonds are issued by the State Bank of India and donations made under this scheme by corporate and even foreign entities enjoyed 100% tax exemption while identities of the donors are kept confidential both by the bank as well as the recipient political parties. Under the scheme, bonds are available for purchase at any SBI branch in multiples of 1,000, 10,000, 1 lakh, 10 lakh and 1 crore and can be bought through a KYC-compliant account. There is no limit on the number of electoral bonds that a person or company can purchase. Every party registered under section 29A of the Representation of the People Act and having secured at least 1% of the votes polled in the most recent Lok Sabha or state election has been allotted a verified account by the Election Commission of India. The donor can donate the bond to a party of their choice, which can cash it within 15 days, only through the allotted account. The bonds go for sale in 10-day windows in the beginning of every quarter -- in January, April, July and October, besides an additional 30-day period specified by the central government during the Lok Sabha election years. In March 2021, the top court had dismissed two stay applications moved by the ADR to stop the sale of the electoral bonds ahead of elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry. It held that there was no justification to block their sale over concerns of anonymity in political party funding or apprehensions of their misuse and that the sale had continued without any impediment in 2018, 2019 and 2020 as well. Earlier, in April 2019, the top court introduced an interim safeguard by directing all political parties to submit details of receipts of the electoral bonds to the Election Commission of India (ECI) in a sealed cover. This was done as an interim measure till the pending petitions challenging the validity of these electoral bonds were decided. At that time, the ECI had supported the existing system of political party funding through electoral bonds although the constitutional body flagged lack of transparency which it said could be considered at a later stage. The Centre has however maintained that the EB scheme ensures transparency and is a powerful check on the use of illicit money in elections. In October last year, solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, had told the court that the methodology of receiving money though EBs is transparent, adding it is impossible to get any money in black anymore. The petition by ADR and Common Cause, filed in September 2017, claimed that such an anonymous route of funding amounted to legitimizing bribery as corporates could fund the party in power in a state or Centre as a matter of quid pro quo. These donations enjoy 100 per cent tax exemption and even foreign companies can donate through Indian subsidiaries, they added. The Electoral Bonds Scheme has opened the floodgates to unlimited corporate donations to political parties and anonymous financing by Indian as well as foreign companies which can have serious repercussions on the Indian democracy, the ADR claimed, adding that the Finance Act of 2017 exempts contributions by way of electoral bonds to be disclosed to the EC under Section 29C of the Representation of Peoples Act. Petitions by CPI(M) and advocate Ashwini Upadhyay have also raised issues pertaining to electoral bonds and have been tagged with the ADRs plea, which is the lead matter in the case. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Supreme Court on Monday referred pleas challenging the validity of the electoral bond scheme for political funding to a Constitution bench, PTI reported. The Supreme Court of India.(HT) The case will be heard on October 30. The electoral bond scheme was first announced by former finance minister Arun Jaitley during the 2017 budget session and was notified in January 2018 as a source of political funding by way of money bills introducing amendments in the Finance Act and the Representation of the People Act. Under the scheme, bonds are available for purchase at any SBI branch in multiples of 1,000, 10,000, 1 lakh, Rs10 lakh and 1 crore and can be bought through a KYC-compliant account. There is no limit on the number of electoral bonds that a person or company can purchase. Several petitions before the Supreme Court claimed that such an anonymous route of funding amounted to legitimising bribery as corporates could fund the party in power in a state or Centre as a matter of quid pro quo. On October 11, after a gap of more than two years, a bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud fixed October 31 and November 1 to finally hear the petitions against the scheme. He said that the arguments in the matter would be wrapped up within two dates and had directed the Centre and other parties to submit their written submissions. The bench, also comprising of Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, also clarified that the issue of whether some of the amendments that made the issue of these bonds possible should have been passed as a money bill (the route taken by the government), will not be heard by the bench because a seven-judge bench is hearing a separate case on when a bill can be designated a money bill. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON PANAJI: A construction worker died on Monday when a trench to lay a sewer line collapsed on him in Goa capital Panaji, people aware of the matter said. Fire and emergency service official said they extricated the worker from the rubble but he had died (File Photo/Representative Image) We removed him as soon as possible, but he was declared dead after being removed from the trench, a fire and emergency service official said. The incident prompted sharp attacks from the opposition parties that attacked the Pramod Sawant government for the incident at the project site. The sewer line was being laid in connection with the Ribandar Smart City Project. Goa Congress president Amit Patkar said that the incident reflected the ruling Bharatiya Janata Partys attitude towards the poor. There needs to be accountability and identify and penalise who is responsible for the death, Patkar said. This BJP government only cares for the lives of people. Only those who have money, they get justice. In a post on X, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) unit chief Amit Palekar demanded a first information report (FIR) against the contractor and project officials for this deliberate rash and negligent act charging them under provisions of IPC and also under section 120-B IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act, for criminal conspiracy to loot public money, putting lives in danger and causing death. The municipal corporation hasnt issued a statement on the death yet. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON New Delhi: India and the UK discussed the possibilities for collaboration in trade, investment, defence, critical technologies and civil aviation during their maiden 2+2 foreign affairs and defence dialogue in New Delhi on Monday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his UK counterpart, Rishi Sunak. (Reuters/file photo) India has a 2+2 dialogue, either at the level of senior officials or ministers, with close strategic partners such as the US, Japan, Australia and Russia. The dialogue between India and the UK featured senior defence and foreign policy officials of the two sides. The two sides discussed possibilities for further collaboration, particularly in trade and investment, defence, critical and emerging technologies, civil aviation, health, energy, culture and strengthening the peoples connect, the external affairs ministry said in a statement. India and the UK also considered the possibility of enhancing collaboration in counter-terrorism, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief and maritime security. The officials exchanged assessments on recent international developments, including in the Indo-Pacific region, in view of the shared vision of the two countries for peace, stability and prosperity and for a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific, the statement said. The 2+2 dialogue is a mechanism to discuss and review all aspects of the India-UK comprehensive strategic partnership. Both delegations expressed satisfaction at regular high-level political exchanges and interactions that have provided guidance and momentum to multifaceted ties. The officials also expressed satisfaction at progress in diverse areas of the India-UK Roadmap 2030, including economic cooperation, defence and security, people-to-people ties, and regional and multilateral cooperation. The Indian delegation was co-chaired by Piyush Srivastava, joint secretary (Europe West) in the external affairs ministry and Vishwesh Negi, joint secretary (international cooperation) in the defence ministry. The British team was co-chaired by Ben Mellor, India director in the Indian Ocean directorate of the foreign ministry, and Lt Gen Rob Magowan, deputy chief of defence staff (finance and military capability). The two sides will report on the outcomes of the 2+2 dialogue to higher bilateral mechanisms such as the foreign office consultations and defence consultative group. They will hold the second meeting of the dialogue in the UK in 2024. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao kicked off the poll campaign for his party Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Hanamkonda district on Sunday and urged the voters to not get carried away by the promises being made by the Opposition parties, but think wisely and vote for a government that will ensure the continuity of welfare and development. K Chandrashekar Rao (ANI) The 119-member assembly is slated to go to polls on November 30 and the results will be announced on December 3. Addressing a rally the first after the announcement of the poll schedule at Husnabad in the district, KCR told voters that during elections political parties make many empty promises. Some parties are asking the voters to give them one chance to rule the state... you have given them enough chances. They ruled the country for several decades. What have they done for the people? he asked, indirectly referencing the Congress. The BRS chief pointed out that even after 75 years of independence, the condition of weaker sections remains the same, and that the Dalits are living in poverty. Who is responsible for this? You are aware of all the issues. So, think wisely and exercise your franchise with utmost caution..., he said. Talking about the formation of Telangana, KCR said that when the state was carved out 10 years ago it had many problems, and now Telangana has become the number one state with regard to per capita income, power consumption, and drinking water supply in the past nine-and-a-half years of the BRS rule. We faced many challenges, and we took up the responsibility of steering the state on the path of development. We called all economic experts and held discussions for over three months to lay out a comprehensive development plan. Now, we are no.1 in per capita income, industrialisation, informational technology, infrastructure development and creation of employment, he said. The BRS president also highlighted the various initiatives taken by his government that have catered to the needs of every section of the society. Compare the situation in your area before 2014 and now and you can judge how much the government has done for you, he said. Recalling that he had started his assembly poll campaign for the 2018 assembly polls in Husnabad and come out victorious, KCR said the constituency would lead the BRS to victory. Promising that he will take the responsibility of fulfilling all the needs of the people in Husnabad, KCR appealed to the voters to bless the BRS and bring it back to power for the third time and ensure that development continues in the state. PCC president A Revanth Reddy said KCR had made the state bankrupt and was still making tall claims about the development. If the state is not financially bankrupt, every month employees and support pensioners should be credited to their accounts on the first date of every month. Only then will people believe that the promises he is making will be implemented, he said. HT reached out to the BJP for a response but did not get one immediately. 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 NEW DELHI: Australia is keen to conclude a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) with India by the end of the year and the seventh round of negotiations is underway in New Delhi, Australian high commissioner Philip Green said on Monday. Australian high commissioner Philip Green said Quad has developed a sort of specific gravity that is entirely different from what it was five years ago (Australian high commission) Green, who took over the position in late August, said in an interview that CECA will build on the momentum created by the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), which was signed last year and has resulted in a 12% increase in agricultural imports and 20% increase in apparel imports from India. Edited excerpts: What are your priorities for taking forward India-Australia relations, is there anything specific that youre looking to build on? I think were in a unique period of Australia-India relations. I have a clear mandate from my prime minister to strengthen and deepen this relationship as much as I can, and I sense that is shared by Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi. I sat with them when they had their one-on-one at the G20 and there is a genuine human warmth there and a determination that we do a lot more in this bilateral relationship. Some people talk of pivot points or switches being flicked. In my view, weve passed the pivot point, the switch is flicked. We are looking for a stronger and deeper relationship with India and I sense from everyone I talk to on the Indian side thats a mutual thing. What is encouraging about that is that its not just a sentiment. Its undergirded by three key drivers in this bilateral relationship. We have a new level of strategic alignment that Australia and India have never shared. We are deeply interested in framing a region which is free, open, inclusive and resilient. We have a very similar picture of what that looks like and a readiness to work together in all sorts of fields. Defence, security [and] a lot of things that we can and will be doing together increasingly. Then on the economic side, from our perspective, you cant ignore the fact that India is already the fifth biggest economy and on track to be the third biggest, growing at nearly 8% per annum. Thats a market no sensible country and certainly one like [Australia] could fail to miss, but I think whats important from the Indian side is to perceive how complementary our economic systems are. We are an economy that is very good at resources, energy, agriculture and services and that fits very neatly with many of Indias needs. We can be the power, including the green power, to many of Indias industries. When it comes to the supply of minerals and metals, especially [those] required for the new economy, with critical minerals, we are going to be right up there with the world leaders and we want Indian partnership. When we look at what our near-term objectives are, obviously concluding the CECA (Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement) by around the turn of the year [is] a very high priority for us. The third thing driving this bilateral relationship is what we call the human bridge, nearly one million people of Indian origin live in Australia. Weve only got 26 million on the whole continent, thats a big fraction. Its the one national group thats growing the fastest. They are warmly received in our continent, they are making big contributions to our society and our economy, and we are deliberately trying to ensure they are able to be a positive vector in the bilateral relationship. We recently established the Centre for Australia-India Relations, a multimillion-dollar outfit, both the chair and the CEO are people of Indian origin, both very distinguished Australians. We see them as a crystallising factor, to try to make the most of this important part of Australias fabric. Its a unique moment, my challenge is to drive this as far and as fast as I can in the course of the next three or four years. I dont propose to miss the opportunity. How are talks progressing on the CECA and what issues, if any, are holding up the trade deal? Lets first of all recall what weve already done. The ECTA (Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement) was the first of its kind for India for a very long time. I think path-breaking is not the wrong term. There are others who are now trying to benefit by following the same path. Its delivering in a way thats really quite impressive. I think agricultural imports into Australia from India are up 12%, apparel imports into Australia from India are up 20%. There are tangible benefits already visible from the ECTA. Thats what we want from CECA as well. We want a CECA agreement that further strengthens our skills and economic partnership so that more Indian people can be skilled up either in Australia or in India at very high standards and relatively low cost to the benefit of the Indian economy. One area Im particularly personally interested in is agriculture and the way in which Australian agri-tech can support the Indian farm sector. Hundreds of millions of peoples livelihoods are dependent on this. One of the things we would like to progress in CECA is to clarify more how the very high quality and hi-tech Australian agricultural sector can support that. The seventh round of negotiations is happening on this very day in this very city. Those negotiations are going well, spoke to the chief negotiator on the Australian side. She has very high respect for her Indian counterpart and those are going well. Ministers are engaged. There will have to be more ministerial engagement, [the way] these things work. The end phase is done at the political level. We are hopeful that that can be done by around the end of the year. I personally am keen to see that happen. There are no guarantees in this business. But Im optimistic and I think that we can and should get this done, and if we do, there will be very significant benefit to Australia to some degree, but certainly to India. Are things like dairy on the Australian side and mobility on the Indian side holding up things? Those are two issues that are being discussed and will continue to be discussed. But the discussions are going very well, in a very cordial and substantive way. Im not going to get into specifics frankly, Im not across the details of the day-to-day negotiations, but what I can tell you is the atmospherics are very good and we are ready and willing to settle this deal in the next couple of months. What are Australias plans to build on the security and defence partnership? The first thing to say is that we are growing our defence and security partnership quite rapidly from a not-fully mature state. Were doing some new things, fresh [and] innovative things. A key objective is to normalise, regularise and deepen those contacts. Its one thing to do something once. Its another thing to do it over and over and over again, strengthen mutual understanding, increase trust, strengthen inter-operability. When you ask me about particular areas, I would have to say the one that for me stands out above all others is maritime domain awareness in the Indian Ocean. We both have a very deep interest in a free and open Indian Ocean. We have a shared interest in better understanding that maritime domain. What better way than to strengthen each of our individual levels of understanding of that domain and to work together and to share more frequently. What is the progress on Australias efforts to become a major supplier of critical minerals to India? There will be individual projects and theyll go ahead in different individual timeframes. Theres two sorts of interactions that could occur here. There could be Indian firms investing in Australian mining and processing activities and then being part of the offtake. Or there could be straight offtake agreements between Indian firms and Australian producers. All of those things will work at different timeframes. Theres two different sorts of activities going on. Theres a government-led activity where we have identified five major projects which we think are very prospective two in the field of lithium and three in the field of cobalt and were moving ahead with those. The supply chain is complex. Theres as many supply chains as there are critical minerals. If this was easy, it would have been done without the sort of government effort thats going on. Its also a reality of mining projects that getting them from the point where you know there is a resource in the ground to actually being able to put it in a ship and send it abroad, that takes a long time. Weve got 60 years of experience of being one of the worlds greatest exporters of metals, minerals and energy. Were very confident of our capability. So theres that government piece. But what Ive been very heartened by in my early weeks in India is the non-government piece, the number of Indian firms who have come to me independently and said we would like to be part of the Australian action in critical minerals. They are doing their own scouting. They will find their own way through the best partners and best resources. I am very encouraged since Ive been here that this is going to lead to actual deals, actual mining and actual processing. Concerns are growing across the region regarding Chinas territorial disputes with several countries, including India. How do you view Chinas actions in this regard? Let me talk a bit about borders first. The thing there to say is that border negotiations are primarily to be undertaken between the individual parties who are concerned and were not individual parties who are affected and were not part of it. But we say two strong things we say its very important that where there are tensions, that restraint is the key dynamic. Australia stands against any unilateral changes to the status quo in places, for instance, like on your border with China. More broadly about China, let me say this we are stabilising our relationship with China and that involves a degree of engagement and there are positive elements in our relations with China. But when we see issues of concern, we speak about them. We note China is involved in the biggest conventional military modernisation since World War 2 and that is being undertaken without a level of strategic reassurance, without a clarified set of understandings as to why its occurring. As we go forward with our stabilisation and our deepening engagement with China, we also note those realities. What issues will Australia bring to the table for the next Quad Summit and what initiatives are being taken up in trilateral engagements with countries such as France and Indonesia? The first thing to say is that Quad is really maturing. The last time I was in this country was in 2018 and I came here as I was then managing the Quad file in Canberra and there is no comparison between the level at which the conversations are taking place, the degree of specificity of what were doing, the clarity of the agenda. That tells you how far and how fast its gone in the five-year period. It would have been hard to foresee, frankly, when I was here in 2018. Quad has working groups and five major areas of focus, including cable communication, infrastructure, health, security, etc. The other ones are good engagements and the thing about these mini-laterals is we each have an interest in a future for our region which is peaceful, honest, open and resilient. But we each come at it from the perspective of our own geography and to some extent our own history and culture. Sharing perspectives with an Indonesia, a massive Southeast Asian powerhouse at the gateway between the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean, a country that weve had long, deep and very close engagement with and with which we are building a stronger security partnership that brings a different dimension. Then you have France, which has a real interest in our region because it is a global power and has possessions in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, its a P-5 power. Each of these different forums has its own texture and culture and things it can go deep on because of geography and the different character of the partnership. We are a nation towards the centre of the Indo-Pacific. We focus deeply on our Pacific family. We are determined to ensure that those societies have all the benefits of prosperity, stability and resilience. Were increasingly engaged in Southeast Asia, and we are looking for new ways to work, particularly in the eastern Indian Ocean. Each of us brings a different dimension to these conversations, and each of the different trilaterals and the quadrilateral has a different texture. But beyond all that, I mean the clear thing to say is that the Quad has developed a sort of specific gravity that is entirely different from what it was five years ago. How does Australia, a member of Five Eyes, view the row between India and Canada over the Khalistan issue? The first thing Id say is that its saddening for a country like Australia to see our two dear friends, Canada and India, having some difficulties in their bilateral relations. You know what its like in your personal life and your family life when two people, for whom you feel dearly, are not getting on. We hope they can find an amicable resolution to this as soon as is realistic. We have a long history in Australia of migrant groups from different countries who may have different views about things. We fully support the right of people to make their views known and to undertake peaceful demonstrations and protests. But just as much, we are focused on observance of the law. In particular, we put a lot of effort into ensuring the safety and dignity of Indian diplomatic presence as [well as] in the broader sense, in the dignity of India in Australia. Well continue to focus on that and I assure my Indian interlocutors of that. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Rezaul H Laskar Rezaul H Laskar is the Foreign Affairs Editor at Hindustan Times. His interests include movies and music. ...view detail In the wake of heavy rainfall lashing parts of Kerala, all the educational institutes will remain closed on Monday in Thiruvananthapuram. The incessant downpour has triggered flood-like situations and landslides in various areas across the capital city. Commuters move through the waterlogged road following heavy rain, in Thiruvananthapuram. (PTI) Visuals shared by the local news channels showed that the heavy showers since Saturday night have lashed Thiruvananthapuram district leading to waterlogging and flooding of streets, roads and low-lying areas. Water entered hundreds of homes in the district and in some areas there were also incidents of landslides, according to the visuals. Visuals also showed cars almost submerged while rescuers evacuated people from homes in inflatable boats to camps in some parts of Thiruvananthapuram. Meanwhile, the Central Water Commission also issued a flood warning for three rivers in Thiruvananthapuram district. It has been issued for the Karamana, Neyyar, and Vamanapuram rivers in the district. State general education minister V Sivankutty, who visited the flooded areas, said in a Facebook post that the rain since the previous night has created an unusual situation in Thiruvananthapuram city. There has been water logging in many places and a situation has been created where the rising seawater does not recede. Necessary government offices have been instructed to remain open, added Sivankutty. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday issued an orange alert for four districts-- Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha, while a yellow alert has been issued for eight districts of the state for the day. The IMD also predicted isolated heavy rainfall in many places in the state in the coming days. (With inputs from agencies) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON New Delhi: Investigations into the arrest of a 45-year-old man, who was nabbed from Imphal on Saturday evening in possession of a weapon and ammunition, have revealed that he is the nephew of a Manipur legislator, officers aware of the state polices probe in the matter said on Sunday. The Manipur Police, in a statement on Saturday night, said that an active member of banned outfit Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) was arrested with a 9 mm Beretta US Corp pistol, seven rounds (of ammunition) and extortion money. (AFP) (File)(HT_PRINT) The suspected militant was in touch with a Myanmar-based terror group since June, the officers said, adding that the Manipur police are probing the extent of his involvement in the ethnic clashes that have rocked the northeastern state since May 3. The Manipur Police, in a statement on Saturday night, said that an active member of banned outfit Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) was arrested with a 9 mm Beretta US Corp pistol, seven rounds (of ammunition) and extortion money, however, they did not share details related to his identification or his alleged contacts. The 45-year-old man, Karam Satrajit Singh, was arrested by the commando unit of Imphal West from Singjamei Supermarket area in Imphal. He confessed that he was working with a man named Robert who is based in Myanmar, a senior officer aware of the probe details said, requesting anonymity. Under the command of the people based in Myanmar, he was extorting money from private establishments and public as part of the party fund. The officer added: During probe, police found that the man is the nephew of a sitting MLA. While Singh has been arrested on charges of extortion and being part of the banned KYKL extremist group, police are probing his involvement in the ongoing ethnic strife in Manipur, the officer said. To be sure, KYKL is the same militant outfit, whose 12 members were apprehended by Assam Rifles at a village in Imphal along with large cache of ammunition on June 24, but they were let free after women-led protesters and a mob of around 1,200 people surrounded the security forces. An army spokesperson had on June 25 said that among those apprehended in the combing operation included Moirangthem Tamba, alias Uttam, a mastermind of the 2015 ambush that killed 18 army personnel. Singh joined KYKL through his Myanmar-based contact in June, around a month after ethnic violence erupted in Manipur. At least 178 people have been killed and nearly 50,000 displaced in the northeastern state since May 3, when ethnic clashes erupted between numerically dominant Meitei and tribal Kuki communities. The Manipur Police and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) have maintained that terror outfits from neighbouring Myanmar were exploiting the ethnic unrest in Manipur. On July 19, NIA registered a suo motu (on its own) case to probe the role of people working under instructions from Myanmar-based groups that are involved in violence in Manipur. On September 23, the federal anti-terror agency also arrested a man, identified as Moirangthem Anand Singh, for his alleged involvement in stoking violence in the state by carrying out attacks against rival groups and security forces. Another person, Seiminlun Gangte, who was arrested by NIA on September 30 in the same case, too, was involved with Myanmar-based terror groups to fuel violence in the state, the agency has said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Prawesh Lama Prawesh Lama covers crime, policing, and issues of security in Delhi. Raised in Darjeeling, educated in Mumbai, he also looks at special features on social welfare in the National Capital. ...view detail Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday raked up the issue of Manipur violence during a poll rally in Mizoram. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Aizawl.(X) He accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of destroying the idea of Manipur. Some months ago, I went to Manipur. The idea of Manipur has been destroyed by the BJP. It is no longer a state, but two states, he said. "People have been murdered, women have been molested and babies have been killed but the PM doesn't find it important to travel there..." Clashes in Manipur first broke out on May 3 in Churachandpur town after tribal groups called for protests against a proposed tweak to the states reservation matrix, granting scheduled tribe (ST) status to the Meitei community. The violence quickly spread across the state, where ethnic fault lines run deep. At least 175 people have died and over 50,000 have been displaced in the state since then. Hundreds of homes have been burnt, businesses lost, studies affected, places of worship burnt to a cinder, and the state has lived without internet for months. During Monday's address, Gandhi also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that he is more interested in what is happening in Israel than in Manipur. PM Modi is more interested in what is happening in Israel than in Manipur, Gandhi said at the rally, according to PTI. He added that the idea behind the Congress party's Bharat Jodo' campaign was to promote mutual respect, tolerance, learning from others' ideas, languages, and religions, and embracing love as a unifying force. However, this is the idea that the BJP is currently challenging as they target different communities, religions, languages, and cultures, promoting violence, arrogance, and a lack of understanding, he alleged. This stance is entirely contrary to the idea of India that we hold dearone that values respect for all and the protection of everybody. Rahul Gandhi's Mizoram visit Gandhi arrived in Aizawl on Monday to kickstart his party's campaign in the poll-bound the state. Upon his arrival, he led a reportedly massive 'padyatra' (foot march) from the city's Chanmari area to Treasury Square, where he was greeted by a crowd of Congress supporters and the public. Later today, he will also hold an hour-long interaction with students in the evening. On Tuesday morning, he will meet Congress leaders of the state and address a press conference. He will then travel to Lunglei and address a public meeting before flying back to Delhi via Agartala. Gandhis visit is the first by a top Congress leader following last weeks announcement of assembly polls in the northeastern state on November 7. The party is also expected to announce its first list of candidates for the 40-seat assembly election. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Allahabad High Court on Monday acquitted key accused Surendra Koli and his co-accused Moninder Singh Pandher in the Nithari murder case. A bench of Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Syed Aftab Husain Rizvi found Koli innocent in a series of twelve cases for which he had previously been awarded the death penalty and Pandher in two cases in which he received the death sentence. Nithari killings: Prime accused Surendra Koli(HT Photo) According to the court, the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. The Nithari murder case is one of the most notorious incidents in Noida that sent shockwaves across the country. Koli was found guilty of rape and murder of several girl children between 2005 and 2006. The incident came to light in December 2006 when skeletons were found in a drain near a house in Nithari village in Noida. Upon investigation, Koli and his employer Pandher were taken into custody over the disappearance of one of the victims. After Koli's confession, the police started digging up the nearby land area and discovered the children's bodies. The case was soon handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) - which registered 16 cases, charge sheeting Surinder Koli in all of them for murders, abductions and rapes besides destruction of evidence, and Pandher in one for immoral trafficking. Two policemen were also suspended for failing to take action despite being informed about a number of children missing. The sealed 435-square meter house - where the horrific killings took place - still stands at D-5, Sector 31 in Noida, however, it is ransacked and almost every other item inside is missing. Several families of the Nithari victims shifted elsewhere over the years as they could not bear to live near the house where the alleged brutalities took place. Reportedly, most of the victim families were migrants from West Bengal and Bihar who had come to NCR in search of a livelihood. The Allahabad high court on Monday acquitted Surendra Koli and Moninder Singh Pandher in the infamous Nithari serial killings case in Noida citing lack of evidence. Both accused had been sentenced to death on charges of rape and murder. However, with this verdict of the court, their death penalty stands cancelled. Surendra Koli(Sakib Ali/HT File Photo) Both had been sentenced to death on charges of rape and murder. A two-judge bench of Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice SHA Rizvi allowed the appeals filed by Koli and Pandher challenging the death sentence given by the CBI court in Ghaziabad. The Allahabad High Court has acquitted Moninder Singh Pandher in the two appeals against him. There were a total of six cases against him. Koli has been acquitted in all appeals against him here, Pandher's lawyer Manisha Bhandari told news agency ANI. Who is Surendra Koli? A recap of the chilling murder case: Surinder Koli worked as a domestic help at Moninder Singh Pandher's house - who is co-accused in the case. The two allegedly raped and murdered children and women at Pandher's Noida home. The sensational killings came to light in December 2006 when the skeletons of eight children were found in a drain near a house in Nithari village in Noida. After further digging and searching, several more remains of children were found - most of whom were of children and young women around the area. Within 10 days, the CBI took over the case and its search resulted in the recovery of more bones. Upon investigation, Koli and his employer Pandher were taken into custody - during which Koli confessed to the crimes. Reportedly, he also confessed to raping the dead victims and eating their body parts. A total of 19 cases were lodged against Pandher and Koli in 2007 for murders, abductions, and rapes besides destruction of evidence. Pandher was charged with immortal trafficking as well. However, the CBI had filed closure reports in three of the 19 cases due to lack of evidence. The authorities suspended two policemen for failing to take action despite being informed about a number of children missing. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Adani Group on Monday expressed shock after a Supreme Court lawyer filed complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) shedding light on an elaborate criminal conspiracy by Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra and businessman Darshan Hiranandani to specifically targetting Gautam Adani through parliamentary questions. The Group, in a statemnt, claimed that the charges corroborate with its earlier statement that some groups and individuals have been working overtime to harm our name, goodwill and market standing. A painting of the Indian businessman Gautam Adani(AFP) "The development corroborates our statement on 9 October, 2023 that some groups and individuals have been working overtime to harm our name, goodwill and market standing. In this particular case, a lawyer's complaint reveals that this arrangement to besmirch the reputation and interests of the Adani Group and our chairman Gautam Adani has been in place since 2018," the Group's spokesperson said. The Group's fresh statement came amid ongoing tussle between TMC and Bharatiya Janata Party after an MP from the latter party levelled massive allegations against Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra that she took cash and gifts from businessman Darshan Hiranandani to 'ask question(s) in Parliament'. BJP MP Nishikant Dubey wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking an inquiry against Mahua Moitra and her immediate suspension from the house for taking cash for question. In her response, Moitra said the CBI is welcome to investigate 'right after they finish investigating Adani's offshore money trail, over-invoicing, benami account'. The Hiranandani Group, the real-estate conglomerate of the businessman, of the concerned businessman denied allegations of bribing the TMC MP. The complaint by SC lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai pointed out that Moitra received bribes and undue favours from Hiranandani, the Group said, acknowledging Dubey's charges against the TMC MP. In this particular case, the lawyer's complaint reveals that this arrangement to besmirch the reputation and interests of the Adani Group and our chairman Gautam Adani has been in place since 2018, the statement added. Meanwhile, Dubey has written to Union IT minister Ashwini Vaishaw and Union minister of state for IT Rajeev Chandrashekhar seeking an investigation linked to the allegations and asked to probe whether Moitra had given access to her login credentials for the Lok Sabha website to Hiranandani to utilise it for their own personal gain. Dubey added that if the claims are found to be true, it 'constitutes a serious criminal breach of trust as well as a violation of India's national security'. New Delhi: Several Opposition leaders met Palestinian ambassador Adnan Abu Alhaija on Monday to express their concern for the Palestinian people and said India should exercise its diplomatic influence to call for an immediate ceasefire in the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. Israel-Hamas War: Israeli soldiers ride in their armoured vehicles towards the border with the Gaza Strip. (AFP) The Government of India doesnt want the voice of people to be known and that is very, very problematic. So, we thought that we should let the Palestinian ambassador know that there is also a different voice in Indiathe general voice of the people is for peace, for the Palestinian peoples right to their homeland, Dipankar Bhattacharya, CPI (ML) general secretary, said. The government is almost keeping quiet now and this amounts to endorsing Israels project of genocidewhich is a huge departure in terms of foreign policy, he added. Bhattacharya said that the update provided by the ambassador on the situation in Gaza was extremely worrying. We heard that if supplies arent restored immediately, then the hospitals will have to close down, he said. This is really a genocide. Shortly after Hamas launched a coordinated surprise offensive on Israel on October 7, 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi denounced the attack on X and said that India stands in solidarity with Israel. The message was also reposted by external affairs minister S Jaishankar. External affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in a press conference that although India stands against terrorism, the government has always believed in the establishment of a sovereign, independent Palestine. Our policy has been long-standing and consistent. India always advocated the resumption of direct negotiations towards establishing a sovereign, independent state of Palestine, living within secure and recognised borders, side by side at peace with Israel. I think that position remains the same, Bagchi said in a news conference. Opposition calls for intensified diplomatic efforts, releases statement Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) for Amroha K. Danish Ali said that it is time to stop demonising Palestinians and to intervene to ensure peace. India has had a consistent position since our Independence and we stand by the statement made by the Ministry of External Affairs, but there was confusion created by the Honble Prime Minister that we are deviating from the position. We are extending our solidarity with the Palestinians, Ali said. India has a voice, and so we have to use our diplomatic channels. If political backing is given, 100 per cent India will emerge as a power which can have a solution on the platter, he added. Shortly after the meeting with the Palestinian envoy, the leaders released a joint statement urging the international community to bring a peaceful resolution to the conflict, to respect the rights of the Palestinian people, and for immediate delivery of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. The joint resolution was signed by, among others, Congress Mani Shankar Aiyar, RJDs Manoj K Jha, CPIs D Raja, CPI(M)s Subhashini Ali and Nilotpal Basu, SPs Javed Ali Khan, JD(U)s KC Tyagi besides Bhattacharya and Ali. The international community must exert pressure on the state of Israel to abide by international laws and respect the rights and identity of the Palestinian people. We call for intensified diplomatic efforts and multilateral initiatives to ensure a lasting peace in the region, the statement read. We express our deep concern regarding the ongoing crisis in Gaza and the suffering of the Palestinian people. We strongly condemn the indiscriminate bombing of Palestinians in Gaza by Israel, which we believe amounts to an attempt at genocide, the statement added. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Aizawl.(X) Rahul Gandhi of the Congress on Monday kickstarted his party's campaign in poll-bound Mizoram. Gandhi, who arrived in Aizawl for a two-day visit, reportedly led a massive 'padyatra' (foot march) from the city's Chanmari area to Treasury Square. He was greeted by a crowd of Congress supporters and the public. He was seen waving at people waiting on both sides of the road. He shook hands and interacted with those coming to meet him. Later today, Gandhi will address a public gathering and hold an hour-long interaction with students in the evening. On Tuesday morning, he will meet Congress leaders of the state and address a press conference. He will then travel to Lunglei and address a public meeting before flying back to Delhi via Agartala. Gandhis visit is the first by a top Congress leader following last weeks announcement of assembly polls in the northeastern state on November 7. The party is also expected to announce its first list of candidates for the 40-seat assembly election. Gandhis visit comes after the Mizoram Peoples Forum (MPF), an independent body of church elders and members of three prominent organisations, signed an agreement with political parties that they would not hold public processions after the announcement of the poll schedule. The Mizoram Congress has said Gandhi's events will not violate the agreement. In 2018, the Congress lost power to the Mizo National Front (MNF), which is part of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). It managed to get just five of the 40 seats and finished third after MNF and Zoram Peoples Movement, a newly formed party that bagged eight seats. According to local political leaders, the boundary dispute between Assam and Mizoram and the increasing influx of drugs into the state are other major poll issues. In July 2021, violent clashes erupted at the Assam-Mizoram border, and resulted in the deaths of five Assam policemen. Despite a few rounds of talks, both states havent been able to reach any agreement. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Reacting to the Lok Sabha MP Nishikant Dubey's "cash for query" allegations against Mahua Moitra, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut on Monday said that this was an attempt to demoralise the Trinamool Congress leader. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut in the Rajya Sabha.(ANI file photo) BJP cant stomach someone questioning any industrialist, including Adani, which is why they level such allegations, Raut said, according to PTI. "Mahua Moitra is a renowned leader of the TMC and they (BJP) are trying to demoralise her. On Sunday, Dubey accused Moitra of taking bribes from businessman Darshan Hiranandani to ask questions in Parliament and urged Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to constitute an inquiry committee to examine the charges against her. In a letter to Birla, Dubey cited documents from an advocate and claimed those were irrefutable evidence of bribes exchanged between the Trinamool Congress leader and the businessman. There is not an iota of doubt about a criminal conspiracy hatched by Mahua Moitra to garner and protect the business interests of a businessman Shri Darshan Hiranandani by asking Parliamentary Questions, which is reminiscent of Cash for Query episode of 12 December, 2005, the BJP MP said. Dubey also pointed out that 50 of the 61 questions Moitra asked in the Parliament were focused on the Adani Group, which had lately been accused of wrongdoing by American firm Hindenburg. Making light of the allegations, Moitra hit back at Dubey and said several motions have been pending before the Speaker against leaders of the BJP. She urged Birla to finish the enquiries" against Dubey "for false affidavits and then set up my enquiry committee. Multiple breach of privileges pending against fake degreewala & other BJP luminaries. Welcome any motions against me right after the Speaker finishes dealing with those. Also waiting for ED & others to file FIR in Adani coal scam before coming to my doorstep, Moitra posted on X. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Supreme Court on Monday denied permission to a woman to terminate her over 26-week pregnancy on the ground that she was suffering from a mental condition called post-partum psychosis. The top court further added that the state may take care of the child after birth. The judgement came after the apex court earlier reserved the verdict on the woman seeking its permission to direct AIIMS to terminate her over 26-week pregnancy. Supreme Court of India (Representative Photo) The court denied permission to terminate the pregnancy since its duration has crossed the 24-week mark. The SC bench, headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, further added that the pregnancy doesn't pose an immediate threat to the woman, as well as the case is not related to foetal abnormality. The parents of the woman can decide whether to give the child up for adoption, the SC said, adding that the woman will receive further treatment at AIIMS. The cost of the medical procedure would be borne by the State. The woman approached the court earlier this month, saying she was unaware of her third pregnancy due to a disorder called lactational amenorrhea, which prevents a patient from menstruating, and suffered from postpartum depression and poor financial conditions. Under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, the upper limit for the termination of pregnancy is 24 weeks for married women, special categories including survivors of rape, and other vulnerable women such as the differently-abled and minors. However, senior advocate Colin Gonsalves argued on behalf of the petitioner that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has already termed 24-weeks guideline obsolete. The medical board of AIIMS earlier confirmed the petitioner's medical condition, however, noted that there will be no health consequences if the women continues with the pregnancy. 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 The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the practice of designating a class of lawyers as senior advocates in the apex court and high courts, stating that the practice cannot be held to be untenable or creating an artificial class of distinction. The petitioners challenged the validity of Sections 16 and 23 (5) of the Advocates Act. (PTI file photo) A bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul held that the practice of designating seniors in the constitutional courts is based on intelligible differentia and standardised matrix of merit. Affirming the relevant provisions of the 1961 Advocates Act, the bench, which also included justices CT Ravikumar and Sudhanshu Dhulia, said that the process of designating senior advocates is not based on artificial or arbitrary distinction and is aligned with the age-old tradition of lawyers assisting the court in the process of evolution of law and jurisprudence. Also Read: Supreme Court seeks fresh medical report on womans plea for abortion While dismissing the petition filed by Mumbai-based lawyer Mathews J Nedumpara along with seven other advocates, the bench called the petition a misadventure and a part of an ongoing vilification campaign by the petitioners. The petition had argued that senior designation has created a class of advocates with special rights and that the designation more often than not benefits only the kith and kin of judges, senior advocates, politicians and ministers. The petitioners challenged the validity of Sections 16 and 23 (5) of the Advocates Act, contending that these creates two classes of lawyers, senior advocates and other advocates, which in actual practice has resulted in unthinkable catastrophe and inequities which the Parliament certainly would not have contemplated or foreseen. Section 16 of the Act relates to senior and other advocates and Section 23 (5) prescribes that senior advocates shall have pre-audience over other lawyers and their right of pre-audience inter se shall be determined by their respective seniority. The petition claimed that the practice of designation is unconstitutional for violating the mandate of equality under Article 14 and the right to practice any profession under Article 19, as well as the right to life under Article 21. It assailed the apex courts judgement in 2017 Indira Jaisings case where guidelines were laid down for conferring the senior advocates designation. The apex court had then said that a five-member permanent committee, headed by Chief Justice of India, should be set up for short-listing candidates for conferring senior designation. Similar guidelines were issued for 24 high courts across the country. Prior to the 2017 judgment, a decision on the designation of lawyers as senior advocates was taken by adopting a secret voting among the judges and by the rule of majority. By another judgment in May this year, the apex court had brought in certain modifications in the process while maintaining that the process of designating senior advocate, which has always been held as an honour conferred, should be carried out by the Supreme Court and high courts at least once a year. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Rajya Sabha secretariat on the petition filed by Aam Aadmi Party MP Raghav Chadha who challenged his indefinite suspension from the Upper House pending an enquiry by the privilege committee. Aam Aadmi Party MP Raghav Chadha.(PTI file) The top court has sought assistance of Attorney General, fixing the next hearing on October 30. Chadha on October 10 had moved the Supreme Court challenging his suspension from the House. He was suspended during the Monsoon session over accusations of not taking consent of five Rajya Sabha MPs before including their name to a select committee. The suspension remains until the committee of privileges probing the case against him submits its report. Five Rajya Sabha MPs including S Phangnon Konyak, Narhari Amin and Sudhanshu Trivedi of BJP, M Thambidurai of AIADMK and Sasmit Patra of BJD alleged their name was included without their consent in a select committee to consider the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023. The contentious bill was passed by both houses of parliament in the monsoon session, replacing the ordinance regarding the transfer and posting of senior officials in the Delhi government. The legislation received the President's assent on August 13. Union minister Piyush Goyal had accused Chadha of repeatedly indulging in gross impropriety and misconduct, saying that the MP's conduct is far distant from the ethical standards expected of a member of this august house. On his suspension, Raghav Chadha had said,"My suspension serves as a stark message from the BJP to today's youth: If you dare to ask questions, we will crush your voice. I was suspended for asking tough questions that left the BJP, the world's largest party, without answers through my speech in Parliament on Delhi Services Bill". My crime was exposing BJP's double standards on Delhi's statehood and asking them to follow 'Advani-vaad' and Vajpayee-vad", Chadha added. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON PRAYAGRAJ: The Allahabad high court on Monday acquitted Surinder Koli and his employer Moninder Singh Pandher in the 2005-2006 Noida serial murders, also known as the Nithari case, in which he had been sentenced to death. The CBI filed charge sheets in 16 Nithari cases and Koli was named in all for murder, destruction of evidence and rape attempt (File Photo) Koli has been acquitted in about a dozen cases while Pandher has been acquitted in two cases in which he was sentenced to death by the trial court. Mondays verdict was pronounced by a division bench comprising justices Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Syed Aftab Husain Rizvi. The bench had reserved its verdict in the cases on an appeal by the two convicts and a reference from the trial court to seek confirmation of the death sentence. A detailed judgment is still awaited. Koli, who hails from Mangurkhal in Uttarakhand, was handed death sentences in 12 cases while Pandher also had been sentenced to death in two cases by the trial courts. The Nithari murders were committed between 2005 and 2006. The matter came to light when in December 2006, skeletons were found in a drain near a house in Nithari, Noida. Later, it was found that Moninder Pandher was the owner of the house and Koli was his domestic help. Subsequently, the CBI, which was investigating the case, registered 16 cases, charge sheeting Surinder Koli in all of them for murders, abductions and rapes besides destruction of evidence, and Pandher in one for immoral trafficking. Surinder Koli was found guilty of rape and murder of several girls and was sentenced to death in over 10 cases. Koli has, however, insisted that he was framed by investigators. I am innocent as all the cases against me were built up on the basis of my confessional statement, Koli told reporters in 2019 after he was given the death penalty in the 10th case. The statements were given under CBIs pressure. Even the parents of the victim never stated anything against me. I am defending myself in court since 2011 and also taking up arguments in my case. There are a lot of contradictions in statements of prosecution witnesses. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Terrorism and terror activities have no place in India and the central government is very clear in this regard, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said a day after the P20 meeting called for increased efforts to deny terrorist groups safe haven, freedom of operations, movement and recruitment, as well as financial, material or political support. Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla (ANI) Birlas statement assumes significance as the issue was raised in one of his 13 bilateral meetings with speakers of various nations on Saturday on the sidelines of the P20 summit, officials said, declining to be named. The position of the government is very clear in this regard. The Prime Minister has also said it in his statement. The government has made it clear that terrorism and terror activities have no place in India, Birla said at a media briefing on Sunday. It is a clear government policy terrorism, be it of caste or religion terrorism is terrorism, and no form of terror will find any support in India. The 9th summit of the P20, a meeting of legislative speakers of the G20 nations, was successful, producing a consensus statement while current geopolitical tensions such as the conflict between Israel and Gaza-based Hamas remained in the backdrop. In his inaugural speech of the programme on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the world has realised terrorism in any part of the world, in any manifestation or for any reason, is an act against humanity. Calling for peace, Modi urged all parliaments and their representatives to come together against terrorism and pointed out 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 realize 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, Modi said, speaking in Hindi. This is the time for peace, brotherhood, this is the time for moving forward together, this is the time for everyones development and welfare. We have to end the crisis over global trust and move forward with a human-centric approach, he added. West Asia is gripped in spiraling violence following an attack by Hamas on southern Israel last weekend that killed 1,300 Israelis, mostly civilians. Hamas also took about 150 people hostage. In retaliation, the Israeli military has targeted the Hamas-ruled Palestinian enclave of Gaza, killing at least 1,400 people ahead of an expected ground invasion. In his speech, Modi also mentioned, without naming Pakistan, how India emerged stronger from a spate of terror attacks, including one on its Parliament in 2001. As you know, India has been facing the issue of cross-border terrorism for decades. Terrorists have killed thousands of innocents in India. Near the new Parliament building, you will find the old Parliament building. About 20 years ago, terrorists had targeted our Parliament. You will be startled to know that Parliament was in session at that time, he said. On Sunday, Birla hailed the first P20 meeting in India as the most successful one and said, 48 representatives had come from 29 countries. In Indonesia (last P20 meeting), we couldnt have a joint declaration. This year, we have a joint declaration. The sustainable development goals, digital public infrastructure and women-led development plans were well-received, Birla said, and P20 leaders spoke of collective action on these fronts. Referring to artificial intelligence and data security, Birla said that in the conference, some countries emphasized on reliable and responsible use of AI to protect privacy and data. The P20 countries have agreed to form a group to enhance domain knowledge for legislative drafting, Birla said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In 2012, a New Indian Express article announced, In UP, Gay Couple Get Marriage 'Registered' in Court. The couple in question had had their marriage registered under the Hindu Marriage Act. The headline is misleadingthe report explains that one of them had submitted an affidavit identifying themselves as a woman and had come dressed as a bride. When their village found out both were biologically male, their marriage was termed illegal and they had to flee for safety. PREMIUM In UP, gay couple get marriage 'registered' in court.' The New Indian Express, 10/04/2012. (Source: Maya Sharma and Indra Pathak Collection, QAMRA Archival Project at NLSIU.) Through the decades, marriages between women in India have been reported across different states. Even if the media weren't always supportive of the relationship itself, they use the term "marriage" and associated vocabulary to describe same-sex relationships, blurring the line between marriages (officiated by private/public ceremonies) and unions (committed relationships). On the other hand, Vanita observes that almost all the media reports on female-female weddings from the 1980s onwards project women as victims of oppression, strongly suggesting that their lesbian marriages are a protest against injustice rather than an expression of love for each other. For instance, a Times of India article dated February 24, 1988, describes the police constables Urmila and Leelas sensational marriage as a protest against societys treatment of lonely and single women. A 2001 article in Malayalam magazine Fire, entitled 'Same-sex Love Through Telephone' similarly robs queer womens assertion of their own sexuality, articulating it instead in terms of being symptomatic of the insecurity of life, extra-marital relationships of parents, liquor, loneliness in the family. Of the many queer marriages reported by the Indian media in the past few decades, the majority of them are between lesbians or where at least one partner is what we today refer to as either trans-masculine or genderqueer. Author Ruth Vanita notes modern Indias propensity for side-lining male homosexual relationships in her book, Love's Rite (2005), Indian nationalists picked up from the colonial rulers the view that Indias weakness was the result of Indian mens deficient masculinity, in conjunction with modern construction of male homosexuals as effeminate. This led to male-male relations being seen as not just an individual and familial but a national disgrace. The Queer Archive for Memory, Reflection and Activism (QAMRA) at the National Law School India University (NLSIU) holds many records from the past that helps us piece together the efforts made by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons, over the years, for recognition, domestic stability and marriage. This article examines how such discourses are shaped in and by the Indian media. All references in this article refer to records in the QAMRA archive from different collections: Maya Sharma and Indra Pathak Collection, Sangama Collection and Ivan John Collection. An article in the Gujarati magazine Chitralekha dated March 28, 1988, is titled Two Gujarati Women Living Together as Husband and Wife. Hansa, later murdered, and Elvina, later mysteriously disappeared (Gujarati newspaper Our News dated September 22, 2005, 'Civil hospital nurse Elvina's mysterious disappearance and Hansa Patel's mysterious murder!!!'), had entered into a Maitri Karar (a traditional, now illegal, contract system in Gujarat between a married man and an unmarried woman) to legally protect their relationship. An article dated June 20, 1999, in The Week, titled Women in Love, describes a couple as bhai and bhabhi. The bhai is abusive, unfaithful, dominant, and employed, and the bhabhi is subservient, devoted and financially dependent. However, the following month, the magazine also printed a letter to the editor by activists Maya, Ashwini and Sandhya from the Campaign for Lesbian Rights which called the article a superficial caricature where women were forced by society to mimic the worst excesses of heterosexual marriage instead of critiquing the social milieu which expects all couples living within it to conform to such a dehumanising model. The Indian media has had a voyeuristic fascination with female-born queer individuals, depicting them holding hands, feeding each other, or embracing, turning their relationships into a spectacle. When such intimacies are not to be found, headshots of the women are published, simultaneously casting them as criminals through their mugshots and providing the public with a means of recognising them. The Gujarati reportage in early 2006 around a queer couple, Monu and Reema, who eloped from rural Gujarat, and were granted permission to live together by a district court, features all the kinds of photos aforementioned, in addition to the pictures of Monu's parents and brother. The family members who had accepted Monu's relationship were shown in forlorn states battered by the police and legal proceedings initiated by Reemas family their grief feeding yellow journalism. An unintended consequence of the extensive media coverage Monu and Reema received was that other queer couples were inspired to elope, remarks Maya Sharma in her book Footprints of a Queer History (2022). Sharma, who is part of Baroda-based Vikalp Women's Group, had helped Monu and Reema during their legal struggle. (Sharma changed the name of the two in her book.) The press made this connection in a Times of India (Ahmedabad) article titled 'Two girls go missing; trigger rumours' from 2006. The report, referring to rumours circulating amongst the local community, provokes suspicion in the general public against any women who display intimate friendships, encouraging a stricter control over women. Reportage of queer relationships makes a fine lens to examine journalistic ethics. Bittu, a transman, found himself in the middle of a media-generated circus following the suicide of his wife Sheetal --- another case mentioned by Sharma in her book; she uses different names for this couple too. The ensuing fight for custody rights of their child between Bittu and Sheetals parents was reported by DNA (Surat) in June 2008. The journalists outed Bittu to his neighbours and wrote: Questions to neighbours about whether they knew Bittu is a woman are met with quizzical stares or an astonished em? When they managed to confront Bittu, they quote him saying, You have told the neighbours about me, how will I live here now. They misgender Bittu constantly, and relish in mentioning Bittus full name as on his driver's license. The article ends with an unironical reflection: After exposing her sensational story, when the media has its fill of her, we will forget her. Where will she go then? In the late '90s and early 2000s, Malayalam media reported on many lesbian couples dying by suicide in the state. These suicides often followed a private marriage between the two individuals or an expression of commitment. Publications like Kerala Kaumudi, Fire, Mathrubhumi, Sameeksha, Vanitha, and Malayala Manorama have carried such reports. This wasnt restricted to Kerala. An article in the Vijaya Times (in Lesbians end lives, September 15, 2004) mentions a couple in Jalpaiguri who die by suicide after exchanging rudraksh malas. A report in the Urdu Times (in Two girls commit suicide together, September 19, 1998) references a note left behind by a couple that said "Since the world would not let them live together, [they] choose to die together to become one." The reportage of lesbian suicides by the media casts their identities and their relationships as a 'fact,' creating awareness of the degrees of social marginalisation and doing the couples one last serviceaccepting them for who they truly are. Post the 2009 Naz judgment (Delhi High Court) and the 2013 Suresh Kumar Koushal judgment (Supreme Court), reportage around queer marriages shifted from a solely socio-cultural perspective to one that privileges a legal discourse using human rights vocabulary. The Times of India (Mumbai) in a spread on January 20, 2010, discerns that despite legal barriers, same-sex marriages in the city [Mumbai] have been taking place for decades, and another article by the same journalist identifies a growing need to legalise these unions. This builds towards discussions on queer unions, often paralleling and contradicting arguments being made against queer rights in the Indian court. Children voice support for same-sex marriage, an article in DNA, January 22, 2010, reported, highlighting kids raised by queer couples in the US who were participating in campaigns and civil rights groups such as Lambda Legal and GLAD (Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders). A July 20, 2014 article in The Times of India (Mumbai), From Rites to Rights, interviewed a Hindu pandit, a dharma guru of the jogti kinnar community, who is a proponent of the LGBT+ movement and is very happy to perform lesbian weddings. While waiting for the Supreme Court to deliver its judgment after the Marriage Equality hearings, finding the following two articles was an especially affective moment in the archivereporting on a wedding between two women in Bengaluru, a Mumbai Mirror article from July 5, 2017, emphasizes that same-sex marriages are not legal in India, and with an accusatory tone concludes, it was very difficult to convict the women of any crime as they were both adults and nothing had been done in public; on April 30, 2016, Prajavani, a Kannada daily, printed a Kannada translation of Harris Woffords opinion piece in The New York Times (Finding Love Again, This Time With A Man, April 23, 2016) with the poetic title, Same-Sex Marriage - A Song of Equality. Siddarth is an independent researcher and aspiring queer historian based out of Bangalore. They used to work as an Archivist/Project Coordinator at the QAMRA Archival Project, NLSIU. They are also a part of CSMR, involved in organising Namma Pride in Karnataka. Shardiya Navratri, commonly referred to as Maha Navratri, is a colourful and prominent Hindu festival that is enthusiastically celebrated throughout India and other parts of the world. Every year, Maa Durga and her nine manifestations, collectively known as Navdurga, are worshipped during the nine-day Shardiya Navratri celebration. This year the auspicious festival will be celebrated with great pomp and enthusiasm from October 15 to October 28. Goddess Kushmanda is worshipped on the fourth day of the festival. She is the fourth manifestation of Goddess Durga and symbolises fortune and imagination. She is dressed in royal blue and rides a lion. (Also read: Shardiya Navratri 2023: 6 easy and delicious sabudana recipes to make during your fast ) Shardiya Navratri Day 4: Delectable bhog recipes to offer Maa Kushmanda(Pinterest) An essential component of this celebration is preparing and offering bhog or prasad, which are holy offerings to the deity. These recipes have a unique place in the hearts of devotees since they serve as a symbol of devotion and gratitude. Here is a mouthwatering recipe to prepare for Maa Kushmanda Bhog on the 4th day of Navratri as an offering and a treat for the senses. So put on your chef's hat and let's get started. Maa Kushmanda Bhog Recipes 1. Coconut Gulaab ki Kheer (Recipe by Chef Sanjeev Kapoor) Coconut Gulaab ki Kheer(Pinterest) Ingredients: Coconut Cream sweetened 200 grams Condensed Milk 1 tablespoon Coconut cream 1 cup Green cardamom powder 1 teaspoon tender coconut flesh cup Almonds finely chopped 2 tablespoon Pistachios finely chopped 2 tablespoon Desiccated coconut 4-5 tablespoon Rose petals for garnishing Method: 1. Heat condensed milk in a non-stick pan, add coconut cream and green cardamom powder and mix well. 2. Cook on low heat, stirring continuously. 3. Finely chop coconut flesh and add and mix well. Add almonds, pistachios and desiccated coconut and mix well. 4. Cook on low heat for 4-5 minutes. 5. Pour the kheer into a serving bowl. Drizzle rose syrup, garnish with rose petals and serve warm. 2. Aate ka halwa (Recipe by Chef Sanjyot Keer) Aate ka halwa(Pinterest) Ingredients: Ghee 1 bowl Karakara atta 1 cup Sugar 1 cup Water 2 cup Method: 1. Set a deep pan over high flame and once it gets hot, add in the ghee. 2. When the ghee gets hot add the flour while continuously stirring to prevent the formation of lumps. 3. Cook the flour over low flame until it turns dark biscuity in colour, make sure you keep stirring it continuously. 4. Once the flour and ghee turn dark biscuity in colour add the sugar and water, then increase the flame to medium low and cook the halwa until all the ghee separates. 5. Switch off the flame once the ghee separates, you kada/aate ka halwa is ready. 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! Bosphorus. A cruise ship with tourists from about 50 different countries. A convivial compere: A middle-aged, short and stocky Turk. Suddenly Tel Aviv by Omer Adam blasts on the sound system and a huge bunch of Israeli tourists mostly women occupy the dance floor. Everyone is cheering. A heavily pregnant, fully covered and hijab-wearing woman joins them. Cheers get louder. Her husband, the best dancer that night, joins her, and everyone gets dizzy with excitement. They are from Lebanon. Within moments, Arab tourists from Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Syria join the dance. Iranians, a small group, join, too. PREMIUM Palestinian women walk by buildings destroyed in Israeli airstrikes in Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. AP/PTI(AP10_16_2023_000107A)(AP) This is not a dream sequence. It happened this April. Unlike countless my-taxi-driver stories, there is video evidence to vouch for every single detail. The Israel-Palestine situation is bound to get uglier and a part of the responsibility lies with those who treat womens bodies as the battlefield. The visuals of an Israeli womans almost-naked body being paraded by Hamas guerillas reinforce stereotypes and fuel vengeance. Especially within the context that the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) can boast of exemplary punishment to their officer in 2016 who was accused of sexual assault on and seeking sexual favours (in return for entry permits) from Palestinian women. The IDF apex court lifted the gag order on this case in 2021. Women are never victors in any conflict; they are always the vanquished. Maybe Golda Meir and Hillary Clinton can trick you into believing otherwise. The corollary to this is the belief that Palestinian women have a huge say in either the nationalist or peace-building movements in the region. Palestinian nationalist movement is masculine and has all the auxiliary foibles of patriarchy. Unlike the Israeli women who can become agents of Shin Bet and must serve as IDF soldiers for at least two years, Palestinian women usually do not directly participate in violence even though they work as overground workers for Palestinian men. The honour culture of patriarchal societies tends to keep women alive by not pushing them to the frontline but it cannot ensure either safety or dignity. Palestinian womenliving in the battle-torn regiondeserve all the accolades for holding on their own against the double whammy of Israeli territorial aggression and Palestinian patriarchy. Yet, the two Intifada (1987, 2000) have propped them up as the upholders and repositories of Palestinian national honour. It is a heavy weight to carry. Despite the recognition of the need for increased active participation of Palestinian women in the ever-escalating armed conflict, gender roles remain firmly in place, as scholars Anat Berko and Edna Erez have been highlighting. Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian records in her masterful and empathetic work how often regular Palestinian women use the word weaponisation for their status. Now, add to this the fact that Hamas does not even enjoy unequivocal support among Palestinians. A March 2023 survey by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research reveals that the opposition to the ambitious Aqaba meeting an agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority to check violence is higher among men (77%) compared to women (69%). If the support for Hamas appears to be growing stronger, it can be attributed partially to the Palestinian internal political situation where people are dissatisfied with President Mahmoud Abbas. The same March survey, however, also says, The belief that the continued existence of the Palestinian Authority (PA) serves Israels interest stands atamong men (61%) compared to women (52%). What is it that Palestinian women know that men dont? Maybe just this commonsensical bit: The vicious cycle of violence needs to be broken and propaganda delays any attempt to do so. But, the said propaganda suits men, at least some of them. Therefore, the celebratory video clips of Israeli women hostages choking our digital streams. Hamas has struck gold for itself by doing this. On one hand, it establishes itself as the only groupthus elevating its political cachethat can hurt Israel where it hurts the most. On the other hand, it provokes Israel to unleash unprecedented collective punishment that keeps the conflict economy running. Without Israels excesses, there will be no Hamas. Without women victims, there will be no war. Nishtha Gautam is an author, academic and journalist. Shes the co-editor of In Hard Times, a Bloomsbury book on national security. The views expressed are personal Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' statement that the actions and policies of the terrorist group Hamas do not represent the Palestinian people and the subsequent removal of reference to the Sunni jihadist group in the published version shows the clout of extremists within the PLO and in the highly radicalized Middle-East. A Hamas terrorists with toddlers as hostages in Gaza. While the D-hour is fast approaching for Israeli forces to land a land attack in Gaza, the inability of states like Iran, Qatar and Turkey to separate terror from political Islam will ensure that the cycle of violence and terror continues in the region with economic development now taking a back seat. The support for Hamas and Hezbollah under the pan-Islamic umbrella of the Muslim Brotherhood comes even after it is now evident that Hamas terrorists raped, tortured and even mutilated the bodies of non-Muslims in October 7 attack with infants, toddlers and teenagers gunned down. The legitimizing of Hamas terror in the name of the Palestinian cause by these countries particularly Iran will ensure that the Middle East will be on the boil for years to come with a never-ending retribution cycle of violence. With Israel deciding to wipe out Hamas terrorists in Gaza and their leadership currently parked safely in Lebanon and Qatar, the land offensive will be more like a house-to-house search for Sunni jihadists in north Gaza first based on actionable intelligence. This involved usage of tanks, shoulder fired missiles and armoured personnel vehicles as the holed-up Hamas terrorist will counter-attack as he has nowhere to escape. This means that the land offensive will take time even as Israel will have to monitor its northern borders with Iran-backed Hezbollah sharpening its knives. While India has been informed at the institutionalized level about the impending land offensive, the positioning of the second carrier strike force of the US Navy will determine the location of threat to the Israeli offensive against Hamas. Although the Biden administration has sent USS Dwight Eisenhower aircraft carrier along with destroyers to the war theatre, there is a strong possibility that the nuclear-powered mega ship may be deployed in the Straits of Hormuz or on the mouth of the Persian Gulf to ensure that Shia Iran does not open a third front against Israel. This stands to reason as the world's biggest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald Ford, is already deployed in the eastern Mediterranean and is protecting Israel from any counter coming from Arab countries in North Africa or Syria or Turkey. With Israel stating that it has no intentions of occupying Gaza and US President Joe Biden committed to Palestinian state, the war theatre should be confined to Gaza and will not spill over unless Iran decides to intervene on behalf of Hamas terrorists. Despite Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypts public support for Palestinian cause and criticism of Israel for use of excess force against Gaza, these three pillars of the Middle East have no love lost for Muslim Brotherhood and their proxies. But the political game can change if Israeli forces inflict unacceptable collateral damage and behave like Hamas terrorists in their retribution for October 7. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In the latest twist of the strategic ratchet, Russia has announced that it intends to revoke its ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and has given State Duma members till October 18 to study the option. The announcement, almost drowned out by the outbreak of Israel-Hamas hostilities, added that the revocation should not be taken to mean a resumption of nuclear testing; a day earlier, President Vladimir Putin, speaking in Sochi, had been much more ambiguous regarding that possibility saying he was not ready to say now whether we really need or dont need to conduct tests. PREMIUM In this video grab provided by RU-RTR Russian television via AP television on Thursday, March 1, 2018, the Avangard hypersonic vehicle blasts off during a test launch at an undisclosed location in Russia. President Vladimir Putin declared Thursday that Russia has developed a range of new nuclear weapons, claiming they can't be intercepted by enemy.(AP) At a technical level, the Russian revocation is unlikely to have a material impact on the future of the treaty. The CTBT currently has 187 State signatories and has been ratified by 178 of them. Yet 27 years after it opened for signature, the treaty is nowhere near entering into force. The stringent requirements of the treatys Article XIV fiercely debated during the negotiations make its entry into force contingent upon its ratification by 44 States, all of which negotiated the text in the Conference on Disarmament and had nuclear power/research reactors. This list, of course, includes the five NPT-recognised nuclear weapon States, all of whom signed on the first day itself; of these, the United States (US) and China are yet to ratify the treaty. India too was included in the list despite its clear statement that it had substantive differences with the final text; Indias argument was disregarded by those determined to tighten the strategic net around the country, even at the cost of jeopardising the treaty. In the event, India did not sign the treaty, keeping its options open and exercising them by conducting nuclear tests in 1998. The preparatory commission set up for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO) meets every two years in Vienna to encourage adherence to the treaty and work towards its entry into force; 13 such Article XIV conferences have been held over the last 27 years. Russias revocation is ultimately destined to become one more talking point at the next conference. Russias stated reason for taking this step is reminiscent of superpower tit-for-tat: Russia would thus mirror the US position on the treaty both would be signatories and not State parties. The step, while useful as a projected concession to domestic hardline demands, would in actuality be the least escalatory: After all, even signatories to a treaty are expected to adhere to a treatys spirit and intent and not conduct nuclear tests. Thus, de-ratification by itself need not be a strategic game-changer. It should rather be seen as one more instance of nuclear sabre-rattling following Putins muscle-flexing announcements of the completed development and intended production of the Burevestnik cruise missile and the Sarmat heavy intercontinental ballistic missile. Calibrated nuclear threats have been part of the Russian lexicon of war in the face of a West-backed counter-offensive from Ukraine. The New Start agreement that limited strategic nuclear arsenals already stands suspended though both Russia and the US are sticking to the numerical limits placed by the Agreement; only the mutual inspections envisaged by the agreement are not taking place. Russian tactical nuclear weapons have been reportedly deployed in Belarus but they are not under Belarus control and the chances of their actual use are judged as minimal. It would however be a different matter if the Russian revocation were to be actually followed up by a nuclear test. Though the CTBT is not in force, a global norm has developed through treaty obligations or voluntary moratoria against explosive nuclear testing. If there is a fresh test, this norm is unlikely to survive, besides dealing a body blow to the prospects of CTBT ever coming into force. Putins associates have been known to call for such a test and increased activity has been reported from Novaya Zemlya, the Arctic testing site that last saw a nuclear test in 1990 under the erstwhile Soviet Union; increased activity has also been reported in recent times at the old US testing site in Nevada and the Chinese testing site in Xinjiang. There is, however, a comforting counter-argument: The focus now is more on better delivery systems and not on new weapons that need testing. None of this, however, is good news and a nuclear test is the last thing that the world needs in the present geo-political tinderbox. The lacklustre Ukraine counter-offensive despite heavy inflow of western armaments has shown that there is unlikely to be a quick fix to the Russia-Ukraine conflict; Russias depth and inherent strength predict a long war of attrition. Uncertainty also hovers over western support for Ukraine if the recent Republican revolt over Ukraine funding is anything to go by. Questions are already being raised if the US can or should sustain an expensive existentialist war in the absence of a clear strategic endgame. These questions are only going to get louder as the US moves towards elections. And then there is always the possibility that the world may suddenly lose interest: The Middle-east stands at the edge of an abyss and has fully grabbed US attention. Two US aircraft carrier strike groups are deployed in the eastern Mediterranean to support Israel and there are increasing calls to divert aid meant for Ukraine to Israel. Both Russia and Ukraine will be watching these developments closely. Navtej Sarna is a former ambassador to the United States and a negotiator on the CTBT. The views expressed are personal The long-awaited deal between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard has finally been completed. File - Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick leaves the Phillip Burton Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in San Francisco on June 28, 2023. Microsoft, which owns the Xbox gaming system, closed its $69 billion deal to buy game-maker Activision Blizzard on Friday. It marks the end of an era for Kotick, who's led the Southern California maker of Call of Duty since 1991. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)(AP) The tech giant has acquired the gaming giant for $68.7 billion, making it the owner of some of the most popular franchises in the industry, such as Call of Duty, Overwatch, World of Warcraft, and Candy Crush. One of the biggest questions that surrounded the deal was the fate of Bobby Kotick, the controversial CEO of Activision Blizzard. Kotick has faced criticism for his leadership style, his handling of sexual harassment allegations within the company, and his aggressive monetization strategies across games. Kotick has now confirmed his plans for the future. In a letter to employees, he wrote, I have long said that I am fully committed to helping with the transition. Phil has asked me to stay on as CEO of ABK, reporting to him, and we have agreed that I will do that through the end of 2023. We now join one of the most successful global companies, poised for unprecedented opportunities to connect the world through our games. However, Kotick is not leaving empty-handed. According to the BBC, Kotick is set to receive a whopping $400 million from the sale of his shares in Activision Blizzard, while chairman Brian Kelly will get $100 million. ALSO READ| COD Next 2023: Here's all you need to know about major gaming event Microsoft is paying cash for Activision at a premium price of $95 per share, meaning the chief executive of the World of Warcraft maker, Bobby Kotick, is set for a $400m payday, with chairman Brian Kelly earning $100m, based on the shares they own, the BBC said. It is unclear if this is the total amount that Kotick will receive, or if he will get more compensation after he steps down. How this will affect popular franchises? Its hard to say, but some blame Kotick for the alleged toxic work culture and monetization tactics that many players argue have made gaming worse. Only time will tell if those complaints are alleviated with the Microsoft takeover. 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! YouTube on Monday said it did not detect materials related to child sexual abuse on its platform despite multiple probes and also has not received evidence of such content on the video streaming platform from regulators. Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram apps are seen on a smartphone in this illustration.(REUTERS) The statement from YouTube spokesperson came after the government issued notices to social media platforms, including YouTube, X (formerly Twitter) and Telegram, earlier this month asking them to takedown child sexual abuse material from their platforms in India. In a statement, YouTube spokesperson said: "We have a long history of successfully fighting child exploitation on YouTube. Based on multiple thorough investigations, we did not detect CSAM on our platform, nor did we receive examples or evidence of CSAM on YouTube from regulators." The video platform owned by Google further said that "no form of content that endangers minors is allowed on YouTube, and we will continue to heavily invest in the teams and technologies that detect, remove and deter the spread of this content." "We are committed to work with all collaborators in the industry-wide fight to stop the spread of child sexual abuse material (CSAM)," the YouTube spokesperson added in an e-mailed statement. YouTube has submitted its formal response on the issue. In Q2 2023, YouTube removed over 94,000 channels and over 2.5 million videos for violations of child safety policy. According to YouTube, in India it shows a warning at the top of search results for specific search queries related to CSAM. This warning states child sexual abuse imagery is illegal and links to the national cyber crime reporting portal. The government, on October 6, said notices have been issued to social media platforms X (formerly Twitter), YouTube and Telegram to remove child sexual abuse material from their platforms in India. Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar had warned that if social media intermediaries do not act swiftly, their safe harbour status under section 79 of the IT Act would be withdrawn, implying that the platforms can be directly prosecuted under the applicable laws and rules even though the content may have not been uploaded by them. "Ministry of Electronics and IT has issued notices to social media intermediaries X, YouTube and Telegram, warning them to remove Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) from their platforms on the Indian internet. "The notices served to these platforms emphasise the importance of prompt and permanent removal or disabling of access to any CSAM on their platforms," the statement by the government on October 6 had said. The notices also called for the implementation of proactive measures, such as content moderation algorithms and reporting mechanisms, to prevent the dissemination of CSAM in the future. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday held a virtual meeting with Google chief executive officer (CEO) Sundar Pichai. During his interaction, PM Modi discussed with Pichai on Google's plan to participate in expanding the electronics manufacturing ecosystem in India. The prime minister appreciated Googles partnership with Hewlett Packard (HP) to manufacture Chromebooks in India. A file photo of Google CEO Sundar Pichai merting Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence last year,(@sundarpichai) PM Modi acknowledged Googles 100 languages initiative and encouraged efforts to make AI tools available in Indian languages. He also encouraged Google to work on AI tools for Good Governance, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement. Modi welcomed Googles plans to open its global fintech operations center at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) in Gandhinagar. Pichai informed the PM regarding Googles plans to improve financial inclusion in India by leveraging the strength and reach of GPay and UPI. He also emphasised Googles commitment to contribute to the development trajectory of India. PM Modi also invited Google to contribute to the upcoming Global Partnership on AI Summit, which will be hosted by India in December 2023 in New Delhi. Earlier this year, Pichai had met the prime minister during the latter's state visit to the Unite dstates. It was an honour to meet PM Modi during the historic visit to the US. We shared with the Prime Minister that Google is investing $10 billion in India's digitisation fund, he had said. We are announcing the opening of our global fintech operation centre in GIFT City, Gujarat. PMs vision for Digital India was way ahead of his time; I now see it as a blueprint that other countries are looking to follow, Pichai added. The Google CEO had also met the PM during his visit to India in December last year. The prime minister had posted on X,"Was a delight to meet you @sundarpichai and discuss innovation, technology and more. It is important the world continues to work together to leverage tech for human prosperity and sustainable development". 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 Samsung's Z Flip 5 foldable smartphone, launched in July at the company's Unpacked event, is now available in yellow colour. The technology giant shared the yellow look of the smartphone on its website. The smartphone is already available in Mint, Graphite, Lavender and Cream. Z Flip 5 was launched along with Z Fold 5 during the event held in July. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 is now available in Yellow colour. Features and specifications The Samsung Z Flip 5 smartphone has a 8.61cm Flex Window, said to be the largest cover screen for a Z Flip model. It comes with a Flex Hinge which will make the smartphone fold down to slide easily into the pocket. It has a Flex Cam feature to click photos from unique angles without using hands. The phone offers a feature to enable Camera Controller on the Galaxy Watch6 and click selfies. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 runs on 3700mAh (typical) battery and is powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform which ensures smoother graphics, faster AI and improved battery performance. Price and offers The Samsung Galaxy X Flip 5 is available in two storage options. The smartphone with 256GB+8GB is priced at 99,999 and the 512GB+8GB smartphone is priced at 1,09,999. The company is offering instant bank discount of 7,000 on purchase using HDFC Bank credit or debit cards. It is also offering an exchange discount of 7,000 which can be clubbed with the bank discount. Foldable devices accounted for around 40% of Samsung's high-end devices sold in South Korea last year and the share is expected to increase in 2023, TM Roh, chief of Samsung's mobile business, was quoted by PTI as saying. People want products that fold, making them easier to carry and protect important information and then to flip them open to use and make notes. That has been a natural pattern for such a long time, for people in both the East and West", Roh had added. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR 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 Larchmont Public Library from New York took to Facebook to share that one of their books was returned after 90 years. Yes, you read that right. Since this news was shared on Facebook, it caught the attention of many people. What's more, you will be shocked to know the overdue fees for this book. Youth and Two Other Stories by Joseph Conrad returned to library after 90 years.(Facebook/@Larchmont Public Library) "We recently received an interesting package sent here from Virginia. Inside was a library book that was due on October 11th, 1933, one month shy of 90 years ago. The book, 'Youth and Two Other Stories' by Joseph Conrad, was published in 1925. Now, I know what you are all thinking; 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. But no, the real answer is only $5!" wrote Larchmont Public Library. (Also Read: After nearly 100 years, library received a book which was checked out in 1927) The library further added, "When a library book has not been returned after 30 days, it is considered 'lost,' and the patron is billed for the initial price of the book. However, when the book is returned, it reverts back to the maximum fine which is five dollars. No matter how long a Larchmont Public Library book is overdue, if it gets returned, the maximum fine is a whopping five bucks. Thanks to Joanie Morgan who discovered the book among her step-fathers belongings, it is now back at the Larchmont Library." They also shared a picture of the book in the post. Take a look at the post shared on Facebook here: This post was shared on October 11. Since being posted, it has been liked several times. The post also has received a few comments. Check out what people are saying about it here: An individual wrote, "Wow." Another commented, "This is an amazing story!" 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! After a cat was found stuck on top of a utility pole, onlookers immediately contacted the Columbia Borough Police Department. The department had to bring a bucket truck in order to rescue the cat. Cat stuck on a utility pole. (Columbia Borough Police Department) The Columbia Borough Police Department shared in a press release, The Columbia Borough Police wish to thank a crew from PPL Electric Utilities for saving a stranded cat precariously perched atop a telephone pole at Fifth and Walnut Streets on 10/11/23 at around 1:30 pm. Neighbors contacted the Police Department at around 12:33 pm expressing concern for the feline. The grey and white cat was rescued by bucket truck after the power to the utility lines was turned off. The incident resulted in a ten minute outage for about 200 PPL customers. They further added, Officers from Columbia Borough Police performed traffic control for added safety to the PPL crew. The Columbia Animal Shelter graciously accepted the cat, which will be cared for until the owner is identified. This isn't the first time that a cat was found in a sticky situation and had to be rescued. Earlier, a cat was found trapped inside a cellphone tower. It was rescued after a passerby noticed it. City of San Antonio Animal Care Services took to Facebook to detail the incident. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON An X user claimed that a Starbucks employee got fired for leaking the drink recipes of the coffeehouse on social media. Since this post was shared on the micro-blogging platform, it has gone crazy viral, with thousands of people even bookmarking the share. X user Kalyan shared these photos on social media. (X/@Kalyan) A Starbucks employee got fired, and she posted every Starbucks drink recipe. Youre welcome, wrote X user Kalyan. The user also posted the photos leaked by the ex-employee. (Also Read: Woman claims Starbucks threw unused food after closing down. Viral video shocks people) These pictures contain the recipes for white chocolate mocha, coconut milk vanilla latte, iced caramel macchiato, cold brew with cold foam, and much more. Take a look at the post shared by the Kalyan here: This post was shared on October 14. Since being posted, it has garnered more than nine lakh views. The share also has more than 21,000 likes. Many even took to the comments section of the post to share their reactions. Several people also pointed out that this post has been bookmarked more than 20,000 times. Check out what people are saying about this post here: An individual wrote, Now we make our own cute drinks and we'll write our own names, and we will call it Ariane Grande or whatever. A second commented, I saved this post, but I will still go to Starbucks for my coffee. Any barista that has worked at Starbucks can give you this. The quality of coffee and base cant be produced at home, shared a third. A fourth said, I am still not going to make them. Homebucks, shared a fifth. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas said Sunday that the policies and actions of Hamas "do not represent the Palestinian people", the news agency Wafa reported. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (REUTERS) The Palestinian Liberation Organisations (PLO) was the only legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, he added, during talks with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Wafa added. According to a Venezuelan Foreign Ministry statement, Maduro and Abbas discussed "the terrible situation" in the Gaza Strip following "indiscriminate attacks" by Israel. Maduro reaffirmed "Venezuela's unconditional support for the Palestinian cause and its Authority", and offered 30 tonnes of humanitarian aid "for the Palestinian people" to be sent in the next few days, according to the statement. It added that both leaders agreed to "demand an immediate ceasefire and the establishment of a humanitarian assistance corridor" as well as the return to "international legality". Israel declared war on Hamas last Sunday, a day after waves of the militant group's fighters broke through the heavily fortified border and shot, stabbed and burned to death more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians. The subsequent relentless bombing has flattened neighborhoods and left at least 2,670 people dead in the Gaza Strip, the majority ordinary Palestinians. Israel's army has told people in the north of the Gaza Strip -- nearly half of its 2.4-million population -- to head south to safety, ahead of an expected ground offensive. Aid groups have warned of a humanitarian disaster in Gaza, with some one million people displaced and Palestinians complaining of water running out. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON US Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned to Israel on Monday for talks on the conflict with Hamas following a tour of six Arab countries, an AFP correspondent travelling with him said. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken disembarks from a plane in Tel Aviv on October 16.(AP) The top US diplomat, who was in Israel on Thursday on a solidarity visit, landed in Tel Aviv and was expected to again meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. Amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, Tal Heinrich, Spokesperson for the Israeli Prime Minister's Office (PMO) outlined that Israel's battle is against Hamas and not against the people of Palestine. Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu(via REUTERS) Heinrich emphasised the resilience of Israeli families and the importance of taking action against Hamas, saying, "Their resilience is our strength. The ones who are aching the most are the ones giving us the most strength." "Today it is important to highlight what the families told the PM of Israel and what they told the entire nation of Israel, to hold our heads high and to do what must be done against Hamas," she said addressing a virtual press conference on Monday. Heinrich also revealed that the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has discovered evidence of a Hamas-produced kidnapper's guide. "The IDF found evidence of Hamas-produced kidnapper's guide. Now the guide explains in gruesome detail how Hamas terrorists should capture and torture kidnapped civilians," added Heinrich. Further speaking about the guide, she said unveiled "gruesome methods" that Hamas terrorists would employ to capture and torture kidnapped civilians. She further said that more than 1,500 Israelis have been killed and 3,900 injured in the war against Hamas. Highlighting the critical distinction, Heinrich said, "Israel is at war with Hamas and not with the people of Palestine." And I urge you to ask your sources in Gaza why Hamas is exploiting innocent Palestinians and is using them as human shields. She also expressed concerns about Hamas preventing Palestinians in Gaza from moving to safer areas while "using them as human shields with zero regard for their safety". Heinrich also addressed the situation in northern Gaza, where she noted that while patients and staffers from six hospitals evacuated the premises, 14 did not. "I was asked yesterday specifically about the state of hospitals in northern Gaza. You see, there are 20 hospitals in that area. The IDF says that six hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip had decided to independently evacuate. However, 14 did not," said Heinrich. In addition, Heinrich cited a report by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency indicating that fuel and medical equipment had been removed or stolen by a group claiming to be from the Ministry of Health in Gaza. Heinrich called upon the international community to encourage Palestinians to temporarily relocate to safer zones, underlining that this action "will save lives". She highlighted Israel's own evacuation efforts, with 28 communities in northern Israel and more than 80,000 Israeli civilians evacuated to protect their lives. Speaking about the recent military actions, Heinrich said that the IDF had conducted numerous airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, targeting Hamas headquarters, mortar launch positions, and terrorists at a military compound. Notably, the command center of Ali Qadhi, a commander in the Hamas commando forces, was also struck. "The targets included Hamas headquarters, mortar launching positions, and a number of terrorists at a military compound," said Heinrich. Heinrich expressed Israel's appreciation for the unwavering support of its allies and mentioned Prime Minister Netanyahu's invitation to US President Joe Biden to visit Israel soon. "Prime Minister Netanyahu invited US President Joe Biden to Israel, and we hope to host the president soon." She conveyed gratitude for the united front against the ongoing conflict. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell has claimed that he has been sacked for drawing a cartoon of Benjamin Netanyahu that the organisation thought was anti-Semitic. Steve has been in the midst of controversies for his previous works too. A view shows houses and buildings destroyed in Israeli strikes, in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, October 11, 2023 (REUTERS/Anas al-Shareef TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)(REUTERS) The recent work shows Benjaminoperating on his own body, bearing a cut in the outline of the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing Israel-Palestine crisis. A caption on the cartoon reads, Residents of Gaza, get out now. This is a reference to Israel telling residents to flee south as a ground invasion is expected amid the war. According to critics, the cartoons imagery was similar to Shylock, a character from William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, LBC reported. Shylock was an antagonistic Jewish moneylender who insisted on the "pound of flesh" he was owed. The cartoon is specifically about Benjamin Netanyahus disastrous policy failure Steve has worked for The Guardian for more than 40 years. He claimed the organisation refuses to print his work now. Defending the cartoon, he said that it was "impossible to draw this subject for The Guardian now without being falsely accused of using anti-Semitic tropes. He also said the cartoon was only a reference to a 1960s cartoon about former US president Lyndon B Johnson. "The cartoon is specifically about Benjamin Netanyahus disastrous policy failure which has led directly to the hideous recent atrocities around Gaza, and about his proposed response that he had announced, using his actual words addressing the citizens of Gaza," Steve told the Jewish Chronicle. The Guardian has every right not to publish my cartoon if it so chooses, but it should not do so using entirely contrived and false reasons, he added. "All that does is inhibit discussion of a dreadful but important subject." Steve will reportedly work with the paper until April 2024. Meanwhile, The Guardian said in a statement, The decision has been made not to renew Steve Bell's contract. Steve Bell's cartoons have been an important part of the Guardian over the past 40 years we thank him and wish him all the best." Business heir Daniel Noboa on Sunday won Ecuador's presidential election, vowing to rebuild the South American country, which is struggling with a weak economy and rising crime and violence. Presidential candidate Daniel Noboa (AP) Thirty five-year-old Noboa, a surprise qualifier for the run-off in the early election, has pledged to improve the economy and create jobs for young people, as well as to house dangerous criminals on prison ships. "Tomorrow we start work for this new Ecuador, we start working to rebuild a country seriously battered by violence, by corruption and by hate," Noboa told supporters during brief remarks in the seaside town of Olon. "From tomorrow Daniel Noboa starts work as your new president," he added. Noboa will face the significant challenge of righting an economy - which has struggled since the coronavirus pandemic and motivated many thousands of Ecuadoreans to migrate - and sharply rising crime, including increases in murders, robberies and prison riots. The violence, which the outgoing government blames on drug gangs, reached a crescendo during the campaign with the murder of anti-corruption candidate Fernando Villavicencio, who was shot dead while leaving a Quito campaign event in August. Ecuador has all the elements needed to be a global example of progress, Noboa has said. He will have just 17 months to govern, serving a truncated term from December this year until May 2025. Noboa, who has said he will be Ecuador's youngest-ever president, would be able to run again in the regularly-scheduled 2025 contest. His victory fulfills a long-held family ambition - he grew up accompanying his banana baron father Alvaro during the latter's multiple failed attempts to become president. Noboa had won more than 52% of the vote, while his leftist adversary Luisa Gonzalez won about 48%, with more than 90% of ballot boxes counted. Gonzalez congratulated Noboa on his victory. "Daniel Noboa, our profound congratulations, because this is democracy," Gonzalez told supporters in Quito, calling on Noboa to fulfill his promises to students and the elderly. Noboa's win marks a rebuke by voters of Gonzalez's mentor, former President Rafael Correa, who has continued to wield considerable political power since he left office, despite a corruption conviction. Gonzalez had pledged to bring back many of Correa's social programs, boost the economy with international reserves and fight crime. NEW BLOOD Noboa supporters celebrated in the streets of Guayaquil as final vote tallies came in. "We need new blood and not the old politics that have done us so much harm," said student Eduardo Chavez, 23. "Our president should waste no time and work very hard to put the brakes on insecurity." Noboa made a special point to woo young people, as did Gonzalez, with events at universities toward the end of the campaign. About a quarter of the 13 million Ecuadoreans obliged to vote are between the ages of 18 and 29. Noboa has said he will balance meeting Ecuador's foreign debt obligations with the needs of the population and pledged to beef up security at ports and airports, hot spots for drug smuggling. Analysts have said a Noboa victory initially could be perceived as positive by investors, but longer-term outlook will depend on his cabinet appointments. Polls had shown the contest would be much closer, with several putting the two candidates within the margin of error of each other. Noboa formed his own party, National Democratic Action, ahead of the election. It won the third-highest number of seats in August legislative elections. National electoral council president Diana Atamaint said the trend toward Noboa's victory was irreversible. Authorities will look into a social media video showing a person marking multiple ballots in the province of Sucumbios, she said in the afternoon. About 825 Ecuadoreans in Nicaragua, Russia, Belarus and Israel were not be able to vote either because of a lack of consular presence or war, in a move criticized by Correa on social media. Outgoing President Guillermo Lasso called the election early to avoid impeachment on charges he disregarded warnings of embezzlement at a state company. He has denied the charges. The federal judge overseeing the 2020 election subversion case against Donald Trump in Washington imposed a narrow gag order on him on Monday, barring the Republican former president from making statements targeting prosecutors, possible witnesses and the judge's staff. Former President Donald Trump arrives at a rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.(AP) The order from US District Judge Tanya Chutkan is a milestone moment in the federal case that accuses Trump of illegally conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Special counsel Jack Smiths team had raised alarm about a barrage of statements disparaging prosecutors, the judge and prospective witnesses. Those comments, prosecutors said, risked undermining public confidence in the court system and causing witnesses or people who might be picked as jurors for trial to feel harassed and intimidated. Chukan said there would be no restrictions on statements criticizing the Justice Department generally or statements about Trump's belief that the case is politically motivated. The judge said Trump cant mount a smear campaign against prosecutors and court personnel. No other criminal defendant would be allowed to do so, and Im not going to allow it in this case, she said. Trump's lawyers fiercely opposed any gag order, saying it unconstitutionally hinder his political speech. A Trump spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the judge's ruling. In seeking a gag order, Smiths team accused the 2024 GOP presidential front-runner of using online attacks to try to taint the jury pool. Trumps lawyer John Lauro accused prosecutors of seeking to censor a political candidate in the middle of a campaign. But the judge shot back that Trump does not have a right to say and do exactly as he pleases. You keep talking about censorship like the defendant has unfettered First Amendment rights. He doesnt, Chutkan said. Were not talking about censorship here. Were talking restrictions to ensure there is a fair administration of justice on this case. Chutkan, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, repeatedly warned Trumps lawyer to keep politics out of the courtroom, and she cut him off when he suggested the case was politically motivated. Prosecutor Molly Gaston on Monday had told the judge Trumps lawyers were arguing their client is above the law and not subject to the same rules as other defendants. Gaston said Trump knows that his posts motivate people to threaten others, and she argued those can not only pollute the jury pool but also can chill witnesses. We have no interest in stopping the defendant from running for office or defending his reputation, she said. Chutkan also read aloud statements Trump has made about her, deriding her as a radical Obama hack. Although she said she was less concerned about statements that Trump has made about her, she said his free speech doesnt extend to language that knowingly invites threats and harassment of people who are simply doing their jobs. The gag order proposal underscored the unprecedented complexities of prosecuting the GOP presidential primary front-runner, who has made the line of attack central to his campaign. And it presented a big test for Chutkan, who must balance Trumps First Amendment right to defend himself publicly with the need to protect the integrity of the case. It marked the beginning of what could be an extraordinary fight over what limits can be placed on the speech of a defendant who is also running for Americas highest public office. Any gag order from Chutkan is likely be challenged on appeal and could ultimately end up before the U.S. Supreme Court, legal experts have said. Read more: Vladimir Putin warns on Gaza toll after talks with Mideast leaders Trumps campaign had seized on the proposal of a gag order in fundraising appeals, and Trump falsely characterized it as an attempt to prevent him from criticizing President Joe Biden. Trumps defense called the gag order request unconstitutional and a desperate effort at censorship. The Chutkan hearing came on the heels of a judge overseeing Trumps civil fraud trial in New York imposing a more limited gag order prohibiting personal attacks against court personnel following a social media post from Trump that maligned the judges principal clerk. Monday was the first time Trumps lawyers had appeared before Chutkan since she denied Trumps request to recuse herself from the case, which alleges Trump illegally schemed to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden. Trump has denied any wrongdoing. The defense had claimed Chutkans comments about Trump in other cases raised questions about whether she had prejudged his guilt. But Chutkan said her comments were mischaracterized and there was no need for her to step aside. Trump has frequently used social media to attack Chutkan, prosecutors, likely witnesses and others despite warnings from the judge that inflammatory comments could force her to move up the trial currently scheduled to begin in March. Prosecutors noted in a recent motion that Trumps incendiary rhetoric continued even after their initial gag order request. They cited critical comments about witnesses referenced in the indictment such as former Attorney General William Barr and a social media post suggesting that Mark Milley, the retired chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had committed treason and should be executed. Prosecutors said their proposal would not have prevented Trump from publicly declaring his innocence. In court papers, they wrote that Trump was demanding special treatment by claiming he should have free rein to publicly intimidate witnesses and disparage others involved in the case. In this case, Donald J. Trump is a criminal defendant like any other, Smiths team wrote. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Donald Trump said hed suffered personal and reputational damage and distress from the publication of the notorious dossier that alleged ties between the Kremlin and the former US presidents successful run to the White House. Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.(Reuters) Trump kicked off his data collection suit in a London court against ex-MI6 agent Christopher Steeles Orbis business intelligence firm on Monday, seeking a judges ruling that statements in the dossier were false. His lawyers said Trump intends to give evidence at the later trial. The report contains shocking and scandalous claims about the conduct of President Trump, his lawyer Hugh Tomlinson said at the outset of the two-day hearing in London. The Steele dossier made headlines around the world when it was leaked to BuzzFeed in January 2017 with allegations that the presidential campaign had been compromised by the Russian security service. With the London lawsuit, Trump is opening a new front in his already crowded legal calendar. In the US, he faces four prosecutions, on top of two civil trials, as he runs to regain the White House. Hes expected to attend the civil fraud trial against him in New York this week. Steele, who Trump once called a lowlife was retained by a Washington-based research firm in June 2016 to examine Trumps links to Russia. The Democratic National Committee and the campaign of Hillary Clinton hired Fusion GPS after Trump was headed for the nomination. This weeks hearing will decide on Orbiss bid to knock out the claim at an early date in the case. Lawyers for Steeles firm argue the claim has no reasonable prospect of success and that Trump is merely pursuing a vendetta. Trump has a history of harassing perceived enemies and others against whom he bears a grudge, Orbiss lawyers said. Its uncontroversial for me to say that President Trump is a controversial figure, Trumps lawyer Tomlinson told the judge. His interactions with the US legal system have been many and varied, but we say none of this is relevant. Russian billionaires Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven previously successfully sued Steele in a data-protection suit but a libel claim brought by another wealthy Russian individual failed. Orbis said the dossier was never intended to be made public and Trump couldnt hold the firm responsible for the Buzzfeed publication itself. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Former Miss World contestant Sherika De Armas - who represented Uruguay in 2015 - died at the age of 26 last week fighting cervical cancer. She was undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy for the last two years, reported the New York Post. Sherika De Armas Several friends and family of Armas paid tribute to her on social media. Fly high, little sister. Always and forever, her brother Mayk De Armas said. The reigning Miss Uruguay Carla Romero mourned Armas' death and said she was one of the most beautiful women she had ever met. In 2015, Armas was one of only six 18-year-olds to compete in Miss World, however, she did not make it to the top 30. During an interview with a local media at that time, Armas had said, I always wanted to be a model, whether a beauty model, an advertising model or a catwalk model. Also read: Miss Universe pageant will have two trans women contestants this year for the first time in history I like everything related to fashion and I think that within a beauty pageant, any girls dream is to have the opportunity to participate in Miss Universe. I am very happy to be able to live this experience full of challenges, she added, as quoted by the New York Post. Apart from modelling, Armas used to sell personal care, makeup, and hair products through the Shey De Armas Beauty Studio. What is cervical cancer? Cervical cancer is the growth of cells that start in the cervix - the lower part of the uterus that connects to the genitals. Reportedly, several strains of the human papillomavirus, also called HPV, play a role in causing most cervical cancers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cervical cancer occurs most often in people older than 30. The disease can be prevented with regular screening and the HPV vaccine. The high school in Arras, northern France, where a teacher was fatally stabbed on Friday was evacuated on Monday morning following a bomb alert, a Reuters photographer on site saw. France School Stabbing: Rescue workers wait in front the Gambetta high school during bomb alert.(AP) A police explosives expert team arrived on site. Teachers and students of the Lycee Gambetta high school gathered in the courtyard of a building opposite their school, as civil protection personnel comforted them. Read more: Israel accuses Iran of ordering Hezbollah attacks at Lebanon border A 20-year-old man fatally stabbed a French teacher and wounded two other people in an attack on Friday at Lycee Gambetta in an attack that President Emmanuel Macron condemned as "barbaric Islamic terrorism." France was put on its highest security alert following the attack. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Amid the ongoing war with Hamas militants, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on Monday shared satellite images to show how Israel looked before and after Hamas' terror attacks on October 7. IDF shares satellite pics(X/ @IDF) While posting the satellite images on X (formerly Twitter) showing the widespread destruction caused by the surprise attack, the IDF said, The lengths Hamas is willing to go in order to commit war crimes are visible even from outer space. The Israeli military in another X post showed some of the confiscated weapons used by Hamas to kill Israelis. The IDF asserted that they would ensure the removal of Hamas' terrorist infrastructure and weapon manufacturers in Gaza. In the video, an Israeli soldier said, All the munitions that you see in here is about approximately 20 per cent of what Hamas terrorists brought on their vehicles. You can see different kinds of shape charges, rockets, RPGs, grenades, all kinds of stuff around here. "You can see by the amount of munitions, the medical equipment and food that they brought with them that they were prepared for a long term in a villages. You can see by the symbols on all the equipment that everything is homemade of Hamas, homemade production," he added. Meanwhile, the IDF chief said the Israeli troops will soon enter the Gaza Strip to decimate the Hamas militants. "Our responsibility now is to enter Gaza, to go to the places where Hamas is preparing, acting, planning, launching. Attack them everywhere, every commander, every operative, destroy infrastructure. In one word, to win," IDF chief of staff Lt. General Herzi Halevi told the troops. Israel declared war on the terror group a day after waves of its fighters broke through Israel on October 7, shooting, stabbing and burning to death more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians. The Israeli Air Force flew senior ground forces officers over Gaza Strip territory in order to view from above the direction of the military's unexpected manoeuvres, The Times of Israel reported. Rockets were fired at Tel Aviv and southern Israel overnight, and the IDF attacked targets in and around the northern part of Gaza. Exchange of fire grew more intense on Israels border with Lebanon, with Israeli army jets striking Hezbollah's military infrastructure in response to rocket attacks. Fleeing the bombardment and following an Israeli order to move to southern Gaza, Palestinians have had to find shelter, including on the streets and in UN-run schools. Israel's army said Monday it was evacuating residents living along its northern border with Lebanon amid rising tensions there 10 days into its war with Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Israeli Merkava tanks are positioned in the north of Israel near the border with Lebanon on October 15.(AFP) An Israeli civilian and an army officer were killed Sunday in missile attacks from Lebanon, and the army carried out retaliatory strikes and attacked infrastructure of the Hezbollah militant group. The Israeli army Monday noted in a statement "the implementation of a plan to evacuate residents of northern Israel who live in the area up to two kilometres from the Lebanese border to state-funded guesthouses". The move affects thousands of people living in 28 communities. Many have already left the area after repeated cross-border fire in recent days has claimed lives on both sides of the UN-patrolled border between Lebanon and Israel which remain technically at war. Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said his country had "no interest in a war in the north, we don't want to escalate the situation". "If Hezbollah chooses the path of war, it will pay a very heavy price," he said on Sunday. "But if it restrains itself, we'll respect the situation and keep things the way they are". Israel has been at war since Gaza's Hamas militants staged an unprecedented attack on October 7 in which its gunmen shot, stabbed and mutilated people in a surprise onslaught that shocked the nation. The attack and fighting since have killed more than 1,400 in Israel which has vowed to destroy Hamas and responded with a heavy bombing campaign on Gaza that had killed more than 2,750. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Amid the escalating war between Israel and the Hamas militants, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday appealed to Hamas to release hostages without conditions, and Israel to allow rapid and unimpeded humanitarian aid access to the Palestinian Gaza Strip. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres(AFP) As we are on the verge of the abyss in the Middle East, I have two humanitarian appealsEach one of these two objectives are valid in themselves. They should not become bargaining chips and they must be implemented because it is the right thing to do, the UN chief wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. As Israel stopped the flow of resources to the Gaza Strip, over 2.3 million civilians are facing a deepening struggle for food, water, and safety, and are bracing for a looming invasion more than a week after the Hamas militants launched a deadly assault on Israel that killed over 1,300 people. According to the United Nations Humanitarian Office (OCHA), reserves of fuel at all hospitals across the Gaza Strip are expected to last only around 24 more hours. The shutdown of backup generators would place the lives of thousands of patients at risk, the OCHA said on its website. On Monday early morning, the UN chief said that they have stocks available of food, water, medical supplies, and fuel in Egypt, Jordan, the West Bank, and Israel. They can be dispatched within hours. To ensure delivery, our staff need to be able to bring these supplies into and throughout Gaza safely, and without impediment, Guterres said. The deadly war entered its 10th day on Monday and has claimed at least 4,000 lives from both sides. While Israel has not yet made a decision on a ground offensive, its troops have been massing along the Gaza border. According to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), more than 600,000 Gazans from Gaza City and its surroundings have relocated southward. This is despite efforts by Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, to keep them in the north to serve as human shields, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said. (With inputs from agencies) Israel has suspended security exports to Colombia in an escalating diplomatic spat over online messages by Colombia's president comparing Israel's siege of Gaza to the actions of Nazi Germany. Israeli soldiers patrol along a road near the border between Israel and Lebanon, in Israel, Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. (AP) Colombian President Gustavo Petro has doubled down on his criticism of Israel and suggested that his country may need to suspend diplomatic relations with Israel, while his foreign minister has suggested Israel's ambassador should leave the country. In a statement published Sunday, Israel's foreign ministry said that Petro's recent statements on X, previously known as Twitter, inflame antisemitism" and "threaten the safety of the Jewish community in Colombia." The Israeli government said it called Colombia's ambassador to a meeting in which she was informed that defense cooperation between the countries would be suspended. Colombia currently has diplomatic relations with both Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and over the past two decades it has been one of Israels closes partners in Latin America. The South American nation uses Israeli-built war planes and machine guns to fight drug cartels and rebel groups and both countries also signed a free trade agreement in 2020. But the two nations have been less aligned since Petro took office last year as Colombias first leftist president. The war of words between Petro and Israel's Ambassador Gali Dagan started a week ago when Petro refused to condemn the Hamas raid on Israel, in which militants killed hundreds of civilians in their homes. When Dagan urged Petro to speak about the terrorist attack, Colombias president replied with a message that terrorism is killing innocent children in Palestine and followed up with messages in which he accused Israel of turning Gaza into a concentration camp. The comments comparing Israels military to the Nazis sparked criticism from Colombias Jewish community and also triggered a response from the U.S. State Department, which said last Thursday through its Special Envoy to Combat and Monitor Antisemitism that it was shocked to see Colombias president comparing the Israeli government to Hitlers genocidal regime. Over the weekend Petro wrote on X that Hamas had been invented by Israels intelligence services in order to divide Palestinians and have an excuse to punish them. He provided no proof to back his claims. Dagan mocked Petros message with a sarcastic reply in which he wrote that his nations intelligence services had also created Colombias largest paramilitary group and that Jews with big noses" still rule over the group. On Monday, Colombian Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva wrote on his X account that Dagan should leave the country and apologize for his messages. Later however he wrote that Israels ambassador had not been expelled and that relations between both countries would be maintained if Israel so desired. Respectful relations between states are always welcome Leyva wrote. Petro doubled down on his critiques of Israel over the weekend, describing its military campaign in Gaza as genocide and threatening to break off relations with the Jewish state. If we must suspend diplomatic relations with Israel, then that is what we will do he wrote on X on Sunday. You cannot insult the president of Colombia. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The World Health Organization on Monday warned there were only "24 hours of water, electricity and fuel left" in the Gaza Strip before "a real catastrophe" sets in. Israel-Hamas War: Israeli soldiers ride in their armoured vehicles towards the border with the Gaza Strip.(AFP) WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Ahmed Al-Mandhari said the bombarded, besieged territory must be allowed to receive convoys of aid, currently stuck at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. If assistance does not arrive, doctors will have to "prepare death certificates for their patients", he told AFP. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Iran and Hezbollah not to test us in the north. In a speech in the Israeli Knesset, the premier said that in the world needed to unite to defeat Hamas. He said this war is also your war, and he compared Hamas to the Nazis. Israel-Hamas War: Israels prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu(Reuters) This comes after more than a million Palestinians fled their homes ahead of an expected Israeli ground invasion aimed at destroying Hamas. Food, water and medicine supplies in Palestine dwindled as all eyes were on the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, where trucks carrying aid have been waiting for days as mediators press for a cease-fire that would also allow foreigners to leave. Rafah. Egypt's foreign minister Sameh Shoukry said Israel has not taken a position to open the crossing from the Gaza side. The Gaza health ministry said 2,750 Palestinians have been killed and 9,700 wounded since the fighting erupted, more than in the 2014 Gaza war, which lasted over six weeks. More than 1,400 Israelis have died, the vast majority civilians killed in Hamas' October 7 assault. The Israeli military said that at least 199 hostages were taken back in Gaza, higher than previous estimates. Israel ordered more than 1 million Palestinians to leave Gaza City and the surrounding area saying that it is trying to clear away civilians ahead of a major campaign against Hamas in the north while Hamas urged people to stay in their homes. The World Health Organization said hospitals are overflowing in Gaza as people seek safety. We are concerned about disease outbreaks due to mass displacement and poor water and sanitation, it said, adding, Water is needed to ensure sanitary conditions on inpatient wards, in operation rooms, and emergency departments. It is essential for the prevention of hospital associated infections and for the prevention of outbreaks in hospitals. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON China's foreign minister on Monday called for a ceasefire to halt the bloodshed in Israel, suggesting at a meeting with his Russian counterpart that major world powers should work to avoid a humanitarian disaster. Israel-Hamas War: Vehicles destroyed in an rocket attack allegedly fired from the Gaza Strip in the village of Arara in the Negev Desert.(AFP) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed the conflict between Israel and Hamas with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing ahead of a visit by President Vladimir Putin to China. "The United Nations Security Council must take action, and the major powers should play an active role," Wang told Lavrov, according to a Chinese transcript of the meeting. "It is imperative that a ceasefire be put in place, that the two sides be brought back to the negotiating table, and that an emergency humanitarian channel be established to prevent a further humanitarian disaster." Russia and China, both permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, have said that the fundamental issue at the heart of the conflict is the lack of justice for the Palestinians. The Palestinians want a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital - all territory captured by Israel in the 1967 war. Russia has condemned violence against both Jews and Palestinians, but Putin has repeatedly criticised the United States for what he said was its flawed approach which had ignored the need for an independent Palestinian state. "A thorough exchange of views took place on a wide range of international and regional issues, including the sharply aggravated situation in the Middle East," Russia's foreign ministry said of the meeting with Wang. During the bilateral talks, Lavrov and Wang Yi also discussed the military conflict in Ukraine and efforts to resolve it through "political and diplomatic methods", the ministry said. "China appreciates President Putin's high regard for and support for the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, and welcomes the Russian side's continued active participation," Wang said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday confirmed media reports he would travel to Israel and Egypt this week in the wake of the deadly attack by Hamas militants. Israel-Hamas War: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attends a press conference.(Reuters) "It is important to me to also express my solidarity with Israel very practically with my visit," he told reporters, while confirming a "later trip" to Egypt. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Half of Israeli hotel rooms are being used to house families evacuated from communities near the Gaza Strip, where an Oct. 7 rampage by Hamas gunmen triggered a cross-border war, the head of the Israel Hotel Association said on Monday. Israel-Hamas War: Palestinians stand by a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in the Rafah border, Gaza Strip.(AP) Israel has 56,000 hotel rooms and 28,000 are being provided to evacuees with the state footing the bill, said association chief executive Yael Danieli. She told a parliamentary panel debating compensation for residents impacted by the war that an additional 27,000 from border towns near Lebanon were expected. The Israeli-Lebanon border has seen an increase in hostilities as the Gaza war rages. These citizens need meals and other welfare support from the state, Danieli added. Foreign tourism has dried up since Oct. 7 with many countries operating flights to repatriate their citizens after most commercial airlines suspended flights to Tel Aviv. The Dan Hotel chain said its hotels in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Herzliya were being used for evacuees while rival Isrotel said its hotels in the Red Sea resort of Eilat were housing displaced families. Yogev Gardos, Israel's budget director, said the country's initial response was to finance the military's needs and now it would turn to the economy as a whole. "Within a few days we will give very sweeping grants to the entire economy, with an outline that will not provide full compensation for 100% of the economic damage because the state cannot withstand this," he told the committee. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Israel has not resumed water supplies for Gaza, spokesman of Hamas interior ministry Eyad Al-Bozom said as per news agency Reuters. He said, The residents drink unhealthy water, posing a serious health crisis threatens the lives of the citizens. Israel-Hamas War: Palestinians search for casualties under the rubble at a site of a house destroyed by Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.(Reuters) This comes after White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan said Israeli officials informed him that water pipes in southern Gaza have been turned back on. "I have been in touch with my Israeli counterparts just within the last hour who reported to me that they have, in fact, turned the water pipe back on in southern Gaza," he said. Israel had halted the flow of water as part of its siege of Gaza since the war broke out last weekend as Tel Aviv escalated measures against the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip to a total blockade. These included a ban on admitting food and fuel, country's defence minister Yoav Gallanthad then said, calling this as part of a battle against beastly people. Meanwhile, Egypt said on that Israel was not cooperating with delivery of aid into Gaza and evacuations of foreign passport holders via the only entry it does not wholly control. This has resulted in hundreds of tonnes of supplies stuck, Cairo said. The Rafah crossing is not officially closed but is inoperable due to Israeli air strikes on the Gaza side. "There is an urgent need to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza," Egypt's foreign minister Sameh Shoukry said, adding that talks with Israel had not been fruitful. Until now the Israeli government has not taken a position on opening the Rafah crossing from the Gaza side to allow the entrance of assistance and exit of citizens of third countries, he said. More than 2 million Gaza residents have been under siege since Israel launched an intense bombardment and blockade in retaliation for an assault by the Hamas. Even though reports claimed that a ceasefire was in place in southern Gaza for some hours to facilitate aid and evacuations at Rafah, Israel denied it saying, There is currently no truce and humanitarian aid in Gaza in exchange for getting foreigners out. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mallika Soni When not reading, this ex-literature student can be found searching for an answer to the question, "What is the purpose of journalism in society?" ...view detail The Israeli military accused Iran on Monday of having ordered attacks by Hezbollah at the Lebanon-Israel border on Sunday. Israel-Hamas War: Israeli soldiers patrol in armoured personnel carriers at an undisclosed position in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon.(AFP) "Hezbollah carried out a number of shooting attacks in order to distract from our war efforts in the south (Gaza), under Iranian instruction and with (Iranian) support," chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said. This comes as more than a million people fled their homes in the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected Israeli invasion that seeks to eliminate Hamas' leadership. Israeli forces positioned themselves along Gaza's border after a week of blistering airstrikes that have demolished neighborhoods. The war began on October 7 and has become the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides, with more than 4,000 dead. The Gaza health ministry said 2,670 Palestinians have been killed and 9,600 wounded. More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed, and at least 155 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza. What Israeli army said Israeli defence forces spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner said that the army has carried out hundreds of strikes, asserting that Israel continues to act in order to destroy and demolish the capabilities of Hamas. We are in day 10 of our war on Hamas after the government instructed us to destroy Hamas's capabilities, its infrastructure, pursue its leaders, and restore security and safety to the people of Israel. Indeed, throughout the last ten days, the IDF has conducted hundreds of strikes against Hamas operatives, the leadership, its institutions and its terrorist infrastructure, he said. "The terrorist infrastructure includes advanced capabilities such as drone, explosives, rockets, tunnel capabilities, and the Hamas leaders themselves. I can say and confirm it at this time that we have targeted and killed several of their leaders, including terrorists that actually participated in the butchering of babies in their bedrooms, and we continue to act in order to destroy and demolish Hamas' capabilities, governing and military capabilities. Hamas will not be permitted to govern the Gaza Strip as a staging ground for attacks against Israel and our civilians," he added. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mallika Soni When not reading, this ex-literature student can be found searching for an answer to the question, "What is the purpose of journalism in society?" ...view detail The Israeli Air Force has been flying senior commanders of ground forces on sorties over the Gaza Strip to acquaint them with the region and give them a bird's eye view of the area as its military is expected to manoeuvre a ground incursion, The Times of Israel reported. Israel's brigade and battalion commanders were shown where ground troops are expected to enter and advance during the looming ground offensive. The Israeli army said that it was finalising preparations for a coordinated attack from the air, sea and land adding that it had hit and killed a senior Hamas commander. Israel-Hamas War: Israeli soldiers patrol along a road near the border between Israel and Lebanon, in Israel.(AP) According to the military, it had struck more than 250 targets throughout the Strip during the day as more than 1300 lives have been claimed since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7. At least 289 soldiers and 51 police officers have been killed in the conflict, army informed. According to the Health Ministry in Gaza, 2,670 people had been killed and 9,600 others injured as Israel Defence Forces called on the residents of northern Gaza to evacuate and move to the southern part. Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said that more than 600,000 Palestinians from Gaza City had evacuated south despite Hamas' attempts to stop people from leaving. Israeli Defence Forces Spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner said that Israel continues to act in order to destroy and demolish the capabilities of Hamas. We are in day 10 of our war on Hamas after the government instructed us to destroy Hamas's capabilities, its infrastructure, pursue its leaders, and restore security and safety to the people of Israel. Indeed, throughout the last ten days, the IDF has conducted hundreds of strikes against Hamas operatives, the leadership, its institutions and its terrorist infrastructure, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mallika Soni When not reading, this ex-literature student can be found searching for an answer to the question, "What is the purpose of journalism in society?" ...view detail Israel president Isaac Herzog revealed a Hamas booklet found on the body of a terrorist killed in one of the Gaza-area communities. The manual- titled The Warrior's Guide: Jihadi Version- outlines tactics including creating chaos, intimidating captives, electric shocks and even live executions. Israel-Hamas War: Israeli soldiers walk past images of Israeli hostages snatched by the Palestinian militant group Hamas last week in a surprise attack into Israel.(AFP) "This booklet is an operating manual, how to enter citizens' yards, kibbutz, city, moshav, how to break in there. And first - and what do you do when you find the citizens? You torture them. This is the booklet that says exactly how to torture them, how to kidnap them," Isaac Herzog told CNN. The eight-page guide instructs kidnappers to utilize captives as human shields if attacked, regardless of their religion, race, or gender. The hostages should be "killed when necessary," especially if there is any sign of revolt among them, it said, instructing Hamas terrorists to document their actions live. Many of the terrorists wore GoPro cameras and their footage was uploaded to social media, the Israeli president said. "It's simply an ideology from ISIS that calls for Israel to be wiped off the face of the earth, and therefore Hamas must be wiped off the face of the earth," he said. The manual also detailed use of other tactics to assert control over seized territory- suicide bombings, car bombings, ambushes and sniper fire. It also instructed terrorists to seize the identification documents of their captives and accurately document their personal information. The manual also featured an illustrative chart that laid out the Israel defense force's hierarchical structure along with its armaments and electronic assets. "The story is not Israel versus the Palestinians, or Judaism versus Islam. The story is about where humanity should stand, are we with the good or the evil," Isaac Herzog said, adding, The campaign we are waging now, as a nation rising like a lion, is against evil, and we will uproot evil so that it will be better for the whole region and the world. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mallika Soni When not reading, this ex-literature student can be found searching for an answer to the question, "What is the purpose of journalism in society?" ...view detail The head of Israel's Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency took responsibility for failing to prevent Hamas from carrying out its deadly rampage. "Despite a series of actions we carried out, unfortunately, on Saturday we were unable to generate sufficient warning that would allow the attack to be thwarted," Shin Bet director Ronen Bar said in a statement. Israel-Hamas War: Smoke billowing after Israeli bombardment of an area in the Palestinian enclave.(AFP) As the one who heads the organization, the responsibility for this is on me. There will be time for investigations. Now we fight, he said. At least 1,400 people have died and 3,400 others have been injured in Israel after Hamas launched an unprecedented incursion from air, land and sea on October 7. In Gaza, at least 2,750 people have been killed in retaliatory strikes from Israel with another 9,700 more injured, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Tensions are high with the prospect of ground war and evacuation orders for Gaza after the Israel Defense Forces called for "all residents of Gaza City to evacuate their homes" and move south for their protection saying residents should move "and settle in the area south of the Gaza River." Israel plans to "operate significantly in Gaza City in the coming days" and wanted to avoid harming civilians, its army said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mallika Soni When not reading, this ex-literature student can be found searching for an answer to the question, "What is the purpose of journalism in society?" ...view detail Commentary: An unobscured fact: cooperation benefits both China, Australia 16:53, October 16, 2023 By Zhang Na, Zhang Jianhua ( Xinhua CANBERRA, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government has conducted three "classified studies" over the past eight years regarding its ties with China, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post recently cited sources as saying. The conclusions of these non-partisan independent research reports are nearly unanimous in stating that Australia is "unlikely" to decouple from China. In fact, even without the "classified studies," the mutually beneficial relationship between Australia and China, as well as the long-established framework of mutual interests, is evident. Open statistics from Australia show that the bilateral trade volume was 113 million Australian dollars (71 million U.S. dollars) in the second year of diplomatic relations in 1973. The bilateral goods trade volume exceeded 220 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, according to China's official data. Such significant growth would be hard to achieve without a basis of mutual benefit. In terms of services trade, mainland Chinese students accounted for 25 percent, ranking first, of some 620,000 international students in Australia in 2022. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, China was Australia's "largest and most valuable" inbound tourism market. Even though flights between the two countries have not been fully restored to date, China became Australia's second-largest source of international tourists in July. In August of this year, China resumed outbound group tours to Australia, providing a boost to the local tourism industry. The "classified studies," open data, and the half-century of experiences all clearly demonstrate that cooperation benefits both China and Australia and the essence of their relations is one of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation. It will continue to be the mainstream in the bilateral relationship as China has consistently viewed and developed the bilateral ties from a strategic and long-term perspective, maintaining policy continuity and stability, and upholding the important position of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Australia. China opposes the politicization of economic and trade issues and strives to find win-win solutions to concerns and disagreements in bilateral trade through dialogue and communication. China is committed to friendly exchanges and cooperation with Australia, and this policy remains unchanged. Looking at the overall trajectory of China-Australia relations over the past 50 years and the broader trends in the international political landscape, mutual respect and mutual benefit are the best ways to safeguard the interests of both countries. The difficulties and setbacks of the past few years should not define the essence of the bilateral relationship, nor should they impede cooperation between the two countries. This understanding is simple and fundamental. Currently, China-Australia relations are at an important stage of stabilization and improvement. President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reached an important consensus on continuing to develop the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership during their meeting in Bali, Indonesia last year. High-level interactions have increased mutual trust and generated positive expectations for bilateral relations. In terms of mutual understanding, it is important to view each other in an objective, calm, and friendly manner. Moreover, it is crucial to remember that China and Australia are partners, not adversaries. For Australia, it is of particular importance to recognize that China's development is an opportunity, not a threat. To safeguarding mutual interests, it is key to promote China-Australia bilateral relations independently, free from third-party influence or interference. A healthy and stable China-Australia relationship serves the fundamental interests of both countries and contributes to the peace, stability, and development of the Asia-Pacific region and the world. As long as both sides adhere to the principles of mutual respect, mutual benefit, peaceful coexistence, and seeking common ground while maintaining differences, China and Australia can jointly achieve sustained improvement and development of their relations, thus bringing more benefits to the two peoples. (Web editor: Liang Jun, Hongyu) Israel-Hamas War Latest News: US President Joe Biden US President Joe Biden said Gaza-based Hamas must be destroyed but that there also must be a path to a Palestinian state, warning that an Israeli re-occupation of Gaza would be a big mistake". Israeli forces, supported by a growing deployment of US warships in the region, positioned themselves along Gazas border and drilled for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle the militant group. A week of blistering airstrikes have demolished entire neighbourhoods but failed to stem militant rocket fire into Israel. A ball of fire and smoke rise above buildings during an Israeli strike on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on October 15. (AFP) Meanwhile, fresh airstrikes could be heard echoing in the Gaza Strip, with fireballs lighting up the night sky overnight as the Israel-Hamas entered its 10th day on Monday. The Palestinian Red Crescent said five airstrikes were carried out near al-Quds Hospital, according to Gaza media. Israel had given the hospital a deadline of Saturday afternoon to evacuate, which the Red Crescent refused, saying the order was impossible. Follow Live Updates on Israel Hamas war The Gaza health ministry said 2,670 Palestinians have been killed and 9,600 wounded since the fighting erupted, more than in the 2014 Gaza war, which lasted over six weeks. That makes this the deadliest of the five Gaza wars for both sides. More than 1,400 Israelis were killed, the vast majority of them civilians, in Hamas' October 7 assault. At least 155 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza, according to Israel. It's also the deadliest war for Israel since the 1973 conflict with Egypt and Syria. Israel-Hamas war: Latest updates on October 16 Joe Biden weighed a trip to Israel while he cautioned against long-term Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip on Sunday. Reports, however, indicate that no decision about whether to travel to Israel had yet been made. A spokesperson for the National Security Council said the White House didnt have a trip to announce. Biden stressed his belief that Israel would act by the rules of war and that innocent civilians would have access to medicine, food and water in an interview with CBS Newss 60 Minutes. He also said he didnt believe Israel should control the territory long-term, saying instead the territory should be governed by a Palestinian authority. I think itd be a big mistake, Biden said. Look, what happened in Gaza, in my view, is Hamas and the extreme elements of Hamas dont represent all the Palestinian people. The interview, which aired on Sunday night, came as Israeli Defence Forces were readying a ground offensive on Gaza, lakhs of residents to flee south. The mass migration has prompted concerns about a humanitarian crisis. Medics in Gaza warned on Sunday that thousands could die as hospitals packed with wounded people ran desperately low on fuel and basic supplies. Palestinians in the besieged coastal enclave struggled to find food, water and safety ahead of an expected Israeli ground offensive. Fighting along Israel's border with Lebanon intensified on Sunday with Hezbollah militants firing rockets and an anti-tank missile, and Israel responding with airstrikes and shelling. The Israeli military also reported shooting at one of its border posts. The fighting killed at least one person on the Israeli side and wounded several on both sides of the border. An Israeli drone fired two missiles late on Sunday at a hill west of the town of Kfar Kila in south Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency reported. Hezbollah said in a statement it had fired rockets toward an Israeli military position in the northern border town of Shtula in retaliation for Israeli shelling that killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah on Friday and two Lebanese civilians on Saturday. A Hezbollah spokeswoman, Rana Sahili, said the increased fighting represented a warning and did not mean Hezbollah has decided to enter the war. While Hamas urged people to stay in their homes, more than 600,000 people had evacuated the Gaza City area, said Israels chief military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari. Iran warned Israel of escalation if it failed to end aggressions against Palestinians. Its foreign minister said other parties in the region were ready to act, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported. Egypt said it stepped up diplomatic efforts to get humanitarian aid into Gaza. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told visiting US secretary of state Antony Blinken that Israel's bombardment was disproportional. Blinken will return to Israel on Monday, a senior state department official said, extending his Middle East shuttle diplomacy by a day. A group of US senators will travel to the Middle East to encourage Israel and Saudi Arabia to continue talks on normalising relations, South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham said. The Palestinian Authoritys Wafa mouthpiece has seemingly removed part of a statement in which President Mahmoud Abbas had criticised Hamas, The Times of Israel reported. A report in Wafa initially said that Abbas told Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro that Hamass policies and actions do not represent the Palestinian people, and the Palestine Liberation Organization is the only legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. (With inputs from agencies) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Israel-Hamas war highlights: The Israeli military on Monday said that the Palestine-based Hamas militant group is holding at least 199 hostages in Gaza. Earlier, they had estimated the number to be around 120. Pro-Israeli demonstrators gather outside the headquarters of the BBC to protest about the corporation's coverage of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in London, Britain, October 16, 2023. (REUTERS) Media reports suggested that the US, Israel and Egypt had agreed on a truce to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza through Rafah border. However, this was denied by the office of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The war between Israel and the Hamas militants entered its 10th day on Monday and is expected to escalate further. The Israeli Army has vowed to demolish Hamas as the troops prepared to move into the Gaza Strip in pursuit of Hamas militants whose deadly rampage through Israeli border towns on October 7 shocked the world. The war has claimed over 3,900 lives since it began last Saturday. These include around 1,300 Israelis and 2,670 Palestinians. Israel had urged Palestinians to evacuate to the southern area of the Gaza City enclave ahead of an expected Israel ground offensive against the terror attacks, which hundreds of thousands have done after leaving Gaza City, home to about half the region's more than 2 million people. British prime minister Rishi Sunak said that at least six UK citizens had been killed after Hamas attacked Israel nine days ago, characterising the incident as a "pogrom." Israel-Hamas War: Britain's prime minister Rishi Sunak speaking during a statement on the situation in Israel and Gaza in the House of Commons, in London.(AFP) We should call it by its name. It was a pogrom. The terrible nature of these attacks means it is proving difficult to identify many of the deceased but with a heavy heart I can inform the House (of Commons) that at least six British citizens were killed, a further ten are missing, some of whom are feared to be among the dead, Rishi Sunak said. The British government is increasing its aid to the Palestinian people by a third with 10 million pounds ($12.18 million) more in support, he informed. "We are increasing our aid by a third with an additional 10 million pounds of support. An acute humanitarian crisis is unfolding to which we must respond," Rishi Sunak told lawmakers, adding, "We must support the Palestinian people because they are victims of Hamas too." Earlier, Rishi Sunak condemned some incidents at pro-Palestinian marches in Britain as simply not acceptable. "There is no place in our society for anti-Semitism and we will do everything we can to stamp it out. And where it happens, it will be met with the full force of the law," Rishi Sunak said during a visit to a Jewish school in London. "They've made several arrests but they're also now reviewing footage of some of the things that many people would have seen that are just simply not acceptable, and where they can they will be able to make further arrests," he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON British prime minister Rishi Sunak condemned some incidents at pro-Palestinian marches in Britain as "simply not acceptable" after police made several arrests. Britain's prime minister Rishi Sunak in London. (AP) "There is no place in our society for anti-Semitism and we will do everything we can to stamp it out. And where it happens, it will be met with the full force of the law," Rishi Sunak said during a visit to a Jewish school in London. The police said that 15 people were arrested at Saturday's pro-Palestinian protest in central London. Three men were subsequently charged with committing crimes, including a 68-year-old man suspected of making racist comments. "They've made several arrests but they're also now reviewing footage of some of the things that many people would have seen that are just simply not acceptable, and where they can they will be able to make further arrests," Rishi Sunak informed after tens of thousands of people demonstrated in London and other UK cities in support of Palestinians, a week after Hamas launched the deadliest ever attack on Israel. Hamas killed more than 1,400 people and took dozens more hostage prompting Israel to declare war the next day, unleashing a relentless bombing campaign of Gaza that has left at least 2,750 people dead. The UK government and police said that they have noted a spike in anti-Semitic crime and incidents in Britain since the Hamas attack. Rishi Sunak said he had told members of Britain's Jewish community he would do "everything in our power to keep them safe", warning that praising Hamas, a banned terrorist organisation in the UK, could result in lengthy prison sentences. "It's very clear under the law: the support and glorification of Hamas is illegal and those offences are punishable with up to almost 14 years in jail," he said. The UK police said last week that while supporting Hamas is a crime, general expressions of support for Palestinians, including flying the Palestinian flag, were not criminal offences. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Russian President Vladimir Putin told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call on Monday that Russia was ready to help end the confrontation between Israel and the Palestinians, the Kremlin said. Israel-Hamas War: Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting.(Reuters) "Vladimir Putin informed (Netanyahu) about the steps Russia is taking to help normalize the situation, prevent further escalation of violence and prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip," the Kremlin said. Earlier on Monday Putin discussed the crisis with the leaders of Iran, Egypt, Syria and the Palestinian Authority and said any form of violence against civilians was unacceptable, the Kremlin said. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday announced GBP 10 million in humanitarian aid funding for civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) in response to the escalating Israel-Gaza conflict, as he confirmed that six British nationals have been killed and 10 remain missing in the region. Israel-Hamas War: Israeli soldiers ride in their armoured vehicles towards the border with the Gaza Strip. (AFP) Addressing members of Parliament in the House of Commons, Sunak delivered a statement to reiterate the UKs condemnation of Hamas actions in both Israel and Gaza, and called for immediate access for humanitarian organisations to be allowed to deliver life-saving aid. He described the Hamas strikes on Israel on October 7 as a "pogrom" an act of organised torture or killing of a large group of people on the basis of their race or religion. "We should call it by its name: it was a pogrom," Sunak said. He said the UK is also exploring options for moving humanitarian supplies closer to the region and is liaising with aid agencies in the region to ensure relief supplies can be distributed as quickly and effectively as possible. Im proud that we are a longstanding and significant provider of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people. And I can announce today that we are increasing our aid by a third, with an additional GBP 10 million of support, said Sunak. An acute humanitarian crisis is unfolding, to which we must respond. We must support the Palestinian people because theyre victims of Hamas too, he said. Read more: Vladimir Putin warns on Gaza toll after talks with Mideast leaders The UK government said the funding will allow trusted partners, including key United Nations (UN) agencies to provide essential relief items and services. These could include food, water and emergency shelter, depending on the needs on the ground. We are committed to supporting the Palestinian people they are victims of Hamas too. This funding will provide vital, lifesaving support to Palestinian civilians who are caught up in this conflict and are in desperate need of help, said UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly. Downing Street said both Sunak and Cleverly have spoken to Israel, Egypt and other international partners about opening the Rafah crossing to allow urgent humanitarian aid into Gaza and stressed that all UK aid funding targeted at Palestinian civilians undergoes rigorous oversight to ensure no funding goes to Hamas a banned terrorist organisation in the UK. Relatives of some of the missing Britons were in Parliament watching Sunaks statement, during which he said the UK government is working with Israel to establish the facts and support them through their "unimaginable pain". He asserted the UKs stated stance that it would "support absolutely Israel's right to defend itself" in targeting Hamas and rescuing hostages from Gaza within international law. The British Indian leader said that Hamas is using Palestinians as human shields and 2,600 Palestinians have been killed since the fighting started, with Israel retaliating with airstrikes. We mourn the loss of every innocent life," added Sunak. Opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer agreed that an "acute humanitarian crisis" is unfolding and Israel's defence "must be conducted in accordance with international law", as he noted that the Commons stands united in the face of this international crisis. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the escalation of the Israel-Palestinian conflict with the leaders of Iran, Egypt, Syria and the Palestinian Authority on Monday and said any form of violence against civilians was unacceptable, the Kremlin said. Israel-Hamas War: Russian president Vladimir Putin(AFP) In the conversations, "there was also serious concern about the likelihood of the conflict escalating into a regional war", it said. Putin reaffirmed Russia's commitment to co-ordinate with all "constructive partners" to stop the fighting between Israel and the Palestinians. Vladimir Putin warned about the possibility of a "catastrophic increase" in civilian victims in the Gaza Strip from the Israel-Hamas war. Following calls with several Middle East leaders, Putin also said there was a risk the conflict could become a "regional war", the Kremlin said in a statement. The United States is already involved in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and must be held to account, an Iranian official said. Asked if Tehran would engage if the US weighed in, Iran foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said, Iran considers that the United States is already militarily involved in the conflict between Israel and Palestinians. The crimes of the Zionist regime are carried out with the support of the United States and Washington must be held accountable. Israel-Hamas War: Houses and buildings destroyed in Israeli strikes, in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip.(Reuters) The newest US aircraft carrier - world's largest - is already in the eastern Mediterranean and is due to be joined by a second US aircraft carrier in coming days, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said adding that the aircraft carriers are not a provocation but a deterrence. This comes after Iran's foreign minister warned Israel of escalation if it failed to end aggressions against Palestinians saying that other parties in the region were ready to act. "If the Zionist aggressions do not stop, the hands of all parties in the region are on the trigger," Hossein Amirabdollahian said after Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to demolish Hamas. Read more: Israel accuses Iran of ordering Hezbollah attacks at Lebanon border "The responsibility for the possible opening of new fronts of resistance in the region and any escalation of today's war directly falls on the United States and the Zionist regime (Israel)," Hossein Amirabdollahian said as he met Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Qatar where they discussed the group's deadly attack in Israel "and agreed to continue cooperation" to achieve the group's goals. Iran's president Ebrahim Raisi urged France to help "prevent oppression" of Palestinians in a phone call with his counterpart Emmanuel Macron. "The situation will be complicated ... if the crimes by the Zionist regime, including the killing of people and blockade of Gaza, are not stopped, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mallika Soni When not reading, this ex-literature student can be found searching for an answer to the question, "What is the purpose of journalism in society?" ...view detail US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden on Monday condemned the killing of a six-year-old Muslim boy in Illiois- which the police have linked to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war - calling it a horrific act of hate. Issuing a statement, Biden said such acts have no place in America, and stand against our fundamental values. US President Joe Biden(Getty Images via AFP) Jill and I were shocked and sickened to learn of the brutal murder of a six-year-old child and the attempted murder of the childs mother in their home yesterday in Illinois. The childs Palestinian Muslim family came to America seeking what we all seeka refuge to live, learn, and pray in peace, the statement from the White House read. It added, As Americans, we must come together and reject Islamophobia and all forms of bigotry and hatred. I have said repeatedly that I will not be silent in the face of hate. We must be unequivocal. There is no place in America for hate against anyone. We join everyone here at the White House in sending our condolences and prayers to the family, including for the mothers recovery, and to the broader Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim American communities, Biden said. The six-year-old boy was stabbed to death, while a 32-year-old woman was seriously injured in the US in a hate crime linked to the ongoing deadly Israel-Hamas war. The police have charged a 71-year-old suburban Chicago man with the crime, alleging he singled out both victims because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas. The incident came to light after the police found both victims at a home in an unincorporated area of Plainfield Township, roughly 40 miles (65 kilometres) southwest of Chicago. While the boy was pronounced dead at the hospital, the woman had more than a dozen stab wounds on her body. Reportedly, the suspect was the victims' landlord. Citing text messages from the mother to the boy's father, the suspect reportedly yelled, You Muslims must die! ahead of the stabbing, according to CAIR-Chicago. The six-year-old Muslim boy was stabbed as many as 26 times by his landlord, in what US President Joe Biden described as a horrific act of hate, in Illinois allegedly as a response to the deadly war between Israel and Hamas. His 32-year-old mother was also wounded but is expected to survive, the Will County sheriff's office said in a statement. Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, a Muslim boy who according to police was stabbed to death in an attack that targeted him and his mother for their religion and as a response to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, poses in an undated family photograph.(REUTERS) What know about US Muslim boy's murder in Illinois: 1. While authorities did not immediately release the names of the two victims, the boy's paternal uncle, Yousef Hannon, spoke at a news conference on Sunday hosted by the Chicago chapter Council on American-Islamic Relations. There the boy was identified as Wadea Al-Fayoume, a Palestinian American boy who recently had turned 6, and his mother as Hanaan Shahin. The organisation identified the other victim as the boy's mother. 2. The family came to America seeking what we all seeka refuge to live, learn, and pray in peace, according to the White House. 3. The 71-year-old accused, identified as Joseph Czuba, stabbed the boy with a military-style knife with a 7-inch (18-cm) serrated blade, the Will County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. 4. A serrated military-style knife with a seven-inch blade was pulled from the boy's abdomen during the autopsy, the statement added. 5. Authorities said the woman managed to call 911 as she fought off the landlord. 6. When police arrived they found Czuba sitting on the ground near the driveway of the residence with a laceration on his forehead. He was taken to hospital for treatment before being charged with murder, attempted murder, and two counts of hate crimes. 7. "He knocked on the door and attempted to choke her, and said, 'you Muslims' must die," Ahmed Rehab, head of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Chicago office, told reporters, citing text messages sent by the woman to the murdered boy's father from her hospital bed. 8. Wadea had celebrated his birthday recently before his death, Ahmed Rehab, CAIR-Chicagos executive director, said in a news conference. He was a 6-year-old boy, he loved everything, Rehab said of the child, recalling how Wadeas father had described him. 9. Wadeas mother and father had moved to the United States 12 and nine years ago, respectively, and their son was born here, Rehab added. They were from a village in the West Bank, he said. 10. Biden, in a statement late Sunday, confirmed that the woman was the boy's mother and said their Palestinian Muslim family came to America seeking what we all seek -- a refuge to live, learn, and pray in peace. "This horrific act of hate has no place in America, and stands against our fundamental values," added Biden, calling for Americans to come together and reject Islamaphobia and all forms of bigotry and hatred. (With inputs from agencies) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Aniruddha Dhar Have 11 years' experience in print and digital media. Write on politics, defence and world affairs, and have a keen eye for human-interest stories. ...view detail Pakistan's self-exiled former prime minister Nawaz Sharif will give a road map to pull the cash-strapped country out of the economic mess during his gathering here in the capital of Punjab province on October 21, a media report said on Monday. Commuters ride past the welcoming posters of former Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.(AFP) The Lahore district administration on Sunday allowed the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party to hold a gathering at the Minar-e-Pakistan after the former ruling party sought permission in a bid to whip up support for its supreme leader's return later this week, Dawn news reported. Speaking to workers at a party convention in Mustafabad, PML-N Vice President Hamza Shehbaz said Pakistan will restart its journey towards progress and prosperity with the return of the PML-N supreme leader later this week. In his address at Minar-e-Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif will give a road map to pull the country out of the economic mess, Hamza Shehbaz, the nephew of Nawaz Sharif, said. He said the PML-N and its allies saved the country while risking their political capital. Had there been no agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Pakistan would have gone bankrupt, Hamza said, adding that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government led by its chief Imran Khan brought the country to the verge of default. Hamza, the son of former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, said while the politics of the PML-N revolved around development, jailed former prime minister Khan-led PTI indulged in politics of hate. He referred to the May 9 incidents to back his point. PML-N leader Malik Ahmed, who was a former aide to ex-premier Shehbaz Sharif, said October 21 would not be an ordinary day in fact this would be the day when the country would start its journey towards glory and prosperity. The PML-N is all set to hold the mass public meeting not only to welcome Nawaz Sharif but also to give a befitting reply to the PTI that used the venue to show its massive popularity among the masses, the report said. In response to the request for holding a public meeting at Minar-e-Pakistan and the submission of an affidavit by PML-N leader Bilal Yasin to take full responsibility for the public gathering in case of any untoward incident, the deputy commissioners office issued a no objection certificate (NOC) to the party. The organisers have been instructed to ensure stage security, security of ladies and gents enclosures, emergency exits, measures for avoiding/ controlling stampedes and adequate parking through the hiring of private security and volunteers. Security near and around the pandal (arena) shall be the responsibility of the organisers, said the NOC. The NOC further said objectionable and offensive slogans shall be prohibited. On the other hand, there has been no decision regarding a request by the PTI for a public rally in the provincial capital, the report said. PTI Central Punjab's additional general secretary told Dawn that the civil administration was fiercely following and arresting party leaders, workers and supporters as the crackdown on the PTI continues while the party chairman Khan languishes in jail. A top representative of Pope Francis in the Middle East has said that he will willingly trade places with Israeli children who were abducted by Hamas terrorists. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, 58, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, opened up about his willingness during a video conference with journalists in Italy. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, poses for a photo at the end of the consistory where Pope Francis elevated 21 new cardinals in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023 (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)(AP) I am ready for an exchange, anything, if this can lead to freedom, to bring the children home. No problem. There is total willingness on my part, he said, according to New York Post. The first thing to do is to try to win the release of the hostages, otherwise there will be no way of stopping [an escalation]. We are willing to help, even me personally. Pizzaballa also claimed that his office has not had any direct communication with the terrorists after the October 7 attack on Israel. You cant talk to Hamas. It is very difficult, he said. Pizzaballa notably oversees Roman Catholic activities in Israel and the Palestinian territories. He also oversees Jordan and Cyprus. Since the October 7 attack, over 1,400 Israelis have been killed, most of them civilians, according to officials. Several others were taken hostage by the terrorists. The Hamas attack on Israel over the last weekend claimed the lives of hundreds of civilians.The worst of the attacks, perhaps, was launched at a music festival in Israel. The party descended into chaos when the terrorists attacked the site, killing at least 260 people and abducting many more. Thousands of people attended the party, near Kibbutz Re'im close to Gaza. Palestinian gunmen attacked the site and shot people down as they tried to escape. Meanwhile, at least 27 Americans have reportedly been killed during the attacks over the weekend. The Joe Biden administration has not yet confirmed how many Americans are being held hostage. Even as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wished the Hindu community in Canada on Navratri, a convoy of vehicles driven by pro-Khalistan elements, featuring posters of separatist leaders and blaring divisive slogans, passed by the largest temple in the town of Surrey in British Columbia on Sunday evening. HT Image Satish Kumar, president of the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir in Surrey, described the occurrence as intimidatory, particularly on a day when devotees thronged to the temple. The procession also featured Khalistani flags and promoted the Kill India car rally on October 21, which will end at Indias Consulate in Vancouver. It will start from the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, which was led by Khalistani figure Hardeep Nijjar, till his murder on June 18. It also promoted the next phase of the so-called Khalistan referendum, slated for October 29, also in Surrey. It featured posters of Nijjar and Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the separatist leader who was killed in the operation to flush out terrorists from the Golden Temple in Amritsar in 1984. The Surrey temple has come in the crosshairs of the Khalistani elements twice in recent times, with posters targeting Indias seniormost diplomats pasters to its gate and walls. One person, as yet unidentified, was arrested by the Surrey detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or RCMP in August. Trudeau, meanwhile, wished the community as Navratri commenced but Indo-Canadians were paying special attention to another statement issued by the PM after the terrorist attacks by Hamas on Israel on October 7. As disturbing visuals of celebratory events in Canada, including in the Greater Toronto Area towns of Mississauga went viral, Trudeau tweeted, The glorification of violence is never acceptable in Canada by any group or in any situation. I strongly condemn the demonstrations that have taken place, and are taking place, across the country in support of Hamas attacks on Israel. Lets stand united against acts of terror. However, he has yet to condemn the display of the assassination of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on a tableau that was part of a shaheedi diwas or martyrdom day event in Brampton, a town in the GTA on June 4, marking the 39th anniversary of Operation Bluestar, when Indian forces stormed the Golden Temple. She was assassinated by two members of her security detail on October 31 that year. Similarly, there has bene little criticism of the hoardings and posters of Talwinder Singh Parmar, at some extremist gurdwaras in Canada. Parmar is considered the mastermind of the terrorist bombing of Air India flight 182, the Kanishka. On June 23, 1985, it claimed 329 lives and it remains the deadliest terrorist attack in Canadas history. In fact, pro-Khalistan elements took out a procession in honour of Parmar to the Air India memorial in Toronto in June this year. Dr Azad Kaushik, president of the National Alliance of Indo-Canadians or NAIC, said, Such double speak is reprehensible. Silence of our Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is baffling at best, as he never condemned the deplorable incident, referring to the threat by the secessionist group Sikhs for Justice or SFJ to Hindu Canadians of Indian origin to leave the country. SFJ had argued Hindus had celebrated Nijjars death. That killing, of course, has cratered relations between Canada and India after Trudeaus statement in the House of Commons on September 18 that there were credible allegations of a potential link of Indian agents to it. Nijjar was SFJs principal in British Columbia and the group has said it feels emboldened by Trudeaus statement and considers remarks made by political leaders in the House on September 18 as validation of the Khalistan referendum. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Congress leader Rahul Gandhi arrived in Mizorams Aizawl on Monday for a two-day visit to the election-bound state, where he will participate in a march, address rallies, and hold interactions and meetings. Gandhi flew from Delhi to the Tripura capital Agartala on a special flight and took a helicopter to Aizawl. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. (REUTERS) Congresss Mizoram chief Lalsawta said Gandhi would start his campaign with around 1.5 km march from Chanmari in Aizawl to the governors residence and later address a public gathering and hold an hour-long interaction with students on Monday evening. On Tuesday morning, Gandhi will meet Congress leaders and address a press conference. He will then travel to Lunglei and address a public meeting before flying back to Delhi via Agartala. Gandhis visit is the first by a top Congress leader following last weeks announcement of assembly polls on November 7. Congress, which is expected to announce the list of its candidates on Monday, lost power to Mizo National Front (MNF) in 2018. It managed to get just five of the 40 assembly seats and finished third after MNF and Zoram Peoples Movement, a newly formed party which bagged eight seats. Gandhis visit comes after the Mizoram Peoples Forum (MPF), an independent body of church elders and members of three prominent organisations, signed an agreement with political parties that they would not hold public processions after the announcement of the poll schedule. We will keep a check on Gandhis schedule to ensure that it is not violated, said MPF general secretary Lalramliana Pachuau. Mizoram Congress president Lalsawta Gandhis programmes will not violate the agreement. Gandhi will undertake the march with a few people and our party cadres would not participate. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON After Prince Harry accused the royal family of being racist in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, his elder brother Prince William was irked. The brothers' relationship has been strained ever since Prince Harry quit his royal duties in 2020 and moved to the United States with his wife Meghan Markle. The rift got worse after a series of allegations made by the Duke of Sussex on various occasions, including in his memoir, Spare. Royal Family: Prince William and Prince Harry are seen.(AFP) During the interview with Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle claimed that an unidentified member of the royal family had expressed concerns over their firstborn son, Prince Archie's skin colour. Meghan Markle then said that there had been "concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when hes born". In those months, when I was pregnant, all around this same time, we had in tandem the conversation of he won't be given security, he won't be given a title. And also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin will be when he's born. That was relayed to me from Harry, that was from conversations that family had with him, she said, adding, "It was really hard to see those as compartmentalised conversations." The royal family chose not to comment on the allegations but when Prince William was asked whether he's spoken to Prince Harry after the interview, the former replied with just 11 words: No, I haven't spoken to him yet but I will do. When asked if the royal family was racist, the Prince of Wales asserted, We're very much not a racist family. This comes after a royal author claimed that King Charles is "very jealous" of Prince William and Princess Kate "stealing his limelight" but has reached a compromise with his son and daughter-in-law. Clive Irving said, There's a great deal of feeling that William understands the mood and the reality on the ground far more than Charles ever will." SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to meet this week with Chinese leaders in Beijing on a visit that underscores Chinas economic and diplomatic support for Moscow during its war in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Moscow on March 21, 2023. (AP) The two countries have forged an informal alliance against the United States and other democratic nations that's now complicated by the Israel-Hamas war. China has sought to balance its ties with Israel with its economic relations with Iran and Syria, which are strongly backed by Russia. Putins visit is also a show of support for Chinese leader Xi Jinpings signature Belt and Road drive to build infrastructure and expand Chinas overseas influence. The Russian leader will be among the highest profile guests at a gathering marking the 10th anniversary of Xi's announcement of the policy, which has laden countries such as Zambia and Sri Lanka with heavy debt after they signed contracts with Chinese companies to build roads, airports and other public works they could not otherwise afford. Putin's visit has not been confirmed, but Chinese officials have suggested he will be arriving late Monday. Asked by reporters Friday about a visit to China, Putin said it would encompass talks on Belt and Road-related projects, which he said Moscow wants to link with efforts taken by an economic alliance of ex-Soviet Union nations mostly located in Central Asia to achieve common development goals. He also downplayed the impact of China's economic influence in a region that Russia has long considered its backyard and where it has worked to maintain political and military clout. We dont have any contradictions here, on the contrary, there is a certain synergy, Putin said. Putin noted that he and Xi will also discuss growing economic and financial ties between Moscow and Beijing. One of the main areas is financial relations and creating further incentives for payments in national currencies, Putin said. The volume is growing rapidly, there are good prospects in high-tech areas, in the energy sector. Alexander Gabuev, director of Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, said that from China's view "Russia is a safe neighbor that is friendly, that is a source of cheap raw materials, thats a support for Chinese initiatives on the global stage and thats also a source of military technologies, some of those that China doesnt have. For Russia, China is its lifeline, economic lifeline in its brutal repression against Ukraine, Gabuev told The Associated Press. Its the major market for Russian commodities, its a country that provides its currency and payment system to settle Russias trade with the outside world with China itself, but also with many other countries, and is also the major source of sophisticated technological imports, including dual use goods that go into the Russian military machine. Gabuev said that while Moscow and Beijing will be unlikely to forge a full-fledged military alliance, their defense cooperation will grow. I dont expect that Russia and China will create a military alliance, Gabuev said. Both countries are self-sufficient in terms of security and they benefit from partnering, but neither really requires a security guarantee from the other. And they preach strategic autonomy. There will be no military alliance, but there will be closer military cooperation, more interoperability, more cooperation on projecting force together, including in places like the Arctic and more joint effort to develop a missile defense that makes the U.S. nuclear planning and planning of the U.S. and its allies in Asia and in Europe more complicated, he added. China and the former Soviet Union were Cold War rivals for influence among left-leaning states, but have since partnered in the economic, military and diplomatic spheres. Just weeks before Russia's full-fledged invasion of Ukraine last February, Putin met with Xi in Beijing and the sides signed an agreement pledging a no-limits relationship, and Beijing's attempts to pose itself as a neutral peace broker in Russia's war on Ukraine have been widely dismissed by the international community. Xi visited Moscow in March as part of a flurry of exchanges between the sides. China has condemned international sanctions imposed on Russia, but hasn't directly addressed the arrest warrant issued for Putin by the International Criminal Court on charges of alleged involvement in the abductions of thousands of children from Ukraine. Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov will visit North Korea on Wednesday and Thursday this week, North Korea's state media KCNA and Russia's foreign ministry said on Monday. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov(Reuters) Lavrov's visit comes a month after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made a rare trip to Russia during which he and President Vladimir Putin discussed military cooperation, including over North Korea's satellite programme and the war in Ukraine. The growing diplomatic exchanges between the countries have fanned concerns that they could shore up Russia's military in Ukraine while North Korea obtains missile technology banned under U.N. resolutions. Read more: Former Finnish President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Martti Ahtisaari dies at 86 Washington has accused Pyongyang of providing weapons to Moscow for its war in Ukraine, including through a recent shipment from an ammunition depot in North Korea, though both have denied any arms transactions. Nuclear envoys of South Korea and the United States held talks in the Indonesian capital Jakarta on Monday and warned against any illegal military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, Seoul's foreign ministry said. The envoys also pledged "stern responses" if the North launches a spy satellite this month as it had announced, after two failed attempts. "They reaffirmed that there will be a clear price for North Korea's illegal actions that undermine peace and stability of the Korean peninsula and the international community as a whole," the ministry said in a statement. Travel enthusiasts have been buzzing with excitement over a clever Google Flight trick that recently went viral on TikTok. A popular travel influencer, who goes by the name Around the Atlas, shared a video revealing a little-known Google "cheat code" for finding the most affordable flights to destinations worldwide. Unlocking affordable adventures: TikTok's Google Flights hack goes viral (Image courtesy: Google) In just one day, her video has garnered over 4 million views and over 201,000 saves as people prepared to try out this hack for themselves. The British influencer began by asking her followers, Did I just unlock a cheat code or did everyone know about this?" She went on to explain the simple steps: First, go to Google and search for 'Google Flights.' On the Google Flights website, input your starting location. Then instead of specifying a destination, type 'anywhere' in the destination field. Leave the departure and return dates blank, then click on the 'explore' button. ALSO READ: Google to pay money to customers if flight ticket prices drop after booking. Details Excitedly filming her laptop screen, the TikToker showcased a range of destinations with remarkably low airfares. She marveled at the incredible prices, such as a return flight from London to Barcelona for just 26 ($31) and 54 ($65) to Budapest. She also highlighted long-haul flights to the US, like a 336 ($408) fare to New York. While she mentioned the need to adhere to specific travel dates, she was still amazed at the affordability, particularly for international journeys. Some viewers were familiar with Google Flights but were unaware of the 'anywhere hack.' One person commented, I travel a lot and always use google flights. didnt know this to anywhere though, thanks." Another user mentioned that using incognito mode could make the fares even cheaper, and a third recommended searching for flights on Tuesday or Wednesday around midnight, as well as using incognito mode for better deals. However, not all comments were overwhelmingly positive. Some users pointed out that while the flights were inexpensive, the timing might not always be convenient, often involving inconvenient departure times and multiple layovers. Several users mentioned that Skyscanner and Kayak also offer similar features for finding budget-friendly flights. The influencer herself shared her preference for Skyscanner but noted that it sometimes displays less value-oriented flights due to advertisements. ALSO READ: These Google Flights updates will help book cheaper air tickets. Check details In addition to the 'anywhere hack,' Google Flights now offers insights into the best times to book trips. Utilizing "reliable trend data," this new feature informs users whether prices are currently inflated or discounted. For instance, it may suggest that the optimal time to book similar trips is typically two months before departure. Users can also activate price tracking to receive automatic notifications when fares significantly drop for their chosen destinations and dates. These notifications are sent via email, provided the users are registered with Google. For travelers with flexible schedules, enabling "any dates" will result in emails about deals available anytime within the next three to six months. Furthermore, Google Flights provides a "price guarantee" badge for specific flights, indicating Google's confidence that the fare will not decrease. This newfound feature empowers travelers with valuable information to make informed booking decisions. The UN Security Council said it will discuss the Israel-Hamas war Monday, as the crisis deepens with Israel gearing up for a ground offensive in Gaza. Israel-Hamas War: Israeli soliders ride in their armoured vehicles towards the border with the Gaza Strip.(AFP) The council said it will start deliberations at 6:00 pm (2200 GMT). Diplomats say two competing draft resolutions are being discussed: one from Russia urging a ceasefire and delivery of humanitarian aid, but making no mention of Hamas, and one sponsored by Brazil, calling the Hamas attacks on October 6 that triggered the war an act of terrorism. Russia's draft resolution calls for "unimpeded" humanitarian aid and "an immediate" ceasefire. The Brazilian version differs by stating that it "unequivocally rejects and condemns the heinous terrorist attacks by Hamas" and the taking of hostages by the Palestinian militant group. However, it also "strongly urges" provision of essential goods to Palestinian civilians and urges "humanitarian pauses" to let in humanitarian aid workers. The United States is insisting that the council condemn the Hamas attacks as terrorism, diplomats say. To be adopted, a resolution needs at least nine votes on the 15-member body, and cannot be vetoed by any of the five permanent members -- the United States, Britain, China, France and Russia. Diplomats said the talks were tough going, as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict regularly divides the council. Israel declared war on Hamas a day after waves of its fighters broke through the heavily fortified border, killing more than 1400 people, mostly civilians. Israel has responded by sealing off and bombing Gaza, killing at least 2,750 people, mainly civilians. Israeli authorities say they are preparing a ground offensive to root out Hamas leaders and their armed supporters. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Walt Disney is celebrating 100 years of its existence today with a short titled Once Upon A Studio, which premiered on ABC during The Wonderful World of Disney: Disney's 100th Anniversary Celebration!. On October 16, 1923 Walter and his brother Roy, signed an agreement to produce an animated film series called the Alice Comedies and decided to call their company Disney Brothers Studio. The premiere shows one of the most famous Disney characters, Mickey Mouse looking at a photograph of the Empire creator, Walter Elias Disney and thanking him for creating the imaginative giant. Additionally, the dream-world creator released a trailer of the short film with the same name on their YouTube channel, Walt Disney Animation Studios. The trailer has been viewed by 1.1 people with 37K liking it as well. You can watch it here: An ensemble of Disney's fan-favourite characters come together in a joyful, entertaining and nostalgic reunion. It featured 543 Disney characters from more than 85 feature-length and short films, welcoming princes and princesses, heroes and villains, sidekicks and sorcerers. The film has been hand-drawn and CG-animated to celebrate 100 years of storytelling and entertain the people through a dreamy and idyllic world. Once Upon A Studio first featured at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and is all set to play in front of Wish when it releases in the theatres on November 22, 2023. 100 years of Disney: A glance at history It was on December 5, 1901, when Walter Elias Disney was born in Chicago. With an early interest in art, he took classes as a boy and took the job of a commercial illustrator at the age of 18. On October 16, 1923 Walter and his brother Roy, signed an agreement to produce an animated film series called the Alice Comedies and decided to call their company Disney Brothers Studio. Later in 1926, it was changed to Walt Disney Studio. Between 1928 and 1966, when Walt Disney died at the age of 65, Disney created masterpieces in the form of Mickey Mouse in Steamboat Willie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, and Mary Poppins. From 1971 the empire was extended to Orlando, Tokyo, Paris, and California which has only extended through the years. Recently, the animation giant has come up with new characters such as Elsa and Anna from Frozen, Miguel from Coco, Mirabel Madrigal from Encanto and hopefully many more to come. 100 years of Disney: Fans celebrate the milestone together Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! A body has been found during the search for an Indiana teacher who had gone missing. The body was reportedly found face down in a river in Puerto Rico. 44-year-old Amanda Lynn Webster disappeared from her Airbnb on a trip to the island, and was reported missing last week. Amanda was an art teacher at the Thompson Crossing Elementary School in Indianapolis, and also worked with special-education students at Franklin Township schools. Amanda Lynn Webster was an art teacher at the Thompson Crossing Elementary School in Indianapolis (Amanda Webster/Facebook) According to an English translation of a local police statement on Facebook, The body was found upside down floating in a rocky area of the river, so the CIC team of the Police, along with the Prosecutor's Office and staff of the Forensic Institute are working on the extraction and identification process of it. At this stage it is not possible to identify the gender of the body or conclude if it shows signs of violence. Late last week, Police Commissioner Antonio Lopez Figueroa activated an Ashanti Alert asking for peoples help in the search for Amanda. She was last seen at Casa Parcha guest house near El Yunque National Park in Naguabo. Since last Wednesday, a contingent of agents from the Criminal Investigations Corps (CIC) of the Police, attributed to Humacao, supported by State Emergency Management personnel, from the municipality of Naguabo and Bayamon. The U.S. Forest Service came together to support the search in the wooded area, where she was spotted by a citizen, the post says. Is the body Amanda Lynn Websters? Although the statement says the body has not been identified, sources close to Amandas family told Fox 59 that the body was hers. Im just happy she was found and that her family, her students and the community and all her friends can have some form of closure even though its pretty earth shattering, Amandas friend Sharon Rickson told WTHR. Theres hundreds if not thousands of lives she directly impacted. A lot of people are going to be feeling this loss. She was such a force. She was such a positive force. You would feel her presence and her warmth immediately. She gave the best hugs, Sharon added. She was very unique, happy-go-lucky, never met a stranger and absolutely beautiful radiant personality. We are really going to miss her. 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! Colorado cops have said thatscientists and anthropologists must look for answers following multiple Bigfoot sightings. This comes a few days after a creature resembling Bigfoot wascaught on camera walking across a hillside in Colorado. The creature was seen roaming through the San Juan National Forest on two legs, near the New Mexico and Utah borders (bt92.travels/Instagram) A Bigfoot, or cryptid, is an animal whose existence is unsubstantiated, like the yeti. While many people claimed to have seen the creature, there is massive scepticism around its existence. What isSan Juan County Undersheriff Steve Lowrance saying? San Juan County Undersheriff Steve Lowrance told TMZ that scientists and anthropologists should now be alert and investigate the sighting in Colorado to determine if the creature is indeed legit. Steve said he personally does not believe in the Bigfoot rumours, as he has lived in the area for as many as 35 years, but never witnessed such a thing. The publication said that it learned that over the past years, there have been about three bigfoot sightings in San Juan County. However, no crimes were ever reported, including deaths and missing person cases, connected to the animal. The recent Bigfoot sighting in Colorado In the latest video in question, the creature was seen roaming through the San Juan National Forest on two legs, near the New Mexico and Utah borders. The animal was captured on camera by onlookers on a train travelling from Durango to Silverton in the southwest corner of Colorado. Shannon Parker and her husband Stetson spotted the alleged Bigfoot while on the train, and the person sitting next to them recorded the sighting on their phone. Shannon, too, captured photos, which the Denver Gazette obtained. Shannon said she found it strange that most people on the train did not seem to notice the creature. The USForest Service has stated that they cannot say if the footage is real or fake. 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 Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is facing flak for sharing a fake post with images of dead children alleging that they were Palestinians killed by Israeli forces. Taking to X(formerly Twitter) on Saturday, Omar reposted the images with the caption CHILD GENOCIDE IN PALESTINE. After being called out, she quietly un-reposted the tweet. Ilhan Omar(File Photo) After a fact check by several agencies, it was found that the images of dead children were taken from an article by National Geographic in 2013. The dead children were from Syria, who got killed due to chemical weapons attack on August 21, 2013. Omar is under fire for making several posts against Israel during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Notably several lawmakers in the US, are supporting Israel's tough stance against Hamas. But Omar has criticised Israel's ongoing offensive in Gaza. Netizens condemned Omar for sharing fake images in order to further her anti-Israel narrative. Taking to X(formerly Twitter), several users trolled her. "There's a ton of misinformation, especially following highly emotional events or warzone content. Ilhan Omar is a huge deceptive fraud across the board, so this is expected," read part of a tweet by one user. "Not at all unexpected, right?," wrote another person. ALSO READ| Here is what Meghan Markle tearfully told royal expert about leaving the British Royal Family Earlier, Omar was highly criticised for supporting Canada over the diplomatic row with India involving the death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Meanwhile, Israel is set to start ground offensive against Hamas in the Gaza strip region. The Israeli government has vowed to decimate Hamas terror network so that they are not able to raise their sting for the next 50 years. Notably, Israeli Defence Forces are avenging the death of hundreds of innocent civilians massacred by Hamas during a terrorist attack on October 7. By entering Israeli soil on a Jewish holiday, Hamas terrorists had beheaded babies, killed innocent people, destroyed homes and murdered security personnel. 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! President Joe Biden may visit Israel soon, even as the country prepares for a possible ground invasion of Gaza. FILE - President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)(AP) According to an anonymous senior administration official speaking to the Associated Press on Sunday, the US President has not disclosed any official travel arrangements to Israel, which is currently in its second week of conflict with Hamas. Biden has been a staunch supporter of Israel since the unexpected attack by Hamas on October 7, resulting in over 1,400 casualties, including at least 30 Americans. But he has also tried to restrain Israel from escalating the conflict by reoccupying Gaza. I think itd be a big mistake, Biden said in an interview with CBS 60 Minutes that aired Sunday. Look, what happened in Gaza, in my view, is Hamas, and the extreme elements of Hamas dont represent all the Palestinian people. And I think that it would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza again. ALSO READ| No place in America for hate against anyone, President Joe Biden condemns murder of 6-year-old Illinois boy The president and his administration have avoided criticizing Israel or its relentless bombing campaign that has killed hundreds of civilians, including women and children, in Gaza. On Friday, Israel issued a 24-hour evacuation notice to one million residents in the northern region of the Gaza Strip in anticipation of an impending assault on the area. A tragic incident unfolded as at least 70 Palestinians lost their lives, and another 200 were left injured during an airstrike while attempting to comply with the evacuation orders. Israel has denied responsibility for this attack, adding to the toll of the ongoing conflict, which has claimed the lives of at least 2,400 Palestinians thus far. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been on a diplomatic mission throughout the Middle East in the past week, working diligently to prevent the conflict with Hamas from escalating into a broader regional crisis. Blinken emphasized Israel's legitimate right to defend itself against Hamas attacks while urging a cautious approach that considers the well-being of civilian lives in their counteroffensive operations. Im confident that Israel is going to act under the rules of war, Biden said on 60 Minutes. ALSO READ| Weve got to be on the lookout, FBI Chief warns of growing lone wolf terror threats on US soil amid Hamas situation Theres standards that democratic institutions and countries go by, he said. And Im confident that theres going to be an ability for the innocents in Gaza to be able to have access to medicine and food and water. The White House also appointed David Satterfield, a former ambassador to Lebanon and Turkey, to lead US efforts to get humanitarian assistance to vulnerable people through the Middle East. Satterfield was expected to arrive in Israel on Monday. 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! Some Black queer activists who spoke at the 60th anniversary of the 1963 march on Washington this summer felt that their voices were not heard enough, as they addressed a sparse crowd before the main event. They also felt that their struggle for LGBTQ+ rights was overshadowed by the historical neglect and exclusion of Black queer leaders in the civil rights movement. NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 04: People gather at a memorial for OShae Sibley on August 04, 2023 in New York City. Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by SPENCER PLATT / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)(Getty Images via AFP) They were encouraged, however, by the fact that some prominent speakers highlighted the current political attacks on LGBTQ+ rights, such as the attempts to ban gender-affirming care for minors. And despite the challenges of visibility and representation of Black queer activists in social movements, some advances are being made in the political arena. This month, Senator Laphonza Butler became the first Black and openly lesbian senator in Congress, as she replaced the late Dianne Feinstein. Several activists and lawmakers told the Associated Press that honoring the legacies of Black queer civil rights icons and increasing the representation of Black LGBTQ+ people in politics and advocacy are essential to correct the erasure of their contributions. ALSO READ| Weve got to be on the lookout, FBI Chief warns of growing lone wolf terror threats on US soil amid Hamas situation We have to also then distinguish what it means to be queer in a world that thinks that queerness is adjacent to whiteness and that queerness saves you from racism. It does not, said Hope Giselle, a speaker who is Black and trans, and communications director for the GSA Network, a non-profit that helps students form gay-straight alliance clubs in schools. In an interview with the Associated Press, Butler said she hopes that her appointment signals progress in the broader cause of representation. Its too early to tell. But what I know is that history will be recorded in our National Archives, the representation that I bring to the United States Senate, she said last week. I am not shy or bashful about who I am and who my family is. So my hope is that I have lived out loud enough to overcome the tactics of today. But we dont know yet what the tactics of erasure are for tomorrow, Butler said. In a 2023 study conducted by the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute, it was found that Black LGBTQ+ political representation has surged by a remarkable 186% since 2019. Notably, this surge included the historic election of former New York representatives Mondaire Jones and Ritchie Torres, both of whom were the first openly gay individuals of Black and Afro-Latino heritage to serve as congressmen, following the 2020 election. Additionally, the report highlights the significant achievement of former Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot in this context. These leaders are treading a path similar to that of civil rights icons like Bayard Rustin, Pauli Murray, and Audre Lorde. It's noteworthy that historical accounts often emphasize their Black identities while downplaying or erasing their queer identities in their roles within the civil rights and feminist movements. This observation was made by David Johns, who serves as the executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, a prominent LGBTQ+ civil rights organization. FILE - Bayard Rustin, leader of the March on Washington, poses for a photo Aug. 1, 1963, in New York. Black LGBTQ+ political representation has grown by 186% since 2019, according to a 2023 report by the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute. These leaders stand on the shoulders of civil rights leaders such as Rustin. (AP Photo/Eddie Adams, File)(AP) Rustin, who served as an advisor to the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. and played a pivotal role in organizing the historic 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, serves as a prominent illustration of this phenomenon.The march he helped plan paved the way for the passage of federal civil rights and voting rights laws in the next few years. But his gay identity is often treated as a minor detail rather than a crucial part of his involvement, Johns said. We need to teach our public school students history, herstory, our beautifully diverse ways of being, without censorship, he said. There is a belief that the marginalization of Black LGBTQ+ leaders can be attributed to the influence of respectability politics, a tactic in certain marginalized communities that involves isolating or penalizing individuals who do not conform to the prevailing societal norms. "White supremacist ideology intertwined with Christianity has not only perpetuated racism and systemic oppression but also played a role in erasing Black queer history. While the Black Christian church played a pivotal role in the civil rights movement, it has, at the same time, demonstrated a 'theological hostility' toward LGBTQ+ communities," stated Don Abram, the executive director of Pride in the Pews. ALSO READ| Poll reveals most Americans want the US government to publicly support Israel He further highlighted that this co-optation of religious practices by white supremacists is being used as a means to subjugate Black, queer, and transgender individuals. Abram noted, "They are largely using moralistic language, theological language, religious language to justify oppressing queer and trans folk." It's worth noting that not all queer advocacy communities have been inclusive of Black LGBTQ+ voices. Andrea Jenkins, the president of the Minneapolis city council, emphasized her commitment to amplifying queer visibility within Black spaces as well as promoting Black representation within predominantly white, queer spaces. "We need to ensure that more Black, queer, transgender, and nonconforming individuals have a presence in these political spaces to bridge these gaps," Jenkins explained. "Creating awareness on both sides of the issue is crucial in uniting people and ensuring full community participation." 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! President Joe Biden expressed his shock and sorrow over the murder of the child and the attempted murder of his mother in their home in Illinois. Biden calls for unity against Islamophobia and bigotry after murder of child(AP/ FIle/Council on AmericanIslamic Relations) On Saturday, a 71-year-old man stabbed a 6-year-old boy to death and wounded his mother in a hate crime motivated by their Muslim faith and the war between Israel and Hamas, according to police. The childs Palestinian Muslim family came to America seeking what we all seeka refuge to live, learn, and pray in peace. This horrific act of hate has no place in America, and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are, Biden said in a statement. ALSO READ| From Royalty to reality TV? Kris Jenner's plan to bring Meghan Markle into the Kardashian fold He also called on Americans to unite and reject Islamophobia and all forms of bigotry and hatred. I have said repeatedly that I will not be silent in the face of hate. We must be unequivocal. There is no place in America for hate against anyone, he said. He offered his condolences and prayers to the family, including for the mothers recovery, and to the broader Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim American communities. The suspect, Joseph Czuba, was the landlord of the victims, who lived on the ground floor of his home in Plainfield Township, Ill. On Saturday morning, he allegedly knocked on their door and attacked them with a large military-style knife, shouting, You Muslims must die! at them, as the boys father learned from text messages. The boy, Wadea Al-Fayoume, a Palestinian-American who had recently celebrated his sixth birthday, died from 26 stab wounds, while his mother, Hanaan Shahin, 32, survived with more than a dozen stab wounds. She was in critical condition but expected to recover. Will County sheriffs deputies arrived at the scene and found Czuba sitting in front of the home with a cut on his forehead. He was arrested and taken to a hospital for treatment. Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis, the Will County Sheriffs Office said in a statement. The Council on American-Islamic Relations Chicago chapter (CAIR-Chicago) condemned the violence and said it was part of a disturbing increase in hate crimes against Muslims after Hamas attack on Israel and Israels subsequent declaration of war. ALSO READ| Illinois man kill Muslim boy in hate crime motivated by Israeli-Hamas war, say police The group said Czuba had been angry with what he was seeing in the news and went to confront the family. What we have is a murdered Palestinian child, created by the radicalization, said CAIR president Ahmed Rehab. Czuba was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crimes and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. He is currently being held at the Will Countys Adult Detention facility. 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 US is facing a growing number of terror threats, especially from lone wolves who may be inspired by the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the FBI chief warned on Saturday. FILE PHOTO: FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before a House Judiciary Committee hearing on "oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation" and alleged politicization of law enforcement, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., July 12, 2023. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo(REUTERS) Speaking at the International Association of Chiefs of Police annual conference in San Diego, FBI Director Christopher Wray, 56, said that the recent events in the Middle East have created a heightened environment for potential violence in the US. We remain committed to continue confronting those threats. History has been witness to antisemitic and other forms of violent extremism for far too long, he said, according to an FBI transcript. In this heightened environment, theres no question were seeing an increase in reported threats, and weve got to be on the lookout, especially for lone actors who may take inspiration from recent events to commit violence of their own. Wray did not provide any specific details about the domestic threats that the bureau is dealing with, but he urged law enforcement officials to share any intelligence or observations they may have and assured them that the FBI will do the same. The FBI chief's warning came a day after former Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal declared Oct. 13 as a 'Day of Jihad' against Israel. Hamas, which is recognized as a terrorist group by the US and most Western countries, launched a surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, sparking a war that has killed more than 1,300 Israelis and 2,400 Palestinians, according to local authorities. Among the casualties are at least 29 Americans who have died in the conflict, and 15 who are missing, some of whom may be held hostage by Hamas, according to the US State Department. Israel has responded to the Hamas attack by bombing the Gaza Strip, where Hamas is based, and has asked hundreds of thousands of people living near Gaza City to evacuate as it prepares for a possible ground invasion. ALSO READ| Poll reveals most Americans want the US government to publicly support Israel Iran, which supports Hamas and other militant groups in the region, has threatened to intervene if Israel invades Gaza, while the US has tried to prevent Tehran from interfering in the conflict. The Biden administration has expressed its strong support for Israel as it defends itself from the terrorist attacks. Theres no justification for terrorism. Theres no excuse, President Biden said last week. We will make sure Israel has what it needs to take care of its citizens, defend itself and respond to this attack. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! A federal judge has been considering whether to issue a gag order against former U.S. president Donald Trump, since the hearing in Washington DC on Monday. This is about the participants, the witnesses, in this trial," said prosecutor Molly Gaston on Donald receiving a potential gag order for attacking witnesses and judges. Mr. Trump is a criminal defendant. He is facing four felony charges. He is under the supervision of the criminal justice system and he must follow his conditions of release, said District Judge Tanya Chutkan. He does not have the right to say and do exactly what he pleases. Do you agree with that? she asked Trump attorney John Lauro, who responded: 100%. Additionally, the judge added that the trial date set for early march 2024 will not be changed, stating: This trial will not yield to the election cycle, and we will not revisit the trial date. Judge Chutkan has been the target of many of the former president's attacks and has warned him earlier that the comments he and his attorneys make could threaten the case. Following, the two federal indictments he is facing currently, Donald, 77, has lasted out on a variety of people through social media and public comments such as prosecutors, potential witnesses and judges. For instance, he has attacked Judge Chutkan as a biased, Trump hating judge and has called counsel Smith deranged and a thug. Prosecutors from Special Counsel Jack Smith's office state that the comments could lead to a restriction on Trump's speech on the case. In their defence, Donald's attorneys attacked that the proposed gag order is fundamentally antithetical to his First Amendment rights and suggested that it's a way being used by President Joe Biden and the Justice Department to hurt the GOP presidential candidate's campaign. Special Counsel Jack Smith states limits are essential to prohibiting witness intimidation Prosecutors in the case add that the former president;s attacks against potential witnesses like former Vice President Mike Pence and former Attorney General Bill Barr, could result in witness intimidation by his followers. The defendants relentless public posts marshaling anger and mistrust in the justice system, the Court, and prosecutors have already influenced the public, they wrote in a filing in September. Adding: For instance, on August 5, 2023, an individual was arrested because she called the Courts chambers and made racist death threats to the Court that were tied to the Courts role in presiding over the defendants case. Prosecutor Molly Faston added that they "have no interest in stopping the defendant from running for office or defending his reputation, nor does our proposed order do that. This is about the participants, the witnesses, in this trial." 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! Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on Wednesday, the Kremlin said. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia.(File) It said Putin would hold talks with Xi "on the sidelines" of China's Belt and Road Initiative forum on October 18. Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to meet this week with Chinese leaders in Beijing on a visit that underscores Chinas economic and diplomatic support for Moscow during its war in Ukraine. The two countries have forged an informal alliance against the United States and other democratic nations that's now complicated by the Israel-Hamas war. China has sought to balance its ties with Israel with its economic relations with Iran and Syria, which are strongly backed by Russia. Putins visit is also a show of support for Chinese leader Xi Jinpings signature Belt and Road drive to build infrastructure and expand Chinas overseas influence. The Russian leader will be among the highest profile guests at a gathering marking the 10th anniversary of Xi's announcement of the policy, which has laden countries such as Zambia and Sri Lanka with heavy debt after they signed contracts with Chinese companies to build roads, airports and other public works they could not otherwise afford. Putin's visit has not been confirmed, but Chinese officials have suggested he will be arriving late Monday. Asked by reporters Friday about a visit to China, Putin said it would encompass talks on Belt and Road-related projects, which he said Moscow wants to link with efforts taken by an economic alliance of ex-Soviet Union nations mostly located in Central Asia to achieve common development goals. He also downplayed the impact of China's economic influence in a region that Russia has long considered its backyard and where it has worked to maintain political and military clout. We dont have any contradictions here, on the contrary, there is a certain synergy, Putin said. Putin noted that he and Xi will also discuss growing economic and financial ties between Moscow and Beijing. One of the main areas is financial relations and creating further incentives for payments in national currencies, Putin said. The volume is growing rapidly, there are good prospects in high-tech areas, in the energy sector. Alexander Gabuev, director of Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, said that from China's view "Russia is a safe neighbor that is friendly, that is a source of cheap raw materials, thats a support for Chinese initiatives on the global stage and thats also a source of military technologies, some of those that China doesnt have. For Russia, China is its lifeline, economic lifeline in its brutal repression against Ukraine, Gabuev told The Associated Press. Its the major market for Russian commodities, its a country that provides its currency and payment system to settle Russias trade with the outside world with China itself, but also with many other countries, and is also the major source of sophisticated technological imports, including dual use goods that go into the Russian military machine. Gabuev said that while Moscow and Beijing will be unlikely to forge a full-fledged military alliance, their defense cooperation will grow. I dont expect that Russia and China will create a military alliance, Gabuev said. Both countries are self-sufficient in terms of security and they benefit from partnering, but neither really requires a security guarantee from the other. And they preach strategic autonomy. There will be no military alliance, but there will be closer military cooperation, more interoperability, more cooperation on projecting force together, including in places like the Arctic and more joint effort to develop a missile defense that makes the U.S. nuclear planning and planning of the U.S. and its allies in Asia and in Europe more complicated, he added. China and the former Soviet Union were Cold War rivals for influence among left-leaning states, but have since partnered in the economic, military and diplomatic spheres. Just weeks before Russia's full-fledged invasion of Ukraine last February, Putin met with Xi in Beijing and the sides signed an agreement pledging a no-limits relationship, and Beijing's attempts to pose itself as a neutral peace broker in Russia's war on Ukraine have been widely dismissed by the international community. Xi visited Moscow in March as part of a flurry of exchanges between the sides. China has condemned international sanctions imposed on Russia, but hasn't directly addressed the arrest warrant issued for Putin by the International Criminal Court on charges of alleged involvement in the abductions of thousands of children from Ukraine. A majority of Americans feel that the Israeli governments military action in response to the attack by the Palestine-based Hamas militant group is justified, a survey by CNN showed. Pro-Israel activists during a demonstration in New York City on October 13.(AFP) According to the survey, 50% of Americans justified Tel Aviv's action, 20% said it was partially justified, and only 8% saw the development as unjustified. At least 21% of the participants in the survey were unsure. The Benjamin Netanyahu-led Israeli government has vowed to annihilate Hamas after it attacked Israel on October 7. Backed by a barrage of rockets, Hamas militants entered Israeli towns and killed at least 1,300 persons, including military personnel. They also took 120 people hostage. Since then, Israel has been carrying out retaliatory airstrikes in Gaza. At least 2,670 Palestinians, including more than 600 children, have been killed and thousands have been injured and displaced in waves of the missile attack by Israel. Israel has warned all those in the Gaza Strip to evacuate before an expected ground offensive. The United States has said that it stands with Israel in its war against Hamas, but emphasised that ordinary civilians in Palestine were suffering unnecessarily. US President Joe Biden has also weighed against the idea of a ground invasion of Palestine by Israel. Students take part in a protest in support of Israel amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza at Columbia University in New York on October 12.(Reuters) According to CNN's survey, at least 47% of Americans have expressed a moderate amount of trust in Biden's handling of the affair. This is 5% more than what they had expressed at the outset of the war between Ukraine and Russia. A sizable 71% of Americans say they feel a lot of sympathy for the Israeli people over the attacks by Hamas on October 7, with nearly all, 96%, expressing at least some sympathy for them, the survey report said. A broad majority also feel at least some sympathy for the Palestinian people (87%), but fewer feel a lot of sympathy for the Palestinians (41%). Nearly 84% of Americans expressed at least some sympathy for both Israeli and Palestinian people as they face ongoing war, it added. In terms of political affiliation, Republicans (45%) justified Israel's action over independents (45%) and Democrats (38%). Agewise too, older Americans were much likelier to say that Israel's actions are completely justified. 81% of those age 65 or older see the response as fully justified, compared with 56% of 50-to-64-year-olds, 44% of 35-to-49-year-olds and 27% of 18-to-34-year-olds, the report pointed out. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON An Alabama woman named Ashley Caswell delivered her child alone in the jail shower. The Etowah county arrested her for violating Alabama law of not protecting an unborn child. Caswell was first detained in March 2021 by the sheriffs in Etowah County, Alabama, on suspicion that she had used methamphetamine while pregnant and was "endangering" the health of her unborn child. Caswell Charged For 'Endangering Fetus' Pregnancy Justice Senior Staff Attorney Emma Roth said Etowah county claims they prosecute women to protect their fetus, or their unborn child from harm. Etowah county staff members refused to let Caswell use the prescribed breast pump or ibuprofen when she got back to the jail from the hospital. Caswell shared that she begged to be transferred to a hospital when her water broke in October. However, as Caswell's lawyer claimed, Etowah county officials advised her to "sleep it off" and "wait until Monday" to give birth. Caswell had an early pregnancy, and according to her medical records, she lost blood and amniotic fluid and gave birth to her child while standing alone in a jail shower in nearly 12-hour labor. The Etowah county officials only gave her Tylenol to ease her discomfort and instructed her to "stop screaming" and "deal with the pain" and that she was "not in full labor." Caswell nearly bled to death, but the newborn survived, and the Etowah county officials separated the child from her after the labor. Read Also: Walgreens Pharmacies May Be Closed Next Week; Workers Preparing to Strike Over Pay, Benefits Caswell Files Lawsuit Against Etowah County Staff Caswell sued the Etowah County Staff, including Etowah County Sheriff Jonathan Horton, Chief Keith Peek, chief of administration, Doctor's Care Physicians, CED Mental Health Services, and other members of the medical and correction staff at the jail. The attorneys from Pregnancy Justice, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell filed the lawsuit. According to the lawsuit, Caswell was diagnosed with PTSD and depression. The Etowah county staff could not even get her medication to treat her illness, and had to sleep on a thin mattress on the floor. "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," Roth said in a statement in AL. Roth added that Etowah County violated her constitutional rights and showed discrimination to mothers and children. She said "torture" is the term to describe Caswell's situation in the jail. Furthermore, Pregnancy Justice reported this year that Alabama had the highest number of pregnancy criminalization cases in the country from 2006 to 2022. Related Article: New Jersey: Tenafly Council President, Son Arrested for Possessing Child Sexual Abuse Material @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. New reports claim that cyberattacks against businesses are drastically increasing. Researchers warn that over 80% of organizations already experienced more than one data breach in 2022. Meanwhile, other data claim that ransomware attacks spiked by more than 10%. This is alarming since these details show that more and more companies are falling victim to cybercriminals. New Reports Claim Businesses Now More Vulnerable to Cyberattacks According to Harvard Business Review, a new IBM Data Breach Report warned that organizations experienced more than one cyberattack in 2022; 83% fell victim to ransomware gangs. Aside from this research, the 2022 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report also revealed that the overall cyberattack breaches in 2022 increased by up to 13%. Involved cybersecurity experts said that this percentage is equal to all the company breaches that happened over the last five years combined. Read Also: CareSource's Data Leak Leads to Class-Action Lawsuit; Plaintiffs Experience Anxiety After Learning the Breach Latest Cyberattacks Against Companies Among the latest cybersecurity breaches that happened are the following two: OpenAI ChatGPT: payment-related details and other sensitive information were leaked because of an exploited bug in an open-source library. Samsung: Reports claim that three Samsung employees leaked the company's sensitive database after using ChatGPT. Aside from the Samsung and OpenAI cybersecurity attacks, organizations in other parts of the world also fell victim to ransomware groups. These include the massive cyberattack against PSA (Philippine Statistics Authority) and PhilHealth (Philippine Health Insurance Corp.). On Oct. 11, Rappler reported that PSA announced a major breach after some online posts showed blurred PSA ID photos and other personal details. PSA informed the National Privacy Commission regarding the breach. As part of its safety efforts, the statistics organization said that it isolated and closed the system that has been affected. The organization claims that the breach didn't affect other critical systems, such as those that process civil registry and National IDs. In the case of PhilHealth, the corporation said that a Medusa ransomware attack successfully breached its system. Since this is ransomware, it is more serious compared to what PSA experienced. After the ransomware was confirmed, PhilHealth urged its clients to use the PhilHealth Member Portal when accessing their memberships and contribution records. PhilHealth Chief Emmanuel R. Ledesma, Jr. provided some tips to their members to avoid getting their data leaked. "It is best to ignore suspicious calls and to delete text or emails from unknown and suspicious senders to avoid being victimized by scammers," he said. Related Article: Clorox Shortages Blamed on Recent Cyberattack-Here's Why Consumer Products Giants Still Suffer @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A suspect has been taken into custody after a shooting at the State Fair of Texas on Saturday night, October 14, that resulted in the injuries of three individuals and caused fear among the festival attendees. State Fair Shooting According to Dallas police, the incident occurred at around 7:45 PM local time at the Tower Building's food court. The police added that the three persons who were hurt were not in critical condition. One of the casualties is a maintenance worker at the fair who was hit in the arm. The Dallas Morning News reported that at roughly the same time the State Fair announced on social media that Fair Park was being evacuated, police announced that they had taken a suspect into custody. Police claimed to have apprehended the shooter but did not reveal who it was. Families trying to go back to their cars caused a traffic jam outside the fairgrounds. Under trees and on curbs, groups of stranded fairgoers waited for rides while brake lights and police sirens blared. Adam Bazaldua, a member of the Dallas City Council whose district includes Fair Park, posted on X (formerly Twitter) that he had been informed on the matter by City Manager T.C. Broadnax. Bazaldua said that a fight between two acquaintances was what prompted the shooting, as Fox News reported. Police said they had tracked down everyone involved and found a pistol at the site of the crime. See Also: Police Arrest 17-Year-Old in Investigation of Morgan State University Shooting, Search for Second Suspect BREAKING: There is currently active shooter at the Texas State Fair. pic.twitter.com/KbyY1QXIhV Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) October 15, 2023 Nightmare for Visitors and Staff Online footage captured the commotion that ensued as fairgoers scrambled for safety in the minutes after the gunshot. Dozens of people fled in terror from the area around the Midway. Some parents yelled as they hurried around looking for their kids. Children in strollers were heard crying as adults marched outside the fairgrounds. Some people stopped to hide beneath rides, while others continued running. Clara Bishop, 20, was carrying a friend's phone and luggage as they entered a UFO ride and began shouting at them to get off. Bishop had not gone to the fair like this since she was a kid. "I was on the verge of tears," she told the Dallas Morning News. Office worker Johnna McKee, 63, was at The Dock restaurant when she heard gunfire coming from the Tower Building. She and the other employees promptly began securing the restaurant's entrances. "There's a calmness that comes across you. I had to keep my composure while telling everyone there was an active shooter and that we were going into lockdown," she said. Juan Reaves, 52, was hurrying to his vehicle to get extra turkey legs for his Smokey John's Bar-B-Que restaurant when the panic broke out. He started getting texts from his workers, who were spread out among six different kiosks in the park. "It was a banner day. Sales were going great. But all of that came screeching to a halt." See Also: Philadelphia International Airport Shooting Leaves 1 Off-Duty Police Officer Dead, 1 Injured @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The streets of Berlin appeared to turn back the clock to 1938 after the homes of German Jews were vandalized with the Star of David as the Israel-Hamas War entered its second week. The Nazis marked Jewish homes and businesses during the Holocaust as part of their cruel and oppressive agenda. These markings weren't just symbols; they were harbingers of fear and isolation. They were a dark reminder that Jewish individuals and families were singled out, pic.twitter.com/6OAV4TFP11 Tired Kitten (@psychotic_bat) October 14, 2023 Jewish homes in Germany's capital were allegedly targeted after pictures of homes with graffiti of the Jewish emblem circulated online, with German police reporting at least four cases of such in recent days, German news outlet Bild reported. Among the homes targeted was that of a young Jewish woman who said she was shocked to return to her apartment on Thursday evening (October 12) after a mezuzah - a Jewish house blessing - to find a star marked on her door. She added the marking on her front door left her "scared." Jewish home in Berlin marked by vandalswhat era are we in? pic.twitter.com/igmdiRrDTb Nate McMurray (@Nate_McMurray) October 15, 2023 German Intel Chief Fears for a Palestinian Pogrom Police said they were now investigating whether the houses targeted so far have a Jewish resident and whether there was a connection to the incidents, which are considered a crime under German law. The intelligence chief of the German state of Thuringia, Stephan Kramer, told local media that radicalized sympathizers could possibly carry out concrete antisemitic attacks against Jewish and Israeli institutions and people amid Hamas's attack on Israel and the resulting shelling of Gaza. Kramer added that some Palestinians were "openly and blatantly calling for a kind of Kristallnacht 2.0." Read Also: Germany Wants to Minimize Deportations Amid Mounting Migrant Pressure A 21st Century 'Kristallnacht'? Kristallnacht, also called the Night of Broken Glass or the November Pogroms, was an event in Nazi Germany in November 1938, when Nazi brownshirts painted the Star of David in white on the doors of Jewish businesses to discourage non-Jewish Germans from going into them. Some considered the event to be the beginning of the Holocaust. According to the Daily Mail, incidents of anti-semitism and protests for most of last week have invoked fear for Jewish people across Europe since the war broke out. A synagogue in Madrid was vandalized, where a graffiti reading "Free Palestine" was written next to a crossed-out Star of David. There were also cases of antisemitic acts recorded in France, where authorities there have arrested at least 50 people on charges of targeting the largest Jewish community in Europe, including a man of Muslim Chechen descent who killed a schoolteacher in a knife attack which coincided with a string of protests from across the Muslim world this weekend. Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged 3 million (3.64 million) to help protect synagogues and Jewish schools, some of which have had to close over safety fears. The Community Security Trust (CST), a UK-based Jewish community protection group, said it recorded a 324% increase in instances of anti-Semitism in the four days after October 7 compared to the same period last year. Related Article: Still Alive? Naked Girl Paraded by Hamas Reportedly in Gaza Hospital @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. On Sunday, American Maha Barakat claimed to have fled several times but is still stuck in Gaza with necessities running out amid constant bombings. The US State Department officials contacted Barakat and said they will try to get her and other US citizens out of Gaza. US State Department Officials Plan to Get Americans Out of Gaza According to ABC News, the US Embassy in Jerusalem advised American citizens to safely move to Southern Gaza towards Gaza Valley and Khan Younis. Tala Herzallah, a Palestinian woman, shared that Khan Younis and Rafah near the Egypt border are getting bombed on Saturday night, which makes it unsafe to go through Khan Younis. Herzallah said, "They're telling us to move there, and then they are bombing the houses there without warning people... Things are getting worse day by day." The US Embassy officials said, "The military conflict between Israel and Hamas is ongoing, making identifying departure options for US citizens complex." The officials added that they are looking for more alternatives to get the Americans out of Gaza. Lena Beseiso, an American stuck in Gaza, drove back and forth to the Southern border as the US State Department advised. "We waited until it was a bit after 6 p.m., and the border still closed," Beseiso said on her last trip, crossing Rafah on Sunday. Beseiso hopes to return home safely, but they admitted that crossing the Egyptian border puts her and other families' lives at risk. Beseiso further said the US government can request the Egyptians to open the border. However, she worries about the delay that can put their lives in danger. Read Also: Scottish Pennywise Clown Dares Police To Catch Him-Spreading Fear in Streets as He Threatens Residents US Citizens Terrified and Stuck in Gaza Neighborhood Barakat disclosed that about 50 other people, including children, reside with her in the Gaza neighborhood. According to ABC News, Barakat srevealed that people were running out of drinking water, cooking gas, and fuel for cars. The children in the Gaza neighborhood are terrified, screaming, and crying with every bomb. Sari Bashi, program director for Human Rights Watch, said that the Gaza situation is worsening. "People are being forced to drink brackish, untreated water because the price of bottled water has gone up beyond what most people can afford," Bashi said. The closing of the Egyptian border where US citizens can pass through is only for a limited time due to the continuous bombing.The short notice of the opening frightens the Americans. The short time of the opening cannot get hundreds of Americans out. According to CNN, Abdulla Okal, Haneen's husband stuck in Gaza, called the US Embassy. Haneen said they only gave her a link to fill out an application fosrm and were told to wait for a callback. Haneen called again, and the US Embassy said they could not help her soon but would keep her posted. The Americans felt abandoned by the US Embassy as they remain helpless and terrified after 29 other Americans died in Isreal. Related Article: Gaza Hospitals on the Brink: Supply Shortages, Ground Offensive Threaten Thousands of Lives @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. (Photo : Franklin Jacome/Getty Images) Daniel Noboa, a banana fortune heir, has won Ecuador's presidential runoff against rival Luisa Gonzalez, who could have become the country's first female leader. Ecuador's banana fortune heir Daniel Noboa has won the country's elections following a tight race as the region struggles with various issues, including crime and the economy. Residents of the country weighed pledges to improve the economy and control a spiraling security situation when they went to vote for a president. Noboa's rival in the race was a leftist who could have become the nation's first female leader, Luisia Gonzalez. Ecuador's Presidential Election The top concerns among voters coming into the race largely focused on the country's economy, which has continued to struggle since the coronavirus pandemic. Another factor that they are worried about is rising crime, including the rise in the number of murders, robberies, and prison riots. The violence across the country, which the outgoing government has blamed on drug gangs, has reached a peak during the campaign with the murder of anti-corruption candidate Fernando Villavicencio. He was fatally shot while leaving a Quito campaign event in August, as per Aljazeera. The 35-year-old banana fortune heir had a lead in recent polling but 45-year-old Gonalez, a former lawmaker, was able to win 34% of the vote in the first round. When she voted on Sunday in Canuto, she said that they were confident that the people of Ecuador would vote with memory and heart. She said that she would work on bringing back the popular social spending that characterized former President Rafael Correa's decade in power if she won. She pledged free medicine, increased worker protections, and direct aid to people who need it. Additionally, the former lawmaker promised to use $2.5 billion from international reserves to shore up the country's tattered economy. A Gonzalez voter, 43-year-old Erika Granja, said that the nation currently does not have social or economic stability, causing her to worry about the future of her children. Read Also: New Zealand Election 2023: Conservative Christopher Luxon Becomes PM Daniel Noboa's Victory But it was ultimately Noboa who edged out a win in the presidential runoff election on Sunday after securing 52.2% of the votes and Gonzalez only having 47.8%. The latter later conceded defeat during a speech before supporters and said that she plans to call the winner to congratulate him, according to the Associated Press. The rising drug trafficking-related violence in the country has left residents wondering when, and not if, they will become victims. This uneasiness has led to people continuously being wary of their surroundings and even limiting how often they leave their homes. noboa 's term will only run through May 2025, because that is only what remains of the tenure of President Guillermo Lasso. The latter cut his term short after dissolving the nation's National Assembly in May after lawmakers carried out impeachment proceedings against him over alleged improprieties in a contract by a state-owned company. In a message posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, Noboa said that the country has made history following the vote. He noted that Ecuadorian families chose the new Ecuador as well as a country with security and employment. The business tycoon added that electoral promises would not simply remain in the campaign and argued that he would work on addressing corruption within politics, said The Guardian. Related Article: Polish Opposition Set To Win Election, Potentially Shifting Political Landscape @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Space insurers are now complaining about the rising insurance claims from internet satellite service providers. Because of these, they said that they will be cautious when it comes to servicing satellites. This was announced by WTW Global Inspace Chief Executive Mark Quinn during the Global Satellite Servicing Forum, which happened on Thursday, Oct. 12. Space Insurers Complain About Rising Insurance Claims According to Space News' latest report, Quinn warned that high-profile satellite malfunctions and other similar problems in satellite service providers could result in a major loss for the space insurance market this 2023. "It's the worst market we've been in in the last 20 years," said the space insurance broker chief executive. "In the last six months there's been about $1 billion in claims against about $500 million in premiums," added Mark Quinn. Due to this ongoing issue, the WTW Global Inspace leader said that space insurers are forced to become cautious when servicing satellites. This means that when satellite companies are applying for insurance, they could be required to provide in-flight demonstrations and other flight-proven innovations, although these are hard to conduct. Quinn explained that as space insurance claims further increase, internet satellite providers need to make an effort to ensure that insurers will be comfortable with their technologies. But, he clarified that getting the trust of space insurers would be a long process. Quinn explained that the "key" is a multi-year, multi-touch effort where internet satellite companies engage more with the insurance community. He added that if these aerospace firms do this, they could become true partners of space insurance providers. Read Also: SpaceX Details Plans for Starlink's Satellite Cell Service Set To Launch in 2024 Previous Space Insurance Claims CNBC reported that Viasat's ViaSat-3 Americas satellite previously malfunctioned. This was disclosed by the aerospace company back in July. Viasat explained that the issue occurred when they were deploying the reflector of the satellite's antenna. On Thursday, Oct. 12, the American satellite broadband service provider said that they could recover less than 10% of the satellite's planned communications capability. Aside from this, Viasat also announced that they are expecting to finalize a $420 million insurance claim before 2023 ends in order to fix the issue of its ViaSat-3 Americas satellite. The satellite firm also confirmed that it plans to make another $348 million insurance claim for its I6 F2 backup satellite, which experienced a power system malfunction in August. Related Article: Eutelsat Reacquires Almost $407k Worth of Shares Days Before Merging with OneWeb @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. In Marrakech, Morocco, the World Bank aims to safeguard gay and transgender Ugandans before resuming new funding. The LGBTQ programs under the World Bank were put to cease in August due to anti-LGBTQ law. World Bank Guarantees Discrimination-Free Environment for LGBTQ Ugandans Victoria Kwakwa, the bank's head for Eastern and Southern Africa, ensures LGBTQ Ugandans do not face any discrimination. As reported by Reuters, Kwakwa reassures that the bank's staff will not be arrested for being a part of the community. "We're doing all this to clarify this is not what you should be doing in World Bank-financed projects and to say you are allowed to do it the right way, and you will be not be arrested," Kwakwa said in the annual meeting of World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Kwakwa did not confirm a timeline for assessing the measures' efficacy and deciding whether to resume new funding for Uganda. However, she revealed that the World Bank has already discussed the LGBTQ programs with the government and said, "Government is comfortable with that." According to The Straits Times, Ugandan officials accused the World Bank of being an imposter when they suspended the new funding against the same harsh anti-LGBTQ laws around the Middle East and Asia. A junior finance minister claimed that with the new funding, the government would need to reassess its budget to reflect the suspension's potential financial impact. Read Also: 'Knight of Hamas Attack': Israeli K-9 Unit Saves 200 Civilians in Gaza Strip Anti-Homosexuality Act In 2013, the Anti-Homosexuality Act was implemented, authorizing the death penalty for same-sex acts. The Anti-Homosexuality Act made same-sex relations in Uganda illegal. Furthermore, 30 other African countries are affected, but with a much worse impact from the new anti-LGBTQ law. The new anti-LGBTQ law demands capital punishment for "serial offenders" against the law and transmission of a terminal illness like HIV/AIDS through same-sex discourse. The new anti-LGBTQ law also mandated that anyone who supports "homosexuality" will suffer a 20-year sentence. Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni attacked the LGBTQ community by signing one of the most cruel anti-LGBTQ laws, according to Reuters on June. "The signing is finished, nobody will move us," Museveni said said at that time while meeting lawmakers from his National Resistance Movement party. United States President Joe Biden commented on the legalization of the new anti-LGBTQ law and described the move as "a tragic violation" of human rights. Biden said that Washington would evaluate the implications of the law on all aspects of US engagement with Uganda. Biden reported that they are considering additional steps, including implementing sanctions and restricting entry into the United States against anyone involved in severe human rights abuses or corruption. The new anti-LGBTQ law received many petitions, such as the local organization, Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum. In addition to the organization, ten other individuals later filed a complaint against the law at the constitutional court, as reported by Busingye Kabumb in Reuters. Related Article: Wisconsin Passes Trangenders Healthcare, Sports Ban; Gov. Evers Vows To Veto Policies @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. (Photo : MOHAMED ZAANOUN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images) 10/15/2023 Gaza, Palestine. People walking amidst the destruction of houses and streets in Khan Yunis, located in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the devastation caused by Israeli airstrikes. Israel has issued a warning to Hezbollah, warning them about the potential consequences they would face if they were to become involved in the current war. The Israeli government clarified that Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed movement, would be subjected to significant and severe retaliation should they choose to enter the ongoing hostilities, as per to Mail Online. Israel Declares Northern Border Closed Military Zone Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions As tensions continue to escalate in the Middle East, Israel has declared its northern border with Lebanon a closed military zone. This move comes after deadly clashes with Hezbollah and growing fears of another front opening while the Gaza Strip faces ongoing bombardment. Hezbollah, the Lebanese political and military group, stated that its attacks responded to Israel's strikes into Lebanon the previous day. These Israeli strikes resulted in the death of two civilians and a Reuters cameraman, Issam Abdallah, who was filming near the border. Israel is currently investigating the killing of Abdallah. Online footage clearly showed that Abdallah and his colleagues were marked as "Press" when they were targeted by a projectile launched from Israel. The move by Israel to close its northern border is a significant step, driven by concerns that Hezbollah might open a second front, potentially coming to the aid of Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip. The situation in Gaza has escalated significantly recently, with Hamas fighters launching an unprecedented multi pronged attack on Israel, causing casualties and taking hostages. Israel's actions have not been confined to its northern border, as it also targeted airports in Syria's Aleppo and Damascus, according to Aljazeera. Related Article: NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg Urges Release of Hamas Hostages, Warns Iran May Take Advantage on Israel-Palestine Conflict Israel's Complex Conflict In what is perceived as a strategic move, efforts are being made to hinder Iran's utilization of Syria to engage in the ongoing dispute. While Iran has not officially threatened to join the war, it has warned Israel of consequences if it does not halt its attacks on Gaza. Al Jazeera's Ali Hashem, reporting from Ayta Ash Shab in Lebanon, highlighted the interconnected nature of the conflicts in the region. "Everything going on at this border is linked to what's happening in Gaza. This front could be the most concerning for Israel because of the quality of weapons Hezbollah has. The group has been stockpiling tens of thousands of rockets," Hashem said. "So there is a concern about what kind of a war could begin on this front in case the situation in Gaza escalates." The situation in Gaza remains dire, with Israel continuing its bombardment and even hinting at a possible ground assault. Meanwhile, the conflict has already resulted in many casualties, including the deaths of Palestinian civilians, including children. In Lebanon earlier this week, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian warned that Hezbollah has prepared scenarios in case Israel intensifies its attacks on Gaza. Amid these escalating tensions, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has verified the use of artillery-fired white phosphorus, a lethal chemical, in Lebanon and Gaza. The use of white phosphorus in areas with civilian populations is banned under a United Nations convention. Iran, a staunch supporter of Hamas, has emphasized its desire to prevent the conflict from spreading across the region. However, it has also indicated that it may respond if Israel's operation in Gaza persists. With the situation in the Middle East growing increasingly complex, the international community closely monitors the developments. President Biden has urged other regional players to refrain from entering the conflict and has deployed American warships to the region, pledging unwavering support for Israel. However, finding a path to peace remains elusive as the Middle East teeters on the brink of a more significant, more devastating conflict, Fox News reported. Read Also: 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. (Photo: by ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images) Seized suspected cocaine is displayed during a press conference at the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department headquarters in Hong Kong on June 30, 2021, after officers on June 22 inspected an air cargo consignment arriving from Brazil at Hong Kong International Airport, seizing about 110 kilograms of suspected cocaine inside two hydraulic devices with an estimated market value of about 16.7 million USD, resulting in the largest airborne cocaine trafficking case detected by Customs in the past two decades. Authorities at Hong Kong International Airport found 11kg of suspected cocaine concealed in an electric wheelchair's cushions. The haul, which has an estimated market worth of roughly HK$12 million (1.2 million), was discovered on Saturday while a 51-year-old man was passing through customs, as reported by Sky News. He was detained after traveling from the Caribbean nation of Sint Maarten to Hong Kong via Paris. One of his two pieces of checked baggage was a wheelchair. When customs officers became suspicious after scanning it, they investigated it and discovered evidence that the seat cushion and backrest had been opened and repaired. According to local media accounts, the man, who was walking on crutches, identified himself as the director of a car rental firm and claimed that a friend had loaned him a wheelchair to use while traveling. In Hong Kong, drug smuggling is a serious crime. If found guilty, the maximum punishment is a fine of HK$5 million (525,793) and life in jail. In recent years, there have been several well-publicized instances of drug smugglers using wheelchairs. In response to the discovery, customs officials announced that they would intensify inspections of travelers from "high-risk regions" in order to combat international drug trafficking activities. Read also: Dubai: Over $1 Billion Worth of Highly Addictive Pills Seized in Drug Bust Drugs at the Hong Kong Airport In the first half of this year, customs agents at Hong Kong International Airport intercepted approximately 2.3 tonnes (2.5 tons) of illicit substances that they found in cargo shipments and among passengers, a rise of more than 80 percent over the same period in 2022, it was reported on Tuesday. According to the most recent statistics from the Customs and Excise Department, between January and June of this year, 604 instances at the airport resulted in the seizure of 2,298kg (5,066lbs) of drugs with an estimated street value of HK$970 million (US$124 million). Customs confiscated 1,270kg of illegal substances worth HK$590 million in 331 incidents over the same time period last year. Officers seized 839 cases at the airport totaling 2.6 tonnes of drugs worth HK$1.2 billion in 2022. The number of incidents involving harmful substances discovered during customs checks in 2022 increased to 931 from 906 the year before, according to their most recent statistics. Last year, 178 people were detained for related offenses. In an airport, drugs had previously been discovered concealed in a wheelchair. Authorities in New York recovered $450,000 worth of cocaine in November after discovering it in a woman's wheelchair's wheels. At Milan Malpensa Airport in Italy, about 1.2 million worth of cocaine was discovered in a motorized wheelchair in September of last year. Related article: Mexico's 'Narco Queen,' El Chapo's Wife Emma Coronel Released from Prison @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. (Photo : Drew Angerer/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 10: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel in the State Dining Room of the White House October 10, 2023 in Washington, DC. On October 7, the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched the largest surprise attack from Gaza in a generation, sending thousands of missiles and an unknown number of fighters by land, who shot and kidnapped Israelis in communities near the Gaza border. The attack prompted retaliatory strikes on Gaza and a declaration of war by the Israeli prime minister. President Joe Biden is reportedly contemplating a visit to Israel in the near future, even as the nation faces the possibility of a large-scale ground invasion into Gaza. According to a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to the Associated Press on Sunday, the commander-in-chief has not yet made any official travel plans to Israel, even as the country enters its second week of war with Hamas, as per New York Post. Biden's Potential Visit to Israel The White House has yet to announce the trip officially. Still, it could become a significant show of solidarity with Israel as the country grapples with the aftermath of last weekend's devastating attacks by Hamas. Israel has been signaling its readiness for a ground invasion of Gaza while a humanitarian crisis within the Palestinian enclave worsens. In response to these developments, President Biden has called for the protection of civilians, and the US has been working to alleviate shortages of food, water, and gas. A potential visit from President Biden would also serve as a message to other regional players, including Iran-backed Hezbollah, cautioning against further escalation of the conflict. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been engaged in high-stakes shuttle diplomacy in the region over the past several days, emphasizing the importance of safeguarding civilian lives. A visit by President Biden would likely convey a similar message to that of his top diplomat. President Biden recently held conversations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. This marks the fifth telephone call between President Biden and Netanyahu since the attack by Hamas. On Sunday, the US Department of Defense announced the deployment of a second aircraft carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean to deter hostile actions against Israel and prevent any further expansion of the conflict. While there is speculation that President Biden could land in Israel as early as this week, US officials have emphasized that the trip's timing is uncertain and could depend on the evolving security situation and the state of the conflict, which has been rapidly escalating, according to CNN. Reead Also: FBI Issues Warning on Surge of Domestic Threats Tied to Israel-Hamas Conflict Biden's Possible Visit to Israel Amid Middle East Tensions Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu invited President Biden during their conversation on Saturday. President Biden has expressed interest in visiting Israel to demonstrate robust US support, especially in the wake of Hamas's attacks, which have resulted in the deaths of over 1,300 Israelis and the taking of approximately 150 hostages, including American citizens. However, the potential for increased hostilities makes the timing of such a trip a delicate consideration. While the National Security Council spokesperson, Adrienne Watson, stated, "We have no new travel to announce," she did not explicitly deny the possibility of a visit. President Biden has embarked on daring trips in the past, such as his visit to Kyiv in February, which took place during the ongoing war with Russia. Still, going to Israel through an emergency would be even more complex due to Hamas's heightened security risks and potential provocations. The recent experience of a US senatorial delegation visiting Tel Aviv underscored the dangers. When warning sirens sounded, they sought refuge in a bomb shelter. On the other hand, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Israel in the past week without significant complications. The potential visit comes against the Biden administration's growing concern about the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where Israel's relentless bombing and siege have resulted in widespread suffering. Experts predict that an Israeli ground offensive in the coming days could lead to weeks of urban warfare, likely causing the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians in the process. Reports from Gaza suggest that more than 2,600 Palestinians have already lost their lives in Israel's retaliatory strikes over the past week, Politico reported. Related Article: China Takes Neutral Stance in Israel-Hamas Conflict Amid Efforts To Gain Influence in the Middle East @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) - Martti Ahtisaari Foundation has announced the death of its namesake, former Finnish President and Nobel Peace Prize awardee Martti Ahtisaari, on Monday (October 16) at the age of 86. The foundation was created to prevent and resolve violent international conflicts, similar to the feat Ahtisaari during his time in politics. In a statement, the foundation said it was "deeply saddened by the loss of its founder and (former) chair of the board." It was previously reported that the former statesman was diagnosed with advanced Alzheimer's disease, a conventional form of dementia. According to the Associated Press, Ahtisaari helped reach peace accords related to Serbia's withdrawal from Kosovo in the late 1990s, Namibia's bid for independence in the 1980s, and autonomy for Aceh province in Indonesia in 2005. He was also involved with ending The Troubles in Ireland in the late 1990s, being tasked with monitoring the IRA's disarmament process. Ahtisaari is survived by his wife Eeva and their adult son, Markko. The world has lost a truly exceptional person who devoted his life to peace. Martti Ahtisaari strongly believed that peace is a question of will and that all conflicts can be resolved, always seeing opportunities where others saw problems. Perhaps now more than ever, the world Alexander Stubb (@alexstubb) October 16, 2023 Reaction to Ahtisaari's Death One of the first to mourn Ahtisaari's loss was his successor, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto. "He was president in times of change, who piloted Finland into a global EU era," he said, additionally describing his predecessor on Finnish public broadcaster YLE as "a citizen of the world" and "a great Finn." It was during Niinisto's presidency when the country formally joined NATO last April, something Ahtisaari has been a strong supporter of. Niinisto further recalled Ahtisaari having "a great heart and [believing] in the human being." "In his speech at the Nobel celebration, Ahtisaari said that all conflicts can be resolved: 'Wars and conflicts are not inevitable. They are caused by humans,'" Niinisto added. "There are always interests that war promotes. Therefore, those who have power and influence can also stop them." Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani also reacted to Ahtisaari's death, saying that he "committed all his life to peace, diplomacy, the goodness of humanity, and had an extraordinary influence" in Kosovo's present and future. "He engraved the frame of our country, and his name will remain forever in the pages of the Republic of Kosovo's history," he added. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also called the Finnish statesman "a visionary" and "a champion of peace" on X, formerly known as Twitter. Read Also: Readout of President Joe Biden's Meeting with President Sauli Niinisto of Finland Who is Martti Ahtisaari? Born June 23, 1937, in the eastern town of Viipuri, which is now part of Russia, Martti Ahtisaari was a primary school teacher before joining Finland's Foreign Ministry in 1965. During his time as a diplomat, he spent about 20 years abroad, including as the Finnish ambassador to Tanzania, Zambia, and Somalia, before becoming Finland's ambassador to the United Nations in New York. He returned to Finland in 1991 as a secretary of state for the Finnish Foreign Ministry before being elected president in 1994. He was the first Finnish head of state to be elected directly instead of through an electoral college. As president, his political highlight came in 1999, when he negotiated the end to fighting in Kosovo alongside Russia's Balkans envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin. He also hosted Russian President Boris Yeltsin and US President Bill Clinton in Helsinki in 1997. While he was eligible to run for a second term in the January 2000 presidential election, Ahtisaari declined to do so, saying he wanted to devote the time he would otherwise have used for campaigning to run the rotating EU presidency, which Finland held for the first time in 1999. After leaving office, he formed CMI in Helsinki. He stepped down as chairman of the organization to help resolve global conflicts but said he would continue working with the group as an adviser. Upon receiving the Nobel Prize in 2008, Ahtisaari said peace was "a question of will." "All conflicts can be settled, and there are no excuses for allowing them to become eternal," he added. Ahtisaari was replaced as CMI chair by former Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb, who is now running for president. "[P]erhaps now more than ever, the world needs people like him," he said. Ahtisaari's death came as Israel and the Gaza-based terrorist organization Hamas have been waging war in the region for the past two weeks as of writing. CMI said Ahtisaari would be buried following a state funeral, which would be announced at a later date. Related Article: Finland Blames 'Outside Activity,' Deliberate Act for Baltic Gas Pipeline Leak @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. (Photo: by Euan Cherry/Getty Images for the Birmingham 2022 Queen's Baton Relay) PEEBLES, SCOTLAND - JUNE 22: Schoolchildren meet Clyde the Team Scotland Mascot, and see the Queen's baton at Priorsford Primary School during the Birmingham 2022 Queen's Baton Relay on June 22, 2022, in Peebles, Scotland. An AI robot named Abigail Bailey has been named the 'unique' headmaster of a private boarding school in England. The new principal headmaster at Cottesmore School in West Sussex was developed in collaboration with an artificial intelligence developer. The AI robot, dubbed Abigail Bailey, will largely support Tom Rogerson, the school's headmaster, according to WION. Rogerson explained to the Telegraph that Abigail would give him advice and ideas on a number of topics, including how to encourage coworkers and other staff members, how to assist pupils with learning impairments like ADHD, and how to write school regulations. The AI principal was created to have a "wealth of knowledge in machine learning and education management, in addition to Abigail's ability to analyze vast amounts of data," according to the headmaster. According to Rogerson in an interview with the Telegraph, having the robot around doesn't mean you never seek advice from people. He stated, "Sometimes having someone or something there to help you is a very calming influence." The school has the most teachers in its 130-year history, according to the 'human' headmaster, and the robot will not take the position of human teachers. Similar to the well-known AI-based chatbot ChatGPT, Abigail Bailey operates by having users enter queries, which the AI then responds to using its algorithm. Additionally, Cottesmore's team includes a second AI-based robot. In order to integrate technology into the curriculum and provide instructors advice on how to lighten their burden, a robot by the name of Jamie Rainer who describes himself as "a highly trained adviser on generative AI" has been employed. UK students pay close to 32,000 in tuition annually, according to Express. Additionally, Abigail is not the only robot employed by the institution. After holding interviews, Cottestone chose "Jamie Rainier" to lead AI last year. To integrate technology into the curriculum and give teachers advice on how to lighten their responsibilities, "Jamie" has been given this responsibility. A banking leader believes the bots could be the key to shorter working weeks and longer lives. Many sectors are now depending on the new technology to make life easier. JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon stated: "People need to take a big breath. Thanks to technology, your children will live to be 100 years old without developing cancer. Read also: UK Blames Pornography for Teens' Worsening Sexual Behaviors; Experts Reveal Alarming Details AI in Schools A prominent public school's newly appointed principal demanded in September that more students be taught how to use artificial intelligence (AI) to complete their schoolwork. Vicky Bingham will shortly assume leadership at North London Collegiate School (NLCS), a prestigious all-girls school with senior students paying fees of over 8,000 per term. She claimed that worries about kids using artificial intelligence (AI) to cheat on their assignments had been "exaggerated," and she added that teachers should think about whether enough students are actually knowledgeable about using AI. Related article: Students Scramble to Find New Accommodation After Being Evicted from 'Luxury' Flats @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Right now, many American employees can still enjoy WFH setups provided by their companies. But, some are not so lucky as their bosses are starting to require them to report to the office. Because of this, some U.S. residents are finding other works that offer permanent WFH jobs. Meanwhile, other employees are trying to negotiate with their companies. The question is, what is the thing that Americans are willing to sacrifice to have permanent home-based jobs? Here's what experts said. Americans Willing Give Up $6000 Of Their Salaries To Have WFH Setup According to USA Today's latest report, many Americans are willing to give up around $4,600 or $6,000 of their annual salaries just to have home-based jobs. Specifically, statistics revealed that U.S. workers can give up 8% of their yearly income for a job that allows them to work within the vicinities of their homes. This is based on American workers who have generated $57,200 and more in annual salaries. However, some of these employees said that they are still willing to let go of 8% of their salaries even if the work is hybrid (three days in the office and two days at home). Meanwhile, others are okay with having office-based jobs as long as employers are willing to pay them tons of money. "You'd have to pay me a lot to be in an office," said Emilie Bergstrom, a 28-year-old remote employee in Brooklyn. "I'm not eating out as much during the week. I'm not buying coffee out. Being able to work out at home, I don't have a gym membership anymore," she added. Aside from food, coffee, and gym membership, Emilie also shared that she can now save tons of money on airfare since she can travel anytime she wants. Another thing that makes Emilie want to retain her WFH job is the savings she makes on business attire. Read Also: [STUDY] Asian American Christians Drastically Decreasing-From 42% Down to 34% This 2023 Perks Of Having WFH Job FlexJobs explained that WFH jobs really do help employees save money compared to traditional office work. The remote-work website, which usually conducts surveys, said that an average individual can save up to $6,000 if they have a hybrid work setup. Meanwhile, full WFH employees can save twice as much; around $12,000 yearly. This is because they can avoid expenses, such as the following: They can save money on commuting expenses, such as gas, parking tickets, and public transportation fees. They no longer need to have regular car maintenance. They can avoid getting car insurance since they no longer drive to work. They don't have to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to buy office work clothes. They no longer need to eat outside since they can make their own food at home. These are just some of the perks of a WFH employee. You can click here to learn more. Related Article: How to Learn ASL In 2023: Top Tips to Acquire American Sign Language Skills-What Jobs Can You Apply For? @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Israel Defense Force updated the number of hostages that were taken by Hamas to 199. According to Agence France Presse, the number was updated on Monday (October 16) from the previous figure of 155. The US State Department confirmed on Sunday (October 15) that 30 US citizens have been killed in the fighting and 13 others unaccounted for, according to The Hill. "We have updated the families of 199 hostages," IDF spokesperson RAdm. Daniel Hagari told a media briefing. The hostages were a mix of Israeli civilians, foreigners, and revelers of a Supernova music festival the night before the Hamas attack. Read Also: Israel Denies Opening Humanitarian Corridor for Foreigners IDF: We'll Bring the Hostages Back Hagari said the military has some information on the whereabouts of hostages being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and they were making "valiant efforts" to locate and rescue the hostages, The Times of Israel reported. "The efforts on the hostages are a top national priority," he added. "The army and Israel are working around the clock to bring them back." As of Monday, almost 6,000 people have been killed on both sides. Related Article: US State Secretary Blinken Returns to Israel After Whirlwind Middle East Trip @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Armed Forces of the Philippines has demanded China stop its "dangerous and offensive" actions in the South China Sea after a Chinese navy vessel shadowed and attempted to cut off a Philippine navy vessel conducting a resupply mission late last week. What Happened? According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the Philippine naval landing ship BRP Benguet - formerly the US Navy LST-542-class tank landing ship USS Daviess County prior to her transfer in 1976 - was stationed at about 5.8 nautical miles (10.7 km) southwest of Thitu Island, which Filipinos call Pagasa Island, en route to Commodore Reef for a regular rotation and resupply mission last Friday (October 13). The Benguet was shadowed by People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) ship Panzhihua (hull number 621), a Type 056 corvette, at a distance of 80 yards (73.2 m) and attempted to cross her bow with the closest point of approach at 350 yards (320 m). The Filipino vessel issued radio challenges against the Chinese warship, citing the violation of the Collision Regulations, and demanded it to steer clear from her path. Read Also: 2 Filipinos Confirmed Dead in Israel-Hamas War, Officials Say Comments from Manila, Beijing As a response to the incident, Philippine military chief Gen. Romeo Brawner said in a statement on Sunday (October 15) that the Chinese ship's actions were "dangerous and offensive maneuvers." "These dangerous and offensive maneuvers by China's PLAN not only risk collision but also directly endanger the lives of maritime personnel from both sides," he said. However, officials in Beijing said on Monday (October 16) that China claimed sovereignty and defended its presence near Thitu, which they called Zhongye Island. "The Philippine side's illegal occupation of Zhongye Island has seriously violated China's sovereignty," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters, referring to its updated claim of most of the South China Sea called the Ten-Dash Line. "It is reasonable and lawful for Chinese warships to patrol the waters near Zhongye Island." Ties between Manila and Beijing have deteriorated since Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. pursued ties with Washington, which was an about-face from the stance of his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte. Nevertheless, Marcos maintained that pursuing economic relations with China was important, saying that his government would send a delegation to China's third Belt and Road Forum this week, Reuters reported. Related Article: Tensions Rise in South China Sea as Chinese Coast Guard Chases Philippine Navy Ship @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The body of a 33-year-old woman, identified by the Austin Police Department (APD) as Melissa Davis, was found burned alive on the side of the road in Cat Mountain, Texas on September 29. Police said they reportedly "smelled a strong odor of accelerant" near the victim's body, which was pronounced dead at the scene, Breitbart reported. According to detectives, a lighter that appeared to be new and a butcher knife were also recovered from the scene. The search warrant for the perpetrator was "placed with the decedent in an attempt to destroy the evidence with the fire." Perpetrator Still on the Run, Police Say An autopsy of Davis's body revealed that she had been burned alive, but the perpetrator is currently unknown and remains at large as of Monday (October 16). Despite this, Austin Police obtained a search warrant for the victim's phone data, uncovering that she left her mother's home the day before her death, telling her she had to go have her phone fixed at the Apple store. Davis's phone and the car she was driving in, a 2016 blue Toyota 4Runner with a Texas license plate reading "KYV3765", were not found at the scene. "A reward of up to $1,000 may be available for any information that leads to an arrest," police said. Read Also: Florida: Police Finds Dead Toddler Floating in Pond Friends Grieving Davis's Death Davis's best friend, Ellie Simmons, told ABC's Austin affiliate KVUE that she was heartbroken by the death of her "soul sister" and the way she died. "She had more of a zest for life than I think anyone else," she said. "And we actually had dreams together with one of our other friends to start a hostel in Costa Rica and we would have an art station. She painted. She loved art." David Haisman, another friend of Davis's, told the outlet he was left with "such a deep grief." "Just to know that this person I cared so much about was not only gone but had been through such an ordeal," he added. "I still feel like my heart is breaking. Like I'm being stabbed. Like I've been stabbed and I'm bleeding out slowly." Related Article: Chicago Landlord Arrested for Fatally Stabbing 6-Year-Old, Injuring Mother in Anti-Muslim Attack @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Miss Universe Portugal has crowned its very first transgender queen and the second for this year's pageant. In a controversial move on Thursday last week (October 12), the national franchise of the global pageant awarded 28-year-old Marina Machete, who was born male, with the title of Miss Portugal. In her Instagram post, Machete said she was "proud to be the first trans woman to compete for the Miss Universe Portugal title." "For many years I wasn't eligible to compete and now it's such an honor to be a part of this incredible group of candidates!" she added. Miss Portugal 2023 is a man. pic.twitter.com/doLWt1VUmX RadioGenoa (@RadioGenoa) October 7, 2023 Backlash from Portuguese Society However, not all were on board with having a transgender Miss Portugal. According to Breitbart, comments from pageant fans to politicians began to pour in, expressing their disappointment to let a biologically male contestant compete and win a historically women's title. "Don't they have women in that country?" one Instagram user wrote in Spanish. "She is indeed a beautiful trans woman," another user wrote in Portuguese. "But this isn't about empathy, this is reality. Have a transgender contest, period. Worse are the women applauding because it's fashionable." Conservative news site Blaze reported that "at least one" Portuguese politician "expressed a negative reaction to the result." Russian state-funded news outlet RT also reported that right-wing Portuguese lawmaker Rui Paulo Sousa said he originally thought of the news as a "joke." "It is undoubtedly a sad day for those young women who dreamed about [winning] the female beauty pageant," the MP said. RT added in its report that Machete was a flight attendant prior to joining pageants. She first won the Miss Pamela competition in her hometown. Read Also: Portugal Sees Wine Flood After 600K Gallons of Surplus Beverage Poured Out Following a Burst Tank A man just won Miss Netherlands 2023. Considering the fact that we live in a post-Truth world, I wasnt even expecting anything else. Its all so predictable and unoriginal at this point. pic.twitter.com/j6NKo2cCvu Eva Vlaardingerbroek (@EvaVlaar) July 9, 2023 MIss U's Trans Trend Machete would not be the only transgender Miss Universe competitor this year, which would take place in El Salvador this November. Back in July, 22-year-old trans competitor Rikkie Valerie Kolle bested nine women to win the Miss Universe Netherlands crown. "It's unreal but I get to call myself [Miss Netherlands] 2023," she wrote on Instagram. "Making my community proud and showing it can be done." The popularity of transgender competitors joining Miss Universe began after the competition's acquisition by Thai transgender business mogul Anne Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip in 2022. Prior to this, Jakrajutatip began identifying as a woman in 2018. "I became a billionaire at age 38, a woman at 39, and a mother of two at 40," the billionaire told Nola. "I believe in the power of women to transform into the best versions of themselves." Not every country participating in Miss Universe agreed with the prospect of allowing transgender competitors on the national level. Miss Universe Italy banned transgender contestants in response to Kolle's win in the Dutch version of the pageant. This prompted over 100 trans hopefuls to register nevertheless in protest. "Lately, beauty contests have been trying to make the news by also using strategies that I think are a bit absurd," Miss Italy Official Patron Patrizia Mirigliani said on a radio show, according to Italian publication Il Primato Nazionale. "Miss Italia, on the other hand, will not jump on the glittery bandwagon of trans activism." Last August, Miss Universe pulled the plug on its Indonesian franchise and its national director Poppy Capella over sexual harassment allegations. Related Article: Miss Universe Drops Indonesia Pageant Over Sexual Harassment Allegations @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The shepherd of Latin Rite Catholics in Israel and Palestine has announced he was willing to lay down his life in exchange for all the very young hostages Hamas have. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, said on Monday (October 16) that he was willing to exchange himself for the children taken hostage by Hamas inside Gaza. "I am ready for an exchange, anything if this can lead to freedom, to bring the children home. No problem," he told journalists in Italy at a video conference. "There is total willingness on my part." The prelate added that it was necessary to "find a way to get the hostages back." This statement came after he called for a day of prayer and fasting for peace in the Holy Land, as well as the Vatican's willingness to broker a peace agreement between Israel and Palestine, as per Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin. Read Also: Vatican Reveals New Pius XII Documents Addressing "Jewish Brothers" Persecuted by Nazis Imitating the Good Shepherd Pizzaballa, who was newly-minted a cardinal by Pope Francis last month, said he would still consider trying to win the release of the hostages despite him and his office not having any direct contact with Hamas. This statement by Pizzaballa, the first modern Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem who was named a cardinal, echoed a passage in the Christian Bible, where Jesus called himself the "good shepherd" who was willing to lay down his life for his sheep. Earlier on Monday, the Israel Defense Force confirmed that at least 199 people were taken hostage by Hamas. Pizzaballa was quoted by Reuters that there were about 1,000 Christians sheltering in church buildings in northern Gaza after their homes were destroyed by Israeli strikes. "They don't know where to go because moving is dangerous," he added. 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. The Board of Trustees of the Woodstock Foundation have appointed Bruce Grosbety as President of the Woodstock Inn & Resort, a AAA Four Diamond Resort and one of New England's premier year-round vacation destinations. A native of the northeast who started in the hospitality industry at his family-owned resort, Grosbety brings several decades of hospitality experience to the Woodstock Inn & Resort from diverse roles at world-class hotels and destination resorts across the country. He most recently served as Vice President and General Manager for The Yarrow Group, where he oversaw the daily operations of five hotels in Jackson, Wyoming and Fort Collins, Colorado. Grosbety will officially begin his new role on November 16. During his tenure with The Yarrow Group, Grosbety oversaw the construction and opening of The Cloudveil, a new 100-room and suite Marriott Autograph Collection Hotel in Jackson Hole in 2021. The Cloudveil was specifically designed to honor the history and sense of community of Jackson Town Square where it is located, and has become one of the most photographed Autograph Hotels in the U.S. Grosbety's earlier career included key leadership roles at luxury hotels, resorts, and properties with deep ties with their local communities. He spent more than three years as the Director of Rooms at The Four Seasons at The Pierre in New York City before taking a role as General Manager with Vail Resorts in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Grosbety's engagement with Vail Resorts came shortly after the company acquired the RockResorts brand, which was founded by Laurance S. Rockefeller in the 1950's, which with Vail Resorts grew to include six properties in the Rocky Mountains. Working with executives from former RockResorts properties, Grosbety oversaw the rebranding and reopening of Snake River Lodge & Spa, which became Teton Village's first AAA Four Diamond hotel. In the six years after leaving Vail Resorts, Grosbety held several roles with Hotel Terra in Jackson Hole and MetWest Terra Hospitality, with a corporate commitment to sustainability, where he was Vice President of Operations for eight properties across the country, including the highly-regarded Topnotch Resort & Spa in Stowe, Vermont. Prior to his role at The Yarrow Group, Grosbety spent four years as the Managing Director of Enchantment Resort in Sedona, Arizona. There, he oversaw more than 500 employees of a 234-room, 70-acre property and implemented a long-term strategic plan to align all resort disciplines with a unifying set of priorities. Throughout his career Grosbety has held numerous roles focused on community engagement and development. He was a founding member of the Jackson Hole Travel & Tourism Board, where he served from 2011-14, and also spent six years on the Governor-appointed Wyoming Office of Tourism Board. During his time with Enchantment Resort, he served on the Sedona Lodging Council Board from 2014-17. Grosbety also previously served as the President & Chairman of the Wyoming Lodging and Restaurant Association (WLRA) and was President of the WLRA Education ProStart Program, launching ProStart at Jackson Hole High School in 2006. Ted Turner Reserves,the groundbreaking conservation focused hospitality brand, has promoted Eva Mendoza to General Manager of Southern New Mexico Guest Operations. She will govern hospitality functions for Ted Turner Reserves three distinctive properties in Sierra County, New Mexico: Ladder in Caballo, NM, Armendaris in Engle, NM and Sierra Grande in Truth or Consequences, NM. Eva joined Ted Turner Reserves in February as the Manager of the organization's central reservations office. Prior to joining the company, Eva led operations for many independent resorts and branded hotels in the Western United States, most recently as a multi-property Managing Director with Collective Retreats, General Manager for Lucky Arrow Retreat and Regional Operations Manager for Heritage Hotels & Resorts. Eva has enjoyed a 25+ year career in hospitality management and is a graduate of New Mexico State University's Hotel Restaurant and Tourism Management program, where she also earned her MBA. A resident of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, and is an active volunteer in regional health organizations such as Ambercare Hospice and the American Red Cross. The year 2023 was promising. Hotel occupancy was up and an expectation to serve 3.9 million tourists this year was encouraging. The reality of the last horrific week made those hopes evaporate. While missiles are being launched towards metropolitan Tel Aviv and airlines are canceling flights, the hospitality industry faces another crisis. The period after the High Holy Days is considered crucial for hotels. Business travelers, conventions, and delegations are the bread and butter of the industry during fall season. October, with the flourishing Sukkot tourism, was expected to be the best month ever for our hotel since it was opened almost 10 years ago, says Avner On, general manager of Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem. The coming quarter was exceptionally promising and with a blink of an eye the emerging war took us by surprise. This sudden drop to almost an empty hotel while we manage maximum staffing, trained for months to come, is dramatic. It will take years for the hospitality industry to recover. Both individual travelers and convention planners need time to calculate their plans. And in Israel this timeline is crucial. I am positive however that once the war will be over a significant number of Jewish delegations will visit Israel to demonstrate support. Dan Hotels became the first among the public Israeli hotel brands to comment on the situation in a report to the stock exchange on Wednesday. Read the full article at The Jerusalem Post This programme provides the flexibility of working in dual-locations during term-time and holiday periods plus the opportunity to upskill and and build a career path New study reports that 40% of students are currently looking for employment to support their studies which is costing on average 19,000* per year In addition to the 400 roles targeting students, Travelodge is also offering 75 roles including hotel management, head office and engineering positions Travelodge, one of the UKs largest hotel chains, has today launched a new dual-locations student recruitment programme that provides the flexibility of a role at a Travelodge close to the students university and in their hometown during the holiday periods. The group is offering over 400 positions to students - at a time when 40% of UK based students are looking for work- to help make ends meet. With over 580 hotels across the country, there is a Travelodge close to all major UK universities giving students easy access to work close to their place of study during term-time and now the ability to transfer to a Travelodge hotel close to home during the academic holidays. Available positions include Reception Team Member, Bar Cafe Team Member, Housekeeping Team Member and Linen Porter. To support its new student recruitment programme, Travelodge, commissioned a study with 500 UK students to seek how they are managing to study in the current financial crisis. Key findings revealed that 85% of students reported that working is a necessity in order to get through university. Over half (55%) of students across the UK are currently working to make ends meet whilst studying. Whilst 40% are seeking employment. The study also revealed that on average, students are spending over 19,000 to study at university (9,250 for tuition fees and 10,000 to cover the cost of living). This equates to current monthly outgoings on living expenses such as rent, utility bills, groceries, and additional studying materials, of 635. The report also revealed that 57% of students are working are minimum of 16 hours per week to cover the cost of their expenses. At Travelodge, students have the opportunity to earn around 10,000 per annum working an 18.5-hour week with the programme offering students additional development opportunities to build their professional experience or future career in the hospitality industry. This includes access to Travelodges in-house management development programme Aspire and provision of a work buddy to support them in their role. There has never been a better time to join Travelodge, one of the UKs biggest hotel brands, with our flexible dual-location student recruitment programme designed to support students so they can learn more and earn more in both term and holiday time. We are looking for enthusiastic individuals that have a passion to deliver excellent customer service and we can help students create a great career in a fast-growing global industry with a diverse range of opportunities upon graduation. Katharine Gourley, Travelodge, Director of People Operations In addition to the 400 jobs targeting students, Travelodge is also looking to fill a further 75 roles across the business. These positions include 50 hotel management positions across Hotel Managers and Assistant Hotel Managers, Supervisors, Housekeeping Supervisors, and BarCafe Supervisors; alongside five roles in the companys in-house maintenance department for Engineers. There are also 20 roles at the groups head office in Thame across Revenue, Procurement, IT, Legal, Finance and Customer Services. For further details on all positions at Travelodge and to apply, please visit: https://www.travelodge.co.uk/careers/. The Travelodge student study was conducted by OnePoll in September 2023 with a sample group of 500 students who attend either university or college. The *19,000 figure based on full time student loans as per https://www.gov.uk/student-finance/new-fulltime-students. Travelodge Employee Benefits Travelodge offers a great range of benefits, available to new joiners from their first day of employment. These benefits include: 50% off Travelodges 580 UK hotels Room discounts for family and friends Work anniversary complimentary booking voucher Pension scheme Discounts at a range of retailers Employee Assistance Programme Life Assurance Travelodge Wellbeing Programme - Better Me The Travelodge wellbeing programme Better Me recognises that true wellbeing is dependent on a number of elements and, through listening to its colleagues concerns, the company has responded with a wide range of successful initiatives to support financial, emotional, physical and work health. For further information on Travelodge employee benefits please visit: https://www.travelodge.co.uk/applicantPortal/benefits. Travelodge Aspire Programme Travelodge also operates a successful internal management development programme Aspire which has helped thousands of colleagues to progress their career from an entry level position into management, building skills and experience. To further support its colleagues, Travelodge has added two new levels to its Aspire programme, allowing colleagues to gain a nationally recognised qualification in hospitality that can be funded via its apprenticeship levy. The four-level comprehensive programme provides a clear pathway of development and career mapping for hotel and maintenance colleagues to progress from entry level roles through to Manager level, showing that Travelodge is a place where you can get in and get on, irrespective of background, or educational attainment. 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 Los Angeles, CA INTELITY, provider of hospitalitys leading guest experience and staff management platform, announced today it has been recognized as the Worlds Best Hotel Digital Key Solutions Provider for its INTELITY Mobile Key solution and the Worlds Best In-Room Tablet Provider for the third year in a row by the World Travel Tech Awards 2023. The World Travel Tech Awards is the sister event to the World Travel Awards, currently celebrating its 30th year reviewing the best in hospitality and tourism. The World Travel Tech Awards are voted on by travel professionals, media, and consumers worldwide, and celebrate the full spectrum of the global travel technology sector. The Worlds Best Travel Tech Awards winners were unveiled during the Travel Tech Awards Gala Ceremony on Sunday, October 15, 2023, at Atlantis The Royal in Dubai. The annual red-carpet evening brought together travel and technology leaders from across the globe for one of the industrys most prestigious events of the year. It has been a privilege to continue our 30th anniversary celebrations in Dubai, said Graham Cooke, founder of the World Travel Awards. Our winners are stellar examples of tourism excellence, and I congratulate each and everyone for helping to raise the collective benchmark. In this years awards, INTELITY took the top honor in the Digital Key Solutions Provider category for its INTELITY Mobile Key, which is powered by INTELITYs comprehensive guest experience platform and is utilized by top brands, iconic independent hotels, boutiques, and casinos worldwide. INTELITYs Mobile Key solution allows guests to easily and securely unlock their hotel room door using their smartphone as their room key. Additionally, for the third year running, INTELITY took the top honor in the Best In-Room Tablet Provider category for its smart-room tablets, which are also powered by the INTELITY platform. Using INTELITYs smart-room tablets, hotel and casino guests can effortlessly access services, amenities, in-room dining, and more digitally. Additionally, the INTELITY in-room tablet automates guest services and enables seamless communication between guests and property staff. Here at INTELITY, we are absolutely honored to be named the Best In-Room Tablet Provider for the third year in a row in addition to also winning World's Best Hotel Digital Key Solutions Provider for 2023, said Robert Stevenson, INTELITY CEO. 2023 has been a big year for INTELITY, and these recognitions from such a prestigious organization like the World Travel Awards only reinforces our position as a leader in the hospitality technology space. For more information about the INTELITY platform or to request a demo, please visit intelity.com/demo. About World Travel Awards The World Travel Awards were established in 1993 to acknowledge, reward and celebrate excellence across all sectors of the tourism industry. Today, the WTA brand is recognized globally as the ultimate hallmark of quality, with winners setting the benchmark to which all others aspire. Each year, WTA covers the globe with a series of regional gala ceremonies staged to recognize and celebrate individual and collective success within each key geographical region. WTA gala ceremonies are widely regarded as the best networking opportunities in the travel industry, attended by government and industry leaders, luminaries and international print and broadcast media. For more information about WTA visit www.worldtravelawards.com. About INTELITY INTELITY is the global leader in guest experience technology, uniting mobile, in-room, and operational tools into one fully-integrated hospitality platform. INTELITY's Guest Experience Management System, GEMS, offers a full operations hub for staff to manage all back-of-house logistics. GEMS provides a suite of dedicated tools to automate and streamline daily operations, manage incremental revenue streams, report insightful business data, and aid in elevating the guest experience. INTELITY has been designated Forbes Travel Guide's "Official Guest Engagement and Staff Management Platform Provider" and is utilized in more than 70 countries across six continents. For more information on the INTELITY platform, visit www.intelity.com. Alexandra Kuipers Head of Marketing 407-965-2222 Hotel type : Group : Group Solutions used : Revinate Marketing : Revinate Marketing Region : EMEA : EMEA Goal : Centralized guest marketing efforts across properties. : Centralized guest marketing efforts across properties. Strategy: Consolidate guest profiles within a single platform. Consolidate guest profiles within a single platform. Results: An average of 11,000 in direct revenue per email campaign. The brand IPP HOTELS is a collection of 8 properties in Austria. Each one is unique and offers something different to travelers, whether its luxury amenities at Hotel Landgut & SPA Althof Retz or an affordable place to lay your head in Austria at Hotel Im Inn Wieselburg or the arte Hotels in Vienna and Salzburg. The challenge When Covid-19 hit in 2020, the team at IPP HOTELS had time to evaluate their marketing technology. Specifically, they looked into whether their tools were enough to support their end goal of leveraging a centralized data platform along with a unified marketing solution to communicate with guests for all properties. Across 8 properties, IPP HOTELS was using 3 booking engines. As a result, guest data was spread across several databases and there was no easy way to centralize it. Hotels were on their own when it came to running promotions with email marketing. As a brand, they sent a templated monthly newsletter that was difficult to personalize. The corporate team knew that to effectively market to their guests, they would need a single solution to house guest profiles, plus the segmentation tools that would allow them to communicate in a targeted way. On top of that, managing guest data was tricky with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) standards. The solution IPP HOTELS Marketing Director, Markus Hann, recalled a conversation he had with a Revinate representative at an expo in 2019, and they reconnected in 2020 to discuss the solution. Hes glad he made that decision. Revinate Marketing could drive revenue by delivering personalized campaigns and upsell offers for rooms and amenities through targeted guest segmentation, Hann says. And as part of the implementation process, Revinate would bring all our guest data together on a single platform and make it easy to remain GDPR compliant. I was sold and decided to move forward. The results After a quick implementation, the IPP HOTELS team was trained and began developing automated campaigns. With all data finally de-duplicated and unified into Revinates single Guest Data Platform, the brand was able to centralize marketing, allowing hotels to focus on their on-property guests. Lisa Schober, Public Relations Assistant at IPP HOTELS, explains the immediate benefits of Revinate. The first thing I noticed was how easy it was to create a newsletter in Revinate Marketing, she says. Our previous newsletter required a strict template that left little room for creativity or brand expression. With Revinate, its easy to create great-looking newsletters that represent our brand. The newsletter is now driving trackable recurring revenue and generates an average of 8,000 per send. With a clean database, the engagement rates are also impressive. The newsletters now have a 28% open rate and a 3% click-through rate. Recognizing the power of being able to send personalized emails, Schober immediately began working on capturing guest preferences, including whether they tended to travel for work, for pleasure, alone, or with their families or pets. She also captured what their hobbies were. With this information, Schober can send more targeted campaigns that are more likely to convert. With consolidated guest data, Schober has a complete view of all guests across the brand and can better understand her top segments and most important customers. The team saw the following results after just 18 months: An average of 11,000 of direct revenue per campaign sent 106 room nights generated per campaign An average open rate of 28% An average click-through rate of 3% Finally, with Revinate Marketing, the brand was able to create automated campaigns to win back OTA guests and upsell guests who already have stays booked. In addition, they leverage an automated birthday campaign through Revinate to send good wishes and a voucher. The campaign has been running for less than a year and has already generated 136 room nights thanks in large part to a 45% open rate. About Revinate Revinate empowers hoteliers to directly connect with their guests. Our Guest Data Platform and communication solutions unlock revenue for hoteliers and put them in control of the full guest experience initial research, booking, check-in, throughout the stay, and even after check out all via the communication channels that guests prefer, whether it's voice, text, email, or web. More than 12,000 hotels globally bank on Revinate to drive direct revenue and deliver delightful guest experiences. Ask us how we do it. Visit our website to get a demo. Sanjana Chappalli VP of Brand Marketing and Communications Revinate, Inc. View source Just imagine if 10%, 20%, 30% or even 50% of these commissions are saved by direct bookings via the hotel website or app and used to increase salaries of the property associates, for professional development, improvements in property product, amenities and infrastructure, technology innovations and digital marketing. Some say that the OTAs have the marketing muscle that individual hotels often cant match and can open doors to new markets and customer segments. helping to put heads in beds that might otherwise remain empty. Many hotels do not need new feeder markets or new customer segments that the OTAs could open to them, since they can achieve desired occupancies from their traditional feeder markets and customer segments. A hotel in London or in New York does not need Agoda sending them a few Australians, Brazilians or Indonesians a week to survive. The issue is that the OTAs are now taking over bigger and bigger percentages of the propertys traditional feeder markets and customer segments, taking advantage of hoteliers systemic underinvestments in technology, digital marketing and talent. Hoteliers know their hotel product and destination, local activities and experiences far better than the OTAs. Hoteliers know their feeder markets and customer segments far better than the OTAs. What they only need to do is increase their investments in technology and digital marketing from the current puny 2%-3%. There are plenty of highly professional hotel tech vendors and digital marketing agencies to do the actual job so that independents do not have to do it on their own. As for the cost of direct online bookings: In the course of 20 years at my company NextGuest(now merged with Cendyn) we measured the true cost of direct bookings across our 15,000 plus hotel clients, including property website/app amortized over 36 months, website maintenance, hosting and analytics, consulting services, digital marketing (SEO, SEM, online media, email marketing, metasearch, etc). The average cost of direct online bookings was consistently 4.25%-4.5%. Compare this to the average OTA commissions/markups of 25% and above. Read this post and related comments on LinkedIn Max Starkov NYU Skyware Hospitality Launches Must-Have Guide: How To Select the Right Hotel Software for the Unique Needs of Independent Hotels Balancing Budgets and Benefits in Hotel Software Investment Skyware Hospitality Solutions, a leading all-in-one hospitality platform trusted by independent hotels, resorts, RV parks, and multi-property groups, is excited to announce the launch of their must-have guide: "How To Select the Right Hotel Software for the Unique Needs of an Independent Hotel." This comprehensive guide is designed to help independent hoteliers navigate the complex world of hotel software and make informed decisions that will enhance operational efficiency and guest satisfaction. As the hospitality industry becomes increasingly competitive, independent hoteliers need advanced technologies to stay ahead of the curve and meet the unique demands of their guests. However, with so many options available in the market, choosing the right hotel software can be a daunting task. That's where Skyware Hospitality's guide comes in. The must-have guide covers a wide range of topics essential for independent hoteliers, including the importance of selecting software that integrates seamlessly with existing systems, enhances revenue management capabilities, streamlines operations, and provides a personalized guest experience. It also provides valuable insights on selecting a software provider that offers comprehensive training and ongoing support to ensure a smooth transition and successful implementation. "Selecting the right hotel software is a critical decision for independent hoteliers, as it can greatly impact their operational efficiency, revenue growth, and overall guest satisfaction," said Bob Palloni, the companys CEO. "With our must-have guide, we aim to provide independent hoteliers with the knowledge and tools they need to make an informed decision that aligns with their unique needs and goals." Skyware Hospitality has been at the forefront of hotel software innovation for over 15 years, committed to developing solutions that empower independent hotels to thrive in the competitive hospitality market. By launching this comprehensive guide, Skyware Hospitality reiterates its dedication to providing hoteliers with the resources and support they need to succeed. The "How To Select the Right Hotel Software for the Unique Needs of an Independent Hotel" guide is now available for free download on Skyware Hospitality's website: skywaresystems.com. Hoteliers looking to gain a competitive edge in the market and enhance their operations are encouraged to get their copy today. About Skyware Hospitality Solutions Skyware Hospitality Solutions is the industrys most innovative all-in-one hospitality technology platform trusted by leading independent hotels, resorts, RV parks, and multi-property groups. The company has reimagined the fragmented, complex legacy landscape into a visionary universe of modern, integrated solutions with limitless possibilities. With more than 30 years of hospitality technology experience, Skywares solutions are carefully curated to fit the unique needs of each property and built to respond flexibly to the demanding requirements of a fast-changing industry. Built from the ground up to centralize and simplify operations, the end-to-end cloud-based PMS suite includes Online Booking Engine, POS, Sales, and Catering, and Activity/Spa Scheduling. The easy-to-use system is up and running quickly and seamlessly, delivering a scalable, cost-effective solution that can work with or replace existing hotel systems and technology investments. With deep industry knowledge and top-rated North American-based support, Skywares patented technology accelerates its customers' ambitions, whether to grow and transform or simply become more efficient, productive, and profitable. Currently, over 200 unique hotel customers in over five countries look to Skyware for tools, technology, and world-class expert support. Founded in 2009, the privately held company is headquartered in Crestview, Florida. For more information, please visit skywaresystems.com. Accor Expands Portfolio in India With Signing of Grand Mercure Amritsar Airport Road Hotel The 100 room Property in Amritsar Airport Road is set to Open In 2026 The property will feature 100 rooms, including five spacious suites and two distinctive food and beverage outlets designed to delight the palate. Key facilities include an expansive 800+ sqm banquet, a world-class spa and fitness Centre, and a rejuvenating swimming pool. With ample parking and contactless check-in, guests can expect a smooth, hassle-free stay. Located in the heart of Amritsar, a city celebrated for its rich cultural heritage and the iconic Golden Temple, the Grand Mercure aims to be a symbol of elegance and comfort. Travelers visiting this vibrant and historically significant city can anticipate a world-class accommodation option that seamlessly combines Accor's modernity with the timeless charm of local Amritsar. Aniruddh Kumar, Vice President of Development, India & South Asia at Accor expressed his enthusiasm for this significant development, "This project marks the debut of the first Grand Mercure in the iconic city of Amritsar, which consistently attracts millions of visitors year-round, drawn by its vibrant blend of cuisine, culture, and business opportunities. This venture underscores our shared commitment to nurturing the hospitality sector's growth in Amritsar, by ensuring guests will be treated to an exceptional array of experiences, in line with our global legacy." Sanjeev and Kirti Chadha, Partner of R. V. Enterprises, mentioned they are thrilled to partner with Accor on this spectacular project. "Every Grand Mercure property invites guests to experience and celebrate the region's unique cuisine, ceremonies and cultural elements. The hotel will therefore herald a new chapter for Amritsar, a city known for its rich heritage and warm hospitality. The property is being developed by R. V. Enterprises, synonymous with excellence in real estate, food processing, and Punjab's agro-retail industry. 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. Published: 16 Oct 2023 Share: The event not only highlighted the deep roots of Welsh songs but also celebrated unity through various musical styles. The Hong Kong Welsh Male Voice Choir (HKWMVC), which originated from an impromptu singing of Welsh songs around the piano at the St. Davids Society Annual Ball in 1977, has come a long way to its performance at the Heriot-Watt University Malaysias (HWUM) campus in Putrajaya. The choirs performance at the HWUM campus on 30 September 2023, was attended by more than 100 participants, marking a significant moment in their musical journey. The choir has steadily grown in scope and reputation since 1978. The event commenced with the arrival and registration of guests, followed by a warm welcome from the master of ceremony. The chairman of HKWMVC, Michael Wust, extended his greetings in Bahasa Malaysia. In his speech, he expressed Good afternoon and welcome to our concert here in Heriot-Watt University Malaysia. Thank you for the invitation and giving us such a warm welcome. We are the Hong Kong Welsh Male Voice Choir and we are very happy to be here. We would like to introduce you to the Welsh choir tradition with a variety of song selection from Scotland, Wales, England and nearby countries. Enjoy the song collections that we will perform for you, thank you. The evening kicked off with the Malaysias national anthem, Negaraku, performed by The Hong Kong Welsh Male Voice Choir. Following that, they performed a range of melodies, including classics like Rachie, I Dream a Dream, Cwm Rhondda, Flower of Scotland, Take Me Home, The Moon Represents My Heart, Loch Lamond, There is Nothing Like A Dame, Calon Lan, and Sweet Caroline. In the intermission, HWUM Music Club students showcased their talents. Lau Li Yang on the Saxophone, Hang Zi Yi on the Cello, and Wong Kheng Zhe on the Keyboard performed soulful performances of Alicia Keys' "If I Ain't Got You" and Jay Chow's "Chrysanthemum Terrace. The highlight of the event was a heartwarming moment when the HKWMVC joined participants in singing the Malaysian national anthem together at the HWUM Plaza. Professor Mushtak Al-Atabi, Provost and Chief Executive Officer of HWUM, expressed his gratitude, Today, with your music and your passion, you told the most amazing story that touched our hearts, brought the world to us, and literally brought us home. Thank you for enlightening us, inspiring and entertaining us with your music. I would like to express our heartfelt thanks to our students; they prove that engineers, accountants, and actuarial scientists can be fun! Additionally, I extend my thanks to the HWUM team for organising this event. Lastly, thank you to each and one of you who chose to spend this Saturday evening with us. Tour organiser of The Hong Kong Welsh Male Voice Choir group, Simon Clennell shared insights into their choir's journey, In October 2012, we were invited to sing at the Great British Ball in KL, a massive event at the Shangri-La Hotel with more than 900 guests. It was a very enjoyable weekend. Its difficult to compare it with this weekends trip which will be quite different in nature, as this time were performing at two educational establishments, now in Heriot-Watt University Malaysia (HWUM) and Kolej Tuanku Jaafar (KTJ) in Mantin tomorrow evening. We are also staying in Putrajaya this time, which is a new destination for most of us. So, it will be a very different weekend from 2012, but we are all very excited about it. We have 25 members making the trip, 10 of whom (including me) are veterans from KL 2012. For Heriot-Watt, we sing a mixture of Welsh, Scottish and English numbers, as well as one in Chinese the Teresa Tang classic The Moon Represents My Heart which seems appropriate for the Mid-Autumn Festival. The Scottish pieces have been included to honour HWUMs heritage as an Edinburgh-based university. The rest of the repertoire will range from rousing Welsh hymns to ABBA and Neil Diamond. For KTJ, we will omit the Scottish pieces but perform three numbers jointly with their students, including the Malay folk song Wau Bulan and the Queen classic Bohemian Rhapsody. Choosing to sing Wau Bulan a classic Malay folk song is an amazing way for us to indulge in and understand the culture of Malaysia. This exchange of repertoire pursues a deep and collaborative element that is the basis of all creative wisdom and achievement. This event not only highlighted the deep roots of Welsh songs but also celebrated unity through various musical styles. The choirs journey across Malaysia, from Heriot-Watt University Malaysia to Kolej Tuanku Jaafar, stood as proof of musics ability to bring different cultures together and leaves a lasting impression. Published: 16 Oct 2023 Share: It is imperative that we engage in the vital conversation about prioritising mental health, particularly within the context of young adults navigating higher education. In today's rapidly evolving world, the journey of life places ever-increasing tests on the resilience of our university students, challenging them not only academically but also mentally. The pursuit of knowledge is intrinsically linked with personal growth and development, and universities can serve as key facilitators of transformation. As we approach World Mental Health Day on October 10, it is imperative that we engage in the vital conversation about prioritising mental health, particularly within the context of young adults navigating higher education. The National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) conducted by the Ministry of Health (MOH) in 2015 revealed alarming statistics: 1 in 3 Malaysians grapple with mental health issues, with the highest prevalence among those aged 16-19 years and individuals from low-income families. In response to these challenges, the Malaysian government has embarked on a journey to dismantle stigma and reshape societal perceptions of mental health. In 2021, the Ministry of Health, Malaysia, introduced the Mental Health Strategic Plan 20202025, designed to promote mental well-being through the enhancement of mental health services. In alignment with these commendable initiatives, several noteworthy efforts have been undertaken to enhance mental health service accessibility across Malaysia. One of these initiatives involves the allocation of RM50 million in matching grants to Yayasan Hasanah under the Hasanah Special Grant 4 programme. These funds are aimed at bolstering mental health services and resources throughout the country, reflecting a significant commitment to addressing the mental health needs of Malaysians. Additionally, the establishment of the Talian HEAL hotline stands as an important milestone in this commendable advocacy movement that Heriot-Watt University Malaysia (HWUM) wholeheartedly supports. Furthermore, these initiatives align with HWUMs unwavering commitment to a positive approach to education that is driven by purpose, emphasising the holistic development of our students, with a focus on three fundamental pillars: academic excellence, the nurturing of mental and physical well-being, and the cultivation of character. Prioritising Mental Health in Higher Education With mental health cases on the rise, universities have an indispensable role to play in promoting the psychological and emotional well-being of their students. This responsibility is magnified in Malaysia, a diverse and fast-developing nation, where academic pressures, financial concerns, and the evolving nature of university life converge to create a web of intricate challenges. In addition, promoting mental well-being within our educational institutions is our collective responsibility. We must create nurturing environments that empower students to excel both academically and mentally. The pursuit of knowledge and personal growth should enhance, not undermine, mental health, fostering holistic development and resilience among students. This is precisely why HWUM is a firm believer in purpose-driven education, aiming to nurture future purpose-driven leaders who excel not just academically but possess the skills and attitudes required to thrive in an increasingly uncertain and complex world. As an example, among other essential skills, the EmPOWER programme at HWUM equips our students with tools to develop self-awareness, emotional intelligence and people skills, experience and communicate positive emotions, while guiding them in discovering their sense of purpose. Within the Psychology Department at HWUM, purpose-driven education is not just an abstract concept; it is a living reality. Students are active participants in their own mental health journeys rather than passive recipients of knowledge. They learn how to overcome stress, anxiety, and adversity, and harness the powers of gratitude, mindfulness, and empathy as tools for forging meaningful connections and enhancing their own well-being. Our efforts extend far beyond the classroom. Through our partnerships with industry and NGOs, we impact the community and the world at large. We offer workshops, seminars, and resources that overcome the barriers to individuals accessing the support and knowledge they need. Furthermore, our students and faculty are engaged in research that seeks to unravel the complexities of mental health, shedding light on novel approaches to support individuals in their quest for happiness and fulfilment. A Unified Effort for Better Mental Health Last year, we joined forces with the Green Ribbon Group (GRG) to empower young people to promote positive mental health. We formalised our collaborative effort through a 1.5-day training programme called The Green Ribbon Effective Agent Training (GREAT) Project. Through The GREAT Project, both parties committed to creating and mobilising community champions among young people, known as Green Ribbon Ambassadors. A total of 30 ambassadors were equipped with mental health literacy training to empower their ability to raise awareness of mental health issues among their peers. This includes breaking down mental health stigma, providing interim support to their peers, and designing their own mental health advocacy campaigns. Addressing these concerns necessitates a collective and dedicated effort. Students can play a pivotal role by offering understanding and encouragement to their peers. Concurrently, staff members must remain vigilant in recognising signs of mental health challenges and guiding students to appropriate resources to help them overcome their battles. Conclusion Universities have a responsibility to cultivate environments in which mental well-being stands as a primary concern. World Mental Health Day gives us all an opportunity to renew our commitment to raising awareness, dismantling stigma, and creating supportive spaces where every student can flourish, fortified by initiatives on mental health. In these endeavours, we find hope, for it is through education and understanding that we can build a world where mental health is truly a human right, cherished by all, and denied to none. Together, we can make this vision a reality. Professor Glenn Hitchman Professor and Head of Psychology, School of Social Sciences Heriot-Watt University Malaysia Published: 16 Oct 2023 Share: The forum brought together a diverse range of participants from industry professionals to academics, all under the overarching theme of "Decarbonising the Future." Heriot-Watt University Malaysia (HWUM) joined forces with The Pacific Association of Quantity Surveyors (PAQS) and The Royal Institution of Surveyors Malaysia (RISM) to co-organise the International Quantity Surveying Academic Forum (IQSAF) 2023. The event was held on 23 September 2023 at the HWUM campus in Putrajaya and brought together a diverse range of participants from seasoned industry professionals to academics, all under the overarching theme of "Decarbonising the Future." The forum served as a platform for attendees to exchange stories, experiences, and aspirations while forging invaluable connections in the world of Quantity Surveying. It was abundantly clear that this was no ordinary gathering; it was a unique opportunity to engage, learn, and contribute to a brighter and more sustainable future. The highlight of the event was the panel discussion, expertly moderated by Sr. Dr. Wan Maimun Wan Abdullah. The panel featured top personalities from the field, including Mr. Marin Bisset from New Zealand, Professor Sr. Dr. Abdul Ghani Khalid from The Royal Institution of Surveyors Malaysia, Dr. Eugene Seah from The Singapore Institute of Surveyors and Valuers, Dato Sr. Peter Tan from The Royal Institution of Surveyors Malaysia, and Professor Anthony Mills from The Australian Institute of Quantity Surveyors. Each panellist brought a wealth of knowledge and experience, offering valuable insights into topics such as sustainability for Quantity Surveyors, green procurement, and the role of Quantity Surveyors in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The forum emphasised the significance of sustainability, technology, and collaboration in the domain of quantity surveying. The Chair of The Pacific Association of Quantity Surveyors (PAQS), Emeritus Professor Chitra Weddikkara, resonated with the audience as she stressed the indispensable role of Quantity Surveyors in advancing sustainable construction practices. The collaboration between HWUM and IQSAF demonstrated the unwavering commitment of the academic community to address the pressing challenges facing Quantity Surveyors in Sustainable Development. Speaking about the event, Emeritus Professor Chitra Weddikkara remarked, "I like the way the forum has different panellists discussing various topics. More people should attend the forum, and opportunities for more questions to the panellists in discussing the quantity surveying role in decarbonising the future is paramount." Professor Mushtak Al-Atabi, Provost & Chief Executive Officer of HWUM shared his perspective saying, "We believe that when we have purpose at the heart of all of that development, only then can we achieve success for ourselves, we can achieve a positive impact on others, and the combination of both success and impact will make us flourish. We believe that with the new technology (AI) that we have, what is left for us is the potential for emotional intelligence, and this is the only thing that we should really focus on in order for us to be able to flourish and be successful in life." The IQSAF 2023 at HWUM not only fostered knowledge exchange but also ignited a collective determination to lead the way in decarbonising the future through sustainable Quantity Surveying practices. Berkshire County Historical Society Cemetery Tour: Church on the Hillside Cemetery NORTH ADAMS, Mass. Berkshire County Historical Society will host a cemetery tour of Hillside Cemetery. The walk will take place on Sunday, Oct. 22 at 2 pm. Join historian Jason Vivori for a walk through one of the historic cemeteries of northern Berkshire County and learn about some of the fascinating people laid to rest there. Including a personal friend of two United States Presidents, the attorney who invented a railroad brake, the Father of Archaeological Photography, two physicians who started a school, and an eyewitness to President Lincolns delivery of the Gettysburg Address. Meet at the top of the hill off Brown Street. Participants should wear sturdy shoes and bring bug repellent. The rain date is Sunday, Oct. 29 at 2 pm. Tickets are $15 for BCHS members, $20 for non-members, and are available by using the BOOK NOW button at berkshirehistory.org This series is sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit Union and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Pittsfield Police Cruiser Hits, Flips Jeep PITTSFIELD, Mass. A Jeep Wrangler flipped over in the Coltsville intersection on Sunday after being struck by a police cruiser. The Jeep's occupants and an officer were taken to Berkshire Medical Center with minor injuries. Officer Matthew Ahern was trying to maneuver through the intersection on his way to a reported disturbance on Cheshire Road when the accident occurred, according to Lt. Marc Maddalena. Ahern was using lights and intermittent sirens as he drove north from Merrill Road into the intersection, Maddalena wrote in a press release. The 2023 Jeep, driven by Kimberly Gaylord, 57, of Peru, was spun around and flipped on its side. Gaylord and her two grandchildren who were in the vehicle were take to BMC for minor injuries and released. Ahern was also taken to BMC and later released. Officer Edward Pezze, a passenger in the cruiser, did not go to the hospital. Part of the intersection was closed for about an hour for the vehicles to be removed and the roadway cleared of debris. Maddalena is in charge of the investigation. Any witnesses are asked to contact him at the Traffic Unit at 413-448-9700, Ext. 575. October 13, 2023 Live Without Fear in SVMCs Breast Cancer Program For women at higher risk of breast cancer, Southwestern Vermont Medical Centers General Surgery offers a comprehensive, long-term surveillance program to give you peace of mind. What better time than now (Breast Cancer Awareness Month) to determine if you're an eligible candidate for this program. READ MORE One-on-One with Medical Oncologist Dr. Kalmuk The Dartmouth Cancer Center at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) was pleased to welcome medical oncologist James Kalmuk, MD, to the team in September 2023. ?In this exclusive interview, he shares what drew him to SVMC and how he thinks cancer care will improve in the near future. READ MORE ? Learn CPR. Save A Life. Across the globe on October 16, World Restart a Heart Day will be celebrated to raise awareness on how to save a life. Read More All About Forgiveness How to let go of harmful emotions so the past doesnt hold you prisoner. ??Read More The Vision has Come to Fruition Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) has completed Phase One of the Vision2020, A Decade of Transformation campaign. This includes the new Kendall Emergency Department, the Richard and Pamela Ader Foundation Lobby, and Marro Cafe. Read More ? OUR CORPORATE SPONSOR: ?Southwestern Vermont Medical Center | svhealthcare.org ? ? All Saints Offering Annual Senior Thanksgiving Dinners NORTH ADAMS, Mass. North Berkshire seniors home alone on Thanksgiving can sign up to have a turkey dinner with the trimmings delivered to their home. This year's "Thanksgiving for Seniors Program" will enter its 39th year serving the Northern Berkshire area. It is designed to serve people 60 years of age and older who are alone on Thanksgiving and have no way of having a traditional Thanksgiving meal and who reside in Adams, Cheshire, the town of Florida, North Adams and Williamstown. The meals will be delivered by community volunteers on Thanksgiving Day between 11 a.m. and 1p.m. The program is provided and organized by local volunteers from the Northern Berkshire community and by the All Saints Weekend Meal Ministry. Funding for this program is provided by All Saints Episcopal Church and community donations. This year, Shannon Daugherty, Aja Daugherty and Syid Uqdah will be spearheading the program. They have assisted with this program for numerous years and are ready to take the helm. The meal will be a traditional Thanksgiving dinner consisting of roast turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, vegetable, gravy, cranberry sauce, roll and pumpkin pie. There is no charge for this meal but seniors who wish to receive a meal must make a reservation beginning Monday, Nov. 6, through Nov. 17. To make a reservation: contact All Saints Episcopal Church at 413-664-9656 between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., Monday through Thursday. If no one picks up, leave your name, address including town, and phone number on the answering machine. Please speak clearly so the office can call back to confirm your reservation. The ministry is also looking for volunteers to deliver the meals on Thanksgiving Day; volunteer by calling the number above. ??#DeRegresoACasa! Los 51 connacionales que tomaron el vuelo humanitario ecuatoriano llegaron a Quito. Ellos partiran en tres grupos a Lima: Hoy 18 compatriotas salieron a las 13:20 y 26 partiran a las 20:05. Asimismo, los 7 restantes volaran manana a las 13:20. pic.twitter.com/NkXoLATCqE Page Content Acknowledging El Salvadors leadership as an emerging air transport hub in remarks to Aero Expo 2023, ICAO Council President Salvatore Sciacchitano welcomed its exemplary decision to place the sustainable development of its air transport sector at the heart of its development strategy. His address was attended by El Salvadors Ministers of Tourism and Economy, Ms. Morena Valdez and Ms. Maria Luisa Hayem, respectively, and the Representative of El Salvador and the Central America and Panama Rotation Group on the ICAO Council, Ms. Katherin Martinez. In his remarks and at subsequent meetings, the Council President advocated for continued cooperation regionally and with ICAO as a means of heightening the implementation of ICAOs safety, security, and sustainability standards and plans. Mr. Sciacchitano underscored that continued capacity building and heightening of ICAO implementation would be key to accelerating progress, as States in the region meet the challenges of pandemic recovery and the opportunities presented by the rapid pace of innovation, including towards the total decarbonization of flight. The Presidents mission to El Salvador, which took place on 10 and 11 October 2023, was followed by a mission to Belize from 11 to 12 October. His activities comprised high level meetings with the leadership of Central American Corporation of Air Navigation Services (COCESNA), including the President of its board of Directors and its CEO, Messrs. Francisco Sol and Juan Carlos Trabanino, respectively, and the heads of the regions Civil aviation authorities (CAAs), including the President of El Salvadors Civil Aviation Executive Board and Executive Director CAA, Messrs Homero Morales and Jorge Puquirre, respectively. Discussions with COCESNA in Belize focused on the importance of regional integration in the aviation sector, the need to continue to build upon achievement of COCESNAs Regional Safety Oversight Organization, known as the Central American Safety Agency, and the need to continue progress on the decarbonization of air transport. In Belize, he also met the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Cordel Hyde;; the Minister of Blue Economy and Civil Aviation, Mr. Andre Perez; the CEO of Blue Economy and Aviation, Ms. Kennedy Carillo; and the Director General of Civil Aviation of Belize, Mr. Nigel Carter. The Council President was accompanied throughout both missions by ICAOs Regional Director for North America, Central America, and the Caribbean, Mr. Christopher Barks. " " Male pot-bellied seahorses have large fleshy pouches where embryos develop during pregnancy. Charlotte Bleijenberg/Shutterstock Normally, female animals give birth to young not males. It's just the way animals have always done it. However, the rule is almost always proven by its exception, and seahorses are the lucky winners of this particular exception. Seahorse men are the mamas. Seahorses, seadragons and pipefishes are small marine fishes in the family Syngnathidae that have the unusual habit of leaving the gestation of their young to the males. They do this in a uterus-like pouch complete with a placenta! found in their tails. Advertisement You might be wondering why a male seahorse is male if he has a uterus and placenta. He might be an anomaly, but just like other male animals on planet Earth, male seahorses produce sperm instead of eggs. The female seahorse impregnates the male by inserting her eggs into a pouch on the front of his tail, into which he releases sperm to fertilize the eggs and incubate the babies for 24 days. Researchers have found they even provide them with oxygen and nutrients during this time, not unlike mammalian and some reptilian mothers. An Australian research team has discovered the mechanism that allows male mothers to trigger the process of labor and birth. In a September 2022 study published in the journal Placenta, the researchers from the University of Sydney and the University of Newcastle reported that Syngnathid dads labor and give birth in a way that's very different from other moms. Female labor and birth is driven primarily by the hormone oxytocin, which contracts the smooth muscles of the uterus to push the babies out. Smooth muscle tissue works involuntarily, while skeletal muscles can flex and relax when the brain tells it to, which is why you can flex your calf muscle on command but women go into labor without trying. The research team found the muscle tissue of the seahorse brood pouch did not respond to the fish version of oxytocin, but also that the pouch itself contained very little smooth muscle tissue. Instead, they found the male seahorse has three small bones at the opening of the brood pouch where the anal fin attaches to skeltal muscles. Female seahorses have very small or nonexistent anal fins, but they're more prominent in males. It turns out the anal fin and skeletal muscles that power it is a key to the mystery of seahorse birth, as they play a role in both mating and labor for the seahorse. During courtship, the male seahorse does a little situp-style dance, crunching and expanding his abdomen to let water into his brood pouch. He does the same thing when he goes into labor, pressing and relaxing his abdomen until his thousands of little babies spew forth. Instead of smooth muscle running the seahorse birthing show, it's the skeletal muscles of the anal fin that contract to open the brood pouch of the male seahorse. More study is required to test whether the fathers consciously make the contractions happen, or if the skeletal muscles somehow override their normal rules and contract on their own. Now That's Interesting A seahorse father can give birth to as many as 2,000 babies at a time. Scientist think the reason the males give birth instead of the females is because seahorse babies are often eaten by prey and so having the male give birth allows the female to create more eggs to be fertilized without having to wait to give birth herself. Sharing the labor ensures survival of the species. Confluent, Inc., the data streaming pioneer, and Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group, today announced a deepened strategic multi-year partnership that expands the breadth and scope of solutions available to customers in Asia. The strengthened partnership will expand from mainland China to more markets in the region including Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. The Confluent Data Streaming Service on Alibaba Cloud will be available for Alibaba Cloud customers in the aforementioned new markets by the end of this year. Modern business happens in real-time - from delivering real-time customer experiences, improving efficiencies in backend operations, and launching innovative new products and services. The demand for real-time has cemented data streaming platforms as a critical business requirement in nearly every industry and category. In fact, the 2023 APAC Data Streaming Report found that 89% of technology leaders in APAC say investments in data streaming are important, while 69% say they are using data streaming to power critical applications. Data streaming is what enables ride-sharing apps to provide a real-time mobile experience to match riders to drivers, provide dynamic pricing, and update driver ETAs. Its what lets retailers personalize their customers shopping experiences, across every channel and interaction, in real time. And it even helps banks offer loans in just five minutes. The use cases are truly limitless. Confluents industry-leading data streaming platform is made available on Alibaba Cloud to more organizations in Asia Under the expanded scope of collaboration, organizations in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand will have access to Confluents data streaming platform on Alibaba Cloud. And with the deepened partnership, customers can benefit from a robust and resilient data streaming service. The solution, based on the distributed data streaming technology Apache Kafka, enables customers with more powerful and efficient data processing capabilities, including enhanced elastic computing and storage functions, and dedicated customer support and technical consultation. Customers can enjoy all the enterprise-grade features of Kafka without the cumbersome management and monitoring work, and process data streams with enterprise-grade security. Confluents Data Streaming Platform has been used for improved business operation efficiency among a wide range of customers across numerous industries, including financial services, omnichannel retail, automobile, and gaming. Kamal Brar, Senior Vice President APAC at Confluent, commented: By extending our partnership with Alibaba Cloud from mainland China to further across Asia, more organizations can now set their data in motion, by harnessing real-time, flexible data insights. The additional capabilities that we and Alibaba Cloud have enabled provide better experiences for our customers. This significantly accelerates time to value and improves developer productivity in building their real-time streaming applications. Selina Yuan, President of International Business, Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group said, Following our success in delivering Confluents services from the Alibaba Cloud platform for customers in mainland China, were delighted to announce this extension of Confluents advanced data streaming capabilities further across the region. This expansion is a testament to our successful partnership, which allows us to support more customers as demand grows to connect enterprise-wide apps and data systems with real-time data flows. The pitchforks are gathering at the gates of Hollywood. From the crowd, a chant: No! More! Long! Movies! Its become one of the great cultural consensuses of our era: films are too long. Bring back short, sweet, 90-minute movies. Pete Davidson even did a rap about it. The argument is simple: we all have busy lives. In the digital frenzy of contemporary life, no one really wants to bunker down for any longer than they have to. And yet, people like Martin Scorsese didnt seem to get the memo. The legendary filmmaker returns this month with Killers of the Flower Moon, a three-and-a-half-hour epic set against a series of murders in the Osage Nation during the 1920s. It follows the directors previous film, the similarly lengthy mob drama The Irishman and even they are some way off his longest work, the four-hour documentary My Voyage to Italy. Scorsese isnt alone in embracing the idea that more is more. Statistics show that the average runtime of mainstream cinema releases has risen drastically over the past several decades. While theres no denying the slick satisfaction of a 90-minute sizzler, its pig-headed to look at art as something that has to be guzzled as quickly and efficiently as possible. Long movies are a thing to be luxuriated in there is more scope for nuance, detail, room to breathe. A bottle of wine sipped over a long evening, rather than a round of tequila shots. For all our collective fawning over short movies, the evidence suggests that audiences have more patience than we give them credit for. Earlier this year, Christopher Nolans Oppenheimer was a smash hit, despite running for a positively gluttonous three hours. James Camerons Avatar: The Way of Water was just as unrestrained, and became one of the biggest film releases of all time late last year. Look at the list of the highest-grossing movies ever, and you will see a lineup of hulking, cumbersome films: Titanic (195 mins); Avengers: Endgame (181 mins); Avatar (162 mins). Perhaps just as enticing as the prospect of seeing these films is the chance to have a nice collective whinge about them. Did you see Oppenheimer? Oh God, wasnt it so long? 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 }} Russia has joined its ally China in suspending seafood trade with Japan after Tokyo began releasing treated radioactive water from its Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean. Russias agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor said it is "joining Chinas provisional restrictive measures on the import of fish and seafood products from Japan as of 16 October 2023. It said the decision has been taken as a "precautionary measure and restrictions will remain in place until more information was received to confirm the safety of Japanese seafood, which it said was still pending. Japan said the ban was unjust and regrettable. Japan began releasing the first batch of treated radioactive water from the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean on 24 August and the second on 5 October amid opposition from fishing groups and neighbouring countries, including major trade partners like South Korea, China and Taiwan. The release of tons of water has generated international concerns with countries expressing doubts about the potential health and environmental risks posed by the release, leading to diplomatic and trade tensions with neighbours. This is despite Japans assurances that the released water is safe and will be diluted to well below internationally approved levels of tritium (an isotope of hydrogen hard to separate from water) before being released into the Pacific. Analysts have said that the restrictions on the import of fish from Japan appear unreasonable and could be motivated by political and financial interests rather than safety fears. Mark Foreman, an associate professor of nuclear chemistry in Sweden, told The Independent that the levels of radioactivity in the water discharged from the Fukushima site will not pose any danger to the general public and that these bans could not be defended from a scientific viewpoint. I do not think it will even endanger a fish glutton who eats nothing but fish, he said. There is the problem that many politicians and countries wish to be seen to be more strict or protective of the public than another. Reacting to Russias restrictions, Japans Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said on Monday that Moscows ban had "no scientific basis, is unjust and regrettable, calling for it to be revoked, the Kyodo news agency reported. Japans foreign ministry said that it had provided Russia with additional information before 15 October following an online dialogue between the relevant state bodies last week, it said in a statement released on Monday before Russia announced its ban. "Japan will continue to provide explanations based on scientific evidence to Russia in a highly transparent manner and in good faith, while undergoing the review by the IAEA," it added. Russias move comes after China Japans biggest buyer of seafood implemented its own ban on all seafood imports from Japan. Tokyo called on China and its territories Hong Kong and Macau to remove the ban and prime minister Fumio Kishida criticised Beijing for spreading "scientifically unfounded claims". Mr Foreman and other analysts suggested the bans could be explained partly by Tokyos closer alignment to the US and South Korea in recent years and the Fumio Kishida governments policy of speaking out against the Ukraine war. I see the bans as being made for political advantage and also in an attempt to obtain an economic advantage for the fishing fleets of the countries which are imposing the bans. I believe that no good scientific arguments can be made for these bans, Mr Foreman said. International trade law expert Henry Gao told BBC News: The main reason is not really the safety concerns. It is mainly due to Japans moves against China. Vladimir Putin is due to visit Beijing this week for the Belt and Road Initiative Forum, only his second foreign visit since an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant was issued against him. Russia and China have forged closer ties and hailed their no limits partnership as Western countries have tried to isolate Mr Putin following his invasion of Ukraine. Moscow had criticised Tokyo for its stance on the war and for joining the Group of Seven (G7) nations in imposing sanctions after the invasion in February last year. Russia is also a direct competitor with Japan when it comes to catching fish and seafood in the waters off its far eastern regions, and is already one of the largest suppliers of marine products to China. Not a big market for Japanese seafood itself, Russia imported 118 metric tonnes of fish and seafood from January to September this year, according to Rosselkhoznadzor. Beyond China and Russia, the South Korean government is under pressure to put a blanket ban on imports from Tokyo. Seoul has maintained an import ban on fisheries products from Fukushima and some surrounding prefectures since 2013 but has so far refused to extend this to the rest of Japan. 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 }} An allergy influencer who didnt use her adrenaline pen immediately after a severe reaction to peanuts shared what happened in a viral TikTok. South African influencer Shivaika Sewlal posted a two-minute video on 29 September that showed her face with significant swelling around her eyes and overlaid text that read, Me not realising that Im having a life-threatening allergic reaction... In the video, Sewlal explained to viewers that she was unsure whether or not she should go to the hospital, as she had facial swelling but felt completely fine, before acknowledging she couldnt see properly. Sewlal continued to film her eventual trip to the hospital, showing moments including when her swollen features seemingly caused the facial recognition technology in her apartment building not to recognise her. The influencer also recorded the voice of a doctor who asked if she had used her adrenaline pen, which is often administered to immediately treat extreme allergic reactions like Sewlals. After she received multiple injections and was placed on an IV drip, Sewlal reflected on the experience, calling it scary. The video has since received 22.2 million views, and over 18,900 comments, many of which balk at the fact that Sewlal deliberately did not use her adrenaline pen, often referred to by the trademark name EpiPen. One popular comment that received over 122,000 likes expressed shock, Why wouldnt you use your EpiPen? This is insane. Please never delay going to the hospital or using your EpiPen! one viewer wrote, while another added: As someone who carries an EpiPen, how is it that you questioned if you need it, there is no ambiguity there. Someone else claiming to be a nurse cautioned Sewlal, As a nurse, Im not gonna lie, Im panicking that you didnt use your EpiPen. Im glad all turned out well, but in the future, thats an immediate. Other viewers were cracking up over the doctors seemingly exasperated reaction to her not using her EpiPen. You must use it, hes like girl r u tryna die? one viewer commented, and another added, That why not? came from his most exhausted soul, man was baffled. Sewlal often documents in her videos what its like to live with severe allergies. She told Insider that shes experienced severe allergies since childhood and often has varying reactions to different foods, both intense and mild. With her account boasting 589,000 followers, Sewlal tries to use her platform to spread awareness about people who suffer from severe allergies like her. She began posting to TikTok in 2020 out of the desire to create an online community for people who also suffer from severe eczema, allergies, and asthma. The influencer also wanted to spread awareness about [her] conditions and show people the reality of what it's like to live with over 40 allergies, including sensitivity to all nuts and their oils, as well as eggs, and citric acid. Sewlal posted her viral video because she wanted her experience to serve as a cautionary tale. I was very confused and didnt realize it was a life-threatening reaction at the time because I didnt eat anything that I was allergic to, the influencer explained to the outlet. I only understood the severity of my situation after speaking to the doctor. She added: I want others to learn from my mistakes. Now, I know to use my EpiPen as soon as I start reacting. Chinese FM meets Russian counterpart Xinhua) 17:03, October 16, 2023 BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Beijing on Monday. The meeting took place ahead of the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, slated for Tuesday and Wednesday in Beijing. Wang said this year, which marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping, is of great significance for connecting the past with the future. China appreciates Russian President Vladimir Putin's high appreciation of and support for Belt and Road cooperation, Wang said, extending the welcome to Russia for continuing its active participation in the initiative to make further contribution to boost common development and prosperity. Lavrov said Russia and China have kept a good momentum in developing bilateral relations. Russia expects to maintain close strategic communication with China and deepen practical cooperation across the board. Lavrov noted that President Putin is very much looking forward to meeting President Xi in China and participating in the forum, expressing confidence over the success of the event. The two sides conducted strategic coordination concerning the efforts to strengthen cooperation within the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BRICS and other multilateral frameworks. The two sides exchanged views on the tension between Palestine and Israel. Wang said China condemns all forms of actions that harm civilians and opposes any act that violates the international law. The UN Security Council needs to take measures and major countries should play active roles, Wang said. The most pressing need at the moment is to cease fire and stop war, Wang said, stressing the importance of pushing the two sides back to negotiation and setting up emergency humanitarian channels to prevent a larger-scale humanitarian crisis. The fundamental approach is to activate the two-state solution, strive for an even broader consensus and promote the establishment of the timetable and roadmap for restoring the legitimate rights of the Palestinian nation, he said. (Web editor: Liang Jun, Hongyu) YEREVAN, OCTOBER 16, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is traveling to Strasbourg to address the European Parliament. The Prime Ministers Office said Pashinyan will deliver a speech in the European Parliament on October 17. A meeting with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola is also scheduled. Pashinyan and Metsola will then make statements to the press. Other meetings are also scheduled. 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 }} Stella McCartneys bid to swap her Notting Hill townhouse for a secluded Scottish retreat has hit the rocks after locals objected to plans for the modernist mansion, describing it as a monstrous carbuncle. More than 50 objections have been submitted to building proposals to redevelop the Commando Rock site nestled in the Scottish Highlands. The row was sparked by proposals first submitted by McCartneys 52-year-old husband Alasdhair Willis, with angry residents insisting the buildings glass-fronted contemporary design would clash with the architecture of the area. Residents also raised issues with the propertys ecological impact and how it would restrict access to a beach used extensively by locals and holiday-makers. According to a design statement submitted by the architecture firm Brown & Brown, the split-level property would be constructed with a contemporary and complimentary mix of materials, including Scottish stone, concrete, and weathering steel which would pick up on the colours of the landscape. Angus MacDonald, the Liberal Democrat councillor for Fort William and Ardnamurchan who is objecting the proposal, urged the couple to put forth a more eco-friendly design in a statement to The Times. It would be better if the building was more blended in, perhaps with a turf roof. Its on a promontory with Scots pines at the end and local people would prefer it if those were not cut down, he added. Locals said they are worried about the impact of the modernist construction separately described as a scar and carbuncle in comments to the council on the flora and fauna of the area, including the destruction of otter holts and unnecessary felling of precious mature Scots pine trees. A rendering of the living space (Brown & Brown) The removal of some of the existing Scots pines is an outrageous suggestion, one comment read. The whole country is in a process of trying to get these magnificent, natural trees to regenerate, yet here the application wants to go against this initiative. Other concerns include the buildings contemporary design which, some argue, clashes with architecture of the area, and restricted access to a beach used extensively by locals and holiday-makers. Another person, who did not wish to be named, told the newspaper: Its believed in the area that the build will cost around 5m. Stella McCartney, who makes a big thing about being green, plans to build a house thats steel and concrete. The entrance courtyard of the home (Brown & Brown) Brown & Browns design statement suggests the couples new sea-facing home will retain the wild nature of the site overlooking the Roshven Bay on the west coast. The daughter of Beatles legend Paul McCartney and the late environmentalist Linda McCartney, Stella is the founder of the eponymous, sustainable British luxury label. She has previously campaigned against the use of fur in fashion as well as deforestation. A visualisation of the houses plush interiors (Brown & Brown) Brown & Brown declined to comment on the story. The Independent has contacted McCartneys representatives for comment. The mother-of-four has a long connection with Scotland, having spent much of her childhood at Maccas remote Scottish farmhouse, High Park in Kintyre, which he bought after the Beatles broke up. The planning application for Stella and Willis Scottish holiday home states: The applicant wishes to create a home here which is site-specific, with the setting, existing contours, aspect, and sun-path being among the key generators of the design. More than 50 objections to McCartneys proposal have been submitted to Highland council (Getty Images) Privacy is of prime import to the applicant, which was a chief reason they acquired the site. The secluded nature of the site would be retained, with the house being largely unseen outwith the site, and primarily only visible from the water. The planning committee is still reviewing plans for McCartneys Scottish holiday, with a decision on it expected at a later date. 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 }} Nikita Kuzmins latest Instagram post appears to confirm he is dating model Lauren Jaine, with fans of the Strictly Come Dancing star congratulating the couple on social media. Kuzmin, 25, is currently paired with Layton Williams, the star of BBCs Bad Education, with the dance couple at the top of the Strictly leaderboard after their Cha Cha Cha routine on Saturday (14 October) left all four judges impressed. Jaine joined English TV presenter Jeff Brazier, whose son Bobby is competing on the hit competition series, in the audience for Saturday nights show, amid rumours she and Kuzmin were dating. On Sunday (15 October), the choreographer appeared to confirm the romance rumours in a multi-slide Instagram post, which included a picture of the couple posing together. Amid photos and videos from rehearsals for Strictly and the subsequent live show, Kuzmin also shared a video of him with Jaine taken at a supermarket. His caption read: Photo dump Sunday. Fans congratulated Kuzmin and Jaine in the comments, with one person writing that they make a lovely couple. Aww Nikita so lovely to see you happy with your beautiful girlfriend, xx so glad for you, another comment read. Kuzmin and Jaine were first spotted together at the Strictly live show on 9 October, with a source telling The Sun that they have been dating for months and seem to have an amazing connection. The newspaper also reported the couple attended the Tina Turner Musical Gala night at the Aldwych theatre in London last month, and travelled to Croatia together in August. Jaine shared multiple photographs from their holiday together on Instagram, as fans speculated whether they were dating. The Independent has contacted Kuzmins representatives for comment. Williams and Kuzmin made Strictly history during Saturdays live show, as they were awarded the earliest score of 10 for a Cha Cha Cha routine, earning 37 points in total. Judge Motsi Mabuse gave them a standing ovation, and said: You add a whole kind of flavour to this whole competition. I could watch it day and night. Before Jaine, Kuzmin was reportedly dating Australian TikTok star and host of The Hotline sex podcast, Charlie Backshall. The pair were pictured holding hands during a stroll in northwest London in February this year, in photographs exclusively obtained by Hello! magazine. Backshall, 21, confirmed she was dating a public figure during an episode of her podcast in December 2022, adding shes following his lead in terms of how public were making things because his brand is very family friendly while hers is not. 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 Benedictine monk has been suspended from ministry after the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore recently became aware of a payment he made several years ago to settle sexual harassment allegations. Last week, Father Paschal Morlino was dismissed from his position as pastor of St. Benedict Church in southwest Baltimore, where he served for nearly 40 years and became known for his longstanding efforts to help residents of poor neighborhoods surrounding the church. The archdiocese learned about the settlement Thursday when reporters for The Baltimore Banner inquired about it, officials said in a statement Sunday. They said they immediately opened an internal investigation and decided to dismiss Morlino. He is no longer permitted to celebrate Mass or engage in public ministry in the Archdiocese, the statement said. Morlino, 85, has returned to Saint Vincent Archabbey in Pennsylvania, the oldest Benedictine monastery in the country, after both the Baltimore archdiocese and the Order of Saint Benedict made a joint decision to suspend his priestly faculties, officials said. The investigation is ongoing. Kim Metzgar, communications director for Saint Vincent Archabbey, said she was unable to comment because of the ongoing investigation. The archdiocese will appoint a new administrator to oversee Saint Benedict Church, which is owned and operated by the Benedictines, according to their statement. Church officials disclosed few details about the 2018 complaint against Morlino, saying only that it focused on alleged sexual harassment of an adult man who had died before the complaint was filed. Officials said they were unable to corroborate the third-party allegations as a result. In an interview last week with The Banner, Morlino confirmed the $200,000 settlement payment, denied any wrongdoing and said he had nothing to hide. I just wanted to keep him quiet, to be rid of him, because he was just stirring up trouble, he told The Banner, referring to the complainant, who died in 2020. Joanne Suder, an attorney who represented the man, said she couldnt comment because of a confidentiality agreement. Suder represents a number of victims of clergy sexual abuse in Baltimore. Morlino arrived at St. Benedict in 1984, a time of declining membership and waning interest in the church. In the years that followed, he led efforts to update and improve church buildings and strengthen the parishs mission, according to their website. Before coming to Baltimore, Morlino founded Adelphoi Village, a nonprofit child care agency that works with at-risk youth in Pennsylvania. 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 }} Priti Patel allegedly begged the US to take on the case of British Jihadi Aine Davis, it can now be reported. Details of the then-home secretarys personal intervention emerged in legal argument at the Old Bailey in March. It can only now be reported after Davis, once suspected of being linked to the so-called Islamic State (IS) death squad dubbed The Beatles, pleaded guilty on Monday to having a firearm for terrorist purposes and two charges of funding terrorism. Defence barrister Mark Summers KC had claimed British authorities connived in the deportation of Londoner Davis from Turkey with a view to him being extradited onwards to America and face fresh charges there. However, in a Court of Appeal ruling, senior judges rejected Mr Summers claims against Ms Patel and UK officials which were raised in his failed bid to get the case thrown out. The ruling published on Monday stated: It is clear from the history that the British government discussed with officials from the United States the options as to whether or when criminal proceedings might be brought against the applicant in the United States and the United Kingdom. It is accepted therefore that communications between the two countries concerned the possibility of prosecution in the respective criminal jurisdictions. But the assertion that the Home Secretary impermissibly sought to circumvent the double jeopardy rule in this country is unfounded. The Court of Appeal judges also agreed with Old Bailey Judge Mark Lucraft KC that there was a wholesale lack of evidence of misconduct on the part of the then home secretary and the relevant United Kingdom officials. From 2018 onwards there was a complex and difficult set of proceedings surrounding the desire of the American government to prosecute two members of the Isis cell dubbed by the UK press The Beatles Mark Summers KC, defending Previously, Mr Summers had said Ms Patel made a phone call to a US attorney general in 2022, allegedly veering into Alice In Wonderland territory. Ultimately, the plan was abandoned and Davis was arrested and charged with terror offences on his arrival in the UK from Turkey last summer. Outlining the saga, Mr Summers said: From 2018 onwards there was a complex and difficult set of proceedings surrounding the desire of the American government to prosecute two members of the Isis cell dubbed by the UK press The Beatles. Davis had been suspected since 2014 of involvement and in 2019 British MI5 officers visited him in a Turkish prison to ask him about it, the court was told. Afterwards, the British consulate received complaints from Davis and his family that he was being mistreated, threatened and subjected to sleep deprivation, the court heard. Meanwhile, two IS Beatles members El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey were convicted in Virginia in the US and handed eight life sentences each. The third Beatles member Mohammed Emwazi known as Jihadi John had died in a US drone strike in 2015. The personal involvement of the home secretary trying to persuade a foreign country to prosecute a UK national is frankly extraordinary Mark Summers KC, defending On June 18 last year, British officials learned that prosecutors in New York were seeking to extradite Davis to the US and charge him with providing material support to IS. The following month, prosecutors in Virginia clarified they were not looking to put him on trial as a member of The Beatles cell, saying there were only three members. By then, Mr Summers suggested the UK was begging the US to take over the prosecution of Mr Davis. The case moved into Alice In Wonderland territory, with the Ms Patel phoning the Americans to get them to take the case, he said. Mr Summers said: The personal involvement of the home secretary trying to persuade a foreign country to prosecute a UK national is frankly extraordinary. It may have come to nothing but was seriously abusive. Trying to persuade a third state to prosecute one of our nationals is seriously irregular, and to facilitate his extradition there via the UK is also seriously irregular. The proper route would have been extradition from Turkey to America. That was assessed to be unrealistic theyve fallen out at an international level. Its difficult to overstate the illegality and irregularity of what was under contemplation for some time. The evidence we submit is overwhelming - the Government knew full well what the Turkish deportation decision was going to be before the result, that can only be because they were involved in the decision-making process Mark Summers KC, defending He went on to allege British authorities had influenced Turkey to issue Daviss deportation for ulterior motives. In early July, consular official A visited Davis in Ankara prison to inform him he was to be moved to a deportation centre and then be sent home within seven to 10 days. Mr Summers said: The evidence we submit is overwhelming the Government knew full well what the Turkish deportation decision was going to be before the result, that can only be because they were involved in the decision making-process. When Davis asked for a passport he was told its not going to happen. It was claimed he was told by the official that on arrival in Britain he would be questioned by the police and then he could get on with his life. When Davis said that would be impossible given the media attention, he was told he could not stay in Turkey. Mr Summers suggested the timing of the visit was significant, coming the day after the deportation was leaked to British media. On July 9, Davis was moved to a deportation centre where he was visited several more times by the consular official A in attempts to persuade him to leave voluntarily. This is a blatant attempt to get him to agree summarily for Davis to waive his legal rights Mark Summers KC, defending Mr Summers claimed: The UK had connived in procuring the deportation order from Turkey with subjective ulterior motives. Between July 11 and August 4, attempts were made to prevent Davis from challenging his deportation and there was reckless indifference when he did seek to resist, it was alleged. Mr Summers claimed Davis was even forced to share a cell with seven other people in a possible deliberate attempt to break his will. On July 13, Davis refused to apply for a one-way travel document to the UK and said he wished to go to a third country instead. In response, a consular official initiated steps for an emergency passport to be issued which did not require his consent. Email evidence suggested that by July 20, British authorities knew Davis was asking to see a lawyer and that was likely to prolong the legal process. After Davis was visited by a Turkish lawyer, consular official A allegedly told him the time to launch a challenge had expired. He was offered the no-brainer option to go quietly on a private plane without the media storm of travelling on a commercial flight. Mr Summers said: This is a blatant attempt to get him to agree summarily for Davis to waive his legal rights. On July 30, Daviss Turkish lawyer advised him to protect his interests immediately and the defendant scribbled out an application for asylum based on fears for safety and double jeopardy. When he asked to speak to consular official A, he was allegedly told there was no need and that he would be informed. In August, Davis was deported back to Britain, met at Luton Airport by counter-terrorism police and later charged with three terrorism offences. The defendant, who entered his guilty pleas at the Old Bailey by video link from Belmarsh high security prison on Monday, will be sentenced on November 13. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A British Muslim convert once suspected of being a member of a death squad dubbed The Beatles from the so-called Islamic State has pleaded guilty to terrorism charges. Aine Leslie Davis, 39, was deported from Turkey last August after serving a seven-and-a-half year sentence for membership of ISIS. On his arrival at Luton airport, he was detained by British counter-terrorism police and charged with three offences. Ahead of his planned Old Bailey trial, Davis legal team claimed the case should be thrown out because he could not be tried twice for the same offending. British authorities were also accused of conniving with Turkish counterparts in his deportation in a failed bid by the then-Home Secretary Priti Patel to arrange his onward extradition to the US where two other ISIS Beatles were tried. In legal argument, defence lawyer Mark Summers KC noted the spectre of suspicion around Daviss involvement with the Beatles cell from 2014 onwards. It caused Davis to complain about mistreatment in his Turkish jail after he was interviewed about it by British intelligence officers, the court was told. Mr Summers said that in July last year, lawyers in the ISIS Beatles case in Virginia clarified they were not seeking to bring a prosecution against Davis because the evidence was there were only three members and not four members of that cell. The barrister claimed Ms Patel veered into Alice in Wonderland territory when she phoned authorities in the US begging them to take Daviss case. Mr Summers said: The irregular personal involvement of the Home Secretary trying to persuade a foreign country to prosecute a UK national is frankly extraordinary. Davis, pictured in a court sketch, previously served a seven-and-a-half year sentence for membership of ISIS (PA Archive) The prosecution disputed the defence claims which were rejected by Judge Mark Lucraft and later by the Court of Appeal. On Monday, Davis returned to the Old Bailey and pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm contrary to Section 57 of the Terrorism Act 2000, and two charges of funding terrorism between 2013 and 2014. The defendant entered his pleas via video link from Belmarsh prison and Judge Lucraft adjourned sentencing until November 13. The offences were largely uncovered from his communications with his then-wife, mother-of-two Amal El-Wahabi, 36, who stayed behind in north London living on benefits. Davis, who used the name Hamza after converting to Islam, was born in the capital and spent time living in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates in 2007. He met El-Wahabi at a London mosque and they became increasingly interested in Islam. In July 2013, he travelled to Syria but maintained regular contact with El-Wahabi by phone and internet. Priti Patel veered into Alice in Wonderland territory when she phoned authorities in the US begging them to take Daviss case, the court heard (REUTERS) He went on to enlist her in a plan to send him cash by hoodwinking her friend Nawal Masaad, 36, to act as courier on the promise of 1,000 euros. Ms Masaad, from Holloway, north London, was stopped at Heathrow Airport on January 16 2014 as she was about to board a flight to Istanbul with 20,000 euros stuffed inside her tights. The prosecution alleged the money raised in the UK was destined to support Daviss terrorist cause in Syria. Following El-Wahabis arrest in London, police uncovered a stash of terrorist propaganda said to have been left behind by Davis when he went to Syria. On her mobile phone was a picture sent by Davis in November 2013 in Syrian woods with a man holding a Kalashnikov rifle. Davis told his wife: Dont show this to anyone but yuyu. (sic). I mean it. He sent another picture posing with 13 others in military-style clothes, all with guns held aloft. Asked by El-Wahabi if he was doing anything exciting, Davis said he was just on point, which is believed to be a reference to guard duty. ISIS Beatle Alexanda Kotey is serving life in a US prison (PA Media) Fellow Beatles El Shafee Elsheikh was also jailed last year The court heard it was clear that Davis who had convictions for possession of drugs and gun possession had gone to Syria to fight under the black flag of IS and that he was preoccupied with martyrdom. Giving evidence in her trial, El-Wahabi claimed Davis was always there for her and had left the country to get away from everyone and to look for work. He was unhappy in London because of the drugs, the influence of friends he has around him, the police targeting him constantly, she said. She added: With him, his problem is he is always being watched. After the Old Bailey trial in 2014, El-Wahabi was found guilty of funding terrorism and jailed for 28 months, while Ms Masaad was cleared of wrongdoing. El-Wahabi was the first person to be convicted of funding terrorism in Syria. In November 2015, Davis was arrested with others in Istanbul after being found using a forged travel document and later jailed for IS membership. Davis has always denied being connected with The Beatles cell so-called because of their British accents which tortured and beheaded western hostages in Syria. Two ISIS Beatles members, British nationals El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey, are now serving life in US jails. The third Beatle, Mohammed Emwazi, dubbed Jihadi John, who was believed to feature in shocking videos of IS beheadings of a number of captives, was killed in a drone strike in 2015. 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 chef said he paid someone to have his ex-partner killed in a confession to police - seven years after she vanished on a night out, a jury heard. Alcoholic Darren Osment is accused of murdering Claire Holland, who disappeared in Bristol in 2012 and whose body has never been found. A jury at Bristol Crown Court on Monday heard how the 41-year-old was due to see Ms Holland after finishing a shift at a pub on the night she went missing - but he told police in the days after that they hadnt met, and he had gone home alone. However, Mr Andrew Langdon KC, prosecuting, told the jury how Osment had made a number of drunken confessions, including to police, in the years that followed Ms Hollands disappearance. The conversations revealed how Osment blamed Ms Holland for their child being taken into care before they split up in 2010, said Mr Langdon. In 2014, Osment told a roommate he had strangled Ms Holland before throwing her body into Avonmouth Docks, nine miles from the city, said Mr Langdon. Then, in 2018, he told another man in a pub that he had paid someone 500 to have her executed, the jury heard. In 2019, Osment made a 999 call on a night out in Devon in which he said: Im handing myself in. When the operator asked you murdered your ex?, Osment replied: Sort of, I know what happened to her. When police arrived to find him, he continued his confession, said Mr Langdon, who read a transcript of Osment saying: I gave some money to someone and they had her killed. A court artist sketch of Darren Osment, 41, at Bristol Crown Court where he is accused of killing his ex-partner (PA Wire) Later, in a police interview, Osment said he could not remember the 999 call or his discussion with police officers, said Mr Langdon, who told the jury: You will at the end of the case ask yourself are all these confessions false confessions, is that the explanation for the difference? Or will you conclude that in each, Darren Osment was trying to take responsibility for the fact he did indeed kill Claire? Is he for some reason trying to claim responsibility for something he did not do to make himself look big? Or was he, through the various drunken confessions he made, trying to relieve himself of the burden that he carried? If that is so, then it appears, the prosecution say, he lacks the courage to describe what he actually did, the memory of it, its so horrid, so ghastly that when it comes to it he cant bring himself to spell it out. The court heard the defendant and Ms Holland met in 2008 when they worked together in a cafe and began a relationship, with their only child being born in 2010. The child was taken into foster care after police were called to the home they shared in Bradley Stoke following allegations of alcohol-fuelled domestic violence. The couple later separated - but were due to meet, said Mr Langdon, to talk about their son after he had been moved to Torquay to live with Ms Hollands aunt. The defendant, of Chessel Drive, Patchway, South Gloucestershire, has pleaded not guilty to murder on a date between June 5 and June 8 2012. The trial continues. 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 }} Anti-terror police are probing the death of a man and the assault of another in Hartlepool. A 44-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder following the incident in the Tees Street area of the town in the early hours of Sunday. Cleveland Police said they are working with Counter Terrorism Policing North East to investigate the incident. A large bloodied kitchen knife was found on the pavement as police cordoned off a large area. A force spokesman said that there was not believed to be any ongoing threat to the public. He said: Cleveland Police are investigating the death of a man and the assault of another in the early hours of Sunday 15 October 2023 in the Tees Street area of Hartlepool. A 44-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder and remains in custody. Due to initial inquiries into the circumstances of the incident, Cleveland Police are working with Counter Terrorism Policing North East on the investigation. Counter Terrorism Policing has deployed its specialist capabilities to help establish what happened. It is not believed that there is any outstanding threat to the public and the local community connected to this incident. A cordon remains in place and a search is ongoing at a property in the area. The man who was assaulted was taken to hospital and remains there with what are believed to be non-life threatening injuries. A North East Ambulance Service spokesperson said: We were called to an incident on Raby Street, Hartlepool this morning (15 October) at 5:43am. We dispatched three ambulance crews and one doctor. 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 Jewish community and a former MP have condemned the use of a paraglider image in the wake of Hamas deadly attacks in Israel, saying it glorifies terrorism. Metropolitan Police officers investigating a public order offence has launched an appeal to find two women who were seen wearing images of paragliders at a pro-Palestine march in London on Saturday. The images appear to hark back to last weekends attacks, which saw Hamas paragliders being used during an attack on civilians that left around 1,300 people dead. Police are appealing to find these two women after Saturdays march in London (MetPolice) Former Labour MP Luciana Berger said there was no other explanation for the use of the images other than a display of support for Hamas. Ms Beger quit the party in 2019, accusing Labour at the time of institutional anti-semitism. There is no other explanation as to why someone would have that image on their back, she told The Independent. Why do you wear anything on your back? Its a show of support. People would have seen on social media the videos of those paragliders coming in one by one into the Nova peace festival, where Hamas then committed the worst atrocities. Here in the UK I would expect the police to identify the people who are glorifying Hamas terrorists, she said. We have laws in this country which means the glorification of terrorism in this country is illegal. Ms Berger said the display of paraglider images at pro-Palestine events will heighten fears among the British Jewish community, amid reports of a rise in anti-semitism following the Hamas attacks. The British Jewish community at this time is extremely vulnerable and anxious, she said. People who display these symbols at a march or on social media heighten their vulnerability and anxiety. Luciana Berger rejoined Labour in February this year after quitting due to concerns about anti semitism under Jeremy Corbyn (PA Archive) Jewish charity the Community Security Trust recorded a 400% increase in antisemitic incidents last week and several Jewish schools closed on Friday. Thousands of people attended the pro-Palestine demonstration in London on Saturday, marching in solidarity with Palestinians trapped in Gaza as the Israeli army bombards the territory. Seven arrests were made, four in breach of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, two for public order offences and one for criminal damage. Protests took place across Glasgow, Dublin, Manchester and London in support of Palestine (Getty Images) President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Marie van der Zyl, said the use of paragliders in imagery is a clear statement of support for Hamas. "[Hamas] not only perpetrated unspeakable atrocities against Israeli men, women and children but is a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK, she said. We expect the authorities to act against anyone showing overt support for Hamas attacks, such as through the use of these paraglider images." Images of paragliders have been used in online memes and on posters organising pro-Palestinian events since the attacks. Black Lives Matter Chicago was forced to apologise last week after sharing a picture of a paraglider with the message Free Palestine. The organisation tweeted on October 10: Yesterday we sent out [messages] that we arent proud of. We stand with Palestine & the people who will do what they must to live free. Our hearts are with, the grieving mothers, those rescuing babies from rubble, who are in danger of being wiped out completely. 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 }} For the friends and neighbours of Mariam Kamara, her death at first would have seemed a tragic accident. A house fire had seemingly broken out in the first-floor bedroom of her home in Brixton during the middle of the night and she had become trapped. As flames and smoke gushed from the windows, her teenage son Ishmael frantically called the emergency services, with the fire brigade rushing to the scene in Railton Road at 4.12am on 24 January last year. Upon arriving, her husband Amidu Koroma calmly told firefighters that his wife was trapped inside. His demeanour and the overpowering smell of accelerant in the burnt-out bedroom would be the first indicators that Ms Kamaras life had been taken in an even more horrific manner. A 46-year-old community nurse with a wide smile, she had been known in her south London community for her kind and charitable ways. A devoted mother, she had set up various generous life insurance policies to assist him in his future, and was supportive as he planned to study accountancy at university. But close friends knew that her marriage was in difficulty. Her husband was frequently unfaithful and fathered a child with another woman, while others had described their relationship as toxic. Koroma had returned on several occasions and pleaded for forgiveness, while the couple had frequently argued over money. In the months before her death, Ms Kamara had confided to a friend that she feared her husband would kill her. She was only remaining in the relationship for the sake of her son until he left for university, and she had formed a close attachment to a man in her native Sierra Leone. Her hopes for her future and new relationship would cruelly be dashed, however, after she was stabbed to death in the place where she should have felt safest. Her badly burnt body was found lying on the bed of her bedroom, with an empty jerry can and funnel left discarded on the ground. Amidu Koroma had been jealous of her friendship with a man in Sierra Leone (Met Police) Despite attempts to conceal her murder, her blood was identified on the staircase and a post-mortem examination found that she had died from stab wounds to the neck and chest from a kitchen knife. Realising the net was closing in, Koroma decided to blame his son for the killing, despite knowing he had been fast asleep in his bedroom at the time. Claiming that the teenager was troubled, he told police officers that Ishmael had murdered his mother while re-creating a scene from the Netflix thriller You. In season three, the primary character Joe, who possesses stalker tendencies, murders his wife and sets fire to their home to cover up the scene, before faking his own death. Under cross-examination, however, it became clear that Ishmael was not unstable and had not killed his mother after enduring a supposed bad parents evening. He was jailed at the Old Bailey for life with a minimum term of 29 years (PA Archive) While Koroma had denied entering the bedroom while the blaze was ongoing, his clothes had suffered heat damage and a burn was found on his foot. No evidence was found that anyone had forced entry to her home, while it would have been near impossible for a killer to stage a fire and escape unnoticed. 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. He changed his account during the trial, saying Ishmael had woken him up downstairs and he had wanted to protect him. Despite his denials, he was convicted of murder and arson with intent by a jury at the Old Bailey. In his victim impact statement, Ishmael spoke of how much he missed his mother and that he now felt unable to trust anyone around him. Koroma has now been locked behind bars for life, with a minimum term of 29 years for his appalling crimes. Jailing him for life, Judge Rebecca Poulet KC said: You had planned to burn her body and thereby destroy the evidence of her injuries but very careful investigation and your own inconsistent statements have exposed your crimes and your undoubted responsibility for them. The judge said that blaming his son was a particularly cruel and unpleasant aspect of the case. YEREVAN, 16 OCTOBER, ARMENPRESS. Citizens of the Republic of Armenia and their family members have already arrived in Armenia on a special Tel Aviv-Yerevan flight organized by the RA government. As the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia informs, in total, 149 citizens of the Republic of Armenia and persons of Armenian origin, including children, were transported from Israel to Armenia. Priest Tirair Hovakimyan, the spiritual pastor of Israeli city of Haifa and the northern regions of Israel, announced at a briefing with journalists that he had brought his family to the homeland and intended to return to Israel again to continue his spiritual service. Angelina Baloyan, who arrived in Armenia on a special flight from the Israeli city of Ashdod, presented the situation in the city and noted that the children were very frightened. The kids would wake up in the middle of the night and say, 'Mom, did the air raid siren sound again?' It is impossible to convey what a mother experiences at such moments. Now I am in Armenia with my children, but my husband has stayed there, she said, in particular. Naira Arakelyan, who came home from Haifa with her daughter and newborn grandchild, said that she constantly feared for the lives of her children and grandchildren. I would like to thank the Armenian government for the support provided and for organizing a special flight from Israel, Arakelyan 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 }} A delivery driver who murdered his wife, set fire to their home, and blamed their teenage son has been jailed for at least 29 years. Amidu Koroma, 48, stabbed 46-year-old community nurse Mariam Kamara four times in the face, neck and chest with a kitchen knife as she slept in her bed. He then used petrol to start a fire to hide what he had done before blaming his 19-year-old son Ishmael, wrongly accusing him of being mentally disturbed and re-enacting a scene from the Netflix thriller You. But jurors heard the couples relationship was toxic and Ms Kamara had repeatedly expressed fears to friends that he was going to kill her. Jurors were also told that the defendant, who had a child with another woman, had feared she would leave him for a man she had struck up an intimate friendship with in Sierra Leone. Koroma was found guilty of Ms Kamaras murder and arson following a trial at the Old Bailey. On Monday, Judge Rebecca Poulet KC jailed him for life with a minimum term of 29 years with a concurrent sentence of seven years for arson. The judge told Koroma he had planned the murder because he did not want Ms Kamara to travel to Sierra Leone. She went on: You had planned to burn her body and thereby destroy the evidence of her injuries but very careful investigation and your own inconsistent statements have exposed your crimes and your undoubted responsibility for them. The judge said that blaming his son was a particularly cruel and unpleasant aspect of the case. Other aggravating features included the fact that the killing was carried out in a background of abuse and terrifying threats, and that the victims son, then aged 17, was asleep in the house. Contrary to the defendants claims, Ishmael was a typical teenager and Ms Kamara was a deeply caring and responsible mother, the judge said. In a victim impact statement, Ishmael, who is now studying accountancy at university, spoke of how much he missed his mother and had been deeply affected by her death, now finding himself unable to trust anyone. Previously, the court had heard how Ishmael had called emergency services in the early hours of January 24 2022 after fire broke out in an upstairs bedroom of the family home in Railton Road, Brixton, south London. 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 petrol. An empty jerry can and funnel was 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. This was a brutal murder and an appalling act of violence against a woman Detective Chief Inspector Chris Wood In a police interview, Koroma claimed he had been asleep on the sofa and was woken by the smoke alarm at 3am. During the trial, he changed his account saying Ishmael had woken him up downstairs and he had initially lied to protect him. Under cross-examination, Ishmael denied being unstable and killing his mother after having a bad parents evening. Detective Chief Inspector Chris Wood, of Scotland Yard, said: This was a brutal murder and an appalling act of violence against a woman. After murdering his wife, Koroma then started a fire to cover up his actions. This was a further selfish act which put other members of the public at risk. My officers conducted an in-depth investigation into this murder and worked hard to gather a range of evidence which pointed to Koroma as the killer. Our thoughts are with Ms Kamaras family and friends and in particular with her son who we continue to support through this trauma. 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 man arrested after the Sycamore Gap tree was cut down has protested his innocence, claiming he would get less hassle if he had committed murder. Former lumberjack Walter Renwick, 69, said he has taken to wearing a blonde Rod Stewart wig to hide his identity due to anger over the much-loved Northumberland trees destruction last month. As a sad stump stands in the place of the former glory of Hadrian Walls most majestic tree, mystery continues to shroud the case, and nearly three weeks after the 27 September felling no one has been charged. Walter Renwick denies he is responsible for the tree cutting (North News & Pictures Ltd) Arrested two days after the tree was cut down and then released on bail, Mr Renwick has told The Sunday Times he was watching Netflix at the time. When police asked him if he was responsible for the Sycamore Gap vandalism, Mr Renwick said he replied: Did I eck. Whoever has done it is going to get 10 years for a tree, he told the newspaper. People walked past me and gave me these looks, like Im a piece of s**t. If Id have done a murder, Id be getting less hassle, you know that? Describing himself as the most boring person in the world he said he didnt know about the tree being cut down until his brother told him what had happened the night after. Police investigations are continuing into how the famous tree at Sycamore Gap came to be felled (PA) The tree, believed to have been one of the most photographed in the country, was a popular hotspot for tourists and walkers. Thought to have been planted by Newcastle philanthropist and lawyer John Clayton in the second half of the 19th century, it gained international recognition after featuring in the Kevin Costner film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. There was outraged after the much loved tree was cut down (AFP/Getty) It has been excavated on two occasions between 1908 and 1911 and again between 1982 and 1987, when Roman remains linked to Hadrians Wall were found. There has been an outpouring of emotion since the landmark was felled, with many suggestions on what could be done with the felled section, including making benches from the wood, a sculpture or souvenirs to sell. 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 faced renewed pressure to add Irans revolutionary guard to the list of banned terrorist organisations, as conflict in the Middle East continues. Dr Liam Fox, Conservative former defence secretary, warned that while Hamas had its fingers on the trigger of the violence in Israel and Palestine, the strings being pulled are from Tehran. He was joined by a host of influential Tories in calling for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a special Iranian military force, to be proscribed as a terrorist group. Dr Fox told the Commons: If the fingers on the trigger were Hamas, the strings being pulled were from Tehran. With 100 million of investment going from Iran to the terrorists of Hamas, isnt it time that we in this country asked again why Iranian banks are operating from the City of London? Why Iran Air is operating from Heathrow Airport? And why again we have not proscribed the IRGC, as I believe we should have? Conservative chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Alicia Kearns, called on the Government to proscribe the IRGC and called for the creation of a special envoy for the Middle East peace process. She said the attack on Israel constituted crimes against humanity, but stressed that how Israel defeats Hamas will shape the regions future. Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey meanwhile branded the IRGC the the funders of Hamas. Conservative MP Bob Blackman (Harrow East) told the Commons the operation by the terrorist group Hamas was clearly well-planned, well-resourced, well-equipped and had been planned for many months. He added: It is beyond belief that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps who fund and support Hamas were not behind this whole operation. So will he now take the action that the whole House has asked him to take and thats to proscribe the IRGC in its entirety? The Government has a long-standing policy of not commenting on whether specific organisations are being considered for proscription and our approach ... is completely aligned with that of our allies Prime Minister Rishi Sunak The Prime Minister replied: We have already taken strong action against the Iranian regime including sanctioning 350 different individuals and entities, including the IRGC in its entirety and furthermore, the National Security Act implements new measures to protect the British public, including new offences for espionage, foreign interference and tougher powers to arrest and detain people suspected of involvement in state threats. As the House knows, the Government has a long-standing policy of not commenting on whether specific organisations are being considered for proscription and our approach, as currently stated, is completely aligned with that of our allies. Under the Terrorism Act 2000, it is illegal to belong to an organisation that has been proscribed. Hamas was added to the list of banned terrorist organisations in 2021 and its supporters or members can face up to 14 years in jail according to the Government. 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 }} Ministers have been pressing for Egypt to open the Rafah crossing to allow Britons to flee Gaza and to reduce the almost inevitable impact on civilians of the conflict with Israel. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Monday that an imminent Israeli military operation must focus on Hamas as he raised concerns about a regional escalation. Defence minister James Heappey warned that combat in Gaza, as Israel is expected to launch an offensive by sea, air and land, is likely to be horrendous. British officials are working with the Egyptian authorities in an effort to facilitate British and dual nationals, as well as their spouses and children, to leave Gaza through the border. However, expectations in Government for opening the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt were understood to be very low on Monday. Mr Heappey warned it is important to sound a note of caution that the reports might be more optimistic than reality. Mr Sunak acknowledged it is an anxious time for many families who will have loved ones who are impacted or missing, with around 10 British hostages being held by Hamas. Speaking to broadcasters during a visit to a Jewish secondary school in north London, the Prime Minister said: Were providing all the consular support through the Foreign Office that we can and also providing direct support to the Israelis. And the humanitarian situation is one which of course were concerned about, and that Ive raised in all the calls and interactions Ive had with other leaders from across the region. And in particular making sure that we can try and get the Rafah crossing open, that will ease the humanitarian situation. Mr Sunak raised the border crossing in a call with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi last week, and it is understood that opening the border for foreign nationals and for Palestinian refugees could be treated separately. The Prime Ministers official spokesman said: We do think it is important, both in the interests of British nationals and others, but also important for the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza. Meanwhile, Mr Sunak said police are reviewing footage of some not acceptable incidents and could make further arrests after more than a dozen people were detained and three were charged with alleged offences at a pro-Palestine march in London over the weekend. Asked where the line could be drawn between protesting for Palestinians and supporting Hamas, the Prime Minister said the law is very clear on glorification of proscribed terror groups, which could result in lengthy jail sentences. More broadly, actions that incite violence or stir up religious hatred and racial violence are also not acceptable and thats why, as I said, theres no place in our society for that type of hatred and division, and it will be met with the full force of the law where it happens, he said. Meanwhile, London Mayor Sadiq Khan has said increased security measures will remain in place to protect places of worship. The mayors office said the Metropolitan Police have also stepped up patrols, with a rolling programme of security visits to all synagogues in the capital. Mr Heappey, the armed forces minister, issued a warning on the impact on civilians of combat in Gaza, which is home to more than two million Palestinians. I think you have to be clear that international law allows Israel to prosecute a mission that is legal, proportionate and necessary, and that, Im afraid, does not necessarily mean that Israel has to be able to guarantee that there will be no civilian loss of life, he told ITVs Good Morning Britain. It is almost inevitable, given the complexity of the mission, that there will be (an) innocent civilian population that is very badly affected. I just dont think theres any point pretending otherwise. The United Nations and global aid agencies have expressed alarm about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, after Israel ordered civilians to evacuate the north ahead of an imminent attack. Western diplomats are also concerned that the war between Hamas and Israel could spark a wider conflict in the Middle East. No 10 has said the Prime Minister will continue to hold talks with international partners in the days to come, as the fighting shows little sign of coming to a swift conclusion. Mr Sunak is expected to use a statement in the Commons to set out how the UK is supporting Israel and aiding British nationals caught in the fighting, while also detailing ministers response to the humanitarian situation inside Gaza. Sign up to our free fortnightly newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Nadine White Sign up to our free fortnightly newsletter The Race Report Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Race Report email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Police in Iceland are investigating after a British schoolgirl was allegedly assaulted by a tour guide while on a school trip to see the Northern Lights. In a clip posted on social media, the Black teenager can be seen being slapped in the face and chased by a woman at Hotel Ork, Hveragerdi, in an incident on Friday night. The video quickly went viral, amassing thousands of views online and sparking concern about the childs well-being while she was on the four-day geography trip. The child, 13, can be heard telling the woman, who is standing close to her with a finger in her face, Please dont come near me. The adult is then seen slapping the girl who is then seen running away and being chased by the same woman in a second clip. The girls school, Harris Girls Academy, contacted Icelandic Police who attended the scene and interviewed the woman but no arrests have been made. The girls mother, Priscilla, who did not want her surname used, told The Independent the incident happened after her daughter spoke up to defend her friend after the woman shouted at her. I cannot sleep, Priscilla said, adding that her daughter had returned to her south London home on Saturday evening feeling completely distraught. I feel that there was a racial element to this because the girl that the woman was originally shouting at was my daughters white friend. My daughter politely asked her to step back and she slapped her. If my child were white, I do not think this wouldve happened. The woman didnt slap my daughters friend, whos white, or make any attempt to hit but she felt comfortable hitting my child. Thats the reality of life; Black people are not respected, valued or appreciated. The teenager told The Independent: Ive never faced racism and never thought that I would experience it, for the first time in my life, on this trip. Priscilla continued: My daughter is not going to forget this and I told her Im sorry because this is not the experience I signed her up for. This is not the reason why I allowed her to go on the school trip. My child is traumatised; she has her own bed but has been sleeping in mine ever since this happened and is asking me to stay home from work. Thats the reality of life; Black people are not respected, valued or appreciated - the teenagers mother (Screenshot) In an email from Icelandic Police to Priscilla, seen by The Independent, the force said it was investigating the incident and advised the family they could put forward a compensation claim. Responding to a social media post about the incident on Sunday, Harris Federation, which runs Harris Girls Academy, confirmed that the adult in the clip was not from the school. The children are safe and ok, and weve reported the adult to the police, who are rightly taking it seriously. We share your disgust and are supporting the police investigation, it added. In a statement issued on Monday, Hotel Ork said it condemned all forms of violence. Its important to clarify that the tour guide was not a hotel employee; she was a guest, staying at our premises, the same as the student. Following the incident, we immediately recommended contacting the local authorities, which in this case was the Icelandic police, the statement reads. The police conducted their investigation, and its standard practice in Iceland not to arrest individuals unless the situation is exceptionally violent or poses an ongoing threat. The Independent has contacted the Harris Federation and the Icelandic Police for comment. 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 }} Nearly 200 people are now believed to have been taken hostage by terrorists after an attack on Israel. The Israeli military has not specified how many of the 199 captives are foreign nationals, but Rishi Sunak has told Parliament that 10 Britons are still missing more than a week on. A further six Britons were killed in the Hamas attack on 7 October, Mr Sunak confirmed on Monday. Hostages, some of whom were taken from a nearby music festival last Saturday, are currently being held in the heavily-militarised Gaza area. Below we look at everything we know about the ongoing situation. Have you been affected by this? If so email athena.stavrou@independent.co.uk What has happened? On Saturday 7 October, Hamas militants crossed into Israel via land, sea and air, flooding into nearby civilian towns and engaging in violent clashes with the Israeli military. In a post on Telegram, a Brigades spokesperson said they had captured dozens of (Israeli) officers and soldiers in the first day of fighting. Israeli Defence Forces 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. An unknown number of civilians who had been attending a music festival near Kibbutz Reim, close to the Gaza border, were also believed to have been taken hostage by Hamas. One video showed a woman attending the festival being hoisted onto the back of a motorcycle and driven away by Hamas fighters. Britons Sharon Lifschitz, left, and Noam Sagi say their parents are among the captives (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) Who has been taken? The Israeli military said on Monday that Hamas and other Palestinian militants are holding 199 hostages in Gaza a significant increase from previous estimates of 130 hostages. However, a full list of the suspected captives has not been released. Addressing the UK parliament on Monday afternoon, Rishi Sunak said six British citizens were killed and a further 10 are missing after the Hamas attacks. British families of Israeli hostages held a press conference last week appealing for their loved ones to be freed. Two Britons, Noam Sagi, 53, and Sharon Lifschitz, 52, said their elderly parents were among the hostages. Mr Sagis mother, Ada Sagi, 75, was living on her own at the time she was taken according to her son. Ms Lifschitz told how her parents, whom she is not naming out of fear for their safety, were taken near the Gaza border on Saturday. She said her parents, who are both in their 80s, had been fighting for peace in the region their whole lives. Two British teenage girls, aged 13 and 16, have also reportedly been kidnapped, the UKs Israeli ambassador told Sky News on Monday morning. A poster of Ada Sagi, believed to have been taken by Hamas millitants during the attacks (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) What has Hamas said about the captives? The fate of the hostages is unclear. Hamas has said it is seeking the release of all Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jail in exchange for the Israeli hostages. The military wing of Hamas, Abu Ubaida, has threatened to execute a hostage for every bomb thats dropped on a home without warning. It is not clear if Hamas has followed through on this threat since Israels retaliation began next week. Last Monday, the group claimed airstrikes had killed four hostages and their captors. Smoke billows after an Israeli air strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip o (AFP via Getty Images) What is being done to rescue them? The UK Foreign Office has says it will do everything they can to bring British hostages home. Mr Sunak said ministers are doing everything we can to provide support to the British families who have loved ones taken hostage by Hamas. Speaking to broadcasters on a visit to a Jewish secondary school in north London on Monday, the Prime Minister said: I know its an anxious time for many families who will have loved ones who are impacted or missing. Were providing all the consular support through the Foreign Office that we can and also providing direct support to the Israelis. He added that Britain is moving some Royal Navy assets into the region to provide further support as required. Israel has been massing tanks along the Gaza border ahead of an expected ground invasion, while giving civilians living in the enclave time to leave. Sign up to our free fortnightly newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Nadine White Sign up to our free fortnightly newsletter The Race Report Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Race Report email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A Black millionaire and celebrity jeweller who was denied entry to a popular London bar says he was racially profiled. Lamar Berko, 30, queued to enter 100 Wardour Street in Soho, West End, with eight Black friends last week but said they were turned away from the restaurant and given conflicting reasons about why. Mr Berko said the group was blocked from entering by a door attendant who said there were too many men among them, only to then watch as multiple white people in the queue were waved through the doors. In my field, Im used to dealing with racism. In this country, its always indirect and never direct. For example, Ive been stopped by the police so many times for no reason other than the car I drive, Mr Beko said. Lamar Berko said he could not believe my eyes when employye took he and his friends out of the queue (Lamar Berko) But I could not believe my eyes when the staff member took my friends and out of the queue - making everyone look at us as if we were troublemakers then let in all white people and not us. I havent slept; I felt so violated. Mr Berko has worked with some of the worlds biggest stars including David Beckham, Burna Boy, Steff London, Wizkid, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Joey Essex. The entrepreneur, who runs LB Jewellery, built his empire after being kicked out of school at the age of 15. After becoming a jewellery consultant aged 19, he went on to launch his own business. Lamar Berko runs LB Jewellery (Lamar Berko) Mr Berko said he questioned the door attendant on why the group was refused entry when others were allowed in after being given differing reasons. At first, he said they were told there were too many men and were later told the venue was packed, even though he said the bar was nowhere near capacity. Mr Berko said he told the employee he felt racially profiled and was told: I dont judge by the race, just by the person. The jeweller said he felt compelled to explain what he does for a living and even Googled his name to show the door attendant. The staff member said he would consult colleagues inside but the group was still denied, despite Mr Berkos offer to purchase tables to the value of 10,000. I didnt even ask the price of the tables but this was turned down. What reason would they really have to say no? I wasnt causing trouble or shouting; I didnt flare up or swear, Mr Berko said. Ben Cavila, 33, who was also part of the group and had driven from Northampton to meet Mr Berko and friends for the evening, said: Ive been through this before, where Ive been turned away at the door of a Central London venue, so I wasnt particularly shocked. Lamar, Ben, Gregory and friends at the beginning of their planned night out (Supplied) Another friend, 33-year-old Gregory Nicholls told The Independent: We werent causing any issues; its not like we were lairy young lads outside. We were quiet in the line, good as gold. If you were going to make any assumptions about us that we were any kind of a threat, that wouldnt have come across from our behaviour. This is something that happened to me throughout my 20s. Its disappointing that, in my 30s, Im finding myself in the same situation. It feels like the fact that were Black means that were not considered good enough to enter certain places in this country, despite having the financial means. Its sad. After Mr Berko posted about his negative experience on Snapchat, 100 Wardour Streets Instagram page was flooded with criticism from users. The restaurant later posted photographs of Black women on their stories. Lamar Berko and his merchandise (Supplied) When people started getting on to them, they went on their 24-hour Instagram story and posted photographs of Black women, back to back. I find that to be such a mockery, Mr Berko said. He continued: I want them to understand that what theyve done is mad. I am speaking out because theyre not going to make me feel like Im crazy. The only difference between my friends and I, and everyone else who was let in was our ethnicity. 100 Wardour Street has not responded to multiple requests for comment from The Independent. 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 }} Increasing numbers of women are being jailed, despite a government pledge to cut the number of female prisoners, as a wider overcrowding crisis grips the sector. Some 3,604 women were behind bars at the beginning of October this year up 15 per cent since January which amounts to nearly 500 more women. And the most recent Ministry of Justice data estimates that the number will surge to 3,800 by November next year. The Prison Reform Trust said it was concerned the figures showed a reverse of a more than decade-long trend which saw the number of women in prison fall substantially from 7,418 in 2014 to 4,120 in 2022. It comes as the total number of people imprisoned in England and Wales has surged to record levels with just 557 spaces left with ministers considering releasing prisoners early in a rush for ways to ensure prisons do not run out of available spaces. The issue has been impacted by a push for longer prison sentences and lengthy court backlogs clogging the system with remand prisoners awaiting trial. Campaigners warn the latest figures on the female prison population undermine the governments commitment to cutting the number of women in prison arguing that short sentences often handed out to women fuel reoffending. Research, by the Prison Reform Trust, found around six in in 10 women sent to prison last year were sentenced to less than six months behind bars. Shoplifting was the most frequent offence making up just over a third of womens prison sentences shorter than six months in 2022. This is a far larger proportion than men for whom theft from shops makes up just 16 per cent of sentences of less than six months. Half of all female prisoners committed their offence to fuel the drug use of someone else, Ministry of Justice data shows (PA) Researchers found stark differences between police forces in Nottinghamshire 73 per cent of jail sentences handed out to women last year were for less than six months, while 43 per cent given to women were shorter than six months in Merseyside. Indy Cross, chief executive of Agenda Alliance, told The Independent: Banging a mum up for theft from shops, such as stealing nappies or Calpol for a child, is not the answer. Ms Cross argued that community solutions were needed instead as she warned we must move away from short sentences for women once and for all. She added: Short sentences dont prevent crime, they fuel reoffending. Our work with disadvantaged women shows too often they end up in prison after a trauma or crisis. Such as unaddressed mental ill-health; loss of income and poverty, abuse by a male partner. Putting a woman behind bars will wreck her life, and all too often the lives of her children and families. Charities believe that even a short time in prison can have a uniquely detrimental effect on womens chances of employment (PA/The Independent) Pia Sinha, Prison Reform Trusts chief executive, said: 16 years on from Baroness Corstons seminal review on womens offending, we continue to see too many women being sent to prison to serve pointless short sentences. The governments own evidence shows that community sentences see fewer people go on to commit crimes in future. Mark Day, the organisations deputy director, said it is deeply troubling the women's prison population is increasing as he warned this goes against the government's stated ambition to reduce the numbers of women in prison. A previous report by the Prison Reform Trust found that 80 per cent of women in jail were there for non-violent offences, while Ministry of Justice data shows almost half of all female prisoners say they committed their offence to support the drug use of someone else. Janey Starling, co-director of Level Up, which campaigns to stop the imprisonment of pregnant women, said: Imprisoning women for shop theft is sadistic. If a mother is shoplifting in order to feed her children, the appropriate state intervention should be to take away her poverty not her liberty. A short sentence in prison is enough time to lose your home, and even your children if there is nobody to take care of them. There is no justice in sending poor women to prison just to make them even poorer once they come out. Frontline service providers have previously warned that women in prison are often the victims of more serious offences than those for which they have been convicted. Dr Jo Easton, acting chief executive at Unlock, a criminal justice charity, said: A prison sentence or suspended sentence of just one day will be disclosed on higher level DBS checks forever opening people working in many professions up to stigma, prejudice and discrimination at every job interview, however old or irrelevant the offence. She noted its recent research discovered that women are subject to the large majority of such checks with this likely to be the result of them being over-represented in sectors like teaching and care work. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice said: Custody is always a last resort for women and the number of female prisoners has fallen since 2010. Earlier this year we launched a plan to support female offenders to turn their lives around, backed by up to 15m worth of additional investment in womens community services. The lord chancellor will be setting out a programme of criminal justice reforms in the coming days. 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 }} Foreign Secretary James Cleverly is set to use a summit in Albania to help tackle illegal migration. The annual Berlin Process Summit in the Albanian capital of Tirana will bring together Western Balkan and European leaders amid attempts to ease tensions in the region. Mr Cleverly is expected to use the gathering to seek greater co-operation on the movement of migrants, as the Government continues in its bid to stop cross-Channel small boats crossings. The UK is committed to working with the Western Balkans to tackle gangs who exploit lives for profit, as well as addressing the wider security challenges across the region Foreign Secretary James Cleverly Ministers have repeatedly pointed to the success of a recently signed deal with Albania in tackling arrivals, with illegal migrants from the country also sent back under the arrangement. The UK is committed to working with the Western Balkans to tackle gangs who exploit lives for profit, as well as addressing the wider security challenges across the region, the Foreign Secretary said. Our partnership with Albania is doing just that. Through increased law enforcement co-operation, we have driven down small boats arrivals by Albanians by 90% on last year, and are returning those who have no legal right to remain in the UK. The UK will always be a reliable partner standing side-by-side with the region to promote a prosperous and stable future. While there, Mr Cleverly will launch a British Chamber of Commerce in Albania to boost trade ties between the two countries. He will also formally open a police command centre that houses the UK-Albania joint migration task force. The Foreign Office said Mr Cleverly would also use the meeting to solidify support for Israel in the aftermath of the attack by Hamas, amid fears about the escalating situation in the Middle East. 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 address MPs on Monday about the escalating crisis in Israel and Gaza, as politicians return to Westminster amid renewed conflict in the Middle East. Palestinians in Gaza remain braced for an imminent Israeli invasion, a week after Hamas militants launched a deadly assault on the country. The Prime Minister is expected to make a visit on Monday morning to reiterate his Governments support for the Jewish community, after a weekend that saw growing international efforts to stop the conflict escalating further. The United Nations and global aid agencies have all expressed alarm about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, after Israel ordered civilians to evacuate the north ahead of an imminent offensive. Western diplomats are also concerned that the war between Hamas and Israel could spark a wider conflict in the Middle East. Appearing on Mondays morning media round, armed forces minister James Heappey warned that combat in Gaza is likely to be horrendous. I think you have to be clear that international law allows Israel to prosecute a mission that is legal, proportionate and necessary, and that, Im afraid, does not necessarily mean that Israel has to be able to guarantee that there will be no civilian loss of life, he told ITVs Good Morning Britain. It is almost inevitable, given the complexity of the mission, that there will be (an) innocent civilian population that is very badly affected. I just dont think theres any point pretending otherwise. Asked about the possibility of opening the Rafah crossing into Egypt for people fleeing Gaza, Mr Heappey welcomed the prospect but said it is important to sound a note of caution that the reports might be more optimistic than reality. British officials are working with the Egyptian authorities in an effort to facilitate British and dual nationals, as well as their spouses and children, to leave Gaza through the border. Echoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Mr Heappey said the UK and its Western partners will encourage Israel to balance the military operation with humanitarian obligations. I think what we are recognising is that there is military necessity rubbing up against humanitarian necessity, and what were saying to Israel is that they need and are need to show the balance between those two imperatives, he said. He said he has some confidence that the country could conduct an intelligence-led attack seeking to separate civilians from combatants, telling Times Radio: My knowledge of the Israeli Defence Forces and the Israeli intelligence system is that they are extraordinarily capable intelligence-gathering operation, so I have some confidence that if anybody can do that sort of intel-led precision operation, they can. King Abdullah II of Jordan was welcomed to Downing Street on Sunday evening, as the ruler embarked on a diplomatic tour of Europe to rally international support to stop the war. Number 10 said the Prime Minister will hold talks with other leaders and international partners in the days to come, as the conflict shows little sign of coming to a swift conclusion. Mr Sunak is expected to use his Commons statement to set out how the UK is supporting Israel and aiding British nationals caught in the fighting, while also detailing ministers response to the humanitarian situation inside Gaza. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly on Sunday indicated that about 10 British people are currently being held hostage by Hamas, telling Sky News that such a figure is not an unreasonable estimate. MPs will return to Westminster after a lengthy party conference break, as the war continues to overshadow domestic politics. Meanwhile, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said that increased security measures will remain in place to protect places of worship. The mayors office said the Metropolitan Police have also stepped up patrols, with a rolling programme of security visits to all synagogues in the capital. Mr Khan said: The suffering and loss of innocent life in both Israel and Gaza is truly heart-breaking and my thoughts are with all those impacted. Its vital that we dont allow events overseas to spill over on to our streets in London and I want to reassure both the Jewish community and the Muslim community that we will take a zero-tolerance approach to any Islamophobia or antisemitism. Im continuing to work closely with the police and community leaders to ensure our communities feel safe, and are safe, as they go about their daily lives. Demonstrators are also expected to gather outside BBC headquarters in the capital on Monday evening, amid anger at the broadcasters decision not to describe Hamas militants as terrorists. It comes after a weekend of protests and gatherings across the UK, with tens of thousands marching in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Three men were charged on Sunday with criminal offences alleged to have taken place at the London demonstration, at which 15 people were arrested over the course of the day. Meanwhile, detectives investigating a public order offence are appealing for help identifying two women who were at the demonstration in the capital. Hundreds of people also attended at a vigil in central London on Sunday to commemorate Israeli victims of the Hamas incursion. The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatovic, will visit Armenia and Azerbaijan, including the Karabakh region, from 16 to 23 October 2023 with a focus on the human rights situation of people affected by the conflict, her office said in a statement. October 16, 2023, 12:10 Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights to visit Armenia STEPANAKERT, OCTOBER 16, ARTSAKHPRESS: The Commissioner will hold meetings with State officials, representatives of international organisations and civil society. A statement will be published at the end of the visit. 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 }} Parliaments youngest MP has hit out at divisive politics that seeks to pit one generation against the other in his first speech to Parliament. Keir Mather, 25, also drew attention to the fact he was born in 1998, a year after the last Labour government came to power in his maiden speech in the House of Commons. Mr Mather, who takes up the unofficial title of Baby of the House because he is currently the youngest MP, was flanked by other recently elected Labour MPs as he made his speech. Among his colleagues was Rutherglen and Hamilton West MP Michael Shanks, who sat on the green benches for Mr Mathers speech on Monday night after taking his oath of allegiance earlier the same day, his first in Parliament. To laughter from across the Commons, Selby and Ainsty MP Mr Mather said: I am the first Member of Parliament to have been born after the last Labour government took power in 1997 and I know some members may want to close their ears at that fact. He added: But it does means I have grown up in a world destabilised by the technological revolution, climate crisis, and war, and I will live through a century of unparalleled global upheaval. In the face of these challenges myself and other young people believe that Britain has a duty to become a leader again. Mr Mather also paid tribute to his electors, telling the Commons: As I said on the night of my election, I hope to be a representative of that power of young people to make a difference. But we wont do it alone. I was sent to this place by a constituency that is older than the national average but who put their faith in me to defend their interests, and that is because in spite of the divisive politics that seeks to pit one generation against the other, in Selby and Ainsty we share our ambitions for our community and our country, and are committed to realising them together. 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 wheelchair user whose vehicle was parked in a Luton Airport car park when fire devastated it said the blaze has robbed him of his independence. Andrew Miller, 56 from Northamptonshire, parked his automatic Citroen DS 3 on the ground floor of Luton Airports Terminal Car Park 2 in the blue badge parking zone on October 8, before taking a trip to Ireland with his husband, Tim Meacock, also 56. They returned to the airport on Thursday afternoon, and Mr Miller, who has a complex spinal condition and has always been a wheelchair user, said there was no one from the airport or APCOA, its parking provider, to give him information on how to return home. Mr Miller, a broadcaster, cultural consultant and disability campaigner, said the situation has been a nightmare and accused the airport and APCOA of corporate cowardice and negligence of the worst kind. It comes as Luton Airport said on Sunday it was unlikely that any vehicles will be salvageable following the car fire which broke out on Tuesday, causing the site to collapse. Mr Miller said he could see his vehicle from the car park appearing to be relatively undamaged, and he was concerned the airport could be rushing to conclusions. In response to Mr Millers situation, a spokesperson for London Luton Airport offered sincere apologies for any distress or inconvenience caused. This fire has robbed me of my access and my independence, Mr Miller told the PA news agency. As a wheelchair user, Ive got complex access needs and Ive spent years looking for a car that I can easily get in and out of. Mr Miller said he bought his automatic Citroen DS 3 outright two weeks ago after leasing the vehicle for five years from Motability, an organisation which supports disabled drivers. The vehicle model is no longer in production, going off-sale in 2019, with Mr Miller saying: Its quite bespoke and precious to me and it really is my independence. He said the vehicle, a three-door car without a central console, is much easier for a wheelchair user to get in and out of independently, adding: Its going to be very difficult for me to find another one, not impossible, but very difficult. This fire has robbed me of my access and my independence Andrew Miller, Luton Airport passenger He has also fitted hand controls to the vehicle, explaining they are connected to the brake and accelerator to allow someone without the use of their legs to operate the car, adding they would cost about 500 to replace. Mr Miller said he wrote to APCOA twice, as well as posting on X, formerly Twitter, to ask Luton Airport for information on how he could return home on his arrival at the airport, but had no response. Mr Miller said when he landed at the airport he was assisted by the chaplain, who is part of the support service and available to assist those in difficulty and was exceptionally kind and patient and helped arrange a taxi for the couple to return home. In my view, it was corporate cowardice and negligence of the worst kind, he said. The whole thing has been a nightmare and proves to me that in a major incident situation like this, the interests of disabled people who need carefully considered bespoke solutions get tossed aside and ignored. Of Luton Airports statement on Sunday, Mr Miller said he was concerned they (the airport) might be rushing to conclusions if cars like mine are potentially salvageable. Who knows what damage it might have sustained, Ive got no idea what the vehicle looks like up close, but from a distance, it encouraged me that it wasnt in the collapsed part of the car park, he said. Mr Miller hopes he will be able to get a replacement vehicle from his insurer from Tuesday. A London Luton Airport spokesperson said: We would like to offer our sincere apologies to Mr Miller for any distress or inconvenience caused. We understand how upsetting this situation is and have been working tirelessly to provide more information to our customers as quickly as possible. Since Tuesday evening, together with APCOA parking, we have responded to almost 16,500 customer queries. Dealing with such a large volume of inquiries, while an investigation is ongoing, has naturally extended our response times. The airport chaplaincy team are part of the airport response to major incidents and are equipped to provide support and assistance. We are delighted they were able to arrange alternative transport for Mr Miller on this occasion. They continued: We recognise this has been an extremely distressing time for all concerned and we would like to thank our customers for their ongoing patience and understanding while we work through the many complexities following this incident. Our team have been tirelessly working around the clock to keep customers informed of developments. Given the scale of the damage, it is unlikely that any vehicles in the car park will be salvageable. However, this is still in the process of being assessed. We are also working with the Association of British Insurers on behalf of the many insurance companies to establish whether it will be possible to safely retrieve any personal possessions and, if so, how this process may work. 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 }} Three men have been charged with criminal offences which are alleged to have taken place at a pro-Palestine march through central London on Saturday. The suspects were among 15 people arrested at the demonstration and will appear in court next month, the Metropolitan Police said. Robert McKenzie, 68, was charged with intentionally causing racially aggravated harassment, alarm or distress after he allegedly made racist comments to people gathered in Whitehall and police arresting him. The pensioner, from Long Stratton in Norfolk, was carrying a Union Jack at the time but police have said this was in no way the reason for his arrest. Where there is evidence of criminal offences having been committed, we will work to identify and arrest those responsible. Scotland Yard Aldib Nour, 20, was charged with possession of a knife in a public place after being arrested on King Charles Street. They have both been bailed and will appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on November 2. Ibrahim Hlaiyil, 38, was charged with failing to comply with a requirement to remove a face covering and was bailed to appear at the same court on November 13. A 20-year-old man was fined for throwing a firework in a public place. Three youths have been referred to Youth Offending Teams for, respectively, assaulting an emergency worker, possession of a firework in a public place and failing to comply with a requirement to remove a face covering. Detectives are continuing to make inquiries about three men arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker and another arrested on suspicion of threatening behaviour. They have all been bailed and a man arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage to a police vehicle has been released under investigation. No further action has been taken against three people arrested at the demonstration. Meanwhile, detectives investigating a public order offence are appealing for help identifying two women who were at the demonstration. Both women are black and one was wearing a red top with a white neckline, a light blue face mask, blue and black trousers and was carrying a purple bag. The other woman was wearing a red top and appears to have had an image of a paraglider stuck to her back. Anyone who knows who the women are is urged to contact the force on 101 or @MetCC, with ref 3077/15oct. Several small events held in the capital on Sunday passed off without any problems, Scotland Yard said, while officers continue to review footage of Saturdays march. The force said: Where there is evidence of criminal offences having been committed, we will work to identify and arrest those responsible. We will look at both public order and counter-terrorism legislation when identifying any potential offences, and officers from both commands are working closely together. There is no place for hate in London and we will use the law to ensure anyone who engages in such behaviour is held to account. 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 British son of a retired Israeli teacher held hostage by Hamas has called for a humanitarian corridor to be established in Gaza. Noam Sagis 75-year-old mother, Ada, was taken from her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz near the border with Gaza on October 7. Mr Sagi, 53, did not speak at a vigil for the incursions victims in Londons Parliament Square on Sunday, but Rabbi Jeremy Gordon, of New London Synagogue, did speak on his behalf. Hundreds gathered for the vigil and many of them were draped in Israeli flags. Noam carries no hate for the people of Gaza. He carries no hate for people who are Muslim, no hate for the Arabs, no hate for the Palestinians. His love of all humanity remains resolute Rabbi speaking on behalf of Noam Sagi They held signs saying bring them home on one side with pictures of the hostages on the other. The grassroots-organised vigil featured speeches as well as prayer, singing in Hebrew and a testimonial from a woman named only as Lital, who was at the Nova music festival where hundreds were killed, read out by speaker Jenny Kananov Shayo. More than 10 police officers were seen keeping watch over the vigil which lasted about an hour. The rabbi said Mr Sagis mother worked for peace between Jews and Arabs for decades and taught Arabic as well as Hebrew. The rabbi added: Noam wants us to join with him in a demand that all the hostages be freed immediately and unconditionally, in particular, the children and those over 65. His second call is that a humanitarian corridor be opened to allow an appropriate organisation to verify who is there and to assess their most basic human needs. Ada is among the list of those missing who needs ongoing medical support. An organisation should be allowed into Gaza safely to assess and provide for the most basic human needs of these hostages. It is an affront to everything that is human to take such people and to hide such people. He needs, we all need, the British Government to do anything that they can to get these people back. To show leadership internationally, to ensure the return of all civilian hostages, especially the women and the children, immediately. He wishes a representative of this Government would reach out to him directly. Noam deserves you to be directly in touch to show solidarity and to be inspired to fight for the release of these hostages. His message to the Israeli government is this. You have a responsibility to protect the civilians who lived along this border. To any representative of the Israeli government, Noam calls on you to do everything in your power to get these people out. Any pathway should be exploited, any government, any organisation can be contacted. Noam carries no hate for the people of Gaza. He carries no hate for people who are Muslim, no hate for the Arabs, no hate for the Palestinians. His love of all humanity remains resolute. Mr Sagi told a press conference in London on Thursday that the incursion amounts to a second Holocaust. He told reporters there: I should not be sitting here today. I should be on my way to Heathrow to pick up my mum to celebrate her 75th birthday today. I am here because of pure evil. In the testimonial, Lital said she hid in a locked caravan with others for eight hours as Hamas hit the windows with bullets, tried to open the door and attempted to attach the van to their vehicle. She and the others tried not to move, called the police in whispers when Hamas were further away and came to terms with the fact that we wouldnt make it out alive before eventually being rescued by the Israeli army. She said: There was so much blood, so many people were in complete shock because all their friends they had come with had been killed. As they left, they saw that every half metre, there was another corpse. Speaker Michal Neta told non-Jews in the UK who have been asking is your family safe and well? that the honest answer is no. She was applauded and cheered when she said Hamas is not the saviour of the Palestinian, they are their executors and criticised the BBC for not calling the group terrorists. 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 UK is at risk of a massive security breach that could see bank account details and national insurance numbers leaked because of the governments failure to upgrade Whitehalls ageing computer system, The Independent can reveal. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has sounded the alarm over its old and ageing IT systems, sparking warnings from experts that hackers could steal taxpayers sensitive data or leave the UK open to the threat of Russian and Chinese hackers. The risk to the UKs entire taxation system came as parliaments Treasury committee prepares to grill HMRC chiefs and board members over the issue, as well as other topics, on Wednesday. The security warning in the tax authoritys annual accounts, uncovered by The Independent, states the outdated tech could lead to a major IT failure or security breach that could harm our business operations permanently. It ranks the risk codenamed red and impact of such a breakdown as high and warns a cyberattack or malfunction is becoming more likely. It is the latest warning the government has ignored that could come back to haunt ministers after senior civil servants sounded the alarm about crumbling concrete in schools years before the government was forced to shut over 100 schools in September. This risk is red due to continued reliance on old and ageing IT systems with an increased risk of inability to meet operational needs, the accounts, signed off by HMRC boss Jim Harra state. The chair of parliaments Treasury committee, Conservative MP Harriett Baldwin, said the warning was concerning and that she would be demanding answers from HMRC officials. She told The Independent: It is concerning that our taxation systems, which support our key public services, could potentially be harmed permanently because of out-of-date IT equipment. The security warning states the outdated tech could lead to a major IT failure or security breach, which would cause a headache for Rishi Sunak (PA) (PA) I am sure the committee will seek answers on this issue during our regular scrutiny sessions with HMRC. Hanah-Marie Darley, director of threat research at cybersecurity firm Darktrace, told The Independent HMRC was at increased risk from hackers because it holds very sensitive data. She said those likely to target its vulnerabilities could include political actors from the big three countries for hackers Russia, China and North Korea as well as opportunistic cybercriminals. Ms Darley warned that any data stolen from HMRC could be used for identity fraud and even to take over peoples bank accounts. James Murray, Labours shadow financial secretary, said the warning was shocking. He told The Independent: It is shocking that after 13 years of short-sighted politics, the Tories have let HMRCs IT systems get so bad that they admit permanent damage could be done by a security breach. The Conservatives have failed to make sure schools are safe and now we learn they have failed to make sure British taxpayers sensitive personal data is safe either. The Liberal Democrats said the revelation was a symptom of Conservative neglect and a huge cause for concern. It just further proves that Conservative neglect and underinvestment is leaving the public vulnerable at every level. The governments mismanagement is shocking," said the partys Treasury spokesperson, Sarah Olney. Hackers could target HMRCs to gain financial data that could be used to access taxpayers accounts, experts say (Getty/iStock) Heather Self, a tax expert at advisory Blick Rothenberg, said HMRC holds information on names, addresses, dates of birth, unique taxpayer reference numbers and national insurance numbers, which were attractive to hackers who could sell it on. Criminals could target lists of people in specific government departments or people in specific tax brackets, she said, or steal data to commit identity theft, fraudulent bank transfers, money laundering and open new bank accounts. Theres a massive market out there for data like this, and thats why its so important for not just HMRC but for every organisation to be super conscientious of their data security. She said it was easy to draw parallels with the recent Raac concrete crisis because maintaining and upgrading IT systems for an organisation the size of HMRC is a huge expenditure. If budgets are really tight, you dont necessarily spend the money you should be doing on preventative upkeep of your IT systems, she added. The HMRC warning comes after spending watchdog the National Audit Office (NAO) said ageing IT could be the next scandal to hit the government. NAO boss Gareth Davies said that while IT is not glamorous, keeping it up to date is a driver of long-term value for money. Investing adequately to maximise value for taxpayers and service users is equally vital for IT systems, he wrote in The Times. Recent NAO reports chart how ageing systems are creating problems for service users, such as state pensioners missing out on payments they are entitled to. Outdated technology also acts as a brake on vital innovation in the delivery of frontline services. An HMRC spokesperson said: We run a 24/7 operation across a large IT estate with well-developed systems and processes to monitor and respond to incidents. Security and privacy are at the heart of our work, and we are continuously strengthening and modernising our IT estate. The Cabinet Office declined to comment. 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 }} Britains armed forces minister has said nobody should pretend Israels ground offensive in Gaza is going to be anything other than horrific, warning that we are going to see some awful things. James Heappey said Israels armed forces were doing everything they can to avoid civilian casualties, but terror group Hamass use of human shields would make the task incredibly difficult. Speaking to Sky News as Israel prepares an air, ground and naval offensive in Gaza, Mr Heappey said: Israel is doing everything that it reasonably can to tell the civilian population to move. I have every confident that Israel will be precise in its targeting and theyll have good intelligence about where it needs to target. But nobody should pretend that this is going to be anything other than horrific, the minister added, who said it would be extraordinarily difficult to protect civilians in the offensive. Im afraid were going to see some awful things over the next few days. The Israeli military has announced it is preparing for a coordinated offensive in Gaza and has ordered citizens to move south, accusing Hamas of trying to use them as human shields. Israel has called up some 360,000 military reserves ahead of the anticipated offensive, while tanks and heavy weaponry have also been brought to the border as airstrikes continue to pound the besieged enclave. It comes a week after a horrific attack in Israel by Hamas militants that has killed over 1,000 people. It comes as Rishi Sunaks ministers push to get the Rafah crossing open between Gaza and Egypt to allow Britons to flee Gaza and aid to get in to reduce the almost inevitable impact on civilians of the conflict with Israel. However, expectations in government for opening the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt were understood to be very low on Monday. Mr Heappey warned it is important to sound a note of caution that the reports might be more optimistic than reality. Rishi Sunak addressed Jewish school students during an assembly on Monday (Jonathan Buckmaster/Getty Images) Mr Sunak raised the border crossing in a call with Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi last week, and it is understood that opening the border for foreign nationals and for Palestinian refugees could be treated separately. The PM will this afternoon address MPs about the escalating crisis as parliament returns. The PM will set out how the UK is supporting Israel and aiding British nationals caught in the fighting, while also detailing ministers response to the humanitarian situation. The Tory leader told broadcasters that he has raised the need to minimise the impact on civilians in Gaza with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. But the PM said Hamas was now telling people to stay behind in the north of Gaza. Ive raised with the Israeli prime minister the need to minimise the impact on civilians as best we can. Ive raised the humanitarian situation. We will continue to do that with other allies around the region as well, said Mr Sunak. He added: Israel has given people advance notice of whats happening and its Hamas who is now telling people to stay behind. Its Hamas that is embedding itself inside civilian populations and that is just example of the barbarity with which they operate. Jeremy Corbyn addresses pro-Palestine rally (Getty Images) No 10 dismissed a warning by Conservative MP Crispin Blunt that the UK could be complicit in war crimes in Gaza it doesnt try to restrain Israel. Asked about the backbenchers comments, Mr Sunaks spokesman said: We disagree with that. Youve heard from the prime minister and foreign secretary about the importance of protecting civilians ... Its vitally important we do not lose sight of the fact it is Hamas actions which are endangering Palestinians. King Abdullah II of Jordan was welcomed to No 10 on Sunday evening. Mr Sunak will hold today talks with Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of Palestinian National Authority, as well as other other leaders in the region in the coming days amid fears the war between Hamas and Israel could spark a wider conflict in the Middle East. Mr Sunaks official spokesman said it was abhorrent that pro-Palestinian protesters reportedly displayed images of Hamas attackers during demonstrations. It comes after the Metropolitan Police appealed for information about two women who had pictures of paragliders on their jackets at protests in London at the weekend. The Sunak spokesman said: It is hard to conceive of a situation where people would want to show support for individuals that committed a terrorist attack which saw children, babies slaughtered. It is hard to put into words. Mr Sunak also warned that glorifying Hamas in the UK can result in long jail sentences of up to 14 years. Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organisation, its very clear under the law, the support and glorification of Hamas is illegal, and those offences are punishable with up to almost 14 years in jail, the PM said. No 10 also appeared to suggest there was much more the FA to show support for Israel and deciding not to light up the arch over Wembley Stadium in the countrys colours. There is no restriction on the BBC calling Hamas fighters terrorists, Downing Street also said. The legal position is that Hamas is a proscribed terrorist group the term terrorist is an accurate legal description, Rishi Sunaks spokesman said. Meanwhile, foreign secretary James Cleverly on Sunday indicated that about 10 British people are currently being held hostage by Hamas, telling Sky News that such a figure was not an unreasonable estimate. 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 }} Low-level offenders are to be spared jail and made to do community service in a bid to free up space in prisons, the government has announced. Amid warnings that there is simply no space left in jails, justice secretary Alex Chalk said that in addition, some prisoners would be released on licence up to 18 days early. Speaking in the Commons on Monday, Mr Chalk accepted that the custodial system was under pressure, with the prison population in England and Wales currently greater than it had ever been. But he said that moving towards non-custodial sentences could help reduce crime in the long run. Under reforms unveiled by the justice secretary, ministers will also have to publish an annual statement of prison capacity and be held to account in parliament. And the Ministry of Justice said it had commissioned urgent work to identify new sites in order to increase prison capacity, backed by 400m in funds. Foreign prisoners will also be sent back to their countries of origin more quickly, in a bid to take pressure off prisons in the UK. Mr Chalk told MPs on Monday that the government should do whatever it takes to ensure there are always enough prison places. He also announced plans to ensure that rapists would serve the whole of their custodial sentence and not be released early. But it comes after The Independent revealed last week that Rishi Sunak had been told three years ago by the National Audit Office that prisons would be full by the second half of 2023 and still failed to avert the crisis. The Times reported last week that Lord Justice Edis, the most senior presiding judge in England and Wales, had ordered the sentencing of convicted criminals currently on bail to be delayed. Mr Chalk told the Commons that sentencing was a matter for the judicial system and that some reports had been inaccurate. But he said: Prisons shouldnt ruin the redeemable, and it is clear that all too often the circumstances which lead to an initial offence are exacerbated by a short stint in prison. Labours shadow justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said Mr Chalk had offered not one word of apology to the British public for failing in the first duty of government, to keep our citizens safe. It is a damning indictment of this governments collective failure, said Ms Mahmood. Our prisons are completely full. We have been sounding the alarm for many years now. She added that the public would be less safe as a result of the changes, and that there was a risk of increased offending. Following the justice secretarys statement, Baroness Hamwee, the chair of the House of Lords justice and home affairs committee, said: Prisons have reached full capacity, but custody is only one of four sentencing options. Community sentences are a sound alternative to short prison sentences. Community sentences can be tailored to a wide range of offenders and circumstances. Judges can impose a wide range of requirements, from curfews and electronic tagging to unpaid work, drug treatment, or alcohol treatment. By selecting the right requirements, they ensure that the sentence is not only punitive, but also rehabilitative. 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 former adviser to Boris Johnson has jumped ship to help boost Labours plans for engaging with businesses if it wins the next election, in the latest major coup for the party. Iain Anderson, who quit the Conservatives in February in protest at the partys alleged f*** business attitude, has been tasked with helping the party give small businesses a stronger voice in a Labour government. Mr Anderson, who founded communications giant H/Advisors Cicero, was Mr Johnsons LGBT business champion. But he quit the Tories after 39 years of membership, claiming the Conservative Party was not the party it used to be. In an interview with the Financial Times on Monday, Mr Anderson said small firms feel like they do not have a voice. This is about everybody getting an ability to make a pitch, he said. Mr Anderson revealed he has been asked by Labour to draw up a report in the coming months on how it can deliver on a promise to build greater ties with corporate Britain. Speaking to business leaders at Labours conference in Liverpool, leader Sir Keir Starmer said: If we do come into government, you will be coming into government with us. In his interview with the FT, Mr Anderson launched a stinging attack on Mr Sunak and previous Tory prime ministers, saying firms were tired of the on-off relationship with government. He cited synthetic photo opportunities, slamming ministers who call asking if you have a factory, an office or a production line to visit. Theres a picture and then the cavalcade returns to Whitehall, he told the FT. As well as lashing out at the Conservatives relations with business, he warned the party against fighting the next election on so-called culture war issues such as gender identity. Mr Anderson said: A culture war is not good for this country. Im just very sad to see that happening. His backing is the latest coup for Labour, which has seen business leaders flock to build relations with Sir Keir and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves as the party enjoys a sizeable lead in the polls. Earlier this year, former CBI president Paul Drechsler said Labour was winning the economic argument against the Tories under Sir Keir. And high profile donors from the New Labour era such as Lord Sainsbury have returned to the fold, donating millions of pounds to the party since Jeremy Corbyn was replaced as leader. As well as figures from the financial industry, Labour recently unveiled eminent barrister Marina Wheeler KC, Boris Johnsons former wife, as Labours new whistleblowing tsar to advise on reforms. And, in a sign of discontent among businesses at the Tories approach to industry, billionaire donor John Caudwell said last month that there was no chance whatsoever he would back Mr Sunak. The Phones 4U founder was the partys biggest backer in the run up to the 2019 election but threatened to switch to Labour over the madness of Mr Sunaks U-turn on net zero measures to mitigate against the climate crisis. Promising to turn around firms on-off relations with the government under Labour, Mr Anderson said: In the future, the relationship will always be on. 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 }} Senior Tories have backed Sir Keir Starmers push to bulldoze local opposition to housebuilding and urged Rishi Sunak to end barriers to development. Sir Brandon Lewis the former Tory housing minister and ex-party chairman has endorsed proposals by the right-wing Policy Exchange think tank to ease planning restrictions and build 442,000 homes a year. Former PM Liz Truss, meanwhile, will set out plans to cut environmental protections, in order to build 500,000 homes a year as part of her alternative Budget. Sir Keir used the Labour conference to promise 300,000 homes a year in the first term of a Labour government, as well as launching a series of new towns. The Labour leader said he would bulldoze local opposition by centralising planning decisions and would stand up to his own party if they side with so-called nimbys those who say not in my back yard. Policy Exchange has called for a right for developers to build in urban areas granting planning permission in principle to housebuilders looking to increase the density of existing sites. The think tanks report also recommended that local authorities without a local plan would have to be expected to be pro-development, for local referendums to be arranged on the development of new infrastructure, and for the government to give up public land for development. They said the planning system had become the principal obstacle to housebuilding, arguing that there remained too many veto opportunities in the process. The Policy Exchange report also said EU regulations covering river pollution should be scrapped, arguing that they were blocking the construction of 100,000 homes. Sunak under pressure to take on Starmer on housebuilding (AFP/Getty, EPA) Mr Lewis, a Tory housing minister under David Cameron, said the plan would expedite the delivery of badly needed housing and infrastructure in a material way. The former Conservative chairman added: Adopting it would get the government back on the front foot when it comes to perhaps the most significant public policy challenge facing our country today. Ms Truss, who has called for 500,000 homes a year, will set out more ideas on unblocking the system in her alternative growth Budget, the week before chancellor Jeremy Hunt delivers his autumn statement on 22 November. Under Labours plans, companies will get new powers to buy land at lower prices, without having to factor in the current increase in the value to get potential planning permission. Sir Keir has promised new towns developed by state-backed companies with compulsory purchase powers recalling the Attlee governments new town plans after the Second World War, which led to Stevenage, Crawley, Basildon and Milton Keynes, among others. Housing developers are also set to be given planning passports so they can build more quickly on brownfield land with a stronger presumption in favour of permission. Sir Keir said he was willing to have a fight with countryside campaigners, as he also committed to building on some grey belt green belt areas saying areas that are scrubland and car parks would be released. Senior Tory MP Sir Simon Clarke, the housing secretary under Ms Truss, has backed Sir Keirs call to build on greenbelt land. My party needs to respond to this challenge, he tweeted. Lord Frost, the former Brexit minister, said he very much agreed. Mr Clarke also backed Policy Exchanges proposal to cut red tape and make regulators pull two regulations for every one added. UK businesses from the smallest to the largest are constantly telling policymakers that energy costs and the burden of regulation is inhibiting their ability to grow, he said. Denmark's Prince Christian has officially turned 18, with the occasion marking big celebrations for the young royal. The eldest son of Crown Princess Mary and Crown Prince Frederik is second-in-line to the throne and turned 18 on October 15. Now the proud parents have shared never-before-seen photos of Prince Christian over the years, marking his milestone birthday. On the Danish royal family's Instagram account, a new series of photos were uploaded with a heartwarming caption. "From child to adult. Seen from the parents' camera roll," the caption stated. The Royal family has uploaded never-seen-before pictures of Prince Christian to commemorate his 18th birthday. Photo: Instagram.com/detdanskekongehus Photos shared included baby pictures, the family exploring Denmark and a photo of Christian looking dapper as a young man, before going on to show more photos of Christian throughout the years, including visits to Australia, Christian with a temporary tattoo, and many happy snaps of the prince and his siblings and parents. RELATED: A documentary about the young heir also premiered the night before Christian's birthday, titled Prince Christian A Royal Journey. The documentary follows Christian's rise from baby to young man, with a focus on how he's preparing for his eventual role as King. Prince Christian turned 18 on October 15. Photo: Instagram.com/detdanskekongehus Inside Prince Christian's lavish 18th birthday bash Taking to Instagram, the family also uploaded a series of videos and pictures of Prince Christian's birthday festivities, including a surprise concert for the prince, gifted by his grandmother Queen Margrethe. The gala also saw Prince Christian address a crowd in his first official speech. Surrounded by young people from all over the nation, the Prince acknowledged his love for his country. Story continues "I must find my path, even if it leads somewhere known. I have roots in many places in the world, and I enjoy travelling. But home will always be here. Because I love my country," he said. "Thank you to all the young people who are here today. It feels really good to be surrounded by so many peers. We are not the same, but we stand in the same place in life. We have something in common. And tonight is new for all of us. This makes it a little easier. And I need that right now," the Prince said. Yahoo Australia Never miss a thing. Sign up to Yahoo Lifestyles daily newsletter. Or if you have a story idea, email us at lifestyle.tips@yahooinc.com. 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 will try and free up space in Britain's overcrowded prisons by speeding up the deportation of criminals from abroad, it has announced. The move is the first of a series of plans to be unveiled by the Lord Chancellor on Monday aimed at tackling the lack of prison space. Judges have reportedly been told to hold off jailing serious criminals and prison governors said this week it was inevitable that space would run out, with just 557 places left. The Independent revealed this week that Rishi Sunak had been told three years ago by the National Audit Office that prisons would be full by the second half of 2023 but failed to avert the crisis. Now ministers are to unveil a slate of emergency measures in a bid to free up space including sending foreign criminals back to their country of origin sooner. Currently, criminals from abroad can be sent back to their countries of origin in the last year of their sentence. Ministers say they are hoping to expand this period to 18 months. There will also be new immigration rules to ban people removed in the scheme from returning to the UK. Further measures are expected to be announced in a statement to parliament on Monday. The government removed 3,100 foreign offenders in the year up to March 2023 10,500 remain in prison in England and Wales Lord Chancellor Alex Chalk KC said: Its right that foreign criminals are punished but it cannot be right that some are sat in prison costing taxpayers 47,000 a year when they could be deported. Instead of letting foreign nationals take up space in our prisons at vast expense to the law-abiding public we will take action to get them out of the country and stop them from ever returning. The male prison population grew by 192 inmates 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 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. The minister is expected to unofficially brand this community work Texas-style because a similar approach has been tried in the US state and led to reduced rates of reoffending. 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. Shabana Mahmood, Labour shadow justice secretary, told the Times newspaper: The only thing Texan about this government is that they are running the country like cowboys. 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. 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 }} Watch as Rishi Sunak addressed parliament on Monday, 16 October, as Israel was expected to launch a ground offensive in Gaza. The prime minister addressed MPs about the escalating crisis as politicians returned to Westminster. His address came after he visited a Jewish school in north London on Monday morning, where he told pupils he "stands with them" after Hamas launched an attack on Israel a week ago. Civilians have been ordered to evacuate the north of Gaza ahead of an imminent offensive against Hamas, with at least one million people fleeing their homes. The Israeli military says it is preparing to use air, ground, and naval forces in Gaza and has accused Hamas of trying to use civilians as human shields. British officials are working with the Egypt authorities to facilitate British and dual nationals, as well as families, to leave Gaza through the border. Armed forces minister James Heappey welcomed the prospect of opening the Rafah crossing for people fleeing Gaza but said it is important to sound a note of caution that the reports might be more optimistic than reality." 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 }} Former SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has backed her successor Humza Yousafs new Scottish independence strategy as she denied upstaging him at the party conference. The ex-first minister gave her full unequivocal support to the new SNP plan to claim a mandate for independence negotiations if the party wins a majority of seats in Scotland at the general election. Arriving at the SNP conference in Aberdeen to huge cheers from supporters, Ms Sturgeon dismissed questions about whether she was in danger of upstaging the under-pressure leader, saying she was only watching from afar. She said Mr Yousaf was doing a fantastic job, adding: I dont think there is any doubt about who is in charge of this conference. Asked by a reporter if she was the Liz Truss of the SNP, a reference to the ex-PMs unwelcome interventions at the Tory conference, she replied: How long did it take you to think that up? adding: Dont be ridiculous. Ms Sturgeon, who led the SNP for almost a decade until her resignation in February, was arrested and questioned by police in connection with detectives probe in party finances but released without charge. The ex-leader, when asked if she was disappointed that the SNP had rejected her plan to treat the general election as a de facto vote, replied: One of the reasons I took the decision to step down was that I believed Id given it my all on moving the country to independence. She added: I had taken it as far as I could. I think in those circumstances it was right that the party took the time to consider the way forward it wanted to adopt. Sturgeon said comparisons to Liz Truss were ridiculous (PA) Asked why the SNP lost the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election to Labour, Ms Sturgeon said her party had to remind people why we won so many elections in the past almost 20 years now. Its about being on the side of people who aspire for a better life for themselves. Its about standing up and providing a voice for people who are often marginalised ... standing up to vested interests standing up for Scotland. Ms Sturgeon told journalists at the SNP conference in Aberdeen that she is concentrating on writing [her] book right now, having signed a deal for a memoir. Earlier in the day, Mr Yousaf rejected the idea he could feel undermined Ms Sturgeons attendance telling reporters that he was delighted she was in Aberdeen. Nicola is a member, she led the party for so long. Shes going to get a lot of love, quite rightly, and adulation, said the leader. Defending the partys new position on independence, the SNPs deputy leader Keith Brown says his party would still have a mandate for negotiations with the UK government if it won the most seats in Scotland on fewer votes than in the previous election. Speaking to the BBCs Good Morning Scotland radio programme, Mr Brown said it is the democratic norm that the party that won the most seats won the election. Asked what would happen if Labour or the Conservatives continue to say no, he said: They have to answer why they wont respond to the mandates which have been granted. Meanwhile, Mr Yousaf whose wifes parents are stuck in Gaza told the BBC on Sunday that he had a very difficult night having got a call from his mother-in-law. He called on Rishi Sunaks government to push Israel into a ceasefire in southern Gaza and support the opening of the Rafah crossing with Egypt to allow people out and aid to get in. Nadia El-Nakla, the wife of Scotlands first minister, accused the UK government of enabling Israels invasion of Gaza. She told a SNP conference event: The UK is enabling the behaviour of Israel, but gaslighting us at the same time. 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 }} At least six British citizens have been killed in Israel while another 10 are missing, Rishi Sunak told the Commons on Monday as he described the attacks by Hamas as a pogrom. The prime minister said the barbaric attacks on the people of Israel had shocked the world, adding: We should call it by its name: it was a pogrom. Mr Sunak said Britain stands with Israel when he repeated his support for the countrys right to defend itself as it prepares for to go after Hamas [and] take back hostages with a ground invasion of Gaza. The PM also called for every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians arguing that Israels military push to destroy Hamas must be done in line with international humanitarian law. His intervention came as Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu signalled a long and bloody battle lay ahead as he warned victory might take time but that his forces were ready and storming forward. Speaking to Israels parliament on Monday, he urged Western allies to rally behind Israel: I tell our friends... Our war is your war. If we do not stand together in a united front, it will reach you as well. Victory will take time. There will be difficult moments. There will be pitfalls. Sacrifice will be necessary. Mr Netanyahu compared Hamas to the Nazis and accused its allies Iran and the militant group Hezbollah, based in Lebanon, of wanting to return the Middle East to the abyss of the barbaric fanaticism of the Middle Ages. Addressing the House of Commons, Mr Sunak announced an extra 10m in UK aid for the Palestinian people, and called on Israel and Egypt to open up the Rafah border crossing to allow urgently needed humanitarian supplies. We must support the Palestinian people because they are victims of Hamas too, saying the group does not represent the people of Gaza. We must ensure humanitarian aid reaches civilians in Gaza this requires Egypt and Israel to let in the aid that is so badly needed. Confirming the British dead, he said the terrible nature of these attacks meant it was proving difficult to identify some of the deceased. With a heavy heart I can inform the House that at least six British citizens were killed. A further 10 are missing, some of whom are feared to be among the dead. He added that 500 Britons had been brought back to the UK on eight flights. Rishi Sunak addresses students during an assembly at a Jewish school in north London on Monday (Getty) The Tory leader said he had raised the need to minimise the impact on civilians in Gaza with Mr Netanyahu as best we can, adding: Ive raised the humanitarian situation. He said Mr Netanyahu did not want wider escalation in the region. The PM also said Hamas was now telling people to stay behind in the north of Gaza. Its Hamas that is embedding itself inside civilian populations and that is just example of the barbarity with which they operate. The Israeli military has announced it is preparing for a coordinated offensive in Gaza and has ordered citizens to move south. Israel has called up some 360,000 military reservists ahead of the anticipated offensive, while tanks and heavy weaponry have also been brought to the border as airstrikes continue to pound the besieged enclave. The Israeli government denied agreeing a ceasefire in southern Gaza to allow aid in and some foreign nationals to leave. Sunak held talks with Mahmoud Abbas on Monday, leader of the Palestinian National Authority (Getty Images) Mr Sunak held talks with Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of Palestinian National Authority, and reiterated the UKs position that Hamas does not speak for ordinary Palestinians and affirmed that the UK continues to support a two-state solution, said No 10. His spokesperson added: However hard it is, we need to ask the tough questions about how we can revive the long-term prospect for a two-state solution, for normalisation and regional stability not least because that is precisely what Hamas has been trying to kill. Issuing support for the PMs stance, Sir Keir Starmer told the Commons that Israel was the victim of terrorism on an unimaginable scale and said Labour stands with Israel. The Labour leader said civilians must not be targeted in Gaza and innocent lives must be protected. Imran Hussain, the Labour MP for Bradford East, said Israels indiscriminate airstrikes were killing civilians in Gaza and is in clear violation of international law. Senior Tory MP Tobias Ellwood, warned against a full-scale invasion of Gaza. If we are a true friend of Israel, we should counsel against a full-scale ground invasion at this time, as it will see this conflict spill into the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Addressing the British Jewish community, Mr Sunak said in the Commons that Hamas atrocities were an existential strike at the very idea of Israel as a safe homeland for the Jewish people. I understand why it has shaken you to your core ... We are doing everything we can to protect you. Recommended Biden considers visiting Israel after Netanyahu invite But he said we stand with British Muslim communities too as he noted the moment of great anguish for those appalled by Hamass actions while being fearful of the response. We must listen to these concerns with the same attentiveness, he said. Over the last few days tensions have soared along Israels northern borders with exchanges of fire leaving seven people dead. On Monday Hezbollah fighters continued firing anti-tank missiles on Israeli army positions, with Israeli troops shelling back. Also on Monday, the head of Israels Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency took responsibility for failing to prevent Hamas from carrying out its deadly rampage through Israeli towns. Despite a series of actions we carried out, unfortunately, on Saturday we were unable to generate sufficient warning that would allow the attack to be thwarted, said Shin Bet director Ronen Bar. The Israeli military said that it had notified the families of 199 people that their loved ones were being held in Gaza, by both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. 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 address MPs on Monday about the escalating crisis in Israel and Gaza as politicians return to Westminster amid renewed conflict in the Middle East. Palestinians in Gaza remain braced for an imminent Israeli invasion, a week after Hamas militants launched a deadly assault on the country. The Prime Minister is expected to make a visit on Monday morning to re-iterate his Governments support for the Jewish community, after a weekend that saw growing international concern about the escalating situation in the region. King Abdullah II of Jordan was welcomed to Downing Street on Sunday evening, as the ruler embarked on a diplomatic tour of Europe to rally international support to stop the war. Number 10 said that the Prime Minister would hold talks with other leaders and international partners in the days to come, as the conflict shows little sign of coming to a swift conclusion. The United Nations and global aid agencies have all expressed alarm about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, after Israel ordered civilians to evacuate the north ahead of a major offensive. Mr Sunak is expected to use his Commons statement to set out how the UK is supporting Israel and aiding British nationals caught in the fighting, while also detailing ministers response to the humanitarian situation inside Gaza. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly on Sunday indicated that about 10 British people are being held hostage by Hamas, telling Sky News that such a figure was not an unreasonable estimate. Meanwhile, demonstrators are expected to gather outside the BBC in central London on Monday evening, amid anger at the broadcasters decision not to describe Hamas militants as terrorists. It comes after a weekend of protests and gatherings across the UK, with tens of thousands marching in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Hundreds of people also attended at a vigil in central London on Sunday to commemorate Israeli victims of the Hamas incursion. 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 }} Families across the US and Israel continue to desperately wait for answers about their loved ones who are feared to be being held hostage by Hamas militants in the midst of escalating violence in the Middle East. A Chicago mother and daughter who were visiting relatives in Israel, a 23-year-old festivalgoer born in California, and a New Yorker turned Israeli soldier are among the Americans still missing following the Hamas attacks on 7 October. The Biden administration has confirmed that 27 Americans have been killed and 14 remain unaccounted for though it is unclear how many of the 14 are being held hostage. President Joe Biden has insisted that the US is doing everything it can working round the clock to bring the missing US citizens home and spoke with the families of the 14 on Friday. Theyre going through agony not knowing what the status of their sons, daughters, husbands, wives, children, are, he said of the call in a press conference. You know, its gut-wrenching. I assured them of my 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. Were not going to stop until we bring them home. Despite the commitment to do everything possible, US officials admitted last week that there was currently no way to get Americans out of Gaza. In total, the Israeli military said that a staggering 199 people are believed to be currently being held in Gaza a marked increase on initial estimates. While the Biden administration has not confirmed the identities of the Americans believed to be among the hostages several family members have spoken out as they desperately try to bring their loved ones home. Heres what we know about the Americans still missing - and those who were killed: Missing Americans: Chicago mother and daughter visiting relatives Judith Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter Natalie Raanan, from a Chicago suburb, had gone to Israel for what was supposed to be really special mom and daughter time together, according to their rabbi Meir Hecht. A family member was celebrating their 85th birthday and it was the Jewish holiday Simchat Torah. All in all, it was supposed to be a time of celebration. Meir Hecht told the Associated Press that the pair had been sending updates back home about the fun they were having. Then all communication stopped on 7 October the day that Hamas militants launched the surprise attack. Judith Raanan and Natalie Raanan (AP) We received this terrible news that Judith and her daughter Natalie are missing and apparently were most likely taken as hostages to Gaza, Meir Hecht said. It feels like our community has been violated. Natalies aunt Sigal Zamir broke down in tears as the community gathered together to pray for their return. I pray for them to come back alive. Theyre innocent and loving, and they didnt do anything, she said. Judiths sister Saray Cohen told CNN that her brother joined the call with the president, saying that he reassured us that the United States will do everything in its power to get them back home and to get a sign of life from them. She added: We are confident that we are in good hands. Long Island native who went to connect with Israeli roots Omer Neutra was stationed at his small military base along the Gaza border when Hamas militants carried out the attack on 7 October. His parents said they heard from him the night before and he told them the situation seemed calm. That was the last time they heard from him and they now fear he is being held captive by Hamas militants. It was his 22nd birthday on Sunday the eighth day on from his disappearance. Omer Neutra (Midway Jewish Center) Omer grew up on Long Island and was an honors student at Schecter Yeshiva in Williston Park. He decided to go on a gap year after graduating college to spend some time in Israel and connect with his roots. While there, he carried out voluntary work with children with special needs before joining the Israeli military. Now the Long Island community is rallying around his family, with the familys synagogue Midway Jewish Center displaying a sign that reads Bring Omer home. In a statement through the synagogue, his parents Ronen and Orna Neutra described him as a great son, friend, and a passionate, giving person. Man, 23, missing after celebrating at festival rave Hersh Golberg-Polin, 23, has not been seen or heard from since the morning of the Hamas attacks when he was partying with hundreds of other ravers at the Supernova festival in northern Negev. During the celebrations, Hamas militants carried out a surprise attack, killing and kidnapping dozens of people from the site. The Israeli rescue service Zaka later said that more than 260 bodies had since been found at the music festival site, with the death toll likely to climb higher. Hershs father Jonathon Polin told The Jerusalem Post that his son was among those partying at the rave. The 23-year-olds birthday was just days earlier and he was also celebrating his release from Army service at the end of April, he said. At around 8am local time on 7 October, the 23-year-old sent a couple of heartbreaking final messages to his parents. I love you, one of the messages read. Im sorry, read another. No one has heard from him since, with the family now desperately trying to find out what happened to him. In a heartbreaking press conference on Tuesday, Hershs mother Rachel Goldberg said that they had seen a picture of him taking cover in a bomb shelter with other festivalgoers. She said witnesses had told the family that his arm had been blown off from the elbow down. The Hamas terrorists then told the group anyone who can walk, stand up and walk out and so Hersh walked out completely calm, she said. Hersh Golberg-Polin, 23, has not been seen or heard from since the festival (The Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies/Facebook) He was then reportedly put on a pickup truck and driven away by Hamas, with his cellphone signal last pinging on the Gaza border. Hersh was born in Berkeley, California, and moved with his family to Jerusalem when he was seven. He went on to join the Army, training as a medic and tank driver in the 7th Armored Brigade. On completion of his Army service, Jonathon Polin said his son got a job as a waiter and was saving up for his lifelong dream of travelling to India. He is a smiley, fun-loving guy and people of all ages just gravitate towards him... hes the guy that is just fun to be around and makes people have a good time, his father said at the press conference. New Yorker turned Israeli soldier missing in action Itay Chen was born and raised in New York before his family later moved to Israel. Around a year ago, Itay joined the Israel Defense Forces as a corporal. He was based along the Gaza border when Hamas terrorists breached it on Saturday morning. His father Ruby Chen said at a press conference on Tuesday that he last heard from him then when Itay said they were under attack. Since then silence, he said. Itay Chen (Itay Chen/ABC) Now, the 19-year-old is feared to be among the hostages kidnapped and held by Hamas terrorists. Israeli officials have designated him missing in action. Mr Chen said that they believe his son could be being held as a prisoner of war as no one has been able to physically locate him, identify him hes not in a hospital not on a deceased list. Please think of us not just as a headline, we are people, we are family, he said. We want to go back to becoming family, hopefully as soon as possible. Father expecting third child Sagui Dekel-Chen is a married father who was last seen on Saturday in his Kibbutz close to the Gaza border. His father Jonathan Dekel-Chen said in a press conference last Tuesday that hundreds of heavily armed, well-organised terrorists entered their community of around 400 with an intention to kill, maim and destroy civilian life. Mr Dekel-Chen, a Hebrew University academic who previously held positions at the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University and Rutgers University, said he believes his son has been taken to Gaza by Hamas militants and is being held hostage there. Sagui Dekel-Chen (Sagui Dekel-Chen/Fox) He is an arms length away from me in Gaza, but couldnt be farther from me and my family right now, he said. Sagui is the father of two beautiful daughters and his wife is pregnant right now. Sagui is the kind of son everyone would want, he said of his son. Mr Dekel-Chen said only 160 of the 400 community members have survived. The rest died or are prisoners or are missing, he said. Americans killed: Mother who sacrificed life for her son US citizen Deborah Matias, 50, died sacrificing her own life to save that of her child. Ilan Troen, professor of Israel studies at Brandeis University in Boston, said that his daughter Deborah, her husband Shlomi and their son Roten, 16, were in their home when Hamas militants stormed across the border, broke into homes and killed those inside. Professor Troen said that Deborah threw her body on top of her sons in order to protect him from the gunfire. She and Shlomi were shot and killed while Roten was shot but survived. Deborah Matias, her father Ilan Troen and her husband Shlomi Matias (left to right) (Sourced) They made sure to fall on him and thereby saved his life. Although a bullet actually entered his abdomen, but he was saved, he told WBZ-TV. Professor Troen said he rushed to hospital to be reunited with his grandson who is recovering from his injuries. The devastated father told CNN that Deborah was a child of light and life. She, rather than becoming a scientist or a physician, she said to me one day, Dad, I have to do music, because its in my soul, he said. Washington graduate who dreamed of peace found dead in home Dr Hayim Katsman a University of Washington graduate who hoped for peace in the Middle East was found dead inside his apartment in Israel after Hamas terrorists tore through the community. Hayims family last heard from him on the morning of 7 October when they received chilling messages from him saying that Hamas terrorists had entered Kibbutz Holit in southwest Israel where he lived. The family never heard from the 32-year-old again. Hayims friend Avital Alajem told CNN that they both hunkered down together inside a shelters closet to hide from the Hamas militants. But they broke in and fired through the door. Ms Alajem survived but Hayim was shot and killed. Hayim Katsman (Hannah Katsman Facebook) He was murdered, she said. I was saved because he was next to the door and they shot him. Hayims sibling Noy Katsman told CNN the family spent hours desperately trying to get in touch with him before learning of his murder. Hayim was born in the US and studied at the University of Washington where he earned a PhD in international studies in 2021. His parents were originally from Israel before locating to the US more than three decades ago and so Hayim had moved there to carry out research. Noy Katsman said that Hayim had longed for peace and supported a solution for this bleeding conflict between Israel and Palestinians. Midwife who brought thousands of babies into world California-born Adrienne Neta has brought thousands of babies into the world as a midwife. She was last heard screaming down the phone to her adult children as Hamas terrorists stormed into her home. Her son Nahar Neta said at a press conference in Tel Aviv on Tuesday that he and his siblings had been on the phone to their mother on Saturday trying to keep her calm as the attacks unfolded and she hunkered in a shelter. They were still on the call when they heard gunfire in the background. We were on the call with her when the terrorists barged into her home. We heard a little bit of screaming and that was our last contact with her, he said. Mr Neta said that they did not hear shooting on the call after the terrorists breached the building so they are hoping that she is being held hostage. Adrienne Neta (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press All rights reserved) Its our hope its ridiculous to say our optimistic scenario is that she is being held hostage in Gaza and is not dead in the street, he said, breaking down in tears. He said that their mother devoted her life to helping people of all races and genders in the hospital where she worked. My mother is an exceptional human being. She spent most of her life in the community and then as a midwife in a hospital, said her daughter Dayana Neta. When she walked into the delivery room she saw a human being in front of her. Not a religion, not a race, not a hijab, not an orthodox Jew it was always the human being she saw. We once calculated our mother brought thousands of lives into this world. When Hamas walked into my mothers room... they did not see a human being. The family has since confirmed her death to CBS News. 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 semi-truck driver has been killed after a coal train derailed off a bridge and onto a roadway in Colorado. The tragedy unfolded near Pueblo, 100 miles south of Denver, on Sunday afternoon, according to Pueblo County Sheriffs Office. Emergency services rushed to the scene where at least ten train cars had reportedly slid off the tracks and over the side of a bridge. Footage from the site shows damage to the rail crossing and the bridges metal siding. It remains unclear what led to the derailment of the train. A semi-truck driver was trapped in the wreckage, before they were later confirmed to have died. State patrol spokesperson Gary Cutler provided no other details about the victim. The interstate was closed for 12 miles from Exit 100B in Pueblo towards northward to Exit 110 following the incident, according to the transport department. The train derailed about 100 miles south of Denver (Pueblo County Sheriff) This will be an extended closure. Drivers heading between Pueblo and Colorado Springs must detour, a statement read. The National Transportation Safety Board announced on Sunday night it was investigating the cause of the derailment. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said in a statement he had been in contact with Colorado Governor Jared Polis about the incident. One man was killed in the incident (Pueblo County Sheriff) State & local authorities are leading the immediate emergency response, and we will be ready to help in any way needed to support a swift return to normal use for the highway and rail routes affected, Mr Buttigieg said in a post on X. US Department of Transportation staff were en route to the scene Sunday night. 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 lifeless body of a missing Indiana art teacher has been found in a river days after she vanished without a trace while on holiday in Puerto Rico. Amanda Webster, 44, was last seen at the Casa Parcha guest house where she was staying near El Yunque National Park in Naguaboo. She was reported missing last Wednesday by the landlord at the guest house. On Saturday, authorities said that a body had been discovered in a river in the Rio Blanco neighbourhood. While police have not confirmed the body belongs to the missing teacher, Websters mother Pamela confirmed her tragic death on social media. Thank all of you for your support and prayers, she wrote. They just found Amandas body in the river, she had been under water for some time. Puerto Rican Police said the body was discovered in a rocky area of the river. The body of teacher Amanda Webster, 44, was found in Puerto Rico (Facebook) A lifeless body, which could be that of a woman, was found this morning in the river of the Rio Blanco neighborhood of the Sector Camino Viejo de Naguabo by the team that was in the area carrying out the search, a statement read. The body was found upside down floating in a rocky area of the river, so the CIC team of the Police, along with the Prosecutors Office and staff of the Forensic Institute are working on the extraction and identification process of it. Her body was found near a rocky section of the river (Google) Police added that at this stage, it is not possible to identify the gender of the body or conclude if it shows signs of violence. Webster was a teacher at Thompson Crossing Elementary School in Franklin Township, Indianapolis. 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 volunteer rescue team from Tennessee had a huge shock when they tried to rescue a dog from a cave only to come face-to-face with a 200-pound bear. Hunting dog Charliewas walking in the English Mountain area near Knoxville when he fell down a 40-foot narrow shaft into a cave last week, Waldens Creek Volunteer Fire Department said in a statement on Thursday. A rescue team was assembled on Wednesday to try to pull Charlie out of the cave back to safety. It was a precarious mission, with the team having to navigate the extremely small passages down into the cave. But, the rescue became all the more dangerous when one of the firefighters encountered a huge bear. Firefighter Tori Downing had lowered herself into the cave alongside Captain Jon Lanier, when she rounded a corner and saw the bear a mere five feet below her, the fire department said. The huge bear was luckily asleep and so the rescuers quickly exited the cave. They then set up trail cameras to monitor the exit, so they could descend again when the big beast had left the vicinity. Capt Lanier explained that the rescue team believed Charlie was further back in the cave than he actually was. At first, we actually thought the dog had slipped further into the cave where we couldnt access, Mr Lanier told WVLT. It was kinda sad because we felt like we were gonna have to leave the dog there. Another firefighter, Christian Ellard, told the local outlet that this sadness then turned to hope when they realised he was within reach. A 200-pound bear suprised the rescue team, who had to retreat after encountering the sleeping beast (Waldens Creek Volunteer Fire Department/Facebook) As were about to head back out, I looked back one more time and I saw his antenna from his tracker collar, he said. Then, on Thursday, Charlies long stint down in the cave finally to an end when the bear left its sleep slot. With the coast now clear, Mr Ellard and Mr Lanier from Waldens Creeks department and Andrew Wojturski from the Sevier County Fire and Rescue entered the cave again. Experts from Sevier County Volunteer Rescue Squad and the Catons Chapel/Richardsons Cove Volunteer Fire Department were also drafted in to help the rescue mission. Together, they found the hunting dog and put him in a harness to pull him back up to safety. Poor Charlie had been down in the cave for around three days at that point, sharing the space with the huge two-year-old bear. Charlie was rescued after being stuck for three days in the cave (Waldens Creek Volunteer Fire Department/Facebook) The dog was dehydrated and hungry, but otherwise in good health. He has since been reunited with his relieved owner. We would like to thank and recognise the entire rescue team and people who worked together to make this happen. It was truly a team effort that required all these departments to make it a success, Waldens Creek Volunteer Fire Department wrote on Facebook. In total, it took volunteers from around four different firefighter and rescue team departments to get the pup out of the cave. This is not the first time that the team has had to deploy a rescue mission for a trapped hound in a cave. Last year, Storm, described by the fire department as none other than Charlies cousin, found himself in the same situation when he fell into a deep cave on English Mountain. Like his cousin, Storm was okay too, thanks to the rescue teams that brought them back to safety. That time, the rescue mission didnt have the added complexity of a sleeping bear. Black bears are one of the most common breeds in Tennessee. They can grow up to six feet in length, can weigh anywhere between 125 and 600 pounds and are capable of running 20 miles an hour, according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA). The agency says that while bears are tolerant of humans and usually try to avoid contact, their behaviour is unpredictable and so they should not be approached. 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 }} Family and friends arrived for the funeral of a six-year-old boy who died after being stabbed in Illinois on Saturday, 14 October. Authorities named Joseph Czuba, 71, as a suspect accused of killing Wadea Al-Fayoume and seriously injuring his mother, Hanaan Shahin, in Plainfield. Will County Sheriffs Office said detectives determined that the victims were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the conflict between Hamas and Israel. This horrific act of hate has no place in America, and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are, Joe Biden said of the attack. When police personnel arrived on scene they located the suspect... sitting upright outside on the ground near the driveway of the residence. Joseph Czuba had a laceration to his forehead and was later transported to a local area hospital for treatment, authorities said. Ms Shahin is recovering from her injuries at a local hospital and is expected to survive the attack, according to police. The United Auto Workers historic standoff with Detroits three carmaking giants is centered on an age-old tension: The union says corporate greed is keeping workers from earning fair wages, while Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Stellantis NV say they cant afford union demands. While both arguments have some merit, one fact stands out: The 10 individuals whove served as chief executive officers of the companies since 2010 have collected more than $1 billion of compensation. Meanwhile, wages of US auto workers unionized or not have declined around 17% in that time frame. This reality underpins the strike now entering its fifth week thats playing out against the backdrop of growing income inequality and rising executive compensation. We went backward in wages in the last 15 years," UAW President Shawn Fain told reporters last month. Hell, most of our members cant even afford to buy what we make." The $1 billion total that Detroit carmaker CEOs have taken home includes salaries, bonuses, the value of stock awards, fringe benefits and special payouts linked to retirement or corporate transactions. A spokesperson for Stellantis noted that recent mergers resulted in large one-time pay packages for the previous CEOs. The median worker at GM and Ford earned $80,034 and $74,691 in 2022, respectively. Stellantis, which is based in the Netherlands, paid its average employee 64,328 ($67,800) last year. At both GM and Ford, that puts CEO-to-worker pay ratios higher than the average among the biggest publicly traded US firms, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Stellantis said that it has distributed more than 2 billion in profit-sharing to employees under the current CEO Carlos Tavares. In filings, each of the companies say that most CEO awards are tied to performance targets. If results worsen, payouts shrink. GM CEO Mary Barra said as much in a recent interview, noting that 92% of her pay is based on performance of the company. Each of the current CEOs, however, gets an annual salary of at least $1.7 million, regardless of performance. While the amounts make for good picket-line material, theyre not unique. Corporate boards across industries have for decades doled out bigger and bigger packages to CEOs, leading to a growing divergence between how corporations in the US and beyond have rewarded workers relative to their top bosses. Real Wages Really Are Down Wages are one of the major sticking points in union negotiations. The UAW initially asked for 40% hikes and wants to emerge from its strikes with at least 30% raises, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. So far, Ford says its offer of a 23% raise is as high as it can go, while GM and Stellantis have been reluctant to offer much more than roughly 20% increases. Theres good reason for the ask: Since 2003, the average hourly wage for US auto workers has declined about 30%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Among the factors contributing to this trend was the rise of non-unionized car production in the US and the UAW agreeing in 2007 to lower wages for new hires at Detroit Three plants. While Fain has described what some of his members make as poverty wages," those employed in vehicle manufacturing still make more than the average private-sector worker albeit by a narrowing gap. UAW members also make more than non-unionized workers in the sector. The money is there," Fain said on Friday, after announcing a change in the unions strike strategy. GMs CEO Barra has said the companys labor costs are already $22 an hour more than electric-vehicle leader Tesla, and that this competitive disadvantage would only grow as a result of the UAWs asks. $242 Billion Pension Risk Fain has made it part of his mission to undo concessions agreed to during the Great Recession. Among the benefits sacrificed were pensions any worker hired prior to 2008 has one; anyone whos joined since doesnt. Legions of companies across industries have scrapped or frozen pension plans because theyre costly. One study found that companies save 13.5% on long-term employee payroll costs when they freeze defined pension benefits. Since 2005, GM has cut its retirement obligations by almost 70%, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Steve Man. Ford has trimmed its pension liabilities by almost half in that same time frame. If GM and Ford were to meet the unions asks, their pension liabilities would double to $242 billion, Man estimates. Rather than bring back pensions, the automakers are willing to increase company contributions to 401(k) benefit plans. GM, for example, has offered to boost its unconditional company contribution to 8%, from 6.4%, while Stellantis is offering a 6% contribution, plus a 50% match for employees who contribute up to 6%. These plans seem to be a bit better than average. Employers offer a wide range of retirement benefits, said Dan Doonan, executive director of the National Institute on Retirement Security, with some offering nothing at all. Generally, though, a 401(k) match in the range of 4% to 5% is pretty typical, he said. Among Fidelity Investment plans, the average employer match is 4.8%. Fewer Jobs to Go Around As the industry transitions to EVs a shift that will be funded in part by billions in government subsidies the union wants some guarantees for worker job security. In the last 20 years, GM, Ford and Stellantis and its predecessors have closed or spun off at least 65 plants, according to the union. The fear is that as EV production and demand picks up, more plants making gas cars and trucks and the engines and transmissions that power them will shut. The automakers, for their part, point to factories theyre opening up rather than shutting down. Ford is building its first new US auto-assembly plant since 1969 in Tennessee. Stellantis opened a Jeep factory the citys first assembly plant in decades in Detroit a few years ago. The companies also are spending billions along with joint-venture partners on battery plants that the UAW wants to organize. So far, just one of those factories run by GM and South Koreas LG Energy Solution is operating, and it currently pays its newly unionized workers about $20 an hour, which is about one-third less than the automakers top wage. Last week, the UAW spared the car companies from strike expansion after GM agreed to bring battery plant workers into the fold of the union. The UAWs aim is to leverage that victory into organizing more factories making EVs and batteries, including those run by Tesla. But reversing the declining fortune of the US auto worker will be a tall order. First Published Date: 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 66-year-old man has died in Tasmania after being attacked by his pet dog. Police were called to the scene in Allens Rivulet late on Sunday night after the pet attacked the man and his 64-year-old wife at their home. The man suffered serious injuries to his lower legs and was pronounced dead at the scene, said Inspector Colin Riley, in a release from the police. The woman was transported to the Royal Hobart Hospital with serious injuries to her lower limbs, Inspector Riley said. She is in a stable condition, reported 9 News. "Obviously this is a family that had a loved pet and unfortunately that animal has turned on them and its had tragic outcomes," he told the outlet, in what he described as a very rare incident. "A significant injury like this, where it leaves one person deceased and other person in hospital is very rare in Tasmania, he was quoted as saying by ABC News. "To be honest, I cant recall the last time something like this occurred." The canine, not yet identified by its breed, was euthanased at the scene by an animal management officer from the local council, said the inspector. Our thoughts are with the mans loved ones at this difficult time. The police were notified by the neighbours after they heard noises, reported several outlets. The officials were "very grateful that no one else was injured, including our own staff and emergency services", the police said, adding that a coroners report is expected. Passing condolences to the family of the deceased, Kingborouh Council general manager Gary Arnold said initial information suggested the dog was not registered with the council. According to the councils website all dogs over the age of six months should be registered, reported 7News. In the nearly decade that Ive been with Kingborough Council, this is the most tragic incident thats certainly occurred, he said. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A high school where a teacher was fatally stabbed in France was evacuated on Monday morning following a bomb threat. While there were no classes scheduled at City School Gambetta-Carnot, its doors were open for pupils and staff to pay tribute to teacher Dominique Bernard. Mr Bernard was killed in the attack in the northern town of Arras on Friday at around 11am, that left two other members of staff in critical condition. A French military serviceman stands guard in front of the Gambetta high school during the evacuation (AFP via Getty Images) Teachers, some of them in tears and holding each other, and pupils who had come to lay flowers were forced to leave the building during the alert on Monday. The prefecture of the northern Pas-de-Calais region said the decision was made to evacuate the school after police received a threat via its website. As a police bomb squad arrived, teachers and students gathered in the courtyard of a building opposite their school as civil protection personnel comforted them. France is on heightened alert against feared terror threats following the stabbing incident. Schools across the country will hold a moment of silence after the teacher was killed and three other people were injured last week in the attack by a former student suspected of Islamic radicalisation. Hours following the attack, Emmanuel Macron visited the school, describing the attack as the result of barbaric Islamist terrorism, before praising the teacher. Police respond to the attack on at the school on Friday (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) The teacher who was killed had come forward to protect others and had without doubt saved many lives, he said. Counter-terrorism authorities are investigating the stabbing, and the suspected assailant and several others are in custody, prosecutors said. The suspect had been under recent surveillance by intelligence services for radicalisation. The prosecutor said the alleged assailant was a former student there and repeatedly shouted Allahu akbar - God is great - during the attack. Another teacher and a security guard are in a critical condition with wounds from the stabbing, police said. The counter-terrorism prosecutor said a cleaning worker was also injured. The attack comes during a rise in tension in the country as a result of the Israel-Hamas conflict. After a security meeting on Monday, interior minister Gerald Darmanin said that 102 people have been arrested in relation with antisemitic acts or inciting terrorism since the war began on October 7. 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 Star of David has been graffitied on homes in Berlin, amid concerns anti-semitism is on the rise in Europe since the Hamas massacre in Israel. The vandalism echoes the persecution of Jewish people in the 1930s, when Nazis marked the doors of Jewish businesses to deter Germans from using them. Police in Berlin are dealing with four cases, after pictures of graffiti were shared on social media. I have never been so scared to walk around the city I have spent my whole life in, one person commenting on the tweets. Have you been affected by this story? If so email lydia.patrick@independent.co.uk A young Jewish woman amongst those targeted by the vandalism had a mezuzah, a collection of verses from the Torah, attached to her door frame. She told German newspaper Bild that finding the graffiti was a huge shock. I speak Hebrew, talk in the phone in Hebrew and wear a Star of David, I really thought whether I should stay at home, she said. Another unnamed woman, with Jewish roots and ties to Israel, told The Times: We are told here in Germany to trust the system, to trust in freedom and security, but I dont know if I can. This is the first time since the Shoah that this is really happening in Germany. People need to understand that it is really grave when people are singled out like this. If someone wants to mark my house from the outside, putting me in danger, this is not fine. A police spokesperson in Berlin told the Jewish Chronicle it was investigating the damage. It is now the subject of our investigation to find out whether the other houses have a Jewish resident and whether the incidents are connected, they said. Since last weekends deadly Hamas attack left more than 1,300 people dead, there has been a rise in both antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents reported to the Met Police in London. Three Jewish schools in the capital closed last week amid fears they would be the target of hateful attacks. Rishi Sunak has announced 3 million in extra funding to protect schools, synagogues and other Jewish community buildings. 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 }} Two people were killed in Brussels and a gunman remains at large after opening fire in the city centre, police have said. Footage shared online showed a man dressed in an orange jacket unloading several shots, using a large weapon. Local media outlets said the two victims were Swedish nationals. The man was reportedly seen leaving the crime scene on a scooter. The violent incident came ahead of a qualifier game for the UEFA Euros between Sweden and Belgium at the Heysel Stadium, some 3 miles away. Local outlets reported a nervous atmosphere near to the arena following reports of the shooting, and extra security measures were added. The second half of the match was later called off after players reportedly refused to return to the field. A message from the Swedish FA, sent to supporters advised fans to remain inside the stadium. For security reasons, the Belgian police want Swedish supporters to stay in the arena. Take part in information from officials, responsible authorities and SvFFs staff on site, the statement read. We will return when the Belgian authorities provide us with new information. Keep calm and take care of each other. Footage showed security personnel ushering supporters back inside the stadium and closing the gates. Nearby Metro stations were also reportedly closed. A statement from UEFA read: Following a suspected terrorist attack in Brussels this evening, it has been decided after consultation with the two teams and the local police authorities, that the Uefa Euro 2024 qualifying match between Belgium and Sweden is abandoned. Police spokeswoman Ilse Vande Keere said officers arrived soon at the scene and sealed off the immediate neighbourhood, The Associated Press reported, though no further information was made immediately available. Dutch-language newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws (HLN) reported that the perpetrator of the crimes had released a video on Facebook, in which he claimed to be a member of IS. The man said he had shot the people to avenge the Muslims. It comes at a time of heightened political and religious tension around the world, following the recent attacks on Israel by Hamas, and the ensuing conflict in the Middle East. At the same time, the Belgian capital has been the scene of violence linked to increasing international drug trafficking. HLN reported that members of federal law enforcement are being consulted about possible terrorist motives behind the shooting. The case is currently being handled by local police but could be taken over by federal agents if it is deemed necessary. In a post on X, Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo called the attack cowardly and asked citizens to be vigilant. My deepest condolences to the relatives of the cowardly assassination attempt in Brussels, he wrote: I am monitoring developments together with the Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs from the National Crisis Centre. We are monitoring the situation and would like to ask the residents of Brussels to be vigilant. Minister of the Interior Annelies Verlinden also condemned the terrible shooting on X, and said the shooter would be tracked down. An investigation by the police and the public prosecutors office is underway. I am monitoring the situation and the measures to be taken from the National Crisis Centre, she wrote. Brussels shooting (BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images) The National Crisis Centre later confirmed that it had increased the threat level in the Brussels region to level 4. The organisation requested active vigilance from civilians and advised against unnecessary movement. Earlier, the NCC urged members of the public not to share pictures or videos of the victims on social media, out of respect for their families, The shooting took place at around 7.15pm local time and five hours later the shooter remained still at large. 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 }} Donald Tusk hailed a new era for Poland after liberal, pro-EU opposition parties appeared poised to oust the governing conservative party in the nations most pivotal election in decades. A late exit poll by Ipsos published on Monday afternoon gave the incumbent Law and Justice party (PiS) 36.1 per cent of the vote, which would translate into 196 seats in the lower house of parliament. Opposition parties led by Mr Tusks liberal Civic Coalition (KO) were projected to win a combined 249 seats based on the highest turnout since the fall of communism in 1989. In Wroclaw, polling queues were so long that voting continued until nearly 3am. PiS has repeatedly clashed with the EU over the rule of law, media freedom, migration and LGBT+ rights since it swept to power in 2015. Voters waited for hours on Sunday amid high turnout, including at this polling station in Warsaw (Getty) KO, along with New Left and the centre-right Third Way, has pledged to mend ties with Brussels and scrap reforms they say have eroded Polish democracy. Mr Tusk, a former prime minister and European Council president, told supporters: Poland won. Democracy has won. We have removed them from power. I have been a politician for many years. Im an athlete. Never in my life have I been so happy about taking second place. Polish financial markets surged on the prospect of a government led by Mr Tusk. The blue-chip WIG 20 share index was up 6.2 per cent at lunchtime, while the zloty, Polands currency, was 1.3 per cent stronger. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of Polands ruling conservative Law and Justice party (Reuters) But even if the exit polls prove accurate, Mr Tusk and his allies may have to wait weeks or even months before getting a turn at forming a government. Polands president, Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally, has said he will give the winning party the first chance at forming a coalition. PiS has won more votes than any other single party, according to the polls, and said it would try to build a new government led by prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki. But the leader of the agrarian PSL party, a frequent kingmaker in past governments, ruled out cooperating with PiS after running with the Third Way coalition. Those who voted for us want change, want a change of government, want PiS removed from power, said Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz. A man checks the results of Sundays parliamentary elections in Poland (AP) The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said Polands election had not been entirely free and fair. The ruling party enjoyed a clear advantage through its undue influence over the use of state resources and public media, said Pia Kauma, head of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. Turnout among 18- to 29-year-olds jumped to 71 per cent from 46 per cent in the last parliamentary election in 2019, according to Ipsos. In an aggressive campaign, PiS had cast the election as a choice between, on one hand, uncontrolled illegal migration under the rule of leaders it said were beholden to foreign interests, and on the other, a government that would protect Polands borders and traditions. However, PiS faced accusations of democratic backsliding and undermining womens rights after the government enforced a near-total ban on abortion in 2021. A man prepares his ballot in Warsaw on Sunday (AP) PiS was also accused of using lucrative positions in state-controlled companies to reward supporters. I expect that women will now have more rights, that they will feel safer, said Iga Frackiewicz, 43, a banking administrator. I also hope that nepotism will end, for example in state companies and in other places. The outcome could also affect ties with neighbouring Ukraine, which Poland has been supporting in the war against Russias aggression. Good relations between the two countries soured in September over the question of Ukrainian grain entering and affecting Polands market. 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 Russian governor who said that Moscow had not prepared for its invasion of Ukraine and did not need the continuing war has been reported to the police. Natalya Komarova, a member of president Vladimir Putins governing United Russia party and the governor of Russian Khanty-Masiysk region, on Saturday criticised the conflict that has stretched to nearly 600 days during a meeting with residents of the Siberian city of Nizhnevartovsk. Ms Komarova was confronted by the wife of a mobilised Russian man fighting in Ukraine who had asked why her husband was not provided with the necessary equipment to fight. Are you asking me (why your husband does not have equipment) knowing that Im the governor and not the minister of defence? the official said. She added: As a whole, we did not prepare for this war. We dont need it. We were building a completely different world, so in this regard, there will certainly be some inconsistencies and unresolved issues, according to a video of the event posted on social media. The comments, captured on video, were circulated widely online and prompted pro-war activists to condemn Ms Komarova for discrediting Russias armed forces. A letter has been sent to Russias minister of internal affairs by the director of a Siberian non-profit organisation, Yuri Ryabtsev, asking the ministry to further investigate Ms Komarovas comments, reported Russian news outlet Sibir.Realii, stating that its journalists had seen the letter. An activist has also filed a report with the local police, demanding Ms Komarova be held accountable under Russias Code of Administrative Offences for discrediting the army, the news outlet reported. The Russian politician has not issued any fresh remarks on the issue. Russia approved a law last year making it illegal to describe the conflict in Ukraine as a war or an invasion by Russia. Mr Putin called it a special military operation when he ordered the attack on Ukraine in February last year, and the law has been used to compel Russian media, businesses and citizens to follow suit, as well as to penalise critics of the war. The legislation also outlaws disparaging the military and the spread of "false information" about Moscows invasion of Ukraine. Several critics of the war have already been handed fines or jail terms under the law, while experts say it has made it increasingly difficult to gauge levels of public support for the invasion. Sasha Skochilenko, an artist and musician with serious health issues, was arrested in April last year for replacing supermarket price tags with antiwar slogans, charged with spreading false information about the military. Former FSB agent and battlefield commander Igor Girkin, known as a prominent Russian hardline nationalist, was detained on charges of extremism in July this year after he accused Mr Putin of weakness and indecision in Ukraine. Russia media have been extensively covering the Ukraine conflict yet at the same time prohibited from calling it a war, while protesters using that word on placards are hit with steep fines. Independent news sites have been blocked, as were Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. A prominent radio station has been taken off the air, and the Novaya Gazeta newspaper, led by 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov, has also lost its licence. 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 }} Seven of the activists who repeatedly have demonstrated against a wind farm in central Norway that they say hinders the rights of the Sami Indigenous people to raise reindeer met with the Norwegian king on Monday and his son who is heir to the throne. It was a very strong moment for us emotionally charged, activist Ella Marie Htta Isaksen told the VG newspaper after the meeting with King Harald and Crown Prince Haakon at the royal palace in Oslo. We experienced not only being believed, but a human meeting with someone who really meets people with compassion and sympathy. It makes a world of difference in the face of this state, which is so strong and arrogant and difficult to talk to, she told the daily. Before the meeting, another activist told Norwegian news agency NTB that we have nowhere else to go. We hope his majesty will listen to us and remind the responsible state of its responsibility, Elle Nystad said. At the center of the dispute are the 151 turbines of Europes largest onshore wind farm, which is located in Norways Fosen district, about 450 kilometers (280 miles) north of the capital, Oslo. The activists say a transition to green energy shouldnt come at the expense of the rights of Indigenous people. They have protested several times since the Supreme Court of Norway ruled in October 2021 that the construction of the turbines had violated the rights of the Sami, who have used the land for reindeer for centuries. The activists, many dressed in traditional colorful garments, have sat down inside parliament, outside the building in Oslo of the state-owned company that operates 80 of the wind turbines at Fosen, outside the offices of Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stre and the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy for four days in February. They also have temporarily blocked the entrances to 10 ministries. They had asked for the meeting with the Norway's monarch, who has a ceremonial role as the country's head of state. They said they know that the king has no political power. But they have said that we just want to be listened to." The palace confirmed the meeting took place and they presented their view" to the monarch and his son. 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 }} Two people were killed in Brussels after a gunman opened fire in the city centre on Monday evening (16 October), police have said. Local media outlets reported both victims were Swedish nationals. Footage circulating on social media shows a man dressed in a fluorescent orange jacket firing several shots, using a large weapon. The gunman was also seen chasing a man into a building. The man was reportedly seen leaving the crime scene on a scooter. The incident came ahead of a qualifier game for Euro 2024 between Sweden and Belgium at the King Baudouin Stadium. The second half of the match was called off after players reportedly refused to return to the field, while fans were advised to remain inside the stadium. Footage showed security ushering supporters back inside the stadium and closing the gates while local transport services were also reportedly closed. 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 teenager is among at least six people killed in Russian airstrikes across Ukraine over the past 24-hour period, local officials said on Sunday. Of these, two people were killed and three were injured in the Kherson area after Russia fired more than 100 shells over the weekend, local governor Oleksandr Prokudin said. Two more people died in the Donetsk area, local officials said. An airstrike in the Kharkiv region killed a 57-year-old man and a 54-year-old woman, and also destroyed their home. A 14-year-old boy was killed in a separate incident after a mine exploded in a field in the Mykolaiv region, interior minister Ihor Klymenko said. Another 12-year-old boy was also injured in the attack. In another separate strike, Russia fired two guided bombs on key infrastructure in Kherson city, causing a partial blackout and disruption to the water supply in the area, the head of the citys military administration Roman Mrochko said. A total of 27,768 casualties in Ukraine have been recorded since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February last year, in which 9,806 civilians have been killed and 17,962 have been injured, according to United Nations high commissioner for human rights (OHCHR). Ukraine saw 188 casualties 66 killed and 122 injured in just the first week of October, the OHCHR said. It has also warned that the actual figures of casualties are considerably higher. This comes as Kyiv continued with its drone strikes inside Russia, with the Russian defence ministry claiming that Ukraine had launched 27 drones in an overnight attack on western Russia. A total of 18 drones were shot down over the Kursk region as analysts speculated that Ukrainian forces were targeting the nearby Khalino military airfield. The debris of downed drones was seen burning just 1.5km (1 mile) from the air base in images posted on social media. The facility was previously attacked by Ukrainian forces at the end of September. The debris had fallen in the regions namesake capital and the nearby village of Zorino, Kursk governor Roman Starovoit said on social media. Two more drones were shot down over Russias Belgorod region, officials said. Even as the other seven drones remained unaccounted for, Ukrainian media outlets later said that Kyivs forces had carried out a successful strike on Russias Krasnaya Yaruga electrical substation, close to the Ukrainian border. The reports cited an unnamed source from within Ukraines security services and included a video that appeared to show an aerial strike against an unidentified target. This comes at a time when fighting has flared up in eastern Ukraine with Russian forces trying to force their way into the Kharkiv regions Kupiansk city and encircle it, military officials said. Ukrainian forces in the area, defending the territory, faced 10 separate attacks in a span of 24 hours, Illia Yevlash, spokesperson for the Ukrainian militarys eastern forces said on Sunday. The enemy is trying to attack us in the direction of Kupiansk to encircle it and reach the banks of the Oskil River, he told Ukrainian television. He said that Ukrainian forces in the town of Lyman in the Donetsk region had also faced heavy attack. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Ukraines military has released a video of the burning wreckage of a Russian Mi-8 helicopter on the wars southern frontline, saying the aircraft was shot down by paratroopers. The Russian Mi-8 was shot down. Great work by the 25th Separate Airborne Brigade. It burns beautifully. Well done, warriors, said Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, heading the Ukrainian armed ground forces on one of the southern Ukrainian fronts. A 12-second video of the helicopter engulfed in flames was shared by General Syrskyi on his official Telegram channel late on Sunday. The location and the time of the destruction of the Russian helicopter was not immediately clear. The Ukrainian armed forces have destroyed several of Russias fleet of Soviet-era Mi-8 attack helicopters during the course of Vladimir Putins full-scale invasion. In August this year, a Russian Mi-8 helicopter was captured after landing in Ukraines Kharkiv oblast following what Kyiv described as a long-term operation by Ukrainian intelligence. It comes as fighting intensified over the weekend around the city of Avdiivka, in Ukraines Donbas, as well as in other sectors of the 1,000-km-long (600-mile) front. One top Ukrainian commander said clashes further north had significantly worsened, while another said Russian losses were mounting in the wars southern sectors. What is happening now along the entire length of the [line of] contact is called an active defence, Mr Putin said. And our troops are improving their position at almost the entire area. Quite a large area, he said in video remarks posted to social media by a Kremlin journalist Pavel Zarubin. Mr Putin could be trying to temper expectations of significant Russian advances around Avdiivka, the US-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War said. Putins characterisation of Russian offensive operations near Avdiivka as an active defence, instead of active combat operations as Russian UN ambassador Vasily Nebenzya claimed on 13 October, or discussing Russian operations as an offensive as some milbloggers have, may be an attempt to temper expectations of significant Russian advances, the ISW said in its latest assessment. It added that while Russian operations including intensive artillery and airstrikes are likely intended to degrade Ukrainian forces around Avdiivka, Russian forces are unlikely to make significant breakthroughs or cut off Ukrainian forces in the settlement in the near term, and potential advances at scale would likely require a significant and protracted commitment of personnel and materiel. With Gasgoo Daily, we will offer daily important automotive news in China. For those we have reported, the title of the piece will include a hyperlink, which will provide detailed information. Leapmotor sees Q3 revenue jump 31.9% YoY Leapmotor today announced on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that its total revenue for the third quarter of this year reached 5,655.5 million yuan, marking a substantial 31.9% year-on-year increase and a notable 29.4% quarter-on-quarter growth. Shareholders' equity losses for the company amounted to 985.7 million yuan, versus the losses of 1,339.9 million yuan recorded during the same period last year. Its third-quarter total vehicle deliveries reached 44,325 units, reflecting a 24.5% increase compared to the same period in the previous year. Leapmotor C01; photo credit: Leapmotor Dongfeng Honda's Lingxi NEV brand unveils interior images of Lingxi L concept Recently, Lingxi, the fresh new energy vehicle brand under Dongfeng Honda, unveiled the interior images of its concept car, the Lingxi L. The model's interior boasts a massive screen that spans the entire center console. Additionally, it features a 2+2 seating layout. Photo credit: Dongfeng Honda HYCAN V09 hits market Chinese new energy vehicle brand HYCAN officially put its V09 model onto the market on October 13 with deliveries beginning at the same time. Coming with five trim levels, it features a guidance price range of 318,800 yuan to 438,800 yuan. Photo credit: HYCAN Black Sesame Technologies, Lanyou Technology jointly launch YDU2.0 Pro domain controller Black Sesame Technologies, the Chinese automotive chip supplier, and Lanyou Intelligent Connection Technology Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsiairy of Shenzhen Lanyou Technology Co., Ltd., recently joined forces to launch the first NOA/HPA advanced integrated pilot & parking system based on the A1000 chip the YDU2.0 Pro advanced integrated pilot & parking system domain controller. Fixed orders for new AITO M7 surpass 60,000 units in first month on market The new AITO M7, the latest offering from AITO, the premium new energy vehicle brand developed jointly by SERES and Huawei, boasted remarkable success in its first month on the market, with over 60,000 confirmed orders, said the company on October 15. Chinese SoC supplier ORITEK closes A2 funding round ORITEK, the Chinese supplier of system-level automotive SoC chips and solutions, recently announced the successful completion of its A2 round of financing, which brought ORITEK's cumulative fund-raising to several hundreds of millions of yuan. Zhejiang Geely Holding Group scores 26% YoY jump in Sept. 2023 auto sales Zhejiang Geely Holding Group ("Geely Holding") today announced on its official WeChat account that its monthly auto sales reached roughly 264,400 units in September, marking a 26% year-on-year jump. The group also reported a sales volume of 93,700 new energy vehicles (NEVs, including battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles) for the same month, representing a 38% year-on-year leap and a penetration rate of 35%. Sunwoda-Dongfeng power battery base in Yichang city rolls off first cell products On October 10th, a significant milestone was reached at Hubei Dongyu Xinsheng New Energy Co., Ltd. ("Dongyu Xinsheng"), a joint venture between Sunwoda Energy Technology Co., Ltd. and Dongfeng Motor Group, as the first batch of cell products rolled off the production line and were delivered at the Sunwoda-Dongfeng Yichang Power Battery Production Base, according to a post on Sunwoda's WeChat account. BAIC Group boasts 9.3% YoY growth in Q1-Q3 2023 revenue Beijing-based automaker BAIC Group recently released its official financial results for the first three quarters of 2023, which showcased a robust performance with significant growth in both auto production and sales. Geely rolls off 50,000th mass-produced Galaxy L7 PHEV Geely Automobile announced on October 15 via its WeChat account that its Galaxy new energy vehicle (NEV) range had rolled off the 50,000 mass-produced unit of the Galaxy L7 PHEV. Chery shares latest technological advancements at 2023 Chery Technology Day On October 16, 2023, Chinese automaker Chery Holding held its 2023 Technology Day event where it unveiled the latest technological advancements under the Yaoguang 2025 Technology suite. 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 may be on the verge of a mass ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza in the wake of the bloody Hamas attack, a United Nations expert has warned. Israeli officials have already ordered an estimated 1.1 million people living in north Gaza to leave their homes and move south ahead of an expected ground invasion by their forces massed at the border. The IDF has since entered Gaza to carry out limited operations in search of more than 100 civilians and soldiers captured by Hamas during the brutal and unexpected 7 October attacks, which killed more than 1,300. Now Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian Territory, has warned that Palestinians may be facing another Nakba, or forced expulsion from their land. The Nakba or catastrophe in Arabic refers to the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from the territory during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. There is a grave danger that what we are witnessing may be a repeat of the 1948 Nakba, and the 1967 Naksa, yet on a larger scale. The international community must do everything to stop this from happening again, said Ms Albanese in a statement on Saturday. And she added: Israel has already carried out mass ethnic cleansing of Palestinians under the fog of war. Again, in the name of self-defence, Israel is seeking to justify what would amount to ethnic cleansing. At least 1,300 people were killed in the Hamas terror attacks on 7 October, including 260 people at a music festival near kibbutz Reim. Smoke and fire rise following an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023. (AP) More than 2,000 people have been killed in Hamas-controlled Gaza since Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes, the Palestinian health ministry said on Saturday. The Israeli Defense Force told The Independent that Ms Albaneses claims of ethnic cleansing are absurd. On October 7th, Hamas initiated a cruel and brutal terror attack on Israel, resulting in the deaths of over 1,200 Israelis, including women, children, and elderly. The claim that Israel is planning an ethnic cleansing is absurd and far from the reality on the ground. The IDF is targeting Hamas in a campaign against terrorism, and is targeting Hamas militants, capabilities, and military infrastructures, the IDF said in a statement. Following the Hamas attacks, Israel announced a complete siege on the enclave, with electricity, water and medical supplies now in desperately short supply. And on Saturday Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu told troops in southern Israel that The next stage is coming Meanwhile, Director of Communications at UNRWA, Juliette Touma, says that 1 million people have already been displaced following the Israeli air strikes. Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967 (OHCHR) Ms Albanese, an Italian human rights lawyer and academic, in her statement, claimed that continued military operations by Israel have gone well beyond the limits of international law and urged the international community to mediate a ceasefire. The international community must stop these egregious violations of international law now, before tragic history is repeated. Time is of the essence. Palestinians and Israelis both deserve to live in peace, equality of rights, dignity and freedom, Ms Albanese said. And she added: The international community has the responsibility to prevent and protect populations from atrocity crimes. Accountability for international crimes committed by Israeli occupation forces and Hamas must also be immediately pursued. Special Rapporteurs are supposed to be independent experts who produce reports for UN member states. Ms Albanese became the first woman to hold the position upon her appointment in May 2022. The IDF did not respond to a request 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 }} A two-month-old baby was among 10 members of the same family killed in Gaza after an Israeli air strike hit their home, a devastated relative has revealed. Just one day after Hamas launched an attack on Israel, 56-year-old Abdel Naser Shamalakh and his entire family were killed after rockets hit their home in Gaza. The whole family was buried under the rubble. They only found two whole bodies. The others were in parts or unrecognisable, his British-Palestinian niece, 37-year-old Wafa Shamalakh, told The Independent. Ten people were killed. My uncle, his wife, his five sons, his daughter-in-law, and two grandsons. They have nothing to do with Hamas or the military. They were just civilians, doing the usual things: calling each other, drinking tea, laughing. They didnt expect this at all. Two-month-old Omar and two-year-old Abdel Naser with their father, Ahmed Shamlakh. All three were killed in the air strike (Supplied ) The youngest victim was Wafas cousin, Omar, who was just two months old. His two-year-old brother, Abdel Naser, was also killed in the strike, Wafa said. They were just starting their lives, they still had dreams. Wafa, who has two sons of her own, had spent the summer in Gaza last year. I can still hear my aunts laughter in my ears. I never thought this could happen to my own family, she said. Omar as a newborn with his father, Ahmed (Supplied) As the medical interpreter grapples with grief for her uncles family, she also fears for her mother, Sanaa, and siblings who are still trapped in Sheikh Ijleen, south of Gaza City. They are not safe where they are but there is nowhere for them to go, she said. The south is too crowded and the roads are too dangerous. Wafa with her mother, Sanaa. Wafaa has not been able to speak to her mother for four days (Supplied) My phone has become an extension of my hand. I never let go of it. I cant sleep at night. I text them every 30 minutes in the hope of getting through to them. But I havent heard my mums voice for four days now. When I spoke to her last, she clearly told me: You have to be ready for anything. Be strong. She said she is happy my brother and I are in the UK so that our family line will continue if they are killed. Wafa spent the summer in Gaza in 2022. She is pictured here with her mother, sister, brothers, their wives and children (Supplied ) It comes as the Palestinian Ministry of Health said at least 2,808 people have been killed and at least 10, 859 people have been injured since the violence began on Saturday 7 October. At least 1,400 Israelis have been killed and 3,400 have been injured. Rajab Shamalakh, Wafas uncle and the ex-chairman of the Palestinian Community in the UK, said he feels paralysed by pain and helplessness after his family was killed in Gaza. It is not anger, it is more than anger. If you put 75 years of pain, occupation, ethnic cleansing and imprisonment altogether, then how you would feel? It is frustration. Trust me, it is frustration. Rajab Shamalakh says he is paralysed by pain after his family was killed in Gaza, and more relatives remain trapped in the region (Supplied) Wafa said that despite whispers the Rafah border crossing will open, she still has no hope for her family to flee to safety. She said: My mum had sent her passport to be renewed before this all happened and she hasnt got it back yet. My brother doesnt even have a passport. When you live in siege, you dont expect to go anywhere, she added, explaining her mother got one because she wanted to go for the Hajj pilgrimage next year. Without the passports, they cant move. Theyre trapped, and our hands are tied. Thats the worst part of this. 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 World Health Organisation has warned that Israels order to evacuate north Gaza could be a death sentence for the more than 2,000 patients, including babies in incubators, in hospitals across the besieged strip. Israel has ordered the population of the north of the 42km-long territory to move south ahead of an expected ground invasion: a move that could amount to the war crime of forcible transfer, according to some rights groups. The order has piled panic on the population of more than two million people, who are already struggling under a total siege imposed by Israel, in response to a deadly attack by Hamas militants that has killed over 1,000 people. Doctors in the evacuation zone said because they couldnt relocate patients safely, they decided to stay as well to care for them. Forcing more than 2,000 patients to relocate to southern Gaza, where health facilities are already running at maximum capacity and unable to absorb a dramatic rise in the number of patients, could be tantamount to a death sentence, the WHO said in a statement. Hospital directors and health workers are now facing an agonising choice: abandon critically ill patients amid a bombing campaign, put their own lives at risk while remaining on site to treat patients, or endanger their patients lives while attempting to transport them to facilities that have no capacity to receive them. The United Nations has already warned that water has run out and hospitals will run out of generator fuel within two days. Medics on the ground, meanwhile, have told The Independent thousands could die as hospitals packed with wounded are running out of supplies. The Independent was shown images of at least one hospital in Gaza City that had been damaged in an airstrike on Saturday. The situation is catastrophic, said prominent British-Palestinian surgeon Ghassan Abu Sitta , who is working with Medecins Sans Frontieres in Al-Shifa hospital, the largest in Gaza. He said the hospitals not only could not evacuate but the buildings were temporarily housing displaced people. The situation in Shifa hospital is catastrophic, he added. I am now sitting in the operating room of the burns unit there are families sitting on the floor of the corridor, all of the way out into the stairwell and outside the building. We think that there are around tens of thousands [of people] around them around the whole hospital. There are over 200 patients who need surgery but cannot get to the operating rooms. People cook on firewood amid shortages of fuel and gas in Gaza (AFP via Getty Images) He said the morgues were overflowing. The problem is people are too afraid to go to cemeteries. There are around 50 families who have been completely wiped out because people are seeking refugee with their relatives. There are 50 families with three generations of grandparents, their parents and their kids kids who have been wiped out. And so there is no one to bury anybody. The Israeli military has unleashed the heaviest ever airstrikes on Gaza, warning it has launched an unprecedented response to an unprecedented attack by Hamas militants. Hamas killed hundreds of people and took dozens, including British citizens, hostage last weekend, in a brutal attack by air, sea and land. Israel has said more than 1,300 Israelis have been killed, the vast majority of them civilians killed in Hamass October 7 assault but some by a barrage of rocket fire from the strip. Gazas health ministry has said that 2,329 Palestinians have so far been killed in the bombardment. The Israeli military has announced they are preparing for a coordinated offensive in Gaza using air, ground and naval forces and has ordered citizens to move south, accusing Hamas of trying to use them as human shields. Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, a spokesperson for the military, said they were going to attack Gaza City very broadly soon. Israel has also imposed a total siege on Gaza in the middle of the bombing, cutting access to water, power, fuel, food and medical supplies. This, action rights groups have said, could amount to collective punishment and may be a violation of international law. There have been mounting pleas from the United Nations, aid organisations, and on Sunday Pope Francis, for safe humanitarian corridors and passage to help save lives. Civilians, meanwhile, told The Independent food was running out, they had no water or electricity and they couldnt evacuate as they had nowhere to go. Many are also concerned about reports of airstrikes on convoys heading south an accusation Israel has repeatedly denied. One father of five, who asked not to be named for security reasons, said it was too difficult to leave and said his family had been sheltering in their home with no water or electricity for two days. Many people are homeless, and sleeping on the ground. They have no shelter, food or water. But I am still in my home because it is difficult for me to leave, the 50-year-old said, explaining how airstrikes destroyed the building next to his house just a few days ago. If this escalates or continues, we will be out of food within days. There is nothing in the supermarket, I tried to go and get some stuff, but it was difficult to even get there, and most things are unavailable. Said, 35, another man from Beit Lahia in the north of the Gaza Strip and who also asked not to be identified, said hundreds were queuing at each bakery desperate for bread. He said there was no longer water in the taps or the shops. People are rushing to the stores looking for bread and water, hundreds in one queue, he said, sharing videos showing totally flattened neighbourhoods from the brutalised territory. Ive been awake for two days. At least a third of the people living in the north have evacuated but many have had to stay. Israeli soldiers gather in a staging area near the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel (AP) The Independent was also told that families who had fled south were then forced to return north again as the conditions in the south of Gaza were so poor. Another Gaza resident said many were worried about moving to the south as they fear Israel will force them to continue evacuating to Sinai in Egypt. Then all of Gaza will be lost to Gazans forever. So we will stay in our homes, Ahmed from Jabalia said. Dr Abu Sitta said the bombardment was so hard that people are too afraid to bury their dead and the bodies were mounting. There are piles of bodies just wrapped in shrouds put against the wall because the morgue is overflowing, he 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 }} 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 }} 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 }} Civilians in Gaza have resorted to drinking sea water and dirty water as the supply of clean water has run out almost everywhere, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) saying the enclave is less than 24 hours from real catastrophe. The UNs Palestinian refugee agency told The Independent about the severe lack of fresh water, while medics say hospitals in Gaza have just hours left of generator fuel, while other critical supplies have either run out or will do so soon. The UN and rights groups have pleaded for supply lifelines to be fully opened with Egypt, warning that Israels total siege of the enclave means that food, water and medical supplies are running perilously low. Since Gazas only power plant shut down five days ago, many fear that intensive care units will be plunged into darkness, with doctors having to switch off incubators and ventilators as their supply of diesel to power back-up generators runs out. It comes as: Thousands of Palestinians flee towards the southern border between Gaza and Egypt to escape an impending Israeli ground invasion in the north while hundreds of foreign nationals also gather at the Rafah crossing Rishi Sunak confirmed that six Britons had been killed and 10 were missing after the pogrom carried out by Hamas in Israel Israels prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to do all he can to free hostages, as Israel said the number of those taken by Hamas is 199 Mr Netanyahu also warned Hezbollah and Iran not to test his nation with attacks on the northern border with Lebanon, amid fears that the conflict could spread to another front US president Joe Biden said Israel has to go after Hamas, but it would be a big mistake for Gaza to be occupied by its forces Palestinians with dual citizenship gather at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters) Despite the mounting humanitarian catastrophe and an impending Israeli ground invasion, Egypt said vital aid was stuck at its border, blaming Israel for not cooperating. Egypts foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, pointed the finger of blame at Israel, saying: It has not taken a position to open the crossing from the Gaza side. The Israeli government did not comment. It is critical that life-saving assistance is allowed to move through the Rafah crossing without delay, UN humanitarian agency OCHA said in a statement, announcing that its chief, Martin Griffiths, would travel to Cairo on Tuesday. In total, at least 2,808 Palestinians have been killed and 10,850 injured since Israel unleashed its heaviest ever bombardment of Gaza just under a week ago. Included in that figure are more than 1,000 children, according to Defense for Children Palestine, an international monitoring group, who said that this means one child is killed approximately every 15 minutes. The ferocious attacks are in response to the deadly attack carried out last week by Hamas militants, who crossed into southern Israel and killed more than 1,400 people, wounding thousands more and taking hostages. The Israeli military has vowed an unprecedented response to an unprecedented attack by Hamas, admitting in a number of interviews with The Independent that these have been the most ferocious airstrikes ever recorded. They have also stated that a ground invasion is imminent. Smoke billows after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip (AFP via Getty) In Gaza, the UNs Palestinian refugee agency said the death toll from the onslaught was so high that Gaza was running out of body bags. In the enclaves largest city, meanwhile, doctors told The Independent that morgues were overflowing and bodies were being stacked against walls. They shared videos showing the authorities using bulldozers to hastily dig emergency mass graves in which to bury dozens of corpses. At the al-Aqsa Hospital in the centre of the country, medics described storing the excess bodies in refrigerated food trucks. One young man, who asked not to be identified as he was evacuating south, said he had witnessed the authorities burying the dead without family or friends present, as there was no time and no one left to bury them. The problem is people are too afraid to go to cemeteries, said Ghassan Abu Sitta, a prominent British-Palestinian surgeon who works for Doctors Without Borders at Gazas largest hospital, al-Shifa, which is also sheltering 35,000 people. Around 50 families have been completely wiped out because people are seeking refuge with their relatives during the heavy deployment, he said. And so there is no one left to bury anybody. Palestinian citizens inspect what remains of their home, which was destroyed during Israeli raids on the southern Gaza Strip (Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images) Ahmed al-Mandhari, the WHOs regional director for the eastern Mediterranean, told reporters that Gaza has around 24 hours of water, electricity and fuel left and that the enclave is barrelling towards real catastrophe. Israel has ordered Palestinian civilians to evacuate south ahead of an imminent ground offensive, an action that the UN and rights groups have warned could amount to the war crime of forcible transfer. More than a million people are now displaced, with towns in the south now at more than double their capacity, while thousands have tried to head all the way to the border with Egypt. In the Kuwait Hospital in the southern city of Rafah, chief doctor Suhaib al-Hams said he had had to order his staff to ignore orders from Israel to evacuate the facility, as they were over capacity and had nowhere to take the patients. In total, 22 hospitals in Gaza have been instructed by Israeli military forces to evacuate, according to the WHO, which may amount to a violation of international law. The hospital is the largest one in the region, there are dozens of medical staff and patients. How can we move? Dr Al-Hams asked, adding that he had spent eight straight days at the hospital. He could not even visit his three children who had been injured in a recent bombing attack, because there were so many wounded. Never before in my entire life have I witnessed anything like this, and I am unable to articulate what I have seen. I am left speechless. We have a continuous flow of patients. I beg the world, do not abandon us, he implored. Diplomatic efforts to enforce a ceasefire to allow foreign citizens, including Britons and Americans, to leave, and to enable aid to be brought into Gaza have failed. Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari reiterated in a briefing that there was no Gaza ceasefire plan. We are continuing our fight against Hamas, this murderous organisation that carried [the assaults on Israelis] out. Earlier on Monday, Egyptian security sources had announced an agreement to open the crossing to allow aid into the enclave. But Mr Netanyahus office later said: There is currently no truce and humanitarian aid in Gaza in exchange for getting foreigners out. 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 }} While Israel is readying its army for an expected ground invasion into Gaza, there have been clashes on the border with Lebanon to the north across the last week. Israel has activated a plan to evacuate residents of 28 villages within two kilometres (one mile) of the border with Lebanon with the situation having intensified on Sunday. Hezbollah militants firing rockets and an anti-tank missile, and Israel responding with airstrikes and shelling. The Israeli military also reported shooting at one of its border posts. The fighting killed at least one person on the Israeli side and wounded several on both sides of the border. Days of fire exchange have left at least seven people dead, including four Hezbollah fighters, on the Lebanese side. Why have the evacuations been ordered? There has been increasing concern from Israel and nations such as the US that the conflict over Gaza could expand to include Hezbollah an ally of the Hamas militants that rule Gaza and launched the attack of terror into Israel last weekend to the north. Beyond the latest strikes and retaliations from the air, Hezbollah said it has started destroying surveillance cameras on several Israeli army posts along the border. Hezbollah's military media arm released a video showing snipers shooting at and destroying surveillance cameras placed on five points along the Lebanon-Israel border including one outside the Israeli town of Metula. The militant group appears to want to prevent the Israeli army from monitoring movements on the Lebanese side of the border. 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 groups. An Israeli soldier adjusts his rifle as he stands on a tank near Israel's border with Lebanon (Lisi Nies/Reuters) 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. That has clearly played into the thinking of Israel as tensions have increased in recent days and clashes have increased. What could happen? The consequences of a significant clash between Hezbollah and Israel 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. 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. What about Iran? The Israeli military accused Iran on Monday of having ordered attacks by Hezbollah at the Lebanon-Israel border on Sunday. Hezbollah carried out a number of attacks yesterday in order to try to divert our operational efforts [away from the Gaza Strip], under the direction and backing of Iran, while endangering the state of Lebanon and its citizens, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a briefing. We have increased our forces on the northern border and respond aggressively to any activity against us. 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. Ahmed Abdul-Hadi, the representative of Hamas in Lebanon, insisted Monday that the decision to launch the attack in southern Israel was made by Hamas leadership and not directed by Iran or any other outside party, but he said that in event of a ground invasion of Gaza, allied groups will intervene. The war in Gaza is "a Palestinian battle and the decision to enter it was a Palestinian decision" made by Hamas and its military wing, the Izz ad-Din al Qassam Brigades, "together with the Palestinian resistance factions," he said in an interview with The Associated Press ahead of a conference convened by the group in Beirut. Hamas officials have denied that Iran was directly involved in planning the deadly attack or gave it the green light, and to date no government worldwide has offered direct evidence that Iran orchestrated the attack. However, many have pointed to Iran's long sponsorship of Hamas that has included training, funding and providing it with weapons. Abdul-Hadi said that Hamas allies Iran and Hezbollah will not allow Israel "to crush Gaza" or to launch a "comprehensive ground attack," but that the groups have deliberately left ambiguity about when and how they would respond. "This is up to the developments in the situation at the time." The US is clearly concerned about what Iran will do. "There is a risk of an escalation of this conflict, the opening of a second front in the north and, of course, Iran's involvement," White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told the American TV network CBS on Sunday. The US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin announced deployment of a second aircraft carrier group late on Saturday, calling it a sign of "our resolve to deter any state or non-state actor seeking to escalate this war." "Iran is the elephant in the room," a US official briefed on the situation told Reuters about the increasing military presence. "The carriers are accompanied by warships and attack planes. Every effort is being made to stop this from becoming a regional conflict." As for Iran, it has sought to talk tough in recent days. On Sunday, the nation's foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, warned that his country could act, telling al Jazeera that it had conveyed a message to Israeli officials that "if they do not cease their atrocities in Gaza, Iran cannot simply remain an observer." "If the scope of the war expands, significant damages will also be inflicted upon America," he said. Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report 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 }} 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. Beijing (Gasgoo)- ORITEK, the Chinese supplier of system-level automotive SoC chips and solutions, recently announced the successful completion of its A2 round of financing, which brought ORITEKs cumulative fund-raising to several hundreds of millions of yuan. Photo credit: ORITEK Leading the investment in this round is CMS Capital, with participation from prominent investors and key players in the automotive industry, including GSR United Capital, and such existing shareholders as Xingyu Co., Ltd., Joyson Electronics, Beijing Taiji Huaqing Peicheng Software Technology, and Joinhands Capital. ORITEK, a collaboration between its founding team and CMG-SDIC Capital (Advanced Manufacturing Industry Investment Fund II), is the first Chinese company to focus on the third-generation E/E architecture for smart cars (Zonal Architecture) by providing system-level SoC chips and solutions. The company's Longquan (Chinese pinyin) series of chip products cater to the chip requirements of intelligent automotive peripherals, intelligent area processors, and the central computing unit for pilot and parking. With cutting-edge intelligent algorithms and flexible layered delivery of software and solutions, ORITEK significantly reduces development costs for customers' new products and features while shortening time to market. In June 2023, ORITEK introduced the world's first professional chip for electronic rearview mirrors (CMS Camera Monitor System) the Longquan 560. This versatile chip platform simultaneously meets the application demands of passenger cars and commercial vehicles, supporting features like defogging, BSD (Blind Spot Detection) alert, and automatic switching for temporary views. Notably, among the investors in this funding round, Xingyu Co., Ltd. ("Xingyu") is a prominent domestic manufacturer of complete vehicle lamp assemblies and design solutions. In June of this year, Xingyu strategically partnered with ORITEK to jointly develop intelligent vehicle lighting and autonomous driving product solutions based on ORITEK's Longquan series chip platform. 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 }} Two British teenage sisters are among those missing after last weekends attack on Israel by Hamas, according to reports. Noiya, 16, and Yahel, 13, from Kibbutz Beeri, have been missing since the incursion on 7 October, their family - who did not release the girls surnames - told the BBC. Their mother Lianne, who was born in the UK, was murdered in the Hamas attack and their father Eli is also missing, the broadcaster said. The British family of Lianne told the BBC she was "a beloved daughter, sister, mother, aunt and friend who enriched the lives of all those lucky enough to have known and loved her". "She lived a beautiful life and will be sorely missed by the heartbroken family and friends she leaves behind," they said. Noiya and Yahel are both missing after the Hamas attack on Israel (BBC) At least six Britons were killed in Hamass pogrom in Israel and a further 10 are missing, Rishi Sunak told MPs as he increased aid to the Palestinian people by a third. The prime minister said on Monday the UK must support absolutely Israels right to defend itself as it targets Hamas and he called for the immediate release of the around 200 hostages taken by the militant group. With the families of some of the missing watching his statement in Parliament, Mr Sunak recounted that more than 1,400 people were killed, more than 3,500 wounded and almost 200 taken hostage in Hamass attack. The elderly, men, women, children, babes in arms, murdered, mutilated, burned alive, he continued.We should call it by its name: it was a pogrom. Several communities in southern Israel came under attack (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) Mr Sunak said the terrible nature of these attacks means it is proving difficult to identify many of the deceased but at least six Britons are among those killed. Of the further 10 missing, he said some are feared to be among the dead as the UK works with Israel to establish the facts and support the families through their unimaginable pain. He said eight flights so far have brought back 500 British nationals from Israel, with more leaving in the coming hours. Addressing the British Jewish community, Mr Sunak said: We stand with you now and always. This atrocity was an existential strike at the very idea of Israel as a safe homeland for the Jewish people. Rishi Sunak referred to the attack as a pogrom (PA) He also recognised that the Palestinian people are victims of Hamas too as he announced an extra 10m of aid funding, as concerns grow over the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza. He said Hamas is using Palestinians as human shields and 2,600 Palestinians have been killed since the fighting started, with Israel retaliating with airstrikes. We mourn the loss of every innocent life, the prime minister said. Echoing his statement, the leader of the opposition Sir Keir Starmer said: Labour stands with Israel; Britain stands with Israel. Israel has the right to bring her people home, to defend herself, to keep its people safe. But he added: Israels defence must be conducted in accordance with international law. Civilians must not be targeted, innocent lives must be protected. There must be humanitarian corridors. There must be humanitarian access, including food, water, electricity and medicines. 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 It was 50 years ago, on 6 October, and I was a nine-year-old boy running around in the New Haven synagogue in Connecticut where my father was the rabbi when I came upon a group of men huddled in a corner. Children are not expected to fast on Yom Kippur, but that did not reduce my embarrassment the year before when I had been caught eating an ice cream. My childish mind wondered if the gentlemen were also engaging in similar secret culinary infractions. But as I got closer, I could see how serious their faces were as they huddled around a transistor radio. Dazed and in shock, they were listening to the news of a surprise attack on Israel by the combined armies of Egypt and Syria. Launched on the Jewish holiday, the Arabs went to war to reclaim the lands they had lost in the 1967 six-day war. The world would look on in horror for 18 days as the parties engaged in some of the largest tank battles in history. By the time the conflict, now known as the Yom Kippur war, ended, an estimated 20,000 men were dead. The global economy was shaken to its foundation by an oil embargo, while the superpowers had been pushed to the brink of a third world 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 }} 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. 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 Many readers have contacted The Independent with concerns about their travel plans to the Middle East as well as the eastern Mediterranean. These are the key questions and answers. Is travel to and from Israel still possible? Yes, commercial flights continue, with El Al linking London Heathrow and Luton with Tel Aviv. But the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) warns against travel to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Standard travel insurance will be invalidated if you choose to go there and any form of tourism would be completely inappropriate in the current circumstances. Which other Middle East locations are also officially no-go areas? The Foreign Office warns against travel to: Iraq Lebanon Syria The FCDO warns against travel to certain areas of these countries: Egypt: Most of the nation is off limits. Crucially, though, the Foreign Office does not warn against travel to tourist areas, including the entire Red Sea coast and the Nile Valley all the way from the Sudan border to the Mediterranean, including Abu Simbel, Aswan, Luxor, Cairo and the Pyramids and Alexandria. Jordan: Only a 3km strip of territory along the Syrian border is off-limits. Saudi Arabia: Only a 10km strip of territory along the Yemeni border is off-limits. Terrorist attacks have taken place in these countries, and the FCDO warns that further attacks are likely. But without a no-go warning, travel firms can continue to send holidaymakers and need not offer refunds to people unwilling to travel. I have a tour of Jordan in three weeks. What are my options? You could choose to cancel, but if you do so you are likely to lose most or all of your money. The terrible events in Israel and Gaza are of huge concern for the Middle East, but at present the Foreign Office believes that Jordan is sufficiently safe for British visitors. I have also checked the advice to travellers issued by the Australian and US governments both of which mirror the British line. Jordan is a fascinating and welcoming nation, which I have been lucky enough to visit several times in the past few years. On the basis of my experiences I would not hesitate to travel to the Jordanian capital, Amman, or any of the main tourist sites: Jerash, the Dead Sea, Petra, Wadi Rum and Aqaba. If the Foreign Office advice changes to warn against travel to Jordan, package holiday companies will automatically cancel trips and refund. Airlines are likely to offer flexibility. Aircraft flying in and out of Amman are avoiding Israeli airspace. The British Airways arrival from London Heathrow on Monday took an extended flight path to reach the Jordanian capital, flying south over Egypt to the Red Sea before turning north once in Jordanian airspace. Is Egypt a safe prospect? The overall risk level has not changed since the new conflict began in Egypt, and anecdotal evidence suggests that the conflict has not had any impact on the tourist experience in resorts, cities and archaeological sites. Flights from the UK to Cairo, Sharm El Sheikh and the other main Red Sea airport at Hurghada do not go anywhere near Israel. The number of links from the UK to Egyptian airports is planned to increase sharply in late October and early November, and there is currently no reason to avoid the country. I am booked on a cruise in the eastern Mediterranean, transiting the Suez Canal to the Red Sea. Is it likely to go ahead? Yes. While the conflict continues, cruise lines are avoiding calls at Israeli ports. But eastern Mediterranean, Suez and Red Sea cruises are continuing. The only specific warning from the Foreign Office is: Photography of, or near, military property is strictly banned. This includes the Suez Canal. Cruise lines are well versed in responding to geo-political crises, and if there is any perception of significant threat the itinerary will be adjusted. For the coming weeks, all calls to Israeli ports have been cancelled. Some cruise lines have added extra calls elsewhere. Any excursions booked for Israel will be refunded. What if I cancel to a currently safe country and the travel advice later changes to warn against visiting? You will still lose most or all of your money even if the Foreign Office subsequently advises against travel. Should I worry about attitudes to Western visitors in other Arab countries and the wider Islamic world? Since the assault on Israel began, the FCDO has warned of the risks from demonstrations and disturbances in a number of Arab nations, including Morocco and Oman. For Morocco, the Foreign Office warns: There remains the potential for demonstrations across the country. You should avoid these gatherings, and be aware of the potential for protests to occur spontaneously. For Oman, the warning is: Be alert to local and regional developments, which might trigger public disturbances. But there is no evidence of tourists being subject to harassment since the latest conflict began. Are flightpaths between the UK and Asia affected? Airlines constantly monitor threats and adjust trajectories accordingly. For example, Virgin Atlantic flight VS250 from London Heathrow to Shanghai would in normal times traverse Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Russia on its way to eastern China. But because of the exclusion of European aircraft from Russian and Ukrainian airspace, it follows a more southerly trajectory. The latest flight flew over the Balkans, the Black Sea and the Caucasus before turning northeast over the Caspian Sea. On the extremely popular link between the UK and Dubai, Emirates is currently flying over Turkey, Iraq and Kuwait, avoiding Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Between London Heathrow and the Saudi capital, Riyadh, the standard route is over Egypt. Patrick Kielty signed of his latest The Late Late Show with a message of hope to the families suffering in Israel and Palestine. His message was especially poignant following the loss of his father, who was killed by the Ulster Freedom Fighters in Northern Ireland. As he closed Friday nights episode, Patrick said: In the midst of despair, miracles are hard to believe in but its worth remembering that we are currently living our own miracle on this island because we are living in peace. And for all those in Israel and Palestine tonight, it mightnt seem like it but there is always hope and we hope that your miracle comes soon. Schools in the UK have been advising students to cover any visible signs of them being Jewish if they feel uncomfortable, a Rabbi has said. David Meyer, CEO of the Partnerships for Jewish Schools Collaboration, spoke to Sky News on Monday, 16 October after a pro-Palestine in London at the weekend. Police are seeking two women who wore images of paragliders at the protest. Mr Meyer said: I do not think that any other religion would be given guidance that they should be hiding the way they dress. To see people actually supporting the acts of these terrorists... raises real questions for us as a society. The Israeli community in London held a vigil in Parliament Square following Hamass assault in Israel and the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Hundreds gathered on Sunday 15 October for the vigil and many of them were draped in Israeli flags. Some held signs saying bring them home on one side with pictures of the hostages on the other. The grassroots-organised vigil featured speeches as well as prayer, singing in Hebrew and a testimonial from a woman named only as Lital, who was at the Nova music festival where hundreds were killed, read out by speaker Jenny Kananov Shayo. More than 10 police officers were seen keeping watch over the vigil, which lasted about an hour. MPs paid tribute to victims of the Israel-Hamas conflict by holding a minute's silence in parliament on Monday, 16 October. In a speech in the House of Commons, Rishi Sunak said that at least six Britons were killed in Hamass pogrom in Israel and a further 10 are missing. The prime minister added that the UK must support absolutely Israels right to defend itself and called for the immediate release of the around 200 hostages taken by the militant group. Mr Sunak also said that Palestinian people are victims of Hamas too as he announced an extra 10 million of aid funding. Grant Shapps and Oliver Dowden were filmed laughing behind Rishi Sunak as the prime minister delivered a statement on the Israel-Hamas conflict in parliament on Monday, 16 October. The defence secretary and the deputy prime minister appeared to smile as they held a conversation behind Mr Sunak, who called for a "better future for the Israeli and Palestinian people." During Mr Sunak's speech in parliament, he said that at least six Britons were killed in Hamass pogrom in Israel and a further 10 are missing. Sir Keir Starmer called for a "two-state solution" to the Israel-Hamas conflict during a speech in parliament on Monday, 16 October. The Labour leader appealed for a "Palestinian state alongside a safe and secure Israel" as MPs returned to the Commons following party conferences. "We cannot let Hamas brutality be a catalyst for conflict in the wider region. Engagement between Israel and Arab nations must be strengthened not abandoned," Sir Keir added. Rishi Sunak "affirmed that the UK continues to support a two-state solution during a meeting with Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of Palestinian National Authority, Downing Street said. MiCA is the EUs new rulebook for crypto and digital asset firms The Department of Finance has been urged by major fintech firms to give the maximum amount of time for companies to comply with new EU rules on cryptocurrency. The Electronic Money Association, whose members include Revolut and PayPal, wrote to the department to make the case for having the longest possible transition period before implementing the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation. MiCA, or MiCAR, is the EUs new bloc-wide rulebook for crypto and digital asset firms in Europe, harmonising licensing and regulation of their business while introducing stricter anti-money laundering requirements. The rules will apply from December 2024. Ireland should maintain the full 18 months say crypto providers Member states must pass legislation to give effect to the rules in their own countries but have some discretion on implementation, namely in the transition period. A company can continue to operate after the December 2024 deadline for up to 18 months but this time period can be narrowed. Ireland should maintain the full 18 months for crypto asset service providers (CASPs), the EMA told the Department of Finance. It would provide adequate time for both CASPs and the regulator to prepare for compliance with, and application of the new regime, said an organisation spokesperson. This will promote uniform application of the rules, prevent regulatory arbitrage, and mitigate the potential for market disruption to the benefit of consumers, CASPs, and supervisors. Ireland hosts offices of several major crypto companies, such as Gemini, Coinbase and Binance, who may seek regulatory approvals under MiCA in Ireland. Goods exports were down 5pc to 133bn in the year to August, compared to last year, due mainly to falling pharma sales to the US and a dip in sales to China. But exports to the EU and Britain are up. Goods imports were also down in the year to August, falling 1pc to 90.5bn compared to the first eight months of last year, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said, with imports from China falling 44pc in the year so far. The Economic and Social Research Institute believes Irelands economy will suffer a recession year, at least in the multinational sectors, while the domestic economy is to keep growing. The Department of Finance predicts the domestic and multinational sectors of the economy are to grow by around 2pc this year, a marked slowdown on the pandemic years. The CSO data shows exports are down so far this year as a result of falling sales of organic chemicals, pharmaceutical products, computers and electrical machinery. Food and live animal exports are up to all regions except China so far this year. Sales of chemical products to the US (which includes pharmaceuticals) were down by almost 4.9bn, or 15pc, to just over 28bn, in the first eight months of this year. Sales to China have slumped by more than a third in the year so far, with machinery and transport equipment to the country down by half, though exports to China are worth just a fraction of the value of Irelands exports to the US and EU. The EU accounted for 38pc of Irelands total goods exports in August (mainly Belgium, Germany and The Netherlands), while the US accounted for 32pc. Exports of medical and pharmaceutical products represented 43pc of total exports in the month. Carol Lynch, a partner in customs consultants BDO, said the fall in chemicals exports to the US may be evidence of a new baseline for the export of chemicals from Ireland following a large spike during the pandemic. She said that while exports to the US are down in the year so far, the value of exports in the month of August this year is flat on last year. She said a 3.2bn fall in machinery and transport exports to China could be a result of geopolitical tensions between the country and the US over semiconductors. The USA has placed restrictions on the export of some US technology to China and this looks to have had an impact on Irish export figures in 2023. And she warned Irish exporters to be mindful of and prepare for new British border checks set to be phased in from January next year. CSO figures show goods sales in the year to date are down to all regions except for the EU and Britain, but pharma sales actually rose 6pc to 6.9bn when comparing the month of August to the same month last year. Still, a large dip in the sale of chemical products (which includes pharmaceuticals), especially to the EU and Britain, left exports for the month of August down 3.3bn, or 17pc, compared to August 2022. Imports were down 21pc, or 2.7bn, in August, compared to the same month last year. Imports of organic chemicals were down by 36pc to 1.2bn in August 2023, compared with August 2022. The value of fuel imports was also down significantly after surging last year, falling 47pc in value to 749 million in August, compared to August last year. Exports and imports were both down in the month between July and August. Irish medtech firm HealthBeacon is still fighting for survival as its cash reserves continue to dwindle. On Monday, its co-founder and former chief executive, Jim Joyce, who stepped down from that role last month, ended his involvement with the company as a non-executive director. When he stepped down last month as the company revealed its financial difficulties, the firm said that Mr Joyce would remain as a non-executive director and advisor. Last Friday, shares in the stock market-listed firm were suspended on Dublins Euronext after they collapsed following confirmation from the company that its running out of cash and wont be able to survive beyond the end of the month without some kind of rescue. Over the weekend, it was reported that HealthBeacon was considering seeking the appointment of an interim examiner, with KPMG likely poised to act in the role if the company proceeds with an application to the High Court. HealthBeacon raised 25m when it floated on the stock market in Dublin in late 2021, valuing at close to 100m. Its shares have tanked since then, with its market capitalisation now just 1.2m. HealthBeacon has developed a digital health platform aimed at improving patient support and ensuring they adhere to home injection regimes. 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. 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. Flat-pack giants franchisee Ingka plans link-up with Irish firm Source Galileo for multi-billion-euro projects The investment arm of retail giant Ikea is to invest millions of euro to help develop a number of large-scale offshore wind farms planned for Ireland and the UK by Irish firm Source Galileo, the Irish Independent understands. The planned investment comes despite significant challenges facing companies hoping to develop Irelands offshore wind energy potential. Thats due to delays in the planning process combined with a new Government strategy for the development of offshore projects that the industry has warned could hinder rather than accelerate such schemes. Consumer class-action legislation giving effect to an EU directive has just recently (and quietly) passed into Irish law having been signed by the President Michael D Higgins. The Representative Actions for the Protection of the Collective Interest of Consumers Bill 2023 means that consumers, in Ireland or any EU country, can join together to file collective actions against companies, on a national and European stage for infringements of their rights under consumer legislation. It is landmark legislation that has the potential to significantly transform the litigation landscape in Ireland, throwing corporate reputations into the full glare of publicity. The intent is to provide more effective remedies to consumers for mass breaches of consumer law. Qualified entities will represent the shared interests of consumers who have experienced similar infringements by traders to their rights as consumers in areas such as data protection, product liability, financial services, tourism, travel, energy, telecommunications and the environment. In accordance with the bill and at a potentially high cost, businesses will be required to inform the group of consumers represented in the action of any settlements or decisions that have been made, within a strict time frame. Irish companies with a consumer base spreading across the EU must also be wary of becoming a target of any class-action lawsuit which originates in another Member State. Whether it be provoked by faulty products or privacy concerns, companies and their communications departments must protect against a reputation-destroying lawsuit and have, not just legal readiness but also robust communications systems in place to deal with publicity-generating class action suits. Class actions tend to be high up on the news agenda, more so than individual cases, as the stakes are usually higher. National and international media coverage will no doubt disrupt a companys operations and impact its reputation, irrespective of a court verdict. It is essential, therefore, that firms prepare for the new legal landscape with robust and tested crisis management and reputation strategies in place and strong public relations support. How companies comport themselves in public will be as important as the case hearing and outcome. A class-action lawsuit may be more attractive to a consumer who is reluctant to bear arduous judicial proceedings alone. Damages from a class-action settlement wont necessarily be spread evenly, with a plaintiffs payout depending on a variety of factors such as number of claimants involved, severity of injury and cost of litigation. So, will class actions grow in Europe? It is certain that legal departments will be working hand in glove with communications departments to ensure preparedness and manage legal and reputation risks. Irish businesses with a consumer base across the EU will have to be ready for any consumer representative action commenced in another member state as well as for EU-wide publicity it could generate. When the downfall of a firms reputation is caused by anti-consumer or illegal behaviour, or even allegations of such, crisis management plans get to be tested in real time in the court of public opinion especially. Preparation is key. By prioritising reputation management, developing a robust crisis strategy and having in place strong PR litigation supports, firms will be better equipped to navigate an evolving world where information and legal protection flows freely across EU borders and the power of consumer collective action is amplified and protected in law. Ita Gibney is executive chair of Gibney Communications and has been at the forefront of many corporate crises in her 30-year communications career Mercury Engineering was involved in a 17bn new advanced chip manufacturing facility recently opened by Intel at its Leixlip facility in Co Kildare. Photo: Colin Keegan/Collins Dublin-based Mercury Engineering saw its pre-tax profits fall 13pc to 67.7m last year despite a surge in revenue driven by its activity in the pan-European data centre construction sector. Newly filed accounts for the privately owned firm show its revenue grew almost 15pc to 1.7bn last year as it capitalised on continued growth in data centres and life sciences. The company, which employs more than 3,700 people, designs and installs mechanical and electrical systems and provides project management services for clients across Ireland, the UK, mainland Europe and Asia. The number of employees last year was 14pc higher than in 2021. Its clients include blue-chip companies such as Intel, Microsoft and Pfizer. It was involved in a 17bn new advanced chip manufacturing facility recently opened by Intel at its Leixlip facility in Co Kildare. The company, whose chief executive is Eoin Vaughan, noted 85pc of its revenue last year was generated from repeat projects with existing customers. Group finance director Ronan Lynch noted in the accounts that the companys activity last year was driven by high demand from its clients in semiconductor, co-location data centre and hyperscale data centre sectors. The company delivered projects for clients in 13 jurisdictions last year, he noted, growing its revenue to 495m in Germany, 212m in France and 114m in the Nordics. As demand for cloud services continues to grow, we delivered over 1bn revenue in the data centre sector, according to Mr Lynch. Alongside this, we continued to deliver on Europes largest semiconductor project and expanded across the live environment and life sciences sectors. The company said that while its short-term pattern of growth might be impacted by the timing of its clients investment decisions, it expects the data centre market to post a compounded annual growth rate of 7pc over the next five years. It also noted that the European Chips Act which is designed to bolster the EUs participation in chip research and production will bring significant investment to Europe. Mercury Engineering was the subject of a management buyout in 2017. Earlier this year, it appointed CRH chief executive Albert Manifold as a non-executive director. Over 70pc of Irish businesses have suffered a cyber attack over the past year, a new report from insurer Hiscox has revealed. Around 71pc of the 200 Irish businesses surveyed experienced a cyber attack in the past 12 months, up 22pc from the same period last year. Ireland also had the highest median average number of attacks across the eight countries which featured in the research. Irish companies recorded more cyber attacks than their counterparts in the UK, US, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands. The most common point of entry for hackers was a corporate-owned server, with 57pc of Irish companies experiencing this kind of attack. There was also a rise in the number of phishing emails. This occurs when a target is tricked into sharing sensitive data. The most common outcome for businesses here was a financial loss. More than 40pc reported losing money following a payment diversion fraud. While the number of attacks was high, the cost on businesses remained relatively low. Half of the impacted companies said the cost of a cyber attack was below 10,000. This was an improvement on 2022 figures, where only 35pc said that their annual cyberattack bill was below 10,000. The largest single attack was 118,128, the research showed. However, this marked a significant decrease from the largest attack in the previous period, which was over 5m. The median cost of a cyber attack fell to 8,860 last year compared with over 15,000 in 2022. As workers spend more time in the office, business leaders are now more concerned about business growth outpacing the company's cyber risk management controls than the potential dangers of employees working from home. A remote workforce was the most significant concern reported in last year's survey. Three-quarters of the companies surveyed said they are unlikely to pay a ransom. When a ransom was paid, just a third said all stolen data was fully recovered. As the number of attacks rises, cyber insurance ownership in Ireland has also increased. Almost 70pc of the businesses surveyed had dedicated insurance, the highest across the eight countries in the report. The fact that Ireland tops the list of cyber insurance ownership is a welcome one, but with the growing number of attacks on business increasing for the third year in a row, it illustrates how cyber must now be viewed as a standard business risk, Hiscox Ireland senior cyber claims specialist Simon Sheahan said. Israeli ambassador to Portugal, Dor Shapiro, accused the Web Summit CEO of extreme political views on the situation in Gaza and Israel Israel has withdrawn from the Web Summit in Lisbon next month over an accusation by the event's CEO, Paddy Cosgrave, that the country is engaging in "war crimes" in Gaza. Several tech industry executives also say they won't attend the conference over the issue. In a tweet today, the Israeli ambassador to Portugal, Dor Shapira, accused Mr Cosgrave of "extreme political views" over the recent situation in Israel and Gaza. "Today, I wrote to the mayor of Lisbon informing him that Israel will not participate in the Web Summit conference due to the outrageous statements made by the conference CEO, Paddy Cosgrave," Mr Shapira tweeted. "Even during these difficult times, he is unable to set aside his extreme political views and denounce the Hamas terrorist activities against innocent people." He also claimed that dozens of companies "have already cancelled" participation at the event over the issue. The Web Summit, which takes place from November 13 to 16 in Lisbon, is expecting tens of thousands of attendees. But Mr Cosgrave is facing a backlash from Israeli tech companies, as well as a number of senior tech industry figures in the US, for a series of tweets that drew attention to Gaza and Israel. "I'm shocked at the rhetoric and actions of so many Western leaders and governments, with the exception in particular of Ireland's government, who for once are doing the right thing," Mr Cosgrave tweeted at the weekend. "War crimes are war crimes even when committed by allies and should be called out for what they are." In response, one of America's best-known investors and tech podcasters, Jason Calacanis, urged Mr Cosgrave to "think this through". Several Israeli technology executives then criticised Mr Cosgrave and the Web Summit for the stance taken. These included the CEO of advertising company Taboola, Adam Singolda, and David Marcus, a previous senior executive for Facebook and PayPal, who said they would not work with the company again. "I'll never be part of your future initiatives and we'll never work together again," said Mr Singolda in a tweet addressed to Mr Cosgrave. Yesterday, Mr Cosgrave replied to the criticism by tweeting that "what Hamas did is outrageous and disgusting... It is by every measure an act of monstrous evil. Israel has a right to defend itself, but it does not, as I have already stated, have a right to break international law." Earlier today, amid mounting criticism from Israeli figures, he added another statement. "We are devastated to see the terrible killings and the level of innocent civilian casualties in Israel and Gaza," he tweeted. "We condemn the attacks by Hamas and extend our deepest sympathies to everyone who has lost loved ones. We hope for peaceful reconciliation." Asked to comment, a spokesperson for the Web Summit directed the Irish Independent to Mr Cosgraves latest tweet. Charlie Bird extends hand of friendship 'to all those in dark places' Charlie Bird has said today he is now using a feeding tube as he issued an update on his health. The former RTE news correspondent was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease in 2021. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, he wrote that he is now using a feeding tube. "My MND is changing fast. I am now using a feeding tube and will soon have to use a mobility travelator to get out and about. Mr Bird also announced that he is to be honoured by the community in Murrisk, the village in Co Mayo lying at the foot of Croagh Patrick. In April 2022, Mr Bird famously climbed Croagh Patrick for Climb with Charlie. The charity event raised more than 3.6m for the national suicide prevention charity Pieta House and the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association. A permanent home in Murrisk is being given to a stone to mark the success of Climb with Charlie. He said in a video posted to X, alongside his dog Tiger, that his goal now is helping Elephant In The Room, a project organised by broadcaster and former rugby player Brent Pope. It encourages people and organisations across the country to support mental health charities and address the elephant in the room by having open conversations about mental health. "This great project is about mental health and raising awareness for people in dark places, he said. Mr Bird said a sculpture of an elephant decorated and signed by U2 bass guitarist Adam Clayton raised more than 14,000 for Samaritans Ireland at auction and one signed by the Irish mens rugby team had raised more than 16,000. His own elephant, which was designed by Dublin artist Niall OLoughlin, is also set to be auctioned off. It depicts Mr Bird and the late cervical cancer campaigner Vicky Phelan together ahead of Climb with Charlie last year and is signed by President Michael D Higgins. My lovely elephant painted by Niall OLoughlin is a tribute to the work of the Samaritans, has an image of Vicky Phelan and is signed by President Michael D [Higgins]. "I would love if some corporation or person put in a big bid. Remember all funds raised go to Samaritans. On November 4, my elephant along with Samaritan volunteers will be greeted by the Lord Mayor of Dublin at the Mansion House. "All my efforts now will focus on extending the hand of friendship to people in dark places. I love you all, he said Preparations for an indefinite strike by thousands of community and social care workers are forging ahead despite an invitation to talks to end a long-running pay row. A Siptu spokesperson said the union has accepted a Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) invitation to a meeting this afternoon. The workers who are employed by state-funded organisations but are not directly employed by the HSE want equal pay to public servants in the same roles. News of the WRC intervention comes as the Department of Health said any industrial action will impact negatively on service users. Workers at Ardeen Cheshire Ireland, Ability West, Cheshire Ireland, Cheshire Dublin, Cheshire Home Newcastle West, Co-action West Cork, Cobh Hospital, Daughters Of Charity Child and Family Service, DePaul Ireland, Don Bosco Care and Enable Ireland are due to mount pickets. Other organisations taking part are Family Resource Centres, the Irish Wheelchair Association, Kerry Parents and Friends, St Catherines Association, St Josephs Foundation, St Lukes Nursing Home, and the Western Care Association. The Government urges all parties to work on resolving any disputes through the appropriate forums, in the interests of users of these services, said the department spokesperson. Government remains committed to working with the unions to resolve these matters and are available to return to talks at any time. He said while it is acknowledged that Section 39 and Section 56 organisations are in receipt of state funding, the terms and conditions of employment in these privately operated organisations are ultimately between the employer and their employee. We are aware that the HSE and Tusla are engaging with the employers regarding the impact that industrial action will have on service delivery and options for contingency planning, he said. In a message to members, the Siptu health division said its senior officials had been asked to attend the WRC this afternoon, following a request this morning. We have no further details at this time, it says. Strike committees should continue to make preparations for tomorrows planned industrial action. Many Enable Ireland services will close during tomorrows strike. A spokesperson at the charity, which provides services to children and adults with disabilities, said it expects substantial disruption. This industrial action is part of a campaign for equal pay now and in the future for staff of Enable Ireland who do similar work to colleagues in the HSE and other Section 38 voluntary organisations, but receive substantially lower pay, it said. We are very aware of how difficult this situation is for the thousands of families and individuals who rely on our services." A spokesperson said it has advocated for a return to pay parity for its staff for many years. She said it was aligned with HSE pay for 30 years but the link was broken following the recession. The spokesperson said while it supports the requested pay increase it is not in a position to fund it. She said the pay parity gap is costed at 5.7m a year at Enable Ireland. This pay inequity has created a recruitment and retention crisis for Enable Irelands services resulting in significant vacancies in our services for children and adults, she said. High vacancy and staff turnover rates negatively impact the quality and quantity of services we can offer to children, adults and their families. Catriona Carey is banned from road for four years as she turns up in court Persistent animal abuse granny (89) becomes Irelands oldest female prisoner Octogenarian serving time in the Dochas Womens Prison for sickening abuse of animals despite ban Mary Kelly cursed Judge Desmond Zaidan after a previous case in his court Patrick O'Connell Mon 16 Oct 2023 at 11:55 An 89-year-old persistent abuser of animals is now Irelands oldest female prisoner after she was finally jailed over a shocking litany of cruelty offences. Dublin Airport has opened its first store operated by artificial intelligence, which will see no long queues for the checkout. The shop, which is located at the airports terminal one arrivals gate, is the first of its kind to open in Ireland and sells everything from coffee and pastries to cereal, milk and toiletries. Shoppers will have to scan their payment card at the entrance to the store in order to gain entry. Then with a combination of camera technology and weight-sensor-enabled shelving, AI will detect what customers are buying and then charge the card they used to scan into the shop. The store, called Dublin Town To Go, is cashless and offers a frictionless, checkout-free experience for passengers, the airport said. The venture is in partnership with international food operator SSP, which operates many of the food and drinks offerings at the airport. Dublin Airports Chief Commercial and Development Officer at Dublin Airport, Vincent Harrison, said the shop will bring a new and different experience to passengers. Dublin Airport is excited to be the home of the first concept store of this kind to be opened in Ireland, Mr Harrison said. Whether passengers want to pick up a pre-flight sandwich and coffee, or essentials such as milk and cereal after arriving back into Dublin Airport, the technology deployed in "Dublin Town To Go" means they can do it quickly and in a hassle-free manner, he added. The shop will operate 24 hours a day and so far, has been popular with passengers who dont speak English, Graeme McQueen, Media Relations Manager at DAA said. Its perfect for those working or arriving into Dublin Airport late at night. So far its proving particularly popular with passengers arriving into Dublin who dont speak English, and also with those who want to quickly grab a sandwich or drink after they land and dont have time to queue. Mr McQueen said. While there will be no staff in the new shop to welcome customers, Mr McQueen says AI technology has been used throughout the airport for some time. The human touch will always be integral to the delivery of a warm welcome and experience at Dublin Airport, but we definitely see good potential to utilise AI and automation to make the airport easier and quicker to navigate. Automation is already present throughout the airport, from airline check-in desks and passport control through to our 1 water bottles after security screening which have a handy contactless payment option, Mr McQueen said. While this is the first of its kind here in Ireland, similar stores have opened in UK and US, with Amazon opening its first Amazon Fresh shop in west London in 2021. Like the store in Dublin Airport, there are no checkouts. Instead, customers were required to scan a code to get in, with their Amazon Prime account charged for the goods purchased. However earlier this year, the online retail giant announced it would close the Ealing Broadway store along with two other of its London shops. Dublin Fire Brigade has shared an important safety message to the public regarding fireworks ahead of the Halloween festivities. Firefighters extinguished a vegetation fire at Spencer Dock this week after a stray firework landed in the area. Pictures of the quay area show firefighters putting out the flames as smoke rises. Firefighters extinguishing a vegetation fire at Spencer Dock this week after a stray firework landed and caused the fire to start, the fire brigade wrote online. Fireworks are not only dangerous to the person with a risk of severe injury but can cause fires like this. Picture: Dublin Fire Brigade/X Last month, Dublin Fire Brigade, along with gardai, Irish Guide Dogs, and the ISPCA launched a new campaign to raise awareness of the number of firework-related incidents, ahead of Halloween later this month. This year's Fireworks Awareness Campaign is said to highlight the dangers associated with fireworks, and the effect they can have on vulnerable people and pets. Chief fire officer Dennis Keeley spoke about the injuries that fireworks can cause to people and urged everyone to think before they act and what the unintended consequences of their actions might be. Meanwhile, Dr Cyril Sullivan from the ISPCA reminded the public that anyone considering the purchase or use of illegal fireworks, to consider the fear and distress it can have on all animals. Chief executive of the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind Tim OMahony said: Every year our team is faced with the heartbreak of seeing Guide Dogs and Assistance Dogs traumatised from the impact of fireworks. Whilst our dogs are highly trained to cope with many situations, if a dog has an experience that goes beyond a normal level of stress, such as a firework exploding close to them, this can overly sensitise the dog, similar to PTSD in humans. A person convicted of having fireworks in their possession with intent to sell or supply can face penalties including a fine of up to 10,000 and up to five years imprisonment. Locals, friends and neighbours light candles at a vigil for Tina Satchwell in Youghal last Saturday. Photo: Michael Mac Sweeney/Provision The family of Tina Satchwell (45) will join hundreds of friends and neighbours at a special vigil in her hometown today to honour her memory. The vigil in the north Cork town of Fermoy follows a special ceremony in Youghal which was organised 48 hours after the remains of Ms Satchwell were found by gardai beneath a concrete floor and a block-up wall underneath a stairwell in a property in the seaside town. Ms Satchwell went missing on March 20, 2017. For six years her disappearance was treated as a missing person case. Last Tuesday, gardai upgraded their investigation to a murder inquiry and sealed off a property in Youghal. After two days of excavations, remains were found hidden in concrete beneath a stairwell in the three-storey house. The remains were brought to Cork University Hospital (CUH) and identified by dental records as those of the 45-year-old Fermoy-born woman. Her husband of 26 years, Richard Satchwell (57) was arrested and questioned at Cobh garda station. He appeared before a special sitting of Cashel District Court on Saturday charged with her murder. The State charged the Leicester-born delivery-truck driver with the murder of his wife on March 20, 2017, at an address in Cork. Bail cannot be dealt with by the district court on a murder charge and he was remanded in custody to appear again before Clonmel District Court tomorrow. Mr Satchwell, who appeared in court wearing a black T-shirt and grey slacks, did not speak during the brief hearing. Members of the family of Tina Satchwell, nee Dingivan, attended the Cashel court hearing. Family members will tonight attend a special vigil planned for Fermoy Park at 6pm. The vigil is organised by the Fermoy community to show support for the devastated Dingivan family to honour Ms Satchwells memory and to offer solidarity with the families of missing persons. Various church, community and cultural groups in Fermoy are supporting the vigil. The tribute in Youghal on Saturday afternoon was led by parish priest Canon Bill Bermingham and attended by over 200 locals. It was held at a stretch of strand just over 100 metres from the house where Ms Satchwells remains were recovered on Thursday. Five men have died in separate road incidents over the weekend, bringing to 149 the number of people killed on Irish roads so far this year. Three were killed in the space of 24 hours. A motorbike rider died following a road collision in Co Kerry on Saturday evening. Emergency services attended the scene of the collision, involving a motorcycle and a van, which happened at Moyvane North, Listowel, at around 7pm. The male rider of the motorcycle, aged in his 40s, died at the scene. The van driver, a man in his 70s, was taken to University Hospital Kerry, where his injuries were described as non-life-threatening. Meanwhile, gardai are appealing for witnesses following a fatal collision on the R357 Ballinasloe to Shannonbridge Road, at Cloneish, Co Roscommon, on Saturday evening. The incident, involving a car and a motorcycle, happened at around 5.15pm. The motorcyclist, a man aged in his 30s, was taken to Ballinasaloe Hospital, where he was pronounced dead later in the evening. No other injuries have been reported. Gardai also attended the scene of a single-vehicle crash involving a trike, which happened at Chapel Road, Stradbally, Co Waterford, at noon yesterday. The male rider of the trike, who was in his 70s, died at the scene. On Friday night, 21-year-old university student, Joe Drennan, was killed in a hit-and-run in Limerick. The journalism student, from Mountrath, Co Laois, was on foot catching a bus home when he was fatally injured by one of two vehicles that were involved in a collision on the Dublin Road in Castletroy, shortly after 9.50pm. The incident has been referred to the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc), as the vehicle allegedly involved in the fatal collision was the subject of an interaction with gardai before the hit-and-run. In a separate incident in Co Louth on Saturday, popular musician Chris Bradley died after a collision between a tractor and a car. Passenger Mr Bradley, a drummer in his 30s from Desertmartin, Co Derry, was returning home with two other band members, Bob Hunt and Jerome McBride, after performing with Declan Nerney at a dance in Toughers of Naas, Co Kildare, on Friday night. The band members were treated for non-life-threatening injuries. No other injuries were reported. Declan Nerney posted a tribute on social media, in which he described Mr Bradley as a magnificent drummer and an even better colleague and friend. Tributes continue to be paid to journalism student Joe Drennan (21) who died following a hit-and-run incident in Limerick on Friday as his funeral details have been announced. Mr Drennan was a final year student of Journalism and New Media at the University of Limerick and he was also the Editor-in-Chief of Limerick Voice, the student paper. Gardai continue to appeal for witnesses to the collision which occurred on the Dublin Road in Castletroy, Co Limerick on Friday at approximately 9.50pm. The collision involved two cars and a pedestrian Mr Drennan who was later pronounced deceased at University Hospital Limerick. The driver of one car failed to remain at the scene, while the driver and passenger of the other car were treated for non-life threatening injuries at University Hospital Limerick. Mr Drennan will lie in repose at his home in Knocknagad, Mountrath, Co Laois on Monday and Tuesday evening before his funeral takes place at 3pm on Wednesday afternoon at St Fergals Church Camross. Read more Declan Nerney pays tribute to drummer Chris Bradley named as one of five killed on Irish roads this weekend He is described in a death notice shared to RIP.ie as the beloved son of Tim and Marguerite, much loved brother to his adoring sisters Sarah, Ava and Marie, brother to Richard, John and Kieran, uncle to Ben and Evie. "Joe will be sadly missed by his nannie Vera Bennett, and all his wonderful aunts, uncles and cousins, and Joes very wide circle of friends. Tributes continue to be paid to the talented student who was destined for a bright future. He has been described as someone with a smile that could light up a room, with one mourner writing: It is the worlds loss that he has been taken too soon. Another said Mr Drennan was such a wonderfully bright light. Dr Kathryn Hayes, the course director of the BA in Journalism and New Media programme at University College Limerick, today told Morning Ireland that Mr Drennan had just turned 21 and had his whole life ahead of him. "Joe Drennan was such a popular, much-loved member of our student body here in UL, she said. "His journalism colleagues are absolutely devastated. I have been meeting with the over the weekend, many of them have been gathering together in Limerick. "Theyre a very tight-knit group, theyre in their final year and they work on a number of projects together. She said Mr Drennan was the Editor-in-Chief of the student paper and described him as an incredible leader and great colleague. He was an inspirational student really, so creative and had so many ideas. He was very passionate. Dr Hayes said there is such shock and sadness in the community. "He only recently turned 21, he had his whole life ahead of him and a really bright career. Dr Hayes said: Were all just really, really devastated in UL for Joe, for his family and for all his friends in the journalism class. We will be supporting them today and counselling will be offered, of course." Dr Hayes said academic staff have been meeting with Mr Drennans classmates throughout the weekend. Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris has said the University of Limerick community is grieving after receiving such devastating news this weekend. "Sending my sincere sympathy and thoughts to all in UL and to Joes family and friends on this devastating news, Mr Harris said. "I know the university community is grieving and we grieve with them at this very sad and difficult time. It was surreal How a Cork man abandoned by his father 50 years ago found his long-lost half-siblings I told my dad I was after finding his little sister. He was so happy How a Cork man abandoned by his father 50 years ago found his long-lost half-siblings Ralph Riegel Mon 16 Oct 2023 at 08:35 A man whose father abandoned his Irish family almost 50 years ago and then disappeared received the perfect 50th wedding anniversary present when he traced his long-lost half-siblings in the UK. An Irish charity has called for action after filming the moment a child was nearly hit by a horse racing at this year's Ballinasloe Fair in Co Galway. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a monumental endeavor initiated by China to enhance global connectivity and people-to-people bonds, has at times been portrayed in Western media as a potential catalyst for a clash between civilizations. They argue that China's ambitious global outreach threatens Western interests and values. These allegations often take root in concerns about the cultural, economic, and geopolitical dimensions of the BRI, and tend to overlook the core objectives of the BRI, which revolve around promoting global prosperity, synergy and cooperation. Boosting cultural understanding among participating countries, rather than transplanting Chinese culture onto others, is a key characteristic of the BRI. China has not sought to impose its culture or ideology but instead aims to build partnerships and achieve mutual development through cooperation. The collaborative projects under the BRI emphasize win-win outcomes rather than a zero-sum game. One of the important pillars of cultural diversity cooperation and building people-to-people bonds is enhancing physical connectivity among participating countries. The diverse range of infrastructure development and cooperation within the framework of the BRI possesses a transformative power that helps promote cultural cooperation and catalyzes civilization exchanges hence fostering deep cultural understandings between participating nations. Roads, railways, and ports established under the BRI not only facilitate the flow of goods and services but also people and ideas. As travelers move across borders and explore new regions, they inevitably encounter diverse cultures, traditions, and belief systems. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a prime example of developing as a natural conduit for mutual understanding and appreciation. It features the construction of transportation networks, providing not only economic benefits, but also creating an avenue for people from both nations to engage with one another. These interactions enable the sharing of cultural practices, art, music, and traditions, thus fostering cross-civilizational understanding. Thanks to enhanced physical connectivity, China and Pakistan have seen intensified cultural exchanges in recent years. For example, the China Cultural Heritage Week celebrated in Pakistan unveiled the splendors of Chinese culture, while Pakistan reciprocated with its cultural festivals hosted in China, showcasing its diverse heritage and fostering cultural understanding. Apart from easier transportation access, another powerful way that infrastructure cooperation enhances civilization exchanges is through the incorporation of cultural elements within BRI projects. These cultural elements often act as symbolic and practical hubs for people of different civilizations to come together. Several landmarks and infrastructures like Karakoram High Way, Gawadar Port, and CPEC projects serve as more than just structural achievements; they are cultural fusion points where people gather to celebrate their shared and distinct cultural identities. Education emerged as another catalyst for strengthening cultural bonds among participating countries. According to the white paper titled "The Belt and Road Initiative: A Key Pillar of the Global Community of Shared Future" that China released on October 10, Chinese universities and colleges have opened 313 Confucius Institutes and 315 Confucius Classrooms in 132 partner countries. The "Chinese Bridge" Summer Camp has invited nearly 50,000 young people from more than 100 partner countries to come to China for academic visits and supported 100,000 Chinese language enthusiasts from 143 partner countries to learn Chinese and experience Chinese culture online. Cultural exchange and understanding are central tenets of the BRI. Instead of promoting cultural conflicts, the BRI facilitates cultural harmony and mutual respect. China's openness to embracing participating countries' cultures and vice versa has led to a rich exchange of traditions, languages, and arts. By the end of June 2023, China had signed cultural and tourism cooperation documents with 144 BRI partner countries. Under the BRI framework, China continues to expand international cultural exchanges. Apart from further enhancing physical connectivity, a slew of organized signature events such as the Happy Chinese New Year celebrations, the Nihao China tourism promotions, and the Silk Road: Artists' Rendezvous art exhibition have been launched to promote cultural understanding among countries across the world. The abovementioned collaboration exemplifies not only the spirit of the BRI but also the complementarity among participating countries, which serves as a compelling rebuttal to the misconceptions perpetuated by Western media. The economic synergy, cultural exchange, geopolitical cooperation, and commitment to sustainable development challenge the narrative that the BRI causes cultural clashes. The author Muhammad Asif Noor is the founder of the forum "Friends of Belt and Road Initiative" and an advisor to the Pakistan Research Center under Hebei Normal University, China. (Source: CGTN) Gardai arrested a man in his 40s today in relation to an alleged aggravated burglary and false imprisonment and is due before a court sitting later today. He has been charged and will appear before Dun Laoghaire District Court this morning. Another man previously appeared in court on September 29, charged in connection with the alleged break-in. Michael Royal (47) who has an address in Meath Place in Dublin 8, was charged with aggravated burglary that took place on August 21 in Monkstown in which an elderly man also injured during the incident. He appeared on Dun Laoighaire District Court on September 29. A third man, in his 20s, was arrested on September 28, 2023 as part of this investigation and was released without charge. President Michael D Higgins has hit out at European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen for comments she made about the Israel-Hamas conflict while on a visit to Israel last week. Ms von der Leyen has faced criticism from within and outside the EU for not explicitly calling on Israel to adhere to international law as it responds to the deadliest attack it has suffered since the 1973 Yom Kippur War. President Higgins, speaking to reporters in Rome today as the World Food Forum opened, said that the EU need[s] a better performance in relation to European diplomacy after the head of the commission made statements in support of Israel without consultation of European states. I dont know where the source of those decisions was. I dont know where the legitimation for it was and I dont know where the authority for it is and I dont think it was helpful, the President said. "It may not have been meant to have malevolent consequences but certainly we need a better performance in relation to European Union diplomacy and practice. Ms von der Leyen said Israel has the right to defend itself, and then said: I know that how Israel responds will show that it is a democracy. This was reportedly not what had been agreed by EU diplomats beforehand and did not explicitly call for Israel to follow international humanitarian law. The President then said that Ms von der Leyen was not speaking for Ireland nor the opinions of the Taoiseach or the Tanaiste, who have made statements saying they believe Israel is in breach of international law due to its response to the Hamas attack on Israel that saw more than 1,200 Israeli civilians killed. Drone shots show the extent of the devastation in Gaza Since the attack nine days ago, more than 2,800 civilians have been killed in strikes on Gaza, while Israel said it killed 1,500 militants inside its borders. This brings the estimated death toll in the conflict to roughly 5,500 in just over one week. "What one is seeing in this is a thoughtless and even reckless set of actions and I dont think its helpful, President Higgins said. Its one thing, when we look at historic breaches of international law, that is incredibly bad, but to actually announce in advance that youre going to break international law, and that you announce it again and again, and that you do so on an innocent population. I have thought about it and I think that it really reduces all that code that was there from the Second World War through the Geneva Conventions about the protection of civilians, it reduces it to tatters, President Higgins said. "One has to bear in mind how important it is to retain and insist on the veracity and the cogency of international law. President Higgins was speaking in relation to the siege of Gaza as the Israeli army and president have termed it, which includes the heavy bombardment of one of the most densely-populated places on earth, alongside cutting off water, food and electricity supplies into the blockaded territory. Israel has since agreed to turn on the water supply once again. Irish authorities looking at reducing speed limits nationwide in bid to reduce road deaths Motorists who commit traffic offences on bank holiday weekends will face higher penalty points under new government plans to crack down on road deaths. Roads Minister Jack Chambers is bringing a memo to Cabinet tomorrow outlining new legislation that would hit motorists with increased levels of penalty points for speeding, not wearing seat belts and other offences over bank holiday weekends. The move is part of a suite of measures being introduced by the minister aimed at reducing the spike in fatalities and serious injuries from car crashes this year. The amendments to the Road Traffic Bill, will give the Government the power to vary the level of penalty points for certain times of the year when there is a higher risk of motorist casualties. Road safety data shows bank holiday weekends have a higher level of road deaths and serious injuries linked to driving offences. It comes as the death toll on Irish road climbs to 151. Five men died in separate road incidents over the weekend. There were 46 fatal or serious injury collisions over the February, June and the August Bank Holiday weekends this year. There were almost 10,000 speeding detections over the same weekends, according to official records. Mr Chambers will tell his Cabinet colleagues that increasing points for specified periods is likely to have a positive impact on driver behaviour and potentially reduce road casualties. An increase in penalty points for specific periods such as bank holiday weekends has already been introduced in other countries such as Australia. Other proposals being brought by the minister include a change to intoxication testing rules whereby gardai would be required by law to test for drugs at the scene of road collisions. Mr Chambers is also preparing legislation to implement the recommendations in the recent speed limit review, which reduces speed limits on rural roads as well as national secondary roads and in built up residential areas. The proposed legislation also contains measures to end an anomaly within the penalty points system where motorists who are caught committing multiple offences at the same time get penalty points only for the higher offence. The Road Safety Strategy published in 2021 has a stated ambition of reducing road deaths on Irish roads by 50pc by 2030. There has been a significant spike in road deaths this year, with the number of people killed on Irish roads currently standing at 151. This is 35 more deaths than this time last year. There were a number of road tragedies during the summer, including the deaths of four young people in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, on their way to celebrating their Leaving Cert results. Not long after that horror crash, another three people, including a toddler, were killed in a nearby road collision in Cashel. Mary Griffin wants the story of her daughter, Sarah, to warn young people about the dangers of vaping. Photo: NICHS Sarah Griffin (12) had to be placed into a coma after vaping damaged her lungs. Photo: NICHS A 12-year-old girl has told how she was put into an induced coma for four days when her health rapidly deteriorated due to her use of vapes. Sarah Griffin, who has asthma, was hospitalised due to vaping and says that despite her warnings her friends continue to vape. The schoolgirl appeared on Virgin Medias Ireland AM this morning with her mother Mary, who said she got a text from Sarah saying her daughter didnt want to die without her when she was hospitalised. When she woke up in Belfasts Royal Victoria Hospital, her mother was told to put a nicotine patch on her daughter for withdrawal symptoms. Sarah Griffin (12) had to be placed into a coma after vaping damaged her lungs. Photo: NICHS Sarah said she first vaped at the age of nine and completely forgot about it again, adding: When I went into first year, I started doing it again but a lot more. I would share vapes with friends. We would put our money together. In first year of secondary school, Sarah, from Belfast, had her own vape that she was able to buy herself in a shop. Asked why she decided to vape, Sarah said she liked the flavours and there was a belief that vaping made you look cool. She said classmates would ask to share the vapes and agreed vaping was a way to socialise and make friends in school. Sarahs mother Mary Griffin told hosts Tommy Bowe and Muireann OConnell that it all happened very quickly when Sarahs health took a turn. "On the Sunday night, Sarah had a bit of a cough. With her having asthma, around this time of year it would be normal for Sarah to get a bit chesty, Ms Griffin said. "She took her inhalers and we gave her the nebuliser so Sarah went to bed. Now, she was up throughout the night coughing so it was just the inhalers, just keeping on top of it. There were no signs of anything else, it just seemed like it was a normal chest infection starting. "On the Monday morning, I got the three of them [the children] up and she said, Mummy, I dont feel well, so she went back to bed. "I took the two younger ones, got them ready [and said] Sarah, I wont be long, Im bringing these ones to school and we got maybe about five yards and Sarah rang me saying Mummy, will you come back? Mary Griffin wants the story of her daughter, Sarah, to warn young people about the dangers of vaping. Photo: NICHS Ms Griffin said she returned to the house and Sarah seemed to settle for a bit when she was again given the inhalers and nebuliser. "Me, her sister and her brother were downstairs and then I shouted up Sarah, Im just going to the shop, well not be long. Ms Griffin said they were not gone long when she received another phone call from Sarah. "She could hardly breathe, hardly talk, saying Mummy, I need a doctor or the hospital. Sarahs father drove her to the hospital while Ms Griffin prepared to follow after organising her two youngest children. She received a text message from Sarah to say a nurse had seen her and her vitals and oxygen were low. "Within what felt like minutes, her daddy rang me saying to hurry up, she is in Resus [Resuscitation]. She recalled how she saw X-rays that showed just one of Sarahs lungs was working as doctors told her they were struggling to stabilise her daughters oxygen levels. Before I arrived at the hospital, Sarah sent me a text saying Mummy, I dont want to die without you thats a text nobody wants to get. Ms Griffin said she used to smoke and could set a box of cigarettes in front of her children and know they wouldnt touch them. She said: "If the vapes had the same packaging [as cigarettes] and the warning was out there, people will make a better decision as to whether they want to use them or not. "When Sarah woke up from the coma, the doctor asked me to put a nicotine patch on Sarah for withdrawal symptoms, her mother said. Sarah said she had since recovered after what happened and returned to school, but some of her friends continued to vape because they are allowed to by their parents. "Id encourage them not to do it but most of them dont listen because Im the one who has asthma. "Most of them dont have asthma or dont know they have asthma but they think because I had asthma that its why it happened to me. They think I dont have asthma, its not going to happen to me. They can siphon the last of the petrol from their car to power a borrowed generator to pull water from a well so that the 100-plus people taking refuge in his parents house can drink, but if they do they will have no petrol to get them to the border if they get a call from authorities who are trying to organise a safe route out. Though most moles are harmless, it's best to get any concerns checked by a doctor. Photo: Getty Question: My 10-year-old son has a brown mole that sticks out just at his collar line. He says it is itchy and he wants to have it taken off. It definitely annoys him but I wonder if it is something we should see the GP about. Is it likely to be skin cancer or anything to worry about? Dr Grant replies: Moles tend to be small round or oval spots on the skin, typically coloured a shade of brown. They may be flat or slightly raised and are caused by groups of cells called melanocytes (brown pigmented cells). Some moles have hair growing from them. It is perfectly safe to pluck, cut or trim hair growing from a mole. Moles may be present at birth (congenital naevus) or more often, they tend to grow within a few years after birth and are called acquired melanocytic naevi. Both of these types of moles are harmless benign (non-cancerous) proliferations (surplus growth) of melanocytes that develop after birth. The mean number of naevi (plural of naevus) in white adolescents is approximately 15 to 80. Factors such as your genetic makeup, the degree of childhood sun exposure, skin type and immunosuppression all contribute to the risk of development of naevi. Anyone with a lot of moles needs to be extra sun-safe by limiting UV light exposure on their existing pigmented lesions. Excess sun exposure can increase the risk of naevi becoming cancerous. The most common type is known as a common acquired melanocytic naevus. These tend to be <6 mm in diameter and symmetric with a homogeneous (same or uniform) surface, even pigmentation, round or oval in shape, have a regular outline, and a sharply demarcated border (easy to draw a line around it). Naevi are found in nearly all children and tend to increase in number over the first three decades of life, with a peak occurring during childhood and adolescence. As the child grows, the moles will naturally get bigger. On the contrary, features that may raise suspicion of melanoma, include a mole diameter >6 mm, irregular borders, asymmetry, variable pigmentation, and change in appearance over time. Other features of naevi (moles) that should seek consultant dermatology review include a naevus on the palms of the hand or soles of the feet with mottled pigmentation or a parallel ridge pattern that resembles band-like pigmentation on the ridges of the skin (instead of the furrows). Just to confuse things even more, some naevi are known as atypical and may have some features suggestive of melanoma but are still benign. However, atypical naevi are associated with an increased risk of melanoma and patients with multiple atypical naevi are generally at increased risk of melanoma, depending on the total number of naevi, their family and/or personal history of melanoma, and sun exposure history. This is why dermatologists are highly trained and typically use clinical history, appearance and dermatoscopic (a hand held mini-microscope) examination to aid the decision to remove a naevus or not. A general rule of thumb is anyone with 50 or more moles should have a regular skin review Melanoma is rare under 20 years old but even rarer in children under 15, with estimated annual incidence rates of one, two, and three per million in the age groups one to four, five to nine, and 10 to 14. A dermatologist should examine any mole on your childs skin that is growing (or changing) quickly or looks different from the rest (known as the ugly duckling sign). A mole that starts to bleed or looks like an open sore should also be assessed by a dermatologist. A general rule of thumb is anyone with 50 or more moles should have a regular skin review. In terms of the location of your sons mole, it is very inconvenient that his mole is on his collar line. Sometimes moles are removed for this reason. Often, a mole is removed for cosmetic reasons, especially if it is on the face or neck. If the mole is surgically removed, your son will have to consider the size of the scar that will be left in place of the mole. Some people are prone to keloid scarring when excess scar tissue forms. As a parent, you should always trust your maternal/paternal instincts. The very fact that you are concerned about your sons mole means you should get the mole assessed by a doctor. Dr Jennifer Grant is a GP with Beacon HealthCheck This time a week ago, details of what had taken place in southern Israel after Hamas terrorists broke through the security barrier surrounding the Gaza Strip and entered Jewish towns and villages, were just emerging. Day by day, the scale of the tragedy has become manifest. Young people attending a rave; old people sheltering in safe rooms; bab-ies in cribs; all slaughtered without mercy. This weekend, the number of dead in Israel stands at over 1,300 a figure equivalent to the population of Cahersiveen in Co Kerry or Enniscrone in Co Sligo all gone in a matter of hours. That unimaginable tally of suffering has only grown through the week as Israel responded to the attack on its people with airstrikes on Gaza that by Friday night had killed nearly 2,000 Palestinians. At this stage, there is no way of preventing the number of dead soaring to yet more nightmarish levels. War has its own dreadful momentum. Irelands role in such a perilous situation can only ever be limited, even though our troops serving in UN peacekeeping missions on Israels border with Lebanon could well find themselves on the front line should hostilities spread. Israel would be justified in wiping every last Hamas fighter from the face of the Earth, as Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged. The world would be no poorer for their eradication. But it might not be any safer either, should an over-reaction bring about an escalation of the conflict, with other armed groups and even neighbouring countries dragged into it. Leo Varadkar is able to make the case for restraint because he does so as someone whose instincts are humane and democratic. No one seriously believes he has any sympathy for those who would murder people at a music festival. He also approaches the current plight with an innate sympathy for the existential threat faced by Israel as a country surrounded by enemies. As a gay man, he responded to grandstanding by some members of the opposition in the Dail last week by eloquently commending the freedoms enjoyed by women and the LGBTQ+ community in Israel compared with the rest of the region. That is important. The Taoiseachs role at such times is to provide moral leadership. Had Mary Lou McDonald been in that position last week, it is worth pondering where her handling of the crisis may have left Ireland. She condemned the attack by Hamas outright an important hardening of Sinn Feins normally mealy-mouthed language on terrorism. McDonald clearly recognises that if Sinn Fein is to be taken seriously as a party of government, it must be more hostile to terrorist groups around the world with which it once flirted. Worryingly, though, a certain sneaking regard for Hamas clearly lingers in some corners of the party. Irelands membership of the EU dictates that collective decisions will be made alongside our European neighbours. But it is still right for the Taoiseach to stress the primacy of humanitarian law, which must restrain the hands even of those who have been grievously wronged. As the death toll rises in Gaza, it may already be too late to prevent Israel squandering the international sympathy it attracted in the aftermath of the outrages by Hamas; but Varadkar has played his part thus far with gravitas, tact and empathy. Palestinians stand by the building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip Chaos in Gaza as Israel prepares to retaliate against Hamas. Amid a humanitarian crisis, Palestinians are forced to flee as Israeli forces gather to attack Hamas. Israel is also evacuating its own citizens away from the border following the Hamas attack. A scene from the film 'Kiss Of The Con Queen', currently in production, showing Irish actor Eoin O'Brien, who fell victim to the con queen and wrote the film. Photo: De Warrenne Pictures/PA For Eoin OBrien, a Dublin expat living in Bangkok, securing a part in a blockbuster film was the dream of a lifetime. But the Hollywood producer who he thought was giving him that opportunity was not who they said they were. His story echoes the experiences of victims of Hargobind Tahilramani, also known as the Con Queen of Hollywood, accused of being behind an elaborate scam, taking over $1million from more than 300 victims. Presenter Fionnan Sheahan speaks to Eoin OBrien about his own story of being scammed by a supposed Hollywood producer and turning that experience into a film. Publishing cooperation promotes mutual learning between China, Arab countries 10:19, October 16, 2023 By Zhang Zhiwen ( People's Daily The Riyadh International Book Fair 2023 recently concluded in Riyadh, capital of Saudi Arabia. As one of the largest book exhibitions in the Arab world, the event was attended by over 1,800 publishing houses from some 30 countries and regions, and received over 1 million visits. During the book fair, Chinese publishing companies gathered to showcase a collection of excellent China-themed books to Arab readers. Various cultural exchange activities between China and Saudi Arabia, as well as China and other Arab countries, were held to inject new vitality into promoting China-Saudi Arabia publishing cooperation and enhancing mutual understanding and exchange between civilizations. Photo shows the exhibition booth for Chinese books at the Riyadh International Book Fair 2023. (People's Daily/Zhang Zhiwen) An exhibition booth in the exhibition hall No. 3 with an eye-catching red color caught the attention of many visitors. Neatly arranged on several rows of shelves were China-themed books in Chinese, Arabic, English, and other languages. Among them were notable titles such as "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China" and various books on Chinese history, philosophy, and tourism. Bayt Al-Hekma Cultural Group, a publishing house mainly devoted to the Arabic translation of Chinese books as well as Chinese language learning books and courses, is the sales agent of "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China" in Arab countries. Ahmed al-Saeed, CEO of the group, told People's Daily that the fourth volume of the book in Arabic is popular among readers in Arab countries. "Many readers hope to gain a comprehensive, multi-dimensional, and vivid understanding of China's achievements today through this work," he added. As this year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), many books on Belt and Road cooperation in Arabic were displayed at the book fair, such as "The Belt and Road Comparative Studies on Regional and National Economic Development" and a picture encyclopedia of the Silk Road history. They served as valuable references for readers to gain a deeper understanding of the achievements of the BRI. Saudi Arabian readers browse at the exhibition booth for Chinese books at the Riyadh International Book Fair 2023. (People's Daily/Zhang Zhiwen) Dr. Hamad A. Altowaijri, assistant professor of Economics at the College of Business Administration, Saudi Arabia's King Saud University, told People's Daily that the deep synergy between the BRI and Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 formed in recent years has forcefully driven the development of the relations between Saudi Arabia and China. "It is believed that the publishing cooperation between the two countries will inject more wisdom to the steady and long-term development of Saudi Arabia-China ties," he noted. "Do you have any books related to ancient Chinese history?" A 14-year-old boy from Saudi Arabia named Rakan, who was attending the book fair, said that he had been studying Chinese for 10 months, and an increasing number of his friends were beginning to learn the language as well. "I hope to have the chance to delve into Chinese history, which will allow me to gain a deeper understanding of Chinese culture," he added. As China-Saudi Arabia relations continue to develop, there has been a surge of interest in learning the Chinese language in Saudi Arabia. Since 2019, the Saudi Arabian government has incorporated the Chinese language into the country's national educational system, and launched a series of measures to stimulate students' enthusiasm for learning the language. A local girl poses for a picture at the exhibition booth for Chinese books at the Riyadh International Book Fair 2023. (People's Daily/Zhang Zhiwen) Relevant enterprises have also released Chinese language textbooks and supplementary materials tailored to the specific conditions of Arab countries and catering for learners at different proficiency levels. At the book fair, there was a constant flow of Saudi Arabian readers seeking to purchase Chinese language textbooks. During this book exhibition, China and Saudi Arabia signed an implementation plan for projects in the fields of literature, publishing, and translation, which was a high on the agenda of the event. It marked the beginning of a new chapter of publishing exchange and cooperation between the two countries. Yahya Mahmoud Bin Junaid, Chairman of Saudi Arabia's Center for Research and Intercommunication Knowledge, pointed out that China has a long history and a splendid culture, and in recent years, more and more international readers are eager to understand China as the country constantly increases its global influence. "Arab countries attach great importance to the Arabic-Chinese translation and publishing industry, aiming to help more Arab readers gain a deeper understanding of China through these efforts," he noted. In recent years, the copyright trade between China and Arab countries has shown a positive trend of increasing quantity, improving quality, and stable momentum. The annual volume of copyright trade between China and Arab countries has reached 2,000 items for consecutive years, accounting for 10 percent of China's total copyright trade with countries worldwide. In response to the new trend of digitalization around the world, publishing institutions in China and Arab countries have collaborated to develop Arabic e-book websites, Arabic digital reading platforms, and China-Arab copyright trade platforms, successfully bringing high-quality books from China and Arab countries into the digital realm. According to Guan Hong, the Deputy General Manager of China Intercontinental Press, the downloads of the digital reading mobile application launched by the company have exceeded 8.8 million, with users from 175 countries and regions. The application currently ranks second among the digital reading platforms of local publishers in the Arab region, Guan added. Abdullah Kaabi, Chairman of the Emirates Publishers Association, stated that Arab countries and China make an exemplary model for cross-cultural exchange and dialogue. In recent years, the book copyright trade between China and the Arab countries has flourished, with Chinese writers gaining popularity among Arab readers, he noted, adding that the experiences of China also provide valuable insights for the development of the publishing industry in Arab countries. It is hoped that the two sides can continue to strengthen cooperation and exchange in the publishing field, and play a greater role in promoting mutual learning and exchange between the two great civilizations, he remarked. (Web editor: Hongyu, Du Mingming) Third time lucky The belief that the third time something is attempted is more likely to succeed than the previous two attempts. It is also used as a good luck charm - spoken just before trying something for the third time. What's the origin of the phrase 'Third time lucky'? Is it really important? Read if you have time to spare. The first time we come across what appears to be a precursor to this phrase is in Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Letters addressed to R. H. Horne, 1839: The luck of the third adventure It is listed explicitly in Alexander Hislop's The proverbs of Scotland, 1862: "The third time's lucky. " The 'proverbial' description from the mid 19th century suggest it dates from earlier, although how much earlier we can't really tell. Why is the third time lucky? Again, we don't know. There are a few suggestions. The most common is that it alludes to the belief that, under English law, anyone who survived three attempts at hanging would be set free. This is probably from the story of John 'Babbacombe' Lee. Lee was a West Country sailor who was convicted of the murder of Emma Keyse at Babbacombe Bay in 1885. He was sentenced to hang at Exeter prison and three attempts to execute him all failed. The Home Secretary of the time, Sir William Harcourt, commuted the sentence to life imprisonment and Lee was later freed. He was known thereafter as 'the man they couldn't hang' and went on to live a long life, dying sometime in the 1940s. Fascinating story though it is, the use of 'third time lucky' pre-dates it and thus it can't be the origin. Nor is any earlier reference to the supposed English law on freeing those who survived three hanging attempts. This legal ruling never existed in any general sense and is restricted to isolated cases like Lee's. Another suggestion is that it refers to the Christian Trinity. There seems little to support that idea. It might relate in some way to goodness or luck being associated with the number three, but has no specific link with the third of anything. It seems more likely that it is just a folk belief that, having had setbacks, we ought to persevere and not give up. This is enshrined in the phrase 'try, try and try again'. Three seems to be the right number of times to try. Two isn't enough but four is too many. Think of every time you've seen a drama in which a character tries to unlock a door with an set of unfamiliar keys. The first key fails, the second key fails - it is always the third that works. The same idea is expressed in the American expression 'third time's a charm'. This may be an variant of the earlier 'third time lucky' or it may have arisen independently in the USA. The first citation I can find for it is in The Weekly Sentinel, June 1912. This is in a rather snooty court report about a Mrs. Martha Carliss, who had been twice married previously and 'gave her name as' sixty four: There are delays for motorists this morning following a collision in Dublin city centre and a breakdown on the M50. Dublin Fire Brigade attended the scene of a road traffic collision that took place on Fitzgibbon Street in Dublin 1, motorists can expect delays in the area. A car also broke down on the M50 between Junction 12, Firehouse, and Junction 13, Dundrum, in the southbound direction with the hard shoulder effected, causing delays. Meanwhile, the 05.45 Cork to Heuston service is operating approximately 10 minutes late due to a a passenger illness on board, the passenger has been removed by ambulance staff. Delays are also expected for the 7.45 Pearse to Dundalk service that is operating at approximately 10 minutes delayed due to a technical issue that meant the train had to stop in Malahide. More to follow 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. Lies We Tell - Trailer "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. A Kerry farmer has been banned from driving for two years for driving with excess alcohol after he was stopped by gardai, who noticed his van driving erratically and crossing over a while line. A full meeting of Kerry County Council has heard that people with disabilities are regularly forced to seek alternative transport to work and college as the bus is full by the time it gets to their stop in Listowel. The 272 Bus Eireann route between Ballybunion and Tralee which also has scheduled stops in Lisselton, Listowel, Mountcoal, and Kilflynn appeared in The Kerrymans pages last week (October 11 edition) as Sinn Fein Councillor Tom Barry drew attention to just how oversubscribed the service is. The bus leaves Ballybunion at 7.40am, and Cllr Barry described frantic scrambles for seats when the bus stops in Listowel, with little chance of getting a seat by later stops in Mountcoal and Kilflynn. Cllr Barry claimed at Mondays full meeting that nothing has changed since he raised the issue publicly. Ive highlighted this and I had a response from the National Transport Authority [NTA], he said. They said theyre going to make changes that will address the issue in quarter four. Were well into quarter four now, and the situation is ongoing. I got this response over two weeks ago. Minister Ryan said to Deputy Pa Daly in the Dail that hed look into it. Nothing has happened. People are still being left on the side of the road. Cllr Barry said he was contacted over the weekend by individuals who made it clear that this issue has even hit some of the more vulnerable members of society. He claimed, for example, that two college students who also attend St John of Gods services cant get the bus to Tralee. Theyre not assertive enough to push themselves onto the bus, which some people are doing, he told the meeting. I was contacted this weekend by one gentleman with a disability who relies on this bus. He gets on at Mountcoal Cross in Listowel. He works in Killarney. When the bus is approaching, he sees a sign at the front saying the bus is full. He then has to thumb into Tralee to get a connecting bus to Killarney...Thats unacceptable. The National Monuments Service of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage was notified on Saturday of incidents of damage and vandalism at the Carrowkeel Passage Tomb Complex in County Sligo, a National Monument in State Guardianship. The etching of extensive graffiti across various architectural stones of a number of the 5,500-year-old passage tombs is being treated very seriously, as is the apparent collapse of an entrance stone to one of the tombs. The National Monuments Service (NMS) and the Office of Public Works (OPW) say they are deeply dismayed by this wanton act of vandalism. The site was inspected by the OPW this morning and NMS will inspect during the week to prepare a damage report for forwarding to An Garda Siochana, asking them to formally investigate this criminal act. Such interference is a serious offence and can lead to significant penalties being imposed. Damage to one of the Carrowkeel passage tombs. Photo: Ken Williams X/Twitter. The OPW and NMS rely on public support for the protection of the national heritage estate, particularly in being vigilant in reporting damage to monuments as with the vandalism at Carrowkeel. Public support is essential in order to foster greater understanding and appreciation of the need to conserve such an integral part of Irelands historic environment. Graffiti scratched on one of the Carrowkeel passage tombs. Photo: Ken Williams X/Twitter. All possible efforts are made to protect national monuments, which is challenging where they are in remote rural settings such as at Carrowkeel. Climbing on the passage tombs and accessing them without permission is dangerous and is prohibited. There are signs on site stating No Climbing and No Entry. These signs are replaced by the OPW when they are vandalised. Graffiti on one of the Carrowkeel tombs. Photo: Ken Williams X/Twitter. The vast amount of visitors to archaeological monuments are very respectful of them. A joint OPW and NMS Protect Our Past campaign urges visitors to heritage sites to be mindful of their actions when visiting archaeological monuments. The focus of the campaign is to raise awareness of the value, importance and sensitivity of Irelands archaeological heritage and to convey some key messages around visitor behaviour at monuments. A short guide has been produced and is published online at https://issuu.com/obair/docs/protecting_our_past. On Saturday 21st October at 11am there will be a nature walk and acorn gathering activity at Hazelwood organised by The Nature Trust. The acorns collected will go to an Irish tree nursery to be grown into oak saplings. The Nature Trust is planting new native woodlands around Ireland, one was planted in County Sligo earlier this year. These acorns will go to an Irish tree nursery where they will be germinated and grown for two to three years before being planted, says Declan Little, native woodland specialist and registered seed collector working with The Nature Trust. All of the trees we plant in these new native woodlands come from seed collected in Ireland. This event is an opportunity for people to come and take part in the very first step in the process of creating a new native woodland. One of the new native woodlands established by The Nature Trust earlier this year is in Moylough in Co. Sligo, which is just under 10 hectares (24 acres) in size and planted with a mix of native trees and shrubs including oak, alder, Scots pine, hazel, hawthorn and rowan. We plant native woodland communities with a diverse mix of species to suit the specific conditions of each site, says Ciaran Fallon, Director at The Nature Trust. We are interested in acquiring sites 5 hectares or larger (over 12 acres) to plant with native woodlands which will stay in the ownership of The Nature Trust and will be a wonderful amenity for the local community for years to come. Book a place at the acorn gathering on Eventbrite or contact info@naturetrust.ie The MMM community in Drogheda is mourning the loss of one of their beloved members this week. Sr. Jude Walsh, born in 1921 and baptised Mary Agnes, came from Tourlestrane, Co. Sligo. Her family called her May. Her primary education was local, but she attended St. Louis Convent, Kiltimagh, Co.Mayo for her secondary education. After school she qualified as a pharmacist in Dublin and worked there for a year before joining MMM in 1947. Immediately after finishing her initial religious formation period, she was assigned to Nigeria. There she worked as a pharmacist in hospitals in Anua, Afikpo and Obudu for ten years. Then she returned to Ireland, assuming leadership responsibilities within the fast-growing MMM Congregation. She was responsible for the Motherhouse in Drogheda and later for the House of Studies in Dublin. In 1971, Sr. Jude was asked to go to USA where she oversaw the mission work in several countries, including Brazil. In 1974, she was elected as Superior General of the Congregation, and served for 11 years in this position. The late Sr Jude Walsh No easy retirement for an active lady! After a short vacation and break, off she went to Uganda to work at Kitovu Hospital, Masaka for five years, returning to Ireland in her early seventies. But she did not stay long in Ireland. One more mission awaited her; her energy unbounded! This time she went to Chicago to help with fund-raising and mission awareness. Sr. Jude stayed in Chicago until poor eyesight forced her return in 1999. She became an active member of the Drogheda MMM community in Beechgrove, always the first to greet guests as they come to visit. She was known as a great correspondent with friends all over the world. Her Christmas post weighed down the postman! She was a good listener, had a great sense of humour and enjoyed company. Her family were very important to her, and she managed to keep contact with all the generations. She moved to Aras Mhuire Nursing Home in 2021. There she was content to celebrate her 100th birthday in June 2021. Her health declined slowly and she died peacefully on October 12, 2023. Jack Guiney, who has a previous conviction for drink-driving from Wexford District Court, allegedly drove the wrong way down a California highway A former Wexford hurling star is currently in custody at Marin County Jail in the US after an alleged drink-driving incident which allegedly saw him drive on the wrong side of a California highway resulting in a collision with an oncoming car near the Golden Gate Bridge. Rathnure native Jack Guiney (30), with current address in Berkeley, California, was arrested and brought to Marin County Jail where he was remanded in custody in lieu of $50,000 bail. Guiney was detained on felony counts of intoxicated driving and causing injury and driving the wrong way on a highway causing injury. The incident got under way at around 12.15 a.m. (local time) on Friday morning. The California Highway Patrol received a report of a Land Rover driving erratically on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. A short time later, the Land Rover is alleged to have travelled south in the northbound lane and crashed head-on into a Honda CRV. Paramedics rushed to the scene and the driver of the Honda was taken to hospital for treatment of what are understood to be minor injuries. Guiney was arrested and currently remains in custody at Marin County Jail. The former Wexford hurler has a previous conviction for drink-driving from Wexford District Court, arising from an incident at Parnell Street in Wexford town in November 2017. Judge Brian OShea handed the Rathnure man an 800 fine and a three year driving ban. This conviction was subsequently appealed, but Guiney did not turn up at court for proceedings on at least six separate occasions having moved to San Francisco where he works in sales, resulting in the appeal being struck out on November 15, 2022. In sporting terms, Guiney had continued to play hurling with Tipperary GAA Club in San Francisco and in August of 2022, he sensationally returned and was named in the starting 15 for Rathnures crucial relegation battle with Cloughbawn. While the rest of the country was in mourning at Irelands loss to the All Blacks in the quarter-final of the Rugby World Cup, one lucky Wexford person was celebrating as they became Irelands newest millionaire. The lucky punter became the 33rd National Lottery Millionaire of 2023 having scooped the top prize in the Lotto Plus 1 draw on Saturday night. The winning Lotto Plus 1 numbers for the Saturday 14th October draw were: 11, 13, 16, 25, 45, 46 and the bonus was 2. The National Lottery has confirmed that the winning store location will be revealed on Tuesday. The National Lottery have advised Lotto players all over the country to check their tickets carefully following last nights draw. The Wexford winner is advised to sign the back of their ticket and keep them safe. They should make contact with the National Lottery Prize Claims team on 1800 666 222 or email claims@lottery.ie and arrangements will be made for them to claim their prizes. A National Lottery spokesperson said: It may have been a night to forget for Irish sporting fans but for one of our players in Wexford, it will be a night to remember for all of the right reasons! "This player has become the 33rd National Lottery millionaire of 2023 and we are urging all of our players in the Wexford to check their tickets carefully today as one player has a ticket worth a life-changing amount. "The 1 million winner is advised to make contact with our prize claims team and arrangements will be made for them to collect their prize. Jennifer Whitmore was given reassurances after raising issue of numbers in Dail The Department of Education has promised Wicklow TD Jennifer Whitmore that all of the children in the Greystones school planning area will receive a first year place in September 2024. The Social Democrats TD raised the issue of the unacceptable shortfall of 72 secondary school places in Greystones for the academic year 2024, when she spoke in the Dail on the matter on Thursday, October 12. Deputy Whitmore was referring to the three secondary schools in the town St Davids Holy Faith Secondary School, Temple Carrig School and Greystones Community College which had recently opened their enrolments for intake next year but with fewer places available. In five weeks time, she said, those three schools will write to parents to let them know whether their child was successful in applying to the school. There will be hundreds of students awaiting that news. This is a time of year and a time in sixth class students lives that should be exciting for them. They should hear in November which secondary school they will go to. They will know if their friends are going to the same school and they will be excited about making new friends, going to a new school and, perhaps, using an iPad. This should be an exciting time for them but, unfortunately, we are yet again going to have a large number of students in Greystones for whom this time will not be exciting. Instead, it will be very stressful for them and their parents. This is because a large number of children will not get a school place in November, she said. She added that this was an issue that had been witnessed regularly in the Greystones area primarily because of the population growth. We have seen more than 4,000 new people come into our community since the previous census. However, it is not just because of the growth. It is also because investment in school infrastructure has not kept pace with that growth. That is the main problem. Of the three schools that opened their enrolments, two are unable to offer the same number of places they did last year. For this incoming intake, there will be 72 fewer places for secondary school students. This is a great deficit and there is a discrepancy in the numbers because there are more sixth class students coming out of the primary schools this year. This is going to be a big problem. Deputy Whitmore alluded to the schools proactive stance in releasing a collective statement recently, which explained in some detail why they found themselves in such a position. One of the schools, Temple Carrig School, had to wait two years for four temporary Portakabins to be put in to help deal with capacity issues, she said. The promised permanent extension for that school is nowhere to be seen. There has been no update on it so the school is having to reduce the number of children it can take in in September. The story is similar with Greystones Community College. It too is reducing numbers because it is waiting for a brand new school building. That will be fantastic when built but it needs to be fast-tracked. Deputy Whitmore said that she hoped the Minister of State [Sean Fleming, on behalf of the Education Minister Norma Foley] has a script from the Minister telling me exactly how the Department is going to ensure every child in Greystones will have a secondary school place available to him or her for 2024. Parents will need that information, as will the children and the schools. Deputy Fleming responded by saying the provision of school places was an absolute priority for the Department and that it was aware of pressures in the Greystones area. He said that in response to projections based on school place needs, the Department is providing significant additional post-primary capacity, including a new 1,000-pupil school building for Greystones Community College, which is currently at the tender stage. The Department has recently delivered a major building project to expand St Davids Holy Faith Secondary School and is also progressing a building project for Temple Carrig School to provide accommodation at this school for 1,000 pupils, he added. This is currently at stage 1, the preliminary design stage, he said. A project to deliver four modular mainstream classrooms has also been approved and these are now on site and the project is nearing completion. I assure the Deputy that Department officials will continue to actively engage with schools and patrons to ensure there is appropriate provision for all students in Greystones for the 2024-2025 school year and into the future. Families can be assured that any necessary solution will be delivered so that all of the children in the Greystones school planning area will receive a first year place, he said. Deputy Whitmore pointed out that regarding Greystones Community College, no date for completion has been made available, but assuming everything goes well she understands it will be 2025. The new facility at St Davids has not resulted in any additional places, while Temple Carrig was built for 750 pupils and it currently has 950 pupils in it, she said. She concluded by saying she takes comfort from the fact that the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, has said that all children in the Greystones planning area will receive a first year place and asked that the Department will work very closely with the schools in the area, so that this is sorted out as soon as possible. Once more highlighting a strong pipeline of projects which are delivering significant additional capacity Deputy Fleming assured Deputy Whitmore that there will be a place for everybody in the Greystones area in September 2024. The American Legion Auxiliary is seeking help with compiling a list of Purple Heart recipients. Beatrice Auxiliary President Lori Balke said every District President has a project each year. Our Auxiliary District President Cindy Lugan wanted to be able to recognize the Purple Heart recipients in our area, she said. Nobody realized that list was that difficult to come up with. There is no comprehensive list that we can obtain from government sources due to privacy considerations. Balke said veterans are so humble and dont necessarily want recognition. Sherm Skala has received two Purple Hearts. Skala enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corp and served for two years during the Vietnam War. He said the first honor when he was on a bridge watch and was under attack. Skala received a mild concussion. I dont remember a lot of it but know that we were on a bridge watch and was under attack, he said. It was no big deal. Skala said he received the second when he was riding on an amphibious tractor. We were on an amtrac and it ran over a mine, he said. I was injured with 25 other men. I was taken to a hospital in Japan. I remember receiving the Purple Heart while I was in the hospital. General Lewis Puller pinned it on my pajama top. His son was in the same company. Back in the Vietnam Era those who served were looked down on. It took years before I talked about it. Balke said she knew that Skala had received two Purple Hearts only because he was awarded a Quilt of Valor and it was in the bio read at the ceremony. Theyre very humble and so talking about receiving a medal is tough, she said. Veterans are very private people. Sometimes its difficult to get them to even agree to a Quilt of Valor. Thats the only way we know of some of the Purple Heart recipients. Skala finished college at University of Nebraska-Lincoln when he was released from the Marines. He taught in Northeast Nebraska and moved to teach at Diller-Odell in 2001. He retired from teaching in 2021. Balke said there is a history of the Purple Heart. The interesting thing about the Purple Heart is that it continues to evolve as to how and why its given. That changed after Vietnam. Skala said it means more today to have been awarded the Purple Heart than it did at the time it was awarded. I guess I hadnt thought about it too much but it means more today than it did at the time it was awarded because so many were given, he said. If you have received a Purple Heart or one of your family has, please provide the name of veteran, and any other information you may have, such as approximate date of Purple Heart was awarded. Please send this information via email to: phmemories2023@yahoo.com or contact the Veterans Club staff at 7th & Dorsey in Beatrice. 402-223-2700. More information can be found on the American Legion Auxiliary Post #27 Beatrice Facebook page. Met Eireann has issued Status Orange and Yellow rain warnings for thirteen counties tomorrow as heavy rain is expected. The country is set for a wet week with counties Cork and Waterford impacted by a Status Orange rain warning from 6am tomorrow until 6am on Wednesday. Blustery east to southwest winds and spells of heavy rain are expected and could cause localised flooding, poor visibility, difficult driving conditions and possible wave overtopping at high tide. While 11 other counties face a Status Yellow rain warning tomorrow. Heavy spells of rain are expected in Clare, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, Kilkenny and Wexford tomorrow, where the Status Yellow warning is in place from 6am tomorrow until 6am on Wednesday. While all counties in Connacht have also been issued with a Status Yellow rain warning from noon tomorrow until noon on Wednesday as heavy rain and blustery winds are expected. Yellow Rainfall Warning Affected Regions: Clare, Kerry, Kilkenny, Limerick, Tipperary & Wexford 06:00 Tue 17th Oct until 06:00 Wed 18th Oct Affected Regions: Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon & Sligo 12:00 Tue 17th Tue until 12:00 Wed 18th Octhttps://t.co/y935BNlwYb pic.twitter.com/94P2uaJ3Mg Met Eireann (@MetEireann) October 16, 2023 The UK Met Office has also issued a Yellow rain warning for counties Antrim, Armagh and Down that is in place from 6am Wednesday until noon on Thursday. However, Met Eireann forecasts a cloudy and dry day today, with just some isolated showers expected. Sunny spells may develop this afternoon but patchy rain and drizzle will likely endure in the southwest. It will remain cool with temperatures of 10 to 13 degrees highest this afternoon before dipping to 7 to 12 degrees overnight. Tuesday will see wet weather arrive as rain will spread across Munster, south Leinster and parts of Connacht in the morning. The rain will extend across the rest of the country as the day progresses, turning heavy and thundery at times. Highest temperatures of 9 to 14 degrees are expected tomorrow. The outlook for the rest of the week is milder but unsettled with rain and showers every day, according to Met Eireann. Wednesday will be cloudy with widespread outbreaks of rain that will turn heavy at times though temperatures will remain around 13 to 16 degrees during the day. That night will remain cloudy with patches of rain, weather that will continue into Thursday. There will be scattered heavy showers with some sunny intervals on Thursday and Friday. Met Eireann forecasts that the weekend will stay unsettled with further spells of rain and showers and will turn cooler. Modern morals: Our friend is a terrible godfather to our daughter. Can I change my mind and ask my brother to be godparent instead? Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese delivers a statement on the outcome of the Voice Referendum at Parliament House in Canberra. Photo: Reuters Australia will look for new ways to lift Indigenous living standards after voters soundly rejected a proposal to create an advocacy committee, the deputy prime minister has said. Every state and mainland territory apart from Australian Capital Territory voted against a proposal to enshrine in the constitution an Indigenous Voice to Parliament to advocate on behalf of the nations most disadvantaged ethnic minority. Electric cars to cost 6k more if Sunak cant do deal with EU New EU rules require 45pc of car to originate in the UK by value Motorists in the UK face paying much more for electric cars from next January. Photo: Paddy McGrath Adam Forrest Mon 16 Oct 2023 at 03:30 Electric cars will cost British motorists an extra 6,000 (6,900) if Rishi Sunak fails to strike a post-Brexit deal with the EU on tariffs, industry bosses have told The Independent. Undercover cop tortured for days before being shot dead by gang members in Spain The mans body was found in a pool of blood, tied hands and feet and with a bag over his head Marbella Niall Feiritear Mon 16 Oct 2023 at 07:45 An undercover German agent working for police was tortured for days by drug dealers before being shot in the head on Spain's Costa del Sol. President Vladimir Putin said thoughts of war between Russia and the US were unhealthy. Photo: Sputnik/AP President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that suggestions the United States should prepare for a war against Russia and China were nonsense, and warned the West that any war against Russia would be on a whole different level to the conflict in Ukraine. LATEST | Israel-Hamas war: one million Gazans flee homes ahead of ground offensive as Israel says 199 citizens held hostage US President Joe Biden considering visit to Israel Palestinians flee northern Gaza as Netanyahu says next stage is coming Mon 16 Oct 2023 at 16:30 Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group said it has started destroying CCTV cameras on several Israeli army posts along the border as tension rises in light of the Israel-Hamas conflict. Gaza crisis: Concern for Irish troops in Lebanon as fears grow that war could widen Government says its doing all it can to help dual citizens who have gathered near Egypt border A woman watches for incoming Hamas rockets as she shelters by the side of the motorway with a young boy in Tel Aviv, Israel. Photo: Leon Neal/Getty Philip Ryan, Catherine Fegan, Conor Feehan and Adrian Weckler Tue 17 Oct 2023 at 01:00 The Government is concerned for the safety of hundreds of Irish troops based in the Middle East amid fears of an escalation in violence in the region. Israel vows to demolish Hamas as humanitarian catastrophe feared Civilians urged to evacuate to south as troops to enter Gaza, while Iran issues warning Palestinians queue as they wait to fill cans with fuel, amid severe shortages, at a petrol station in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: Reuters Nidal al-Mughrabi and Emily Rose Mon 16 Oct 2023 at 03:30 Israels prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday vowed to demolish Hamas as his troops prepared to move into the Gaza Strip in pursuit of militants whose deadly rampage through Israeli border towns shocked the world. Whispering Acres Tails and Treasures near Jansen held the third annual Farmyard Festival on Saturday. Owner Jill Kuzelka said they host it every year to give the community an opportunity. We want to give people the opportunity to come out and see the horses and all the animals we have here, she said. We really want people to know what we do while were earning a little to support the animals throughout the winter. The fundraising event offered a morning 5K, a silent auction, face painting, the holiday shoppe and multiple barnyard games in addition to a tour of the petting zoo. Everyone likes the horse rides today, she said. The equine-assisted learning center utilizes most of the 22 horses at the farm which includes three miniature donkeys and three miniature horses. The farm is also home to turkeys, chickens, ducks, goats, sheep, zebu, emus, turkeys, pot-belly pigs, tortoises, and a variety of other exotic animals. Booker Theye worked from May to July at the farm with a Vocational Rehabilitation Program through the Nebraska Department of Labor. Theye said he helped with all the animals during the summer, but especially liked the emus. I liked the emus, he said. He hopes to work at Whispering Acres again next summer. Kuzelka said there were eight youth through the program that helped with the daily chores. They learned to fill out a time sheet, she said. They helped with feeding, watering, and cleaning. They learned which tools to use and had to put them away when they were done. That was hard for all of them. She noted that one of the young men who worked through the program had a limited vocabulary of only about twelve words and communication was difficult. One day we were talking about which animals they wanted to work with, and he said zebu. We were so surprised and of course, he worked with the zebu that day. The warm room houses skinks, cockatiels with a clutch of eggs, a hermit crab, fish and a salt-water tank and micro squirrels. It doesnt matter what animal you have; it helps with the cortisol levels, and it just makes you a calmer person all the way around, Kuzelka said. Sometimes if people come out, the 1200 pounds animal might scare them, so we start with a different kind of animal. Kuzelka noted that she had learned a lot because of animals and wanted to share that with other people. We just want to be educational and provide an opportunity for people to see different kinds of animals, she said. Visitors to the farm pay a $15 fee for a guided tour of the zoo and $25 per hour to ride a horse. Nursing homes, civic and service organizations and schools visit the farm. Holiday with the Horses photo sessions will begin in November. A schedule of other upcoming events and photos can be found on the Whispering Acres Tails and Treasures Facebook page. A six-year-old Palestinian-American boy who was fatally stabbed in an anti-Muslim hate crime linked to the Israel-Hamas war was likely trying to give his attacker a hug when he was murdered, according to his devastated father. Stalked Irish actor who fled California joins Apple lawsuit over AirTag tracking devices She could see what the Air Tag owner could see, where she worked, where she parked her car, her and everywhere she had been Aine O'Neill Eamon Dillon Mon 16 Oct 2023 at 18:32 An Irish actor and producer has said she had to flee the United States after being targeted by stalker in Hollywood who planted a tracking device on her car. Poland's liberal, pro-EU opposition on Monday looked on track to form the next government after official partial results and exit polls showed the ruling nationalists losing their parliamentary majority in the nation's most pivotal election in decades. The incumbent Law and Justice (PiS) party has repeatedly clashed with the European Union over the rule of law, media freedom, migration and LGBT rights since it swept to power in 2015. Opposition parties have vowed to mend ties with Brussels and scrap reforms they say have eroded Polish democracy. Sydney: Workers at Chevron Australia's liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities are expected to resume their strikes on Thursday, as talks between the unions and the energy giant failed in the deal-finalisation phase. The Offshore Alliance (OA), a coalition of the Australian Workers' Union and the Maritime Union of Australia, announced Sunday on social media that 410 members voted in a secret ballot with 91 percent support of kicking off a protected industrial action (PIA) on Thursday. In a statement on the industrial action, a spokesperson from Chevron Australia expressed extreme disappointment over the voting result. Together, Chevron Australia's Gorgon and Wheatstone projects have the capacity to produce 24.5 million tons of LNG per year. Since September 8, around 500 union members at all three West Coast facilities have commenced an industrial action, which could threaten seven percent of the world's LNG supply, according to the Australian Financial Review. (With UNI/XINHUA inputs) Canadian PM Justin Trudeau wishes Hindu community members on Navratri. Photo Courtesy: Justin Trudeau Instagram page Canadian PM Justin Trudeau wished the Hindu community in his country on 'Navratri' amid the ongoing diplomatic row with India over the killing of Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Trudeau posted on X: "Happy Navratri! Im sending my warmest wishes to members of the Hindu community and all those who are celebrating this festival." Happy Navratri! Im sending my warmest wishes to members of the Hindu community and all those who are celebrating this festival. https://t.co/ISCjvJqnKJ Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) October 15, 2023 In a separate statement, he said: "Navratri is one of the most important and sacred festivals in the Hindu faith, commemorating the victory of the goddess Durga over the buffalo-headed demon Mahishasura and the triumph of good over evil. Often seen as a celebration of feminine energy, it is a time for friends and family to come together and honour century-old traditions with prayers, joyous performances, special meals, and fireworks." Also Read: Nijjar row: Canada shifted several diplomats to Singapore, Malaysia from India Recognizing the contribution of the Hindu community, he said: "For all Canadians, Navratri also offers an opportunity to learn more about the rich history and culture of Hindu communities and to recognize their invaluable contributions to Canadas social, cultural, and economic fabric. Todays celebrations remind us that diversity is one of Canadas greatest strengths." Diplomatic ties between New Delhi and Ottawa soured after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that New Delhi could be behind Nijjar's killing. Canadian PM Justin Trudeau on September 18 alleged the potential involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey British Columbia on June 18. India dismissed the allegation, calling it absurd and motivated. In 2020, India designated Nijjar as a terrorist. Photo Courtesy: Arindam Bagchi X page The fourth flight, carrying 274 Indian passengers stranded in Israel under the Centre's recently launched 'Operation Ajay', arrived in New Delhi on Sunday. Union Minister of State General (Retd) VK Singh received the Indian passengers. MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi posted on X: "4th flight with 274 passengers onboard touches down in New Delhi." #OperationAjay update! 4th flight with 274 passengers onboard touches down in New Delhi. Citizens welcomed by MoS @MORTHIndia @Gen_VKSingh at the airport. pic.twitter.com/o5r6FGGDDU Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) October 15, 2023 "Citizens welcomed by MoS@MORTHIndia@Gen_VKSinghat the airport," he said. Speaking to Indian news agency ANI, Singh said: "This is the 4th flight, we are expecting more for a couple of reasons. One is the fear that something might hit them. After having been taken by surprise, Israel also gathered its things in a more orderly manner. However, the universities being closed, a general atmosphere of fear and preparation that is going on in Israel, our people fear that they should not unnecessarily become burden out there and come back home. And go back when things pan out in a better manner." "There is another flight coming in tomorrow. We will keep running the flights till all the people who have registered are taken out. This operation is going very well. It is seamless, well organised... My message would be to stay where you are and follow the instructions. There is no need to panic," he added. A passenger appreciated the Indian government's move to launch the operation to evacuate stranded Indians from Israel. An Indian student coming from Israel told ANI, "In the beginning it was horrific. Everything was uncontrollable. But now the situation is under control. The government and military are taking very strict action...Thank you, it was the best initiative (Operation Ajay) taken by the government of India." Priya Gupta, an Indian national, told ANI, "I was in Tel Aviv University for the past two years... There was support from the Indian embassy as well... I feel thankful to the Indian government for making this arrangement. It was really quick." The evacuation is taking place after the Indian government announced Operation Ajay, a measure to bring back Indians from war-torn Israel. Photo Courtesy: twitter.com/divakarssathya, social media videograb Toronto: A convoy of vehicles led by pro-Khalistan groups, displaying posters of separatist leaders and chanting divisive slogans, passed by the largest temple in Surrey, British Columbia on the same day Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau extended Navratri wishes to the Hindu community in Canada, Hindustan Times reported. Happy Navratri! Im sending my warmest wishes to members of the Hindu community and all those who are celebrating this festival. https://t.co/ISCjvJqnKJ Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) October 15, 2023 Satish Kumar, president of Lakshmi Narayan Mandir in Surrey, described this event as "intimidating," particularly on a day of high devotee attendance, the report said. The procession also featured Khalistani flags and promoted a 'Kill India' car rally on October 21, concluding at Indias Consulate in Vancouver, it added. The rally would start from the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, which was headed by Khalistani figure Hardeep Nijjar, till he was murdered on June 18. Another phase of the so-called Khalistan referendum is slated for October 29 in Surrey, with posters featuring terrorist figures like Nijjar and Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the separatist leader who was killed in Operation Blue Star, ordered by the then Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi, to eliminate terrorists from the Golden Temple in Amritsar in 1984. This temple in Surrey has faced been on the radar of Khalistani separatists recently, including the pasting of posters targeting Indias senior diplomats. In August, an unidentified person was arrested by the Surrey detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Justin Trudeau's statement after the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7 also garnered special attention from Indo-Canadians. As alarming visuals of triumphant events across Canada over Hamass onslaught on Israel, including in the Greater Toronto Area towns of Mississauga went viral, emerged, Trudeau tweeted, The glorification of violence is never acceptable in Canada by any group or in any situation. I strongly condemn the demonstrations that have taken place, and are taking place, across the country in support of Hamas attacks on Israel. Lets stand united against acts of terror. The glorification of violence is never acceptable in Canada by any group or in any situation. I strongly condemn the demonstrations that have taken place, and are taking place, across the country in support of Hamas attacks on Israel. Lets stand united against acts of terror. Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) October 9, 2023 However, he has not yet condemned the portrayal of the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on a float featured in a shaheedi diwas or martyrdom day event in Brampton, a town in the GTA, on June 4. This event marked the 39th anniversary of Operation Bluestar, during which Indian security forces launched an operation at the Golden Temple. Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two members of her security team on October 31 of that year. In the same vein, there has been limited criticism concerning the billboards and posters of Talwinder Singh Parmar at certain extremist gurdwaras in Canada. Parmar is regarded as the mastermind behind the terrorist bombing of Air India Flight 182, known as the Kanishka. This attack on June 23, 1985, resulted in 329 fatalities, making it the deadliest terrorist incident in Canadas history. In fact, pro-Khalistan groups organised a procession in honour of Parmar to the Air India memorial in Toronto in June of this year. According to the HT report, Dr Azad Kaushik, president of the National Alliance of Indo-Canadians or NAIC, said, Such doublespeak is reprehensible. Silence of our Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is baffling at best, as he never condemned the deplorable incident, he added, in the context of the warning by the separatist group Sikhs for Justice or SFJ to Hindu Canadians of Indian origin to leave the country, the HT report said. SFJ, however, had contended Hindus had rejoiced over Nijjars death. Tudeau's statement in the House of Commons on September 18 that there were credible allegations of India's role in that murder, of course, has widened the rift in Canada-India relations. Nijjar was SFJs main handler in British Columbia and the group has said it feels emboldened by Trudeaus statement and holds remarks made by political leaders in the House on September 18 as an acceptance of the Khalistan referendum, according to the HT report. Image credit: Mahua Moitra Facebook New Delhi: BJP MP Nishikant Dubey has communicated to Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and his junior minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar to investigate allegations of 'bribe for question involving Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra. In a letter addressed to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Dubey highlighted receiving 'indisputable' evidence from a Supreme Court lawyer regarding alleged bribery between Moitra and businessman Darshan Hiranandani. He compared the incident to the 2005 'Cash for Query' scandal and urged the Speaker to establish a probe panel to examine the claims. I hv learnt from news reports that this Parliamentary Question was likely asked by a MP at the behest of a Data center company. If true this is indeed shocking and shameful It is true that this company was actively and aggressively lobbying for Data Localization. pic.twitter.com/slrtrNLNSy Rajeev Chandrasekhar (@Rajeev_GoI) October 16, 2023 Referring to the charges, Dubey, in his letter to the IT Minister, requested an inquiry into whether Mahua Moitra granted access to her Lok Sabha website login credentials to Hiranandani and his real-estate conglomerate Hiranandani Group, enabling them to exploit it for personal gain. Calling it "possibly the most damning and grave of all the charges" being made against her, Dubey said that if the claims are found to be true, it "constitutes a serious criminal breach of trust as well as a violation of India's national security". The BJP MP has sought a probe to find out the IP address of all login IDs used to access Lok Sabha account of Moitra and to learn if it at any time it was used from a place, she was not present. "In addition, I request that you determine whether there are any instances in which her Lok Sabha account was accessed at a location in which she was not present," Dubey wrote in the letter. Describing Moitra's behaviour "immoral, unlawful, and detrimental to the nation's security", Dubey urged the IT Ministry to consider the allegations against her with "utmost seriousness". In response, the Trinamool MP came down heavily at Dubey, asking the IT Ministry to make public the login credentials of all MPs. Taking to X, she wrote, "All parliamentary work of MPs done by PAs, assistants, interns, large teams. Respected Ashwini Vaishnaw, please release details of the location and login details of ALL MPs with CDRs. Please release info on training given to staff to login." All parliamentary work of MPs done by PAs, assistants, interns, large teams. Respected @ashwinivaishnaw please release details of location & login details of ALL MPs with CDRs . Please release info on training given to staff to login. pic.twitter.com/1Mz61LBjw3 Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) October 16, 2023 She also took a swipe at the Adani Group. "If the Adani group is relying on dodgy dossier created by dubious Sanghis & circulated by fake degree wallahs to either shut me up or bring me down I would advise them not to waste their time. Use your lawyers wisely," the Trinamool MP tweeted. If Adani group is relying on dodgy dossier created by dubious Sanghis & circulated by fake degree wallahs to either shut me up or bring me down I would advise them not to waste their time. Use your lawyers wisely. Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) October 15, 2023 An Adani Group spokesperson in a statement said on Monday that the bribe accusations against Moitra validate their October 9, 2023 statement. "The development corroborates our statement on 9 October, 2023 that some groups and individuals have been working overtime to harm our name, goodwill and market standing. In this particular case, a lawyer's complaint reveals that this arrangement to besmirch the reputation and interests of the Adani Group and our chairman Gautam Adani has been in place since 2018," the spokesperson said. Meanwhile, the Hiranandani Group has refuted the charges, saying that the conglomerate has always worked with the government in the interest of the nation and will continue doing so. Photo courtesy: Mahua Moitra Facebook/twitter.com/gautam_adani New Delhi: The Adani Group released a statement on Monday, responding to recent allegations of 'bribe-for-questions' involving Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, media reports said. The statement noted that certain parties and individuals have been making concerted efforts to tarnish the conglomerates reputation, goodwill, and market position. A spokesperson for the Adani Group emphasised that a Supreme Court lawyer recently lodged a formal complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), presenting a sworn affidavit detailing what he characterized as "an extensive criminal conspiracy." The Adani Group Monday said it is clear that some groups and individuals have been "working overtime" to harm the conglomerate's "name, goodwill and market standing" as proven by allegations. According to the allegation, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra and Darshan Hiranandani, the CEO of the Hiranandani Group devised a plan to specifically target Gautam Adani and his group of companies by raising a series of parliamentary questions. However, the Hiranandani Group has refuted allegations of offering bribes to the TMC MP. According to the Adani Group's statement, the lawyer's affidavit suggests that as part of this alleged exchange, Moitra received bribes and various undue advantages from Hiranandani. In an earlier statement, the Adani Group also highlighted how certain foreign entities, including the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), supported by a segment of foreign media, short-sellers, and domestic collaborators, have initiated a series of attacks against the Adani Group with the primary aim of undermining its market worth. The Adani Group further stated that a different Member of Parliament had relayed the complaint to the Lok Sabha Speaker, urging an inquiry into Moitra's actions and advocating for her suspension from the House. In a separate development, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey penned a letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker on Sunday, urging the establishment of an investigative committee to look into the conduct of Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra. Dubey said, Bribes were exchanged between Mahua Moitra and a businessman to ask questions in Parliament in exchange for cash and gifts. He also pointed out that among the 61 queries she raised in the Lok Sabha, 50 were specifically aimed at the Adani Group, a conglomerate that the TMC MP has consistently accused of misconduct. The Adani Group spokesperson also pointed out that this recent development lends credence to their earlier statement dated October 9, 2023. "The development corroborates our statement on 9 October, 2023 that some groups and individuals have been working overtime to harm our name, goodwill and market standing. In this particular case, a lawyer's complaint reveals that this arrangement to besmirch the reputation and interests of the Adani Group and our chairman Gautam Adani has been in place since 2018," the Adani Group spokesperson said. "In fact, these individuals and groups, bound by the common objective of damaging the Adani Group, have developed a playbook which is being executed by well-oiled and professional machinery working in sync within India and abroad," the Adani Group said. A blood clot is a lump of blood that can form in various body parts, including the legs, arms, lungs or heart. These clots can lead to severe health issues. This article will examine what blood clots are, their causes and symptoms. It's important to note that 3 in 10 people who experience a blood clot may face another episode within a decade, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). What is a blood clot? A blood clot is a semi-solid mass made up of blood cells and other substances that forms within your blood vessels. Normally, these clots help stop excessive bleeding when you're injured or have surgery, according to the Cleveland Clinic. But blood clots can also develop due to specific medical conditions, posing life-threatening risks. Here's where blood clots can occur: Veins: Clots can form in the arms and legs, known as deep vein thrombosis Clots can form in the arms and legs, known as deep vein thrombosis Arteries: They may develop in the lungs, causing pulmonary embolism They may develop in the lungs, causing pulmonary embolism Brain: Clots obstructing blood flow to the brain can result in a stroke Clots obstructing blood flow to the brain can result in a stroke Heart: Clots in the heart can lead to a heart attack What causes blood clots? Blood clots can develop for various reasons, according to Penn Medicine. Some common causes include: Injuries: Clots are more likely after an injury Clots are more likely after an injury Medical conditions: People with cancer, obesity, liver or kidney disease are at higher risk People with cancer, obesity, liver or kidney disease are at higher risk Smoking: Increases the risk of blood clots Inherited conditions can also make you prone to abnormal blood clots. These include: Factor V Leiden mutation Prothrombin G20210A mutation Rare conditions like protein C, protein S and antithrombin III deficiencies Blood clots during hospitalization Hospitalization, especially after physical trauma, surgery or extended immobility, heightens the risk of blood clots, according to the CDC. A clot occurring in a large vein, often in the leg or arm, is termed a deep vein thrombosis. Nearly half of all blood clots arise during or within three months of a hospital stay or surgical procedure. Coincidentally, a study published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation reported that within a week after a COVID-19 diagnosis, the likelihood of experiencing an arterial blood clot was nearly 22 times higher than in individuals not affected by COVID-19. Arterial blood clots could result in a heart attack or ischemic stroke. This risk significantly decreased in the second week, becoming less than four times higher, the study found. "I do think that that is a new element to the story that the risk is not only around the time of the acute COVID infection," Dr. Karen Furie, chief of neurology at Rhode Island Hospital and chair of neurology at Brown University's Warren Alpert Medical School in Providence, R.I., said in an article published by the American Heart Association. Elevated risks persisted no matter whether an individual required hospitalization due to COVID-19, although risks were more pronounced in those who were hospitalized. Additionally, the research revealed that clot risks were higher in both Black people and Asian populations. Blood clot symptoms Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) happens when a blood clot forms in one of your deep veins, often in your legs or occasionally in your arm. The National Blood Clot Alliance suggests keeping an eye out for these DVT signs and symptoms: Swelling, typically in one leg (or arm) Leg tenderness or pain, often resembling a cramp or Charley horse Bluish or reddish skin discoloration Warm leg (or arm) to the touch These blood clot symptoms may resemble a pulled muscle or Charley horse but can differ as they might involve swelling, skin discoloration and warmth. Contact your doctor immediately if you notice these signs, as immediate treatment may be necessary. Pulmonary embolism Blood clots can dislodge from a DVT and travel to the lung, leading to a potentially fatal condition known as pulmonary embolism (PE). Be alert to these PE symptoms: Sudden shortness of breath Sharp, stabbing chest pain that worsens with deep breaths Rapid heart rate Unexplained cough, occasionally with bloody mucus If you experience these PE symptoms, call 911 or seek immediate emergency room treatment via ambulance. Time is crucial when dealing with a possible pulmonary embolism. What does a blood clot feel like? An estimated 900,000 people in the U.S. will have blood clots each year, with 1 in 9 facing death, according to the University of Maryland Medical System. Recognizing the signs of a blood clot, particularly if you're at higher risk, is vital. Sometimes, blood clots remain silent until they trigger a PE. A clot in the leg might mimic a pulled muscle, while one in the lung can feel like someone's weight pressing on your chest, making it hard to breathe. To help remember these warning signs, use the acronym STOP (the) CLOT: Swelling in the leg or arm Tenderness or cramps in the leg Out of breath, or shortness of breath Passing out or feeling lightheaded Chest pain or back pain when breathing Leg discoloration, appearing red or blue Overdrive, when your heart races Time to call 911 Blood clot treatment The treatment of blood clots depends on their location and severity. Different options are available: For veins (deep vein thrombosis DVT) Treating blood clots in the veins involves measures to prevent clot growth and safeguard your health, including: Blood-thinning medications: Injection of anticoagulants like low molecular weight heparin, fondaparinux (Arixtra), or apixaban (Eliquis) prevents clot growth in deep veins. For arteries Treatment for a blood clot in the arteries requires prompt action to reestablish normal blood flow and prevent complications. Medication : Clot-dissolving medications and anticoagulants can restore blood flow to the heart or brain : Clot-dissolving medications and anticoagulants can restore blood flow to the heart or brain Surgery: Surgeons may unblock, reroute or graft blood vessels to bypass blockages For the brain (stroke) Treating blood clots in the brain (stroke) demands immediate and targeted interventions to minimize damage and improve outcomes. Emergency IV medication: Administered to break up brain clots, preventing spread Administered to break up brain clots, preventing spread Anticoagulants: To reduce clot formation and increase recovery chances To reduce clot formation and increase recovery chances Surgery: In complex cases, surgery removes clots and restores blood flow In complex cases, surgery removes clots and restores blood flow Vena cava filters: If you have a blood clot that can't be removed, a doctor could place a filter in your vena cava, a large vein in the middle of your body, to protect against additional clots For the heart and lungs Treating a blood clot in the heart and lungs typically requires a combination of strategies. Thrombolytics: These medications rapidly dissolve clots but raise bleeding risks These medications rapidly dissolve clots but raise bleeding risks Surgery: May be considered to remove the heart clot, depending on the situation Each treatment method addresses the specific needs and challenges associated with blood clots in different parts of the body. Living with a blood clot While pulmonary embolisms are a serious concern, most DVT patients learn to deal with the risk of recurrence. Blood thinners, often prescribed, may be temporary or lifelong based on the cause, demanding caution due to potential bleeding risks. The American Lung Association explains that a hypercoagulability evaluation to assess your increased tendency to clot may follow your diagnosis, searching for genetic or other risk factors. In rare cases where blood thinners aren't viable, an inferior vena cava (IVC) filter can be considered to stop blood clots from going into the lungs. Its benefits and risks require thorough discussion with your physician. Resources: American Heart Association: Blood Clot Risk Remains Elevated Nearly a Year After COVID-19 American Lung Association: Living with DVT/Blood Clots Cleveland Clinic: Blood Clots Johns Hopkins Medicine: Inferior Vena Cava (IVC) Filter Placement National Blood Clot Alliance: Signs and Symptoms of Blood Clots NHS Inform: Arterial thrombosis U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Hospitalization: A Major Risk Factor for Dangerous Blood Clots U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Impact of Blood Clots on the United States University of Maryland Medical System: Know the Warning Signs of a Blood Clot Photo Courtesy: Pixabay On October 14, 2023, at least six non-local labourers, working on a private site, were killed, and another two were injured, by Baloch militants in the Satellite Town area of Turbat city in the Kech District of Balochistan. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed that the operation was based on intelligence reports from BLAs intelligence wing suggesting presence of informers and agents of the Pakistani military, operating from a residential compound in Turbat city. These individuals, the BLA statement claimed, were seen frequenting Pakistani military camps and purportedly using vehicles associated with the military. Beyond their alleged ties to the Pakistani military, the BLA statement claimed that these individuals acted as informers and facilitated safe houses for what they describe as Pakistani death squads. The BLA statement also urged local contractors, hoteliers, and landlords in the region to refrain from aiding or providing facilities to individuals linked with the Pakistani military, cautioning that those found doing so would be held accountable. Following the raid, the statement claimed further, the injured and the bodies of the deceased were transported to Multan, Punjab, via a military helicopter. This attack came against the backdrop of the Armys undeclared ongoing operations in several parts of Balochsitan. On October 12, 2023, the Army, reportedly backed by helicopter gunships, launched a large-scale military operation in the Margat area of Bolan District and the Zarghoon area of Quetta in Balochistan. Helicopters were spotted shelling various area, while ground forces blocked different places. There are no clear reports regarding casualties. Earlier, on October 9, 2023, Security Forces (SFs) launched a military operation, firing multiple rockets and opening indiscriminate fire on civilian areas, including Raees Tokh and Shakh in the Sui town of Dera Bugti District. Once again, there have been no clear reports regarding casualties. These recent operations are part of an ongoing campaign by the Pakistan Army, which has been conducting such operations in Balochistan since long, from time to time. These operations have resulted in innumerable human rights violations. On July 7, 2023, The Balochistan Post revealed that in the first half of 2023, the Army conducted 149 raids, 113 blockades, and 99 military 42 different areas within Balochistan, including Kech (40), Bolan (36,) Panjgur (33), Kharan (30), Kalat (20), Quetta (17), Tump (14), Nushki and Mastung (11 each). In retaliation to the recent as well as earlier operations, Baloch insurgent groups have targeted Army personnel, as well and non-locals, whom they thought to be Army collaborators. Some of the significant attacks on non-locals in the current year included: August 7: Militants shot dead a non-local at Johan Cross near the Mangochar area of Kalat District. BLA took responsibility for the killing and alleged that the man was working as a spy for the Pakistan Army. July 27: Militants shot dead Ghulam Yaseen, hailing from Punjab, near Gumshaad Hotel in the Turbat town of Kech District, alleging that he was an Army agent. While claiming responsibility for the killing, BLA's 'spokesperson' Jeeyand Baloch claimed that Yaseen was working undercover, for the Pakistani forces. BLA issued a warning to residential hotel owners in Turbat and the surrounding areas, cautioning them against providing accommodation to such dubious individuals. July 3: BLA cadres abducted a resident of the Punjab province from a picnic spot in the Shaban area on the outskirts of Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan. BLA 'spokesperson' Jeeyand Baloch disclosed that BLA cadres raided the area and 'arrested' a suspicious person, hailing from Multan in Punjab. The fate of the abducted person remains unknown. According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), a total of 254 non-locals have been killed in Balochistan since August 26, 2006, (data till October 15, 2023). Of these, 198 were Punjabis. Other non-native also fell to the ethnic collateral damage, including 37 were Sindhis. The ethnic identity of the remaining 19 was unspecified. Significantly, most of the Punjabi settler killings were recorded in South Balochistan, which accounts for 167 of the total of 198 killings (principally in Bolan, Kech, Gwadar, Panjgur, Khuzdar, Sibi and Lasbela Districts); and 31 in North Balochistan (mostly in Kalat, Nushki, Quetta and Mustang Districts). The overwhelming concentration of such killings in the South is because of the presence and dominance of Baloch insurgent groups in this region, while the North is dominated by ethnic Pashtun Islamist extremist formations, such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), who principally engage in sectarian killings. The targeted killing of non-locals by Baloch insurgents increased in the province after the killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti, leader of the Bugti tribe and President of the Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP), in a military operation in the Chalgri area of the Bhamboor Hills of Dera Bugti District, on August 26, 2006. The Baloch insurgents believed that that these non-locals worked as spies for the SFs, and were also part of a systematic effort to deny work and benefits to the Baloch population. Baloch insurgent groups such as the BLA, Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) and the Baloch Republican Army (BRA), among others, began to voice anti-outsider, particularly anti-Punjabi, sentiments in their campaigns in the wake of the military action against Bugti. Another reason for the Baloch insurgents targeting these outsiders are the ongoing disappearances and extrajudicial killings of Baloch nationals, engineered by Pakistans SFs and their proxies. According to the SATP database, of the 4,677 civilian fatalities recorded in Balochistan since 2004 (data till October 15, 2023), at least 1,461 have been attributable to one or other terrorist/insurgent outfit. Of these, 486 civilian killings (296 in the South and 190 in the North) have been claimed by Baloch separatist formations, while Islamist and sectarian extremist formations primarily Islamic State, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Ahrar-ul-Hind (Liberators of India) claimed responsibility for another 975 civilian killings, 892 in the North (mostly in and around Quetta) and 83 in the South. The remaining 3,216 civilian fatalities 1,842 in the South and 1,374 in the North remain 'unattributed', and are largely believed to have been the handiwork of the SFs and their death squad proxies. Further, many of the outsiders are engaged on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects and are targeted because Baloch insurgents fear that CPEC will convert the Baloch people into minorities in their own homeland. Indeed, CPEC projects principally employ workers brought in from outside the province, overwhelmingly from Punjab. On March 17, 2017, Noordin Mengal, a human rights campaigner from the province, had stated that, with an influx of outsiders as a result of the CPEC projects, the identity of the Baloch was being threatened. According to the Census 2017, the total population of Balochistan was 12.3 million, and that the Baloch population (Balochi language speaking population) had shrunk from 61 per cent of the total to 55.6 per cent over a period of 19 years (since the Census of 1998), in the 21 Districts where the Balochi-speaking population form a majority. Most recently, on August 13, 2023, terrorists attacked a convoy of vehicles belonging to Chinese engineers and SFs near Faqir Colony Bridge in Gwadar city (Gwadar District). The BLA, which took responsibility for the attack, claimed that 11 SF personnel and four Chinese nationals were killed in the attack. Jeeyand Baloch declared that BLA's Majeed Brigade, BLA's 'suicide bomber squad', was behind the attack and identified the attackers as Naveed Baloch alias Aslam of Nigewar Dasht in Kech District and Maqbool Baloch alias Qaim of Awaran District. He stated, further, We have cautioned China repeatedly to reconsider its activities in Balochistan. BLA views such endeavours as acts of exploitation Any foreign investments in the region should only proceed after Balochistan achieves independence. The statement added that BLA had issued a 90-day ultimatum for China to withdraw from Balochistan, or prepare for intensified attacks on its 'key interests' in the region. However, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) claimed that there were no casualties in the Gwadar attack, other than the two attackers who were killed. Islamabads record of treatment of its Baloch minority has been abysmal, both in terms of their development aspirations as well as their human rights. Crucially, as processes of their ethnic marginalisation accelerate, particularly in the shadow of CPEC, and the unending saga of disappearances and illegal detentions continues, attacks on SF personnel and non-locals are likely to continue. Photo Courtesy: Pageants News X page Sherika De Armas, who represented Uruguay in the Miss World competition in 2015, has died after fighting against cervical cancer for two years. She was 26. Fly high, little sister. Always and forever, her brother, Mayk De Armas, said on social media, reports New York Post. Anto Ciavaglia, a close friend, wrote as quoted by the newspaper, I remember you with that beautiful glow. Miss World Uruguay 2015, the beautiful Sherika De Armas, has lost the tough battle she faced against uterine cancer at the age of 26. Rest in peace queen pic.twitter.com/hfXD1olNZ6 PageantsNews (@PageantsNEWS) October 15, 2023 In the 2015 competition, De Armas failed to reach the top 30 stage but was one of only six 18-year-olds to compete in the showpiece event. I always wanted to be a model, whether a beauty model, an advertising model or a catwalk model, she said in a translated interview with NetUruguay, per Univision. as quoted by New York Post. Palestinian death toll in Gaza touches 2670 | Photo Courtesy/UNI The number of Palestinian deaths has crossed 2,700 with more than 9,600 injuries reported, according to the Gaza-based Health Ministry. Israeli attacks "continue with all brutality," noting that the attacks have targeted residential neighborhoods and destroyed homes "on the heads of the residents," said Ashraf Al-Qudra, a spokesman of the ministry. Ashraf added that rescue operations "are facing great difficulties" as a result of the massive destruction in residential neighborhoods and the roads leading to hospitals. The Gaza-ruling Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) launched a surprise attack on Israeli towns adjacent to the Gaza Strip a week ago, killing more than 1,300 people in Israel and prompting Israel to launch retaliatory strikes on Gaza. The number of Palestinians killed on Sunday surpasses the total number of fatalities during the third conflict between Israel and Hamas in the summer of 2014, when a total of 2,251 Palestinians were killed, with 1,462 of those being civilians, according to United Nations data. (With UNI/XINHUA inputs) Photo Courtesy: UNICEF/Hassan Islyeh Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas refuted reports of a cease-fire in Gaza to allow humanitarian aid and stranded foreigners to leave through the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt as the conflict entered its 10th day on Monday. "There is currently no cease-fire and humanitarian aid in Gaza in return for removing foreigners," a statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said. Hamas official Izzat El Reshiq, as reported by Reuters, also dismissed claims of the Rafah border crossing opening or any temporary cease-fire. The Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7 conducted a surprise rocket attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip, resulting in Israel's declaration of war and the launch of counter-attacks. Meanwhile, the number of Palestinian deaths has crossed 2,700 with more than 9,600 injuries reported, according to the Gaza-based Health Ministry. More than 1,400 Israelis have died since the Hamas assault began. Israel said 289 of its soldiers have been killed. Media outlets have reported that a five-hour cease-fire will be observed in Gaza in order to enable Egypt to dispatch humanitarian assistance to the coastal region. The Rafah border crossing, the only one between Gaza and Egypt, is expected to be reopened under the cease-fire, allowing for the entry of humanitarian aid and the evacuation of foreign nationals from the conflict area, the reports had claimed However, a correspondent for Xinhua in Rafah has confirmed that the border crossing is still closed and is not expected to reopen anytime soon. The Israeli Prime Minister's Office has denied any agreement has been reached on a cease-fire or humanitarian aid for the evacuation of foreign citizens. In recent hours, Israel has stepped up its attacks on Gaza, resulting in the death and injury of dozens of people. (With UNI/Xinhua inputs) Photo Courtesy: Pixabay Pakistani-Afghan refugees have claimed Pakistani Army personnel have destroyed their houses to force them to leave the country. Refugees say that they have been living in Pakistan for a long time and called on refugees advocates for support, reports Tolo News. Refugee camps of Afghans have been destroyed ruthlessly in the past two days, they [Pakistans government] did not care about whether there were women or children inside the houses, Haji Nazar, a Pakistan-based Afghan refugee, told the news channel. In Islamabad particularly in B-17, in Karachi and in other areas of Pakistan they [Pakistans government] are destroying houses of Afghans and even their personal belongings are being confiscated, Mir Ahmad Rauf, head of the Afghan Refugees Council in Pakistan, told Tolo News. The development comes at a time when the Pakistani government recently issued an ultimatum to illegal foreign nationals to leave the country by the end of October. Photo Courtesy:Pixabay A large number of Uyghur inmates in Xinjiang's Keriye Prison are forced to work for 12-14 hours a day in vast fields of red dates called jujubes, media reports said. Under the watch of armed guards, the prisoners must walk to the fields while overseers wearing red vests and holding police dogs monitor them, the two prison employees told Radio Free Asia. Armed soldiers surrounded the work area, some on horseback, to prevent any from escaping. I witnessed prisoners being forcibly taken out to work during the day and returned to their cells at night, said the prison employee a Uyghur himself who has worked at the prison for nine years, including one as a team leader of a group of inmates, although he was not allowed to mingle or talk much with them. Many inmates also work in factories located inside and outside the prison walls producing cement, shoes, gloves and tea, a prison guard told RFA Uyghur. Those serving sentences of more than 10 years work in factories inside the prison yard, while those serving less than 10 years work outside the prison, the guard told RFA. Who are Uyghur Muslims? Uyghur Muslims are a Turkic minority ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central and East Asia. The Uyghurs are recognized as native to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Photo Courtesy: UNRWA/Mohammed Hinnawi US President Joe Biden has said Hamas must be destroyed but cautioned that the Israeli occupation of Gaza would be a 'big mistake'. Speaking to CBS News 60 Minutes, the US President said: "I think it'd be a big mistake. Look, what happened in Gaza, in my view, is Hamas and the extreme elements of Hamas don't represent all the Palestinian people." "It would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza again," he said. "But going in but taking out the extremists the Hezbollah is up north but Hamas down south. Is a necessary requirement," he said. Asked if Hamas must be eliminated, Biden said: "Yes, I do. But there needs to be a Palestinian authority. There needs to be a path to a Palestinian state." Hate never goes away. It only hides. And one week ago, we saw hate manifest in the worst massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust. We must reject it in every form. pic.twitter.com/68yhIAOAHq President Biden (@POTUS) October 15, 2023 When asked whether Israel would pursue a two-state solution, which has been US policy for decades, after Hamas attack, Biden said: " Not now. Not now. Not now, but-- but I think Israel understands that a significant portion of Palestinian people do not share the views of Hamas and Hezbollah." Antony Blinken may revisit Israel Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to return to Israel for the second time to meet PM Benjamin Netanyahu and make an attempt to reduce the impact of a potentially catastrophic all-out Israeli land assault on Gaza. He will return to Jerusalem for a second round of talks in five days with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, ending a whirlwind round of shuttle diplomacy designed to stop the conflict spreading, reports The Guardian. The Israel Defense Forces on Sunday (October 15, 2023) said top Hamas commander Bilal al Qadr has been killed. According to reports, he was the senior Hamas commander from the Nukhba special forces responsible for the mass infiltration and massacre of Israelis. Israeli Air Force fighter jets, directed by Shin Bet, targeted and killed al Qadr, the commander of the Nukhba forces' southern Khan Yunis unit, reported The Jerusalem Post. Qadr was responsible for the encroachments into Nirim and Nir Oz and the subsequent mass murder of Israelis in the Gaza border towns, the newspaper reported. The conflict initiated by a substantial assault from Hamas on October 7 resulted in 1,300 casualties, subsequently triggering a retaliatory bombing operation that has claimed the lives of at least 2,215 individuals in the Gaza Strip. US man stabs to death six-year-old Muslim boy Photo Courtesy: Will County Sheriff's Office Facebook page An Illinois man was charged with hate crimes after he allegedly stabbed a six-year-old Muslim boy to death and left the minor's mother injured. Police have linked the attack to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas group in the Middle East since October 7. We are shocked and disturbed to learn that a landlord in Chicago expressing anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian views broke into a Muslim family's apartment and attacked them with a knife, injuring the mother and killing her 6-year-old son, Wadea Al-Fayoume. @cairchicago will hold a pic.twitter.com/N0ILuevq4n CAIR National (@CAIRNational) October 15, 2023 The child was stabbed 26 times by the attacker, who was identified as 71-year-old Joseph Czuba, in Plainfield, Illinois. "The thirty-two (32) year-old female was transported in serious condition and had over a dozen stab wounds to her body. The female victim is recovering from her injuries at a local area hospital and is expected to survive this brutal attack," read a statement issued by the Will County Sheriff's Office. "The six-year-old male was transported to the hospital in critical condition. The boy later succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased by a doctor," read the statement. "The six-year-old boy was stabbed twenty-six (26) times throughout his body. The knife used in this attack is a twelve-inch serrated military style knife that has a seven-inch blade," the statement said. Joseph Czuba was charged with First Degree Murder, Attempted First Degree Murder, Hate Crime (2 counts), and Aggravated Battery with a Deadly Weapon. "Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis," read the statement. President Joe Biden reacts US President Joe Biden has described the incident as 'horrific'. He said the victim was a Palestinian Muslim who came to America with his family 'seeking what we all seeka refuge to live, learn, and pray in peace'. Jill and I were sickened to learn of the brutal murder of a child and the attempted murder of the childs mother yesterday in Illinois. Our condolences and prayers are with the family. This act of hate against a Palestinian Muslim family has no place in America. President Biden (@POTUS) October 16, 2023 In a statement, Biden said: "This horrific act of hate has no place in America, and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are." "As Americans, we must come together and reject Islamophobia and all forms of bigotry and hatred. I have said repeatedly that I will not be silent in the face of hate. We must be unequivocal. There is no place in America for hate against anyone," he said. Dussehra 2023: Shardiya Navratri has started and people are all out celebrating with full grandeur and religious fervour. Dedicated to the nine avatars of Maa Durga, Navratri is celebrated over the span of nine nights and concluded in the 10th day of Shukla Paksha of the Ashwin as Dussehra. This festival is also known as Vijayadashami. Vijaya Dashami is celebrated at the end of the nine-day Navratri festival. For many people, Dussehra marks the beginning of the preparations for Diwali, which is a festival of lights that celebrates the victory of good over evil. In 2023, Vijayadashami will be celebrated on Tuesday, October 24th. The festival is celebrated by Hindus all over the world, and it commemorates the victory of good over evil. Navratri 2023: What Is The Difference Between Dussehra, Vijayadashami And Dashain? | Freepik What is the difference between Dussehra, Vijayadashami and Dashain? The word Dussehra comes from the Sanskrit words, 'Dasha' and 'hara.' Dasha means ten (Ravana had ten heads) and hara means defeat (Lord Rama defeats Ravana). The festival symbolises the victory of good over evil. Best Places To Celebrate Dussehra 2023 Durga Ashtami 2023 Wishes, Images and Quotes Vijayadashami or Dussehra and Dashain are different names for the same Hindu festival that celebrates the victory of good over evil. Dussehra is primarily celebrated in North India, Vijaya Dashami is celebrated in South India, and Dashain is celebrated in Nepal. Some of the rituals that are followed on the day of Vijayadashami such as - Shami Puja, Aparajita Puja, and Seema Avalanghan. Why Vijayadashami Is Celebrated After Navratri? How Dussehra, Vijayadashami and Dashain are different? The terms "Dussehra," "Vijayadashami," and "Dashain" are all related to Hindu festivals, but they are celebrated differently and hold distinct cultural and regional significance. Why do we celebrate Dussehra? Dussehra, also known as Vijayadashami, is a Hindu festival celebrated in various parts of India. The name "Dussehra" is derived from two Sanskrit words, "Dasha" meaning ten and "Hara" meaning defeat, symbolising the victory of good over evil. Dussehra is called by different names across the country Durga Puja or Vijayadashami in the East and North-east, Dussehra in Northern and Western states. There are many mythological stories behind the celebration of Dussehra but the most famous story associated with Dussehra is the battle between Lord Rama and the demon king Ravana. Navratri 2023: What Is The Difference Between Dussehra, Vijayadashami And Dashain? On Dussehra, the effigies of Ravana along with his brother Kumbhkaran and son Meghnad are burned in public bonfires. This is a symbolic way to celebrate the victory of good over evil. Happy Navratri Wishes & Quotes Why is Sendha Namak allowed during Navratri? Dos And Donts During Navratri Differences between Durga Puja and Navratri What is Vijayadashami and why is it celebrated? Vijayadashami is another name for Dussehra and is often used interchangeably. It also signifies the victory of good over evil, with Lord Rama's triumph being the central theme. The celebrations of Vijayadashami are similar to Dussehra, involving the burning of Ravana effigies, processions, and cultural performances. The name "Vijayadashami" emphasises the victorious aspect of the festival. Why is Dashain celebrated? Dashain is the longest and most significant festival in Nepal. While it shares some similarities with Dussehra, it is a distinct cultural celebration. Dashain is celebrated to commemorate the day the goddess Durga killed demons known as Mahishasura - who were killing the world of the gods, the devaloka. After ten days of battle, Durga was victorious and from then on, Dashain has been celebrated over fifteen days to symbolise the fight of good against evil. What is Dashain in Nepal? Dashain is marked by various rituals, including the flying of kites, worshipping of goddess Durga, and receiving tika from elders as a blessing. Dashain typically lasts for 15 days and is a time for family reunions and cultural activities in Nepal. Navratri 2023: What Is The Difference Between Dussehra, Vijayadashami And Dashain? | Freepik Dussehra 2023 FAQs: What is the significance of Dussehra? Dussehra symbolises the victory of good over evil, with its roots in the epic Ramayana, where Lord Rama defeated the demon king Ravana. How is Dussehra celebrated in different parts of India? Dussehra is celebrated with regional variations. In the North and West, it's marked by Ravana effigy burnings, while in the South, it celebrates the victory of Goddess Chamundeshwari over Mahishasura. What is the Ayudha Puja? Ayudha Puja, observed mainly in Karnataka, is a day to honour and worship one's tools and instruments, recognizing their role in one's livelihood. What is the significance of the Golu doll display in Tamil Nadu? The Golu doll display is a cultural tradition in Tamil Nadu, where families arrange an elaborate exhibit of dolls representing various deities and aspects of Indian culture. What message does Dussehra convey to society? Dussehra conveys the message of the enduring triumph of truth, unity, and hope, inspiring people to stand up against injustice and evil. (Note: Dates/timings may be subject to change; details mentioned here are as per the information available.) For more informative articles on historical and upcoming events from around the world, please visit Indiatimes Events. Brian Mwenda, a fake lawyer in Kenya, won 26 cases by pretending to be a High Court advocate. He was arrested by the Kenyan police. According to the Nigerian Tribune, he handled these cases before various judges. What did Brian Mwenda do? Mwenda successfully posed as a qualified attorney for a while. How did Brian get caught by authorities? screenshot Judges only became suspicious of his qualifications after his recent arrest. The Rapid Action Team of the Nairobi branch of the Law Society of Kenya arrested him for false representation following public complaints. The Nairobi Branch of the Law Society of Kenya's official account posted on X, previously known as Twitter, that The Branch wishes to notify all members of the society and of the public that BRIAN MWENDA NJAGI is not an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya; from the Society's records, neither is he a member of the Branch." He is being held by officials for further investigation. The Law Society of Kenya stated that Mwenda criminally accessed their portal and... "identified an account with a name corresponding to his, tampered with the details, and uploaded his own photo in a bid to infiltrate Kenya's legal profession", as per a report in Ghana Web. Following an emergency meeting, they conducted an analysis and found that..."Brian Mwenda stole the identity of a lawyer with a name that is similar to his - Brian Mwenda Ntwiga - after the legitimate lawyer reached out to the Secretariat after realizing that he could no longer log into the system." After telling the IT department about his problems on September 28, they quickly found out he couldn't get into his membership site because the information, especially his email, didn't match his details. Fake lawyer "On the 5th Day of August 2022, Brian Mwenda Ntwiga was admitted to the bar, his correct email address was captured, and an account was opened for him in the Advocates portal. We reached out to Advocate Brian Mwenda Ntwiga, who confirmed that he had not applied for a practicing certificate since his admission because he had been working at the Office of the Attorney General and did not require a practicing certificate," the statement said. The Law Society of Kenya further said, "It was only sometime in September 2023 when he attempted to log into the system and activate his profile to apply for his practicing certificate that he realized he could not access his LSK Portal." They also shared that Brian Mwenda changed his profile picture once he accessed the platform and requested and paid for his practicing certificate. "Upon being allowed access to the account, he took control of the portal, changed his profile picture at the workplace, and applied for and paid for the practicing certificate. However, his application was not processed since he was required to provide documents, including the certificate of business incorporation," they said. For more trending stories, follow us on Telegram. Local, state and federal officials will participate in a hazardous materials training exercise Tuesday at the Bismarck Event Center. The exercise is expected to begin at 7:30 a.m. and conclude at 7 p.m., according to the city. It will take place at the east side of Parking Lot D, immediately to the south of the Event Center. Bowen Avenue from Fifth Street to Seventh Street will be closed. The public is asked to stay away from areas marked Exercise in Progress or training in the interest of safety and not disrupting the exercise. Bismarck first responders will be working with Bismarck Emergency Management on the exercise, as well as with Burleigh County Emergency Management, the North Dakota National Guard, North Dakota Department of Emergency Services, U.S. Army North Bravo Team, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. At a time when the Adani group is still battling the after effects of the Hindenburg research's allegations, the Gautam Adani-led conglomerate is set to take a Rs 20,000 crore step towards its effort to win back investors' confidence. What Is Adani Group's Big Step? adani When Zhen Hua 15 a heavy load cargo carrier sailing from the East China Sea unloaded at Kerala's Vizhinjam port on Sunday, it did more than just set down the sites first gigantic cranes. It also put India on the map for the worlds biggest container ships. Receiving the first ship at Vizhinjam on Sunday was a spectacle in Kerala, with people flocking in large numbers to watch the docking. Located near the southernmost tip of the country, the Vizhinjam transhipment container port the first of its kind in India will allow the nation to grab a bigger slice of the international maritime trade currently dominated by China. It will also bolster its aspirations to be an alternative manufacturing hub by reducing logistics costs for cargo coming to and from the country, as per Bloomberg. While Indias current container traffic is less than 10% of Chinas, if the Vizhinjam port is able to lure more ships, itll give India and Adani Ports a stronger footing in global maritime trade. For the unversed, transhipment refers to transferring cargo from an original ship to another, bigger mother ships at a port on the way to the cargos final destination. Also Read: How Rajiv Jain Made Rs 3,100 Crore Profit On Adani Stocks In 2 Days Why Vizhinjam Port Has Been Chosen To Bring The World's Biggest Ships To India? reuters The new terminal, inaugurated on Sunday, is another feather in the cap of Gautam Adanis conglomerate, which faced Hindenburg research's attack in January alleging corporate malfeasance charges the Adani Group has denied. With a dominance that already spans ports, mines, airports and power utilities, Vizhinjam will further cement Adani's status as Indias infrastructure king, as per the report. The proximity to international shipping routes that account for 30% of global cargo traffic, and a natural channel that goes as much as 24 meters (79 feet) below the sea makes Vizhinjam an ideal hub for some of the worlds biggest ships to call in. Until now, such ships had skipped India because its harbours werent deep enough to handle the vessels and docked instead at ports such as Colombo, Dubai and Singapore. The much-awaited deep-sea port along Keralas scenic coastline has been developed by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd. in collaboration with the local state government. Adani Ports, Indias largest private sector port operator with a 30% market share, is also developing Israels Haifa port and plans to build a hub in Vietnam as part of its expanding global footprint. How Much Is Adani Group Investing In The Mega Project? keralakaumudi Adani Ports will invest Rs 200 billion, or Rs 20,000 crore ($2.4 billion) in Vizhinjam Transhipment Terminal by 2030, Managing Director and Chief Executive Director Karan Adani said on Sunday. The project has already received an investment of Rs 77 billion under the first phase, as per the Bloomberg report. The Vizhinjam project is strategically important for Adani Ports to gain a foothold in offering integrated supply-chain solutions to shipping lines, he said. The company has a free cash flow of Rs 70 billion to 80 billion and will invest as much as Rs 60 billion every year to expand capacity, he said. For the latest and more interesting financial news, keep reading Indiatimes Worth. Click here. Initially, the first round of elections last Sunday seemed to strengthen New Democracy's political dominance, as their endorsed candidates triumphed in all seven regions and secured Piraeus as well. Notably, they even supported incumbents in Piraeus and the region of Crete , with whom they had clashed during the previous local elections in 2019. The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) says it will launch an indefinite strike in public primary and secondary schools across Bayelsa State due to concerns regarding the N30,000 minimum wage and outstanding promotion payments. According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the decision was reached during an executive meeting held on October 12, subsequent to an initial three-day warning strike that failed to prompt action from the Bayelsa government. Teachers had issued a 14-day ultimatum to the government and local councils to address the challenges faced by educators statewide, warning of potential industrial action if their demands werent met. READ ALSO: Exit Of A Tyrant- Corporate Affairs Commission Staff Jubilate Sack Of Former Boss (Video) Failure of both the state and local governments to implement the N30,000 minimum wage and execute promotions for primary school teachers in the State, have however made the teachers endure significant hardships. Expressing dissatisfaction with the governments persistent neglect of teachers issues, despite engaging in futile discussions, the NUT stressed that the 14-day ultimatum began on October 13. Failure to resolve the concerns within this timeframe will compel teachers across the State to initiate the strike. The strike notice received approval from the eight constituent local government branches of NUT in Bayelsa and was signed by the chairmen of the NUTs local government branches. Katsina State Governor, Dikko Umaru Radda says if ending banditry in the State costs him his life, hed by all means offer it. Radda in a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Hausa interview, posited that security is a top priority. This he said, is the reason a law was passed to establish a volunteer force equipped with weapons. Information Nigeria reports that the Governor had inaugurated the Community Watch Corps to complement efforts of the conventional security agencies. We have inaugurated, trained, and equipped the volunteers, providing them with cars, motorbikes, and even armoured cars, the governor said. Speaking on allowances, Radda said the government had adopted the minimum wage system, and the volunteers would be paid accordingly. READ ALSO: SUVs Remain Property Of NAssembly, Except Members Pay For It After Their Tenure Expires Reps The public should be aware that these volunteers were doing this job unpaid and are motivated by a sense of duty to protect their families and communities. Some critics claim that the patrols are worsening the security situation, but this assertion is unfounded. Residents of affected areas know what is happening, and it is unacceptable to allow these people (bandits) to continue to kidnap and kill. I swear, as governor, even at the cost of my life, I will not allow someone come and harm my people. The problem of banditry has reached a point where we must all unite and put an end to it. Those who oppose these measures are likely motivated by the fact that their loved ones are not the ones being killed. Once all necessary preparations are complete, I will also enter the forest, he disclosed. The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has declared Zamfara State as a No School Zone, following the recent kidnappings and abductions of university students in the state. The students governing body stated that, starting from Monday (Today), all tertiary schools in the State would be shut down due to the continuous abductions of students in the area. NANS vowed to stage a grand protest to express its displeasure over the unrest happening around students learning environment. In a statement issued by the office of the National Secretary, Usman Baba Kankia, said that, as part of its efforts to tackle the kidnapping menace, it is relocating its secretariat to the state. The student explained that the relocation of its secretariat to Zamfara was in solidarity to students who have been abducted, and they intend to mobilise to protect their own until they abducted ones are freed. READ MORE: Terrorists Abduct Two Zamfara Varsity Students The statement reads: The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) is deeply alarmed and concerned by the ongoing threat and rampant kidnappings of innocent Nigerian students in Zamfara state. In light of the current security situation and the safety of our fellow students, NANS has taken the decision to declare Zamfara State a No School Zone. We cannot stand by while the lives and education of our students are constantly under threat. The recent increase in abductions of students in Zamfara state is unacceptable, and enough is enough. In response to this dire situation, NANS is mobilizing Nigerian students from across the country to take a unified stand against these acts of terror. We hereby announce our commitment to shut down all tertiary education institutions in Zamfara state, starting from tomorrow, 16th September. This will be a peaceful but resolute demonstration of our determination to ensure the safety and security of our fellow students. Additionally, NANS will be relocating our secretariat to Zamfara state as a symbol of our solidarity and commitment to the cause. We will work tirelessly to mobilize Nigerian students to occupy Zamfara state until our fellow students who have been taken captive regain their freedom. We call on the authorities to take immediate and decisive action to end these kidnappings, to secure the release of the abducted students, and to restore peace and security to the state. NANS stands united, and we will continue to advocate for the rights and safety of Nigerian students. Together, we can put an end to these tragic incidents and ensure a brighter future for our fellow students. The Lagos State Government has sealed a private hospital at Ago-Okota in Oshodi-Isolo local government area of the state for collecting and transfusing unscreened and unlabelled blood to patients. The Executive Secretary of the LSBTS, Dr. Bodunrin Osikomaiya, who disclosed this on Sunday, said that the health facility was sealed off by LSBTS and the State Health Facilities Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFAMAA) following a tip-off by a concerned citizen. READ MORE: Lagos Hospital Shuts Down As Two Staff Test Positive For COVID-19 A concerned citizen had reached out to us to report the unwholesome practices of the facility. Following the tip off, and after thorough investigations, the enforcement teams of LSBTS and HEFAMAA, during their joint monitoring exercise in the area, visited the facility and confirmed to be true, the unwholesome, unprofessional and unethical medical practices and conduct of the hospital management, he stated. Osikomaiya added that the facility was shut for contravening the blood transfusion service law and for their unethical and unprofessional medical practice as well as putting the lives of unsuspecting citizens at risk. She said: This facility was sealed for contravening the provision of the Blood Transfusion Service law, specifically, law 10, item 31 which states that no person within Lagos State shall transfuse blood into a patient unless such blood has been screened, tested, labelled by the state blood transfusion committee, and found to be negative for all transmissible diseases including HIV I and II, Hepatitis B and C, Syphilis and any other disease as may be deemed necessary by LSBTS. The ruling All Progressives Congress in Ondo State has accused the Peoples Democratic Party in the State of planning to instigate crisis in Akure, the state capital. According to the APC, the alleged plan of the PDP, which is arranged to come up on Monday, was to create a semblance of political instability in the peaceful state, in addition to portraying the ruling party in bad light, ahead of governorship election, coming up 2024. The statement issued by the Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alex Kalejaiye, on Sunday, read, It has come to our knowledge that some PDP chieftains, who have started making huge contributions, in collaboration with some players within our fold, have finalised plans to destabilise the Sunshine State. The APC which noted that the State has far been peaceful, organised, and enjoyed enviable political stability, and industrial harmony, added that it is unbelievable that the main opposition party, PDP, that is engulfed by leadership turbulent in Abuja, will prefer to go into unholy alliance with some elements in APC to foment avoidable crisis in Ondo State. READ ALSO: Ondo Assembly Petitions NJC Against Judge Who Stopped Aiyedatiwas Impeachment We are very optimistic that our performing governor, will be in our midst in a matter of days. The PDP, on its part denied the allegation, saying the ruling party was always known for its peaceful and developmental strides in the state. The Publicity Secretary of the party, Kennedy Peretei, said the APC was only afraid of its shadow. The APC is populated by shameless people. The governor has been absent from his duty post since April this year, yet they are comfortable with the total collapse of governance in the state. The governor has not been seen in the state since April, this year. The PDP is known for its peaceful and developmental strides in the state. We cannot be accused of planning to create crisis in the state. It is clear that APC is afraid of their own shadows having failed to meet the expectations of the people. If they know where Akeredolu is, they should ask him to come out or resign honourably, Peretei said. The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar, has described President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the forger-in-chief. In a statement made available to the public on Sunday, Atikus Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, claimed that the world has come to conclusion that Tinubu is a confirmed forger-in-chief on account of his serial forgeries and lies in the last 50 years. He stated that Tinubu, the former Lagos State governor, has forged and lied about every aspect of his life. Paul Ibe said: Contrary to Bola A. Tinubus forgery shopping allegation against Atiku, it is on record that the change of name of the former Vice President reverting to Atiku Abubakar from Siddiq Abubakar is well documented in an affidavit dated 18th of August 1973, spanning over a period of 50 years, (which incidentally is as old as the commencement of Tinubus life of forgeries and lies), is in the public domain. Now, lets put Bola A. Tinubus life of forgeries and lies in proper perspective. In 1999, Tinubu lied under oath in his form CF001 which he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that he attended St Pauls Primary School, Aroloya, Lagos; Government College Ibadan, Chicago University (CU) and Chicago State University (CSU). READ MORE: Atikus Life An Open Book, Change Of Name Well Documented Paul Ibe It has been established that he only attended CSU and that he secured admission into the university by impersonation. Through the discoveries of his records in the Chicago State University, we now know that Bola A. Tinubu forged a secondary school certificate of Government College Lagos, a HSC certificate from Cambridge University and a transcript from Richard Daley College which belongs to a female owner. We also know, thanks to the discoveries, that the CSU few days to graduation in 1979, notified him of outstanding (or carry-over as it is known in Nigeria) pre-qualifying examinations in English, Mathematics and Comprehension, which never appeared on his transcript to have been retaken. After his odyssey in falsifying educational qualifications, Bola A. Tinubu claimed in his 1999 affidavit to contest for the position of Governor of Lagos State, that he had a working experience with Arthur Anderson Accounting, Deloitte and Mobil Nigeria. It ends up that both claims on Authur Anderson and Deloitte both in the USA are false because his footprints are nowhere to be found in those corporations. Like CSU, Deloitte denied ever knowing or having any Bola A. Tinubu in their employment and he has since stopped adding that to his official or public records since his exposure. Curiously, handlers of this same Bola A. Tinubu have smuggled Adekunle, a middle name that magically popped up in his so-called National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate into his Wikipedia on the 6th of October, 2023. This may yet be another indication of a master forger at work. Yet, this same Bola A. Tinubu and his handlers want to confuse the public by making insinuations about what Atiku Abubakar is not. For the purpose of clarification, all the names that Atiku Abubakar bears are names that are traceable to his family tree. He adopted Atiku Abubakar as his official name while in the employ of the Nigeria Customs Service. Atikus life is an open book, and not the mystery or close book that continues to define the life of Bola A. Tinubu. Conversely, Bola A Tinubu is a name that has no history nor social acquaintance until the late 1970s. We therefore urge Bola A. Tinubu and his handlers to desist from making any further attempt at comparing the career forger known as Bola A Tinubu with an impeccable name that Atiku Abubakar has built over the years. North Philadelphia record shop Brewerytown Beats, which housed a catalog full of funk, hip-hop, and soul music and collectibles, will officially shut down operations by the end of the year. The announcement was made on Friday on the Brewerytown Beats Instagram page. The organization posted an image of the store with the words Brewerytown Beats closing for good by 2024 over the photo. The posts second image was a snapshot of the Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections Cease of Operations notification, which outlined zoning, electrical, fire, and license violations at the shops 1517 N. Bailey St. location. The notice also cited that any operations after 8 p.m. on Oct. 6 are illegal. Currently, the store is not open for business. Owner Max Ochester says he will be out of the building by January 2024, but he is working to get approval from L&I to open Brewerytown Beats for the remainder of the year. Advertisement On Monday, Ochester told The Inquirer that there will be no fire sale of the stores collection until approved by L&I, and the catalog will remain in the warehouse until then. He is currently not legally allowed to enter the building, he said. The record store closes after eight years of operation, and three storefronts within the Brewerytown neighborhood. The first was at 29th Street. After a year, the shop moved to a main location on Girard Avenue, and later expanded to the warehouse on Bailey Street in 2020. The shop posted a written statement on its website. First and foremost, Id like to personally thank each and everyone of you who have come in the shop, supported from near and far, given words of encouragement and shown signs of support for this little mom & pop shop, the statement reads. Over the past eight years I have seen this place thrive, bring together tons of people in the best of ways and create a loving, caring, creative environment for all to enjoy. The statement points to the decision to move to the Bailey Street warehouse, which managed to squeeze the stores collections and storage into the new space. However, funding for the new space was in limbo after accounting issues surfaced, which hindered the stores business operations. According to the statement, the record store secured an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) loan, and plans to improve the warehouses heating and cooling system and other structural elements were in the works. But the Small Business Administration saw inconsistencies in the companys business entity filings, the loan timed out, and funding was revoked. Through a bad accountant, and by not being careful with that kind of stuff, I ultimately shot myself in the foot, Ochester told The Inquirer. Despite making efforts to meet with the IRS, and explain the dilemma, Ochester said, he ultimately lost out on nearly $125,000. It was kind of a comedy of errors, and it was really at a time when the world was going crazy, he said. I dont know what to make of it, and I was trying to get some help. But every which way I turned, I couldnt. The business was able to continue operations with other funding secured, but the L&I inspections hindered further business plans, according to the Instagram statement. For three years, we have struggled to make things work, having a few good months, but mostly having mediocre months, with little extra money to buy new collections or pay rent or pretty much anything, the statement noted. Somehow for three years (its been a lot of borrowing, begging, and outside incomes: ie: label funds) we have found money that has allowed us to continue on. But with this most recent L&I issue (that could be resolved with more money I dont have) it just seems like a good time to put this thing to rest. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgums presidential campaign raised $3.4 million from July through September, according to a quarterly report filed with the Federal Election Commission -- but that figure includes a $2 million loan from the independently wealthy candidate. It brings Burgums total funds raised to nearly $15.2 million, with $12.2 million coming out of the governors pockets since the start of his campaign. Hes spent $12.8 million in that same period, with $4.7 million in expenses for this quarter, ending September with $2.3 million on hand. Former President Donald Trump, the clear frontrunner in the Republican primary, brought in $24.5 million from July through September. The super PAC aligned with Burgums bid for the White House, Best of America PAC, reported just over $11 million in donations in its midyear filing earlier this summer. The PAC has made a series of national ad purchases and has, in part, been bolstered by influential North Dakotans. Burgums campaign has concentrated much of its effort on the early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire, but it has struggled to grow his national profile. The businessman and governor has been plagued by name recognition issues, in part stemming from the fact that hes the leader of one of the least-populated states in the country while going up against more prominent Republicans. Perhaps one of the broadest points of national recognition came early in Burgums campaign, when he made a bid for the debate stage through a novel fundraising strategy in which he offered $20 gift cards in exchange for donations as small as $1. That effort helped propel him to the first Republican National Committee primary debate, but polling thresholds were his biggest hurdle for the second debate, which he qualified for just days before the event. Burgum rolled out a second iteration of the gift card program last week as polling and donor thresholds continue to rise with each consecutive debate. NBC News will host the RNC's third primary debate on Nov. 8 in Miami. To qualify, Burgum must attain 4% in two national polls or one national poll and two early state polls, and must have at least 70,000 individual donors. When Burgum announced his latest gift card campaign last week, his campaign said he was less than 10,000 donors away from meeting the threshold. He is averaging around 0.8% in national polls, according to FiveThirtyEight. Leaders at St. Christophers Hospital for Children are poised to ask a group of Philadelphia health systems that invested $54 million in the financially struggling hospital to double down on their support next year. The two-year investment from Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, Thomas Jefferson University, Temple Health, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Independence Health Group, and private donors has been a lifeline for St. Christophers, a vital resource for families in low-income North Philadelphia neighborhoods who often have few other options for care. But a one-time cash infusion isnt enough to resolve the challenges facing the hospital, where the vast majority of patients are covered by Medicaid, the publicly funded health program for low-income families that pays hospitals much less than private insurance. Many are dealing with chronic health conditions, such as childhood obesity and asthma, for which hospitals receive limited revenue. Without reliable funding, the hospital struggles to meet a rise in the number of children and teens who are experiencing behavioral health problems or who have become victims of the areas gun violence. Leaders say they need more financial help to invest in needed facility improvements to continue providing quality care. Advertisement St. Chris cannot outperform the problem, said Donald Mueller, who was brought on as CEO in 2020 to stabilize the hospitals financial position. St. Christophers was bought out of bankruptcy by Tower Health and Drexel University in 2019. The hospital reported an operating loss of $97.6 million in 2021, which it narrowed to $10.3 million in 2022. In the fiscal year that ended in June, St. Christophers reported a loss of $534,000 the closest its come to breaking even in years. The only way that happened was with support from the community, said Mueller, who described the financial turnaround as a remarkable step forward. St. Christophers eyes improvement projects Mueller was hired to lead St. Christophers in part because of his track record of financial success with hospitals in Tennessee and Georgia. He faced scrutiny in January after a critical state inspection questioned his leadership because he initially worked remotely from his home in Tennessee for much of the time. Since then, he has been onsite in Philadelphia. During a recent interview and facility tour with The Inquirer, Mueller pointed to progress made under his leadership: A team of security guards in the emergency department, a $5 million federal grant to upgrade outdated radiology equipment, a new fundraising foundation that in its first year garnered $1.5 million. His to-do list is longer. He said the hospital is ill-equipped to handle the increase in youth experiencing mental health crises, each of whom requires an individual nurse aide because they may try to hurt themselves. Too many people show up for medical appointments carrying a concealed weapon. And he wants to add to the emergency department more trauma bays to accommodate the rise in gunshot wound victims 48 so far this year. In his office, Mueller keeps an inch-thick glossy binder of what St. Christophers could someday look like: Renovated patient rooms and waiting areas, state-of-the-art technology, and adding the shell of a new floor to house new services. Weve got plans for lots of things, he said. We move at the speed of money. The former location of TDI Towing at 2335 Wheatsheaf Lane in Philadelphia. Read more Jessica Laumeister dropped her Honda SUV off for service at a repair shop in Bucks County and soon got a call that someone had stolen the vehicles catalytic converter. I thought it would be safe there, said Laumeister, 26, of Northeast Philadelphia. She had chosen the suburban shop because of its distance from the city. She thought it would be more secure a mistaken assumption, she quickly discovered. Laumeister is one of hundreds of people in the region who authorities say fell victim to a sophisticated multimillion-dollar catalytic converter theft ring run out of a Philadelphia tow yard that stole, sold, purchased, and resold catalytic converters. In June, authorities, after a yearlong investigation that included surveillance, undercover transactions, and high-speed car chases, announced charges of corrupt organizations, criminal conspiracy, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activity, and related offenses against 10 adults and one juvenile. READ MORE: Bucks County DA announces bust of $8.2 million catalytic converter theft ring Between 2020 and 2023, prosecutors say, Michael Williams, the operator of TDI Towing in Port Richmond, and a cadre of associates stole at least 2,000 of the valuable car parts throughout Bucks County and beyond. Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub dubbed Williams the kingpin of the sprawling operation that was spending a minimum of $10,000 per night on stolen converters. The actual number of catalytic converters stolen could be much higher, said Manuel Gamiz, spokesperson for Weintraubs office, and since the charges were announced in June, at least 200 people have contacted the Bucks County District Attorneys Office to report such thefts. The takedown Philadelphia has long been plagued by thieves who target catalytic converters emissions-control devices that reduce the amount of harmful pollution in car exhaust because of the precious metals they contain: platinum, palladium, and rhodium. The rare metals made rarer by supply-chain issues in the last few years, said Weintraub fetch high prices in the resale market. The current price for approximately 31 grams of platinum is $911, $1,230 for that amount of palladium, and a steep $4,100 for that amount of rhodium, according to Johnson Matthey, a British chemical and technology company. Advertisement This year alone, there were 1,802 reported thefts across the city through Sept. 18, according to Police Department data. And that number represents a massive improvement over last year, when 4,173 converters were stolen in the same time period, according to Capt. Jason Smith and Lt. Brian Geer, with the departments Major Crimes Unit. Smith credits the plummet in thefts directly to the takedown of TDI Towing. Geer served as the lead on the Philadelphia side of the investigation into the crime ring, working with more than two dozen law enforcement agencies, including the Montgomery County District Attorneys Office and national and federal agencies like the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, and the National Insurance Crime Bureau. The takedown of the massive illegal operation was a yearlong sting complete with more than 5,000 hours of video surveillance and undercover sales of catalytic converters, and analysts identified at least 357 transactions, according to a presentment by a grand jury impaneled to investigate the crimes. READ MORE: What we know about TDI Towing and the Philadelphia-based catalytic converter theft ring The investigation began about three years ago, when authorities noticed a spike in thefts of catalytic converters. Weintraubs office was fielding myriad complaints of thefts, and his Auto Theft Prevention Task Force began to zero in on the phenomenon. The probe began small. It was analogous to working up the chain in a drug ring investigation, Weintraub said. Start with the little fish, the people on the outside, the people on the corners, to draw an analogy. And you work up the chain. And as they began to dig into the operation, Bucks County officials learned that the criminal acts extended beyond the borders of their suburban territory. They enlisted help from Philadelphia police, who helped them trace the thefts to the Port Richmond tow yard. Philadelphia police had, through their own investigations, developed an extensive list of suspects cutting catalytic converters and places that were potentially selling them, said Geer. As the Bucks County DAs Office investigated thefts in its territory, many of the suspects identified were linked to TDI Towing and were ultimately charged in the theft ring bust, he said. Bucks officials joined forces with Philadelphia police, who offered investigative support and drafted warrants for searches in the city, said Smith. Detectives set up surveillance, installing a camera and two license plate readers at TDI Towing that identified the license plates of cars coming and going from the tow yard, along with facial recognition software and recordings of catalytic converter transactions. Surveillance identified employees who purchased stolen catalytic converters and others who would go out and cut the converters to sell them back to TDI towing. One employee, Eric Simpson, was identified by investigators as also working as a cutter, someone hired to shear catalytic converters from the underside of cars, the presentment said. Authorities tried to pull Simpson over several times, but each time ended in a high-speed pursuit, the grand jury said. Using confidential informants, investigators coordinated six sales of catalytic converters to Williams and his employees, involving 17 catalytic converters, authorities said. Williams or other TDI employees paid $5,440 for the 17 converters, with an average price of $320 per converter. At the same time a detective was testifying before the grand juryin June, a confidential informant sold a catalytic converter to Williams at TDI Towing for $600, according to the presentment. Hours later, law enforcement executed a search warrant at TDI Towing and found Williams and employee Patrick Hopkins, along with 60 catalytic converters and $3,000 in cash, the grand jury said. Littered around the building were also reciprocating saws, grinders, and blades meant to cut through metal, the presentment said. The 10 individuals and one juvenile have not yet faced a formal hearing, according to a spokesperson for the District Attorneys Office. Investigators eye other targets In recognition of the scale of the alleged operation, Weintraub took the unusual step of also charging TDI Towing as a company to send a very clear message that individuals are not going to be able to hide behind a corporate veil, he said, and with the hopes of creating some sort of a path to restitution for victims of the theft ring. In Pennsylvania, a corporation can be treated as an individual for criminal liability purposes if a high-ranking managerial agent committed the act on behalf of the corporation while acting within the scope of his employment or office there. This is so we can hold any lawbreaking entity criminally accountable, and thus prevent individual lawbreakers like Mike Williams from hiding behind a corporation to shield their criminal conduct, Weintraub said. Coley Reynolds, an attorney for Williams and TDI Towing, declined to comment. The investigation is continuing, authorities said, and Weintraub and Smith both said there was more to come, including potentially targeting other groups that may be stealing the car parts. For those who have had their car parts stolen, the cost of replacement and repairs can sometimes be in the thousands of dollars. Laumeister spent around $1,000 to replace her SUVs catalytic converter, with part of the cost going toward repairing damage left by the thieves, she said. Although the catalytic converter has long been replaced, Laumeister said she now uses her car only for shopping and has been riding her bicycle for practically everything else. She still worries about the safety of her car and is making plans to prevent theft in the future. Im already thinking about getting a new car, she said, and the first thing thats going on that new Tacoma is a catalytic converter shield. On quiet evenings when hes missing Turkiye, theres one place Serdar Canpolat goes. The Moorestown resident and his family venture out to Isot Turkish Cuisine in Queen Village every two weeks. Canpolat, who grew up in Sanlurfa, Turkiye (the countrys preferred spelling), visits his friend Fatih Kekecs white-tablecloth restaurant for a taste of his homeland. Canpolat and his family enjoy cups of piping hot Turkish coffee, made from finely ground coffee beans brewed in a traditional cezve pot, with lokum, square-shaped Turkish jelly confections, after a hearty meal. Isot offers eight different brews, including menengic, made from fruits collected from terebinth tree (similar to pistachio tree), and damla salizli, which gets its refreshing taste and aroma of mastic or aromatic gum/resin from a mastic tree. The coffee and sweet comes with a glass of water to help cleanse the palate for a full experience. Isot offers a place for Canpolat to feel we are in our country and our hometown, he says, and celebrate his cultural traditions with his children. We stop at Turkish restaurant just to drink the coffee its very important for us, he said. I like to spend time with them [his kids] and show them our culture, our hometown taste. Its very beautiful and very good for immigrant kids. Coffee shops and cafes are classic example of third places, a term used to describe social environments outside home and work. For Phillys immigrants, diaspora, and BIPOC communities, the citys many cafes offer more than just great coffee. They also offer a connection to culture and community Thu Phams Caphe Roasters in Kensington is one of the United States first Vietnamese roasteries/shops reclaiming Vietnams bitter, strong robusta beans as a quality product unto itself, brewed via the traditional phin coffee maker. In West Philly, Hayat Ali of Alif Brew & Mini Mart celebrates sweeter, smoother arabica beans from Ethiopia, made in a jebena clay pot for the monthly traditional buna tetu, or coffee ceremony. No matter the difference in coffee beans, the two shops on opposite sides of the city share the same mission: creating a familiar public spot for visitors of all backgrounds, especially Vietnamese and Ethiopian immigrants and diaspora. The goal was always to have a cafe or a restaurant, because Vietnamese culture and a lot of Asian cultures, especially Southeast Asian cultures, when theres drinks, theres food, said Pham, who began the roastery in 2018 and opened the cafe in 2021. And when theres drinks and food, theres family and friends. Friends are at the center of the third place experience for Debora Charmelus, the content creator and founder of CADO market, which celebrates Black-owned businesses. A point of community building, coffee shops are an excuse to meet up with friends and explore neighborhoods outside her home in West Philly. She spends her free time making Instagram reels and TikToks highlighting Black-owned coffee shops in Philly. Charmelus didnt realize just how many BIPOC coffee shops there where in the city until she began her series. What was interesting for her to see was the number of people excited to point her to their local Black-owned coffee shop. People feel a sense of connection to these shops, especially local small businesses, where you get to go in and you actually meet the owner and you can truly connect with them, she said. People really feel a sense of ownership, even if theyre not the ones literally owning it. The connection between owners and customers is strong at Avenues Cafe in Mount Airy, which serves Colombian medium roast and custom-made espresso blends in an inclusive environment. Its what makes this Black Indigenous-owned-and-operated coffee shop a favorite third place for BIPOC and queer folks in the neighborhood and beyond. It was important to Juston Lee Locklear, who opened the cafe in 2021, to create a homey aesthetic where artists share their work with visitors making themselves at home as Indigenous flute music and jazz music float throughout the cafe. Locklear appreciates the importance of sustainability and fair trade in coffee something he learned growing up on a farm in the Lumbee Tribe region in North Carolina with coffee beans and a custom-made espresso blend sourced from Many Hands Coffee Co. A portion of sales goes to the Native American Housing Alliance, an urban nonprofit promoting the general welfare of Indigenous peoples in the Philadelphia area. I have a staff of five, and four of us have Indigenous roots, and thats something you dont really get to hear a lot about, Locklear said. We do consider ourselves to be a safe space 100% of all of our team members come from disadvantaged backgrounds either thats race, creed, gender. I think that element also provides some kind of comfortability for people that are queer or of color they can feel more comfortable being in space [with folks of similar backgrounds]. Charmelus points out that many of the immigrant- and BIPOC-owned establishments offer more than coffee, citing places like American Grammar, a bookstore and cafe in Kensington, and Uncle Bobbies Coffee & Books, another book and coffee shop hybrid in Germantown. It feels like when Im talking to people who wanted to start their shop, usually theyre like, I just wanted to create a place where people could come together and I really liked coffee, she said. I dont think that theyre overcompensating when theyre doing double duty, I view it as more of a conduit for community. Diverse communities, diverse coffee styles That community exists all over Philadelphia. In Chinatown, Rays Cafe & Tea House combines a menu of Taiwanese and Chinese dishes with siphon coffee practices for a place Lawrence Ray of the family store considers the American dream. His mother, owner Grace Chen, opened the spot on North Ninth Street in 1989 to offer her favorite style of coffee. When she emigrated to Philly from Taiwan, gas stations and diners were the only places to get coffee, Ray explained. Rather than settling for those options, Chen decided to bring siphon coffee to Philly, a popular brewing method in Taiwan during the 70s and 80s where a vacuum pot with coffee grounds mixed with boiling water ascends from a flask through a siphonage to extract and filter back for a fresh cup. What makes it so special is each coffee is made to order instead of a pot [of coffee] just sitting there, you choose beans, then we freshly grind them and we make it right in front of you, Ray said. You see a person doing the work rather than the machine. And the way its designed, youre getting full flavor potential out of your coffee [bean of choice]. The cafes coffee counter, which offers beans from South America to East Asia, displays the tall siphon coffee makers in all their glory, and the comfortable seating area with a no laptops sign emulates the Taiwanese tradition of enjoying coffee at your neighborhood spot, where you can kick it with your friends. Ali at Alif Brew had the same concept in mind when opening the Baltimore Avenue favorite in 2020. In the early days of her cafe and market, she welcomed folks to her new business with buna tetu, the traditional coffee ceremony where she gathers guests on the floor to serve a freshly roasted blend of Yirgacheffe and Sidamo Ethiopian coffees in a jebena clay pot. She brews the coffee in the pot in a small electric oven until it bubbles and serves it hot in small espresso cups with popcorn and kolo (roasted grain snack) the savory items complement the rich chocolate aroma. I remember that time we open Alif and we start this coffee ceremony that [was] the first time in West Philly, I make that coffee, she continued. Everybodys sitting low. We start drinking coffee, and before we know it, we start seeing eye to eye just like normal times [before COVID]. It was a beautiful time for me, I never forget that moment. On the cafes three-year anniversary this year, Ali feels shes achieved her goal of being a community coffee shop. She offers the complimentary ceremony monthly at Alif and sister shop Salam Cafe to continue sharing her cultural traditions and give her customers the opportunity to connect with her and each other. The buna tetu ceremony is our time to talk about any problem you have with your kids, your marriage, your community stuff everything is discussed around coffee, she said. My place is home for a lot of people, she added. So many people appreciate [the ceremony] [like] many students, they missing home and they need some cuddles. Coffee makes you cuddle. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court said Monday it will hear an appeal of a Commonwealth Court decision that said Tower Health's Pottstown Hospital was not eligible for property tax exemption because too much executive compensation was tied to financial performance. Read more The Pennsylvania Supreme Court said Monday it will weigh in on to what extent nonprofit hospitals can reward executives for profits and still qualify for local property tax exemptions. The issue rose out of a Commonwealth Court decision that denied a property tax exemption at Tower Healths Pottstown Hospital because too much executive compensation was tied to financial performance. The Supreme Courts decision to take Tower Healths appeal sets up an opportunity for the states top court to clarify a vague, nearly 40-year-old precedent that has governed how Pennsylvania nonprofits are allowed to financially incentivize executives while continuing to qualify for property tax exemptions. In its petition to the high court, Tower Health said bonus plans are common in the nonprofit sector and described the practical effect of Commonwealth Courts February decision as a ban on all bonus plans that have any relation to an entitys financial performance. Advertisement Tower Health said in statement that it was pleased that its appeal will be heard. We firmly believe that Pottstown Hospitals commitment to its nonprofit mission is evident through charity care and the substantial community benefits it provides across the region it serves, Tower said. At stake for the school district and Pottstown Borough is a little over $1 million. We anticipated that this might happen and are looking forward to a decision from the court that will get us close to a final resolution, Pottstown School District spokesperson John Armato said in an interview. It is significant that the top court accepted the appeal, said Carl S. Primavera, a senior partner at Philadelphia law firm Klehr Harrison Harvey Branzburg LLP who specializes in real estate but is not involved in this case. The Supreme Court must want to clarify the issue, so nonprofits are not confused or at risk of losing exemptions, he said. Look for some real clarity from the Supreme Court, regardless on how it actually rules on the merits of the appeal. READ MORE: Do Philly-area hospitals give enough charity care? Theres no simple answer. Nonprofits are allowed to make money In health care, nonprofits say they need to make money in order to maintain their facilities, invest in technological advances, and expand services. Whats not clear is how much emphasis nonprofit boards are allowed to put on profitability and other financial measures when crafting pay packages for their CEOs and other executives. Commonwealth Courts February decision overturned a ruling by Montgomery County Court Judge Jeffrey S. Saltz that Pottstown Hospital qualified for the exemptions, even as he described the pay of former CEO Clint Matthews ($2.25 million in 2018 and $2.4 million in 2019) as eye-popping. Saltz bemoaned the vague guidance offered by appeals courts. READ MORE: How CHOP paid its CEO a record $7.7 million in 2021. Commonwealth Court Judge Christine Fizzano Cannon wrote in the February decision that Towers policy of tying 40% of the executives bonuses to the nonprofit hospitals financial performance was overly oriented toward profits. That level of emphasis on financial results violated a Pennsylvania Supreme Court precedent established in 1985 that says a nonprofit must operate entirely free from private profit motive to qualify as a charity that is entitled to exemption from real estate taxes, Commonwealth Court found. The questions for the Supreme Court In granting Towers appeal, the Supreme Court said it will consider whether the lower court was wrong in its finding that Pottstown Hospital LLC offered substantial executive compensation based upon the financial performance of the institution. The Pottstown case is significant because the last time the state Supreme Court heard a case involving nonprofit executive compensation was in 2000, according to a filing involving Tower Health facilities in Chester County. Commonwealth Court upheld a Chester County judges decision that Phoenixville Hospital did not qualify for a property tax exemption. The Supreme Court has not yet said whether it will also accept Towers petition for appeal in that case. A second question for the Supreme Court is whether Commonwealth Court erred in finding that executive pay and other financial factors at Tower Health, Pottstown Hospitals corporate parent, disqualified the hospital from the exemption. Tower said in its petition that Commonwealth Courts focus on the corporate parent, as opposed to considering only financial incentives at the local hospital, violated standards in Pennsylvania case law that date to 1998. Since then, the states hospital industry has undergone a massive consolidation that has put most hospitals under control of corporate parents. In 2018, several Philadelphia physicians, worried about rising rates of sexually transmitted infections in the city and around the country, decided to try a new method to fight their spread: an antibiotic taken after sex that functioned like a morning-after pill, preventing those infections from taking hold in patients. They had seen promising early research showing that the bacteria causing painful and potentially life-altering infections such as syphilis could be wiped out with a dose of a common antibiotic, doxycycline. Many Philadelphia doctors, including those at a city-run health center, began prescribing this course of treatment for patients following unprotected sex when patients were unsure if their partner was infected. They called the practice doxy PEP, short for prescribing doxycycline as a post-exposure prophylactic. These pioneering physicians found that Philadelphia-area patients, who shared their concerns about contracting STIs, welcomed a new way to prevent infections. Theres not a clinic session where I dont offer it, said William R. Short, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania who specializes in treating infectious disease. Patients dont like me calling them to say, I hate to tell you this, but you have syphilis. They hear that theres an option to prevent [these diseases], and they love it. Advertisement Now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are set to recommend that physicians across the country adopt the practice. Last week, the agency drafted a recommendation for doxy PEPs use and is now accepting public comments on the proposal. Preventive treatment push for those at high risk The CDCs proposal looks to target certain diseases within a broad category known as sexually transmitted infections, which are passed between people through sexual contact. These include syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia. Infection rates have been rising in Philadelphia and nationally for years, said Lenore Asbel, the medical specialist for the citys sexually transmitted infection control program. In particular, she said cases of gonorrhea in the city have increased every year since 2020. This disease can cause genital discharge and painful urination; untreated, it can lead to serious complications including infertility and infections elsewhere in the body. Syphilis cases have been trending upward since the early 2000s. Syphilis symptoms occur in stages, beginning with a painless sore and progressing to a rash, a fever, and muscle aches, among other symptoms. In rare, untreated cases, it can lead to mental problems, paralysis, and even death. Philadelphia briefly saw a drop in reported chlamydia cases in 2019, followed by a steady increase since, Asbel said. Chlamydia can also present with symptoms including genital discharge and painful urination; left untreated in women, it can cause infertility and increase the risk of an ectopic pregnancy. The CDC now plans to recommend that physicians prescribe doxy PEP to gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men, and transgender women, who have been infected with at least one bacterial STI in the last year and are at risk of becoming infected again. The CDC recommendation focused on those groups because most of the clinical studies on doxy PEP involved those populations. Theres not yet enough clinical evidence for the treatments efficacy in other populations, according to the CDC. The agency is also monitoring whether widespread use of doxy PEP could have a worrisome consequence: the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, a concern for any widely used antibiotic. The recommendations are welcome news to physicians in Philadelphia who have been concerned about local STI rates for years. We have very high rates among many age groups and many different demographics, said Asbel. The city has seen high rates of STIs among young people, men who have sex with men, and transgender women, Asbel said, but added that not everyone in those groups is at high risk. It has to do with behaviors that increase risk having multiple partners and unprotected sex, she said. When to seek the treatment Doxy PEP is best for patients who have had sex with someone but dont know whether they had an STI, she said. If a sexual partner is known to be infected, she urged patients to seek specific treatment after having sex with someone that they know is infected with an STI. Penns Short said he hoped that the CDCs recommendation would spur more physicians to prescribe doxy PEP. He noted that some health-care providers are reluctant to talk to patients about sex, leading their patients to avoid raising sexual health concerns. Then it starts this problem where its ignored, not talked about, but unfortunately not going away, he said. We need to find something else, and hopefully this is it, he said. Amichai Shdaimah (left) of Ardmore speaks during a rally sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia. His 84-year-old stepmother, Ditza Heiman, is among the missing and is presumed to be a hostage. He spoke Monday to supporters at the Philly Stands With Israel Rally at the Saligman campus in Wynnewood. Read more An Ardmore man says his 84-year-old Israeli stepmother who lives near the border with Gaza has been missing since last weekend and is believed to have been taken from her home by Hamas. Amichai Shdaimah, who has lived in the Philadelphia suburbs for 26 years, said Friday that his stepmother, Ditza Heiman, is considered to be among scores of Israelis taken hostage during last weekends terrorist attack. The mother and stepmother of seven is from Kibbutz Nir Oz, an agricultural community of about 400 people in southern Israel that sits less than two miles from the border with Gaza. Shdaimah, 59, a father of three, said his stepmother likely hid in a safe room inside her home Saturday morning as attackers descended on the kibbutz and shot indiscriminately. He said a neighbor told family members that he heard Heiman calling for help, but when he went outside, her home was surrounded by militants. Heimans family members tried calling her repeatedly. Hours later, Shdaimah said, someone finally picked up: a man who spoke in Arabic and said Hamas, Hamas. Advertisement READ MORE: Residents of Philly region grieve for loved ones in Israel and Gaza as war intensifies Heiman was last seen in what Shdaimah described as a Hamas propaganda video that was posted on social media earlier this week. A screenshot shared with The Inquirer appears to show Heiman being led away from her home and into a car. Shdaimah said he and his family are desperate for information on her whereabouts and are connecting with governments and nongovernmental organizations to attempt to get medication to her. He said his wife has been in touch with the U.S. State Department, and that other family members have been in touch with Israeli intelligence officials. Shdaimah also attended and spoke Monday at a rally in support of Israel in Wynnewood. He said his family is keeping busy and spreading the word about her in part to get through unimaginable pain. We are trying not to think what she is going through, he said, because if you start imagining that, its unbearable. Saturdays incursion by Hamas, a militant group that governs Gaza, left more than 1,200 Israelis dead, according to military officials. In addition to the hundreds of civilian casualties on the deadliest day in the nations history, more than 150 people are missing and are considered to be hostages. Nir Oz was a focal point of the invasion dozens of residents were killed or taken captive. The attack plunged the Middle East into a state of war. Israels leadership has vowed to eliminate Hamas and has bombarded Palestinian territories with airstrikes, killing more than 1,700 people, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The Israel Defense Forces on Friday warned the United Nations that Palestinians in northern Gaza should evacuate, signaling that a ground invasion could be imminent. Authorities said IDF soldiers have already conducted raids in Gaza over the past 24 hours to search for hostages. Shdaimah said his familys message to the international community is simple: Put the hostages first, before any other effort. He said his family also wants civilians in Gaza to get the help they need. Although Heiman is not Shdaimahs biological mother his father was her longtime partner he said she adopted our entire family and that his children refer to her as their savta, Hebrew for grandmother. Shdaimah said he and his family, including three children who attended school in the Lower Merion School District, visited Israel annually while his kids were growing up. They always started their trip in Nir Oz, he said, where Heiman would warmly welcome them with the kids favorite chicken and matzo ball soup. Now that the children are grown, Shdaimah said, they still visit Israel and stop at Nir Oz while there. Even later in her life, Heiman always insisted that she cook alone for the entire family. She was hosting them in the kibbutz and they were definitely attached, Shdaimah said. Its like shes their grandmother. We dont consider her adopted or stepmother. Heiman was one of the early founders of the kibbutz, Shdaimah said, and was used to going to her houses safe room when alerts would blare. She knew it was a conflict zone, but she never considered leaving the kibbutz, he said. There were previous conflicts, he said. But never anything even close to this. Maurine Taylor Ford waves as she passes the drummers of Batala Philly, who supplied a beat to encourage participants along Kelly Drive during the 37th annual AIDS Walk Sunday morning. Now 51 and from Mount Holly, Ford first devoted herself to AIDS activism as a teenager in New York City. Read more Maurine Taylor Ford, now 51, first devoted herself to AIDS activism as a teenager in New York City. At the time, many people were terrified of the so-called gay cancer, and her religious parents forbade her from volunteering at a local AIDS center. She didnt care. She forged their signatures on a permission slip and went to work anyway at the AIDS center of Queens County. Im one of those rebel-type of personalities, where whatever people are running away from, Im running toward, Ford said in an interview with The Inquirer. Over four decades, she has focused on the science and on combating the pervasive stigma around the disease. In college, her peers referred to her as Molly the condom lady, she said, because of her relentless emphasis on safer sex. (They also knocked on her door at all hours of the night to get condoms.) In the military, where she worked for 17 years, Ford continued to advocate and work for people with HIV/AIDS. Fords first husband contracted HIV in the 1990s through an extramarital affair, she said. Despite the fear and stigma that still surrounded the virus, Ford became even more committed to her advocacy work while caring for her husband. He ultimately died of unrelated causes. On Sunday, Ford, a Ph.D. student in public health/epidemiology who lives in Mount Holly, joined the 37th Annual AIDS Walk Philly. The event raised $200,000 for the Philly-based AIDS Fund, which will use it to grant emergency funds to individuals living with HIV, with a focus on safe housing, the organization said. In Greater Philadelphia, there are over 27,000 people living with HIV, according to the Office of HIV Planning Philadelphia, and the region has a new infection rate three times higher than the national average. Clearly, despite years of work, theres still more to do. Ive just always kept the fight alive, Ford said. Procession of Philadelphia police vehicles with body of fallen officer in hearse leaves police headquarters October 13. Officer Richard Mendez was shot and killed and Raul Ortiz was wounded at Philadelphia International Airport. Read more An 18-year-old Camden man was arrested Monday in connection with the death of Philadelphia Police Officer Richard Mendez and the shooting of Officer Raul Ortiz, and police are searching for at least two other suspects in the car theft-turned-fatal shooting at a Philadelphia airport parking garage last week. Yobranny Martinez Fernandez, 18, was taken into custody early Monday morning in Cherry Hill, where he is awaiting extradition to Philadelphia on murder and related charges, Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore said. Fernandez was taken into custody in Mendezs handcuffs a police tradition for officers killed in the line of duty. Vanore said police believe Fernandez was part of the group of men who were trying to boost a car in the Terminal D parking garage around 11 p.m. Thursday night, before opening fire on Mendez and Ortiz. Police believe another 18-year-old Jesus Herman Madera Duran was also shot during the struggle and then driven by accomplices to Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, where he was pronounced dead. The search for at least two other suspects continues, and the reward for information leading to an arrest is $237,400. We need more people to call, Vanore said. We still have at least two individuals and there could be more. Advertisement Mendez and Ortiz were about to begin their shift at Philadelphia International Airport when they heard a glass window breaking and tried to intervene in an attempted car theft. A confrontation followed, and shots were fired. Mendez, 50, was shot four times in the torso and pronounced dead shortly afterward. Ortiz, 60, was shot once in the arm, treated, and released from the hospital over the weekend. Several key details including how many people were present at the time of the confrontation and who fired the shots remained unclear Monday, and Vanore declined to elaborate. But he said police believe Mendez and Ortiz were attempting to apprehend one of the individuals when somebody came [from] behind them and fired a weapon. Police found Mendezs gun holster empty and the firearm remained missing, though Vanore said police did not believe the fallen officers service weapon was fired at the airport Thursday night. Who was Richard Mendez? Mendez is the 10th law enforcement officer to be shot in the city this year, and the second slain, following the fatal on-duty shooting of Temple University Police Officer Christopher Fitzgerald in February. Mendez, of Somerton, was just days shy of celebrating his 22nd anniversary on the police force. He was a well-known and popular beat cop in the 25th District, patrolling some of the citys most violent neighborhoods in North Philadelphia. City Councilmember Quetcy Lozada, who considered Mendez a friend, read a statement from the officers family after the arrest was announced Monday at Police Headquarters. Lozada said the family was grateful for the outpouring of support but requested privacy as they grieve. Richie was a great man who was loved by many, and we will continue to love him in the memories we have of him, Lozada said, reading from the statement. Mendezs daughter Mia and his wife, Alexandria, were his pride and joy, the statement said. He was his familys go-to problem solver, and among colleagues in the department, he had a reputation as a team player who was eager to help and rarely complained. He was the person everyone went to when they didnt know what to do, Lozada said. Richies response was always Well figure it out together. Mendez had earned his masters degree and had plans to become a college professor after retiring from the force, according to the family statement. His last few years as a patrolman with the Airport Unit were meant to be a winding-down period after a long career in one of the citys busiest districts, police union leader John McNesby said Friday. A difficult month for Philly police Mendezs death devastated a police force during what interim Commissioner John Stanford described as an already taxing and emotional month within the department. In unrelated incidents in the last two weeks, three officers were injured in a shootout with a suspect in a domestic violence incident in Rhawnhurst, another officer died by suicide, and another died of a medical emergency, Stanford said Friday. A viewing will be held for Mendez on Oct. 23, followed by a funeral service the next day. Its going to be a pretty somber mood for the next few weeks, Stanford said. But I think our women and men are rallying around each other. Philadelphia police academy graduates salute during National Anthem at the start of a graduation ceremony in August. The department and the police union are asking state officials to relax reading and fitness requirements. Read more Philadelphia police officials and the citys top legislative leader want the state to relax reading and fitness requirements for police recruits as the department struggles with a persistent staffing crisis. In a letter this week to leaders of the General Assembly in Harrisburg, public safety officials asked legislators to amend a state law that requires recruits meet specific reading and fitness benchmarks before they can enroll in the police academy. Instead, city officials said, Philadelphia should be permitted to enroll recruits based on requirements set by the city and allow cadets to demonstrate proficiency on state tests later in their nine-month training regimen. The letter proposes a three-year term for the change in law. City Council President Darrell L. Clarke, the lead signatory on the letter, said the city could in the coming years be short 1,000 officers. Advertisement The city of Philadelphia should have more flexibility, he said. Its a reasonable ask, and I think it will markedly increase the ability for us to deal with this. The letter was dated Tuesday and also signed by Interim Police Commissioner John M. Stanford, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 John McNesby, and Sheriff Rochelle Bilal. Mayor Jim Kenney, who has for several years said police staffing is dangerously low, did not sign the letter. His office did not respond to a request for comment Friday. READ MORE: Amid a shortage of officers, Philadelphia police enrolled its largest group of recruits in years The letter was addressed to House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D., Philadelphia) and Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R., Westmoreland). A spokesperson for Ward said her office hadnt seen the letter. Nicole Reigelman, a spokesperson for McClintons office, said staff have been working with state and local stakeholders to explore legislative remedies to ease recruitment and retention challenges for the Philadelphia Police Department and departments across the commonwealth. She said the office is hopeful that the legislature will be able to assist local government in their recruiting efforts. Its unclear whether the General Assembly would consider granting a Philadelphia-specific exception for police hiring rules. But the ask underscores the lengths to which the city is willing to go to fill hundreds of vacancies in the Police Department, which has seen a mass exodus of officers over the past three years. How understaffed is the Philly Police Department? Since 2020, the Police Department has operated with a significant shortage of officers. The department has roughly 6,500 employees despite budgeting for 7,400, and more than 800 police officers are enrolled in the Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP), meaning they intend to retire within the next four years. Police brass and city leaders have blamed a variety of factors, including pandemic-related restrictions on gathering that made recruiting challenging, and a nationwide shortage of recruits following the racial justice movement that challenged law enforcements role in society. The city has tried a handful of initiatives to counteract the tide of resignations and retirements, including earmarking $3 million in new funding for recruiting campaigns. The administration last year lifted a rule for police recruits that requires most municipal workers to live in the city for a year before applying for a job. Officials have also said the battery of tests that recruits must take and pass before they can enroll in the police academy have limited hiring. During a City Council hearing last year, the department said most applicants failed the screening programs, using a 2021 recruiting class as an example. The department said nearly 3,800 applicants were invited to attend a spring orientation. But only 900 showed up, and more than 500 failed the reading or agility test. Staff writer Gillian McGoldrick contributed to this article. Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter Welcome to the start of a new week. Soak up the sun, but opt for a light jacket. Temps will reach the low 60s. Well find out for certain who will be Philadelphias next mayor next month but the odds-on favorite to win is Democratic nominee Cherelle Parker. Today, I want to turn back the clock to 2003 the last time there was a competitive race for mayor. Twenty years ago, Philadelphia Mayor John Streets administration found an FBI bug in his office. New interviews with then-challenger Republican Sam Katz and others involved give a fresh look at the discovery and how the political spin unfolded behind the scenes. Advertisement Taylor Allen (@TayImanAllen, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com) If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here. Exactly four weeks before the 2003 general election for Philly mayor, John Streets administration found the FBI listening device in the ceiling above his desk on Oct. 7, 2003. The last competitive general election for mayor was suddenly nationalized. Republicans hoped the bug that revealed a secret federal investigation into Streets administration would push Republican nominee Sam Katz to victory. Street had narrowly defeated Katz four years earlier. Meanwhile, Democratic Party leaders like then-U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and former Vice President Al Gore rushed to Philadelphia to vouch for Street. Some accused Republican George W. Bush of allowing his Department of Justice to interfere in a local election. The result: The election interference message came out on top as Street secured his reelection. Continue reading to discover how the political strategy was crafted behind the scenes. Authorities say a multimillion-dollar catalytic converter theft ring ran out of a Northeast Philadelphia tow yard that stole, sold, purchased, and resold catalytic converters. Michael Williams, the operator of TDI Towing in Port Richmond, and a cadre of associates stole at least 2,000 of the valuable car parts throughout Bucks County and beyond between 2020 and 2023, according to prosecutors. Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub dubbed Williams the kingpin of the operation that was spending a minimum of $10,000 per night on stolen converters. The yearlong investigation included surveillance, undercover transactions, and high-speed car chases. Read more to find out how the takedown unfolded. What you should know today Trivia time Jason Kelce broke the Eagles record for consecutive regular-season starts, How many is that in total including the Eagles first series on Sunday against the New York Jets? A) 150 B) 145 C) 142 D) 130 Think you know? Check your answer. What were... Craving: A sausage, egg, and cheese from Knead Bagels. Watching: Last nights reunion show of Season 5 of Love is Blind. Unscramble the anagram Hint: Temples live mascot ALL WHO SETTLE Email us if you know the answer. Well select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Tom Gowan, who correctly guessed Sundays answer: Edgar Allan Poe. Photo of the day And thats all I have for you this morning. Ill catch you tomorrow FARGO Two months before a shooter killed one Fargo officer and injured two others in July, police leaders including K-9 Sgt. Sam Bollman had come up with a way to help comrades during life-changing events. The Leadership Care Fund, which was meant to quietly raise funds within the Fargo Police Department, has grown to a loud community-supported fundraiser. With more than 1,000 donors, children have come up with lemonade stand profits, Bollman told The Forum. Residents have purchased shirts and wristbands, or have directly donated to the fund. Businesses have given tens of thousands of dollars. The amount that people have contributed to the fund in the last 2 months has been more than Bollman thought the Leadership Care Fund would ever handle in the initiative's lifetime, he said. Ive told people that we were in the right place at a terrible time, but we were happy to do it, he said of the fund. The department has a donation drive in the fall called Blue Days of Giving, Bollman said. He was talking with another supervisor and asked: What if someone needs help and cant wait until then? Officers may need help with medical expenses, births or other life-changing experiences, he said. Bollman and others came up with the idea that police with the rank of sergeant and up could voluntarily donate money from paychecks to a fund. Then officers could nominate co-workers who need the money for those life-altering events. We believe that, the leadership of any organization, one of your jobs is to help take care of the people that work there, he said. Thats why we called it the Leadership Care Fund. The Leadership Care Fund was born in May, Bollman said. The group didnt intend on advertising the fund, as it was to remain an internal nonprofit, he said. Even some inside the department didnt know about it. Then the July 14 shooting happened. A gunman opened fire on police responding to a routine crash at 25th Street and Ninth Avenue South in Fargo, killing 23-year-old Officer Jake Wallin and injuring 22-year-old Officer Tyler Hawes and 28-year-old Officer Andrew Dotas. The shooter, whom Officer Zach Robinson killed, also injured Boston-area woman Karlee Koswick. Bollman said he proposed using the Leadership Care Fund to help the officers involved in the shooting. I knew that people in the community would want to give, he said. We have a fantastic community here, and everyones very supportive. Not having an organized entity for donations could result in people becoming unmotivated to give, he said. It was better to have one centralized group to give to, he said. We didn't want 15 different GoFundMes and we don't know who started them, he said. We don't know if they're legitimate. We dont know if the people affected are actually going to get the money. The fund attracted widespread support in the Fargo-Moorhead area, as well as other states. Bollman said the families and officers impacted by July 14 asked that the amount raised remain private. Its a lot of money, I would say a life-changing amount of money, but were not going to get into specifics, he said. I thought we would deal with $5,000 to $10,000 a year just from our payroll deductions, but were getting single donations more than that. That included a $42,442 check from Lend A Hand Up. This was just a new opportunity to share support and gratitude for the officers and their families who risked their lives for the community on July 14, Lend A Hand Up Director Jeana Peinovich told The Forum. The Dotas, Hawes and Wallin families have had positive attitudes in the wake of the shooting, Bollman said, noting that they are extremely thankful for the communitys support. He said he is excited to give them their checks. I was raised that when someone needs help, you do what you can to help them, he said. Getting to be very closely involved in that has been very rewarding. Though police leaders manage the fund, it remains separated from the Fargo Police Department and city. The website for the Leadership Care Fund makes clear that donations go to officers, not to city government or the law enforcement agency. The police department backs the nonprofit. Chief Dave Zibolski called the initiative outstanding, adding it shows the culture in the department of helping fellow officers. The group was well-positioned to help the officers who were shot on July 14, he said. I am really proud of their efforts, he said. Donations for the July 14 shooting will go to the officers and families impacted by the incident, Bollman said. Donors also have given money to be used for other officers, he said. That has included an officer who lost his wife and another who has cancer. The Leadership Care Fund plans to wrap up fundraising for the July 14 shooting victims this month, but it will still accept donations for its general purpose, Bollman said. Running the fund has been a lot of work, Bollman said, but he wouldnt have it any other way. It's very encouraging to know that if I ever needed anything, or any of my friends or family ever needed anything, that there's people out there that are very willing to help. All we have to do is ask, he said. To donate, go to www.leadershipcarefund.com. Students at Mathematics, Civics and Sciences Charter, gather outside school district headquarters on North Broad Street, after leaving their school in protest Oct. 11. Founder and chief administrative officer Veronica Joyner announced In a letter to parents that the school that has operated for nearly a quarter of a century will close at the end of the school year. Read more I know theres such a thing as Philly math Things that only make sense to us, the people who grew up here, according to Stephanie Powley, the TikToker who recently invented the phrase. But even by those quirky calculations, the news last week that Mathematics, Civics and Sciences Charter School would close at the end of the school year and send hundreds of families scrambling doesnt add up. In an announcement that shocked teachers, students, and parents, the Center City schools founder and chief administrative officer, Veronica Joyner, essentially said she was sick (of dealing with the Philadelphia School Districts Charter Schools Office) and tired (the 73-year-old says she works more than 12 hours a day, seven days a week). Thus, she was retiring, and because she didnt think anyone was willing or able to do the job, shed turn the lights out on her way out. Id say long live the queen, but even queens have people to replace them. Advertisement Look, I get that charter schools operate under different rules although as schools funded by our money, Im not sure they should. But whether youre a charter school or a magnet or a good old-fashioned neighborhood school, one thing should remain consistent, and thats putting students first. This move feels like anything but. Behind Joyners questionable calculus, there may be other reasons driving the abrupt closure of the Center City charter. The school, which opened in 1999 and educates about 900 students in first through 12th grade, had been cited for academic and operational deficiencies and was about to be offered a one-year charter renewal by the district, rather than the usual five-year term. It has also been accused in the past by some parents of using exclusionary practices. Joyner was insulted by the one-year renewal offer, but rather than buckle down as students everywhere are expected to do when told that their work needs improvement, she bailed. Imagine a public school principals retirement party also meaning the shuttering of their school. Because math has never been my strong suit, I figured I must be missing something. Maybe I forgot to carry the Oh, that explains it or dropped an I get it now while trying to make sense of this decision. Surely there was a succession plan? There is a succession plan, Joyner insisted when we talked. But when I asked for details, she didnt offer anything other than repeating that no one could do the job as shes done it over the years and that the school is closing. The weight of educating Philadelphias students shouldnt sit on her shoulders, she told me during a conversation that was at times confusing and exasperating. If some of those parents had come in to volunteer or donated some checks to the school, I might have lasted another two years, she said. Curiously, no ones ever mentioned money was a problem. Same with staff shortages. Its time to stop using me and stop using me as the only school in Philadelphia, she continued. I am one school, one person, and they should demand that other schools are on this level. If you dont know what that means, that makes two of us. In fact, Joyner continued, she should be thanked for her service. And on many levels, she should: Joyner helped build a school that clearly means a lot, to a lot of people. One where, she told me, graduates have gone on to great success in their chosen fields. She deserves to enjoy her retirement and bask in her legacy. But in order to leave behind a legacy, one has to take the steps necessary to preserve it for generations to come. So she might have to wait on that appreciation. I was ready to at least give the school credit for teaching students vital critical thinking skills, but Malayah Nelson-Harris, a junior at the school, said she honed the ability to see through nonsense all on her own. The day after the announcement, she was one of hundreds of students who walked out of class to call attention to their plight and to make clear they werent buying the story they were being told. The school is closing because she doesnt want anyone else to run it? Nelson-Harris said. She was justifiably incredulous, but by the time we talked, she had resigned herself to a lesson a lot of young people in our city learn early: Too often, they are negatively impacted by decisions that adults make in their name. And usually, they have little say in the matter. Nelson-Harris is now focused on finding another school that could help prepare her for college, and then a job in the medical field. Her pragmatism impressed and saddened me. Students in our city are already expected to put up with so much: contaminated water, dilapidated buildings, and a substandard education. And now, an educators oversized ego. Philly math or not, that does not compute. Center City District is leaving its home of decades to move into a large storefront at 100 S. Broad St., just south of City Hall. It is shown on Oct. 12, 2023. Read more Center City District is moving from its longtime offices in the western side of the Public Ledger building to a block south of City Hall in the Land Title Building at 100 S. Broad St. The 26,588-square-foot space will be co-located with a police substation, and will fill the ground-floor space and a mezzanine at the southwest corner of Broad and Chestnut Streets. The benefit of the new space is that it will put CCD at a location at the center of downtown, said Paul Levy, the president of Center City District, in a statement. Additionally, the high visibility location at the center of the District is well-served by public transit and much closer to the four parks CCD programs and maintains. The move will put CCD, a business improvement district, within a short walk of Dilworth Park, arguably the organizations crown jewel. Sister Cities Park, Cret Park, and John F. Collins Park, also managed by CCD, are nearby as well. The move will fill one of South Broad Streets premier retail locations, which has largely sat empty with the exception of the occasional visitation by Spirit Halloween since the A.C. Moore closed in 2019. Dubbed the Avenue of the Arts during Ed Rendells mayoral administration, this stretch of South Broad hosts the Kimmel Center, the Union League, and a variety of tony restaurants and theaters. But its retail fortunes have waned in recent years, as companies including Wawa and Walgreens have retreated from the city. Advertisement While I would have rather seen the storefront occupied by a retailer that the public can enjoy, it has been sitting vacant and available for several years so any use is better than empty, said Steven Gartner, an executive vice president with real estate services company CBRE, who was not involved in the deal. The Avenue of the Arts is recovering from the pandemic, although many theater audiences have not returned to their pre-2020 strength, and the Arthaus, an ultra-luxury condo building, has seen slow sales. But there are positive signs as well. Beyond the CCDs new offices, other investments include Insomnia Cookies new three-story headquarters, a $25 million rooftop restaurant for the Union League, plans for several new apartment buildings, and a huge new housing and commercial complex from Post Bros. is under construction at Broad Street and Washington Avenue. The CCDs new lease will last 10 years, and the move will be undertaken by mid-2024. The building is owned by ASI Management. The companys president, Alex Schwartz, said that he is excited to host CCD and that their presence will help enliven South Broad Street. The Center City District is a well-established organization that will bring stability to a prime Broad Street retail location, said Schwartz. CCD has occupied its offices in the Public Ledger building since 2004, the majority of the business improvement districts existence. Zoning permits were recently filed by the owner that show much of the building could be converted to apartments, although the two floors that CCD now occupies are slated to continue to be used as offices under the current scheme. The move to South Broad will enable all our operations management, office staff and the police substation to be located together in one continuous and connected space, said Levy. CCD staff currently is located on multiple floors. We see climate tech playing a critical role in not only in providing new solutions for consumers and business but also helping address cost barriers through efficiencies in the ways these solutions are developed and brought to market, Matthews said. We've seen this in practice already as innovation has drastically reduced the cost of solar panels in the past years, making these technologies more affordable for Australian businesses and households. In the modern health care system, any diagnosis becomes a cluster of red tape. People feel lost and don't know who to turn to. Thats when the TEB team steps up. We will meet with our clients employees wherever they are, even in the hospital and well meet with hospital admins to get whatever employees need, Collier said. $115 monthly rebate on customers Medicare Part B premium $0 copay for primary care and $15 copay for a specialist $1,000 allowance for preventive and comprehensive non-cosmetic dental services $200 annually for the purchase of routine eyewear Coverage for routine hearing exams and hearing aids Fitness benefit with a home fitness kit that includes a wearable fitness tracker Delivery of 14 healthy meals following discharge from a hospital Transportation to doctor and pharmacy appointments Healthy Today flex card, which features fitness incentives and a $35 quarterly benefit for purchasing over-the-counter health-related items Cigna is the third-largest insurer in the US by market capitalization. It recently announced its intent to exit Kansas and Missouri even as it moved forward with a plan to expand its Affordable Care Act business into 15 new North Carolina counties. Two projects that could play roles in expanding North Dakotas energy portfolio are getting more state money. The Industrial Commission recently awarded over $12 million to the University of North Dakotas Energy and Environmental Research Center for further study into the scale of critical minerals within the state as well as the potential use of underground salt caverns for storing gas over long time periods. The three-member regulatory body is made up of the governor, attorney general and agriculture commissioner. The projects could help propel North Dakota into markets for battery storage, hydrogen development and other growing industries. Critical minerals such as copper, nickel, lithium, cobalt and rare earth elements are small but central elements in a number of everyday technologies from cellphones to magnets. Demand for these minerals is likely to grow as many industries seek to decarbonize. Rare earths will be necessary for the large-scale batteries that can store energy from wind and solar technologies to provide power when the wind is not blowing and the sun is not shining -- a possible solution to some of the reliability problems that the technologies face. The minerals also are key to the functions of electric and hybrid vehicles. The potential for North Dakota's minerals go beyond clean energy. The state has an abundance of germanium and gallium, according to UND College of Engineering and Mines Senior Research Manager Nolan Theaker. These elements play important roles in semiconductors, internet cables, lighting material and more, he told a room of lawmakers and industry leaders at the Critical and Rare Earth Elements Symposium this week in Bismarck. "What's dug up today in the active lignite mines constitute more than 100% of what we already need in the U.S.," he said. Regulators last week allocated $1.5 million for studying critical minerals, with $500,000 of the funding going toward a partnership of the EERC and the North Dakota Geological Survey. The state has already done extensive exploration of rare earths throughout the past decade, but much of this has been in areas such as the Little Missouri River Badlands where rock formations are more exposed and easier to access. The newly allocated money will fund drilling carried out by the Geological Survey in areas outside of the Badlands that are likely to host critical minerals but are harder to access due to less rock exposure. The rest of the funding related to critical minerals will be used by the EERC to study the potential for extracting the minerals from produced water, which is wastewater that is a byproduct of oil and gas production. The EERC will also seek to better understand the accumulations of and potential for extracting critical minerals in oil and gas reservoirs as well as those in drill cuttings, another byproduct of petroleum development, said Reice Haase, the Industrial Commission's deputy executive director. Critical minerals are mostly produced abroad. China has been one of the largest producers of rare earth elements to date, but market and government forces are pushing for more domestic development of these minerals to shore up supply chains and national security. The Geological Survey released reports this spring and summer detailing large reserves of critical minerals throughout western North Dakota. EERC Chief Research Officer Brian Kalk said the goal of the work being done by the EERC and the Geological Survey is to attract investments to the state from companies that want to access the minerals. "(We are) really trying to paint that picture of what's available in North Dakota for rare earth elements as we look at the supply chain," he said. Salt caverns The EERC also received over $11.2 million to continue study into the development of underground salt caverns for long-term gas storage. The caverns are formed by drilling holes of up to 1,500 feet into underground salt formations and pumping water through them to dissolve the salt, making room for other materials. The state has been digging into the potential use of salt caverns over the past few years. Most recently, tests showed evidence that North Dakota salts are likely well-suited for gas storage. The new funding will allow the state to construct and demonstrate a cavern's use in North Dakota, Haase told the commission. Salt caverns can host a variety of materials for long-term storage. One of these is hydrogen, a fuel that has given rise to a burgeoning industry in recent years. Hydrogen is expected to play a growing role in global energy use, according to the International Energy Association. Today, it is mostly used to refine oil and produce fertilizer, but there are pushes to expand its application to transportation and electricity generation due to its potential as a low-emissions fuel. The storage that salt caverns provide would be useful for the Heartland Hydrogen Hub, a multistate project run through the EERC, according to Kalk. The federal Energy Department on Friday announced up to $925 million in funding for the project. The caverns could also make North Dakota an attractive place for other companies seeking to produce hydrogen. Multiple salt caverns are likely to be developed for storage in North Dakota, so the state's caverns could likely host a variety of gases, according to Kalk. If a salt cavern is used to store natural gas, that too could pull hydrogen projects to North Dakota since natural gas is a common feedstock for the fuel. But the potentials of salt caverns go beyond hydrogen development. They could supply the state with a steady stream of natural gas to tap into when demand rises, Kalk said. The caverns could also provide North Dakota with easily accessible petroleum for manufacturing products such as propane. This would clear up certain redundancies by limiting the need to transport natural gas to other states to produce propane or other materials only for those same materials to travel back for use in North Dakota, state Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms added. "This is far-reaching in terms of the next phase of industries that we're trying to attract to the state, and this technology is critical to all of them," he said. The $11.2 million from the state will be only a fraction of what is required to develop a salt cavern, which is the goal of the demonstration study. Kalk said a private company will need to cover the rest of the cost, which sits between $40 million and $80 million. Even at this high price point, the caverns would likely be attractive to private investors due to the potential for large amounts of storage, Gov. Doug Burgum said. Kalk said there are a number of possible partners the EERC is considering. "We just have to prove that this works at the next level," he said. The defendants in the corruption case involving U.S. Senator Robert Menendez include a former New Jersey insurance broker who was convicted of premium fraud in 2011 and lost his insurance license. Jose Uribe allegedly got involved with Menendez in his attempts to clear an agency employee and business associate who were suspected of involvement in his insurance fraud scheme. Sen. Menendez and his wife, Nadine, are charged with accepting bribes in the form of cash, gold bars, furnishings and a luxury car in exchange for the senators alleged favors that included sharing sensitive information and taking other actions to benefit the government of Egypt and pressuring government officials to aid three New Jersey businessmen including Uribe. Menendez is accused of disrupting a criminal insurance fraud investigation related to Uribe undertaken by the New Jersey attorney general. In the other cases, the charges are for allegedly improperly pressuring a U.S. Department of Agriculture official to protect a certification monopoly for food experts to Egypt held by businessman Wael Hana and recommending for nomination for U.S. attorney a person Menendez believed he could influence concerning a federal criminal prosecution by the U.S. attorney against the founder of a New Jersey bank, Fred Daibes. Met in 2018 Hana, a friend of Nadine Menendez, introduced Uribe to Sen. Menendez in 2018. According to the indictment, the defendant Uribe now works in the trucking industry after previously owning his own insurance agency, Inter America Insurance Agency LLC. Uribe allegedly got caught up with the Menendezes while trying to limit the damage from his insurance fraud case. In December 2011, Uribe pleaded guilty to third-degree theft by deception and was sentenced to three years of probation by a New Jersey judge. According to the New Jersey attorney general, the former insurance producer for the now defunct Inter America Insurance Agency LLC, admitted that between May 30, 2003, and Feb. 22, 2010, he obtained $76,819 in insurance premiums from seven clients by creating the false impression that he was remitting the monies to insurance carriers to secure commercial automobile insurance. In reality, he did not remit the premium payments to the insurance carriers. The New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance revoked the insurance producer licenses of Uribe and his company and ordered him to pay $92,500 in fines. Mercedes-Benz In the Menendez affair, Uribe is accused of providing Nadine Menendez with a Mercedes-Benz in exchange for Sen. Menendez intervening with the state attorney generals office on behalf of a business associate and an employee. The Uribe associate had been charged with insurance fraud relating to a trucking company, the insurance for which was brokered by the Uribes agency. The insurance broker employee, whom Uribe referred to as a relative, was being investigated for allegedly submitting the insurance applications at issue in the criminal case. According to the indictment, Uribe wrote to Hana in April 2018 that he wanted a deal to kill and stop all investigation. According to prosecutors, Sen. Menendez agreed to attempt to intervene in the cases in exchange for the Mercedes. Uribe provided the $15,000 down payment for the car and arranged for the monthly payments of the $60,000 balance to be paid. Prosecutors allege Menendez contacted a senior prosecutor in the New Jersey attorney generals office in an attempt, through advice and pressure, to resolve these matters favorably. According to the indictment, the official in the attorney generals office tried to avoid any potential inappropriate influence in the case by not sharing with the prosecution team that Menendez had contacted him about the matter, and he did not intervene in the matter. Plea Agreement Uribes associate was able to resolve his criminal prosecution with a plea agreement with no jail time. This resolution was more favorable than the prosecutors initial plea offer earlier in the case, according to the indictment. About six months later, Sen. Menendez attempted to intervene in the investigation of the employee who was Uribes relative. In late October, the Menendezes, Uribe and the relative met for a celebratory dinner, prosecutors claim, citing a photo they obtained apparently showing the three toasting with glasses of champagne. Uribes associate resolved his prosecution with a plea agreement and no jail time. In June 2022, federal agents executed search warrants on the New Jersey home and the safe deposit boxes of the Menendezes. Agents found certain of the fruits of the alleged corrupt bribery agreements with Hana, Uribe and Daibes. These fruits found in the home included $480,000 in cash much of it in envelopes, clothing, closets, and a safe plus $100,000 worth of gold bars, a $75,000 Mercedes-Benz C-300 convertible, and home furnishings, according to prosecutors, who also said they found more than $70,000 in Nadine Menendezs safe deposit box. Menendez Reaction Sen. Menendez has denied wrongdoing and said he believes that when all the facts are presented, not only will I be exonerated, but I still will be New Jerseys senior senator. He said the money found in his home was from his personal savings, not from bribes. He has rejected calls by fellow Democrats and others to resign his seat. He has stepped down as required as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, and James Smith, assistant director in the New York office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), announced the indictment on September 22. Topics Fraud Agencies New Jersey Connecting the insurance ecosystem through the power of technology could answer the decades-old problem of duplicate entry for agents. Agents still must navigate through multiple carrier portals to complete a single quote, despite the promise of integrated solutions. Or agents hit barriers trying to utilize agency data when one technology platform simply cant speak to or connect to another platform. When systems do not connect, the agency is stuck with the burdensome process of manually keeping up with the same information in two places. Brendan Mulcahy, vice president, technology & innovation partnerships at SIAA, believes connectivity remains the biggest barrier for agencies when it comes to implementing and adopting innovative agency technology. Connectivity between platforms its an issue, Mulcahy says. I think itll get better at some point, but it is still one of the biggest pain points in the industry right now. Artificial intelligence (AI) shows promise in achieving greater efficiency across the insurance value chain through connectivity. At the same time, there are those who question the focus and urgency of connectivity given that independent agencies are doing just fine. Why Advancing Connectivity in the Agency Is Needed Margeaux Giles, CEO of IRYS, agrees with Mulcahy that connectivity is a priority and decided to try to do something about the lack of connectivity with agency management systems. As the chief operating officer of OIG Insurance, an independent agency in Tampa Bay, Florida, Giles managed all IT operations and experienced firsthand the shortfalls in what her agencys management system could do, or not do, because it couldnt connect with other platforms. At every turn I would try to do something and realized, well were limited by that, or I would try to run a report, or get analytics on something, and I was told, No, you cant do that,' she said. Other times she would attempt to integrate the agencys management system with a new insurtech platform. And I was told, No, we dont want to integrate I got so frustrated that I left. So she and her agency team decided they were going to build out their own system. Soon after they did, she found other agencies calling her asking for advice. That morphed into a consulting role because I started getting calls from my carrier partners and other agents asking what we did, she said. So, I opened up a small consulting firm on the side while I was running the agency and we blew up. Giles founded GoGiles, a consulting firm focused on technology for the insurance industry in 2017. Within two years, Giles consulting work had boomed, bringing in $3 million-plus in sales just on agency consulting. The same questions always came up, she said. We kept getting asked for connectivity and we kept getting asked to build agency and carrier APIs. [An API, or application programming interface, is a set of defined rules that enable different applications to communicate with each other.] These big insurtechs kept missing the mark when it came to connectivity, according to Giles. So she and her team set out to create a new agency management system that fills this void. Thats how IRYS was born, a cloud-based open API software platform for insurance distribution that focuses on connectivity across agency departments, locations and through various insurance industry verticals. Giles says by the end of the year, IRYS will have raised close to $10 million in funding. There is room for improvement in the agency management world, Giles says. What many current technologies do not provide is open connectivity to fully utilize one of the most valuable assets of an agency its customer data, according to Giles. For example, with her old system she couldnt accurately forecast what customers were going to leave the agency and who was going to stay. Because we had a CRM and an AMS that were two different systems and there was no crossover, she said. That made running analytics between those two systems difficult. Predictive analytics was impossible, she added. What pushed Giles and her agency to make the leap and leave their current AMS vendor was realizing that some new insurtech platforms that could help solve a specific agency problem were not available to connect at all. There were all these really good insurtech solutions I call them end point solutions that were solving one part of a problem like COIs (certificate of insurance) or compliance, she said. I would ask, Do you have an API or a file I can export so I can get my data from your system to theirs and back?' The answer was a firm no, according to Giles. Or the data would only be given in an unstructured format, she said. So, you get all of your data fields, you get all of your data, but its all in a different format and theres no way to map it, she said. For IRYS, the number one priority is to build on APIs, or open connectivity, she said. Our model of revenue is not the data, it is the software, she said. Software as a service company, were a SaaS company, so we dont charge for data backups, we dont charge for API access, we dont charge for documentation, and we dont shake the filing cabinet before we hand that data over, she said. ACT Not everyone agrees that open connectivity is critical and not all agents want to be technology experts. What forward-looking insurance companies and agencies are asking for is a truly open environment where all parties share the exact same set of standards and structure, says Chris Cline, executive director of the Agents Council on Technology. These companies and agencies are saying, We just want everybody to open their stuff up and quit walling off the unique proprietary data. That sounds great but part of the problem lies in one of the hallmarks of the independent agency channel, he says. That is differentiation. Part of what makes an independent agent and an independent agency carrier different are the nuances found within their product, pricing and appetite, Cline says. I think for us to all differentiate, we probably need to ask different questions, and/or use different rating variables, he said. Cline thinks this might be where the future of generative AI can help. Maybe AI feeds that and it starts to help us, and the systems start to understand where to go to get the data for an agent or the carrier when a standard question set is used to generate a quote or an endorsement request or whatever so that it dramatically reduces or completely eliminates the need for an agent then to go in to two or three different websites. Cline admits that while there are many aligned interests when trying to create a more connected industry through technology, there are competing interests impeding that progress, too. While there may seem a lot of noise on social media, LinkedIn and Twitter from folks screaming for carriers to open their APIs and for agencies to get on board, Cline says most agencies dont really know what that means. What Ive really deduced is that most agencies dont want to be technology professionals, Cline says. They dont have the capabilities to build that out, that kind of function. Most people just want their stuff to work in the morning, he says. Another consideration most agencies are already in pretty good financial shape today, he says. I mean, if you use the Big Is Best Practices data, agencies are worth more than theyve ever been and their margins are increasing, he said. And so, its hard to convince somebody whos doing that well to change. Cline has one utopian thought for the future of agency technology. This is easy to say because Im not running a tech company, but build a modular product suite so that everything that you build works phenomenally together and make it cool enough and easy enough to use, he said. He likens this idea to the Apple ecosystem. You can do a whole lot of cool stuff as long as youre inside it. And people just dont care that they cant connect outside it. More Work to Do Andrew Wynn acknowledges that achieving seamless connectivity with carriers and industry vendors can be a challenge. But he believes that the integration of core workflows like claims, billing and policy management through technology is a critical step in streamlining operations for the industry. Wynn is co-founder and co-CEO of Ascend, an insurtech and technology firm focused on online tools that modernize all agency bill related operations. The progress varies across different segments of the industry, with some carriers and vendors offering more robust integration solutions than others, Wynn said. While some agencies benefit from advanced digital platforms, others still grapple with legacy systems and manual processes. To truly create a more connected insurance world for agents, brokers, carriers, networks and vendors, the industry needs to prioritize standardization, interoperability, and data sharing not closed and proprietary systems, Wynn told Insurance Journal. Only through greater collaboration and technology-driven initiatives can we achieve the level of connectivity that will empower all stakeholders to thrive in the evolving landscape of insurance, he added. One challenge is finding the right platform that everyone can agree on and then making the change, says A. Morris Mo Tooker, head of middle, large, specialty commercial, and enterprise sales and distribution at The Hartford. The Hartford recently announced that it expanded its digital capabilities with new submission and quote APIs, and portal options for agents and brokers who write midsize and large businesses through a partnership with Highwing, Inc., an insurtech focused on providing data management and processing solutions for both brokers and carriers. The new capabilities could save time and increase accuracy, The Hartford says, giving agents and brokers easier access to share submission data and request a quote for general liability, auto, property and workers compensation accounts. Tooker says that finding the right platform with enough interest from both brokers and other carriers is the first step toward better connectivity, at least in the middle market space. Highwings other carrier partners include Travelers, Zurich, CNA and QBE. Another hurdle to overcome is just change management, Tooker says. Youve got agents against one wall, youve got carriers against the other, and nobodys really dancing even though everybodys signed up for the same platform, he said. Thats why The Hartford is choosing to invest and experiment through multiple tech avenues, Tooker said. Our digital capabilities are built on agent and broker feedback, he said. Experimenting is critical now. Thats where were at, whether its a carrier or an agent, its time to get off the sidelines and put a little bit of time and money into this experiment to learn so that we all develop together. Benefits There is tremendous opportunity for those firms willing to experience and succeed in connecting the insurance value chain, according to Ellen Willadsen, chief innovation officer at Holmes Murphy, an independent insurance agency based in Des Moines, Iowa. In 2019, Holmes Murphy leaders helped fund and launch BrokerTech Ventures, a broker-led convening platform and insurtech accelerator program focused on delivering innovation to the insurance broker and overall industry at-large. A great opportunity for the insurance industry is to improve the flow of data, Willadsen added. New innovations around artificial intelligence could help close the gap in connectivity. The largest opportunity is if the AI systems are able to talk to each other, Willadsend said. The use of AI will (and does) help us today, but there is greater opportunity. Some startups have created tools to help with workplace efficiency, she said. A few that participated in the BrokerTech Ventures Accelerator last year include Comulate, Adapt API, and IRYS. But any technology that assists with reducing redundancy and eliminating repetitive tasks should be the focus for the industry as it strives to improve productivity, Willadsen maintained. Giles and others agree AI will play a role in the future of agencies. While AI is not new for the industry it has been used in many insurtech platforms for years its accessibility to the average person is new, Giles said. There are a lot of use cases for generative AI, including training, Giles said, noting that 40% of the insurance workforce population is retiring, and new people in insurance will benefit from having a generative AI knowledge center where they can ask questions on workflow or coverages. There are other use cases involving claims management and policy checking as well, she added. But if that AI technology cant connect to the agency management system, then how can it help? Giles admits there have been plenty of other startups with the ambition to solve the connection problem facing agencies, carriers and vendors in the past. But in her opinion, the missing piece is connecting the agency management system, she said. Carriers do invest a lot of money in building out APIs, so they can put APIs around their quote and their bind and their billing, she said. But if agents management systems dont have APIs and dont connect then those carriers are building bridges to nowhere, she said. What agencies really need is to connect with their carriers more efficiently on their current book of business, Giles maintains. Its great that we can quote and bind we love quoting and binding and everybody loves making money but as an agent, my business model is on retention, she said. If I cant service that account, if I dont know if theyve missed a payment or I dont know that theyve added a vehicle and I cant manage the account after I sell it. Thats a big problem and its something that shes hoping cloud-based, open API capable technologies can solve. If we are connected to carriers directly for service API, that would be helpful to the agent, she said. But even more importantly, connectivity will help the insured, she said. Understand Agency Goals Not everyone needs to be a technical expert to know what they need in their agency technology, says ACTS Cline. So when you think about an agent, most went into insurance because they wanted to be insurance professionals or they wanted to work in the industry but now they have to be a marketing professional, a cyber insurance professional, a data privacy professional, he said. Now were telling them they need to be technologists. SIAAs Mulcahy says when trying to streamline efficiency in independent agencies its important to remember to go back to the basics. First, we tell everyone and I wish I didnt need to tell everyone this but have a website, have a Google profile, and have an agency management system, he said. Yes, we still run into people who dont have these things, unfortunately. Mulcahy sees some agencies making mistakes when they do not have a good process for keeping their data up to date, downloaded, reconciled and consistent. Thats a big problem and I think a lot of people dont focus on having the process in place by which they use their technology. He also sees a sufficient need today for agencies to have a good CRM in place. I think in this day and age, most people should have one to manage your communications with your current customers, and with your prospects. Also, make the move to a paperless and VOIP phone systems if you havent done so already, Mulchay added. Both are solid risk management tools for documentation when it comes to agency E&O exposures. But at the end of the day, Mulcahy stressed, technology is not the goal. Technology helps you to achieve a business goal, he said. Any management system will help in terms of efficiency. It just comes down to understanding the system and implementing the right processes. Topics Trends Agencies One employee said they felt heard by leadership. Another praised their knowledgeable coworkers for treating them with respect. A third, a longtime insurance industry veteran, said the positive work experience theyve had at Levitt-Fuirst Insurance & Bonding has reinvigorated my career, and I feel like Im 20 again. Now, thats a perk. In responses to Insurance Journals annual Best Agencies to Work For survey, many of the Tarrytown, New York-based agencys employees commended Levitt-Fuirst for its open-door management style, insurance expertise and community-building efforts. The feedback propelled Levitt-Fuirst to earn the competitions Silver award for the East region. I think its confirmation that were doing something right during perhaps the most challenging employment environment in the past 20 years, said Jason Schiciano, co-president of Levitt-Fuirst. And its evidence that our employees appreciate the steps that were taking to continue to make (Levitt-Fuirst) a family-oriented company where we truly care about our people. Founded in 1969, Levitt-Fuirst employs 75 people and takes pride in its staunchly independent status. Construction companies and real estate operations make up most of Levitt-Fuirsts clientele. The agency focuses on high-end personal lines insurance, general business policies and surety bonding, as well. Our goal is to provide boutique, curated insurance services for our clients, Schiciano explained. Levitt-Fuirst is also the group manager for two New York State Insurance Fund workers compensation safety groups, offering group discounts on workers comp insurance for construction contractors and real estate owners. The safety groups were an early catalyst for Levitt-Fuirsts growth, and they continue to represent a unique insurance offering that supplements other lines of property/casualty insurance and bonding products offered. Schiciano believes Levitt-Fuirst exemplifies team culture. Leadership makes an effort to show employees they are appreciated. The company has a spirit team that plans outdoor movie nights and trivia contests, and family members are invited to a pool party in the summer and a holiday party near the calendars end. Really, there are so many team-building opportunities that we all seem to know each other well enough to be friends as well as co-workers, one survey respondent shared. Levitt-Fuirst also participates in community service efforts at food pantries and fundraises for local 5K run and walk events. The agency has a fund in memory of employees who have passed away that provides monetary grants to employees and families for education, medical and family care expenses. The companys year-end bonus structure includes all staff on the same percentage basis. I came from a small agency bought by a larger one, so I can appreciate a small company who understands the dynamics of everyone having to get along, one respondent wrote. They understand work-life balance and actually taught me to appreciate it. After 32 years in one place, I didnt expect to make new friends, and I absolutely did, and they will be lifelong friends. These are just good people doing the right thing. Schicianos advice to agency leaders is to be transparent and to engage in dialogue with their employees. I think that now more than ever, its critically important to make sure that your team, your staff, knows that theyre not taken for granted, he shared. Its important to acknowledge accomplishments even small accomplishments along the way, and its important to show evidence and make decisions that allow your staff to know that you actually care about them more than just as an employee. A historic sailing vessel on which a passenger was fatally injured by a broken mast was involved in three previous accidents in 2022 and 2019 when the schooner was under different ownership, according to Coast Guard records. The Grace Bailey, built in 1882, was returning from a four-day excursion when its main mast splintered and tumbled onto the deck, killing a doctor and injuring three other passengers Monday outside Rockland Harbor. The most serious previous incident happened on July 8, 2022, when the Grace Bailey`s skipper apparently misjudged distance while maneuvering and struck another schooner anchored in Rockland Harbor, with the Grace Baileys front boom hitting the American Eagle. American Eagles mainsail suffered a large gash, and Grace Baileys boom crashed into the water, according to a Coast Guard report. The Grace Bailey also ran aground in 2022 and in 2019. Both times, there were no injuries and only minor damage, according to Coast Guard reports. The schooner floated free at high tide in both instances. The vessel was under new ownership this season, according to a spokesperson. It underwent an annual inspection on May 31 and was in compliance with all regulatory requirements, the Coast Guard said. The mast failure in routine sailing conditions suggests the mast mustve been weakened, probably by water intrusion and rot, said Jim Sharp, a former schooner owner who runs the Sail, Power and Steam Museum in Rockland. The Bailey Grace was carrying 33 passengers and crew when the mast snapped Monday morning. Its unbelievable that this could happen this way. It takes me aback, Sharp said Wednesday. Nicole Jacques, spokesperson for the Grace Baileys owners, said it`s conjecture to offer theories about why the mast failed. The cause will be determined by the Coast Guard, she said. It`s unclear when the mast was last inspected. Those inspections are less frequent than annual inspections and require the mast to be removed from the vessel and inspected on land, Sharp said. Photo: This photo provided by Kurt Schleicher shows the schooner Grace Bailey with its main mast broken off the coast of Rockland, Maine, on Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. (Kurt Schleicher via AP) Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. A 70-year-old man who recently reached a settlement with a Roman Catholic diocese in Massachusetts over sexual abuse he suffered at age 8 said Wednesday he is speaking out because my voice was taken away from me for all those years and he wants to help others like himself. There were a number of details that bring that memory back, painful details, Claude Leboeuf said at a news conference in Fall River. I could feel muscle pain, sometimes emotional pain. I can visualize them. I can never know when those memories come flashing back to me. But that`s how it happens. It`s very real to me. Several years ago, Leboeuf, of Providence, Rhode Island, contacted Mitchell Garabedian of Boston, a well-known lawyer for clergy and sexual abuse victims. Leboeuf said he was abused in 1960 at a church in Attleboro, Massachusetts, by the Rev. James Porter, who pleaded guilty in 1993 to molesting 28 children during the 1960s and 1970s while he was a priest in the Fall River Diocese. Porter, who had left the priesthood by that time, was sentenced to 18 to 20 years in prison. He was scheduled to be released in 2004, but the state moved to have him classified as sexually dangerous to keep him behind bars indefinitely. He died in 2005. Garabedian said he`s represented dozens of people who said they were sexually abused by Porter. He said a mid-five-figure settlement was reached with the diocese for Leboeuf, declining to be more specific. Back in the early 1990s, the Fall River Diocese adopted a policy to prevent sex abuse by priests. It had reached an undisclosed settlement with 68 people who said they were molested by Porter. The actions of former priest James Porter decades ago are a painful reality in the history of the Diocese of Fall River, the diocese said in a statement. Through its Victim Assistance outreach, the Diocese of Fall River offers supportive services to survivors of clergy sexual abuse and their families throughout the legal process and continuing after a conclusion is reached. Garabedian said Leboeuf was able to prevail despite an expiration of the statute of limitations in Massachusetts to file a claim in child sexual abuse cases. More survivors are pursuing cases as states increasingly consider repealing time limits for child sex crime lawsuits. Vermont was the first state to remove the limits in 2019, followed by Maine in 2021 and Maryland this year. A bill in the Massachusetts Legislature has been referred to committee. The Associated Press generally does not name people who say they were victims of sexual abuse unless they come forward, as Leboeuf has. Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Massachusetts Church Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry announced a settlement with York-based convenience store chain, Rutters, regarding cybersecurity attacks that exposed information from more than a million customer payment cards. The attacks happened over a nine-month span in 2018 and 2019, involving 79 store locations, and more than 1.3 million payment cards. The payment card information was accessed electronically, not at any physical store locations. The attorney generals office said its investigation determined Rutters failed to properly employ reasonable data security measures in protecting consumers sensitive personal information in violation of Pennsylvanias Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law As part of the settlement, Rutters agreed to pay $1 million and to conduct and document a risk assessment, undergo an independent settlement compliance assessment, and implement security improvements. Rutters does not admit to any wrongdoing in the settlement. Rutters is headquartered in York and has 80 store locations in Pennsylvania. On May 28, 2019, Rutters first became aware of unauthorized activity on its network, but concluded that customers payment card information was not stolen. In December 2019, Rutters learned about a pattern of unauthorized charges associated with thirty Rutters store locations. As a result, Mastercard required Rutters to conduct an investigation. The independent investigator found that the threat actors were previously successful in removing information attached to at least 1.3 million different payment cards in Rutters network. The exact number of impacted consumers is unknown, as is the number of fraudulent transactions resulting from the stolen card information. Topics Cyber Pennsylvania Britains 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 Equifaxs 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 unauthorized 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 Inc.s data security systems and Equifax failed to take appropriate action in response to protect UK customer data, it said. Equifaxs fine was discounted after it agreed to resolve the matter and cooperate to a high level with the watchdog, the FCA said. Britains Information Commissioners Office fined Equifax Ltd 500,000 pounds in 2018. ($1 = 0.8191 pounds) (Reporting by Huw Jones; editing by David Evans and Mark Potter) Photograph: This July 21, 2012, photo shows Equifax Inc., offices in Atlanta. Credit monitoring company Equifax says a breach exposed social security numbers and other data from about 143 million Americans. The Atlanta-based company said Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017, that criminals exploited a U.S. website application to access files between mid-May and July of this year. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart) Topics Cyber Howden, the London-based insurance group, has launched Howden Ventures, subject to Lloyds approval, with 500 million ($607.1 million) of delegated underwriting capacity, to create an investment and risk incubator that will fast-track insurance product development. Howden Ventures will draw expertise and resources from specialist innovation teams across the global insurance market. The platform includes delegated underwriting authority, backed by leading Lloyds underwriters, including Tokio Marine Kiln, Chaucer, and Liberty Specialty Markets, which provides 500 million of syndicated underwriting capacity to support the development of new insurance solutions. As new funding for the global insurtech sector continues to fall following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, Howden Ventures has initially committed 10 million ($12.1 million) of new funding to the sector, with a view to support at least five new startups over the next two years. By bringing together funding, underwriting capital, expertise, governance and distribution all in one place, Howden Ventures will create an end-to-end platform and commercial solution that accelerates new product development and insurance innovation, the company said in a statement. As the UK government moves forward with its planned Solvency II reforms, Howden Ventures will help bring these policy priorities to life by developing innovation in the insurance sector and helping improve the sectors social impact, Howden said. Insurance innovation expert Tom Hoad will lead the collaborative industry initiative, which will focus on bringing forward solutions to new and emerging risks in a fast-paced and interconnected world driven by a changing climate, disruptive technology, macro-economic uncertainty, shifting demographics, and geopolitical pressures. Innovation is all about working together and, for the first time, Howden Ventures will assemble the most innovative thinkers in the insurance ecosystem to help solve some of the worlds most critical risks, commented Hoad, head of Howden Ventures. Combining the managing general agent (MGA) model with insurtech innovation provides the ideal platform to foster collaboration, and to merge external talent, fresh thinking, new technology, funding, and underwriting capacity, Hoad added. By doing so Howden Ventures is aligning interests from all corners of the market to create an economic model that will help the insurance industry invest in the type of long-term, innovative solutions that clients are looking for. MGAs are the innovation dynamite of the insurance industry. Cyber insurance, insurance for renewables, D&O insurance they were all born in the MGA marketplace where capital meets innovative and entrepreneurial talent and capacity providers can be part of critical R&D that clients are crying out for by sharing the risk, according to David Howden, CEO, Howden. I always say that the insurance industry needs to remain relevant to its clients and that is Howden Ventures job: to supercharge innovation by bringing great talent and quality capacity together with a turnkey platform to solve the big problems, Howden continued. Howden Ventures also announced its first investment in CetoAI, the maritime technology company that combines data analytics, engineering excellence and artificial intelligence to manage machinery breakdown risk in global shipping with predictive maintenance. With Howdens investment, CetoAIs suite of solutions will allow shipowners, operators and insurers to use live data to reduce machinery breakdowns, increase vessel utilization rates, understand operational risk in more detail and reduce performance related emissions, aiding the transition to the low carbon economy. We are delighted to welcome Howden as an investor in CetoAI. Their financial contribution and unparalleled network, including some of the largest shipowners across the maritime sector, will support our significant growth ambitions as we continue to bring fresh thinking to the maritime market, commented Tony Hildrew, founder & CEO, CetoAI. Founded in 2020, CetoAI provides analytics services to shipowners, operators and insurers globally. The company combines high frequency data, engineering excellence and artificial intelligence to predict machinery breakdowns, enable route optimisation and achieve fairer risk pricing. The funding, underwriting capacity and expertise that we can access through Howden Ventures is unparalleled and will allow CetoAI to address the emerging risks faced by clients as vessels become larger, more connected and technologically advanced, Hildrew explained. Daniel Whiteside, global head of Marine, Howden, added: Our investment in CetoAI is the perfect example of the power of insurance to drive market innovation and the development of new products that address climate risk and resilience. With Howdens support, CetoAI can draw upon the best minds and expertise that the specialty insurance market has to offer as it solves some of the greatest challenges facing the maritime industry. Founded in 1994, Howden operates in 50 countries across Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, the USA, Australia and New Zealand, employing 15,000 people and handling $35 billion of premium on behalf of clients. Source: Howden Group Topics Mergers & Acquisitions InsurTech Tech New Markets Underwriting As Israeli children listened to their teacher over Zoom, the image of a gun-toting man in fatigues appeared on the screen, according to a screenshot shared with Reuters. In another case, a video showed a billboard in the central Israeli city of Holon displaying images of rockets and a burning Israeli flag. Israeli information security professionals are banding together to provide free cybersecurity services to Israeli companies amid a spike in hacktivist activity sparked by the war in Gaza, volunteers said. Reuters could not independently verify the school incident. The screenshot was provided by Yossi Appleboum, the chief executive of cybersecurity company Sepio. Appleboum said he received the screenshot via a person in direct contact with the childrens families. In a statement, Zoom said that it was deeply upset to hear about the disruption, and that it had offered its help to enable schools in Israel to continue operating remotely. The video of the hacked billboard was first posted to the Telegram messaging service on Thursday morning. Check Point, an Israel-based cybersecurity firm, said the billboard was one of at least two such public displays to have been hacked with pro-Hamas and anti-Israel content. Reuters was able to verify the location of the video as Holon. Israels tech industry is like the country as a whole in flux, with many professionals being called up for military duty. The changeover has left new openings for mischief. A disparate group of hacktivists claiming to act in support of the Palestinian people have attempted intrusions and sabotage efforts. Websites have been knocked offline and hackers have occasionally made off with stolen data, but the damage has so far been modest. Ohad Zaidenberg, an Israeli IT specialist, is leading a group of volunteers to help Israeli companies that are being actively targeted. The Israeli cyber community is vast and the mobilization is both effective and moving, he said. The organizers of the volunteers are drawing the line on members taking vigilante action against Hamas, said Omri Segev Moyal, the chief executive of the Israeli cybersecurity firm Profero. Moyal, who runs a popular Facebook group for Israeli cybersecurity professionals, said he had already removed a couple of posts calling for digital action against the Palestinian group. He said he could understand the impulse people are mad but he believed vigilante action would backfire. Moyal said Profero had been approached by the family of one of the people who went missing with a request to hack into the victims iCloud and phones in an effort to locate them. We refused, he said. We think its actually going to cause damage to the victims. (Reporting by Raphael Satter and Christopher Bing in Washington, and James Pearson in London; editing by Lisa Shumaker and Gerry Doyle) Topics Cyber Lilly USA, LLC, a pharmaceutical corporation based in Indianapolis, Indiana, and its parent company, Eli Lilly and Company, will pay $2.4 million and provide other equitable relief to settle a nationwide class age discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced. The EEOCs lawsuit sought relief for pharmaceutical sales representative applicants who were denied positions due to Lillys Early Career hiring initiative. The Early Career hiring initiative, which was in place from 2017 to 2021, included goals designed to change hiring preferences to add more millennials to Lillys workforce. The employers alleged conduct in this case violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) which prohibits discriminating against employees aged 40 and over. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division (EEOC v. Lilly USA, LLC, et al., Case No. 1:22-1882-TWP-MKK) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. This case was litigated by EEOC Trial Attorney Chelsae Ford. The consent decree resolving the case sets up a claims process that will identify and compensate individuals aged 40 or older who applied for and were denied primary care sales representative positions in the Lilly Diabetes Business Unit from January 1, 2017, through June 30, 2020. In addition to the monetary relief, the decree requires Lilly to provide EEO training to certain managers and human resources personnel, survey job applicants on whether they experienced discrimination, and specifically state in contracts with third-party recruiters that it does not discriminate against candidates for employment based upon age. Source: EEOC Topics Lawsuits The Missouri River Joint Water Board is hosting public meetings in three cities this week to discuss river-related issues. One of the meetings is Tuesday in Linton. It's scheduled for 7-8:30 p.m. in the Emmons County Courthouse Auditorium, at 100 Fourth St. NW. Other meetings are later in the week in Fargo and Devils Lake. The positive impacts of the Missouri River reach well beyond its banks, board Chairman Wade Bachmeier said. The issues facing the river and their effects on future water usage in our state should be a concern to all citizens of North Dakota." The board represents the water resource districts of Burleigh, Dunn, Emmons, McKenzie, Mercer, Morton, Mountrail, Oliver, Sioux and Williams counties. For more information go to https://mrjwb.weebly.com. A federal appellate court is asking the Louisiana Supreme Court whether a law that was passed to protect oilfield contractors from demands by big oil companies that they be indemnified for their own mistakes also applies to contractors who work on salt mines. If the answer is yes, QBE Syndicate 1036 may be off the hook for the cost of a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of a worker who was electrocuted while working on a fire suppression system at a salt mine owed by Compass Minerals. In a decision last Thursday, a panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals sent two certified questions to the Louisianas highest court: 1. Does the Louisiana Oilfield Anti-Indemnity Act apply to agreements that pertain to drilling for minerals where the agreement does not pertain to a well? 2. If so, does the act invalidate indemnification and additional-insured provisions in contracts for fire suppression and electrical work in a soft mine that was using a drill-and-blast method for mining salt? The attorney who represents Compass, Dominic J. Gianna, said the legislative history shows that state lawmakers clearly intended to protect well-drilling contractors when they passed the Anti-Indemnity Act in 1981. The history is clear that they never meant it to apply to a salt mine, he said. Certainly not a salt mine that doesnt use a well. Compass hired Fire Suppression & Safety Specialists and MC Electric LLC to provide an electrical system and fire suppression for its 1,500-foot-deep salt mine on Corte Blanch Island in St. Mary Parish. The mine produces 15% of the US supply of rock salt used to de-ice road ways, according to the panels opinion. The purchase orders for each contract included a provision that required them to indemnify Compass from liability for all claims for damage, injury or death related to the agreement. The purchase orders also required the contractors to name Compass as an additional insured on insurance policies required by the contract. On Aug. 15, 2019, MCE electrician Shawn Clements was fatally injured when he came into contact with an energized electrical circuit while attempting to install a new circuit for a fire suppression system. Clements family filed a wrongful-death suit against Compass, alleging that one of its employees and a technician for FSS incorrectly told Clements that the fire-suppression system had been de-energized. QBE said that Compass uses a drill-and-blast method of mining for salt. The Anti-Indemnity act applies to agreements that pertain to a well for oil, gas, or water, or drilling for minerals, the insurer argued. QBE and Compass both filed motions for summary judgment. The US District Court for Western Louisiana ruled in favor of Compass, citing a 1992 5th Circuit Court decision that found the Anti-Indemnity Act applies only to contractor agreements that pertain to drilling wells. The parties did not dispute that no well was present at Compass salt mine. QBE appealed. The insurer said the decision sited by Compass isnt as clear as it seems. In fact, a footnote in the decisions indicates that the act applies to agreements pertaining to wells or drilling for minerals. QBE noted another 5th Circuit decision that found the Anti-Indemnity Act applied to a sulphur mining facility. The 5th Circuit panel said the Louisiana Supreme Court has heard cases relating to the Oilfield Anti-Indemnity Act on three occasions since the law was passed, but it is still unclear whether an agreement for drilling for minerals must also pertain to a well for the law to apply. Gianna, who is with the Aaron & Gianna law firm in New Orleans, said his reading of state lawmakers discussions during deliberations over the Anti-Indemnity Act shows that the legislature intended to protect well drillers, not contractors hired by salt mines. He said the sulphur mine case cited byQBEs lawyers used a well to extract the material, which exists below the earths surface in liquid form, much like oil. Gianna said the 5th Circuits decision was the first time in his experience that the court turned to a state Supreme Court to answer a question of law. This is law school stuff, he said. I have been practicing 40 years and Ive never seen this happen before. The court of appeals punted. Topics Louisiana Tampa-based Slide Insurance, which has made a practice of assuming Florida policies from other insurers in the last two years, said it has acquired renewal rights to 86,000 homeowner policies from Farmers Insurance. Farmers said in June that it would stop writing new HO coverage in Florida, then announced further cutbacks, including non-renewals, a month later as it manages underwriting losses around the country. Farmers officials said in August that the national carrier was laying off 11% of its workforce about 2,400 employees. Slide, headed by former Heritage Insurance CEO Bruce Lucas, said its assumptions from Farmers do not include auto, renters or umbrella policies. The assumptions are for policies set to renew in February 2024. Farmers agents in Florida also will be offered appointments with Slide. We remain bullish on Floridas insurance market and believe the market is ripe for an innovator like Slide, Lucas said in a statement. The recent reforms are working and the Florida insurance market is stabilizing, he added, referring to the 2022 legislation that ended one-way attorney fees and assignments of benefits in property insurance claims. Slide is still a relative newcomer to the market but has made quite a splash. It was founded in 2021 then grew quickly, partly by taking on some 147,000 Florida policies from insolvent St. Johns Insurance Co. The move angered some other insurance company executives who said they had not been offered an opportunity to assume the business. This year, Slide assumed some 91,000 policies from United Property & Casualty shortly before it was placed into receivership, and then offered to take out some 100,000 policies from Citizens Property Insurance Corp., Floridas state-created residual carrier. This summer, Slide said it finalized a $100 million catastrophe bond and secured $35 million in additional capital. The company also has obtained plenty of reinsurance. Slide held more than 175,000 policies in force in Florida before the recent Citizens take-out offer, the company has said. Floridas chief financial officer said in the Slide news release that the latest round of policy assumptions is good news for Florida homeowners who lost coverage from Farmers. It also demonstrates that carriers are finding more opportunities, in Floridas insurance environment, after the reforms we enacted, CFO Jimmy Patronis said. The coverage that Slide will provide will make policyholders lives easier and well continue working to attract more carriers to Florida. Topics Florida Agencies Agribusiness The Mississippi sheriff who leads the department where former deputies pleaded guilty to a long list of state and federal charges for the torture of two Black men has asked a federal court to dismiss a civil lawsuit against him. Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker were abused in a case of extrajudicial violence that even the sheriff they`re suing called the worst case of police brutality he had ever seen. But Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey`s attorney argues Jenkins and Parker`s $400 million lawsuit against Bailey should be dismissed because the sheriff is entitled to qualified immunity, a legal concept that often shields police officers from civil penalties for alleged abuses. Court records show that attorney Jase Dare asked to dismiss the lawsuit on Oct. 6, just one day after a settlement conference was filed with the court. A settlement conference is scheduled when the parties in a lawsuit try to settle a case before trial. On Friday, Jenkins and Parker`s attorneys, Malik Shabazz and Trent Walker, called Dare`s motion meritless. We believe that the totality of the evidence shows the brutality of the Goon Squad was a longstanding problem. The brutality was not just limited to these five deputies, and its something that has existed during the entirety of Bryan Baileys tenure as sheriff, Walker said. In January, five white former Rankin County deputies and a police officer from a nearby department burst into a house without a warrant after someone phoned one of the deputies and complained that two Black men were staying with a white woman. The officers handcuffed and assaulted Jenkins and Parker with stun guns, a sex toy and other objects. The officers also used racial slurs over a 90-minute period that ended with former deputy Hunter Elward shooting Jenkins in the mouth during a mock execution. Then, the officers devised a cover-up that included planting drugs and a gun, leading to false charges that stood against the victims for months. Prosecutors say some of the officers nicknamed themselves the Goon Squad because of their willingness to use excessive force and cover up attacks. In March, an Associated Press investigation linked some of the deputies to at least four violent encounters with Black men since 2019 that left two dead and another with lasting injuries. One of those men was Pierre Woods, who was shot and killed by Rankin County deputies in 2019. A family member sued Bailey over Woods` death. Court records show a settlement agreement for an undisclosed amount has been reached through the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals` mediation program. The settlement still must be approved by a chancery court. At least two of the deputies who shot at Woods, Elward and Brett McAlpin, went on to participate in the illegal raid in January. For months, Bailey said little about the episode. After the officers pleaded guilty to civil rights charges in August, Bailey promised to change the department. In his motion, Dare said Jenkins and Parker do not allege that Bailey personally participated in the events but failed to train the deputies adequately. He said internal department policies show the deputies underwent training that complies with the law. He also said none of the allegations are enough to overcome qualified immunity and hold Bailey liable for the illegal actions of his deputies. The law enforcement officers include former deputies McAlpin, Elward, Christian Dedmon, Jeffrey Middleton and Daniel Opdyke, and a former Richland police Officer Joshua Hartfield, who was off-duty during the assault. They agreed to sentences recommended by prosecutors ranging from five to 30 years, although the judge isnt bound by that. They are scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 14. Michael Goldberg is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow him at @mikergoldberg. Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Lawsuits Claims Mississippi California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that gives consumers greater control over data captured by in-cabin cameras in their vehicles. The legislation, Senate Bill 296, authored by Senator Bill Dodd (D Napa) and sponsored by the Consumer Federation of California, received near-unanimous support in the state Legislature. The use of in-vehicle cameras to monitor a drivers gaze, attentiveness, and to record sensitive data allows private companies to build composites of consumers habits and can be used for targeted advertisements as well as data collection and monetization, advocates for the bill argue. Key provisions in the bill include: The bill mandates that dealers inform consumers if their potential purchase includes one or more in-vehicle cameras. It safeguards consumer privacy by preventing corporations from profiting off personal information through the sale, sharing, or brokerage of consumer data and behavior without consent. Outside parties are only allowed to use these images if required for diagnosing, repairing, or enhancing specific car systems. Topics California October 16, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) The new Speaker of the US House of Representatives could impact global financial markets as the possibility of a US government shutdown increases, warns the CEO of one of the world's largest independent financial advisory, asset management and fintech organizations. The warning from deVere Group's Nigel Green comes as No. 2 House Democrat Katherine Clark said on Sunday that the House will vote for a new speaker on Tuesday at around 12 noon ET - two weeks after eight Republican members joined the Democratic minority in ousting the chamber's previous leader, Kevin McCarthy. Over the weekend Jim Jordan, an ally of Donald Trump, claimed he believes he will get the 217 votes required to secure the speakership. The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives holds a pivotal role in shaping economic policies and priorities. Their influence over the legislative agenda, budget, taxation, trade policies, and other economic matters makes their position essential in determining the economic direction of the world's largest economy. The deVere CEO says: "We expect the next US Speaker will be less inclined to make deals than McCarthy; in many ways it makes more sense for them, politically, not to be a deal-maker in the current environment. "As such, we believe that the next US Speaker of the House is more likely to affect a partial government shutdown in mid-November in order to try and seize a political advantage. It is also more likely that under this scenario, a shutdown would be extended - unlike the previous, more symbolic, ones." This would send shockwaves around global financial markets. "A government shutdown creates uncertainty about the world's largest economy, budgetary decisions, and the potential for disruptions in federal services. This uncertainty can be expected to lead to increased market volatility as investors become more risk-averse," says Nigel Green. "It erodes investor confidence, both domestically and internationally, meaning investors pull back from the US financial markets, leading to a decrease in asset prices and potential capital flight." He continues: "We expect that should a shutdown happen, it will prompt Moody's to cut the US credit rating below AAA. "Over the summer, global rating agency Fitch downgraded the US government's top credit rating to AA+ from AAA. Fitch cited fiscal deterioration over the next three years and repeated down-the-wire debt ceiling negotiations that puts at risk the government's ability to pay its bills. "This was the second major rating agency (after Standard & Poor's) to strip the US of its triple-A rating." A shutdown would also hit the US dollar, says the deVere CEO, "impacting exchange rates and affecting international trade and investment." It may also affect the prices of commodities such as oil and agricultural products, which would trigger price fluctuations on global commodity markets. He concludes: "We believe that a US government shutdown is now more likely with a new Speaker of the House, and this has the potential to create a domino effect in global financial markets. "Investors need to closely monitor developments in the US government, as its stability and decisions have a profound influence on the global financial markets." t: +44 207 1220 925 e: george@priorconsultancy.co.uk Twitter: @PriorConsults deVere Group is one of the worldas largest independent advisors of specialist global financial solutions to international, local mass affluent, and high-net-worth clients. It has a network of offices across the world, over 80,000 clients and $12bn under advisement. 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. 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That's all it takes to get an article published on Investor Ideas - Learn More October 16, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) The situation in the Middle East is getting worse, and we're likely moments away from a full-blown military operation. What's gold likely to do? In short, gold is likely to rally, but that is not the full or most useful reply. Middle East Conflict Sparks Gold Rally Before getting to the analysis itself, I want to provide a bit of background on the markets in general and how it translates into the current situation. "Market buys the rumor and sells the fact." is one of the Wall Street sayings. This is the case, as the markets are forward-looking, and they keep discounting various versions of the future. As something becomes near-certain (and it's generally known), it's already discounted in the price. Let's keep in mind that people tend to get too emotional about things - this mechanism also applies to the markets. So, as people keep discounting the possible fact or event, they also exaggerate in their expectations. In consequence, the price might move too far relative to where it should move. And then, when the fact arrives, or the event finally does materialize, the market gets more realistic, and the price moves back to where it "should" be. It's then moving in the opposite direction to what "makes sense" based on the event itself. For example, when the SLV ETF was launched many years ago, everyone and their brother were forecasting that the silver price would shoot to the moon due to the increased investment demand. It made sense. Silver price kept rallying before the ETF was launched. And you know what it did after the launch? Silver price topped shortly, and then it collapsed. Why am I mentioning this today? Because the key driver behind gold's recent decline is the fear and expectations of war in the Middle East. At this point it seems very likely that Israel will launch a military operation shortly. When this became very likely on Friday - after the warning from Israel - gold price truly soared. Now, given what I wrote above about how prices, expectations, and events work, and knowing what happened to the silver prices after the key event materialized, what's likely to happen to the prices of gold after the military operation starts? The forecast for gold price is actually bearish. To be clear, gold is not that likely to decline right away, but it is likely to decline soon. It's usually very difficult to convince people about the above mechanism as it seems anti-intuitive, so let's check what happened when we saw a previous war outbreak - and one on a much bigger scale. The Russian invasion on Ukraine was launched in late February 2022, and I marked that with a red dashed line. That was also when interest in "war" peaked - when there were many searches for "war" Google. Back then, gold topped in less than 2 weeks. However, please note that the situation with Russia and Ukraine was vague - much more so than what we currently have in the Middle East, so the entire move from expectation or news to fact could be faster. The area of conflict is much smaller in this case, but it doesn't make it any less tragic, and it doesn't make the fear and concern any smaller. The data confirms it as well. This chart (the below charts are courtesy of Google Trends) shows that the number of searches about "war" is soaring right now. It happened a few times in the past, and the biggest peak was in February 2022. The analogy gets more interesting when we focus on the U.S. searches, and we focus on news only. In this case, it's obvious that the current situation is similar to just two times from the recent history - to February 2022 and to late December 2019. I marked both cases on the first chart - featuring gold price. What happened in both cases? Gold kept rallying for several days but for not longer than 2 weeks, and then it topped. Then, in early 2020, gold price continued its upward trend (but after declining in the short term, and in 2022, gold price started a multi-month decline. How Soon Will the Tides Turn? What's likely to happen now? The fear / concern / expectations are already enormous, and the gold price is already after a rally. Did it top already? Most likely not (and it's good that we took profits from our previous short positions in miners before gold truly shot up), as the momentum was extremely strong. However, it seems that we're not far from the top. The previous trend in gold was to the downside, which means that after the short-term top, the gold price is likely to decline once again - and the same is likely for silver and mining stocks. How soon can the reversal take place? Probably several days or no longer than 2 weeks after the actual attack. Both could happen as early as this week. The above is confirmed by the place where the two resistance lines cross (on the gold price chart). The vertexes of triangles created by such resistance lines tend to mark the times when the price reverses. The most recent move was to the upside, so it's quite likely that the next several will happen either this week or the next week. What this technique doesn't say is how high gold can rally before it reverses, and that's a different question. Given the very emotional nature of the recent price moves, it's currently unclear how high gold can rally before it tops. Seeing gold top at about $1,960 would not be surprising, though. 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: Streetwise Reports October 16, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) This company's updated mineral resource estimate (MRE) for its historic silver project in the Walker Lane trend of western Nevada is "blistering," according to one analyst. One analyst called Blackrock Silver Corp.'s (BRC:TSX.V; BKRRF:OTCQX) updated mineral resource estimate (MRE) released Wednesday for its historic 100%-controlled Tonopah West project in the Walker Lane trend of western Nevada "blistering." After incorporating about 25,000 meters of new drilling and reinterpreting the geologic data, the company demonstrated a 135% increase over the maiden MRE released in 2022. "By breaching 100 Moz Ag Eq (million ounces silver equivalent) of high-grade material on a diluted model basis, we see Blackrock propelling itself into a bona fide silver developer who should now be on the radar screens of investors as an acquisition target," analyst Phil Ker of PI Financial wrote in an updated research note on Wednesday. Ker rated the stock a Buy with a target of CA$0.80 per share, a nearly 200% increase over its price Wednesday afternoon, CA$0.275. The updated MRE contains 570,000 ounces gold (Au) and 47.74 Moz silver (Ag), 100.04 Moz Ag Eq. At a 200 grams per tonne (g/t) Ag Eq cutoff, the average grade of the inferred mineral resource is 508.5 g/t Ag Eq, which is a 14% increase over the maiden MRE. The MRE includes 6.12 million tonnes, a 106% increase over the maiden MRE. Tonopah, which grew from a strike by Jim and Belle Butler in 1900, was once known as the "Queen of the Silver Camps." "We are making great strides towards de-risking and reawakening one of the great American silver camps," Blackrock Silver President and Chief Executive Officer Andrew Pollard said. "This updated MRE has seen the footprint of mineralization more than double from the maiden MRE, with the vein corridor now stretching over three kilometers with the inclusion of the new NW step-out target. There are no signs of the system stopping both along strike and at depth." The Catalyst: Nearly 200 Holes Drilled The updated MRE captures about 3 kilometers of strike along the Tonopah West vein system, the company said. Tonopah West is near the town of Tonopah in western Nevada. U.S. 95 traverses the property, and the resource area lies exclusively in the patented mining claims. The company sunk 198 drill holes for a total of 125,208 meters between 2020 and 2022. The updated MRE encompasses the Victor, DPB, Bermuda, and Northwest step-out areas, Blackrock said. "Over 160 years since Nevada earned its moniker as the 'Silver State,' and nearly a century since commercial production shutdown, most had assumed the history books had long since closed on this once-renowned district," Pollard said. "This resource marks a pivotal step toward the resurgence of this illustrious mining camp, proving that the final chapters of the queen of the silver camps are yet to be written." A technical report on the updated MRE was being prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 and would be available within 45 days, the company said. Potential for Expansion The updated MRE could form the basis for a future Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) of the project, wrote analyst Taylor Combaluzier of Red Cloud Securities in an updated research note on October 11. "Now more than ever, we believe Tonopah West makes BRC an attractive takeout candidate, given its large, high-grade resource in a world-class mining jurisdiction," wrote Combaluzier, who rated BRC a Buy with a price target of CA$1.60. There is also "significant future expansion potential" at the site, he noted. "The mineralized system at the NW step-out area remains open along strike and at depth, boding well for future expansion drilling," he wrote. "Additionally, infill drilling could favorably affect the grade here, as the holes are more widely spaced than in the Victor and DPB areas. Future drill programs are planned based on the updated geological model." More Silver Mines Needed Silver is nature's most conductive element, which is why it is used to coat electrical contacts in computers, phones, cars, and appliances - not just for jewelry. It's also an important element in solar technology. "Silver is not only a precious metal, but also an industrial metal," Sankar Sharma, chief executive officer of Risk Reward Return, told CBS News. "Silver is used in medical applications, solar panels, batteries, nuclear reactors, semiconductors, touch screens, and more." The World Silver Survey 2023, published by the Silver Institute, said there was a 237.7 Moz deficit between supply and demand for the precious metal in 2022. This deficit was expected to be repeated in 2023, the institute said. "Mined output over the longer term, four to five years out, is forecast to begin to decline," the report said. "This will be due to losses from grade decline and reserve depletion at existing operations exceeding the new production that is expected to come online from the current project pipeline." Newsletter writer Rick Mills of Ahead of the Herd has noted that "to satisfy future demands, it's clear that more silver mines must be developed to reverse this trend. The focus has to be on promising silver explorers and mine developers that could contribute to the future supply chain." Ownership and Share Structure Blackrock Silver is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. About 59% of the company is held by institutional and high-net-worth investors, 4% is owned by management and insiders, and 37% is retail, the company said. According to Reuters, Sprott Asset Management LP owns 2.55%, the CEO Pollard owns 2.56%, Mirae Asset Global Investments (US) owns 2.22%, Executive Chairman William Carl Howald owns 0.58%, and Konwave HG owns 0.32%. The company said other shareholders include First Majestic Silver, the Global X Silver Miners Index (SIL ETF), and Gold 2000. Its market cap is CA$52.96 million, with more than 192 million shares outstanding. It trades in a 52-week range of CA$0.60 and CA$0.245. 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: Streetwise Reports October 16, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) This company exploring for gold near the historic Homestake Mine in South Dakota has entered a partnership with Orion Mine Finance that comes with a US$17 million investment in the company. One analyst says this company is making "significant" discoveries. Dakota Gold Corp. (DC:NYSE American) announced it has entered a binding agreement with Orion Mine Finance for a US$17 million investment in the company and a commitment for future financing. OMF Fund IV SPV C LLC, which is managed by Orion, has agreed to purchase 6,666,667 shares of Dakota Gold common stock at US$2.55 per share and will own nearly 8% of the company at closing. "Robert Quartermain, Dakota Gold's Co-Chair, and I have worked with Orion previously, and we welcome the opportunity to continue our relationship with Orion, a respected investor and lender in the mining industry," said Dakota Gold President, Chief Executive Officer and Director Jonathan Awde. Dakota Gold is exploring the 46,000 acres it has acquired and consolidated over the past decade surrounding the Homestake Mine. Industry giant Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX:TSX; GOLD:NYSE) also backs the company. Much of the land owned by Dakota Gold has not been explored in nearly 30 years, leading some to hope for a large discovery there. "Dakota Gold is now seeking to revitalize this legendary district," Canaccord Genuity analyst Michael Fairbairn wrote. Orion's equity investment in Dakota Gold is expected to close on or about October 20, the company said. Terms of Deal Following certain milestones or to acquire new assets, Orion has agreed to provide up to US$300 million of financing support to Dakota Gold for construction and development. Orion shall be granted a right to match the terms of future financing by the Dakota Gold, according to the terms. This does not include any equity or convertible debt offering conducted by the company on a non-brokered basis or conducted by banks or brokers with aggregate proceeds of up to US$200 million (of which no more than US$50 million may be in the form of unsecured convertible debt), including equity issuances from Dakota Gold's at-the-market offering program. The two companies also will enter into an agreement for a 1% net smelter returns royalty over certain parts of Dakota Gold's public land administered by the U.S. Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management. The royalty excludes the company's private land, including its Maitland and Richmond Hill projects, Dakota Gold said. Dakota Gold will receive a total consideration of US$1 million for the royalty, with US$75,000 paid at closing and the remaining US$925,000 paid by Orion based upon the achievement of certain development milestones. The Catalyst: 'Richest 100 Square Miles' on Earth Once called the "Richest 100 Square Miles" on Earth, the Homestake Mine was discovered in 1876 and consolidated by George Hearst. Over 126 years, miners extracted 41 million ounces gold (Moz Au) and 9 Moz silver (Ag). Last summer, the company announced that partial assay results had extended its JB Gold Zone discovery at Maitland by 171 meters. Drill hole MA23C-022 confirmed that Homestake-style gold mineralization is present 5 kilometers northwest of the old mine, Dakota said. The lower portion of the drill hole intersected 19.55 g/t Au over 5 meters in a step-out drill hole from MA23C-017, which intersected 12.51 g/t Au over 4.7 meters. The JB Gold Zone could be the company's "most significant discovery to date," Canaccord Genuity analyst Peter Bell noted in an August research note. "The two holes suggest a thickened zone of mineralized iron formation, similar to the 'ledges' mined in the old Homestake Mine," Bell wrote. "Although much is still to be proven at the drill bit if additional drilling demonstrates JB is a new ledge, we believe Dakota could quickly advance it from initial discovery to a substantial, high-grade deposit." Dakota Gold Vice President Exploration James Berry called the grades "analogous with the mineralization encountered at the Homestake Mine." "With every new intercept, we have increased confidence that we have identified another Homestake Ledge system at Maitland," he said. At its Richmond Hill project, recent assay results extended the mineralization of the system, already described as more than 1 mile in strike length. Drill hole RH23C-016 intersected 3.5 grams per tonne gold (g/t Au) over 23.7 meters. When length weighted, it had an average grade of 0.95 g/t Au over the 306.9-meter drill hole. How do you interpret all of this? According to Stockhead, 1 g/t Au can make an open-cut project viable, while anything over 5 g/t Au is considered high-grade. "A tip for investors, therefore, is to consider a company's average grades and look for drill cores that 'start and end in mineralization' rather than buying shares on just one excellent drill core result," the website noted. Ownership and Share Structure According to the company, approximately 30% of its shares are with management and insiders. Out of management, Co-Chairman Robert Quartermain holds the most shares at 9.32% or 7.34 million shares, Reuters said. President and CEO Jonathan Awde is next at 7.85%, with 6.18 million, while COO Jerry Aberle holds 5.33%, with 4.2 million. The remainder of the 30% is held by other members of management and the board of directors. About 26.6% of the shares are with institutional investors. According to Reuters, those include Van Eck Associates with 3.74%, The Vanguard Group Inc. with 3.33%, Blackrock Institutional Trust Co. with 3.73%, and Sprott Asset Management LLP with 0.71%. About 27.4% is with strategic investors, including Barrick Gold Corp., which owns 3%. The rest is retail. Dakota Gold has a market cap of US$215 million, with 78.76 million shares outstanding and about 59.49 million free-floating. It trades in a 52-week range of US$4.03 and US$2.36. 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. 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Jefferies analysts led by Edison Lee reckoned sales of the iPhone 15 were down by an even sharper double-digit percentage from its predecessor after Huawei outsold Apple overall, powered by the surprising debut of the Mate 60 Pro. The twin reports mark a potential blow to Apple at a time that it is grappling with the weakest smartphone demand in a decade and a backlash from overheating models. A customer photographs the new Apple iPhone 15 at the tech giant's flagship store in Regent Street, central London. Picture: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire If the initial estimates are accurate, they represent one of the iPhones worst debuts in China since around 2018, when local names such as Oppo and Vivo began to captivate Asian consumers. Counterpoint blamed the iPhones slump in China mainly on an economy struggling to rebound from its covid trough. And it stressed that in the US, the iPhone 15 likely posted a double-digit rise over 2022 in the first nine days of sales. But the iPhones debut in China came weeks after the launch of the Mate 60 Pro, celebrated as a triumph over US sanctions because of its advanced made-in-China processor. It also coincided with a government mandate to expand a ban on iPhone use to government agencies and state companies, underscoring Apples growing challenges there. The US is hot right now with back-to-back stellar weekends for the new iPhone, said Counterpoint research director Jeff Fieldhack. "Its a positive sign from the biggest iPhone market in the world. So it definitely takes some of the sting off the China numbers. Apple shares dipped as much as 1.7% in premarket trading. Analysts remain divided about the longer-term impact in China, the worlds largest smartphone arena. Many analysts argue Huaweis rising prominence could erode Apples dominance of the higher end of the market. Counterpoint estimates the Chinese company could sell 5m-6m units of the Mate 60 Pro alone this year. Analysts estimate that could rise to 10m or more in 2024. Huawei has now taken the top spot in the market from Apple, Jefferies wrote in a note. The trend suggests iPhone would lose to Huawei in 2024, Mr Lee and colleagues wrote. We believe weak demand in China would eventually lead to lower-than-expected global shipments of iPhone. 10. The Rolling Stones (1964) As released early demos prove, The Stones had it from the off. This debut sounds like a rocket has been strapped to their collective backs, as indeed it soon would be. Its almost all blues and R&B covers that blew peoples heads off in London clubs. Recorded over a few days with a producer (Andrew Loog Oldham) who hadnt a notion what he was doing, this still rocks harder in face-slapping mono than Please Please Me. The handclaps driving Route 66, Jagger lasciviously telling you what time it is during I Just Want To Make Love To You, Carol delivered at 100mph. Ridiculously fantastic. Diamond Cut: Walking The Dog 9. Aftermath (1966) The first album completely written by Jagger and Richards and the apotheosis of the Pop Stones, it features some of Jaggers most cutting and incisive lyrics. The domestic drug taking in Mothers Little Helper was not what pop songs were about while Stupid Girl and Under My Thumb found sarky Mick casting a very cold eye indeed. This is also Brian Jones finest hour, adding colour with dulcimer, sitar, marimbas and anything else he could get his hands on to songs as accomplished as Out Of Time and Lady Jane. Its The Stones swinging their fists at swinging London. Diamond Cut: I Am Waiting The covers of the Rolling Stones' Aftermath and Goats' Head Soup albums 8. Goats Head Soup (1973) A comedown after the monumental records that preceded it and unfairly maligned because of them, this soup still has plenty of eating and drinking in it. Angie was the big hit but its the funk of Billy Prestons clavinet and a never-better Mick Taylor freaking out on Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker) and 100 Years Ago that make this essential. Worth it too for Keiths nearly horizontal Coming Down Again, the gloriously filthy Star Star, Jaggers gorgeous Winter, and Hide Your Love which takes longer to listen to than it did to write. Recorded in Jamaica but you wouldnt know it. Diamond Cut: Dancing With Mr D 7. Tattoo You (1981) Mostly made up of reworked outtakes from the seventies because Mick and Keith couldnt be arsed, this 1981 collection is, by general consensus, the last one considered a classic, apart from Keiths solo debut Talk Is Cheap, the best Stones record that never was. Buy it for Start Me Up and the heavenly Waiting On A Friend (which has the best video ever made) but keep it for the impossibly groovy Slave and the get-into-my-bed-and-Ill-make-you-famous gambit of Tops. Even half-finished arsing around like Neighbours rocks like sailors on a weekend pass. Miles better than it has any right to be. Diamond Cut: Worried About You The covers of the Rolling Stones' Tattoo You and Some Girls' albums 6. Some Girls (1978) A two-fingered salute to punk, new-wave, disco and anyone who dared use the word dinosaur, this is a Mick-led melange (Keith was busy trying to avoid a life sentence). Jagger was the one in the clubs, checking the scene. Miss You puts The Stones back on the dancefloor, where they always were anyway. Lies, Respectable, and When The Whip Comes Down should have safety pins through their noses. The title track is so sexist Benny Hill would have vetoed it. Far Away Eyes is laugh-out-loud country honking and Shattered is New York gone mad. Their best seller and Rockin Ronnie Woods finest forty minutes. Diamond Cut: Beast Of Burden 5. Brussels Affair (Live 1973) (2011) The 1969 American tour documenting Get Yer Ya-Yas Out! is exceptionally good but this hard-to-find live album released as a download, then in an expensive boxset captures The Stones at their Mick Taylor (he left not long after) live peak. Recorded in Belgium because Keith Richards was banned from France (drugs), The Stones play like their arses are on fire and there are buckets of water waiting backstage. The combined might of You Cant Always Get What You Want and Midnight Rambler is positively elemental and proves that anyone else even thinking about starting a band is a bad idea. Charlie really was good every night. Diamond Cut: Star Star The covers of the Rolling Stones' Brussels Affair and Beggars' Banquet albums 4. Beggars Banquet (1968) Having veered unsuccessfully into psychedelia with the extremely patchy Their Satanic Majesties Request, they went back to basics with producer Jimmy Miller, first on Jumpin Jack Flash and then this album which is where they ascended to true greatness. Sympathy For The Devil and the barricade charge of Street Fighting Man Charlies playing toy drums! - you already know but have you heard The Stones doing The Velvet Underground with the distinctly you-wouldnt-get-away-with-that-now Stray Cat Blues, or the country blues of Prodigal Son? Its the power of Keiths acoustic driving this because hes a genius and they left Flash off because Banquet didnt need it. Diamond Cut: Factory Girl 3. Let It Bleed (1969) The cover of the Rolling Stones' Let it Bleed If the only thing The Stones ever recorded was the malevolent guitar howl of Gimme Shelter, wed still be talking about them. Again, a number one single Honky Tonk Woman is arrogantly discarded, allowing its backwoods cousin Country Honk to step out on the porch. Its the domestic debauchery of Live With Me, the Midnight Rambler blues opera twitching and moaning like something hastily buried by the side of the road, and the glorious hosanna in the lowest of You Cant Always Get What You Want that bestow immortality on this wax. The one-two punch alongside Altamont that buried the hippie dream and good riddance to it. Diamond Cut: Monkey Man 2. Sticky Fingers (1971) Another Jagger-dominated behemoth he doesnt get enough credit that kicks off with the epoch-shaking Brown Sugar (Sexist? Racist? Probably. Rockin? Definitely and Defiantly.) and then gets better. Wild Horses is their sweetest ballad, Dead Flowers their finest country song, and I Got The Blues possibly their purest soul number. Mick Taylors playing on Sway will bounce your jaw off the floor. Cant You Hear Me Knocking unfurls Keith Richards gnarliest riff (maybe), earning a roared Yeah! before lyrics about cocaine eyes/speed freak jive and a cosmic jam the showed all pretenders how its done. The greatest record of all time, apart from the next one. Diamond Cut: Bitch 1. Exile On Main St. (1972) The cover of the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street Not only The Stones crowning achievement but the pinnacle of all human artistic endeavour. Across four sides, from the opening riff to the closing fade, they combine blues, soul, R&B, country, and everything else into a mystical stew where songs bleed into each other and layers are revealed with each listen. Disobey the prime directive, drop this onto a distant planet where civilisation is dawning, and watch the natives have a blast making up the rest of rock n roll on their own. The unassailable, unscalable peak which all others must look upon and despair. Ladies and gentlemen, the greatest rock n roll band in the world, The Rolling Stones. Diamond Cut: All of them. More North Dakota National Guard soldiers have deployed to help with security on the U.S.-Mexico border. A send-off ceremony was held Sunday in Jamestown for about 125 members of the 817th Engineer Company who will spend a year on the southern border helping U.S. Customs and Border Protection, according to U.S. Sens. John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer, both R-N.D. "We need to secure the border, because border security is national security; not only that but their work to assist CBP will help better address the humanitarian crisis at our southern border, including by helping to fight back against human and drug trafficking, Hoeven said in a statement. North Dakota National Guard units have provided support at the southern border during more than 10 deployments since 2006. Members of the Bismarck-based 1st Battalion, 112th Aviation Regiment went to the border about a year ago, on federal status in support of Customs and Border Protection. Members of the Bismarck-based 957th Engineer Companys Multi-Role Bridge Company returned in September 2022 after assisting Customs for about a year. Members of the Wahpeton-based 188th Engineer Company in August returned from a 30-day mission ordered by Gov. Doug Burgum in support of a state of Texas operation. The North Dakota Emergency Commission in June approved a $2.2 million loan from the state-owned Bank of North Dakota to fund that mission. It is incomprehensible that the Government has not yet handed over 30 documents of material to the inquest into the murder of GAA official Sean Brown, a coroner has said. Amid ongoing concern from Mr Browns family about the timetabling of proceedings, Justice Patrick Kinney has also ordered police to provide him with daily updates on the preparation of sensitive material ahead of the planned resumption of the inquest in January. Mr Brown, 61, was abducted and killed by loyalists as he locked the gates at Bellaghy Wolfe Tones Club in Co Derry in May 1997. No-one has been convicted of his murder. His inquest began in March and is scheduled to resume next year. However, the proceedings are taking place against the backdrop of the Governments new legacy Act, which states that any legacy inquests which have not reached the point of verdict by May 1 2024 will be discontinued. The widow of murdered GAA official Sean Brown, Bridie Brown, attended the hearing in Belfast (Liam McBurney/PA) Members of Mr Browns family, including his widow Bridie, attended the latest review hearing at Laganside Courthouse in Belfast on Monday. Their lawyer said they were growing increasingly anxious that the inquest would not be completed ahead of the cut-off point next May. Opening the hearing, counsel for the coroner Joseph Aiken KC said there was outstanding material in the case from the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, which he said had been involved in oversight of the second police investigation into Mr Browns death. He told the court: Over the course of three years of trying to get it, they have indicated they do have some 30 documents. Despite best efforts we simply cannot get this material out of the Department of Foreign Affairs hands. For whatever reason, and we dont know what it is, this material simply hasnt been forthcoming. I find that a state body, the Department of Foreign Affairs, who have been involved in this matter for some considerable time, we simply cannot get information or documentation from them Mr Justice Kinney said it was a rather incomprehensible position from the department. He added: I cannot understand. It seems inequitable for me to be criticising the PSNI for the apparent delays and difficulties in obtaining documents, and I find that a state body, the Department of Foreign Affairs, who have been involved in this matter for some considerable time, we simply cannot get information or documentation from them. I am very concerned about that and it seems to be at this stage that I would direct there is a formal response from the department before the next review setting out what the difficulties are in providing whatever documentation they would define as potentially relevant. A previous review hearing in the case earlier this month was told that as part of its review of sensitive material in the case, the PSNI had recently uncovered 18 folders of documents. PSNI barrister Mark Robinson KC told the court on Monday the process was ongoing to prepare that material for a public immunity interest (PII) application. He said police are facing multiple demands for multiple inquests and added he could not provide a date for the completion of the process. I don't really need to know in great detail what needs to be done, I need to know when it's going to be done Mr Justice Kinney responded: I dont accept and indeed it is not acceptable that I am told I cant have a timeframe for completion of the exercise at this stage bearing in mind the context in which we are operating. This is not an open-ended process, we do know we have to work within a very tight timeframe. He added: I dont really need to know in great detail what needs to be done, I need to know when its going to be done. Since the PSNI are unable to assist me in the way that I had hoped I want effectively a daily update to my office of what has been achieved, what files have been looked at, what volume of papers have been considered and what has been happening to those papers. I do not accept a general assertion or submission that this is something which is so huge that it cannot be achieved. Mr Robinson said police were working relentlessly to service the inquest. Mr Justice Kinney said: If we werent working to the timescales that we are forced to work to more time could be afforded to this exercise, but we dont have that luxury so I am asking for a daily update. I dont expect these to be a one line email coming to my team, I expect it to be reasonably detailed. The hearing took place at Laganside Courthouse in Belfast (Liam McBurney/PA) Barrister for the next of kin Des Fahy told the court: The Brown family have attended this morning, as they have at every review. My clear instructions are that they are increasingly anxious that despite your best efforts and despite the best efforts of your counsel that the timetable for the resumption of this inquest and for the completion of this inquest is not going to be met because of inactivity on the part of the state bodies. The time has come for actions not excuses. Mr Fahy also said the family would be making representations that potential suspects to the murder would be called as witnesses during the inquest. The coroner said he would hold another review hearing on October 26. President Michael D Higgins has led tributes from politicians following the death of the former president of Finland Martti Ahtisaari, who was one of a number of international mediators in the Northern Ireland peace process. Mr Ahtisaari, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008, died on Monday aged 86. Among his most notable achievements, Mr Ahtisaari helped reach peace accords related to Serbias withdrawal from Kosovo in the late 1990s, Namibias bid for independence in the 1980s, and autonomy for Aceh province in Indonesia in 2005. In his work with the peace process in the late 1990s, he was tasked with monitoring the IRAs disarmament process. In our conversations, Martti was always a voice of hope, one that proved that war is not the solution to conflicts and that there is always a way to find peace President Higgins said Mr Ahtisaaris contribution to peace and reconciliation was not confined to Finland, but was delivered to the whole world. The establishment of the Namibian state owes much to his efforts and he was to continue his efforts for peace in Kosovo, Cyprus, Aceh and of course Ireland, he said in a statement on Monday. Martti dedicated his life to the cause of peace. Importantly, he realised that peace is not something which can be simply wished for, rather it is something which can only be achieved through a process of engagement, negotiation and a shared commitment on each side to building a better, shared future for all those who have been in conflict. It was, importantly, something which he believed could be achieved in relation to all conflicts. In Ireland we will remain in Marttis debt for the important role which he played as a weapons inspector at a vital time in the peace process in Northern Ireland in the years following the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Martti Ahtisaari in 2008 was thoroughly deserved recognition of the vital role he played in the resolution of so many conflicts across the world. He added: In our conversations, Martti was always a voice of hope, one that proved that war is not the solution to conflicts and that there is always a way to find peace. He will be deeply missed. President of Ireland Michael D Higgins (Niall Carson/PA) Mr Ahtisaari worked with South African politician Cyril Ramaphosa to inspect paramilitary arms caches and their verification, a defining issue in peace negotiations. Former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams said Mr Ahtisaari played a crucial role in advancing the peace process as one of a number of international mediators in Northern Ireland. Along with George Mitchell, John de Chastelain, Richard Haass, Cyril Ramaphosa, Harri Holkeri, and others they facilitated the necessary dialogue and participated in initiatives that led to the Good Friday Agreement and to subsequent agreements, he said. Martin McGuinness and I met Cyril Ramaphosa and Martti Ahtisaari in London in early 2000 and asked if they were willing to act as international arms inspectors examining and securing IRA arms dumps. They agreed and over the following year they carried out three inspections. The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning reported in 2001 that the dumps that Cyril Ramaphosa and Martti Ahtisaari had inspected were secure and that none of the materiel in them could be removed without their knowledge. Their willingness to undertake this difficult work made an important contribution to the peace process. In my conversations with Martti and Cyril I found them both to be committed to making our efforts successful. We got on well together. Britains then-prime minister Tony Blair (second right) and Northern Ireland secretary Peter Mandelson (left) with IRA arms dump inspectors Cyril Ramaphosa (second left) and Martti Ahtisaari during a breakfast meeting at Downing Street in London in SDLP leader Colum Eastwood also paid tribute to Mr Ahtisaari, saying he made a lasting contribution that will not be soon forgotten. Throughout his life Martti Ahtisaari played a key role in resolving difficult conflicts around the world, he said. His contribution was recognised when the Nobel Committee awarded him the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts over many decades. Millions of lives have been changed for the better as a direct result of his efforts and by helping end these conflicts he undoubtedly saved many lives. In the North he will be remembered for the role he played in our own peace process, particularly around decommissioning that was so important to allow us to build trust between our political parties and to transition to a more normal society. Israel has pulled out of the upcoming Web Summit, taking place in Lisbon next month, due to outrageous statements made by the conferences CEO and co-founder Paddy Cosgrave. Israeli Ambassador to Portugal Dor Shapira said he had written to the mayor of Lisbon to inform him of Israels decision to pull out of the tech conference due to outrageous statements made by Mr Cosgrave. Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, Mr Shapira wrote: Even during these difficult times, he is unable to set aside his extreme political views and denounce the Hamas terrorist activities against innocent people. It comes as Mr Cosgrave said on Friday that he is shocked at the rhetoric and actions of Western leaders and Governments with the exception in particular of Irelands government, who for once are doing the right thing. War crimes are war crimes even when committed by allies, and should be called out for what they are, he wrote on X. The statement prompted backlash, particularly from those in the world of tech with several announcing their decision to no longer attend the Web Summit next month, including a number of those due to speak and participate. Former PayPal CEO David Marcus said he was saddened by Mr Cosgraves ill-informed stance. You couldve taken a more nuanced one, condemning these atrocities and calling for restraint. That wouldve been acceptable. You chose to support terrorists. As such Ill never attend/sponsor/speak at any of your events again, he wrote. CEO and president of Y Combinator, Garry Tan who was due to speak at the conference said: I refuse to appear at Web Summit and am cancelling my appearance. I condemn Hamas and pray for peace for the Israeli and Palestinian people. Following up on Sunday, Mr Cosgrave said violence inflicted by Hamas is outrageous and disgusting. It is by every measure an act of monstrous evil. Israel has a right to defend itself, but it does not, as I have already stated, have a right to break international law, he said. On Monday, Mr Cosgrave posted: We are devastated to see the terrible killings and the level of innocent civilian casualties in Israel and Gaza. We condemn the attacks by Hamas and extend our deepest sympathies to everyone who has lost loved ones. We hope for peaceful reconciliation. A few hours later he added: To repeat: War crimes are war crimes even when committed by allies & should be called out for what they are. I will not relent. The Web Summit in Lisbon is due to run from 13- 16 November. Organisers said they are saddened to hear that some Israelis in the tech community will no longer be attending Web Summit. We regret any hurt caused and extend our deepest sympathies to everyone who has lost loved ones. We hope for peaceful reconciliation," they said. A 33-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to the murder of school teacher Ashling Murphy and will go on trial for up to five weeks at the Central Criminal Court. A jury of three women and nine men was sworn on Monday afternoon to hear the trial one year and nine months after 23-year-old Ms Murphy is alleged to have been murdered near the Grand Canal in Tullamore. The trial judge told potential jury members on Monday that nobody should sit as a juror if they have engaged in commentary about the case online or on social media. Jozef Puska (33), with an address at Lynally Grove, Mucklagh, Co. Offaly, is charged with murdering Ms Murphy at Cappincur, Tullamore, Co. Offaly on January 12, 2022. Mr Puska, dressed in a white striped shirt, grey jacket and trousers relied on an interpreter to translate the single count and with her aid he replied "not guilty" to the charge of murder. Before the 12 jurors were sworn in, Mr Justice Tony Hunt told the jury panel that the case had attracted "more than the usual share of publicity". He asked any potential juror to tell him if they have heard anything that would make them unable to approach the trial "with a fair and open mind". Mr Puska and the prosecution, he said, are "entitled to a fair and unbiased jury who will try the case based on the evidence in court and not on anything outside the court." The judge said nobody should sit as a juror if they have engaged in commentary about the case online or on social media. "It would be inconsistent with you approaching the case judiciously, with an open mind," he said. "If you feel that you are in any way compromised in approaching this case in an open minded way; bring that to my attention. It is important that you do not serve in those circumstances." The judge also told the jury that in January 2022 Mr Puska spent some time in St James's Hospital in Dublin. "If you know anything touching on his stay in hospital you should draw that to my attention." Ashling Murphy is alleged to have been murdered near the Grand Canal in Tullamore. Picture: RIP.ie Mr Justice Hunt said the trial is expected to last four weeks but could take up to five weeks. He promised the jury that he would give them a "very lengthy exemption" from jury service if they sit for the full trial. Mr Justice Hunt thanked the jurors for making themselves available to perform what he called an important civic function. He told them that where a person pleads not guilty, the Constitution requires that they be tried by a jury chosen at random from the community and not by a judge sitting alone. When the final 12 were sworn in, Mr Justice Hunt asked them not to look at media reports or social media commentary but to try the case solely on what they hear in court and the inferences they can draw from the evidence. Anne-Marie Lawlor SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said the witnesses in Mr Puska's trial will be from the Tullamore area, the Midlands, various Dublin garda stations and the forensic science laboratories. Medical personnel may also be called to give evidence. Michael Bowman SC, for the defence, said his client resided at Mucklagh in Offaly and has close family in Crumlin in south Dublin. The jury was sent away at about 4.45pm on Monday to appoint a foreman in preparation for the opening speech from the prosecution on Tuesday. A middle-aged man threatened Brown Thomas staff with the neck of a broken bottle after stealing two bottles of perfume from the store on St Patricks Street. Judge Joanne Carroll jailed Ian OSullivan, of Cork Simon Community, for four months for his offences on June 29 when he pleaded guilty at Cork District Court by video link from prison. This is a man who broke a bottle and returned to the store and threatened to kill the security people, Judge Carroll said. Joseph Cuddigan, solicitor, said: He wholeheartedly expresses his sympathy and remorse. It was a shameful act he recognises that. He did a psychology course in prison emphasising compassion. He does understand how an incident like that could adversely affect the security man. Judge Carroll added: Not to mention the customers who could have been distressed by this disturbance. Mr Cuddigan said: Extraordinarily, from the CCTV, customers continued to go in and out. One would have thought they would have been afraid to cross the cross the door but that was not the situation.. He wants to get back to being a sober person. He wants to get back with his family. Garda Dave Tobin previously objected to bail being granted to the accused man on charges of having a broken bottle, engaging in threatening behaviour, being drunk and a source of danger to himself or others, and theft. Garda Tobin said: The accused was captured on CCTV taking two bottles of fragrance to a total value of 207 and that outside the premises he had the broken neck of a smashed bottle and he was acting in a threatening manner to security staff. He was threatening and abusive to the security staff and he returned multiple times to the store in an aggressive and intoxicated manner. Sergeant John Kelleher said the defendant had a bottle in his pocket when he was being escorted from the premises and it fell and smashed outside and it was the neck of this broken bottle that he produced during the subsequent confrontation. Sgt Kelleher said the accused had 173 previous convictions including 52 for theft and 38 for making a gain by deception. Mr Cuddigan said the defendants issues were with alcohol and gambling but that in fairness to him he had set up a wing of Gamblers Anonymous in Cork Prison that still operates. An innocent bystander was shot in the buttocks while others dived for cover when a drug dealer opened fire at another man during a music festival. The incident was over a debt and a row between two men about "the same girl", the Central Criminal Court was told on Monday. A detective told Mondays sentence hearing that "Wild West Stuff" had happened that night in the Co Clare town of Sixmilebridge, with people hiding behind walls and cars. Tony McInerney, who the court heard was the leader of a large drug network in Co Clare, was initially jailed for 12 years after being caught running a "cocaine factory" in 2020 but the sentence was later reduced to 10 years by the Court of Appeal. McInerney, 28, formerly of Glenina, Gort Road, Ennis, Co Clare, pleaded guilty in July to the attempted murder of Daniel Harty Junior at Pound Street, Sixmilebridge on January 18, 2020. McInerney has also pleaded guilty that on January 18, 2020, at Pound Street, Sixmilebridge, Co Clare, he intentionally or recklessly discharged a firearm creating a substantial risk of death or serious harm to another. He further pleaded guilty that on a date unknown between January 1, 2019, and January 18, 2020, at Inis Eagla, Shannon, Co Clare, without lawful excuse, made to Daniel Harty Senior a threat, intending the said Mr Harty Snr to believe it would be carried out, to kill or cause Daniel Harty Junior serious harm. At Monday's sentence hearing, Detective Sergeant Kevin O'Hagan detailed the background of the event, telling Lorcan Connolly BL, prosecuting, that Mr Harty Snr was at home in mid 2019 when there was a knock at his door. McInerney was outside and introduced himself to Mr Harty Snr by shaking hands. The defendant enquired about the whereabouts of his son Daniel before making threats that he [Mr Harty Jnr] owed money for drug debts. The defendant told Mr Harty Snr that his son was to "pay up" or he would be shot and their home would be sprayed with bullets. The defendant left the house and was followed by Mr Harty Snr, who did not make a complaint to gardai at that stage but did so subsequently. Mr Connolly said Mr Harty Jnr was in a local pub when an annual music festival was taking place in Sixmilebridge in January 2020. Mr Harty Jnr was walking to another pub called McGregors in the town about 12.18 that night when a dark coloured BMW jeep was driving up and down the street. The detective said the jeep had been circling up and down the road prior to the incident. Verbal altercation Mr Harty Jnr separated from the group he was in and a verbal altercation ensued between him and the occupants of the jeep. "As the jeep turned around, Mr Harty Jnr realised something was afoot and ran. At that stage, shots were fired from the jeep," said the witness. Mr Harty Jnr ran to the back of McGregor's pub as McInerney and another man ran after him firing shots. The court heard another bystander had been walking up the street to McGregor's pub with some friends at the time of the shooting. One of the bullets lodged in his buttocks as the shots were fired out. The detective said this victim was fortunate in the way the bullet was lodged and had spent two days in hospital. Gardai identified McInerney, who made a statement to gardai and gave an explanation "around the motive". The defendant accepted money was owed and there had been a conflict between "the two men in relation to a relationship with the same girl". Det Sgt O'Hagan told the court "Wild West stuff happened here" when a big festival was happening in the town. Det Sgt O'Hagan said the jeep was recovered some days later and nine bullet cases were found inside. The witness said gardai were satisfied a minimum of nine shots were fired and that residue found inside the jeep matched those bullets. The detective agreed with prosecution counsel Mr Connolly that Mr Harty Jnr had identified McInerney to gardai saying: "I know in my heart who that was that shot me." While McInerney and the other shooter both had guns, the detective said gardai could not confirm who had fired the exact shots. McInerney was arrested on February 27, 2021, and detained at Shannon Garda Station, where he was interviewed on five occasions but exercised his right to silence throughout. The court heard that McInerney had 13 previous convictions which include him being caught in possession of a large amount of drugs for which he received a 10-year sentence. Another previous conviction was for possession of explosives in suspicious circumstances, which the court heard was a pipe bomb. In his submissions, Michael Collins SC, defending, asked the court to give maximum credit for his client's early guilty plea and that he had apologised "not alone to the victims but to society in general as is proper". Mr Justice McDermott remanded McInerney in custody until next Monday, when he will be sentenced. The mother of a young Limerick man who died suddenly in Australia has thanked two charities who are helping to arrange the repatriation of her sons body home. On September 28, Alan Walsh, 26, from Rhebogue Meadows, collapsed and died in the compound of a lithium mine in Perth, Western Australia, where he had been working. Mr Walshs mother Anne said she wished to thank the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust and The Claddagh Association Inc, which is based in Australia, for assisting them in arranging for her sons remains to be brought home to his family. Mr Walsh's remains are expected to land back in Ireland on Tuesday of this week. Only for them it would be a rollercoaster of stress, and anything I can do to help them, I will, Ms Walsh said. A number of online fundraisers have been set up to help with Mr Walshs funeral costs, and funds will also go directly to the charities helping the Walsh family. Everyone wants to help, which is nice to see. Once the charities get most of it, I will be so glad because they are brilliant, so so brilliant... You dont think you need them until you are thrown into this nightmare that we are in now. A phone call in the early hours of the morning which informed her of her sons death filled her with the biggest dread. Its awful, its a call you think you're never going to get at 3am in the morning. We are in the nightmare now and we just have to get through it. Alan was only 26, and he was due to meet me in Tenerife in four weeks' time for my 60th birthday, he had his flights booked and I was counting down the days, Ms Walsh said. Her only son had ventured off with a group of friends to Australia in the hope of work and adventure in March 2020 just before the lockdown. They worked on farms in Brisbane and Sydney, before Mr Walsh went to work in a lithium mine in Kalgoorlie. He was out in the compound where they [workers] stay and he didn't feel well for three days, one of his friends told me, Ms Walsh explained. He went to the medic and he collapsed and they did CPR on him for about 90 minutes before they got a doctor to him. He died on the compound. I still don't believe it, its like a nightmare that Im waiting to wake up from. Ms Walsh praised her family, neighbours and friends, who have rallied around us, and we are blessed for that. She described her son as someone who got on with everyone he met, he was a harmless messer. Ms Walsh said her family was waiting for answers about Alans death, which they hope will come with the results of an autopsy: We don't know how he died yet, because we have to get the coroners report. A GoFundMe page established by Mr Walshs boss, Derek Hall, and his cousin, Amy Lynch, has so far raised over $85,000 AUD (51,000). Another fundraiser organised by Mr Walshs neighbour Geraldine Kirwan has so far raised 1,420. And, a third GoFundMe page, established by a partner of one of Mr Walshs siblings, has so far raised 1,520. Paying tribute to Mr Walsh, his boss Derek Hall said he had been a much-loved family member, loyal friend and workmate. He was 26 years old, surrounded by the best group of mates on-site and living his best life, with the world at his feet, Mr Hall added. Funeral arrangements will be announced later. Mr Walsh is survived by his parents Anne and Mike, and sisters Grace and Michelle. The description of a Cork town as horrible by a participant in the Big Red Chair segment on the Graham Norton Show has spurred the local Tidy Towns committee to contact the show in anger. The participant, a Scottish native called Zoe, told Graham Norton on Friday nights show she had lived in Ireland for 20 years. When asked where, she responded: Fermoy, Co Cork, which she went on to describe as a horrible, horrible town. Norton, a Bandon native who has a home in Ahakista in West Cork, responded: Its got a giant pencil in it, a reference to a large pencil in the town which is a signpost for the former Faber-Castell factory. His guest replied: Its got a bridge if people want to jump off it. Local Fine Gael councillor Noel McCarthy is chairman of the local Tidy Towns committee and has a business in the town. He said: We are horrified at the way our town was described. To think our town would be portrayed like that by someone who was living here is terrible. Fermoy has a lot to offer and won the IBAL Cleanest Town in 2018 and also in 2007. He described Fermoy as a fantastic town and a great community. He said the Tidy Towns Committee would be writing to the show to raise concerns about the views expressed during the segment about Fermoy. He added he had received calls from a lot of people in the area who were very upset about the comments, with one woman contacting him in tears on Sunday about the segment. On social media, one viewer wrote: As a woman, who is proud to be from Fermoy, in Co Cork, I take exception to the comments made by your red chair guest on this week's show. Fermoy is a beautiful welcoming town to all. Another wrote: Didn't like that reference to "the bridge" at all. And Fermoy is an OK town. I saw Red Hurley there once. He was good, too. A viewer who appears not to have been from the area posted: Uh oh. Woman on the Red Chair on Graham Norton has just seriously dissed Fermoy in Cork. Another posted: Fermoy man here.....not a horrible town. The President has strongly criticised the head of the European Commission for comments she made on a trip to Israel last week. Ursula von der Leyen had paid a visit to Israel last week alongside European Parliament President Roberta Metsola in response to an incursion by Hamas militants that killed 1,200 people where she said that "how Israel responds will show that it is a democracy". However, speaking in Rome, President Michael D Higgins said that Ms von der Leyen "wasnt speaking for Ireland". "What one is seeing in this is a thoughtless and even reckless set of actions and I dont think its helpful." President Higgins said that it was "one thing" to breach international law, "but to actually announce in advance that youre going to break international law, and that you announce it again and again, and that you do so on an innocent population" was something which reduces international law to "tatters". Mr Higgins, who will on Thursday give the keynote address at the World Food Summit, said that the world was "revulsed" by the killing of young people at a concert by Hamas. The President's comments came as Ms von der Leyen announced that the EU would launch a humanitarian air corridor to Gaza through Egypt with the first flights expected this week. Israel continued on Monday to prepare for a ground offensive into Gaza, where the World Health Organisation warned that there was "24 hours of water, electricity and fuel left". Water has run out at UN shelters across Gaza and doctors at the territorys largest hospital say that they fear patients will die once generators run out of fuel. Just six short weeks ago, I was in the Gaza Strip and witnessed first-hand the dire circumstances in which families and children were living. Never could I have imagined the events which have transpired subsequently which have now led to a catastrophic humanitarian disaster unfolding in recent days. Since October 7, the escalation of violence between Israel and Hamas has unleashed unimaginable horror on children in Gaza, where 15 years of conflict had already rendered 60% of the population food insecure. Unicef has now launched a global humanitarian funding appeal. We have a long-standing presence in Gaza and are in a strong position to respond at scale to the crisis. Today, Unicef is calling on the Irish publics long-standing support for the people of Palestine as we launch a global emergency appeal for $294m (280m) to address the structural, physical, and emotional damage caused by the bombardment of the last few days. We have responded immediately by providing urgently needed food, support, shelter, healthcare, sanitation, and protection to children under siege in Gaza. Unfortunately, for the families of the dead, there are no quick fixes to alleviate the overwhelming burden of their grief. Palestinians evacuate wounded people after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip last Thursday. Picture: AP Photo/Hatem Ali Grief and trauma is sadly nothing new for the people of Gaza. Six weeks ago, I witnessed the reality of living in an open-air prison, as the local people put it. There, I visited a Unicef trauma centre working with children who have grown up in the conflict, grappling with anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). I shudder to think of the impact these last days will have here. Unicef and other international aid agencies are advocating for an immediate cessation of hostilities and the establishment of a humanitarian corridor in and out of Gaza to deliver essential supplies. These unfortunately, were already in short supply for many Gazan children, who bore the physical and mental consequences of food insecurity and dirty water. Prior to the conflict, a significant portion of the Gazan community did not have access to clean water, necessitating the installation of a desalinisation plant by our colleagues on the ground to purify water directly from the sea. Today, following the decimation of sewage plants and water systems by airstrikes, we are told there is almost no clean water left. Before the weekend, Israeli authorities warned of need for a full evacuation of Northern Gazas 1.1m people, nearly half of them children. These numbers are incredibly difficult to track as airstrike bombardment forces constant movement throughout the strip. What may constitute a sanctuary today may no longer exist tomorrow. Gaza is an intensely overpopulated region, with over 2m people crammed into 365 sq km. Thats almost half the population of Ireland squeezed into half of Co Louth. Some 4,626 housing units have already been rendered uninhabitable. The more buildings that crumble, the more those remaining will swell with people and the greater the devastation of every bomb that falls. Read More Packed Gaza hospitals warn thousands could die as supplies run low In spite of their myriad challenges and barriers, the Gazan people I met six weeks ago were vibrant and resilient. Too hot to remain inside the cramped, poorly ventilated buildings, communities were drawn out of their homes to gather on the coastline. There, they talked, laughed, played cards; we even saw a wedding. I was immediately struck by the spirit and strength of people who had endured so much and been left with so little. They will need that strength now more than ever. With every day that passes, my colleagues and I feel a growing sense of fear and anxiety. We heard last Thursday that Gazas only power plant had shut down as it ran out of fuel. Our first concern here are the hospitals that remain, teeming with people injured by the conflict alongside the elderly and chronically ill. Fifty thousand women in Gaza are due to give birth in the next month. I cannot imagine the desperation they and their families must be feeling, notwithstanding the stress on their unborn babies. Children in Gaza are running out of time. As power is lost, the only light punctuating the seemingly endless night is the burning of every square, every street corner they have ever known. With a loss of power also comes a loss of communication, both with the world beyond the fence, but more urgently, with each other. As families are separated in the chaos of fleeing, they have no idea where or if their loved ones are alive. Any attempt to look for them could end their own lives in an instant. Without food, water, and healthcare, thousands more children will die; not from the airstrikes themselves but from the insidious and long-term impact of this violence on what was already a dire situation. There are no words for a humanitarian disaster of this complexity and scale; and in the absence of words, I would ask you to please take action and donate what you can to give children in Gaza the hope of tomorrow. Peter Power is executive director of Unicef Ireland This is Up and Down, where we give a brief thumbs up or thumbs down on the issues from the past week. Up Things are looking up at North Dakota's State Crime Lab. The facility has eased a testing backlog of hundreds of sexual assault examination kits. Attorney General Drew Wrigley says the lab over a year's time cut the backlog by about 70% -- a level he calls "current." Wrigley credits additional funding, staff overtime and a new lab director. And the elimination of the backlog isn't the only positive development at the lab. The Legislature earlier this year provided money to hire three scientists, two latent fingerprint technicians and two staff for firearms testing. Wrigley says the sex assault kit processing backlog and the lack of firearms testing had been top concerns of law enforcement around the state. He also says the additional resources at the lab have boosted morale among workers there. Down Duck hunters in North Dakota will have to deal with less-than-ideal conditions this fall, after another summer of drought in many areas. The state Game and Fish Departments annual fall wetland survey estimated the number of duck hunting wetlands holding water as being 29% below the long-term average. That's especially disappointing given that the annual breeding duck survey in the spring estimated the number of temporary and seasonal wetlands as being 76% above the long-term average. It's not all doom and gloom, though. Some parts of the state have recently received heavy rainfall. And Game and Fish says there was solid duck production in most regions of North Dakota this year, and large numbers of ducks in the state during late summer. So there could still be some good hunting if those birds don't migrate south early. Up Most people take for granted the ability to witness the splendid fall colors in North Dakota. But it's not something that's achievable for people who are color blind. North Dakota Parks and Recreation has launched an initiative to address that. The agency is making special glasses available for colorblind people to borrow and use at all 13 state parks. Each park has six pairs of the EnChroma glasses available. Parks and Rec says the goal is increased inclusivity and accessibility. Colorblind people make up only a small percentage of the overall population. But the effort at state parks is sure to enhance the experiences of people in that category. Down Bird flu has surfaced again in the U.S., including in the Upper Midwest. A case at a turkey farm in South Dakota and another in Utah are the first commercial cases confirmed this season, and they're the first since cases in South Dakota and North Dakota in April. Last year's bird flu outbreak cost U.S. poultry producers nearly 59 million birds. The toll in North Dakota was about 300,000. The state also has one of the highest totals of bird flu cases among wild birds. Let's hope the recently confirmed cases aren't the start of another outbreak. The one in 2022 caused spikes in egg and turkey prices for consumers and cost the government over $660 million. Youre a mega-billionaire. You already own one of the worlds most influential social media platforms, and dominate more than half of the US electric car market. You are regularly named as one of the worlds most influential people. Youve had your hairline sorted, youve already had 11 children, so what do you do next? For Elon Musk, the answer is: attempt to dominate space. So far, the effort is going well. SpaceX, the company Musk founded in 2002, has launched more than 4,500 Starlink satellites in the past five years, accounting for more than 50% of all active satellites orbiting the Earth. Together, those satellites can deliver internet access to almost anywhere in the globe, giving Musk access over global communications and the ability to intervene in military conflicts as happened last year, when he effectively nixed a planned Ukrainian drone strike on Russian forces. SpaceX, the company Elon Musk founded in 2002, has launched more than 4,500 Starlink satellites in the past five years, accounting for more than 50% of all active satellites orbiting the Earth. Picture: Britta Pedersen /AFP via Getty Images But this unprecedented influence is about to get a rival another of Earths billionaires. Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder and worlds third richest man (Musk is the richest), is launching his own bid to influence near-Earth space. His first satellites went up into orbit just over a week ago. Now there is a risk the arena could come to be dominated by two ultra-wealthy men, at least one of whom is prone to impulsive acts. Anytime you have that much power concentrated in one decision-maker, its something to think about, said Victoria Samson, Washington office director at the Secure World Foundation, a non-profit that focuses on space sustainability. Downside to Musk's dominance The war in Ukraine is a good example of the potential downsides to Musks dominance. In September 2022, Ukrainian forces planned to launch a surprise drone attack on Russian ships based at the Crimean port of Sevastopol. Ukraine had become reliant on SpaceX internet services in areas where more traditional services had been wiped out or disrupted, and officials issued an emergency request to Musk to activate SpaceX services to Sevastopol. Musk refused, saying he was concerned Russia could launch a nuclear attack in response, and the Ukrainian strike was thwarted. However noble Musks intentions, it raises questions about one man having the power to allow or disallow military attacks by a sovereign state, particularly given Musks influence only appears to be growing, with SpaceX now launching new satellites every single week. The rocket that launched Jeff Bezos into space in 2021. Picture: Joe Raedle/Getty Images The company, which has more than 1.5 million users worldwide, has requested authorisation to send a total of 42,000 satellites into orbit numbers that make Amazons recent launch of two satellites (both prototypes) look rather twee. Meanwhile, the effort by Bezos, a space enthusiast who in 2021 was blasted into low-Earth space, has been a long and error-strewn process. Amazons Project Kuiper had originally intended to launch the satellites last year, but the rocket carrying Kuipersat-1 and Kuipersat-2 failed on launch. Bezoss Blue Origin company, which makes rockets, including the one that carried him into space, would ideally be carrying the Kuiper satellites, but the company is yet to successfully launch anything into orbit. According to the New York Times, Blue Origins New Glenn rocket, designed to carry Kuiper-like payloads into space, is three years behind schedule. Instead, the October 6 launch of the first pair of prototypes blasted into orbit on United Launch Alliances Atlas V rocket. Despite these difficulties, Bezos plans to launch 3,236 satellites by 2029, but Amazon enters the space satellite race with a yawning gap between it and Space X. Amazons [plan to have] 3,000 satellites is looking adorable now, when you see how many SpaceX satellites there are, Samson said. SpaceX has the first-mover advantage here, Samson added. But other companies are striving to catch up, and not just Amazon. Eutelsat OneWeb has 634 satellites in lower-Earth orbit a sweet spot distance from Earth where Space Xs Starlink satellites also operate. Earlier this year the EU announced plans to launch 170 satellites into orbit between 2025 and 2027. The Russian military aggression against Ukraine has demonstrated how crucial space-based sovereign and secure communication services are in case of conflict, Thierry Breton, European commissioner for the internal market, said in a statement at the time. Influence of SpaceX In terms of the influence of SpaceX, and other private companies or individuals, Samson said there were some regulations. The Outer Space Treaty, a 1967 United Nations-led piece of legislation which has been signed by all major spacefaring nations, holds that countries are responsible for what companies blast into space from their borders and should continue supervision over those satellites and projects. There has so far been little recourse for Musks unilateral Ukraine action, however, and its not just an issue of web influence, or about dominating near-Earth space, that has some observers worried. It also raises the question of how much space there actually is in space. Jeff Bezos plans to launch 3,236 satellites by 2029, but Amazon enters the space satellite race with a yawning gap between it and Space X. Picture: AP /John Locher India was forced to delay, very slightly, its recent Chandrayaan-3 moon-landing mission after projections showed the vessel could come into contact with other satellites. The Indian Space Research Organisation pushed back the launch by four seconds, and made it to the south pole of the moon safely. Different orbital shells, or highways each one has a finite capacity for traffic, just like with roads. Certainly, some orbital highways have reached that capacity, said Moriba Jah, an associate professor of aerospace engineering and engineering mechanics at the University of Texas at Austin, and co-founder and chief scientist of Privateer, a space data intelligence company. There is also a race, Jah said, in which countries are doing whatever they can to occupy orbital space, to claim it as their own. But given that organisations such as Musks SpaceX require government authorisation to launch satellites, Jah said the company shouldnt be blamed for its dominance. Elon couldnt just have 53% of all the satellites out there that are working if it werent because the US government allowed him to do that. So I dont blame Elon for this. Im just saying the US government backed him, and is encouraging this sort of orbital occupation and this is going to piss other countries off, Jah said. Occupation is not a good thing. Occupation is a sort of behaviour of colonisers, and just because something is legal doesnt mean that its right. The problem isnt just active satellites. According to the European Space Agency, there are more than 30,000 pieces of space debris larger than 10cm orbiting the Earth more than half in the lower space orbit that companies and governments are racing to occupy. Jah said colleagues of his at Nasa were already reporting that some scientific experiments were becoming difficult due to the amount of debris typically bits of rockets, payload debris or abandoned satellites. Cluttering a serious risk This increased cluttering poses a serious risk, Jah said. Weve seen more and more rocket bodies and that sort of stuff making it to the Earths surface. And statistically [at some point] these things are going to hit land, and statistically at some point things the size of cars or school buses will end in populated areas. Jah, who describes himself as a space environmentalist, said more needs to be done to track debris orbiting Earth, and to better dispose of it. As Musk, Bezos and their rivals ramp up their efforts to fill space, Jah said Indigenous peoples ideas around how to utilise a finite resource holistically offer a path forward. Many Indigenous peoples have practices where the only way that theyve been able to survive is by having a successful conversation with the environment. They acknowledge that theyre in an existential crisis, and they have to adapt and utilise resources, thinking about sustainability and what will 10 generations from now be able to do, Jah said. The idea that we have to be stewards of the environment; just sending up as many satellites as you can to occupy orbits isnt necessarily stewardship. By doing that its alienating other people. We should be embracing stewardship, as if our lives depended on it, because it does. Guardian US president Joe Biden is considering a trip to Israel in the coming days but nothing has been finalised, according to a senior US administration official. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been travelling around the Middle East for talks aimed at preventing the war with Hamas from igniting a broader regional conflict. Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to meet Chinese leaders in Beijing this week on a visit that underscores Chinas economic and diplomatic support for Moscow during its war in Ukraine. The two countries have forged an informal alliance against the United States and other democratic nations that is complicated by the Israel-Hamas conflict. China has sought to balance its ties with Israel with its economic relations with Iran and Syria, which are strongly backed by Russia. Mr Putins visit is also a show of support for Chinese leader Xi Jinpings signature Belt and Road drive to build infrastructure and expand Chinas overseas influence. Asked about a visit to China, Mr Putin said it would encompass talks on Belt and Road-related projects (Pavel Bednyakov/Sputnik,/Kremlin Pool Photo/AP) The Russian leader will be among the highest profile guests at a gathering marking the 10th anniversary of Mr Xis announcement of the policy, which has laden countries such as Zambia and Sri Lanka with heavy debt after they signed contracts with Chinese companies to build roads, airports and other public works. Chinese officials have suggested he will be arriving late on Monday. Asked about a visit to China, Mr Putin said it would encompass talks on Belt and Road-related projects, which he said Moscow wants to link with efforts taken by an economic alliance of ex-Soviet Union nations mostly located in Central Asia to achieve common development goals. He downplayed the impact of Chinas economic influence in a region that Russia has long considered its backyard and where it has worked to maintain political and military clout. He said: We dont have any contradictions here, on the contrary, there is a certain synergy. One of the main areas is financial relations and creating further incentives for payments in national currencies. The volume is growing rapidly, there are good prospects in high-tech areas, in the energy sector. Mr Xi visited Moscow in March as part of a flurry of exchanges between the sides. China has condemned international sanctions imposed on Russia, but has not directly addressed the arrest warrant issued for Mr Putin by the International Criminal Court on charges of alleged involvement in the abductions of thousands of children from Ukraine. More than a million people have fled their homes in the besieged Gaza Strip in the past week as water supplies dwindle and hospitals warn they are on the verge of collapse, while the enclaves population waits for an expected Israel invasion that seeks to eliminate Hamas leadership after its deadly attack. The enclaves food and water supplies are dwindling, with its hospitals warning that they are on the verge of collapse. Israeli forces, supported by a growing deployment of US warships in the region and the call-up of some 360,000 reservists, have positioned themselves along Gazas border and prepared for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle the militant group. Israel said it has already struck dozens of military targets, including command centres and rocket launchers, and killed Hamas commanders. Meanwhile, the Israeli military said Hamas and other Palestinian militants are holding 199 hostages in Gaza, higher than previous estimates. An Israeli military spokesman said the families have been notified. He did not specify whether that number includes foreigners, or say who is holding them. Most are believed to be held by the Hamas militant group, which rules Gaza. Officials in Israel have given no timetable for a ground incursion that aid groups warn could hasten a humanitarian crisis in the coastal Gaza enclave. Israeli tanks head towards the Gaza Strip border in southern Israel on Friday. Picture: AP Photo/Ariel Schalit A week of blistering air strikes have demolished entire areas but failed to stem militant rocket fire into Israel. The Gaza health ministry said 2,670 Palestinians have been killed and 9,600 wounded since the fighting erupted, more than in the 2014 Gaza war, which lasted more than six weeks. That makes this the deadliest of the five Gaza wars for both sides. More than 1,400 Israelis have died, the vast majority civilians killed in Hamas October 7 assault. At least 155 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza, according to Israel. It is also the deadliest war for Israel since the 1973 conflict with Egypt and Syria. About 500,000 people, nearly one quarter of Gazas population, were taking refuge in United Nations schools and other facilities across the territory, where water supplies are dwindling, said Juliette Touma, spokesperson for the UNs Palestinian refugee agency. The agency says an estimated one million people have been displaced in Gaza in a single week. US secretary of state Antony Blinken will return to Israel on Monday after completing a frantic six-country tour through Arab nations aimed at preventing the fighting from igniting a broader regional conflict, American officials said. Palestinians look for survivors after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip on Thursday. Picture: AP Photo/Hatem Ali President Joe Biden is also considering a trip to Israel, though no plans have been finalised. Mr Biden has repeatedly proclaimed support for Israel, but he said in a TV interview he thought it would be a big mistake for the country to reoccupy Gaza. Israels ambassadors to the US and UN said the country does not want an occupation. But ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan told CNN that Israel will do whatever is needed to obliterate their (Hamas) capabilities. Meanwhile, the Israeli military ordered residents to evacuate 28 communities near the Lebanese border after increasing cross-border fire between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The military order affects towns that are within 1.2 miles of the border. Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, a military spokesman, said the evacuation would allow Israeli forces to operate with greater latitude. Israel is ready to operate on two fronts, and even more, he said. If Hezbollah makes the mistake of testing us, the response will be deadly. Fighting along Israels border with Lebanon intensified on Sunday with Hezbollah militants firing rockets and an anti-tank missile, and Israel responding with air strikes and shelling. The Israeli military also reported shooting at one of its border posts. The fighting killed at least one person on the Israeli side and wounded several on both sides of the border. An Israeli drone fired two missiles late on Sunday at a hill west of the town of Kfar Kila in south Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency reported. There were no casualties reported in the strikes, which hit near a Lebanese army centre. Palestinians search for survivors in the building of the Zanon family, destroyed in Israeli airstrikes in Rafah, Gaza Strip on Saturday. Picture: AP Photo/Hatem Ali Hezbollah said it had fired rockets toward an Israeli military position in the northern border town of Shtula in retaliation for Israeli shelling that killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah on Friday and two Lebanese civilians on Saturday. A Hezbollah spokeswoman said the increased strikes represented a warning and did not mean Hezbollah has decided to enter the war. The US has named David Satterfield, the former US ambassador to Turkey experienced in diplomacy in the region, to be special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues. Americas national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday that Mr Satterfield will focus on getting humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza. Hospitals in Gaza are expected to run out of generator fuel within two days, endangering the lives of thousands of patients, according to the UN. Gazas sole power plant shut down for lack of fuel after Israel completely sealed off the 25-mile long territory following the Hamas attack. In Nasser Hospital, in the southern town of Khan Younis, intensive care rooms were packed with wounded patients, most of them children under the age of three. Hundreds of people with severe blast injuries have come to the hospital, where fuel is expected to run out by Monday. Palestinians evacuate wounded people after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip on Thursday. Picture: AP Photo/Hatem Ali) There are 35 patients who require ventilators and another 60 on dialysis. Dr Mohammed Qandeel, a consultant at the critical care complex, said if fuel runs out, it means the whole health system will be shut down. He added: All these patients are in danger of death if the electricity is cut off. Shifa hospital in Gaza City, the territorys largest, said it would bury 100 bodies in a mass grave as an emergency measure after its mortuary overflowed. Tens of thousands of people seeking safety have gathered in the hospital compound. Gaza was already in a humanitarian crisis due to a growing shortage of water and medical supplies caused by the Israeli siege. An unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding under our eyes, said Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. Mr Sullivan told CNN that Israeli officials told him they had turned the water back on in southern Gaza. Israels minister of energy and water, Israel Katz, said in a statement that water had been restored at one specific point in Gaza. Palestinians stand next to a crater caused by an explosion from an Israeli airstrike in Khan Yunis in the southern of Gaza Strip, on October 16, 2023.Picture: MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images A spokesman said the location was outside Khan Younis. Aid workers in Gaza said they had not yet seen evidence the water was back on. Israel has ordered more than one million Palestinians almost half the territorys population to move south. The military says it is trying to clear away civilians ahead of a major campaign against Hamas in the north, where it says the militants have extensive networks of tunnels, bunkers and rocket launchers. Hamas urged people to stay in their homes, and the Israeli military released photos it said showed a Hamas roadblock preventing traffic from moving south. Nevertheless, more than 600,000 people had evacuated the Gaza City area, according to Rear Admiral Hagari. The US has been trying to broker a deal to reopen Egypts Rafah crossing with Gaza to allow Americans and other foreigners to leave and humanitarian aid amassed on the Egyptian side to be brought in. The crossing, which was closed because of air strikes early in the war, has yet to reopen. Israel has said the siege will only be lifted when the captives are returned. Belgian authorities have raised the terror alert to its highest level in the capital after the fatal shooting of two Swedish people in Brussels which Prime Minister Alexander De Croo suggested was linked to terrorism. The OCAD anti-terror centre also said the terror alert for the rest of the country had been raised to its second-highest level. Laura Demullier of the OCAD said the highest priority for authorities had been to get thousands of football fans attending a Belgium-Sweden football match safely out of the the King Baudouin Stadium where the match was abandoned at half-time. The attacker was still at large and the killings happened three miles from the stadium, where more than 35,000 fans were held for more than two hours. The population needs to be actively vigilant and avoid any unnecessary travel, Ms Demullier said. Raising the terror level to the top 4 rating means the threat is extremely serious. It previously stood at 2, which means the threat was average. Mr De Croo described those behind the shooting as cowards. Addressing a press conference on Tuesday morning, he said the night was meant to be a wonderful soccer party and said the victims had been cut down by extreme brutality. Terrorism is directed against people everywhere, he said. Terrorists will never defeat us and we are fighting it together with our Swedish friends. Moments like these are a heavy ordeal but we are never going to let ourselves be intimidated by them. Earlier, Mr de Croo had writter on X, formerly known as Twitter: I have just offered my sincere condolences to @SwedishPM following tonights harrowing attack on Swedish citizens in Brussels. As close partners the fight against terrorism is a joint one. Eric Van Duyse, spokesman for the federal prosecutors office, told reporters the investigation was centring on a possible terrorist motivation for the shooting. During the evening, a claim of responsibility was posted on social media, having been recorded by a person claiming to be the assailant. This person claims to be inspired by Islamic State, he said. The Swedish nationality of the victims was put forward as the probable motive for the act. At this time, no element indicates a possible link with the Israeli-Palestinian situation. Mr Van Duyse would not say where the suspect might be or whether more than one person might have been involved. He said the suspected attacker was still at large. At the football match, he said, security measures were urgently taken to protect the Swedish supporters. A horrible shooting in Brussels, and the perpetrator is actively being tracked down, said interior minister Annelies Verlinden, adding that she was joining government talks at the National Crisis Centre. Media reports aired amateur videos showing a man shooting several times near a station using a large weapon. A police official said the two victims were Swedes. Police spokeswoman Ilse Vande Keere said officers arrived at the scene and sealed off the immediate neighbourhood. She declined to elaborate on circumstances of the shooting. The shooting came at a time of increased vigilance linked to the Israel-Hamas war which has heightened tension in several European nations. At the same time, the Belgian capital has been the scene of increased violence linked to increasing international drug trafficking. At least 10,000 people, including internally displaced persons (IDPs), have been lost homes or crops due to devastating flooding in Kayah states Loikaw and southern Shan states Moebye townships, local residents and aid groups reported on Monday. Many people have been forced to evacuate to higher ground and are in urgent need of shelter and food. However, road blocks and the presence of junta infantry in the area make it almost impossible to deliver assistance to those driven from their homes by flooding, aid groups said. A dozen villages in Loikaw Township and some parts of the states capital, Loikaw, have been hit by the most severe flooding in 15 years, the Karenni Human Rights Group said. Houses and farmlands in more than 10 villages in Loikaw have been inundated with flood water since last week, said Ko Benya, the spokesperson of the rights group. Flood victims from Noe Koe, Daw Paw Ka Le and War Yi Kaw Khu village tracts in Loikaw urgently need shelter and food, volunteers trying to help them said. The recent flooding was caused by a massive discharge of water from Moe Bye Dam in southern Shan State after heavy rainfall caused the level of its reservoir to surge, Ko Benya said. Facebook posts show homes and farmland in Loikaws Hpa Yar Hpyu Village submerged by floodwater. At least 100 makeshift tents for IDPs were also submerged in Moebye Township, volunteers said. The Balu Chaung River has breached its banks and forced entire villages to flee, they said. Crops were also destroyed by nonstop rainfall in Demoso and Loikaw townships. We lost our crops due to heavy rainfall and flooding, a farmer from Demoso Township said. Last week, widespread flooding hit Bago, Mandalay and Yangon regions, displacing thousands of residents and disrupting transport. In August, torrential rain and flash flooding caused landslides on the Asia Highway between Myawaddy and Kawkariek townships in Karen state, causing some elevated sections to collapse, which disrupted trade and transportation in the state. Nearly 400 villages in seven townships were inundated by massive flooding in Rakhine State in August. Clashes between Myanmars junta and the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and its resistance allies were reported in Mogoke Township, Mandalay Region, on Monday. Around 200 Light Infantry Battalion 44, 88, 102 and 104 troops stationed at Phyu Yaung village advanced into TNLA territory, according to residents. Clashes first broke on Hpa Yar Kone hill near Nyaung Kone village on October 13, displacing hundreds of civilians who are sheltering with relatives and in monasteries. The TNLAs liaison officer told The Irrawaddy: The junta has stepped its offensive and residents are even fleeing central Mogoke. She said the junta fired at least 20 shells but the TNLA had not suffered any casualties. At least three clashes have also been reported by the TNLA in Kutkai Township, northern Shan State. A Mogoke Peoples Defense Force fighter and at least three junta troops were killed on Sunday, according to the TNLA. At least three Mogoke civilians, including a five-year-old, have been killed and four injured by junta shelling and indiscriminate shooting since September, the group said. The TNLA has reported at least 80 clashes with the junta in Kutkai, Muse, Nawnghkio and Mogoke townships since July 23. Myanmar junta troops have torched at least four villages in Yesagyo Township, Magwe Region over the past four days, killing two people and displacing more than 10,000 residents. On Thursday, around 300 regime soldiers began attacking villages on Yay Lae Kyun, an island at the confluence of the Ayeyarwady and Chindwin rivers. The junta force split into three columns and torched the villages of Kyun Nyo, Nan Oo, Ku Ni and Nga Tayout, according to locals. On Friday, they killed a 50-year-old woman in Kyun Nyo village. Civilians are in trouble because there is no forest in Yae Lae Kyun, so they are fleeing south when troops come from the north. The villagers are staying in the fields and fear for their lives amid shelling by junta soldiers, a representative of Yesagyo Township Peoples Security Force told The Irrawaddy. The number of houses incinerated is currently unknown because troops are still active in Yay Lae Kyun, preventing villagers from returning to their homes, he added. A Yesagyo resident said a 51-year-old man also died of a heart attack while fleeing from a junta raid. We are worried about not only about the three junta columns in Yay Lae Kyun but also another column in Myaung Township, just across a creek, he told The Irrawaddy. Combined local resistance forces clashed with regime troops in Yay Lae Kyun on Thursday and Friday. The Myingyan Black Tiger Force resistance group claimed that around 40 regime troops were killed and many wounded in the battles. One resistance fighter was also reportedly killed during the clashes. Yay Lae Kyun lies on the border of Magwe, Sagaing and Mandalay regions and comprises more than 40 villages. Locals said that all villagers in the area have abandoned their homes amid the latest junta onslaught. In late April, around 150 junta troops killed six Yay Lae Kyun civilians and torched around 100 houses in seven villages, Yesagyo Township Peoples Administration reported. In May, around 250 soldiers returned and killed another three civilians while torching 656 houses in 25 villages. Powerful ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) boycotted the eighth anniversary of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) hosted by junta boss Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyitaw on Sunday. Ten EAOs have signed the agreementeight of them with Thein Seins quasi-civilian government on Oct. 15, 2015, and two more in February 2018 under the since ousted National League for Democracy government. Despite criticisms, seven NCA signatories including the Karen National Liberation Army/Peace Council, Pa-O National Liberation Council, Arakan Liberation Party, Restoration Council of Shan State, Democratic Karen Benevolent Army, New Mon State Party, and Lahu Democratic Union attended the event on Sunday. Three other signatoriesthe Karen National Union, Chin National Front, and All Burma Students Democratic Frontwhich are engaged in active fighting with the regime, boycotted the event. They released a joint statement saying they would not join NCA peace talks unless the regime stops its violence. Three non-signatories that have been engaged in peace talks with the regime since 2021 also skipped the anniversary celebrations. They are the United Wa State Army, Shan State Progress Party and National Democratic Alliance Army, all based in Shan State. Other powerful EAOs including the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Arakan Army also shunned the event. The KIA and TNLA are actively fighting the regime. At the event, junta boss Min Aung Hlaing brazenly invited non-signatories to sign the pact. Acting president of the parallel National Unity Government Duwa Lashi La has called the regime shameless for organizing the anniversary celebrations after violating the fundamental principles of the NCA. EAOs and Myanmar people who oppose the coup say the NCA was rendered void by the military takeover in 2021. However, ministers and peace brokers from the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC) who were involved in the NCA in 2015 attended the event in Naypyitaw. Ethnic leaders and political parties that are collaborating with the regime, and representatives from some of Myanmars neighbors, were also present. Ex-general Thein Sein, who was the key figure in the signing of the NCA in 2015, was not present at Sundays event. But then-vice presidents Sai Mauk Kham and Nyan Tun, then-Parliament speaker Thura Shwe Mann, and then-Presidents Office ministers Aung Min and Soe Thane were among the attendees. Shwe Mann, who was earlier dubbed a traitor by the Myanmar military for his close ties with now ousted and detained civilian leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, appeared in public for the first time since the coup. He established his own party to contest the 2020 general election. He did not win a seat and dissolved his party following the coup. Another significant attendee was Soe Thane, who supported and praised Min Aung Hlaings putsch. Senior members of the MPC former lieutenant-general Khin Zaw Oo and U Hla Maung Shwe (both of whom currently sit on the juntas National Solidarity and Peace Negotiation Council), U Aung Naing Oo, Nyo Ohn Myint, and a former economic advisor to Thein Sein, Dr. Zaw Oo, were also present. Dr. Zaw Oo also reportedly advises the current regime on economic affairs. Among the representatives of the 35 political parties that were present at the event were Union Solidarity and Development Party chair Khin Yi, Arakan National Party chair Dr. Aye Maung, Peoples Party chair and 88 Generation student leader Ko Ko Gyi, and Kachin State Peoples Party chair and former vice chair of the Kachin Independence Organization Dr. Tu Ja. Chinese Special Envoy for Asian Affairs Deng Xijun, along with the deputy Indian national security advisor and the Thai foreign minister, addressed the event, displaying their support for the regime. Igor Blazevic, a human rights campaigner and a senior adviser at the Prague Civil Society Centre, said those who appeared at Min Aung Hlaings ceasefire and peace show have chosen the path of their own irrelevance at a moment when the people of Myanmar are waging a heroic and tragic struggle for its liberation, a struggle in which David will this time prevail over Goliath. Extras in the manipulative show staged by a murderous dictator are nothing but irrelevant figures soon to be sidelined and forgotten by history, he said. The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) claims to have killed 16 Myanmar junta troops amid a fresh outbreak of fighting in Kokang, Shan State on Saturday. Saturdays fighting erupted after several weeks of relative calm in which no clashes were reported in the area. On Saturday afternoon, members of the Kokang-based ethnic armed organization ambushed a unit of 30 troops from junta Battalion 335, according to the Kokang News, an MNDAA media outlet. The regime forces were reportedly heading toward an MNDAA base at the time, guided by a civilian detainee. In the ensuing two-hour firefight, 16 regime forces were killed and seven others wounded, while the rest fled the clash, said the MNDAA. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the regime casualties. The Kokang News reported that MNDAA troops seized 12 weapons including mortar launchers and ammunition, as well as satellite phones. A video released by The Kokang News shows the bodies of regime soldiers and their weapons scattered along a road. In August, the junta conducted airstrikes in territory controlled by the MNDAA and allied Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in Lashio Township, northern Shan State. The TNLA is the armed wing of the Palaung State Liberation Front (PSLF). The MNDAA and regime forces have fought a series of battles in Shan State since the February 2021 coup. Meanwhile several dozen clashes between TNLA and regime forces were reported in townships across northern Shan State and neighboring Mandalay Region as of September. Regime forces have also engaged with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Shan State Army (SSA), the armed wing of Shan State Progressive Party (SSPP), in northern Shan State this year. I wish to commend U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer for his role in securing vital investments for North Dakota's cities. The recent passage of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act holds great importance for our state. Senator Cramer is helping to expedite energy projects, ease infrastructure investments, and promote growth across industries in North Dakota. Recognizing the importance of our states energy sector, I believe that permitting reform equips energy innovators with the necessary tools to attract investments and move projects forward efficiently, be it in wind, solar, oil, gas, or any other energy domain. Senator Cramers dedication to securing funding and his all-of-the-above approach to energy are commendable and directly benefit our communities. In a time when bipartisan achievements are rare, his work in Congress demonstrates a commitment to North Dakota that deserves celebration. Marc Steinberg, Fargo At least 76 Myanmar junta forces as well as three resistance fighters and two civilians were reportedly killed in the last four days as Peoples Defense Force groups (PDFs) and ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) continued to attack regime targets across the country. Incidents were reported in Shan and Chin states and Magwe, Sagaing, Mandalay and Tanintharyi regions. The Irrawaddy has collected the following reports of significant attacks from PDFs and EAOs. Some military casualties could not be independently verified. Junta suffers heavy losses in clash in Shan At least 16 Myanmar junta soldiers were killed and seven injured in the Kokang area of Shan State on Saturday when the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) attacked a military unit of 30 troops invading its area, according to The Kokang, the media wing of the resistance group. The rest of the regime forces fled after two hours of fighting. At least 11 military weapons and some ammunition were seized along with radio and satellite phones. A video released by The Kokang news shows the bodies of regime soldiers and their weapons scattered on a road. Two ethnic Chin resistance fighters killed in Thantlang Two resistance fighters from the Chinland Defense Force (Hualngoram) and Chin National Army, the armed wing of the Chin National Front, were killed during a clash with regime forces in Thantlang Town, Chin State last Thursday, according to the resistance group and Chin media reports. Two days of clashes erupt in Magwe Joint resistance groups engage in two days of clashes with regime forces in Yesagyo Township on Oct. 12 and 13. / Myingyan Black Tiger Fierce fighting broke out in Yesagyo Township, Magwe Region last Thursday when more than 20 resistance groups from Magwe, Sagaing and Mandalay regions jointly attacked a military unit of 80 troops raiding Pauk Au Village, said Myingyan Black Tiger, which took part in the attack. After sustaining many casualties in the intense attack, the military unit retreated. But another heavy clash broke out the next day as the reinforced military unit raided the area again. All resistance groups retreated from the clash after running out of ammunition. Around 40 regime forces are thought to have been killed in the two days of clashes, the resistance group said. The Irrawaddy was unable to independently confirm their claim, however. A resistance fighter from Myingyan Black Tiger PDF was also killed. Junta police killed in Magwe A junta police sergeant was shot dead and another escaped with injuries in Yesagyo Township, Magwe Region on Saturday when the two violently resisted Yesagyo PDF groups attempt to arrest them, the resistance group said. A motorbike, knife and a phone were seized from the police officers. Last Thursday, Yesagyo PDF raided the township police station in Yesagyo town. Regime forces ambushed with land mines in Sagaing At least 10 regime forces are believed to have been killed and many others injured in Wetlet Township, Sagaing Region on Sunday when local resistance groups used clusters of land mines to ambush a military unit traveling from Sai Naing Lay Village to Sai Naing Gyi Village, said Shwebo District PDF Battalion 23, which was involved in the attacks. On Saturday, the PDF group and other resistance groups also threw seven grenades into a regime bunker at the Shwebo Palace in Shwebo town, Sagaing Region, killing two regime forces and injuring six others. Military ration vehicle bombed in Sagaing Military ration vehicles and regime targets are bombed in Sagaing Township last Thursday. / Unicorn Guerrilla Force Unicorn Guerrilla Forces said it and four other resistance groups used land mines to ambush a military ration vehicle from the pro-junta village of Kywe Pon in Sagaing Township, Sagaing Region last Thursday. The resistance groups also conducted drone strikes on regime sentries secretly performing security duties for a road in the township. During the attacks, a regime sentry was killed and the ration vehicle was destroyed. The damaged vehicle was taken away by a military vehicle the next day. The regime forces also shot dead two civilians who were herding goats on a grazing ground nearby. Military checkpoint attacked in Tanintharyi town Myeik District PDF Battalion 2 said it and three local resistance groups raided a military checkpoint in Tanintharyi town, Tanintharyi Region on Saturday morning. During the 30-minute shootout, three regime forces were killed. All resistance members retreated from the area without casualties, the group said. Junta administrative office bombed by drones in Mandalay At least five regime forces and junta officials were reportedly killed in Taungtha Township, Mandalay Region last Friday when six PDF groups jointly used makeshift remote-controlled airplanes to drop bombs on the junta-run township administration department office in Taungtha town, said Taungtha PDF, which joined the drone strike. China has started surveying for a railway to Kyaukphyu on Myanmars Indian Ocean coast from Kunming in the southern Chinese province of Yunnan, according to Rakhine State residents. Junta police guarded Chinese technicians investigating the Maei-Ann road in Ann Township earlier this month, said a civil society organization member, who did not want to be named. Chinese men surveyed beside the Ann-Maei road. I heard they were surveying for a railway. Even the townships junta administrators were not informed. The Chinese appeared to be able to do anything with a police guard. A former Rakhine State lawmaker for Kyaukphyu, U Poe San, said the project lacks transparency and there has been no public consultation. We welcome any project that will bring benefits and create jobs but if it only benefits China and creates jobs for foreigners, we dont want it, he told The Irrawaddy. Other China-backed projects, including the Shwe gas scheme and crude oil terminal on Made Island and oil and gas pipelines, only harmed Kyaukphyu, U Poe San said. Residents lost their farmland and fishing grounds to those projects, he added. When pipeline construction between Kyaukphyu and Yunnan started in 2011 under President Thein Seins transitional government, China promised 24-hour electricity and proper compensation for villagers. Ann residents said they never received full compensation. A resident said: When the project started, the Chinese told us not to protest and promised 24-hour electricity, assistance, health and education in our villages. But they didnt fulfill their promises. No one has received full compensation. Myanmar and China signed the rail deal in 2011 under Thein Sein. The railway was also among the 33 deals signed during Chinese President Xi Jinpings visit to Myanmar in 2019 under the National League for Democracy administration. The railway is a major part of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) and the wider Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to link global markets with China. The BRI aims to develop maritime and land trade routes to Eurasia, West Asia and Africa. Myanmars civil war creates a major obstacle to the strategy. The CMEC includes a special economic zone and a deep-sea port in Kyaukphyu, a Kyaukphyu-Kunming railway and cross-border economic zones in Shan and Kachin states. In late September, the juntas deputy prime minister Mya Tun Oo discussed the train links at a Beijing transport forum. The Kachin Womens Association in Thailand last week demanded an end to Chinese investment with Myanmars junta, saying Beijing will find itself complicit in the mounting atrocities associated with the planned projects. The association said BRI projects are fueling conflict and abuses and that Beijing is taking huge risks to push ahead with a partnership with Myanmars regime. Monday, Oct 16th, 2023 (9:34 am) - Score 1,080 Bromsgrove-based JET Connectivity, which was spun out from JET Engineering Services and develops 5G (wireless broadband) mesh communications for the marine environment, has launched the worlds first permanently deployable 5G floating base station (cell tower) in Grimsby to help connect an operational offshore wind farm. The bespoke solar-powered base station (JET-5 Te Fiti), which is the product of 3 years of hard work from a team of now 25 people, stands 17 metres tall and has been designed to deliver long range 5G connectivity for a multitude of uses. But in this case, the focus is as an offshore wind farm-based testbed, which will be used to push the boundaries of digital operations through robotics and autonomy. Offshore wind farms go through years of surveying, decision-making, construction and commissioning before becoming operational. However, for a large proportion of this time, mobile phone signals and broadband internet connectivity are not available due to the requirement of a stable platform and subsea fibre optic cables traditionally needed to run a network. The JET-5 Te Fiti platform aims to solve this by utilising its own in-house designed and built 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) software and systems, and floating buoy hosting platforms, to provide a pop-up, solar-powered, fibre-less 5G network to offshore sites. James Thomas, CEO and Founder of JET Connectivity, said: This launch of our first offshore network is testament to what hard work from an exceptional team can deliver, and I am so grateful of the effort and hours the team has put in, particularly in the final build the last few weeks. I hope we can continue to make the maritime sector safer and more environmentally sustainable as we grow our deployments in the coming years. Features such as the reef cubes built into our mooring systems are small ways we can make a positive impact on our oceans above the core services we are offering and enabling with our ocean data hubs. In this particular deployment, JET is working with a consortium including Microsoft and the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, funded by industry, the Greater Lincolnshire LEP and Innovate UK, to deliver a 5G testbed at an operational windfarm which can be utilised by companies developing and trialling offshore technology that will require resilient, high bandwidth connectivity, such as drones and autonomous vessels. However, assuming the tests go well, then the technology could eventually also be used to help extend 5G connectivity across more sites and shipping on the ocean. I finish just by saying this: war is an easy thing to talk about; there are not many people - a - of the generation that remember it. The right hon. Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup served with distinction in the last war. I never killed anyone but I wore uniform. But I was in London in the blitz in 1940, living in the Millbank tower, where I was born. Some different ideas have come in since. And every night, I went down to the shelter in Thames house. Every morning, I saw dockland burning. Five hundred people were killed in Westminster one night by a land mine. It was terrifying. Aren't Arabs terrified? Aren't Iraqis terrified? Don't Arab and Iraqi women weep when their children die? Does bombing strengthen their determination? What fools we are to live in a generation for which war is a computer game for our children and just an interesting little channel for news item. Every Member of Parliament tonight who votes for the Government motion will be consciously and deliberately accepting responsibility for the deaths of innocent people if the war begins, as I fear it will. Now that's for their decision to take. But this is a quite unique debate. In my parliamentary experience, where we are asked to share responsibility for a decision we won't really be taking, with consequences for people who have no part to play in the brutality of the regime which we are dealing with. And I finish with this: on 24 October 1945the right hon. Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup will rememberthe United Nations charter was passed. And the words of that charter are etched into my mind and move me even as I think of them. "We the peoples of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our life-time has caused untold suffering to mankind". That was the pledge of that generation to this generation, and it would be the greatest betrayal of all if we voted to abandon the charter, and take unilateral action and pretend that we were doing it in the name of the international community. And I shall vote against the motion for the reasons that I have given the house. The above is the passage that matches the video. The full speech is below: I have very little time. I want to develop my argument. There are many others who want to speak. 926 I hope that the House will listen to me. I know that my view is not the majority view in the House, although it may be outside this place. I regret that I shall vote against the Government motion. The first victims of the bombing that I believe will be launched within a fortnight will be innocent people, many, if not most, of whom would like Saddam to be removed. The former Prime Minister, the right hon. Member for Huntingdon, talked about collateral damage. The military men are clever. They talk not about hydrogen bombs but about deterrence. They talk not about people but about collateral damage. They talk not about power stations and sewerage plants but about assets. The reality is that innocent people will be killed if the House votes tonightas it manifestly willto give the Government the authority for military action. The bombing would also breach the United Nations charter. I do not want to argue on legal terms. If the hon. and learned Member for North-East Fife (Mr. Campbell) has read articles 41 and 42, he will know that the charter says that military action can only be decided on by the Security Council and conducted under the military staffs committee. That procedure has not been followed and cannot be followed because the five permanent members have to agree. Even for the Korean war, the United States had to go to the General Assembly to get authority because Russia was absent. That was held to be a breach, but at least an overwhelming majority was obtained. Has there been any negotiation or diplomatic effort? Why has the Foreign Secretary not been in Baghdad, like the French Foreign Minister, the Turkish Foreign Minister and the Russian Foreign Minister? The time that the Government said that they wanted for negotiation has been used to prepare public opinion for war and to build up their military position in the Gulf. Saddam will be strengthened again. Or he may be killed. I read today that the security forceswho are described as terrorists in other countrieshave tried to kill Saddam. I should not be surprised if they succeeded. This second action does not enjoy support from elsewhere. There is no support from Iraq's neighbours. If what the Foreign Secretary says about the threat to the neighbours is true, why is Iran against, why is Jordan against, why is Saudi Arabia against, why is Turkey against? Where is that great support? There is no support from the opposition groups inside Iraq. The Kurds, the Shi'ites and the communists hate Saddam, but they do not want the bombing. The Pope is against it, along with 10 bishops, two cardinals, Boutros Boutros-Ghali and Perez de Cuellar. The Foreign Secretary clothes himself with the garment of the world community, but he does not have that support. We are talking about an Anglo-American preventive war. It has been planned and we are asked to authorise it in advance. The House is clear about its view of history, but it does not say much about the history of the areas with which we are dealing. The borders of Kuwait and Iraq, which then became sacrosanct, were drawn by the British after the end of the Ottoman empire. We used chemical weapons against the Iraqis in the 1930s. Air Chief Marshal Harris, who later flattened Dresden, was instructed to drop chemical weapons. When Saddam came to power, he was a hero of the west. The Americans used him against Iran because they hated Khomeini, who was then the figure to be removed. 927 They armed Saddam, used him and sent him anthrax. I am not anxious to make a party political point, because there is not much difference between the two sides on this, but, as the Scott report revealed, the previous Government allowed him to be armed. I had three hours with Saddam in 1990. I got the hostages out, which made it worth going. He felt betrayed by the United States, because the American ambassador in Baghdad had said to him, "If you go into Kuwait, we will treat it as an Arab matter." That is part of the history that they know, even if we do not know it here. In 1958, 40 years ago, Selwyn Lloyd, the Foreign Secretary and later the Speaker, told Foster Dulles that Britain would make Kuwait a Crown colony. Foster Dulles said, "What a very good idea." We may not know that history, but in the middle east it is known. The Conservatives have tabled an amendment asking about the objectives. That is an important issue. There is no UN resolution saying that Saddam must be toppled. It is not clear that the Government know what their objectives are. They will probably be told from Washington. Do they imagine that if we bomb Saddam for two weeks, he will say, "Oh, by the way, do come in and inspect"? The plan is misconceived. Some hon. Memberseven Opposition Membershave pointed out the double standard. I am not trying to equate Israel with Iraq, but on 8 June 1981, Israel bombed a nuclear reactor near Baghdad. What action did either party take on that? Israel is in breach of UN resolutions and has instruments of mass destruction. Mordecai Vanunu would not boast about Israeli freedom. Turkey breached UN resolutions by going into northern Cyprus. It has also recently invaded northern Iraq and has instruments of mass destruction. Lawyers should know better than anyone else that it does not matter whether we are dealing with a criminal thug or an ordinary lawbreakerif the law is to apply, it must apply to all. Governments of both major parties have failed in that. Prediction is difficult and dangerous, but I fear that the situation could end in a tragedy for the American and British Governments. Suez and Vietnam are not far from the minds of anyone with a sense of history. I recall what happened to Sir Anthony Eden. I heard him announce the ceasefire and saw him go on holiday to Goldeneye in Jamaica. He came back to be replaced. I am not saying that that will happen in this case, but does anyone think that the House is in a position to piggy-back on American power in the middle east? What happens if Iraq breaks up? If the Kurds are free, they will demand Kurdistan and destabilise Turkey. Anything could happen. We are sitting here as if we still had an empireonly, fortunately, we have a bigger brother with more weapons than us. The British Government have everything at their disposal. They are permanent members of the Security Council and have the European Union presidency for six months. Where is that leadership in Europe which we were promised? It just disappeared. We are also, of course, members of the Commonwealth, in which there are great anxieties. We have thrown away our influence, which could have been used for moderation. The amendment that I and others have tabled argues that the United Nations Security Council should decide the nature of what Kofi Annan brings back from Baghdad and whether force is to be used. Inspections and sanctions go side by side. As I said, sanctions are brutal for innocent 928 people. Then there is the real question: when will the world come to terms with the fact that chemical weapons are available to anybody? If there is an answer to that, it must involve the most meticulous observation of international law, which I feel we are abandoning. War is easy to talk about; there are not many people left of the generation which remembers it. The right hon. Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup served with distinction in the last war. I never killed anyone but I wore uniform. I was in London during the blitz in 1940, living where the Millbank tower now stands, where I was born. Some different ideas have come in there since. Every night, I went to the shelter in Thames house. Every morning, I saw docklands burning. Five hundred people were killed in Westminster one night by a land mine. It was terrifying. Are not Arabs and Iraqis terrified? Do not Arab and Iraqi women weep when their children die? Does not bombing strengthen their determination? What fools we are to live as if war is a computer game for our children or just an interesting little Channel 4 news item. Every Member of Parliament who votes for the Government motion will be consciously and deliberately accepting responsibility for the deaths of innocent people if the war begins, as I fear it will. That decision is for every hon. Member to take. In my parliamentary experience, this a unique debate. We are being asked to share responsibility for a decision that we will not really be taking but which will have consequences for people who have no part to play in the brutality of the regime with which we are dealing. On 24 October 1945the right hon. Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup will rememberthe United Nations charter was passed. The words of that charter are etched on my mind and move me even as I think of them. It says: We the peoples of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our life-time has brought untold sorrow to mankind". That was that generation's pledge to this generation, and it would be the greatest betrayal of all if we voted to abandon the charter, take unilateral action and pretend that we were doing so in the name of the international community. I shall vote against the motion for the reasons that I have given. Genres : Documentary, History Starring : Dr. Del Tackett Director : Thomas Purifoy Plot Synopsis What if creation scientists suddenly discovered amazing new evidence supporting the events of Genesis? What if you could watch that discovery? In this sequel to Is Genesis History?, Del Tackett follows the journey of two geologists rafting through the Grand Canyon to examine enormous folds of solid rock. What caused these massive folds? And when did they happen? Conventional scientists say they are millions of years old, but no one has actually studied them... until now. If Dr. Andrew Snelling's theory is correct, his findings will directly challenge the conventional view that the earth is hundreds of millions of years old. Instead, they will provide clear evidence for a recent global Flood. What did the Flood do to re-form earth? How did it shape the world we see around us? And why is Genesis so important to modern science? Mountains After the Flood shows how scientists link their discoveries to the history recorded in Genesis. It will give Christians everywhere a much deeper understanding of the relationship between science and the Bible. Legal scholar Eugene Volokh, in his recent column on Reason, explains the potential legal consequences you could face by trying to get someone fired by threatening to end your business relationship with them. Volokh warns that some state laws recognize threats of cutting off one's own business relationship as legally actionable. In his column, he cites the case of Grako v. Bill Walsh Chevrolet-Cadillac, Inc. in Illinois to illustrate the legal implications. In this case, the plaintiff alleged that the defendant, Bill Walsh, used his client status with the plaintiff's former employer to get her fired. The court allowed the lawsuit to proceed. Volokh advises readers to refrain from engaging in behavior that could be considered "tortious interference." Merely encouraging an employer to fire an at-will employee or urging others not to do business with the employer generally falls outside the realm of legal action. However, the thing that can get you in legal trouble is making threats involving your own business relationship. Cory Doctorow, co-founder of this very website, has a new audiobook in the works: The Lost Cause. He's self-financing it through Kickstarter, making it feasible to produce without caving to the compulsory DRM imposed by Amazon/Audible. "My refusal to cave to Audible has cost me a lot," he writes. "My agent says that I could have paid off my mortgage and saved enough to give my kid a debt-free US college experience. But I don't sell out that cheap." The Lost Cause, "a hopeful novel of climate emergencies, set in a world where millions of young people have been mobilized to do the repair and care work needed to cope," is out November 15. The adversary: a "counterreformation of seagoing anarcho-capitalist billionaire wreckers and seething white nationalist militias are seeking to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat." Bill McKibben: "The first great YIMBY novel, this chronicle of mutual aid is politically perceptive, scientifically sound, and extraordinarily hopeful even amidst the smoke." Stanley Robinson: "Along with the rush of adrenaline I felt a solid surge of hope. May it go like this." Cory: It's a hopeful novel. You know about the difference between hope and optimism, right? Optimism is like pessimism: a form of fatalism, the belief that the things that are gonna happen are going to happen, and what we do doesn't make a difference. Hope, on the other hand, is the belief that what we do matters. It's the belief that if we improve our situation in any way, that might open a new course of action to us that had been previously hidden from view, a course of action that, if seized, will revewal another hidden foothold, and another, and another. We need hope right now. Here's a preview: Reddit Email 238 Shares Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) Some American political leaders are talking about a religious war between Christianity and Islam in the aftermath of the Hamas attacks on Israel of October 7 and after. This rhetoric is ignorant and bigotted. Although Hamas calls itself an Islamic resistance movement, it is in fact a dangerous cult that disregards key elements of Islamic law. Here are three major ways in which its October 7 attacks contravened key Islamic precepts: 1. The killing of innocent non-combatants is forbidden. The Quran (2:190) says Fight in the cause of God only against those who wage war against you, but do not exceed the limits. God does not like transgressors. It is only the wagers of war, i.e., soldiers, who are legitimate targets not innocents. The Amman Message, crafted by a vast council of Muslim clerics from various denominations, says that according to a hadith or saying of the Prophet Muhammad, he said to one of his generals, Run after Khalid ibn al-Walid [and tell him] that he must not slay children, serfs, or women. In another hadith the Prophet says clearly, Do not kill weak old men, small children, or women.' Muhammad Sayyid al-Tantawi, the rector of al-Azhar University in Cairo, said, Attacking innocent people is not courageous; it is stupid and will be punished on the Day of Judgment []. Its not courageous to attack innocent children, women and civilians. It is courageous to protect freedom; it is courageous to defend one and not to attack. Hamas killed hundreds of innocent non-combatants on October 7, including some 260 concert-goers at a peace festival. It fired unguided rockets at civilian towns and cities, inevitably endangering them since Hamas could not control where these dangerous munitions landed. Some landed on families. Although a few Hamas fighters attacked Israeli military bases and engaged Israeli soldiers, these encounters were a tiny part of the operation, most of which was aimed at innocent non-combatants. This behavior is un-Islamic according to the religions central texts and its authorities. Hamas cultists over-rule their own tradition, being full of themselves. Embed from Getty Images BEERI, ISRAEL OCTOBER 14: Houses that were destroyed in a battle between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians militants on Saterdays Hamas attack on the kibutz on October 14, 2023 in Beeri, Israel. Israel has sealed off Gaza and launched sustained retaliatory air strikes, which have killed at least 1,400 people with more than 400,000 displaced, after a large-scale attack by Hamas. On October 7, the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel from Gaza by land, sea, and air, killing over 1,300 people and wounding around 2,800. Israeli soldiers and civilians have also been taken hostage by Hamas and moved into Gaza. The attack prompted a declaration of war by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the announcement of an emergency wartime government. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images). 2. Wanton destruction of a town is prohibited. According to Sunni tradition, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, the first Caliph, gave these instructions to his armies: I instruct you in ten matters: Do not kill women, children, the old, or the infirm; do not cut down fruit-bearing trees; do not destroy any town . . . (Maliks Muwatta, Kitab al-Jihad.). Islamic jurisprudents forbade the destruction of houses, as well. What Hamas terrorists did to Kibbutz Beeri would fall under the category of destroying a town. And lots of houses were destroyed. Article continues after bonus IC video The Telegraph: Inside Kibbutz Beeri: A community massacred by Hamas 3. Muslim commanders must give the enemy fair warning that war is imminent. The Prophet Muhammad at one point gave 4 months notice. Sneak attacks are forbidden. October 7 was obviously a sneak attack. 4. Muslim authorities such as the Shaykh al-Azhar, the preeminent Sunni seminary, insist that taking civilian hostages is prohibited by Islamic law. I do a lot of public speaking and teaching about Islam and I know how hard it is for many Americans and Europeans to get past their stereotypes about Islam and Muslims. The rise of vigilante cults with nihilist values and a complete disregard for the Quran and Muslim tradition has reshaped views of Islam itself, as though our view of Christianity were altered by the Capitol Insurrectionists (it wasnt). For anyone who wants an extended argument about the values of the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad, I wrote a book: VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / Ximen Mining Corp. (TSX.v:XIM) (FRA:1XMA) (OTCQB:XXMMF) (the "Company" or "Ximen") announces progress on its drill program at the Amelia Gold project in Camp McKinney near Rock Creek in southern BC. Core logging at Amelia project in October, 2023. Drilling at the Amelia property is being done to test for extensions to the historic Cariboo-Amelia gold mine in Camp McKinney in the Greenwood Mining Division, BC. Over its 68-year history, the Cariboo-Amelia mine produced 81,602 ounces of gold and 32,439 ounces of silver from 112,254 tonnes milled (BC Minfile Records). The mine is part of a 4-kilometer system of gold-quartz veins and historic workings. View of 3D model of Cariboo mine (looking North) showing vein blocks and current drill holes. Drilling is targeting the main Cariboo or McKinney vein beneath the eastern end of the historic mine. Five holes have been completed so far (total 1,333 meters) and a sixth hole is being drilled. The target vein was intersected in three holes (AM23-01, 03 and 05) ranging between 30 and 45 meters below mine level 6 and over a strike length of 88 meters. The mineralized intercepts range in core length from 0.26 meters to 0.65 meters and contain pyrite, sphalerite, galena and chalcopyrite. This sulphide mineral assemblage is the same as that reported to occur in the vein where it was mined historically. Hole From To Length (m) Mineralization AM23-01 218.02 218.63 0.61 Quartz Vein with Py, Sp, Gn, Cp AM23-03 230.80 231.06 0.26 Quartz Vein with Py, Sp, Gn, Cp AM23-05 214.55 215.20 0.65 Quartz Vein with Py, Sp, Cp Abbreviations: Py: pyrite, Sp: sphalerite, Gn: galena, Cp: chalcopyrite Note: Reported lengths are core lengths not true widths. Holes AM23-03 and 04 intersected a mineralized vein about 50 meters south of the target vein that appears to be a new discovery of a parallel vein. The extent of this vein has yet to be determined. Core Photos: Photos of core boxes with mineralized quartz vein intercepts in holes AM23-01 (a), AM23-03 (b) and AM23-05(c) Close-up photos of sulphide mineralization intersected in holes AM23-01 (a), AM23-03 (b1, b2) and AM23-05(c) The new results prove that the vein extends below the lowest mine workings and indicate there is potentially more to be mined. Core samples will be sent for analysis in due course. Readers are cautioned that historical records referred to in this News Release have been examined but not verified by a Qualified Person. Further work is required to verify that historical records referred to in this News Release are accurate. Dr. Mathew Ball, P.Geo., VP Exploration for Ximen Mining Corp. and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101, approved the technical information contained in this News Release. On behalf of the Board of Directors, "Christopher R. Anderson" Christopher R. Anderson, President, CEO and Director 604 488-3900 Investor Relations: 604-488-3900, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. About Ximen Mining Corp. Ximen Mining Corp. owns 100% interest in three of its precious metal projects located in southern BC. Ximen`s two Gold projects, The Amelia Gold Mine and The Brett Epithermal Gold Project. Ximen also owns the Treasure Mountain Silver Project adjacent to the past producing Huldra Silver Mine. Currently, the Treasure Mountain Silver Project is under an option agreement. The option partner is making annual staged cash and stocks payments as well as funding the development of the project. The company has also acquired control of the Kenville Gold mine near Nelson British Columbia which comes with surface and underground rights, buildings and equipment. Ximen is a publicly listed company trading on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol XIM, in the USA under the symbol XXMMF, and in Frankfurt, Munich, and Berlin Stock Exchanges in Germany under the symbol 1XMA and WKN with the number as A2JBKL. This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, including statements regarding the receipt of TSX Venture Exchange approval and the exercise of the Option by Ximen. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "aims," "potential," "goal," "objective," "prospective," and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "can," "could" or "should" occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions that forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include the possibility that the TSX Venture Exchange may not accept the proposed transaction in a timely manner, if at all. The reader is urged to refer to the Company's reports, publicly available through the Canadian Securities Administrators' System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any state in the United States in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Ximen Mining Corp 888 Dunsmuir Street - Suite 888, Vancouver, B.C., V6C 3K4 Tel: 604-488-3900 October 16, 2023 TheNewswire - Vancouver, B.C., Canada;- Belmont Resources Ltd. (Belmont or the Company) (TSXV:BEA) (FSE:L3L2) is pleased to announce that diamond drilling has now commenced at its 100% owned A-J gold project situated in the prolific Greenwood mining camp of southern British Columbia. The planned initial program will be a minimum 2,000m in up to 10 drill holes. George Sookochoff, CEO of Belmont Resources, said, "We are very excited to be starting the program with testing a very compelling gold target situated amongst three former gold mines which provides an environment for a potential new gold discovery. The A-J gold property hosts the former producing Athelstan and Jackpot mines which produced 7,000 ounces of gold and 9,000 ounces of silver (Minfile 082ESE047). The program is designed to test a multi-coincident geophysical anomaly located within the North Zone of the property. The Jackpot fault directly intersects this anomalous zone potentially providing a conduit for the hydrothermal fluids and subsequent precipitation of gold mineralization. This target is on strike with a south east trending 1km gold trend on the adjacent Golden Crown property. This gold trend hosts the Golden Crown mine which has a 2016 NI43-101 Indicated Resource of 163,000 tonnes @11.09 g/t Au.1 4 Drill Holes Completed Four drill holes, AJ23-01-04, have been completed to date. The drill core is currently being logged and samples are being prepped for delivery to ALS laboratories in Kamloops B.C. About Belmont Resources Belmont Resources has assembled a portfolio of highly prospective copper, gold, lithium, uranium and rare earths projects located in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Washington and Nevada States. Its holdings include: Athelstan-Jackpot (A-J): 2 former gold mines. 2,000m drilling targeting multi-coincident geophysical anomaly on strike with neighboring gold trend and gold mines. CrackingstoneUranium-Rare Earths: Some of the highest grade Rare Earth Elements (REEs) are being discovered in Northern Saskatchewan due to the presence of Uranium, Thorium Pegmatites. Crackingstone project meets the criteria for potentially discovering a large REEs deposit with its high grade uranium along with thorium and pegmatite. A review of 3,000m of 2008 drill data shows a 1.3km pegmatite dyke drilled but only assayed for uranium at that time. 2023 plans are to re-assay pegmatite sections for REEs ; Come By Chance (CBC): 2021 geophysics delineated potential large copper-gold porphyry 2022 drilling provided further vectors towards potential core of porphyry; The Lone StarCopper-Gold: optioned to Australian Marquee Resources ASX:MQR. MQR has spent in excess of $2.5M in drilling, completed new resource in Dec. 2022, and is currently preparing a Preliminary Economic Assessment in order to earn 80% interest. The Kibby Basin Lithium project located 60 kilometers north of the lithium rich Clayton Valley Basin: Optioned 80% of the central Kibby Playa claim block to Australian Marquee Resources - MQR. MQR has spent in excess of $2.5M in drilling in 2022 for potential deep seated lithium brine. 2022 Drilling confirmed high levels of lithium-bearing sediments along with dissolved lithium in the groundwater. 1.Technical Report and Updated Mineral Resource Estimate For the Greenwood Gold Project, Greenwood, British Columbia Canada; Lexington-Grenoble Deposit, Lexington Property And Golden Crown Deposit, Golden Crown Property; By: P&E Mining Consultants Inc. NI-43-101 & 43-101F1 Technical Report No. 307 Paul Cowley, P.Geo. Eugene Puritch, P.Eng Fred Brown, P.Geo. Effective Date: March 24, 2016 NI 43-101 Disclosure The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements as set out in National Instrument 43-101 and has been reviewed and approved by Laurence Sookochoff, P.Eng. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS George Sookochoff George Sookochoff, CEO/President Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as the term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. This Press Release may contain forward-looking statements that may involve a number of risks and uncertainties, based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding future events or results that may prove to be inaccurate as a result of exploration and other risk factors beyond its control. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Companies forward-looking statements and expectations. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, that we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval; that we may not be able to raise funds required, that conditions to closing may not be fulfilled and we may not be able to organize and carry out an exploration program in 2023, and other risks associated with being a mineral exploration and development company. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and, except as required by applicable laws, the Company assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results differed from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Appointment of Highly Experienced Process Engineer to Enhance Technical Capacity Expansion of Technical Services Team To Support Ongoing Development Programs TORONTO, Oct. 16, 2023 /CNW/ - Ascendant Resources Inc. (TSX: ASND) (OTCQB: ASDRF) (FRA: 2D9) ("Ascendant" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has strengthened its technical team with the addition of Mr. Val Coetzee who has been appointed as Director, Process Engineering. Mr. Coetzee will work with the rest of the technical team to enhance the delivery of the Lagoa Salgada project to optimize the process flow sheet and design as the company moves towards project development. Mr. Coetzee is a senior process engineering professional with over 25 years of experience in process engineering design, operational management, metallurgical analysis, risk analysis, economic valuation and executive leadership within the global mining industry. For the past decade, Mr. Coetzee has been at DRA Global rising to the role of Senior Vice President for Process Engineering. Mr. Coetzee played a vital role in the success of various projects and studies across a broad range of commodities and locations globally. Prior to this Mr. Coetzee worked at Impala Platinum and De Beers Consolidated as a metallurgist and technical manager tasked with overseeing new greenfield projects. Mr. Coetzee holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa and a Master of Engineering: Mining (Mineral Economics) form the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa and has experience in a diverse range of commodities, including PGMs, Gold, Uranium, Copper, Cobalt, Zinc, Lead, Lithium, Manganese, Chrome, Nickel, Magnesium, Iron Ore and Diamonds, with expertise in mineral processing, hydrometallurgy, and pyrometallurgy. Mark Brennan, Executive Chairman of Ascendant stated, "We are extremely pleased to welcome Val to the Technical team at Ascendant. Val brings significant experience in design, metallurgy and process optimization which add significantly to the technical capabilities of Ascendant as we aim to optimize the process design and flow sheet for the Lagoa Salgada project as we move the project to towards a final development decision". About Ascendant Resources Inc. Ascendant Resources is a Toronto-based mining company focused on the exploration and development of the highly prospective Lagoa Salgada VMS project located on the prolific Iberian Pyrite Belt in Portugal. The Lagoa Salgada project is a high-grade polymetallic project, demonstrating a typical mineralization endowment of zinc, copper, lead, tin, silver, and gold. Extensive exploration upside potential lies both near deposit and at prospective step-out targets across the large 7,209-hectare property concession. Located just 80km from Lisbon and surrounded by exceptional infrastructure, Lagoa Salgada offers a low-cost entry to a significant exploration and development opportunity, already showing its mineable scale and cashflow generation potential. Ascendant currently holds a 80% interest in the Lagoa Salgada project through its position in Redcorp - Empreendimentos Mineiros, Lda, ("Redcorp"). The Company's common shares are principally listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "ASND". For more information on Ascendant, please visit our website at http://www.ascendantresources.com/. Forward Looking Information This press release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking information" (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 discusses predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, without limitation, statements regarding the business, the Lagoa Salgada project and timing of completion of studies. In making the forward- looking statements contained in this press release, Ascendant has made certain assumptions, including, but not limited to outcomes associated with optimization works at the Lagoa Salgada Project. Although Ascendant believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that the expectations of any forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. Known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this press release. Except as required by law, Ascendant disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, changes in factors affecting such forward-looking statements or otherwise. Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking information, including, without limitation, the risks described under the heading "Risks Factors" in the Company's Annual Information Form dated March 31, 2023 and under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" in the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 and other risks identified in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The risk factors referred to above are not an exhaustive list of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking information. The Company's statements containing forward-looking information are based on the beliefs, expectations and opinions of management on the date the statements are made, and the Company does not assume any obligation to update such forward-looking information if circumstances or management's beliefs, expectations or opinions should change, other than as required by applicable law. For the reasons set forth above, one should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. VANCOUVER, Canada, Oct. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sonoro Gold Corp. (TSXV: SGO | OTCQB: SMOFF | FRA: 23SP) (Sonoro or the Company) is pleased to report the filing of a technical report titled NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Preliminary Economic Assessment on the Cerro Caliche Project, Sonora, Mexico (the PEA) with an effective date of August 28, 2023. The PEA has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101) by D.E.N.M. Engineering Ltd. of Burlington, Ontario (D.E.N.M.) and Micon International Limited of Toronto, Ontario (Micon) with confirmation of the applicable resource estimates prepared by SRK Consulting (U.S.) Inc. of Denver, Colorado (SRK). The PEA demonstrates the potential viability for a nine-year life of mine (LOM), open pit, heap leach mining operation with an initial two-year production rate of 4,000 metric tonnes per day (mtpd) and an increase to 12,000 mtpd for the remaining LOM. The PEA can be found under the Companys profile at www.sedarplus.ca and on Sonoros website at www.sonorogold.com. PEA Highlights: Pre-Tax net present value discounted at 5% (NPV 5 ) of USD $71.4 million ) of USD $71.4 million Pre-Tax Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 59% After-Tax NPV 5 of USD $47.7 million with an IRR of 45% of USD $47.7 million with an IRR of 45% Gold recovery of 72% and silver recovery of 27% 9-year LOM with 297,575 ounces (oz) of gold equivalent (AuEq) LOM annual average production of 33,000 oz AuEq at 0.45 g/t AuEq Initial CAPEX costs of USD $15.5 million, including USD $1.83 million in contingency Sustaining capital costs of USD $15.5 million Cash (1) operating costs of USD $1,295/oz AuEq operating costs of USD $1,295/oz AuEq AISC (2) of USD $1,395/oz AuEq of USD $1,395/oz AuEq Payback period of 2.9 years Note: All currencies are reported in U.S. dollars. Base case parameters assume $1,800/oz gold and $23/oz silver. (1) Cash operating costs include mining, crushing, processing, assaying and administration. (2) All-in-Sustaining Costs include cash costs plus sustaining, refining and reclamation costs, as well as 2% royalty buyout. Mineral Resource Estimate The PEA utilizes the updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) contained in the technical report prepared by SRK and titled NI 43-101 Technical Report: Mineral Resource Estimate, Cerro Caliche Project, Sonora, Mexico with an effective date of January 26, 2023 and report date of March 24, 2023. The updated MRE is based on a total 55,360 meters of drilled data, including 498 drill holes, 17 trenches and assays for 53,865 meters of the drilled data. PEA Summary The PEA is preliminary in nature and includes inferred resources that are considered too speculative to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves and there is no certainty the estimates presented in the PEA will be realized. Qualified Person Statement David Salari, P.Eng. of D.E.N.M. Engineering Ltd., Christopher Jacobs, CEng, MIMMM, Kerrine Azougarh, P.Eng. and William Lewis, P.Geo. of Micon International Limited, and Doug Reid, P. Eng. of SRK Consulting (U.S.) Inc. are independent of the Company and are Qualified Persons as defined in NI 43-101. Sonoro Director, Stephen Kenwood, P.Geo., is a Qualified Person within the context of NI 43-101 and has read and approved this news release. About D.E.N.M. Engineering Limited D.E.N.M. Engineering Ltd. is a niche engineering company servicing the mining / mineral processing sector that specializes in Engineering & Design, Equipment Supply, Project & Construction Management, Commissioning and Operations Support. D.E.N.M. Engineering Ltd. has proven success while championing projects for over fifteen years in Canada, USA, Mexico and Central America. In addition, D.E.N.M. Engineering, with its principal and independent specialists, performs NI 43-101 compliant assessments and studies in the sections of mineral processing metallurgical design, process design, capital and operating costing and cash flow analysis. About Micon International Limited Micon International Limited (Micon) has provided consulting services to the worldwide mining industry since 1988 from its offices in Canada and the UK. Micon comprises a multi-disciplinary group of highly qualified and experienced professionals who are guided by the Company principles of Integrity, Competence and Independence. Micons experience in Mexico ranges from exploration programs and resource estimation to technical studies on operating mines, as well as due diligence for precious metals and base metals projects. Micon has worked in most of the major mining districts throughout Mexico, as well as some lesser-known historical districts. In northern Mexico, assignments have been undertaken in the gold and silver districts of Sonora, Durango, Zacatecas, Chihuahua and Baja California. About SRK Consulting (U.S.), Inc. SRK Consulting is an independent international mining consultancy firm, which provides focused advice and solutions to clients in the earth and water resource industries. The company has contributed to its clients' success for over 45 years in over 20,000 projects globally. It is based across 45 offices worldwide with leading mining specialists in fields such as due diligence, technical studies, mine waste and water management, permitting and mine rehabilitation. About Sonoro Gold Corp. Sonoro Gold Corp. is a publicly listed exploration and development Company holding the near-development-stage Cerro Caliche project and the exploration-stage San Marcial project in Sonora State, Mexico. The Company has highly experienced operational and management teams with proven track records for the discovery and development of natural resource deposits. On behalf of the Board of Sonoro Gold Corp. Per: Kenneth MacLeod Kenneth MacLeod President & CEO For further information, please contact: Sonoro Gold Corp. - Tel: (604) 632-1764 Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Forward-Looking Statement Cautions: This press release may contain "forward-looking information" as defined in applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding the future exploration and development on the Cerro Caliche project, and future plans and objectives of the Company, constitute forward looking information that involve various risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking information is based on a number of factors and assumptions which have been used to develop such information, but which may prove to be incorrect, including, but not limited to, assumptions in connection with the continuance of the Company and its subsidiaries as a going concern, general economic and market conditions, mineral prices and the accuracy of Mineral Resource Estimates. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include exploration and development risks associated with the Companys projects, the failure to establish estimated Mineral Resources, volatility of commodity prices, variations of recovery rates, and global economic conditions. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date of this release. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law or the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. Readers are encouraged to review the Companys complete public disclosure record on SEDAR 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) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / Northern Superior Resources (" Northern Superior " or the " Company ") (TSXV:SUP)(OCTQB:NSUPF) is pleased to announce results from the diamond drill program on its 100% owned and extensive (30 km x 15 km) Croteau Property. Highlights Include: (Grades uncapped; lengths measured along hole, see Table 1) DDH CRO-22-150 intersected multiple mineralized zones, including 10.94 g/t Au over 7.00 metres starting at 272.10 metres including 16.15 g/t Au over 4.6 metres and 1.66 g/t Au over 21.55 metres starting at 224.0 metres, including 3.20 g/t Au over 2.0 metres and 4.87 g/t Au over 4.65 metres, 1.26 g/t Au over 7.15 metres, starting at 315.85 metres (including 2.70 g/t Au over 2.0 metres and 0.53 g/t Au over 11.5 metres, starting at 330.0 metres; DDH CRO-22-127ext, intersected multiple mineralized zones, including 1.33 g/t Au over 16.80 metres starting at 375.20 metres including 3.25 g/t Au over 3.5 metres, and 1.29 g/t Au over 9.40 m, starting at 285.00 metres, including 5.16 g/t Au over 2.00 m (approximately 250m east of CRO-22-150 and 128); DDH CRO-22-128 returned 1.32 g/t Au over 12.50 metres starting at 237.25 metres including 6.58 g/t Au over 1.00 metre (on strike of CRO-22-150 and 127Ext); DDH CRO-22-147 returned 1.31 g/t Au over 13.30 metres starting at 220.00 metres, including 3.56 g/t Au over 2.90 metres; Numerous gold values in step-out drilling of the mineralization discovered in 2022 in CRO-22-120 (1.06 g/t Au over 26.30 metres; see press release dated July 19, 2022 ), highlighted by hole CRO-22-137, which intersected 12.82 g/t Au over 1.9 metres starting at 63.10 metres, including 40.30 g/t Au over 0.60 metres; DDH CRO-22-135, drilled between the Z120 Zone and the historic Croteau-Est Showing, intersected 5.13 g/t Au over 3.05 metres starting at 254.30 metres; DDH CRO-22-151 returned 1.65 g/t Au over 5.00 m, starting at 285.00 metres; and DDH CRO-22-152 returned 2.03 g/t Au over 6.50 m starting at 244.80 metres. This program was designed to test: The discovery area associated with the Croteau North Shear Zone: hole CRO22-120, intersecting 1.06 g/t Au over 26 metres, including 4.98 g/t Au over 3.0 metres, known as Z120, located north and parallel to the Croteau-Bouchard Shear Zone (" CBSZ "). The CBSZ hosts an inferred gold resource of 640,000 ounces 1 (se e press release dated July 19, 2022 ). "). The CBSZ hosts an inferred gold resource of 640,000 ounces (se ). Targets within the North Basalt Domain (" NBD ") consisting of extensive carbonate-sericite alteration in surface trench exposures and RC bedrock chips supplemented by gold grains in till anomalies from a rigorous Reverse circulation (RC) drill program completed in late 2021 and early in 2022 ( see Northern Superior press release January 11, 2022). Simon Marcotte, President & Chief Executive Officer of Northern Superior, commented: "The results presented today on our Croteau Property underscore the exceptional exploration opportunities inherent in this strategic land package. Not only this newly discovered near surface mineralization in two new areas is within one kilometer of the main zone, already hosting an inferred resource of 640,000 ounces of gold at 1.79 g/t Au, but the high-grade nature of the discovery has the potential to transform the project into a resource even more amenable to a combined single mining operation alongside the Company's Philibert project and other neighboring projects of the area. We eagerly anticipate building upon this success and expand on the potential of this property's gold resources." 1 Chalice Gold Mines Limited and Northern Superior Resources Inc. Technical Report on the Croteau Est Gold Project, Quebec, September 2015, Prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 by Optiro Pty Ltd ("Optiro") to Chalice Gold Mines Limited and Northern Superior Resources Inc. Table 1: 2022 Diamond Drill Hole Results Hole Number From To Width Au (g/t) CRO-22-121 102.30 106.15 3.85 0.23 CRO-22-122 No Significant Values CRO-22-123 129.00 131.00 2.00 0.25 CRO-22-124 44.30 49.00 4.70 0.22 125.10 135.75 10.65 0.21 CRO-22-125 101.00 102.50 1.50 0.15 CRO-22-126 171.65 176.50 4.85 0.77 CRO-22-127 No Significant Values CRO-22-128 167.40 168.00 0.60 1.25 and 237.25 249.75 12.50 1.32 Including 240.00 241.00 1.00 6.58 and 246.25 247.00 0.75 10.55 CRO-22-129 88.00 94.45 6.45 0.74 and 173.00 174.00 1.00 2.21 CRO-22-130 47.00 48.00 1.00 1.02 and 107.00 110.70 3.70 0.55 including 110.20 110.70 0.50 2.67 and 232.05 236.00 3.95 0.93 CRO-22-127ext 285.00 294.40 9.40 1.29 including 285.00 287.00 2.00 5.16 and 303.85 310.00 6.15 0.73 and 375.20 392.00 16.80 1.33 including 376.50 380.00 3.50 3.25 CRO-22-131 22.00 23.00 1.00 2.55 and 224.00 226.00 2.00 4.37 CRO-22-132 247.00 248.00 1.00 1.38 CRO-22-133 310.00 319.00 9.00 0.62 and 357.00 365.00 8.00 0.62 and 374.85 378.00 2.00 0.90 CRO-22-134 167.30 167.70 0.40 0.15 CRO-22-135 254.30 257.35 3.05 5.13 and 292.00 292.50 0.50 1.17 CRO-22-136 29.80 30.50 0.70 0.37 and 111.50 112.00 0.50 0.42 CRO-22-137 63.10 65.0 1.9 12.82 including 63.10 63.70 0.60 40.30 and 88.45 90.75 2.30 0.54 and 98.00 99.00 1.00 0.60 CRO-22-138 166.70 187.00 20.30 0.31 CRO-22-139 128.30 144.00 15.70 0.33 CRO-22-140 28.50 29.40 0.90 0.61 and 80.00 81.00 1.00 0.40 and 108.20 114.10 5.90 0.26 and 134.40 135.00 0.60 1.81 CRO-22-141 182.00 196.80 14.80 0.67 Incl. 193.80 196.00 2.20 2.19 CRO--22-142 171.70 174.00 2.30 0.13 CRO-22-143 44.00 44.60 0.60 1.28 and 171.15 172.30 1.15 1.06 CRO-22-144 162.00 163.00 1.00 0.44 and 205.00 207.00 2.00 0.16 CRO22-145 143.15 145.00 1.85 0.21 CRO22-146 121.00 123.45 2.45 1.00 CRO22-147 220.00 233.30 13.30 1.31 including 228.00 230.90 2.90 3.56 CRO22-148 204.00 209.00 5.00 0.59 and 217.00 220.00 3.00 1.04 CRO22-149 102.00 103.00 1.00 1.87 and 119.50 121.00 1.50 5.61 CRO22-150 224.00 245.55 21.55 1.66 including 228.00 230.00 2.00 3.20 and including 238.75 243.40 4.65 4.87 and 272.10 279.10 7.00 10.94 including 274.40 279.10 4.60 16.15 CRO-22-150 289.00 290.00 1.00 9.05 and 315.85 323.00 7.15 1.26 including 319.00 321.00 2.00 2.70 and 330.00 341.50 11.50 0.53 CRO22-151 285.00 290.00 5.00 1.65 and 333.15 334.00 0.85 3.21 and 362.50 372.00 9.50 0.46 and 447.50 449.50 2.00 1.12 CRO22-152 238.80 239.50 0.70 1.95 and 244.80 251.30 6.50 2.03 including 248.70 251.30 2.6 4.70 and 354.00 355.00 1.00 1.02 CRO-22-153 40.00 49.00 9.00 0.26 and 67.45 72.00 4.55 1.08 CRO22-154 34.50 35.60 1.10 0.16 CRO-22-155 209.10 217.90 8.80 0.63 including 216.30 217.90 1.60 2.31 CRO-22-155 263.60 265.30 1.70 2.32 Geology in the NBD consists of a sequence of mafic flows intruded by subvolcanic gabbro sills, belonging to the Neoarchean aged Bruneau Formation. Aeromagnetic data suggest this sequence is complexly folded in the target area. Mineralization consists of disseminated and fracture filling pyrite and quartz-pyrite veins surrounded by siliceous alteration, within wide (>100 metres) zones of strong carbonate-sericite+/-fuchsite alteration. Higher grades are often associated with higher pyrite concentrations (up to 20%) within hyaloclastite zones in contact with gabbro units. The gabbro units in these altered areas are commonly strongly altered by fuchsite. Significant gold intersections have now been found along a total strike length of 1.5 km, within the North Basalt Domain and the Croteau North Shear Zone ( see Figures 1 and 2 below ). Figure 1: Geology of the Croteau-Est Property and location of drill holes CRO-22-149 and CRO-22-150 Figure 2: Recent diamond drilling and results in the North Basalt Domain/Croteau North Shear Zone area. Geology projected to surface; assays filtered >0.1g/t Au. DDH CRO-22-128 returned 1.32 g/t Au over 12.50 metres and hole CRO-22-127 was extended to test for the possible strike extension of this mineralization and intersected wide zones of carbonate-sericite-fuchsite-pyrite +/- silica-albite alteration, returning 1.29 g/t Au over 9.40 metres, 0.73g/t Au over 6.15 metres and 1.33 g/t Au over 16.80 metres. This mineralization remains open at depth to the east for at least 400 m. Hole CRO-22-150 was drilled approximately 100 metres down dip of hole CRO-22-128. The hole encountered the same sequence of pillowed mafic volcanics and massive gabbros, affected by wide zones of strong sericite-carbonate-pyrite alteration, with local fuchsite and sections of strong albite-silica alteration, accompanied by quartz-pyrite veins interpreted to be hosted in hyaloclastite zones, in contact with gabbro ( see Figure 3 and 4 below ). Results include 1.66 g/t Au over 21.55 metres (including 3.20 g/t over 2.00 metres and 4.87 g/t Au over 4.65 metres) and 10.94 g/t Au over 7.00 metres (including 16.15 g/t Au over 4.60 metres), 9.05 g/t Au over 1.0 metre, 1.26 g/t Au over 7.15 metres (including 2.70 g/t Au over 2 metres) and 0.53 g/t Au over 11.5 metres. Hole CRO-22-151 was drilled 100 metres down dip of CRO-22-127ext, and hole CRO-22-152 was drilled to test mineralization along strike between CRO-22-128 and CRO-22-127ext. These holes both cut the basalt/gabbro sequence and wide zones of strong sericite-carbonate-pyrite +/- silica and fuchsite alteration. Several anomalous gold values were intersected including 1.65 g/t Au over 5.00 metres in CRO-22-151 and 2.03 g/t Au over 6.50 metres in CRO-22-152. Mineralization in this western area has now been found along a strike length of approximately 450 metres and is open along strike in both directions and at depth. The results obtained to date in the NBD suggest that a large gold-bearing hydrothermal system is present, at least 1,400 metres long and 300 metres wide. Drilling has been largely exploratory, with holes approximately 100 metres apart, except for the Z120 area. Most of the NBD remains to be drill tested. The Company is currently evaluating the next phase(s) of exploration for this area. Holes CRO-22-131 and 132 tested the east and west extents of the historic Croteau-Est Showing, which does not appear to have been previously drilled. Channel sampling at this showing by Northern Superior in 2012 returned gold values up to 4.83 g/t Au over 0.70 metres. The showing occurs on the north side of an area of low magnetic intensity, found to be coincident with carbonate-sericite alteration and quartz veining, which returned 4.37 g/t Au over 2.00 metres in hole CRO-22-131 . Based on the geology and alteration present in these holes, CRO-22-135 was drilled directly beneath the Croteau-Est Showing and returned 5.13 g/t Au over 3.05 metres, within similarly altered material. Holes CRO-22-137 through 148 tested the Z120 zone, found in holes CRO-22-120 (1.06 g/t Au over 26.30 metres, including 4.98 g/t Au over 3.00 metres) and CRO-22-114 (0.40 g/t Au over 19.25 metres) ( see press release dated July 19, 2022 ). This work has successfully extended mineralization approximately 400 metres along strike to the east. Unfortunately, wet ground conditions prevented testing the zone to the west. The zone is interpreted to dip moderately to the south and appears to cross-cut local stratigraphy. Highlights of the drilling in this area include 12.82 g/t Au over 1.9 metres including 40.30 g/t Au over 0.60 metres in hole CRO-22-137, 0.67 g/t Au over 16.80 metres in CRO-22-141 and 1.31 g/t Au over 13.30 metres in CRO-22-147 ( see Figure 5 ). This zone remains open along strike and at depth. CRO-22-149 was designed to test a grassroots target, where feldspar porphyry dykes intersect the interpreted Gwillim Fault. The hole encountered mafic volcanics intruded by feldspar porphyry dykes and sericite-carbonate alteration zones, which returned 1.87 g/t Au over 1.00 metre and 5.61 g/t Au over 1.50 metre. Figure 3: Cross Section A-B through CRO-22-128/CRO-22-150 drill fence. Looking West. Figure 4: CRO-22-150, interval from 272.1 to 279.1, grading 10.94 g/t Au over 7.00 m. Figure 5: Section C-D through the Z120 area, looking west. Note the moderate, southerly dip of interpreted alteration/mineralization cross-cutting stratigraphy. Table 2: Diamond Drill Hole Collar Details Hole Number Easting Northing Azimuth Dip Depth (m) CRO-22-121 531135 5536092 315 -45 243 CRO-22-122 531137 5536092 270 -45 174 CRO-22-123 531136 5536127 360 -45 183 CRO-22-124 531191 5536098 360 -45 192 CRO-22-125 530822 5536253 166 -45 234 CRO-22-126 531134 5536309 360 -45 216 CRO-22-127 530444 5536223 348 -45 462 CRO-22-128 530178 5536223 360 -45 312 CRO-22-129 530002 5536323 360 -45 276 CRO-22-130 530180 5536335 360 -45 303 CRO-22-127ext 530444 5536223 360 -45 462 CRO-22-131 530733 5536724 180 -45 291 CRO-22-132 530938 5536490 360 -45 312 CRO-22-133 530820 5536265 360 -45 414 CRO-22-134 530820 5536365 360 -65 251 CRO-22-135 530825 5536382 360 -45 426 CRO-22-136 531164 5536463 180 -45 149.5 CRO-22-137 531188 5536102 360 -65 250 CRO-22-138 531250 5536003 360 -60 305.5 CRO-22-139 531247 5536102 360 -45 225 CRO-22-140 531310 5536112 360 -45 225 CRO-22-141 531310 5536000 360 -60 271 CRO22-142 531310 5536050 360 -53 255 CRO22-143 531360 5536048 360 -45 249 CRO22-144 531360 5536048 360 -65 399 CRO22-145 531427 5536090 360 -45 222 CRO22-146 531427 5536090 360 -65 225 CRO22-147 531310 5536000 360 -75 318 CRO22-148 531250 5536000 360 -70 327 CRO22-149 542929 5535188 360 -45 400 CRO22-150X 542872 5535441 345 -45 68 CRO22-150 530178 5536223 360 -65 609 CRO22-151 530444 5536223 360 -65 570 CRO22-152 530275 5536225 360 -45 420 CRO22-153 530183 5536502 360 -45 303 CRO22-154 530184 5536702 360 -45 429 CRO22-155 530003 5536228 360 -45 351 Sampling and Laboratory True widths of the intercepts reported in this press release have yet to be determined but are estimated to be 50% to 70% of reported core lengths. All NQ-size split core assays reported for 2022 were obtained by fire assay with atomic absorption finish and samples returning values over 3 ppm Au are re-analyzed, utilizing standard Fire Assay-Gravimetric methods. Samples were shipped to ALS Laboratories (sample preparation done in Sudbury, ON and/or Val-d'Or, Quebec and analysis done in Vancouver, BC.), AGAT Laboratories (sample preparation done in Val-d'Or, Quebec and sample analysis done in Mississauga, ON) and SGS Laboratories (sample preparation done in Val-d'Or, Quebec and sample analysis done in Vancouver, BC). The quality assurance and quality control protocol include insertion of blank or standard every 20 samples on average, in addition to the regular insertion of blank, duplicate, and standard samples inserted by the laboratories during the analytical process. Qualified Persons Michel Leblanc (P.Geo) is the Qualified Person within the meaning of NI 43-101. Mr. Leblanc has reviewed and approved the information disclosed in this press release. About Northern Superior Resources Inc. Northern Superior is a gold exploration company focused on the Chibougamau Camp in Quebec, Canada. The Company has consolidated the largest land package in the region, with total land holdings currently exceeding 62,000 hectares. The main properties include Philibert, Lac Surprise, Chevrier and Croteau. Northern Superior also owns significant exploration assets in Northern Ontario highlighted by the district scale TPK Project. The Philibert Project is located 9 km from IAMGOLD Corporation's Nelligan Gold project which was awarded the " Discovery of the Year " by the Quebec Mineral Exploration Association (AEMQ) in 2019. Philibert host a new maiden 43-101 inferred resource of 1,708,800 ounces Au and an indicated resource of 278,900 ounces of Au1 . Northern Superior holds a majority stake of 75% in the Philibert Project, with the remaining 25% owned by SOQUEM, and retains an option to acquire the full 100% ownership of the project. Chevrier hosts an inferred mineral resource of 652,000 ounces Au (underground and open pit) and an indicated mineral resource of 260,000 ounces Au.2 Croteau hosts an inferred mineral resource of 640,000 ounces Au.3 Lac Surprise hosts the Falcon Zone Discovery, interpreted to be the western strike extension of IAMGOLD Corporation's Nelligan Deposit. Northern Superior is a reporting issuer in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, and trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol SUP and the OTCQB Venture Market under the symbol NSUPF. For further information, please refer to the Company's website at www.nsuperior.com or on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca). 1 Northern Superior announces 1,708,809 gold ounces in inferred category and 278,921 gold ounces in indicated category at 1.10 g/t in maiden NI 43-101 pit constrained resource estimate at Philibert; Northern Superior Resources Inc. press release dated August 08, 2023. 2 NI 43-101 Technical Report Mineral Resource Estimation for the Chevrier Main Deposit, Chevrier Project Chibougamau, Quebec, Canada, October 20, 2021, Prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 by Lions Gate Geological Consulting Inc. IOS Services Geoscientifiques Inc. for Northern Superior Resources Inc. 3 Chalice Gold Mines Limited and Northern Superior Resources Inc. Technical Report on the Croteau Est Gold Project, Quebec, September 2015, Prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 by Optiro Pty Ltd ("Optiro") to Chalice Gold Mines Limited and Northern Superior Resources Inc. Northern Superior Resources Inc. on Behalf of the Board of Directors Simon Marcotte, CFA, President and Chief Executive Officer Contact Information Simon Marcotte, CFA President and Chief Executive Office Tel: (647) 801-7273 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This Press Release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made. When used in this document, the words "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and are subject to such risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause our actual results to differ materially from the statements made, including those factors discussed in filings made by us with the applicable securities regulatory authorities. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties, such actual results of current exploration programs, the general risks associated with the mining industry, the price of gold and other metals, currency and interest rate fluctuations, increased competition and general economic and market factors, occur or should assumptions underlying the forward looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, or expected. We do not intend and do not assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Shareholders are cautioned not to put undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. According to federal prosecutors, four California members of the Hells Angeles motorcycle club may have been clandestinely cremated at a funeral home after they were murdered by other members of the group. From SFGate: The claims revolve primarily around the Sonoma and Fresno chapters of the Hells Angels. Prosecutors say that in 2014, three Hells Angels living in Santa Rosa and Tulare believed fellow member Joel Silva was "creating problems" for the Sonoma County chapter and that "he had to be killed." They arranged for Silva to visit the Fresno Hells Angels clubhouse where he was shot in the head, prosecutors say. His body has never been found. As part of the investigation into Silva's death and subsequent cover-up, federal investigators came to believe that Fresno Hells Angel Merl Frederick Hefferman, 54, was involved in arranging a secret cremation. Levi Phipps, a manager at the Yost and Webb funeral home in Fresno, testified that in the leadup to Silva's death, Hefferman asked for keys to the funeral home and spoke of a "fascination with the crematory" and a desire to make "something disappear." Prosecutors wrote, "Common sense dictates that the only reason Hefferman wanted that access was to make bodies disappear without a trace."[] VANCOUVER, BC, Oct. 16, 2023 /CNW/ - Silvercorp Metals Inc. ("Silvercorp" or the "Company") (TSX: SVM) (NYSE American: SVM) reports production and sales figures for the second quarter of fiscal year 2024 ended September 30, 2023 ("Q2 Fiscal 2024"). The Company expects to release its Q2 Fiscal 2024 unaudited financial results on Thursday, November 9, 2023 after market close. Q2 Fiscal 2024 Operational Results Gold production of 2,458 ounces, an increase of 105% over Q2 Fiscal 2023; Silver equivalent (only silver and gold) 1 production of approximately 1.8 million ounces; and production of approximately 1.8 million ounces; and Lead and zinc production of approximately 16.1 million pounds and 4.6 million pounds, an 11% and 23% decrease over Q2 Fiscal 2023, respectively. Second Quarter Fiscal 2024 Second Quarter Fiscal 2023 Ying Mining District GC Consolidated Ying Mining District GC Consolidated Production Data Ore Mined (tonnes) 220,636 52,829 273,465 215,927 75,054 290,981 Ore Milled (tonnes) 212,868 48,239 261,107 216,262 75,381 291,643 Head Grades Silver (gram/tonne) 235 66 257 72 Lead (%) 3.5 1.1 3.7 1.2 Zinc (%) 0.7 2.5 0.7 2.7 Recovery Rates Gold% 91.1 - - - Silver (%) 95.0 82.7 95.5 81.0 Lead (%) 95.0 90.2 94.1 88.5 Zinc (%) 71.1 89.8 62.5 89.6 Metal production Gold (ounces) 2,458 - 2,458 1,200 - 1,200 Silver (in thousands of ounces) 1,506 84 1,590 1,657 141 1,798 Silver equivalent (in thousands of ounces) 1,731 84 1,815 1,757 141 1,898 Lead (in thousands of pounds) 15,018 1,047 16,065 16,201 1,782 17,983 Zinc (in thousands of pounds) 2,197 2,404 4,601 1,976 4,010 5,986 Metals sold Gold (ounces) 2,515 - 2,515 1,200 - 1,200 Silver (in thousands of ounces) 1,498 80 1,578 1,649 140 1,789 Lead (in thousands of pounds) 14,275 900 15,175 15,587 1,681 17,268 Zinc (in thousands of pounds) 2,163 2,415 4,578 1,882 4,058 5,940 At the Ying Mining District, 220,636 tonnes of ore were mined, up 2% over Q2 Fiscal 2023, and 212,868 tonnes of ore were milled, down 2% over Q2 Fiscal 2023. Approximately 1.5 million ounces of silver, 2,458 ounces of gold (or 1.7 million ounces of silver equivalent), 15.0 million pounds of lead, and 2.2 million pounds of zinc were produced, representing increases of 105% and 11%, respectively in gold and zinc, relatively the same in silver equivalent, and decreases of 9% and 7%, respectively, in silver and lead over Q2 Fiscal 2023. The decrease in silver and lead production was mainly due to lower head grades achieved due to mining sequences and 12,800 tonnes of gold ores were mined and processed with grades of 1.9 grams per tonne ("g/t") gold, 82 g/t silver, 0.8% lead, and 0.3% zinc to produce gravity gold concentrates, silver-gold-lead (copper) concentrate, and zinc concentrate in Q2 Fiscal 2024. The gold recovery rate for gold ores processed was 91.1%. As a result of processing gold gravity concentrate, the Company has poured its first gold and produced and sold 649 ounces of gold dore in the current quarter. At the GC Mine, 52,829 tonnes of ore were mined, down 30% over Q2 Fiscal 2023, and 48,239 tonnes of ore were milled, down 36% over Q2 Fiscal 2023. Approximately 84 thousand ounces of silver, 1.0 million pounds of lead, and 2.4 million pounds of zinc were produced, representing decreases of 40%, 41% and 40%, respectively, in silver, lead and zinc, over Q2 Fiscal 2023. The decrease was mainly due to a production disruption of five weeks due to a series of improvement measures and a district-wide cessation of industrial activity associated with improvements made to the provincial power grid at the GC Mine in Q2 Fiscal 2024 (refer to the Company's September 5, 2023 news release). Six Months Ended September 30, 2023 and 2022 Consolidated Operational Results Six months ended September 30, 2023 Six months ended September 30, 2022 Ying Mining District GC Consolidated Ying Mining District GC Consolidated Production Data Ore Mined (tonnes) 434,384 142,301 576,685 429,965 161,120 591,085 Ore Milled (tonnes) 421,677 134,525 556,202 428,317 161,502 589,819 Head Grades Silver (gram/tonne) 244 75 262 72 Lead (%) 3.5 1.3 3.8 1.3 Zinc (%) 0.7 2.7 0.7 2.8 Recovery Rates Gold% 91.7 - - - Silver (%) 95.0 82.7 95.6 82.3 Lead (%) 95.3 90.6 94.8 89.3 Zinc (%) 70.3 90.2 60.3 90.0 Metal production Gold (ounces) 4,010 - 4,010 2,300 - 2,300 Silver (in thousands of ounces) 3,103 267 3,370 3,353 305 3,658 Silver equivalent (in thousands of ounces) 3,458 267 3,725 3,548 305 3,853 Lead (in thousands of pounds) 30,400 3,481 33,881 32,919 4,152 37,071 Zinc (in thousands of pounds) 4,310 7,112 11,422 3,904 9,008 12,912 Metals sold Gold (ounces) 4,010 - 4,010 2,300 - 2,300 Silver (in thousands of ounces) 3,129 264 3,393 3,408 296 3,704 Lead (in thousands of pounds) 29,277 3,228 32,505 32,347 4,046 36,393 Zinc (in thousands of pounds) 4,295 7,203 11,498 3,917 8,951 12,868 About Silvercorp Silvercorp is a Canadian mining company producing silver, gold, lead, and zinc with a long history of profitability and growth potential. The Company's strategy is to create shareholder value by 1) focusing on generating free cashflow from long life mines; 2) organic growth through extensive drilling for discovery; 3) ongoing merger and acquisition efforts to unlock value; and 4) long term commitment to responsible mining and ESG. For more information, please visit our website at www.silvercorpmetals.com. For further information Silvercorp Metals Inc. Lon Shaver President Phone: (604) 669-9397 Toll Free 1(888) 224-1881 Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Website: www.silvercorpmetals.com CAUTIONARY DISCLAIMER - FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS Certain of the statements and information in this news release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian and US securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). Any statements or information that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects", "is expected", "anticipates", "believes", "plans", "projects", "estimates", "assumes", "intends", "strategies", "targets", "goals", "forecasts", "objectives", "budgets", "schedules", "potential" or variations thereof or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of these terms and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements relate to, among other things: the price of silver and other metals; the accuracy of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates at the Company's material properties; the sufficiency of the Company's capital to finance the Company's operations; estimates of the Company's revenues and capital expenditures; estimated production from the Company's mines in the Ying Mining District and the GC Mine; timing of receipt of permits and regulatory approvals; availability of funds from production to finance the Company's operations; and access to and availability of funding for future construction, use of proceeds from any financing and development of the Company's properties. Actual results may vary from forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, risks relating to: global economic and social impact of COVID-19; fluctuating commodity prices; calculation of resources, reserves and mineralization and precious and base metal recovery; interpretations and assumptions of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates; exploration and development programs; feasibility and engineering reports; permits and licences; title to properties; property interests; joint venture partners; acquisition of commercially mineable mineral rights; financing; recent market events and conditions; economic factors affecting the Company; timing, estimated amount, capital and operating expenditures and economic returns of future production; integration of future acquisitions into the Company's existing operations; competition; operations and political conditions; regulatory environment in China and Canada; environmental risks; foreign exchange rate fluctuations; insurance; risks and hazards of mining operations; key personnel; conflicts of interest; dependence on management; internal control over financial reporting; and bringing actions and enforcing judgments under U.S. securities laws. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements about the future and are inherently uncertain, and actual achievements of the Company or other future events or conditions may differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors, including, without limitation, those referred to in the Company's Annual Information Form under the heading "Risk Factors" and in the Company's Annual Report on Form 40-F, and in the Company's other filings with Canadian and U.S. securities regulators. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, described or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company's forward-looking statements are based on the assumptions, beliefs, expectations and opinions of management as of the date of this news release, and other than as required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's assumptions, beliefs, expectations or opinions should change, or changes in any other events affecting such statements. Assumptions may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Consequently, guidance cannot be guaranteed. For the reasons set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional information related to the Company, including Silvercorp's Annual Information Form, can be obtained under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca, on EDGAR at www.sec.gov, and on the Company's website at www.silvercorpmetals.com. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / Gold Terra Resource Corp. (TSX-V:YGT)(Frankfurt:TX0)(OTCQX:YGTFF) ("Gold Terra" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that drill hole GTCM23-055 has intersected the upper portion of the high-grade gold-bearing Campbell Shear at a downhole depth of 2,080 metres from surface to test for gold mineralization below the Con Mine underground workings, on the Con Mine Option (CMO) Property. Drilling continues through the Campbell Shear which is typically 150 metres in width with mineralized zones generally 3-20 metres wide within the shear. The CMO Property is under option from subsidiaries of Newmont Corporation and is acquirable by the Company upon fulfillment of certain conditions set out in the CMO Property agreement, as reported in the Company's news release dated November 22, 2021. Chairman and CEO, Gerald Panneton, commented, "A long awaited moment for all Gold Terra shareholders to intersect the beginning of the prolific Campbell Shear below the former Con Mine underground workings and approximately 250 metres away from existing infrastructure and the Robertson shaft. The presence of alteration and veining in the core at the start of the Campbell Shear intersection in hole GTCM23-055 confirms the potential to delineate additional ounces beneath the former Con Mine. Once this hole is completed some 50-100 metres past the Campbell shear, additional wedge holes will allow us to further evaluate the Campbell Shear structure." Hole GTCM23-055 hole, shown in Figure 1, is targeted to intersect the down plunge extension of the prolific Campbell Shear zone at depth below the Con Mine deposit (1938-2003), where 5.1 million ounces of gold was produced at an average grade of 16 g/t. Drill core from hole GTCM23-055 shows classic narrow calcite-dominant veining within chloritic alteration and the introduction of quartz-ankerite veining which usually marks the beginning of the structure in core. Figure 2 shows the veining in a core photo. Figure 1 - Hole GTCM23-055 intersecting the start of the Campbell Shear at 2,080 metres. Figure 2 - Photo of core from Hole GTCM23-055 showing veining and alteration. Future Updates To hear about drilling updates and the Company's future drilling plans, please join us on Tuesday, November 7 @ 11:20 AM at the Red Cloud Fall Mining Showcase, Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel, 123 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON M5H 2M9. The focus of the 2023 drilling program is to expand the September 2022 initial Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") (see September 7, 2022, press release) of 109,000 Indicated ounces of contained gold and 432,000 Inferred ounces of contained gold between surface and to a depth of 400 metres below surface along a 2-kilometre corridor of the Campbell Shear. Refer to the October 21, 2022 technical report, titled "Initial Mineral Resource Estimate for the CMO Property, Yellowknife City Gold Project, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada" with an effective date of September 2, 2022, by Qualified Person, Allan Armitage, Ph. D., P. Geo., SGS Geological Services, which can be found on the Company's website at https://www.goldterracorp.com and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Qualified Persons Joe Campbell, P. Geo., Senior Technical Advisor for Gold Terra is a Qualified Person within the meaning of NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release. About Gold Terra The Yellowknife Project (YP) encompasses 918 sq. km of contiguous land immediately north, south and east of the City of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories. Through a series of acquisitions, Gold Terra controls one of the six major high-grade gold camps in Canada. Being within 10 kilometres of the City of Yellowknife, the YP is close to vital infrastructure, including all-season roads, air transportation, service providers, hydro-electric power, and skilled tradespeople. Gold Terra is currently focusing its drilling on the prolific Campbell Shear, where 14 Moz of gold has been produced, and most recently on the Con Mine Option (CMO) property claims immediately south of the past producing Con Mine which produced 6.1 Moz between the Con, Rycon, and Campbell shear structures (1938-2003). The YP and CMO properties lie on the prolific Yellowknife greenstone belt, covering nearly 70 kilometres of strike length along the main mineralized shear system that hosts the former-producing high-grade Con and Giant gold mines. The Company's exploration programs have successfully identified significant zones of gold mineralization and multiple targets that remain to be tested which reinforces the Company's objective of re-establishing Yellowknife as one of the premier gold mining districts in Canada. Visit our website at www.goldterracorp.com. For more information, please contact: Gerald Panneton, Chairman & CEO This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Mara Strazdins, Investor Relations Phone: 1-778-897-1590 | 604-689-1749 ext 102 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Information Concerning Estimates of Mineral Resources Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Therefore, investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an Inferred Mineral Resource could ever be mined economically. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of "Measured Mineral Resources," "Indicated Mineral Resources," or "Inferred Mineral Resources" will ever be upgraded to a higher category. The Mineral Resource estimates contained herein may be subject to legal, political, environmental or other risks that could materially affect the potential development of such mineral resources. Refer to the Technical Report, once filed, for more information with respect to the key assumptions, parameters, methods and risks of determination associated with the foregoing. Cautionary Note to United States Investors The Company prepares its disclosure in accordance with the requirements of securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of U.S. securities laws. Terms relating to Mineral Resources in this news release are defined in accordance with NI 43-101 under the guidelines set out in CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, adopted by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum Council on May 19, 2014, as amended ("CIM Standards"). The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") has adopted amendments effective February 25, 2019 (the "SEC Modernization Rules") to its disclosure rules to modernize the mineral property disclosure requirements for issuers whose securities are registered with the SEC under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934. As a result of the adoption of the SEC Modernization Rules, the SEC will now recognize estimates of "Measured Mineral Resources", "Indicated Mineral Resources" and "Inferred Mineral Resources", which are defined in substantially similar terms to the corresponding CIM Standards. In addition, the SEC has amended its definitions of "Proven Mineral Reserves" and "Probable Mineral Reserves" to be substantially similar to the corresponding CIM Standards. U.S. investors are cautioned that while the foregoing terms are "substantially similar" to corresponding definitions under the CIM Standards, there are differences in the definitions under the SEC Modernization Rules and the CIM Standards. Accordingly, there is no assurance any Mineral Resources that the Company may report as "Measured Mineral Resources", "Indicated Mineral Resources" and "Inferred Mineral Resources" under NI 43-101 would be the same had the Company prepared the Mineral Resource estimates under the standards adopted under the SEC Modernization Rules. In accordance with Canadian securities laws, estimates of "Inferred Mineral Resources" cannot form the basis of feasibility or other economic studies, except in limited circumstances where permitted under NI 43-101. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information Certain statements made and information contained in this news release constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation ("forward-looking information"). Generally, this forward-looking information can, but not always, be identified by use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events, conditions or results "will", "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative connotations thereof. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is necessarily based on estimates and assumptions that are inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking information regarding the current drilling on the Campbell Shear, potentially adding ounces to the Company's current YCG mineral resource, and the Company's objective of re-establishing Yellowknife as one of the premier gold mining districts in Canada. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as the Company's actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in this forward-looking information as a result of the factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section in the Company's most recent MD&A and annual information form available under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that would cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on information available to the Company as of the date of this news release. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. All of the forward-looking information contained in this news release is qualified by these cautionary statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information due to the inherent uncertainty thereof. Except as required under applicable securities legislation and regulations applicable to the Company, the Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update this forward-looking information. Israel pressed on Sunday with preparations for a ground offensive in Gaza, after giving Palestinians a little more time to flee northern areas it has vowed to target in response to the deadliest attack in its history. Hamas fighters gunned down, stabbed and burned to death more than 1,300 people in the attack that Israel has compared to 9/11 in the United States, sparking a massive retaliatory bombing campaign targeting the Islamist group that has killed over 2,200 in Gaza. Israel has warned around 1.1 million Gazans living in the north of the Palestinian territory to flee to the south ahead of a ground incursion which the military has indicated will focus on Gaza City, the base of the leadership of the Hamas militant group. The military said Gaza City residents must not delay their departure but a spokesperson said late Saturday they still had time to leave ahead of the ground offensive. Since Friday thousands of Gazans, who cannot leave the enclave as it is blockaded by both Israel and Egypt, have packed what belongings they can into bags and suitcases, to trudge through the rubble-strewn streets. A stream of cars, trucks, three-wheeled vehicles and donkey-drawn carts joined the frantic mass movement south, all loaded with families and their belongings, mattresses, bedding and bags strapped onto the roofs of packed vehicles. - 'More is coming' - Israel pummelled northern Gaza with fresh air strikes on Saturday. AFP reporters near the southern Israeli city of Sderot saw troops fire at the densely populated enclave, sending huge plumes of black smoke into the sky. The Israeli military said Saturday the bodies of some of the dozens of hostages abducted by Hamas in its attacks had been found during operations inside Gaza. Hamas earlier reported 22 hostages had been killed in Israeli bombardments. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wearing a flak jacket, earlier visited troops on the border front line, raising expectations of an imminent invasion. "Are you ready for what is coming? More is coming," he was heard telling several soldiers on a video released by his office. To avert the risk of the war escalating into a regional conflict, the United States deployed a second aircraft carrier that would "deter hostile actions against Israel", Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said. - Humanitarian crisis - Alarm has grown over the fate of Palestinian civilians in blockaded and besieged Gaza -- one of the world's most densely populated areas, home to 2.4 million -- if it becomes the scene of intense urban combat and house-to-house fighting. Aid agencies have said forcing Gazans to move is impossible while the war rages. But with food, water, fuel and medical supplies running low because of an Israeli blockade, aid agencies are warning of a deepening humanitarian crisis. "The situation is catastrophic," said Jumaa Nasser, who travelled from Beit Lahia in northern Gaza with his wife, mother and seven children. "We've had no food or sleep. We don't know what to do. I've given my fate up to God," he told AFP. The World Health Organization said Saturday that forcing thousands of hospital patients to evacuate to already overflowing hospitals in the southern Gaza Strip could be "tantamount to a death sentence". Exiled Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh accused Israel on Saturday of committing "war crimes" in Gaza but he ruled out any "displacement" of Gazans, including to Egypt. Hamas is regularly accused by Israel of using civilians as human shields. On the diplomatic front, Chinese envoy Zhai Jun will visit the Middle East next week to push for a ceasefire and promote peace talks, state broadcaster CCTV reported Sunday. Saudi Arabia has also pressed for an "immediate ceasefire". Russia said it had asked the UN Security Council to vote on Monday on its ceasefire resolution. - Biden calls - In a call Saturday, US President Joe Biden told Netanyahu the United States was working with the United Nations, Egypt, Jordan and others in the region "to ensure innocent civilians have access to water, food, and medical care". Biden also spoke with Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas and pledged "full support" to the Palestinian Authority in its efforts to bring humanitarian assistance to Palestinians, "particularly in Gaza," according to the White House. Several people were reportedly killed in an Israeli bombardment while heading south on Saturday, according to Hamas officials and witnesses. AFP could not immediately confirm the report. International aid agencies, including the UN and Red Cross, plus several foreign diplomats are concerned about the feasibility of the evacuation plan. "We fear an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe," said Ivan Karakashian, of the Norwegian Refugee Council. More than 423,000 Palestinians have already left their homes, and 5,540 homes have been destroyed, according to the United Nations. - Air strikes - Israel, which has likened last week's attacks to those on September 11, 2001 in the United States, has fired thousands of missiles at northern Gaza. One air strike killed Ali Qadi, described as "a company commander of the Hamas 'Nukhba' commando force" involved in the unprecedented attack, the army said. "Localised" raids have also taken place, as Israeli troops encircle the Gaza Strip, said army spokesman Jonathan Conricus. "We will likely evolve into additional significant combat operations," he added. "When we do so, remember how this started... all of this is Hamas-made." But National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi admitted intelligence lapses that failed to spot the attack in advance. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, which it has likened to the Islamic State group. But it maintains that ordinary Palestinians are not their target. The Hamas attack and the war it sparked -- Gaza's fifth in 15 years -- have upended Middle Eastern politics, prompting fears that the violence will spread across the volatile region. Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh accused Israel of "genocide" in Gaza, while clashes in the occupied West Bank have killed 53 Palestinians in the past week. Angry protests condemning Israel and supporting the Palestinians in Gaza took place across the Arab world on Friday. Western capitals, including London and Washington, also saw pro-Palestinian marches. - Northern threat - Israel faces the threat of a separate confrontation on its northern border with Lebanon and artillery exchanges have taken place with the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in recent days. On Friday, a Reuters video journalist was killed and six other reporters, from AFP, Reuters and Al-Jazeera, were wounded in shelling that Lebanon blamed on Israeli forces. Two Lebanese civilians were killed in Israeli shelling of a southern village on Saturday, its mayor told AFP. Hezbollah said one of its fighters was killed by Israeli fire. Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari on Saturday night warned that the army "has very large forces in the north." "Whoever reaches the fence to infiltrate Israel, will die," he said in televised remarks. A potential Israeli ground invasion has also increased fears for the safety of the 150 hostages, including foreigners, that Israel said Hamas seized during its deadly rampage. Hamas has threatened to kill the hostages one by one for every unannounced Israeli air strike. Israel's army says it has contacted the families of 120 civilians being held so far. They called for medicines to be transferred to the captives as soon as possible. burs-phz/mtp/kma/mca Jewish New Yorkers grieving after Hamas' attack on Israeli civilians are split over the country's response, with some voices urging Israel to defend itself and others increasingly warning of Palestinian "genocide." New York's Jewish population is the largest outside Israel -- 1.6 million people whose diverse political views regarding the US ally and the Palestinian cause have come to the fore since Hamas' bloody assault and taking of hostages, and the deadly Israeli bombing campaign that followed. As Palestinians in northern Gaza attempt to flee an expected Israeli ground invasion, aid agencies are warning of a growing humanitarian crisis in the blockaded enclave that Israel has cut off from electricity, water and fuel supplies. Friday evening hundreds of New Yorkers gathered in Brooklyn in solidarity against Israel's offensive -- which has killed more than 2,200 Palestinians -- wielding a banner emblazoned with the message "Jews Say Stop Genocide Against Palestinians." Protestors called on the United States Congress to demand a ceasefire and cut off the billions in funding for Israel. The rally was sponsored by the left-wing organization Jewish Voice for Peace, and saw demonstrators march to the home of top US Senator Chuck Schumer. Schumer, who is Jewish, was preparing to lead a delegation of senators to Israel as a show of support. "There is only one way to end violence and that is to address the root causes of everything happening: 75 years of Israeli military occupation and apartheid, and end US complicity in this systemic oppression," said Jay Saper of JVP. - 'Special responsibility' - Some Jewish New Yorkers meanwhile have said the horror of the Hamas attacks, which left more than 1,300 Israelis dead, has bolstered their advocacy for Israel. Philip Wolf, 25, told AFP that he didn't grow up religious, but "having had family wiped out in the Holocaust, I know the critical importance of the continued flourishing Jewish state." "After the events of the last week, that connection feels even stronger." Prominent Jewish organizations including the American Jewish Committee and United Jewish Appeal backed pro-Israel demonstrations this week that drew crowds in the thousands, as well as staunch support from most local authorities, including New York state's Governor Kathy Hochul and the city's mayor, Eric Adams. Two days after the Hamas attack, Arthur Schneier, the longtime senior rabbi at Manhattan's Park East Synagogue, called the assault "the most existential threat to Israel since its founding in 1948," a message that echoed Israeli authorities. "As the American Jewish community," he said, "we have a special responsibility." New York Rabbi Melissa Buyer-Witman said, "I am confident the Americans will again unite and support Israel whether they are Jewish or not," speaking to AFP during a prayer service for the dead. "Continue to keep Israel in your faith, in your thoughts," she said at the event held at Temple Emanu-El, the first reform Jewish congregation in New York. - More weapons, more harm - Public opinion in the United States, and in particular American Jewish opinion, "has always had much more sympathy for Israel than the Palestinians," said Alex Kane, a senior writer at the progressive magazine Jewish Currents. But the past decade has seen an uptick in criticism of Israel, he said, including over the country's treatment of Palestinians and its government's sharp moves to the right. In 2021 a poll of Jewish voters by the Jewish Electorate Institute made waves when a quarter of respondents deemed that "Israel is an apartheid state." "That's a remarkable number -- that's a lot of American Jews," said Kane. "It's not the majority, but it is a minority that believes that Israel is committing the crime of apartheid" -- a conclusion human rights organizations including Amnesty International have also stated. Over the past week US leaders including President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have pledged unwavering support for Israel, publicly blessing the country's reprisals that have included a relentless bombing campaign of Gaza and a call for 1.1 million people, approximately half of the enclave's inhabitants, to immediately relocate south. In accord with humanitarian responders and rights observers, organizations including Jewish Voice for Peace have denounced those actions -- and the unequivocal backing from American leaders. "We recognize that for many, the call to unconditionally support Israel, including sending increased military funding, is coming from a place of deep grief, fear and anxiety," said Rabbi Alissa Wise, in a statement released by JVP. "But we know that more weapons will only bring more harm to everyone." For Kane, it's both possible and necessary to "say the attacks on Israeli civilians, and kidnapping of Israelis, is unconscionable -- and collectively punishing Gaza is unconscionable." Through grief "we have to think critically," he said, or risk fueling "hatred and very destructive, bloody actions that Israel is undertaking." "We have to be able to hold all these things at once." Six months after tensions between rival Sudanese generals ignited a devastating war, thousands lie dead, millions are displaced, and the once-thriving capital, Khartoum, is a shadow of its past glory. When the first bombs fell on April 15, the capital's residents looked on in terror as entire neighbourhoods were razed and essential services were paralysed, exacerbating their misery. Those who could escape the bloodshed and destruction rushed to the Red Sea coast about 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) to the east. Port Sudan, now home to Sudan's only functioning airport, became a sanctuary for fleeing civilians and a transit hub for foreigners leaving the northeast African country. Its rows of white colonial buildings were quickly filled with those who left Khartoum, including United Nations staff and government officials setting up makeshift offices. In late August, they were joined by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, whose fighters are pitted against those of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the conflict. Burhan, the de facto leader of Sudan since leading a 2021 coup, had spent over four months stuck inside the army headquarters in Khartoum, besieged by Daglo's men. But even though he has left Khartoum, there has been no let-up in fighting for the capital, as well as the western region of Darfur, where allegations of ethnically motivated attacks by the RSF have led to an international war crimes investigation. The United Nations' Human Rights Council voted Wednesday to set up an independent fact-finding mission to probe the accusations. - 'Life doesn't stop' - Despite the exodus, millions of people have had little choice but to stay in Khartoum, where their bullet-scarred homes are shaken by daily blasts. A constant plume of smoke now defines the capital's skyline, while businesses and warehouses lie abandoned, ransacked, and charred. Before the war, the capital's three districts -- Khartoum, Omdurman and Khartoum North -- were the centre of power, infrastructure and industry in the country of 48 million people. "The war has shown just how much Khartoum had monopolised everything, (and) that's why the banks, the companies and all government stopped working," said urban planner Tarek Ahmed. But economic analyst Omaima Khaled said that did not mean life had come to a halt. With no end to the war in sight, "there had to be somewhere else where people's affairs could be managed," she said, and the obvious choice was Port Sudan -- a safe and well-connected city. "It's first of all geographically far from the war," said Khaled, with fighting mainly taking place in the capital and the western region of Darfur. It also has a long history of being "Sudan's second largest commercial centre," she said, which could "very well make it an economic capital". But Port Sudan has one crucial flaw: "it's 3,000 kilometres from the country's western border and 2,500 kilometres from its south, in a country that severely lacks an efficient transport network," said the economist. Sudan's dilapidated road network is as highly centralised as the economy. Avoiding the war-torn capital requires massive circuitous routes around a country three times the size of France. But the problems do not stop there, according to Port Sudan resident Hend Saleh. "There's a shortage of drinking water and electricity," she told AFP, with the coastal town's already fragile infrastructure now catering to tens of thousands more. Port Sudan -- founded in 1905 by British rulers to replace the historic port of Suakin, 60 kilometres away -- "is newer than other Sudanese cities and has a better urban plan and a better service network," according to engineer Fathi Yassin. But it is burdened by the same shortfalls as the rest of Sudan, where decades of dilapidated infrastructure are adding to the immense impact of war. Sudan's rainy season, which begins in June, has wreaked havoc on vast swathes of the country, with hundreds dying of cholera and dengue fever while 70 percent of hospitals remain out of service, the United Nations has said. - War spreading south - Unlike other Sudanese cities that draw water from the Nile, Port Sudan relies almost entirely on increasingly unpredictable rainfall. Its residents have long demanded a connection to the river, which would require 500 kilometres of pipes -- an expense Sudan, already one of the poorest countries in the world before the war, has never been able to afford. Closer to the Nile, the city of Wad Madani -- 200 kilometres south of Khartoum -- has also emerged as a potential capital. Wad Madani, the capital Al Jazira state in the fertile heartland south of Khartoum, was the first destination for fleeing Khartoum families in the early weeks of the war. The state now hosts more than 366,000 displaced people, in a thin string of villages between Khartoum and Wad Madani, as well as the state capital itself. Interim governor Ismail Awadallah said the city also looked set to absorb more of the economy, with "17 large companies discussing their relocation and even expansion in Wad Madani". But Wad Madani's economic potential might remain unfulfilled, as the fighting in Khartoum encroaches south. Authorities on Wednesday announced paramilitaries had taken control of large areas of the Gezira agricultural scheme, only around 35 kilometres northwest of Wad Madani. Moscow said Sunday it had brought 34 children from refugee camps in Syria back to Russia, in its campaign to repatriate the offspring of Russian jihadis. An unknown number of children of Russian nationals who travelled to fight in Syria -- most from majority Muslim republics -- remain in refugee camps in Syria. Russia, which intervened in the Syrian civil war to help its ally Bashar al-Assad in 2015, has been returning the children over the years, in a process that has recently slowed. "We brought home 34 children from Syria," Moscow's children rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova said on social media. Lvova-Belova is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the alledged illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia. She denies the charges. Lvova-Belova said the children are aged from four to 16 years old and lived in refugee camps in the Euphrates region. She said they will be met by relatives "for a new stage of life" in Russia in ten different regions. It was "not easy" to ensure the mission to bring the children back to Russia went safely and there were "signs of the Middle-East conflict" in Syria, Lvova-Belova added. The official said Russia plans to bring back another 150 children from Syria. Lebanon's Hezbollah and Israel exchanged deadly cross-border fire Sunday, with the Iran-backed group claiming responsibility for strikes that Israel said killed a civilian. The exchanges -- and a rocket that hit a UN peacekeeping base -- further raised tensions on Israel's northern border, as it targets Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip to the south. The Israeli army closed the border area to civilians as tit-for-tat fire with Hezbollah and allied Palestinian factions in Lebanon intensified. More than 10 people have been killed in Lebanon and at least two in Israel since last Sunday. "The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) responded with fire and destroyed Hezbollah positions and the source of the fire," an army spokesman said. "In addition, there was fire at an Israeli military position. There were no casualties. The IDF responded with fire to the source of fire there too." A military spokesperson told AFP that, "we have a dead civilian and a number of people wounded in the attack" by an anti-tank missile in Shtula. "In accordance with the situational assessment and the recent shooting incident in northern Israel, the area up to four kilometres (2.5 miles) from the northern border with Lebanon has been closed," the army said in another statement. Hezbollah on Sunday morning said it had targeted an Israeli position in the Shtula area with guided missiles. In a separate statement, the group said one of its fighters had died Sunday. A spokesperson told AFP the fighter died after sustaining injuries in south Lebanon prior to Sunday, and that Israel was responsible. Hezbollah said the strikes were retaliation for separate "Israeli aggressions" that killed two civilians and struck journalists, killing a Reuters videographer and wounding others -- including two from AFP. Lebanon's army blamed an Israeli rocket which hit a car belonging to the journalists. Israel's army said it was "looking into" who launched the strike. Two Lebanese civilians were killed in Israeli shelling of a southern village on Saturday, its mayor told AFP. Hezbollah said one of its fighters was also killed by Israeli fire. Separately, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon said its headquarters was struck by a rocket in the southern town of Naqoura. "Our headquarters in Naqoura was hit with a rocket and we are working to verify from where. Our peacekeepers were not in shelters at the time. Fortunately, no one was hurt," UNIFIL said in a statement. "We remind all the parties involved that attacks against civilians or UN personnel are violations of international law that may amount to war crimes," it added. Earlier Sunday Palestinian Islamist group Hamas claimed responsibility for two infiltrations from Lebanon to Israel in which three of its fighters were killed. On Monday, Hezbollah said Israeli strikes had killed three of its members, after Palestinian militants tried to infiltrate into Israel from Lebanon. burs-aya/jsa/phz Park Bo Gum revealed for the first time the real story behind launching his personal social media account. Curious about what the actor said? Then read on! Park Bo Gum Shares What Occupies Most of His Days Park Bo Gum partnered with the famous fashion magazine Esquire Korea for the November issue. Following the pictorial, the heartthrob sat for an interview and talked about what keeps him busy these days. According to the celebrity, he has been busy filming his upcoming drama "You Have Done Well," where he collaborates with multimedia star IU. Adding to his work is his musical "Let Me Fly." As he's a rookie on the theater stage, the actor is making various preparations for his stage debut. ALSO READ: Park Bo Gum Steals Hearts & Spotlight With His Jaw-Dropping Visuals: 'His face is seriously insane' Park Bo Gum is also busy working as a fashion ambassador for the famous brand Celine. He has been attending events and special gatherings abroad, particularly in Paris. According to the "Record of Youth" star, he enjoyed spending his free time exploring art galleries, museums, and nearby parks for leisurely walks. What is Park Bo Gum's Reason for Launching Own Instagram Account? YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: 'Love in the Moonlight' Cast Update 2023: Park Bo Gum, Kim Yoo Jung More to Return With New Projects During the magazine interview, the "Love in the Moonlight" actor explained why he decided to create an Instagram account. Park Bo Gum said that he noticed the increasing number of fake accounts impersonating him and decided to finally launch his own. "I'm not really active on social media, but I didn't want fans to get confused. So, I decided to start an Instagram account to prevent confusion or chaos." Park Bo Gum Shares Secret of Having Good Selfies Known for his adorable mirror selfies, Park Bo Gum humbly admitted that he is not that good at taking regular selfies. However, when he looks in the mirror, it feels more natural and comfortable for him and the pictures really turn out well. When asked what he thinks he sees himself in the mirror, Park Bo Gum humorously answered, "Do I look really handsome? Sorry for that," causing laughter on set. Meanwhile, the 30-year-old celebrity had his first fan meeting in four years. Park Bo Gum revealed that he felt nervous for about two hours before the performance began. "On the first day, I wasn't satisfied with my performance, and I felt sorry for the fans. But on the second day, I decided to forget about the past and enjoyed the moment with my fans." The actor added that he will continue to work hard to create good memories with his fans. Watch Park Bo Gum's Interview With Esquire Korea Here! IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 K-Actors Who Slay the Role of Psychopath: Ok Taecyeon, Im Siwan, More What can you say about the news? Share your thoughts/replies in the comments! For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news and updates, keep your tabs open here at KDramaStars. KDramaStars owns this article. Shai Collins wrote this. Liberty University, a far-right Christian University for young MAGA scholars, has a sex crime problem. "Feds say Liberty University created 'fear of reprisal' for sexual violence survivors," says a USA Today headline from October 3. "How Liberty University Discourages and Dismisses Students' Reports of Sexual Assaults," is the title from a 2021 ProPublica report. "New plaintiff claims Liberty University mishandled sexual assault report," reads the headline from an April 2022 issue of The Washington Post. In a Fox News piece published today, Liberty University's president, Dr. Dondi E. Costin, is very upset. Not about his school's history of covering up sex crimes and discouraging victims from reporting assaults, but at the Department of Education for allegedly leaking a report that claimed the university covered up sexual assault incidents and underreported crime on campus. Costin expressed concern that the leaked report would impact ongoing negotiations with the Department of Education and accused someone of leaking the report to "poison the well," as if it weren't already seething with toxic waste. Liberty University denies the reprprts allegations and claims it contains factual errors. Earlier this month, The Washington Post published a piece based on the Department of Education allegations titled, "Liberty University broke safety laws for years, government asserts." As reported in The Post, the allegations include that: Liberty University failed to keep its campus safe and violated the federal Clery Act. The university discouraged people from reporting crimes and underreported the claims it received. Gas leaks, bomb threats, and acts of sexual violence were not properly addressed or warned to the campus community. Liberty University officials destroyed evidence after a government inquiry began. The school used its honor code, known as the Liberty Way, to discourage reporting of sexual assaults. Suggestions for improvement were rejected or ignored by management. The university did not issue timely warnings or report incidents in its crime statistics. Records required for oversight were not adequately maintained, and some records were selectively destroyed or removed. Crime statistics were systematically underreported, and the university may have fabricated them. The university engendered a culture of silence and retaliated against those who spoke up. None of this is surprising, given that Liberty University was run for 13 by Jerry Falwell, Jr., who was forced to resign in disgrace in the aftermath of a personal sex scandal. According to Wikipedia, In March 2012, Falwell Jr. and his wife Becki met a 20-year-old pool attendant, Giancarlo Granda, at a hotel Miami Beach. This meeting led to an intricate personal relationship. In August 2020, amidst allegations of an affair between Becki and Granda, Falwell Jr. issued a public statement acknowledging his wife's "improper relationship." Granda, however, claimed the affair was long-running, from 2012 to 2018, and that Falwell Jr. was a willing participant, sometimes observing and recording their sexual encounters. Granda provided audio, emails, and text messages to Reuters as evidence. After dominating the news with his smoking scandal, Choi Hyun Wook once again makes headlines for declining to star in a new drama. The actor was supposed to couple up with Go Min Si in Lee Eun Bok's new show "I'm Against My Romance." Choi Hyun Wook's agency, Gold Medalist, released a statement. Choi Hyun Wook Declines New Drama With Go Min Si On October 16, it was reported that Choi Hyun Wook declined to appear in a new drama with Go Min Si. Born in 2002, the rising actor has appeared in countless high scale works like "Twenty Five, Twenty One," "D.P. 2" and more. Currently, he plays the role of a handsome and witty band vocalist in the youth drama "Twinkling Watermelon" with Shin Eun Soo, Ryeoun and Seol In Ah. Earlier this month, the actor was embroiled in a smoking scandal after being caught tossing cigarette butts in a public place with non-celebrity women. The actor apologized to the public for his disappointing behavior and paid the exact fine for breaking the law. Choi Hyun Wook also promised to return with improved behavior and work. Because of this, many were saddened after he decided not to appear in Lee Eung Bok's new drama "I'm Against My Romance" with Go Min Si. Lee Eung Bok created mega hit dramas "Goblin," "Sweet Home," "Descendants of the Sun" and more, to name a few. Gold Medalist released a statement, saying that the actor was eager to star in the work if not for the conflicts in the schedule. With this, the casting lineup for the work is back to square one. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 'Twinkling Watermelon' Enjoys Steady Ratings In Third Week of Broadcast Choi Hyun Wook is currently reviewing more works to star in according to his agency, much to the fans' excitement. At the moment, he decorates prime time with the magical romance of "Twinkling Watermelon." In addition to that, his U+Mobile TV drama "Hi Cookie" is also set to debut. Choi Hyun Wook In 'Twinkling Watermelon' Besides his unstoppable bromance with Ryeoun, his adorable performance as a mischievous band vocalist received great reception from fans around the world. His acting in "Twinkling Watermelon" continues to receive great praises, making him one of the most talked-about stars in Hallyu today. Choi Hyun Wook's chemistry with Seol In Ah and Shin Eun Soo also captures the fans. Catch him in "Twinkling Watermelon" every Monday and Tuesday on tvN at 8:50 p.m. KST. The actor's upcoming show "Hi Cookie" is in its final phase of production with the intention to release it this 2023. Stay tuned for more updates. ALSO READ: Choi Hyun Wook Relationship 2023: Is 'Twinkling Watermelon' Star Dating Non-Celeb? KDramaStars owns this article. Written by Elijah Mully. Lee Je Hoon's agency responds to reports regarding the actor's current condition following the shocking emergency surgery he had recently. Amid his busy schedule, the award-winning actor had to halt his upcoming activities, including hosting the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) 2023 and the Buil Film Awards. After weeks of recovery, local media outlet Osen reported that the "Taxi Driver" star's surgery went well and he was discharged from the hospital last week. Lee Je Hoon Health Update In an exclusive report, the news portal shared that Lee Je Hoon went thru an emergency surgery for ischemic colitis or an "injury of the large intestine that results from an interruption of blood flow." As mentioned by a health website, symptoms include abdominal pain more often on the left side, a low fever, and bloody stools. Meanwhile, Lee Je Hoon is currently staying at home after spending two weeks at the hospital due to surgery and treatment. On the other hand, the actor's agency, COMPANY ON, confirmed the news, adding that the public could expect more of Lee Je Hoon in the coming weeks as he resumes his promotional activities. READ MORE: Why Not Lee Je Hoon? BLACKPINK Jisoo's Fans Discuss the Idol-Actress' 'Ideal Type' In addition to this, the "Move to Heaven" star plans on returning to his drama filming set soon. On October 2, fans were surprised to hear that Lee Je Hoon had halted all his upcoming activities, including hosting two ceremonies, because of emergency health issues. At the time, outlets shared the official statement of COMPANY ON, stating that the actor "went to the hospital on the night of October 1" after complaining of severe abdominal pain. He was later diagnosed with ischemic colitis and underwent surgery on October 2. Unfortunately, he failed to attend the 28th Busan International Film Festival for the opening ceremony, where he serves as one of the main hosts alongside Park Eun Bin. Thankfully, the actress was able to pull off a successful hosting ceremony as the solo MC for the event. What's Next for Lee Je Hoon? Now that the award-winning star is ready for his activities, he is set to headline the upcoming mystery drama series "Chief Inspector 1963," which is based on the 1971 show "Chief Inspector." Taking on the legendary chief inspector Park Young Han, Lee Je Hoon stars together with Lee Dong Hwi, Choi Woo Sung, Yoon Hyun Soo, and Seo Eun Soo as lead stars. The upcoming K-drama, which is expected to air sometime in 2024, is directed by Kim Sung Hoon of "Confidential Assignment 1" and "Rampant." Other than this, viewers are also looking forward to Lee Je Hoon's return as the beloved anti-hero in "Taxi Driver" season 3 after SBS confirmed that the show will return for its third installment. However, the network and drama officials are yet to confirm if the returning and new cast members will join the series. IN CASE YOU MISSED: Lee Je Hoon Surprises Company On Staff With Expensive Presents For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news, keep your tabs open here at KDramaStars. KDramaStars owns this article Written by Geca Wills A man uses a computer keyboard in Toronto, Monday, Oct. 9, 2023 in this photo illustration. A new study from Toronto Metropolitan University says Canadian tech workers are paid on average 46 per cent less than their U.S. counterparts. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graeme Roy Is Sen. Marsha Blackburn (M-TN) harboring terrorists in her voluminous hair? That might explain why she is so upset that the Biden administration is much better at apprehending terrorists than Trump was. Blackburn, an election-denying MAGA cultist, tweeted her grievance yesterday: "In fiscal years 2019 and 2020, under President Trump, only 3 people on the terror watch list were apprehended by Border Patrol. That number has exploded under Biden. Biden is refusing to secure our border and keep Americans safe." In other words, warns Blackburn, Biden needs to seriously cut back on the number of terrorists he catches or there will be hell to pay. To better understand Blackburn and where she is coming from, here are some of her political positions: She is a Tea Party Republican and a self-described "hard-core conservative." She decried a Supreme Court decision holding that the Constitution protects the liberty of married couples to buy and use contraceptives without government restriction, as being "constitutionally unsound" Blackburn opposes abortion She led a panel investigating the Planned Parenthood undercover video controversy, claiming to have stopped the sale of baby body parts, despite subsequent investigations finding no evidence of wrongdoing. Blackburn sponsored legislation requiring presidential candidates to show their birth certificates in response to "birther" theories about Barack Obama. Blackburn rejects the scientific consensus on climate change and has expressed skepticism about its causes. She opposes same-sex marriage, voted against its legalization, and has taken positions against LGBT rights She opposed the Affordable Care Act and supported efforts to repeal it. She has taken positions against women's rights, voting against legislation such as the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act. (Source: Wikipedia) The Deputy Katuukiro of Busoga has appealed to the youth to embrace the various development programs under the kingdom to better their lives. Owek Al-Hajji Ahmed Noor had on Friday visited the Nation Media Group (U) headquarters in Kampalas Industrial Area in Namuwongo during the companys inaugural Cultural Day. In an interview during the Omubeezi mid-morning show hosted by Robinah Mbabazi a.k.a Bina Baby, on Dembe FM, he also urged the youth to always cherish their respective cultures and asked the media to play a central role in mobilizing Ugandans to warm up to the Historical, Grande Kyabazingas Royal wedding. We are happy to be here today as part of a celebration of Ugandas cultural diversity and we appeal to the media in general to always put culture at the fore as a catalyst for development. We also appeal to the NMG-U to take the lead in the mobilization of resources for the forthcoming royal wedding slated for November 18, 2023, through their various platforms said Owek. Noor. Owek Noor was flanked by Owek. Yudaya Babirye Kigenyi, the Minister for Kyabazinga Affairs who emphasised the kingdoms commitment to uplifting the women and youth of Busoga through the various development programs. I cant over-emphasize His Majesty the Kyabazinga of Busogas commitment to empowering women, as seen in our representation in his cabinet, and coming up with several programs specifically targeting youth and the young people, she said. The NMG Cultural Day, the first of its kind to be organised by the company was meant to give employees a chance to celebrate Ugandas cultural diversity. According to Ms. Elizabeth Namaganda, the NGM-U Marketing Manager, the day was also organised to coincide with the independence month of October, just days after Uganda marked her 61st independence anniversary on October 9th. She emphasized the importance of having corporate companies like NMG-U work with cultural institutions to promote inclusion and diversity. We have a staff base that hails from different regions of Uganda. For our staff to feel valued, we need to recognise their cultures by creating a special moment to celebrate them, said Ms Namaganda. The days activities also included cultural dancing competitions, modeling, and showcasing of various traditional dishes. The hearing of a case against the State Minister for Finance, Mr. Amos Lugoloobi has failed to kick off after prosecution informed court that they were not ready to proceed with the matter today. This prompted the trial judge Margaret Tibulya to adjourn the case until next week on Wednesday and Thursday, with seven prosecution witnesses. Assistant DPP Josephine Namatovu confirmed to Court that she will be ready to proceed with the hearing of this case on the mentioned dates. Lugoloobis lawyer, Mr John Isabirye informed Court that he is ready to defend his client. Minister Lugoloobi is accused of dealing with suspect property by allegedly diverting 400 Iron sheets from the Office of the Prime Minister that were meant for Karamoja Community Empowerment Programme. Prosecution says minister Lugoloobi, committed the offence between February 2nd and March 15th 2022 at the office of the Prime Minister stores in Namanve- Mukono, and at different places in Matugga, Wakiso and Ntenjeru in Kayunga District. He however denied the offence. The Uganda National Examination Board (UNEB) has expressed readiness to conduct the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) examinations which kick off today across the country. This marks the start of the 2023 final examinations nationwide, with the Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) and Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) set for November. Daniel Odongo, the boards Executive Director indicated earlier that over 364,000 candidates registered for this years UCE exams. Among these, 118,000 candidates are government-funded under Universal Secondary Education (USE), while 245,000 are privately sponsored. The candidates will take their exams at 3,800 centres across the country. Odongo adds that this year, there are over 700 special needs education learners among the UCE candidates, and 59 candidates are inmates from Luzira prison. Candidates will begin today with Geography Paper 1 in the morning and Geography Paper 2 in the afternoon. Odongo tells KFM that the distribution of examination papers to all examination centres across the country commenced on Saturday, adding that all centres had papers by midnight. He says the examination centres will start distributing examination papers to all schools 30 minutes before the exams begin at 9am. I and my team have been monitoring the station since Saturday and all seems okay. We have not received any bad reports from the field of maybe bad weather or bad roads. We had anticipated some hitches in Karamojo but we started distribution in that region earlier, he said. UNEB will deploy 110,000 individuals to manage the exams, including 107,941 invigilators, 1,113 supervisors, and 1,036 security officers to ensure the exams run smoothly. The Ministry of Education has asked school heads to permit candidates with fees balance to sit for the Uganda Certificate of Education exams that have kicked off today. This is after the management of Mbale Progressive Secondary School blocked over 50 candidates from accessing the examination room this morning. The Director Basic Education, at the Ministry of Education, Ismail Mulindwa now says since the schools permitted those candidates to register, they should not be blocked from sitting for exams. He has directed such schools to make an arrangement with the candidates parents to clear the outstanding fees balances after the exams. I want to ask our head teachers to act professionally because these candidates will not have any other chance. The moment he/she loses this first paper, it has implications on their final grades. So I would advise they allow candidates to sit for the exams and then go into engagement with the parents or guardian on how they are going to recover the money, Mulindwa said. Senior four candidates started their exams this morning across the country starting with Geography paper one. Schools have been asked to support students by promoting their talent with an emphasis on science and innovation. Currently, the government is asking schools to focus on promoting science education and research to enable the country provide solutions to unemployment. However, the chief operations officer at Jubilee Jubilee Insurance Ms Dorcus Kuhimbise says, promoting subjects such as fine art helps the learners to demonstrate their artistic prowess and also be recognized for their talents. She made the remarks while officiating at the launch of the 2023 Live Free Art Competition which is targeting 200 learners from Universal Primary Education UPE schools. We are excited to launch the second edition of the Jubilee Live Free Art Competition. The art competition will enable young learners across Uganda to demonstrate their artistic talent and to be recognized for their talents, she said. The annual competition, whose theme this year is My tomorrow begins today, is designed to foster a love for art and to encourage creativity and self-expression among young pupils in UPE schools. Kuhimbise says the art also helps pupils to dream, through themes such as painting. She says Jubilee Insurance holds 19% of the countrys insurance Market share. According to Kuhimbise, the country must emphasize science teaching because life is partly run by arts but based on science. A driver in Georgia who was pulled over for speeding was understandably shocked at the high price of his ticket: a whopping $1.4 million. And his shock turned to disbelief when he called to report what he thought was a typo, only to have an official tell him to pay up or show up. ""'$1.4 million,' the lady told me on the phone," said Connor Cato, who had allegedly been driving 90 mph on a 55-mph road in Savannah. "I said, 'This might be a typo' and she said, 'No sir, you either pay the amount on the ticket or you come to court on Dec. 21 at 1:30 p.m.'" It turns out, the outrageous fine was actually a "placeholder" that a judge would adjust after Cato made an appearance in court. Why the city didn't think to simply put a question mark or a variable like X on the ticket or even better, how about the fine itself? is anybody's guess. From 10News: By Philip Wafula The YMCA College of Business Studies in Jinja City will start offering degree courses, authorities have said. Ms Roselyne Birungi Ssebaleke, the national executive director of Uganda YMCA, who also serves as the governing council chairperson, said the National Council of Higher Education (NCHE) recently recommend- ed this degree-awarding institute for chartering and they are in the final stages. We will soon start offering degree programmes here (in Jinja) when the process is complete, Ms Ssebaleke said last Friday during the institutions 20th graduation ceremony. Currently, the college only awards certificates and diplomas. Once cleared to offer degrees by the NCHE, it will join the YMCA Comprehensive Institute (YCI), which includes the main campus in Wandegeya and Bwambo Campus in Wakiso District. Ms Ssebaleke noted that there has been a rapid increase in the demand for their services, particularly regarding the niche of vocational and technical training, and subsequently,some of their branches and institutes have largely expanded their facilities to accommodate the increased number of students. She, however, noted that Technical and Vocational Education and Training is very expensive in terms of equipment, which makes the fees charged high and leads to high dropout rates. We request that the government subsidises the training equipment and materials for skills training. There have been attempts to lobby for training equipment from partners. However, the taxes charged to deliver the equipment to Uganda are also very high. We, therefore, request that the government gives consideration on taxes charged on training equipment,Ms Ssebaleke said. A total of 486 students graduated. Of these,351 received certificates and 135 were awarded diplomas, com- prising 72 males and 414 females. However, the number was significantly less than 744 who graduated in 2021. CBS Secondary School Kilkenny and Loreto Kilkenny are holding an online fundraiser to help their joint choir compete in Bratislava in December 2023. The schools will form a joint SATB choir which will compete in the International Festival of Advent and Christmas Music 2023, from December 7 to 10. They need to raise around 7500 to help students from both schools to participate in this opportunity. Both choirs are under the guidance and tutelage of Ms Mandy Dowling and Ms Lorraine Maher, Choir Directors at CBS Secondary School Kilkenny and Loreto Kilkenny respectively. The raised funds will go towards bus transfers to/from the airport, crested jumpers for the students and administration fees for the competition. The musical collaborations between Loreto Kilkenny and CBS Secondary School Kilkenny go back to the early 1990s. The two schools often combine their talent in joint whole-school events, concerts and musicals. Generations of students have formed life long friendships and precious memories while making music together. To donate or get further information on the journey, visit their fundraising page here. Deputy John McGuinness has hit out at the school bus system in Dail Eireann and has stated that 'it should be put out to public tender'. "We should get an analysis of what Bus Eireann is providing and how much it actually costs," he told fellow TDs. "We should also analyse the service that is not being delivered in certain areas so that we can understand why that is the case. We can then adjust the plan to ensure that local communities are accommodated. "For example, 40 students who travel through Mullinavat to the education and training board, ETB, in Waterford are not being accommodated. I have mentioned this case to the Minister for Education. "Immediate steps must be taken to provide a bus for that route. This may seem parochial, but it is what we are supposed to be spending the money on. It is not being spent efficiently or properly at the moment. "I will not stop making representations for that community until such time as the bus service is provided. The same can be said of those travelling from the Gowran area to Kilkenny City. "It is high time that the Minister insisted that the school bus scheme be put out to tender and re-organised and that every student be accommodated, where possible." Tanaiste Micheal Martin has said funding for Irelands health services needs examination, amid criticism levelled at the government over the amount of money given for next year. The funding allocated to health services next year has prompted criticism of the government, and has seen a recruitment freeze implemented on some healthcare roles. Chief executive of the Health Service Executive (HSE) Bernard Gloster told senior management on Friday that he was extending an existing recruitment pause beyond clerical and management grades to include patient and client care roles. He also announced an immediate pause on around 7,000 posts, previously approved in principle, which can now not be funded. Representatives of healthcare workers have sharply criticised the freeze as reckless and risky, and opposition politicians have called on the budget for the Department of Health to be re-examined. Budget 2024, worth a total of 14 billion euro and unveiled last Tuesday, allocated an extra 800 million euro to the Department of Health, bringing its total value to 22.5 billion euro. The additional 808 million to core funding is to address an ageing population and service pressures, with more than one billion euro in non-core funding allocated to ongoing Covid-19 measures. Mr Gloster has said that he needs a further 1.5 billion for this year alone. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has said that the majority of this years overspend was due to more patients presenting for emergency treatment and inflated prices for medicines. We cant kid ourselves. The additional spending by the HSE forecast for this year at about 1.5 billion euro is largely being driven by the fact they are treating more patients than we have funded them to treat, the Fianna Fail TD said. Asked about the issue on Monday, Micheal Martin said that there had been very significant investment in health over the past few years. The Fianna Fail leader said that seven billion euro in additional funding had been allocated to the health service in three years. He added: I heard the term recruitment freeze the issue in the growth for example is that, given the money already allocated, the HSE has not recruited staff even from the existing basis of funding over the last while in critical services, particularly in disability, for example. Some of that is due to genuine difficulties in recruiting, the same would have happened in terms of homecare over the last two years where there was challenges because weve expanded the services so much in the homecare area. So we will work through the funding of health, but the scale of allocation in the last number of years has been very very significant. We will work with the HSE but the HSE also will have to work with government, and as I said yesterday, (there) has to be deeper analysis of health spending, parallel with analysis of growing demographics, were ageing as a population. That has implications, yes, in terms of pressure on health services but funding has dramatically increased. 1.8 billion euro this year, additional increase to health services, and if you look over the last three years I think youre looking at 7 billion additional to health. So the issue needs examination. Government will continue to work on that with the relevant ministers, he said while opening the Joe and Helen OToole Community Nursing Unit in Tuam, Co Galway. A 33-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Offaly schoolteacher Ashling Murphy and will go on trial for up to five weeks at the Central Criminal Court. A jury of three women and nine men was sworn this afternoon to hear the trial, one year and nine months after 23-year-old Ms Murphy is alleged to have been murdered near the Grand Canal in Tullamore. The trial judge told potential jury members today that nobody should sit as a juror if they have engaged in commentary about the case online or on social media. Jozef Puska (33), with an address at Lynally Grove, Mucklagh, Co Offaly, is charged with murdering Ms Murphy at Cappincur, Tullamore, Co Offaly on January 12th, 2022. Mr Puska, dressed in a white striped shirt, grey jacket and trousers relied on an interpreter to translate the single count and with her aid he replied "not guilty" to the charge of murder. Before the 12 jurors were sworn, Mr Justice Tony Hunt told the jury panel that the case had attracted "more than the usual share of publicity". He asked any potential juror to tell him if they have heard anything that would make them unable to approach the trial "with a fair and open mind". Mr Puska and the prosecution, he said, are "entitled to a fair and unbiased jury who will try the case based on the evidence in court and not on anything outside the court." The judge said nobody should sit as a juror if they have engaged in commentary about the case online or on social media. "It would be inconsistent with you approaching the case judiciously, with an open mind," he said. He added: "If you feel that you are in any way compromised in approaching this case in an open minded way; bring that to my attention. It is important that you do not serve in those circumstances." The judge also told the jury that in January 2022 Mr Puska spent some time in St James's Hospital in Dublin. "If you know anything touching on his stay in hospital you should draw that to my attention." Mr Justice Hunt said the trial is expected to last four weeks but could take up to five weeks. He promised the jury that he would give them a "very lengthy exemption" from jury service if they sit for the full trial. Mr Justice Hunt thanked the jurors for making themselves available to perform what he called an important civic function. He told them that where a person pleads not guilty, the Constitution requires that they be tried by a jury chosen at random from the community and not by a judge sitting alone. When the final 12 were sworn, Mr Justice Hunt asked them not to look at media reports or social media commentary but to try the case solely on what they hear in court and the inferences they can draw from the evidence. Anne-Marie Lawlor SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said the witnesses in Mr Puska's trial will be from the Tullamore area, the midlands, various Dublin garda stations and the forensic science laboratories. Medical personnel may also be called to give evidence. Michael Bowman SC, for the defence, said his client resided at Mucklagh in Offaly and has close family in Crumlin in south Dublin. The jury was sent away at about 4.45pm [on Monday] to appoint a foreman in preparation for the opening speech from the prosecution on Tuesday. It is incomprehensible that the Irish Government has not yet handed over 30 documents of material to the inquest into the murder of GAA official Sean Brown, a coroner has said. Amid ongoing concern from Mr Browns family about the timetabling of proceedings, Justice Patrick Kinney has also ordered police to provide him with daily updates on the preparation of sensitive material ahead of the planned resumption of the inquest in January. Mr Brown, 61, was abducted and killed by loyalists as he locked the gates at Bellaghy Wolfe Tones Club in Co Derry in May 1997. No-one has been convicted of his murder. His inquest began in March and is scheduled to resume next year. However, the proceedings are taking place against the backdrop of the Governments new legacy Act, which states that any legacy inquests which have not reached the point of verdict by May 1 2024 will be discontinued. Members of Mr Browns family, including his widow Bridie, attended the latest review hearing at Laganside Courthouse in Belfast on Monday. Their lawyer said they were growing increasingly anxious that the inquest would not be completed ahead of the cut-off point next May. Opening the hearing, counsel for the coroner Joseph Aiken KC said there was outstanding material in the case from the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, which he said had been involved in oversight of the second police investigation into Mr Browns death. He told the court: Over the course of three years of trying to get it, they have indicated they do have some 30 documents. Despite best efforts we simply cannot get this material out of the Department of Foreign Affairs hands. For whatever reason, and we dont know what it is, this material simply hasnt been forthcoming. Mr Justice Kinney said it was a rather incomprehensible position from the department. He added: I cannot understand. It seems inequitable for me to be criticising the PSNI for the apparent delays and difficulties in obtaining documents, and I find that a state body, the Department of Foreign Affairs, who have been involved in this matter for some considerable time, we simply cannot get information or documentation from them. I am very concerned about that and it seems to be at this stage that I would direct there is a formal response from the department before the next review setting out what the difficulties are in providing whatever documentation they would define as potentially relevant. A previous review hearing in the case earlier this month was told that as part of its review of sensitive material in the case, the PSNI had recently uncovered 18 folders of documents. PSNI barrister Mark Robinson KC told the court on Monday the process was ongoing to prepare that material for a public immunity interest (PII) application. He said police are facing multiple demands for multiple inquests and added he could not provide a date for the completion of the process. Mr Justice Kinney responded: I dont accept and indeed it is not acceptable that I am told I cant have a timeframe for completion of the exercise at this stage bearing in mind the context in which we are operating. This is not an open-ended process, we do know we have to work within a very tight timeframe. He added: I dont really need to know in great detail what needs to be done, I need to know when its going to be done. Since the PSNI are unable to assist me in the way that I had hoped I want effectively a daily update to my office of what has been achieved, what files have been looked at, what volume of papers have been considered and what has been happening to those papers. I do not accept a general assertion or submission that this is something which is so huge that it cannot be achieved. Mr Robinson said police were working relentlessly to service the inquest. Mr Justice Kinney said: If we werent working to the timescales that we are forced to work to more time could be afforded to this exercise, but we dont have that luxury so I am asking for a daily update. I dont expect these to be a one line email coming to my team, I expect it to be reasonably detailed. Barrister for the next of kin Des Fahy told the court: The Brown family have attended this morning, as they have at every review. My clear instructions are that they are increasingly anxious that despite your best efforts and despite the best efforts of your counsel that the timetable for the resumption of this inquest and for the completion of this inquest is not going to be met because of inactivity on the part of the state bodies. The time has come for actions not excuses. Mr Fahy also said the family would be making representations that potential suspects to the murder would be called as witnesses during the inquest. The coroner said he would hold another review hearing on October 26. 'Fox & Friends Weekend' celebrates Halloween with snacks and treats closeVideo Lifestyle expert Carey Reilly shows off Halloween themed snacks and cocktails, and tips for Halloween parties on 'Fox & Friends. Candy may be an essential part of part of Halloween, but it doesn't appear that it's always been that way. In fact, when American children first started trick-or-treating in the 1930s and 1940s kids received "everything from homemade cookies and pieces of cake to fruit, nuts, coins and toys," according to History.com. People starting adding candy to their trick-or-treat traditions in the 1950s as candy companies marketed products for Halloween and by the 1970s, candy became the "only acceptable thing to hand out," because parents were worried about homemade treats, according to the website. HALLOWEEN BY THE NUMBERS: FUN FACTS ABOUT THE SPOOKY DAY In honor of Halloween 2022 and trick-or-treating, check out which candy was released the decade you were born. Candy became an essential part of trick-or-treating in the 1970s. (iStock) 1940s Mars released M&M's in 1941, according to History.com and Bazooka bubble gum was introduced in 1947, according to Bazooka Candy Brands. Hershey reports it created Almond Joy in 1948 and the company that made Smarties first opened in 1949, according to smarties.com. M&M's were first released in 1941 by candy company, Mars. (iStock) 1950s Hot Tamales, the popular cinnamon-flavored candies, were introduced in 1950, according to Just Born Quality Confections, the Pennsylvania-based company which created Hot Tamales. Pixy Stix, the powdered candy packaged in a straw, were also sold in the 50s, according to NPR. NATIONAL JUNK FOOD DAY 2022: SEE WHICH SNACK CAME OUT THE DECADE YOU WERE BORN 1960s Starburst, which was originally called Opal Fruits, was released in the U.K. in 1960 and came to the U.S. in 1967, according to Delish. Haribo Goldbears gummy bears were also released in 1960, according to Haribo. In 1962, Lemonheads were released, according toFerrara Candy Company. 1970s Skittles were first produced in the U.K. in 1974, according to a Penn State blog on the history of candy. Pop Rocks werent invented and released as they are today the 70s, Though a similar form of Carbonated Candy was invented in 1956, according to the Pop Rocks' website. Pop Rocks, a candy that pops on top of your tongue, were released in the 70s. (iStock) Reeses Pieces were also invented and released in the same decade, according to hersheyarchives.org. HALLOWEEN QUIZ! HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW THESE SURPRISING FACTS ABOUT THE SPOOKY HOLIDAY? 1980s Nerds were invented in 1983, according to Eater. Sour Patch Kids were introduced in 1985, according to Mondelez International, Inc. the brand which owns the candy. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER 1990s In the 1990s, Hersheys Cookies N Creme bars first hit store shelves in 1994, according to hersheyland.com. 2000s Candy company Goelitz which became Jelly Belly Candy Company in 2001 released Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans in 2000, inspired by the "Harry Potter" franchise, according to jellybelly.com. Ann W. Schmidt is an Associate on Fox Business' Strategic Initiatives team. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' office is supposedly going to use Republican Party funds to reimburse the state for a $19,000 lectern put on a government credit card. "Scrutiny" of this oddly expensive item "deepens," reports the Associated Press. The custom blue and wood-paneled lectern was bought using a state credit card in June for $19,029.25, significantly higher than prices listed online for other lecterns. The Republican Party of Arkansas reimbursed the state for the purchase on Sept. 14, and Sanders' office has called the use of a state credit card for the lectern an accounting error. Sanders' office said it received the lectern in August. Sanders, a Republican who served as press secretary for former President Donald Trump and was inaugurated governor in January, has said she welcomes an audit of the lectern but has also dismissed questions about the purchase. The lectern's purchase was first uncovered last month by Matthew Campbell, a lawyer and blogger who has sued the Arkansas State Police and claimed the agency illegally withheld public documents he requested about Sanders' travel and security. Days after Campbell filed his initial lawsuit, Sanders proposed restricting the public's access to a broad range of documents. Strengths Of the cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap, the best performer for the week was Loom Network, rising 62.4%. The surge in government bond yields over the past few weeks saw Bitcoin beating equities by a wide margin. Should yields resume their advance, that could ultimately end up benefiting the largest digital token, writes Bloomberg. Stablecoin issuer Tether Holdings appointed its technology boss Paolo Ardoino as its new chief executive officer, following several years in which the executive had emerged as the company's main public figure, writes Bloomberg. Weaknesses Of the cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap, the worst performer for the week was Mantle, down 18.22%. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies fell back on Thursday, extending declines for a sixth day despite widespread advances seen in other risk-sensitive assets, with gains form a recent bullish trend fizzling out as cryptos returned to familiar trading ranges, writes Bloomberg. Hamas' lightning strike on Israel last weekend has left observers questioning how the group financed the surprise operation. One possible answer: cryptocurrency. Hamas received large amounts of funds through crypto, according to a review of Israeli government seizure orders and blockchain analytics reports, writes Bloomberg. Opportunities The owner of crypto exchange Bitfinex is exploring a $150 million share buyback that would provide it with greater control over the private company's dealings, according to Bloomberg. Decentralized finance is yet to pose a meaningful risk to overall financial stability, explains Bloomberg, but does require monitoring, according to the European Union's financial markets and securities regulator. Mastercard, in conjunction with the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre, revealed on Thursday the latest results of their CBD pilot project, writes BlockWorks. Notably, the pilot included a live transaction where an NFT was purchased on the Ethereum blockchain using a "wrapped" version of the CBDC. Threats Caroline Ellison took the witness stand Tuesday afternoon and within minutes pointed to her former boss and boyfriend, FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried, as the man responsible for the loss of billions in customer funds. "He directed me to commit these crimes," she told jurors, according to Bloomberg reports. In the latest blow to Binance's global ambitions, a Brazilian congressional committee has recommended the indictment of four of the company's senior leaders including its founder and CEO CZ, writes Bloomberg. Caroline Ellison, on Wednesday, detailed how she worked with Sam Bankman-Fried to lie about the health of Alameda Research and FTX and deceive lenders and customers. She testified that she falsified Alameda's balance sheet, at the direction of Bankman-Fried, to conceal that the firm was taking in large sums of money from FTX customers, writes Bloomberg. By Frank E. Holmes Contributing to kitco.com Follow @bulldogholmes www.goldnewsletter.com Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication. 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) - Lithium developer Liontown Resources (ASX: LTR) announced Monday that Albemarle (NYSE: ALB), the worlds leading lithium producer, has withdrawn its non-binding proposal to acquire all outstanding shares of Liontown by way of scheme of arrangement for A$3.00 cash per share. According to the companys statement, Albemarle has advised Liontown that its decision to withdraw its proposal was due to the growing complexities associated with executing the transaction. The company said that Albemarle has confirmed to Liontown its favourable view of the flagship Kathleen Valley project and Liontowns management, adding that Liontown is committed to delivering on its strategic plan and is confident in its ability to thrive independently. Managing Director and CEO Tony Ottaviano commented, We acknowledge Albemarles decision. They were constructive and respectful throughout the diligence process. Notwithstanding, our position to maintain momentum on our base plan has allowed us to keep line of sight of first production from the Kathleen Valley project in mid-2024. The Board remains focused on delivering outstanding performance and value to its stakeholders. Albemarle Corporation is a global leader in transforming essential resources such as lithium and bromine into critical ingredients for mobility, energy, connectivity, and health. Liontown Resources is an emerging battery minerals producer. The company currently controls two major lithium deposits in Western Australia and aims to expand its portfolio through exploration, partnerships and acquisitions. Hancock Prospecting, owned by Australia's richest person Gina Rinehart, said on October 11, 2023 that it has achieved its strategic stake objective of 19.9% of the ordinary shares in Liontown, adding that the company now looks forward to having a prominent influence on Liontowns future, as its largest shareholder. 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) - The state of California has become the latest to enact a comprehensive framework for regulating the cryptocurrency industry after Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 39, which establishes the Digital Financial Assets Law. Newsom signed the bill into law on Friday, more than a year after it was unanimously approved by the states assembly, despite facing heavy criticism from the cryptocurrency industry. The Digital Financial Assets Law was originally introduced in February 2022 by Assembly Member Tim Grayson. This bill will provide consumers basic but necessary protections and will promote a healthy cryptocurrency market by making it safer for everyone, Grayson said. The law is considered to be Californias version of New Yorks BitLicense and will require cryptocurrency firms to obtain a license from the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) to ensure compliance with the states regulatory framework. It will also require firms to maintain detailed financial records, and provides regulators with the authority to conduct audits. [This bill] would require a licensee to maintain [] for five years after the date of the activity, certain records, including a general ledger maintained at least monthly that lists all assets, liabilities, capital, income, and expenses of the licensee, the law states. The law defines cryptocurrencies as a digital representation of value that is used as a medium of exchange, unit of account, or store of value, and that is not legal tender, whether or not denominated in legal tender, except as specified under the new rules coming into effect in 2025. Non-compliance with the new law will result in strict enforcement measures, including a civil penalty of up to $100,000 for each day of violation. The bill states that it will become operative only if SB 401 of the 202324 Regular Session is enacted and takes effect on or before January 1, 2024. According to a statement released by the office of Gavin Newsom, the law will make it mandatory for both individuals and firms to obtain a DFPI license to engage in digital asset business activities. Beginning July 1, 2025, this bill requires the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) to create a robust regulatory framework, including licensure and enforcement authority, for certain crypto activities, the statement said. Importantly, this bill appropriately provides DFPI with rulemaking authority and an 18-month implementation date to ensure the adopted regulatory framework can be thoughtfully tailored to address industry trends and mitigate consumer harm. The delayed implementation will give legislators in the state additional time to iron out the details and help clarify certain aspects of the bill. Ambiguity of certain terms and the scope of this bill will require further refinement in both the regulatory process and in statute to provide clarity to both consumers, regulators and businesses subject to this new licensure framework, Newsom said. It is essential that we strike the appropriate balance between protecting consumers from harm and fostering a responsible innovation environment and I look forward to working with the author to achieve this. The goal of the framework is to provide consumers and investors with stronger protections that help to prevent fraud and ensure bad actors are held accountable, he said. Newsoms endorsement of the crypto regulation bill represents a significant departure from his previous stance. In Sept. 2022, the governor rejected a similar bill looking to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets in California, saying it lacked the flexibility to accommodate the rapidly evolving crypto landscape. Digital assets are becoming increasingly popular in our financial ecosystem, with more consumers buying and selling cryptocurrencies each year, Newsom said at the time in a letter addressed to members of the California State Assembly. It is premature to lock a licensing structure in statute without considering forthcoming federal actions. A more flexible approach is needed to ensure regulatory oversight can keep up with rapidly evolving technology and use cases and is tailored with the proper tools to address trends and mitigate consumer harm. At the time, he proposed waiting for federal regulations before actively pursuing extensive crypto licensing efforts in conjunction with the state legislature. Oct 16 (Reuters) - Since the start of the Ukrainian conflict, Russia, a leading global oil producer, has cemented its energy ties with China, the world's No. 2 oil consumer after the United States. Beijing has rejected Western criticism of its growing partnership with Moscow in light of Russia's conflict in Ukraine. It insists the ties do not flout international norms, and China has the prerogative to collaborate with whichever country it chooses. According to China's customs data, the growth of China's exports and imports with Russia on a year-on-year basis quickened in September from August. Bilateral trade value surged to $21.18 billion last month, the highest since February 2022 when Russia started its military operation in Ukraine. Last month, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said China-Russian economic and trade cooperation had deepened and become more "solid" under the "strategic guidance" of their two leaders. Following is a list of some key energy projects and developments between Russia and China: OIL Russia exports around 2.0 million barrels of oil per day to China, accounting for more than a third of its total crude oil exports. China is Russia's second-largest buyer of Russian oil after India. About 40% of supplies flow via the 4,070-km (2,540-mile) East Siberia Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline that was financed by Chinese loans worth an estimated $50 billion. From January to September, Russia supplied 1.3 million bpd of seaborne crude, based on the average of data supplied by Vortexa and Kpler. China also imported about 800,000 bpd of ESPO crude via pipeline, according to Chinese trading sources. The seaborne imports are mainly ESPO shipped from Russia's Pacific port of Kozmino as well as Urals from the Baltic Sea. From January to September, total Russian shipments grew by over 400,000 bpd from a year earlier, led by Urals, according to tanker tracker Vortexa. China has this year saved $4.34 billion by importing Russian oil, based on Reuters' comparison of the monthly price differentials between ESPO and Tupi crude from Brazil, and Urals versus Oman, using price information provided by traders. PIPELINE GAS Russia's pipeline natural gas exports to the European Union may fall to 21 billion cubic metres (bcm) this year, almost two-thirds lower than last year and a more than a six-fold drop from 2021, according to a forecast by Russian state bank VEB. That's below 22 bcm, which are expected to be supplied via the Power of Siberia to China this year, meaning Russian pipeline gas exports to China will outstrip Russia's gas exports to Europe for the first time. Russia's main gas export route is a 4,000-km (2,500-mile) pipeline Power of Siberia that links East Siberian fields to northeast China. Supplies via the Power of Siberia pipeline, which is not connected to the network of westbound Russian gas pipelines, began in late 2019 and are due to rise to 38 bcm a year by 2025, up from 10.5 bcm in 2021 and 15.5 bcm in 2022, under a 30-year contract worth more than $400 billion. Russia aims to build a second gas pipeline to China, Power of Siberia 2, with capacity for 50 bcm a year to run via Mongolia. However, the talks about prices and other issues related to the route have so far failed to yield any tangible results. During President Vladimir Putin's visit to China last year, he secured a 30-year contract to supply 10 billion cubic metres of gas a year to China via a new pipeline from Russian island of Sakhalin. Russia's Novatek wants to rival Qatar as the world's largest LNG producer over the coming decades and Chinese firms including CNPC have invested in its Yamal LNG and Arctic LNG-2 projects. Russia also may supply up to 10 million tons of liquefied natural gas to China this year of total 33 million tons of LNG produced in Russia. DETROIT (AP) Ford Motor Co. Executive Chairman Bill Ford on Monday called on autoworkers to come together to end a monthlong strike that he says could cost the company the ability to invest in the future. In a rare speech coming during contract talks in the company's hometown of Dearborn, Michigan, Ford said high labor costs could limit spending on developing new vehicles and investing in factories. Its the absolute lifeblood of our company. And if we lose it, we will lose to the competition. America loses. Many jobs will be lost, said the great-grandson of company founder Henry Ford. The company, he said, builds more vehicles in America and has more United Auto Workers employees than any company, which has increased its costs in a highly competitive industry. Ford has 57,000 UAW workers compared with 46,000 at GM and 43,000 at Stellantis. Many of our competitors moved jobs to Mexico as we added jobs here in the U.S., Ford said. The company is near an impasse with the United Auto Workers union, which walked out in targeted strikes at all three Detroit automakers on Sept. 15, Last week 8,700 union members walked out at the largest and most profitable Ford plant in the world, the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville. Ford said the strike at the Kentucky plant is harming tens of thousands of Americans who work for parts suppliers and Ford dealers. The strike also could cause a fragile parts supply base to collapse, he said. If it continues, it will have a major impact on the American economy and devastate local communities, he said. Bill Ford, only the fourth family member to lead the 120-year-old company, said he has watched other countries lose their auto industries, then all of their manufacturing base. He said strong American manufacturing is essential for national security. We need to come together to bring an end to this acrimonious round of talks, Ford said. I still believe in a bright future one that we can build together. I still believe the automobile industry is a major force for good in our country. We will continue to be there when America needs us most. Last week, after the Kentucky strike began, a top Ford executive said on a conference call with reporters that Ford had reached the limit in how much it was willing to spend to end the strike. UAW President Shawn Fain said that Bill Ford knows he can settle the strike by calling CEO Jim Farley and telling him to stop playing games and get a deal done." He threatened to strike and close Ford's Rouge truck complex in Dearborn. Its not the UAW and Ford against foreign automakers. Its autoworkers everywhere against corporate greed," Fain said in a statement. At the Ford Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan, west of Detroit, few workers are on the picket lines Monday afternoon said they listened to Fords speech. When told what Ford said about investing in the future, line worker Steve Applebee said he agreed. I get that, he said. I can see both sides. But he also said Ford is paying CEO Farley $21 million per year when starting pay for Ford factory workers is up only about $3 per hour from when he started with the company 31 years ago. Fords offer of a 23% general wage increase barely covers inflation over the last three or four years, said Applebee, 59. Carlos Hollins 47, of Detroit, who just started with Ford in July and is at the low end of the pay scale, said workers gave up raises in 2008 when Ford and the others were in financial trouble. They were promised that concessions would be restored when the company recovered. We shouldnt have to suffer, especially for the retirees, he said. They need to pay us what we deserve. The union has said retirees havent received a pension increase for at least a decade. Hollins said workers should get everything they are asking for, and Ford has enough money to pay it. The speech from Ford arrives with the entire auto industry making a historic and expensive shift from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles. Fain has said Ford and crosstown rivals General Motors and Jeep maker Stellantis are making billions in profits, and that workers should get a share. He says the workers should be repaid for sacrificing general pay raises, cost of living adjustments and agreeing to lower wage tiers to keep the companies afloat during the Great Recession. The union began striking at targeted factories after its contracts with the companies expired. It started picketing one assembly plant from each company, but that has since spread to 38 parts warehouses at GM and Jeep maker Stellantis. The UAW later added another assembly plant at both GM and Ford and on Wednesday, Fain made the surprise announcement that the union would walk out at the Kentucky plant, which makes Super Duty pickups and large Ford and Lincoln SUVs. About 34,000 of the union's 146,000 employees at all three automakers are now on strike. The seemingly widening labor rift suggests Ford and the union may be in for a lengthy strike that could cost the company and its workers billions of dollars. The union has said Fords general wage offer is up to 23% over four years and that it has reinstated cost of living raises. GM and Stellantis were at 20%. But Fain said none is high enough. Roozbeh Bita talks about the success of the first event in Iran to be dedicated to the smart home and building sector which included presentations, workshops and the Smart Building Award. The Iran Home Tech event took place 3-4 September 2023 at the Rayzan International Exhibition Centre, located north of Tehran. It included an exhibition of building technologies, panel discussions, workshops, and the Smart Building Award. The Iran Home Tech event took place 3-4 September 2023 at the Rayzan International Exhibition Centre. This was the first event of its kind in Iran to be exclusively dedicated to smart buildings and related technologies. It was organised by me as secretary of KNX user club Iran, but from now on, it will be the responsibility of the committee of the Iran Home Tech organisation. Members of the Iran Home Tech Committee (Mr Monfared, Mr Hosseini, Ms Abolhasani, the members of the green architecture and smart architecture discussion panel). Given Irans potential as a market for smart home devices, this event proved to be very popular and was attended by more than 400 people. Over 50 projects were submitted to the Smart Building Award, and 32 made it to the competition stage. Of these, six were nominated for the grand award, and three were chosen as finalists. The event included an exhibition of building technologies. Winners of the Iran Home Tech Smart Building Award First place was won by Tarh o Manzar for the Hermes Residential project in Tehran. This 4000m2 residential complex uses a KNX backbone with IP routers, connecting a range of KNX brands for controlling homes and the communal pool. In second place was the Oloum Pezeshki Kindergarten in Shiraz by Yasha Co. This 2200m2 project has nine baby-proofed KNX distribution panels, each of them equipped with actuators and controllers and all connected through a well-designed KNX topology. CO2 monitoring and VFD AHU (Variable-Frequency Drive Air Handling Unit) control were special features of this project. Over 50 projects were submitted, and over 400 people attended the event. Tied for third place were the Ronika Palace Offices and Commercial Project in Tehran by Pardik, and the Edalat Villa in Yazd by Dalahoo. The Ronika Palace commercial building consists of 250 office units covering an area of nearly 55000m2. KNX was used to control the lobby and other shared spaces, whilst the units are controlled using ZigBee devices. One of the most important features of this project is that several protocols were used on the fibre and GPON (Gigabit Passive Optical Network) communication infrastructure. Also, this project is one of the biggest wireless projects in the region. The Edalat Villa project covers 1300m2. It uses KNX gateways to control the HVAC system and uses a KNX visualisation system with logic control for energy monitoring and optimisation, as well as controlling fresh air ducts to respond to the Yazd city climate. Thanks to KNX technology, more than five brands could be integrated together with a multiroom music system with KNX bus control. Winners of the Smart Building Award being presented with their prize. The event was sponsored by KNX Association and major companies including as Astrum Technologies (Tarh o Manzar Co.), Akuvox (Pardik Smart Home) and Zooril Co.. These companies also participated in the exhibition together with Theben (Farinara Co.), and Switch4 Iran. Workshops and talks The two-day event included workshops and talks by engineers from different sections of the construction industry. They discussed various aspects of smart buildings, such as IoT, architecture, construction, and the property market. We also enjoyed an online presentation of KNX IoT from KNX Association Membership & Business Development Manager, Jesus Arias. The two-day event included workshops and talks by engineers from different sections of the construction industry. The architecture round table concentrated on how we can use standard protocols, such as KNX, to achieve green and smart buildings. The KNX IoT workshop dealt with engineers questions and concerns about current KNX IoT developments such as KNX IPv6 devices and ETS 6.1 improvements and tools for KNX IoT. In the regulation roundtable, many engineers discussed the improvements required to develop more sustainable buildings in Iran and the need for a professional community such as the KNX Userclub. Panel discussions One of the most popular panel discussions, which gained a lot of coverage on social media, was the building developers and property market roundtable where the professionals discussed the past, present and future of smart buildings and smart homes in Iran. This included a fascinating discussion with the developer of the Pars Tower in Tehran, Samad Soleymanzadeh, in which he described the needs of building owners and the growing demand for smart homes. Indeed the smart building and smart home market in the region has many special projects that rank among the larger developments worldwide. Developer of the Pars Tower in Tehran, Samad Soleymanzadeh, describing the needs of building owners and the growing demand for smart homes. Conclusion The Iran Home Tech event and Smart Building Award exceeded our expectations. The quality of the award entries was outstanding, and with so many people engaging with the event and expressing a desire to attend again next year, we have decided to extend it with a bigger exhibition and a larger number of collaborators. This was the first time that smart building professionals have been introduced as a large community to the construction market, which could not fail to be impressed by the knowledge and expertise of the professionals in our industry. I am confident that this will help the market to grow faster, with many more building owners and architects coming on board. Roozbeh Bita is the President of KNX Userclub Iran, Founder & CEO at Artman Smart Energy Solutions, and a KNX++ Tutor. iranhometech.ir Erica Brecher knows the story of how her great-grandmother was planning to go to Israel in 1973, but that plan was disrupted by the Yom Kippur War. Fifty years later, history repeated itself, not only for Brecher, but for dozens of Jewish women who were planning their own pilgrimage. Ten Western New York women who were selected to take an eight-day trip to Israel instead have watched scenes of horror unfold following the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas. The attack happened two weeks before their planned departure. I feel like we are privileged and lucky to be safe, said attorney Florina Altshiler of Orchard Park, one of the 10 who were scheduled to make the trip. 'Beyond belief': Anguish and anger as scenes from Israel horrify Buffalo's Jewish community As the weekend attack on Israel is dominating headlines around the world, members of Buffalo's Jewish community are watching in horror. Some have relatives and friends living there, some have lived or visited there, and all are gripped with fear, anxiety and anger. The excursion was sponsored by the Buffalo Jewish Federation, in collaboration with the group Momentum formerly Jewish Womens Renaissance Project which describes itself as a global movement focused on the greatest influencer the Jewish mother. The trip is meant to help Jewish women get in touch with their roots and culture. For Brecher, a former reporter for WIVB-TV who is now a marketing coordinator for Excelsior Orthopaedics, the trip was supposed to be a second chance to not only visit Israel, but also form a meaningful community with fellow Jewish mothers in Buffalo. I hope that peace is restored to everybody who is being affected by this, Brecher said. I hope that in the future I will still have my chance to go, along with the local women who were also so looking forward to this trip. Altshler and her family emigrated to New York City in the 1980s as refugees from the former Soviet Union. As a child, she did not know anything about her heritage. When we came to America as refugees, that was the first time that I learned that we were Jewish, she said. Buffalo, Amherst to increase police presence near local synagogues While neither Buffalo nor Amherst has received any credible threats, Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown and Amherst Supervisor Brian J. Kulpa issued statements that they hope for peaceful resolution in the Middle East and want to avoid any conflicts in Western New York. Since the attacks, Altshiler has been in constant communication with her family. Relatives in Israel have told her that restaurants remain closed, and they can hear explosions and rockets. For her, the attack is bringing back memories of the days after Russia invaded Ukraine last year. It just feels like we go from one trauma to another in different areas, geographically, she said. Its a story when it breaks, and then theres fatigue. And a couple of weeks later, we forget that theres people still being massacred. The Momentum Buffalo group was supposed to leave Oct. 23 to meet in Tel Aviv, said Zahava Fried, one of the staff members at the Buffalo Jewish Federation, who was also a participant on the trip. They would then meet dozens of other mothers from different parts of the world and journey through Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Tzfat in buses of 30. The Western New Yorkers would then continue to meet for a year after the trip to discuss Jewish learning and how they are imparting values to their children. News about the attacks trickled in over the weekend, but it was not until late Tuesday that the group received a notification about the status of the trip, Fried said. The trip is subject to rescheduling, and the women are hopeful for a fall 2024 reunion. The group continues to meet to extend emotional support to each other. Most people have friends and family in Israel, and they said their hearts bleed for those caught in the crossfire. Fried was in Israel in 2014 during fighting. She easily recalled the terror of hearing sirens and having to run to bomb shelters for protection. The type of trauma and stress ... that is difficult to put into words, she said. Frieds brother-in-law, who just finished mandatory army service in Israel, was vacationing in the United States with her and her family when the attack occurred. He flew back to Israel on Wednesday morning to serve reserve duty. Marni Marciano sighed in relief as she told The Buffalo News that her husband was in Israel until Oct. 6, but he reached home before the attacks. His colleagues, however, are stuck in the fray. She has had to explain to her 4-four-year-old twins why her trip has been canceled and why police are guarding synagogues and the Sunday School they attend. I feel helpless, she said. Credit Agricole S A raised its position in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE Free Report) by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,960,209 shares of the basic materials companys stock after buying an additional 41,017 shares during the quarter. Vale comprises about 0.7% of Credit Agricole S As investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Credit Agricole S A owned approximately 0.07% of Vale worth $39,726,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Moneda S.A. Administradora General de Fondos increased its holdings in shares of Vale by 193.8% during the second quarter. Moneda S.A. Administradora General de Fondos now owns 2,916,272 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $39,136,000 after acquiring an additional 1,923,765 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Vale in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $134,000. Inspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Vale by 19.0% in the 2nd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 12,691 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $170,000 after buying an additional 2,026 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its holdings in Vale by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 146,096 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $1,961,000 after buying an additional 16,609 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Vale by 20.2% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 37,790 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $507,000 after buying an additional 6,353 shares during the period. 16.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Vale alerts: Vale Price Performance VALE traded up $0.23 on Monday, hitting $13.32. 6,130,876 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,881,072. Vale S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $12.22 and a fifty-two week high of $19.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $13.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.86. The stock has a market cap of $59.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 0.87. Vale Increases Dividend Vale ( NYSE:VALE Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The basic materials company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.33). Vale had a return on equity of 28.86% and a net margin of 27.29%. The business had revenue of $9.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.82 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year. The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.4056 per share. This represents a yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 14th. This is a boost from Vales previous semi-annual dividend of $0.35. Vales payout ratio is 27.39%. Analyst Ratings Changes VALE has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Vale in a report on Thursday, July 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Vale from $18.00 to $17.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 21st. BNP Paribas cut shares of Vale from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and set a $13.20 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, June 28th. Scotiabank cut shares of Vale from a sector outperform rating to a sector perform rating and set a $16.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, June 28th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Vale in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a buy rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $17.02. View Our Latest Report on Vale Vale Company Profile (Free Report) Vale SA, together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells iron ore and iron ore pellets for use as raw materials in steelmaking in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through Iron Solutions and Energy Transition Materials segments. The Iron Solutions segment produces and extracts iron ore and pellets, manganese, and other ferrous products; and provides related logistic services. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Vale Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Vale and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Bank of Stockton lowered its holdings in EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG Free Report) by 14.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,068 shares of the energy exploration companys stock after selling 689 shares during the period. Bank of Stocktons holdings in EOG Resources were worth $466,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EOG. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of EOG Resources during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new position in EOG Resources during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of EOG Resources in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Kalos Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of EOG Resources during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of EOG Resources by 1,136.4% during the 1st quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 272 shares of the energy exploration companys stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. 89.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get EOG Resources alerts: EOG Resources Stock Down 0.1 % Shares of EOG traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $133.75. The company had a trading volume of 1,009,370 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,327,947. The stock has a market cap of $77.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.02, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.55. The companys 50 day moving average price is $128.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $120.87. The company has a quick ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. EOG Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $98.52 and a 52 week high of $150.88. EOG Resources Announces Dividend EOG Resources ( NYSE:EOG Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The energy exploration company reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.21. EOG Resources had a return on equity of 28.52% and a net margin of 33.58%. The firm had revenue of $5.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.74 earnings per share. EOG Resourcess quarterly revenue was down 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that EOG Resources, Inc. will post 11.36 EPS for the current year. The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 16th. EOG Resourcess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.24%. Analyst Ratings Changes A number of research firms have issued reports on EOG. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on EOG Resources from $115.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Monday, July 10th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of EOG Resources in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a hold rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of EOG Resources from $141.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, August 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of EOG Resources from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, October 2nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of EOG Resources from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, September 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, EOG Resources has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $150.04. View Our Latest Research Report on EOG Insiders Place Their Bets In other news, COO Lloyd W. Helms, Jr. sold 4,551 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.76, for a total value of $595,088.76. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 145,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,994,066.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. EOG Resources Company Profile (Free Report) EOG Resources, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, explores for, develops, produces, and markets crude oil, and natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its principal producing areas are in New Mexico and Texas in the United States; and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The company was formerly known as Enron Oil & Gas Company. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding EOG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for EOG Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for EOG Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (NYSE:SMFG Get Free Report) and ABN AMRO Bank (OTCMKTS:AAVMY Get Free Report) are both financial services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership and valuation. Insider & Institutional Ownership 1.6% of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth. Get Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group alerts: Analyst Ratings This is a summary of recent recommendations for Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and ABN AMRO Bank, as reported by MarketBeat. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group 0 1 1 0 2.50 ABN AMRO Bank 0 1 3 0 2.75 Profitability ABN AMRO Bank has a consensus target price of $11.20, indicating a potential downside of 19.54%. Given ABN AMRO Banks stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe ABN AMRO Bank is more favorable than Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group. This table compares Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and ABN AMRO Banks net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group 11.19% 6.62% 0.32% ABN AMRO Bank N/A N/A N/A Earnings and Valuation This table compares Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and ABN AMRO Banks revenue, earnings per share and valuation. Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group $3,783.10 billion 0.02 $6.83 billion $0.86 11.28 ABN AMRO Bank N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group has higher revenue and earnings than ABN AMRO Bank. Summary Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group beats ABN AMRO Bank on 6 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks. About Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (Get Free Report) Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides banking, leasing, securities, credit card, and consumer finance services in Japan, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Oceania. It operates through Wholesale Business Unit, Retail Business Unit, Global Business Unit, and Global Markets Business Unit segments. The company was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. About ABN AMRO Bank (Get Free Report) ABN AMRO Bank N.V. provides various banking products and services to retail, private, and business clients in the Netherlands and internationally. It operates through three segments: Personal & Business Banking, Wealth Management, and Corporate Banking. The company provides savings and deposits products; labelled residential mortgage products under the Florius brands; and consumer loans under the Alpha Credit Nederland, Credivance, Defam, Moneyou, and ABN AMRO brands. It also issues, promotes, manages, and processes credit cards; provides revolving credit card facilities and pension schemes, as well as consumer credit and mortgages; and life and non-life insurance products. In addition, it offers asset-based solutions, including working capital solutions, equipment leases and loans, and vendor lease services; private banking and wealth-management-related services; and derivatives and equity clearing services. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Receive News & Ratings for Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 6,920,000 shares, an increase of 18.5% from the September 15th total of 5,840,000 shares. Currently, 3.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,500,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.6 days. Institutional Trading of GrafTech International Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC lifted its stake in GrafTech International by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,358,593 shares of the companys stock valued at $186,423,000 after buying an additional 2,680,064 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of GrafTech International by 5.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,925,413 shares of the companys stock valued at $230,163,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237,154 shares during the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its position in GrafTech International by 22.0% during the 1st quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 18,310,795 shares of the companys stock worth $88,990,000 after purchasing an additional 3,297,984 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in GrafTech International by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 13,494,013 shares of the companys stock valued at $68,010,000 after purchasing an additional 716,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yacktman Asset Management LP raised its stake in GrafTech International by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Yacktman Asset Management LP now owns 9,256,476 shares of the companys stock valued at $46,653,000 after purchasing an additional 722,375 shares during the last quarter. 92.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get GrafTech International alerts: GrafTech International Price Performance Shares of EAF stock traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $3.42. The stock had a trading volume of 1,791,915 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,529,290. The company has a market cap of $878.28 million, a P/E ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90. GrafTech International has a 12-month low of $3.32 and a 12-month high of $6.74. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $3.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.36. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades GrafTech International ( NYSE:EAF Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 4th. The company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $185.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $177.18 million. GrafTech International had a net margin of 14.68% and a return on equity of 40.42%. GrafTech Internationals revenue was down 49.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.44 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that GrafTech International will post -0.13 earnings per share for the current year. Separately, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of GrafTech International from $5.00 to $4.50 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 7th. Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on EAF About GrafTech International (Get Free Report) GrafTech International Ltd. research, develops, manufactures, and sells graphite and carbon-based solutions worldwide. The company offers graphite electrodes to produce electric arc furnace steel and other ferrous and non-ferrous metals; and petroleum needle coke, a crystalline form of carbon used in the production of graphite electrodes and synthetic graphite. See Also Receive News & Ratings for GrafTech International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for GrafTech International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Korea is considering increasing the maximum limit of purchases eligible for immediate tax refunds by foreign visitors as part of its initiative to boost the tourism industry, the finance ministry said Monday. Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho unveiled the plan to reporters before returning home from Marrakesh, western Morocco, after attending the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank last week. "We are considering significantly increasing the ceiling," Choo said, without elaborating on details of the amount, only noting the new rule will be applied next year. Currently, Korea provides on-spot tax refunds for individual payments of up to 500,000 won ($370) at designated stores, with a maximum cap of 2.5 million won on the total purchases. At departure halls, there are no restrictions on purchases eligible for tax refunds. The latest plan came after the number of visitors to Korea plunged to 3.2 million in 2022, compared with 17.5 million tallied in 2019, in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The finance ministry said the updated policy will help Korea attract more foreign tourists and bolster domestic consumption. In 2019, Korea offered immediate tax refunds worth 31.6 billion won to foreign visitors, up 26 percent from 24.9 billion won tallied in 2018. The government, meanwhile, has been making efforts to attract more Chinese tourists as Beijing decided to lift the ban on group tours to Korea in August, ending a six-year hiatus caused by frayed relations following the deployment of a U.S. defense system here. (Yonhap) President Joe Biden is considering a trip to Israel in the coming days but no travel has been finalized, a senior administration official said Sunday. It would be a powerful symbol of sympathy and support following the brutal attack by Hamas. A trip would be a chance for Biden to personally affirm to the Israeli people the U.S. is standing firm behind them. But it would come amid growing fears that a looming Israeli move into Gaza could spark a wider war with devastating humanitarian consequences. And Bidens presence could be seen as a provocative move by Hamas chief sponsor, Iran, or potentially viewed as tone deaf by Arab nations as civilian casualties mount in Gaza. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has already been traveling around the Mideast this past week trying to prevent the war with Hamas from igniting a broader regional conflict. The official could not publicly discuss internal deliberations about the potential presidential travel and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Biden also made his strongest public statements yet to restrain Israel after the Oct. 7 attack that killed more than 1,400 people including at least 30 U.S. citizens, warning in an interview with CBS' 60 Minutes that aired Sunday that Israel should not reoccupy Gaza. I think itd be a big mistake, Biden said. Look, what happened in Gaza, in my view, is Hamas, and the extreme elements of Hamas dont represent all the Palestinian people. And I think that it would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza again. Israel left Gaza in 2005; Hamas won the elections the next year. Still, Biden said, taking out the extremists ... is a necessary requirement. Biden and his administration officials have refused to criticize Israel or its bombing campaign that has killed civilians in Gaza. But they've urged Israel, Egypt and other nations to allow for humanitarian aid and supplies into the worsening conflict zone. Im confident that Israel is going to act under the rules of war, Biden said in the interview. Theres standards that democratic institutions and countries go by. And Im confident that theres going to be an ability for the innocents in Gaza to be able to have access to medicine and food and water. Blinken, meanwhile, heard criticism of Israel's military operation from Egypt President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. After Cairo he traveled on to Jordan and planned to return to Israel on Monday, carrying to Israeli leaders the feedback he received in a rush of meetings with leaders throughout the Arab world. Egypts state-run media said el-Sissi told Blinken that Israels Gaza operation has exceeded the right of self-defense and turned into a collective punishment. Blinken told reporters before leaving Egypt that Israel has the right, indeed it has the obligation to defend itself against these attacks from Hamas and to try to do what it can to make sure that this never happens again. Mindful of the potential human cost in Gaza, Blinken said the way that Israel does this matters. It needs to do it in a way that affirms the shared values that we have for human life and human dignity, taking every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians. Earlier Sunday, the envoy met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, talks that built upon earlier sessions with the leaders of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. Blinken said that what he heard in every meeting with Arab leaders was a determination of shared view that we have to do everything possible to make sure this doesnt spread to other places, a shared view to safeguard innocent lives, a shared view to get assistance to Palestinians in Gaza who need it and were working very much on that. The White House also appointed David Satterfield, a former ambassador to Lebanon and Turkey, to lead U.S. efforts to get humanitarian assistance to vulnerable people through the Middle East. Satterfield was expected to arrive in Israel on Monday. From Washington, Bidens national security adviser said the U.S. was not making requests or demands of Israel with respect to its military operations. Jake Sullivan, making the rounds of the Sunday TV news shows, said the administration was simply stating our basic principles the principles upon which this country is based and all democracies, including Israel, are based. Its what makes us different from the terrorists, that in fact we respect civilian life. He said the U.S. was not interfering in their military planning or trying to give them instructions or requests specific. Sullivan said the U.S. is conveying the message in public and in private that all military operations should be conducted consistent with law of war, that civilians should be protected, that civilians should have a real opportunity to get to safety and have access to food, water, medicine and shelter. Those remarks marked a shift in the U.S. administrations comments in recent days as officials have heard concerns from Arab leaders. Those leaders expressed the consequences of what a humanitarian catastrophe resulting from an Israeli ground offensive would do not only to Palestinians but also in inflaming public opinions in Arab nations and potentially destabilizing relatively friendly countries. Sullivan also said the U.S. has been unable so far to get American citizens out of Gaza through Egypts Rafah crossing with Gaza. Blinken made clear in Egypt that the U.S. will not waver in supporting Israel, saying, We will stand with it today, tomorrow and every day and were doing that in word and also in deed. In his roughly hourlong meeting with Prince Mohammed at the de facto Saudi leaders private farm outside Riyadh, Blinken highlighted the United States unwavering focus on halting terrorist attacks by Hamas, securing the release of all hostages, and preventing the conflict from spreading, the State Department said. The two affirmed their shared commitment to protecting civilians and to advancing stability across the Middle East and beyond, according to a department statement. The Saudi description of the meeting focused primarily on Palestinian civilians, echoing the sentiments that the other Arab leaders with whom Blinken has met. It said Saudi Arabia would object to the targeting of civilians in any way or disrupt(ing) infrastructure and vital interests that affect their daily lives. The prince stressed the need to work to discuss ways to stop the military operations that claimed the lives of innocent people, the Saudi Press Agency said in a report about the meeting. (AP) What to know about the week ahead The Office of Cannabis Management Cannabis Control Board will meet at 10 a.m. Tuesday in New York City for its regular monthly meeting. It can be viewed via livestream at Cannabis.NY.gov. The meeting agenda is slated to be posted to that website by Monday night. M&T Bank is scheduled to release its third-quarter earnings on Wednesday morning. KeyBank is scheduled to release its third-quarter earnings on Thursday morning. The state Labor Department will release its September jobs report for the Buffalo Niagara region Thursday afternoon. The Walden Galleria will host a fall job fair from 3 to 6 p.m. Wednesday on the lower level near the Apple Store. Employers in attendance will include Buffalo Milk-Bone, Erie 2 BOCES, First Student, UB Campus Dining & Shops and United Healthcare. The event is free to attend for all job seekers. Employers who would like to participate can call Dawn Rayl at 716-681-7600, Ext. 132, or email dawnrayl@pyramidmg.com. For more information, visit waldengalleria.com. THE LATEST The five 43North winners have high hopes for their time in Buffalo. UB is getting a big donation to help build its new engineering building. MacKenzie Scott is coming through for Neighborhood Health. A developer wants tax breaks for a "luxury" apartment project in North Tonawanda. Steve Case says cities need to step up their efforts to help startups. A controversial Lockport plastics plant gets tax breaks from IDA. The 43North semifinalists were focused on Buffalo. 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 opened last week. 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. 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. In a stunning turn of events, the world-renowned K-pop group BLACKPINK has sent shockwaves through the music industry by announcing their "signing" with a mega label. Fans and industry insiders alike are left wondering if this move is a step towards breaking free from the constraints of their current management. BLACKPINK's Earth-Shattering Announcement BLACKPINK, consisting of talented members Jennie, Lisa, Jisoo, and Rose, has been dominating the global music scene since their debut in 2016. With numerous chart-topping hits and a massive fan base, the group has become a force to be reckoned with. Their unique blend of catchy tunes, fierce choreography, and captivating visuals has garnered them a dedicated following worldwide. Speculation about their future plans began when BLACKPINK announced their "signing" with a mega label, which has not been disclosed at this time. The news immediately set social media ablaze, with fans expressing both excitement and concern about what this could mean for the beloved group. Some fans are hopeful that this move signifies BLACKPINK's desire for greater creative freedom and control over their music. They believe that joining forces with a mega label could provide the necessary resources and support for the group to explore new artistic directions and collaborations. Netizens' comments: "Wow, BLACKPINK signing with a mega label! This is huge news!" "I'm so excited to see what this new chapter holds for BLACKPINK!" "It's great to see BLACKPINK making international moves. They deserve all the success!" "I hope this means we'll get even more amazing music from BLACKPINK." "BLACKPINK is taking the world by storm! Can't wait to see what they achieve next!" "I'm curious to know if this move will allow BLACKPINK more creative freedom." "Signing with a mega label could give BLACKPINK more global exposure. Good for them!" "BLACKPINK is breaking barriers and making waves in the industry. So proud of them!" "I hope the girls are happy with this decision. Their talent deserves recognition." "BLACKPINK's journey continues to inspire and empower fans around the world!" However, others are worried that this move could result in the group being subjected to even more rigorous schedules and commercial pressures. BLACKPINK has already faced criticism in the past for their limited releases and perceived lack of creative input, leading some fans to fear that this new signing might further restrict their artistic expression. Until further details are revealed, it remains unclear whether BLACKPINK's "signing" with a mega label will truly lead to them breaking free or if it is simply a strategic business move. Fans eagerly await updates from the group and their management regarding this exciting development. READ ALSO: BLACKPINK Jennie 'You & Me' Fashion: How to Dress Like K-pop Icon With THESE Elegant Styles! As BLACKPINK continues to captivate audiences around the world with their electrifying performances and infectious music, one thing is certain: their every move will be closely watched. Only time will tell how this new signing will shape the future of this powerhouse K-pop group. READ ALSO: BLACKPINK Drama Hits YG Hard- Will BABYMONSTER's Magic Spell Help Agency's Plummeting Stocks? Follow and subscribe to KpopStarz for more news. KpopStarz own this article. Cassidy Jones wrote this. Rob Walker told agents a $3 million payment from China to Hunter Biden was more of a thank you and also that Hunter never repaid his $90,000 "loan". A group of cloistered Carmelite nuns has acknowledged in a letter that they will move from their large monastery in Buffalo and relocate to St. Augustine, Fla. "It is with both sadness and joy that we announce that, after a century of blessings here in Buffalo, we have received permission from Rome to relocate to the Diocese of St. Augustine in north Florida," the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of Buffalo said in a letter that was read at a Mass at the monastery on Oct. 8. Carmelite nuns may be moving from Buffalo monastery to Florida The nuns intend to put their monastery, with a listed address of 75 Carmel Road, up for sale, and move to St. Augustine, according to a Buffalo Diocese source and a woman who raises money for the Carmelites in Florida. The nuns have resided since the 1920s in a two-story brick building called Monastery of the Little Flower of Jesus that stretches along Carmel Road and Tacoma Avenue in North Buffalo. "When this monastery was built, this was a quiet area on the outskirts of the city," the letter said. "Now, however, we no longer have the silence and solitude which are requisite for a Cloistered community," the letter said. The nuns noted that friends have offered to help them obtain a spacious property in the Diocese of St. Augustine. The News reported Monday that Catherine Hensley of Ponte Vedra, Fla., said she and her husband are raising funds to help the Carmelite nuns find a home in that area. The couple formed a nonprofit called Friends of the Carmelite Nuns of North Florida to raise funds for the nuns. "Words cannot express the profound gratitude we have in our hearts for all of the love and generosity which the people of Buffalo have shown to our community for these many years!" the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of Buffalo said in their letter. The nuns' letter did not indicate how soon they plan to move or whether they will sell their Buffalo property. Erie County property records show that the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of Buffalo own a large property roughly half of a city block assessed at $1.2 million with an address of 94 Shoshone St. The nuns also own four adjacent, smaller parcels on Carmel Road, with a total assessed value of $160,600. Brasilia (Brazil), Oct 17 (AP) The Negro River, the Amazon's second largest tributary, on Monday reached its lowest level since official measurements began near Manaus 121 years ago. The record confirms that this part of the world's largest rainforest is suffering its worst drought, just a little over two years after its most significant flooding. In the morning, the water level in the city's port went as low as 13.5 metres (44.3 feet), down from 30.02 metres (98.5 feet) registered in June 2021 its highest level on record. The Negro River drains about 10% of the Amazon basin and is the world's sixth largest by water volume. Also Read | Israel-Palestine War: Hamas's Armed Wing Al-Qassam Brigades Fires 'Barrage of Missiles' at Jerusalem, Tel Aviv. Madeira River, another main tributary of the Amazon, has also recorded historically low levels, causing the halt of the Santo Antonio hydroelectric dam, Brazil's fourth largest. Throughout Brazil's Amazon, low river levels have left hundreds of riverine communities isolated and struggling to get access to drinkable water. The drought also has disrupted commercial navigation that supplies Manaus, a city of 2 million with a large industrial park. Also Read | LinkedIn Layoffs: Microsoft-Owned Professional Social Networking Platform Cuts More Than 600 Workers, About 3% of Workforce. Manaus is the largest city and capital of Amazonas, the state hit hardest by the drought. In late September, 55 of 62 municipalities there entered states of emergency due to the severe drought. There is no more water to go through. Navigation is over, boatman Cledson Lopes Brasil told The Associated Press. Brasil operates in Marina do Davi port, a getaway to dozens of riverine communities, some of them with sandy beaches that attract tourists. The once bustling area is now surrounded by parched soil, with many boathouses high and dry. For one month now, Brasil has switched to a lower-powered boat, better suited for shallow waters. Still, he can't reach most communities along Taruma-Acu, a tributary of the Negro River. Some riverine dwellers must walk up to three hours to reach their houses and tourism has stopped altogether. Manaus and other nearby cities are also suffering from high temperatures and heavy smoke from nearby man-caused fires for deforestation and pasture clearance. The drought is also the likely cause of dozens of river dolphin deaths in Tefe Lake, near the Amazon River. This is a startling contrast to July 2021, when Negro River waters took over part of the Manaus downtown area. The historic flood, which also ruined crops of hundreds of riverine communities, lasted for about three months. Philip Fearnside, an American researcher at the Brazilian National Institute of Amazonian Research, a public agency, expects the situation to deteriorate, both during the ongoing event and in the future with increasing frequency and severity of similar events with climate change. He said surface water in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean is now warmer than during the Godzilla El Nino of 2015-2016 and is expanding. In the Amazon, these Pacific warmings primarily lead to droughts in the northern part of the region. Moreover, a warm water patch in the tropical North Atlantic Ocean is causing drought in the southern part of the Amazon, similar to what happened in 2005 and 2010, according to researchers. The forecast is for the start of the rains to be delayed compared to normal, and for a drier-than-normal rainy season, Fearnside said. This could result not only in extreme low water this year, but also low levels in 2024. Until the rainy season begins in the basin, the situation that is already underway should worsen. (AP) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) On 13 October a Guatemalan appeals court overturned the six-year prison sentence handed down to prominent journalist, the founder of investigative daily elPeriodico, which was forced to close earlier this year. End of preview - This article contains approximately 395 words. Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article Not a Subscriber? Choose from one of the following options On 13 October Mexicos ruling left-wing Movimiento Regeneracion Nacional (Morena) announced a list of aspirants who will compete to be the partys candidate for head of government in Mexico City (CDMX) next year. End of preview - This article contains approximately 402 words. Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article Not a Subscriber? Choose from one of the following options Braden Diebel walked through the Buffalo Museum of Science, excitedly pointing out his favorite exhibits and sharing his science knowledge with Ethan Tong, his Compeer mentor. The two young men have been hanging out together since March, doing things like visiting the Buffalo Museum of Science, walking through Delaware Park, playing carnival games at Canal Fest and seeing the newest Spider-Man movie on opening weekend. While they were matched through Compeer a local organization that promotes mental wellness through connection and friendship the two have become like the brother each never had, they said. We hang out, we talk all the time about life stuff throughout his time in high school and anything else thats going on, said Tong, a senior at the University at Buffalo. Fostering such connection has been the goal of Compeer for the past 50 years, said CEO Cheri Alvarez. The organization, founded in 1973 in Rochester by Bernice Skirboll after she was in a near-fatal car crash, celebrates its half-century anniversary this year. We believe in the healing power of friendship, Alvarez said. Compeer matches people living with a mental health diagnosis with volunteers from the community for friendship to address the challenges that often come with mental health disorders, Alvarez said. Clients are referred to Compeer by their mental health professional, and the mentors are volunteers who find the agency usually through word of mouth, as Tong did. The pairs are matched based on compatibility and shared interests. The organization asks that each pair commit a minimum of one year, four hours a month to growing their friendship. Data Compeer has collected since its beginning routinely shows that true friendships develop around the one-year mark, Alvarez said. Some Compeer matches have been friends for more than a decade. Individuals are feeling less lonely, less isolated, their social engagement and their confidence with engaging with others increases, Alvarez said. Sometimes, the symptoms of mental health make us withdraw from our friends and family, and coming back out of that is very challenging. Compeers history Compeer got its start just down the Thruway. In 1965, Skirboll was seriously injured in a car accident and spent two months in the hospital. She realized her family and friends provided an incredible source of support and were instrumental in her recovery. She also realized that not everyone had that same kind of support. Compeer, a combination of the words companion and peer, was first called Adopt-a-Patient when Skirboll started the program under the Mental Health Association in Rochester. Compeer started with 12 volunteers but now serves thousands of clients in 40 locations in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia. The company is now headquartered in Buffalo. Addressing mental health stigma Though the treatment and understanding of mental health disorders has evolved over the past 50 years, Compeers model has remained consistent and successful, Alvarez said. I think that the need for it existed then, I think the need for it exists even more now, she said. Its such a basic thing. We all deserve friendship. We all need it. The stigma around mental health has also changed in the past 50 years. Alvarez said shes seen this most in the language society uses to talk about mental health, such as the phrases died by suicide versus committed suicide. I think were becoming more aware that when we call someone a crazy person, thats contributing towards stigma, she said. Compeer mentor Tong said he didnt think much about mental health in his own life until the Covid-19 pandemic hit. The months of isolation took a toll on his mental health, he said. Tong plans on applying to medical school after graduation and already during his short time volunteering and spending time in the health care industry, he recognizes mental health is still a topic that needs more attention. Its still kind of like stigmatized and taking a back seat, he said. The stigma that still surrounds mental health diagnoses can prevent people from seeking the help they need, Alvarez said. Grant helps Compeer teach teen mental health first aid The grant also includes funds to support a mentoring program that promotes positive mental health for students. When someone is experiencing a mental health challenge, sometimes they feel like its only them, or they did something wrong or no ones going to understand so they dont get the help they need, she said. And thats horrible. But Alvarez said she sees hope in the younger generations who openly discuss counseling and mental health. The conversations and openness they have about mental health, I dont remember anyone talking about that when I was in school, she said. And it wows me. This generation needs to teach the older generations how to talk about mental health as freely and comfortable as they do. Theres no hesitation and its beautiful. Want to volunteer? Compeer volunteers do not have to have any background in mental health, but Compeer does provide training in mental health first aid, Alvarez said. All volunteers have to be 18 or older, go through a background check, an interview process and must provide references to ensure safety of the participants in the program. Compeer serves clients ages 6 and up. The role of the volunteer is to be a friend, Alvarez said. So they need to be someone whos a good listener, who can demonstrate empathy and want to try new things and be patient. Diebel is Tongs first mentee. He heard about Compeer through a friend who was already a volunteer with the organization. Diebel, 15, said hes loved getting to share his love for the museum and science with Tong. At the same time, Tong has been helping Diebel get more active and improve his fitness. Its a great opportunity and I get a lot of joy out of it, being able to influence and mentor one singular person and be able to shape how theyre growing up, Tong said. On 13 October officials from Brazils federal government, including the environment minister,, and the regional development minister,, gave a press conference about the latest actions to address the severe drought afflicting the northern Amazonian region, announcing more funding and the deployment of more personnel. End of preview - This article contains approximately 384 words. Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article Not a Subscriber? Choose from one of the following options It has been over a year since migrants from Venezuela were lured into a plane by recruiters backed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and then flown to Martha's Vineyard where they were left to fend for themselves in the cold Massachusetts weather. However, these days, the Martha's Vineyard migrants are doing fine as they have a good chance of being granted asylum because they are now considered victims of a crime. After a perilous trek from Venezuela to the US, these migrants were approached by recruiters hired by the Florida government and promised jobs in Martha's Vineyard. However, once they arrived there, they were dumped at a local Catholic Church and left there. CBS News launched a "60 Minutes" investigation into how Ron DeSantis's government lured them for this political stunt in his bid to appeal to the hardline rightwing anti-immigration crowd as he runs for president. Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar is currently looking into this and spoke with CBS News, "From what we're able to tell at this point, basically, it looks like they drove around the area, looking for people that may look like the target audience that they're after," said the Texas sheriff. "And then made the approach." Their targets were asylum seekers. One of them was Daniel Cauro who said two women in a white SUV offered help while they were outside a Texas resource center, hungry and tired. "She was saying, 'We want to send you to a state where there's not so many migrants, and you're going to have a lot of help because you're going to have housing and all that,'" he said in Spanish. The woman identified herself as Perla. However, it was noted that this Perla was identified as Perla Huerta, a former US Army counterintelligence agent who was seen in Texas looking for migrants to fill the planes. The investigation found that she texted then Florida Public Safety Czar Larry Keefe while looking for migrants, telling him, "Just got back. churches were empty." READ MORE: Texas Sheriff Files Criminal Charges Over Ron DeSantis's Martha's Vineyard Migrant Stunt Martha's Vineyard Migrants' Legal Action May Move Forward After Grand Jury Decision The two women who lured the migrants into the planes bound for Martha's Vineyard have now had criminal charges against them, including 49 counts of unlawful restraint. According to the San Antonio Report, the case will soon be presented to a grand jury. which will then evaluate if more charges would be needed following the review of evidence, "Those people were in Bexar County legally at that point," Sheriff Salazar noted. "Florida Gov. Ron "DeSantis' administration, I believe, saw that as an opportunity to make a statement with these folks, and they thought they were not going to be held accountable for it." Martha's Vineyard Migrants May Get U Visa Granted as Victims of Crime Ron DeSantis has called the political stunt a "voluntary relocation" of the migrants who originally came from Venezuela. However, since the means of luring them into the plane to Martha's Vineyard may be fraudulent, they can be considered criminally abducted to the United States. According to NPR, "That's enough predicate for the U Visa." The U Visa is typically reserved for victims of crimes who help law enforcement in their investigations. This also makes things easier for them as they get to file their U Visa application in Massachusetts, a "reasonably immigrant-friendly jurisdiction where there's a lot of lawyers support and a lot of political support." However, the process to get one might still be a long one. READ NEXT: Florida Could Face Mass Labor Shortage Due to Ron DeSantis' New Immigration Law This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Rick Martin WATCH: The 50 | Sunday on 60 Minutes In a tragic incident, a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy lost his life, and his mother was critically injured when they were attacked by an Illinois man due to their Muslim faith, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The assailant targeted them because of their religion. The Will County Sheriff's Department reported that the 32-year-old woman called 911 on a Saturday morning, reporting that her landlord, identified as Joseph M. Czuba, was attacking her with a knife at their residence in southwest suburban Plainfield Township. Law enforcement responded to the scene in the 16000 block of South Lincoln Highway at approximately 11:38 a.m., discovering both the woman and the young boy with multiple stab wounds, according to an autopsy report. The boy had suffered 26 stab wounds. They were promptly transported to a nearby hospital, where the boy tragically succumbed to his injuries. The woman remained in serious condition. The Palestinian American boy was identified as Wadea Al-Fayoume and his mother as Hanan Shaheen by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). The Chicago chapter of CAIR held a press conference with the victims' relatives, including the boy's father and uncle, at the Muslim Community Center in Chicago, Illinois. This horrific incident occurred amidst escalating violence between Israel and Hamas. The attack by Hamas on October 7 led to a significant loss of life in Israel, with more than 1,300 casualties. This, in turn, prompted a forceful retaliation that resulted in the loss of 2,670 lives in Gaza, according to officials in the region. The conflict has raised concerns about a broader regional crisis and a worsening humanitarian situation across the Middle East. READ NEXT: Illinois Family of 4, 3 Dogs Shot Dead Illinois Stabbing Incident The tragic assault that occurred on a Saturday took place against the backdrop of escalating violence between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian group in control of the Gaza Strip, CNN reports. Hamas initiated a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, resulting in over 1,300 casualties among Israelis. This provocation triggered a forceful response that, according to officials in Gaza, has claimed the lives of 2,670 individuals. The Middle East region is now gripped by mounting apprehension over a potential broadening of the conflict and a deepening humanitarian crisis. Suburban Chicago boasts a significant Palestinian American community, with a particular area often referred to as "Little Palestine," home to numerous Arab restaurants and shops. However, the distressing attack occurred in a different part of the Chicago suburbs, within a residence situated along a bustling stretch of highway, near a Chevrolet dealership and a barbecue restaurant. The property, approximately 40 miles southwest of downtown Chicago, was characterized by several American flags, an advertisement for organic honey, and a sign advocating for prayers to end abortion. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, a member of the Democratic Party, unequivocally condemned the incident, remarking that "to take a six-year-old child's life in the name of bigotry is nothing short of evil." Illinois Man Arrested Joseph M. Czuba, the alleged attacker and landlord of the victims, was arrested by Will County investigators, per ABC 7. He now faces charges of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and two counts of committing a hate crime. Ahmed Rehab, the president of CAIR, asserted that the crime was perpetrated by someone radicalized by the current environment that dehumanizes Palestinians. The Will County Sheriff's Office deemed the attack "senseless" and "cowardly" and explicitly cited the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict between Hamas and the Israelis as the reason behind the victims' targeting without disclosing specific evidence. Although Czuba, the Illinois man, has not provided a statement to the police, investigators believe they have gathered enough physical evidence and witness statements to support the charges filed against him. He will remain in detention until his initial court appearance. Meanwhile, the 32-year-old Illinois mother, who was hospitalized in serious condition, is expected to survive her injuries, as confirmed by the sheriff's office. READ MORE: LeBron James, Tom Brady on Israel-Hamas War This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Bert Hoover WATCH: 71-year-old man in custody after child, woman stabbed more than a dozen times - From ABC 7 Chicago The Ecuador elections are finally over, and a new president-elect has been declared as newbie politician Daniel Noboa, 35, becomes the country's youngest president ever, beating leftist lawyer Luisa Gonzalez to win. According to the Associated Press, Noboa came out as the clear winner, with about 96% of the votes counted. He has so far taken 52.2% of the votes, while his opponent, Luisa Gonzalez, only has 47.8%. She has already conceded defeat during a speech before supporters on Sunday night. The defeated candidate stated that she plans to call Noboa to congratulate him. However, as Daniel Noboa takes the presidency next year, he faces some very tough challenges ahead of him, including the rise of local drug gangs allied with Mexican drug cartels, such as the Sinaloa Cartel. These local gangs have been responsible for the rise of violence in Ecuador and are allegedly responsible for the death of one presidential candidate, Fernando Villavicencio, last August. Villavicencio was a vocal critic of one of the gang's leaders and has vowed to go after these drug gangs as a presidential candidate. Villavicencio's assassination after a campaign rally spurred even more nationwide uneasiness in a country that has been experiencing a sharp rise in violence. This led to crackdowns all over Ecuador, with prisons being targeted as the drug gang leader that the politician had been criticizing was already in prison but was directing gang activities from the inside. Daniel Noboa Promises to Rebuild Ecuador Noboa surprised many when he qualified for Ecuador's runoff election last Sunday. However, he managed to come out on top and defeated a favorite who many saw as the possible winner. READ MORE: Ecuador Political Violence Continues as Local Political Leader Is Killed The 35-year-old millennial has already promised to improve the economy and create jobs for young people. He also pledged to rebuild the country and house dangerous criminals on prison ships, according to Reuters. "Tomorrow we start work for this new Ecuador, we start working to rebuild a country seriously battered by violence, by corruption, and by hate," the new president-elect of Ecuador told his supporters during a rally in the town of Olon. "From tomorrow Daniel Noboa starts work as your new president." Despite all the challenges he is currently facing, Noboa says he is staying positive, saying, "Ecuador has all the elements needed to be a global example of progress." Daniel Noboa's Father Tried Multiple Times to Become Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa is the son and heir to Ecuador's richest man, Alvaro Noboa. His win is also a fulfillment of what his father failed to do five times, and that is to win the presidency. The Noboa family is behind a massive banana empire that supplies fruits all over the world. Being part of the richest family in Ecuador, he also has his fair share of criticisms, such as being accused of tax evasion, and was also criticized for continuing to supply Russia with bananas after it invaded Ukraine. READ NEXT: Ecuador: President Guillermo Lasso Asks FBI for Help After Election Murder This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Rick Martin WATCH: BREAKING NEWS: ECUADOR HAS A NEW PRESIDENT!!! | Daniel Noboa Wins - Living Loving Abroad The pro-democracy protests in Guatemala continue as the government continues to make it difficult for President-Elect Bernardo Arevalo to transition. This time, however, hackers have gotten involved. Despite the government and state-run media painting the protesters in a bad light, these hackers sided with the pro-democracy demonstrators and hacked several government websites, which Guatemalan authorities described as a national security incident. The hackers come from the infamous group Anonymous. The group disabled several government websites, and this happened after they announced their plans to attack X (formerly Twitter), saying, "This October 14 #Anonymous will attack the Government of Guatemala, but this time we do not come alone." The government websites were flooded with automated traffic until they crashed using a technique known as distributed denial-of-service or DDOS. The Guatemalan government has since vowed to respond to these attacks and has labeled it a matter of "national security." The hackers attacked after the 13th day of protests all over Guatemala. These protests have been led by Indigenous people who are demanding the resignations of Attorney General Consuelo Porras, prosecutors Rafael Curruchiche and Cinthia Monterroso, as well as Judge Fredy Orellana. Porras, Curruchiche, and Orellana have all been listed under a US corruption watchlist and are also the ones leading the investigations into Bernardo Arevalo and making his transition more complicated. Under these investigations, police have raided the country's Supreme Electoral Tribunal and the offices of Arevalo's Seed Movement Party to look for proof of election fraud. International observers and experts are saying that these actions are forms of intimidation and have been deemed undemocratic. A member of Anonymous spoke with the Associated Press and stated, "Everything we do is to support humanity and, now in Guatemala, in support of the people who are in the streets, fighting against corruption and impunity." READ MORE: Guatemala Protests Intensify as President-Elect Bernardo Arevalo Warns of Government Using Violence To Stamp Out Protests Guatemala President Stands by Embattled Attorney General Amid Protests Guatemala's President Alejandro Giammattei did not run for re-election as he was deeply unpopular. With him on his way out and promising a smooth transition, the protesters have largely targeted AG Porras who is leading the investigations into the election and the Seed Movement party. According to Reuters, Giammattei reiterated his calls to lift the roadblocks and admitted he could not remove Porras as attorney general. As for Porras, she stated that she would not step down. Guatemala Protesters Standing Firm Meanwhile, the protesters themselves are not letting up regarding their demands for democracy and the resignation of Porras and others. Thousands of them have stayed resolute and are not showing signs of backing down as Giammattei called for their roadblocks to be lifted. The protests began on October 2 and are still going strong. While police have managed to take down several roadblocks, others are still standing as police have repeatedly failed to take them down. As El Pais noted, Bernardo Arevalo says that ending the protests is in the president's hands as he is the only person who can make Porras resign. "He is making a very clear attempt to evade his responsibility in this situation, as a result of the assault by a state institution, the Public Ministry, against the Electoral Court," he stated, adding that only Giammattei can "can ask for the resignation of the person he appointed to that position, which is Consuelo Porras." READ MORE: Guatemala Elections: Observers Say Political Parties and Justice System Interfered This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Rick Martin WATCH: What's going on in Guatemala? Coup d'etat? Protests? What you should know / Guatemala 2023 - STCo Buffalo State University plans to keep its presidential search top secret. The university said it wont disclose the names of the semifinalists who are competing for the job, and it wont hold any forums to allow students, faculty and community members to interact with them. Thats in stark contrast to the open search for a new president at SUNY Erie Community College, where the school recently disclosed the names and backgrounds of each of the four remaining candidates who are vying for the job. Buffalo State officials said making the names of the semifinalists public would jeopardize the quality of the candidates interested in taking the top job at the university. Unlike most recent SUNY presidential searches, which are conducted in a more open manner, Buffalo State has received permission from SUNY officials to keep the process behind closed doors, said Linda Dobmeier, the chair of Buffalo States search committee in a letter sent to the campus community. While we had hoped to conduct this search using an open search model, based on the ability to attract and retain these top candidates, SUNY has approved the decision to use a representational search model, Dobmeier wrote. This competitive market, and to protect the professionals we are engaging, it is essential to the process that the names of the candidates remain confidential throughout the process. A representational search model means the universitys search committee serves as the representative of the wider campus community in order to keep the candidates names confidential. Dobmeier and Buffalo State did not say why revealing the finalists identities would harm the process, but its likely they include people in high-profile jobs who dont want it known they are pursuing the position unless they get the job. Among the names rumored to be in consideration are Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown and U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins, both of whom say they are seeking re-election to their current offices. The pool of candidates likely includes leaders of other universities who want to keep their jobs if not selected for the Buffalo State presidency. SUNYs guidelines for presidential searches recommend holding an open search like ECCs, which started with 51 confidential applicants that its search committee narrowed down to eight who it interviewed separately via video call. The committee then chose four finalists whose names were announced, per SUNY guidelines, one by one the day before they came to on-campus interviews that included public forums that faculty, staff and students were invited to attend. In its announcements of each finalist, ECC also provided Webex links so the public could watch their campus presentations live. The ECC Board of Trustees then voted on their final choice, which was sent to the SUNY board and Chancellor John King to approve or reject. That name remains confidential unless approved, said Jeffrey Stone, chair of ECCs board of trustees. ECC hopes to have an answer in the next few weeks. Buffalo State initially said its search would be an open process and intended to announce the names of finalists ahead of campus visits and forums but its search firm and committee were persuaded to reconsider because some candidates apparently indicated they would withdraw from consideration if their names were released at this point in the process. The university consulted SUNY and got permission to hold a representational search, in which members of the college council and other designated members of the college community will be invited to meet with the semifinalist candidates under strict rules of confidentiality, according to SUNY guidelines. The sole criterion upon which this decision rests is a determination as to whether a traditional search process with public campus meetings would inhibit the generation of a suitable pool of excellent candidates, the guidelines say. SUNY Press Secretary Holly Liapis said open presidential searches have become more common in recent history, but were traditionally kept confidential for state-operated schools, while community colleges, being county entities, are more likely to conduct open searches. Liapis said its not that unusual for larger, state-run universities to hold confidential searches to attract high-level candidates. She said SUNY Fredonia, SUNY Purchase and SUNY Polytechnic Institute all held representational searches for their current presidents. In her letter, Dobmeier said the Buffalo State search committee has completed virtual face-to-face video interviews and identified a small group of candidates with whom we will schedule additional meetings. This decision was made after careful consideration upon learning that the open search process with public campus meetings would have had a significant negative impact on the candidate pool, Dobmeier wrote in her letter. To maintain a strong, robust and diverse applicant pool, this change will serve Buffalo State Universitys best interest for its faculty, students and community. We are committed to ensuring our institutions strong leadership continuity, and we see this transition as a crucial step toward achieving that. The committee and a selection of other campus constituents will confidentially meet with the finalists before meeting to weigh their feedback and the finalists qualifications and references, Dobmeier wrote. The Buffalo State Council will then vote to recommend three finalists to the chancellor and the SUNY Board of Trustees. The chancellor and the SUNY Board of Trustees will meet with the three finalists, the chancellor will make his recommendation to the SUNY Board of Trustees, and the trustees will vote to choose our next president, she wrote. Dobmeiers email included a link to a survey that she encouraged stakeholders to fill out to submit questions for the finalists. The Alternative Gallery in Allentown will host a special screening of some of the 2,000 16mm film rolls recovered from a life in the junkyard outside Philadelphia this year. The screening, aptly called Dusty Cans after the thousands of dirty tin cans the gallerys staff collected for preservation, is scheduled to show at 7 p.m. Nov. 8 at the Emmaus Theatre. Tickets are priced at $25 and all proceeds go toward preserving the films. The two-hour feature will provide audiences the chance to witness valuable documentation of the arts, civilization and the humanities from all over the world, according to an advertisement put out by the gallery. The screening will also include a follow-up discussion on the films. The reels were produced between the 1940s and 1970s, Wunder said, and cover all sorts of topics Native Americans, the culinary world, the science of volcanos and seemingly everything in between. They were owned by the Philadelphia Public School District before passing into the hands of the private seller, the gallery said. The prints actually come from a batch of more than 6,000 film prints, which were on their way to a shipping container inside a junkyard before the gallery stepped in to rescue them in May. The Alternative Gallery, led by devout film collector and Gallery Director Brandon Wunder, fundraised more than $7,000 to purchase and retrieve the films. The invitation to this screening was offered as a perk for backers of the indiegogo campaign but now the contents of the film prints will be shared with the public. We feel its important to showcase the films the original way they were meant to be seen, which is an educational element in and of itself, Wunder said. Among Wunders favorites is a 15-minute documentary from the 1960s called Fishing on the Coast of Japan, a dialogue-free observation of a seaside Japanese villages daily routine. Despite its simplicity, its a transportive experience, he said. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Glenn Epps can be reached at gepps@lehighvalleylive.com or glenn_epps_on Twitter. Crews Sunday evening battled a blaze that significantly damaged a two-story apartment building and left a family of three homeless in Freemansburg. Freemansburg Fire Co. Chief Ryan Micolochick told lehighvalleylive.com the fire began shortly after 8 p.m. in the first block of Jackson Street. Flames were found on the second floor, toward the back of the two-story apartment building, he said. All tenants escaped safely, Micolochick said. He noted it took about 10 minutes to bring the flames under control. There were no reported injuries. The building currently has heavy fire damage to the second floor and water damage to the main level. Pennsylvania Rivers chapter of the American Red Cross, which covers the region, has stepped in to assist the displaced family, the fire chief said. The cause of Sundays blaze remains under investigation by authorities. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. The third driver involved in a wrong two-way crash along Route 22 in Bethlehem Township has been pronounced dead, the Northampton County Coroners Office said Monday afternoon. Alan W. Heater, 76, of Bushkill Township, on Saturday was pronounced dead at St. Lukes Anderson campus in Bethlehem Township. Heaters cause of death was the result of injuries suffered in the accident and the manner was ruled accidental, Northampton County Coroner Zachary Lysek said. Heater and the two other drivers involved in the three-car accident have died, authorities said. Pennsylvania State Police said the crash happened about 10:40 a.m. Oct. 5 when 58-year-old Barry W. Fulton of Summit Hill, Carbon County, was driving a red 2018 Chevrolet Silverado in the wrong direction along Route 22. Fultons red Chevrolet pickup truck was traveling the wrong way south on Route 33 north before exiting and heading west onto Route 22 east from the Route 22 east ramp to Route 33 north, according to state police. The red Silverado, state police said, struck two vehicles in the accident: a 1997 Honda Civic driven by 22-year-old John Michael Woodburn of Bethlehem; and a 2002 black Chevrolet Silverado, driven by Heater. Woodburn was pronounced dead at the scene, state police said. He died of multiple blunt force trauma in the accident and the death was ruled accidental, Lysek previously said. Both Fulton and Heater were taken with injuries to St. Lukes Hospital-Anderson Campus in Bethlehem Township, state police had said. Fulton also succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at 7:43 p.m. Sunday at St. Lukes University Hospital in Fountain Hill, the Lehigh County Coroners Office said. Lehigh County Coroner Daniel A Buglio said Fultons cause of death was multiple blunt force injuries due to the collision and the manner was ruled accidental. Pennsylvania State Police in Bethlehem continue to investigate the Oct. 5 accident. Its unclear what led to Fulton driving in the wrong direction. The deadly accident closed the highway for hours, before the roads reopened about 4:15 p.m. Oct. 5. Those who may have observed Fultons red Chevrolet Silverado traveling prior to the crash or may have video of the vehicle traveling the wrong direction are asked to call Pennsylvania State Police at Bethlehem at 610-8612026. The incident number to reference is PA2023-1306267. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. A bear appears to be making its way through Bethlehem Township. Bethlehem Township Police Capt. Shaun Powell told lehighvalleylive.com the department on Monday morning received two reports from residents spotting the bear. Both reports stated the bear was at the southern end of the parking lots at St. Lukes Anderson campus, off Freemansburg Avenue. At least one resident on a Bethlehem Township community Facebook forum indicated he spotted the bear around 8:30 a.m. Monday in a sunflower field, near the Anderson campus. Another resident on the forum claimed to have home video surveillance footage of the bear shortly after 4:30 a.m. Monday walking across a front yard along 13th Street in the township. By the time officers arrived on scene, the bear scampered off, Powell said. There was nothing to indicate the animal was being aggressive, he said. The Pennsylvania Game Commission has since been notified. Travis Lau, communications director for the commission, couldnt immediately be reached for more information. The states bear population has been increasing for decades, and simultaneously, folks have moved into areas where bears reside. As a result, bears and people are coming into contact more than ever, the commission says. A population estimate in 2015 showed approximately 20,000 bears living in Pennsylvania. Black bears appear heavy, but are surprisingly agile; they can run up to 35 miles per hour, climb trees and swim well. They may live up to 25 years in the wild, according to the commission. The Pennsylvania Game Commission offers the following tips for folks if they encounter a bear: Alert the bear: Make some noise, giving the bear ample time and space to turn and leave. Avoid being caught up in the excitement of seeing a bear and inadvertently letting the bear get too close before surprising it. Get back: Back away slowly while facing the bear so you always know where the bear is and how its reacting. Wild bears rarely attack people. Slowly backing away diffuses the situation and gives the bear room to flee. Stay calm: While moving away, avoid sudden movements and talk to help the bear keep track of your retreat. Dont turn and run or attempt to climb a tree. Running may prompt the bear to give chase, and climbing a tree could be interpreted as a threat to any cubs that are present since cubs often climb trees when startled. Move toward your camper, house or vehicle if nearby. Pay attention: Bears will use all of their senses to figure out what you are. If they recognize you as a person, some may stand upright or move closer in their efforts to detect odors in the air currents. Dont consider this a sign of aggression. Once a bear identifies you, it will usually leave. If it begins to slowly approach you, face the bear, wave your arms wildly and shout while continuing to back away. The idea is to intimidate the bear into retreating. Swing a stick, your backpack or whatever is handy if the bear gets close. Fight back: Black bear attacks are extremely rare. If a black bear attacks, fight back. Bears have been driven away when people have fought back with rocks, sticks, binoculars and even their bare hands. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. An 18-year-old from New Jersey has been arrested in the airport parking garage shooting that killed a Philadelphia police officer and injured another last week, authorities said Monday. Yobranny Martinez Fernandez, of Camden, was arrested early Monday in Cherry Hill and is awaiting extradition to Philadelphia on murder charges. Police are continuing to seek other accomplices. We need more people to call, said Interim First Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore. We still have at least two individuals who are at large and it could be more. Authorities said the two officers had just arrived at work at about 11 p.m. Thursday when they heard breaking glass and saw several people breaking into a car in the parking lot at Philadelphia International Airport. A confrontation ensued, and the two officers and one of the suspects were shot. Officer Richard Mendez, 50, who had been on the force for more than two decades, was shot four times and was pronounced dead at a hospital. Officer Raul Ortiz, a 20-year veteran of the force, was shot once in his arm and was released from the hospital Saturday. Mendez had recently received his masters degree in 2019 and had plans to become a college professor after retiring, said Councilwoman Quetcy Lozada, who described Mendez as a friend. We are grateful for the overwhelming amount of support weve received but at this time, were asking for you to please allow us time to grieve, said Lozada, reading a statement on behalf of the Mendez family during Mondays press conference. Richie was a great man who was loved by many and we will continue to love him through the memories we have of him. He was an upstanding family man, family was his number one priority, Lozada said. The U.S. Marshals Service and FBI took Martinez Fernandez into custody around 4 a.m. on Monday and he remains in New Jersey awaiting extradition. At least two other people are believed to have been involved in the fatal shooting, possibly more, police said Monday as they urged for additional tips. In this undated photo released by the Philadelphia Police Department Office of Public Affairs shows police officer Richard Mendez. Mendez was shot and killed and a second officer was wounded when they confronted people breaking into a car at Philadelphia International Airport, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, police said. (Police Department Office of Public Affairs via AP)AP Authorities said the suspects fled in an SUV reported stolen a week ago that was later seen at a hospital dropping off 18-year-old Jesus Herman Madera Duran, who authorities said was believed to be involved in the confrontation with the officers. Duran had been shot in the chest, abdomen and left arm and was pronounced dead around 11:30 p.m. Thursday. It was unclear if any other suspects were wounded in the shooting or how many of them fired weapons, authorities said. The deceased officers gun has not been recovered yet and its unclear whether anyone fired the service weapon, officials said. Interim Police Commissioner John Stanford noted that the shooting came only a week after three officers were shot and wounded while responding to a call and called the new shooting a numb, numb moment for us. Police released video showing at least one suspect, as well as the vehicle used to drop off Madera Duran at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia. Over the weekend, South Brunswick officers responded to a vehicle on fire off Route 32. An investigation conducted by the South Brunswick Fire Marshals Office and detectives connected the case to the officers murder, authorities said. A reward currently totaling at least $237,400 has been made available for information leading to additional arrests. We still have folks out there that were looking for, said Sergeant Eric Gripp. Tips can be made at 215-686-TIPS. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Jackie Roman may be reached at jroman@njadvancemedia.com. Mountrath Community School has paid tribute to former student Joe Drennan. The talented fourth-year journalism student at University of Limerick tragically died after being struck by a car in Limerick on Friday night. The school recalled a talented student with a keen sense of justice for all who was determined to make the world a better place. It is with shock and deep sadness that our school community has learned of the tragic passing of our past student, Joe Drennan. Joe was a bright and talented student who had a keen sense of justice for all and it was apparent from his earliest days at MCS that he was determined to make a difference for the better in the world. This led him to join The Student Council where he strove to make school a better place for the students of MCS. He was quick to comprehend what he heard and read, and was a keen observer of people. He was eloquent and incisive in his writing and challenged the status quo without fear. Joe excelled as a member of the German Debating team and he also showed his proficiency in the language during a memorable trip to Germany with his classmates in December 2019. It was no surprise then that Joe went on to study German and Journalism at The University of Limerick, where he excelled in his studies. His teachers and fellow students at MCS have followed with huge pride the work that Joe produced during his time at UL and also the many accolades that he earned - his nomination for Journalist of the Year at the Student Media Awards and his appointment as Editor in Chief of Limerick Voice News, to name but two. But above all, Joe Drennan truly understood the meaning of the word friend and to be Joes friend always meant that you had someone in your corner who would look out for you and speak up for you even though it would have been a lot easier to say nothing. Joe has left this life far too soon and the world is a much poorer place for his passing. As a school community we extend our deepest sympathies to Joes Mam & Dad, his sisters and brothers and all his family & friends. Ar dheis De go raibh a anam, Mountrath Community School wrote in an online post. Mr Drennan of Knocknagad, Mountrath is the beloved son of Tim and Marguerite and much loved brother to his adoring sisters Sarah, Ava and Marie, brother to Richard, John and Kieran and uncle to Ben and Evie. He will be sadly missed by his nannie Vera Bennett, and all his wonderful aunts, uncles and cousins, and Joes very wide circle of friends. Mr Drennan will repose at his home Knocknagad (R32XE29) on Monday and Tuesday evenings from 5 OClock, concluding with Rosary at 8 OClock on each evening. Removal on Wednesday afternoon to St. Fergals Church Camross (R32VY79), for Requiem Mass at 3 OClock followed by burial in the adjoining cemetery. The Government has done a u-turn on the six week tent plan in Stradbally's Electric Picnic site, to instead install cabins for even more Ukraine refugees, throughout winter. The temporary accommodation on the Electric Picnic site in Laois for Ukraine war displaced is to continue throughout winter, the Department has announced. The original contract signed on September 1 was for six weeks, for a maximum of 750 people. Now a new contract has been agreed between site owner Thomas Cosby and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. It is increased to a 32 week contract, starting on November 6 and lasting until next June, and is also increased to 950 people. The tents are to be replaced by "heated and insulated cabins", with their own door, en-suites, "enclosed within large marquee type structures that are also heated, containing ancillary facilities". It will be surrounded by security fencing, with entrances manned by security staff. However until those cabins are installed, the Ukraine refugees will remain in tents, with frosty nights already arrived in Laois. The cabins will be on a separate site to the current tents, where mainly women and children are staying while the Government finds more permanent refuge for them in Ireland. The Department said that the people placed there will still only be on site for a number of weeks. Local Fianna Fail Cllr Paschal McEvoy was stunned to learn of the development.He said the council had nothing to do with the contract and the Department had made the decision. "I am bamboozled by the whole lot, sure what can you do," he said. "There was a group set up here in Stradbally and they worked so hard," he said. Cllr McEvoy said while there has never been more than 500 refugees in the campsite at once, an estimated 1,500 refugees passed through the site since the Electric Picnic. He said each of those people would have needed some assistance, even if it was just a pair of wellies. He said the volunteers are worn out and can't continue. "They are maxed out," he said. University of Limerick media students have paid a heartbreaking tribute to their editor-in-chief Joe Drennan from Laois who lost his life tragically in a hit-and-run incident. The young Camross had only recently led his team in the launch of a new season of editions of the Limerick college newspaper the Limerick Voice as Editor in Chief. The shocked team of reporters paid tribute to their Laois leader on Monday, October 16 on social media. "Our hearts are broken. Joe was the best of us. Our Editor in Chief, our classmate, our friend. You are in our hearts forever," they posted. Just a few short weeks earlier, Joe joined his colleagues on October 9 to launch the new season of editions of the publication with the start of the 2023/24 academic year. More below tweet. The Award-winning Limerick Voice newspaper is back! Featuring a new panel of diverse and award-winning journalists across a plethora of subjects and areas, we are sure to keep you informed on everything Limerick! Be sure to check us out! https://t.co/HoT2U9DoDp pic.twitter.com/0ojwRco77c Limerick Voice (@LimerickVoice) October 2, 2023 Dr Kathryn Hayes, course director of BA Journalism and Digital Communication and assistant professor of Journalism, said Mr Drennan was an "inspirational student". We are absolutely devastated in the journalism department and in the wider UL community to learn of the tragic death of our student Joe Drennan. Our heartfelt sympathies are with Joes family at this terrible time and all of his classmates and many dear friends. "Joe was an inspirational student and a hugely talented young journalist, who had a bright career ahead. He was passionate and creative and will be sorely missed by all of us who had the pleasure of knowing and working with him," said Ms Hayes. Joe will be laid to rest on Wednesday, October 18 in Camross. No further detail on an offer of Portlaoise beds to refugees has come from the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. Portlaoise councillors claimed last week via Laois County Council that an offer has been made and they want to be kept informed. The Department updated the Leinster Express / Laois Live. In relation to proposed locations of IPAS centres, without an eircode for specific locations, the Department is unable to check the details provided or confirm any information, a spokesperson said. However they also say that cannot confirm details even if they are known. The Department will not comment on specific plans for accommodation in relation to the agreement of term of contracts with providers as this is commercially sensitive information. Before the opening of any facility, the Department endeavours to engage with local representatives, through the newly established Community Engagement Team, to provide what information it can, as soon as possible, following the agreement of terms with contractors, the spokesperson said. They said that this team is set up to improve the flow of information regarding arrivals into areas and to help equip local communities with pertinent information required to help with the welcome and integration process for new arrivals. The department notes that in the last 18 months, the number of people in Ireland both fleeing Ukraine, and also International Protection applicants, went from 8,575 to 96,965. In the context of this crisis, the State is availing of all offers of accommodation in all counties to address the urgent need, they said. A Kerry resident who appeared before Naas District Court on Thursday, October 12 last was accused of a 'smishing' offence. According to Oxford Languages, smishing refers to 'the fraudulent practice of sending text messages purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords or credit card numbers.' The accusation relates to Sabin Slavu, with an address listed as 23 Muing, Oakpark, Tralee in Kerry. The 21-year-old stands accused of committing two counts of the offence (once in Newbridge and once in Dublin) on February 2, 2021, which resulted in him allegedly gaining 8,300 in total. Gardai said that the majority of the funds were recovered. Upon being informed of the charges laid against Mr Slavu, the judge asked: "Who came up with that word?", referring to smishing. "Someone with nothing better to do!" Defending solicitor David Gibbons jokingly replied. Gardai also said that Mr Salavu met gardai by appointment and 'was no trouble', and also voiced no objection for bail being granted to the accused. It was heard that Mr Salavu did not require a translator for his court appearances. However, when it was mentioned that he is residing in Kerry, the judge jokingly said: "Oh my... I asked him earlier if he needs a translator, and it turns out he's from Kerry!" which drew laughs from those in attendance. Judge Desmond Zaidan adjourned the case to October 10 to allow time for a book of evidence. He set bail for Mr Salavu at 1,000. Animal shelters across Western New York are dealing with the same problem: an unprecedented increase in the number of abandoned pets, especially cats and dogs. We desperately need people to come adopt, said Cait Daly, president and CEO of SPCA serving Erie County. Adoptions are slowing down as more people are buying animals than they are adopting, especially dogs. So now is the time to donate and to adopt. The problem got plenty of attention last week when Cheektowaga police posted on Facebook that the towns animal shelter was so full that dogs not adopted would have to be euthanized. But after the post received attention from the public and news media on Thursday, the department backtracked. The Town of Cheektowaga does not run an animal kill shelter, the updated post read. Euthanasia is only used as a last resort after all other adoption, sheltering, and care methods have failed and is not done at the Town of Cheektowaga. The Cheektowaga Dog Control Office continuously works diligently to help dogs avoid that fate. Still, there is no question that animal shelters are dealing with too many animals and not enough people to adopt them. Shelter officials say the factors contributing to the problem include the housing crisis and the general increase in cost of living. People who got pets during the Covid-19 pandemic may have been forced to move once eviction moratoriums came to an end and now live in places where pets may not be allowed. Other factors include the increased cost of pet food and veterinary care. The problem, by the numbers: SPCA Serving Erie County has room for 61 dogs in its shelters and now has 81, Daly said. Although some of them are in foster homes, the shelters are still over capacity. With 112 cats in the shelter, the SPCA is at capacity, with 191 more cats and kittens in foster care. And the waiting list keeps growing. Allegany County SPCA Executive Director Lynda Pruski said her shelter has seen a 35% increase in the number of abandoned animals in the shelter since September 2022. However, its strict vetting process has helped prevent returns. Wyoming County has been at capacity since March, according to SPCA Shelter Manager Jackie Pinkowski. She has begun to notice people shying away from spaying or neutering their animals due to expenses. Wyoming County has begun collaborating with farms to shelter barn cats and ferals. A local veterinarian has been coming to the shelter once a month to spay cats and kittens at a subsidized rate, working on almost 20 a day. She said her shelter is in desperate need of community volunteers who can take on some tasks. Were trying to help the community, but we need the communitys help back, as well, Pinkowski said. Aaron Kandefer, the dog warden at Cheektowagas Animal Control shelter, said the number of dogs being left at the shelter has gone up by nearly 200 percent over the past three years. That has led to additional crates being set up in the buildings attached heated garage. Kandefer on Monday reiterated that Cheektowaga does not euthanize dogs for space, and we never have. Kellie Roberts, executive director of the Chautauqua County Humane Society shelter, said her organization is offering a pet food pantry and affordable spay neuter clinics mainly for cats to help pet owners. She said most people do not want to part with their pets, but circumstances often stand in their way. Its heartbreaking when people are crying in your lobby ... because they feel like they cant keep their pet anymore, she said. News Staff Reporter Stephen T. Watson contributed to this article. A judge in Naas District Court said on Thursday, October 12 last that a man had 'a bad attitude' to road traffic laws. The comments were made by Judge Desmond Zaidan in relation to one Robert Mills, with an address listed as 6 Lissadel Green, Drimnagh, Dublin 12, County Dublin. Gardai told the judge that on May 19, 2022, the 33-year-old was caught driving without a seatbelt on at Maudlins in Naas. Mr Mills pleaded guilty to this offence. It was heard that Mr Mills has 40 previous convictions, including one for a drink-driving offence and seven for driving with no insurance. After being told about these convictions by gardai, Judge Zaidan remarked to defending solicitor Mark Gibbons: "Your client has a bad attitude to road traffic laws." Mr Gibbons replied: "He had a bad one in the past." "In his recent past... the last offence was in 2022," the judge responded. Speaking directly to Mr Gibbons and Mr Mills, Judge Zaidan warned how dangerous driving without a seatbelt on can be: "He could have hit something and gone flying through the window. "Seatbelts save lives," he added. Judge Zaidan further said that Mr Mills has 'an appalling record.' Mr Gibbons asked the judge not to disqualify his client, as he needs it for his job. The judge decided to fine Mr Mills 500, which is to paid within two months. However, when Judge Zaidan was told by gardai that Mr Mills' accumulative penalty points would result in a driving disqualification, he said that he had to, by law, impose a disqualification on him. Mr Gibbons suggested to the judge that his client could be disqualified for solely one day, which the judge agreed to do. The disqualification would take place 15 days from Mr Mills' conviction. Pupils living in the catchment of their local school in Sallins are being forced to take places in primary schools in Caragh, Rathmore and Naas - because the St Laurence's National School is full up. The Department of Education has come under fire because it is apparently unwilling to buy land adjacent to the school for a much needed extension. "I find it strange that the school is full to the eyeballs and there is a field beside it, Cllr Bill Clear stated. He also said, at a Naas Municipal District meeting, that Sallins, a town with a population of 7,500, has one primary school - while Thurles, by comparison, has a similar population and five national schools. Read more Kildare news He also pointed out that the diversion of children to other schools is creating more traffic. Cllr Carmel Kelly said the Department of Education is aware of the issue, according to the schools board of management. Cllr Kelly claimed that the department favours a new school. In the meantime, she said pupils are being sent to other schools in the catchment. Cllr Kelly said that a full class had been effectively turned away from the school. Cllr Kelly also said that the school had not notified the department that its oversubscribed. Cllr Seamie Moore said the department had no interest in the land adjacent to the school even though its zoned for education use. Kildare County Council official Eoghan Ryan said the land is zoned for community use. The school did not respond to a request for comment. The Safer Newbridge Community Partnership has been awarded 150,000 in funding, which will go towards innovative community safety measures. The South Western Regional Drugs and Alcohol Taskforce (SWRDATF)said that it welcomed the allocation of 150,000 to the Safer Newbridge Community Partnership. A spokesperson for the SWRDATF said: "This vital project, a collaborative effort by the South Western Regional Drug & Alcohol Task Force, Newbridge Forum, Tusla, and An Garda Siochana, sets a benchmark for holistic community safety initiatives." A representative from the Newbridge Forum expressed gratitude, saying: "The Newbridge Community Forum wholeheartedly welcomes this generous funding. "It is a testament to the collective efforts of all stakeholders involved and underscores the potential of what we can achieve together. "The strength of any community lies in its unity, and this initiative promises to amplify that sentiment," they added. The partnership intends to provide Community Harm Prevention Workers in Newbridge town by addressing the drivers and impacts of anti-social behaviour. The distinctive model incorporates crime prevention through environmental design, ensuring a broad-spectrum, community-centric response. Social Democrats councillor Chris Pender, who is also Kildare County Council's representative on the South Western Drugs and Alcohol Taskforce, said: "The fusion of proven methodologies from the Dublin Safety Warden scheme, the Community Crime Impact Assessment tool, and the Crime Prevention through Environmental Design practice makes this initiative not just innovative but promises a transformative impact on our community. "This isnt just about safetyits about understanding, collaboration, and a collective determination to create a vibrant, secure Newbridge." He also said: "With this funding and our community's dedication, we're taking a momentous step forward." "It's more than just safety; it's about redefining our communitys ethos, ensuring that every individual feels secure, connected, and valued," Cllr Pender concluded. Social Democrats Cllr Chris Pender For further information, contact Stephen Joyce of the SWRDATF devworker@swrdatf.ie, or Newbridge Forum communitynewbridge@gmail.com. ABOVE: Foster carer Roddy Collins and his foster niece, Lauren Boyle Hanney (3rd from left), care experienced Emily Hanbridge, Representative from the youth council EPIC (Empowering People in Care) and foster carers Sarah Ogbonna and Orla Crilly The Lord Mayor of Dublin Daithi de Roiste officially launched Tusla National Fostering Week at Dublins Mansion House on Monday 16th October. This weeklong campaign includes a calendar of events that will take place across the country to promote fostering awareness and to provide more information to people considering fostering. Now in its 4th year, Tusla National Fostering Week aims to encourage people from all walks of life and all communities across Ireland to consider fostering to provide a loving and stable home environment for vulnerable children and young people. The campaign highlights experiences from Tusla foster carers, whose stories will both touch and inspire you to consider fostering. Ireland is among world leaders in foster care, and across Ireland 3,866 foster carers currently open their homes to 5,067* children, including 1,553 in Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow. In 2022, 228 new foster carers joined Tusla, and 556 children entered foster care for the first time. Commenting on National Fostering Week Mr. Roderic OGorman TD, Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth said The work of foster carers is of great importance and value not only to the state but to over 5,000 children who are cared for by foster carers. Approximately 90% of children in care are placed with foster carers, which compares extremely favourably with other countries. Foster carers play a vital role in the care of our most vulnerable children. The placement of a child in foster care is the preferred option for children who cannot live with their family of origin, offering them a safe, secure, and stable home environment. Clare Murphy, National Director of Services and Integration (Interim), Tusla stated, Tuslas National Fostering Week provides an opportunity to find out more about how to start your fostering journey and provide a safe family environment for a child or young person in need of a caring home. Each child is different, and each foster carer is different. Tusla is looking for foster carers from all walks of life to care for vulnerable children and young people in a time of increasing demand, to help keep children in care connected with their local communities and friends. Tuslas National Fostering Week also allows us to celebrate the work and dedication of all of our foster carers and extend our sincere thanks for their commitment and exceptional care, helping children and young people in care to feel safe, to grow and to flourish. I would encourage anyone considering fostering to find out more at the many events taking place over the course of the week. Join Tusla foster carers around the country who currently open their homes to vulnerable children and help make a real difference to a childs life. Speaking at the launch of National Fostering Week, Roisin Clarke, CEO, Irish Foster Care Association said: I am delighted to be part of the launch of Tuslas National Fostering Week, which comes at such a critical time for foster care in Ireland. Foster Carers are the lynchpin in our care system, and we need them now more than ever. We must work together to support the fostering community in Ireland, it is only with this collaboration between all agencies involved that the fostering community can be truly supported and heard. Currently there are not enough foster placements available for children who require them. In contrast to this the demand for fostering services has increased, in the context of wider societal issues such as the housing crisis, global movement, poverty, domestic and gender-based violence, drugs, criminality & exploitation. Somewhere in Ireland today, there is a child in need of a nurturing foster care placement. Tusla is looking for people from all walks of life to consider if fostering is something they could do. Tusla welcomes applicants from Irelands new communities and applicants from different cultural and religious backgrounds across Ireland. Tusla also invites applicants from the LGBTQ+ community to consider fostering. This year Tusla is also highlighting relative foster care which is care provided by friends or family of a child who needs to live in a foster home. If you have a child in your life who cannot remain at home did you know you can become their foster carer? There are many different types of foster care that you might not be aware of such as respite, day fostering, emergency and pre-adoptive fostering. You can find out more about the different types of fostering at our information sessions, held online and in person. Anyone wishing to inquire about fostering during Tusla National Fostering Week can visit fostering.ie for more details, phone 1800 226 771, email tusla.fostering@tusla.ie or follow #Tuslafostering on Tuslas Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube channels. Uisce Eireann and Clean Coasts are urging the public to continue to Think Before You Flush as alarmingly a recent survey has revealed an increase in the disposal of wipes and other sanitary products down the toilet. Those aged under 35 are almost twice as likely to dispose of products down the toilet, compared to those aged over 35, and almost three times as likely compared to those over 55. Whether labelled as 'flushable' or not, wipes should never be disposed of in toilets. With the growing popularity of year-round open water swimming, it is important to remember that our flushing habits directly affect the environment and in particular rivers and coastal areas. Making minor adjustments in our daily habits can play a crucial role in preventing sanitary waste appearing along rivers, sandy beaches, rugged shores, and hidden bays. The campaign is also being championed by swimming and outdoor advocates who are appealing to the public to consider their habits and Think Before You Flush. Speaking about the survey results Tom Cuddy, Uisce Eireann, said: In 2018, our research showed that 36% of people living in Ireland were regularly flushing the wrong things down the toilet. Today, we are pleased to announce that this figure has significantly decreased to 24%. While this one third decrease is certainly encouraging, it is crucial to acknowledge that it represents a slight increase compared to recent years. Pictured: Mary OHara, Uisce Eireann, June Curtin, Snamhai Sasta and Sinead McCoy Clean Coasts are urging communities to Think Before You Flush and help protect our water and environment. Uisce Eireann and Clean Coasts have been steadfast partners for the last seven years with a joint mission to drive the Think Before You Flush Campaign and reduce environmental impacts through behavioural change. Despite this progress, there remains a pressing concern as there are still too many people flushing the wrong items down the toilet impacting our natural and built environment. Tom continued: We know the awareness is there, we are just asking people to take a moment to consider their flushing habits and put litter in the bin rather than down the toilet. The impact of removing these products from our wastewater system is immense, and they unfortunately can ultimately end up on our beautiful beaches and rivers right across the country. As Uisce Eireann continues its journey of upgrading and developing critical infrastructure to support sustainable growth and development, it is important that we continue to work together to protect and enhance our environment. Every individual's contribution counts, and by making conscientious choices about what we flush, we can collectively make a huge difference. Speaking about the campaign, Sinead McCoy, Clean Coasts said: Our message is straightforward: only the 3 Ps pee, poo, and paper should find their way into the toilet bowl. All other items must be placed in the bin. By following this practice, we can significantly reduce sewer blockages, minimise the risk of home and business flooding, and mitigate the environmental pollution that poses a threat to wildlife, such as fish and birds, their natural habitats and our coastlines. A minor change in our flushing behaviour can have huge benefits for our natural surroundings simply dispose of wipes, cotton bud sticks, and sanitary items in the bin, not down the toilet. STL expands its Enterprise Networking solution portfolio with Estelan STL launches Estelan, its end-to-end passive enterprise networking solution portfolio, at GITEX 2023 DUBAI, UAE and MUMBAI, India, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- STL (NSE: STLTECH), a leading optical and digital solutions company today, announced the expansion of its Enterprise Networking solutions portfolio with the launch of Estelan. Estelan, an end-to-end solution in fibre and copper cable connectivity, enables enterprises to modernise and digitise their large-scale network infrastructure. Global enterprises will spend $3.4 trillion by 2026 in cloud services, cybersecurity, AI applications, robotics process automation, and Industry 4.0 to create new value sources through digital products and experiences. These digital transformation use cases require an overhaul of enterprise connectivity infrastructure to integrate power and data. Estelan is an end-to-end enterprise connectivity solution that combines in-office and optical connectivity infrastructure. Its plug-and-play modular system is designed for easy installation and system upgrades and can handle multiple network ports. These solutions follow the highest health and safety standards and are certified by leading industry bodies like RoHS, ETL, UL, and CPR. STL's Estelan solution is tailored to suit the needs of multiple industries and offers high flexibility and scalability for their operational environment requirements, be it healthcare, education, retail, banking, oil and gas, and others. With Estelan, enterprises can achieve superior data transmission, upwards of 1000MHz bandwidth and 10Gbps speeds. These solutions have also been designed and developed with sustainable manufacturing practices, high optimisation, and minimal wastage. This comprehensive solution enables use cases like multi-service premise connectivity, enterprise networking, Wi-Fi, surveillance, Intelligent building management and Power over Ethernet for up to 90W applications. The company has announced that it will go to market with this solution in its target regions of MEA and India. Launching Estelan, Gavin Faulds, Regional Sales Head, APAC, and MEA, STL, said: "Enterprises are becoming more connected, intelligent, and agile by leveraging various digital technologies. Through Estelan, we offer customised end-to-end enterprise connectivity solutions that are optimised for their specific business needs. From conceptualisation to installation, we want our customers' experience to be seamless. Estelan will help them gain a competitive edge by making connectivity infrastructure competent enough for disruptive technologies and drive business transformation." About STL - Sterlite Technologies Ltd: STL is a leading global optical and digital solutions company providing advanced offerings to build 5G, Rural, FTTx, Enterprise and Data Centre networks. Read more, Contact us, stl.tech | Twitter | LinkedIn| YouTube Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/876464/Sterlite_Technologies_STL_New_Logo.jpg SOURCE Sterlite Technologies Ltd - STL 16 october 2023 at 02:01 News published onand distributed by: Orosur Mining Inc Announces Lithium JV, Nigeria Company signs Exploration JV to cover four licences across the Nigerian Lithium belt. Exploration programs to start immediately. Full exploration team and infrastructure in place. LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / Orosur Mining Inc. ("Orosur" or the "Company") (TSXV:OMI)(AIM:OMI), the minerals explorer and developer operating in Colombia, Argentina and Brazil, is pleased to announce that as a continuation of the Company's strategy of securing high quality mineral exploration opportunities in key jurisdictions, the Company has signed a joint venture ("JV") agreement to explore a number of exploration licences across Nigeria (the "Project") which the Company considers to be highly prospective for Lithium mineralisation. The Company has long been examining an entry into the Lithium space to add to its diversified portfolio of high-quality exploration assets but had found few attractive South American opportunities. Nigeria however is rapidly emerging as one of the most prospective regions of Africa for the discovery of lithium pegmatite mineralisation and as such is now seeing a very high level of interest and activity. The Company's executive team has substantial operating experience and high-level relationships in Nigeria, and the Company has been leveraging these factors over the last 12 months to gain substantial land positions in Nigeria's prime lithium pegmatite districts. A team of experienced geologists is in place, with all necessary equipment and logistical support such that field programs will be commencing immediately. Work will start initially with preliminary reconnaissance, and it is expected that results and additional work can advance quickly. Details The Company has signed a JV with Nigerian company Jurassic Mines Ltd ("Jurassic"), whereby Orosur, via a new 100% owned UK subsidiary, Lithium West Limited ("Lithium West"), may earn up to 70% equity in the Project in two phases: 1. Phase 1 - Lithium West can earn 51% equity in the Project by spending a total of US$3m over a maximum of three years. 2. Phase 2 - Lithium West can earn an additional 19% equity in the project, up to a total of 70%, by spending an additional US$2m over a maximum of two years. The Project at inception will comprise four exploration licences across Nigeria's primary pegmatite belt, covering a total of circa 322km2. Other prospective areas are currently being examined and it is possible that additional licences may be added to the Project in the near term. All licences have been specifically chosen due to their location within the major lithostructural corridors that are known to control lithium pegmatite mineralisation in this region. Geology Nigeria has long been known to have substantial potential for pegmatite mineralisation, however historically these pegmatites were largely exploited at the artisanal level for other metals such as Niobium and Tantalum. As such, little geoscientific information was publicly available related to any lithium potential. However, in early 2018, the Nigerian Ministry of Mines and Steel Development began to undertake major geoscience mapping projects across the bulk of Nigeria's crystalline basement rocks to better define the mineral potential as the key plank in a far-sighted strategy to reduce the country's dependence on oil. These projects covered a range of commodities and were referred to as the National Integrated Mineral Exploration Project (NIMEP). This work indicated that the country indeed had substantial lithium pegmatite potential, especially in the southern regions. Fig 1 Schematic, Nigerian Geology As a result, Nigeria has, in the last 12 months, seen a sharp increase in small scale artisanal lithium mining of obvious outcropping pegmatites, with a corresponding and similarly sharp increase in modern exploration across the region by international public and private companies. Orosur began to examine opportunities in Nigeria in mid-2022, focusing on regional geological assessment and land selection, leading to this current JV with Jurassic. Rationale and Experience The Company has been examining options to enter the lithium space for some years, based initially on Andean brines and Brazilian pegmatites. However, it became apparent that these regions had become extremely competitive, with correspondingly high entry costs, which the Company felt were not commensurate with the quality of projects on offer. Nigeria was then examined because of the extensive in-country experience of the Company's executive team and because the Country's lithium pegmatite potential is, to a large extent, a geological mirror image of the pegmatite fields in northeastern Brazil. The Company commenced the process of examining entry strategies, based upon a detailed assessment of geological potential, rather than simply on what was being offered. Orosur worked closely with its new Nigerian partner, Jurassic, to carry out regional targeting exercises that ultimately led to these first four licences being pegged as vacant ground, specifically for this JV, rather than vending into pre-existing licences. In addition, the Company has, via its long-standing relationships and experience, aligned itself with a highly experienced local exploration consultancy which will provide the Company with access to exploration teams with associated field logistics, drill rigs, assay equipment and extensive geological knowledge, thus allowing the Company to operate in the region without any major upfront investment or addition of substantial overhead. Orosur CEO Brad George commented: "Orosur has been examining entry into the lithium space for several years, but as with our other projects, we have pursued an early stage, low entry cost strategy, based upon detailed geological understanding of the local mineralising systems. Nigeria is clearly on a different continent, but with the extensive Nigerian experience of myself and our Chairman Louis Castro, together with our partner's excellent local team, we are entirely confident in our ability to develop this exciting opportunity in Nigeria in harmony with our equally exciting South American assets which we will continue to progress as planned." For further information, visit www.orosur.ca, follow on twitter @orosurm or contact: Orosur Mining Inc. Louis Castro, Chairman, Brad George, CEO [email protected] Tel: +1 (778) 373-0100 SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP - Nomad & Joint Broker Jeff Keating / Kasia Brzozowska Tel: +44 (0) 20 3 470 0470 Turner Pope Investments (TPI) Ltd - Joint Broker Andy Thacker/James Pope Tel: +44 (0)20 3657 0050 Flagstaff Communications and Investor Communications Tim Thompson Mark Edwards Fergus Mellon [email protected] Tel: +44 (0)207 129 1474 The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 ('MAR') which has been incorporated into UK law by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. Upon the publication of this announcement via Regulatory Information Service ('RIS'), this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain. 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. About Orosur Mining Inc. Orosur Mining Inc. (TSX: OMI; AIM: OMI) is a minerals explorer and developer focused on identifying and advancing projects in Colombia, Argentina, Nigeria and Brazil. Qualified Persons Statement The information in this news release was compiled, reviewed and verified by Mr. Brad George, BSc Hons (Geology and Geophysics), MBA, Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (MAIG), CEO of Orosur Mining Inc. and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Forward Looking Statements All statements, other than statements of historical fact, contained in this news release constitute "forward looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including but not limited to the "safe harbour" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are based on expectations estimates and projections as of the date of this news release. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the exploration plans in Colombia and the funding from Monte Aguila of those plans, Monte Aguilas decision to continue with the Exploration Agreement, the formation of a new mining company or mining venture to hold the project, the ability for Loryser to implement the Creditors Agreement successfully in Uruguay and other events or conditions that may occur in the future. The Company's continuance as a going concern is dependent upon its ability to obtain adequate financing, to reach profitable levels of operations and to reach a satisfactory implementation of the Creditors Agreement in Uruguay. These material uncertainties may cast significant doubt upon the Company's ability to realize its assets and discharge its liabilities in the normal course of business and accordingly the appropriateness of the use of accounting principles applicable to a going concern. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to significant risks and uncertainties including, but not limited, those as described in Section "Risks Factors" of the MDA and the Annual Information Form. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events and such forward-looking statements, except to the extent required by applicable law. This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact [email protected] or visit www.rns.com. SOURCE: Orosur Mining Inc 16 october 2023 at 02:00 View source version on accesswire.com:News published onand distributed by: New plans to expand Wendy's franchise in Central Asia set out by Kusto Group SINGAPORE, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- New plans for expansion of the Wendy's franchise in Central Asia have been set out today by industrial holding company Kusto Group. Under the new plans, Kusto aims to open and operate 55 outlets across Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan by 2030, and will also introduce a Next Generation restaurant layout and innovative AI-based drive-thru in Kazakhstan by Q2 2024, setting the stage for a new era of fast-food dining in the region. The news was announced by Yerkin Tatishev, Founder and Chairman of Kusto Group, who attended Wendy's Annual Franchise Convention in Washington D.C. in October 2023. The convention brought together franchise leaders from around the world to discuss business priorities and celebrate the brand's 54 years of success. At the convention, Tatishev engaged with Wendy's executives to outline Kusto's expansion plans for the Wendy's franchise in Central Asia. He also visited Wendy's HQ in Dublin, Ohio, to discuss and learn more about the latest innovative technologies and cutting-edge initiatives. Wendy's, a prominent US-based fast-food restaurant chain, has experienced significant global expansion in recent years, solidifying its position as the third most successful 'quick service restaurant' franchise in the burger category worldwide. With a presence in 32 countries, Wendy's has made strategic moves to enter new markets, including Central Asia, Australia, and Saudi Arabia. This has led Wendy's to enter into franchise agreements with successful global companies like Kusto Group to expand its footprint in Central Asia. This global expansion not only signifies Wendy's and Kusto Group's commitment to reaching new markets but also highlights their dedication to providing exceptional service and embracing innovative solutions for the future of fast food. 16 october 2023 at 06:00 News published onand distributed by: Dedicated Medical Cannabis Clinic Opens in Hattiesburg, MS Medical Marijuana Treatment Clinics Opens as TruReleaf MD in Hattiesburg, Mississippi HATTIESBURG, Miss., Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hattiesburg- TruReleaf MD is making its mark in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, as a pioneering force in the realm of medical marijuana healthcare. Their mission is to provide relief to patients through the issuance of medical cannabis certifications, complemented by in-person assessments of medical conditions and thorough reviews of medical records. TruReleaf MD is aiming to leave a significant impact on Hattiesburg, Mississippi , as a trailblazing leader in the field of medical marijuana healthcare. The backdrop for this expansion is the passage of Senate Bill 2095, which has revolutionized Mississippi's Medical Marijuana Program, extending its reach to a wider patient base. Among its key provisions is the empowerment of certified physicians to recommend medical marijuana to patients whom they believe could benefit from it or find relief from qualifying debilitating medical conditions. TruReleaf MD brings to Mississippi a wealth of experience garnered over seven years of compassionate care in Florida under the name MMTCFL. As Medical Marijuana Treatment Clinics of Florida, they swiftly emerged as a cornerstone in the medical marijuana industry once medical cannabis was legalized for qualifying conditions. Their presence redefined the experience of being a medical marijuana patient, offering a natural relief option for those seeking care. With this extensive background, TruReleaf MD aspires to rekindle the quality of life for patients through alternative treatments centered around cannabis. They firmly hold the belief that achieving relief is fundamental to regaining control over one's life, and they are committed to equipping patients with the tools they need to make the best decisions for their own well-being. Dr. Candace Thompson, a licensed Mississippi medical marijuana doctor, underscores the significance of this emerging industry, which promises natural alternatives to potent narcotics, ultimately aiming to curb the senseless loss of lives within the community. The clinic's establishment provides patients with more opportunities to manage their conditions actively, propelling them closer to the life they aspire to lead. Currently, the clinic offers in-person appointments for individuals with qualifying conditions. To schedule an appointment, patients can either visit www.getmymississippicard.com for online booking or contact 601-768-7944 to connect with a Patient Care Coordinator and schedule over the phone. TruReleaf MD's overarching mission is to promote public awareness and education regarding the safe access and responsible use of medical marijuana in Mississippi. Committed to adhering to state guidelines, they aim to streamline the process of obtaining a medical marijuana card, empowering patients to take charge of their healthcare journey. Media Contact Turner Davis, TruReleaf MD, 1 8134156465, [email protected], https://getmymississippicard.com/ SOURCE TruReleaf MD 16 october 2023 at 07:45 News published onand distributed by: Inspirna to Present Clinical Data from Phase 1b/2 Study of Ompenaclid (RGX-202) in Advanced Colorectal Cancer at ESMO Congress 2023 Inspirna, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class cancer therapeutics, announced today that data from the ongoing Phase 1b/2 study of ompenaclid (RGX-202) in combination with FOLFIRI and bevacizumab (BEV) in RAS-mutated (RASm) advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) will be presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2023 being held October 20-24, 2023 in Madrid, Spain. Ompenaclid is a first-in-class oral inhibitor of the creatine transport channel SLC6A8, a novel target that is enriched under hypoxic conditions and provides tumor cells with an additional energy source. Ompenaclid triggers tumor regressions in CRC patients by inducing apoptosis of tumor cells. The Phase 1b/2 study of ompenaclid in combination with FOLFIRI/BEV in second-line (2L) advanced or metastatic CRC patients has completed enrollment, with an ongoing follow up period. The primary endpoint of the study is to determine maximum tolerated dose (MTD), objective response rate (ORR), and treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs). In the dose escalation stage of the study, two dose levels of ompenaclid with FOLFIRI/BEV have been evaluated in patients with CRC with disease progression after a first-line oxaliplatin-containing regimen. Poster Presentation Details Title: Phase 1b/2 study of ompenaclid (RGX-202-01), a first-in-class oral inhibitor of the creatine transporter SLC6A8, in combination with FOLFIRI and bevacizumab (BEV) in RAS mutated (RASm) second-line (2L) advanced/metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) Presenter: Andrew Hendifar, M.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Study Principal Investigator Onsite Poster Display Date: Sunday, October 22, 2023 at 9:00 AM CEST Presentation Number: 646P Conference Call and Webcast Inspirna will host a virtual KOL panel on Sunday, October 22, 2023 at 6:30 PM CEST / 12:30 PM ET with Andrew Hendifar, M.D., to discuss these clinical data. The event may be accessed by registering at https://inspirna-esmo-2023-kol-panel.open-exchange.net/registration. A webcast of the event will be available on the "Events and Presentations" page of the Company's website at https://inspirna.com/news-events/. The archived webcast will be available on the Company's website within 24 hours after the event. About Inspirna Inspirna, Inc., is a privately-held clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel cancer drugs that target key pathways in cancers of high unmet need. The company is pursuing several first-in-class drug candidates. Inspirna's lead drug candidate, ompenaclid (RGX-202), is an orally-administered small molecule that targets the CKB/SLC6A8 pathway. This pathway becomes activated in the tumors of select patients where it enables the generation of the energy molecule ATP in response to tumor hypoxia. Ompenaclid is currently being tested in a Phase 1b/2 clinical trial in combination with standard-of-care FOLFIRI and bevacizumab for the second line treatment of patients with advanced or metastatic RAS mutant colorectal cancer. Inspirna's second clinical stage drug candidate, abequolixron (RGX-104), is an oral small molecule activator of LXR/APOE that inhibits angiogenesis and tumor myeloid derived suppressor cells to enhance the immune response against tumors. Abequolixron is currently being tested in a Phase 1b/2 clinical trial in patients with advanced or metastatic lung cancer in combination with docetaxel and endometrial cancer in combination with ipilimumab through a clinical collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb. Inspirna identifies novel cancer targets using its microRNA-based target discovery platform, RNA-DRIVEr, which was originally developed by Inspirna's scientific co-founders at The Rockefeller University and exclusively licensed to Inspirna. The Company brings together distinguished scientific founders, a seasoned board of directors, and a leadership team comprised of experienced drug developers. The Company is funded by leading biotechnology investors, including Novo Holdings A/S, Sofinnova Partners, Sands Capital, Vivo Capital, Lepu Holdings Limited, Sixty Degree Capital, Silicon Valley Bank, K2 HealthVentures, Oceanpine Capital, WuXi PharmaTech Healthcare Fund I, LP, Alexandria Venture Investments, LLC, Dreavent 6, Exor Seeds, and the Partnership Fund for New York City. For more information, please visit https://inspirna.com/. 16 october 2023 at 08:05 News published onand distributed by: News / Local by Staff reporter WHEN Sengezo Tshabangu, a Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) activist claiming to be its interim secretary-general, made the shock move to recall 15 of the party's legislators this week, it created a sense of deja vu.Before this week's dramatic political developments, analysts had warned that the CCC was in danger of giving ammunition to the ruling Zanu-PF.There were many mistakes the party's leader, Nelson Chamisa, had made, they said, pointing to lack of structures under his "strategic ambiguity" strategy.Zimbabwe's ruling party is known for its ability to exploit fissures in opposition parties to consolidate its grip on power.This week's events were the latest example of this, following the split of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) into many breakaway factions, which ended with Chamisa establishing CCC.The MDC emerged as the first real threat to break up the Zanu-PF hegemony in 1999, but its troubles began during the split, which some say the ruling party played a part in.On Monday, Tshabangu also recalled 17 CCC councillors from Bulawayo Metropolitan, Matabeleland North and South, claiming they had ceased to be members of the party.In the most shocking move, he also fired Chamisa from the party.Jacob Mudenda, Speaker of the National Assembly, quickly declared their seats vacant. He made this official through letters issued on October 4 and 6, addressed to Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) chief elections officer Utoile Silaigwana.While CCC has cried foul and described the recalls as illegal, analysts said with proper structures, this would have been avoided."What seems to be transpiring is what should be expected in a proper legal system," Wilbert Mandinde, a leading lawyer, told the Zimbabwe Independent. "You have someone who is saying he is the interim secretary-general, notifying the Speaker of the National Assembly to say he is recalling people who ceased to belong to his party."The Speaker is obliged to notify Zec of the vacancies being declared. That is a legal perspective. But you also need to look at the political argument."Why is the Speaker acting on a letter from someone if he was notified that in terms of the procedures of CCC communication, Chamisa would handle such?"That is the political question. There are also issues like who do you recognise as this particular person (Tshabangu) is said to be a fraudster?"Tsungirirai Bondai, a legal and political analyst, argued that CCC had no constitution, hence the problems it is currently facing."He (Chamisa) wants to do what he wants and that is not good for democracy. His supporters will call him a nonconformist. I would rather see it as it is and call him a recalcitrant," Bondai told the Independent.South African-based political and social commentator Ricky Mukonza said the whole CCC fiasco revolved around manipulation by Zanu-PF."You have Zanu-PF's tacit interference in opposition politics," Mukonza said. "But you also have signs of expressions of disgruntlement from party cadres not happy with Chamisa's leadership."He also blamed CCC's "incompetence" by failing to deal with basic organisational and tactical issues, leading to this week's political crisis."In the end, one is forced to invoke Anthony Hincks' words: 'a salted fish will always invite maggots to the party'. The opposition is doing things that make it easy for Zanu-PF or state institutions to interfere in their affairs," Mukonza added.Alexander Rusero, a leading academic, said a considerable judgment of this chaos as a product of Zanu-PF would require time."The CCC, rich with lawyers in its rank and file, ought to know the consequences of running a political party with postures of a secret society," Rusero said. "You can't have a party existing in form and character without known office bearers, legal parameters outlining their roles and responsibilities. The manifesting confusion, which is likely to trigger a repeat of the bizarre recalls of the MDC Alliance era is on the horizon."There were basic things Chamisa ought to get right as a leader of a political party. It was simply to have defined, known party bearers and an operational constitution spelling out who does what, where, when and how."Rusero said lack of structures and a constitution within CCC was an "own goal".Hamadziripi Dube, a political and social commentator, said CCC was also affected by lack of trust."Chamisa is trying to threaten others from suspected dining with the revolutionary party. CCC is opening its armpits on how that organisation is disorganised of late," Dube said."How can a party withdraw a candidate which they seconded to Zec a few months ago? This organisation has no structures and it's not doing its mandate of ameliorating people's problems whether in cities or wherever. The recalls are a demotivation, which will affect the party's members as well as sympathisers."Dube said the recalls were tantamount to imprisonment of the self-proclaiming big opposition party in Zimbabwe."They lack commitment to their mandate. They lack professionalism and oneness as far as politics is concerned. They deserve to lose the by-elections if they come by," Hamadziripi said. Manassas City Public Schools Partners with Highland Electric Fleets to Deploy 12 Electric School Buses to Manassas, VA 7,700 students and 60 drivers across Manassas City Public Schools will now have access to cleaner air and more reliable transportation BEVERLY, Mass., Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Highland Electric Fleets , the leading provider of school bus fleet Electrification-as-a-Service in North America, announced today its partnership with Manassas City Public Schools to install six chargers and deploy 12 electric school buses to the district over a three-year period. As Highland's first electric school bus deployment in Virginia, this project will support the City of Manassas' goals to reduce 50% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and 80% by 2050 as part of the city's sustainability plan . "The purchase of the electric buses supports our efforts towards a greener, more eco-friendly school transportation system," said Andy Hawkins, Executive Director of Finance & Operations at Manassas City Public Schools. "We look forward to monitoring the progress and impact of this initiative as we work with Highland to reduce our carbon footprint." As nationwide efforts to decarbonize transportation encourage schools to replace their diesel fleets, Manassas City Public Schools selected Highland as the electrification solution provider to upgrade their school buses to electric. The district secured three buses for the current school year and will add three more next school year. An additional six buses will be added in 2025. This partnership will reduce carbon emissions in the community and provide Manassas City Public Schools' students with quiet, cleaner transportation. Highland's unique model of combining private capital with public funding removes the upfront cost of upgrading to electric, making it easier and more affordable for school districts to transition their fleets to electric. As the district's electrification partner, Highland procures the buses and charging equipment, electrifies the bus depot, trains bus drivers and mechanics, manages charging, and offers a charge-readiness guarantee for the duration of the 15-year contract ? all for one fixed price that often equates to less than traditional diesel costs. "Highland is excited about this partnership which brings equitable and zero-emission transportation to school districts in Virginia and nationwide," said Duncan McIntyre, CEO and Founder of Highland Electric Fleets. "We applaud the City of Manassas for their commitment to furthering city-wide sustainability plans, and we look forward to supporting Manassas City Public Schools as they achieve their long-term sustainability goals." About Highland Electric Fleets Highland Electric Fleets is the leading provider of electrification-as-a-service for school districts, governments, and fleet operators in North America. Founded in 2019, Highland offers a unique suite of products that make it simple and affordable to upgrade to electric fleets today. Active in 30 states and Canada, Highland is responsible for the first use of electric school buses in a commercial vehicle-to-grid (V2G) program and the largest electric school bus project in the United States to date. To learn more, visit www.highlandfleets.com. About Manassas City Public Schools Manassas City Public Schools is located in Northern Virginia, approximately 30 miles southwest of Washington, D.C. MCPS embraces the unique characteristics of its diverse community by providing a supportive, equitable, and innovative learning environment in partnership with families to empower students to reach their fullest potential. Media Contacts Mission Control Communications for Highland [email protected] Manassas City Public Schools Al. Radford, Director of Public Communications [email protected] SOURCE Highland Electric Fleets 16 october 2023 at 08:00 News published onand distributed by: Pfizer Canada Invests in Canadian Innovation, Announcing Winners of Open Call for Healthcare Solutions With support from Pfizer Canada's Healthcare Hub, selected startups will further develop innovations to foster more patient-centred care at this critical time in healthcare KIRKLAND, QC, Oct. 16, 2023 /CNW/ - Pfizer Canada ULC, in partnership with Communitech, announces today the tech and innovation startups selected from its open call to help address key challenges in Canadian healthcare, with the goal of enhancing outcomes and the patient experience. The initiative is driven by Pfizer Canada's Healthcare Hub, a commitment to fostering innovation in the life sciences sector in Canada. Following a quantitative and qualitative adjudication process by Pfizer Canada and other health system stakeholders that considered factors including market readiness, desirability of the solution to eventual users and scalability, the following startups and their proposals have been selected: CANImmunize ( Ottawa, Ontario ): A technology solution that helps healthcare providers navigate complex immunization guidelines to enhance both patient safety and the healthcare provider experience, ultimately improving vaccine awareness and uptake. ( ): PharmaGuide ( Richmond Hill, Ontario ): An innovative patient portal, PharmaVision, that will use artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline the drug coverage processes ? eventually predicting the coverage by an insurer, with the goal of promoting transparency, informed decision-making, and better patient care. ( ): Wave View Imaging ( Calgary, Alberta ): A novel breast imaging medical device that could provide accessible, comfortable, and convenient breast imaging?for women of all ages. The device will first deliver breast density assessments but has the potential to address a currently unmet clinical need for neoadjuvant treatment monitoring, allowing Oncologists to monitor tumour response in clinic. ( ): "We are pleased to see the robust response to Pfizer Canada's call for solutions. It's clear there is talent, dedication, and passion in Canada's life science sector," said Najah Sampson, President, Pfizer Canada. "This is an opportunity for creative collaboration, combining progress in the tech sector with our biopharmaceutical expertise. This is an essential part of Pfizer Canada's Healthcare Hub, and we're thrilled to support these new ideas to help improve care for patients. Together we'll help to redefine healthcare in Canada by bringing these scalable solutions to life." Pfizer has committed to investing $1.4 million across this first cohort of the Healthcare Hub "Call for Solutions" winners. The backing from Pfizer for these innovators ranges from in-kind support to significant business donations to help design, develop, manufacture, and scale their respective solutions. These substantial investments reflect Pfizer's goal of acting as a true accelerator for digital solutions that will bring a meaningful contribution to redefining healthcare in Canada. Support in bringing solutions to market is also provided by Communitech who offer a suite of growth resources targeted in helping homegrown innovations succeed. The Pfizer Canada Healthcare Hub is part of a global network of 18 active Pfizer Healthcare Hubs including France, U.K., Belgium, Israel, Singapore and others. For more information visit Pfizer Canada Healthcare Hub. About Pfizer Canada Pfizer Canada ULC is the Canadian operation of Pfizer Inc., one of the world's leading biopharmaceutical companies. Our diversified healthcare portfolio includes some of the world's best known and most prescribed medicines and vaccines. We apply science and our global resources to improve the health and well-being of Canadians at every stage of life. Our commitment is reflected in everything we do, from our disease awareness initiatives to our community partnerships. To learn more about Pfizer Canada, visit pfizer.ca or you can follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube. About Communitech Communitech was founded in 1997 by a group of entrepreneurs committed to making Waterloo Region a global innovation leader. At the time it was just a wild idea, but somehow this community managed to pull it off. Today, Communitech is a public-private innovation hub that supports a community of more than 1,600 companies ? from startups to scale-ups to large global players. Communitech helps tech companies start, grow and succeed in three distinct ways: Communitech is a place ? the centre of gravity for entrepreneurs and innovators. A clubhouse for building cool tech and great companies. Communitech delivers programs ? helping companies at all stages with access to capital, customers and talent. We are here to help them grow and innovate. Communitech partners in building a world-leading ecosystem ? making sure we have all the ingredients (and the brand) to help companies go from a small startup to a global giant. For further information: Corporate Affairs Canada 1-866-9PFIZER (1-866-973-4937) [email protected] SOURCE Pfizer Canada 16 october 2023 at 08:00 News published onand distributed by: aicep Global Parques, EllaLink and Start Campus Cooperate Making Sines the New Atlantic Hub - a Safe, Neutral, Resilient and Easy Place to Land and Operate Submarine Cables aicep Global Parques, EllaLink and Start Campus, the company responsible for the SINES hyperscale sustainable data centre, are working together to create the 'Atlantic Hub,' enhancing connectivity between Europe, North and South America and Africa. The partnership, which includes collaboration from the Portuguese Government in coordinating various public entities at national and local levels, aims to establish Sines, Portugal, as a safe, neutral, resilient and easy place to land submarine cables. This includes: A transparent and comprehensive solution to streamline the licensing and construction authorization process, establishing a risk controlled environment with unique regulatory conditions for landing submarine cables in a strategic location for intercontinental connectivity; The creation of a "Cable Protection zone" in front of Sines for pre-licensing of submarine cable routes, ensuring enhanced and controlled cable protection; The construction, in Sines, of several multi-tenant, robust and diverse fronthaul infrastructures for submarine cables, connecting the SINES data centre, EllaLink Cable Landing Station (CLS) and other cable landing points, and Sines Tech. Sines thus positions itself as a secure, transparent, and neutral submarine hub, capable of attracting more international cables due to a unique, simplified location, with low risk and high security, connected to large-scale interconnection hubs and data centres, with 100% sustainable energy solutions. This project guarantees the reinforcement of an ecosystem conducive to the landing of submarine cables with the connection between the sustainable Hyperscale data centre SINES, high-speed submarine cables such as EllaLink, and access to clean energy sources and cooling infrastructures using seawater, with negligent WUEs. Creating a natural redundancy and giving strength to the Atlantic Hub, the unrepeated high fibre count submarine cable system, Olisipo, will provide Sines the diversity to other digital infrastructures in Portugal, connecting to other cable landings and data centres. The Atlantic Hub is expected to bring substantial economic benefits to the region as it boosts job creation, stimulates local economic activity, and contributes to the growth of the digital economy. It can also encourage technology companies to establish a presence in the area. For Afonso Salema, CEO of Start Campus, "The Atlantic Hub will enable a huge reduction in risk for new subsea systems as well as a qualitative leap in processes that are generally time-consuming in an industry that needs ever shorter deadlines between the investment decision and the start of operations. It is indeed encouraging to have the collaboration of partner companies such as EllaLink and official organisations such as aicep Global Parque, which give strength to all the projects that are increasingly looking to Sines as the European gateway to the explosion of intercontinental connectivity." Diego Matas, COO of EllaLink, also adds, "Developing a digital and connectivity Hub is a crucial milestone for the entire EllaLink vision, which started long ago when we first decided to come to Sines and land a cable here! Atlantic Hub and the Olisipo Submarine cable system will boost the country's interconnectivity, offering new investors something completely innovative for the region and adding critical advantages to Sines as a preferred gateway to and from Europe. EllaLink is firmly committed to the development of such a project." For Isabel Caldeira Cardoso, CEO of aicep Global Parques, "We are aware of the importance of the Atlantic Hub for Portugal's attractiveness in the digital sector. International connectivity is increasingly important and the Sines region, due to its intrinsic characteristics, can be a driving force behind the development of this important vector in the national economy. Simplification in the sense of efficiency and effectiveness is undoubtedly a key factor for developers, the main digital players in the market. Our role is to be an active and dynamic entity in this process, creating greater wealth and sustainable development for our country." About aicep Global Parques aicep Global Parques - Gestao de Areas Empresariais e Servicos, S. A., is a Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs State-Owned company, dedicated to the management of business parks and to the provision of the best location solutions for companies looking to install a business in Portugal, thus attracting and promoting the settlement of domestic and foreign investment in the country. aicep Global Parques manages ZILS - Sines Industrial and Logistic Zone, the country's largest business park suitable for energy, industrial, logistics and service activities, adjacent to the port of Sines. The Sines Tech - Innovation & Data Center Hub is a technological hub located in ZILS, offering excellent conditions for installing intercontinental submarine cables mooring stations and mega data and computing centers. About EllaLink EllaLink is a privately funded and independent company committed to providing products and services on a Carrier Neutral and Open Access basis. Marguerite II, a pan-European equity fund active in the renewables, energy, transport and digital infrastructure sectors, is the main shareholder of EllaLink. The EllaLink submarine cable system is an advanced optical platform offering secure high-capacity connectivity on a unique low latency transatlantic route serving the growing needs of the Latin American and European markets. The EllaLink network directly connects Brazil and Europe, linking the major hubs of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Fortaleza with Lisbon, Madrid and Marseille. The EllaLink submarine cable system has been built with state-of-the-art coherent technology initially offering 100Tbps of capacity over four direct fibre pairs between Europe and Brazil. For more information visit ella.link About Start Campus Start Campus is responsible for the development of the SINES project, a Hyperscaler data center campus with a capacity of up to 495 MW in Sines, an investment of up to ?3.5 billion. It will be one of the largest data center campuses in Europe and meets the growing demand from large international technology companies. It will create up to 1,200 direct highly skilled jobs and 8,000 indirect jobs by 2028. It is located in Sines and will benefit from all the strategic advantages such as sea water cooling systems, access to the high voltage electrical grid, connectivity through the connection to high capacity international networks of fiber optic cables with North America, Africa and South America. SINES 4.0 will be one of the largest data center ecosystems with 100% green energy at competitive prices in a premium location in Europe, which is the perfect gateway to Europe and the world. See more information in www.startcampus.pt 16 october 2023 at 08:15 News published onand distributed by: FlyFin AI Launches AI Tax Recommendations Feature AI automatically suggests thousands of tax deductions SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- FlyFin , the world's premier AI-powered tax preparation and filing service, launched a new feature designed to save freelancers, creators and self-employed individuals significantly more money by automatically suggesting tax deductions that they may not be aware of or believe they are not qualified to take. Trained on the entire US tax code, FlyFin's AI analyzes the user's tax profile and the expenses they have entered and classified in the app. Based on this, AI identifies potential tax deductions from among the thousands that are available to self-employed taxpayers, from the deductions every self-employed individual should be taking to those that are unexpected or little-known. "This feature will have a huge impact on the amount FlyFin users are saving on their taxes, and we are so excited to see how many additional tax deductions they will be able to take ? simply be being aware that they're available," said Jaideep Singh, Co-founder and CEO of FlyFin. "Taxes for freelancers and the self-employed have a reputation for being more complicated, and this important new feature completely removes that as a barrier to getting the maximum savings when they file their taxes." Self-employed and freelance taxpayers typically have more complicated tax issues, as they are entirely responsible for organizing, calculating and managing their taxes, whereas corporations do much of this work for their employees. Self-employed individuals, however, are allowed to deduct thousands of different business expenses from their taxable income, while employees are not. This means that the potential to save money on taxes is often based on the knowledge that self-employed and freelance workers have about what they can deduct. FlyFin's Tax Recommendations feature knows every business expense that can be deducted for every kind of occupation and every type of small business. AI sees the tax deductions a FlyFin user has taken and the deductions they have missed or have not yet taken. AI then automatically prompts the user with a Tax Recommendation within the app to take advantage of those missing deductions while there is still time, to save as much money as possible on their self-employed taxes. To learn more, visit https://flyfin.tax . About FlyFin AI FlyFin is an award-winning, AI-powered platform that provides self-employed, sub-contractors, independent contractors, gig workers, freelancers, and creator economy workers with a convenient, easy-to-use, and affordable tax filing solution. With a "Man + Machine" approach, FlyFin leverages AI paired with highly experienced tax CPAs to deliver automation that eliminates 95% of the work required for 1099 self-employed individuals to prepare their taxes. FlyFin is a privately-held, venture-backed company based in San Jose, California. For more information, visit FlyFin AI . Press Contact: Carmen Hughes Ignite X c: 650.576.6444 366941@email4pr.com SOURCE FlyFin 16 october 2023 at 08:30 News published onand distributed by: Ireland's Minister for Enterprise Leads Trade Mission to Chicago Marking Strong Bilateral Trade Relationship between the USA and Ireland Ireland is the 9th largest source of FDI into the United States Irish companies sign deals exceeding $15 million with US partners including healthcare leaders ? Baxter International and Zoetis CHICAGO, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Minister Simon Coveney, Ireland's Minister for Enterprise, Trade, and Employment, and Enterprise Ireland 's CEO Leo Clancy, will lead a four-day trade mission to Chicago, Indianapolis, and throughout Michigan on October 16-19. The trade mission follows President Biden's official visit to Ireland in April, earlier this year. Leading the trade mission, Minister Coveney said "I'm incredibly proud of the strong economic ties between the United States and Ireland and the contribution that Irish companies are delivering to the US economy, employing 100,000 people across all 50 states, including 6,500 in Chicago alone. Major Irish brands such as Guinness, Kerrygold and Glanbia call Chicago their US home and there are strong ties between Illinois and Ireland. This trade mission serves as a testament to our commitment to nurturing and strengthening this significant relationship and building economic prosperity for both nations." Leo Clancy, Enterprise Ireland CEO reflected on the strong business opportunities for both regions saying: "This trade mission comes amid a total $269 billion in Irish direct investment into the United States. The demand for Irish innovation and collaboration in the United States is at an all-time high and that leads Irish companies to forge greater investment levels in the United States. The record high in two-way trade underscores the depth and vitality of the economic and cultural ties that exist between Ireland and the United States and the commitment to build on this." Reflecting the strong ties between the Midwest and Ireland, five Enterprise Ireland clients announced significant new deals and partnerships with US leaders in the region: Connected bedside technology company, Oneview Healthcare signed a multi-year agreement with Baxter International , the largest hospital bed supplier in the US. Baxter will work with Oneview to provide their connected bedside technology to the company's current U.S. customer base. As a result of the collaboration, Oneview Healthcare has created 20 new jobs across their Dublin , Chicago and St. Louis offices. signed a multi-year agreement with , the largest hospital bed supplier in the US. will work with Oneview to provide their connected bedside technology to the company's current U.S. customer base. As a result of the collaboration, Oneview Healthcare has created 20 new jobs across their , and offices. Irish agtech company MagrowTec announces a multi-million-dollar contract with Minnesota based NicholsonTec , with the purchase of MagGrow crop spraying units to be sold across 40+ states. announces a multi-million-dollar contract with based , with the purchase of MagGrow crop spraying units to be sold across 40+ states. Aerogen , a world leader in acute care aerosol drug delivery, celebrated its expanding partnership with Rush Hospital , based in Illinois , at an event marking the company's 25-year anniversary. Aerogen integrate its respiratory devices across Rush Hospital centers to provide better patient care for those struggling with respiratory illness. , a world leader in acute care aerosol drug delivery, celebrated its expanding partnership with , based in , at an event marking the company's 25-year anniversary. Aerogen integrate its respiratory devices across Rush Hospital centers to provide better patient care for those struggling with respiratory illness. Prodieco, a leading precision engineering company specializing in manufacturing parts for blister packaging announced a multi-million-dollar deal with Zoetis, the world's largest animal health company, as part of the global rollout of Zoetis's Apoquel Chewable. Prodieco previously partnered with Zoetis on the global launches of Simparica & Simparica Trio. Beyond healthcare, food innovation and education are also a focus of the trade mission, with Enterprise Ireland hosting a 'Future of Food' roundtable. Chicago's DePaul University will host Educate in Ireland's international education forum, with representatives from leading Irish and Chicago based universities including Columbia College Chicago, University of Illinois Chicago. Media interested in interviews can contact Hillary Ovalle at [email protected]. About Enterprise Ireland Enterprise Ireland is the Irish government's trade and innovation agency. For 25 years, we've helped thousands of global customers to solve their business challenges and gain competitive advantage by partnering with Irish companies. As the most active venture capital investor in Europe by deal count, Enterprise Ireland invests in and supports innovative Irish companies and connects them with customers worldwide. Across 39 international offices, including 6 offices across the US, our industry advisors will work with international companies to understand their specific requirements and connect them with an innovative Irish partner. For more information on Enterprise Ireland, visit their website here . SOURCE Enterprise Ireland 16 october 2023 at 09:00 News published onand distributed by: Inception Fertilitytm Announces 36 Abstracts Accepted, to be Presented at the 2023 ASRM Scientific Congress Physicians part of Inception's global network of clinics, The Prelude Network, to showcase breakthrough findings in reproductive medicine at the industry's most prestigious scientific gathering of multi-disciplinary professionals HOUSTON, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Inception Fertilitytm (Inception), the largest provider of comprehensive fertility products and services in North America, announces today 36 of abstracts from its clinical network, The Prelude Network (Prelude), have been accepted by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) to be presented at the 2023 ASRM Scientific Congress, taking place October 14-18, 2023, in New Orleans, Louisiana. ASRM is a professional organization dedicated to advancing the science and practice of reproductive medicine. Its annual Scientific Congress is a gathering of multi-disciplinary professionals who share the latest scientific breakthroughs and discoveries in reproductive endocrinology and infertility. "The physicians who make up Prelude's prestigious network of clinics once again demonstrate their commitment to advancing the field of reproductive medicine through thoughtful and impactful research," says TJ Farnsworth, Founder and CEO of Inception Fertility, the parent company to Prelude. "We look forward to another year at the ASRM Scientific Congress and working in collaborative spirit with our colleagues to continue learning and growing this field of medicine." Physicians from across Prelude's global network will present abstracts on some of the most pressing topics in reproductive medicine, including cryopreservation and storage, preimplantation genetic testing, fertility preservation among cancer patients, male factor infertility, and others. "As the field of reproductive medicine moves forward to improve outcomes and quality of care for the one in six global couples who will be impacted by infertility, Prelude is committed to doing its part to lead that progress, as evident by the unprecedented amount of research we submitted to the 2023 ASRM Scientific Congress," says Dr. Jamie Grifo, Program Director at NYU Langone Fertility Center, Chief Executive Physician at Inception Fertility and lead investigator of many of this year's accepted abstracts. "I congratulate all of my colleagues on their recognition by ASRM and applaud them for their commitment to patient care, outcomes, and the future our field of medicine." To see a complete list of those Prelude abstracts that will be presented at the 2023 ASRM Scientific Congress, please visit Inception Fertility at ASRM 2023 Conference. For media attending the 2023 ASRM Scientific Congress who would like to connect on-site with Prelude physicians to further discuss their abstracts, or for media interested in reporting in any one of these studies, please contact Mia Humphreys at [email protected]. About Inception Fertilitytm Inception Fertilitytm (Inception) is a family of fertility brands committed to helping patients build their own families. Built by patients for patients, Inception's purpose is to achieve the highest bar in experience, science and medicine in an effort to enhance each patient's experience and achieve better outcomes. Inception's medical experts are leading pioneers in fertility care. Our doctors are some of the first to use breakthrough assisted reproductive technologies (ART) ? including in vitro fertilization (IVF), preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) and fertility preservation services ? and they continue to lead the industry by building on these technologies by thorough development, research and thought leadership. Through its growing family of national organizations ? which includes The Prelude Network, the fastest-growing network of fertility clinics and largest provider of comprehensive fertility services in North America; Pathways Fertility, clinics that provide affordable, individualized and high quality care; MyEggBank, one of the largest frozen donor egg banks in North America; BUNDL Fertilitytm, a multi-cycle fertility service bundling program; HavenCryotm, a long-term reproductive preservation and storage solution provider and NutraBloom, a premium lifestyle brand with expertly formulated supplements to support individuals' health and wellness goals for preconception ? Inception is working to deliver on its promise to push the envelope of what is possible for exceeding patient expectations. About The Prelude Network The Prelude Network (Prelude), the fastest-growing network of fertility clinics and largest provider of comprehensive fertility services in North America, is the clinic network of Inception Fertilitytm ? a family of fertility brands that touches every part of the fertility journey, including diagnostics and treatment to financial accessibility. Each clinic, as part of the Prelude Network, is committed to delivering the highest level of personalized fertility care by the nation's leading reproductive endocrinologists, embryologists, and practitioners by focusing on an excellence in science, medicine and the patient experience. The growing Prelude Network has over 40 total locations nationwide, offering a wide range of fertility services including egg freezing, IVF, genetic testing and egg/embryo storage, among others. MEDIA CONTACT: Mia Humphreys Krupp 239-297-6592 [email protected] SOURCE Inception Fertility 16 october 2023 at 09:00 News published onand distributed by: Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa Launches Financial Journalism Training Program in Senegal and Cote d'Ivoire Program expands to francophone countries for the first time following success in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Zambia. NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / Bloomberg Originally published on bloomberg.com Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa (BMIA) has launched in francophone West Africa for the first time. More than 100 delegates participated in Bloomberg's Financial Journalism Training (FJT) program in Senegal and Cote d'Ivoire. The delegates are part of the first cohort to participate in the program through French. At country launches in Dakar and Abidjan, participants from the media, government and civil society were joined by senior representatives from the Senegal and Cote d'Ivoire governments to celebrate the expansion of the FJT program to French speaking markets. Over the next eight months, delegates will spend 23 days in interactive in-person sessions led by prominent faculty members at local universities. Participants will engage in a series of workshops that will strengthen their skills in and understanding of data analysis, capital markets, accounting, public policy, economics and the transforming media landscape. Financial journalism sessions will be taught by Bloomberg News reporters. Delegates will also receive a free, six-month subscription to the Bloomberg Terminal, offering access to global data, news and analysis. The sessions have been developed in partnership with prominent faculty at local universities, including Centre d'Etudes des Sciences et Techniques de l'Information (CESTI) and Centre Africain d'Etudes Superieures en Gestion (CESAG) in Senegal, and the Institut des Sciences et Techniques de la Communication (ISTC) In Cote d'Ivoire, in collaboration with Strathmore University Business School (SUBS) in Kenya. Speaking following the event in Dakar the Honorable Moussa Bocar Thiam, Minister of Communications, Telecommunications and Digital Economy, Senegal said: "We are excited that BMIA has launched its financial journalism training program in Senegal in partnership with CESTI and CESAG. It is crucial that journalists develop key business journalism and data analysis skills as the Senegalese economy transforms and investment opportunities evolve. I am confident that the program will support the continuous progression of media in the region through exposing them to leading financial journalism experts and concepts." Speaking following the event in Abidjan the Honoroable Amadou Coulibally, Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Cote d'Ivoire said: "We are delighted that BMIA has launched its financial journalism training program in Cote d'Ivoire. As our economy and business networks continue to expand, it is vital that local journalists develop the techniques needed to accurately report on complex transitions and developments. By participating in this program, Ivorian media will learn techniques from some of the world's leading financial journalism experts." "Since 2014, more than 800 delegates have completed the Financial Journalism Training program, from countries right across the continent. The practical training delegates receive, particularly in the area of financial data analysis, has proved invaluable to participants as they develop in their careers, says Erana Stennnett, Head of Bloomberg Corporate Philanthropy in the Africa & Middle East and Director of Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa. "As we offer the program in French for the first time, we hope this new cohort of journalists and executives lead the way in shaping the future of robust business and financial journalism in francophone Africa. The FJT program, part of Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa (BMIA), supports the advancement of financial journalism to contribute to more inclusive economic development on the continent of Africa. In collaboration with a consortium of pre-eminent journalism and business schools across eight key African markets, BMIA is designed to deliver a highly innovative, integrated and practical world-class executive training program that is firmly rooted in African market realities. The expansion of the program to Senegal and Cote d'Ivoire, follows the success of the program in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia, where over 800 delegates from 16 countries have graduated to date. FJT is offered to journalists and mid-career professionals in communications, business, government and civil society. The Financial Journalism Training program is a core component of BMIA, which aims to contribute to the advancement of business and financial reporting in Africa. Funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the initiative is supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and the Ford Foundation. ### ENDS ### Follow the conversation online using #BMIAFJT To view a report on the aims and outcomes of phase one of the BMIA program see here. For more information on BMIA please click here. About the Bloomberg Africa Media Initiative (BMIA) Launched by Mike Bloomberg in South Africa in 2014, the Bloomberg Africa Media Initiative (BMIA) is a pan-Africa program designed to accelerate development of a globally competitive media and financial reporting industry as well as promote transparency, accountability and good governance in Africa and beyond. The initiative has four components: It provides cross-disciplinary educational programs to increase the number of highly trained business and financial journalists, as well as supports research to stimulate new media innovations, convene international leaders to promote interactive dialogue and build strong relationships to enhance the quality of financial coverage and the availability of reliable and timely data on the continent. About Bloomberg Philanthropies: Bloomberg Philanthropies invests in 700 cities and 150 countries around the world to ensure better, longer lives for the greatest number of people. The organization focuses on five key areas for creating lasting change: the Arts, Education, Environment, Government Innovation, and Public Health. Bloomberg Philanthropies encompasses all of Michael R. Bloomberg's giving, including his foundation, corporate, and personal philanthropy as well as Bloomberg Associates, a pro bono consultancy that works in cities around the world. In 2022, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed US$ 1.7 billion. For more information, please visit ?bloomberg.org, sign up for our newsletter,? or follow us on ?Facebook, ?Instagram,? YouTube,? Twitter/X, and LinkedIn. Media Contact: Oisin O Malley - Bloomberg LP [email protected] View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Bloomberg on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: Bloomberg Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/bloomberg Email: [email protected] SOURCE: Bloomberg 16 october 2023 at 09:10 View source version on accesswire.com:News published onand distributed by: CORRECTING and REPLACING Cummins Collaborates with Industry Partners on Open Telematics Architecture for Commercial Vehicles Please replace the release with the following corrected version due to multiple revisions. The updated release reads: CUMMINS COLLABORATES WITH INDUSTRY PARTNERS ON OPEN TELEMATICS ARCHITECTURE FOR COMMERCIAL VEHICLES Today global power and technology leader Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI) announced its collaboration with the Eclipse Foundation, Microsoft, and industry partners to release a new and innovative approach to develop telematics software for commercial vehicles. The Open Telematics Framework is being designed to allow companies to accelerate time to market and reduce costs. It allows each company to write their telematics application once and deploy it to any telematics hardware running the Open Telematics Framework. This write once, run anywhere approach will eliminate the complex customization and reprogramming efforts that have historically burdened telematics application developers. It also incorporates the latest cybersecurity capabilities. "We believe there is a better way for the industry to advance digital technologies by removing much of the costly and time-consuming development efforts that most companies experience when bringing new telematics applications and features to market," said Sherry Aaholm, Vice President and Chief Digital Officer at Cummins. "We are contributing this Open Telematics infrastructure through a non-commercial license because we believe having a common telematics environment will enable the industry to develop customer-facing applications more quickly and easily, bringing the value to our customers sooner." First introduced to this project through its relationship with Microsoft, Cummins will be releasing the Open Telematics Framework through the Eclipse Foundation's Software Defined Vehicle (SDV) Working Group. "Cummins joining the Eclipse SDV Working Group and contributing to the Open Telematics Framework is exactly the type of collaboration we are looking to foster," said Mike Milinkovich, Executive Director of the Eclipse Foundation. "We welcome their participation and view this as another exciting milestone towards building an automotive software ecosystem delivering production-ready technology the industry can use to implement the future of the connected vehicle." Microsoft is working on cloud management capabilities, that when combined with the in-vehicle capabilities contributed by Cummins, will result in an open and comprehensive end-to-end solution. The Eclipse Foundation's Software Defined Vehicle Working Group includes a growing list of 38 different automotive and technology companies. "We believe our Software Defined Vehicle collaboration at The Eclipse Foundation will help simplify and accelerate the transformation of our automotive customers," said Brian Willson, Vice President, West & Midwest region, Microsoft. "We are thrilled that Cummins is joining this initiative to lead the transformation in the commercial vehicle space. Their experience and open-source contribution will help the commercial vehicle space at large." The Open Telematics Framework is a collaboration between numerous companies in the industry and not just a Cummins-focused effort. Participants will not be locked into any proprietary solutions. The goal is for companies to collaborate on a solution to grow capabilities, enhancing the Open Telematics Framework to serve an even broader range of developers, OEMs, and aftermarket telematics providers, including Saucon Technologies and Platform Science. "Saucon Technologies has been in collaboration with Cummins for many years through innovative hardware designs, software development, and integration expertise. The participation in the Open Telematics Framework, via the Eclipse Foundation's Software Defined Vehicle project, is a further testament to Saucon and Cummins' shared commitment to innovation and driving the industry forward alongside other industry leaders," said Bill French, CEO and Founder, Saucon Technologies. "This open framework will allow the industry to provide more cost-effective solutions, in a fraction of the time, while delivering seamless connectivity and unparalleled advancements in the world of mobility." "We are excited to be working with Cummins and OEM partners on this foundational framework," said Jake Fields, CTO and Co-Founder at Platform Science. "Along with Virtual Vehicle, it allows OEM's to substantially reduce the time and effort required to implement core standardized capabilities on their connected vehicles. These foundational connected vehicle elements continue to further partner, developer, and customer efforts to push the innovation envelope." Bosch is another participating partner and one of the founding members of the Eclipse Software Defined Vehicle Working Group. "Bosch, and its subsidiary ETAS, have a strong history collaborating across the commercial vehicle industry with OEM and Tier 1 partners. As a founding member of the Eclipse Software Defined Vehicle Working Group, we have shown our commitment to open source software solutions that can readily be implemented across industry ecosystems," said Ansgar Lindwedel, Director SDV Ecosystem Development ETAs, Bosch. "We look forward to collaborating with Cummins and other organizations to bring this framework to the commercial vehicle segment, and appreciate Cummins' engagement within this important open source community." To learn more about the Open Telematics Framework and its benefits by visiting https://www.cummins.com/technology/telematics. About Cummins Inc. Cummins Inc., a global power technology leader, is a corporation of complementary business segments that design, manufacture, distribute and service a broad portfolio of power solutions. The company's products range from internal combustion, electric and hybrid integrated power solutions to components including filtration, aftertreatment, turbochargers, fuel systems, controls systems, air handling systems, automated transmissions, electric power generation systems, microgrid controls, batteries, electrolyzers and fuel cell products. Headquartered in Columbus, Indiana (U.S.), since its founding in 1919, Cummins employs approximately 73,600 people committed to powering a more prosperous world through three global corporate responsibility priorities critical to healthy communities: education, environment and equality of opportunity. Cummins serves its customers online, through a network of company-owned and independent distributor locations, and through thousands of dealer locations worldwide and earned about $2.2 billion on sales of $28.1 billion in 2022. Learn more at cummins.com. 16 october 2023 at 12:05 News published onand distributed by: Deltek to Support Save the Children During Its Annual Customer Conference, Deltek ProjectCon ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Deltek, the leading global provider of software and solutions for project-based businesses, announced that it is partnering with Save the Children for its annual customer conference ? Deltek ProjectCon 2023 ? taking place this week at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. Thousands of Deltek customers, partners and experts will gather for in-person networking opportunities, discussions on industry best practices, inspirational keynotes and education on Deltek solutions and services. Each year, attendees at Deltek's customer conference participate in a philanthropic activity during the #DeltekCares Reception. This year, the reception will be sponsored by Cordia, now Cherry Bekaert, and in support of Save the Children, which works with partners and communities in over 100 countries to give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. In 2022 alone, Save the Children programs and partners helped 118 million children. Together, attendees at Deltek ProjectCon will assemble activity and care bags for children in rural America. In addition, Deltek will donate $20 to Save the Children for every G2 review left by customers at Deltek ProjectCon. "Each year, Deltek supports an organization during our annual customer conference ? it's just one of the ways that we give back with our #DeltekCares program throughout the year. We are excited to be partnering with Save the Children ? not only during the reception, but also through money raised by G2 reviews," said Ed Hutner, Deltek's SVP of Human Resources. "I'd like to thank our sponsor Cordia Partners for their generosity and collaboration with us for this charitable event ? Deltek ProjectCon and this philanthropic effort wouldn't be possible without our sponsors support." Over 30 sponsoring partners will join Deltek at the Gaylord Palms in the "XPO" ? where attendees can connect with Deltek experts and fellow attendees to get hands-on with live demos, see partner solutions in action, and more. This year's sponsoring partners include Diamond Sponsor Baker Tilly, and Platinum Sponsors Kinetek Consulting and Premier Consulting & Integration LLC. To learn more about Deltek ProjectCon and to register for the conference, visit deltekprojectcon.com. About Deltek Better software means better projects. Deltek is the leading global provider of enterprise software and information solutions for project-based businesses. More than 30,000 organizations and millions of users in over 80 countries around the world rely on Deltek for superior levels of project intelligence, management, and collaboration. Our industry-focused expertise powers project success by helping firms achieve performance that maximizes productivity and revenue. www.deltek.com About Save the Children Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. Since our founding more than 100 years ago, we've been advocating for the rights of children worldwide. In the United States and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children ? every day and in times of crisis ? transforming the future we share. Our results, financial statements and charity ratings reaffirm that Save the Children is a charity you can trust. Follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Deltek Contact Media Relations Team [email protected] Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1949258/Deltek_ProjectCon_Logo.jpg 16 october 2023 at 10:00 News published onand distributed by: Quotient Sciences Appoints Thierry Van Nieuwenhove as New CEO Van Nieuwenhove succeeds Mark Egerton , who retires after 18 years in the role Wayne Hewett also joins Quotient Board of Directors as Non-Executive Chairman NOTTINGHAM, England, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Quotient Sciences ("Quotient" or the "Company"), a leading global pharmaceutical drug development and manufacturing accelerator, is pleased to announce the appointment of Thierry Van Nieuwenhove as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective 16th October 2023. Thierry succeeds Mark Egerton who, after 18 years of successfully leading Quotient as CEO, is retiring from executive life. As part of the leadership transition, the Company also announces that Wayne Hewett has been appointed as Non-Executive Chairman. Thierry Van Nieuwenhove joins Quotient with an extensive track record in the pharma/CDMO services industry spanning over 23 years, and with experience in both small molecules and biologics. Thierry joins from ABL Inc. where he was the Chief Executive Officer for the last two years. Prior to this, he held various senior leadership roles in the CDMO industry, including as the President of the Synthesis business unit at Novasep, Global Head of Business Development at Lonza, and CEO of Minakem, the CDMO and API manufacturing division of Minafin Group. Wayne Hewett is an industry veteran who brings more than three decades of board and leadership experience to the Company. He currently serves as Chairman of Cambrex, a leading global CDMO that provides drug substance, drug product, and analytical services across the entire drug lifecycle. He also serves on the Board of Directors of The Home Depot, Inc, Wells Fargo, UPS and Lytx, and is a dedicated Senior Adviser to Permira. Over the last few years and since its backing from the Permira funds, Quotient has seen significant growth and expansion. In 2021, the Company acquired UK-based CDMO Arcinova, expanding Quotient's service portfolio and enabling the integration of drug substance, drug product and clinical testing capabilities all under one organization to further accelerate drug development timelines for customers. The Company has also recently completed major investments and expansions at its Nottingham, UK and Reading, UK facilities to drive its flagship Translational Pharmaceutics offering, which continues to see strong demand and growth, including in the US. Thierry Van Nieuwenhove said: "I am honoured to join Quotient as its new CEO and lead a team dedicated to improving the lives of patients worldwide. I have admired the company's strong development in recent years, building a global footprint and bringing its innovative Translational Pharmaceutics delivery platform to customers across the world. I'm grateful for the opportunity and looking forward to driving the business through its next phase of growth, and continuing the team's desire to accelerate the development of new medicines." Mark Egerton added: "I have been very fortunate to be part of the Quotient team for the last 18 years. The work that we do to accelerate the development of new medicines is hugely impactful to patients and the customers that we serve. I would like to thank the entire team for their hard work, diligence and collaboration over the last nearly two decades, and I am confident that the business will continue to flourish under Thierry's leadership in the years to come." On behalf of the board, Henry Minello, Partner, and Dimi Tzivelis, Principal at Permira, said: "Mark has served Quotient with distinction throughout his tenure. We are grateful for his leadership and wish him well in his retirement. Looking ahead, we are really delighted to welcome Thierry into the role of CEO and look forward to partnering with him, Wayne and the broader team to continue to grow this exciting business through its next phase." About Quotient Sciences Quotient Sciences is a drug development and manufacturing accelerator providing integrated programs and tailored services across the entire development pathway. Cutting through silos across a range of drug development capabilities, we save precious time and money in getting drugs to patients. Everything we do for our customers is driven by an unswerving belief that ideas need to become solutions, and molecules need to become cures, fast. Because humanity needs solutions, fast. For more information, please visit quotientsciences.com . 16 october 2023 at 10:00 News published onand distributed by: News / National by Staff reporter The dispute between shareholders of Access Finance Group regarding the sale of shares has intensified, with one party favoring arbitration while the other prefers a legal process.According to a High Court application, Access Finance Group is advocating for arbitration to resolve outstanding issues rather than pursuing a court action. The company is facing delays in transferring properties or making full payments to former shareholder and managing director Senziwani Sikhosana due to the unavailability of title deeds.Access Finance Group is employing various technical arguments, including jurisdiction, locus standi, and relief incompetence, to evade their responsibilities and obstruct the process.One significant issue is the absence of title deeds for the properties involved in the share sale transaction. Additionally, a 15% Value Added Tax (VAT) on a real estate development worth at least US$3.9 million has not been paid to the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra), posing a major obstacle.The transfer of land developed by a registered property developer is subject to a 15% VAT, meaning Access Finance Group owes Zimra a minimum of US$585,000. This amount could increase to over US$600,000, considering the estimated value of the property development falls between US$3.9 million and US$4.4 million.The Zimra tax issue has significantly complicated the sale of shares transaction. Senziwani Sikhosana, a former shareholder and managing director of Access Finance, along with his business entities, has taken former CEO Singathini Raymond Chigogwana and associated companies to court over the title deeds of townhouses valued at US$320,000.These former business partners, embroiled in a bitter shareholding dispute, are currently locked in a legal battle over a real estate development, specifically No. 36 Mountbatten Complex in Marlborough, Harare, which consists of 37 townhouse units valued at a minimum of US$3.9 million. Three of these properties are subject to the court case.Chigogwana and Sikhosana, who previously ran several companies together, including Access Forex (Pvt) Ltd, Access Finance (Pvt) Ltd, Tara Capital (Pvt) Ltd, Thirty-Six Mountbatten (Pvt) Ltd, and Access Forex SA (Pty) Ltd, became embroiled in a bitter shareholding dispute that led to the court action.In the High Court case HC1007/23, the applicants are Sikhosana and his entities Ferden Investments, Rock Drill Mining, and Seanmart Investments, while the respondents are Chigogwana, Bwerinofa, Thirty-Six Mountbatten, Access Finance, Access Forex, Tara Capital, The Sheriff of the High Court, and the Registrar of Deeds and Companies.According to court documents, Sikhosana is seeking to have Chigogwana transfer the properties, which were part of their separation settlement, in either real estate or cash form. He also wants the court to issue an order to attach his former partner's assets if this is not done.Chigogwana, on the other hand, wants Sikhosana to pay all transfer taxes, fees, and costs associated with the deal. According to Clause 9 of the agreement to sell shares and property, as well as the Share Purchase Agreement (SPA), Sikhosana has the right to prompt Chigogwana to address the issue within 14 days. If the breach is not rectified, he can cancel the agreement or seek redress during the case.Chigogwana, as the CEO, held a 56% share, Sikhosana, as the managing director, held 20%, and their chairman, Isau Bwerinofa, held 24%. However, Bwerinofa is contesting Sikhosana's claims in court, arguing that since there is a dispute related to the SPA, the matter should be settled through arbitration, not in court.Bwerinofa has raised several issues against Sikhosana, including jurisdiction, locus standi, relief incompetence, adherence to the agreement's terms, and the need for arbitration. He contends that Access Finance cannot provide Sikhosana with his title deeds due to the outstanding VAT.Regarding cash payments, Bwerinofa believes that this matter should also be subject to arbitration. In his response, Bwerinofa raised various preliminary legal technicalities.He argued that the court lacks the jurisdiction to hear Sikhosana's application, citing Clause 21.1 of the SPA, which mandates arbitration for resolving disputes related to the agreement. Additionally, Bwerinofa maintained that Sikhosana is seeking an order that the court cannot issue, rendering the relief incompetent.Bwerinofa also questioned Sikhosana's right and capacity to bring the application before the court. He insists that the matter must be resolved through arbitration, not in a court of law.The case is pending a hearing. CAJ: RCMP ignores legal precedent, Charter rights, in continued campaign to persecute Canadian journalist TORONTO, Oct. 16, 2023 /CNW/ - The Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) is appalled by the preposterous statements made by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in a court filing to justify the arrest ? and the breach of the Charter rights ? of award-winning photojournalist Amber Bracken while documenting the construction of TransCanada's Coastal GasLink pipeline on unceded Wet'suwet'en territory in late 2021. Late last week, The Canadian Press reported on the public release of the RCMP's response to a civil suit filed by Bracken and The Narwhal, for whom Bracken was on assignment at the time of her arrest. The RCMP's filing argues that Bracken was "aiding or abetting" protesters, which meant she was "not engaged in apparent good faith newsgathering activities'' when she was arrested in November 2021 for failing to comply with an injunction order. "These efforts by the RCMP to cast Bracken as a so-called 'protester' are a lazy and wholly indifferent interpretation of the role journalists play in the fabric of Canadian democratic society," said Brent Jolly, CAJ president. "The RCMP's response in this filing is perhaps the most farcical demonstration yet of the RCMP's efforts to restrict press access and stifle journalistic work. It's a masterclass in ignoring and denying the constitutional and legal protections afforded to journalists in Canada to do their jobs without interference." In their filing , the RCMP assert that Bracken, on assignment as a journalist, was not exempt in law from obeying the terms of the injunction order. They argue, furthermore, that by embedding with pipeline opponents, which is a common practice for independent journalists who are bearing witness for the public's right to know, Bracken's actions "went beyond her role as a journalist" and that her "presence in [a small] cabin interfered with safe and effective police operations." The subject of reporters embedding with individuals engaged in protest activity within injunction zones was addressed in a landmark 2019 ruling from the Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal. Justice Derek Green's decision in the 'Brake case' reaffirmed that special considerations apply to journalists working in good faith and reporting on matters in the public interest ? even when an injunction is in place. In that decision, moreover, Justice Green put forth a five-point criterion that establishes, by his legal interpretation, conditions under which those serving as journalists can be allowed or excluded from injunction zones. Green's decision stated journalists are legally permitted if: The person is engaged in apparent good faith in a news-gathering activity of a journalistic nature; He or she is not actively assisting, participating with or advocating for the protesters about whom the reports are being made; He or she does no act that could reasonably be considered as aiding or abetting the protestors in their protest actions or in breaching any order that has been already made; He or she is not otherwise obstructing or interfering with those seeking to enforce the law or any order that has already been made or is not otherwise interfering with the administration of justice; The matters being reported on are matters that can broadly be said to be matters of public interest. Particular consideration should be given to protests involving Indigenous peoples. As the recent filings reflect, Bracken cited the case, and its provisions, to local RCMP officers at the time of her detention and arrest. Officers were either unaware, or indifferent, to the legal precedent. "It has been well-established that journalists are independent observers," Jolly said. "At no point is there any evidence that Bracken's efforts to document events physically prevented, impeded, restricted, interfered with or obstructed RCMP officers in the execution of their duties." As part of her lawsuit, Bracken is seeking civil damages, arguing the RCMP violated her liberty rights under Sections 7 and 9 of the Charter. The suit also argues the arrest breached Bracken and The Narwhal's Section 2(b) rights to freedom of the press. "Even with the benefit of months of hindsight, it is utterly dismaying to see that Canada's national police force continues this woe-begotten persecution campaign," Jolly said. "Rather than admit its mistake, the RCMP has employed a gaggle of government lawyers to launch an inquisition to demonize a Canadian journalist for simply doing their job," said Jolly. The Canadian Association of Journalists is the country's largest professional organization that serves to advance the interests of journalists from coast to coast to coast. The CAJ's primary roles are public-interest advocacy work and professional development for its members. SOURCE Canadian Association of Journalists 16 october 2023 at 10:21 News published onand distributed by: Four new members are joining the Net-Zero Advisory Body GATINEAU, QC, Oct. 16, 2023 /CNW/ - Canada's climate targets are ambitious and require a whole-of-society approach. As part of this national effort, the Government of Canada recognizes the value of working closely with experts such as the Net-Zero Advisory Body (NZAB) to help address the challenges posed by climate change. Their advice supports the development of plans and policies needed to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Today, the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, announced four new members who are joining NZAB: Dr. Louise Comeau , Iris Communications, and Senior Advisor, Re.Climate, for a term of two years , Iris Communications, and Senior Advisor, Re.Climate, for a term of two years Dr. Anne de Bortoli , Carbon Neutrality Research Lead, Polytechnique Montreal, for a term of three years , Carbon Neutrality Research Lead, Polytechnique Montreal, for a term of three years Robert Hornung , Independent Consultant, for a term of three years , Independent Consultant, for a term of three years Shianne McKay , Senior Project Manager, Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources, for a term of two years This announcement follows the July 2023 announcement of two new members. NZAB is an independent group of experts from across Canada with a range of experience and expertise, and a mandate to provide advice and gather ideas, research, and analysis on credible pathways to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 across Canada. The members engage with governments including rights holders, Indigenous peoples, youth, businesses, environmental groups, and other interested Canadians. NZAB provided its expert advice for the development of the 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan, released in 2022. The 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan provides a roadmap for Canada to meet its 2030 emissions reduction target and puts in place the building blocks needed to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Its timely advice is communicated through annual reports and additional submissions to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, which are also made available to the public. In accordance with the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, NZAB has been asked to submit advice to the Minister to support the establishment of Canada's next target for 2035, which must be set no later than December 1, 2024. The Government of Canada is committed to achieving its climate change objectives and is looking forward to NZAB's upcoming advice as the collective work continues for greater climate action. Quotes "Canada's climate progress depends on continuous innovation, fresh ideas, and good implementation advice, and we look forward to working with the Net-Zero Advisory Body for many years to come. NZAB's work can underpin the Government's policy design and decision making. Only through collective action can we achieve a cleaner, more resilient, and stronger future. Canada's engagement is guided by the values and principles of diversity and inclusion, and accessibility and transparency, which is embodied by the outstanding NZAB membership. We will continue to be transparent and accountable to Canadians as we implement the measures and the 2030 Plan." ? The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change "On behalf of NZAB, I would like to extend a warm welcome to the new members. Their varied experience and expertise will strengthen NZAB's catalytic role in giving advice on Canada's pathways to a competitive, net-zero society by 2050." ? Dan Wicklum, Co-Chair, Net-Zero Advisory Body Quick facts The Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act received Royal Assent on June 29, 2021 , and formalized Canada's commitment to net zero by 2050. The Act ensures transparency and accountability as the government works to deliver on its targets. It also requires public participation and independent advice to guide the Government of Canada's efforts. received Royal Assent on , and formalized commitment to net zero by 2050. The Act ensures transparency and accountability as the government works to deliver on its targets. It also requires public participation and independent advice to guide the Government of efforts. Pursuant to the Act, the Government of Canada must set a national emissions reduction target for the year 2035 by no later than December 1, 2024 . must set a national emissions reduction target for the year 2035 by no later than . The Act established NZAB to provide the Minister of Environment and Climate Change with independent advice on achieving net-zero emissions and to engage with Canadians on reaching this goal. The Governor in Council appoints the members of NZAB on the recommendation of the Minister and fixes their remuneration. NZAB is composed of no more than fifteen members, who are appointed on a part-time basis for a renewable term of up to three years. The Minister announced the initial members on February 25, 2021 . Members bring different experience, including from the transportation, clean technology, agriculture, conservation, electricity, finance, and not-for-profit sectors. Related products Associated links Environment and Climate Change Canada's Twitter page Environment and Climate Change Canada's Facebook page SOURCE Environment and Climate Change Canada 16 october 2023 at 11:00 News published onand distributed by: Samarkand's Air Marakanda Welcomes Maiden Flight from China SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Direct flights between Samarkand and Urumqi have been initiated between Air Marakanda, operator of Samarkand International Airport, and China Southern Airlines, China's largest air carrier. An opening ceremony, attended by the management of Air Marakanda and China Southern Airlines, took place at the terminal of Samarkand International Airport, where passengers enjoyed a thematic photo zone, a tea ceremony with sweet treats and Samarkand mulberry paper adorned with Chinese calligraphic inscriptions. According to tradition, a water arch greeted the arrival of the flight at the airfield of Samarkand Airport, and the first passengers arriving from China enjoyed the sounds of karnaya and harsh played by local musicians. At a press conference featuring Air Marakanda CEO of Anton Khodzhayan, Commercial Director Artem Pak, Head of the Samarkand regional branch of the Civil Service Development Agency Rustam Kobilov and General Director of China Southern Airlines' office in Tashkent Shen Yi, the participants noted the great potential of flights between Samarkand and Urumqi. Anton Khodjayan, Air Marakanda's CEO, said: "We are pleased to welcome China Southern Airlines, whose direct flights between the ancient city of Samarkand and Urumqi mark a major new step for Uzbekistan aviation and tourism. China Southern Airlines' new Urumqi link will expand the opportunities for both direct flights between Uzbekistan and China, and for new international connections via the vast connection network of Western China's largest city." Shen Yi, General Director of China Southern Airlines' office in Tashkent, added: "We see many more prospects for development in the field of tourism and trade between the two states and in the spirit of reviving the Great Silk Road, founded many centuries ago, China Southern has plans to open even more new routes between China and Samarkand in the near future." Flights from Urumqi to Samarkand will operate once weekly, departing at 11:20 pm on Sunday. Flights from Samarkand to Urumqi will depart at 01:30 am on Monday. China Southern Airlines will operate using Boeing 737-800 aircraft for the flights, with ticket prices starting from $200 one way. Tickets can be purchased, and additional services arranged, at Samarkand International Airport's 24-hour ticket office, etc. The inauguration of this route now connects the political, economic and cultural center of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the north-western part of China with historic Samarkand for the first time. Website: http://airmarakanda.com About Air Marakanda AIR MARAKANDA is responsible for ground handling and management of the new Samarkand International Airport terminal. It is the first project in the aviation industry of the Republic of Uzbekistan based on public-private partnership. For two years, the new Samarkand terminal has been within the top ten leaders in the Central Asian region of the World Airport Awards (SKYTRAX). About China Southern Airlines China Southern Airlines is China's largest air carrier, the airline's fleet ranks 1st in Asia in terms of the number of aircraft. China Southern Airlines operates more than 850 passenger and cargo transport aircraft, including Boeing B787, B777, B747 and B737, as well as Airbus A330, A321, A320, A319 and ARJ21. China Southern operates more than 3,000 daily flights to 224 destinations in 40 countries and regions of the world. About Urumqi Urumqi is the world's most inland major city. The route network of Urumqi Airport consists of 69 domestic destinations, through which passengers can access the largest business, industrial and tourist cities of China. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2210036/Air_Marakanda_Logo.jpg SOURCE Air Marakanda 16 october 2023 at 11:25 News published onand distributed by: LashKind Makes History, Celebrates Grand Opening of First-Ever Location in the U.S. Emerging Beauty Franchise Debuts in, South Carolina, Ignites Fast-Paced Nationwide Expansion MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C., Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- LashKind, an innovative brow and lash franchise concept, will be opening its first-ever location on October 20 in Mount Pleasant. Located at 889 Houston Northcut Blvd., the brand-new bar will offer guests an array of services for eyelashes and eyebrows. Grounded in the success of Canadian-based MYNC Beauty Inc., and tapping into the proven business model of original blow dry bar franchise Blo Blow Dry Bar, LashKind is designed to be a leader within its space. The new bar is owned and operated by Lynn Maggio-Fleer. With a background in marketing and entrepreneurship, Maggio-Fleer is also an existing franchisee with Blo Blow Dry Bar, owning one location in Mount Pleasant. With more than 20 years of experience as a business owner, Maggio-Fleer will apply the expertise from past and present ventures to her new LashKind location. Before beginning her journey with Blo in 2022, she previously owned a blow dry bar in Alabama as well as various startups, ranging from a cosmetic line to local art studios. Now, after a year of great success, Maggio-Fleer is ready to launch the first LashKind location in the United States. "I am ecstatic to turn my passions into another business venture with LashKind," said Maggio-Fleer. "I continue to be amazed by the work ethic and humility the Blo and LashKind corporate team exemplifies on a daily basis, and was extremely honored to be chosen to spearhead their launch in the U.S. As I look to the future, I cannot wait to see LashKind Mount Pleasant soar, and the impact we can make on the community." To celebrate the Mount Pleasant opening, the new location will feature a lash lift for $60, full Set of Classic Natural Lashes for $90, and Highbrow brow shaping service for $15. As well as special incentives for people who sign up for memberships before November 30th. LashKind's full list of services include: lash extensions, lash lifts; lash tints; brow and full-face waxing; brow and full-face threading; brow lamination; and brow tints. "The launch of LashKind is off to an exciting start, and we look forward to growing with aspiring and existing entrepreneurs looking to stake their claim in this booming industry," said Vanessa Yakobson, CEO of Blo Blow Dry Bar and LashKind. "With Lynn's raw passion for beauty services and dedication shown through her past endeavors, there is no doubt that LashKind Mount Pleasant is in great hands." LashKind is a collective of beauty lovers ? who also know that beauty means business. Its mission is to make guests look and feel beautiful by providing fun and fabulous bar environments, expertly delivered services and high-quality products, while helping ensure their natural lashes and brows remain healthy. LashKind is open Monday - Saturday 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. For more information on LashKind in Mount Pleasant, please visit https://wearelashkind.com/lashkind-mount-pleasant/ or call 843-310-8890. About LashKind LashKind is an innovative brow and lash franchise concept, grounded in the success of Canadian-based MYNC Beauty Inc. (founded in 2011) and brought to you by the team behind the category disruptor, Blo Blow Dry Bar. With a proven business model in a booming industry, LashKind is designed to stand out and set franchisees up for success. As a collective of beauty lovers, LashKind's mission is to make guests look and feel beautiful by providing fun and fabulous bar environments, expertly-delivered services and high-quality products, while helping ensure guests' natural lashes and brows remain healthy. To learn more, visit https://wearelashkind.com/. About Blo Blow Dry Bar Blo Blow Dry Bar is North America's original blow dry bar and the world's largest blow dry bar franchise. The company transformed beauty norms and reinvented the salon industry when it launched the "no cuts, no color" concept: only blow outs. Since opening its first location in Canada in 2007, Blo has grown to over 150 locations across the U.S. and Canada and continues to expand rapidly. The brand has also evolved over time, adding makeup services, a membership program, and quality retail products to its bars. With a mission to enhance the lives of those in the community through the power of flawless blow outs and beauty services, Blo Blow Dry Bar offers perfectly styled hair and exceptional customer experiences seven days a week. For more information visit www.blomedry.com. Media Contact: Sammy O'Connell, Fishman Public Relations, [email protected] SOURCE LashKind 16 october 2023 at 11:40 News published onand distributed by: INSIGHTEC NAMED BIOFLORIDA COMPANY OF THE YEAR The prestigious award honors Insightec's distinguished achievements in focused ultrasound technology and its contributions towards the growth of Florida's life sciences industry. MIAMI, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Insightec, a global healthcare company dedicated to using acoustic energy to transform patient care, today announced that it has been awarded the 2023 BioFlorida David J. Gury Company of the Year Award for distinguished achievement in focused ultrasound technology and contributions to Florida's life sciences industry. The award was presented at BioFlorida's 26th Annual Conference in Ponte Verdra Beach to an audience of statewide leaders in Florida's life sciences industry. "Insightec is proud to receive this distinguished honor and inspired to continue our commitment to improve the quality of life of Floridians and millions of others battling essential tremor and Parkinson's Disease around the world," said Maurice R. Ferre MD, Insightec CEO and Chairman of the Board. "Our team works diligently every day to unlock the full potential of focused ultrasound and we are excited for the value this technology brings to the life sciences community and the future of patient care." The David J. Gury Company of the Year Award, named for one of the founding directors of BioFlorida, honors a company that has significant company achievements with measurable results including financing deals, partnering agreements, research discoveries, grants, clinical trials, approvals, product development and commercialization milestones. Recipients must also be BioFlorida members who demonstrate a history of service to BioFlorida and its mission - to advance the life sciences industry in Florida. Previous award winners include such notable companies as: Novamin, RTI Biologics, OPKO Health, AGTC, Akron Biotech, Sensus Healthcare, Axogen, TherapeuticsMD, Ology, KemPharm, and last year, Catalyst Pharmaceuticals. Insightec has been a pioneer in focused ultrasound (FUS) technology for more than 25 years. The company's Exablate Neuro platform focuses sound waves, safely guided by MRI, to provide tremor relief to patients with medication-refractory essential tremor and Parkinson's disease. Affecting approximately 60 million people globally, essential tremor is the most common movement disorder in the world and is often misdiagnosed. Essential tremor commonly affects both sides of the body, and in December 2022, Insightec received FDA approval to allow appropriate patients to have their second side treated at least nine months after treatment of the first side. The technology also received a CE mark for second side treatment in European countries in 2023. Research for future applications in the neuroscience space is underway in partnership with leading academic and medical institutions including a new pivotal trial, known as LIBERATE (Liquid Biopsy with Low Intensity Ultrasound in Brain Tumors), designed to assess for the first time the clinical benefit of using low-intensity focused ultrasound to transiently increase the permeability of the Blood Brain Barrier and enable liquid biopsy in brain tumors. Insightec is also exploring other treatment applications in the body, such as prostate disease. About Insightec Insightec is a global healthcare company creating the next generation of patient care by realizing the therapeutic power of acoustic energy. The company's Exablate Neuro platform focuses sound waves, safely guided by MRI, to provide tremor treatment to patients with medication-refractory Essential Tremor and Parkinson's Disease. Research for future applications in the neuroscience space is underway in partnership with leading academic and medical institutions. Insightec is headquartered in Haifa, Israel, and Miami, with offices in Dallas, Shanghai, and Tokyo. Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter or visit www.insightec.com for more information. About BioFlorida BioFlorida is the voice of Florida's life sciences industry, representing 8,600 establishments and research organizations in BioPharma, MedTech, Digital Health, and Health Systems that collectively employ nearly 107,000 Floridians (Source: TEConomy/BIO). BioFlorida's member driven initiatives provide a strong business climate for the advancement of innovative products and technology that improve lives and promote economic benefits to the state. Forward-looking Statements: This document contains forward-looking statements regarding, among other things, plans, expectations, and future events. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the following words: "may," "can," "will," "could," "would," "should," "expect," "intend," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "project," "potential," "promise," "continue," "ongoing," or the negative of these terms. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from what is expressed or implied by the statements. Any forward-looking statement is based on information available to Insightec as of the date of the statement. All written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to Insightec are qualified by this caution. Insightec does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect any change in circumstances or in Insightec's expectations. "Exablate," and "Exablate Neuro," as well as the "INSIGHTEC" logo, whether standing alone or in connection with the word "Insightec", are protected trademarks of Insightec. Insightec Media Contact: G&S Business Communications for Insightec Marjani Williams [email protected] (312) 648-6700, ext. 2108 Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1699588/4172473/Insightec_Logo.jpg SOURCE INSIGHTEC 16 october 2023 at 11:53 News published onand distributed by: King's University College and Canadian Chamber of Commerce Vietnam Forge Transcontinental Partnership for Global Growth HANOI, Vietnam, Oct. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- King's University College (King's) and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce Vietnam (CanCham) have taken a momentous step forward in their global engagement strategy with the signing of a significant partnership agreement. The ceremony, held on October 14, 2023, in Hanoi, marks the beginning of a profound collaboration between these two esteemed organizations. King's President, Dr. David Malloy, was in Hanoi to sign the partnership agreement with Mr. David Paille, Vice President of CanCham, on behalf of Mr. Mike Hebert, President. The signing took place during King's Appreciation Reception for partners, parents, alumni, agents and guests. Dr. David Malloy, President of King's University College, shared his excitement for the partnership, stating, "King's greatly values the work of Chambers of Commerce in helping to connect our students, alumni, faculty, and staff with opportunities within the business community. We have been longtime members of the London, Ontario, Canada, Chamber of Commerce. We are excited to begin our first international Chamber of Commerce membership with this new partnership with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce Vietnam. This will open new doors for our students, faculty, alumni and staff to learn about, and network with, the international business world in SE Asis and give our community a greater global outlook." This partnership offers an opportunity for King's to engage in knowledge sharing and collaboration through speaking engagements at CanCham events in Vietnam and also fostering business connections. The collaboration enables businesses and organizations in Vietnam to possibly contribute their expertise to King's programs, courses and events, promoting collaborative learning. One of the key advantages of this collaboration is the access it provides to possible internships and job opportunities for King's students and alumni in Vietnam through CanCham's extensive network. Mr. David Pallie, Vice President CanCham, expressed the significance of this partnership, saying, "We're excited to have King's University College join us as a partner with CanCham Vietnam! Thank you so much for joining our organization! The interest in Canada is so strong as a great place to study. The relationship between Canada and Vietnam is moving quickly and drawing a lot attention. Your involvement is very important to us. The interest in Canada often starts with the students and then it draws the attention of their parents who may want to start a business there." The collaboration between King's University College and CanCham represents a pivotal advancement in global engagement for a Canadian post-secondary institution. This partnership offers King's students the possibility of exceptional experiential learning with connections to Vietnamese businesses, enriching their educational journey. It also unlocks valuable industry links, encompassing services like hotels and transportation in Vietnam, expanding King's network and resources. With CanCham's 120-member strength in Vietnam, which includes Canadian businesses dedicated to fostering Canadian-Vietnamese B2B opportunities, King's aims to broaden its international network. This partnership is a beacon for a promising future, underlining increased collaboration, growth, and enhanced prospects for all stakeholders, charting a path toward global success. About King's University College King's is a public Catholic University College which welcomes students of all faith backgrounds. Located in London, Ontario, Canada, King's provides a personalised and prestigious general and honours degree programs in the liberal arts, social sciences, management, and a master's degree in social work. It is regarded of institutions of higher learning in Canada for the high quality of its teaching faculty and student experience. Institutionally autonomous, King's is academically affiliated with Western University, and King's graduates receive a Western University degree. The King's community is centred on the values of social justice, equality and the education of the whole person. About The Canadian Chamber of Commerce (CanCham) Vietnam CanCham, Vietnam is a non-government, non-profit business association that works to foster greater bilateral opportunities and connection between Canada and Vietnam. We do this by supporting the success of a strong international membership community whose shared interests drive the Canada-Vietnam dialogue, while also expanding awareness of bilateral opportunities to the Canadian and Vietnamese businesses that stand to benefit. For more information, please contact: Jane Antoniak, MCM, APR Director, Communications & Media Relations King's University College 266 Epworth Ave. London, ON [email protected] 519-719-9366 16 october 2023 at 12:10 News published onand distributed by: Bombardier Celebrates Delivery of 150th Global 7500 Aircraft, Reaffirms its Position as Undisputed Leader in Business Aviation Delivery of the 150 th ultra-long-range Global 7500 aircraft marks another significant milestone for Bombardier's industry-defining business jet With its unrivaled cabin and signature smooth ride, the Global 7500 stands alone as the largest and longest-range business aircraft in service Global 7500 aircraft fleet has surpassed 100,000 flight hours, underscoring its status as business aviation's most reliable, productive business jet Global 7500 aircraft have also recently flown 20 speed record missions MONTREAL, Oct. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bombardier today celebrated the recent delivery of its 150th-built Global 7500 business jet, the latest accomplishment for Bombardier's ultra-long-range program. The 150th Global 7500 business jet was delivered to an undisclosed customer in September. The program has transformed business aviation with its refined design, unsurpassed performance and outstanding technological advancements. Since its entry-into-service in December 2018, the Global 7500 business jet has proven to be the highest-performing business aircraft, boasting a fleet dispatch reliability of more than 99.8%. Global 7500 aircraft have also recently flown 20 speed record missions on a number of key routes, further showcasing its impressive performance attributes.* These accomplishments build on earlier speed and distance records already bestowed on this industry-defining business aircraft, including an 8,225 nautical mile flight in October 2019 from Sydney, Australia to Detroit, Michigan, the longest flight recorded in business aviation. "Our team is truly proud of and excited about the success of the Global 7500 aircraft program reaching its 150th-built aircraft. It is the undisputed leader in business aviation today that has garnered top awards since its smooth entry into service in 2018," said Eric Martel, Bombardier's President and CEO. "The Global 7500 aircraft is the largest ultra-long-range business aircraft in the skies and its continued success is a testament to the efforts of our incredibly talented teams that build these amazing aircraft. Our continued success is absolutely related to their unrivalled dedication and commitment to excellence in everything they do." Designed with state-of-the-art technologies, the Global 7500 jet is an engineering masterpiece that allows clients to benefit from unsurpassed comfort and performance, allowing passengers to experience the pinnacle of business aviation. Its technologically advanced Smooth Fl?x Wing cuts down on drag, reduces fuel burn, and lowers emissions, all the while offering the smoothest ride in the skies, as well as producing excellent short-field and high-speed performance. The Global 7500 business jet's stunning and spacious interior features four true living spaces, a full-size, superbly-equipped kitchen and a dedicated crew suite, offering the ultimate in-flight experience. Innovative design elements set the benchmark for the most exceptional cabin interior in business aviation, including Bombardier's patented Nuage seat, which features the industry's first zero-gravity position and the revolutionary nice** Touch cabin management system (CMS), seamlessly connecting the Global 7500 aircraft cabin. The aircraft's Soleil lighting system is also the industry's most advanced cabin lighting technology. Designed and developed exclusively for the Global 7500 aircraft, this is aviation's first circadian rhythm-based cabin lighting technology fully integrated with the Flight Management System, and it introduces the revolutionary Dynamic Daylight Simulation feature which helps to combat jet lag. The Global 7500 aircraft is also the ultimate business tool ? a reliable, highly functional office in the sky. With its ultra-fast internet capabilities, impeccably designed cabins, and consistent, ultra smooth ride at maximum speed, passengers will remain productive and seamlessly connect to the world below, just as they would in their office. In fact, Bombardier's Global 7500 fleet has flown more than 100,000 flight hours to date, underscoring its status as the most productive and reliable long-range aircraft in business aviation. A marvel of innovation and design excellence, the Global 7500 business jet has captured numerous industry awards for its engineering and design acumen. Top honours include: Robb Report's Best of the Best as Business Jet of the Year honour; Aviation Week's Grand Laureate Award for innovation and trailblazing aerospace achievement; a Red Dot Award for Product Design excellence; the International Yacht & Aviation Award for Seating Design (Nuage seat); and a Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute Award for engineering excellence. Bombardier is also very pleased to share that the incredible attributes of the Global 7500 aircraft will be enhanced even more with the introduction of the Global 8000 aircraft, announced in 2022. Bombardier's flagship of a new era will boast an industry-leading range of 8,000 nautical miles and an unbeatable top speed of Mach 0.94, making it the ultimate all-in-one business aircraft. The discerning Global 8000 business jet also features the healthiest cabin in the industry, with Bombardier's P?r Air and advanced HEPA filter technology for the cleanest cabin air and the fastest fresh air replacement. Bombardier's Global 8000 aircraft development is ongoing and the program is progressing to plan. Additionally, for current Global 7500 operators, the incredible performance enhancements on the Global 8000 will be retrofittable when the aircraft enters into service in 2025. Visuals related to Bombardier's announcements at NBAA are available here: https://bombardier.mediavalet.com/portals/NBAA2023 About Bombardier Bombardier (BBD-B.TO) is a global leader in aviation, focused on designing, manufacturing, and servicing the world's most exceptional business jets. Bombardier's Challenger and Global aircraft families are renowned for their cutting-edge innovation, cabin design, performance, and reliability. Bombardier has a worldwide fleet of approximately 5,000 aircraft in service with a wide variety of multinational corporations, charter and fractional ownership providers, governments, and private individuals. Bombardier aircraft are also trusted around the world in government and military special-mission roles leveraging Bombardier Defense's proven expertise. Headquartered in Greater Montreal, Quebec, Bombardier operates aerostructure, assembly and completion facilities in Canada, the United States and Mexico. The company's robust customer support network services the Learjet, Challenger and Global families of aircraft, and includes facilities in strategic locations in the United States and Canada, as well as in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, the UAE, Singapore, China and Australia. For corporate news and information, including Bombardier's Environmental, Social and Governance report, as well as the company's plans to cover all its flight operations with Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) utilizing the Book and Claim system visit bombardier.com . Learn more about Bombardier's industry-leading products and customer service network at businessaircraft.bombardier.com . Follow us on X @Bombardier .?? Bombardier, Bombardier Global, Global 7500, Nuage, P?r Air, Smooth Fl?x Wing, Touch and Soleil are registered or unregistered trademarks of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries. *All records are pending final approval by the National Aeronautic Association (NAA) **nice is a registered trademark of Lufthansa Technik AG For Information Matthew Nicholls Bombardier + 1 514 243-8214 [email protected] 16 october 2023 at 12:35 News published onand distributed by: AANA Recognizes World Anesthesia Day, Supports Better Care and Access for Anesthesia ROSEMONT, Ill., Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (AANA) recognizes World Anesthesia Day as an opportunity to honor the global-minded focus of better care and access for anesthesia. World Anesthesia Day commemorates the birth of anesthesia on October 16, 1846, when providers at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston demonstrated the use of ether for the first time on a patient. Today more than ever, communities must have access to high-quality, safe anesthesia care administered by well-trained professionals such as Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs). Each year, World Anesthesia Day is celebrated with a specific focus, and this year's theme is Anesthesia and Cancer Care. The global impact of cancer is growing with the number of cases expected to increase from 19.3 to 28.4 million by 2040. According to the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA), 80 percent of patients with cancer will require anesthesia and surgical care for treatment or palliation. In many parts of the world, cancer patients are not receiving the care they need because of inadequate resources. "CRNAs are the primary providers of anesthesia care in rural settings and have been instrumental in delivering care to patients in underserved communities throughout the United States and around the world," said AANA President Dru Riddle, PhD, DNP, CRNA, FAAN. "Not only are CRNAs vital for the care of patients with common cancers including breast and prostate cancer, but they also play a role in preventing cancer by caring for patients during colonoscopies and other preventative procedures. It is essential that patients have this access and that CRNAs are in positions to provide high-quality anesthesia services." Anesthesia plays a critical role in other aspects of cancer care, including a range of diagnostic procedures, such as CT and MRI scans and hematological procedures, as well as therapeutic procedures such as radiotherapy and intrathecal chemotherapy. "As we celebrate World Anesthesia Day and reflect on the obstacles to providing access to anesthesia care, we take pride in the work CRNAs offer across the globe." said Riddle. "CRNAs and other advanced practice registered nurses do most of their demanding work out of the public eye. For example, patients may only see a CRNA when they need surgery. It is critical to use our voices as a powerful advocacy tool to reduce barriers to care and help ensure all who need anesthesia care receive it when and where they need it." SOURCE American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology 16 october 2023 at 13:00 News published onand distributed by: Statement - Minister Valdez kicks off Small Business Week 2023 by highlighting the Government of Canada's commitment to supporting small businesses OTTAWA, ON, Oct. 16, 2023 /CNW/ - The Honourable Rechie Valdez, Minister of Small Business, made the following statement today in recognition of Small Business Week: "Today marks the beginning of Small Business Week in Canada. Canada's small businesses aren't "small"?they make up 98% of all Canadian businesses and are at the heart of our communities and economy. "This year, as we begin to move on from the pandemic, we recognize that the challenges of the last few years are still having an impact. We know that small businesses, especially those in the hospitality and tourism sectors, are still seeking relief, and we are here to listen and act. "As just one of the most recent examples of this, our government has given small businesses more flexibility for repaying their Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) loans, which helped so many businesses keep their doors open and their workers employed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses with CEBA loans now have until January 18, 2024, to take advantage of the forgiveness option and get up to $20,000 of their loan forgiven, so they don't have to spend their holidays at the bank. Businesses that need more time but still want to take advantage of the forgiveness option have until March 28, 2024, if they refinance their loans. We have also further extended the deadline for paying back the term loan by an additional year, until December 31, 2026, giving businesses additional flexibility. "This is on top of actions we've taken to reduce the small business tax rate, cut credit card transaction fees and establish agreements with all provinces and territories for $10-a-day child care, which all help relieve the financial pressures that make it harder to run a business. "Creating a strong economy that works for everyone is at the core of our small business supports. That's why we are delivering historic programs like our nearly $7 billion Women Entrepreneurship Strategy, and just today I announced nearly $3 million to support women entrepreneurs in accessing the resources they need to start up and scale up their businesses. This is on top of programs like the Black Entrepreneurship Program, Futurpreneur Canada and the 2SLGBTQI+ Entrepreneurship Program, which are helping remove systemic barriers that entrepreneurs from under-represented groups face in accessing the resources they need. "Last week, I was happy to announce an investment of up to $25 million in five venture capital fund managers as part of the inclusive growth stream of the renewed Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative. This will mean better access to capital for diverse business owners from coast to coast to coast who are looking to make their innovative business ideas a reality and create jobs. "More broadly, the $4 billion Canada Digital Adoption Program, launched in March 2022, has already helped thousands of businesses boost their e-commerce, which became especially significant with the COVID-19 pandemic. And the Canada Small Business Financing Program, a long-standing support for small businesses, is now providing additional and more flexible loan and financing options, while cutting the administrative burden. "I would like to take this opportunity to commend and thank all of Canada's small business owners. You have shown incredible resilience in the face of great challenges in recent years, and we will continue to have your backs as you adapt to rise above them and thrive. "I invite Canadians to join me in supporting our local businesses in any way we can during Small Business Week and to keep doing so every week thereafter. Together, we will build a strong and resilient economy for all Canadians." Stay connected Follow Canada Business on social media for business-related news: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram. Download the Canada Business app. SOURCE Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada 16 october 2023 at 14:19 News published onand distributed by: MNA: Pickets Planned by RNs at Steward Holy Family Hospitals in Both Haverhill and Methuen on Oct. 18 Problems with nurse staffing, recruitment, and retention plaguing both facilities METHUEN, Mass. and HAVERHILL, Mass., Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- What: An informational picket by the dedicated and hardworking MNA nurses at both Steward Holy Family Hospitals. Other attendees will include local supporters, community leaders, neighbors, families, and friends. When: Wednesday, Oct. 18 Picket line at Holy Family Hospital Haverhill, 2:30 - 4 p.m. Picket line at Holy Family Hospital Methuen, 4:30 - 6 p.m. Where: Holy Family Hospital, Haverhill; 140 Lincoln Ave, Haverhill, Mass. Holy Family Hospital, Methuen; 70 East St, Methuen, Mass. On Wednesday, October 18, registered nurses at the two hospitals of Steward Holy Family in both Haverhill and Methuen, who are unionized with the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), will hold informational pickets at each facility to draw attention to the struggles they are facing in delivering safe, quality care to their patients. They will also call on the hospitals' owners and managers to treat the Holy Family RNs with the respect and equality that they deserve. The Holy Family RNs have identified an ongoing and dangerous issue with both the recruitment and retention of new nurses on both campuses ? an issue that is largely being driven by the lack of competitive pay by Steward. Second only to Beth Israel Lahey's Ana Jaques Hospital in Newburyport, the two Holy Family Hospitals' wages are lower than any hospital in the northeast region of Massachusetts. That salary difference is nearly 20% less for Holy Family RNs compared to their local counterparts. As a result, Holy Family nurses leave for better-paying positions at nearby hospitals while nurses who are looking for new jobs pass over jobs at Holy Family hospitals because, they too, can get better-paying jobs in better-staffed hospitals close by. For the nurses who remain at the Haverhill and Methuen campuses, it means they are understaffed and are struggling to provide patients with the safe care they deserve. "There just aren't enough nurses or resources," said Karen Powers, a labor and delivery RN and co-chairperson of the MNA bargaining unit at Holy Family Hospital Methuen. "The market for nurses is highly competitive right now, and that isn't changing anytime soon. The only way Steward Holy Family will succeed in this market is if they respect their nurses and pay them competitively. Until then, the hospital will be understaffed, and patient care and safety will be jeopardized." "We fought to provide the best care possible through the pandemic, and every day before and after," added Jamie Garvey, an RN in the ICU and co-chairperson of the Holy Family Methuen MNA bargaining unit. "But we can't keep up with the community's needs when we keep losing staff." Nurses at the Haverhill campus shared similar details. "The lack of competitive wages here at Holy Family Haverhill has absolutely led to an acute and urgent staffing crisis," said Jane Emory, RN and co-chairperson of her MNA bargaining unit. "In several units, we've watched the hospital close beds to the point where patient capacity has been dramatically reduced. This includes our geriatric psych unit, which went from 17 beds to 11, and our medical/surgical unit which went from 32 beds to 18." Emory went on to explain that, in reality though, the med/surg unit generally only has about 14 beds open. "There's rarely enough staff to cover a patient census of 18." The adult psych unit at the Haverhill campus has also been a victim of uncompetitive wages and the associated understaffing. "Both Holy Family campuses were struggling to staff their adult psych units, so our adult psych nurses were 'temporarily' transferred to Methuen," added Emory. "That was 20 months ago. It's pretty clear that new nurses are unwilling to take jobs in these stressful, sometimes dangerous units for the uncompetitive wages that Steward insists on offering." Between the two Holy Family campuses, there are a total of 550 MNA registered nurses working. But dozens more nursing positions remain unfilled. The nurses at both Haverhill and Methuen are currently in contract talks, where there are proposals specific to staffing, recruitment, retention, and pay on the table, but little headway has been made. "We are out here today to let managers know that we are serious about these proposals, and we have the local community, elected leaders, friends, family, and neighbors in our corner. We want to care safely for our patients, and our supporters want the same." Six negotiation sessions have been held to date at each campus, with the next sessions scheduled for October 24 and 26. MassNurses.org ? Facebook.com/MassNurses ? Twitter.com/MassNurses ? Instagram.com/MassNurses Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in Massachusetts. Its 25,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on healthcare issues affecting nurses and the public. SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association 16 october 2023 at 15:20 News published onand distributed by: News / National by Staff reporter Recent council minutes have disclosed that the Bulawayo City Council's fire and ambulance services department is severely hampered by a critical shortage of staff and service vehicles.The rescue service department faces a multitude of challenges, with the primary issues being a brain drain and a lack of service vehicles and modern equipment to respond effectively to emergencies. In a concerning development, it was revealed in September that the Bulawayo Fire Brigade had lost 38 qualified firefighters and officers since January 2023, leaving only four operational water tenders.Despite its dire situation, the fire rescue department is expected to provide assistance during emergencies in various locations, including Kwekwe, Hwange, Beitbridge, Gwanda, Plumtree, Masvingo, and Zvishavane, as mentioned by the chamber secretary, Sikhangele Zhou.The latest council minutes highlighted the challenges facing the fire and ambulance services, including the shortage of service vehicles and staff resignations, particularly in the fire brigade section. The scarcity of water due to water shedding was also noted, which significantly impairs firefighting operations that rely on the hydrant system.The council disclosed that it had not purchased any fire tenders in the past four decades. All fire ambulances in the city have been donated by a UK organization known as Operation Florian. Additionally, uniforms, helmets, breathing apparatus, and other equipment were provided by the same organization.Furthermore, the council's practice of paying salaries in local currency has resulted in a loss of trained personnel, who have sought employment in smaller towns that offer compensation in United States dollars.The council recently announced its intention to secure more than 45,000 to import three fire tenders from the United Kingdom, all donated by the Operation Florian mission, which has been a consistent contributor of fire tenders to the council over the years. It's worth noting that the city council turned down a proposal by the then Local Government minister, July Moyo, to allocate devolution funds for acquiring fire tenders from Belarus.According to the minutes, the council is also grappling with a shortage of ambulances, with the ideal number being 30, while only six are operational each day. Despite an annual allocation in the capital budget for ambulances, procurement has not been carried out.The council faced a significant financial loss in 2010 when a briefcase company from Harare, in an ambulance procurement deal, disappeared without delivering the six ambulances for which the council had paid over $300,000. Governments of Canada and Ontario finalize agreement with Umicore Rechargeable Battery Materials Canada Inc. for new plant in Loyalist Township Umicore's investment will create over 600 jobs in Eastern Ontario and strengthen Canada's end-to-end electric vehicle supply chain LOYALIST TOWNSHIP, ON, Oct. 16, 2023 /CNW/ - Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada The Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario are welcoming an investment from Umicore Rechargeable Battery Materials Canada Inc. to build a new manufacturing plant in Loyalist Township. The facility will manufacture cathode active materials (CAM) and precursor cathode active materials (pCAM), critical components for producing electric vehicle (EV) batteries. The envisioned project, with a total eligible cost envelope of up to $2.761 billion, is planned to be executed in multiple stages. Today, Umicore is announcing its firm investment decision for the first stage of $2.1 billion, of which $1.8 billion is capital expenditures, for a battery materials production capacity of 35 GWh annually. Based on the full scope of the envisioned project, the Government of Canada is supporting Umicore's project through an investment of up to $551.3 million, while the Government of Ontario is investing up to $424.6 million. The first of its kind in North America, Umicore's facility will produce CAM and pCAM on a large industrial scale for EV and battery producers in Canada and the United States. In the project's first stage, the company will create 600 new direct jobs, plus an additional 700 co-op positions for students will be created throughout the project, making Umicore one of the largest private employers in Eastern Ontario. The full project has the potential to produce enough battery materials to support the production of over 800,000 EVs per year, utilizing Canadian critical minerals, including nickel, lithium and cobalt, and strengthening Canada's and Ontario's domestic EV supply chain and batteries ecosystem. Thanks to Canada's abundance of clean energy, the facility will be nearly carbon neutral from the start of production. In the last three years, Canada and Ontario have attracted historic new investments by global automakers, EV battery manufacturers and battery materials suppliers. Canada and Ontario have all the resources and skilled talent to continue leading the charge, from mining critical minerals to manufacturing batteries and EVs. Quotes "Canada has everything it needs to be a global leader in the green economy: access to global markets, a talented workforce, clean energy, world-leading innovation ecosystems and all the critical mineral resources necessary to make EV batteries. This is the reason why Umicore has chosen Canada and Loyalist Township as the place to build its new electric vehicle battery materials plant, one that will produce green battery components. This project will bring great economic benefits to Ontario and create well-paying jobs for Canadians, and it is strengthening Canada's position as the green supplier of choice." ? The Honourable Francois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry "Umicore's investment represents another strong vote of confidence in our rapidly growing electric vehicle and battery supply chain. Together, with our government, industry and labour partners, we're putting our auto sector back on the map, attracting billions of dollars in new investments, creating thousands of good-paying jobs and ensuring the cars of the future will be made in Ontario, from start to finish." ? The Honourable Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario "Umicore's investment in Loyalist Township will further integrate Eastern Ontario into the province's thriving end-to-end electric vehicle supply chain. This new investment will create more well-paying jobs for workers in the region and across the province. Our job is far from over as we work to create the right conditions for businesses and workers to succeed. Thank you, Umicore, for reaffirming your trust in Ontario." ? The Honourable Vic Fedeli, Ontario's Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade "Umicore is proud of, and delighted with, the unwavering support and financial backing of Canada and Ontario. Their readiness to co-fund our investment coupled with the announcement of our first customer contract for the Loyalist plant mean we can forge ahead with the construction. We are committed to being a reliable transformation partner for the automotive and battery industry and a trustworthy neighbor for communities in Ontario." ? Mathias Miedreich, CEO, Umicore Quick facts Umicore is a circular materials technology company that works to reduce harmful emissions, powers the vehicles and technologies of the future, and gives new life to used metals. Its strategy builds on the megatrends of mobility transformation, the growing need for advanced metal materials and the circularity for critical metals. The facility will produce 35 GWh worth of battery materials annually in the first stage of the project. Cathode active materials and precursor cathode active materials represent roughly 50% of the total value of an EV battery and contain key critical minerals such as nickel, lithium and cobalt. Earlier this year, the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario partnered together on a new pact that will help attract once-in-a-generation projects from EV and battery manufacturers to Canada and Ontario and protect well-paying jobs. and the Government of partnered together on a new pact that will help attract once-in-a-generation projects from EV and battery manufacturers to and and protect well-paying jobs. The Government of Canada has set a target of achieving 100% zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) sales by 2035. Accelerating the ZEV target will support Canada's commitment to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 and its pledge at the United Nations 2019 Climate Action Summit. has set a target of achieving 100% zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) sales by 2035. Accelerating the ZEV target will support commitment to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 and its pledge at the United Nations 2019 Climate Action Summit. In December 2022 , the Government of Canada released the Critical Minerals Strategy to help advance the development of critical mineral resources and value chains across the country. This strategy will advance our efforts to make Canada a global leader in the responsible, inclusive and sustainable production of critical minerals, from mining to manufacturing. , the Government of released the Critical Minerals Strategy to help advance the development of critical mineral resources and value chains across the country. This strategy will advance our efforts to make a global leader in the responsible, inclusive and sustainable production of critical minerals, from mining to manufacturing. Canada's 2023 budget announced $500 million over 10 years for the Strategic Innovation Fund to support the development and application of clean technologies. The Strategic Innovation Fund will also direct up to $1.5 billion of its existing resources toward projects in clean technologies, critical minerals and industrial transformation. 2023 budget announced over 10 years for the Strategic Innovation Fund to support the development and application of clean technologies. The Strategic Innovation Fund will also direct up to of its existing resources toward projects in clean technologies, critical minerals and industrial transformation. In just three years, Ontario has welcomed over $26 billion in automotive and EV-related investments. has welcomed over in automotive and EV-related investments. Ontario's auto supply chain comprises over 700 parts firms; over 500 tool, die, and mold makers; and over 400 connected and autonomous companies. The province is the only place in North America where five major automakers?Honda, Toyota, Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis?build their vehicles. auto supply chain comprises over 700 parts firms; over 500 tool, die, and mold makers; and over 400 connected and autonomous companies. The province is the only place in where five major automakers?Honda, Toyota, Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis?build their vehicles. Umicore has an existing presence in Ontario : its precious metals business in Markham and its emissions catalyst business in Burlington . Associated links Stay connected Find more services and information at Canada.ca/ISED . Follow Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada on social media. Twitter: @ISED_CA , Facebook: Canadian Innovation , Instagram: @cdninnovation and LinkedIn SOURCE Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada 16 october 2023 at 15:45 News published onand distributed by: HEI to Announce Third Quarter 2023 Results November 9; American Savings Bank to Announce Third Quarter Results October 30 Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (HEI) (NYSE - HE) will announce its third quarter 2023 financial results on Thursday, November 9 and conduct a webcast and conference call to discuss third quarter earnings, 2023 earnings guidance and regulatory and other matters at 11:30 a.m. Hawaii time (4:30 p.m. Eastern time). In addition, American Savings Bank, F.S.B. (ASB), a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of HEI, will announce its third quarter 2023 financial results on Monday, October 30. HEI To listen to the conference call, dial 1-888-660-6377 (U.S.) or 1-929-203-0797 (international) and enter passcode 2393042. Parties may also access presentation materials and/or listen to the conference call by visiting the conference call link on HEI's website at www.hei.com under "Investor Relations," sub-heading "News and Events ? Events and Presentations." A replay will be available online and via phone. The online replay will be available on HEI's website about two hours after the event. An audio replay will also be available about two hours after the event through November 23. To access the audio replay, dial 1-800-770-2030 (U.S.) or 1-647-362-9199 (international) and enter passcode 2393042. HEI and Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. (Hawaiian Electric) intend to continue to use HEI's website, www.hei.com, as a means of disclosing additional information; such disclosures will be included in the Investor Relations section of the website. Accordingly, investors should routinely monitor the Investor Relations section of HEI's website, in addition to following HEI's, Hawaiian Electric's and ASB's press releases, HEI's and Hawaiian Electric's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings and HEI's public conference calls and webcasts. Investors may sign up to receive e-mail alerts via the Investor Relations section of the website. The information on HEI's website is not incorporated by reference into this document or into HEI's and Hawaiian Electric's SEC filings unless, and except to the extent, specifically incorporated by reference. Investors may also wish to refer to the Public Utilities Commission of the State of Hawaii (PUC) website at https://hpuc.my.site.com/cdms/s/ to review documents filed with, and issued by, the PUC. No information on the PUC website is incorporated by reference into this document or into HEI's and Hawaiian Electric's SEC filings. About HEI The HEI family of companies provides the energy and financial services that empower much of the economic and community activity of Hawaii. HEI's electric utility, Hawaiian Electric, supplies power to approximately 95% of Hawaii's population and is undertaking an ambitious effort to decarbonize its operations and the broader state economy. Its banking subsidiary, ASB, is one of Hawaii's largest financial institutions, providing a wide array of banking and other financial services and working to advance economic growth, affordability and financial fitness. HEI also helps advance Hawaii's sustainability goals through investments by its non-regulated subsidiary, Pacific Current. For more information, visit www.hei.com. 16 october 2023 at 16:05 News published onand distributed by: Gold Springs Resource A Significant High-Grade Extension of the North Jumbo Deposit VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / Gold Springs Resource Corp. (the "Company" or "GRC") (TSX:GRC)(OTCQB:GRCAF) reports new assay results confirming a significant 425 meters higher-grade southward extension of the North Jumbo deposit at its large Gold Springs project located in USA, on the border of Nevada and Utah. Highlights include : 0.84 g/t gold equivalent over 9.2 meters and 0.89 g/t gold equivalent over 9.2 meters and 0.81 g/t gold equivalent over 9.1 meters and 2.45 g/t gold equivalent over 22.9 meters including 3.98 g/t gold equivalent over 12.2 meters in hole J-22-020 0.89 g/t gold equivalent over 9.2 meters and 0.81 g/t gold equivalent over 9.1 meters and g/t gold equivalent over meters including g/t gold equivalent over meters in hole J-22-020 1.36 g/t gold equivalent over 4.6 meters and 1.03 g/t gold equivalent over 3.0 meters in hole J-22-019 Gold equivalent based on US$1,800/oz gold, US$25/oz silver and 50% for silver recovery. Randall Moore, Executive Vice President of Exploration, stated: "We are very excited by these last drilling results at North Jumbo, as they clearly confirm the new higher-grade structural block discovered in 2022, expanding our North Jumbo deposit 425 meters further south, where it remains open. In our press release dated 19.09.2022, we reported two holes that discovered a new area of higher-grade gold mineralization extending 200 meters south of the North Jumbo Resource: 1.87 g/t AuEq over 29.0 meters including 3.73 g/t AuEq over 9.2 meters in hole J-22-005. 0.57 g/t AuEq over 41.2 meters and 1.88 g/t AuEq over 6.1 meters in hole J-22-004. New hole J-22-020, which returned 2.45 g/t AuEq over 22.9 meters including 3.98 g/t AuEq over 12.2 meters, extends this higher-grade gold system by a further 225 meters for a total significant extension of our North Jumbo deposit of 425 meters to the south." The North Jumbo Resource is the largest of our six existing M&I resources with 309,000 ounces of gold and 6,718,000 ounces of silver, according to our latest resource estimate based on drilling up to 2021 and without results from 2022-2023 in this high-grade southern extension (please see detailed table below and GRC's press release dated June 13, 2022 concerning our last mineral resource estimate). North Jumbo The North Jumbo Resource is located on the Utah side of the Gold Springs project at the northern end of the +5-kilometer-long Jumbo Trend which is defined by a very strong and well-developed CSAMT high resistivity anomaly. The North Jumbo Resource based on drilling up to 2021 extends over a north-south strike length of 1,800 meters. The drill holes J-22-004, J-22-005 and J-22-020 extend the deposit in a higher-grade gold system 425 meters to the south. The North Jumbo deposit remains open to the north and to the southwest. Future drilling will focus on continuing to expand the gold mineralization of the North Jumbo Resource to the south and to the north, where a new gold system the company considers an Intrusive-Related Gold System (IRGS) was discovered in 2021 with the hole J-21-015 which intersected 1.0 g/t gold equivalent over 163.1 meters. Summary of drill intercepts Hole ID From (m) To (m) Thickness (m) Au g/t Ag g/t AuEq g/t J-22-014 27.4 36.6 9.2 0.39 3.4 0.44 and 51.8 57.9 6.1 0.46 8.9 0.58 J-22-015 13.7 21.3 7.6 0.68 18.6 0.94 J-22-016 114.3 117.3 3.0 0.53 38.7 1.07 and 138.7 147.8 9.1 0.57 8.7 0.69 J-22-017 91.4 99.1 7.7 0.36 8.2 0.47 J-22-018 25.9 29 3.1 0.56 1.1 0.58 and 51.8 53.3 1.5 1.22 1.1 1.24 J-22-19 45.7 50.3 4.6 1.3 4 1.36 and 94.5 97.5 3.0 0.66 26.8 1.03 J-22-020 7.6 16.8 9.2 0.47 26.8 0.84 and 47.2 56.4 9.2 0.62 19.7 0.89 and 108.2 117.3 9.1 0.58 16.8 0.81 and 128 150.9 22.9 2.12 23.4 2.45 inc. 129.5 141.7 12.2 3.52 32.8 3.98 True thickness is estimated to be 60-100% of reported length. Grams per tonne of gold and silver abbreviated as "Au g/t" and "Ag g/t" respectively. Gold equivalent based on US$1,800/oz gold, US$25/oz silver and 50% for silver recovery. Drill Hole Table Hole ID Target Easting UTM NAD 27 Z11 Northing Elevation (m) Azimuth Inclination TD (m) J-22-014 North Jumbo 761398 4199395 2118 270 -55 243.8 J-22-015 North Jumbo 761377 4199475 2120 270 -55 134.1 J-22-016 North Jumbo 761231 4199518 1968 140 -60 310.9 J-22-017 North Jumbo 761257 4199636 1990 90 -70 225.6 J-22-018 North Jumbo 761028 4198087 2051 300 -45 170.7 J-22-019 North Jumbo 760969 4198002 2051 290 -55 137.2 J-22-020 North Jumbo 761004 4198028 2058 240 -50 219.5 North Jumbo Resource based on drilling to 2021 and without results from 2022-2023 Mineral Resource Estimate NI 43-101 Technical Report - Gold Springs Project, Utah-Nevada, USA" dated July 11, 2022, with an effective date of June 13, 2022 Category Deposit $1,800 Pit Constrained - 0.25 g/t gold cutoff Tonnes (1000s) Gold Silver g/t Troy oz g/t Troy oz Measured North Jumbo 15,752 0.47 240,037 10.88 5,509,666 Indicated North Jumbo 5,509 0.39 69,433 6.82 1,208,618 Total M&I North Jumbo 21,261 0.45 309,470 9.83 6,718,283 Inferred North Jumbo 1,725 0.38 20,864 4.51 250,229 Qualified Person Randall Moore, Executive Vice-President Exploration, Gold Springs Resource Corp., is the Company's designated Qualified Person for this news release within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. He has approved the scientific or technical information in this release and has verified the data disclosed in this release for its geological reasonableness, checked all the inputs and verified the analytical data through an analysis of the blanks and standards submitted with the drill-chip samples. Quality Assurance and Quality Control Approximately 7 kg of RC chips were sent to the laboratory for each 1.52 meters drill interval. Standards and blanks are submitted into the sample stream at the rate of 15% for QA/QC purposes. In addition, the laboratory also includes duplicates of samples, standards and blanks. The results of these check assays are reviewed prior to the release of data. All RC sample assays are also reviewed for their geological context and checked against the drill logs. Assay Method Assays were performed in Reno, Nevada by ALS Geochemical, an ISO 9001:2000 certified and independent laboratory. Gold was analyzed by fire assay of a 30-gram sample with an AAS finish with samples assaying greater than 5 g/t re-assayed using a 30-gram sample and a gravity finish. Silver is analyzed by a four-acid leach ICP method. About Gold Springs Resource Corp. Gold Springs Resource Corp. (TSX:GRC and OTCQB:GRCAF) is focused on the exploration and expansion of the gold and silver resources of its Gold Springs project located on the border of Nevada and Utah, USA. The project is situated in the prolific Great Basin of Western USA, one of the best mining jurisdictions in the world. Gold Springs Resource Corp. Contact: Antonio Canton, President and CEO [email protected] Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements contained herein constitute "forward-looking information" under applicable Canadian securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements look into the future and provide an opinion as to the effect of certain events and trends on the business. Forward-looking statements herein include statements related to the Company's goal of extending the gold mineralization from the 1.5 km long North Jumbo Resource towards the 1.3 km long South Jumbo Resource and may also include words such as "creating", "believe", "would", "continue", "will", "promising", "should", and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and entail various risks and uncertainties. Actual results may materially differ from expectations if known and unknown risks or uncertainties affect our business or if our estimates or assumptions prove inaccurate. Factors that could cause results or events to differ materially from current expectations expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, include, but are not limited to, risks of the mineral exploration industry which may affect the advancement of the Gold Springs project, including possible variations in mineral resources, grade, recovery rates, metal prices, capital and operating costs, and the application of taxes; availability of sufficient financing to fund planned or further required work in a timely manner and on acceptable terms; availability of equipment and qualified personnel, failure of equipment or processes to operate as anticipated, changes in project parameters, including water requirements for operations, as plans continue to be refined; regulatory, environmental and other risks of the mining industry more fully described in the Company's Annual Information Form and continuous disclosure documents, which are available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. The assumptions made in developing the forward-looking statements include: the accuracy of current resource estimates and the interpretation of drill, metallurgical testing and other exploration results; the continuing support for mining by local governments in Nevada and Utah; the availability of equipment and qualified personnel to advance the Gold Springs project; execution of the Company's existing plans and further exploration and development programs for Gold Springs, which may change due to changes in the views of the Company or if new information arises which makes it prudent to change such plans or programs.Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or any other reason. Unless otherwise indicated, forward-looking statements in this press release describe the Company's expectations as of the date hereof. SOURCE: Gold Springs Resources Corporation 16 october 2023 at 16:05 View source version on accesswire.com:News published onand distributed by: Alpha ADOM Outdoor Gateway from EnerSys Recognized Among Best in Industry for Cable Broadband Innovation EnerSys (NYSE: ENS), the global leader in stored energy solutions for cable broadband and telecommunications networks, announced today that the Alpha ADOM outdoor gateway, a DOCSIS 3.1-enabled OEM module, has been recognized among the best in the industry by the 2023 Broadband Technology Report's Diamond Technology Reviews, a program developed to recognize the most innovative products available to the cable broadband industry. The Alpha ADOM outdoor gateway is an enabler for deploying 5G small cells across the cable broadband Hybrid Fiber-Coax (HFC) infrastructure, which provides high speed, low-latency backhaul and power across North America and around the globe. The Alpha ADOM gateway received the honoree score of 4.5 out of 5 Diamonds in Mobile Networking category. The Alpha ADOM gateway was recognized for its innovative design and value. Key features that were highlighted for the judges' review include: Temperature-hardened CableLabs certified DOCSIS 3.1 modem for outdoor backhaul applications. certified DOCSIS 3.1 modem for outdoor backhaul applications. HFC coax connection and power extraction/RF filtering that provides an isolated, noise free power source for the radio. Complete Radio Frequency noise ingress and egress protection from radio and noise interference between wireless and wireline networks. Hands-free installation provisioning through integrated automatic RF step attenuation, eliminating the need for manual RF power adjustments. Integrates into existing element management systems. EnerSys has collaborated with Samsung to incorporate the Alpha ADOM gateway into Samsung's 5G CBRS Strand Small Cell, which is designed for multi-system operators (MSOs) deploying their mobile networks. Samsung's solution integrates the Alpha ADOM outdoor gateway, 5G baseband, radio and antenna into a single form factor for easy deployment. The Samsung 5G CBRS Strand Small Cell can be deployed on a cable operators' Hybrid Fiber Coax (HFC) infrastructure to deliver 5G service, with the Alpha ADOM outdoor gateway that enables the HFC network to be used for both backhaul and power. The Samsung 5G CBRS Strand Small Cell allows cable operators to rapidly scale delivery of 5G service using their existing HFC infrastructure, without the need for permits?and with connectivity for efficient deployments. "We are proud to be recognized among the best in the industry for our innovation excellence, delivering high-value power solutions that enable our customers to confidently and cost-effectively deliver 5G services through their existing infrastructure.," said John Hewitt, EnerSys Vice President of Broadband Communications. "We are also excited to collaborate with Samsung to deliver next generation solutions that provide both backhaul and power capabilities. Our experience and product designs for cable broadband outdoor networks helped Samsung focus on their core strengths in radio design and development, including high reliability and system integration." EnerSys at SCTE CableTec Expo 2023: At this year's SCTE CableTec Expo 2023, being held at the Denver Convention Center October 17-19, EnerSys will showcase at its booth (Booth #923) their latest solutions for lithium-ion energy storage, remote fiber network powering, wireless enablement, and critical facilities. Samsung's 5G CBRS Strand Small Cell will also be displayed throughout the duration of the EXPO in the EnerSys booth from October 17-19. Additionally, Samsung and EnerSys will present results of a co-authored technical paper entitled: "The Benefits and Challenges of Deploying 5G Small Cells on the HFC Strand Network," to provide a deeper understanding of what goes into designing a 5G wireless network using strand-mounted small cells. Presentation location: Denver Convention Center, 2PM Wednesday October 18, Room 111. About EnerSys EnerSys is the global leader in stored energy solutions for industrial applications, designs, manufactures and distributes energy systems solutions and motive power batteries, specialty batteries, battery chargers, power equipment, battery accessories and outdoor equipment enclosure solutions to customers worldwide. The company goes to market through four lines of business: Energy Systems, Motive Power, Specialty and New Ventures. Energy Systems, which combine power conversion, power distribution, energy storage, and enclosures, are used in the telecommunication, broadband and utility industries, uninterruptible power supplies, and numerous applications requiring stored energy solutions. Motive power batteries and chargers are utilized in electric forklift trucks and other industrial electric powered vehicles. Specialty batteries are used in aerospace and defense applications, large over-the-road trucks, premium automotive, medical and security systems applications. New Ventures provides energy storage and management systems for various applications including demand charge reduction, utility back-up power, and dynamic fast charging for electric vehicles. EnerSys also provides aftermarket and customer support services to its customers in over 100 countries through its sales and manufacturing locations around the world. More information regarding EnerSys can be found at www.enersys.com. Sustainability Sustainability at EnerSys is about more than just the benefits and impacts of our products. Our commitment to sustainability encompasses many important environmental, social and governance issues. Sustainability is a fundamental part of how we manage our own operations. Minimizing our environmental footprint is a priority. Sustainability is our commitment to our employees, our customers and the communities we serve. Our products facilitate positive environmental, social and economic impacts around the world. To learn more visit: https://www.enersys.com/en/about-us/sustainability/. Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements EnerSys is making this statement in order to satisfy the "Safe Harbor" provision contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any of the statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may include forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. A forward-looking statement predicts, projects, or uses future events as expectations or possibilities. Forward-looking statements may be based on expectations concerning future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties relating to operations and the economic environment, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those matters expressed in or implied by forward-looking statements, please see our risk factors as disclosed in the "Risk Factors" section of our annual report on Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year. The statements in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, even if subsequently made available by EnerSys on its website or otherwise. EnerSys does not undertake any obligation to update or revise these statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this press release. 16 october 2023 at 16:20 News published onand distributed by: AHF Products Enters Tile Category with Purchase of Assets of Crossville, Inc. Two complementary organizations with iconic brands and deep American roots provide significant synergies to deliver on-trend designs, exceptional quality and service, and award-winning features MOUNTVILLE, Pa., Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- AHF Products, a leading manufacturer of hard surface flooring in North America, is pleased to announce that it has purchased assets of Crossville, Inc., from the Curran Group, a family-owned, privately-held company. This acquisition catapults AHF into an industry-leading position in the fast-growing tile sector, with a comprehensive line of porcelain, ceramic, stone, and accessories for both residential and commercial applications in interior and exterior floors, walls, and countertops. With 15 distinct brands and dozens of product collections spanning hardwood, vinyl, laminate, and now tile, AHF has added to its stable of product offerings in the hard surface category. AHF President & CEO Brian Carson said he was drawn to Crossville for many reasons ? namely, strong customer relationships; the U.S. manufacturing and product design strength; and, importantly, the company's winning culture. For Carson, acquiring Crossville adds a vital piece to AHF's strategic platform. "Crossville is one of the most highly regarded brands in commercial and residential tile products, with widespread distribution, premium products, and a blue-chip customer base," said Carson. "Adding a well-known and trusted brand like Crossville is a terrific complement to our legacy brands which include Bruce and Armstrong Flooring. Today, we are a more valuable supplier because we can package the high-touch service that our customers know us for with an even more diverse product offering." "We knew that AHF Products was the perfect fit, and the best path forward for our employees and customers. We looked for characteristics that aligned with our culture and core values. AHF and Crossville share a dedication to upholding the high standards and valued services that have shaped both of our businesses throughout the years," said Greg Mather, President & CEO, Crossville. "This is truly a win-win outcome for everyone involved." Established in 1986 as America's first large-format porcelain tile manufacturer, Crossville, located in Tennessee, is a leading American manufacturer of beautiful, sustainable porcelain materials that advance the frontiers of tile design and performance. From producing the nation's first large-format porcelain tiles, to becoming the first and only net consumer of tile waste materials (meaning they recycle more than they produce), to developing cutting-edge performance innovations in surfacing solutions, Crossville has been at the forefront of innovation in the tile industry. AHF Products has a long legacy of outstanding domestic production, tracing back to 1884 with Bruce hardwood and even earlier with the Armstrong Flooringtm brand. "The addition of the Crossville plants and 28 company owned Studios will strengthen our domestic footprint and grow our U.S. capabilities," said Carson. This will be a seamless transition for customers. AHF Products and the Crossville team will invest in the Crossville brand to expand its product offering and reach. Carson added, "Collectively, we will be a stronger, more capable organization with the ability to serve all our customers more effectively." With five acquisitions in less than five years, AHF has significantly increased its product and service offerings for both the residential and commercial markets, has built a world-class organization, and is investing in state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities. Headquartered in Mountville, Pennsylvania, with the acquisition of the Crossville assets, AHF now operates 13 facilities ? 12 in the U.S. and one in Cambodia ? and has grown to over 3000 employees. AHF previously acquired LM Flooring in 2019, followed by the Parterre and American OEMtm brands in 2021 and then Armstrong Flooringtm in 2022. The Crossville asset purchase is the latest for AHF Products as it continues to grow both organically and through acquisitions, continuing a strategy of serving its customers through sought-after products, outstanding service, and innovation. About AHF Products AHF Products is a leading hard surface flooring manufacturer in the USA with a family of trusted brands serving the residential and commercial hardwood and vinyl flooring markets. With decades of experience in award-winning flooring design, product development, manufacturing, and service, we create quality flooring to last for generations through inspiring designs, innovation, and a deep commitment to outstanding customer service. Our residential flooring brands include Bruce, Armstrong Flooringtm, Hartco, Robbins, LM Flooring , Capella, HomerWood, Hearthwood, Raintree, Autographtm, Emily Morrow Hometm and tmbr. Our commercial brands include Bruce Contracttm, Hartco Contracttm, AHF Contracttm, Armstrong Flooringtm and Parterre. Headquartered in Mountville, Pennsylvania, with manufacturing operations across the United States and in Cambodia, AHF Products employs over 3,000 dedicated team members. www.AHFProducts.com Armstrong Flooringtm and the Armstrong Flooringtm logo are under license from AWI Licensing, LLC. All other marks belong to AHF, LLC, its affiliates, or subsidiaries. All rights reserved. SOURCE AHF Products 16 october 2023 at 16:45 News published onand distributed by: Turkey hit several places inside Iraqi Kurdistan with air strikes on Sunday, October 1, a local official said, Ankara confirming it had struck "20 targets" it claimed were used by Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighters. "Turkish army planes bombed parts... of the Bradost region at around 9:20 pm (1820 GMT), as well as the village of Badran," Ihsan Chelabi, mayor of the town of Sidakan, close to the Turkish and Iranian borders, told AFP. Turkey's defense ministry acknowledged an "air operation" in northern Iraq to "neutralize the PKK", which is considered a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies. "An air operation was carried out in the regions of Metina, Hakurk, Qandil and Gara, in northern Iraq, on October 1 at 2100," the statement said. It said the operation was "to neutralize the PKK and other terrorist elements, prevent terrorist attacks from northern Iraq against our population and our law enforcement agencies, and ensure the security of our borders". The ministry added that "20 targets used by terrorists" had been destroyed. The strikes came after a PKK suicide bombing in Ankara targeted the police headquarters in the heart of the capital, injuring two people. Kurdish media outlet Rudaw reported air strikes on the heights of Mount Qandil, traditionally considered a PKK stronghold near the border with Iran. The presidency of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, which maintains close ties with the Turkish authorities, condemned the "terrorist attack" in Ankara, saying "terrorism and violence represent a serious threat to regional peace and stability". Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes In Iraqi Kurdistan, Turkey is hunting down the PKK beyond its borders In Baghdad, the foreign ministry also condemned the "terrorist explosion". Turkey's military regularly launches ground and air operations against PKK fighters and their positions in northern Iraq, in autonomous Kurdistan and in the mountainous Sinjar region. Over the past 25 years, Turkey has set up dozens of military bases in Iraqi Kurdistan to combat the group. European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen speaks to the press during the Berlin Process Leaders' Summit in Tirana on October 16, 2023. LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP The European Union will launch a humanitarian air corridor to Gaza through Egypt with the first flights expected this week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday, October 16. "Palestinians in Gaza are in need of humanitarian help and aid. That is why... we are launching an EU humanitarian air bridge to Gaza through Egypt. The operation consists of "several flights to Egypt to bring lifesaving supplies to humanitarian organizations on the ground in Gaza", a statement from the Commission's Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) department said. The first two flights will start this week," von der Leyen told a press conference in the Albanian capital Tirana, where she attended a regional Balkan summit. Earlier on Monday, Egypt and France's foreign ministers urged the delivery of humanitarian aid and the exit of foreign nationals from the bombarded Gaza Strip, as the war between Israel and Hamas entered its tenth day. Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes European aid to Palestine under scrutiny Israel has been at war since Gaza's Hamas militants staged an unprecedented attack on October 7 in which its gunmen shot, stabbed and mutilated people in a surprise onslaught that shocked the nation. The attack and fighting since have killed more than 1,400 in Israel, mainly civilians. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and responded with a heavy bombing campaign on Gaza that has killed around 2,750 people. According to the United Nations, a million people have been displaced inside Gaza. Von der Leyen said that there could be "no justification for Hamas' heinous act of terror." "In the face of this horror Israel has the right to defend itself in line with humanitarian and international law," she said and stressed that Palestinians in Gaza "cannot pay the price of Hamas' barbarism". She reminded that the EU was tripling humanitarian aid to 75 million ($79 million) for the Gaza Strip. Aid blocked at Egypt border Truckloads of aid idled at Egypt's border with Gaza as residents and humanitarian groups pleaded Monday for water, food and fuel for dying generators, saying the tiny Palestinian territory sealed off by Israel after last weeks rampage by Hamas was near total collapse. Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes 'If everything in Gaza is destroyed, what will emerge from the ashes, if not more fire?' Hospitals were on the verge of losing electricity, threatening the lives of thousands of patients, and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced from their homes searched for bread. Israel maintained punishing airstrikes across Gaza as a ground invasion loomed, while Hamas militants kept up a barrage of rocket attacks, and tensions mounted near the Israel-Lebanon border. More than a week after Israel cut off entry of any supplies, all eyes were on the Rafah crossing, Gaza's only connection to Egypt. Mediators were trying to reach a cease-fire that would let in aid and let out trapped foreigners. Israeli airstrikes forced the crossing to shut down last week, and local media reported Israel struck the crossing again on Monday. A truck in a French army convoy under Nigerien escort, Niamey, October 10, 2023. - / AFP Their exit is intended to be as discreet as possible. Faced with growing public opposition spurred by the coup's instigators in Niamey, the French general staff seeks to avoid any incidents and prevent a recurrence of the "Barkhane" convoy incident in Tera, western Niger, where three protesters against French military presence were killed in November 2021. As the Niger junta prohibited the French army from using the road to the Benin border, the soldiers and their equipment have been going through Chad since their evacuation officially began on Tuesday, October 10. Due to Paris' near complete silence on the matter, the most precise information available on the arrangements came from Niamey. In a statement read out on national television on Tuesday evening, the Nigerien military said that "three special flights" had been recorded at the capital's airport, two for the withdrawal of "97 special forces elements" and one "dedicated to logistics." "The troops stationed in Ouallam [west] left their base today," said the junta. "These are the operations for the departure of the first ground convoy bound for Chad, under the escort of our defense and security forces." The journey will be a long one: 1,700 kilometers separate Niamey from N'Djamena. General Daoud Yaya Brahim, Chad's minister of defense, provided few details regarding these newcomers on its land, citing "military secrecy" while pointing out that "France has never asked us to host these soldiers" and that France is "a long-standing and reliable partner whose cooperation is based on a mutually beneficial bilateral agreement." An air base and two outposts Under the terms of this agreement and at the request of the Chadian authorities, some 1,000 French soldiers are currently stationed at the N'Djamena air base, with two additional outposts at Abeche and Faya-Largeau, according to the French Ministry of the Armed Forces. Their official mission is to train and educate the Chadian army, but French air support and intelligence sharing have repeatedly proved decisive in N'Djamena's fight against rebel groups scattered across the borders of its vast territory. While Presidents Emmanuel Macron and Mahamat Idriss Deby appear to be on good terms, public opinion in Chad is increasingly divided. Since the announcement of the French withdrawal to Niger, a communique has been circulating on social media opposing the "relocation to Chad of the expelled French forces" and demanding that those already stationed in the country leave within three months. Its authors, from the diaspora, civil society and minority opposition parties, said they were inspired by "the retreat of imperialist forces in the face of the will of patriotic Nigeriens, Burkinabes and Malians." While the communique's origin is unknown, and some of the signatories claim that their names were added without their agreement, the vehemence of its tone is revealing. "Our sovereignty has never been complete because of the almost continuous presence of the French army after the independence," explained the political scientist Evariste Tolde, who signed the text. "Chad is the country that has seen the greatest number of French army operations on its soil since colonization. Consequently, it interferes in its politics by choosing whether or not to intervene against rebels when they threaten the regime." In 2019, for example, the French air force carried out strikes against a column of insurgents from Libya, saving its staunch ally Idriss Deby Itno, whose intervention in Mali in 2013 had provided an invaluable source of support for the "Serval" operation. In April 2021, after 30 years of authoritarian rule, the Chadian president died on the front, leaving his son Mahamat to succeed him, in violation of all constitutional provisions. President Macron was the only Western head of state to attend his funeral. His presence and speech about "France [which] will not let anybody put into question or threaten today or tomorrow Chad's stability and territorial integrity" marked the population as tacit approval of a coup d'etat, according to the country's political opponents. 'An obstacle to political change' "Unlike in West Africa, the French army is not accused of being responsible for the deteriorating security situation but of supporting the current regime. It is seen as an obstacle to political change," explained Remadji Hoinathy, a researcher at the Institut D'etudes de Securite (Institute for Security Studies, ISS). On May 14, 2022, the opposition coalition Wakit Tama ("it's time," in Chadian Arabic) organized a demonstration against the French presence, during which Total gas stations were vandalized. "We were overwhelmed by its scale," admitted Adoum Soumaine, the protest's spokesman. "The slogan 'France degage' [France, get out] rose spontaneously in the crowd." Six Wakit Tama leaders were arrested and given suspended prison sentences in the wake of the demonstration. But for Soumaine, "the withdrawal of the French troops is inevitable." Incidents involving the French army regularly fuel rumors and wild speculations on Chadian social media. In April, as inter-community clashes spread bloodshed in the country's south, a column of French military engineers that had crossed the region a few days earlier to help renovate a border post was immediately accused of having been involved. In June, French soldiers on a reconnaissance mission near the Sudanese border in support of refugees were briefly arrested by a Chadian officer. The latter was degraded and disbarred from the army before the defense minister issued a public apology to France. Three months later, a French soldier shot and killed a Chadian soldier who attacked him with a knife in Faya-Largeau. Local residents who had come out to voice their anger were dispersed, and a national councilor was imprisoned for having condemned the affair. "The government always takes up the cause of the French military," insisted Evariste Tolde. "Paris should not underestimate these weak signals," warned Hoinathy. Avoiding the humiliation of a new withdrawal The justification for France's military presence in Chad has been particularly contested, given that the "Barkhane" operation, whose operation center was located in N'Djamena, officially ended in November 2022. Chad, which is geographically remote from the areas where the fight against jihadist groups operating in the Sahel is being waged except for Boko Haram and its offshoots in Nigeria, and even more so since the break with Niamey, is no longer a place from which the French army can project its influence. This raises the question of maintaining the contingent stationed there. "Faced with the presence of Russian mercenaries in neighboring countries in the throes of conflict [Sudan, Libya, Central African Republic] and to protect our nationals, it is useful to maintain our projection capability in a region beset by instability," said a French non-commissioned officer returning from N'Djamena. Within the French general staff, however, the possibility of a withdrawal or a reduction in troops has not been ruled out, in line with the reorganization of the military presence in Africa announced by Macron in February that was upended by subsequent events. Paris might be tempted to anticipate a potential reversal of the situation in Chad and thus avoid the humiliation of another forced withdrawal. Indeed, the Chadian government might decide to rally public opinion hostile to the French military presence. "It's a card it can play in the face of criticism for its lack of democracy or respect for human rights," said a close observer of Chadian political life. It would also be an easy way for President Mahamat Idriss Deby to score points with public opinion and make up for his lack of democratic legitimacy. In this scenario, "France could be a collateral victim," concluded our source. Excavation of Middle Neolithic occupation levels, in Ivry-sur-Seine (Paris region), May 16, 2023. VANESSA BAYARD/CD 94 Tirelessly and methodically, a small group of archaeologists from the Institut National de Recherches Archeologiques Preventives (INRAP) and the Val-de-Marne department's archaeology service worked to rescue the settlement of our distant Middle Neolithic ancestors, 6,000 years ago, from oblivion and into the light. Time was of the essence. The day was September 27, and they had only two days before they would have to pack up and hand over the site to Ivry Confluences, one of the largest urban development projects in Paris' inner suburbs (145 hectares), near the junction of the Seine and the Marne rivers on the territory of Ivry-sur-Seine (Paris region), which has been underway for over ten years. These archaeological excavations are being carried out on the orders of the French state. What makes this latest campaign exceptional is the richness, density and quality of its finds. In recent years, 11 campaigns have been organized on several plots of land, three of them on the former site of the BHV department stores' warehouses, closed in 2012: In 2014, 2017, and this year from April to September. According to INRAP archaeologist Fabrice Marti in charge of the dig, 2023 is shaping up to be a vintage year. "We came across portions of Middle Megalithic 1 walls, more specifically from the Cerny culture. A diagnosis usually enables us to more or less know what to expect, but this has been a very big surprise. We're inside a village. It's a first for this period. There's no equivalent." The Cerny, named after a town in Essonne (south of Paris), spread across much of northern France and especially the Paris basin from the second half of the fifth millennium BC. It was characterized by the construction of walls, the rearing of cattle, and the production of ceramics with round pots adorned with geometric motifs hallmarked in bands. It also marked the beginning of megalithism in France. Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes France's 'preventive archeology' agency turns 20 5,500 artifacts discovered The first Ivry residents settled here around 4,200 BC. They built a wall, the full length of which has not been found, but it is estimated that several thousand large trees (around 30 centimeters in diameter) had to be felled to erect it. Because the site was a wet meadow, the trees had to be brought in from another location a monumental task. Around 5,500 artifacts have been discovered, including shards of Cerny ceramics, flint, arrowheads, broken stone axes and two small pieces of jewelry made from elongated shells from the Atlantic Ocean... On the flip side, very few skeletal remains have been found. They were probably used to make glue or various objects, such as needles. This would imply that the meat they ate mainly came from livestock, with the overwhelming majority being beef and the remainder divided between mutton, goat and pork. As for game, which very much provided a minority of their meat supplies, it consisted of deer and wild boar. You have 60% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only. LIMERICKS local authority was awarded for their engagement with young people at a national ceremony. Limerick City and County Council (LCCC) won the Presidents Award at this years Irish Planning Awards, whose purpose is to highlight examples of excellent public participation and best practice. LCCC won for its Young Person Participation in Land Use Planning project and were presented with the award by Mary Mac Mahon and Kieran ODonnell TD, Minister of State with responsibility for Local Government and Planning. The Limerick project implemented a school consultation programme to engage young people in the preparation of the development plan and local area plan processes. Speaking at the awards, IPI President Mary Mac Mahon said: "The Irish Planning Awards celebrate our diverse, dynamic, and sustainable projects, showcasing the positive impact of planning on our communities. The Land Development Agency was also commended for the Colbert Quarter Spatial Framework in the Sustainable Communities and Placemaking category. The Awards this year recognised innovation and excellence in Irish planning in eight categories. The award-winning Limerick project sees students engage with the Council and influence how the future of their communities are planned for. News / National by Staff reporter The funders of the Kariba Dam Rehabilitation Programme (KDRP) have expressed concern over the project's prolonged timeline, which has extended into its seventh year, far exceeding the originally projected three years.The US$294 million KDRP includes the refurbishment of Kariba Dam infrastructure, involving the reshaping of the plunge pool and rehabilitating the spillway. These improvements aim to reduce erosion of the dam wall structure and prevent potential issues with the spillway gates, which could lead to dam failure, resulting in severe consequences.The project is financially supported by the European Union, World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB), and the Swedish government.During a high-level visit to the project, Eneida Fernandez, the World Bank country representative for Zimbabwe, noted that the KDRP had encountered various challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, geological complexities, technical requirements, supply disruptions, and lengthy procurement processes.Fernandez emphasized that although significant progress had been made in completing over 80% of the plunge pool, there were concerns regarding potential delays in the rehabilitation of the spillway. She urged all parties involved to address the issues affecting the spillway works and expedite the remaining rehabilitation activities to ensure regional energy security.Fernandez reaffirmed the financiers' commitment to supporting Zimbabwe and Zambia in overcoming the challenges faced by the project and contributing to sustainable economic development in the region.In his address, Energy and Power Development Minister Edgar Moyo called for collective efforts to ensure the successful delivery of the project. He stressed the commitment of the governments of Zambia and Zimbabwe to complete this significant project, which is a key source of clean and sustainable electricity for both countries and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.Moyo highlighted that the KDRP would enhance energy security, contribute to socio-economic development, and extend the dam's lifespan from 50 to 100 years. It is estimated to benefit three million people by reducing risks and supporting an annual power generation capacity of 10 gigawatts.The AfDB and World Bank each contributed US$75 million to the project, with an additional US$25 million provided by Sweden. CRITICAL has announced the establishment of another community first responder (CFR) group based in West Limerick. Critical is one of Irelands leading emergency medical response charities and over saw the establishment of the new CFR group in Newcastle West and the surrounding areas. The group is made up of seven volunteers who are available to respond to life-threatening emergencies including cardiac arrest, chest pain, stroke and choking incidents, providing essential first aid until the emergency services arrive at the scene. The Critical West Limerick CFR group has attended more than 20 medical emergencies since it launched on September 19. Critical has supplied the group with the necessary equipment including basic life-support bags and defibrillators at a cost of 5,000 which is entirely funded by donations to the charity. They are working closely with the National Ambulance Service (NAS) on the project. Community First Responders are dispatched at the same time as the other emergency services when an emergency call for certain categories of incidents is received. The on-call volunteers either live or work in the area and can respond within minutes. CEO of Critical, Micheal Sheridan said: Every second counts when a person suffers a cardiac arrest or choking incident. Community first responders play a vital role, they can start treatment while an ambulance is on the way, increasing the persons chances of recovery. We are calling on the people of Limerick to support our charity in the knowledge that their donations will save lives in Limerick. Its the first of what we hope will be many Critical CFR groups in Limerick and across Ireland. We want to work with communities and to provide them with the training and equipment so they can take immediate action in an emergency. THE POST-MORTEM of a man in his 50s is due to take place in University Hospital Limerick after a fatal road traffic collision between a car and lorry in Co Tipperary. Gardai are investigating the crash which occurred this afternoon, Monday, October 16, 2023 on the N62 at Whitefields, Templemore. The accident occurred at approximately 12.05pm and the driver of the car, a man aged in his 50s and sole occupant of the vehicle, was fatally injured. His body has since been removed to the mortuary at University Hospital Limerick where a post-mortem will take place in due course, gardai confirmed. The truck driver, a man aged in his 50s and sole occupant of the vehicle was uninjured. The N62 at Whitefields, Templemore remains closed, and local diversions are in place. A technical examination by Forensic Collision Investigators is said to be conducted this Tuesday morning. Gardai in Thurles are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed this collision to contact them. "Any road users who were travelling on this road between midday and 12.30pm and has camera footage (including dash-cam), are asked to make this available to Gardai," they appealed. "Anyone with any information is asked to contact Thurles Garda Station on 0504 25100, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station." LIAM Gallagher will be playing in Dublin to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Oasis debut album. He will perform in 3Arena for two nights in a row in June 2024. It would be hard to top Liam Gallaghers biblical Knebworth Park shows, which proved to be some of the biggest live events of 2022. But the always ambitious icon has once again excelled himself with news of a tour that will be bigger than biblical. Liam will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of Oasiss all-conquering and massively influential debut album by embarking upon the Definitely Maybe 30 Years arena tour in 2024. The tour will see Liam perform the Definitely Maybe album in full for the first time, along with some select b-sides from the era. The sets will of course be packed with classics Rock n Roll Star, Live Forever, Supersonic and Cigarettes & Alcohol, to name but a few. But it will also be a rare opportunity to see other album tracks that have rarely, if ever, been performed since the mid-90s, including Up In The Sky and Digsys Dinner. And there are numerous fan favourites that could be performed from the other songs that were released during the Definitely Maybe era, which could potentially include another big hit in the shape of Whatever as well as deep cuts such as Fade Away, Listen Up and Sad Song. Liam says, I'm bouncing around the house to announce the Definitely Maybe Tour. The most important album of the 90s bar none. I wouldn't be anywhere without it and neither would you, so lets celebrate together LG x" Liam will be performing in 3Arena in Dublin on June 23 and 24. Tickets for the shows will go on sale this Friday at 9am. OVER 1,000 people are expected to attend the 50 Plus Show which is back in Limerick after 3 years. The 50 Plus Show, Irelands lifestyle event for older people is back and coming to the Greenhills Hotel, Conference and Leisure Centre on the 3rd and 4th of November and will include over 50 displays and demonstrations covering health checks and talks, hobbies and pastimes ideas, personal finance advice, travel, rights and entitlements, internet tuition, cooking demonstrations, dancing classes, valuations of notes, coins, stamps and collectables, plus recruitment and volunteering. The event is organised by SeniorTimes, who have been running public events for people 50 and over for over 20 years and who are also publishers of SeniorTimes magazine and the SeniorTimes Podcast Series. Free Hearing Screenings, courtesy of Specsavers, the event sponsors Limerick native Sinead Ryan, best known for her Irish Independent columns and Property show on Newstalk will be speaking on the Fair Deal Scheme, changes in the rules to renting out properties and updates on the At Home Scheme Cooking Demonstrations each day from Kate Wright from The Galway Cookery School Dance classes from the Munster Dance Academy Recruitment and Volunteering A new feature to this years event will be a A Jobs Wall, staffed by Intreo, the Employer Relations Team in the Dept of Social Protection where attendees can get details on current vacancies full time, casual and part time and provide support with recruitment and training. Admission to the 50 Plus Show in the Greenhills Hotel, Conference and Leisure Centre is free by registering on their website, seniortimes.ie or by calling 01 496 9028. There is also a free shuttle service to the show put on by the organisers from the City Centre. The timetable and a full list of whats on will be posted on seniortimes.ie. Opening times are 10am to 4pm daily. *Sponsored content Stock Market News USA Stocks - Hedge funds short food, beverage and tobacco stocks amid soaring bond yields -Goldman Sachs 16-10-2023 03:06 Stock News headlines are gathered from financial news sources around the web. Views and opinions on each item are from their respective authors and website. They are not opinions of LiveCharts.co.uk The US government is considering new measures to restrict China's access to advanced semiconductors and chip-making equipment in a bid to curb China's development of artificial intelligence technology. The new restrictions, which will be released early this week, aim to refine and close loopholes in last year's curbs, Bloomberg reported. Also Read| SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son makes bold prediction on artificial intelligence says, AGI will be a reality in The Biden administration plans to tighten restrictions on the sale of graphics chips for artificial intelligence technology and advanced chip-making equipment to Chinese companies. What will the new rules cover? The new rules will continue to restrict the supply of certain key chips to Chinese companies, their overseas subsidiaries and affiliates. They will also now require a licence to export prohibited technology to countries that could be used as brokers. The Biden administration has also agreed to the tech companies' demand for less blanket restrictions, with many tech leaders wanting to sell into the world's biggest chip market. The new rules will allow companies to ship all chipsets except the powerful graphics chips that are used in gaming PCs. Companies will have to notify the US government before exporting certain advanced consumer chips to China. The new restrictions are aimed at controlling key graphics chip components called accelerators, which are used in data centres to train AI technology. The new US rules come amid efforts by top companies to circumvent restrictions put in place last year. For example: Nvidia, the market leader in AI chipsets, developed a China-specific model to bypass last year's restrictions. US has also extended waivers for South Korean companies like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix and Taiwanese company Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in order to help them continue shipping some restricted technology to their facilities in China. (With inputs from Bloomberg) Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. New Delhi (India), October 16: In recent times, India has emerged as a dominant force in the world economy, claiming its rightful position at the helm of the Global South. With its economy burgeoning at a staggering speed, and surrounded by giants like China and Russia, India is surpassing economies globally and, more specifically, in South Asia, with impressive momentum. Financial expert, and the founder of Shree Consultants, Mr Kishore Subramanian validates this claim with a range of reasonings listed below: Remarkable Economic Growth: India's economic trajectory has witnessed a blazing speed with a 7% GDP growth and a nominal GDP of more than 14%. Such phenomenal numbers place India firmly among the world's fastest-growing major economies. A Consumption Giant: With its status as the world's largest population, India is driving consumption like no other be it material goods or data. The sheer volume of its consumer base makes it a market that the world cannot ignore. Stable Governance: The stability of the Indian government has cultivated an environment conducive to innovation and opportunity. This stability, combined with its economic policies, has made India an attractive hub for businesses and investors alike. Responsible Global Leadership: India's rise is not just in economic terms but also as a responsible global leader. With its commitment to the No First Use" nuclear doctrine and its history of non-aggression, India has showcased a responsible approach to international relations. India's responsible use of arms and ammunition, combined with its commitment to peace, has garnered respect on the global stage. Vibrant Democracy: India's democratic machinery functions smoothly and efficiently, with its checks and balances ensuring the rights and welfare of its vast populace. Its judicial systems are robust, standing as guardians of what is right and just. Demographic Dividend: India's young population is its biggest asset. With the majority of its populace under the age of 35, India is set to reap the benefits of this demographic dividend for decades. Language and Economy: As an English-speaking developing economy, India presents a unique combination of accessibility and opportunity to global entities, making it a preferred destination for businesses and collaborations. A Peaceful History: India's history of non-aggression speaks volumes about its approach to foreign relations. This pacifist stance has earned it goodwill and respect in the international community. Bridging the Divide: In an era of global polarization, India has positioned itself as a mediator between the West and the East, ensuring smoother diplomatic relations and fostering international cooperation. Diplomatic Prowess: India's diplomatic endeavours have struck the right balance firm in asserting its rights but always steering clear of arrogance. Its role as a diplomatic champion is pivotal in today's changing geopolitical landscape. As the world pivots to the East, India's rise is not just about economic numbers. It's about responsible leadership, democratic values, and a commitment to global peace and stability. Therefore, the world watches as India continues its journey, while there is no doubt that India's time has come. 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. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. News / National by Staff reporter Zimbabwe's investment promotion agency on Friday launched a digital platform to facilitate local and foreign investment in the country's tourism sector.The platform, known as the Zimbabwe Tourism Investment Matchmaking Platform, will enable both local and foreign investors to connect with tourism promoters in Zimbabwe and express their interests.Tafadzwa Chinamo, the chief executive of the Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency (ZIDA), made this announcement during the ongoing Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo, which is taking place from Thursday to Saturday in Bulawayo, the country's second-largest city.The platform is set to go live starting Monday, with an initial listing of 35 projects."We have noticed that many investors express interest in Zimbabwe's tourism industry, but we face challenges in identifying specific projects for their investments. The platform allows any project promoter in the tourism sector to upload relevant information and outline the support they require from potential investors," Chinamo said.This platform is part of ZIDA's broader efforts to enhance both local and foreign investment in Zimbabwe's tourism sector. It is expected to diversify and boost foreign investment in the tourism industry, which has primarily relied on local investments thus far, according to Chinamo. Previously, ZIDA launched a similar platform for the mining sector.Zimbabwe Tourism Authority said that the sector attracted investments worth 300 million U.S. dollars in 2022. Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Barbra Rwodzi said that the country aims to double investment in the sector to 600 million dollars, as part of its pursuit of a 5-billion-dollar tourism economy by 2025.Tourism plays a vital role in Zimbabwe's economy by generating foreign currency and creating employment opportunities. The country boasts a range of tourist attractions, including the well-known Victoria Falls, one of the seven natural wonders of the world. New Delhi: Engine Lease Finance BV, the engine lessor for budget airline SpiceJet, on Monday informed the Delhi high court that it is deferring its case against the airline to February due to an interim settlement between the two. Progress of the case will now depend on SpiceJet's ability to comply with the given schedule for return of engines. As per the agreement, SpiceJet will pay over $2 million to Engine Lease Finance by January and will return the leased engine by 25 January. Importantly, Engine Lease Finance is not under any obligation to revoke the terminated lease with the airline. If SpiceJet fails to comply with this agreement, it will retain the option to seek the courts intervention. SpiceJet and Engine Lease Finance Corp Aviation Services Ltd have mutually decided to resolve the dispute through amicable means, outside of the courtroom," SpiceJet said in a statement. Earlier, the HC set a deadline till 16 October for SpiceJet and indicated that it might prevent the airline from using the leased engine if no settlement was reached. During the proceedings, the engine lessor argued that SpiceJet must be restrained from using the engines, as the company had given SpiceJet sufficient time to address its payments issues before making a decision to terminate its lease. But, SpiceJet requested more time for a settlement, citing that the engines were in use. SpiceJet faces many legal challenges before courts. Recently, the airline informed the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) that its in advanced stages of settlement with aircraft lessor Celestial Aviation Services, which is one of four lessors to have filed cases against SpiceJet before NCLT over pending dues. Others include Willis Lease Finance Corp, Wilmington, and Aircastle. SpiceJet is also involved in an arbitral award execution case with former owner Kalanithi Maran with dues of 397 crore. According to the Delhi High Courts 24 August order, the airline was to pay Maran 100 crore by 10 September. The airline complied with the order but the payment was delayed by a few days. In the Supreme Court, the airline is also facing proceedings in a case involving Credit Suisse over a payment default. On 22 September, the apex court gave the airline permission to make monthly payments of $1 million to the Swiss bank over the next six months to settle its dues. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) called on states across the Middle East and North Africa to curb their dominance over their local economies, one of a brace of proposals it said would boost the regions sluggish growth. Leveling the playing field between public and private firms is a key priority," Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Sunday in a statement. She also urged more efficient and targeted social assistance, as well as a revamp of education and training systems to meet the needs of an estimated 100 million youth coming of working age in the next decade. Many countries in the region are still struggling to ensure greater and fairer opportunities for all," Georgieva said as IMF and World Bank meetings in Marrakech, Morocco the first on the African continent in 50 years neared a close. The IMF has revised down this years economic growth estimate for the Mideast and North Africa to 2 percent from 3.1 percent, citing oil production cuts that have taken a toll on the regions largest economies such as Saudi Arabia. Georgieva also called for greater participation of women in the workforce and using green investments as an engine of job creation. The regions tax systems may also need redesigned to widen their bases and reduce distortions," she said. By working together, we can tackle old and new challenges and build a future for the region grounded in a more sustainable and inclusive model of development," the IMF chief said. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed. HONG KONGA number of investigation firms are retreating from Hong Kong and moving staffers out of the city, the latest sign of concern among foreign companies as business dwindles and Chinese authorities crack down on corporate intelligence gathering. Three U.S. and British due-diligence companies that established a presence in the city more than a decade ago have exited or are winding down their operations this year, according to people familiar with the matter. They include Nardello, a global company built by a former U.S. federal prosecutor, and the Risk Advisory Group, co-founded by a former British fraud investigator. Nardello said it was reassigning staffers elsewhere but wasnt fully closing its Hong Kong business. The Risk Advisory Group didnt respond to requests for comment. New York-based investigations firm Mintz Group closed its office in the city earlier this year, people close to the matter said. Its exit came soon after Chinese authorities raided Mintzs Beijing office in March, detaining five of its Chinese employees. China imposed a $1.5 million fine on the firm in July for conducting unapproved" statistical work. Mintz didnt respond to a request for comment. China has this year conducted a series of raids in mainland China on foreign-owned due-diligence firms, which advise clients on business risks, or conduct checks and investigations in the country. Besides raiding Mintz, Chinese authorities have also questioned the staff of blue-chip U.S. consulting firm Bain, and barred a Hong Kong-based senior executive at U.S. risk-advisory firm Kroll from leaving mainland China, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier. Many companies in the industry are re-evaluating their business plans and the potential risks they face in China, including their operations in the partly autonomous city of Hong Kong. The majority of their work, such as pre-transaction checks, was previously thought to be routine. The scope of what was considered sensitive to authorities has broadened recently, and firms are less certain where the line should be drawn. Clearly both mainland China and also Hong Kong are no longer safe for commercial due-diligence and investigative work, due to the expanded concepts of national security across China," said Martin Purbrick, an analyst at Jamestown Foundation who also runs his own risk-advisory firm. Purbrick said Chinas National Security Law imposed on Hong Kong in 2020, as well as the changed political environment in the city, are also having an economic impact. Hong Kong was once a useful base because its British-style legal system was different from Chinas and offered protection from blanket enforcement of laws in the mainland based on national security, he said. The total number of foreign businesses with their regional headquarters in Hong Kong is falling steadily and the number of people hired by foreign firms in the city dropped by 25,000 to 468,000 between 2019 and 2022, the latest government figures show. China-related business has decelerated sharply for the corporate-intelligence industry, which traditionally used Hong Kong as a hub to conduct work for China private-equity or initial-public-offering clients, industry veterans say. Fundraising activities in the city have slowed to a trickle this year. U.S.-dollar fundraising by private-equity firms that invest mainly in China declined 89% in the first half of this year compared with a year earlier. In the IPO market, listings in Hong Kong raised just $3.5 billion by October this year, down 68% from the same period last year and far below 2021s $42.8 billion, according to Dealogic. Hong Kong remains a business-friendly city and the government is committed to promoting it as a prime investment location, a spokesperson for its Commerce and Economic Development Bureau said. A group of 30 companies in strategic fields will invest almost $4 billion to set up offices or expand in the city, she said. The national security law has restored stability to the city, she added. Nardello, founded by former U.S. prosecutor Daniel Nardello, who is also chairman, opened an office in Hong Kong in 2012, saying it would bolster its presence in China and throughout the region. Citing geopolitical risks, Nardello told employees it would close the office by the end of the year, and staffers would have to either relocate or leave the company. Nardellos staff numbers in the city have shrunk in recent years. LinkedIn search results show three people currently working for the firm there. The internal announcement about Nardellos Hong Kong office closure came as an about-face after management told the staff in a companywide memo in May that it wasnt closing its office in the city. We are reassigning some staff and are reorganizing, but not closing, the business in Hong Kong," said Nardello President Sabina Menschel. We will continue to work there." The head of the firms political-risk, strategic-intelligence practice for the region will be based in Singapore, where Nardello opened its eighth global office in July. The office will help build the firms business in the Asia-Pacific region, it said in a written statement at the time. Counting former veterans of the U.S. law enforcement and judiciary among its top executives, Nardello provides due-diligence and investigative services for criminal litigation, fraud, and anticorruption probes. It also advises clients on geopolitical and regulatory risks. A lawyer for cryptocurrency exchange FTX last year said it retained Nardello to help conduct an internal investigation into the reasons for its collapse. The Risk Advisory Group, which had a handful of employees in Hong Kong, closed its office in May, people with knowledge of the matter said. The groups Hong Kong location has been removed from its website, and the office is no longer at the address previously listed. Its senior executive, Tim Stanley, who led the Hong Kong practice, was relocated to the companys branch in Zurich the next month, the company has said. Stanley didnt respond to a request for comment. The Risk Advisory Group opened an office in Singapore last year that will continue with its Asia-Pacific business, one of the people familiar with the situation said. The company conducts commercial investigations for pre-IPO transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and antifraud and corruption probes. It also conducts investigations for companies on environmental, social and governance issues, such as human rights and environmental abuses in the supply chain. Yoko Kubota contributed to this article. Write to Selina Cheng at selina.cheng@wsj.com and Rebecca Feng at rebecca.feng@wsj.com Seniors choosing Medicare coverage often fall into hidden, costly traps that can leave them strandedand unable to get the healthcare they want. But there are ways to avoid the pitfalls, if you know how. Lothaire Bluteau, 66 years old, an actor who lives in West Hollywood, Calif., last year enrolled in one of the private plans known as Medicare Advantage. After he was diagnosed with prostate cancer last May, he discovered the specialists he wanted to see werent in his UnitedHealthcare HMOs limited network. He faced delays getting tests and treatment. He got a bigger shock when he tried to get access to more doctors by switching to traditional Medicare, run by the federal government. Bluteau worried about the steep out-of-pocket costs, so he tried to get a fill-in policy known as a Medigap plan that would cover many of those expenses. Yet health insurers said no because of his cancer diagnosis. He didnt realize he could be rejected. I didnt inform myself enough," Bluteau said. I was so stupid." Bluteaus struggle to get a Medigap plan shows one of the risks seniors may miss when they are selecting coverage. Medicare beneficiaries generally dont know that they have a right to get Medigap policies only at certain times, and if they dont jump then, they might not be able to purchase them later. Medicares open-enrollment period kicks off Sunday and goes until Dec. 7. During that time, beneficiaries can pick new plans for next year. The options include traditional Medicare from the government, or the wide array of Medicare Advantage plans, which are private-insurance products that wrap in the same benefits. Advertisements for Medicare Advantage plans especially may promise rich bonus benefits such as dental and vision coverage, or even help paying for food, as well as generous financial terms. But consumer advocates said seniors should be mindful of the downsides. For those going through Medicare open enrollment this fall, here are five of the biggest pitfallsand how to avoid them. Medigap Trap One of the biggest traps is the one that claimed Bluteau. Patients with health issues may want to move to original Medicare, but they cant buy Medigap policies. This is where people get stuck," said Kata Kertesz, a senior policy attorney at the Center for Medicare Advocacy. They get really sick, and they cant switch." Medigap, or Medicare supplement insurance, doesnt have the same rules as most health insurance. For other types of coverage, insurers cant reject you or charge you more based on your medical conditions. With Medigap, such guarantees are available only at certain times. Medigap is vital for many people who enroll in traditional Medicare. The original government program can leave beneficiaries with big out-of-pocket bills for their care, and there is no cap on how high that tab can go. Medigap policies help cover those costs. They have standardized designs, listed here. Your best chance to get Medigap is when you first join Medicare as a senior, after you turn 65. Then you have a six-month window when you can buy a Medigap policy, and insurers cant turn you down or charge you more because of your health conditions. There are a few other times when you have that federal guaranteed issue" right, including if you opt out of Medicare Advantage during a limited initial trial period." You can find them here. When you arent in a protected window, however, you might not be able to get a Medigap plan. States also have Medigap protections, and a few actually require the plans to always be available through guaranteed issue." You can check on your states rules here, but it is best to call your state department of insurance. Find the state insurance department information here. Wrong Doctors Another common trap that can ensnare people who sign up for Medicare Advantage plans: a lean menu of doctors and hospitals. The plansparticularly health maintenance organizations, or HMOscan have limited networks that sometimes mean beneficiaries cant go to the doctors or hospitals they want. They may also have a hard time getting care if traveling outside their home region. When Bluteau chose his HMO plan on the advice of an insurance agent, he said, he didnt realize it lacked doctors he would want to see. He was ultimately able to switch to a different UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plan, a preferred provider organization or PPO, that included them. UnitedHealthcare said it has the largest national network and a range of plans and supporting Medicare consumers in finding the right plan is a top priority for us." You can find directories of in-network doctors on the insurers websites, but be careful. They can be wildly inaccurate," said Julie Carter, senior federal policy associate at the Medicare Rights Center, a nonprofit. Its a mess, and we dont really have a great solution other than doing a lot of legwork." Dont just trustbe sure to verify. You should call the doctor offices and hospitals that matter to you, and consider looking up other providers you might need unexpectedly, such as nursing homes. You should call the insurer, and be specific about what plan you are researching and which doctors and hospitals you want. And if you choose a limited network, know that your favored doctors can always leave it. Around the country, some hospital systems are abandoning Medicare Advantage plans. Paperwork Problems Medicare Advantage plans can sometimes delay or block access to care. A recent government investigation found some beneficiaries were denied services that should have been covered. You might need to get approval from the insurer before you get a surgery, or a referral from your primary-care doctor to see a specialist. You may also find that those nifty extra benefits touted in ads are extremely limited. Seniors often dont focus on these issues, particularly when they are healthy, said Tatiana Fassieux, education and training specialist for the nonprofit California Health Advocates. Tomorrow you may end up having a stroke," she said. Once you start using the more costly care, thats when the brakes come in." To understand the hurdles, you should look at plans in the Medicare.gov tool. As you scroll down each table, you will see small limits apply" notices next to specific types of care, such as inpatient hospital use or radiology scans. Click on them, and you will find more details about what requirements you might face to get that kind of service, such as prior approval from the insurer. For a more in-depth explanation, you should go to the insurers website and look at key documents, such as the summary of benefits and the full evidence of coverage." Here is an example, and here is another. They are difficult and complicated, but they include pretty much everything there is to know about the plan. Drug Deficits Your drug coverage can come through a stand-alone Part D planneeded if you are in traditional Medicareor wrapped into your Medicare Advantage. Either way, you can use Medicare.gov to see if your prescriptions are included. This is worth doing every year. You may also want to go to the insurers own website and look for restrictions on access as well as the comprehensive formulary" document that lists all covered drugs. Here is an example, and here is another. Biased Advice Be careful where you turn for advice. Ads peddling Medicare Advantage plans may flash pictures of government Medicare cards and include a toll-free hotline that looks official but isnt the real federal number. Watch out for websites tied to particular insurers or online agencies that may have strong incentives to push certain plans. A good bet is to favor sites ending in .gov or .org. To find real, impartial information, it is best to start with Medicares own website. The State Health Insurance Assistance Program has counselors in every state, and you can find them herethey are typically very knowledgeable. The Medicare Rights Center maintains a national helpline. KFF, a health research nonprofit, has helpful background, as does the Center for Medicare Advocacy. Local agents or consumer advocates with whom you have a relationship can also be helpful. Write to Anna Wilde Mathews at Anna.Mathews@wsj.com Finance ministers of G20 nations have now adopted the synthesis paper released by Financial Stability Board (FSB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) that carries a number of suggestions on regulations of cryptocurrencies. A section of stakeholders have touted this as a pathbreaking step and believe this to be an important step in the run up to a full-fledged regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, while some call it a work in progress. "The adoption of the G20 roadmap on crypto-assets.. is a detailed and action-oriented roadmap that will help coordinate global policy as well as develop mitigating strategies and regulations on crypto assets," says Ashish Singhal, Co-Founder and CEO, CoinSwitch. It is one of the first such initiatives around the world, especially related to emerging technologies, wherein such a consensus has been achieved. It is definitely a game changer, and establishes a precedent for discussions around other emerging technologies world-wide," says Kiran Mysore Vivekananda, Chief Public Policy Officer, CoinDCX. Here, we give a timeline of steps that cryptocurrencies went through in its yet unfinished journey to become a legally accepted asset class with a set of well-defined regulations. Here is the timeline of regulatory evolution that the digital currencies have undergone: Feb 1, 2018: Then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, during the Budget Speech, said government did not consider cryptocurrencies as legal tender or coin and would eliminate use of crypto assets in financing illegitimate activities. But the FM spoke in favour of blockchain technology. April 5, 2018: RBI issues a notification restricting banks to enable funds transfer for buying digital currencies. This was challenged in the Supreme Court. March 2020: Two years later, a three-judge bench of Supreme Court quashed RBI's notification that had banned the banks from dealing in cryptocurrencies. Feb, 2021: A high-level committee constituted under the Chairmanship of Secretary (Economic Affairs) suggested that all the private cryptocurrencies, except any virtual currencies issued by the government, be prohibited in India. Nov 2021: In a reply to a question on bitcoin in the Parliament, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the government has no proposal to recognise Bitcoin as a currency. The government also admitted that it does not collect data on Bitcoin transactions. Feb 1, 2022: During the Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced 30 percent tax on gains made from the sale of cryptocurrencies. This was seen as an implicit acceptance of cryptocurrencies. Although without a regulatory framework in place, the government announced to levy capital gains tax, and 1 percent TDS on crypto transactions. July 2022: Nirmala Sitharaman during a Parliamentary question said the ban on cryptocurrencies could be effective only with international collaboration on the risks, benefits, evolution of common taxonomy and standards. Jan 2023: RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das says bitcoins should be completely banned in India and it can just be called gambling. Sept 1, 2023: The G20 member nations endorsed the Financial Stability Boards (FSB) recommendations on regulation of crypto assets to mitigate risks associated. Oct 12, 2023: Finance ministers of G20 nations at Marrakesh, Morocco adopted the synthesis paper released by IMF-Financial Stability Board (FSB) the previous month. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. When a bank account remains inactive for over two years, it is typically categorized as inoperative or dormant. This classification arises because financial institutions are required to maintain records for all accounts, and managing unused accounts can become cumbersome and costly. Activate your dormant account in time If you possess an inoperative account, you can typically reactivate it by initiating a deposit or by getting in touch with your bank. Nonetheless, in cases where an account has remained dormant for more than a decade, the bank might have transferred the remaining balance or unclaimed deposits to the Reserve Bank of India's Depositor Education and Awareness Fund. To claim the funds from this fund, you will need to establish contact with the RBI. Several public sector banks in India now require both savings and current accounts to be classified as inoperative if there have been no transactions in the account for a period exceeding two years, aligning with the directives set forth by the RBI. An inoperative account is defined as an account that has not experienced any customer-initiated transactions (whether debit or credit) for a continuous two-year period, with transactions like interest credited by the bank or service charges imposed by the bank being excluded from this criterion. When an account is categorized as inoperative, the bank will issue a notice to the account holder, apprising them of the account's status. The account holder will have the opportunity to reactivate the account by conducting a transaction within a specified timeframe, usually around 90 days. If the account holder does not revive the account within this stipulated period, the bank reserves the right to impose additional fees or potentially even close the account. Below are several factors that lead banks to designate accounts as inoperative: For the purpose of mitigating the risk of fraud and other financial crimes. In adherence to RBI regulations. To enhance operational efficiency. With the aim of cost reduction. Update KYC details regularly Numerous banks are urging customers to activate their accounts and update their KYC details if their accounts have remained inactive for over 24 months. This precautionary step is taken to minimize the risk of fraud and other financial crimes. Furthermore, banks must adhere to the Know Your Customer (KYC) directives established by the RBI. These guidelines necessitate that banks verify their customers' identities and maintain up-to-date customer records. Bank customers can benefit a lot by activating their accounts and ensuring that their KYC is up to date: They can access all the features and services of their bank accounts seamlessly. They can conduct transactions without any inconvenience. They will have enhanced protection against fraud and other financial crimes. Informing customers about inactivity in their accounts Banks commonly notify their customers about inactive accounts through a two-stage process. These include: Stage 1 The bank will dispatch a notification to the customer, alerting them to the account's inactivity over a specific timeframe, typically 12 months. This notice will also provide instructions on reactivating the account, such as through a transaction or by reaching out to the bank. Should the customer fail to reactivate their account within a designated timeframe, usually around 90 days, the account will progress to Stage 2. Stage 2 Subsequently, the bank will issue a conclusive notice to the customer, notifying them that their account faces closure unless reactivated within a specified timeframe, usually around 30 days. In the event the customer does not reactivate their account within this duration, the bank will proceed to close the account and transfer the remaining balance to a suspense account. The customer retains the option to reclaim the balance from the suspense account by reaching out to the bank and furnishing valid proof of their identity. It's crucial to acknowledge that the exact procedure for communicating with customers regarding inactive accounts can differ among different banks. Therefore, customers are encouraged to directly contact their respective banks for more detailed information. How to avoid your account getting dormant? If you possess a public sector bank account that has remained dormant for some time, it is advisable to verify its status and conduct a transaction, if needed, to maintain its active status. This can be accomplished by either visiting your bank branch or utilizing the bank's mobile banking or Internet banking application To prevent your account from becoming inoperative, consider the following tips: Ensure at least one transaction in your account every two years. Establish a standing instruction for periodic transfers from another account to your bank account. Connect your bank account to a mobile wallet or UPI app and make regular payments. If you anticipate prolonged inactivity, notify your bank and request it to maintain its active status. In most cases, banks do not impose fees for reactivating dormant accounts. However, banks may levy fees for various services linked to dormant accounts, including furnishing account statements or transferring the remaining balance to a suspense account. Nevertheless, neglecting messages from the bank regarding KYC updates or reactivating transactions can lead to unnecessary inconvenience when conducting transactions. For instance, the bank might either freeze the account temporarily or opt to close it entirely. This action could pose challenges for the customer in terms of accessing their funds and potentially impact their credit score. If you possess an inactive account, it's advisable to promptly reach out to your bank to reactivate it and update your KYC information. This proactive step will help you steer clear of any unwelcome inconveniences and guarantee ready access to your funds as and when required. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. The market is volatile owing to sudden and unexpected macro factors stemming from so many wars. For a dedicated long-term investor, this situation presents an opportunity to increase their holdings or initiate new investments. The age-old principle of buy low, sell high" continues to be a tried-and-true strategy in the stock market. Continued market upheavals in the past have not deterred long-term investors from putting their money in the market. This is evident from the recent data shared by the recently released Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) recent September data which highlighted inflows into the market worth 16,000 crores through regular systematic investment plan (SIP) investments. Statistics also underscore more investors taking an active interest in thematic or sectoral funds owing to their competitive returns. Considering how investing in these funds involves a lot of risk, numbers suggest the growing risk-averse nature of investors amidst growing optimism regarding the performance of the Indian stock market. A discussion with personal financial experts revealed possible reasons for growing interest in sectoral funds. Hiren Thakkar, Chartered Accountant Proprietor, Hiren S Thakkar & Associates said, As per my understanding, investors are cautious and selective because we are trading at the top of the valuation channel. Therefore, investors have shown interest in the hybrid- Balanced advantage/multi-asset funds and sector-specific funds like IT and Pharma." Viral Bhatt, Founder, Money Mantra added, The Indian stock market has been performing well in recent months, with the Sensex and Nifty reaching new record highs in September. This positive market sentiment has boosted investor confidence and led to increased inflows into mutual funds. It is important to note that thematic/sectoral and hybrid funds are more volatile than diversified equity funds. This is because they invest in a concentrated portfolio of stocks or sectors. Therefore, investors should carefully consider their risk appetite and investment goals before investing in these funds." Investors are rotating their funds into sectors and themes that are expected to perform well in the coming months. For example, sectors such as IT, banking, and financial services are expected to benefit from the strong economic growth in India. Similarly, themes such as electric vehicles, renewable energy, and consumption are expected to outperform the broader market in the coming years," added Bhatt. Gaurav Goel, Founder-Director, Fynocrat Technologies explained, Hybrid funds have seen increased net inflows on a month-on-month basis. Diversification and risk management are pivotal considerations for investors venturing into mutual funds to maintain a balanced portfolio. The rise in investments in hybrid funds may be ascribed to investors' renewed focus on capital preservation. This trend can also be linked to the robust bull run in the equity markets, prompting investors to adopt a balanced approach to their investments." There's no denying that India's trajectory points to long-term structural growth, with the potential to reach a 10 trillion-dollar economy in the foreseeable future. For individual investors, mutual funds stand as a pivotal asset class to participate in India's growth narrative and potentially garner favourable returns over the extended term. Traditionally, retail investors diversify their investments across various fund categories, including equity funds, balanced funds, or debt funds, aligning with their risk tolerance and investment horizon. However, recent trends in mutual fund investments reveal a notable shift. There is a discernible inflow of capital into thematic/sectoral funds and hybrid funds, influenced by several contributing factors. The overall positive market outlook, despite prevailing negative sentiments, contributes positively to India's stock market growth narrative. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Ever since Hamass barbaric invasion of Israel on Oct. 7a Shabbat morning that also happened to herald the end of the Jewish holiday of Succoth and fell one day after the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the 1973 Yom Kippur War (the symbolism runneth over)I have been thinking of Tal Mazliach. A gifted artist and magical woman, she lives in a two-room house in Kfar Aza, one of the southern kibbutzim close to Gaza that were attacked. As I watch the news, flinching at yet another report of bodies mutilated, babies murdered, soldiers shot asleep in their underwear, or helpless grandmothers taken hostage, it occurs to me that it is difficult, however much we try, to think of that many peoples deaths at once, especially those who were stabbed, shot, or, most horrifically, decapitated. How to imagine body after body, face after face, consciousness after consciousness, all come to an abrupt and violent end? The tragedy isnt lost on one so much as slightly blurred, like a gruesome video image that fails to come into precise view, perhaps because of the cameras jerky movements or perhaps because of the carnival atmosphere, interrupted by shouts of Allahu Akbar!" and yelps of joy. Among its first moves, Hamas ravaged Kfar Aza, gunning down many of the inhabitants and taking hostages. Thats why I find myself thinking of Tal, who was born in Kfar Aza and once called it a paradise" in an interview with Haaretz. I visited Tal, whose last name means leader or someone successful, there in February 2022 together with my sister, who has lived in Jerusalem since 1983 with an ever-growing family of four children and 12 grandchildren. I discovered the artists work, which is in many collections in Israel, at the Alon Segev gallery in Tel Aviv. I have often thought Israeli artists are overlooked internationally, in part because Israel is frequently treated like a canceled entity whose art is suspect, and I always go gallery-hopping when in the country. Tals paintings, with their bold colors and childlike hieroglyphic-style markings, immediately captivated me. They reminded me of the paintings and drawings of Outsider Artists like Henry Darger and Jimmy Lee Sudduth, who are untrained and work outside the usual artistic conventions. She filled the canvas to its edges in a way that was reminiscent of the Outsiders horror vacui (fear of empty spaces) and included much repetition of images. Her figures, including dolls, other toys and body parts, were sprinkled with black dots, like a graphic form of measles, which I later learned represented Tals own rare skin disease, nevus, and were a tribute to the idea of human differences. She also frequently uses the colors of the Palestinian flaggreen, white and redin her paintings. One of Tals main concerns is Otherness, psychological and physical, and how to de-Other the perceived enemy, whether Arab or Israeli. The kibbutz was charming, sparkling in the sun with street signs off small lanes. Id been told the painter was reclusive and ill at ease with strangers, but in the event she was a gracious hostess, offering us grapes and hummus. She chatted merrily (my sister speaks Hebrew fluently and I speak fairly good Jewish day-school Hebrew) about her creative process and the group of children she had befriended who regularly visited, which included her nieces and nephews. (Tal is single but has family in the kibbutz.) The walls of her home were covered with her singular and whimsical work, like a map of a country of her own making, including unfinished pieces and bits of drawings that signified the start of a new idea. Before we reached Tals house the two friends who were driving my sister and me stopped at the barbed-wire fence that separated Kfar Aza from Gaza, which lay some yards in the distance. I got out, walked up to the fence, and felt a flicker of fear on behalf of the kibbutzniks. Were they tempting fate, parading their seemingly good life a stones throw from a beleaguered, disempowered neighbor? l was told that there had been a few skirmishes but that the members of the kibbutz felt relatively secure. l wondered at the trust it took for this relatively small group to build a foundation so near a crowded strip of land governed by their sworn enemies, Hamas, whose very charter demanded the death of the Zionist state. Last week a former Hamas leader invoked jihad and called for a global day of rage in memory of the dead in Gaza. A sense of apprehension, not felt since the Holocaust, is building in Jews across the world. Jewish day schools on Manhattans Upper West Side were closed Friday, and Columbia University closed to the public a day earlier, in anticipation of protests. Across last week, there were large rallies, including in Athens, London, Paris and Sydney. The throng in Australia screamed, Gas the Jews." Closer to home, Palestine supporters filled a theater in Dearborn, Mich., Tuesday where one of the speakerspresident of the New Generation for Palestine, Amer Zahrasserted that this is not complicated" and that white-supremacist rallies are studded with Israeli flags. He claimed Zionists march down the streets shouting Death to Arabs," while pro-Palestinians agitate only for their liberation: Free, free Palestine." Many of the young and those on the progressive left have responded with enthusiasm, their thinking muddled by disinformation and a profound ahistoricismand, in some cases, Jewish self-hatred. As the script always goes, Israel has been given a pass for a few days in which it can elicit sympathy, before the country is demonized again as the sole aggressor in the region and Jews fall victim to open, unbridled declarations of anti-Semitism. Meanwhile, I think of Tal. I wrote to her gallery in Israel to clarify her fate and was thrilled to learn that she survived, after hiding for 17 hours in her bomb shelter. Her family survived too, but 52 people in the kibbutz were killed, seven taken hostage, and 13 others are missing. In my minds eye, I see her drawings flapping in a faint breeze on a wall that has been left standing amid the destruction, speaking to a spirit of inclusiveness and tolerance that has evaded the Mideast since the day Israel was proclaimed a state. Ms. Merkin is a novelist, critic and memoirist. Her most recent book is 22 Minutes of Unconditional Love." When Goldman Sachs and Apple launched their joint savings account in April, Goldman held a town hall at its headquarters, where bank executives talked it up. One executive had a different message shortly afterward. We should have never done this fing thing," the Goldman partner told colleagues. Many Goldman employees agree, and the bank has reversed course on its ill-fated foray into consumer lending. On Tuesday, when Goldman reports earnings, one big question will be how quickly the retreat is proceeding. Goldman is selling GreenSky at a steep loss, after buying it just last year. The bank has already sold most of its portfolio of personal loans. Some senior executives at Goldman want out of what remains of consumer lendingnamely, the Apple credit card and other Apple products, and the General Motors credit card, according to people familiar with the matter. No decision has been made. Goldman has held conversations with American Express, The Wall Street Journal previously reported. If Goldman can ditch all those products, it will effectively spell the end of the Goldman consumer-lending experiment. Tuesdays earnings report will be an important measuring stick. Analysts expect profit to be down sharply. Investors expect assurance from CEO David Solomon that the bank is again focused on its core Wall Street businesses. Inside the bank, partners complain that the consumer-lending business has been more trouble than it was worth, and they blame Solomon for Goldmans expansion in the space. The unit that includes credit cards and GreenSky has lost billions of dollars. Regulators are circling the card business. Many top executives in the consumer-lending businesses have left or moved to other units. For example, Goldman partner Liz Martin, who has been heading up the banks partnerships with Apple and GM, is in the process of leaving that position and moving to a different part of the bank, according to people familiar with the matter. Off-loading the consumer products to Amex isnt a sure thing. Amex has taken issue with the Apple credit cards loss rates and other issues that Goldman has been trying to address, according to people familiar with the matter. The network on the card is currently Mastercardanother turnoff for some Amex executives. Goldman employees working on the Apple partnership have floated other options, including letting Apple take over a bigger piece of the partnership, according to people familiar with the matter. For example, one idea proposed that Apple could become the lender for new credit-card spending and issuance, with Goldman continuing to manage the existing loans. Those discussions havent reached high levels at either company, and Goldman senior executives say it isnt an option under consideration. The bank disclosed last year that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is investigating Goldmans credit card account management practices," including how the bank resolves billing errors and refunds cardholders. Privately, some Goldman executives blame Apple. Most card programs send out cardholders bills on a rolling basis throughout the month. Apple cardholders get their bill at the beginning of each month. That means Goldman customer-service employees get flooded early every month, making it hard for them to keep up. Goldman has lobbied Apple to let the bank change the way customers are billed, but so far has been unsuccessful, according to people familiar with the matter. Goldman has been moving employees from consumer lending to an internal effort named Project Blue, which is tasked with fixing regulatory issues, according to people familiar with the matter. The Federal Reserve has been probing Goldmans broader consumer-lending business, the Journal reported this year. Goldman in August hired Bill Johnson, a Citigroup credit-card veteran, to oversee credit-card partnerships and to make them profitable. Johnson has been asked to figure out by the end of the year how much Goldman can lower expenses for credit cards, according to people familiar with the matter. If that isnt possible to the degree that senior executives would like to see, or if it would require taking on additional credit-card programs to get to scale, Goldman will likely push forward with its efforts to sell its two card partnerships, with Apple and GM, the people said. On the banks earnings call in July, Solomon said Goldman was working hard to improve the operation of the credit-card partnerships. They definitely can operate better," he said. The Apple savings account, meanwhile, has quickly attracted billions in deposits in the months since it was introducedthough not all Goldman executives are thrilled even about that. Goldman had placed a cap on the amount of deposits it would accept for the Apple account, according to people familiar with the matter. It surpassed that figure within a few weeks. The bank increased the cap but is close to hitting it again. Some bank executives worry that the high balances will make it harder for Goldman to separate from Apple. If the Apple partnership were to move to a different bank, and with it many billions of dollars in the savings accounts, Goldman could be forced to raise expensive last-minute funding. That is why few card issuers also offer savings accounts with their card partners. Write to AnnaMaria Andriotis at annamaria.andriotis@wsj.com Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan welcomed the first-ever ship at 7,700 crore international deep-water port at Vizhinjam near Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. The Congress attributed credit for the project to late party stalwart Oommen Chandy. The scope of development that the port would bring to the state was beyond imagination and the arrival of the first ship shows nothing was impossible for Kerala," Vijayan said as quoted by PTI. However, the Congress said it was all possible only due to the initiatives taken by Chandy when he was the chief minister. Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the state VD Satheesan said that Chandy bravely took the decision to make Vizhinjam port a reality even when he was accused of piracy and selling real estate worth 6,000 crore to the Adani group. Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor, who was also present at the event, said it was thanks to the initiative taken by Chandy that the stagnant" project moved forward. Chandy ensured all studies were carried out and all approvals were received from the Centre during his tenure, he added. In an official statement, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief K Sudhakaran slammed Vijayan for not commemorating Chandy as was done by State Ports Minister Ahamed Devarkovil, PTI reported. Sudharakan alleged that Vijayan was unlucky as he was destined to inaugurate projects initiated by the former CM. On the other hand, Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan attributed credit for the project to the Narendra Modi government. It was an outcome of the good governance of the Modi government." He said new life was breathed into the port project in 2015 only after the Modi government came to power. Located near the southernmost tip of the country, the Vizhinjam transshipment container port the first of its kind in India that was inaugurated on October 15 will allow India to grab a bigger slice of the international maritime trade currently dominated by China. It will also bolster its aspirations to be an alternative manufacturing hub by reducing logistics costs for cargo coming to and from the country. The new terminal is another feather in the cap of Gautam Adanis conglomerate, which faced a scathing short seller attack in January alleging corporate malfeasance charges the Adani Group has denied. With a dominance that already spans ports, mines, airports, and power utilities, Vizhinjam will further cement the billionaires status as Indias infrastructure king. The much-awaited deep-sea port along Keralas scenic coastline has been developed by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd. in collaboration with the local state government. Adani Ports, Indias largest private sector port operator with a 30 percent market share, is also developing Israels Haifa port and plans to build a hub in Vietnam, as part of its expanding global footprint. (With PTI inputs) Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. News / National by Staff reporter ZIMBABWE hopes to become the world's largest exporter of the chemical element Lithium.Lithium, or white gold' as it is often known to investors, has become an incredibly valuable resource, as it is one of the key components of electric vehicle batteries. Now an unlikely African country hopes to become the largest exporter.The global demand for more renewable energy sources has lead to a exponential demand for lithium batteries, particularly in the car industry as electric vehicles become a trend.The chemical element can be located in Mali, Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Namibia, but it is the south African country Zimbabwe that has the largest reserve and hopes to provide 20 percent of the worlds' demands.This demand comes at a cost however with the profitable resource attracting rogue miners who want to dig it up to smuggle across the border.This illegal mining can be devastating earlier this year, a classroom in Kwekwe collapsed, injuring fourteen students as the fiends had tunneled under the school in search of the valuable mineral.Lithium has also attracted international attention, with China, Canada, Australia and the UK investing in mineral batteries.China are the biggest players in the investment game, spending more than a billion dollars acquiring and developing projects in the state.This global demand comes at a price however, and in December 2020, the Zimbabwean government banned all exports of lithium as a raw material.This isn't a complete dead end for investors it just means that it must be processed as a concrete before leaving the country.This ban is in place to boost Zimbabwe's own economy, and create more jobs for residents.China has managed to find a loophole in this, however, and their investment into processing plants exempts them from this ban."Zimbabwe is open for business," said President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who has huge aspirations for the resource, hoping that it will remodel Zimbabwe the same way oil has transformed the Middle East. A unit of Mumbai crime branch busted a drugs syndicate operating out of a factory in Solapur on Monday. The crime branch unit recovered 8 kg of drugs worth 16 crores from their possession and arrested two people from the spot. The two culprits were produced before court and sent to Police custody till October 19, said Daya Nayak, Crime Branch Officer on Monday. According to the police, Inspector Daya Nayak initially received the tip of the drug peddlers being active in Bandra west and Khar areas of Mumbai. Later, Daya Nayak formed a special team of police officials from crime branch unit-9 for further investigation. The police also said that the huge quantity of drugs was seized from the suspects-aged 32 and 27, reported Mid-day. The police seized 2.547 kg of mephedrone (MD) drugs. Moreover, 5.8 kgs of drugs was recovered from the second criminal. After further interrogation from suspects revealed information about the drugs manufacturing factory functional in Solapur district of the state, according to Mid-day report. After confirming the information, Daya Nayak and his team raided the factory and seized several drugs manufacturing equipment, raw materials and drugs. It is worth noting that this is the second such operation by the Mumbai police in past few months. Recently, a Bandra unitof Mumbai's Anti Narcotics Cell (ANC) arrested four people and recovered drugs worth 1.18 crore on October 14. The search for another accused is going on in the case. According to media reports, the seized drugs was of premium quality and was being sold to young boys and girls. As per the information, the criminals were nabbed when officers of Bandra Unit were patrolling the Juhu area at night. They investigated two suspicious people roaming in front of Amritlal Wadi. As they tried to approach them, they tried to run away and ended up being caught by the police. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Pune Traffic Police issued a traffic advisory on October 14 with route diversions and road clusures. The notice from the Office of Deputy Commissioner of Police in Pune stated traffic changes to be implemented to avoid traffic during celebrations of Navratri festivities. The nine day festival, which runs from October 15 to October 24 is a major religious event in Pune that attracts devotees from various parts of the city. To avoid potential traffic congestion several route diversions along with road closures have been implemented which are as follows: Appa Balwant Chowk: The road leading to Appa Balwant Chowk from Budhwar Chowk will be closed to traffic, allowing one-way traffic from Budhwar Chowk to Appa Balwant Chowk. An alternative route is available via Ama Chowk and Shivaji Road. Bhavani Mata Temple: A section of Mahatma Phule Road, specifically between Ramoshi Gate Chowk and Juna Motor Stand in front of Bhawani Mata Mandira, will be closed for all vehicle types except essential service vehicles. No-parking zones in place on Mahatma Phule Road. Motorists can use an alternative routes. Tambadi Jogeshwari Temple: Access to Tambadi Jogeshwari Road between Ganapati Chowk and Tambadi Jogeshwari Mandir on Lakshmi Road is restricted. Access to all types of vehicles is closed from Sakal Press to Jogeshwari Temple, except for essential services. Motorists can use an alternative route via Sevasdan Chowk and Bajirao Road to reach their destination. "Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights!" Click here! Chathushringi Mata Mandir: In case of traffic congestion on Senapati Bapat Road due to the influx of devotees visiting the temple, traffic coming from Journalist Nagar Chowk to Senapati Bapat Road Junction will be diverted from Shivaji Hasig Chowk to Senapati Bapat Road on a one-way basis. In case of road congestion, vehicles heading to the temple will be directed to Vetalbaba Chowk via Deep Bangla Chowk and Shivaji Hasig Chowk. Motorists and citizens should park their vehicles at designated areas as mentioned in the notice to avoid inconvenience. No-parking regulations are in place in areas like Tambadi Jogeshwari Mata Mandir, Ashtabhuja Devi Mandir and others. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. McDonald's Oman has extended financial support for people in Gaza. Let us all combine our efforts and support the community in Gaza with everything we can. We ask God Almighty to protect our beloved country and all Arab and Muslim countries from all the evil and hate," it said in a statement. Israel-Hamas war LIVE updates We do not compromise on our commitment to the highest of principles and values that thrives in our community. From this ground of sound values and principles, we are pleased to announce that McDonald's Oman has donated $100,000 towards the relief efforts for the people of Gaza, in coordination with the concerned official authorities," it added. At the same time, it called McDonald's Israels decision to extend support to Israeli soldiers an individual and private act, and not with the approval or direction of the international company or any other licensee, especially in our Arab world". McDonalds Israel earlier shared on social media that it had already donated 4,000 meals to hospitals and military units dedicated to Israeli soldiers fighting Hamas. It plans to donate thousands of meals every day to soldiers in the field and in drafting areas, it said. This is beyond a discount to soldiers coming to restaurants, it added. Meanwhile, McDonalds UAE said, We are deeply saddened by the events in the region and in light of the ongoing crisis in Gaza, McDonald's UAE is donating AED 1 Million to Emirates Red Crescent, towards their "Tarahum for Gaza" campaign." McDonalds Qatar and Saudi Arabia As per social media claims, McDonalds Qatar and McDonalds Saudi Arabia have also extended their support for Palestine and sent financial relief. Qatar supports Qatar Charity as part of its campaign for Palestine to provide urgent relief from food aid, water, shelter and medical care to meet basic needs and alleviate the suffering of the brotherly Palestinian people in Gaza," as per an apparent statement by McDonalds Qatar in Arabic, as shared on social media users. McDonald's Saudi Arabia, in a similar statement shared on unverified social media accounts, says, McDonald's Saudi Arabia praises our great humanitarian sympathy for our brothers in beloved Palestine, and does not accept any bidding on our Arabism, patriotism, or commitment to our dear Saudi society, its principles, and the value of the Sublime." Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Israel-Hamas War: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday appealed to Hamas to immediately release the shortages without keeping any sort of conditions. He made two humanitarian appeals amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the UN chief wrote, As we are on the verge of the abyss in the Middle East, I have two humanitarian appeals: To Hamas, the hostages must be immediately released without conditions." "To Israel, rapid & unimpeded access for humanitarian aid must be granted for the sake of the civilians in Gaza," he added. According to The Times of Israel, Guterres said that each of these two objectives is valid and these must be implemented because Gaza is running out of water, electricity, and other essential supplies. More than 1,300 people have been killed and nearly 3,600 injured in the Israel-Hamas war so far. Defence Minister Gallant said that on an estimate, 150-200 Israelis are being held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Hundreds of thousands of Gaza residents sought to heed Israels order by evacuating the northern territory and moving in the southward direction on Sunday. Gazas 2.3 million civilians faced a deepening struggle for food, water, and safety. US President Joe Biden is considering a trip to Israel in the coming days but no travel has been finalized. Biden has staunchly proclaimed his support for Israel. He spoke to both Palestinian and Israeli Presidents on call on Saturday. Biden has said that any move by Israel to occupy the Gaza Strip again would be a "big mistake". Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have struck the Hezbollah "military infrastructure" in Lebanon as a retaliatory move to Sunday's fire. Lebanon has warned Israel that if they continue to attack the Gaza Strip then they will face severe consequences. But the US and France have conveyed to Hezbollah that they must stay out of the war. Israeli army estimated that more than 600,000 people have left Gaza City and its surroundings for southern Gaza. Israel had asked Gazans to evacuate southward as it has pledged to annihilate Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip. (With ANI inputs) Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. The study, titled 'Lifetime Cost of Public Servants,' was conducted by a five-member team from the state-run Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (Pide), led by Nadeemul Haque. It revealed that in Pakistan, the cost of paying these employees amounts to about PKR 3 trillion, while pensions cost approximately PKR 1.5 trillion. Additionally, project workers, personnel in government entities, and other organisations contribute approximately PKR 2.5 trillion to the total cost. The military's wages and salaries alone account for roughly PKR 1 trillion, according to Dawn. The study found out that when a new government employee is recruited, the public sector incurs costs associated with their salary, benefits, and potential training. These financial outlays are funded through tax revenue. The addition of a new employee increases the overall personnel expenses of the government, contributing to a larger portion of the budget being allocated to salaries and benefits. This can directly affect taxpayers, as the government may need to raise revenue through increased taxes or reallocation of funds from other areas to cover these expenses. The study further found out that political motivations can lead to governments hiring more people than they need, to reward supporters or to create a sense of job security. Short-term focus can lead to governments not considering the long-term financial implications of their hiring decisions. The lack of economic expertise can lead to governments making poor decisions about how to manage their workforce. And societal xpectations can lead to governments feeling pressured to hire more people, even if they do not have the resources to do so. An employee when hired represents a stream of commitments from the budget for her lifetime and beyond given guarantees a of lifetime employment and pension and for pension to surviving widows and unmarried daughters. We show here what the expected compensation amounts to. We calculate the present value of the government commitment here. This is the value that the government must place in a bond to make the hiring budget neutral for the coming generation. Otherwise, the cost will inflate in future budgets. The study pointed out that the BPS system continued with a socialist one-pay scale structure across the entire public sector, favouring the Pakistan Administrative Services (PAS) with non-monetary benefits and better appointments. Technical or professionally skilled individuals remained marginalised both in terms of grades and non-monetary benefits. Despite attempts to introduce lateral entry to BPS for technical or sector specialists in management pay scales and special pay scales, these efforts were hindered by a system that remained subservient to PAS. The study concluded that contrary to popular belief, civil servants were not at a salary disadvantage; there were numerous unaccounted-for elements that significantly contributed to their overall remuneration. Perks, allowances, and in-kind benefits, such as government housing facilities, were not reflected in civil servants' salary slips, as reported by Dawn. Official vehicle usage for personal purposes by grade 20-22 officers increased the total cost by over 1.2 times the basic pay. Medical allowances and medical bill reimbursements further added to the cost. The study revealed, "Perks and different allowances add to the total cost of civil servants substantially, and if monetised, would break the myth of low salaries in the public sector. The judicial employees receive the highest number of perks, with the secretariat and other ministries' staff also gaining 150 per cent of their basic salary as an allowance." The study concluded that achieving a balance between short-term gains and sustainable fiscal policies was crucial in addressing this challenge, Dawn reported. With Agency Inputs Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit China this week to deepen 'no limits' partnership with Xi. Putin on Oct. 17-18 will attend the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, which China is host for representatives of 130 countries. This would be Putin's first trip outside the former Soviet Union since the Hague-based International Criminal Court issued a warrant for him in March over the deportation of children from Ukraine. China and Russia declared a "no limits" partnership in February 2022 when Putin visited Beijing just days before he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine, triggering the deadliest land war in Europe since World War Two. Putin and Xi share a broad world view, which sees the West as decadent and in decline just as China challenges U.S. supremacy in everything from quantum computing and synthetic biology to espionage and hard military power. The meeting comes at a time when the world is divided over Israel-Palestine conflict. While the US and allies have showed their support to Israel, both China and Russia sided with Palestine. Speculations are rife that there could be a joint statement by the two countries. BRI summit amid Israel-Hamas conflict While China hopes the forum will help boost its standing as a leading global power, Israel's war with Palestinian militant organisation Hamas will continue to dominate the headlines. Meanwhile, leaders have begun to trickle into the Chinese capital for a gala event. Clearing stand on the war, Foreign Minister Wang Yi condemned Israel's actions for going "beyond the scope of self-defence" and called for it to "cease its collective punishment of the people of Gaza". "(Israel) should listen earnestly to the calls of the international community and the UN secretary general, and cease its collective punishment of the people of Gaza," Wang said Sunday. Beijing has been criticised by Western officials for not specifically naming Hamas in its statements on the Israel-Gaza conflict. China has a warm relationship with Iran, whose clerical leadership supports both Hamas and Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group that could open a second front against Israel. Earlier this year, China brokered an entente between former regional foes Iran and Saudi Arabia. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. The U.S. government is one of the worlds biggest holders of bitcoin, but unlike other crypto whales, it doesnt care if the digital currency goes up or down in value. That is because Uncle Sams stash of some 200,000 bitcoin was seized from cybercriminals and darknet markets. It is primarily offline in encrypted, password-protected storage devices known as hardware wallets that are controlled by the Justice Department, the Internal Revenue Service or another agency. What the federal government does with its bitcoin has long been a topic of interest among crypto traders because any sale could potentially swing prices or cause other ripple effects in the $1 trillion digital-asset market. The U.S. has been notoriously slow to convert its stash of bitcoin into dollars. It isnt HODLing, crypto parlance for holding on for dear life" and never intending to sell. Nor is it waiting for bitcoin to go to the moon" so it can sell its holdings for a hefty profit. Rather, that big pile of bitcoin is more a byproduct of a lengthy legal process than strategic planning. We dont play the market. We basically are set by the timing in our process," said Jarod Koopman, executive director of the IRSs cyber and forensics services section, which oversees all activities focused on cybercrimes. Three recent seizures alone put more than 200,000 bitcoin in the governments coffers, according to an analysis of public filings by crypto firm 21.co. Even after selling some 20,000 bitcoin, the U.S.s holdings are still worth more than $5 billion, the analysis shows. The size of the governments total stash is likely much larger. From seizing illicit bitcoin to receiving the final order to liquidate the tokens for cash, the legal process can take years. In some cases, that worked in the governments favor because the cryptocurrency wildly appreciated in value. For example in 2016, when crypto exchange Bitfinex was hacked by convicted tech entrepreneur Ilya Lichtenstein, bitcoin was trading around $600. By the time Lichtenstein and his wife, Heather Morgan, were arrested in 2022 and the Justice Department announced its largest-ever financial seizure of about 95,000 bitcoin, the token had climbed to $44,000. Today, it is hovering around $27,000. The U.S. government didnt seize any crypto in last years high-profile collapse of exchange FTX, but it did take over hundreds of millions of dollars in assets, made up mostly of cash and shares of brokerage Robinhood Markets. Robinhood bought back the seized shares from the U.S. Marshals Service in August. FTXs crypto assets are part of its bankruptcy estate; the company is expected to eventually use that money to help fill its $8 billion hole in customer funds or reboot the exchange. When a government agency takes control of a crypto asset, Uncle Sam doesnt immediately own that asset. Only after a court issues a final forfeiture order does the government take ownership and transfer the tokens to the U.S. Marshals Service, the primary agency tasked with liquidating seized assets. While the case is pending, the government holds the bitcoin as evidence or proceeds of the crime. The Justice Department has been storing seized bitcoin on hardware wallets since the 2013 shutdown of online drug bazaar Silk Road. In recent years, the agency seized 69,000 bitcoin that once belonged to Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht and 50,676 bitcoin from a Georgia man who pleaded guilty to stealing tokens from the bazaar. The government moves generally very slowly to dispose of those assets because theyve got to do a ton of due diligence, the cases are often complicated and theres a lot of red tape," said Nicolas Christin, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University. The Marshals Services liquidation process has evolved along with the development of the crypto industry. In the early days of crypto, the agency held auctions to sell cryptocurrencies directly to interested buyers, many of whom booked a healthy profit, at least on paper. Venture capitalist Tim Draper, who has made a fortune investing in cryptocurrencies, bought more than 30,000 bitcoin from the government via two auctions in 2014. In one auction, he paid $632 for each token when they were trading at $618. After bitcoin went down to about $180, he paid about $191 per token in another auction. Cumberland, high-frequency trading firm DRWs crypto unit, won 27,000 bitcoin in an auction the same year. For the first time in January 2021, the Marshals Service decided to liquidate some of its stockpile of seized digital currencies on crypto exchanges. Historically, it has sold crypto assets in multiple batches rather than all at once to avoid the adverse impact of a large sell order on the market. With its current practice, the agency takes additional steps to ensure the market isnt adversely impacted, including liquidating the cryptocurrencies over a longer window of time. One such sale occurred in March when the government sold 9,861 bitcoin via Coinbase. The Marshals Service confirmed the sale. Coinbase declined to comment. Our goal is to dispose of assets in a timely manner at fair-market value," a representative for the agency said. In many cases, the proceeds from the governments sales go toward reimbursing victims. Bitfinex said in July that it received more than $300,000 in cash and 6.917 of a cryptocurrency called Bitcoin Cash, valued at about $1,900 at the time, from the Department of Homeland Security. Government agencies that are investigating increasingly sophisticated crimes can also ask for help covering expenses for things like licensing fees for crypto-tracing software. Its hard for us to quickly adapt," Koopman from the IRS said. What has transpired in less than 10 years in crypto took the financial industry the same time to do in 100 years." Write to Vicky Ge Huang at vicky.huang@wsj.com In recent times, one of the better books I read is The Material World by Ed Conway, the economics editor of Sky Broadcasting. It is a world that we have not even been aware of, let alone cross its path. It is unseen for us although the materials that lie behind many of the stuff we use or places we inhabit are all too real. Ed Conway takes us along in his often-breathtaking journey to the remotest corners of the earth, or below it, for us to understand the energy that we expend in getting these materials out of the earth, beating them and cajoling and melting them into shape and then finally getting them inside our smart devices. Conway writes, There is no way of mass producing either wind turbines or silicon substrates of solar panels without the use of fossil fuels.On the basis of one calculation, we will need to mine more copper in the next 22 years than we have in the entirety of the past 5,000 years of human history." In the process, he forces us to contemplate many questions that we have conveniently chosen to ignore. Not only that, but we have also created a justification in our heads for our hostility to such questions by positing tackling climate change and global warming as moral imperatives. Morality brooks no trade-offs. It is as it should be. But, dealing with climate change is an economic imperative. The service that Ed Conway does to the discerning among his readers is to force them to confront and challenge the implicit choices that some policymakers are making on others behalf on the matter of global warming. Real people have to contend with trade-offs based on their wallets. For example, does it make sense to scrap old vehicles to buy new vehicles to comply with Britains Ultra-low emission zones mandates since the manufacture of such cars would involve so much energy? To find out how much, read Conways tome. Climate evangelists avoid such questions. They either assume away the problem or pretend that it does not exist. Ed Conway forces them to think more in economic terms than in theological terms about climate change and energy transition. According to him, no energy transition has been achieved as quickly as is being contemplated in Net Zero by 2050 and previous transitions took centuries to happen. There is no precedent for successive generations of humanity consciously sacrificing some of their livelihoods for a future they will never experience themselves." Quite so. The grasping of that reality is behind the recent decisions by the British government with respect to the timing of the phasing out of diesel and petrol cars and installation of new gas boilers. It was merely following in the footsteps of the German government, which had to significantly water down its rules on the effective ban on all new gas and oil boilers, that had originally proposed new systems to be powered by a minimum of 65% renewable energy by January 2024. As Gideon Rachman reluctantly recognised (tinyurl.com/2p9kyj73), public support for Net Zero policies dropped precipitously in Britain when it involved an increase in household bills. Many put the cost of living as a more important priority than Net Zero. This was repeated in surveys in much of Europe. In 2018, a Yellow Vest movement protester in France is said to have remarked that while climate apostles talked about the end of the world, they were worried about the end of the week. Second, the difficulty with such seemingly laudable aims to reduce carbon footprints is that the environmental costs that renewable energy usage or generation entail are not counted properly, if at all. How does one dispose-off wind turbine blades and solar panels, for instance? In March 2022, an article in Bloomberg eloquently captured the story (tinyurl.com/4e8banht) of the transition to Net Zero in Jeju Island in South Korea and the unanticipated challenges it threw up. It remains an essential read for policymakers across the world. Transitioning to Net Zero was supposed to be a breeze in Jeju island since it ticked many of the boxes that made such a transition achievable. If only it were so. In February 2023, Bloomberg had another big story (tinyurl.com/3uc3rud4) on the damage caused to the Amazon River Basin because of the metals being extracted to manufacture, ahem, climate-friendly electric vehicles. More recently, there are concerns about the damage to biodiversity in Indonesia due to Nickel extraction. Third, such an unthinking approach extends to the belief that private capital would stump up the vast sums of money required for energy transition and combating climate change out of its innate goodness and public spirit. Ed Conway provides real examples of private greed trumping other public considerations, including respect for the very nature that climate policies supposedly aim at. Fourth, the overwhelming dominance of one country either in steel or copper production or in many of the ingredients that go to make the silicon chip makes such weaponisation not only feasible but also a tempting proposition in a fraught world of which we were served a very brutal reminder on 7 October. Geopolitical risk appears likely to be with us all the way through to the year of Net Zero by 2050. Economists who understand that policymaking is about trade-offs will be familiar with these arguments. But those who believe in corner solutions are not or cannot. Or, maybe they believe that the cost of the pursuit of corner solutions could be passed on to the voiceless around the world, advanced or developing. If it is incorrect to ignore costs, the refusal to recognise trade-offs is incomprehensible. Equally, it is immoral to tell people that they cannot aspire to a life of minimum dignity because others have to maintain their way of life. While patently undemocratic, it is also a sign of intellectual desperation to use fear as the only tool of persuasion as was done in the case of the pandemic. It is not too late to get real about climate change and find ways to deal with it optimally, keeping in mind other equally important priorities of the billions who do not have a seat at the high tables. As Abraham Lincoln said once, Public sentiment is everything. With it, nothing can fail; against it, nothing can succeed." These are the authors personal views. He Jinbi, head of Maike Metal International Group, Chinas top copper importer, has not been seen in public recently, and is believed to have been detained by Chinese authorities. By the standards of disappearances in China this year, Hes case seems relatively minor. Qin Yaqing appointed as Chinas foreign minister in December last year disappeared in July, while defence minister Gen. Li Shangfu went missing just last month. No official explanations have been forthcoming though it is very likely that Gen. Li at least has been detained on account of corruption in weapons acquisitions made during his previous appointment. The anti-corruption campaign under Communist Party of China General Secretary and Chinese President Xi Jinping has proceeded in stages with the opening salvos targeting his political rivals as he sought to consolidate his power. As he has grown in authority, the campaign has turned from taking down political rivals to tackling local disobedience of central political and administrative diktats to addressing instability and financial irregularities in the Chinese economy. In general, therefore, disappearances of prominent Chinese public figures today with rare exceptions can be attributed to their being implicated in corruption or financial mismanagement. But He, the copper tycoon, is not the first big Chinese businessman to go missing or to be investigated by the police. It was announced late last month that Hui Ka Yan, founder of Chinas largest real estate company, Evergrande, was under investigation. Hui was once Asias richest man and Evergrande, the worlds biggest property developer. Today, it is the worlds most indebted company with over $300 billion owed to creditors. What does China's unabated record of important people going missing tell us about Xi's plans and why is it important to track this closely? The larger issue at play here is of the systemic risk and instability built into the Chinese economy. After the 2015 market crash, China's central government cracked down on speculation and real estate bubbles, a process that has led to the current stressed balance sheets of the country's property majors and defaults to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars. Xi had famously said, houses are for living in, not speculation". A crackdown then began of Chinas high-flying tech majors as a way of ensuring they stayed in line with the Party-states objectives of ensuring control and surveillance of the digital space not just in China but also in foreign countries where their apps and investments held sway. Even Jack Ma, one of Chinas most internationally well-known entrepreneurs, was forced out of public view for a few months at the end of 2020 and his Ant Groups IPO cancelled by authorities. One of the newest prongs of the anti-corruption campaign is the crackdown on mis-demeanours in Chinas financial system. Both speculation and a ballooning of local debt would not have been possible without the decades-long nexus of local governments and enterprises with the banking system. Hes fall is collateral damage. Maike Metals and Hes foray into real estate were both hit hard by the covid-19 pandemic-related disruptions. But while he was able to overcome a liquidity crunch following the 2008 global financial crisis by persuading banks to keep loaning him money, that approach is no longer possible with the banking system under the scanner. Last October, the head of Industrial and Commercial Bank of Chinas Shaanxi branch Maike Metals is the banks major client was removed from his position. This then also suggests that disappearances such as Hes should not come as a surprise. The signals were evident for a year and more. Xi Jinping is determined to focus on the real economy" and to clean the Augean stables of the Chinese economy. Chinas red capitalists were first allowed into the Communist Party about 25 years ago giving them access to not just the corridors of power but also to easy money. Today, the Communist Party under Xi expects its members to be more red than capitalist and adhere to its vision of how the economy should operate. More bigwigs will fall and enterprises and institutions allowed to collapse as a lesson to others as the Party attempts to control and direct the Chinese economy. The impact of these developments will not be limited to China but extend across its borders impacting Chinas overseas trade and investments, including signature projects like the Belt and Road Initiative, and the global economy through deep and wide trade linkages. Since the start of the recent turmoil in the Middle East, one word has been absent from Chinas official statements: Hamas." China has called for peace and de-escalation in the region but has avoided any condemnation of the deadly assault on Israel by the Gaza-based militant group, which shocked the world on Oct. 7. Chinas tiptoeing around the brutality echoes its avoidance of terms such as invasion" to describe Russias military assault on Ukraine and highlights both Beijings longstanding Palestinian leanings and its efforts to challenge Western geopolitical narratives. The U.S. and its allies immediately condemned the assault as evil terrorism by Hamas. Beijing, by contrast, has blamed historic factors and expressed generalized concern over the current escalation of tensions and violence between Palestine and Israel." Rather than scenes of carnage in Israel, Chinas government-run media have spotlighted the Israeli militarys forceful response in Gaza, set against a backdrop of deepening hardships for Palestinians, often aired alongside video and photos of U.S. warships as if to suggest the reaction is American-led. As in Ukraine, China is trying to avoid antagonizing either side, while standing apart from U.S. policy, political analysts said. Historically, China has aligned with the Arab League on supporting the Palestinians. In comparison, Israel is always an ally of the U.S.," said Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, a Washington think tank. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has yet to comment publicly on the crisis. His Mideast envoy has spoken with both Palestinian and Israeli authorities, as well as other players in the region. 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," Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters on Friday. Beijing slightly toughened its initial statement on the unfolding crisis after pointed complaints from Israeli officials and visiting Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that it failed to condemn terrorism. The adjusted statement stopped short of criticizing the attack and didnt mention Hamas. China has sought to portray itself as a neutral party and peacemaker in hot spots such as the Middle East, and some analysts see its muted sympathy for Israel as calibrated to avoid stirring the Arab world. That is partly a mathematical play: There are nearly two dozen Arab League nations versus one Israel, equaling more votes in the United Nations and bigger market opportunities, including for Xis Belt and Road investments and other development and security initiatives. Plus, the Arab world supplies China with oil. Beijing has warmed to Israel in recent years by celebrating its technology sector. But for far longer China has aligned itself with Palestinian causes including its unmet demands for a self-ruled state, which Chinese statements identify as the root cause of the latest outbreak in hostilities. Xi hosted the president of the Palestinian authority, Mahmoud Abbas, on a state visit in June that established a strategic partnership, a term China usually reserves for countries it views as sharing common interests in global affairs. Before the recent attack, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had also been expected to travel as soon as this month to meet Xi in Beijing. Chinas tone has fallen flat in Western capitals. They are doing the same thing they did with Ukraine," said Elizabeth Wishnick, senior research scientist at Arlington, Va.-based Center for Naval Analyses. She said that such stands contrast with Beijings pledges to play a constructive force in global affairs. Chinas dispassionate response to what Israelis are comparing to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S. is also a reminder of how government broadcaster China Central Television waited hours to show the first images of the terrorist attacks by Islamic extremists that destroyed New Yorks World Trade Center and then only as a brief bulletin at the end of a regular news program. Still, unlike Xis silence at the attack on Israel, then Chinese leader Jiang Zemin did send U.S. President George W. Bush a telegram expressing Chinas deep sympathy and condolences" to the families of victims and stressing the Chinese governments condemnation of terrorism. View Full Image Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Xi Jinping met in Beijing in 2017 and had been expected to meet there again in the coming weeks. PHOTO: ETIENNE OLIVEAU/ASSOCIATED PRESS The latest messaging reflects deep-seated Beijing policy, rather than a tin ear, analysts said. Its expression of deep concern on Saturday matched virtually word for word a Foreign Ministry statement following a smaller outbreak in Palestinian-Israeli hostilities in April, and aligned with statements from some Arab capitals. Dispatches by Chinas government-controlled media have mentioned Hamas, often in stories produced in the Middle East and typically with the groups more formal names, including Islamic Resistance Movement" and Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement." But they havent linked the group to deaths in Israel or explored its ties to Iran, instead equivocating with action-reaction explanations: 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," Xinhua News Agency has said in English-language dispatches. Noam Urbach, a China scholar in Israel, said China is proud of how during the Holocaust it granted entry to thousands of European Jews but has now shown a great betrayal" by refusing to criticize Hamas and censoring domestic media coverage of its slaughter. More sympathy with Israel has appeared in messages on the countrys busy social media, possibly reflecting increasing Chinese tourism to Israel. Any language or behavior to support Hamas is extremely shameful. They are taking children, women and elderly hostage," one user commented on Weibo, a Chinese microblogging platform. To China watchers, Beijings halting responses to Russias Ukraine invasion appeared to undermine its often-repeated defense of national sovereignty and territorial integrity. Likewise, Beijings relative silence on the slaughter of Israeli families by Hamas militants, coupled with signs of concern about Israels response, contrast with Chinese retorts to Western criticism about the detention of numerous Muslim Uyghur people in Xinjiang: that aggressive action is necessary to eliminate terrorism. Counterterrorism for me, but not for thee," said Jordan Schneider, who has tracked Beijings messaging for his New York-based outlet, ChinaTalk Media. Schneider said that Chinas avoidance of commentary that might be sympathetic to Israel could pay short-term dividends in the Arab world but wont help Xis aims to build international credibility. If you want to be a globally respected superpower, youve got to be human," he said. Beijings messaging so far in the Israeli crisis is also seen as complicating Xis effort to position China as a global peacemaker, including in Ukraine, following his governments success this year in nudging Saudi Arabia and Iran to curb their mutual animosities. Despite the growing interest in the region, Beijings silence on the Hamas attack could yet limit its ability to broker peace there," Claus Soong, an analyst at Berlin-based think tank Mercator Institute for China Studies, said in a commentary. U.S. ambassador to China Nicholas Burns, during a Wednesday presentation to a National Committee on U.S.-China Relations audience, called Beijings initial statement on the attacks very neutral and very flat" and without an expression of sympathy for the loss of life. It remains to be seen if China has the ability to be a true mediator, where you have to speak the truth to both sides," he said. Wenxin Fan and Liyan Qi contributed to this article. News / National by Staff reporter ZIMBABWEAN political leader Job Sikhala is severely ill, according to his legal team, but remains in custody at the Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison.The opposition politician for the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) and lawyer has been in prison since 14 June 2022, when he was arrested for charges arising from his own investigation into the murder of the late opposition activist Moreblessing Ali.Job Sikhala's lawyer, Harrison Nkomo, told Daily Maverick that a doctor had seen him [Sikhala] on Monday, 9 October. "He has severe high blood pressure, leg pain that the doctor says is from the high blood pressure, and he is bleeding internally," said Nkomo.Sikhala has been in Harare's notorious Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison without a custodial conviction for more than 400 days and has been denied bail, even though bail is a constitutional right, said Nkomo.The prison is notorious for alleged mistreatment and human rights abuses, with detainees claiming they are subject to horrific conditions, including a lack of basic sanitation and food, as well as arbitrary beatings by prison guards. Nkomo said there had been no reaction from the Zimbabwean government regarding calls to release Sikhala or about his health.Politically motivated incarcerationSikhala, a militant opposition figure known for his confrontational style of politics, has been instrumental in drumming up urban support for the CCC.He has been arrested more than 60 times, with a Harare court describing him as a habitual offender.Sikhala's arrest has drawn widespread criticism, with critics saying it is politically motivated and another government crackdown on opposition politicians.During her acceptance speech for the Africa Freedom Prize on 5 October, award-winning Zimbabwean author Tsitsi Dangarembga championed Sikhala's cause, calling for those who are skilled in campaigning for the release of unjustly imprisoned individuals to contact her."Moreblessing Ali was abducted in broad daylight on May 24 2022 by known Zanu-PF members. The state downplayed the abduction, claiming that one of the abductors was the deceased's former boyfriend [they said] the abduction was a domestic affair. Here we see the misogyny that is endemic in oppressive regimes," she said."Job Sikhala represented the Ali family in the abduction case. Dissatisfied with the way the state handled the matter, Sikhala conducted investigations that led to the recovery of Ali's dismembered remains in a well on a property belonging to the mother of one of the men last seen with Ali. Job was arrested at Ali's funeral and imprisoned without bail. In May this year he was found guilty of obstruction of justice and received a suspended six-month jail sentence, but remains in pretrial incarceration on other charges," Dangarembga added in her acceptance speech.Sikhala is currently awaiting trial for two other charges of incitement to commit violence and disorderly conduct. The ruling for the charge of incitement to commit public violence will be delivered on 19 October 2023, and the ruling for disorderly conduct will be delivered on 27 October 2023.Calls for Sikhala's releaseCCC leader Nelson Chamisa has made fresh calls for Sikhala's release following reports about his ill health. On Monday afternoon, Chamisa wrote on X that he was "deeply concerned" about Sikhala's condition and appealed to leaders within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to intervene."The oppressors have callously disregarded our pleas in the past and so I now call on the international community, particularly leaders within SADC, to express concern and to call for his immediate release to obtain specialised medical attention," said Chamisa."When icons like Nelson Mandela were held unjustly, the world spoke out against the brutal apartheid regime's unjust treatment of him. This situation requires the same to be done urgently. For our part, we will continue to do all in our power to secure his release from detention. #FreeWiwa #FreeThemAll ".Arnold Tsunga, a human rights lawyer, principal managing partner at Tsunga Law International and convenor of civic space at Network-Africa, said Sikhala's continued incarceration was a grave indictment on the criminal justice system of Zimbabwe."Ordinary people can be excused to perceive that Job Sikhala is experiencing pretrial punishment in a way that seriously breaches the right to a fair trial and the presumption of innocence. The Constitution of Zimbabwe, 2013 provides that every person accused of a crime has a right to a fair and public trial within a reasonable period of time before an independent and impartial court. Sadly, the way this case has been handled has created a possibility that the independence and accountability of key institutions in an effective and impartial criminal justice system is questionable, namely the Judiciary and the National Prosecuting Authority. I would urge the authorities to evaluate how this case has played out and assess the danger it presents of undermining public belief in the rule of law. The law should never be like a spider's web, which only catches the weak and those not connected to the few who wield state power," said Tsunga.Sikhala's son, Job Sikhala Junior (22), told Daily Maverick that his father began feeling unwell on Wednesday, 4 October, and told his legal counsel to hire a medical practitioner. "One of the doctors said that he has high blood pressure and they conducted a colonoscopy test. The results are not yet in," he said.Sikhala said there had been no reaction from the Zimbabwean government to calls for his father's release. "It seems every magistrate and judge is afraid of releasing him, this suggests there is a hidden hand somewhere controlling their judgement not to release him," he said."What we do know is that his health is deteriorating because before he went to prison, his health was perfect," Sikhala said.Sikhala said the incarceration had taken a toll on the family. "There has been loss of morale in the family and we miss that fatherly love, our security has been compromised, and our welfare has been affected," he said."As the firstborn child I am forced to fend for the whole family yet I am still in school. We have been reduced to beggars yet this should not be the case."An appeal for funds and public supportA GoFundMe campaign has been created to help his family with day-to-day needs, and the medication that Sikhala needs. Sikhala said the fundraising attempts "are not going well" and that the leadership of the CCC should be more involved. "The leadership of the party must take an active role and take care of the family, but they are just silent and going about their business daily as if things are normal," he said.The campaign aims to raise 5,000 and, at the time of publication, had raised 2,653.Nkomo said those in Zimbabwe who wish to donate, can do so directly to Sikhala's wife, Ellen, via Ecocash using the number +263 779 496 669.Sikhala also called on the public to help. "The public can help by revealing to the government how supporters of the ruling party have been using public violence to achieve their goals, even maiming those who do not toe their party lines. Worldwide protests can be done to call for his release each time there are international meetings for African Union, SADC, United Nations, and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa," he said. After an air campaign resulting in hundreds of casualties, experts believe an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza is imminent, in response to Hamas' attacks that took approximately 1,300 lives in Israel. This potential ground offensive poses a risk of a broader regional conflict. Mint takes a closer look: What is the current state of the conflict? Tensions flared on 7 October when Hamas targeted Israel in a coordinated assault. Since then, Israel has intensified its airstrikes on Hamas-controlled Gaza. Palestinian health officials have reported over 2,300 deaths and many injured. Amid this, Israel also declared a "siege" of Gaza, restricting access to essentials. UN Chief Antonio Guterres urged Israel to permit humanitarian aid, citing looming humanitarian disaster. Ground offensive on the horizon? Israeli forces are seemingly gearing up for a ground assault, having mobilized significant reserves. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hinted at transitioning the conflict to its "next phase". Indications from the Israeli Defence Forces suggest preparations for comprehensive ground, sea, and air offensives. Gaza residents received a 24-hour evacuation notice on Thursday, with more than 1 million Palestinians already displaced over the last week, according to a spokesperson for the UN relief agency in Palestine. What will be the consequences? Experts forecast severe casualties on both sides should Israel proceed with a ground invasion. There's concern that Israel might be dragged into a prolonged occupation, countering its objective of neutralizing factions like Hamas. Regional implications are vast, especially if countries like Iran intervene. Tehran's media outlets have hinted at escalation if Israel goes ahead with its ground offensive. Global reactions US President Joe Biden has supported Israels resolve to wipe out Hamas but has counselled against Gaza's occupation. Meanwhile, a second American carrier strike group has been ordered into the region. India has opted for a balanced position, advocating a two-state solution, emphasizing the significance of abiding by international law while denouncing terrorism. Two Ukrainian children have been brought out of Russia and reunited with relatives following months of diplomatic efforts by Qatar, raising hopes that hundreds more could follow, an official familiar with the matter said. The reunifications over the last two days, expected to be followed by two more this week, could mark a breakthrough in efforts to recover hundreds of children taken from Ukraine during its invasion. Ukrainian officials say more than 19,000 children have been forcibly transferred from Ukraine, accusing Russia of abducting them as part of a broad effort to destroy the Ukrainian identity. The United Nations says it hasnt been able to verify that number. Russia privately acknowledges having custody of about 600 Ukrainian children, according to the official. Russian officials have said they moved Ukrainian children out of harms way and are helping them recover from the horrors of a war they blame on the West. Russia and Ukraine didnt immediately comment on the two handovers. The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in March for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his commissioner for childrens rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, over the unlawful deportation of children from occupied areas of Ukraine. Under international law, the forcible transfer of children from one group to another constitutes genocide if conducted with the intent to destroy in whole or in part a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. The issue has become one of the most emotive among a series of what Ukraine and the U.S. have described as crimes against humanity committed by Russia during its 20-month invasion. The children seized by Russia from territories under its occupation include those whose parents were killed or detained and those who were in institutions such as orphanages, according to Ukrainian and Russian officials. Qatars role began in June, when Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani discussed the issue with Putin during a trip to Russia. The following month, Sheikh Mohammed met with Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, in Kyiv, where he pledged $100 million in humanitarian aid. Dozens of Ukrainian children have been reunited with their families, usually after a relative traveled to Russia to escort them home. Such trips are arduous, risky and expensive, meaning that families have relied on charity aid. A 7-year-old boy was reunited with his grandmother in Moscow on Sunday and driven across the border to Estonia before traveling back to Ukraine, the official said. The boys mother was arrested in Russia under circumstances that are unclear, and he was most recently in a childrens home. A 2-year-old boy who was in hospital in the Zhytomyr region west of Kyiv when the war broke out and lost contact with his mother was reunited with her in Russia on Monday after spending about 18 months apart, the official said. The pair are on their way back to Ukraine. Two more children from Kyiv, aged 9 and 17, are expected to be returned later this week, the official said. Besides the logistics of reunification, the process of returning the children has involved verifying their identity and obtaining families consent for their return to Ukraine, the official said. Over the past several weeks, we have remained in continuous dialogue with our Ukrainian and Russian counterparts, identifying areas of common interest around which to facilitate indirect negotiations." Lolwah Al Khater, Qatars minister of state for international cooperation, said. The progress made between the two sides, while only a first step, reinforces the Qatari view that dialogue is the only way to build understanding, even between adversaries, which over time can lead to lasting peace and stability," she said. Write to Stephen Kalin at stephen.kalin@wsj.com In a static decades-long conflict that has rotted for the past 20 years, it can be hard to believe that real change is possible. Be in no doubt, however, that Hamass murderous assault has blown up the status quo between Israel and the Palestinians. The coming weeks will determine whether war in Gaza sinks the Middle East deeper into chaos or whether, despite Hamass atrocities, Israel can begin to create the foundations for regional stabilityand, one day, peace. Change is inevitable because of the gravity of Hamass crimes. More than 1,200 Israelis, most of them civilians, many of those women and children, were murdered in their homes, on the street, in kibbutzim, at a music festival. Perhaps 150 more have been dragged to Gaza and shut in makeshift dungeons. Israels belief that it could indefinitely manage Palestinian hostility with money and air strikes crumpled early on October 7th, as the first Hamas bulldozer breached the security fence. Hamas has chosen mass murder and there is no going back. Gaza is now awaiting a huge Israeli ground offensive. Its extent and success will determine the legacy of Hamass bloody assault. So will the fundamental choice that Israels politicians face after the worst catastrophe in their countrys history: do they unite or continue to exploit divisions for their own advantage? A third factor is the choices of Israels Middle Eastern neighbours, including Iran. In the weeks and months ahead Israels leaders carry a heavy responsibility to temper their understandable desire for fire and retribution with a hard-headed calculation about their countrys long-term interests and an unwavering respect for the rules of war. They left their people vulnerable by failing to foresee Hamass looming attack. They must not compound their error by failing to see ahead clearly for a second time. The need for vision begins with the imminent ground offensive. The Israel Defence Forces will rightly strike deep and hard at Hamas. But how deep and how hard? Israel will be tempted to unleash a spasm of briefly satisfying violence. Its defence minister has called Hamas fighters human animals", and announced a blockade of food, water and energy. Israeli officialsand President Joe Bidenhave taken to comparing Hamas to Islamic State, or ISIS, an Islamist group that America vowed to eradicate. That comparison is dangerous because, although Hamas deserves to be eradicated, achieving that goal in an enclave of 2m impoverished people with nowhere to flee will be impossible. A better comparison than ISIS is the 9/11 attacks in 2001, not just because of Israels agony, but also because Americas invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq show how steeply the costs of invasion mountwhich is precisely Hamass calculation. At such a moment, self-restraint matters more than ever. It is in Israels interest, because street fighting is perilous and the hostages are defenceless. It makes the operation militarily sustainable and preserves international support. It avoids playing into the hands of foes who calculate that dead Palestinian women and children will further their cause. By clinging to its identity as a state that values human life, Israel becomes stronger. Restraint in the ground offensive depends on the choices of Israels politicians. Before the war they were tearing the country apart over a new law curbing the Supreme Court. For now grief and horror have brought people back together, but the left blames the far-right government of Binyamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, for poisoning relations with the army and security services over the court, and neglecting security in Gaza because of a fixation with helping Jewish settlers in the West Bank. The right counters that calls for civil disobedience by senior officials opposed to Mr Netanyahu were a green light for Hamas. Mr Netanyahu must try to use his new war cabinet, announced this week, to unite Israel. Only by healing its own politics will the country be able to deal with Gaza. Mr Netanyahu will not want to help his most plausible rivals for office. Yet he was the man in charge when Hamas struck and his political career is ending. Having spent a lifetime seeking power at any price, he should finally put his country before himself. A unified, centrist government would also be better placed to cope with the last set of challenges: the politics of the Middle East. Israel will be in grave peril if the war in Gaza spreads to its northern border with Lebanon, where tensions with Hizbullah, a formidably armed militia, are already growing ominously. The longer and bloodier the fighting in Gaza, the more Hizbullah will feel it must be seen to support its brethren. There is also a possibility of war with Iran, which has replaced Arab governments as the sponsor of Palestinian violence. Even Iran hawks in the West should not wish for that. A wider war would wreck the detente, built on the Abraham accords, between Israel and its Arab neighbours, including Bahrain, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates and potentially Saudi Arabia. This grouping stands for a new Middle East that is pragmatic and focused on economic development rather than ideology. It is still inchoate, but it has the potential to become a force for moderationand possibly even security. Simply by surviving, the Abraham accords could emerge from this crisis stronger. However, Hamas has shown that the signatories neglect of the Palestinians is a mistake. Israel and its Arab partners need a new, optimistic vision for Gaza and the West Bank, as an alternative to Irans cult of violence and killing. And that leads back to the fighting in Gaza. How does it end? Israel has no good options: occupation is unsustainable, a Hamas government is unacceptable; rule by its rival, Fatah, is untenable; an Arab peacekeeping force is unattainable; and a puppet government is unimaginable. If Israel destroys Hamas in Gaza and pulls out, who knows what destructive forces will fill the vacuum left behind? Israeli strategists must therefore start thinking about how to create the conditions for life alongside the Palestinians, however remote that seems today. All those elements may have a part: a short period of martial law in Gaza, a search for Palestinian leaders acceptable to both sides, and the good offices of Arab intermediaries. The only way to eradicate Hamas is for Israel and its Arab allies to create stabilityand, one day, peace. 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 week after Hamas militants launched their deadly attack on southern Israel, world leaders and their intelligence agencies are scrambling through regional backchannels to contend with a hostage crisis of seemingly unprecedented global dimensions. They are still trying to answer the basic question: Which citizens, from which countries, are being held captive in a tunnel network under the Gaza Strip? The U.S. and several of its allies are asking Qatar to use its contacts inside Hamas, as they try to cross-reference names and conditions of more than 150 people from around 30 nations not seen for nine days. Diplomats and intelligence officers in Turkey have been inundated with pleas from governments as far away as Latin America. European leaders including Frances Emmanuel Macron have also phoned similar appeals to Egypt, whose government is more focused on getting humanitarian aid through its border with Gaza. Each day, estimates of the quantity of people kidnapped have changed and the number of nations involved is in dispute. Many, if not most, of the hostages may have dual nationalities including Israeli. Several people thought to have been kidnapped have subsequently been identified among the dead. The hostages are being held in different locations by Hamas. Iran-backed Islamic Jihad, also says it has taken 30 hostages, a claim that Israels defense forces havent confirmed. The Wall Street Journal spoke to Turkish, Egyptian, Qatari, Israeli, U.S. and European officials involved in the global effort to identify who Hamas has taken and the conditions of those still alive. These officials described a chaotic multinational mediation attempt overshadowed by daily airstrikes and the looming threat of an Israeli ground offensive. The worlds most powerful spy agencies and their Middle East allies have struggled to access the hostage takers, many of whom are hiding beneath Gaza, apparently beyond the reach of cell service. They ditched their mobile phones and it was impossible to reach any of them," said one Egyptian official. Every country with contacts to Hamas has tried." View Full Image Men repair a smuggling tunnel in the border town of Rafah between Egypt and the southern Gaza Strip on Jan. 22, 2009. PHOTO: MOHAMMED ABED/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES This weekend, Israeli officials said they would enter no mediation over the hostages with Hamas, an organization they have vowed to crush. However in comments to Israeli media, former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen said at some point Hamas militants will run out of water, food and oxygen in their bunkers and that would be a moment when decisions could be made about releasing hostages. Egypt, Qatar and Turkey each boast years of relationships with Hamas, yet none of them has been able to secure complete answers on the names and conditions of captives split across Gaza. Hamas political leaders based in Qatar havent said how many hostages are in the groups custody, yet have publicly offered to trade their captives for Palestinian fighters held in Israeli and American jail cells. In messages delivered to Turkey, the group has said it wont consider a hostage exchange until Israel halts bombing and releases thousands of prisoners including those taken during this months massacres that killed some 1,300 people. Many states, especially Western countries, are in contact with Ankara. They want us to transfer the messages secretly," said one Turkish intelligence official based in Turkeys capital. The problem, he said, is that Israeli airstrikes are rendering it difficult to maintain any sustained flow of information. A preliminary list published by Israels foreign ministry shows the scale and chaos of the crisis. Citizens of at least 31 nations are missing, it says, some from far-flung countries minimally implicated in the interlocking conflicts of the Middle East: Paraguay, South Africa or Thailand. Bulgaria isnt on the list, but its government strongly suspected at least one citizen has been kidnapped. She called her mother prior to being taken," an official said. The Israeli list also says four are missing from Brazil, and three others dead. Brazilian officials said they havent been able to confirm which, if any, Brazilians were kidnapped alive. Asked about the estimated eight British citizens still unaccounted for on Sunday, U.K. Foreign Minister James Cleverly said, Im not comfortable implying that we or in fact anyone have any certainty here." Foreign ministries around the world have dashed out statements cataloging those who vanished and are presumed kidnapped: a Mexican man and woman, six Russians, two Italians and at least one from the Philippines. The pictures of the missing, which includes elderly women and children, adorn a wall outside the Israeli Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv. Replicas of the missing posters are also hanging in tribute in a major square in Berlin. South Asian media have run stories featuring the mother of a missing student. There is no news about my son," said Padma Joshi, whose son Bipin was studying on an exchange program, in The Kathmandu Post daily. How much longer do I have to wait to hear about him?" View Full Image Families and supporters have posted handbills of missing and kidnapped citizens. PHOTO: NIR ALON/ZUMA PRESS Twenty-two of the hostages have been killed in Israeli airstrikes, Hamas said, in a claim that couldnt be verified. Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Hamass armed wing, said in a statement on Telegram app that dozens of hostages" had been hidden in safe places and the tunnels of the resistance." Its unprecedented, theres no doubt," said Gershon Baskin, Middle East director for International Communities Organization, a U.K.-based peace-building NGO, who helped negotiate the 2011 exchange of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. The missing, he added, include an octogenarian friend of his, taken alongside a Filipina caretaker: Its insane why they even took them and what do they even do with them now that they have them?" Hamas could potentially release the women, children, sick, and elderly, as part of a continuing negotiation he and several other experienced mediators are attempting to advance, Baskin said, in return for the release of a group of Palestinian minors and women from the West Bank imprisoned in Israel. The rest, he guessed, will either escape, be rescued or killedduring an impending ground war. We may find ourselves in a situation after this war, with some people not recovered, not rescued, not found, and who will be categorized as missing probably forever, maybe they will be under rubble," he said. The missing include 17 Americans, according to John Kirby, a spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council. The tally would mark one of the largest takings of U.S. hostages since Saddam Hussein stored hundreds of captive American, European and Asian civilians as human shields in his palace, refineries, and weapons factories ahead of the start of the first Gulf War. In Europe, officials say that efforts to coordinate a single approach to the regions hostages has proven impossible so far, with each affected country crafting its own outreach and keeping the work largely to itself. Many of the nations involved label Hamas as a terror organization, while others have limited diplomatic presence in the region. That leaves them in the hands of governments that have preserved diplomatic channels to the group; chiefly, Qatar, Turkey and Egypt. On Oct 8., Ali Baraka, a senior Hamas official, floated a swap with the U.S. He referenced last months exchange of five American citizens in Iran, a prisoner swap which was tied to giving Iran access to some $6 billion in frozen oil revenues that were trapped in South Korea under sanctions. There are Hamas members sentenced for life in the U.S., we want them too of course," he said in an interview that was aired on Russian state TV station, Russia Today. The U.S. conducts prisoner swapsonly recently it did one with Iran. Why wouldnt they conduct a prisoner swap with us?" On the morning of the attack, Turkey began reaching out to Hamas representatives. The NATO member had been seeking to position itself as one of the worlds key peace brokersit recently hosted prisoner exchanges and grain deal talks between Ukraine, Russia, and the U.S. But the political leaders, based in Qatars shiny Persian Gulf capital of Doha, 1,200 miles from Gaza, seemed disconnected from the military commanders leading the deadly incursion. As reports of a mass kidnapping rolled in, the Turks and Qataris suggested that Hamas should release women, children and elderly people held hostage without precondition. We said, give this message to the world," said the Turkish official. Hamas said it would consider a prisoner release if Israel took measures including halting the bombing. The current physical situation in Gaza does not seem to be suitable for issues such as negotiations," the Turkish official said. Early on, French, German and British governments called Cairo. Egypt has long engaged with Hamas across its Sinai border, drawing from a history as a Middle East broker since Anwar Sadat made Egypt the first Arab country to reach peace with Israel in 1979. To the warring parties, Egypt floated multiple proposals, which included releasing women and children in exchange for Palestinian female prisoners, or pausing airstrikes. But those ideas were shut down quickly, Egyptian officials said. Since then, European officials say Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi has become a less helpful partner. He doesnt want to get involved," one said. View Full Image The cousin of Shani Nicole Louk, one of the Israeli hostages taken by the Palestinian militant group Hamas last week, speaks to journalists after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. PHOTO: THOMAS COEX/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES On Friday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Qatar, during an urgent tour of the Middle East. Qatar has hosted Hamas political office in its capital since 2012 and Ismail Haniyeh, president of the Hamas political bureau, is based there. Last month, Qatar, mediated the prisoner swap between Iran and the U.S. The country became the focal point for mediation attempts. About the progress on the hostages, actually its very early to judge, with the intensity of the war right now, how hopeful we are," said Qatari Prime Minister Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani. But we are doing our best." Hamas fighters can move hostages through a maze of high-rises and tunnels and bunkers that snake underneath one of the worlds most densely populated regions. Many of the tunnels include power and communication lines, and lie dozens of yards beneath the earth. Egyptian officials said they are concerned that Hamas could be using secret tunnels to smuggle captives into Sinai, dragging Egypt deeper into the current conflict. Even in ordinary times, Hamas has been slow to tally the hostages under its control, former mediators and officials said. In January, the militant group provided its first known proof-of-life video for an Israeli national it claimed to have kidnapped in 2014. Israels military says it knows the identity of most of the Israeli captives. The dual citizenry of many hostages is another layer of complexity. The three Canadians suspected to be held hostage all hold Israeli dual citizenship, according to a senior government official, meaning under protocol, Canada defers to Israel. The U.S. has sent Steven Gillen, President Bidens Deputy Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs to Israel. As names come in, he and his department in Washington have been notifying American families that their loved ones have been taken hostage. The U.S. dispatched a team of FBI hostage recovery experts to assist the Israeli government; it has also sent the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group to a position off Israels coast. President Biden on Tuesday said his administration was deploying experts and sharing intelligence to aid the hostage recovery efforts. Biden said on Tuesday he has no higher priority" than the safety of American hostages. Families are bracing for the collective trauma of hostage videos, with some communities in Israel, the U.S. and Europe, encouraging parents to delete their childrens social media apps to prevent them from watching. A video circulated in recent days of Hamas militants holding a number of small children and babies. Hamas has said that if Israels airstrikes dont stop, it will be forced to start executing the hostages. We will be forced to broadcast this," Obaida, the Hamas spokesman said. The U.S. has largely tried to avoid dictating to Israel how to conduct its retaliatory strikes, but governments in contact with Israel, particularly Egypt, have pleaded with Netanyahus government to hold off on bombing so that the hostages can be evacuated.The problem is, Israel doesnt want to stop bombing while the hostages are being held," a U.S. official said. Summer Said and Vivian Salama contributed to this article. Write to Joe Parkinson at joe.parkinson@wsj.com, Drew Hinshaw at drew.hinshaw@wsj.com and Laurence Norman at laurence.norman@wsj.com The government on Monday released a proposal recommending that digital-asset platforms are made subject to existing laws covering other financial-services providers. Platform operators would require a financial-services license, while funds would be continuously monitored and routinely audited, according to the paper. Government is acting methodically to ensure that consumers are adequately protected and innovation can flourish," Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers said in a statement. The proposals are consistent with those in other jurisdictions, he added. Crypto exchange FTX held 218.6 million Australian dollars (US$137.7 million) in funds from 24,656 local customers at the time of its collapse in November 2022, according to local bankruptcy administrator KordaMentha. FTX held an Australian Financial Services license. Regulators suspended it in November. FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is on trial in the U.S., where prosecutors allege that he stole billions of dollars from customers, using the funds to enrich himself, fund venture investments and make campaign contributions to politicians. Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Write to Stuart Condie at stuart.condie@wsj.com Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Elon Musk -owned social media platform X (formerly Twitter) was fined A$610,500 or $386,000 by the country's internet safety watchdog on Monday for failing to show how it tackled child sexual abuse content. According to a Reuters report, the Australian e-Safety Commission fined X for failing to answer questions such as how long it took to respond to reports of child abuse content on the platform and how child abuse material was detected. In an interview, Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, a former Twitter employee herself, noted, "If you've got answers to questions, if you're actually putting people, processes and technology in place to tackle illegal content at scale, and globally, and if it's your stated priority, it's pretty easy to say," "The only reason I can see to fail to answer important questions about illegal content and conduct happening on platforms would be if you don't have answers," Grant added. Grant noted that X's commitment to tackling the sexual exploitation of children cannot just be empty words, but must be backed up by concrete action. Grant was quoted by AFP as saying: "Twitter/X has stated publicly that tackling child sexual exploitation is the number one priority for the company, but it can't just be empty talk We need to see words backed up with tangible action." Shortly after taking over the company in a $44 billion deal last year, Musk had claimed in a post that "removing child exploitation is priority #1". However, the Australian regulator claims X responded to a question about preventing child grooming on the platform by saying it was "not a service used by large numbers of young people", Reuters reported. The Australian law, which came into force in 2021, gives regulators the power to compel internet companies to provide information about their online safety practices. Grant says if X refuses to pay the fine, the regulator will take the matter to court. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Big tobacco companies are turning to rooibos tea in an effort to counter upcoming bans on flavored tobacco products. Rooibos tea is a caffeine-free herbal tea that has a slightly sweet and nutty flavor. It is also a good source of antioxidants. Big tobacco companies are using rooibos tea to create new flavored tobacco products that they believe will be less likely to be banned. They are also marketing these products as healthier alternatives to traditional cigarettes. However, health experts warn that these new rooibos tea flavored tobacco products are still harmful to health. They argue that the nicotine in these products is just as addictive as the nicotine in traditional cigarettes. Additionally, they warn that the flavorings in these products can mask the harsh taste of tobacco, making it easier for people to start smoking. Why are big tobacco companies turning to rooibos tea? Big tobacco companies are turning to rooibos tea in an effort to counter upcoming bans on flavored tobacco products. Flavored tobacco products are popular with young people, and they are seen as a gateway to smoking cigarettes. In recent years, a number of countries have banned flavored tobacco products. The European Union is also expected to ban flavored tobacco products in the near future. By using the tea to create new flavored tobacco products, big tobacco companies are hoping to avoid these bans. They are also hoping to market these products as healthier alternatives to traditional cigarettes. What do health experts say about rooibos tea flavored tobacco products? Health experts warn that the tea flavored tobacco products are still harmful to health. They argue that the nicotine in these products is just as addictive as the nicotine in traditional cigarettes. Additionally, they warn that the flavorings in these products can mask the harsh taste of tobacco, making it easier for people to start smoking. The American Cancer Society has said that rooibos tea flavored tobacco products are not a safe alternative to cigarettes. The World Health Organization has also said that there is no such thing as a safe tobacco product. What does this mean for consumers? Consumers should be aware that rooibos tea flavored tobacco products are still harmful to health. They should also be aware that these products are marketed as healthier alternatives to traditional cigarettes, but this is not the case. Ferrari, the iconic Italian luxury carmaker, has announced that it will now accept Bitcoin as payment for its vehicles. The company is partnering with BitPay, a leading cryptocurrency payment processor, to offer this new payment option. The move comes as Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are gaining increasing acceptance among businesses and consumers alike. In recent months, a number of other luxury goods companies, including Lamborghini and Porsche, have also begun accepting Bitcoin as payment. Ferraris decision to accept Bitcoin is a significant sign of the growing mainstream acceptance of cryptocurrency. It is also a testament to the growing popularity of Bitcoin among wealthy investors and consumers. How to Buy a Ferrari With Bitcoin To buy a Ferrari with Bitcoin, customers will need to work with a Ferrari dealer that accepts Bitcoin payments. The dealer will provide the customer with a Bitcoin wallet address where they can send the Bitcoin payment. Once the payment is received and confirmed, the dealer will deliver the Ferrari to the customer. It is important to note that the price of Bitcoin can fluctuate wildly. Therefore, customers should be prepared for the possibility that the value of their Bitcoin payment could change significantly between the time they place their order and the time their payment is received by the dealer. What does this mean for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency? Ferraris decision to accept Bitcoin is a significant sign of the growing mainstream acceptance of cryptocurrency. It is also a testament to the growing popularity of Bitcoin among wealthy investors and consumers. Other luxury goods companies, such as Lamborghini and Porsche, have also begun accepting Bitcoin as payment. This suggests that Bitcoin is becoming increasingly attractive to high-net-worth individuals and businesses alike. The growing acceptance of Bitcoin by luxury goods companies is a positive development for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency as a whole. It shows that Bitcoin is gaining legitimacy and is becoming increasingly accepted as a form of payment. Conclusion Ferraris decision to accept Bitcoin is a significant sign of the growing mainstream acceptance of cryptocurrency. It is also a testament to the growing popularity of Bitcoin among wealthy investors and consumers. This development is positive for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency as a whole. It shows that Bitcoin is gaining legitimacy and is becoming increasingly accepted as a form of payment. News / National by Staff reporter The government has cautioned CCC leader Nelson Chamisa against making what it calls "attention-seeking outbursts" that could lead to disillusionment and potentially mislead the international community about the existence of a constitutional crisis in Zimbabwe.This response follows Chamisa's statement last week in Harare where he asserted that there is a constitutional crisis in the country. Contrary to Chamisa's claims, Information, Publicity, and Broadcasting Services Minister Jenfan Muswere maintained that there is no post-election crisis in Zimbabwe. He said:"We have taken note of his statements, which are filled with inaccuracies, intended to demoralize Zimbabweans, and mislead the global community by portraying a non-existent post-election crisis in Zimbabwe."There is no constitutional crisis in Zimbabwe; such a crisis has never existed, even leading up to the August 23 elections. Mr. Chamisa has not subjected his election fraud allegations to judicial scrutiny, as required by the Constitution of Zimbabwe, which clearly outlines the legal procedures to be followed in the case of a disputed election outcome. Therefore, his attention-seeking outbursts should be disregarded by all."Earlier this month, Sengezo Tshabangu claimed to be the CCC's interim secretary-general and recalled 15 opposition MPs and 17 councillors, asserting that they were no longer members of the CCC. The Speaker of the National Assembly, Jacob Mudenda, acknowledged Tshabangu's letter and notified the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) of the vacancies.In his press briefing last Wednesday, Chamisa accused Zanu-PF of engineering the recalls and called for a dialogue with the ruling party to address what he referred to as "the legitimacy crisis." Two witnesses from the night of the incident were asked to watch surveillance footage from outside Patten Towers and share what they remembered. UAW members and workers hold signs outside the Ford's Chicago Assembly Plant after walking off their jobs in Chicago, Illinois, on September 29, 2023. Ireland's online safety charity 'Cybersafekids' is calling on Longford schools and families to participate in their 24 hour 'Cyberbreak' this Friday from 5pm . 'Cybersafekids' is encouraging families to embrace the opportunity of having device-free time to discuss how they can find a healthy balance between their online and offline lives and to make it a fun-filled and memorable day for the whole family. To help prepare for the 'Cyberbreak' the charity have created online resources for schools and families on their website (https://www.cybersafekids.ie/cyberbreak/) . These resources include Classroom Activities such as short talks from Author and psychotherapist, Richard Hogan on the benefits of taking a digital break for both primary and post-primary school aged children as well as some activity ideas to challenge pupils to think about life offline and what it was like in the olden days before smart devices, a family fun Guide with over 38 fun ideas and delicious recipes from Lilly Higgins to help families plan their time offline and top online safety tips: our top tips for parents and caregivers to help keep your kids safer online. Recent CyberSafeKids research found that 93% of children aged 8 - 12yrs own a smart device and 84% are signed up to social media and messaging apps, despite being under the minimum age requirement of 13 for all of the popular sites. The charity provides tips to help parents monitor this and extra resources on their website https://www.cybersafekids.ie/cyberbreak/ Failte Ireland are encouraging students in fourth year in Longford to get involved in the tourism industry following the launch of their 2023 'Transition Year Placement Programme'. The fantastic initiative, inaugurated just last year, provides Transition Year students with a valuable opportunity to acquire practical work experience in the vibrant tourism and hospitality sector. Its primary aim is to inspire a greater number of young individuals to explore potential career paths within this exciting industry. Following the launch of the work experience portal on tourismcareers.ie last year, the TY placement programme was met with overwhelming positivity, particularly by parents of the participants. Parents have highlighted how helpful the programmes work experience database has been in reducing the stress of securing a Transition Year work placement for their children, and how it has encouraged students to broaden their horizons and look further afield when it comes to choosing their work experience opportunities. As The National Tourism Development Authority of Ireland, Failte Ireland has provided resources for businesses to ensure the placements offered are well-structured and provide valuable learning opportunities to the students. Parents can rest assured knowing their children are gaining a truly invaluable experience that will be beneficial to them in the future, developing interpersonal skills, which are so important for any career choice. Almost 200 businesses have multiple placements on offer through the programme across a range of tourism activities, including a weaving apprentice in Beth Moran Handweaver in Co. Mayo, a tour guide in Glasnevin Cemetery, and tour guide and grooming work in the Killarney Riding Stables. These local businesses offer work experience for students as well as an opportunity to learn skills for life, such as developing their confidence and people skills. Students who participate in the programme may also have the opportunity to secure part-time employment, with 80 percent of the businesses hosting a work experience last year offering part-time positions to students following the successful completion of their placement. Speaking about his experience with the Transition Year Work Experience Programme, student Emmet Cassidy from Luttrellstown Community College commented: My advice to students who are considering a work placement with a tourism business is to dive right in. Its such a broad sector and there are so many opportunities involved in tourism, even from a financial, business or even maintenance perspective. I would suggest to not be afraid to ask questions, and always seek to learn new things. Sharon Balmaine, Head of Tourism Careers Failte Ireland added that A core focus for Failte Ireland is to assist tourism businesses in their recruitment efforts while also encouraging young people to consider the wealth of options available through a career in the industry. The Failte Ireland Transition Year Work Placement Programme serves as an invaluable tool, facilitating the connection between students and businesses, enabling them to gain valuable experience in workplaces throughout the country. If any Longford transition year students are interested in this opportunity they can visit the work experience section of the website https://tourismcareers.ie/sectors/sectors. Businesses in the tourism and hospitality sectors can upload available work placements to the website https://tourismcareers.ie/wep Longford-Westmeath TD Robert Troy has welcomed talks that aim to advert strike action by community workers. The Fianna Fail politician has been supportive of calls by the Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA) and other voluntary community organisations for pay parity. Last minute negotiations have commenced today at the Workplace Relations Commission. Industrial action is set to begin on Tuesday across the IWAs 58 locations, and other Section 39 organisations, as their employees seek realignment of the pay rates with their HSE counterparts. Deputy Troy said: I wholeheartedly support the call for pay parity from the Irish Wheelchair Association and other community and voluntary organisation. IWA employees are currently earning 4.20 per hour less than their HSE counterparts who earn 20.02, and they havent had a pay increase in years. That is not fair. It needs to be addressed urgently in a bid to avert strike action. He added that working closely with the IWA in Springfield Co. Westmeath allowed him to see the positive impact the organisation's work has had for people with disabilities '' Their service users have a better quality of life because of these workers, but theyre very worried about the impact that a strike will have on them because they are heavily dependent on the service. Every effort must be used to avert the strike and resolve this issue. Heavy rain and blustery winds are expected in the coming days as Storm Babet is due to hit the island of Ireland. A Status Orange rain warning for counties Cork and Waterford and a Status Yellow rain warning for counties Clare, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, Kilkenny and Wexford come into force for 24 hours from 6am on Tuesday. A Status Yellow rain warning is also to come into effect for all five Connacht counties from noon on Tuesday until noon on Wednesday. Irish forecaster Met Eireann has warned that the heavy and at times thundery rain will bring a risk of flooding, poor visibility and difficult driving conditions. Orange Rainfall Warning Affected Regions: Cork & Waterford Onset from 06:00 Tue 17th Oct until 06:00 Wed 18th Oct Impacts:Localised FloodingPoor visibilityDifficult driving conditionsPossible Wave over topping at high tide Keep informed https://t.co/y935BNm4NJ pic.twitter.com/o6yV9X0rhZ Met Eireann (@MetEireann) October 16, 2023 The Met Office has issued a Status Yellow rain warning for counties Antrim, Armagh and Down, which is valid from 6am on Wednesday until noon on Thursday. The forecaster has also warned that the first wave of rain will affect Northern Ireland, Wales and south-west England in particular. Storm Babet will bring a prolonged period of heavy rain to parts of Northern Ireland from early Wednesday into Thursday, it said. There is a small risk of extensive flooding to homes and businesses, and where flooding does occur, road closures and disruption to public transport services are likely. Irish President Michael D Higgins has led tributes from politicians following the death of the former president of Finland Martti Ahtisaari, who was one of a number of international mediators in the Northern Ireland peace process. Mr Ahtisaari, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008, died on Monday aged 86. Among his most notable achievements, Mr Ahtisaari helped reach peace accords related to Serbias withdrawal from Kosovo in the late 1990s, Namibias bid for independence in the 1980s, and autonomy for Aceh province in Indonesia in 2005. In his work with the peace process in the late 1990s, he was tasked with monitoring the IRAs disarmament process. President Higgins said Mr Ahtisaaris contribution to peace and reconciliation was not confined to Finland, but was delivered to the whole world. The establishment of the Namibian state owes much to his efforts and he was to continue his efforts for peace in Kosovo, Cyprus, Aceh and of course Ireland, he said in a statement on Monday. Martti dedicated his life to the cause of peace. Importantly, he realised that peace is not something which can be simply wished for, rather it is something which can only be achieved through a process of engagement, negotiation and a shared commitment on each side to building a better, shared future for all those who have been in conflict. It was, importantly, something which he believed could be achieved in relation to all conflicts. In Ireland we will remain in Marttis debt for the important role which he played as a weapons inspector at a vital time in the peace process in Northern Ireland in the years following the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Martti Ahtisaari in 2008 was thoroughly deserved recognition of the vital role he played in the resolution of so many conflicts across the world. He added: In our conversations, Martti was always a voice of hope, one that proved that war is not the solution to conflicts and that there is always a way to find peace. He will be deeply missed. Mr Ahtisaari worked with South African politician Cyril Ramaphosa to inspect paramilitary arms caches and their verification, a defining issue in peace negotiations. Former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams said Mr Ahtisaari played a crucial role in advancing the peace process as one of a number of international mediators in Northern Ireland. Along with George Mitchell, John de Chastelain, Richard Haass, Cyril Ramaphosa, Harri Holkeri, and others they facilitated the necessary dialogue and participated in initiatives that led to the Good Friday Agreement and to subsequent agreements, he said. Martin McGuinness and I met Cyril Ramaphosa and Martti Ahtisaari in London in early 2000 and asked if they were willing to act as international arms inspectors examining and securing IRA arms dumps. They agreed and over the following year they carried out three inspections. The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning reported in 2001 that the dumps that Cyril Ramaphosa and Martti Ahtisaari had inspected were secure and that none of the materiel in them could be removed without their knowledge. Their willingness to undertake this difficult work made an important contribution to the peace process. In my conversations with Martti and Cyril I found them both to be committed to making our efforts successful. We got on well together. SDLP leader Colum Eastwood also paid tribute to Mr Ahtisaari, saying he made a lasting contribution that will not be soon forgotten. Throughout his life Martti Ahtisaari played a key role in resolving difficult conflicts around the world, he said. His contribution was recognised when the Nobel Committee awarded him the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts over many decades. Millions of lives have been changed for the better as a direct result of his efforts and by helping end these conflicts he undoubtedly saved many lives. In the North he will be remembered for the role he played in our own peace process, particularly around decommissioning that was so important to allow us to build trust between our political parties and to transition to a more normal society. Crime By Chris Boyle Published: October 16 2023 Eric Diaz is Expected to be Sentenced to Two to Four Years in Prison for Impersonating a Police Officer. Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced the arrest of Eric Diaz, 43, of Brentwood, who impersonated a police officer to receive a discount while shopping at a store in Bay Shore, pleaded guilty to possessing multiple fraudulent NYPD identification cards. This defendant wrongfully impersonated a police officer, said District Attorney Tierney. My office supports the men and women in law enforcement, and we are committed to holding accountable those who would attempt to wrongfully benefit from the public service of our sworn law enforcement members. According to the investigation and the defendants admissions during his guilty plea allocution, between April 1, 2023 to May 31, 2023, Diaz identified himself as a police officer and displayed what appeared to be a police badge, handcuffs, and handgun while attempting to obtain a police discount at a retail store in Bay Shore. When Diaz was later stopped by police, he was found to be in possession of a holstered electronic stun gun and multiple fraudulent law enforcement identification cards, including a fake NYPD Sergeant identification card. Pursuant to subsequent searches of Diazs vehicle and home, police recovered numerous fraudulent items of police attire, imitation pistols, a gun belt, a bulletproof vest, and handcuffs. On August 15, 2023, Diaz was arrested by Detective Charles Gambino of the Suffolk County Police Departments District Attorneys Squad. Following his arraignment on the arrest, Diaz was ordered to be held on $100,000 cash, $200,000 bond, or $1,000,000 partially secured bond during the pendency of the case. On October 11, 2023, Diaz pleaded guilty before Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro, to Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree, a Class D felony. Diaz is due back in court on November 13, 2023, and is expected to be sentenced to two to four years in prison. He is being represented by the Legal Aid Society. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Katharine DAquila of the Public Corruption Bureau, with investigative assistance from Detective Charles Gambino of the District Attorneys Squad. Crime By Chris Boyle Published: October 16 2023 Alejandro Vargas-Diaz Pleaded Guilty in July to Fatally Shooting Albert Luis Rodriguez-Lopez at a Port Jefferson Pool Hall in 2018. Bagel Boss Supports Israel with Every Bite: Indulge in Blue & White Bagels, Where Flavor Meets Philanthropy Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Alejandro Vargas-Diaz, 41, of Port Jefferson, was sentenced to 23 years to life in prison after pleading guilty in July to Murder in the Second Degree and other related charges, for the 2018 fatal shooting of 27-year-old Albert Luis Rodriguez-Lopez. This sentence should be a warning to all those who think they could escape responsibility for murder simply by fleeing the jurisdiction, said District Attorney Tierney. Law enforcement in Suffolk County does not forget. Your crimes will catch up to you and you will be held responsible for your actions. This defendants prison sentence attests to that. According to court documents and the defendants statements during his guilty plea allocution, on July 22, 2018, Vargas-Diaz and the victim got into an argument inside a pool hall in Port Jefferson. During the argument, the victim punched Vargas-Diaz in the face, knocking him to the ground. A short time later, Vargas-Diaz ambushed the victim inside the pool hall, and shot the victim in the back, neck, and shoulder. The victim, a father of three and resident of Selden, died at the scene. Vargas-Diaz immediately fled and absconded from New York state. One month after the murder, members of Suffolk County Police Department found the murder weapon, a 9 mm pistol, hidden in a tree at the Setauket Port Jefferson Greenway Trail. On June 18, 2021, nearly three years after the fatal shooting, Vargas-Diaz was arrested by members of the Flagler County Sheriffs Office in Florida after a tip to crime stoppers. Vargas-Diaz was extradited back to Suffolk County on November 11, 2021, to be arraigned on the charges related to the murder. On July 24, 2023, Vargas-Diaz pleaded guilty before Acting Supreme Court Justice, the Honorable Steven A. Pilewski, to Murder in the Second Degree, a Class A violent felony, and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, a Class C violent felony. On October 11, 2023, Justice Pilewski sentenced Vargas-Diaz to 23 years to life in prison. He was represented by Christopher Brocato, Esq. This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Elena Tomaro of the Homicide Bureau and Carlos J. Benitez II of the Major Crime Bureau, with investigative assistance from the Suffolk County Police Homicide Squad and Sergeant Norberto Flores of the Internal Affairs Unit. At a public meeting on October 11, the Connetquot Central School District and Board of Education honored three staff members for saving the lives of students in two separate incidents who were choking on food during lunch. The first incident took place on September 22, when a kindergarten student at Edward J. Bosti Elementary began choking on a chicken nugget they had brought from home. Aides Lori Stellwagen and Amy Loretta immediately assisted the child, administering abdominal thrusts to dislodge the nugget. The second incident happened on September 27 at Sycamore Avenue Elementary School when a fifth grade student also began choking on food; aide Samantha Gallo saw the child in distress and immediately and successfully performed the Heimlich maneuver. Teacher's aides Lori Stellwagen, Amy Loretta, Samantha Gallo received the thanks of school officials and parents, along with certificates of appreciation before a packed audience of residents that evening. News / National by Staff reporter Zimbabwe has been granted the privilege of hosting the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) flagship conference of African ministers of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development next year.The 56th session of the ECA Conference of African ministers of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development is scheduled to be held from February 28 to March 5 in Victoria Falls.Zimbabwe and Morocco expressed their interest in hosting the flagship event during the 55th session held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in March.Zimbabwe will be the second country in southern Africa to host the event in 14 years, the last being Malawi in 2010. Morocco, which hosted the 2019 edition, had hoped to host it in Marrakesh.In a notice, the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development & Investment Promotion stated that ECA will be collaborating with Zimbabwe to organize the preparations for the conference."The MoFED & IP [Ministry of Finance, Economic Development & Investment Promotion] is inviting an internationally acclaimed event manager to assist in coordinating the preparation process for the hosting of the conference in Victoria Falls," the ministry said in the notice.Interested bidders are required to submit their applications by no later than 10 a.m. on October 27.This will be the second UN event that Zimbabwe has hosted in four years, following the hosting of the 6th session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development in 2020.Zimbabwe's hosting of the UN flagship event coincides with the country's efforts to grow the tourism sector by capitalizing on the meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibition (MICE) tourism.The National Tourism Recovery and Growth Strategy emphasizes the promotion of MICE tourism as a fundamental component of the tourism recovery plan."The hosting of MICE activities such as Conferences, Events, Fairs, and Festivals has the potential to bring people and businesses together, thereby building trust and boosting confidence in the destination. Efforts will be made to have relevant organizations that had canceled or postponed scheduled international conferences reconvened in the future," the document stated.The conference of ministers convenes African ministers of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development, along with experts and civil society representatives, to address pressing issues facing the continent and propose solutions. On Oct. 7, a significant attack by Palestinian terrorist groups led by Hamas resulted in the abduction of approximately 155 civilian and Israeli soldiers in southern Israel. Although the exact number of abductees held by Hamas is undisclosed, they are likely being overseen by a covert group known as the Shadow Unit ( ). While information on the group is limited, what is known is noteworthy. In 2016, Hamas disclosed the existence of a dedicated unit to hold hostages and is commanded by Hamas leader Muhammed Deif. This unit was formed in response to the abduction of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit by Hamas, the Popular Resistance Committees, and the Army of Islam in 2006. In addition, it is believed that Avira Mengistu and Hisham Sayyed, two Israelis who entered Gaza of their own accord in 2014 and 2015, are currently being detained by the group with no clear end to their captivity. In July 2022, Abu Obeida, the spokesperson of Hamas, said that during the Gaza conflict in May 2021, a fighter belonging to the Shadow Unit was slain in an Israeli airstrike. Furthermore, Obeida disclosed that the strike also wounded three other fighters from the same unit. Furthermore, according to reports from Arabic-language media, the Shadow Unit has lost five of its members to Israeli airstrikes since 2008, namely Sami al-Hamayda, Abdullah Labad, Khaled Abu Bakra, Muhammad Rashid Daoud, and Abdul Rahman Mubasher. The number of hostages held by the group remains unknown, but there are growing concerns that the unit lacks the necessary resources to manage a significant number of captives. Adding to the complexity of a possible hostage rescue mission is the presence of other armed factions who have also taken individuals captive. Islamic Jihad claims to have over 30 hostages under their control, whereas the Popular Resistance Committees have confirmed through a message on their Telegram channel that they, too, possess hostages. Moreover, a distressing video released by the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades exhibits an injured individual accompanied by a terrorist, seemingly en route to Gaza. Joe Truzman is a research analyst at FDD's Long War Journal focused primarily on Palestinian militant groups and Hezbollah. 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) - Scotgold Resources Ltd on Monday said it is now in discussions with a new strategic investor, after losing its "most advanced" investor at the start of October. The Stirlingshire, Scotland-based gold and silver exploration company said that should the final agreement be reached, it is expected to provide sufficient funding for the company to continue as a going concern. "Whilst financing discussions are at an advanced stage, in the event the company cannot secure financing with the new strategic investor, this could result in the appointment of administrators," Scotgold said. On October 2, had said its "most advanced" prospective investor had withdrawn from discussions. Further announcements will be made "in due course", Scotgold Resources said. Shares in Scotgold Resources are currently suspended in London. By Sophie Rose, Alliance News reporter Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved. News / National by Staff reporter A woman in Murewa stunned a gathering in Munyuki village when she claimed that she and five others had "bewitched" her two late daughters and then presented a piece of meat she falsely alleged was human flesh, as informed to a Murewa magistrate.The piece of meat was subjected to forensic tests which determined that it did not come from a human being or any domestic animal.Grace Kasambarare, aged 23, admitted to trying to practice witchcraft. She was sentenced to a 10-month jail term on Thursday last week by Magistrate Mr. S. Kudya after being found guilty on five counts of violating the Witchcraft Suppression Act by falsely accusing the other five individuals of being witches and wizards.According to the agreed-upon facts presented in court by Mr. Titus Taruvinga, representing the State, Kasambarare had three children, two of whom passed away on consecutive dates in December of the previous year.On May 15 of this year, Kasambarare alleged in front of a gathering and her husband that she and five others, who were her witchcraft associates, were responsible for the deaths of her seven-year-old and five-year-old children due to "non-natural" causes.She then produced a piece of meat that she claimed the six of them had obtained from an unidentified deceased person.Following her statement, Kasambarare's husband reported the matter to the police. The other five individuals refuted the allegations of being witches and wizards as stated by Kasambarare.In delivering the sentence, the magistrate considered as mitigating the fact that Kasambarare pleaded guilty and displayed contrition. In her mitigation, she told the court that she had been "possessed by a demon" which compelled her to perform her witchcraft acts. However, the "demon" had since been removed. The magistrate noted that her false claims of witchcraft caused Kasambarare shame within her community and also led to her legal troubles, as the law prohibited her from accusing others.Meanwhile, the police in Harare have stated that there is no truth to the rumor that three individuals were caught eating human flesh at Highfield Cemetery. The rumor, spread by a drunken man, incited numerous angry residents who sought to storm the cemetery to apprehend the alleged culprits. United Nations, United States UN Security Council members held difficult talks Sunday on a possible resolution over the war between Israel and Hamas, with two drafts on the negotiating table, diplomats said. On Friday, Russia circulated a draft that calls for an immediate, durable and fully respected humanitarian ceasefire in the war triggered by the October 7 Hamas attack from Gaza on southern Israel. That draft calls for unimpeded humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, which had already been under a years-long Israeli blockade and is now under a full-blown siege, with basics like electricity and food supplies cut off. The Russian draft, seen by AFP, strongly condemns all violence and hostilities directed against civilians and all acts of terrorism, without mentioning Hamas. But the United States is insisting that the council condemn the Hamas attacks as an act of terrorism. And a competing draft from Brazil does explicitly do that, diplomats said. More than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel since the attack unleashed last week by Hamas militants, the Israeli prime ministers office said Sunday. The death toll in Gaza from Israeli retaliatory attacks has risen to 2,450, the health ministry there said. Russias UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said some council members had expressed a positive view of Moscows draft in a closed door meeting Friday. After seeking suggestions for changes to the text, Russia asked Brazil, the councils current chair, to put it up for a vote on Monday. But no vote has been scheduled yet, diplomats said. To be adopted, a resolution needs at least nine votes on the 15-member body, and cannot be vetoed by any of the five permanent members the United States, Britain, China, France and Russia. Diplomats said the talks were tough going, as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict regularly divides the council. In theory, the text sponsored by Brazil, or one from any other council member, could be put up for a vote if the Russian document is not approved. Chelsea Handler will bring her current tour to Springfield Symphony Hall on Nov. 18 at 8 p.m. Handler, a comedian, television host, and New York Times best-selling author, made her mark with a seven-year run as the host of E!s top-rated Chelsea Lately, where she served as the only female late-night talk show host on-air at the time. She then launched her documentary series Chelsea Does, followed by her talk show Chelsea on Netflix in 2016. In 2021, she launched her Vaccinated and Horny Tour, which won the Comedy Act of 2021 prize at the Peoples Choice Awards. Comedian Chelsea Handler will bring her current Little Big B*tch Tour to Springfield, Massachusetts, in November. The Little Big B*tch Tour will make a stop in Springfield at Symphony Hall on Saturday, November 18 as well as two shows in Boston at the Wang Theatre on November 16 and 17. Fans looking to get tickets to the comedy show can do so by using StubHub and VividSeats or through Symphony Hall. Handler is a comedian, television host, and New York Times best-selling author. She made her mark with a seven-year run as the host of E!s top-rated Chelsea Lately, where she served as the only female late-night talk show host on-air at the time. She then launched her documentary series Chelsea Does, followed by her talk show Chelsea on Netflix in 2016. As of Monday, October 16, the cheapest tickets for the Springfield and Boston shows are below: (This is the third in a four-part series about Burgundy wineries visited this year by the author in Gevrey-Chambertin, France.) GEVREY-CHAMBERTIN, FRANCE The wind never seems to stop blowing in Clos Saint Jacques. Downhill from the vineyard, a short walk through the narrow stone streets, the air stands as still as time seems to pass in this quiet, charming village. Even two blocks away, outside Eglise Saint Aignan, the imposing stone church built in the 16th century, theres barely a breeze in the small churchyard on Rue De L Eglise. But walk up Place De La Cure, then Rue Du Tison, turn left on Rue Neuve and you can feel the difference right away in Clos Saint Jacques. Up here, near the top of the village, a cool breeze constantly drifts through this vineyard steeply rising towards the top of a forested hill. Clos Saint Jacquess name comes from the wall (clos in French) that surrounds the vineyard, which was once part of the pilgrimage route to Santiago De Compostela in Spain. Santiago is called Saint Jacques in French. But what really gives these outstanding wines from this 16.5-acre vineyard its character can be found in the ground and in the valley. Rocky, limestone-rich soil fills Clos Saint Jacques. And to the west less than a half mile away, a narrow gorge squeezes the wind into the vineyard like bellows fueling a fire. Its a different kind of soil, the Clos Saint Jacques, Sylvie Esmonin said in French as translated by Alan Page, who works with Esmonin. The rocks in the soil are really close to the vine and it (the wine) is fresher, more alive. Esmonin should know. Her family has been making wine with grapes from this vineyard for generations. She lives right at the base of Clos Saint Jacques. Thats also where her winery, Domaine Sylvie Esmonin, is located on Rue Neuve. Domaine Sylvie Esmonin owns a 3.9-acre parcel in Clos Saint Jacques. Only five producers own parts of the vineyard. Each of the producers owns a long, narrow strip of land that runs from the top of the vineyard to the bottom. All five winemakers grow pinot grapes to make red wine. Clos Saint Jacques is classified as a Premier Cru vineyard. This means the wine is considered high quality but not as high as Grand Cru wine. Dont believe the rankings. Many people including myself consistently describe Clos Saint Jacques wine as being Grand Cru quality. This past January, I had the good fortune to taste 14 different wines produced by Domaine Sylvie Esmonin at the winery. The cellar tasting included two different vintages of Domaine Sylvie Esmonin Clos Saint Jacques the 2022 in barrel and the 2017 in bottle. Both wines truly lived up to the hype. Below, you can learn more about the winery, Esmonins philosophy for making wine and tasting notes for all 14 wines. Hope you enjoy. ABOUT DOMAINE SYLVIE ESMONIN Domaine Sylvie Esmonin has produced wines bearing her name since 1998. She began making wine with her father, Michael, at the winery in 1987 after previously working as a winemaker at other wineries in the area. Domaine Sylvie Esmonin produces wines made with grapes (mostly pinot noir and a small amount of chardonnay) from 19 acres in various vineyards, including Clos Saint Jacques, several other vineyards mostly in Gevrey-Chambertin, along with small amounts from Volnay and Meursault. Esmonins grandfather purchased Domaine Sylvie Esmonins parcel in Clos Saint Jacques in 1955 directly from Comte de Mucheron, who originally owned the entire Clos Saint Jacques vineyard and who owned a winery that Esmonins grandfather worked for in Meursault, according to the outstanding reference book Inside Burgundy by Jasper Morris. However, the Esmonin familys roots in the Burgundy area date back much further to the 15th century, long before France was even France. HER WINEMAKING PHILOSOPHY Sylvie Esmonin makes wines using whole clusters of grapes rather than destemming them. This means the grapes are crushed and fermented with the stems and seeds, giving the wines more flavor and complexity. We make wine as mature as possible, Esmonin said in French this past January, adding, My objective is to make wines that I love and to make wines as simply as possible. This approach means creating wines with very little intervention, including not using herbicides or pesticides since 1990. WINE TASTING NOTES (The writers tasting notes about the wines 1 chardonnay and 13 pinot noirs tasted at the winery this past January.) 2018 Domaine Sylvie Esmonin Meursault Chardonnay Tasted from bottle Beautiful, subtle, floral aromas. Flavors include delicate hints of peach, melon and sea salt. An absolutely lovely expression of chardonnay from Meursault. 2022 Domaine Sylvie Esmonin Gevrey-Chambertin Bourgogne Tasted from barrel Only a few months after being picked and placed in a barrel, this pinot noir already has a light, bright finish with tight, concentrated flavors. 2022 Domaine Sylvie Esmonin Gevrey-Chambertin Village Tasted from barrel Made with grapes from several vineyards in Gevrey-Chambertin, this spicy, vibrant, lively wine with fresh berry flavors illustrates why this village has such a great winemaking reputation. 2022 Domaine Sylvie Esmonin Gevrey-Chambertin Village Tasted from barrel Made with grapes from different vines than the previous one, it was fascinating to taste the subtle difference from one part of the village to another. This wine is spicier and tighter than the previous one. 2021 Domaine Sylvie Esmonin Gevrey-Chambertin Village Tasted from bottle Fascinating to see how an extra year of aging gives these village wines softer, rounder edges with more subtle flavors, especially the fruit flavors, which are more delicate and fleshier. Drinking beautifully now. 2019 Domaine Sylvie Esmonin Gevrey-Chambertin Village Tasted from bottle Two more years of aging from an outstanding vintage, this big, powerful, intense wine has brightly, lively, intense, fleshy flavors, including fresh apples and plums. Terrific now and for at least 10 more years. 2022 Domaine Sylvie Esmonin Gevrey-Chambertin Old Vines Tasted from barrel Made with pinot noir grapes from 80-year-old vines, this wine is spicier, livelier and racier than the previous two wines. Also features vibrant, lively fruit flavors. 2021 Domaine Sylvie Esmonin Gevrey-Chambertin Old Vines Tasted from bottle Here again, with one more year of aging, this wine has more complexity and depth compared to the 2022. Flavors have more vibrant, soft, subtle power and density. 2018 Domaine Sylvie Esmonin Gevrey-Chambertin Old Vines Tasted from bottle Thanks to a few more years of aging, this graceful wine has more subtle, softer flavors and delicate floral aromas. 2022 Domaine Sylvie Esmonin Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Prieur Premier Cru Tasted from barrel Intense, vibrant, fleshy fruit flavors abound in this dense Premier Cru pinot noir from the Clos Prieur vineyard. Amazing depth with a long, elegant finish. 2022 Domaine Sylvie Esmonin Gevrey-Chambertin Volnay Santenots Premier Cru Tasted from barrel Bright, lively and completely different from the other Premier Cru pinot noirs produced by the winery, this wines more floral, flinty and fruit forward, including hints of fresh raspberries and blackberries. 2019 Domaine Sylvie Esmonin Cote De Nuits Village Tasted from bottle Made with pinot noir grapes from various vineyards in the Cote Du Nuits region in Burgundy, this subtle, understated wine has a soft, velvet-like texture and fleshy, juicy flavors ready to drink now. 2022 Domaine Sylvie Esmonin Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Saint Jacques Tasted from barrel Power and precision give this thrilling wine a long, lively finish with hints of mineral-like flavors mixed with ripe plum and subtle hints of blackberry. Already outstanding, this wine will age gracefully for years. 2017 Domaine Sylvie Esmonin Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Saint Jacques Tasted from bottle Thanks to five more years of aging, this beautiful expression of Clos Saint Jacques illustrates why this vineyard is so highly respected. Soft, subtle, fruit flavors and aromas mixed with hints of minerals and flowers seem to last forever after each sip. A truly distinct, delicious wine made with love and attention to detail by Sylvie Esmonin. Cheers! Wine Press by Ken Ross appears on Masslive.com every Monday and in The Republicans Weekend section every Thursday. Other Stories In This Series Wine Press: A visit to Domaine Duroche in Gevrey-Chambertin Wine Press: Maison Joseph Drouhin wines from Gevrey-Chambertin and Santenay in France Four people, including a grandmother and her grandchildren, were injured in a rollover crash involving a Pittsfield police cruiser on Sunday, according to a release from the Pittsfield Police Department. Officers were responding for a reported disturbance off Cheshire Road when they crashed into 2023 Jeep Wrangler at the Coltsville intersection around 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 15, police said. The Jeep was going west while the cruiser was going north on Merrill Road, according to police. The cruiser had its lights and siren on, according to the release. The Jeep was being driven by a 57-year-old woman from Peru, Massachusetts. Her two grandchildren were also in the car, police said. The impact caused the Jeep to spin and rollover onto its driver side, police added. Everyone inside the Jeep was brought to Baystate Medical Center for minor injuries and released, police said. One of the officers was also brought the the hospital for minor injuries and released. The crash closed part of the intersection for about an hour, police said. The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact Lt. Marc Maddalena at 413-448-9700 ext 575. On Sunday, CBSs 60 Minutes revisited the chaotic arrival of about 50 migrants to Marthas Vineyard on chartered flights from Texas last September a move orchestrated by Florida officials that led to a criminal investigation for deceptively luring migrants, mostly asylum seekers from Venezuela, in what Massachusetts officials called a political stunt. A Texas sheriff, Javier Salazar of Bexar County, opened a criminal investigation into the flights that took migrants from a shelter in San Antonio to the island 2,000 miles away, and he spoke with 60 Minutes about why he believed migrants were unlawfully lured from Texas. I was shocked, Salazar told 60 Minutes about his reaction to Florida officials flying migrants from San Antonio, a city under his jurisdiction. Why Bexar County? Youre the Florida governor, you know? Why are you messing with people in Bexar County that are here legally ... Theyre not undocumented anymore. Theyve been documented. Theyre here legally. Here are 3 takeaways from Sundays report by the weekly television news magazine 60 Minutes: Texas sheriff says Florida paid for a covert criminal operation Salazar spent 8 months investigating the incident and concluded that a covert criminal operation was carried out by individuals contracted by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantiss administration, according to 60 Minutes. When you move people from point A to point B under conditions of deception, then that qualifies as unlawful restraint, Salazar said. Even though the migrants were not physically forced to board the planes, Salazar said that Florida officials used deceptive promises to lure migrants to Marthas Vineyard. No one in the Florida governors office has been charged with any crimes related to the flights and officials declined to speak to 60 Minutes. In June, Salazar recommended felony and misdemeanor criminal charges against two individuals he did not name but described as female recruiters involved in the operation. The sheriffs recommendation is under review by the Bexar County district attorney, according to the report. Venezuelan migrants revealed promises made to them 60 Minutes spoke with two migrants who boarded the flights out of San Antonio and said they were promised benefits and services, such as cash and housing assistance, by Florida officials. Daniel Cauro, a 30-year-old migrant, made a months-long journey through Central America with his sister Deici and two cousins before being granted entry into the United States as asylum seekers. Days later, Cauro said, they were outside a resource center in Texas when two women in a white SUV offered help. She was saying, We want to send you to a state where there are not so many migrants, and youre going to have a lot of help, because youre going to have housing and all that, Cauro recalled. Massachusetts was never mentioned as the destination, according to Cauro. Federal officials have identified Perla Huerta, a former U.S. Army counterintelligence agent, as being one of the women who gathered migrants and put them on the plane headed to Massachusetts. Migrants were offered a $10 McDonalds gift card in exchange for signing a consent to transport form, Cauro said. Nowhere on the form did it say Marthas Vineyard, but since they were hungry, Cauro said they signed the form. According to public records, the operation cost Florida more than $600,000 to fly the migrants, or about $12,000 a person, 60 Minutes reported. Due to Floridas stunt, these migrants may qualify for legal status Rachel Self, a criminal defense and immigration lawyer who lives on the Island of Chappaquiddick, off the eastern end of the Vineyard, said none of the migrants knew they were coming to the island. Self said many of the migrants were holding paperwork Florida officials handed to them on the planes only 15 minutes before they landed. The pamphlets promised benefits and services, employment programs, job placement and English classes, as well as Massachusetts refugee benefits. But as Self pointed out, they were asylum seekers, not refugees, and thus didnt qualify for many benefits. Self said that if immigration officials determine that the 49 migrants were victimized, they could qualify for legalized status granted under a U visa. In order to qualify, they would need a certification from a law enforcement official that they were victims of a crime and that they suffered as a result form the crime, according to Self. She flew down to Texas with a stack of U visa certifications for Sheriff Salazar to sign, which he did after careful review. Asked by host and reporter Sharyn Alfonsi of 60 Minutes about what the stunt actually did, Self replied: Ironically, it provided them a completely independent available path to legalize their status here. Cauro, his sister, and two cousins were the only migrants remaining on the island. The rest left for the mainland. Theyre all in the years-long process for their asylum cases and U visas to be resolved. News / National by Staff reporter Nelson Chamisa, the leader of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), has rejected a recommendation from the Southern African Development Community Electoral Observation Mission (SADCEOM) regarding the August 23 elections in Zimbabwe.The recommendation suggested that any grievances related to the election results should be addressed through the appropriate legal channels to ensure the exhaustion of domestic legal remedies.Chamisa argues that relying on domestic remedies is not a credible response and is inadequate for resolving the long-standing national crisis.SADCEOM's final report was released last week, and Zimbabwe is yet to respond to it. Chamisa, who has faced criticism after 15 Members of Parliament, nine Senators, and 17 councillors were recalled, expressed on his social media account (X) that the SADC's final report on Zimbabwe's harmonized elections affirms the consensus among most Zimbabweans that the conduct of the August 23 elections blatantly violated the Constitution of Zimbabwe, electoral laws, and SADC Guidelines and Principles on Elections."As the Report itself notes in its Recommendations and other sections, there are still outstanding recommendations from 2018 on the lack of impartiality of the key institutions. In addition to this, the Report itself highlights a litany of very serious and brazen breaches which result in SEOM concluding that the Elections fell short of the standards highlighted above," he said."Given the above developments, based on the Report's own findings, domestic remedies cannot be a credible response and are therefore clearly inadequate and incapable of resolving this long standing national crisis."According to Zanu-PF, there is no crisis in Zimbabwe, as they contend that any crisis within Chamisa's CCC is not indicative of a national crisis. A death investigation is underway after a body was found at Carson Beach in Boston on Monday, according to Massachusetts State Police. Read More: 4 injured in rollover crash involving police cruiser in Pittsfield Sunday The body was found at Carson Beach, located on Day Boulevard in South Boston, shortly before 7 a.m. on Oct. 16, police said. The body was only identified as that of an adult female, state police added. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will conduct an autopsy, police said. No other information was initially released. The investigation is being conducted by the State Police Detective Unit for Suffolk County, State Police Crime Scene Services, and Troop H, state police added. CHICOPEE At its Tuesday meeting, city councilors will vote on whether to have the citys Department of Public Works petition the state to lower the speed limit on a section of Chicopee Street, also known as Massachusetts Route 116. The stretch of road starts at 116 Chicopee St., near the on-ramps to Interstate 391, and runs about a mile north to 319 Chicopee St. The petition would ask the state to lower the speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph, a move Elizabette Batista, DPW superintendent, supports. The posted speed limit signs currently on Chicopee Street do not reflect the speed limits assigned by the states Special Speed Regulation and will need to be corrected, Batista wrote in an email. Im in support of petitioning the state to modify the Special Speed Regulation from 30 MPH to 25 MPH, which will give officers the ability to enforce a slower speed limit. City Councilors have previously voted to lower the speed limit in residential areas from 30 mph to 25 mph in 2017. The city has sought to slow traffic in the Willimansett section of the city. In 2022, five pedestrians were killed after they were struck by vehicles, many in the Willimansett section. At one point, the citys emergency management director Glenn X. Joslyn drove a vehicle at the speed limit for hours at a time along Meadow and Chicopee streets, serving as a pace car to regulate drivers speed. A 49-year-old woman died in a two-car collision in the 600 block of Chicopee Street at the beginning of October. Ward 7 City Councilor William Courchesne, who filed the agenda item, did not immediately return a request for comment. Despite a fresh announcement that a border would be opening with Egypt, a Medway family with a 1-year-old child wound up stuck at the border again on Monday. Abood Okal, Wafaa Abuzayda and their 1-year-old son Yousef Okal traveled once again to the border crossing at Rafah following a U.S. State Department announcement that crossing would be possible, but wound up waiting for hours without being allowed to cross, according to their friend Sammy Nabulsi, an attorney who lives in Boston. Theyve gone back home, Nabusli said. The situation becomes very dangerous when it becomes evening because the bombarding continues. MassLive has reached out to Okal and Abuzayda, but has not immediately heard back. The family is among hundreds of American citizens and many more refugees looking to escape the conflict between Israel and Gaza. Wafaa Abuzayda poses with 1-year-old son Yousef Okal. (Image courtesy Sammy Nabulsi) More than a week has passed since a surprise Hamas attack on Israel and subsequent declaration of war by Israel on Hamas. The Wall Street Journal reports that there have been 1,400 Israeli deaths and 2,750 Palestinian deaths. On Friday, Israel ordered hundreds of thousands of civilians living in Gaza City to evacuate, one day after ordering the evacuation of 1.1 million people from northern Gaza within 24 hours. Border crossings between Gaza and Israel remain closed, and the crossing between Gaza and Egypt, where humanitarian aid is waiting to be allowed to go across, also remains closed. Theres no shade, no shelter at the crossing, Nabulsi said. They spent the whole day in the blistering sun out there. Wafaa Abuzayda and Abood Okal. (Image courtesy Sammy Nabulsi) U.S. Rep. Richard Neal of Massachusetts, D-1st District, said Monday that he agrees with President Joe Bidens position calling for the protection of civilians. And also, to provide a safe passageway to Egypt for Gazans who are not part of Hamas, Neal said. But how to achieve that? One of the realities is that urban warfare can be pretty difficult, Neal said. Nabulsi said he heard on Sunday that the family had run out of drinking water and was low on fuel. He added that U.S. State Department information he was forwarded through the office of Sen. Elizabeth Warren indicated the family would need to find its own way to Cairo to be extracted, and Nabulsi feared the family would have to hitchhike or even walk from the Rafah crossing to Cairo, a five-hour drive. While Nabulsi did not have an update how much water the family had, he did learn that they were able to borrow water from a neighbor. Nabulsi has been working around the clock contacting the White House, State Department and federal politicians offices to work to bring his friends home, as well as the hundreds of other American citizens stranded in Gaza. Abood Okal with son Yousef. (Image courtesy Sammy Nabulsi) He is particularly frustrated that getting out of Israel seems so much more straightforward than getting out of Gaza, where the Israeli government has ordered that more than 1 million Palestinians leave the region. Im not blaming anyone; they very well might be working on this, he said. I honestly dont even need to hear from them. I just really hope they are all doing everything they can. The State Department released information both on Saturday and Sunday that the Rafah crossing into Egypt would be open, but neither time were any refugees allowed to leave. I am really struggling with being able to take the word of my own government at face value, Nabulsi said. Neals office is working with 15 people with ties to the First District of Massachusetts in Israel to get them out, including a baby girl, born in Israel days before Hamas attacked. All are in Israel, and none in Gaza, according to Neals office. Neals office said the State Department has been responsive and working to get the baby documents so she can get on an evacuation plan chartered by the State Department. Wafaa Abuzayda holds 1-year-old Yousef Okal. Both remained in Gaza on Sunday, more than a week after the start of the Hamas-Israel conflict. (Image courtesy Sammy Nabulsi) Nabulsi, who met Okal and Abuzayda about a year ago, pleaded for people to contact their Senators and Representatives to demand they tell the White House and State Department to bring every single one of the American citizens home. I know them; weve met them. Ive played with Yousef; Wafaa has played with my kids. They were so pleasant to me, Nabulsi said. They are human beings, and now Im learning that theres 500 to 600 other people in the same situation. They are my neighbors, my fellow citizens in this country. Reporting from Republican writer Jim Kinney was used in this report. The body of a dead man, along with an abandoned vehicle, were both found at Scusset Beach State Reservation in Bourne on Sunday and are believed to be connected, Massachusetts State Police announced Monday. Troopers arrived at the Sagamore Hill area of the state reservation to find the abandoned vehicle before 12 a.m. Sunday, state police said in a short statement. State police, Department of Conservation and Recreation personnel and Plymouth County Sheriffs Department members searched the area after they found car, eventually finding the body of a dead man. At this point in the investigation, state police believe the man and the vehicle are connected. State police detectives and the State Police Crime Scene Services Section so far have found no evidence to indicate foul play, according to preliminary findings. A Dorchester man who died with a gunshot wound to the head after he was found by police on Friday, Oct. 13, has been identified, Boston police announced Monday. James Jones, 30, was found by police at 46 Corona St. on Friday, police said in a statement. Police received a report of shots fired at around 2:06 p.m. When police arrived, they found an unidentified man on the ground suffering from a gunshot wound to the head, police said. Jones died after he was found by police. An investigation into Jones death is being conducted by the Boston Police Departments Homicide Unit. Anyone with information is urged by Boston police to call the homicide unit at 617-343-4470. Those who wish to help investigators anonymously can do so by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494-TIPS or by texting the word TIP to CRIME (27463) The family of an 18-year-old father who was shot and killed in Fall River over the weekend is trying to raise money to support his two children left behind, according to an online fundraiser. Luz Perez, the aunt of Jiovanni Perez, said her nephew was full of life and such an amazing person, in a GoFundMe campaign she organized on behalf of the 18-year-olds children, who are ages 3 and 1. Due to this unexpected tragedy, I am asking for your help in donations, Luz wrote on the campaign page. Any amount will help give my nephew a memorable and special funeral service. The GoFundMe is looking to raise $10,000. People can donate by clicking here. Jiovanni was shot and killed in the area of 253 Locust St. around 12:18 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 14, according to the Bristol County District Attorneys Office. The Fall River and East Weymouth man was rushed to Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 1:40 p.m., the district attorneys office said in its statement. Read More: Killing of Beverly Polchies in Maine remains unsolved nearly 40 years later Although no suspect is in custody at this moment, the investigation is extremely active, Quinns office noted. Massachusetts State Police and the Fall River Police Department are investigating the homicide. No further information about the shooting was immediately released to the public. A Dorchester man who died on Saturday after police found him with gunshot wounds has been identified, Boston police said Monday. Kalil Jackson, 25, was found by police at around 12:27 a.m. at 1194 Blue Hill Ave., police said in a statement. He was dead when police arrived. An investigation into Jacksons death is being conducted by the Boston Police Departments Homicide Unit. Jacksons death came one day after another man, James Jones, 30, was found dead on Corona Street by Boston police after he was found with gunshot wounds. Anyone with information is urged by Boston police to call the homicide unit at 617-343-4470. Those who wish to help investigators anonymously can do so by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494-TIPS or by texting the word TIP to CRIME (27463) Hunting is one of the oldest forms of human activity. Over the centuries, hunting has largely evolved from necessity to sportalthough many hunters in the U.S. do process hunted animals for food. As hunting gained popularity as a leisure activity, ecosystems suffered, which led to various regulations in order to help preserve and conserve wildlife resources. In the United States, each state has set dates for hunting seasons, thresholds for how many tags or wild game stamps are allowed, and specific areas that are off-limits to hunting in order to help preserve habitats and animal populations. In the past several decades, the number of people with hunting licenses in the United States has been on a sharp decline. This can be attributed to a few factors, namely the rise in urbanization, the development of farmland, a lack of free time among hunters, and limited access to hunting land. Licenses peaked at roughly 17 million in the 1980s. There are 15.9 million hunting license holders in the United States as of 2023. The drop-off in revenue from hunting licenses is starting to pose a problem for conservation groups. Thanks to the Pittman-Robertson Act of 1937, an 11% excise tax was placed on the sale of firearms for the purpose of funding conservation. Not only that, but the profits from hunting licenses themselves also go directly to conservation initiatives. Stacker compiled data on the number of registered hunters in Massachusetts using data from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Massachusetts is also ranked nationally by per capita hunting license holders based on 2023 data and 2022 American Community Survey population estimates. So is Massachusetts holding steady with hunting traditions? Read on to find out. Massachusetts: #6 lowest nationally - Paid hunting license holders: 0.9 for every 100 people (59,652 total) - Hunting license, tags, permits, stamps: 4.0 for every 100 people (278,765 total) - Total cost of hunting licenses, tags, pevrmits, stamps: $2,777,155 Connecticut: #5 lowest nationally - Paid hunting license holders: 0.8 for every 100 people (30,807 total) - Hunting license, tags, permits, stamps: 2.8 for every 100 people (102,071 total) - Total cost of hunting licenses, tags, permits, stamps: $2,348,381 New Hampshire: #19 lowest nationally - Paid hunting license holders: 4.3 for every 100 people (60,629 total) - Hunting license, tags, permits, stamps: 12.1 for every 100 people (168,182 total) - Total cost of hunting licenses, tags, permits, stamps: $5,419,413 This story features data reporting by Emma Rubin, writing by Meagan Drillinger, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 50 states. A Dorchester man pleaded guilty in Suffolk Superior Court on Monday to the charge of killing his mother in 2020, Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Haydens office said. Zackery Grandy, 25, made the guilty plea to the charge of second-degree murder in connection with the strangling death of his mother Gisel Thomas, 51, Haydens office said in a statement. Judge Robert Ullman sentenced Grandy to life in prison, with the chance for parole in 20 years, Haydens office said. Thomas called a doctor from the Boston Emergency Services Team seeking mental health resources for Grandy on Feb. 26, 2020, Haydens office said. The doctor heard what he thought was Grandy attacking Thomas, prompting a 911 call. Thomas brother found her body the following afternoon. On Feb. 27, Grandy was arrested by police at his family address at 357 Columbia Road. As Massachusetts shelter system nears capacity, Gov. Maura Healey said Monday the state can no longer guarantee shelter placement for new arrivals after the end of this month. I want to assure you that we will continue to engage, assess and serve every family who appeals for help as best we can, Healey said during a press conference at the State House. The governor said that although families with high needs, including health and safety risks, will be prioritized for shelter placement, as winter approaches, we are entering a new phase of this challenge we can no longer guarantee shelter placement for families who are sent here. Officials estimate by the end of October, the number of people housed in the Commonwealths shelter system will reach 7,500 families or 24,000 people the states limit. As of Sunday, close to 7,000 families are being housed in the states emergency shelter system, which is more than double what it was a year ago, officials say. There are about 23,000 people housed in the Bay States emergency shelter system across 90 municipalities, which is the equivalent of a small city, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said. In preparation for the influx of new arrivals coming into the state, Healey has appointed Lt. Gen. Leon Scott Rice as the commonwealths new emergency assistance director. Rice, the former director of the Air National Guard, will oversee the management of the states emergency shelter system. Rice is expected to coordinate with key officials and stakeholders to update the governor on the migrant situation. It is important to me that our state succeeds in meeting this humanitarian challenge. Ill bring all my values and all Ive learned to bear on this crisis, Rice said. Ive spent a career leading large-scale organizations. Ive learned that communication and partnerships are key to meeting a challenge like this. After months of pleading with the federal government for more support with little to no avail Healey is now taking the states migrant crisis into her own hands. The state is now working to get migrants out of the shelters and into the workforce. The governor said her administration is working with shelters and employers to help provide jobs to eligible migrants. For instance, MassHire South Shore is working with Dunkin to connect shelter residents with 30 open positions, the governor said. Read More: Department of Homeland Security visits Boston to assess the migrant situation The state is also partnering with the Commonwealth Corporation Foundation to create a new job skills training program. The program, which will start in Salem, aims to provide individuals in shelters who are waiting on their work authorization with on-the-job training and skills. Another program will connect MassHire Regional Workforce Boards and career centers to shelters across the state to assess skills and workforce readiness with individuals who already have their work authorization. Healey is also boosting efforts to assist shelter families seeking to transition to stable housing. Specifically, the state will expand support for rapid rehousing and rental assistance initiatives. The announcement comes days after officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security met with Healey to assess the states ongoing migrant crisis. As the number of families placed in the states shelter system continues to increase, the states top officials and lawmakers are losing faith in the federal governments ability to support the Commonwealth in housing families in need a mandate of the states right-to-shelter law. In a weekend interview with WCVB-TV, House Speaker Ron Mariano, D-3rd Norfolk, expressed skepticism in regard to whether the federal government could provide more aid to help Massachusetts. Mariano, who met with officials from the DHS last week, placed the blame on the lack of leadership within the U.S. House of Representatives. Its a rudderless ship that controls the spigot for the help we need, Mariano said during the interview with WCVB-TVs On the Record program on Sunday. We need congregate housing facilities and we need money. News / National by Staff reporter POLICE in Zvishavane, Midlands Province, are investigating a case in which a man was held hostage for two days, and sexually exploited by two women who had given him a lift from Zvishavane to Sandawana.The man, who could not be named on ethical grounds, lost valuables including cash and mobile phones before being drugged and forced to have sexual intercourse with the women.According to police, the man boarded a lift in Zvishavane which had three other occupants including two females and a male driver."On 10 October around 10AM, the complainant boarded a Toyota Fun cargo vehicle at OK Supermarket intending to go to Sandawana. The vehicle was being driven by a male driver while there were two other female passengers on board," said Midlands Police Spokesperson, Inspector Emmanuel Mahoko.Along the way, the driver made a sudden turn and went along Drummond Road and the two female passengers who were seated at the back with the complainant sprayed an unknown substance on his face and he fell unconscious.When he gained consciousness, he found himself in a room with the three suspects with his hands and legs tied.They forced him to take a brown pill before the two female suspects took turns to have protected sexual intercourse with him while the male suspect stood guard.The female suspects would allegedly harvest sperm which they tied in condoms and kept in a cooler box."The suspects also searched the complainant and took cash amounting to US$453 and his two cellphones before spraying him with the same substance and again he fell unconscious," said Inspector Mahoko.The following day, the suspects went through the same process, forced him to take the brown pill and took turns to have sexual intercourse with him and harvesting the sperms.They later assaulted him with a metal object and he fell unconscious before they drove off."After gaining consciousness, the complainant walked for about 2 kilometers until he reached the Grain Marketing Board in Zvishavane and managed to make a report," he said.The matter is under investigation."We urge members of the public to use public transport when in transit. We appeal to members of the public who might have information pertaining to the whereabouts of the three suspects to approach any nearest police station," said Inspector Mahoko. The Massachusetts House of Representatives is expected to vote as soon as this week on a sprawling gun violence reduction bill that its backers say will stem the flow of illegal firearms into the commonwealth, expand the states assault weapons ban, and limit the ability to carry guns in certain spaces. But even as its architects in the majority-Democrat chamber corral the votes they need to send the bill to the state Senate, a powerful advocacy group whose ranks face the threat of illegal weapons every day has spoken out against the proposal, earning them a public rebuke from the Houses top Democratic leader. Mark Leahy, a former Worcester County police chief who now serves as the executive director of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, told a state House panel last week that the states strict ... gun laws work, the Boston Globe reported. The registration of firearms will not reduce gun violence, Leahy, the former head of the Northborough Police Department, told lawmakers. The provision in the bill governing where people may bring their weapons doesnt include a carve-out for off-duty police officers and state troopers, Leahy argued, according to the Globe, adding that criminals will not be deterred by these measures. During an appearance on WCVB-TVs On the Record program on Sunday, state House Speaker Ron Mariano, D-3rd Norfolk, had a very different viewpoint, telling the station that he [does] believe [the bill] will make the streets safer. As a law enforcement officer goes into a domestic violence situation, why wouldnt he want to know how many guns are registered in a household? Mariano told the station. To have the chiefs blatantly pan this bill and say there is nothing in the bill that they could live with other than ghost guns is troubling to me. The headwinds facing the bill authored by the Judiciary Committee House chairperson, Rep. Michael S. Day, D-31st Middlesex, arent new. The bill was hung up last summer over opposition from gun owners and other lawmakers. That sent Democrats back to the drawing board. They rolled out a revised version of the bill earlier this month. Despite Leahys opposition, law enforcement also is not speaking with a unified voice on the bill. The bill is a thoughtful and measured response to a vexing public safety issue, Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni told MassLive after he appeared before the House panel. During his testimony to the committee, Gulluni highlighted language in the bill requiring that all firearms frames or receivers, more widely known as ghost guns be serialized, making it easier for them to be tracked. The currently untraceable weapons have proven to be a bane for law enforcement because the parts are easily accessible for people who otherwise cannot legally own a firearm. Gulluni told MassLive that his office has recovered dozens of the weapons, which have become very commonplace in the Springfield area. The state Senate is believed to be working on its own version of the legislation, State House News Service reported earlier this month. But the timeline for action is unclear. Speaking to WCVB-TV, Mariano said he hopes the chamber, controlled by his fellow Democrats, will see the urgency, and act. The tragedies continue. Lets put some urgency into this and get it done, Mariano said. With the expectation for heavy snowfall in December and during any upcoming noreasters this winter, all of the indicators of a winter different from that of 2022 are the product of what forecasters predict to be a historically strong El Nino. A recent diagnostic discussion on El Ninos presence at the end of 2023 and going into Spring 2024, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced on Oct. 12 that it expects a 3 in 10 chance of a historically strong event that rivals 2015-16 and 1997-98, with upwards of an 85% chance for a strong event between November and January. Stronger El Nino events increase the likelihood of El Nino-related climate anomalies, but do not necessarily equate to strong impacts locally, NOAA added in its discussion. El Nino occurs when the water temperatures near the equator of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean are above the historical average for months at a time, according to the weather service. The change in water temperatures reshapes the jet stream. El Nino is upon us, AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Meteorologist and veteran forecaster Paul Pastelok said. It came on strong here in late summer, and it will continue to be strong and a dominating factor going into our winter forecast. Beginning in December, El Nino could lead to a warmer-than-average winter. The 2015-16 and 1997-98 winters were notable for being among abnormally warmer winters, with the 2023-24 season expected to be almost 3 degrees warmer than average. Those in the northern U.S. wishing for a cold December to set the mood for the holiday season might be out of luck this year, the Weather Channel said. Cities like Minneapolis, Chicago, Boston and New York City are all currently favored to have temperatures the farthest above average. Despite this, an early-season noreaster cant be ruled out either as the ingredients for a snowstorm may come together sometime in November, AccuWeather noted. By the start of the new year, the Northeast is expected to remain higher than average but much closer to near average conditions seen in January. By February, conditions in New England and the whole Northeast should be near-average and could feature a colder East, warmer West split, the Weather Channel added. Temperatures are expected to rise much higher in the Northwest, while cold temperatures could affect the Southeast as far west as Louisiana and as, breaching the Southeasts borders, far north as New York and Connecticut. Read more: Snow falls on Mount Washington as first of winter arrives Last year, Boston had about 12 inches of snow. This year, forecasters predict the city could get as much as 44 inches of snow. This is still below the average for the city, which is about 49 inches, AccuWeather said. With all of that in mind about a near-average winter, and in stark contrast to the drier winter seen going into 2023, get your snow shovels ready, as AccuWeather warned. The Farmers Almanac made similar predictions in its Winter 2024 Extended Weather Forecast. Winter weather is making a comeback, the forecast reads. After a warm winter anomaly last year, traditional cool temperatures and snowy weather conditions will return to the contiguous United States. Voices of Resilience, Janine Fondons exhibition which profiles the lives of women from Western Massachusetts who through the practice of values built inclusive communities, is on display through Oct. 27 at Westfield State Universitys Arno Maris Art Gallery in the Ely Campus Center. The exhibition has been touring throughout the region. For details: www.westfield.ma.edu/offices/arno-maris-art-gallery. Samara Joy, two-time Grammy winner, returns to Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts at UConn Storrs on Oct. 20. She performs music from her award-winning album, Linger Awhile. For details: www.jorgensen.uconn.edu. NGOs across Africa and around the world will meet in Nairobi, Kenya, from 21-22 November 2023 to converge on sustainable peace and socioeconomic development of the African continent. For too long, the realisation of peace and human development in Africa has been left in the hands of politicians. Despite the enormous contribution of African and international civil society, little has been achieved to realise sustainable peace and development across the continent. On this note, the African NGO Summit will be a meeting point for NGOs from across the continent and abroad to converge on the socioeconomic needs of the African continent. Weve been complacent for too long, leaving our fate in the hands of politicians, says Peter SaSellu, President and CEO of the African NGO Council and Convener of the African NGO Summit. It is time NGOs come together from all corners of the continent and the world to deliberate on how to realise sustainable peace and development on the continent. No sustainable development could be realised if there is no sustainable peace. As of today, Africa has the highest rate of armed conflicts and the highest number of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the world, says Philip Kpakiwa, Country Director of MasterPeace Guinea and Board Member of the African NGO Council. African civil society has never had the opportunity to come together in a constructive manner, says Catherine George, the Executive Director of the African NGO Summit. NGOs play critical roles in the fight against poverty and extreme human suffering, impunity and social injustice in local communities across the continent. Beginning as advocacy and personal support organisations often established by members of the affected community and staffed largely by volunteers, NGOs have evolved into a diverse spectrum of multi-service agencies that, to various degrees, provide case management and often direct services such as housing, nutrition and food items, civic education, legal aid, mental health and HIV/AIDS counselling, adherence support, and oftentimes direct medical services. In addition, many NGOs carry out advocacy to address the needs of communities living in abject poverty and disproportionately affected by gross human rights violations; educating communities on multiple issues such as right to justice; and facilitating access to electoral processes, she says. While there are many variations in the specific menu of services individual NGOs provide, the core elements of programming (and sometime direct) services, humanitarian relief, human rights protection and promotion and civic education, and system advocacy and lobbying are common among most NGOs. Despite the tremendous role NGOs play in peace building processes and national and regional development efforts, there is no centralised venue for the gathering of NGOs operating across the continent. Though a wide range of organisations and initiatives have been created out of community-based and national and sub-regional efforts and while various coalitions and alliances have formed to articulate and mobilise around shared advocacy agendas, or to share best practices in sustainability, evaluation and services, yet no Africa-wide assembly or initiative has been formed to proactively assemble the continents NGOs or assemble information on the evaluation or state of NGO management, capacity development, administration, and strategic growth. Thus, while many NGOs have been asking questions about their own regional assemble for decades, there has never been a quantitative or qualitative way for them to ask these questions across the field, Says Peter SaSellu. To fill this void, the African NGO Summit was established as an African regional forum that will bring together NGO leaders, policymakers, donors, and key stakeholders to converge on pressing national and regional issues of today. It is expected that deliberations at the Summit in Nairobi will result in a more constructive and deliberate effort to help promote sustainable peace and development across the continent. It is therefore important for all NGOs across the continent to meet in Nairobi on November 21-22 to bring this to a reality. Worlds largest start-up show welcomes over 1,800 startups from more than 100 countries, 1,000 investors managing US$ 1 trillion and 500+ expert speakers. Event enhances Dubais position as a global digital hub, connecting venture capital with unicorns, scale-ups and startups and attracting the global tech community. Expand North Star, the worlds largest start-up show, opened in Dubai Harbour today (15 October), its largest ever edition featuring more than 1,800 start-ups from 100 countries looking to connect, fundraise and share experiences with global peers. Hosted by the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, Expand North Star (www.ExpandNorthStar.com) takes place from 15-18 October 2023 at the Middle Easts biggest superyacht hub, where more than 1,000 investors with a combined total of over US$ 1 trillion under management are ramping up the start-up investor momentum in one of the worlds most dynamic and diverse scale-up ecosystems. Expand North Star is the powerhouse start-up show of GITEX GLOBAL, the world largest tech event, which opens tomorrow (16 October) at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC). The blockbuster duo, organised by DWTC, comprise a combined 2.7 million sq. ft of exhibition space, a 40 percent increase over the previous year, inviting the world to the years most anticipated dialogue and deep scrutiny into a new tech paradigm experimenting in AI, the cloud, Web 3.0, and a sustainable digital economy. Expand North Star 2023 features AI Monday, showcasing fast-scaling AI startups; India Central, the biggest gathering of over 200+ Indian startups ever assembled outside of the country; as well as Asia Fast 100 and Africa Fast 100, the events largest showcases that bring together 100 leading startups from each continent for nearly a week long program of conferences, networking, and dedicated pitch competitions. The gathering of next-gen companies also features three themed sub-events targeting specific sectors: Fintech Surge, the Future Blockchain Summit, and Marketing Mania. Expand North Star will also culminate with the Supernova Challenge. The prestigious pitch competition offers a prize fund of US$ 200,000, further enhancing the appeal of this unmissable event. Opinion / Columnist In a world where connectivity is a lifeline for information, education, and economic opportunities, the promise of Starlink, SpaceX's ambitious satellite internet project, shines brightly for rural and unconnected regions in Africa. However, recent developments suggest that some African countries are hesitant to grant Starlink the operating licenses it needs, and they have proposed stringent requirements. Zimbabwe's internet penetration is around 62% according to the telecoms regulator. I am not sure if this is the internet penetration or mobile penetration rate.The regulator issued a statement that importing and accessing the web using Starlink without a license from them was and is illegal. On the surface, this may seem trivial, but regulatory oversight is crucial for ensuring network reliability and security. However, the situation becomes complex when considering the vast, underserved, or completely unconnected areas in Zimbabwe and other African nations.In remote areas like Binga, Guruve, Chiredzi, Tsholotsho, and UMP, local operators have often shown little interest in extending their coverage to areas they deem unprofitable based on ARPU (Average Revenue Per User). The regulator has established a fund called USF, meant to specifically address this issue by levying a certain percentage from all telecom operators in Zimbabwe, both large and small. Consequently, people in these regions are left with limited options. They can either continue to live without internet access, a disadvantage in an increasingly digital world, or they can import Starlink kits to establish connectivity independently.The standard procedure dictates that any satellite operator must have an earth-based station to interconnect with local networks. This is important for several reasons, including security and ease of interconnections. Although it may seem like an unnecessary burden, in a world where cybercrime, fraud, and scams are on the rise, having a database of end-users (who, what, where, when, and why) becomes essential.The moral argument here is compelling. If local mobile operators are unwilling to invest in extending their services to the most remote parts of the country, should rural residents be denied the opportunity to access the global information highway through Starlink?Moreover, it is crucial that any licensing regime recognizes the importance of educational institutions. Schools and academic institutions should not be burdened with exorbitant fees for using Starlink to bridge the digital divide and provide quality education to students in underserved areas.The statements issued by authorities seem to put the rural population in a difficult position and of course many urban dwellers. On one hand, people are forbidden from importing Starlink kits without licenses, and on the other, mobile operators are uninterested in servicing these areas. This leaves end-users, often in desperate need of connectivity for education and economic development, agrifarming, security, call conferencing, remote services etc with no viable options.To address this conundrum, it is essential that the ICT Ministry come up with a future focused licensing regime for StarX.Something that the regulators our regulator is more than capable of doing. By doing so, potential users can purchase equipment from known and licensed distributors, ensuring the government does not lose revenue due to smuggled kits.While it is understandable that local operators have invested millions in their licenses, technological disruption is a constant. Once upon a time, it was illegal to make calls over the internet.Yes VoIP.The high cost of data and the very limited availability of networks are major obstacles for students and professionals alike. As universities churn out thousands of graduates annually, the greatest challenge they face is the affordability and availability of network connectivity.Recently the Minister of ICT was quoted as saying that Starlink must adhere to the country's laws. There is a thin line between security and privacy from a technical point of view. While users must enjoy their constitutional right to access information, it would be difficult to conduct data traces from user to end user in cases of fraud or cyber breaches. Who is collecting what data and for what purposes? Is it in compliance with the Data Protection Act ? These are things that the telecoms regulator deals with on a daily basis but I have a gut feeling that the regulator's hands might be tied. A delicate balance must be struck to open up a whole new channel to meet our ever-increasing bandwidth needs, which our local telcos can't deal with at this stage.As if network was a person today you go anywhere especially supermarkets - "hakula network" or "hapana network". The writing is on the wall.Like all disruptive technologies, a balance must be struck, or we will be giving the regulator a job and a half to try and monitor every square mile of Zimbabwe in search of Starlink Kits. It's a no-brainer.The fourth industrial revolution is here, never mind AI.There should be a push for streamlined licensing processes to ensure that Starlink can be a beacon of hope, providing connectivity to underserved regions and helping Africa achieve its 2030 goals in the digital era. In a world where knowledge knows no boundaries, let us not hinder the progress of our people due to a lack of connectivity. Starlink's introduction will not only boost connectivity in rural areas but also in our cities, where network service levels are mostly well below acceptable Service Level Agreements due to mostly problems beyond their reach such as power outages, the cost of upstream bandwidth, maintenance costs, fuel and skills shortage. ZIMRA will be an unintended beneficiary through taxes if the licensing process is clear and taxes are not punitive.For the uninitiated, Starlink services use a kit that weighs about 7 kg, depending on the model. It points to the sky and does NOT need any mobile network or fiber connection, providing very high speeds and low latency. Currently, kits cost about $500 in areas where Starlink has rights, but like any disruptive technology, prices will likely decrease. Starlink kits connect to low orbiting satellites 500 km above or below the Earth's surface. Anyone from anywhere can buy a kit from Malawi and put it on roam, enabling connectivity even in remote areas with no cellular coverage.We plead to the ICT Minister to give the regulator enough room to come up with a balanced policy so as to protect all stakeholders but not to hinder their work by any other political overtones that a former ICT Minister raised in parliament.RBZ is encouraging embracing the digital dollar - yes we can But connecting using what ? That's a question from the unconnected. I am confident that the powers that be allow the regulator to do its function - creating a level field without undue interference or influence that does not point to the stated 2030 visions.Robert Ndlovu | +263714004000 The Smart Syringe Market is estimated to be valued at US$ 10.11 billion in 2023 and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 11.3% over the forecast period 2023-2030, as highlighted in a new report published by Coherent Market Insights. Market Overview: The Smart Syringe Market refers to the medical devices that are equipped with features such as functionality to measure the dosage administered and prevention of needlestick injuries. These syringes are increasingly being used in healthcare settings for the safe disposal of hazardous drugs and prevention of needlestick injuries. Some of the key applications of smart syringes include vaccination, insulin administration, drug delivery, and biotechnology research. The growing prevalence of chronic diseases such as diabetes and the need for accurate dosage measurement are driving the demand for smart syringes in the healthcare sector. Ask Us to Get Your Sample Copy Of The Report https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/4394 Market Dynamics: The increasing prevalence of chronic diseases such as diabetes and the growing demand for accurate and safe drug delivery systems are the major drivers propelling the growth of the Smart Syringe Market. The rise in the geriatric population and the consequent increase in the need for insulin administration are also contributing to market growth. Additionally, the technological advancements in smart syringe devices, such as the integration of electronic systems for dosage measurement and safety features, are further fueling the market expansion. Furthermore, the increasing awareness about the importance of safe injection practices and the strict regulations pertaining to the use of conventional syringes are creating lucrative opportunities for market players. The adoption of smart syringes in vaccination programs and the increasing investment in healthcare infrastructure in emerging economies are expected to drive market growth during the forecast period. Overall, the Smart Syringe Market is set to witness significant growth due to the rising prevalence of chronic diseases and the advancements in healthcare technology. Market Driver 1: Growing prevalence of chronic diseases The rising prevalence of chronic diseases is one of the key drivers for the growth of the smart syringe market. Chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases are on the rise globally, leading to an increased demand for advanced medical devices to manage and treat these conditions. Smart syringes are equipped with various features such as auto-disable mechanisms, retractable needles, and dose measurement systems, which make them ideal for the safe and efficient administration of medications to patients with chronic diseases. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), chronic diseases cause approximately 60% of all deaths worldwide. The increasing burden of these diseases has prompted healthcare providers and governments to focus on prevention and early intervention strategies. Smart syringes play a crucial role in these strategies by minimizing the risk of needlestick injuries, preventing the transmission of bloodborne infections, and ensuring accurate medication delivery. As a result, the demand for smart syringes is expected to grow significantly in the coming years. Market Driver 2: Technological advancements in smart syringe design Technological advancements in smart syringe design are also driving the growth of the market. The integration of innovative features and functionalities in smart syringes has enhanced their safety, accuracy, and ease of use. For instance, some smart syringes are equipped with electronic sensors that can detect the type and dosage of medication being injected, ensuring precise delivery of medications. Other smart syringes have built-in memory and connectivity options, allowing healthcare providers to track and record medication administration data in real-time. Moreover, manufacturers are constantly working on improving the ergonomics and user-friendliness of smart syringes. This includes the development of syringes with ergonomic grips, intuitive buttons, and audible feedback, making them easier to handle and operate. These technological advancements not only improve patient safety but also save time and streamline medication administration processes for healthcare professionals. Market Restraint 1: High cost of smart syringes One of the major restraints for the smart syringe market is the high cost associated with these devices. The advanced features and functionalities of smart syringes come at a price, making them more expensive compared to conventional syringes. This poses a significant challenge for healthcare providers, especially in low and middle-income countries, where budget constraints and limited resources are prevalent. The high cost of smart syringes not only affects their adoption in healthcare facilities but also impacts their accessibility for patients who need them for self-administration of medications. In order to address this market restraint, manufacturers and policymakers need to collaborate in developing cost-effective solutions without compromising on the safety and performance of smart syringes. Market Restraint 2: Concerns regarding data security and privacy Another restraint for the smart syringe market is the concerns surrounding data security and privacy. Since smart syringes are equipped with electronic sensors and connectivity options, they collect and transmit sensitive data related to medication administration. This data includes patient information, dosage details, and time of administration. There is a growing concern regarding the potential misuse or unauthorized access to this data, which can compromise patient privacy and confidentiality. Healthcare providers and patients alike are cautious about the security measures implemented in smart syringe systems to protect the data from cyber threats and breaches. Addressing these concerns and ensuring robust data security protocols will be crucial for the widespread adoption and acceptance of smart syringes in the healthcare industry. In conclusion, the growing prevalence of chronic diseases and technological advancements in smart syringe design are driving the growth of the market. However, the high cost of smart syringes and concerns regarding data security and privacy pose significant restraints. Addressing these challenges will be key to unlocking the full potential of smart syringes in improving patient safety and healthcare outcomes. % @ https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/buy-now/4394 Report Attribute Details The market size value in 2023 US$ 10.11 Bn The revenue forecast in 2030 US$ 21.39 Bn Growth Rate CAGR of 11.3% The base year for estimation 2022 Historical data 2017 2021 Forecast period 2023 2030 Growth Drivers: Increasing technological advancements in smart syringes by market players Increasing inorganic growth strategies such as partnership Restraints & Challenges: A shortage of syringe Increasing number of people facing needle phobia Table of Contents with Major Points: Executive Summary Introduction Key Findings Recommendations Definitions and Assumptions Executive Summary Market Overview Definition of Smart Syringe 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 Smart Syringe 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/4394 The Legionella Testing Market is estimated to be valued at US$ 312.6 million in 2023 and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 8.5% over the forecast period 2023 to 2030, as highlighted in a new report published by Coherent Market Insights. Market Overview: The Legionella Testing market involves the detection and identification of the Legionella bacteria in water sources to prevent the outbreak of Legionnaires disease. Legionnaires disease is a severe form of pneumonia caused by the Legionella bacteria, which is commonly found in freshwater environments. The disease can be fatal if not diagnosed and treated promptly. The market offers various testing solutions and equipment, including polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, culture tests, and rapid antigen tests. These tests help in assessing the presence of Legionella bacteria, enabling preventive measures to be taken to avoid the spread of the disease. Ask Us to Get Your Sample Copy Of The Report https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/6152 Market Dynamics: The Legionella Testing market is driven by the increasing awareness regarding Legionnaires disease prevention. The rising number of Legionnaires disease cases worldwide has created a demand for effective testing methods to identify and control the Legionella bacteria. Moreover, stringent regulations and guidelines imposed by regulatory authorities for Legionella prevention and control further propel market growth. Additionally, the growing demand for water safety testing contributes to the market dynamics. With the increasing concern over waterborne diseases and the need for safe water sources, the demand for Legionella testing is rising. This is particularly true in industries such as healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing, where the risk of Legionella contamination is higher. The implementation of testing protocols and best practices by various organizations also drives the market growth. Market Drivers for Legionella Testing Market: Increasing awareness about Legionella-related diseases Legionella bacteria are responsible for causing Legionnaires disease, a severe form of pneumonia, as well as Pontiac fever. With growing awareness about these diseases and their potentially fatal consequences, the demand for Legionella testing has been on the rise. People are becoming more conscious of the importance of regular testing to identify, prevent, and control Legionella contamination in various settings, including hospitals, hotels, offices, and residential buildings. The need for Legionella testing is further emphasized by the fact that these bacteria can thrive in water systems such as cooling towers, spas, hot tubs, and decorative fountains, making testing crucial for public health and safety. Stringent regulations and guidelines for Legionella control Due to its potential health risks, there are stringent regulations and guidelines in place that require regular Legionella testing in certain industries. For example, healthcare facilities are required to follow guidelines set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other regulatory bodies to prevent and control healthcare-associated Legionnaires disease outbreaks. Similarly, many countries have specific regulations for testing Legionella in cooling towers and other water systems. These regulations drive the demand for Legionella testing services as compliance becomes mandatory for organizations to ensure public health and avoid legal liabilities. Market Restraints for Legionella Testing Market Lack of awareness and knowledge about Legionella testing Despite the increase in awareness about Legionella-related diseases, there still exists a significant lack of knowledge and understanding about Legionella testing and its importance. Many individuals and organizations are unaware of the potential risks associated with Legionella bacteria and the need for regular testing. As a result, there is a lower demand for Legionella testing services, especially in non-regulated industries. Educating the public and raising awareness about Legionella testing through targeted campaigns and initiatives can help overcome this restraint and increase the market demand. High initial costs and complexity of Legionella testing Another restraint for the Legionella testing market is the high initial costs and complexity associated with testing methods. Traditional culture-based testing methods require specialized laboratories and skilled personnel, leading to higher costs and longer turnaround times for test results. This can discourage organizations from investing in Legionella testing, particularly small businesses and residential property owners who may have limited resources. Additionally, the complexity of testing methods and the need for trained professionals can also be a barrier for widespread adoption. However, advancements in technology have introduced rapid and more affordable testing alternatives, such as PCR-based methods, which can overcome these challenges and drive market growth. In conclusion, the Legionella testing market is primarily driven by increasing awareness about Legionella-related diseases and the need for proactive prevention and control measures. The market is further buoyed by stringent regulations and guidelines that require regular testing in certain settings. However, the market faces restraints due to the lack of awareness and knowledge about Legionella testing, as well as the high initial costs and complexity associated with traditional testing methods. Overcoming these restraints through targeted awareness campaigns and advancements in testing technology will help the market reach its full potential and contribute to better public health outcomes. % @ https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/buy-now/6152 Report Attribute Details The market size value in 2023 US$ 312.6 Mn The revenue forecast in 2030 US$ 553.3 Mn Growth Rate CAGR of 8.5% The base year for estimation 2022 Historical data 2017 2021 Forecast period 2023 2030 Growth Drivers: Public Health Concerns Regulatory Compliance Increased Awareness Aging Infrastructure Restraints & Challenges: Complex Regulations Limited Expertise Interpretation of Results Table of Contents with Major Points: Executive Summary Introduction Key Findings Recommendations Definitions and Assumptions Executive Summary Market Overview Definition of Legionella Testing 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 Legionella Testing 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/6152 In 2022, The Global Plant Stem Cells Market revenue was US$ 371.4 million and is projected to attain a valuation of US$ 801.9 million by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 8.93% during the forecast period from 2023 to 2031. The plant stem cells market is still emerging, constantly updated with new developments and studies exploring their potential. This rise in demand is a result of rapidly expanding industries mainly cosmetics and pharmaceuticals using plant stem cells capacity for regeneration. This product helps the end-users to improve their product quality and capture the attention of consumers. As a result, a large number of manufacturers are including plant stem cells in their product formulations to get the desired result. In line with this, the market has witnessed tremendous growth in research and development activities to explore growth potential and revenue opportunities in products that are used for skin regeneration, whitening, tanning, moisturizing, and cleansing. Get a Free Sample Report here- https://www.astuteanalytica.com/request-sample/plant-stem-cells-market As per the recent report published by Astute Analytica the global cosmetics market was valued at US$ 262 billion in 2022 and will witness the highest CAGR of 4.3% during the projected period. Also, the cosmetic industry is contributing more than 47% of revenue to the global plant stem cells market. As per our recent survey on consumer trend analysis, it was found that 65% of customers globally prefer cosmetic chemicals originating from plants. Thus, demonstrating a substantial shift in end-user behavior. In line with this, prominent businesses namely Oriflame, Mibelle AG Biochemistry, EJO Skin, etc., use plant stem cells in their products. Shift in Trends: Manufacturers Obtaining Ethically Sourced Plant Stem Cells It was prominently observed that over 63% of customers globally showed concern about the origin of plant stem cells utilized in products and their potential effects on the environment. As a result, manufacturers have started taking steps to meet the consumer demand for ethical sourcing and biodiversity protection. For instance, the market witnessed more than 25% growth in the companies that have opted for certificates for products that were sourced ethically in 2022. Unhwa Corporation, Stempeutics, and STEMCELL Technologies are some of the companies that obtain plant stem cells ethically. Additionally, eco-friendly sourcing is used in products like PhytoCellTecTM Goji and Patagonia Berry Stem Cell Mask. Asia Pacific Contribute Over 23% of Revenue Share: Making it a Largest Market The Asia Pacific plant stem cells market accounts for nearly 23% of revenue share. Also, the region contributes 9% of annual growth to the market, with China, South Korea, and India being the main contributors. Comparing Asian cosmetic firms to their Western counterparts on a global scale, the inclusion of products derived from plant stem cells has increased by 20%. Asia Pacific is now a huge contributor to the market expansion as this is consistent with the cultural preference for botanical ingredients. According to our recent survey on consumer analysis, an astounding 80% of Asians still use traditional herbal treatments. In line with this, the cultural proclivity is driving the acceptance of plant stem cell products. It has been observed that consumers are ready to pay premium price for buying cosmetics products having plant stem cells. For instance, the cost of a tomato anti-oxidant cream is US$ 10, while a stem cell anti-oxidant cream, which contains extracts from tomato plant stem cells, can be priced at US$ 50, even though both creams have the same fundamental ingredients. This increase in commercialization opportunities has fueled the industrys interest in creating additional stem cell products and services directly marketed to consumers. Key Takeaways In terms of location, root apical meristems emerge as a dominant segment by accounting for 69% of the market revenue in 2023. The segment will grow at a CAGR of 9.02% during the forecast period. In terms of application, the cosmetics segment emerged as a leader, generating 47% of the revenue share of the global plant stem cells market. In terms of end-users, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are the primary end-users of plant stem cells. The segment holds Over 60% of the markets revenue share. In terms of region, North America controls about 53% of the global market revenue share. Particularly, the U.S. has appeared as a leading powerhouse. For the full report, please follow this link:- https://www.astuteanalytica.com/industry-report/plant-stem-cells-market List of Key Companies Aidan Products LLC AllCells, LLC Intelligent Nutrients International Stem Cell Corp. Juice Beauty LOreal S.A. Mibelle Biochemistry MyChelleDermaceuticals LLC Oriflame Cosmetics Global SA PhytoScience Sdn Bhd TheGreenCell Vytrus Biotech Other Prominent Players Key Strategies Adopted by These Key Players In August 2023, Cosmecca, a Korean beauty brand, and Vytrus Biotech, a Spanish supplier of cosmetic chemicals, have inked a contract. Under the terms of the commercial partnership, the businesses will investigate plant stem cell-based cosmetic ingredients. In May 2023, Derma E is a natural skincare firm that specializes in clean beauty. Their latest product is the Advanced Peptides & Flora Collagen Cryo-Gel Mask. This mask helps the skin heal and gets ready for daytime or nightly routine by delivering multi-peptides, Arginine, and Matrixyl Synthe 6 with Flora-Collagen plus Edelweiss Extract and Plant Stem Cells. In April 2023, Boston-based plant cell tech startup Ayana Bio announced the first-ever release of plant cell-cultivated echinacea and lemon balm components. These constituents can be used in supplement formulations for the immune system, sleep, and mood support. In March 2023, A prebiotic active component developed by Vytrus modulates the relationship between skin bacteria and sun radiation to combat microbial-induced photoaging. Segmentation Outline The global plant stem cell market segmentation focuses on Location, Application, End-User, and Region. By Location Root Apical Meristems Shoot Apical Meristems By Application Nutrition Pharmaceuticals Cosmetics By End User Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Companies Research Laboratories By Region North America The U.S. Canada Mexico Europe Western Europe The UK Germany France Italy Spain Rest of Western Europe Eastern Europe Poland Russia Rest of Eastern Europe Asia Pacific China India Japan Australia & New Zealand South Korea ASEAN Rest of Asia Pacific Middle East & Africa (MEA) Saudi Arabia South Africa UAE Rest of MEA South America Argentina Brazil Rest of South America Get a Free Sample Report Here- https://www.astuteanalytica.com/request-sample/plant-stem-cells-market About Astute Analytica Astute Analytica is a global analytics and advisory company that has built a solid reputation in a short period, thanks to the tangible outcomes we have delivered to our clients. We pride ourselves in generating unparalleled, in-depth and uncannily accurate estimates and projections for our very demanding clients spread across different verticals. We have a long list of satisfied and repeat clients from a wide spectrum including technology, healthcare, chemicals, semiconductors, FMCG, and many more. These happy customers come to us from all across the Globe. They are able to make well-calibrated decisions and leverage highly lucrative opportunities while surmounting the fierce challenges all because we analyze for them the complex business environment, segment-wise existing and emerging possibilities, technology formations, growth estimates, and even the strategic choices available. In short, a complete package. All this is possible because we have a highly qualified, competent, and experienced team of professionals comprising of business analysts, economists, consultants, and technology experts. In our list of priorities, you-our patron come at the top. You can be sure of best cost-effective, value-added package from us, should you decide to engage with us. : + : sales@astuteanalytica.com : https://www.astuteanalytica.com/ LinkedIn | Twitter | YouTube | Facebook by Karlene Lukovitz @KLmarketdaily, October 13, 2023 Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC), a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that has been raising funds for the Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), is returning a remaining $533 million of $1 billion raised to finance the venture. Investors had already withdrawn $467 million in commitments. TMTG operates Donald Trumps social platform, Truth Social. The development ends a private investment in public equity (PIPE) transaction that would have delivered $1 billion in funds from institutional investors for TMTG as part of a merger of DWAC and TMTG that was proposed back in 2021. Failure to complete the merger within a specified timeframe left investors free to pull out, and triggered the return of the remaining funds to investors. DWAC declared its intention to "unwind" the remaining financing in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week. advertisement advertisement It is unclear whether the venture will try to raise new funds, or how TMTG would finance its operations assuming that a merger still goes through. The merger has encountered multiple obstacles, including scrutiny by the SEC. However, in a press release, DWAC CEO Eric Swider characterized the decision as a "positive development." Despite how others may seek to characterized the PIPE commitment cancellations, we want our shareholders to understand that these are a positive development in our ability to consummate the [merger] and we ask for the support of the remaining PIPE investors in agreeing to terminate [their] investments, he stated. Upon completion of our merger, the reduced need for capital by TMTG, reflects their commitment to growing a sustainable business model. The stock's price hit more than $100 at one point in 2022, but was at $15.40 ahead of the market opening on Friday. by Colin Kirkland , Staff Writer, October 13, 2023 Its no surprise that National Public Radio left X, the social platform formerly known as Twitter. In April, X owner Elon Musk labeled the publicly funded news entitys main account as state-affiliated media, a tag applied to Russian and Chinese propaganda accounts. Musk then changed the label to government-funded media and did so without warning. So NPR, which had 8.7 million followers, announced it would be shutting down its 52 official Twitter feeds, becoming the first major news organization to go silent on the platform. Now, NPR is saying that its absence has had little to no effect on traffic to its site. A memo sent around to NPR staff this week states that traffic has dropped by only one percentage point since it left Twitter/X, according to a new report from Nieman Lab. The platforms 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 says. advertisement advertisement It turns out that Twitter/X had an insignificant effect on driving traffic to news sites. In fact, as the Nieman Lab report points out, investing in Twitter/X may not have been worth the effort. Public-listener-supported news station KCUR in Kansas City left the platform the same week in April NPR left, along with other member stations, and has had a similar experience, with little to no change in web traffic since swearing off the Musk-owned platform. It made up so little of our web traffic, such a marginal amount, KCUR audience editor Gabe Rosenberg told Nieman Lab, adding that the platform was more incremental in terms of reputation and credibility, since journalists and news outlets have often depended on Twitter/X to connect over breaking stories. It turns out there are ways for news outlets to operate outside of Twitter/X without losing eyeballs. News outlets like KCUR have forged other avenues of delivering breaking stories to its audience. When the Ralph Yarl shooting took place in Kansas City the same week KCUR left Twitter, the outlet created a live blog and posted to other social networks as NPR editors helped the station spread the story. Once the story was out there, local Twitter users shared the piece across their networks and it circulated from there. Rosenberg told Nieman that this strategy allowed the outlet to reach new users on Instagram, where the station has tripled down its engagement efforts. NPRs recent memo also includes details about Twitter/Xs strain on its employees. Since its departure from the platform, the company says staff burnout has been on a decline: Thats both due to the lower manual lift and because the audience on Threads is seemingly more welcoming to publishers than on platforms like Twitter and Reddit, where snark and contrarianism reign, wrote Danielle Nett, an editor with NPRs engagement team. Thats right -- NPR is using Threads, Metas three-month-old Twitter/X clone. And while NPR notes that Threads only delivers 63,000 site visits a week (about 40% of what Twitter provided), it says clicks arent its main priority. Instead, the organization is taking advantage of the expanded character limit to deliver news natively on-platform to grow audienceswith enough information for a reader to choose whether to click through. But will Threads actually become a reliable X alternative for more news outlets? Threads has seen a major drop in users since its booming launch in July, and it has gotten flack for shying away from the proliferation of breaking news. Last week, Instagram head Adam Mosseri tried to clarify Threads stance on the sites good vibes approach to news, stating that it isnt anti-news, but that the company wants to avoid its prior fumbles in spreading fake news. As Threads continues to onboard new features and ride the line between facilitating engaging content and debate without delving into what Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has called a negative and critical experience on Musks app, , it will be interesting to see how many news outlets transition over from X. Musks constant battering of the press along with his platforms consistent spread of misinformation and amplification of paying users over all others may also help fast-forward the further departure of publishers from the site. Already, Threads has attracted the attention of a quarter of Xs current active users. Without clicks being the main prize for news organizations like NPR and other publicly funded outlets, publishers social media strategies may change in some surprising ways. As Nieman Lab stated in its report, As a platform becomes less reliable either editorially or technically staying becomes more fraught. And as NPR has demonstrated, you may not be giving up all that much if you walk away. Richard Ward served as mayor of Hurst on borrowed time. During his 2004 campaign, Ward was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis and given a 50% chance of survival, according to his son, Cary. He continued to serve owing to his love of the city and the importance he put on giving back to the community, the younger Ward said. Ward died Saturday at 87. He had lewy body dementia. He married his wife, Virginia Sue Ward, in 1960, and during their 63 years of marriage the couple never raised their voice to one another. He wasnt obsessed with money, and always wanted a normal 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. job. He worked in medical sales and human resources. The only people who remember how long you spent at work are your kids, Cary Ward said. Ward served on the Hurst City Council for 22 year with the last 14 as mayor. He gained national attention in 2009 when he came out in support of having background checks at gun shows. Ward was the only mayor in Texas to join the group Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which called for requiring background checks for private gun sales. Heres a simple idea: You can be for the rights of law-abiding gun owners but also for common-sense policies to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, he wrote in a 2009 Star-Telegram op-ed. He was also proud of his work to build the city of Hursts conference center, according to a family obituary shared with the Star-Telegram. Ward was preceded in death by his parents and brother Eugene. He is survived by his wife Sue, son Cary, three grandchildren, his two sisters and many nieces and nephews. by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, October 15, 2023 TikTok is the latest technology company to counter misinformation after the European Union began taking action last week, alerting the CEOs of YouTube, Meta, and X of violations. Following the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas against Israel, we have indications that TikTok is being used to disseminate illegal content and disinformation in the EU, European Union Commissioner Thierry Breton wrote in a letter to TikTok. The CEOs of YouTube, Meta, and X received similar letters last week from Breton, requesting them to remove misinformation. The letter received by TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew on Friday warned the company to "protect children and teenagers from violent content and terrorist propaganda, as well as death challenges and potentially life-threatening content." advertisement advertisement Breton asked TikTok to urgently step up efforts and ensure that the systems are effective. The request required TikTok to provide a response within 24 hours. TikTok, which is owned by ByteDance, said in a blog post on Saturday it had removed content in violation and accounts, and listed the actions it took to combat misinformation and hateful content. Since the brutal attack on October 7, we've continued working diligently to remove content that violates our guidelines, the company said. To-date, we've removed over 500,000 videos and closed 8,000 livestreams in the impacted region for violating our guidelines. The company also took action to create a command center that it said brings together key members of its 40,000- global team of safety professionals, representing a range of expertise and regional perspectives, so that we remain agile in how we take action to respond to this fast-evolving crisis. Moderators who speak Arabic and Hebrew were added to review content, opt-in screens over content that could be perceived as shocking or graphic were added, and temporary changes to policies that govern TikTok features were made to prevent them from being used for hateful or violent behavior in the region. TikTok also updated its automated detection systems to identify new threats in real-time. This enables TikTok to automatically detect and remove graphic and violent content so moderators and community members are not exposed. An existing set of controls and features are available for the community of TikTok users, and the company encourages everyone to consider using them. The features include a Not Interested tab on a tab for content they wish to see less often, and a Refresh tab if they want to restart their feed. If the Restricted Mode is enabled, it helps to limit the appearance of content that may not be appropriate for a general audience and filters content with warning labels. Meta introduced a content-monitoring plan in response to the war between Israeli and Hamas on Friday, and removed more than 795,000 pieces of content that violated several policies. Next month, Meta takes the chair position of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT)s Operating Board. GIFCT is an NGO that brings together technology companies to tackle terrorist content online through research, technical collaboration and knowledge sharing. by Ray Schultz , October 15, 2023 Microsoft will continue funding the Northeast Wisconsin Journalism Initiatives News Lab, a program that has reached 23 million people in three years. The tech giant joined with several groups in Wisconsin, including the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation, the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region and the Green Bay Packers, to contribute $135,000 in support. Microsoft has provided $900,000 to the initiative since its launch in 2021. The News Lab is a regional news outlet comprised of Green Bay Press-Gazette, Press Times, Appleton's Post Crescent, Fox Valley 365, Wisconsin Public Radio and Wisconsin Watch. advertisement advertisement The University of Wisconsin-Green Bays journalism department is an educational partner. Microsoft helps fund similar news projects around the country. The Lab is the fifth piloted program it has chosen, in part because of the collaboration between foundations and Microsofts prior relationship with the Packers via Titletown Tech. "If you fund news, in a horizontal way you potentially fund programs to mitigate homelessness, to increase school graduation rates because you fund the ability of the newspapers to talk about that to create citizens in a community who are informed," says Mary Snapp, vice president of strategic initiative at Microsoft. by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, October 16, 2023 Google on Monday urged lawmakers to require companies to take minors' "best interests" into account when designing services, and to prohibit companies from serving personalized ads to teens -- including ads targeted based on a minor's age, gender or interests. The proposal would allow companies to serve contextual ads to underage users -- meaning ads pegged to content currently being watched, current search queries, general location, and time of day. Google said two years ago that it planned to stop serving personalized ads to users under 18, but hadn't previously called for a nationwide ban. The company's suggestions are part of a larger proposed framework for laws aimed at protecting children and teens from potential online harms. We support regulatory approaches that promote both online safety and balanced practices, Kent Walker, president of global affairs, stated in a blog post announcing the recommendations. advertisement advertisement Good legislative models -- like those based on age-appropriate design principles -- can help hold companies responsible for promoting safety and privacy, while enabling access to richer experiences for children and teens, he added. In addition to the suggested ban on ad targeting, Google also recommended that companies be required to prioritize the best interests of children and teens in the design of their products. The company writes: Online services used by children and teens should be required to assess the collective interests of children within comparable developmental stages, based on expert research and best practices, to ensure that they are developing, designing and offering age-appropriate products and services geared to the best interests of children and teens. The proposal comes as federal and state lawmakers are increasingly proposing -- and in some cases, enacting -- new laws aimed at protecting young users online. So far, Arkansas, Texas, Utah and California have passed versions of such laws. The tech industry group NetChoice -- which counts Google as a member -- successfully sued to block enforcement of the laws in Arkansas and California on the grounds that the measures violate the First Amendment. The Arkansas statute prohibits teens under 18 from having social-media accounts without parental permission. The California law (AB 2273) imposes requirements similar to ones Google now suggests. That law requires online companies likely to be accessed by users under 18 to prioritize their best interests and well-being, and restricts those companies from collecting or sharing minors' personal information. U.S. District Court Judge Beth Labson Freeman in the Northern District of California blocked the California law last month, ruling that its provisions likely do not pass constitutional muster. For instance, she wrote, one provision prohibiting tech companies from drawing on minors' data for profiling and targeting doesn't appear to take into account beneficial aspects of targeted information. Any laws that restrict how companies serve content or ads to teens could also effectively require companies to implement procedures aimed at determining users' ages. Google's proposal calls for age assurance measures, which it says could range from users' declarations about their ages to companies' inferences to verification measures. The company writes that data-intrusive methods -- such as requiring people to submit government-issued identification should be limited to high-risk services (e.g., alcohol, gambling, or pornography) or age correction. Digital rights advocates have long argued that requiring people to verify their ages online infringes on the First Amendment right to access content anonymously. Some judges have agreed with that position. For instance, when U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Brooks in Fayetteville, Arkansas, blocked enforcement of that state's law, he wrote: It is likely that many adults who otherwise would be interested in becoming account holders on regulated social media platforms will be deterred -- and their speech chilled -- as a result of the age-verification requirements. But the conservative 5th Circuit Court of Appeals recently reinstated -- at least temporarily -- a Texas law requiring pornographic sites to verify users' ages. A federal district court judge blocked enforcement but Texas officials appealed to the 5th Circuit, which reversed the block while it considers the appeal. by Steve McClellan @mp_mcclellan, October 16, 2023 WPP has launched a new index that it says measures the value of creativity and that creative brands are better able to drive growth in a number of ways. Its called the Creative Capital Index and it was designed by BAV, which WPP agency Young & Rubicam (now part of VMLY&R) created 30 years ago to evaluate the overall value of brands. advertisement advertisement The new index is designed to help brands assess the value of creativity in delivering different types of measurable growth, including financial and consumer advocacy. First tested in Australia, the index shows that brands with high levels of creative capital in the country deliver double the financial return of the average brand measured by BAV over five years. In addition, brands with higher creative capital provide: 1.2x consumer advocacy 1.4x brand love 1.1x pricing power Michael Sussman, chief product officer of BAV asserts that the new index proves that creativity is the top driver of income growth and is more important than other capabilities and traits such as trust, innovation, purpose and status. Creative brands drive incrementally greater consumer interest, positive attitudes, and proactive and engaging consumer behavior, stated Sussman. Brands, he added, now have the proof they need to invest in their brands and even more so during periods of economic uncertainty. The algorithms and methodology for the proprietary metrics driving WPP's Creative Capital Index are based on survey research of a globally representative sample of consumers who rate brands in their local market on key image, equity and advocacy metrics from reputation to innovation to popularity. Based on these ratings, BAV has ranked and compared brands across culture on a common set of brand KPIs; their Creative Capital Index aggregates a brands ratings on metrics that reflect a brands creativity and how it drives its influence in culture. by Teresa Buyikian , October 16, 2023 Velvet Taco, which debuts a taco variation weekly entitled WTF (for Weekly Taco Feature), has announced the launch of its latest Halloween-themed offering, the Basic Witch Taco. The dessert taco, which will be available for a limited time from Oct. 25 to Oct. 31, consists of pumpkin pie filing, pie crust, a cajeta drizzle, marshmallow, sweet candied pepitas and topped with a cinnamon jalapeno gummy worm wrapped in a tie-dye waffle tortilla. The company also recently announced the launch of its Taco Tuesday All Day happy hour. The special will continue every Tuesday, all day, for a limited time. The brand will offer $5 regular and $8 large rocks and frozen margaritas for the entire day. Founded in 2011, the Dallas, Texas-based brand features globally inspired taco combinations. Through the companys loyalty app, The Velvet Room, customers can order delivery or pick up, earn points with every purchase and get rewarded with free tacos, swag and experiences. The chain has locations across Texas, North Carolina, Georgia, Illinois, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Florida. 'Tiger 3' cast The cast of 'Tiger 3' includes Salman Khan as Tiger, Katrina Kaif as Zoya and Emraan Hashmi as the villain of the story. Rishi Sunak has revealed that six British citizens were killed and 10 remain missing following attacks on Israel by Hamas. The Prime Minister told the Commons: The attacks in Israel last weekend shocked the world. Over 1,400 people murdered one by one, over 3,500 wounded, almost 200 taken hostage. On Monday evening a large crowd of protesters cheered and chanted before speeches started outside BBC Broadcasting House to protest against the corporation not using the word terrorists to describe Hamas. The crowd shouted Hamas, terrorists and BBC, shame on you as they waited to hear from speakers. One protester stood on the railings next to the BBC building and led chants using a megaphone. It comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied reports that a border crossing between Gaza and Egypt is set to be reopened. The Rafah crossing is currently the only route out of the territory. Hamas, Egypt and Israel all have a degree of control over who can pass through. Israel has blockaded the water, electricity and food supply across its border with Gaza after the Hamas terror attack which has killed more than 1,400 Israelis to date. The Israeli Defence Force is widely expected to launch a ground invasion of the densely-populated strip. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,670 Palestinians have been killed and 9,600 wounded. Ceasefire could be agreed to allow border to reopen - report 07:11 , Josh Salisbury Good morning. A ceasefire could be agreed in southern Gaza order to allow the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt to open temporarily for humanitarian aid, according reports. Reuters news agency, citing Egyptian security sources, reported the ceasefire would last for several hours but were not clear on the exact duration. This has not been confirmed by Israel or the Gaza Ministry of Health. A view of trucks carrying humanitarian aid for Palestinians at the Rafah border crossing (REUTERS) Rafah border crossing expected to reopen but timing remains unclear 07:17 , Josh Salisbury The Egyptian-controlled border crossing into Gaza is expected to reopen to get aid into Gaza, but it remains unclear when. Story continues Hundreds of metric tons of aid from several countries have been held up in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula for days pending a deal for its safe delivery to Gaza and the evacuation of some foreign passport holders through the Rafah crossing. Rafah will be reopened. Were putting in place with the United Nations, with Egypt, with Israel, with others, a mechanism by which to get the assistance in and to get it to people who need it, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said after a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday. Mr Blinken did not give a specific time for the crossing to reopen, and reports of an opening time of 6am GMT have not yet come to fruition. Israel evacuates citizens near Lebanese border over Hezbollah rocket fire 07:22 , Josh Salisbury Israel has ordered the evacuation of Israeli citizens living within two kilometres of the border with Lebanon over hostilities with Hezbollah, an Islamist militant group operaring out of southern Lebanon. Residents of 28 villages have been ordered to evacuate. One of the villages, Shtula, came under a Hezbollah missile attack on Sunday. Israeli media said a civilian was killed. Hezbollah said in a statement that it had fired rockets in revenge for Israeli shelling that killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah on Friday and two Lebanese civilians on Saturday. The group said the increased strikes represented a warning" and did not mean Hezbollah has decided to enter the war. A shell from Israeli artillery explodes over Aita al-Shaab a Lebanese border village with Israel, (AP) Armed forces minister confident Israel will minimise civilian casualties 07:34 , Sami Quadri Armed forces minister James Heappey said he had some confidence that Israel could conduct an intel-led precision operation seeking to separate civilians from combatants. Asked how the operation might work, he told Times Radio: The practical nature is that you do your absolute best to seek to separate the civilian population from the combatants. You do your absolute best to target with precision, and clearly the success of this operation will depend on the accuracy of Israeli intelligence. My knowledge of the Israeli Defence Forces and the Israeli intelligence system is that they are extraordinarily capable intelligence-gathering operation, so I have some confidence that if anybody can do that sort of intel-led precision operation, they can. Malaysia unwilling to condemn Hamas 07:35 , Debasish Sarmah Malaysia does not agree with Western pressure to condemn Palestinian militant group Hamas, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Monday. I said that we, as a policy, have a relationship with Hamas from before and this will continue, Anwar told parliament. As such, we don't agree with their pressuring attitude, as Hamas too won in Gaza freely through elections and Gazans chose them to lead. Palestinians living in Malaysia gather to protest in solidarity in the wake of the conflict between Israel and Hamas (Getty Images) Israel denies reports of humanitarian truce 07:44 , Sami Quadri Israel has denied reports that a truce was under way in southern Gaza, half an hour after security sources in neighbouring Egypt said such a deal was due to be implemented. There is currently no truce and humanitarian aid in Gaza in exchange for getting foreigners out, a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said. Israel doing everything it reasonably can to keep civilians safe, says armed forces minister 08:06 , Sami Quadri Armed forces minister James Heappey said he believes Israel is doing everything it reasonably can to tell people in Gaza where to move ahead of an imminent offensive. They are telling the population of Gaza where they can move to in order to be safe and that is in stark contrast to Hamas who are telling them to stay put in order to maintain their human shield, he told Sky News. Asked about photos surfacing over the weekend which appeared to show two women, one of whom appeared to be wearing a sticker of a paraglider, at a pro-Palestine march, the minister said: I think that that celebration and glorification of what happened last Saturday is despicable. Im glad the police are acting and I hope that those two particularly are found, he added. Mr Heappey warned nobody should pretend that this is going to be anything other than horrific ahead of the offensive. The longer that Hamas has to melt away the more that Israel will be left striking at shadows and the more Hamas will go on both to the detmrinet of the Palestinian people in Gaza and to innocent Israelis on the other side of the border too. At least 2,750 Palestinians killed following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, says health ministry 08:09 , Sami Quadri At least 2,750 Palestinians have been killed and 9,700 wounded in Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip since October 7, the enclave's health ministry said on Monday. Pictured: Hezbollah supporters hold funeral in southern Lebanon for fighter killed in cross-border clash with Israel 08:19 , Sami Quadri (AFP via Getty Images) UK is encouraging Israel to balance militarism with humanitarian efforts 08:22 , Sami Quadri Armed forces minister James Heappey said the UK is encouraging Israel to ensure it balances military and humanitarian efforts. Asked whether the Government supports the blockade of water, medical supplies and power from Gaza, he told LBC: I think what we are recognising is that there is military necessity rubbing up against humanitarian necessity and what were saying to Israel is that they need and are, need to show the balance between those two imperatives. Echoing US secretary of state Antony Blinken, Mr Heappey said democracies hold themselves to a higher standard and of course we are encouraging Israel to make sure it does hold itself to that higher standard. He added: It is the devils own choice that Israel has got to make but for my money they are balancing correctly the need to preserve innocent human life as best they possibly can while accepting that the adversary that they will soon launch an attack on, uses humans and shields and deliberately seeks to hide within civilian population and infrastructure. China says four Chinese nationals killed in Israel-Hamas conflict 08:24 , Sami Quadri China's foreign ministry said on Monday that four Chinese nationals had been killed, with two missing and six injured in the conflict between Israel and Hamas. At present, commercial flights between China and Israel are still in operation, the ministry said. Hamas denies reports on opening of Rafah border crossing and temporary ceasefire 08:27 , Sami Quadri Hamas official Izzat El Reshiq told Reuters on Monday that there was no truth to reports about the opening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt or a temporary ceasefire. Egyptian security sources had told Reuters earlier that an agreement had been reached to open the border crossing to allow aid into the enclave from 6am GMT. German Chancellor to visit Israel 08:35 , Sami Quadri German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will travel to Israel on Tuesday, broadcaster ntv reported, citing government sources. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was in Israel last week. Pictured: Destruction at Gazas Jabalia refugee camp following Israeli airstrikes 08:38 , Sami Quadri (via REUTERS) (via REUTERS) Russian foreign minister meets with Chinese officials to discuss Israel-Hamas conflict 08:49 , Debasish Sarmah Chinas foreign minister Wang Yi discussed the Israel-Hamas conflict during a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday. The urgent task is a ceasefire and building of a humanitarian aid channel, Wang said in the meeting. Wang also urged China and Russia to deepen strategic mutual trust, his ministry added. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attend a meeting in Beijing (via REUTERS) Hamas says 1,000 dead Palestinians remain under rubble 09:01 , Sami Quadri More than 1,000 Palestinians are trapped under the rubble in Gaza, a spokesman for the Hamas Interior Ministry said on Monday, warning of a humanitarian and environmental crisis. Israeli ground operation in Gaza will leave civilian population very badly affected 09:13 , Sami Quadri Armed forces minister James Heappey said it is almost inevitable that the operation in Gaza will see an innocent civilian population that is very badly affected. He told ITVs Good Morning Britain: I think you have to be clear that international law allows Israel to prosecute a mission that is legal, proportionate and necessary, and that, Im afraid, does not necessarily mean that Israel has to be able to guarantee that there will be no civilian loss of life. It is almost inevitable, given the complexity of the mission, that there will be (an) innocent civilian population that is very badly affected. I just dont think theres any point pretending otherwise. Asked about the possibility of opening the Rafah crossing into Egypt for people fleeing Gaza, Mr Heappey welcomed the prospect but said it is important to sound a note of caution that the reports might be more optimistic than reality. Pictured: Palestinian rescuers stand on rubble of a building following Israeli airstrike in Rafah 09:24 , Sami Quadri (AFP via Getty Images) 199 hostages held in Gaza 09:29 , Sami Quadri The Israeli military has said 199 hostages are being held in Gaza, a higher figure than previous estimates. Top EU official convenes summit to deal with a fallout from the Israel-Hamas war 09:51 , Sami Quadri European Union leaders will hold an emergency summit on Tuesday as concerns grow that the war between Israel and Hamas could fuel inter-communal tensions in Europe and bring more refugees in search of sanctuary. This conflict has many consequences, including for us in the European Union, EU Council President Charles Michel said in a video statement announcing that he had convened the virtual meeting. The conflict could have major security consequences for our societies. Pictured: UN-flagged fuel trucks head towards Gaza border crossing, 09:56 , Sami Quadri (REUTERS) Yellen: Too early to speculate on economic consequences from Israel conflict 10:26 , Sami Quadri US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Monday it was too early to speculate on the economic consequences of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and that the impact would depend on whether the conflict spread to the wider region. It's too early to speculate on whether or not there will be significant consequences, she told Sky News. I think importantly it depends on whether the hostilities extend beyond Israel and Gaza, and that's certainly an outcome we would like to avoid. Egypt: Israel has not allowed Rafah crossing to open from Gaza 10:43 , Debasish Sarmah Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said on Monday that the Israeli government had not yet allowed the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip to open. Egypt has tried to keep the Rafah crossing operational since the conflict broke out, Shoukry said, calling the situation faced by the Palestinian people in Gaza dangerous. Palestinians, some with foreign passports hoping to cross into Egypt (AFP via Getty Images) UK is doing all it can to support families of British hostages held by Hamas' 10:47 , Sami Quadri Rishi Sunak said ministers are doing everything we can to provide support to British families who have loved ones taken hostage by Hamas. Speaking to broadcasters on a visit to a Jewish secondary school in north London, the Prime Minister said: I know it's an anxious time for many families who will have loved ones who are impacted or missing. We're providing all the consular support through the Foreign Office that we can and also providing direct support to the Israelis. And the humanitarian situation is one which of course we're concerned about, and that I've raised in all the calls and interactions I've had with other leaders from across the region. And in particular, making sure that we can try and get the Rafah crossing open, that will ease the humanitarian situation. We will continue to do everything we can to alleviate the humanitarian situation on the ground, including moving some of our Royal Navy assets into the region who can provide further support as required. Celebrating deaths in Israel and Gaza is despicable, says minister 11:09 , Debasish Sarmah Armed forces minister James Heappey has condemned protesters who glorify the loss of life in Israel and Gaza amid a police hunt for two women who wore stickers appearing to feature Hamas attackers. The Metropolitan Police has appealed for information about the pair, who had pictures of paragliders taped to the back of their jackets at protests in London at the weekend. Hamas, which is classed as a terrorist organisation in the UK, used paragliders as part of its attack on Israel on October 7. Mr Heappey told Sky News: I think that that celebration and glorification of what happened last Saturday is despicable. I was a soldier, now Im a minister in defence. Never once have I celebrated the demise of my adversaries, and so even if those women who were wearing those stickers regard Israelis as their enemy, even if they want to see them remove the state of Israel, the idea that they celebrate and glorify that loss of human life is just despicable to me. And Im glad police are acting and I hope those two particularly are found. Armed forces minister James Heappey on Sky News (Sky News) UN official heads to Middle East for Gaza aid talks 11:18 , Sami Quadri UN aid chief Martin Griffiths said on Monday he will travel to the Middle East to support negotiations on getting aid into the blockaded Gaza Strip. Griffiths said his office was in deep discussions with Israel, Egypt and others. I shall be going myself tomorrow to the region to try to help in the negotiations, to try to bear witness and to express solidarity with the extraordinary courage of the many thousands of aid workers who have stayed the course and who are still there helping the people in Gaza and in the West Bank, he said in a statement. Israeli radio warns of possible infiltration in city near Lebanon border 11:39 , Sami Quadri Israel's Kan radio reported on Monday that residents in the northern city of Metulla, near the Lebanese border, were being ordered to stay indoors due to a possible armed infiltration. There was no immediate confirmation from Israeli authorities. Hamas says Israel has not resumed water supplies in Gaza 11:53 , Sami Quadri Israel has not resumed water supplies for Gaza, spokesman of Hamas interior ministry Eyad Al-Bozom said on Monday. The residents drink unhealthy water, posing a serious health crisis threatens the lives of the citizens, he added. Pictured: Palestinian boys sit on building rubble after Israeli airstrike in Gaza Strip 12:12 , Sami Quadri (AP) (AP) Ministers press for opening of Rafah crossing to allow Britons to flee Gaza 12:31 , Sami Quadri Ministers have been pressing for Egypt to open the Rafah crossing to allow Britons to flee Gaza and to reduce the almost inevitable impact on civilians of the conflict with Israel. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Monday that an imminent Israeli military operation must focus on Hamas as he raised concerns about a regional escalation. British officials are working with the Egyptian authorities in an effort to facilitate British and dual nationals, as well as their spouses and children, to leave Gaza through the border. Speaking to broadcasters on a visit to a Jewish secondary school in north London, Mr Sunak said: Were providing all the consular support through the Foreign Office that we can and also providing direct support to the Israelis. And the humanitarian situation is one which of course were concerned about, and that Ive raised in all the calls and interactions Ive had with other leaders from across the region. And in particular, making sure that we can try and get the Rafah crossing open, that will ease the humanitarian situation. Sunak to provide update on missing British nationals in Gaza this afternoon 12:41 , Sami Quadri Rishi Sunak will provide the latest possible update about British nationals in Gaza this afternoon, Downing Street said, but warned the situation was fast-moving and complicated. The Prime Ministers official spokesman said: We know that several British nationals sadly have been killed. Others are missing. You can expect the Prime Minister to provide the latest possible updates on this in his statement later today. In the meantime we are assisting families and our thoughts are with those who are facing unimaginable uncertainty and fear because of these despicable attacks. Downing Street: Abhorrent for pro-Palestinian activists to display Hamas images 12:57 , Sami Quadri The Prime Ministers official spokesman said it was abhorrent that pro-Palestinian protesters reportedly displayed images of Hamas attackers during demonstrations. It comes after the Metropolitan Police appealed for information about two women who had pictures of paragliders taped to the back of their jackets at protests in London at the weekend. Rishi Sunaks spokesman told reporters: It is abhorrent. It is hard to conceive of a situation where people would want to show support for individuals that committed a terrorist attack which saw children, babies slaughtered. It is hard to put into words. He said such alleged behaviour was an example of why we must rightly show support for the Jewish community in the UK. The No 10 official also said police forces had been given clarity on behaviour at protests so they could apply the full force of the law where necessary. Hezbollah destroys Israeli surveillance cameras along the Lebanese border 13:25 , Sami Quadri Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group said Monday it has started destroying surveillance cameras on several Israeli army posts along the border. Hezbollah's media arm released a video showing snipers shooting at and destroying surveillance cameras along the Lebanon-Israel border including one outside the Israeli town of Metula. France accuses Hamas of preventing civilians fleeing harms way 13:51 , Debasish Sarmah France has accused Hamas of preventing them civilians from fleeing harms way as it urged for more humanitarian supplies to be delivered. The message was delivered Monday by French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna on a visit to Egypt, following talks the previous day with officials in Israel. The blockade doesn't respect humanitarian law," she said. Humanitarian aid must be permitted to enter Gaza, because it's unacceptable to leave women, men, children who aren't responsible for Hamas' crimes suffering like this." Ms Colonna also accused Hamas of preventing people from leaving Gaza. It's unacceptable," she said. French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna listens to her Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry during their joint press conference (AP) More than 1,000 people missing under rubble in Gaza, says official 14:06 , Debasish Sarmah More than 1,000 are still missing under houses and buildings destroyed in Israeli air strikes on Gaza, according to a Hamas-run ministry. Eyad Al-Bozom, spokesman for the Hamas-run interior in Gaza, told the BBCC at least 2,750 Palestinians have been killed and 9,700 wounded. He said that 58 were killed and more than 1,250 wounded in the West Bank. Palestinians work to clear the rubble of a collapsed building following an Israeli airstrike (AFP via Getty Images) Pictured: Demonstrators take part in a pro-Palestine protest in the West Bank 14:35 , Sami Quadri (REUTERS) (REUTERS) (REUTERS) MPs observe minutes silence in the Commons 14:45 , Sami Quadri MPs and peers have observed a minutes silence in the Commons and Lords. Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said: I know that members across the whole House will have been shocked by the recent terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas. I invite the House to stand with me and observe a minutes silence in recognition of all those innocent Israelis, Palestinians and others who have lost their lives, all those taken hostage and all those affected by this conflict in the region. (House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA Wire) Netanyahu warns Iran and Hezbollah not to test us' 15:05 , Sami Quadri Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Iran and Hezbollah not to test us in the north. Mr Netanyahu gave a speech in the Israeli Knesset on Monday in which he said the world needed to unite to defeat Hamas. He said this war is also your war, and he compared Hamas to the Nazis. Pictured: Israeli soldiers ride to Gaza Strip border in armoured vehicles 15:26 , Sami Quadri (AFP via Getty Images) (AFP via Getty Images) Erdogan tells Sunak that West should refrain from provocative steps on Israel-Palestine conflict 15:33 , Sami Quadri Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in a call on Monday that Western countries should refrain from provocative steps regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Turkish presidency said. Erdogan also told Sunak that Western powers must remember the unkept promises to Palestine and do what is necessary, the presidency said on social messaging platform X. It said the two also discussed the resolution of the grave humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Six British citizens killed and 10 missing after Hamas attacks in Israel 15:42 , Sami Quadri Rishi Sunak has said six British citizens were killed and a further 10 are missing after the Hamas attacks in Israel. The Prime Minister told the Commons: The attacks in Israel last weekend shocked the world. Over 1,400 people murdered one by one, over 3,500 wounded, almost 200 taken hostage. He went on: We should call it by its name: it was a pogrom. The families of some of the missing are in the public gallery today. We call for the immediate release of all hostages and I say to them: we stand with you. We stand with Israel. The murdered and the missing come from over 30 countries, including the United Kingdom. The terrible nature of these attacks means it is proving difficult to identify many of the deceased but with a heavy heart I can inform the House that at least six British citizens were killed. A further 10 are missing, some of whom are feared to be among the dead. UK to provide an additional 10m of humanitarian aid to Palestinians 15:56 , Sami Quadri Rishi Sunak said of British military personnel in the eastern Mediterranean: We are not engaging in fighting or an offensive in Gaza, but were increasing our presence to prevent broader regional instability at this dangerous moment. On aid to Palestinians, he added: I can announce today that we are increasing our aid by a third with an additional 10 million of support. An acute humanitarian crisis is unfolding to which we must respond. We must support the Palestinian people because they are victims of Hamas too. Like our allies, we believe that Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people or their legitimate aspirations to live with equal measures of security, freedom, justice, opportunity and dignity. Hamas simply does not stand for the future that the Palestinians want and they seek to put the Palestinian people in harms way. So we must ensure humanitarian support urgently reaches civilians in Gaza. This requires Egypt and Israel to allow in the aid that is so badly needed. We also need to keep the situation in the West Bank in the forefront of our minds at this moment of heightened sensitivity. Earlier today I spoke to Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority, to express our support for his efforts to provide stability. Starmer says Labour stands with Israel' 16:07 , Sami Quadri It is crucial the House of Commons speaks with one voice to condemn terror and support Israel, Sir Keir Starmer has said. The Labour leader told MPs: As in any time of grave crisis, it is crucial that this House speaks with one voice in condemnation of terror, in support for Israel in its time of agony and for the dignity of all human life. Sir Keir said Hamas do not wish to see peace in the Middle East, adding: But Hamas are not the Palestinian people and the Palestinian people are not Hamas. So Labour stands with Israel, Britain stands with Israel. The attack is ongoing, terrorists are at large, hostages are still being held, some of them British citizens. Israel has the right to bring her people home, to defend herself, to keep its people safe. And whilst Hamas has the capability to carry out attacks on Israeli territory, there can be no safety. Theresa May says Government must try to prevent regional escalation 16:15 , Sami Quadri The Prime Minister must ensure no stone is left unturned in ensuring the conflict in the Middle East does not escalate, Theresa May has said. The Conservative former prime minister told the Commons: The attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists was barbaric. Terrorists must be defeated whoever they are, wherever they are. Can I commend the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary for the stance that the Government has taken in support of the Jewish community here in the UK, in support of Israel and its right to defend itself. I welcome the Prime Ministers statement that action must be taken in line with international humanitarian law. But will he commit today that the Government will leave no stone unturned in its efforts to prevent regional escalation of the conflict, and in doing so will he reflect on the role of Iran? Rishi Sunak responded: I can give her that reassurance as something that we have discussed extensively with partners in the region but also why last week I deployed surveillance aircraft and assets to the Mediterranean. They are already engaged with ensuring that arms shipments do not find their way to people like Hezbollah, and Iran does not see this as as opportunity to escalate the conflict. Riz Ahmed calls for an end to indiscriminate bombing of Gazas civilians 16:21 , Sami Quadri Actor Riz Ahmed has called for an end to the indiscriminate bombing of Gazas civilians amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. The British actor, 40, who was nominated for an Oscar for The Sound Of Metal, said staying silent is not an option as he blasted the morally indefensible war crimes. In a statement on social media, he wrote: If we are on the side of humanity we must urgently speak up to try and avert the loss of innocent life. This means calling for an end to the indiscriminate bombing of Gazas civilians and vital infrastructure, the denial of food, water and electricity, the forced displacement of people from their homes. These are morally indefensible war crimes. Labour MP says Palestinians are facing collective punishment 16:24 , Sami Quadri Labour MP Richard Burgon told the Commons that Palestinians are being subject to collective punishment, which he said is a war crime. The MP for Leeds East told the Commons: The massacre of Israeli citizens was a heinous act of terrorism which we all utterly condemn, and the hostages must be released immediately. In the words of the United Nations general secretary, the horrific acts by Hamas do not justify responding with collective punishment of the Palestinian people. But that is what were seeing in Gaza civilian areas bombed, food, electricity, water, medicines, all cut off. Such collective punishment is a war crime under the Geneva Conventions. So will the Prime Minister take this opportunity to make clear to the Israeli government that this collective punishment of Palestinian civilians must end immediately? Other MPs could be heard appearing to condemn Mr Burgons remarks, saying shame and disgraceful. BBC responds to Hamas terrorism row 16:46 , Tom Davidson The BBC said it has given careful consideration to all aspects of its coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict. The broadcaster has received complaints that its reporting has been biased against both Israel and Palestinians. In a published statement, the BBC said: Careful consideration has been given to all aspects of our coverage to ensure that we report on developments accurately and with due impartiality in line with the BBC editorial guidelines, which are publicly available. It added: We understand that this is an extremely worrying time for people not only in the region, but also in the UK and around the world, and we have reflected this in our coverage. BBC News has provided our global audiences with coverage and first-hand testimony of the atrocities committed by Hamas and the suffering in Gaza. Speaking about its decision not to describe Hamas as a terrorist organisation, it said: The BBC, along with many other UK and global news organisations, does use the word terrorist, but attributes it. We have made clear to our audiences that Hamas is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK and other governments. The numbers of complaints are in the higher hundreds, not in the thousands, and there is a handful of numbers difference between the complaints totals for perceived Israeli and Palestinian bias, the PA news agency understands. Rishi Sunak has spoken to Palestinian counterpart today 17:22 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks Rishi Sunak says he spoke to Palestines President Abbas today, writing on X, formerly Twitter: We condemned the horrific actions of Hamas and agreed they do not represent the Palestinian people. I offered my support to the Palestinian Authority in working to pursue peace and stability in the region. I spoke to President Abbas earlier. We condemned the horrific actions of Hamas and agreed they do not represent the Palestinian people. I offered my support to the Palestinian Authority in working to pursue peace and stability in the region. pic.twitter.com/TXoygPamDP Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) October 16, 2023 Israel military says 199 hostages being held in Gaza 17:32 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks The Israeli military has said 199 people are being held hostage in Gaza by Hamas militants - higher than previous estimates which put the figure at somewhere over 120. Hamas carries out fresh missile attack on Israel 17:37 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks The armed wing of Palestinian militant group Hamas says it has fired a barrage of missiles on Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Al Qassam Brigades said in a statement that its attack came in response to Israels targeting of civilians Two British sisters among those missing from Israel, says BBC 18:21 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks Two teenage sisters, 13 and 16, are among 10 British people missing following Hamas attack on Israel, the BBC is reporting. The sisters are reportedly named Noiya and Yahel, and are thought to have been kidnapped from Kibbutz Beeri before being taken into Gaza, says the BBC. It comes after Rishi Sunak confirmed six British people have been killed in Hamas attacks on Israel, while 10 remain missing. Protestors gather outside BBC Broadcasting House 18:27 , Tom Davidson Protestors have gathered outside BBC Broadcasting House in central London to urge the broadcaster to call Hamas terrorists. Many waved Israeli flags while others held placards with pictures of Israeli children kidnapped by Hamas. One placard said BBC if the King can call Hamas terrorists so can you while another said BBC! Hamas are terrorists, not militants! BBC booed at central London rally 19:16 , Tom Davidson The BBC was booed as during a rally in central London against its reporting over the Israel-Hamas conflict, with speakers from the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) and UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) taking part. Hundreds of protesters joined the event outside Broadcasting House, with the crowd stretching up to Regent Street. Protesters shouted dont pay the licence, shame and Hamas is Isis as they heard from podcaster Jonny Gould. The National Jewish Assembly hosted the rally in collaboration with the UKLFI, CAA and the European Jewish Association. Before declaring her candidacy for the Tennessee state House, 28-year-old Allie Phillips joined a lawsuit that challenged conservative states' sweeping abortion bans Werner Vision formally Kaitlin Pointer Photography Allie Phillips, candidate for Tennessee state House A Tennessee woman is aiming to change her state's politics from within after being denied an abortion under Tennessee law. Allie Phillips joined a lawsuit to challenge sweeping abortion bans after she was forced to travel out of state for an emergency procedure in March. Now, the Democrat is taking her reproductive rights activism to a new level, declaring her candidacy for Tennessee House District 75 a seat currently held by freshman Republican state Rep. Jeff Burkhart. "I'm not a polished politician or a millionaire," Phillips, 28, wrote on her Instagram. "I'm a mom, a sister, a daughter, a wife and a friend and I believe that Tennessee can change for the better." Related: Louisiana Mom Says She Was Denied an Abortion Even Though Baby Has Terminal Condition In late 2022, Phillips and her husband, Bryan, faced a heart-wrenching situation when their expected child, Miley Rose, was diagnosed with a fatal condition at 19 weeks. Upon receiving the news, Phillips and her husband felt that termination was their best option. However, with Tennessee's stringent abortion ban that came into effect in August 2022, Phillips was forced to travel to New York alone to receive the procedure. Related: Tenn. Doctor Details Patient's Experience Being Unable to Get Pills to Complete Her Miscarriage My doctor informed me that if I chose to stay pregnant, I would be putting my own life at risk, Phillips stated in her campaign video. I had to make the hard decision to terminate my pregnancy and Tennessee law made it impossible to get it here. It wasnt until Phillips arrived at the clinic in New York when she learned that her daughter's heart had already stopped beating. To avoid serious health complications like sepsis and blood clots, an emergency abortion was performed. Story continues I was in a city Ive never been in, far away from my family, friends, doctors, caregivers, Phillips shared in a TikTok video that has since gone viral. I was in that clinic alone. I was told my daughters heart had stopped alone. I went into surgery and came out alone. Nobody, nobody should have to go through something like that alone. Related: Celebrities Who Have Shared Their Abortion Stories to Help Women Feel Less Alone Im honored and excited to announce my candidacy for TN House of Representatives District 75! pic.twitter.com/qRgBslDlVT Allie Phillips (@allie4tn) October 2, 2023 Since sharing her story, Phillips has amassed a substantial following, with many resonating deeply with her experience. By September 2023, Phillips was among 12 plaintiffs challenging the abortion bans of Idaho, Tennessee, and Oklahoma, represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights. Speaking exclusively to PEOPLE, Phillips said, "I was personally victimized by my own government. Im tired of watching politicians make laws on topics they know nothing about. I wouldnt be doing my deceased daughter any justice if I didnt fight back." The lawsuit aims to refine the "medical emergency" provisions within abortion bans, ensuring patients can access abortions during critical health crises and allowing doctors to provide care without the threat of legal repercussions. "Pregnant people in Tennessee have suffered needless physical and emotional pain and harm, including loss of their fertility," the lawsuit states. "These pregnant people are not imagined. They are not ideological talking points. They are real people, many with children who depend upon them. Three of them are Plaintiffs in this action." Ted S Warren/AP/Shutterstock Pro-choice protests have become commonplace in the U.S. since the Supreme Court overturned 'Roe v. Wade' in 2022 In April, Tennessee amended its abortion law, permitting doctors to perform abortions based on their "reasonable medical judgement" to prevent death or significant, irreversible harm to a major bodily function. However, Linda Goldstein, senior counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights and lead attorney for the Tennessee case, contends that the current phrasing of the law doesn't provide a genuine exception. 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. While Phillips primary focus will center on reproductive health care, her campaign will also champion public education funding, preventing guns in schools, LGBTQ+ rights (encompassing gender-affirming care), broader health care access, and infrastructure enhancements to aid Clarksville-Nashville commuters. "Now is the time. If the thought has crossed your mind to run or to make change, do it," Phillips told PEOPLE. "Even if everyone else is doubting you, show them what a good fight looks like. Build relationships with the ones that support you and never lose focus of the goal." Formed in 2022 via redistricting, District 75 encompasses the western portion of Montgomery County and Clarksville's west side. The primary is set for Aug. 1, 2024, with the general election on Nov. 5, 2024. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. NORFOLK, Va. I see him! exclaimed 8-year-old Penelope Holbert, vigorously waving. Her father, Petty Officer first class Drew Holbert waved back from a platform at the stern of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. Holbert, an aviation structural mechanic, was one of 5,000 sailors who deployed Saturday aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower the flagship of the Ike carrier strike group. It has long been scheduled to deploy this week to the Mediterranean. Kelly Holbert held the couples 3-year-old son, comforting him as the warship prepared to push off at Naval Station Norfolk. This is Drews second deployment, with the first in 2017. It is different now, Kelly said. We have three children, dogs, we own a house. There is more responsibility for me, and more for him to miss. The Eisenhower is expected to be deployed for about six months. This time, hes gonna miss Halloween which is his favorite holiday Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, our wedding anniversary, his birthday, their birthdays. Hes missing everything, Kelly Holbert said, tears streaking her cheeks. The Eisenhowers deployment comes amid rising tensions in the area. Hamas, which most Western countries have declared a terrorist organization, launched an attack last week on Israel that left more than 1,300 dead after fighters stormed through the border fence and gunned down hundreds of Israelis in their homes, on the streets and at an outdoor music festival. Many were taken hostage. Israel responded by sealing off the Gaza Strip a roughly 25-mile parcel of land wedged between Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea that is home to 2.3 million Palestinians. Israel forces have stopped the entry of food, water, fuel and medicine and are bombarding the region with airstrikes, the Associated Press reported. I am scared, Kelly Holbert said, her voice shaking. Its real now. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin could order the Eisenhower strike group to sail to the eastern Mediterranean. Rear Adm. Marc Miguez, commander of the strike group, did not comment Friday on specific future operations, but said, the global environment is dynamic and the enemy gets a vote. Our deployment will undoubtedly strengthen relationships with our allies and partners. We share the load to deter aggression and if required, deliver overwhelming combat power, he said. The energy on the ship, senior leadership said, is invigorating. Theres a lot of excitement to get forward and strengthen alliances, said Capt. Mitch McAllister, commander of Carrier Air Wing 3. I think you can make an argument right down that NATO has never been more important. Were going to have an opportunity very soon to go forward and operate with our allies and partners. The Virginia Beach strike fighter squadrons known as Gunslingers, Fighting Swordsmen, Rampagers and Wildcats will embark with the group. Norfolk groups include the Screwtops of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 123, the Dusty Dogs of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 7 and the Rawhides of Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 40. The warship will also be supported by Norfolk-based cruiser USS Philippine Sea and destroyer USS Gravely both departed Friday. The USS Mason, a destroyer, departed Friday from Naval Station Mayport in Florida. What we do on a daily basis matters. And we are going to make history in some form, fashion, function, wherever we go, Miguez said. The carrier was scheduled to push off Friday, but experienced a 24-hour delay. It gave us extra time but he was anxious to get going, Carol Maher said of her grandson Mason Dollar, 21. Dollar is an aircrew survival equipmentman for an embarked helicopter squadron. His grandma and three cousins made the drive from Texas to see him off for his first deployment. We know what is going on in the world, Maher said, tears forming in her eyes. It is a bit scary for all the sailors. Maher said she feels sadness and anxiety, and through all that pride. God will be with them, Maher said. And we will see them all when they get back. 2023 The Virginian-Pilot. Visit pilotonline.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. WASHINGTON President Joe Biden is considering a trip to Israel in the coming days but no travel has been finalized, a senior administration official said Sunday. It would be a powerful symbol of sympathy and support following the brutal attack by Hamas. A trip would be a chance for Biden to personally affirm to the Israeli people the U.S. is standing firm behind them. But it would come amid growing fears that a looming Israeli move into Gaza could spark a wider war with devastating humanitarian consequences. And Bidens presence could be seen as a provocative move by Hamas chief sponsor, Iran, or potentially viewed as tone deaf by Arab nations as civilian casualties mount in Gaza. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has already been traveling around the Mideast this past week trying to prevent the war with Hamas from igniting a broader regional conflict. The official could not publicly discuss internal deliberations about the potential presidential travel and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Biden also made his strongest public statements yet to restrain Israel after the Oct. 7 attack that killed more than 1,400 people including at least 30 U.S. citizens, warning in an interview with CBS' 60 Minutes that aired Sunday that Israel should not reoccupy Gaza. I think itd be a big mistake, Biden said. Look, what happened in Gaza, in my view, is Hamas, and the extreme elements of Hamas dont represent all the Palestinian people. And I think that it would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza again. Israel left Gaza in 2005; Hamas won the elections the next year. Still, Biden said, taking out the extremists ... is a necessary requirement. Biden and his administration officials have refused to criticize Israel or its bombing campaign that has killed civilians in Gaza. But they've urged Israel, Egypt and other nations to allow for humanitarian aid and supplies into the worsening conflict zone. Im confident that Israel is going to act under the rules of war," Biden said in the interview. Theres standards that democratic institutions and countries go by. And Im confident that theres going to be an ability for the innocents in Gaza to be able to have access to medicine and food and water." Blinken, meanwhile, heard criticism of Israel's military operation from Egypt President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. After Cairo he traveled on to Jordan and planned to return to Israel on Monday, carrying to Israeli leaders the feedback he received in a rush of meetings with leaders throughout the Arab world. Egypts state-run media said el-Sissi told Blinken that Israels Gaza operation has exceeded the right of self-defense and turned into a collective punishment. Blinken told reporters before leaving Egypt that Israel has the right, indeed it has the obligation to defend itself against these attacks from Hamas and to try to do what it can to make sure that this never happens again. Mindful of the potential human cost in Gaza, Blinken said the way that Israel does this matters. It needs to do it in a way that affirms the shared values that we have for human life and human dignity, taking every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians. Earlier Sunday, the envoy met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, talks that built upon earlier sessions with the leaders of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. Blinken said that what he heard in every meeting with Arab leaders was a determination of shared view that we have to do everything possible to make sure this doesnt spread to other places, a shared view to safeguard innocent lives, a shared view to get assistance to Palestinians in Gaza who need it and were working very much on that. The White House also appointed David Satterfield, a former ambassador to Lebanon and Turkey, to lead U.S. efforts to get humanitarian assistance to vulnerable people through the Middle East. Satterfield was expected to arrive in Israel on Monday. From Washington, Bidens national security adviser said the U.S. was not making requests or demands of Israel with respect to its military operations. Jake Sullivan, making the rounds of the Sunday TV news shows, said the administration was simply stating our basic principles the principles upon which this country is based and all democracies, including Israel, are based. Its what makes us different from the terrorists, that in fact we respect civilian life. He said the U.S. was not interfering in their military planning or trying to give them instructions or requests specific. Sullivan said the U.S. is conveying the message in public and in private that all military operations should be conducted consistent with law of war, that civilians should be protected, that civilians should have a real opportunity to get to safety and have access to food, water, medicine and shelter. Those remarks marked a shift in the U.S. administrations comments in recent days as officials have heard concerns from Arab leaders. Those leaders expressed the consequences of what a humanitarian catastrophe resulting from an Israeli ground offensive would do not only to Palestinians but also in inflaming public opinions in Arab nations and potentially destabilizing relatively friendly countries. Sullivan also said the U.S. has been unable so far to get American citizens out of Gaza through Egypts Rafah crossing with Gaza. Blinken made clear in Egypt that the U.S. will not waver in supporting Israel, saying, We will stand with it today, tomorrow and every day and were doing that in word and also in deed. In his roughly hourlong meeting with Prince Mohammed at the de facto Saudi leaders private farm outside Riyadh, Blinken highlighted the United States unwavering focus on halting terrorist attacks by Hamas, securing the release of all hostages, and preventing the conflict from spreading, the State Department said. The two affirmed their shared commitment to protecting civilians and to advancing stability across the Middle East and beyond, according to a department statement. The Saudi description of the meeting focused primarily on Palestinian civilians, echoing the sentiments that the other Arab leaders with whom Blinken has met. It said Saudi Arabia would object to the targeting of civilians in any way or disrupt(ing) infrastructure and vital interests that affect their daily lives. The prince stressed the need to work to discuss ways to stop the military operations that claimed the lives of innocent people, the Saudi Press Agency said in a report about the meeting. ___ Lee reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Sam Magdy in Cairo and Michelle L. Price in New York contributed to this report. The Coast Guard is expanding its engagement in the Pacific and beyond to tackle illegal fishing and respond to environmental disasters. Its new Indo-Pacific Marine Environmental Response Regional Activity Center and the Illegal Unreported and Unregulated Fishing Center of Expertise will be key in the battle as the Coast Guard plays an increasingly prominent role in American geopolitical strategy. In the White House's 2022 Indo-Pacific Strategy, it is the only military service specifically named, calling for bolstering its presence and working more with other countries. At the ribbon-cutting on Wednesday for the new centers on Ford Island, Vice Adm. Andrew Tiongson, the California-based commander for Coast Guard Pacific Area, told Coast Guardsmen that his task is nothing new to their service, "but today there is greater demand for your Coast Guard than ever before ... (these new units ) strategically positioned here in Hawaii will fulfill exactly what the Indo-Pacific strategy directs." Tiongson told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that opening the new offices made him think about the recent sinking of the oil tanker MT Princess Empress in February that spilled 260, 000 gallons of industrial fuel in the Philippines. The disaster response brought in ships from American, Japanese and South Korean coast guards along with experts from all three countries to help Philippine authorities clean up the toxic mess. He said that in situations like that, gathering the right team of experts is critical. "We do that now, but we do that on an ad-hoc basis, " said Tiongson. "Now we're talking about having a dedicated force that talks about that, can do that, or can direct to the right people to have that done ... you have a venue to do those kinds of things and the people and the expertise that are here." He said placing them in the middle of the Pacific in Hawaii was no afterthought. The Coast Guard envisions bringing together experts from across the U.S. as well as countries around the world to the new centers on Ford Island, which operate out of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Daniel K. Inouye Regional Center. "A lot of our partners have some great methods on how they do things, (so let's ) see and learn from each other so that we can be better together at maritime governance, " said Tiongson. The ocean plays a central role in the modern global economy ; the majority of international trade travels on merchant vessels hauling everything from food and fertilizer to oil and gas. But the ocean is also an infamously lawless place. Transnational criminal groups regularly take to the sea to move black market goods and evade the law. And in both coastal and international waters, many ostensibly legitimate enterprises regularly flout safety, labor and environmental regulationsoften at catastrophic risk to both human and ocean life. Today environmental concerns are increasingly becoming national security concerns. Threats from climate change have many Pacific Island nations worried about their survival. Tiongson said that "small low-lying islands, they're worried about sea level rise, they're worried about droughts, they're getting pummeled by increasing typhoons." Indo-Pacific Marine Environmental Response Regional Activity Center, or "the RAC, " as coasties have begun calling it, is aimed at tackling both natural and man-made disasters. Rear Adm. Jo-Ann Burdian, the Coast Guard's Assistant Commandant for Response Policy in Washington, D.C., who played a key role in getting the two new units established in Hawaii, said that the RAC can help "understand the needs of partners and help build capacity to respond to oil spills as we increase human activity on water." As for the Illegal Unreported and Unregulated Fishing Center of Expertise, Tiongson said he hopes it "will act as the international engagement center for combating IUU fishing throughout the world." In 2020 the Coast Guard declared that IUU fishing had surpassed piracy as the greatest global security threat on the high seas. The service warned that rampant overfishing has already caused environmental and economic devastation to some coastal communities that depend on fishing for food and employment. An estimated 80 % of the world's fish stocks are nearly depleted. Competition over dwindling fish stocks around the world has led to violence at sea between fishermen that has at times escalated to diplomatic spats. Disputes over fishing rights in the South China Sea, once one of the world's most plentiful fisheries, has become especially fierce. China, which has the world's largest fishing fleet, has been accused of using a mix of its naval forces and "maritime militias " to stake out disputed fishing grounds and force out fishermen from the Philippines and Vietnamsometimes violently. As East Asian countries grow in population, seafood is often a critical source of protein, especially in coastal communities. But as fishermen find it harder to fish at home, many are traveling farther and joining "distance fishing fleets " around the globe. This hasn't gone unnoticed off Hawaii's shores, where in recent years some Hawaii fishermen have reported an increase in sightings of foreign industrial vessels around the islands and occasional aggressive interactions. In March 2020 the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council in Hono lulu sent a letter to the U.S. State Department after a violent encounter between a Taiwanese vessel and a Honolulu longliner, demanding officials "follow up on complaints of assault by foreign fishing vessels on the Hawaii-based U.S. longline fishery and take appropriate diplomatic actions." But while the sea can be a lawless and sometimes dangerous place, it's also not without its own code. In March, when Honolulu-based fishing longliner Sea Smile sank 545 miles southwest of Hawaii at night, Taiwanese fishing vessel Ying Rong No. 638 heeded a request for help from the Coast Guard to aid the crew. By midnight the Taiwanese vessel had successfully found and rescued all six of the Honolulu crew. "All of us rely upon the ocean for our prosperity, for our security, " said Burdian. "What we owe in return is this work to build the resilience of our oceans, to defend this domain that gives us so, so much." ___ (c)2023 The Honolulu Star-Advertiser Visit The Honolulu Star-Advertiser at www.staradvertiser.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Army Secretary Christine Wormuth knows her force is overworked despite there being no major ongoing conflict involving American troops. She's balancing a tough dichotomy: Keep soldiers trained for war while nurturing the force's quality of life. She's also hoping that a force that feels taken care of will stay in and hypothetically recommend service to others, helping a dire recruiting situation. "We are looking at where we can take things off soldiers' plates," Wormuth told Military.com in an interview last week. "We have to message to our leaders that quality of life and making [operational] tempo manageable is important." Her top officer, Gen. Randy George, agrees, telling reporters at a press conference last week, "The big thing is training management, and part of training management is saying 'no,' and that needs to happen at every level." Read Next: The 5 Top Concerns of Army Families - and What the Service Plans to Do About Them But those wishes are just that -- hopes that commanders across the force will maybe do one less gunnery or expert badge event. Subordinate commanders, however, are unlikely to say no to the idea of training goals sent down from uniformed leadership. Officers' careers live and die by metrics, something that isn't measured with time off, and every ounce of training tends to help buoy those numbers for evaluations. After the end of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, troops might have had reason to be optimistic their operational tempo would become more manageable and that they would get to spend more time with their family and on themselves. But that never happened. In many cases, soldiers are spending more time away from home now than during the peak of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The issue isn't just deployments abroad, it's near-constant training exercises at home, and commanders insisting on filling in empty days on their training calendars, typically referred to as white space. Many of the soldiers currently in leadership positions came of age during that era of frantic schedules, a fact that has normalized an unrelenting pace of responsibilities bundled under the term operational tempo, or op tempo. Planners have a delicate balance to achieve. The service has taken on a workload spreading the Army thin around the globe to deter two contemporary threats, Russia and China, while also continuing legacy missions from the Global War on Terrorism era. Recent years have seen dedicated missions in Djibouti, Syria, Somalia and Kosovo, to name a few, with 20,000 National Guard soldiers serving overseas. Meanwhile, another 13,000 troops are in Poland and Romania as part of NATO's commitment to bolster its front lines amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "We are large enough to do what the national defense strategy calls us to do and what the [secretary of defense] and what the president has called us to do," Wormuth said. "That said, our op tempo now is pretty much as high as it's been during the Global War on Terrorism." Time away from home comes with serving in the military. But soldiers and families have grown increasingly wary of extended time away when there isn't a major war to prosecute. And even if soldiers aren't sent overseas, in some cases the constant training while at home can be very taxing. "Those times were some of the toughest times," Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Weimer told Military.com in an interview. "When you're gone, you're gone. But when I was home and I was working nights, because we train to fight at night, it was actually a little bit more disruptive." At the center of the operational tempo concern is Combat Training Center, or CTC, rotations. Those three-week wargame exercises are broadly seen as the gold standard for ground combat training, which is where the Army gets as close as it can to mimicking a combat deployment. Wormuth doesn't foresee any downscaling of those events. Those rotations, which cost up to $25 million each, involve a lot of advance training that can chew up months of a unit's schedule and are seen by commanders as sacrosanct. But time at home can be about safety: Fatal tactical vehicle incidents have often been correlated with sleep deprivation, a lack of maintenance or a lack of training in favor of large-scale field exercises. Some commanders and noncommissioned officers have also linked suicides in the ranks with harsh schedules. "Units heading toward a CTC experience an uptick in suicidal ideations and attempts," Command Sgt. Maj. Nema Mobar, the top enlisted leader of the 10th Mountain Division, told Military.com in a June interview, citing data not reviewed by the publication. Wormuth said there are no plans to reduce CTC rotations. But in the meantime, on the margins, Army planners aim to tweak maintenance schedules for ground vehicles and reduce how many items are in a unit's inventory in a bid to cut the clerical time units have to spend. "We're being asked to do a lot," Weimer said. "We've got tons of exercises going on. But how many is too many? It's human nature, as a leader, you see white space and you feel like [a] need to fill it because I've been told to engage, be engaged. We have to do some subtraction somewhere. Frankly, you need some downtime with your family." -- Steve Beynon can be reached at Steve.Beynon@military.com. Follow him on X @StevenBeynon. Related: Soldiers Are Away from Home Now More than Ever Despite No Major Ongoing Wars 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 LIVONIA, MI - Its finally official. We now know where the location of the second Michigan Portillos Chicago Italian beef restaurant will be after more than a year of eagerly awaiting for confirmation. The restaurant known for its Chicago-style hot dogs and Italian beef sandwiches, as well as char-grilled burgers and chocolate cake, will be located in Livonia in Metro Detroit in Millennium Park at the intersection of I-96 and Middlebelt Road. Portillos opened its first Michigan restaurant in Sterling Heights at 14425 Lakeside Circle in March 2021. Since then, unofficial word came out on the second location and now we know its set in stone. When we opened our first restaurant in Michigan, we quickly knew we wanted to plant deeper roots and expand our footprint in the region, Portillos President and CEO Michael Osanloo said. Weve loved serving the Detroit community since opening in Sterling Heights in 2021, and Livonia gives us even more opportunity to bring our unrivaled Chicago-style street food to both longtime Portillos fans and newcomers. The Livonia location will be designed with a garage theme. The Sterling Heights Portillos has a Michigan auto and music theme with various vintage signs and historic trinkets, along with a 1931 Model T hanging above where patrons dine. The Livonia restaurant will be 7,900 square feet in size with a dining room with seating for more than 175 people. Additionally, there will be a seasonal outdoor patio with room for about 50 more guests. It will also have a carry-out area and double drive-thru lanes. No specific date has been given for the opening, other than it is expected to start serving food before the end of the year. MLive will let you know the exact date when its announced. The Livonia location will soon start hiring managers and shift leaders. You can apply here. You can also sign up for the chance to get a free sneak peek training meal prior to the opening of the Livonia restaurant. Dick Portillo opened his first hot dog stand in Villa Park, Illinois in 1963 called The Dog House. Fast-forward to today where there are more than 75 Portillos restaurants located across 10 states. By Abinaya V and Dietrich Knauth (Reuters) -Debt-laden U.S. drugstore chain Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy protection late on Sunday and said it would close underperforming stores, sell its pharmacy benefit company Elixir and resolve lawsuits over its sale of addictive opioid medications. Rite Aid, one of the largest U.S. pharmacy retailers, stumbled under its high debt, revenue declines, increased competition, and opioid litigation, according to its court filings. Founded in 1962, Rite Aid employs 45,000 people at more than 2,000 retail stores in 17 states, and will remain open for business during the bankruptcy. The company had $24 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2023, filling 200 million prescriptions in the past year. It also had $750 million in losses for fiscal year 2023 while facing mounting litigation costs. The U.S. government has accused Rite Aid of ignoring "red flags" while filling illegal opioids prescriptions, and the company faces 1,600 other opioid lawsuits from state and local governments, hospitals, and individuals. Rite Aid, which has denied wrongdoing, said it hopes to reach an "equitable" settlement of opioid litigation in bankruptcy. It joins several companies, including Mallinckrodt and Endo International, that have filed for bankruptcy due to lawsuits over their alleged roles in fueling the U.S. opioid epidemic. Drug manufacturers, drug distributors and pharmacy chains have agreed to pay more than $50 billion in settlements to resolve lawsuits related to the opioid crisis, which has caused more than a million U.S. overdose deaths since 1999. Rite Aid has $4 billion in debt, $8.6 billion in total liabilities and $7.65 billion in assets, according to court filings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. It plans to fund its restructuring with a $3.45 billion bankruptcy loan provided by its existing lenders. The company said it has a $575 million offer in hand from pharmacy benefit company MedImpact Healthcare Systems for Elixir. Story continues Rite Aid will seek higher offers for that business, and it will also consider selling some or all of its retail business, according to court filings. The bankruptcy announcement triggered an immediate dispute with drug distributor McKesson, which provides 98% of the prescription medicines sold by Rite Aid. Rite Aid, which owes $700 million on its drug supply contract, sued McKesson early on Monday to prevent it from terminating its drug supply agreement over that debt. A McKesson spokesperson declined to comment on the dispute, other than to say it continues to make shipments to Rite Aid as bankruptcy proceedings commence. Rite Aid closed 200 stores before its bankruptcy, and it expects to close more as its Chapter 11 case proceeds. The company appointed Jeffrey Stein as its CEO and chief restructuring officer, replacing interim CEO Elizabeth Burr. (Reporting by Leroy Leo, Abinaya Vijayaraghavan and Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur, Marguerita Choy and Bill Berkrot) 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. 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. 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. 2023 Miami Herald. Visit miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. DEARBORN, MI A man is facing terrorism charges after allegedly threatening Palestinians who live in a Michigan city, authorities said. Carl David Mintz, 41, of Farmington Hills, allegedly made a threatening post on social media against Palestinian people in the City of Dearborn at 1 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 11, according to a news release from the Wayne County Prosecutors Office. He was arrested Thursday, Oct. 12, after an investigation by the Dearborn Police Department. Mintz is charged with false report/threat of terrorism, and malicious use of telecommunications services, the release said. Threats against any person in Wayne County will not be tolerated and will be thoroughly investigated Wayne County is very diverse, and we take these threats very seriously, Prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a statement. Mintz was arraigned Saturday in 19th District Court. His bond was set at $500,000 cash/surety with a GPS tether. Other conditions of his release include no weapons and no internet access. His next court appearance is scheduled for 8 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24, before Judge Mark Somers. CHEBOYGAN COUNTY, MI -- A Cheboygan man was arraigned last week on multiple felony charges related to alleged sexual assaults that took place in 2013 involving a minor. Michigan State Police say they began investigating Michael Walters, 41 in September after the department received a referral for an alleged sexual assault of a minor. Walters was interviewed by police and the Cheboygan County Prosecutor Office authorized a warrant for his arrest on Oct. 6. Walters was arrested that same day at his home and was arraigned in 89th District Court on Oct. 9. He is charged with two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct (victim under 13), three counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct (victim under 13), one count of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct (victim 13-16), two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct incest, three counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct incest, one count of first-degree child abuse, and one count of surveillance unclothed person. Bond was set at $75,000 and Walters is due back in court on Oct. 26. GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY, MI A 46-year-old Traverse City man is dead after a two-car crash in an intersection this afternoon, police said. The crash happened around 1:10 p.m. Monday in the intersection of Garfield and Potter roads in Michigans Grand Traverse County, the sheriffs office said in a news release. The man was traveling northbound through the intersection when his vehicle was struck by an eastbound vehicle operated by a 35-year-old woman, police said. A 10-year-old and a 6-year-old were also in the eastbound vehicle. The man was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. The woman and children were transported to a local hospital with injuries. The crash is under investigation; the Michigan State Police is assisting, police said. The mans identity has not been released. WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI -- A woman was killed and a man critically injured in a single-vehicle crash in Washtenaw County Sunday morning, police said. The 23-year-old woman from Royal Oak, a passenger in the vehicle, was pronounced dead at the scene of the Oct. 15 crash at Huron River Drive and Pineview Drive in Scio Township, police said, adding the driver, a 33-year-old man from Birmingham, was cut from the car and taken to the University of Michigan Hospital in critical condition. The driver was going east on Huron River Drive when he lost control and left the roadway, according to Derrick Jackson, Washtenaw County Sheriffs Office spokesman. Crews from the Scio Township and Dexter Area fire departments were called to the scene around 7:30 a.m. and found the vehicle crashed into a tree, according to Capt. Eric Holzer with the Scio Township Fire Department. The car was heavily damaged in the crash, Holzer said. The cause of the crash has not yet been determined, police said. Want more Ann Arbor-area news? Bookmark the local Ann Arbor news page, the Ypsilanti-area news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Ann Arbor daily newsletter. Read more from The Ann Arbor News: 43-year-old man charged with attacking woman in Ann Arbor apartment Faulty chimney to blame for Chelsea house fire, officials say 9 fans ejected from Michigan Stadium in Wolverines win over Indiana WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI Efforts to bring more affordable housing to Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti are getting a big boost. The Michigan Economic Development Corp. has announced nearly $100 million in grants for projects across the state through the Revitalization and Placemaking Program. That includes over $8 million for projects in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti under a grant application submitted by the Ann Arbor Housing Commission in partnership with others. Its a significant amount, said Housing Commission Executive Director Jennifer Hall, though since its less than the $10 million they requested, they still have to figure out how the money is going to be divvied up. The full amounts they requested were: $5 million for a six-story, 63-unit affordable housing development planned by the Housing Commission and Avalon Housing at 121 Catherine St. in downtown Ann Arbor. $1 million for a Fourth Avenue streetscape improvement project by the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority in conjunction with the Housing Commissions plans to create affordable housing along the street. $3.9 million for a mixed-use development planned by the J29:7 Planning and Development Corp. at 136 N. Washington St. in Ypsilanti, including five floors with 60 affordable housing units above two retail spaces. $100,000 for a workforce development project by J29:7 at 124 Pearl St. in Ypsilanti. These investments will help create vibrant places that attract and retain talent, add new housing options, enable business creation and attraction, and provide resources for Michiganders and our communities, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement. The money coming to Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti is huge and its a true regional collaboration to prioritize affordable housing near transit, said Derric Scott, CEO of the J29:7 Planning and Development Corp. in Ypsilanti. The six-story development J29:7 has planned on Washington Street would take shape on a parking lot across from where TheRide plans to build a new Ypsilanti Transit Center. There would be 60 housing units, all affordable to people of varying incomes starting at 50% of the area median, Scott said. For us, its a big project thats going to put affordable housing right across the street from transit, he said, adding thatll give residents good access to the rest of the region and jobs. The exterior of the Ypsilanti Transit Center at 220 Pearl St. on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023. Congresswoman Debbie Dingell secured $7 million in federal funding for what's now estimated to be an over $18 million project to build a new Ypsilanti Transit Center.Sydney Verlinde | The Ann Arbor News The other workforce development project J29:7 has planned involves acquiring and preserving a six-story building at the northeast corner of Washington and Pearl streets that has the Ypsi Alehouse on the ground floor and five floors of office space above. The building provides affordable space for small businesses, many minority-owned and nonprofit, Scott said. The project includes a first-floor renovation that may mean truncating the alehouse space to create a new space for another food operator, Scott said, adding it would be a minority-owned business bringing about 15 new jobs and would be complementary to the alehouse. Scott said he calls Ypsilanti home and his companys name and mission is based on the Bible verse Jeremiah 29:7, which is about seeking prosperity for the places where he works. The affordable housing development that Avalon Housing and the Housing Commission have planned on Catherine Street in Ann Arbors Kerrytown district is projected to cost over $30 million. Some of the apartments are planned to be paired with supportive services for people with incomes up to 30% of the area median, including people with a history of homelessness, while others will be for people with incomes up to 60% of the area median, with a preference for low-income artists and other creative economy workers. Renderings show plans for a six-story affordable housing development at the northwest corner of Catherine Street and Fourth Avenue in downtown Ann Arbor's Kerrytown district.Landon Bone Baker Architects The ground floor is planned to be divided into two spaces, one of which would include space for onsite property management and resident services, as well as a flexible community space, including a kitchenette for residents. Tenants will be able to access computers, internet, phones and faxing services in the community center, as well as create and participate in community events and activities, the proposal states, noting there also would be a community room, laundry and a medical office on the sixth floor. The other ground-floor space would be a community and cultural space honoring the areas Black history. We are losing our Black history. New Ann Arbor housing project looks to past It is anticipated that a nonprofit will be created to activate and manage the space, the proposal states, noting the neighborhood around the site was for much of the 20th century a predominately Black neighborhood. The last several decades have brought significant gentrification to this neighborhood and the loss of Black-owned businesses and residents. The 26th-annual Ann Arbor African American Festival on Fourth Avenue downtown on June 3, 2023. (Ryan Stanton | MLive.com)Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News The streetscape improvement project the DDA has planned on Fourth Avenue involves a full reconstruction between William and Liberty streets, next to the Blake Transit Center and where the Housing Commission is planning another affordable housing development on the former YMCA property. The streetscape project will enhance transit operations and add amenities for pedestrians and bus riders, including wider sidewalks, and incorporate infrastructure to support the Housing Commissions plans, according to the grant proposal, which notes the commissions 18-story, mixed-income high-rise development there is tentatively slated for 2026. As for the Catherine Street project, officials previously said their hope was to line up funding to be able to start construction in 2024 and be complete by fall 2025. Want more Ann Arbor-area news? Bookmark the local Ann Arbor news page, the Ypsilanti-area news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Ann Arbor daily newsletter. MORE FROM THE ANN ARBOR NEWS: Key findings of MLives reporting on Ann Arbors affordability problem Ann Arbor OKs $6.2M deal to set stage for downtown affordable housing Ann Arbor OKs affordable housing with cultural space honoring historically Black district Hippies to high-rises: How Ann Arbor went from funky college town to $1M condos We need a systemic solution: High housing costs no longer just an Ann Arbor problem FLINT, MI A Flint man accused of threatening to shoot up McLaren Flint hospital over past medical care has avoided jail time. Edvin Pendleton Williams, 61, was sentenced Monday, Oct. 16, by Genesee County Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth A. Kelly to 36 months probation, with credit for having served 10 days in the county jail. GRAND RAPIDS, MI Police are investigating a holdup at the CVS store on Fuller Avenue NE near Leonard Street. The robbery happened around 8 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 16. The robber was armed with a black handgun and fled the scene on foot, Grand Rapids police said. Police continue to investigate. Anyone with information can contact Grand Rapids Police Department at 616-456-3380 or Silent Observer at 616-774-2345. Read more: How this manmade wetland is helping Michigan fix its roads Car dealerships see early effects of UAW strike on parts, inventory Inside the locker room: Another hostile fan takeover on road leaves Lions in awe GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Save the date and prepare your taste buds for the 14th annual Restaurant Week GR culinary event. The nine-day dining experience, hosted by Experience GR, is back from Nov. 3 through 11, and all are invited to indulge in a foodie adventure at highly-rated local eateries. This year, participating restaurants will offer a choice between two savory options: a standard menu with two or more courses for $25 or a chefs choice with two or more courses for a price-to-be-determined (above $25) by the restaurant. Many restaurants will offer additional dessert or drink pairings. Home to an expanding culinary scene from authentic taqueria and global-inspired plates to nationally-recognized breweries, Grand Rapids is one of the best places to be if youre hungry or thirsty, the event website says. Diners will be incentivized to explore Grand Rapids and its vibrant dining scene to earn gifts by checking into the online digital pass available at RestaurantWeekGR.com. In return, Experience Grand Rapids will donate $1 from each meal check-in up to $5,000 to the GRCC Secchia Institute for Culinary Education. Since its inception, Restaurant Week GR has donated more than $150,000 toward the fund to help further the education of local culinary students. Those who participate in Restaurant Week will also have the option this year to donate their earned incentive points to the scholarship. Richard App, retention and attraction specialist for the city of Grand Rapids, in partnership with Grand Rapids Chamber and Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. (DGRI), said the initiative to get people in new spaces is signficant. App said doing innovative things like ArtPrize, TechWeek and Restaurant Week differentiates Grand Rapids from other parts of the country. I am very excited that they are bringing it back, he told MLive/The Grand Rapids Press. The willingness to explore these different kinds of ideas is what makes Grand Rapids a special place. Pre-register online to be the first to view the menus on Oct. 25 and make your dining plans in advance. Want more Grand Rapids-area news? Bookmark the local Grand Rapids news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Grand Rapids daily newsletter. Read more: Ford Airport named No. 1 small airport in U.S Shoreline Drive road diet in Muskegon focus of public open house Grand Rapids Tattoo Festival will feature over 200 artists This Grand Rapids bar serves own brand of champagne as part of inclusive bubbly experience GRAND RAPIDS, MI The Steelcase Foundation and the city of Grand Rapids have donated to a venture capital fund that provides investments to early- to mid-stage businesses owned by entrepreneurs of color. The New Community Transformation Fund, announced in January 2020 and based in Grand Rapids, received $500,000 from the Steelcase Foundation and $100,000 from the city of Grand Rapids, according to a news release. The fund was co-founded by Birgit Klohs, the former head of the Grand Rapids-based regional economic development group The Right Place. The New Community Transformation Fund is managed by Ollie Howie, and makes investments of $500,000 to $1.5 million in early- to mid-stage businesses and transitioning legacy companies in the advanced manufacturing, financial technology and information technology sectors. Related: Investment fund aims to ensure Grand Rapids is not flyover city for entrepreneurs of color Since opening, the fund has raised $11.9 million. It has made investments in four companies since it was founded: BAMF Health ($500,000), Zil Money ($500,000), Infiuss Health ($250,000) and Grain Technology ($500,000). New Community Transformation Fund requires the companies it invests in to have an economic impact on communities of color in West Michigan. 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 Abdifatah Sabriye, a refugee for nearly 15 years, arrived at Halifax Stanfield International Airport Friday night, now a permanent resident of Canada. (Kayla Hounsell/CBC - image credit) For half of his life, Abdifatah Sabriye has been a refugee. As of the moment he landed in Canada, he has a home again, immediately a permanent resident. "It used to be my dream and now it is reality," he said upon arrival at Halifax Stanfield International Airport Friday night. "I feel just so excited and happy," said Patricia Kamssor, also a former refugee, now a permanent resident of Canada. They gained experience in health care in northern Kenya working with a humanitarian aid organization inside the refugee camp where they also lived and they're about to be continuing care assistants at a new nursing home in Mahone Bay, N.S. They've come to Canada through the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot a federal program that seeks to bridge the gap between displaced people and a labour shortage in this country. As of June 30, 164 people 60 applicants and 104 of their dependents had come to Canada this way. They intended to reside in Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, and British Columbia. Patricia Kamssor, a former refugee, at Halifax Stanfield International Airport. She has been hired by MacLeod Group Health Services to be a continuing care assistant at a nursing home in Mahone Bay, N.S. Patricia Kamssor, a former refugee, at Halifax Stanfield International Airport. She has been hired by MacLeod Group Health Services to be a continuing care assistant at a nursing home in Mahone Bay, N.S. (Eric Woolliscroft/CBC ) They had to meet the same requirements as traditional economic immigrants, including demonstrating their experience in health care and English proficiency. Sabriye and Kamssor, both 30, were accepted in early 2021. But they were delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and other issues associated with the program being brand new. Abdifatah Sabriye, 30, at Halifax Stanfield International Airport, after arriving from a refugee camp in Kenya, where he's lived for nearly 15 years, after fleeing his native Somalia. Abdifatah Sabriye, 30, at Halifax Stanfield International Airport, after arriving from a refugee camp in Kenya, where he's lived for nearly 15 years, after fleeing his native Somalia. (Eric Woolliscroft/CBC) CBC News first met Sabriye and Kamssor in March at the sprawling Kakuma refugee camp. At that time they had no idea when they might come to Canada. Story continues "There's nothing that will make me believe it all or know that I will go," Kamssor said in an interview at her home inside the camp. "Something might come up again." Patricia Kamssor, far left, prepares okra for eating with the women she lived with at their home in the Kakuma refugee camp. Patricia Kamssor, far left, prepares okra for eating with the women she lived with at their home in the Kakuma refugee camp. (Duncan Moore) They arrived in Halifax, along with three other health-care workers from the same camp, to a group of their new colleagues waving Nova Scotia and Canada flags, and handing out Timbits. They were hired by MacLeod Group Health Services, which operates seven nursing homes across Nova Scotia. "We need them. We're so excited to have them," said Tina Hennigar, the MacLeod Group's settlement co-ordinator. "Our other employees have been waiting for them to come." The business has made a total of 57 conditional job offers through the program 51 in Kenya and six in Jordan. Only seven candidates have actually arrived in Nova Scotia. Members of MacLeod Group Health Services welcome five new employees at Halifax Stanfield International Airport Friday night. Members of MacLeod Group Health Services welcome five new employees at Halifax Stanfield International Airport Friday night. (Kayla Hounsell/CBC) There have been improvements to the program since this group of candidates began the process. Improvements to the program In June, the federal government created a new pathway to standardize eligibility criteria and streamline the process so there is only one application, allowing program candidates to bypass the primary application at the provincial level. "We're really hoping that that will quicken the process because we need health-care workers here now," said Jennifer L'Esperance, senior executive director of immigration and population growth with the Nova Scotia Department of Labour, Skills and Immigration. She said the province also needs construction workers to build housing for the health-care workers and other Nova Scotians, as the province deals with a housing crisis. The MacLeod Group is providing temporary housing for its new employees to rent until they're settled. The federal government does want to expand the program across various sectors where there are labour shortages, with the goal of settling 2,000 qualified refugees this way over the next few years. In a statement, a spokesperson for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said the numbers are low because more awareness of the program's benefits is needed among Canadian employers. The statement also said the department is "committed to improving the efficiencies of arrivals." Those who have arrived are already thinking about the day their families can join them, but it is too late for some. Sabriye's brother, Abdisamad, who had a heart condition, was his motivation. Abdifatah Sabriye, wearing black, with his two brothers, two sisters and their mother at their home inside the Kakuma refugee camp. Abdisamad Sabriye, second from left, died two weeks before his brother came to Canada. He was around 24 years old. Abdifatah Sabriye, wearing black, with his two brothers, two sisters and their mother at their home inside the Kakuma refugee camp. Abdisamad Sabriye, second from left, died two weeks before his brother came to Canada. He was around 24 years old. (Duncan Moore) "My main focus was that when I came here, to get him a heart surgery immediately. But two weeks before I came here, he passed away," Sabriye said. As they loaded their luggage to head for their new home in a small, coastal town, they were already focused on getting to work within the next few weeks. "I promise that it will be well with us," said Kamssor. "We're going to cope well with the conditions in Canada." MORE TOP STORIES KENT COUNTY, MI - The Kent District Library and the World Affairs Council of Western Michigan are collaborating to launch a free program highlighting the stories of Indigenous people. Voices of Indigenous Peoples for Community and Healing begins at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 18, at the Grandville Branch of KDL, 4055 Maple St. SW. The program is free and registration is not required. The three-part series is described as shedding light on the challenges facing Indigenous groups and the work done to maintain and advocate for their cultural and political identity. Out of historical and continued marginalization, indigenous groups can give voice to the power of community and healing in the face of multi-generational trauma. While history has been written, it provides the opportunity to learn and shape a more just future, according to the World Affairs Council of Western Michigans release about the program. Keep scrolling to see the full event schedule details, beginning at 6:30 p.m. every Wednesday through Nov. 1. Wednesday, Oct. 18 The History and Consequences of Indigenous Boarding Schools in Michigan and Beyond Join Patricia Shackleton, executive director of the Anishinaabegamig Cultural Learning Center, to learn about the education of Native children and the Dawes Act. The program will explore health education, the welfare of Native children at boarding school and the childs daily routine. Tuesday, Oct. 25 Shes Gone Missing: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Heather Bruegl, public historian and Indigenous activist, will dive into the epidemic that no one is talking about outside of Indigenous communities the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women and what Missing White Woman Syndrome has to deal with the crimes being unreported. Wednesday, Nov. 1 We Are Still Here: Native Americans and the US-Canada Border Professor Guntram Herb and Patricia LeBon Herb, enrolled members of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, will narrate the story of Indigenous peoples in the borderlands. They will offer a brief history of colonization, what they gleaned during a 25,000-mile border journey from Maine to Alaska and point to the endurance and strength of Native communities in North America. Learn more about the three-part series here. Indigenous Peoples Day was celebrated on Oct. 9. In President Joe Bidens 2022 holiday proclamation, he said it is meant to honor the sovereignty, resilience and immense contributions that Native Americans have made to the world. Want more Grand Rapids-area news? Bookmark the local Grand Rapids news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Grand Rapids daily newsletter. Read more: Restaurant Week Grand Rapids plans for 9 days of culinary delights Grand Rapids Tattoo Festival will feature over 200 artists Ford Airport named No. 1 small airport in U.S. WALKER, MI Manufacturer Falk Panel plans to make a $35 million investment and create 45 jobs at its factory on Northridge Drive amid what it says is growing demand for its insulated metal panels for walls, roofs and cold storage units. The expansion would add 65,000 square feet of space for a second insulated metal panel production line, and create a separate 24,000 square foot metal trim shop on-site, according to a memo from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC). As part of the expansion, Falk was awarded a $270,000 performance based grant from the MEDC. We are excited to have Falk expand their footprint in Walker, the citys mayor, Gary Carey, said in a prepared statement. Since opening their doors in 2020, they have been an integral part of our growth in the Northridge industrial area. Their panels can be seen on many businesses throughout Walker and have become a source of pride for all of us. The 45 new jobs are expected to pay an average hourly wage of $24.48, which equates to about $51,000 a year, according to the MEDC. Falk Panel opened in Walker in 2018, and today it employs about 48 people. Its parent company is Falk North America, which is based in the Netherlands. The MEDC memo said the $270,000 grant was necessary for the project to move forward in Michigan. Falk was considering building its second production line in Colorado, because it would have allowed the company to sell its products to customers in the West and Southwestern states at a higher price, the MEDC said. Currently, the company discounts its prices to customers in those states to offset higher logistics costs from shipping orders from Michigan, the MEDC said. In addition to Falk, manufacturing company Altus Industries, which makes mobile workstations for the healthcare industry, is also expanding. The company was awarded a $128,250 performance based grant from the MEDC as part of a planned $1.2 million expansion of its plant at 3731 Northridge Dr. NW. The expansion is expected to create 27 jobs paying an average wage of $34.45 per hour. That equates to $71,656 a year. The expansion comes as the company seeks to add artificial intelligence and internet-connected features to its mobile workstations. The MEDC said the $128,250 grant was necessary for the project to move forward in Michigan. Altus was considering expanding to Florida for this project because of a partnership with a local software company and tax advantages. 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: Restaurant Week Grand Rapids plans for 9 days of culinary delights 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 JACKSON COUNTY, MI A long-awaited retail store has opened in Jackson County and a local coffee shop opened in a historic Somerset store. These are just some of the many businesses making moves and making news. Here are these stories and some other Jackson-area business news you might have missed. Whats that? A long-awaited discount store is finally opening in Jackson One of the latest additions to Jackson Crossing has opened for the public. Ross Dress for Less moved into a 21,000-square-foot space inside the mall at 1092 Jackson Crossing Ave., and held its grand opening Saturday, Oct. 7. The long-awaited discount store announced this spring it would be joining the malls lineup of stores. It replaces Bed, Bath & Beyond, which closed in February 2022. Related: Jacksons Bed Bath & Beyond among those closing in 2022 Customers at Ross Dress For Less can find brand-name items discounted 20-60% off regular department store prices. This includes such items as in-season apparel, accessories, footwear and home decor, Ross officials wrote in an email. Read the full story here. Historic Somerset store is now home to a local coffee shop Apryl Macleod spent a lot of time working at coffee shops around the Jackson County area. Eventually, her husband Robb suggested they create a cozy coffee shop of their own. He started writing a business plan, they purchased the historic Somerset General Store and created Four Corners Coffee. While it took a few years, the long-awaited coffee shop finally opened at the end of August. The coffee shop has only been open for a few months and the menu is still changing. So far, some popular staples are the coffee, the baked goods and the breakfast sandwiches. While theyve added their own touches to Four Corners Coffee, the Macleods have kept some of the buildings history. Read the full story here. The wait is nearly over: Tropical Smoothie Cafe opening soon in Jackson After several months of waiting, Jackson County residents will now have a new food option in the area with the opening of Tropical Smoothie Cafe. This is the first location of the business in Jackson, officials said, with the next closest being in Ann Arbor at 5609 Jackson Road. People can expect to find a range of fruit smoothies, sandwiches, wraps, flatbreads and other items on the menu. The Tropical Smoothie Cafe building is part of a larger project taking place at Jackson Crossing. The 130,000-square-foot former Sears store is currently being separated into four to six stores, ranging from roughly 6,700 square feet to 57,000 square feet. Related: Jackson Sears store closing in latest round of company cuts So far, Hobby Lobby, Planet Fitness, Buckle and Eyemart Express have opened. Other stores, like Burlington, are also slated to join the facility in the future. Read the full story here. Happy birthday! New nonprofit will help kids celebrate their special day with cakes Every kid deserves to feel celebrated on their birthday, and one way of making that possible is with a birthday cake. The national nonprofit For Goodness Cakes, with help from Jackson-based Dawn Foods, is working to make that happen in the Jackson area. A group of Jackson volunteers gathered at Dawn Foods Thursday, Oct. 5, to learn the basics of baking cakes that will soon help sweeten the celebrations of youth in need in the area, Heather LaBrecque, For Goodness Cakes Jackson chapter lead, said. Related: See the beautiful birthday cakes volunteers have decorated for kids Birthday cakes kind of celebrate us as individuals and our existence, and I think a lot of foster kids dont get that opportunity, LaBrecque said. Its really important to bring that to them. It can boost their self-confidence and just bring some joy into their life. Read the full story here. Big Chucks Pizza doesnt skimp on the toppings People drive from all over the place to get a bite of the food offered at Big Chucks Pizza in Munith. Big Chucks Pizza, located north of Jackson, has been owned by Jesse Fowler, Patrick Crabtree and Ayleana Montgomery since roughly 2018. However, the restaurant has been around since 2004, and was previously owned by Fowlers mom Lezlie Fowler. Youll find basically anything you would expect to find at a pizza place at Big Chucks Pizza, Fowler said. Pizzas, burgers, sandwiches, cheese sticks and salads are featured on the menu. Specialty pizzas are the most popular, including the BBQ Chicken pizza, which is topped with chicken, red onion, bacon, Sweet Baby Rays Barbecue Sauce and a smokey mozzarella and provolone cheese blend. Read the full story here. 5 great places to get fall-themed cocktails in Jackson County As the weather gets colder and the leaves change color, many Jackson County residents are in search of seasonal cocktails to warm them up. Whether youre looking for something with pumpkin spice or a taste of apple, there are plenty of places in the area to get a fall-themed drink. Here are five great places to check out during the fall season in Jackson County. Some on the list include Nite Lite and One North Kitchen & Bar. Read the full story here. Want more Jackson-area news? Bookmark the local Jackson news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Jackson daily newsletter More Jackson Citizen Patriot business news: Great convenience store eateries, Bone Island Grille has new owners and other Jackson County business news Retailer leaves Westwood Mall, new hobby store opens and more Jackson County business news Township may revoke campground, Broaster chicken is popular and other Jackson County business news Hostess spends 41 years at Red Lobster, try these loaded tacos and more Jackson County business news A new marketplace is coming, Bras That Fit is closing and other business news in Jackson County Save-A-Lot closes, Taco Bell is coming and more Jackson County business news Construction at Menards, a burger with a bacon-infused bun and more Jackson County business news Closed Jackson College campus building sold, social district thriving and more Jackson County business news Doll n Burgers lawsuit settled, Old Irish Mill opens and more Jackson County business news - mlive.com Alro Steel celebrates 75 years, will Chick-fil-A come to town and more Jackson County business news New store coming downtown, restaurant features Thai food and other Jackson County business news Try a great smoked pork chop, a new flea market is coming and other business news in Jackson County Five Guys is coming, Party City is closing and other business news in Jackson County KALAMAZOO, MI -- A former Kalamazoo Public Schools elementary school building has been scheduled for demolition. The Kalamazoo Public Schools board approved a $52,260.69 purchase recommendation to demolish four temporary buildings at 6750 Chime St. The main structure on the property housed Chime Elementary School until 2008. More recently, its the home of Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agencys Youth Advancement Academy. Editors Note: The shelter-in-place order has been lifted and the spill has been contained, according to the Muskegon Heights Police Department. MUSKEGON HEIGHTS, MI A chemical spill Monday morning at a Muskegon Heights plant has led to a shelter-in-place order for nearby residents. The spill occurred at Webb Chemical Service Corporation, at 2708 Jarman St., at around 11 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 16, according to a statement on the companys website. The company has confirmed there are no known fatalities or injuries and all employees are accounted for. The chemical that was spilled was Hydrochloric Acid Baume, which is used in pool chemistry and concrete etching. About 2,000 gallons were spilled in a building at the southeast corner of the property. The cause of leak is undetermined but will be pursued via investigation, company officials said. Residents living south of the chemical facility and north of Summit Avenue, west of Getty Street and east of Wood Street are being asked to shelter in place right now, officials said in a social media post. The Muskegon County Hazardous Materials Response Team, Muskegon Heights Fire Department, Muskegon Fire Department and Muskegon Heights Police Department have all responded to the situation. The Muskegon Heights Police Department has been going door to door to notify neighbors who live near the spill and ask that they keep all windows and doors closed. People are being told to immediately go inside their homes or the nearest building to avoid any possible contact with Hydrochloric Acid vapor that has been released into the air. Nearby residents are being told they should seal gaps under doors and windows with wet towels, plastic sheeting and duct tape. They are also being told to turn off ventilation systems such as fans, air conditioning and forced air heating systems and move to an inner room with as few windows and doors as possible. At Webb Chemical, one of our goals is to provide a safe workplace for our employees and guests as we manage our day-to-day operations, as well as to maintain safe operations as we distribute our products, the statement from the company reads. However, there are times when things go wrong and unfortunately we are experiencing such an event. As we respond, our goal is to ensure there is no negative effect on the health of anyone or to the environment. Limited evacuations are being conducted by the Muskegon Heights Fire Department at the plant, while some operations have been halted. This situation has not caused any contamination to the ground at the site, has not caused any contamination to the ground off of the site, and was contained by a safety containment system on site, company officials said. The event is being evaluated for possible off-site contamination of the air. Also on MLive: Whitehall returns to voters with November bond proposal for safer schools, better air quality Ford Airport named No. 1 small airport in U.S. Victim identified in Southwest Michigan house fire Ford Motor Co. Executive Chairman Bill Ford urged the United Auto Workers union Monday to end its costly strike against the Big Three. I call on my great UAW colleagues some of whom Ive known for decades, many are close personal friends we need to come together to bring an end to this acrimonious round of talks, Ford said at the Ford Rouge Complex in Dearborn while speaking publicly about the monthlong strike for the first time. Michigans community mental health agencies are stepping up to evolve the way they offer care to those in need especially crisis care. Genesee Health System and Northern Lakes Community Mental Health Authority are two examples. Genesee Health System Urgent Care Lisa Bruder, Genesee Health System manager of crisis services Brian Martinus, interim chief executive officer, Northern Lakes Community Mental Health. NLCMHA Traverse City location. Nancy Stevenson, NLCMHA chief operations officer for Grand Traverse and Leelanau Counties. Kelsey Sanders is a wellness professional and freelance writer and editor. She has lived in West Michigan her whole life and loves learning and writing about the many great things her area continues to do. When shes not working, shes staying home with her baby girl and enjoying the Lakeshore with her husband. Northern Lakes Community Mental Health Authority photos by John Russell. Genesee Health System photos courtesy Genesee Health System. Nancy Stevenson and Brian Martinus photos courtesy Northern Lakes Community Mental Health Authority. The MI Mental Health series highlights the opportunities that Michigan's children, teens, and adults of all ages have to find the mental health help they need, when and where they need it. It is made possible with funding from the Community Mental Health Association of Michigan , Center for Health and Research Transformation , Genesee Health System , Mental Health Foundation of West Michigan , North Country CMH , Northern Lakes CMH Authority , OnPoint , Sanilac County CMH , St. Clair County CMH , Summit Pointe , and Washtenaw County CMH . Reggae icon, Rocky Dawuni has urgd Ghanaians to transcend political divisions as a means to address the challenges facing the nation. He firmly believes that political affiliations alone cannot solve the hardships being experienced by the people. Dawuni emphasized the need for collective action, where all citizens unite and collaborate with the government to surmount the economic difficulties that have gripped the country. While he made it clear that he does not align himself with any particular political party, his concerns lie with the numerous issues causing hardship for Ghanaians. In a candid interview with Blakk Rasta on 3FM, Rocky Dawuni expressed his concern over the current state of the nation. He described it as abysmal, with leaders struggling to provide a clear path to alleviate the burdens faced by the people. Dawuni stated, Im for Ghana and not for any political party or ideology. I think that right now the country is at a crossroads. The country feels almost rather lost, like a ship sailing in the biggest storm, but we dont have competent captains at the helm to give us a direction. What we need is for our leaders to address the concerns of the people. He highlighted the challenges experienced by many Ghanaians, including the inability to provide for their families and make ends meet, particularly due to job losses during lockdowns. Dawuni also noted the significant impact on the informal sector, which constitutes 70% of Ghanas economy, emphasizing the necessity for a comprehensive plan to revitalize the economy. Dawuni concluded by asserting that the solution doesnt lie in political party divisions, stating, Ghanaians need to rise above political colors because they are not going to solve their problems. His plea reflects the call for unity and cooperation in order to address the pressing issues affecting the nation. In the latest display of Asia's rising space capability, a Chinese rocket carrying a Pakistani satellite will take off in May headed for the far side of the Moon. The Chang'e-6 mission will for the first time bring back samples from the Moon's dark side, said China's National Space Administration (CSNA). To promote international cooperation, the 8.2-tonne spacecraft will carry payloads from several countries including France, Italy and Pakistan as well as the European Space Agency, Xinhua news service reported. The scheduled May launch will be the second time China has carried a Pakistani satellite into space, after China put into orbit two of the country's craft in 2018. Pakistan aims high Islamabad also plans to grab a spot on an international lunar station to be built by 2035 in collaboration between Russia and China, with help from firms from France, Germany, Italy, Malaysia and Thailand. Pakistan signed a series of space exploration agreements with China in 2019, which included China helping to train and launch Pakistani astronauts. Pakistan currently has six satellites compared to Australia's 38, Japan's 204, India's 111 and China's 638 but experts say the Asian numbers were likely to change, thanks to new appetite for joint missions in space. Qaisar Rashid, a Pakistani journalist, said even with China's backing Pakistan remains far behind India, which landed its Chandrayaan-3 mission on the Moon on 23 August. "Despite Chinese help, Pakistan's Chandrayaan is not in sight and its IT sector is still rudimentary," Rashid wrote in an opinion piece in Pakistan's Daily Times. "Pakistan's Chandrayaan has been lost in short-sightedness, internal strife, and lack of understanding. Chinese prowess China claims its international partnerships exceed projects by Asia's two other space-faring nations, Japan and India. It counts 149 accords with 46 national agencies as well as 17 space cooperation organisations, and lists Ukraine, Belarus, Argentina and Nigeria among countries it has worked with in space. China, which in 2003 became the third country ever to launch a human into space independently, is also set to test its latest spacecraft between 2027 and 2028 with seven astronauts on board. But an historic collaboration with India faces trouble, as a key component built by India for China's Tiangong space station awaits export clearance amid military tensions between the two Asian neighbours. Asian ambitions Space history seems to be unfolding faster elsewhere in Asia. South Korea has deployed multiple satellites on its homegrown rockets and Seoul invested 582 million euros on domestic space projects in its 2022 national budget. Taiwan also put aside 847 million euros for its space industry, which aims to launch 10 local satellites by 2028. Meanwhile Delhi predicted its space economy would rocket 13 times to 12.2 billion euros by 2025, as rural India thirsts for satellite internet coverage. Newer technologies and falling costs are also expected to boost India's space industry, which opened to the private sector in April after decades of government control. We are seeing a groundswell of partnerships with Indian space companies, Sanjay Nekkanti, CEO of private satellite maker Dhruva Space, told South Asian news agency IANS. The company is partnering with French service provider Kineis to jointly operate a satellite, he said. Schools in France will start late and hold a minute's silence on Monday following a suspected terrorist attack on a high school in which one teacher was killed and two other staff were injured. Thousands of people gathered in northern France on Sunday to pay tribute to the victim, French literature teacher Dominique Bernard. Bernard was stabbed to death on Friday at the Gambetta high school in Arras, a city in north-east France. Police have arrested a suspect, a former student of Chechen origin who was on France's terror watch list, and a maximum security alert is in place nationwide. Middle and high schools across the country will start at 10am on Monday, two hours later than usual, to give teachers time to meet between themselves before class, the Education Ministry announced on Saturday. A minute of silence will take place at 2pm that afternoon. On Sunday, some 5,000 people gathered in the centre of Arras for a memorial to Bernard and the other victims. "There are no words to describe this barbaric act, there are no words to ease the pain," said local mayor Frederic Leturque. Students paid tribute to Bernard, 57, a father of three who had been teaching at the school since the 1980s. "He was always there for us, he was really an extraordinary person," final-year student Victoire, 17, told French news agency AFP. Security concerns Teachers' unions have called for authorities to step up protection for staff and pupils after the attack, which came three years to the week after teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded near his school in a Paris suburb. "I want to tell all teachers: we will be there to guarantee your safety," Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said on Saturday, at a ceremony to award a prize for high school students in Paty's honour. "When a teacher is attacked, it isn't only the French Republic that is targeted: it is a threat to its entire future," Borne said. "We will not give an inch to violence. We will face it and we will fight it." Surveillance system questioned Eleven people have been arrested so far in connection with the attack, including chief suspect Mohammed Moguchkov and several members of his family. Nine remained in custody as of Sunday evening, a police source told France Televisions. The French government has denied failures by its surveillance services, who were monitoring Moguchkov on suspicion of involvement in Islamist extremism. Moguchkov, who was born in Russia's mainly Muslim region of Chechnya, was already on a French national register known as "Fichier S" as a potential security threat and under active surveillance by France's domestic intelligence agency. "We can't follow everyone who's under suspicion," said Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti. "Fichier S is a working tool for the intelligence services. People on there have not been convicted," he told French radio on Sunday. Interior Minister Gerald Darminin has nonetheless announced the "systematic expulsion" of all foreign nationals on the watchlist who are deemed to pose a security threat. While the majority of the roughly 5,100 people on the register are French citizens, Darminin said he had requested that those who immigrated to France be stripped of their residence permits if they have them, a process that will have to go through the courts. Moguchkov arrived in France as a child in 2008. He was on authorities' radar because of his father, who was also on the list and was deported in 2018. Lisi Niesner/Reuters Israel on Monday announced that it will evacuate 28 northern communities close to the Lebanon border in the wake of attacks which have broken out in the region in tandem with the ongoing conflict against Hamas in the south. The mass evacuation raises fears that a second war is about to break out between Israel and Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon. A joint statement from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israeli Defense Ministry said the communities being evacuated stand within 1.2 miles of the Lebanese border. The residents will be taken to state-funded guesthouses, the statement added, providing no timeline as to when they will be able to return home. Gaza Hospitals Will Likely Run Out of Fuel in Just a Few Hours, U.N. Warns The plan was approved by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the statement said, and it will be carried out by the heads of the local municipalities, the Ministry of Interior and the National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) of the Ministry of Defense. Fears have been growing of a second front emerging in Israels war which began on Oct. 7 when Hamas launched a major attack in the south. The IDF said over the weekend that at least 1,400 Israelis are known to have been killed in the attacks. Gazas Health Ministry said Monday that at least 2,750 people had been killed and another 9,700 wounded as a result of Israels reprisal airstrikes in the Gaza Strip. Amid the chaos, Lebanons Hezbollah has launched projectiles over the northern border at Israeli targets. On Sunday, the IDF said multiple anti-tank missiles were fired by Hezbollah throughout the day, with at least four civilians reportedly wounded in a strike which hit Shtulaone of the communities listed in the new evacuation order. One man in his 40s died after the attack, according to The Jerusalem Post, with the IDF retaliating by targeting the source of the fire. The cross-border troubles have led to the deaths of others, including Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah who was killed in a strike on Friday which left others injured. The IDF has admitted that it was firing artillery into Lebanon at the time in response to an earlier attack, but it has not yet confirmed that Israel was responsible for Abdallahs death. Story continues The loss of life in the north has come in parallel to a much more acute crisis in the south as Israel continues to bombard Gaza ahead of an expected ground invasion of the enclave. On Monday, reports emerged of a possible temporary ceasefire to allow foreign passport holders to leave the area and aid to be brought inbut the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Reuters that no such arrangement had been agreed. With Israeli tanks and troops massed on the Gaza border, humanitarian organizations have been begging for aid to be allowed into the besieged enclave. Essential supplies of food, medicine, and water are all becoming desperately scarce, with the crisis expected to significantly deepen if a ground invasion begins. Over a million Gaza residents have fled their homes and local hospitals have already been overwhelmed by the massive influx of patients caused by Israeli airstrikes. Israel has ordered around half of Gazas 2 million population to move to the south of the region for their own safety, while Hamas has simultaneously called for families to ignore the instruction and stay in their homes. On Monday, IDF spokesman Read Adm. Daniel Haggari says the families of 199 Israeli hostages have been notified that their relatives are being held in Gaza. He said the Israeli military has information about where some of the captives are being held and said that no attacks would be carried out that would endanger our people. Hamas says 22 of the hostages have already been killed by Israels aerial bombardment of the Gaza Strip. 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. Tens of thousands protested in Morocco Sunday in support of Palestinians amid the Gaza war, the biggest demonstration in the North African kingdom since it normalised ties with Israel in 2020. Crowds stretching for two kilometres (more than a mile) marched through the capital Rabat in the mass rally called by an alliance of Islamist parties and a left-wing coalition. "The people will liberate Palestine," demonstrators chanted while others waved huge Palestinian flags, donned keffiyehs and voiced "unconditional support for resistance to the occupation". "We apologise to the people of Gaza because we can't do more than protest," said university professor Sheherazade Bekkari, 50, who had travelled more than 200 kilometres from Fez with her children to join the protest. "Down with Zionism", read some placards, while others declared that "Hamas is Palestine". Israel's new war was sparked when the Islamist group Hamas, which rules Gaza, attacked southern Israel on October 7 and killed at least 1,400 people. Israel has launched an intense reprisal, pounding the Gaza Strip with air strikes and killing more than 2,450 people. Some protesters in Morocco stamped on Israeli and American flags, denouncing Washington's support for Israel. Other placards denounced "terrorism regardless of its perpetrators". The protest, which was punctuated by prayers against "tyranny and oppression", was the largest in Morocco since it normalised relations with Israel in December 2020 in a US-sponsored deal. "The people want to abolish normalisation" some protesters chanted, as well as the slogan "against occupation, against normalisation". Until now, Morocco's anti-normalisation movement had been able only to mobilise, at most, a few hundred people. The treaty with Israel has been of great importance to Rabat because it came in exchange for Washington recognising Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara. Morocco maintains that the territory, a former Spanish colony under its control, is an integral part of the kingdom. The Polisario Front, which campaigns for Western Saharaas independence with the support of Algeria, demands a referendum on self-determination. Israel and Morocco have strengthened their economic and security cooperation following the deal. However, Moroccan supporters of normalisation have been embarrassed by extreme right-wing parties entering Israel's government and surging violence in the occupied West Bank over recent months. Since Akufo Addo informed Ghanaians that Mahama is incompetent and that he will transform Ghana in 18 months when he becomes president, I had high hopes for Ghana when I visited in June 2023. However, I discovered that other locations around the nation, including Accra, the capital, Cape Coast, and Takoradi, had the same issues, poor drainage that endangers the environment. Many of the roads in Ghana's neighborhoods and environments are in very poor condition, and worse yet, the government hasn't done anything to fix them for years. Mosquito-breeding stagnant water and clogged gutters are a regular occurrence. Despite this, there are ministers tasked with fixing these issues who are content to collect their monthly salaries while ignoring their practical responsibilities. Ghana boasts of tourism but comparing what the country ends annually to other African countries, what the country ends is just a peanut. The fact that the country lacks drainage systems constructed to ensure that wastewater and sewage are transported neatly to disposal points, many places are very bad for foreigners to visit or see them. There are several houses without toilet facilities or good drainage systems. As a result, sewage from bathrooms and kitchens spills into streets and the yards of homes, feeding mosquitoes and spreading diseases like malaria, which especially targets young people. In one of the locations I went to learn how long the area has been in that condition, I was informed that the Assemblyman comes to fix potholes with sand when it's election season; after the election, no one steps there. Even when Ghanaian leaders visit other nations and are delighted to see lovely and healthy environs, they are never motivated to improve Ghana to the same level as what they saw in Europe or America when they returned home. Many areas of Ghana, including the cities, are unclean, stench-filled, and overrun with trash, particularly polyethylene bags. Here are some pictures I took when I visited someone in a neighborhood called "Ghana Flag," located along Obom Road in Kasoa. I found it hard to comprehend that individuals could live so near to such a foul drainage odor. The road was passable until the building at the left, poor drainage rendered it impassable to vehicles. Residents claim that the stench enters their residences since the entire region has turned into a mosquito breeding ground, causing malaria attacks. It is time for the authorities - the Minister for Sanitation and Environment to take action before an epidemic spreads over the area. The only passable route utilized by the resident, close to the poor drainage site is also in terrible condition. The Minister for Sanitation and Environment must be aware of how all the areas in Ghana are through designated personnel and if the government lacks the resources to provide appropriate drainage systems, then they must find an alternative by requiring building owners to comply with strict proper drainage systems. The Private Newspapers and Online News Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG) has issued a press release to condemn the recent attack on a journalist in the country. Akosua Otchere, a journalist with Citi FM on Friday, October 13, was viciously attacked by individuals reportedly affiliated with the NDC during the vetting process of Parliamentary Aspirants of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for the Odododiodoo constituency. In a release from PRINPAG signed by Ag. Executive Secretary, Jeorge Wilson Kingson, it called on the leadership of the NDC to ensure all the persons involved in the assault of the journalist are brought to book and punished accordingly. The attack on Akosua Otchere last Friday is a clear violation of her rights to carry out her duties without fear of reprisal. The Private Newspapers and Online News Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG), lends its support to all others who have condemned this act in the strongest terms, and urge the NDC to live up to its words by identifying those criminal elements to bring them to justice, the release said. It added, PRINPAG stands in solidarity with Akosua Otchere and Citi FM/TV and affirms our unwavering commitment to protecting the rights of journalists across Ghana. We urge all members of the media fraternity to remain resilient in the face of such attacks and to continue to uphold their professional mandate and responsibilities. Below is a copy of the release from PRINPAG: For Immediate Release PRIVATE NEWSPAPERS AND ONLINE NEWS PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION OF GHANA (PRINPAG) 15th October, 2023 Private Newspapers and Online News Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG) Accra PRINPAG Condemns Attack on Citi FM's Akosua Otchere during NDC's Parliamentary Aspirants Vetting in Odododiodoo Constituency We at PRINPAG are deeply concerned to report yet another disturbing incident of a journalist being subjected to physical assault in the line of duty. The incident occurred on Friday, October 13, during the vetting process of Parliamentary Aspirants of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for the Odododiodoo constituency. Akosua Otchere, a journalist with Citi FM/TV in Accra, was viciously attacked by individuals reportedly affiliated with the NDC. This reprehensible act of violence not only undermines the fundamental principles of press freedom, but it also raises serious concerns about the safety and security of journalists who are committed to providing unbiased and objective news coverage. This is coming barely a week after some political thugs affiliated with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) budged into a live programme in the studios of United Television (UTV) in Accra with sticks, stones and machetes, scaring panelists, presenters and producers. That attack was widely condemned by several stakeholders, and we thought we had witnessed the last of such incidents. The attack on Akosua Otchere last Friday is a clear violation of her rights to carry out her duties without fear of reprisal. The Private Newspapers and Online News Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG), lends its support to all others who have condemned this act in the strongest terms, and urge the NDC to live up to its words by identifying those criminal elements to bring them to justice. It cannot be over emphasized that, journalists play a critical role in our society and democratic governance, ensuring that, citizens are informed and empowered to make well-informed decisions. It is paramount, therefore, that their safety is guaranteed and protected. PRINPAG calls on all political parties and all media stakeholders in the country to prioritize the safety of journalists and to create an environment that fosters freedom of the press. PRINPAG would like to use this opportunity to advise all politicians to caution their supporters and members to avoid violence, especially against the media, because no democracy can be effective without the active participation and involvement of the media. We also encourage the authorities to swiftly investigate this incident and to hold the perpetrators accountable, to send a strong message to all that, such acts of violence against journalists will no more be tolerated. PRINPAG stands in solidarity with Akosua Otchere and Citi FM/TV and affirms our unwavering commitment to protecting the rights of journalists across Ghana. We urge all members of the media fraternity to remain resilient in the face of such attacks and to continue to uphold their professional mandate and responsibilities. Long Live the Ghanaian media fraternity! For further inquiries please contact: Jeorge Wilson Kingson Ag. Executive Secretary 0244822034 [email protected] Andrew Edwin Arthur President 0244980088 [email protected] Mr Godfried Addo Ayisi, Head of Technical Services at Rocksure International Limited, a mining company, has said the country's bauxite resource can be mined without destroying the forest reserves. He said this can be achieved if the best mining practices and environmental protection strategies, including reclamation and revegetation were adopted. He said Ghana had over two billion metric tonnes of untapped bauxite resource at Nyinahin-Mpasaaso, Kibi and Ejuanema, except for those deposited at Awaso. He said mining those untapped bauxite ore required best practices and methods like surface mining, that would protect the fauna and the flora of the forest reserves housing the mineral resource. Mr Ayisi said this when he gave a lecture on the topic: Overview of Ghana's Integrated Aluminium Industry (IAI), at the 11th Annual Lecture of the Alumni Association of the University of Mines and Technology (ALUMat). The lecture, held at the UMaT School of Railway and Infrastructure Development, at Essikado in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis, was sponsored by Anglogold Ashanti Iduapriem Mine, Quantum LC Company Limited, Rocksure International Limited, and Impa Marine and Offshore Logistics Limited. Mr Ayisi noted that the country stood a chance to benefit fully from mining bauxite if appropriate strategies were put in place to manage and add value to the raw natural resource. According to him, since the exploration and mining works in the 1940's, Ghana had been exporting bauxite ore and benefited from only the mining aspect, whilst countries like Ukraine, China and Brazil benefited from the upstream aspects like the refinery into alumina and smelting the alumina into aluminum. He Indicated that from May to March 2022, the price of bauxite in Ghana was $29 per metric ton. This represented a decrease of $3 compared to the prices between February 2018 and April 2020, except for July and October 2018 each which recorded prices of $31.97 per metric ton, he added. Mr Ayisi said the world market price of the bauxite ore, alumina and the aluminum showed that the prices increase about tenfold from bauxite ore to alumina and about eight-fold from alumina to aluminium, saying, Indeed, from bauxite ore to aluminium the prices increase about 70 times. He said despite the government's efforts in improving the IAI through the establishment of the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) in 2018 and other initiatives, a lot more still needed to be done to ensure a globally competitive aluminium industry in the entire value chain. Through a series of engagements with the Government of Ghana stakeholder organisations, GIADEC has developed a Strategic Outline Master plan for Ghana's IAl which includes, supporting infrastructure projects such as the Western Rail Line to facilitate bauxite transportation and expansion of the Takoradi Port to facilitate bauxite ore and alumina export among others, he noted. Mr Ayisi noted that there were many opportunities to increase the local production of aluminium products, and that could be achieved through inter-agency collaborations to help reduce imports of such products. Mr Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, Western Regional Minister, said value addition to bauxite processing in Ghana was key in growing the country's GDP instead of the current export of raw bauxite out of the country. Professor Richard Amankwah, UMaT Vice-Chancellor, commended the ALUMaT for organising the lecture, saying These lectures have been helpful in growing the brand and reputation of UMaT, and have supported the University in implementing its mandates. Dr Stephen K. Ndede, the National ALUMaT President, said the annual lecture was an initiative to bring together past and current students to discuss industry-specific issues geared towards repositioning the University into a centre of excellence and the development of the nation in general. Held in October every year, the lecture was attended by both past and current students, lecturers, past VCs and other affiliates of the University. GNA Togo Navy Ship, OTI P. 764 and her crew members led by Lt Afanvi Lonlonyo made a stop-over at the Western Naval Command (WNC), Sekondi from Thursday, 12 to Friday 13 October 2023. The visit was to enable them to familiarise themselves with the Command's activities and to help strengthen the existing good relationship between the two countries. The team paid a courtesy call on the Flag Officer Fleet (FOF), Commodore Samuel Ayelazono who was at the time acting as the Flag Officer Commanding. Commodore Ayelazono was pleased with the teams decision to stop over and noted that as neighbouring allies, they needed to strengthen their mutual relationship and work together to fight the influx of maritime challenges that had bedevilled the Gulf of Guinea. The Commanding Officer of the Togo Navy Ship, Lt Afanvi Lonlonyo expressed his appreciation on behalf of the crew and the Togo Navy to the Western Naval Command, the Ghana Navy at large for the warm reception accorded them. He stated that their presence was part of strengthening the bonds of friendship and cooperation between the two nations. He also shared the view of the two nations navies working together tirelessly for the development of the blue economy, which he said was one of the indispensable factors for developing the continent. He said it was therefore imperative for them to ensure maritime security and safety that were conducive to maritime trade for the benefit of the sub-region. The team later toured the Naval Logistics Command, the Ghana Navy Supply Base (GNSB) and the Takoradi Harbour. They climaxed their visit with a cocktail reception on board the vessel which was graced by the Togo Ambassador to Ghana, His Excellency Panassa Awoki. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has called on leaders of the global community to fully support West Africas fight against terrorism and violent extremism, particularly in the Sahel region. President Akufo-Addo said despite the considerable economic challenges confronting countries in the region, they have amply demonstrated their commitment to take the fight to the terrorists if they were sufficiently empowered. In a similar situation, the President said the Russian-Ukraine war had elicited 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. Unfortunately, the President said with that of the West African Region, security assistance from the US, the EU and the UK to ECOWAS has, in total, in the same period, amounted to US$29.6 million. He was optimistic that with the right amount of support, ECOWAS could have chased out terrorists from the region without the involvement of foreign troops, adding: West African troops can do the job. The Accra Initiative is a good example of indigenous self-help. President Akufo-Addo disclosed this when he spoke on the theme: Democracy and Security in West Africa, at the United States Institute of Peaces Programme on Governance and Peace, on Thursday in Washington D.C., U.S.A. Expatiating on the emergence of terrorists in West Africa, he said terrorists 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. These terrorists, according to President Akufo-Addo, have since then, spread their pernicious influence eastwards and southwards, with the coastal states of West Africa their ultimate destination. With rising levels of displacement of people in many parts of the Sahel region, the President said unfortunately, Africa had become the centre of attraction for terrorist groups who are multiplying in the region. Despite marked successes, the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on developing countries had left many countries in the region in very dire economic situations. This has compounded the challenges we face in the mobilisation of resources to fight terrorists in our backyards, he stated. The challenge against democracy across the region, according to the President, had become more complicated and unprecedented. He warned 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. University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) has accused the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), of curtailing academic freedom in the country. UTAG said while it has no objection to the establishment of GTEC, it is concerned with the commissions current actions, including its unilateral decision and inconsistent implementation, which disregard the academic freedoms of public Universities, which is entrenched in the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana. Citing examples, UTAG said the imposition of a single organogram on all public universities in contravention of the various Acts that set them up and the unilateral decision to freeze the accreditation of new academic programmes in public universities are examples of such clear violations of public universities' academic freedoms, among other things. UTAG, therefore, called on GTEC to always endeavour to use participatory and consultative approaches in its decision-making processes. UTAG in a communique released after its 21st Biennial National Congress held at the University for Development Studies (UDS), Tamale, from October 11 to 13, 2023 said it believes in partnerships for the public good, so GTEC should always consult with key stakeholders in the tertiary education space, such as UTAG, in its decision-making. Most importantly, UTAG recommended, as a matter of urgency, the commencement of multi-stakeholder engagements that will lead to amendment of the Education Regulatory Bodies Act 2020 (Act 1023), which established the GTEC and other bodies to make it more responsive to the needs of contemporary higher education and conducive to the exercise of academic freedom of the Universities. UTAG urged GTEC to immediately put a hold on the decision to freeze accreditation of new programmes as this tends to thwart universities' efforts in designing new innovative programmes to meet the country's development needs. GTEC was advised to undertake a holistic review of the accreditation regime for academic and professional programmes of public universities to meet the current needs of the world of work. UTAG's 21st Biennial National Congress held on the theme: Labour Unionism and Socioeconomic Transformation in Ghana: Can UTAG be the Pacesetter?", convened delegates from all 15 traditional public universities in Ghana to deliberate UTAG's role as a central pillar and intellectual hub in shaping public policy discourse through research and advocacy. -Classfmonline.com 16.10.2023 LISTEN The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has come to the fag-end of their term in office, and perhaps is going to stay in the "wilderness" for a very long time. President Akufo-Addo and the NPP promised a delectable country, but Nana's government has turned out to be absolutely irksome. The hardship he promised to ameliorate has become worse, and the exigencies of reducing the burden of Ghanaians seem not to matter anymore. It has become obvious that the NPP has hit a snag in their desire to "break the 8", and no wonder the mantra is becoming inessential and trifling of late. And this appears to be making them vindictive, manipulative and trying to pump schemes to gain advantage in the December, 2024, polls. Unfortunately, the rancorous crush between the ruling government and some of its leading members has been worsened by the presidential primary election of the party, perceived stinking corruption and a grievously underperforming economy. A stalwart of the NPP and a presidential aspirant, Kennedy Agyapong who also doubles as the Member of Parliament for the Assin Central Constituency for instance has accused his own party for looting as if there is no tomorrow. With a hung Parliament and the behaviour of the Assin Central lawmaker, some people want to believe that the NPP is now the Minority in Parliament since the Hon MP is likely to turn his back against his party when it comes to voting on any issue. Besides, former Member of Parliament for Obuasi East and a member of the NPP, Edward Micheal Ennin is reported to have spelt doom for the ruling NPP accusing the leadership and its appointees in government for being overly corrupt. Additionally, former Minister of Trade and Industry under the Akufo-Addo-led administration, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, a presidential candidate hopeful who announced his resignation recently from the NPP to run as an independent candidate has said that the NPP collapsed long ago and that from the onset, the foundations of the ruling government were established on deception which cannot stand. There are also concerns over what appears to be a plot by some elements of top bananas in the stronghold of the NPP, the Ashanti Region, to send the party to opposition to gain control and reorganise for 2028. And it looks like the resignation of Alan feeds into this stratagem, and I am not surprised some elders of the party after taking note of the possible consequences of this spectre are working hard to convince Alan to return, which sounds nearly impossible. Whichever way you look at this predicament, the NPP is in no doubt at the crossroad of disintegration and appears irredeemable. Even though they continue to be loud and "optimistic", it is becoming apparent that they are living in a Pimper's Paradise. After all, every need has an ego to feed. Anthony obeng Afrane 16.10.2023 LISTEN The Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong has launched another attack on Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. This time, the flagbearer aspirant has accused his fellow aspirant of failing to deliver in the government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. Asked in an interview on Connect FM if Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has failed in this government, Ken Agyapong responded, Oh of course [he has failed]. The man said when your fundamentals are weak your exchange rate will expose you when he was saying that $1 was GHS4. And today its GHS11.5. So now what are we going to say? For me, I will always say the truth. According to Ken Agyapong, it is interesting to note that the Vice President no longer speaks on the economy as he did in the run-up to the 2016 General Election. He said there is no way Dr. Bawumia can hide and say he has not been a failure. When it comes to the success in Digitalisation we dont say NPP but you [Bawumia] take credit. But when things are not right you say you are just a mate. Just like he said a lot about the economy in 2016 I was expecting him to be doing that when he goes around today. What we see now is he will be talking about digital, Ken Agyapong argued. Watch Ken Agyapongs argument in the attachment below: Former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, who died Monday aged 86, was a mediator who brokered peace around the globe, winning a Nobel Peace Prize for a formidable career spanning over 40 years. Ahtisaari had battled Alzheimer's disease, which forced him to retire from public life in September 2021. The former UN diplomat was credited with overseeing the 2005 talks between the Indonesian government and Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels, which brought an end to a three-decade conflict in which some 15,000 people were killed. Both sides described Ahtisaari, who was president of his native Finland between 1994 and 2000, as steely but with a sense of humour and warmth. "I have enormous amounts of patience. I don't usually get angry, but I can be tough," he said later, adding that he felt the key to his success was an ability to understand people. Ahtisaari also helped lead Kosovo down the path toward independence, even though his intense efforts failed to clinch an agreement with Serbia before Pristina unilaterally declared independence in 2008. Wartime childhood Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari was born on June 23, 1937 in Viipuri -- now Vyborg -- in Finland's eastern Karelia province, which his family was forced to flee at the end of World War II after it was annexed by the Soviet Union. He said his childhood experience of war and being a refugee "gave me sensitivity... Perhaps that made me a peace negotiator." An academic career led him to a teaching post in Pakistan in the early 1960s, before entering the diplomatic service. Ahtisaari was appointed ambassador to Tanzania in 1973 at the age of 36. Transferring to the UN, he was a special envoy to Namibia, where he helped lead the country towards independence from South Africa in 1990. "Perhaps the most traumatic experience was on April 1, 1989 when SWAPO (rebel) troops came from Angola and more than 300 people were killed," he recalled. "If I could manage to sort out that, I have the feeling there is no problem I can't solve," he said. Fling with politics Veteran negotiator: Ahtisaari on the phone in a hotel in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in 2005. By MARCO LONGARI (AFP) In 1994, Finland's Social Democratic Party nominated him to run for the presidency and Ahtisaari became the country's first directly-elected president. "He was a transitional president who guided Finland into the global EU era," current President Sauli Niinisto said after Ahtisaari's passing. Yet the man of action, who limped as a result of rheumatism, found himself ill at ease with the largely ceremonial role. His true passion remained foreign affairs and Ahtisaari later likened his six-year diversion into domestic politics to "an extramarital affair". In 2000 Ahtisaari got involved in the Northern Ireland peace process, inspecting the IRA's arms dumps with current South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. He was appointed the UN special envoy for talks on the status of Kosovo in 2005 and recommended independence for the breakaway province, only to be repeatedly accused of bias by the Serbs. His inability to persuade the two sides to agree before Kosovo unilaterally declared independence rankled with him. Elder statesman In 2008, aged 71, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts "on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts." Old age did little to dampen Ahtisaari's drive. He insisted retirement was "not yet on the cards" as he continued to travel the world promoting peace as part of a group known as the "Elders", including former US president Jimmy Carter, former UN chief Kofi Annan and South African archbishop Desmond Tutu. After turning 80, Ahtisaari stepped down as chairman of the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) peace institute he founded 17 years earlier, but continued to be involved in their mediation work. Traders work on the floor of the NYSE in New York Traders work on the floor of the NYSE in New York By Stephen Culp NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street jumped and benchmark Treasury yields climbed on Monday as investors embarked upon the first full week of third-quarter earnings while keeping a close eye on the Israel-Hamas conflict. The three major U.S. advanced nearly 1% or more in a broad rally that favored economically sensitive transports, consumer discretionary and small caps. Israeli forces continued their bombardment of Gaza after efforts to arrange a cease fire stalled as the conflict entered its 10th day. "It's a snap-back reaction to the markets," said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist Ingalls & Snyder in New York. "It's some buying the dip that's continuing here." The Israel-Hamas "conflict appears to be escalating, and that's not bothering the market at all, and thats not surprising because investing is buying pieces of companies and rarely has anything to do with geopolitics," Ghriskey added. "Markets often ignore geopolitics, and that confuses some people." A spate of big-bank earnings reports on Friday marked the unofficial beginning of the third-quarter earnings season. The coming week promises to turn up the heat, with Bank of America, Goldman Sachs Group, Netflix, Tesla and a host of heavy-hitting industrials on deck. Economic data was sparse on Monday, with the New York Federal Reserve's Empire State index posting a shallower-than-expected decline. Retail sales, industrial production, housing starts and existing-home sales fill out the week's roster. "Theres a good possibility that we'll see a positive earnings season and that companies are doing well despite high interest rates and fears that the Fed is going to continue raising rates," Ghriskey said. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 314.25 points, or 0.93%, to 33,984.54, the S&P 500 gained 45.85 points, or 1.06%, to 4,373.63 and the Nasdaq Composite added 160.75 points, or 1.2%, to 13,567.98. Story continues European stocks advanced, buoyed by financial and mining stocks, while market participants remained risk-averse due to the unfolding conflict in the Middle East. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.23%, and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.71%. Emerging market stocks lost 0.41%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.56% lower, while Japan's Nikkei lost 2.03%. U.S. Treasury yields rose as the government increased debt issuance while an expected Israeli ground invasion of Gaza kept markets in a tentative mood. Benchmark 10-year notes last fell 20/32 in price to yield 4.7101%, from 4.629% late on Friday. The 30-year bond last fell 39/32 in price to yield 4.862%, from 4.779% late on Friday. The greenback lost ground against a basket of world currencies while Israel's shekel weakened, briefly touching a key level of four per U.S. dollar for the first time since 2015. The dollar index fell 0.43%, with the euro up 0.47% to $1.0558. The Japanese yen strengthened 0.01% versus the greenback at 149.54 per dollar, while Sterling was last trading at $1.2215, up 0.61% on the day. Crude oil prices dipped below $90 per barrel on reports the U.S. could reach a deal to ease sanctions on Venezuela, as traders viewed the Israel-Hamas conflict as having little short-term effect on supply. U.S. crude dropped 1.2% to settle at $86.66 per barrel, while Brent settled at $89.65 per barrel, down 1.4% on the day. Gold slid, but held above $1,900 per ounce as the escalating geopolitical tensions kept investors on edge. Spot gold dropped 0.7% to $1,918.62 an ounce. (Reporting by Stephen Culp; Additional reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft in London; Editing by Bill Berkrot, Leslie Adler and Marguerita Choy) The University of Ghana branch of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UG-UTAG) has expressed concern about the displacement of individuals and communities in the Volta Region amid the controlled spillage of water from the Akosombo Dam. Indicating that the distress, trauma, and hardships this exercise continues to exert on the people are unimaginable, -UGUTAG says it is in solidarity with all affected individuals in these communities. In its release, UG-UTAG offered the expertise of members to help the government address the perennial spillage of the Akosombo Dam to avoid causing more damage to people. We urge the Government and all agencies involved in the management of the Akosombo Dam to devise mechanisms that allow for the maintenance of this important national facility, without the perennial displacement of people from their homes and the untold hardships such exercises bring upon them. As UTAG, we have the expertise and are willing to help the government in addressing this perennial problem, the UG-UTAG release signed by President Prof. Ransford Gyampo said. While UG-UTAG mobilises to offer help to the affected people, the group is urging the National Disaster Management Organization to double up its interventions to deal with the plight of those affected. Below is a copy of the release: After 34 years of service, the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) Devtraco Fire Station within the Tema Regional Command has retired station fire commander Divisional Officer (DOI) Philemon Kojo Boabeng in a colourful ceremony. Doris Lamptey, GNFS Tema Regional Commander and Assistant Chief Fire Officer I (ACFOI) praised the outgoing commander for his distinguished contribution to the country and the fire service. ACFOI Lamptey went on to say that DOI Boabeng has left great legacies at all of the fire stations he has led and urged the junior ranks to follow in his footsteps. The Tema Regional Fire Commander noted that the fire service requires disciplined men while on active duty, emphasizing that DOI Boabeng has delivered on such characteristics, therefore the colourful ceremony to congratulate him as he leaves the GNFS. DOI Boabeng thanked his immediate family and the Ghana National Fire Service for their assistance during his period in active service. D0I Boabeng stated once more that the service provided him with the opportunity to learn firefighting experience, and that even though he was retiring, he would be immediately available to provide assistance whenever the service required it. According to him, new and rising officers must constantly respect the ideas and ethics that bind the service and refrain from engaging in selfish and unscrupulous acts. 'You have to serve with integrity,' he said. DOI Boabeng joined the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) in December 1989 and has since progressed through the ranks and files. From 2019 until his retirement in October 2023, he managed the Ada district fire station before joining the Devtraco fire station as station commander. Among other gifts from friends, family, colleagues, fire officers, and industry captains, he received a brand new television set, a chest freezer, air conditioning, assorted traditional garments and sandals, and an undisclosed sum of money. -CDA Consult || Contributor Samuel Koku Anyidoho, CEO of the Atta Mills Institute and former Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has once again questioned former President John Dramani Mahama over his re-election bid. He is calling on Mahama to explain to Ghanaians what approach he will take differently. In a tweet on Monday, October 16, Mr. Anyidoho wrote, Lets all assume that JM wins in 2024; what will he do differently from what he did to lose by over 1 million votes in 2016?. Former President John Dramani Mahama took over from his boss, late former President John Evans Atta Mills who died just five months to the 2012 general elections. He became the first vice president to ascend to the presidency right after his boss after defeating the then-opposition NPP leader Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. However, his second bid in 2016 was unsuccessful after losing the election by over a million votes to President Akufo-Addo who was re-elected in 2020. The former President has secured the NDCs flagbearer position again with the promise to deliver a better government to Ghanaians if elected into office on January 7, 2025. Medical practitioner and one-time presidential candidate aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Arthur Kobina Kennedy has expressed worry about the lack of a bold fight against corruption in the country. In a release lamenting the state of governance, he said it is clear to him that Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame is working with Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyabeng to cover up what he describes as bogus anti-corruption credentials of the ruling government. This is his view in reaction to the revelation from Prof. Frimpong Boateng on how his refusal to accept a bribe of $5 million stopped a dubious scheme orchestrated by people in government that would have seen the state lose a humongous US$88.24 million. The Attorney General, who is implicated and has been working with his Jonathan, the Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyabeng to maintain this governments bogus anti-corruption credentials has been busy spinning the fallacy that there are no criminal Galamseyers in Flagstaff House, Arthur Kobina Kennedy said in his release. He further bemoaned, The Special Prosecutor, the self-styled conscience of the nation is silent. The peoples Parliament has not said Fe mpo! The Media Houses who claim to be staunchly anti-corruption have been silent they are busy covering the horse race in the NPP primary to pick who will protect the legacy of perhaps, the most corrupt government ever to rule Ghana. In his release on the silence on corruption in the country, Dr. Arthur Kobina Kennedy argued that there is an urgent need for all to help in saving the country. He warned that if this is not done, Kwame Nkrumahs prophecy; If change is denied, or too long delayed, violence will break out will come to pass. Below is the full release from Arthur Kobina Kennedy: My fellow Ghanaians, my heart is heavy and so should yours. Instead of virtues, we have luxury and avarice, public distress and private superfluity; we extol wealth and yield to indolence, no distinction is made between good and bad men; and ambition usurps the honour due to virtue. Since each of you focuses on his individual interest and since at home you are slaves to pleasure, money or favour, it happens that an attack is made on the defenseless state. These are not the words of any Ghanaiansthey belong to Cato, dubbed by many historians as Romes last Citizen, a man whose life of integrity inspired the likes of Washington and Jefferson. Our Ghana is being destroyed before our eyes. This months issue of AFRICAWATCH magazine contained interviews by editor Steve Mallory with 2 very important Ghanaians on the state of our nation and its prospects. Former and perhaps future president John Mahama told Mr. Mallory, I dont have to tell you that people dont believe that their lives are better off. He added that There have been a deterioration of every aspect of life in Healthcare, in education and the infrastructure has gone bad, the economy is in crisis. Finally, he added stunningly, I knew that one day, I will be vindicated from the web of lies the NPP spun around me. I expected that posterity would take centuries to judge. It looks like that judgement has come quicker than I thought. I feel vindicated.. Professor Frimpong-Boateng was equally substantive. He went over the now familiar Galamsey crisis. Then, he dropped a bombshell. AFRICAWATCH reported that Starting from the Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice to the Ministry of Finance, a scheme was put in place to swindle Ghana of a humongous US$ 88.24 million but Prof. Frimpong-Boatengs refusal to accept a bribe of 5 million USD stopped it. According to Prof, The whole thing was too shady. I confronted Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta about it and he told me Chares Adu Boahen, the then deputy minister of finance was probably behind it. Soon after some people from Apex Pollution Control Company came to see me in my office and offered me a US$ 5 million bribe to approve the judgment debt for them. I rejected it and told them to disappear from my office. And he had copies of letters from the Attorney General and Minitry of Finance to back him up! Shockingly, this revelation has been met with loud silence from all corners. President NADAA who pledged to protect the public purse has been silent. The Attorney General, who is implicated and has been working with his Jonathan, the Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyabeng to maintain this governments bogus anti-corruption credentials has been busy spinning the fallacy that there are no criminal Galamseyers in Flagstaff House. The Special Prosecutor, the self-styled conscience of the nation is silent.The peoples Parliament has not said Fe mpo! The Media Houses who claim to be staunchly anti-corruption have been silent they are busy covering the horse-race in the NPP primary to pick who will protect the legacy of perhaps, the most corrupt government ever to rule Ghana. The Asofo Akese3 are silentwaiting for their Cathedral while the masses wait for their true prophets. Think about it. One judgment debt, negotiated quietly for 88 million USD! How many such deals have been done in the name of loot-and-share? President Biden is being investigated over allegations that he took USD 20 millions over 8 years as VP! How much did they pay for the media silence? I miss the days of yore when newspapers like the Pioneer, Legon Observer, the Free Press etc would have fearlessly exposed the dishonorable honourables destroying Ghana. I miss the days of yore when NUGS, UTAG and TUC etc would have demanded accountability. I miss the days of yore when men like Adu Boahen( the father), Reverend Essamuah, Bishop Sarpong, Palmer Buckle, Elizabeth Ohene, Tommy Thompson and Mrs Nikoi would have called this government out for the bull. I even miss NADAA, the firebrand and Rawlings not the one we buried but the AFRC one who breathed accountability and probity! Lord, we need some cleansing!!!! To the priests who cant find which side God is on, I call your attention to Isaiah 5:8 Ah, you who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is room for no one but you, and you are left alone to live in the midst of the land. There is a proverb that we sometimes stand in the house of a coward and point to the ruins where a brave man used to live. Soon, there will be no ruins anymore! We must sing Yen Ara asase ni and save Ghana or see Nkrumahs prophesy, If change is denied, or too long delayed, violence will break out. May God bless you. May God bless Ghana and May Ghana never want for men and women whose spirits will be stirred by Ephraim Amus patriotic lyrics. Arthur Kobina Kennedy October, 14th, 2023. After her visit to Israel on Sunday, France's foreign minister Catherine Colonna is in Cairo for talks with Egyptian president Abdel Fatah Al-Sissi in an attempt to find a diplomatic solution to the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas that controls the Gaza Strip. Colonna was to meet President al-Sissi Monday morning, followed by Egypt's foreign minister Sameh Choukri, with whom she will discuss the issue of the escalating war between Israel and Hamas. The meetings are taking place at a time when the 10-day-old war has already claimed thousands of lives on both sides and displaced more than a million people. On Sunday, the Egyptian authorities announced that they were issuing "an invitation to a regional and international summit on the future of the Palestinian cause". The proposed summit will reportedly be addressed during Colonna's talks in Cairo. Israel has 'the right to defend itself' This comes as Colonna spoke by telephone with the Foreign Minister of the Palestinian Authority, Riyad al Malki, from the French consulate in East Jerusalem on Sunday, but the content of the conversation has not been disclosed. During her visit to Israel on Sunday, Catherine Colonna insisted that Israel had the right to defend itself after the attacks launched by Hamas, stressing that it had "experienced the unspeakable". However, she also stressed the need to respect international and humanitarian law. Speaking to the press in Tel Aviv, Colonna called Israel "a great democracy," but called on the Israeli authorities to respond "firmly" but "justly". She also stressed that Hamas is "hurting the Palestinians" and to remember that Hamas "does not represent Palestinians". French death toll rises, 13 still missing Meanwhile, France says it now counts 19 of its citizens amongst those who were killed in Hamas' assault on Israel just over a week ago, with no news of 13 others who are missing and who, in some cases, may be held hostage. Colonna has vowed that everything will be done to free the hostages and urged that the United Nations be allowed to organise deliveries of food and other essentials to displaced people in southern Gaza who are lacking everything. This comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office denied reports of a ceasefire in Gaza that would enable aid to enter and foreigners to flee to Egypt. In a statement released from Netanyahu's office on Monday, "There is currently no ceasefire and humanitarian aid in Gaza in return for removing foreigners." It had earlier been reported that Egypt, Israel and the United States had agreed to a ceasefire in southern Gaza beginning at 06h00 UT coinciding with the re-opening of the Rafah border crossing. The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has released five of former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources Cecilia Abena Dapaah's bank accounts. The accounts were initially frozen in July as part of an OSP investigation into "suspected corruption and corruption-related offences involving large amounts of money and other valuable items." "The investigation has eliminated five (5) of the bank accounts of Ms. Dapaah from suspicion of being tainted property," said Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng in a statement released on Monday, October 16. According to the statement, the freezing order remains in effect for Dapaah's other bank accounts and financial assets. Lawyer Kissi Agyebeng stated, "On 16 October 2023 the Special Prosecutor revoked the freezing order in respect of the eliminated five (5) bank accounts of Ms. Dapaah. The freezing order is still in force and effect in respect of the other bank accounts and financial assets of Ms. Dapaah." The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has announced that its investigation has cleared five of former Minister Cecilia Abena Dapaah's bank accounts of suspicion of tainted money. "The investigation has eliminated five (5) of the bank accounts of Ms. Dapaah from suspicion of being tainted property," said Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng in a statement. The OSP froze Dapaah's bank accounts and assets in July as part of an investigation into "suspected corruption and corruption-related offences involving large amounts of money." However, Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng stated that the freeze order on the five bank accounts has been revoked on October 16, after its investigations deemed them untainted by corruption. "On 16 October 2023 the Special Prosecutor revoked the freezing order in respect of the eliminated five (5) bank accounts of Ms. Dapaah," he said. However, the OSP noted that, The freezing order is still in force and effect in respect of the other bank accounts and financial assets of Ms. Dapaah." Torched villages and young gunmen in army fatigues populate the landscape between Goma, a city in volatile eastern DR Congo, and the town of Kitshanga 80 kilometres (50 miles) away. M23 rebels and militias loyal to the Congolese government have battled across the area recently, breaking a precarious truce that has lasted for months. In a rare victory against the Rwanda-backed M23, the loyalist militias this month regained the strategic town of Kitshanga, in North Kivu's Masisi province. The Tusti-led M23 launched an offensive in late 2021 and defeated the Congolese army in a series of clashes, capturing swathes of North Kivu and driving over one million people from their homes. AFP joined a press trip to Kitshanga organised by the Democratic Republic of Congo's army this weekend. Private military company Congo Protection, which has worked with the army in the region since the start of the year, provided security. The military contractor comprises about 1,000 people mostly from Eastern Europe. Officially, the Congolese army is observing a ceasefire with the M23. But many local residents and security officials say the army is lending support to militias loyal to the government -- known locally as "Wazalendo". In Kitshanga, close to the current frontlines, the atmosphere was calm. Women sold food at the market, shops were open and dozens of armed men -- both soldiers and militiamen -- were strolling about. 'Free the country' Tantine Daphrose, a 30-year-old mother of six and member of the government-aligned APCLS militia, was dressed in a Congolese army uniform. "I have abandoned my children," said the woman, who is an ethnic Hutu. She explained that she had joined the militia to "free the country" from the M23. An APCLS leader, Colonel Ngowa Luwanda, later addressed reporters in Kitshanga, saying the militia is made of up of several different tribes who "say no to the invasion of our country". Luwanda, who described himself as the "Wazalendo chief of operations," explained that the goal was to hunt the enemy down, "up to the borders of Congo". He noted, however, there was no intention to cross over into Rwanda As part of a condition of the press trip to Kitshanga, reporters were neither allowed to photograph the private military contractors nor film Congolese soldiers. Interviews were also conducted in the presence of Congolese officials. 'Not afraid of death' The officials stopped reporters from leaving the organised tour and interviewing Kitshanga residents alone. A photographer was also forced to delete some images after his camera was inspected. John Ishara, a town resident, said: "When the government came in, everyone cheered." "We didn't know whether they would succeed or not, but now we believe in them." At the beginning of October, local militias entered Kitshanga, taking over from soldiers from a regional East African force that had established buffer zones between the M23 and the army. The M23 then took the town from local militias, and held it for a day, before retreating. Clashes have continued on the outskirts of Kitshanga in recent days. Stephane Dujarric, a spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said 2,000 people had taken refuge in a UN base in Kitshanga, with 18,000 more sheltering just outside it. "We are asking the government to help us," said Tantine Daphrose, the militiawoman. "I'm going to fight to the end, I'm not afraid of death," she added. The influential Caine Prize for African Writing for 2023 was won by a power couple from Senegal. Their short story A Soul of Small Places (which can be read over here ) echoes deeper trends in the country's literature while picking up on the growth of horror and speculative fiction across the continent. African literature specialist Caroline D. Laurent explains. What's the Caine Prize and what does winning it mean? The Caine Prize, awarded annually since 2000, acknowledges a short story written in English by an African author. Its objective is to introduce African literature to a broader readership. It's named in honour of Sir Michael Harris Caine , co-founder of the Man Booker Prize . It consists, firstly, of a 10,000 cash prize for its winner(s). Winning it provides the opportunity for writers to discuss their work, engage with fellow writers, meet with the press and publish their work in the Caine Prize anthology , all with the prospect of gaining recognition. It often serves as a springboard for further publication. It's helped launch the careers of writers like Nigerian novelists Helon Habila and Tope Folarin , Zimbabwean novelist NoViolet Bulawayo and Zambia's Namwali Serpell . Who are this year's winners? This year's winners are a duo of Senegalese writers, Woppa Diallo and Mame Bougouma Diene . Diallo is a lawyer and feminist activist who, at 15, founded The Association for Keeping Girls in School in Matam, Senegal. Her work served as the inspiration for the winning story, hence the main protagonist's name, Woppa Diallo. Diene is a Franco-Senegalese American humanitarian and writer. He serves as the francophone spokesperson for the African Speculative Fiction Society and contributes as a columnist to Strange Horizons , an online speculative fiction magazine. His debut collection Dark Moons Rising on a Starless Night was nominated for two 2019 Splatterpunk Awards. He often blends elements of horror, social issues and local beliefs in his work. A Soul of Small Places is an example of his preferred genres. What's the story about? A Soul of Small Places is about Woppa, a young girl who lives in the rural town of Matam in Senegal. Woppa has the task of protecting her younger sister Awa on their way to school. Indeed, girls going to school are often the prey of men who sexually assault them and force them into early marriages. Woppa and Awa's daily experience of fear to and from school highlights the lack of response from both the authorities and citizens. Gender-based violence remains shrouded in silence, suppressed by feelings of shame and guilt. Hence the intervention of the Soukounio, a flesh-eating djinn who, in this narrative, serves as a protector and avenger of young girls. When all else fails, it is only the gods who can safeguard the girls of Matam. Why's it so good? A Soul of Small Places is a beautifully written short story that has been aptly described by the Caine Prize judges as tender and poetic . However, it's also a harrowing and infuriating tale. The power of literature to focus on individuals and their personal experiences lends a human face to an unresolved social issue. The authors' skilful use of suspense and horror to convey this idea leaves a profound impact on the reader, with the hope of prompting them to consider the issue and take action. A lire aussi : Mohamed Mbougar Sarr: Senegalese novelist's win is a landmark for African literature Diallo and Diene's story is deeply rooted in its local setting. Matam is described as the second hottest place in Senegal and the heat is palpable in the description of the landscape, where nature is both menacing and protective. References to different gods and spirits also highlight the environment in which Woppa and her family live. However, this short story can also resonate with the fears experienced by young girls and women globally. The anxiety of girls walking home after sunset is something many women have experienced. A Soul of Small Places portrays experiences that, unfortunately, are all too universal. The lack of adequate responses also resonates, regardless of where one lives. What does this say about Senegalese fiction? Recently, Senegalese fiction has engaged with important issues in Senegal, whether pertaining to homophobia as seen in Mohamed Mbougar Sarr 's De Purs Hommes (Pure Men) or gender-based sexual violence, as seen in A Soul of Small Places. A lire aussi : New Kiswahili science fiction award charts a path for African languages Also worth noting is that Diallo and Diene wrote their story in English, not French, the language of Senegal's former colonisers. The choice to write in English works to dismantle the neocolonial use of languages based on one's origin and the colonial past of one's country. In this sense, English appears more as a global language. The Kiswahili Prize for African Literature , where authors write in African languages, complements the Caine Prize. The fact that languages are being redistributed points to the dynamism of African literature, challenging the use of the languages of former colonisers in different ways. Senegalese literature plays a vital role in encouraging people to read, reflect upon and engage with significant matters in the country. Literature serves as a tool for recognition, understanding and action. A Soul of Small Places is a beautiful, terrifying example of this. Caroline D. Laurent ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possede pas de parts, ne recoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a declare aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche. By Caroline D. Laurent, Assistant Professor, American University of Paris (AUP) Kinshasa, October 13, 2023The Committee to Protect Journalists urges authorities of the Democratic Republic of Congo to allow the provisional release of journalist Stanis Bujakera Tshiamala and drop all legal proceedings against him. Journalist Stanis Bujakera should never have been arrested or charged, but the least DRC authorities can do is not oppose his request for provisional release and drop all legal proceedings against him, said Angela Quintal, CPJs Africa program coordinator, from New York. Bujakera should be released without further delay and allowed to return home to see his family in the U.S. On Friday, October 13, during a court hearing in the Makala central prison in Kinshasa, the capital, lawyers representing Bujakera requested his provisional release, according to news reports and one of the lawyers, Charles Mushizi. The judge is expected to rule on the request within 48 hours, and Bujakeras next court date is scheduled for October 20. Bujakera is a permanent U.S. resident with a home in Virginia and works as a correspondent for the privately owned Jeune Afrique news website and Reuters, and is deputy director of publication for the DRC-based news website Actualite.cd, his wife, Armelle Tshiamala, told CPJ. Congolese police arrested Bujakera on September 8. He faces several charges under the penal and digital code related to an August 31 Jeune Afrique report about the military intelligences possible involvement in the murder of a minister, which the outlet said Bujakera did not write. On October 3, DRC Minister of Communication Patrick Muyaya told local reporters that the government would not intervene because the case was before a court. Program director Erin Gallant opened the doors of her Portugal Cove-St. Philip's facility to raise money as she waits for news about possible government funding. (Elizabeth Whitten/CBC - image credit) Program director Erin Gallant opened the doors of her Portugal Cove-St. Philip's facility to raise money as she waits for news about possible government funding. Program director Erin Gallant opened the doors of her Portugal Cove-St. Philip's facility to raise money as she waits for news about possible government funding. (Elizabeth Whitten/CBC) Erin Gallant, director for Stable Life's shuttered Spirit Horse equine therapy program, is still hopeful her non-profit organization can resume its services despite closing due to lack of funding in late September. On Sunday, the Portugal Cove-St. Philip's facility was open to the public to host the barn market, which includes vendors as well as pony rides. Gallant said plans for the market had been in the works before they had to shutter the Spirit Horse program but it gained a new meaning afterwards. "The push was on to do something for the public, to give people an opportunity to still be able to come out to the barn and visit, get a pony ride and also help us raise some funds at the same time," Gallant told CBC News. On Sunday Stable Life opened its barn doors to raise some money through the barn market. On Sunday Stable Life opened its barn doors to raise some money through the barn market. (Elizabeth Whitten/CBC) Gallant said she's still waiting to hear back from the provincial government on Stable Life's application for $90,000 in funding. "Sometimes, you know, no news is good news. We're hoping that the good things are gonna come through." It takes around $150,000 a year to operate the facility, she said. Fourteen vendors signed up to sell their wares in the Stable Life barn market, and that included a small fee of $30. In the wake of the equine program being paused she said people are "devastated" but added people have also reached out to see how they can help. Some have donated money. A GoFundMe campaign has raised $2,500. "I would say since we've announced the pause in services, we probably had about $5,000 come in. Still not enough to get us up and running again," she said, explaining that would cover the salary of one person for a month. Story continues Still, Gallant said she's "cautiously optimistic" about being able to offer the equine program again, though it may look different, like adding a small fee for the service. "But Stable Life and the Spirit Horse program will not die. I won't let it out of spite." Parent urges government action Michelle Tiller was also at the market on Sunday and voiced her frustration with the provincial government for not acting to support Stable Life. Michelle Tiller said she and her two children were using the Sprit Horse program shortly before it was halted. Michelle Tiller said she and her two children were using the Sprit Horse program shortly before it was halted. (Elizabeth Whitten/CBC) "It's time for them to s--t or get off the pot," she said. Tiller said she and her two children had started to avail of the program shortly before it had to stop but that it meant a lot. "One of my children had a bad experience with [a] counsellor and refused to go back. And then we found out about this place and made an appointment and she just kind of clicked," said Tiller. "She had four sessions and things shut down. And now we're back to having issues because she can't get the help that she needs." Tiller said the government needs to take action in the health-care crisis, which includes access to therapy services. "I've been on a wait list for over two years. My kids have been on a wait list with the Janeway Family Centre for over three years." Still in demand The program has been paused for weeks now but counsellor Lisa Loveless said 39 people have reached out to avail of the service. At the same time, people are struggling because they can't access the program. "It's been quite heartbreaking to have the program paused because there are so many people who depend on this service, literally to keep them alive." Lisa Loveless is a counsellor who has seen the positive benefits of equine therapy and worries for the people who relied on Spirit Horse. Lisa Loveless is a counsellor who has seen the positive benefits of equine therapy and worries for the people who relied on Spirit Horse. (Elizabeth Whitten/CBC) Her youngest client at Stable Life is five years old and the oldest are in their 70s, she said. Like Gallant, Loveless is optimistic about the Spirit Horse program resuming but said it's also a waiting game while they try to obtain funding. "I believe that [with] the number of people that we serve in a year and the testimonies of the clients that we help, we'll get through to someone." Loveless said she used to work in a traditional therapy setting, sitting in an office with a couch, but since working with Stable Life she has seen how interacting with horses greatly helps her clients. "The horse will actually mirror what the human is experiencing, which can be incredibly powerful," she said. "So for example, if someone comes in feeling very anxious, you will see anxious behaviour from the horse and then they will connect and relate. And the results that I've seen have been incredible." Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Click here to visit our landing page. 16.10.2023 LISTEN Sad to say, the world is full of ingrates with secret-agendas. I happen to share a fence wall with part of what used to be known as the Gomoa Buduburam Camp Liberia refugee settlement area. It has more charitable foundations, and NGOs, per square mile, than anywhere else in the world, according to a wag I know. Despite the preponderance of charitable organisations in it, there are some, who insist, from personal experience, that what used to be known as the Gomoa Buduburam refugee settlement area, is peppered with ingrates, unfortunately. But how true is that, dear critical-reader? However. that hasn't been my experience, thank goodness. Speaking personally, to me, Camp Liberia is a unique melting-pot community, where people from across the West African sub-region, call home. Speaking personally, to me, Camp Liberia is full of the most amazing energy, and is a very interesting part of Ghana's beautiful and bountiful Central Region, that one loves and cherishes a great deal. That said, it is vital that young people from privileged backgrounds, who are compassionate and quick to offer empowering-assistance, to the needy, who interact with residents of Camp Liberia, and come across ingrates-with-secret agendas, don't stop helping people in need, there, just because a few despicable-ingrates abuse their generosity. Even the Lord Jesus Christ, was a victim of the vile-ungrateful while on the planet Earth, as it happens, oooo, Ghanafuor. Full stop. Case closed. Wa, GHANA [October 15, 2023] The United States Government, through USAID/Ghanas Implementing Partners (IPs) under the Feed the Future (FTF) initiative, has partnered with the Women in Agricultural Development Directorate (WIAD) of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) to celebrate the vital role played by rural women in agriculture across northern Ghana. This joint effort commemorates the International Day for Rural Women, observed today, Sunday, October 15, 2023. The day recognizes the significant contributions of rural women in enhancing agricultural and rural development, ensuring food security, and eradicating rural poverty. The commemoration, marked by insightful radio discussions and policy dialogue in Wa, the Upper West Regional capital, as well as a community durbar and fair at Noru, in the Nadowli-Kaleo District in the region, was facilitated by the IPs, including Policy LINK, Mobilizing Finance in Agriculture (MFA), Market Systems Resilience (MSR), and Resilience in Northern Ghana (RING) II, in partnership with WIAD of MoFA. The activities aimed at spotlighting inspiring stories of women overcoming challenges and contributing substantially to agriculture. Additionally, they sought to enhance the active participation of rural women in Ghanas agricultural policy and decision-making processes and empower them with knowledge and information about available opportunities within the sector to improve their economic well-being. The three celebratory events brought together a diverse group of over 300 rural women in agriculture, government officials, community leaders, and other key agricultural stakeholders from the FTF Zone of Influence (ZOI), spanning 17 districts across the Northern, Upper East, Upper West, and North East Regions. About Feed the Future Feed the Future is the U.S. Governments initiative to end global hunger. Led by USAID and driven by collaborative partnerships across public and private sectors, including 11 U.S. Government agencies, Feed the Future addresses the root causes of poverty and hunger by promoting inclusive agriculture-led economic growth, resilience, and nutrition in countries with great need and opportunity for improvement. About USAID USAID is the lead U.S. government agency that works to end extreme global poverty and enable resilient, democratic societies to realize their potential. USAIDs activities and strategic partnerships support Ghanas journey to self-reliance and advance an integrated approach to development. USAID promotes accountability, sustainable systems, and inclusive development. Abibata Stephens From The Ghana Association Of Female Agricultural And Fish Farmers Award Winners (gafafaw) Making A Contribution At The Policy Dialogue A Cross Section Of The Participants Taking Part In An Energizer During The Policy Dialogue Leenat Osman Sharing Her Agribuisness Journey On Info Radio In Wa Duirng A Discussion Participants At The Community Durbar Held At Naru In The Nadowli-kaleo District In The Upper West Region Some Participants At Durbar Exhibiting Their Wares 16.10.2023 LISTEN CAPE TOWN; South Africa -- The Global Black Impact Summit (GIBS) which is taking place from November 30 to December 1 in Dubai this year stands as a powerful testament to the potential for unity, growth, and empowerment within the global Black community. That's the expert view of the organizers of this all important gathering of Black entrepreneurs and industry experts. According to the GIBS, the contributions of Black scholars and leaders in academia have been instrumental in shaping the course of history and paving the way for future generations. Moreover, advancing knowledge and understanding across various fields that are critical to society and development, the global Black academic community continues to spearhead the next wave of thought, providing society with the tools it needs to thrive. And by celebrating the achievements of educational pioneers and providing a platform for collaboration, the summit reinforces the importance of education as a catalyst for positive change. In addition, the summit brings together the global Black community to honor and uplift the legacy of Black excellence in academia. Also noted is that scholars and academics have shaped society to what it is today and will shape it to what it will be tomorrow. "Educators have been responsible for developing almost every aspect of modern society. From fostering community to developing skills and capacities to spearheading technological innovation and economic progress, scholars and academics have and will continue to serve as catalysts for modernization. Educators have provided the research that has charged development; challenged societal norms and inequality; introduced new concepts, ideas and inventions; while setting the stage for widespread personal, professional and economic development. Without Black contributors and educators, society would not be where it is today," adds the GIBS. Furthermore, the GIBS argues, at its cusp, education is important in the creation and strengthening of any democracy, and over the centuries, many Black academics have given rise to a new era of knowledge and progress. As Nelson Mandela stated, Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. And many educational pioneers across the Global Black community have done just that. Prominent figures include Thomas Sowell, an American social theorist and economist; Cheikh Anta Diop, Senegalese historian, anthropologist and physicist whose work is considered foundational to the theory of Afrocentricity; Mohammed Bagayogo Es Sudane Al Wangari Al Timbukti, a Malian scholar; Sadie T. M. Alexander, Americas first Black economist and many more. Modern figures such as Ahmed Zewail, Nobel Prizewinner for Chemistry; Aziza Baccouche, Tunisian-born physicist; Fatsah Ouguergouz, international law scholar and judge on the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights, among many others. Black scholars and academics have also spearheaded the fight against racial inequality through education. Mary McLeod Bethune, for instance, was a visionary educator, civil rights leader and founder of Bethune-Cookman University. She believed that education was the key to racial advancement and worked tirelessly to provide quality education to African-American students. Additionally, Carter G. Woodson, known as the Father of Black History, dedicated his life to recognizing and celebrating the achievements of Black people. He founded the Association for the Study of African American Life and History and established Black History Month. Across the entire educational spectrum, academics have made impactful contributions to people, communities and society as a whole. As Malcom X, human rights activist, stated, Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today. Are you a scholar looking at connecting with other thought-leaders, innovators and thinkers? Or are you an academic looking to expand your influence across the global academic community? The Global Black Impact Summit which is organized by Energy Capital & Power - represents the pivotal platform to foster connections, engage with counterparts while celebrating the global Black academic community. There is still time to secure your place at this exciting forum if you visit GlobalBlackImpact.com today and secure your spot among global Black academic leaders. The Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL) reiterates the need for the government to adopt practical measures to support the economy and anticipates that a significant portion of the 2024 Budget will be committed to creating jobs in the public and private sectors. The statement advocated for the adoption of sensible economic policies aimed at generating income, fostering employment opportunities, and advancing the private sector. Additionally, it urged the government to lower living expenses and eliminate regulations that impede the expansion of small, medium, and large enterprises. According to a document submitted to the Minister of Finance titled "GFL inputs towards the preparation of the 2024 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government," any nation's ability to maintain national security is still threatened by unemployment, and Ghana has experienced an increase in unemployment over the years, especially among young people. The document, which was jointly signed by GFL President and Secretary General Mr. Caleb Nartey and Mr. Abraham Koomson, stated that the region's textile manufacturing sector once employed more than 25,000 people. Less than 2,000 people are employed in the industry, according to the GFL research, which also highlighted the difficulties caused by unfair competition from imported, pirated, and smuggled printed cloth. The Federation stated that, regrettably, the VAT exemption is ending by December 2023. The Finance Ministry had given the sector zero VAT in order to assist in reviving the regional manufacturing enterprises. "The industry's recovery is sluggish and hasn't yet surmounted the crippling obstacles to increasing job opportunities. According to the GFL, a seven-year continuation of the zero VAT regime is essential to prevent the failing industry from collapsing. Currently, the sector employs about 3,000 Ghanaians. The Minerals and Mining Act, 2006, specifically Section 25, which increases royalties from 6% to roughly 15%, is another item that the GFL suggests be reviewed. In order to guarantee a rise in government revenue, GFL claims that the review must also apply to the current tax regimes on mining concessions. "The GFL honestly believes that doing a thorough fiscal analysis of the natural resource sector will provide more clarity on the opportunities that the government can take advantage of to raise the necessary funds to prosecute government operations. The Free SHS, Planting for Food and Jobs, One-District, One-Factory, Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme, Ghana School Feeding Programme, Railways Development, Agenda 111, and Coastal Fish Landing Sites are just a few of the government's signature initiatives that need to be reviewed with commitment. Is the Federation's stance that a thorough evaluation be carried out to ascertain the feasibility of these projects in light of the amount of money involved and the ensuing immediate benefit to the state? "In addition, the results of this thorough evaluation ought to provide recommendations for safeguarding the weaker members of society, generating employment opportunities, and fostering a stable economic and financial future." In compliance with Section 21(1) of the Public Financial Act 2016 (Act 921), and as part of the budget preparation process for the 2024 presentation, the Ministry of Finance invited labour unions and identified groups to provide feedback for the 2024 Budget and Economic Policy. -CDA Consult || Contributor Ghana Navy has disclosed that over 8,000 people have been rescued from flood-stricken areas as a result of the destructive spillage from the Akosombo Dam. Commodore EA Kwafo from the Naval Training Command during an update on the floods at Mepe in the Volta Region said the combined rescue team deployed to the affected districts is currently monitoring critical infrastructure and responding to distress calls in order to neutralise the effect of the damage caused by the spillage. He added that more personnel and logistics would be deployed if the rescuers become inundated with the current efforts being executed. We are monitoring critical infrastructure as well as responding to distress calls from the district assemblies, VRA, and NADMO and we have been rescuing people on the water and we are monitoring the estuary because it becomes a deathtrap in times of flooding. We were keeping watch on critical infrastructure and as of yesterday evening, we had evacuated over 8,000 flood-stricken people to safe havens and we have brought over ten more boats downstream and experienced divers and lifesavers to assist in the rescue efforts. Depending on how it goes, we may bring in more facilities and more personnel or if the situation improves, then, we may be keeping a watch anyway and we are ready to respond to any distress call and help save lives and properties to help mitigate the losses during this difficult times, Commodore EA Kwafo further assured. The VRA commenced the controlled water spillage from the Akosombo and Kpong Dams on September 15, 2023, due to a consistent rise in the inflow pattern and water level of the Akosombo reservoir. Thousands of residents in South Tongu, North Tongu, Central Tongu, Asuogyaman, and several other residents have had their homes submerged due to the spillage. -citinewsroom 16.10.2023 LISTEN The Ghana Police Service is on a manhunt to arrest the gang responsible for the alleged kidnapping of Nana Ottupre Kwagyan, the chief of Kubease, a suburb of Kwahu Abetifi in the Eastern Region. The Chief according to a preliminary report received by the Police on Monday, October 16, was forcefully taken from his house by some six (6) persons to an unknown location. After the swift action by the Police, the officers assigned to the case have succeeded in rescuing Nana Ottupre Kwagyan. The Police have rescued one Nana Ottupre Kwagyan, the chief of Kubease, a suburb of Kwahu Abetifi in the Eastern Region who was allegedly kidnapped by some unknown men. The swift intervention of the Police following a report of the incident led to the rescue of the victim at Abene, parts of a statement from the Police said. While the victim is currently in safe custody, the Police are stepping up their investigation to get the perpetrators arrested. 16.10.2023 LISTEN One of the perils for those who write, especially on global and geopolitical issues, is that one is forced to repeat what one wrote or commented on several years ago. The case of the unequal internecine tribal warfare between the Palestinians and the Israelis, disproportionately in favor of the latter, is a good case in point. The problem is endemic; it has been with us for over seven decades and counting. It is as predictable and guaranteed as any immutable law of nature. Unfortunately for both sides, most especially the Palestinians, the famed international community has failed to put serious efforts into solving it. The main interlocular, the United States, is not an honest broker. It is both nauseatingly biased and hypocritical to render it ineffective. What is there to analyze, again? The reason why I denounced Israel in the two articles that I will share here and here is rather simple: I am unconditionally opposed to ANY and ALL forms of oppression/discrimination/colonization! Period. For me, there are NO ifs, buts, or any stupid rationalization or intellectualization! If oppression is not good for me or you, why should it be good for another human being? I condemn the arrogant behavior of Zionist Occupiers towards the Palestinian people. A people under such bestial and inhuman treatment are entitled to choose any means to get rid of the oppression! My Yoruba people say: Iku ya ju eshin lo / Death is preferable to ignominy! Where were those who today shed tears about unprovoked Hamas terrorism when we saw miserable settlers invading homes, cutting down olive trees, spitting on people, and desecrating places of worship - all totally unnecessary provocations designed just to humiliate an already beaten people? I share here the first of the articles I wrote on the subject about a decade or so ago. Israel: a bastard behaving true to type! No matter how much you dress up a hog, it will soon resort to its true form. African proverb. I am not a gambling type but I recently won a bet with a friend. I correctly predicted that the illegitimately sired Zionist state of Israel would behave stupidly in its confrontation with the Freedom Flotilla attempting to break the illegal siege of Gaza, the tiny strip of land where Israel has consigned 1.5 million Palestinians. It was a no-brainer and I won very easily. No money changed hands and it gave me little joy that my prediction came at the loss of nine innocent lives. In knotty circumstances, Africans reach for proverbs. It is my Yoruba people who say that Eefin ni iwa. It means that the character is like a smoke; it can never be hidden. It was the knowledge of this proverb that informed my prediction. We can pretend all we want, but our true character will eventually reveal itself. The Zionists have a well-oiled propaganda machine and a very powerful Jewish Lobby to sell the rotten illegalities they are committing against the Palestinian people; gradually their crimes against humanity are being unveiled. Another potent Yoruba saying is: Ti ile ba toro, omo ale ibe koi ti dagba ni. It means that if the house is peaceful and tranquil, it is only because the bastard there hasnt grown up. The bastard the West sired in the Levant has grown up and it is behaving true to form. Cheered on by their supporters in the West, mostly in the U.S., the Zionists waged a ferocious war against the democratically elected (everyone seems to have forgotten that) Hamas-led government. Operation Cast Iron killed 1,400 Palestinians and maimed thousands more. It destroyed the little infrastructure the colonized Palestinians needed to sustain a semblance of life. That was some eighteen months ago. Not sated by the vicious bloodletting, the Zionists imposed a blockade on the occupied people. Palestinians have been groaning under this cruel occupation with the international community concerning itself with issuing its ritualistic useless condemnations and engaging in its unending Peace Process. The lack of seriousness about bringing peace to the region is best emphasized by the fact that a criminal warmonger like Tony Blair was put in charge adorned with the moniker of a Peace Envoy. How much more cynical can one get? The Zionists would want us to believe that their occupation was some giant humanitarian enterprise. Listen to their rabidly racist foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman: There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Israel is conducting itself in the most humanitarian manner, and allowing the entrance of thousands of tonnes of food and equipment to Gaza. One wonders what the warmonger knew about humanity! But who the heck are the Israelis to determine how the Palestinians should live their lives? Who are they to determine what the Gazans should and should not get? Who appointed them the guardians of Palestine? Who the hell are the brutal Zionists to tell Palestinians how to defend themselves? Among the items denied the Gazans is chocolate, which the Zionists determined is Luxury goods. The truth, as many international organizations attested, is that the Zionist occupiers are just telling bare-faced lies. They are not only good thieves (they stole other peoples land, didnt they?) but wonderful liars as well. All the aid organizations working in Gaza affirm that there is widespread malnutrition directly attributable to the blockade. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a 2008 report that 70 percent of Gazas population suffered from food insecurity. Cecilia Goin, the ICRC spokeswoman, said: The situation is deteriorating due to the closure there are restrictions of movement, restrictions of food it causes problems in areas of health, water and sanitation. The ICRC is especially concerned about the health situation of the people. The United Nations Human Rights head, Navi Pillay, called the blockade a devastating collective punishment, illegal under international law. UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Work Agency, resorted to building mud houses because of the illegal blockade and Mr. Lieberman would want us to take him seriously! Oxfam reported in early 2010 that 15 Gazans have died from generator-related accidents. Amnesty Internationals latest report concluded that four out of five Gazans depend on external aid to survive. The damning report says that Gazas 1.5 million people are cut off from the rest of the world. And Mr. Lieberman would want us to cheer his countrys great humanitarian spirit! All these crimes were being committed against the Palestinians with the International Community doing what it did best nothing. The Arab League, to its eternal shame, also looked on unconcerned. And Arab governments, also to their shame, looked incapable of mobilizing world opinion the way Africans were able to do in apartheid South Africa. With the quisling that Washington imposed on Egypt, Mubarak, sacrilegiously joined the blockade of fellow Arabs, thus reducing the people of Gaza to tunnel-digging to get lifes essentials. The cries of Gazans went unheeded until several non-governmental organizations joined together to try and do something. In an act akin to the massive global pressure on apartheid South Africa, activists from about 30 countries including Israel managed to gather about 10,000 tonnes of supplies for delivery to the besieged Gazans. And that proved too much for the Zionists and their backers. Israeli propagandists dubbed these world citizens with a conscience terrorists, Taliban-loving, and al Qaeda sympathizers. On Monday, the 31st of May 2010, Israel did what it knows best launched a stupid war of aggression. This time against a flotilla of unarmed ships carrying international human rights activists! And it did so in the full glare of global television! To top the profanity, it did so when the ships were in international waters 64 km clear of any shore. At least the whole wide world now has an inkling of what the Gazans are going through. If the Zionists can behave so aggressively when the eyes of the world are turned on them, how would they behave in the confines of occupied Gaza or their secret interrogation centers? The assault on the Freedom Flotilla was just the latest perfidy in the unconscionable behaviors of the unreconstructed Zionists. Another Yoruba saying is Igberaga ni nsiwaju iparun, which translates loosely as Pride goes before fall. That the Zionists behaved true to form should surprise no one. What would have been amazing would be to have seen the aberrant behaving like a normal being. Allowing the ship to pass through would simply not have jelled with the type of muscular brutality image Israel likes to project. We all witnessed the humiliation meted out to a visiting vice president of the United Snakes of Amerikka recently by the power-drunk Zionists, who forgot the saying that those who bite the hands that feed them will surely go hungry. Israel lays an illegal siege on the Palestinian land of Gaza. It does so in clear breach of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1860. It could get away with it because it has a powerful ally in the worlds most powerful military power, the USA, which continues to see the bastard Zionist entity as a Strategic Ally. The Israeli story that the flotilla was carrying weapons is a bare-faced lie, as the images of the cargo are revealed. It was also reported that the Turkish government informed the Israelis that it had satisfactorily inspected the shipment. You can check a sample of what the Israelis claimed constituted weapons. Were the Zionists not to be drunk with inordinate power they would have recourse to the most sensible action, which was to do nothing at all. The only wise thing would have been to allow the flotilla to discharge its cargo leave quietly and pretend that it never happened. They have to behave true to form like some blood-thirsty, desert warriors carrying out the mandate of a vindictive and very petty Jehovah. They have to show the world that they are powerful and can commit any illegality and get away with it. After all, Uncle Sam is there to pick the tab and effectively shield them from all criticism. But it looks like that, in this instance, the Zionists badly miscalculated on several fronts. It is doubtful if the Zionists configured the worldwide condemnation of their despicable act into their equation. It looks like the unrepentant Zionists have this time bitten off more than they can chew. They seem to have badly misread the world's opinion about their continuing irritatingly bad behavior. The Yorubas say, Aja ti o ba sonu, ki ngbo fere ode. The dog that will get lost will not hear the hunters whistle. Protest marches were organized in several countries across the world with thousands of people taking to the streets to roundly and very rightly condemn the actions of the unrepentant Zionists. In the opinion of Salim Vally, chairperson of the Palestine Solidarity Committee of South Africa, the world needs to do to Israel what it did to apartheid in South Africa, and that is Boycott, recall the South African ambassador to Tel Aviv, and expel the Israeli ambassador. To their credit, many Israelis also condemn the stupid assault. A quote from Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper reads: Here in Israel, we have still yet to learn the lesson: We are no longer defending Israel. We are now defending the siege. The siege itself is becoming Israels Vietnam. Another fallout: Egypts President Mubarak, a US toady, was forced to act and open the Egyptian border with Gaza, which he had closed in solidarity with its Peace partner. The Zionists also managed to effectively end the friendship between their state and Turkey, which had remained their only true friend in the troubled region. Turkey, whose nine citizens were massacred by the Israeli commandos, called for a strong international response to the raid. The countrys incensed prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his parliament that Israel should be punished for its bloody massacre on the flotilla, and warned that no one should test Turkeys patience. It is no longer possible to cover up or ignore Israels lawlessness. Dry statements of condemnation are not enough There should be results. The international community must from now on say enough is enough. A furious Mr. Erdogan went further by accusing Israel of knowing how to kill. He said the Israeli action was an attack on international law, the conscience of humanity and world peace. As usual the mildest reprimand comes from Israels biggest supporter, the U.S. It is difficult to imagine what continues to inform the American obsession with continuing a clearly myopic and effectively counter-productive relationship with Israel. Not only is the relationship shortsighted, but it is difficult to imagine how it effectively promotes US strategic interests if we discount waging insane wars, that is. What exactly does the U.S. gain from this relationship except the opprobrium of the Arabs and the larger world? Those in charge of US foreign policies are not helping matters with their blind blanket support for their ally. As the African proverb says, If your neighbor is eating a poisonous fruit and you fail to warn him, his groans at night will disturb your sleep. Israel has become effectively a nauseating abscess in the Middle East and no amount of spins by the vaunted hasbara or propaganda machine can undo the damage of the assault on the Freedom Flotilla. It is doubtful if things will ever be the same again. The emergence of a civic international community committed to taking action to break the siege of Gaza comes as a result of the incapacity of the official international community to do more than issue UN resolutions and condemnations. It is a phenomenon that is not likely to go away. There are clear parallels the Zionist entity shares with apartheid South Africa. Like in the former Boers Dreamland, a minority settler regime tried but failed to perpetuate an unjust rule over a majority. The West also viewed South Africa as a strategic partner, a bulwark against communism that was allowed to arm itself to the teeth with weapons that included nuclear. Instead of telling the Boers some home truth about the historic impossibility of their endeavor, the West engaged them in a useless constructive engagement. An emboldened South Africa, believing in the myth of its invincibility, crossed the border into Angola where it had its ass whipped at the battle of Cuito-Cuanavale by Cuban troops. This is akin to the way Hezbollah broke the myth of the omnipotence of the IDF. Next came the worst nightmare for all occupiers. Civic international organizations formed solidarity with the ANC and brought unsustainable pressures on their government and companies. Capital fled South Africa like no mans business as companies, under unbearable pressure, divested their investments. The rest, they say, is history. Will the Zionists learn a lesson before it is too late? As I wrote in the piece Cry Palestine (Swans, February 23, 2009), no oppression can last forever. I am old enough to remember the Boer leaders also strutting the world stage like some invincible overlords. Today, while Mandela has been elevated to sainthood, his oppressors have all been consigned to the dustbin of history. It is not a question of if Gazans will be free, but when they will be free. Demography alone argues against a sustainable occupation. May the souls of the martyrs massacred on Freedom Flotilla rest in peace. Femi Akomolafe is a farmer, writer, and published author. Six months of war have plunged Sudan into one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs said on Sunday, calling on the parties to the conflict to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law. In a statement marking the grim milestone, Martin Griffiths, who is also the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, noted that for half a year, civilians have known no respite from bloodshed and terror, with horrific reports of rape and sexual violence emerging continuously, particularly in the capital Khartoum, and in the states of Darfur and Kordofan. Up to 9,000 people have been reportedly killed, according to the UN, more than 5.6 million displaced from their homes, and 25 million people need aid, because of the conflict that erupted in mid-April between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and other armed groups. The number of ethnic clashes is also increasing, complicating access for aid workers to the people in need, due to lack of security and to some bureaucratic barriers, he added. At least 45 aid workers have been killed or detained since 15 April almost all of them are national staff, he lamented. However, even in those areas that humanitarians can access, they are hamstrung by underfunding. Only 33 per cent of the $2.6 billion required to help those in need in Sudan in 2023 has been received. The healthcare situation in Sudan is dire: as more than 70 per cent of health care facilities in conflict areas are out of service, cholera is already stalking the country, with more than 1,000 suspected cases. Basic services are crumbling and the conflict has kept 19 million children are out of school, significantly setting back their education and the country's future. 'Humanitarian nightmare' The first bombs fell on Khartoum on 15 April, forcing the capital's residents to flee, as entire neighbourhoods were razed and essential services paralysed. Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan's fighters have since been pitted against those of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Burhan, the de facto leader of Sudan since leading a 2021 coup, had spent over four months stuck inside the army headquarters in Khartoum, besieged by Daglo's men. He then left Khartoum at the end of August for Port Sudan, but for the capital there has been no let-up in fighting. Conflict then inflamed the western region of Darfur, where allegations of ethnically motivated attacks by the RSF have led to an international war crimes investigation. Some of those who could escape the bloodshed and destruction rushed to the Red Sea coast about 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) to the east, towards Port Sudan, now home to Sudan's only functioning airport. The city has since became a sanctuary for fleeing civilians and a transit hub for foreigners leaving the northeast African country. "Every day, civilians in Sudan are being killed and displaced as the conflict continues to rage; countless lives have been needlessly destroyed in the last six months" Amnesty International's Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, Tigere Chagutah, also said this weekend. Humanitarian needs are mounting in the neighbouring countries where millions have fled. This cannot go on, the UN relief chief said, appealing to the conflict parties, urging them to uphold obligations under international humanitarian law and to recommit to dialogue at the highest levels to end this conflict. Escalation and regionalisation International observers have also warned about the regionalisation of the conflict. On Saturday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Egypt has delivered drones to the Sudanese military, citing security officials, which could foster further escalation of the conflict that is drawing in more regional players. Egypt delivered Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones to Sudan's military last month, the Journal reported. Spokesmen for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry and the Sudanese military haven't return requests for comment yet. (with newswires) The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) is demanding the resignation of Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame. Addressing a press conference on Monday, October 16, NDC National Communications Officer Sammy Gyamfi said Godfred Yeboah Dame is not befitting of the office he heads. The press conference was organised on the back of the Attorney Generals report indicating that there is no evidence backing the allegations made by Prof Frimpong-Boateng in his illegal mining (galamsey) report. The Attorney Generals office in the conclusion of its review of a docket submitted by the Police on the allegations contained in a 36-page document written by Prof Frimpong Boateng said the allegations in the report are largely empty. "The Attorney-General indicates that a careful study of the Report, the various documents and pen drives submitted to the Police did not disclose any evidence in support of the allegations made against the persons cited in the Report, with the exception of Seth Mantey, John Ofori Atta, and Ekow Ewusi, in respect of whom the A-G instructs the Police to conclude their investigations and present a report to him, part of the A-Gs review said. Addressing the press conference today, Sammy Gyamfi argued that it is clear Godfred Yeboah Dame cannot do his job as Attorney General. He said Godfred Yeboah Dame must leave office immediately. The Attorney General is not interested in doing justice for the nation but is only following in the footsteps of his boss, President Akufo-Addo who has become known as the clearing agent of corruption. Godfred Dame does not befit the stature of the high Office of Attorney General and Minister of Justice because he simply does not give a hoot about the interest of Ghana. The NDC, therefore, demands the immediate resignation of the Attorney General for this dubious legal advice which seeks to cover up serious crimes that have been perpetrated against the state by corrupt government and NPP functionaries who are destroying our water bodies and forests through illegal mining, Sammy Gyamfi said. Meanwhile, the NDC has also called Special Prosecutor Mr. Kissi Agyabeng to expedite its investigations into this matter and to immediately prosecute all those found culpable. The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) is calling for the resignation of Attorney General and Minister of Justice Godfred Yeboah Dame, accusing him of failing to prosecute persons named in Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boatengs report on illegal mining in Ghana. The NDCs call comes after the Attorney-Generals Department claimed that the allegations made by Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation and a former chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), in his report are unsubstantiated and do not provide sufficient evidence to prosecute the persons named. The Attorney-Generals statement follows a review of a docket submitted by the police on the allegations contained in Prof. Frimpong-Boatengs 36-page report titled Report on the work of IMCIM so far and the way forward. Speaking at the Moment of Truth Series at the NDC Headquarters in Accra, the partys National Communications Officer, Sammy Gyamfi also called on the Office of the Special Prosecutor to launch a thorough investigation into the matter. The NDC hereby demands the immediate resignation of the Attorney-General for his dubious attempt to cover up serious crimes that have been perpetrated against the state by corrupt government and NPP officials who are destroying our water bodies and forests through illegal mining. More importantly, we wish to call on the Special Prosecutor, Mr. Kissi Adjabeng to expedite his investigations into this matter and to immediately prosecute all those found culpable, he stated. Ugandan police have foiled a plot by Islamic State-linked militants to bomb churches in central Butambala district, President Yoweri Museveni has said. Two bombs were linked to public address systems and sent to pastors, disguised as gifts, Mr Museveni said. Members of the public became suspicious of the devices and told the police, he added on X, formerly known as Twitter. The president blamed the plot on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a militant group linked to Islamic State. The ADF has not yet commented. Formed in 1990s, the ADF took up arms against President Museveni, alleging persecution of Muslims. After suffering heavy setbacks at the hands of the Ugandan army in 2001, it relocated to North Kivu province in neighbouring DR Congo. The group pledged allegiance to IS in 2016. It has been blamed for a series of deadly attacks in Uganda, including the killing of more than 40 people, mostly students, at a boarding school in June. Mr Museveni said the militants had planned to detonate two bombs in churches in Kibibi, about 50km (30 miles) from the capital, Kampala, on Sunday, but the devices "were reported to police and defused". "The evil plan was foiled," he said, urging people "not to accept gifts from strangers". Earlier on Sunday, Mr Museveni said Ugandan forces had carried out air strikes against four ADF positions in DR Congo. "It seems quite a number of terrorists were killed," the president said. He warned that the ADF "are re-entering Uganda and trying to commit some random terrorist acts". In September, Ugandan police said they foiled a bomb attack in one of the biggest churches in Kampala. A man suspected of trying to detonate a bomb among worshippers was arrested, police added. The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) is urging the resignation of Attorney General and Minister of Justice Godfred Yeboah Dame, accusing him of failing to prosecute individuals named in Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boatengs report on illegal mining in Ghana. The call from the NDC follows the Attorney-Generals Department's claim that the allegations made by Prof. Frimpong-Boateng in his report were unsubstantiated and lacked sufficient evidence for prosecution. This statement came after a review of a docket submitted by the police regarding the allegations contained in Prof. Frimpong-Boatengs 36-page report titled Report on the work of IMCIM so far and the way forward. During the Moment of Truth Series at the NDC Headquarters in Accra, Sammy Gyamfi, the partys National Communications Officer, demanded the Attorney-General's immediate resignation due to what they perceive as an attempt to cover up serious crimes related to illegal mining. Furthermore, the NDC called on the Office of the Special Prosecutor to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter. Mr Gyamfi stressed the urgency of holding those found culpable accountable for their actions in destroying water bodies and forests through illegal mining. Below are details of the press conference MOMENT OF TRUTH PRESS CONFERENCE 16th October, 2023 AGS SUPPOSED ADVICE ON FRIMPONG BOATENGS GALAMSEY REPORT IS NOTHING BUT A COVER-UP - HE MUST RESIGN IMMEDIATELY! INTRODUCTION Good afternoon distinguished ladies and gentlemen of the media. On behalf of the leadership of the great NDC, I wish to thank you for honoring our invitation at such notice, and to welcome you to our National Headquarters for todays edition of our Moment of Truth series. NDC SYMPATHIZES WITH VICTIMS OF AKOSOMBO DAM SPILLAGE. Before we deal with the main subject-matter for todays encounter, we wish to first express our heartfelt sympathies to our brothers and sisters of the North, South, and Central Tongu districts of the Volta Region who have been displaced by the devastating spillage from the Akosombo Dam. Even as we sympathize with the victims of this disaster, we wish to reiterate the important call that has been made by our Flag-bearer and leader, H.E President John Dramani Mahama for the government of Ghana, acting through the Volta River Authority (VRA), the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) and other relevant agencies to immediately provide the needed support for residents in the affected communities. This must done as a matter of urgency to ameliorate the plight of our suffering compatriots. Now to the main reason for todays encounter. ATTEMPT BY AG TO COVER-UP DAMNING REVELATIONS IN FRIMPONG BOATENGS GALAMSEY REPORT Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, the NDC has sighted a rather disgusting, self-serving and bizarre advice from the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, on the report on the work of the Inter-Ministerial Committee Against Illegal Mining (IMCIM), authored by its Chairman and former Minister for Environment, Science and Technology, Prof. Frimpong Boateng. Having meticulously analysed the content of the Attorney-General's legal opinion, we have come to the irresistible conclusion that the said advice is nothing but a poor attempt to cover-up the complicity of officials of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government and the ruling NPP in the illicit galamsey trade. For the avoidance of doubt, the claims by Mr. Godfred Yeboah Dame that there is no evidence to substantiate the damning revelations contained in the 36-page Frimpong Boateng galamsey report are simply false. The Attorney-General's latest step or call it a misstep, on the subject of this all-important, scathing Galamsey report, is part of the coordinated efforts to whitewash the crimes of many in government since this matter first broke. Friends from the media, contrary to what the Attorney-General has come out to tell the world about the lack of evidential value of the Frimpong Boateng Galamsey report, there are ample pieces of evidence in the public domain that go to confirm several of the damning findings in the Frimpong Boateng galamsey report. It is against this backdrop that we wish to remind Ghanaians and the Attorney-General about a few of the hard corroborative pieces of evidence which have been in the public domain and which confirm the assertions of the good-old Professor. DONALD ENSTUAH AND HERITAGE IMPERIAL LIMITED. 1. A video documentary published by Joy News, titled Forest under Siege contains incontrovertible evidence that confirms the assertion by Prof. Frimpong Boateng to the effect that Emmanuel Donald Enstuahs C&J Aleska, now Imperial Heritage Limited, has under the guise of prospecting engaged in illegal mining in the Kobro section of the Apamprama forest reserve in the Amansie area of the Ashanti Region. Sometime in 2018, the anti-galamsey taskforce arrested and seized about thirty (30) excavators and mining equipment belonging to the company for engaging in illegal mining in the Kobro forest. This incident was captured on video by Multimedias Erastus Asare Donkor in the presence of other eye witnesses who are still alive today. At the time of the seizure of their equipment, the company had destroyed about 1000 hectares of the forest when all the company had at the time was a prospecting license. These are indisputable facts, and the weight of such evidence cannot be glossed over by any impartial investigator or prosecutor. In the face of this glaring evidence, it is preposterous for the Attorney-General to assert that there is no evidence to substantiate the damning assertions contained in Prof. Frimpong Boatengs galamsey report. THE STOLEN EXCAVATORS SCANDAL INVOLVING EKOW EWUSI, JOHN OFORI ATTA, SETH MANTEY AND OTHERS. 2. On the issue of the stealing and sale of seized excavators, it is an irrefutable fact, that Prof. Frimpong Boateng as Minister for Environment reported the then Central Regional Vice Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party, Horace Ekow Ewusi and others to the Police sometime in 2019, as the persons responsible for the missing excavators. The advice of the Attorney-General recounts how Prof. Frimpong Boateng furnished the Police with the statement of one Seth Mantey, a journalist previously with Accra-based Peace FM in which the journalist formally confessed that he was the errand boy of one John Ofori Atta, Central Regional Security Coordinator, and a member of GalamStop, and that, in the course of the operation of GalamStop, he became a contact boy for miners whose excavators were seized by the task force. In his statement to the Police, Seth Mantey confessed that miners were directed by John Ofori Atta to pay between GHS50,000 and GHS55,000 into his bank account at NIB to influence the anti-galamsey taskforce to release the seized excavators. Seth Mantey further stated that all the monies paid into his bank account were withdrawn by him and paid to the Central Regional Security Coordinator, John Ofori Atta who gave Ekow Ewusi his share. According to Seth Mantey, about twenty-seven (27) of the seized excavators were released to these miners. All these facts are contained in Seth Manteys own statement which he gave to the Police upon his arrest in 2019. More importantly, Prof. Frimpong Boateng has furnished the Police with the bank statement of the said NIB account belonging to Seth Mantey which confirms the aforementioned facts. In the face of this smoking gun evidence, what other evidence does any reasonable prosecutor need to prosecute Seth Mantey, John Ofori Atta and Ekow Ewusi for the stolen/missing excavators? In any case, what has the Police done about this scandal since the matter was formally reported by Prof. Frimpong Boateng in 2019? The Attorney-General should tell Ghanaians about the outcome of this investigation if any, and how as AG, he worked with the Police to thoroughly investigate this matter in the interest of the public. Why are the likes of Horace Ekow Ewusi, Seth Mantey and John Ofori Atta, who are the key perpetrators of this crime against the state, still walking free? Why is Godfred Dame deferring the prosecution of the culprits in this matter under the guise of further investigations by the Police in the face of such smoking gun evidence? How many years does the Police need to investigate this open and shut matter? The evasive and shameless Attorney-General who is clearly out to pervert justice, must answer these pertinent questions. MR. ALBERT JOSEPH QUARM AND THE ILLEGAL SALE OF MINING CONCESSIONS. 3. Friends from the media, on the issue of the complicity of Mr. Albert Joseph Quarm, former Member of Parliament for Manso Adubia, in the illegal sale of mining concessions, the former Ashanti Regional NADMO Boss and former 1st Regional Vice Chairman of the New Patriotic Party in the Ashanti Region by name Kwabena Senkyire, has publicly corroborated the assertions by Prof. Frimpong Boateng. In an interview on Kumasi based Sompa FM, Kwabena Senkyire recounted how Mr. Albert Quarm approached him and asked that he provides him with his company certificate for a mining concession. Kwabena Senkyire went on to say that, after supplying Mr. Quarm with his company certificate, he was called by the Minerals Commission one day and given documents pertaining to the ownership of a mining concession, only for the concession to be sold to one "Agya Wusu" without his consent. Kwabena Senkyire asserted that he recorded one of his conversations with Mr. Albert Quarm and has evidence of these matters. He further averred, that he has officially reported the matter to the Police, National Security and the Office of Special Prosecutor and that he is willing to testify to same. Ladies and gentlemen, in the face of this corroborative testimony; a confession by a willing witness who is readily identifiable and available, how can the Attorney-General say that there is no evidence to buttress the findings contained in Frimpong Boatengs galamsey report relative to the alleged sale of mining concessions by Albert Quarm. If we may ask; Did the Police or Attorney-General invite Mr. Kwabena Senkyire or consider his testimony on this matter before coming to the conclusion that the Frimpong Boateng galamsey report is bereft of evidence? Has the police even conducted any credible investigations into the official complaint that was filed by Mr. Kwabena Senkyire? Has the police invited Mr. Albert Quarm to respond to the serious allegations leveled against him by Mr. Kwabena Senkyire? Ladies and gentlemen, our intel from our reliable sources within the Ghana Police service, shows that no serious action has been taken by the Police on this important matter. ILLEGAL MINING BY WONTUMIS AKONTA MINING LIMITED. In a related matter in respect of Akonta mining Limited, a company owned by the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, it has been established beyond every reasonable doubt that the company illegally entered and operated in the Tano Nimiri forest reserve in breach of our mining and environmental laws. This fact was confirmed by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources publicly in a press statement dated 30th September, 2022. The matter was consequently reported to the Police. Yet, nothing has come out of it. Ladies and gentlemen, it will interest you to know, that even in Samreboi where Akonta Mining is said to have a mining lease, evidence captured on tape shows that the company has been mining very close to the Tano river in breach of the 100 meter reserve threshold of the Minerals Commission. As a matter of fact, the company has been found to have redirected and polluted the Tano river heavily. As we speak, Bernard Antwi Bosiako, also known as "Wontumi", the mastermind of this nationwrecking conduct, is still walking free after polluting the Tano river through his illegal mining operations. The only reason why this is the case is because, the Attorney-General is not interested in prosecuting the directors of the company for their illegal mining activities. CONCLUSION Friends from the media, the foregoing facts point to one irresistible conclusion, which is that; the corrupt Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government is neck-deep in the illicit galamsey trade and will stop at nothing to cover-up their complicity. The extent of official complicity in this matter is as clear as daylight. Like many environmentalists and patriotic voices, the NDC is deeply worried and appalled by the extent to which President Akufo-Addo and Vice President Alhaji Bawumia have gone to encourage and condone the destruction of Ghanas environment. They have been active collaborators and promoters of the galamsey trade. Their actions through their Attorney General to continuously protect corrupt officials of the ruling NPP and the government, speak loudly. Posterity will never forgive them. Indeed, as far back as 22nd April 2023, the Office of the President in commenting on the 36-page leaked galamsey report stated, that the report is a catalogue of personal grievances, and that the claims in the report were unfounded and amounted to hearsay. This was followed by an advice by the Attorney-General, Godfred Dame on 11th May, 2023, for the damning Frimpong Boateng galamsey report to be given little attention, a comment that was widely published by the media. Little wonder, that the Attorney-General will in September 2023 advise that the said report lacks evidence to ground any prosecution. The sinister agenda by Godfred Dame to downplay and cover-up the damning galamsey report and the revelations therein, was manifestly clear right from the outset. In short, the so-called advice from the Attorney-General Godfred Yeboah Dame is nothing but a cover-up calculated to whitewash the incessant corruption and nation-wrecking conduct of officials of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government and the ruling NPP, who have been indicted by Prof. Frimpomg Boateng for engaging in galamsey. The advice from the Attorney-General and principal legal advisor to the Government is a big insult to the sensibilities of the nation. We call on the general public to treat same with utmost contempt. This is the same way the galamsey fraud scandal by Ace investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas was covered-up and the perpetrators which included a Presidential Staffer by name Charles Bissue, left of the hook. Ghanaians must not allow this government to get away with this scandal. It does appear, that the Attorney-General, Godfred Yeboah Dame is following after the footsteps of his Boss, President Akufo-Addo who has become known as the "Clearing Agent of corruption". Quite clearly, Godfred Dame does not befit the stature of the high office of Attorney-General and Minister of Justice for this country because he simply does not have the interest of the nation at heart. DEMANDS The NDC hereby demands the immediate resignation of the Attorney-General for his dubious attempt to cover-up serious crimes that have been perpetrated against the state by corrupt government and NPP officials who are destroying our water bodies and forests through illegal mining. More importantly, we wish to call on the Special Prosecutor, Mr. Kissi Adjabeng to expedite his investigations into this matter and to immediately prosecute all those found culpable. Fellow countrymen and women, our collective survival as a people is at stake. Our beloved country is fast losing its flora, fauna and water resources. We are fast becoming endangered species due to the greed and selfishness of a few government officials, party apparatchiks and irresponsible persons who are recklessly engaging in illegal mining with impunity. We cannot sit aloof and allow this canker to fester. If we close our eyes to the evil going on, we shall all bear the consequences of the actions of these miscreants who are destroying our water bodies, lands and forests in search of gold to satisfy their greed. This is why we must all take keen interest in investigations into this matter. We cannot and must not accept any shoddy investigation or farcical attempt to whitewash this monumental scandal. The NDC calls on you, our friends in the media, the fourth estate of the realm to join us to demand accountability from our duty bearers. We owe this a solemn duty to our country and generations unborn. Enough of the plundering and destruction of our lands, forests and water bodies. All government officials and party apparatchiks, who have in one way or the other engaged in illegal mining must be arrested, prosecuted and punished no matter whose ox is gored. We hereby serve notice, that even if they are left off the hook today, they will not escape the long arms of the law tomorrow, because crime has no expiry date. Until this is done, we shall make no headway in our fight against illegal mining and our beloved country, will have no sustainable future. Thank you for your attention, ladies and gentlemen. SIGNED. Sammy Gyamfi Esq. National Communications Officer -Classfmonline Africa is continent with rich history, culture and tradition, and beautiful people but lacks mainly in social, economic and infrastructural development for many centuries , and this has bedevilled the standard of living of the African people and plunge many into extreme poverty. In 2018 report from the Infrastructure Consortium Africa ( ICA) estimates over 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa lack access to grid electricity representing for over two-thirds of the global population without power. Africas infrastructure journey in centuries has been in a tortoise-pace , and lags behind the rest of the world in energy, road, rail transportation and water. Its very shameful as a continent we do not have interconnected rail transportation network systems to facilitate and ease trading among member states at least at the Sub-Saharan frontiers . Closing the infrastructure gap is imminently important for the continent to enhance socio-economic development . Africa needs to double her infrastructure investment in order to close the deficit gap, and to be able to contain the rising population and demands . For example , in terms of infrastructure investment per GDP, the Chinese is averaging on 7.7% , Indian 5.2% whilst Africa is 3.5%, and we need to double up above the Indian rate to catch-up, thus , over 6%. In as much as , Africa must recognise the investing countries/investors for their investment in our infrastructure projects, theres a need to vigorously work on impactful and feasible projects across the continent and removing any bottlenecks that affects project financing needs. Laudably, the Chinese infrastructure commitments grew at an average annual rate of 10 % from 2013 to 2017 and have supported many of Africas most ambitious infrastructure developments in recent years. For example, Chinas EXIM Bank financed more than 90 percent of the $3.6 billion Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway in Kenya. Opened in 2017, the railway cut travel time between the cities in half, and many projects in Africa, which is good sign for Africa. In Africas quest to closing its infrastructure gap is faced with funding and feasibility problems. A recent research revealed that, less than 10% of most infrastructure projects in Africa fail to achieve funding stage and 80% of projects fail at the feasibility and business-plan stages. Although, Africa had made significant progress in attempt to close this gap, however, Africa still lags behind and there is more to do. In comparison , India had connected over 100 million people to electricity in 2018, compared to just 20 million achieved in Africa. This has led to electricity consumption per person in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Nigeria being less than one-tenth that of the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, and China). Furthermore, this unmet demand is likely to increase, McKinsey research forecasts that Africas demand for electricity will quadruple between 2010 and 2040. African governments need to prepare for next generation and must address key obstacles to project funding, including project selection, feasibility studies, regulatory delays, risk management, poor program delivery etc . In conclusion, Africa's longstanding infrastructure deficit poses a significant obstacle to its economic growth and development. Addressing this gap, by increasing investment, streamlining project feasibility, and managing obstacles, is essential for the continent to unlock its full potential and provide a brighter future for its people. President Nana Akufo-Addo says government will do everything possible to ensure the needed help reaches victims of the flooding in parts of the Eastern, Greater Accra, and Volta regions as a result of the spillage of excess water from the Kpong and Akosombo Dams. Akufo-Addo gave the assurance when he visited the residents of Mepe and surrounding areas on Monday to ascertain the devastation caused by the spillage. President Akufo-Addo indicated that the inter-ministerial committee he commissioned to tackle issues pertaining to the flooding is to decide the immediate relief to be provided the victims and also to ensure such a disaster of greater proportion does not happen in the future. The coordination is about the immediate and the most important thing was to ensure the life of people and that is why 9 centres were established for all the displaced people and all the people in these 9 centres have been provided relief items by NADMO, and it is NADMOs intention to continue to provide relief items. Apart from what NADMO is doing we have to also think about the future. I am aware that you are a farming people and the people who are farming on the banks of the rivers and had their crops destroyed, one of the things the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Finance and the Office of the President are going to do is to work together with the district assemblies to decide the exact support we have to give to you when the water has gone away. And this is why I am saying that the Committee is working in several phases, one being to provide immediate relief, and then to prevent such happening in the future and I want you to know the government is going to do everything in its powers to assist to ensure everything is all right. Let everybody know that, when things like this occur and government acts, politics does not come into the issue at all. When I took the oath I took it on behalf of everyone in Ghana. And whether they voted for me or not, Im the president of the people. The VRA commenced the controlled water spillage from the Akosombo and Kpong Dams on September 15, 2023, due to a consistent rise in the inflow pattern and water level of the Akosombo reservoir. Thousands of residents in South Tongu, North Tongu, Central Tongu, Asuogyaman, and several other residents have had their homes submerged due to the spillage. By Kabah Atawoge The opposition National Democratic Congress has urged Ghanaians to reject a recent legal opinion offered by the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Dame, on the report authored by Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, former Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee against Illegal Mining (IMCIM). At a press conference addressed by the National Communications Officer of the party, Sammy Gyamfi, the NDC alleged that the Attorney-General's advice referring to portions of the report as lacking evidence is nothing but a cover-up and an attempt to whitewash the damning report. The opposition party has thus taken the AG to the cleaners, describing his legal advice as a poor attempt to cover-up. The NDC further accused the Attorney-General of hiding behind a so-called lack of evidence in a coordinated attempt to shield several government and New Patriotic Party officials from prosecution. The party alluded to various portions of the 36-page report authored by former Minister for Environment, Science and Innovation and Chairman of the IMCIM, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, which alleged that some officials of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government and the New Patriotic Party were engaged in illegal mining. Citing what the party refers to as corroborative evidence, the NDC faltered the Attorney-General for failing to prosecute the owners of Heritage Imperial Limited, formerly C&J Aleska, a company whose operations were cited by Prof. Frimpong-Boatengs report. The party noted that evidence abounds in the public domain, including a documentary by Joy News and the Multimedia group, which exposed widespread destruction of the Kobro section of the Apamprama forest reserve in the Amansie area of the Ashanti region. The NDC further questioned the Attorney-General's decision to defer the prosecution of persons it claimed were involved in the stealing and sale of seized excavators. They cited the likes of Horace Ekow Ewusi, who was reported to the police by Prof. Frimpong-Boateng sometime in 2019 as being responsible for the missing excavators. The NDC alleged that there is smoking gun evidence as supported by both the report and records with the Ghana Police Service, which indicts the likes of Ekow Ewusi, one John Ofori Atta, a former Central Regional Security Coordinator and Seth Mantey, a journalist previously with Accra-based Peace FM, as a syndicate behind the sale of at least twenty-seven (27) excavators seized from illegal miners. The party has therefore called for the head of the Attorney-General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, demanding his immediate resignation for glossing over these evidence, and for attempting to do what they term as a cover-up. -Citi Newsroom Ministry of Health has confirmed the successful clearance of antiretroviral medications that faced delays at the Tema port. In an official press release issued on Monday, October 16, the Health Ministry informed the public that the medications were cleared on Friday, October 13, fulfilling the promise made earlier. The ministry assured that the distribution of the medications to various hospitals across the country has commenced. "The Ministry of Health is pleased to inform the general public that the antiretroviral medications, which faced delays at the Tema port, were cleared on Friday, October 13, 2023, as was assured by the Ministry in relation to the rejoinder published on Saturday, October 7, 2023, on the aforementioned subject matter. The distribution of the medications to all affected facilities has begun in earnest." -Classfmonline.com The President of the Republic, H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has visited the Volta Region to commiserate with people affected by the controlled spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong dams. The spillage last week has so far affected about 80 communities and displaced thousands of Ghanaians from their homes. On his visit to the grounds to solidarize with those affected, President Akufo-Addo assured that his government would do everything in its power to support the people. Apart from what NADMO is doing we also have to think about the future. Im aware that you are farming people. The people who are farming on the banks of the rivers, the riverbanks have overflown and destroyed most of the farms. We will discuss what we need to do to decide the kind of help we can give for you to continue with your farms. Thats why the committee is working on a number of relieves including immediate relief and then tomorrow. I want you to know that government is going to do everything in its power to assist to make sure that things are alright, President Akufo-Addo stressed. During his engagement with the Chiefs, the President advised that the spillage of the dam and its associated challenges should not be politicized. He assured the people of the Volta Region that as President of the entire country, he would see to it that no one is neglected because they did not vote for him to become president. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has warned that its next government will go after all officials of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) who engaged in illegal mining (galamsey) under President Akufo-Addos government. At a press conference in Accra on Monday, October 16, NDC National Communications Officer Sammy Gyamfi bemoaned the devastation done to the countrys lands, water bodies, and forests through illegal mining. He said it is important that Ghanaians join the NDC to pressure law enforcement agencies to arrest all government officials and NPP apparatchiks engaged in galamsey for them to be prosecuted for causing so much destruction in search of gold to satisfy their selfishness and greed.. Fellow countrymen and women, our collective survival as a people is at stake. Our beloved country is fast losing its flora, fauna, and water resources. We are fast becoming endangered species due to the greed and selfishness of a few government officials, party apparatchiks, and irresponsible persons who are recklessly engaging in illegal mining with impunity. We cannot sit aloof and allow this canker to fester. If we close our eyes to the evil going on, we shall all bear the consequences of the actions of these miscreants who are destroying our water bodies, lands, and forests in search of gold to satisfy their greed, Sammy Gyamfi said at the press conference. The NDC National Communications Officer continued, This is why we must all take keen interest in investigations into this matter. We cannot and must not accept any shoddy investigation or farcical attempt to whitewash this monumental scandal. Enough of the plundering and destruction of our lands, forests and water bodies. All government officials and party apparatchiks, who have in one way or the other engaged in illegal mining must be arrested, prosecuted, and punished no matter whose ox is gored. To conclude the press conference, Sammy Gyamfi cautioned that even if government officials and NPP apparatchiks engaged in galamsey escape punishment under the current administration, they will answer for their crime later when the NDC comes to power. Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE:STNG Get Free Report) saw a large decrease in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,890,000 shares, a decrease of 19.9% from the September 15th total of 3,610,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,130,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days. Approximately 6.1% of the companys shares are sold short. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of research firms recently weighed in on STNG. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Scorpio Tankers from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, September 21st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Scorpio Tankers from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Bank of America downgraded Scorpio Tankers from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Friday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Scorpio Tankers from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 6th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Scorpio Tankers in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Scorpio Tankers has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $69.43. Get Scorpio Tankers alerts: Read Our Latest Research Report on STNG Scorpio Tankers Stock Up 3.3 % Shares of Scorpio Tankers stock traded up $1.77 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $56.00. The company had a trading volume of 1,663,879 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,276,910. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50 day moving average of $51.57 and a 200 day moving average of $49.50. Scorpio Tankers has a 52-week low of $40.34 and a 52-week high of $64.20. Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $327.56 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $332.31 million. Scorpio Tankers had a return on equity of 35.38% and a net margin of 50.44%. On average, equities analysts predict that Scorpio Tankers will post 9.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Scorpio Tankers Announces Dividend The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Scorpio Tankerss payout ratio is 6.97%. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Scorpio Tankers Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Scorpio Tankers by 1,985.7% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 556 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its stake in Scorpio Tankers by 1,037.0% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 523 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Scorpio Tankers by 21,950.0% in the 2nd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 882 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 878 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Scorpio Tankers in the 3rd quarter worth $52,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Scorpio Tankers by 35.2% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 964 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. 66.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Scorpio Tankers Company Profile (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. Further Reading 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. Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,000,000 shares, a decrease of 12.1% from the September 15th total of 4,550,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,910,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Agilent Technologies Stock Up 1.4 % NYSE A traded up $1.57 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $110.51. The company had a trading volume of 2,807,637 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,785,550. Agilent Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $106.82 and a fifty-two week high of $160.26. The company has a market capitalization of $32.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The firms 50 day moving average is $116.78 and its 200 day moving average is $122.91. Get Agilent Technologies alerts: Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 15th. The medical research company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.07. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 16.20%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. The firms quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement Analyst Ratings Changes The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.225 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Agilent Technologiess dividend payout ratio is presently 23.56%. A number of brokerages have weighed in on A. StockNews.com began coverage on Agilent Technologies in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on Agilent Technologies from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 29th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, August 16th. Credit Suisse Group dropped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 16th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded Agilent Technologies from a b rating to a c+ rating in a report on Tuesday, August 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $146.44. Read Our Latest Analysis on Agilent Technologies Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 3,500 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.78, for a total value of $415,730.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 24,219 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,876,732.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 944 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $122,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 260,869 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $33,912,970. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.78, for a total value of $415,730.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 24,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,876,732.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Institutional Trading of Agilent Technologies Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of A. Monumental Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 4.5% during the third quarter. Monumental Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,404 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $1,052,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 65.6% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,446 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $161,000 after purchasing an additional 573 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 57,100.0% during the third quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 9,724 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $1,087,000 after purchasing an additional 9,707 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth about $1,224,000. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth about $2,742,000. 85.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. About Agilent Technologies (Get Free Report) Agilent Technologies, Inc provides application focused solutions to the life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets worldwide. The Life Sciences and Applied Markets segment offers liquid chromatography systems and components; liquid chromatography mass spectrometry systems; gas chromatography systems and components; gas chromatography mass spectrometry systems; inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry instruments; atomic absorption instruments; microwave plasma-atomic emission spectrometry instruments; inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry instruments; raman spectroscopy; cell analysis plate based assays; flow cytometer; real-time cell analyzer; cell imaging systems; microplate reader; laboratory software; information management and analytics; laboratory automation and robotic systems; dissolution testing; vacuum pumps, and measurement technologies. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Agilent Technologies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Agilent Technologies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. B2Gold Corp. (NYSEAMERICAN:BTG Get Free Report) (TSE:BTO) was the target of a large growth in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 14,560,000 shares, a growth of 45.2% from the September 15th total of 10,030,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 7,320,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. B2Gold Trading Up 3.6 % Shares of BTG stock traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $3.20. The stock had a trading volume of 11,472,125 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,388,842. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $3.76. B2Gold has a 52-week low of $2.77 and a 52-week high of $4.40. The company has a market capitalization of $4.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Get B2Gold alerts: B2Gold (NYSEAMERICAN:BTG Get Free Report) (TSE:BTO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts consensus estimates of $0.07. The company had revenue of $470.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $463.73 million. B2Gold had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 15.59%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.04 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that B2Gold will post 0.34 earnings per share for the current year. B2Gold Dividend Announcement Institutional Trading of B2Gold The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 21st were issued a $0.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 20th. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.00%. B2Golds dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.26%. Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,343,623 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $10,757,000 after buying an additional 103,507 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of B2Gold by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 199,062 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $914,000 after buying an additional 24,045 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of B2Gold by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 577,840 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $2,652,000 after buying an additional 30,187 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of B2Gold by 30.3% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 39,711 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $181,000 after buying an additional 9,229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisor Networks LLC grew its stake in shares of B2Gold by 52.9% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 26,750 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $123,000 after buying an additional 9,250 shares during the last quarter. 51.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Analysts Set New Price Targets Several brokerages have recently commented on BTG. StockNews.com lowered B2Gold from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday. Scotiabank cut their price objective on B2Gold from C$8.00 to C$7.75 in a report on Friday, August 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and set a $4.25 price objective on shares of B2Gold in a report on Friday, September 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $6.42. Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on BTG B2Gold Company Profile (Get Free Report) B2Gold Corp. operates as a gold producer with three operating mines in Mali, the Philippines, and Namibia. It operates the Fekola Mine in Mali, the Masbate Mine in the Philippines, and the Otjikoto Mine in Namibia. The company also has an 25% interest in the Calibre Mining Corp.; and approximately 19% interest in BeMetals Corp. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for B2Gold Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for B2Gold and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Erin McGroarty joined the Cap Times in May 2023 and covers politics and state government while also investigating disinformation. Originally from Alaska, Erin brings nearly four years of experience covering state politics from the farthest north capitol in the country. You can follow her on Twitter @elmcgroarty. Support Erin's work by becoming a Cap Times member. To respond to this story, submit a letter to the editor. Bausch Health Companies Inc. (NYSE:BHC Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 22,580,000 shares, a drop of 12.6% from the September 15th total of 25,830,000 shares. Currently, 6.3% of the companys stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,880,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.8 days. Insider Activity at Bausch Health Companies In related news, EVP Seana Carson sold 6,685 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.28, for a total value of $55,351.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 385,213 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,189,563.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 13.75% of the stock is owned by insiders. Get Bausch Health Companies alerts: Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bausch Health Companies Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Bausch Health Companies during the 1st quarter worth approximately $15,148,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Bausch Health Companies by 57.4% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,262 shares of the companys stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,189 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Bausch Health Companies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Oakworth Capital Inc. boosted its position in Bausch Health Companies by 22.9% during the 1st quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 9,952 shares of the companys stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 1,852 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Bausch Health Companies by 58.3% in the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,057 shares of the companys stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 3,703 shares during the period. 74.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BHC shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Bausch Health Companies from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research note on Monday, July 24th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Bausch Health Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a hold rating for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Bausch Health Companies from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their target price for the stock from $9.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 20th. Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Bausch Health Companies Bausch Health Companies Price Performance BHC stock traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $7.14. The stock had a trading volume of 2,129,215 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,774,801. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 74.20. Bausch Health Companies has a 52 week low of $5.57 and a 52 week high of $10.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.00 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.98. Bausch Health Companies (NYSE:BHC Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. Bausch Health Companies had a negative net margin of 2.23% and a positive return on equity of 411.18%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Bausch Health Companies will post 3.31 EPS for the current year. Bausch Health Companies Company Profile (Get Free Report) Bausch Health Companies Inc operates as a diversified pharmaceutical company. It develops, manufactures, and markets a range of products primarily in gastroenterology, hepatology, neurology, dermatology, international pharmaceuticals, and eye health. The company operates through five segments: Salix, International, Solta Medical, Diversified, and Bausch + Lomb. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Bausch Health Companies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bausch Health Companies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. BNY Mellon Municipal Bond Infrastructure Fund, Inc. (NYSE:DMB Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 43,700 shares, a decline of 12.9% from the September 15th total of 50,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 46,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.9 days. Hedge Funds Weigh In On BNY Mellon Municipal Bond Infrastructure Fund A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. purchased a new position in BNY Mellon Municipal Bond Infrastructure Fund in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $200,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BNY Mellon Municipal Bond Infrastructure Fund during the 2nd quarter valued at $158,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in BNY Mellon Municipal Bond Infrastructure Fund by 16.4% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 68,491 shares of the companys stock valued at $738,000 after buying an additional 9,648 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in BNY Mellon Municipal Bond Infrastructure Fund by 44.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 212,107 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,284,000 after buying an additional 65,387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in BNY Mellon Municipal Bond Infrastructure Fund by 23.8% during the 2nd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 23,204 shares of the companys stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 4,464 shares during the last quarter. Get BNY Mellon Municipal Bond Infrastructure Fund alerts: BNY Mellon Municipal Bond Infrastructure Fund Stock Performance Shares of DMB traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $9.99. The company had a trading volume of 21,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 48,527. BNY Mellon Municipal Bond Infrastructure Fund has a 52 week low of $9.74 and a 52 week high of $11.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $10.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.76. BNY Mellon Municipal Bond Infrastructure Fund Dividend Announcement About BNY Mellon Municipal Bond Infrastructure Fund The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 19th will be issued a $0.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 18th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.80%. (Get Free Report) BNY Mellon Municipal Bond Infrastructure Fund, Inc is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by BNY Mellon Investment Adviser, Inc The fund invests in the fixed income markets of the United States. It primarily invests in the tax-exempt investment grade debt obligations issued by or on behalf of states, territories and possessions of the United States and the District of Columbia and their political subdivisions, agencies and instrumentalities, or multistate agencies or authorities, and certain other specified securities. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for BNY Mellon Municipal Bond Infrastructure Fund Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BNY Mellon Municipal Bond Infrastructure Fund and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP Get Free Report) (TSE:BIP.UN) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,540,000 shares, a growth of 16.8% from the September 15th total of 3,030,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 392,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 9.0 days. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 14.8% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,763 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $375,000 after purchasing an additional 1,647 shares during the period. Paragon Capital Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Paragon Capital Management Ltd now owns 45,174 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $1,328,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281 shares during the period. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners during the 3rd quarter valued at about $66,000. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in the second quarter valued at about $212,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners by 11.4% during the second quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 294,583 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $10,752,000 after purchasing an additional 30,119 shares during the period. 55.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Get Brookfield Infrastructure Partners alerts: Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Stock Performance Shares of NYSE BIP traded down $1.50 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $25.98. 2,342,587 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 385,636. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has a one year low of $25.87 and a one year high of $38.20. The companys 50 day moving average is $30.91 and its 200 day moving average is $33.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.73 and a beta of 0.90. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Dividend Announcement Brookfield Infrastructure Partners ( NYSE:BIP Get Free Report ) (TSE:BIP.UN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.28). The business had revenue of $4.26 billion for the quarter. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners had a return on equity of 1.42% and a net margin of 2.34%. On average, research analysts expect that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners will post 3.04 EPS for the current year. The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 31st were given a dividend of $0.382 per share. This represents a $1.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.88%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 30th. Brookfield Infrastructure Partnerss dividend payout ratio is currently 463.64%. Analysts Set New Price Targets BIP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 22nd. Raymond James raised Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating and set a $45.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research report on Friday, September 22nd. StockNews.com began coverage on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a hold rating for the company. Finally, TD Securities upped their target price on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $42.86. Read Our Latest Analysis on BIP Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Company Profile (Get Free Report) Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. owns and operates utilities, transport, midstream, and data businesses in North and South America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company's Utilities segment operates approximately 60,000 kilometers (km) of operational electricity transmission and distribution lines; 2,900 km of electricity transmission lines; 4,200 km of natural gas pipelines; 7.8 million electricity and natural gas connections; and 540,000 long-term contracted sub-metering services. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Brookfield Infrastructure Partners and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. BZAM (OTCMKTS:BZAMF Get Free Report) is one of 250 public companies in the Drug Manufacturers Specialty & Generic industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare BZAM to similar companies based on the strength of its dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings and valuation. Institutional and Insider Ownership 0.0% of BZAM shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.3% of shares of all Drug Manufacturers Specialty & Generic companies are held by institutional investors. 8.7% of BZAM shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 22.6% of shares of all Drug Manufacturers Specialty & Generic companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term. Get BZAM alerts: Risk & Volatility BZAM has a beta of 1.97, meaning that its stock price is 97% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BZAMs competitors have a beta of 1.07, meaning that their average stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Profitability Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets BZAM -128.25% -31.87% -19.74% BZAM Competitors -60.17% -16.60% -13.54% Analyst Recommendations This table compares BZAM and its competitors net margins, return on equity and return on assets. This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for BZAM and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.com. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score BZAM 0 0 1 0 3.00 BZAM Competitors 270 937 2153 33 2.57 As a group, Drug Manufacturers Specialty & Generic companies have a potential upside of 64.09%. Given BZAMs competitors higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe BZAM has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors. Valuation & Earnings This table compares BZAM and its competitors revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation. Gross Revenue Net Income Price/Earnings Ratio BZAM $37.96 million -$27.31 million -0.21 BZAM Competitors $611.94 million -$45.53 million 88.49 BZAMs competitors have higher revenue, but lower earnings than BZAM. BZAM is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry. Summary BZAM competitors beat BZAM on 9 of the 13 factors compared. BZAM Company Profile (Get Free Report) BZAM Ltd. operates as a cannabis producer with a focus on branded consumer goods. Its brands include the BZAM, TGOD, ness, Highly Dutch Organic, and TABLE TOP, as well as Dunn Cannabis, FRESH, and Wyld partner brands. The company operate facilities in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec, as well as retail stores in Winnipeg, Manitoba and Regina, Saskatchewan. The company was formerly known as The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd. and changed its name to BZAM Ltd. in February 2023. The company was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. Receive News & Ratings for BZAM Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BZAM and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. (OTCMKTS:CURLF Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,990,800 shares, an increase of 46.2% from the September 15th total of 2,729,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,504,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades CURLF has been the topic of a number of research reports. ATB Capital initiated coverage on shares of Curaleaf in a research report on Wednesday, July 5th. They issued an outperform rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Curaleaf from C$3.50 to C$3.00 in a research report on Friday, August 11th. Atb Cap Markets restated an outperform rating on shares of Curaleaf in a research note on Tuesday, July 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a buy rating and set a $4.25 price objective on shares of Curaleaf in a research note on Thursday, August 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $7.15. Get Curaleaf alerts: Get Our Latest Report on Curaleaf Curaleaf Stock Performance CURLF traded up $0.02 on Friday, reaching $4.06. The company had a trading volume of 805,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 610,205. Curaleaf has a fifty-two week low of $2.19 and a fifty-two week high of $7.90. The stock has a market cap of $2.58 billion and a P/E ratio of -6.77. The companys fifty day moving average is $3.89 and its 200 day moving average is $3.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.90. Curaleaf (OTCMKTS:CURLF Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 9th. The company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.03). Curaleaf had a negative net margin of 31.99% and a negative return on equity of 23.38%. The company had revenue of $338.58 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $339.02 million. As a group, analysts predict that Curaleaf will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. About Curaleaf (Get Free Report) Curaleaf Holdings, Inc operates a cannabis operator in the United States. It operates through Domestic Operations and International Operations segments. The company engages in the cultivation, production, and sale of cannabis products through retail and wholesale channels. In addition, it offers flowers, pre-rolls, flower pods, and dry-herb vaporizer cartridges; concentrates for vaporizing, such as pre-filled vaporizer cartridges and disposable vaporizer pens; and concentrates for dabbing, including distillate droppers, mints, topical balms and lotions, tinctures, lozenges, capsules, and edibles. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Curaleaf Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Curaleaf and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. DNB Bank ASA (OTCMKTS:DNBBY Get Free Report) saw a large decline in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 33,800 shares, a decline of 30.5% from the September 15th total of 48,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 76,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.4 days. DNB Bank ASA Stock Up 0.0 % Shares of OTCMKTS:DNBBY traded up $0.01 on Friday, hitting $20.10. The stock had a trading volume of 36,361 shares, compared to its average volume of 90,578. The firms 50 day moving average price is $19.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.46. DNB Bank ASA has a twelve month low of $16.34 and a twelve month high of $21.10. Get DNB Bank ASA alerts: DNB Bank ASA (OTCMKTS:DNBBY Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4.06 billion for the quarter. DNB Bank ASA had a net margin of 25.61% and a return on equity of 13.64%. Research analysts forecast that DNB Bank ASA will post 2.43 EPS for the current year. DNB Bank ASA Company Profile DNB Bank ASA provides financial services for retail and corporate customers in Norway and internationally. The company offers personal banking products and services, including savings and investment products; loans, such as home mortgages, and car and consumer loans; pet, home and property, travel, and personal insurance products, as well as insurance products for vehicles; retirement savings products; foreign exchange and treasury activities; and Internet and mobile banking services, as well as cards. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for DNB Bank ASA Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for DNB Bank ASA and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Ensign Energy Services Inc. (OTCMKTS:ESVIF Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 715,100 shares, a decrease of 11.0% from the September 15th total of 803,100 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 15,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 46.7 days. Ensign Energy Services Stock Performance Shares of OTCMKTS:ESVIF traded down $0.08 on Friday, reaching $2.12. 62,141 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,643. The company has a fifty day moving average of $2.36 and a 200-day moving average of $1.96. Ensign Energy Services has a twelve month low of $1.35 and a twelve month high of $3.07. Get Ensign Energy Services alerts: Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several research firms have weighed in on ESVIF. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Ensign Energy Services from C$2.50 to C$3.25 in a report on Tuesday, August 8th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Ensign Energy Services from C$3.00 to C$3.75 in a report on Tuesday, August 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Ensign Energy Services from C$3.00 to C$4.50 in a report on Tuesday, August 8th. About Ensign Energy Services (Get Free Report) Ensign Energy Services Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides oilfield services to the crude oil and natural gas industries in Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company offers shallow, intermediate, and deep well drilling, as well as specialized drilling services, including horizontal, underbalanced, horizontal re-entry, and slant drilling for steam assisted gravity drainage applications; and equipment and services. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Ensign Energy Services Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ensign Energy Services and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. First Colombia Gold Corp. (OTCMKTS:FCGD Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,425,500 shares, a drop of 11.7% from the September 15th total of 1,614,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 15,323,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.1 days. First Colombia Gold Stock Performance FCGD stock remained flat at $0.00 during trading on Friday. The company had a trading volume of 325,556 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,607,092. First Colombia Gold has a fifty-two week low of $0.00 and a fifty-two week high of $0.00. Get First Colombia Gold alerts: First Colombia Gold Company Profile (Get Free Report) Featured Articles First Colombia Gold Corp. engages in the exploration and production of oil and gas properties. The company operates through Energy and Mining divisions. It holds interests in 96 oil wells with a gross acreage of 4,302 acres in the counties of Cumberland, Monroe, Overton, and Clinton. The company is also involved in the precious minerals exploration business. Receive News & Ratings for First Colombia Gold Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for First Colombia Gold and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. TV Asahi (OTCMKTS:THDDY Get Free Report) and Gray Television (NYSE:GTN Get Free Report) are both communication services companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends and analyst recommendations. Analyst Ratings This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for TV Asahi and Gray Television, as reported by MarketBeat. Get TV Asahi alerts: Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score TV Asahi 0 0 0 0 N/A Gray Television 1 1 3 0 2.40 Gray Television has a consensus target price of $12.80, suggesting a potential upside of 110.53%. Given Gray Televisions higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Gray Television is more favorable than TV Asahi. Profitability Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets TV Asahi N/A N/A N/A Gray Television 7.43% 13.07% 2.43% Earnings and Valuation This table compares TV Asahi and Gray Televisions net margins, return on equity and return on assets. This table compares TV Asahi and Gray Televisions gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation. Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio TV Asahi N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Gray Television $3.60 billion 0.16 $455.00 million $2.33 2.61 Gray Television has higher revenue and earnings than TV Asahi. Insider and Institutional Ownership 77.0% of Gray Television shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.8% of Gray Television shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth. Summary Gray Television beats TV Asahi on 8 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks. About TV Asahi (Get Free Report) TV Asahi Holdings Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in television (TV) broadcasting business in Japan and internationally. The company operates through TV Broadcasting Business, Internet Business, Shopping Business, and Other Businesses segments. It engages in the video distribution with advertisements using the internet, production of video distribution content, and licensing of rights; mail-order sales on TV shopping programs and EC sites; and other businesses, including music publishing, event, equipment sales and leasing, and investment in film business. TV Asahi Holdings Corporation was incorporated in 1957 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. About Gray Television (Get Free Report) Gray Television, Inc., a television broadcasting company, owns and/or operates television stations and digital assets in the United States. It also broadcasts secondary digital channels affiliated to ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX, as well as various other networks and program services, including CW Plus Network, MY Network, the MeTV Network, Circle, Antenna TV, Telemundo, and Cozi; and local news/weather channels in various markets. In addition, the company offers video program production services. It owns and operates television stations and digital assets that serve television markets in the United States. The company was formerly known as Gray Communications Systems, Inc. and changed its name to Gray Television, Inc. in August 2002. Gray Television, Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Receive News & Ratings for TV Asahi Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for TV Asahi and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,200,000 shares, a decline of 12.4% from the September 15th total of 1,370,000 shares. Approximately 2.0% of the companys shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 341,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of brokerages have weighed in on KEX. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Kirby in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Kirby from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, September 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $90.50. Get Kirby alerts: Read Our Latest Stock Report on KEX Insider Activity at Kirby Institutional Trading of Kirby In related news, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 5,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.56, for a total transaction of $417,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 69,006 shares in the company, valued at $5,766,141.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website . In other Kirby news, Director Richard Ross Stewart sold 3,000 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.72, for a total value of $257,160.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,660 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,113,855.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link . Also, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 5,000 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.56, for a total transaction of $417,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 69,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,766,141.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 68,390 shares of company stock worth $5,650,544. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KEX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Kirby by 1.8% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,767 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $7,202,000 after acquiring an additional 1,756 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. bought a new stake in Kirby during the first quarter worth $201,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in Kirby during the first quarter worth $392,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in Kirby by 33.4% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 38,864 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $2,806,000 after acquiring an additional 9,734 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Kirby by 1.9% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 164,306 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $11,861,000 after acquiring an additional 3,103 shares in the last quarter. 94.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Kirby Stock Up 1.1 % Shares of KEX stock traded up $0.88 during trading on Friday, reaching $81.75. The companys stock had a trading volume of 216,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 343,920. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $82.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $4.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.24. Kirby has a one year low of $60.14 and a one year high of $87.52. Kirby (NYSE:KEX Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The shipping company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.12. Kirby had a net margin of 5.81% and a return on equity of 5.82%. The business had revenue of $777.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $781.18 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Kirby will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year. About Kirby (Get Free Report) Kirby Corporation operates domestic tank barges in the United States. Its Marine Transportation segment provides marine transportation service and towing vessel transporting bulk liquid product, as well as operates tank barge throughout the Mississippi River System, on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, coastwise along three United States coasts, and in Alaska and Hawaii. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Kirby Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Kirby and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Mitsubishi Co. (OTCMKTS:MSBHF Get Free Report) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 153,600 shares, a decline of 28.8% from the September 15th total of 215,700 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 15,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 9.9 days. Mitsubishi Price Performance OTCMKTS MSBHF traded down $0.70 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $47.68. The stock had a trading volume of 7,379 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,333. Mitsubishi has a 1 year low of $26.47 and a 1 year high of $52.94. The stock has a market cap of $35.20 billion, a PE ratio of 7.35 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $49.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.45. Get Mitsubishi alerts: About Mitsubishi (Get Free Report) Featured Articles Mitsubishi Corporation engages in the natural gas, industrial materials and infrastructure, petroleum and chemicals, mineral resources, automotive and mobility, food and consumer industry, power solution, and urban development businesses worldwide. The Natural Gas segment engages in the development and production of natural gas/oil; and liquified natural gas business. Receive News & Ratings for Mitsubishi Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Mitsubishi and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. National Bank of Canada (OTCMKTS:NTIOF 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 13,854,900 shares, an increase of 37.4% from the September 15th total of 10,086,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 53,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 261.4 days. Analyst Ratings Changes Separately, National Bank Financial raised their target price on shares of National Bank of Canada from C$102.00 to C$105.00 in a report on Monday, July 24th. Get National Bank of Canada alerts: Read Our Latest Analysis on National Bank of Canada National Bank of Canada Stock Performance National Bank of Canada stock traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $64.30. 47,824 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,818. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. National Bank of Canada has a one year low of $60.72 and a one year high of $81.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $70.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.68. The company has a market cap of $21.75 billion, a PE ratio of 9.29 and a beta of 1.09. National Bank of Canada (OTCMKTS:NTIOF Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter. National Bank of Canada had a return on equity of 17.27% and a net margin of 15.58%. National Bank of Canada Increases Dividend The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a boost from National Bank of Canadas previous dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 22nd. This represents a yield of 4.28%. National Bank of Canadas payout ratio is presently 43.64%. National Bank of Canada Company Profile (Get Free Report) National Bank of Canada provides various financial products and services to retail, commercial, corporate, and institutional clients in Canada and internationally. It operates through four segments: Personal and Commercial, Wealth Management, Financial Markets, and U.S. Specialty Finance and International. Read More Receive News & Ratings for National Bank of Canada Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for National Bank of Canada and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Phoenix Group Holdings plc (OTCMKTS:PNXGF Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 393,300 shares, a growth of 33.4% from the September 15th total of 294,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 280.9 days. Phoenix Group Price Performance OTCMKTS PNXGF remained flat at $5.88 on Friday. The company had a trading volume of 54 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,064. Phoenix Group has a 1-year low of $5.72 and a 1-year high of $8.15. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $6.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $7.00. Get Phoenix Group alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes PNXGF has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Phoenix Group from GBX 500 ($6.12) to GBX 430 ($5.26) in a research note on Wednesday, October 4th. Barclays upped their target price on Phoenix Group from GBX 715 ($8.75) to GBX 718 ($8.79) in a research note on Thursday, September 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Phoenix Group from GBX 680 ($8.32) to GBX 630 ($7.71) in a research note on Monday, September 25th. Finally, Berenberg Bank cut their target price on Phoenix Group from GBX 770 ($9.42) to GBX 739 ($9.05) in a research note on Monday, September 25th. About Phoenix Group (Get Free Report) Phoenix Group Holdings plc operates in the long-term savings and retirement business in Europe. The company operates through four segments: UK Heritage, UK Open, Europe, and Management Services. It provides a range of pensions and savings products to support people across various stages of the savings life cycle. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Phoenix Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Phoenix Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 224,900 shares, a drop of 13.3% from the September 15th total of 259,500 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 113,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. AZZ Price Performance Shares of AZZ stock traded down $1.73 during trading on Friday, reaching $47.06. The companys stock had a trading volume of 161,449 shares, compared to its average volume of 114,782. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $46.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.30. The company has a current ratio of 2.27, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. AZZ has a one year low of $33.97 and a one year high of $50.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.48 and a beta of 1.30. Get AZZ alerts: AZZ (NYSE:AZZ Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 11th. The industrial products company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $398.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $396.91 million. AZZ had a positive return on equity of 11.93% and a negative net margin of 3.22%. The companys quarterly revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.24 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AZZ will post 3.9 EPS for the current fiscal year. AZZ Dividend Announcement Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 17th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. AZZs dividend payout ratio is currently 77.27%. AZZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of AZZ in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Noble Financial initiated coverage on shares of AZZ in a research note on Monday, August 21st. They set an outperform rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. TheStreet upgraded shares of AZZ from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research note on Monday, July 10th. Finally, B. Riley initiated coverage on shares of AZZ in a research note on Wednesday, August 30th. They set a buy rating and a $64.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $57.33. Get Our Latest Stock Report on AZZ Hedge Funds Weigh In On AZZ Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of AZZ by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,719,130 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $99,276,000 after buying an additional 64,091 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of AZZ by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,482,627 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $99,802,000 after buying an additional 14,129 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of AZZ by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,243,000 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $59,963,000 after purchasing an additional 85,083 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its position in shares of AZZ by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 927,071 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $38,232,000 after purchasing an additional 38,159 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in shares of AZZ by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 899,185 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $36,705,000 after purchasing an additional 19,257 shares during the period. 88.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. AZZ Company Profile (Get Free Report) AZZ Inc provides hot-dip galvanizing and coil coating solutions in the United States, Canada, Brazil, China, the Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, and India. The company operates through AZZ Metal Coatings and AZZ Precoat Metals segments. The AZZ Metal Coatings segment offers metal finishing solutions for corrosion protection, including hot-dip galvanizing, spin galvanizing, powder coating, anodizing, and plating to steel fabrication and other industries. See Also Receive News & Ratings for AZZ Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for AZZ and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Converge Technology Solutions Corp. (OTCMKTS:CTSDF Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,828,800 shares, a growth of 25.1% from the September 15th total of 1,461,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 30,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 59.6 days. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Separately, TD Securities cut Converge Technology Solutions from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, August 10th. Get Converge Technology Solutions alerts: Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Converge Technology Solutions Converge Technology Solutions Stock Performance Converge Technology Solutions Cuts Dividend Converge Technology Solutions stock remained flat at $1.95 during mid-day trading on Friday. The company had a trading volume of 10,262 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,705. Converge Technology Solutions has a 12 month low of $1.78 and a 12 month high of $5.22. The firms 50-day simple moving average is $2.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.37. The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 8th were given a dividend of $0.0074 per share. This represents a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 7th. About Converge Technology Solutions (Get Free Report) Converge Technology Solutions Corp. provides software-enabled IT and cloud solutions in the United States and Canada. Its solutions approach delivers advanced analytics, application modernization, cloud, cybersecurity, digital infrastructure, and digital workplace offerings to clients across various industries. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Converge Technology Solutions Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Converge Technology Solutions and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. (NYSE:FSM Get Free Report) (TSE:FVI) saw a large growth in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 8,530,000 shares, a growth of 11.9% from the September 15th total of 7,620,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,600,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days. Currently, 3.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of research firms have weighed in on FSM. National Bank Financial decreased their price target on shares of Fortuna Silver Mines from C$7.25 to C$6.75 in a research note on Friday, July 21st. StockNews.com started coverage on Fortuna Silver Mines in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a hold rating for the company. Get Fortuna Silver Mines alerts: Read Our Latest Analysis on FSM Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortuna Silver Mines Fortuna Silver Mines Price Performance Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Fortuna Silver Mines by 27.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,530 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 2,955 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Fortuna Silver Mines by 11.8% in the second quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,465 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Fortuna Silver Mines by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 213,716 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $695,000 after buying an additional 3,435 shares during the period. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fortuna Silver Mines by 44.1% in the 4th quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 11,465 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 3,510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of Fortuna Silver Mines by 22.2% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 24,803 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 4,503 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 31.19% of the companys stock. Shares of FSM stock remained flat at $2.94 during trading hours on Monday. The stock had a trading volume of 2,326,510 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,185,150. Fortuna Silver Mines has a 12 month low of $2.55 and a 12 month high of $4.20. The firm has a market cap of $900.99 million, a PE ratio of -6.19 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $2.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.32. Fortuna Silver Mines (NYSE:FSM Get Free Report) (TSE:FVI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 9th. The basic materials company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.04). Fortuna Silver Mines had a negative net margin of 22.51% and a positive return on equity of 1.92%. The company had revenue of $158.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $163.00 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Fortuna Silver Mines will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. About Fortuna Silver Mines (Get Free Report) Fortuna Silver Mines Inc engages in the precious and base metal mining in Argentina, Burkina Faso, Mexico, Peru, and Cote d'Ivoire. It holds interest in the Caylloma silver, lead, and zinc mine located in southern Peru; the San Jose silver and gold mine located in southern Mexico; the Lindero gold project located in Northern Argentina; Yaramoko gold mine located in south western Burkina Faso; and Seguela gold mine located in south western Cote d'Ivoire. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Fortuna Silver Mines Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Fortuna Silver Mines and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Genesco Inc. (NYSE:GCO 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 856,100 shares, an increase of 46.9% from the September 15th total of 582,600 shares. Approximately 8.0% of the companys shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 206,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.1 days. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Genesco A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Genesco by 41.0% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 708 shares of the companys stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Genesco during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in Genesco by 45.2% during the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,227 shares of the companys stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in Genesco by 70.6% during the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 2,563 shares of the companys stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 1,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Genesco by 60.1% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,741 shares of the companys stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 1,029 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.20% of the companys stock. Get Genesco alerts: Genesco Trading Down 2.0 % NYSE:GCO traded down $0.57 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $27.24. The stock had a trading volume of 77,468 shares, compared to its average volume of 244,915. Genesco has a one year low of $17.31 and a one year high of $53.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 1.63. The company has a market cap of $342.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.96 and a beta of 1.98. The businesss 50 day moving average is $29.68 and its 200-day moving average is $28.79. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Genesco ( NYSE:GCO Get Free Report ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 31st. The company reported ($0.85) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $523.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $497.25 million. Genesco had a net margin of 0.38% and a return on equity of 5.11%. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Genesco will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year. Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on Genesco in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a hold rating for the company. View Our Latest Analysis on Genesco About Genesco (Get Free Report) Genesco Inc operates as a retailer and wholesaler of footwear, apparel, and accessories in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland. The company operates through four segments: Journeys Group, Schuh Group, Johnston & Murphy Group, and Licensed Brands. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Genesco Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Genesco and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Hippo Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HIPO Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,050,000 shares, an increase of 17.7% from the September 15th total of 891,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 127,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.3 days. Approximately 8.3% of the companys shares are short sold. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In HIPO has been the topic of several analyst reports. JMP Securities cut their target price on shares of Hippo from $50.00 to $25.00 and set a market outperform rating on the stock in a report on Friday. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Hippo in a report on Friday, August 11th. They issued a market perform rating on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Hippo from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $21.13. Get Hippo alerts: View Our Latest Research Report on HIPO Insider Buying and Selling at Hippo Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hippo In other news, Director John Drake Nichols bought 24,141 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, August 21st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $10.83 per share, for a total transaction of $261,447.03. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $541,500. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink . Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 35,069 shares of company stock valued at $373,309. 11.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Hippo by 60.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 2,080 shares of the companys stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Hippo in the 1st quarter valued at about $51,000. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in shares of Hippo by 985.3% in the 2nd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 3,462 shares of the companys stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 3,143 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Hippo by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,203 shares of the companys stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 820 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Hippo in the 1st quarter valued at about $104,000. 30.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Hippo Stock Up 8.0 % Shares of NYSE:HIPO traded up $0.59 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $7.98. 118,363 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 101,507. Hippo has a fifty-two week low of $6.64 and a fifty-two week high of $20.39. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.45. The firm has a market cap of $188.89 million, a PE ratio of -0.50 and a beta of 1.03. Hippo (NYSE:HIPO Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 8th. The company reported ($4.61) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of ($2.31) by ($2.30). Hippo had a negative return on equity of 56.30% and a negative net margin of 240.20%. The company had revenue of $47.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.00 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Hippo will post -12.24 earnings per share for the current year. About Hippo (Get Free Report) Hippo Holdings Inc provides home protection insurance in the United States and the District of Columbia. Its insurance products include homeowners' insurance against risks of fire, wind, and theft; and personal and commercial insurance products. The company distributes insurance products and services through its technology platform; and offers its policies online, over the phone, or through licensed insurance agents. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Hippo Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Hippo and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Magyar Telekom Tavkozlesi Nyilvanosan Mukodo Reszvenytarsasag (OTCMKTS:MYTAY Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,700 shares, a growth of 32.1% from the September 15th total of 2,800 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 8,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.5 days. Magyar Telekom Tavkozlesi Nyilvanosan Mukodo Reszvenytarsasag Stock Performance Shares of MYTAY stock traded down $0.12 on Friday, hitting $7.73. 502 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,689. The firms 50 day moving average is $6.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $6.28. Magyar Telekom Tavkozlesi Nyilvanosan Mukodo Reszvenytarsasag has a one year low of $3.03 and a one year high of $8.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a PE ratio of 10.30 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Get Magyar Telekom Tavkozlesi Nyilvanosan Mukodo Reszvenytarsasag alerts: Magyar Telekom Tavkozlesi Nyilvanosan Mukodo Reszvenytarsasag (OTCMKTS:MYTAY Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $568.02 million for the quarter. Magyar Telekom Tavkozlesi Nyilvanosan Mukodo Reszvenytarsasag had a net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 7.29%. About Magyar Telekom Tavkozlesi Nyilvanosan Mukodo Reszvenytarsasag Magyar Telekom Tavkozlesi Nyilvanosan Mukodo Reszvenytarsasag provides fixed-line and mobile telecommunication services for residential and small business customers in Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, and the Republic of North Macedonia. The company operates in MT-Hungary and North Macedonia segments. It offers TV distribution, information communication, and system integration services; mobile telecommunication services, such as prepaid and postpaid plans, TV, broadband, and phone services; internet and voice, Office 365, server and data park, and machine to machine services; and sells telecommunications network and equipment. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Magyar Telekom Tavkozlesi Nyilvanosan Mukodo Reszvenytarsasag Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Magyar Telekom Tavkozlesi Nyilvanosan Mukodo Reszvenytarsasag and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Sohil Sehran is a journalist with 10 years of experience in print, broadcast, and digital media. He covers politics and national affairs at Moneycontrol. He tweets @SohilSehran you are here: Manish M. Suvarna is Senior Correspondent at Moneycontrol. He writes on the Indian money markets, RBI, Banks and NBFCs. He tweets at @manishsuvarna15. Contact: Manish.Suvarna@nw18.com Santosh Nair is Executive Editor, Special Projects, Moneycontrol. He has been writing on the financial markets for over two decades, having previously worked with Business Standard, myiris.com, Crisil Market Wire and The Economic Times. He is also the author of the popular book on Indian markets, Bulls, Bears and Other Beasts. The market consolidated in a narrow range throughout the session before ending with moderate losses and also remained within the previous day's trading range on October 16. For the Nifty50, 19,700 which coincides with the 20-day EMA (exponential moving average) can be an immediate support followed by 19,600, whereas on the higher side, 19,800-19,850 will remain a key resistance area for further upside going ahead, experts said, adding the market may be awaiting the speech by the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell later this week. The BSE Sensex fell 116 points to 66,167, while the Nifty50 declined 19 points to 19,732 and formed a Doji or High Wave kind of candlestick pattern on the daily scale, indicating the indecisiveness among bulls and bears about the future market trend. "On the daily charts, the Nifty makes the extremes of the range of the previous day candle crucial levels from short-term perspective. In this case, the extremes of the range are 19,805 and 19,635. A breach of this on either side shall lead to a trending move in that direction," Jatin Gedia, technical research analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas said. The daily and hourly momentum indicators provide divergent signals, and in such a scenario, consolidation appears to be highly probable, he feels. "Contraction of the Bollinger bands also supports our sideways outlook on the index. The range of consolidation is likely to be 19,500 20,100 from a short-term perspective," he said. However, the broader markets outperformed benchmarks, as the Nifty Midcap 100 and Smallcap 100 indices gained 0.2 percent and 0.4 percent respectively, while the India VIX, which measures the expected volatility for next 30 days in the Nifty50, jumped by 5 percent to 11.07 levels. We have collated 15 data points to help you spot profitable trades: Note: The open interest (OI) and volume data of stocks are the aggregates of three-month data and not just the current month. Key support and resistance levels on Nifty The pivot point calculator indicates that the Nifty may be taking support at 19,701, followed by 19,680 and 19,645. On the higher side, 19,769 can be an immediate resistance, followed by 19,790 and 19,824. Nifty Bank On October 16, the Bank Nifty also remained in consolidation mode before ending the session marginally lower by 62 points at 44,226, while taking the support at 44,000 mark on an intraday basis. The index has formed a Doji kind of candlestick pattern on the daily scale and continued higher tops, higher bottoms for yet another session. "The Bank Nifty remained sideways as market participants stayed on the sidelines ahead of the scheduled Fed Chairman speech later this week. In the near term, weakness may persist in the banking sector as the index has stayed below the critical short-term moving average," Rupak De, senior technical analyst at LKP Securities said. Over the short term, he feels the index might maintain a negative to sideways trend as long as it remains below 44,700. The support is situated at 44,000-43,800, he said. As per the pivot point calculator, the banking index is expected to take support at 44,090, followed by 44,016 and 43,897. On the upside, the initial resistance is at 44,328, then at 44,402 and at 44,522. Call options data The weekly options data suggested that the maximum Call open interest (OI) remained at 19,800 strike with 83.34 lakh contracts, which can act as a key resistance for the Nifty. It was followed by the 20,000 strike, which had 74.16 lakh contracts, while 20,200 strike had 69.73 lakh contracts. Meaningful Call writing was seen at 20,200 strike, which added 24.53 lakh contracts followed by 20,000 and 19,800 strikes, which added 22.02 lakh and 20.42 lakh contracts. Maximum Call unwinding was seen at 20,800 strike, which shed 44,950 contracts, followed by 19,400 and 20,700 strikes, which shed 24,500 and 7,900 contracts. Put option data On the Put side, the maximum open interest remained at 19,700 strike with 77.84 lakh contracts, which can act as immediate support for the Nifty50 in coming sessions. It was followed by 19,600 strike, comprising 57.85 lakh contracts and 19,000 strike with 54.58 lakh contracts. The meaningful Put writing was at 19,700 strike, which added 13.25 lakh contracts, followed by 19,600 strike and 19,200 strike, which added 7.16 lakh and 6.49 lakh contracts. Put unwinding was at 19,000 strike, which shed 2.93 lakh contracts, followed by 18,800 strike and 18,700 strike, which shed 2.17 lakh and 1.96 lakh contracts. Stocks with high delivery percentage A high delivery percentage suggests that investors are showing interest in the stock. Power Grid Corporation of India, Max Financial Services, Atul, Dabur India, and Coromandel International saw the highest delivery among the F&O stocks. 50 stocks see a long build-up A long build-up was seen in 50 stocks including MCX India, GNFC (Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilisers & Chemicals), Dalmia Bharat, Lupin, and ONGC. An increase in open interest (OI) and price indicates a build-up of long positions. 23 stocks see long unwinding Based on the OI percentage, a total of 23 stocks, including Delta Corp, Grasim Industries, Tata Motors, Syngene International, and DLF saw a long unwinding. A decline in OI and price indicates long unwinding. 50 stocks see a short build-up A short build-up was seen in 50 stocks, including Laurus Labs, Shree Cement, Federal Bank, Divis Laboratories, and UltraTech Cement. An increase in OI along with a fall in price points to a build-up of short positions. 64 stocks see short-covering Based on the OI percentage, 64 stocks were on the short-covering list. These included Sun TV Network, Torrent Pharma, Balkrishna Industries, Bosch, and ABB India. A decrease in OI along with a price increase is an indication of short-covering. Bulk deals For more bulk deals, click here Results on October 17 Stocks in the news HDFC Bank: India's largest private sector lender has recorded a standalone profit at Rs 15,976 crore for the quarter ended September FY24, up 50.6 percent over the year-ago period, beating analysts' estimates. Net interest income grew by 30.3 percent at Rs 27,385 crore, with a core net interest margin of 3.65 percent and a reported net interest margin of 3.4 percent for the quarter. Numbers are not comparable on YoY as well as QoQ due to the merger. Gross advances and total deposits increased by around Rs 1.1 lakh crore YoY to Rs 23.54 lakh crore and Rs 21.72 lakh crore respectively. ICICI Securities: The company reported healthy numbers for the quarter ended September FY24, with profit growing 41 percent on-year to Rs 423.6 crore and revenue increasing 45.5 percent to Rs 1,249 crore compared to the year-ago period. On the operating front, EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) grew by 54.8 percent YoY to Rs 810 crore with margin expanding 390 bps to 64.9 percent for the quarter. The firm has approved an interim dividend of Rs 12 per share. Jio Financial Services: The financial services company has registered healthy growth for the quarter ended September FY24, with profit rising 101.3 percent quarter-on-quarter to Rs 668.18 crore and revenue from operations growing 46.8 percent QoQ to Rs 608.04 crore. Meanwhile, the board has appointed AR Ganesh as Group Chief Technology Officer of the company with effect from October 16. CEAT: The tyre company recorded consolidated profit at Rs 208 crore for the quarter ended September FY24, increasing significantly compared to Rs 7.8 crore in the same period last year, supported by healthy operating numbers with a fall in input cost. In Q2FY23, profit was also impacted by an exceptional loss of Rs 23.7 crore. Revenue from operations grew by 5.5 percent YoY to Rs 3,053.3 crore for the quarter. Cyient DLM: The electronic manufacturing services and solutions company has reported a massive 106.4 percent on-year growth in profit at Rs 14.6 crore for the quarter ended September FY24, driven by other income and topline. Revenue from operations surged 71.5 percent YoY to Rs 291.8 crore for the quarter. KEC International: The RPG Group company has secured new orders worth Rs 1,315 crore across its various businesses including transmission & distribution projects in India, the Middle East, Australia and the Americas. Tata Power: Subsidiary Tata Power Renewable Energy has signed a power delivery agreement (PDA) with auto component manufacturer Endurance Technologies through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) TP Green Nature, for the development of 12.5MW AC captive solar plant. The plant will be set up at Aachegaon in Maharashtra and will generate 27.5 million units (MUs) of electricity every year. Fund Flow (Rs Crore) FII and DII data Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 593.66 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) bought Rs 1,184.24 crore worth of stocks on October 16, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed. Stocks under F&O ban on NSE The NSE has added GNFC, and MCX India to its F&O ban list for October 17, while retaining Balrampur Chini Mills, BHEL, Delta Corp, Hindustan Copper, Indiabulls Housing Finance, India Cements, Manappuram Finance, Punjab National Bank, SAIL, and Sun TV Network to the said list. L&T Finance Holdings was removed from the said list. Securities banned under the F&O segment include companies where derivative contracts cross 95 percent of the market-wide position limit. Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. A 39-year-old Chippewa Falls man has been arrested for allegedly using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, according to a press release from the city's police department. On Sept. 29, the Chippewa Falls Police Department received a report from a caller who said a male was sending sexual messages online to a party describing themselves as a 15-year-old female. The male described by the caller was identified Brian M. Anderson after an initial investigation. After further investigation and contacting Anderson, authorities developed probable cause to believe he had knowingly communicated online with someone whom he believed to be a 15-year-old female for the purpose of meeting her for sex and had taken actions toward that goal, the release says. Anderson was taken into custody, and officers later conducted a search warrant at 322 W. Central St. in Chippewa Falls and seized several items of evidence to be analyzed. The investigation, which is ongoing, has been a collaborative effort between the Chippewa Falls Police Department, Chippewa County Department of Human Services and the Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigations. Additional charges for Anderson may be developed. A Carlisle man on Monday was charged with homicide by vehicle while DUI and involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of a pedestr James Stavridis is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is a retired US Navy admiral and former supreme allied commander of NATO, and dean emeritus of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Stephen Mihm , a professor of history at the University of Georgia, is a contributor to Bloomberg Opinion. Jayanth Jacob is a foreign policy commentator who covered the ministry of external affairs for more than two decades. Twitter: @jayanthjacob. , . , . . , .EPA/ARSHAD ARBAB 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 Halfway around the world from mass carnage, death and destruction, a protest on the steps of the University of Virginia Rotunda began with a masked Jewish man asking for peace. We call for this space today as a way to bring students and community members together as a peaceful demonstration of our shared longing for equality and justice and peace, he said into a megaphone as roughly 150 people, many of them masked, looked on. We mourn the loss and suffering of all people without exception, he said. The Thursday evening protest was organized by the UVa chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, which advertised it as a teach-in and demonstration about the current situation in Gaza, the events and history that led to this moment, and a discussion about how we can be in solidarity with Palestinians resisting occupation. For 40 minutes, organizers led chants, shared poems and offered some historical context as students held signs reading, Free Palestine, Not Free Until All Free and End US Aid to Israel Apartheid. The rally was held as Israel bombed and laid siege to Gaza, where it has turned blocks of buildings to rubble and cut off electricity, food and water access to the 2 million people living there. Later that same night, Israel told 1.1 million people in northern Gaza to evacuate their homes and head south within 24 hours, an order that the United Nations described as impossible and horrendous. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, approximately 1,900 people have been killed in the territory so far, more than half of them under the age of 18 or women. The bombings are part of Israels war on Hamas. The Palestinian terror group which controls Gaza stunned and mortified the country on Oct. 7 when it crossed the border and killed more than 1,300 people. Most of those killed were civilians. Entire families were ripped from their homes and slaughtered, and some 260 victims of various nationalities were massacred at a music festival. At least 150 people were taken hostage by Hamas and are presumed to be somewhere in Gaza; at least 27 of the hostages are American. At UVa on Tuesday, some 300 people attended a candlelight vigil to mourn the tremendous loss. Two days later, organizers of the teach-in sought to center Palestinian voices. They read statements they said were from Palestinian students who did not attend out of fear they would be targeted. One statement was said to be from a UVa student who grew up in Gaza until he was 15 years old. According to that statement, the students earliest memories were of demolished buildings and wiped out villages. I accepted my fate and thought it was just a matter of time until every house in Gaza was bombed, the statement said. I just wished that if we were to get bombed, either wed all live or wed all die. None of the organizers were willing to reveal their identities, nor were many of the people attending. One of the organizers, a man who would not give his name but mentioned that he is Jewish, discouraged attendees from speaking to media. And as people first began gathering for the rally, organizers approached journalists with notes asking them not to interview attendees. Students for Justice in Palestine at UVa will not be commenting further or speaking to the media. We ask that you not approach students or organizers for comment, the note reads. But one UVa student was willing to speak. Near the end of rally, organizers asked if there were any Palestinians in the crowd who wanted to say their piece. Lama Sadeq stepped forward, took the megaphone, raised her fist and led a chant: From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. Those words are a popular Palestinian slogan calling for an independent Palestinian state stretching from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. While officially endorsed by the Palestinian Liberation Organization for decades, that endorsement was rescinded in 1993. An independent Palestinian state stretching from the river to the sea would necessarily mean the destruction of the state of Israel. I cannot tell you all the emotions that are filled in me, Sadeq told the crowd afterward. I just want to thank each and every one of you. Born and raised in Virginia, Sadeq has family members in Gaza. Shes been able to get in contact with some of them but not others, describing it as a waiting game. As students in the University of Virginia theres only so much we can do, and I think just being so far away from home, the least I can do is have a conversation and just talk, Sadeq told The Daily Progress of her decision to attend the rally. As an Arab American I have always been shy to say Im Palestinian, and Ive learned that thats part of the problem and just being proud of who I am is the first part in the conversation. Students for Justice in Palestine organizers told the crowd they did not want to focus on Hamas but rather the civilians in Gaza, who they fear will be killed if Israel chooses to launch a promised sea, air and ground offensive in the territory. This Israeli military campaign is genocidal. If Israel launches this ground invasion, tens of thousands of Gazans will die, said one organizer. Another argued that Hamas is not synonymous with the Palestinian people. Its important to note that all Palestinian resistance groups exist only because of the Israeli occupation, he said. If there was no occupation, there would be no need for a militant political group. Although Israel evacuated its settlers and military from the Gaza Strip in 2005, the United Nations and various human rights groups still consider it occupied due to Israels restrictive border policies now a full blockade of the territory. Israel and some legal scholars dispute this classification. In 2006, Hamas was elected to take control of the Palestinian government, winning 44.45% of the vote and besting a rival political party by three points. Israel is not alone blockading the Gaza Strip; the territorys neighbor to the south, Egypt, has also closed its border in response to the rise of Hamas. The UVa chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine has been denounced by elected Republican officials in Virginia after the group released a statement the day after Hamas rampage in Israel. We reject the assumption that oppressed people cannot take their liberation into their own hands, the statement reads. The events that took place yesterday are a step towards a free Palestine. They reflect the power and resilience of the Palestinian people. Attorney General Jason Miyares described the statement as hateful. You cannot mourn the loss of human life and hope for long-lasting peace and also cheer on the murder, rape, and hostage-taking by Hamas, a terrorist organization that exists for the destruction and murder of Jewish people, Miyares wrote in a statement. Todd Gilbert, the speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates and a UVa alumnus, also issued a statement. Gilbert called on UVa President Jim Ryan to denounce the group. Some students at my alma mater @UVA fully endorse the rape, murder and kidnapping of innocent people which we now know includes the beheading of babies, Gilbert posted on X, formerly Twitter. I implore the University and @presjimryan to condemn this vile statement in the strongest possible terms and to take action. In a statement issued Wednesday, Ryan said the school remains focused on the well-being of its community members at home and abroad. Without naming the student group, Ryan called for civility in the ongoing discourse. There is no question that this attack and its aftermath have stirred deep emotions within this community, including sadness, fear, grief, and anger. They have also stoked division and rancor around the world along familiar lines of religion and ideology. I trust that we as a community can and will adhere to UVAs longstanding tradition of not just allowing free speech, but promoting civil discourse, even when perhaps especially when we strongly disagree, Ryan wrote. The statement put a spotlight on Students for Justice in Palestine at UVa and led to speculation that Thursdays rally could somehow turn violent. The organizers themselves instructed attendees of what to do if counter-protestors appeared, noting that they had a safety team on site wearing pink bandanas who would be able to provide medical assistance if needed. It was not. The rally was entirely peaceful, as the crowd hoped that innocent Palestinian lives would be spared in the ongoing war and that Palestine would eventually achieve statehood. I want you to know that as beautiful as it is for you to be here, your job is not done, an organizer said at the closing. Take it upon yourself to educate, to bridge gaps and to build conversations. Approach conversations with an open heart. Meet people where they are and strive to foster understanding. Smith Machine Better Than Barbells? Written by 2X 212 Olympia Champion Shaun Clarida 16 October 2023 Smith Machine Better Than Barbells? The Giant Killer By Two-Time 212 Olympia Champion Shaun Clarida Sponsored by MUTANT Q: I see on your videos that you use a Smith machine for some basic movements like squats, stiff-leg deadlifts, and barbell rows. Can you explain why these are better options for you than the barbell versions? A:Barbells are excellent tools, but once you get to a certain level of strength, I do feel there is a higher risk of tearing a muscle using them. For instance, in almost every case I know of when someone has torn his pec, he was doing either the flat or incline barbell press, most of the time it was on a flat bench. An injury like that would obviously be devastating for me. But more so for me, the Smith machine is safer for me because I train by myself. If I had a training partner, I would still do the incline barbell press, but definitely not the flat bench. The Smith machine version of it is much safer for me personally. Also, Ive always liked the Smith machine because I dont have to utilize my stabilizers. I just find the right path and go up and down. I do believe dumbbells are good for building those stabilizer muscles and I still use them for pressing, especially inclines on chest day. You might have seen me with the 200s! But being over 40 now and training by myself, the Smith machine allows me to be more stable and safer. If I cant get the last rep, I can just rack it quickly. If youre in that position by yourself with a heavy barbell over your neck, youre screwed! Ive always been a big fan of the Smith machine. To those who say its not effective, Ive gotten significantly bigger and denser over the last few years, and Ive done a lot of work on the Smith machine. Leg Training: Give It All Youve Got Q: You posted that every bodybuilder has a love/hate relationship with leg training. How would you describe that in your case? What do you love, what do you hate? A:I love when its done! But seriously, I still get anxiety before leg days. I think if you really train hard and push your limits, you will have anxiety starting the day before. Then you wake up that morning thinking about it. You get that first meal in, and youre driving to the gym thinking about what youre going to do in the workout, visualizing the weights, the reps, the whole thing. Once I get a few sets into the workout, maybe doing some leg extensions or squats, my mind switches to another mode. At that point its all about effort and intensity and seeing how hard I can go. Im already looking forward to the aftermath of the workout where I have to crawl out of the gym because I blasted my legs so well. My legs will still be throbbing the next morning getting out of bed. Legs are the biggest body part, so you have to throw everything at it. Like yesterday, I squatted, then I did leg presses, and I finished with Bulgarian squats. With legs, you really do have to give it everything youve got if you want them to grow and improve. Sometimes it can be scary or intimidating to get under a bar or a leg press sled loaded up with hundreds of pounds, but I always say, Its me or the machine, and the machine isnt going to win today. I never get under that weight and think about how it might hurt me. You just have to get under it and get your reps, then walk away and be done with it. Dont Listen to Haters Q: Just curious, the night you turned pro at the 2012 Nationals, someone told you that your career was over. You would never be big enough to do well as a pro, you would never win a pro show, you were wasting your time and should quit. Did that person ever admit later on just how wrong he was? A:No, he didnt. But the last time I saw him, he told me how proud he was of me and congratulated me on all my success; but he has never said he was wrong. It was tough at that time years ago when he said that. I was on this high after just earning my pro card, and then he just took the wind right out of my sails. It didnt bother me for long, because I knew I was going to get to where I wanted to get to regardless of whether people believed in me and supported my dream. I could have easily listened to what he said and took it to heart and given up that very night. But I said, hey, I got this far. I turned pro. Whos to say I cant be a good pro, win a pro show, get to the Olympia, and maybe even win that? I knew I was going to need to add a lot more size to make those crazy dreams a reality, so I put my head down and did the work. People love to tell you what you wont ever be able to do. Its up to you whether you listen to them and accept their predictions. Here I am now with two Olympia titles and multiple pro wins, one of them in an Open show at only 174 pounds against guys who were 260-280 pounds. Its a good thing I didnt listen to that guy and quit or none of that would have happened! People love to tell you what you wont ever be able to do. Its up to you whether you listen to them and accept their predictions. Instagram @shaunclarida YouTube: Shaun Clarida Shauns MUTANT Stack ISO SURGE FLEX FOOD BCAA 9.7 GEAAR MADNESS PUMP CREAKONG CARNITINE GLUTAMINE For more information, visit iammutant.com DISCUSS ON OUR FORUMS SUBSCRIBE TO MD TODAY GET OFFICIAL MD STUFF VISIT OUR STORE SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER ALSO, MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW US ON: FACEBOOK TWITTER INSTAGRAM YOUTUBE U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David Jones, who oversees more major Chapter 11 cases than any other U.S. judge, is seen in a screenshot from video shot during a virtual interview with Reuters done from Houston, Texas, U.S. December 11, 2020. REUTERS/Staff The worlds largest aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford steams alongside USNS Laramie (T-AO-203) during a fueling-at-sea in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, as a scheduled deployment in the U.S Naval Forces Europe area of operations, deployed by U.S. Sixth Fleet to defend U.S, allied, and partners interests, in this photo taken on October, 11, 2023 and released by U.S. Navy on October 14, 2023. U.S Naval Forces Central Command / U.S. 6th Fleet / Handout via REUTERS U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at a dinner hosted by the Human Rights Campaign at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, U.S., October 14, 2023. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno With Lebanon teachers and district officials still far apart on a contract, the Lebanon Community School District announced last week mediation would be the next step. The announcement came a day after a group of more than 100 Lebanon teachers, counselors and parents rallied outside the Santiam Travel Station and packed a school board meeting, urging quick action on a new agreement. Teacher after teacher who spoke during the public comment period strongly voiced concerns that verged on emotional pleas over the level of compensation educators currently earn in the district. 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. Sarah Haley, a kindergarten teacher at Riverview Elementary, said she's taught for nearly three decades, but her salary has decreased. "My pay this year is $136 per month less than it was last year. That does not feel respectful to me," she told school board members. David Meek, a social studies teacher at Seven Oak Middle School, said he's taught for 15 years and his ability to provide for his students has increased over that time. "But my ability to provide for my family has not," he added, specifically citing medical benefits. He called on the district to increase their insurance contributions. Classroom management was also a sore topic. Kelli Conraads, a counselor at Lebanon High School, spoke about "out-of-control" class sizes and a crunch in resources like textbooks and even desks for students. "We have students who don't have access to Chromebooks in school and out of school, and we expect them to complete work," she said. The packed room applauded each speaker after their three-minutes before the board, and chanted "contract now" as they wrapped up the public comment period. That was Thursday, Oct. 12. On Friday, Oct. 13, the district sent out a news release announcing its request for a state mediator, after nearly nine months of negotiations. Bonita Randklev, a social studies teacher at Lebanon High and the leader of the Lebanon Education Association, wasn't surprised by the move but said the union is willing to continue with the regular bargaining process. She learned of the decision on Friday. The district's latest offer is a 9.25% cost of living adjustment over a proposed two-year contract period. That's 6.25% the first year and 2.5% the second. The teacher's union proposed a 13.5% adjustment: 8.5% the first year, then 5%. Both sides are also far apart on a salary schedule. According to the district website, the union proposed a restructured schedule during an Aug. 16 meeting, which it said was its "lowest offer thus far," but district officials said it "calculated out" to an average 22.9% cost of living adjustment over two years. "Assuming there was an error," the district wrote on their website, "LSCD offered to allow LEA to rescind that proposal; however, the proposal stands." Randklev said the district never shared how they calculated 22.9%, and she said the union shared the financial reviews of their offer. According to district spokesperson Susanne Stefani, district officials are still looking for clarity on the union's proposals. Managing student behavior and violent outbursts has been a sticking point during negotiations, as it has for the Lebanon's neighboring school districts, like Greater Albany Public Schools which is still at the negotiating table with both its teaching and nonteaching staff and the Corvallis School District, which approved a deal with teachers just before the school year. When Randklev was asked to describe examples of any behavioral or violent incidents that teachers have faced, she responded: "Just today?" She said students from kindergarten through high school have exhibited a heightened level of disruptive behavior, and said the union is looking for more district support and additional policy for how to manage those outbursts. At the Thursday school board meeting, Lebanon High language arts teacher Haley Vernon told the board that dealing with misbehavior has been the biggest challenge she's faced this year. "Many of our students express unacceptable classroom behaviors," she said. 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. "Throwing garbage, physical violence, destruction of class materials and resources. Name calling, screaming. Emotional irregulation and threatening," she added. Stefani said the district is proud of the systems already put in place to respond to student behavior, adding the district and teachers need to work on implementation, not adding new policy. "We don't need to reinvent the wheel," Stefani said. In a news release, Superintendent Jennifer Meckley said she was optimistic about negotiations going forward and that both sides wanted a fair agreement and to support students. "Mediation is a continuation of the bargaining process. We are still at the table continuing a dialogue and we are hopeful about getting a contract that both sides can agree to," she said in a statement. 7 activists in Norway meet with the king to discuss a wind farm that is on land used by Sami herders 7 activists in Norway meet with the king to discuss a wind farm that is on land used by Sami herders View Photo COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) Seven of the activists who repeatedly have demonstrated against a wind farm in central Norway that they say hinders the rights of the Sami Indigenous people to raise reindeer met with the Norwegian king on Monday and his son who is heir to the throne. It was a very strong moment for us emotionally charged, activist Ella Marie Htta Isaksen told the VG newspaper after the meeting with King Harald and Crown Prince Haakon at the royal palace in Oslo. We experienced not only being believed, but a human meeting with someone who really meets people with compassion and sympathy. It makes a world of difference in the face of this state, which is so strong and arrogant and difficult to talk to, she told the daily. Before the meeting, another activist told Norwegian news agency NTB that we have nowhere else to go. We hope his majesty will listen to us and remind the responsible state of its responsibility, Elle Nystad said. At the center of the dispute are the 151 turbines of Europes largest onshore wind farm, which is located in Norways Fosen district, about 450 kilometers (280 miles) north of the capital, Oslo. The activists say a transition to green energy shouldnt come at the expense of the rights of Indigenous people. They have protested several times since the Supreme Court of Norway ruled in October 2021 that the construction of the turbines had violated the rights of the Sami, who have used the land for reindeer for centuries. The activists, many dressed in traditional colorful garments, have sat down inside parliament, outside the building in Oslo of the state-owned company that operates 80 of the wind turbines at Fosen, outside the offices of Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stre and the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy for four days in February. They also have temporarily blocked the entrances to 10 ministries. They had asked for the meeting with the Norways monarch, who has a ceremonial role as the countrys head of state. They said they know that the king has no political power. But they have said that we just want to be listened to. The palace confirmed the meeting took place and they presented their view to the monarch and his son. Italian lawmakers debate long-delayed Holocaust Museum revived by far-right-led government View Photo MILAN (AP) Italian lawmakers on Monday marked the 80th anniversary of the Nazi roundup of more than 1,200 Roman Jews in the Holocaust with a debate on a measure to partially fund a long-delayed Holocaust Museum in the capital. The Shoah Museum project was launched in 2007, but has foundered over funding, a location and even reluctance to highlight the role of Italys fascist government as a perpetrator in the Holocaust. The project was revived this year by far-right leader Giorgia Meloni and her culture minister, Gennaro Sangiuliano, both of the far-right Brothers of Italy party with neo-fascist roots. Italys lower house will vote later this week on a measure that includes 10 million euros ($10.5 million) in funding for the museum over the next three years, following Senate approval this summer. The president of the Shoah Museum Foundation that is heading the project, Mario Venezia, told The Associated Press that the Italian role in the Holocaust must be central to the museum. He expressed gratitude to the government for giving it new impetus. I had important meetings with the Holocaust Museum in Washington and Yad Vashem, and they were both underlining the fact that fascism was born here, he said. We are in the place where the story was born. Italy was not conquered by the Nazis. Italy was side by side with the Nazis, and many political ideas of the fascists were adopted by the Nazis, Venezia said. He said the museum must also look at the role of the Vatican, which is under increasing scrutiny with new revelations of the extent of World War II-era Pope Pius XXIIs knowledge of the Holocaust. Venezia said it was an important sign that Melonis government confirmed the foundation as central to the museum project, without creating a new one. He believes that the projects delays in recent years have been mostly for bureaucratic, not ideological, reasons. Still, during the first day of debate in the lower house, only one speaker mentioned the role of Italian dictator Benito Mussolinis fascist government in laying the groundwork for the roundup of Roman Jews on Oct. 16, 1943, and deportations from other cities. Democratic Party lawmaker Paolo Ciani told the chamber that many fellow Italians failed to speak up against the deportations because of fear of the dictatorship, or because they underestimated the significance of events. For Roman Jews, it was the last step, an unexpected step, on a sad itinerary started in September 38 with the promulgation of the racial laws, he said. There is a deep connection between these two dates for many Roman Jews. The racial laws represented an antechamber to the Nazi extermination. Meloni has frequently decried the fascist governments racist laws, and on Monday in a meeting with the head of Romes Jewish community underlined the fascist complicity in the Nazi roundup of Roman Jews eight decades ago. She further cited the terrible attack by Hamas targeting Israeli civilians as evidence of enduring antisemitic hatred. SS troops rounded up more than 1,200 Jews in Rome exactly 80 years ago on Monday. Of the 1,024 Roman Jews eventually deported, only 16 survived the Holocaust. Most were murdered in the gas chambers upon their arrival at the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camps. Former Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni, who helped initiate the project backed by the city, the Lazio region and the Jewish community, quit the foundation in 2008, citing attempts by his far-right successor to obscure the role of fascism role in the Holocaust. In announcing his resignation, Veltroni cited the attempt to express a double judgment on fascism, this ambiguity not clarified, if anything aggravated, but subsequent statements that wound me, and make it impossible to stay in my place on a committee run by Rome Mayor (Gianni) Alemanno. Venezia, who has headed the Shoah Museum Foundation for eight years, said the new government funding will be used to set up the eventual exhibits, not for the site, which is still being finalized by the city. U.S. historian David Kerzer said Italy has shown a reluctance to examine its fascist past, including the racial laws and the alliance with Nazi Germany, focusing instead on the role of the resistance, which later helped expel the Nazis during the Allied advance after Mussolinis demise. He emphasized that any Holocaust museum in Rome should examine not just the role of the fascist government, but of ordinary Italians. The SS involved in the roundup didnt know Italian. They couldnt tell who was a Jew from anyone else. It was Italians who often cashed in on the fact there were cash offers if you turned in a Jew who was hiding, said Kerzer, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian whose most recent book examines the Vaticans behavior during the Holocaust. After the racial laws of 1938, for five years, the Italian government, with little protest from Italians, persecuted Jews in severe ways, he said, excluding them from the workplace and schools. Today there are a lot of attempts to downplay that severity. By COLLEEN BARRY Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Californias ban on higher-capacity magazines can remain in effect while the state fights a lower courts ruling last month that the law is unconstitutional. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday granted state Attorney General Rob Bontas request that the law banning detachable magazines that hold more than 10 rounds remain in effect as the state appeals last months ruling by U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez. The appeals court also wrote that the states case is likely to succeed against the challenge by the federal judge in San Diego. The September ruling marked the second time Benitez struck down the law and was in response to legal action filed by five individuals and the California Rifle & Pistol Association challenging the laws constitutionality under the Second Amendment. Benitez also struck down the law in 2017, but an appeals court ended up reversing that decision. The Supreme Court ordered the case to be heard again after it set a new standard last year for how to interpret the nations gun laws. The new standard relies more on the historical tradition of gun regulation rather than public interests, including safety. Its one of three high-profile challenges to California gun laws that are getting new hearings in court. The other two cases challenge California laws banning certain weapons and limiting purchases of ammunition. ATCCA Logo Helping People Since 1981 View Photo San Andreas, CA Calaveras Countys efforts to transfer its utility bill assistance and energy conservation programs from the Amador Tuolumne Community Action Agency (ATCAA) over to the Calaveras Mariposa Community Action Agency (CMCAA) has taken another twist. We reported on September 12 that the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to send a letter to ATCAA requesting the change. It came following a public falling-out in which the supervisors stated they were disappointed with the services provided by ATCAA. Following a discussion at the ATCAA board meeting this past Friday, the agency has decided to draft a letter to Calaveras County stating that the request is being rejected. The letter also comes following discussions between ATCAA and the California Department of Community Services and Development (CSD). ATCAA has released a statement further detailing its stance: In the past several months, the Amador Tuolumne Community Action Agency (ATCAA) Board of Directors became aware of movements within Calaveras County emanating from the Calaveras Mariposa Community Action Agency (CMCAA) and Calaveras County Health and Human Services (CCHHS) to, for uninformed reasons, seize control of the Calaveras portion of funding for several utility-related programs that ATCAA has been delivering to those in need for over four decades. Among these programs are LIHEAP (Low-Income Home Energy Assistance) a related energy conservation-weatherization program, and LIHWAP (Low-Income Household Water Assistance) programs. ATCAA has spent decades developing the infrastructure necessary to deliver these services to Amador, Tuolumne, and Calaveras County residents through state funding administered by the California Department of Community Services and Development (CSD). These funds are specifically made available to legislatively approved LIHEAP Service Providers (LSPs) across the state. Each LSP is regularly monitored, audited and reports of their activities are publicly available. ATCAAs service record consistently remains in good standing with the state. After public criticisms of ATCAA, which also argued the need for Calaveras County to seize control of program funding for the county by the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors, CMCAA and CCHHS Staff based on misinformation, State officials from CSD queried ATCAA. State officials informed ATCAA that ATCAA has no legal authority to support Calaveras Countys request. ATCAA was also informed that the Service Area (Amador, Calaveras, and Tuolumne) it has been on contract to support since 1982 cannot be broken up. ATCAA officials were told that if ATCAA chooses to no longer service Calaveras, then CSD will look for qualified providers somewhere within the State to support the entire Service Area. As the choice does not advance Calaveras County interests and ATCAA is obviously opposed to giving up the entire LIHEAP Service Area, ATCAA will state in a written letter to the Calaveras County BOS that though ATCAA is unwilling to give up its entire service area, ATCAA is offering to work collaboratively with Calaveras which could include a sub-contracted arrangement for Energy Intake/Outreach staff specifically for Calaveras residents and offers a pathway to Calaveras representation on ATCAAs board. The Calaveras board action requesting the transfer of services over to CMCAA was strongly supported by all five supervisors in September. Calaveras CEO Teresa Hitchcock stated at the time, It is really just a matter of making sure Calaveras residents have the easiest and most efficient access to energy programs that the state makes available. ATCAAs Executive Director, Joe Bors, argues, It is unfortunate that the misinformed Calaveras Board of Supervisors chose to react based on assumptions and inaccurate information. Though we have no authority to support their request, we are offering to collaborate. Following ATCAAs response letter, the ball appears to be back in Calaveras Countys court, and leaders could discuss the item further at a future board meeting. Coast Guard opens formal inquiry into collapse of mast on Maine schooner that killed a passenger View Photo PORTLAND, Maine (AP) The Coast Guard said Monday it has launched a formal investigation into a fatal accident aboard a historic schooner off the coast of Maine in which a mast fell and killed one person and injured three others. The main mast of the schooner Grace Bailey splintered and fell onto the deck on Oct. 9. The collapse killed Dr. Emily Mecklenburg, 40, a physician from Rockland. Coast Guard officials said the formal inquiry is intended to determine what led to the collapse and identify anything that can help improve maritime safety. As a member of a lifesaving service, I am deeply saddened by this tragedy, said Capt. Amy Florentino, commander of Coast Guard Sector Northern New England. The Coast Guard is committed to conducting a thorough investigation aimed at identifying causal factors that will prevent an accident like this from reoccurring. The owners of the vessel, the Grace Bailey Navigation Company of Rockland, have no comment on the investigation, said Nicole Jacques, a spokesperson for the company. The vessel carries tourists off the Maine coast and was returning from a four-day trip when the mast snapped late in the morning of Oct. 9. The vessel was built in 1882. It was about a mile (1.6 kilometers) east of Rockland Harbor at the time. The schooners full length is 118 feet (36 meters) and it was in compliance with requirements when it underwent an annual inspection in May, Coast Guard officials have said. The schooner was involved in three previous accidents in recent years when it was under previous ownership, Coast Guard records have shown. The Coast Guard said Monday that it sent a 47-foot (14-meter) motor lifeboat crew to assist after the mast collapse and transferred Mecklenburg to emergency medical workers, after which she was pronounced dead. There were 33 people on board the Grace Bailey when the mast collapsed. The other three injured people, who suffered head and back injuries, were transported to hospitals afterward. By PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press The Supreme Court orders makers of gun parts to comply with rules on ghost guns The Supreme Court orders makers of gun parts to comply with rules on ghost guns View Photo WASHINGTON (AP) The Supreme Court on Monday ordered two internet sellers of gun parts to comply with a Biden administration regulation aimed at ghost guns, firearms that are difficult to trace because they lack serial numbers. The court had intervened once before, by a 5-4 vote in August, to keep the regulation in effect after it had been invalidated by a lower court. No justice dissented publicly from Mondays order, which followed a ruling from a federal judge in Texas that exempted the two companies, Blackhawk Manufacturing Group and Defense Distributed, from having to abide by the regulation of ghost gun kits. Other makers of gun parts also had been seeking similar court orders, the administration told the Supreme Court in a filing. Absent relief from this Court, therefore, untraceable ghost guns will remain widely available to anyone with a computer and a credit card no background check required, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, the administrations top Supreme Court lawyer, wrote. The regulation changed the definition of a firearm under federal law to include unfinished parts, like the frame of a handgun or the receiver of a long gun, so they can be tracked more easily. Those parts must be licensed and include serial numbers. Manufacturers must also run background checks before a sale as they do with other commercially made firearms. The requirement applies regardless of how the firearm was made, meaning it includes ghost guns made from individual parts or kits or by 3D printers. The regulation will be in effect while the administration appeals the judges ruling to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans and potentially the Supreme Court. The Nairobi-Mombasa Standard Gauge Railway in Kenya is a flagship project of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative. Since its inauguration six years ago, the railway has witnessed over 10 million passenger trips and facilitated the transportation of 25 million tons of goods. #GLOBALink Produced by Xinhua Global Service To find out where retirees are most and least financially secure, SmartAsset examined poverty, housing, income and government assistance data for the population aged 65 and older for 37 of the largest U.S. cities. The Supreme Court leaves in place a court victory for PETA over North Carolinas ag-gag law View Photo WASHINGTON (AP) The Supreme Court on Monday rejected North Carolinas appeal in a dispute with animal rights groups over a law aimed at preventing undercover employees at farms and other workplaces from taking documents or recording video. The justices left in placea legal victory for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in its challenge to the state law, which was enacted in 2015. PETA has said it had wanted to conduct an undercover investigation at testing laboratories at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill but feared prosecution under the Property Protection Act. In a 2-1 decision, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in February that the law could not be enforced against PETA and likely others in similar situations when its undercover work is being performed to conduct newsgathering activities. People have a right to know about illegal and unethical conduct. Exposing unsafe or inhumane practices and working conditions is essential to holding powerful bad actors accountable for the harm they cause, said David Muraskin, a lawyer with FarmSTAND representing PETA and other groups that challenged the law. A PETA attorney separately also praised Mondays refusal. The law is similar to so-called state ag-gag laws aimed at gagging undercover activists who record footage of the animal agriculture industry that have been struck down by several courts around the country over free speech concerns. The Supreme Court has so far refused to weigh in. The majority opinion at the 4th Circuit had narrowed a 2020 ruling by a trial court judge who had struck down four provisions in the law related to the potentially secretive activities. State lawyers for Attorney General Josh Stein, a defendant in the case along with UNC-Chapel Hills chancellor, had asked the Supreme Court to take up the matter. So did the North Carolina Farm Bureau Federation, which also defended the law in court. Steins office had told the justices there were conflicting decisions among circuits about whether audio-visual recording always constitutes protected speech or whether recording may be unprotected when it takes place on nonpublic property without the property owners consent. Muraskin said Monday that reversing that decision would have had a chilling effect on whistleblowers and undercover investigations of many kinds, including those of sexual harassment. N.C. Farm Bureau attorney Jake Parker called Mondays decision not to hear the case disappointing and troubling and expressed hope that the North Carolina legislature would step up again and protect our fundamental rights to privacy and property. Meanwhile, farmers and other business owners should consider themselves activist targets and take caution when hiring new employees, Parker said. A spokesperson for Stein, the states top law enforcement officer, said his office was reviewing Mondays decision and its implications. Surfer suffers leg injury in possible shark attack at beach near San Francisco, police say PACIFICA, Calif. (AP) A surfer suffered a leg injury in a possible shark attack off the California coast just south of San Francisco, authorities said. Emergency responders were called Friday afternoon following reports that someone had been bitten by a shark, the Pacifica Police Department said. They found a 52-year-old man who said he had been surfing at Linda Mar Beach when something bit his lower leg causing injury, said a police statement Saturday. The surfer was able to exit the water and call for medical assistance, the statement said. The victim could not see what bit his leg and could not confirm if it was a shark. The man, who was not identified, was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. His condition wasnt known Sunday. The incident occurred about two weeks after a swimmer was reported missing near Point Reyes National Seashore, northwest of San Francisco Bay, after witnesses reported seeing a shark in the water. The man has yet to be found, SF Gate reported Sunday. The U.S. Coast Guard said that it could not confirm whether the swimmers disappearance was related to a shark attack. Biden considering trip to Israel in the coming days, but travel isnt final, according to AP source Biden considering trip to Israel in the coming days, but travel isnt final, according to AP source View Photo WASHINGTON (AP) President Joe Biden is considering a trip to Israel in the coming days but no travel has been finalized, a senior administration official said Sunday. It would be a powerful symbol of sympathy and support following the brutal attack by Hamas. A trip would be a chance for Biden to personally affirm to the Israeli people the U.S. is standing firm behind them. But it would come amid growing fears that a looming Israeli move into Gaza could spark a wider war with devastating humanitarian consequences. And Bidens presence could be seen as a provocative move by Hamas chief sponsor, Iran, or potentially viewed as tone deaf by Arab nations as civilian casualties mount in Gaza. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has already been traveling around the Mideast this past week trying to prevent the war with Hamas from igniting a broader regional conflict. The official could not publicly discuss internal deliberations about the potential presidential travel and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Biden also made his strongest public statements yet to restrain Israel after the Oct. 7 attack that killed more than 1,400 people including at least 30 U.S. citizens, warning in an interview with CBS 60 Minutes that aired Sunday that Israel should not reoccupy Gaza. I think itd be a big mistake, Biden said. Look, what happened in Gaza, in my view, is Hamas, and the extreme elements of Hamas dont represent all the Palestinian people. And I think that it would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza again. Israel left Gaza in 2005; Hamas won the elections the next year. Still, Biden said, taking out the extremists is a necessary requirement. Biden and his administration officials have refused to criticize Israel or its bombing campaign that has killed civilians in Gaza. But theyve urged Israel, Egypt and other nations to allow for humanitarian aid and supplies into the worsening conflict zone. Im confident that Israel is going to act under the rules of war, Biden said in the interview. Theres standards that democratic institutions and countries go by. And Im confident that theres going to be an ability for the innocents in Gaza to be able to have access to medicine and food and water. Blinken, meanwhile, heard criticism of Israels military operation from Egypt President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. After Cairo he traveled on to Jordan and planned to return to Israel on Monday, carrying to Israeli leaders the feedback he received in a rush of meetings with leaders throughout the Arab world. Egypts state-run media said el-Sissi told Blinken that Israels Gaza operation has exceeded the right of self-defense and turned into a collective punishment. Blinken told reporters before leaving Egypt that Israel has the right, indeed it has the obligation to defend itself against these attacks from Hamas and to try to do what it can to make sure that this never happens again. Mindful of the potential human cost in Gaza, Blinken said the way that Israel does this matters. It needs to do it in a way that affirms the shared values that we have for human life and human dignity, taking every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians. Earlier Sunday, the envoy met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, talks that built upon earlier sessions with the leaders of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. Blinken said that what he heard in every meeting with Arab leaders was a determination of shared view that we have to do everything possible to make sure this doesnt spread to other places, a shared view to safeguard innocent lives, a shared view to get assistance to Palestinians in Gaza who need it and were working very much on that. The White House also appointed David Satterfield, a former ambassador to Lebanon and Turkey, to lead U.S. efforts to get humanitarian assistance to vulnerable people through the Middle East. Satterfield was expected to arrive in Israel on Monday. From Washington, Bidens national security adviser said the U.S. was not making requests or demands of Israel with respect to its military operations. Jake Sullivan, making the rounds of the Sunday TV news shows, said the administration was simply stating our basic principles the principles upon which this country is based and all democracies, including Israel, are based. Its what makes us different from the terrorists, that in fact we respect civilian life. He said the U.S. was not interfering in their military planning or trying to give them instructions or requests specific. Sullivan said the U.S. is conveying the message in public and in private that all military operations should be conducted consistent with law of war, that civilians should be protected, that civilians should have a real opportunity to get to safety and have access to food, water, medicine and shelter. Those remarks marked a shift in the U.S. administrations comments in recent days as officials have heard concerns from Arab leaders. Those leaders expressed the consequences of what a humanitarian catastrophe resulting from an Israeli ground offensive would do not only to Palestinians but also in inflaming public opinions in Arab nations and potentially destabilizing relatively friendly countries. Sullivan also said the U.S. has been unable so far to get American citizens out of Gaza through Egypts Rafah crossing with Gaza. Blinken made clear in Egypt that the U.S. will not waver in supporting Israel, saying, We will stand with it today, tomorrow and every day and were doing that in word and also in deed. In his roughly hourlong meeting with Prince Mohammed at the de facto Saudi leaders private farm outside Riyadh, Blinken highlighted the United States unwavering focus on halting terrorist attacks by Hamas, securing the release of all hostages, and preventing the conflict from spreading, the State Department said. The two affirmed their shared commitment to protecting civilians and to advancing stability across the Middle East and beyond, according to a department statement. The Saudi description of the meeting focused primarily on Palestinian civilians, echoing the sentiments that the other Arab leaders with whom Blinken has met. It said Saudi Arabia would object to the targeting of civilians in any way or disrupt(ing) infrastructure and vital interests that affect their daily lives. The prince stressed the need to work to discuss ways to stop the military operations that claimed the lives of innocent people, the Saudi Press Agency said in a report about the meeting. ___ Lee reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Sam Magdy in Cairo and Michelle L. Price in New York contributed to this report. By AAMER MADHANI, MATTHEW LEE and COLLEEN LONG Associated Press Putins visit to Beijing underscores Chinas economic and diplomatic support for Russia View Photo TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to meet this week with Chinese leaders in Beijing on a visit that underscores Chinas support for Moscow during its war in Ukraine. The two countries have forged an informal alliance against the United States and other democratic nations that is now complicated by the Israel-Hamas war. China has sought to balance its ties with Israel with its economic relations with Iran and Syria, which are strongly backed by Russia. Putin arrived in Beijing on Tuesday with an honor guard meeting his plane. His visit is also a show of support for Chinese leader Xi Jinpings signature Belt and Road initiative to build infrastructure and expand Chinas overseas influence. In an interview to Chinese state media, Putin praised the massive but loosely linked BRI projects. Yes, we see that some people consider it an attempt by the Peoples Republic of China to put someone under its thumb, but we see otherwise, we just see desire for cooperation, he told state broadcaster CCTV, according to a transcript released by the Kremlin on Monday. The Russian leader will be among the highest profile guests at a gathering marking the 10th anniversary of Xis announcement of the BRI policy, which has laden countries such as Zambia and Sri Lanka with heavy debt after they signed contracts with Chinese companies to build roads, airports and other public works they could not otherwise afford. Asked by reporters Friday about his visit, Putin said it would encompass talks on Belt and Road-related projects, which he said Moscow wants to link with efforts by an economic alliance of ex-Soviet Union nations mostly located in Central Asia to achieve common development goals. He also downplayed the impact of Chinas economic influence in a region that Russia has long considered its backyard and where it has worked to maintain political and military clout. We dont have any contradictions here, on the contrary, there is a certain synergy, Putin said. Putin said he and Xi will also discuss growing economic and financial ties between Moscow and Beijing. Beijing and Moscow have financial ties in energy, high-tech and financial industries. China has also grown in importance as an export destination for Moscow. Alexander Gabuev, director of Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, said that from Chinas view, Russia is a safe neighbor that is friendly, that is a source of cheap raw materials, thats a support for Chinese initiatives on the global stage and thats also a source of military technologies, some of those that China doesnt have. For Russia, China is its lifeline, economic lifeline in its brutal repression against Ukraine, Gabuev told The Associated Press. Its the major market for Russian commodities, its a country that provides its currency and payment system to settle Russias trade with the outside world with China itself, but also with many other countries, and is also the major source of sophisticated technological imports, including dual-use goods that go into the Russian military machine. Gabuev said that while Moscow and Beijing will be unlikely to forge a full-fledged military alliance, their defense cooperation will grow. I dont expect that Russia and China will create a military alliance, Gabuev said. Both countries are self-sufficient in terms of security and they benefit from partnering, but neither really requires a security guarantee from the other. And they preach strategic autonomy. There will be no military alliance, but there will be closer military cooperation, more interoperability, more cooperation on projecting force together, including in places like the Arctic and more joint effort to develop a missile defense that makes the U.S. nuclear planning and planning of the U.S. and its allies in Asia and in Europe more complicated, he added. China and the former Soviet Union were Cold War rivals for influence among left-leaning states, but have since partnered in the economic, military and diplomatic spheres. Just weeks before Russias invasion of Ukraine last February, Putin met with Xi in Beijing and the sides signed an agreement pledging a no-limits relationship. Beijings attempts to present itself as a neutral peace broker in Russias war on Ukraine have been widely dismissed by the international community. Xi visited Moscow in March as part of a flurry of exchanges between the countries. China has condemned international sanctions imposed on Russia, but hasnt directly addressed an arrest warrant issued for Putin by the International Criminal Court on charges of alleged involvement in the abductions of thousands of children from Ukraine. ___ Associated Press writer Jim Heintz in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed to this report. By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN Associated Press WALLINGFORD Authorities are investigating a shooting involving a police officer early Monday morning, and provided little updated information later in the day. The Office of the Inspector General, the New Haven States Attorneys Office, and the State Police Major Crime Division-Eastern District are investigating the officer-involved shooting, which took place at 132 N. Airline Road Monday around 2:49 a.m., according to the Wallingford Police Department. North Airline Road was closed from 100 N. Airline Road through its intersection with Pauline Court after the shooting, according to a statement from Wallingford Police. The road was reopened at around 5 p.m. The incident is under active investigation. The Office of the Inspector General assumed primary responsibility of the investigation. Any further updates will be released by or in conjunction with the Office of the Inspector General, Wallingford police said. The home was surrounded by emergency vehicles during the morning and afternoon including the state police crime truck and a police cruiser in the front driveway. The home is owned by the Estate of Pauline Passmore, according to Wallingford land records. Passmore died in July 2022. FROM as early as 2018, CCC leader Mr Nelson Chamisa sent various envoys who included journalists, businessmen and church leaders to open talks with President Mnangagwa but all his missions collapsed as they were predicated on deceit, dishonesty and double-standards, President Mnangagwas spokesperson Mr George Charamba has said. In his multi-pronged approach that was carried under a thick veil of secrecy and which went on until the eve of this years elections, the opposition leader, who bears the unflattering moniker Cobra did not involve anyone within CCC. Instead he, in what is a classic example of hit and miss or trial and error strategy, located persons he thought enjoyed the confidence of the President, and invariably failed because he did not trust anyone within his party. Between 2018 and 2023 Mr Chamisa sought to engage the President through emissaries, including an audacious attempt to rope in Vice President Chiwenga. The other intermediaries that he approached include Rev Kenneth Mtata, the secretary general of Zimbabwe Council of Churches, Bishop Nehemiah Mutendi of the Zion Christian Church, lawyers and journalists. There is absolute consternation and disgust each time Chamisa repeats what he knows to be false, none of his initiatives came to fruition, it is patently false and obscene grandstanding for him to claim that the President ever sought dialogue with him or his party. The closest that the President got to do that was after the 2018 harmonised elections when he invited Chamisa to put national interests above personal interests, the second was not by way of direct invitation but through the creation of Polad, beyond that, I as the Presidents spokesperson I am unaware of any overtures, and I can assure you, I am not ignorant, said Mr Charamba. Giving several occasions that Mr Chamisa tried to reach out to the President, Mr Charamba, who is also the Deputy Chief Secretary (Communications) said a few months after the 2018 elections Rev Mtata approached Government structures with a view of having national dialogue, he also wanted to sell the idea of suspending elections for seven years but what discredited him was that what he sold to Government as a church proposal was a blueprint of Chamisa. Chamisa disenchanted and disappointed, did not realise that the Government had multiple avenues of tracking the origins of the idea and indeed behind the church lurked the leader of the opposition and that damaged trust, he said. Apart from pursuing dialogue through the church, Mr Chamisa also hopped into bed with the Western world, and in that regard the idea of a Government of National Unity migrated to Sweden and incognito in all this was the opposition leader. When that approach collapsed, Mr Chamisa tried yet again to reach the President through Vice President Chiwenga. Naively, Chamisa believed that he could play a divide and negotiate approach, the VP then briefed the President, and to test his sincerity, the President gave the overtures the green light to tag along and see how far Chamisa would go. Chamisa soon realised that the Vice President was not going to be his interlocutor, he was told in clear terms that he should come up with a team that would meet with Zanu PF representatives, said Mr Charamba. Towards those mooted talks, the ruling party appointed its Treasurer-General Cde Patrick Chinamasa as its representative, while Mr Chamisa appointed one Utsiwegota and lawyer Innocent Chagonda. Mr Charamba said when Cde Chinamasa asked for a position paper from the opposition, instead of coming from the two interlocutors, it came from former Minister of State Enterprises and Parastatals Dr Gordon Moyo. Gordon Moyo indicated that he was just helping out and was not an emissary of Chamisa, there was no way of establishing the authenticity of the paper and so that idea withered on the vine. Another approach was made directly by Chamisa himself directly to yours truly, we are related, he expressed his desire to reach the President through the VP and I advised him that in my experience, talking from experiences of the Unity Accord, I said he was overreaching by expecting to meet the President, I told him to organise a team to initiate the negotiations, beyond the discussions, which we had, nothing materialised. A few months after that, he shifted tact and enlisted some businessman in the food industry, who he thought was close to the First Family, and guess who was his envoy, Hopewell Chinono, who was entertained. However, it turned out that Chinono was more interested in his own welfare than carrying the message of Chamisa. As in previous instances the interactions died before conception, he said. But he was not giving up notwithstanding his lack of transparency and goodwill towards meaningful engagements, Mr Chamisa adopted another approach where former Harare Mayor Mr Jacob Mafume was the interlocutor and approached Bishop Mutendi who taught with his father, again a request was made through Bishop Mutendi but again nothing came out of that. When we sat down to collate and assess these multitudes of approaches, they were distinct features that emerged. Foremost, it was clear Chamisa deeply mistrusted fellow members in CCC. He never wanted anyone within CCC to know that he was making overtures, that is why all his overtures were drawn from outside elected party officials in his party. Chamisa consistently and persistently stayed clear of officials in the CCC. He did not even mind meeting very junior people from Zanu PF personally. I said to him but you are a whole leader of the opposition why dont you come up with a team, and he said whoever the President appoints he was willing to talk to them personally, he said. Mr Charamba said in the highly secretive overtures through various channels, Mr Chamisa did not exhibit interest in national issues, he wanted direct contact with Zanu PF preferably to talk directly with President Mnangagwa or his deputy Vice President Chiwenga. He wanted everything to be held under the veil of secrecy even proposing night meetings. On reflection, it was clear he did not want his party to know he was interested in personal interests over broader notions of national stability, taking a stand against sanctions, engaging financial institutions, reengaging hostile nations. Those issues were not just incidental but peripheral to the theme of the opposition leader. Repeated efforts to cajole Mr Chamisa to constitute a team from his party as is the norm in national dialogue fell on deaf ears as he insisted he was in charge of everything. At one point in our conversations, he said vakuru ngavangondiona chete, zvikangodaro chete vanotonga kusvika madhongi ave nenyanga. Kwangu ku party (CCC) ndinotonga nedemo, my followers will toe the line. I asked him if he had expectations and he said it is up to the President to decide what he wants with me, said Mr Charamba. What is more, the opposition leader who has rejected calls to have an elective congress in his party was not so keen for the August 23 harmonised elections. He wanted an election moratorium and that dovetails with the idea of Rev Mtata. It was easy to trace the idea of suspending elections. I have not made reference to the letters which he claims to have written but after all this, an opinion crystallised in the leadership of Zanu PF that Chamisa is a deceitful character, deceitful to his would be interlocutors, deceitful to his party members and ultimately deceitful to himself. He confuses clever politics with deception. He doesnt realise that trust and honest are fundamental to any form of engagement, this is foreign to him, said Mr Charamba. Towards the August harmonised elections Mr Chamisa also opined that if he had his way, the elections could be aborted. He also wondered if Zanu PF would still be willing to have talks after the elections. Indeed, he went to elections reluctantly as was reported by the Newsday, he did not trust his own people and he was a lonely man. Contacted for comment, Mr Chamisa was not picking up his phone last night. Herald Breaking News via Email In a concerning development, five police officers from Harare have appeared in court, facing charges of criminal abuse of office for allegedly attempting to extort US$15,000 from a legal practitioner. The officers, identified as Lawson Muchongwe, Perseverence Chisango, Weston Muzorewa, Prosper Chimbumu, and Fredrick Moyo, made their appearance before Harare Magistrate Mr Donald Ndirowei and were granted bail of US$50 each. According to court proceedings, the accused officers claimed to have received information regarding sexual harassment allegations against the legal practitioners client, which they were supposedly investigating. Subsequently, they requested a meeting with the legal practitioner to discuss the alleged investigations. In response, the legal practitioner sought the company of his lawyer and agreed to meet the accused officers at Newlands Shopping Centre in Harare. On October 11, the complainant, accompanied by his lawyer, arrived at the designated location to meet with the officers. During the meeting, after discussions about the alleged sexual harassment case, the accused officers reportedly demanded a sum of US$15,000 in exchange for dropping the charges against the complainant. The complainant promptly reported the incident to Harare Central Police Station on October 12, leading to an investigation by detectives from CID Homicide. The investigation revealed that there was no ongoing sexual harassment case being investigated at ZRP Harare Central or any other police station involving the complainant as the accused. Subsequently, the accused officers were apprehended when they arrived to collect the extortion money from the complainant. Breaking News via Email Man arrested for illegal possession of live pangolin found in vehicle In a recent incident, law enforcement authorities apprehended a man for the unlawful possession of a live pangolin. The protected animal was discovered concealed in a black satchel, strategically placed on the passenger seat of a grey Nissan Tilda vehicle. The arrest took place on Saturday at the 40km mark along the Harare-Mukumbura road. According to an official statement shared on social media by the police, Douglas Chikandiwa, aged 35, was taken into custody during a routine security checkpoint search. The authorities stopped and inspected the grey Nissan Tilda that Chikandiwa was driving, leading to the discovery of a live pangolin concealed inside a black satchel positioned on the front passenger seat. The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) confirmed Chikandiwas arrest in connection with the illegal possession of the live pangolin. The pangolin, known for its protected status due to conservation concerns, was seized as evidence. The suspect now faces charges related to the possession of a protected species. Breaking News via Email The Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) has expressed concerns over the recent controversial recalls of 15 opposition MPs from the CCC party. The ZCC warns that these recalls could further strain the countrys economy and deepen the belief that participating in national elections is futile. In a statement issued over the weekend, the ZCC also criticized the actions of the national assembly speaker, Jacob Mudenda, for acting on a directive from self-imposed CCC secretary general, Sengezo Tshabangu. Mudenda expelled the opposition lawmakers based on Tshabangus directive, despite receiving communication from CCC leader Nelson Chamisa dismissing Tshabangu as an imposter and sharing resolutions from a party communique that emphasized the recalls were not a collective decision of the main opposition. The ZCC highlighted the alleged mishandling of the recall process by the speaker, pointing out the recognition of a letter from the interim CCC spokesperson while disregarding the communique from the CCC President. The ZCC expressed concern that such actions tarnish the reputation of state institutions, which have long been criticized for unfair practices. The church group also raised objections to the recalls, stating that they are pushing the country back into a polarized state following the recent divisive elections. The ZCC argued that the recalls would trigger by-elections, putting additional strain on the countrys fragile economy. Instead of focusing on nation-building and economic development in the post-2023 elections period, the ZCC warned that Zimbabwes progress would be hindered. The organization believes that the recalls disrespect the electorate and send an unhelpful signal that the countrys electoral processes are ineffective in choosing leaders. Moreover, the ZCC expressed concerns that the recalls reinforce the perception that the Mnangagwa-led regime is determined to establish a one-party state in Zimbabwe. Breaking News via Email Yves here. Rob Urie follows up on a recent post in which his use of the term fascist Left elicited a great deal of reader consternation. Rob today describes actions and policies in the US that are not hugely different from those of European fascism of the interwar and World War II period. By Rob Urie, author of Zen Economics, artist, and musician who publishes The Journal of Belligerent Pontification on Substack Is fascism merely a dictatorial force in the service of capitalism? That may not be all it is, but that certainly is an important part of fascisms raison detre, the function Hitler himself kept referring to when he talked about saving the industrialists and bankers from Bolshevism. Michael Parenti, Blackshirts and Reds. The question of fascism in the US of A is both tedious and necessary because of the ways in which the term has been weaponized in recent years. It is tedious in that 99.8% or so of commenters using the term emerge from a particular hegemonic framework (liberal / idealist) that excludes relevant information regarding fascist practice and violence. This creates an other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play gap in the Western narratives purporting to explain it. It also leaves behind the sense, as with mainstream accounts of the US proxy war in Ukraine, that the veracity of analyses is limited by the way in which the problems they purport to address are framed. Because how this question of fascism is framed substantially determines the range of information that emerges from analysis, strong claims one way or another become a function of how questions are asked rather than simply revealing the truth of history. For instance, following from WWI, German anti-Semitism was fed through the conflation of Jewishness with Bolshevism. The first to be interned in German concentration camps were German communists, not Jews as might be imagined today. A question worth asking then is why one group is considered worthy victims while another is considered good riddance? The American take on European fascism of the twentieth century has focused more on what are claimed to be historical breaks rather than continuities. The formerly Left conception of German fascism as racialized capitalist imperialism begs the question of which imperialism didnt develop legitimating narratives that places their victims as victimizers? American slavers maintained that slavery elevated slaves by exposing them to advanced culture to which slaves could aspire. Depending on which historian you choose, the concept of race either emerged from American slavery or informed it. Was European fascism then an historical break or a continuity? In 1917, US President, progressive Democrat, racist crank, and proto-fascist Woodrow Wilson created the anodyne sounding Committee on Public Information to sell WWI to the American people. The Committee later served as the model for the German fascists propaganda efforts. Wilsons Progressive science substantially informed fascist race science. The American eugenics program informed the German fascist program to exterminate undesirables. Wilson was still prosecuting the Indian Wars in the US when the German fascists came to power. And in 1919 Wilson launched the Palmer Raids that rounded up American dissidents and put them in concentration camps, then known as prisons. The second industrial revolution in the US (1860 or thereabouts) was contemporaneous with the launch-in-earnest of the Indian Wars. Prior to industrialization, Federal plans had been to create side-by-side nations where the indigenous (tribes if you prefer) would rule themselves. However, industrialization led to the use of natural resources on a scale never before imagined. The US had many of the natural resources needed for industrialization within its borders. The problem was that many of these resources were on land occupied by the indigenous. The Indian Wars were a form of internal imperialism, complete with rococo, race based, explanations of why these resources rightfully belonged to American industrialists. Taken together, and based on multiple accounts including that of contemporary American liberal Adam Tooze in The Wages of Destruction, the German fascists wanted to recreate what the Americans had using the methods the Americans had used to create it. According to Tooze, the German fascists concluded that Germany lacked the quantity and variety of natural resources needed to fulfil their ambitions to follow the American model of industrialization internally, hence their plan to conquer Europe, and in particular, Russia, in order to take them. From a Marxist frame, the German fascists look like ordinary imperialists with a racialized component. In 1917 Woodrow Wilson joined the Brits and French in sending troops, in Wilsons case, the American Expeditionary Force, to manage the Bolshevik Revolution as WWI became the first industrial war of attrition. As with the recent surge in Ukraine, global elites bickered as citizen-soldiers were gratuitously placed in front of machine-gun fire to die. The class-divide, where wealthy elites made decisions and bank while citizen-soldiers were slaughtered on an industrial scale, led to the utter brutality of WWII. European fascism didnt arise in a vacuum. And much of its bitterness emerged from the slaughter of WWI. While American Jim Crow laws provided the model for German fascist race laws, American Progressive race science, a/k/a scientific racism, provided the pseudo-scientific basis for the extermination of undesirables. American eugenics laws based in Progressive science led to the involuntary sterilization of 70,000 poor women in the US. And again, the Indian Wars were still underway in the US when the German fascists began their ascent to power. Add in US imperialism, its ethos explicated below by former US General Smedley Butler, and German fascism appears to be more an historical continuity than a break. I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high-class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.(Former US General) Smedley D. Butler, War is a Racket. Anyone who imagines that the imperial subjects to whom (former US General) Smedley Butler refers were treated decently, as free citizens of their respective nations, would be wrong. Referring to earlier imperial history, from Howard Zinns A Peoples History of the United States, When it became clear that there was no gold left, the Indians were taken as slave labor on huge estates, known later as encomiendas. They were worked at a ferocious pace and died by the thousands. By the year 1515, there were perhaps fifty thousand Indians left. By 1550, there were five hundred. A report of the year 1650 shows none of the original Arawaks or their descendants left on the island. Howard Zinn This all may seem to be ancient history. But that view requires evidence of an historical break rather than continuity. Following WWII thousands, possibly tens of thousands, of German fascists were recruited by the CIA and American industry to labor for the Americans. Klaus Barbie, the Butcher of Lyon, helped the CIA torture and murder Che Guevara. Via the Cold War, German fascists essentially resumed their fascist project in league with the Americans. Former New York Times reporter, and seemingly decent fellow despite his employment history, Eric Lichtblau, has written extensively about the integration of German fascists into the American mainstream. Interestingly, Lichtblau saves his most bitter recrimination for the aftermath of WWII. While the simple explanation is that it is the subject of his book, readers are encouraged to view Lichtblaus talks on the internet (see here, here) for details and nuance. Lichtblau charges that US General George Patton was a vicious anti-Semite, in a manner common to Western imperialists. September 15, 1945: Evidently the virus started by Morgenthau and Baruch of a Semitic revenge against all Germans is still working. Harrison and his ilk believe that the Displaced Person is a human being, which he is not, and this applies particularly to the Jews, who are lower than animals. George Patton, diary entry. Readers are invited to consider how this ties to view from the Biden administration, the CIA, and MI6, that the Russians in 2023 are stupid, dirty, people that any American could beat in a fight because we are innately superior. Again, hold any view toward the US proxy war in Ukraine that you care to. What this racist precept illustrates is the persistence of imperialist logic with respect to the deserving nature of those on the receiving end imperial ambitions. As if on cue, Politico recently published an article entitled Fighting against the USSR didnt necessarily make you a Nazi, arguing that even though the US was allied with Russia in WWII, it would have been logical for Americans to attack their ally, rather than the enemy. Democrat Hillary Clinton called for Americans with whom she disagrees politically to be re-educated, presumably in re-education camps similar to those created by the American Progressives who kidnapped indigenous children to assimilate them into the broader culture. And the Canadian Parliament gave a standing ovation to a WWII-era Galician (Ukrainian) fascist who has been accused of war crimes. The premise of the Politico article is a bit of induction, proceeding from the idea that wars are fought over ideology rather than material conditions. This ties to the post-2016 American liberal view that it is the beliefs of those who chose not to vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016 that makes them dangerous, and not the meager politics they are able to craft. Author and activist Chris Hedges recently penned an article in which he articulated the fear that re-electing Donald Trump will result in an increase in political violence. However, causes matter. That is why I have argued for more than a decade that unless American capitalism is resolved with something like a return to the New Deal, fascism would be the likely result. However, this formulation ignores how miserable American capitalism has been for Americans in good times. Counter to Hedges, whom I have the highest regard for, the liberal fear of political violence begs the question of where they have been for the last three centuries? Unless one buys the theory of American exceptionalism, what elevates Liberal violence above fascist violence? A Tangent Before Tying This Together With apologies for getting personal, my own story is relevant here. Seven years ago, my spouse and I rebuilt (as in did the work) an abandoned house in a poor and working class, majority Black (98%), neighborhood in the Northeastern US. We went to lengths to assure that we werent gentrifying 90% of the surrounding houses are Section 8. When we arrived, mass shootings were common. For five of these seven years, conditions improved, and the violence abated. Beginning two years ago, the gunfire returned. Beginning six months ago, the murders returned. We are now regularly treated to running gun battles immediately in front of and behind our home. Graph: Most Americans likely imagine that life expectancy is about the same for all of us, made variable by lifestyle choices. In fact, the rich live about fifteen years longer than the poor in the US due to a combination of having nutritious food to eat, receiving adequate healthcare, including dental, and having lower levels of stress. The TED Talk fantasies about new lifesaving medical technologies provide cover for a healthcare system that has the worst outcomes in the developed world. Most Americans would be stunned at how little regulation is applied to medical devices. Many ordinary procedures have zero empirical research to support them. They are make -work programs for medical scamsters. Source: vox.com. Over the time that we have lived here, we have seen a generation grow from kids to teens and from teens to young adults. Now, take any sense you might have that their lives are any more or less valuable than those of you and yours or me and mine and toss it in the garbage where it belongs. The people are beautiful and complicated. The adult men share 99% of the views, call it a class view, with their white counterparts. They want social prestige, decent employment, and to see their kids do well. The difference is, due to this region having been intentionally deindustrialized in the 1960s 1970s, the kids face a black hole when it comes to what to do after High School. While racism is usually called upon to explain the bleak futures these children face, a preponderance of the people keeping this city poor proudly, loudly, and repeatedly, call themselves anti-racists. Leaders of a nearby religious community recently set up an illegal SRO (single-room occupancy) in the house two down from ours where they placed fifteen special needs residents in a five-bedroom house with a single bathroom. The residents each paid $1,600 per month (15 X $1,600 = $24,000 per month) for the privilege. When rain poured through the ceiling and the toilet stopped flushing, the residents called the Code Office and were summarily evicted. I make it a practice to speak with homeless people when they can be so-identified to learn their stories. I recently engaged a homeless man around thirty years old with a welders license, who lost his job, was evicted, and now lives in his car with his pregnant wife. Another friend sleeps in the cemetery during the summer and takes odd jobs when he can find them. He begged me for help finding full-time employment. But without a telephone or an address, or any realistic way of faking these to get him a job, there is little I can do. I recently had to talk another friend who was despondent because he couldnt find a job out of killing himself. Three times over three months. He is a car and motorcycle mechanic. The point is that the Liberal distinction between passive and active violence makes more sense to the well-to-do than to the poor. If the world doesnt owe us a living, then why the persistence of class? Some people are born with a living provided while most arent. Those who arent face exponentially higher levels of explicit violence than those who are. The levels of implicit violence hunger, homelessness, and the social exclusion that un- and under-employment cause, place the US in 2023 in a special category amongst rich nations. We were dying needlessly by the thousands. Now we are dying needlessly by the millions. While it is possible to racialize just about anything (my neighbors certainly do), there are rational economic explanations for almost all of the bad behavior I am writing about here. When a slumlord can buy a house for $75K and illegally rent it out for $24,000 per month, they earn a return of 32% per month on their initial investment. And what precisely does the term earn mean here? Once the house has been purchased, very little more is required of a slumlord than to collect the rent. To the extent that maintenance is required, it is the neighbors who do it or it doesnt get done. So, when my liberal friends speak of their fears of fascist violence, I dont disagree with their concerns. But consider, poor people live fifteen years fewer than rich people in the US (graph above). Poor people tend to live in food deserts where nutritious food is unavailable. Many of my neighbors have been refused by doctors who wont take their health insurance. Obamacare requires an address, telephone, computer, internet access, and spreadsheet skills to choose a policy on which premiums must be paid but coverage remains at the whim of insurers. What are inconveniences for those with resources are life and death struggles for the poor. So, if this reads like NGO boilerplate for some scam to open rat farms in poor neighborhoods, you might have a point if it werent for the systematic nature of the problem. Having spent twenty-five years using math and statistics to perform economic research, the number of Americans dying from preventable illnesses, so-called excess deaths, has been at genocide levels since the onset of the Great Recession. Use of the term genocide here would be inflammatory if it had no basis. But it does. The large numbers of people dying arent random throughout the population. They are poor. Graph: Life Expectancy at Birth in the most inclusive measure of expected longevity. From 1950 1980 life expectancy rose for both the benchmark (Australia, Canada, France, Germany, UK) and for the US. In the early-mid 1980s the US experienced a slower rise than the benchmark nations, representing increasing relative excess deaths in the US. Passage of the ACA (Affordable Care Act), known colloquially as Obamacare, did nothing to reverse this trend, and is correlated with the healthcare system meltdown that saw four six million excess deaths before the Covid-19 pandemic even hit. To save on suspense, it is overwhelmingly poor people who are dying. Source: ourworldindata.org. By grossing the excess death rate up for the size of the US population, and depending on the starting point, I find four to six million excess deaths in the US from the onset of the Great Recession to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. That is, before Covid-19 struck in 2020, four to six million Americans died from preventable illnesses who wouldnt have if they lived in countries with a functioning healthcare system. These would be the people who live in food deserts without employment prospects who get sucked into the drug trade where violence is rife. The Liberal contention that this sort of violence may be regrettable, but it isnt political, depends on the dubious distinction between economic and political power. But the systematic nature of the violence suggests otherwise. Bill Clinton and Joe Biden passed the 1994 Crime Bill that increased mandatory prison sentences while it made appeals for wrongful convictions virtually impossible to win. Joe Biden claimed to have written the Patriot Act, which ended restraints on police behavior toward the population. These arent considered to be failures by Liberals; they are considered to be successes. Just ask Hillary. Likewise, the problems in my neighborhood arent evidence of neoliberal failure, they are evidence of neoliberal success. American oligarchs put their servants in government to the task of deindustrializing the nation, and they did so. Why? To break the back of organized labor as they avoided environmental regulations and the payment of taxes. Up until about two weeks ago the news had it that Americans are living in the greatest economic boom in modern history. While my homeless friends may beg to differ, no one is asking their opinion. This is to write that the mass social misery in evidence in the US has bypassed the class that is creating it. The rich are doing better than they have since the 1920s. What is it that would make the current state of the nation an accident, or somehow regrettable, to the American ruling class? Joe Biden had an opportunity to do the right thing following his election in 2020, and he chose not to. If Biden really wanted to enact his agenda, why have Democrats been systematically replacing those who might support it with Right-wing and Blue Dog Democrats for the last thirty years? Fascists didnt create, pass, and enact the 1994 Crime Bill, Liberal Democrats did. Fascists didnt create the Patriot Act (according to Biden), Liberal Democrats did. Donald Trump found himself on the wrong side of the Democrats proxy war against Russia in Ukraine he only played a minor part in the slaughter of 450,000 Ukrainian soldiers by agreeing to send American-made weapons there. Trump was derided for his inadequate Covid pandemic response until Biden & Co. assumed his crony capitalist / libertarian logic to create the worst response in the rich world. Again, these arent Liberal failures, they are Liberal successes in the sense that they are the outcomes that American Liberals and their sponsors legislated to make happen. Four to six million excess deaths before the Covid pandemic hit, caused by the neoliberal healthcare system that Liberal Democrats created. Twelve and one-half million citizens likely to be permanently disabled by Long Covid due to the Biden administrations Covid policies. If Liberals want to claim criminal stupidity, okay. That has been my theory for a long time. My vote in 2024 will either go to Cornel West or I stay home. But even Dr. West relies on the Liberal discourse around fascism to pose it as a neo-Confederate movement rather than as capitalism backed by military force (a/k/a imperialism). As far as political violence goes, Gaza is being flattened using American-made weapons as this is being written. The Biden administration is asking Congress for another $100 billion for Ukraine so that the US can take a breather and reorganize before attacking Russia again. The Russians most certainly know this, so the risk of the American Liberals launching WWIII will remain. I share the fear of political violence emerging from a second Trump administration, but what part of the prior seven pages didnt you read? The bodies are piling up in my neighborhood right now. The Liberal city government has followed the national Democrats model by firing one-third of the fire department so the City Manager could give himself a fat raise. Since then, the city government has ended the dissemination of public information regarding the shootings, apparently to protect investors like the kind souls (a/k/a slumlords) running the SRO mentioned above. The way to deal with Mr. Trump and his constituents was to govern effectively so as to beat him at the polls. I have said and written this consistently regarding the generic risk of fascism since the onset of the Great Recession. The choice of the Democrats to not govern effectively only adds to the risk of fascist violence by being fascist violence. The difference between the Weimar relationship with the German fascists and the Liberal Democrats relationship with Donald Trump and his supporters is that the latter arent political competitors except in the most anodyne of senses. In 2023, the Democrats are more explicitly capitalist, and imperialist, than the so-called political Right in the US. What a mess. God help us all. By Delphine Farmer, a professor of Chemistry, Colorado State University. Originally published at The Conversation. When wildfire smoke turns the air brown and hazy, you might think about heading indoors with the windows closed, running an air purifier or even wearing a mask. These are all good strategies to reduce exposure to the particles in wildfire smoke, but smoky air is also filled with potentially harmful gases. Those gases can get into buildings and remain in the walls and floors for weeks. Getting rid of these gases isnt as simple as turning on an air purifier or opening a window on a clear day. In a new study published in the journal Science Advances, colleagues and I tracked the life of these gases in a home exposed to wildfire smoke. We also found that the best way to get rid of the risk is among the simplest: start cleaning. The Challenge of Smoke Particles and Gases In December 2021, several of my friends and colleagues were affected by the Marshall Fire that burned about 1,000 homes in Boulder County, Colorado. The lucky ones, whose homes were still standing, asked me what they should do to clean their houses. I am an atmospheric and indoor chemist, so I started looking into the published research, but I found very few studies on what happens after a building is exposed to smoke. What scientists did know was that smoke particles end up on indoor surfaces floors, walls, ceilings. We knew that air filters could remove particles from the air. And colleagues and I were just beginning to understand that volatile organic compounds, which are traditionally thought to stay in the air, could actually stick to surfaces inside a home and build up reservoirs invisible pools of organic molecules that can contribute to the air chemistry inside the house. Volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, are compounds that easily become gases at room temperature. They include everything from limonene in lemons to benzene in gasoline. VOCs arent always hazardous to human health, but many VOCs in smoke are. I started to wonder whether the VOCs in wildfire smoke could also stick to the surfaces of a house. Tracking Lingering Risks in a Test House I worked with researchers from across the U.S. and Canada to explore this problem during the Chemical Assessment of Surfaces and Air, or CASA, study in 2022. We built on HOMEChem, a previous study in which we looked at how cooking, cleaning and occupancy could change indoor air. In CASA, we studied what happens when pollutants and chemicals get inside our homes pesticides, smog and even wood smoke. Using a cocktail smoker and wood chips, we created a surprisingly chemically accurate proxy for wildfire smoke and released small doses into a test house built by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. NISTs house allowed us to conduct controlled chemistry experiments in a real-world setting. We even aged the smoke in a large bag with ozone to simulate what happens when smoke travels long distances, like the smoke from Canadian wildfires that moved into the U.S. in the summer of 2023. Smoke chemistry changes as it travels: Particles become more oxidized and brown, while VOCs break down and the smoke loses its distinctive smell. How VOCs Behave in Your Home What we found in CASA was intriguing. While smoke particles quickly settled on indoor surfaces, VOCs were more insidious. At first, the house took up these smoke VOCs on floors, walls and building surfaces. But once the initial smoke cleared, the house would slowly release those VOCs back out over the next hours, days or even months, depending on the type of VOC. This release is what we call a partitioning process: During the smoke event, individual VOC molecules in the air attach to indoor surfaces with weak chemical bonds. The process is called adsorption. As smoke clears and the air cleans out, the bonds can break, and molecules desorb back out into the air. We could watch this partitioning happen in the air by measuring smoke VOC concentrations. On surfaces, we could measure the weight of smoke VOCs that deposited on very sensitive balances and then were slowly released. Overall, we concluded that this surface reservoir allows smoke VOCs to linger indoors, meaning that people are exposed to them not just during the major smoke event but also long after. Why Worry about VOCs? Smoke VOCs include well-known carcinogens, and high levels of exposure can induce respiratory and health problems. While smoke VOC concentrations in our test house decreased with time, they remained persistently elevated above normal levels. Given that VOC concentrations from other sources, such as cooking and cleaning, can already be high enough in homes to harm health, this additional long-term exposure source from smoke could be important. Further toxicology studies will be needed to determine the significance of its health effects. How to Clean Up When Smoke Gets In So, what can you do to remove these lingering smoke gases? We found that air purifiers can remove only some of the VOCs that are in the air they cant clean the VOCs on your floors or in your walls. They also work only when theyre running, and even then, air purifiers dont work particularly well to reduce VOCs. Opening windows to ventilate will clean the air, if it isnt smoggy or smoky outside. But as soon as we closed windows and doors, smoke VOCs started to bleed off the surface reservoirs and into the air again, resulting in an elevated, near-constant concentration. We realized that to permanently remove those smoke VOCs, we had to physically remove them from surfaces.The good news is that cleaning surfaces by vacuuming, dusting and mopping with a commercial, nonbleach solution did the trick. While some remediation companies may do this surface cleaning for you after extreme exposures, surface cleaning after any smoke event like Canadian wildfire smoke drifting into homes in 2023 should effectively and permanently reduced smoke VOC levels indoors. Of course, we could reach only a certain number of surfaces its hard to vacuum the ceiling! That meant that surface cleaning improved but didnt eliminate smoke VOC levels in the house. But our study at least provides a path forward for cleaning indoor spaces affected by air pollutants, whether from wildfires, chemical spills or other events. With wildfires becoming more frequent, surface cleaning can be an easy, cheap and effective way to improve indoor air quality. Even as mayoral candidate and current Alderman Gabrielle Hanson has stood by welcoming white supremacists into Franklin's city hall, and even as her colleagues have rebuked her actions, Hanson has maintained the support of religious and political groups. Hansons controversy-fraught run for mayor has brought national attention to Williamson County, particularly when she was joined by white supremacists who attempted to intimidate both the public and the press, both of whom the racists later threatened with violence. The current alderman has responded to criticism of her campaign by pointing the finger back at the city and the Franklin community, saying, "You reap what you sow." "Those things are called spiritual repercussions, and they do come back to you, and it's easy to shift all the blame," Hanson said earlier this month. "I just happened to arrive when everything was starting to crumble." All of Hansons colleagues on the Board of Mayor and Aldermen signed a public letter denouncing Hanson and the white supremacist group prior to an Oct. 10 meeting. At that meeting, the BOMA members chastised Hanson publicly. Two BOMA candidates Greg Caesar and Bhavani "BK" Muvvala also denounced Hanson and the white supremacists, but candidates Jeff Feldman, Gary Moore and Patrick George did not return requests for comment. George did previously answer some questions from Scene sister publication The News, stopping short of directly denouncing Hanson and the group. "Having outside influences from any side of the table or any groups that are harmful in a social or cultural way is never good," George told The News on Oct. 6. "It's never been good for society, so I just think that people have to refocus on what's important. It's our city, and what decisions we make are important for what we do; nobody else from outside is going to live with the consequences of our decision-making process." Hanson, George, Feldman and Gary Moore are all endorsed by the Williamson Families PAC (which also endorsed incumbent Alderman Clyde Barnhill, who is running unopposed). Williamson Families Chair Robin Steenman previously told The News that she and the PAC "disavow any group supporting racial or ethnic supremacy/white nationalism/Nazism or any form of racism whatsoever," as well as disavowing violence. Williamson Families, according to election finance filings, contributed $8,000 to Hanson's campaign before she stood with the hate group. The group continues to endorse her run for mayor. Courting white supremacists is far from Hanson's only controversy. She previously falsely claimed having advance knowledge of the Covenant School shooting and alleged "unfounded" threats against her surrounding her opposition to the 2023 Franklin Pride Festival. She attempted to pressure the Nashville International Airport to pull sponsorship support of a Juneteenth event, which led to a city ethics violation. Hanson then sued the Franklin Ethics Commission, though she ultimately lost. Middle Tennessee Has a Nazi Problem The local Nazi fight club went down to Franklin last week to act as bodyguards for mayoral candidate Gabrielle Hanson In April, Hanson threatened to have this reporter arrested for asking for comment on a story, and she continues to evade questions about her criminal record, which includes a charge of promotion of prostitution from the 1990s. NewsChannel 5 has run a series of stories on Hanson's deceptive campaign posts featuring relative strangers as well as questions about her husband's residency and his participation in a Chicago Pride parade despite Hansons opposition to such celebrations. On Oct. 14, Williamson County Republican Party Chair Tracy Miller sent out an email titled "Virtue Signaling," which details what Miller argues is the GOP's historic stance against and denouncement of "evil, oppression, racism, grooming, moral relativism, and the like," without specifically addressing or condemning any of Hanson's actions, statements or associations. "We refuse to judge, lest we be judged, reads the email. We refuse to try anyone in the court of public opinion. We refuse to hate our enemies. We doubly refuse to be coerced into that hatred by groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center. We refuse to let a biased media dictate who we endorse and who we denounce, simply on the fear that they may well set their sights on us. NewsChannel 5 recently reported that the Westhaven Conservatives group has revoked its endorsement of Hanson and Feldman, both of whom live in the exclusive Franklin community. NC5 also reports that Hanson has been removed from the board of the Sister Cities of Franklin and Williamson County. While the fallout of Hanson's statements and actions is still in motion, she has retained support from some community members, several of whom tell The News they "didn't believe" any of the criticism of Hanson even after she admitted to her association with white supremacists. Some of that support was evident last week when Hanson attended a religious tent revival in Franklin's Park at Harlinsdale Farm. There she was prayed over by attendees who, according to the organizer, were "surrounding her with a shield right now with the spirit." The three-day revival was organized by Amy Elizabeth Taylor Ministries and Revival Glory Tennessee Tent of Encounters. The services, described as "taking back the land and releasing His Glory in our city, were recorded and posted online. During Thursday night's revival, Taylor brought Hanson to the front of the crowd of worshippers, who then surrounded her and prayed over her for several minutes. "The enemy has not been nice, and the enemy has been moving through people in our very community with deception, with lies, and that happens when we stand for truth," Taylor said. "Because when we bring the glory, demons have to leave, but they kick and scream on their way out, and these demons are on their way out." Following the Oct. 10 BOMA meeting, Hanson refused to answer any questions from the press, including questions regarding whether she considers herself a white supremacist. Early voting in the Franklin mayoral and aldermen elections is open now, with Election Day to follow on Oct. 24. The security of Ukraine is of great importance to NATO and its member states. The Alliance fully supports Ukraines inherent right to self-defence, and its right to choose its own security arrangements. Ukraines future is in NATO. Relations between NATO and Ukraine date back to the early 1990s and have since developed into one of the most substantial of NATOs partnerships. Since 2014, in the wake of Russias illegal annexation of Crimea, cooperation has been intensified in critical areas. Since Russias full-scale invasion in 2022, NATO and Allies have provided unprecedented levels of support. Evolution of NATO-Ukraine relations Dialogue and cooperation started when newly independent Ukraine joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (1991) and the Partnership for Peace programme (1994). Relations were strengthened with the signing of the 1997 Charter on a Distinctive Partnership, and further enhanced in 2009 with the Declaration to Complement the Charter, which reaffirmed the decision by NATO Leaders at the 2008 Bucharest Summit that Ukraine will become a member of NATO. The 1997 Charter established the NATO-Ukraine Commission as the main body responsible for developing the NATO-Ukraine relationship and for directing cooperative activities. In 2023, the Commission was replaced by the NATO-Ukraine Council, where Allies and Ukraine sit as equals. This change demonstrates the strengthening of political ties and Ukraines increasing integration with NATO. Cooperation has deepened over time and is mutually beneficial. Ukraine has a long track record of active contributions to NATO-led operations and missions. Political and practical support to Ukraine NATO condemns Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine in the strongest possible terms. This aggression gravely undermines Euro-Atlantic and global security, and is a blatant violation of international law. NATO Allies, in concert with relevant resolutions of the UN General Assembly, demand that Russia stop the war immediately, cease its use of force against Ukraine, and completely and unconditionally withdraw all its forces from Ukraine. The Allies do not and will never recognise Russia's illegal and illegitimate annexations, including of Crimea. Since Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea and the beginning of its aggression in eastern Ukraine in 2014, NATO has reinforced its support for capability development and capacity-building in Ukraine, alongside Allied training of tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops. Since the NATO Summit in Warsaw in July 2016, NATO's practical support for Ukraine is set out in the Comprehensive Assistance Package (CAP) for Ukraine. At the 2022 Madrid Summit, Allies strengthened the CAP to provide even more support to Ukraine. At the 2023 Vilnius Summit, Allies agreed to further develop the CAP into a multi-year programme of assistance, to help rebuild the Ukrainian security and defence sector and transition Ukraine towards full interoperability with NATO. NATO stands in unwavering solidarity with the government and people of Ukraine in the heroic defence of their nation, their land and our shared values. The Alliance fully supports Ukraines inherent right to self-defence as enshrined in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. NATO Allies will continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes. Ukraines membership aspirations In response to Ukraines aspirations for NATO membership, Allies agreed at the 2008 Bucharest Summit that Ukraine will become a member of NATO. They also agreed that Ukraines next step on its way to membership was the Membership Action Plan (MAP), NATOs programme of political, economic, defence, resource, security and legal reforms for aspirant countries. In 2009, the Annual National Programme was introduced as Ukraines key instrument to advance its Euro-Atlantic integration and related reforms. From 2010 to 2014, Ukraine pursued a non-alignment policy, which it terminated in response to Russias aggression. In June 2017, the Ukrainian Parliament adopted legislation reinstating membership in NATO as a strategic foreign and security policy objective. In 2019, a corresponding amendment to Ukraine's Constitution entered into force. In September 2020, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy approved Ukraine's new National Security Strategy, which provides for the development of the distinctive partnership with NATO with the aim of membership in NATO. In September 2022, following Russias illegal attempted annexations of Ukrainian territory, Ukraine reiterated its request for NATO membership. At the 2023 Vilnius Summit, Allies reaffirmed their commitment that Ukraine will become a member of NATO. Recognising Ukraines increased interoperability and substantial progress with reforms, they decided that Ukraines path to full Euro-Atlantic integration has moved beyond the need for the Membership Action Plan. Allies will continue to support and review Ukraines progress on interoperability as well as additional democratic and security sector reforms that are required on its path towards future membership. NATO Foreign Ministers will regularly assess progress through the adapted Annual National Programme. NATO will be in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the Alliance when Allies agree and conditions are met. Response to Russia's war against Ukraine NATO condemns in the strongest possible terms Russia's illegal, unjustifiable and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine, which gravely undermines Euro-Atlantic and global security and stability, and is a blatant violation of international law. NATO Allies, in concert with relevant resolutions of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, demand that Russia stop the war immediately, cease its use of force against Ukraine, and completely and unconditionally withdraw all its forces from Ukraine. Furthermore, NATO Allies call on Russia to fully respect international humanitarian law, and to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access and assistance to all persons in need. There can be no impunity for Russian war crimes and other atrocities, such as attacks against civilians and the destruction of civilian infrastructure, which deprives millions of Ukrainians of basic human services. All those responsible must be held accountable for violations and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law, particularly against Ukraines civilian population, including the forced deportation of children and conflict-related sexual violence. Russias war has also had a profound impact on the environment, nuclear safety, energy and food security, the global economy and the welfare of billions of people around the world. Allies and Ukraine strongly condemn Russias decision to withdraw from the Black Sea grain deal and its deliberate attempts to stop Ukraines agricultural exports, on which hundreds of millions of people worldwide depend. Allies are working to revitalise the grain deal and to enable the continued exports of Ukrainian grain by land and sea, including in cooperation with the European Union and the United Nations. Since Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea and the beginning of its aggression in eastern Ukraine in 2014, NATO has adopted a firm position in full support of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders, extending to its territorial waters. The Allies strongly condemn and will not recognise Russia's illegal and illegitimate annexation of Crimea, and denounce its temporary occupation. NATO Allies have equally condemned Russia's continued aggression and destabilising activities in eastern Ukraine and the Black Sea region since 2014. NATO has increased its presence in the Black Sea and stepped up maritime cooperation with Ukraine and Georgia. NATO also condemns Russia's illegal attempt to annex four regions of Ukraine Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in September 2022, which is the largest attempted land grab in Europe since the Second World War. The sham referenda in these regions were engineered in Moscow and imposed on Ukraine. They have no legitimacy, and NATO will not recognise them. These lands are Ukraine and will always be Ukraine. The overwhelming vote in the United Nations General Assembly condemning Russia's attempted annexations sent a clear and strong message that Russia is isolated and that the world stands with Ukraine, in defence of the rules-based international order. As a result of Russia's illegal and illegitimate annexation of Crimea, NATO Allies decided in 2014 to suspend all practical civilian and military cooperation with Russia, while leaving political and military channels of communication open. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Allies have imposed severe sanctions on Russia to help starve the Kremlin's war machine of resources. Allies continue to refine these sanctions in order to increase the pressure on Moscow. These efforts will make it harder for Russia to rebuild its tanks, manufacture missiles and finance its war. Since 2014, regular consultations have taken place in the NATO-Ukraine Commission in view of the direct threats faced by Ukraine to its territorial integrity, political independence and security. The Commission met for extraordinary meetings following Russias aggression in Crimea and eastern Ukraine in 2014, after Russia's unjustified use of military force against Ukrainian ships near the Kerch Strait in November 2018 and during Russia's threatening military build-up in April 2021. Other extraordinary meetings of the Commission took place at NATO Headquarters in January and February 2022, focused on Russia's military build-up and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Throughout the war, NATO and Ukraine continued to consult on the security situation and Allied support to Ukraine through the Commission. In July 2023, the NATO-Ukraine Council, newly established at the 2023 Vilnius Summit, met as part of a crisis consultation mechanism in view of Russias escalation in the Black Sea region. NATO stands in unwavering solidarity with the government and people of Ukraine in the heroic defence of their nation, their land and our shared values. The Alliance fully supports Ukraines inherent right to self-defence as enshrined in Article 51 of the UN Charter. NATO Allies remain steadfast in their commitment to further stepping up political and practical support to Ukraine as it continues to defend its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders. NATO will continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes. Practical support to Ukraine the Comprehensive Assistance Package In parallel to its political support, NATO has significantly stepped up its practical assistance to Ukraine. Immediately following the illegal and illegitimate annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014, NATO Foreign Ministers agreed on measures to enhance Ukraine's ability to provide for its own security. They also decided to further develop their practical support to Ukraine, based on a significant enhancement of existing cooperation programmes as well as the development of substantial new programmes. At the 2016 NATO Summit in Warsaw, the Alliance's measures in support of Ukraine became part of the Comprehensive Assistance Package (CAP), which is designed to support Ukraine's ability to provide for its own security and to implement wide-ranging reforms based on NATO standards, Euro-Atlantic principles and best practices. Under the CAP, NATO has helped Ukraine transform its security and defence sector for many years, providing strategic-level advice via the NATO Representation to Ukraine and practical support through a range of capacity-building programmes and initiatives. Through these programmes and tailored advice, NATO has significantly strengthened the capacity and resilience of Ukraine's security and defence sector, as well as its ability to counter hybrid threats. NATO and Allies have also provided extensive support to capability development, including through training and education and the provision of equipment. Complementing the CAP, several Trust Funds have been launched since 2014. These Trust Funds provide resources to support capability development and sustainable capacity-building in key areas. Active Trust Fund projects focus on: Command, Control, Communications and Computers (C4) , which assists Ukraine in reorganising and modernising its C4 structures and capabilities; , which assists Ukraine in reorganising and modernising its C4 structures and capabilities; Medical Rehabilitation , which seeks to support Ukraine in enhancing its medical rehabilitation system to ensure that long-term sustainable services are provided to patients, including active and discharged Ukrainian servicemen and women and civilian personnel from the defence and security sector; and a , which seeks to support Ukraine in enhancing its medical rehabilitation system to ensure that long-term sustainable services are provided to patients, including active and discharged Ukrainian servicemen and women and civilian personnel from the defence and security sector; and a Professional Development Programme, which helps develop the abilities of civilians working in Ukraine's defence and security institutions. Completed Trust Funds have also supported Ukraine in the areas of military career transition; explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) and countering improvised explosive devices (C-IED); the destruction of small arms and light weapons (SALW), conventional ammunition, and anti-personnel landmines; ammunition stockpile safety management; safe radioactive waste disposal and land restoration; cyber defence; and logistics and standardization. Strengthening the Comprehensive Assistance Package At the 2022 NATO Summit in Madrid, Allies agreed to strengthen the CAP and provide even more support to Ukraine. The strengthened CAP includes initiatives to provide Ukraine with immediate, short-term, non-lethal military assistance, as well as structures to boost NATO's long-term support. Since the Madrid Summit, Allies and partners have committed over EUR 500 million to the CAP. Non-lethal assistance based on Ukraines immediate needs Under the Ukraine CAP Trust Fund, since February 2022, NATO has delivered projects providing support in multiple areas, including: combat rations, fuel materiel (including jet fuel), army boots, medical supplies (including first aid kits and pharmaceuticals), military education and training equipment, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) detectors and protection, explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) equipment counter-drone equipment, and enhanced satellite communication. Additional projects are in various stages of development and delivery, including: further support to Ukraine in the area of C4 (Command, Control, Communications and Computers), amphibious bridge and ferry systems, shelters and generators, mobile showers, mobile laundry units, food catering equipment, ambulances and fire trucks, fuel trucks and transfer tanks, water trucks, tires, batteries, and winter clothing. In parallel to NATOs provision of non-lethal assistance, Allies have significantly stepped up their bilateral support and provision of weapons, equipment and training, helping Ukraine to uphold its right of self-defence, which is enshrined in the United Nations Charter. Allies are also providing substantial financial and humanitarian aid, including by hosting millions of refugees in countries all across the Alliance. NATO Allies have agreed to step up and sustain their support for as long as necessary, so that Ukraine prevails. Longer-term support to Ukraine At the 2023 Vilnius Summit, Allies agreed to further develop the CAP into a multi-year programme of assistance for Ukraine, based on sustained and predictable funding. The assistance provided will help rebuild the Ukrainian security and defence sector, and continue Ukraines transition towards full interoperability with NATO, including its progress from Soviet-era to NATO standards, training and doctrines. Allies will also assist Ukraine in coping with the physical and social consequences of war, including support to demining and coordinated medical assistance. NATO and Ukraine will also work together on lessons learned from the war. The NATO Representation to Ukraine The NATO Representation to Ukraine, established in September 2015 to oversee two already existing offices, supports cooperation on the ground. It consists of the NATO Information and Documentation Centre (NIDC) and the NATO Liaison Office (NLO). NATO Information and Documentation Centre (NIDC) The NIDC was inaugurated in Kyiv in 1997 to support efforts to inform the Ukrainian public about NATO's activities and the benefits of NATO-Ukraine cooperation. The NIDC is part of the NATO Public Diplomacy Division and was the first information office established by NATO in a partner country and open to the general public. The Centre has three key pillars of work: increasing awareness and understanding of NATO in Ukraine; informing the Ukrainian public about key activities in NATO-Ukraine cooperation; and providing advice and support to Ukrainian institutions in the area of strategic communications capability development. In order to facilitate NATO's core mission and activities in Ukraine, the NIDC supports various public diplomacy and communications projects, including round tables, seminars, conferences and multimedia projects. NATO Liaison Office (NLO) The NLO was established in Kyiv in 1999 and plays a key role in facilitating NATO-Ukraine cooperation. Its main priorities include: maintaining contact with Ukrainian ministries and agencies; advising Ukrainian authorities on activities in support of the NATO-Ukraine partnership and reforms, in particular the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defence and Interior; the National Security and Defence Council; the Security Service of Ukraine; the Parliament; and non-governmental organisations; enhancing NATO-Ukraine political and practical dialogue; and supporting contacts between NATO and Ukrainian civil and military authorities and advisers. The NATO Representation to Ukraine leads on the provision of strategic-level advice under NATO's Comprehensive Assistance Package for Ukraine. Evolution of NATO-Ukraine relations NATO-Ukraine relations were formally launched in 1991, when the newly independent country joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (NACC), a forum for dialogue and cooperation between NATO Allies and their former Warsaw Pact adversaries. A few years later, in 1994, Ukraine joined the Partnership for Peace (PfP), a programme of practical bilateral cooperation between individual partner countries and NATO. It was one of the founding members of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC), which replaced the NACC in May 1997. The July 1997 Charter on a Distinctive Partnership remains the basic foundation underpinning NATO-Ukraine relations. The Charter established the NATO-Ukraine Commission as the main body responsible for advancing NATO-Ukraine relations. The Commission directed cooperative activities and provided a forum for consultation between the Allies and Ukraine on security issues of common concern. The Declaration to Complement the Charter, signed in 2009 as a follow-up to the decisions taken at the 2008 NATO Summit in Bucharest, gave the Commission a central role in deepening political dialogue and cooperation to underpin Ukraine's reform efforts pertaining to its Euro-Atlantic aspirations for membership in NATO. The principal tool to support this process is the Annual National Programme (ANP), which reflects Ukraine's national reform objectives and annual implementation plans. The ANP has been composed of five chapters focusing on: political and economic issues; defence and military issues; resources; security issues; and legal issues. This includes reforms related to good governance, the fight against corruption, the rule of law, human rights, and the security and defence sector, in accordance with Euro-Atlantic principles and standards. Allies assess progress under the ANP annually. The responsibility for its implementation falls primarily on Ukraine. The Commission for Coordination of Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, ensures the general coordination of its implementation by the state bodies. In 2023, the NATO-Ukraine Council was established as the successor to the NATO-Ukraine Commission. The change from Commission to Council demonstrates the strengthening of political ties and Ukraines increasing integration with NATO. In the Council format, Ukraine sits alongside all NATO member states as an equal participant. The Council can be convened by the Secretary General as well as by its individual participants, including Ukraine, for crisis consultations. The inaugural meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council took place on 12 July 2023 at the Vilnius Summit. Wider cooperation Since 2014, in the wake of Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea, NATO-Ukraine cooperation has been intensified in critical areas. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine starting in February 2022, NATO and Allies have provided unprecedented levels of support to Ukraine. But NATO's support to Ukraine and activities in partnership with the country did not begin in 2014 or 2022 practical cooperation between NATO and Ukraine has been ongoing since the 1990s. Over the years, Ukraine's cooperation with NATO has been mutually beneficial and has covered a wide range of activities from building Ukraine's capabilities and interoperability with NATO forces, to promoting reforms in Ukraine's defence and related security sector, to supporting non-military activities like collaborative scientific research and public diplomacy. In addition to the Ukraine CAP Trust Fund projects described above, NATO's cooperation with Ukraine has been implemented through the following programmes and initiatives: Furthermore, cooperation has been organised through several sub-groups of the NATO-Ukraine Commission, including: Ukraine has also provided support for NATO-led operations and missions, enhancing the interoperability of Ukrainian troops with NATO armed forces. NATO-Ukraine Platform on Countering Hybrid Warfare Against the background of the initial stages of Russia's war against Ukraine not just the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, but also the use of cyber attacks, disinformation and other hybrid activities over the subsequent years the NATO-Ukraine Platform on Countering Hybrid Warfare was established at the NATO Summit in Warsaw in July 2016. It provides a mechanism to be better able to identify hybrid threats and to build capacity in identifying vulnerabilities and strengthening resilience of the state and society. Projects in support of research, training and expert consultations are ongoing, with a focus on lessons learned, countering disinformation and enhancing resilience. Resilience Advisory Support Team (RAST) Since Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea and destabilisation of eastern Ukraine in 2014, experts have provided advice on Ukraine's contingency plans and crisis management measures to defend critical energy infrastructure and protect the civilian population. Today, cooperation focuses on improving national capacity for civil preparedness and resilience. In 2019, a Resilience Advisory Support Team (RAST) drew up recommendations to Ukrainian institutions with regard to the enhancement of national resilience. At Ukraine's request, follow-up expert-level RAST consultations providing technical advice to support the country's long-term resilience and civil preparedness activities took place in early 2022, prior to Russia's full-scale invasion. Ukraine also participates regularly in activities organised by NATO's Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre and has itself hosted multiple disaster response exercises. Partnership for Peace (PfP) Planning and Review Process Participation in the PfP Planning and Review Process has helped Ukraine set and achieve ambitious yet realistic objectives for defence and security reforms, transformation and capability development; for improving the ability of its forces to operate alongside Allied and partner forces in crisis response and peace-support operations; and for enhancing Ukraine's ability to host Allied and partner forces for exercises and training. Building Integrity (BI) process Since 2007, Ukraine has participated in NATO's Building Integrity (BI) Initiative, which provides practical assistance and advice for strengthening integrity, accountability and transparency in the defence and security sector. In October 2019, nine institutions of Ukraine's defence and security sector completed the NATO BI Self-Assessment and Peer Review Process, which provided a thorough assessment of institutional needs and vulnerabilities and offered a set of policy-level sectoral recommendations to improve good governance and pursue sustainable anti-corruption reforms in the defence and related security sectors. On this basis, a tailored programme of activities continues to provide two levels of capacity-building support specific expertise to the institutions to enhance the good governance and management of defence resources (financial, human and materiel), and education and training activities to develop individual capacities and foster an organisational culture of integrity. Defence Education Enhancement Programme (DEEP) The Defence Education Enhancement Programme (DEEP) has helped to improve and restructure Ukraine's military education and professional training systems, focusing on eight defence higher education institutions and five training centres for Non-Commissioned Officers. Additionally, DEEP advises on management of the academies and universities, supporting faculty on how to teach and assisting in the development of courses on leadership and decision-making processes. Air Situation Data Exchange programme Ukraine joined the Air Situation Data Exchange programme in July 2006. It enhances awareness and aviation safety through the mutual sharing of air situation data, which improves the operational effectiveness of air defence through the identification, classification and potential de-confliction of aircraft. This capability has had particular operational relevance and benefit following Russia's further invasion of Ukrainian territory since February 2022. NATO has been working closely with Ukraine to provide the most relevant information possible. Military Committee with Ukraine Work Plan Participation in a wide range of military activities and exercises under the Military Committee with Ukraine Work Plan focuses on improving the interoperability and operational capabilities of Ukraine's armed forces, but also substantially contributes to ongoing security and defence reforms. NATO Operational Capabilities Concept Evaluation and Feedback Programme Ukraine's active participation in the NATO Operational Capabilities Concept Evaluation and Feedback Programme supports the further development of the armed forces, while also enabling the Alliance to put together tailored force packages that can be deployed in support of NATO-led operations and missions. Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Programme Ukraine has been actively engaged in NATO's Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Programme since 1991. A Joint Working Group on Scientific and Environmental Cooperation contributes to identifying priority areas for practical scientific cooperation in the framework of the SPS Programme. Since 2014, in response to the crisis in Ukraine, cooperation in the field of security-related civil science and technology has been strengthened, and Ukraine has since become the largest beneficiary of the SPS Programme. Leading areas of cooperation with Ukraine in the SPS framework include advanced technology, counter-terrorism, defence against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) agents, as well as energy and environmental security. Among these activities, noteworthy is the participation of Ukraine in the DEXTER Programme, which is developing an integrated system to detect explosives and firearms in public spaces. Other initiatives In addition to the programmes listed above, Ukraine has participated in many other initiatives organised through the advisory mission of the NATO Representation in Ukraine. NATO supports Ukraine in implementing United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. A legal framework has been established to enable NATO and Ukraine to further develop operational cooperation, including the Partnership for Peace (PfP) Status of Forces Agreement (entered into force in May 2000); the Host Nation Support Agreement (ratified in March 2004); and the Strategic Airlift Agreement (ratified in October 2006). In June 2020, Ukraine became an Enhanced Opportunity Partner (EOP). This is a status offered to participants in NATO's Partnership Interoperability Initiative that have made particularly significant contributions to NATO operations and other Alliance objectives. EOP status works as a facilitator, providing Ukraine preferential access to NATO's interoperability toolbox, including exercises, training, exchange of information and situational awareness. The other EOPs are Australia, Georgia, Jordan and Sweden. Ukraine has also built capacity and interoperability through participation in the NATO Response Force. NATO-Ukraine Joint Working Group on Defence Reform (JWGDR) NATO and Ukraine cooperation in the area of defence and security sector reform is more extensive than with any other partner country. The NATO-Ukraine Joint Working Group on Defence Reform (JWGDR) is the primary focus for this area of cooperation. Established in 1998 under the auspices of the NATO-Ukraine Commission, the JWGDR pursues initiatives in the area of civil-military relations, democratic oversight and civilian management of the armed forces and other security sector agencies, defence planning, development of policy, strategy and national security concepts. The JWGDR allows Ukraine to draw on Allied countries' considerable experience and expertise, and serves as a tool through which the Allies can channel assistance. It also provides the institutional basis for NATO's cooperation with ministries and agencies engaged in implementing defence and security sector reform in Ukraine. These include the National Security and Defence Council, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence, National Guard, Border Guard Service, Security Service of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) and others. All NATO member states and Ukraine are represented in meetings of the JWGDR, and relevant partner countries and civil society representatives are invited to the JWGDR on a case-by-case basis. NATO-Ukraine Joint Working Group on Defence Technical Cooperation (JWGDTC) Since 2004, the NATO-Ukraine Joint Working Group on Defence Technical Cooperation (JWGDTC) has worked toward increased cooperation in capability development, defence equipment procurement processes, and the development of technical standards. This includes standardization, codification, logistics and life cycle management, as well as cooperation with NATO's Conference of National Armaments Directors and the NATO Science and Technology Organization. This Joint Working Group is also a forum in which Ukraine's defence industry reform efforts are discussed. Support for NATO-led operations and missions Ukraine has contributed to the peace-support operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has also contributed to the Kosovo Force (KFOR), including with a heavy engineering unit with counter-improvised explosive devices capabilities. In support of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, Ukraine allowed over-flight clearance and the transit of supplies, and contributed medical personnel to support Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Afghanistan and instructors to the NATO Training Mission in Afghanistan. Following the end of ISAF's mission in 2014, Ukraine supported the follow-on Resolute Support Mission (2015-2021) to train, advise and assist Afghan security forces. From March 2005, Ukraine contributed officers to the NATO Training Mission in Iraq, which terminated in December 2011. Ukraine deployed ships six times between 2007 and 2010 in support of Operation Active Endeavour, a counter-terrorist maritime surveillance operation in the Mediterranean Sea. In 2013, it also contributed to NATO's counter-piracy operation Ocean Shield. Since the launch of maritime operation Sea Guardian in 2016, Ukraine has provided information in support of NATO's maritime situational awareness in and around the Black Sea. NATO has been leading a peace-support operation in Kosovo since June 1999 in support of wider international efforts to build peace and stability in the area. NATO has been leading a peace-support operation in Kosovo the Kosovo Force (KFOR) since June 1999. KFOR was established when NATOs 78-day air campaign against Milosevics regime, aimed at putting an end to violence in Kosovo, was over. The operation derives its mandate from United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999) and the Military-Technical Agreement between NATO, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Serbia. KFORs original objectives were to deter renewed hostilities, establish a secure environment and ensure public safety and order, demilitarise the Kosovo Liberation Army, support the international humanitarian effort and coordinate with the international civil presence. Today, KFOR continues to contribute towards maintaining a safe and secure environment in Kosovo and freedom of movement for all. With the coronavirus outbreak, KFOR has been fully implementing the preventive measures recommended by the World Health Organization for the protection of military personnel and providing assistance to the institutions in Kosovo and to EULEX. NATO strongly supports the Belgrade-Pristina EU-brokered Normalisation Agreement (2013). KFOR's objectives KFOR deployed into Kosovo on 12 June 1999, in the wake of a 78-day air campaign. This air campaign was launched by the Alliance in March 1999 to halt and reverse the humanitarian catastrophe that was then unfolding. KFOR derives its mandate from United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1244 of 10 June 1999 and the Military-Technical Agreement between NATO and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Serbia. KFOR operates under Chapter VII of the UN Charter and, as such, is a peace enforcement operation. Today, KFOR consists of approximately 4,500 troops provided by 27 Allied and partner countries. It continues to help maintain a safe and secure environment and freedom of movement for all people and communities in Kosovo, according to its mandate, which is to: deter renewed hostility and threats against Kosovo by Yugoslav and Serb forces; establish a secure environment and ensure public safety and order; demilitarize the Kosovo Liberation Army; support the international humanitarian effort; and coordinate with, and support, the international civil presence. Over time, as the security situation has improved, NATO has been gradually adjusting KFOR's force posture towards a smaller and more flexible force with fewer static tasks. All adjustments to the KFOR force posture are decided by the North Atlantic Council as the security situation on the ground evolves. KFOR is also cooperating and coordinating with the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU) and other international actors to support the development of a stable, democratic, multi-ethnic and peaceful Kosovo. With regard to the coronavirus outbreak, the response from the institutions in Kosovo was quick and adapted, preventing the rapid spread of the virus. COMKFOR took the necessary measures to protect KFOR personnel from COVID-19, while ensuring the continuation of KFOR's core mission. KFOR has been providing assistance to the institutions in Kosovo, as well as to other international organisations. In particular, it allowed EULEX to share KFOR medical support and facilities for COVID-19 testing. KFOR's tasks Initial tasks KFOR tasks have included and, in some cases, still include assistance with the return or relocation of displaced persons and refugees; reconstruction and de-mining; medical assistance; security and public order; protection of patrimonial sites; border security; interdiction of cross-border weapons smuggling; implementation of a Kosovo-wide weapons, ammunition and explosives amnesty programme; weapons destruction; and support for the establishment of civilian institutions, law and order, the judicial and penal system, the electoral process and other aspects of the political, economic and social life of Kosovo. Special attention continues to be paid to the protection of minorities. This includes regular patrols near minority enclaves, check points, escorts for minority groups, protection of heritage sites such as monasteries, and donations including food, clothes and school supplies. Additional tasks On 12 June 2008, NATO agreed to start implementing additional tasks in Kosovo in coordination with relevant local and international authorities. It assisted in the standing down of the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) and in the establishment of the Kosovo Security Force (KSF), as well as a civilian structure to oversee the KSF. NATO supervised the stand-up and training of a multi-ethnic, professional and civilian-controlled KSF. The KSF is a lightly armed volunteer force. It has primary responsibility for security tasks that are not appropriate for the police such as emergency response, explosive ordnance disposal, management of hazardous material, fire-fighting and civil protection. The KSF's total strength is mandated to a maximum of 2,500 active personnel and 800 reservists. Command and structure of KFOR The Regional Commands A Regional Command (RC) is a military unit at the level of a regiment consisting of two battalions. One is a manoeuvre battalion that is highly mobile, flexible and rapidly deployable to potential trouble spots all over Kosovo. The second battalion is a non-kinetic unit that is responsible for monitoring and liaising with local civil actors (e.g. municipalities, institutions, ethnic groups) through its Liaison Monitoring Teams (LMTs). There are currently two RCs: HQ RC East, located at Camp Bondsteel, near Ferizaj/Urosevac; HQ RC West, located at Camp Villaggio Italia in Pec/Peje. HQ KFOR continues to be located at Camp Film City, Pristina. In addition to the KFOR troops in Kosovo, NATO continues to maintain reserve forces ready to deploy if necessary. KFOR comes under a single chain of command, under the authority of Commander KFOR (COMKFOR). COMKFOR reports to the Commander of Joint Force Command Naples (COM JFCN), Italy. The current COMKFOR is Maj. Gen. Ozkan Ulutas (Turkish Army). He assumed command of the Kosovo Force on 10 October 2023. The evolution of NATO's role in Kosovo KFOR deploys UNSCR 1244 was adopted on 10 June 1999, and on 12 June the first elements of the NATO-led Kosovo Force, or KFOR, entered Kosovo. By 20 June, the withdrawal of Serbian forces was complete. KFOR was initially composed of some 50,000 men and women from NATO member countries, partner countries and other non-NATO countries under unified command and control. By early 2002, KFOR was reduced to around 39,000 troops. The improved security environment enabled NATO to reduce KFOR troop levels to 26,000 by June 2003, then to 17,500 by the end of 2003. An improved security situation In recent years, the security situation has continued to improve steadily. As a result, on 11-12 June 2009, NATO defence ministers decided to gradually adjust KFOR's force posture towards what is called a deterrent presence. At their informal meeting in Istanbul on 3-4 February 2010, NATO defence ministers were informed by the NATO Military Authorities that KFOR had successfully achieved the so-called Gate 1 in its transition to a deterrent presence, reducing the number of troops on the ground to some 10,200. The move to Gate 2, allowing for a total of approximately 5,000 troops was recommended by the NATO Military Authorities and authorised by the North Atlantic Council on 29 October 2010. Gate 2 was declared on 28 February 2011. Any future decision on further reducing KFOR's footprint in Kosovo will require the approval of the North Atlantic Council. Nations have been clear that any such decision should be dictated by continued positive conditions on the ground. In a separate development, the improved security situation on the ground in Kosovo also allowed NATO to continue with the implementation of the so-called unfixing process: the gradual transfer of security for religious and cultural heritage sites under KFOR protection to Kosovo Police responsibility. By the end of 2013, KFOR had unfixed eight properties with Designated Special Status: the Gazimestan Monument, Gracanica Monastery, Zociste Monastery, Budisavci Monastery, Gorioc Monastery, the Archangel site, Devic Monastery, and the Pec Patriarchate. Only one designated site the Decani Monastery currently remains under fixed KFOR protection. Capacity-building support In addition to the tasks assigned to KFOR, NATO also conducts capacity-building initiatives with the security organisations in Kosovo. These activities are run by the NATO Advisory and Liaison Team (NALT), which was created in 2016 following the merger of two entities: the NATO Advisory Team (NAT), created in 2008 to supervise the establishment of a civilian-led organisation of the Kosovo authorities to exercise civilian control over the KSF; and the NATO Liaison and Advisory Team (NLAT), which continued to support the KSF beyond the North Atlantic Council's declaration of the KSF's full operational capability in July 2013. The NALT reports directly to the NATO International Staff. Currently, it has a team of about 45 military and civilian personnel from 13 Allied and partner countries. It provides practical assistance and advice to the security organisations in Kosovo in areas such as logistics, procurement and finance, force development and planning, as well as leadership development. In order to fulfil its mission, the Team is currently designed along three lines of development: Strategy & Plans, Operations, and Support. The NALT also plays a key role in the implementation of the enhanced interaction with Kosovo that was approved by the North Atlantic Council in December 2016. This enhanced interaction focuses on important topics such as building integrity, cyber, public diplomacy and science. NATO's support to the EU-facilitated dialogue On 19 April 2013, Belgrade and Pristina reached an EU-facilitated First Agreement of Principles Governing the Normalisation of Relations; an implementation plan was agreed on 22 May 2013. NATO played an important role in securing the Agreement, and Allies continue to strongly support the accord. In support of the Agreement, Belgrade and Pristina have initiated a programme of high-level talks, hosted by the European Union. This dialogue remains key to solving the political deadlock between the two parties, and has helped improve relations between them. The dialogue has also given fresh momentum to the Euro-Atlantic integration of the Western Balkans. In June 2013, the European Council decided to open accession negotiations with Belgrade and negotiations with Pristina on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA). The SAA agreement was signed on 27 October 2015 and entered into force on 1 April 2016. NATO continues to offer strong political support to the Belgrade-Pristina Agreement, and KFOR stands ready to support its implementation by ensuring a climate of peace and security within its current mandate. Former KFOR commanders NATO is resourced through the direct and indirect contributions of its members. NATOs common funds are composed of direct contributions to collective budgets and programmes, which equate to only 0.3% of total Allied defence spending (around EUR 3.3 billion for 2023). These funds enable NATO to deliver capabilities and run the entirety of the Organization and its military commands. National (or indirect) contributions are the largest component of NATO funding and are borne by individual member countries. These include the forces and capabilities held by each member country, which can be provided to NATO for deterrence and defence activities and military operations. Direct contributions finance NATO's budgets, programmes and capabilities in support of objectives, priorities and activities that serve the interests of the Alliance as a whole and cannot reasonably be borne by any single member such as Alliance operations and missions or NATO-wide air defence or command and control systems. All Allies contribute to funding NATO using an agreed cost share formula derived from the Gross National Income of member countries. This is the principle of common funding and it demonstrates burden-sharing in action. NATO has three principal common-funded budgets: the civil budget (funding NATO Headquarters), the military budget (funding the NATO Command Structure) and the NATO Security Investment Programme (funding military infrastructure and capabilities). Programmes and initiatives can also be jointly funded, which means that the participating countries can identify the priorities and the funding arrangements, while NATO provides political oversight. NATO common funding is underpinned by strong governance mechanisms, with Allies collectively deciding what is eligible for common funding and how much can be spent each year. They also collectively decide on the resource planning figures for the medium term. The North Atlantic Council oversees the common funding processes, which are governed by the Resource Policy and Planning Board, the Budget Committee and the Investment Committee. Indirect funding of NATO When the North Atlantic Council NATO's top political decision-making body unanimously decides to engage in an operation or mission, there is no obligation for each and every member to contribute unless it is an Article 5 collective defence operation, in which case expectations are different. In all cases, NATO (as an organisation) does not have its own armed forces, so Allies commit troops and equipment on a voluntary basis. Contributions vary in form and scale. For example, Allies can choose to contribute a few soldiers or thousands of troops to a NATO operation or mission. Contributions can also include any kind of materiel, from armoured vehicles, naval vessels or helicopters to all forms of equipment or support, medical or other. These contributions are offered by individual Allies and are taken from their overall defence capability to form a combined Alliance capability, with each covering the costs associated with their deployments. The 2% defence investment guideline In 2006, NATO Defence Ministers agreed to commit a minimum of 2% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to defence spending to continue to ensure the Alliance's military readiness. This guideline also serves as an indicator of a country's political will to contribute to NATO's common defence efforts since the defence capacity of each member has an impact on the overall perception of the Alliance's credibility as a politico-military organisation. The combined wealth of the non-US Allies, measured in GDP, is almost equal to that of the United States. However, non-US Allies together spend less than half of what the United States spends on defence. This imbalance has been a constant, with variations, throughout the history of the Alliance and has grown more pronounced since the tragic events of 11 September 2001, after which the United States significantly increased its defence spending. The volume of US defence expenditure represents approximately two thirds of the defence spending of the Alliance as a whole. However, this is not the amount that the United States contributes to the operational running of NATO, which is shared with all Allies according to the principle of common funding. Moreover, US defence spending also covers commitments outside the Euro-Atlantic area. It should be noted, nonetheless, that the Alliance relies on the United States for the provision of some essential capabilities, regarding for instance, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; air-to-air refuelling; ballistic missile defence; and airborne electromagnetic warfare. The effects of the 2007-2008 financial crisis and the declining share of resources devoted to defence in many Allied countries, up to 2014, have exacerbated this imbalance and also revealed growing asymmetries in capability among European Allies. France, Germany and the United Kingdom together represent approximately 50% of defence spending by the non-US Allies. At the Wales Summit in 2014, in response to Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea and the turmoil in the Middle East, NATO Leaders agreed to reverse the trend of declining defence budgets and decided: Allies currently meeting the 2% guideline on defence spending will aim to continue to do so; Allies whose current proportion of GDP spent on defence is below this level will: halt any decline; aim to increase defence expenditure in real terms as GDP grows; and aim to move towards the 2% guideline within a decade with a view to meeting their NATO Capability Targets and filling NATO's capability shortfalls. While the 2% of GDP guideline alone is no guarantee that money will be spent in the most effective and efficient way to acquire and deploy modern capabilities, it remains an important indicator of the political resolve of individual Allies to devote to defence a relatively small but still significant level of resources. In 2014, three Allies spent 2% of GDP or more on defence; this increased to seven Allies in 2022. Moreover, 2022 was the eighth consecutive year of rising defence spending across European Allies and Canada, amounting to a rise of 2.2% in real terms compared to 2021. The Defence Investment Pledge endorsed in 2014 called for Allies to meet the 2% of GDP guideline for defence spending and the 20% of annual defence expenditure guideline on major new equipment by 2024. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a majority of Allies have committed to investing more, and more quickly, in defence. At the 2023 Vilnius Summit, NATO Leaders agreed a new Defence Investment Pledge, making an enduring commitment to investing at least 2% of (GDP annually on defence. They also affirmed that in many cases, expenditure beyond 2% of GDP will be needed in order to remedy existing shortfalls and meet the requirements across all domains arising from a more contested security order. The new Defence Investment Pledge also calls for Allies to meet the 20% of annual defence expenditure guideline on major new equipment, including research and development. To learn more about what constitutes NATOs 2% guideline, visit Defence expenditures and NATOs 2% guideline. The major equipment spending guideline National defence budgets cover essentially three categories of expenditures: personnel expenses including pensions; research, development and procurement of defence equipment; and, lastly, operations, exercises and maintenance. Budget allocation is a national, sovereign decision, but NATO Allies have agreed that at least 20% of defence expenditures should be devoted to major equipment spending, including the associated research and development, perceived as a crucial indicator for the scale and pace of modernisation. Where expenditures fail to meet the 20% guideline, there is an increasing risk of equipment becoming obsolete, growing capability and interoperability gaps among Allies, and a weakening of Europe's defence industrial and technological base. At the Wales Summit in 2014, NATO Leaders agreed that, within a decade, Allies who are spending less than 20% of their annual defence spending on major equipment will aim to increase their annual investments to 20% or more of total defence expenditures. In 2022, 24 Allies met the NATO-agreed 20% guideline compared to seven in 2014; and 24 Allies spent more in real terms on major equipment than they did in 2021. At the 2023 Vilnius Summit, Allied Leaders pledged to invest at least 20% of their defence budgets on major equipment and related research and development. Allies will also ensure that their forces meet NATO-agreed guidelines for deployability and sustainability and other agreed output metrics; and they will see to it that their armed forces can operate together effectively, including through the implementation of agreed NATO standards and doctrines. Direct funding of NATO NATO has annual budgets and programmes worth around EUR 3.3 billion, which inter alia support its permanent military command structure, enable its current operations and missions, and provide essential military infrastructure (including air and naval basing facilities, satellite communications, fuel pipelines, and command and control systems). This represents 0.3% of total Allied defence spending. This direct funding comes principally in two forms: common funding and joint funding. It can also come in the form of trust funds, contributions in kind, ad hoc sharing arrangements and donations. The principle of common funding Since NATO was founded, common funding has played a strategic role in supporting the Alliance's objectives, priorities and core tasks. Allies pool their collective resources in order to provide and deliver key NATO programmes and capabilities. When a certain priority or initiative has been identified, the Resource Policy and Planning Board (RPPB) assesses whether the principle of common funding applies in other words whether the provision of a capability or conduct of an activity serves the interests of the Alliance as a whole and should therefore be resourced from common funding. Common funding arrangements apply to the NATO civil and military budgets, and the NATO Security Investment Programme (NSIP). Together, these common-funded budgets reinforce the Alliance, providing major capabilities, enabling deterrence, defence and interoperability, and supporting consultation and decision-making at the highest levels. These are the only funds for which NATO authorities identify their funding needs in accordance with the Alliance's overarching objectives and priorities. Allied common funding contributions to NATO are established using an agreed cost-sharing formula derived from the Gross National Income of NATO member countries. Where military common funding is concerned the military budget and the NSIP the 'over and above' principle guides Allies' decisions. In essence, it focuses on the provision of requirements that would not be reasonable for an Ally to bear individually. The criteria for common funding are reviewed regularly and adjusted to keep up with NATO's evolving political-military objectives and needs. At the 2021 Brussels Summit, NATO Leaders agreed to increase NATO resourcing, including as necessary NATO common funding, taking into account sustainability, affordability and accountability. At the 2022 Madrid Summit, NATO Leaders committed to a concrete financial trajectory for all three NATO budgets starting in 2023. As a result, increased national defence expenditures and NATO common funding will be commensurate with the challenges of a more contested security order. Investments in collective defence and key capabilities are essential. Cost share arrangements for civil budget, military budget and NATO Security Investment Programme Nation Cost share "at 31" following the accession of Finland Valid as from 4 April 2023 until 31 December 2024 Albania 0.0900 Belgium 2.0852 Bulgaria 0.3623 Canada 6.8166 Croatia 0.2968 Czechia 1.0462 Denmark 1.2997 Estonia 0.1237 Finland 0.9057 France 10.3963 Germany 16.1964 Greece 1.0477 Hungary 0.7526 Iceland 0.0636 Italy 8.7017 Latvia 0.1581 Lithuania 0.2543 Luxembourg 0.1678 Montenegro 0.0288 Netherlands 3.4193 North Macedonia 0.0771 Norway 1.7610 Poland 2.9591 Portugal 1.0396 Romania 1.2168 Slovakia 0.5113 Slovenia 0.2255 Spain 5.9365 Turkiye 4.6838 United Kingdom 11.1801 United States 16.1964 TOTAL NATO 100.0000 The civil budget The civil budget supports Allies' consultation and decision-making. It provides funds for personnel expenses, operating costs, and capital and programme expenditure of the International Staff at NATO Headquarters in Belgium. It is financed from national foreign ministry budgets (in most countries); its implementation is overseen by the Budget Committee. The civil budget for 2023 is EUR 370.8 million. The NATO Secretary General is the budget holder of the civil budget. View civil budget recommendations from previous years. The civil budget is formulated in line with an objectives-based framework, which establishes clear links between NATO's strategic objectives and the resources required to achieve them. There are five frontline objectives which encompass support for: crisis management and operations, collective defence, cooperative security, public relations and the consultation process among Allies. There are also three enabling objectives, which consist of: supporting the operational environment of the NATO Headquarters; governance and regulation through the monitoring of business policies, processes and procedures; and NATO Headquarters' security. The military budget The military budget supports and contributes to strengthening NATO's deterrence and defence posture and to fostering interoperability across the Alliance. It funds the operating of selected common-funded capabilities, the integrated command structure, Alliance operations and missions, and to some extent, training and exercises. It is composed of separate sub-budgets, which are financed with contributions from Allies' national defence budgets (in most countries) according to agreed cost shares. Its implementation is overseen by the Budget Committee. The primary military budget holders are the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), the Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT), and the Director General of the International Military Staff (DGIMS). Inter alia, the military budget provides funds for the integrated command structure, the International Military Staff, the NATO Strategic Commands, the NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control (NAEW&C) Force, and Alliance operations and missions. However, in all cases, the provision of military staff to the integrated command structure or to operations and missions remains a nationally funded responsibility. The military budget for 2023 is EUR 1.96 billion. View military budget recommendations from previous years. The NATO Security Investment Programme The NATO Security Investment Programme (NSIP) supports and contributes to deterrence, defence and security. It funds major construction and command and control systems under the 'over and above' principle described above. It provides installations and facilities such as air defence communication and information systems, military headquarters for the integrated command structure and for deployed operations, as well as critical airfield, fuel systems and maritime infrastructure. The NSIP is financed by the ministries of defence of each NATO member. Its implementation is overseen by the Investment Committee. Capabilities are delivered either by individual host nations or user nations, by NATO agencies or Strategic Commands. The 2023 ceiling for the NSIP is EUR 1 billion. View NSIP financial activity reports from previous years. Joint funding Joint funding arrangements are established within the terms of an agreed NATO charter. The participating countries identify the priorities and the funding arrangements, while NATO has visibility and provides political oversight. Jointly funded programmes vary in the number of participating countries, cost share arrangements and management structures. Joint funding is appropriate when there is a need for a long-term, subject-specific framework to implement large-scale requirements or specific initiatives. The most recent joint funding initiative is the establishment of the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA). Joint funding arrangements can lead to the set-up of a management organisation or agency within NATO. Jointly funded activities range from the development and production of fighter aircraft or helicopters to the provision of logistics support or air defence communication and information systems. These include agencies for NATO's Airborne Early Warning and Control capability (NAPMA), the NH90 Helicopter programme (NAHEMA) and the Eurofighter-Typhoon and Tornado fighter jet programmes (NETMA). NATO agencies also coordinate research and development activities or are active in the fields of standardization and intelligence-sharing. Other forms of funding In addition to common funding and joint funding, some projects can take the form of contributions in kind or trust fund arrangements. Financial management, accountability and transparency There is a strong governance structure through which Allies decide what is eligible for common funding, how much can be spent each year, and what it may be spent on. Decision-making by consensus and well-established governance frameworks are fundamental to the way that common funding is managed at NATO. One of NATO's main objectives is to be an effective and efficient steward of public resources. Financial management of NATO's common-funded budgets The civil and military budgets and the NSIP contribution ceilings are annual, coinciding with the calendar year. Each budget is prepared under the authority of the head of the respective NATO body. The funding ceilings are set by the Resource Policy and Planning Board and agreed by the North Atlantic Council. When the annual budget has been approved, the heads of the relevant NATO bodies have discretion to execute it through the expenditure of funds for the purposes authorised. The administrative support for this task is largely entrusted to the financial controller of the relevant NATO body. The financial controller is charged with ensuring that all aspects of execution of the budget conform to expenditure authorisations, to any special controls imposed by the Budget Committee, and to the financial regulations and their associated implementing rules and procedures. They may also, in response to internal auditing, institute such additional controls and procedures as they deem necessary for maintaining accountability. Financial management and reform In September 2014, NATO Leaders decided, inter alia, to reform governance, transparency and accountability, especially in the management of NATO's financial resources. This drive for transparency and accountability strove to improve insight into how NATO manages, spends and reports on the use of taxpayer funds. As part of these measures, the NATO Financial Regulations (NFRs) became publicly available. They govern the financial administration of all NATO bodies and provide key policy guidance for ensuring effective and economical budgetary and financial administration. In 2015, a major review of these NFRs was conducted to strengthen financial management and accountability, and to reflect best practice in public finance. Additional transparency steps were taken to declassify International Board of Auditors for NATO (IBAN) reports and make them available to the public. These IBAN reports include financial audits and statements, performance audits or other special reports. NATO Allies' agreement of the civil and military budgets is also published on the NATO website every year. Reform of NATO's common-funded capabilities delivery process A reform was introduced in 2018 to accelerate the delivery of common-funded capabilities across NATO. Founded on the key principles of accountability and separating the governance and management of projects, a standardized model covering the entire capability life cycle has been established. It reduces the number of times consensus decision-making is required throughout implementation; it introduces a single project-level authorisation; and it holds the management authorities accountable for handling the delivery of programmes and projects, within agreed tolerances, making the need for governance decisions an exception. It also introduces the incremental delivery of complex capabilities that are highly dependent on technology by delivering individual components within months. Bodies and stakeholders involved North Atlantic Council The North Atlantic Council approves NATO budgets and investments and exercises oversight over NATO's financial management. The Resource Policy and Planning Board (RPPB) advises the Council on resource policy and allocation. The Council seeks resource advice from the RPPB when deciding on new initiatives, activities, operations or missions. Resource Policy and Planning Board The Resource Policy and Planning Board (RPPB) is the senior advisory body to the Council on NATO resources. It has responsibility for the overall governance of NATO's civil and military budgets, as well as the NATO Security Investment Programme (NSIP) and the budgetary implications of common-funded personnel. Both the Budget Committee and the Investment Committee report to the RPPB. Budget Committee and Investment Committee The Budget Committee is responsible to the RPPB for the implementation of NATO's civil and military budgets. The Investment Committee is responsible to the RPPB for the implementation of the NSIP. NATO Office of Resources The NATO Office of Resources (NOR) provides independent and integrated expert advice to the Secretary General, NATO resource committees, Allies and other stakeholders on the planning, allocation and utilisation of military common funding made available to achieve NATO's goals and objectives. Advice from the NOR is based on sound judgement underpinned by facts, figures expertise and knowledge. It follows NATO policies, procedures and standards, and is independent of external stakeholders' viewpoints. It supports efficient and effective use of public funds by assessing the policy compliance, eligibility, affordability, technical viability and lifecycle implications of military requirements and proposed solutions. Furthermore, the NOR facilitates resource-informed political decision-making. Budget holders The Secretary General, the Supreme Commanders and the other heads of NATO bodies are responsible and accountable for sound financial management, as well as for providing the requirements for common funding. This includes the establishment and maintenance of financial governance, resource management practices, internal controls and financial information systems to achieve the efficient and effective use of resources. International Board of Auditors for NATO The International Board of Auditors for NATO (IBAN) is the independent, external audit body for NATO. Through its audits, it provides the North Atlantic Council and the governments of member states with assurance that financial reporting is true and fair and funds have been properly used for the settlement of authorised expenditure. In addition, the IBAN reviews the operations of NATO bodies to determine if they are being carried out effectively and economically. The IBAN conducts three types of audits: financial statements audits of NATO Reporting Entities, performance audits of NATO and audits of the NATO Security Investment Programme. As such, it contributes to the strengthening of accountability and corporate governance within NATO. Biden leaves Americans trapped in Israel to fend for themselves as war breaks out President Joe Biden is currently the target of a massive backlash as distressing stories of American Jews trapped in the middle of the violent Hamas onslaught in the Gaza Strip emerge. Apparently, the U.S. administration had no contingency plans to save its people no immediate support whatsoever. The people needed to fend for themselves. One of those who happened to be in Israel when the attacks started was former congressional staff and Communications Manager for the nonprofit American Accountability Foundation Yitz Friedman and his wife. The couple was there for their honeymoon as newlyweds. At the same time, they were celebrating a religious holiday at a synagogue near Jerusalem. In the middle of the service, the rabbi announced that reservists should check their phones for orders because the war just broke out. It was not long before he realized that it was extremely dangerous for them as Hamas terrorists were hunting down American and Israeli citizens for executions or hostages. Just when they were scrambling to flee the country, an alert came that their return flight to America on Sunday was canceled as all major U.S. airlines had already suspended operations in the country. "We called our embassy there. We called our government," he said during his interview at "John Solomon Report." "When I called them, they were very cold. They were dismissive. And they basically told me to go online and 'check out the flights yourself.'" Mixed emotions of fear, sadness, and anger fill American Jews who found themselves trapped in the terrible situation as the Biden administration offered no evacuation help, even as other countries extricated their own citizens after a few days. Rep. Mike Lawler, (R-N.Y.), who represents a district with a large Jewish population who visit Israel often, demanded Biden's regime move military planes into Israel to get our residents out. "I have hundreds of residents in the 17th Congressional District of New York who are currently stranded in Israel. And they were there for the holidays. And you know, obviously, they have family there, many of them. But they want to come home, understandably. And we need to do everything we can to get them out as quickly as possible," the lawmaker told Solomon during the podcast. "It's been very frustrating." He added that he also called the White House numerous times, the State Department, and the Department of Transportation. He has also spoken with three major airlines. "It's a challenge here," Lawler lamented. Then, they were told during the Wednesday closed-door briefing that an evacuation plan for remaining U.S. citizens stranded in Israel was belatedly "in the making." "We had a classified briefing this morning," he said that day. "It was indicated that there would be an announcement forthcoming in the next 24 hours on this particular issue. The State Department later that day released a statement on X telling Americans still in Israel to try to catch a flight on a foreign airline. "We are also exploring contract options to facilitate U.S. citizen travel to nearby countries." For U.S. citizens who want to leave Israel, commercial flights are available even if they are not direct to the U.S. We are also exploring contract options to facilitate U.S. citizen travel to nearby countries, and will provide updates to U.S. citizens who have registered via our pic.twitter.com/qfvrffeA3Y Travel - State Dept (@TravelGov) October 11, 2023 The Friedmans eventually got a flight home on a United Arab Emirates flight. It was made possible by the former Presiden Donald Trump administration's Abraham Accords, which opened free travel between Arab neighbors as well as Israel. "President Biden had basically abandoned us and told us to fend for ourselves," he lamented. "And we were only able to get out thanks to something that President Trump did. The only reasonable tickets that we were able to find were tickets to the United States on Emirates Airlines to Dubai." Its all coming back: The U.S. failed to help Americans in Afghanistan when they decided to pull out in 2021 Appearing on "Just the News, No Noise," Rep. Harriet Hageman, (R-Wy) said that the slow evacuation help was predictable but unacceptable for an administration that has fumbled foreign crises dating to Afghanistan. "This is a tragedy, beyond tragedies, and this administration, they're not even doing much to get our own citizens out," she said. "We have citizens who are being held hostage, in addition to which there are all of the folks who have dual citizenship. It's like, yeah, you know, what if you didn't catch an airplane out of Israel? Good luck, that's probably a way to go! Who would ever take that kind of an approach as a leader?" She added that the administration's policies are so poor that what they spend a lot of their time trying to do is distance themselves from having to make decisions. "And then when they make decisions or something goes bad, they spend all this time attempting to blame someone else for it. So, it isn't as though they step up to take responsibility." Critics could not help but look back at the painful memories of the same failures in helping American citizens when Afghanistan was falling to the Taliban as the U.S. withdrew from that country in August 2021. In April, the Biden administration released a 12-page report accepting blame for failing to arrange earlier evacuations for Americans and promised reforms for future crises. "Clearly we didn't get things right here with Afghanistan with how fast the Taliban was moving across the country," White House spokesman John Kirby said at the time. More than five months later, there were no signs of reform and lessons learned as the country tackled the Israel crisis, almost a week into the war. (Related: UNANSWERED QUESTIONS: Why has there been ZERO video footage of the raids on the US embassy in Afghanistan or interviews with Americans supposedly rescued by the Biden Regime?) Visit WWIII.news for updates on the recent developments in the Palestine-Israel conflict. Sources for this article include: JustTheNews.com ArkansasOnline.com IDF in the HOUSE: Former Israeli soldier Rep. Brian Mast wears pro-Israel IDF uniform on Capitol Hill In a display of homage for Israel, Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) wore his Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) uniform on Capitol Hill on Friday to contrast his position with the so-called "Global Day of Jihad," which reportedly saw a knife-wielding man stab an Israeli embassy worker in Beijing. Mast bragged that he is "the only member" of Congress "to serve with both the United States Army and the Israel Defense Forces." As such, Mast says he "will always stand with Israel" no matter what it does. When asked why he chose to gear up in Israeli military fatigues, Mast spoke of Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) who "has her flag," referring to the Palestinian flag, while he put on "my uniform." Rep. Brian Mast is wearing his IDF uniform for the GOP conference meeting today. Tlaib has her flag, I got my uniform. pic.twitter.com/uV6rnncUQc Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) October 13, 2023 [Rep. Rashida] Tlaib has her flag, I got my uniform. Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), when asked why hes wearing an Israel Defense Forces uniform to the GOP conference meeting today. pic.twitter.com/egbcDjDFEH The Recount (@therecount) October 13, 2023 (Related: Check out what Israeli Rabbi Chaim Richman thinks of Christians, whom he says "shouldn't be worshipping one Jew," referring to Jesus Christ the Messiah, but should instead be worshipping "all of us," referring to the Jewish people.) They're bringing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the U.S. whether we like it or not It does not appear as though Mast is a dual citizen with Israel like many other U.S. politicians are Mast is not even Jewish, apparently but he is a vehement supporter of the political state, having chosen of his own accord to volunteer in the IDF back in his 30s. Just learned that Mast is neither a dual citizen nor even Jewish. He's an Evangelical Christian who "volunteered" with the IDF in his 30s. https://t.co/nXSDP2sgIJ pic.twitter.com/J5fKE6nJEf Brandon Friedman (@BFriedmanDC) October 13, 2023 Even so, Mast has decided to pick a side, as has Tlaib and others, as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is brought to the U.S. whether Americans want it or not. The U.S. has many problems of its own to deal with, but Congress is more concerned about picking sides in a Middle Eastern fight that, yet again, is technically none of our business. One of the biggest financial supporters to Mast's 2015-16 election campaign was Duty Free Americas, owned by the pro-Israel Falic family. The Falic family has donated at least $5.6 million to Israeli settler organizations in the West Bank over the past decade, and has "given more money than any other donor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu," according to reports. The year 2015 when Mast ran for Congress is the very same year that he decided to volunteer for the IDF coincidence, or is this why he won his seat in the first place? "[Mast's] a vocal supporter of Israel and Israelis, and he believes his volunteer stint with the IDF proves that he not only talks the pro-Israel talk, but also walks the walk," the Times of Israel reported. "In Mast's view, the U.S. and its allies should be ready to exercise a military option against Iran if even the tiniest infraction of the [Iran nuclear deal] comes to light." In his own words, Mast has said that "if we discover one gram more of fissile material than is allowed," referring to Iran, then "the U.S. and its allies should destroy Iran's entire nuclear infrastructure." "Doesn't serving in a foreign army disqualify you from serving in the U.S. military or holding political office in the U.S.?" one commenter on a story about all this rightly asked. The latest news about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be found at Prophecy.news. Sources for this article include: InformationLiberation.com Breitbart.com NaturalNews.com Israeli INVASION of Gaza has begun with localized raids, plus strikes against Hezbollah to the North The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has confirmed that Israeli soldiers have officially launched their ground invasion of Gaza, though as of today it is still just "localized raids." "This was not the full-scale invasion that everyone is anticipating, but it was an effort, according to the Israeli military, to eliminate militants along the border and also to gather information on those held hostage inside the Gaza Strip," reported Fox News correspondent foreign correspondent Trey Yingst. "It appears those raids were successful." We are also hearing from the Times of Israel that Israeli forces have begun conducting fresh drone strikes against Hezbollah sites in Lebanon as well. As this is happening, the IDF is urging one million residents in northern Gaza to leave their homes and evacuate within 24 hours, a proposition that outside experts say is impossible. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced that his country will not be accepting any Gazan refugees, stating that they must "stay steadfast and remain on their land." (Related: Former Temple Institute Director Israeli Rabbi Chaim Richman says Christians should stop worshipping "one Jew" Jesus Christ and instead worship "all of us" be sure to check out the embedded videos of Israeli children spitting on and kicking Christian women preaching the gospel in Israel.) Ex-Israeli PM Naftali Bennett erupts with anger during live interview: "Are you seriously asking me about Palestinian civilians?" Meanwhile, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett had a near-violent meltdown when asked by a Sky News reporter how Israel can justify cutting off all power, fuel, food, and water to the 2.1 million people, mostly innocent civilians, who live in the Gaza Strip. "What about those Palestinians in hospital who are on life support and babies in incubators whose life support and incubators will have to be turned off because the Israelis have cut off the power to Gaza?" reporter Kamali Melbourne asked Bennett, who immediately responded in anger because he apparently views all Palestinians in the same light as current Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, who called them "human animals." "Are you seriously keep on asking me about Palestinian civilians" an angry Bennett raged while proceeding to try to justify the slaughter of innocent people he does not like. "What is wrong with you? We're fighting Nazis! I'm not going to feed electricity or water to my enemies!" ?? Former Israeli PM Naftali Bennett loses it when asked about killing children in Gaza: "Are you seriously asking me about Palestinian civilians? What is wrong with you? We're fighting Nazis" Goes on to justify targeting the innocent by pointing to the firebombing of Dresden. pic.twitter.com/MfXQVgbJrz Keith Woods (@KeithWoodsYT) October 12, 2023 Israel is also threatening Egypt that if it tries to deliver food, water, or other supplies to innocent Palestinians in Gaza, the IDF will bomb the supply trucks to ensure no aid makes it to those in need. "You listen to me right now!" an arrogant Bennett continued to shout angrily at Melbourne during the interview. "I've heard you enough ... Shame on you! Shame on you, mister! ... I was a prime minister!" "When the UK, when Great Britain was fighting the Nazis in WW2 no one asked what was going on in Dresden!" Bennett then proceeded to scream. "It was the Nazis targeting London and you targeting Dresden!" Bennett was clearly upset to have a reporter actually dare to ask real questions about this planned Israeli genocide of Palestinians. "This is the true face of Zionism," one commenter wrote, encouraging Christians who have been duped into supporting it to go back and read the New Testament and parts of the old to learn who the real Israel actually is. More of the latest news about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be found at Prophecy.news. Sources for this article include: Breitbart.com NaturalNews.com InformationLiberation.com VACCINE JIHAD: Israeli child used for Pfizers covid vaccine propaganda DIES of a sudden heart attack at age 8 Theres nothing normal about an eight-year-old child suddenly having a heart attack and then dying at home in the bathroom. This was the tragic fate of Yonatan Moshe Erlichman, an Israeli boy who was fully vaccinated by the Pfizer organization and then used as a prop in a national campaign to push COVID-19 jabs into children. The innocent boy died unexpectedly after suffering cardiac arrest in the bathtub. Once his heart stopped, he slipped under the water and drowned. After being rushed to Hadassah Medical Center in Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, he was kept on life support for two days. However, the damage to his heart was so severe that not even the best medical care could revive him. He was pronounced dead on Sept. 28. His grandfather, Dr. Mati Erlichman, is a respected doctor in Beit El in the West Bank. The family, devastated by their loss, issued a statement: On the eve of Yom Kippur, Yonatan went into cardiac arrest in our home, and since then we have struggled by his side after he collapsed. With love, we thank all those dear to us, who were by our side during the last days of his life. The life-and-death repercussions of this vaccine terror operation are still being realized in 2023 Just three years ago, the young Yonatan was used as a prop in a video promoting vaccines to children. The video was produced in 2020 by the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. The Israeli government funded the program, called Shushki in the Land of Binyamin, used a kid's show format aimed at educating children about the benefits of vaccination. Shushki was depicted as a friendly puppet child who prompted real people to give vaccine education. These educational tidbits turned out to be weaponized pharmaceutical propaganda aimed at manipulating parents and children into taking needless, harmful shots to support a medical Apartheid state. The program used young Yonatan as a poster child for childrens vaccines and made clear that no child has a choice when it comes to getting their mRNA shots. Soon after the program was released, the mRNA jabs were rolled out to the public using threats, bribes, and coercion. Israel was one of the first countries to impose draconian vaccine passports to terrorize, segregate, and force people into compliance. The repercussions of this terrorist operation are still being realized in 2023, with young children suddenly dying of heart complications that were imposed by the vaccine terror program. Last year, Argentinas poster boy for childhood vaccination, Santino Godoy Blanco, also died at just 4 years old. The government of Argentina used the boy on its website to promote the COVID-19 vaccine program. Vaccines protect us, the governments propaganda slogan reads, with a picture of the toddler holding up a fist. After being used as a prop in the vaccine campaign, the boys immune system deteriorated. He became seriously ill and died agonizingly of bilateral pneumonia. Neither of these tragic cases brought government officials to their knees. The American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Canada and the Israel Ministry of Health still promote COVID jabs as safe and effective and advise all children over six months old to take multiple shots. By ignoring these atrocities and pretending that this vaccine holocaust is not real, terrorist organizations will continue to conspire with the government institutions, while killing children stealthily and terrorizing the world. On Twitter, users began to call out the organizations behind this terror and abuse: "Yonatan Erlichman, 8 years old, died of cardiac arrest Doesn't that shock you? Where are the titles? The investigations? How many more children will die on the golden altar? And in particular, there are already two controlled studies that show that the mRNA vaccines cause cardiac problems. How long will you dig? How much more will you deny? Remember that at any given moment this can happen to your children." Sources include: SlayNews.com TheCounterSignal.com Twitter.com NaturalNews.com NaturalNews.com Twitter.com Macron visits school where French teacher was killed in KNIFE attack by radical Islamist on Global Day of Jihad France seems to be ground zero for the Global Day of Jihad after it was reported that a "radical Islamist" wielding a knife killed a teacher , prompting a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to the site of the incident. According to reports, the attack occurred at the Gambetta Secondary School in Arras near the Belgian border. The teacher died and two others were injured there at the hands of someone who allegedly screamed "Allahu Akbar" before plunging the knife into his victims. The incident prompted Macron to declare that "at least one another intervention may have made it possible to thwart another attempted attack in another region," according to the French newspaper Le Figaro, referring to an arrest that was made near Paris. The same media outlet says the man left a "prayer room" in the town of Limay, just northwest of Paris, while carrying a kitchen knife. He was arrested near Condorcet High School. In that incident, it is not known why the man was carrying a kitchen knife because he was arrested before the situation had the chance to possibly become "radicalized." (Related: Israeli Rabbi to Christians: "You shouldn't be worshipping one Jew, you should be worshipping all of us.") U.S. Sec. of State Antony Blinken, who is Jewish, says Hamas attack on Israel "is the equivalent of ten 9/11s" Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is Jewish himself, called the Hamas attack against Israel that ignited all this "the equivalent of ten 9/11s," even though far fewer people died. "With regard to 9/11, if you look at this with regard to the size of Israel's population, this is the equivalent of ten 9/11s," Blinken said at a press conference in Israel on Thursday. "That's how big and how devastating this attack has been." Jonathan Greenblatt from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said much the same, suggesting that Israel was hit worse than Americans were on 9/11, but that the incident is more comparable to Nagasaki being nuked by the U.S. during World War II. "Hamas' attack at the time had killed around 700 (now the death toll is estimated at around 1,200), whereas nearly 3,000 were killed on 9/11 and some 60,000-80,000 people were killed from the bombing of Nagasaki," writes Chris Menahan of Information Liberation about these statements. "This analogy only works if you believe that Jewish lives are more valuable than non-Jewish lives." Before comparing the incident to ten 9/11s, Blinken compared the Hamas attack to the Holocaust in a statement pushing for war, also mentioning and blaming Russia, of course watch below: Secretary of State Antony Blinken: I stand here as a Jew as well. My grandfather fled pogroms in Russia. My stepfather survived Auschwitz, Dachau and Majdanek - I understand the horror of Hamas' actions. - He continues to attempt to place blame on Russia for everything. pic.twitter.com/fFWXyiWG6R Russian Market (@runews) October 12, 2023 "One could just as easily say that Israel's relentless bombing campaign on Gaza (which has killed around 1,500 people out of a population of 2 million) is 'the equivalent of fifty 9/11s,'" Menahan further writes. "Of course, no one in our government is making such comparisons and they would laugh at you if you did." As usual, all this talk about 9/11 and the Holocaust is a desperate attempt to rally support for Israel's war against pretty much all of its neighbors, beginning with Gaza. "The ridiculous lies that 'Hamas beheaded 40 babies,' 'Hamas committed mass rape,' 'Hamas is ISIS,' 'Hamas did another Holocaust' and 'Hamas did ten 9/11s' are pure atrocity propaganda to provide Israel with cover to commit genocide in Gaza." The latest news about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be found at Prophecy.news. Sources for this article include: Breitbart.com NaturalNews.com InformationLiberation.com Thousands flee Gaza as Israel moves full-steam ahead with military invasion that will slaughter innocent women, children and civilians It is fast becoming apparent that neither Republicans nor Democrats are advocating for the millions of innocent people who live in Gaza and will not be able to escape in time before Israel launches its planned ground invasion of the territory. The Right clearly wants full-scale, scorched-earth war against Palestine while Democrats are a little bit more on the fence. The Biden regime is calling the Gaza crisis a "priority," but has yet to take a firm stand in telling Israel to show some restraint instead of the current bloodlust. The Biden regime is not even taking a position on Israel's recent call for civilians in northern Gaza, the most populated area of the territory, to somehow flee within the next couple days to where, is the question. One of the most densely populated areas of the world, Gaza is home to about 2.1 million people who for centuries lived in what is now considered to be Israel as of 1948. "We have to, we can't lose sight 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," Biden stated. (Fact Check: Hamas is an Israeli-U.S. creation.) U.S. government tells diplomats to not use "de-escalation" when talking about conflict Biden's string-pullers, however, seem to have a much different plan in mind. The Department of State reportedly sent out messages to all U.S. diplomats telling them not to use any kind of "de-escalation" language, but rather to maintain support for a violent response by Israel. The State Department notices state that U.S. diplomats should avoid using words like "de-escalation" and "ceasefire," and to never talk about an "end to violence, "end of bloodshed," or "restoring calm" throughout the region. This suggests that whoever is in control of the United States, including on both the Right and the Left, really wants war to be the outcome of the Hamas attack. In other words, peace is not an option. A displacement expert at the United Nations (UN) says she is "horrified" by the Israeli order telling 1.1 million Palestinians to evacuate the northern Gaza Strip in a matter of hours, which is simply impossible. "Forcible population transfers constitute a crime against humanity, and collective punishment is prohibited under international humanitarian law," stated Paula Gaviria Betancur, the UN's special rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons. "We are horrified at the prospect of an additional one million Palestinians joining the over 423,000 people already forcibly driven from their homes by the violence over the past week. It is inconceivable that more than half of Gaza's population could traverse an active war zone without devastating humanitarian consequences, particularly while deprived of essential supplies and basic services." The Israeli army has also confirmed that its planned ground invasion of Gaza has already begun, but only to supposedly collect the bodies of missing Israelis who were left behind along the border inside the walled territory. They also say they want to deplete Hamas' anti-tank missile capabilities to prevent further attacks. That incursion is already said to be over, but next comes the invasion where apparently Israel has no plans of retreating once it completes its mission inside Gaza. Many residents in northern Gaza have already traveled to southern Gaza and are now huddled for safety inside hospitals, including the Al-Nasser medical complex in Khan Younis. "There is a very big crowd of people here who have been displaced from their homes, and are here to seek shelter," reported Tareq Abu Azzoum from on the ground in Gaza. "They don't have any proper sources of energy, clean water and medical supplies." The latest news about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be found at Prophecy.news. Sources for this article include: AlJazeera.com NaturalNews.com British official wants to prohibit pro-Arab chants and criminalize waving of the Palestinian flag In the wake of the horrifying attacks in Israel by the Iran-backed militant group Hamas, a British official is pushing for a clampdown on pro-Arab chants. She also wants the waving of the Palestinian flag to be declared a criminal offense. Home Secretary Suella Braverman wrote to chief constables in England and Wales, suggesting the said measures as well as any attempts to use flags, songs or swastikas to harass or intimidate members of the Jewish community. According to Braverman, the cops should also not restrict themselves to potential offenses related to the promotion of Hamas, a proscribed organization. "It is not just explicit pro-Hamas symbols and chants that are cause for concern. I would encourage police to consider whether chants such as: 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free' should be understood as an expression of a violent desire to see Israel erased from the world and whether its use in certain contexts may amount to a racially aggravated section 5 public order offense," she wrote. Such offenses are punishable by fines of up to 2,500 or up to two years in prison. The British official also encouraged the police to give similar consideration to the presence of symbols such as swastikas at anti-Israel demonstrations. "Context is crucial," she said. "Behaviors that are legitimate in some circumstances, for example, the waving of a Palestinian flag, may not be legitimate such as when intended to glorify acts of terrorism. Nor is it acceptable to drive through Jewish neighborhoods, or single out Jewish members of the public, to aggressively chant or wave pro-Palestinian symbols. Where harassment is identified, I would encourage the police to take swift and appropriate enforcement action." Additionally, she appealed to all chief officers to ensure that protests which could exacerbate community tensions by way of offensive placards, chants, or behaviors that could be construed as incitement or harassment, have a strong police presence to ensure perpetrators are appropriately dealt with so communities feel protected. As per sources from her office, her words had been approved by government lawyers. Despite leaving the decisions on arrests to the police, she still urged the the forces use all available powers to prevent disorder and distress to communities, "and that your officers will act if there are any incidents that stray into criminality," she said. Meanwhile, the correspondence was sent after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak vowed that anyone in the United Kingdom supporting Hamas would be "held to account" in the aftermath of the attack on Israel. Discussing his visit to a synagogue in north London on Monday night, Sunak said that the police had "been given very clear guidance and advice from the government to do everything that they can to keep the community safe." Officers will definitely "clamp down on any behavior that falls foul of the law," Sunak said. U.K. Palestine groups: Braverman's "suggestion" is an assault on basic rights For critics, the secretary's words will deeply concern freedom of speech advocates and members of the Muslim community. Human rights barrister Shami Chakrabarti said Braverman's letter that had been so readily press-released suggested that the intervention is at best virtue signaling and at worst seeking to compromise operational independence," adding: "Police chiefs know their powers and duties. Anxious and vulnerable minority communities are not made safer by the politicization of policing in difficult and dangerous times." Campaigners said the letter had set a dangerous precedent in denying democratic rights. Ben Jamal, director of Palestine Solidarity Campaign, one of the six groups organizing a rally on Saturday, October 14, branded Braverman's letter an "assault on the basic right of British citizens to show solidarity for the Palestinian people's legitimate desire to have their rights realized." Jamal added that police officers enacting her orders would be denying "the right of Palestinians to fly a flag which is the symbol both of their nationhood and struggle for liberation." Ismail Patel, chair of Friends of Al-Aqsa, another of the protest's co-organizers, also pointed out that protesters who stood against the British government's war against Afghanistan and Iraq "were never obstructed from voicing our opinions like this." He urged "people to join the protest in London on Saturday with Palestinian flags held high." Kate Hudson, general secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, another group organizing the march, said it is of "great concern to our democracy" that the "political views of the government should entitle them to suppress legitimate views." "Freedom of speech, the right to protest that can't be allowed to be eroded Everyone will lose if democratic freedoms are worn away," she said. (Related: Dissenting views CRIMINALIZED in the U.K. under new Online Safety Act, which gets you ARRESTED if government doesnt like what you say.) SpeechPolice.news contains more stories related to the suppression of speech and censorship. Sources for this article include: TheGuardian.com OpenDemocracy.net French police PUNISH pro-Palestine protestors with water cannons, tear gas Anyone caught out in the streets of France protesting against the Israeli invasion and annihilation of Gaza could face water cannons and tear gas as French police have reportedly begun punishing pro-Palestinian protesters for speaking out against the apparent Israeli-ledof the Gaza Strip. According to the latest reports, the French government under Emmanuel Macron has banned all public support for Palestine, including rallies and other public demonstrations of free speech. In Paris on Thursday, following orders from Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin to ban all pro-Palestine demonstrations in the name of "public order," French police officers were seen persecuting French citizens for exercising their civil liberties. "We live in a country of civil law, a country where we have the right to take a stand and to demonstrate," said 29-year-old Charlotte Vautier. "[It is unfair] to forbid for one side and to authorize for the other and that does not reflect the reality of Palestine." By the way, there are already more people dead at the hands of Israel than there were at the hands of Hamas in this melee as Israeli bombs have reportedly killed more than 1,400 people and wounded thousands of others in various civilian neighborhoods throughout Gaza. (Related: Did you know that fake president Joe Biden lied about seeing "confirmed pictures" of Israeli children who were allegedly beheaded by Hamas is this whole thing just another false flag deception now being used to commit genocide against innocent people?) Palestinians say Israel is targeting RESIDENTIAL areas of Gaza, not just "terrorist" enclaves as claimed The official story out of Israel ahead of its planned ground invasion of Gaza is that there have been hundreds of airstrikes on selective targets, the implication being that civilians are being preserved. But this is not what Palestinians are saying. Entire neighborhoods full of innocent people are being blown to bits as Israel drops bombs on its targets while begging for support in a full-scale war against all of its neighbors, including Syria and Iran. Even so, France's position is that Israel is innocent and that nobody should be outside vocalizing any support for the Palestinian people. French minister Darmanin announced that 24 French people were arrested across France in recent days for "anti-Semitic acts." According to Darmanin, anyone who vocalizes anything other than full-fledged support for Israel and its "Holy War" should be immediately expelled from France "without delay." As for public demonstrations in support of Israel, Macron and his regime have no problem with any of that, even though more people as of now have been killed by the Israeli side than by the Palestinian side. "Let's not add, through illusions or calculations, domestic divides to international divides," proclaimed Macron in a bizarre statement of support for Israel and opposition to Palestine. "The shield of unity will protect us from hatred and excesses." "France is doing everything alongside Israeli authorities and our partners to bring them home safely because France never abandons its children," Macron further added about the 13 French citizens who are said to have died in the Hamas attack last weekend. Macron then proclaimed that Israel has the "right" to destroy Hamas, but must only do so while "preserving civilian populations." Macron also said he supports a lasting solution that includes the formation of a Palestinian state alongside the Israeli state. "Just to throw out my experience, the few Palestinians I knew growing up were Christians," one of our own readers wrote in a comment. "Our next-door neighbors in an affluent neighborhood in Birmingham, Ala., were a great family of Palestinian Christians." "Then in high school I went to a school with a very large Jewish population, many of whom are friends to this day. As are several of the Palestinians. All these fascist governments, politicians and corporations want us killing and hating each other. It's so obvious." The latest news about the situation in the Middle East can be found at Prophecy.news. Sources for this article include: AlJazeera.com 1 NaturalNews.com AlJazeera.com 2 Israel BOMBS airports in Damascus, Aleppo prior to arrival of Irans foreign minister To prevent Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian from achieving his planned visit to Syria in the aftermath of the recent Hamas attack, the Israeli military reportedly bombed Syrian airports in both Damascus and Aleppo , destroying their runways and forcing their closure. Amirabdollahian's plane was rerouted due to the bombing and has since landed in Baghdad. It is unclear whether or not he is still planning to try to enter Syria for his scheduled visit or if plans will change and be rescheduled. State media reported that Amirabdollahian's trip was scheduled "in light of the current Palestinian event, the crimes committed against Gaza and their dangerous ramifications." As of this writing, it appears as though the only still-functional airport in Syria is located in Latakia, though some speculate that Amirabdollahian could also utilize the Russian airbase or perhaps one of Syria's military airports to land for his planned visit. (Related: In response to the Hamas attack, Israel has cut off all resources including water, food, electricity, and fuel to the Gaza Strip's roughly 2.1 million residents.) This is the first time Israel has bombed Damascus and Aleppo airports at the same time The Israeli bombing of the two airports occurred after rockets were reportedly fired from Syria into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights not long after the Hamas attack on southern Israel over the weekend. Media sources claimed these Syrian-fired rockets were meant to show "solidarity" with the Palestinian cause as Israeli ground forces amass around the Gaza Strip for a soon-planned ground invasion. Though nobody seems to know for sure, it could be that the strike was mounted by the Syrian Army itself, or perhaps it was some other "Iran-linked" group. "Attacks, rockets were fired from Syria into Israel," said Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Jonathan Conricus about the matter. "We do not yet know if these rockets were fired by the Syrian National Army (SNA), by any of the many Iranian militias that exist and are welcomed by the Syrian regime or Hezbollah or any other faction. What we do know is that we retaliated towards the sources of fire and currently the situation there is quiet and lets hope that it remains that way." It would seem as though the Israeli government is holding the Syrian government under Bashar al-Assad responsible for the rocket attack, which prompted the IDF to strike back against these two Syrian targets. Syrian state television confirmed that Israel did launch attacks on the country's two main international airports, one of them located in a city, Damascus, that prophecy states will become a "ruinous heap" at the end of days. The Israeli attacks on these two main Syrian airports occurred while an Iranian plane was inbound. No casualties were reported by Syria at its Aleppo airport, but the Syrian government did not provide any detailed information at all about the outcome of the Damascus Airport strike, which could mean that some, possibly civilians, were injured or killed. While this is not the first time that Israel has attacked these two airports, it is the first time that Israel attacked them both at the same time. "We bombed Damascus and Aleppo airports in response to the firing of mortar shells from Syria," claims a spokesman from the Israeli army. The Iranian plane that was inbound at the time of the Israeli strikes was reportedly turned around mid-flight and redirected to Tehran. It cannot be stated for sure, but it is suspected that the plane in question was the one containing Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, who was scheduled to visit Syria this week following the Hamas attack. The latest news from the front lines in the Middle East can be found at Prophecy.news. Sources for this article include: InfoWars.com NaturalNews.com BlueLetterBible.org TOO LATE: Israel now buying, handing out GUNS for citizen militias after realizing gun control FAILED and got hundreds of Israelis MURDERED In towns close to the country's borders, Israel is purchasing and handing out 10,000 rifles to arm civilian security teams in preparation for the next phase of Israel's war on Gaza. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir announced that residents of mixed Jewish-Arab cities and West Bank settlements will also receive a portion of these firearms. The far-right Otzma Yehudit party says it has already purchased 4,000 "assault rifles" and begun distributing them to targeted areas. The Israeli government is also purchasing helmets and bulletproof vests to distribute as well. According to Gvir, the weapons, armor and other equipment will be handed out to "hundreds of towns that have civilian security teams linked to the Israel Police's Border Police force." The civilian security teams are being set up in small towns and communities in Israel's periphery as well as in the West Bank settlements where residents were targeted by Hamas over the weekend. "We will turn the world upside down so that towns are protected," Gvir promised. "I have given instructions for massively arming the civilian security teams." (Related: The Western financial media claims that Iran is behind Hamas, but others like Ron Paul and former Israeli military servicemen say the U.S. and Israel itself are behind the terror group's creation back in the 1970s.) Netanyahu, Gantz agree to establish "emergency war government" What was unthinkable a mere week ago has become a reality as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Unity party leader Benny Gantz have agreed to join forces in the fight against Hamas. These two, along with National Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, have created a new "emergency war government" that will call all the shots for the time being while the rest of the government, including all non-wartime legislation, remains suspended. Another name for this is martial law in that the normal operations of Israel's government are now paused indefinitely, including the planned judicial overhaul that was supposed to occur. Though certain decisions will still need to be approved by the full Israeli cabinet, the "vast majority of critical calls will be made in the narrow forum," reports the Times of Israel. Most of the Israeli public supports the new emergency war government, we are told, seeing it as a necessity to address the events that occurred over the weekend, which some are calling an "inside job" and a planned operation as part of Israel's planned expansion of its land mass size. "The moment calls for unity," Netanyahu said in a brief and to-the-point statement about the new emergency war government ruling Israel. Now, five members of the Gantz's National Unity party will be added to Israel's broader security cabinet, which operates under every government in Israel regardless of who is in charge. "Likud and National Unity agreed that no legislation in the Knesset or government resolutions will be advanced during the war which are not related to managing the war," the Times of Israel reports. "They also agreed that the term of Bank of Israel chief Amir Yaron will be extended through the end of the war." One seat will remain open for Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, who was the first to offer an emergency unity government on Saturday evening following the attacks. A source close to Lapid says that there are no active talks for him to join the coalition. Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman reiterated his party's position that it will not join the emergency war government unless everyone involved agrees "to completely obliterate the Hamas terrorist group." The world is getting armed and ready for Armageddon. Learn more at Prophecy.news. Sources for this article include: TimesOfIsrael.com 1 NaturalNews.com TimesOfIsrael.com 2 Israel DELAYS Gaza ground offensive as it orders 1.1 million Palestinians in northern Strip to EVACUATE An Israeli ground invasion of Gaza has been delayed due to international pressure demanding more time for Palestinian civilians to evacuate from the northern half of the Strip. Beginning on Friday, Oct. 13, the Israeli military ordered some 1.1 million people living in the northern half of the Gaza Strip to evacuate to the southern part of the besieged and blockaded territory ahead of an expected ground invasion. (Related: Hostages held by Hamas in Gaza will be almost impossible to rescue, warns counterterrorism expert.) Videos and images coming out of Gaza and spreading on social media on Friday showed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) dropping leaflets from planes telling Gazans living in the north, including in Gaza City, to head south. "In the following days, the IDF will continue to operate significantly in Gaza City and make extensive efforts to avoid harming civilians," the IDF claimed as Israeli military planes continued to bomb Gazan civilian residences. "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 initially gave Palestinians living in northern Gaza just 24 hours to evacuate and head to the south of the Strip. But Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich later confirmed that U.S. has pressured Israel to delay its ground offensive to give more time for Palestinians to flee. "This is in line with previous messaging from the U.S. urging Israel to abide by the laws of armed conflict," reported Heinrich, who added that the U.S. is still working to evacuate citizens from Israel and Palestine. Over 40 lawmakers have already urged President Joe Biden's administration to put more pressure on Israel to follow international law and establish a humanitarian corridor for the civilians in Gaza. The United Nations has also pressured Israel to delay its offensive, warning that evacuating almost half of the extremely dense Gaza Strip's population would be a calamitous affair that could take more than a day. The UN is urging Israel to retract its "unprecedented directive." "The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general's office. "The United Nations strongly appeals for any such order, if confirmed, to be rescinded [to avoid] what could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation." Dujarric added that the UN was informed by the IDF that the order applies to all UN staff and to those sheltered in UN-run facilities, including schools, health centers and clinics. The UN agency responsible for handling Palestinian refugees noted that it is sheltering more than 60 percent of the approximately 423,000 people displaced by Israeli bombing in the Gaza Strip. International pressure may keep forcing Israel to delay Gaza offensive Israeli military analysts advised that the country's "window of opportunity" to launch a ground offensive in Gaza that would be generally seen as successful could be closing, especially if international pressure and concern over the near-certainty of high civilian casualties caused by the operation continue to delay the IDF. "I think the green light is only open for about two weeks, so Israel should hurry up," said military analyst Yoni Ben-Menachem, an former captain in the IDF's intelligence division who is suggesting that international pressure for a ceasefire is increasing rapidly. Israeli officials who spoke with Politico noted that the IDF gave an evacuation order to save as many Palestinian lives as possible ahead of the ground operation, but this short window of time for the evacuation is supposedly necessary to prevent Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups operating in Gaza from having enough time to prepare defenses against the Israeli offensive. It is unclear whether most or many of the Gazans living in the northern half of the Strip will be able to do so ahead of the ground invasion. The longer Israel is forced to delay, the more likely it is that more Palestinian civilians are able to flee south. The Israeli government has confirmed that it has already received detailed plans from IDF leaders on how an invasion of the Gaza Strip would be conducted. But politicking within the Israeli government may have also played a role in delaying the offensive, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formed a new government and security and war cabinet to include some members of the opposition on Oct. 11. The potential participation of Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon is also complicating plans, and some IDF elements are being diverted to Israel's northern border with Lebanon. "The army expects the politicians to make a decision more quickly," said Ben-Menachem. So far, the IDF has only been able to conduct limited ground incursions into Gaza with tanks and infantry units, with the military saying these raids are meant to gather intelligence that may help locate hostages currently held by Hamas. Watch this video of pro-Israel demonstrators in New York City calling for genocide against all Palestinians. This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Biden claimed he saw "confirmed pictures" of Hamas beheading children turns out it was a COMPLETE LIE. Heavy bombing by Israeli forces threatens to turn Gaza Strip into a TENT CITY. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio appears to call for OPEN GENOCIDE against all Palestinian women, men and children "they have to be eradicated." Israel WEAPONIZES food, water and electricity against 2+ million civilians in Gaza in retribution for Hamas terror attacks. Netanyahu promises to turn Gaza into "rubble" following Hamas attack they will pay "unprecedented price." Sources include: ZeroHedge.com APNews.com Edition.CNN.com PBS.org TheGuardian.com iNews.co.uk Politico.com Brighteon.com Breitbart editor Joel Pollak: Israel should wipe out Gaza and the U.S. should take the refugees Breitbart editor-at-large Joel Pollak last Saturday announced he was breaking the Sabbath to call for Israel to ethnically cleanse Gaza and now he's calling for the US to take in the refugees. (Article by Chris Menahan republished from InformationLiberation.com) "I have broken the Sabbath and Jewish holiday to deliver this message: Israel should wipe out Gaza," Pollak said after the war broke out. "Allow 48 hours to evacuate women, children and the elderly. Destroy everything that remains, plow it under, and annex it to Israel." "We should give civilians from Gaza temporary refuge during the war," Pollak said less than one week later, criticizing a GOP effort to ban the US from accepting Palestinian refugees. If anyone should be obligated to take these refugees in, it's Israel as they're the one's ethnically cleansing them and driving them from their lands. They claim they're only going after Hamas, so taking in two million Palestinian civilians shouldn't be a problem. Read more at: InformationLiberation.com HYPOCRISY: U.S. to INCREASE IMPORTS from Russia amid economic sanctions on Moscow According to recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau (USCB), the U.S. has increased imports of goods from Russia despite imposing widespread economic sanctions on Moscow. The USCB report found that the volume of products imported from Russia in August went up by $56.4 million and amounted to $298.1 million. However, the figure is much lower compared to February, when imports reached $642.8 million. Meanwhile, U.S. exports to Russia have continued to decline, going down from $35.6 million in July to $32.1 million in August. Trade turnover declines following sanctions on Moscow Trade turnover plunged after Washington imposed sweeping sanctions on Moscow in response to its military operation in Ukraine. (Related: RFK Jr. to enrich workers and protect American industries by passing tariffs on foreign imports.) Last spring, the U.S. banned imports of Russian oil products, diamonds and seafood. The U.S. eventually placed additional tariffs on imports of Russian steel, aluminum products, rubber, wood and other goods. Because of this, U.S. imports of ferrous metals from Russia have declined to almost zero. Sanctions are penalties imposed by one country on another in a bid to stop it acting aggressively or breaking international law. Sanctions are some of the harshest actions nations can take, short of going to war, and can be imposed at very short notice. The U.K. is banning the import of diamonds from Russia. The U.S. announced similar plans to ban Russian diamonds in 2022 and the European Union (EU) has also announced plans to do so. However, according to Hans Merket of the International Peace Information Service think-tank, most Russian diamonds are sent to countries like India to be polished. Once these diamonds are re-exported, it is often difficult to determine if they originally came from Russia. Because of this, Merket explained that U.S. sanctions "have not been particularly effective." One solution could be the use of laser inscriptions in diamonds, or 3D scans. Western nations are trying to restrict Russia's access to money. The EU, U.S., U.K. and Canada have all frozen assets of Russia's central bank in their countries. Major Russian banks have been removed from the international financial messaging system Swift, which then delayed payments for Russian oil and gas. The U.K. has frozen the assets of other Russian banks and has banned Russian firms from borrowing money. Meanwhile, the EU has placed limits on the amount Russians can deposit at banks. Western leaders have predicted that Russia's economy would collapse. After the invasion of Ukraine and the first sanctions were imposed, prices skyrocketed and people took their money out of banks. However, the International Monetary Fund suggests that Russia's economy could actually grow by 0.7 percent in 2023. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), this is because Russia is exporting 8.3 million barrels of oil a day, the highest level since April 2020. The biggest importers are India and China. The IEA also reported that Russia's earnings from oil and gas exports fell to $8.1 billion a month in April 2023, from $22.5 billion due to the Western sanctions. Russia to lift ban on seaborne fuel exports Meanwhile, seaborne exports of Russian diesel will resume weeks after Moscow imposed an outright ban that increased energy prices globally. In a statement released on Oct. 6, the Russian government confirmed that it "has lifted restrictions on exports of diesel fuel delivered to ports by pipeline." The unprecedented measure was introduced on Sept. 21 because of shortages in the domestic market that had Russians rushing at the gas pumps despite the country's massive refining industry. At the time, the Russian government announced that the temporary restrictions would help saturate the fuel market, in turn helping reduce prices for consumers. With consumer prices limited by law, enterprising businesses have been sending more fuel abroad where it fetches far higher sums, at the expense of supplies in Russia. To prevent these alleged "gray exports," Russia will introduce a windfall tax of 50,000 rubles ($495) per ton on sales of petroleum products for resale. According to a statement from Moscow, the government is ending the attempts of resellers to "purchase fuel in advance for subsequent export after the current restrictions are lifted." While countries such as India and Turkey have significantly increased their imports of Russian crude and their exports of refined fuel to the global market to skirt an EU ban on imports of Moscow's fuel, the tightening of supply has seen oil prices approach the $100-a-barrel mark in recent weeks. And while revenues from Russia's critical oil and gas industry virtually halved earlier in 2023 because of Western sanctions and a G7+ fuel price cap, the flow of cash has increased in recent months, rising by at least 15 percent in September. Go to RussiaReport.news for more articles about the oil trade. Watch this video for more information about the U.S., Russia and China assuming nuclear testing within one year. This video is from the Proforce channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Russia to resume foreign exchange purchases to boost currency reserves. Russia to increase oil supplies to India under new deal. US-EU price cap on Russian oil threatens Indias crude imports and economic growth. Sources include: RT.com BBC.com Politico.eu Brighteon.com Western world leaders condemn acts of TERRORISM committed by Hamas, support Israels right to DEFEND ITSELF President Joe Biden and other world leaders have condemned Hamas' acts of terrorism. Biden, along with President Emmanuel Macron of France, Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of the United Kingdom, released a statement on Oct. 9 indicating their "steadfast and united support" for Israel. "We make clear that the terrorist actions of Hamas have no justification, no legitimacy, and must be universally condemned. There is never any justification for terrorism," they said. The world leaders stressed that Hamas does not represent the interests of all of Palestine. Instead, they strongly condemned Hamas and its acts of terrorism against Israel, which have led to the loss of over a thousand lives, thousands more injured, and many individuals taken as hostages in Gaza Strip hideouts. Sunak took to social media to show his support for Israel. "The people who support Hamas are fully responsible for this appalling attack. They are not militants. They are not freedom fighters. They are terrorists," he stated. (Related: BLM tweeted, deleted, then DOUBLED DOWN on calling Hamas attack "a desperate act of self-defense.") Similarly, Biden echoed the unwavering support of his administration for Israel in his social media message: "Tonight, America says clearly to the Israeli people, to the world, and to terrorists everywhere that we stand with Israel. That will never change." The world leaders who co-authored the joint statement recognized the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people and supported justice and freedom for both Israelis and Palestinians. "Hamas does not represent those aspirations, and it offers nothing for the Palestinian people other than more terror and bloodshed," they stated. Hamas does not speak for Palestinians Hamas, a Sunni Islamic group that does not recognize the right of Israel to exist, has long been committed to liberating Palestine from Israeli occupation by any means. Born in the poverty-stricken and oppressed environment of the Gaza Strip in the 1980s and 1990s under Israeli military occupation, Hamas is one of the major political parties in Palestinian territories. Since then, it has endeavored to claim land from Israel, which it believes rightfully belongs to Palestine. Hamas advocates for the expulsion of Jews from the region. This is contrary to the Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization, which have been open to negotiating peace with Israel. In short, Hamas does not speak for all Palestinians. The recent attack launched by Hamas, seemingly knowing that Israel would respond with force, underscores the group's willingness to escalate violence to embarrass Israel's government and potentially gain temporary sympathy in the Arab and Muslim world. Hamas has employed brutal tactics like suicide bombings and commando raids with an estimated 10,000 to 40,000 fighters in Gaza. The Israeli military and intelligence have accused Hamas of using civilians as human shields. Contrary to the claims of Hamas, Israel has existed since its establishment in 1948 when its founding Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion declared the independence of a Jewish state. Its creation was laid years earlier with the Balfour Declaration, a British government statement endorsing the establishment of Palestine as a national home for the Jewish people. Visit Terrorism.news for more updates on the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel. Watch this video discussing the surprising large-scale attack of the Hamas militant group on Israel. More related stories: Israeli INVASION of Gaza has begun with localized raids, plus strikes against Hezbollah to the North. Israel refusing to allow HUMANITARIAN AID to reach the 2 million civilians trapped in Gaza. Report: Israel received WARNING from Egypt 3 days before attack but ignored it. Sources include: TheEpochTimes.com LosAngelesTimes.com Brighteon.com Another powerful earthquake struck Afghanistan days after a strong one killed thousands of its residents. Experts from the US Geological Survey said that the latest quake's epicenter was about 21 miles (34km) outside Herat, the provincial capital. Its focus was 5 miles below the surface. Officials said that the latest magnitude 6.3 earthquake had occurred as the result of thrust faulting at shallow depths near the far western terminus of the Hindu Kush mountain range. This earthquake was preceded by three other magnitude 6.3 earthquakes in the previous days. They said that four earthquakes had taken place on east-west striking fault planes that dip to either the north or south. The earthquakes occurred within the Eurasia plate in an intracontinental mountain belt. Two individuals were killed following the earthquake while the regional hospital in Herat has received more than 100 people wounded. Read Also: Western Afghanistan's Deadly Earthquake: Over 2,000 People Died, 1300 Houses Affected Victims still reeling from past quakes At present, communities in Herat Province are still reeling from a series of shallow, strong earthquakes and aftershocks which have jolted the same area in Western Afghanistan since October 7 of this year. Authorities said that destroyed residences as well as the fear of returning homes due to persistent aftershocks have led to several informal sites sprouting across the Herat City. These displacements sites are being assessed, with officials committing that humanitarian response is already underway. Officials from the United Nations said that more than 90% of the people killed in the previous quakes were women and children. They struck during the daytime, while many of the men in the region were working outdoors. Meanwhile, Taliban officials said the earlier quakes killed more than 2,000 people across the province. The epicenter was in Zenda Jan district, where the majority of the casualties and damage were recorded. Based on records, more than 19,250 people (3,197 families) have been directly impacted by the previous earthquakes across Zindajan (1,398 families), Injil (914 families), Kushk/Rabat-e-Sangai (385), Ghulan (360 families), Herat (121 families) and Khosan (19) districts. Humanitarian responders still continue to assess communities, with numbers of casualties still expected to rise over the coming days. So far, immediate humanitarian priorities include the provision of tents and transitional shelters for victims amid the winter, the strengthening of disease surveillance systems and rehabilitation of damaged health facilities. Meanwhile, partner groups are responding with immediate response packages, including tents, tarpaulins, blankets, food and nutrition assistance, water trucking and WASH supplies, emergency healthcare and protection. Previous quakes The US Geological Survey said that earthquakes in Afghanistan and its surrounding regions are common because of the complex and active interactions between the Arabia, Eurasia, and India plates. It explained that earthquakes in western and central Afghanistan are primarily influenced by the northward movement of the Arabia plate relative to the Eurasia plate. Experts said that since 1920, seven other earthquakes of magnitude 6 or larger have occurred within 250 km of the October 7 earthquake, all within Iran. They noted that these previous earthquakes included a magnitude 7.3 earthquake in May 1997 that caused 1,567 fatalities, and a magnitude 7.1 earthquake in November 1979. Related Article: Afghan Quake: Global Response 'Slow,' Approaching Winter Seen To Challenge Response Efforts Related Video: Experts have tagged the decline in the population of mountain chicken frogs in Dominica as one of the "fastest eradications of a wild animal ever recorded." For decades, it was regarded as a delicacy, sought after, and enjoyed for its chicken-like flavor. It was considered Dominica's national dish, is part of the island's coat of arms, and is used as a logo by numerous extremely prominent Dominican institutions, including the National Bank of Dominica. Threats to the species Mountain chicken frogs were originally prevalent on seven Caribbean islands but are now only found on the island of Dominica. A global network of scientists has been conducting studies on the highly endangered frog for the past 20 years in order to avert its extinction. A recent survey concluded that only 21 frogs remain on the island. The sudden and catastrophic drop has shocked researchers, who believe it is one of the "fastest extinctions" of a wild animal ever reported. According to a recent assessment, their numbers in the wild have decreased to concerning levels, and challenges such as infectious disease, habitat loss, climate change, and pollution continue to endanger the species' existence. The fast fall of mountain chickens began in 2002, when a lethal fungal disease known as Amphibian Chytrid arrived on the island. The sickness took out at least 80% of the population in 18 months, and the creature, whose croaks could be heard in the distance, many regions of Dominica were on the verge of extinction, prompting the Dominican government to prohibit frog hunting. "This is a species facing imminent extinction in the wild, yet it was in a healthy state only a couple of decades ago. Its fate sends us a very clear warning about the dangers facing wildlife on Earth today," Andrew Cunningham, head of wildlife epidemiology for the Zoological Society London (ZSL). Other natural calamities, such as Hurricane Maria, have also had an impact. Read Also: 41% of Amphibian Species Threatened With Extinction Due To Human Activities And Climate Change Hope for the population Professor Cunningham believes that there is still hope for the mountain chicken despite its obstacles. Scientists reported that one of the frogs detected in the study had already been tagged and was proven to be the oldest living wild mountain chicken frog. At 11 years old, this tough frog has survived the chytrid epidemic that killed so many of its relatives, demonstrating that some frogs are more resistant to the disease than others. "If this individual can persist in the face of endless challenges, it gives us hope for the future of the species more widely," Prof Cunningham said. Researchers are currently swabbing the remaining frogs' mouths to establish their genetic make-up and look for evidence of tolerance to the fatal infection. Conservationists all over the world are urging immediate action to conserve the critically endangered mountain chicken frog. Cunningham describes the situation as a "tight scenario," as experts have a few years left before the mountain chicken frog goes extinct. Related Article: Darwin's Frogs Going Extinct from Deadly Fungal Infection Related Video: Extreme heat has impacted Arizona in recent months with at least 360 heat-related deaths being reported across Maricopa County, which includes the state capital city of Phoenix. Being the most populous county in Arizona, Maricopa has suffered from the "hottest summer on record" amid the 2023 summer season, which reportedly spanned from June 21 to September 23. During this period, local authorities have linked hundreds of deaths to the extreme heat in Arizona. While investigations are underway for potentially hundreds of other heat-associated deaths, authorities fear that the total death toll may exceed those of last year. The catastrophic Arizona extreme heat resembles the deadly '2021 Western North America heat wave' which affected the states of Washington and Oregon, as well as Canada's British Columbia province and other surrounding areas. The said natural disaster resulted in at least 1,400 heat-related deaths. Arizona Extreme Heat Arizona public health officials have confirmed the deaths related to the extreme heat in the said area even if investigations are ongoing regarding the matter. In fact, the Maricopa County local government issued its report earlier this month that highlights the danger brought by the previous season. In its assessment entitled 2023 Weekly Heat Report on October 7, the Maricopa County Department of Public Health (MCDPH) confirmed a total of 361 heat-related deaths with 238 other related deaths being investigated in the country during the 2023 heat season. The MCDPH highlights that the heat-associated fatalities in the county are already larger compared to last year's summer season, which incurred 331 confirmed deaths. As tallying for further casualties continue, this year's death toll in Maricopa County may further increase. According to MCDPH Medical Director Dr. Rebecca Sunenshine, there is a possibility that 2023 will result in more heat-related deaths than last year and may even exceed 500 fatalities. Also Read: El Nino Fuels Extreme Heat in the Pacific, Raising Fears of Droughts and Floods US Heatwave Deaths Unlike extreme heat, other weather events and natural disasters like hurricanes, wildfires, and earthquakes are widely known for causing mass casualties due to their immediate impact. Yet, deaths relating to high temperatures, hot weather, and dry conditions are overlooked in some cases. However, experts indicate that extreme heat, also called heatwave or heat dome, is an invisible killer despite it not being plainly evident. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), heat-related deaths are caused by deadly illnesses like heat stroke and heat exhaustion. The US EPA explains that hot temperatures can also contribute to cardiovascular diseases like heart attacks, highlighting that heat is the "leading weather-related killer" in the US. In this context, scientists have also blamed climate change and global warming for the record-breaking heat observed in different cities and towns nationwide, especially in the western US. In other parts of the country, hot summer temperatures have also become common in recent decades, according to the US government agency. Previous reports have also shown that even parts of the East Coast are also affected. Related Article: Heat Waves: Exposure to Increase 4-Fold by 2050 Vodafone Ghana majority shareholder Telecel Group announced it had expanded the operators network with the deployment of 300 new 4G sites, with the majority of them being activated across Ghana. In a statement, Telecel Group COO Malek Atrissi detailed that the operator has additional launched 4G+ which yields faster download speeds for subscribers. The executive added the infrastructure deployment was not a one-off event but a pivotal part of a wider strategy of sustained expansion across Ghana. Vodafone Ghana CEO Patricia Obo-Nai said We have set a new standard for rapid network development in Ghana. But this is just the beginning. Our combined vision is to continuously seek and seize opportunities that enrich the digital experience for Ghanaians. The future holds even greater promise. We have set a new standard for rapid network development in Ghana. But this is just the beginning. Our combined vision is to continuously seek and seize opportunities that enrich the digital experience for Ghanaians. The future holds even greater promise. Vodafone Group transferred its 70% stake in its former Ghana unit to Telecel in February after regulators gave the green light. The government holds a minority stake. Sorry, something doesn't look right. Something seems unusual about your device or browser. Please contact support. Its no secret that data centers are facing power shortage issues, especially in high density areas. One colocation provider has come up with a unique solution: Its building small nuclear power plants for itself. Data center provider Standard Power specializes in high-performance computing, such as blockchain mining and AI workloads. These kinds of workloads demand a lot of compute power, which equals a very large electric bill. The company was concerned about the ability of local electric providers to deliver the capacity needed for such demanding workloads. So, rather than rely on the local electrical grid, Standard is partnering with NuScale Power Corporation, a maker of small modular nuclear-powered plants, for its Ohio and Pennsylvania facilities. "We see a lot of legacy baseload grid capacity going offline with a lack of new sustainable baseload generation options on the market, especially as power demand for artificial intelligence (AI)-computing and data centers is growing," said Standard Power CEO Maxim Serezhin in a statement. Standard Power is working with energy development and production company ENTRA1 Energy and NuScale "to deliver carbon-free, baseload energy to address this large gap in the generation market," Serezhin said. All totaled, the company plans to deploy 24 of NuScale's small modular reactors (SMR) between the Ohio and Pennsylvania locations. These reactors are reportedly capable of generating 77 megawatts apiece, or 1.8 GW of total power. That should be enough for even the most demanding GPUs. SMRs are not your typical power plant. They are built on an assembly line, much like a car or truck, and they can be deployed in clusters, depending on the amount of power needed. NuScale's competitors in the market include TerraPower, Westinghouse Electric, BWXT Technologies, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, and X-energy. But NuScale is the first to receive approval by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for commercial deployments. Standard Power isnt the first data center provider to seek out a nuclear solution. Microsoft is investigating using SMR systems to power its data centers, of which it has plenty. At the mention of nuclear power, most people old enough to remember will immediately think of accidents and disasters such as Three Mile Island or Chernobyl. However, Bill Kleyman, program chair of AFCOMs Data Center World and a Ukrainian who grew up near the Chernobyl plant, is not worried about a meltdown. Im a big fan of this. One of the biggest things Ive learned is the segmented approach one must go through even to get a project like this going. You must work with everyone from state and local governments to utilities commissions, Kleyman told me. In speaking with a few folks from local communities, theyre not opposed to leveraging nuclear power as a method to sustain digital infrastructure. However, this is from former NIMBY folks who gave me sound reasoning. They dont mind data centers in their backyards; they just want them to be good and responsible neighbors. Their concern is how this will all be built out and impact local communities, Kleyman said. These modern nuclear facilities are not being built like the ones in Ukraine. These are water-based solutions and do not have things like graphite moderators, like Chornobyl did. With the power constraints were seeing, and massive single-deal sizes now approaching 300, 400, and even more in megawatt sizing, we need to rethink our approach to power. This could be a way to do so, Kleyman added. Nigerias Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) is having a busy week already, with the industry association expressing concerns about unpaid bank debts and the cost of spectrum licenses. Local press reports indicate that, despite news in September that the impasse surrounding the N120 billion (US$156.7 million) USSD debt owed by banks to operators had been resolved, operators have once again threatened to withdraw their USSD services as banks seem to be stalling on payment. Chairman of ALTON Gbenga Adebayo seems now to be suggesting that withdrawing the services and taking the issue to court might be the only feasible answer. ALTON has also been involved in recent requests by Nigerian service providers that the licencing system and pricing methodology for 5G spectrum be reviewed. Bosun Tijani, Nigerias new minister of communications, innovation, and digital economy, seems to want to encourage operators to find ways of reaching users in rural areas. However, the operators are more focused on 5G spectrum distribution, claiming that the current approach is expensive and has become unsustainable for the innovation required for 5G services. According to ITWeb Africa, Gbenga Adebayo has stated that the communications minister must work with the NCC "to set more affordable prices for spectrum while taking into account the developmental benefits improved broadband delivery will have on our local economy, especially since studies have shown that high spectrum prices are associated with slower broadband speeds and poor coverage. He also argued that the adoption of flexible spectrum licence payment terms will be in line with the recommendations of the Nigerian National Broadband Plan 2020-2025, which will allow operators to spread payments of spectrum costs. A preliminary agreement with Kazakhstans Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation & Aerospace will see Starlink provide high speed internet access to around 2000 rural schools across the country. The agreement was reached following a meet between SpaceX VP for Starlink Lauren Dreyer and the Ministrys chief Bagdat Musin at the Digital Bridge forum event, with local outlet Profit.kz reporting that the project is slated to commence within six months. Profit.kz reported that Musin is negotiating the pricing for Starlinks service, and has floated a monthly fee of US$200 per connection, although more details are expected within the coming weeks. CommsUpdate reports that Starlink is currently conducting pilots in the Almaty region. Sidharth Mishra By Express News Service Last week the Special Cell of Delhi Police was in the news after a very long time. In the bygone days when the CBI and the ED did not grab the newspaper headlines, it was the Special cell of Delhi Police that seized the public attention. Albeit for very different reasons. The Delhi High Court last week reduced the death sentence given to the main accused in the Batla House encounter case to lifeterm. The Batla House encounter was a significant operation conducted by the Special Cell in September 2008 around the Jamia Nagar area of South East Delhi. The operation was aimed at capturing Yasin Bhatkal, the head of Indian Mujahideen. The operation led to the death of some suspects and the apprehension of others, revealing crucial information about terror networks. However, the Special Cell also lost a very decorated officer inspector Mohan Chand Sharma to the bullets of the terrorists. Formed in the 1980s, the Special Cell of Delhi Police was initally tasked to counter the activities of Punjab militants. Though its primary mission was to gather intelligence and prevent terror incidents, with the waning of Punjab militancy and rise of Pakistan-sponsored terroprism, Special cell became a major component in countering terrorist activities. The best time for Special Cell was from the turn of the century to 2008, the year it lost two of its star officers Mohan Chand Sharma, preceded by Rajbir Singh. Though the two died under very different circumstances.The two were mentored by a very mild mannered officer, Ashok Chand headed the cell then as its Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP). Chands team had able ace investigators like Rajbir Singh, Mohan Chand Sharma and Lalit Mohan Negi, which cracked a series of high-profile cases. The milestone investigation was in the Parliament attack case, which was solved within 72 hours. Parliament was attacked by Pakistan-sponsored terroprists on December 13, 2001. The Special Cell, 72 hours later, on December 15, apprehended Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist Afzal Guru from Jammu & Kashmir. Guru was sentenced to death and later hanged. While in the most cases, the state police is dependent upon the central agencies for the inputs, in the case of the Delhi Police it was the other way round. The master investigators of Special Cell had developed such network that organisations like the CBI would hinge onto it for not just the intelligence inputs but also operational support. Former Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar in his book Dia D for Don, mentions about a kidnapping case planned in Abu Dhabi and executed in Delhi. Kumar had a very long and illustrious tenure in the CBI and often depended upon his Delhi Police network for solving the cases. Kumar mentions in the book, I was still mulling over the details given by the relatives of Siddhique (victim in the kidnapping case) and the queer dilemma I was in, when by a happy coincidence, Rajbir Singh, an Assistant Commissioner of the DelhiPolice, Special Cell walked into my office. Earlier too, I had associated him and his team in several operations undertaken by me in the CBI and we had always come out trumps. About Rajbir Singh, Kumar goes onto mention, From technical support to armed back up, he was capable of providing invaluable partnership in a case such as this. He had a crack-team under him comprising of trusted and tried go-getters which he offered to place at my disposal, including his own services and expertise. Unfortunately, Special Cell today is more part of the folklore than any visible action. The truth of Rajbirs murder never came out. The accused in Mohan Chand Sharmas slaying has escaped gallows, ostensibly because the prosecution presented a weak case. How unfortunate! Sidharth Mishra Author and president, Centre for Reforms,Development & Justice Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Last week the Special Cell of Delhi Police was in the news after a very long time. In the bygone days when the CBI and the ED did not grab the newspaper headlines, it was the Special cell of Delhi Police that seized the public attention. Albeit for very different reasons. The Delhi High Court last week reduced the death sentence given to the main accused in the Batla House encounter case to lifeterm. The Batla House encounter was a significant operation conducted by the Special Cell in September 2008 around the Jamia Nagar area of South East Delhi. The operation was aimed at capturing Yasin Bhatkal, the head of Indian Mujahideen. The operation led to the death of some suspects and the apprehension of others, revealing crucial information about terror networks. However, the Special Cell also lost a very decorated officer inspector Mohan Chand Sharma to the bullets of the terrorists.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Formed in the 1980s, the Special Cell of Delhi Police was initally tasked to counter the activities of Punjab militants. Though its primary mission was to gather intelligence and prevent terror incidents, with the waning of Punjab militancy and rise of Pakistan-sponsored terroprism, Special cell became a major component in countering terrorist activities. The best time for Special Cell was from the turn of the century to 2008, the year it lost two of its star officers Mohan Chand Sharma, preceded by Rajbir Singh. Though the two died under very different circumstances.The two were mentored by a very mild mannered officer, Ashok Chand headed the cell then as its Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP). Chands team had able ace investigators like Rajbir Singh, Mohan Chand Sharma and Lalit Mohan Negi, which cracked a series of high-profile cases. The milestone investigation was in the Parliament attack case, which was solved within 72 hours. Parliament was attacked by Pakistan-sponsored terroprists on December 13, 2001. The Special Cell, 72 hours later, on December 15, apprehended Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist Afzal Guru from Jammu & Kashmir. Guru was sentenced to death and later hanged. While in the most cases, the state police is dependent upon the central agencies for the inputs, in the case of the Delhi Police it was the other way round. The master investigators of Special Cell had developed such network that organisations like the CBI would hinge onto it for not just the intelligence inputs but also operational support. Former Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar in his book Dia D for Don, mentions about a kidnapping case planned in Abu Dhabi and executed in Delhi. Kumar had a very long and illustrious tenure in the CBI and often depended upon his Delhi Police network for solving the cases. Kumar mentions in the book, I was still mulling over the details given by the relatives of Siddhique (victim in the kidnapping case) and the queer dilemma I was in, when by a happy coincidence, Rajbir Singh, an Assistant Commissioner of the DelhiPolice, Special Cell walked into my office. Earlier too, I had associated him and his team in several operations undertaken by me in the CBI and we had always come out trumps. About Rajbir Singh, Kumar goes onto mention, From technical support to armed back up, he was capable of providing invaluable partnership in a case such as this. He had a crack-team under him comprising of trusted and tried go-getters which he offered to place at my disposal, including his own services and expertise. Unfortunately, Special Cell today is more part of the folklore than any visible action. The truth of Rajbirs murder never came out. The accused in Mohan Chand Sharmas slaying has escaped gallows, ostensibly because the prosecution presented a weak case. How unfortunate! Sidharth Mishra Author and president, Centre for Reforms,Development & Justice Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Harpreet Bajwa By Express News Service CHANDIGARH: From waste to wealth thats easier said than done. Ask Gurpreet Singh Kuthala (26), a farmer from Ferozepur Kuthala village in Punjabs Malerkotla district. Hed tell you how he has earned his money by selling paddy straw, which most farmers consider a liability, to be burnt quickly for the next crop to be sowed within 15-20 days. For Delhiites, itd mean some riddance from poisonous air. What the young farmer does is sell the straw bales to a biogas plant that produces sustainable energy and fertilizer. Last year he earned around Rs 16 lakh by selling 12,000 quintals paddy straw bales. This year he hopes to earn over Rs 1 crore by selling 28,000 quintals of straw. Kuthala bought ex-situ machines, a straw rake and a baler provided by the Punjab government on a 50% subsidy. Kuthala cultivates 40 acres of agricultural land most of which is on lease. He then signed a contract with Sangrur RNG Biogas Plant, Panjgaraian, to supply 12,000-quintal paddy straw bales. This season, the young farmer with the help of his friend Sukhwinder Singh has bought four new machines to supply 18,000-quintal paddy straw bales at Rs 160 per quintal plus Rs 10 per bale transportation to the Sangrur plant. Kuthala says he will store around 20,000 quintal bales from his own land and other villages and will supply them to paper mills and bio-CNG plants in the offseason.Punjab Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian has urged all farmers to take inspiration from Kuthala and be a part of the state governments anti-crop residue burning campaign. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp CHANDIGARH: From waste to wealth thats easier said than done. Ask Gurpreet Singh Kuthala (26), a farmer from Ferozepur Kuthala village in Punjabs Malerkotla district. Hed tell you how he has earned his money by selling paddy straw, which most farmers consider a liability, to be burnt quickly for the next crop to be sowed within 15-20 days. For Delhiites, itd mean some riddance from poisonous air. What the young farmer does is sell the straw bales to a biogas plant that produces sustainable energy and fertilizer. Last year he earned around Rs 16 lakh by selling 12,000 quintals paddy straw bales. This year he hopes to earn over Rs 1 crore by selling 28,000 quintals of straw. Kuthala bought ex-situ machines, a straw rake and a baler provided by the Punjab government on a 50% subsidy. Kuthala cultivates 40 acres of agricultural land most of which is on lease. He then signed a contract with Sangrur RNG Biogas Plant, Panjgaraian, to supply 12,000-quintal paddy straw bales.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); This season, the young farmer with the help of his friend Sukhwinder Singh has bought four new machines to supply 18,000-quintal paddy straw bales at Rs 160 per quintal plus Rs 10 per bale transportation to the Sangrur plant. Kuthala says he will store around 20,000 quintal bales from his own land and other villages and will supply them to paper mills and bio-CNG plants in the offseason.Punjab Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian has urged all farmers to take inspiration from Kuthala and be a part of the state governments anti-crop residue burning campaign. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By Online Desk US President Joe Biden will pay a solidarity visit to Israel on Wednesday following the Hamas attacks, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced, as he also said Israel and Washington had agreed to develop a plan for aid to Gaza. Blinken spoke after meeting for nearly eight hours at the defence ministry with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the top US diplomat's second visit since the October 7 attacks by Hamas. "The president will reaffirm United States solidarity with Israel and our ironclad commitment to its security," Blinken said early Tuesday in Tel Aviv. US President Joe Biden speaks about his Bidenomics agenda at Tioga Marine Terminal in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 13, 2023. (Photo | AFP) Biden hopes to "hear from Israel how it will conduct its operations in a way that minimises civilian casualties and enables humanitarian assistance to flow to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not benefit Hama," Blinken said. "At our request, the United States and Israel have agreed to develop a plan that will enable humanitarian aid from donor nations and multilateral organizations to reach civilians in Gaza," Blinken said. The war between Israel and the Hamas militants entered its 11th day on October 17. The war has claimed over 4,000 lives since it began last Saturday. These include around 1,400 Israelis and 2,750 Palestinians. The current war has already claimed thousands of lives on both sides and the conflict is expected to escalate further. Fuel, basic supplies to run out in 24 hrs at Gaza hospitals as invasion looms Hundreds of thousands of Gaza residents moved from the northern half of the territory in response to Israel's evacuation order ahead of their expected ground offensive. Israeli forces, supported by a growing deployment of US warships in the region, are currently positioned along Gazas border, readying for a Gaza ground invasion aimed at destroying Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that unleashed the bloodiest attack in the country's history. Palestinians in the besieged coastal strip are desperate after Israel cut off the flow of food, medicine, water and electricity to Gaza until Hamas released Israeli hostages. Fuel reserves in hospitals across Gaza are only expected to last another 24 hours, the UNs humanitarian office (OCHA) warned in its update on Sunday. In Chicago, a 71-year-old Illinois man was accused of killing a 6-year-old Palestinian Muslim boy Wadea Al-Fayoume and seriously wounding his 32-year-old woman, on Sunday. Police allege he singled out the victims because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas. In the nine days since Hamas gunmen killed more than 1,300 Israelis in their unexpected onslaught, Israel has responded with a devastating bombing campaign that has claimed over 2,300 lives in Gaza. 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". Here are highlights Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp US President Joe Biden will pay a solidarity visit to Israel on Wednesday following the Hamas attacks, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced, as he also said Israel and Washington had agreed to develop a plan for aid to Gaza. Blinken spoke after meeting for nearly eight hours at the defence ministry with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the top US diplomat's second visit since the October 7 attacks by Hamas. "The president will reaffirm United States solidarity with Israel and our ironclad commitment to its security," Blinken said early Tuesday in Tel Aviv.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); US President Joe Biden speaks about his Bidenomics agenda at Tioga Marine Terminal in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 13, 2023. (Photo | AFP) Biden hopes to "hear from Israel how it will conduct its operations in a way that minimises civilian casualties and enables humanitarian assistance to flow to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not benefit Hama," Blinken said. "At our request, the United States and Israel have agreed to develop a plan that will enable humanitarian aid from donor nations and multilateral organizations to reach civilians in Gaza," Blinken said. The war between Israel and the Hamas militants entered its 11th day on October 17. The war has claimed over 4,000 lives since it began last Saturday. These include around 1,400 Israelis and 2,750 Palestinians. The current war has already claimed thousands of lives on both sides and the conflict is expected to escalate further. Fuel, basic supplies to run out in 24 hrs at Gaza hospitals as invasion looms Hundreds of thousands of Gaza residents moved from the northern half of the territory in response to Israel's evacuation order ahead of their expected ground offensive. Israeli forces, supported by a growing deployment of US warships in the region, are currently positioned along Gazas border, readying for a Gaza ground invasion aimed at destroying Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that unleashed the bloodiest attack in the country's history. Palestinians in the besieged coastal strip are desperate after Israel cut off the flow of food, medicine, water and electricity to Gaza until Hamas released Israeli hostages. Fuel reserves in hospitals across Gaza are only expected to last another 24 hours, the UNs humanitarian office (OCHA) warned in its update on Sunday. In Chicago, a 71-year-old Illinois man was accused of killing a 6-year-old Palestinian Muslim boy Wadea Al-Fayoume and seriously wounding his 32-year-old woman, on Sunday. Police allege he singled out the victims because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas. In the nine days since Hamas gunmen killed more than 1,300 Israelis in their unexpected onslaught, Israel has responded with a devastating bombing campaign that has claimed over 2,300 lives in Gaza. 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". Here are highlights Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Pronab Mondal By Express News Service KOLKATA: Aiming to use Bengals biggest religious festival as an outreach drive in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, the BJP has decided to organise at least 25 Durga Pujas in districts and set a target for its leaders to be involved in over 1,000 existing Pujas across the state this year. Eyeing to breach TMCs hegemony in organising Pujas, the saffron camp has decided to organise the event in different banners and earmarked 1,000-odd existing pujas where party leaders play active role, said a BJP leader. Our leaders will play active roles to organise inaugural programmes and cultural events during the festival. They will also use the Puja platform to aware people of the success stories of the Narendra Modi government, said a BJP leader. The decision of the BJPs Bengal chapter to involve its leaders in the Durga Puja was taken after Union Home minister Amit Shah agreed to visit the state capital on Monday and inaugurate a Puja at Santosh Mitra Square in central Kolkata. The Prime Minister had also inaugurated a Durga Puja in Kolkata in October, 2020, virtually, which was organised by the party for the first time. BJPs national president J.P. Nadda is scheduled to visit Kolkata on October 20 on the occasion of the festival. Aiming to use Bengals biggest religious festival as an outreach drive in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, the BJP has decided to organise at least 25 Durga Pujas in districts and set a target for its leaders to be involved in over 1,000 existing Pujas across the state this year. In a bid to breach Trinamools hegemony in organising Pujas, the saffron camp has decided to organise the event in different banners and earmarked 1,000-odd existing pujas where party leaders play active role, said a BJP leader. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp KOLKATA: Aiming to use Bengals biggest religious festival as an outreach drive in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, the BJP has decided to organise at least 25 Durga Pujas in districts and set a target for its leaders to be involved in over 1,000 existing Pujas across the state this year. Eyeing to breach TMCs hegemony in organising Pujas, the saffron camp has decided to organise the event in different banners and earmarked 1,000-odd existing pujas where party leaders play active role, said a BJP leader. Our leaders will play active roles to organise inaugural programmes and cultural events during the festival. They will also use the Puja platform to aware people of the success stories of the Narendra Modi government, said a BJP leader.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The decision of the BJPs Bengal chapter to involve its leaders in the Durga Puja was taken after Union Home minister Amit Shah agreed to visit the state capital on Monday and inaugurate a Puja at Santosh Mitra Square in central Kolkata. The Prime Minister had also inaugurated a Durga Puja in Kolkata in October, 2020, virtually, which was organised by the party for the first time. BJPs national president J.P. Nadda is scheduled to visit Kolkata on October 20 on the occasion of the festival. Aiming to use Bengals biggest religious festival as an outreach drive in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, the BJP has decided to organise at least 25 Durga Pujas in districts and set a target for its leaders to be involved in over 1,000 existing Pujas across the state this year. In a bid to breach Trinamools hegemony in organising Pujas, the saffron camp has decided to organise the event in different banners and earmarked 1,000-odd existing pujas where party leaders play active role, said a BJP leader. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By Express News Service KOLKATA: The Durga Puja festival in West Bengal on Monday bore a political flavour as Union Home minister Amit Shah, while inaugurating a Ram Temple-themed Puja pandal in central Kolkata, said the saffron camp would leave no stone unturned to bring changes in Bengal by uprooting corruption during the ongoing TMC-led regime. Shah's presence in the biggest festival of Bengali Hindus is politically significant in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 in which the BJP has set a target of double the seats that it had bagged in the 2019 general elections. BJP will make an all-out effort to bring changes in West Bengal. Corruption in the ongoing regime of the TMC-led government will be uprooted by the BJP, said Shah in his brief speech while inaugurating the pandal of Santosh Mitra Square. The Satosh Mitra Puja is known to be an event organised by Sajal Ghosh, who defected from the TMC to the BJP in 2021. This is the second time Shah inaugurated a puja pandal in Kolkata. He had visited a Durga Puja in Salt Lake in 2019, months after the saffron camp made deep inroads in Bengal by bagging 18 out of 42 Lok Sabha seats in the general elections. Shah landed in Kolkata airport, arrived at the Race Course helipad and his motorcade reached the puja venue around 4.15 pm. During his 45-minute stay, he delivered his wishes to the people of Bengal on the occasion of Durga Puja. After inaugurating the Puja, he left for the helipad and took his flight from Dum Dum airport to Delhi. Since our impressive performance in the 2019 general elections, our party is trying to use the biggest religious festival of Bengali Hindus as a platform to consolidate the electorate. In 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a Durga Puja virtually which was organised by the BJP for the first time. With months to go to the Lok Sabha polls, our leadership doesnt want to miss the opportunity to utilise the festival as an outreach platform, said a BJP leader. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp KOLKATA: The Durga Puja festival in West Bengal on Monday bore a political flavour as Union Home minister Amit Shah, while inaugurating a Ram Temple-themed Puja pandal in central Kolkata, said the saffron camp would leave no stone unturned to bring changes in Bengal by uprooting corruption during the ongoing TMC-led regime. Shah's presence in the biggest festival of Bengali Hindus is politically significant in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 in which the BJP has set a target of double the seats that it had bagged in the 2019 general elections. BJP will make an all-out effort to bring changes in West Bengal. Corruption in the ongoing regime of the TMC-led government will be uprooted by the BJP, said Shah in his brief speech while inaugurating the pandal of Santosh Mitra Square.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The Satosh Mitra Puja is known to be an event organised by Sajal Ghosh, who defected from the TMC to the BJP in 2021. This is the second time Shah inaugurated a puja pandal in Kolkata. He had visited a Durga Puja in Salt Lake in 2019, months after the saffron camp made deep inroads in Bengal by bagging 18 out of 42 Lok Sabha seats in the general elections. Shah landed in Kolkata airport, arrived at the Race Course helipad and his motorcade reached the puja venue around 4.15 pm. During his 45-minute stay, he delivered his wishes to the people of Bengal on the occasion of Durga Puja. After inaugurating the Puja, he left for the helipad and took his flight from Dum Dum airport to Delhi. Since our impressive performance in the 2019 general elections, our party is trying to use the biggest religious festival of Bengali Hindus as a platform to consolidate the electorate. In 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a Durga Puja virtually which was organised by the BJP for the first time. With months to go to the Lok Sabha polls, our leadership doesnt want to miss the opportunity to utilise the festival as an outreach platform, said a BJP leader. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The top leadership of the Army gathered in Delhi on Monday to comprehensively deliberate upon all aspects of existing security scenarios, the situation along the borders and in the hinterland and challenges for the present security apparatus. The Army Commanders Conference is scheduled from October 16-20 in New Delhi. The Ministry of Defence said, The apex leadership will brainstorm current/ emerging security scenarios besides reviewing the operational preparedness of the Indian Army. They will also delve into pivotal subjects including review of the ongoing transformation process, training matters, HR management aspects and issues impacting serving personnel and veterans. The Army Commanders Conference, with its broad scope, ensures the Indian Army remains progressive, forward-looking, adaptive and future-ready, said the MoD. It is a high-level biannual event, an institutional platform for deliberations at the conceptual level, facilitating important policy decisions by the Indian Army. ALSO READ | India, China corps commanders hold 20th round of talks, resolution awaited at Depsang and Demchok The Army leadership is going to deliberate upon international developments including the Hamas surprise attack on Israel, the protracted standoff along the eastern Ladakh and also the Ukraine-Russia conflict, said a source. The technology roadmap is another area which is under focused deliberation among the leadership, the source added. In continuation with the new format adopted this year, the upcoming Army Commanders Conference is also being conducted in a hybrid format wherein Army Commanders and other senior functionaries will meet virtually on the first day, with the remaining deliberations being conducted in a physical format. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is scheduled to attend the conference on October 18. General Anil Chauhan, Chief of Defence Staff, General Manoj Pande, Chief of the Army Staff, and Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, Chief of the Air Staff, will address the gathering. Dr Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, will also deliver a talk on Leveraging Technology for National Security. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp NEW DELHI: The top leadership of the Army gathered in Delhi on Monday to comprehensively deliberate upon all aspects of existing security scenarios, the situation along the borders and in the hinterland and challenges for the present security apparatus. The Army Commanders Conference is scheduled from October 16-20 in New Delhi. The Ministry of Defence said, The apex leadership will brainstorm current/ emerging security scenarios besides reviewing the operational preparedness of the Indian Army. They will also delve into pivotal subjects including review of the ongoing transformation process, training matters, HR management aspects and issues impacting serving personnel and veterans.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The Army Commanders Conference, with its broad scope, ensures the Indian Army remains progressive, forward-looking, adaptive and future-ready, said the MoD. It is a high-level biannual event, an institutional platform for deliberations at the conceptual level, facilitating important policy decisions by the Indian Army. ALSO READ | India, China corps commanders hold 20th round of talks, resolution awaited at Depsang and Demchok The Army leadership is going to deliberate upon international developments including the Hamas surprise attack on Israel, the protracted standoff along the eastern Ladakh and also the Ukraine-Russia conflict, said a source. The technology roadmap is another area which is under focused deliberation among the leadership, the source added. In continuation with the new format adopted this year, the upcoming Army Commanders Conference is also being conducted in a hybrid format wherein Army Commanders and other senior functionaries will meet virtually on the first day, with the remaining deliberations being conducted in a physical format. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is scheduled to attend the conference on October 18. General Anil Chauhan, Chief of Defence Staff, General Manoj Pande, Chief of the Army Staff, and Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, Chief of the Air Staff, will address the gathering. Dr Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, will also deliver a talk on Leveraging Technology for National Security. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By ANI NEW DELHI: Bahujan Samaj Party MP Danish Ali who came to meet Palestine ambassador Adnan Abu al Haija in the national capital on Monday said that the group of opposition MPs and other politicians want to express their solidarity with the people of Palestine. "We have come to express our solidarity for the Palestinian people. We want to tell them through their Ambassador that we are with them. We want to convey that the Parliamentarians from India are in opposition to the violence that is ongoing in Palestine," Danish Ali said while speaking to ANI. Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, Janata Dal (United) leader KC Tyagi, Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Shahid Siddiqui, Samajwadi Party leader Javed Ali Khan and other political leaders paid a visit to the Palestine ambassador to show their support for the Palestinian cause. Rajya Sabha MP Javed Ali Khan said that India has been sharing good ties with Palestinians traditionally. "We have come to meet Palestine ambassador to express solidarity with the Palestinians. India has been sharing good ties with Palestinians traditionally. We are friends with Palestine. In this time of difficulty when imperialist forces and Israel are oppressing them, we are standing with them," Javed Ali Khan said speaking to ANI. Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) leader Shahid Siddiqui said that the traditional position on Israel was that of Mahatma Gandhi, Ram Manohar Lohia, Jayprakash Narayan and Atal Bihari Vajpayee. "The policy of India, which was that of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr Lohia, Jayprakash Narayan, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, that we believe in the rights of Palestine. We recognise Israel but Palestine should get right to its own nation. The attack on them in Gaza is against the rules of the United Nations and international law," Siddiqui said. CPI (ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said that the ongoing violence in Gaza is nothing short of an "openly declared genocide". "We came here to express our solidarity on behalf of Indian people. Right now, we all know whatever happened on the 7th of October but it has not stopped there. Right now what is happening in Gaza is nothing short of a very openly declared genocide. We cannot allow this to go on like this," Bhattacharya said. ALSO READ | Operation Ajay: SpiceJet plane faces tech issue in Tel Aviv; aircraft taken to Jordan to fix problem Following the meeting, Adnan Abu al Haija, the Ambassador of Palestine in India expressed hope that India will play a role in stopping the siege on Palestinians in Gaza. "We discussed the situation in Gaza and in Palestine in general and they presented their solidarity with the Palestinian people... We hope India will play a good role in stopping the siege on our people of Gaza and putting pressure on the Israeli government for humanitarian aid to our people in Gaza," he said. The Hamas-run health ministry said on Monday that some 2,329 Palestinians have been killed and another 9,042 have been wounded in Israeli retaliatory airstrikes in the Gaza Strip. The Israel Defense Forces has said it has killed some 1,500 Palestinian terrorists in Israeli territory after they breached the border fence and rampaged murderously in southern Israel, killing over 1,300 people, mostly civilians. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp NEW DELHI: Bahujan Samaj Party MP Danish Ali who came to meet Palestine ambassador Adnan Abu al Haija in the national capital on Monday said that the group of opposition MPs and other politicians want to express their solidarity with the people of Palestine. "We have come to express our solidarity for the Palestinian people. We want to tell them through their Ambassador that we are with them. We want to convey that the Parliamentarians from India are in opposition to the violence that is ongoing in Palestine," Danish Ali said while speaking to ANI. Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, Janata Dal (United) leader KC Tyagi, Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Shahid Siddiqui, Samajwadi Party leader Javed Ali Khan and other political leaders paid a visit to the Palestine ambassador to show their support for the Palestinian cause.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Rajya Sabha MP Javed Ali Khan said that India has been sharing good ties with Palestinians traditionally. "We have come to meet Palestine ambassador to express solidarity with the Palestinians. India has been sharing good ties with Palestinians traditionally. We are friends with Palestine. In this time of difficulty when imperialist forces and Israel are oppressing them, we are standing with them," Javed Ali Khan said speaking to ANI. Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) leader Shahid Siddiqui said that the traditional position on Israel was that of Mahatma Gandhi, Ram Manohar Lohia, Jayprakash Narayan and Atal Bihari Vajpayee. "The policy of India, which was that of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr Lohia, Jayprakash Narayan, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, that we believe in the rights of Palestine. We recognise Israel but Palestine should get right to its own nation. The attack on them in Gaza is against the rules of the United Nations and international law," Siddiqui said. CPI (ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said that the ongoing violence in Gaza is nothing short of an "openly declared genocide". "We came here to express our solidarity on behalf of Indian people. Right now, we all know whatever happened on the 7th of October but it has not stopped there. Right now what is happening in Gaza is nothing short of a very openly declared genocide. We cannot allow this to go on like this," Bhattacharya said. ALSO READ | Operation Ajay: SpiceJet plane faces tech issue in Tel Aviv; aircraft taken to Jordan to fix problem Following the meeting, Adnan Abu al Haija, the Ambassador of Palestine in India expressed hope that India will play a role in stopping the siege on Palestinians in Gaza. "We discussed the situation in Gaza and in Palestine in general and they presented their solidarity with the Palestinian people... We hope India will play a good role in stopping the siege on our people of Gaza and putting pressure on the Israeli government for humanitarian aid to our people in Gaza," he said. The Hamas-run health ministry said on Monday that some 2,329 Palestinians have been killed and another 9,042 have been wounded in Israeli retaliatory airstrikes in the Gaza Strip. The Israel Defense Forces has said it has killed some 1,500 Palestinian terrorists in Israeli territory after they breached the border fence and rampaged murderously in southern Israel, killing over 1,300 people, mostly civilians. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By PTI NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court told the CBI and ED on Monday they cannot keep former deputy chief minister and AAP leader Manish Sisodia in jail for an "indefinite period" in the Delhi excise policy cases. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti asked Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the two probe agencies, when will the arguments on charges against Sisodia commence in the trial court. "You cannot keep him behind (bars) for an indefinite period. You cannot keep him behind like this. Once a chargesheet is filed in a case, arguments on charge should commence immediately," the bench told Raju. Raju told the bench the cases against Sisodia are at the stage of section 207 of CrPC (supply of documents to the accused) and after that, the arguments on charge will commence. "Why have the arguments on charge not yet commenced and when will they commence? Tell us by tomorrow (Tuesday)," Justice Khanna told Raju. The top court was hearing the bail pleas of Sisodia, who was arrested in the excise policy cases being probed by both the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). During the hour-long hearing, Raju said if a person of the rank of deputy chief minister and holding 18 portfolios, including that of the excise department, accepts bribe then a proper example needs to be set. "Just have a look at the role of this person. The consumers have been deprived of their money due to the policy changes. There are WhatsApp chats and other communications to show conspiracy of money laundering," Raju said while summarising his arguments on why Sisodia should not be granted bail. Raju claimed there was sufficient material to show the offence of money laundering and to buttress the allegation of Sisodia having tampered with evidence by destroying his mobile phones, grounds that are sufficient for denial of bail. "There was also an instance of arm-twisting where a wholesaler was forced to give up his licence while a firm was given the licence despite not qualifying the criteria," he said. Raju referred to the statement of Delhi businessman Dinesh Arora, an accused-turned-approver, and claimed he had told the probe agencies about the bribes Sisodia took. "He (Arora) has stated in his statement why he had not mentioned earlier the role of Sisodia and has said that he was afraid that he would be harmed," the ASG said. The bench asked whether prior approval had been taken to prosecute Sisodia under section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act to which Raju replied in the affirmative. Section 17A 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). Raju alleged the new excise policy encouraged cartelisation and was designed in such a manner that consumers ended up paying more. The hearing remained inconclusive and will continue on Tuesday. On October 5, the top court had posed a volley of questions to the CBI and the ED about the Delhi excise policy 'scam' and asked the anti-money laundering agency how a case was made out against Sisodia. The top court had said merely because some lobby or pressure groups had sought a certain policy change does not imply there was corruption or commission of crime unless an element of bribery was involved. ALSO READ | Supreme court questions CBI & ED on graft proof against Sisodia Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on February 26 for his alleged role in the 'scam'. He has been in custody since then. The ED arrested him in a money laundering case stemming from the CBI FIR on March 9 after questioning him in Tihar Jail. Sisodia resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28. The high court had denied him bail in the CBI case on May 30, saying having been the deputy chief minister and excise minister, he is a "high-profile" person who has the potential to influence the witnesses. On July 3, the high court declined him bail in the money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the city government's excise policy, holding that the charges against him are "very serious in nature". The Delhi government implemented the policy on November 17, 2021, but scrapped it at the end of September 2022 amid allegations of corruption. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court told the CBI and ED on Monday they cannot keep former deputy chief minister and AAP leader Manish Sisodia in jail for an "indefinite period" in the Delhi excise policy cases. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti asked Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the two probe agencies, when will the arguments on charges against Sisodia commence in the trial court. "You cannot keep him behind (bars) for an indefinite period. You cannot keep him behind like this. Once a chargesheet is filed in a case, arguments on charge should commence immediately," the bench told Raju.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Raju told the bench the cases against Sisodia are at the stage of section 207 of CrPC (supply of documents to the accused) and after that, the arguments on charge will commence. "Why have the arguments on charge not yet commenced and when will they commence? Tell us by tomorrow (Tuesday)," Justice Khanna told Raju. The top court was hearing the bail pleas of Sisodia, who was arrested in the excise policy cases being probed by both the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). During the hour-long hearing, Raju said if a person of the rank of deputy chief minister and holding 18 portfolios, including that of the excise department, accepts bribe then a proper example needs to be set. "Just have a look at the role of this person. The consumers have been deprived of their money due to the policy changes. There are WhatsApp chats and other communications to show conspiracy of money laundering," Raju said while summarising his arguments on why Sisodia should not be granted bail. Raju claimed there was sufficient material to show the offence of money laundering and to buttress the allegation of Sisodia having tampered with evidence by destroying his mobile phones, grounds that are sufficient for denial of bail. "There was also an instance of arm-twisting where a wholesaler was forced to give up his licence while a firm was given the licence despite not qualifying the criteria," he said. Raju referred to the statement of Delhi businessman Dinesh Arora, an accused-turned-approver, and claimed he had told the probe agencies about the bribes Sisodia took. "He (Arora) has stated in his statement why he had not mentioned earlier the role of Sisodia and has said that he was afraid that he would be harmed," the ASG said. The bench asked whether prior approval had been taken to prosecute Sisodia under section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act to which Raju replied in the affirmative. Section 17A 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). Raju alleged the new excise policy encouraged cartelisation and was designed in such a manner that consumers ended up paying more. The hearing remained inconclusive and will continue on Tuesday. On October 5, the top court had posed a volley of questions to the CBI and the ED about the Delhi excise policy 'scam' and asked the anti-money laundering agency how a case was made out against Sisodia. The top court had said merely because some lobby or pressure groups had sought a certain policy change does not imply there was corruption or commission of crime unless an element of bribery was involved. ALSO READ | Supreme court questions CBI & ED on graft proof against Sisodia Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on February 26 for his alleged role in the 'scam'. He has been in custody since then. The ED arrested him in a money laundering case stemming from the CBI FIR on March 9 after questioning him in Tihar Jail. Sisodia resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28. The high court had denied him bail in the CBI case on May 30, saying having been the deputy chief minister and excise minister, he is a "high-profile" person who has the potential to influence the witnesses. On July 3, the high court declined him bail in the money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the city government's excise policy, holding that the charges against him are "very serious in nature". The Delhi government implemented the policy on November 17, 2021, but scrapped it at the end of September 2022 amid allegations of corruption. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By PTI NEW DELHI: The defence ministry on Monday signed a Rs 313 crore contract with the Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) for mid-life upgrade and re-powering of frontline frigate INS Beas. Ministry of Defence, today inked a deal for the Mid Life Upgrade and Re-Powering of 'INS Beas' with Cochin Shipyard Limited at a cost of Rs. 313> Read more:https://t.co/XAR9JJjvbk@giridhararamane pic.twitter.com/O4iNSAaonR A. Bharat Bhushan Babu (@SpokespersonMoD) October 16, 2023 The ministry said the transformative maiden re-powering project marks a significant stride in the maintenance philosophy of the Indian Navy and repair capabilities of CSL. The Ministry of defence signed a contract on October 16 in New Delhi for mid-life upgrade and re-powering of INS Beas with Kochi-based M/S Cochin Shipyard Limited at an overall cost of Rs 313.42 crore, it said. INS Beas is the first of Brahmaputra class frigates to be re-powered from steam to diesel propulsion. After completion of the mid-life upgrade and re-powering in 2026, INS Beas will join the active fleet of the Indian Navy with a modernised weapon suite and upgraded combat capability, the ministry said in a statement. The transformative maiden re-powering project marks a significant stride in the maintenance philosophy of the Indian Navy and repair capabilities of M/S CSL, it said. The project would involve more than 50 MSMEs and would lead to generation of employment for more than 3,500 personnel, the ministry said. It said the project will be a proud flag bearer of theAtmanirbhar Bharat initiative in consonance with the Make-in-India programme of the government. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp NEW DELHI: The defence ministry on Monday signed a Rs 313 crore contract with the Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) for mid-life upgrade and re-powering of frontline frigate INS Beas. Ministry of Defence, today inked a deal for the Mid Life Upgrade and Re-Powering of 'INS Beas' with Cochin Shipyard Limited at a cost of Rs. 313> Read more:https://t.co/XAR9JJjvbk@giridhararamane pic.twitter.com/O4iNSAaonR A. Bharat Bhushan Babu (@SpokespersonMoD) October 16, 2023 The ministry said the transformative maiden re-powering project marks a significant stride in the maintenance philosophy of the Indian Navy and repair capabilities of CSL. The Ministry of defence signed a contract on October 16 in New Delhi for mid-life upgrade and re-powering of INS Beas with Kochi-based M/S Cochin Shipyard Limited at an overall cost of Rs 313.42 crore, it said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); INS Beas is the first of Brahmaputra class frigates to be re-powered from steam to diesel propulsion. After completion of the mid-life upgrade and re-powering in 2026, INS Beas will join the active fleet of the Indian Navy with a modernised weapon suite and upgraded combat capability, the ministry said in a statement. The transformative maiden re-powering project marks a significant stride in the maintenance philosophy of the Indian Navy and repair capabilities of M/S CSL, it said. The project would involve more than 50 MSMEs and would lead to generation of employment for more than 3,500 personnel, the ministry said. It said the project will be a proud flag bearer of theAtmanirbhar Bharat initiative in consonance with the Make-in-India programme of the government. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp OCT. 19 The Dothan/Houston County Education Retirees will meet on Thursday, Oct. 19, at the Golden Corral Restaurant at 11 a.m. Plan to arrive early. Guest speaker will be Anita Gibson, NEA-Retired President. Price of the buffet will remain the same at $9.95 plus drink. All members are encouraged to attend and asked to bring a food donation for a local charity. OCT. 19 The Houston County Republican Women will meet Thursday, Oct. 19, at Wiregrass Rehabilitation Center, 795 Ross Clark Circle. October meetings are always the third Thursday, with meet-and-greet beginning at 11 a.m.; lunch at 11:30 a.m.; and the meeting at noon. Please RSVP by Friday, Oct. 13, to hcrwdothan@gmail.com. The speaker will be Houston County Sheriff Donald Valenza. OCT. 19 Disabled American Veterans, a nonprofit charity that provides a lifetime of support for veterans of all generations and their families, helping more than 1 million veterans in positive, life-changing ways each year, will hold an Information Seminar program Thursday, Oct. 19 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at DAV Chapter #87, 301 W. Lafayette St., in Dothan. Staffed by DAV national service officers, our information seminars provide professional support throughout the claims and appeals process. Veterans attending a seminar should bring identification, their Social Security number and any other pertinent documentation regarding their military service. DAV membership is not required to utilize these free services. To learn more about DAV and our many services available to veterans, please visit DAV.org. OCT. 24 Understanding Pharmacogenomics, part of the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology education series, will be held Tuesday, Oct. 24, in the morning and evening. The event will be held in Dothan at 10 a.m. at the Wiregrass Foundation, 1532 Whatley Dr., and in Ozark at 5:30 p.m. at the Dale County Government Office Building, 202 S. Highway 123. Residents will learn about pharmacogenomics, a rapidly growing field that deals with how genetic changes affect the way a person responds to certain medications. They will learn how genetic changes are part of the explanation for why a medicine may work spectacularly in one person, not at all for another, and produce harmful side effects in a third. Understanding Pharmacogenomics will dig into this emerging field and what it can, and cannot, tell you about your health. The events are free and open to the public. Pre-registration is required, as space is limited. Register now at this link: https://www.hudsonalpha.org/u/wiregrass/#upcoming-events OCT. 26 The DAV Wiregrass Chapter 99 (New Brockton) October 2023 meeting will be Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, at 6:30 p.m. The meeting will take place in the New Brockton Senior Center, New Brockton, AL. Also, Chapter 99 maintains a help desk located at the New Brockton Town Hall. Hours of operation are 9 to 11 a.m. every Wednesda. This is a free service to anyone desiring help with a VA claim. For further information contact Charles Lobdell at 334-718-5707 or Mike Doran at 334-406-6700. OCT. 26 A Consumer Awareness luncheon sponsored by the Wiregrass Chapter of the National Active and Retired Federal Employee Association is Oct. 26 at 11 a.m. at the Enterprise Country Club, 3000 Ozark Highway in Enterprise. Guest speaker is Jazmyn Frazier, Executive Director of Kelley Place and Madison Heights Memory Care in Enterprise. For more information please contact Frank Zerbinos at (334)447-8092. OCT 27 & 28 Ma-Chis Lower Creek Indian Tribe of Alabama invites everyone to the Ma-Chis Lower Creek Indian Tribe of Alabama Pow Wow Oct. 27 and 28 which will be held for the first time on our tribal land located at 2950 County Road 377, Elba. The event runs from time 8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. The entrance fee is $1 for everyone. Please bring your lawn chair and dress comfortable. There will be demonstrators, vendors from various tribes throughout southeast United States. Come out and enjoy Indian Fry bread, arts, and crafts. For additional information contact Chief James Wright at the following machiscreeks@outlook.com or call (334) 897-3207, or (334) 449-0607. OCT. 28 The Southeast Alabama Coalition for the Homeless (SEACH) will sponsor a Homeless Connect & Point-In-Time Count event in Dothan on Saturday, Oct. 25, from 9 a.m. to noon at the OCHEC Building, 1001 Montana St., in Dothan. Those who are homeless or at-risk for homelessness can attend for resources for food and clothing, housing, legal assistance, healthcare, mental health resources, job placement and more. Lunch will be provided. APRIL 9, 2024 The Harlem Globetrotters bring the 2024 world tour to the Dothan Civic Center on Tuesday, April 9. Harlem Globetrotters fans can score the best seats at https://www.tixr.com/groups/dcc/globetrotters beginning Oct. 16, 2023, at 10 a.m. Presale tickets are available beginning Oct. 9 at 10:00 a.m. with code LoveDothan at https://www.tixr.com/groups/dcc/globetrotters. ONGOING The Gen. William C. Oates Chapter No. 1342 of the United Daughters of the Confederacy meets the second Thursday from September through May. Women ages 18 and older who have ancestors who fought in the Civil War are eligible for membership, and help will be provided to prove your first Confederate ancestors lineage. For meeting locations and information, call Ceya Minder at 334-794-7480 or email ceya.minder@gmail.com. Sons of Confederate Veterans, General William C. Oates Chapter meets on the third Monday of the month at 6:30 p.m. Anyone who is interested in Confederate history is invited to attend. Genealogy help will be provided to connect you with your Confederate ancestor. For more information contact Joe Rich, 334-791-2450, or email SCVDOTHAN3@GMAIL.COM The Ray of Hope Grief Support Group meets the first Saturday of each month at 10 a.m. at Parks Chapel A.M.E. Church, located at 1053 E. Selma St., Dothan. The purpose of the group is to assist those struggling with issues of grief and loss, including but not limited to, death of a loved one, loss of relationships, etc. The meeting is free and open to the public. For more information, call 334-794-4811 or 850-692-1618. The Greater Dothan Area Lions Club meets the first Tuesday of the month at noon at the Old Mill Restaurant on Murphy Mill Road in Dothan. For more information, contact Lori Perkins at 334-803-0319. Concerned Citizens of the Wiregrass will meet the second Saturday of each month at 2 p.m. at Shoneys on the Ross Clark Circle in Dothan. Grievances and problems within the county will be addressed and information on how to make improvements via county officials, etc. Bring your friends and as many as possible. The South Alabama Liberty Foundation will meet at 6:30 p.m. every first Tuesday of the month at Wiregrass Outdoors, located at 818 N. Ouida St. in Enterprise. The nonpartisan group advocates that liberty along with peace, justice, and freedom belongs to every American to appreciate and enjoy as written in the U.S. Constitution, and that this is possible only with an honest, fair, and well-regulated government that respects its citizens. No reservations necessary, and admission is free. Email SA-Liberty@proton.me for more information. Land of Cotton Smocking Guild meets the second Thursday of each month at 10 a.m. at Piney Grove Assembly of God Church, 206 County Road 9 in Wicksburg. The guild is involved in a Wee Care Project, creating preemie gowns, garments for infants in NICU, and bereavement pouches. For more information, contact Carol Ann Pileggi at 850-516-9960 or Joann Carpenter at 334- 790-8328. Enterprise Military Support Group will not meet in June and July. If anyone needs to talk, call Dr. Granger at 334-447-2252 or John Logsdon at 334-806-2636. The Kiwanis Club of Dothan meets every Wednesday from noon to 1 p.m. at the Dothan Country Club, located at 200 S. Cherokee Ave. in Dothan. Anyone may attend as a guest of the Kiwanis. If you plan to attend, contact the club via kiwanisdothan.com or call 334-355-6877. The Columbia Historical Society meets every third Monday at 6:30 p.m. at the Train Depot on Highway 52. All guests are welcome. The Columbia Historical Museum will be open the second Saturday monthly from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 105 S. Main St. in Columbia. The Disabled American Veterans Auxiliary Dothan Unit #87 will meet every third Thursday of the month at 6 p.m. at Harvest Church, located at 2727 Fortner St. in Dothan. The group will meet in the Main Cafe located in the churchs Building A. Call 334-596-9610 for more information. Dothan Newcomers Club, a social organization, meets the first Thursday of the month in the fellowship hall of First Christian Church, 1401 N. Cherokee Ave. Social time begins at 9:30 a.m., followed by the business meeting at 10 a.m. The club is open to individuals who have moved into the Dothan or Wiregrass area within the past five years or who have faced a change in status (retirement, death of a spouse, divorce) within the past five years. For more information, visit www.dothannewcomers.com, or Facebook @DothanNewcomers, or contact Elaine Brackin, president, via email at dncpresident3@gmail.com. Alcoholics Anonymous holds regular meetings in the Wiregrass including Ashford, Dothan, Eufaula, and Headland under the organizations District 10 (www.aadothan.org) meeting locations and Andalusia, Daleville, Enterprise, Level Plains, Opp, Ozark, and Troy under the organizations District 11 (www.district11aa.com) meeting locations. Visit www.aaarea1.org for a complete list of districts for Alabama and Northwest Florida. A Disabled American Veterans chapter service officer will be located at the New Brockton Town Hall every Wednesday from 9 to 11 a.m. Any veteran needing help with a VA claim is welcome. This is on a walk-in basis; no appointment is needed. For more information, contact Mike Doran at 334-406-6700. The DAV van service for local veterans will make runs to Montgomery and Tuskegee on Mondays and Fridays. The van will leave from the Hardees restaurant on Rucker Boulevard in Enterprise at 5 a.m. and from the Dothan Civic Center at 5:30 a.m. Due to COVID restrictions, there is only space for four riders each trip. Veterans who need rides to VA hospitals in Montgomery or Tuskegee can call 334-308-2480 to reserve a seat on the Enterprise van or 334-446-0866 for the Dothan van. Square Dancing will be held every Monday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Enterprise YMCA, located on Highway 27 across from Hobby Lobby in Enterprise. Singles and couples welcomed. Never danced? Theyll teach you. For more information, call 334-237-0466 or 334-347-4513. The Landmark Dulcimer Club has a jam and practice session every first Saturday of the month at 1 p.m. You do not have to know how to read music. We prefer you bring your own Mountain Dulcimer but we do have a few practice dulcimers you can borrow if you want to give it a try. The event is free with paid gate admission. Show your instrument and get in for free. Meets in the Interpretive Center Auditorium. Landmark Park hosts a Reptile Feeding every first Sunday at 2:30 p.m. in the Interpretive Center Lobby. The event is free with paid gate admission. Meet our snakes and turtles and learn why these animals are so important to the environment. The Wiregrass Woodturners host a club meeting and woodturning demo every second Saturday of the month at 9:30 a.m. in the Interpretive Center Classroom at Landmark Park. The public is invited to visit and learn how to make beautiful wooden items turned on a lathe. The event is free with paid gate admission. Wiregrass Woodturner members get in free. The Evening Star Quilt Guild gathers from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. every second Saturday for an informal sewing circle with your textile-based crafts at the Landmark Park Sit and Sew in the Interpretive Center Auditorium. The event is free with paid gate admission. The circle is free for Quilt Guild members. Space is limited, first come first served. Pickin in the Park takes place every second Saturday of the month at 10 a.m. Join musicians at Landmark Park in Dothan for a bluegrass, country and gospel jam session. Visitors are welcome to listen or participate. The event is free with paid gate admission. Show your instrument at the gate to receive free admission. All ages and skill levels are welcome. The Landmark Park Antique Tractor Club will meet on the third Saturday of each month at 9:30 a.m. in the Interpretive Center Library at Landmark Park. This club has been established as a way for tractor enthusiasts to come together to share pictures of tractors, share interesting articles, trade/sell and enjoy the fellowship. The club participates in several tractor shows and tractor pulls during the year. To become a member, visit the meeting or email David Jay, david@landmarkparkdothan.com. The event is free with paid gate admission. Mention this meeting at the gate to receive free park admission. Landmark Park admission will be waived every fifth Saturday of the month. By Express News Service AHEAD of an imminent ground assault on Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday convened the first meeting of the emergency cabinet. If Hamas thought we would fall apart, then no: We will tear Hamas apart, he said. The Israeli troops are waiting at the border for the green signal to march to Gaza City, from where hundreds of thousands have fled to southern Gaza Strip. Describing the situation in Gaza Strip as catastrophic, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency working for Palestine refugees said there is acute shortage of food, water, and medicines for children, pregnant women and elderly in the UN shelters. According to reports, hospitals in Gaza are packed with wounded people and are running low on fuel and other basic supplies. Medics have warned that thousands could die if power is not restored. Meanwhile, Israel on Sunday reiterated its demand that those in northern Gaza must move to the southern part. It is also planning to resume water supply to southern Gaza. This will push the civilian population to the southern (part of the) Strip, said Israels Energy Minister Israel Katz. The move comes a week after Israel had stopped supplying water to the entire territory as part of a complete siege imposed on the Palestinian enclave. On Sunday, Iran and China slammed Israel for escalating the conflict, which has claimed at least 3,600 lives so far. Irans foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned the situation would go out of control if Israel sends its soldiers into Gaza. China said Israels actions have far exceeded the scope of self defence. SpiceJet on Sunday brought in 320 Indian passengers from Israel under Operation Ajay. The airline will operate another flight from Tel Aviv to Delhi on Monday morning. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp AHEAD of an imminent ground assault on Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday convened the first meeting of the emergency cabinet. If Hamas thought we would fall apart, then no: We will tear Hamas apart, he said. The Israeli troops are waiting at the border for the green signal to march to Gaza City, from where hundreds of thousands have fled to southern Gaza Strip. Describing the situation in Gaza Strip as catastrophic, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency working for Palestine refugees said there is acute shortage of food, water, and medicines for children, pregnant women and elderly in the UN shelters. According to reports, hospitals in Gaza are packed with wounded people and are running low on fuel and other basic supplies. Medics have warned that thousands could die if power is not restored. Meanwhile, Israel on Sunday reiterated its demand that those in northern Gaza must move to the southern part. It is also planning to resume water supply to southern Gaza. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); This will push the civilian population to the southern (part of the) Strip, said Israels Energy Minister Israel Katz. The move comes a week after Israel had stopped supplying water to the entire territory as part of a complete siege imposed on the Palestinian enclave. On Sunday, Iran and China slammed Israel for escalating the conflict, which has claimed at least 3,600 lives so far. Irans foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned the situation would go out of control if Israel sends its soldiers into Gaza. China said Israels actions have far exceeded the scope of self defence. SpiceJet on Sunday brought in 320 Indian passengers from Israel under Operation Ajay. The airline will operate another flight from Tel Aviv to Delhi on Monday morning. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Rajesh Kumar Thakur By Express News Service NEW DELHI: At the ninth G20 Parliamentary Speakers Summit (P20), India has categorically left a message to its counterparts that the country maintains zero tolerance against terrorism and will never allow any terrorist activity against another country on its soil, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said on Sunday. India has a clear stand against terrorism. Not an iota of compromise is done against terrorism and India never supported, nor will it support, terrorism in any form, he said at a press conference, while replying to a media query. He was responding to a question on whether any Speaker from the G20 countries had raised the issue of presence of people in India who were pursuing separatist activities abroad. The position of the government is very clear in this regard. The Prime Minister has also said it in his statement. The government has made it clear that terrorism and terror activities have no place in India, Birla added. Birla went on to say that India never tolerated any form of terrorism, whether it is in the form of religion or caste. Terrorism is terrorism, and no form of terror will find any support in India. This is the clear government policy, Birla clarified. Replying to another query, he said that 13 bilateral meetings were held with the speakers and other presiding officers from G20 nations and others invited, during the P20 Summit. The Speaker also said that as many as 436 delegates, including presiding officers of 27 nations and 49 Members of Parliament participated in the two-day summit that concluded on October 14. He claimed that among all the P20 summits, the ninth summit drew the maximum attendance so far and a consensus on the joint statement was the key highlight. India, hosting the P20 Summit, has offered to set up an expert group on legislative drafting, as this is an area in which the Indian Parliament has considerable expertise and has organised training sessions for parliaments of several countries. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp NEW DELHI: At the ninth G20 Parliamentary Speakers Summit (P20), India has categorically left a message to its counterparts that the country maintains zero tolerance against terrorism and will never allow any terrorist activity against another country on its soil, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said on Sunday. India has a clear stand against terrorism. Not an iota of compromise is done against terrorism and India never supported, nor will it support, terrorism in any form, he said at a press conference, while replying to a media query. He was responding to a question on whether any Speaker from the G20 countries had raised the issue of presence of people in India who were pursuing separatist activities abroad. The position of the government is very clear in this regard. The Prime Minister has also said it in his statement. The government has made it clear that terrorism and terror activities have no place in India, Birla added. Birla went on to say that India never tolerated any form of terrorism, whether it is in the form of religion or caste. Terrorism is terrorism, and no form of terror will find any support in India. This is the clear government policy, Birla clarified.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Replying to another query, he said that 13 bilateral meetings were held with the speakers and other presiding officers from G20 nations and others invited, during the P20 Summit. The Speaker also said that as many as 436 delegates, including presiding officers of 27 nations and 49 Members of Parliament participated in the two-day summit that concluded on October 14. He claimed that among all the P20 summits, the ninth summit drew the maximum attendance so far and a consensus on the joint statement was the key highlight. India, hosting the P20 Summit, has offered to set up an expert group on legislative drafting, as this is an area in which the Indian Parliament has considerable expertise and has organised training sessions for parliaments of several countries. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Fayaz Wani By Express News Service SRINAGAR: With local militant recruitment in Kashmir falling to only 10 this year after touching the peak of 218 in 2018, security top brass have opined that militancy will wane due to less recruitment and cross-border elements will find it difficult to sustain terror activities in the union territory. J&K police chief Dilbagh Singh has disclosed that only 10 local youth joined militancy in Kashmir this year. Of the 10 new recruits, six were killed in encounters with security forces. In 2022, about 100 local youth had joined militant ranks and 65 new recruits were killed in the encounters. According to police data, 128 youth had joined militancy in 2021, 167 in 2020, 119 in 2019, 218 in 2018, 128 in 2017 and 88 in 2016. The militant recruitment in the Valley had picked up after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander and poster boy of new age militant Burhan Wani in an encounter with security forces in July 2016. The militant recruitment had touched the peak of 218 in 2018 and since then security agencies had been working to dissuade local youth from joining militancy. The considerable drop in militant recruitment is good news. The militancy will wane due to less local recruitment. And in such a scenario, Pakistan will find it difficult to sustain militancy in the region, former J&K Police chief S P Vaid told this newspaper. He said there are many reasons for drop in local recruitment including the prevailing turmoil in Pakistan. Pakistans internal situation is very bad and this has disillusioned people, especially youth and they are now moving away from militancy and violence. The youth of Kashmir are very intelligent and they know what is the situation in Pakistan and what can they gain from it, he said. The former J&K police chief said the security grid is very strong and security forces have gone all out against the militants within J&K. Besides, the anti-infiltration grid at the LoC and International Border has been strengthened and infiltration bids are being foiled by troops , thus preventing infiltration of militants into J&K. The authorities, he said, have also successfully countered the radicalization of youth being done by Pakistan and its sponsored agencies. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp SRINAGAR: With local militant recruitment in Kashmir falling to only 10 this year after touching the peak of 218 in 2018, security top brass have opined that militancy will wane due to less recruitment and cross-border elements will find it difficult to sustain terror activities in the union territory. J&K police chief Dilbagh Singh has disclosed that only 10 local youth joined militancy in Kashmir this year. Of the 10 new recruits, six were killed in encounters with security forces. In 2022, about 100 local youth had joined militant ranks and 65 new recruits were killed in the encounters. According to police data, 128 youth had joined militancy in 2021, 167 in 2020, 119 in 2019, 218 in 2018, 128 in 2017 and 88 in 2016. The militant recruitment in the Valley had picked up after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander and poster boy of new age militant Burhan Wani in an encounter with security forces in July 2016.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The militant recruitment had touched the peak of 218 in 2018 and since then security agencies had been working to dissuade local youth from joining militancy. The considerable drop in militant recruitment is good news. The militancy will wane due to less local recruitment. And in such a scenario, Pakistan will find it difficult to sustain militancy in the region, former J&K Police chief S P Vaid told this newspaper. He said there are many reasons for drop in local recruitment including the prevailing turmoil in Pakistan. Pakistans internal situation is very bad and this has disillusioned people, especially youth and they are now moving away from militancy and violence. The youth of Kashmir are very intelligent and they know what is the situation in Pakistan and what can they gain from it, he said. The former J&K police chief said the security grid is very strong and security forces have gone all out against the militants within J&K. Besides, the anti-infiltration grid at the LoC and International Border has been strengthened and infiltration bids are being foiled by troops , thus preventing infiltration of militants into J&K. The authorities, he said, have also successfully countered the radicalization of youth being done by Pakistan and its sponsored agencies. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By PTI NOIDA: As the media watches, Ram Kishan hurls a brick into the abandoned bungalow of Moninder Singh Pandher, anger and frustration reflecting on his face. The labourer's three-year-old son was one of the victims of the 2006 serial killings. Emotions overflowed as nearly two-decade-old wounds were opened again on Monday with an order of the Allahabad High Court that acquitted domestic help Surendra Koli and his employer Pandher in the case for lack of evidence. After throwing the brick, Ram Kishan doesn't speak to anyone and walks home, two minutes away from Pandher's bungalow. The acquittal of Pandher and Koli recalled for many the chilling crime targeting young children that came to light with skeletal remains being found behind Pandher's bungalow in Sector 30, adjoining Nithari village. READ HERE | Why Surinder Koli is not yet out of the net in Nithari Murder Case A two-judge bench of Justices Ashwani Kumar Mishra and SHA Rizvi allowed the appeals filed by Koli and Pandher, who were challenging the death sentence given by a CBI court in Ghaziabad. The high court said the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. Jhabbu Lal (63) and Sunita Devi (60), who lost their daughter, expressed sadness over the latest judgment. "We are not satisfied with the judgment. This is not right. When someone killing several children gets acquitted, imagine what punishment will those get who kill just one or two people," Lal said. The couple meets their daily expenses by ironing clothes barely 50 metres away from the Pandher's abandoned bungalow. Lal said he has spent around Rs 4 lakh in fees to lawyers till date and had to even sell off a plot for it. Sunita Devi, busy ironing clothes but intermittently speaking to reporters, said, "We appeal to PM (Narendra) Modi and CM Yogi Adityanath that those who killed our children should be hanged." "What kind of law is this which is acquitting these monsters," she wondered. Ashok and Rajwati, who now run a footwear shop in Nithari village, had lost their 5-year-old son in the serial killings. "Our son was born eight years after our marriage...We have lost all hope of justice now, it's been 17 years now," Rajwati said. It has been learnt that other victim families no longer live in Nithari village. Koli is currently lodged in a Ghaziabad prison, while Pandher languishes in a Noida jail. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp NOIDA: As the media watches, Ram Kishan hurls a brick into the abandoned bungalow of Moninder Singh Pandher, anger and frustration reflecting on his face. The labourer's three-year-old son was one of the victims of the 2006 serial killings. Emotions overflowed as nearly two-decade-old wounds were opened again on Monday with an order of the Allahabad High Court that acquitted domestic help Surendra Koli and his employer Pandher in the case for lack of evidence.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); After throwing the brick, Ram Kishan doesn't speak to anyone and walks home, two minutes away from Pandher's bungalow. The acquittal of Pandher and Koli recalled for many the chilling crime targeting young children that came to light with skeletal remains being found behind Pandher's bungalow in Sector 30, adjoining Nithari village. READ HERE | Why Surinder Koli is not yet out of the net in Nithari Murder Case A two-judge bench of Justices Ashwani Kumar Mishra and SHA Rizvi allowed the appeals filed by Koli and Pandher, who were challenging the death sentence given by a CBI court in Ghaziabad. The high court said the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. Jhabbu Lal (63) and Sunita Devi (60), who lost their daughter, expressed sadness over the latest judgment. "We are not satisfied with the judgment. This is not right. When someone killing several children gets acquitted, imagine what punishment will those get who kill just one or two people," Lal said. The couple meets their daily expenses by ironing clothes barely 50 metres away from the Pandher's abandoned bungalow. Lal said he has spent around Rs 4 lakh in fees to lawyers till date and had to even sell off a plot for it. Sunita Devi, busy ironing clothes but intermittently speaking to reporters, said, "We appeal to PM (Narendra) Modi and CM Yogi Adityanath that those who killed our children should be hanged." "What kind of law is this which is acquitting these monsters," she wondered. Ashok and Rajwati, who now run a footwear shop in Nithari village, had lost their 5-year-old son in the serial killings. "Our son was born eight years after our marriage...We have lost all hope of justice now, it's been 17 years now," Rajwati said. It has been learnt that other victim families no longer live in Nithari village. Koli is currently lodged in a Ghaziabad prison, while Pandher languishes in a Noida jail. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Prasanta Mazumdar By Express News Service GUWAHATI: Slamming Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not visiting ethnic violence-hit Manipur, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the former is more interested in Israel than the northeastern state. Some months ago, I went to Manipur and I could not believe what I sawPeople have been murdered, women molested, babies killed but the PM does not find it important to travel there. It amazes me that the PM and the Government of India are interested in what is happening in Israel but not Manipur, Gandhi told a gathering in Mizoram capital Aizawl after taking part in a padayatra. The landlocked state, which has 40 Assembly seats, is going to election on November 7. I simply cannot understand why the PM has not visited Manipur. It is something to be ashamed of that the leader of our Union has not travelled to Manipur after what happened there, Gandhi said. Over 12,000 Kukis from Manipur have been taking shelter in Mizoram since fleeing the ethnic violence. Mizo, Kuki, Zomi, Hmar, Chin (Myanmar) and Kuki-Chin (Bangladesh) tribals are ethnic cousins, belonging to Zo community, and they share the same ancestry, culture and tradition. The Manipur violence is an emotive issue for the Zo tribals and therefore, Gandhis attack of Modi on the Manipur issue assumes significance in the poll-bound Mizoram. Alleging that the BJP is carrying out an oppression on the people of India, he said the violence in Manipur was just a symptom of the problem. He said the same problem could be seen in a smaller forms in many parts of the country where minority communities, tribals and Dalits were feeling uncomfortable. "There is an oppression being carried out on the people of India," the former Congress president alleged. Gandhi also said that the idea of India is under attack by the saffron party, which targets different communities, religions and languages. "The idea of India that respects each other, is tolerant, learns from other ideas, religions and languages and that loves itself as a whole...That is the idea of India which is under attack by the BJP. They spread hatred and violence in the country. They spread arrogance, lack of understanding and this is completely against the idea of India," he said. He slammed the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) for its alliance with the BJP, stating that while the saffron party attacks your culture, religion and tradition, the MNF supports them in Delhi. Gandhi also attacked Mizoram's government on issues including drugs, unemployment and underdevelopment. I would like you to consider what the government has done over the last five years. Drugs are spreading rampantly across the future generation, he said. He added that a person, who worked with him and runs an NGO that fights the drug menace, told him that unemployment is the main reason behind the drug problem in Mizoram. Over the last five years, the MNF government created only 2,000 jobs. Your infrastructure, roads are in a shambles and they are destroying the economic future of the state, Gandhi said. He claimed that the Congress always has a good record of governance and development and that the Congress-ruled states have a vision and concept of development. "We will defend your culture, religion and tradition...because if Mizo culture, tradition and language is attacked and destroyed, then India is attacked and destroyed. We love your diversity, perspective and way of looking at the world and at life. This is our most valuable asset, as it is the heart of Mizoram," he said. *********** AIZAWAL: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday charged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was more concerned about happenings in Israel than in Manipur, which has been riven by an ethnic conflict since May this year. Addressing a rally near Raj Bhavan here after undertaking a 2-km-long padayatra through the city roads, he said that neighbouring Manipur is no longer a unified single state, but has been divided into two states on ethnic lines. Gandhi, who began a two-day visit to poll-bound Mizoram, asserted that the Congress had ushered in peace in the insurgency-hit northeastern state with the signing of a peace accord in 1986. "It is amazing to me that the PM and the Government of India are so interested in what is happening in Israel (Israel-Hamas conflict) but not interested at all in what is happening in Manipur, where people have been murdered, women molested and babies killed," he said. "The idea of India that respects each other is tolerant, learns from other ideas, religions and languages and that loves itself as a whole. That is the idea of India which is under attack by the BJP. "They (BJP) attack different communities, religions and languages. They spread hatred and violence in the country. They spread arrogance, lack of understanding and this is completely against the idea of India," he added. Elections to the 40-member Mizoram Assembly are scheduled on November 7. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp GUWAHATI: Slamming Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not visiting ethnic violence-hit Manipur, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the former is more interested in Israel than the northeastern state. Some months ago, I went to Manipur and I could not believe what I sawPeople have been murdered, women molested, babies killed but the PM does not find it important to travel there. It amazes me that the PM and the Government of India are interested in what is happening in Israel but not Manipur, Gandhi told a gathering in Mizoram capital Aizawl after taking part in a padayatra. The landlocked state, which has 40 Assembly seats, is going to election on November 7. I simply cannot understand why the PM has not visited Manipur. It is something to be ashamed of that the leader of our Union has not travelled to Manipur after what happened there, Gandhi said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Over 12,000 Kukis from Manipur have been taking shelter in Mizoram since fleeing the ethnic violence. Mizo, Kuki, Zomi, Hmar, Chin (Myanmar) and Kuki-Chin (Bangladesh) tribals are ethnic cousins, belonging to Zo community, and they share the same ancestry, culture and tradition. The Manipur violence is an emotive issue for the Zo tribals and therefore, Gandhis attack of Modi on the Manipur issue assumes significance in the poll-bound Mizoram. Alleging that the BJP is carrying out an oppression on the people of India, he said the violence in Manipur was just a symptom of the problem. He said the same problem could be seen in a smaller forms in many parts of the country where minority communities, tribals and Dalits were feeling uncomfortable. "There is an oppression being carried out on the people of India," the former Congress president alleged. Gandhi also said that the idea of India is under attack by the saffron party, which targets different communities, religions and languages. "The idea of India that respects each other, is tolerant, learns from other ideas, religions and languages and that loves itself as a whole...That is the idea of India which is under attack by the BJP. They spread hatred and violence in the country. They spread arrogance, lack of understanding and this is completely against the idea of India," he said. He slammed the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) for its alliance with the BJP, stating that while the saffron party attacks your culture, religion and tradition, the MNF supports them in Delhi. Gandhi also attacked Mizoram's government on issues including drugs, unemployment and underdevelopment. I would like you to consider what the government has done over the last five years. Drugs are spreading rampantly across the future generation, he said. He added that a person, who worked with him and runs an NGO that fights the drug menace, told him that unemployment is the main reason behind the drug problem in Mizoram. Over the last five years, the MNF government created only 2,000 jobs. Your infrastructure, roads are in a shambles and they are destroying the economic future of the state, Gandhi said. He claimed that the Congress always has a good record of governance and development and that the Congress-ruled states have a vision and concept of development. "We will defend your culture, religion and tradition...because if Mizo culture, tradition and language is attacked and destroyed, then India is attacked and destroyed. We love your diversity, perspective and way of looking at the world and at life. This is our most valuable asset, as it is the heart of Mizoram," he said. *********** AIZAWAL: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday charged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was more concerned about happenings in Israel than in Manipur, which has been riven by an ethnic conflict since May this year. Addressing a rally near Raj Bhavan here after undertaking a 2-km-long padayatra through the city roads, he said that neighbouring Manipur is no longer a unified single state, but has been divided into two states on ethnic lines. Gandhi, who began a two-day visit to poll-bound Mizoram, asserted that the Congress had ushered in peace in the insurgency-hit northeastern state with the signing of a peace accord in 1986. "It is amazing to me that the PM and the Government of India are so interested in what is happening in Israel (Israel-Hamas conflict) but not interested at all in what is happening in Manipur, where people have been murdered, women molested and babies killed," he said. "The idea of India that respects each other is tolerant, learns from other ideas, religions and languages and that loves itself as a whole. That is the idea of India which is under attack by the BJP. "They (BJP) attack different communities, religions and languages. They spread hatred and violence in the country. They spread arrogance, lack of understanding and this is completely against the idea of India," he added. Elections to the 40-member Mizoram Assembly are scheduled on November 7. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Shahid Faridi By Express News Service Telangana Elections KCR may not hand baton to son after polls The Bharat Rashtra Samithi headed by Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao is locked in a fierce battle with the Congress in the state assembly elections scheduled for November 30. The BJP campaign had picked up about a month back, but the party is now relegated to a distant third position due to differences within the state unit which led to the change of party president in July this year. BRS sources dismissed reports that the partys victory would see KCR making way for his son, K T Rama Rao, as the next chief minister. They said that KCR has elaborate expansion plans to turn BRS into a national party. Telangana shares close to a thousand kilometer border with Maharashtra. Telangana government schemes such as Ryuthu Bandhu and Dalit Bandhu are viewed with much interest by the Maharashtrians living on the Telangana border. Sources said KCR wants BRS to contest close to 10 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra in the 2024 election. He has made many trips to Maharashtra and has set up party units in hundreds of villages in about a dozen districts bordering Telangana. KCR has used his position as the chief minister and the attendant protocol in his expansion drive in the bordering states. Sources close to him said the chief minister plans to continue in the post until his party gains ground in a few other states and gets a national status. Battle of Northeast Zoramthanga is out of tune in his swan song The northeastern state of Mizoram, which is scheduled to go in for election on November 7, is unlikely to see any pre-poll alliance. There are four parties in the fray Mizo National Front (MNF) led by chief minister Zoramthanga, Congress, BJP, and the newly-formed Zoram Peoples Movement (ZPM). The 79-year-old Zoramthanga, who is the senior-most politician in the state, is fighting his last election. And he has his back against the wall. The Congress, which was soundly defeated by the MNF in the last election, is gaining support. So is the ZPM, which is headed by an ex-Indian Police Service officer Lalduhawma, who had won his first election as a Member of Parliament in 1984 on a Congress ticket. In the last assembly election, Lalduhawma had contested from two seats and won from both. The BJP had managed to win only one assembly seat in the last election from the predominantly Buddhist Chakma area. The party is trying to improve its performance by bringing prominent state politicians into its fold. There are reports that assembly Speaker Lalrinliana Sailo, who was denied ticket by the MNF, may contest as a BJP candidate. The BJP list may include some other big names. The main contest, however, is between the ruling MNF and the Congress. State watchers are predicting a hung house and a coalition government in the state. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Telangana Elections KCR may not hand baton to son after polls The Bharat Rashtra Samithi headed by Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao is locked in a fierce battle with the Congress in the state assembly elections scheduled for November 30. The BJP campaign had picked up about a month back, but the party is now relegated to a distant third position due to differences within the state unit which led to the change of party president in July this year. BRS sources dismissed reports that the partys victory would see KCR making way for his son, K T Rama Rao, as the next chief minister. They said that KCR has elaborate expansion plans to turn BRS into a national party. Telangana shares close to a thousand kilometer border with Maharashtra. Telangana government schemes such as Ryuthu Bandhu and Dalit Bandhu are viewed with much interest by the Maharashtrians living on the Telangana border. Sources said KCR wants BRS to contest close to 10 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra in the 2024 election. He has made many trips to Maharashtra and has set up party units in hundreds of villages in about a dozen districts bordering Telangana. KCR has used his position as the chief minister and the attendant protocol in his expansion drive in the bordering states. Sources close to him said the chief minister plans to continue in the post until his party gains ground in a few other states and gets a national status.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Battle of Northeast Zoramthanga is out of tune in his swan song The northeastern state of Mizoram, which is scheduled to go in for election on November 7, is unlikely to see any pre-poll alliance. There are four parties in the fray Mizo National Front (MNF) led by chief minister Zoramthanga, Congress, BJP, and the newly-formed Zoram Peoples Movement (ZPM). The 79-year-old Zoramthanga, who is the senior-most politician in the state, is fighting his last election. And he has his back against the wall. The Congress, which was soundly defeated by the MNF in the last election, is gaining support. So is the ZPM, which is headed by an ex-Indian Police Service officer Lalduhawma, who had won his first election as a Member of Parliament in 1984 on a Congress ticket. In the last assembly election, Lalduhawma had contested from two seats and won from both. The BJP had managed to win only one assembly seat in the last election from the predominantly Buddhist Chakma area. The party is trying to improve its performance by bringing prominent state politicians into its fold. There are reports that assembly Speaker Lalrinliana Sailo, who was denied ticket by the MNF, may contest as a BJP candidate. The BJP list may include some other big names. The main contest, however, is between the ruling MNF and the Congress. State watchers are predicting a hung house and a coalition government in the state. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By PTI NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition challenging the designation of lawyers as senior advocates, saying the mechanism to grant the designation was not arbitrary. A bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, while delivering its verdict on a plea filed by advocate Mathews J Nedumpara and seven others, said the writ petition was a "misadventure", largely of Nedumpara, "in continuation of some of his past misadventures". "If one may say the indulgence to the junior members of the bar, in a sense, is more than a senior member because it is also a part of the duty of the bench to help in the evolution of the bar," Justice Kaul said while pronouncing the judgement. "We have thus not the slightest hesitation in coming to the conclusion that the writ petition is a misadventure, largely of petitioner number one (Nedumpara), in continuation of some of his past misadventures," the bench said while dismissing the plea. The apex court said it appeared that judgements and orders passed earlier by the court do not seem to have any salutary effect on petitioner number one for self-introspection. The petitioners had challenged sections 16 and 23 (5) of the Advocates Act, 1961, claiming these "creates two classes of lawyers, senior advocates and other advocates, which in actual practice has resulted in unthinkable catastrophe and inequities which Parliament certainly would not have contemplated or foreseen". While section 16 of the Advocates Act pertains to senior and other advocates, section 23 (5) says senior advocates shall have pre-audience over other lawyers and their right of pre-audience inter se shall be determined by their respective seniority. The plea had claimed that the designation of lawyers as senior advocates, which is "creating a special class of advocates with special rights, privileges and status not available to ordinary advocates, is unconstitutional, being violative of the mandate of equality under Article 14". Earlier in March 2019, the apex court had sentenced Nedumpara to three months in jail for contempt of court and attempting to "browbeat" judges but suspended the sentence after taking note of the unconditional apology tendered by him. The top court had barred the advocate from practising before it for a year. While hearing the plea against the senior advocate designation, the bench had in March this year referred to the 2017 verdict that had laid down guidelines for itself and high courts to govern the exercise of designating lawyers as senior advocates. The verdict, which had come out with a slew of guidelines, said, "All matters relating to the designation of senior advocates in the Supreme Court and all the high courts of the country shall be dealt with by a permanent committee to be known as 'Committee for Designation of Senior Advocates'. " The panel will be headed by the Chief Justice and consist of the two senior-most judges of the apex court or high court(s), as may be, and the Attorney General or the Advocate General of a state in case of a high court, it had said. On giving the Bar a representation, it said, "The four members of the permanent committee will nominate another member of the Bar to be the fifth member of the permanent committee." The apex court had delivered another judgment in May on applications seeking certain modifications in the guidelines. It had said the process of designating 'senior advocate', which has always been held as an "honour conferred", should be carried out at least once a year. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition challenging the designation of lawyers as senior advocates, saying the mechanism to grant the designation was not arbitrary. A bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, while delivering its verdict on a plea filed by advocate Mathews J Nedumpara and seven others, said the writ petition was a "misadventure", largely of Nedumpara, "in continuation of some of his past misadventures". "If one may say the indulgence to the junior members of the bar, in a sense, is more than a senior member because it is also a part of the duty of the bench to help in the evolution of the bar," Justice Kaul said while pronouncing the judgement.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "We have thus not the slightest hesitation in coming to the conclusion that the writ petition is a misadventure, largely of petitioner number one (Nedumpara), in continuation of some of his past misadventures," the bench said while dismissing the plea. The apex court said it appeared that judgements and orders passed earlier by the court do not seem to have any salutary effect on petitioner number one for self-introspection. The petitioners had challenged sections 16 and 23 (5) of the Advocates Act, 1961, claiming these "creates two classes of lawyers, senior advocates and other advocates, which in actual practice has resulted in unthinkable catastrophe and inequities which Parliament certainly would not have contemplated or foreseen". While section 16 of the Advocates Act pertains to senior and other advocates, section 23 (5) says senior advocates shall have pre-audience over other lawyers and their right of pre-audience inter se shall be determined by their respective seniority. The plea had claimed that the designation of lawyers as senior advocates, which is "creating a special class of advocates with special rights, privileges and status not available to ordinary advocates, is unconstitutional, being violative of the mandate of equality under Article 14". Earlier in March 2019, the apex court had sentenced Nedumpara to three months in jail for contempt of court and attempting to "browbeat" judges but suspended the sentence after taking note of the unconditional apology tendered by him. The top court had barred the advocate from practising before it for a year. While hearing the plea against the senior advocate designation, the bench had in March this year referred to the 2017 verdict that had laid down guidelines for itself and high courts to govern the exercise of designating lawyers as senior advocates. The verdict, which had come out with a slew of guidelines, said, "All matters relating to the designation of senior advocates in the Supreme Court and all the high courts of the country shall be dealt with by a permanent committee to be known as 'Committee for Designation of Senior Advocates'. " The panel will be headed by the Chief Justice and consist of the two senior-most judges of the apex court or high court(s), as may be, and the Attorney General or the Advocate General of a state in case of a high court, it had said. On giving the Bar a representation, it said, "The four members of the permanent committee will nominate another member of the Bar to be the fifth member of the permanent committee." The apex court had delivered another judgment in May on applications seeking certain modifications in the guidelines. It had said the process of designating 'senior advocate', which has always been held as an "honour conferred", should be carried out at least once a year. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Jaison Wilson By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday referred a batch of pleas challenging the controversial Electoral Bonds scheme for political funding of parties to a larger Constitution Bench which is to be heard on October 30. A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and also comprising JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra decided to refer the matter to the Constitution Bench of at least five judges. "In view of the importance of the issue raised, and with regard to Article 145(4) of the Constitution of India, the matter be placed before a bench of at least five judges. The matter will be retained on October 30, 2023," the bench said. Dealing with the petitions pending even after six years of filing, in the previous hearing on October 10, the apex court had listed the matter for consideration on October 31 and to be continued on November 1 if the hearing is not completed. However, considering the legal issue involved relating to the passage of laws as money bills and upon the petitioners' request the Court agreed to pass the matter to a larger bench. The pleas against the scheme filed in 2017 in the apex court which are pending even after six years may come to an end by this decision. Through the Electoral bonds which were introduced in the Finance Act, 2017, registered political parties that have secured not less than 1 per cent of the votes polled in the last Lok Sabha or legislative assembly elections are eligible to receive funding. As per Petitioner NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), anonymous funding through electoral bonds promotes corruption and violates the citizens right to have a corruption-free nation. It was contended that the identity of the donors could never be known to the public and referred to reservations raised by the Reserve Bank of India and Election Commission to the Scheme. During the previous hearing, Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioners said: This promotes corruption as the source of funding is anonymous, it is violative of Article 21 and the 'non-decision' in the case compounding the problem. In another hearing in March, Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave said that the same is an issue that goes to the core of our democratic existence and is serious. According to one of the petitioners, so far Rs 12,000 crore has been paid to political parties through electoral bonds and two-thirds of the amount has gone to one major political party. Two lawyers were appointed earlier including Neha Rathi, as nodal counsel for ensuring a smooth hearing of the PILs, saying they would coordinate to ensure that a common compilation of judgements and other records are filed. On January 31, this year the top court had said the three sets of petitions on the electoral bonds scheme, bringing political parties within the ambit of the Right to Information Act and those challenging amendments in the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act will be heard separately. The court also said that since the bonds were allowed to be released in 2018, 2019, and 2020 without interruption and there were sufficient safeguards, there was justification to not stay them at the moment. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday referred a batch of pleas challenging the controversial Electoral Bonds scheme for political funding of parties to a larger Constitution Bench which is to be heard on October 30. A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and also comprising JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra decided to refer the matter to the Constitution Bench of at least five judges. "In view of the importance of the issue raised, and with regard to Article 145(4) of the Constitution of India, the matter be placed before a bench of at least five judges. The matter will be retained on October 30, 2023," the bench said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Dealing with the petitions pending even after six years of filing, in the previous hearing on October 10, the apex court had listed the matter for consideration on October 31 and to be continued on November 1 if the hearing is not completed. However, considering the legal issue involved relating to the passage of laws as money bills and upon the petitioners' request the Court agreed to pass the matter to a larger bench. The pleas against the scheme filed in 2017 in the apex court which are pending even after six years may come to an end by this decision. Through the Electoral bonds which were introduced in the Finance Act, 2017, registered political parties that have secured not less than 1 per cent of the votes polled in the last Lok Sabha or legislative assembly elections are eligible to receive funding. As per Petitioner NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), anonymous funding through electoral bonds promotes corruption and violates the citizens right to have a corruption-free nation. It was contended that the identity of the donors could never be known to the public and referred to reservations raised by the Reserve Bank of India and Election Commission to the Scheme. During the previous hearing, Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioners said: This promotes corruption as the source of funding is anonymous, it is violative of Article 21 and the 'non-decision' in the case compounding the problem. In another hearing in March, Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave said that the same is an issue that goes to the core of our democratic existence and is serious. According to one of the petitioners, so far Rs 12,000 crore has been paid to political parties through electoral bonds and two-thirds of the amount has gone to one major political party. Two lawyers were appointed earlier including Neha Rathi, as nodal counsel for ensuring a smooth hearing of the PILs, saying they would coordinate to ensure that a common compilation of judgements and other records are filed. On January 31, this year the top court had said the three sets of petitions on the electoral bonds scheme, bringing political parties within the ambit of the Right to Information Act and those challenging amendments in the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act will be heard separately. The court also said that since the bonds were allowed to be released in 2018, 2019, and 2020 without interruption and there were sufficient safeguards, there was justification to not stay them at the moment. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Jaison Wilson By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday sought the response of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat on a petition moved by Aam Aadmi Party MP Raghav Chadha challenging his indefinite suspension from the upper house of the parliament. Issuing notice in the plea, a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and also comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra directed Attorney General (AG) N Venkataramani to assist the apex court. The matter will be taken again on October 30 for further consideration. Chadha's plea contended that the power to suspend indefinitely is dangerously open to excess and abuse. During the course of the hearing, Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, on behalf of Chadha, questioned the way his client was suspended, saying the suspension cannot extend beyond the particular session during which the decision to suspend the member was made. The counsel also submitted that he was not seeking any interim relief in the plea at the moment. According to the AAP leader's plea, the suspension is in clear breach of Rule 256 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States, which incorporates a categorical prohibition against the suspension of any member for a period exceeding the remainder of the session. On August 11, Chadha was suspended from the Rajya Sabha for gross violation of rules, misconduct, defiant attitude and contemptuous conduct, pending a report by the Privileges Committee. His suspension came on a motion moved by Leader of the House Piyush Goyal and cleared by the Chairman of Rajya Sabha Jagdeep Dhankhar. Goyal sought action against Chadha for including names of some members of the Upper House without their consent in a proposed select committee for the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023. The BJP leader also had said Chadha compromised the dignity of members and the august position of the House by his misconduct. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday sought the response of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat on a petition moved by Aam Aadmi Party MP Raghav Chadha challenging his indefinite suspension from the upper house of the parliament. Issuing notice in the plea, a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and also comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra directed Attorney General (AG) N Venkataramani to assist the apex court. The matter will be taken again on October 30 for further consideration. Chadha's plea contended that the power to suspend indefinitely is dangerously open to excess and abuse.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); During the course of the hearing, Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, on behalf of Chadha, questioned the way his client was suspended, saying the suspension cannot extend beyond the particular session during which the decision to suspend the member was made. The counsel also submitted that he was not seeking any interim relief in the plea at the moment. According to the AAP leader's plea, the suspension is in clear breach of Rule 256 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States, which incorporates a categorical prohibition against the suspension of any member for a period exceeding the remainder of the session. On August 11, Chadha was suspended from the Rajya Sabha for gross violation of rules, misconduct, defiant attitude and contemptuous conduct, pending a report by the Privileges Committee. His suspension came on a motion moved by Leader of the House Piyush Goyal and cleared by the Chairman of Rajya Sabha Jagdeep Dhankhar. Goyal sought action against Chadha for including names of some members of the Upper House without their consent in a proposed select committee for the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023. The BJP leader also had said Chadha compromised the dignity of members and the august position of the House by his misconduct. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Labor finds itself in the throes of intensifying pressure to swiftly push through pivotal segments of its proposed workplace reform package. A surprising collaboration between the crossbench and the coalition is compelling the government to take action. The proposed legislation encompasses a sweeping overhaul of workplace laws, addressing a critical issuethe closure of a loophole that currently allows companies to negotiate pay rates with their employees, subsequently undermining the remuneration for labor hire workers. This legislation also seeks to provide enhanced safeguards for gig economy workers and create more viable pathways for certain casual workers to transition into permanent roles. Originally, Labor had aimed to secure the passage of the legislation by years end. However, the Senate, in a joint move, has opted to defer an inquiry into the laws until early next year. This development has stirred opposition from both the opposition and several business interest groups. Nevertheless, four aspects of the reforms have garnered broad support. Foremost among these provisions is the simplification of the process for frontline responders to file claims related to post-traumatic stress disorder, effectively eliminating the need to prove its origin in the workplace. Other elements encompass bolstered protections for workers enduring domestic violence and small businesses, along with the classification of deadly silica dust in the same category as asbestos, thereby subjecting it to more rigorous regulation and enhancing support for affected workers. Its worth noting that exposure to silica dust can lead to the incurable ailment known as silicosis. Independent Senators David Pocock and Jacqui Lambie are poised to introduce private bills aimed at ushering Labors less contentious propositions into the parliamentary arena. Senator Pocock underscored the necessity for a comprehensive examination of the intricate legislation, a need highlighted by the testimonies provided during the inquiry. Simultaneously, he emphasized the urgency of addressing presumptive legislation for first responders seeking access to Comcare for PTSD, a measure that can be promptly implemented. While Shadow Attorney-General Michaelia Cash voiced the oppositions support for this course of action, the coalition remains steadfast in its resistance to the broader reforms. The coalition contends that the proposed changes, especially the revised definition of casual employment, will exacerbate the challenges faced by small businesses already grappling with operational costs, potentially causing significant harm to productivity and employment. Conversely, the Australian Industry Group maintains that these changes would impede investment and fail to create jobs, as they would impose additional regulatory and compliance burdens on employers. The government and labor unions vehemently dispute this claim, asserting that enabling certain casual workers to transition to permanent positions and ensuring equitable pay rates for gig workers will ultimately uplift wage levels and job security. Senator Lambie has decried the governments strategy of bundling the widely accepted reforms with the more contentious elements to pressure the crossbench into passing the entire legislative package. In response, Employment Minister Tony Burke has firmly rejected the idea of separating the package, arguing that the comprehensive set of measures is indispensable for bolstering both wage levels and worker protections. Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. By PTI NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear the CBI's plea against grant of interim bail to former ICICI Bank CEO-cum-MD Chanda Kochhar and her businessman husband Deepak Kochhar by the Bombay High Court in a loan fraud case. A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi issued notice to Chanda Kochhar and her husband on the probe agency's petition and sought their responses in three weeks. Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the CBI, said the high court proceeded on a wrong presumption that the offence is punishable with a maximum of seven years imprisonment without considering section 409 of the IPC (criminal breach of trust by public servant) which entails sentence ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment. The bench asked Raju how section 409 of the IPC came into play when ICICI was a private bank. Raju replied that the bank may be private but it involves public money. The bench said it is issuing notice to the couple and seeking their replies in three weeks. The CBI has challenged the January 9 order of the high court granting interim relief to the Kochhars. The top court had on October 10 questioned the CBI over not objecting to the repeated extension of the two-week interim bail granted to them in January this year. The high court had pulled up the CBI for arresting the couple in a "casual and mechanical" manner and "clearly without application of mind" in the loan fraud case and granted them interim bail. The CBI arrested the Kochhars on December 23, 2022, in connection with the Videocon-ICICI Bank loan fraud case. The couple had moved the HC challenging their arrest, terming it as "illegal and arbitrary". They had sought their release from jail on bail by way of an interim order. The high court had said the Kochhars' arrest was not in accordance with the provisions of law and they were entitled to be released on bail, pending the hearing and final disposal of their petitions. The grounds for arresting the petitioners (Kochhars), as stated in the arrest memos, are unacceptable and contrary to the reason(s)/ ground(s) on which a person can be arrested, it had said. ALSO READ | SC questions CBI over not objecting to repeated extension of interim bail to Chanda Kochhar, husband Apart from the Kochhars, the CBI also arrested Videocon group founder Venugopal Dhoot in the case. The central agency has alleged the ICICI Bank sanctioned credit facilities to the tune of Rs 3,250 crore to the companies of the Videocon group in violation of the Banking Regulation Act, Reserve Bank of India's guidelines and credit policy of the top private lender. The CBI had named Chanda Kochhar, who was ICICI Bank CEO and MD from 2009 to 2018, Deepak Kochhar, Dhoot along with a slew of firms - Nupower Renewables (NRL), Supreme Energy, Videocon International Electronics Ltd and Videocon Industries - as accused in the FIR registered under Indian Penal Code sections related to criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA). Nupower Renewables is managed by Deepak Kochhar. The central agency has alleged as quid pro quo (favour or advantage granted in return for something), Videocon group founder Dhoot made an investment of Rs 64 crore in Nupower Renewables through Supreme Energy Pvt Ltd (SEPL) and transferred SEPL to Pinnacle Energy Trust managed by Deepak Kochhar through a circuitous route between 2010 and 2012. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear the CBI's plea against grant of interim bail to former ICICI Bank CEO-cum-MD Chanda Kochhar and her businessman husband Deepak Kochhar by the Bombay High Court in a loan fraud case. A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi issued notice to Chanda Kochhar and her husband on the probe agency's petition and sought their responses in three weeks. Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the CBI, said the high court proceeded on a wrong presumption that the offence is punishable with a maximum of seven years imprisonment without considering section 409 of the IPC (criminal breach of trust by public servant) which entails sentence ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The bench asked Raju how section 409 of the IPC came into play when ICICI was a private bank. Raju replied that the bank may be private but it involves public money. The bench said it is issuing notice to the couple and seeking their replies in three weeks. The CBI has challenged the January 9 order of the high court granting interim relief to the Kochhars. The top court had on October 10 questioned the CBI over not objecting to the repeated extension of the two-week interim bail granted to them in January this year. The high court had pulled up the CBI for arresting the couple in a "casual and mechanical" manner and "clearly without application of mind" in the loan fraud case and granted them interim bail. The CBI arrested the Kochhars on December 23, 2022, in connection with the Videocon-ICICI Bank loan fraud case. The couple had moved the HC challenging their arrest, terming it as "illegal and arbitrary". They had sought their release from jail on bail by way of an interim order. The high court had said the Kochhars' arrest was not in accordance with the provisions of law and they were entitled to be released on bail, pending the hearing and final disposal of their petitions. The grounds for arresting the petitioners (Kochhars), as stated in the arrest memos, are unacceptable and contrary to the reason(s)/ ground(s) on which a person can be arrested, it had said. ALSO READ | SC questions CBI over not objecting to repeated extension of interim bail to Chanda Kochhar, husband Apart from the Kochhars, the CBI also arrested Videocon group founder Venugopal Dhoot in the case. The central agency has alleged the ICICI Bank sanctioned credit facilities to the tune of Rs 3,250 crore to the companies of the Videocon group in violation of the Banking Regulation Act, Reserve Bank of India's guidelines and credit policy of the top private lender. The CBI had named Chanda Kochhar, who was ICICI Bank CEO and MD from 2009 to 2018, Deepak Kochhar, Dhoot along with a slew of firms - Nupower Renewables (NRL), Supreme Energy, Videocon International Electronics Ltd and Videocon Industries - as accused in the FIR registered under Indian Penal Code sections related to criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA). Nupower Renewables is managed by Deepak Kochhar. The central agency has alleged as quid pro quo (favour or advantage granted in return for something), Videocon group founder Dhoot made an investment of Rs 64 crore in Nupower Renewables through Supreme Energy Pvt Ltd (SEPL) and transferred SEPL to Pinnacle Energy Trust managed by Deepak Kochhar through a circuitous route between 2010 and 2012. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Express News Service NEW DELHI: In a bid to modernise its communication strategy and provide information on higher education in real-time, the University Grants Commission (UGC) on Monday launched its WhatsApp channel. UGC Chairman Prof M Jagadesh Kumar said, The launch of the UGC India WhatsApp Channel is a significant step towards fostering a more inclusive and informed higher education landscape. By embracing technology and utilising a widely used platform, the UGC is modernising its communication strategy and enabling stakeholders to navigate the information on higher education in real-time. This initiative sets a precedent for leveraging digital tools to enhance accessibility, transparency, and efficiency in education governance, he added. The channel will ensure that a diverse array of stakeholders, including Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs), educators, students, and others, can effortlessly access authentic and up-to-date information at their fingertips. One of the key advantages of this platform is its inclusivity. The step was also taken as it was realised that not everyone may have seamless access to UGC websites or other social media handles, so the WhatsApp Channel will become a powerful tool for reaching a broader audience. In a country as diverse as India, where connectivity varies, this initiative bridges the digital divide and ensures that policy updates on higher education are readily available to all, Kumar added. Real-time updates are a game-changer in the dynamic landscape of higher education. With the WhatsApp Channel, stakeholders can receive timely information on policy changes, educational reforms, and other critical updates as they unfold. This immediacy enhances transparency and allows institutions, educators, and students to adapt swiftly to new developments, fostering a more agile and informed educational ecosystem, he added. For Higher Educational Institutions, the channel becomes a direct conduit for staying abreast of regulatory changes, guidelines, and best practices. Educators can benefit from real-time information on curriculum modifications, assessment methodologies, and professional development opportunities. Students, too, will gain as it will provide them with a direct line to pertinent updates on examinations, scholarships, and other aspects of their academic journey. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp NEW DELHI: In a bid to modernise its communication strategy and provide information on higher education in real-time, the University Grants Commission (UGC) on Monday launched its WhatsApp channel. UGC Chairman Prof M Jagadesh Kumar said, The launch of the UGC India WhatsApp Channel is a significant step towards fostering a more inclusive and informed higher education landscape. By embracing technology and utilising a widely used platform, the UGC is modernising its communication strategy and enabling stakeholders to navigate the information on higher education in real-time. This initiative sets a precedent for leveraging digital tools to enhance accessibility, transparency, and efficiency in education governance, he added.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The channel will ensure that a diverse array of stakeholders, including Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs), educators, students, and others, can effortlessly access authentic and up-to-date information at their fingertips. One of the key advantages of this platform is its inclusivity. The step was also taken as it was realised that not everyone may have seamless access to UGC websites or other social media handles, so the WhatsApp Channel will become a powerful tool for reaching a broader audience. In a country as diverse as India, where connectivity varies, this initiative bridges the digital divide and ensures that policy updates on higher education are readily available to all, Kumar added. Real-time updates are a game-changer in the dynamic landscape of higher education. With the WhatsApp Channel, stakeholders can receive timely information on policy changes, educational reforms, and other critical updates as they unfold. This immediacy enhances transparency and allows institutions, educators, and students to adapt swiftly to new developments, fostering a more agile and informed educational ecosystem, he added. For Higher Educational Institutions, the channel becomes a direct conduit for staying abreast of regulatory changes, guidelines, and best practices. Educators can benefit from real-time information on curriculum modifications, assessment methodologies, and professional development opportunities. Students, too, will gain as it will provide them with a direct line to pertinent updates on examinations, scholarships, and other aspects of their academic journey. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By Express News Service BHOPAL: Unrest has hit opposition Congress in many parts of poll-bound Madhya Pradesh after the party released its first list of 144 candidates on Sunday. Protests and resignations by workers and leaders have been reported from Sagar, Datia, Ujjain, Satna, Gwalior, Chhatarpur and Panna districts. In Satna district, annoyed over the denial of nomination and instead fielding 2018 rebel candidate Rashmi Singh Patel, former MLA Yadvendra Singh quit the Congress and joined the BSP. He is likely to contest from Nagod. Also, peeved over no OBC leader being fielded from any of the three unreserved seats of Tikamgarh district (Tikamgarh, Prithvipur and Khargapur), state Congresss media departments vice-chairman Ajay Singh Yadav resigned from all party posts. OBCs form 70% of Tikamgarh. Still on all three unreserved seats, Congress fielded candidates from a particular upper caste. This exposes the hollowness in the Congress newfound love for backward castes, Ajay Singh Yadav said. In the neighbouring Sagar district, the second-time district panchayat member Sharda Khatik (who was in the race for the party ticket from Naryaoli-SC seat) also quit the party against the nomination of ex-minister and former MLA Surendra Chowdhary, despite him losing the Naryaoli seat thrice in the past. Congress workers protested outside the district party office in Datia district against the nomination of former BJP leader Avdhesh Nayak after denying a chance to former MLA Rajendra Bharti against state Home Minister and sitting MLA Narottam Mishra. The agitated party workers set ablaze the effigy of the newly declared Congress candidate. In Indore, party workers set ablaze the effigy of Indore-4 candidate Raja Mandhwani, dubbing him a weak candidate as well as alleging that he would offer no challenge to the third-time sitting BJP MLA and ex-Indore mayor Malini Gaur. Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports said three-time former Dhar MP Gajendra Singh Rajukhedi too is dejected over the manner in which tickets have been distributed in Dhar district. Crisis in Mandsaur In Mandsaur district, a major section of Congress is annoyed over fielding Rakesh Patidar as candidate from Suvasara seat. Local Congress leader Balu Singh Tarnod has announced to contest against him Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp BHOPAL: Unrest has hit opposition Congress in many parts of poll-bound Madhya Pradesh after the party released its first list of 144 candidates on Sunday. Protests and resignations by workers and leaders have been reported from Sagar, Datia, Ujjain, Satna, Gwalior, Chhatarpur and Panna districts. In Satna district, annoyed over the denial of nomination and instead fielding 2018 rebel candidate Rashmi Singh Patel, former MLA Yadvendra Singh quit the Congress and joined the BSP. He is likely to contest from Nagod. Also, peeved over no OBC leader being fielded from any of the three unreserved seats of Tikamgarh district (Tikamgarh, Prithvipur and Khargapur), state Congresss media departments vice-chairman Ajay Singh Yadav resigned from all party posts. OBCs form 70% of Tikamgarh. Still on all three unreserved seats, Congress fielded candidates from a particular upper caste. This exposes the hollowness in the Congress newfound love for backward castes, Ajay Singh Yadav said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); In the neighbouring Sagar district, the second-time district panchayat member Sharda Khatik (who was in the race for the party ticket from Naryaoli-SC seat) also quit the party against the nomination of ex-minister and former MLA Surendra Chowdhary, despite him losing the Naryaoli seat thrice in the past. Congress workers protested outside the district party office in Datia district against the nomination of former BJP leader Avdhesh Nayak after denying a chance to former MLA Rajendra Bharti against state Home Minister and sitting MLA Narottam Mishra. The agitated party workers set ablaze the effigy of the newly declared Congress candidate. In Indore, party workers set ablaze the effigy of Indore-4 candidate Raja Mandhwani, dubbing him a weak candidate as well as alleging that he would offer no challenge to the third-time sitting BJP MLA and ex-Indore mayor Malini Gaur. Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports said three-time former Dhar MP Gajendra Singh Rajukhedi too is dejected over the manner in which tickets have been distributed in Dhar district. Crisis in Mandsaur In Mandsaur district, a major section of Congress is annoyed over fielding Rakesh Patidar as candidate from Suvasara seat. Local Congress leader Balu Singh Tarnod has announced to contest against him Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By Online Desk The Allahabad High Court on Monday dismissed 12 cases against Surinder Koli, the prime accused in the gruesome Nithari murder case of 2006, while also dismissing the cases against his employer Moninder Singh Pandher in two of them. With this, Pander is technically free, unless the prosecution appeals against the Allahabad High Court judgment in the Supreme Court. In all, Pander was involved in six cases, of which three have been quashed by the Allahabad High Court -- including the latest two -- and three have been quashed by trial courts earlier. It is likely that Pander could walk of the jail soon. However, for his servant Surinder Koli -- who is the main suspect and has been accused of killing more than a dozen children -- freedom is not yet in sight. That is because he is incriminated in 19 different cases. Today, the Allahabad High Court has freed him from 12 cases. In one case, where he was acquitted by the Allahabad High Court earlier, the prosecution has already appealed against the verdict in the Supreme Court. The Nithari case involves serial murders that took place in the nondescript village of Nithari on the outskirts of Noida in Uttar Pradesh between 2005-2006. It came to light in December 2006 when the Noida police discovered human remains near the house of Moninder Singh Pandher located in the D-5 neighborhood of Nithari village. Pandher was a rich businessman who owned multiple properties in the area. The remains were later identified to be of children reported missing from nearby slum areas over the past two years. Later, it was alleged by the investigating agencies that Pandher's domestic servant Surinder Koli had systematically lured, sexually abused and murdered at least 19 children before dismembering their bodies and disposing them off. Koli, who had been employed by Pandher for a few years, had allegedly targeted vulnerable children from the slums around the Pandher residence. According to the prosecution, he would tempt them with food, sweets or money and then once they entered the house, would sexually assault them before strangulating them with a noose or knife. Koli would then cut up the bodies into small pieces, store them in refrigerators and dispose of the parts at night by throwing them into a sewer drain behind the compound wall. According to the investigating agencies, the house had been lying vacant as Pandher was frequently away, giving Koli unchecked access to carry out his deeds for over two years until the police investigations exposed the truth. After draining the sewer, investigators found multiple body parts belonging to at least 19 victims, mostly girls between the ages 8-21 years. The skeletal remains showed evidence of cannibalism as well. The case has been investigated first by UP Police, and later by the CBI. The duo had been convicted by trial courts in more than one of these cases, and sentenced to death. However, the Allahabad High Court today found that the evidence collected by the investigating agencies failed to establish their guilt, and acquitted them in 14 distinct cases, including 12 pertaining to Koli and two to his employer. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp The Allahabad High Court on Monday dismissed 12 cases against Surinder Koli, the prime accused in the gruesome Nithari murder case of 2006, while also dismissing the cases against his employer Moninder Singh Pandher in two of them. With this, Pander is technically free, unless the prosecution appeals against the Allahabad High Court judgment in the Supreme Court. In all, Pander was involved in six cases, of which three have been quashed by the Allahabad High Court -- including the latest two -- and three have been quashed by trial courts earlier.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); It is likely that Pander could walk of the jail soon. However, for his servant Surinder Koli -- who is the main suspect and has been accused of killing more than a dozen children -- freedom is not yet in sight. That is because he is incriminated in 19 different cases. Today, the Allahabad High Court has freed him from 12 cases. In one case, where he was acquitted by the Allahabad High Court earlier, the prosecution has already appealed against the verdict in the Supreme Court. The Nithari case involves serial murders that took place in the nondescript village of Nithari on the outskirts of Noida in Uttar Pradesh between 2005-2006. It came to light in December 2006 when the Noida police discovered human remains near the house of Moninder Singh Pandher located in the D-5 neighborhood of Nithari village. Pandher was a rich businessman who owned multiple properties in the area. The remains were later identified to be of children reported missing from nearby slum areas over the past two years. Later, it was alleged by the investigating agencies that Pandher's domestic servant Surinder Koli had systematically lured, sexually abused and murdered at least 19 children before dismembering their bodies and disposing them off. Koli, who had been employed by Pandher for a few years, had allegedly targeted vulnerable children from the slums around the Pandher residence. According to the prosecution, he would tempt them with food, sweets or money and then once they entered the house, would sexually assault them before strangulating them with a noose or knife. Koli would then cut up the bodies into small pieces, store them in refrigerators and dispose of the parts at night by throwing them into a sewer drain behind the compound wall. According to the investigating agencies, the house had been lying vacant as Pandher was frequently away, giving Koli unchecked access to carry out his deeds for over two years until the police investigations exposed the truth. After draining the sewer, investigators found multiple body parts belonging to at least 19 victims, mostly girls between the ages 8-21 years. The skeletal remains showed evidence of cannibalism as well. The case has been investigated first by UP Police, and later by the CBI. The duo had been convicted by trial courts in more than one of these cases, and sentenced to death. However, the Allahabad High Court today found that the evidence collected by the investigating agencies failed to establish their guilt, and acquitted them in 14 distinct cases, including 12 pertaining to Koli and two to his employer. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Yeshi Seli By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The 14th round of the India-UK FTA negotiations is underway in New Delhi. Five chapters of the total of 26 remain to be concluded. One of the things India has been pushing for in this FTA is the inclusion of a social security agreement. "It is important to get a social security agreement as it will help Indian professionals working in the UK. This would ensure that Indians who go on a short-term work visit to the UK dont lose money in social security contributions that they cannot derive any benefit from eventually," said a source. India is the second largest investor in the UK, having set up 120 new projects and creating 5,429 new jobs in 2019-20. Over 800 Indian companies in the UK, with consolidated revenues of 41 billion, employ nearly 110,000 people. This represents a major contribution by a Commonwealth partner to the UK economy, with further opportunities for investment. Additionally there are hundreds of thousands of Indian employees on secondment to the UK, also contributing significantly, according to the Confederation of India Industries (CII). The largest workforce on secondment to the UK from India is from the technology services sector. Typically these Indian companies have branches or subsidiaries in the UK and use the Tier 2 Intra-Company Transfer (ICT) route to obtain certificates of sponsorship for the employees on secondment. "Indians working in the UK may be required to contribute towards both the Indian and the UK social security schemes. Temporary Indian workers in the UK have a time bound exemption from paying social security, even though they have restricted access to public funds and are unlikely to work in the UK for long enough to accrue any state pension entitlement. If India and the UK enter into an agreement, then Indian employees would be able to claim exemption from social security contributions in the UK by obtaining a Certificate of Coverage (CoC) from the Indian Provident Fund office," said a source. A social security agreement is likely to include an 'export of benefits' clause which would permit UK authorities to remit any state pension entitlement accrued in the UK directly into India to Indian employees once they have returned home. The UK has been resisting the social security agreement as there are fewer British nationals working in India than Indians in the UK. Whether India manages to convince the UK to include this agreement in the ongoing round, only time will tell. ALSO READ | Uncertainty over British Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks India visit Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp NEW DELHI: The 14th round of the India-UK FTA negotiations is underway in New Delhi. Five chapters of the total of 26 remain to be concluded. One of the things India has been pushing for in this FTA is the inclusion of a social security agreement. "It is important to get a social security agreement as it will help Indian professionals working in the UK. This would ensure that Indians who go on a short-term work visit to the UK dont lose money in social security contributions that they cannot derive any benefit from eventually," said a source. India is the second largest investor in the UK, having set up 120 new projects and creating 5,429 new jobs in 2019-20. Over 800 Indian companies in the UK, with consolidated revenues of 41 billion, employ nearly 110,000 people. This represents a major contribution by a Commonwealth partner to the UK economy, with further opportunities for investment. Additionally there are hundreds of thousands of Indian employees on secondment to the UK, also contributing significantly, according to the Confederation of India Industries (CII).googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The largest workforce on secondment to the UK from India is from the technology services sector. Typically these Indian companies have branches or subsidiaries in the UK and use the Tier 2 Intra-Company Transfer (ICT) route to obtain certificates of sponsorship for the employees on secondment. "Indians working in the UK may be required to contribute towards both the Indian and the UK social security schemes. Temporary Indian workers in the UK have a time bound exemption from paying social security, even though they have restricted access to public funds and are unlikely to work in the UK for long enough to accrue any state pension entitlement. If India and the UK enter into an agreement, then Indian employees would be able to claim exemption from social security contributions in the UK by obtaining a Certificate of Coverage (CoC) from the Indian Provident Fund office," said a source. A social security agreement is likely to include an 'export of benefits' clause which would permit UK authorities to remit any state pension entitlement accrued in the UK directly into India to Indian employees once they have returned home. The UK has been resisting the social security agreement as there are fewer British nationals working in India than Indians in the UK. Whether India manages to convince the UK to include this agreement in the ongoing round, only time will tell. ALSO READ | Uncertainty over British Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks India visit Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp From Israels intelligence failure to Hamass brutality, from the lessons of yet another conflict initiation to the chances of a larger war, and from strategies that can be employed to the chances of victory in a high-intensity urban warthere are wide-open domains to analyse and comment on in the worlds freshest conflict. To do justice to the analyses on this emerging set of scenarios, one needs to have reasonable clarity on the history of the region, particularly since the Balfour Declaration of 1917, on modern-day strategies of hybrid war including the technologies used, and on the current regional geopolitics. The region has endured various political and ideological standoffs such as Iran-Israel, Iran-Saudi Arabia, Palestine (Arab)-Israel, Shia-Sunni and various intra-Arab feuds; the cauldron has always boiled, ready for another conflict. We will touch upon some of these aspects in this column. This war is not ending anytime soon and definitely not before subsuming the efforts at creating stability in this turbulent zone. The Israeli inability to anticipate an action of such proportions by Hamas despite apparently receiving confirmed warnings from the US and Egypt is being counted as a monumental intelligence failure for a nation whose survival depends on proactiveness. Hubris after many military victories is a natural phenomenon. However, what Israel has never realised is that none of these victories was strategic enough to put an end to all the threats it faced; they only multiplied. Israel should have heeded lessons from the Yom Kippur war of 1973 which clearly indicated that a vanquished adversary will always find ways and means of near perfection to overcome weaknesses. Hamas had fallen out with Fatah majorly over the methods the former employed in fighting and resisting Israel. It has always been on the lookout for innovative ways of resistance, harping on proactiveness. Yet, this time, its propensity to go the whole hog without a thought towards the scale of casualties the Palestinian people would suffer in an inevitable retribution has been a huge miscalculation. Perhaps this was based on an erroneous perception that the international community in general and the Arab world in particular could convince Israel to seek a negotiated solution. This was harebrained thinking. No self-respecting nation, least of all one as proud as Israel, would accept an adversary inflicting such casualties on its citizens. Remember the Indian retribution at Balakot for the loss of 40 of its policemen in the Pulwama attack in 2019. It remains unclear as to what may have led Hamas to adopt an Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)-style strategy of depravity and brutality which involved the targeting of innocent civilians, women and children. Perhaps it took inspiration from the ISIS ability to fight conventionally for around four years in major urban centres such as Mosul in northern Iraq. Hamas seems to have thought a tripwire strategy could bring the Palestinian issue back to centre stage before its potential consignment to the altar of the Abraham Accords. Tripwires are not based on amoral acts of subhuman violence. If such a strategy is employed then exactly the opposite happens, as evident from the way Israel has responded after being initially thunderstruck. Israel is not exactly known for stupor once it suffers a setback. In 1973, Ariel Sharon found a two-kilometre corridor between two Egyptian armies and wedged a bridging and armoured force through it to threaten the Egyptian rear. If Hamas had used military resources, improvised or otherwise, and innovative tactical implements to target the Israeli Army, it may yet have drawn empathy and perhaps some revival of interest in the Palestinian cause. The moment large-scale atrocities, depravities and brutalities were executed, Hamas lost the plot. There is no evidence as yet to suggest that former ISIS commanders, former Iraqi Baathists, or any Iranian military advisors were the sponsors who advised Hamas. Indias stance has been correct. The prime minister correctly called out the terrorist acts behind the conflict initiation. With Indias constant refrain that it is one of the oldest sufferers of externally sponsored terrorism, it is only right to contextualise our views to the immediate act before going back to the generic aspects in which the legacy Indian support for a two-state solution has always existed. Indian media has tried to create controversies over differences of opinion on foreign policy. There is no truth to it and every right-thinking Indian citizen criticises any act of extremist violence against innocent civilians, women and children. ALSO READ | India stays on its own path in league of nations The Israeli response with a 300,000-strong mobilisation of reservists is not aimed at Gaza alone but caters to the eventuality of a wider conflict that could emerge. There has been fair restraint in the responses of Arab nations, though a degree of support to the Palestinians and not necessarily Hamas has been noticeable. Hamas is nobodys real friend because the chosen strategy of terrorism militates against all norms of progress that these nations seek. There have been some attempts by Hezbollah to test the waters by activating the Lebanon-Israel border. A larger conflagration here would be worrisome for Israeli commanders. In 1996, Hezbollah fought fairly successfully against the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and is today well equipped with thousands of rockets and missiles. Syrias involvement is unlikely, though Israel has targeted a few sites in Syrian areas as a warning. A ground incursion into Gaza will be undertaken in all probability. Urban warfare using conventional equipment in such a terrain is a difficult proposition. During the last major incursion by the IDF in 2014, around 66 Israeli soldiers, six Israeli civilians, and well over 2,000 Palestinians died. There have already been many casualties, so it is difficult to foresee an Israeli attempt to try and physically control Gaza to weed out Hamas completely. Remember that half the 2.2 million population of Gaza has been ordered to move south so Israel can set up the offensive. Many of those ordered could eventually cross the border and enter southern Israel where enclaves could come up for humanitarian purposes. At some stage, humanitarian assistance will be needed through external agencies. That is the setting in which new centres of resistance could emerge in mainland Israel. To ward off that possibility, the IDF may opt to wipe out Hamas completely through continued military action. Most options here would place the IDF in a Catch-22 situation. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp From Israels intelligence failure to Hamass brutality, from the lessons of yet another conflict initiation to the chances of a larger war, and from strategies that can be employed to the chances of victory in a high-intensity urban warthere are wide-open domains to analyse and comment on in the worlds freshest conflict. To do justice to the analyses on this emerging set of scenarios, one needs to have reasonable clarity on the history of the region, particularly since the Balfour Declaration of 1917, on modern-day strategies of hybrid war including the technologies used, and on the current regional geopolitics. The region has endured various political and ideological standoffs such as Iran-Israel, Iran-Saudi Arabia, Palestine (Arab)-Israel, Shia-Sunni and various intra-Arab feuds; the cauldron has always boiled, ready for another conflict. We will touch upon some of these aspects in this column. This war is not ending anytime soon and definitely not before subsuming the efforts at creating stability in this turbulent zone.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The Israeli inability to anticipate an action of such proportions by Hamas despite apparently receiving confirmed warnings from the US and Egypt is being counted as a monumental intelligence failure for a nation whose survival depends on proactiveness. Hubris after many military victories is a natural phenomenon. However, what Israel has never realised is that none of these victories was strategic enough to put an end to all the threats it faced; they only multiplied. Israel should have heeded lessons from the Yom Kippur war of 1973 which clearly indicated that a vanquished adversary will always find ways and means of near perfection to overcome weaknesses. Hamas had fallen out with Fatah majorly over the methods the former employed in fighting and resisting Israel. It has always been on the lookout for innovative ways of resistance, harping on proactiveness. Yet, this time, its propensity to go the whole hog without a thought towards the scale of casualties the Palestinian people would suffer in an inevitable retribution has been a huge miscalculation. Perhaps this was based on an erroneous perception that the international community in general and the Arab world in particular could convince Israel to seek a negotiated solution. This was harebrained thinking. No self-respecting nation, least of all one as proud as Israel, would accept an adversary inflicting such casualties on its citizens. Remember the Indian retribution at Balakot for the loss of 40 of its policemen in the Pulwama attack in 2019. It remains unclear as to what may have led Hamas to adopt an Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)-style strategy of depravity and brutality which involved the targeting of innocent civilians, women and children. Perhaps it took inspiration from the ISIS ability to fight conventionally for around four years in major urban centres such as Mosul in northern Iraq. Hamas seems to have thought a tripwire strategy could bring the Palestinian issue back to centre stage before its potential consignment to the altar of the Abraham Accords. Tripwires are not based on amoral acts of subhuman violence. If such a strategy is employed then exactly the opposite happens, as evident from the way Israel has responded after being initially thunderstruck. Israel is not exactly known for stupor once it suffers a setback. In 1973, Ariel Sharon found a two-kilometre corridor between two Egyptian armies and wedged a bridging and armoured force through it to threaten the Egyptian rear. If Hamas had used military resources, improvised or otherwise, and innovative tactical implements to target the Israeli Army, it may yet have drawn empathy and perhaps some revival of interest in the Palestinian cause. The moment large-scale atrocities, depravities and brutalities were executed, Hamas lost the plot. There is no evidence as yet to suggest that former ISIS commanders, former Iraqi Baathists, or any Iranian military advisors were the sponsors who advised Hamas. Indias stance has been correct. The prime minister correctly called out the terrorist acts behind the conflict initiation. With Indias constant refrain that it is one of the oldest sufferers of externally sponsored terrorism, it is only right to contextualise our views to the immediate act before going back to the generic aspects in which the legacy Indian support for a two-state solution has always existed. Indian media has tried to create controversies over differences of opinion on foreign policy. There is no truth to it and every right-thinking Indian citizen criticises any act of extremist violence against innocent civilians, women and children. ALSO READ | India stays on its own path in league of nations The Israeli response with a 300,000-strong mobilisation of reservists is not aimed at Gaza alone but caters to the eventuality of a wider conflict that could emerge. There has been fair restraint in the responses of Arab nations, though a degree of support to the Palestinians and not necessarily Hamas has been noticeable. Hamas is nobodys real friend because the chosen strategy of terrorism militates against all norms of progress that these nations seek. There have been some attempts by Hezbollah to test the waters by activating the Lebanon-Israel border. A larger conflagration here would be worrisome for Israeli commanders. In 1996, Hezbollah fought fairly successfully against the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and is today well equipped with thousands of rockets and missiles. Syrias involvement is unlikely, though Israel has targeted a few sites in Syrian areas as a warning. A ground incursion into Gaza will be undertaken in all probability. Urban warfare using conventional equipment in such a terrain is a difficult proposition. During the last major incursion by the IDF in 2014, around 66 Israeli soldiers, six Israeli civilians, and well over 2,000 Palestinians died. There have already been many casualties, so it is difficult to foresee an Israeli attempt to try and physically control Gaza to weed out Hamas completely. Remember that half the 2.2 million population of Gaza has been ordered to move south so Israel can set up the offensive. Many of those ordered could eventually cross the border and enter southern Israel where enclaves could come up for humanitarian purposes. At some stage, humanitarian assistance will be needed through external agencies. That is the setting in which new centres of resistance could emerge in mainland Israel. To ward off that possibility, the IDF may opt to wipe out Hamas completely through continued military action. Most options here would place the IDF in a Catch-22 situation. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By PTI BENGALURU: Defying the Janata Dal (Secular) supremo and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda's decision of his party's alliance with the BJP for the Lok Sabha elections, the party's Karnataka unit president C M Ibrahim on Monday said the JD(S) will not join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. Hinting at a possible split in the party, the former union minister claimed that his faction is the original JD(S) for being 'secular' and that being the state president he can take a decision about the outfit in Karnataka. He appealed to former PM Gowda not to give his consent to the tie-up with the BJP because many people have quit the party in the neighbouring states. "Our first decision is that the JD(S) will not go with the NDA. The second decision was a request to Deve Gowda that he should not give his consent to this alliance", Ibrahim told reporters after a meeting with some party leaders. He pointed to JD(S) leaders quitting the party in Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu after the BJP-JD(S) pact. "In Karnataka, however, we still have affection for you. You are a father figure. We will tell him (Gowda) that we should not have any relation with the BJP," Ibrahim said. Reacting to Ibrahim's statement, former CM and JD (S) second-in-command, H D Kumaraswamy said the state party chief is "very independent" and "we will wait for his decision". "There is one decision taken by the party workers, and all leaders. In that background, he (Ibrahim) deliberated with his supporters in the meeting convened by him. He is completely free to make his decision", Ibrahim added that he would be forming a core committee, which will meet Deve Gowda and convey the decision taken at today's meeting. Calling his faction the 'original JD(S)', Ibrahim, who had served as Civil Aviation Minister in the H D Deve Gowda-led government at the Centre, said his faction is 'secular'. To a question on his future course of action if Gowda and his son H D Kumaraswamy did not agree with his decision, Ibrahim said, "I am the state president. I have to decide about my party in the state, which I will take. Already we have decided that we will not go with the BJP. What else is there more than this? "If Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy have decided to go with the BJP then let them go", he said. "We are asking them (Gowda and Kumaraswamy) not to go. If they go then we cannot bind them. Regarding (JD-S) MLAs, please wait and see who, how many and where these MLAs will take a decision. We will intimate you when time comes," the JD(S) state president said. He claimed that many MLAs are in touch with him but declined to give their names. "It will create pressure If I disclose their (MLA) names. I will also hold one-on-one meetings with the MLAs," Ibrahim said. Kumaraswamy on September 22 agreed to be part of the NDA after meeting the Union Home Minister Amit Shah and party president J P Nadda in New Delhi. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp BENGALURU: Defying the Janata Dal (Secular) supremo and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda's decision of his party's alliance with the BJP for the Lok Sabha elections, the party's Karnataka unit president C M Ibrahim on Monday said the JD(S) will not join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. Hinting at a possible split in the party, the former union minister claimed that his faction is the original JD(S) for being 'secular' and that being the state president he can take a decision about the outfit in Karnataka. He appealed to former PM Gowda not to give his consent to the tie-up with the BJP because many people have quit the party in the neighbouring states.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "Our first decision is that the JD(S) will not go with the NDA. The second decision was a request to Deve Gowda that he should not give his consent to this alliance", Ibrahim told reporters after a meeting with some party leaders. He pointed to JD(S) leaders quitting the party in Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu after the BJP-JD(S) pact. "In Karnataka, however, we still have affection for you. You are a father figure. We will tell him (Gowda) that we should not have any relation with the BJP," Ibrahim said. Reacting to Ibrahim's statement, former CM and JD (S) second-in-command, H D Kumaraswamy said the state party chief is "very independent" and "we will wait for his decision". "There is one decision taken by the party workers, and all leaders. In that background, he (Ibrahim) deliberated with his supporters in the meeting convened by him. He is completely free to make his decision", Ibrahim added that he would be forming a core committee, which will meet Deve Gowda and convey the decision taken at today's meeting. Calling his faction the 'original JD(S)', Ibrahim, who had served as Civil Aviation Minister in the H D Deve Gowda-led government at the Centre, said his faction is 'secular'. To a question on his future course of action if Gowda and his son H D Kumaraswamy did not agree with his decision, Ibrahim said, "I am the state president. I have to decide about my party in the state, which I will take. Already we have decided that we will not go with the BJP. What else is there more than this? "If Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy have decided to go with the BJP then let them go", he said. "We are asking them (Gowda and Kumaraswamy) not to go. If they go then we cannot bind them. Regarding (JD-S) MLAs, please wait and see who, how many and where these MLAs will take a decision. We will intimate you when time comes," the JD(S) state president said. He claimed that many MLAs are in touch with him but declined to give their names. "It will create pressure If I disclose their (MLA) names. I will also hold one-on-one meetings with the MLAs," Ibrahim said. Kumaraswamy on September 22 agreed to be part of the NDA after meeting the Union Home Minister Amit Shah and party president J P Nadda in New Delhi. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Antony Fernando By Express News Service NAGAPATTINAM: The 150-seater passenger ferry from Nagapattinam to Kangesanthurai in Sri Lanka recording only seven bookings just a day after the service was flagged off led to its cancellation on Sunday. While reasons from the need for better ticket booking platforms to travel visa issues were cited for the poor patronage, the operator announced that the service would now be available only on alternate days till October 20. On Saturday, HSC Cheriyapani was flagged off with 50 passengers onboard from the mini port in Nagapattinam. Union Ministers Sarbananda Sonowal and S Jaishankar led the ceremony. The return service the same day from Kangesanthurai saw the passenger footfall at 30. Bookings for the service operated by the Shipping Corporation of India in collaboration with KPVS Private Limited, however, were down to seven on Sunday. The service was hence cancelled. A source said, Trips cannot be initiated with less number of passengers. Hence the daily service as earlier planned has been changed to alternate days to limit losses. The service is currently scheduled for October 16, 18 and 20. Travel enthusiasts cite several reasons for the poor patronage. A passenger said, Ticket booking could be made more professional through booking platforms. The ticket cost could also be less. A one-way ticket is priced at Rs 7,670. State Minister for Mini Ports EV Velu also had during the flagging off ceremony urged Union Minister for Shipping and Ports Sarbananda Sonowal for a reduction in ticket price. Another passenger said, The options to avail of travel visa are not completely passenger-friendly yet. It could be issued on arrival, during the trip, instead of having to apply through immigration offices. Captain M Anbarasan, state port officer, said, We have advised the travel agency to ease visa processes such as issuing it onboard for better ticket bookings. The ferry service would be suspended after October 20. The mini port in Nagapattinam is expected to witness several development works over the next two months following which the service is scheduled to resume in January 2024. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp NAGAPATTINAM: The 150-seater passenger ferry from Nagapattinam to Kangesanthurai in Sri Lanka recording only seven bookings just a day after the service was flagged off led to its cancellation on Sunday. While reasons from the need for better ticket booking platforms to travel visa issues were cited for the poor patronage, the operator announced that the service would now be available only on alternate days till October 20. On Saturday, HSC Cheriyapani was flagged off with 50 passengers onboard from the mini port in Nagapattinam. Union Ministers Sarbananda Sonowal and S Jaishankar led the ceremony. The return service the same day from Kangesanthurai saw the passenger footfall at 30. Bookings for the service operated by the Shipping Corporation of India in collaboration with KPVS Private Limited, however, were down to seven on Sunday. The service was hence cancelled. A source said, Trips cannot be initiated with less number of passengers. Hence the daily service as earlier planned has been changed to alternate days to limit losses. The service is currently scheduled for October 16, 18 and 20. Travel enthusiasts cite several reasons for the poor patronage. A passenger said, Ticket booking could be made more professional through booking platforms. The ticket cost could also be less. A one-way ticket is priced at Rs 7,670.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); State Minister for Mini Ports EV Velu also had during the flagging off ceremony urged Union Minister for Shipping and Ports Sarbananda Sonowal for a reduction in ticket price. Another passenger said, The options to avail of travel visa are not completely passenger-friendly yet. It could be issued on arrival, during the trip, instead of having to apply through immigration offices. Captain M Anbarasan, state port officer, said, We have advised the travel agency to ease visa processes such as issuing it onboard for better ticket bookings. The ferry service would be suspended after October 20. The mini port in Nagapattinam is expected to witness several development works over the next two months following which the service is scheduled to resume in January 2024. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By Associated Press CHICAGO: A 71-year-old Illinois man accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old boy and seriously wounding a 32-year-old woman was charged with a hate crime Sunday. Police allege he singled out the victims because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas. In recent days, police in U.S. cities and federal authorities have been on high alert for violence driven by antisemitic or Islamophobic sentiments. FBI officials, along with Jewish and Muslim groups, have reported an increase of hateful and threatening rhetoric. In the Chicago-area case, officers found the woman and boy late Saturday morning at a home in an unincorporated area of Plainfield Township, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) southwest of Chicago, the Will County Sheriff's Office said in a statement on social media. The boy was pronounced dead at a hospital. The woman had multiple stab wounds and was expected to survive, according to the statement. An autopsy on the child showed he had been stabbed dozens of times. Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis, the sheriff's statement said. According to the Will County sheriffs office, the woman had called 911 to report that her landlord had attacked her with a knife, adding she then ran into a bathroom and continued to fight him off. The man suspected in the attack was found Saturday outside the home and sitting upright outside on the ground near the driveway of the residence with a cut on his forehead, authorities said. Joseph M. Czuba of Plainfield was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crimes and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, according to the sheriff's office. He was in custody Sunday and awaiting a court appearance. Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6. (Twitter) Attempts to reach Czuba or a family member were unsuccessful Sunday. His home phone number was unlisted. Messages left for possible relatives in online records and on social media were not immediately returned. The sheriffs office and county public defender's office did not immediately return messages about Czuba's legal representation. Authorities did not release the names of the two victims. But the boy's paternal uncle, Yousef Hannon, spoke at a news conference Sunday hosted by the Chicago chapter Council on American-Islamic Relations. There the boy was identified as Wadea Al-Fayoume, a Palestinian-American boy who had recently turned 6. The organization identified the other victim as the boy's mother. We are not animals, we are humans. We want people to see us as humans, to feel us as humans, to deal with us as humans, because this is what we are, said Hannon, a Palestinian-American who emigrated to the U.S. in 1999 to work, including as a public school teacher. The Muslim civil liberties organization called the crime our worst nightmare, and part of a disturbing spike in hate calls and emails since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. The group cited text messages exchanged among family members that showed the attacker had made disparaging remarks about Muslims. Palestinians basically, again, with their hearts broken over whats happening to their people, said Ahmed Rehab, the group's executive director, have to also worry about the immediate safety of life and limb living here in this most free of democracies in the world." In response to the increased threats, the Illinois State Police are communicating with federal law-enforcement and reaching out to Muslim communities and religious leaders to offer support, according to a Sunday press release from Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker. To take a six-year-old childs life in the name of bigotry is nothing short of evil," said Pritzker. "Wadea should be heading to school in the morning. Instead, his parents will wake up without their son. This wasnt just a murderit was a hate crime. And every single Illinoisan including our Muslim, Jewish, and Palestinian neighbors deserves to live free from the threat of such evil. FBI Director Chris Wray said on a call with reporters Sunday that the FBI is also moving quickly to mitigate the threats. A senior FBI official who spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Bureau said the majority of the threats that the FBI has responded to were not judged to be credible, adding that the FBI takes them all seriously nonetheless. The official also said that agents have been encouraged to be aggressive and proactive in communicating over the last week with faith-based leaders. The official said the purpose is not to make anyone feel targeted but rather to ask clerics and others to report to law enforcement anything that seems suspicious. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp CHICAGO: A 71-year-old Illinois man accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old boy and seriously wounding a 32-year-old woman was charged with a hate crime Sunday. Police allege he singled out the victims because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas. In recent days, police in U.S. cities and federal authorities have been on high alert for violence driven by antisemitic or Islamophobic sentiments. FBI officials, along with Jewish and Muslim groups, have reported an increase of hateful and threatening rhetoric. In the Chicago-area case, officers found the woman and boy late Saturday morning at a home in an unincorporated area of Plainfield Township, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) southwest of Chicago, the Will County Sheriff's Office said in a statement on social media.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The boy was pronounced dead at a hospital. The woman had multiple stab wounds and was expected to survive, according to the statement. An autopsy on the child showed he had been stabbed dozens of times. Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis, the sheriff's statement said. According to the Will County sheriffs office, the woman had called 911 to report that her landlord had attacked her with a knife, adding she then ran into a bathroom and continued to fight him off. The man suspected in the attack was found Saturday outside the home and sitting upright outside on the ground near the driveway of the residence with a cut on his forehead, authorities said. Joseph M. Czuba of Plainfield was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crimes and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, according to the sheriff's office. He was in custody Sunday and awaiting a court appearance. Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6. (Twitter) Attempts to reach Czuba or a family member were unsuccessful Sunday. His home phone number was unlisted. Messages left for possible relatives in online records and on social media were not immediately returned. The sheriffs office and county public defender's office did not immediately return messages about Czuba's legal representation. Authorities did not release the names of the two victims. But the boy's paternal uncle, Yousef Hannon, spoke at a news conference Sunday hosted by the Chicago chapter Council on American-Islamic Relations. There the boy was identified as Wadea Al-Fayoume, a Palestinian-American boy who had recently turned 6. The organization identified the other victim as the boy's mother. We are not animals, we are humans. We want people to see us as humans, to feel us as humans, to deal with us as humans, because this is what we are, said Hannon, a Palestinian-American who emigrated to the U.S. in 1999 to work, including as a public school teacher. The Muslim civil liberties organization called the crime our worst nightmare, and part of a disturbing spike in hate calls and emails since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. The group cited text messages exchanged among family members that showed the attacker had made disparaging remarks about Muslims. Palestinians basically, again, with their hearts broken over whats happening to their people, said Ahmed Rehab, the group's executive director, have to also worry about the immediate safety of life and limb living here in this most free of democracies in the world." In response to the increased threats, the Illinois State Police are communicating with federal law-enforcement and reaching out to Muslim communities and religious leaders to offer support, according to a Sunday press release from Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker. To take a six-year-old childs life in the name of bigotry is nothing short of evil," said Pritzker. "Wadea should be heading to school in the morning. Instead, his parents will wake up without their son. This wasnt just a murderit was a hate crime. And every single Illinoisan including our Muslim, Jewish, and Palestinian neighbors deserves to live free from the threat of such evil. FBI Director Chris Wray said on a call with reporters Sunday that the FBI is also moving quickly to mitigate the threats. A senior FBI official who spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Bureau said the majority of the threats that the FBI has responded to were not judged to be credible, adding that the FBI takes them all seriously nonetheless. The official also said that agents have been encouraged to be aggressive and proactive in communicating over the last week with faith-based leaders. The official said the purpose is not to make anyone feel targeted but rather to ask clerics and others to report to law enforcement anything that seems suspicious. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By Associated Press JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office on Monday denied reports of any temporary Gaza ceasefire to allow foreign nationals to flee the enclave to neighbouring Egypt. However, the army pledged to refrain from striking routes within Gaza designated for evacuating people from the enclave's north to the south during a limited time window, from 8:00 AM to noon (0500 GMT to 0900 GMT). Media reports had said Israel, Egypt and the United States had agreed the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt would be opened for several hours Monday in a one-off move to allow foreign nationals to flee and aid goods to enter. But Netanyahu's office said in a statement that "there is currently no ceasefire and humanitarian aid in Gaza in return for removing foreigners". Aid convoys have waited on the Egyptian side but, according to witnesses, had not left the town of El-Arish, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) east of Rafah on Monday. The Israeli military said earlier Monday it would refrain from striking two roads in the Gaza Strip marked for residents to move south and out of the way of a possible ground offensive. "The IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) will refrain from targeting the designated axis from 8:00 AM (0500 GMT) until 12:00 (0900 GMT)," military spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X, formerly Twitter. "For your safety take advantage of this short period of time to move south from the north of the strip and Gaza City." Military spokesman Jonathan Conricus pledged in a separate statement that the two designated roads "would be safe to use" for that duration. A surprise attack by Gaza's Hamas militants on southern communities in Israel left more than 1,400 dead on October 7, and retaliatory Israeli air strikes on Gaza since then have killed around 2,750 in the Palestinian territory. An estimated one million people have been displaced within Gaza, the United Nations agency for supporting Palestinian refugees has said. Israel has also carried out air strikes in the southern parts of Gaza in the areas of Khan Yunis and Rafah. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office on Monday denied reports of any temporary Gaza ceasefire to allow foreign nationals to flee the enclave to neighbouring Egypt. However, the army pledged to refrain from striking routes within Gaza designated for evacuating people from the enclave's north to the south during a limited time window, from 8:00 AM to noon (0500 GMT to 0900 GMT). Media reports had said Israel, Egypt and the United States had agreed the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt would be opened for several hours Monday in a one-off move to allow foreign nationals to flee and aid goods to enter.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); But Netanyahu's office said in a statement that "there is currently no ceasefire and humanitarian aid in Gaza in return for removing foreigners". Aid convoys have waited on the Egyptian side but, according to witnesses, had not left the town of El-Arish, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) east of Rafah on Monday. The Israeli military said earlier Monday it would refrain from striking two roads in the Gaza Strip marked for residents to move south and out of the way of a possible ground offensive. "The IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) will refrain from targeting the designated axis from 8:00 AM (0500 GMT) until 12:00 (0900 GMT)," military spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X, formerly Twitter. "For your safety take advantage of this short period of time to move south from the north of the strip and Gaza City." Military spokesman Jonathan Conricus pledged in a separate statement that the two designated roads "would be safe to use" for that duration. A surprise attack by Gaza's Hamas militants on southern communities in Israel left more than 1,400 dead on October 7, and retaliatory Israeli air strikes on Gaza since then have killed around 2,750 in the Palestinian territory. An estimated one million people have been displaced within Gaza, the United Nations agency for supporting Palestinian refugees has said. Israel has also carried out air strikes in the southern parts of Gaza in the areas of Khan Yunis and Rafah. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Recent findings from the National Australia Bank (NAB) shed light on the evolving landscape of Australias labor force, revealing a workforce in transition. The report underscores significant changes, as 25% of employees switched jobs in the past year, and a remarkable 25% are actively contemplating a change in their employment situation. These shifts present a unique opportunity for employers to understand the factors behind employee departures and to strategize for enhanced retention. The impact of the pandemic on work dynamics remains evident, with Australians still dedicating approximately one-third of their workweek to remote work. Many express a strong desire for increased flexibility in remote work arrangements. The productivity of remote work remains a subject of ongoing debate, with 25% of Australians feeling less productive when working from home, and nearly 20% expressing uncertainty. However, its important to note that attitudes toward remote work productivity vary across various industries. The data, collected in Q2 2023, encompasses a broad spectrum of work-related aspects, from job transitions to remote work preferences. Job Changes Approximately 1 in 4 Australian workers underwent job changes in the past year, with a noteworthy 1 in 10 switching roles in the last 3 months. The propensity for job transitions is notably higher among younger demographics, gradually diminishing as age advances. Job-switching rates exhibit substantial variations across professions and industries. Sectors such as general unskilled, sales, community & personal services, and professionals have higher transition rates, while IT/tech, Wholesale Trade, and Finance & Insurance demonstrate lower rates. This highlights a dynamic workforce seeking diverse opportunities. Job Considerations The report uncovers that about 1 in 4 workers are actively contemplating changing jobs, reflecting a workforce in flux. Younger age groups, particularly those aged 18-29 and 30-49, exhibit a more pronounced inclination towards considering job changes than their older counterparts. Interestingly, IT & tech professionals and general unskilled workers are more likely to entertain thoughts of job transitions, indicating the varied motivations and circumstances that drive these considerations. Job Satisfaction The report delves into job satisfaction levels, revealing that around 1 in 3 workers find themselves very satisfied with their current roles. Impressively, over 4 in 10 express high levels of satisfaction with their employers. Job satisfaction nuances are observed across different demographic segments, influenced by age, profession, and industry. Older workers tend to report higher levels of job satisfaction, while younger workers aged 18-29 show lower satisfaction levels, showcasing the diverse experiences and expectations within the workforce. Remote Work The transition to remote work, particularly during the pandemic, prompted concerns regarding its impact on teamwork and productivity. However, the data paints a positive picture, with almost 9 in 10 Australians expressing contentment with their level of interaction with colleagues while working remotely. Furthermore, about 6 in 10 workers believe they are just as productive when working from home as they are in a physical office setting, dispelling concerns about reduced efficiency. This reassures organizations embracing remote work policies. A commendable two-thirds of workers feel they have successfully achieved a good work-life balance, emphasizing the value of flexible work arrangements. The report underscores that remote work can indeed harmonize professional and personal life effectively. Salary Considerations Salary remains a driving factor for job changes, as approximately 30% of workers who switched jobs in the past year reported earning more, demonstrating the financial motivations behind career moves. Interestingly, the report shows that while 39% of full-time workers experienced increased earnings, the number of part-time workers enjoying higher salaries decreased, revealing differences in income dynamics between these two categories. Roughly 1 in 3 workers have intentions to request a pay raise, and an encouraging 2 in 3 among them are confident about achieving this goal. This underscores the importance of financial growth and negotiation skills in the workforce. Ideal Remote Work Balance When it comes to remote work preferences, the data highlights that workers ideally aspire to dedicate half of their workweek to remote work (49%). This balanced approach reflects a growing demand for flexible work arrangements. Ideal remote work preferences are shaped by a complex interplay of age, profession, and industry, underlining the need for tailored remote work policies to cater to diverse workforce requirements. The report hints at slight variations in ideal remote work preferences in different states, professions, and industries, signaling the need for nuanced remote work strategies. Actual vs. Ideal Remote Work Comparing actual remote work practices to ideal preferences, the report reveals that most workers currently spend less time working from home than they desire. This gap is contingent on age, gender, profession, and industry. Workers from Tasmania, South Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory exhibit the largest disparities between their current and ideal remote work scenarios. These variations emphasize the need for region-specific remote work policies and accommodations. Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. By AFP JERUSALEM: Israel's army said Monday it was evacuating residents living along its northern border with Lebanon amid rising tensions there 10 days into its war with Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. An Israeli civilian and an army officer were killed Sunday in missile attacks from Lebanon, and the army carried out retaliatory strikes and attacked infrastructure of the Hezbollah militant group. The Israeli army Monday noted in a statement "the implementation of a plan to evacuate residents of northern Israel who live in the area up to two kilometres from the Lebanese border to state-funded guesthouses". The move affects thousands of people living in 28 communities. Many have already left the area after repeated cross-border fire in recent days has claimed lives on both sides of the UN-patrolled border between Lebanon and Israel which remain technically at war. Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said his country had "no interest in a war in the north, we don't want to escalate the situation". "If Hezbollah chooses the path of war, it will pay a very heavy price," he said on Sunday. "But if it restrains itself, we'll respect the situation and keep things the way they are". Israel has been at war since Gaza's Hamas militants staged an unprecedented attack on October 7 in which its gunmen shot, stabbed and mutilated people in a surprise onslaught that shocked the nation. The attack and fighting since have killed more than 1,400 in Israel which has vowed to destroy Hamas and responded with a heavy bombing campaign on Gaza that had killed more than 2,750. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp JERUSALEM: Israel's army said Monday it was evacuating residents living along its northern border with Lebanon amid rising tensions there 10 days into its war with Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. An Israeli civilian and an army officer were killed Sunday in missile attacks from Lebanon, and the army carried out retaliatory strikes and attacked infrastructure of the Hezbollah militant group. The Israeli army Monday noted in a statement "the implementation of a plan to evacuate residents of northern Israel who live in the area up to two kilometres from the Lebanese border to state-funded guesthouses".googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The move affects thousands of people living in 28 communities. Many have already left the area after repeated cross-border fire in recent days has claimed lives on both sides of the UN-patrolled border between Lebanon and Israel which remain technically at war. Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said his country had "no interest in a war in the north, we don't want to escalate the situation". "If Hezbollah chooses the path of war, it will pay a very heavy price," he said on Sunday. "But if it restrains itself, we'll respect the situation and keep things the way they are". Israel has been at war since Gaza's Hamas militants staged an unprecedented attack on October 7 in which its gunmen shot, stabbed and mutilated people in a surprise onslaught that shocked the nation. The attack and fighting since have killed more than 1,400 in Israel which has vowed to destroy Hamas and responded with a heavy bombing campaign on Gaza that had killed more than 2,750. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By Associated Press LONDON: A lawyer for Donald Trump told a London judge Monday that the ex-president plans to prove that a discredited report by a former British spy that contained shocking and scandalous claims that he was compromised by Russians in his first bid for the presidency was wrong and harmed his reputation. Trump has sued the company founded by Christopher Steele, who created a dossier in 2016 that contained rumors and uncorroborated allegations about Trump that erupted in a political storm just before he was inaugurated. Trump is seeking damages from Orbis Business Intelligence for allegedly violating British data protection laws. Steele's company is seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed during two days of hearings at London's High Court. The lawsuit comes as Trump is the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination while facing legal problems on the other side of the Atlantic. Trump's lawyers are currently fighting a civil fraud trial in New York alleging he and company executives deceived banks, insurers and others by overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth to secure loans and make deals. He also faces four separate criminal cases for allegations including mishandling classified documents, trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and paying hush money to a porn actress to cover up an affair. ALSO READ | Trump says Netanyahu 'let us down' before 2020 airstrike that killed top Iranian general His attorney noted in court Monday that Trump is a controversial figure who expresses himself in strong language and has faced criticism from judges in the U.S. However, he said none of that is relevant in the current case. Trump is claiming he suffered personal and reputational damage and distress" because his data protection rights were violated. Steele, who once ran the Russia desk for the Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6, was paid by Democrats to compile research that included salacious allegations that Russians could potentially blackmail Trump for activity with prostitutes in a Moscow hotel. Trump said the dossier was fake news and a political witch hunt. Tomlinson said it "contained shocking and scandalous claims about the personal conduct of President Trump and included allegations he paid bribes to Russian officials to further his business interests. Trump's case is that this personal data is egregiously inaccurate, he said. Tomlinson said Trump plans to vindicate himself in court by providing evidence that the report's claims were false. Orbis wants the lawsuit thrown out because it said the report was never meant to be made public and was published by BuzzFeed without the permission of Steele or Orbis. It also said the claim was filed too late. Orbis attorney Antony White said Trump has a deep and intense animus against Steele and the firm and a a long history of repeatedly bringing frivolous, meritless and vexatious claims for the purpose of vexing and harassing perceived enemies and others against whom he bears a grudge. Trump had called for Steele to be extradited, tried, and thrown into jail and has called him a lowlife and sleazebag involved in the "Russian collusion hoax who produced a total phony con job dossier, White said in a court filing. In two previous High Court cases, a judge ruled Orbis and Steele were not legally liable for the consequences of the dossier's publication. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp LONDON: A lawyer for Donald Trump told a London judge Monday that the ex-president plans to prove that a discredited report by a former British spy that contained shocking and scandalous claims that he was compromised by Russians in his first bid for the presidency was wrong and harmed his reputation. Trump has sued the company founded by Christopher Steele, who created a dossier in 2016 that contained rumors and uncorroborated allegations about Trump that erupted in a political storm just before he was inaugurated. Trump is seeking damages from Orbis Business Intelligence for allegedly violating British data protection laws. Steele's company is seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed during two days of hearings at London's High Court.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The lawsuit comes as Trump is the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination while facing legal problems on the other side of the Atlantic. Trump's lawyers are currently fighting a civil fraud trial in New York alleging he and company executives deceived banks, insurers and others by overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth to secure loans and make deals. He also faces four separate criminal cases for allegations including mishandling classified documents, trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and paying hush money to a porn actress to cover up an affair. ALSO READ | Trump says Netanyahu 'let us down' before 2020 airstrike that killed top Iranian general His attorney noted in court Monday that Trump is a controversial figure who expresses himself in strong language and has faced criticism from judges in the U.S. However, he said none of that is relevant in the current case. Trump is claiming he suffered personal and reputational damage and distress" because his data protection rights were violated. Steele, who once ran the Russia desk for the Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6, was paid by Democrats to compile research that included salacious allegations that Russians could potentially blackmail Trump for activity with prostitutes in a Moscow hotel. Trump said the dossier was fake news and a political witch hunt. Tomlinson said it "contained shocking and scandalous claims about the personal conduct of President Trump and included allegations he paid bribes to Russian officials to further his business interests. Trump's case is that this personal data is egregiously inaccurate, he said. Tomlinson said Trump plans to vindicate himself in court by providing evidence that the report's claims were false. Orbis wants the lawsuit thrown out because it said the report was never meant to be made public and was published by BuzzFeed without the permission of Steele or Orbis. It also said the claim was filed too late. Orbis attorney Antony White said Trump has a deep and intense animus against Steele and the firm and a a long history of repeatedly bringing frivolous, meritless and vexatious claims for the purpose of vexing and harassing perceived enemies and others against whom he bears a grudge. Trump had called for Steele to be extradited, tried, and thrown into jail and has called him a lowlife and sleazebag involved in the "Russian collusion hoax who produced a total phony con job dossier, White said in a court filing. In two previous High Court cases, a judge ruled Orbis and Steele were not legally liable for the consequences of the dossier's publication. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By AFP WASHINGTON: Any move by Israel to occupy the Gaza Strip again would be a "big mistake," US President Joe Biden said in an interview released on Sunday, as Israeli troops prepared for a ground invasion. LIVE | Fuel, basic supplies to run out in 24 hrs at Gaza hospitals as invasion looms Israel, seeking vengeance for an attack by Hamas on October 7, has declared war on the militant group, launching a relentless bombing campaign and warning more than a million people in northern Gaza to move south ahead of the operation. Asked by CBS news program 60 Minutes if he would support any occupation of Gaza by the American ally, Biden replied: "I think it'd be a big mistake." Hamas "don't represent all the Palestinian people," he continued. But invading and "taking out the extremists" is a "necessary requirement," he added. ALSO READ | US sends second aircraft carrier ' to deter hostile actions against Israel' The Hamas attack saw fighters shoot, stab and burn to death more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians. Israel's reprisal attacks in the days since have flattened neighbourhoods and killed at least 2,670 people in Gaza, the majority ordinary Palestinians. Israel has faced grave warnings about the implications of putting boots on the ground in Gaza, with aid groups warning of a humanitarian disaster, fears of the conflict escalating, and the challenges of separating militants from civilians in the impoverished, densely occupied territory. Israel first occupied Gaza during the 1967 Six-Day War, and it was only fully returned to Palestinians in 2005. A year later, Israel imposed an air, land and sea blockade on the 140 square mile (362 square kilometer) strip of land, which is also bordered by Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea. In 2007 Israel tightened the blockade after Hamas took control of Gaza from the secular Fatah movement of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. READ MORE | In first call with Palestinian president Abbas, Biden discusses support for humanitarian aid to Gaza When asked if Hamas -- whom Biden described as "a bunch of cowards" -- must be eliminated entirely, he replied: "Yes I do." "But there needs to be a Palestinian authority. There needs to be a path to a Palestinian state," he continued, reiterating the long-standing US call for a two-state solution. 60 Minutes journalist Scott Pelley also asked Biden if he could foresee US troops joining the war. "I don't think that's necessary," Biden, who pulled US troops out of Afghanistan and has insisted that none will be sent to aid Ukraine as it holds off a Russian invasion, replied. "Israel has one of the finest fighting forces in the country. I guarantee we're gonna provide them everything they need," he said. The United States has already deployed two aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean in a powerful show of support for Israel. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp WASHINGTON: Any move by Israel to occupy the Gaza Strip again would be a "big mistake," US President Joe Biden said in an interview released on Sunday, as Israeli troops prepared for a ground invasion. LIVE | Fuel, basic supplies to run out in 24 hrs at Gaza hospitals as invasion looms Israel, seeking vengeance for an attack by Hamas on October 7, has declared war on the militant group, launching a relentless bombing campaign and warning more than a million people in northern Gaza to move south ahead of the operation.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Asked by CBS news program 60 Minutes if he would support any occupation of Gaza by the American ally, Biden replied: "I think it'd be a big mistake." Hamas "don't represent all the Palestinian people," he continued. But invading and "taking out the extremists" is a "necessary requirement," he added. ALSO READ | US sends second aircraft carrier ' to deter hostile actions against Israel' The Hamas attack saw fighters shoot, stab and burn to death more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians. Israel's reprisal attacks in the days since have flattened neighbourhoods and killed at least 2,670 people in Gaza, the majority ordinary Palestinians. Israel has faced grave warnings about the implications of putting boots on the ground in Gaza, with aid groups warning of a humanitarian disaster, fears of the conflict escalating, and the challenges of separating militants from civilians in the impoverished, densely occupied territory. Israel first occupied Gaza during the 1967 Six-Day War, and it was only fully returned to Palestinians in 2005. A year later, Israel imposed an air, land and sea blockade on the 140 square mile (362 square kilometer) strip of land, which is also bordered by Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea. In 2007 Israel tightened the blockade after Hamas took control of Gaza from the secular Fatah movement of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. READ MORE | In first call with Palestinian president Abbas, Biden discusses support for humanitarian aid to Gaza When asked if Hamas -- whom Biden described as "a bunch of cowards" -- must be eliminated entirely, he replied: "Yes I do." "But there needs to be a Palestinian authority. There needs to be a path to a Palestinian state," he continued, reiterating the long-standing US call for a two-state solution. 60 Minutes journalist Scott Pelley also asked Biden if he could foresee US troops joining the war. "I don't think that's necessary," Biden, who pulled US troops out of Afghanistan and has insisted that none will be sent to aid Ukraine as it holds off a Russian invasion, replied. "Israel has one of the finest fighting forces in the country. I guarantee we're gonna provide them everything they need," he said. The United States has already deployed two aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean in a powerful show of support for Israel. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By Online Desk Amid reports of bombings and airstrikes by Israel in Gaza, an intense US-led diplomatic effort failed on Monday to ease the plight of 2 million Palestinians trapped under bombardment in Gaza, with supplies of water, food and medicine all running out, raising the prospect of a humanitarian disaster, The Guardian reports. The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, arrived back in Israel after a tour of the five Gulf Arab states and Egypt as part of an ongoing but faltering diplomatic mission. US media reported that Joe Biden was considering a trip as an already dire situation drastically deteriorated, The Guardian said. As a part of diplomatic efforts, Turkey's foreign minister has discussed the release of Israeli hostages with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh. Pro-Palestine protests continued in different parts of the world. In the US, Jewish activists joined the protests demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. On Monday, activists reportedly blocked the entrances and exits of the White House demanding an immediate ceasefire, return of hostages and an end to the Israeli apartheid. Israel continued to pound areas of Gaza neighbourhoods on Monday. In West Bank, a Palestinian news agency was forcibly closed by Israeli forces alleging that the news agency was "pro-Hamas." The news agency would file a lawsuit against the Israeli military through international organisations. It called upon the Palestinian authority to fulfill its responsibility in safeguarding journalists organisations in Palestine. Videos have emerged of Gaza residents using wagons to transport water in barrels even as the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned that Gaza is running out of water. WHO also cautioned about an imminent public health crisis compounding desperate situation for civilians. Lives of over 3500 inpatients in 35 hospitals are at immediate risk, WHO noted. Meanwhile, hospitals in Gaza faced collapse Monday as water, power and medicine neared depletion, and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians searched for dwindling food supplies while Israel maintained punishing airstrikes in retaliation for last weeks deadly rampage by Hamas. Thousands of patients lives were at risk, U.N. officials said, and mediators struggled for a cease-fire to let in aid waiting at the Egyptian border. ALSO READ | Palestinians are struggling to flee south in Gaza after Israel gives an evacuation order More than a week after Israel stopped entry of any supplies, all eyes were on the Rafah crossing, Gazas only connection to Egypt, where trucks carrying aid have waited for days to pass through. Israel forced the crossing to shut down with airstrikes on the Gaza side last week and has not agreed to reopen it for aid. Egyptian state TV and Gaza media reported Israel struck the crossing again on Monday. As Israel prepared a likely ground offensive into Gaza that would mean deadly house-to-house fighting, fears rose over the conflict spreading. Israel evacuated towns near its northern border with Lebanon, where the military has exchanged fire repeatedly with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group. This has become the deadliest of the five Gaza wars for both sides. At least 2,778 have been killed and 9,700 wounded in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry there. More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed, the vast majority civilians massacred in Hamas Oct. 7 assault. The Israeli military said Monday that at least 199 hostages were taken into Gaza, more than previously estimated. (With inputs from Associated Press) Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Amid reports of bombings and airstrikes by Israel in Gaza, an intense US-led diplomatic effort failed on Monday to ease the plight of 2 million Palestinians trapped under bombardment in Gaza, with supplies of water, food and medicine all running out, raising the prospect of a humanitarian disaster, The Guardian reports. The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, arrived back in Israel after a tour of the five Gulf Arab states and Egypt as part of an ongoing but faltering diplomatic mission. US media reported that Joe Biden was considering a trip as an already dire situation drastically deteriorated, The Guardian said. As a part of diplomatic efforts, Turkey's foreign minister has discussed the release of Israeli hostages with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Pro-Palestine protests continued in different parts of the world. In the US, Jewish activists joined the protests demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. On Monday, activists reportedly blocked the entrances and exits of the White House demanding an immediate ceasefire, return of hostages and an end to the Israeli apartheid. Israel continued to pound areas of Gaza neighbourhoods on Monday. In West Bank, a Palestinian news agency was forcibly closed by Israeli forces alleging that the news agency was "pro-Hamas." The news agency would file a lawsuit against the Israeli military through international organisations. It called upon the Palestinian authority to fulfill its responsibility in safeguarding journalists organisations in Palestine. Videos have emerged of Gaza residents using wagons to transport water in barrels even as the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned that Gaza is running out of water. WHO also cautioned about an imminent public health crisis compounding desperate situation for civilians. Lives of over 3500 inpatients in 35 hospitals are at immediate risk, WHO noted. Meanwhile, hospitals in Gaza faced collapse Monday as water, power and medicine neared depletion, and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians searched for dwindling food supplies while Israel maintained punishing airstrikes in retaliation for last weeks deadly rampage by Hamas. Thousands of patients lives were at risk, U.N. officials said, and mediators struggled for a cease-fire to let in aid waiting at the Egyptian border. ALSO READ | Palestinians are struggling to flee south in Gaza after Israel gives an evacuation order More than a week after Israel stopped entry of any supplies, all eyes were on the Rafah crossing, Gazas only connection to Egypt, where trucks carrying aid have waited for days to pass through. Israel forced the crossing to shut down with airstrikes on the Gaza side last week and has not agreed to reopen it for aid. Egyptian state TV and Gaza media reported Israel struck the crossing again on Monday. As Israel prepared a likely ground offensive into Gaza that would mean deadly house-to-house fighting, fears rose over the conflict spreading. Israel evacuated towns near its northern border with Lebanon, where the military has exchanged fire repeatedly with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group. This has become the deadliest of the five Gaza wars for both sides. At least 2,778 have been killed and 9,700 wounded in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry there. More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed, the vast majority civilians massacred in Hamas Oct. 7 assault. The Israeli military said Monday that at least 199 hostages were taken into Gaza, more than previously estimated. (With inputs from Associated Press) Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp UK expert hails innovative model of int'l education pilot zone in China's Hainan Pub Date:23-10-16 08:58 Source:Xinhua A foreign education consultant of Lingshui Li'an International Education Innovation Pilot Zone in China's Hainan spoke highly of the sharing spirit and integration model of the pilot project. Editor:Zheng Chen Related News Xi Story: On fast track for development GLOBALink | Greece's largest port thrives ... 134th Canton Fair kicks off in Guangzhou East China's Anhui posts robust growth in ... China plans to import more durian from Malaysia amid rising competition between several Southeast Asian countries aiming to be the fruits top exporter to the massive market. Officials from Malaysias Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security met with a Chinese customs delegation recently to sign a six-point statement on plans for durian trade between the two countries, reported South China Morning Post. "The Chinese side agrees to speed up its risk assessment of Malaysian fresh durian, and both sides will cooperate on promoting quarantine inspection work," the statement read. Malaysia is known for its premium Musang King durian variety, which is considered one of the worlds best varieties of the fruit. China imports most of its durian from Thailand, but in recent years there has been growing competition from the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia, all of which want a larger piece of the Chinese markets $4-billion durian pie. Vietnam is set to export up to $1.5 billion worth of durian this year, 3.5 times more than it did in 2022. Most of it will be sent to China, according to officials. Thailand opened a new railway this year connecting it with Laos and China in order to facilitate more durian exports. Gender equality is one of the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development goals, set forth in 2015 and intended to be reached by 2030. Yet with little more than six years to go, progress is slow. Today, women stand at the head of only 28 countries and represent one in four members of parliament. According to UN Women, at this pace, the world will reach gender parity in another 130 years. The gender gap in power and leadership remains entrenched; gender-based violence including technology-facilitated gender-based violence is increasing; and discrimination remains commonplace, said United States Permanent Representative to the UNs Economic and Social Council, Lisa Carty. Those who stand in the way of the advancement of women and girls also reduce the prosperity and security of all persons, especially vulnerable groups. They erode the full potential of a democratic way of life. They undermine achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda. And they make way for the unyielding grip of authoritarianism, she said. On the other hand, Those who stand with women and girls create space for the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all persons, regardless of gender, said Ambassador Carty. As we focus on the advancement of women and girls in our societies, our nations, and our world, we see a clear connection between the treatment of women and girls and the wellbeing of all people. The evidence is clear: when women and girls are denied the full enjoyment of their human rights all of society is harmed. With that in mind, On the one-year anniversary of Mahsa Aminis death, President Biden reaffirmed our commitment to the courageous people of Iran who are carrying on the historic Woman, Life, Freedom movement she inspired, said Ambassador Carty. We applaud the bravery and sacrifice of so many who have stood up in the face of oppression and violence to fight for not just gender equality but also broader fundamental freedoms, which Irans government has denied to women. Human rights apply to all individuals, all of the time, everywhere, said Ambassador Carty. We therefore question why anyone would seek to deny half of the global population the full enjoyment of their human rights. Societies function best when all persons are included and recognized as equals. Global challenges can only be solved when women and girls in all their diversity have a seat at the table. 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. An automated pain recognition system using artificial intelligence (AI) holds promise as an unbiased method to detect pain in patients before, during and after surgery, according to research presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2023 annual meeting. Currently, subjective methods are used to assess pain, including the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) -; where patients rate their own pain -; and the Critical-Care Pain Observation Tool (CPOT) -; where health care professionals rate the patient's pain based on facial expression, body movement and muscle tension. The automated pain recognition system uses two forms of AI, computer vision (giving the computer "eyes") and deep learning so it can interpret the visuals to assess patients' pain. Traditional pain assessment tools can be influenced by racial and cultural biases, potentially resulting in poor pain management and worse health outcomes. Further, there is a gap in perioperative care due to the absence of continuous observable methods for pain detection. Our proof-of-concept AI model could help improve patient care through real-time, unbiased pain detection." Timothy Heintz, B.S., lead author of the study and a fourth-year medical student at the University of California San Diego Early recognition and effective treatment of pain have been shown to decrease the length of hospital stays and prevent long-term health conditions such as chronic pain, anxiety and depression. Researchers provided the AI model 143,293 facial images from 115 pain episodes and 159 non-pain episodes in 69 patients who had a wide range of elective surgical procedures, from knee and hip replacements to complex heart surgeries. The researchers taught the computer by presenting it with each raw facial image and telling it whether or not it represented pain, and it began to identify patterns. Using heat maps, the researchers discerned that the computer focused on facial expressions and facial muscles in certain areas of the face, particularly the eyebrows, lips and nose. Once it was provided enough examples, it used the learned knowledge to make pain predictions. The AI-automated pain recognition system aligned with CPOT results 88% of the time and with VAS 66% of the time. "The VAS is less accurate compared to CPOT because VAS is a subjective measurement that can be more heavily influenced by emotions and behaviors than CPOT might be," said Heintz. "However, our models were able to predict VAS to some extent, indicating there are very subtle cues that the AI system can identify that humans cannot." If the findings are validated, this technology may be an additional tool physicians could use to improve patient care. For example, cameras could be mounted on the walls and ceilings of the surgical recovery room (post-anesthesia care unit) to assess patients' pain -; even those who are unconscious -; by taking 15 images per second. This also would free up nurses and health professionals -; who intermittently take time to assess the patient's pain -; to focus on other areas of care. The researchers plan to continue to incorporate other variables such as movement and sound into the model. Concerns about privacy would need to be addressed to ensure patient images are kept private, but the system could eventually include other monitoring features, such as brain and muscle activity to assess unconscious patients, he said. Patients who had common procedures performed outside of the operating room (OR) were more likely to go home instead of to a long-term care facility when they were discharged from the hospital if their sedation was administered or directed by an anesthesiologist, rather than by a physician who is not a trained anesthesiologist, according to a first-of-its-kind study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2023 annual meeting. Patients who need catheters placed in a vein, angiograms (X-ray of the blood vessels), image-guided biopsies and many other procedures typically are treated in the interventional radiology (IR) suite instead of the OR and given sedation. Sedation is a type of anesthesia that relieves anxiety, controls pain and discomfort, and sometimes makes them fall asleep. One in 10 patients admitted to the hospital requires an IR procedure and many are at increased risk for complications due to health issues or having more complex procedures. The study was the first to directly compare the hospital discharge outcomes of patients who received sedation administered by an anesthesiologist, or by a nurse anesthetist under the direction of an anesthesiologist, to the discharge outcomes of patients whose sedation was administered or directed by a physician who was not an anesthesiologist, such as a radiologist or cardiologist. Anesthesiologists are physicians who are experts in ensuring the safety and comfort of patients undergoing surgery and other procedures and are highly trained in critical care to manage medical emergencies if there is a complication. We focused on patients undergoing IR procedures as they often have health issues such as heart disease or diabetes and some of the procedures are high risk. We found anesthesiologists add value to patients undergoing interventional radiology procedures. That's especially true for complex neurovascular procedures such as angiograms for the treatment of aneurysms or the creation of an arteriovenous (AV) fistula, a connection between an artery and a vein, for people on dialysis and those that typically take longer than an hour." Matthias Eikermann, M.D., Ph.D., senior author of the study and chair of the department of anesthesiology at Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York In the study, 9,682 patients had sedation in the IR suite and 1,639 (16.93%) were discharged from the hospital to a long-term care facility (such as a nursing home) because of complications that they may be more likely to experience due to their disease. Anesthesiologists have the training to identify these complications early and address them. Of those who were not discharged home, 1,429 (87%) had their sedation administered or directed by a physician who was not an anesthesiologist, often with the assistance of a nurse, and 210 (13%) had their sedation administered or directed by an anesthesiologist. "The anesthesiologist is not just providing sedation, but life support for the patient during the entire procedure," said Dr. Eikermann. "The difference in outcomes is because anesthesiologists are trained to identify early complications and treat them immediately. Physicians who are not anesthesiologists are not trained to do that." Anesthesiologists administered or directed sedation for higher-risk patients, such as those with more health issues or who had more invasive procedures. Despite being at higher risk, the patients who received sedation administered or directed by an anesthesiologist were nearly 70% more likely to be discharged home than those whose sedation was administered or directed by a physician who was not an anesthesiologist. "Increasingly, high-risk patients are undergoing procedures outside of the OR," said Vilma Joseph, M.D., MPH, FASA, co-author of the study and director of procedural sedation at Montefiore Medical Center. "The presence of physician anesthesiologists as part of the anesthesia care team model has been associated with improved outcomes." "Patients should know that they can ask for an anesthesiologist if they are concerned about excessive pain, anxiety or their safety during diagnostic procedures," said Dr. Eikermann. "Our research suggests rethinking anesthesia assignments to ensure anesthesiologists provide sedation when patients are at higher risk due to their health or are having more complex, longer or more-invasive procedures." Entergy Mississippi has named new leaders responsible for reliability and customer service in the company's southern region - which spans in and around Vicksburg, Clinton, Brookhaven and Natchez. Jerry Wilson Jr., Curnis Upkins III, and Mike Farrell are taking on new roles to power these communities. Jerry Wilson Jr. serves as senior manager, region distribution operations. In this role, he leads reliability efforts and restoration following storm events for all customers in Entergy Mississippi's southern territory. Wilson joined Entergy Mississippi in 2003 as a lineman apprentice, and has also held positions as journeyman lineman, operations coordinator, line supervisor, and line superintendent. He served as a combat and field medic in the United States Army and Army National Guard, and he earned degrees from Copiah Lincoln Community College and Jackson State University. Curnis Upkins III serves as manager, region customer service. In addition to communities in and around Vicksburg, Clinton, Brookhaven and Natchez, he leads customer service management in the Jackson area and Rankin County. Upkins joined Entergy Mississippi in 2021 as a customer service manager, assisting Jackson customers. Prior to joining the company, he spent 17 years in economic development in Hinds County, Hattiesburg and at Jackson State University. He is a Board member of Goodwill Industries of Mississippi. Upkins holds a bachelor's degree from The University of Southern Mississippi and a master's degree from Jackson State University. Mike Farrell has spent more than 22 years with Entergy Mississippi, and currently serves as manager, customer service support. In his role, Farrell develops and maintains Entergy Mississippi's relationships with state regulators and staff. He also oversees resolution for customer complaints. His previous roles include engineering associate, line supervisor, and design supervisor. He also earned a bachelor's degree from Delta State University. About Entergy Mississippi Entergy Mississippi, LLC provides electricity to approximately 461,000 customers in 45 counties. Entergy Mississippi is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation, a Fortune 500 electric company. Entergy powers life for 3 million customers through our operating companies in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. We're investing in the reliability and resilience of the energy system while helping our region transition to cleaner, more efficient energy solutions. With roots in our communities for more than 100 years, Entergy is a nationally recognized leader in sustainability and corporate citizenship. Since 2018, we have delivered more than $100 million in economic benefits each year to local communities through philanthropy, volunteerism and advocacy. Entergy is headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, and has approximately 12,000 employees. For the latest news from Entergy, visit the Newsroom. This new article publication from Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B, discusses how gestational dexamethasone exposure impacts hippocampal excitatory synaptic transmission and learning and memory function with transgenerational effects. The formation of learning and memory is regulated by synaptic plasticity in hippocampal neurons. The authors of this article explored how gestational exposure to dexamethasone, a synthetic glucocorticoid commonly used in clinical practice, has lasting effects on offspring's learning and memory. Adult offspring rats of prenatal dexamethasone exposure (PDE) displayed significant impairments in novelty recognition and spatial learning memory, with some phenotypes maintained transgenerationally. PDE impaired synaptic transmission of hippocampal excitatory neurons in offspring of F1 to F3 generations, and abnormalities of neurotransmitters and receptors would impair synaptic plasticity and lead to impaired learning and memory, but these changes failed to carry over to offspring of F5 and F7 generations. Mechanistically, altered hippocampal miR-133a-3p-SIRT1-CDK5-NR2B signaling axis in PDE multigeneration caused inhibition of excitatory synaptic transmission, which might be related to oocyte-specific high expression and transmission of miR-133a-3p. Together, PDE affects hippocampal excitatory synaptic transmission, with lasting consequences across generations, and CDK5 in offspring's peripheral blood might be used as an early-warning marker for fetal-originated learning and memory impairment. 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. 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. 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." Anthony Harris, MD, MPH, Study Leader, Professor of Epidemiology & Public Health at UMSOM and infectious disease specialist at University of Maryland Medical Center 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 healthcare facilities--usually 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 healthcare facilities between March and June of this year. All eligible healthcare 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, PhD, 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, PhD, Leigh Smith, MD, and Indira French, MS, were co-authors on this study. The study was funded by a grant from the CDC (1U54CK000450-01). In a recent study published in the journal Nature Reviews Urology, researchers addressed the most pertinent questions concerning male infertility. They discussed the current understanding of the subject, as well as the areas and opportunities for improving male reproductive health. Expert Recommendation: Frequency, morbidity and equity the case for increased research on male fertility. Image Credit: Vadi Fuoco / Shutterstock Background Although the incidence of infertility among middle-aged men and women is almost equal, the dearth of understanding about aspects related to male gamete production and the impact of lifestyle and environmental factors has resulted in a lack of clarity about the etiology of male infertility. The health system also fails to understand the importance of male infertility as a biomarker for other systemic illnesses or the benefits of improved knowledge of male reproductive health in medically assisted reproduction (MAR) technology. The tests to precisely diagnose male infertility are still rare, and infertility is mainly diagnosed using family histories, semen analyses, physical examinations, and surrogate markers in the form of hormone profiles. Furthermore, the categories used to group men who seek MAR are broad, such as azoospermia, asthenozoospermia, oligozoospermia, and teratozoospermia, which can have multiple underlying causes. The lack of clarity about male infertility makes it difficult to treat the condition and often results in the female partner being misassigned the burden of treatment in cases of infertile couples seeking MAR. About the study In the present study, the researchers emphasize the need for a better understanding of the underlying causes of male infertility, such as an interplay of epigenetic and genetic factors and the influence of lifestyle choices and environmental factors. Furthermore, they believe that the issue of male infertility extends beyond the conception of offspring and also impacts other aspects of health, with studies indicating that the disease burden is higher among infertile men than fertile men. The need to better understand male infertility is imperative also from the perspective of ensuring that children conceived through MAR do not inherit the genetic factors that cause male infertility. The present review was a result of a request from the Male Reproductive Health Initiative (MRHI), which is part of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, for a recommendation document that could provide clarity on the current knowledge about male reproductive health and medicine, and identify research gap areas for further improvement. This document is intended for researchers in the field, as well as the governments and general public. The recommendations address some of the most pertinent questions related to male infertility and are a result of consultations with experts in the field of andrology research, public policy, and clinical practice from across the globe. Results The researchers identified 13 of the most vital questions regarding male infertility and addressed these questions with the aim of improving the understanding, diagnoses, and treatment options for male infertility. The first question addresses the global prevalence of male infertility, and surprisingly, there is a lack of clarity on the subject. An accurate estimation of the prevalence of male infertility has proven difficult because most of the information comes from data from infertility clinics or from studies examining populations that are at risk, such as those exposed to specific toxins. Furthermore, assessments of male infertility are based on semen analysis from heterosexual couples seeking MAR. The prognostic ability of semen analysis is not accurate, and the ability to conceive is based on the combined fertility of the couple. Therefore, in many cases, men with impaired spermatogenesis and reduced fertility still manage to conceive if their female partner is healthy, and cases often come to light only if the female partner also suffers from reduced fertility. With regard to diagnostic techniques, the review discussed the combination of methods currently used to diagnose male infertility but highlighted the lack of clarity in determining the causality of the cellular or physiological deficits identified through these tests. The other areas of concern discussed in the review included the current treatment options that exist for addressing male infertility and the need for improved options. The review also discussed the genetic factors, as well as the lifestyle choices and environmental factors that impact male fertility. Epigenetic factors and their influence on male fertility and the inter-generational consequences of these epigenetic factors were also discussed. Some of the other aspects of male reproductive health addressed in this review were the economic burden, as well as the disease burden, of male infertility and the possibility of developing gamete storage or restoration protocols before the administration of medical interventions. The study also addressed the long-term impact of compromised fertility on the health of children conceived naturally or through assisted reproduction to men with impaired fertility. Lastly, the researchers addressed the need for improved communication about andrology and male infertility with health professionals, policymakers, funding agencies, and the general public. Conclusions Overall, this comprehensive review on male reproductive health addressed the significant areas of research, including a better understanding of the prevalence of male infertility and improved diagnosis and treatment methods. The researchers also discussed the need to understand the underlying causes of male infertility and to improve the communication of information about andrology to various stakeholders and the general public. Jodi Bobbitt, the school nurse at William Ramsay Elementary in Alexandria, Virginia, is always ready to see children with a wide range of injuries and illnesses. One day during the first week of school, the parade started before the first bell when a little girl walked in with red, irritated eyes. Then it got busy. A student fell from the monkey bars and another tripped while playing tag. Two kids hit each other's heads with lunchboxes and needed ice packs. A young boy had a stomachache. Bobbitt also saw her regular kiddos: one who has special needs and uses a wheelchair and another who has diabetes and gets his blood sugar checked daily before lunch. "Every day, I'm seeing more and more [youngsters]," Bobbitt, who is a certified nurse practitioner, said with a smile. "I saw more today than yesterday, so we just have to wait and see what the year has in store." As the only school nurse at this suburban Washington, D.C., elementary school, Bobbitt's responsibilities extend beyond treating scraped knees and sniffles for the school's 600 pupils. At her under-the-sea-themed clinic, she administers medications, teaches kids about health care, and conducts routine health screenings. As the school nurse, she also serves as a public health point person tracking student vaccinations, linking parents to local health care resources, and communicating sometimes difficult messages to them, such as warnings about sexually transmitted diseases and signs of depression. It's a full plate, but Bobbitt considers herself lucky. In a previous school nursing job, she split her time between two buildings within the same school district some years three. What hasn't changed is that school nurses play a critical role in keeping students healthy and ready to learn, but it's an often-unrecognized field for which schools struggle to attract and retain employees. More than a third of schools nationwide don't have a full-time nurse on-site, according to a 2021 survey by the National Association of School Nurses. The schools that don't have a dedicated nurse either share one with other campuses, or don't have one at all. Meanwhile, the nation is facing high rates of chronic illnesses among K-12 students, such as diabetes and asthma, along with an unprecedented mental health crisis among youth, and school nurses are at the front lines often, alone. School nurses' roles were further complicated by covid-19. Since the pandemic took hold, they've been tasked with tracking cases and tracing exposures. An "extreme load of work was put on school nurses' shoulders during the pandemic," said Kate King, president of the NASN. They got caught in the middle between anti-maskers and maskers and anti-vaccine and pro-vaccine parents, and were the point of contact whenever students had to quarantine. "School nurses are used to interacting with parents who are angry," said King, but because of the pandemic "that anger just got to levels we had never seen before." In general, kids' attendance and learning can suffer when students don't have access to a school nurse. "You're going to see more absences," she said, citing a study from the Journal of School Nursing that found students with illnesses or injuries were sent home 18% of the time when evaluated by an unlicensed school employee while only 5% went home after being seen by a school nurse. Teachers and administrators are shouldering some of the burden by learning how to handle injuries and illnesses themselves, but "it doesn't take the place of having a school nurse who can respond immediately," King said. Though there is no federal law requiring schools to have nurses on staff, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends at least one full-time nurse for every 750 students enrolled but most states are missing the mark by miles. School nurses in California have one of the heaviest workloads in the country with a student-to-school-nurse ratio of 2,410 students for every nurse, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. According to research organization Child Trends, California, along with 34 other states and the District of Columbia, requires schools to employ school nurses. Of those, 12 set required nurse-to-student ratios. Seven states encourage schools to have nurses on staff. Eight states don't have mandates on the books. Still, schools were scrambling over the summer to hire nurses. Jessica Sawko, director of education for Children Now, a California-based nonprofit organization, said schools struggle not only to retain nurses but also encourage aspiring nurses to consider working in schools. Districts can't compete with the salaries and benefits hospitals offer. The national median salary for school nurses is nearly $55,000 a year, but a registered nurse could make nearly $30,000 more annually working at a hospital. In some states, school nurses need special certification in addition to their nursing degrees. The lack of school nurses is a byproduct of a larger issue: the nation's overall nursing shortage. Health organizations in general even those that offer healthy salaries are facing difficulties hiring and keeping nurses. Around 40% of nurses who participated in a 2023 survey by McKinsey & Co. said they were considering leaving their position. As a nurse for junior high students, King said she is keenly aware that school nurses sometimes serve as students' only contact with a health care professional, especially at her campus. World Language Middle School in Columbus, Ohio, where King works, has a diverse student body and takes in many students who are new to the country. "So that requires school nurses like myself to have a very broad range of knowledge of diseases and symptoms," she said. Robin Wallin, director of school health services for Alexandria City Public Schools, said that another layer of this issue is that school nursing "is an aging cohort." The district has at least one school nurse in each of its 18 campuses but this year it was a challenge to fill every spot. That's partly because many school nurses are aging out, starting to retire, she said. "We need to start to replenish our cohorts." Bobbitt said the nursing students who shadow her almost never imagine themselves working in a school. "They want to work in the ER, they want to work in the hospital, they want to work in the NICU, or somewhere where they can have that adrenaline," Bobbitt said. "This is a little different," she said, adding that it is fast paced in its own way. Robin Cogan is a clinical coordinator at Rutgers University's School Nurse Specialty Program in New Jersey, and she said one of the biggest learning curves for nurses who opt to work in school settings is that they are "often an independent practitioner," which involves juggling a lot of responsibilities. Meanwhile, Bobbitt, working in her brightly colored clinic, stays focused on her daily mission: to address the students' needs as quickly as possible. "We don't want them to miss very much school or much class work," Bobbit said. "That's our goal, right?" Stocks To Watch on October 16: GIFT Nifty on the NSE IX traded 27 points, or 0.14 per cent, higher at 19,727.50, signaling that Dalal Street was headed for positive start on Monday. Heres a slew of stocks that will be in focus today for various reasons. HDFC Bank, Grasim, Federal Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, ICICI Securities: Shares of HDFC Bank, Grasim, Federal Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, and ICICI Securities will be in focus as the companies will announce second quarter results. TCS: A nearly six-month-long probe into the bribes-for-jobs scandal at Tata Consultancy Services Ltd has resulted in crucial suggestions for hiring reforms, along with the sacking of the former head of its resource management group. On Sunday night, TCS disclosed to the exchanges that it had sacked 16 employees and blacklisted six staffing firms. E.S. Chakravarthy, the former head of TCSs resource management group has now been sacked by the company, according to an executive privy to the development. Tata Motors: Tata Motors Ltd sold a 9.9% stake in Tata Technologies Ltd for Rs 1,613.7 crore to the Ratan Tata Endowment Foundation and TPG Rise Climate SF Pte. Ltd, a climate investment fund of TPG Global. The transaction, which values the IPO-bound Tata Technologies at around $2 billion, is in line with Tata Motors deleveraging strategy, according to a company release. Tata Motors sold 9% to TPG Rise Climate for Rs 1,467 crore and 0.9% to the Ratan Tata Endowment Foundation for Rs 146.7 crore. IDBI Bank: The prospective asset valuers of IDBI Bank were informed by the government on 15 October that the lender has deferred tax assets of Rs 11,520 crore and 120 properties in the top seven cities including Mumbai, Pune, and Chennai. The DIPAM said, in response to the pre-bid queries from prospective asset valuers of IDBI Bank, that the bank has as many as 68 properties in Mumbai, 20 in Pune, nine in Chennai and seven in Ahmedabad. Besides, it has six properties in Kolkata and five each in Delhi and Hyderabad. SpiceJet: The reports of IndiGo co-founder Rakesh Gangwal looking to buy a stake in rival airline SpiceJet led to the latters shares surging by 20% on the stock market on October 13. A day later, reports citing a banker close to Gangwal said there is no such plan under consideration. With official statements being awaited from IndiGo, SpiceJet and Gangwal, investors and market observers are left confused by the emergence of conflicting news reports. Adani Enterprises: Adani Enterprises on Friday informed the stock exchanges that the corporate affairs ministry is probing the accounts of the groups two airports in Mumbai. The company said that the Office of the Regional Director, Southeast Region, Hyderabad, Ministry of Corporate Affairs had sought information and documents on the airports Mumbai International Airport Ltd and Navi Mumbai International Airport Ltd for financial years 2017-18 to 2021-22. Ashok Leyland: Hinduja Group flagship company Ashok Leyland has secured an order from Tamil Nadu State Undertakings for the supply of 1,666 new buses, the city-based company said on Friday. This is the single largest BSVI order received from State Transport Undertakings and would further contribute to the companys dominant position in the bus industry. Ashok Leyland said it had been the most preferred brand by Tamil Nadu State Transport Undertakings with more than 18,000 buses, comprising 90% of the total fleet. IOCL/NTPC: Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has said that the company will invest Rs 1,660.15 crore as equity in IndianOil NTPC Green Energy Pvt Ltd a newly set up joint venture with energy NTPC Ltdfor setting up renewable power plants. In June, Indian Oil and NTPC Green Energy Ltd, (a wholly-owned subsidiary of NTPC Ltd) formed a 50:50 joint venture company, IndianOil NTPC Green Energy Pvt Ltd, to set up renewable energy projects to meet 24X7 power requirements of refineries of the IOC. Delta Corp: Delta Corp has received fresh notices of alleged shortfall in the payment of GST to the tune of Rs 6,384 crore, as per a regulatory filing made by the casino chain operator on October 14. This comes nearly three weeks after Delta Corp received tax shortfall notices amounting to Rs 16,822 crore. The latest notices were received by Deltatech Gaming Ltd, a subsidiary of the company, from the Directorate General of GST Intelligence, Kolkata on October 13, the company stated. Avenue Supermart: Avenue Supermart Ltd has declared its July to September 2023 quarterly numbers today. As per the exchange filing, the company has logged an 18.50 per cent jump in total revenue on a year-on-year basis. The companys EBITDA margin stood at 8.1% in Q2FY24 as compared to 8.6% in Q2FY23. Avenue Supermarts Limited said Q2 FY 2024 saw revenue growth of 18.5% as compared to the corresponding quarter of last year. The Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC) has issued the admit cards for the HSSC Group D Exam 2023. Candidates who intend to sit in the HSSC Group D common eligibility test (CET) may download their Group D admit card 2023 from the commissions official website at hssc.gov.in. As per reports, roughly 11 lakh applicants will sit for the HSSC Group D test in 2023. The HSSC Group D test is scheduled to take place on October 21 and 22 in two shifts: one in the morning from 10 AM to 11:45 AM, and the other in the afternoon from 3 PM to 4:45 PM. By entering their login credentials, including their registration number and password, on the official website, candidates may download their Haryana CET Group D hall tickets. On the day of the test, candidates must carry their admit card as well as a valid government-issued ID. Candidates who do not carry their Haryana CET Group D hall ticket will not be permitted to enter the exam venue. HSSC Group D Admit Card 2023: How to download Step 1: Visit hssc.gov.in, the official website to download the Haryana CET Group D admit card. Step 2: From the homepage, navigate to the HSSC Group D admit card 2023 link. Step 3: Key in your registration number, birthdate, and the given security pin. Step 4: The Haryana CET Group D admit card 2023 will be shown on the screen. Step 5: Download the Haryana CET Group D admit card and take a print out of it for future records. HSSC Group D 2023: Exam Pattern The HSSC Group D exam 2023 will be conducted in an offline format and will consist of 100 questions, each worth one mark. Questions in the exams Part As general awareness, reasoning, numeric ability, English, and Hindi sections will count for 75 per cent of the overall score. The remaining 25 per cent of the marks will be under Part B which will include Haryanas history, current events, literature, geography, environment, and culture. The questions in the Haryana CET Group D will be from the Class 10 level. The CET 2023 will be granted 95 per cent weightage, with the remaining 5 per cent allocated based on socioeconomic parameters. As long as no members of the applicants family are currently working for the government, they are eligible for 5 per cent credit. In addition, the applicant seeking socioeconomic marks should not have a household income above Rs 80,000 per year. Studying abroad can be financially challenging for many meritorious students who often opt out due to the expensive course fee, visa charges, accommodation and food expenses. Therefore, scholarships help many to pursue their dreams. News18 Scholarship Guide brings the best and most prestigious grants for Indian students to study abroad, with most of them covering flight tickets, accommodation and course fee; and some also providing stipend. Studying at premier colleges across the world is not a pipe dream anymore, with many top universities offering 100% waiver on tuition fee to meritorious and needy students. Securing such scholarships or even admissions at top universities is highly competitive. Scholarships at highly competitive colleges is challenging yet achievable, and setting yourself apart from other applicants is the key. First and foremost, maintaining a robust academic record is crucial, as it demonstrates commitment to excellence. However, its not just about grades. Engaging in extracurricular activities, showcasing leadership skills, volunteering, and pursuing distinctive experiences or projects related to your field of interest can significantly enhance your scholarship prospects, said Vibha Kagzi, a Harvard graduate and founder and CEO of ReachIvy.com. News18 dives into worlds best colleges according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and brings out scholarship and funding options for Indian students. Oxford University Ranked first in the world by the Times Higher Education (THE) Ranking, Oxford University in the United Kingdom offers a wide range of scholarships and funding options. As many as 42% of the total students at the varsity are from different countries, as per the THE data. The university offers between five and 10 Commonwealth Shared Scholarships each year. The scholarship covers course fees in their entirety and provides a grant for living costs for full-time students of at least 16,164, return airfares and a warm clothing allowance, study travel and thesis grants. Who can apply: Candidates from least developed and lower or middle-income Commonwealth countries including India who are applying to study full-time masters degree can apply. Selection Procedure: Students academic as well as financial backgrounds are considered. Focus is given to students who would have otherwise not been able to afford to study in the UK. Where to apply: https://cscuk.fcdo.gov.uk/scholarships/commonwealth-shared-scholarships/ Other scholarships an Indian student can apply to include Ertegun Graduate Scholarship Programme in Humanities, Felix Scholarships, Helmore Graduate Scholarships, Oxford-Anderson Graduate Scholarship in History, Oxford-Ashton Graduate Scholarship in Engineering. Students can also apply for need-based assistance while submitting applications. They can also apply for external grants and loans. Harvard University With an aim to make education affordable, Harvard offers up to 100% scholarships covering all costs of education and associated funds. The varsity claims that as many as 55% of students studying there receive need-based grants. And one in every five students pays nothing at Harvard. Students can apply for need-based scholarships at the time of admission. Who can apply: Students who are otherwise eligible for studies but cannot afford the finances at Harvard can apply. The varsity offers one-by-one guidance in funding options and drafts scholarships suiting the family. Selection Procedure: Students need to submit income proofs, tax documents of parents. Students profiles including employment and awards are considered. After assessing the contribution that can be made by the students and their families, the rest of the fee comes in the form of alumni and endowment funds, and state-based grants among others. Where to apply: https://college.harvard.edu/financial-aid/how-aid-works/types-aid Cambridge Cambridge offers several scholarships to international students such as Cambridge Commonwealth or GATES for post-graduation. Some colleges also provide partial financial support for overseas students. Indian students can apply for several scholarships including Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute Studentship, MRC studentship, Herchel Smith Research Studentship, Trinity External Research Studentship, Krishnan-Ang Studentship for Overseas Students among several others. GATES Cambridge Scholarship is one of the highest funding option worth between GBP 35,000 to 65,000. It covers fee, maintenance, student visa cost, student immigration health surcharge and other finances. Who can apply: Students from 255 nationalities including Indians can apply. This is applicable for PhD and masters courses at Cambridge. Applicable for both full-time and part-time courses. Selection Procedure: Students will be chosen based on merit. They will also be assessed on several parameters including outstanding intellectual ability for choice of course, commitment to improving the lives of others and leadership potential. Where to apply: https://www.student-funding.cam.ac.uk/fund/gates-cambridge-scholarship-2023 Stanford Students looking for funding from Stanford need to make that specification on their admission application. Who can apply: Students eligible for admission can apply for scholarships. Selection Procedure: Scholarship eligibility is determined by subtracting the amount paid by parents towards the childs studies and the rest is considered for financial aid. Where to apply: https://financialaid.stanford.edu/undergrad/how/international.html Some scholarships available for Indian students include Bridging scholarships, Banyan Impact Fellowship, Fund for Education Abroad, Luce Scholars Program among several others. International scholarships, loans, and external grants are also available. MIT MIT charts out a tailored plan for students based on their financial needs and capabilities. The financial options for international and domestic students are similar. Who can apply: Students aiming to study at MIT and meeting all other admission guidelines are eligible for scholarships. Selection Procedure: Students on meeting the admission eligibility will have to show proof of financial situation including parents tax documents. A specific funding plan will be offered to students based on their needs. Where to apply: https://sfs.mit.edu/undergraduate-students/apply-for-aid/international/ As per THE, California Institute of Technology stands number 6 while Princeton University is at the seventh spot. University of California, Berkeley, and Yale University secure eight and seventh positions internationally. UK-based Imperial College London is at tenth position. When considering colleges abroad, university rankings can indeed provide valuable insights into an institutions overall quality, reputation, and networking opportunities. However, it is vital to remember that while rankings are a useful starting point, they should not be the sole determinant in your decision-making. This is because they might not fully align with your specific needs, such as subject-specific strengths, personal preferences, and cultural fit, said Kagzi. The Congress and Samajwadi Party, both part of the anti-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national bloc INDIA , would have confrontations on at least four assembly seats in the Madhya Pradesh (MP) elections as the seat-sharing talks between the two failed to reach any consensus. Both parties have now released separate lists of their candidates for the assembly polls in MP to be held on November 17. This, however, has raised questions about how the two parties would be able to agree on a seat-sharing formula for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The issue cropped up on Sunday after the Samajwadi Party (SP) declared the list of its nine candidates for the Madhya Pradesh elections. Among those on the list are MLA Meera Deepak Yadav from the Nirwadi assembly seat, Brajgopal Patel from Raj Nagar, DR Rahul from Bhander, Vishwanath Singh Markam from Dhauhani, Shravan Kumar Singh Gaur from Chitrangi, Lakshman Tiwari from Sirmaur, Manoj Yadav from Bijwar, Mahesh Sahare from Katangi, and Rampratap Singh Yadav from Sidhi. Political observers said that the dispute between the two parties became visible soon after the SP released its list. Of the total candidates, four SP candidates were announced from the same seats where the Congress has already declared its candidates in the list of 144 against the 230 assembly seats in MP, said Shashikant Pandey, head of the political science department, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow. Pandey said that such differences may cause problems for the allies in the 2024 Lok Sabha Polls in Uttar Pradesh. Chitrangi, Medgaon, Bhander, and Raj Nagar are the assembly seats where both the Congress and SP have fielded their candidates. In 2018, the Congress had won all these seats, barring Chitrangi. Some SP leaders said that there is resentment among the senior party cadre as the Congress has also its candidate from the Bijawar assembly seat. The SP won this seat in the 2018 assembly polls. However, the SP has yet to declare its candidate for the Chhatarpur assembly seat. Samajwadi Party insiders said that efforts were made to contact senior Congress leaders over the issue but due to a lack of communication, the talks failed to reach any conclusion after which the SP announced its candidates. Senior SP leader Udaiveer Singh said that efforts were made to contact Congress leaders prior to declaring the list of candidates. However, due to a communication gap, the talks failed to reach any conclusion. He added that the alliance is for 2024 and in the state assembly polls, SP will be fighting on its own. Udaiveer Singh said that SP is likely to contest around 30 to 40 seats out of MPs 230 seats. Ajay Rai, Uttar Pradesh Congress chief, said, SP should support Congress, especially on the seats or regions considered among the strongholds of Congress, like what Congress did in the recent Ghosi bypoll in UP. The Ghosi bypoll is a glaring example as it is only because of Congresss support that the SP candidate managed to win with such a huge margin. SP should strengthen Congress instead of making it weak. Senior Congress leader Kamal Nath on Monday said the focus of the INDIA bloc is on Lok Sabha elections and its fine if this coalition happens in the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls. Polling for 230 seats in MP will be held in a single phase on November 17 and votes will be counted on December 3. Look, discussions took place and are also happening. Ultimately, the INDIA bloc is at the central level. Discussion is going on at the central level. If it (coalition) happens (in Madhya Pradesh) it is fine but if not Its (INDIA blocs) focus is at the central level, on Lok Sabha polls, Nath told reporters in Bhopal. He was replying to a question if Congress will contest the assembly polls in MP in coalition with INDIA bloc members like Samajwadi Party (SP) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Notably, the opposition bloc had cancelled a joint rally, slated to be held in the first week of October, in Bhopal. Replying to a query about the Samajwadi Party, Nath said, Various types of talks were held with SP. We want the SP to support us to defeat the BJP and they are also interested. I am thanking Akhilesh Yadav (SP chief) for his aim to defeat BJP. He told me that we are together to trounce (BJP). Nath, however, said there are some complications in the poll arrangement (with allies) as Congress has to consider the local situation. There are some complications in this (alliance in MP), if they (SP) say that we will give the ticket to your (Congress) candidate but our contestant says that we do not want to fight on the SP symbol, then what to do? Such things have come up. These are all practical issues, the Congress leader added. The SP has so far announced nine candidates while Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP declared the names on 39 seats for the Madhya Pradesh elections. SP leader Yash Bhartiya on Sunday said the party was planning to contest all 230 seats as of now. In the 2018 assembly elections in MP, the Akhilesh Yadav-led party had won one seat- Bijawar in Chhatarpur district. When Congress fell short of majority despite emerging as the single largest party after the polls, two BSP MLAs, one SP legislator and four Independents provided support to the then Kamal Nath-led government. The Nath government collapsed in March 2020, after being 15 months in power. As the Congress candidate from Budhni, Vikram Matsal, the actor who played Hanuman in Anand Sagars 2008 television series Ramayan, is all set to take on Madhya Pradesh chief minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who he says has betrayed the people in the constituency. Matsals named featured in the partys first list of 144 candidates for the Madhya Pradesh polls on Sunday. The state goes to polls on November 17 and the votes will be counted on December 3. ACTING TO POLITICS: WHY THE NEW ROLE? According to Matsal, his decision to contest from the Budhni seat in Sehore district, the chief ministers stronghold, came from his experience during his social work. I hail from Salkanpur village near Bhopal. It comes under Chouhans constituency. I am from a humble rural background, and my family is involved in farming, he says. I was associated with social work for long and used to work for conservation of canals. I called one of the help centres of the Chouhan-led scheme on 181 to inform them about the irregularities in the work. They blocked my number. If they can do this to a person from the media, imagine what they must be doing to commoners, asks Matsal, who joined the Congress in July. ALSO READ | MP Polls: Ramayans Hanuman Vikram Mastal is Cong Candidate Against CM Chouhan from Budhni LETS TALK DEVELOPMENT Matsal says Budhni lacks development. In Budhni, there are no facilities. No jobs. No medical or engineering or nursing colleges. I was expecting development in my region as the CM comes from this constituency, but the development stopped a few years ago, he says. I visited Chindhwara to see what development actually means. Tribals are eating pizza in Congress leader Kamal Naths constituency. I feel deceived by the Chouhan government, says Matsal. THE POLL PROSPECTS When asked if he was nervous about contesting against the sitting CM Chouhan, Matsal recites a line from Hanuman Chalisa: Bhoot pishach nikat nahi aave (Whoever chants Hanumans name, evil spirits will not come anywhere near them). It is not about Hanuman or Vikram Matsal, we as voters are Hanuman fighting against the Ravan in the government. Earlier, all candidates against Chouhan have been outsiders, but for the first time, in me, the Congress has found a local candidate. Matsal is confident of a win. This years election is different from the previous one. Id got the feedback and also spoke to a number of people before joining the Congress. People are really angry and tired of the government. I am sure of winning the Budhni seat. The 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. Funded by President Biden's Investing in America agenda, the H2Hubs will accelerate the commercial-scale deployment of clean hydrogen helping generate clean, dispatchable power, create a new form of energy storage, and decarbonize heavy industry and transportation. Together, they will also reduce 25 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions from end-uses each year an amount roughly equivalent to combined annual emissions of 5.5 million gasoline-powered cars and create hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs across the country while supporting healthier communities and strengthening America's energy security. "Unlocking the full potential of hydrogen a versatile fuel that can be made from almost any energy resource in virtually every part of the country is crucial to achieving President Biden's 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 M. 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." Battelle, the world's largest independent applied science and technology company, will lead ARCH2 as the overall Program Manager and prime recipient of ARCH2 funding from DOE/OCED. Battelle will be supported by a world-class Program Management Office team, including GTI Energy, Allegheny Science & Technology (AST), and TRC Companies. ARCH2 is composed of entities with operations across the Appalachian region spanning the hydrogen value chain as well as energy technology organizations, including the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), consultants, academic institutions, community organizations, and non-government organizations that will provide commercial, technical, and programmatic leadership for the development and buildout of the hub. Concentrated in Appalachian counties across West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania, ARCH2 will leverage diverse regional resources to build a safe, sustainable clean hydrogen hub that can scale and integrate into a national clean H2 network. The region is the ideal location for a clean hydrogen hub, due to its unique access to ample low-cost natural gas feedstock, vast industrial end-user demand, workforce and technology capability, and carbon sequestration potential. "I am so honored to announce that today 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," said Senator Joe Manchin (D - WV). "This means West Virginia and the Appalachian region will be the new epicenter of hydrogen in the United States of America. As Chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, I wrote and fought for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to include $8 billion to establish hydrogen hubs to demonstrate the production and use of clean hydrogen. Now, our region will be on the leading edge of building out the new hydrogen market while bringing good-paying jobs and new economic opportunity in West Virigina and the Appalachian region." In addition to Senator Manchin's support, ARCH2 received tremendous backing from other federal and state officials, as well as the business communities from West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and Pennsylvania to secure this important infrastructure program for the Appalachian region. The ARCH2 project portfolio includes a diverse group of partner companies poised to bring economic, environmental, and community benefits to Appalachia through participation in ARCH2. Key project development partners include Air Liquide, The Chemours Company, CNX Resources Corp, Dominion Energy Ohio, Empire Diversified Energy, EQT Corporation, Fidelis New Energy, First Mode, Hog Lick Aggregates, Hope Gas Inc., Independence Hydrogen Inc., KeyState Energy, MPLX, Plug Power, and TC Energy. ARCH2 will help DOE's OCED make significant progress toward the administration's 2050 net-zero carbon emissions goal. In addition to providing cleaner, safer energy to the nation, ARCH2's Community Benefits Plan outlines the strategies that ARCH2 will use to proactively engage with the communities throughout the Appalachian region. ARCH2 is a community-first Hub and will ensure that project area communities have input to community benefits and that opportunities are available to all. ARCH2 project participants will collaborate to create and support good-paying jobs, workforce training, options for investment in our communities, and Justice40 benefit flows. The Appalachian region provides significant existing resources for ARCH2, including the critical infrastructure required for low-cost natural gas production and storage, existing pipelines and transportation networks, and proximity to major end-use markets in the Midwest and Northeast. The region also boasts a highly skilled energy workforce as well as support from labor organizations, environmental non-profits, academic institutions, and community stakeholders all of which will be integral to project development and associated job retention and creation, particularly in disadvantaged and underserved communities. "We're thrilled the DOE chose the ARCH2 team to advance this vital path toward a clean energy future," said Lou Von Thaer, Battelle President and CEO. "We intend to lead this public-private partnership with vigor and excellence meeting government and industry objectives, addressing technical, commercial, and social justice goals, including proving hydrogen's economic viability, in a highly transparent manner." Battelle, in collaboration with West Virginia University Innovation Corporation, will be establishing the ARCH2 Program Office on the university's campus in Morgantown, WV. At its peak ARCH2 is expected to create more than 21,000 jobs including more than 18,000 in construction and more than 3,000 permanent jobs, helping ensure the Appalachian community benefits from the development and operation of the Hub. Battelle anticipates negotiations with DOE/OCED on the ARCH2 award will commence in early November. About Battelle Every day, the people of Battelle apply science and technology to solving what matters most. At major technology centers and national laboratories around the world, Battelle conducts research and development, designs and manufactures products, and delivers critical services for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio since its founding in 1929, Battelle serves the national security, health and life sciences, and energy and environmental industries. For more information, visit www.battelle.org. The air quality in Delhi, which was better in 2023 than the last eight years, has started to witness a downward trend as the pollution levels plummeted to poor levels on Sunday. The air quality index (AQI) in the national Capital was recorded at 233 in the poor category for the fourth consecutive day on Sunday. The AQI is likely to improve to moderate category as weather forecasters have predicted light rain and thundershowers in some places. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted overcast conditions and light rain at a few places accompanied with gusty winds. Poor AQI After in Around 4 Months New Delhis AQI dropped to the poor category for the first time in 114 days last week prompting the authorities to strictly implement measures under Stage 1 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). The plan involved restrictions on the construction activities, diesel generator sets and checks on Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates by vehicles. It also includes a ban on the use of coal in roadside eateries, hotels and restaurants. The national capital has started seeing poor AQI on multiple days this month including four consecutive days from October 12 to 15. Though the AQI was at moderate level on Monday, it could return to poor once again by Wednesday, according to Early Warning System (EWS). Why is Delhis AQI Rising October is the time of the year when the issue of paddy stubble burning comes to haunt the city as the capital choke in a blanket of smog every winter. Stubble burning is a major contributor to the pollution in Delhi, particularly during the winter months. The pollution from stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana contribute about 5-7 per cent to Delhis pollution load, but could worsen the AQI further if the wind is blowing down from the north. The current surge of AQI this month could be attributed to the stubble burning as there has been a significant increase in crop residue burning incidents in the paddy harvesting in six agricultural states. According to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) data, there has been a surge of 82% in fire incidents compared to last year during this period. The pollutants from the stubble burning can cause a range of health issues, including respiratory infections, heart disease, and cancer. According to a study by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), vehicles may have contributed the most to air pollution in Delhi between October 21 to 26 last year. Delhi has over 9 million vehicles. The pollution from vehicles caused half or around 51% of the national capitals own contribution to PM 2.5 levels. However, the pollution rises significantly when the vehicular pollution adds to the air pollution from biomass burning in other NCR districts. Apart from vehicular emissions, other causes include residential sources, industrial sources and construction. Seasonal factors There are also natural causes like decreasing temperature and lower wind speeds during winter months which aggravates the pollution problem in New Delhi. During the winter months, airborne dust and contaminants become immobile. Due to stagnant winds, these pollutants get locked in the air and affect weather conditions, resulting in smog. The level of PM2.5 is exceptionally high in winter and the reason is a lot of polluting activities increase during winter. Burning of biomass to warm up their homes and firecracker-related pollution because of festival like Diwali are some major factors. Anti-Pollution Steps Being Taken Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai has launched phase two of a sapling plantation drive in the city as part of efforts to reduce pollution during the winters. During the drive, 12 lakh saplings will be planted in the winter season to increase the green cover, which is currently 23 percent in the national capital. The environment minister also launched a month-long anti-dust campaign, which will go on till November 7. Delhi government has created a pollution control plan known as the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) which is implemented in the Delhi-NCR to combat air pollution during the winter season. The government said that the air quality in Delhi has been the best in 2023 in the last 8 years excluding the Covid period. During a press conference on October 9, AAP Chief Spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar said, In 2022, the air quality in Delhi improved further by 8 per cent. In 2023, this improvement has reached 31 per cent. Delhi has also recorded 200 days of good to moderate air quality this year so far, a first since 2015. The number of good to moderate air quality days during the corresponding period in 2022, 2021 and 2019 stood at 154, 183 and 174 respectively. Pakistan, a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause, has equated Israels retaliatory airstrikes on Hamas militants to conducting genocide against the people of Palestine. Caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani said there is no doubt that Israel is committing aggression and added, (Israel) committed airstrikes on the civilian population which killed many Palestinian men, women and children. Pakistan interim Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has characterized the ongoing violence as the war between the oppressor and the oppressed. Pakistan has been a harsh critic of Israel, doesnt recognise the country and has no diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv. Though Pakistan portrays itself to be a firm supporter of Palestine, there is a black chapter in its history when Pakistani leader Zia-ul-Haq fought against the Palestinians in 1970 which resulted in the death of at least 3,000 Palestinians. Jordan Goes Against Palestinian Refugees Jordan has a significant Palestinian refugee population, with some experts claiming that at least half of the countrys population comprises Palestinians. The Palestinians started arriving in the country following the formation of Israel in 1947 and the 1967 War, when Israel launched attack on several Arab states. In the 1967 war, around 3,00,000 Palestinian refugees flowed across the Jordan River into new camps around Amman and other cities. The Palestinian fedayeen over the years became an armed state within the state, controlling much of Amman. The fear of Palestinians destabilising the ruling Hashemite dynasty in Jordan has been for decades. The presence of Palestinian militants led to tension with the government of King Hussein, who ascended to the throne in 1952. Palestinian militant groups like the Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) also launched attacks from Jordan against Israel, triggering retaliation by the Israeli military. The presence of a significant Iraqi Army contingent, around 20,000 troops and 200 tanks, in Jordan to protect the country against Israel further complicated the situation as both Iraq and Syria supported separate Palestinian militant groups operating in Jordan. King Hussein was the target of multiple assassination plots in 1970. Following the first assassination attempt, the Jordanian Army attacked the Palestinian refugee camps around Amman. A second assassination attempt was made against the Jordanian Kings motorcade and the PFLP claimed responsibility for the attack. Few days later, King Hussein ordered the formation of a military government in the country to restore order as clashes with Palestinian militants continued. Pakistani involvement In the 1967 war with Israel, Jordan lost the West Bank and East Jerusalem while the Jordanian army and the air force was significantly impacted. While the US and UK provided Jordan with equipment to rebuild the military, the Jordanian army also benefited from a team of experts from Pakistan that helped reorganize the army, improve its training and prepare it for battle. Among the experts and military leader was also a brigadier named Mohammed Zia-u-Haq. Zia-ul-Haq later rose to become a general and overthrow civilian rule in Pakistan and rule the country from 1978 to 1988. In September 1970, King Hussein ordered the Jordanian Army to target militants operating from the refugee camps around Amman, in an operation called Black September by the Palestinians. The Syrian tanks entered Jordan in support of the Palestinian militants near the town of Irbid, which was captured by Palestinian militants. The Palestinian groups PFLP and Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine wanted Husseins removal and turning Amman into a centre of Palestine revolution. Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer, in an article for the CIA website, said Zia-u-Haq was sent to the scene to make an on-the-ground assessment of the situation. The Pakistani leader told the King that Jordan could handle the Syrian tanks using its own forces and Zia took the charge of part of the Jordanian counterattack. Later, Syria opted to stay out of the hostilities and in the same month, then Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser summoned King Hussein and Arafat and a ceasefire was signed. Loss of Palestinian Lives and Zia-ul-Haqs role In the fighting, that lasted from September 17 to September 27, around 3,000 to 4,000 Palestinian militants were killed, 600 Syrians died or got wounded and the Jordanian army lost 537 lives. As per reports quoting Israeli military commander Moshe Dayan, King Hussein killed more Palestinians in 11 days than Israel could kill in 20 years. Black September effectively ended the influence of Palestinian militants in Jordan and led to the ouster of the PLO and other groups from Lebanon. Though Zia-ul-Haqs exact role in Black September is debatable, many have called him a butcher of Palestinians. Some reports claim that the mandate of the Pakistani military was only training the Jordanian defence forces and the Pakistan forces were not involved in combat. Other reports said that Ziaul Haq violated the terms of his secondment to the Jordanian army by taking part in the massacre. His troops were accused of being involved in the fighting and killing Palestinians. In the escalating conflict between Israel and Hamas, Western nations have rallied behind Israel with countries including the US, UK and Germany offering military support in the fighting in Gaza. Meanwhile, many other countries, especially in Africa, have also called on Israel to stop its aggression and offered solidarity with the people of Gaza. South Africa has blamed Israels actions for the violence citing the illegal occupation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and other Christian sites. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has underscored the countrys historic support for the just struggle of Palestinians and offered to help mediate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (We) are all standing here pledging our solidarity with the people of Palestine. We stand here because we are deeply concerned about the atrocities that are unfolding in the Middle EastWe have a full understanding of how the people of Palestine have taken up this issue, because they are people that have been under occupation for almost 75 years, Ramaphosa said on Saturday. In an earlier statement, the South African President said he was gravely concerned at the devastating escalation of the conflict and the atrocities committed against civilian populations. But why is South Africa one of the few nations to openly speak against Israel despite being Tel Avivs biggest trading partner in Africa? News18 takes a look at the Palestine-Africa relations, how it changed over the years and the reason behind the African country supporting Gaza. South Africas Colonia History South Africa, which bore the brunt of colonialism like many other countries including India, has traditionally been sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. African countries that became independent from the brutal colonial rule in the 1960s were sympathetic to the struggle of Palestinians who were uprooted from their land and homes in 1948. South Africa formed diplomatic relations with Palestine soon after the Apartheid system ended in 1990. The post-apartheid South Africa has been most staunch supporter of Palestine in the subcontinent. South African anti-apartheid activist and former President Nelson Mandela famously draw parallels between the struggle of Black South Africans against white rule and of Palestinians against Israels occupation. Why South Africa Supports Palestine? South Africas solidarity for Palestine came due to many reasons: Its own experience of discrimination and racial segregation, which made it sympathetic to what was happening to Palestinians by the Israelis. South African leader Nelson Mandela, like Mahatma Gandhi, spoke up strongly for the rights of the Palestinians. Israel was formed with the support of the West, especially UK which signed the Balfour Declaration in 1917, that called for the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine. South Africa has not forgotten the Wests role in perpetuating apartheid. South Africa has also stayed steadfast in supporting Palestine due to African National Congress deep links with anti-discrimination activism. The party along with other opponents of apartheid have long compared Israels treatment of Palestinians to what the White government did to Black South Africans. Since the formation of Israel, South Africas position on the issue has largely been the same as many other African nations. How South Africa-Palestine Relations Progressed? Though South Africa was opposed to Israel in the initial years, the country like many African nations softened their stand towards Israel over years. In 2021, trade between Israel and Sub-Saharan African countries reached over $750 million. Israel exported machinery, electronics and chemicals to Africa, according to Al Jazeera. Of the total exports to Africa, around two-thirds went to South Africa, followed by Nigeria, with which Israel traded goods worth $129 million in 2021. Despite being Israels biggest trading partner in Africa, South Africa have been among the few nations like Algeria vocally criticising Israel. Last year, South Africa said Israel should be declared an apartheid state. In March 2023, it downgraded its embassy in Israel into a liaison office. Africa Divided on Supporting Palestine Heres a list of African nations and their stance on the Israel-Hamas conflict: A low-pressure area could form in Arabian Sea by tonight, that may eventually give gateway to the first post-monsoon cyclone. While it is too early for any concrete forecast, weather models are predicting that conditions are building up over the southeastern parts of the Arabian Sea of a cyclonic circulation. Conditions are building up over the southeastern parts of the Arabian Sea, next to the equatorial region, private weather agency Skymetweather said, adding that warm Indian Ocean on account of positive IOD and marginally favoured MJO, together may pop up a cyclonic disturbance shortly. It is rather pre-mature to commit anything, other than a cyclonic circulation over the Southeast Arabian Sea around 15th October. This may shift over extreme South-Central parts of the ocean in the subsequent 72 hours and may shape up as low pressure area. Very low latitude and unfavourable environmental conditions do not suggest any fast pick up, a Skymetweathers report published on October 13 said. Cited above, IOD or Indian Ocean Dipole refers to the difference in sea surface temperature between two areas (or poles, hence a dipole) a western pole in the Arabian Sea (western Indian Ocean) and an eastern pole in the eastern Indian Ocean south of Indonesia, as mentioned in bom.gov.au. MJO or Madden-Julian Oscillation, meanwhile, can be characterised as an eastward moving pulse of cloud and rainfall near the equator that typically recurs every 30 to 60 days, bom.gov.au said. As per very early predictions, under ideal conditions, this possible low-pressure area could soon escalate into a cyclone. The cyclone, if at all it forms, will be named Tej. Cyclone Alert: Arabian sea Our radar is buzzing with news of the first cyclone post monsoon brewing in the Arabian Sea! Weather models predict a Low-Pressure Area (LPA) formation in next 24 hours by today evening-night. With ideal conditions, it could soon escalate into pic.twitter.com/3JDBjpVHcF Mumbai Rains (@rushikesh_agre_) October 16, 2023 Skymetweather.com in the report published October 13 said that the conditions building up over Southeast Arabian Sea may shift over extreme South-Central parts of the ocean in 72 hours and may shape up as low pressure area. Led by the royal Wadiyar family, Mysurus Dasara celebrations remain unique. Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the titular head of the erstwhile Mysore royal family, in an exclusive interview, told CNN-News18, that while they get more dynamic as they get more modern, the tradition has stayed true to its core. Moreover, the royal scion has another goal to make Mysore the countrys cybersecurity hub. Mysore, also being ideally suited and located next to Bengaluru, we are aiming to be built as the countrys cybersecurity hub. Through our Cyberverse Foundation, we aim to make it the hub for India, and we want Mysore to be engaging with anything cyber. It will be a matter of pride if Mysore also is part of this digital universe, he says. Wadiyar speaks to CNN-News18 about the royal traditions, his interest in politics and views on Sanatana Dharma and Prime Minister Narendra Modis achievements. Edited excerpts: Did you face difficulty adapting to the life that you lead today as royalty compared to your early childhood? Certainly, you need to adapt to any changes that come. But all that has helped me grow into a much more confident person, a much more knowledgeable person with more understanding. I have welcomed all those changes in the right way so far. Change is more consistent as we grow up, and it is a welcome challenge to see these new changes. Through these changes, we are able to maintain the tradition as it should be, under the guidance of my mother now. I also hope in the coming years, it is maintained in the same way, so that future generations will follow it as they take over the mantle. How was your early childhood? At that time, we were not deeply involved in the ritual side of things, and as a youngster, we were not fully cognisant of the immense history, heritage and aspirations of so many generations. I am obviously aware of those things, and one needs to push further to ensure it is held in the way it should be. You were initiated into the royal tradition at the age of 23, and you said that it is a learning process. Your son will surely be well-versed with the traditions as he would start at a young age? I had no idea that I was going to be here until I was 23 years old. There are positives and negatives. At that age, you are much more mature to learn it and have not necessarily grown in it, so you dont have the baggage that comes with it. The negative side is also that you are thrown into the deep end. In my sons case, with the blessings of Goddess Chamundeshwari and all the powers that be, he will be able to have a grounding in the various principles to take forward this tradition and will do so when the time comes. He will hopefully endeavour to keep the tradition alive. My mother taught me, and she has already begun teaching my son. That way, it will help embed the values well. ALSO READ | Mysurus Famous Nada Kushti Tournament Kicks Off During Dasara Celebrations Have there been any changes in the way the Mysuru Dasara is being celebrated since you took over? No, since the time my parents Sri Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar and my mother Ms. Pramoda Devi Wadiyar took it up in the mid-1970s, it has been celebrated uninterrupted. We have seen to it despite the changing times. The more modern we get, the more dynamic we get. The tradition has stayed true to its core. Even to this day, under my mothers guidance, we continue the tradition. You are popular among people and on social media. You have also earned the moniker of The New age King. How difficult is it to balance culture, centuries-old tradition, and then bring the connect via social media? True, you have technologies that are always coming out. We must also see how to utilise them through our perspective, while keeping our tradition and expectations as paramount. It should be given its due importance. Social media is a great tool to reach out to people and stay connected at all times. It also provides us a platform to give a personal perspective, which is endearing and helps in building relationships with people forward. Do you like social media? Do you enjoy Instagramming or Facebook? I do. All social media is always welcome. I have enjoyed them, especially in the interests that are personal or endearing to me. ALSO READ | Mysuru Dasara 2023: Travel Tips for a Grand Dussehra Celebration in Mysore Are you looking at introducing modern ideas and technology, as it was seen with the Wadiyar dynasty, where they introduced modern machinery and modern ways of administration? Certainly, I am not sure if it helps in keeping tradition, but it tied to the aspect of Mysore being central in the wars of yesteryears. Mysore Lancers played an important role in the First World War, where they helped in liberating the city of Haifa and along the Suez Canal. In that narrative, a point that we are fighting a different war, that is the cyber war. Mysore, also being ideally suited and located next to Bengaluru, we are aiming to be built as the countrys cybersecurity hub. Through our Cyberverse Foundation, we aim to make it the hub for India, and we want Mysore to be engaging with anything cyber. This, apart from the already existing growth of Mysore, can also be a more consistent, year-round industry that helps it grow more. Bengaluru, being the big IT hub that it is, and in most opinions, being oversaturated, this aspect of IT can be pulled out to tier 2 cities like Mysore and can be used to grow the economy here. It can also alleviate the issues and stress that Bangalore has. We should aim to make Mysore the Cybercity hub, and will aid in the endeavour of building digital India. This key aspect can be achieved. It will be a matter of pride if Mysore also is part of this digital universe. Are you looking at entering politics? Your adopted father Srikanta Datta Narasimha Raja Wodeyar also dabbled in it any plans? He was successful as a politician and did a lot of work for Mysore city and his constituency. I dont think my road forward is a political role. My aspirations are very different from what a politician has to go through. That being said, socially and through various institutions of the palace, we continue to be socially active and are always ready to take part in anything the government wishes us to be a part of to move forward. It will help in being profitable towards building a good society. What is that one thing that makes your day? Going for a safari in any of the jungles around Mysore would make my day. Since that is something that I cannot do daily, so other than that, a good cup of filter coffee makes my day. It pushes away some percentage of problems. ALSO READ | A Tale of Two Mahishas and One City: Mysore Caught Between Mysuru Dasara and Mahisha Dasara What are your views on Mahisha Dasara? I dont really have any viewpoint on it. As per our Constitution, you are welcome to worship anything and everything. If a certain community sees that there is some history there, they can follow it. But I would ask them to be mindful of being respectful of the fact that all of us who believe in Chamundeshwari and her history and itihaasa is true and follow the Sanatana tradition. They must not use it to anger communities or create further fault lines in the already existing ones or deepen them further. If they are mindful of that and are truly doing it because of their belief, however much we dont agree with their viewpoint, we cannot stop them from celebrating what they want. I hope that they are being true to what they are saying. Your comments on Santana Dharma and what do you think of the comments by politicians like Udayanidhi Stalin? In my opinion, it is the righteous way, the enlightened way, as we are taught. It is the means by which you perceive philosophies that have come up within our schools of thought and dharma itself. For those of us who follow it and understand what it is, it is obviously something we cannot agree that it has to be eradicated. It means that essentially, we all have to be gone. Our centuries-old traits could be annihilated. It depends on what perspective the said persons are taking. The roots of this country are built on Sanatan Dharma and is something that is encouraged and will continue to be so. I can see Indias rising presence, and it has catapulted India tremendously in the last 10 years. Indias recognition in terms of its soft power, cultural heritage, and many aspects of governance has been given its due. With the mantle and mandate that the PM has been given, in many ways, he has fulfilled the promises he made. In doing that, the polls also speak of his popularity worldwide and amongst the elders of the world. Indians feel that he has contributed tremendously. How do you look at the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and how do you see its performance? I see this government in the past 10 years has brought about a lot of cultural awakenings. They have seen to it that India has made an imprint on the international map. G20 and the presidency has aided in this endeavour. Alongside, like any other government, there have been issues, and their ability to have solved these, we will see if they are able to come back to power. I am sure that people will give the right government the right support. Your view on whether Modi has been an impactful Prime Minister? I am not going to pretend it has not been so. I can see Indias rising presence, and it has catapulted India tremendously in the last 10 years. Indias recognition in terms of its soft power, cultural heritage, and many aspects of governance has been given its due. Since independence, in Mysores case as well, I would humbly say it has been the collective will of the leaders that all of these endeavors have come. With the mantle and mandate that the PM has been given, in many ways, he has fulfilled the promises he made. In doing that, the polls also speak of his popularity worldwide and amongst the elders of the world. Indians feel that he has contributed tremendously. Over 160 fire counts have been reported daily from the six agricultural states of Northwest India in October so far as paddy harvesting gets into full swing. Despite an ambitious action plan in place, Punjab and Haryana continue to account for over 70 per cent of the cases which eventually contribute to the worsening air quality in the region. Large swathes of freshly harvested land are burnt every year to get rid of the paddy stalks that remain on the field once the grain is harvested. The practice, though banned by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), continues unabated, deteriorating the air quality and triggering the onset of winter smog in Delhi-NCR. The Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi-NCR dropped to 257 (poor) on Saturday, marking the beginning of a long period of high pollution levels. It improved briefly on Sunday. The latest forecast indicates the AQI is likely to likely to remain moderate till Tuesday and then drop to poor during the next few days. 82% INCREASE IN FIRE COUNTS FROM LAST YEAR The remote sensing satellites have detected as many as 2,791 fire incidents in the six agricultural states since paddy harvesting started on September 15. This is at least 82 per cent higher than last year for the same period from September 15 to October 15, when just 1,528 incidents were reported. A stark increase has been seen in BJP-ruled Haryana where the fire counts increased drastically from 168 to 542 from September 15 to October 15 this year. Ambala and Fatehabad districts account for the majority of these cases. In fact, of the total 331 incidents reported on Sunday the highest so far at least 127 were recorded in Haryana alone. Punjab with 31 lakh hectares of land under paddy cultivation continues to be the biggest contributor to crop residue fires. Despite the AAP government promise of bringing down stubble burning to almost 50 per cent less than last year, the state has not been able to achieve any success so far. The border district of Amritsar accounts for 50 per cent of the total cases this year, followed by Tarn Taran and Patiala. According to the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (ICAR), Punjab has so far recorded 1,388 counts this season, followed by Haryana (542), Madhya Pradesh (324), Uttar Pradesh (312), Rajasthan (223) and Delhi (2). Unlike last year when heavy rains in late September-early October had left vast stretches of fields waterlogged for days, this year harvesting has entered full swing starting October 1 soon after the monsoon withdrew. AIR QUALITY DROPS, IMD PREDICTS BRIEF RAIN SPELL However, the ongoing spell of rains over the region may slow down the harvesting operations over the next few days. Two back-to-back western disturbances (WDs) have impacted the region, and are supported by additional moisture feeding from the Arabian Sea. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), there may be scattered rain showers and cloudy skies over the north-western plains till Tuesday. According to meteorologists, the winds are now predominantly blowing from the Northwest directions with moderate speeds during the day, and are usually calm during the night. The Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 257 in Delhi on Saturday and is expected to remain in the poor category over the next few days, briefly improving on Monday due to rains in the northern states. Though stubble burning aggravates the air quality during winter, Delhis pollution woes are mainly caused by emissions from the transport and industrial sector. According to an Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, survey, 40 per cent of pollution is caused by the transport sector alone. Large point sources like thermal power stations are some of the other highly emitted zones. Amid a row over not giving a guard of honour to a deceased Agniveer recruit, the Indian Army on Sunday clarified that Amritpal Singh died by suicide and such deaths are not entitled to military funerals as per the extant Army Order of 1967, in vogue. Amritpal Singh, who was serving with a battalion of the Armys Jammu and Kashmir Rifles unit in the Poonch sector, shot himself while on sentry duty on October 11 and was cremated on Friday at his native village in Punjabs Mansa district. It is a grave loss to the family and the Indian Army that Agniveer Amritpal Singh committed suicide by shooting himself while on sentry duty, a statement by the Indian army said, adding that there has been some misunderstanding and misrepresentation of facts related to the unfortunate death of Agniveer Amritpal Singh. In consonance with the existing practice, the soldiers mortal remains, after the conduct of medico-legal procedures, were transported under Army arrangements along with an escort party to his native place for last rites. Armed Forces do not differentiate between the soldiers who joined prior to or after implementation of the Agnipath Scheme as regards entitled benefits and protocols, the statement added. The Indian Army further stressed that unfortunate instances of death arising out of suicide or self-inflicted injury, irrespective of the type of entry, are accorded due respect by the Armed Forces along with deep and enduring empathy with the family. Such cases, however, are not entitled to military funerals as per the extant Army Order of 1967, in vogue. According to the data held, there has been an average yearly loss ranging between 100 140 soldiers since 2001 where deaths occurred due to suicides/ self-inflicted injuries, and Military Funeral in such cases was not accorded. The disbursement of financial assistance/relief, as per entitlement, is given due priority including immediate financial relief for the conduct of funerals, the statement further said. Such unfortunate instances of loss bear heavily on the family and the Forces as a fraternity. During such times, it is important and incumbent on society to uphold the respect, privacy and dignity of the family while empathising with them in their moment of grief, the Indian Army stated. Unfortunate Death of Agniveer Amritpal Singh on 11 Oct 2023.There has been some misunderstanding and misrepresentation of facts related to unfortunate death of Agniveer Amritpal Singh. Further to the initial information given out by White Knight Corps on 14 Oct 2023, pic.twitter.com/6rhaOu3hN8 ADG PI INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) October 15, 2023 Armed Forces are known for adherence to the policies and protocols and will continue to do so as hithertofore. The Indian Army requests support from all sections of the society while it follows its established protocols. Students on Monday were evacuated from a school after a foul smell was reported emanating from a gas godown in west Delhis Naraina area, police said. Teams from NDRF, Delhi Police, and Delhi Fire Service rushed to the spot and started the evacuation, they said. PCR calls were received regarding a foul smell in the area of C-block, Naraina. After getting calls, the concerned agencies have responded to the situation and taken required precautionary measures, said the Deputy Commissioner of Police (west), Vichitra Veer. We are examining the matter. Appropriate legal action will be initiated based on the facts, the DCP said. A senior police officer said there was an open plot where a certain type of chemical was kept. The samples have been lifted and sent for the examination. Initially, the experts said it was thinner, however, the exact nature will be ascertained after the examination. A case in connection with the incident is being registered, the officer said. The DFS said that it got a call at 12.18 pm from a person saying that some gas or chemical is leaking from drums kept in a godown. One of its officials said the department immediately rushed a fire tender. And on further demand three more fire tenders were pressed into duty. The DFS had earlier suspected some type of chemical fumes/gas with a pungent smell was leaking from containers kept in the godown premises. The gas/fumes are not identified yet. The area was cordoned-off by the teams of police, NDRF, and DDMA. Water sprinkling was done to stop the spread of gas leakage, said the DFS official. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to inaugurate RapidX Metro in Ghaziabad on October 20. A team of paramilitary force National Security Guard (NSG) will oversee the security arrangements for the event in Ghaziabad within the next two days. NSG sources told CNN-News18 that along with modern equipment, anti-drone units will also be deployed around the inauguration site of RapidX Metro. After a thorough inspection of about 20 km area surrounding the venue of the inauguration ceremony of RapidX Metro, commando soldiers will be deployed on many high-rise buildings. Along with NSG, about 10 search squads, around 5,000 soldiers from many other paramilitary forces including anti-sabotage will also be deployed within the next three days. Over 50,000 people are expected to attend the inauguration of RapidX Metro in Ghaziabad. According to an Indian Express report, following the inauguration, the first phase of the 82-km-long Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor will become operational. It includes a total of five stations Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, Guldhar, Duhai, and Duhai Depot. The RapidX metro will cover a distance of 17 km on this route in around 12, which normally takes more than 35 minutes by road. A total of 10 trains will be operational on the said route and a single rapid rail will have space for 1,700 passengers, officials said. Amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, Yuval Noah Harari, Israeli author and historian, in an exclusive interview with CNN-News18 Managing Editor Zakka Jacob, said that he hopes that India will use its good relations to bring tensions down. ALSO READ | Trigger Warning: Israeli Military Releases Raw Video of Hamas Invasion, Killing Spree Harari, the author of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, said that the aim of Hamass attack on Israel on October 7 was to destroy our trust in humanity. The distinction needs to be made between Hamas and Palestinian people. People should raise their concerns for Palestinian civiliansIndia has good relations with Iran and other countries involved. I hope India uses its influence to help de-escalate the conflict and pressure and provide the first tiny ray of light that Hamas immediately releases on our conditions the hostages it took, he said. Harari said the release of all hostages will give a breathing space to the Israeli public. They will feel there is hopeIt will also protect Palestinians from the terrible suffering, he said When asked what next in the war, Harari said, There must be hope for Palestinians living inside Gaza. Whether it is the Palestinian authority, US, India, Iran, whoever is willing to take up the extremely difficult task of simultaneously rebuilding Gaza and giving hope to the Palestinians thereMaking sure that Hamas remains disarmed and Gaza doesnt become the base for the terrible attacks. #IsraelGazaWar | I welcome India's stance and urge #PMModi to leverage his global influence to defuse tensions and release of hostages: Israeli Author & Historian (@harari_yuval) speaks for the first time on Indian TV with #CNNNews18's @Zakka_Jacob pic.twitter.com/OkYG7GBEL3 News18 (@CNNnews18) October 16, 2023 HAMAS DOESNT WANT PEACE IN THE REGION According to Harari, the thinking of Hamas is to wage a war to end all peace. To make sure there is never peace in the region. Nothing frightens Hamas more than the possibility of peace, he said. The background to this attack is Israel has signed peace treaties with the Gulf States in recent years. We were on the verge of signing a historic peace treaty with Saudi Arabia, which was to normalize relations with the Arab world and also to improve the life of Palestinians, held under Israel-occupied territories and possibly also restart the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. This frightened the Hamas and which is why it launched the attacks to sow seeds of hatred for generations he said. When you torture and kill parents in front of their children and make sure it is publicised, you not only traumatise the children, but the entire nation. The aim is to make sure there is never a possibility of peace. Israel is now in a struggle, not just to protect its territory and citizens, but to protect its humanity. Despite what Hamas did, Israel must keep the possibility of peace alive, Harari said. People say you should negotiate with HamasWhy would you need something to release two-year-old babies?Israelis shouldnt go down to the level of Hamas. Unlike this terrorist organization, we should remain committed to international law, human rights and hope for peace. HAMASS ACTIONS: 2-YEAR-OLD TO 74-YEAR-OLD TAKEN HOSTAGES, HUMAN SHIELDS Harari said that Hamas is holding hostage two-year-old babies to eighty-year-old grandmothers. People say you should negotiate with HamasWhy would you need something to release two-year-old babies? A 74-year-old peace activist, Vivian Silver, lived under rocket attacks. One of her missions was to drive sick people from the Gaza strip to the hospitals in Israel. Hopefully, she is not dead and is held hostage. But who does such a thing of holding a 74-year-old hostage? ALSO READ | Israeli Mothers Agonising Last Call During Hamas Attack: I Was with Her on Phone, Couldnt Do Nothing I cannot defend and am not aware of every step Israel takes. But it is very clear that Israel doesnt try to kill as many civilians as possible like Hamas does. Hamas is using civilians as human shields. It has placed its military installations and weapon systems inside civilian population centres. They are trying to stop civilians from leavingThis is not what happened on October 7, he said. #IsraelGazaWar | What does the current Israel-Hamas war mean from a historical context? It's the duty of the nation to protect its citizens: Israeli Author and Historian (@harari_yuval) first time on Indian TV with #CNNNews18's @Zakka_Jacob | #WATCH pic.twitter.com/0KeYo6HeAK News18 (@CNNnews18) October 16, 2023 ISRAEL CANT BE MORALLY EQUATED TO HAMAS On the argument of moral equivalence in civilians being killed by both Israel and Hamas, Harari said, We should be very careful. We should have sympathy for human sufferingBut Israel is not deliberately targeting civilians to slaughter as many civilians as we can, in contrast to Hamas. Our aim should be to eventually come out of this with the possibility of peace. This frightens Hamas. There is no moral equivalence here either. I have been a fierce critic of the Israeli government and policies vis-a-vis Gaza and Palestinians. Israel has made terrible mistakes in the way it abandoned many attempts to make peace with the Palestinians, in its policies in the occupied territories. But this is no justification for what Hamas has done. Hamas didnt annihilate my uncles community and murdered and tortured civilians in the hope of restarting the peace process. It hoped to sow seeds of further violence and hate, he said. THE BALANCE BETWEEN PROTECTING CITIZENS & TERRITORY When asked if Israels response is exactly what Hamas wanted, Harari said that it was a dangerous trap. Israel needs to find a balance between its duty to protect its citizens and territory. My surviving family members are now refugees. They cannot go back home as long as a terrorist organization like Hamas exists, which is 1-2 km from their homes, he said. On the other hand, Israelis shouldnt go down to the level of Hamas. Unlike this terrorist organization, we should remain committed to international law, human rights and hope for peace. Finding this balance is difficult. We need help from our friends across the world, Harari said. Israel has signed peace treaties with the Gulf States in recent years. We were on the verge of signing a historic peace treaty with Saudi Arabia, which was to normalize relations with the Arab world and also to improve the life of Palestinians, held under Israel-occupied territories and possibly also restart the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. This frightened the Hamas and which is why it launched the attacks to sow seeds of hatred for generations HELP AT HAND Harari said that the United States (US) has given important help to Israel in the recent days. While sending two aircraft carriers with hundreds of planes, it has also restrained Israel from widening the circle of violence, putting pressure on it to adhere to international laws and norms. If Israel received similar support from our friends across the world, it will make it easier for us to do the right thing. The attack tried to destroy our trust in humanity. It destroys your trust in humanity and your own humanity when you witness such an assault. Outsiders like the Arab States and India help us regain our trust in humanity and make sure we dont descend into the depth of depravity like Hamas. "Since our inception as a company, Avangrid has led the energy industry in developing new, innovative programs that deepen our commitment to the communities we serve," said Pedro Azagra, CEO of Avangrid. "Today's Trades Job Fair, the first in Avangrid's history, highlights the many opportunities a career in the trades can produce, and it is yet another example of the positive impact our company is making in Connecticut and beyond. I am proud of our team's hard work in bringing this important Job Fair to life, and I hope to see many of the students who attended in future internships and early career opportunities at Avangrid." The Trades Job Fair was a keynote event in Avangrid's annual Diversity Week, which reaffirmed the company's commitment to putting the principles of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in action. By showcasing the opportunities for careers in the trades, members of the Avangrid team sought to promote vocational education and strengthen the company's relationship with technical high schools in the area. Students had the opportunity to interact with prototypes of electrical poles, examine the tools used in gas pipeline analysis, and speak one-on-one with field staff about their careers with UI, SCG, and CNG. Students also had the opportunity to review their resumes with members of the Avangrid Human Resources team. "At Avangrid, we know that building a diverse company is key to our success and essential to fulfilling our role as a good community partner," said Camila Souza, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Avangrid. "Building a pipeline from local technical high schools is an indispensable tool for recruiting diverse talent who are familiar with the communities we serve and interested in long-term career advancement with us. I look forward to continuing to deepen our relationships with the schools in attendance today to benefit both their students and our company." The students in attendance represented 17 Connecticut technical high schools, including several in Avangrid subsidiary United Illuminating (UI)'s service area, such as Eli Whitney Technical High School in Hamden, Bullard-Havens Technical High School in Bridgeport, and Platt Technical High School in Milford. Members of UI's line crew, who are also members of the Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA) Local 470-1, invited the students to apply for the second iteration of the Avangrid/UI Union Scholars Program, the 10-week line worker internship program that will begin in June 2024. "We are glad to have all the seniors at Bullard Havens here attending today's Job Fair," said Sandeep Tibrewal, Dean of Students and Attendance at Bullard-Havens Technical High School. "Last summer, we were proud that four of our electrical students took the opportunity for a fabulous internship with UI. They were making almost $30 an hour, which is almost unheard of. Thank you to UI for giving the opportunity to our school, and hopefully in the future, we will have more opportunities like this." "Between UI, SCG, and CNG, there are a lot of options here," said Jonathan Berroa, a senior at Eli Whitney Technical High School.. "It's pretty interesting to see how all this works. I didn't know you could do any of this, but now I'm here today, and I think I could do a lot of this stuff. It's really cool - I like it." About Avangrid: Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE: AGR) aspires to be the leading sustainable energy company in the United States. Headquartered in Orange, CT with approximately $41 billion in assets and operations in 24 U.S. states, Avangrid has two primary lines of business: networks and renewables. Through its networks business, Avangrid owns and operates eight electric and natural gas utilities, serving more than 3.3 million customers in New York and New England. Through its renewables business, Avangrid owns and operates a portfolio of renewable energy generation facilities across the United States. Avangrid employs more than 7,500 people and has been recognized by JUST Capital in 2021, 2022 and 2023 as one of the JUST 100 companies - a ranking of America's best corporate citizens. In 2023, Avangrid ranked first within the utility sector for its commitment to the environment. The company supports the U.N.'s Sustainable Development Goals and was named among the World's Most Ethical Companies in 2023 for the fifth consecutive year by the Ethisphere Institute. Avangrid is a member of the group of companies controlled by Iberdrola, S.A. For more information, visit www.avangrid.com. Are you frequently caught in lengthy lines for your ultrasound, MRI, or CT scans? The waiting time for receiving the comprehensive reports can be quite extensive as well. You can lay the blame at the scarcity of radiologists throughout India a phenomenon that can be ascribed to multiple factors, ranging from a shortage of training facilities to limited medical seats, increased attrition rates, heavy workloads, burnout and more. Radiologists are doctors who specialise in the diagnosis and treatment of injuries and medical conditions by employing various medical-imaging techniques, including X-rays, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), nuclear medicine, positron emission tomography (PET), and ultrasound. They play an important role in the healthcare system as they are responsible for interpreting medical images such as X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, and ultrasounds. Their expertise is crucial for accurate diagnoses and treatment planning. Data shows that in India, there is only one radiologist for every one lakh patients far below the global standards. Doctors estimate it as just one radiologist available for every 100 scans performed each day. The shortage of radiologists is exacerbated by the continued increase in both the volume of scans conducted and the number of images per scan, driven by advanced high-resolution imaging techniques, particularly in CT and MRI. This shortage affects patient care and jeopardises the efficiency and quality of diagnostic services. With just approximately 20,000 radiologists serving a population of over 1.4 billion, we are confronted with an alarming ratio of one radiologist for every 1,00,000 individuals, far below global healthcare standards, Dr Jagadish Hiremath, chairman of Bengaluru-based Aasra Hospitals, said. In some places in India, its an issue of access and availability of radiologists while in bigger hospitals, it is about burnout and delayed reporting time. There is no doubt that we need more radiologists who are well-trained. There is a shortage in Tier 2 and 3 cities and there are none in rural areas. So the distribution is quite asymmetric, Harsh Mahajan, founder and chief radiologist at Mahajan Imaging and Labs, said. Why the Shortage? Dr Abhishek Bansal, head, interventional radiology, Sri Balaji Action Medical Institute and Action Cancer Hospital in New Delhi, believes that radiology is the backbone of healthcare which is essential for disease prevention and treatment. The shortage is primarily due to the mismatch between the number of training opportunities for radiology and the doctors wanting to pursue radiology as its the most sought-after field of medicine for many years now. The top rankers across the country are the ones who get to pursue radiology amongst other specialities, he added. However, there are multiple factors influencing the equilibrium between demand and supply. First, as per industry experts, is the inadequate number of medical institutions providing radiology training programmes. The ratio of radiology seats to all clinical seats combined, the number of radiologists to clinical seats is an average of about 1:15 (which means one radiology seat for every 15 clinical seats), Bipin Batra, former executive director of Indias apex examination body, National Board of Examinations which also conducts NEET-PG said. From here itself, we can gauge the trend of shortage as India would need one radiologist for every 4-5 clinicians, Batra, who himself is a radiologist, said. Also, many radiologists leave the country for better opportunities abroad due to factors like higher salaries and improved working conditions Another factor is the extreme workload. The workload on radiologists in India is overwhelming, with long working hours and limited support staff, leading to burnout and decreased job satisfaction, Dr Narayanaswamy, founder and medical director at Bengaluru-based Athreya Hospital, said. Burnout is also a major issue which is a fallout of the excessive workload due to the shortage of radiologists in the profession. How to solve the shortage? To address this shortage, according to experts, India must adopt a multifaceted approach involving increased training opportunities, improved working conditions and integration of advanced technology. Hiremath from Aasra Hospitals believes that this could be solved by fostering training programmes, fellowships, and exchange initiatives to cultivate a skilled radiology workforce. Also, he said that tele-radiology can overcome geographical barriers, extending radiology expertise to remote areas. The way forward demands a united effort to ensure accessible and quality diagnostic services for all. Dr Arjun Kalyanpur, chief executive officer at Telerad Group, explained further the concept of tele-radiology. According to the data by WHO, in Africa, there is no radiologist at all. Fortunately, there are technology solutions available in the form of tele-radiology which allows for the images to be transmitted from the hospital to the location of the radiologist. He suggested that tele-radiology can provide services to areas where radiologists are not available, such as remote parts of the northeast, and explained how his company has been able to deliver reporting services to government health centres in Tripura via the technology. From the radiologists perspective, tele-radiology workflow allows them to be more productive and efficient in reporting scans, as well as achieve greater work-life balance while providing quality patient care. To address the current demands, experts also suggest that existing regulations should be updated. The government, especially the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), should be more flexible and should revise certain old and outdated regulations that hamper the growth of the field of radiology, advised Bansal from the interventional radiology department of Sri Balaji Action Medical Institute and Action Cancer Hospital. Dr Raghunandan Prasad, a senior consultant and professor at Amrita Hospital in Faridabad, is optimistic that the establishment of several new AIIMS and medical colleges will significantly increase the available seats. The effects of these measures are now instilling optimism in the realm of radiology. This problem may find a solution in the years to come. The AI revolution? According to experts, Artificial Intelligence (AI) holds immense potential to revolutionise radiology. AI can interpret X-rays, transmit reports, and cross-reference patient diagnoses with similar cases, providing a tool to assist radiologists. It is expected that in the coming years, AI in imaging will help make radiologists more productive, more accurate and lead to reduction of turnaround time, Mahajan said, adding: We also work in the field of AI and have a start-up called CARPL.ai. According to Amit Gandhi, chief business officer, Deeptek.ai, the shortage is not limited to developing countries but also impacts developed countries such as the UK, Japan, and Singapore. Gandhi claims that the world will never have enough radiologists. Experts told News18 that embracing Artificial Intelligence and machine learning in radiology can enhance the capabilities of radiologists, enabling quicker and more accurate diagnoses. Bansal, a radiologist, believes that AI can take the world of radiology to every doorstep of our country and even compensate for the shortage of healthcare professionals to a certain extent. Public-private partnerships and AI offer a solution for up-skilling medical professionals. The synergy between trained radiographers, radiologists and AI accuracy creates an ecosystem that bridges the healthcare delivery gap. Dr Vikas Rastogi, who serves as the director of interventional radiology at Dharamshila Narayana Superspeciality Hospital, suggests that theres a need in India to improve the training and skills of paramedics to effectively operate modern radiology equipment. For example, handling digital X-rays requires a bit more training for accuracy. To bridge the gap, along with a large number of qualified and certified fresh intakes from academic institutions, the immediate task is to train the available paramedics to equip them with complete know-how of radiology. According to Kalyan Sivasailam, CEO of 5C Network a tekeradiology provider, AI-powered digital diagnostic platforms may change the landscape of healthcare in India. Healthcare industry must embrace these innovations to support radiologists, alleviate patient suffering, and ensure timely, high-quality healthcare delivery. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi was on Monday appointed Indias permanent representative to the United Nations (UN) and other international organisations in Geneva. WHO IS ARINDAM BAGCHI Bagchi, a 1995-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) official, took over as spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in March 2020 and deftly handled a number of critical issues and developments including the eastern Ladakh border row, Indias COVID-19 response and New Delhis G20 presidency. In Geneva, Bagchi would succeed Indra Mani Pandey who is set to return to New Delhi. Arindam Bagchi (IFS:1995), presently Additional Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, has been appointed as the next Ambassador/Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Geneva, the MEA said in a brief statement. He is expected to take up the assignment shortly, it said. It is learnt that around four senior diplomats, including joint secretary (G20) Nagaraj Naidu Kakanur and high commissioner to Mauritius K Nandini Singla are being considered for the post of MEA spokesperson. Earlier, Bagchi served as ambassador to Croatia and deputy high commissioner to Sri Lanka. He also had a stint in the Prime Ministers Office as a director as well as at Indias permanent mission at the UN in New York. A man was caught with 5.274 kilograms of gold jewellery worth over Rs 3 crore in Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, a police official said on Monday. Sourabh Jain (38), a resident of Indore, was held on a tip off on Sunday night as he was about to hail an autorickshaw at Tripuri Square, Garha police station in charge Brijesh Mishra said. He has told police he is a gold trader and had come to meet local jewellers. However, he did not have supporting documents. The matter has been handed over to the Income Tax department for further probe, the official informed. An armourer in the Mumbai polices Quick Response Team arrested for allegedly firing at two persons in Thane committed the offence with the motive of robbery and he was facing a debt of nearly Rs 40 lakh, officials said on Monday. Motorcycle-borne cousins Aziz Sayyed and Firoze Sheikh were injured when a masked man fired at them near Mainde village in Maharashtras Thane district neighbouring Mumbai on October 13. The attacker then from the spot. Later, Mumbai police QRT armourer Suraj Devram Dokre (37) was arrested from near Kolhar bus depot in Ahmednagar district. He was charged with attempt to murder and other offences under the Indian Penal Code and the Arms Act, police earlier said. A preliminary probe after the spot inspection revealed the motive behind the firing was robbery, a release from the district rural police said. The accused was under a debt of Rs 40 to Rs 42 lakh, taken from various banks and lending institutions. As he had to repay the loans, he was in need of money and hence he resorted to robbery, the release said. It was revealed that he had earlier also visited Bhiwandi and Ambadi in Thane on two occasions. The police were trying to find out if he had resorted to such an act earlier also. The police have seized the pistol used by the accused for firing, the release said. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief S Somanath on Sunday said NASA scientists were astonished to see the sophisticated technologies Indian space scientists developed at low cost for the Chandrayaan-3 mission and offered to buy them. A delegation of NASA scientists had visited ISRO headquarters in August 2023, in the run-up to the launch of the Chandrayaan-3 mission. They were hugely impressed with the cost-efficient, sophisticated technology developed by Indian scientists to go to the Moons south pole. The ISRO chief, while addressing an event organised by the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Foundation in Rameswaram to commemorate the 92nd birth anniversary of the late former President, said, About 5-6 people from NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory came (to the Isro headquarters) and we explained to them about Chandrayaan-3 technology. That was before the soft landing took place (on August 23). They just said, We have no comments. Everything is going to be good. They also said, Look at the scientific instruments, they are so beautiful and very cheap. Very easy to build and they are high-technology. How did you build it? Why dont you sell this to America?' the ISRO chief was quoted by reports as saying. Times have changed. We are capable of building the best of equipment, the best of devices and the best of rockets. That is why our PM Narendra Modi has opened the space sector. Our knowledge and intelligence level in the country is one of the best in the world. India will be a very powerful nation one day. We will be powerful in technology, he said while talking to students. India is on Moon Sir Recalling the day Chandrayaan-3 soft-landed on the lunar surface, the ISRO chief said Prime Minister Narendra Modi called and thanked him when he informed that India is on the Moon, sir. PM Modi called me and thanked me when I told him that India is on the Moon, sir. He then asked me, when are you sending an Indian to the Moon?' Now we are telling you people to come and build rockets, and satellites and make our nation more powerful in space technology. It is not only ISRO, everybody can do it in space. There is one company in Chennai building rockets called Agnikul and another in Hyderabad called Skyroot. At least in India, there are five companies today building rockets and satellites, S Somanath further said, adding that Kalam sir had said that you should dream when you are awake and not in the night. Allahabad High Court has acquitted Nithari killings case prime accused Surendra Koli in 12 cases in which he was awarded a death penalty by the trial Court. Koli was sentenced to death over 10 cases in connection with the Nithari killings. Moninder Singh Pandher has been acquitted in two cases in which he was awarded the death penalty. Surendra Koli and Moninder Singh Pandher are the accused and co-accused in the infamous Nithari murders of UPs Noida. Koli was found guilty of raping and murdering several children between 2005 and 2006. Allahabad High Court on Monday gave its verdict on 14 applications of Koli and Pandher. While Surendra Koli had filed an appeal against the death sentence given in 12 cases, Moninder Singh Pandher had filed an application against the punishment given in two cases. The High Court acquitted the culprits on the basis of no direct evidence and witnesses. What is the Nithari Case The gruesome case came to light in December 2006 when skeletons were found in a drain near a house in Nithari village of Uttar Pradeshs Noida. It was alleged that Koli would lure the children to the house, offering them sweets and chocolates, murder them, and have sex with the corpses. He was also accused of cannibalism. He would throw the bones and other body parts into a ditch behind the house. His employer, businessman Moninder Singh Pandher, was co-accused of brutal murder and rape in the Nithari case. Koli and Pandher carried out the serial killings between 2005 and 2006. Blow to CBI The Allahabad High Court decision comes as a big blow to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), whose Ghaziabad court had awarded the death sentence to both the accused. In the 2005 Rimpa Halder murder case, however, both the High Court and the Supreme Court had upheld the death sentence of Surendra Kohli. On the basis of this evidence, both were given death sentence in the Rimpa Halder murder case. After the High Court completed the hearing on the applications, the court had reserved its judgment on September 15. The division bench of Justice Ashwini Kumar Mishra and Justice SHA Rizvi gave the decision. The first of the existing twelve petitions of Surendra Koli was filed in the year 2010. However, apart from these petitions, the High Court has also disposed of some of Kolis petitions. While Allahabad HC has acquitted Koli in 12 cases, his death sentence has been upheld in one case, whereas in another case, on the basis of delay, it has been converted into life imprisonment. On behalf of the accused, it was argued in the court that there is no eyewitness to this incident. He was convicted and sentenced to death only on the basis of scientific and circumstantial evidence. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar last Wednesday announced that the Indian government would launch a rescue mission Operation Ajay to bring back stranded citizens from the war-affected Israel. Since then, several flights have brought back Indians from the crisis-ridden country. There was a special reason why Prime Minister Narendra Modi named the mission Ajay, those aware of the development told News18. 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. Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) October 11, 2023 Ajay means undefeatable. It actually defines the spirit of India ready to fight all crisis, and keeping the nation and the national interest on top. It signifies the victory of good over evil," a top source told News18. From naming projects to carrying out rescue operations, a lot of thought goes into the process under the present PM, he added. #OperationAjay gets underway. 212 citizens onboard the flight are enroute New Delhi. pic.twitter.com/fGSAYiXbBA Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) October 12, 2023 In April, the Indian government had launched a mission to bring back Indians from Sudan. It was called Operation Kaveri. Many of the Indian citizens stuck in Sudan were from the southern states, especially Karnataka. The Kaveri is one of the major Indian rivers flowing through the southern states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The river is sacred to the people of the region and is worshipped as the Goddess Kaveriamma (mother Kaveri). Despite all its obstructions, the river reaches its destination and ensures the well-being of all. Hence, the name," a senior minister in the government told News18. Early last year, when the Indian government got more than 20,000 of its citizens rescued from the war-hit Ukraine, the mission was called Operation Ganga. Again, Ganga is worshipped like a mother in India. She is always there to rescue her children from danger," the source added. PM Modi is a devotee of Goddess Durga the Goddess of power who is significant in denoting the victory of good over evil, which is why the rescue operation undertaken by India when Afghanistan was under the attack from Taliban was called Operation Devi Shakti. In case of any project taken up by the government, the intent is clear. It is for the cause of the people. Mitti ki khushbu aani chahiye, thats how naming any project assumes a lot of significance and effort, especially by the prime minister," a senior bureaucrat told News18. ALSO READ | How PM Modi Coined the term Jan Vishwas for the Bill Passed by LS | All About the Amendments Recently, the Indian government dedicated to the country one of the biggest convention centres, Bharat Mandapam, which hosted the G20 summit. The name signifies that India is a land of many faiths, beliefs and diversities. Another launch by the government, a convention centre called Yashobhoomi, was also named on similar lines. Showing his trust in people of the country to be compliant, PM Modi came up with the name Jan Vishwas Bill for the legislation. Most recent instance was the Womens Reservation Bill passed by both houses of Parliament. It is meant to connect with women across the country and hence PM Modi decided to name it Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam. At least 50 people were detained for protesting against Israels war against Hamas at Delhis Jantar Mantar on Monday, police said. According to police, a call was given by different organisations including the leftist All India Students Association to hold a protest denouncing Israels attack on Gaza Strip. Over 100 persons had gathered at the Jantar-Mantar to protest. Since the protesters did not have permission, they were detained. Heavy police force deployment has been arranged to maintain law and order conditions, a police officer said. The Delhi Police detained the protesters as soon as they reached the spot and pushed them into police buses. AISA later issued a release demanding the release of its members. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday virtually interacted with Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Google and Alphabet Sundar Pichai. During the talks, Pichai and Modi discussed Googles plans to expand its electronic manufacturing ecosystem in India. PM Modi also praised the tech giants partnership with HP to manufacture Chromebooks in India, said a statement from the Prime Ministers Office (PMO). Prime Minister also exchanged views on Googles 100 languages initiative and encouraged Pichai to make AI tools available in Indian languages. The PM also boosted Sundar Pichai to make AI tools capable of good governance. PM Modi also welcomed Googles plans to introduce its global fintech operations centre at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) in Gandhinagar. Pichai apprised Modi about the tech giants plans to improve financial inclusion in India by leveraging GPay and UPI. He also focussed on Googles commitment to contribute to the development trajectory of India. PM Modi also invited Sundar Pichai to New Delhi to participate in the Global Partnership on AI Summit in December 2023. Earlier this year, Sundar Pichai met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. During his US visit, Modi along with US President Joe Bident met with CEOs including Apples Tim Cook, and Microsofts Satya Nadella. His vision for Digital India was way ahead of its time. I now see it as a blueprint other countries are looking to do. The follow-through of scaling up Indias digital stack is a model other countries are thinking about, Pichai said after meeting Modi. | Trusted partners in High Technology collaborations.PM @narendramodi & @POTUS @JoeBiden addressed a gathering of Indian and American CEOs of leading tech companies at a special event in the @WhiteHouse. @SecRaimondo moderated the event. The CEOs discussed the pic.twitter.com/lHlX1SEV61 Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) June 23, 2023 Sundar Pichai also informed PM Modi that Google will invest USD 10 billion in the digitization fund of India. BOSS DAY 2023 WISHES, GREESTINGS, MESSAGES AND PHOTOS: Amidst our busy routines, we frequently overlook the importance of showing appreciation to our hardworking bosses. They play a crucial role in guiding us, correcting our errors, and fostering our professional growth. A supportive boss not only makes our work more manageable but also encourages us to openly discuss and resolve professional challenges. Bosss Day, which is celebrated on October 16, provides a special occasion to acknowledge and convey our gratitude to our employers for their invaluable contributions to our careers. Boss Day 2023: Wishes You are someone who lives the mission and vision of our company, and always goes the extra mile. Wish you a happy Bosss Day. Happy Boss you to the one who handles all the responsibilities smoothly. Even when the world is rushing, there are people who take time out to mentor, encourage, and inspire. We are so lucky to work with you. Happy Bosss Day! Office is a better place with folks like you. Who takes the time out to do nice things, the way you always do? Happy Boss Day to the best boss indeed. Boss Day 2023: Quotes We are truly blessed to have a boss like you who leads us like a leader and teaches us like a teacher. Happy Boss Day to you. When you are our boss, we have nothing to worry because you are always there to guide us through. Warm wishes on Boss Day. Working with you has been the best experience in my career as there is so much new to learn. Warm greetings on Boss Day. There is so much to learn from you each and every day and that makes each and every day at work all the more amazing. Happy Boss Day. Boss Day 2023: Messages I wish you a happy boss day, dear boss! You are amazing in whatever you do, including the job that all of us do. Youve helped me learn a crucial lesson. First, put forth more effort than everyone else if you want someone else to work. I appreciate your support and advice, boss. Happy boss day to the most likable boss who gives everything he does his all. We are thrilled to have you on board as a mentor! Only the best leaders are capable of the art of managing people. Throughout all you do, you inspire us. Cheers to the boss! Boss Day: History In 1958, Patricia Bays Haroski initiated the observance of Bosss Day. Employed as a secretary at the State Farm Insurance in Illinois, she aimed to inspire her co-workers to acknowledge and express their gratitude to their boss, who happened to be her father. Haroski believed that her fathers substantial contributions to the workplace often went unnoticed, and she sought to create a day for employees to show their appreciation for his efforts in maintaining a smoothly functioning workplace. Boss Day 2023: How to Celebrate? As an employee, there are various ways to express your gratitude to your boss. You can offer a heartfelt card or convey your appreciation for their guidance, mentorship, and the trust they have in you. Organising a special event with a Bosss Day theme is another thoughtful gesture, and its an opportunity to encourage fellow colleagues to join in making the day exceptional in honoring the boss. As the only energy partner powering support for the iconic St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway, Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO)'s unique partnership was on display during an Ideas Worth Sharing panel this year at the annual Builder's Summit in Memphis. SWEPCO continues to power a campaign that today (Oct 11) is part of one of the largest fundraising programs for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities (ALSAC), which raises funds and awareness for St. Jude, awarded SWEPCO the 2023 Trade Partner of the Year and gave SWEPCO President and COO Brett Mattison the opportunity to reflect on the partnership that can be traced to the first St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway. "The summit facilitated interactions between professionals and experts from diverse fields, promoting a rich culture of idea-sharing, collaboration and learning," explained Sarah Floyd, Senior Program Advisor of the St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway, who moderated the discussion. Mattison helped encourage a dialogue about smart partnerships and how Dream Home teams achieved success in different regions. "The panel was a platform for industry leaders to share their ideas and achievements, including successful strategies, how these accomplishments were realized, and potential opportunities for these successes to be replicated in other markets," said Floyd. Mattison highlighted SWEPCO's focus on employee engagement within the SWEPCO and St. Jude partnership and the unique factors that make the alliance exceptional. Click to watch a timelapse video of the 2023 Dream Home under construction to see the project from start to finish. "It was a privilege to participate in a panel with so many great leaders and trailblazers," Mattison said. "I am honored that we were able to incorporate what we do every day into finding a unique way to be a grateful servant to St. Jude and our community." Mattison was joined by Kyle LaRocque of LaRocque Homes in Lake Charles, Louisiana and Jeff Newton of Newton Custom Homes & Realty in Charlotte, North Carolina. "Brett did an excellent job of not only representing SWEPCO but providing builders and audience members with a solid understanding of how to get their energy providers involved," said Floyd. "Each panelist was able to broaden the conversations around their unique ways of contributing to the dream home success and talk about what makes their individual contributions unique." The St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway program was founded by Dr. Donald Mack, a pediatric physician from Shreveport. Builders, subcontractors, vendors and other campaign sponsors donate time and labor to build a home to help ensure that families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food - so they can focus on helping their child live. "The mission of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, a pediatric treatment and research facility focused on children's catastrophic diseases, resonates with SWEPCO's focus of community service and development," said SWEPCO Director of Customer Services and Marketing, Paul Pratt. Last month, there was a revelation that Chris Evans, known for his role in Marvel, and Alba Baptista, a former Warrior Nun star, had privately tied the knot at their home. This weekend, Chris garnered significant attention as he appeared at the New York Comic Con (NYCC). While NYCC typically prohibits actors from discussing upcoming projects, it became a unique opportunity for fans to get a peek into his personal life. During a panel discussion, Chris finally opened up about his marriage to Alba and proudly showed off his wedding ring. Chris shed light on his marriage, disclosing that they had not one but two wedding ceremonies. The first occurred in Portugal, and the second was held in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. He described both events as wonderful and beautiful and expressed that they are currently savouring a well-deserved break. I got married. It was really really great. Planning a wedding, its a lot. For those of you who are married, you know, it takes a lot out of you, but now that were through that, weve just kinda been enjoying life and gearing up for autumn, my favourite season. Its like the best time of year right now. Now were just relaxing and enjoying life and reflecting, Chis Evans said. Rumours of a romantic connection between Chris Evans and Alba Baptista began circulating two years ago when fans noticed that the Portuguese actress had started following the Avengers star and some of his family members on Instagram. In November 2022, their relationship became more obvious as the couple were spotted holding hands in Central Park. A source close to the actor shared with US Weekly at the time, Chris and Alba have gotten serious. This is the most committed anyone can remember him being in a very long time, if not ever. They spend most of their time at his place in Massachusetts and love the quiet life there, surrounded by nature and away from the spotlight. Chris was very open that he wanted to take his time before settling down, added the source. In a candid interview with Mens Journal in May 2019, Chris Evans expressed his desire to settle down and begin a family. One of the key founders of the Iranian New Wave, 83-year-old Dariush Mehrjui, and his wife, Vahideh Mohammadifar were murdered on Sunday evening. The ghastly incident took place at the couples home just outside Tehran in the city of Karaj, Associated Press. They had invited their daughter for dinner, and when she arrived, she found them dead with stab wounds in their necks. Mohammadifar, a screenwriter and costume designer, had been receiving death threats in recent weeks. Mehrjuis death is an immense loss for Iranian cinema, and while his films have been getting accolade after accolade outside his country, they were seldom released at home because of insane censorship laws. As a young man, Mehrjui studied in the US and later shifted to France, where he lived for five years before returning to his native nation. He first rose to prominence with his 1969 movie, The Cow, which focussed on realism and drew inspiration from literature. It was his second feature. Although The Cow received State funding it was banned under the Shah regime, because it spoke about the depressing aspects of Iranian society. However, Mehrjui managed to smuggle The Cow to the 1971 Venice Film Festival. Though it was not part of the official program and had no subtitles, it was pure cinema that needed no words for comprehension. And the movie was a smashing hit and clinched the Critics Award. It went on to be screened in many other festivals. It is now regarded as a cult film. The directors third creation, Mr Naive, turned out to be a kind of continuation to The Cow, and it was allowed to open in theatres. What a box-office hit it was! His next work, The Postman, was a political work based on Karl Buchners Woyzeck. In a long and illustrious career, Mehrjui saw ups and downs. The Cycle remained in the cans for four years before it found its way to foreign festivals. It became his most successful movie abroad. Earlier, he was part of the Iranian Revolution which saw the Shah being overthrown, and the director shot dozens of reels of what happened in Iran then. Deeply in love with music and painting as a child, Mehrjui brought out a movie magazine in Paris and worked with Renoir who taught him the art of working with actors. The Iranian auteur was more interested in cinema as an art form than in its technical aspects. His plots were superb, and his screenplay was incisive. Technically, his cinema may not have been up there, but the way it was narrated left a deep impression on my psyche. Heres a look at his filmography: 1967) Diamond 33 1969) The Cow (Gaw), released in 1970 1970) Mr. Halou (Aghay-e Halou) 1971) The Brick (short film) & Ghanat (short film) 1972) The Postman (Postchi) 1974) The Cycle (Dayereh Mina), released in 1977 1976) The Sacrifice (Ghorbani) (short film) 1976) Alamoot (TV docu-fiction) 1977) Donation (short film) 1978) Kidney Transplant (short film) 1980) The School We Went To, released in 1989 1983) Voyage au Pays de Rimbaud (TV docu- fiction) 1986) The Lodgers (Ejareh Neshinha) 1987) Shirak 1990) Hamoon 1992) Banoo, released in 1999 1993) Sara 1995) Pari 1997) Leila 1998) The Pear Tree 2002) Bemani 2003) Mams Guest News18 Showsha offers our condolences to his family and fans. Veteran actress Hema Malini is celebrating her 75 birthday today. Wishes have been coming in from all corners. Esha Deol also wished her mother and took to her social media handle to share pictures with her birthday girl. She even called her dream girl and said There can be only one dream girl. Fans even wished the veteran actress in the comment section. Esha wrote, Happy birthday mamma Celebrating you today & forever.. a divine lady who lives life on her own terms with utmost grace & dignity.. a powerhouse.. A loving daughter & wife, compassionate mother, adorable grandmother, fantastic actor, graceful dancer , honest politician & the list can just go on & on you are a force .. blessed by your parents, loved by the nation & adored by your husband, daughters & grandchildren. There can be only one Dream girl one Hemamalini .. stay blessed, happy, healthy & strong I love you. Take a look at the photos here: View this post on Instagram A post shared by ESHA DEOL (@imeshadeol) In a new interview, the veteran star opened up about turning 75 and revealed her husband, actor Dharmendra gave her the best gift he could which made her day extra special. Dharmendra and Hema have been married for over four decades now. They have two daughters together, Esha and Ahana. Speaking with Hindustan Times, Hema revealed that Dharmendra gave her his time on her birthday. The actor specially flew down to India from the US just in time to ring in Hemas birthday. He is here for my birthday, and the biggest gift he gives me is spending time with us, she said. Looking back at her life, Hema confessed, I have been so busy working all these years that I didnt even realise where the time went by. I am 75 today, I cant believe it myself! But age is just a number. It depends on how you look after yourself, if tohers are inspired by the work you do. Thats life. I do the work that I get, spend time with my children and grandchildren. Life is beautiful. Bollywood superstar Salman Khans Tiger 3, which is set to release this Diwali, is one of the most awaited films of the year. The highly anticipated actioner also stars Katrina Kaif in a key role along with Emraan Hashmi who will be seen playing the antagonist in the Maneesh Sharma directorial. Fans of Bollywoods Bhaijaan have been eagerly waiting for the third installment in the Tiger franchise for six years and they will soon get to witness it all on the big screen. But ahead of the release, keeping the tradition, Yash Raj Films is set to drop the trailer of Tiger 3. The much-awaited trailer will be unveiled today (October 16) at noon. Ahead of the trailer launch, News18 Showsha spoke to filmmaker Kabir Khan, who directed the first movie Ek Tha Tiger (2012) in an exclusive interaction where he said he was super excited for Tiger 3. There is always a sense of being a part of the endeavour as I created Tiger (the character) with Ek Tha Tiger (2012) so there is a special connection with this franchise. Its been more than a decade and I have been super proud of it. Tiger 3 is releasing soon and despite it not being my film, I am still super nervous (smiles) as I am really curious to know what the story will be all about. I am waiting for it to release and I plan to see it only on the big screen cheering and whistling with the audience. Yash Raj Films is like home for me and I am keeping my fingers crossed and wishing all the success to the entire team, Khan said. The director says that while shooting for Ek Tha Tiger, there were no plans of coming up with a spy universe, We always had the idea of making this film into a franchise but we never thought of spy universe. I dont know about Adi because he is a visionary filmmaker and likes to keep his cards close to his chest so maybe he must have some idea (laughs), but we never discussed it as such. I also feel that the whole universe concept started only a few years back that too in Hollywood so I dont think the concept existed when we were shooting the film. But I am excited for the YRF Spyverse and its a good thing as long as the audiences are enjoying it. Both Tiger and Zoyas character (played by Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif respectively are iconic now. After the massive success of War and Pathaan, fans are excited about what will come next especially as it links both the films with the Tiger franchise. Many fan theories want a spin-off of many characters including Kaifs Zoya. Ask Khan about it and he says, Its a very interesting concept and a great idea. Zoya is one of the most fascinating characters and I hope someone picks up the character and has a good backstory and we can see Katrina headlining the film on an adventure of her own. I hope Adi takes it forward. Kriti Sanon has arrived in Delhi for the 69th National Film Awards ceremony. The award recipients were announced on August 24, and the prestigious event is scheduled for October 17 in Delhi. Earlier today, she landed in her hometown, New Delhi, to attend the ceremony wherein she will be receiving the National award. She was seen sporting a red sweatshirt, and blue straight fit jeans, keeping the look uber cool and casual. Shes also seen wearing sun glasses and walking out of the airport in style! Check out the video here: The actress went above and beyond for her role in the movie Mimi. Directed by Laxman Utekar, the film portrayed Kriti as a surrogate mother facing a dilemma when the adopting family declines to accept the baby. Alongside Kriti, the movie stars Pankaj Tripathi, Supriya Pathak, Manoj Pahwa, and Sai Tamhankar, resonating deeply with the viewers. After winning several accolades since the release of the film, Kriti Sanon eventually bagged the National Film Award for her performance on August 24. Soon after the awards were announced, Kriti spoke exclusively to News18 Showsha and said, Im too excited, almost emotional. I cannot believe that this has happened. Its still sinking in and I am pinching myself. It is a big moment for me and my entire family. Mimi has been a very special film and to get the most prestigious National award for it, I just cannot thank the jury enough for actually believing that my performance deserved this award. She added, I actually have no words, I am speechless. With everything going on, I am too overwhelmed. I want to thank Dinesh Vijan, who has actually believed in me and in my potential, supported me throughout and gave me a film as special as Mimi, which I know I am going to treasure all my life. On the work front, Kriti will be next seen in Ganapath, co-starring Tiger Shroff. British actor and two-time Oscar winner, Michael Caine, 90, recently announced his retirement. The veteran star, known for his numerous iconic roles, spoke about his decision during an interview on BBC Radio 4s Today show with presenter Martha Kearney. He said that his part in the upcoming movie The Great Escaper will mark his final appearance on the big screen. He disclosed that he had considered retirement earlier and even declined three roles in recent years. However, the exciting opportunity to portray a World War 2 veteran who plans a daring escape from his care facility in the latest film drew him back for one last memorable act. He said, I keep saying Im going to retire. Yeah, well I am now. Ive figured, Ive had a picture where Ive played the lead and I got incredible reviews. What am I going to do that will beat this? The only parts Im liable to get now are 90-year-old men or maybe 85. Theyre not going to be the lead. You dont have leading men at 90, youre going to have young handsome boys and girls. So I thought, I might as well leave with all this. When discussing his retirement decision, Michael Caine explained, I was sent a script actually and I looked at it and then I did something Ive never done before. I counted how many pages I had, compared to the number of pages in the script. And it was 15 in a script which was 99 pages. And I thought, I think that counts as a small part, Im not doing it. So I retired. I thought, Im ahead here, I may do a little part and get a bad review so I thought, why not leave now? So Ive left. In The Great Escaper, the actor will be seen sharing the screen with the late Glenda Jackson, who passed away in June shortly after finishing her role in the film. This movie is inspired by a true story, revolving around a World War 2 veterans escape from a care facility to participate in the D-Day anniversary in France. The films director, Oliver Parker, spoke about how careful they were with Michael Caine due to his age and physical challenges in an interview in The Telegraph. Parker mentioned that they took precautions to make sure Caine wasnt working too hard and having to negotiate him moving around at the pace he did. To make this character relatable to the audience, the veteran actor had to show weakness effectively, which Parker was pleased to see him accomplish. Other than his recent film, the actor is set to release a novel, titled Deadly Game, next month. Bollywood actress Parineeti Chopra and AAP politician Raghav Chadha got married in Udaipur at The Leela Palace in Udaipur on September 24. Their dreamy wedding was an intimate affair with family members and close friends in presence. For her special day, Parineeti opted for a pastel colour lehenga designed by Manish Malhotra. Raghav complemented his bride in a traditional sherwani. Meanwhile, on Monday, October 16, Parineeti took off to the Maldives and clarified on social media she is not on a honeymoon with her husband, AAP leader Raghav Chadha. Sharing glimpses from her trip, she said its an all-girls trip. The picture she posted on Instagram Stories featured a glimpse of the resort shes staying at, with a backdrop of the pristine blue ocean and sky, as she savoured her morning coffee. Although she cannot be seen in the photo, her pink wedding chooda was captured. In another photo that she shared on the feed, the actress can be seen enjoying a dip in an infinity pool overlooking the pristine Indian Ocean. For the pool day, Parineeti slipped into a one-shoulder black swimsuit. NOT on a honeymoon! She captioned it, Photo taken by sister-in-law #GirlsTrip Check out the photo here: Post the wedding, the couple has moved to Delhi. The Ishaqzaade has been a paparazzi favourite ever since the news of Parineeti Chopra and Raghav Chadha started floating around. So it wasnt a surprise when the paps caught Parineeti Chopra, recently, as the most glamorous self, attending an event. On Saturday, videos of the actress , walking down the runway in a gorgeous light golden saree with a matching cape. Keeping her makeup dewy but minimal, Parineeti accentuated her look with red sindoor and a resplendent necklace, pink chooda and other beautiful accessories. Actor Song Joong-ki continues to promote his latest offering Hopeless to the masses after it hit South Korean theaters on October 11. The Descendants of the Sun fame plays the role of a local gang boss in this neo-noir thriller which initially had its premiere at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. Recently, the actor made an appearance on JTBCs Newsroom, where he spoke candidly about what comes for him after Hopeless and how he plans to broaden his horizon as an actor. It was during the interaction that he shockingly admitted to failing multiple overseas auditions. But the setbacks havent deterred him from trying again. Song Joong-ki revealed he once again has plans to go for several auditions after completing his Hopeless promotional spree. I hope I make it this time. So far, Ive always failed. My desire to act in different cultural contexts and industries is growing every day, he said. According to the Vincenzo star, he always aims to try something different because repeating what he has already done is no fun to run. He claims it to be his strange obsession. Song Joong-ki believes if he doesnt enjoy a project, it reflects in his acting skills thereby barring his full potential to shine out. Although the actor has already reached the top of a mountain that he aimed for, now he wishes to expand beyond the horizon. I want to become an even broader mountain, he hopes. Song Joong-ki is reportedly taking up various challenges to meet his goal. But before signing off, the South Korean star urged fans to continue to support him. Directed by Kim Chang-hoon, Hopeless is the debut movie of Hong Xa-bin, who plays a reckless teenage boy Yeon-gyu. With a distant dream of escaping from his tumultuous life of poverty, the youngster is looking for an easy shortcut to make money. Yeon-gyu, who is physically abused by his stepfather and school bullies, crosses paths with Song Joong-kis gang boss Chi-geon and the two develop an instant brotherly love. But their bond is tested violently when things begin to spiral down, pushing the teenager into a hellish world of bloodbath that he wasnt prepared for. After Hopeless, Song Joong-ki has Bogota: City of the Lost and My Name is Loh Kiwam in the pipeline. Bigg Boss Kannada OTT fame Sonu Gowda continues to steal the limelight for her impeccable fashion sense. She keeps sharing glimpses of her personal life as well as professional life on her Instagram handle. Sonu Gowdas fans often express their love and admiration for the actress. The actress, last month, visited Maldives. Recently, she posted throwback pictures from her Maldives trip to treat her fans to some sizzling pictures of herself. The actress dropped stunning pictures from her Maldives getaway. In the snapshots, she can be seen donning a white crochet halter neck bralette top which she paired with red high-waisted shorts. Sonu Gowda struck poses against the backdrop of the crystal clear Maldivian sea. Her beachy attire exudes an aura of charm and serenity. She opted for a no-makeup look and wore a pair of small-sized studs. The last slides of her posts also gave a sneak peek into delicious lunches and breakfasts that she had during her vacation. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Shambhavi.srinivasgowda54 (@sonusrinivas.gowda54) The other day, Sonu also shared another set of pictures from her day out in Maldives. The pictures displayed her flaunting a regular comfy look as she styled a red oversized T-shirt with beige cargo trousers. She wore a pair of white sneakers to feel comfy throughout the day. A quirky pair of sunglasses and a travel fanny bag added to her look. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Shambhavi.srinivasgowda54 (@sonusrinivas.gowda54) Meanwhile, Sonu Gowda is being blamed by some fans for being the reason for Varun Aradhya and Varsha Kaveris breakup. The actress, however, came out to clear the air and said that she had nothing to do with Varun and Varsha parting ways. Sonu, in a recent interview, noted that people were trolling her on social media, and her friends asked her if the rumours were true. She also revealed that she was friends with both of them who were in love for 5 years adding that she had not done anything wrong. Shah Rukh Khan treated his fans to a huge surprise as he made an appearance at a special screening of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai in Mumbai on Sunday night. The film, which marked Karan Johars directorial debut and also starred Kajol and Rani Mukerji, completes 25 years today, October 16. During the event, Shah Rukh also thanked the entire cast and crew of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai for making it one of the most successful Hindi films of all time. While SRK was mentioning his co-stars from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, a person from the crowd screamed Salman Khans name. Archana Puran Singh and a lot of other actors that I may have forgotten to mention. And all the juniors who made this lovely film, SRK said. But before he could complete his speech, the fan shouted out, Salman Bhai. SRK jokingly trolled the person and replied, Wo interval ke baad aayega, abhi interval tak speech nahi hui hai meri (He comes post interval. Im not finished yet) Chup kar! In order of appearance mention kar raha hoon main. Rani bhi tab mention karunga jab bhoot ban ke aayegi, end mein Yes, Salman bhai and Rani, who came as a ghost in the end again. Little kids in the film who were lovely, so many of them, SRK wittily added. Dharma Productions official Instagram handle also shared a picture of SRK, Rani Mukerji and Karan Johar posing with posters of the film installed at a theatre playing the film. They also shared videos of fans dancing in the theatres. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was released on October 16, 1998. The performances and the songs received much love and appreciation at the time of release and continue to be loved by fans even today. ELKO, Nev. Mother Nature almost didnt raise the curtain on Saturday mornings much anticipated solar spectacle in Elko. But just in time for the 9:20 a.m. annular solar eclipse, clouds thinned and parted to reveal the dramatic celestial coincidence that drew thousands of people to the high-desert town: Earths moon passing directly in front of its life-giving star, the sun. The eclipse was all the more special because of a lunar phenomenon: The moon was at apogee, or farther from Earth then normal, meaning it didnt appear quite large enough to entirely cover the sun. The result was an annular eclipse, also known as a Ring of Fire eclipse for the thin band of the sun that remained visible around the moon. People across the town and surrounding area cheered and peered through specialized solar-viewing glasses, telescopes and camera equipment. The air chilled and the landscape slightly dimmed, having lost nearly all of the suns rays. And in less than five minutes it was over. The moon began its hour-long slide off the lower-left side of the sun, which gradually became whole for viewers who kept their gaze skyward. On Saturday morning, longtime friends Dorothy Hudig and James C. Powers were parked along a dirt road about a 45-minute drive south of Elko. Powers, a serious amateur photographer from Atlanta, Georgia, and his wife traveled to Seattle and then Elko, where they rendezvoused with Hudig, who came over from Reno. It was Hudigs first eclipse; Powers photographed an eclipse only once previously: the 2017 total solar eclipse that crossed the U.S. from coast to coast. It was awesome, and I was not prepared for how cold it got, Hugid said. That was amazing. Equipped with multiple full-frame digital cameras and an array of lenses including a new 800-millimeter super-telephoto lens, Powers was simultaneously photographing and recording video of the eclipse in its entirety. He researched the eclipse path, from Oregon to Texas, in advance and selected Elko as the place to be. I wanted a place with good weather, he said. It had to be drivable from Seattle. It looked like good weather on the path. Ultimately the weather was good, but thin, patchy clouds moving across the sky complicated Powers efforts. The changing conditions, especially the clouds and the light, were a challenge, He said. I need to go to four or five eclipses to practice. He confessed that he probably wont ever see four or five eclipses. But he already has a trip booked to Austin, Texas, to view the total solar eclipse that will sweep from Texas to Maine on April 8, 2024. Powers wasnt the only person nearly stymied by clouds. As Elko awoke Saturday to clouds overhead, blue sky beckoned to the south. Vehicles with plates from across the U.S. sped down State Route 228 south toward Jiggs and east toward Harrison Pass while others continued south down the valley on the dirt-surface Huntington Road. They were all hoping to pop out from under a shelf of clouds that only occasionally offered a teasing view of the sun. Others stayed put in Elko, setting up equipment, waiting, watching and hoping for clouds to dissipate. Booked full In addition to filling camera memory cards and bucket-lists, the eclipse also seemed to fill every hotel room and RV spot in Elko. Business owners talked of hotel rooms going for astronomical rates in a town where $100 a night is the norm. And visitors recounted struggles to find any place to stay, no matter the price. City estimates placed the number of visitors at 10,000. Weve had two gentlemen from the Netherlands, said Amber Dupee, co-owner of 7018 Brewery in downtown Elko. Everybodys been really nice, really great. Weve had several people from other states. Somebody was saying if you could even get a hotel theyre charging $600 to $800 a room. Dupee said she heard Battle Mountain was the place to be for the eclipse. But Sarah Wrenfrow, operations manager at Iron Horse RV Park in Elko, said Wednesday, I heard that Battle Mountain is also sold out. Michael Alvarez traveled to Elko from Nampa, Idaho, with his three kids. He had seen an eclipse as a child and wanted his children to experience one, too. He used NASAs interactive map of the eclipse path to choose Elko: I followed that track and I was like, oh, thats the biggest city south of here. Theres nothing else around really. He found a room in town, but only because he booked it more than three months in advance. Nicole Marshall and Mike Ball, owners of XP Gaming Cafe in Elko, said they noticed an uptick in visitation for the eclipse. Ball, an Elko resident since 1995, said the town seemed different with all the extra people. And the cafe was busier than normal, they said. Its f-ing crowded right now, Marshall said. All the hotels are booked, its full right now. At the brewery, situated inside the ornate high-ceiling lobby of a former bank in a stately historic building, Dupee said We were slammed for a good three hours and most of it was people from out of town, the night before the eclipse. She ordered 50 pairs of eclipse-viewing glasses and sold them all within an hour the Monday before. She rush-ordered 50 more and sold them all in two hours. Ive had tons of people coming in asking for glasses for it, she said. I think as business owners we didnt anticipate this much business from it. And then Dupee had to dart back inside: Three more kegs had just run out again. Annular Eclipse Partial Dark Clouds The sun, mostly obscured by the moon, is visible through clouds south of Elko, Nevada, just after the peak of the annular eclipse on Oct. 14. Joshua Murdock is the outdoors & natural resources reporter for the Missoulian in Montana. Sunny Leone once again set social media ablaze with her fashion statement. The actress and model made heads turn in a breathtaking gown with a plunging neckline, leaving her fans captivated and awestruck. In a show-stopping appearance, Sunny Leone donned a stunning gown that showcased her impeccable style and red carpet allure. The gown featured a daringly low-cut neckline that accentuated her natural beauty and grace. She took to her social handle and shared the pictures. Such a nice night at the @iffsatoronto Gala. In the photos, Sunny is seen wearing an ice-blue colour gown that has a low neckline. The actress opted for bold makeup and accentuated it with red colour lipstick. As soon as she shared the photos, fans dropped heart emojis in the comment section. Some even called her beauty. Take a look here: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sunny Leone (@sunnyleone) Sunny Leone made her debut with Pooja Bhatts Jism 2. Then she went on to feature in films like Jackpot, Ragini MMS 2, Ek Paheli Leela and more. The stellar actress who paved her own way into Bollywood recently turned heads with her Cannes debut for Kennedy. The actress who is also known for delivering some memorable dance numbers is all set to recreate an iconic Madhuri Dixits song in an upcoming project. Sharing a update on the same on her Instagram handle, Sunny wrote, So proud to share this with the world!! It was such an honour to remake @madhuridixitnene s song in such a big way #MerePiyaGharAaya2.0 TEASER is OUT now Sunny Leone made a memorable debut at Cannes. The actress attended the screening of her film Kennedy along with director Anurag Kashyap and co-star Rahul Bhat. Even before its theatrical release, the movie created a huge buzz after it was selected to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival. Apart from her, the movie also features Rahul Bhat, Megha Burman, Benedict Garrett and Pramod Sanghi in prominent roles. She will be next seen in the Quotation Gang. The upcoming film features Sunny Leone with an impressive cast including Jackie Shroff, Priyamani, and Sarah, among others. The crime thriller has been shot in scenic locations such as Kashmir, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Mumbai, promising an exciting cinematic experience. Supermodel Gigi Hadid and actor Bradley Cooper have been reportedly enjoying a romantic getaway in Rhode Island, in singing sensation Taylor Swifts mansion on the coast. According to the latest reports, the duo wanted to explore their connection away from the eyes of the paparazzi and one of Gigis closest friends, Taylor Swift, was more than happy to help them out. The UK Mirror quoted a source as saying, Taylor is a total romantic and loves playing cupid for her friends. Even though Gigi and Bradley have their own properties in New York, they wanted somewhere more private to spend time getting to know each other and Taylor was only too happy to help. The 28-year-old model and the 48-year-old actor first sparked dating rumours when they were spotted having dinner together in New York City. A source later told The Messenger that it was Irina Shayk who introduced them. Irina and Gigi are model friends and she is also Bradleys ex-girlfriend. The publication quoted a source as saying, Gigi was introduced to Bradley through Irina and their mutual friends in the industry Gigi and Irina have been close over the years while working together, and Gigi and Bradley have hung out before, but it has always been friendly in social settings. Gigi and Bradley were in touch recently, and were bonding over their daughters when Bradley asked her out. The source added, He pursued her and she was definitely interested and excited They have been casually seeing each other but it is extremely new. Gigi has expressed she does not want a serious relationship. They have a lot in common, and both relate to being parents in the industry. She wants to get into acting and is intrigued by Bradleys perspective and guidance. It is very casual at this point. However, there is no confirmation from Gigi or Bradley yet. Kareena Kapoor Khan is currently basking in the success of her recently released film Jaane Jaan. The film which released on Netflix has received widespread appreciation from viewers and critics. The actress will now be seen in an unconventional thriller, which has been helmed by Hansal Mehta. Titled The Buckingham Murders, the movie also marks Kareenas debut production venture. Introducing her character Jas from the film, Kareena penned an emotional note about shes been wanting to play a character of this depth. Taking to her social media handle, Kareena shared a bundle of photos from the film and wrote, Jas was a character I have been waiting to play for the last 23 years, being a huge fan of the detective series genre watching everything from Karamchand to Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect to Hercule Poirot in Agatha Christie to Kate Winslet in Mare of Easttown, I was just dying to be that detective woman. Have a look at the same : She added, On a 25-page synopsis given to me by Hansal and Ekta, I started reading it at 1 a.m., and I knew I had found the woman I wanted to be Ekta, Hansal and I set off on this journey to make a slightly unconventional film, but a film that is with heart, a bit of a smile, and, oh my god, lots of tears It played at the British Film Institute last night, and as this film starts its journey in the world of movies I couldnt be more nervous and excited as an actor and a first-time producer I feel so odd writing that but I feel really cool On a closing note, she added, So giving you all a glimpse of this gem we made into the world of I do hope Jas hasnt ended her journey yet, because its been a dream to continue this wonderful yet strong woman whose grief is beyond measure but stronger than she knows. Kareenas films co-producer Ekta Kapoor took to the comments section and added, India will have to wait till next year we have a few more festivals to cover before we arrive with d world theatrical releasee. She added, Five min into d film@n ppl will forget they r seeing Kareena d superstar !!! U follow Jass n ur never gonna forget those eyes !!! Deep sad grieving n determined !!! @hansalmehta @kareenakapoorkhan. The Buckingham Murders was recently premiered at the London Film Festival. Vani Viswanath, renowned as one of the yesteryear actresses in the South Indian film industry, has consistently left an indelible mark on the big screen. Her remarkable filmography includes roles alongside some of the industrys biggest stars, earning her widespread acclaim and numerous accolades. However, her talents extend beyond acting, with a deep-rooted interest in politics that led to her joining the Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh back in 2017. Following a hiatus from the world of cinema, fans will be thrilled to learn that Vani is poised to make her comeback, featuring alongside the highly-regarded Malayalam actor, Sreenath Bhasi. News of Vanis return to the silver screen arrived alongside the release of the movies first poster and titleAzadi. Directed by debutant Joe George, Azadi promises to be a compelling family drama. The storyline revolves around a woman who is rescued from challenging circumstances by her husband and father. Sreenath Bhasi, who takes the lead in the film, achieves a personal milestone, marking his 50th project as an actor. For Vani Viswanath, this film signifies a significant comeback, following a decade-long hiatus, positioning her in a pivotal role that is sure to captivate audiences. Raveena Ravi, known for her work as a dubbing artist in the Malayalam industry, takes on the female lead role in Azadi. Her last notable appearance was in Mari Selvarajs popular Tamil film Maamannan. The film also boasts a talented ensemble cast, featuring the likes of Saiju Kurupu, Lal, TG Ravi, Boban Samuel, and Gilu Joseph in pivotal roles. The screenplay for this highly anticipated movie comes from the pen of Sagar, a filmmaker known for works like Kumbarees, Veekam, Sathyam Mathrame Bhodippikku, and Kanaka Rajyam. Complementing the narrative, Saneesh Stanley takes on the role of cinematographer, ensuring the films visual excellence, while the editing is masterfully handled by Noufal Abdhulla. Vani Viswanaths previous appearance was in the Malayalam comedy entertainer Mannar Mathai Speaking 2. Her upcoming projects are equally exciting, including a film titled The Criminal Lawyer, in which she collaborates with her husband. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday welcomed in the Navratri puja at the Sharda temple in Kashmir, where it was held for the first time since 1947, saying it signifies the return of peace in the valley. The minister said the puja at the temple marks the rekindling of the nations spiritual and cultural flame under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On Monday, Navratri Puja was held at the newly built Sharda temple located along the LoC in Teetwal in Kashmir. The temple was inaugurated by the home minister on March 23 this year on the same piece of land and on the same pattern where the temple existed in pre-partition days. It is a matter of profound spiritual significance that for the first time since 1947, the Navratri pujas have been held in the historic Sharda Temple in Kashmir this year. Earlier in the year the Chaitra Navratri Puja was observed and now the mantras of the Shardiya Navratri puja resound in the shrine. I was fortunate to reopen the temple on 23rd March 2023 after restoration, Shah said on X. This not only signifies the return of peace in the valley but also marks the rekindling of our nations spiritual and cultural flame under the leadership of PM @narendramodi Ji, he added. A large number of pilgrims from all over the country attended the puja. BJP MP Nishikant Dubey has written a letter to Union Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw requesting him to investigate the IP Address of Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitras Lok Sabha login credentials. Dubey has accused Moitra of taking bribes from a businessman to ask questions in Parliament and requested Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to constitute an inquiry committee to look into the charges against her. In the letter addressed to Vaishnaw, Dubey said that the allegations made against Moitra were presented in front of the CBI by an advocate of the Supreme Court. He added that the allegations included a criminal breach of trust, violating parliamentary ethics and acting in a manner that was harmful to the national security of the country. Underlining that access to the Lok Sabha site might provide sensitive, possibly classified information, the BJP MP urged Vaishnaw to treat the allegations seriously and initiate an investigation. ALSO READ: Mahua Moitra Had Loyal Support of Her Rottweiler in Every Row, But Will She Be Fall Guy This Time? Meanwhile, Moitra said all parliamentary work of MPs is done by PAs, assistants, interns, and large teams and requested the IT minister to release details of the location and login details of all MPs with CDRs. All parliamentary work of MPs done by PAs, assistants, interns, large teams. Respected @ashwinivaishnaw please release details of location & login details of ALL MPs with CDRs . Please release info on training given to staff to login. pic.twitter.com/1Mz61LBjw3 Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) October 16, 2023 Amid allegations against TMC MP Moitra, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister of State for Electronics & Technology said it is shocking and shameful. In his post on X (formerly Twitter), Chandrasekhar said, It is true that this company was actively and aggressively lobbying for Data Localization. Language used in PQ is very similar (linking need for data localization to data breaches) to that used whn the head of this company met me. I hv learnt from news reports that this Parliamentary Question was likely asked by a MP at the behest of a Data center company.If true this is indeed shocking and shameful It is true that this company was actively and aggressively lobbying for Data Localization. pic.twitter.com/slrtrNLNSy Rajeev Chandrasekhar (@Rajeev_GoI) October 16, 2023 A Supreme Court advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai sent a complaint to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on October 14, asking for lodging of a First Information Report (FIR) against Moitra on charges of corruption and money laundering. Dehadrai had submitted a copy of his complaint to Dubey as well as to the Lok Sabha Speaker. The allegation made against Moitra by Dubey was that she purportedly asked questions in Parliament in exchange for gifts and cash from the Hiranandani group, and targeted the Prime Minister and Home Minister in an attempt to link them to the Adani group. Moitra had rubbished the claims. YouTube on Monday said that after multiple investigations, it has not detected any kind of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on its platform, and has submitted its formal response to the IT Ministry, after it was served a notice, along with other social media intermediaries last week, by MeitY to remove any CSAM on their platforms. In a statement to IANS, a YouTube spokesperson said that based on multiple thorough investigations, we did not detect CSAM on our platform, nor did we receive examples or evidence of CSAM on YouTube from regulators. The spokesperson added that no form of content that endangers minors is allowed on YouTube. We will continue to heavily invest in the teams and technologies that detect, remove and deter the spread of this content. We are committed to work with all collaborators in the industry-wide fight to stop the spread of CSAM), said the company spokesperson. According to the platform, majority of videos featuring minors on YouTube do not violate its policies. But when it comes to kids, YouTube takes extra cautious approach towards our enforcement. The Ministry of Electronics and IT had issued notices to social media intermediaries X (formerly Twitter), YouTube and Telegram, warning them to remove any kind of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) from their platforms on the Indian internet or face action. The rules under the IT Act lay down strict expectations from social media intermediaries that they should not allow criminal or harmful posts on their platforms. If they do not act swiftly, their safe harbour under section 79 of the IT Act would be withdrawn and consequences under the Indian law will follow, said Union Minister of State for Electronics & IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar. The Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, provides the legal framework for addressing pornographic content, including CSAM. Sections 66E, 67, 67A, and 67B of the IT Act impose stringent penalties and fines for the online transmission of obscene or pornographic content. According to YouTube, In India, we surface a warning at the top of search results for specific search queries related to CSAM. This warning states child sexual abuse imagery is illegal and links to the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal. A Reddit user recently recounted a harrowing incident involving their friend, who fell victim to a dreadful ordeal at the hands of an auto rickshaw driver in Bengaluru. In a widely circulated post on the Bangalore subreddit, a user identified as @TheHound5 shared the unfortunate tale of their friends decision to board a seemingly random auto rickshaw from Silk Board to Ulsoor. Little did they know, this choice would turn out to be their biggest mistake leaving fellow Redditors in a state of profound shock. The dreadful event took place when they were passing through Domlur on the Ring Road around 10 p.m. At this point, they reached a dimly lit and isolated area on military land, where the auto driver abruptly halted, claiming he needed to take a brief pee break. And so my friend thought he too will take one, revealed the Reddit user. However, what happened next was beyond their imagination. The auto rickshaw driver forcefully pushed their friend, causing them to tumble further down from the footpath. Before their friend could fully grasp the situation, the driver began assaulting them and proceeded to rob them of all their valuables. Also Read: Bengaluru Traffic Horror: Enraged Citizens Call Work From Road A New Era In City And then he (the driver) threatened to hit him with a stone. In a state of shock and pain he begged him to please take whatever he wish to and somehow gathered the courage to scuffle and run as fast as he could in complete darkness, they added. To make matters worse, heavy rain began to pour down as their friend desperately begged for assistance from anyone passing by. Finally after which one great and noble soul stopped and helped him in all possible way to make sure he reached his home. the user continued. Subsequently, the friend contacted them, instigating several hours of anxiety for everyone involved. It was an utterly distressing situation, as the user concluded on Reddit. Heres the Post: Soon, the Reddit community reacted with shock and urged the user to report the incident to the police. One user expressed their horror, stating, This is a horrible incidentthese rikshawalas will burn in hell. Another user offered a precautionary measure, advising, Whenever u sit in an auto make sure to take a picture of the number plate first,Especially girls and send it to someone you trust or parents.Well I think everyone should do this now since these autowallas and crime is getting out of hands. Also Read: Man Robs Uber Driver And Jumps Off A Bridge; Heres What Happened Next Some even shared their own distressing encounters with auto rickshaw drivers, further underscoring the gravity of the issue. October 13 is celebrated as National Cinema day in the country. For the special day, ticket prices across many theatres were reduced to Rs. 99. As an ode to Indias deep-seated passion for the world of movies, many old movies were seen in the theatre again. From Munna Bhai MBBS to Fukrey, the audience witnessed a movie extravaganza on this day. Now, images and videos which have surfaced on social media show people completely enjoying and thrilled to watch all of these old gems. One such video shows people dancing and having the time of their lives while Sanjay Dutts Munna Bhai MBBS plays in the background. Also Read: Hyderabad Couple Kisses From Sunroof of Speeding Car, Angered People Demand Action Uploaded on Reddit by an anonymous user, the video shows people dancing their heart out as the theme song of the movie plays on the big screen. Saw Munnabhai MBBS in the theatre on national cinema day, read the caption. Here, have a look at the viral video: It was such an enjoyable film in theatre. All the good comedy films are must watch in theatres. Golmaal, Welcome all hit so differently in halls where all the crowd reactions take the scenes a notch above, commented a Reddit user. Another person wrote, Great to see this amazing movie get this appreciation in theatres even now! Back when it released, it was appreciated but wasnt exactly a rage. Deserved a lot more than it got then. Also Read: Buzz Aldrin, The Second Person To Land On Moon, Set Foot On Lunar Surface 19 Minutes After Neil Armstrong Meanwhile, earlier, another such video surfaced when people danced their heart out during the screening of Pathaan. The movie brought the entire nation together as theatres turned into dance clubs and the atmosphere was no less than festive upon Shah Rukh Khans return to the big screen. Videos from theatres across the country flooded social media, showing people dancing and cheering to saluting SRK back as he does it on the screen. A video which is currently doing rounds on social media shows a couple intensely kissing each other while popping out of the sun roof. The incident took place at PV Narasimha Rao Expressway in Hyderabad, Telangana. The couple can be seen involved in an intense gesture as the car moves speedily on the highway. Since being uploaded, the video has gone viral and sparked massive outrage among people as they demand action from police. It has also raised concern regarding the safety of people. In the video, the man is seen repeatedly kissing the girl. He then waves his hand in the air to enjoy their drive. However, while being involved in the gesture, they completely ignore the inconvenience caused to other commuters. Also Read: Delhi Woman Makes Sexual Advances, Inappropriately Touches Rickshaw Puller As the video went viral, people on the internet strictly condemned the act. With this, they requested the police to take necessary action against them. Hope Hyderabad City Police will take action on this unsafe driving mode & Inconvenience caused to public, read one of the posts on X. Here, have a look for yourself: Hope @hydcitypolice will take action on this unsafe driving mode & Inconvenience caused to public.. #PVNRExpressway pic.twitter.com/K2QgqgpStp Dharani (@DharaniBRS) October 15, 2023 These idiots need to be booked, commented an X user. Another person wrote, Im the most pro-PDA person youll ever meet but this is stupid! One sudden break and theyll risk their lives and others around them. Coming out of the sunroof is risky. Just take care guys! commented another person. Also Read: Delhi-NCR Residents Share Scary Videos As 3.1 Magnitude Quake Jolts The Capital Meanwhile, earlier, a video of a couple kissing on Lucknows streets while standing through the sunroof had surfaced on the internet. The incident was reported to be from Lucknows upscale Lohia Path neighbourhood. The video was recorded by a person riding a bike just behind the vehicle. The videographers were seen commenting on the incident and mentioned how the city is changing at a fast pace and how this used to be an unusual sight in the capital city of Uttar Pradesh. The Belt and Road Initiative has brought substantial benefits to Sri Lanka over the past decade, emerging as an indispensable catalyst for its economic development and resurgence, said Palitha Kohona, former Sri Lankan ambassador to China, during an exclusive interview with Guangming Online. Looking forward to the convening of the 3rd Belt and Road Forum on the occasion of its 10th anniversary, Kohona hailed the pivotal role played by the BRI in fostering global economic growth and generating universal opportunities for shared prosperity. He noted that Sri Lanka was among the first countries to join the BRI, and bilateral cooperation under the BRI framework has brought crucial funding for infrastructure projects, which greatly bolstered connectivity and injected new momentum into regional development. Constructed with substantial Chinese investment, the Hambantota Port project is one of the prime examples of the BRI's influence in Sri Lanka, Kohona said: The project has enhanced port infrastructure and enabled large vessels to dock It already serves as a key distribution hub in the region. As the transshipment capabilities continues to expand, it will further foster economic growth by attracting increased trade flows between the West and the East. Another flagship project of BRI cooperation, the Colombo Port City, aims to build a financial center that will help Sri Lanka attract foreign investment and serve as a new driver for economic transformation, Kohona said. BRI projects are breathing life into Sri Lanka's economic recovery, and we anticipate further economic revival through ongoing and future endeavors. Meanwhile, he looks forward to seeing increased two-way economic activities, especially in the tourism sector and bilateral trade under the BRI framework. China has the most lucrative consumer market in the world, he said. Sri Lanka aims to increase its exports to the vast Chinese market and tap into China's growing consumer base. Commending Chinas achievements in poverty alleviation, he noted that Sri Lanka stands to gain from the ongoing opening up of China, aligning with its poverty reduction efforts. He also called for more Chinese investments, particularly manufacturing and assembling facilities to settle in Sri Lanka. He pointed out that many participating countries have benefited considerably since the BRI was launched 10 years ago, seeing significant economic growth because of BRI investments and infrastructure. It is an active international cooperation platform for shared prosperity, he stressed, noting that BRI's influence on not only China's immediate vicinity but also regions far beyond holds promise for promoting global economic development. As regions develop in tandem economically, fewer countries will be left behind, he said. We hope that more countries will draw benefits from this initiative, and we're looking forward to the dream, that objective of a world of shared prosperity. The Ukrainians celebrated the birthday of a Japanese man who opened a free cafe in the country following the Russian invasion. Identified as Fuminori Tsuchiko, the elderly visited Ukraine as a tourist in February 2022, according to Reuters. He was called upon by the Japanese embassy to leave the nation as Russia launched its military attack. Fuminori took shelter in the Polish capital Warsaw but returned two months later with the intention of doing everything in his capacity to help the war-torn civilians of Ukraine. Recently, on the special occasion of his birthday, many Ukrainians assembled to celebrate his kindness, bringing a bright smile to Fuminoris face. A video of the celebration circulating on X shows the Japanese man walking outside when a woman gives him a flower bouquet. Fuminori hugs the woman before the crowd begins to sing the birthday song for the elderly. At one point another person approaches Fuminori with their prepared gift and the clip ends with the man lifting his hand up to meet the crowds enthusiasm. Kharkiv residents wish Happy Birthday to Fuminori Tsuchiko. He sold his home in Japan and moved to Kharkiv to open a cafe in the city. The cafe offers free hot meals to about 1,000 people a day. Thank you, Sir! Happy birthday, wrote the X user who shared the clip. Take a look at it here: Kharkiv residents wish Happy Birthday to Fuminori Tsuchiko. He sold his home in Japan and moved to Kharkiv to open a cafe in the city. The cafe offers free hot meals to about 1,000 people a day.Thank you, Sir! Happy birthday! https://t.co/G0A1bt6uej pic.twitter.com/An1rgnLwTf Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) October 14, 2023 With over twenty-four thousand views, the video has led many social media users to refer to Fuminori as a True hero. Many said he is a Blessing to mankind, for a few his generous deed restored faith in humanity. A user commented, What a beautiful human being. God Bless him for many more years. What a beautiful human being. God Bless him with many more years EM2007 (@Kmarugan) October 15, 2023 Another added, Happy birthday, Mr. Tsuchiko! You are an inspiration and a blessing to Kharkiv and the world. Thank you for your kindness and generosity. You have made a difference in so many lives. One more wrote, It is so hopeful to see the impact that one human being can make. It is so hopeful to see the impact that one human being can make Mei (@Maybelline_CDN) October 16, 2023 Meanwhile, a user called him, A light in the darkness. Honour and hats off to Fuminori Tsuchiko. A light in the darkness. Honour to Fuminori Tsuchiko. David Wilson (@DavidWi52419038) October 14, 2023 Hailing from Tokyo, Fuminori was reportedly moved by the plight of Ukrainian civilians. He stayed at a metro station for seven months upon his return, wherein Fuminori volunteered to distribute food in the subway. It was during his underground stay that he met a Ukrainian with whom he opened a free cafe in the Saltivka neighbourhood of Ukraine. The funds for running the outlet are also contributed through online donations made by Japanese people via social media. Named FuMi Caffe, the place serves free food to around 1,000 people every day. As the Israel-Hamas war continues to escalate, US President Joe Biden has said any move by Israel to occupy the Gaza Strip again would be a big mistake. Biden made the remarks in an interview released on Sunday, as Israeli troops prepared for a ground invasion. The October 7 Hamas attack caused the death of more than 1,400 people in Israel. Its reprisal attacks in the days since have killed at least 2,670 people in Gaza. Israel has declared war on the Palestinian outfit and warned more than a million people in northern Gaza to move south ahead of the operation. When asked if he would support any occupation of Gaza by the American ally, Biden replied: I think itd be a big mistake. Hamas dont represent all the Palestinian people, he said during the CBS news program 60 Minutes. But invading and taking out the extremists is a necessary requirement, he added. President Biden supports a humanitarian corridor that allows people out of Gaza where Israel has cut off food, fuel, electricity, and much of the water. He also says the Israeli occupation of Gaza would be a big mistake. https://t.co/gYadyBKneX pic.twitter.com/7Tn0Oyo8Lo 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 15, 2023 Asked if Hamas must be eliminated entirely, he replied: Yes I do. But there needs to be a Palestinian authority. There needs to be a path to a Palestinian state, he continued, reiterating the long-standing US call for a two-state solution. Biden was also questioned if he could foresee US troops joining the war. To this, he replied, I dont think thats necessary. Israel has one of the finest fighting forces in the country. I guarantee were gonna provide them everything they need, he said. Bidens show of support comes as the US has already deployed two aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean in a powerful show of support for Israel. On Sunday, the US State Department said the number of Americans killed since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas has risen to 30. At this time, we can confirm the deaths of 30 U.S. citizens. We extend our deepest condolences to the victims and to the families of all those affected, the State Department said in a statement. The US is also aware of 13 missing citizens and has been in contact with their families. Hamas is believed to have kidnapped at least 155 people and is holding them hostage in Gaza. Their whereabouts are not publicly known, but their families have been urgently pressing for their release. The U.S. government is working around the clock to determine their whereabouts and is working with the Israeli government on every aspect of the hostage crisis, including sharing intelligence and deploying experts from across the United States government to advise the Israeli government on hostage recovery efforts, the statement said. (With agency inputs) China began welcoming on Monday representatives of 130 countries for a conference that will be overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas war, as an increasingly assertive Beijing is asked to help de-escalate the violence. At the top of the invitation list to Chinas Belt and Road Initiative forum is Russias President Vladimir Putin, on his first trip to a major global power since the Ukraine invasion threw his regime into international isolation. Leaders have begun to pour into the Chinese capital for a gala event marking a decade of the BRI, a key project of President Xi Jinping to extend Chinas global reach. While China hopes the forum will help boost its international standing, Israels war with Palestinian militant organisation Hamas will continues to dominate the headlines. Israel declared war on the Islamist group after waves of its fighters broke through the heavily fortified border on October 7, shooting, stabbing and burning to death more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians. More than one million people have fled their homes in scenes of chaos and despair under heavy Israeli bombardment of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Israels bombing has killed at least 2,750 people in Gaza, mainly civilians, and flattened entire neighbourhoods. Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi condemned Israels actions for going beyond the scope of self-defence and called for it to cease its collective punishment of the people of Gaza. (Israel) should listen earnestly to the calls of the international community and cease its collective punishment of the people of Gaza, Wang said Sunday, in Chinas strongest response to the conflict so far. Western officials have criticised Beijing for not naming Hamas in statements on the Israel-Gaza conflict. Wang spoke on Sunday with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who called on China to use its influence in the Middle East to push for calm. China has a warm relationship with Iran, where the clerical leadership supports both Hamas and Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group that could open a second front against Israel. This year, China brokered an entente between former regional foes Iran and Saudi Arabia. Beijings special envoy Zhai Jun will visit the Middle East this week to push for a ceasefire and peace talks, Chinas state broadcaster CCTV said on Sunday, without specifying which countries he would visit. The BRI summit would allow Beijing to frame attendance as a gesture of support for its position on the Israel-Hamas war, said Niva Yau, a non-resident fellow with the Atlantic Councils Global China Hub. Any head of state that attends the summit, its almost as if they agree with Beijings positions on these global issues, she said. Strategic dependence: Several leaders are already in Beijing ahead of the two-day forum, which starts Tuesday. Among them are the prime ministers of Hungary, Ethiopia and Cambodia, and the presidents of Kenya, Chile and Indonesia. Russias Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov flew into Beijing on Monday and within hours held talks with his Chinese counterpart. Lavrov thanked China for inviting Putin as the summits chief guest, according to a readout from Moscow, which later said the top diplomat would head to North Korea after Beijing. Putin and Xi will meet on Wednesday on the sidelines of the BRI forum, the Kremlin said. Relations between China and Russia are on the rise, Lavrov told Wang Yi, adding that their two leaders will discuss them in their entirety when they meet. Wang, in turn, said China appreciates Russias support for the Belt and Road Initiative. The top Chinese diplomat also discussed the Israel-Hamas conflict, with Wang stressing Beijing condemns all acts that harm civilians and opposes any violation of international law. It is necessary for the UN Security Council to take action, and major countries should play an active role, he added. Putin is expected to arrive overnight. Trade between China and Russia this year has soared to levels not seen since the beginning of Moscows war in Ukraine, with Chinese imports of Russian oil offering Moscow a critical lifeline as international sanctions bite. China has refused to condemn the Ukraine war in an effort to position itself as a neutral party, while offering Moscow vital diplomatic and financial support. Xi and Putin, who have described each other as dear friends, each rely on the other to help counter Western dominance. Putin hailed ties with Beijing in an interview with state broadcaster CGTN ahead of his visit, praising Xis highly relevant and significant initiatives. Finlands former president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari has died in Helsinki at the age of 86 after battling Alzheimers disease, the presidents office said Monday. It is with deep sadness that we have received the news of the death of President Martti Ahtisaari, the current president, Sauli Niinisto, said in a statement. Serving as president from 1994 to 2000, the mediator negotiated an end to conflicts around the globe, from Indonesia to Kosovo and Namibia, earning him worldwide recognition and a Nobel Peace Prize in 2008, as part of a formidable career spanning over 40 years. The former UN diplomat was credited with overseeing the 2005 reconciliation of the Indonesian government and Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels, bringing an end to a three-decade conflict that killed some 15,000 people. The two sides described Ahtisaari as steely during the talks, but gifted with a sense of humour and warmth on the sidelines. I have enormous amounts of patience. I dont usually get angry, but I can be tough, he later said, adding that he felt the key to his success was an ability to understand people. Ahtisaari also helped lead Kosovo down the path toward independence, even though his intense efforts failed to clinch an agreement with Serbia before Pristina unilaterally declared independence in 2008. Ahtisaari withdrew from public life in September 2021 as he struggled with Alzheimers disease. The Israeli Defence Forces increased GPS jamming in the region to prevent drone attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah, Israel-based newspaper Haaretz said in a report. The IDF said that Israel is disrupting satellite navigation systems in a proactive manner for various operational needs. Citizens should be aware that the disruption can cause various and temporary effects on location-based applications, the IDF told Haaretz. This will affect GPS services in two ways, the report said. Firstly, the reception of GPS signals can be completely blocked. Secondly, it can be spoofed, this means it will transmit false location information to the device. GPS receivers are found in cell phones, airplanes, ships and vehicles and they receive signals from several satellites at the same time and use them to calculate their own exact location and altitude. These same receivers are also found on cruise missiles and drones and are used to guide them to their target. Any army organisation that is interested is disrupting such an attack can powerfully transmit on the relevant frequency range to stop the GPS receiver from receiving any satellite signal and disrupting its functionality totally. Spoofing is a tactic where the signal simulates the authentic satellite signal and hijacks the GPS receiver. Once the receiver locks on to the fake signal, the disrupter will feed the GPS receiver with fake data, causing it to calculate and display a completely incorrect position and altitude. This can lead to receiver displaying its location dozens, and even hundreds of kilometres off its true location. Israelis last week experienced problems with their GPS last week because the IDF was possibly attempting to prevent Hezbollahs GPS-guided drones from crossing deep into Israel, the Haaretz said in its report. Israelis are being impacted, the newspaper reported citing an incident where a citizen from Haifa said his phone falsely reported its location to be the northern border area despite being in Haifa. Residents living near the West Bank reported their phone informed them they were near the Gaza border. However, due to this there could be issues with the IDF HomeFront Command app, which gives information based on the users phone location. The newspaper said due to jamming the app or the GPS transmitter on peoples phones could give a wrong signal. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) gave evacuation orders to 28 villages near the northern border with Lebanon due to rising hostilities with Hezbollah terrorists. The move comes after an Israeli civilian and a soldier were killed on Sunday and anti-tank missiles were fired from Lebanon which struck one of the villages and an army outpost. The IDF claimed it struck Hezbollah terrorist outposts in response. The Iran-backed terror group has earlier said that it is ready to join Hamas in the war against Israel. The IDF also accused Iran of ordering the attacks on Israel. Hezbollah fought a war against Israel in 2006 and is Lebanons most powerful military force. It is more powerful than the Lebanese army and can drag the country into a war without government permission as it also has politicians in the Lebanese parliament. It can strike deep into Israeli territory with its long-range rockets. Hezbollah observation outposts are constructed right opposite to the Israel-Lebanon border and residents living in the villages near the frontier have already evacuated. The villages now only have IDF soldiers and civil volunteers. A report by the BBC said a civilian was killed in the border village of Shtula on Sunday. In a separate incident, a rocket struck the headquarters of the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, Unifil, in the city of Naqoura but no injuries were reported. At least nine rockets have been fired from Lebanon into Israel and five of them were intercepted. IDF claims it struck the launch sites in response to the attacks. The region near the border has become restive and is also impacting civilians, including journalists conducting their duties. Reuters news agency cameraman, Issam Abdallah, was killed by shellfire while reporting near the Lebanese village of Alma al-Shaab. Lebanon has claimed that Issam died due to IDF shelling. The IDF said it is investigating Lebanons claims. Israel has maintained that it has no interest in a war in the north but deployed tens of thousands of additional soldiers along the border over the past week. If Hezbollah chooses the path of war, it will pay a very heavy price. Very heavy. But if it restrains itself, we will respect that and keep the situation as it is, Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant said. The terrorist groups backer, Iran, told Israel that if atrocities in Gaza do not stop then Iran cannot simply remain an observer. The Spokesperson for Israeli PMO Tal Heinrich said, Today it is important to highlight what the families told the PM of Israel and what they told the entire nation of Israel, to hold our heads high and to do what must be done against Hamas. Their resilience is our strength. He further said that the ones who are aching the most are the ones giving them the most strength. We are also still recovering The IDF found evidence of Hamas-produced kidnappers guide. Now the guide explains in gruesome detail how Hamas terrorists should capture and torture kidnapped civilians. We will show you the most recent, the most updated numbers, the official ones that we have. As you can see, over 1,500 Israelis have been killed, and 3,900 injured, he added. On the 10th day of the Israel-Palestine war, which was triggered by Hamass unprovoked attack on southern Israel on October 7, Israel warned of a long but winning war. Earlier today, the IDF successfully eliminated Khan Younis, the regional head of Hamass intelligence in the southern Gaza city. It was also reported that US President Joe Biden is considering a trip to Israel to mark a domestic push to prevent the war from escalating. Israel-Hamas War LIVE: Iran Says Hamas Ready to Release Hostages If Israel Stops Airstrikes; Siren Sounds in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem This comes as many global dignitaries plan to reach Israel in a show of solidarity with Israel after major forces like the European Union, the US and the UK extended open support to the country. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned to Israel on Monday after his Egypt visit while following talks German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is all set to arrive in Israel on Tuesday. Here are key updates on Israel-Palestine War Day 10: Israeli experts, who conducted autopsies of the bodies of Hamas massacre victims, said that they never imagined in their worst dreams that they would need to handle so many samples together. The Head of the Forensic DNA Lab at the National Centre of Forensic Medicine, Nurit Bublil said that even though they are accustomed to the kind of work where they need to handle dead bodies on a daily basis, nothing prepared them for the incident that occurred due to the Hamas attack on October 7. In an interview shared by the Israel Foreign Ministry on X, an expert said, We never imagined in our worst dreams that we would need to handle many hundreds of samples, of decayed samples, of burned samples, of samples of fingernails with polished nails of young girls. Viewer discretion advised.We interviewed the experts who conducted autopsies on the bodies of Hamas massacre victims. We never imagined in our worst dreams that we would need to handle many hundreds of samples, of decayed samples, of burned samples, of samples of fingernails pic.twitter.com/wLzH0MVYSv Israel (@Israel) October 16, 2023 The forensic expert also said that they have been working relentlessly since the attack on October 7 as the bodies needed to be identified to give the victims the final respect that they deserve. We have been working in the lab since Saturday evening until today.We got home at 2 am in the morning, we come back at 7o clock because we need to identify them, she added. Bublil said that they have handled 600 samples as of now and more and more keep coming. In the concluding part of her interview, she exclaimed, Israeli people are much stronger than anybody else may think of. We will come back, we will get up, we will handle ourselves and we will bury our dead, the forensic lab head added. Former Israeli military chief Rabbi Israel Weiss came out of retirement to become one of the leaders of an Israeli operation to identify the more than 1,400 dead from the raids by Hamas fighters on October 7 that have plunged the rivals into a new war. Teams of doctors, dentists, forensic experts and volunteers have been working around the clock to identify bodies that were still arriving at the Shura military base, near the central town of Ramla, on Sunday, eight days after the attacks. Officials said that four other centres are carrying out similar work. (with AFP inputs) Sherika De Armas, Uruguayan former Miss World contestant, died after a two year battle with cervical cancer. The beauty queen was 26 years old at the time of her passing. She represented Uruguay in the Miss World competition in 2015. Her friends and family paid emotional tribute to her after her death and took to social media to share their grief. Fly high, little sister. Always and forever, Mayk De Armas, her brother, said in a social media post. Condolences also poured in from reigning Miss Uruguay, Carla Romero. (She) was too evolved for this world. One of the most beautiful women I have ever met in my life, Romero said, according to New York Post. I remember you with that beautiful glow, another close friend said. Even though De Armas did not make the top 30 at the 2015 Miss World contest in Sanya, China, she was one of the six eighteen-year-olds to compete. She was dubbed as one of the young promising talents of Uruguay by local news media outlets who complimented her beautiful face, towering height and charismatic personality. I always wanted to be a model, whether a beauty model, an advertising model or a catwalk model. I like everything related to fashion and I think that within a beauty pageant, any girls dream is to have the opportunity to participate in Miss Universe. I am very happy to be able to live this experience full of challenges, Sherika once told news outlet NetUruguay. De Armas was also an entrepreneur. She ran a business where she sold personal care, makeup and hair products through her own company. Her company was named Shey De Armas Beauty Studio. She also devoted her time to charity organisations. The New York Post reported that she was part of the childhood cancer organisation Perez Scremini Foundation. Cervical cancer occurs most often in people who are older than 30, according to a release by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It says that it can be prevented through regular screening and the HPV vaccine. NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue and Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Victorovich Volodin hold talks in Hanoi on October 15. (Photo: VNA) NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue called Volodins visit a significant event contributing to consolidating and enhancing the friendship and cooperation between the two legislative bodies and the two countries in general. The Vietnamese Party and State attach great importance to the visit, he said, noting that Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, President Vo Van Thuong and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh are scheduled to hold meetings with the Russian State Duma Chairman on October 16. For his part, Volodin expressed his hope that the two legislatures will maintain high-level meetings in the time ahead, remarking that the Vietnam-Russia relationship is developing fruitfully. The two countries boast a comprehensive strategic partnership and it can be said that they are strategic friends, he said, suggesting the two legislative bodies make more contributions to the bilateral ties, and seek new cooperation forms to advance the relationship, including economic, trade and investment cooperation. According to Volodin, the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of Russia brings together representatives from five political parties, but all the parliamentarians support promoting cooperation with Vietnam, which has been reflected through the presence of representatives from political parties and important committees of the State Duma and ministries and Government agencies of Russia in the trip. He conveyed regards from leaders of some political parties in the State Duma of the Federal Assembly to Hue. The Russian State Duma leader said some 572,000 Russians visited Vietnam in 2019, and suggested the two countries further facilitate the exchange and travelling of their citizens after the COVID-19 pandemic. NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue valued the members of the Russian delegation, saying that the visit offers an important opportunity for the two sides to seek measures in order to strengthen the relations between the two legislatures and countries. Russia is always a top priority in Vietnam's foreign policy, he said, stressing that Vietnam treasures and wishes to consolidate and enhance the comprehensive strategic partnership with Russia through all the Party, legislature, Government and people-to-people exchange channels. Sharing Volodins view on the Vietnam-Russia relationship, NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue said the Vietnamese Party, State and people always remember the wholehearted support of the Soviet Union in the past and now Russia to Vietnam during its past struggle for national independence and reunification, and the present cause of national construction and defence. Vietnam highly values the role of political parties in Russia, as well as achievements Russia has recorded under the leadership of President Vladimir Putin, he said, lauding Russias social stability and its economic development. The two legislative leaders acknowledged with their pleasure positive changes in the bilateral relations through high-level delegation exchange. They proposed that the two sides continue to enhance the exchange of delegation at all levels to continue promoting practical and effective cooperation through all channels, especially the Party and parliament channels. NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue (R) shakes hands with Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Victorovich Volodin (Photo: VNA) NA Chairman Vong Dinh Hue affirmed that Vietnam supports Russia in promoting its active role in Asia-Pacific in regional processes and issues; and is ready to act as a bridge promoting cooperation between Russia and ASEAN countries. The two sides agreed to coordinate at multilateral forums, within ASEAN and the UN. In that spirit, Vietnam called on the Russia side to support the stance of ASEAN and Vietnam in resolving disputes by peaceful measures on the basis of international law, the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and via the Russia-ASEAN relationship, work as an active factor to advocate the early building and enforcement of a Code of Conduct in the East Sea. Regarding economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two countries, the officials said the two sides have been actively coordinating to implement agreements and outcomes achieved at the 24th meeting of the Inter-Governmental Committee on Economic, Trade and Scientific-Technological Cooperation, and enhance exchanges between agencies, ministries, sectors and localities to soon outline action plans for specific implementation progress. The Vietnamese top legislator suggested the Russian side consider simplifying import procedures for Vietnamese agricultural and aquatic products; push forward the negotiations, upgrade, amendment and supplementation of the Vietnam-Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) Free Trade Agreement, towards lifting two-way trade to 10 billion USD by 2030. The two sides agreed that oil, gas and energy cooperation is an important pillar of the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and Russia, and spoke highly of the results of the 3rd meeting of the Vietnam - Russia Cooperation Committee on education, science and technology in November 2022. NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue thanked Russia for continuing to providing 1,000 scholarships for Vietnam each year, and suggested the Russian side continue to maintain and promote joint cooperation projects in the field of science and technology. He said that Vietnam wishes to maintain the current forms and mechanisms for high-level and working-level meetings in various fields with Russia; promote cooperation in vocational education; soon resume and complete negotiations on a Government agreement on recruiting Vietnamese labourers to work in Russia; foster tourism cooperation; remove difficulties to reopen direct flights between the capitals of the two countries; and strengthen people-to-people exchanges and cooperation between localities of the two nations. NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue hoped that the parliament and government of Russia would continue to create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in Russia to stabilise their lives, integrate into the host community, thus contributing to the relations of the two countries. The Russian legislative leader expressed support for the cooperation proposals of Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, and emphasised the role of the Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Committee between the Vietnamese NA and the Russian State Duma in more thoroughly discussing these proposal, thus contributing to expanding the cooperation programme between the two legislative bodies and the two countries as well as strengthening supervision of the implementation of cooperation agreements between the two governments. As for the conflict in Ukraine, NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue hoped the parties will seek diplomatic and peaceful solutions on the basis of the UN Charter and international law. He affirmed that Vietnam is ready to play an active role in the reconciliation processes. Regarding parliamentary cooperation, the officials agreed that this is one of the important pillars in the cooperative relationship between the two countries. NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue expressed appreciation for contributions of the State Duma of Russia and Volodin personally in promoting bilateral relations, including cooperation between the two countries' parliaments. He thanked the Russian parliament for sending a delegation of parliamentarians to the ninth Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians hosted by the Vietnamese NA in Hanoi in September. NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue urged the two sides to actively and effectively implement the operational orientations set by the Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Committee - the first and only such inter-parliamentary cooperation mechanism to date between the Vietnamese NA and and a foreign legislative body. Volodin agreed with the proposals of NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, expressing the belief that the relationship between the two legislative bodies and the two countries will continue to develop to new heights. He affirmed that he will do his best to promote the bilateral relations. The Russian legislative leader took the occasion to invite Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue to pay an official visit to Russia and co-chair the third meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Committee./. Polands pro-EU opposition on Monday was set to win a parliamentary majority, partial results showed, a day after a national election which saw the highest turnout since the fall of Communism. The surprise result would end eight years of rule by the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, during which relations with the European Union and in recent weeks with war-torn Ukraine have dramatically soured. The opposition, led by former EU chief Donald Tusk, had billed the parliamentary elections as the last chance to save democracy. This is the end of grim times, Tusk declared late on Sunday. With more than 80 percent of votes counted, PiS was in the lead but without a majority at 37 percent, while Tusks Civic Coalition, the Third Way and Left parties together had 52 percent. Putting the liberal opposition in power would bring a huge political shift in Poland, countering the PiS partys nationalist hardline Catholic vision for the country. The election was dominated by issues such as Russias invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, migrants and womens rights. Aleksandra Metlewicz, an interior designer, said womens rights were crucial to her in the vote. The 33-year-old said she hoped Poland would come out of the Middle Ages, in which she said it was stuck. For voters in the capital Warsaw, where support for nationalists is traditionally lower, the outcome predicted in exit polls already heralded major changes. Natalia Szydlik, a 20-year-old student, also hoped Polands strict abortion laws would be liberalised and said she had big hopes that things will change. But, with votes still being counted, heavyweight politicians from both the ruling party and the opposition were largely silent on Monday. Final results are expected on Tuesday. More women than men Tusk has promised to liberalise abortion laws. This issue, according to analysts, prompted an unprecedented mobilisation among women voters and helped tip the balance in favour of the liberal opposition parties. Until recently, half of women said they would not vote. Now these exit polls actually show more women than men voted, said Justyna Kajta, a sociologist at SWPS University in Warsaw. For Kajta, the turnout among women, predicted at 73.7 percent, was the main positive surprise of the election. Projections based on preliminary results and exit polls by Ipsos on Monday showed Tusks Civic Coalition could win 158 seats in the 460-seat parliament. Two smaller parties which are potential allies, Third Way and Left, were set to win 61 and 30 seats respectively. That would give the three together a majority of 249. The expected result comes despite PiS throwing all available state resources into its campaign, controlling state television and painting Tusk as a corrupt villain. Restore Polands reputation PiS increased its nationalist rhetoric in its campaign and even entered a row with its war-torn neighbour Ukraine, despite huge Polish solidarity with Kyiv in the face of the Russian invasion. To the opposition electorate, ending the PiS reign would also restore Polands reputation on the international stage. Tusk has pledged to rebuild relations with Brussels and to unblock EU funds frozen due to an ongoing standoff with Warsaw over the rule of law in Poland. I believe that now all these (international) ties will improve and normalise. But this will take some time, Krzysztof Dabrowski, a pensioner from Warsaw, told AFP. Tusk served as Polands prime minister between 2007 and 2014 and as European Council president between 2014 and 2019. He managed to bring hundreds of thousands of Poles onto the streets in Poland ahead of the election, claiming that a million people had marched against PiS. But some worried that he has been around too long. Karol Jedlinski, a 42-year-old businessman, said he struggled to imagine Tusk leading Poland again. He is more of a figure of the past to me. Kaczynski still has hope But much still depends on President Andrzej Duda. The conservative figure spoke to reporters on a visit to the Vatican on Monday, praising the high election turnout. But he urged people to be patient and wait for the results. And while he congratulated the election winners, he stopped short of saying who he would tap to form a government. Analysts warn that any governing coalition formed by the opposition could face run-ins with the president, who is a PiS ally. PiS meanwhile appeared defiant and has presented the election as a win, since it appeared to have garnered more votes than any other individual party. PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski said on Sunday he still had hope he could form a government. This is not a closed road for the moment, he said. The most likely coalition partner for PiS had been Confederation, a far-right party. But the exit poll showed PiS and Confederation together would fall short of a majority, with a total of just 212 seats. Warning the world about the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, the UNs Palestinian refugee agency on Monday said that the densely populated territory is being strangled. The UNRWA said that Gazans are facing severe shortages of water, food, and medicine, as an increasing number of people seek refuge in their schools and facilities in the southern region. This comes as hundreds of thousands of people sought to comply with Israels order to evacuate the northern part of the Palestinian enclave, as it prepares for an impending military operation, following the October 7 Hamas assault. The war that began on October 7 has become the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides, with more than 4,000 dead. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,670 Palestinians have been killed. At the same time, over 1,400 Israelis have been killed, including women and children. Our latest on the situation in the#GazaStrip For the fifth consecutive day #Gaza has had no electricity. People have severely limited access to clean drinking water https://t.co/pA9v3H6bDQ pic.twitter.com/6WeOqFVEux UNRWA (@UNRWA) October 16, 2023 Gaza is running out of life If we look at the issue of water we all know water is life Gaza is running out of water, and Gaza is running out of life, said Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of UNRWA at a press conference in Jerusalem on Sunday, according to The Associated Press. Soon, I believe, with this there will be no food or medicine either, he said. Last weeks attack on Israel was horrendous, he said. The attack and the taking of hostages are a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law. But the answer to killing civilians cannot be to kill more civilians. In its latest update, UNRWA said Gaza was without electricity for the fifth consecutive day. Gazans have severely limited access to drinking water. As a last resort, people are consuming brackish water from agricultural wells, triggering serious concerns over the spread of waterborne diseases. According to UN estimates, at least 1 million people were forced to flee their homes in the previous week. At least 400,000 displaced people are crammed into UNRWA schools and buildings, and most are not equipped as emergency shelters. The UN agency said that conditions in the densely populated enclave are unsanitary and appalling. Despite the Israeli Forces evacuation order, an unknown number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) remain in UNRWA schools in the North. UNRWA is no longer able to assist or protect, the UN agency said. According to the health cluster, there are a total of 3,500 hospital beds in Gaza. Evacuation orders apply to 23 hospitals in Gaza and north Gaza, with the capacity of 2,000 beds. The number of killed is increasing. There are not enough body-bags for the dead in Gaza, the UN agency said. (With agency inputs) A US landlord in the state of Illinois was charged with murder and hate crimes Sunday after stabbing a woman and six-year-old boy dozens of times in an attack that police linked to the Israel-Hamas war. The police said both victims were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim. Joseph Czuba, 71, stabbed the boy 26 times, who later succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced at the hospital. However, the 32-year-old woman, believed to be his mother, is expected to survive the heinous Saturday attack, according to a statement from the Will County sheriffs office in Illinois. Joseph Czuba was charged with First Degree Murder, Attempted First Degree Murder, Hate Crime (2 counts), and Aggravated Battery with a Deadly Weapon. Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis, said the statement, which located the killing about 40 miles west of Chicago. The police said the woman managed to call 911 as she fought off the landlord, Joseph Czuba. Though the police did not give details about the victims nationality, a Muslim civil rights and advocacy group described the child as Palestinian-American. Deputies located two victims inside the residence in a bedroom. Both victims had multiple stab wounds to their chest, torso, and upper extremities, the sheriffs statement said. A serrated military-style knife with a seven-inch blade was pulled from the boys abdomen during the autopsy, it added. When police arrived they found Czuba sitting on the ground near the driveway of the residence with a laceration on his forehead. He was taken to hospital for treatment before being charged with murder, attempted murder, and two counts of hate crimes. He knocked on the door and attempted to choke her, and said, you Muslims must die, Ahmed Rehab, head of the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), told reporters, citing text messages sent by the woman to the murdered boys father from her hospital bed. The attack was our worst nightmare, the CAIR said in a statement. Israel declared war on Hamas a week ago, a day after Palestinian outfit Hamas broke through the heavily fortified border and shot, stabbed and burned to death more than 1,400 people. The subsequent relentless bombing has flattened neighborhoods and left at least 2,670 people dead in the Gaza Strip, the majority ordinary Palestinians. Police in US cities and federal authorities have been on high alert for violence driven by antisemitic or Islamophobic sentiments. Jewish and Muslim groups have reported an increase in hateful and threatening rhetoric on social media. (With agency inputs) The myriad tunnels under Gaza are best known as passageways used to smuggle goods from Egypt and launch attacks into Israel. But there exists a second underground network that the Israel Defense Forces colloquially refer to as the Gaza metro. Its a vast labyrinth of tunnels, by some accounts several kilometres underground, used to transport people and goods; to store rockets and ammunition caches; and house Hamas command and control centers, all away from the prying eyes of the IDFs aircraft and surveillance drones. Hamas in 2021 claimed to have built 500 kilometers (311 miles) worth of tunnels under Gaza, though it is unclear if that figure was accurate or posturing. If true, Hamas underground tunnels would be a little less than half the length of the New York City subway system. Its a very intricate, very large huge network of tunnels on a rather small piece of territory, said Daphne Richemond-Barak, a professor at Israels Reichman University and expert on underground warfare. Its unclear how much the tunnel network would have cost Hamas, which governs the impoverished coastal strip. The figure is likely significant, both in terms of manpower and capital. Gaza has been under a land, sea and air blockade by Israel, as well as a land blockade by Egypt, since 2007 and is not believed to possess the type of massive machinery typically used to build tunnels deep underground. Experts say that diggers using basic tools likely burrowed deep underground to dig the network, which is wired with electricity and reinforced by concrete. Israel has long accused Hamas of diverting concrete meant for civilian and humanitarian purposes toward the construction of tunnels. Hamas critics also say that the groups massive expenditures on tunnels could have instead paid for civilian bomb shelters or early warning networks like those across the border in Israel. The asymmetric advantage Tunnels have been an attractive tool of warfare since medieval times. Today they offer militant groups like Hamas an edge in asymmetric warfare, negating some of the technological advantages of a more advanced military like the IDF. What makes Hamas tunnels different from those of al Qaeda in the mountains of Afghanistan or the Viet Cong in the jungles of Southeast Asia is that it has constructed a subterranean network below one of the most densely populated areas on the planet. Nearly 2 million people live in the 88 square miles that make up Gaza City. Its always difficult to deal with tunnels, dont get me wrong, in any context, even when they are in a mountainous area, but when they are urban area, then everything is more complicated the tactical aspects, strategic aspects, the operational aspects, and of course, the protection that you want to ensure for the civilian population, said Richemond-Barak, who is also a senior fellow at the Lieber Institute for Law and Land Warfare and the Modern War Institute at West Point. Since the October 7 terror attack in Israel in which at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians, were killed, the IDF has repeatedly alleged that Hamas is hiding inside these passages underneath houses and inside buildings populated with innocent Gazan civilians, effectively turning them into human shields. Israeli military airstrikes have since killed at least 2,670 Palestinians, the Ministry of Health in Gaza said in a statement on Sunday. The IDF is expected to go after the network in its forthcoming ground incursion into Gaza, as it has in recent years gone to extreme lengths to eliminate Hamas tunnels. Israel launched a ground assault on Gaza in 2014 to try and eliminate the underground passages. On Friday, Israel warned about 1.1 million living in Gaza to move south ahead of its likely operation, according to the United Nations. Critics said such an order was impossible to carry out on short notice in the middle of a war zone. The top UN human rights official said the evacuation call defies the rules of war and basic humanity. Moving civilians out of Gaza City would help make it safer to eliminate tunnels, but such operations will be dangerous, Richemond-Barak said. The IDF can either render the tunnels temporarily unusable or destroy them. According to Richemond-Barak, bombing the underground passages is typically the most efficient way to eliminate them, but such strikes can impact civilians. What is clear is that technology alone wont be enough to stop the subterranean threat. Israel spent billions of dollars attempting to secure the border with a smart system that boasts advanced sensors and subterranean walls, yet Hamas was still able to launch its October 7 assault by land, air and sea. Richemond-Barak said a holistic approach is required, one that employs visual intelligence, border monitoring and even asking civilians to keep an eye out for anything suspect. There is no foolproof solution to deal with a tunnel threat, Richemond-Barak said. Theres no Iron Dome for tunnels. 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. This article originally appeared in CNN. At the event (Photo: baoquocte.vn) This event is in a series of activities of representative agencies and the Vietnamese community in the US, Texas in particular, to celebrate the 78th National Day of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, congratulating Vietnam and the US on upgrading their relationship to "Comprehensive strategic partnership for peace, cooperation and sustainable development". The goal of this event is to create a premise to build a forum/network to connect overseas Vietnamese entrepreneurs and businesses investing and doing business in the US as well as making connections more closely and effectively with the domestic business community and market. At the meeting, dozens of overseas Vietnamese who are intellectuals, entrepreneurs, as well as a number of businesses from Vietnam shared their experiences and were ready to support, advise and cooperate with Vietnamese businesses looking for investment opportunities in Vietnam and the US. All their comments expressed approval and response to the efforts of the Vietnamese Consulate General in Houston in encouraging the Vietnamese community in Texas, and the US in general, to promote connection, exchange and mutual support for development, promoting the spirit of solidarity to be able to contribute more strength and intelligence to the cause of building the homeland and the country as well as developing cooperative and friendly relations between Vietnam and the US./. FORMER Zimbabwe National Road Administration (ZINARA) chief executive officer, Matheline Mujokoro, has been acquitted of allegations of criminal abuse of office. Mujokoro was being accused of violating procurement procedures by hiring two security companies that had been rejected as sub-standard. Mujokoros lawyer, Admire Rubaya, argued in court that the charge was based on a repealed law. Rubaya argued that after the regulations that governed the obligation to gain procurement approval were repealed, there was no duty for Mujokoro to follow and that the charge, as a result, was bad at law. Magistrate Donald Ndirowei agreed with the defences argument and acquitted Mujokoro last Friday. Mujokoro further argued that the regulations which promulgated the obligation in question were repealed and replaced by Statutory Instrument 5 of 2018 with effect from January 18 2018, meaning the offence was allegedly committed about eight months after the repeal of the regulations which created the obligation to get approval through the review by the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe. It was argued that after the repeal, there was no duty that was supposed to be followed by Mujokoro in completed procurement proceedings as that duty had lapsed with the repeal of the regulations eight months prior to the date the allegations are alleged to have arisen. It was further argued that the criminal charge under the circumstances was bad at law as it disclosed no offence and that the court cannot be clothed with powers to amend the law which it does not have. The defence further said charging and prosecuting a suspect with repealed law infringed on their rights as the constitution does not allow the law to be applied in retrospect. Magistrate Ndirowei agreed that the State doesnt have the power to resuscitate a repealed law in order to prosecute Mujokoro. He said in his ruling that he was persuaded by the lawyers submissions that the operation of that law ended on January 18, 2018, when the new SI was effected. This court associates itself in the reasoning above. It is therefore clear from the foregoing that the exception taken by the accused person cannot be said to be lacking merit, magistrate Ndirowei said. With the defence having also tendered a plea of not guilty, the magistrate said Mujokoro was entitled to a verdict and declared her not guilty and acquitted. H Metro The conflict in Israel is developing complicatedly. (Photo: VNA) For those who are in Israel, they should consider moving to a third country or returning to Vietnam, the ministry said, asking them to keep a close watch on information from local authorities as well as warnings from the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry's Consular Department and the Vietnamese Embassy in Israel so as to take timely response. Vietnamese citizens seeking support can contact the hotlines of the embassy at 972 50 818 6116/ 972 52 727 4248/972 50 994 0889, or the citizen protection hotline of the ministrys Consular Department at 84 981 84 84 84/ 84 965 41 11 18, and email baohocongdan@gmail.com./. Physicians have higher suicide rates than the general population, with surgeons as one of the top groups at risk of taking their lives in the medical field. The Guardian takes a deep dive into how Carrie Cunningham, an assistant professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School, addressed the issue head on in her outgoing speech as president of the Association of Academic Surgery. After losing a friend and colleague to suicide, then later tackling her own issues with depression, addiction, and suicidal ideation, Cunningham decided some real talk was long overdue. In a room packed with 2,000 surgeons listening on in stunned silence, she told her story , knowing many of the those watching would relate. "It's a real watershed moment in that particular profession to be able to say it's okay for us to talk about these things, and let's change the subculture of surgery," said one attendee. The Guardian reports that between 300 to 400 doctors die by suicide every year in the US, which is the equivalent to a medical school's graduating class. The high-pressure, super human role surgeons take on leaves little room for emotion. "We all hide our grief, suffer in silence," one surgeon described in losing a patient. "The pain can be close to debilitating." The culture of stoicism and overwork starts in medical school and continues in residencies, where surgeons in training have recently been forced to cut down their hours from upwards of 100 down to 80 per week. "They feel miserable," says Jessica Gold, a psychiatrist who focuses in physician wellbeing. "We basically think that feeling bad is part of medicine, and we can't identify that we're doing poorly, or that we should take time for ourselves and figure out that we actually might be depressed." story continues below Women physicians suffer burnout and suicide at double the rate of their male counterparts, MedPageToday notes, and Cunningham was one of them. She described going on vacation as "torture for me ... because when I sat still, all the internal stuff just percolated." After undergoing treatment and delivering her viral speech, her phone hasn't stopped ringing. She tells the colleagues thanking her that she doesn't have all the answers, but that she knows "it won't get better unless we talk about it openly and honestly." If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988. It's free and available 24/7. (Read other stories about mental health.) Diplomats worked Sunday to keep the Israel-Hamas war from spreading, get residents of Gaza to relative safety, and meet the humanitarian needs of the people still there. The US dispatched a second aircraft carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean in a move that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said was intended "to deter hostile actions against Israel or any efforts toward widening this war" and announced that Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who's been lobbying other nations, will return to Israel on Monday. About 600,000 residents had evacuated so far to the south of the Gaza Strip, Israel said in calling for more people to follow them, the Washington Post reports. Developments include: A Citibank analyst who investigated financial fraud has lost his job over his own financial fraudthough it was surprisingly small-scale stuff. It seems that Szabolcs Fekete of London went to Amsterdam on a work trip and treated his partner to lunch on the company dime, reports the BBC. When he submitted the expense report for his two sandwiches, two coffees, and one more drink, his manager questioned whether he had consumed it all himself. Yep, replied Fekete, who sounded a little irked in his emailed response: "All my expenses are within the 100 [$105] daily allowance," he wrote. "Could you please outline what your concern is as I don't think I have to justify my eating habits to this extent." Thirty-two years after The Firm launched his career as a legal novelist who churns out bestselling books that almost invariably become movies, John Grisham returns with a sequel featuring Mitch McDeere from the original book. In The Exchange, it's 2000 and McDeere is now a high-powered partner at the world's largest law firm, Scully & Pershing, having "established a reputation as a sort of legal SWAT team leader sent in by Scully to rescue clients in distress." He lives a very privileged life in Manhattan with his wife and two young boys. Grisham fans will love the first 37 pages, as McDeere travels back to Memphis for the first time since the events in The Firm and meets with an old friend, writes Rob Merrill in a review for the AP . It's an excuse for Grisham to fill in the 15-year time gap since Mitch and his wife, Abby, fled Memphis on the run from the Chicago mob, who was hunting him for his role exposing crimes at Bendini, Lambert & Locke, but it's inconsequential to the new story Grisham has to tell. That narrative kicks off when Mitch is called to Rome to take the lead on a case involving a Turkish company that built a $400 million bridge to nowhere in the Libyan desert that Colonel Gaddafi (yes, it's the year 2000 and the Libyan dictator is still alive) is now refusing to pay for. When Mitch assigns a London-based Scully associate to go on a fact-finding mission to the bridge, she is taken hostage and this legal thriller pretty much drops the adjective and just becomes a thriller. Grisham fans will devour it; but there were times when this reader wished the action would slow down a little so we could spend some time with the characters. Mitch is always on the movein a car, on a plane, in a boardroomconversations are clipped, and the plot pace is furious. Grisham certainly reflects the urgency of Mitch's mission in his writing, but some of the best parts of the book are when the story gets a chance to breathe a little. Read the full review.) (Read more John Grisham stories.) A Florida attorney is facing felony charges after police say she left two young children unattended at a beach on the Gulf of Mexico, reports the Tampa Bay Times. The younger of the girls, age 3, was playing unattended in waist-deep water before witnesses took her out, according to police. The older girl is age 7. Deputies with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Department arrested Patricia Anne Bronson, 41, at Upham Beach in the town of St. Pete Beach, per the Miami Herald. She told deputies that she dropped the girls off at the beach, then left to park the car. She was gone 30 to 45 minutes, according to the police report. An Illinois landlord accused of stabbing a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy to death could face federal charges as well as state hate crime charges. Joseph Czuba, 71, was due in court Monday as family members prepared to bury Wadea Al-Fayoume, who was stabbed 26 times Saturday morning in an attack that also seriously injured his mother. In a statement, Attorney General Merrick Garland said he was "heartbroken by the abhorrent killing," ABC7 reports. He said the Justice Department has opened a federal hate crimes investigation. Mother still hospitalized. Wadea's funeral was scheduled for Monday at a mosque in suburban Chicago, but his mother is still hospitalized with 12 stab wounds, the New York Times reports. "This is a heavy day that we hoped would never come. As they say, the smallest coffins are the heaviest," said Ahmed Rehab, the executive director of the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. He said the boy's mother "will be feeling Wadea's loss more than anyone, but she is forced to mourn alone rather in the warm embrace of family and community at this time." UPDATE Oct 18, 2023 12:00 AM CDT Immediately after Judge Tanya Chutkan imposed a partial gag order on Donald Trump Monday, the former president called the move "unconstitutional." Now he's going further: On Tuseday, his attorneys filed a formal notice of appeal against the order, NBC News reports. They said imposing the gag order would be akin to the court "embracing new ground in respect to the First Amendment that would regulate campaign speech," Fox News reports. Outside a New York City courthouse that same day, Trump complained to reporters along those same lines: "The judge said basically I don't have the right to speak. My speech has been taken away from me. I'm a candidate that's running for office, and I'm not allowed to speak." Oct 16, 2023 11:44 AM CDT The federal judge overseeing the 2020 election subversion case against Donald Trump in Washington imposed a narrow gag order on him Monday, barring the former president from making statements targeting prosecutors, possible witnesses, and the judge's staff. The order from US District Judge Tanya Chutkan is a milestone moment in the federal case that accuses Trump of illegally conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, per the AP. Special counsel Jack Smith's team had raised alarm about a barrage of statements disparaging prosecutors, the judge, and prospective witnesses. Those comments, prosecutors said, could cause witnesses or people who might be picked as jurors to feel harassed and intimidated. After a weekend of a lobbying and GOP pressure campaign, Rep. Jim Jordan picked up support for his speakership bid but remained short of the 217 Republicans he needs in his corner. Reps. Mike Rogers, Ken Calvert, Vern Buchanan, and Ann Wagner switched their votes to Jordan on Monday, CNN reports. Wagner was a definite no last week but said Jordan reassured her on a list of issues, including keeping the government running. Jordan said he wants a floor vote at noon ET Tuesday, even if he doesn't have enough votes lined up. "I think the only way to do this, the way the Founders intended, is you ... have to vote tomorrow," he said, adding, "I feel good about it." Rep. Carlos Gimenez complained about Jordan's pressure campaign, which he said has been successful with some members, per NBC News. "It'll never work on me," said Gimenez. "His followers are putting all kinds of misinformation about me," he added, saying he finds that "disappointing but also concerning." Gimenez said he'll vote to return Kevin McCarthy to the post. Jordan, who won the nomination in his party's caucus but not enough votes to ensure election in the House, can only afford to lose four GOP votes on the floor. Supporters say his opponents number about 10 now. Jordan sent a letter to his caucus on Monday trying to ease concerns about his uncompromising, hard-liner reputation while acknowledging the party's lack of unity. "The role of the speaker is to bring all Republicans together," the letter said, per the New York Times. "That's what I intend to do." He promised to increase the GOP viewpoints heard in making major decisions. If Jordan loses on the floor, GOP Rep. Mike Turner told CBS' Face the Nation on Sunday, a deal will have to be cut with Democrats to make the House operational again, per the Hill. It's been shut down for two weeks. (Read more Jim Jordan stories.) Sorry! This content is not available in your region The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has provided the Ukrainian agricultural holding MHP, the largest chicken producer in Ukraine, with a loan of $250 million to support its efforts to mitigate the consequences of the war unleashed by Russia. Improving food security is a priority for DFC, particularly as Russian aggression against Ukraine has endangered global agricultural supply chains and put millions at risk for malnutrition and hunger. As one of the top global exporters of wheat, corn, barley, and poultry, Ukraines ability to supply markets with critical staples is vital to the health and stability of many nations, said DFC CEO Scott Nathan. "The loan to MHP would provide the company with funds to assist in the companys refinancing needs for existing debt as well as capital to support improvements to facilities, including increased storage capacity and installation of electrical backups. DFCs loan would also support the companys transportation operations, increasing the companys ability to transport goods via truck over land. These investments would support MHP SEs production and export capacity," DFC said. "DFC has committed $425 million in new transactions in Ukraine over the last year across a variety of sectors and all of its lines of business, including through equity investments, political risk insurance, debt financing, and technical assistance," the report says. In particular, the corporation insured political risks for the Superhumans center for reconstructive surgery in Lviv. In collaboration with USAID, it also provided a $20 million guarantee for new SME loan portfolios to Lviv Bank and $40 million to Raiffeisen Bank, as well as a $50 million guarantee for the IFC Global Trade Finance Program in Ukraine. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain will arrive in Italy today (Oct. 16) on a visit during which he will meet with His Holiness Pope Francis. HM King Hamad will also hold talks with Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to discuss Bahraini-Italian ties and topics of common interest. The meeting will review the Israeli military escalation in the Gaza Strip and push forward efforts towards a comprehensive and just peace in the Middle East region. HM the King had met in the UK with His Majesty King Charles III. They reviewed the close historical partnership between Bahrain and the UK and the means of further developing it in various domains. HM the King also discussed regional and international developments with British government officials, including the Israeli war on Gaza and working to end the military escalation, prioritising civilian protection, and opening safe corridors for humanitarian aid. HM King Hamad emphasised the importance of achieving just, lasting peace to consolidate regional security and stability. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com Bahrain's Deputy Prime Minister, HE Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, has emphasised the importance of encouraging Bahrainis to continue investing in the food industry in order to improve levels of food security and diversify supply chains. This is particularly important in the field of aquaculture and will be achieved through effective partnerships with the private sector. He stressed that this initiative is in line with the visions and aspirations of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and is being implemented under the guidance of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister. HH Shaikh Khalid indicated that based on its 20232026 programme, the government will support projects aimed at achieving food security by offering a package of investment plots in the fields of plant agriculture, animal husbandry, and fish farming, providing the beneficiaries with the necessary support, and facilitating their access to safe technologies to increase food production. He made the statements while visiting the National Aquaculture Centre in Ras Hayyan, along with Wael bin Nasser Al Mubarak, Minister of Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture; Ibrahim bin Hassan Al Hawaj, Minister of Works; and HH Shaikh Khalifa bin Ali Al Khalifa, Southern Governor, in addition to officials and businessmen. HH Shaikh Khalid inaugurated the Gulf Aquaculture Company, the first project of its kind in Bahrain to produce farmed shrimp. This is one of the successful outcomes of the partnership initiative between the Ministry of Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture and the private sector, which supports efforts to enhance levels of food security locally. The Deputy Premier said that the first fish farming company will encourage Bahraini investors to set up similar projects in the future to contribute to boosting the national economy by producing safe and high-quality local food. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com Zain Bahrain celebrated International Day of Sign Language with Bahrain Deaf Society, by hosting an event for Bahrain Deaf Society members and children, and Zain employees children. The event included a Bahraini Sign Language basics workshop for children by a professional Sign Language interpreter and viewing of Nothing like Zain Play with Sign Language interpretation, along with a range of entertaining activities tailored for children, encouraging bonding, understanding, and awareness among all attendees. A team of Zain employees who are trained in Sign Language were invited to ensure effective communication and engagement, making it possible for all attendees to participate in the event activities. The High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) has seized the property of Odesa International Airport as part of an investigation into the case of illegal acquisition of the property complex of this enterprise, the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) reports. At the request of NABU detectives, agreed by the SAPO prosecutor, the investigating judge of the HACC imposed an arrest with deprivation of the right to alienate and dispose of property in criminal proceedings for the illegal seizure of the property complex of the strategic object of Odesa International Airport and UAH 2.5 billion of income from its activities," SAPO reported on its Telegram channel on Monday. The prosecutor's office clarifies that the matter concerns the building of the old terminal and airport property in the amount of 2,488 units, the corporate rights of Odesa Airport Development LLC, namely 75% of the rights to Odesa International Airport LLC, as well as the premises of the new terminal with a total area of 26,700 sq m. MONTREAL, Oct. 16, 2023 /CNW/ - Fairstone Bank of Canada and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Fairstone Financial Inc. (hereinafter collectively "Fairstone"), announces its $75,000 partnership over three years with the Canadian Red Cross as part of its commitment to making a lasting impact on the communities it serves. This marks a significant milestone during the company's record-breaking Community Matters Month, an annual celebration of volunteering and community engagement by Fairstone employees. The Canadian Red Cross offers teddy bears as a form of comfort to children impacted by disaster. (Photo Credits: Canadian Red Cross) (CNW Group/Fairstone Financial Inc.) Fairstone employees volunteer their time for one of the 89 charitable organizations visited during Fairstones Community Matters Month in September (Photo Credits: Le Chainon) (CNW Group/Fairstone Financial Inc.) "As a community-based lender, we have an important role to play in helping communities come together to make a positive impact in both the day-to-day and in times of crisis," says Scott Wood, President and Chief Executive Officer at Fairstone. "Supporting the communities where we live and work is a cornerstone of our corporate social responsibility efforts. Our long-term commitment with the Canadian Red Cross is an additional way for Fairstone to help those in need and build a stronger, more resilient society." Fairstone is proud to extend its diverse corporate social responsibility program with the Canadian Red Cross. Their expertise in disaster response is an addition to the existing range of community needs that Fairstone supports, including women and diversity, financial literacy, and activities that contribute to the sustainability of healthy neighborhoods. This official partnership news between Fairstone and the Red Cross is shared as Fairstone wraps-up its annual Community Matters Month campaign. This seventh edition of the campaign has been the largest and most successful to date, with nearly half of Fairstone's workforce volunteering across 89 charitable organizations, reinforcing Fairstone's commitment to Canadian communities. Throughout September, Fairstone's 1,800 employees working from 250 branches and four corporate offices coast to coast, united through various volunteer opportunities and local food drives, all organized and sourced by dedicated company employees. "Fairstone's commitment to community involvement extends beyond this month-long campaign," adds Scott Wood. "Throughout the year, the organization actively supports both local and national initiatives by encouraging employees to contribute donations, time, talent, and expertise to causes they are passionate about. As an additional incentive, Fairstone offers the equivalent of a full workday of volunteer time to all our full-time employees, which can be used at any time during the year". About Fairstone Fairstone Bank of Canada ("Fairstone Bank") and its subsidiary, Fairstone Financial Inc. ("Fairstone"), form a leading consumer lending group. Fairstone Bank and Fairstone provide innovative financial services that enable Canadian consumers and businesses to achieve their goals. Collectively, Fairstone Bank and its subsidiaries offer credit cards and rewards programs, point-of-sale financing through merchant partners, automobile financing via dealerships, and unsecured and secured personal loans and mortgages online and in 250 Fairstone branches coast to coast. With a long-established Canadian history, Fairstone Bank and Fairstone are committed to improving the lives of Canadians with value-driven and accessible financial solutions. More at: www.Fairstone.ca and www.FairstoneBank.ca SOURCE Fairstone Financial Inc. For further information: Caroline Morin, Vice President, Corporate Communications, [email protected], +1 833-461-2900 More than $100,000 awarded to Canadian small businesses to foster growth and magnify their positive community impacts TORONTO, Oct. 16, 2023 Purolator announced today, the winners of its 2023 True North Small Business Grant Contest. The four grant recipients have each won $25,000 in cash and $500 in free Purolator shipping credits. It's clear that small businesses play a critical role in communities across the country. Post this The four recipients of the 2023 True North Small Business Grant Contest each won $25,000 in cash and $500 in Purolator shipping credits. (CNW Group/Purolator Inc.) New this year, Canadians can vote for one of the True North Small Business Grant recipients, and the small business with the most votes will receive Purolator's Community Choice Award earning them an additional $500 Visa Gift Card and $5,000 to donate to the registered Canadian food bank of their choice. For every vote cast, Purolator will also donate $1 to Canadian food banks through its Purolator Tackle Hunger program. Voting for the Community Choice Award opens today until Oct. 31, 2023, at purolator.com/vote. "Year after year, we are amazed by how many Canadians show their support for Canadian small businesses by nominating these inspirational entrepreneurs for our True North Small Business Grant Contest," said Stacey Cummings, Director, Marketing, Purolator. "It's clear that small businesses play a critical role in communities across the country and, this year, Canadians have the chance to expand this support to their local food banks by voting for their favourite 2023 Grant winner." Quotes from Grant winners: "With the generous support of Purolator's 2023 True North Small Business Grant, we can empower our diverse group of therapists to make an even greater impact. Hello Leena is now better equipped to dismantle barriers, eradicate stigma and illuminate a brighter path toward mental well-being in underserved communities." Sarah Ahmed, business owner, Hello Leena, Toronto . . "This grant will not only allow us to serve our current network of over 55 vendors but also empower even more retailers, cafes and restaurants across the Maritimes with gluten-free products they take pride in serving to their communities." Jennifer Laughlin and Aidan Brunn , partners, Schoolhouse Gluten-Free Gourmet, Mahone Bay, N.S. , partners, Schoolhouse Gluten-Free Gourmet, "Having received Purolator's 2023 True North Small Business Grant, Elate's high-performing vegan and cruelty-free cosmetics will now have the opportunity to further enhance our ethical supply chain and sustainably run operations. This grant will help us weave these principles into every facet of our operation." Melodie Reynolds, business owner, Elate (by Eluma Beauty), Victoria, B.C. "The support from Purolator's 2023 True North Small Business Grant, has enabled us to continue our focus on Indigenous employment and gender equality within the forestry industry. This grant has amplified our mission to make a meaningful difference in our environment and communities." Albert Klyne, Melissa Minks , Richard Seto , and Norma Klyne , partners, First Indigenous Biomass Future Inc., Kinuso, Alta. More information about the winners and Purolator's support for small businesses is online at purolator.com/small-business-grant. About Purolator Purolator Inc. is a leading integrated freight, package and logistics solutions provider. Celebrating over 60 years of delivering its customers' promises, Purolator continues to expand its reach and renowned service levels and reliability to more people, more businesses and more places across the country and around the world. Purolator is proud of its Canadian heritage and is focused on sustainably positioning itself for future growth and success. Purolator is also committed to contributing to the well-being of the communities it serves and where more than 14,000 of its employees live, work and play. SOURCE Purolator Inc. For further information: Media contact: Courtney Reistetter, Senior Manager, Corporate Communications, Purolator, 416 407-5424, [email protected] Second evacuation plane with citizens of Ukraine taking off from Tel Aviv Today, the second evacuation plane with 155 citizens of Ukraine, of which there are 107 women and 23 children, took off from Ben Gurion Airport (Tel Aviv) on a HiSky flight to Cluj (Romania), the Ukrainian Embassy in the State of Israel reported on Facebook on Monday. The Embassy provided assistance to compatriots with the preparation of the necessary procedures and documents for departure. We continue to work to find all possible options for the further evacuation of Ukrainian citizens, the message says. Earlier it was reported about the departure of the first plane with 207 citizens of Ukraine. President Bola Tinubu has approved the conduct of the federal executive council (FEC) weekly meeting to be held every Monday. The weekly FEC meeting which is presided over by the president and attended by cabinet members as well as other top aides to the president is always held every Wednesday. Mohammed Idris, minister of information and culture, announced the development while briefing the state house correspondents on Monday after the FEC meeting presided over by Tinubu. Earlier, Atiku Bagudu, minister of planning and budget, told journalists that the federal government is proposing N26 trillion for the 2024 budget. He said the budget proposal will be submitted to the national assembly before December 31. The federal government Monday is proposing N26 trillion as the 2024 budget which will be submitted to the national assembly before December 31. Atiku Bagudu, minister of planning and budget, announced the budget proposal at the end of the federal executive council (FEC) meeting held on Monday, at the presidential villa, Abuja. Bagudu said the council has approved the 2024-2026 medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF) and fiscal strategy papers (FSP). He added that the executive is required by the Fiscal Responsibility Act to present to the national assembly ahead of a budget presentation, a document which will provide the medium-term economic outlook for the economy. He said FEC made assumptions about the reference price for crude oil which is at $73.96 as well as an exchange rate of $700. Now, it was presented on the background of the commendable measures that have been taken since June in order to restore macroeconomic stability particularly the deregulation of petroleum prices, which we maintained that subsidies are gone and indeed the regulation of the foreign exchange market, the minister said. So Council deliberated, as well as the implication of this and all measures promised in the renewed hope agenda consumer credits, mortgages, reversed or dismissed institution as well as funding the newly aligned institutional changes particularly ministries with specific functions that are able to generate growth so that would be better for our country. The council members acknowledge the medium-term expenditure framework, and it is agreed that we can go ahead to the next step of consultation and presentation to the National Assembly. Egypt on Monday said Israel was not cooperating with the delivery of aid into Gaza and evacuations of foreign passport holders via the only entry, leaving hundreds of tonnes of supplies stuck. Cairo said the Rafah crossing, a potentially vital opening for desperately needed supplies into the besieged Palestinian enclave, was not officially closed but inoperable due to Israeli air strikes on the Gaza side. Egypts Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry, told reporters that, there is an urgent need to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, adding that talks with Israel had not been fruitful. Until now the Israeli government has not taken a position on opening the Rafah crossing from the Gaza side to allow the entrance of assistance and exit of citizens of third countries, said Shoukry. More than two million Gazans have been under siege since Israel launched an intense bombardment and blockade in retaliation for an assault by the Hamas Islamist militants. Two Egyptian security sources had told Reuters a ceasefire in southern Gaza to last several hours had been agreed for Monday morning to facilitate aid and evacuations at Rafah. However, Israel denied that. There is currently no truce and humanitarian aid in Gaza in exchange for getting foreigners out, a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office said. Hamas official, Izzat El-Reshiq, told Reuters the same. On the ground at Rafah, one source said there had been no bombardments on Monday and that the Egyptian side of the crossing was ready. Shoukry said Egypt aimed to allow normal flow through the crossing, including for Palestinians seeking medical treatment or normal travel. Hundreds of tonnes of aid from NGOs and several countries were waiting on trucks in the nearby Egyptian town of Al-Arish for conditions to allow entry to Gaza, according to two sources there and a witness. Separately, Reuters video showed UN-flagged fuel trucks appearing to leave Gaza for Egypt through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing. Secretary to Government of the Federation, SGF, Sen.George Akume has stated that he does not have any issue with Benue State Governor,Rev. Fr . Hyacinth Alia. Akume disclosed this at the weekend in Gboko during the burial of an elder statesman and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief Haar Orpin. He said there will be immense benefit for the people of the state if he and the governor collaborate and urged them to remain supportive of both of them to deliver dividends of democracy to the State Akume, who was represented by Chief Simon Shango at the occasion, acknowledged that the deceased, Chief Orpin who was a member of the APC elders forum, stood by him throughout his lifetime. He regretted that he passed away at a period in which his wise counsel was most needed and prayed God to grant the soul of the deceased eternal rest. In his remarks, Gov. Alia expressed happiness over the SGFs declaration that there was no crisis between them and promised that he would continue to work peacefully with the SGF for the interest of the state. Alia described the deceased, Chief Orpin as a unifier and devout Christian who lived a life of peace and his attitude was a compass for the APC. He said the deceased elder statesman fostered unity among his immediate community of Jemgbagh, acknowledging that his posture of operating an open door policy is part of his wise counsel. Alia reiterated that he will work in synergy with the SGF and other political leaders in the state to ensure speedy development of the state. A full-blown trial of former Minister of Aviation, Senator Stella Adaeze Oduah and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) will kick-start at a Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday, October 17 by the federal government. Mrs Oduah and the China Construction giant will face prosecution for alleged fraud, money laundering and bribery running into N7.9bn. Specifically, CCECC would be made to face trial for allegedly bribing Federal Government officials to the tune of billion naira through alleged transfers from its numerous bank accounts to the accounts of beneficiaries of the graft to facilitate government patronage. Senator Oduah, on the other hand, will be prosecuted for allegedly accepting money from CCECC while she held sway as Minister of Aviation. A cause list released on Monday by the Federal High Court indicates that the full-blown trial would be conducted by Justice Inyang Eden Ekwo in Abuja on October 17. However, unlike the previous proceedings, the trial this time around will be coordinated and conducted by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice on the order of the Federal High Court. The EFCC was said to have been ordered to step aside from the trial following its involvement in some unlawful means that stalled the case for more than two years. Mrs Oduah and eight others pleaded not guilty on Friday, July 21, 2023, to an N7.9 billion fraud charge preferred against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). They were arraigned by the EFCC before Justice Inyang Ekwo of a Federal High Court in Abuja on a 25-count charge bordering on money laundering. The former Aviation Minister was docked alongside three others: Gloria Odita, Nwobu Emmanuel Nnamdi and Irene Chukwuma and five companies, Global Offshore and Marine Limited, Tiptop Global Resources Limited, Crystal Television Limited, Sobora International Limited and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC). Senator Oduah was arraigned on alleged N7.9 billion fraud and financial misappropriation while she served as Minister during the former President Goodluck Jonathans administration. In the 25-count charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/316/2020, they were accused of conspiracy, money laundering and maintaining anonymous bank accounts with a commercial bank. Count one of the charges reads, that you, Stella Adaeze Oduah whilst being the Minister of Aviation, the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Gloria Odita whilst being the Company Secretary to Sea Petroleum & Gas Company Ltd (SPGC) and an aide to the former Minister of Aviation, Nwobu Emmanuel Nnamdi, whilst being an employee of Sea Petroleum & Gas Company Ltd (SPGC) and an aide to the former Minister of Aviation, Chukwuma Irene Chinyere, Global Offshore And Marine Limited, Tiptop Global Resources Limited, Crystal Television Limited, Sobora International Limited between January 2014 and April 2014 at Abuja within the judicial division of this Honourable Court did conspire among yourselves to commit an offence to wit: Money Laundering and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 (As Amended) and punishable under Section 15(3) and (4) of the same Act. Count 5 reads, that you, Stella Adaeze Oduah whilst being the Minister of Aviation, the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Global Offshore and Marine Ltd, a Limited Liability Company registered under the Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on or about 12th February 2014 at Abuja within the Judicial Division of this Honourable Court took control of the sum of N1,629,250,000.00 (One Billion, Six Hundred and Twenty-Nine Million, Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira) only and paid into the account of Global Offshore and Marine Ltd account No. 2022977296 domiciled with First Bank Plc from I-Sec Security Nig. Ltd accounts No. 2021756955 with First Bank Plc, which money you reasonably ought to have known forms part of the proceeds of an unlawful act and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 15(2) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 (As Amended) and punishable under Section 15(3) and (4) of the same Act. The defendants had pleaded not guilty to the charges preferred against them. Justice Ekwo granted bail to the defendants on the terms of the administrative bail earlier offered them by the EFCC and adjourned till October 17 for the commencement of trial. It will be recalled that the commission had filed the charge against Oduah and others on December 17, 2020, but attempts to arraign them witnessed many twists and turns. Several times the defendants were not available in court forcing adjournments, and when they were available, it was either counsel was pushing for adjournment on the grounds of settlement negotiations. The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia, Bujar Osmani, will visit Ukraine on 16 October for meetings with high-level government officials, parliamentarians, civil society and staff of the OSCE Extra-budgetary Support Programme for Ukraine, the OSCE said on its website. Osmani intends to hold a series of meetings with senior officials, parliamentarians, civil society and staff of the OSCE extra-budgetary Support Program for Ukraine. The discussions will focus on the most pressing challenges faced by civilians due to Russias ongoing war against Ukraine, and the OSCEs continued role in supporting Ukraines people, institutions and civil society, the message reads. On X social network, Osmani said that he would go to Kyiv. On August 23, during an online address at the Third Summit of the Crimea Platform, Bujar Osmani announced that he soon intended to make his second visit to Ukraine as chairman of the organization. The State Secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party in Akure, Ondo State, has allegedly been sealed by the security agencies in the state. There was a heavy presence of armed security personnel, which included the men of the state police command and their counterparts from the Directorate of State Security, at the entrance of the secretariat on Monday morning. Their vehicles were seen parked at the entrance of the secretariat. As a result of fear of possible harassment, members of staff of the party did not enter into the secretariat to resume work. It was gathered that the police alleged deployment in the place was not unconnected with the planned protest by the party youths, over the absence of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu from the state. The protest was reportedly scheduled to take place today. Efforts to get the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs Funmilayo Odunlami, on the matter were not successful, as she did not pick up at the time of filing this report. Details later President Bola Tinubu on Monday inaugurated three ministers who were recently screened and cleared by the senate. The ministers inaugurated are Jamila Ibrahim, Ayodele Olawande and Balarabe Lawal. They were inaugurated after taking their oaths of office before the commencement of the federal executive council (FEC) meeting. Ibrahim has been assigned the youth portfolio while Olawande will serve as the minister of state for youth. Lawal is the new minister of environment. During the FEC meeting, George Akume, secretary to the government of the federation, announced the demise of Mobolaji Ajose-Adeogun, the first minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), who died on July 1. Ajose-Adeogun was a two-time federal commissioner for cooperatives and supply before his appointment as the federal commissioner for special duties in charge of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA). He superintended over the planning and design of the Abuja masterplan. He was appointed minister of the federal capital in 1976 by the Murtala Muhammed military administration and served in the position until 1979. He died aged 96. President Bola Tinubu says Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are attempting the impossible by trying to get the supreme court to accept fresh evidence in his appeal. Abubakar and the PDP are challenging Tinubus victory at the presidential poll and the verdict of the election tribunal upholding the outcome of the vote. Abubakar had alleged that Tinubus academic records were fraught with discrepancies and forgeries. His request for the US court for the northern district of Illinois to compel Chicago State University (CSU) to release Tinubus academic records has since been granted. The PDP candidate is now seeking to introduce these records at the apex court. However, in a counter affidavit and written address filed through his team of lawyers, led by Wole Olanipekun, the president said his academic records obtained from CSU cannot be considered by the supreme court. Tinubu argued that the court cannot accept the written deposition of the CSU registrar who was not a witness before the tribunal and whose written statement was not activated through oral evidence as required under Section 41(1) of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act 2022. Where a written deposition is not activated by oral examination of the deponent before the court, same will not be acted upon by a court, Tinubu said. It is not in doubt that the deponent of the deposition sought to be introduced as additional evidence was not orally examined at the lower court. The appellant has not made a case for the court to override the provision of Paragraph 41(1) of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act or referred to any law permitting the use of the deposition outside the confines of Paragraph 41(1) of the 1st Schedule. Appellants are attempting the impossible thus, they have not stated whether the evidence is documentary or oral evidence because it fits into neither. The president said the new document/deposition was neither pleaded nor listed at the lower court. Even in regular civil proceedings, the court will still be required to fall back to originating processes in assessing the extent of its powers, he said. None of the seven issues for determination presented by the appellants has any proximity to the disqualification of the respondents on the ground of forgery of any certificate whatsoever. Equally, there is no relief in the petition, seeking the disqualification of the respondent on the ground of forgery. He argued that the apex court cannot admit the deposition by the CSUs registrar and an additional document (marked Exhibits C and D) because the deposition was not made before a court but in the office of Abubakars lawyer. The purported deposition was made, not before a court, but before a shorthand reporter, in a law office of the 1st appellants (Abubakar) counsel, Tinubu claimed. He described the evidence as hearsay adding that it is of no evidential value in the absence of the alleged deponent, Caleb Westerberg. Tinubu also raised the issue of fair hearing, stating that if the fresh evidence is accepted, the respondents will have no opportunity to file a response to it. A person who alleges that his right to fair hearing is being or likely to be breached does not need to prove any special damage, he said. He said allowing the application would amount to hearing the petition of which the apex court no longer has the power to assume trial jurisdiction considering that the 180 days allowed by the constitution has since elapsed. Tinubu submitted that the fresh application by Abubakar and the PDP is meant to harass, irritate and annoy him, adding that it is reckless and frivolous, and there is no iota of law supporting it. From the foregoing, it is safe to submit that this application is a crass abuse of the processes of this honourable court, he added. In conclusion, and for the reasons and arguments advanced in this address, we urge the Supreme Court to dismiss this application. The Oluwo of Iwoland, Oba Abdulrasheed Adewale Akanbi, has insisted that the Yoruba ancestral home is beyond Ile-Ife and urged historians working on the study of the Yoruba ancestral home to be objective in their research and documentation. In a statement made available by his media aide, Alli Ibraheem, in Osogbo on Monday, Oba Akanbi opined that limiting research work to Ile-Ife is putting a limitation on Yorubas far-reaching historical greatness and accomplishments. While maintaining that the Yoruba are synonymous with distinction, excellence, and greatness, the monarch claimed that the first man created was Yoruba. He stated that Oduduwa migrated to Ile-Ife and launched the traditional system of governance with the crown as the symbol of authority. Oba Akanbi challenged professors of Yoruba to dig further into the origin and originality of Oduduwa as a descendant of Ola Mu Iru Dudu Yi, shortened to Lamurudu. Yorubas are naturally [born of] greatness. Humanity started with us. We are the descendants of Lamurudu, the first mightiest man to build the tallest house. Our history goes beyond Oduduwa and Ile-Ife. Limiting our history to the duo is tantamount to restraint our ancestors from great accomplishments and achievements of the past. I challenge professors of Yoruba to research the origin and originality of Oduduwa. We have to objectively trace his lineage and origin. He came from somewhere before he settled at Ile-Ife. This implies that Yorubas are not originally from Ile-Ife. In documenting the history of the Yorubas, all ancient crowns and stakeholders with genuine interest must be incorporated. We are victors, great, and rich. Hence, we must establish our origin to be greater and richer than our forbearers, he submitted. He said further: Im a descendant of Oduduwa. Empirically, the origin of humanity points to the Yoruba. The first man created, Adamo, was a Yoruba. Ive researched, in books and beyond, on the coinage of Adamo. Ive extended my findings to the Yoruba religionwhich is worshipping, [with] direct access to Olodumare without intermediaries, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, etcto know the meaning of Adamo. Ive been vindicated by many revelations. In the dictionary, Adamo means created from the red earth meaning Eni ti a da ninu amo. Im throwing it open for further academic investigation by Yoruba professors. Giants running back Saquon Barkley (26) will play Sunday night for the first time since the team's Week 2 win over the Arizona Cardinals.AP When Rachael Coffey began thinking about how shed spend the four years after 8th grade, she had to make decision: Should she go to the high school to her hometown of Little Ferry? Or should she try to get into a vocational-technical school? Ultimately, the choice become clear. Its no secret that Phillies slugger Bryce Harper grew up a Yankees fan. In an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Friday, the two-time MVP neither confirmed nor denied meeting with Brian Cashman during free agency. Instead, he reminisced about the dynasty of the late 90s and then doubled down on his love for the city of Philadelphia. BUY YANKEES TICKETS: STUBHUB, VIVID SEATS, TICKETMASTER Ive been a Yankees fan my whole life, everybody knew that, Harper said. I grew up watching some really good Yankee teams - Bernie Williams, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada - I mean, I love those teams, but I couldnt imagine not being a Philadelphia Phillie. Theres nothing like it. If you want to come be a Philly fan, come hop on. After the Yankees traded for 2017 NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton ahead of the 2018 season, it became clear that Harper, who was set to become a free agent the following season, would not be playing for New York. Instead, Harper signed a 13-year, $330 million contract, including a $20 million signing bonus and a full no-trade clause with the Phillies. Hell earn $26 million per year through 2028 and then $22 million each in the last three years of the deal. Stanton, on the other hand, is owed $128 million through 2028. Thats an annual average value of $25.6 million. Since signing with the Phillies, Harper is slashing .284/.395/.536 with 122 home runs. In the same time span, Stanton is batting .233/.322/.796 with 97 home runs. Would the Yankees make the same decision today? MORE SPORTS - Yankees interested in bringing back traded starter, report says - Did Giants Saquon Barkley just send a trade signal to 49ers, who need a RB after Christian McCaffrey injury? - Bills Damien Harris taken off field in ambulance after scary collision vs. Giants (UPDATE) Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription. Manuel Gomez may be reached at mgomez@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. Nova Poshta plans to open in six more EU countries by year end The Nova Poshta group of companies plans to enter the market of six more European Union countries by the end of the year, opening its first branches there, co-owner of Nova Poshta Viacheslav Klymov said at the Kyiv International Economic Forum, held last week. "We are expanding. There are already eight countries. By the end of this year there will be six more," Klymov said. As the company's press service clarified for Interfax-Ukraine, Nova Post branches will appear in Latvia, Estonia, Hungary, Italy, France and Austria. At the forum, Klymov noted that in Nova Post branches abroad there will be two working languages - local and Ukrainian. "We have made a firm decision that in Nova Post branches in Europe they will speak two languages. It will be the local language and it will be the Ukrainian language," the co-owner of the company said. At the forum, he also said that the group monthly allocates about UAH 100 million to the needs of the army. Klymov clarified that 3,249 company employees are currently in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, 99 colleagues have died. As reported, Nova Post has already opened 62 branches in Poland, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Romania, Germany and Moldova. Thousands of people have weighed in on a proposal that would set a speed limit in the Gulf of Mexico where a newly discovered but nearly extin On the 600th day of the large-scale war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Ukrainians not to lose unity and to destroy the occupiers every day. The will that does not give up gains freedom. Freedom based on unity always prevails. The point is not to waste time. Not to lose unity. Not to let doubts corrode the will. Every day we must add to Ukraine's strength. Every day we must destroy the occupier, he said on the Telegram channel Monday. I thank everyone who fights and works for the freedom of Ukraine! May the memory of everyone who gave their lives to preserve our nation be eternal and blessed! We will definitely be victorious, the President also said. Kuleba calls on OSCE to develop, based on organizations report on deportation of Ukrainian children by Russia, specific projects to counter this crime Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba called on the OSCE to develop specific projects based on the report of the organization on the deportation of Ukrainian children by Russia in order to obtain powerful tools to counter this crime. I am especially grateful to Bujar for the fact that the OSCE promptly supported my call and responded to the problem of the deportation of Ukrainian children by Russia. A corresponding report within the OSCE has already been prepared, it has become an important road map for further actions. And today I have called on the organization to urgently develop on the basis of this report specific projects so that we receive common powerful tools to counter this crime, Kuleba said at a press conference with the current OSCE Chairman Bujar Osmani in Kyiv. The head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry also thanked Osmani for his prompt response to the recent Russian attack on the village of Groza and for urgently convening a special meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council. The next crime of the Russian Federation, fortunately, did not remain without a proper reaction from the OSCE precisely thanks to the position of the Macedonian Chairmanship. I hope that the OSCE will play an important role in documenting Russian crimes, and in the future, in bringing Russia to justice, Kuleba noted. He also expressed conviction that the OSCE also has the potential to actively participate in the implementation of the Peace Formula of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Kuleba draws OSCE's attention to problem of hostage-taking by Russia: Russia's terrorist partners in world starts to repeat this crime Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba, during negotiations with current OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Foreign Minister of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani, drew attention to the problem of Russia taking civilian hostages, for which Russia should be held accountable. "I also drew attention to the problem of Russia's taking of civilian hostages. This Russian crime is unprecedented in scale in modern history. We are already seeing how Russia's terrorist partners around the world have begun to repeat it. Russia must be held accountable for the practice of mass civilian captivity if we don't want it to become an instrument of terror around the world," Kuleba said at a press conference with current OSCE Chairman-in-Office Bujar Osmani in Kyiv. As the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said, the OSCE has the capabilities and institutional ability to pay attention to this issue and propose a solution. "We also expect that the Macedonian Chairmanship, together with the secretariat, will continue efforts to release three OSCE SMM workers whom Russia has held for over500 days. Here we are acting together with the organization. We want and strive to save these people and will actively work on this," Kuleba said. Kuleba also thanked North Macedonia for political, military and humanitarian assistance, support for Ukraine's European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations. "Thank you to North Macedonia for supporting the Peace Formula of President Zelenskyy, active participation in the events of Crimea Platform and other Ukrainian initiatives. We also appreciate North Macedonia's accession to the G7 Declaration of Support for Ukraine. North Macedonia and Ukraine are true friends," the minister said. For Osmani, this is his second visit to Ukraine this year in the status of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office. NTV News 24 is a service of Nippon Television, Japan's leading broadcasting network. This page provides a selection of today's stories in English. TEDx Gary will bring ideas worth spreading back to the Steel City for the sixth time. Jeffrey and McKenya Smith have been hosting the local TEDx event, an independently organized version of the popular TED Talks that have promulgated thought-provoking ideas on technology, design, and other subjects for nearly four decades. The Smiths staged their first TEDx event with the theme "Rejuvenating Gary Through Innovation: Using What You Have to Get What You Want" in September 2020. Seven speakers gave talks on subjects ranging from finance to environmental justice. Since then, they have hosted TEDxGary 2021, TEDxGaryWomen 2021, TEDxGary 2022 and TEDxGary Women 2022. More than 25 of the TEDx Gary speakers can now be viewed at TED.com. TEDx Gary videos have been viewed on the TED.com more than 250,000 times. "TEDxGary is for those thinkers, those doers, those people who get that an idea is something that truly transforms people, places and things, " stated co-curator and broadcast director of WGVE, Jeffrey G. Smith. "My wife and I were busy during COVID creating ways to challenge the notion that mindsets could not be changed in Gary. What better way to showcase thinkers and doers than to have such a platform here in Gary." TEDx events also have taken place at County Line Orchard in Hobart and at Valparaiso University. TEDx Gary has curated more local talks than anyone else in Northwest Indiana. It aims to challenge, provoke and move the community forward. "If folks want to become TEDxGary speakers we have a fairly straightforward application process that usually opens in March and closes on May 16th," said McKenya Dilworth Smith, co-curator with her husband Jeffrey. TEDxGary 2023 will take place at 6 p.m. on October 27 at J's Breakfast Club located at 2601 Broadway. It will address the theme of perseverance. This year's speakers include the Fort Wayne community activist Charles Law, Legacy Foundation President and CEO Kelly Anoe, social activist and motivator Aaliyah Stewart, media professional, CEO and community activist Dr. Jessica Braidden, public relations professional Michael Gonzalez, CEO, technologist and innovator Faith Spencer and finance expert and entrepreneur Shanieta Sease. TED is a well-known global brand whose videos have racked up millions of views on YouTube and TED.com. It has an annual conference in Vancouver, British Columbia where it hosts short, impactful talks by thinkers like Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Sal Khan and Daniel Kahneman. It started in Silicon Valley and originally focused mostly on technology and design but has since been broadened to cover science, culture, politics, humanitarian and many academic subjects. TED launched the TEDx program in 2009 so that local communities could self-organize events that would provide TED-like experiences. Many of the TEDx Talks have also gone viral, reaching millions of viewers online. "TEDxGary is all about good ideas that will catapult Gary into the reset posture, ready to succeed, through innovation, creativity and collective hard work," McKenya Dilworth Smith said. "We started with our the theme in September of 2020 of Rejuvenating Gary Through Innovation which is essentially using the resources we have to attract and create the vision for Gary that we want as a community of doers, thinkers and ideapreneurs and continue to create and develop themes that serve to move us forward as a thinking, and doing community." For more information or tickets, visit https://www.ted.com/tedx/events/54310 For more information please reach out the TEDxGary Curators, The Smiths at tedxgary@gmail.com The village board voted Oct. 3 to name Thomas Tilton as interim chief after Matthew Walsh resigned Sept. 15 to take the top spot in Indian Head Park. Mayor Michael Glotz, who said he was saddened to see Walsh leave and tried to persuade him to stay, said Tiltons resume is impressive. This guy is the real deal, Glotz told Southland Your Times. You look at the stuff this guy has done in his career, and were blessed to have him. The village originally announced there would be a national search to replace Walsh, but Glotz said thats not the case. He said the village plans on naming a successor to Walsh in the coming months. Tilton joined the Tinley Park Police Department as deputy police chief of administration in September 2021. Before that, he served with the United States Secret Service for 26 years as a leader in law enforcement, security and investigative operations in the Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations. DC Tilton has been an integral part of the Tinley Park Police Department since he joined us two years ago, Glotz said in a news release. His professionalism and natural leadership abilities will help ensure the police department continues to operate efficiently while we search for a permanent police chief. Tilton has held various vital operational roles, overseeing and managing numerous large-scale operations. He served for more than 10 years as the Deputy Director of Operations for the Department of Emergency Management and Regional Security, overseeing tactical response operations within a critical agency composed of 134 municipalities, 30 townships, 5.4 million residents and 945 square miles of territory. Tilton has certifications from the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board as a certified SWAT operator, as well as the Illinois Emergency Management Agency as a certified professional emergency manager and the Illinois Tactical Officers Association as a certified tactical patrol officer. I really appreciate the opportunity to lead our police department, and Im very grateful for the opportunity to work with Deputy Chief (Lawrence) Rafferty and Commander (Tim) Pulos, Tilton said at the village board meeting. We have a very, very fine roster of police officers and police supervisors and I very much look forward to moving ahead with them. Closer to home, Tilton also was a senior special agent for the Chicago Organized Crime Task Force and designed and implemented protective operations training standards for the State Police, Secretary of State Police, Chicago Metropolitan Police Executive Protection Units and Illinois State Police Tactical Response Teams. Aside from his state and national credentials, Tilton impressed Glotz with his performance over the summer. After a flash-mob incident shut down a carnival in town in May, some communities and organizations cancelled events. Tinley Park, however, decided to go full steam ahead with its summer events with safety modifications. Tilton was the incident commander and led security for Tinley Park Ribfest, the two-day Tinley Park Block Party and the Tinley Park Chamber of Commerces Oktoberfest. Those events hosted thousand of people and went off without major incidents. Glotz credited Tilton for that, saying he did a spectacular job. Police records supervisor In other police business, the board approved the appointment of Vicki Sedorook as police records supervisor. She is an 18-year veteran of the department, having worked her way to assistant record supervisor before this appointment. I want to say thank you to everyone who believed in me, Sedorook told the board. I have the most amazing team from the very top to the very bottom. Without them, I couldnt be as successful as I have been. Shes a tremendous person on our team, Tilton said. GARY The towering John W. Anderson Library, crammed with more than half a million books, looms over the leafy campus of Indiana University Northwest, amid all the abstract metal sculptures and plazas filled with benches for lounging and killing time between classes. Take the creaking, glacially slow elevator up to the third floor and the story of the Calumet Region awaits. The Calumet Regional Archives overflows with photos, newspapers, books, journals, zines, files, records, artifacts, political buttons, concert posters and other miscellaneous memorabilia of the Calumet Region. Scholars from all over the world visit to do research there for their articles, books and other publications. Chancellor Ken Iwama said there have been many keepers of the flame of the Calumet Regional Archives over the years. "This work explains who we are today, and that truthfulness provides the authentic foundation upon which we can build tomorrow," he said. "I think the critical importance of preserving our regional history is ensuring the viability of our present and our future is very much alive. People have a conception of archives as static. But they're very much alive." A resource that's helped preserve Northwest Indiana's rich and unique history the Calumet Regional Archives is making history of its own. The archive just celebrated its 50th anniversary amid a crowd of academics. It's a repository of history about a number of subjects like Gary's Midtown neighborhoods, Vee-Jay Records, Save the Dunes, the pioneering Richard Hatcher mayoral campaign and the local steel industry. It chronicles both well-known figures like the Jackson family and lesser-known figures like Consuelo Ornelas Garcia, Northwest Indiana's first known Hispanic church. The Calumet Regional Archives started as a small collection of documents in a cramped campus office and has ballooned into a stockpile of hundreds of collections that preserve the history of Indiana University Northwest, the city of Gary and the broader Calumet Region. IUN unveiled a plaque celebrating the 50th anniversary that will be displayed in front of the Calumet Region Archive. "We wanted to have something that would more permanently reflect the value and importance of the special collections of the archives, which have a valuable place in the collection," Acting Assistant Dean of the Library Cynthia Szymanski said. "The two founders from the history department faculty had a vision, saw a need and were able to marshal together resources to start the archives 50 years ago. They had the leadership, skills and labor to develop the collection we have now today." IUN Professors James Lane and the late Ron Cohen founded the archive in 1973. Both also wrote a number of books about Northwest Indiana. Cohen wrote "Children of the Mill" and "Rainbow Quest: The Folk Music Revival and American Society," edited "Moonlight in Duneland" and was nominated for a Grammy Award for writing the liner notes to "The Best of Broadside." Lane wrote "City of the Century" and "Gary's First 100 Years,' edited "Forging a Community: The Latino Experience in Northwest Indiana" and has penned the long-running "Steel Shavings" magazine. The IUN archives were Ron Cohens idea," Lane said. "I was kind of a sidekick and an implementer. We worked well together. We both were hired at the same time, in September of 1970. I was hired as an urban historian and was interested in Gary, which was only 63 years old at the time. Ron was interested in the Gary schools, which were internationally famous for their progressive curriculum." At the time, many people, businesses and institutions were leaving Gary or going under. They first teamed up when Gary Neighborhood House, a hub for immigrants and later social justice activities, was abandoned in 1973 and suffered a fire. "Ron said to me, 'you know, we better go there and look for important papers,'" he said. "It was flooded in the basement. Rodents were scurrying around. But it housed some really valuable things dating back to Gary's pioneer days. Had there been any other archives, we would have been happy to cooperate with them. So gradually we thought we should maybe form something." They got a call from the Lake County Historical Society about record books, including land transfer books, that were going to be thrown out. The Southlake Mall was going up so Crown Point was looking at tearing down the soon-to-be-vacated old Lake County Courthouse to make room for parking for the downtown merchants." They drove down to Crown Point and hauled away all the books, which they took to IUN's Calumet Center in East Chicago. They then had two collections and started storing items in their offices at Tamarack Hall, which was long the entire campus in Gary until it was destroyed in the 2008 floods. A new library was being planned on the campus and seemed like a perfect home for an archive. "We buttered up to the members of the planning committee," Lane said. "The original library on campus was a mom-and-pop location. We were able to get a small space, which has grown immensely since we first moved in." The Calumet Regional Archive started collecting permission slips, going back to get ones it didn't obtain before. Then-IUN Chancellor Danilo Orescanin obtained the papers and the Washington D.C. office furniture of longtime congressman Ray Madden, who had been defeated in a primary by Adam Benjamin Jr. "He liked to say a line of BS, a firm handshake and holding his liquor were the three main qualifications of being chancellor," he said. "Not only did he get him to donate his papers, Dan made away with his furniture, which he had in his office until he got new ones and we ultimately have in what we call the Madden Room. In short, we grew like Topsy." The Calumet Regional Archives brought on Stephen G. McShane as its archivist and then got less neglectful about getting permission slips. "One time Ron went into an abandoned house and took records about Save the Dunes and hiking clubs," Lane said. "Eventually, he got permission from somebody and they're still in the archives today." People increasingly sought them out to preserve records like of the Gary Human Relations Commissions. "They didn't want them in the basement of the city hall, which flooded half the time," he said. "As we were leaving somebody rushed out, probably to stop us. But we brought them back to our offices." Lane launched the Steel Shavings Magazine to chronicle students' family histories, labor unions and significant occurrences like the the Bailley anti-nuclear movement that stopped a lakefront power plant NIPSCO wanted to build. The archives kept growing its holdings, adding the personal records of local historians like Archibald McKinlay and Powell Moore. McShane joined in 1982 when he was fresh out of graduate school, taking a position that was temporarily funded for two years and ending up staying for 38 years until he retired in 2020. He and assistant archivist Peg Schoon preserved more than 500 collections over 40 years. "That's extremely impressive and also intimidating," archivist/curator Jeremy Pekarek said. "People don't realize it takes four to six hours to process a linear foot of archives. It can take up to 20 hours. With 500 collections, even I couldn't tell you the linear footage. He acquired records documenting Northwest Indiana history, such as from the Inland Steel Company in East Chicago. "Our motto was you call, we haul," he said. "I must have gone through four or five personal vehicles hauling stuff back to the third floor of the library. Luckily the elevators worked most of the time." The Calumet Regional Archives amassed records from local manufacturers, local governments and the campus. "We must have outgrown our physical footprint half a dozen times. We were always running out of space," he said. "Let the record show that I did ask for my own building, but I don't think they made a note of it." The archives started implementing temperature control to preserve the records. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, it started listing its collections online, which led researchers from all over the world to start contacting it. IU has nine campuses across the state. All of them have local archives but IUN is the only one with archives documenting the local community - all the rest only focus on the history of that campus, said Dr. Heather Calloway, Director of University Collections. "This is one of the most valuable collections," she said. The Calumet Regional Archives preserves the story of both ordinary people and those who made extraordinary contributions, such as the Civil War Veteran John Eubanks. IUN's research helped get him recognition, leading to his grave being restored, said Dr. James Wallace, Director of the Office for Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs. "It brings to life the stories of people at this university and in the community, people who have done great things both regionally and nationally," he said. Pekarek said he was standing on the shoulders of giants in keeping the archives going. Going forward, the Calumet Regional Archives will fall under the banner of the Indiana University Northwest Archives & Special Collections and be paired with a university archive to encourage professors, students, staff and others in the university community to donate their records. "You have a resource to donate your records to and share your story," he said. "You have meaning. You have value. You have a story to share, whether you're serving in a political office or a steel mill. We preserve these stories of what Gary is, what Northwest Indiana is and what IU Northwest is. We think not only about the now and present but what's coming after us as a society. The Calumet Regional Archives acted as a model for archives at the time. It was built from the ground up and has had an impact on society." CROWN POINT A judge has denied bail for a Chicago man who was charged earlier this year in connection with a 2019 shooting of a 25-year-old in Hammond. Lamont Turentine, 29, will remain incarcerated until his Nov. 27 trial, Judge Samuel Cappas ruled Friday. He faces a murder charge for killing Tyron Bolling on Dec. 13, 2019 on the 4400 block of Henry Avenue. Cappas said the testimony of former co-defendant Emani Edwards, 27, corroborated the physical evidence in Turentine's case. Charges against Edwards were dropped Sept. 18 and she was granted immunity in exchange for her testimony. According to court records, Turentine was Edwards' boyfriend. Bolling and Edwards were romantically involved, unbeknownst to Turentine, and had been messaging each other on Facebook. The evening of Bollings murder, they messaged about moving in together and Edwards told Bolling she loved him. Turentine looked through Edwards' phone and found the messages between her and Bolling, prosecutors allege, and became angry. He punched her in the face and then sent Bolling a message from Edwards' phone saying she would pick him up later that evening, purporting that he planned to set Bolling up. Defense attorney Scott King argued Turentine should be granted bail because the state relies heavily on Edwards testimony, and he believes the court should weigh her credibility since she was given immunity. He also said Turentine has no criminal history. A detective recovered video footage of Turentine's vehicle driving in the direction of the victim's home at the time of the shooting. They also recovered messages between two of Turentine and Edwards' acquaintances that were sent a few days after the killing. They said Turentine "violated their trust" by killing Bolling and said the killing was over a girl. Court documents detail a history of domestic violence reports between Edwards and Turentine from various police departments. Officers found six 9 mm cartridge cases from a firearm at the crime scene. DNA testing found that the casings matched the DNA of a man who was a former roommate of Turentine's. The man told police he was not involved in the killing and said his DNA was on the casings because they kept guns in their home when they lived together. Records show the former roommate was on an GPS ankle monitor at the time of the killing. Geographical data from the monitor showed the roommate was in Chicago at the time of the slaying. CROWN POINT Two local police officers suffered minor injuries and a K-9 was briefly strangled during a traffic stop early Sunday, a city official said. The situation began around 2:37 a.m. when a Crown Point officer attempted to stop a 2006 black Maserati travelling 86 mph in a 45-mph-zone along the 2100 block of North Main Street, according to the city. Feds open investigation into weekend stabbing death of 6-year-old Illinois Muslim boy Police allege he singled out the victims because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas. The driver, 32-year-old Tyler Lee Pollard, initially fled before stopping in the 8600 block of Taft Street. Pollard complied with police orders in part, but would not exit his vehicle, the department said. "Officers warned the driver if he did not exit the car, a police K-9 would be released," the city said. "The driver remained in the vehicle and refused to exit." Police said they broke the passenger side window of the vehicle, unlocked the doors and released K-9 Jack into the vehicle. Region middle school student pulled from class, questioned about rumor of threats, cops say The action was taken after students at the school notified the building's resource officer Thursday of the rumored threats. "The male driver gouged K-9 Jacks eyes and grabbed K-9 Jack around the throat with both of his hands, leaving the canine briefly incapacitated and causing his eyes to roll to the back of his head," the city said. When Pollard refused to release the dog, police said they used a stun gun and Pollard released his grip on the dog's throat. Pollard was removed from the vehicle and treated for minor injuries, the city said. K-9 Jack has received a "clean bill of health" from his veterinarian, according to Monday afternoon a city news release. Two Crown Point police officers were treated on scene for minor injuries, but have since been cleared for duty. On Monday the Lake County Prosecutor's Office accepted a number of charges against Pollard including; battery on a public safety official, resisting law enforcement, striking/interfering with a law enforcement animal, operating while intoxicated and reckless driving. Pollard, of Kenosha, WI, has also been cited for exceeding the posted speed limit and for having an open alcoholic beverage in a vehicle. GARY Police say a 56-year-old Gary woman was shot and injured by her boyfriend during an argument. UPDATED: Crown Point officers, K-9 injured during violent traffic stop, city says When the driver refused to release the dog, police said they used a stun gun and the driver released his grip on the dog's throat. Gary police said they were called out around 3 a.m. Thursday to the local Methodist Hospitals Northlake Campus where the woman told officers she was in the area of 21st Avenue and Morton Street when she and her boyfriend began arguing. "The victim stated that her boyfriend demanded that she get in his car," police said. "When she refused and began to walk away from him, he started shooting at her striking her in the right leg." Feds open investigation into weekend stabbing death of 6-year-old Illinois Muslim boy Police allege he singled out the victims because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas. A witness reportedly told police the woman was taken to the hospital by her boyfriend. Anyone with information about the incident is encouraged to contact detective Olivia Vasquez at 219-881-1210. OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani, who is paying a visit to Kyiv on Monday, has said the OSCE will continue to support Ukraine on its path to restoration. He said, at a joint press conference with Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba, that the OSCE will continue to help Ukraine to implement projects aimed at satisfying the specific needs within the framework of an important donor-funded Ukraine support program launched last November. These projects will help address the consequences of the war, as well as support Ukraine's long-term reform efforts and the needs of its people, Osmani said, emphasizing that the OSCE will continue to support Ukraine on its path to recovery. According to the OSCE head, Ukraine is and will remain a priority during North Macedonia's OSCE Chairmanship. He also emphasized that a just and long-lasting peace is a must. The OSCE will not back down until it is established, so that the people of Ukraine can live and prosper independently, free from the fear of war and uncertainty, Osmani said. LAPORTE A 15-year-old LaPorte boy died after the scooter he was riding collided with a school bus in the rain, LaPorte police said. The driver of the LaPorte Community School Corporation bus reportedly told police she was making a righthand turn around 4:14 p.m. Friday from eastbound South Avenue to Michigan Avenue when her vehicle was struck on the passenger side door by the child. The boy, identified by the county coroner's office as Julien Hernandez, was eastbound on the sidewalk along South Avenue on a scooter when he proceeded to cross Michigan Avenue as the bus was turning, police said. Contractors made off with $2 million in scrap metal thefts from U.S. Steel, Portage cops say Police said they received a report in August 2022 of the theft of a load of scrap metal from U.S. Steel, referred to as as slitter. LaPorte County Coroner Lynn Swanson said the boy died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head. The crash has been ruled an accident, she said. CENTER TOWNSHIP A local man told police that after his children left for school, he fell asleep and then was awakened by an unknown woman standing in his bedroom wrapped in a towel. The woman, later identified by Porter County police as Sarah Matern, 63, of Valparaiso, reportedly told the man she had been mugged and needed to wash the blood off herself. Police said they checked the bathtub where the the woman washed and found no sign of blood. Matern was taken taken to the Porter County Jail and faces a felony count of residential entry. She is accused of entering the home in the 200 W. block of County road 500 North shortly before 10 a.m. Friday, police said. Contractors made off with $2 million in scrap metal thefts from U.S. Steel, Portage cops say Police said they received a report in August 2022 of the theft of a load of scrap metal from U.S. Steel, referred to as as slitter. The man said he told Matern to get dressed and then called 911. He said he does not know Matern and never gave her permission to enter his home. Matern said she had been walking down Ind. 149 when an unknown man mugged her, police said. Region woman shot by boyfriend during argument, police say Anyone with information about the incident is encouraged to contact detective Olivia Vasquez at 219-881-1210. "She could not describe the male and stated she didn't see who it was," according to the arrest report. Matern reportedly told police "Spongebob Harper" told her the residence was abandoned and she could shower there. Police said the only injury they found on the woman was a minor scrape on her knee. CHICAGO A federal investigation has been opened into Saturday's stabbing death of 6-year-old Muslim boy and attack on his mother, the Chicago office of the FBI announced. Wadea Al-Fayoume was killed and his mother, Hanaan Shahin, 32, was seriously injured at their home in Plainfield, Illinois. Joseph Czuba, 71, of Plainfield, has been charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crimes and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, according to police. Police allege he singled out the victims because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas. The Will County Sheriff's Office said they were called out around 11:38 a.m. Saturday to a home along S. Lincoln Highway after a woman called 911 to report her landlord attacked her with a knife. "The female victim stated that she ran into the bathroom and continued to fight off her attacker as she dialed 911." Police said they arrived and found Czuba sitting upright outside on the ground near the driveway of the residence. He had a cut to his forehead and taken to an area hospital for treatment. "Deputies located two victims inside the residence in a bedroom," police said. "Both victims had multiple stab wounds to their chest, torso, and upper extremities." Region middle school student pulled from class, questioned about rumor of threats, cops say The action was taken after students at the school notified the building's resource officer Thursday of the rumored threats. The woman and child were taken to the hospital and the boy was found to have 26 dozen stab wounds to his body, police said. He later died as a result of his injuries. "The knife used in this attack is a twelve-inch serrated military style knife that has a seven-inch blade," police said. Shahin had over a dozen stab wounds to her body and is expected to survive, according to police. Trial delayed for shooting death case waived from Porter County juvenile court The accused, who allegedly shot and killed Andrew Lenahan on Oct. 14, 2022 when she was 17, was waived from juvenile to adult court. The federal investigation is being conducted by the FBI, the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois. "Federal authorities continue to work closely with local officials from Will County Sheriff's Office and Will County State's Attorney's Office," the FBI said. "The FBI takes the investigation of hate crimes extremely seriously and encourages members of the community with information regarding this incident - or other potential hate crimes - to contact us at 1-800-CALL-FBI." Gas prices have now fallen below $3 a gallon in nine states. The cost of filling up one's ride continued to fall in much of Northwest Indiana last week but rose by an average of 10 cents per gallon in Lake County, the most populous county. The average price of gas in the Gary metro area, which encompasses most of Northwest Indiana, was $3.41 a gallon Monday, down from $3.84 a month ago and $4.23 a year ago, according to AAA. It was however up from $3.34 a week ago. Gas cost an average of $3.33 in Indiana on Monday, down from $3.43 a week ago and $4.08 a year ago, AAA reported. The average price in neighboring Illinois was $3.61 a gallon Monday, down from $3.68 a gallon a week ago and down from $4.33 a gallon a year ago. As long as this war does not spread to include more countries in the region, the effect on the oil market will remain muted, said Molly Hart, spokeswoman for AAA The Auto Club Group. Here in the US, there are now nine states with some county gas averages below $3 a gallon, and this number will likely increase in the coming weeks. West Texas intermediate crude oil fell 8 cents to $87.61 a barrel Monday, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Brent crude oil fell 25 cents to $90.64 per barrel. As of Monday, gas cost an average of $3.40 per gallon in Lake County, $3.77 a gallon in Porter County and $3.36 in LaPorte County, according to GasBuddy.com. The average price of gas was $3.34 in Newton County, $3.41 in Jasper County and $3.32 in Pulaski and Starke counties. Gas prices in the greater Chicago metropolitan area averaged $3.71 per gallon Monday, including an average of $4.00 within city limits, according to AAA. Nationally, gas prices fell by 11.3 cents per gallon to $3.55 last week, falling in every state, Gasbuddy.com estimates. Retail gasoline demand rose 0.5% last week, according to GasBuddy.com. Utilization at refineries like those in Whiting and Joliet, Illinois, fell to 85.7% that suggests an active off-season as refineries tackle more maintenance projects, according to Gasbuddy.com. Refineries have switched back to the cheaper winter blend after producing the more expensive summer blend meant to cut down on air pollution during the hotter summer months in major metropolitan areas like Chicagoland. The downward momentum has indeed gained steam, with the national average declining over the last week with again virtually every village, town, city, region, and state seeing gasoline prices fall with the added bonus that diesel prices have also declined. While the price of oil jumped some 5% last week, I remain steadfast that additional declines are coming to gasoline prices the way the situation stands now but remain cautious that this depends on actions that are not foreseeable, mainly the conflict in the Middle East, said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. The national average is likely to fall to the lowest level in six months. "Some areas of the Great Lakes could see a price cycle in the next few weeks, which is typical after long declines as stations often pass along the drops there faster than anywhere else," he said. "I believe the national average still has some 15-35 cents of declining to do the way things stand now. U.S. Rep. Frank J. Mrvan, D-Highland, has nearly $600,000 available to spend in his bid next year for a third term representing the residents of Lake, Porter and northwest LaPorte counties in the U.S. House. According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Mrvan raised $326,661.80 for his reelection campaign during the third quarter federal reporting period that ran from July through September. After deducting $155,697.48 in quarterly expenses and adding the difference to his prior bank balance, Mrvan's campaign had on Sept. 30 a total of $586,674.04 cash on hand, according to the FEC. In comparison, FEC reports show Mrvan had just $189,317.02 cash on hand at the end of the third quarter in 2021 a relatively low bank balance for an incumbent that prompted national Republican organizations to consider Mrvan vulnerable, and ultimately set off the most expensive campaign in the history of Indiana's 1st Congressional District. Mrvan's 5.6% margin of victory last year over Republican Jennifer-Ruth Green, while closer than many recent Northwest Indiana congressional contests, nevertheless continued an unbroken streak of Democratic control of the district dating back to 1931. The most prominent Republican seeking to challenge Mrvan next year, Lake County Councilman Randy Niemeyer, R-Cedar Lake, did not raise any money during the third quarter because he only entered the race Oct. 1 after the reporting period had ended, records show. Meanwhile, in the 4th Congressional District, which includes Newton and Jasper counties in Northwest Indiana, Republican challenger Charles Bookwalter collected $84,885.89 during the third quarter, compared to the $50,402 raised by U.S. Rep. Jim Baird, R-Greencastle. Bookwalter's fundraising advantage over Baird primarily was due to a $35,000 loan from the candidate to his campaign, on top of an additional $25,000 Bookwalter loaned to his campaign during the second quarter, FEC records show. Baird still leads Bookwalter for cash on hand with $342,360.45 available to spend prior to the May 7, 2024, Republican primary election, compared to $93,785.11 cash on hand for Bookwalter. Records show Baird also has $170,000 in debt remaining from his 2018 campaign. In the 2nd Congressional District, which includes portions of LaPorte County, U.S. Rep. Rudy Yakym, R-Granger, reported raising $344,244.58 during the third quarter and has $342,021.50 cash on hand. Yakym, who was elected to succeed U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Elkhart, following her August 2022 death in a car crash, currently is unopposed in both the GOP primary and the Nov. 5, 2024, general election, records show. 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 SCHERERVILLE After decades of preparation, plans to bring retail and condos to Schererville's downtown are finally within reach. Schererville has been gradually buying parcels of land located directly west of the Town Hall for about 20 years. Andy Hansen, Schererville's director of operations, said the town didn't use eminent domain for the project, instead opting to buy the largely residential parcels as they went up for sale. About a year ago the town closed on the sixth and final parcel. Now the entire block is ready for business. Last week the town released a Request for Proposals, or RFP, for the property. The land included in the RFP is just over an acre and is bounded by Risch Drive to the north, Mary Street to the east, Joliet Street to the south and Francisca Street to the west. Schererville Town Councilman and Redevelopment Commission President Kevin Connelly, R-2nd, said the town is looking for a project that will feature retail and restaurants topped with high-end condos. The mixed-use development is part of Schererville's larger efforts to create more of an "actual downtown," Hansen explained. During a 2022 interview with the Times, former Town Manager Bob Volkmann said the town began buying properties along Joliet Street to build the Police Department and the Town Hall in the late 1990s. Hansen said the town has also landscaped the downtown area, added decorative lighting and redone many of the surrounding streets. Last January, the Schererville Town Council unanimously approved a resolution outlining the boundaries of a downtown riverfront district. In Indiana, municipalities can create riverfront districts to obtain more liquor licenses. All cities and towns are allotted liquor licenses based on population; once a community is out of licenses, the only way to obtain one is to buy it from another business. Licenses sold at auction can cost as much as $400,000. All of Schererville's liquor licenses have been claimed. Though the proposed downtown riverfront district has not gone to the state for final approval yet, Hansen said the current district map follows the Schererville Ditch, stretching from Joliet Street to just past the Schererville Public Works building, 540 Kaeser Blvd. Connelly said he hopes the mixed-use development will bring more exposure to the downtown. With the recent completion of the Pennsy Greenway bike trail and the upcoming expansion of Kennedy Avenue, Connelly said the downtown will likely attract more visitors in the coming years. Hansen said having a strong downtown can help residents feel more invested in their community because there is "a core where everything happens." To pick up an RFP packet, visit the Schererville Town Hall at 10 E. Joliet St. or go to schererville.org. GALLERY: Schererville Family YMCA undergoes expansion Crossroads YMCA is completing construction on the new Schererville location. Crossroads YMCA is completing construction on the new Schererville location. Crossroads YMCA is completing construction on the new Schererville location. Crossroads YMCA is completing construction on the new Schererville location. Crossroads YMCA is completing construction on the new Schererville location. Crossroads YMCA is completing construction on the new Schererville location. Crossroads YMCA is completing construction on the new Schererville location. Crossroads YMCA is completing construction on the new Schererville location. Crossroads YMCA is completing construction on the new Schererville location. Crossroads YMCA is completing construction on the new Schererville location. Crossroads YMCA is completing construction on the new Schererville location. Gallery HTML code Imagine living in a foreign country without fully understanding the language, forced to learn all new surroundings and not knowing anyone. Now imagine doing this while being immersed in the pressure-cooker, fishbowl experience of high school. This is whats taking place this school year for 10 international exchange students from different countries around the world who are now living in Northwest Indiana. Todays column is the first in a series on these students as I shadow them through their school year and share their experiences; everything from meeting new friends and missing their families to learning American pop culture and enjoying White Castle sliders. Our story begins at a Pizza Hut in Valparaiso where the students met for orientation with their host families and prepared their own personal pan pizzas. Watch a video and view more photos at the online version of this column. The teenagers converged in the restaurants kitchen to select their preferred toppings, just as they will do for the next 10 months by attempting to find just the right ingredients for their new lives. My first day of school was very stressful, said Clara Koehler, who relocated to this Region from France. I did not know anyone, I did not know any of my teachers, none of the students, no one. Also, I did not speak English very well either so it was complicated for me to understand what the others were saying. The only person she knew at Tri-Township Schools in Wanatah was her new host mother, Jennifer Abernathy, who teaches there. Clara is such a sweet, kind and polite young lady, she said. For almost two years, she and her husband contemplated the idea of hosting an exchange student. As a teacher, she enjoyed meeting several exchange students at her school before being approached by another host family about housing a foreign-born student. My husband and I decided to give it a try. We are so happy we did, Abernathy said. As a child, she had pen pals from other countries and was always interested in learning about different cultures, customs and ways of life. Since Clara moved into her home, and her life, her pen pal history played out many years later. The two work out together at a gym, attend painting classes and enjoy local concerts. Our children have had the pleasure of meeting Clara and spending time with her, Abernathy said. Another exchange student, Filippo Ventura of Italy, made his way through the Pizza Hut kitchen to slide his personal pizza into the oven. He chatted with the other students at a table as they waited to eat dinner. His host parent, Derrick Deck, is a deputy sheriff police officer in LaPorte County. It has been a blast so far, he told me. Last year, Deck was approached by his friend, Michael Gill, an area representative for International Student Exchange, the program that facilitates these students and host families. I declined because I had a lot going on that school year, said Deck, a part-time school resource officer who was preparing to open his family business, a 7-Eleven store in LaPorte. This past summer, Gill asked Deck again if he would be a host family. Things had come together in my professional life, so I told him that I would be ready to do it this go round. I am very pleased I made that decision, Deck said. By early July, Deck selected Filippo as his student and their families began communicating via WhatsApp. We spent a lot of time communicating so that he would feel like a member of the family before ever leaving Italy, Deck said. On the 4th of July, he shared several videos of a traditional American 4th of July parade. Filippo became more and more excited, wishing he was already here with us, Deck said. Fortunately, Deck had a road trip vacation scheduled for the end of July and Filippo's parents were willing to have him tag along before the school year started at South Central High School in Union Mills. On July 26, Filippo landed at O'Hare International Airport after a 10-hour flight and a few hours of delays. By 10 a.m. the next day he was in Decks truck and on their way heading west across the country. During that road trip, Filippo was introduced to Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska and Iowa. At Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas, Filippo spray-painted cars, the first of many cultural shocks he will experience. And he went for it, Deck said. Jennifer Miller, regional manager for the ISE program, helped guide the exchange students through the orientation process at Pizza Hut. Shes also been a host mother for six students through the years. We bring kids together every year for orientation but this is a brand new experience for this program, she said. Its a great opportunity for the students to learn about a traditional American experience - making a pizza. The students traveled from many different countries including Spain, the Netherlands, Brazil, the Czech Republic and Germany. Theyre now living in Porter and LaPorte counties, navigating their way through new homes, schools, friends and cultural experiences. Fillo is very smart, he works hard with studying and is getting very good grades in school, Deck said. His English is good and is improving each day. My Italian is gross but getting better. Abernathy said Clara has already made friends here and helps her host parents learn how to speak French. Occasionally, we speak to her parents through Zoom, Abernathy said. We are certain the next nine months will be a great learning experience for all of us. Clara has been warmly accepted by students and by Americans, she said. Most Americans are very friendly, she said. Everyone is kind. You speak to each other even if you don't know them. I am not really used to that because in my country people are kind of mistrustful. It's just our culture. After a leery start at school, shes now walking through the halls with a smile on her face. Its something that did not often happen when I was in France, Clara said. An expert panel on Friday endorsed a sweeping set of proposed changes to the federal governments program for regulating experiments that involve tinkering with risky viruses and other pathogens. The move sets the stage for a closely watched decision by the Biden administration about its approach to protecting against lab disasters that could kick off a pandemic. The experts unanimously approved draft recommendations that, among other things, ask health officials to extend their oversight to less dangerous pathogens, including ones similar to the coronavirus. They also recommended an end to exemptions for research related to vaccine development and surveillance of emerging viruses. We have a lot of oversight on paper, but not really a lot of oversight, said Dr. Kenneth Bernard, a retired rear admiral and a member of the expert panel, making the case for the proposed changes, which will still receive some slight modifications. The proposals have added to the momentum in Washington for tightening government oversight of studies of dangerous pathogens. The story of the hunt for Covids origin is partly about the stonewalling by China that has left scientists with incomplete evidence, all of it about a virus that is constantly changing. For all the data suggesting that the virus may have jumped into people from wild animals at a Chinese market, conclusive proof remains out of reach, as it does for the competing hypothesis that the virus leaked from a lab. But the story is also about politics and how both Democrats and Republicans have filtered the available evidence through their partisan lenses. Some Republicans grew fixated on the idea of a lab leak after former President Donald J. Trump raised it in the early months of the pandemic despite scant evidence supporting it. That turned the theory toxic for many Democrats, who viewed it as an effort by Mr. Trump to distract from his administrations failings in containing the spread of the virus. The intense political debate, now in its fourth year, has at times turned scientists into lobbyists, competing for policymakers time and favor. Dr. Relman is just one of several researchers and like-minded thinkers who has successfully worked the corridors of power in Washington to force journalists, policymakers and skeptical Democrats to take the lab leak idea seriously. The company has denied these claims. Rite Aid, which has more than 45,000 employees, has struggled in recent years to compete against larger peers like CVS and Walgreens Boots Alliance, as well as Amazon. Deteriorating sales left the company with less money to invest in its businesses, and more difficulty in paying back its debt. As of June, according to company filings, it had $3.3 billion in debt, not counting the pending opioid litigation. Rite Aids stock has fallen nearly 80 percent since the start of the year. That array of problems has created just kind of the perfect storm, said Sarah Foss, the global head of legal and restructuring at the financial services company Debtwire. I think Chapter 11 is really the only option for somebody like a Rite Aid to get all of this settled. On a basic level, what bankruptcy does is it allows you to settle it all in one forum. Rite Aid has closed several stores in recent months and has been preparing to close hundreds more. The shrinking of the company has made it even harder to compete. Because they closed so many stores, if you happen to need something, you might not necessarily have a Rite Aid next to you, so youre going to go to a competitor, said Chedly Louis, a vice president at Moodys Investors Service, who follows Rite Aid. So thats another reason why youve got weakness. Mr. Stein, the companys new head, said his focus would be to steer the company through the bankruptcy process, when it will be able to trim debt, close some stores and deal with the opioid litigation. Mr. Stein said he hoped to help the chain reach its full potential as a modern neighborhood pharmacy. Kuleba: If we want to save OSCE, Russia should be kicked off organization and Europe Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba has once again stressed the necessity to expel Russia from the OSCE, adding that Russia is the biggest threat to security and cooperation in Europe. "Moscow has actually taken the OSCE hostage through manipulating the principle of consensus and thus destroying the organization from inside. Bujar is chairing the OSCE in a very difficult time and he does this in a very professional and devoted manner, which we in Ukraine, and the other OSCE member states, appreciate," he said at a joint press conference with OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani in Kyiv on Monday. The Ukrainian minister once again stressed that Russia does not need security and cooperation in Europe, adding that the aggressor country aspires for chaos and destabilization. "You know the OSCE is an organization for security and cooperation in Ukraine, but today Russia is the biggest threat to security and cooperation in Europe. It aspires for chaos, destabilization, and today I have reaffirmed my position that if we want to save the OSCE, save security and cooperation in Europe, we should kick Russia off the OSCE and Europe. That would be better for everyone," he said. According to Kuleba, everything Russia does in the OSCE today is killing the organization. "I can easily imagine the OSCE without Russia. Although, of course, the path to this with be painful. It is like a treatment for a disease: sometimes it is painful, but it is necessary to go through it for survival and a healthy life. We can already see the contours inside a new OSCE when Russia blocks one or another decision and the member states find a way to bypass Russia's veto," he said. The minister said this also concerns the functioning of the OSCE Project Coordinator in Ukraine and other issues. "Thus, the situation in the OSCE is very difficult, very painful, but the choice is very simple: either a slow death with Russia, or a new life without it. I adhere to this position, despite the fact that some of our friends in the OSCE throw up their hands and say 'We can't do anything because of the principle of consensus'," Kuleba said. According to him, "when it comes to a matter of life and death, we all must make a choice." President Biden warned Israel in an interview aired on Sunday not to reoccupy Gaza, his first significant public effort to restrain Americas ally in the wake of the Hamas assault that killed more than 1,300 people, including at least 29 Americans. Mr. Biden has offered staunch support for Israel since the Oct. 7 attack and refused to criticize Israel for its retaliatory siege of Gaza, the coastal enclave controlled by Hamas, even as U.N. officials have warned of a humanitarian crisis there. But in the new interview, he cautioned against a full-scale occupation of Gaza. I think itd be a big mistake, Mr. Biden told 60 Minutes on CBS in a conversation taped on Thursday and aired on Sunday night. Look, what happened in Gaza, in my view, is Hamas and the extreme elements of Hamas dont represent all the Palestinian people. And I think that it would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza again. But taking out the extremists there, he added, is a necessary requirement. The presidents comments came as he was considering whether to visit Israel in the coming days to demonstrate solidarity with Israelis still reeling from the Hamas attack. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu extended the invitation to the president over the weekend, according to an administration official, confirming a report on Israeli television, but Mr. Biden has not decided yet whether to go at this time. Among the starkest revelations of the filings on Sunday was the state of Gov. Ron DeSantiss campaign, which spent almost every dollar it raised in the third quarter. Even after he pared back his campaign staff and made an aggressive fund-raising push, his campaign entered October with unpaid bills, and with cash on hand that was barely above that of former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey. There were also warning signs for former Vice President Mike Pence, whose campaign appeared to be running perilously low on cash, and for Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, whose campaign spent more than twice what it took in, eating into the large war chest he had at the outset of his campaign. The filings offer only a partial view of 2024 candidates finances. Super PACs, which can raise and spend unlimited amounts, do not have to release their next reports until Jan. 31. Similarly, joint fund-raising committees, which several of the candidates use as their main fund-raising platforms, did not have to file on Sunday. Here are six takeaways on what the filings say about next years elections for president and Senate. Trump has a clear edge but its full scope is unclear. Mr. Trumps campaign committee reported receiving $24.5 million in the third quarter, which includes July, August and September. The vast majority of that cash was transferred from a joint fund-raising committee through which he primarily raises money. The Air Force is similarly rushing more warplanes to the region, doubling the number of F-16, A-10 and F-15 squadrons on the ground. Combined with the four squadrons of F/A-18 jets aboard each of the two carriers, the United States will have an aerial armada of more than 100 attack planes, according to military officials. The Pentagon has also sent a small team of Special Operations forces to Israel to assist with intelligence and planning to help locate and rescue the hostages held by Hamas, who are believed to include some Americans. Israel has historically resisted foreign ground troops participating in operations on its territory, and White House officials have said they are not contemplating any action on the ground by American forces. But if Hezbollah opens a major assault, the United States could come to Israels aid by using naval and air units to bombard the militia in Lebanon. Moving the two carriers into the region sends a very strong signal, Gen. Frank McKenzie, the retired commander of the U.S. Central Command, said on Face the Nation. There is ample historical evidence that Iran respects the flow of combat forces into the theater. It does affect their decision calculus. And as Irans decision calculus is affected, so is Lebanese Hezbollahs calculus affected. Still, an Iranian close to the government said the U.S. diplomatic messages sent through intermediaries indicated that the United States had no intention to get into a war with Iran and that the warships were meant for moral support of Israel. That may suggest a difference in interpretation. American officials said they do not want war with Iran but were explicitly sending the military forces to deter Tehran with the option of using them if provoked. The Biden administration is pushing for Congress to take up an emergency assistance package that would pair support for Ukraine and Israel, according to a senior White House official and multiple lawmakers. The president has made clear that he is going to go to Congress with a package of funding for Ukraine as well as continued support for Israel, Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, said Sunday on CBSs Face the Nation. Last month, Congress let lapse the emergency funds it had been sending to Ukraine for its war with Russia, amid dwindling Republican support for such assistance. In contrast, Hamass deadly raid last weekend prompted a sweeping bipartisan outcry for similar assistance to Israel. The decision to tie aid for Ukraine to aid for Israel reflects the urgency of both conflicts and a calculation that Republicans who would otherwise be loath to send more money to Ukraine may feel bound to approve such a package to support Israel. Speaking in Tel Aviv on Sunday, Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, promised to put an aid package to a floor vote in the next few weeks. With network, cable and streaming, the modern television landscape is a vast one. Here are some of the shows, specials and movies coming to TV this week, Oct. 16-Oct. 22. Details and times are subject to change. Monday THE AMERICAN BUFFALO 8 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). Ken Burns is back with another documentary this time, its a two-part series on buffaloes and their evolution, reaching back to the early 1800s. Stories from Indigenous people frame the film with accounts of the mutually beneficial relationship their communities had with the animals. FBOY ISLAND 8 p.m. on The CW. Katie Thurston might not have found love during her stint as The Bachelorette, but shell get another shot on this new reality series. Thurston will be joined by the model Hali Okeowo, and the influencer Daniella Grace as they date 25 men some of whom are nice guys. It is not entirely clear how someone wins the cash prize on this show (which asks the eternal question: Is it better to be a nice guy or the wilder kind?), but there is no doubt that itll be as messy as a car crash you cannot look away from. I dont think there is any way of discussing Teju Coles aesthetic without putting front and center this idea of his relentless inventiveness, the writer Amitava Kumar wrote by email. I have read Open City a dozen times and discover new things to like every time, not least because, just like life, the novel surprises you. Words used to describe the jazz pianist Thelonious Monk, Kumar said, could equally apply to Cole: angular, oblique and as fractured as a Cubist painting. In conversation, Cole comes across as warm and deeply thoughtful. Before we began our interview, he reached over to clean my glasses. There, now its going to be like a whole new world, he said, beaming. Cole calls his new novel a reiteration of my faith in fiction. But it didnt come easily or quickly. After Open City, Cole began to conceive of a big work of nonfiction on Lagos, his hometown, in the vein of Suketu Mehtas book Maximum City, about Mumbai. (Cole, who often borrows from his own biography in his books, was born in Kalamazoo, Mich. and raised in Nigeria. He returned to the United States for college, studying medicine before abandoning it for art history and pursuing a writing career.) But with his latest project, he wondered if he was on the right path. Life is about self-recognition, he said. Immersive and comprehensive it turns out thats not me. I think I had to realize that what I have to offer is something else, closer to the bone and more personal. Biden weighs a visit to Israel President Biden is considering a trip to Israel in the coming days to demonstrate American solidarity. The trip would be a remarkable gamble and could tie Biden and the U.S. to bloodshed in Gaza. The extraordinary invitation to Biden from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came as Israelis learned more about the attacks by Hamas that killed more than 1,400 people on Oct. 7. The Israeli military now believes the group took 199 people hostage, it said, nearly 50 more than previously thought. This will be a long war, Israels defense minister, Yoav Gallant, said after meeting with Antony Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, in Tel Aviv. The price will be high, but we are going to win for Israel, for the Jewish people and for the values that both countries believe in. Israel has conducted hundreds of airstrikes, which continued yesterday ahead of a widely expected ground assault. The strikes are exacting a growing toll on Gaza, where two million people are facing dwindling supplies of food, water, medical supplies and fuel. The monthlong strike by the United Automobile Workers and the unions demands for substantial pay and benefits increases risk damaging the U.S. auto industry, hurting its ability to compete against nonunion foreign rivals, the executive chairman of Ford Motor said on Monday. The fight should not be seen as the U.A.W. against Ford, or its crosstown rivals, General Motors and Stellantis, said William C. Ford Jr., the great-grandson of the companys founder Henry Ford, noting that at times U.A.W. officials have referred to the automakers as the unions enemy. It should be Ford and the U.A.W. against Toyota, Honda, Tesla and all the Chinese companies that want to enter our home market, Mr. Ford said at the companys Rouge plant in Dearborn, Mich. Toyota, Honda, Tesla and the others are loving the strike, because they know the longer it goes on, the better it is for them, the executive chairman said. They will win, and all of us will lose. Architects and companies are trying out solutions. New windows at the Javits Center, a convention space in Midtown Manhattan, are set with patterns that make them more visible to birds, and deaths have declined by 90 percent. Since most crashes happen within 100 feet of the ground, skyscrapers are advised to treat only the first 10 or so stories. Advocates in cities across the country, meanwhile, are keeping up the pressure by counting the dead and posting photos on social media. The move at Circa wasnt a shoo-in. After all, to make existing glass bird-friendly, youre spending money on something that could interfere with your views. How much it interferes is a matter of debate. The dot stickers chosen by Circas residents are translucent but still visible, especially at certain angles or against certain backgrounds. One resident who was not involved on either side and declined to be quoted estimated that the building was split more or less evenly between those for and against the endeavor. But James Levy, the president of the condo board, said there was broad consensus for the first phase: treating all the glass and clear railings surrounding the courtyard, where most of the buildings bird strikes occur. Thats almost done, at a cost of about $60,000. A revolution in the way Americans eat salmon is quietly being fomented inside a former factory building on the industrial edges of Auburn, a small city in the Finger Lakes region of New York. At LocalCoho, one of the countrys few sustainable salmon farms, 50,000 silvery coho salmon glide through concrete tanks filled with freshwater that recirculates through biofilters every half-hour. To mimic a marine environment, the lights are kept a dim, deep aqua blue that makes the salmon seem to glow. In this eerie twilight, Andre Bravo, the chief operating officer, has carefully tended these fish since they first arrived, as a mound of glistening orange roe large enough to top a thousand blini if they hadnt been destined for piscine adulthood. It takes them 18 months to reach full size about 6 pounds at which point they can be sold to high-end restaurants and retailers like FreshDirect, where fillets sell for about $17 a pound. OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Foreign Minister of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani, who is visiting Kyiv on Monday, called Russia's aggressive war against Ukraine the most pressing challenge that needs to be tackled. Osmani said, at a joint press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, he came to Kyiv to confirm his unwavering support for the people of Ukraine. The OSCE Chairman said he was inspired by the Ukrainian people's resilience and expressed confidence that Ukraine will win. Osmani also called on Russia to stop this war, withdraw its troops from Ukraine, reaffirm its commitment to the principles and values of the OSCE and return to diplomacy. While the whole world is witnessing conflicts, unrest, and humanitarian crises, Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine is the most pressing challenge we must addressed, he said. Osmani stressed that the continuation of the war not only destroys life in Ukraine, but also creates a state of instability throughout the OSCE region and beyond, and this must stop. He also said the OSCE, as a recognized center for joint security, has also been seriously damaged. There are signals that some would like to see the OSCE's hands tied in order to question its relevance and functioning. Osmani said that the organization is showing resilience to various problems and challenges. At the same time, he said, there are several critical issues that, if not addressed urgently, could disrupt the core functions of the OSCE, which could undermine the OSCE's core mission to protect people. Osmani called on all OSCE member states to maintain their commitment to the organization and its values. The word paragon has appeared in 47 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Sept. 29 in the obituary Dianne Feinstein, 90, Dies; Oldest Sitting Senator and Fixture of California Politics by Robert D. McFadden: Dianne Feinstein, the grande dame of California Democrats who became the mayor of San Francisco after a horrific double assassination at City Hall in 1978 and then gained national stature as an influential voice in the United States Senate for more than 30 years, died on Thursday night at her home in Washington. She was 90 and the Senates oldest member. To constituents and to a nation drawn to the story of her often difficult life, Ms. Feinstein seemed a paragon of dignity in conservative suits, perfectly coiffured and as regal as Queen Elizabeth II when the two met in San Francisco. But the resolute face was lined with hardships: a childhood of abuse by a mentally unstable and alcoholic mother, a painful divorce that left her a young single parent, and the deaths of her father and her second husband after lingering struggles with cancer. Daily Word Challenge Can you correctly use the word paragon in a sentence? Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using todays Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the words definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun. Then, read some of the other sentences students have submitted and use the Recommend button to vote for two original sentences that stand out to you. If you want a better idea of how paragon can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com. A very good ancient calculation of the distance to the moon, attributed to Hipparchus, the greatest astronomer of the ancient world, is based on a refined geometric argument that starts with the question What would I see if I went to the tip of the Earths shadow cone? Hipparchus imagined himself down there, thousands of miles from the Earth, in interplanetary space, looking back and watching the Earth exactly cover the sun. Again, he was seeing with the minds eye. Copernicus looked at the solar system as you would see it from the sun. Johannes Kepler wrote The Dream, in which the narrator says he flew to the moon with his mother, and describes how the sky looks from there, with a spinning Earth staying still in the sky. Einstein wondered what he would see if he could ride a ray of light. How could these people see from a place they had not been to? Anaximander did not soar with eagles, Kepler did not fly to the moon on a broomstick and Einstein did not ride a ray of light. How can we see from somewhere that we cannot actually reach? I think that the answer is to grope for a delicate balance a balance between how much of our previously accrued learning we take with us and how much we leave at home, freeing ourselves to reconsider what we think we know. On the one hand, what we carry with us allows us to know what to expect. To know what to expect in the black hole, we can use the equations of Einstein, which predict its geometry. Einstein used the equations of James Clerk Maxwell, which describe how light behaves. Kepler used Copernicuss book, On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres. These are the maps, the rules, the generalities that we trust in because they have worked so well. And yet, we know that we must leave something behind. Anaximander left at home the idea that all things fall in the same direction: For the Earth itself not to fall, falling must be different than what we thought. Kepler left at home the idea that things move in circles, which seems so natural. Einstein left behind the idea that all clocks tick in tune with each other, which still seems obvious to many of us, and yet is wrong. If we leave too many things at home, we lack the tools needed to forge ahead; if we take too many, we fail to find the paths to new understanding. There are no recipes for success. There is only trial and error. Trying and trying again. They have plenty of evidence to point to. In December 2016, Donald Trump became the first U.S. president or president-elect since the normalization of China-U.S. relations in 1979 to speak directly with a Taiwanese leader, when Ms. Tsai called to congratulate him on his election victory. President Biden has, on four occasions, contradicted the U.S. policy of ambiguity by saying we would support Taiwan militarily if China attacked. The number of U.S. Congress members visiting Taiwan which China views as overt support for the islands independence reached a decade high last year, including an August 2022 trip by Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House at the time and the highest-ranking U.S. official travel to Taiwan since the 1990s. That has continued this year: In June a nine-member congressional delegation, the largest in years, arrived in Taipei. Provocative legislation has not helped. Last year the Taiwan Policy Act, which articulated support for Taiwans role in international organizations, was introduced in the Senate, and in July of this year the House passed a similar act. House Republicans introduced a motion in January to recognize Taiwan as an independent country. Actions like these put great pressure on Mr. Xi, who wont tolerate going down in history as the Chinese leader to have lost Taiwan. That would be seen in Beijing as an existential threat, potentially fueling separatist sentiment in restive regions like Tibet and Xinjiang. For now, lingering doubts over Chinese military capabilities and the specter of U.S. and allied retaliation are enough to restrain Mr. Xi. But if he concludes that the United States has broken, once and for all, from its previous position on Taiwan and is bent on thwarting unification, he may feel that he must act militarily. The United States might be able to build the necessary military power in the region to deter a Chinese war of choice. But the level of dominance needed to stop Mr. Xi from launching a war he sees as necessary might be impossible to achieve. Reassuring China would require Mr. Biden to reiterate that the United States does not support Taiwanese independence or oppose the islands peaceful unification with China and that, ultimately, Taiwans fate is up to Taipei and Beijing. It would mean moving away from attempts to create international space for Taiwan and chastising Beijing when it pulls away Taipeis diplomatic partners. The White House would also need to use what leverage it has to discourage members of Congress from visiting Taiwan and threaten to veto provocative legislation. The self-defeating mind-set that took hold in the United States not long after Iraqs occupation was that the decision to invade Iraq was an original sin something so wrong that it could never have come out better than it did. That mentality is damaging because it cuts off any serious effort to understand what went wrong and why. The label of forever wars that has been firmly attached to Americas wars in Iraq and Afghanistan fails to acknowledge that poor planning and scant resources will always fail to secure postwar peace. It astounds me that anyone could be surprised by this. But the lessons of postwar Germany and Japan that led to their prosperous democracies today, including well-resourced physical and political reconstruction and the time to succeed, were utterly misunderstood and misapplied by Washington in 2003 and 2004. Israel has faced its own forever war since 1948. Poor planning and scant resources are also your enemy. Just as Iraqis rightly told us before the 2003 invasion that Iraq is not Afghanistan, Gaza is neither Iraq nor Afghanistan. Factors unique to Gaza, such as decades of Hamass anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish propaganda and Israels treatment of Gazan civilians since 1967, will make both physical and political rebuilding especially challenging to Israel and even more challenging than southern Lebanon was to Israel from 1985 to 2000. The deep-seated hatred that many Gazans have for Israel today has no parallel to what U.S. forces faced entering Kabul or Baghdad. Anything Israel touches in a post-Hamas polity in Gaza risks becoming toxic; you must plan for this. Your plans need to understand what Gaza needs and to recognize that the government of Israel may not be the best means to deliver that. Plan for the length of time you will need to bring about the fundamental changes that will break the cycle of violence Israel and Gaza have inflicted on each other over the past 50-plus years not the time politicians think you will need. One reason the State Departments best postwar plan for Iraq, which has still never been made public, was rejected by the White House was that Pentagon officials argued that a three-year timeline was too long. Decision makers opted for the siren song of one year or less and vastly inadequate physical or political reconstruction money, without regard for the reality that fast and cheap was doomed to fail. Instead, the United States expended more in blood and treasure from 2003 to 2011 and ended up strategically worse off than if a better postwar plan had been given the resources and time needed upfront. A repeat of Israels 15-year occupation of southern Lebanon is neither realistic nor desirable, but neither is the more recent pattern of quick ground incursions followed by withdrawals, or whats called mowing the grass. Finally, remember that military victory is an asset whose power decreases over time. If and when Israel succeeds in defeating Hamas, use that limited time wisely. What you decide to prioritize may be all you get done, so it has to lay the groundwork for constructive steps, not chaos, to follow. Recovery from disastrous decisions at the outset like the U.S. decisions to disband the Iraqi Army and to fire tens of thousands more Baath Party members than necessary from their government jobs, thus largely creating the Sunni insurgency is almost impossible. What should Israel do to ensure that an attack like the one launched by Hamas never happens again? I dont know right now. I just know that whatever the answer is, its not mobilizing 360,000 traumatized Israeli reservists to launch into an urban war in one of the most densely populated places in the world. This will crush the Israeli economy and its international standing. All these dilemmas must push Biden to sharpen his stance on the crisis. Biden must realize that Benjamin Netanyahu is unfit to manage this war as a rational player. After such a colossal defeat, the most powerful and unifying thing Netanyahu could have done was call new Israeli elections in six or nine months and announce that he would not be running; he is ending his career in politics, and therefore Israelis can trust that whatever decisions he makes about Gaza and Hamas now will have only the Israeli national interest in mind; he will not have in mind his own interest in staying out of jail on corruption charges, which requires his holding on to the right-wing crazies in his government (who actually fantasize about Israel reoccupying Gaza and rebuilding the Israeli settlements there) by chasing some big, short-term military victory that he can take to the Israeli electorate as a compensation for the debacle that just happened. As one of Israels best military writers, Amos Harel of Haaretz, wrote on Friday: There is an unusual combination of people at the top in Israel. On one hand, there is an unfit prime minister, a nearly Shakespearean figure who is facing the personal danger of an ignominious conclusion to an arguably brilliant career. Facing him are a military brass who are smitten and consumed with guilt feelings (and if only Netanyahu would bother displaying a smidgen of that). Thats not a perfect recipe for considered decision making. If Israel were to announce today that it has decided for now to forgo an invasion of Gaza and will look for more surgical means to eliminate or capture Hamass leadership while trying to engineer a trade for the more than 150 Israeli and other hostages whom Hamas is holding, it would not only avoid further traumatizing its own society, as well as Palestinian civilians in Gaza; it would also give Israel and its allies time to think through how to build with Palestinians a legitimate alternative to Hamas. Such a move would earn Israel a lot of support globally and enable the world to see Hamas for what it is: the ISIS of the Palestinian territories. In Gaza, mass death has already begun. Last week the defense minister, Yoav Gallant, announced that Israel was cutting off Gazas water, electricity, food and fuel. There was hopeful reporting over the weekend that at the urging of President Bidens administration, water to a town in Gazas south had been turned back on, but for many, drinking water is still unavailable. The Associated Press reported on Sunday that clean water has run out in U.N. shelters across Gaza. On Saturday, UNICEF reported that, according to local sources, more than 700 children in Gaza had been killed. The number by now is surely higher. Some readers, I suspect, will respond that while this is all terrible, it is also all Hamass fault. In many ways, I agree. Hamass terror is clearly the immediate cause of the hell raining down on Gaza; most countries attacked as Israel was attacked would respond with war. That does not, however, license Israeli indifference, or worse, to the lives of civilians. Israelis have a right to their rage; I imagine that if I were Israeli, I would share it. But incitement against Palestinians, the overwhelming majority of whom have nothing to do with Hamas terrorism, is leading us toward somewhere even darker than where we are right now. Influential voices in America are intensifying the bloodthirsty atmosphere. Appearing on Fox News Sunday, the Republican senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas dismissed worries that mass civilian casualties in Gaza will work to Hamass advantage on the world stage. As far as Im concerned, Israel can bounce the rubble in Gaza, he said. That phrase, bounce the rubble, is a reference to a Winston Churchill quote about apocalyptic military overkill. To Cottons right, the language is even more incendiary. If it comes down to ethnic cleansing you want to cleanse my people, Ill cleanse yours first, said Joel Pollak, a senior editor at large at Breitbart News, on the webcast of the leading young conservative Charlie Kirk. We can already see where the total dehumanization of Palestinians leads. This weekend, a 6-year-old boy in Illinois was allegedly stabbed to death by his landlord, who is also accused of gravely injuring the boys mother. According to the local sheriffs office, the victims were targeted due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis. If this is the atmosphere in parts of the United States, it is exponentially more fevered in Israel. On Monday morning I spoke to Diana Buttu, a Canadian Palestinian lawyer in Haifa who once served as a legal adviser for the Palestine Liberation Organization. I can understand what my grandmother felt in 1948 when she fled from a town near Nazareth, Buttu said. Because its a climate of total fear that youre next. And this isnt just in the Gaza Strip; its also spread to the West Bank. Already, according to Al Jazeera, at least 55 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed, some by soldiers and others by settlers. Haaretz reported that five Palestinians were shot dead by settlers in the village of Qusra. A message to the village on WhatsApp said, We have no red lines. Well punish you in order to make an example out of you. To the Editor: Re Behind Curtains, Tense Diplomacy to Curtail Siege (front page, Oct. 16): As a Jew and lifelong supporter of Israel, I am disappointed but not surprised at its plan to mount a major ground offensive in Gaza. Israel has every right to forcefully respond to Hamass brutal, unconscionable and inhumane attacks. But Israel may be engaging in its own form of barbarity. Stopping the supply of water, food and fuel, forcing Palestinians from their homes and starting a huge ground invasion are also profoundly wrong. Killing Palestinian civilians, including children, while hundreds or thousands of Israeli soldiers are also killed, solves nothing. Israel will lose international support. It will create another generation of terrorists. The war may expand to the West Bank and Lebanon. What will Israel have accomplished? A greater likelihood of peace? Far from it. I visited Zooms headquarters in September 2022. Scores of people were present, and the office was busy. Intrigued, I asked about Zooms work-from-home policy. I was told that many local employees were on a hybrid schedule, typically coming in a couple of days a week. Recently, Zoom formalized this. Employees living within 50 miles are required to work in the office twice a week. There is no requirement, however, for employees living more than 50 miles away. The headlines could have read Zoom confirms work-from-home three days a week for employees within 50 miles and five days for those outside 50 miles. But sadly, these types of subtleties are harder to get across. Companies like Amazon, Meta, Salesforce and Zoom discovered that many of their best performers love working from home and that enforcing a five-day-a-week return to the office would have meant culling their top talent. What about the future? Could a recession and a change in our historically tight job market give bosses the upper hand and roll back these gains? I doubt it. Indeed, in 10 years, remote work is likely to increase, driven by two powerful economic forces. First, U.S. data going back to the 1960s reveals a mere 0.4 percent of full days were worked from home in 1965. That doubled roughly every 15 years until 2019, driven by improving technology. First came personal computers in the 1980s, then laptops in the 1990s. The internet opened up more possibilities in the 2000s, followed by cloud file sharing and video calls in the 2010s. As one of four children of two working parents, I saw what working from home was like without a computer or the internet. My parents would sporadically have to work from home when there were child-care emergencies, and it was challenging. In the 1980s remote work required carrying loads of paperwork to and from the office, and it meant being excluded from meetings and decisions at work. Now we can Zoom in on laptops, share files via the cloud and easily connect with colleagues. This rate of technological progress is accelerating, as higher rates of remote working lead companies to develop ever better software and hardware. But critics say that fiddling with deadly viruses poses intolerable risks for the sake of only hazy public health benefits. Lab mishaps have happened, including in the United States. However small the odds of a lab-generated outbreak, a leak could be catastrophic. If political concerns are intensifying scrutiny of gain-of-function studies, those scientists say, the result is still a much-needed recalibration of the risks and benefits of such work. I think theres lots of good reason to try to remove politics from science, but I cant complain when what I regard as legitimate political criticism of certain kinds of science affects the judgment of funding agencies, said Marc Lipsitch, an epidemiologist at Harvard who has long questioned the benefits of disease-enhancing experiments. Ultimately, they are spending tax dollars. In the Covid pandemic, both sides of the debate have found powerful grist. The possibility that Covid emerged from a lab fueled appeals from biosafety proponents for a clampdown on experiments with even a remote chance of triggering a similar outcome. At the same time, studies suggesting that Covid spilled instead from an illegal animal market reinforced scientists fears of the dangerous mutations that viruses pick up in nature and the need to prepare for them with safer studies in a lab. The next threat may not be far off: A new bird flu variant known as H5N1 has felled many millions of birds globally, sporadically jumping into their handlers as it spreads. The rains were even more unusual for some parts of the state. This water year was the seventh wettest for downtown Los Angeles, the fifth wettest for Santa Barbara and the second wettest for Bishop, McEvoy told me. All that precipitation has replenished Californias lakes and groundwater supplies; the states reservoirs are currently at 128 percent of the average for this time of year, according to state data. The bounty was particularly welcome (and surprising) after three years of extreme drought, said Karla Nemeth, director of the California Department of Water Resources. This was as close to a miracle year as you can get, Nemeth said during a news conference this month. It wasnt only the record rainfall to be thankful for, she said, but that an unusually mild spring and summer had prevented all that snow from melting rapidly and causing extreme flooding, which was a major concern earlier in the year. The favorable weather has also probably helped quiet Californias fire season. So far, 317,191 acres have burned in California this year, compared with an average of 1.5 million by this point in the past five years. Especially helpful in Southern California were the summer rains from Hurricane Hilary, which brought a reprieve during what would otherwise have been peak fire season. So whats in store for the new water year? State water experts say its too early to know for certain whether well have another wet one, or return to drought conditions. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting with U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine's Economic Recovery Penny Pritzker, who is on a visit to Ukraine, the service of the head of state said. During the meeting, Zelenskyy thank expressed gratitude to President of the United States Joseph Biden, the Congress and the American people for providing powerful defense, financial, economic and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine to counteract full-scale Russian aggression. "Your visit is a signal of strong support. It is important for us to understand that the United States is ready to help Ukraine get through the winter and protect critical infrastructure," the president's press service said. Zelenskyy also said all of Ukraine's partners are well aware of the urgent need to strengthen our country's air defense system to protect cities, domestic export routes and critical infrastructure. The parties also discussed the issue of ensuring macro-financial stability in 2024 and the topic of restoration of Ukraine. "The recovery of Ukraine despite the ongoing Russian aggression is a priority, as it allows us to provide the necessary conditions for the struggle and victory of our state," the head of the Ukrainian state said. He also said reconstruction projects require private investment. Therefore, the Ukrainian side is counting on the active involvement of American business in long-term projects in the most promising sectors of the Ukrainian economy, such as agriculture, engineering, chemical industry, etc. "The participation of American companies in the reconstruction of the Ukrainian energy system is of particular interest. This is especially topical on the eve of the winter period, when the aggressor is expected to intensify attacks on energy infrastructure facilities," Zelenskyy said. In addition, the president noted the need to develop risk guarantee mechanisms to attract investment. The parties also discussed the issue of using frozen assets of Russia as "a significant source of funds for the reconstruction of Ukraine." While we can never completely make these families whole again, or erase the moral stain of this abhorrent policy, we are thrilled for the families that will receive the settlements benefits, most of all the children who have not seen their parents in years and suffering families who will have a meaningful opportunity to remain in the U.S., said Lee Gelernt of the American Civil Liberties Union, the lead counsel in the class-action lawsuit. The agreement, which was negotiated by the Justice Department, now goes before Judge Dana M. Sabraw of U.S. District Court in San Diego, who has been overseeing the case. A hearing is scheduled for December. When we brought this lawsuit, no one thought it would involve thousands of children, take us to so many countries searching for families, or last for years, Mr. Gelernt said. Parents were incarcerated for illegally entering the country and their children, as young as 6 months old, were sent to shelters or foster homes. Most of the separations occurred in the spring of 2018 and lasted several weeks. But, in some cases, they extended to years because parents were deported without their children. The American Academy of Pediatrics said the initiative amounted to sweeping cruelty. Some young children did not recognize their parents when they were reunified by U.S. authorities, after an order issued in June 2018 by Judge Sabraw. Other parents and children could not be found, delaying reunification, because of poor record-keeping by federal agencies. While Mr. Biden and Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken have backed the overthrow of Hamas, they have also stressed to Mr. Netanyahus government that once Israel is seen blowing up buildings and triggering Palestinian casualties, public sentiment around the world could change dramatically. It would focus less on the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, with its scenes of burned bodies and massacred children, and more on the brutality of the response. We obviously dont want to see any additional civilian suffering, Mr. Kirby said, though he added that there were no conditions being put on the arms and other aid being shipped to Israel. Before the announcement, two administration officials, noting the pro-Palestinian marches in Europe, in New York and on some American college campuses, said in interviews that they could already sense the narrative shifting. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the administrations internal assessments. Mr. Bidens visit is an extraordinary show of support to Israel in the midst of war, akin to Mr. Bidens brief trip to Ukraine in February to shore up international support for President Volodymyr Zelensky. And just as Mr. Bidens trip to Kyiv came as Ukraine was on the cusp of a major military operation, the visit to Jerusalem comes as hundreds of thousands of Israeli troops are poised to fight their way through the jammed urban landscape of Gaza to carry out Mr. Netanyahus vow to eliminate Hamas. The security risk of such a trip was clear on Monday when sirens warning of incoming rockets or missiles went off while Mr. Blinken, who was in Israel for his second visit in a week, was meeting at a military base with Mr. Netanyahu and his war cabinet. Mr. Blinken and his hosts were rushed to a bunker and sheltered there for five minutes before resuming their discussions. (There was a similar warning when Mr. Biden was touring a few blocks of Kyiv with Mr. Zelensky in February.) A consulting firm that has worked extensively with Nikki Haley and her political action committee is facing a lawsuit from a former employee who says that an executive sexually assaulted her, and that other executives failed to take appropriate action and retaliated against her in response. The firm, ColdSpark, helped Ms. Haley start her advocacy group, Stand for America, and has also provided consulting services for her presidential campaign; its work with her is prominently featured as a case study on its website. Stand for America and affiliated entities have paid the firm more than $87,000 this year, and Ms. Haleys campaign has paid it more than $33,000, according to campaign finance records. The lawsuit was filed in August in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, and was first reported by Politico on Monday. According to the complaint, the plaintiff went to a restaurant on Dec. 14, 2021, with two of her supervisors Tyler Hargrave and Ryan Reynolds, both vice presidents at ColdSpark as well as a founder, Michael DeVanney. She says that after Mr. Hargrave and Mr. DeVanney left the restaurant, Mr. Reynolds groped her under the table. Follow our live updates for the House speaker nominee vote. The position of speaker of the House has been vacant since early October amid Republican feuding that has left the chamber paralyzed. House Republicans have elected two nominees for the job since a hard-right clutch of lawmakers toppled Speaker Kevin McCarthy. But both men Representatives Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the No. 2 Republican, and Jim Jordan of Ohio were forced to withdraw their candidacies after it became clear that neither could muster the 217 votes needed to win the position. House Republicans cast aside Mr. Jordan as their nominee for speaker on Friday in a secret-ballot vote, essentially moving to begin the search for a new leader all over again. In the days since, a flood of lawmakers have thrown their hats in the ring for the top leadership post. Heres a look at what comes next: House Republicans met on Monday to hold a candidate forum for aspiring speaker nominees to present their visions for the conference. U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies are working to determine whether Israels expected ground offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip could prompt Hezbollah to launch a large-scale military campaign against Israel from Lebanon, American and Israeli officials said. American officials said they believe the deployment of two carrier strike groups, each of which consists of an aircraft carrier, its planes and several escort warships, has for now appeared to deter Hezbollah from attacking Israel in a major way. Israel has also reinforced its northern border after the attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, in which 1,400 people were killed. Israeli and American officials currently assess that Hezbollahs leader, Hassan Nasrallah, does not want an all-out war with Israel, for fear of the damage it would do to his group and Lebanon. U.S. officials said that assessment could change as more intelligence is gathered and events unfold. In addition, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has vetoed proposals from his government of a pre-emptive strike against Hezbollah, according to American officials and others briefed on the discussions. Follow our live updates for the House speaker vote. Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio picked up steam on Monday in his bid to become speaker, winning over several of his biggest opponents in the fractured G.O.P. ranks even as deep reservations remained about elevating him to the top post in the House. Several mainstream Republicans who had said they could not countenance a vote for Mr. Jordan, the hard-line co-founder of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, fell into line after a pressure campaign by his right-wing allies and a series of one-on-one calls with him. Their reversals suggested that Mr. Jordan was within striking distance of the 217 votes he would need to be elected in a planned vote around noon on Tuesday. But the outcome remained far from certain. The role of the speaker is to bring all Republicans together. Thats what I intend to do, Mr. Jordan said in a letter sent to his Republican colleagues on Monday. In it, Mr. Jordan acknowledged the deep divisions in the G.O.P. and said he would give more lawmakers input into the partys agenda. The main super PAC supporting Senator Tim Scotts presidential campaign abruptly announced to donors in a memo that it was canceling millions of dollars in television ads it had reserved this fall, writing that Donald J. Trumps strength was so ingrained among Republican voters that additional advertising would currently make little difference. We arent going to waste our money when the electorate isnt focused or ready for a Trump alternative, Rob Collins, a Republican strategist who is a co-chairman of the super PAC, wrote in the blunt memo to donors that was circulated on Monday. We have done the research. We have studied the focus groups. We have been following Tim on the trail. This electorate is locked up and money spent on mass media isnt going to change minds until we get a lot closer to voting. A copy of the memo was obtained by The New York Times. The super PAC, called the Trust in Mission PAC, or TIMPAC, has been one of the largest advertisers in the race, spending roughly $5 million in Iowa alone this year. Mr. Scotts poll numbers have hardly budged, however, and Mr. Trump remains far ahead. In addition to the super PAC, Mr. Scotts campaign had also spent aggressively on television advertising, spending more than $12.5 million on ads to run through the end of November, the campaign said. That total far eclipses any other campaign, according to AdImpact, a media-tracking firm. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen told top European economic leaders on Monday that the United States would not back away from supporting Ukraine and pledged that the Biden administration would work to authorize more aid despite resistance from some congressional Republicans. The comments to a gathering of finance ministers in Luxembourg came as concern mounts in Europe that political dysfunction in the United States and a new conflict in the Middle East would deprive Ukraine of funding that it needs to sustain efforts to repel Russias invasion. The Biden administration is pushing for Congress to take up an emergency assistance package that would pair support for Ukraine and Israel, but its fate remains highly uncertain. Legislative activity in the House has been at a standstill since Representative Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California, was ousted as speaker two weeks ago. Ms. Yellen reassured European officials that a bipartisan majority in Congress and across the United States backed Ukraine funding. Scholastic, the childrens book publisher, said that its elementary-school book fairs would now have a separate section for titles that deal with race, gender and sexuality a response to dozens of state laws that restrict how those subjects are discussed in schools. Those organizing book fairs can include or exclude that set of books, known as the Share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice catalog. School fairs can also choose to include specific books from the list. The separate catalog of 64 titles includes a childrens biography of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson; a fantasy novel about a Lakota girl; a graphic novel featuring the Black Panther superhero; and a book about different family types, such as adoptive families and families with same-sex parents, according to a list provided by Scholastic. Some contain basic history, such as I Am Ruby Bridges, about school integration, and Because of You, John Lewis, about the civil rights leaders role in the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala. At the front of an Illinois mosque, a short white coffin was draped in a Palestinian flag. The boy inside, a Lego-loving, 6-year-old soccer fan named Wadea Al-Fayoume, was too young to have understood the complicated politics of the place his Palestinian parents left behind, or of this country where he was being raised. But, the authorities in suburban Chicago said, he became a casualty of those divisions nonetheless. Wadea, who should have been at school on Monday, was instead mourned by an enormous crowd that filled the large mosque in Bridgeview, Ill., and spilled outside. Prosecutors said that he was stabbed to death over the weekend in an attack motivated by hate for Muslims amid the fighting in Israel and Gaza. A short drive away from the mosque, Wadeas 71-year-old landlord, who was charged in his killing, was making his initial appearance in court. Image Wadea, 6, was remembered as a kind child who loved swimming, jumping and playing games, and celebrated his birthday only days ago. Credit... CAIR National Family members and friends remembered Wadea as a kind child who loved swimming, jumping and playing games, and celebrated his birthday only days ago. Wadeas mother, Hanan Shaheen, who was seriously injured in the attack, was still recovering and not able to attend the funeral, according to Ahmed Rehab, the executive director of the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine's Recovery Penny Pritzker, who arrived on a visit to Kyiv, announced a number of meetings, in particular with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, representatives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) and the American Chamber of Commerce. At a briefing, which took place on the territory of the Coca-Cola factory museum in the village of Velyka Dymerka (Kyiv region), Pritzker said she had very productive meetings with the American Chamber of Commerce, with the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, with the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, with the Presidium of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, as well as with President Zelenskyy and his team. She thanked the president for working with our embassy to make these trips possible, and for working so closely with the embassy over the last years, especially since the outbreak of war. Pritzker also said she will also be meeting with local business leaders before she leaves. The U.S. special representative urged to get used to seeing her there, because it was the first of many trips that she would make there. She quoted President Joe Biden who said: "I want to assure our American allies, the American people and the people in Ukraine that you can count on our support." As Special Representative for Ukraine's Recovery, Pritzker said she works with the Ukrainian government to support the opening of export markets, mobilize foreign direct investment and promote economic recovery. Pritzker said she is also working to shape donor priorities through the interagency donor coordination platform. She said that during this and future trips there, she would continue to build relationships between key U.S. private sector investment stakeholders, the Ukrainian government, and Ukrainian business leaders. The Supreme Court reiterated on Monday what it had said just two months ago: that the Biden administration may continue to regulate ghost guns kits that can be bought online and assembled into untraceable homemade firearms while appeals move forward. The courts brief order gave no reasons, which is typical when the justices act on emergency applications. There were no noted dissents. But the order nonetheless amounted to an unusual rebuke of two lower courts that had appeared to defy the justices earlier decision. After the Supreme Courts initial ruling, issued Aug. 8, a federal judge in Texas and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit allowed two manufacturers to continue to sell the banned kits. The courts reasoned that the justices had left open the possibility of tailored relief for individual businesses. Last week, U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney allowed the case to proceed, putting off a decision on whether state rules on granting clemency are subject to judicial review until after hearings early next year. The stakes are potentially large in the Virginia suit and a similar one in Kentucky. (A third state, Iowa, also vests power over voting in the governor but is not being sued because an executive order restores the right to former prisoners who have completed their sentences.) More than 66,000 Virginians on probation or parole remained disenfranchised as of 2022, according to the Sentencing Project, a criminal justice advocacy group. In Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, signed an order in 2019 that has automatically restored the franchise to more than 190,000 people. But the lawsuit there challenges the governors decision to exclude from automatic restoration more than 55,000 former prisoners who committed high-level felonies like murder or were convicted outside state courts. In court arguments, the state said this summer that the only standard for restoring voting rights to those not covered under automatic restoration is whether the governor judges the applicant worthy. In nearly four years, Governor Beshear has personally restored rights to 60 people. Scott Christensen was standing on a mountain looking down into Yellowstone National Park late last month when he spotted a fresh track from a grizzly bear in the mud, about two inches in front of his foot. He wasnt scared, but rather relieved and gratified. The bear, as well as other wildlife, including the thousands of elk that migrate through the area, would be able to keep roaming on the side of the mountain, known as Crevice Mountain, instead of ceding territory to heavy machinery and miners in search of gold. Mr. Christensen, the executive director of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, a conservation group, spotted the bear track on Sept. 25, just hours after the coalition purchased 1,598 acres of the mountainous property in Montana from a company that had planned to build a gold mine there. Access to the land and its mineral rights had cost $6.25 million, and the purchase extinguished what Mr. Christensen said was the last viable mining threat on the boundaries of Yellowstone. Ilan Regev Gerby, a door salesman with a stubbly salt-and-pepper beard, is haunted by the last conversation he had with his daughter, Maya, which he recorded on his phone. She was at the rave party on Oct. 7 where gunmen from the Hamas militant group massacred hundreds of young people and kidnapped many others. She called as the gunmen closed in. Dad, they saw me, dad, they saw me, dad, they saw meeeee. Then the line cuts. These are the families experiencing the unbearable anguish of being in the middle of the worlds most complicated hostage crisis in recent memory. Babies, grandmothers and wounded Israeli soldiers. Americans, Filipinos, French and Mexicans. Scores of people have been abducted from that rave party and from a ring of small towns and kibbutzim that heavily armed Hamas members besieged for hours before Israels security forces could respond. On Monday, the number of publicly known hostages increased to almost 200, up from the 150 that had been spoken of since the beginning of the conflict. An Israeli military spokesman said that the military had updated the families of 199 hostages, but he did not say what they discussed. Experts say that Hamas has most likely locked them up in a warren of underground tunnels in the Gaza Strip, as the Israeli Air Force bombards the territory and the army prepares to invade. Its not clear to anyone how Israel is going to launch a full-scale invasion of Gaza without putting the hostages at greater risk. Martti Ahtisaari, a dogged Finnish statesman whose many quests to end conflict took him from the deserts of Namibia to secret arms caches in remote Irish farmlands, earning him the Nobel Peace Prize, died on Monday in Helsinki, Finland. He was 86. A foundation he created for preventing and resolving violent conflicts announced his death. He had been diagnosed with advanced Alzheimers disease, the Finnish presidents office said in 2021. In a statement on Monday, President Sauli Niinisto of Finland said Mr. Ahtisaari had worked tirelessly to secure peace and life. Even for those who lived far away and in very different circumstances. For him, human dignity was indivisible. While he sometimes seemed in public the stereotype of the dour-looking, tight-lipped, besuited diplomat, Mr. Ahtisaari traced his desire for reconciliation to a peripatetic childhood during World War II, when his family was forced to flee before the Red Armys advances across his native land, moving with his mother from sanctuary to sanctuary. Satellite photos appear to provide new evidence of cargo ships shuttling between Russia and North Korea in support of an illicit arms trade bolstering Moscows war in Ukraine, according to an analysis released on Monday. The United States has repeatedly accused Russia for over a year of buying weapons from North Korea. The images provided by the Royal United Services Institute in Britain not only back up that accusation, they also provide additional details about shipments from a North Korean port that appear to have been delivered to a Russian ammunition depot about 125 miles from Ukraines border. The analysis says it is impossible to prove what is in the hundreds of containers that were loaded in Rajin harbor, in North Koreas Rason Special Economic Zone, on to two cargo vessels with ties to Russias military. The White House accused North Korea on Friday of shipping more than 1,000 containers to Russia that were believed to be filled with arms. And American officials have said that the shipments violate United Nations sanctions that ban North Korea from the international trade of arms and military equipment. Donald J. Trump was thousands of miles away from the vaulted chamber in Britains Royal Courts of Justice on Monday. But his words echoed in a lawsuit he has filed in London against Christopher Steele, a former British spy whose dossier of unproven links between Mr. Trump and Russia caused a political uproar back in 2017. The inaccurate personal data in the Dossier has, and continues, to cause me significant damage and distress, the former president said in a signed statement circulated by his lawyers. A judgment of the English court on this issue will be an immense relief to me as it will completely confirm the true position to the public. Mr. Trumps words came on a day of trans-Atlantic legal maneuvering. At home, he lashed out against a judge in Washington who imposed a limited gag order on him in the federal case over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. In London, lawyers for Mr. Trump invoked their clients testimony to argue that Mr. Steeles firm, Orbis Business Intelligence, had breached British data protection laws. This is the first case Mr. Trump has filed in Britain related to the dossier, published just before he took office, and it appears calculated to find more favorable legal terrain after a federal judge in Florida threw out a lawsuit last year that Mr. Trump filed against Mr. Steele, Hillary Clinton, and others, related to the Russia allegations. Four Ukrainian children who had been separated from their families and taken to Russia have been reunited with them, the government of Qatar announced on Monday, saying it had acted as a mediator in negotiations for the return of the children. Qatars foreign ministry said that a successful family reunification process had been completed this week in the case of the four, marking an important step toward reuniting children with their families. There was no immediate comment from the Ukrainian authorities. The removal of children to Russia has been one of the most painful issues for Ukraine since Moscow launched its invasion last year; Ukraines government as well as parents and humanitarian groups have made strenuous efforts to get the children back. The Ukrainian authorities have put the number of children deported at more than 16,000. In many cases, children in areas that Russian forces had seized were invited to go on holiday camps in the occupied region in southern Ukraine, near Crimea, or in Russia, and were then not returned. Sometimes parents were told that the children would be safer away from the fighting. Before dawn on Monday, the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem sent an email to Americans trapped in Gaza, suggesting they head for the border with Egypt and offering the prospect of escape. It was hardly a promise, though. A weekend of diplomatic talks to open the Egyptian-Gazan border has so far yielded little but confusion, even at the embassy. Its email about the border opening did not cite talks with Egypt or Israel it was based on news reports. The lack of clarity was clear on the ground. Scores of people on Monday toted suitcases and garbage bags stuffed with what personal belongings they could carry to the only border crossing into Egypt, only to find the gates on the Gaza side closed and themselves stuck waiting on floundering diplomatic efforts. Are we never getting out of here??? Lena Beseiso, 57, an American stuck near the crossing, in the city of Rafah, wrote in a text message to a reporter. It was the second time in the past seven days that she and her family had gone to the border in hopes of escaping ahead of a threatened Israeli invasion of Gaza. Twin girls were born in a collapsing hospital in southern Gaza on Saturday, just days after their mother had to leave another struggling health center in the north. The babies, Nuha and Fatin, were born prematurely and need formula. But there is no water to prepare it at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, a city buckling under the pressure of new arrivals, as half a million people in the Gaza Strip have fled their homes in anticipation of an Israeli ground invasion. Less than a week ago, the babies mother, Nahla Abu Elouf, 26, was seven months pregnant and hospitalized at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Her blood pressure had dropped and the babies heartbeats became irregular as Israel began launching heavy airstrikes on the city in response to a cross-border assault by Hamas fighters. Nahla Abu Eloufs sister is Samar Abu Elouf, a freelance photographer who has covered Gaza for The New York Times since 2021. Al Shifa, the largest medical complex in the Gaza Strip, was quickly inundated after the start of the strikes. Many of those entering the hospital were wounded, covered in dust and blood; others were desperate for a safer place to stay; still others were already dead, and their bodies had to be placed on the sidewalk outside the overwhelmed morgue. U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine's Recovery Penny Pritzker assured that Washington will continue to support Kyiv and stressed the United States will confront those who challenge our principles and values, wherever they are. Asked whether Pritzker was concerned that events in the Middle East now could distract attention and weaken donors' resolve to help Ukraine recover economically, she said: "The short answer is no, I'm not concerned." At a briefing taking place on the territory of the Coca-Cola museum-factory in the village of Velyka Dymerka (Kyiv region), she said the United States is steadfast in its support for Ukraine. It is in its national interest to support Ukraine. Pritzker said she has spoken with many people in Congress that Ukraine has bipartisan support, there is broad support among the American people, and there is unwavering support for Ukraine from President Biden. The special representative said the situation in Israel is tragic, recalling that U.S. President Joe Biden condemned the "outrageous and brutal attacks by Hamas." She said the United States will stand up to those who challenge its principles and values, wherever they are. In a windowless control room on an army base in southern Israel, five soldiers monitored the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Gazans on a massive computer screen. The screen showed a live map of northern Gaza, the densely populated area of roughly 1.1 million residents who were told on Friday by the Israeli military to head south for their own safety. Using data harvested mainly from more than one million mobile phones, the map gave the soldiers a real-time assessment of how many Gazans had heeded Israels demand. The Israel Defense Forces have telegraphed for days that they will soon begin a ground operation in northern Gaza to oust Hamas, the armed Palestinian group that controls Gaza and orchestrated the worst terrorist attacks in Israels history on Oct. 7, killing more than 1,400 people and abducting at least 199 others. Israeli counterattacks have killed more than 2,800 Palestinians, according to the Gazan health authorities. The Israeli military allowed a New York Times journalist to view the data-tracking system, hoping to show that it was doing what it could to reduce harm to civilians even as its warplanes killed hundreds more Palestinians on Monday, including in southern Gaza, where civilians had been told to take shelter. The Israeli military calls Yahya Sinwar, the hard-line leader of Hamas in Gaza, the face of evil. And senior officers say he is the top target for the tens of thousands of Israeli troops poised to invade the coastal enclave and destroy its leadership. Long considered a brutal enforcer within Hamas and an implacable enemy of Israel, Mr. Sinwar served more than two decades in Israeli prisons before being released in a 2011 prisoner swap. He emerged as the militant groups leader in Gaza its top leadership resides abroad in 2017. Yahya Sinwar is the face of evil, Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesman, said on Saturday after Hamas assailants killed more than 1,300 Israelis in a brutal incursion that began Oct. 7. He is the mastermind behind this, like bin Laden was. Israel has responded to the attack with punishing airstrikes and a massive military buildup ahead of a widely anticipated invasion of Gaza. Thousands of Palestinian supporters say their posts have been suppressed or removed from Facebook and Instagram, even if the messages do not break the platforms rules. Meta, which owns the two social networks, said that some of those posts were hidden from view because of an accidental bug in the companys systems. In particular, messages of support for Palestinian civilians, many of whom have been displaced, injured or killed by Israeli airstrikes, were being hidden from the platforms, users said. Some people have also reported that Facebook suppressed accounts that called for peaceful protests in cities around the United States, including planned sit-ins in the San Francisco Bay Area over the weekend. Aya Omar, an artificial intelligence engineer, told The New York Times that she was unable to see Palestinian media accounts she regularly reads because Meta and Instagram were blocking those accounts. She said that people were seeing a sanitized version of the events occurring in Gaza. Instagram and Facebook are actively blocking posts about the factual history of Israel/Palestine, sometimes cloaking it as technical difficulty, the Hampton Institute, a think tank, said Sunday in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. As Israel prepares for a possible ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, tension is also flaring on its northern border with Lebanon, creating worries that the war could spread. On Monday, Israels military and its defense ministry said it would evacuate 28 communities that are within two kilometers (1.2 miles) of the Lebanese border. The border has been a longtime staging ground for attacks by Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese group that has fought wars with Israel in the past. On Sunday, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for an attack that day in Israel that killed at least one civilian. On Friday, Issam Abdallah, a Reuters video journalist, was killed in southern Lebanon after missiles launched from the direction of Israel struck him. Six other journalists from Reuters, Al Jazeera and Agence France-Presse were also injured in the attack, which occurred near the village of Alma al-Shaab. The Education Department also said it noticed discrepancies in some payment amounts as part of its standard review process last month, which led it to ask the loan servicers to audit their files regarding calculations made to family size, income or marital status. These mistakes caused some borrowers payments to be too high and a very small number of borrowers to be charged too little. After it noticed the issues, the Education Department said, it immediately directed loan servicers to notify affected borrowers and put them into administrative forbearance until they were able to calculate the correct payment amounts. We take our oversight role very seriously, and when mistakes happen, we work swiftly to resolve them and make sure there is as little impact as possible on borrowers, said a spokeswoman for the Education Department, who estimated that the two problems affected less than 1.5 percent of borrowers starting repayment, or roughly 420,000 people. Borrowers who paid too much will be offered a refund. People who want to ensure the accuracy of their payment amounts can use the loan simulator tool at StudentAid.gov, which should generate a close approximation of what they owe, but any discrepancies may take some time and perseverance to get fixed. Unfortunately, the bigger issue is that its hard to get those problems resolved right now if you cant get someone on the phone, said Persis Yu, deputy executive director at the Student Borrower Protection Center, referring to the notoriously long wait times for loan servicer representatives. Capitojoppa amazonica is a newly-discovered genus of parasitic wasps that stabs its victims with its giant ovipositor and sucks the blood out of them before laying its eggs inside. The terrifying insect was discovered by scientists from the University of Utah while surveying the National Reserve of Allpahuayo-Mishana in Peru. They laid large netted devices called malaise traps to capture as many flying insects as possible. Among the creatures caught in their traps was a bright yellow wasp with a giant almond-shaped head and tube-like organs sticking out of it. Scientists concluded that the specimen, an adult female, was a new solitary endoparasitoid meaning it lays a single egg inside the body of its host (caterpillars, beetles, and even spiders). The egg hatches in a matter of days, after which the wasp larvae start to consume the hosts inside. Image credit: Kari M. Kaunisto Once the host is located and mounted, the female will frantically stroke it with her antennae, Brandon Claridge, a doctoral candidate in biology at Utah University, told Live Science. If acceptable, the female will deposit a single egg inside the host by piercing it with her ovipositor (a tube-like, egg-laying organ). Capitojoppa amazonica isnt the only parasitic bug that lays eggs inside of its host, but scientists have observed other creepy behavior as well. For example, after stabbing its victim, the large wasps have been seen routinely sucking the hemolymph, the bloodlike fluid inside insects, from the stab wound. According to researchers, some species of C. amazonica will even stab the host with the ovipositor and feed without laying an egg as it helps with gaining nutrients for egg maturation. A Kenyan man was recently arrested after it was revealed that he had impersonated an attorney and represented various clients in 26 different cases all of which he won despite lacking any formal training. Brian Mwenda Njagi has been dubbed the real-life Mike Ross, in reference to the popular character from the TV series Suits, a bright young man who manages to work at a high-profile law firm and represent clients despite lacking any kind of formal law school education. The comparison is justified, considering that Mwenda managed to represent clients in front of Court of Appeal judges and High Court judges in 26 different cases, winning every one of them. The young man had managed to portray himself as a qualified attorney and none of the judges he had ever pleaded before suspects that he was not really a lawyer. The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) only began suspecting him after receiving complaints from an actual lawyer also named Brian Mwenda who complained that he couldnt access his account. Photo: Hunter Race/Unsplash On the 5th Day of August 2022, Brian Mwenda Ntwiga was admitted to the Bar, and his correct email address was captured and an Account opened for him in the Advocates portal, the LSK said in a press release. We reached out to Advocate Brian Mwenda Ntwiga who confirmed that he had not applied for a practicing certificate since his admission, the reason being that he had been working at the Office of the Attorney General and did not require a Practicing Certificate. However, in September of this year, while trying to log into his account to activate his profile, Ntwiga realized he had the wrong login details. He contacted the Law Society of Kenya, and following an internal investigation, it was concluded that someone else had tampered with the lawyers account. That someone was the similarly named Brian Mwenda Njagi. After being granted access to the system, he proceeded to change his profile picture and apply for a law practice certificate. Photo: Kenya Universities Student Organization After gathering enough evidence, the Rapid Action Team of the Law Society of Kenyas Nairobi Branch arrested Brian Mwenda Njagi on charges of impersonating an attorney. He has not been brought in front of a judge yet, but his story has already impressed some people to the point where a Kenyan tycoon offered to pay his bail money, declaring himself impressed with his track record in court despite never setting foot in a court of law. Weve seen people impersonating doctors on more than one occasion, so impersonating a lawyer isnt that surprising, although Brian Mwenda Njagis 26-won-cases run is definitely impressive. A Lithuanian man has been arrested in Spain after allegedly faking heart attacks at 20 restaurants around the country in order to avoid paying the bill. The unnamed 50-year-old man reportedly scammed at least 20 eateries, the majority of them in Spains Costa Blanca region, by theatrically faking a heart attack. After ordering food and drinks, he would put on an outrageous theatrical performance, clutching his chest and pretending to faint on the floor. The scam worked like a charm until one establishment owner saw right through the mans act and started other local restaurants photos of him warning them not to fall for his heart-attack routine. Photo: Ashkan Forouzani/Unsplash Last month, the Lithuanian man was at El Buen Comer, a restaurant in Alicante, enjoying some seafood paella and a few shots of whisky when the staff brought him the bill for 34.85 euros ($37). When the waiter left the table, he just got up and tried to leave, but he was stopped and notified that he still had to cover the bill. Visibly upset, the scammer said he was going to get the money from his hotel room, but the staff didnt let him leave. It was at this point that he started faking a heart attack. It was very theatrical, he pretended to faint and slumped himself down on the floor, the manager of El Buen Comer said. We have sent his photo around to all the restaurants to try and stop him from striking again. The restaurant staff didnt fall for the theatrical performance, and instead of calling an ambulance, they notified the police. When the officers arrived at the scene, the seemingly ill man called for medical assistance, but what he didnt realize was that the policemen had already recognized him from run-ins at other restaurants in Alicante. According to Spanish media, the 50-year-old man is already somewhat notorious among restaurant owners in Costa Blanca. He was first spotted in Alicante in November of 2022 and has since become famous for his heart attack routine. He gets away with skipping the bill most of the time, but it doesnt seem to bother him if the police get involved. He always smiles when he sees them, probably because he knows there isnt a lot they can do to stop him, and doesnt mind spending a night or two in jail before resuming his scamming routine. After having tricked dozens of restauranteurs with his fake heart attacks, the scammer may face his biggest challenge yet. Because the bills he usually tries to skip are relatively small a few tens of euros his crimes are considered minor, so the repercussions reflect that. Most of the time, he just spends a night behind bars, which he appears to be fine with. However, a number of restaurant owners plan to team up and file a joint complaint which could land the man up to two years in jail. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 16. Russian President Vladimir Putin has participated in the opening of the road leading to the Azerbaijani border, Trend reports. During the ceremony the repaired sections of the Caucasus highway, which runs through Dagestan to the Azerbaijani border, were inaugurated. Vladimir Putin said that this road plays an important role in the development of the North-South transport corridor and that he discussed the construction of the corridor with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. He emphasized that partners are doing a lot to develop the North-South corridor. Fraser Seitel The nominal White House Press Secretary is a perfectly likable woman named Karine Jean-Pierre, who likes to talk passionately about her justifiable pride in being the first Black and gay woman to hold this important position. A year and a half into her tenure as President Bidens Press Secretary, Ms. Jean-Pierre has demonstrated the danger of planting an under-qualified candidate into the highest-stress public relations position on the planet. In the face of withering and often unfair badgering by a rabid White House press corps, Ms. Jean-Pierre continues to be unsteady at best and unnerved at worst. It doesnt help matters that she must defend an aging President whos purposely sheltered from the media, or that she succeeded the eminently capable Jen Psaki, who was not only more experienced in the hot seat but also much closer to the President she served. For all these reasons, in the days after Ms. Psakis departure, the Biden Administration wisely sought an insurance policy should Ms. Jean-Pierre falter in her new high-stakes job. So, a week after Ms. Jean-Pierres historic appointment as White House Press Secretary, a former Navy admiral named John Kirby, who had previously served as Chief Spokesman at both the State and Defense Departments, was quietly recruited to slide in as the National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications. Mr. Kirby is a public relations pros pro, experienced, knowledgeable and confident in answering any question at any time on any subject within his area of responsibility. Today, with wars in Ukraine and Israel dominating the Biden agenda, Kirby is the one whom the media and the public turn to for answers on Biden policy, principles and practice. In other words, Mr. Kirby has become the de facto White House Press Secretary. And the Biden Administration couldnt be happier or more relieved that its Mr. Kirby and not Ms. Jean-Pierre in the wartime public relations crucible. Public relations professionals who deal with the media can learn much from Mr. Kirby. He takes on all comers, including dreaded Biden media enemies. Typical are the media interview lessons embedded in this excerpt from Kirbys Fox News interview in the days after Hamas vicious attack on Israel. First, deliver your key messages. The primary responsibility for any media interviewee is no matter what they ask you, make sure you quickly and clearly lay out the key messages your employer needs you to deliver. In the case of the Biden Administration relative to Hamas, one burning early question was the U.S. response to Irans alleged involvement. Initially, the U.S. disagreed with media reports that Iran masterminded the Hamas attacks, and Biden spokesmen tiptoed on blaming Iran. Heres how Mr. Kirby dealt with Fox interviewer Martha MacCallum on this delicate issue. MM: One of the big questions is why there seems to be a hesitance or curious deference to calling out Irans involvement in all this. What would you say to people like former Defense Department Secretary Mark Esper who find this puzzling? JK: I would tell the former Secretary of Defense that were looking hard at the intel stream and just havent seen any specific, tangible intelligence that the regime in Tehran was a witting resource participant in these specific attacks. But I also want to make it clear that we absolutely believe in the broad complicity of Iran here. Second, back up your key messages with hard factual evidence. Most people are dubious about politicians and public relations mouthpieces for good reason. Much of the time, they speak well but say little, preferring to deal in generalities rather than backstopping their arguments with hard facts. Heres how Mr. Kirby scuttled Ms. MacCallums skepticism with evidence. MM: Whats the difference, John? Whats the difference? JK: We understand that without Iran, there would be no Hamas, there would be no Hezbollah. But what Im saying is were looking at it, but we havent yet seen the direct evidence. And if people are looking at us and saying youve gotta hold Iran accountable, my goodness, Martha, take a look at what weve done in just two-and-a-half years. More than 400 entities in Iran sanctioned just by this Administration, 300 of them in the last year. Heck, we just did some a few weeks ago, and some of that was directly tied to entities that support their support of terrorist networks. Weve bolstered our military presence, not just in the Eastern Med but in the Gulf region as well. Were keeping a close eye on Iran and were gonna keep doing that. Third, dont get defensive, but also dont give away the store. Often, the reason someones hired as a spokesperson is because there are some questions your employer simply wants no part of. They expose sensitive conundrums in which the organization finds itself with no clear answers. Such questions are the last thing your CEO or plant manager or President wants to be confronted with, so she/he hires you to do it. The trickas Mr. Kirby illustrates here in response to the Biden Administration agreeing to unfreeze $6 billion of Iranian depositsis to answer without getting defensive while avoid saying too much, which would lead to additional problems. MM: We have this issue of the $6 billion and why the White House wont come forward and say that money is absolutely not available, not that it hasnt been touched but that if it were requested, it would be denied. JK: Yeah, were watching that money like a hawk, as you might imagine Martha. And youre right, not a dime of it has been spent. And were watching it very, very closely. Thats about as far as Im gonna go on that today. Fourth, speak conversationally not robotically; say it like you mean it. Most politicians are glibthey essentially talk for a livingbut theyre not credible. Thats why most people despise them. They repeat platitudes and canned phrases, rather than engaging in real back-and-forth conversation. Indeed, media training teaches novice interviewees to engrain in their minds those few key messages that they need to repeat over and again. While that approach might suffice for unsophisticated media participants, a spokesman in the hot seat like John Kirby cant expect platitudes and pronouncements to win the day. (Thats part of Ms. Jean-Pierres problem.) Rather, a believable, successful spokesman must be able to mix it up with a savvy interviewer and elaborate, risking all the what-ifs, hypotheticals and possibilities that real conversations entail. MM: Why not just say they will not be permitted to tap into any of the $6 billion, rather than youre watching it. That sounds like you could watch them come access some of it. JK: Even if they did try Lets say they tried to access it last week with an approved transaction. What would happen is, Martha, we would validate if it was an approved request for food, medicine, crops, that kind of thing, and then we would select the vendors who would go buy that stuff and then ship it into Iran directly through humanitarian organizations to get to the Iranian people. The regime in Tehran would never see a dime of it. I want to make it clear to your viewers that when we say access, its not like they get to cut a check and the regime gets that money. They never ever get it. Fifth, finish with the vivid air signed with your honor. Thats how the Greeks put it. It means, end strong. Dont let the interviewer browbeat you into giving an inch. Stick to your beliefs and the rightness of your argument. And finish up memorably, reprising your key messages. Heres how Mr. Kirby concluded his contentious interview with Ms. Mac Callum. MM: It feels like theres a reluctance to step on the toes of Iran, John. JK: No maam. Im sorry Martha, I just dont agree with that. Not at all. Ive gone through a lot of it. Weve issued 400 sanctions against Iran. Weve improved and increased our military posture in the region. Weve responded swiftly when they attacked our troops in Iraq and Syria. Weve got the longest truce ever in Yemens history. Were not in discussions about the Iran deal anymore since they werent negotiating in good faith. We are not losing sight of the threat that Iran poses. Historically, the best Presidential press secretariesAri Fleischer and Tony Snow to George H.W. Bush, Robert Gibbs and Josh Earnest to Barack Obama, Ms. Psaki to Mr. Bidenwerent only trusted advisors but also supremely confident and competent media spokespeople. John Kirby is rapidly earning his place on this short list of historys greatest White House Press Secretaries. Even if, technically, he isnt one. *** Fraser P. Seitel has been a communications consultant, author and teacher for 40 years. He is the author of the Pearson text The Practice of Public Relations, now in its 14th edition, and co-author of Rethinking Reputation" and "Idea Wise. He may be reached directly at [email protected]. CA Wants to Hike Awareness of OCal Cannabis Seal Wed., Nov. 1, 2023 The California Department of Food and Agriculture plans to hire a firm for an education and outreach campaign to create awareness of the OCal seal on commercial cannabis products. Gogglebox Ireland stars were left screaming on our screens last week as they watched ghosthunters inside an Offaly castle. The show introduced Spooked Ireland presented by influencer and model Vogue Williams who said she's been "obsessed by the supernatural" since she was a child. She brought 'spiritual medium' Chris Fleming to Charleville Castle in Tullamore in an attempt to communicate with spirits. One of the stars joked she'd be "spooked if she had to go to Offaly" as Vogue and Chris looked around the castle and its grounds. Vogue claimed there had been "a huge spike" in paranormal activity at the castle recently. One local showed a photograph of what was claimed to be the spirit of a young boy, Henry Walter, "one of the sons of the second Earl who was seven years old when he died." "Oh my God, it's the shadow of a child," one of the Gogglebox stars shrieked. "It's literally a blob," another joked. The film crew then visited the nursery of a young girl, Harriet, who died in a fall from the staircase at the castle. One of the Gogglebox stars said: "Why would you keep that nursery the way it is, like if you buy a new gaff, you're not keeping their bed." Another called it "terrifying." Chris appeared startled by a rocking horse and rocking cot that both appeared to move as he stood in the room. He later climbed a tree outside and attempted to speak to spirits he claimed may be there. The crew claimed to play a clip of something saying "I'm back" in response to a question as the Gogglebox stars said, "run out of that place." Others joked about people believing in ghosts. Chris then claimed to have his body and voice taken over by a spirit of a grieving father inside the castle. Gogglebox star Laura Grufferty said: "I can't stop that crap now." Another said, "I don't know how Vogue is keeping a straight face." Chris then said a prayer for "eternal rest" for spirits at the castle. One of the Carlow lads on Gogglebox described the show as "really embarrassing." It's fair to say not many of them were convinced by the presence of ghosts at the castle. You can catch up on the episode on the Virgin Media Player HERE 3 Action Plans that Secured Women Support Entirely For DMK Chennai oi-Oneindia English Desk DMK government has taken many steps in establishing women rights. Former CM Karunanidhi established property rights for women in the past. Now, CM Stalin has established gender parity by appointing 3 women priests and 5 women odhuvars. DMK government has succeeded in ensuring education to women; establishing 33% reservation to ensure women participation in politics; making women's travel safe and easy and finally warding off gender discrimination against women. Pudhumai Penn scheme creates opportunities of higher education for women; free bus ride scheme reduces the travel expenses of women and Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai Thittam provides financial assistance to women family heads. All 3 schemes helped DMK to amass the support of women. DMK and women rights - a brief by writer Imayam: Before coming to power, DMK has voiced and written a lot about women rights via literature. After coming to power, as a way of walking the talk, DMK has given legal recognition to many rights of women. For example, it was the DMK government which enacted law for the provision of equal property rights for women; another role model step is the enactment of legislation providing 33% reservation for women in local bodies election. Women rights are emphasised by DMK, because Periyar, Annadurai and Kalaignar believed that development of society lies in the development of women. DMK government was the first government to voice the significance of women education. The DMK government started separate schools, colleges and hostels for women and even announced incentives for women education, all done to empower women via education. DMK's centre of gravity has been women rights since its evolution from the parent organisation, Justice Party which later transformed into Dravidar Kazhagam and finally metamorphosed into the present day DMK. DMK has always put forward the idea of equal treatment of women who constitute half of the society. After coming to power, DMK enacted many laws to put these ideas into action and make them a reality. The classic example is the promotion of women education via separate incentives for the completion of 8th standard, 12th standard etc. All the initiatives resulted in women working in almost all fields today. In Tamil Nadu, women enrolling for higher education are more compared to other states. Former CM Karunanidhi's order of appointing only women teachers upto 5th standard was welcomed by people from all walks of life. Apart from this, he also issued an order to appoint only women workers in the nutritious meal scheme implemented in schools. Former CM Karunanidhi also introduced women self-help groups to give economic independence to women. A family's financial situation can be elevated only by a woman but when a woman's financial situation in a family worsens, it affects the family as a whole which in turn affects the society. Realising this, former CM Karunanidhi created women self-help groups to better the economic position of women. In the 2000-year long political history of Tamil Nadu, no other government has given so much importance to women. Even now, CM Stalin has introduced the Pudhumai Penn scheme with the objective of preventing girl student drop-outs and it fulfilled the objective by benefitting 1.16 crore girl students in pursuing higher education. After the introduction of the scheme, the enrolment of girl students increased by 27% in just one year. Earlier, Karunanidhi created self-help groups with the intention of elevating women's financial situation and now CM Stalin has given Rs.1000 to approximately 1.06 crore women with the same intention of lifting the financial situation of women thereby lifting the financial situation of the whole family. A society's good financial situation lies in ensuring a good financial situation for women. Karnataka has now implemented the scheme introduced by the Tamil Nadu government. In the coming election campaign, the scheme is expected to spread all over India. Apart from this, CM Stalin gave autos to 500 women a few days ago. These women were trained and given license at the expense of the government and the vehicle was also given at a subsidised rate of 1 lakh rupees. "The historic significance of the event is its inclusiveness, benefitting 2 members of transgender community also", said writer Imayam. Investing in women means investing in the person who invests in everyone else. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, October 16, 2023, 13:21 [IST] BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 16. Azerbaijan exported 8.6 bcm of natural gas to Europe from January through September 2023 (9-percent growth), the country's Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov wrote on his page on X (Twitter), Trend reports. Shahbazov noted that in the reporting period, 7.5 bcm of natural gas (including 4.3 bcm via the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline - TANAP) was exported from Azerbaijan to Turkiye, and 1.7 bcm - to Georgia. According to operational data, over eight months of this year, oil condensate production was 22.7 million tons, and export - 19 million tons, the minister said. Meanwhile, 17.8 bcm out of the 36.1 bcm gas produced with an increase of five percent was exported, he added. In 2022, Azerbaijan exported 22.3 billion cubic meters of gas, which is 47.7 percent of the total volume (46.7 billion cubic meters) of gas production. Uttarakhand CM Orders Inspection of Residential Educational Institutions U India -Krishna Kripa In a significant move, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has ordered a comprehensive inspection of all residential educational institutions in the state. This decision comes in the wake of an incident where a man running an institute was arrested for allegedly sexually exploiting a visually challenged girl. The chief minister's order underscores his commitment to ensuring the safety and security of students studying in these institutions. The Additional Chief Secretary Radha Raturi communicated this directive to all district magistrates and senior superintendents of police. They have been instructed to take necessary action on the chief minister's instructions and submit a report within one month. Raturi emphasized that the department concerned should form joint teams with police to carry out inspections at residential educational institutions. Zero Tolerance Policy Raturi further clarified that if any case of sexual exploitation or abuse is detected during these inspections, strict legal action will be taken immediately without any delay. This zero-tolerance policy towards child abuse reflects the governments firm stance on safeguarding childrens rights and welfare. Arrest Sheds Light on Horrific Incident The trigger for this statewide inspection was the arrest of sixty-year-old Shyam Dhanak who ran an institute under National Association for Blind (NAB) for visually challenged individuals. He was apprehended from his residence in Haldwani district last Friday evening following allegations of sexual exploitation against a visually challenged girl. Complaints Lead to Action A few minor girls from Dhanak's institute had courageously lodged a complaint through a letter to the police back in July about their ordeal. Acting upon these complaints, investigations were launched which eventually led to Dhanaks arrest after confirming the veracity of the allegations. Taking serious note of this incident, Chief Minister Dhami issued directions for a thorough inspection of all residential educational institutions in the state. This move has been widely appreciated by parents and guardians who see it as a step towards ensuring safer educational environments for their children. In conclusion, while this order is a significant measure to prevent such incidents in future, it also underscores the need for stricter regulations and vigilance within educational institutions. It serves as a reminder that child safety cannot be compromised under any circumstance and those violating it will face severe consequences. The government's proactive approach in dealing with such heinous acts sends out a strong message that every childs right to safe education will be protected at all costs. Amit Shah Inaugurates Durga Puja in Kolkata, Prays for End to Corruption and Atrocities U India -Krishna Kripa Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited Kolkata on Monday, October 16, to inaugurate a Durga Puja. During his visit, he expressed his hope that the goddess would soon put an end to the corruption and atrocities that have plagued West Bengal. Shah Pledges to Continue Fight for Political Transformation While emphasizing that he would not delve into political matters, Shah vowed to continue his fight in the state until a political transformation takes place. His comments drew a sharp response from the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), which highlighted issues of lawlessness in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-governed states. Shah Praises Durga Puja Pandal Design Despite the political tension, Shah took the time to appreciate the design of the pandal marquee, which resembles the Ram temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. He noted that the Ram Mandir is set to be inaugurated in January, but the people of Kolkata have already celebrated its inauguration through this Durga Puja pandal. TMC Hits Back at Shah In a quick retort, the TMC leadership pointed out that those who had once alleged that Durga Puja festivities were not allowed in West Bengal are now rushing to the state to inaugurate pandals. TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said that this is a testament to the power of Bengal's culture and heritage, as well as the victory of truth. BJP Councillor Defends Use of "Bharat" Meanwhile, the Santosh Mitra Square puja committee put up placards referring to Shah as "Union Home Minister of Bharat" and not "Union Home Minister of India." When asked about the reason behind this, BJP councillor and President of the Santosh Mitra Square puja committee, Sajal Ghosh, said that there is nothing wrong with it, as "In Bengali, we say Bharat." This follows the controversy over the country's name after G20 Summit invitations were sent in the name of the "President of Bharat" and not the President of India. Amit Shah's visit to Kolkata and his inauguration of a Durga Puja pandal have sparked political controversy, with the TMC and BJP trading barbs. While Shah expressed his hope for an end to corruption and atrocities in the state, the TMC highlighted issues of lawlessness in BJP-ruled states. Despite the political tension, the Durga Puja festivities continue to bring joy and celebration to the people of Kolkata. BJP's Divide and Rule Plan Will Not Work in Chhattisgarh: CM Baghel India -Krishna Kripa Raipur: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Monday said the BJP's plan of divide and rule will not work in Chhattisgarh and hit out at Union Home Minister Amit Shah over his statement accusing the Congress of doing appeasement politics for votes in the poll-bound state. 'BJP spreading hatred' Talking to reporters at the Swami Vivekananda Airport in Raipur in the evening, he said the opposition BJP was left with no issues to raise in the state, where assembly polls will be held in two phases next month. Speaking at an election rally earlier in the day in Rajnandgaon, Shah attacked the Baghel government over communal violence in Biranpur village of Bemetara district in April and said the ruling party will continue doing appeasement politics for votes if it returns to power in Chhattisgarh after the polls. Asked about Shah's statement, the Congress CM said, "Action was taken in the Biranpur incident and the accused were arrested. Police have also submitted a chargesheet in the court and compensation has been announced for the victim by the government. They BJP are left with no issues to raise. They will speak on only those things in which they have PhD." State Congress president Deepak Baij accused the saffron party of trying to spread hatred in view of the upcoming elections. 'BJP trying to disrupt welfare schemes' "They always spit venom. For the last five years, they BJP-led central government tried to disrupt welfare schemes in the state and now during elections , they are spreading lies and venom. But it will have no impact. The Congress will register a historic win in the polls," he said. If Shah wants to punish the corrupt, he should first take action against former chief minister Raman Singh and his then-cabinet colleagues who were allegedly involved in graft during 2003-2018 BJP regime in the state, Baij said. Polls in two phases Polling to the 90-member assembly will be held in two phases on November 7 and 17. The Congress has declared candidates for 30 seats so far. Baghel and Baij later left for New Delhi to attend a party meeting slated on Tuesday. "A meeting will be held for finalising candidates for some of the remaining seats. Then we will request the party high command to release all the names of remaining nominees as soon as possible. The list may be declared a day or two after tomorrow's meeting," Baij said. The BJP is trying to divide people on communal lines and spread hatred in Chhattisgarh, but the people of the state will not fall for their divisive politics. The Congress government has worked for the welfare of all sections of society and will continue to do so. The BJP's false propaganda will not have any impact on the people of Chhattisgarh, and the Congress will register a historic victory in the upcoming assembly elections. Congress May Nominate Kharge Or Rahul Gandhi As PM If INDIA Alliance Comes To Power: Tharoor India -Krishna Kripa Congress Working Committee member Shashi Tharoor said on Monday that he feels the party could nominate either its chief Mallikarjun Kharge or former AICC president Rahul Gandhi as Prime Minister if the INDIA alliance comes to power in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Tharoor sees chances of INDIA alliance coming to power Tharoor said there could be a surprise result in the election next year as there is an opposition coalition and there are chances of the INDIA alliance coming to power at the Centre by trouncing the BJP-led NDA in the general elections. Tough fight for Congress in 2024 polls So well have to wait and see, he said while interacting with professionals of a US-based and Silicon Valley-incubated D2C Direct-to-Consumer marketplace Way.com after inaugurating its office at Technopark here. Kharge or Rahul as PM? Talking about the post-poll scenario, he said, I think that once the result comes out, then because its a coalition and not one party, the leaders of those parties will have to get together and pick someone. But my guess is that from the Congress Party, its going to be either Mr. Kharge, who then will be the first Dalit prime minister of India, or Rahul Gandhi, since in very many ways it Congress is a family-run party. Tharoor confident in his abilities Tharoor, who is a former union minister, said the Prime Minister is the first among equals, and he was confident in his ability to perform whatever responsibilities may be assigned to him. Can't Stop Heartbeat: SC Rejects Woman's Plea To Terminate 26-Week Pregnancy India oi-Prakash KL A married woman was denied permission to terminate her over 26-week pregnancy by the Supreme Court on Monday as the foetus was healthy. The apex court took note of the AIIMS medical board's report which stated that there was no abnormality with the foetus. As the length of pregnancy has crossed 24 weeks, the upper limit for allowing Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP), a bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud declined to permit the mother of two to terminate her pregnancy. "Pregnancy is 26 weeks and 5 days. Allowing termination of pregnancy will be a violation of Sections 3 and 5 of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act as there is no immediate danger to the mother, and this is not a case of foetal abnormality," NDTV quoted the bench, also comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misa, as saying. SC Raps Gujarat HC For Adjourning Rape Survivor's Pregnancy Termination Plea "We cannot stop the heartbeat," the Chief Justice stated. Earlier, the Supreme Court had sought a report from the AIIMS medical board to determine if the fetus had any abnormalities. During the hearing, the bench discussed the Centre's request to reconsider the October 9 order issued by the apex court. The order had allowed a 27-year-old woman, a mother of two, to terminate her pregnancy at AIIMS due to her struggle with post-partum psychosis following the birth of her second child. According to the MTP Act, termination of pregnancy is permitted up to 24 weeks for married women, as well as special categories such as survivors of rape, differently-abled individuals, and minors. The highest court grappled with a dilemma concerning the termination of a 26-week pregnancy for a woman. This moral quandary centered on balancing the rights of the unborn child with the woman's right to bodily autonomy, as stated by the court. According to a PTI report, the issue arose after one of the doctors of the AIIMS medical board, which examined the woman and filed a report dated October 6 in the apex court, sent an e-mail on October 10 saying the foetus had a strong possibility of survival. Bombay HC Refuses Nod To 17-Year-Old Girl To Abort Pregnancy The issue came up before the CJI-led bench following a split verdict on the Centre's plea for recall of its October 9 order granting permission to the woman to terminate her pregnancy. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, October 16, 2023, 17:18 [IST] Chhattisgarh Polls: Shah To Remain Present During Filing Of Nominations Of Raman Singh, 3 Other BJP Candidates India oi-PTI Former Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh and three other Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates will on Monday file their nomination papers in Rajnandgaon for the state assembly polls scheduled next month. Union Home Minister Amit Shah will remain present during the filing of nominations of the four candidates. Shah will later address a public rally at the State High School ground in Rajnandgaon city, a BJP leader said. Elections to the 90-member state assembly will be held in two phases on November 7 and 17. The opposition BJP has so far announced candidates for 85 seats out of the total 90, while the ruling Congress has declared candidates for 30 seats. Chhattisgarh Congress List 2023: 1st List Of 30 INC Candidates Released Today The BJP has fielded Singh, the former three-time chief minister, from his traditional Rajnandgaon seat. Singh, a six-term MLA, won from the Rajnandagon seat thrice in 2008, 2013 and 2018. The Congress has fielded its senior OBC leader and Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation Chairman Girish Dewangan from Rajnandgaon. In the 2018 assembly polls, the Congress fielded Karuna Shukla, who had joined the grand old party after quitting the BJP. She lost the poll to Singh by a margin of 16,933 votes. The BJP is contesting the upcoming state assembly polls without projecting its chief ministerial face. The other party candidates who will file nominations along with Singh are Geeta Ghasi Sahu (Khujji seat), Bharat Lal Verma (Dongargaon) and Vinod Khandekar (Dongargarh-Scheduled Caste reserved). These four seats are among the 20 constituencies of seven districts in the Naxal-affected Bastar division as well as Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki, Rajnandgaon, Khairagarh-Chhuikhadan-Gandai and Kabirdham districts, which will go to polls in the first phase on November 7. Polling in the other 70 constituencies will be held in the second phase. Of the 20 seats going to polls in the first phase, 12 are reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST) and one for Scheduled Caste (SC) category. In the 2018 assembly polls, the Congress won 17 of these seats, while the BJP got two and the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) secured one seat. Later, the Congress won two more seats of the remaining three in bypolls. Apart from Singh, other prominent BJP candidates for the November 7 elections include four former state ministers Kedar Kashyap, Lata Usendi, Vikram Usendi and Mahesh Gagda, and former IAS officer Neelkanth Tekam. Pre Poll Survey Chhattisgarh: Congress Expected To Win 45-51 Seats, Predicts ABP-CVoter Opinion Poll The Congress has not declared a candidate for Jagdalpur seat, which is among the 20 constituencies slated to go to polls in the first phase. State Congress chief and MP Deepak Baij, ministers Kawasi Lakhma and Mohan Markam are among the key candidates from the ruling side in the first phase of polls. In the 2018 assembly polls, the Congress registered a landslide victory by bagging 68 seats and comfortably formed the government. The BJP was reduced to 15 seats, while the JCC (J) and the Bahujan Samaj Party bagged 5 and 2 seats, respectively. The current strength of the Congress in the assembly is 71. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, October 16, 2023, 11:02 [IST] Delhi wants to become sister city with Brisbane, says Mayor Shelly Oberoi India -Krishna Kripa New Delhi: Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi expressed her desire for Delhi to become a sister city with Brisbane, Australia. She conveyed this wish to her counterpart in Brisbane during the Asia Pacific Cities Summit and Mayors Forum held recently. Impressed by Brisbane's sanitation, cleanliness management, and preservation of built heritage, Oberoi believes that this partnership could bring valuable opportunities for both cities. Oberoi's Visit to Brisbane Oberoi, representing the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), attended the urban summit in Brisbane from October 11 to 13. Over 1,000 delegates, including more than 100 mayors and deputy mayors, participated in the event. During the summit, Oberoi had the chance to interact with several city leaders, including Brisbane's Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner. Brisbane's Sister City Program The Brisbane City Council has an established sister city program aimed at fostering mutually beneficial exchanges in various areas such as commerce, culture, and sports. Brisbane currently has nine sister cities: Abu Dhabi (UAE), Auckland (New Zealand), Chongqing (China), Daejeon (South Korea), Hyderabad (India), Kaohsiung (Taiwan), Kobe (Japan), Semarang (Indonesia), and Shenzhen (China). Delhi's Interest in Sister City Partnership Oberoi expressed Delhi's keen interest in becoming Brisbane's sister city. She stated that the formalities for such a partnership would be discussed with the Brisbane City Council. The mayor also mentioned receiving support from the Indian mission in Australia and an advisor to the mayor of Brisbane in pursuing this initiative. Potential Benefits of the Partnership Oberoi sees the sister city partnership as an opportunity to showcase Delhi's best practices and models on an international platform. She believes that such collaboration can enhance commercial, cultural, and sporting exchanges between the two cities. Oberoi highlighted the work done by the MCD in areas like waste management and the creation of waste-to-wealth parks, which garnered interest from the Brisbane delegation. Promoting Sustainability and Cultural Exchange The Brisbane summit focused on the theme of "Shaping Cities for our Future," with sub-themes emphasizing connectivity, sustainability, and legacy. Oberoi delivered a presentation on the MCD's efforts towards sustainability, particularly in managing legacy waste and transforming landfill sites. She shared the success stories of three municipal parks built on the concept of waste-to-wealth, showcasing Delhi's commitment to environmental stewardship and creative reuse of materials. Delhi's aspiration to become a sister city with Brisbane reflects its commitment to fostering international partnerships and promoting sustainable urban development. The exchange of ideas, best practices, and cultural experiences between the two cities can lead to innovative solutions and enhance the quality of life for their residents. As the process moves forward, it will be exciting to witness the potential outcomes of this collaboration and its impact on both cities. GIMS Greater Noida Cancels Direct Recruitment to 255 Staff Nurse Posts India -Krishna Kripa The Government Institute of Medical Science (GIMS) in Greater Noida has canceled the direct recruitment to 255 staff nurse posts. The cancellation comes after a protest by some staff at the hospital which impacted treatment services at the state-run facility. Cancellation Notice GIMS Director Brig. Retired Dr. Rakesh Gupta said in a notice that the advertisement published on October 8 for direct recruitment to 255 staff nurse posts by the Government Institute of Medical Sciences, Greater Noida, has been canceled due to unavoidable reasons. Reason for Cancellation He said after the publication of the advertisement, there was anger among the staff nurses working in the institute regarding recruitment and they demanded their recruitment on regular posts. On Monday, a protest was held in the hospital premises and all the treatment services of the hospital were disrupted due to which patients are facing a lot of problems. Fresh Recruitment Proposal Gupta said that a proposal for fresh recruitment is being sent to the government and further process would be completed after its approval. The cancellation of the direct recruitment to 255 staff nurse posts at GIMS Noida has caused inconvenience to patients and disrupted treatment services at the hospital. The hospital administration has taken this step to address the concerns of the existing staff nurses and to ensure a fair and transparent recruitment process. ISRO 'Very Busy' With Various Exploration Missions In Pipeline: Chairman S Somanath India oi-PTI ISRO has lined up a series of exploration missions including to Mars, Venus and to the Moon again, apart from the maiden human spaceflight programme, Chairman S Somanath said. The space agency also has drawn up plans to launch missions for studying climate and weather conditions of the Earth, the space agency chief said, speaking to reporters on Sunday. Besides, ISRO is also working on regular scientific missions including communication, remote sensing satellites, Somanath, who is also the Secretary of the Department of Space, said here. Speaking about the Gaganyaan programme, he said the maiden TV-D1 test flight is scheduled for October 21. Gaganyaan Milestone: ISRO Prepares For Unmanned Flight Trials Elaborating about the upcoming missions undertaken by the Bengaluru-headquartered space agency, he said, ''We have exploration missions. We have plans to go to Mars, Venus, again sometime to the Moon. We also have programmes to look at the climate and weather of Earth.'' Stressing that the scientists at ISRO would be focused on taking up regular missions like launching satellites for communications and remote sensing, he said scientific missions are also in the pipeline to look at issues like aeronomy, thermal imaging, and climate change impact assessment. ''So many things are there and we are very busy doing all of this,'' he said. To a query about whether scientists were able to receive any kind of response from the Vikram lander of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, which successfully made a soft-landing on the surface of the Moon on August 23, he said Vikram had done its job very well during the lunar day (equivalent of 14 Earth days) at which time it was programmed to perform its functions. ''It is happily sleeping on the Moon. It has done its job very well. Maybe if it wishes to wake up, let it wake up. Until then, we will wait,'' he said. ISRO made efforts to re-establish communication with rover Pragyan and lander Vikram after they were put into sleep mode in September following the onset of night on the Moon. ''No signals have been received from them. Efforts to establish contact will continue,'' ISRO had said. ISRO Releases Satellite Image Based Study Of South Lhonak Lake That Caused Sikkim Floods| Details After the historic landing on August 23, lander Vikram and rover Pragyan performed different tasks on the lunar surface, including detecting the presence of sulphur and recording relative temperature. About ISRO's maiden mission to study the Sun, Somanath said the spacecraft is 'very healthy' and is on a 110-day long journey to the Lagrange point L1 and is expected to reach the intended destination by "middle of January." ''It is a long journey. It is almost 110 days of journey and it has covered some distance now. We corrected a little bit of its trajectory, because early correction is important to reach the L1 point. After tracking, we find it is going in the right direction towards the L1 point,'' he said. Observing that the rocket is on a 'complex travel', Somanath said, ''It takes almost another 70-75 days further to reach. By the middle of January, it will reach there. After that, we will make some corrections to make it enter into the Halo orbit at the L1 point.'' ''After that instruments will be switched on and it will start doing the scientific data streaming. Currently, everything is very healthy on Aditya L1,'' he said. Aditya-L1 was launched on September 2, and it is the first Indian space-based observatory that will study the Sun from a halo orbit around the first Sun-Earth Lagrangian point (L1), which is located roughly 1.5 million km from the Earth. Earlier, Somanath visited the residence of renowned agricultural scientist M S Swaminathan, who passed away on September 28. He met the family members of the eminent plant geneticist known as the driving force behind India's 'Green Revolution', here in the city. ISRO Confirms Aditya-L1's Journey Beyond Sphere Of Earth's Influence| Details ''I am here today just to pay my tributes and my affection to his (M S Swaminathan's) contribution... Whoever works in whichever field whether it is space, agriculture or sustainability and many other domains, we all find a place to work together,'' he said. ''Thank you so much for the opportunity. His (M S Swaminathan's) legacy will continue to inspire more young people in the country to work in science and technology.'' Somanath said. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, October 16, 2023, 10:46 [IST] JP Nadda Meets Rajasthan BJP Leaders, Stresses Organisational Strength India -Krishna Kripa Amid protests over ticket distribution for the upcoming Rajasthan Assembly polls, BJP national president JP Nadda visited Udaipur and Jodhpur on Monday to hold meetings with senior party leaders and office bearers. In Udaipur, Nadda emphasized the importance of organizational strength for winning elections and stressed the need for thorough booth-level planning. He also highlighted the significance of mobilizing voters and working diligently. Ticket Distribution Protests The BJP has been facing protests in several constituencies over the distribution of tickets for the Rajasthan Assembly polls. The first list of 41 candidates, released last week, sparked protests in constituencies such as Sanchore, Jhotwara, Nagar, Kotputli, and Deoli-Uniara. The supporters of leaders who were denied a ticket protested in the constituencies as well as the party office, prompting the state unit to set up a panel of senior leaders to talk to the disgruntled aspirants. Rajasthan Polls: Vasundhara Raje Meets Gulabchand Kataria In Udaipur Nadda's Meetings In Udaipur, Nadda held separate meetings with division-level party officer bearers from Udaipur city, Udaipur rural, Chittorgarh, Pratapgarh, Dungarpur, Banswara, and Rajsamand. In Jodhpur, he met with office bearers from Jalore, Sirohi, Barmer, Balotra, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur city, Jodhpur rural north, Jodhpur rural south, and Pali. During the meetings, Nadda asked the office bearers to highlight the achievements of the Narendra Modi government and the failures of the Congress government in Rajasthan. He also urged them to work with a focused approach to form the government in the state. Shekhawat's Comments Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who was present during Nadda's visit to Jodhpur, told reporters that the party president has asked the office bearers to work with a focused approach to form the government in the state. He said the party organization has been working to strengthen the base at the ground level for five years. When asked about the resentment among some leaders after the announcement of the first list of candidates, Shekhawat said some reactions have come and Nadda would perhaps discuss the matter with the senior leaders during his visit. He expressed confidence that the BJP would form the government in Rajasthan and also win all the 25 Lok Sabha seats in the 2024 general elections. Why EC Changed The Polling Date Of Rajasthan? Assembly Elections All 200 Assembly constituencies in Rajasthan will go to polls on November 25, while the counting of votes will take place on December 3. The results of the elections will be crucial for both the BJP and the Congress, as they will set the tone for the 2024 general elections. JP Nadda's visit to Rajasthan comes at a crucial time for the BJP, as the party faces challenges in the run-up to the Assembly elections. The protests over ticket distribution have put the party on the back foot, and Nadda's meetings with party leaders and office bearers are aimed at addressing these concerns and ensuring a united front in the elections. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 16. The refusal of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to participate in the summit of the CIS Council of Heads of State, which was held in Bishkek, is a deliberate anti-Russian step by Yerevan, Director General of the Caspian Institute for Strategic Studies (Russia), Igor Korotchenko told Trend. "At the moment, we are witnessing a deterioration, in fact, to zero, of Russian-Armenian contacts. This leads to Armenia's rapprochement with the West, integration into Western security structures, and attempts by Yerevan to drag foreign military contingents of countries that are not represented in the region into the territory of the South Caucasus, said Korotchenko. In particular, we are talking about attempts to attract a military or observation mission of the EU, as well as a military contingent of France under a peacekeeping mandate. Although the events that have taken place in recent weeks have led to the fact that Azerbaijan has fully restored its sovereignty over Karabakh, nevertheless, we see that Armenia's attempts in the global game against Azerbaijan are still continuing," he said. According to him, at the same time, Armenia demonstrates its hostile attitude towards Russia. "Of course, I can say that we are all objectively interested in the conclusion of a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia, where Armenia and Azerbaijan, recognizing each other's territorial integrity, could carry out the process of delimitation and demarcation of the state border and unblock transport communications, including the Zangezur corridor (paragraph 9 of the Trilateral Statement of November 10, 2020, signed by Pashinyan), Korotchenko said. All these positive processes will lead to the formation of the South Caucasus as a region of peace, cooperation, and economic prosperity. Of course, it will not be easy to achieve this, but I am convinced that all the goals set by Russia and Azerbaijan will be realized in the end. Our common task is to make Armenia agree to demilitarization, peaceful development, and stop making territorial claims to neighboring countries," Korotchenko said. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan refused to take part in the CIS summit in Bishkek. In a telephone conversation with the President of Kyrgyzstan, Sadyr Japarov, he said that he would not be able to take part in the event. Jitendra Singh Expresses Concern Over Increasing Drug Addiction in Katra, Reasi U India -Krishna Kripa Union Minister Jitendra Singh expressed deep concern over the increasing drug addiction among the youth in Katra and Reasi areas of Jammu and Kashmir. He appealed to the local administration to take immediate action against it. The minister raised the matter during review meetings with the local authorities and law enforcement agencies. Need to Focus on Social Issues Singh said, "There is a need to focus on social issues and to do work on social reform. We get information about such types of things, which have spread from Punjab to Jammu and now to this place Katra. We get disappointed. Drug addiction has started in this holy land." Parents and Local Administration Must Shield Children from Drugs Expressing deep concern over increasing substance abuse, Singh appealed to parents and the local administration to shield children from the clutches of drugs. He emphasized that their potential should be harnessed to realize Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious vision of transforming India into a developed nation by 2047. Preserving the Sanctity of Katra Singh also stressed the importance of preserving the sanctity of the holy town of Katra. He said, "Katra is a holy place and we have to maintain its sanctity. We have to take strict action against those who are involved in drug peddling." Strategic Plan to Combat Drug Addiction Singh said a strategic plan is in the works at both administrative and societal levels to combat the menace of drug addiction. He said, "Identifying hotspots and fostering social awareness are key components in curbing this menace." Inauguration of Multimedia Exhibition The minister inaugurated a multimedia exhibition organized by the Central Bureau of Communication in Katra. Singh emphasized that the region's development remains a priority for the Narendra Modi government. The increasing drug addiction among the youth in Katra and Reasi areas of Jammu and Kashmir is a matter of grave concern. The local administration must take immediate action to curb this menace and protect the youth from the clutches of drugs. Kerala Rains: Orange Alert Issued As Low Pressure Likely To Form In Arabian Sea India oi-Madhuri Adnal The persistent heavy rainfall in Kerala is expected to persist due to the formation of a new weather system in the Arabian Sea. Kerala has been experiencing continuous heavy rainfall due to the impact of a cyclonic circulation originating in Tamil Nadu. Presently, another cyclonic circulation has emerged in the Arabian Sea. This new weather system is likely to lead to the development of a low-pressure area over the Arabian Sea by around October 17th. On Monday, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow and orange alert for the 14 districts in the state. A Yellow alert has been issued to Kasargod, Kannur, Wayanad, Kozhikode, Mallapuram, Palakkad, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Kottayam and Idukki. An Orange alert has also been issued to Alapuzzha, Pathanamthitta, Kollam and thiruvananthapuram. Kerala Rains: Thunderstorms And Rain Expected Until October 18; Yellow Alert In 9 Districts Meanwhile, Thiruvananthapuram recorded 118.4 mm rainfall till 8.30 am. The Southern Railways announced that the departure of the Thiruvananthapuram-New Delhi Kerala Express train had been rescheduled at 19.35 hrs. *Train Rescheduled* *Train no. 12625 Thiruvananthapuram- New Delhi Kerala Exp scheduled to depart Thiruvananthapuram at 12.30 hrs of (16.10.2023) is rescheduled to leave at 19.35 hrs* due to water not receded yet after flooding at Kochuveli pit line following heavy rains. Southern Railway (@GMSRailway) October 16, 2023 The announcement stated,''Train no. 12625 Thiruvananthapuram- New Delhi Kerala Exp scheduled to depart Thiruvananthapuram at 12.30 hrs of (16.10.2023) is rescheduled to leave at 19.35 hrs* due to water not receded yet after flooding at Kochuveli pit line following heavy rains.'' For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, October 16, 2023, 8:59 [IST] Naresh Goyal And Family In Deep Trouble As ED Attaches Assets Of Rs. 538 Crores In Jet Airways Probe NewsClick Row: Founder Purkayastha, HR Head Chakravarty Move SC Against Arrest In UAPA Case India oi-PTI NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and its HR head Amit Chakravarty on Monday moved the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court's refusal to interfere with their arrest and police remand in a case lodged under the anti-terror law UAPA. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra took note of the submissions of senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, appearing for Purkayastha and Chakravarty, that the matter needed urgent hearing and asked him to circulate the case papers. ''This is the NewsClick matter. The journalists are in police custody. Here one of the accused is a 75-year old man," Sibal said. The CJI said he will take a call on the listing. Newsclick Founder Prabir Purkayastha, HR Head Sent To Judicial Custody For 10 Days On October 13, a Delhi High Court bench dismissed the plea against the arrest and subsequent police remand of Purkayastha and Chakravarty in the case. Both 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 seven-day police custody and sought immediate release as interim relief. On October 10, the trial court sent them to judicial custody for 10 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. Delhi Police Conducts Raid At Kerala Residence Of Ex-NewsClick Staff 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. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, October 16, 2023, 13:31 [IST] Nithari Killings: Allahabad HC Acquits Surendra Koli In 12 Cases India oi-Madhuri Adnal The Allahabad High Court has overturned the convictions of Surendra Koli, the prime accused in the Nithari killings case, in 12 instances where he had been sentenced to death by the trial court. Koli had previously received the death penalty in more than 10 cases related to the Nithari killings. Moninder Singh Pandher, who was also implicated in the infamous Nithari murders in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, has been acquitted in two cases where he had been sentenced to death. Surendra Koli and Moninder Singh Pandher were both accused and co-accused in the notorious Nithari murders, a series of heinous crimes that occurred in Noida. Koli was found guilty of sexually assaulting and murdering multiple children during the period from 2005 to 2006. Recommended Video Nithari Case|Prime accused Surinder Koli, Moninder Singh Pandher acquitted of all charges |OneIndia Nithari killings: CBI court hands death penalty to Koli, Pandher The gruesome case initially came to public attention in December 2006 when human remains were discovered in a drain near a residence in Nithari. It was alleged that Koli would entice children to the house with promises of sweets and chocolates, after which he would commit the murders, engage in acts of necrophilia, and even participate in cannibalism. He would then dispose of the victims' bones and other body parts in a ditch behind the house. Moninder Singh Pandher, the employer of Koli, was also implicated as a co-accused in the Nithari case, facing charges of brutal murder and sexual assault. Rajasthan BJP leader Rajendra Rathore targets Cong's ERCP awareness campaign India -Krishna Kripa Jaipur: Rajasthan BJP leader Rajendra Rathore on Monday targeted the Congress awareness campaign on the ERCP, saying Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath were responsible for stalling the canal project. Rathore slams Gehlot Interacting with reporters at the BJP headquarters here, Rathore, who is the Leader of Opposition in Rajasthan Assembly, said when Nath was the chief minister of neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, he had refused to give a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to Rajasthan for the project. Attacking Gehlot, Rathore said the state government is claiming to complete the project by 2051 and has announced to spend Rs 37,000 crores on it. However, no work has been done till now, Rathore said, adding that Gehlot was not a chief minister but a minister of announcements. Gehlot made announcements but no work done He said the CM had talked about creating an ERCP Corporation and giving Rs 13,000 crore to it but not even a single penny has been spent on the project so far. The then chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Kamal Nath, was the first to object to giving an NOC to Rajasthan for the ERCP, after which Gehlot announced to build the project at the state's expense, Rathore said. The ERCP is an ambitious project that was first proposed by the previous BJP government in Rajasthan to meet the drinking water and irrigation needs of 13 districts -- Jaipur, Jhalawar, Baran, Kota, Bundi, Sawai Madhopur, Ajmer, Tonk, Dausa, Karauli, Alwar, Bharatpur, and Dholpur. Congress kickstarts ERCP campaign The Congress plans to emphasise its demand for national status to the East Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) as it kicked off its election campaign in eastern Rajasthan on Monday, with an aim to secure a substantial number of the 83 Assembly seats in the region. A rally was held in Baran to launch the public awareness campaign on the ERCP and it was addressed by Gehlot and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. The 200-member Rajasthan Assembly will go to polls on November 25 and the counting of votes will be taken up on December 3. Rathore alleges bad law and order situation Rathore also alleged that the law and order situation in the state was bad and in the last six months, charge sheets in only 25 per cent of the cases have been filed in courts. Due to the policies of the Congress government, Rajasthan is in a state of economic emergency, he said and accused the state government of cheating the common people in the name of schemes. BJP leader claims disputes resolved In response to a question on protests within the state BJP over ticket distribution, Rathore said most of the disputes have been resolved. He said there was massive factionalism within the Congress party due to which it could not release the first list of candidates in September as announced earlier. The ERCP is a major issue in Rajasthan and both the Congress and the BJP are trying to woo voters by promising to complete the project. However, it remains to be seen whether either party will be able to deliver on their promises. Rahul Gandhi Holds Meeting With Tripura Congress leaders India oi-PTI Rahul Gandhi held a meeting with Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee leaders here on Monday. Gandhi landed at MBB Airport here en route to Mizoram. He held a brief organizational meeting with Tripura Congress leaders at the airport lounge, a senior party leader said. ''Rahul Gandhi today arrived here by a charted flight from Delhi. After a brief meeting with party leaders at the airport lounge, he left for Aizwal for the election campaign in Mizoram'', Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Sudip Roy Barman told reporters here. ''Rahul ji had a brief meeting with party leaders and wanted to know the condition of people in Tripura. He also gave suggestions on organizational matters. Gandhi will visit the state after completion of Assembly elections in five states - Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram'', he said. Mizoram Congress Candidate List 2023: List Of 39 INC Candidates Released Earlier in the day, massive crowds greeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as he undertook a padayatra in Aizawl. After reaching the capital of poll-bound Mizoram, he began the march from Chanmari junction and walked through the winding roads of the city amid Congress supporters waving party flags. He waved at people waiting on both sides of the road, and shook hands and interacted with those coming to meet him during the padayatra. Some also took selfies with the Congress leader. Traditional dances were also performed during the march. Gandhi is scheduled to walk till Raj Bhavan, covering a distance of around 4-5 km and address a rally near the governor's house after the conclusion of the march. Elections to the 40-member assembly will be held on November 7. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, October 16, 2023, 15:02 [IST] Big conspiracy: Vasundhara Raje counters Ashok Gehlot claims she saved his govt in 2020 Seems like his leader is Raje, not Sonia Gandhi: Pilot attacks Gehlot Congress Vs BJP In Rajasthan Polls: How Both Parties Are Relying On Seasoned Leaders? Rajasthan Polls: Vasundhara Raje Meets Gulabchand Kataria In Udaipur India oi-PTI Ahead of upcoming Assembly elections, former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje met Assam Governor Gulabchand Kataria in Udaipur. Both of them held a long discussion during the meeting in Udaipur on Sunday, party sources said, adding the meeting was not pre-scheduled. After the meeting, Raje left for Banswara to offer prayers at the Tripura Sundari Temple. The meeting is considered important for the politics of Mewar. Vasundhara Raje Snubbed By BJP In Rajasthan Polls? Party Announces Panels Without Her Kataria had dominated the Udaipur seat in four elections. After he became governor, the BJP is now trying to field a strong contender for the seat. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, October 16, 2023, 11:29 [IST] Son of Satyaprakash Dubey Refuses to Meet Akhilesh Yadav Over Land Dispute India -Krishna Kripa In a recent incident that has stirred political unrest in Deoria, Gorakhpur and Prayagraj of Uttar Pradesh (UP), the son of Satyaprakash Dubey, who was brutally murdered along with four other family members over a land dispute, declined to meet Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday. The horrific killings were reportedly an act of retaliation by supporters of former district panchayat member Premchand Yadav. On October 2nd, Premchand Yadav was allegedly killed by his rival Satyaprakash Dubey and his family when he visited their home. The tragic event unfolded as Premchand Yadavs supporters attacked the house of Satyaprakash Dubey on the same day and violently killed him along with four others from his family including children. In light of these events, Akhilesh Yadav visited Fatehpur village in Deoria to console the grieving families but was refused audience by Devesh Dubey, elder son of deceased Satyaprakash Dubey. He alleged that during Yadavs regime, his mentally challenged uncle was forced into signing a property deal favouring the Premchand Yadavs family without receiving any money. A Plea For Justice The SP president requested government intervention to help both families receive justice for their losses. Devesh also wrote a letter to the district magistrate and superintendent of police expressing his refusal to meet Akhilesh Yadav while accusing him for coercing his uncle into signing away property rights during his tenure as chief minister in 2014. He claimed that they were prevented from constructing a house on their land at gunpoint and feared being targeted due to boosted morale among people belonging to Yadav's caste following his visit. Aftermath And Legal Proceedings The Allahabad High Court stayed the Deoria district administration's order for demolition of Premchand Yadavs house on Monday. The tehsildar of Deoria had ordered the demolition on October 11, against which Premchand Yadavs father Ram Bhawan Yadav appealed to the high court. Akhilesh Yadavs Response When asked about his refusal by Satyaprakash Dubeys' son, Akhilesh stated that he respects their feelings and suggested that some leaders might have influenced him not to meet. He assured financial aid to both families if needed and criticized Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for alleged discrimination in justice delivery. He also warned against taking political advantage from such incidents and blamed current government for lack of justice since day one. Allegations Against State Government Akhilesh accused state government of hiding facts regarding how events unfolded on October 2nd. He questioned why it was concealed that Premchand Yadav was invited to Dubey's house before being killed. Referring to a recent murder case in Sultanpur, he criticized Adityanath government's approach towards victims of such crimes. In conclusion, this tragic incident has become a hotbed for political unrest with allegations flying thick and fast between parties involved. Amidst all this chaos, it is crucial that justice is served promptly without any bias or influence while ensuring safety and support for grieving families who lost their loved ones in these unfortunate events. Sikkim Announces Housing Schemes for Flood Victims India -Krishna Kripa Gangtok, Oct 16: Sikkim Chief Minister PS Tamang on Monday announced two housing schemes for those who lost their homes in the flash flood that ravaged the northern part of the Himalayan state. The state government will also provide Rs 10,000 each to students who lost their school materials and Rs 5,000 more if they live on rent far from home, Tamang said. Rehabilitation Housing Scheme Under the Rehabilitation Housing Scheme, the state government will allot land and build houses for the beneficiaries. However, if anyone owns a plot and wishes for a house to be built on it, the government will build it. The chief minister said 2011 houses will be built under the scheme and the state government is looking for suitable land for the implementation of the programme. People who used to stay in rented accommodation which was washed away in the flood will be given Rs 5000 each for the next 3 months under the same scheme. Janta Housing Colony Scheme Tamang said that under the Janta Housing Colony scheme, the government will construct a Housing Colony for those who do not have their own homes. For the affected persons to live in the Janta Housing Colony, they will not have to pay any rent to the government for the next three years. Apart from monetary relief, the people whose houses have been washed away will be provided with kitchen appliances along with bathroom and bedroom essentials. Other Relief Measures The chief minister directed the officials to provide people with documents that were lost in the flood free of cost. Tamang said that he has directed the chief secretary, who is also the chairman of the State Level Bankers Committee, to give a 12-month extension and relaxation for the repayment of all loans. He said those who lost their businesses because of the flood will be given loans up to Rs 10 Lakh which will be interest-free for 24 months. For any existing business loans, EMIs will be restructured at 0 per cent interest. Sikkim Chief Minister PS Tamang has announced a slew of relief measures for those affected by the recent flash floods in the state. These include two housing schemes, financial assistance for students, and loans for businesses. The state government is also working to provide free documents to those who lost them in the floods. These measures will go a long way in helping the people of Sikkim rebuild their lives after this devastating disaster. Israel's Troops On Standby, Awaiting Political Nod For Gaza Ground Offensive | Top Developments International oi-Madhuri Adnal With more than one million Gaza residents forced from their homes, Israel stands ready for a ground assault following an unprecedented series of attacks by Hamas, a Palestinian group. Israeli troops are currently awaiting political go-ahead to launch a ground invasion. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has issued a summons to over 350,000 persons, and a significant number eagerly responded and enlisted. The majority of reservists were already within Israel when the call was made, marking the most extensive mandatory mobilisation since the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Hamas took Israel by surprise last weekend with attacks targeting Israeli civilians. In retaliation, Israel initiated airstrikes on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and suspended the supply of food and electricity to the region. Here are the Latest Developments: Israeli forces, with the support of an increasing deployment of US warships in the region, positioned themselves along Gaza's border and conducted drills in preparation for a comprehensive campaign to dismantle the militant group. Despite a week of intense airstrikes that devastated entire neighborhoods, they were unable to quell the rocket attacks by militants into Israel. US President Joe Biden US President Joe Biden said the need for both addressing the situation in Gaza and pursuing a "path to a Palestinian state." He cautioned against a long-term Israeli presence in Gaza, highlighting that reoccupation would be a "significant error." Fresh airstrikes reverberated through the Gaza Strip, illuminating the night sky as the Israel-Hamas conflict entered its 10th day on Monday. Joe Biden contemplated a trip to Israel while reiterating his concerns about an extended Israeli presence in Gaza. Nevertheless, there were no official announcements regarding his travel plans. A spokesperson for the National Security Council clarified that the White House had no scheduled trip to disclose. During an interview with CBS News's "60 Minutes," Biden stressed his belief that Israel would adhere to the rules of warfare, ensuring access to medicine, food, and water for innocent civilians. He also expressed his view that Israel should not maintain long-term control over the territory, proposing instead that it be governed by a "Palestinian authority." He noted that Hamas and its extremist factions did not represent the entirety of the Palestinian people. This interview was broadcast on Sunday night as the Israeli Defense Forces prepared for a ground offensive in Gaza, prompting hundreds of thousands of residents to flee southward. The mass exodus raised concerns about an impending humanitarian crisis. Medics in Gaza issued warnings that thousands could lose their lives as hospitals, inundated with wounded individuals, faced severe shortages of fuel and essential supplies. The besieged population struggled to find food, water, and safety in anticipation of an Israeli ground operation. At the same time, hostilities escalated along Israel's border with Lebanon, with Hezbollah militants firing rockets and anti-tank missiles, prompting Israeli airstrikes and shelling in response. The Israeli military also reported an attack on one of its border posts, resulting in casualties on both sides of the border. On Sunday, an Israeli drone fired two missiles in southern Lebanon, near the town of Kfar Kila, as reported by the state-run National News Agency. Hezbollah stated that it launched rockets towards an Israeli military position in the northern border town of Shtula in retaliation for Israeli shelling, which had claimed the life of Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah on Friday and two Lebanese civilians on Saturday. A spokesperson for Hezbollah, Rana Sahili, characterized the heightened fighting as a "warning" and clarified that it did not signify Hezbollah's decision to enter the conflict. While Hamas encouraged people to remain in their homes, over 600,000 individuals evacuated the Gaza City area, according to Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, Israel's chief military spokesman. Iran issued a warning to Israel of potential escalation if it did not cease its actions against the Palestinians, with the country's foreign minister mentioning the readiness of other regional parties to act, as reported by the semi-official Fars News Agency. Egypt intensified diplomatic efforts to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza, with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi expressing his view that Israel's bombardment was disproportionate during a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Blinken was set to return to Israel on Monday, extending his diplomatic efforts in the Middle East by an additional day. A group of US senators planned to travel to the Middle East to encourage talks on normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, as announced by Senator Lindsey Graham from South Carolina. Notably, The Times of Israel reported that the Palestinian Authority's mouthpiece, Wafa, had seemingly removed a portion of a statement in which President Mahmoud Abbas criticized Hamas. The initial report from Wafa had quoted Abbas as stating that Hamas's policies and actions did not represent the Palestinian people and that the Palestine Liberation Organisation was the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian population. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 16. 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 20th day of the Second Karabakh war: - President Ilham Aliyev interviewed by A Haber TV channel. - "Azerbaijans glorious Army has liberated Khirmanjig, Agbulag and Akhullu villages of Khojavend district. Long live Azerbaijans Army! Karabakh is Azerbaijan!" President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev made a post on his official Twitter account. - The artillery battery belonging to the Armenian armed forces was destroyed, and the deputy commander of the forces regiment was injured. A list of the equipment of the Armenian Armed Forces destroyed at night was disclosed. - The Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's Office reported that 47 civilians were killed and 222 injured as a result of shelling of Azerbaijani settlements by the Armenian armed forces. - The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry shared footage from villages of the Khojavend district of Azerbaijan, which were liberated from the Armenian occupation. - The Armenian armed forces, grossly violating the humanitarian ceasefire, continued shelling the territories of Goranboy, Tartar, Aghdam, Aghjabadi and Fuzuli districts of Azerbaijan. - The Armenian armed forces launched a missile strike on the territory of the Ordubad district of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan. - The Armenian side bombarded a cemetery in Ahmadaghalilar village, Aghdam district. - The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry shared new footage from the liberated Hadrut settlement. - The state flag of Azerbaijan was raised above the border outposts liberated from Armenian occupation. Nikki Haley Slams Islamic Countries For Closing Their Doors On Civilians From Gaza International oi-PTI Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has slammed Islamic countries for not opening their gates for civilians from Gaza who are seeking to flee their homes in the face of an imminent ground invasion from Israel. She also hit out at former US president Barack Obama, as well as incumbent President Joe Biden over the Iranian nuclear deal and accused Tehran of strengthening Hamas and Hezbollah. ''We should care about the Palestinian citizens, especially the innocent ones, because they didn't ask for this. But where are the Arab countries? Where are they? Where is Qatar? Where is Lebanon? Where is Jordan? Where is Egypt? Do you know we give Egypt over a billion dollars a year? Why aren't they opening the gates? Why aren't they taking the Palestinians?'' Haley told CNN on Sunday. ''You know why? Because they know they can't vet them, and they don't want Hamas in their neighbourhood. So why would Israel want them in their neighbourhood? So let's be honest with what's going on. The Arab countries aren't doing anything to help the Palestinians because they don't trust who is right, who is good, who is evil, and they don't want it in their country,'' she said. Biden Considering Trip To Israel In The Coming days, But Travel Isn't Final Haley anticipated that these Islamic countries would blame America. ''They're going to come and blame America. They're going to come and blame Israel. And don't fall for it, because they have the ability to fix all of this if they wanted to. They have the ability to go in and tell Hamas right now to stop what they're doing. They have the ability to tell Hamas to let those people out,'' Haley said. ''But you know what? Qatar is going to continue to work with Hamas and their leadership. Iran is going to continue to fund all of this and not say anything. And who's silent? Every one of those Arab countries is going to be silent. But expect for the finger to point to Israel, and the finger is going to point to America,'' she said. Haley said Hamas is going to do everything they can to not have them leave, because ''they want them all to die''. 'One, they want to use them as human shields, but, two, they want to blame Israel and show images of dead children and say, look at what Israel did,'' she alleged. ''But don't ever forget what Hamas did. Don't ever forget those girls running for their life. Don't ever forget those babies that were killed in cribs. Don't ever forget the people that they were dragging through the streets. And what were they saying, Jake? They were saying, 'Death to Israel, death to America','' she said. Israel-Palestine Conflict: Gaza Residents Given 3-Hour Window To Access Evacuation Corridor ''That's who we're dealing with. But I dealt with this at the United Nations. You're going to hear all of those Arab countries vilify Israel for what's about to happen. You're going to hear all of them say, how dare you not do more for the Palestinian people?'' said Haley, a former US ambassador to the UN. She said right now, they cannot take their eyes off of the terrorists. What Hamas did was beyond thuggish, brutal, and sick. What the Iranian regime is doing to help them is terrible. But let's look back at, what did Biden do. Biden turned around and fell all over himself to get into the Iran deal. Obama did it before that, she said. ''You gave all of this money. And what did you do? You empowered Iran to go and strengthen Hamas, strengthen Hezbollah, strengthen the Houthis to spread their terrorist activity. We went and strengthened those sanctions and decimated Iran's economy. And what happened? Biden has loosened the sanctions,'' she said. Palestinian militant group Hamas carried out a barrage of air strikes in Southern Israel last week. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in response launched multiple attacks targeting Hamas' key infrastructure. So far, thousands of people have been killed in Israel and the Gaza Strip in the biggest escalation in decades between the two sides. 2 Hamas Commanders Who Led Attack Killed As Israel-Palestine Conflict Enters Day 8 ''Now we have got the fact that he gave USD 6 billion in hostage money. OK, now you have frozen it, but we have all these American hostages. Guess what they're going to want? If you gave them USD 6 billion for five people and released hostages, guess what they're going to be asking for all these others that we have?" Haley said. ''We have created this scenario where you have given Iran - the Iranian regime too much power and too much pull and to be able to do this. We have got to be strong. We have got to have Israel's back. And, remember, as awful as these images are, and we have the back of Israel because they have been hit terribly, we have to have the back of them when they hit back as well,'' Haley said. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, October 16, 2023, 10:39 [IST] What is the UN Secretary-General doing while Ukraine, Russia fight? Israeli Envoy Demands Immediate Resignation Of Antonio Guterres, Says 'Not Fit To Lead UN' Release Hostages, Allow Humanitarian Aid In Gaza: UN Chief's Appeals To Hamas, Israel International oi-PTI UN chief Antonio Guterres has called on Hamas to immediately release all hostages without conditions and urged Israel to allow rapid and unimpeded access to humanitarian aid for civilians in the Gaza Strip. The Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, home to about 2.3 million people, is under a total blockade. Israel has cut off all supplies of food, water and fuel in the wake of ongoing hostilities with Palestinian militant group Hamas. On Monday, Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said it would impose a ''complete siege'' on the territory. "In this dramatic moment, as we are on the verge of the abyss in the Middle East, it is my duty as Secretary-General of the United Nations to make two strong humanitarian appeals," Guterres said here in a statement on Sunday. Israel-Palestine War: IDF Wipes Out Another Hamas Commander Who Was Mastermind Of Nirim Attack, Releases Video The UN Secretary-General appealed to Hamas that it must release all hostages immediately without conditions. Recommended Video Israel-Hamas War: UN Chief appeals to Hamas, Israel to release hostages, provide aid | Oneindia News "To Israel, rapid and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid must be granted for humanitarian supplies and workers for the sake of the civilians in Gaza," Guterres said. "Each one of these two objectives is valid in themselves. They should not become bargaining chips and they must be implemented because it is the right thing to do," he said. The UN chief sounded a dire warning, saying: "Gaza is running out of water, electricity and other essential supplies." He noted that the United Nations has stocks available of food, water, non-food items, medical supplies and fuel, located in Egypt, Jordan, the West Bank and Israel and these goods can be dispatched within hours. "To ensure delivery, our selfless staff on the ground, along with NGO partners, need to be able to bring these supplies into and throughout Gaza safely, and without impediment to deliver to those in need," Guterres said. The United Nations, along with other humanitarian agencies, has been working round the clock to preposition aid since the latest conflict between Israel and Hamas broke out following the militant group's October 7 assault on several locations inside Israel and Israel's subsequent declaration of war. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Sunday that heavy Israeli bombardments on Gaza, from the air, sea and land, have continued almost uninterrupted. Over the past 24 hours, there have been 455 Palestinian fatalities in Gaza and 856 injuries, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza. Nikki Haley Slams Islamic Countries For Closing Their Doors On Civilians From Gaza Following Israel's ultimatum on Friday that Palestinians in Gaza should relocate to the strip's south, OCHA said that by Saturday afternoon, nearly 600,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) were hosted in the central and southern parts of Gaza alone, in increasingly dire conditions. It added that since then, this figure has risen significantly. About 300,000 people are situated in the United Nations Relief and Works Agency's (UNRWA) designated emergency shelters, and the rest in public facilities and with host families. The OCHA said an almost full evacuation of Sderot city, in southern Israel, was completed on Sunday. Smaller Israeli communities around Gaza have been fully vacated in previous days, while a large proportion of Ashqelon City's residents have also reportedly left. The UN agency added that since the start of hostilities, 2,670 Palestinians have been killed and 9,600 have been injured. The fatality toll in Gaza during the eight days of hostilities has already surpassed the total number of fatalities during the 2014 escalation, which lasted for over seven weeks (2,251 Palestinian fatalities). Biden Considering Trip To Israel In The Coming days, But Travel Isn't Final According to the Palestinian Civil Defense, the number of missing people, presumably trapped beneath the rubble may exceed 1,000. The Ministry of Health in Gaza said that as of October 15, 47 families were killed, amounting to about 500 people. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, October 16, 2023, 10:55 [IST] 16 Pakistani Beggars Arrested In Multan While Trying To Travel To Saudi Arabia Saudi Crown Prince Snubs US Diplomat Antony Blinken, Makes Him Wait For Hours International oi-Prakash KL In what could be considered an astonishing snub to the US, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman made US Secretary of State Antony Blinken wait for hours for a meeting, The Washington Post reported. Blinken undertook his most extensive journey to the Middle East, working with Arab allies to prevent the escalation of the conflict and facilitate the safe release of hostages taken by Hamas militants. However, the US diplomat got a cold reception in Riyadh as the views of the two countries differ on the ongoing conflict. Blinken had anticipated a meeting with Mohamed bin Salman in the evening upon his arrival on Saturday. However, the crown prince eventually appeared the following morning, as per the report. During the meeting, the Saudi's de facto leader called for Israel to halt military operations "that claimed the lives of innocent people". He also called for the de-escalation of the war. The Saudi stance differs from that of the Biden administration. While the US president has supported Israel's efforts to eradicate Hamas following the terror attacks, he has emphasized the importance of safeguarding civilian lives. "The Secretary highlighted the United States' unwavering focus on halting terrorist attacks by Hamas, securing the release of all hostages, and preventing the conflict from spreading," the State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement after the meeting. "The two affirmed their shared commitment to protecting civilians and to advancing stability across the Middle East and beyond," Miller added. Israel has pledged to annihilate the militant organization Hamas in response to an assault perpetrated by its fighters in Israeli towns, 10 days ago. During this attack, Hamas militants targeted men, women, and children, and took hostages, marking the most severe assault on civilians in the country's history. Anthony Albanese declared Hamas an enemy of both Jewish people and Palestinians, as he called upon Australians to resist division at home. 2008-2023 One News Page Ltd. All rights reserved. One News is a registered trademark of One News Page Ltd. Berlin police broke up a demonstration of roughly 1,000 people that had been outlawed by city authorities at short notice. Several other such demonstrations, some permitted, others not, took place around the country. While hundreds of Hollywood stars have expressed their solidarity with Israel, many other cultural institutions have been palpably silent, thus earning criticism. Newsy 17 Oct 2023 ViewIn Little Palestine, near Chicago, immigration lawyer Fidaa Elaydi says she can't get any work done. "I haven't.. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis welcomed nearly 300 Americans who were rescued from Israel amid the violence brought by the Hamas militant group. Eurasia Review 23 Oct 2023 By Baria Alamuddin Extremists of all varieties have exploited the Gaza violence to go on the offensive from Daesh.. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 16. The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatovic, will visit Armenia and Azerbaijan, including the Karabakh region, on October 16-23, 2023, with a focus on the human rights situation of people affected by the conflict, Trend reports via the European Council. The Commissioner will hold meetings with State officials, representatives of international organizations and civil society. A statement will be published at the end of the visit. Tamil Nadu chief minister seeks Centres intervention for release of Indian fishermen arrested by Sri Lanka Posted by Editor on October 16, 2023 - 8:08 pm Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has written to Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar urging him to take diplomatic measures for the release of 27 fishermen and their five boats detained by the Sri Lankan navy on Saturday. Meanwhile, the fishermen in Rameswaram declared an indefinite strike and a series of protests till the arrested fishermen and all their boats were released from Sri Lankan custody. In his letter to the External Affairs Minister, the CM stated that the repeated instances of arrest and seizure have caused panic among the fishermen. The livelihoods of these fishermen, who are often the sole breadwinners for their families, are at stake. The economic implications of these recurrent arrests are profound, as they lead to not only the loss of income for the fishermen and their families but also jeopardize food security of countless individuals who depend on their catch, he stated. The Sri Lankan navy detained 27 fishermen 23 from Rameswaram and four from Mandapam on Saturday on charges of poaching in their territorial waters. As of now, 120 fishing boats are in Sri Lankan custody. The fishermen leaders, who met after the arrest, resorted to taking out an indefinite strike starting Monday. All the fishing boats were moored at jetties. After the district administration intervened, the fishermen postponed their Pamban Bridge siege they announced on October 18. But they will protest in front of the Rameswaram post office on that day demanding that the Centre make efforts to get the fishermen and their boats released. We are also demanding the release of all 120 boats in Sri Lankan custody and demand the Union government to give clearance for salvaging the nine boats released by Sri Lankan courts, said P Jesuraja, fishermen leader from Rameswaram, India. (Source: TNN) Iran's foreign minister has 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. "If the Zionist aggressions do not stop, the hands of all parties in the region are on the trigger," Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said, as quoted by news agency Reuters. Hossein Amirabdollahian had earlier told reporters in Beirut that Lebanon's Hezbollah group has taken all the scenarios of a war into consideration and Israel should stop its attacks on Gaza as soon as possible. Amirabdollahian said he met Friday Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who briefed him on the group's conditions in Lebanon. I know about the scenarios that Hezbollah has put in place, Amirabdollahian said. Any step the resistance (Hezbollah) will take will cause a huge earthquake in the Zionist entity. Amirabdollahian added: I want to warn the war criminals and those who support this entity before it's too late to stop the crimes against civilians in Gaza, because it might be too late in few hours. The Iranian foreign minister had said he would be contacting UN officials in the Middle East because there is still an opportunity to work on an initiative (to end the war) but it might be too late tomorrow. Israel considers Hezbollah its most serious immediate threat, estimating it has some 150,000 rockets and missiles, including precision-guided missiles that can hit anywhere in Israel. The group, which has thousands of battle-hardened fighters who participated in Syria's 12-year conflict, also has different types of military drones. Hezbollah fighters have been on full alert along Lebanon's borders with Israel following last Saturday's attack by the militant Palestinian group Hamas that left hundreds of Israeli civilians and soldiers dead. More than a million people have fled their homes in the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected Israel invasion that seeks to eliminate Hamas' leadership after its deadly incursion. Aid groups warn an Israeli ground offensive could hasten a humanitarian crisis. Israeli forces, supported by US warships, positioned themselves along Gaza's border and drilled for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle the militant group. A week of blistering airstrikes have demolished neighbourhoods but failed to stop militant rocket fire into Israel. The war that began on October 7 has become the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides, with more than 4,000 dead. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,670 Palestinians have been killed and 9,600 wounded. More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed, and at least 155 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza, according to Israel. (With inputs from AP, Reuters.) A day after the massacre by Hamas of Israeli civilians and the taking of Israeli hostages, I asked this question on my Facebook Page: "What should Blacks say and do about the conflict?" Some respondents denounced the attacks by Hamas. Other denounced the continued blockade of Gaza as "inhumane" treatment by the Israelis of the Palestinians. However, most of the respondents said in essence, "it's not our fight." Their reasoning was simple. Neither the Palestinians nor the Israelis were Black. It was a fight thousands of miles away and seemingly far removed from the fight for racial and economic justice in the U.S. Blacks, they contended, had their hands full trying to fight the battles against police abuse, the gaping racial disparities in health, education, and housing and the ongoing assault on voting rights, Blacks suffered in the U.S. The Black struggle then in the words of some had absolutely nothing to do with the Israeli-Palestinian battle. There was also a subtle undercurrent of resentment. That this was a fight between two groups who many believed did nothing and cared nothing about the Black plight in the US. This was another motivating factor that prompted many to say Blacks should keep hands off the conflict there. They are wrong. Start with dollars and cents. The U.S. government provides a minimum of three billion dollars annually to Israel in military and economic assistance. That figure is almost certainly the tip of the financial commitment of the U.S. government to Israel. Whether one considers the aid necessary and backs it, it doesn't alter the fact that these are taxpayers' dollars, African American tax dollars too. That gives Blacks a direct financial stake in just what and how their tax dollars are being used by a government that has been engaged in ongoing warfare whether in justified defense or aggression that has cost thousands of Israeli and Palestinian lives through the years. Israel justifies its decades long blockade of the Gaza strip as a defensive measure to contain, suppress, and combat Palestinian terrorist attacks real and potential-on Israel. The brutal reality is this purported defense measure has resulted in massive economic disruption, poverty, lack of food, water, and travel restrictions that have consigned millions of Palestinians to colossal poverty and denial of resources. This makes it a humanitarian crisis of staggering proportions. This is the kind of issue that every major civil rights leader from Dr. Martin Luther King to Malcolm X in the past and civil rights groups today have always spoken out against. They have understood that oppression and injustice against a group anywhere is a fight that all should be engaged in. They also rightfully have denounced the terrorist attacks by Hamas and other Palestinian groups that have claimed thousands of Israeli lives. In addition, they recognized the flip side of this. That antisemitism aimed at Jews has been a powerful and ongoing deadly issue of concern. It's a well-established truism that if you scratch a racist you find underneath an antisemite and vice-versa. In the past decade antisemitism has been on the rise, and more often than not it is tied directly to hatred of Israel. Blacks must be mindful of the connection between antisemitism and racism and take just as vigorous a stand against the former as the latter. There's also the history of Jewish support and aid to the civil rights struggle. This is not a small point. Despite the criticism from some Blacks that this was self-serving and that many Jews have taken anti-Black racist positions on issues such as affirmative action, the fact is many Jews have supported every aspect of the Black struggle for empowerment. There's also the issue of how Blacks are treated in Israel. There have been major protests by Ethiopian Jews in Israel over discrimination in everything from housing to jobs to education in Israel. There was even a blunt threat by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to deport en masse the protesters. This threat is a serious human and civil rights issue that American Blacks can and should relate to. It's simply not true that both Israeli and Palestinian activist groups have through the years not taken an active interest in the civil rights movement in the U.S. Their leaders have often spoken out against racial oppression and economic injustice that African Americans have faced. Many of their followers and representatives have been a visible presence at many civil rights actions through the years. They have recognized the inter connectedness between the struggle for racial justice and racial oppression be it in the Middle East or the U.S. It's hard to imagine anyone with half a heart and a full conscience from being moved, no outraged, by the mass murder of civilians in Israel and Gaza. Or the scenes of Palestinians en masse having to flee their homes under threat of military assault. Or the scenes of weeping Israeli family members mourning the deaths of Israeli noncombatants murdered in the Hamas attack. It's more than just a pithy saying to say and hopefully take action on the ancient line that an injustice to one is an injustice to all no matter where it occurs. That more than ever applies to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It's one that Blacks do have a stake in finding a just resolution too. Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. He also is the host of the weekly Earl Ofari Hutchinson Show at 9 a.m. Saturday on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles and the Pacifica Network. He is the publisher of thehutchinsonreport.net Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator October 8, 2023, Latakia, Syria: The former chief of Mossad told CNN today that Israel had "no warning of any kind". A massive attack on Israel by Hamas, a Palestinian resistance group in Gaza, was carried out yesterday on Jewish communities in southern Israel, near the Gaza border. Hamas fired between 2-5 thousand rockets at Israel and hundreds of Israeli are dead, while dozens of Israelis were captured as prisoners of war. In the ensuing air response by Israel, hundreds of Palestinians were killed in Gaza. Experts warn that Israel appears to be planning a ground invasion into Gaza. This morning, the Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah entered the war to support the Palestinians quest for freedom. Israel has been occupying the Shebaa Farms area in southern Lebanon for decades, and the Lebanese want to retake their land, as well as fight for the end of occupation in Palestine. Hamas collectively operated under 'radio silence'. No mobile phones were used, because the Mossad and army intelligence would be listening. Only face-to-face meetings were used to organize the huge mission. Underground meeting places can't be filmed by surveillance cameras by the Israelis. Using old-fashioned techniques of a pre-technology era, the Hamas operation was a huge success in shocking Israel, and the world. Gaza is the largest open-air concentration camp on earth. It has been under an Israeli-imposed blockade since June 2007, under which there is no travel in or out of Gaza, water supplies are minimal and sometimes cut off, electricity is minimal and sometimes cut off, as is the case now. University students are prevented from traveling abroad to receive a higher degree, medicines are unavailable and the emergency rooms have only basic supplies, which quickly run out in a war. Food supplies are severely curtailed and building supplies take years to arrive piecemeal. Human rights organizations, and the UN, have described Israel as an apartheid state. The Palestinian people of Gaza and the Occupied West Bank have no human rights, and they are demanding their freedom. The Geneva Convention guarantees all peoples the right to resist occupation, and justifies the use of force to end occupation. During WW2, the French Resistance became famous for their armed resistance to the Nazi occupation of France. Through movies and books the French Resistance became romantic heroes in the hearts and minds of the western and democratic world. However, the Palestinian resistance is labeled as 'terrorists' by democratic governments. The American hero of the revolution, Patrick Henry, said "Give me liberty, or give me death." This is the same sentiment expressed by Palestinians today. Their fight is for human rights, dignity, and freedom. Those are the very values that every American, Canadian, European and Australian claim as their own. How can these westerners claim that freedom is deserved by themselves, but not others? Fatah, the main political party in the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority (PA), and President Mahmoud Abbas, have long adopted a pacifist stance, and do not advocate an armed struggle with Israel. That position has made the PA a good partner under the brutal Israeli military force in the West Bank, but the people there have seen no benefits to accepting the dictates of Tel Aviv. Their lives have gotten progressively worse over the recent years, and the summer was spent with Israeli security forces attacking the West Bank communities repeatedly without provocation. The current government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu is the most Jewish extremist in history, with some members stating that "Palestinians are not humans" and "Palestinians must be all deported". Palestinians have suffered from genocidal ethnic cleansing for 70 years, and the current Israeli regime is openly advocating for increasing the war crimes and atrocities perpetrated on the Palestinian people. Netanyahu in the past ridiculed those Jewish extremists and their parties, but now he is forced to acquiesce to their orders or his government will fall, and he would go to prison on corruption charges from a past criminal case. These Jewish extremists have repeatedly stormed the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, while Israeli police and security forces protect them, and allow them to humiliate Palestinians praying there. Yesterday, those extremists had planned another belligerent visit to Al Aqsa, and the Hamas attack was the response to them, and has been dubbed the "Al Aqsa Flood" operation. Recently, Jewish extremists in Jerusalem were videoed spitting on Christian pilgrims from Europe as they walked along the path Jesus had trod while carrying a wooden cross. In response to the video, five Jews were arrested, but tour directors who make a living taking American and European Christians to religious sites say that the viral video is what prompted the arrests; otherwise the Israeli police routinely protect the Jews when they spit or curse Christians, or Muslims alike. When Netanyahu came back to office, he promised two things: he would make more illegal settlements of Jews on Palestinian lands, and he would sign a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia, the most powerful Arab country in the region. Israel's response to this current war in Palestine will determine the fate of the Saudi deal, as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has continued to call for a peace deal between Israel and Palestine. In past decades, the Palestinians had only rocks to throw at Israeli soldiers, and we heard successive US Presidents and politicians call on the Palestinians to "stop the violence". But, those same voices representing the "land of the free" have never asked Israel to "stop the violence". How can you equate teenagers with stones, with the 6th-largest army on earth firing live bullets at protesters? Times have changed, and today Hamas and other resistance groups have sophisticated weapons and technology to use to fight back for their freedom and human rights. The US is not a viable partner for any Israeli-Palestinian peace plan. The US, and its allies are an enabler. Just like the worried parent who will go out in the night to buy drugs for their addicted child to protect the child from harm or arrest, the US enables Israel to 'get away with murder' in Palestine. Instead of the parent cutting off support for the child until they accept rehab treatment, the US continues to feed the Israeli addiction of torturing the Palestinians. Israel is never held accountable to anyone, or any group, for their crimes against humanity. The UN has dozens of resolutions adopted by the members targeting Israel, and their behavior; but, not one of them has been complied with. Yet, there are never any sanctions placed on Israel in order to pressure them into better behavior. Israel sits secure in the knowledge that the US, Europe, Canada, Australia and some others will always support Israel regardless of their crimes against humanity. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Samantha Power recently arrived in Armenia to meet with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and pledged US support for Armenia in the aftermath of the armed conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, which has left thousands of Armenians homeless at the hands of Azerbaijan. Power is the Administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and had previously served as US Ambassador to the UN from 2013-2017. Power is lying again to the Armenians. In 2014, she lied to the Armenians from the UN, and now she is again lying to the Armenians from USAID, which is an agency of the US State Department. According to her profile in Forbes, "Samantha Power, the youngest-ever U.S. ambassador to the U.N., is considered to be the moral compass of American diplomacy" while adding, she has been a powerful crusader for U.S. foreign policy as well as human rights and democracy since she took office in 2013." Samantha Power's moral compass is broken. She stood by lying and humiliating the homeless Armenians in Kessab, Syria, in 2014, and she is again lying to the Armenians arriving as refugees in Yerevan. Samantha Power, Presidents Obama and Biden, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken do not care about Armenia, or Armenians wherever they are. From her Forbes profile, Power has warned of the threat of ISIS globally. But, what the profile fails to reveal is that Power, while part of the Obama administration, was funding, training and supporting the armed 'rebels' in Syria, which eventually morphed into ISIS. In fact, the last remaining 'rebel'-controlled area in Syria today, Idlib, is under the control of Mohamed al-Julani, formerly with ISIS in Iraq, and Al Qaeda in Syria. Julani enjoys the protection of both the US and Turkey, and all humanitarian aid coming into Idlib goes through his hands exclusively, including from USAID. Nagorno-Karabakh Pashinyan received the delegation led by Power, and he said, "The process of ethnic cleansing of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh continues." This is the same process used by the US, and their ally Turkey, in Syria in 2014 at Kessab, which is a Christian Armenian village on the border with Turkey, north of Latakia. The village had no Syrian government buildings, nor Army posts, nor weapons storage. There was no reason to attack Kessab; it had no strategic value for the 'rebels' in their war to overthrow the Syrian government. The only reason for the attack, occupation, massacre, rapes and destruction at Kessab was ethnic cleansing. The US- and NATO-backed 'rebels' were Radical Islamic terrorists, cut from the same cloth as ISIS, and their goal at Kessab was to wipe out the Christians. "The United States of America will continue to work with both your government and the government of Azerbaijan to bring about lasting peace between the countries, also considering the profound economic dividends and stability it will bring for the Armenian people," said Power to Pashinyan recently. Power delivered the real message from Biden: the US is pleased Azerbaijan has won, and the Armenians are forever defeated, because the US values its relationship with the oil-rich Azerbaijan. The Biden administration's message to Pashinyan is: the EU gets their winter gas supplies from Azerbaijan, and Armenia has no economic resources to be exploited by the US or the EU; therefore, Armenia is of no value. Power said in Yerevan, her mission was to mobilize resources, to support local authorities in finding places to stay, and other means of support, but also get other countries to do the same. But, the US never helped any of the 2,000 Armenians made homeless and destitute in Kessab in 2014. The US never even sent one loaf of bread, and because of US-EU sanctions on Syria, even the Armenian churches in the US, and other charities, were prevented from sending even one dollar to Kessab. The millions raised in USA, with Kim Kardashian sending 1 million herself, was sent to the Armenian church in Lebanon, and has never been distributed to Kessab. The US sanctions prevented even other Arab countries from sending aid to Kessab. "The United States is deeply concerned about reports on the humanitarian conditions in Nagorno-Karabakh and calls for unimpeded access for international humanitarian organizations and commercial traffic," said Power in Yerevan. She wants to send food and medicine to Yerevan, but refused to allow even one bandage or one blanket to be delivered to Kessab in 2014, where the mountainous terrain is blanketed in snow each winter. On social media formerly known as Twitter, Power wrote recently: "I'm here to reiterate the U.S.'s strong support & partnership with Armenia and to speak directly with those impacted by the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh." Azerbaijan received tremendous military aid and support from Turkey, a US ally, and fellow NATO member. Armenia received no military help from the US. Of course they lost their territory to the stronger, wealthy and heavily militarized Azerbaijan, who are allied with the EU and NATO member Turkey. Now Power is going to oversee sending Armenians some bread crumbs. Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Three former Oregon homeowners have filed a class-action lawsuit against the counties where they used to live after local governments foreclosed on their homes and kept the full proceeds, instead of just the amount needed to cover unpaid taxes. The suit seeks to enforce a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that limits what authorities can collect following a foreclosure. The Oregon lawsuit singles out Multnomah, Lane and Yamhill counties, where the plaintiffs lived and calls on the rest of Oregons counties to compensate homeowners for the equity they lost after the counties foreclosed on and resold their homes. The litigation seeks to refund to homeowners some of the money counties made off their home sales, dating back to May 25, 2017. If the plaintiffs prevail in court then counties across Oregon could be on the hook for repaying millions of dollars from foreclosure sales over the past several years. Oregon currently allows counties to foreclose on and sell the homes of residents who owe unpaid taxes and keep all the money even if the sale of the property nets more than what the delinquent taxpayer owed. The Supreme Court recently found that practice unconstitutional, ruling in favor of a 94-year-old Minnesota woman whose county foreclosed on her condominium and kept all the proceeds. The court ruled that governments cannot retain surplus proceeds from a foreclosure without giving the former property owners a way to recover those funds. Failing to do so is unconstitutionally taking private property for public use without just compensation. In the Oregon lawsuit plaintiffs described the long-term ramifications theyd faced from their loss of equity. Martin Lynch had accrued nearly $32,000 in unpaid taxes on his Springfield home. In 2020, Lane County foreclosed on his home and sold the property for about $118,500. The proceeds from the sale of the home were nearly $87,000 more than what Lynch owed in taxes but Lane County retained the surplus instead of returning it to Lynch. Following the foreclosure, Lynch had to move to a campground in Klamath County because he lacked the money to afford a house or apartment, according to the suit. Getting some of the proceeds back would really be life-changing, said Elias Kohn, one of the plaintiffs attorneys. He said some people who fail to pay their taxes couldnt come up with the money because of a health issue or incarceration. It really affects so many people who are already in a vulnerable position, he said. The other two plaintiffs lost out on smaller surpluses. But their attorneys said even losing small amounts of equity can be devastating. For so many people, their home is the most important purchase theyll make in a lifetime, said Nadia Dahab, another attorney representing plaintiffs. To lose equity in their home affects their lives in profound ways. In many cases the people who lose equity in their homes arent aware they owed any money, according to Kohn. For example, he said, a child who inherits a property may not have been responsible for a parent failing to pay taxes before that previous owner died. Multnomah County Assessor Mike Vaughn declined to comment on the lawsuit, saying the county doesnt discuss pending litigation. But he said Multnomah County had already begun reviewing its own practices after the May Supreme Court decision. He said county employees are working to determine what exactly the county can retain, such as the additional fees and interest outside the taxes. And, he said, theyre still figuring out how to return excess money to former homeowners. The county is developing an application that former owners can use but he said residents should call the county first if they think theyre eligible to collect surplus funds. Our intent is to fully comply with the Supreme Court, even though there are some items that are not clear in what are considered retained proceeds, " Vaughn said. Vaughn said its not clear how this lawsuit could financially affect the county. Most of Oregons counties put surplus funds from home foreclosures into unsegregated tax accounts, the same account that all property tax dollars go into. Multnomah County, however, has put excess funds from foreclosures into its Joint Office of Homeless Services since 2017. Other states and cities have already begun to pay back funds. In Michigan, 43 counties agreed to pay back tens of millions of dollars to former homeowners who filed a class-action lawsuit. And Washington, D.C., has also agreed to pay about $1 million to people who lost their homes. Jayati Ramakrishnan; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com Dowen Jones, former mayor of Rufus, Oregon, pleaded guilty to felony charges stemming from an alleged road-rage shooting near Parkdale on Halloween last year. Sherman County Sheriffs deputies arrested Jones, who won the small towns election for mayor with 76 votes in 2018, on suspicion of attempted murder after a family of four reported a driver on Oregon 281 had fired on their car multiple times. The passengers included two children, ages 5 and 8, authorities said. Jones pleaded guilty to four counts of a lesser charge, attempting to commit a Class A felony, in August. A Hood River County Circuit judge then sentenced Jones to 18 months in prison. The family was driving south on Oregon 281 behind an SUV that was driving erratically, according to the Hood River County Sheriffs Office. The SUV pulled over at the 6000 block of the freeway, and the family stopped to get a closer look at the driver, the sheriffs office said. The man, identified last year as Jones, 48, stepped out of the passenger side and fired several shots from a handgun, according to the sheriffs office. When Jones was arrested, the city went without a mayor or interim mayor until Jan. 1, 2023 when Austin Evans was elected to the role, according to spokesperson Brenda Coleman. Jones, an electrician and photographer, was also ordered to pay a $13,000 fine and relinquish his firearms, court records show. Rufus has a population of 270 people and sits 100 miles east of Portland and 100 miles west of Pendleton. Austin De Dios; adedios@oregonian.com; @austindedios; 503-319-9744 Our journalism needs your support. Please become a subscriber today at OregonLive.com/subscribe. Prosecutors will ask a judge Tuesday to sentence former Oregon prison nurse Tony D. Klein to 41 years in prison, while his defense lawyers will seek a 25-year term after a jury found Klein guilty of sexually abusing nine women at Coffee Creek Correctional Institution. Prosecutor Cameron A. Bell described Klein in a sentencing memo as a sexual predator in a lab coat with access to some of Oregons most powerless women. The alluring Southeast Portland space previously home to La Moule and before that, Savoy Tavern will reopen early next month as Bakers, a new bar with fun food from former Xico and Xica Cantina chef Kelly Towner, The Oregonian has learned. The new bar, or neighborhood clubhouse, as Towner thinks of it, will open from noon to midnight daily with nachos, tavern burgers, spicy fried chicken sandwiches, housemade sausage hoagies and Ruffles with onion dip. Minors will be allowed until 8 p.m. Its just going to be fun, classic bar fare, Towner says. I come from a fine-dining background, but I wanted to create a menu that is super approachable and really fun. Drinks will maintain the classic theme, with Manhattans, Old Fashioneds, salty gin martinis and pina coladas alongside Tia Mias, Milk Maids and other modern additions to the cocktail canon. Bakers will pour four natural wines by the glass and feature 12 beers on tap, including two handles reserved for Modelo and Budweiser and 10 for local stuff we like, plus a large selection of bottles and cans. Though the menu includes a sourdough flatbread, the Bakers name is actually a nod to Towners wife, Jamie, who has supported her dream of opening a bar for years. Towner, who worked at restaurants and butcher shops in San Francisco and New York, then pivoted to bartending before moving to Portland six years ago. Once here, Towner got a little waylaid working on other peoples projects, taking over the kitchen at Southeast Portlands Xico then opening sister restaurant Xica Cantina in Northwest. Former Xico chef Kelly Towner is opening Baker's, a new "bar with fun food" in the former La Moule space.Courtesy of Kelly Towner When the pandemic hit, Towner refocused her attention on the bar project, holding Bakers pop-ups at Fried Egg Im in Love and The Automatic. In July, La Moule, the alluring moules frites bar from chef Aaron Barnett (St. Jack) and Tommy Klus (Scotch Lodge), closed after eight years in the old Savoy Tavern storefront. (Barnett was reluctant to talk about the last days of La Moule, only saying that between food costs, labor and ticket averages the modeljust didnt pencil out anymore.) Towner toured the space situated on the same car-free parklet as the original Broder, Dots, Magna Kusina, Clinton Street Pub, Lucky Horseshoe Lounge and the Clinton Street Theater and had keys to in hand by August. Bakers bar hopes to open from noon to midnight daily starting Nov. 3 at 2500 S.E. Clinton St. Take a look at the menu and other details at bakerspdx.com. Michael Russell; mrussell@oregonian.com Our journalism needs your support. Please become a subscriber today at OregonLive.com/subscribe BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 16. Currently no evacuation of Azerbaijani citizens from Israel is planned, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry's spokesman Aykhan Hajizada told Trend. "There are no mass appeals regarding evacuation. Those wishing to leave depart on regular flights," he emphasized. A combined attack was carried out on Israel on the morning of October 7, 2023. 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. Queer students at Catholic high schools around Portland say they feel trepidation over new guidance from Portland Archbishop Alexander Sample on transgender rights. In January, Sample sent a 17-page document entitled A Catholic Response to Gender Identity Theory: Catechesis and Pastoral Guidelines to 52 Catholic school principals from Portland to Medford. In the proposed guidelines, he advised Catholic schools to use only pronouns assigned at birth and refrain from posting signage or display[ing] symbols in support of gender identity theory. The archbishops guidance is not mandated; it stands only as a recommendation to school administrators. Thus far, only a few schools have signaled that they intend to implement it, including St. Rose School in Northeast Portland and Christ the King in Milwaukie. Central Catholic High, located in Southeast Portland, is the only Catholic high school directly under archdiocesan control, and it hasnt implemented the guidelines. However, queer students there and at other Catholic high schools around the city say that theyve been impacted by the guidance, even though it is not official school policy. And more change could be on the horizon. Late last week, Sample announced that he had chosen Elias Moo, currently the superintendent of Catholic schools in Denver, to serve as the archdioceses new director of Catholic education. My goal is to integrate our Catholic schools more deeply into the evangelizing mission of each parish and the wider archdiocesan church, Sample wrote in announcing Moos hiring. At St. Marys Academy in downtown Portland, students report feeling discomfort in what they say had traditionally been a very accepting environment for queer teachers and students alike. Recent graduate Sydney Rose, 18, who is a lesbian, said she sensed a subtle shift in the schools response to queer students and other community members after the publication of Samples guidelines. Last February, Rose designed a poster for a club she was starting the Womens Equality Coalition which included a picture of a rainbow. Posters at the school, like many others, require administrative approval before being put up around the building. Rose says her poster was rejected because of the rainbows LGBTQ+ connotations. Caroline Campana, the schools director of marketing and communications, said St. Marys will remain focused on (its) mission of graduating alumnae grounded in faith, dedicated to service and committed to cultivating and respecting the talents, abilities and potential of each person. Campana did not respond to questions about the schools response to Roses poster or its rules about imagery on posters more generally. But she said the school was committed to walk[ing] alongside every member of our community and to build relationships based on love, acceptance, and belonging. For Rose, the poster rejection felt like an act of censorship directed towards queer individuals at the school. She said the administrations veto felt like the equivalent of banning books, which some school districts have done to reduce or eliminate students access to queer content. A current St. Marys student who identifies as queer and also as a person of faith, said she has felt frightened by what she considers a unilateral quieting of queer voices within the school. The student, who requested to remain anonymous to avoid any retribution from the school, considers the administration to be generally unwilling to broach or address queer issues, despite being generally supportive of queer students. At the beginning of last school year, the student said, queer topics were talked about more in the open. But around the time Sample released his guidance, the student said a hush seemed to fall over queer students at St. Marys. It was like they werent allowed to talk about (queer topics) out loud. I had a few moments of panic where I was like, What is going to happen to this school? Gwendolyn McGarry, the co-president of the student body at St. Marys, said this conflict echoes battles in the wider Catholic Church: Some Catholics believe holy scriptures leave room for modern reevaluation, while others consider them to be unalterable, she said. The school, she said, is struggling to navigate supporting its queer students and preserving its foundational values. McGarry isnt sure if this is a problem that can be solved by the school: I dont know if theres a way to support queer and Christian students at the same time, she said. At Valley Catholic High School in Beaverton, recent graduate Sunny Park, 19, said their identity was either dismissed or attacked by those in the Valley Catholic community. Park recalls one classmate using it and its pronouns for Park, despite their repeated requests that the classmate use Parks preferred she/he/they pronouns. The classmate responded by stating, If youre acting like an it, Im going to treat you like one, Park said. When asked about the schools policy when responding to situations like Parks, Brad Hilliard, the chief communications officer for Valley Catholic and its affiliates, said they strive to provide a positive and safe environment for students. We work individually with our students and their parents to make sure they have the resources they need to learn and grow in a healthy and safe environment. Elliot Hunt, 18, a recent graduate of Jesuit High in Beaverton who is transgender, said his school felt safe to him only when he was with a like-minded community in the diversity, equity, and inclusion office and the theater department, where he was allowed to use the mens bathrooms, which he wasnt permitted to use in the rest of the school. After his transition, Hunt said he was repeatedly deadnamed the act of referring to a transgender person by their pre-transition name in classrooms, hallways and even all-school assemblies. Although Jesuit is not officially under the authority of the Portland archdiocese, Hunt said he felt the impact of the archbishops letter distinctly in the schools diversity, equity and inclusion office. It felt like people were fighting this secret war, he said of administrators in the office. While administrators would constantly laud Hunt for his bravery in choosing to transition, he said, they simultaneously wouldnt allow him to stay in the mens sleeping areas during school retreats, giving him the option of either having a room to himself or sleeping in the womens area. In contrast, June Arne, 17, said they observed a very different response from their school administration at Central Catholic, even though the school is under the authority of the archdiocese. Arne, who is transgender, said they have never felt antagonism from administrators, teachers or fellow students. Arne said that teachers have even gone so far as to announce that they have no plans to change any of their policies in response to Samples letter. Arne said they would readily and enthusiastically suggest Central Catholic to a queer middle schooler. It is an institution that is going to try to remain a queer friendly space, Arne said. A spokesperson for Central Catholic said the school is committed to creating a welcoming and inclusive environment where every student feels seen, heard and valued for their inherent dignity. We believe that all students are loved by God, and we are called to support them. (Central Catholic) acknowledges the complexity of these topics and remains in dialogue with our students and families, the Archdiocese of Portland and our partner Catholic schools. Moos appointment as the archdioceses new director of Catholic education, a role that includes guilding Central Catholic, comes after Sample dissolved the archdioceses department of Catholic schools in June, dismissing longtime superintendent Jeannie Ray Timoney and at least two other staff members. Moo will begin his new job in January and wrote in a letter to families that he plans to spend his first months getting to know the community and praying for spiritual guidance over the future direction of Western Oregons Catholic schools. The churchs vision and mission for education is not a model to be implemented or the latest trendy educational fad to be adopted, he wrote. Instead, he continued, Catholic schools should be sanctuaries of education on a spiritual, intellectual and moral rescue mission for souls. Whether any Catholic high schools in Portland will choose to incorporate the archbishops proposals remains to be seen. Nonetheless, the St. Marys student who requested anonymity said that Samples ideologies have accumulated enough of a presence in St. Marys to make her pause when asked whether she would consider her school a safe place for queer students. She said she had frequently interacted with prospective students at St. Marys school events, which are held to boost enrollment and offer middle schoolers a look into the schools culture and operations. Once, a nonbinary eighth grader asked whether she thought St. Marys was a welcoming environment for queer students. At the time, she told the eighth grader that the community upheld and supported all of its students, no matter their gender or sexual identity, even though the administration was touchy about queer issues. Now she wonders if she led the middle schooler astray. I worry that I didnt tell them the truth, she said. This story was written by Youth Voices contributor Terah Bennett, a St. Marys graduate who is currently in a gap year between high school and college. Bennett is a barista at Starbucks when she isnt pursuing her journalistic aspirations and hopes to pay her own way as she majors in political science and journalism at college. Q. I took prescription Prilosec for 25 years for reflux. Out of the blue, with no other risk factors, I was diagnosed four years ago with Stage 3 kidney disease. Kidney biopsy results were that the cause was unknown. I had tried and tried to get off of Prilosec by using DGL and other natural supplements to no avail. With help from a physician who treats autonomic (vagus nerve) dysfunction, I managed to wean slowly off the Prilosec, substituting famotidine. I also lost some weight, which helped. I dont have to take anything for reflux now. With immunosuppressant drugs for the kidney disease, I have been in remission for three years. So far, things are stable. Oddly, my nephrologist rolled his eyes when I told him I thought my kidney disease had been caused by Prilosec. I had read studies on the link, and I still believe it caused my problem. A. The manufacturer responsible for Prilosec, AstraZeneca, does not admit that the drug can harm the kidneys. On the other hand, the company recently agreed to settle over 10,000 lawsuits for $425 million. The plaintiffs were people who suffered kidney injuries while taking Prilosec and the similar acid-suppressing medicine Nexium. A recent analysis of a dozen studies with nearly 2.5 million participants found that proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) such as esomeprazole or omeprazole increase the risk of acute kidney injury by about 75% (Journal of Clinical Medicine, March 24, 2023). We are disappointed that your nephrologist does not seem to be paying attention to this danger. Anyone who would like to learn how to deal with heartburn without relying heavily on PPIs may find our eGuide to Overcoming Digestive Disorders helpful. This online resource can be found under the Health eGuides tab at www.PeoplesPharmacy.com. Q. My husband collapsed, unconscious, due to severe internal bleeding. He had been taking two full-strength aspirin on the advice of his doctor. I knew that aspirin could be hard on the stomach. To try to protect him, I bought enteric-coated aspirin instead. That just took the damage lower in the digestive tract. Had he been taking uncoated aspirin, he might have felt pain and distress before the ulcer got so big and he lost so much blood. Once they found the ulcer, they cauterized it and gave him two pints of blood. I will never let him use enteric aspirin again. He felt absolutely no pain with an ulcer beyond the stomach. Its a wonderful drug but, like all drugs, carries some risk. A. Doctors often recommend aspirin to prevent blood clots that can cause heart attacks or strokes. Because the risk of ulcers is well recognized, cardiologists may suggest enteric-coated aspirin. A study of more than 10,000 people with atherosclerosis recently compared the safety and effectiveness of enteric-coated and uncoated aspirin tablets (JAMA Cardiology, Oct. 4, 2023). There was no difference between the two forms of aspirin. They were equally effective and equally risky when it came to bleeding episodes. Q. The dentist recommended xylitol for my dry mouth. Wow, diarrhea city! A. Xylitol is a sugar substitute that is frequently found in dry mouth products and sugarless gum. It can cause diarrhea. Another reader reported that Biotene Gel was helpful for the dry mouth caused by a CPAP machine. She suffered no adverse effects. Biotene contains both sorbitol and xylitol. This suggests some people are less susceptible to GI complaints. * * * In their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers. Write to them in care of King Features, 628 Virginia Drive, Orlando, FL 32803, or email them via their website: www.PeoplesPharmacy.com. Their newest book is Top Screwups Doctors Make and How to Avoid Them. (c) 2023 King Features Syndicate, Inc. About two dozen visitors to Portland stood at the intersection of North Vancouver Avenue and Broadway on Saturday and imagined what could be. The group of architects, civil engineers and developers came from across the country as part of the National Organization of Minority Architects annual conference, and they were there to see Albina Vision Trusts ambitious plans to redevelop nearly 100 acres of Portlands historic Albina neighborhood, decimated by decades of anti-Black redlining and gentrification. This right now is not a community, said JT Flowers, communications and development coordinator for the Albina Vision Trust nonprofit. It is a patch of land with a bunch of parking structures and unlivable buildings. We are trying to rebuild 94 acres of Black joy, Black prosperity and Black abundance right here in what was the heart of our neighborhood. Albina Vision Trust, housed in the historic building that held the former jazz club Dude Ranch, wants to return the surrounding area near the Rose Quarter to its former self: a vibrant and community-driven neighborhood to uplift Portlands Black community. Students and practicing architects alike joined the tour to glean insight from the project in the hopes of bringing similar projects to their cities. Im just here to hear your story, Andrew McGlory, an architect from Minneapolis, told the tour guides. I truly believe that if we each told our story, wed find out that theres so much in common. Flowers led the tour group through the area, discussing the history, issues and plans for the Rose Quarter. He highlighted three pivotal projects for Albina Vision Trust. The first stop was an intersection near Interstate 5, where the nonprofit wants to build a highway cover between North Weidler and Tillamook streets to reduce danger for pedestrians, open more space for buildings and improve livability, Flowers said. If the Oregon Department of Transportation approves, the highway cover would span roughly 12 acres, bridging the rift I-5 cut through Albina, Flowers said. Albina Vision Trust is working on a 94-unit affordable housing building known as Albina One, which visitors viewed from behind a construction fence. The complex is the groups first tangible project in their district-wide vision and is expected to cost $63.5 million. Flowers said 16 units will be set aside for people with Section 8 vouchers and 76 units will be eligible for the North/Northeast Preference Policy, which aims to address the harmful impacts of urban renewal by giving preference to applicants with ties to the area. JT Flowers (center) discusses the Albina Vision Trust project with a National Organization of Minority Architects tour group.Austin De Dios/The Oregonian Albina Vision Trust would like to purchase the Paramount Apartments, the last historic residential building in that section of Albina, to preserve the units. The nonprofit also may acquire Portland Public Schools headquarters, the final tour stop, to convert the building into a large-scale community center. Portland Public Schools agreed in 2021 to give the nonprofit first rights of purchase to the property. The overall project is one of the largest restorative redevelopment endeavors in the country, Flowers said. Despite its size, there are only 12 property owners in the area, making the project less complicated, Flowers said. Our project is the largest in scope, the most audacious in scope, but in many ways its one of the most feasible, he said. This year was the first time the National Organization of Minority Architects held its annual conference in Portland. The groups Portland chapter was pivotal in bringing the event to life, according to Tiffany Brown, NOMAs executive director. Roughly 1,300 people of color attended the five-day conference, Brown said. The organization launched 52 years ago to advocate for communities of color in the building industry. Its encouraging to see, because we dont usually see people of color in leadership in this industry, Brown said. READ MORE: Portlands June Key Delta center draws advocates for reimagined development The conference was quickly dampened by a deadly shooting Wednesday that killed one man unaffiliated with the event and injured another man, a conference presenter. Samuel Gomez, a gallery director from Phoenix, was recovering in the hospital after being shot in the legs by a man in an alleged road rage incident. Ryan Martin, 47, of southwest Washington, was killed at the scene. Prosecutors have charged 46-year-old Geoffrey Hammond with second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder and other crimes. Brown said the incident was shocking. She said Travel Portland, security officers with the downtown Portland Hilton, where the conference was based, and Portland police offered reassurances that people would be safe. Brown also visited Gomez in the hospital and said hes been in good spirits. Its the first of something of that nature, but going into cities these days, everybody seems to be on edge, Brown said. Chandra Robinson, a principal at LEVER Architecture whos lived in Portland most of her life, said the shooting was not representative of the city she calls home. She participated in Saturdays tour. Robinsons passion for Portland is what brought her to the Albina Vision Trust project as an architect. And while the city faces its challenges, she said shes looking forward to being part of an effort to change it. Robinson said the project will take decades, likely spanning the rest of her career and beyond. Its amazing to be a part of something thats intentionally trying to make a place for people to come back, and not re-create something but build something new and vibrant and forward-looking, Robinson said. What else do you get to do in architecture as meaningful as working in your own community? Austin De Dios; adedios@oregonian.com; @austindedios; 503-319-9744 Our journalism needs your support. Please become a subscriber today at OregonLive.com/subscribe. Members of the Central Lutheran Church in Northeast Portlands Historic Irvington District voted Sunday to pursue the sale of the 1950 church building designed by modernist architect Pietro Belluschi. The church will run out of money to support the historic landmark next year. The motion passed with over a two-third majority of voting members present to pursue the sale of the building, church pastor, the Rev. Dr. Amanda Llewellyn, told The Oregonian/OregonLive. This will begin a time of research and conversation for the congregation. Partners, stakeholders, neighbors and the wider community are invited to connect with us as we embark on the next phase of our journey. The midcentury modern church, clad in textured brick and stained wood, sits on a 0.57-acre, corner lot at 1820 N.E. 21st Ave. Although the church is exempt from property taxes, Multnomah County values the land at $1,459,630 and the improvements, including buildings, at an additional $7,383,330. If sold, historians believe it would be the first time for one of the 43 Belluschi-designed churches and synagogues built in Oregon, Washington, California and across the country. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) ranked the Central Lutheran Church in Portland, with its graceful blending of Pacific Northwest modern, Japanese and Nordic aesthetics, as one of the top four churches built in the U.S. during the associations first 100 years. The entrance is under a curved-roof Japanese-style wooden gateway. The long part of the church leads to a semicircular apse facing north. At the southern end is a 40-foot-tall exposed timber tower. Belluschi also designed the 1954 Central Lutheran Church in Eugene, which was not part of Sundays vote. Over his long career, Belluschi, who was born in Italy and died in Portland at age 94 in 1994, created light-filled modern homes, office towers and ecclesiastical buildings across the U.S. that were praised for their elegantly spare aesthetic. He is the only Oregonian to receive both the National Medal of Arts for his lifetime achievements and the American Institute of Architects highest honor, the Gold Medal. While church volunteers have worked heroically to maintain and restore this incredible structure, as responsible stewards we know we cannot do this alone, Llewellyn said. We love the building enough to recognize it may be time to ask if we are the right ones to continue to steward the building forward. For the Portland Central Lutheran Church, decreasing donations and building rental fees mean the congregation can no longer afford the high level of care, energy and financial investment to maintain the historic facility, even after recent upgrades, church leaders wrote in the October newsletter. The forecast: we will run out of money for current operations by December 2024, any remaining funds will only be sufficient to safeguard the building until it sells, wrote Janet Johnson, church council president. Before the pandemic hit in 2020, more than 45 groups a week met at the building, but many of those groups have dissolved, moved online or have not returned for other reasons, said Llewellyn. The facility was also rented for private events. Llewellyn said, as with many houses of worship, attendance at Portland Central Lutheran Churchs Sunday service has fallen over the decades from hundreds of people to about 30 people in person and others joining virtually through Zoom and Facebook live-streams. We are scrappy and dedicated and filled with vitality, she added. We are doing our best with what we have to maintain Belluschis design alongside of our other ministries. We also welcome those who wish to come and partner with us, whether through financial donation, building use or resource sharing. We recognize that the time to have this hard conversation is now while we have the capacity to dream and imagine. The churchs centralportland.org home page states: The Church Is Not A Building. Janet Eastman | 503-294-4072 jeastman@oregonian.com | @janeteastman More on Pietro Belluschi Central Lutheran Church in Portland considers selling its Pietro Belluschi-designed building Central Lutheran has its landmark steeple back Modern architect Pietro Belluschi asked Frank Lloyd Wright for help 92 years ago. Heres how that still benefits Portland Remembering architect Pietro Belluschi on his 120th anniversary: Oregonians remark on his legacy A roundup of conversations we're having daily on the site. Subscribe to the Reckon Daily for stories centering marginalized communities and speaking to the under-covered issues of the moment. Jodi Bobbitt, the school nurse at William Ramsay Elementary in Alexandria, Virginia, is always ready to see children with a wide range of injuries and illnesses. One day during the first week of school, the parade started before the first bell when a little girl walked in with red, irritated eyes. Then it got busy. A student fell from the monkey bars and another tripped while playing tag. Two kids hit each others heads with lunchboxes and needed ice packs. A young boy had a stomachache. Bobbitt also saw her regular kiddos: one who has special needs and uses a wheelchair and another who has diabetes and gets his blood sugar checked daily before lunch. Every day, Im seeing more and more [youngsters], Bobbitt, who is a certified nurse practitioner, said with a smile. I saw more today than yesterday, so we just have to wait and see what the year has in store. As the only school nurse at this suburban Washington, D.C., elementary school, Bobbitts responsibilities extend beyond treating scraped knees and sniffles for the schools 600 pupils. At her under-the-sea-themed clinic, she administers medications, teaches kids about health care, and conducts routine health screenings. As the school nurse, she also serves as a public health point person tracking student vaccinations, linking parents to local health care resources and communicating sometimes difficult messages to them, such as warnings about sexually transmitted diseases and signs of depression. Its a full plate, but Bobbitt considers herself lucky. In a previous school nursing job, she split her time between two buildings within the same school district some years three. What hasnt changed is that school nurses play a critical role in keeping students healthy and ready to learn, but its an often-unrecognized field for which schools struggle to attract and retain employees. More than a third of schools nationwide dont have a full-time nurse on-site, according to a 2021 survey by the National Association of School Nurses (NASN). The schools that dont have a dedicated nurse either share one with other campuses or dont have one at all. Meanwhile, the nation is facing high rates of chronic illnesses among K-12 students, such as diabetes and asthma, along with an unprecedented mental health crisis among youth, and school nurses are at the front lines often alone. School nurses roles were further complicated by COVID-19. Since the pandemic took hold, theyve been tasked with tracking cases and tracing exposures. An extreme load of work was put on school nurses shoulders during the pandemic, said Kate King, president of the NASN. They got caught in the middle between anti-maskers and maskers and anti-vaccine and pro-vaccine parents and were the point of contact whenever students had to quarantine. School nurses are used to interacting with parents who are angry, said King, but because of the pandemic that anger just got to levels we had never seen before. In general, kids attendance and learning can suffer when students dont have access to a school nurse. Youre going to see more absences, she said, citing a study from the Journal of School Nursing that found students with illnesses or injuries were sent home 18 percent of the time when evaluated by an unlicensed school employee while only 5 percent went home after being seen by a school nurse. Teachers and administrators are shouldering some of the burden by learning how to handle injuries and illnesses themselves, but it doesnt take the place of having a school nurse who can respond immediately, King said. Though there is no federal law requiring schools to have nurses on staff, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends at least one full-time nurse for every 750 students enrolled but most states are missing the mark by miles. School nurses in California have one of the heaviest workloads in the country with a student-to-school-nurse ratio of 2,410 students for every nurse, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. According to research organization Child Trends, California, along with 34 other states and the District of Columbia, requires schools to employ school nurses. Of those, 12 set required nurse-to-student ratios. Seven states encourage schools to have nurses on staff. Eight states dont have mandates on the books. Still, schools were scrambling over the summer to hire nurses. Jessica Sawko, director of education for Children Now, a California-based nonprofit organization, said schools struggle not only to retain nurses but also encourage aspiring nurses to consider working in schools. Districts cant compete with the salaries and benefits hospitals offer. The national median salary for school nurses is nearly $55,000 a year, but a registered nurse could make nearly $30,000 more annually working at a hospital. In some states, school nurses need special certification in addition to their nursing degrees. The lack of school nurses is a byproduct of a larger issue: the nations overall nursing shortage. Health organizations in general even those that offer healthy salaries are facing difficulties hiring and keeping nurses. Around 40 percent of nurses who participated in a 2023 survey by McKinsey & Co. said they were considering leaving their position. As a nurse for junior high students, King said she is keenly aware that school nurses sometimes serve as students only contact with a health care professional especially at her campus. World Language Middle School in Columbus, Ohio, where King works, has a diverse student body and takes in many students who are new to the country. So that requires school nurses like myself to have a very broad range of knowledge of diseases and symptoms, she said. Robin Wallin, director of school health services for Alexandria City Public Schools, said that another layer of this issue is that school nursing is an aging cohort. The district has at least one school nurse in each of its 18 campuses but this year it was a challenge to fill every spot. Thats partly because many school nurses are aging out, starting to retire, she said. We need to start to replenish our cohorts. Bobbitt said the nursing students who shadow her almost never imagine themselves working in a school. They want to work in the ER, they want to work in the hospital, they want to work in the NICU or somewhere where they can have that adrenaline, Bobbitt said. This is a little different, she said, adding that it is fast-paced in its own way. Robin Cogan is a clinical coordinator at Rutgers Universitys School Nurse Specialty Program in New Jersey. She said one of the biggest learning curves for nurses who opt to work in school settings is that they are often an independent practitioner, which involves juggling a lot of responsibilities. Meanwhile, Bobbitt, working in her brightly colored clinic, stays focused on her daily mission: to address the students needs as quickly as possible. We dont want them to miss very much school or much class work, Bobbit said. Thats our goal, right? KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism. This story also ran on CBS News. It can be republished for free. A popular scenic road in the Columbia River Gorge is back open after shutting down earlier this year for construction. Multnomah County announced Thursday that East Larch Mountain Road is back open to traffic, giving drivers and cyclists access to a scenic viewpoint that had been cut off since the road closure began on July 5. The $5.1 million project involved paving and repairing seven miles of road, which had become potholed and unsafe, especially for cyclists. Crews also replaced old guardrails and restriped the road, the county said. East Larch Mountain Road begins at the Historic Columbia River Highway near the Portland Womens Forum viewpoint, running 14 miles to a parking lot atop Larch Mountain. From there, hikers can make a short walk to the Sherrard Point viewpoint or hike downhill along the Larch Mountain Trail, which terminates at Multnomah Falls. The viewpoint and trail remained open to hikers during the road closure. Those who want to check out the new pavement should act fast East Larch Mountain Road always closes seasonally at milepost 10 from around late November to early June, depending on weather. The road previously closed from September 2017 to May 2019 due to damage from the Eagle Creek fire. Jamie Hale 503-294-4077; jhale@oregonian.com; @HaleJamesB Our journalism needs your support. Please become a subscriber today at OregonLive.com/subscribe BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 16. Vivek Ramaswamy, a contender for the US presidency, is a radical supporter of former US President Donald Trump, said to Trend, Maxim Shevchenko, a well-known Russian political analyst, TV host and public figure. "This person is assisting Trump and the Republicans who are supporting Trump in regaining power. They are extreme liberals. Liberals are not necessarily those who support alternative lifestyles, as we frequently assume. Liberalism is considerably more complex than that. The center of global liberalism is located in Republican America. And it will never forgive Azerbaijan for destroying Armenianism's political project. This global liberal imperialist community is led by the United States, with France playing a close secon," he noted. According to him, Azerbaijan has curtailed Armenianism as a political project beyond a microscopic state from 2020 to 2023. "The U.S. and France will continue to attack Azerbaijan, which has become an enemy for them. Because Azerbaijan was able to do what no one else could do," the political scientist added. To note, the other day US presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy made accusations against Azerbaijan and showed footage of the Armenian attack on Ganja and on Barda as so-called proof. Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Abdoulaye Bathily, has stated that the electoral process in Libya has seen some progress, welcoming the advances made in the electoral laws by the 6+6 Joint Commission despite the persistence of certain political problems Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) Nigerias Federal Executive Council (FEC) met on Monday with the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, announcing that President Bola Ahmed Tinubus administration has secured $1 EPIQ Machinery Grows Global Service with Acquisition of Stymer Technologies in India Eloise Harvey, CEO of EPIQ Machinery (in the center), said the acquisition of Stymer Technologies increases EPIQ's flexibility to better service the global heavy-duty equipment market. Eloise Harvey, CEO of EPIQ Machinery (in the center), said the acquisition of Stymer Technologies increases EPIQ's flexibility to better service the global heavy-duty equipment market. Oct. 16, 2023 - EPIQ Machinery recently announced the acquisition of Stymer Technologies under ADF Engineering, a subsidiary of EPIQ Machinery, a Canada-based company. Based in Pune, Maharashtra, India, Stymer Technologies is an engineering services company that provides 2D drafting, 3D CAD, Finite Element Analysis, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Structural Detailing and analysis, and undertakes projects from concept to the delivery of fabrication drawings. Clients are located in Canada, Europe, USA, Gulf, and India. According to EPIQ Machinery, the main shareholder of ADF Engineering, the acquisition is in line with the company's growth vision and its ongoing commitment to timely deliver high quality materials handling systems to its primary metals and pulp and paper customers worldwide. "This acquisition is a landmark. We are reinforcing our synergies and consolidating our global presence," said Eloise Harvey, CEO of EPIQ Machinery. "With our various centers of operations in Canada, France and now India, we are increasing not only our local capacities, but also our flexibility to better service the global heavy-duty equipment market." In addition to its current activities, Stymer Technologies will work together with EPIQ Machinery technical teams in Canada to support the design of EPIQ's systems. The objective is to use this new capacity to maintain EPIQ's delivery commitment in line with market expectations. "Indeed, EPIQ Machinery wants to expand its revenue stream through both the local market in India and our global clients using our production facilities in Pune and now this recently added engineering capacity," Ms. Harvey said. Nilesh Shelke, Vice-President of Stymer Technologies, added, "The partnership of STYMER and ADF within the EPIQ Machinery group brings a new strength to our operations. Our team shall grow stronger in terms of competency and capacity both, to serve our customers in much better way. With EPIQ Machinery we focus on enhancing our customer experience, strengthening our delivery systems, and improving our infrastructure to suit our clients needs." EPIQ Machinery offers global solutions of innovative equipment to improve the handling and process flow of an aluminum smelter, pulp and paper mill and hydrometallurgy. SOURCE: EPIQ Machinery RYAM Explores Potential Sale of Its Temiscaming Pulp and Paperboard Mill in Quebec Oct. 16, 2023 - Rayonier Advanced Materials (RYAM) announced that it has engaged Houlihan Lokey as its financial advisor to explore the potential sale of its paperboard and high-yield pulp assets located at its Temiscaming site. RYAM on Oct 7 temporarily idled the Temiscaming mill's paperboard operation and one of its high-yield pulp lines for 3 weeks to "optimize inventory levels and address lower-than-anticipated demand." In an Oct. 13 press release about the potential sale of the Temiscaming mill, RYAM said, "This strategic move is aligned with RYAM's commitment to enhancing its operational and financial performance, optimizing its portfolio to align with its long-term growth strategy, and providing flexibility to pay down debt and reduce leverage. The engagement of Houlihan Lokey, a renowned global investment bank, underscores RYAM's dedication to a rigorous and diligent evaluation of its strategic options." The Temiscaming mill, which is located in Quebec, Canada, produces high-purity cellulose, high-yield pulp, and coated paperboard. Its operations are powered by carbon-neutral hydroelectricity, and a renewable biomass power generation system on-site, which produces renewable energy for the Hydro Quebec grid. The mill employs around 700 people. RYAM is a global leader of cellulose-based technologies, including high purity cellulose specialties, a natural polymer commonly found in filters, food, pharmaceuticals, and other industrial applications. The Company also manufactures products for paper and packaging markets. SOURCE: Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc. (RYAM) Photo: (Photo : on Unsplash) In a quiet corner of Plainfield, Illinois, the tranquility of the community was shattered by a harrowing incident that many are calling a hate crime. A man from the town is now in custody, facing a slew of severe charges. These include the grave accusation of first-degree murder after he allegedly and brutally ended the life of a 6-year-old boy, stabbing the innocent child as many as 26 times. Furthermore, the assailant left the young boy's mother in critical condition, inflicting upon her over a dozen grievous stab wounds. Heartbreakingly, the reason believed to be behind this act of unspeakable violence is the victims' Muslim faith. On what started as a typical Saturday morning, at approximately 11:40 a.m., the Will County Sheriff's Office received a distressing call from a residence in Plainfield Township. The emergency was initially reported as a confrontation involving a landlord and a tenant. However, upon their swift arrival, deputies were confronted with a scene that would stay etched in their minds. They found 71-year-old Joseph M. Czuba, injured with a visible cut on his forehead, sitting close to the driveway. But the magnitude of the atrocity became unmistakably evident when the officers made their way inside the home. Inside one of the bedrooms, they stumbled upon two individuals who had been brutally wounded. Mother Battles for Life; 6-Year-Old Succumbs to Injuries Emergency services promptly transported the victims to a nearby hospital for urgent medical attention. The mother, a 32-year-old woman, despite bearing over a dozen stab wounds, was fighting for her life and, according to medical professionals, is anticipated to recover from the heinous assault. However, the situation was grimmer for the second victim. The young 6-year-old boy, despite the best efforts of the medical team, could not be saved. A post-mortem examination unveiled a chilling fact: a 12-inch serrated military-style knife had been left lodged in the boy's abdomen. It was confirmed that the child had been subjected to a staggering 26 stab wounds. Subsequent to the incident, after undergoing necessary medical treatment, Czuba was detained by the police. Though he opted for silence during the interrogative phase, the meticulous and tenacious efforts of the detectives, including exhaustive interviews and careful evidence compilation, culminated in levying multiple charges against him. Among these charges are first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two distinct counts of committing a hate crime, and one count of aggravated battery using a deadly weapon. Read Also: Bullying Is A Serious Public Health Problem, Not A Normal Part Of Childhood; Zero-Tolerance Doesn't Work, Experts Warn Illinois State Representative Calls Out Media's Dehumanizing Portrayal of Palestinians Piecing together the narrative, investigators deduced that the victims' Muslim faith was the sole catalyst for this vicious attack. This violent act is believed to be an outcome of the escalating tensions observed in the Middle East, particularly between factions like Hamas and Israel. The aftershocks of this tragedy are palpable throughout the community and its leadership. Illinois State Representative Abdelnasser Rashid, in a poignant message shared on social media, articulated his profound grief over the tragic demise of the young boy. In Rashid's words, "Let's not sugarcoat it: this hate crime is a direct consequence of the dehumanizing, one-sided media portrayal of Palestinians, compounded by careless comments from elected officials. This unchecked and rampant dehumanization of Palestinians has manifested in this horrific murder." This gut-wrenching event has amplified concerns over media representation and its implications for particular communities. As the court proceedings unfold, the town of Plainfield is united in its quest for justice, grappling with the tragedy and fervently hoping for healing and understanding in its wake. Related Article: Muslim Student Will Attend Norwich University After The Citadel Refused To Allow Her To Wear Hijab With Military Uniform Photo: (Photo : Aditya Romansa on Unsplash) In a recent court hearing, Amanda Hickey, a 48-year-old suburban Atlanta woman, was sentenced to 30 years in prison. The sentencing came after Hickey was found guilty of the 2021 murder of a 4-month-old infant, Charlie Cronmiller, under her care. The infant was placed to sleep on his abdomen at the Little Lovey child care center, a facility Hickey operated from her Dunwoody home's basement. During the sentencing on Friday, families of children Hickey was alleged to have abused took the stand, providing moving testimonies that painted a disturbing picture of her child care practices. Hickey, showing remorse, addressed DeKalb County Superior Court Chief Judge LaTisha Dear Jackson. "I know that there is nothing I can say in words to take away their pain, except to take responsibility and express extreme sorrow for what I've done," she said, as reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She further added, "This is my legacy now." Tragic Loss: 4-Month-Old Charlie Cronmiller's Heartbreaking Death Under Hickey's Care The tragic incident took place on February 3, 2021. Charlie Cronmiller was under Hickey's supervision when he tragically lost his life. Despite the safety guidelines that mandate placing babies on their backs for sleep, security footage revealed that Hickey had positioned the infant facedown. The situation took a grimmer turn when Hickey failed to check on the baby for over two hours. When she finally did, she found him covered in vomit and unresponsive. Charlie was rushed to the hospital, where he was subsequently declared dead. The security video footage was pivotal not just for this case but also shed light on other disturbing incidents. It showed Hickey handling babies aggressively-swinging them by their feet, slamming them to the ground, and even pulling their hair. There were also instances of her pushing and tripping toddlers and jeopardizing other infants by placing them in perilous sleeping positions. These affected children were reportedly between 6 and 18 months old. Though Hickey's license permitted her to care for six children, it was found that ten children were present in her facility on the day of Charlie's tragic death. Read Also: Infant Fatality at New York City Day Care Leads to Hospitalization of Three Additional Children Stephanie Cronmiller Shares Pain, Self-blame in Court On September 22, Hickey pleaded guilty to a slew of charges, including seven counts of first-degree child cruelty, seven counts of reckless conduct, one count of second-degree child cruelty, and three counts of battery. Additionally, she entered an Alford plea, permitting her to retain her claim of innocence while concurrently acknowledging that pleading guilty was in her best interest. This plea was particularly for charges related to second-degree murder and second-degree child cruelty linked to Charlie Cronmiller's death. Stephanie Cronmiller, Charlie's grief-stricken mother, spoke to the court during the hearing, emphasizing Hickey's perceived lack of genuine remorse. "The only thing she's sorry about is that she got caught. I focus on forgiving myself because I chose her. How could I not think this was my fault?" she lamented. The court proceedings concluded with Hickey being immediately taken into custody. Chief Judge Jackson issued strict orders for Hickey's eventual release. She is barred from establishing contact with the victims or any child below 13 years of age. Additionally, she cannot derive any financial benefits from this case. Related Article: Utah Day Care Horror: Toddler Found Bleeding with Bullet Lodged in Head BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 16. Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Fariz Rzayev paid a visit to the Republic of Croatia on October 11-13, 2023, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told Trend. As part of the visit, the deputy minister took part in the International Donors' Conference on humanitarian demining in Ukraine, which was held in Zagreb on October 11-12. Fariz Rzayev informed the conference participants in detail about the mine problem faced by Azerbaijan and its severe consequences. During the visit, Rzayev held bilateral meetings with Dino Mihanovic, Foreign Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia, Davorko Vidovic, Deputy Speaker of the Croatian Parliament, and Frano Matusic, Deputy Minister of Foreign and European Affairs. During the meetings, the sides discussed relations between Azerbaijan and Croatia, the current state and prospects of cooperation in political, economic, energy and humanitarian spheres, including within the framework of international organizations, strategic energy and transport projects implemented at Azerbaijan's initiative, as well as regional security and post-conflict situation. In addition, a meeting was held with representatives of influential Croatian analytical centers and experts. Information was presented at the meeting on Azerbaijan's foreign policy priorities, Croatian-Azerbaijani relations, the situation in the region after the conflict, as well as reconstruction, construction and reintegration work carried out in Azerbaijan's liberated territories, and a broad exchange of views on the regional situation. We held a sacrament service this morning at our hotel in Urgup. It was very enjoyable. Steve Densley conducted it, and Murat Cakr, who served as the branch president and in the mission presidency here for quite a while (and who currently teaches Sunday school), was our speaker. (More on that, perhaps, later.) Brother Cakr helped us to organize this trip, and he and his wife, Susan, have been traveling with us. At least four Muslim members of the hotel staff, three women and a man, sat right outside the door of the room where we met, listening and watching with surprisingly rapt attention. I wonder what they made of it. (Our congregational singing was pretty good, I think.) A quartet that included two physicians who happen to be former members of the Tabernacle Choir, David Palmer and Brian Hales, sang Brightly Beams the Fathers Mercy. The other two members of the quartet were Steve Densley, the Interpreter Foundations executive vice president, and, well, the president of the Interpreter Foundation. Desperate times call for desperate action. In thinking about Brightly Beams the Fathers Mercy, I couldnt help but be reminded of parody lyrics that I heard on my mission in Switzerland. I dont know who composed them. (Is anybody else familiar with what follows below?) They include many of the responses that we commonly heard while out tracting and knocking on doors: Tue recht und scheue niemand. Es ist wirklich alles gleich. Jeder wird nach seiner Fassung Selig werden im Himmelreich. Alle Wege fuhrn nach oben Und ich habe keine Zeit. Ich bin doch schon evangelisch Und ich bleibs in Ewigkeit. For which I offer my hasty and unpoetic translation: Do whats right and fear nobody. Every (religion) is really just the same. Everybody will be saved in the Kingdom of Heaven According to his convictions. All paths lead to heaven, And I have no time. Anyway, Im already an Evangelical And Ill remain so for eternity. Ive made two attempts at suicide during the trip thus far. Both occurred on the same day: First, I brushed my teeth with hydrocortisone instead of toothpaste. It tasted terrible, and then I actually looked at the squeezable tube that my wife had placed by the sink and recognized the, umm, inconvenient truth. Scrubbing and rinsing out my mouth became much more urgent than they had been just before. Then, at lunch that day, I sampled just a bit of a Turkish jalapeno pepperthe hottest I have ever tasted. It took easily ten minutes to stop feeling the pain. The internet in our hotel for the past two nights was only good in the reception area, but terrible in our room. I mentioned it to one of our traveling companions. What? he said. Are you living in some kind of a cave? Well, as a matter of fact, I was. And it turns outwho knew?that meter-thick limestone isnt a good medium for wireless internet. The Republic of Turkey occupies the Anatolian Peninsula and a bit of territory beyond it. But have I commented yet on the word Anatolia? It derives from the Greek word (anatole, pronounced approximately a-na-toe-LAY) which means the East; more generally, anatole denotes anything to the east of the person using the word, or simply, vague eastern regions. It refers to the direction where the sun rises; the Greek word (anatello) means I rise up. In the Nativity story at Matthew 2:1-2, the wise men are said to have come to Jerusalem from the east ( ; apo anatolon), having seen the miraculous star in the east ( ; en te anatole). We went this morning to the underground city of Kaymakl, a rabbit warren of rooms and storage areas that was cut from the rock on eight different levels. To this point, and to the best of my knowledge, thirty-six of these underground cities have been found in Cappadocia. (Depending on how you count them, the one in Derinkuyu has between eighteen and twenty floors, with a capacity for about 20,000 people.) One theory has it that the first two or three levels in each of them were excavated by the ancient Hittites, with the Christians of the sixth and seventh centuries AD creating the rest of the floors. There is no natural light in them, and its difficult to envision people willingly staying in them on a permanent basis. So, many think that they were places of emergency refuge, or even merely storage areas. But that last hypothesis cant seem to explain the elaborateness of the cities. They are a bit difficult to navigate, especially for someone who is relatively tall (as I am). With characteristic nobility, though, and thinking only of others who would eventually pass the same way, I sought to extend the height of some of the rock tunnels by means of my head. The resultant bleeding gained me a fair amount of sympathy, including that of three Muslim women at the end, who expressed their heartfelt concern and best wishes. Perhaps there should be a variation at the entrance of one of those Disneyland or Disney World signs: You must be at least this short to enter the underground city. From Kaymakl, we drove to the Uranos restaurant, a vast and curious complex that has been carved into a limestone hillside. Despite the busloads of customers who were there, the food was actually quite good. Next, we entered Goreme National Park and, specifically, the Goreme Open Air Museum, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is famous for its chapels carved into the rock, and for their tenth- or eleventh-century frescos depicting the life of Christ. Walking up into the hills, you see more than a dozen chapels and other buildings. This evening, we drove by Uchisar Castle in the Nevsehir Province of Cappadocia. Its actually a 60-meter-high rock formation that is pockmarked by caves and crisscrossed by numerous underground passageways and rooms, now mostly blocked or impassable. In Byzantine times, the place was home to perhaps around 1,000 people. (Nobody lives in it now.) The view from it is said to be remarkable. Deep ravines and gulleys and rock outcroppings have been shaped by the wind and the weather into pyramids, cones, and towers of every size and shape. As has sometimes been said, the landscape is worthy of a painting by Hieronymus Bosch or Pieter Brueghel the Elder. One of the fairy chimneys that can be seen from atop Uchisar actually houses a jandarma, a police station. We stopped just past it for photographs, just when the evening sun had painted it in bright light. We will be flying early tomorrow morning to Izmir, the ancient Smyrna (reputed birthplace of the great Greek epic poet Homer), and we will be spending the night nearby, in Kusadas. (Remember that the cedilla, the little squiggle, at the bottom of the Turkish letter c turns that letters normal j sound [as in jam or jello] into a ch sound [as in church], and, appended to the bottom of an s, makes that letter into a sh sound [as in sheesh and shout]. And that the dotless ithat is, the letter is pronounced as a fairly dull uh sound. So Kaymakl is pronounced roughly Kay-MAK-luh and Kusadas is pronounced Koo-SHAD-uh-suh (and not KOO-sa-DAA -see, as Ive often heard tourists say the word, leaving me to wonder sometimes how the Turks even know what theyre talking about). True story: I was once walking along a sidewalk in a coastal town not far from San Diego. Somebody pulled up in a really expensive car and demanded to know if I could direct him and his passengers to LAH-jah-lah. I honestly had no idea, and I told him so. It was only after he had driven away that it dawned on me that he must have been referring to La Jolla(which is, of course, pronounced roughly la-HOY-uh). By then, it was too late to catch up with him. Posted from Kayseri, Cappadocia, Turkiye [see the book info-page / buy Kindle or Nook versions] * Chapter three (pp. 139-158) of my book, Bible Truths for Catholic Truths: A Source Book for Apologists and Inquirers (Manchester, New Hampshire: Sophia Institute Books, 2009); the paperback is now out-of-print. This book could also be known as Daves Topical Bible, and contains over 1,900 Bible passages, categorized under 115 thematic headings. I am now offering it online for free. * In these blog posts I use for readers convenience the original RSV of the manuscript ( 1971 by Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America), rather than KJV, which was mostly used in the paperback, due to copyright law. This book is all Bible, except for a few clarifying comments here and there. Subtitles sometimes differ from the published version. They are my own original titles. ***** PETRINE PRIMACY / PETER AS THE FIRST POPE Genesis 41:39-41 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discreet and wise as you are; you shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command; only as regards the throne will I be greater than you. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Behold, I have set you over all the land of Egypt. (cf. 43:19; 44:4) 1 Kings 18:3 And Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the household. . . . 2 Kings 15:5 . . . And Jotham the kings son was over the household, governing the people of the land. 2 Kings 18:18 And when they called for the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder. (cf. 18:37; 19:2; Is 36:3, 22; 37:2) Job 12:14 If he tears down, none can rebuild; if he shuts a man in, none can open. Isaiah 22:15, 20-24 Thus says the Lord GOD of hosts, Come, go to this steward, to Shebna, who is over the household, . . . In that day I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your girdle on him, and will commit your authority to his hand; and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. And I will fasten him like a peg in a sure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his fathers house. And they will hang on him the whole weight of his fathers house, the offspring and issue, every small vessel, from the cups to all the flagons. Matthew 16:15-17 He said to them, But who do you say that I am? Simon Peter replied, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered him, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. Matthew 16:18-19 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Luke 12:42 And the Lord said, Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? (cf. Titus 1:7) John 1:42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him, and said, So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas (which means Peter). Revelation 3:7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one shall shut, who shuts and no one opens. The power of the keys has to do with ecclesiastical discipline and administrative authority with regard to the requirements of the faith, including the use of censures, excommunication, absolution, baptismal discipline, the imposition of penances, and legislative powers. In the Old Testament a steward, or prime minister is a man who is over a house (see also 1 Ki 4:6; 16:9; 18:3; 2 Ki 10:5; 18:18). Binding and loosing were technical rabbinical terms, which meant to forbid and permit with reference to the interpretation of the law, and secondarily to condemn or acquit. Thus, St. Peter and the popes are given the authority to determine the rules for doctrine and life, by virtue of revelation and the Spirits leading (Jn 16:13). Only Peter, among the apostles, received a new name: Cephas, or Rock (cf. 1 Cor 1:12; 3:22; 9:5; 15:5; Gal 1:18; 2:9, 11, 14). He was the first to confess Christs divinity (Mt 16:16), and is told that he has received divine knowledge by a special revelation (Mt 16:17). Matthew 10:2 The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Mark 3:14-17 And he appointed twelve, to be with him, and to be sent out to preach and have authority to cast out demons: Simon whom he surnamed Peter; James the son of Zebedee . . . Mark 16:7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you. (an angel speaking) Luke 6:13-14 And when it was day, he called his disciples, and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles; Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, Acts 1:13 and when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, . . . St. Peters name occurs first in all lists of apostles. Judas Iscariot is always mentioned last. Peter is almost without exception named first whenever he appears with anyone else. His name is always the first listed of the inner circle of the disciples (Peter, James and John: Mt 17:1; 26:37, 40; Mk 5:37; 14:37). Peters name is mentioned more often than all the other disciples put together: 191 times (162 as Peter or Simon Peter, 23 as Simon, and six as Cephas). John is next in frequency with only 48 appearances, and Peter is present half of the time we find John mentioned in the Bible. 2 Samuel 7:7 . . . the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, . . . Psalm 78:70-72 He chose David his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds; from tending the ewes that had young he brought him to be the shepherd of Jacob his people, of Israel his inheritance. With upright heart he tended them, and guided them with skilful hand. Isaiah 44:28 who says of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfil all my purpose Jeremiah 3:15 And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. (cf. 23:4) Ezekiel 37:24 My servant David shall be king over them; and they shall all have one shepherd. Luke 22:31-32 Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren. John 21:15-17 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? He said to him, Yes, Lord; you know that I love you. He said to him, Feed my lambs. A second time he said to him, Simon, son of John, do you love me? He said to him, Yes, Lord; you know that I love you. He said to him, Tend my sheep. He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, Do you love me? And he said to him, Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you. Jesus said to him, Feed my sheep. The Good Shepherd, Jesus (John 10:11-16; cf. Ps 23:1; 80:1; Is 40:11; Jer 31:10; Mt 26:31; Heb 13:20; 1 Pet 2:25; 5:4; Rev 7:17) gives us other shepherds as well (Jn 21:15-17, above; Eph 4:11). St. Peter is here regarded by Jesus as the Chief Shepherd after Himself, singularly by name, and over the universal Church, even though others have a similar but subordinate role (Acts 20:28; 1 Pet 5:2). Luke 9:32 Now Peter and those who were with him [John and James] were heavy with sleep, and when they wakened they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. (cf. Mk 1:36) Acts 5:15 so that they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and pallets, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. Acts 5:29 But Peter and the apostles answered, We must obey God rather than men. Acts 12:5 So Peter was kept in prison; but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church. Acts 12:11 And Peter came to himself, and said, Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting. 1 Corinthians 9:5 Do we not have the right to be accompanied by a wife, as the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? St. Peter is regarded by his fellow disciples and apostles, the Jewish leaders, and the common people alike as the leader and spokesman of Christianity, as indicated by his constantly being singled out or highlighted, or distinguished from others, in narratives (cf. Mt 17:24; Acts 2:37-41; 4:1-13; 10:1-6). He is often the spokesman for the other apostles, especially at climactic moments (Mk 8:29; Mt 18:21; Lk 9:5; 12:41; Jn 6:67 ff.), and usually the central figure relating to Jesus in dramatic gospel scenes such as Jesus walking on the water (Mt 14:28-32; Lk 5:1 ff.; Mk 10:28; Mt 17:24 ff.). He was the first person to speak (and only one recorded) after Pentecost, so he was the first Christian to preach the gospel in the Church era (Acts 2:14-36), and the first to preach the necessity of baptism for entrance into Christianity and regeneration (Acts 2:38, 41). Peter was the first traveling missionary, exercising what would now be called visitation of the churches (Acts 9:32-38, 43). Paul preached at Damascus immediately after his conversion (Acts 9:20), but hadnt traveled there for that purpose. His missionary journeys begin in Acts 13:2. Paul had gone to Jerusalem specifically to see Peter for fifteen days in the beginning of his ministry (Gal 1:18), and was commissioned by Peter, James and John (Gal 2:9) to preach to the Gentiles. John 20:3-6 Peter then came out with the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first; and stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying, Luke 24:33-34 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven gathered together and those who were with them, who said, The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon! (they themselves had just seen the risen Jesus within the previous hour: Lk 24:33) 1 Corinthians 15:5-6 . . . he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. St. Peter was the first apostle to enter the empty tomb and the first one to see the risen Jesus, and other disciples and apostles are aware of this. 1 AND 2 PETER AS PAPAL ENCYCLICAL TYPES OF DOCUMENTS Protestants believe that St. Peter wrote inspired Scripture; Catholics believe that he also could write infallible documents, too, as the first pope. Some Catholics have argued that 1 and 2 Peter are somewhat like a primitive papal encyclicals (just as 1 Clement also was): 1 Peter 1:1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 1 Peter 5:1-4 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ as well as a partaker in the glory that is to be revealed. Tend the flock of God that is your charge, not by constraint but willingly, not for shameful gain but eagerly, not as domineering over those in your charge but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd is manifested you will obtain the unfading crown of glory. First Peter is written to a wide variety of Christians, rather than to a specific church or individual, like St. Pauls epistles. He exhorts Church elders and urges others to be shepherds, just as Jesus urged him to do (Jn 21:15-17), because he is a super-elder and the shepherd of the whole flock, in an analogous sense to Jesus (5:4). The epistle is very general and broad and written much like the style of papal encyclicals today: wise, sage, almost proverbial: encouraging Christian to endure suffering (1:6-7; 3:13-14; 4:1, 12-17) and to be holy (1:14-23). He addresses the topic of husbands and wives (3:1-7). 2 Peter 1:1 Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours in the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2 Peter 1:16-21 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased, we heard this voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have the prophetic word made more sure. You will do well to pay attention to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of ones own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. 2 Peter 3:15-16 And count the forbearance of our Lord as salvation. So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures. The second epistle is the same. He is essentially writing to all Christians and authoritatively interprets prophecy, explains that it is ultimately not private in nature (a magisterial sort of statement), and refers to the difficult nature of some of St. Pauls writing (3:15-16). St. Paul writes directly to local flocks of Christians. But St. Peter is writing to the whole Church. Thus he appears to be doing what popes do in their encyclicals, whereas Paul is functioning more as local bishops do. PAPAL ACTS OF ST. PETER Acts 2:33, 36-39 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which you see and hear. . . . Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brethren, what shall we do? And Peter said to them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to him. St. Peters proclamation at Pentecost (Acts 2:14-41) contains a fully authoritative interpretation of Scripture, a doctrinal decision and a disciplinary decree concerning members of the House of Israel (2:36): an example of binding and loosing. Acts 5:1-10 But a man named Ananias with his wife Sapphira sold a piece of property, and with his wifes knowledge he kept back some of the proceeds, and brought only a part and laid it at the apostles feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God. When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him. After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter said to her, Tell me whether you sold the land for so much. And she said, Yes, for so much. But Peter said to her, How is it that you have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? Hark, the feet of those that have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out. Immediately she fell down at his feet and died. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. This is the first anathema (against Ananias and Sapphira): emphatically affirmed by God. Acts 8:17-23 Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles hands, he offered them money, saying, Give me also this power, that any one on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit. But Peter said to him, Your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent therefore of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity. St. Peter He was the first to recognize and refute heresy (simony), and again issues an authoritative warning or anathema, so that Simon would repent. Acts 3:2-8 And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at that gate of the temple which is called Beautiful to ask alms of those who entered the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked for alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, with John, and said, Look at us. And he fixed his attention upon them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, I have no silver and gold, but I give you what I have; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk. And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up he stood and walked and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. Acts 9:36-41 Now there was at Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which means Dorcas. She was full of good works and acts of charity. In those days she fell sick and died; and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him entreating him, Please come to us without delay. So Peter rose and went with them. And when he had come, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping, and showing tunics and other garments which Dorcas made while she was with them. But Peter put them all outside and knelt down and prayed; then turning to the body he said, Tabitha, rise. And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. And he gave her his hand and lifted her up. Then calling the saints and widows he presented her alive. St. Peter performed the first miracle of the Church Age, healing a lame man (Acts 3:2-8). Even his shadow worked miracles (Acts 5:15). And he was the first person after Christ to raise the dead (Acts 9:40). Acts 10:34-35 And Peter opened his mouth and said: Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation any one who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. Acts 10:44-48 While Peter was still saying this, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, Can any one forbid water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days. St. Peter was the first apostle to receive the Gentiles, after a revelation from God (Acts 10:9-20), and to command them to be baptized. Acts 15:7-15 And after there had been much debate, Peter rose and said to them, Brethren, you know that in the early days God made choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God who knows the heart bore witness to them, giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us; and he made no distinction between us and them, but cleansed their hearts by faith. Now therefore why do you make trial of God by putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will. And all the assembly kept silence; and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. After they finished speaking, James replied, Brethren, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, . . . St. Peter makes the authoritative doctrinal pronouncement at the Council of Jerusalem and seems to stop the debate cold in its tracks, as indicated by the assembly falling silent. St. Paul and Barnabas talk about signs and wonders, but no indication is given of any doctrinal proclamation from them. When James speaks he refers back to Peter (even though Paul had spoken in the interim), and then basically confirmed what Peter had also said. All of this is harmonious with the notion of Peter functioning as a pope: the head of the Church, while working together with the apostles and bishops and elders. EXAMPLES OF THE INFALLIBILITY OF INDIVIDUALS (MOSTLY PROPHETS) Deuteronomy 5:5 while I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD; . . . (Moses. cf. 1 Chron 15:15; 2 Chron 35:6) 1 Samuel 15:10 The word of the LORD came to Samuel: (cf. 1 Chron 11:3) 2 Samuel 7:4 But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, (cf. 1 Chron 17:3) 2 Samuel 24:11 And when David arose in the morning, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Gad, Davids seer . . . 2 Samuel 23:2 The Spirit of the LORD speaks by me, his word is upon my tongue. (King David. cf. 1 Chron 22:8) 1 Kings 6:11 Now the word of the LORD came to Solomon, 1 Kings 13:20-21 And as they sat at the table, the word of the LORD came to the prophet who had brought him back; and he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, Thus says the LORD, Because you have disobeyed the word of the LORD, and have not kept the commandment which the LORD your God commanded you, . . . 1 Kings 15:29 according to the word of the LORD which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite; 1 Kings 17:24 And the woman said to Elijah, Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth. (see also: 16:1, 7, 12 [Jehu]; 16:34 [Joshua]; 17:2, 8, 16 [Elijah]; 18:1 [Elijah] ) 2 Kings 1:17 So he died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken. . . . 2 Kings 7:1 But Elisha said, Hear the word of the LORD: thus says the LORD, . . . 2 Kings 9:36 When they came back and told him, he said, This is the word of the LORD, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, . . . (cf. 10:17) 2 Kings 14:25 . . . according to the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, . . . 2 Kings 20:4 And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him: (cf. 20:16,19; 23:16) 2 Kings 24:2 . . . according to the word of the LORD which he spoke by his servants the prophets. 2 Chronicles 11:2 But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God: (cf. 12:7) 2 Chronicles 24:19-20 Yet he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the LORD; these testified against them, but they would not give heed. Then the Spirit of God took possession of Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people, and said to them, Thus says God, Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has forsaken you. 2 Chronicles 30:12 The hand of God was also upon Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the princes commanded by the word of the LORD. 2 Chronicles 36:21 . . . the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah . . . (cf. 36:22; Ezra 1:1; Jer 1:2, 4; 2:4; 7:2; 13:3, 8; 14:1; 16:1; 18:5; 19:3; 21:11; 22:2, 29; 24:4; 28:12; 29:30; several more times in Jeremiah; Dan 9:2) Nehemiah 9:30 Many years thou didst bear with them, and didst warn them by thy Spirit through thy prophets; . . . Isaiah 38:4 Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: (cf. 39:5, 8; 66:5) Jeremiah 25:3 For twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken persistently to you, but you have not listened. Jeremiah 26:15 . . . the LORD sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears. Ezekiel 33:1 The word of the LORD came to me: Word of the LORD appears 60 times in the Book of Ezekiel; usually in reference to the prophet Ezekiel. Hosea 1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Hosea . . . (cf. 4:1) Joel 1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel: Amos 7:16 Now therefore hear the word of the LORD. . . . Jonah 1:1 Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah . . . (cf. 3:1, 3) Micah 1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Micah . . . Zephaniah 1:1 The word of the LORD which came to Zephaniah . . . Haggai 1:13 Then Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, spoke to the people with the LORDs message, I am with you, says the LORD. (cf. 1:1, 3; 2:1, 10, 20) Zechariah 1:1 . . . the word of the LORD came to Zechariah . . . (cf. 1:7; 6:9; 7:1,4, 8; 8:1, 18) Zechariah 7:12 They made their hearts like adamant lest they should hear the law and the words which the LORD of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Malachi 1:1 The oracle of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi. Malachi 2:6-8 True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts. This passage is referring to Levites, who were teachers in Israel. The prophets received their inspiration by the Holy Spirit (Num 11:29; 2 Chron 24:20; Neh 9:30; Ezek 3:24; 11:5; Zech 7:12; Acts 28:25; 2 Pet 1:21). The Holy Spirit (as a result of the New Covenant) is now given to all Christians (Jn 15:26; 1 Cor 3:16), so it is perfectly possible and plausible that an even greater measure of the Holy Spirit would be given to leaders of the Church who have the responsibility to teach, since James wrote: Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, for you know that we who teach shall be judged with greater strictness (Jas 3:1). The disciples were reassured by Jesus: When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth (Jn 16:13; cf. 8:32), so surely it makes sense that shepherds of the Christian flock would be given an extra measure of protection in order to better fulfill their duties. Jesus called John the Baptist more than a prophet (Lk 7:26) and stated, among those born of women none is greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he (Lk 7:28). Therefore, it is not in the least implausible that one man: the pope, could be infallible, which is a far lesser gift than the inspiration and direct revelation from God exhibited by the prophets. Briefly put, then, the argument is: If prophets spoke with inspiration, then popes can plausibly speak infallibly, since the latter is a far less extraordinary gift than the former. Or, from a different angle: if those with lesser gifts can do the great thing (inspired utterance), then those with greater gifts can certainly do the lesser thing (infallible utterance). Matthew 1:22 All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: (cf. 2:15) Luke 1:70 as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, Acts 28:25 The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet: 2 Peter 1:21 because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. See further New Testament references to prophets and prophesying: Acts 2:16-18; 11:27-28; 13:1; 15:32; 19:6; 21:9-10; Rom 12:6; 1 Cor 11:4-5; 12:10, 28-29; 14:1, 3-6, 22, 24, 29, 31-32, 37, 39; Eph 3:5; 4:11; 1 Thess 5:20; 1 Tim 1:18; 4:14). Any non-Catholic Christian who believes in the inspiration of Holy Scripture, and who accepts the received canon of Scripture (either 66 or 73 books), which itself derives from authoritative conciliar and papal pronouncements of an infallible Catholic Church , accepts the fact that St. Peter, the undisputed leader of the twelve disciples, and (we believe) the first pope, has written two inspired epistles (or encyclicals, if you will). Inspiration means God-breathed: a positive characteristic that includes being entirely free from error (as all God-inspired words of revelation are truth). Infallibility is a limited, far less profound negative protection against error. Everyone who holds to the inspiration of Scripture already believes that St. Peter wrote inspired words from God in the Bible. Where, then, is the inherent difficulty in believing that he and his successors could be protected by the Holy Spirit to write infallible documents (see, e.g., John 14:26; 15:26; 16:13; Acts 15:28)? The more difficult thing to believe: the thing that requires far more faith, since it is a greater gift, is already accepted, so what insuperable prima facie difficulty remains in the notion of infallible (as opposed to inspired) popes (and an infallible Church)? * ***** * Summary: I provide the biblical rationale for Catholic beliefs by presenting categorized Bible passages regarding the pope, papal headship, papal supremacy, & papal infallibility. [see the book info-page / buy Kindle or Nook versions] * Second part (pp. 100-136) of chapter two of my book, Bible Truths for Catholic Truths: A Source Book for Apologists and Inquirers (Manchester, New Hampshire: Sophia Institute Books, 2009); the paperback is now out-of-print. This book could also be known as Daves Topical Bible, and contains over 1,900 Bible passages, categorized under 115 thematic headings. I am now offering it online for free. * In these blog posts I use for readers convenience the original RSV of the manuscript ( 1971 by Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America), rather than KJV, which was mostly used in the paperback, due to copyright law. This book is all Bible, except for a few clarifying comments here and there. Subtitles sometimes differ from the published version. They are my own original titles. ***** FATHER AS A TITLE FOR PRIESTS Acts 7:2 And Stephen said: Brethren and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham, . . . Romans 4:12 . . . the father of the circumcised . . . our father Abraham . . . Romans 4:16-17 . . . Abraham, for he is the father of us all, as it is written, I have made you the father of many nations . . . Romans 9:10 And not only so, but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 1 Corinthians 4:15 For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Philippians 2:22 But Timothys worth you know, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel. James 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? In other words, Jesus statement, call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven (Matthew 23:9) utilized the common Hebrew method of exaggeration or hyperbole (see Mt 19:24; 23:24; Lk 6:42; 14:26) to teach that God the Father is the ultimate source of all authority. Interpreting this absolutely literally would prohibit all uses of the word father whatsoever; even biological fathers. But Jesus Himself uses the term father many times (Mt 15:4-6; 19:5, 19, 29; 21:31; Lk 16:24, 27, 30; Jn 8:56, etc.), and we see other examples above. Thus, the objection to calling Catholic priests father must be discarded. A related issue with some critics of Catholicism, is the address, holy father as applied to popes (it is claimed that only God could be called that). All that remains, then, is to find holy men referred to in the Bible. The writer of Hebrews calls the recipients of his epistle holy brethren Peter refers to a holy priesthood (1 Pet 2:5) and holy women such as Sarah (1 Pet 3:5) and holy prophets (2 Pet 3:2; cf. Acts 3:21 [also Peter]; Zechariahs prophecy in Luke 1:70). John the Baptist is referred to as a righteous and holy man (Mk 6:20). Jesus refers to a righteous man in Matthew 10:41. Therefore, men can be called holy in Scripture, and by extension, since father as an address for priests is perfectly biblical as well, the two could be put together for holy father. APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION 1 Chronicles 27:33-34 Ahithophel was the kings counselor, and Hushai the Archite was the kings friend. Ahithophel was succeeded by Jehoiada the son of Benaiah, and Abiathar. . . . This is an example of succession of office in the Old Testament. Acts 1:20-26 For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation become desolate, and let there be no one to live in it; and His office let another take. So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection. And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, Lord, who knowest the hearts of all men, show which one of these two thou hast chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside, to go to his own place. And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was enrolled with the eleven apostles. Ephesians 2:19-20 . . . the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets . . . 1 Timothy 6:20 O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you. 2 Timothy 1:6 Hence I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; 2 Timothy 1:13-14 Follow the pattern of the sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus; guard the truth that has been entrusted to you by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. 2 Timothy 2:1-2 You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 2 Timothy 4:1-6 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, and exhort, be unfailing in patience and in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths. As for you, always be steady, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil your ministry. For I am already on the point of being sacrificed; the time of my departure has come. Hebrews 7:5 And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brethren, though these also are descended from Abraham. BISHOPS (EPISKOPOS) Numbers 4:16 And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall have charge of the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the continual cereal offering, and the anointing oil, with the oversight of all the tabernacle and all that is in it, of the sanctuary and its vessels. 2 Kings 11:18 . . . And the priest posted watchmen over the house of the LORD. 2 Chronicles 34:12, 17 And the men did the work faithfully. Over them were set Jahath and Obadiah the Levites, of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to have oversight. . . . They have emptied out the money that was found in the house of the LORD and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers and the workmen. Nehemiah 11:9 Joel the son of Zichri was their overseer; and Judah the son of Hassenu-ah was second over the city. Isaiah 60:17 . . . I will make your overseers peace and your taskmasters righteousness. All of the above passages in the Old Testament are examples where the ancient Greek Septuagint translation of the Bible used the word episkopos. Acts 1:20 For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation become desolate, and let there be no one to live in it; and His office let another take. Acts 20:28 Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God which he obtained with the blood of his own Son. Philippians 1:1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: 1 Timothy 3:1-5 The saying is sure: If any one aspires to the office of bishop, he desires a noble task. Now a bishop must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, dignified, hospitable, an apt teacher, no drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, and no lover of money. He must manage his own household well, keeping his children submissive and respectful in every way; for if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how can he care for Gods church? Titus 1:5-9 This is why I left you in Crete, that you might amend what was defective, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you, if any man is blameless, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of being profligate or insubordinate. For a bishop, as Gods steward, must be blameless; he must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of goodness, master of himself, upright, holy, and self-controlled; he must hold firm to the sure word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to confute those who contradict it. The New Testament refers basically to three types of permanent offices in the Church (apostles and prophets were to cease): bishops (episkopos), elders (presbuteros, from which are derived Presbyterian and priest), and deacons (diakonos). The usual Greek word in Holy Scripture translated as elder in English translations, is presbuteros and its cognates (Acts 15:2-6; 21:18; 1 Tim 5:1-2, 17, 19; Titus 1:5; Heb 11:2; James 5:14; 1 Pet 5:1, 5; at least 18 times in the book of Acts in KJV). Protestants view these leaders as analogous to current-day pastors, while Catholics regard them as priests. KJV (according to Youngs Concordance) translates presbuteros as elder 62 times, and never as bishop. But episkopos and related words are never translated as elder. Deacons (often, minister in English translations) are mentioned in the same fashion as Christian elders, with similar frequency (e.g., 1 Cor 3:5, Phil 1:1; 1 Thess 3:2; 1 Tim 3:8-13). Some argue that bishops, elders, and deacons are all synonymous biblical terms for the same office: roughly that of todays conception of a pastor, and that bishops are no higher in rank than these other offices. But in Titus 1:5 the bishop is charged to appoint elders in every town. This suggests both hierarchy and regional administration or jurisdiction. Bishops and deacons are both mentioned in Philippians 1:1, which would be odd if they were synonymous. 1 Timothy 3:17 also discusses bishops, then goes on to treat deacons separately in 3:810 (Deacons likewise). We would fully expect some overlapping or variability in function of ministers in the early Church, at the beginning of the development of ecclesiology. Even St. Paul called himself a minister or deacon (Greek: diakonos) more than once (1 Cor 3:5; 4:1; 2 Cor 3:6; 6:4; 11:23; Eph 3:7; Col 1:23-25), but no one thinks that is all he was. Likewise, St. Peter calls himself a fellow elder (1 Pet 5:1). 1 Peter 2:25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls. Jesus Himself is referred to as episkopos, thus demonstrating the analogy of authority and oversight in the Church. God is over all, and human beings also oversee the Church. INFALLIBLE CHURCH AND CONCILIAR AUTHORITY Matthew 10:20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Luke 10:16 He who hears you hears me . . . Luke 12:12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say. John 14:16-17 And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you. John 14:26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. John 15:26 But when the Counselor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me; John 16:13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; . . . Acts 15:1-30 But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brethren, Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. [2] And when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. [3] So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, reporting the conversion of the Gentiles, and they gave great joy to all the brethren. [4] When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. [5] But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up, and said, It is necessary to circumcise them, and to charge them to keep the law of Moses. [6] The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. [7] And after there had been much debate, Peter rose and said to them, Brethren, you know that in the early days God made choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. [8] And God who knows the heart bore witness to them, giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us; [9] and he made no distinction between us and them, but cleansed their hearts by faith. [10] Now therefore why do you make trial of God by putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? [11] But we believe that we shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will. [12] And all the assembly kept silence; and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. [13] After they finished speaking, James replied, Brethren, listen to me. [14] Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. [15] And with this the words of the prophets agree, as it is written, [16] After this I will return, and I will rebuild the dwelling of David, which has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up, [17] that the rest of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, [18] says the Lord, who has made these things known from of old. [19] Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, [20] but should write to them to abstain from the pollutions of idols and from unchastity and from what is strangled and from blood. [21] For from early generations Moses has had in every city those who preach him, for he is read every sabbath in the synagogues. [22] Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren, [23] with the following letter: The brethren, both the apostles and the elders, to the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greeting. [24] Since we have heard that some persons from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, [25] it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, [26] men who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. [27] We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. [28] For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: [29] that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from unchastity. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell. [30] So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch; and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. Acts 16:4 As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions which had been reached by the apostles and elders who were at Jerusalem. Ephesians 3:10 . . . through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places. EXCOMMUNICATION AND ANATHEMAS Matthew 16:19 . . . whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven . . . [St. Peter individually] Matthew 18:15-17 If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Matthew 18:18 . . . whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven . . . [the disciples] John 20:23 . . . if you retain the sins of any, they are retained. Romans 16:17 I appeal to you, brethren, to take note of those who create dissensions and difficulties, in opposition to the doctrine which you have been taught; avoid them. 1 Corinthians 5:1-5 It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and of a kind that is not found even among pagans; for a man is living with his fathers wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. For though absent in body I am present in spirit, and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment in the name of the Lord Jesus on the man who has done such a thing. When you are assembled, and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 1 Corinthians 16:22 If any one has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come! 2 Corinthians 2:5-11 But if any one has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure not to put it too severely to you all. For such a one this punishment by the majority is enough; so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. Any one whom you forgive, I also forgive. What I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, to keep Satan from gaining the advantage over us; for we are not ignorant of his designs. Galatians 1:8-9 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, If any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed. 2 Thessalonians 3:6 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is living in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. 1 Timothy 1:19-20 . . . By rejecting conscience, certain persons have made shipwreck of their faith, among them Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. 1 Timothy 5:20 As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear. 2 Timothy 2:16-18 Avoid such godless chatter, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will eat its way like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth by holding that the resurrection is past already. They are upsetting the faith of some. 2 Timothy 4:14-15 Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will requite him for his deeds. Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. Titus 1:10-11 For there are many insubordinate men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially the circumcision party; they must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for base gain what they have no right to teach. Titus 3:10 As for a man who is factious, after admonishing him once or twice, have nothing more to do with him, EXORCISM Matthew 10:8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. . . . Mark 3:14-15 And he appointed twelve, to be with him, and to be sent out to preach and have authority to cast out demons: Mark 6:12-13 So they went out and preached that men should repent. And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them. Mark 9:38-40 John said to him, Teacher, we saw a man casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he was not following us. But Jesus said, Do not forbid him; for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon after to speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is for us. Mark 16:17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; Luke 9:1 And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, Luke 10:17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name! Acts 19:12 so that handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. CHRISTIAN UNITY / CONDEMNATION OF SECTARIANISM, DENOMINATIONALISM, AND DIVISIVENESS Matthew 12:25 Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand John 10:16 . . . So there shall be one flock, one shepherd. John 17:20-23 I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me. Acts 4:32 Now the company of those who believed were of one heart and soul, . . . Romans 2:8 but for those who are factious and do not obey the truth, but obey wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. Romans 16:17 I appeal to you, brethren, to take note of those who create dissensions and difficulties, in opposition to the doctrine which you have been taught; avoid them. (cf. 13:13) 1 Corinthians 1:10-13 I appeal to you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no dissensions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloes people that there is quarreling among you, my brethren. What I mean is that each one of you says, I belong to Paul, or I belong to Apollos, or I belong to Cephas, or I belong to Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 1 Corinthians 3:3-4 . . . For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving like ordinary men? For when one says, I belong to Paul, and another, I belong to Apollos, are you not merely men? 1 Corinthians 10:17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 1 Corinthians 11:16-19 If any one is disposed to be contentious, we recognize no other practice, nor do the churches of God. But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you assemble as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you; and I partly believe it, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. 1 Corinthians 12:20-21 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you, nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. 1 Corinthians 12:25 that there may be no discord in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 2 Corinthians 12:20 For I fear that perhaps I may come and find you not what I wish, and that you may find me not what you wish; that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder. Galatians 5:19-20 Now the works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, Ephesians 4:1-5 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all lowliness and meekness, with patience, forbearing one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, Philippians 1:27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you stand firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, Philippians 2:2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 1 Timothy 6:3-5 If any one teaches otherwise and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching which accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit, he knows nothing; he has a morbid craving for controversy and for disputes about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, base suspicions, and wrangling among men who are depraved in mind and bereft of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. 2 Timothy 2:23 Have nothing to do with stupid, senseless controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. Titus 3:9-11 But avoid stupid controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels over the law, for they are unprofitable and futile. As for a man who is factious, after admonishing him once or twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is perverted and sinful; he is self-condemned. James 3:16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 2 Peter 2:1-2 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their licentiousness, and because of them the way of truth will be reviled. SINNERS ARE PART OF THE CHURCH IN AN IMPERFECT FASHION Matthew 13:24-30 Another parable he put before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the householder came and said to him, Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds? He said to them, An enemy has done this. The servants said to him, Then do you want us to go and gather them? But he said, No; lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn. (cf. 3:12) Matthew 13:47-50 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net which was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind; when it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into vessels but threw away the bad. So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous, and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth. (cf. 25:1-30) Jesus chose Judas as His disciple, even though He knew the future, and he was truly an apostle (Mt 10:1, 4; Mk 3:14; Jn 6:70-71; Acts 1:17). Matthew 22:2, 10 The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a marriage feast for his son, . . . And those servants went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good; so the wedding hall was filled with guests. Matthew 23:2-3 The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses seat; so practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they preach, but do not practice. Luke 22:31-34 Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren. And he said to him, Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death. He said, I tell you, Peter, the cock will not crow this day, until you three times deny that you know me. Acts 20:29-30 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. 1 Corinthians 3:3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving like ordinary men? 1 Corinthians 5:1 It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and of a kind that is not found even among pagans; for a man is living with his fathers wife. 1 Corinthians 6:8 But you yourselves wrong and defraud, and that even your own brethren. 1 Corinthians 11:17-18 But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you assemble as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you; and I partly believe it, 2 Corinthians 11:4 For if some one comes and preaches another Jesus than the one we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you submit to it readily enough. 2 Corinthians 12:20-21 For I fear that perhaps I may come and find you not what I wish, and that you may find me not what you wish; that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder. I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned before and have not repented of the impurity, immorality, and licentiousness which they have practiced. Despite all this sin in the Corinthian assemblies, St. Paul called it the church of God (1 Cor 1:2; 2 Cor 1:1; cf. 2 Cor 11:2). We observe the same dynamic with regard to the seven churches of Revelation (Rev 2:1, 7, 12, 18; 3:13-14), even though sternly rebuked for a multitude of serious sins, such as: abandoning their initial love for God (Rev 2:4); idolatry and immorality (2:14, 20-21); lukewarmness (3:16); and being wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked (3:17). Galatians 3:1, 3 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? . . . Are you so foolish? Having begun with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh? Galatians 4:9, 11 but now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly elemental spirits, whose slaves you want to be once more? . . . I am afraid I have labored over you in vain. Galatians 5:7 You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? Yet St. Paul calls these congregations the churches of Galatia (Gal 1:2). 1 Timothy 1:15 The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And I am the foremost of sinners; 2 Timothy 2:20 In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and earthenware, and some for noble use, some for ignoble. 1 John 1:8-10 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 1 John 2:1-2 My little children, I am writing this to you so that you may not sin; but if any one does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the expiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. BEAUTIFUL, EXPENSIVE SACRED BUILDINGS OF WORSHIP 2 Samuel 7:2 the king said to Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent. 1 Kings 7:50 the cups, snuffers, basins, dishes for incense, and firepans, of pure gold; and the sockets of gold, for the doors of the innermost part of the house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the nave of the temple. 2 Kings 18:16 At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the doorposts which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria. 1 Chronicles 22:5 . . . the house that is to be built for the LORD must be exceedingly magnificent, of fame and glory throughout all lands; . . . 1 Chronicles 28:11-19 Then David gave Solomon his son the plan of the vestibule of the temple, and of its houses, its treasuries, its upper rooms, and its inner chambers, and of the room for the mercy seat; and the plan of all that he had in mind for the courts of the house of the LORD, all the surrounding chambers, the treasuries of the house of God, and the treasuries for dedicated gifts; for the divisions of the priests and of the Levites, and all the work of the service in the house of the LORD; for all the vessels for the service in the house of the LORD, the weight of gold for all golden vessels for each service, the weight of silver vessels for each service, the weight of the golden lampstands and their lamps, the weight of gold for each lampstand and its lamps, the weight of silver for a lampstand and its lamps, according to the use of each lampstand in the service, the weight of gold for each table for the showbread, the silver for the silver tables, and pure gold for the forks, the basins, and the cups; for the golden bowls and the weight of each; for the silver bowls and the weight of each; for the altar of incense made of refined gold, and its weight; also his plan for the golden chariot of the cherubim that spread their wings and covered the ark of the covenant of the LORD. All this he made clear by the writing from the hand of the LORD concerning it, all the work to be done according to the plan. 1 Chronicles 29:1-9, 16 And David the king said to all the assembly, Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is young and inexperienced, and the work is great; for the palace will not be for man but for the LORD God. So I have provided for the house of my God, so far as I was able, the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver, and the bronze for the things of bronze, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood, besides great quantities of onyx and stones for setting, antimony, colored stones, all sorts of precious stones, and marble. Moreover, in addition to all that I have provided for the holy house, I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, and because of my devotion to the house of my God I give it to the house of my God: three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, for overlaying the walls of the house, and for all the work to be done by craftsmen, gold for the things of gold and silver for the things of silver. Who then will offer willingly, consecrating himself today to the LORD? Then the heads of fathers houses made their freewill offerings, as did also the leaders of the tribes, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and the officers over the kings work. They gave for the service of the house of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze, and a hundred thousand talents of iron. And whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the LORD, in the care of Jehiel the Gershonite. Then the people rejoiced because these had given willingly, for with a whole heart they had offered freely to the LORD; David the king also rejoiced greatly. . . . O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building thee a house for thy holy name comes from thy hand and is all thy own. 2 Chronicles 2:1,5 Now Solomon purposed to build a temple for the name of the LORD, and a royal palace for himself. . . . The house which I am to build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. 2 Chronicles 3:4-10 The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house; and its height was a hundred and twenty cubits. He overlaid it on the inside with pure gold. The nave he lined with cypress, and covered it with fine gold, and made palms and chains on it. He adorned the house with settings of precious stones. The gold was gold of Parvaim. So he lined the house with gold its beams, its thresholds, its walls, and its doors; and he carved cherubim on the walls. And he made the most holy place; its length, corresponding to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and its breadth was twenty cubits; he overlaid it with six hundred talents of fine gold. The weight of the nails was one shekel to fifty shekels of gold. And he overlaid the upper chambers with gold. In the most holy place he made two cherubim of wood and overlaid them with gold. 2 Chronicles 4:7-8 And he made ten golden lampstands as prescribed, and set them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. He also made ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. And he made a hundred basins of gold. 2 Chronicles 4:18-22 Solomon made all these things in great quantities, so that the weight of the bronze was not ascertained. So Solomon made all the things that were in the house of God: the golden altar, the tables for the bread of the Presence, the lampstands and their lamps of pure gold to burn before the inner sanctuary, as prescribed; the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, of purest gold; the snuffers, basins, dishes for incense, and firepans, of pure gold; and the sockets of the temple, for the inner doors to the most holy place and for the doors of the nave of the temple were of gold. Isaiah 64:11 Our holy and beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, . . . Jeremiah 52:18 . . . vessels of bronze used in the temple service Daniel 5:3 . . . golden and silver vessels which had been taken out of the temple, . . . Hosea 8:14 For Israel has forgotten his Maker, and built palaces; . . . Mark 13:1 And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings! Luke 21:5 . . . some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, . . . (cf. Acts 3:2, 10) CHURCHES AND SACRED SITES AS HOLY PLACES Exodus 3:2-5 And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and lo, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, I will turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, Moses, Moses! And he said, Here am I. Then he said, Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. (cf. Acts 7:33) Exodus 26:33-34 And you shall hang the veil from the clasps, and bring the ark of the testimony in thither within the veil; and the veil shall separate for you the holy place from the most holy. You shall put the mercy seat upon the ark of the testimony in the most holy place. Exodus 28:35 And you shall hang the veil from the clasps, and bring the ark of the testimony in thither within the veil; and the veil shall separate for you the holy place from the most holy. You shall put the mercy seat upon the ark of the testimony in the most holy place. (cf. 28:29, 43; 29:30-31; 31:11; 35:19; 39:1, 41) Exodus 40:9-10 Then you shall take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and consecrate it and all its furniture; and it shall become holy. You shall also anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and consecrate the altar; and the altar shall be most holy. Leviticus 6:26 The priest who offers it for sin shall eat it; in a holy place it shall be eaten, in the court of the tent of meeting. (cf. 6:16, 27, 30; 7:6; 10:13; 14:13) Leviticus 16:2 and the LORD said to Moses, Tell Aaron your brother not to come at all times into the holy place within the veil, before the mercy seat which is upon the ark, lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat. (cf. 16:3) Leviticus 16:16 thus he shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel, and because of their transgressions, all their sins; and so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which abides with them in the midst of their uncleannesses. (cf. 16:17, 20, 23-24, 27; 24:9; Num 18:10; 28:7) 1 Kings 6:16 He built twenty cubits of the rear of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the rafters, and he built this within as an inner sanctuary, as the most holy place. (cf. 7:50) 1 Kings 8:6 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the most holy place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. (cf. 8:8,10) Nehemiah 11:1 . . . Jerusalem the holy city, . . . (cf. 11:18) Psalm 5:7 But I through the abundance of thy steadfast love will enter thy house, I will worship toward thy holy temple in the fear of thee. (cf. 65:4; 79:1) Psalm 28:2 Hear the voice of my supplication, as I cry to thee for help, as I lift up my hands toward thy most holy sanctuary. Psalm 43:3 . . . thy holy hill . . . (cf. Jer 31:23) Psalm 78:54 And he brought them to his holy land, to the mountain which his right hand had won. Psalm 79:1 . . . thy holy temple; . . . Psalm 138:2 I bow down toward thy holy temple and give thanks to thy name for thy steadfast love and thy faithfulness; for thou hast exalted above everything thy name and thy word. (cf. Jon 2:4,7; Mic 1:2; Hab 2:20) Isaiah 48:2 . . . the holy city, . . . (cf. 52:1; 64:10) Jeremiah 31:40 The whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be sacred to the LORD. It shall not be uprooted or overthrown any more for ever. Jeremiah 51:51 . . . aliens have come into the holy places of the LORDs house. Ezekiel 20:40 For on my holy mountain, the mountain height of Israel, says the Lord GOD, there all the house of Israel, all of them, shall serve me in the land; there I will accept them, and there I will require your contributions and the choicest of your gifts, with all your sacred offerings. Ezekiel 44:27 And on the day that he goes into the holy place, into the inner court, to minister in the holy place, he shall offer his sin offering, says the Lord GOD. Ezekiel 48:12 And it shall belong to them as a special portion from the holy portion of the land, a most holy place, adjoining the territory of the Levites. (cf. 45:1, 3-4, 6-7) Daniel 9:24 Seventy weeks of years are decreed concerning your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. Zechariah 2:12 And the LORD will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem. Matthew 4:5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, Matthew 23:16-19 Woe to you, blind guides, who say, If any one swears by the temple, it is nothing; but if any one swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath. You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? And you say, If any one swears by the altar, it is nothing; but if any one swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath. You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Matthew 24:15 So when you see the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place . . . Matthew 27:53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. (cf. Rev 11:2) Ephesians 2:19-22 So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Further analogy of Christians as a holy temple due to being indwelt by the Holy Spirit occurs in 1 Cor 3:16-17 (cf. 6:19; 2 Cor 6:16) Hebrews 9:2-3 For a tent was prepared, the outer one, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence; it is called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain stood a tent called the Holy of Holies, Hebrews 9:12 he entered once for all into the Holy Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 2 Peter 1:18 we heard this voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. Further instances of holy place occur in 1 Chron 6:49, 2 Chronicles (nine), Ezra 9:8, Psalms (four), Ezekiel (seven more). See also: holy mountain: Ps 48:1; 87:1; 99:9; 110:3; Is 11:9; 27:13; 56:7; 57:13; 65:11, 25; 66:20; Ezek 20:40; 28:14; Dan 11:25; Joel 2:1; 3:17; Obad 1:16; Zeph 3:11; Zech 8:3. SACRED AND HOLY ITEMS Exodus 28:2 And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. (cf. 28:4; 29:29; 31:10; 35:19, 21; 39:1, 41; 40:13; Lev 16:4,32) Exodus 28:38 . . . the holy offering which the people of Israel hallow as their holy gifts . . . Exodus 29:6 and you shall set the turban on his head, and put the holy crown upon the turban. (cf. 39:30; Lev 8:9) Exodus 29:37 Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar, and consecrate it, and the altar shall be most holy; whatever touches the altar shall become holy. Exodus 30:25 and you shall make of these a sacred anointing oil blended as by the perfumer; a holy anointing oil it shall be. (cf. 30:31-32; 37:29; Num 35:25) Exodus 40:9-10 Then you shall take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and consecrate it and all its furniture; and it shall become holy. You shall also anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and consecrate the altar; and the altar shall be most holy. Leviticus 5:15 . . . holy things of the LORD . . . (cf. Lev 22:2-7; 14-16) Leviticus 16:2 and the LORD said to Moses, Tell Aaron your brother not to come at all times into the holy place within the veil, before the mercy seat which is upon the ark, lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat. (cf. 16:3) Numbers 4:19-20 but deal thus with them, that they may live and not die when they come near to the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint them each to his task and to his burden, but they shall not go in to look upon the holy things even for a moment, lest they die. (cf. 4:4, 15) Joshua 6:19 But all silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are sacred to the LORD; they shall go into the treasury of the LORD 1 Samuel 21:6 So the priest gave him the holy bread; . . . 1 Kings 8:4 . . . all the holy vessels that were in the tent . . . (cf. 1 Chron 9:29; 22:19) 2 Chronicles 35:3 And he said to the Levites who taught all Israel and who were holy to the LORD, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built; you need no longer carry it upon your shoulders. . . . Ezekiel 44:13 They shall not come near to me, to serve me as priest, nor come near any of my sacred things and the things that are most sacred; but they shall bear their shame, because of the abominations which they have committed. (cf. Zeph 3:4; Zech 14:21; Judith 4:3) Matthew 7:6 Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under foot and turn to attack you. Matthew 23:16-19 Woe to you, blind guides, who say, If any one swears by the temple, it is nothing; but if any one swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath. You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? And you say, If any one swears by the altar, it is nothing; but if any one swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath. You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Romans 11:16 If the dough offered as first fruits is holy, so is the whole lump; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. Romans 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Romans 16:16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. . . . (cf. 1 Cor 16:20; 2 Cor 13:12; 1 Thess 5:26) * ***** * Summary: I provide the biblical rationale for Catholic beliefs by presenting categorized Bible passages having to do with the topic of the authority of the Catholic Church. I am sure you have heard much in the news about the Synod of Bishops that has been held in Rome. This is the 16th Synod of Bishops which happen every few years. The first one was held in 1967. These Synods are a gathering of Bishops and experts on a particular topic in order to listen, to learn, and to finally write a document summarizing the discussions and insights. The final document is written by the Pope and is called a Post Synodal Exhortation. While I studied in Rome, we had the Synod on the Word of God, a few years ago the Synod on the Family. These solicit input from Bishops and Catholics from around the world to better understand lived realities by the faithful on a particular topic. A Synod does not have the authority to change Church teachingin practice or doctrine. Synods in general are a new phenomenon in the Church, which has been used to gatherings of Bishops in Ecumenical Councils where doctrinal issues are addressed. The current Synod on Synodality was called by Pope Francis mostly to listen to the faithful. What are our concerns when it comes to living out our faith? How does the Church respond to the modern world and present-day challenges? Why do so many feel marginalized by the Church? Local listening sessions were held two years ago, 22 sessions just in our diocese. This happened for all 1.2 billion Catholics in the world. The fruit of these discussions is now being evaluated and discussed in Rome. Those prophets of doom from within the Church who believe the Synod will lead to major doctrinal change are wrong. Likewise, those who rejoice that the Church will now change teachings it has held for centuries are also wrong. The Synod will give us a reflection of the present state of the Churchit is an exercise of listening even to those we disagree with. This Synod also explores the role of this new structure within the Church, what exactly is its purpose? How does the Church listen before acting? Those from within the Church who disparage the Holy Father do not understand him, and do not profess the Catholic Faith in its fullness. To break away from union with the Pope is to cease to be Catholic. Historically, those who wish to be more Catholic than the Pope end up either being sheep without a shepherd, or sheep with the wrong shepherd. We pray for Pope Francis, and that this Synod will give us a better understanding of the state of the Church and the world, and how the Church can better provide what it has to offer the world Jesus Christ. I published this in my parish bulletin after receiving many questions about the Synod occurring in Rome. The Japanese Zen community marks today, the 15th of October, as the anniversary of the day in the year 606, when Jianzhi Sengcan returned to that mystery from which all of us come and, as with that ancient venerable, to which all of us return. In our Zen traditions Sengcan (Seng-tsan in the older Pinyin transliteration and Sosan in Japanese) is the third Chinese ancestor, inheriting the dharma from Huike who inherited it from Bodhidharma. We dont really know a lot about him, the scant details of his life are recounted in the Lamp anthologies. His name is mentioned in the seventh century Further Biographies of Eminent Monks and the eighth century Records of the Transmission of the Dharma Treasure, but most details about him come from the thirteenth century Compendium of Five Lamps. He is also traditionally named as the author of the Xinxin Ming, an early classic of the Zen way. More broadly it can be considered one of the great hymns of nonduality. The scholarly community generally believes Sengcan cannot have been the author as the poem almost certainly was composed considerably after his life. Still, wrapped in mystery, we are invited to celebrate the monk and the poem on this day. That poem, the title variously translated as Faith in Mind, or On Trust in the Heart, or Have Faith in Your Mind, or a Song of Enlightenment has invited numerous attempts at rendering into English. Last year I shared Stanley Lombardos version. Today, Burton Watsons Inscription on Trust in the Mind by Seng-tsan Translation by Burton Watson The highest way asks nothing hard, but detests any picking or choosing. Only do without love and hatred and all will come clear and open. With the smallest degree of differentiation, though, things grow farther apart than heaven and earth! If you want the Way right here before you, have nothing to do with assent or dissent. Where acceptance and rejection vie for mastery, this is sickness to the mind. Without comprehending the Dark Meaning you strive in vain to still your thoughts. The Way is round, a vast emptiness, nothing lacking, nothing left over. Only because you choose and reject does it cease to be so. Never tag after the realm of entanglements; do not dwell in Emptiness either. When mind achieves unity in repose, all else will vanish of itself. Mind moves, you return it to stillness, but thus stilled, it moves all the more. While you persist in two extremes, how can you understand unity? And where unity no longer reigns, both extremes forfeit their merit. Cast aside being and you find it swamping you; pursue Emptiness and you stray farther from it still. Much talk, much worry, and youre less than ever able to face things. Be done with talk, and be done with worry, and theres no place you cannot pass through. Return to the root and youll grasp the meaning, but trail after lights and you lose their source. For the moment shine your own light then you can master the Emptiness before you. The shifts and turns of the Emptiness all spring from deluded views. No need to go seeking truth simply put an end to such views! Dualism is no place to dwell; take care, never go that way! No sooner do we have right and wrong than the mind is lost in confusion. Two come about because of One, but dont cling to the One either! So long as the mind does not stir, the ten thousand things stay blameless; no blame, no phenomena, no stirring, no mind. The viewer disappears along with the scene, the scene follows the viewer into oblivion, for scene becomes scene only through the viewer, viewer becomes viewer because of the scene. If you wish to understand both, see them as from the first a single Emptiness, a single Emptiness in which both are identical, embracing all the ten thousand forms alike. When you perceive things as neither coarse nor fine, how could you favor one above another? The Great Way is the soul of latitude, nothing about it easy, nothing about it hard. People of petty outlook are fretful, doubting; the more they hurry, the more they fall behind. Sticklers always miss the proper measure, certain to set off on wrong roads. Leave it! Let things take their course! In the end theres neither going nor staying. Follow your nature, blend with the Way, be free and easy, a stranger to all care. Fetter your thoughts and you turn aside from truth, sinking in darkness, no longer well. No longer well, you wear out your spirit what use to covet one thing, shun another? If you want to grasp the One Vehicle, never despise the six senses. So long as the six senses are not despised, youre at one with correct perception. Wise men take no special action; fools fashion their own shackles. The Law knows no this Law or that, yet you persist in your witless attachments. Using mind to stir up more mind what grosser error than this? Delusion breeds concepts such as tranquil or disordered; enlightenment tells you theres no good or bad. All these pairs of opposites spring from faulty reckoning. Dreams, phantoms, empty flowers why trouble trying to grasp them? Gain, loss, right, wrong throw them away at once! When eyes do not close in sleep, dreams vanish of themselves. When the mind refrains from differentiation, the ten thousand phenomena are a single Suchness, a single Suchness dark in entity, lumpish, forgetful of entanglements. View the ten thousand phenomena as equal and all will revert to naturalness. The very basis of their being wiped out, impossible to rate one above the other! Arrest motion, and motion ceases to exist; move stillness and stillness is gone. But when neither comes into being, how can even a single thing exist? In the ultimate realm, the farthest extreme, norms and standards no longer hold. Once achieve true impartiality of mind and purposive actions will cease completely. All fret, all doubt cleansed in the harmony and directness of true faith. Nothing whatsoever remains, nothing to be thought of, to recall. In empty brightness your light shines of itself, without labor to mind or sinew, there in the place past reckoning, beyond the ken of cognition or feeling. The Dharma-realm of Suchness knows no other, no self. If you desire to approach and enter it, only say to yourself not two. Where there are not two, all is uniform, nothing not enfolded there. Wise ones of the ten directions all make their way to this Source. In this Source, no long or short time spans: one moment is ten thousand years; no here or not here, all ten directions right before your eyes. The tiniest is one with the huge, all boundaries and realms wiped out. The largest is one with the tiny, extremes no longer to be seen. Beingthis is nonbeing, nonbeingthis is being. Any view at variance with this must not be held! Onethis is all, allthis is one. When you can see in this manner, what worries will not fade? When trust and mind are not two, not two, trust and mind, there all words break off, no past, no future, no now. Heres a lovely talk on the poem by Chan master Simon Child. Most users of Nvidias GeForce Now streaming service probably use it for free, dealing with the relatively low resolution and one-hour session length. But those who prefer the premium option will see the price jump up starting November 1st in Europe and Canada. The higher tiers, which give gamers higher resolution, faster framerates, better effects powered by beefier remote GPUs, and much longer session times, will be going up in price by as much as 40 percent in some countries. According to the Nvidia blog post announcing the change (spotted by VideoCardz.com), the month-to-month Priority tier (Premium RTX graphics, priority access, 1080p/60fps visuals, 6-hour session length) will jump from $9.99 in Canadian dollars to $13.99. The Ultimate tier, offering RTX 4080 remote cards, 8-hour sessions, and 4k/120fps visuals, goes from $19.99 to $25.99. Nvidia Euro prices get a smaller bump, from 9.99 to 10.99 and 19.99 to 21.99, respectively, with similar jumps for the local currency in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Czech Republic, and Poland. Gamers can still save a bit of cash by paying for subscriptions in six-month chunks. The price in the United States and United Kingdom is not going up, at least at the moment. Nvidia blames increased operational costs for the raised prices. If you buy a six-month subscription or a gift card before the end of October, youll be able to lock in the current prices. I get the feeling that those who really enjoy GeForce Now wont balk at the increased cost. But itll be harder than ever to convert free users, since Nvidias model only streams PC games that players already own and doesnt offer its own content, unlike Microsofts Game Pass or Amazons Luna. The Managing Director of Stanbic Investment Management Services (SIMS), Kwabena Boamah, has expressed optimism about the prospects of businesses in the country despite the difficulties they are facing currently. Mr. Boamah said this at the sidelines of the third quarter edition of the Graphic Business/Stanbic Breakfast Meeting at the Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra. While acknowledging that businesses have been grappling with declining top-line revenues due to the decrease in purchasing power among consumers, Kwabena Boamah emphasized the importance of a growth mindset in helping businesses navigate the current turbulent times. He said Businesses must embrace a growth mindset to find hope and navigate through these turbulent times. It is a mindset that has a belief that the current challenges are temporary and that opportunities for improvement and expansion still exist. This involves reassessing product offerings, pricing strategies, and marketing approaches to attract and retain customers in the face of adversity. Once the business has a growth mindset, it means that there is hope. Mr. Boamah further encouraged businesses to reinvent themselves and seek opportunities to increase revenues. According to him, Businesses should look for innovative ways to increase their revenues. This may involve reevaluating their product or service offerings, pricing strategies, and marketing tactics. Secondly, companies should scrutinize their operating costs and identify areas where efficiencies can be improved. This might include relocating to more cost-effective office spaces or reassigning staff to roles that directly contribute to revenue generation. Additionally, the rising operational costs have exacerbated the situation. Businesses must rethink their cost structures and find innovative ways to streamline their operations. Businesses can also review their internal processes and adjust staffing levels to match current demand, effectively reallocating resources to revenue-generating areas, Mr. Boamah added. While Ghana faces its share of economic challenges, the message of hope and growth mindset resonates with businesses, encouraging them to not only weather the storm but also thrive in the face of adversity. The Graphic Business/Stanbic Breakfast Meeting is a quarterly event hosted by Graphic Communications Group and Stanbic Bank Ghana. The event brings together subject experts to discuss topical issues affecting the countrys socio-economic development. The September 2023 edition discussed the topic Thriving during Economic Turbulence 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 QNET, the global wellness and lifestyle-focused direct-selling company celebrated its 25th anniversary with a spectacular double convention in Penang, Malaysia. The milestone event brought together a staggering 20,000 attendees from over 20 countries, including Ghana, for two back-to-back conventions in September. In line with the companys commitment to promoting a healthy lifestyle and reducing its environmental impact, QNET launched two standout products at the anniversary conventions. 1) Homepure Nova with Pi-Plus Cartridge An enhanced version of the companys bestselling HomePure Nova 9-stage water filtration system, which promises improved hydration and fortified antioxidant benefits in your drinking water. 2) Bernhard H Mayer OMNI Watch Collection A new range of Swiss timepieces crafted with eco-friendly materials certified by LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), proving luxury and sustainability can go hand in hand. The five-day conventions provided a valuable platform for QNETs customers and distributors to deepen their product knowledge, engage with experts, and experience dynamic product demonstrations. Attendees also benefited from business-building training sessions, learning opportunities from accomplished distributors, and insights into industry knowledge. The events were further enlivened by guest appearances from Bollywood celebrities and performances by international entertainers. Demonstrating its commitment to sustainability, QNET implemented several eco-conscious initiatives during the conventions to reduce carbon footprint. From partnering with environmentally responsible vendors for booth constructions, eliminating single-use plastics, minimising printed materials through digital alternatives like QR Codes, to distributing purchases in reusable bags made from eco-friendly materials, every facet of the event embodied sustainability. QNETs venue of choice, the Setia SPICE Convention Centre in Penang is the worlds first hybrid solar-powered convention centre and is also Green Building Index certified. The centre has also implemented initiatives such as bottling drinking water in-house, waste segregation, and rainwater harvesting to support its net zero goals. In a further step towards environmental stewardship, QNET has pledged to plant 2,500 trees in Malaysia, to offset the event's carbon footprint. We are immensely proud of the empowering ecosystem we've nurtured, grounded in our core philosophy of RYTHMRaise Yourself To Help Mankind. As we commemorate this significant milestone, we also cast our eyes forward to a future filled with promise and potential. With our commitment to innovation, sustainability, and global community-building, QNET is poised to not only adapt but thrive in the dynamic landscape of wellness and lifestyle, offering unparalleled opportunities for entrepreneurship and personal development to individuals around the world. Here's to the next chapter of impacting lives positively and promoting holistic wellness, as we continue this remarkable journey together, stated Malou Caluza, CEO of QNET. 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 Health Minister, Kwaku Agyeman Manu, has stated that COVID-19 helped the health sector to improve upon the health system in the country. According to him, laboratory systems were much improved and there were no PCR testing machines in the initial stages and samples were queuing at the Noguchi hospital and Kumasi. He said that samples were flown to the regions by drones but now the health sector can boast of about 56 PCR testing centers across the regions in the country. He stated that COVID-19 helped the country in developing our oxygen system. He said this in an interview with the media at the 50 years anniversary of the Ghana Association of Medical laboratory Scientists durbar and annual congress The theme for the 50 years anniversary was 50 years of Medical laboratory services; impacts on health delivery systems in Ghana, prospects and challenges. Kwaku Agyeman Manu mentioned that his ministry is working on the issue of the cost of dialysis treatment. He disclosed he has sent the issue to cabinet and has met the kidney association of Ghana to deliberate on the dialysis treatment on whether the cost is put on the National Health insurance Scheme (NHIS) or in any other forms. Adding to this, the President of the Ghana Association of Medical Laboratory Scientist, Dr. Abu Abudu Rahamani stated that there must be urgent need to have the medical laboratory council to work with the allied health profession council to ensure that the regulation for the medical laboratory scientists is well directed to help the monitoring system to give their best to the people of Ghana. Source: Collins Amoako/Peace FM News 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 BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 16. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has embarked on a visit to France, Trend reports. During his visit, Pashinyan will deliver a speech at the European Parliament on October 17. No information has yet been provided regarding his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. Armenia and France have previously used such meetings to prepare for provocations against Azerbaijan. Lately, their joint "initiatives" have been gaining momentum. On October 11, 2023, at the initiative of France, a group of states issued a joint statement against Azerbaijan at the UN Human Rights Council. France is attempting to establish imperialist hegemony and create a neocolony in the South Caucasus, similar to Armenia. While France previously held a pro-Armenian position discreetly, it's now doing so openly. On October 13, Pashinyan refused to attend the meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Bishkek. This also indicates that Armenia's political leadership is evidently receiving instructions from France. Pashinyan, who couldn't find time to come to Bishkek, acknowledged that without a patron, he cannot directly participate in negotiations with Azerbaijan because, as a state, they continue to serve as a tool for someone else's interests. The actions of Armenia's authorities, in turn, are aimed at undermining the peace process. The trial of Daniel Asiedu who is alleged to have murdered former Member of Parliament for Abuakwa North, J.B. Danquah Adu, has been put on hold. This is because, one of the jurors have put to bed. The High Court in Accra (Criminal Division) had scheduled dates for the trial in October and November but an unforeseen circumstance has thrown a wrench into the proceedings. Justice Lydia Osei Marfo, who presides over the case expressed her efforts to persuade the said juror to consider the critical stage the trial had reached and the potential consequences of further delays. Despite these efforts, the juror insisted on returning after three months, even though her childbirth was normal and not her first experience. The court assured her of the necessary protection and comfort for herself and her child. This assurance, however, did not change the juror's position. "From my engagement with her which lasted about 15 minutes, she was unable to tell me when she could come to court. Although I had requested her to think of the stage at which this case had reached, the consequences that we would have to endure if it had to delay further just because she is not going be part of the trial any moment." "She was insistent that she needed three months according to her doctor to recover, although she admitted she had a normal delivery and this was not her first child birth. Not any words of persuasion from me to think and die a little hard for Ghana could compel her to give me a specific date to join this trial," Justice Lydia Osei Marfo said in open court. J.B Danquah-Adu, late Member of Parliament for Abuakwa North was killed at his Shiashie residence on February 9, 2016. Daniel Asiedu and Vincent Bossu have been charged with conspiracy to commit robbery, while Daniel Asiedu also known as Sexy Dondon has been charged separately with murder and robbery. The court has been adjourned the case to November 7, 2023 for mention. 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 Australia has overwhelmingly rejected a plan to give greater rights to Indigenous people in a referendum. All six states voted no to a proposal to change the constitution to recognise Indigenous citizens and create an advisory body to the government. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said defeat was hard: "When you aim high, sometimes you fall short. We understand and respect that we have." Opposition leader Peter Dutton said the result was "good for our country". The referendum, dubbed "The Voice", was Australia's first in more than a quarter of a century. With almost 70% of the vote counted, the "No" vote led "Yes" 60% to 40%. Its rejection followed a fraught and often ill-tempered campaign. Supporters said that entrenching the Indigenous peoples into the constitution would unite Australia and usher in a new era. No leaders said that the idea was divisive, would create special "classes" of citizens where some were more equal than others, and the new advisory body would slow government decision-making. They were criticized over their appeal to undecided voters with a "Don't know? Vote no" message, and accused of running a campaign based on misinformation about the effects of the plan. The result leaves Mr Albanese searching for a way forward with his vision for the country, and a resurgent opposition keen to capitalise on its victory. Addressing the nation, the prime minister said he respected the vote and "the democratic process that has delivered it". "This moment of disagreement does not define us, and it will not divide us, we are not Yes voters or No voters, we are all Australians. And it is as Australians together, that we must take our country beyond this debate, without forgetting why we had it in the first place. "Too often in the life of our nation, the disadvantage confronting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people has been relegated to the margins, this referendum and my government has put it right at the centre." 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 Award-winning journalist and renowned anti-corruption crusader, Manasseh Awuni Azure, says the Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah should be commended and not vilified for his handling of the UTV studio invasion. In his view, the Minister should be praised for promptly reporting the incident to the police. Mr. Azure noted that he had read the police statement, which confirmed that they received a report from the Information Ministry to take action on the matter stressing that, from his perspective, the Minister's actions should be seen as commendable. "I'm known for my critical stance on this government's treatment of press and media freedom, but when you have an Information Minister reporting the actions of his own party members, and the police confirm this, I believe he should be commended, and I find nothing wrong with his response," Mr. Azure stated during his appearance on Newsfile on Saturday, October 14, 2023. Following the UTV studio attacks, the GJA expressed disappointment with the Information Minister's approach in addressing the assault. They noted a disparity in tone and language between his statement condemning the invasion and a previous statement he issued when Dagbon FM was attacked by a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) earlier in the year. The GJA implied that the Minister had not been consistent in addressing such issues. Nonetheless, Mr. Azure stood by the Minister's actions, asserting that his response was fitting and timely, given the specific circumstances surrounding the UTV studio incident. He argued that the GJA should collaborate with the Ministry of Information to address issues related to journalists' safety, rather than criticizing the Minister's response. Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/peacefmonline.com/ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A Ghanaian man living in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv has described attending a memory day for the victims of Hamas' attack on Saturday. Seth Cudjoe, a professional living in the suburb of Yehuda, said people in his neighbourhood lit candles in the shape of the Star of David on Thursday. They were led by Rabbis who told them to pray, said Mr Cudjoe. Many children joined the vigil with colourful songs and dance, in remembrance of all those who lost their lives during the attack, he said. Mr Cudjoe, an irrigation technician living in Israel with his wife and a four-month-old daughter, recalled the terrifying moment the sirens went off on Saturday. I was scared because it was my first time in a bunker, says Mr Cudjoe, who in the early hours of Saturday sought shelter with his family as sirens went off. You could hear the sound of rockets being intercepted by the Iron Dome, remembers Mr Cudjoe, but when there was a blast you could feel the vibrations. Palestinian militants killed more than 1,300 people in Israel at the weekend and kidnapped at least 150. More than 1,500 people have died in Gaza, an area in the Palestinian territories, since Israel launched retaliatory air strikes. 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 Former President John Dramani Mahama has called for an urgent desilting of the Lower Volta Basin, particularly the estuary at Ada. He said the exercise had not been carried out for some time now, and attributed that to the reduction in the volume of water flowing into the sea from the Volta River. Speaking to journalists after touring flood-affected sites in the Volta Region on Friday October 13, former President Mahama said the situation had compounded the flooding after the Volta River Authority (VRA) spilled excess water from the Akosombo and the Kpong dams. Former President Mahama, therefore, called on the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) to take immediate measures to support communities affected by the spillage of the Akosombo Dam with relief items and other security measures to secure life and property. He said the situation at the downstream of the dams was so precarious that it was no longer a hearsay in the face of the realities on the grounds. He made the call when he toured some affected communities in the South, North and Central Tongu districts in the Volta Region. He expressed disappointment over lack of support from NADMO because the government had failed to resource the organisation to offer the needed assistance in times of need. He, therefore, called on the government to help the affected communities. Mr Mahama thanked the VRA for coming to the aid of the affected communities. The former President was accompanied by the Member of Parliament for South Tongu, Kobina Mensah Woyome, the MP for Central Tongu, Alexander Roosevelt Hottordze, the MP for Ketu South, Dzifa Abla Gomashie, the MP for North Dayi, Joycelyn Tetteh, the MP for Ho West, Emmanuel Bedzrah, and the Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Volta Region, Mawutor Agbavitor. Floods Aside from the spillage-induced floods in the Lower Volta Basin, persistent rainfalls have caused unprecedented floods of the southern parts of the Volta Region. Worst affected areas include parts of Dzelukope, Keta, Vui, Anloga, Dzita, Anyanui, Agbozume, Afiadenyigba, Denu, Adina, Amutinu and surrounding areas and Aflao. Residents of the areas have been calling on the government and other organisations to come to their aid. 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 The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has condemned the attack on a Citi FM/TV reporter by "National Democratic Congress (NDC) thugs" on Friday, October 13, 2023. The GJA has called on the Ghana Police Service to immediately arrest and prosecute the thugs, who assaulted the reporter, Akosua Otchere, while she was covering the vetting of aspirants for the party's Odododiodio Constituency primary. The GJA also called on state and non-state actors, as well as the international community to condemn the attack. In a press release issued on October 14, the GJA said that the attack on Ms. Otchere was an act of insanity that must not be allowed to fester in Ghana's body politic. The GJA said it expected the NDC leadership or the party as an institution to protect the news team from harm, and the thugs to refrain from making them objects of attack in their internal party skirmishes. The GJA added that it has put its legal team on standby as it prepares to meet the Inspector-General of Police on Monday to discuss pertinent matters, including the recent attacks on the Citi FM/TV journalist and UTV. The GJA said that it will go every length under the law to deal with political actors and individuals who may attack journalists as Ghana gears up for the 2024 electioneering. It called on political parties in particular and other stakeholders to educate their members to refrain from attacking journalists and learn to channel their grievances, if any, through the appropriate avenues as dictated by the rule of law and practiced in civilized states. The GJA further encouraged journalists and media practitioners never to be intimidated by such attacks, and to defy them and always stay faithful to the public interest. It assured that the media will continue to serve as a bridge between the government and the governed and that no individual or group will be allowed to destroy that bridge, no matter the tactics they may employ. 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 16 accused persons who invaded the United Television (UTV) studios at Tesano in the Greater Accra Region on 7th October 2023 have been convicted and sentenced to a fine by the Achimota District Court. Following a report by the management of United Television (UTV) and the Ministry of Information on 7th October 2023, that the convicted persons had entered the UTV Studios and disrupted a live programme, the Police proceeded to arrest them on the premises of UTV. They were subsequently charged for being on the premises for unlawful purposes and arraigned before the court today, 16th October 2023. The accused persons pleaded guilty to the charge against them. They were, therefore, convicted on their own pleas and sentenced to a fine of 200 penalty units each which amounts to Two Thousand Four Hundred Ghana Cedis (GH 2,400.00) in default 3 months imprisonment. They were also ordered by the Court to sign a bond to be of good behaviour in default 6 months imprisonment. 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 Atta-Mills Institute (AMI) has noted with extreme satisfaction, the heart-warming and soul-saving decision by the Church, in Ghana, to henceforth actively and consciously champion the course of managing the affairs of State according to the principles of the Kingdom of God. Specifically, we make reference to the communique issued and signed by the President of the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC), Apostle Eric Kwabena Nyamekye, on Friday, September 22, 2023, at the end of the 2023 All Ministers Annual Conference (Second Edition), held at the Pentecost Convention Center, Gomoa Fetteh. In the said Statement, the Church pledged stoic and unwavering commitment to, inter alia, champion the inclusion of morality at all levels of our educational structure. In this regard, it was recommended that the STEM Flagship Programme be expanded to include, Morality. Thus, it would now be, Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Morality (STEMM). The statement further stated: It is part of plans of the church to use a well-coordinated and strategic approach to encourage Christians with high moral integrity to participate in politics at all levels of governance in the country. The Church is therefore resolving to, intentionally identify, promote, and strategically support political actors who have proven moral standards at all levels of the political strata. As a Public Policy Advocacy Think-Tank which is anchored to our ethos of, Mindset Transformation for Nation Building, AMI is of the firm belief that placing the God-factor at the core of our developmental agenda is key to moving Ghana from darkness into light. Indeed, as close associates of President John Evans Atta-Mills, we witnessed how, working with the Church, his introduction of the, National Day of Prayer and Thanksgiving, strongly supported his glowing three and half years at the helm of affairs of the nation as far as his Better Ghana Agenda was concerned. We have never shied away from anchoring our Advocacy Policies to the opening line of our National Anthem God bless our homeland Ghana , as well as the closing line of the National Pledge So help me God, and so any programme to give God His rightful place in the affairs of Ghana sits very well with us. At the birth of Ghana, and as the nation grew, there was a divine reason why the Fathers introduced the Godfactor into two of our key symbols Anthem and Pledge, and the more we deviate from our divine mandate the more we shall grope in the dark. We therefore give the GPCC our full support especially because they have made it very categorical that it is not just about Christianity; but more to do with moral virtue and integrity. Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people (Proverbs 14:34). When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan (Proverbs 29:2). Ghana is the only country we have and it is our utmost desire to work in tandem with all persons and groups thatgenuinely seek to walk this dear nation of ours up the path of righteousness. God bless our Homeland Ghana and make us greater and stronger. ------signed------------ Samuel Koku Anyidoho (Founder and CEO) 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 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 BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 16. Azerbaijan is ready to lay the Zangezur corridor through Iran if Armenia delays this process, the representative of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan on special assignments, Elchin Amirbayov said in an interview with the BBC News Russian, Trend reports. Amirbayov refuted the arguments that Azerbaijan allegedly claims to seize the Syunik province of Armenia, through which the Zangezur corridor is planned to be laid. "We recognize that this is the sovereign territory of Armenia. However, it is important for us to know how the other side will ensure traffic safety along the corridor. We need reliable guarantees for the safety of every passenger who takes a train from the main part of Azerbaijan to Nakhchivan or back," he said. The Zangezur Corridor is a concept of a transport corridor with a length of about 40 kilometers, which, if implemented, would provide Azerbaijan with unhindered access to the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. This route has great potential and can become one of the extensions of the "One Belt, One Road" project, as well as part of the North-South corridor. The National Chairman of the largest opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has commended Stephen Ntim for apologizing to Despite Media. The National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Thursday visited the Management of Despite Media to apologise for the invasion of thugs during a live programme on UTV. Stephen Ntim, speaking on Peace FM's morning show 'Kokrokoo' Thursday morning prior to his meeting with Management stated that thuggery is not a part of the NPP. "This is not how the NPP is . . . this is not our tradition, so we render an unreserved apology to the management of Despite media, Dr Osei Kwame Despite, and the entire nation". He added: You know me, there have 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 to transcend to party members from the National to polling station levels. I want everyone to have self-control in our political discourse." Going forward, he said, "You can count on us that this incident will not repeat itself . . . even if theres anger, therell be self-control. Internally, we are putting measures to ensure that this doesnt happen here (Despite media) or anywhere else again". "We want the law to take its course and we are ready to assist the police in their investigations, he added. Asiedu Nketiah popularly known as General Mosquito speaking in reaction praised Stephen Ntim for his gesture saying that's "the matured way to go" "This is exactly what hes supposed to do; he has shown that hes maturednot everyone will have the boldness to do this. Nonetheless, I dont think everyone in the NPP will be happy with him apologizing . . . As he has said he should make sure that it doesnt happen again . . . the constitution doesnt allow us to dictate the editorial policy of the media. What hes done is a step in the right direction and I believe if it continues democracy will change for the better," he averred during an interview on Me Man Nti programme on Neat FM. Watch video below 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 founder of Aseyegold Designs, Christine Aseye Darkey, has won the Pillar in Fashion Design category of the 2023 Female Pillar of Modern Ghana Award. Held recently in Accra, the award is a recognition of her exemplary and outstanding contributions to the fashion industry. It is also a result of the success attained with her outfits attachment training programme that allows fashion students of Accra Technical University to learn from her. Speaking to the B&FT on the recognition, she expressed excitement noting that the award means a lot to her as it represents her hard work, devotion, and unwavering pursuit of excellence in the chosen industry. This award means a lot to me because its my first. It validates my efforts and serves as a reminder that perseverance and dedication to one's aims can result in meaningful acknowledgment. This award serves as a source of encouragement for me to continue pushing limits, motivating people, and having a positive effect in my chosen field of fashion. It confirms my belief in the value of continual self-improvement and contributing to the larger good, making this honour very important and humbling, she said. Ms. Darkey took the opportunity to reassure the readiness to further position the brand to improve its growth. She said her outfit is putting measures in place and embracing relevant research to develop while staying ahead of industry trends. I am concentrating on four critical measures to position my brand for long-term growth beyond this awareness. First, I am using the recognition's exposure and credibility to form meaningful connections and collaborations with like-minded organisations and individuals. In addition, I am actively cultivating a loyal and engaged community by providing outstanding value through my products and services and keeping lines of contact open. Finally, I'm devoted to a long-term vision, establishing clear goals and benchmarks to monitor progress and adjust methods as needed, ensuring that my company thrives and evolves in the years ahead, she stated. Ms. Christine Aseye Darkeys journey in the space has been God, a vibrant tapestry of encounters, difficulties and development. It has been filled with high points and low points, each of which has advanced my career and personal growth. However, she has accepted that learning is a lifelong endeavour and evolving with the times while taking advantage of new chances is key. In terms of the future, I see a route paved with creativity and curiosity, one where I continue to research, produce, and make contributions to the fashion industry's and human progress's ever-evolving terrain. My goal is to have a positive influence, especially on young girls who are interested in fashion design, and to take part in transformational projects that help to create a better future, she added. 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 A heartwarming video has emerged on social media, showcasing the joyous moment when Afrobeats sensation Davido and his wife, Chioma Rowland, stepped out of the hospital with their newly welcomed twins. The video, which has since gone viral, captured the couple leaving the hospital premises in Atlanta Georgia following the birth of their twin blessings. This beautiful occasion unfolded in the United States, where the couple celebrated the arrival of their children. While the names and genders of the twins remain undisclosed, the news of their birth quickly spread, generating an outpouring of congratulatory messages and well-wishes from well-wishers and fans. Among those who shared the early reports of the twins birth was Gospel Agochukwu, the general overseer of Shekina Area Gospel Ministry. He shared a WhatsApp message exchange where Davido appeared to acknowledge that a prophecy made by Agochukwu the previous year had come to fruition. This heartwarming development follows the tragic loss of the couples three-year-old son, Ifeanyi, who tragically drowned in a pool at Davidos residence in Banana Island, Lagos, on October 30, 2022. The child was rushed to a hospital in Lekki, where his passing was confirmed. In March, Davido officially confirmed his union with Chioma, marking the start of their journey together as a married couple. The multi-award-winning artist continues to cement his status as one of the prominent figures in the Nigerian music industry, with fans eagerly anticipating his upcoming album. Davido and Chiomas joyous moment with their newborn twins is a heartwarming celebration, providing a fresh chapter of happiness following the challenging times theyve faced. Source: dailyguidenetwork.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Daughters of Kennedy Agyapong, flagbearer aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have explained why their father will be a great president for Ghana if given the nod. They point to his successes as a father and how he raised them, stating that he will transfer those leadership qualities to his government. Agyapong, currently lawmaker for Assin North constituency, is campaigning to become flagbearer of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP). Hello everyone, first of all, thank you all for taking time off to support our dad, we all just want you to know things about him, one daughter is heard saying in a video posted online. Aside from the fact that he is a great father, he has done a great job raising us, so, if he could raise a family, a village of his own, imagine what he can do for the country of Ghana," she adds. Another cues in: In addition to that, he is a politician who represents the foundation of Ghana, he is going to be a president who represents the 99% and not just the one percent. The daugthers, four of them, declare in unison in the end: No Ken, no vote! No Ken, no vote! amidst cheers. Kennedy Agyapong held the third edition of his showdown walk in the Western Region, as usual critiquing the government and his main opponent in the November 4 NPP primaries. 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. This is what Kennedy Agyapongs daughter wants you to know about her dad pic.twitter.com/lvJlfnz7pr SIKAOFFICIAL (@SIKAOFFICIAL1) October 13, 2023 Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Rite Aid filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sunday and said it would begin restructuring to significantly reduce its debt. The company said in a press release that it had reached a deal with creditors on a plan that includes evaluating its retail footprint and closing more store locations. In connection with this process, Rite Aid has received a commitment for $3.45 billion in new financing from certain of its lenders, the press release said. This financing is expected to provide sufficient liquidity to support the company throughout this process. The bankruptcy announcement came three days after Rite Aid, which for years called central Pennsylvania home before moving its headquarters to Philadelphia in March, filed a notice to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it would be unable to file its latest quarterly financial report because it was looking at strategic alternatives. That generally means that a company is considering bankruptcy. In that filing, the company said it expected its losses would increase significantly in the past quarter, which would come on the heels of it losing about three-quarters of a billion dollars between March 2022 and March 2023, and another $307 million between March and May this year, according to a CNN story. In its last financial report filed in June, the company reported that it had $135.5 million of cash on hand and $3.3 billion in long-term debt, which exceeded the value of its assets by nearly $1 billion, according to CNN. As part of the restructuring, the company on Sunday named Jeffrey S. Stein as chief executive officer (CEO), chief restructuring officer (CRO) and a member of the board of directors, effective immediately. Stein succeeds Elizabeth Burr, who has served as interim CEO of Rite Aid since January 2023 and will continue to serve on the companys board, according to a press release. It noted that Stein has particular expertise in supporting companies that are driving meaningful business transformations and undergoing financial restructurings. Rite Aid Chairman Bruce Bodaken said in a statement, Jeff is a proven leader with a strong track record of guiding companies through financial restructurings. We look forward to benefitting from his contributions and leveraging his expertise as we strengthen Rite Aids foundation and position the business for long-term success. Meanwhile, the company said it will be assessing its footprint and close additional underperforming stores, which threatens some of the roughly 47,000 jobs at the company. Rite Aid operates 2,100 stores across 17 states. Rite Aids stock has fallen nearly 80 percent since the start of the year. Lawsuits related to opioids are just part of Rite Aids money issues, according to The Wall Street Journal. Both Walgreens and CVS have surpassed it in sales and its number of stores has almost been cut in half over the past 10 years, the story said. In its announcement, the company said it has entered into an agreement with MedImpact Healthcare Systems, Inc. (MedImpact), an independent pharmacy benefit solutions company, pursuant to which MedImpact will acquire Rite Aids Elixir Solutions business. Under the terms of the agreement, MedImpact will serve as the stalking horse bidder in a court-supervised sale process under section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Accordingly, the proposed transaction is subject to higher and better offers, court approval and other customary conditions, the release said. Elixir Solutions is operating normally and continuing to serve clients, plan sponsors, members and customers as usual. Elixir Insurance is not included in Rite Aids Chapter 11 process or the proposed transaction with MedImpact, and it is continuing to operate and serve members as usual. More: Rite Aid stores, longtime factories among recent business closings, job losses in central Pa. Customer loses $8K in check swindle. Heres why Wells Fargo wont give the money back A Lancaster County man who punched a woman and hit her in the face with a glass bottle while she was driving will serve years in prison, a judge ruled this week. Jonathan Vializ-Rios, 30, of Akron, broke the womans teeth, caused swelling and cuts, and broke a bone in her upper gums during the February 2022 incident, according to the Lancaster County District Attorneys Office. Vializ-Rios was sentenced Oct. 10 to 8 to 17 years in prison. He was found guilty in August on two counts of aggravated assault, as well as one count each of endangering the welfare of children, stalking, simple assault, and recklessly endangering another person. The victim told police she drove Vializ-Rios to a local convenience store the afternoon of Feb. 20, 2022, so he could buy cigarettes. He yelled at and punched her when he went into the store and realized he did not have any money, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said the assaults continued as the woman drove Vializ-Rios home. A baby was in the back of the car during the ordeal, according to the district attorneys office. During Vializ-Rios sentencing hearing, Judge Thomas Sponaugle called his actions indefensible and said Vializ-Rios was lucky his actions did not result in greater injuries to the victim or anyone else on the road. A 27-year-old man is charged with kidnapping an 11-year-old New Jersey girl he met while playing an online video game last month, authorities said Thursday. Darius Matylewich, of Bear, Delaware, is charged with first-degree kidnapping and third-degree endangering the welfare of a child. The girl disappeared from her home in Wayne on Sept. 10, according to Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes. The child was reported missing about 6:45 a.m. from the area of Route 46 and Old Turnpike Road in Wayne, according to Valdes and Wayne Police Chief Jack McNiff. Wayne police located the 11 year old in Bear, Delaware, a short time after she went missing, McNiff and Valdes said in a statement. Based on the investigation, police determine that Darius Matylewich had met the victim while playing an online video game and transported her from Wayne, New Jersey, to Bear, Delaware, without the knowledge or consent of her parents, the statement said. Police in Delaware arrested Matylewich in the area of Berwick Lane and Perth Street in Bear, Delaware, according to Valdes and McNiff. Matylewich was extradited to New Jersey and held at the Bergen County Jail on Tuesday, public records show. Attorney information for Matylewich was not available through jail or court records. Editors note: This headline and post have been updated to remove a link to another media report naming the online game. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Story by Elizabeth Estrada of Spotlight PA Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG Pennsylvanias 2023 election will give voters the chance to pick a new slate of judges across several statewide courts. On Nov. 7, voters will elect a new state Supreme Court justice, as well as new judges to sit on Commonwealth and Superior Courts. They will also decide whether two appellate judges on Superior Court should get another term. Across the state, some residents will also vote in municipal races for offices like mayor and school board, and answer ballot questions. While many voters will head to their local polling place on Election Day, others will opt to vote by mail instead. All registered voters in the commonwealth have been able to vote by mail since 2020. The mail voting process can be confusing and has been made even more so by legal challenges, disinformation undermining public faith in elections, and efforts by many Republican lawmakers to prohibit its use. Still, its important to know that all registered voters in Pennsylvania legally have the option to cast a ballot by mail if they choose to do so. Heres everything you need to know about voting by mail: How do I request a mail ballot? You can apply for a mail ballot online, in person at a county election office, or through the mail. Paper applications are also available for download in Spanish and Chinese, in addition to English. Applications must be received by your county election board by 5 p.m. Oct. 31. If youre not already registered to vote, you must do so by Oct. 23. Online voter registration applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m that day. Mail and in-person applications must be received by the county board of elections by 5 p.m. You must provide proper identification to apply for a mail ballot. Acceptable options include a Pennsylvania drivers license or the last four digits of a Social Security number. The Pennsylvania Department of State lists the approved forms of identification online. You can apply for a one-time mail ballot or request to be added to the annual mail ballot list, which means youll get an application each year. You must submit this application for every year you wish to vote by mail. If you have an emergency and miss the deadline, you may still be able to request an emergency application for an absentee ballot. How do I make sure my ballot is counted? The best way to ensure your vote counts is to follow the instructions on your mail ballot, especially when it comes to correctly dating your ballot. Each mail ballot comes with instructions that voters must read carefully. You must use blue or black ink to fill out your ballot. Each ballot comes with two envelopes: an inner secrecy envelope (labeled official election ballot) and an outer envelope. Ballots must be sealed in the inner envelope, which you cannot write on. Once youve properly sealed the inner envelope, place it in the outer envelope and seal that Theres a voter declaration on the outer envelope. You must sign and date below the declaration. Some counties require paid postage, but others dont. Check your county election website to confirm and double-check the amount of postage, as longer mail ballots may require additional postage. How do I return my mail ballot? There are several methods for returning your ballot, but the most important thing to remember is that your county election board must receive your ballot by 8 p.m. on Election Day. If youre returning your ballot in person or using a drop box, you must use a location in your county. If you deliver your ballot to another county, it wont be counted. Return by mail: To return your ballot through the mail, all you have to do is use the proper postage and mail it out the same way youd send any mail. Because counties cannot count ballots that come in after 8 p.m. on Election Day, the sooner you mail your ballot, the better. Deliver in person: Make sure your ballot has been properly filled out and sealed, then return the ballot in person to your county election office. Some counties may also have other designated return sites. Make sure your ballot has been properly filled out and sealed, then return the ballot in person to your county election office. Some counties may also have other designated return sites. Find the address for your county election office or dropoff sites online Use a drop box: Drop boxes are another secure method of returning a mail ballot (guidance from the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency says they Drop boxes are another secure method of returning a mail ballot (guidance from the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency says they should be securely bolted to the ground and monitored by security cameras ). Not all counties have them. The Pennsylvania Department of State says voters should look on their countys website to find an official list of locations After you mail or deliver your ballot, you can check the status of your mail ballot online. This is because every mail ballot outer envelope has an individual barcode that is specific to you. Once this barcode is scanned, it will be recorded that your mail ballot was received. However, your actual mail ballot will not be opened and counted until Election Day, per Pennsylvania law. If you have a disability that prevents you from returning your own ballot, you may fill out a form to designate someone else to return it for you. You must turn in the form with your mail ballot application, and the designee must have a copy on hand when they return your ballot. Otherwise, you must return your own ballot. Politicians have used isolated instances of illegal ballot returns to challenge the security of mail voting, but these incidents do not indicate widespread fraudulent voting. In fact, mail ballot fraud is extremely rare because of the security measures on the ballot and the strict requirements to receive a mail ballot. Visit vote.pa.gov to read the Pennsylvania Department of States rules for mail ballots. Read Spotlight PAs complete coverage, including candidate and election guides, court explainers, important cases, and more, at our 2023 Election Center. MORE ELECTION 2023 COVERAGE: BEFORE YOU GO If you learned something from this article, pay it forward and contribute to Spotlight PA at spotlightpa.org/donate. Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results. Bob MacNevin is vice president of national sales for Caravella Inc., a California-based alcoholic beverage company that calls itself an innovative alcoholic beverage company introducing brands built on experience but delivered with a modern twist and an exuberant, new approach. Its products are entering the national market at a time when wine sales, with a few exceptions, are sagging in the United States. According to a State of the Beverage Industry report released this summer, sales of table wines totaled $11.6 billion, a decrease of 1.9% for the 52 weeks ending May 21, 2023, according to Circana data. Right now, theres not a lot of excitement or growth in wine, MacNevin said. Matter of fact, the entire wine category is down in sales and volume. There are a few areas within wine that are growing, one being sparkling wines, one being wine-based ready-to-drink cocktails, and the other being some flavored-beverage categories that are still pretty large. And then, of course, the subsegments of wine like organic, low alcohol and no alcohol are all growing. Again, this is all off of a very small base. But over the last three years, sales have quadrupled in these categories and theres no question were seeing consumer shifts in buying into the no/low [alc] areas. In particular, what were calling lifestyle wines. [These are] people who like to drink wine on a regular occasion and are looking to not sacrifice taste and not have to worry about all those empty calories, which were all being reminded not to drink [in order to] be in better health. That transition is not only changing consumer buying behavior, he said, but the retail world including grocery chains is looking for ways to carry and promote those types of products. So are the Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores in Pennsylvania, where you can find two of Caravellas lines of products that are geared toward that health and wellness audience and offer several distinct taste profiles. They include: 2Canos , a semisweet sparkling wine that features a mellow effervescence, or fizz, comes in flavors including strawberry and coconut, blackberry and mine, and peach and apricot. Made from organic grapes, spring water and natural fruit flavors, it is aimed toward a growing market that is looking to cut down on alcohol consumption and calories. These wines contain 5% alcohol and 95 calories per serving and come in standard-sized .750 mL bottles that cost $12.99 apiece Dancing Vines Lightsecco is a semidry organic sparkling wine that also comes as a sparkling Rose. Like 2canos, these are made from organic grapes and are both low alcohol (5%) and low calorie (60 per serving). These cost $16.99/bottle Both lines of wines are produced in the LaMancha region of Spain by two different producers that are cooperatives of family-owned organic wineries. 2Canos wines in their hard-to-miss packaging are made from organic grapes, spring water and all-natural fruit flavors and made in a frizzante style, perfect for a flute or tulip glass that are built for bubblies. They are, in a sense, Caravellas take on a white (peach apricot), rose (strawberry coconut) and red (blackberry mint) wine. MacNevin said they are a cross between a flavored beverage wine and a semi-sweet sparkling wine that plays a role in both categories but is geared toward the flavored beverage wine consumer who is drinking the Barefoot or Stella Rosa brands. Its really trying to be an entryway and this is the other challenge that wine has, [in that] theres no bridge brand for the consumers that have been drinking seltzers the last few years, MacNevin said. Theyre hopping right into spirit-based RTDs. Thats just no bridge brand that gets them into drinking wine, and most of the flavored beverage wine thats on the market right now, yes, its affordable, but its sugared, its artificially flavored, its not really a good-for-you choice, where 2Canos with its bubbles is a great entryway brand into wine. I kind of equate it to what the wine cooler business did for varietal wines about 30 years ago, he continued, noting that the industry a few decades ago was dominated by table wines such as Chablis, Burgundy, Rhine and Chenin Blanc. People started drinking berry white coolers from Bartles and James, which then spawned the launch of categories like white Zinfandel and white Grenache. Next thing you know, Sutter Home White Zinfandel was the hottest-selling product in the country and people started leaving drinking beer and wine coolers and instead started drinking varietal wines. The line of 2canos wines, all with distinct all-natural fruit flavors, a light fizz, and less alcohol and fewer calories than what's currently on the market. 2Canos can be that same bridge, he said, taking consumers who are seltzer drinkers and converting them into wine drinkers. Dancing Vines Lightsecco isnt as much a bridge from a different beverage as an opportunity for sparkling wine drinkers to buy a product that has few calories and alcohol. Both are made from the Airen grape, with Tempranillo grapes adding color to the rose. For those who love their Prosecco (and there are a lot of you out there, based on the data), these offer the same experience of lightness and bubbles without sacrificing taste, MacNevin said. Its a 5% [alcohol] product. Youre not going to get that overly sugared, bad hangover, feel-guilty-after-you-finish-a-bottle type thing where its very easy to drink, he said. Everyone weve sampled on the product, typically younger consumers and older female consumers, absolutely love the product. The packaging is beautiful to go along with it, and were doing this at an affordable price point. More: N.J. winery event will give customers a big-picture look at the vines As one East Coast winery closes after a long run, another opens its doors New owners of central Pa. winery look for ways to take strong brand, improve upon it 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. With the Halloween season in full swing, there are some out there who are in search of a scary good time. Those in Pennsylvania dont have to look any further than their home state, as its been ranked among the top spookiest in the country. SmokyMountains.com a travel website comprised a team of travel photographers, journalists, and local experts that are laser-focused on providing exceptional informations related to Gatlinsburg, Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, Sevierville, and the Smoky Mountains conducted and published a study laying out which states are the purported scariest. Researchers at the site were able to do this by gathering around 10 to 20 knowingly haunted locations in each, then analyzing the amount of search volume related to them. Other data such as the amount of Spirit Halloweens stores per state were also factored in. Not only was Pennsylvania found to be the 10th spookiest overall, but even boasts the second most haunted house in the nation: Cliveden in Philadelphia. In first, however, was California. When it comes to all things haunted, California has a good handle on it, elaborates the study. California is the state with the most Spirit Halloween stores (172 to be exact). For its most haunted location, Alcatraz has on average 2,240,000 search results that populate via Google search. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 16. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has held a telephone conversation with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Trend reports. During the conversation, the current situation in the region was discussed, as well as the prospects for the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Minister Jeyhun Bayramov informed his interlocutor in detail about the military-political provocations carried out by Armenia in recent years, the threats posed by illegal Armenian armed forces in our territories, the factors and measures that determine the anti-terrorist measures taken by Azerbaijan against the Armenian armed forces and the so-called regime on the Azerbaijani territory , as well as the current situation in the region. He recalled that Azerbaijan does not target Armenian residents, which was confirmed by the UN mission that visited the region, as well as by the International Committee of the Red Cross and even the Prime Minister of Armenia. It was noted that the ongoing smear campaign against Azerbaijan, allegations of allegedly carried out ethnic cleansing against Armenian residents are unfounded, which is part of the political manipulations of Armenia and some countries. The minister said that Azerbaijan has announced plans for the reintegration of Armenian residents, work is underway in this direction, and applications received from Armenians through the corresponding portal are being considered. It was emphasized that it is important to avoid provocative steps that impede efforts to establish peace and security in the region, statements in support of calls against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan. It was brought to the attention that after the restoration of the sovereignty of Azerbaijan throughout its entire territory, there are real chances of signing a peace treaty with Armenia; there is hope that Armenia will positively assess these opportunities. Then the sides exchanged views on bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest. 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. What people find scary is a deeply personal thing. Regardless, what makes something scary can be quantifiable, which is why an annual study announces which movie is the scariest to have ever been created. MoneySuperMarket is a Britain-based company that seeks to provide customers with comparisons on insurance as well as broadband, credit cards, and mortgages to see which are the most cost effective. Apart from the money-saving aspects, each year MoneySuperMarket releases the results of its Science of Scare Project, which seeds a list of movies based off of critical opinion, various lists, forums, and subreddits. From there, researchers have a number of brave souls watch each, and rank a films scariness based on watchers heart rate (as measured in BPM) and resting heart rate. The 2012 Ethan Hawke-led movie, Sinister, has once again took the top spot. However, a new contender Skinamarink climbed its way to the third overall ranking on the list, and was found to be the scariest movie of 2023. Other movies included in this years Science of Scare were Host, Insidious, and Conjuring. Anti-abortion advocates held their annual rally at the state Capitol in Harrisburg on Monday, with many participants observing that the movement seems to be facing headwinds in Pennsylvania despite last years overturning of Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Mondays March for Life rally attracted over 1,000 people from all over the state and beyond and featured a series of speakers on the steps of the Capitol followed by a march around it. Although the U.S. Supreme Courts nullification of the Roe and Casey precedents would allow Pennsylvania to set much stricter limits on abortion, specific measures to do so took a backseat Monday, with speakers more often emphasizing opposition to a bill in the state legislature that would ease up on certain abortion restrictions, as well as criticizing Gov. Josh Shapiros decision earlier this year to defund anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers. We should never be OK with the other side claiming victory for ending valuable programs that promote the sanctity of life, Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill, R-York County, told the crowd, describing Shapiros funding decision as completely disgusting. Despite the opening created by the Roe reversal, things have become quite worse, Tom Stevens, president of the Pro-Life Union of Greater Philadelphia, told PennLive after the rally. Since the federal court decision, abortion supporters got really enthused to get involved, Stevens said, leading to local reversals such as Shapiros funding termination. In August, Shapiro announced that his administration would be letting a multi-million-dollar contract with a major crisis pregnancy center provider expire, and would look for other womens health programs to spend the money on. Such crisis centers typically provide maternal support ultrasounds, diapers, etc. while also dissuading women from abortion. The centers have been criticized for providing misleading information, with the state health secretary saying in August that pulling the funding was in the interest of womens right to unbiased, medically accurate care and counsel. Advocates of crisis pregnancy centers defended the facilities on Monday; the centers provide compassionate support and valuable education, said Jill Hartman, who operates a center in Lancaster, admonishing Shapiro for trying to unilaterally prioritize only one option for women. The setback for anti-abortion advocates comes a little over a year since the U.S. Supreme Courts decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization to overturn the Roe and Casey precedents, which had created the legal framework under which states could not interfere with a womans right to an abortion prior to the fetus being viable outside the womb. Pennsylvania law is still set to that standard, with abortion being unrestricted prior to the 24th week of pregnancy, despite the efforts of some lawmakers. Since the Supreme Court decision, many conservative legislators including in Pennsylvania have endorsed tighter limits, including bans after six weeks of pregnancy that many medical experts say are based on dubious science. Last year, Republicans in the Pennsylvania legislature also approved a constitutional amendment that would specify that the state constitution does not guarantee any abortion rights. The measure would need to pass the legislature a second time before it appears as a referendum before the voters unlikely since Democrats took control of the Pennsylvania House. Similar ballot measures have been defeated in other states, such as Kentucky and Ohio. Asked Monday if she saw any tightening of abortion laws happening in the near future, Sen. Judy Ward, R-Blair County the author of the anti-abortion constitutional amendment said probably not. Just because of the political environment, Ward said, pointing to the inherent difficulties of the legislatures current partisan divide. The more likely point of action, Ward said, would be for Senate Republicans to negotiate some type of re-funding of crisis pregnancy centers into the yet-unfinished portions of the state budget. This years rally also occurs three weeks before an election featuring a PA Supreme Court race that has centered in large part on abortion, and the court is currently fielding a case on whether state Medicaid dollars can be used for abortion services. Those who turned out to the event had their eye on the bigger prize a near-total ban on abortion after conception, entertaining only rare exceptions for conditions that immediately threatened the life of the mother. Its still, to me, life at the point of conception, said Susan Hastings of Adams County, echoing the sentiment of others who spoke to PennLive during Mondays event, most of whom said their opposition to abortion was faith-based. While open to emergency exceptions for the mothers life, Hastings said that doctors are being pushed to present abortion as more necessary than it is, a viewpoint also widely shared among rally-goers. My personal opinion would be life begins at conception, so I would say no abortion at all, said Joanna Pears, a Wesleyan school teacher from Mercer County who brought students to the rally. Everybody that was here today wants it totally abolished, or else they wouldnt have driven four or five hours, Pears said. But this goal seems increasingly further away, she added, despite the Dobbs decision. I thought we would gain ground, but I feel like weve kind of lost some ground, Pears said. Abortion rights advocates have warned of dire consequences in states that have enacted near-total abortion bans, with a growing number of accounts of women nearly dying from pregnancy complications or being forced to deliver non-viable fetuses after struggling to find a provider who can jump through all the legal hoops. Although the specific impact of post-Dobbs laws is too early to be seen, abortion rights advocates have stressed that maternal mortality is already far higher in states with more heavy-handed abortion laws, even prior to last year. Doctors are leaving abortion ban states because their ability to practice appropriate medicine and delivering the care that theyve been trained to deliver to their patients is being restricted or taken away, Ann Steiner, a Montgomery County obstetrician, said on a press call with Planned Parenthood and other abortion rights advocates last week. Asked about those concerns, most rally-goers who spoke to PennLive Monday said they were being over-blown and paled in comparison to what they viewed as a divine mandate to end abortion. I think its sort of a fabrication, said Jason Garwood, a pastor and anti-abortion advocate. Its a smokescreen for justifying abortion, Garwood said, when the heart of the matter is primarily a gospel issue. Jan Murphy contributed reporting More: Abortion, guns, voting rights: Once again, 5th Circuit packs SCOTUS docket with culture war issues Why the Ohio Supreme Court case on the 6-week abortion ban is so important for BIPOC Midwesterners Ohio wants to revive a strict abortion law. Justices weigh the legal arguments In 2003, Gwen Jackson lost her son to a shooting. In 2020, she lost her granddaughter to the same. Just over a week ago, a young man was shot down the street from Jacksons home, during a vigil for a car crash victim. On Sunday, Jackson along with about 80 others attended a gun violence memorial and awareness march in Harrisburg in the hope of making some progress on what often seems like an intractable issue. It hasnt stopped for 20 years, since her sons death, Jackson said, and its worse than it was 20 years ago. Attendees gathered Sunday at the Hadee Mosque in uptown Harrisburg, where a memorial of T-shirts with the names of recent shooting victims was erected on the mosques lawn. A service at the mosque was followed by a march further uptown to the Chisuk Emuna synagogue, where victims names were read aloud. Helen, Daniel, and Gwen Jackson - whose family members Semajay Smith and Marcus Jackson were killed in shootings in 2020 and 2003, respectively - attend a march against gun violence in Harrisburg on Oct. 15, 2023. Similar events have been held periodically for years by the Harrisburg area chapter of Heeding Gods Call to End Gun Violence, an inter-faith group advocating for firearms law reform, with each years event typically featuring two houses of worship from different faiths. Formed in 2009, the group initially planned to hold memorials at the site of every shooting, but unfortunately the numbers have grown so large its become impossible to do that, said Harvey Freedenberg, a Heeding Gods Call organizer from Harrisburgs Beth El Temple. Since 2009, 217 people have been killed with firearms in Dauphin County, according to the groups tally amidst a recent surge in gun violence nationwide that has, by some counts, made firearms the leading cause of death for American children. Many of those who attended Sundays event have seen this firsthand, with several attendees remarking that the sheer volume of guns on the streets of central Pennsylvania seems to be growing faster and faster. Something just needs to be done, said Lisa Piper, whose son Sean Jackson was shot and killed at a Harrisburg bar in 2018. Every month its more, more, more. During Sundays services, faith leaders encouraged those present to maintain their belief shared among many different faiths that the value of a single life should have the weight of many. Quoting a message in the Quran, a person who wrongly takes a life shall be as if he had killed all of mankind, said Kaleem Bhatti with Hadee Mosque, whereas whoso gave life to one, it shall be as if he gave life to all mankind. Almost every faith has a teaching that goes something like you shall love your neighbor as yourself, observed Rabbi Ron Muroff of Chisuk Emuna, telling those in attendance to maintain not just optimism but hope, since optimism is a passive virtue, hope is an active one. To understand young peoples troubles that often drive gun violence, weve got to stick our hearts out, said Rickey Banks, who lost his vision in a Harrisburg shooting exactly 29 years ago. Marchers at a rally against gun violence in Harrisburg on Oct. 15, 2023. Heeding Gods Call to End Gun Violence has chapters nationwide, and endorses specific legislation, with attendees Sunday being asked to sign letters to lawmakers advocating for tighter gun laws. The measures the group has endorsed include two that cleared the Pennsylvania House of Representatives earlier this year. The first would extend background checks to private sales of long guns, closing what is often called the gun show loophole, while the second would create Extreme Risk Protection Orders that allow judges to temporarily confiscate a persons firearms if they are found to be a danger to themselves or others. Both measures have yet to gain traction in the state Senate. Heeding Gods Call is also pushing for an assault weapons ban, broadly similar to the gun and magazine capacity restrictions that existed federally from 1994 to 2004, as well as a law limiting individuals to one handgun purchase per month. The organization has pointed to New Jerseys one-handgun-a-month law as a successful test case in preventing bulk purchases of handguns by those who intend to resell them illicitly, a practice often referred to as straw purchasing. The gun violence has gotten terrible. Ive never seen such, that our young people are being gunned down so early with guns that seem easier and easier to acquire, Gwen Jackson said. She was accompanied Sunday by her daughter Helen and grandson Daniel the aunt and cousin, respectively, of Semajay Smith, who was shot and killed in Harrisburg in 2020, and the sister and nephew of Marcus Jackson, who was killed in York in 2003. Its like lightning strikes, you dont expect it to hit you again, Helen said. The biggest hurdle to change, she said, seems to be the political clout of gun companies opposed to any sort of regulation or liability for the mass marketing of firearms, shielded from the violence while reaping the profits. We dont have enough money to stop it and they have enough money to keep it going, Jackson said. Author, photographer, and cultural documentarian, Candacy Taylor draws from the lessons of the past to shed light on the current quest for racial justice, and offer a guide to the work that still needs to be done. For Taylor, author of Overground Railroad, which looks at Black mobility and culture through the lens of The Green Book the guide to hotels and restaurants open to Black travelers during the Jim Crow era Harrisburg is a perfect stop along the way. Harrisburg is emblematic, she said. Especially its size. Its a city that is not too big but is an established community in a state that has 40 sundown towns and to be able to look at the assumption that these towns in the north didnt have the same issues that the Jim Crow south had or that racism looked and felt and was managed differently. Sundown towns, also known as sunset towns, were all-white towns and communities that practiced racial segregation by excluding non-whites via discriminatory local laws, intimidation or violence. The term originated from signs directing non-whites to leave town by sundown. Taylor plans to examine those themes on Tuesday as keynote speaker for Peace & Justice in PA. The annual event, which will be held at Harrisburg University, is presented by PA Media Group, parent company of PennLive and The Patriot-News, in partnership with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. It is co-sponsored by Giant Food, the Hershey Company and The Foundation for Enhancing Communities. Candacy Taylor will be the keynote speaker at the 2023 Peace and Justice PA Awards on Nov. 17, 2023. Taylor, whose book has been transformed into The Negro Motorist Green Book exhibition developed by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, said that as part of her presentation, she will explore the idea that not only was red lining ( the practice of excluding racial and ethic minorities and low-income families from purchasing homes in certain neighborhoods) an orchestrated and covert tactic but that it is one that is still playing out in some communities in central Pennsylvania. She will offer a map of Harrisburg noting the locations listed in The Green Book, which was first published in 1936 for a growing Black middle class that was yearning to explore the country but faced social, legal and hostile restrictions to access hotels, restaurants and gas stations. Taylor presents a case for how history overlays itself in ways that continue to play out today. Some of the things that are so confoundingly frustrating for most Americans today is they say, Well, its 2023. Why are we still dealing with this? Taylor said. You look at the George Floyd protests. I have a slide of people protesting in the 1960s and now. It doesnt look that different now. The issues are different but even the signs are similar. The reason we are so frustrated is because we have the assumption that because time moved on, things are supposed to get better. We are supposed to learn the lessons of the past and supposed to act differently, and thats not who we are as a country. Its never been who we are. Candacy Taylor will be the keynote speaker at the 2023 Peace and Justice PA Awards on Oov. 17, 2023. The idea that America is an experiment that has never been proven to work and its incredible the backlash against wokism and how people dont want to feel bad about the country... The assumption is that we have achieved that on some level or got close to it. Had that really happened, then I believe we would have reason to be despondent. Weve claimed that this is what this country is but weve never achieved it.... so the work still has to be done. The Peace & Justice in PA Awards of 2023 also will recognize an individual and two organizations for their work as advocates for diversity and inclusion, racial justice and equity. Taylor, who began to pursue her work in 2013, continues to seek to change minds and outlooks. I hope it inspires people to come from a place of wondering what do I need to do? How do I show up for this? she said. Instead of saying things should be a certain way. Its not a very productive viewpoint. Of course there should be adequate housing for all...and there are things especially that Black Americans have experienced that are, of course, horrific, but getting lost in that place of frustration isnt helpful and I dont think it moves us forward. The program will take place from noon to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at Harrisburg University. Admission and registration information is available at: https://events.pennlive.com/PJ2023. The event will be streamed live to PennLives Facebook page. U.S. Senate candidate David McCormicks political-action committee gave $50,000 to the Pennsylvania Republican State Committee just weeks before its early endorsement, campaign finance records show. The contribution, which came on Sept. 6, was absolutely not connected to McCormicks endorsement by the committee on Sept. 30, said Sam DeMarco, an Allegheny County Republican who chairs the Pennsylvania Rising PAC. The contribution was to help them with their mail-in and absentee ballot program, said DeMarco, who pointed out that there were other PAC contributions to county-level committees in the Cycle 4 filing covering the summer months. When McCormick unveiled his PAC earlier this year, he said the goal was to help Republican candidates at the county and state level and increase voter turnout. Pennsylvania Risings report filed with the Pennsylvania Department of State shows that it gave $15,000 to the Republican Committee of Allegheny County, which DeMarco chairs, on Aug. 8; $10,000 to Erie County controller Republican candidate Wade Roots campaign on Aug. 15; $10,000 to the Bucks County Republican Committee on Sept. 6; and $10,000 to Friends of Joe Rockey, a Republican running for Allegheny County Executive, on Sept. 6. McCormicks PAC previously gave $10,000 to Rockeys campaign in April. Maddy McDaniel, a senior communications advisor to the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, charged that McCormick is using the millions he made outsourcing American jobs to China to try to buy Pennsylvanias Senate seat. A September endorsement in the 2024 primary race also stood out in light of the state committees decision last year to not endorse in the primary battle between McCormick and Dr. Mehmet Oz, who eventually won the nomination only to lose to now-Sen. John Fetterman in November 2022. McCormick, the former CEO of the Bridgewater Associates hedge fund, entered the 2024 race to challenge Democratic Sen. Bob Casey on Sept. 21 at an event in Pittsburgh. His campaign called the PA GOPs endorsement just nine days later unprecedented and said the unanimous vote demonstrates the unity behind McCormicks candidacy. That unanimity has since been called into question, though, by comments from at least one state GOP committee member who was there. Republican state committeewoman Nancy Pleskovitch from Westmoreland County has insisted that there were votes against endorsing McCormick, but committee leaders ignored them. Responding to a Fox News reporters story about the endorsement vote on Oct. 1, Pleskovitch wrote on Twitter/X, Not sure where you got your information but the PA State Committee members did NOT vote unanimously to endorse Dave McCormick today. I am one of many who voted NO. Sometime this week, Cumberland Valley School District will hit the switch on a new on-board camera technology that will dramatically improve its ability to identify and fine drivers who illegally pass stoped school buses. The district is installing video cameras on all 85 of its student school buses. The cameras are designed to identify, much like an EZ-Pass camera on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the make, model and license plate of any vehicle that passes a bus thats stopped in the course of its route. By Mireille Rebeiz On Saturday October 7, 2023, militants from Hamas launched a heinous and unprecedent terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians. Breaking through the walls and heavily monitored borders, they started Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and attacked by air, sea, and land. The attacks came as a shock to the world. Thousands of people have been killed in Israel and in Gaza. The death toll continues to rise. There are reports of 100 hostages, including Israelis and Americans. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the State of Israel is at war and made the decision to mobilize reserve troops to support the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in their military operation against Hamas. President Joe Biden announced the United States unwavering support to Israel. The European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, tweeted that she unequivocally condemn[s] the attack carried out by Hamas terrorists against Israel. It is terrorism in its most despicable form. Israel has the right to defend itself against such heinous attacks. The Arab League, which is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, Oct. 11, at the request of the Palestinian Authorities, issued a brief statement announcing that it will discuss ways to stop the Israeli aggression on Gaza strip. This comes at a time when the United States has been pushing Saudi Arabia and Israel to normalize their diplomatic ties. The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced its peoples right to defend themselves against terror of settlers and occupation troops, and Irans Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei proclaimed Irans support to Palestinian fighters. Violence is a recurrent theme between Israel and Gaza Strip with flare-ups in 2006, 2008, 2012, 2014, and 2021. They usually start with rockets fired from the Palestinian side followed by Israeli air raids. In 2006, Hamas claimed victory in the Palestinian legislative elections against Fatah, a secular Palestinian nationalist party. Ever since, it assumed control over Gaza. Contrary to what has been reported, Hamas is not a new group. In fact, it was formed mid-1980s with strong attachment to Muslim Brotherhood and dedication to the Islamic Jihad. Although Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, Gaza has been under siege for the past 17 years. Gazans cannot leave as they wish. They cannot travel for tourism, education, or medical reasons. Accessing Gaza requires walking through an endless number of highly secured gates and checkpoints. Gaza is an uninhabitable open prison with low food, poor sanitation and access to clean water, medicine, utilities According to a 2022 UNICEF report, 80% of Gazans rely on humanitarian assistance, one that includes water, sanitation, and primary health care services. Often these services do not reach their destination on time as Israel controls Gazas borders and regulates what comes in and out. More than half of the population live below the poverty line with 80% unemployment rate among youth. In short, Gaza has become the perfect breeding ground for radicalization and terrorism, and Israels far-right is to blame for its systematic violation of human rights and oppression against Palestinians and Israelis alike. In fact, many Israelis lawmakers have criticized the current government for its mistreatment of Palestinians and its undermining of Israeli democratic values. Member of the Knesset, Ofer Cassif, has warned against the situation in Gaza stating, We condemn and oppose any assault on innocent civilians. But in contrast to the Israeli government that means that we oppose any assault on Palestinian civilians as well We have been warning time and time again everything is going to erupt and everybody is going to pay a price mainly innocent civilians on both sides. Unfortunately, this is exactly what happened. History tells us time and time again that violence leads to more violence. In 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon; shortly after, Hezbollah, a terrorist Shia Islamist group, was born. In an interview with Time, Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said when we entered Lebanon, there was no Hizbollah. We were accepted by perfumed rice and flowers by the Shia in the south It was our presence there that created Hizbollah. Hamas, Hezbollah, or the far-right in Israel are the opposite sides of the same coin. They need each other for hatred can only flourish in volatile environments. There is still time and opportunity for real dialogue and for peace to be achieved. Extremism no matter its form cannot win. As Bertrand Russel once said, War does not determine who is right. Only who is left. Mireille Rebeiz, Ph.D., is Chair of Middle East Studies an Associate Professor Dickinson College. The opinion expressed within the content is solely her own and do not reflect the opinions or beliefs of her employer. Season 2 of Discovery Channels Contraband: Seized at the Border will continue to follow the work of Americas Customs and Border Protection agency, whose job is to defend the border and stop terrorists, drugs and illegal weapons from entering the country. Contraband: Seized at the Border season 2 episode 1 will air tonight, Monday, Oct. 16 at 9 p.m. on Discovery Channel. For those who have cut the traditional cable cord, viewers can stream episodes live on streaming services Philo or FuboTV. Both of these offer free trials to new subscribers. What to expect on tonights episode: A man returning from Mexico requires emergency Narcan after a suspected opioid overdose; an unlikely family is caught trying to smuggle firearms into Mexico; a woman attempting to sneak prescription meds into the U.S. is caught red-handed. About the show According to Discoverys official synopsis, The border between the USA and Mexico is the busiest in the world. This series follows the work of Americas Customs and Border Protection agency, whose job is to defend the border and stop terrorists, drugs and illegal weapons from entering the country. Where to find Discovery You can find which channel Discovery is on by using the channel finders here: Verizon Fios, AT&T U-verse, Comcast Xfinity, Spectrum/Charter, Optimum/Altice, DIRECTV and Dish. Where to stream Contraband: Seized at the Border for free? Cord cutters can sign up for a free trial of Philo or FuboTV to enjoy broadcasts for free. Each service offers a free trial. More about Philo Philos live TV subscription offers a free trial and costs $25 per month. It includes MTV and over 50 other classic TV, lifestyle and news channels. Subscribers can stream on up to three devices simultaneously, create up to 10 profiles and save unlimited live or future shows for up to one year. More about Fubo FuboTV offers and 7-day free trial and starts at $70 per month for access to MTV and more than 120 other news, entertainment and sports channels under the Pro Plan; you can also upgrade to the Elite package ($80 monthly) which includes more than 180 channels and over 130 events in 4K. Both plans let you record TV shows, movies, games and more and watch on unlimited screens. The B.C. government has introduced legislation that would rein in what it says is a rapidly expanding short-term rental market. British Columbia Premier David Eby speaks at the NDP Convention in Hamilton, Ont. on Friday, October 13, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter Power. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 16. 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 Lachin continue, Trend reports. Another group of citizens was sent from the Gobu Park 3 residential complex in the Garadagh district of Baku on October 16. At this stage, another 25 families (96 people) moved to the city of Lachin. The resettled families will settle in the houses where they once lived in Lachin, which were restored or rebuilt on the basis of instructions from the head of state after the end of the Armenian occupation. Lachin 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 Lachin has been provided for 272 families - 1052 people. Fire crews continue to put out the fire at Hazel Trembath Elementary School in Port Coquitlam, B.C., on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023. Plans are underway to bring school life back to normal as quickly as possible for students and teachers after a Metro Vancouver elementary school was destroyed in a suspicious weekend fire. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns SQlab The longer you look, the more hand-polished parts you'll find on this Starling Murmur, which we found at the SQlab booth. Note the hand-polished dropper. Some 90s-inspired Drillium on the brake levers. A clean cockpit and - of course - some ergonomic grips. - Instagram SQlab: - Website Starling Cycles: - Instagram Starling Cycles: - Website SQlab: https://www.sq-lab.com/en/ - Instagram SQlab: @sqlab - Website Starling Cycles: https://www.starlingcycles.com/ - Instagram Starling Cycles: @starlingcycles Scar Cycles The Scar Cycles LFS Pinion. The Bright Racing Shocks fork and Pirople textile spokes are still a pretty rare sight. The 612 "cybertruck" brakes are becoming more and more popular. See how they are made here This new Radoxx stem was an interesting detail on the Scar LFS Pinion. Zoceli The Zoceli "Dobordelu". Zoceli frames come with very nice sheet metal details and a small 3D-printed mudguard. The Naosm is a 160 mm rear travel Enduro frame. The new Narum comes with 135 mm rear travel and beautifully machined CNC parts. Huhn Cycles Regular mtb brakes, trigger and dropper remote on this handlebar. The matching frame bags by Reisefix look great. Note the extremely long seatstays. Cyber Cycles The steel tubes are specifically made for Cyber Cycles. Even though the idea of such a fork design is not new, it's great to see something that looks totally different from the conventional rigid carbon and steel forks. The intended use of the "Cross Blade" forks is XC and gravel. Sour Cycles The Sour Cycles "Bad Granny". The coolest dropper remote at the show. Qvist hubs use a unique double-sided tooth ring and will be available in a couple of months. SQlab had a Starling Murmur at their booth that was built by one of their employees. He spent a ton of time polishing the cranks, chainring, brake levers, trigger paddle and even the dropper post.It's hard to believe, but he used a lot of used parts for this bike. The extremely classy colour concept really made this bike stand out from the crowd, which is no easy task when you're at Bespoked."Never ever" he said when I asked him whether he'd build such a bike again - too much elbow grease was needed to polish all the parts.Stefan from Scar Cycles says that this LFS (Light Full Suspension) Pinion build comes in at around 15 kg (33 lbs), which is a very respectable weight for a steel fully with a Pinion gearbox.Thanks to the adjustable shock mount, the frame can be used with 190 x 40 (pictured), 190 x 45 and 210 x 50 shocks, resulting in 115, 125 and 130 mm rear travel. This build comes with a burly Bright Racing Shocks xCO fork in the front, which is set to 110 mm (remember Bright forks use a no-sag concept).A few years ago Stefan built a 140 mm bike based on the same platform, but with a regular drivetrain. He says the owner was able to bring the weight down to 12 kg (26.5 lbs), even though he's running a 140 mm Pike.Martin from Zoceli managed to strike a chord with his first creations such as the " Dobordelu " frame, which he designed two years ago. In the meantime, he added more frames to his lineup, such as the new "Narum".Many frame builders at Bespoked only build full custom frames, so it can be difficult to find some information on their websites. Martin's website is different, as he offers most frames in four sizes and has all the info you might want online.The "Dorbordelu" frame can be used with 250 x 70 shocks (180 mm rear travel) or 250 x 67.5 shocks (175 mm rear travel), making it the bike with the longest travel at this year's Bespoked show. Martin recommends to run forks with 180 - 200 mm travel. You can run the bike as full 27.5" bike, full 29" or mullet.A few days before the show, Ralf from Huhn Cycles told me that he'd bring a "bikepacking hardtail" to Bespoked. I was prepared to see a wild bike, but I wasn't ready for this wild creation.More than any other build, this bike blurs the lines between hardtails and gravel bikes. Is it a gravelbike with mtb brakes, dropper remote and SRAM trigger? Or is it a hardtail with a dropbar?The 212 mm Vecnum Nivo dropper, big Leonardi Racing Cassette and Astral Serpentine X rims with 30 mm inner width as well as the long(ish) travel Intend fork certainly put it in the mtb category, but then again the Beast handlebar changes everything.Cyber Cycles is the new kid on the block that's already causing a stir in the singlespeed and gravel community. With their new "For Enduro Racing Only" cranks, they now offer a steel crankset that will look great on any long-travel steel frame.The cranks are welded by frame building legend Stefano Agresti and are currently available in four different versions: OR (offroad), ST (square taper), GR (gravel) and EN (Enduro).At 470 g (OR; including compression ring, spring and screws) / 520 g (EN), the cranks are surprisingly light. They come with a 24 mm spindle and use the wide-spread SRAM 3-hole direct mount. You can choose from four different finish options: raw, black, matte chrome and nickel.Local company Sour Cycles brought this "Bad Granny" build to the show. Decked out with Cyber Cycles cranks, Qvist hubs and a self-made steel dropper remote, it looked absolutely ready for some fun times on the local trails. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print The mainstream media just cant quit their kneejerk defense of Republicans, even as the GOP-led House is incapable of passing basic aid to Israel due to their inability to elect a Speaker after they tossed Kevin McCarthy to the curb. They now expect Democrats to help Republicans elect an insurrectionist as Speaker. PBS News Correspondent Lisa Desjardins seemed outraged that a House Democrat referred to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) as an insurrectionist: Wow. House Dem #2 just called @jim_jordan an insurrectionist. Twice. Saying he fought a J6 subpoena and pointedly fueled 2020 doubts is one thing but man, saying he wanted to overthrow the government. Asking what specific evidence and logic they have for this. Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) October 13, 2023 While she followed this up with a thread of reasons provided to her by Democrats after being ratioed on Twitter, she concluded, To answer some qs myself: I was aware of these events but my qs were about what Dems were thinking of. I was in the Capitol on J6 and regard it with the utmost seriousness. It remains a dangerous day. I am spending time compiling what we know/dont about Jordan that day Starting off with a snarky opinion and demanding people justify their term to you doesnt really seem like the best approach in inform readers. In fact, it has a little Elon stink on it, because really, how can a reporter who was in the Capitol that day not be aware of these facts? Lets examine what we already know. Rep. Jim Jordan forwarded a text message to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on January 5, outlining a legal theory that then-Vice President Mike Pence had the authority to stand in the way of the certification of the 2020 election. That legal theory included a draft presentation arguing that then VP Mike Pence could object to the certification of the election. Which is one way of saying Jim Jordan actively pushed the overthrow of the U.S. electoral process for the most secure election in U.S. history. CNNs Jake Tapper examined Jordans (my bold) past public support of former President Donald Trumps unfounded claims of election fraud and ties to the January 6 riot that tried to overturn the 2020 election. While the term insurrection is not explicitly defined by federal law, courts and legal scholars generally interpret it as a violent uprising or organized resistance against the government or its regulations. So organized resistance against the government, like say, an attempted coup which involved trying to stop the certification process of the most secure election in history with no legal basis. Ok. And ties to the domestic terrorist attack on January 6th, a violent uprising. But somehow hes not an insurrectionist. Huh. Jim Jordan has been trying to use Congress to interfere in the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indictment of Donald Trump and just a day after Trumps lawyers met with Special Counsel Jack Smith over the classified documents case (which has grave implications for our national security at a time when two of our allies are at war), Jim Jordan came riding on his white Don horse to save Trump again, demanding an unredacted copy of the memorandum outlining the scope of Mr. Smiths probes regarding President Trump and any supporting documentation related to his appointment as special counsel. Doing anything to impede a special investigation is actually a crime, and it appears Jordan might have violated 18 U.S. Code 1505. But sure. Bad Democrats for not helping him commit potential crimes. Whoever corruptly, or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication influences, obstructs, or impedes or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede the due and proper administration of the law under which any pending proceeding is being had before any department or agency of the United States, or the due and proper exercise of the power of inquiry under which any inquiry or investigation is being had by either House, or any committee of either House or any joint committee of the Congress Shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years or, if the offense involves international or domestic terrorism (as defined in section 2331), imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both. So this is Jordan actively trying to cover up the theft of national security secrets because Dear Leader allegedly did it. This is not the behavior of someone who is putting the U.S. first; this is the behavior of someone who is putting Donald Trump first. Donald Trump incited an attack on the United States. So thats not great. Meet the Press spent Sunday demanding Democrats help *this* man or others like him, including seemingly former Speaker Kevin McCarthy who allowed this to happen. This is what our media wants from elected Democrats not to DEFEND democracy, the U.S. government and our national security; but to HELP Republicans keep attacking it. Do you know who else isnt bothered by a little insurrection? Other Republicans. In other words, for a media that supposedly prides itself on being objective, theres an awful lot of parroting Republican talking points going on. Rep. Mike Turner tells Margaret Brennan hes unbothered by allegations Jim Jordan turned a blind eye to sexual assault and also unconcerned about Jordans involvement in the J6 plot pic.twitter.com/TfpAedHTtq Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 15, 2023 The Ohio Capital Journal isnt confused. They say Jordan betrayed America. This is, again, what the media is scolding Democrats for not helping. They quote other Republicans like Liz Cheney to make this case. The Ohio Capital Journal wrote commentary several days ago saying Jim Jordan betrayed America with his actions surrounding Jan. 6. Now he wants to be House Speaker. Jordan was all in on the subversive plot to seize an unearned second term for the defeated president by invalidating millions of legitimate American votes. He was a pivotal player in the attempted coup to fraudulently retain presidential power by discarding certified ballots. The idea of conferring the speakership on someone in service to a con, instead of country, is abhorrent to former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who served as vice-chair on the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection. Jim Jordan knew more about what Donald Trump had planned for January 6th than any other member of the House of Representatives, she declared bluntly. The once high ranking member of the House Republican leadership wonders why Jordan never reported what he knew about the events leading up to Jan. 6 to Capitol Police but is crystal clear about his complicity in the scheme to overthrow democracy. Jim Jordan was involved, was part of the conspiracy in which Donald Trump was engaged as he attempted to overturn the election, said Cheney. If the GOP majority in the House hands the speakers gavel to the Urbana Republican, whose allegiance to an authoritarian trumps all, she warned, it will send a damning message of compromised fidelity to a sacred oath. If they were to decide that, there would no longer be any possible way to argue that a group of elected Republicans could be counted on to defend the Constitution. Ohio knows who Jim Jordan is. Democrats know who he is. People paying attention to the facts know who he is. What exactly is the problem with calling him what he is? Former Republican Rep. Joe Walsh said, I served with Jim Jordan. He & I were friends. He shouldnt be Speaker. Hes a divider. Always has been. And for those who say Jim Jordan has changed, really? Less than 3 yrs ago, he was helping Trump try to overthrow an American election, and less than 2 yrs ago, he was defying a subpoena. He hasnt changed. Sure, Walsh and Cheney can be dismissed as Never Trumpers, but only if people ignore that conservative Republican Never Trumpers became Never Trumpers out of adherence to the U.S. Constitution and firsthand knowledge of how damaging Trump was. Cheney knows exactly who Jim Jordan is and her opinion is worth a lot given that its informed by the evidence from the Select Committee on the 1/6 attack. This is where we are. Our media demands Democrats help Republicans attack the United States, law and order, and our national security. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 16. Azerbaijan is making large-scale efforts to provide the population with drinking water, Minister of Agriculture Majnun Mammadov said, Trend reports. Mammadov made the remark at the event dedicated to the opening of the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences at ADA University, as well as the Coordination Office of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in Azerbaijan and World Food Day. "Population growth and agricultural land use are leading to water scarcity," the minister added. He also addressed the issue of global hunger, noting that 2.4 billion people worldwide cannot secure an adequate food supply for themselves, and 783 million people suffer from hunger. He emphasized that a significant portion of the world's population suffering from hunger resides in rural areas. Azerbaijan has established 44 new sources of drinking water in recent years. Specifically, efforts are currently underway in Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur to create new sources of drinking water. Additionally, an agency has been established in the country, with its primary focus on providing water for agricultural entrepreneurs to support irrigation purposes. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Former Capitol Police Officer Michael Fanone called Jim Jordan an insurrectionist and said Jordan has no place being second in line to the presidency. Fanone said: Former DC officer Michael Fanone, Jim Jordan is an insurrectionist who has no place being second in line to the presidency. I witnessed the deadly assault on our democracy with my own eyes, which is why it absolutely disgusts me. Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) October 16, 2023 I cant imagine what it must be like for Fanone to watch House Republicans elevate a man who participated in the planning of Trumps coup plot to be the Speaker of the House. The only good news for the nation is that once Republicans lose the House majority next November, it will be Speaker Hakeem Jeffries who will be in charge of the House when the votes are certified on January 5, 2025 (The new Congress is sworn in January 3, 2025). Republicans are showing America that they are the party of insurrection and they stand against democracy. Not every House Republican participated in Trumps coup plot, but there are many who dont want Jordan to be the Speaker who lack the courage to stand up and say no. The swing district Republicans who oppose Jordan are expected to fold after several votes on Tuesday. An insurrectionist becoming the Speaker of the House feels like a logical next step for the Republican Party. Jim Jordan should not be allowed to be Speaker for a wide variety of reasons, but his support for insurrection tells America which direction the Republican Party intends to go in if they are ever returned to power. The president and CEO of the Aiken Chamber of Commerce will retire early next year. J. David Jameson sent an email about his decision to the chambers board of directors Monday, and the chamber also issued a news release. Today, I am announcing my retirement set for the last day of February 2024, wrote Jameson to the Aiken Chamber's board. The chosen date marks the 50th anniversary of my career. 2023 (Chamber of Commerce) Chair Jason Rabun and 2024 Chair Charlie Hartz and I have been discussing this timing since late spring. We are notifying you today so that the board can discuss the next steps at Thursdays board meeting. Time flies and it is hard for me to believe that half of my career has been Aiken first for six years at the Economic Development Partnership (of Aiken and Edgefield Counties) and now for 18 years at the Aiken Chamber, Jameson continued. I am forever grateful for my career. Life could have taken me in many different directions, but I landed just where I needed to be. I treasure the years of friendships, camaraderie and life-changing moments. You can count on me to help the chamber prepare for a new president, Jameson concluded. Although I will soon be on the sidelines, I will always cheer for your success as you continue to build Aikens future. I still have five months to wrap some things up. Lets make each day between now and Feb. 29 a great day for business in Aiken, South Carolina. Aiken Mayor Rick Osbon praised Jameson for his positive impact locally over the years. David has been Aikens leading advocate for all businesses, Osbon said. He has led the chamber with vision, and many of the successes we celebrate in our city are because of his efforts. Aiken City Manager Stuart Bedenbaugh expressed a similar opinion. Whether out in our community marketing local businesses or sitting around a conference table discussing the ways to make our diverse and engaged community better, David Jameson made many significant contributions, Bedenbaugh said. I appreciate his leadership, and he can retire knowing he leaves a positive, indelible imprint on Aiken. When the House of Representatives votes for a new speaker Tuesday, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, will have the support of Aiken County's congressman. Congressmen Joe Wilson, a Republican who represents Aiken County, Barnwell County and the Columbia suburbs, said on Facebook on Friday he supported Jordan. "With the Republican Conference selecting, by majority vote, Jim Jordan as Speaker of the House, I will be voting for Jim Jordan as Speaker of the House," Wilson said. Wilson previously supported the speakership bid of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La. "I support the House Majority Leader Steve Scalise as Speaker of the House for his effectiveness to create jobs with expanded freedom, limited government, and a strong national defense," Wilson said on Facebook. However, Scalise's bid didn't work out. Scalise received 113 votes and Jordan received 99 votes in a secret ballot held Wednesday afternoon. But, it quickly became apparent that Scalise couldn't win enough of the Jordan votes to win a speakership election on the floor. There are 433 members of the House of Representatives (two seats are vacant), meaning a nominee needs to receive at least 217 votes to be elected speaker. Which, in turn, means that the Republican nominee can only lose five votes unless some members vote present. Scalise withdrew his bid Thursday. The Republican Conference voted Friday to nominate Jordan. Specifically, he received 124 votes to defeat Austin Scott, R-Ga., who received 81 votes. A validation vote resulted in 152 votes for Jordan which is still short of the 217 needed. The top executive of the S.C. State Ports Authority acknowledged both short-term challenges and long-term opportunities built on an "unshakeable foundation" of several big-ticket public expenditures on projects designed to support and grow the maritime industry. "We have a growth plan to expand with you," CEO Barbara Melvin said in her annual update Oct. 16. "Weve invested more than $2 billion in port infrastructure in recent years, and we have more investments on the horizon." Among the biggest completed "long-cycle" investments are the $1 billon completion of the first phase of the Leatherman Terminal in 2021 and the more recent $580 million dredging project by the Army Corps of Engineers that gave Charleston, at 52 feet, the deepest shipping channel on the East Coast. An ongoing $468 million state-funded project will create a "near-dock" truck-and-rail hub on the old Navy base in North Charleston. It is scheduled to open in mid-2025. "These strategic investments have generational impact across our entire state," Melvin said. "When we build port capacity, we attract more businesses and jobs to our communities." The spending spree isn't over. Melvin announced Monday that the S.C. Department of Transportation will elevate the existing Don Holt Bridge as part of a larger improvement plan for Interstate 526, though that is likely a decade or more away. A higher span will enable taller cargo ships to clear the structure and reach the SPA's North Charleston Terminal on the Cooper River, which will "enhance a high-performing terminal with renewed capacity to handle future growth," Melvin said. She said that by "modernizing existing operations, upgrading cargo-handling equipment and optimizing layout," the port property next to the recently shuttered WestRock paper mill could handle up to 2.4 million standard-size containers annually, or about as many as the workhorse Wando Welch Terminal in Mount Pleasant. "When we see North Charleston Terminal, we see growth on the horizon," Melvin said. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 16. Italy can foster introducing new technologies in the field of food and agriculture in Azerbaijan, Ambassador of Italy to Azerbaijan Claudio Taffuri said, Trend reports. Taffuri made the remark at the event dedicated to the opening of the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences at ADA University, as well as the Coordination Office of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in Azerbaijan and World Food Day. "We are striving to expand cooperation between Italy and Azerbaijan in various fields," emphasized Taffuri. The ambassador highlighted that Italy can make a significant contribution to global food security and agriculture. "The involvement of representatives from the government, private sector, and civil society in food security is of particular importance," he added. Meanwhile, in 2022, Azerbaijan exported vegetable, fruit, and nut food preparations worth $184,530 to Italy. COLUMBIA The Lexington County Republican Party and other groups spent the afternoon Oct. 15 praying outside the Statehouse to show support for Israel in the wake of its war with the militant group Hamas. Hamas fighters on Oct. 7 fired thousands of rockets from Gaza, entered Israeli towns and opened fire on homes, and attacked a music festival celebrating the Jewish holiday Sukkot, killing at least 260 people and taking many hostages. "We're not here to make this about politics," said Steve Mattier, a pastor with Calvary Chapel of Lexington, during a prayer. "We're here to make this about the millions of individuals who have a right to exist." The attacks follow decades of conflict in a region where Israel has long sought security while Palestinians wanted statehood. Although the vigil was organized by Republicans, speakers including LCRP Chairman Mark Weber, local National Day of Prayer Task Force officers, U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson and West Columbia City Councilman Mike Green all insisted that support of Israel during the conflict with Hamas is a bipartisan effort. Israel declared war in response to the Hamas attacks and launched strikes in Gaza, killing hundreds of people and displacing hundreds of thousands. A complete siege was ordered on Gaza, which, according to media reports, means access to electricity, food and fuel is cut off and that and Gaza's open crossings were destroyed, stranding civilians there. At least 1,300 Israeli people and 1,800 Palestinian people have been killed in the conflict since Oct. 7, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Giacomo Knox, a minister with Gates to Zion Ministries in West Columbia, said he does not see support for Israel and Jewish people in the wake of the Hamas attacks as a lack of support for Palestinian Arab people living in the Gaza strip. A federal appeals court reversed a lower court's refusal to temporarily reshelve a banned book in Pickens County schools while a legal battle over the book presses on. The reversal by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals means that South Carolina's federal court will reconsider a request to put the banned book, Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You, back on school library shelves while the case awaits trial. The appeals court agreed with the ACLU of South Carolina and the local NAACP chapter that the lower court didn't properly consider its legal arguments, according to court filings. Sign up for updates! Get the latest Greenville news from The Post and Courier in your inbox. Email Sign Up! Since late 2022, the Pickens County School District has restricted the book to require parental consent to read it in the library and prohibited it from being taught in the classroom. The lawsuit is the only recent legal challenge to book bans in South Carolina. In the past three years, 13 counties across the state have reviewed and banned books, according to the ACLU of South Carolina. In April, families of high schoolers in Pickens County, the local NAACP chapter and the ACLU filed the lawsuit against the district for the restrictions on the book, which examines the United States' history with racism. The Districts groundless censorship of 'Stamped' makes a mockery of the Constitution and models dangerous, anti-American authoritarianism to its student body, said Allen Chaney, legal director of the ACLU of South Carolina. The health of our pluralistic society requires public schools to incubate critical thinking, tolerance and respectful disagreement." MOUNT PLEASANT Nurse Nickey Teghtmeyer was going to volunteer at the Pink Promenade, an annual breast cancer awareness event sponsored by her employer, Roper St. Francis Healthcare. Instead, she became one of the featured survivors after her annual mammogram turned up a 1.4-centimeter lump in her right breast. While a prominent federal advisory group is moving its recommendation to begin screening women at age 40, it still tells women to get them every other year, which even its own research shows could be a costly mistake. And though it conflicts with recommendations for an annual mammogram from other groups, including the American Cancer Society and the American College of Radiology, it is still the standard built into many of the guidelines primary care physicians get when they tap into electronic health records to review with patients. Teghtmeyer has been religious about getting her annual mammogram since she turned 40, but almost blew it off last year because it would have been on the Friday before she left for vacation. Still, she followed through. "Im a routine mammogram kind of girl," Teghtmeyer said. Before she could leave the office she was told they needed to do an ultrasound to look closer. And they found the lump in her right breast. She had no pain, no symptoms, no clue it would be there. Right away, her primary care doctor wanted to get her in to see specialists. Teghtmeyer, who works in the cardiac outpatient unit at Roper Hospital, had her doubts the health system would move that quickly. But it did she had oncology and a breast surgeon on her schedule the next week and started chemotherapy a couple of weeks early. The cancer was caught promptly, before it had spread to nearby lymph nodes, but genetic testing also showed she had the HER2 mutation, which meant her cancer was likely to be more aggressive. Though it was originally confined to her right breast, Teghtmeyer opted for a double mastectomy with reconstruction, which has meant a series of surgeries. Patients in the Medical University of South Carolina health system are among those affected by a data breach by a vendor for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, though there's no evidence the information has been used illegally, the vendor said. Westat Inc., based in Rockville, Md., sent a notice to patients of MUSC Health late Oct. 13 about the breach, which occurred between May 28 and May 29 while the data was being stored on another company's server. Some of that information may include patient names, addresses and date of birth, as well as diagnoses, provider names and insurance coverage. "Westat is unaware of the misuse of any personal information related to this incident," the company said in the notice. Westat collects information from MUSC Health patients on behalf of the CDC as part of its public health reporting, MUSC spokeswoman Carter Coyle said. "As soon as Westat notified us of this privacy incident, MUSC worked with the company to ensure impacted individuals were notified," she said in an email. Coyle said any further information would have to come from the company, which did not immediately return a request for comment on the delay in telling patients. Westat has notified federal authorities, as well as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the CDC, the company said. Westat works with CDC on a number of different data collection activities, such as measuring vaccine effectiveness and its National Hospital Care Survey, according to the CDC and the company. Just how many patients at MUSC Health were affected is unclear. In a notice posted with Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey, the company said 7,954 people were impacted, including 65 in Maine. The notice said the breach was discovered June 22. But in its letter to MUSC Health, Westat claims it noticed "unusual activity" on May 30, the day after the breach, and it "immediately took steps to ensure the security" of its data. The reason for bringing up the Israeli-Hamas war and the dysfunction in Congress is not to comment on the political scene. My point is that this distinction between guerrilla-fighting and governing is absolutely relevant to those growing into old age. Read moreAging for Amateurs: Become the governor of your life BEAUFORT A 25-year-old Hilton Head Island man who used social media to lure and sexually assault two underage girls was sentenced to prison. Timothy Mikell Schultheis pleaded guilty Oct. 16 in Beaufort County General Sessions Court to two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor. He also pleaded guilty to one charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor for an offense that occurred in Aiken County, according to the 14th Circuit Solicitor's Office. On Sept. 17, 2020, while investigating a report of a missing 12-year-old girl from Aiken County, deputies with the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office arrived at Schultheis' home on Hilton Head Island, where they found him hiding the juvenile victim, according to an incident report. Further investigation led deputies to learn that Schultheis had met the victim through Facebook and brought her to Hilton Head Island. Schultheis was charged the following morning and was taken to the Beaufort County Detention Center. Jail records showed he was released later that day. While out on bond following his arrest in connection with the Aiken victim, Schultheis went to Arizona to pick up a second 12-year-old. He brought her to Beaufort County and had sex with her, as well, authorities said. Schultheis received the 20-year maximum sentence for each of the criminal sexual conduct charges and three years for the delinquency charge. The sentences are to be served concurrently, meaning at the same time rather than consecutively. He also received permanent restraining orders that bar him from contact with any of the three victims in these cases. The Modern Woodmen Hometown Hero Award recognizes individuals who have provided outstanding volunteer service to their local community. Each year, Modern Woodmen members honor an individual with the award. This year, the honor was bestowed upon Commander John R. Barney Barnes. Read moreBarnes receives 'Hometown Hero' award BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 16. The main purpose of the creation of the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences at ADA University is to train personnel who will analyze on a scientific and theoretical basis the latest approaches, successful practices, experiences, and current trends in this field and promote their application, the Minister of Agriculture of Azerbaijan, Majnun Mammadov said at the event dedicated to the opening of the mentioned faculty, Trend reports. The event was organized by ADA University and the Partnership and Liaison Office of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN in Azerbaijan on the occasion of World Food Day, celebrated in Baku. "The new faculty will become an important platform for all interested parties, as it includes both research and teaching areas. A multifaceted activity aimed at representing the public and private sectors on international platforms will be formed here," the minister said. 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 Jalen Newell received the call from Valerie Frazier 91 (M.P.A. 94) inviting him to be a member of the inaugural class of 1967 Legacy Scholars the same day he was scheduled to tour the University of South Carolina campus. As a South Carolina native, he was planning on applying to Clemson, U Read moreScholar answers the call NORTH CHARLESTON A toddler lay bleeding on the asphalt of the exit ramp. The car from which she had fallen, through an open door as it was exiting Interstate 26, was stopped a few feet ahead. A few feet in the other direction lay the girl's right arm. North Charleston Patrolman 1st Class Jason Marzan was the first officer to arrive on the scene at about 10 a.m. Oct. 10. He had been just a few minutes away when the emergency call had come in about what happened on the University Drive exit ramp. Marzan steeled himself. A father of six, Marzan said his first thought was of his own children, though none are as young as 2 anymore. "The only thing in my mind was to prepare myself for what I was gonna find," he said. Then he saw the girl, bleeding profusely from where her arm had severed just below the elbow, according to a police report. His training kicked in. He quickly applied a tourniquet and pressure bandage to stem the flowing blood, all the while trying to soothe the child. "I told her everything's gonna be OK," he said, recounting his heroics at a press conference on Oct. 16. "She's 2 years old I don't know if she quite understood what I was saying. "The whole time, she was alert and conscious," he described. "Just scared." A servicemember at Shaw Air Force Base had also stopped after seeing the girl tumble from a rear passenger door. Her vehicle shielded the girl from any further injury from oncoming traffic, and her sweatshirt kept the child warm after the blood loss. Marzan praised the woman to her command staff. An ambulance arrived three minutes after Marzan. The girl and her arm, which Marzan had collected and given to the paramedics, were taken to the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children's Hospital. It wasn't until the next morning that he found out the girl had survived. "Just knowing that she was still alive was a relief," he said. "Not only did the baby live, the hospital was able to reattach her arm." The S.C. Department of Natural Resources is investigating a boating fatality in Charleston Harbor. Few details have been released about the case, but the Oct. 15 accident did not involve a collision, DNR wrote in a post on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. One person went overboard and was pulled back into the boat. At some point after that, the person was found to be unresponsive and later died, DNR spokesperson Stephen Fastenau told The Post and Courier on Oct. 16. The case is under investigation and officials are awaiting an autopsy. The Charleston County Coroner's Office has not publicly identified the person. It was a day Frank Larkin will never forget. In April 2017, his son Ryan F. Larkin, a Navy SEAL who was struggling following his return to civilian life, committed suicide in the basement of the familys home. Read moreCommentary: Let's take care of those who served and protected us The Charleston congresswoman turned heads last week when she threw in with U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz to oust U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Read moreHicks Palmetto Politics: Was Maces McCarthy move a brilliant maneuver or a lead pipe? COLUMBIA Former Gov. Nikki Haley saw a fundraising boost in the third quarter while U.S. Sen. Tim Scotts donations slowed, though both pulled in more than enough to keep their campaigns afloat until voting in the GOP presidential contest begins in January. After a pair of strong debate performances that have improved her standing in the polls, Haley's campaign raised more $11 million in the third quarter between all of her fundraising committees, the campaign said. The campaign itself posted a $8.24 million haul a $3 million increase from last quarter that gives the Kiawah Island resident $11.6 million in cash on hand. Of that, just over $9 million can be spent in the primary, according to campaign finance reports filed Oct. 15. Scott's fundraising committees pulled in $5.92 million in the third quarter, his campaign said. Scott's main campaign account saw a drop in fundraising this quarter, to $4.6 million from $5.9 in the second quarter, when he announced his bid. Its a troubling sign for Scott, who saw a slight upswing in the polls during the summer as he flooded the airwaves with ads in early states and crisscrossed Iowa and New Hampshire courting voters. Nonetheless, Scott entered the race with a massive war chest and has $13.3 million on hand, more than anyone in the race save former President Donald Trump. But, Scott filed about $1 million in outstanding bills as debt. Despite Haleys big quarter and Scotts bank account, Trump, the field's undisputed frontrunner, trounced both in the third quarter. His campaigns fundraising committees raised $24.5 million, a huge boost from his totals earlier in the year that had raised questions about his balance sheet. His campaign now has $37.5 million in the bank. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 16. The Training and Educational Center of the Azerbaijan Army hosted a military oath-taking ceremony for the cadets enrolled in the level of secondary education (warrant officer training course) in the Military Institute named after Heydar Aliyev, Trend reports via the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense. First, the memory of the National Leader of the Azerbaijani people, Heydar Aliyev, and the Shehids (Martyrs), who sacrificed their lives for the independence and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, was honored by observing a minute of silence. The National Anthem of the Republic of Azerbaijan was performed. The Rector of the National Defense University, Professor Lieutenant General Heydar Piriyev, welcomed the ceremony participants and wished success to the cadets during their studies and in their future service. Lieutenant General Piriyev spoke about the attention of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Mr. Ilham Aliyev, to the development of the educational system, the positive results of the reforms in the field of military education in the Azerbaijan Army, as well as the work done in the direction of adapting the Azerbaijan Army to the Turkish model. Then the cadets took the military oath on the parade ground. The ceremony ended with the solemn march of the military personnel. I wrote about the monologue that preceded Tucker Carlons interview of Vivek the Fake in Tuckers tailspin. Alana Goodman reported on Ramaswamys comments to Carlson in the Free Beacon story Ramaswamy Says GOP Selective Moral Outrage on Israel Driven By Money, Lobbying Groups. Goodmans account was cruelly accurate and Ramaswamy threw a fit complete with press release denouncing her. John McCormack reviewed Ramaswamys critique in the cruelly accurate NRO/Corner post what Ramaswamy Said about Israel, Armenia, and Financial and Corrupting Influences in U.S. Foreign Policy. McCormack found that Ramaswamys critique of Goodmans account how to put it? lacked merit. Goodman took up a thread of the interview in which Ramaswamy denounced his competitors outrage over Hamass slaughter of Israelis. He found it to be selective. Unless they denounced other such outrages, we were to infer that they were corrupt: Vivek Ramaswamy criticized Republicans for their selective moral outrage at the mass terrorist attacks in Israel, and argued that politicians calling for a stronger military response against Hamas and Iran are driven by donor money. The Republican presidential candidate questioned why his GOP opponents are not expressing similar outrage about the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and accused them of ignoring the interests of the U.S. right here at home. Specifically, Ramaswamy, in an interview with Tucker Carlson, equated the influx of fentanyl over the southern border a genocide, in Carlsons estimation with Hamass attack against Israel. The selective nature of ignoring certain other conflicts even more importantly, ignoring the interests of the U.S. right here at home is what irritates the heck out of me, Ramaswamy told Carlson. 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. Ramaswamy, incidentally, seemed a tad vague on the Armenia/Azerbaijan outrage. When Carlson asked him what it was all about, this is what he had to say: Whats happening is an atrocity. I mean, you have people who are Armenians, largely Christians, six-figure numbers100,000-120,000being driven back to their country from a region that has long been a place they have called home, a lot of atrocities that arent even yet coming to light in Western media. One thing does not sound like the other thing. Ramaswamy is profoundly unserious. What this has to do with Hamass attack on Israel is mystifying. Unless we talk about everything we are to talk about nothing. One can only speculate why Ramaswamy takes this tack. Ramaswamys technique here reminded me of Noam Chomskys endless yammering about East Timor. Chomsky harped for years about the genocide conducted by Indonesia in East Timor. He used it as a stick with which to beat the United States. See, for example, Chomskys 1999 East Timor retrospective, originally published in Le Monde Diplomatique. In their introduction to The Anti-Chomsky Reader (2004, still kept in print by Encounter Books), Peter Collier and David Horowitz characterize Chomskys effusions on this subject over the years as reflecting his idees fixes about East Timor. At the same time, among many other things, Chomsky variously denied and downplayed the virtual campaign of genocide waged by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Keith Windschuttle conveniently summarized his record on this point in the accessible 2003 New Criterion essay The hypocrisy of Noam Chomsky. Chomskys point, implicit or explicit, was always more or less the same. As he put it in The Political Economy of Human Rights (1979, quoted in The Anti-Chomsky Reader): Washington has become the torture and murder capital of the world (emphasis in original). One hesitates to pursue Ramaswamys point about Armenia and Azerbaijan. Whatever it is, he doesnt mean it. He only means to say it. Take in this story, from Reuters: President Abbas says Hamas actions do not represent Palestinians (Reuters) -Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said the actions and policies of Islamist group Hamas do not represent Palestinian people, according to official news agency WAFA. In a phone call with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Abbas also called the Palestine Liberation Organization the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, WAFA said. Let this sink in a moment. It means that the Harvard student groups and pro-Hamas faculty and demonstrators at campuses around the country are to the left of the PLO. My suggestion: Meanwhile: Lefts take on Hamas stuns American Jews and threatens Democratic party split For many American Jews, the slaughter in Israel has been devastating, frightening and all-consuming an attack that some are likening to a modern replay of the pogroms a century ago in eastern Europe that brought their families to the US in the first place. It is also a political moment in which an emerging hard left that is often anti-Israel and often accused of antisemitism has reared into full view, posing a test for a fragmented Democratic party that may ripple through the coming US presidential election. You dont say. Matt Taibbi was the principal reporter who broke the Twitter Files story, one of the major news events not just of the past year, but of the past decade. The fact that federal agencies leaned on, and collaborated with, tech companies to suppress Americans freedom of speech and dictate the limits of public debate on several critical issues, is the most important scandal of our time. And the fact that nearly all journalists cheered this censorship on, rather than defending free speech, is a scandal in itself. So American Experiment welcomed Matt Taibbi as our speaker for this years Fall Briefing, held last Saturday. Matts presentation was riveting. A couple of weeks before the Fall Briefing, I recorded a podcast with Matt which we are releasing today. It covers largely the same ground as his speech to the American Experiment crowd. I commend it to your attention: PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-16 15:10:59 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 959 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Program expands to francophone countries for the first time following success in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Zambia.NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / BloombergOriginally published on bloomberg.com Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa (BMIA) has launched in francophone West Africa for the first time. More than 100 delegates participated in Bloomberg's Financial Journalism Training (FJT) program in Senegal and Cote d'Ivoire. The delegates are part of the first cohort to participate in the program through French.At country launches in Dakar and Abidjan, participants from the media, government and civil society were joined by senior representatives from the Senegal and Cote d'Ivoire governments to celebrate the expansion of the FJT program to French speaking markets.Over the next eight months, delegates will spend 23 days in interactive in-person sessions led by prominent faculty members at local universities. Participants will engage in a series of workshops that will strengthen their skills in and understanding of data analysis, capital markets, accounting, public policy, economics and the transforming media landscape. Financial journalism sessions will be taught by Bloomberg News reporters. Delegates will also receive a free, six-month subscription to the Bloomberg Terminal, offering access to global data, news and analysis.The sessions have been developed in partnership with prominent faculty at local universities, including Centre d'Etudes des Sciences et Techniques de l'Information (CESTI) and Centre Africain d'Etudes Superieures en Gestion (CESAG) in Senegal, and the Institut des Sciences et Techniques de la Communication (ISTC) In Cote d'Ivoire, in collaboration with Strathmore University Business School (SUBS) in Kenya.Speaking following the event in Dakar the Honorable Moussa Bocar Thiam, Minister of Communications, Telecommunications and Digital Economy, Senegal said: "We are excited that BMIA has launched its financial journalism training program in Senegal in partnership with CESTI and CESAG. It is crucial that journalists develop key business journalism and data analysis skills as the Senegalese economy transforms and investment opportunities evolve. I am confident that the program will support the continuous progression of media in the region through exposing them to leading financial journalism experts and concepts." Speaking following the event in Abidjan the Honoroable Amadou Coulibally, Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Cote d'Ivoire said: "We are delighted that BMIA has launched its financial journalism training program in Cote d'Ivoire. As our economy and business networks continue to expand, it is vital that local journalists develop the techniques needed to accurately report on complex transitions and developments. By participating in this program, Ivorian media will learn techniques from some of the world's leading financial journalism experts." "Since 2014, more than 800 delegates have completed the Financial Journalism Training program, from countries right across the continent. The practical training delegates receive, particularly in the area of financial data analysis, has proved invaluable to participants as they develop in their careers, says Erana Stennnett, Head of Bloomberg Corporate Philanthropy in the Africa & Middle East and Director of Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa. "As we offer the program in French for the first time, we hope this new cohort of journalists and executives lead the way in shaping the future of robust business and financial journalism in francophone Africa.The FJT program, part of Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa (BMIA), supports the advancement of financial journalism to contribute to more inclusive economic development on the continent of Africa. In collaboration with a consortium of pre-eminent journalism and business schools across eight key African markets, BMIA is designed to deliver a highly innovative, integrated and practical world-class executive training program that is firmly rooted in African market realities. The expansion of the program to Senegal and Cote d'Ivoire, follows the success of the program in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia, where over 800 delegates from 16 countries have graduated to date.FJT is offered to journalists and mid-career professionals in communications, business, government and civil society. The Financial Journalism Training program is a core component of BMIA, which aims to contribute to the advancement of business and financial reporting in Africa. Funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the initiative is supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and the Ford Foundation.### ENDS ###Follow the conversation online using #BMIAFJTTo view a report on the aims and outcomes of phase one of the BMIA program see here.For more information on BMIA please click here.About the Bloomberg Africa Media Initiative (BMIA)Launched by Mike Bloomberg in South Africa in 2014, the Bloomberg Africa Media Initiative (BMIA) is a pan-Africa program designed to accelerate development of a globally competitive media and financial reporting industry as well as promote transparency, accountability and good governance in Africa and beyond. The initiative has four components: It provides cross-disciplinary educational programs to increase the number of highly trained business and financial journalists, as well as supports research to stimulate new media innovations, convene international leaders to promote interactive dialogue and build strong relationships to enhance the quality of financial coverage and the availability of reliable and timely data on the continent.About Bloomberg Philanthropies:Bloomberg Philanthropies invests in 700 cities and 150 countries around the world to ensure better, longer lives for the greatest number of people. The organization focuses on five key areas for creating lasting change: the Arts, Education, Environment, Government Innovation, and Public Health. Bloomberg Philanthropies encompasses all of Michael R. Bloomberg's giving, including his foundation, corporate, and personal philanthropy as well as Bloomberg Associates, a pro bono consultancy that works in cities around the world. In 2022, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed US$ 1.7 billion. For more information, please visit bloomberg.org , sign up for our newsletter, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter/X, and LinkedIn.Media Contact:Oisin O Malley - Bloomberg LPoomalley2@ bloomberg.net View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Bloomberg on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info:Spokesperson: Bloomb PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-16 21:00:31 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 503 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 ATHENS, GA / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / The cannabis-themed restaurant and bar is eagerly anticipating its Athens, GA, opening and can't wait to light the joint up and be the undisputed neighborhood hangout for curing cottonmouth and the munchies.Shop owners Josh Burdick, Justin Beatty, and Jon Beatty are opening a new "Toasted" Subs location in Georgia. The trio has played a crucial role in establishing Cheba Hut's culture throughout Atlanta, where they opened their first joint venture. Their dedication has not gone unnoticed by the Cheba-verse.While opening a shop in a new market is no easy feat, these owners have more than flourished. In fact, with the immense success of the Atlanta shop, they believe now is the time to open their new location in Athens to further spread the values, culture and dank food that Cheba Hut has to offer.Justin Beatty stated, "I am so pumped for Athens to find out how great our food is! Also, I am super excited to bring a bar environment that has value, integrity, and great vibes to the city. Athens deserves a great restaurant/bar and we are going to give it to them." Jon Beatty added, "We are going to bring the best vibes in Athens. Our unique combination of amazing food and great cultural values will resonate in this already amazing town. They need the Hut to get the full college experience for the students." Speaking on company beliefs and culture, Cheba Hut prides itself on upholding its brand Core Values (The Hustle, Show Respect, Own It, Pay It Forward, Keep It Real) and appreciates the trio for continually implementing different aspects of these values into their day-to-day operations."Keep It Real is what it's all about for us. I want Athens to see that we bring a different vibe and outlook to the scene. We can give a great experience while encouraging Moderation for the Duration, great value, and a great atmosphere," Jon Beatty stated.Burdick stated, "The Hustle! Since 1998, Cheba Hut has always out-hustled the competition. We work smarter, and harder, but we do it while having a lot of fun. Our Hustle in the Athens shop will create lasting relationships between employees and customers alike." Not only will this new Georgia location be serving up a variety of dank subs, fluffy pretzel nugs, and gooey krispy treats that can cure any level of the munchies, but also, for the 21 and up homies, they'll be slinging some delicious signature cocktails and local brews from their full bar that will obliterate any presence of cottonmouth.Located at 135 W Washington St Athens, GA 30601, it opens its doors on Monday, October 23. The brand is stoked to bring over 30 signature "toasted" subs, an array of delicious munchie treats, and cottonmouth cures (Crafted cocktails for the 21+ homies) to the Athens area.For more information about opening day, check out @chebahut_athensdowntown.Contact Information:Mel Banister Marketing Manager mel@ chebahut.com +17202128463SOURCE: Cheba Hut Franchising PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-16 17:17:23 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 1017 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / Cisco Systems Inc.by Peter TaverniseWhat if young people concerned about the effects of climate change had the opportunity to perform hands-on service to mitigate its effects on vulnerable communities? As Service Year Alliance sees it, every youth in America should have that chance, and every community deserves youth service as a resource for combating climate challenges. Since its launch in 2016, Service Year Alliance has embarked on a mission "to make a year of paid, full-time service - a service year - a common expectation and opportunity for all young Americans" to serve communities across the nation.Key to realizing the organization's mission is ServiceYear.org , an online platform where individuals looking for service year opportunities can connect with organizations and programs offering them. Since 2013, Cisco has provided the organization vital technical and financial support, starting with the platform. Later, when events triggered by climate change became more frequent and severe, Service Year Alliance expanded its focus to include climate-related service, which qualified it to receive additional funding from the Cisco Foundation's $100 million USD portfolio, earmarked for supporting non-profit organizations working towards a more regenerative and resilient future climate.In the following Q&A, Kristen Bennett, Service Year Alliance's Chief Executive Officer, discusses its unique mission and how it's changing the landscape of service years.Q: What drew you to the national service space, and how did you become CEO?A: I graduated from college in 2008, as the recession hit. I was already considering a mission-oriented career and found a service year opportunity through AmeriCorps VISTA with the WE Connect initiative, spearheaded by First Lady of California, Maria Shriver. During my service year, I built critical community partnerships and helped to connect low-income families to programs and resources to become more financially stable. I received a modest stipend and health care benefits while other recent graduates around me competed for a few unpaid internships and hourly service-industry jobs. The experience was transformational, placing me on a career path in service that I might not have otherwise reached on my own.I wanted to make an impact beyond my service year, so after it was over, I accepted a position as a program officer at California Volunteers, California's state service commission overseeing service and volunteerism in California. While working there, I learned the ins and outs of the service sector while building my professional network, which included Shirley Sagawa, one of AmeriCorps' founders. I eventually joined her at the National Conference on Citizenship in Washington, D.C. to lead the development of ServiceYear.org , the first technology platform dedicated to connecting the next generation of youth to service years. Over the next nine years, my role evolved into Service Year Alliance's Chief Strategy Officer, Interim Co-Chief Executive Officer, and finally Chief Executive Officer, my current position.Q: How has collaboration with Cisco and the Cisco Foundation been instrumental in advancing and expanding national service programs?A: Cisco's been with us since the beginning - first, in the early days before our organization even existed, offering $2.1M in philanthropic support through the Silicon Valley Community Foundation to launch Service Year Alliance and to create ServiceYear.org , the first technology platform to act as a marketplace matching young people and service year positions. We built the platform from scratch, and we couldn't have done it without a philanthropic partner who had both technology expertise and resources to help us get the work started.Over the years, Cisco has supported everything from our efforts to reach young people, to pandemic and public health response, and now the Climate Project. Our long partnership around helping young people become aware of, learn about, and find the right opportunity for themselves has allowed us to optimize very effectively for specific needs - like how to help young people find the right climate-related service year position.As a result, throughout 2023 our conversion rate from registering on the site to actually submitting an application increased from 23 percent to 36 percent. Climate organizations saw even bigger shifts - Grid Alternatives, which advances resiliency programming, saw a dramatic 360 percent increase in enrollments and a 165 percent rise in applications this past year, reflecting the growing interest young people have in doing climate-focused service years.Q: What does a typical service year look like?A: There is no "typical" service year since opportunities can vary widely. They range from delivering high-dosage literacy tutoring to bring students up to grade level, helping rural non-profit organizations develop strategies for recruiting volunteers, giving tax preparation assistance to low-income families, assisting individuals at a community health center, or installing solar panels in under-resourced neighborhoods.Q: What is the Climate Project, and how does a partnership between Service Year Alliance and the Cisco Foundation power the initiative?A: A poll led by Data for Progress, an American think tank, shows climate change is a major concern for 91 percent of youth, but two-thirds of them aren't sure how to make a tangible difference. In 2022, Service Year Alliance kicked off the Climate Project in a multi-year partnership supported by the Cisco Foundation to specifically address climate-related issues by recruiting the next generation's youth into climate-related service to assist communities in becoming more resilient to climate change and empower them with opportunities to help tackle this daunting crisis.To develop the project, we first hosted targeted conversations with national service programs, green sector employer associations, workforce development partners, and other organizations and agencies working to address problems brought on by climate change. We also formed a cohort made up of eight standout service year programs to take a deeper dive into effective strategies for leveraging service to both further address the impacts of climate change, as well as equip young people with the skills, certifications, and experience they will need to enter into green sector careers.Taking what we learned, we published a suite of three guides for partners to use as "roadmaps" to best leverage human capital in three distinct areas related to climate and environmental resilience: community capacity building, rural resilience, and energy efficiency. They spotlight PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-17 00:16:05 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 403 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 TACOMA, WA / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / Commencement Bank (OTCQX:CBWA) was granted regulatory approval to convert the Bank's Gig Harbor, Wash. loan production office into a full-service branch. This charter allows Commencement to offer the community its full spectrum of deposit and loan products and services. This location originally opened as a loan production office in August 2023, and it now operates as a full-service branch serving Gig Harbor and the surrounding markets."Since opening as a loan production office in August of this year, we saw an incredible response from the residents and businesses in the area. For a city so passionate about supporting one another, our banking model aligns perfectly with their emphasis on promoting local relationships. We are looking forward to further integrating with the community as we offer our traditional banking services with a local touch," said John E. Manolides, Chief Executive Officer.The branch will remain staffed by local bankers, Allisha McVay, Julie Lilly, Daniel Hanson, and Chrissie Wade, who were each selected for their connections and familiarity in the Gig Harbor market. Over the past few months, they have worked to bring attention to the Commencement Bank name and connect it to the customer service-based philosophy on which the Bank operates."We have been overwhelmed with the positive response we have received from our local businesses and residents, and by their desire for traditional, relationship and family-focused banking. As a long-time resident of Gig Harbor, I share the same values as my community in wanting to contribute to the success of our local economy. I am so honored to provide full-service banking solutions to our friends, families, and neighbors," said Allisha McVay, Vice President and Market Manager.About Commencement BankCommencement Bank, headquartered in Tacoma, Washington, was formed in 2006 to provide traditional, reliable, and sustainable banking in Pierce, South King, Thurston counties and the surrounding areas. Their team of banking experts focuses on personal attention, flexible service, and building strong relationships with customers through state-of-the-art technology as well as traditional delivery systems. As a local bank, Commencement Bank is deeply committed to the community. For more information, please visit www.commencementbank.com . For information related to the trading of CBWA, please visit www.otcmarkets.com Contact Information:John E. Manolides, Chief Executive Officer | 253.284.1802Nigel L. English, President, and Chief Operating Officer | 253.284.1801James Miller, SVP, Commercial Banking Team Leader | 253.284.1851General Inquiries: hello@ commencementbank.com SOURCE: Commencement Bank (WA) PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-16 14:46:23 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 16, 2023 / Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC, a nationally recognized law firm, notifies investors that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Comerica Incorporated ("Comerica " or the "Company") (NYSE:CMA) and certain of its officers.Class Definition:This lawsuit seeks to recover damages against Defendants for alleged violations of the federal securities laws on behalf of all persons and entities that purchased or otherwise acquired Comerica securities between February 9, 2021 and May 29, 2023, inclusive (the "Class Period"). Such investors are encouraged to join this case by visiting the firm's site: www.bgandg.com/cma Case Details:The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose, among other things, that: (1) Comerica failed to provide meaningful oversight over the vendors to whom it contracted out day-to-day operations of the Direct Express program, a system through which it is contracted to provide federal benefits to millions of Americans without bank accounts; (2) as a result of violations in the day-to-day operations of Direct Express, including handling fraud disputes and allowing sensitive data to be handled out of a vendor's office in Pakistan, Comerica was not in compliance with the Federal Contract, and knew it was not in compliance; (3) Comerica knew and failed to disclose that it was in potential violation of Regulation E due to inadequate fraud prevention in the Direct Express program and responses to instance of fraud; and (4) as a result, Defendants' statements about its business, operations, and prospects, were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.What's Next?A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to review a copy of the Complaint, you can visit the firm's site: www.bgandg.com/cma or you may contact Peretz Bronstein, Esq. or his Law Clerk and Client Relations Manager, Yael Nathanson of Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC at 332-239-2660. If you suffered a loss in Comerica you have until October 20, 2023, to request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.Why Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman:Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC is a nationally recognized firm that represents investors in securities fraud class actions and shareholder derivative suits. Our firm has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors nationwide.Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.Contact:Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLCPeretz Bronstein or Yael Nathanson332-239-2660 | info@ bgandg.com SOURCE: Bronstein, Gewirtz and Grossman, LLC PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-16 15:11:06 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 487 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / National plaintiffs law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP encourages investors in Discover Financial Services ("DFS" or the "Company") (NYSE:DFS) who suffered losses from purchasing or otherwise acquiring DFS common stock between February 21, 2019 and August 14, 2023 to contact us immediately regarding a pending securities fraud class action against DFS. The deadline to apply to be lead plaintiff is October 31, 2023.Class Period: February 21, 2019 - August 14, 2023Lead Plaintiff Motion Deadline: October 31, 2023Case information: lieffcabraser.com/securities/discover Contact us: Email or text investorinfo@ lchb.com or call 1-800-541-7358DFS is a financial services company that owns and operates Discover Bank.The action alleges DFS made false or misleading statements concealing that: (1) the Company's risk management and compliance protocols were inadequate; and (2) as a result, DFS did not meet industry standards for servicing student loans, did not categorize credit card accounts correctly, and failed to curb its surging credit card delinquency rate.On July 20, 2022, DFS announced it launched an internal investigation into to its "student loan servicing practices and related compliance matters." The Company also announced it would pause its share buyback program. On this news, the price of DFS stock dropped $9.80 per share, or 8.93%, from the previous closing price of $109.80 on July 20, 2022, to close at $100.00 per share on July 21, 2022, on elevated trading volume.On July 19, 2023, the Company announced it had had been misclassifying credit card accounts for the past fifteen years. Additionally, DFS announced it received a proposed consent order from the FDIC for a separate regulatory issue and the Company would again pause buybacks of shares. On this news, the price of DFS stock dropped $19.40 per share, or 15.92%, from the previous closing price of $121.85 on July 19, 2023, to close at $102.45 per share on July 20, 2023, on elevated trading volume.On August 14, 2023, after market close, the Company announced its credit card delinquency rate had increased to 3.00% and its CEO and President Roger C. Hochschild was resigning. Then on August 15, 2023, Seeking Alpha reported on analyst commentary that Hochschild's departure was directly connected to DFS's recently publicized risk management woes. On this news, the stock price of the Company dropped $9.69 per share, or 9.44%, from the previous closing price of $102.65 on August 14, 2023, to close at $92.96 per share on August 15, 2023, on elevated trading volume.About Lieff CabraserLieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, with over 120 attorneys in offices in San Francisco, New York, Nashville, and Munich, Germany, is an internationally recognized law firm committed to advancing the rights of investors and promoting corporate responsibility. Recognized as a "Plaintiffs' Powerhouse" by Law360, Lieff Cabraser has litigated some of the most important civil cases in the United States, and has assisted clients in recovering over $129 billion in verdicts and settlements. For over 50 years, Lieff Cabraser has remained committed to ensuring access to justice for all.Source/ContactSharon LeeLieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP415 956-1000slee@ lchb.com SOURCE: Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-16 21:16:05 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 543 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Funds provide professional development and scholarship opportunities to empower Hispanic students in central FloridaST. PETERSBURG, FL / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / As Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations continue throughout Florida and beyond, the Duke Energy Foundation is committing $75,000 to the Hispanic Heritage Scholarship Fund to create educational opportunities for Hispanic students in central Florida.The grant will help Hispanic Heritage Scholarship Fund provide college scholarships for local Hispanic students and expand the number of professional development workshops to support transitioning to the workforce. A large portion of the grant will be used to award eight additional scholarships, with the remaining dollars to be used for Hispanic Heritage Scholarship Fund's annual scholarship award ceremony in October."At Duke Energy, we understand the importance of an empowered, diverse workforce because it makes us stronger as a company and allows us to connect with our customers and communities," said Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida state president."By supporting organizations like the Hispanic Heritage Scholarship Fund and providing diverse students with educational opportunities, we are helping students of all backgrounds and abilities to develop the critical life skills to reach their full potential and contribute to a vibrant and diverse workforce," said Seixas.Since 2000, the scholarship fund and its partners have awarded 494 Hispanic Heritage Scholarships totaling more than $2 million. For nearly a decade, Duke Energy Florida and its Foundation have provided about $230,000 in scholarships and sponsorships to support the Hispanic Heritage Scholarship Fund."We are so grateful to Duke Energy for their steadfast support that continues to cement our successful collaboration," said Yamile Luna, Hispanic Heritage Scholarship Fund board chair. "This support allows us to further our vision of growth and economic impact from Hispanic scholars pursuing their educational goals in central Florida." The annual scholarship award ceremony is dedicated to celebrating the scholarship recipients and formally introducing them to the central Florida community. The event provides an opportunity for more than 300 attendees, including educational partners, event and organization funders, community leaders, and scholarship recipients and their guests, to learn about the value of community collaboration.The annual award ceremony will be held at noon on Oct. 11, 2023, at the Hyatt Regency Orlando. For information about the event, email info@ hhsfmo.org Duke Energy FloridaDuke Energy Florida, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, owns 10,500 megawatts of energy capacity, supplying electricity to 1.9 million residential, commercial and industrial customers across a 13,000-square-mile service area in Florida.Duke Energy FoundationThe Duke Energy Foundation provides more than $30 million annually in philanthropic support to meet the needs of communities where Duke Energy customers live and work. The foundation is funded by Duke Energy shareholders.Hispanic Heritage Scholarship FundThe Hispanic Heritage Scholarship Fund is dedicated to investing in the college education of Hispanic youth in Central Florida. Our scholarships, student workshops and events are designed to help students earn their bachelor's degrees, develop critical life skills, and connect to the local community.Duke Energy media contact: Audrey StaskoMedia line: 800.559.3853Twitter: @DE_AudreySHispanic Heritage Fund media contact: Carolin Requiz SmithPhone: 317.457.6482Email: carolin@ hhsfmo.org View original content here.View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Duke Energy on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info:Spokesperson: Duke EnergyWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/duke-energyEmail: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: Duke Energy BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 16. The return of former internally displaced persons to Azerbaijan's restored city of Lachin continues, Trend reports. The families, which left the Gobu Park 3 residential complex in the Garadag district of Baku on October 16, were handed the keys to the houses in Lachin. Another 26 families (96 people) have been provided with permanent residence in restored houses of Lachin. Natig Huseynov, Director of the Repatriation Department of the State Committee for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, representatives of the Special Representative Office of the President of Azerbaijan in the Lachin district, part of the East Zangezur Economic District, and Baku Improvement Service LLC took part in the ceremony of handing over the keys to the families who returned to Lachin. In general, 272 families (1052 people) have been provided with permanent residence in Lachin. PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-16 10:30:28 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 623 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 MEXICO CITY, MEXICO / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / Sip, Savor, and Savor Again: Valle de Guadalupe Emerges as the Premier Destination for Wine TourismThe picturesque region of Valle de Guadalupe is quickly becoming a globally recognized destination for wine enthusiasts and connoisseurs. With its scenic vineyards, award-winning wineries, and delectable cuisine, Valle de Guadalupe is at the forefront of Mexico's burgeoning wine tourism industry.Nestled in the heart of Baja California, Valle de Guadalupe boasts a unique and diverse terroir that produces exceptional wines. This destination has become a magnet for wine lovers seeking memorable experiences, from wine tastings and tours to gourmet dining at renowned restaurants surrounded by stunning landscapes.Key HighlightsAward-Winning Wineries: Valle de Guadalupe is home to an array of award-winning wineries that consistently receive international recognition for their high-quality wines. These wineries welcome visitors for tours, tastings, and the opportunity to learn about the winemaking process.Spectacular SceneryThe region's stunning natural beauty, with rolling vineyards, mountain ranges, and a Mediterranean-like climate, creates the perfect backdrop for wine tourism. Visitors can enjoy breathtaking sunsets, take leisurely strolls through vineyards, and capture Instagram-worthy moments around every corner.Culinary DelightsThe local cuisine is as exceptional as the wine, with an abundance of farm-to-table restaurants and food trucks offering farm-fresh ingredients and innovative flavors that pair perfectly with the wines produced in the region.Boutique AccommodationsValle de Guadalupe offers a variety of charming and luxurious accommodations, from boutique hotels and vineyard villas to cozy bed and breakfasts. Staying in the heart of wine country enhances the overall experience.Cultural and Artistic ExperiencesThe region's art scene is flourishing, with numerous galleries, cultural events, and festivals that add depth to the wine tourism experience. Visitors can explore the creativity of the local community while savoring the wines and cuisine.SustainabilityIn recent years it has become standard for many wineries in the Guadalupe Valley to commit to sustainable and environmentally friendly winemaking practices that not only produce exceptional wine, but also contribute to the conservation of the beautiful environment.As the wine tourism industry in Valle de Guadalupe continues to thrive, it has earned its place as a must-visit destination for wine enthusiasts and travelers seeking a unique and unforgettable experience. Here are some things to do in Valle de Guadalupe:At El Cielo Resort you will learn about the Harris Eaglets and the role they play in the vineyards and the wine route. Afterwards, their expert Sommeliers will introduce visitors to the vines and their harvest, while tasting a high quality wine.Also , at this resort, tourists can experience the tasting of one of the most award-winning Champagne wines of this century. The wine tasting at Valle de Guadalupe is an experience that consists of a guided tasting of 3 wines from Piper-Heidsieck Champagne, the favorite champagne of queens and stars.For those looking to immerse themselves in the world of wine, Valle de Guadalupe is the perfect destination. Whether you're a seasoned oenophile or just beginning to explore the world of wine, this region offers a delightful mix of culture, cuisine, and captivating landscapes. Come and experience Valle de Guadalupe's wine tourism for yourself. We invite you to discover the flavors, the culture, and the beauty of this Mexican gem.About Valle de Guadalupe: Valle de Guadalupe is a premier wine tourism destination located in Baja California, Mexico. Renowned for its breathtaking scenery, exceptional wines, and culinary delights, the region offers an unforgettable experience for wine enthusiasts and travelers. With a commitment to sustainability and a thriving cultural scene, Valle de Guadalupe has become a must-visit destination for those seeking a unique and immersive wine tourism experience.Media Contact:Ziannia Gamino55 53277700Grupo Presidenteziannia_gamino@ grupopresidente.com SOURCE: El Cielo Resort PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-16 19:11:23 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 989 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Walgreens leaders showcased the company's vision of reimagining local healthcare for all at the preeminent innovation event of the industry.NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / Walgreens Boots AllianceOriginally published by Walgreens Boots AllianceFrom Oct. 8 to 11, Las Vegas became the epicenter of healthcare innovation as more than 10,000 global attendees gathered for this year's highly anticipated annual HLTH conference. At the heart of the action was Walgreens - making waves with the company's first-ever booth experience at HLTH, a powerful Main Stage session, and insightful discussions on the intersection of healthcare and innovation.Here are a few highlights from HLTH 2023:Tracey D. Brown represented Walgreens collaboration in delivering empowered care solutions"So we talk about about the future, but the future is actually right here, right now, and I think this demonstration shows that we are actually all committed to improving the overall health and wellbeing for all people." - Tracey D. Brown, EVP, president of Walgreens retail & chief customer officerExciting news at HLTH this year: Walgreens announced an early collaboration with Samsung Health and b.well Connected Health Platform to provide Samsung users with a more connected, convenient and proactive health experience that is personalized, accessible and available to Samsung users in the palm of their hands.Tracey Brown also graced the Main Stage, igniting impactful conversations"We have an opportunity - and I dare say - a responsibility to drive transformation. It requires resilient transformative leaders...creating the partnerships that are required, the technology, and the data, so that we can create personalized effective care to improve the overall health and wellbeing for people in this country." - Tracey D. Brown, EVP, president of Walgreens retail & chief customer officerTracey D. Brown, EVP, president of Walgreens retail & chief customer officer, underscored Walgreens transformation into a healthcare company that solves challenges that face the industry. She emphasized the power of the fourth network and community-based solutions that make quality healthcare more accessible while improving outcomes and lowering costs - an approach with the potential to transform the way we engage with our health."We're launching Virtual Healthcare at Walgreens this month because our goal is to be the most convenient health and wellness destination, whether you're physically in stores or visit Walgreens virtually in stores." A defining moment on the Main Stage was a preview of Walgreens Virtual Healthcare offering set to launch in late October 2023. This digital solution will provide discreet, convenient and on-demand medical care for common health needs. It will make it easier for individuals to receive online diagnoses and prescriptions, making healthcare accessible and affordable at any time. Meeting patients where they're at is core to Walgreens mission, and Walgreens Virtual Healthcare aims to improve access to fast, reliable, affordable care.Some of the key benefits include:An easier way to get care, when you need it: Patients will be able to connect easily with doctors and nurse practitioners through virtual or chat-based consultations. For certain conditions, video visits with healthcare providers will be available, all on the patient's terms and from the convenience of their own devices.Care and treatment for some of the most common health needs: Walgreens Virtual Healthcare will provide on-demand medical care and treatment for some of the most common health needs, including respiratory illness, allergies, urinary tract infections (UTIs) and acne.Streamlined treatment access: After patients connect with a provider either via chat or video, Walgreens Virtual Healthcare enables them to get their prescriptions filled from their preferred pharmacy, including at Walgreens pharmacies or with Walgreens Same-Day Prescription Delivery.Affordable pricing: Most Walgreens Virtual Healthcare chat visits will be priced at $33 out-of-pocket, with pricing for video visits varying from $36-75, making healthcare more affordable and accessible. At this time, insurance is not accepted for Walgreens Virtual Healthcare visits, but it can be used to cover the cost of prescriptions. In the future, Walgreens Virtual Healthcare plans to accept insurance, Flexible Spending Accounts and Healthcare Savings Accounts will be accepted.Patients in select states will be able to access Walgreens Virtual Healthcare at Walgreens.com beginning in late October. These initial states cover nearly half of the U.S. population and half of Walgreens pharmacy customers. Walgreens plans to expand the service to cover additional conditions and markets in the near future.Dr. Kevin Ban shared his expertise during two enlightening panels"I think that we're exceptionally good at understanding customer needs and wants, and once they engage with us, that's the moment when we can help navigate their care." - Dr. Kevin Ban, EVP & global chief medical officerDr. Kevin Ban, EVP & global chief medical officer, participated in two panels. The first, a MedCity News program, explored how retailers and other companies are improving consumer convenience through virtual, at-home and other non-traditional means. The second panel, on the show floor, tapped into the minds of leaders behind the retailization of healthcare, emphasizing personalization, convenience, transparency and experience in the digital age.Walgreens debuted a first-ever booth experience at HLTHWalgreens debuted its first-ever booth experience at HLTH, positioning itself at the heart of the HLTH community. Nearly 200 flu and COVID-19 vaccines were administered at the booth. Prior to the vaccine clinic, Walgreens hosted a "Healthy Hour" where attendees enjoyed healthy refreshments while learning more about Walgreens healthcare offerings. Reflecting on a successful HLTH 2023, Walgreens leaders seized the opportunity to step up on the national stage alongside fellow trailblazers in the healthcare industry to spark conversations, unveil forthcoming innovations and reaffirm our commitment to reimagining local healthcare and wellbeing for all. Shortly after the conclusion of HLTH, Walgreens Boots Alliance announced the appointment of Tim Wentworth as Chief Executive Officer, who will join the company Oct. 23.View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Walgreens Boots Alliance on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info:Spokesperson: Walgreens Boots AllianceWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/walgreens-boots-allianceEmail: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: Walgreens Boots Alliance PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-16 18:31:44 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 826 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 SAVI will support innovation and the commercialisation of smart and autonomous vehicle technologies in the UAEABU DHABI, UAE / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / In the presence of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Smart and Autonomous Vehicle Industries (SAVI) cluster has launched at Masdar City, which was endorsed by His Highness Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council.Further enhancing Abu Dhabi's industrial evolution, SAVI aims to position Abu Dhabi as a leading smart and autonomous vehicles hub, making significant contributions across air, land and sea mobility applications.SAVI will support innovation and the commercialisation of smart and autonomous vehicle technologies in the UAE, unlocking their global potential, by providing state-of-the art facilities and value-added services within an enabling regulatory environment.His Excellency Ahmed Jasim Al Zaabi, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) said: "Abu Dhabi is uniquely positioned to lead the charge in advancing technology and commercialisation within the smart and autonomous vehicles sector. Backed by a proven track record of accelerated innovation and built on a robust industrial base, the emirate both embraces and shapes global trends, supercharging the sector by leveraging its infrastructure, talent, progressive regulatory mindset, and key location at the crossroads of global trade."As a catalyst for Abu Dhabi's diversification, SAVI is a game changer that will unleash extraordinary economic growth and create new opportunities for talent, entrepreneurs, and investors. SAVI is projected to contribute AED90-AED120 billion to the UAE economy and generate 30,000-50,000 jobs, which will create an extended ripple effect benefitting various sectors, and taking our smart, diversified, sustainable Falcon Economy to new heights".The launch of Smart and Autonomous Vehicles Industry (SAVI) cluster follows Abu Dhabi Industrial Strategy (ADIS), launched by His Highness Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, in June 2022, that aims to leverage advanced technologies to harmonise human development, sustainability, and growth.ADIS champions green economy practices and Industry 4.0 technologies to drive Abu Dhabi's transition towards a smart, circular, and sustainable economy.The Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) and Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) are spearheading the development of SAVI covering the design, testing, and manufacturing of applications for transportation and mobility, as well as to service other sectors such as logistics. SAVI will build on the strength of Abu Dhabi's industrial base and leverage its unparalleled access to established air corridors, road infrastructure and global network of partners.The SAVI cluster brings together all relevant stakeholders to advance the development of the value chain, attract companies from all around the world, enable access to funding and investments, facilitate and fund innovation, streamline regulatory services and accelerate the adoption of future urban and mobility services. SAVI will house academia, test zones, R&D labs, testing and certification facilities, large scale workshops, hangars, manufacturing facilities, connected through Abu Dhabi's global logistics network. Underpinning all operations are the local regulators establishing an enabling regulatory framework across air, land, and sea applications. These include the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED), General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Integrated Transport Centre and Abu Dhabi Maritime.Three dedicated test zones, provided through ADIO's partnerships with Tawazun Industrial Park (TIP), Miral and Maqta Gateway, part of AD Ports Group's Digital Cluster, will enable companies to test and certify applications across air, land and sea. Enabling testing, TIP will make available its Nibras Aerospace Park, runway facilities, and an aerospace park for testing and manufacturing companies. The land testing zone in Yas Island, home to F1's Yas Marina Circuit, offers an established road mobility test bed with a growing number of incorporated technology startups. The sea testing zone in Mussafah Port houses a port and the Abu Dhabi Maritime Academy.The SAVI cluster will complement existing infrastructure and tap into synergies from shared technologies such as smart electrification, connectivity, and navigation software. It will also maximise the scope and coverage of applications to serve the future of integrated multi-modal logistics and mobility in the UAE, across the region and elsewhere around the world.As the UAE prepares to host COP28, the launch of Abu Dhabi's SAVI cluster will also help to accelerate the adoption of green mobility services and propel the country and wider world towards a zero-emissions future. SAVI will be centred in Abu Dhabi's Masdar City, a sustainable development pioneer and a hub for research and development to realise greener, more sustainable urban living.SAVI launches with immediate scale as many global companies concurrently announce plans to establish operations in Abu Dhabi, with each bringing specialisation in air, land and sea applications.Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED).Download image (1): https://apo-opa.info/45wsGp5 Download image (2): https://apo-opa.info/3Q1wqcq SOURCE: Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-16 15:04:59 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 347 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 In celebration of Lennys DayMEMPHIS, TN / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / Lennys Grill & Subs is offering a special-priced sub promotion on Oct. 25 to celebrate Lennys Day, the brand's 25th anniversary.Customers can order any medium 7.5" deli or grilled sub for $2.99 with a drink purchase in-store, online at order.lennys.com , or on the Lennys mobile app.Customers can order subs "Lennys Way" with lettuce, oil, red wine vinegar, tomato, salt, pepper, oregano, pickles, and mayo, or customize their toppings."Much of our success and growth is attributed to our fans, many of whom have been customers for over two decades. We are so grateful to our customers who have made this milestone day achievable. In appreciation, our Lennys Day celebration invites all customers to celebrate with us and enjoy their favorite subs at a special price." said Marketing Director Ranee Huff.Fresh, made-to-order deli subs and authentic Philly Cheesesteaks inspired the brand's inception in 1998 and has cultivated a loyal fanbase. For 25 years, Lennys has served handcrafted deli sandwiches piled high with freshly sliced premium meats and cheeses, and authentic grilled-fresh-to-order Cheesesteaks made with the highest quality ingredients. White and wheat bread is baked fresh daily in restaurants.The special-priced sub promotion is available at all locations. Lennys Rewards membership is not required.Customers can join Lennys Rewards program to earn points to redeem for free food and get exclusive deals and promotions by downloading the Lennys Rewards app, or signing up at lennys.com/rewards About Lennys Grill & SubsSince 1998, our focus has remained the same-good food with a great experience-as your favorite neighborhood sandwich shop. This means never skipping on quality or quantity. That's why at Lennys, we're proud to serve handcrafted deli subs and made-to-order authentic cheesesteaks piled high with freshly sliced premium meats and cheeses on bread that is baked fresh every day in our restaurants. For more information on Lennys Grill & Subs, visit www.lennysfranchise.com or follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @lennyssubs and Twitter at @lennyssubs.###Media Contact: Ranee HuffMarketing Directorranee.huff@lennys.com SOURCE: Lenny's Holdings, LLC PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-16 22:00:09 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 489 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 REHOBOTH BEACH, DE / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / In September 2022, Ocean Atlantic Sotheby's International Realty announced a strategic partnership with Monument Sotheby's International Realty, one of the top luxury real estate brokerages servicing the Mid-Atlantic Region. With the successful evolution of this partnership over the past 12 months, Ocean Atlantic Sotheby's International Realty will now operate as Monument Sotheby's International Realty, Coastal Division. "Monument Sotheby's International Realty embodies the same values that our clients have come to expect from us over the three decades we have been assisting home buyers and sellers in Coastal Delaware and Maryland," said Justin Healy, Broker. "We are excited to continue strengthening our partnership with Monument Sotheby's International Realty, through our new Coastal Division, providing our clients with cutting-edge marketing technology and an even wider array of tools and white-glove service across the home buying and selling process." Monument Sotheby's International Realty Coastal Division Shawn Evans, Charlie Hatter, Kathleen Schell, Justin Healy Upon joining forces last year, the companies swiftly garnered recognition, securing rankings as the 10th top mover in the country by number of transactions and the 11th top mover by volume, as per Real Trends. Additionally, they achieved placement among the top 250 real estate brokerages in the nation. "Partnering with Monument Sotheby's International Realty has allowed us to effectively share resources across the board, developing collaborative marketing campaigns to efficiently and effectively assist our clients throughout the Mid-Atlantic," said Kathleen Schell, co-proprietor of Monument Sotheby's International Realty, Coastal Division. "We have remained committed to delivering local expertise and personalized guidance to our clients while broadening the tools we can use to deliver best-in-class marketing and sales expertise. We are thrilled to further cement our partnership under our new Coastal Division of Monument Sotheby's International Realty and will continue to be a dedicated partner to the communities we serve." The existing management teams will continue to lead the companies and will participate as partners in the ongoing growth and development of the firms. "I'm extremely proud of our companies and their positive impact on the communities we serve," said Shawn Evans, Co-Owner of Monument Sotheby's International Realty. "The collective partnership decision to brand under our new Coastal Division at Monument Sotheby's International Realty reflects our shared goal of providing deep and comprehensive local market knowledge through our professional Realtor team coupled with extraordinary and technologically innovative service to our clients. Doing more is our distinction." "Additionally, we are looking forward to providing our team with increased regional market knowledge throughout the Mid-Atlantic and opportunities for growth," added Charlie Hatter, Monument Sotheby's International Realty Co-Owner. "We truly have found that we are stronger together and are excited to continue to provide exceptional local expertise with a global reach to our clients throughout their real estate journeys." Contact Information:Shawn Evans Owner shawn.evans@monumentsothebysrealty.com 703-795-3973SOURCE: Monument Sotheby's International Realty PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-16 20:30:26 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 762 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 SACRAMENTO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / In an inspiring tale of compassion and dedication, the documentary film "Once in a Lifetime" delves into the extraordinary journey of Dr. Teimour Nasirov, a renowned cardiac surgeon, as he spearheads a mission to provide cardiac surgeries free of charge to those in need worldwide. With an unwavering commitment to saving lives, Dr. Nasirov, alongside his dedicated team and a non-profit organization, has already transformed over 2500 lives. This remarkable story is brought to life by Producer Sergey Ivannikov and Film Director Victor Migalchan, who aim to share this heartwarming narrative with the world.Photo Credits: California LIVE Productions Director Victor Migalchan shares his thoughts on the inspiration behind this compelling documentary: "The inspiration comes from within when you see a true doctor whose goal and life are dedicated to saving people. When you hear that he organizes a non-profit and his team will arrange free cardiac surgeries around the world, especially in third-world countries, it's inspiring. My first impression was: "No way! It cannot be real!" But it is! I definitely want to be a part of this humane and humble mission and help save other people's lives." The documentary explores the life and work of Dr. Teimour Nasirov, offering an intimate glimpse into his journey, including his childhood, upbringing, medical career, experiences in the US, his work at one of the world's top universities (School of Medicine) and Sutter Medical Center in Sacramento, his daily life, family, and his mission through a non-profit organization.Dr. Nasirov's mission has been fueled by a deep-seated desire to address the scarcity of cardiac surgeons in many countries, some of which have only one or two surgeons for the entire nation. Coupled with the exorbitant cost of cardiac surgeries, this scarcity leads to countless lives lost. "Dr. Nasirov wishes to help and save people's lives. We are lucky to live in the US, the greatest country in the world, and we can help others," Victor Migalchan emphasizes.The heart of the documentary lies in its focus on Dr. Nasirov's mission to provide free cardiac surgeries around the world, touching on broader issues related to healthcare and access to medical services. It underscores the importance of reaching out to underserved communities, where individuals often lack access to critical medical care.Dr. Nasirov's global mission is a testament to his unwavering dedication to improving the lives of individuals facing cardiac ailments. With the invaluable support of Global Heart Care, this visionary doctor is leading the charge in making life-saving procedures accessible to those who might otherwise lack the means. Together, they are transforming the landscape of healthcare, one beating heart at a time.Producer Sergey Ivannikov informed us that filming for "Once in a Lifetime" will take place in Northern California, following Dr. Nasirov's plans. Locations such as university medical schools, the Sutter Medical Center in Sacramento and others will serve as backdrops to the unfolding story. The documentary team plans to film as many details as possible, hopefully including several surgeries, with locations selected to enhance the storytelling process.The team is currently wrapping up pre-production, with filming scheduled to start on October 21, 2023, at the Global Heart Care Gala & Fundraiser in Sacramento, CA. The film is expected to be released in 2024, offering viewers worldwide the opportunity to witness the incredible journey of Dr. Nasirov and his team. As they embark on their groundbreaking expedition, audiences can look forward to a captivating and inspiring cinematic experience that exemplifies the profound impact of compassion and medical expertise on the lives of patients in diverse and underserved communities.When asked about future plans and projects, Victor Migalchan shared, "Yes, definitely, we will be following Dr. Nasirov. The second film will be done while on the mission, in other countries where Dr. Nasirov will be saving lives." This hints at a continued commitment to sharing Dr. Nasirov's cause and making a lasting impact in the field of healthcare."Once in a Lifetime" is a story that resonates with viewers from all walks of life, highlighting the potential for positive change and the impact of a single individual's determination to save lives. Dr. Nasirov's mission is a testament to the boundless compassion and resilience of the human spirit. As the documentary takes shape, it will undoubtedly inspire countless others to join the cause and help make the world a better place.Contact:Media Contact: California LIVE ProductionCompany: California LIVE ProductionEmail: californialivepodcast@ gmail.comPhone number: 213 220 3052Website: youtube.com/@CaliforniaLivePodcastCountry: USASOURCE: California LIVE Production PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-16 08:00:53 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 998 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Company signs Exploration JV to cover four licences across the Nigerian Lithium belt.Exploration programs to start immediately.Full exploration team and infrastructure in place.LONDON , UK / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / Orosur Mining Inc. ("Orosur" or the "Company") (TSXV:OMI)(AIM:OMI), the minerals explorer and developer operating in Colombia, Argentina and Brazil, is pleased to announce that as a continuation of the Company's strategy of securing high quality mineral exploration opportunities in key jurisdictions, the Company has signed a joint venture ("JV") agreement to explore a number of exploration licences across Nigeria (the "Project") which the Company considers to be highly prospective for Lithium mineralisation.The Company has long been examining an entry into the Lithium space to add to its diversified portfolio of high-quality exploration assets but had found few attractive South American opportunities.Nigeria however is rapidly emerging as one of the most prospective regions of Africa for the discovery of lithium pegmatite mineralisation and as such is now seeing a very high level of interest and activity. The Company's executive team has substantial operating experience and high-level relationships in Nigeria, and the Company has been leveraging these factors over the last 12 months to gain substantial land positions in Nigeria's prime lithium pegmatite districts.A team of experienced geologists is in place, with all necessary equipment and logistical support such that field programs will be commencing immediately. Work will start initially with preliminary reconnaissance, and it is expected that results and additional work can advance quickly.DetailsThe Company has signed a JV with Nigerian company Jurassic Mines Ltd ("Jurassic"), whereby Orosur, via a new 100% owned UK subsidiary, Lithium West Limited ("Lithium West"), may earn up to 70% equity in the Project in two phases:1. Phase 1 - Lithium West can earn 51% equity in the Project by spending a total of US$3m over a maximum of three years.2. Phase 2 - Lithium West can earn an additional 19% equity in the project, up to a total of 70%, by spending an additional US$2m over a maximum of two years.The Project at inception will comprise four exploration licences across Nigeria's primary pegmatite belt, covering a total of circa 322km2. Other prospective areas are currently being examined and it is possible that additional licences may be added to the Project in the near term.All licences have been specifically chosen due to their location within the major lithostructural corridors that are known to control lithium pegmatite mineralisation in this region.GeologyNigeria has long been known to have substantial potential for pegmatite mineralisation, however historically these pegmatites were largely exploited at the artisanal level for other metals such as Niobium and Tantalum. As such, little geoscientific information was publicly available related to any lithium potential.However, in early 2018, the Nigerian Ministry of Mines and Steel Development began to undertake major geoscience mapping projects across the bulk of Nigeria's crystalline basement rocks to better define the mineral potential as the key plank in a far-sighted strategy to reduce the country's dependence on oil. These projects covered a range of commodities and were referred to as the National Integrated Mineral Exploration Project (NIMEP). This work indicated that the country indeed had substantial lithium pegmatite potential, especially in the southern regions.Fig 1 Schematic, Nigerian GeologyAs a result, Nigeria has, in the last 12 months, seen a sharp increase in small scale artisanal lithium mining of obvious outcropping pegmatites, with a corresponding and similarly sharp increase in modern exploration across the region by international public and private companies.Orosur began to examine opportunities in Nigeria in mid-2022, focusing on regional geological assessment and land selection, leading to this current JV with Jurassic.Rationale and ExperienceThe Company has been examining options to enter the lithium space for some years, based initially on Andean brines and Brazilian pegmatites. However, it became apparent that these regions had become extremely competitive, with correspondingly high entry costs, which the Company felt were not commensurate with the quality of projects on offer.Nigeria was then examined because of the extensive in-country experience of the Company's executive team and because the Country's lithium pegmatite potential is, to a large extent, a geological mirror image of the pegmatite fields in northeastern Brazil. The Company commenced the process of examining entry strategies, based upon a detailed assessment of geological potential, rather than simply on what was being offered.Orosur worked closely with its new Nigerian partner, Jurassic, to carry out regional targeting exercises that ultimately led to these first four licences being pegged as vacant ground, specifically for this JV, rather than vending into pre-existing licences.In addition, the Company has, via its long-standing relationships and experience, aligned itself with a highly experienced local exploration consultancy which will provide the Company with access to exploration teams with associated field logistics, drill rigs, assay equipment and extensive geological knowledge, thus allowing the Company to operate in the region without any major upfront investment or addition of substantial overhead.Orosur CEO Brad George commented:"Orosur has been examining entry into the lithium space for several years, but as with our other projects, we have pursued an early stage, low entry cost strategy, based upon detailed geological understanding of the local mineralising systems. Nigeria is clearly on a different continent, but with the extensive Nigerian experience of myself and our Chairman Louis Castro, together with our partner's excellent local team, we are entirely confident in our ability to develop this exciting opportunity in Nigeria in harmony with our equally exciting South American assets which we will continue to progress as planned." For further information, visit www.orosur.ca , follow on twitter @orosurm or contact:Orosur Mining Inc.Louis Castro, Chairman,Brad George, CEOinfo@ orosur.caTel: +1 (778) 373-0100SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP - Nomad & Joint BrokerJeff Keating / Kasia BrzozowskaTel: +44 (0) 20 3 470 0470Turner Pope Investments (TPI) Ltd - Joint BrokerAndy Thacker/James PopeTel: +44 (0)20 3657 0050Flagstaff Communications and Investor CommunicationsTim ThompsonMark EdwardsFergus Mellonorosur@ flagstaffcomms.com Tel: +44 (0)207 12 PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-16 15:03:51 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 389 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / Big changes are brewing at TriplePundit, and we're finally ready to spill the tea.Launched in 2005, TriplePundit is one of the longest-running online news platforms for sustainability in business. We've built a global community by reporting the latest on people, planet and profit for nearly two decades.As the sustainability and social impact space continues to evolve, so do we. That's why we're bringing solutions journalism to sustainable business news. Our manifesto: Shed the gloom, embrace the momentum.What is solutions journalism? Solutions journalism centers on the belief that solutions to challenges are also newsworthy. Grounded in evidence and journalistic rigor, this style of reporting focuses not only on the problem, but also on how people are working to solve it and what we can learn from them - whether they succeed or not.Why should I care? TriplePundit is the first publication in the sustainability and social impact space to take this approach, although we know readers are looking for it. More than 65% of U.S. adults read about sustainability, the environment or social well-being on a regular basis, according to 2022 polling from 3BL and TriplePundit. And the majority said they'd like to see more coverage of new technologies, systems and ideas that tackle global challenges.Do readers really want this? Don't just take our word for it. Research from the Solutions Journalism Network shows that audiences prefer the hopeful tone of solutions coverage and are more likely to take action on an issue after viewing it. The Center for Media Engagement at the University of Texas at Austin also found that readers are more likely to come back to publications using a solutions approach, while the Institute for Applied Positive Research linked solutions coverage to improved problem-solving skills and renewed energy among audiences.With this transition, TriplePundit joins more than 1,900 news organizations worldwide in providing our audiences with an alternative to the barrage of news coverage centered on problems with little guidance on what to do about them.Check out the new face of TriplePundit here, with in-depth solutions stories that showcase the best of this style of reporting and what it means for our space.View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from TriplePundit on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info:Spokesperson: TriplePunditWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/triplepunditEmail: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: TriplePundit PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-16 20:03:51 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 505 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 ESTES PARK, CO / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / Taranis Resources Inc. ("Taranis" or the "Company") ( TSX.V:TRO)(OTCQB:TNREF) has filed a judicial review petition with the British Columbia Supreme Court, due to government's ongoing (14 month) delay in processing an exploration permit application under the B.C. Mines Act."We believe the government is unwilling to do its legal duty here because of First Nation pressure" said President and CEO John Gardiner. "While consideration of Indigenous rights is part of the Crown's duty to consult, the Supreme Court of Canada has repeatedly said that First Nations do not have veto. So government has to follow the law here".The exploration permit application relates to Taranis's Thor project located south of Revelstoke B.C. The project has been the subject of prior exploration for 16 years, including more than 250 drill holes."It is regrettable that we have to apply to Court to have our rights respected" added Gardiner. "We have tried everything else including letters to Minister Josie Osbourne and Premier David Eby and we hope the government is asking itself what message this sends to international investors." The full petition can be found on the company's website, or by clicking on the following link: https://www.jjgmining.com/uploads/2/7/0/2/27029932/2023_10_13_petition__filed__.pdf It asks the court to:Order the Chief Permitting Officer or his delegate to make a decision on the applicationIssue a declaration that Minister Osbourne's public statement that First Nations are "the rightful owners of the land", and her written reference to a First Nation imposed "moratorium", are contrary to law and must not guide the Chief Permitting Officer or his delegate.A date for the Court hearing has not yet been set.Qualified PersonExploration activities at the Thor project are overseen by John Gardiner (P. Geo.), who is a Qualified Person under the meaning of Canadian National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Gardiner is responsible for, and approves of, the content in this News Release. John Gardiner is a principal of John J. Gardiner & Associates, LLC which operates in British Columbia under Firm Permit Number 1002256.About Taranis Resources Inc.For additional information on Taranis or its 100%-owned Thor project in British Columbia, visit www.taranisresources.com Taranis currently has 94,587,027 shares issued and outstanding (109,262,027 shares on a fully diluted basis).TARANIS RESOURCES INC.Per: John J. Gardiner (P. Geol.),President and CEOFor further information contact:John J. Gardiner681 Conifer LaneEstes Park, Colorado80517Phone: (303) 716-5922Cell: (720) 209-3049johnjgardiner@ earthlink.net NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.This News Release may contain forward looking statements based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding future events or results that may prove to be inaccurate as a result of factors beyond its control, and actual results may differ materially from expected results.SOURCE: Taranis Resources, Inc. PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-16 21:45:43 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 555 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / Southwire's commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) goes beyond what happens in the workplace and extends into the communities in which its team members work and live across its entire footprint. As Southwire powers forward and establishes itself as an organization that is intently focused on DEI, the company has released its first DEI report.The report focuses on 2022 results and openly communicates Southwire's ongoing commitment to DEI. At the same time, Southwire is releasing a new version of its DEI website, updating its mission statement and refining its areas of focus - all of which are bold steps for a private company. The report and new website updates can both be found here."We recognize that this is a unique moment in our DEI journey at Southwire, one in which we have the opportunity to stand tall as an industry leader," said Rich Stinson, Southwire's president and CEO. "As we continue to mature, we want every team member to have the knowledge and tools necessary to embed these DEI principles into their daily activities, and by continuing to empower, value and diversify our workforce, I'm confident that we will build upon our momentum and position Southwire to be generationally sustainable for the next 100 years and beyond." In recent years, Southwire has executed its DEI strategy through seven areas of focus: Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), Inclusive Recruiting, Talent Development, Suppliers, Giving Back, Advocacy and External Partnerships. The report focuses on key metrics within those areas of focus.Southwire has continued to invest and promote ERGs by supporting an inclusive culture and providing opportunities for networking, engagement and professional development across its locations in Canada, Honduras, Mexico and the United States. The company's efforts in this space have contributed to Southwire receiving multiple awards, including being recognized as a Top 10 Enterprise-Wide ERG recipient for the 2022 Diversity Impact Awards.Over the past four years, Southwire has accelerated its commitment to DEI by focusing on its pipeline development, inclusive recruitment and external partnerships. The company is committed to supporting a more inclusive workplace for team members, communities and society at large. Southwire has worked to hire more women, individuals from underrepresented communities (URCs) and veterans, and for the fourth consecutive year, was recognized by DiversityJobs.com as a Top Diversity Employer.As Southwire advances its DEI strategy, the company will continue to focus on creating an inclusive ONE Southwire culture. Looking toward 2023 and beyond, its areas of focus will transition to People Leaders, Inclusive Workforce, ERGs, Reputation and Community, Equity and Governance and Value and Supply Chain."At Southwire, we power progress. Our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is essential to our strategic plan, to create generational sustainability and continued growth in our industry," said Cara Herzog, Chief DEI Officer. "We are an organization poised for tremendous growth, and an essential piece of that growth is our ability to attract, retain and engage a diversified workforce. We will continue to lead with our actions to influence positive change - not only for us but for our entire industry." For more Southwire news, visit www.southwire.com/newsroom View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Southwire on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info:Spokesperson: SouthwireWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/southwireEmail: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: Southwire BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 16. Azerbaijan produced 2,110 units of passenger cars from January through September 2023, which is 600 units more year-on-year, State Statistics Committee of Azerbaijan told Trend. The data of the State Statistics Committee of Azerbaijan shows that production of machinery and equipment, automobiles, trailers and semi-trailers, as well as other means of transportation amounted to 496.4 million manat ($291.9 million) from January through September 2023. Production of automobiles, trailers and semi-trailers increased by 31.2 percent, machinery and equipment by 21.1 percent, and production of other vehicles decreased by 21.1 percent year-on-year. Production of tractors increased by 10.6 percent year-on-year. PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-16 17:00:40 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 845 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Longstanding pioneer in lease management and accounting continues to advance its platform capabilities to address evolving environmental reporting requirementsWOODBRIDGE, NJ / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / Visual Lease (VL), the #1 lease optimization software provider, today announced its results from Q3 2023, reporting sustained double-digit annual recurring revenue and customer percentage growth, year-over-year."A forthcoming analysis from The Visual Lease Data Institute indicates that 99% of senior accounting and finance executives from companies with more than 1,000 employees have made lease management a higher priority in light of the new lease accounting standards and rising, widespread interest in sustainability," said Robert Michlewicz, CEO of Visual Lease. "Our continued growth and industry recognition reflects our unique ability to address this pivotal shift in the Office of Finance, which is rooted in VL's 25+ years of experience maximizing the value organizations receive from their lease portfolio. We continue to invest in our people, platform and the services we provide to empower our growing community of 1,500+ customers to leverage their lease portfolio for strategic financial and operational outcomes." In Q3, Visual Lease:Solutions & ServicesEnhanced its GASB Roll Forward Report for lessees, which provides detail of the asset and liability activity that occurred in the reporting period. This report makes it easy for organizations that need to comply with the GASB standards 87 and 96 to manage and reconcile period-over-period changes to their balance sheet accounts, and can also be used to help in preparing statements of cash flows.Hosted its second annual Customer Advisory Board (CAB) Summit in San Antonio, TX, a multi-day event where select customers and partners gathered to discuss industry trends, as well as review and provide feedback on VL's roadmap. During the summit, VL unveiled the winners of its annual Customer Excellence Awards, recognizing American Axle Manufacturing, Compass, Quanta Services and RSM US LLP for capitalizing on VL's unique capabilities to streamline critical workflows, promote cross-departmental collaboration and ensure data accuracy.Welcomed Gene Cook as Vice President of Global Partners, responsible for helping the company expand the value it provides to its growing network of Global Partners across leading accounting firms, professional services organizations, commercial real estate firms and solution providers.Industry RecognitionNamed a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide SaaS and Cloud-Enabled Lease Accounting and Administration Applications 2023 Vendor Assessment (doc # US48562222, August 2023), the first analyst report to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the combined lease accounting and lease administration capabilities of more than a dozen solution providers. According to Kevin Permenter, Research Director at IDC, the analysis found that, "VL offers substantial platform extension capabilities around tracking and reporting on the environmental impact of leased and owned assets to support their clients' ESG initiatives and help organizations harness the power of their portfolio to enhance business resiliency."Received two awards for its newest offering, VL ESG Steward, recognized as a finalist for a Software as a Service (SaaS) award within the category of Best SaaS Product for CSR, Sustainability and ESG, and also named a Sustainability Product of the Year by the Business Intelligence Group. VL ESG Steward is the first solution of its kind within the lease accounting and administration space designed to empower users to report on the environmental impact of their owned and leased assets in accordance with the sustainability disclosure requirements from the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), IFRS S1 and IFRS S2.Recognized by G2 as a Leader and High Performer for Enterprise businesses in both the Lease Administration and Lease Accounting categories, as well as Leader and High Performer status in both categories for businesses of all sizes.Company CultureNamed a Best Place to Work in New Jersey by NJBIZ for the fourth consecutive year, recognized for its culture, strong leadership, high levels of employee satisfaction and the many growth and development opportunities provided to the team.Hosted its inaugural VL Week, providing an opportunity for employees to learn, connect with one another and apply key concepts that are critical to supporting its customers, collaborating with its global partners and achieving shared corporate goals. The week consisted of informative sessions, workshops and volunteer opportunities with local organizations Elijah's Promise and Clean Ocean Action.To keep up with the latest findings from The Visual Lease Data Institute and additional announcements from Visual Lease, visit the Visual Lease Newsroom.About Visual LeaseVisual Lease is the #1 lease optimization solution provider, empowering organizations to leverage their lease portfolio for strategic financial and operational outcomes. Our powerful and secure platform serves as a centralized system of record for all lease financial, operational and legal data, and is purpose-built to support every team that interacts with a company's lease portfolio. Informed by nearly three decades of experience, our solutions help companies easily sustain compliance with FASB, IFRS, GASB and ISSB reporting requirements, and mitigate the risks and maximize the value associated with their lease records. Our award-winning software is used by 1,500+ organizations to manage more than 1 million real estate, equipment and other leased asset records globally. For more information, visit visuallease.com Media ContactErica BonavitacolaVisual LeaseT+1 732 860 4838ebonavitacola@ visuallease.com SOURCE: Visual Lease The Alternative Bank, Nigerias newest entrant into the financial services sector, launched in spectacular fashion by holding simultaneous launch events in three major cities across the country Lagos, Abuja, and Kano, making it the first synchronized multi-city brand launch in Nigerias history. The Alternative Bank is the ethical banking subsidiary of Sterling Financial Holdings. Speaking from Lagos, Managing Director of The Alternative Bank, Hassan Yusuf, said, We believe that banking should be a platform for shared prosperity, where everyone benefits. And this explains why we refer to our customers as partners, because we believe we are on a journey of wealth creation where profits are shared, and customers are provided with funds without incurring interest charges. Speaking at the launch event in Abuja, Executive Director of The Alternative Bank, Garba Mohammed, said The Alternative Bank is here to create wealth-for-all in a sustainable way, by doing things differently and taking a different model to partnering with its customers. The launch events featured the presentation of digital products to attendees, designed to bring more people into the formal financial sector with an albeit unconventional approach to e-commerce, investments, assets financing, and renewable energy with solutions such as AltMall for e-commerce, AltInvest for ethical retail investments, AltPower for affordable renewable energy solutions, AltDrive for new and pre-owned vehicle financing, and WasteBanc for the monetization recyclable waste. In recognition of the unique financial needs of individuals and businesses, The Alternative Bank offers personalized financial consultations, tailored solutions, and one-on-one guidance towards ensuring that customers achieve their financial goals. The zero-interest banking principle is dedicated to fostering sustainable practices, responsible investments and financial decisions that contribute to positive social and environmental impacts. The Alternative Bank also recently launched an innovation in retail investments with the first AltCoin which affords investors the opportunity to preserve and grow their wealth by investing in gold. The Alternative Bank started in 2014 as Sterling Alternative Finance, after the Central Bank of Nigeria licensed then Sterling Bank Plc to operate a non-interest banking business and has since grown to become one of the largest ethical banks in Nigerias non-interest banking sector. With the recent completion of Sterlings transition to a full-fledged financial holdings company, The Alternative Bank will operate as the non-interest banking subsidiary of the Group, while Sterling Bank Limited will continue to provide conventional banking services. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Oludayo Obasanjo, one of the sons of the former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, has revealed how he manages their Obasanjo Farms, a family business, his relationship with his father and other dynamics. Nigerias former president owns Obasanjo Farms Nigeria Ltd, which has existed for over 30 years. Mr Obasanjo is the Executive Director of marketing and development at Obasanjo Farms Nigeria Limited. In a thought-provoking panel discussion at the My Family, My Business summit on Thursday in Lagos State and organised by Business Day, Mr Obasanjo delved into the challenges and triumphs of managing a family business of such magnitude. He shared a candid perspective on what its like to work alongside a first-generation company owner and a two-time Nigerian President. The agric-entrepreneur said, When dealing with a first-generation company owner who is also a four-star-general who has ruled a country like Nigeria twice, you dont always win that battle most of the time; you lose 110 per cent of the time. It is primarily a case of his vision, and there is a very significant vision behind the business, which we must follow most of the time. Still, operationally, you have to find a way to smoothen that vision with the advent of tech. During his session, Mr Obasanjo revealed some challenges and apprehensions he faces while working alongside his father, who also serves as his business boss. He explained the contrast between failing in ones business and a family business with a rich history. He said, Failure is one thing that scares me the most. I had been doing my business before I joined the family business. I did fail at some point in my own business, and I know what it feels like, but it is different, dying in your business where it is just you and failing in your family business where there are many people. And you dont want to be seen as the one who is responsible for the failure of a family business that has spanned over four decades. I do not think you would grow past that because you would not be able to face your family; you cant even meet outsiders, especially with people describing you as the one who brought down a thirty to forty-year-old company once it was handed to you. More insight into Obasanjo family businesses Mr Obasanjos panel was one of the notable sessions that featured a crop of young family business executives, including Cosmas Maduka Junior of Coscharis Group, Ezinne Nwazulu (Group Head, Retail & Director, Nepal Energies), and Ope Agbato (Executive Director, Technical and Animal Husbandry Operations, Animal Care Services Konsult). Regarding family dynamics, Mr Obasanjo said the family has various businesses and siblings heading other companies and siblings in different companies, so there is this healthy competition, internally. Also, speaking about the intrigues of the family business, the young son of the ex-general revealed that there should be a distinction between family and business as much as there should be harmony between both entities. Citing an example, he said, As I said, I have siblings who are involved in other businesses, and we trade with one or two of them, so they bring certain items we buy from. When it comes to business, if you have seen us argue, someone would wonder if we are still siblings because sometimes it looks like we will get physical with each other. Still, at the end of the day, when we finish the argument, we go and have lunch together, so there is understanding; this is because we are trying to protect our businesses and units to get the best. It is nothing personal, and it is just business. He offered advice for success, stressing the significance of having a clear strategy, a well-thought-out plan, and the right team. Furthermore, Mr Obasanjo called for early and comprehensive education for the younger generation to equip them with the skills and knowledge necessary to sustain and grow family businesses successfully. More conversations Other stakeholders at the event emphasised the importance of family businesses thriving and enduring beyond their founders, recognising their substantial contribution to the national economy. It was revealed that, with approximately 23.8 million family businesses dispersed throughout the country, they collectively inject an annual $200 billion into the nations economy. To underscore this significance, Jumoke Oduwole, the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), alongside other industry influencers, has championed the necessity for family businesses to secure long-term success and extend their influence beyond their originators. Addressing the audience, PEBEC leader, Mrs Oduwole said, Many businesses have transcended generations, creating numerous job opportunities and playing a pivotal role in driving economic growth in advanced economies worldwide. Examples include global giants like BMW, Nike, and General Electric. In Nigeria, we possess a wealth of entrepreneurial talent, from the Dantata organisation and the Ibru family to the Yinka Folawiyo Group and the Doyin Group, not to mention countless small businesses. They account for approximately 50% of our countrys GDP. Mrs Oduwole added, The 23.8 million family businesses in Nigeria are responsible for millions of jobs and contribute nearly $200 billion to our nations economy annually. These figures underscore family businesses undeniable significance and profound impact on Nigerias economic landscape. We must ensure the sustainability of these multi-generational enterprises collectively. With this sustainability, we aspire for more Nikes and BMWs to emerge from our shores, scaling across Africa and on a global stage. That is the vision and a collective effort we must all pursue. Idowu Thompson, Group Executive for Private Banking and Wealth Management at First Bank Nigeria, stressed the importance of involving the next generation early in family businesses, emphasising the value of apprenticeship and the need for young family members to gain experiences outside the core family business. He highlighted the need for financial prudence, recognising that these individuals are stewards of the familys future. Sam Abu, Senior Partner at PwC Nigeria, illuminated the dominance of private enterprises globally and in Nigeria. He noted that the top 1% of the worlds wealthiest individuals own 43% of global wealth. The top 100 billionaires collectively possess $68 billion in Nigeria, and prominent family businesses boast market capitalisations exceeding $20 billion. It was noted that only 38 per cent of future generations are actively involved in family businesses, with a mere 28 per cent serving on management boards. Frank Aigbogun, the publisher of BusinessDay Newspaper, eloquently described family businesses as the lifeblood of many economies, lauding their unique ability to encapsulate values, trust, and a shared vision. These businesses contribute significantly to local and global economies and serve as a testament to the enduring power of family legacies, which form the bedrock of society. He said, The My Family Business Summit offers a platform to exchange experiences, knowledge, and insights that have propelled these enterprises to scale and prosper. As we demystify the challenges and opportunities in todays ever-changing business world, the ultimate aim of this event is to celebrate the traditions that have made family businesses a stable force throughout time. My Family, My Business summit The event, which explored family businesses intricacies, challenges, and potential prospects, featured an array of distinguished panellists and guests from diverse fields, including Amin Nasser (PwC Middle East), Chief Sylverius Okoli (Non-Executive Director, Meristem Securities) and Oyeyemi Oke (1st Fiduciary). Others are Idowu Thompson (Group Executive, Private Banking and Wealth, First Bank of Nigeria), Toyin Sanni (CEO, Emerging Africa), and Niyi Yusuf (The Nigerian Economic Summit Group). READ ALSO: Obasanjo Farms introduces new cassava breeding technology Notable figures in attendance also included Abiola Adediran (Partner, Genea Family Office), Ayotunde Coker (CEO, Open Access Data Center), Fisayo Bejide (Managing Director, Fortitudinal Asset Managers), Efe Shaire (Co-CEO, Ava Capital Group), and Seun Idowu (Head, Private Trust, ARM Trustees Limited). Furthermore, the event witnessed the presence of distinguished individuals like Rolake Akinkugbe (Chief Commercial Officer, Mixta Africa ARM Group), Fatima Wali Abdur-Rahman (Chairman, Filmo Real Estate Group), Maiden Alex-Ibru (Chairman, Publisher, and CEO, Guardian Newspapers), Abiola Adekoya (Partner, Genea Family Office), and Barr. Ngozi Ekeoma (Group Managing Director, Nepal Group of Companies). The summits keynote speaker, Martin Roll, an international global business strategist, senior advisor, and mentor to Fortune 500 companies, delivered valuable insights on the discourse of family businesses. The event revolved around discussions that provided expert insights into family-owned businesses, shedding light on the pivotal factors necessary for their survival and long-term success. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Nigeria has selected the Sundance Festival award-winning film Mami Wata as a contender for the 96th Academy Awards International Feature Film (IFF) category. The IFF (formerly Best Foreign Language) Award is presented annually by the Academy to a feature-length film produced outside the United States that contains 50 per cent or more non-English dialogue. Written and directed by C.J. Obasi, the film is an exploration and creative reimagination of the mythology of a titular mermaid-deity of West African folklore, and one which, among other things, celebrates womanhood. The Nigerian Official Section Committee (NOSC) for the IFF said it selected the film for its relevant theme multiple generations of women at the forefront of societys well-being, its unique approach to a story of pre and post-colonial African societies, as well as its technical and artistic excellence. The NOSC voting members include Stepanie Linus award-winning actress and Chairperson of NOSC; Chidia Maduekwe M.D Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC); Victor Okhai President of Directors Guild of Nigeria (DGN); Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde veteran actress; Andy Amenechi former President of DGN; Yibo Koko theatre practitioner; and Izu Ojukwu writer/director. Others are Adetokunbo DJ Tee Odubawo Cinematographer; Emem Isong writer/producer; Dimeji Ajibola director; Jude Idada writer/director; Ngozi Okafor producer/costumier; John Njamah actor/director; and Meg Otanwa actress/polyglot. Im excited to announce a milestone in our NOSC journey: our first Pidgin film submission to the Academy, marking our commitment to diversity and global representation. I urge filmmakers not to relent in enhancing their skills, and elevate production to global standards, Linus stated in a statement. Mami Wata Mami Wata advances in the Oscars race having received the highest votes from the 14-man committee. The next stage of the film will be determined by the IFF Executive Committee. Shot on location in the Republic of Benin, Mami Wata tells the story of a beach-side community that must interrogate previously held beliefs when a stranger washes up ashore and further threatens its harmony. The film, which had its theatrical releases in Nigeria and other countries, won the Special Jury Award at the Sundance Film Festival 2023 for its vivid black-and-white cinematography. The 96th Oscars will take place on 10 March 2024. The show will air live on ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide from the Dolby Theatre at Ovation, Hollywood. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Ifeanyi Igbokwe, the House of Representatives candidate of the Action Alliance (AA) for Bende Federal Constituency of Abia State in the 25 February election, has dissociated himself from a petition challenging the victory of Benjamin Kalu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the election. Mr Igbokwe said at a press briefing in Abuja on Sunday that he neither filed a petition against Mr Kalu nor authorised anybody to do so. Mr Kalu, who is the deputy speaker of the House, scored 10,020 votes to secure his second term in the House. He defeated his closest rival, Frank Chinasa, of the Labour Party (LP) who polled 6,818 votes. After the declaration of the result, Mr Igbokwe allegedly filed a petition to challenge Mr Kalus victory at the National Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal in Umuahia, the state capital. The court struck out the petition after Mr Igbokwe raised the alarm that he never filed a petition or authorised anyone to challenge the outcome of the election on his behalf. Mr Igbokwe said he had petitioned the Inspector General of Police and the State Security Service (SSS) over the matter. He said the impersonators have also filed another petition challenging the decision of the tribunal at the Court of Appeal. Its a criminal case of impersonation and I must follow the case to the letter regardless of who is involved. It is my integrity that is at stake here and not that of anyone else. They will have to face the law because they dont mean well for my political career. While they are yet to honour the police invitation, I have learnt that the same people have filed an appeal in my name again against Kalu, he said. Mr Igbokwe emphasised that he is not aware of the petitions and he does not issue authorisation to anybody to challenge the outcome of the election. I hereby emphatically state that I know nothing about the appeal at the court of appeal. This is the handiwork of the same political merchants who are bent on using my name to procure judgment against the Deputy Speaker. It must be emphasised that I am the only candidate of AA in that election. And if anyone should approach the courts, it should be me. Once again, I challenge anyone who says he is Ifeanyi Chukwuka Igbokwe other than me to reveal his true identity and counter my position on this issue. I have no reason to fight my brother, the Deputy Speaker whom God has through the benevolence of leaders of the country, his party, APC and his colleagues in the National Assembly exalted to a position of privilege for Ndi Bende, Ndi Abia State and Ndi Igbo in general. I cant be stupid to pursue a case I know is needless. Mr Igbokwe called on the police and the SSS to conduct an appropriate investigation into the issue and fish out the impersonators. He said, Impersonation anywhere in the world is a serious criminal offence that is pushable under the law. Let those who went to the Appeal Court unmask themselves for the world to see them. I therefore call on the police, the SSS and other security agencies to immediately fish out these impersonators and bring them to justice. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Banana entrepreneur Daniel Noboa will become Ecuadors youngest-ever president as he defeated leftist politician Luisa Gonzalez in elections on Sunday, the head of the electoral authority CNE has said. Thirty-five-year-old Mr Noboa of the centre-right National Democratic Action alliance led Mr Gonzalez, from the camp of ex-president Rafael Correa, by 52.3 per cent to 47.7 per cent with more than 90 per cent of votes counted. Mr Gonzalez congratulated Mr Noboa on his victory. Today we made history, Mr Noboa said on social media platform X, formerly Twitter. We are going for a country where promises do not remain in the electoral campaign and corruption is punished, he added. ALSO READ: Wikileaks founder Assange loses Ecuadorian citizenship Voter turnout was about 82 per cent, CNE head Diana Atamaint said. Some 13 million Ecuadorians were eligible to cast their ballot following an election campaign marred by the killing of one of the contenders amid a surge in crime nationwide. Mr Noboa is the heir to his father Alvaro Noboas banana business empire. The campaign leading up to Sundays elections was overshadowed by the death of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, who was shot dead on 9 August after a campaign event in Quito. The government blamed organised crime for his death. Ecuador serves as a transit country for cocaine, and several crime syndicates are battling for control of the smuggling routes. Mr Villavicencio had announced that he would crack down on corruption and crime if he were to gain the presidency. He had reported on the corruption of ex-president Correas government (2007-17) with fellow journalist and friend Christian Zurita, who was fielded by his party Construye (Build) as his replacement in the race. Last weekend, seven suspects thought to have been linked to Mr Villavicencios murder were found dead in prison. In the first round of voting on 20 August, Gonzalez had come out on top, however, none of the candidates achieved the necessary majority to avoid a runoff. The elections had been brought forward after conservative President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly amid impeachment proceedings against him for alleged embezzlement. (dpa/NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print No fewer than 286 officers of the Nigerian Army are taking part in the 2023 Captain to Major practical examination, to test the proficiency of officers for higher responsibilities. Addressing candidates and officers in Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State, South-west Nigeria, on Sunday, the Commander Training and Doctrine Command of the Nigerian Army, Kevin Aligbe, a major-general, said officers would be assessed accordingly during the examination. Mr Aligbe added that the candidates would be assessed in the areas of mental and physical fitness, communication, and logical reasoning, among others. He urged them to approach the examination with all sincerity of purpose, saying that cheating and other examination malpractices would not be allowed. He said the examination remained necessary, especially in the face of the current security challenges facing the country. He explained that the current global security challenges, especially terrorism and insurgency, had continued to be of great concern to relevant authorities and no stone would be left unturned to combat the challenge frontally. He noted that the examination would be based on the global challenge of terrorism and insurgency, effective communication, logical reasoning, and map reading among others. Mr Aligbe added that to be qualified and promoted from the current rank of Captain to Major, officers must score 50 per cent in all subjects and 60 per cent overall aggregate. This practical promotion examination from Captain to Major for these 286 officers across the country and beyond is to evaluate their proficiency for higher responsibilities, manpower development, especially in counter-terrorism and insurgency, he said. Earlier, the General Officer Commanding, 81 Division, Nigerian Army, Muhammed Usman, also a major-general, explained that the relevance of the examination towards building capacity for junior leadership to achieve national security objectives could not be over-emphasised. ALSO READ: Nigerian Army probes allegation of poor feeding of troops He noted that the examination was meant to broaden the candidates knowledge and understanding of various aspects of military operations with an emphasis on Counter Terrorism and Counter Insurgency Operations. We are all aware that the aim of this examination is to evaluate the proficiency of this category of officers and develop their junior leadership capabilities for higher responsibilities in the Nigerian Army. I would like to state that your performance in the examination is a key determinant of progress in your career and it is important you all put in seriousness and determination to excel, he said. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Federal Executive Council is expected to hold its meeting on Monday. The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, made this known to State House Correspondents on Sunday. He said that President Bola Tinubu would chair the meeting to be attended by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief to Staff to the President and Ministers. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Head of Service of the Federation, Special Advisers as well as other top government functionaries will be at the meeting. ALSO READ: Tinubu chairs inaugural FEC meeting Mr Ngelale said that the second edition of the meeting in the life of this administration would discuss issues concerning approvals given by the president on economic and social matters. The inaugural meeting was held in August where new ministers attended to take their first brief from the executive arm on their roles and responsibilities in the Renewed Hope Agenda. The FEC is a constitutional institution where government policies are discussed and endorsed by Ministers, with the president serving as the chairman and the vice president as the vice chairman. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print A popular Catholic priest in Nsukka Diocese, Enugu State, Paul Obayi, who threatened to quit the church over alleged oppression has revealed his next move. Mr Obayi, popularly known as Father Okunerere, is the spiritual director of Okunerere Adoration Ministry in Nsukka. How it happened PREMIUM TIMES reported how the priest, on 8 October, threatened to quit the church over alleged oppression by the Bishop of the diocese, Godfrey Onah. Mr Obayi, an associate professor, accused the bishop and the church authorities of repeatedly oppressing him in the diocese, alongside some fellow Catholic priests. The cleric claimed the bishop denied him ownership of many properties which he acquired for his ministry. His outburst and allegations against the bishop as well as the church authorities caused intense debate in the diocese and beyond. Enugu, a predominantly Christian state, has a high Catholic population. Next move Speaking during his Sunday service at the adoration ground, Mr Obayi said he had decided to reconsider his decision to quit the church. In a video clip uploaded on his ministrys official Facebook page on Sunday, the cleric explained that although he had already decided where he would head, he rescinded his decision because he saw that many cared for him. Last week, I was talking furiously here that I was going to quit the Catholic Church because of my sad experience. However, the barrage of calls I received after that has made me make a U-turn, he said. I can see that the world cares. I thought nobody cared. But I observed that some people care, and for that, I am redeciding on my position, Mr Obayi stated. The cleric said he was surprised that his outburst was able to engulf the universe and become a global issue adding that he received calls from Catholic faithful in Germany, the U.S., and England among others. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Police in Delta State, South-south Nigeria, said they have arrested some suspects who kidnapped a man and murdered his wife. The police spokesperson in Delta, Bright Edafe disclosed this, Monday, in a statement posted on X (formerly known as Twitter). Mr Edafe, a deputy superintendent of police, said the suspects murdered the mans wife and also shot him after collecting ransom. The incident happened on 2 August in Orerokpe, he said. They abandoned the victim, thinking he was dead, he said. The police spokesperson said three of the suspects were arrested on 13 October during a covert operation at Ofuoma in Ughelli North Local Government Area by the police in Orerokpe following a directive from the Commissioner of Police in Delta State, Wale Abbas. He identified the suspects as James Aboyo, Solomon Gbolode, and Blessing Deco. The police recovered four AK-47 rifles, a pump-action gun, locally made single Barrel Cut-to-size pistol, 58 rounds of 7.62 live ammunition, 13 live cartridges, five packs of improvised explosive devices, six detonators, eight empty magazines, according to Mr Edafe. The Command has been working tirelessly to ensure that the culprits are arrested and brought to book. Investigation is ongoing, the police spokesperson said. Abduction for ransom is now one of the dominant crimes across various Nigerian cities. Politicians, entrepreneurs, just anyone with good financial worth, including school children are easy targets. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print 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. A man in Delta State, South-south Nigeria, has claimed that some police operatives on a highway pulled over their vehicle and demanded police clearance and plate number receipt. Mowoe Godfrey made the claim on Monday in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter). He tagged the police spokesperson in Delta State, Bright Edafe, and the Nigerian police in the post. What is Police clearance and Plate number receipt? the man asked. Some policemen @ Orogun Road stopped us and are asking for the above? Ignore them. Tell them I said vehicle licence, proof of ownership, insurance, and drivers licence are the most important; they cant charge you to court for any other documents, Mr Edafe, a deputy superintendent of police, responded to the mans inquiry. READ ALSO: Some comments on the mans post suggested that the operatives may have wanted to extort. The Force spokesperson, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, recently reiterated that any armed police operative who extorts a Nigerian is an armed robber. Extortion is never part of any agencys mandate, either armed or not. We condemn such, and even the IGP has made it clear. The IGP has warned officers not to drop his name to extort or dupe Nigerians and not to take any gift to him. We made an official statement to this effect, Mr Adejobi said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the formation of two committees on the industrial revitalisation roadmap and review of the Free Trade Zones in the country to improve the nations economy. The Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Doris Uzoka-Anite, disclosed this at the end of the second meeting of FEC on Monday in Abuja. She said the committees, to be chaired by President Bola Tinubu, would have various sub-committees to harmonise the activities of the ministry with those of other ministries and agencies relevant to it. Mrs Uzoka-Anite said the sub-committees would come up with a roadmap toward the full revival of the economy in line with the presidents eight-point agenda. The minister explained that the sub-committees will include consumer credit, commodity exchange, heavy industries, steel development, and licensing and certification of artisans. Others are the sub-committee on trade facilitation and liberalisation, mining and solid minerals, oil and gas, as well as the creative industry. The committee will harmonise activities of the ministry with other ministries and agencies toward a roadmap for a full industrial revival of the economy in line with the 8-point agenda of the president. READ ALSO: Experts discuss challenges affecting coverage of environmental issues in Africa We expected a boost in investment in the industrial sector, job creation, GDP growth rate from 3.5 per cent to about seven per cent, and a GDP base of about N1 trillion in line with Mr Presidents mission, Mrs Uzoka-Anite said. She added that the committee on the Free Trade Zone would be charged with the responsibility of charting a way forward for the zones to open up opportunities for Nigerians to take advantage of. The Council also approved the setting up of a committee to review the free trade zone, to look at its incentive and the laws and reforms and come up with reform that will help to stimulate and catalyse the economic benefits of the Free Trade Zones and the economic special zones for the benefit of Nigerians and other investors, she said. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print In an effort to address the escalating challenge of organized crime in Africa, the Center for Fiscal Transparency and Integrity Watch is set to host its first symposium that will bring together international experts, academics, government officials, law enforcement agencies, and community leaders to discuss ways to mitigate rising stem. The symposium, titled Building Resilient Institutions to Counter Emerging Threats, will see the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, delivering a keynote address focusing on how collaborative strategies and formidable institutions can secure our communities and future. The symposium is organized against the backdrop of increasing threats posed by organized crime networks across the African continent. These criminal enterprises have become a major impediment to sustainable development and regional stability. They have also become more sophisticated in their approach, using technology and exploiting legal and financial systems to evade detection and prosecution. Furthermore, in 2019, the Global Organized Crime Indexs aggregate criminality score of the African continent was pegged at 4.97 with Nigeria, scoring 7.15 out of 10 to make it the country with the most incidences of organized crime in the region. Human trafficking, smuggling, arms trafficking, flora crimes, fauna crimes, non-renewal resource crimes, heroine trade, cocaine trade, cannabis trade all scored high on the index. The major criminal actors driving these trades include mafia-style groups, criminal networks, state-embedded actors and foreign actors. This ranked Nigeria 1st in West Africa and 2nd in all of Africa on the criminality score. Hence, the symposium will provide a platform for knowledge exchange, foster collaborative strategies, build response capacity, policy development and quality engagement with communities to create a united front against organized crime in the continent. Aside keynote address, the symposium will feature nine quality interactive panel sessions covering various aspect of organized crime including drug trafficking, maritime crime, financial, human trafficking, grand corruption, environmental crime, terrorism, arms trafficking and cybercrime; with speakers drawn from key agencies, international actors and academics. Confirmed speakers include Garba Umar, (vice president, INTERPOL Africa), Freedom Onuoha (conflict and security expert), Muktar Bello (cyber security expert), Emmanuel Akomaye (Security Expert), Bruno Nduka (financial expert & GIABA), B.F. Okeshola (criminologist), Ugoji Egbujo (Analyst), Adegboyega Kamaludeen (medical sociologist), P. Mudiare (Human trafficking specialist), among several others, each bringing a wealth of experience and expertise in combating organized crime from different perspectives. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in open dialogues, share case studies, and explore innovative solutions to the multifaceted challenges posed by criminal organizations. The event is expected to attract participants from government agencies, law enforcement, diplomatic missions, non-governmental organizations, and academia. By fostering collaboration and knowledge-sharing, the symposium aims to create a coordinated and comprehensive approach to counter organized crime in Africa. The symposium scheduled to hold between 24th and 25th of October at the Shehu Musa YaAdua Center, Abuja, will also feature presentations on Casper, a crime analytics software developed by the Center, and on Open Data to Create Digital Public Good by the Analytics for a Better World Institute. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print An unidentified private hospital in Lagos State has been shut down by the government for collecting and transfusing unscreened and unlabelled blood to unsuspecting patients. The hospital is located at Ago-Okota in Oshodi-Isolo Local Government Area of the state, according to Bodunrin Osikomaiya, the executive secretary of Lagos State Blood Transfusion Service (LSBTS) in a statement Sunday. Mrs Osikomaiya noted in the statement signed by Tunbosun Ogunbanwo, director of public affairs, Lagos State Ministry of Health, that the facility was sealed following a tip-off from a concerned citizen. She said a thorough investigation by the LSBTS in collaboration with the states Health Facilities Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFAMAA) confirmed it to be true. Following the tip-off, and after thorough investigations, the enforcement teams of LSBTS and HEFAMAA, during their joint monitoring exercise in the area, visited the facility and confirmed to be true, the unwholesome, unprofessional and unethical medical practices and conduct of the hospital management, Mrs Osikomaiya said. Blood transfusion has been a possible source of disease transmission. According to WHO, Hepatitis C is most commonly transmitted through the transfusion of unscreened blood and blood products. Exercise contravenes law Giving reasons for sealing the hospital, Mrs Osikomaiya said the action of the facility contravenes the blood transfusion service law and also unethical and unprofessional medical practice putting the lives of unsuspecting citizens at risk. The law states that no person within Lagos State shall transfuse blood into a patient unless such blood has been screened, tested, labelled by the state blood transfusion committee, and found to be negative for all transmissible diseases including HIV I and II, Hepatitis B and C, Syphilis and any other disease as may be deemed necessary by LSBTS, she said. Mrs Osikomaiya noted that the details of the blood donors and transfusion recipients had been retrieved from the management of the hospital. She also added that patients who were transfused with the unscreened units of blood at the facility were being traced as part of the protocol to ascertain their clinical health status and ensure their safety. Sanctions The management of the hospital and workers found culpable in the unwholesome act, according to Mrs Osikomaiya, would be prosecuted by appropriate laws. She noted that the agency had rejigged its strategies in sanitising the state against unethical blood transfusion practices. However, Mrs Osikomaiya appealed to citizens to support the war against unwholesome blood transfusion services by reporting infractions and unwholesome practices when they see any. She also implored health workers and stakeholders involved in the blood transfusion chain, including blood banks, blood donation centres, and logistics firms to adhere strictly to WHO regulations and the state Blood Transfusion laws on blood donation, collection and transfusion. This war against unwholesome blood transfusion practices involves and affects every citizen, and as a result, the LBTS will step up the tempo through continuous monitoring of all facilities concerned with blood transfusion, she said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Federal University in Zamfara State, on Sunday, warned students and residents at the off-campus area of Damba on the outskirts of Gusau, the state capital, to relocate and be safe from bandits. In a statement by the universitys Information Officer, Umar Usman, the university advised the students to relocate to the Gusau metropolis or Sabon Gida area, now well secured by armed security operatives. The admonition followed Saturdays kidnap of four students from their off-campus residence at Damba. Troops of Operation Hadarin Daji and those of Metro Joint Patrol (Eagle Eye) have, however, rescued all four students. Mr Usman stated that students living on the outskirts of Gusau, especially those in Damba, were more vulnerable to bandits attacks. Saturdays abduction was the second time terrorists would be attacking the universitys off-campus hostels in less than 30 days. In September the terrorists abducted 25 students of the university alongside nine construction workers on the outskirts of Gusau on 21 September. Twelve of the victims are still in captivity. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) has reacted to the National Universities Commissions opposition to the recently introduced top-up programme for polytechnic graduates to convert their Higher National Diploma (HND) certificates to degree certificates. A statement by NBTEs head of media unit, Fatima Abubakar, also argued that the programme is entirely beyond NUCs jurisdiction. NUC had at the weekend expressed its strong opposition to NBTEs top-up programme, noting that the board has no jurisdiction to undertake it. In a statement by its acting Executive Secretary, Chris Maiyaki, the agency insisted that the powers to lay down minimum academic standards and accredit universities and their programmes lie with NUC. NUC, therefore, said it is not a party to and, indeed, disallows the so-called Top-up Scheme, being concocted by the NBTE. NBTE fires back But NBTE has replied to NUC insisting that the university regulatory agency has no jurisdiction over the programme. According to NBTE, only the Evaluation and Accreditation Division of the Federal Ministry of Education (FME) has the power to assess foreign degrees and not NUC. Ms Abubakar, NBTEs head of the Media Unit, said in the statement that these are parts of the content of a reply written by the Executive Secretary of NBTE, Idris Bugaje, a professor, to the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, also a professor. She quoted parts of the letter as explaining to the minister that NBTE only provides the Nigerian HND curricula content for credit mapping and credit transfer to foreign universities. She said the admission and subsequent awards of degrees are done by the Senate of the respective universities and not NBTE. NBTE only provides HND Curricula content for credit mapping and eventual credit transfer admissions. The admissions are done by foreign universities and their Senates make awards of degrees not NBTE. In fact, the entire process is designed to operate seamlessly without NBTE, parts of the letter reads. NBTE also has no financial benefit in the whole exercise though we requested low tuition of a maximum of about 10% of regular fees since course delivery is online. The letter added: Only the FME Division of Evaluation and Accreditation has the power to assess the foreign degrees (not NUC) after the students have graduated and may seek that. NBTE said six Nigerian universities have shown interest in joining the top-up programme but that the board has not responded to their request, saying it feared that NUC may not give them approval. NUC, from its press release, seems to dislike online programmes, attempting to take us back to the 20th Century. Online programs are today a globally accepted mode of Education delivery, especially in the 21st Century. Nigerian educational policy has accommodated that with an Open University approved by the Federal Government and NBTE-approved Open Distance Flexible and e-Learning (ODFeL) Centres being operated by 36 Polytechnics at the moment, and the number is growing. Anti-Dichotomy Bill Mr Bugaje decried that HND holders who choose to pursue an academic career, at the moment, have no progression path except through the Postgraduate Diploma. And anytime they wish to switch to universities as lecturers after their PhD, they are always queried to produce their first degree, he said. Mr Bugaje, therefore, implored the education minister, Mr Mamman, to convince President Bola Tinubu to sign the Anti-Dichotomy Bill into law, assuring that it will bring an end to the unwarranted and undeserved discrimination against HND holders in Nigeria. Long-standing discrimination For years, polytechnic graduates who hold HND certificates have faced discrimination compared to university graduates who hold Bachelors degrees in Nigeria. This is despite multiple pronouncements unifying them by the government. The dichotomy is especially pronounced in Nigerias public service where the Public Service Rules dictate that officers with HND certificates cannot rise above Grade Level (GL) 14 or become directors in the civil service, a clear difference from the GL17 attainable by their counterparts who graduated from universities with Bachelors degrees. At the beginning of their career, HND graduates are placed at Grade Level (GL) 07 while Bachelors degree holders start their careers at GL08. This development has led to several agitations, especially among holders of the HND and stakeholders in the polytechnic sector, all of which have failed to yield the desired result of ending discrimination. In 2021, the National Assembly passed a bill seeking to end the dichotomy which is entrenched in Nigerian Public Service Rules but former President Muhammadu Buharis failure to assent to the bill means the discrimination continued. When the bill failed to end the discrimination, Mr Bugaje said the NBTE looked for an alternative which was the top-up programme it introduced in August, Mr Bugaje said. For two years, he said the NBTE wrote letters to NUC and FME but none of the letters was replied to. Qosim Suleiman is a reporter at Premium Times in partnership with Report for the World, which matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print A controversy is raging in Ondo State over the prolonged absence of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu from the state and his seclusion from the public. Mr Akeredolu officially resumed duties in the first week of September after returning from a three-month medical leave in Germany. But he has since not set foot in the state. He has also not addressed the people of the state or been seen in public, not even during visits by state officials to his residence in Ibadan, Oyo State. While the governor remained out of view, a political drama was underway in the state as the House of Assembly launched a bid to remove his deputy, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, for alleged disloyalty to Mr Akeredolu. The lawmakers last week suspended the move against the deputy governor after the states chief judge, Olusegun Odusola, declined their request to set up a panel to investigate allegations of gross misconduct levelled against Mr Aiyedatiwa by the lawmakers. Mr Odusolas decision was based on an order of the Federal High Court in Abuja restraining him from setting up the panel until the court had determined a suit filed by Mr Aiyedatiwa on the move for his removal from office. Come out or resign The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state has asked the governor to return to Akure, the state capital, and discharge his responsibilities to the people of the state. The opposition party said the governor should come out or resign honourably, even as it attacked the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for condoning the seclusion of the governor. The governor has been absent from his duty post since April this year, yet they are comfortable with the total collapse of governance in the state, the PDP spokesperson in the state, Kennedy Peretei, said in a statement on Sunday. If they know where Akeredolu is, they should ask him to come out or resign honourably. Speaking in the same vein, a socio-political group in the state, Ondo Redemption Front (ORF), also called on Mr Akeredolu to address the state or resign from office if he is not fit to govern the state. It is visible to the blind and audible to the deaf, the state of comatose that Ondo State has found herself in recent times, the chairman of the group, Ayodeji Ologun, said. And regrettably so because she used to be the shining star of the West and a reference point in good governance and social welfare of the citizens. Governance has suddenly taken flight, leaving the people without leadership, direction or representation in all forms. Dont instigate crisis, APC warns However, the APC has accused the PDP of trying to create chaos in the state by its utterance regarding the governor and governance. The essence of the arrangement, it was further gathered, is to create a semblance of political instability in the peaceful state, in addition to portraying the ruling party in a bad light, ahead of the governorship election, coming up next year, Alex Kalejaiye, the APC spokesperson in the state, said in a statement. It has come to our knowledge that some PDP chieftains, who have started making huge contributions, in collaboration with some players within our fold, have finalised plans to destabilise the Sunshine State. We are very optimistic that our Governor; your performing Governor, will be in our midst in a matter of days. It is imperative to state that any political gathering or activity at this time could easily be hijacked beyond the control and capacity of the organizers. We therefore call on security agencies to be vigilant and ensure that every gathering is well guided, and closely monitored for compliance. But the PDP dismissed the allegations that it was planning to destabilize the state as diversionary, challenging the APC to address the people of Ondo over the absence of their governor. Earlier last week, the state Commissioner for Information, Bamidele Ademola-Olateju, clashed with the anchor of Arise TV Morning Show programme, Reuben Abati, for demanding information on the governors whereabouts. Mr Abati had queried the absence of Mr Akeredolu and decried the absence of governance in Ondo State. Reacting, Mrs Ademola-Olateju, condemned the comments of Mr Abati. This supposed reportage on the happenings in Ondo State centres on the unguarded, mischievous, and obviously partisan role of the anchors of the programme, particularly Reuben Abati, a failed PDP Deputy Gubernatorial candidate on a joint ticket with the late Buruji Kashamu in Ogun State, the commissioner said. This hypocritical outburst is typical of the accustomed notoriety of certain media outlets prominent among which is Arise TV. The inanities, emotive and utterly irresponsible utterances of Reuben Abati should elicit serious concerns among the regulatory bodies saddled with the onerous duties of ensuring that stragglers are restrained from traversing the bounds of professional ethics, decorum, and decency. This creeping recklessness appears to be gaining currency because of the absence of the application of appropriate sanctions. Mr Abati had also raised concerns over the planned impeachment of the deputy governor, a situation he said had further rendered the state leaderless. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print President Bola Tinubu has thrown the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) into confusion following the appointment of a new Postmaster General and the reinstatement of the suspended holder of the office almost simultaneously. On Thursday, Mr Tinubu removed Sunday Adepoju as the Postmaster-General (PMG) of NIPOST and appointed Tola Odeyemi as his replacement. But less than 24 hours after the announcement, NIPOST claimed in a now-deleted tweet via its X (formerly Twitter) handle that Mr Adepoju had been reinstated. The situation has thrown NIPOST into confusion as to who heads the government agency. Mr Adepoju, who claimed to have been reinstated, resumed office on Monday. He left around 12 p.m. with some staff rallying round him and urging him to stay. Staff members protest Meanwhile, the staff of NIPOST under the National Union of Postal and Telecommunication Employees (NUPTE) have thrown their weight behind Mr Adepoju as the PMG. They also rejected the appointment of Ms Odeyemi. Earlier Monday morning, the staff placed placards at the gate of the headquarters of the organisation in Abuja, welcoming Mr Adepoju and rejecting Ms Odeyemi. Leave our PMG alone, he is working, one of the placards read. Others read, We dont want Ola Odeyemi (Ms), leave Sunday Adepoju, and If you want development, give us Sunday Adepoju. Speaking, NUPTE President, Buba Nehemiah, said the protest was not directed against the president or minister but to draw attention to the plight of the agency. He claimed Mr Adepoju, who is being removed, has brought tremendous changes to NIPOST in less than a year after his appointment. How many people are bringing their mail again? Nobody was patronising NIPOST. But overnight, things changed and we are recovering then you say we should go back to square one. And you want us to be quiet, he said. He said the union had sent a congratulatory message to the supervising Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, and requested his audience. He said part of the items the union wanted to discuss with him was to appoint someone with adequate understanding of the organisation and its activities. On his way out of the premises of the agency around 12 p.m., staff of the agency rallied round Mr Adepoju, urging him not to leave. Addressing the staff and some journalists present, Mr Adepoju said there had been a directive and counter-directive on the issue. Theres a directive. Theres a counter-directive and theres still a directive, he said, without giving details. He added, When the minister comes and calls for me, Ill still come, Im still part of you. If Im not here, there are one thousand and one that can do the job. Go to my records and see. I have never (been) found wanting in my life. From my primary school, my records are clean and clear. One staff member of the service, who didnt want to be named, told PREMIUM TIMES that the management staff of the agency had been informed by the minister to prepare to welcome Ms Odeyemi. He, however, said she must have gotten information that the staff members were protesting and decided to cancel her plans of resuming. We are protesting because this PMG has already done so much. He will just be one year old by Thursday, the official said, while noting that Mr Adepoju had improved staff welfare during his relatively short stay in office. The staff are protesting because weve never had it this good, he added. The Nigerian government has been mum since the controversy began about two days ago. Efforts to get comment from the presidents spokesperson, Ajuri Ngelale, failed. His phone line was switched off and he has yet to respond to the text and WhatsApp messages sent to him. Qosim Suleiman is a reporter at Premium Times in partnership with Report for the World, which matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The federal government, in collaboration with Wema Bank, has invited eligible Nigerians to apply for its recently launched digital skills programme for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). Temitola Adekunle-Johnson, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Job Creation and MSMEs, Office of the Vice President, said this in a statement in Abuja on Monday. According to Mr Adekunle-Johnson, entries for the programme also referred to as FGN X ALAT Digital Skill Innovation Programme are open to tech enthusiasts, aspiring entrepreneurs, business owners, job seekers, working professionals and visionary future leaders. According to him, interested and eligible Nigerians can visit https://fg-skillnovation.alat.ng and apply for the programme. Mr Adekunle-Johnson said the portal would open from Monday, adding that applicants must be Nigerian citizens residing in Nigeria. READ ALSO: As part of the eligibility criteria, the applicants must be between the ages of 18 and 35; have literacy and numeracy skills with formal education as a plus and not mandatory, he said. Applicants must also have a digital device, a smartphone, laptop, or a desktop to help stay connected and engaged. They must be ready to commit to the entire duration of the programme and have keen interest in digital skills, entrepreneurship or technology. The benefits of the programme, according to Mr Adekunle-Johnson, include training and guiding growth through shared knowledge and experience. Others are growth and development of skills with the best mentorship, funding for innovative ideas, fostering startups for success and connecting products, as well as expanding reach. He said the FGN X ALAT Digital Skillnovation programme also guarantees access to funding worth several millions of dollars, mentorship, job prospects and grants. According to him, this is with a view to bring the ideas of beneficiaries to life and real market experiences, among other benefits. Again, interested Nigerians should go to https://fg-skillnovation.alat.ng and apply for the programme, he added. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the federal government, in partnership with the bank, recently announced that it had concluded arrangements to train two million youths on digital skills. The Director of Information, Office of the Vice President, Olusola Abiola, who said this in a statement, noted that the training was in furtherance of the federal governments pledge to support the job creation agenda of the Tinubu administration. He said, Wema bank, in partnership with the Office of the Vice President, has concluded arrangements to commence an initiative that will impact two million youths and one million MSMEs across the country. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says its corruption survey is aimed at assessing the federal governments fight against corruption. The Statistician-General of the Federation, Semiu Adeniran, said this at the Train the Trainers programme for the Third National Survey on Quality and Integrity of Public Services in Nigeria in Abuja on Monday. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the survey, also called the Corruption Survey, is the third of its kind with the first two conducted in 2017 and 2019. Mr Adeniran, represented by the Bureaus Director of ICT, Biyi Fafunmi, said the training was a significant milestone in efforts to collectively combat the scourge of corruption in Nigeria. He said corruption had remained a formidable challenge as such the insights gathered would guide the country towards a more transparent and accountable future. He said the outcome of the survey was not to castigate or point fingers at any individual or institution, but to make the necessary commitment to improving the quality of public service available to Nigerians. It is also to enhance the trust in the relationship between the citizens and public offices. This is an important hallmark of development in any society. This third round is being conducted in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the MacArthur Foundation. READ ALSO: The survey is not only important as a policy decision tool but also strategic and timely. The results will help assess the effectiveness of the efforts deployed by the government to tackle corruption, identify remaining gaps, and determine priority areas for future initiatives. It will also help the government craft future anti-corruption policies that are better designed, better targeted and thus more effective to tackle corruption in our society, he said. Mr Adeniran said the survey focused primarily on understanding the experiences of corruption by Nigerians, rather than perceived corruption whenever they encounter public officials. According to him, two new vital modules on gender and disability have been introduced to the instrument in the third round of the survey. As the third aspect of the survey, following the 2017 and 2019 rounds, we are presented with an opportunity to conduct a trend analysis of corruption experienced by households in the country. Thus, this round will seek to gain a deeper understanding of the differential impact of corruption on marginalised or typically excluded groups such as women, youths, and persons with disabilities, he said. Survey Meanwhile, Musa Mohammed, Director of Demography and Household Statistics, NBS, said a test run survey was carried out in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, and Nasarawa State as a build-up to the main survey. Mr Mohammed, who is also the Project Director, said the trainers would review the questionnaires to be used for the survey, adding that 30 per cent of the numerators for the exercise were from the NBS. We will use this opportunity to build the capacity of the state Bureau of Statistics, he said. He said the survey of 2017 and 2019 showed a decline in the prevalence of bribery from 32.3 per cent to 30.2 per cent adding that its at variance with the report of Transparency International. The National Research Consultant, Adebisi Adeniran, said that the two previous surveys impacted on policy formulation in Nigeria and expects that the third round would look at trends and patterns of corruption in the country. Princess Chifiero, Project Officer, Anti-Corruption, UNODC, said the focus was on an experienced-based corruption survey shared by citizens themselves rather than on perception. Methodology of survey He said the survey questionnaires were usually translated into the three Nigerian official languages and pidgin English with 33,000 interviewers across the 36 states and the FCT. Ms Chifiero said that bribery refusal, gender dimension, items to measure disability and items to measure the location of bribery were new additions to the survey. NAN reports that the main survey fieldwork would start in October through November 2023 with the ongoing training of the trainers, which would be stepped down to the state level. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, on Monday, sacked Elisha Abbo, the All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker representing Adamawa North Senatorial District. A three-member panel of the court presided over by C.E. Nwosu-Iheme, in a judgment, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue a Certificate of Return to Amos Yohanna of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the validly elected lawmaker for the senatorial district. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that INEC had, on 25 February, confirmed Mr Abbo as the winner of the senatorial poll. Dissatisfied with the declaration, Mr Yohana, a clergyman, and the PDP filed a petition before the National and State Houses of Assembly Election Tribunal sitting in Yola, Adamawa State, challenging the return of Mr Abbo in the election. The tribunal, in its judgment, dismissed Mr Yohannas petition for lack of merit. Further dissatisfied with the tribunals decision, the PDP candidate, through his counsel Johnson Usman (SAN) approached the Appeal Court via appeal number: CA/YL/EP/AD/SEN/06/2023 between Amos Kumai Yohanna and Ishaku Elisha Cliff and others. READ ALSO: The Court of Appeal, after hearing arguments from parties, agreed with Mr Usman that based on Section 137 of the Electoral Act, 2022, the results tendered clearly showed that there was no compliance with the Electoral Act. The court, thereafter, deducted the invalid votes from the parties and found that Mr Yohanna and PDP won the election by majority of lawful votes. The court set aside the Certificate of Return issued to Mr Abbo and ordered INEC to issue the same to Mr Yohanna as the valid winner of the election. Reacting to the judgment, Sam Ologunorisa, SAN, said he had nothing to say since the Court of Appeal is the final court. When contacted on his reaction to the judgment, lawyer to the APC, Michael Numa, SAN, said he had nothing to say until he saw the judgment. I was not in court when the judgment was delivered. So, I will have to see the judgment before I can comment on it, he said. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that other panel members include M.I. Sirajo and O.A. Adegbhinde. Mr Abbo, 47, was first elected in 2019. That year, shortly after he became a senator, Mr Abbo was caught on camera physically assaulting a woman at an adult toy shop in Abuja. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) on Monday called for a cease-fire in the ongoing Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza. The NSCIA, headed by the Sultan of Sokoto, Saad Abubakar, as its president-general, also called for the opening of a humanitarian corridor for the delivery of food and medical supplies to Gaza. The Council commiserates with the people of Palestine on the huge losses they have recorded before and during the current war and calls for an immediate ceasefire. We also pray for peace, justice, security and humanity because violence is an evil wind that blows no one any good, a statement by the Deputy Secretary General of the NSCIA, Salisu Yunus, read on Monday. Calls for justice, peace The council, the highest Islamic body in Nigeria, also called on world leaders to uphold justice and peace in solving the escalation that started about a week ago. NSCIA accused world leaders, especially the United States (US), of only paying lip service to peace, saying they have been unwilling to enthrone justice in the Israeli-Palestinian relations. The NSCIA stated that while peace is desirable, peace without justice would only precipitate future crises. It also condemned the United States for siding with the Israelis, saying the U.S. action doesnt represent the values of justice, freedom, security and protection of life that it always proclaims. READ ALSO: The world, beginning from the United States to the rest of those who turn a blind eye to the Israeli atrocities, should wake up to the fact that all humans are equal and justice is the best guarantor of peace, the NSCIA stated. The Council is disappointed that, in its usual dishonourable way, the United States has openly and shamelessly taken sides with Israel in spite of its brazen and incessant aggressions and massacre of the Palestinians for about eight decades now. The council also called on the Nigerian government to stand with Palestine and against Israel as it did during the apartheid in South Africa. It said: The Council also calls on the Federal Government of Nigeria to, as it did with apartheid in South Africa and for the sake of humanity and justice, come out and stand clearly with the helpless victims of persistent Israeli persecution, massacre, oppression and suppression. The NSCIA noted that while the two-state solution is not just for Palestinians, it appears halfway out. It, therefore, called on Muslims, particularly Nigerians, to offer special prayer to Allah, who revealed Suratul Fil, for divine rescue of the oppressed Palestinians. NSCIA accused Israel of repeatedly failing to honour the United Nations resolutions to implement the two-state solution of the Oslo Accord and guarantee Palestinians economic and political security. It also condemned what it described as an all-out war and complete siege on two million defenceless people, stating that it is atrocious, abhorrent and unjustified. The Israelis have rather imposed a most abhorrent colonial policy on the besieged enclave, it said. They have also continued to treat Palestinians as sub-humans and made Gaza the largest open-air prison in the world under the ungodly false mantra that Palestine was a land without people and Israelis were people without land. Israel-Hamas war Thousands have been killed on both sides since the escalation started with an attack on Israel from Hamas more than a week ago. Most of the casualties, according to reports, are civilians, including children. Israel ordered about 1.1 million people in northern Gaza to leave by the south. But the UN said the evacuation was impossible and warned of devastating humanitarian consequences. Meanwhile, Hamas is telling civilians to ignore the evacuation order. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, says the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) does not have the authority to intervene on the controversial issue surrounding the position of partys national secretary. Mr Wike said this in a letter to the PDP BoTs acting Chairman, Adolphus Wabara. Mr Wabara had in a letter addressed to the National Chairman, Umar Damagun, asked the National Working Committee of the PDP to compel Samuel Anyanwu to resign as the national secretary of the party since he is also contesting for the governorship seat in Imo State. Mr Wabara, a former senate president, said the failure of Mr Anyanwu to resign as secretary to focus on his election is morally wrong and against the PDP constitutional provision. But, Mr Wike, a member of the PDP currently serving as minister in the APC administration of President Bola Tinubu, insisted that the decision on the partys national secretary will be made by the geopolitical region the position is zoned to and not the BoT. Your Excellency, permit me to observe with respect that the Board of Trustees (BOT) lack the moral authority to intervene on the issue of who occupies or should occupy the Office of the National Secretary of the Party. This is more so as the BOT was unable to use its good offices as the conscience of the party to intervene in the crises that engulfed the party in the 2023 general elections when officers of the party blatantly violated the constitution of the Party. Secondly, the Ag. Chairman of the BOT is reminded that the issue of who occupies the position of National Secretary of the Party is beyond the BOTs sphere of authority and influence. Indeed, if and when a vacancy occurs, the responsibility of deciding who and how the vacancy will be filled is that of the entire Southern States to which the position was zoned and not only the South-east geopolitical, as your letter under reference appears to be suggesting, Mr Wike said in the letter. The FCT minister also expressed dissatisfaction that Mr Wabara referred to Emeka Ihedioha as the former governor of Imo State in his letter to the acting National Chairman of the PDP, Umar Damagun. Thirdly, I noticed that your letter was copied to H.E. Rt. Honourable Emeka Ihedioha, CON, ostensibly in his capacity as former Governor of Imo State. This is not correct as you will recall that in 2020, the Supreme Court of Nigeria nullified Hon. Emeka Ihediohas election as Governor of Imo State. By the Supreme Courts pronouncement, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha was never elected Governor of Imo State and ought not to have been so copied. To do otherwise will amount to dressing him in borrowed robes, which will not do him and the Party any good. Finally, I wish to appeal to Your Excellency and the entire BOT to eschew crises capable of derailing the partys preparations for the governorship election, which is less than 30 days away. This is the only way the party can present a common front needed to win this crucial election. While anticipating that my observations will guide you and the BOT along the path of honour, please accept the assurances of my highest regards and consideration, he said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Kaduna State governor, Uba Sani, who narrowly won at the states governorship election petition tribunal to keep his position, has filed a cross-appeal against an aspect of the tribunals judgement. The governors rival in the disputed 18 March governorship election, Isah Ashiru of the PDP, has also filed an appeal to contest unfavourable aspect of the tribunals judgement. The overall decision of the tribunal had affirmed Mr Sanis election, but the tribunal had noted that it could have sacked the governor and ordered a supplementary poll. The tribunal said it did not order a supplementary poll only because Mr Ashiru committed a procedural breach in filing his petition. The three-member tribunal led by Victor Oviawe had, on 28 September, delivered the judgement on the petition filed by Mr Ashiru. Ruling on a preliminary issue in the case, two of the three members of the tribunal gave the majority decision that dismissed the petition on the grounds that the petitioner applied for pre-hearing notice too late. But the tribunal noted in the judgement on the merit of the case, that if the petition had not been dismissed on the technical ground, it would have ordered a supplementary election in 22 polling units within 90 days. Sanis appeal Mr Sani, who had hailed the tribunal for dismissing PDPs petition, has now filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal asking it to overturn the alternative ruling of the election tribunal ordering a supplementary poll. The governor announced the filing of his cross-appeal in a statement on Monday. He engaged a former Attorney General of Nigeria, Bayo Ojo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, to contest some aspects of the judgement. The governors lawyer argued in the cross-appeal with 14 grounds of appeal that the tribunal committed errors in arriving at its alternative decision ordering supplementary election in 22 polling units whose votes were invalidated. The learned trial judges erred in law when they failed and/or refused to pronounce on the cross-appellants Motion on Notice, seeing the tribunals order to pronounce on the cross-appellants preliminary objection before taking further steps in the proceeding, it said. He added, The learned trial judges erred in law when after finding that the FORMS EC40G series were riddled with discrepancies still proceeded to rely on these discrepant FORMS EC40G series to order for supplementary election in the polling units. Mr Sani also argued that the tribunal judges erred in law and breached his right to fair hearing by appropriating his first petitioners witnesses (PW 1) as a witness of the tribunal. Prayers The cross-appellant sought among others, an order setting aside the majority decision ordering supplementary election in 22 polling units or any unit whatsoever. He also sought: An order dismissing the alternative reliefs of the petition for a supplementary election in any polling unit in Kaduna State, which was granted by the tribunal. An order striking out the 1st and 2nd cross respondents (PDP and Isa) petition for being statute barred. An order striking out the 1st and 2nd cross respondents petition for non-compliance with the Electoral Act, 2022. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Nigerias Education Minister, Tahir Mamman, and his Minister of State counterpart, Tanko Sununu, have appealed to principals of the nations Federal Government Colleges (FGCs), otherwise referred to as unity schools, to always heed security warnings and safeguard their schools from potential attacks and banditry. Speaking on Monday during a meeting in Abuja, Nigerias Federal Capital (FCT) with the principals of almost all the 112 unity colleges nationwide, Mr Mamman, a professor, described the colleges as national treasures that must be protected at all costs. According to a statement issued by the Federal Ministry of Education and signed by its Director of Press and Public Relations, Ben Goong, the meeting was in continuation of briefings from departments and chief executive officers of agencies under the ministry. The statement noted that the minister emphasised the significance of vigilance, stressing that early security warnings should be taken seriously and not disregarded. Sununu speaks Also speaking, Mr Sununu praised the principals for their patriotism and commitment to serving the nation. He however called on the teachers to remain vigilant and adopt extra measures to ensure the security of their respective institutions. Mr Sununu directed the principals to collaborate with traditional rulers, religious leaders, parents, and all security agencies, forming a cohesive alliance to guarantee the security of all federal unity schools, the statement noted. Principals seek rural posting entitlements Meanwhile, responding on behalf of her colleagues, the Chairperson of the Association of Principals of Nigerian Unity Colleges, Idowu Akinbamijo, assured the ministers of her colleagues commitment to ensuring the protection of lives and property in their care. Mrs Akinbamijo, who is the Principal of the Federal Science and Technical College, Ilesa, Osun State, added that as parents, the security of the students and staff is of utmost priority. Mrs Akinbamijo used the occasion to place some specific requests before the ministers. She appealed for the prioritisation of the construction of accommodation in rural unity colleges as an incentive to attract and retain teachers in these areas. She also called for the provision of posting entitlements for teachers before their postings are effected, aiming to alleviate the challenges associated with relocating teachers and their families, the statement said. Mr Goong noted that the briefing was attended by almost all the principals of the 112 unity colleges, reflecting a collective effort to ensure the safety and security of the nations educational institutions and their students. School safety In recent times, Nigeria has experienced a number of attacks on schools that have been ongoing since the abduction of the Chibok girls in Borno, in the northern part of the country. The latest report by Save the Children, a multinational non-governmental organisation which is titled; Education Under Attack in Nigeria, and published on 1 August, revealed that there have been 70 incidents of attacks on Nigerian schools with over 180 schoolchildren killed and nearly 90 injured. The report also estimated that over 60 school staff have been kidnapped and 14 killed in about a decade. Towards addressing the crisis, the Nigerian government and various stakeholders have initiated various programmes and initiatives. In August, the Nigerian government launched its almost N145 billion Safe School Initiative, which was aimed at covering about 48 schools across 18 select states of the federation. In 2022, the Education Writers Association of Nigeria (EWAN), a body of journalists covering education issues across the country, convened a national summit on school safety in partnership with the Lagos State Government. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print A popular Catholic priest in Nsukka Diocese, Enugu State, Paul Obayi, has revealed how he became a Catholic priest after being a tout and a member of a secret cult. Mr Obayi, popularly known as Father Okunerere, is the spiritual director of Okunerere Adoration Ministry in Nsukka. Background The cleric, on 8 October, threatened to quit the church over alleged oppression by the Bishop of the diocese, Godfrey Onah. He had alleged, among others, that some Catholic priests, believed to be acting on the instruction of the bishop, had stormed his adoration ground on 7 October and broke his gate, with the intention to dispossess him of the property. PREMIUM TIMES reported that the priest, on Sunday, however, said he had decided to reconsider his decision to quit the church. In a video clip uploaded on his ministrys official Facebook page on Sunday, the cleric explained although he had already decided where he would head, he rescinded his decision because of the barrage of calls he received after his threat. Membership of secret cult In another video clip, also uploaded on his ministrys Facebook page on Sunday, Mr Obayi, an associate professor, expressed anger at his fellow Catholic priests who allegedly stormed his ministrys ground and broke down his gate. Let no one remind me of (my past) yesterday. This person you are seeing was worse than any of you, Mr Obayi began, apparently addressing the priests. I am a retired Onitsha tout. I used to play karate. I had my black belt. So those people who were kicking this gate, if I get you, I will rubbish your name, he said in a mixture of Igbo and English languages. Onitsha is a town in Anambra State, where the priest resided earlier. The cleric, subsequently, spoke of his membership in a cult group. All of you who are cult people. I was the secretary of the occult kingdom in 1985 (and) 1986. Why are you throwing me back to the old time, he said. He did not, however, give the name of the occult group. The cleric has been renowned for his exorcism and destruction of shrines in Enugu and beyond. How God called me Mr Obayi said he was later called by God at a time when he had no intention of becoming a priest. God called me directly when I was in an office saying, Paul Paul, why not go to seminary school? he narrated. Mr Obayi said, after hearing the call and being utterly confused, he enquired about Catholic priesthood and seminary school, a place where would-be Catholic priests are trained. The cleric said, at the time he accepted the call to become a Catholic priest, he had no one to train him in the seminary. I said (to God) if it is true that your hand is in it (call to the priesthood), raise somebody who will sponsor me, he recalled. He said he subsequently flagged down a car for a lift and the car owner surprisingly asked him to consider enrolling into the seminary with a promise to take care of his tuition and other needs. The man was an ex-seminarian, he said, promising to give details of his priesthood journey next week. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print A lawyer to Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Aloy Ejimakor, on Monday, expressed concerns about the failure of the Court of Appeal in Abuja to hear and determine the groups pending appeal challenging its proscription. Abdu Kafafati (now deceased), then Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Abuja had, on 20 September 2017, outlawed IPOB as a terrorist organisation. The court had issued the order based on an ex parte application by then Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami. But IPOB, through its lawyers, filed an appeal against its proscription the at the Court of Appeal. IPOB, a separatist organisation led by detained Mr Kanu, is agitating for an independent state of Biafra to be carved out of Nigerias Southeast and part of South-South regions. Delayed hearing of appeal After earlier a series of failed hearing schedules, on 7 March, the Court of Appeal in Abuja, fixed Monday, 16 October (today) for the hearing of the IPOBs appeal. But, in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES on the premises of the court on Monday, Mr Ejimakor decried the courts failure to hear the case after several adjournments. He said Nigerias security forces relying on the proscription order were violating IPOB members fundamental human rights. There could be torture, there could be unreasonable time for your detention without trial, you could get killed extra-judicially. That is why we are quite concerned about this appeal pending forever, Mr Ejimakor said. Since 2018 when IPOB lodged its appeal to overturn the terrorist tag, the Court of Appeal has yet to hear or determine the appeal. Comparing the appellate courts speed in deciding a similar request filed by the federal government which halted the release of Mr Kanu from detention in October 2022, Mr Ejimakor wondered why it is taking the same court half a decade to adjudicate on IPOBs application. We filed an application for a stay of execution of the terrorist tag; the (government) used the stay of execution to roll back the Court of Appeal discharge of Nnamdi Kanu; 13 days later, the same Court of Appeal granted the stay of execution of the order discharging Nnamdi Kanu. But it is taking it (the Court of Appeal) from 2018 to today (five years) to decide the stay of execution of an ex-parte order of the Federal High Court that endangers millions of people in this country. Implications of terrorist tag Mr Ejimakor said the declaration of IPOB as a terrorist organisation has many adverse legal consequences against millions of people. The lawyer explained that IPOB members properties, and money were interdicted and seized by the federal government. He said if the Court of Appeal had determined IPOBs pending appeal, Mr Kanu would not have been arraigned for terrorism as there would have been no basis for the alleged offence. Let us go by the proposition that the Court of Appeal determined the appeal quickly enough and removed the terrorist tag on IPOB and de-proscribed it, Nnamdi Kanu wouldnt have been repatriated from Kenya, because there wouldnt be any basis to charge him as a terrorist. If the Court of Appeal had reversed that very egregious ruling of the Federal High Court that declared IPOB as a terrorist organisation in early 2018. The rules of Nigerian security forces, when they encounter terrorists is shoot to kill, not even shoot to maim. So, the reason we are very passionate about bringing this appeal to a closure, and hopefully winning it is to remove that danger the danger confronting millions of supposed IPOB members. These things are unfair, Mr Ejimakor said. Mr Kanu was in 2015 charged with treasonable felony over his separatist campaigns. He was held in detention while his appeal failed to make progress in court. He was granted bail in 2017. His release inflamed IPOB confrontations with security forces which peaked with soldiers invading his home in Afara-Ukwu, near Umuahia, Abia State, in September 2017. While he fled the country, the federal government approached the Federal High Court in Abuja to obtain an order for IPOB proscription. Mr Kanu remained abroad until the Nigerian government forcibly repatriated him from Kenya to Nigeria in June 2021. The government then added terrorism charges to the treasonable felony charge pending against him and re-arraigned him before Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja. Mr Kanu has since remained in the custody of the State Security Service (SSS). The Nigerian government accuses IPOB of using its military wing, Eastern Security Network (ESN) to terrorise the five southeastern states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo. There have been wanton killings of security operatives and civilians, and destruction of government-owned institutions by gunmen. However, IPOB has repeatedly denied any involvement in the violence, insisting its campaign for an independent state is peaceful. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Today, confronting evidence of the cackhandedness of our management of our foreign exchange resources until very recently, the question turns back to why a country in dire need of investment such as ours should keep such resources away. Two answers really. First, is that despite its need for investment, there is only so much that the economy may take without severe distortions showing up. Second, the best way to allocate such resources, if and when we finally attract them, is via transparent markets. The only reason that the so-called ban in June 2015 by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on access by importers of some 40-plus items to the official foreign exchange market made sense, was because the management of the foreign exchange market was topsy-turvy. First, because the restriction allowed importers to continue bringing these goods in, so long as they could source their foreign exchange needs from outside the CBNs multiple windows, the apex bank simply acknowledged via the ban, the perverse incentives that its subsidy regime was producing. Even today, after experiencing the full consequences of the CBNs follicies, most Nigerians argue that there was no subsidy under the old foreign exchange arrangement. We simply had multiple official markets where the nairas exchange rate traded way below what obtained at the non-official market. All who argue this point concede that the possibility of those who got access to dollars at the official rate being able to resell their allotments or portions thereof at the unofficial markets was all shades of wrong. Indignation at this arbitrage opportunity ran the full gamut of possible responses. Perpetrators were morally bankrupt, unpatriotic, or downright criminal if not all three at the same time. Yet, we all are familiar with the precept that a business can only breakup its markets into segments with different prices only if there are strong barriers to goods moving across the different segments. Beyond this, the insistence on full disclosure of all relevant information and the breakdown of barriers to exit and entry in the design and operation of markets is to prevent price gouging on the part of sellers, and price arbitraging on the part of middlemen. The CBN and most Nigerians missed this point. The bigger problem with the CBNs management of the nations foreign exchange earnings was never its uncountable leaky windows. It was to have conceded that we had to introduce to the market via sundry agents all that we earned from exporting crude oil. Today, we are in awe of the US$1 trillion in Norways sovereign wealth fund. We are amazed at the investment initiatives that countries in the Middle East are powering with their own funds. Arguably, the most significant effect of a stronger domestic currency was to drive imports up (we have not always loved foreign goods, at least, not until they became incredibly cheap). Worse, was that this stronger naira raised the cost of domestic inputs, especially labour, and as a result, of domestic output generally. Net effect? Still, we fail to ask ourselves why countries as dependent on the export of hydrocarbons as we are, seem in finer fettle. In the 1970s, geopolitical crises in the Middle East drove oil prices up. Nigeria suddenly found itself awash in cash. More than enough, apparently, for a sitting head of state to declare that money was not our problem. How to spend it productively, obviously was. Those were the good old days that most Nigerians above 50 today hark back to. In truth, those days marked the onset of the countrys current crisis. All the petrodollars that came into the country did was push up the nairas exchange rate. Plenty of dollars running after few naira, in other words, inflated the nairas value. Nigeria was strong in the eyes of most patriots who beheld it. At a point, one greenback was all of 75 kobo. There were other unintended effects, unfortunately. Arguably, the most significant effect of a stronger domestic currency was to drive imports up (we have not always loved foreign goods, at least, not until they became incredibly cheap). Worse, was that this stronger naira raised the cost of domestic inputs, especially labour, and as a result, of domestic output generally. Net effect? The uncontrolled influx of petrodollars into the economy, beginning from the 1970s, reduced the price competitiveness of primary produce exports and doomed the development of a domestic manufactured goods industry. When, in 2004, the Obasanjo government adopted the oil price-based fiscal rule, and in 2007 President Umaru YarAdua signed the Fiscal Responsibility Bill, we seemed finally to have grokked the importance of warehousing parts of our foreign exchange earnings outside the economy and driving external investments through them. The likes of Norway started salting away their dollar earnings in offshore investment vehicles when The Economist newspaper described as Dutch disease this economic pathway in The Netherlands, after that country discovered large natural gas deposits in 1959 (about the same time as our Oloibiri started pumping out both crude oil and natural gas). When, in 2004, the Obasanjo government adopted the oil price-based fiscal rule, and in 2007 President Umaru YarAdua signed the Fiscal Responsibility Bill, we seemed finally to have grokked the importance of warehousing parts of our foreign exchange earnings outside the economy and driving external investments through them. Today, confronting evidence of the cackhandedness of our management of our foreign exchange resources until very recently, the question turns back to why a country in dire need of investment such as ours should keep such resources away. Two answers really. First, is that despite its need for investment, there is only so much that the economy may take without severe distortions showing up. Second, the best way to allocate such resources, if and when we finally attract them, is via transparent markets. Uddin Ifeanyi, journalist manque and retired civil servant, can be reached @IfeanyiUddin. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print As a president emerged from an election that chloroformed the imagination of citizens from substantive issues during the campaign season, it is understandable, even if regrettable, that foreign policy issues never got to the top line of scrutiny and debates. It didnt take time for such an important omission to assert itself. In June, President Bola Tinubu visited France and pledged a foreign policy shift aimed at reinstating Nigerias Afro-centric approach, emphasising support for African stability and development. As the ECOWAS chairperson, he demonstrated this commitment by threatening to lead an intervention force to Niger to replace the incursionary military regime with the ousted but legitimate civilian leadership under President Bazoum, which sparked debate among prominent Nigerians. Conventional literature and public discourse stress the alignment of a countrys foreign policy with its domestic circumstances, but Nigerias security challenges and economic decline have led to a redirection from an Afrocentric foreign policy to a more people-centred approach, while some critics have argued that Nigerias resources should be utilised for curbing insecurity and alleviating the poverty affecting citizens, rather than intervening in neighbouring countries. To be sure, apartheid in South Africa has ended; the siege of Mozambique and Angola has been lifted; and most African states, with the lone exception of Western Sahara under Moroccan internal colonialism, are now independent, negating a compelling reason to retain Afrocentrism in its foreign policy. Whilst there are still more battles for the genuine decolonisation of Africa, a prudent Nigeria, it stands to reason, would continue to navigate these complexities, balancing citizens interests amidst positive African and global priorities. It is pertinent to recognise that active international engagement does not mean neglecting domestic responsibilities. Conversely, solely focusing on international matters does not guarantee effective domestic performance. In the absence of a clear presidential vision on foreign policy, the new Foreign Affairs Minister, Yusuf Tuggar, sought to bridge the gap, making the point as he assumed office in August that the Four Ds guiding his Foreign Policy for Nigeria would be Development, Democracy, Demography, and Diaspora engagement. This makes sense given that the imperative of history and the Tuggar Principle, for want of a name for it, sits well against previous perspectives on how to approach our foreign policy. Thus, Professor Bola Akinterinwa maintains that President Tinubus foreign policy should draw from the three main tenets of the Consultation Doctrine, as promoted by Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, Foreign Policy Concentricism, as adopted by Professor Ibrahim Gambari, and Beneficial and Constructive Concentricism, as espoused by Ambassador Oluyemi Adeniji. Looking ahead, thoughts on a redoubtable Tinubu foreign policy should be guided by the imperatives of economic development, security, sovereignty, regional stability, and international cooperation. Specifically, the following key principles and potential focus areas could guide the new administration in shaping its foreign policy: Strengthening the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other agencies, such as the Nigeria Institute for International Affairs (NIIA): In the 1970s and through to the 1980s, the NIIA was a major instrument for the formulation of Nigerias foreign policy and it provided guidance on the path that Nigeria should take on international affairs. While the Institute has been affected by weak political leadership over a couple of decades, the current leadership of the NIIA seems to have rediscovered its purpose. In July, the Institute facilitated a robust discussion on reinvigorating Nigerias foreign policy. The Director-General of NIIA, Professor Eghosa Osaghae, identified regional and multilateral partnerships, and citizen and economic diplomacy, as the cornerstone upon which Nigerias foreign policy should be constructed. Reform of global institutions of governance like the Bretton Woods institutions (IMF and World Bank) and the United Nations (UN): The Russia-Ukraine war has exposed the global fragility and weakness of the increasingly obsolete UN in maintaining global peace. Nigeria should propel Africa to seize this moment to push for the reform, if not the transformation, of these institutions to accommodate the voices of the global South. While credit must be given to African leaders, such as the South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Kenyas President William Ruto, for exposing the asymmetry of relations and the urgent need for reform, the conspicuous absence of Nigeria, as one of the continents superpowers, is a diplomatic abnormality. The sleeping or crippled giant must be awakened to its responsibility as a potent voice of the black race. Economic diplomacy: Nigeria must prioritise economic diplomacy to attract foreign investment, promote trade, and diversify its economy. The country should be more pragmatic by actively engaging with both its traditional partners (the West) and emerging global economies, such as China, India, and countries in the Middle East. While every country must condemn big power aggression within the system, Nigeria should push more for a non-aligned position, and work with other global actors to resolve evolving hostilities. Diplomacy in conflict resolution and humanitarian assistance: Nigeria should refocus its foreign policy on diplomacy towards conflict resolution and humanitarian assistance. It needs to regain its role as a regional peacemaker, recognising that its security is interconnected with that of its neighbours. Active mediation in West African conflicts, including those in the Sahel and the Gulf of Guinea, is crucial for regional stability. Nigeria should employ both hard and soft power, as seen during Olusegun Obasanjos presidency in The Gambia and Sao Tome. Strengthening global partnerships is also essential to tackle challenges like climate change, displacements, and pandemics. The Tinubu-led government should be committed to international development efforts while advocating for equitable partnerships that align with the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063 and Nigerias development objectives. Strengthening its stature within the AU and UN: The government must increase its activism and commitment to multilateralism by actively participating in several platforms such as the AU, UN, and other international organisations to contribute to the global agenda on peace and security, regional integration, socio-economic development, and political stability. Nigeria has dramatically regressed in its interest in multilateralism, which has weakened its international stature. For instance, it is not a member of the G7 or G20. The country is not a member of BRICS and has not been a member of the UN Security Council since its last tenure in 2014/2015. It has not been a decisive actor within the AU, its commitment towards the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is non-convincing, and its status in West Africa has significantly waned. A new foreign policy direction can enhance Nigerias economic growth, increase intra-African trade to the benefit of Nigerian entrepreneurs, and improve the countrys influence in continental affairs. Embracing cultural diplomacy: The Nigerian government should prioritise the promotion of Nigerian culture, arts, and soft power on the global stage to foster positive perceptions and build cultural connections with other nations. Nollywood, the worlds second-largest film industry valued at $6.4 billion in 2021, offers a powerful platform. Notably, a report by Matthew Alford highlights the close relationship between the US government, Hollywood, and the influence of films in Washington DC. The US has supported approximately 900 films since 2005, while the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been involved in 60 film and TV productions since 1947. The government should invest in projecting a positive image of Nigeria and its people to enhance the countrys global reputation and harness its soft power potential. Cybersecurity, energy and digital diplomacy: Many African countries have shown limited interest in cybersecurity and digital technology. Regional powers like Nigeria should address cyber threats wholesomely, engage in digital diplomacy, and promote digital inclusion for national security. Nigerias energy diplomacy, given its oil and gas production capacities, can strengthen partnerships and sustainable energy practices. Thankfully, the evolving digital warfare landscape is no longer a movie reality, hence an urgent response through research and collaboration on technological warfare can no longer be delayed. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Firms operating in different sectors of the Nigerian and African economy announced their products and programmes on PREMIUM TIMES last week. Oando PLC, an indigenous African energy solutions provider, was a lead sponsor at the 29th edition of Africa Oil Week, held from 9 to 13 October in Cape Town, South Africa. Another player in the oil sector, A Y M Shafa Holdings Ltd, announced the inauguration of a multi-million-dollar gas plant in Navy Town, Ojo, Lagos State. In the Education sector, the Business School Netherlands, which runs an MBA programme, announced Oti Omatsone as its Overall Best Graduate for the MBA Class 2023. It also announced admission for its next MBA programme. Read, below, the details of the announcements by our partners last week. BANKING United Bank for Africa (UBA) is organising another edition of the UBA Business Series, aimed at supporting micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by equipping them with the tools they need to sustain and strengthen their businesses. This edition, powered by UBA Value Chain Banking, will focus on Personal Finance: Wealth Management in Todays Economy. The seminar will provide insights and guidance to business leaders on managing personal finance and navigating economic challenges to promote business growth. It is scheduled for 12 October in Lagos and will also be accessible online. United Bank for Africa (UBA) has also recently held the first edition of its Graduate Management Accelerated Programme (GMAP), inducting over 700 graduates who completed a 6-month hands-on work and learning experience across its 19 African subsidiaries. The programme aims to train fresh graduates as professionals for accelerated career growth within the bank. UBAs Chairman, Tony Elumelu, commended the programme, emphasising the importance of human capital development and the banks role in addressing unemployment on the continent. The Group Managing Director, Oliver Alawuba, highlighted the participants commitment and the role they play in achieving the banks vision. British International Investment (BII) has partnered with Access Bank to provide a $60 million trade finance facility in Nigeria and five pan-African subsidiaries. This initiative aims to stimulate African trade volumes by $90 million and help address the financing gap that affects trade across the continent. Access Bank plans to allocate loans to advance gender commitments and enhance finance availability for Black, African-owned businesses. The facility will focus on supporting import-dependent economies, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Zambia. It will help ensure access to critical commodities and manufacturing inputs. EDUCATION The Abdul Samad Rabiu Africa Initiative (ASR Africa) and the Federal College of Education, Technical (FCET) Gusau, Zamfara State, have successfully concluded a 4-month mentorship programme for female students. The programme aimed to empower young women in STEM education and entrepreneurship and featured global female mentors from various fields. ASR Africa was lauded for its support to the institution, and mentees received Certificates of Completion and awards. The First Lady of Zamfara State commended the initiative, emphasising the importance of mentorship for women and girls in overcoming gender-specific challenges. Business School Netherlands (BSN) celebrated the graduation of its MBA Class of 2023, consisting of 65 Action Learning and Transformation Leaders from Nigeria. The Head of Operations at PREMIUM TIMES, Oti Omatsone, was recognised as the Overall Best Graduate and achieved a distinction in her Masters Dissertation. BSN is a globally acclaimed provider of business education with accreditation from various bodies, and it has produced over 7,000 MBA and Executive MBA graduates working in numerous countries and organisations. The BSN MBA programme is inviting prospective students to enrol in its prestigious programme. The next batch is set to begin, and the deadline for registration is November 30, 2023. Interested individuals are encouraged to fill out an inquiry form for more information and assistance with the application process. Germany is known for offering tuition-free higher education at many universities, making it an attractive destination for international students. This post lists several top universities in Germany where international students can pursue their education without tuition fees, covering a wide range of academic disciplines. Scholarships and funding opportunities are also available to help alleviate other expenses, making Germany a welcoming and cost-effective study destination. BUSINESS Africas wealthiest individual, Aliko Dangote, was among the prominent figures who attended the 2023 World Bank Group and IMF Annual Meetings in Marrakech, Morocco. The event took place from October 9 to 15. The event featured global finance and business leaders, government officials, and civil society representatives and addressed critical global issues. The presence of influential figures, including Moroccos Prime Minister and philanthropist Mo Ibrahim underscored the significance of this years meetings. Oil and Gas The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has praised the Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, for initiating the Abia Industrial Innovation Park (AIIP) in Ukwa West Local Government Area. The NCDMBs Executive Secretary, Simbi Wabote, highlighted the parks potential to attract national and international investors and stimulate industrial production. He emphasised the importance of implementing policies and mechanisms to reduce production costs and promote a robust manufacturing sector. The AIIP is expected to include various facilities such as a technology innovation centre, a vehicle assembly plant, a power plant, and more. The Nigerian oil and gas industry is set to benefit from increased crude oil production, job creation, and capital injection due to planned asset divestments by international oil and gas companies and their acquisition by Nigerian operating firms, according to Simbi Wabote, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB). He highlighted opportunities such as new capital injection and technological advancements while acknowledging challenges including regulatory approvals, political, legal, and community interests, and the need for the new investors to recoup their investments promptly. The Executive Secretary has also cautioned against a reduction in compliance with the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act and a decrease in tax revenue as a result of the divestment of onshore assets by international oil and gas companies to Nigerian operating companies. He noted that while these divestments indicate the growth of Nigerian content development, local firms should be compelled to comply with the law to ensure Nigerian content compliance and tax remittance. Oando PLC, an indigenous African energy solutions provider, was a lead sponsor at the 29th edition of Africa Oil Week, held from 9 to 13 October in Cape Town, South Africa. The theme of the event was Maximising Africas Natural Resources in the Global Energy Transition, and brought together industry experts, government officials, and energy companies to discuss the continents energy future. Oandos Chief Operating Officer, Ainojie Irune, participated in interviews and panel discussions, sharing insights on the companys approach to developing Africas natural resources and its commitment to clean and renewable energy sources. A Y M Shafa Holdings Ltd, an indigenous oil and gas company, has inaugurated a multi-million-dollar gas plant in Navy Town, Ojo, Lagos State. The plant is a joint venture with Admiralty Exchange Ltd and aims to provide residents with easy access to Liquified Natural Gas (LPG), commonly known as cooking gas. The Executive Director of Business Development, A Y M Shafa Holdings Limited, Musa Yahaya, assured residents of uninterrupted and safe LPG supply. Telecommunications The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) has reinstated regulatory services for Globacom Limited, a licensee, following the clearance of its unpaid Spectrum Fees, Numbering Fees, and Annual Operating Levy (AOL) debts. The NCC had initially suspended these services due to the companys non-payment but has now withdrawn enforcement actions after the debt was settled. The recent award of 25 MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) licenses in Nigeria is expected to boost the countrys economy and reduce the digital divide. The introduction of MVNOs will bring connectivity and mobile services to underserved areas, create jobs, and offer competitive pricing, according to Juan Carlos Buitrago, Chief Sales Officer of JSC Ingenium, a telecommunications engineering company. The MVNOs are focusing on providing 4G and 5G services while transitioning from legacy networks. These new players aim to meet the growing demand for mobile connectivity in the country and provide differentiated services to compete effectively in the sector. IHS Towers, a major player in global shared communications infrastructure, highlighted its role in elevating Nigerias presence in the global telecommunications market during a meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the United Nations General Assembly. The company, operating in 11 countries across three continents and impacting over 750 million people, emphasised its growth from a Nigerian startup to a global telecommunications giant with close to 40,000 towers globally. The Nigerian Information Technology Reporters Association (NITRA) praised Umar Danbatta, the former Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), for his remarkable leadership and accomplishments in the countrys telecom sector. They credited Danbatta with transforming the sector, attracting significant investments, and boosting its contribution to Nigerias GDP to 16 per cent. They highlighted his adoption of 5G technology, licensing SpaceX for Starlink broadband services, and the sectors growth in telephone, internet, and broadband users. NITRA called for the replication of telecom sector success in other industries for Nigerias economic growth. Mobile Telephony The PHANTOM V Flip 5G by TECNO offers five compelling reasons to consider it as your next smartphone choice: its pocket-friendly design, innovative Planet Screen, exceptional photography capabilities, long-lasting battery with quick charging, and exciting gifts with a zero-interest offer through EasyBuy, making it an enticing and convenient lifestyle upgrade. Xiaomis latest smartphone, the Xiaomi 13T, introduces cutting-edge features for photography and performance. It features a 50MP humanistic lens for exceptional portrait photography, 4K ultra night video capabilities, and an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance. Powered by the Dimensity 8200-Ultra chipset, it offers seamless multitasking and energy efficiency. With a 5000mAh battery and 67W fast charging, it ensures long-lasting performance. The Xiaomi 13T showcases Xiaomis commitment to accessible high-quality technology. Agriculture Agro Preciso Ltd, a leading African Agro-business and Precision Agriculture company has appointed Tombari Sibe as Chairman of its Board of Directors. Mr Sibe, a seasoned technology executive and business leader with over 20 years of experience, will leverage his expertise to enhance the companys position as a key player in the agro-business and technology sector. Gambling The casino industry in South Africa has experienced significant growth, with a particular emphasis on online casinos. Factors contributing to this success include increased access to high-quality online casinos, improved internet speeds, and the proliferation of smartphones. Positive gambling regulations and government support have also facilitated industry expansion. While economic challenges exist, the South African casino market is expected to continue growing, with a predicted compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.7 per cent until 2032, potentially doubling the current market size. Investment and interest from foreign firms demonstrate a positive outlook for the industry. Others Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) and its partner OPS-WASH have inaugurated modern sanitary facilities in Lagos, Nigeria, as part of their commitment to water sanitation and hygiene. These facilities aim to address open defecation issues, benefitting around five million people annually. NBC is also launching similar facilities in other Nigerian locations, contributing to achieving the UNs Sustainable Development Goal 6 and promoting better health, hygiene, and environmental sustainability. The initiative aligns with NBCs Mission 2025 sustainability commitments and supports the Federal Governments mission to end open defecation in Nigeria by 2025. Buying a WAEC result checker PIN online in Nigeria has become more convenient and secure. Users can purchase the unique code through e-commerce websites, such as Jumia, Konga, Quickteller, and more. This method offers benefits like convenience, anti-fraud measures, and cost-effectiveness. After purchase, the PIN is sent via email or SMS, allowing access to WAEC results. Tips for effective use include checking the codes accuracy, safeguarding it, using a stable internet connection, and avoiding suspicious websites and emails. Its crucial to use the PIN within the specified time frame to prevent it from becoming invalid. Choosing a reliable trading provider in South Africa involves considering several factors. Firstly, check for regulation and licensing by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) to ensure the broker adheres to ethical regulations. Secondly, evaluate the trading platform for user-friendliness and compatibility with different devices. Additionally, research the brokers reputation through reviews and feedback. Consider the trading options offered, currency options, and minimum deposit requirements. Lastly, assess the brokers customer support channels and responsiveness. These factors can help traders make an informed decision when selecting a trading provider. The O B Lulu-Briggs Foundation celebrated its 22nd anniversary with a high blood pressure awareness program, providing free screenings, medication, and blood pressure monitors to nearly 400 people in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. The event aimed to raise awareness about hypertension, or high blood pressure, and promote preventive health measures. The Chairman of the foundation, Seinye Lulu-Briggs, expressed gratitude for the Foundations successes over the past 22 years and its commitment to uplifting underserved communities through various initiatives, including healthcare and education. Catriona Laing, the former British High Commissioner to Nigeria, was celebrated for her leadership in promoting inclusivity, diversity, and talent development. During her tenure, she encouraged collaboration and learning at all levels of the hierarchy and participated in a Reverse Mentoring Scheme, fostering development and knowledge-sharing. Laings commitment to empowering staff and her engagement in reverse mentoring reflect her inclusive leadership style. Mentor Ijemamaka Ovia underscores the importance of pursuing ones dreams and emphasises that with determination and support, success is attainable. The Imo Deputy Speaker, Amarachi Iwuanyanwu, praised Governor Hope Uzodinma for his commitment to facilitating employment abroad for 4,000 Imo youths. Mr Uzodinma had announced plans to send these youth to Europe for employment opportunities, and Mr Iwuanyanwu supported this initiative, emphasising the normalcy of seeking opportunities abroad. He commended the governors vision and encouraged others to see past initial scepticism, stating that history is filled with leaders who were initially misunderstood but later achieved great success. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 16. Azerbaijan and Russia have reached an agreement on strengthening cooperation in the field of standardization and metrology, Trend reports. According to the State Service for Antimonopoly and Consumer Market Supervision under the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan, head of the State Service Mammad Abbasbeyli met with a delegation led by head of the Federal Agency for Technical Regulation and Metrology of the Russian Federation (Rosstandart) Anton Shalayev in Baku, Azerbaijan. The parties agreed to provide access to more than 39,000 documents stored in the Russian Federal Information Fund on Standards in order to directly apply the new standards in Azerbaijan. In addition, the parties agreed on joint activities towards the creation of new laboratories and improvement of existing laboratories at the Azerbaijan Metrology Institute. The meeting highlighted the importance of transition to digital technologies in the relevant areas, digitalization of work processes and creation of automated information systems, as well as exchange of experience between the countries. The head of Rosstandart, Anton Shalayev, said that the implementation of joint projects in the relevant sphere would contribute to the development of cooperative relations between the agencies. Acting Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Dr Zacch Adedeji, has tasked staff of the agency to key into his vision of making the revenue body one which rests on accuracy of data for its operations and has merit as its signpost. Adedeji also said the FIRS under his leadership will entrench and maintain the highest standards of transparency and accountability. He stated that having a data-driven system that makes revenue target predictable is a precondition for the realisation of the fiscal projections of government for economic development. The chairman spoke on Monday during a familiarisation visit to the Ikoyi office of FIRS in Lagos where he met with top management staff. The purpose of the meeting, according to him, is to get first-hand information from field officers, address challenges being faced by them as well as align their inputs with his strategic action plan for the agency. We can play with everything, but what we cannot afford to play with, if we are going to succeed, are data and merit. There is nothing like fiscal discipline except you have accurate revenue prediction. This is because if you say you want to spend N10 and be disciplined with it, that means the N10 must be somewhere. We have an audacious vision of accelerated revenue collection and achieving an 18% tax-to-GDP ratio in the next three years to ensure financial sustainability and reduce the nations reliance on borrowing. This aligns with the FIRS vision of making taxation the pivot of national development. Accordingly, my vision for the future of FIRS is rooted in efficient service delivery, transparency, and innovation. You must bear in mind that our primary mission is to serve the people of Nigeria and we will do so with a renewed commitment to service excellence. Every Nigerian taxpayer and other stakeholders deserve to experience efficient and courteous service when dealing with us. We will work to simplify our processes, reduce bureaucratic hurdles, and enhance customer service at every level. I understand that trust is essential in tax administration and will strive to build a culture of transparency and accountability. The FIRS chairman commended the staff of the agency for their dedication to duty, charging them to redouble effort at raising the bar in revenue target. I would also like to take this moment to acknowledge the tremendous work done by the dedicated staff of the service. Your commitment to duty, professionalism and hard work have been pivotal in ensuring the financial stability of our great nation. It is also pertinent to admonish that FIRS, under my leadership, will not condone any acts of indiscipline and corruption by staff. Unauthorised release of official or taxpayers information, rumour-mongering and mischievous distortion of facts, absence from work and other acts of misconduct will not be tolerated, he added. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The police in Akwa Ibom State, South-south Nigeria, have arrested a 23-year-old man for allegedly killing his mother. The incident happened Uruk Uso Otoro community in Abak Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. The police spokesperson in Akwa Ibom, Odiko Macdon, who disclosed this in a statement on Monday, identified the suspect as Akaniyene Isaac. He said the suspect was arrested on 11 October and that he had confessed to the crime. READ ALSO: During interrogation, the suspect confessed to the crime and alleged that his mother failed to give him food for three days; hence, he used a machete to inflict grievous injuries on her, leading to her death, Mr Macdon, a superintendent of police, said in the statement. The victim has been identified as Christiana Isaac, 55. The police did not, however, mention when the crime was committed. Suspect will have his day in court as soon as investigation is concluded, the police spokesperson said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Lagos State government has issued a seven-day vacation order to all motorists and commercial bus drivers operating on some bridges across the state. The Special Adviser to the state governor on Transportation Sola Giwa issued the order, Adebayo Taofiq, LASTMA spokesperson said in a statement on Monday. The order takes effect from Monday, 16 October. Every motorist/commercial bus driver operating along Apongbon and Idumota (Cater) Bridges, Elegbata:, Ebute-Ero and Ejalonibu must as a matter of urgency vacate these areas as LASTMA would commence strict enforcement operation immediately after the expiration of this ultimatum until zero tolerance is achieved across the state, Mr Giwa said. The order is based on the need to remove every infraction impeding the free flow of traffic on bridges across the state. Mr Giwa said that despite several warnings, Lagos motorists have continued to defy government order thereby causing serious obstructions around these bridges with great negative impacts on the integrity of the bridges and traffic. He said the present administration is expending huge resources for the construction of standard bus terminals, and garages for commercial activities in every part of the state. He further said the activities of these motorists on the bridges are contrary to provisions of the Lagos State Transport Sector Reform Law 2018 as amended. The special adviser noted that after the expiration of the ultimatum, any vehicle found to have contravened the order would be immediately charged to the states mobile court for prosecution. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Copyright 2023 - Todos los derechos reservados SINGAPORE, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading global consulting firm capSpire is thrilled to announce its strategic expansion into the Singapore market, further solidifying its position as a key player in the energy and commodities industry. This move marks a significant milestone in capSpire's ongoing commitment to providing innovative solutions and unparalleled industry expertise to clients across the Asia-Pacific region. With a track record of delivering cutting-edge consulting and technology solutions, capSpire is poised to bring its extensive industry knowledge and strategies to Singapore, bolstering the region's energy and commodities sector. This expansion represents a natural progression, as the city-state stands at the crossroads of the world's fastest-growing economies. capSpire's International Managing Director, Dave Webb, stated, "We are excited to establish a presence in Singapore, a dynamic and pivotal market in the energy and commodities landscape. This move reflects our dedication to serving our clients with both global and localized expertise and fostering lasting partnerships in the region." capSpire is renowned for its comprehensive suite of services like advisory, technology solutions, and managed servicesdesigned to optimize business operations, increase efficiency, and drive growth. By combining industry-specific expertise with advanced technology, capSpire empowers clients to navigate complex challenges and capitalize on emerging opportunities. "This is a strategic, pivotal move to establish a global presence in key energy and commodity trading hubs around the world. It reinforces our commitment to 'Global Presence, Local Expertise,' offering clients the critical expertise, strategic locations, and time zone advantages they need for their global commodity operations," said capSpire Chief Executive Officer Jim Kiser. Singapore represents the latest step in capSpire's global expansion following significant growth across USA, Canada, Europe, India, and Australia. The company remains committed to upholding core values of integrity, innovation, and client-centricity - providing tailored solutions that address the unique needs of every market it enters. To learn more about capSpire and its expansion into Singapore, please contact info@capspire.com. About capSpire capSpire is a consulting and solutions company solving difficult business and technology problems for commodity-reliant organizations across the globe. The company is a trusted partner to businesses focused on achieving greater transparency and reduced operational risk, increased business efficiencies, and improved return on their process and technology investments. capSpire Contact: Dave Webb dave.webb@capSpire.com +353 87 314 0142 Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1736321/capSpire_Logo_MarkUpdate_RGB_Logo.jpg BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 16. The National Housing Fund of Iran is in talks with 10 foreign companies to develop housing projects in Iran, said Mohammad Reza Esmaeili, the head of the board of the National Housing Fund of Iran, Trend reports. Esmaeili said that the companies are from Asia and Europe and that the aim is to use advanced technology and lower the construction costs. He also noted that the National Housing Fund of Iran wants to leverage international opportunities to boost the countrys economy and encourage local contractors. Esmaeili added that the Iranian Ministry of Roads and Urban Development is working with domestic companies to build housing projects and that it prioritizes local suppliers and contractors for the materials. As reported, the current government of Iran (which has been in power since August 2021) has planned to provide 4 million apartments in the country within the framework of the National Housing Action Plan. According to the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development of Iran, by the middle of 2022, the area for the construction of 2.8 million apartment buildings has been allocated. In particular, On September 27, 2023, the head of Irans Plan and Budget Organization, Davoud Manzoor, said that the National Development Fund of Iran is expected to allocate $2 billion for financing housing projects in Iran. --- Follow the author on X (Twitter):@BaghishovElnur iMAL latest version to accelerate digital transformation and deliver a seamless omnichannel experience SINGAPORE, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Azentio Software ("Azentio"), a Singapore-headquartered technology firm owned by funds advised by Apax Partners announced today that Yemen-based Tadhamon Bank, one of the largest Islamic financial institutions in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, upgraded to and is live with the latest version of iMAL, Azentio's industry-leading digital Islamic core banking platform. This cutting-edge version of iMAL with its key business functionalities and a flexible and agile core processing engine will accelerate Tadhamon Bank's transformation to a digitally advanced bank. iMAL's multi-threading proficiencies at various levels, will deliver high data volume processing capabilities and enable parallel processing of records. Its web services features will power seamless integration with multiple connected channels. These leading features will maximize agility in the bank's internal operations, enable interoperability across systems, facilitate business scalability, and speed up time to market for new products. The bank can drive digital innovation and resource efficiency to create new opportunities for its business. Qasem Mohammed, IT Manager at Tadhamon Bank, said, "Our bank has been running on iMAL since 2010. We acknowledge the contribution of the platform in our eventful and successful journey so far. Islamic banking is now on the cusp of a digital revolution, and in this context, with the upgrade to iMAL R14.5, we intend to leverage the best of digital banking features to meet the ever-rising expectations of our customers. The upgrade also includes several specific features that will help us smoothly adhere to the evolving regulatory regime governing Islamic finance, a critical requirement for us in a fiercely competitive segment." L Guru Raghavendran, Senior Vice President, Banking & Capital Markets at Azentio, added, "We take great pride in our enduring partnership with Tadhamon Bank and our role in their transformation into a leading Islamic financial services provider in the region. The bank's transition to iMAL R14.5, a cloud-ready solution built on an open platform with extensive functionalities, is poised to revolutionize digital banking for millions of customers while upholding the highest standards of Sharia compliance." Digital transformation is at the core of this upgrade. Tadhamon Bank can now serve more regions in Yemen without adding new physical branches and can better its service standards by offering frictionless customer experiences. iMAL is the first and only software certified by the Accounting & Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI). The R14.5 version is cloud-enabled, fully scalable with an n-tier architecture, and supports open banking and digital transformation; providing a truly omnichannel experience, by leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and other new technologies. Click here to learn more about iMAL. Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1978771/Azentio_Logo.jpg SOURCE Azentio Software Pvt Ltd TAIPEI, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Advantech has skillfully incorporated 13th Gen Intel Core processors across a wide array of products, setting new benchmarks for performance and capability. These enhanced solutions harness cutting-edge CPU architectures in their latest designs, delivering a noticeable performance boost over the previous processor generation. This upgrade significantly enhances application efficiency in smart factories, computer vision, intelligent retail, healthcare, and edge AI applications. At Advantech, we are unwavering in our commitment to providing long-term support, ensuring that customers can rely on our products for uninterrupted operation. Advantech Announces New Edge Computing Solutions Powered by 13th Gen Intel Core Processors (PRNewsfoto/Advantech) Advantech's new solutions offer Intel processors with up to 24 cores and 32 threads, up to 128GB of DDR5 memory, and a PCIe 4.0/5.0 x16 slot for efficient multitasking. Experience optimized productivity with Advantech's Embedded Design-In Services and quality solutions featuring industrial-grade components. Advantech's embedded OS and value-added software options include Windows, Ubuntu, and Yocto BSP, along with the Edge AI Suite for AI performance evaluation and DeviceOn for device management. Advantech products are equipped with 13th Gen Intel Core processors offer a significant performance boost with a 10% boost in overall performance, a 34% increase in concurrent content creation, and a 27% improvement in multitasking compared to the prior 12th Gen Intel Core processors. This substantial leap in performance greatly enhances AIoT application efficiency. Miller Chang, President of Advantech's Embedded-IoT Group, emphasized that Advantech has been collaborating closely with Intel for over a decade as a premier titanium-level partner. This partnership aims to advance their shared vision of creating a smarter planet. Advantech actively contributes to the design of Intel's latest processors, thereby expediting the development and release of Advantech's new products and solutions. Notes to Editors 13th Gen Intel Core Processors eDM: https://cutt.ly/iwmBn8rL About Advantech Founded in 1983, Advantech is a leading provider of trusted, innovative products, services, and solutions. Advantech offers comprehensive system integration, hardware, software, customer-centric design services, embedded systems, automation products, and global logistics support. We cooperate closely with our partners to provide complete solutions for a wide range of applications in diverse industries. Our mission is to enable an intelligent planet by developing automated and embedded computing products and solutions that facilitate smarter working and living. With Advantech products, the application and innovation potential becomes unlimited. (Corporate website: www.advantech.com) SOURCE Advantech Unanet will automate operations, create efficiencies and manage compliance as part of the company's vision for the future DULLES, Va., Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Unanet, the leading provider of project-based ERP and CRM for government contractors (GovCons), today announced that Draper has selected Unanet's GovCon ERP and CRM to provide the company with the modern business tools it needs to achieve its Draper NXT vision of innovation and growth for the next decade. Draper is a 50-year-old engineering innovation company based in Cambridge, Mass., with nine campuses nationwide. Draper develops space, biotechnology, strategic and electronic systems supporting national security. The company works with commercial, government and academic partners to develop technologies and capabilities to solve the nation's challenging problems and protect democracy. As the company anticipates doubling headcount and revenue in the next decade, it realized that its legacy, on-premise software was not modern or agile enough to support Draper's next chapter of innovation. Draper's employees were spending large amounts of time manually transferring and aggregating data from different systems. "A key component to achieving our Draper NXT vision of innovation within our 40 labs is being able to equip our people, who are dispersed across the country, to perform the critical work they do with the right tools and training that don't drag them down with manual processes," said Marjorie Quant, chief operating officer at Draper. "In our business environment, change happens fairly rapidly, and we must adapt quickly to develop innovative, mission-critical solutions for our customers," said Vanessa Bryan, principal director of corporate operations at Draper. "We needed the right modern business tools to adapt to these changes and seamlessly operate with our distributed workforce." After conducting an extensive search for ERP platforms, Draper's stakeholders, known for their expertise in research and testing, put Unanet and other software solutions through rigorous tests based on business use cases faced regularly by leadership and employees and rated them on a variety of factors such as ease of use and technical competency. As a government and commercial contractor, Draper looked for solutions that provided anytime, anywhere access to information, and controls to enhance cybersecurity, information protection and security standards. Draper ultimately chose Unanet's purpose-built solution based on its ability to provide real-time data access to all operations in an intuitive dashboard, helping drive forecasting, manage operations and guide strategic business decisions. "Unanet will be the nucleus of our business ecosystem that will help us automate, integrate and consolidate data into one intuitive dashboard. This will help us achieve efficiencies, consistency and compliance within our company from contract awards to contract closeouts and everything that happens in between," added Bryan. Like Draper, approximately 70% of GovCons reported experiencing growth last year, according to Unanet's most recent GAUGE Report, a widely referenced benchmarking analysis that highlights trends, best practices and business challenges for GovCons. Managing growth and resources are important reasons more GovCons are embracing Unanet. Its solutions offer resource management and forecasting insights that can enhance operational efficiency, facilitate informed decision-making and drive the achievement of strategic goals. Today, more than 2,000 GovCons have selected Unanet ERP GovCon and Unanet CRM because the solutions have the right mix of functionality and accessibility while also offering the ability to scale and grow seamlessly. To learn more about Unanet solutions for GovCon, please visit https://unanet.com/erp-for-govcon/overview/. About Unanet Unanet is a leading provider of project-based ERP and CRM solutions purpose-built for government contractors, architecture, engineering, construction, and professional services. More than 3,700 project-driven organizations depend on Unanet to turn their information into actionable insights, drive better decision-making, and accelerate business growth. All backed by a people-centered team invested in the success of your projects, people, and financials. For more information, visit www.unanet.com. About Draper As a nonprofit engineering innovation company, Draper serves the nation's interests and security needs; advances technologies at the intersection of government, academia, and industry; cultivates the next generation of innovators; and solves the most complex challenges. Multidisciplinary teams drawn from a broad and deep talent pool of 1,300 engineers and scientists collaborate to develop first-of-a-kind solutions. Draper's unbiased approach enables the company to focus on their customers' needs and to deliver new capabilities to them. Learn more at www.draper.com. SOURCE Unanet Two complementary organizations with iconic brands and deep American roots provide significant synergies to deliver on-trend designs, exceptional quality and service, and award-winning features MOUNTVILLE, Pa., Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- AHF Products, a leading manufacturer of hard surface flooring in North America, is pleased to announce that it has purchased assets of Crossville, Inc., from the Curran Group, a family-owned, privately-held company. This acquisition catapults AHF into an industry-leading position in the fast-growing tile sector, with a comprehensive line of porcelain, ceramic, stone, and accessories for both residential and commercial applications in interior and exterior floors, walls, and countertops. With 15 distinct brands and dozens of product collections spanning hardwood, vinyl, laminate, and now tile, AHF has added to its stable of product offerings in the hard surface category. AHF President & CEO Brian Carson said he was drawn to Crossville for many reasons namely, strong customer relationships; the U.S. manufacturing and product design strength; and, importantly, the company's winning culture. For Carson, acquiring Crossville adds a vital piece to AHF's strategic platform. "Crossville is one of the most highly regarded brands in commercial and residential tile products, with widespread distribution, premium products, and a blue-chip customer base," said Carson. "Adding a well-known and trusted brand like Crossville is a terrific complement to our legacy brands which include Bruce and Armstrong Flooring. Today, we are a more valuable supplier because we can package the high-touch service that our customers know us for with an even more diverse product offering." "We knew that AHF Products was the perfect fit, and the best path forward for our employees and customers. We looked for characteristics that aligned with our culture and core values. AHF and Crossville share a dedication to upholding the high standards and valued services that have shaped both of our businesses throughout the years," said Greg Mather, President & CEO, Crossville. "This is truly a win-win outcome for everyone involved." Established in 1986 as America's first large-format porcelain tile manufacturer, Crossville, located in Tennessee, is a leading American manufacturer of beautiful, sustainable porcelain materials that advance the frontiers of tile design and performance. From producing the nation's first large-format porcelain tiles, to becoming the first and only net consumer of tile waste materials (meaning they recycle more than they produce), to developing cutting-edge performance innovations in surfacing solutions, Crossville has been at the forefront of innovation in the tile industry. AHF Products has a long legacy of outstanding domestic production, tracing back to 1884 with Bruce hardwood and even earlier with the Armstrong Flooring brand. "The addition of the Crossville plants and 28 company owned Studios will strengthen our domestic footprint and grow our U.S. capabilities," said Carson. This will be a seamless transition for customers. AHF Products and the Crossville team will invest in the Crossville brand to expand its product offering and reach. Carson added, "Collectively, we will be a stronger, more capable organization with the ability to serve all our customers more effectively." With five acquisitions in less than five years, AHF has significantly increased its product and service offerings for both the residential and commercial markets, has built a world-class organization, and is investing in state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities. Headquartered in Mountville, Pennsylvania, with the acquisition of the Crossville assets, AHF now operates 13 facilities 12 in the U.S. and one in Cambodia and has grown to over 3000 employees. AHF previously acquired LM Flooring in 2019, followed by the Parterre and American OEM brands in 2021 and then Armstrong Flooring in 2022. The Crossville asset purchase is the latest for AHF Products as it continues to grow both organically and through acquisitions, continuing a strategy of serving its customers through sought-after products, outstanding service, and innovation. About AHF Products AHF Products is a leading hard surface flooring manufacturer in the USA with a family of trusted brands serving the residential and commercial hardwood and vinyl flooring markets. With decades of experience in award-winning flooring design, product development, manufacturing, and service, we create quality flooring to last for generations through inspiring designs, innovation, and a deep commitment to outstanding customer service. Our residential flooring brands include Bruce, Armstrong Flooring, Hartco, Robbins, LM Flooring , Capella, HomerWood, Hearthwood, Raintree, Autograph, Emily Morrow Home and tmbr. Our commercial brands include Bruce Contract, Hartco Contract, AHF Contract, Armstrong Flooring and Parterre. Headquartered in Mountville, Pennsylvania, with manufacturing operations across the United States and in Cambodia, AHF Products employs over 3,000 dedicated team members. www.AHFProducts.com Armstrong Flooring and the Armstrong Flooring logo are under license from AWI Licensing, LLC. All other marks belong to AHF, LLC, its affiliates, or subsidiaries. All rights reserved. SOURCE AHF Products One charismatic bartender will win $10,000 and grace the cover of Bartender Magazine in the name of charity. PHOENIX, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Colossal, known as the global leader in fundraising through online competitions for charities, proudly opened registration for the launch of its maiden Bar Boss bartending competition. From cask to keg, cocktail to mocktail, Colossal is searching for one beloved bartender to win $10,000 and a feature on the cover of Bartender Magazine. Colossal is searching for one bartender to win $10,000 and a feature on the cover of Bartender Magazine. Proceeds from the competition will benefit the Kind Campaign, an internationally recognized nonprofit that brings awareness and healing to the adverse and lasting effects of girl-against-girl bullying. Dos Hombres, an artisanal mezcal made from the legendary craftsmanship of multiple generations of proud mezcal producers and a brand owned by award-winning actors and producers Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston, chose to assist the Kind Campaign for two crucial reasons. Not only is the nonprofit's mission compelling, but it was also the primary aim of the Kind Campaign's co-founder and Aaron's wife, Lauren, and her fellow co-founder, Molly Thompson. "It's a thrill for Colossal to join forces with an established brand like Dos Hombres to launch our inaugural bartending competition," Colossal CEO Mary Hagen said. "Aaron and Bryan have already proven to be more than generous with their time and dedication in sponsoring this competition and the Kind Campaign's mission to combat bullying. Our number of participants and charitable donations continue to increase yearly, so we hope this competition will be among our most impactful now and in the future." "Aaron and Bryan are always looking for creative ways for Dos Hombres to assist those in need," Dos Hombres VP of National Accounts Lyndsey Conrad said. "Since the Kind Campaign is an organization near and dear to their hearts and Colossal has been so successful in fundraising for other major brands and charities, it was only natural to combine forces." After the online competition, the victorious bartender will capture a prize package that includes $10,000 and feature on the cover of Bartender Magazine. In addition, Bartender Magazine will honor a second participant of its choosing as the Master Mixologist, awarding a half-page spread to the bartender with the ultimate recipe and photo presentation. Those eligible can register for free at https://barboss.org/ to become the first-ever Bar Boss! ABOUT COLOSSAL: Colossal is the global leader in online competitions, with one of the most effective fundraising platforms available for charities that lack the bandwidth to operate large-scale campaigns. Bar Boss serves as a fundraising campaign for DTCare, a United States 501(c)(3) public charity organization, which will grant donations to the Kind Campaign at the completion of the competition. Click here to learn more about the donation process, and visit colossal.org for more information on everything Colossal. MEDIA CONTACT Colossal PR Manager Anne-Marie Pritchett Phone: 602-633-4163; Email: [email protected] SOURCE Colossal Management, LLC WASHINGTON, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sikyong Penpa Tsering, the democratically elected political leader of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile (formally known as the Central Tibetan Administration) will address the National Press Club at a Headliners Newsmaker event at 2 p.m. on Oct. 18. Penpa Tsering will speak about Tibet's geopolitical relevance, its spiritual and cultural impact, and effects of Chinese President Xi Jinping's "One China" policy, which threatens to extinguish Tibetan identity. Freedom House has designated Tibet, alongside Syria, as the world's "least free" country. Tsering, who has held the office of sikyong, or political leader, since May 27, 2021, was born in a Tibetan refugee settlement in Southern India. He joined the Tibetan freedom movement in college and was elected to Tibet's parliament-in-exile in 1996. He served as speaker of the parliament from 2008 to 2016. He subsequently served as the representative of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile in North America, engaging with Congress and top administration offices to resolve the Sino-Tibet conflict. This Headliners event is open to credentialed media and club members. Registration is essential. Register on the National Press Club's website here. 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]; 202-662-7528 SOURCE National Press Club NEW YORK, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Fine Arts Logistics Market size is expected to grow by USD 841.25 million, accelerating at a CAGR of 4.3% during the forecast period. The growth of the fine arts logistics market is significantly influenced by the rise of online retail and e-commerce channels. This trend is particularly in developing countries, where there is a surge in online sales. As a result, practitioners in the fine arts industry are leveraging their own online platforms to offer their products at competitive prices. These online portals provide a distinct advantage, allowing for a wider reach through effective advertising and promotions, as well as providing comprehensive product details to potential customers. The market is segmented by End-user (Art dealers and galleries, Auction houses, Museum and art fair, and Others), Type (Transportation, Storage, Packaging, and Others), and Geography (North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and Middle East and Africa). The report analyses the market size and growth and provides accurate predictions on the growth of the market. Buy the report now Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Fine Arts Logistics Market 2023-2027 Fine Arts Logistics Market 2023 2027: Key Highlights: The report recognizes the following as some of the key players in the fine arts logistics market: Asian Logistics Agencies Srl, CONVELIO SAS, Crown Worldwide Group, Deutsche Bahn AG, Deutsche Post AG, DMS International Ltd., FedEx Corp., Fidelis Packers and Movers, Globe Moving and Storage Co. Pvt. Ltd., Gulf Warehousing Co. Q.P.S.C., hasenkamp Holding GmbH, Katolec Corp., Lotus Fine Arts, Nippon Express Holdings Inc., Rangel Invest Investimentos Logisticos S.A., SOS Global GmbH, Star Worldwide Group Pvt. Ltd., United Artlogistics Pvt. Ltd., Vulcan Fine Art, and Writer Business Services Pvt. Ltd. Fine Arts Logistics Market is fragmented in nature. Market to observe 3.99% YOY growth in 2023. Fine Arts Logistics Market 2023 2027: Market Dynamics: Trend Rising demand for integrated fine arts logistics services, including event logistics, supply chain solutions, and value-added services. Services encompass sorting, packaging, and delivery of fine arts items, site research and selection, stage set-up, travel management, event planning, and onsite infrastructure. Increasing preference for one-stop solutions from fine arts logistics market players to streamline tasks and eliminate outsourcing complexities. Fine arts galleries, dealers, and auction houses are outsourcing logistics to specialized providers for efficient handling of delicate art products, driving market growth. Challenge Stringent government regulations and taxes are a significant obstacle to fine arts logistics market growth. Increased regulations include zoning permits, taxation, homeland security compliance, federal driver safety rules, and fuel taxes. In Russia , the Cultural Property Export and Import Act restricts the movement of artworks over 50 years old, impacting the market. , the Cultural Property Export and Import Act restricts the movement of artworks over 50 years old, impacting the market. These regulations are anticipated to have a detrimental effect on market expansion during the forecast period. The report also covers information on upcoming trends and challenges. Explore detailed information, View Free PDF Sample report now Fine Arts Logistics Market 2023 2027: Key Segments: During the forecast period, the art dealers and galleries segment is expected to experience substantial growth. Fine art galleries are enhancing the prestige and value of fine art products, consequently elevating their overall market value. Fine arts dealers continue to play a significant role in facilitating the connection between fine art products, buyers, and sellers, catering to established collectors as well as new enthusiasts. Over the past decade, private sales of fine art products through dealers and galleries have been significant, driving the demand for fine arts logistics services. Get a glance at the market contribution of the segments, Request Free Sample Report Here Related Reports: Road Logistics Market: The global road logistics market size is estimated to grow by USD 782.97 billion between 2022 and 2027 exhibiting a CAGR of 3.59%. Freight Logistics Market: The freight logistics market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 5.74% between 2022 and 2027. The size of the market is forecast to increase by USD 319.65 million. TOC: Executive Summary Market Landscape Market Sizing Historic Market Sizes Five Forces Analysis Market Segmentation by End-User Market Segmentation by Type Market Segmentation by Geography Customer Landscape Geographic Landscape Drivers, Challenges, & Trends Company Landscape Company Analysis Appendix About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provide actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning 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 GROTON, Conn., Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- General Dynamics Electric Boat, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), announced today it was awarded a $217 million contract for long lead time material associated with the construction of Virginia-class submarines SSN 814 and SSN 815. General Dynamics Electric Boat, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), announced today it was awarded a $217 million contract for long lead time material associated with the construction of Virginia-class submarines SSN 814 and SSN 815. "This contract will enable Electric Boat to begin the acquisition of critical material and components for submarines that require substantial lead time to manufacture and deliver," said Kevin Graney, president of General Dynamics Electric Boat. "Advanced procurement is essential to achieve the high-rate production the Navy requires of the submarine industrial base. A consistent demand signal is necessary for our suppliers to invest in and grow their operations." General Dynamics Electric Boat is the prime contractor and lead design yard for the Virginia class and constructs the ships in a teaming arrangement with HII's Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia. General Dynamics Electric Boat designs, builds, repairs and modernizes nuclear submarines for the U.S. Navy. Headquartered in Groton, Connecticut, the company employs more than 21,500 people. 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. SOURCE General Dynamics Sip to Save a Life at this years Pink and Black Fundraiser Gala HOUSTON, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In a world where breast cancer disparities continue to affect Black women at a disproportionate rate, the challenges often extend beyond medical diagnoses. It's not just about access to healthcare, but also about overcoming financial barriers that hinder timely and necessary treatments. LaShelle, a strong individual who's no stranger to these challenges, has faced the substantial financial burden of exorbitant insurance premiums. Unfortunately, these premiums have left her unable to cover the costs of vital medical treatments, including addressing neuropathy and a mastectomy procedure. But in the midst of adversity, there's a beacon of hope as Google Executive Dr. Jacque Colbert, has made a commitment to the cause through her actions. Stories like LaShelle are one of many that need assistance as it relates to Breast Cancer Treatment and crucial financial resources for day-to-day living expenses. Dr Jacque Colbert is exploring diverse avenues to ensure that LaShelle and others like her are able to receive the critical medication and procedures required. Google Executive Dr. Jacque Colbert advocates to help Black Women get Breast Cancer Treatment Dr. Jacque Colbert, the Founder of Sipping PositiviTEA, a Non-profit organization based in Houston, TX, annually hosts its signature Fundraiser Gala , a glittering event that extends beyond celebration to provide critical support for women in need of mammograms and financial assistance. Last year's Gala featured an inspiring keynote address from Mathew Knowles, a breast cancer survivor himself, who shared his journey and emphasized the importance of early detection. This year, the Gala promises to be an unforgettable evening with special guest Chef Dawn Burrell from Top Chef and more joining the cause. Every penny from the event, a full 100% of the proceeds, is dedicated to supporting breast cancer patients and survivors, ensuring that every sip contributes to the cause . Sipping PositiviTEA, founded in 2022, has embarked on an incredible journey, raising over $30,000 in a mere 30 days since its inception. Dr. Jacque Colbert, a breast cancer survivor of 15 years, conceived this organization from a deep-seated desire to help those in need and work tirelessly towards the eradication of breast cancer. Her mission is as clear as it is resolute: "We aim to eradicate Breast Cancer one Sip at a Time." The impact of Sipping PositiviTEA transcends the Gala . In 2023, the organization initiated a compassionate mission by introducing the Breast Cancer Angel program. This visionary initiative is designed to provide support and a lifeline to women facing breast cancer who may not find assistance through conventional breast cancer organizations like "The Rose." This year's chosen Angel is LaShelle Scott, a resilient individual navigating the challenging path of breast cancer treatment. Dr. Jacque Colbert, the founder of Sipping PositiviTEA, emphasizes, "Our mission is clear we're 'Sipping to Save a Life.' Every sip, every smile, and every generous contribution brings us one step closer to eradicating the burdens of breast cancer and offering a lifeline to those in need. With the Pink and Black Fundraiser Gala, we're not just celebrating life; we're saving it. The Pink and Black Fundraiser Gala is not just an event; it's a celebration of strength, unity, and the unwavering commitment to 'Sip to Save a Life.' Your presence and support can make a life-changing difference. For more information about Sipping PositiviTEA and the Pink and Black Fundraiser Gala or to make a donation, please visit www.sippingpositiviTEA.org. To inquire about Zoom/Skype interviews contact LaToya Hurley with Innovating Marketing Group, email [email protected] or at 346-980-9062. About Dr Jacque Colbert/ Sipping PositiviTEA Dr Jacque Colbert is the Founder of 501c3 Sipping PositiviTEA, a nonprofit organization focused on the eradication of Breast Cancer. The company's intentional mission is to inform, educate, and empower women, men, and families impacted by breast cancer and related illnesses through financial support during diagnosis and treatment as well as aftercare and educational content, and partner organization collaboration. Press Contact: LaToya Hurley, 3469809062, https://www.InnovatingMarketingGroup.com SOURCE Sipping PositiviTEA DUBLIN, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Automotive Door Handles Market by Type, Handle Type, Vehicle Type, Sales Channel, and Region 2023-2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global automotive door handles market, valued at US$ 4.42 billion in 2022, is poised for continued growth, with expectations to reach US$ 5.84 billion by 2028. This projected expansion reflects a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5.00% during the forecast period from 2023 to 2028. Key factors fueling this growth include increasing demand for passenger vehicles, rising investments in research and development, and technological advancements within the automotive industry. Automotive Door Handles: Functionality Meets Aesthetics Automotive door handles are mechanical devices used for the opening and closing of vehicle doors. Typically located on the vehicle's exterior, these handles serve both functional and aesthetic purposes. Modern automotive door handles are designed to be durable and visually appealing, often crafted from materials such as plastic, metal, carbon fiber, or aluminum. They may feature additional functionalities, including keyless entry, sensors for hands-free operation, and automatic door opening and closing. Market Trends and Drivers Several key trends and drivers are influencing the growth of the automotive door handles market: Increased Demand for Passenger Vehicles: A global rise in disposable income, urbanization, and changing lifestyles has driven an uptick in demand for passenger vehicles. Advanced Materials: Manufacturers are introducing lightweight door handles made of advanced materials like carbon fiber, aluminum, and magnesium, aimed at enhancing fuel efficiency and reducing emissions. Customization: Consumer preferences for customized vehicles have led to the availability of door handles in various colors, finishes, and designs, particularly in luxury car segments. Technological Advancements: The automotive industry's continual technological advancements, including electric vehicles and autonomous driving technologies, have prompted the development of compatible door handles. These may include sensors for proximity detection and automatic unlocking. Safety Regulations: Governments worldwide are enforcing stringent safety regulations, mandating high-quality door handles capable of withstanding impacts and preventing ejections during collisions, thus driving the demand for advanced door handles. Market Segmentation The global automotive door handles market is segmented based on the following criteria: Type Insights: Exterior Door Handles Interior Door Handles Exterior and interior door handles represent the primary segments within this category. Handle Type Insights: Mechanical Automatic The handle type segment includes mechanical and automatic handles, with mechanical handles currently holding the largest market share. Vehicle Type Insights: Passenger Vehicles Commercial Vehicles This category encompasses passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles, with passenger vehicles dominating the market. Sales Channel Insights: Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Aftermarket Sales channels include original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and aftermarket, with OEM accounting for the largest market share. Regional Insights The Asia Pacific region leads the global automotive door handles market, driven by its expanding automotive industry, surging sales of electric vehicles, and growing adoption of eco-friendly materials. North America, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa also contribute significantly to the market. Competitive Landscape Key players in the global automotive door handles market include ALPHA Corporation, CI Car International Pvt. Ltd., Huf Hulsbeck & Furst GmbH & Co. KG, HUSHAN Autoparts Inc., MinebeaMitsumi Inc., Sakae Riken Kogyo Co. Ltd., Sandhar Technologies Limited, TriMark Corporation, Xin Point Corporation, and others. These companies invest in research and development, expand their facilities, and engage in collaborations to offer innovative solutions and broaden their service portfolios. For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/sjou9r 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 Orlando buzzes with anticipation as 'Triple Digit Flip' stars hint at a monumental reveal during VIP gathering in Orlando. PHOENIX, Ariz., Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Pace Morby and Jamil Damji, Founder in globally recognized mentorship courses, AstroFlipping and SubTo , and A&E Co-stars of 'Triple Digit Flip' are rumored to be hosting an exclusive VIP party in Orlando, Florida this evening. The duo is rumored to be making a special announcement at the event that's said to be a major industry disruption. Post this Pace Morby & Jamil Damji (2023) The event is being held at the Ice Bar Orlando, and promises an evening of networking, industry insights, and community-building. This exclusive invite is extended to select key insiders within the REI & entrepreneurship space, as well as tenured members of both the AstroFlipping and SubTo communities, providing an exceptional opportunity to connect with like-minded entrepreneurs and investors. AstroFlipping and SubTo members, in particular, will have the privilege of mingling with Pace, Jamil, and other celebrities and influencers in the space, gaining priceless insights into their successful real estate journeys. Alongside the special guests and exciting networking opportunities this elusive event will provide, the dynamic duo is rumored to be making a special announcement at the event that's said to be a major industry disruption. Jamil Damji, Co-founder of Key Glee, the world's largest Real Estate franchising company and brand visionary for mentorship program, AstroFlipping; a real estate investing program that houses near 5,000 students. Meanwhile, Pace Morby is a serial-entrepreneur and founder of SubTo, an online mentorship course for real estate professionals, teaching creative financing methods which makes homeownership accessible with no cash or credentials. Both programs provide students with resources, and a community filled with entrepreneurs and investors nationwide. For more information regarding this exhilarating experience, please visit the pairs social media channels for live updates here, Jamil Damji & Pace Morby . Contact: Katherine Skorny 480.544.9770 [email protected] SOURCE New Reach Education Lotus Foods Organic White and Brown Basmati Rice Becomes First Rice to Earn ROC GOLD; the highest bar for regenerative organic production. RICHMOND, Calif., Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Lotus Foods Organic White and Brown Basmati Rice has achieved ROC Gold from Silver. Lotus Foods Basmati Rice is now the 6th product worldwide to meet the rigorous standards required to certify as ROC Gold, making Lotus Foods Basmati Rice the first and only ROC Gold rice. ROC pillars recognize and promote high-bar regenerative farming practices that support a healthy planet and a fair society. Lotus Foods is a California-based company that focuses on importing handcrafted rice from small family farms to the United States. ROC Gold level represents that 100% of farm operations must meet the highest standards for regenerative organic production across the three ROC pillars: Soil Health, Animal Welfare, and Social Fairness. In line with these pillars, ROC aims to: Increase soil organic matter over time and sequester carbon below and above ground, which could be a tool to mitigate climate change. Improve animal welfare. Provide economic stability and fairness for farmers, ranchers, and workers. This achievement indicates the highest level of collaboration between brand and supplier. Lotus Foods is highlighting the collaboration to elevate the conversation about ROC and the company's efforts to lead the way in rice farming practices that simultaneously mitigate climate change, promote farmers' resilience, and empower women. "We are so proud of the entire team at Pratithi Organic Foods," says Caryl Levine, Lotus Foods co-founder. "Their farm families demonstrate that implementing more sustainable rice-growing practices that are inherently regenerative like the System of Rice Intensification, which we call More Crop Per Drop, can be a win-win-win situation. Farmers improve their yields and profitability, while also improving their soils, and reducing greenhouse gas emission." Pratithi Organic Foods founder and CEO, Mr. Tapan Ray, plays a pivotal role in the trajectory of growth in this sustainable agri-business industry, with his sheer determination, dynamism, and leadership. With more than 25 years of experience in organic farming and Fair Trade practices, he aims to make India one of the major destinations in the world for sourcing organic raw materials. "It has required years of our concerted efforts of Pratithi's team and its farmers to achieve this great feat. We are very thankful to Ken and Caryl who have been our continuous support and great motivation to continue the ROA/ROC programme with our great focus. As we have achieved GOLD now, we will always try to excel in this field and maintain the expectations of all including the ROA team as well as our partner Lotus Foods, consumers and our farmers." Lotus Foods offers a variety of organic and heirloom rices, in addition to the basmati. Their authentic heritage Indian basmati rice is grown on family farms in Northern India. The long, slender grains have a delicate aroma and fluffy texture. When cooked, the grains almost double in length. Basmati rice is known for its aroma, flavor, and texture. It's often served with Indian food and is one of the most beloved rices in the world. Basmati rice has a lower glycemic index, lower levels of arsenic, more fiber, and higher calories than white rice. Lotus Foods Organic Basmati Rice is available at lotusfoods.com , Amazon, Whole Foods and retail grocery stores nationwide. Basmati Rice accounts for 2.1% of total rice production. In 2022, the global basmati rice market was worth around $6.09 billion. It is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.1% between 2023 and 2028, reaching a value of around $6.87 billion by 2028. Source . For more information and product offerings, visit Lotus Foods online and follow on Instagram , Facebook and Twitter . About Since 1995, Lotus Foods has partnered in direct and fair trade with small family farmers around the world who are growing rice more sustainably while preserving rice biodiversity. As a certified B Corporation, Lotus Foods is committed to "Changing How Rice Is Grown around the World" by focusing on rice grown using the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), which we call More Crop Per Drop . SRI minimizes water usage, empowers women, financially rewards farmers and reduces climate impact. About the The Regenerative Organic Alliance (ROA) The Regenerative Organic Alliance (ROA ) promotes farming practices that restore and build soil, ensure animal welfare, and end unfair conditions for farmers and farmworkers. The organization's intent is to create long-term solutions to the climate crisis, factory farming, and fractured rural economies. The ROA exists to heal a broken system, repair a damaged planet, and empower farmers and eaters to create a better future through regenerative organic farming. The ROA serves as the Oversight and Scheme Management Body for the ROC program. The ROA is responsible for approving ROC Certifying Bodies and creates documentation, systems, and processes. The ROA aims to promote holistic agricultural practices that build upon the United States Department of Agriculture's National Organic Program (USDA/NOP Organic) and other internationally recognized standards. SOURCE Lotus Foods AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Mitratech, a leading global provider of legal, compliance, and HR software, is excited to partner with Syntrio, a leader in ethics hotlines and compliance training, to integrate comprehensive courses into Mitratech's HR solutions suite. Mitratech customers can now access new, high-value courses that focus on employment law, harassment and discrimination, diversity, equity, and inclusion, government contracting, and more. This new curriculum is additive to the robust training currently available in the company's Learning Management System (LMS) product, which offers ethics and compliance, business skills, health and safety, cyber security, and hotline learning. All courses are SCORM-compliant and easily uploadable to existing LMS systems. These new eLearning libraries, powered by Syntrio, provide employers with the right tools to help drive winning cultures, mitigate risk, and meet regulatory standards. Additional features include foundational, micro-learning, and reinforcement training that has been developed by employment law attorneys, experienced practitioners, and online educators. The courses also have a variety of conceptual and principled content and provide interactive and situation-based education to help employees absorb and integrate the learning into the workplace. "We understand that a key element in building a strong company culture is empowering your people with the right tools, capabilities, and confidence to support it," said Mike Williams, CEO of Mitratech. "That's why Mitratech is thrilled to add more purpose-built solutions to our HR portfolio that not only enhance the employee learning experience, but also help organizations mitigate risk, meet regulatory standards, and ensure compliance throughout their training and development." "We have always promised our customers that we would ensure they meet regulatory standards while mitigating risk. Increasingly, our partners are also asking for courses and feedback models that power modern cultures where inclusion and empowerment are celebrated and engagement drives corporate and customer outcomes," said Thomas O'Keefe, President and CEO, Syntrio. "We could not be more excited to extend our impact through this partnership and our shared vision for a transformed approach to enterprise building." About Mitratech Mitratech is a proven global technology partner for corporate legal, risk, compliance, and HR professionals seeking to maximize productivity, control expense, and mitigate risk by deepening organizational alignment, increasing visibility, and spurring collaboration across an enterprise. Mitratech serves over 10,000 organizations worldwide spanning more than 160 countries. About Syntrio Syntrio is a global leader in governance, risk, compliance and human resource solutions that help more than 6,500 organizations make the workplace a better place. Syntrio solutions include a comprehensive ethics reporting hotline and case management system, and seven modern training libraries in Employment Law and Harassment, Ethics and Compliance, Diversity and Inclusion, Health and Safety, Business Skills, Cybersecurity, and Hotline Learning. Media Contact Ashley Estilette, Mitratech [email protected] SOURCE Mitratech Aid organization aims to curb hunger and improve nutritional status of 125 million children in 67 countries. New survey conducted on behalf of World Vision finds that in the last month, 46% of adults in countries around the world have worried about finding money to buy food and 30% have not known where their next meal is coming from. SEATTLE, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- After decades of progress, global hunger is on the rise, as is the number of children whose lives and health are threatened by malnutrition. In response, Christian humanitarian organization World Vision has been working in 28 of the hardest-hit countries, aiming to reach 30 million people with life-saving aid as part of its response to the global hunger crisis. And today, on World Food Day, the organization announced the launch of another global campaign, this one specifically aimed at raising awareness, funds and advocacy efforts to help end child hunger and malnutrition. On World Food Day, World Vision launches global campaign to address child hunger and malnutrition The international aid organization is planning to invest $3.4 billion over three years into programming that will reduce hunger and improve the nutritional status of 125 million children in 67 countries where hunger is at its worst. In 2022, nearly 258 million people were in "crisis" or higher levels of food insecurity, meaning their lives or livelihoods were in danger up from 193 million in 2021. Over 30 million children suffer from wasting the most visible and severe form of malnutrition, which can be life-threatening if not treated. A number of factors have contributed to this crisis, including regional conflicts like the war in Ukraine, climate shocks and rising costs worldwide. But in addition, a shortfall in global funding has played a role, making it harder to ensure children are properly fed and nourished. "Sadly, the world's most vulnerable children are bearing the brunt of this growing crisis," said Edgar Sandoval Sr., World Vision's president and CEO. "I believe that God wants more for these children and is urgently calling us to save lives now." A recent global survey carried out by Ipsos on behalf of World Vision found that nearly half of adults surveyed in 16 countries, including the U.S., had worried about finding money to buy food in the last month, and 30% had experienced not knowing where their next meal was coming from.1 World Vision is uniquely positioned to respond to the hunger crisis due to its presence in nearly 100 countries and its expertise in food security, nutrition and humanitarian programming. The organization is the U.N. World Food Programme's largest partner in the delivery of food assistance. In addition to emergency and development assistance, World Vision also provides micro-finance loans to people impacted by poverty through VisionFund International, its mission-driven micro-finance subsidiary. World Vision is also advocating for legislation that helps to both curb hunger and address root causes. This week over 100 World Vision Advocates from around the country will be on Capitol Hill asking their congressional representatives to support a critical piece of legislation known as the Farm Bill. Specifically, some programs in the bill, like the McGovern-Dole Food for Education Program, use U.S.grown produce in school lunch programs to ensure children have at least one nutritious meal per day for many their only meal that day. Other programs affected by the legislation include Food for Peace Title II programs, which tackle hunger at its roots by helping vulnerable communities learn to feed themselves and build resilient and sustainable food systems. "Ending child hunger will take a massive effort on the part of individuals and governments alike, who will need to work together to raise financial resources and change policies," Mr. Sandoval said. "But we must do all we can to urgently respond. I pray for more people to come alongside us to ensure that children grow up healthy and fulfill their God-given potential." About World Vision: World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. World Vision serves all people, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity or gender. For more information, please visit worldvision.org or follow on X, formerly known as Twitter, @WorldVisionUSA . 1 These are the results of a 16-country survey conducted for World Vision by Ipsos. Ipsos interviewed an international sample of 14,131 adults in Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Germany, Iraq, Japan, Malawi, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, South Korea, the U.K, and the U.S. SOURCE World Vision U.S. Thousands Impacted by Breast Cancer to Come Together to Raise Critical Funds for Breast Cancer Research and Financial Assistance LOUISVILLE, Ky., Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Susan G. Komen, the world's leading breast cancer organization, is hosting the 2023 Louisville MORE THAN PINK Walk on Saturday, October 28 at Festival Plaza's Waterfront Park in Louisville. Thousands of individuals including family and friends will come together to celebrate breast cancer survivors, honor those who have passed away from the disease, and raise critical funds that support research and critical support services for breast cancer patients, including research, financial assistance, screening and diagnostics and patient navigation services. "We are excited to bring back the MORE THAN PINK Walk and welcome walkers to this event to make a difference in our fight against breast cancer in our community," said Jennifer Milewski, Executive State Director for Kentucky Susan G. Komen. "Continuing to support individuals going through breast cancer in our community is a critical mission as the demand for our services continues to increase." Breast cancer survivors and those living with metastatic disease can enjoy a light breakfast and visit other survivors in Hope Village. The Race site and activities open at 8:00 AM. The Opening Ceremony starts at 10:00 AM with the Parade of Hope taking place shortly after. Race participants will include breast cancer survivors, metastatic breast cancer thrivers, co-survivors, and supporters of Susan G. Komen. What: Susan G. Komen Louisville MORE THAN PINK Walk When: Saturday, October 28, 2023, Grounds Open 8:00 AM, Opening Ceremony 10:00 AM Where: 231 Witherspoon Ave, Louisville, KY 40202 Details: Register at: www.komen.org/kentuckywalk Please contact Cristobal Martinez at [email protected] for more information on the event. Interviews with event attendees, Komen staff, and honorees can be granted upon request. About Susan G. Komen Susan G. Komen is the world's leading nonprofit breast cancer organization, working to save lives and end breast cancer forever. Komen has an unmatched, comprehensive 360-degree approach to fighting this disease across all fronts and supporting millions of people in the U.S. and in countries worldwide. We advocate for patients, drive research breakthroughs, improve access to high-quality care, offer direct patient support and empower people with trustworthy information. Founded by Nancy G. Brinker, who promised her sister, Susan G. Komen, that she would end the disease that claimed Suzy's life, Komen remains committed to supporting those affected by breast cancer today, while tirelessly searching for tomorrow's cures. Visit komen.org or call 1-877 GO KOMEN. Connect with us on social at www.komen.org/contact-us/follow-us/. CONTACT: Cristobal Martinez Susan G. Komen [email protected] SOURCE Susan G. Komen for the Cure PHOENIX, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Televerde, a global revenue creation partner supporting marketing, sales, and customer success for B2B businesses worldwide, today announced the release of its much-anticipated whitepaper titled "CMOs & Chief DE&I Officers: Joined at the Hip for a DE&I Revolution." Authored by Televerde's Head of Global Marketing Kellie Walenciak, the whitepaper critically examines the pivotal role Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) can play in spearheading Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) initiatives within the corporate sector, especially at a time when many companies are retracting their commitments due to influences in the political and judicial spheres coupled with a lack of understanding on how to implement DE&I strategies effectively. Drawing from decades of experience spanning marketing, communications, and employee engagement in various industries, Walenciak shares deep insights into the complex landscape of biases and the pressing need for inclusivity in the corporate world. This whitepaper is significantly shaped by her transformative experience at Televerde, a company that stands as an example of genuine commitment to fostering a workplace where diversity is not just welcomed but actively celebrated and leveraged for organizational growth. "The depth of understanding and the convictions I now hold about DE&I have been profoundly influenced by my time at Televerde," explained Walenciak. "This experience has not only deepened my comprehension of the critical importance of DE&I but has also allowed me to witness firsthand the harsh realities of societal judgments that restrict opportunities based on a myriad of factors, extending beyond gender to include criminal records, ethnicity, sexual orientation, educational background, and employment history. To see companies begin to pull back from DE&I at this juncture is both ethically disconcerting and strategically misguided." In this whitepaper, Walenciak invites readers to explore the transformative potential of genuine inclusivity, offering a fresh perspective on DE&I, informed by success stories and lessons learned from businesses across industries. She underscores the belief that for DE&I initiatives to flourish genuinely, they must be seamlessly integrated into the fabric of a company, becoming a vital part of its public persona and operational ethos. Highlights from the Whitepaper: The Present State of DE&I in Corporate America : An analysis of the current landscape, highlighting the initial momentum and the subsequent slowdown in DE&I initiatives. : An analysis of the current landscape, highlighting the initial momentum and the subsequent slowdown in DE&I initiatives. The Repercussions of the Supreme Court's Stance on Affirmative Action : A look at the historical context of DE&I and its evolution. : A look at the historical context of DE&I and its evolution. Building the Business Case for DE&I : Making a compelling case for integrating DE&I into the business strategy, transcending mere compliance to incorporate DE&I as a core part of the brand. : Making a compelling case for integrating DE&I into the business strategy, transcending mere compliance to incorporate DE&I as a core part of the brand. The Pivotal Role of CMOs in Advocating DE&I : Unveiling the potential of CMOs in being the torchbearers for DE&I initiatives, aligning them with the brand's core values and messaging. : Unveiling the potential of CMOs in being the torchbearers for DE&I initiatives, aligning them with the brand's core values and messaging. Successful DE&I Strategies Led by Marketing : Showcasing examples of successful marketing-led DE&I initiatives and the lessons to be learned from them. : Showcasing examples of successful marketing-led DE&I initiatives and the lessons to be learned from them. Insights Gleaned from These Case Studies : A deeper analysis of real-world case studies to derive actionable insights and strategies. : A deeper analysis of real-world case studies to derive actionable insights and strategies. Bridging the Divide : Making a case for a more potent synergy between marketing leadership and DE&I initiatives. : Making a case for a more potent synergy between marketing leadership and DE&I initiatives. Looking Forward: The Future of DE&I in 2024 and Beyond: Projecting the future trajectory of DE&I and the role of CMOs in helping to shape it. The whitepaper serves as a blueprint for organizations seeking to revitalize their DE&I strategies, offering a fresh perspective and a roadmap to creating a lasting and meaningful impact. It advocates for a shift from treating DE&I as a superficial requirement to embodying it as an essential part of the brand story and a genuine reflection of a company's core values and philosophy. "We find ourselves at a critical stage where the need for authentic and sustainable DE&I strategies is more pressing than ever," added Walenciak. "Through this whitepaper, we aim to start a conversation that sparks actionable change, with CMOs at the forefront, helping to guide organizations towards a more inclusive future." The "CMOs & Chief DE&I Officers: Joined at the Hip for a DE&I Revolution" whitepaper is now available on the Televerde website. About Televerde Phoenix-based Televerde is the first and only fully integrated sales, marketing, and customer care solutions organization that delivers revenue as a service and customer experience expertise with a human touch, best-in-class technology, and an operating model resilient to shifting market conditions. Since 1995, Televerde has generated more than $12B in revenue for the world's leading B2B companies, including SAP, GE, Adobe-Marketo, and Securus Technologies. A purpose-built company, Televerde believes in second-chance employment and strives to help disempowered people find their voice and reach their human potential. Seven of Televerde's ten engagement centers are staffed by incarcerated women, representing 70 percent of the company's 600+ global workforce. The Arizona State University Seidman Research Institute recently documented the model's success in a study. The results reveal that Televerde's program participants attain employment, earnings, and education at higher rates and re-offend at significantly lower rates than other formerly incarcerated females in the United States. The complete study can be accessed here. Jennifer Schwegman [email protected] 651-247-6640 SOURCE Televerde THE WOODLANDS, Texas , Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- October 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- TETRA Technologies, Inc. ("TETRA" or the "Company") (NYSE:TTI) announced today that it will release third quarter 2023 results after the closing of the market on Monday, October 30, 2023. On October 31, 2023, TETRA will host a conference call at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss the results. Brady M. Murphy, President and CEO, and Elijio V. Serrano, Senior Vice President and CFO, will host the call. TETRA invites you to listen to the conference call by calling the toll-free phone number 1-888-347-5303. The conference call will also be available by live audio webcast. The news release will be available on the Company's website prior to the conference call. A replay of the conference call will be available at 1-877-344-7529 conference number 4719291, for one week following the conference call and the archived webcast will be available through the Company's website for thirty days following the conference call. Company Overview TETRA Technologies, Inc. is an energy services and solutions company operating on six continents with a focus on bromine-based completion fluids, calcium chloride, water management solutions, frac flowback, and production well testing services. Calcium chloride is used in the oil and gas, industrial, agricultural, road, food, and beverage markets. TETRA is evolving its business model by expanding into the low carbon energy markets with its chemistry expertise, key mineral acreage, and global infrastructure. Low carbon energy initiatives include commercialization of TETRA PureFlow ultra-pure zinc bromide clear brine fluid that is used for stationary batteries and energy storage and development of TETRA's lithium and bromine mineral acreage to meet the growing demand for oil and gas products and energy storage. Visit the Company's website at www.tetratec.com for more information or connect with us on LinkedIn. Investor Contact For further information, please contact Elijio Serrano, CFO, TETRA Technologies, Inc. at (281) 367-1983 or via email at [email protected] or Rigo Gonzalez, Manager of Corporate Finance and Investor Relations, at (281) 364-2213 or via email at [email protected]. SOURCE TETRA Technologies, Inc. HOUSTON, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SBEMP Attorneys, LLP announces that a Harris County, Texas jury has entered a verdict against Ralph Douglas West II, finding him liable for transmitting genital herpes to a Houston woman. Mr. West, a Houston resident, is an assistant pastor at The Church Without Walls also located in Houston. Houston pastor pays big price for breaking the law by transmitting herpes to woman after lying about having the disease. Post this Shaun Murphy, Partner, SBEMP Attorneys, LLP The jury, in D.C. v. Ralph Douglas West II (Cause No. 2020-18991), found West liable to the plaintiff for battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and fraudulent concealment. The jury's award was $1,450,000 in compensatory damages and $1,000,000 in exemplary/punitive damages. The total judgment of $2.45 million is believed to be the largest ever awarded in Texas for a case of this nature. Shaun Murphy, a partner in the law firm Slovak Baron Empey Murphy & Pinkney, LLP, who represented the plaintiff, says that he is pleased with the outcome for his client whose life has been so negatively impacted, and he hopes that it will increase awareness of this extremely important issue. "Let this verdict send a resounding message across Texas and the entire nation: Those with sexually transmitted diseases must disclose their status before engaging in sexual activity," said Murphy. "In every U.S. state, it's illegal to transmit STDs without informed consent. It is considered fraud, carrying potential civil liability for significant damages." In addition to the legal issues, Murphy points to the physical and mental health challenges suffered by victims of such negligent behavior. "Those harmed by others' negligence or intent have legal recourse, particularly as STDs like herpes can cause serious health complications beyond the core symptoms of the disease. There can also be considerable embarrassment, shame, and stigma associated with a herpes diagnosis that can substantially interfere with a patient's relationships and mental well-being for the rest of their lives." The Houston case is one of several trial victories and settlements Murphy has achieved on behalf of victims of genital herpes transmission throughout the United States. He has achieved the largest verdict in the United States and in the states of California, Washington, and Texas. For more information about Shaun Murphy, visit https://sbemp.com/shaun-murphy/. SOURCE Slovak Baron Empey Murphy & Pinkney Discover the Project HERE. NEW YORK, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Mill, renowned for its visual effects and content creation, joined forces with global tech leader Google for the monumental launch of the Google Pixel Fold. Strategically executed across New York City's prime locations, the campaign achieved an unparalleled reach, captivating over 60 million potential consumers. "I am extremely proud of our team of creatives at The Mill who collaborated with global tech leader Google to launch the Google Pixel Fold. The meticulous planning and execution across prime locations in New York City resulted in an unparalleled reach, captivating over 60 million potential consumers. The success of this campaign is a testament to the power of innovative marketing and harnessing latest technology; massive respect and appreciation to our creative, tech and production teams for this exceptional work." said Mark Benson, President of The Mill. The campaign's essence was captured in 25 digital screens, strategically positioned from bustling transportation hubs to the iconic Times Square. Mike Schaeffer, Creative Director, shared, "In partnership with Google, we crafted a unique design direction for the Pixel Fold across New York City. The device's unfolding feature aligning with the 90 corner placement in many billboards was particularly striking. Its elegant simplicity resonated across the city, introducing the flagship device in a memorable way." This collaboration showcased the transformative power of creativity and technology, leaving an indelible mark on New York City. About The Mill The Mill, a global network of award-winning VFX artists & Creative Technologists, has been at the vanguard of the advertising industry for over 30 years. Their commitment to excellence and innovation positions them as a preferred partner for brands aiming for significant market impact. SOURCE The Mill NEW YORK, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The underground gas storage market size is expected to grow by USD 9.80 billion from 2022 to 2027, according to Technavio. In addition, the growth momentum of the market will progress at a CAGR of 5.36% during the forecast period. Growing energy demand is notably driving the underground gas storage market. However, factors such as challenges associated with the construction of underground storage facilities for gas may impede market growth. The market is segmented by Type (Depleted fields, Salt caverns, and Aquifer Reservoir ), Product (Natural gas, Hydrogen, and Others ), and Geography (Europe, North America, APAC, Middle East and Africa, and South America). Technavio provides a comprehensive report summary describing the market size and forecast along with research methodology. The sample report is available in PDF format Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Underground Gas Storage Market 2023-2027 Key Segment Analysis By type, the depleted fields segment is significant during the forecast period. These reserves are the most widely used underground gas reservoirs. The capability of containing gas in a depleted field is determined by geographic and geological factors. Furthermore, the nature of the wells creates favorable conditions for gas storage and depletion leading to low exploration and well drilling costs. However, the reuse of installed equipment reduces operating costs and reduces the need for periodic inspections. To know additional highlights and key points on various market segments and their impact in coming years, View Free PDF Sample Report. Geographical Market Analysis By geography, North America is estimated to contribute 39% to the growth of the global market during the forecast period. The dedication to energy security and supply flexibility factors in driving the regional underground gas storage market. Countries like Germany, the Netherlands, and Italy extensively use underground gas storage facilities. This enables these countries to store surplus gas during periods of low demand and withdraw during periods of peak usage. This results in a consistent reliable energy supply. Company Insights The underground gas storage market is fragmented, and the companies are deploying organic and inorganic growth strategies to compete in the market. The report analyzes the market's competitive landscape and offers information on several market companies, including: Cardinal Gas Storage, Centrica Plc, China National Petroleum Corp., Chiyoda Corp., Costain Group Plc, EARTHWORKS, Enbridge Inc., ENGIE SA, HOT Engineering GmbH, Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. Ltd., KAPPA Engineering, Koninklijke Vopak NV, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., NAFTA as, RPS Group Plc, Samsung Heavy Industries Co. Ltd., SGS SA, SNC Lavalin Group Inc., TC Energy, Uniper SE View Free PDF Sample Report to find additional highlights on the growth strategies adopted by companies and their product offerings. Related Reports: According to a research report, the shale gas market will witness a growth of 4.87% at a CAGR of 5.15% from 2021-2026. The gas engine market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.32% between 2022 and 2027. The size of the market is forecast to increase by USD 2,168.62 million. Underground Gas Storage Market Scope Report Coverage Details Base year 2022 Historic period 2017-2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 5.36% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 9.80 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 4.55 Regional analysis Europe, North America, APAC, Middle East and Africa, and South America Performing market contribution North America at 39% Key countries US, Canada, Russia, Germany, and Ukraine Competitive landscape Leading Vendors, Market Positioning of Vendors, Competitive Strategies, and Industry Risks Key companies profiled Cardinal Gas Storage, Centrica Plc, China National Petroleum Corp., Chiyoda Corp., Costain Group Plc, EARTHWORKS, Enbridge Inc., ENGIE SA, HOT Engineering GmbH, Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. Ltd., KAPPA Engineering, Koninklijke Vopak NV, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., NAFTA as, RPS Group Plc, Samsung Heavy Industries Co. Ltd., SGS SA, SNC Lavalin Group Inc., TC Energy, and Uniper SE 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 Type 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 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. The "Victory for Veterans" Business Shower will be host to Guest Speaker David Goggins and supported by title sponsor, Black Rifle Coffee Company SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- This Veterans Day, Warrior Rising is set to host its final business shower of the year in downtown Salt Lake City. The Business Shower will include Veteran Entrepreneurs from across the nation to showcase their business ideas to industry experts for a chance to receive a sizable financial grant. The business shower and gala will also feature guest speaker, Navy SEAL and New York Times best-selling author, David Goggins. The "Victory for Veterans" business shower is taking place after Warrior Rising's recent success at their Washington D.C. Business Shower. The Washington D.C. Shower was held at the Military Women's Memorial in Arlington and supported by Dawn Halfaker and her foundation, Continuing to Serve. The Veterans Business Shower featured as guest speakers, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth, U.S. Representative Chrissy Houlahan, Owner of the Washington Spirit Michelle Kang, and TV personality, businessman and ABC's Shark Tank investor, Daymond John. The business shower, centered in our nation's capital, showcased all-female entrepreneurs as a nod to female service members and veterans, as well as military spouses. April Caldwell, an Air Force veteran and Co-Founder/CEO of FayVen emerged victorious at the D.C. Business Shower and was awarded a $20,000 grant. FayVen is a is a digital marketplace designed to maximize unused space at venues by booking mobile vendors and artisans The Salt Lake City Business Shower will prove to be just as successful, with title sponsor Black Rifle Coffee Company donating $250,000 to fuel the next generation of Veteran Entrepreneurs. Founded in 2014 by former U.S. Army Green Beret Evan Hafer, Black Rifle Coffee Company was built upon the mission to serve coffee and culture to people who love America. Black Rifle Coffee Company stands for more than high-quality coffee. They are a Veteran-founded business operated by principled men and women who honor those who protect, defend, and support our country. A large part of Black Rifle Coffee Company's success is due to the outstanding work ethic and discipline of their Veteran employees. The organization is committed to hiring 10,000 Veterans to provide opportunities to the military community that helped them grow. While they are committed to hiring veterans, they are also committed to supporting would-be veteran entrepreneurs, and that's where Warrior Rising comes in. Warrior Rising's Mission to help support Veteran Entrepreneurs is directly in line with Black Rifles philanthropic strategy for 2023 and beyond. This partnership represents a force in the Veteran community that both Warrior Rising and Black Rifle Coffee Company can celebrate at the upcoming Salt Lake City Business Shower and Gala. Tickets to attend our Salt Lake City Business Shower and Gala can be found at warriorrising.org under the Events tab in the menu bar. About Warrior Rising Founded in 2015, Warrior Rising is a 501(c)(3) non-profit started by Veterans, for Veterans. The Warrior Rising team has a singular goal: transform Veterans into Vetrepreneurs. We have achieved this through carefully selecting strategic partners in business, and leveraging a vast network of young professionals and successful entrepreneurs from a wide variety of backgrounds. The organization hosts a robust team of professionals, business owners, and experts in their fields. Learn more at warriorrising.org SOURCE Warrior Rising The award recognizes the company's commitment to strengthening gender equality. FORT WORTH, Texas, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Yesway , one of the fastest-growing convenience store operators in the United States, is pleased to announce that it has been honored with the Convenience Store News 2023 Top Women in Convenience ( TWIC ) Corporate Empowerment Award. This prestigious accolade recognizes Yesway's commitment to fostering gender equality and empowerment within its organization. The award was accepted by Yesway CEO Tom Trkla on behalf of the company at the 10th annual TWIC Awards Gala, held earlier this month during the 2023 NACS Show in Atlanta, Georgia. Now in its second year, the TWIC Corporate Empowerment Award honors a convenience retail company that commits to gender equality, paves the way to empower women in leadership roles and is a champion for the inclusion of women in the goals and vision of the enterprise. Yesway's dedication to cultivating an inclusive workplace, as well as its commitment to empowering women in leadership positions and creating a culture of diversity and inclusion has earned it this esteemed recognition. Upon receiving the award, Mr. Trkla expressed his gratitude, saying, "Thank you, Convenience Store News, for this incredible honor. It is with immense pride and gratitude that, only seven years after starting our company, I accept the 2023 Top Women in Convenience Corporate Empowerment Award on behalf of Yesway. This award recognizes a commitment that runs deep within our organization, a commitment to gender equality that we believe is not just the right thing to do, but also essential for the success of our business." At Yesway, diversity, inclusion, and equity stand as the cornerstones of its workplace and its mission to create a culture that fosters diversity of thought, challenges the status quo, and promotes gender equality at every level. Key initiatives include merit-based and gender-blind hiring practices, a strong bias towards promoting from within, and education and skill-building programs that empower female leaders to excel in their roles. The company is also dedicated to giving women a voice at every level of the organization, fostering an environment where all voices are heard and valued. This commitment has led to improvements in morale, employee retention, and customer engagement. "My heartfelt thanks and congratulations to the women at Yesway who have been named Top Women in Convenience this year, including Bonnie Ascioti, Director - Corporate HR, honored as a Senior Level Leader, and Marketing Coordinator Evelyn Alba, named a Rising Star, as well as past TWIC honorees Jasmine Struble, Category Manager, Foodservice; Dana Renfro, Category Manager; Lisa Ham, Director of Merchandising and Space Planning; and, Ericka Ayles, Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer," said Mr. Trkla. "I am honored to work with all of you. Thank you for all that you do in service to our customers and your colleagues every day." He concluded, "Thank you once again, Convenience Store News, for recognizing the importance of women in our industry. Together, we will continue to champion gender equality, not just in our company but throughout the convenience retailing sector." Editor's note: Contact Erin Vadala, Warner Communications; (978) 468-3076; [email protected] to arrange interviews. High-resolution images and graphics are available upon request. About Yesway: Yesway is one of the fastest-growing convenience store operators in the United States. Established in 2015, Yesway is a multi-branded platform headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, which operates 441 stores located in Texas, New Mexico, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Nebraska. Yesway operates its portfolio primarily under two successful brands, Yesway and Allsup's, with sites that are differentiated through a leading food service offering, featuring Allsup's famous deep-fried burrito, and a wide variety of high-quality grocery items and private-label products. Yesway's geographic footprint consists of stores located in attractive rural and suburban markets across the Midwest and Southwest, where it is often the convenience retail destination of choice and effectively the local grocer. The Yesway team has a successful track record of growing through acquisitions and believes it is well positioned to continue to solidify its market position and grow its store count. Yesway has received numerous industry awards for its growth initiatives, management team, loyalty program, and employees' contributions to the industry. yesway.com SOURCE Yesway Fox News Flash top sports headlines for November 15 closeVideo Fox News Flash top sports headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. The Boston Bruins have hired a law firm to review their vetting process for signing defenseman Mitchell Miller. Miller's original signing sparked controversy because he was guilty of assaulting a former classmate with developmental disabilities and also calling him racial slurs. The Bruins released Miller two days after signing him after learning "new information." "The Boston Bruins strive every day to live our values and meet the high standards our associates, fans and community have come to expect," the team said in a statement. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM A view of the Boston Bruins logo at center ice at the TD Garden during a game against the Chicago Blackhawks Dec. 5, 2019, at TD Garden in Boston. (John Crouch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) "This includes treating everyone inside and outside our organization with dignity and respect. We recently fell short of our high standards and disappointed both ourselves and many in our community. Moving forward, we are committed to ensuring that our values are reflected in everything we do as an organization, including our process for vetting future players. "As part of this commitment, the Boston Bruins have retained an experienced and respected team of professionals, led by former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch of the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, to conduct an independent review of our player-vetting process. This will help us ensure that our process going forward reflects our core values. The Bruins organization will fully cooperate with the independent review team and will publicly disclose the results of the review upon its completion." Upon signing Miller, the Bruins said they had not contacted Isaiah Meyer-Crothers, Miller's former classmate, or his family in their vetting process, which "was concerning" to team president Cam Neely. Neely said the team "failed" in its process. Even team captain Patrice Bergeron was "on the fence" about the signing. Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins skates against the Carolina Hurricanes during the first period in Game 6 of the first round of the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs at the TD Garden May 12, 2022, in Boston. (Rich Gagnon/Getty Images) BRUINS' CAM NEELY ACKNOWLEDGES FAILURE IN DECISION TO SIGN MITCHELL MILLER: 'WE COULDVE DONE A BETTER JOB' "I was on the fence. I think, as a person, but also as a team, I think we stand for integrity and inclusion and diversity, obviously," Bergeron told SportsNet in Canada earlier this month. "That was the first thing that came out of my mouth. It goes against what we are as a culture and as a team and, for me, as a person.' Miller said in a statement when he signed that he "made an extremely poor decision and acted very immaturely," adding that he "deeply regret[s] the incident" and "strive[s] to be a better person." Despite his public and private apologies, Meyer-Crothers is standing firm that Miller "isn't my friend." Meyer-Crothers noted that it was not an isolated incident with Miller, adding that Miller had bullied him since the first grade. "Im disappointed that were in this position, we shouldnt be in this position. We couldve done a better job. We shouldve done a better job," Neely said last week. "Again, I want to apologize on behalf of the Boston Bruins organization, on behalf of myself. It was a decision we didnt take lightly, and Ill go back to the fact that I felt, based on everything I knew, he deserved a second chance." A flag with the Boston Bruins logo is moved by fans before Game 3 of the first round of the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs at TD Garden May 6, 2022, in Boston. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Miller pleaded guilty at the age of 14 to one count of assault and violating the Ohio Safe Schools Act. He is now a free agent, but NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said he is "not eligible" to play in the league. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 16. Italys Saipem company aims to complete the project with bp for Shah Deniz 2 in Azerbaijan by late 2023, the company told Trend. "We have recently achieved the "First Gas" goal with our participation to the Absheron EPS (Early Production Scheme) Project conducted by Total and SOCAR partnership. The main task for Saipems operation in the country by 2023 is to complete the other flagship project with our major client bp, i.e. Shah Deniz 2 Offshore Gas Field. The project is on track with the full satisfaction of our client. It testifies the outstanding experience and reliability of Saipem after more than 20 years of continuous presence in Azerbaijan with bp and SOCAR, having contributed to the full development of all the major offshore facilities in both oil and gas fields," said the company. As for the possibility of expanding its business in Azerbaijan, Saipem said that through thee presence in Baku with a full operating branch office, the company is constantly monitoring the market for all the major energy sector investments, in a context of growing economic exchanges between Italy and Azerbaijan. "Saipems interest is focused on both the traditional business and the renewables one, in particular on offshore wind power," said the company. Saipem and its consortium partners Bos Shelf and Star Gulf were awarded call-off 007 under the Shah Deniz Stage 2 Master Agreement by bp, on behalf of the Shah Deniz partnership in 2016. The total value of the contract is approximately $1.5 billion (Saipem share approximately $1.3 billion), with a duration of five years plus a possible extension for a further five. The scope of work of the call-off refers to the transport and installation of subsea production systems and subsea structures, laying of fiber optic cables and production umbilicals, laying of 90 kilometers of pipelines, the activation, crewing and operations management of the new-build Subsea Construction Vessel (SCV) Khankendi, the SCV diving support, remotely operated vehicle (ROV) support and marine base management. Shah Deniz Stage 2, or Full Field Development (FFD) is a giant project that will add a further 16 billion cubic meters per year (bcma) of gas production to the approximately 10 bcma produced by Shah Deniz Stage 1. --- Follow the author on X: @Lyaman_Zeyn 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 Kasauli, Oct 16 : Stressing that the strategy of keeping their narrative "anti-Modi" is a well-thought-of move by the I.N.D.I.A alliance comprising 28 opposition parties, Congress member and former Minister of Panchayati Raj, Mani Shanker Aiyer, says the ruling BJP has a much smaller share of public support, but owing to Modi's admiration among the voters, the party has managed to garner impressive numbers. "Therefore the targetting is just perfect. Also, so many of his claims are simply bogus, which must be brought to light by I.N.D.I.A through intense campaigns. The alliance should provide exciting alternatives that will ignite public opinion," he told IANS during a special interaction. The veteran Congressman feels it is a major achievement that so many parties have gathered together and announced an alliance. He adds that the Mumbai conclave was special as it was attended by Sonia Gandhi, who has been instrumental in "inspiring" different political parties. "Now, we are getting the alliance on the same page in terms of seats over an adequate number. A lot of work is being done behind closed doors." Ask him what was stopping the opposition camp from coming together a little earlier and not when the general elections were just a few months away, and he asserts that everybody was wondering what the future held. "There was a feeling that BJP seemed unbeatable. As far as the timing is concerned, I feel sometimes the paucity of time can be a positive element as it can ascertain quick decisions," he told IANS on the sidelines of the recently concluded Khushwant Singh LitFest where he was invited as a speaker. Admitting that the BJP and RSS have developed an extensive network of ground workers, and booth managers not just in urban areas, their traditional ground, but also far-flung rural territories, complete with an intricate feedback mechanism, this former Congress MP from Mayiladuthurai (1991,1999 and 2004) and special invitee to the Congress Working Committee adds this is what Congress could boast of before independence. "Frankly, it is our cumulative failure over all these years that we have allowed Congress to come to this stage. Considering we are such an old party, there used to be this assumption that we were a voting machine -- something the BJP is addressed as now. However, we could not have stayed in power for these decades if we did not have a strong organisation at the grassroots level." Mention Sachin Pilot and Jyotiraditya Scindia, and the assumption that the Congress is averse to giving young leaders a chance to steer the organisation, and he asserts, "I think that is total rubbish. As the MoS (Independent Charge) Corporate Affairs and MoS Communications and IT, Pilot saw the new corporate law through. Was he not made the Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan? But he just did not have the required support among Congress MLAs in the state. They preferred the well-tried Gehlot. What could we tell the MLAs -- 'We are giving Pilot a chance just because he is young'? Gehlot has proven himself in the last five years that he was the right choice. And let us not forget, we won Madhya Pradesh before Scindhia decided to defect. Many of these so-called younger leaders you are talking about have proven to be extremely disloyal. Even if they had a grouse with the party, did they really have to join the enemy camp?" In an age when most political parties consider hiring independent political strategists/advisers almost indispensable, a trend that shot Prashant Kishor to the limelight, the Congress leader says that while Kishor expressed interest in rebuilding the Congress, he demanded a place in the hierarchy. "That was something completely unacceptable to us. He was lucky to have arrived at the political scene in 2014 with the technology that had never been used before -- something which the BJP accepted immediately. Let us not forget that the current government's victory in 2014 was largely due to the many mistakes made by the UPA. But what has he done after the West Bengal Assembly polls? He is wandering in Bihar, and I don't think he has made any impact there." Attributing the Congress' loss in the recent Punjab Assembly polls to Kishore's advice, Aiyer says that when the Congress High Command took his assessment of former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, they did not realise that they were leaving a big gap in the state Congress. "And the result is for everybody to see. In short, Kishor is not a genius. Yes, he did introduce and translate some US election technology here and made a big name for himself, but that lasted only till Mamata Banerjee's victory in the recent West Bengal Assembly polls. He has been a spectacular failure post that," says this Cambridge pass-out. Despite Rajasthan's history of changing state governments every five years like Himachal Pradesh, Aiyer opines that Congress will retain power in the state. "BJP is completely divided house there, thanks to the fact that Vasundhare Raje's opponents include Amit Shah and Narendra Modi. In Chattisgarh, Baghel has ensured huge popularity owing to multiple developmental schemes. And the people of Madya Pradesh have not forgotten that BJP toppled our elected government." Stressing it is premature to talk about the leader of the I.N.D.I.Alliance, the Congress member says it is for all the members to take a collective call. While stressing the rise in Rahul Gandhi's popularity ratings post the 'Bharat Jodo' yatra, he concludes, "The alliance will be his true test." (Sukant Deepak can be reached at sukant.d@ians.in) UP Police on high alert along border after trouble in Nepal district. Image Source: IANS News Lucknow, Oct 16 : A Uttar Pradesh Police constable has been suspended and a departmental enquiry initiated against him for allegedly sharing a post in support of Palestine amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict on a social media platform, said senior officials. The officials said the constable was identified as Suhail Ansari, a Bareilly resident, was posted in Lakhimpur Kheri district for the past few months. Kheri DSP Sandeep Singh, who is posted as circle officer (city) there, said an additional superintendent of police rank officer was inquiring about the constable and his inclination as well as Palestine supportive post on social media. Lucknow, Oct 16 : A 90-year-old woman was found murdered in Lucknow's Triveni Nagar, police said. The victim was identified as Shail Kumari. According to police, she was murdered after being hit on the head with a blunt object and her throat slit with a knife. A neighbour spotted her in an injured state and informed the police. When the police reached the scene on Sunday, they found her dead. A forensic team was called in and the body was sent for post-mortem examination, said Qasim Abidi, DCP (North). The elderly woman used to live alone in the house, which belonged to her younger son Mukesh Chandra Sharma ,62. Mukesh lived separately with his family in Jankipuram. He had retired from FSL Agra. Nagesh Kumar Upadhyay, SHO, Aliganj said that an FIR had been registered on a complaint by a family member. Rejecting the case as robbery, the DCP said that prima facie it did not look like any theft or robbery had taken place, as the house did not have any expensive items, and everything was intact. The motive behind the crime was yet to be ascertained. "The crime team is collecting details and the case will be solved soon," the DCP said. Amid wave of violence, Ecuador gets new President. Image Source: IANS News Quito, Oct 16 : Amid a wave of violence and a worsening security situation, Ecuador has chosen Daniel Noboa, from the right-wing National Democratic Action alliance, as its new President. Citing the preliminary official results of the presidential runoff held on Sunday, the National Electoral Council (CNE) said Noboa had obtained 52.29 per cent of the valid votes compared to 47.71 per cent for his rival, Luisa Gonzalez from the Citizen Revolution movement led by former President Rafael Correa, reports Xinhua news agency. The results were declared after 90.78 per cent of the votes were counted. On Sunday night, CNE President Diana Atamaint affirmed that the results were "irreversible" and declaring Noboa as be president-elect of the South American country. More than 10 million people voted in the runoff amid tight security measures in place, with tens of thousands of police officers and army personnel deployed at polling stations across the country. Noboa, 35, was a lawmaker before outgoing President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the legislature and called for early elections,CNN reported. He has pledged to create more work opportunities for the young; bring in more foreign investment, using technology to fight crime; and has suggested several anti-corruption measures including sentences for tax evasion. Speaking to reporters after the result late Sunday night, Noboa thanked his wife, parents, and God for allowing him to serve his country. "I also thank all those people who have been part of a new, young, improbable political project, a political project whose purpose was to give back a smile to the country," he said. "Starting tomorrow, Daniel Noboa, your president of the republic, starts working." Meanwhile, his rival Gonzalez has conceded defeat. Tension remained high during Sunday's vote which came just months after the high-profile assassination of presidential candidate, Fernando Villavicencio, who was killed days before the August 20 first round of polling, CNN reported. Don Bablu Srivastava to appear in court today amid heavy security, fears for life. Image Source: IANS News Lucknow, Oct 16 : Mafia don Babloo Srivastava, who is currently lodged in Uttar Paresh's Bareilly central jail, has expressed threat to his life as he appears for a hearing in a case in Prayagraj on Monday. Special Director General, law and order, Prashant Kumar, has promised elaborate security arrangements as per the rules. Once an associate of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, Babloo later turned hostile. He was caught in Singapore and extradited to India in 1995. He was wanted in 42 cases involving murder and abduction. According to senior police officers, the don was escorted by a security fleet headed by a deputy SP-rank officer around 3.30 p.m. from Bareilly on Sunday. Others in the team accompanying the don included two inspectors, four sub-inspectors and 40 police constables. All the police stations from where the prison van of Babloo will pass through have been asked to remain vigilant. On October 11, don Babloo was summoned to testify in the Allahabad district court in the case involving abduction of jeweller Pankaj Mahindra, but his lawyer, citing threat to his life, applied to record his testimony through video conferencing. The application was rejected by district courtas special judge Vikas Kumar Srivastava, who ordered Babloo Srivastava to appear in the court on Monday and get his statement recorded. The court has also ordered the Bareilly SSP, jail superintendent, Prayagraj police commissioner and district magistrate to ensure his presence in the court. Uttar Pradesh Police have assured elaborate security arrangements for Babloo Srivastavaas appearance in court. The arrangements will include a heavy police presence in and around the court, as well as frisking of all visitors and lawyers. The police will also be monitoring the area for any suspicious activity. It may be recalled that Pankaj Mahindra, who owned a jewellery shop, was abducted on September 5, 2015. The family had received a ransom call demanding Rs 10 crore. Army New Delhi, Oct 16 : Agniveer Amritpal Singh died by suicide while on sentry duty in Poonch sector on October 11, and such cases are not entitled to military funerals, the Indian Army said in an official statement. This statement follows a major political controversy over the Agniveer recruit not given a guard of honour. Around 100 to 140 soldiers lose their life due to suicides or self inflicted injuries, Military Funeral in such cases is not accorded, it added. "Unfortunate instances of death arising out of suicide/self inflicted injury, irrespective of the type of entry, are accorded due respect by the Armed Forces along with deep and enduring empathy with the family. Such cases, however, are not entitled to Military Funerals as per the extant Army Order of 1967, in vogue. Policy on the subject has been consistently followed ever since, without any discrimination," the statement read. As per data, there has been an average yearly loss ranging between 100-140 soldiers since 2001 where deaths occurred due to suicides/self inflicted injuries, and military funeral in such cases was not accorded. The disbursement of financial assistance/relief, as per entitlement, is given due priority including immediate financial relief for conduct of funerals. The death of Agniveer Amritpal Singh was unfortunate. There has been some misunderstanding and misrepresentation of facts related to his death, it said. "Such unfortunate instances of loss bear heavy on the family and the forces as a fraternity. During such times, it is important and incumbent on the society to uphold the respect, privacy and dignity of the family while empathising with them in their moment of grief," the statement released on Sunday added. Armed Forces do not differentiate between the soldiers who joined prior to or after implementation of the Agnipath Scheme as regards entitled benefits and protocols. It is a grave loss to the family and the Indian Army that Agniveer Amritpal Singh committed suicide by shooting himself while on sentry duty. In consonance with the existing practice, the mortal remains, after conduct of medico - legal procedures, were transported under Army arrangements along with an escort party to the native place for the last rites. Armed Forces are known for adherence to the policies and protocols and will continue to do so as hithertofore. "The Indian Army requests support of all sections of the society while it follows its established protocols," the Army said. UP govt to felicitate women heads of gram panchayats. Image Source: IANS News Lucknow, Oct 16 : The Uttar Pradesh government will felicitate women heads of model gram panchayats from Monday to Wednesday. A state government spokesperson said that the step is a part of the International Rural Women's Day which coincides with this Navratri. Furthermore, between October and mid-January 2024, with the assistance of voluntary organisations, approximately 17,500 women leaders will undergo training to enhance their knowledge of rights, leadership skills, and communication abilities, the spokesperson said. The spokesperson said that following the inauguration of Mission Shakti 4.0 the Panchayati Raj department has outlined a strategy to promote the engagement of women in rural areas. "The state government will formulate an annual action plan addressing the specific needs of women and girls," he said. Simultaneously, ongoing initiatives are in place to enhance the rights, leadership capabilities, and communication skills of women representatives. As part of the Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan, over 1.15 lakh participants will receive training through the Panchayati Raj Training Institute and the District Panchayat Resource Centre. Washington, Oct 16 : US President Joe Biden has raised more than $71 million for his re-election campaign in the third fundraising quarter of the year, outpacing his rival and predecessor President Donald Trump as well as the rest of the Republican primary. In a statement on Sunday, the President's campaign said that his political operation with the Democratic National Committee ended the quarter with $91 million, CNN reported. But it stopped short from disclosing how the funds were divided between the campaign and the party committee. Campaign co-chair Jeffrey Katzenberg told CNN on Sunday that the third quarter figure "exceeded the high-bar goals" the campaign set for the July to September period. "The momentum is continuing to build for him. As the stakes of the election are becoming clearer and the choice could not be more distinctive, the enthusiasm grows,. "All the money that has been raised and is continuing to be raised and the $91 million that is in the bank today, it's all focused on November of 2024. All of our investment today is focused on those strategic, important places states that are going to be where this race will be won or lost," she told CNN. Biden's latest fundraising figure is higher than that raised by the candidates in the Republican presidential primary, according to the amounts reported so far. Trump has topped that list, raking in more than $45.5 million last quarter for his campaign and associated committees, CNN reported. The former President's campaign said his operation has $37.5 million on hand. Neither Trump nor his rivals for the Republican nomination are raising money jointly with the Republican National Committee. Lucknow, Oct 16 : The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has started a special cleanliness campaign in the name of 'Swachch Tyohar, Swasth Tyohar' (Clean Festival, Healthy Festival), especially in and around temples and surrounding areas, in view of the festive season. The Urban Development and Energy Department has conveyed the message of celebrating Navratri, Dussehra, and Diwali festivals as aSwachch Tyohar, Swasth Tyohara by giving the main mantra aCleanliness is next to Godlinessa for maintaining cleanliness in all municipal bodies of the state. The department has issued instructions to all municipal officials and employees to ensure better cleanliness of the roads and streets, areas around religious places, monasteries, temples and Durga Puja pandals. According to the government spokesman, all the municipal bodies have been directed by the Urban Development Department to get the street lights repaired so that the devotees do not face any problem in commuting during the festivals. Additionally, the instructions include that there should be no hindrance in the supply of clean drinking water anywhere. Proper disposal of offerings made by devotees and garbage should also be ensured. People should not litter offerings and garbage, and bins should be placed around places of worship. In this, the cooperation of public representatives should also be taken. People should also be made aware of celebrating clean and healthy festivals. They should be told not to use plastic, and efforts should be made to impose a complete ban on its use. The spokesman said that the chief minister has called for ensuring complete cleanliness on the streets, as well as of drains and sewers. He asked officials to ensure cleanliness and medicines for controlling communicable diseases and mosquito-borne illnesses should be distributed to protect people from these diseases. Photo taken on Aug. 15, 2022 shows the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) headquarters in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie/IANS). Image Source: IANS News Washington, Oct 16 : The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has witnessed a spiked in the number of reported threats from all across the US in the wake of the raging Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza, says FBI Director Christopher Wray. Addressing reported on Sunday, the Bureau chief said: "Here in the US, we cannot and do not discount the possibility that Hamas or other foreign terrorist organisations could exploit the conflict to call on their supporters to conduct attacks on our own soil," CNN reported. Another FBI official has confirmed that most threats have been deemed not credible by the Bureau, but Jewish and Muslim institutions have been targeted since the conflict erupted on October 7 following the Hamas militant group's unprecedented assault on southern Israel. Last week, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security issued a public service announcement and a bulletin to law enforcement agencies around the US warning of possible threats related to the war abroad. The FBI official noted that over the past week, the agency has seen an uptick in rhetoric targeting "Jewish people as well as Muslim institutions". Regarding the hostage situation, Wray told reporters that the FBI is working to help "identify all Americans who've been impacted in (Israel), including those who remain unaccounted for", CNN reported. Fifteen Americans are still unaccounted for after the attacks, according to the State Department, and over two dozen Americans were killed. "Our victim services specialists are working closely with victims and their families, here and abroad," the Director added. San Francisco, Oct 16 : Electric car company Tesla has released official application programming interface (API) documentation to support third-party apps. At this moment, the API only covers the command that you can send to your car through the Tesla app, and it can ping the data from your car that goes to the app, reports Electrek. The change is going to make official all the third-party fleet management apps and smartwatch integration apps, etc. Elon Musk-run company has earlier spoken about a software development kit (SDK) to create a full third-party app ecosystem for its vehicles. The automaker has now officially released API documentation, a key step toward creating a third-party app community around its cars. "All third-party apps are going to have to go through the new API starting next year," according to Tesla. "Starting 2024, most vehicles will require sending commands via Tesla Vehicle Command SDK," it added. In August, Tesla's app gained support for automation with Apple Shortcuts. Tesla owners who own an iPhone can use Siri to activate Apple Shortcuts automations without utilising third-party apps like Tessie to do so, according to reports. Meanwhile, Tesla produced 430,488 vehicles in the third quarter of 2023, a 10 per cent drop from the previous quarter. In the third quarter, the company produced over 430,000 vehicles and delivered over 435,000 vehicles. The company delivered 435,059 vehicles in Q3, a 6.6 per cent decrease over the previous quarter but a 26.5 per cent increase year over year. Tesla will officially report its Q3 earnings on October 18. New Delhi, Oct 16 : The Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) has issued a stern warning to airport operators regarding the imposition of unauthorised tariffs on passengers. This directive follows AERA's observation of a handful of major airport operators charging fees for aeronautical services without obtaining the required regulatory approvals. "Recently, it has been brought to the notice of AERA that few Airport Operators (of Major Airports) have been levying some charges for aeronautical services without seeking/taking the requisite regulatory approval, resorting to unethical practices of charging unapproved tariffs from the end users," read the order dated October 13. "It is hereby informed that Airport Operators are not permitted/entitled to levy and collect unapproved charges/tariff rates, and, airport users/passengers should not pay for it, and, if so, this would be a gross violation of the provisions of AERA Act 2008 and the guidelines made thereunder," it stated. "Tariff for providing service (s) at a Major Airport, for which aeronautical assets are being used, shall be determined by AERA in accordance with the prescribed guidelines/procedures. In case of any concerns, Stakeholders including airlines, in this regard, may approach AERA," it further stated. "In the above backdrop, all Airport Operators are hereby directed to follow the statutory practice of timely filing Multi Year Tariff Proposal before AERA for seeking necessary regulatory approval of tariff, and refrain from levying any charges on such aeronautical services for which charges have not been approved by AERA," it directed. --IAN ssh/shb London, Oct 16 : A 39-year-old Indian-origin man in the UK has been jailed for 16 weeks and placed on the sex offenders register for seven years after he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a woman on a train in 2021. Mukhan Singh from Sandwell in West Midlands county was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of 128 pounds by the Warwick Crown Court where he was sentenced recently. The court heard that the victim, a woman in her 20s, was on a train travelling from Birmingham Moor Street to London Marylebone on September 2021 when Singh began to stare at her from a nearby table. He later sat next to the victim in the aisle seat, blocking her in, before sexually assaulting her, the WarwickshireWorld news portal reported last week. The victim recorded footage of Singh as he prepared to leave the train at Leamington Spa, before reporting what happened to a member of staff. He was arrested and taken into police custody by officers who were alerted and were present at the station, the report said. In his police interview, Singh claimed that the victim "wanted something done to her". Investigating Officer, Detective Constable Harris, said: "This was a brazen and targeted attack on a young woman who was travelling on her own and had every right to a safe journey. "Instead she was violated by Singh, who then had the audacity to claim she had 'wanted' it in his police interview. I am pleased to see the court hand down a custodial sentence, which will allow Singh plenty of time to reflect on his unacceptable actions." Earlier this year, 34-year-old Simon Abraham, who claimed to have been trained in specialist massage in India for two years, was handed an 18-month prison sentence by a UK court after being found guilty of the sexual assault of a female patient. --IANS mi/ksk Mumbai, Oct 16 : The 'Bhagya Lakshmi' fame actor Akash Choudhary shared his thoughts on the Navratri and Durga Puja celebrations, revealing he has tried the dhunuchi dance, and eagerly anticipates the special fasting dishes. As Navratri ushers in the joyous season, Maa Durga's divine spirit fills the air, and people are gearing up for Garba and Dandiya nights. Talking about the same, Akash said: "Durga Puja and Navratri hold a special place in my family's heart. As long as I can remember, these festivals have been celebrated with immense enthusiasm and devotion." The actor reminisced about his family's traditions, saying, "My mother, without fail, observes a nine-day fast each year, praying for the well-being of our family. When I was young, we celebrated with great fervour in our village where my paternal grandparents lived." "We used to create our idol, known as Jhanji. Meticulously sculpting and decorating it at home was an extraordinary experience. On the day of immersion, we would take the idol to a village lake, forming cherished memories that I still hold dear," he shared. Reflecting on his childhood memories, Akash said: "These festivals were some of the most celebrated in our family. We would start preparations days in advance. As a child, I had the responsibility of decorating the family temple and acquiring all the necessary pooja samagri." "I used to read from the pooja book while performing the evening aarti with my mother. These beautiful memories remain etched in my heart, and I occasionally miss those days. Despite growing up, the traditions in our family remain the same." However, now Akash has now adapted to a different celebration in Mumbai. He commented, "Now, living in Mumbai, we have adapted to a different kind of celebration. We attend proper Durga Puja and Navratri Garba events. Whenever I have the time, I make it a point to visit the pandals for darshan and soak in the festive spirit." The actor also emphasised the importance of traditional attire, saying, "Tradition plays a vital role during Durga Puja, and we uphold it faithfully. New clothes are a must during these celebrations. No old attire is allowed." "In the past, we used to eagerly pick out new kurta pajamas. However, now, living in Mumbai's vibrant and glamorous industry, I look forward to donning traditional outfits with a twist. For me, it's a chance to embrace a minimal yet vibrant traditional look," he said. The actor further said: "The festival requires comfortable attire, especially when dancing during Dandiya and Garba events, so I opt for simple, solid-coloured kurtas and add a touch of style with accessories." Durga Puja and Navratri are known for their vibrant dances, food and culture, and while Akash may not always participate due to his hectic schedule, he expressed his love for the festive atmosphere, saying, "I thoroughly enjoy visiting Garba pandals. The beats and the vibrant atmosphere are simply irresistible. I also make it a point to visit Bengali Durga Puja pandals." "Once, I even tried the dhunuchi dance, a surreal experience I'll never forget. I eagerly anticipate the special fasting dishes, such as kutuki pakoris, kachoris, sabudana khichdi, and more." "In our family, Durga Puja and Navratri go beyond being mere festivals. They're like a beautiful tapestry, weaving tradition, devotion, and happiness together. These celebrations blend the old with the new, creating cherished memories that we'll hand down through the generations," Akash concluded. On the professional front, Akash is currently dedicating his efforts to brand partnerships with fashion companies. Additionally, he is diligently pursuing his aspiration of launching his own production company, which he intends to unveil to the world by the end of this year. On the television front, he is currently playing the role of Viraj Singhania, Malishka's former best friend and ex-fiancee in Zee TV's 'Bhagya Lakshmi'. Hamas tells Gaza residents not to leave their homes after Israel asks to evacuate. Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, Oct 16 : The massive October 7 offensive against Israel by the Hamas militant group has outplaced the Russia-Ukraine war out of the news cycle and currently occupies the top-most headlines and news updates. It has also brought forth the different dimensions of the issue and the response of various parties to it, and what appals most is that none of the many parties responsible for getting it resolved are concerned about the vast scale of the human tragedy taking place in Gaza. As of Monday morning, 2,670 Palestinians have been killed since the latest fighting erupted, making this the deadliest of the five Gaza wars for Palestinians. For Israel, this is the deadliest war since the 1973 conflict with Egypt and Syria. Meanwhile, a UN human rights expert warned has warned that Palestinians were in grave danger of mass ethnic cleansing and called on the international community to urgently mediate a ceasefire between the Hamas and Israel. "The situation in the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel has reached fever pitch," said Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967. "The UN and its member states must intensify efforts to mediate an immediate ceasefire between the parties, before we reach a point of no return," said Albanese. "The international community has the responsibility to prevent and protect populations from atrocity crimes. Accountability for international crimes committed by Israeli occupation forces and Hamas must also be immediately pursued," she said. Since October 7, over 9,600 people in Gaza have also been injured, with nearly nearly 600,000 displaced as a result of the Israeli strikes. This fate befell a population which has already experienced five major wars since 2008 in the context of an unlawful blockade imposed by Israel since 2007, which Albanese said has been widely condemned by the international community as collective punishment. On October 12, Israeli forces issued an order for 1.1 million Palestinians in north Gaza to move to the south within 24 hours, amidst ongoing airstrikes. The next day, Israeli forces reportedly began to enter Gaza in order to "clear" the area. Palestinians have no safe zone anywhere in Gaza, with Israel having imposed a "complete siege" on the densely-populated enclave, with water, food, fuel and electricity unlawfully cut off. Rafah, the only border crossing that remained partially open to the Gaza strip, was closed after damage caused by Israeli airstrikes. Meanwhile, the long-term impact of the current conflict has started manifesting itself in changing Arab stance towards Israel. Saudi Arabia is holding U.-backed plans to normalise ties with Israel on ice, sources familiar with Riyadh's thinking said, signalling a rapid rethinking of Saudi foreign policy priorities as war escalates between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas. The conflict has brought the kingdom closer to Iran. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) took his first phone call from Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi as Riyadh tries to prevent a broader surge in violence across the region. Reuters reported there would be a delay in the US-backed talks on normalisation with Israel that was a key step for the kingdom to secure what Riyadh considers the real prize of an American defence pact in exchange. Other Arab nations and organisations like the UAE and OIC are making enough noises about the conflict but none seems to be taking any concrete step to get the conflict resolved, once and for all. In addition, it also makes one wonder whether the Arab states are really interested in finding a resolution of the issue? Many of the Arab countries trying to find a solution to the conflict are themselves theocracies following dynastic rule, thus how could they be prepared to approve a democratic style government in Palestine, remains a moot question. The issue has also brought forth some other worrying aspects of news reporting and narrative setting as part of the wider agenda setting. As soon as the tragedy struck the region, various social media platforms were inundated with highly right-wing opinions, comments and most worrisome, posting unrelated earlier images as those related with the current conflict and acerbic comments through posts become the latest trend. In addition, the conflict also found other supporters of the Israeli regime in the shape of right-wing Hindutva supporters across the globe. Which apart from being galling is rather worrisome. Many of these social media activists do not know a single fact about the current conflict, its genesis or development through the years or events related to it, such as the Balfour Declaration of 1917, Camp David Accord of 1978 and Oslo Accord of 1995. But their main target through these posts was the Indian minority, a connection which seems rather superfluous and unrelated but the manner in which narratives are set by the ruling BJP, this may impact the Indian politics in the long term. What makes one wince is also the gross unprofessional attitude of the Indian electronic media, which followed the same steps mentioned above in a completely unprofessional manner and in addition started reporting from the conflict from a hotel room in Tel Aviv, showing their correspondents as being present on the spot. Thus, claiming to be an expert on the issue to the gullible viewers, who atkes anything from them as gospel. It would not be wrong to say that that the current conflict has showed the real face of the failure of the American foreign policy seen through the prism of the Cold War, expose of Israel's Iron Dome technology and poison-laden false narrative being promoted on social media platforms without any censorship, which these platforms exercise very vigorously against those who support the cause of the Palestinians. (Asad Mirza is a Delhi-based senior political commentator on international, strategic and defence issues.) UAE-based Indian national sanctioned by US for smuggling Iranian oil.. Image Source: IANS News Hong Kong, Oct 16 : Oil prices rose above $91 a barrel on Monday as diplomatic efforts to address the crisis in the Middle East intensified. Investors are concerned that theIsrael-Hamas warcould sparka wider conflict in the oil-rich region and further tighten global supply, CNN reported. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose as high as $91.2 a barrel in Asian hours on Monday, up slightly from the October 13 settlement price of $90.89. It was last trading at $90.99 a barrel, CNN reported. West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark, briefly rose to $87.98, compared to Friday's closing price of $87.68.It was last trading at $87.77 a barrel. Both futuressurged on Friday, after Israel's militarywarnedmore than 1 million people to leave northern Gaza, triggering worries about a potential ground offensive by Israel in retaliation forHamas' terror attacksthat killed at least 1,400 people. Speaking to CBS Sunday, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said while there was no new intelligence that the threat level from Iran had changed, "there is a risk of an escalation of this conflict". Analysts from ANZ Research expect oil prices to hit $100 a barrel in the short term because of the growing risk of regional escalation, CNN reported. Neither Israel nor Hamas is a significant oil supplier, but the risk to oil markets will rise if "the conflict broadens," they wrote in a note. "If (Iran) becomes involved, up to 20 million barrels per day of oil could be at risk of disruption directly and through obstructed logistics." The "Middle East risk" is dominating the landscape for global asset prices, said Stephen Innes, managing partner for SPI Asset Management, CNN reported. Mumbai, Oct 16 : Actress Hina Khan-starrer 'Country of Blind' is now being invited by the Oscar Library to be a part of the permanent collection at the Library of the Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. The film, which features a story about the 'sightless' and their lives, is directed by Rahhat Shah Kazmi. An elated Hina shared: "Our team has worked really hard on this film, and there is nothing better than it being recognised at such a large scale. Right from people in the US loving the story we told through 'Country of Blind', to our screenplay being invited by the Oscar Library of the Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, it all feels surreal! The actress said: "I am hoping that we achieve even greater heights with our film, as the story is an entire experience that people will get to live while watching it." Shah Kazmi shared: "I am happy that the vision I had for this film is being appreciated so widely. 'Country of Blind' being accepted by the audience in the US and the screenplay now being invited by the Academy's Library of the Motion Pictures and Sciences, is a huge feat for our entire team." aI can only hope that we achieve all that this film deserves, because right from the story to the way it's shot, everything about 'Country of Blind' is beautiful!" Based on H.G Wells novel, aCountry of Blinda presents a satirical drama about a community thriving in isolation. The film stars Hina Khan and Shoib Nikash Shah. Allahabad HC orders release of man serving second sentence for same crime. Image Source: IANS News Prayagraj : , Oct 16 (IANS) The Allahabad High Court on Monday acquitted the two prime accused in the infamous Nithari murder case. The court found accused Surinder Koli innocent in the 12 cases against him, while co-accused Moninder Singh Pandher was found innocent in two cases against him. With this, the death sentence awarded to Koli and Pandher stands cancelled. The Nithari murder case, one of the most notorious criminal investigations in recent Indian history, involved the discovery of multiple human remains in and around Moninder Singh Pandher's residence in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, in 2006. It was alleged that Koli would lure the children to the house, offering them sweets and chocolates, murder them, and have sex with the corpses. He was also accused of cannibalism. The gruesome details of the case sent shockwaves across the country and led to the arrest and subsequent conviction of Koli and Pandher. Surinder Koli, who was accused of brutally killing and later axing children in the Nithari locality of Noida, was awarded death sentence by a lower court which was upheld by the Allahabad High Court and confirmed by the Supreme Court on February 15, 2011 for the murder of Rimpa Halder in 2005. Holding that Koli "appears to be the serial killer", the court had said, "No mercy can be shown to him." A total of 16 cases were registered against Koli, and he was sentenced to death in twelve of them. His employer, Moninder Singh Pandher was convicted in some cases arising out of the Nithari serial killings and acquitted in a few others. Pandher had challenged the death sentence handed down in two of the cases by a trial court in the Allahabad High Court. Bhopal, Oct 16 : While the Congress has executed a well planned ideological stroke by fielding Vikram Mastal -- onscreen 'Hanuman' -- against the BJP's one of strongest and the longest serving Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, it has attempted to corner the state home Minister, Narottam Mishra also through an the RSS old guard, Avdhesh Nayak. With fielding rebel Avdhesh Nayak, a strong Brahmin face with RSS background, against Narottam Mishra, who has established himself as firebrand Hindutva leader in Madhya Pradesh, the Congress has made the Datia Assembly seat's electoral fight the most interesting. Nayak joined the Congress in August this year in style when his convoy of around 100 vehicles reached Bhopal. He joined the Congress in the presence of Kamal Nath and Digivijaya Singh. Nayak contested the 2003 Assembly election from Datia on BJPas ticket but lost to Congress' Ghanshyam Singh by 2,904 votes. The former RSS leader was then accused of fanning communal tension to consolidate majority votes. But the trick did not pay off. Importantly, the rift between the two BJP leaders -- Nayak and Mishra -- started in 2008 when Mishra moved to Datia after Gwalioras Dabra seat was reserved for the Scheduled Caste (SC). The rift between these two leaders continued to get larger behind the political curtain as Mishraas supporters looked at Nayak with suspicious eyes and accused him of hatching a conspiracy to weaken the leader of his own party. The internal rift between these two leaders was visible in the public domain after Mishra managed to win a breathtaking contest in 2018 against Congressa Rajendra Bhart with a margin of 2,600 votes. Later during a pomp and show after the election in 2018, Avdhesh Nayak, approached Mishra in the crowd and garlanded him. Mishra, on the contrary, humiliated Nayak, pulled the garland apart and moved away. Four and half years later, the two have become arch-rivals now. Both leaders belong to the Brahmin community and have established themselves on the same hard-Hindutva path. Sources told IANS that Mishra has been facing the resentment of the people because of his controversial statements, growing crime against women across the state, and huge corruption. Notably, in the past three and half years, whenever, CM Chouhan government faced wrath from the opposition in and outside the Assembly, Mishra stood as a shield. Sources said that Mishra was among those BJP leaders who were found performing very poorly in the partyas survey before the ticket distribution; however, he is trying to convince people by highlighting developments of Datia in the past few years, especially medical college and airport. As per the reports, CM Chouhanas government has invested huge amounts for the development of Datia. More importantly, Mishra has been a tough political rival of the opposition Congress as he had played a crucial role to topple the Kamal Nath-led Congress government in 2020. And therefore, in a bid to defeat Mishra in Datia, the Congress envisaged an aggressive campaign highlighting the rampant corruption, abuse of power and 18-years of misrule of the BJP government against Congress' promises of farm loans and power bill waiver, LPG at Rs 500, Rs 1500 under Nari Samman and others. Surrounded by lush greenery, temples and ponds, the agrarian Datia was a part of the Bundelkhand region before Independence. In 1956, when Madhya Pradesh came into existence, Datia was merged with the Gwalior-Chambal region. Upper caste-dominated Datia Assembly seat has a total of 1,90,905 votes, with 1,02,632 male and 88,261 female voters, according to the election commission's 2018 data. Brahmans and Thakur account for 22 per cent of the total voters, while OBCs voters are estimated to be 50 per cent. Minority, SC and ST voters accounted for the remaining 28 per cent. In the 2018 Madhya Pradesh elections, Datia recorded a voter turnout of 76.77 per cent. In 2013, the turnout was 75.31 per cent, and in 2008, it was 75.39 per cent. New Delhi, Oct 16 : NewsClick founder-editor Prabir Purkayastha and Human Resources head Amit Chakravarty have moved the Supreme Court challenging their arrest by Delhi Police under the provisions of UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act). On Monday, a bench headed by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud said that the matter will be listed for hearing after he has perused case papers. An out-of-turn mentioning was made by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who appeared on behalf of the NewsClick officials and sought directions for urgent listing of their plea. On October 13, a bench of Justice Tushar Rao Gedela of the Delhi High Court had dismissed their plea challenging arrest and seeking quashing of FIR in the matter. The High Court had said that it is not inclined to pass any favourable orders considering the seriousness of offences alleged against the NewsClick officials. The Special Cell of Delhi Police had registered an FIR against NewsClick on August 17 under different sections of the UAPA and the Indian Penal Code for affecting the stability, integrity, sovereignty and national security. 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. New Delhi, Oct 16 : Days after a fake letter of senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh announcing his resignation from the party went viral, the former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister said on Monday that he will stay with the party till his last breath and that the BJP-RSS keep on targeting him. Speaking to the media here, Digvijaya Singh said, "BJP and RSS keep targetting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and some of our party leaders, including me. They run fake videos, write fake letters and edit our statements, so this was as a part of that." Commenting on the fake letter, which announced his resignation from the party, he said, "I joined the Congress party in 1971 and I shall remain in Congress till my last breath." His remarks came a day after a fake letter went viral on social media platforms claiming to be of Singh, in which he announced his resignation. However, Singh took to X on Sunday to clarify the situation and said that the BJP was expert in lying. "I took membership of Congress in 1971. I joined the Congress not for the post but because I was influenced by the ideology and I will remain in Congress till the last breath of my life. I am filing a police complaint against this lie," he added. The voting for the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly is scheduled on November 17 and counting of votes will take place on December 3. On Sunday, the first day of Navratri, the Congress announced its first list of 144 candidates for the state, including Singh's son Jaivardhan Singh fielded from Raghogarh Assembly constituency. Aizawl, Oct 16 : Ahead of the November 7 Assembly elections in Mizoram, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi arrived in Aizawl on Monday on a two-day visit to campaign for the party, which governed the mountainous state for many years till 2018. Immediately after his arrival, the Congress MP participated in a padyatra from the state capital's Chanmari area to the Raj Bhawan, following which he addressed a gathering. Later in the day, he is slated to interact with students at the Lal Thanhawla auditorium. On Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi will first hold a meeting with the state party leaders at the Aijal Club and then address the media before going to Lunglei, where he will speak at an election rally. During his two-day stay, the senior Congress leader might announce the names of the party candidates for the Assembly polls. The Congress has recently formed the Mizoram Secular Alliance (MSA) with two local parties --- Peopleas Conference (PC) and Zoram Nationalist Party (ZNP). The state Congress President Lalsawta said that the MSA was formed to unitedly fight against the BJP. While referring to the resolution adopted by the MSA, Lalsawta also urged 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 MSA does not want to remain a silent spectator," says the MSA resolution. "India has become one of the top countries where Christians are not safe." In the current Mizoram Assembly, the Congress has five members, while the PC and the ZNP do not have any representation. In July, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had constituted a 12-member Mizoram state election committeeheaded by state party chief Lalsawta. Former chief minister and long time state party president, Lal Thanhawla is also part of the panel. The Congress was voted out of power in 2018 by the Mizo National Front (MNF). Lalsawta had recently said the party would field candidates in all the 40 Assembly seats. Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 16 : The Congress-led UDF will, on Wednesday, lay siege to Secretariat - the seat of power in Kerala -- against the "corrupt" Pinarayi Vijayan government. Leader of Opposition V.D.Satheesan on Monday told the media here that Vijayan is engaged in looting the state. "The Left government is steeped in corruption. The ration shops are empty. Our workers will assemble in massive numbers on Wednesday to protest the corrupt regime of the Vijayan government," said Satheesan. Consequent to the siege, it remains to be seen if Secretariat employees and Ministers are able to report to duty as it happens to be the day for the weekly cabinet meeting. The retort is also being seen as a retaliation to Vijayan for taking pot shots against the Congress for inviting a "social media expert" and poll strategist Sunil Kanugolu to their recent political affairs committee meeting. "Vijayan need not advise us as he himself sought the expertise of a public relation expert and the Mumbai based company's staff was present even in the visitors' gallery of the state Assembly to study and give advice on how Vijayan should carry himself when meeting the media and the people. It's such a person who is advising us," said Satheesan. Faridabad, Oct 16 : There has been a significant rise in "text-neck syndrome", especially among the young adults, which account for about 70 per cent in the outpatient department, said city doctors on Monday on the occasion of World Spine Day. World Spine Day is observed globally on October 16 to raise awareness about the importance of spine health. The theme of this yearas Spine Day is "Move Your Spine". According to doctors at Amrita Hospital Faridabad, exposure to long hours in front of screens, coupled with poor posture and inadequate ergonomics in the workplace, is causing the young adults to be susceptible to spine-related conditions like "text-neck syndrome". The syndrome can be defined as where the neck muscles become strained and stiff, causing long-term spinal complexities, the experts said. "Poor posture has become the most common cause of back and neck pain among our OPD patients. Remarkably, nearly 70 per cent of our OPD patients fall into this category. Poor screen etiquette is also a leading contributor to such pain. People often use their gadgets with their neck bent for prolonged periods, leading to a condition called "text-neck syndrome. Individuals between the ages of 25 and 45 are the most commonly affected by postural back pain," said Dr Tarun Suri, Head of Spine Surgery at Amrita Hospital Faridabad. Studies show that poor posture is the primary cause of neck and back pain in young and mid-age individuals, leading to work loss, hospital visits, and treatment expenses. Over time, it damages spinal discs, causes muscle spasms, and may lead to chronic pain, disc degeneration, and even surgery in severe cases. The leading factors behind bad posture are poor workplace ergonomics, which entail long hours of sitting without proper chair and desk height, putting significant stress on the lower back and neck. Chronic stress can be extremely detrimental to one's spinal health. Neck, upper back, and shoulder muscles tend to tighten due to stress, which can lead to misalignment and poor posture, the doctor said. Dr Suri said, "Children aged 10-20 years are also experiencing postural spine pains". Spine problems among children are due to "poor studying posture, excessive gadget use, and carrying heavy school bags". The doctor advised people to not ignore posture issues that can have severe long-term consequences. The early warning signs for neck and back pain or developing chronic pain often come in the form of neck pains, with or without radiating pains in the arm, altered spinal alignment, lower back pain, and morning stiffness in the neck or lower back. However, with proper exercise and practice, these symptoms can be prevented. Dr Suri advised people to train themselves to use digital devices at eye level and not by bending the neck. "Holding a cell phone with the device near the ears and tilting the neck for extended periods is also a common bad habit among many people. It is recommended to use the speakerphone or headphones for such conversations. While sitting, the hips and knees should form about a 90-degree angle, with the feet flat on the ground. The back should also be in a neutral position and not hunched over or slouched," he said. The doctor also advised people sitting and working for long hours to take a 60-second break to stretch the back for 20-30 minutes. This can help release intradiscal pressures and improve circulation in spine tissues and muscles. Drama in Kerala HC as married man slashes wrist after lover wishes to return to her parents. Image Source: IANS News Kochi, Oct 16 : The Kerala High Court on Monday held that if the noon meal programme in government-run schools is a collaboration between the Centre and the state, why are the headmasters bearing its burden. The observation came in response to a plea filed by a leading organisation of the teachers who approached the Court seeking its intervention in the matter. Notably, with the state government reeling under a massive cash crunch leading to around Rs 163 crore arrears pending, numerous government school heads are forced to bear the expense of the noon meal programme. When the counsel for the state government informed that the funds from the Centre are not coming on time, the Court said "if that be the case, then remove the name of the Centre from the name of the programme and name it as the Chief Minister's scheme." For long, this has been a major problem for the headmasters/ headmistresses of the state government schools as due to the huge delay in the funds from the state government to arrive in schools, in order for the school children to get the noon meal, the onus was on the teachers and they used to fund it from their pocket. While the teachers were finding it too difficult to foot the expenses from their pockets, this became a big issue and a leading organisation of the teachers approached the Court seeking their intervention. The Counsel for the state government has informed the Court that steps have now been taken to distribute Rs 81 crore shortly to the schools. The case has been posted for further hearing on Wednesday. New Delhi, Oct 16 : On the day former Congress president Rahul Gandhi is campaigning for the party in Mizoram, the grand old party party of Monday announced 39 candidates for the 40 member assembly. The list was announced days after Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge chaired the meeting of the Central Election Committee (CEC) here, which was also attended by Rahul Gandhi and many party leaders. The party has fielded state unit chief Lalsawta from Aizawl West III ST seat, sitting party MLAs Lalrindika Ralte, Zodintluanga Ralte, Nihar Kanti Chakma, C Ngunlianchunga have been fielded from their assembly seats. The party has not named its fifth sitting MLA K. T. Rokhaw from Palak ST assembly seat. The party has replaced Rokhaw with IP Junior from the assembly seat. Voting for Mizoram will take place on November 7 and counting of votes will take place on December 3. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday kicked off the campaign in the state with a padyatra. He is on two day visit to the mountainous state, where the Congress ruled till 2018. --IANS aks/dan Tel Aviv, Oct 16 : For a second time since the raging Israel-Hamas conflict erupted on October 7, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday arrived in Tel Aviv, where he is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Jewish nation's war management cabinet. The US top diplomat was in Israel last week in a show of support from the Biden administration as it seeks to reinforce the country's defences and prevent the conflict from escalating further, reports CNN. He was the first senior US administration to visit the war-torn nation. Earlier in the day, Blinken said in a post on X:"We stand with Israel as it defends itself. The United States is also actively working to ensure the people of Gaza can get out of harm's way and the assistance they need food, water, medicine can get in. "Hamas does not care if Palestinians suffer." On Sunday, Blinken had promised the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt "will be open" and that the US was working with the UN, Egypt, Israel and others to coordinate aid efforts. The Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, the only remaining outlet for supplies, has been closed for much of the past week and as a result, the Hamas-controlled enclave is facing a critical humanitarian crisis, with shortages of water, electricity, food, fuel and medicine. On Monday however, Israel denied reports that it had agreed to a ceasefire in southern Gaza to allow the Rafah border crossing to open to let aid into the Hamas-controlled enclave. "At the moment there is no ceasefire for humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip and the exit of foreigners," The Times of Israel quoted a statement issued by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyau's office. Earlier, reports said that Israel had agreed to halt fire from 9 a.m. in a deal agreed on with Egypt and the US. The Hamas has also said that it did not have any information about the proposed humanitarian truce at the Rafah border crossing. Meanwhile, tonnes of vital humanitarian supplies for people in Gaza have been piling up on the Egyptian side of the border, CNN reported. On Sunday, Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of the UN Relief and Works Agency, said that Gaza is rapidly running out of water and electricity, and the population faces severe shortages of food and medicine. "Gaza is being strangled and it seems that the world right now has lost its humanity. If we look at the issue of water we all know water is life Gaza is running out of water, and Gaza is running out of life," Lazzarini said. Lucknow, Oct 16 : The Uttar Pradesh government is set to upgrade schools that are situated near interstate and international routes and multipurpose hubs. The state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has already cleared the proposal to upgrade 16 schools near multipurpose hubs and also those located on the main roads along the Indo-Nepal border. He has also ordered officials to start model composite schools equipped with modern facilities in 57 districts. The basic education department has proposed a budget of about Rs 8.5 crore for this purpose. The proposal includes plans for upgradation of nine schools located on interstate routes for estimated Rs 3.71 crore. The other proposal to upgrade seven schools situated along the international route near Indo-Nepal border, will cost Rs 4.73 crore, officials said. The proposal presented to the Chief Minister also outlined the action plan, emphasising the pivotal role of the district magistrate throughout the projectas implementation. According to the proposal, in the districts where such schools will undergo upgrades, the district magistrate will chair and oversee the execution of the scheme. The government institutions responsible for construction will be selected and monitored by the district magistrate. Furthermore, committees headed by him will be responsible for procuring, the official said. Patna, Oct 16 : A police constable was shot dead by bike-borne assailants in Bihar's Vaishali district on Monday. According to an eyewitness, the incident took place when Amitabh Kumar, posted at Sarai police station, was checking vehicles near UCO bank at Sarai Bazar Chowk on Monday. "While checking the vehicles, Kumar signalled three men on a bike to stop came. Instead of stopping, they left the bike and tried to flee. Some of the cops, including Amitabh Kumar, chased them. At this, one of the miscreants opened fire on the police team," said Ramesh Kumar, the driver of the police van. "Amitabh Kumar, came under the firing range. He suffered two gunshot wounds on his chest and collapsed. We immediately rushed him to Sadar hospital where doctors referred him to a private hospital. Kumar succumbed to his injuries," Kumar said. "We have managed to nab two of the accused while another managed to flee from the spot," he said. This is the second incident when a police officer became the victim of criminals. Earlier, a SHO Nand Kishore Yadav of Mohanpur OP, Samastipur was gunned down by cattle smugglers in August. Lucknow, Oct 16 : More than 6,500 land dispute cases in various court of Lucknow and about 26,866 cases in revenue courts of Uttar Pradesh are pending. An exercise to ascertain this number was undertaken after the Deoria violence in which six persons were killed due to property dispute. According to official sources, a number of litigants are fighting land cases for over 20 years without any decision while some cases are so old that the original plaintiff is not alive and his next generation is fighting the case. "Based on the nature of dispute, the case goes in the court of tehsildar, then before the SDM, the DM, the divisional commissioner and Revenue Board before going to the high court and the Supreme Court. It takes a lot of time to get a judgement in land dispute cases," said Mukesh Singh, a Congress corporator. Advocate Ravish Singh said, "You will agree that there is a huge pendency of cases before the competent authorities. No one can be blamed for this because delivering justice on land matters is not an easy task." He further said, "Revenue officials are never serious about solving land disputes due to which a large number of Deoria-like incidents take place. Chances of such crimes are maximum in a city where officials sit on files for months and where officials keep delaying cases." Divisional commissioner Roshan Jacob has directed officials to list all land related cases and resolve them on priority and asked officials to plan conservation of water bodies/ponds, besides checking encroachments on government land. The divisional commissioner also asked officers to make a list of land disputes and get them resolved on priority basis, as directed by the chief minister. Municipal commissioner Inderjeet Singh informed the divisional commissioner that 361 ponds of LMC area had been surveyed and taken over by the civic body and necessary action was being taken for the renovation of ponds. "Ponds freed from encroachers should be developed by the LMC as picnic spots so that revenue can be generated for their maintenance. All cases of land disputes must be resolved soon," Jacob reiterated. SC issues notice to RS Secretariat on Raghav Chadha's plea against suspension from House. Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, Oct 16 : The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine a plea filed by Aam Admi Party (AAP) MP Raghav Chadha against his suspension from the Rajya Sabha. A bench headed by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud and comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra issued the notice to theUpper House secretariatand called for its response by October 30. Looking at the significance of the legal issues involved, the bench also sought assistance of Attorney General R. Venkataramani in the matter. During the hearing, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for Chadha, said that the matter involves an issue of "national importance" and Rajya Sabha Chairman cannot order suspension of a member of the House pending inquiry, particularly, when a committee on privileges is already seized of the investigation. He added in the past, names of members -- who were not found to be the signatory -- were plainly dropped from the list of proposed select committee. Last week, Chadha had moved the Supreme Court after he was suspended in August on charges of not taking the consent of five Rajya Sabha MPs before including their name in a select committee. The AAP leader has been accused of forging the signatures of five MPs in a motion related to the Delhi Services Bill. Chadha has been suspended until the committee of privileges investigating the case against him submits its report. The motion of suspension was moved by BJP MP Piyush Goyal who termed Chadha's action "unethical". London, Oct 16 : Researchers have discovered a significant connection between birthweight and the onset of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, now known as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), in young people. Most notably, babies with a low birthweight were found to be four times more likely to develop MASLD in childhood, adolescence or young adulthood, revealed the study, presented at the ongoing United European Gastroenterology (UEG) Week 2023 being held in Denmark. "While previous research has established the link between birthweight and major diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome, the connection to MASLD remained unclear," said first author Dr Fahim Ebrahimi, a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. "Our study now provides compelling evidence that foetal developmental factors play a significant role in the development of MASLD and progressive liver disease," he added. To investigate the link, the researchers conducted a population-based case-control study of all people aged 25 years and younger, who had been diagnosed with biopsy-proven MASLD between January 1992 and April 2017, totalling 165 cases. They found that individuals born with a low birthweight were four times more likely to develop MASLD when compared with those born with a normal birthweight. Those born as small for gestational age (SGA), falling below the 10th percentile, were also over three times more likely to develop MASLD early in life compared with those with an adequate (10th-90th) birthweight. In addition, the researchers found that individuals with a low birthweight, or those born as SGA, had an up to about a 6-fold higher relative risk of developing more severe stages of MASLD in the form of liver fibrosis or cirrhosis. "Further research is needed to fully understand the underlying immunological and metabolic mechanisms. Several studies suggest that both overnutrition and undernutrition during pregnancy can lead to lasting epigenetic changes that can affect an individual's metabolism for a lifetime," Dr Ebrahimi said. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is a long-lasting liver condition caused by having too much fat in the liver. In recent times, MASLD was introduced to replace NAFLD. This change reflects the understanding that most conditions classified as MASLD are closely associated with the metabolic syndrome, which is characterised by obesity, insulin resistance and high levels of cholesterol or lipids. Suva, Oct 16 : The Fijian government is now focusing on improving the work of the immigration department by easing the work permit process, as well as assisting the private sector, to bring back more workers for needy areas. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Biman Prasad said this while participating in the 2023 Human Capital Ministerial Conclave's plenary session during the margins of the 2023 Annual meeting for the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) held in Marrakesh, Morocco, the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation reported on Monday. Prasad said that migration is a significant issue for Fiji. In the last 18 months, around 10 per cent of Fiji's formal workforce has left for greener pastures in neighbouring developed countries, reports Xinhua news agency. Prasad said there is significant value in technical, vocational, and enterprise education and training (TVET) programs in schools and tertiary institutions in Fiji. He said TVET programs are the modern-day solution toward transforming the Fijian economy to greater heights through the expansion of its human capital by creating an opportunity for skilled workers. Prasad said the government was rebuilding the technical education system as well as addressing the skills gap and working together with existing service providers, including the newly-established Pacific Polytech. He said Fiji is focusing on skills development and training at all levels of its educational system, and the private sector will be playing an important role in this. Mumbai, Oct 16 : Actor Rohitashv Gour, who is best known for the sitcom 'Bhabiji Ghar Par Hain', shared about the culinary journey he has relished in his recent travel to Indore with his co-star Shubhangi Atre. On the 'World Food Day', Rohitashv said: "Participating in the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in Indore alongside my co-star Shubhangi was a culinary journey. Shubhangi, a proud Indore native, introduced me to various local delicacies." "Among them, the Indori Khopra Patties stood out-- an exquisite combination of crispy potato patties generously filled with a delightful mix of spicy, tangy coconut, aromatic herbs, and dried fruits. Each bite was a revelation, turning my perception of coconut from sweet to savoury and adding an extra layer of enjoyment to this unique culinary experience," he added. In the current track of 'Bhabiji Ghar Par Hain' track, Anita (Vidisha Srivastava) is jolted awake by a harrowing dream, discovering that her beloved grooming class has shut. Simultaneously, Manmohan Tiwari (Rohitashv) experiences a troubling dream, witnessing his shop being auctioned. The following day, both receive the disturbing news that they are burdened with a substantial Rs 10 lakh loan from the bank, plunging them into distress. As the weight of their financial troubles bears down on them, a glimmer of hope emerges with the announcement of a Dandiya Competition in the modern colony. The grand prize for the winner is an enticing 25 lakh rupees. Anita suggests Vibhuti (Aasif Sheikh) participate alongside Angoori (Shubhangi) in the competition. Meanwhile, Tika (Vaibhav Mathur) and Tilu (Salim Zaidi) make earnest attempts to persuade Rusa (Charrul Malik) to join them in the garba festivities. Amid the celebrations, Ammaji (Soma Rathod) informs Angoori about her ominous luck and advises her to encapsulate it within a Ladoo and place it beneath a tree for protection. Despite these precautions, when the time comes for him to engage in Dandiya with Angoori, misfortune repeatedly befalls him, leaving Anita even more stressed and anxious. 'Bhabiji Ghar Par Hain' airs on &TV. New Delhi, Oct 16 : The Delhi High Court on Monday directed the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to establish a medical board to assess a woman's request for the termination of her 22-week pregnancy. The court was hearing a plea by a 31-year-old woman, who sought to terminate the pregnancy after deciding to divorce her husband. Justice Subramonium Prasad stressed the necessity for an evaluation by a Medical Board to determine whether it was safe for the woman to undergo pregnancy termination by a registered medical practitioner. He also asked the Medical Board to assess the condition of the fetus. The court directed AIIMS to promptly form the Medical Board, and said that the board's report must be submitted within 48 hours. The woman got married in June and found that she was carrying a single intrauterine pregnancy after a month. Besides directing AIIMS, the court directed the woman's husband to be included as a party to the case and issued a notice to him. It posted the matter for hearing next on October 19. The woman alleged that she had been subjected to verbal, physical, mental, and emotional abuse by her husband since the early stages of their marriage. She reported two instances of physical assault, the first in July and the second in August when she was three months pregnant. Since August, she has been residing in her parental home and has expressed a desire to terminate her pregnancy. While the court granted relief to the woman, it noted that she had not filed a police report against her husband for the alleged physical abuse, nor had she initiated a petition for divorce or judicial separation. However, the court referred to a Supreme Court decision that affirms a woman's prerogative to assess her life and choose the best course of action, particularly in the context of changing circumstances. The order cited the potential for material changes when a woman separates from her partner, which may affect her ability to raise a child. The court referenced domestic violence cases under Rule 3B(c) of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Rules, which allows a woman to terminate her pregnancy up to 24 weeks due to a change in marital status. New Delhi, Oct 16 : The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea challenging the decision of the Bihar government to classify transgender community as "caste" and not under the category of "gender" in the state caste survey process. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and S.V.N. Bhatti dismissed the petition as withdrawn and granted liberty to the petitioners to approach the state government. The bench orally remarked that social benefits could be extended to transgenders as a "third gender" and not as a "caste" after noting that there exist three columns in the survey form now viz male, female and transgender. The plea contended that the state government categorized hijra, kinnar, kothi, transgender (third gender) as a separate caste code at serial no 22 under the Caste Code List and did not classify them under the category of gender. The special leave petition, filed through advocate Tanya Shree, said that the Patna High Court earlier disposed of the writ petition without taking into account the fact that classification of transgender under the category of caste and not under the category of gender in Bihar Caste Census, 2022 is violative of Article 14, 15, 16 and 21 of the Constitution, as well as Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019. The petition stated that the "erroneous" classification of the transgender community as caste in the Bihar Caste Census, 2022 has resulted in discrimination against the community as it has taken away the right of self classification of their gender. "aSuch classification of transgenders is erroneous and against the Constitutional mandate as well as judgments of the Supreme Court," it said, adding that such action of the state government is void ab intio (null and void from the very beginning). It said that the caste survey is ultra vires the Section 8 of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, which obligates the appropriate government to take steps for the welfare of the persons from the transgender community. A batch of pleas questioning the state governmentas authority to notify the conduct of caste-based survey in Bihar has been adjourned by the Supreme Court till January next year. New Delhi, Oct 16 : A large number of cab drivers of ride-hailing platforms Ola and Uber on Monday went on a strike in Tamil Nadu, demanding better remuneration and a ban on bike taxi services, which according to them, is eating up their revenue. The cab drivers are also demanding strict action on certain toll booths operating beyond their contract period. The strike was announced by the All India Road Transport Workers Federation and the Tamil Nadu Urimai Kural Driver Trade Union across the state, demanding a ban on bike taxi services. Moreover, the drivers have urged the state government to immediately intervene and regulate the app-based cab aggregators and resolve the issue of the high commission charged by the aggregators. To underline their demands, the cab drivers have announced a similar strike on Tuesday in Tiruchirappalli, with a major protest planned for Wednesday at Egmoreas Rajarathinam Stadium. Due to the strike, those who rely on taxis to get to work experienced delays. A commuter stated that due to the scarcity of public transit in his neighbourhood during peak hours, he relied on app-based aggregators to get to work. However, due to the strike, he had to wait over 40 minutes to book a taxi on Monday. Meanwhile, Swiggy delivery workers in Mumbai have protested due to a change in payouts, causing delays and unavailability of services in several parts of the city. Swiggy riders have been protesting due to recent changes to their rate cards and an increase in delivery radius. Initial protests were started by workers belonging to the Rashtriya Karmachari Sena in Bandra, but other groups also joined in quickly, resulting in sporadic protests across Mumbai, a crucial market for Swiggy. Kochi, Oct 16 : The Kerala High Court has decided to beef up security measures on its premises following some recent instances of security breaches. It has been decided to issue Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) cards to advocates and clerks besides strict checking of baggage and body scanning for others entering the High Court building. Also everyone entering the court will be subjected to frisking by using hand-held metal detectors by the security personnel deployed at the entry points. Those advocates who are not in the designated dress have to show their ID cards at the entry points for identification, while the verification of the identity of persons wearing the robes of a lawyer will be done, only if required. Advocates' clerks shall wear ID cards on entering the High Court building and those who forget to carry their ID cards will have to furnish their name, designation and section to the security personnel and shall mark their bio-metric attendance in the thumb-reader. For government officials, and other visitors, the court has that they should wear their ID cards or should be in proper uniform while entering the High Court. Further, the Deputy SP (Security), High Court, has been given the permission to take legal action as per law against persons who are not abiding with the security instructions or are using force against the security personnel. Rani Mukerji: 'I don't think anyone can do the romance like SRK'. Image Source: IANS News Mumbai, Oct 16 : Actress Rani Mukerji, who celebrated 25 years of her cult movie 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai', shared that her co-star Shah Rukh Khan has taught her to romance. She also revealed that she was nervous about the audience accepting Rahul (SRK) falling in love with her character Tina. Rani attended the special screening of the movie, along with director Karan Johar and SRK. Talking about SRK, the 'Chalte Chalte' fame actress said: "SRK taught me how to romance. So when SRK says let the young people do the romance, I don't think anyone can do the romance like him." She further said: "I started doing the films when I was 17 years old, and it just feels amazing that I have a daughter who is going to turn eight in December. So it's exactly like how my daughter was in this film." Rani referred to Sana Saeed, who played Anjali Khanna in the romantic drama. Anjali Khanna isthe daughter of Tina and Rahul. The actress thanked fans for showering love on her character. She said: "Thank you so much for loving Tina. I was a newcomer, SRK and Kajol had already done 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge' (DDLJ), they were the iconic pair." "I was very nervous that the audience would not accept Rahul falling in love with Tina, when Anjali was around. But that was all Karan's writing, what he wrote, and made it happen. The magic of 'KKHH' is the writing of 'KKHH'," Rani concluded. Written and directed by Karan, aKuch Kuch Hota Haia is produced by Dharma Productions. It stars SRK as Rahul Khanna, Kajol as Anjali Sharma, and Rani as Tina Malhotra in lead roles, along with Salman as Aman Mehra in a special appearance. It also features Sana Saeed as Anjali Khanna in a pivotal role. The plot combines two love triangles set years apart. The first half covers friends on a college campus, while the second tells the story of a widower's young daughter who tries to reunite her dad with his old best friend. Filmed in India, Mauritius and Scotland, this was KJoas directorial debut. Meanwhile, Rani was last seen in 'Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway'. London, Oct 16 : To ensure peace and harmony among interfaith groups, members of Islamic, Jewish, Christian, Hindu and Sikh communities came together in a city in the UK to discuss the raging conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The UN has said that the Middle East "is on the verge of the abyss" with the ongoing spell of violence entering the 10th day on Monday, leaving nearly 4,000 dead and scores of others injured. Interfaith leaders from Nottingham, along with City Councillor Sajid Mohammed, gathered at the Council House last week to discuss the escalating conflict and reaffirm the established local relationships in place. "They expressed sadness at what has happened over the past few weeks in the region and made a strong commitment to ensuring that no division is felt in their city," a Nottingham City Council release said. Councillor Mohammed, Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhoods, Safety and Inclusion at Nottingham City Council, said that hate will not be tolerated in the city. aI know we have different political and personal beliefs, but I am strong in my conviction that these things make this city special. We must continue to respect each otheras views and live harmoniously together," he said. aWe understand the gravity of the situation but as civic and faith leaders, we want to make absolutely clear that discrimination a" in any form a" will not be tolerated here." The meeting of interfaith community leaders in the UK comes as an elderly landlord in the US city of Chicago stabbed his six-year-old Palestinian-American tenant 26 times because the child and his mother were Muslims. Joseph M Czuba, 71, who had been agitated due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, stabbed mother Hanaan Shahin (32) and her son Wadea Al-Fayoume (six) on Saturday with a 12-inch serrated military style knife that had a seven-inch blade. Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur, has warned that Palestinians are in grave danger of mass ethnic cleansing and called on the international community to urgently mediate a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 16. Latvia may offer Kazakhstan logistics organization through its ports, a source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia told Trend. "Kazakhstan is a very important partner of Latvia in the transport and logistics sectors. Latvia plays an important role in the connectivity of Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries to the world markets by offering the Latvian transit corridor and the services of three big ports: Riga, Ventspils, and Liepaja. In the current geopolitical situation, when during the sanction regimes it may be complicated for Central Asian countries to organize logistics through Russian ports, Latvia can offer that to Central Asia and especially Kazakhstan, a country rich in different mineral resources," the ministry said. As the source noted, the Latvian ports provide a vast set of services for export and import operations to the European Union and further around the world. "We see that the cargo volumes are growing now, and there will be a clear need in the future to provide connectivity for Central Asia, as a so-called landlocked region, by using all modes of transport. Latvia, being a natural gateway to the European Union for Central Asia, with its vast experience in the connectivity processes between the EU and Central Asia, understands very well the importance of close trade relations between the EU and Central Asia," the source added. The Republic of Latvia is an important trade and economic partner of Kazakhstan in the Baltic region. The Republic of Kazakhstan is one of the top five trading partners of Latvia among the CIS countries. Trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Latvia in 2022 amounted to $216.2 million, which is 3.7 times higher than in 2021 ($58.3 million). Exports during this period amounted to $182 million, and imports were $34.2 million. From January through May 2023, trade turnover amounted to $189 million ($42.9 million for the same period in 2022). In 2022, the total volume of cargo transportation between Kazakhstan and Latvia by rail amounted to 3.683 million tons, which is 5.8 times higher than the same figure for 2021. 3.7 million tons of cargo were transported from Kazakhstan to Latvia in 2022 (an increase of 8.5 times), and from Latvia to Kazakhstan, 196,200 tons (3 times the increase). About 120 Latvian enterprises, including joint ones, are registered in Kazakhstan. About 100 Kazakh companies operate in Latvia. Businesses operate in areas such as logistics, trade, and financial consulting. According to the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan, investments from Latvia to Kazakhstan in 2022 amounted to $52.5 million (+54 percent) and from Latvia to $2.6 million (-43 percent). New Delhi, Oct 16 : The aesthetic injectables market in India is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 5 per cent through 2030, according to a report on Monday. With a growing population of beauty-conscious individuals, the demand for aesthetic procedures and products has witnessed a significant upswing in India in recent times. The increased awareness of varied beauty treatments and the influence of social media are contributing to the surge in demand for aesthetic procedures in India, said the report by GlobalData, a data and analytics company. It revealed that India currently accounts for about 1 per cent of the Asia-Pacific (APAC) aesthetic injectables market by revenue in 2023. "Aesthetic injectables such as botulinum toxin (Botox), hyaluronic, and non-hyaluronic acid fillers are rising in popularity, due to their non-surgical and non-invasive nature. In addition, popularity is driven by successful outcomes, which can be achieved safely and quickly with less recovery time," said Ayshi Ganguly, Medical Devices Analyst at GlobalData, in a statement. Ganguly noted that the "Covid-19 pandemic has made individuals understand their skin type and requirements and have urged them to opt for more elastic, rejuvenated, hydrated, and plump skin without having to go for any surgery." She stated that the rise in the growth in the Indian aesthetic injectables market is because people are "investing a portion of their disposable income in aesthetic enhancements". The growth is in turn leading to rise in the number and variety of injectable fillers available to surgeons, Ganguly said. "Furthermore, the use of virtual reality and artificial intelligence (AI) for precise skin-type recommendations and post-procedure monitoring is attracting a broader spectrum of customers," Ganguly said. "With the evolution of beauty parameters and advancements in technology and regulations, the aesthetic injectables market is all set to flourish, offering an array of opportunities for both consumers and businesses alike," she added. Mumbai, Oct 16 : The Indian rupee plunged to a 12-month low of 83.28 against the US dollar on Monday amid rising oil prices and uncertainty in global markets due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. The RBI has been intervening periodically to sell dollars in the market to prevent the rupee from going into a free fall, according to traders. The benchmark Brent crude was hovering at close to $91 a barrel after having jumped nearly 6 per cent on Friday. While Israel is poised to carry out its ground attack in Gaza, there are fears that the tensions may escalate into a wider geopolitical crisis with the US and Iran getting involved. This could lead to a disruption in the flow of oil from the Middle East region. The US has already moved two aircraft carriers into the Mediterranean Sea, while Iran has issued statements in support of Hamas while criticising Israel. Oil prices soared nearly 30 per cent in the three months to September, the biggest third-quarter gain in almost two decades. With rising crude oil prices in the international market pushing up the demand for dollars, the Indian rupee has slumped to record lows below 83 against the US greenback. India's current account deficit (CAD) jumped seven-fold to $9.2 billion in the April-June quarter compared to the corresponding figure of $1.3 billion in the preceding quarter, according to the latest RBI data released last week. The continuing surge in oil prices and slowing exports due to a decline in demand in global markets, which is expected to widen further, will bring the rupee under further pressure. CAD for April-June quarter of 2023-24 was 1.1 per cent of the GDP. According to Emkay Global Financial Services lead economist Madhavi Arora, the July-September quarter will see a "substantial widening of CAD" to 2.4 per cent of the GDP on account of higher oil prices, higher core imports and further slowing of services exports. New Delhi, October 16 : The Supreme Court on Monday pulled up the National Medical Commission (NMC) for the delay in furnishing its reply on a plea alleging that 70 per cent of the medical colleges in the country do not pay any stipend to MBBS interns. A bench, headed by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud and comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra, asked the Union government and NMC to furnish the tabular information within a period of six weeks relating to payment of stipend paid to medical students during their internship as part of fulfillment of five-year MBBS degree course. The bench also allowed impleadment of the government of National Capital Territory of Delhi as a respondent party. In an earlier order, the court had asked the MNC to explain if the statement that 70 per cent interns are not paid stipends is true and sought information as to what steps the Commission is taking to ensure compliance with the norms for payment of internship stipends. Interns from Army College of Medical Sciences in Delhi petitioned the Supreme Court, through advocate Charu Mathur, after they were not paid any stipend in terms of the National Medical Commission (Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship) Regulations 2021. The medical college, managed by the Army Welfare Education Society, argued that fees for medical education are fixed by the State Fee Regulatory Committee and it has reduced the fee for the current academic year to 3,20,500 from Rs 4,32,000. "The interns are required to be paid a stipend during the period of internship. The mandate of the regulations adopted by the National Medical Commission cannot be breached," said the top court in an order passed on September 15. It had directed the Army College of Medical Sciences to pay a stipend of Rs 25,000 per month to each of the present batch of interns from October 1 and said that the medical college will continue to do so on a monthly basis. To commensurate the financial burden, the Supreme Court had asked the Army College of Medical Sciences to move the State Fee Regulatory Committee with a statement of likely financial impact consequent upon the payment of stipend. Kolkata, Oct 16 : Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said that he will be visiting West Bengal frequently in the coming days to ensure change in the political power situation in the state. He was in Kolkata to inaugurate the community Puja of Santosh Mitra Square at Lebutala Park in central Kolkata, whose principal organiser is BJP councillor in Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) Sajal Ghosh. "This is not the occasion for making political statements. So, I will not do that now. But I will be frequenting the state more, making political statements and ensuring that there is change in the state," the Shah said. He also referred to the theme of the Puja committee this year which is Ram Madir in Ayodhya. "The Prime Minister Narandra Modi will be inaugurating the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya in January next year. But before that there is inauguration of another Ram Mandir in Kolkata by the people," the Home Minister said. Besides Shah and Ghosh, also present on the occasion was BJP's state president in West Bengal and party Lok Sabha member Sukanta Majumdar and the leader of the opposition in West Bengal assembly Suvendu Adhikari. The inauguration of the Puja pandal was the only scheduled programme of Home Minister in Kolkata on Monday. He will fly back to New Delhi in evening. Santosh Mitra Square, this year too, has maintained its tradition of not accepting the donation and other financial benefits offered by the state government to the community Durga Puja committees every year. "We have not been accepting donations for the last two years. Pujas have been organised with lots of pomp and grandeur even before. So, it will happen this year as well. But we do not want to be a party to waste money of the state exchequer and that too at a time when the state government is unable to meet essential expenditure for development or go for recruitment for the vacant posts," Ghosh said. New Delhi, Oct 16 : After a delay of more than 19 months, edtech major Byju's on Monday said it is expected to announce its financial results for FY22 by the end of this week. In a statement to IANS, the company said the audit of all the group subsidiaries has been completed and adopted. "Think and Learn Pvt Ltd, the parent company of Byju's, is expected to adopt the consolidated results this week to factor in certain positive developments in the company," the company said. In June this year, the companyas long-standing auditor Deloitte had flagged some concerns with the revenue recognition methods for Byjuas accounts in FY21, and resigned, citing delay in declaring FY22 results. Byju's earlier missed its deadline to file the FY22 financial results in September. The company had convened a board meeting in the second week of October "for approval and adoption of accounts for FY22". "Think and Learn Pvt Ltd has issued a notice for convening a Board meeting in the second week of October 2023 for approval and adoption of accounts for FY22," a Byju's spokesperson had said. Earlier this year, the ed-tech company told its investors and lenders that it would file its FY22 financial statements by September. Byju's is also going to lay off 4,000-5,000 employees in a "business restructuring exercise" in the coming weeks. "We are in the final stages of a business restructuring exercise to simplify operating structures, reduce the cost base and better cash flow management," a company spokesperson had said. Byju's new India CEO, Arjun Mohan, will be completing this process in the next few weeks and will steer a revamped and sustainable operation ahead, according to the company. The edtech major is also mulling to sell at least two of its subsidiaries, Epic and Great Learning, to raise between $800 million and $1 billion, amid reports that the company has formulated a proposal to repay its outstanding $1.2 billion Term Loan B (TLB). Earlier on Monday, in some cheers for edtech unicorn Byjuas which is facing a myriad of issues, news surfaced that Aakash Chaudhry is reportedly set to return as CEO of Aakash Educational Services that Byjuas acquired for almost $1 billion in April 2021. --IANS na/vd Lucknow, Oct 16 : To commemorate the birth anniversary of martyr Captain Anshuman Singh, a free health camp was organised by Rajesh Singh Dayal Foundation in Bardiha Dalpat, in district Deoria of Uttar Pradesh. The event started by paying tribute to martyr Anshuman Singh in which his father Ravi Pratap Singh and mother Manju Singh were present. Rajesh Singh Dayal paid tribute to the martyr by laying flowers and explaining the importance of his supreme sacrifice, inspired everyone in the society to work for the welfare of the society with love and rising above the caste and creed. A free health facility camp was also organised by Rajesh Singh Dayal in Salempur Lok Sabha during the camp has been given the title of the biggest health camp being organized till date by "India Book of Records" and "High Range Book of Records". Award which established the name of Salempur Lok Sabha on the world stage. In the honour, a certificate and medal were also presented in the name of Rajesh Singh Dayal Foundation. Director of Chandan Hospital Amit Srivastava was also present on the occasion. More than 3000 people got free treatment in the ongoing camp and Rajesh Singh Dayal himself assured many patients suffering from serious health problems to get them treated in Chandan Hospital of Lucknow. When asked whether he is organising the due to the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Rajesh Singh Dayal said that he has been doing social service for the last 10 years and they do not need any post to serve the society, they are so capable and will continue to do good work for the people of the area. Chandigarh, Oct 16 : Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday handed over a cheque for Rs 1 crore to family of Agniveer Amritpal Singh as mark of respect to the brave warrior who made the ultimate sacrifice, while serving the country in Jammu and Kashmir. The Chief Minister said the state would accord the status of a martyr to Amritpal Singh in recognition of his immense contribution to the nation. Mann paid tribute to the martyred soldier who sacrificed his life for the nation at the age of 19. He said the government stood firmly with the family during this time of grief. The Chief Minister said a statue in the memory of the martyr will also be installed in the village. Mann said Punjabis have ever inspired the countrymen to sacrifice their lives for the sake of the country. Miffed over the army for not giving a guard of honor to Amritpal Singh, the Chief Minister said this act of discrimination will hurt the morale of the defence personnel. He said this step-motherly treatment towards a martyred Agniveer is despicable and highly condemnable. "Amritpal's parents had sent their son to selflessly serve the nation, and it is truly unfortunate that his sacrifice, in the line of duty, hasn't been recognised as that of a martyr, setting a concerning precedent." The Chief Minister said it was shameful that for the first time the body of a martyred soldier was brought in a private ambulance, an insult to a martyr soldier. Mann said 60 percent of the country's budget "is for the defence sector, but it is unfortunate that the army has not even provided an ambulance to carry the body of martyr Amritpal Singh". New Delhi, Oct 16 : External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday called on Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and conveyed the greetings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to him. "Honoured to call on PM Pham Minh Chinh, of Vietnam. Conveyed the greetings of PM @narendramodi. Valued his guidance for the further development of our bilateral relationship. A stronger India-Vietnam partnership contributes to a stable, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific," Jaishankar posted on X after the meeting. Earlier, Jaishankar had participated with his Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son, in a meeting of the 18th India-Vietnam Joint Commission in Hanoi. "Thank my co-chair @FMBuiThanhSon. Our discussions covered cooperation in political, defence & maritime security, judicial, trade & investment, energy, development, education & training, science & technology, cultural domains," Jaishankar said on X. "Convinced that our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership will only further strengthen over the coming years. Also shared perspectives on the Indo-Pacific region, our commitment to global issues and our collaboration in various multilateral groupings," Jaishankar added. Later Jaishankar also addressed the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam on aIndia in the Indo-Pacifica. "Discussed why cooperating in the Indo-Pacific construct is in our shared interests. Underlined the significance of ASEAN centrality and highlighted the contribution of the Quad. Brought out how India and Vietnam, with their independent mindset, can promote a multipolar and rules-based global order," Jaishankar added. Mumbai/New Delhi, Oct 16 : In a huge embarrassment for the Maharashtra government, former Pune Commissioner of Police Meeran Chadha-Borwankar on Monday said that she managed to save a prime plot of land at Yerawada in the city belonging to the Police Department and pointed a finger at the then Guardian Minister and present Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. She was interacting with the media in New Delhi on an explosive chapter in her latest book, "Madam Commissioner: The Extraordinary Life of an Indian Police Chief", released on Sunday in New Delhi. Chadha-Borwankar, though she has not mentioned Ajit Pawar in her book, recounted that 2010 'encounter' with him in the office of the Pune Divisional Commissioner, and also how the then Home Minister, (the late) R. R. Patil had later advised her to 'keep off' that land deal matter. The former Pune Police chief categorically said that she resisted the pressures by Ajit Pawar and 'saved' the city police's prime 3 acres of land that was to be handed over a Mumbai based builder, Chairman of DB Realty, Shahid Usman Balwa, who was later arrested in the 2G Spectrum scam. "When this incident (2010) took place, the builder was not yet arrested It was good that the deal was later junked as it prevented the government from a huge embarrassment," Chadha-Borwankar pointed out. The CoP of Pune (2010-2012) writes in the book at the pressures she faced from 'Dada' without naming him - to release a prime three-acre plot belonging to the police in Yerawada to the private builder. She elaborated on her meeting with Ajit Pawar who had a huge paper map of the Yerawada Police Station's plot area, and he informed her that the auction on the land was completed and she should proceed to hand over the plot to the top bidder. Resisting, Chadha-Borwankar said it was police land which was required for future expansion, offices/residential quarters for the police personnel and they could never get such a good property in future, and it would be contrary to the police department's interests. The Minister overruled her and asked her to complete the (land handover) process, but she declined, pointed out flaws in the auction process and even countered why her predecessor had not done it if the land was already auctioned. After this, Ajit Pawar had lost his cool, flung the map on the glass table, and also made certain unsavoury references to Patil, revered as 'Aaba' in political circles, which are not spelt out by her, and following that cold encounter, Chadha-Borwankar saluted the Minister and quietly left the venue. Almost 14 years after that episode, on Monday, she asserted that she was "not demanding any probe into the incident as the deal fell through after she put her foot down on it", angering Ajit Pawar. The former cop also warned of a strong 'bureaucrats, politicians, builders and police' nexus against which all must safeguard, and said that the Yerawada land case is just one among 38 major incidents that figure in her book. The book unleashed a political storm state Congress President Nana Patole, Leader of Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar, Shiv Sena-UBT national Spokesperson Kishore Tiwari, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar (nephew of Ait Pawar) and others have demanded a probe. However, the ruling ally and breakaway NCP (AP) leader Rupali Chakankar has rejected the insinuations and warned Chadha-Borwankar of legal action if she failed to prove her charges against Ajit Pawar. A smiling Chadha-Borwankar said that since Sunday, she has been besieged with phone calls and messages from various past or present bureaucrats on similar land scams that they have been grappling with. (Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.najmi@ians.in) Bengaluru, Oct 16 : In a big setback to the BJP and JD(S) alliance in Karnataka, JD(S) State President C.M. Ibrahim has declared support for the ruling Congress party. He also claimed that the JD(S) party is not the property of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda's family. Speaking at the Chitana-Manthana programme called to discuss future steps in the backdrop of the decision taken on the JD(S) and BJP alliance without keeping him in the loop, Ibrahim proclaimed that he is the president of the party. "I can't be sacked. The JD(S) is not a family's property," he maintained. "I request Deve Gowda not to give the wrong message. You went on to become the Prime Minister because of secular ideology," he stated. The JD(S) party has a secular ideology. BJP's ideology is different. The NDA should be defeated in the Lok Sabha elections. "We will support the Congress. The original JD(S) party belongs to us. You can't snatch the post of party president from me. How did former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy win from the Channapatna seat? After Kumaraswamy became MLA, he was called by Union Home Minister Amit Shah," he charged. Ibrahim further stated, "If Muslims had not voted for him, he was supposed to sit at home as he would have been defeated. I won't target Kumaraswamy personally. There is still time. We are not going with the BJP. We will form a core committee. I will contact all JD(S) MLAs. The party does not belong to a family. I will discuss the matter with all the representatives. The opinion of all party workers is important." He maintained that there is no personal enmity for him against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. The ideologies are different and he is opposed to this background. "I will take a call on how to go about in future. You have been betrayed by your own people. We are in our house. What will happen in future will be shown on the silver screen. I am not scared and I will also not issue threats," Ibrahim stated. He was indirectly referring to the shifting of Vokkaliga community votes to Congress. Deve Gowda's family hails from the Vokkaliga community. "During my tenure as the party president in 1995, I ensured the win of 16 JD(S) MPs and Deve Gowda went on to become the PM. Today a big message has to go to the nation. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar wrote the Constitution for India. The same message was given by Basaveshwara (Basava) 800 years ago. Now, photos are taken with Amit Shah and an announcement on the alliance is made," Ibrahim maintained. "The party is not the property of a family. The opinion of all concerned is important. The MLAs are in touch with me. The pros and cons will be discussed in the core committee meeting. I will also take up a state-wide tour," he underlined. ASTANA, Kazakhstan, October 16. President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev will pay an official visit to the People's Republic of China on October 17-18, Trend reports. During the visit, Tokayev will hold negotiations with President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping, Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Li Qian and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Zhao Leji. In addition, the President of Kazakhstan will take part in the III High-Level Forum "One Belt, One Road". A number of meetings with heads of large Chinese companies are also planned. Aizawl, Oct 16 : The Election Commission is yet to take any decision on political parties' demand for rescheduling the vote counting day in Mizoram, where the Assembly elections are scheduled to be held on November 7 and the counting of votes will take place on December 3 (Sunday), officials said on Monday. Parties, including the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF), Congress, BJP, Zoram People's Movement (ZPM), and the state's largest NGO Young Mizo Association (YMA) have urged the poll panel to change the date of vote counting (December 3) as Sunday is a sacred day for Christians, and the entire day is devoted to church services across the state. According to the 2011 Census, around 87 per cent of Mizoram population are Christian. Additional Chief Electoral Officer H. Lianzela told IANS on Monday 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 yet. People's Conference former Vice-President Lalrinmawii Fanai in a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said that considering auspicious days of the Christian community like Christmas, Good Friday and Sundays scheduling of government functions has become a "recurring trend and consistent practice in recent years". "If the Election Commission does not change the counting date, this would be a detrimental impact on the sentiments of the Christian community who have already been facing challenges in the practice of their faith in India. Many are questioning whether this is a deliberate disregard for Christians not only in Mizoram but in India on the whole," the letter said. Fanai told IANS that if the Election Commission did not change the counting date, all the political parties and the NGOs would finalise a united strategy. 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 said in a letter. After considering the representations from various political parties and social organisations for changing the polling date in Rajasthan in view of large scale wedding and social engagements on that day (November 23), the Election Commission last week changed the date of polling to November 25. The EC on October 9 announced the election schedule for five states -- Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Chhattisgarh. With the issuance of the statutory notification on October 13 for the November 7 elections, the filling of nominations have already started though important candidates are yet to file their candidatures. The last date of filing nominations is October 20, scrutiny of candidatures will take place on the next day, while the last date for withdrawal of nominations is October 23. New Delhi, Oct 16 : The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the committee established by the NITI Aayog to expedite the process of formulating a comprehensive integrated medical system that combines the strengths of various branches of medicine. A Division Bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeeb Narula was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, a lawyer and a BJP leader, advocating for a holistic approach to medicine. The Bench acknowledged the wealth of knowledge present in different medical systems, such as Allopathy, Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy. The court suggested that it should be explored whether these various branches of medicine can be integrated. The Bench said that these medical systems are distinct branches with differing understandings of the human body and that all bodies are unique. It expressed a belief that if this knowledge can be integrated, it could lead to a more comprehensive healthcare approach. Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, representing the Indian government, supported the idea of integration, asserting that it would incorporate "the best of everything." The court also clarified that the matter of integration should be determined by experts. It stated: "It is not for you and me to decide. It is for the experts to decide." Upadhyay informed the court about the existence of a committee established by NITI Aayog to address the issue. In response, the court urged the committee to expedite its work on this matter. Furthermore, the court included two additional entities, the Medico Legal Action Group and the Patanjali Research Institute affiliated with yoga exponent Ramdev, as parties to the proceedings. Earlier, the High Court had sought the reply of the Central government and other respondents to the plea seeking the adoption of an Indian Holistic Integrated Medicinal Approach rather than a colonial segregated way of Allopathy, Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy in order to secure the right to health. In order to support the PIL, the Patanjali Research Institute had, in September 2022, filed an intervention application seeking their impleadment in the matter. To secure the right to health, the plea also seeks to implement a Holistic Integrated Common Syllabus and Common Curriculum of Allopathy, Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy for all medical colleges. The petitioner has submitted that in spite of huge investments, the current healthcare system of India was not able to benefit the Indian population in fighting against acute and chronic diseases. "Health care delivery in India is classified under three categories primary, secondary, and tertiary care. All three levels need to work cohesively to help deliver healthcare on all four pillars," he said. Mumbai, Oct 16 : The RBI on Monday announced that it has slapped fines on Gujarat Mercantile Co-operative Bank and Mumbai-based West End Housing Finance for violating norms. Gujarat Mercantile Co-operative Bank was penalised as the bank had breached the prudential inter-bank gross exposure limit, breached the prudential inter-bank counterparty exposure limit, and not maintained the minimum Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) for certain days, the RBI explained. A monetary penalty of Rs 1.7 lakh was imposed West End Housing Finance as it failed to obtain prior written permission of NHB/RBI for change in its shareholding due to progressive increases over time, resulting in the transfer of shareholding beyond the permitted limit, the RBI 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 company with its customers," the RBI said. Smaller fines were also imposed by the RBI on three other-co-operative banks. These include Nagarik Sahakari Bank, The Sevalia Urban Co-operative Bank, Makarpura Industrial Estate Co-operative Bank. --IANS pannu/dan Bhopal, Oct 16 : A day after the Congress released its first list of 144 candidates for the November 17 Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, state party chief Kamal Nath on Monday said the aspirants have been selected keeping the caste equation to ensure social justice. During an interaction with media persons at party headquarters here, the veteran Congress leader said: "Around 4,000 people have applied for the tickets and they all claimed they will win the elections, but all of them can't get the ticket. We announced candidates after taking opinions from others. There is hardly any unanimity on such things as all those who applied claimed that they would be victorious." Responding to the resentment of some party workers after they were denied tickets, he said he will talk to all them. Kamal Nath, who is the chief ministerial face of the Congress in Madhya Pradesh said: "The party's aim during ticket distribution was to do social justice and this process should fit into the caste equation." Meanwhile, he also informed that the party will declare candidates for the remaining seats in two-three days. Out of 144 candidates announced so far, 65 are below the age of 50 years and 19 are women. Asked about tickets given to leaders who recently switched over to the Congress from the BJP and other parties, Kamal Nath said such leaders joined his party only after the consent of local party organisation. Several party workers from different parts of the state on Monday assembled at Kamal Nathas residence in Bhopal to express their disappointment for denial of tickets. Former Congress MLA Yadvendra Singh, who was running for ticket from Nagod constituency of Satna, broke down in front of the party workers on Sunday and resigned from the party. He accused Kamal Nath of dictatorship in selection of candidates and joined the BSP on Monday. "I was the right hand of the Congress party, I am not saying anything right now as to how many I will dent but I will definitely teach Kamal Nath a lesson in the district," he said. New Delhi, Oct 16 : A SpiceJet flight, which had left for Tel Aviv from Delhi on Sunday, as a part of Operation Ajay to evacuate Indians from Israel, has encountered a technical problem, a source said on Monday. According to sources, the aircraft was flown to Jordan for repairs, as the plane is on wet lease and nearest repairing point was Jordan. The flight, conducted using an A340 aircraft as part of Operation Ajay, reported the issue after landing in Tel Aviv. SpiceJet operated its second flight on Sunday, aimed at repatriating stranded Indians from Israel. According to airline, on Sunday at 7 p.m., SpiceJet's Airbus A340 aircraft took off from Delhi for Tel Aviv, and it was scheduled to return on Monday morning, SpiceJetas first evacuation flight from Israel, carrying 320 Indian passengers, touched down in Delhi at 8.10 a.m on Sunday. New Delhi : PM Modi addresses the launch of ferry services between Nagapattinam, India and Kankesanthurai, Sri Lanka via video message. Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, Oct 16 : With election around the corner, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday urged people to use Narendra Modi or NaMo app in order to get connected with their local MPs. "NaMo App has a very interesting section which will go a long way in furthering our democratic spirit. It will enable an easy way to deepen connect with your local MP, facilitate engagement with the MP and also help to participate in various activities being organised," Modi posted on X. "From interesting cultural programmes to vibrant sporting tournaments, it will be easier for MPs and their constituents to connect," he informed further. New Delhi, Oct 16 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday said that it has carried out searches at 30 locations in Delhi-NCR, Haryana, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar and Mumbai in connection with its probe into the Rs 56,000-crore money laundering case involving the promoters of Bhushan Steel. The financial agency said it seized evidence hidden with the close confidantes of then MD Neeraj Singal. The ED said in a statement that during searches various incriminating documents or digital records were recovered and seized that were hidden with key employees or confidants of Neeraj Singal. The agency also seized cash to the tune of Rs 72 lakh, foreign currency or travellers cheques worth Rs 52 lakh and three luxury cars including a Mercedes Benz, having an acquisition value of Rs 4 crore. The ED said it carried out search and survey operations at the 30 locations on October 13 under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED's case is based on a charge sheet filed by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO). The said complaint had invoked scheduled offences under the PMLA Act. The ED said that during its probe it was found that erstwhile M/s Bhushan Steel Limited and its Managing Director Neeraj Singal and his associates formed several shell companies and they rotated funds from one company to another through a chain of multiple entities. "The funds were circulated to infuse capital, buy property and for other personal purposes not intended by the banks," the ED claimed. It further said that during its probe it was found that promoters or directors and the officials of BSL prepared forged documents and made fraudulent representations before the banks to discount Letters of Credit and diverted the funds back into their own web of companies with malafide intentions causing wrongful loss to the State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank. The ED had earlier attached the land situated at Village Karede Budruk in Maharashtra's Raigad, Plot located at Haryana's Faridabad and Plot located at Assam's Kamrup valuing Rs 61.38 crore. The attachment was confirmed by Ld. Adjudicating Authority. The ED has also arrested Singal, the then Managing Director of erstwhile BSL on June 6 this year, who is in judicial custody at present. Bengaluru : Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah and other leaders participate in an event organised to mark the International Day of Democracy. Image Source: IANS News Mysuru, Oct 16 : Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Monday that the government's 'five guarantee' schemes, Indira Canteen, and Ksheera Bhagya scheme have been implemented to provide justice to the underprivileged and they are "reaching people belonging to all castes and religions". He made the remarks while addressing a felicitation event organised by Jagadguru Sri Revanasiddeswara Siddasimhasana Sri Kaginele Mahasansthan, Kanaka Guru Peetha Mutt Mysore . "People belonging to Backward Castes, Dalits, and minorities should come to the mainstream. More than 70 crore women have travelled under Shakti scheme for free. This scheme boosts tourism, economic activity and increases the GDP of the state. Per capita income of the state has also increased. Each eligible beneficiary family is provided with Rs 50,000 to 60,000 annually by the government which results in financial empowerment of the family," he said. The Chief Minister said that the guarantee schemes are successfully implemented due to blessings of the people. "Other parties make politically motivated allegations. The opposition parties are only making allegations, which are not true," he said. Siddaramaiah recalled that he inevitably joined the Congress in 2005 after he was expelled from JDS. He further said that with the blessings of the people, he got the opportunity to become the Chief Minister of the state twice. Siddaramaiah said that he follows the secular politics and will respect all castes and religions as mentioned in the Constitution. Mumbai, Oct 16 : Over 23 lakh people have availed free treatment at the Balasaheb Thackeray Aapla Dawakhana - a chain of clinics run by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in the last one year, and 13 more facilities are being added this month, an official said here on Monday. The clinics, offering a wide variety of medical treatment, medicines, check-ups, etc, were started on October 2, 2022 to serve the people, especially those from the weaker sections of society. To mark the occasion, Mumbai Guardian Minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha and top BMC officials like Dr. Sudhakar Shinde, Sanjay Kurhade, Daksha Shah and others launched a public awareness song on the scheme. The song has been composed by Dr. Sanjay Raj with lyrics by Sandeep Surve, and is sung by two medicos Dr. Rahul Joshi and Dr. Neha Rajpal, and a toddler, Dia Wadkar. The Minister said that in the last fortnight, six more clinics were added and seven more will be included in the next two weeks, taking the total number of these facilities to 200 in the city, including 28 polyclinics. "To enable citizens to give their responses/feedback, we are placing notification boxes at all these clinics. People are being provided free medical check-ups, medication, blood tests, and other specialist services through polyclinics and diagnostic centres. "These comprise departments like general physician, dental, gynaecology, paediatric, dermatology, ophthalmology, etc, in which specialists and experts from the fields concerned also participate," he said. Jaipur, Oct 16 : Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday fiercely attacked the Modi government on the issue of ERCP in Baran district of Rajasthan saying that it is written in the 'red diary' that Congress will form the government in Rajasthan. In a public meeting organiaed under the ERCP public awareness campaign, Kharge said that: "Public elected BJP MPs and sent them to Parliament, but these BJP MPs could neither provide money for irrigation schemes nor water to Rajasthan. Not only PM Modi, but all the 25 BJP MPs have betrayed the people of Rajasthan." The Congress President also praised the public welfare schemes of the Congress government of Rajasthan. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Congress Organization General Secretary K.C Venugopal, State Congress in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, State President Govind Singh Dotasara, Assembly Speaker C.P Joshi and many senior Congress leaders were also present. Kharge said that in Rajasthan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised that he will give money for the irrigation scheme, but till date there is no trace of it. "The Congress government of Rajasthan itself is taking this project forward by spending Rs 25,000 crore. But the Modi government did not give money for this. There is a water problem in Rajasthan, but the Modi government does not help even in such schemes. BJP has 25 MPs from Rajasthan and many union ministers in the Modi government. The MPs whom the public elected and sent to parliament can neither provide money nor water to Rajasthan." Kharge said that the Central government is not even giving MNREGA money to the states. "The Congress government has taken Rajasthan forward in terms of economic, social, education and health. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has taken many steps for the poor. All this has been done for the public," he said. He said that the Congress government of Rajasthan waived off loans worth Rs 16 thousand crores of 21 lakh farmers. "The Congress government gave the right to health. Many people in Rajasthan had difficulty in getting treatment due to lack of money. The Congress government brought Chiranjeevi Yojana for them, under which treatment up to Rs 25 lakh is free," he said. He said that the Congress government launched Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme and gave relief in electricity bills. "Also a cylinder is given for Rs 500," he said. Kharge said that the Rajasthan government gave guarantees and fulfilled them. "Prime Minister Modi had promised that he would provide two crore jobs every year and Rs 15 lakh, but did not give anything. PM Modi did not keep his word, but Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot fulfilled all his promises," he said. He said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had mentioned 'red diary' in Rajasthan. "It is written in red diary that Congress is going to come back to power in Rajasthan in the coming elections," he said. Kharge said that caste census should be conducted. "If there is a caste census then the OBC category will get its rights," he said. Kharge said that the public is saying that the Congress government should come back again in Rajasthan. "Therefore, Congress leaders and workers will have to campaign door-to-door. Because when the Congress government comes back in Rajasthan, then in 2024 there will be Congress government at the Center too," the Congress President said. Hyderabad, Oct 16 : In another jolt to the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), former MLC Akula Lalita and two municipal chairpersons on Monday resigned from the party while chairpersons of Huzurnagar and Bodhan municipalities joined the Congress party. Lalita also announced her resignation as chairperson of Telangana State Womenas Cooperative Development Corporation Limited. She will be meeting her supporters and workers on Tuesday to decide her future course of action. Lalita, who had quit the Congress to join the BRS just before the 2018 elections is like to re-join the Congress party. She is said to be an aspirant for a party ticket from Nizamabad Urban constituency. Meanwhile, Huzurnagar municipal chairperson Archana Ravi Gelli has also resigned from the BRS and joined the Congress. Along with her, three councillors also resigned from the ruling party. They all joined the Congress party in the presence of former president of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) Uttam Kumar Reddy, who will be contesting the next monthas Assembly election from Huzurnagar constituency. Bodhan municipal chairperson T Padmavathy has also resigned from the BRS. She joined the Congress party in the presence of TPCC president A Revanth Reddy. BRS leaders from Bodhan and Kodangal also joined the Congress even as BRS leader Neelam Madhu Mudiraj quit the party. The leader from Patancheru constituency said that he was given a raw deal despite serving the party for 10 years. He alleged that BRS has not done justice to the Mudiraj community. In another key development, Revanth Reddy met former minister and BRS leader Mandava Venkateswar Rao and invited him to join the Congress party. He, along with Venkateswar Rao, later called on former minister and BRS leader Revuri Prakash Reddy and invited him to join Congress party. New Delhi, Oct 16 : Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday defended before a Delhi court his allegations against Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat related to the Sanjivani scam, where he argued that his statements were truthful and not defamatory. The case pertains to alleged 'misleading statements' made by Gehlot in connection with the Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society scam in Rajasthan. Gehlot said that his statements were truthful and cannot be categorised as defamation. Gehlot's counsel informed Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Harjeet Singh Jaspal of Rouse Avenue Court that Shekhawat had been served notice by the Special Operation Group (SOG) of the Rajasthan Police, which was investigating the alleged Rs 900-crore scam. Shekhawat had responded to the notice, but Gehlot claimed that Shekhawat had concealed this fact. The counsel argued that Gehlot never accused Shekhawat of being "convicted" in the case, stating that "he (Gehlot) said that the complainant (Shekhawat) is also an accused in the case". The counsel contended that the case did not constitute defamation and that Gehlot had made truthful statements. The court has now listed the matter for next hearing on October 20. On September 19, the court had refused to discharge Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in the criminal defamation complaint by Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, saying that his request held no merit. Earlier, the court had directed the police to investigate Shekhawat's complaint. The judge Jaspal had said that the investigation should be such that the three main questions -- whether complainant Shekhawat was addressed as "an accused" in the Sanjivani scam by the accused Gehlot, whether Gehlot stated that the allegations against Shekhawat stand proved in the Sanjivani scam, and whether Shekhawat or his family members have been arrayed as "accused" in the investigation of the scam -- are answered. Shekhawat had filed the defamation case against Gehlot in March this year, stating that an investigation was initiated into the Sanjivani case but his name was not mentioned anywhere, and demanded the prosecution of Gehlot for criminal defamation under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He also demanded appropriate financial compensation for the loss of his reputation. Gehlot had said after a budget review meeting at the state secretariat on February 21 that the entire Shekhawat family, including his parents and wife, were involved in the Sanjeevani scam. Gehlot had also welcomed the filing of the defamation case, saying: "At least the case will move forward on this pretext." Delhi minister disburses ex-gratia of Rs 1cr to hospital employees family who died in Covid. Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, Oct 16 : Delhi Social Welfare Minister Raaj Kumar Anand on Monday disbursed an ex-gratia of Rs one crore to the family of 53-year-old Rajeev Malhotra, who lost his life battling Covid. He used to work as a Dark Room Assistant in the city government-run Bhagwan Mahavir Hospital. According to officials, this economic aid has been provided on behalf of the Delhi government's scheme for the COVID warriors who lost their lives while combating the pandemic. Rajeevas colleagues spoke about his dedication, commitment and unwavering determination towards his work, his wife Reeta Malhotra told the Social Welfare Minister while receiving the cheque. While granting the ex-gratia cheque, Social Welfare Minister said that city government stands firm with the people of Delhi in every difficult situation and provides support in every adversity. aCM Arvind Kejriwal has become the son of Delhi in every possible aspect. He always thinks about the welfare of Delhi and its people and is deeply committed towards the welfare of every citizen of Delhi," said the minister. Rajeev worked for 34 years as a Dark Room Assistant at Bhagwan Mahavir Hospital. Due to COVID, he was admitted to Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital and passed away on May 7, 2021. New Delhi, Oct 16 : Just over a week after a surprise terrorist attack on Israel, documents and maps seized from some of the 1,500 terrorist who infiltrated Israeli territory reveal the extent of their meticulously planned operation, which the terrorist group's top military minds had been preparing for years, as per reports. In addition to attacking border kibbutzim, towns and cities like Sderot and Ofakim -- where countless civilians have been murdered -- Hamas also intended to invade Ashkelon via sea and even reach the relatively distant city of Kiryat Gat, some 20 miles into Israeli territory, bringing along more than 30 different vehicles, Ynet News reported. The documents reveal that Hamas intended for their occupation and stay in Israeli communities to last about a month, as evident from the quantities of food the invading forces brought with them, including large bags of dry food such as rice and lentils, pita bread, dates, shelf-stable milk and more, the report said. The defense establishment is investing immense efforts to determine if some of the terrorists have reached more distant areas as sleeper cells, intending to hide and launch pre-planned attacks, such as at the onset of a potential IDF ground incursion into the Palestinian enclave or toward the end of the conflict, the report added. The massive quantities of weaponry found in Israeli territory also suggest Hamas' plans to combat within Israel for several weeks. The heroic response of forces, many of whom acted on their own initiative, prevented an even more catastrophic outcome. To date, no fewer than 10,000 various weapons have been found in Israel and have been handled by the National Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit at the Emmanuel Camp in Julis, Ynet News reported. The vast amount of weaponry can equip an entire military brigade and included thousands of full magazines; explosive charges of various sizes, some designed to attach to tanks and destroy armored vehicles; RPG missiles of various types originating from Russia and North Korea; thermobaric missiles a" which the terrorists fired into living rooms, immediately setting them ablaze; 1,500 AK-47s; 2,000 standard grenades; dozens of Strela shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles; numerous night-vision devices and communication equipment; hundreds of Dragunov-type sniper rifles and machine guns; explosive devices modeled after those used by the IDF for breaching walls, fences and doors; trapping devices; hundreds of commando knives; drones equipped to drop explosive devices; thousands of hand grenades and large Egyptian-made mines converted into handheld explosive devices, the report said. In addition, IDF forces were surprised to discover a large number of advanced first-aid kits packed with blood units and medical equipment. The terrorists managed to use only a small fraction of these weapons - designed to kill vast numbers of Israelis, Ynet News reported. (Sanjeev Sharma can be reached at Sanjeev.s@ians.in) New York, Oct 16 : The Middle East war tensions appears to be spreading like a prairie fire among college campuses across the US, including the prestigious ones in New York with students being asked to pick a side. A fierce debate on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas is raging on US college campuses. Messages are spreading rapidly on social media platforms demanding people pick a side on divisive issues, media reports said, posing the question: "Is there still space for young Americans to talk to each other?" Hundreds of students protested on the main quad at Columbia University in New York City last week as they duelled on both sides in support of Israel and the Palestinian people, but equivocally condemningthe loss of life. Pro-Israel protesters, most of whom were Jewish, draped themselves in white and blue Israeli flags. They remained silent most of the time, letting signs with photos of the victims of Hamas' deadly attack speak for them. Across the square, students who supported the Palestinians waved signs declaring "Free Palestine" and "End the Occupation". A female student from Gaza spoke of her mother, trapped by an Israeli blockade. Students were separated just yards apart, but the ideological distance between them seemed very large and grew more pronounced as the evening progressed, reports said. One of the leaders of the pro-Palestinian demonstrators read aloud an open letter published by two student groups at Columbia University, a day after Hamas militants raided a musical festival in southern Israel and several Israeli towns, killing at least 1,400 people and taking about 150 hostages. The attack per Palestinians is considered a "historic moment for the Palestinians of Gaza, who breached the wall suffocating them for years, in one of the most densely populated areas on Earth". "Despite the odds against them," the speaker continued to read, "Palestinians launched a counter-offensive against their settler-colonial oppressor." To the students the emotional appeal lay in the attack on Israelin the decades-long fight for Palestinian autonomy. Israel's response was another example of its indifference to the suffering of the Palestinian people, the reports said . More than 2,700 Palestinians in Gaza have died during retaliatory Israeli air strikes, while just over two million people there are trapped by a blockade and cut off from power and clean water, reports from Gaza reaching the city said. The students feel that Israeli officials have used extreme language, with Defence Minister Yoan Gallant referring to Hamas militants as "human animals". And the death toll will rise if Israel launches an expected ground offensive. Most of the activists at the rally would not speak to reporters. But Darializa Avila Chevilier, who graduated from Columbia in 2016 and had come to support the pro-Palestinian protesters, told the BBC: "No-one wants violence. What we are saying is the violence will end when there's justice, and people are living with dignity." The speakers at the rally condemned the loss of all civilian life and observed a moment's silence in honour of the killed. But they did not make specific mention of the Israeli victims of violence, or the atrocities carried out by Hamas fighters against civilians, including many women and children. The protest's organisers, Students for Justice in Palestine, told the BBC in a statement that they oppose any form of violence against innocent civilians and stand "only for the preservation of life and justice". They went on to question "why an entire nationalitya"Palestiniansa"are being made to answer for the actions of (Hamas)". Yet many of their Jewish classmates heard something else: a dismissal of murders perpetrated against their own religious and ethnic minority, which has also faced persecution. "If you are justifying the murder of innocent civilians, you do not understand human rights," one of their posters declared. Columbia University is not alone in reeling from this political divide. Student groups at Harvard University issued a statement which blamed Israel's policies for the massacre of its civilians, which prompted a backlash from powerful alumni, reports said . New Delhi, Oct 16 : The Supreme Court is set to deliver its verdict on Tuesday on pleas seeking legal sanction for same-sex marriage. As per the causelist published on the website of the apex court, a Constitution Bench, headed by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud will pronounce the judgment on Tuesday. In May this year, the Constitution Bench, also comprising Justices S.K. Kaul, S.R. Bhat, Hima Kohli, and P.S. Narasimha, reseved its judgment after hearing arguments on both sides. During hearing, the Centre had submitted before the apex court that the court's hintining at a possibility of declaration being made something less than marriage but something more than the present status may not be the correct course of action. Further, the Union government agreed to set up a committee to be headed by the Cabinet Secretary to examine the administrative steps it could take to address some of the concerns in connection with basic social benefits for same-sex couples. The top court had asked the Centre to find a way to give same-sex couples basic social benefits, like joint bank accounts or nominating a partner in insurance policies, even without legal recognition of their marital status.Governments of Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, and Assam have opposed the legal sanction for same-sex marriages while Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Sikkim have said the issue needed a "very intense and expansive debate" and they cannot submit their responses immediately. San Francisco, Oct 16 : Online community for developers Stack Overflow on Monday announced to lay off 28 per cent of its staff (over 100 employees) as it struggles towards profitability amid the AI coding boom. Its CEO Prashanth Chandrasekar said the company is "significantly reducing the size of our go-to-market organisation and "supporting teams and other teams across the organisation are impacted as well". "Over the last 15 years, we've built Stack Overflow into an industry-crucial knowledge base for millions of developers and technologists. During this time we've experienced years filled with opportunities and challenges. This year is no different," he wrote in a blog post. "Changes have been pursued through the lens of minimising impact to the lives of Stackers. Unfortunately, those changes were not enough and we have made the extremely difficult decision to reduce the company's headcount by approximately 28 per cent," Chandrasekar added. AI-generated coding answers have been problematic and the company issued a temporary ban on users generating answers with the help of an AI chatbot in December last year. Chandrasekar said that this year, they took many steps to spend less. "Our focus for this fiscal year and into the next is profitability and that, along with macroeconomic pressures led to today's changes," he noted. The company last month celebrated a decade and a half of Stack Overflow. "Over the last 15 years, our community has helped to create an incredible library of knowledge, with more than 58 million questions and answers," it said. Jerusalem, Oct 16 : Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian militant group Hamas, has claimed that it was responsible for firing a "barrage of missiles" on Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in Israel on Monday, a media report said. The Al Qassam Brigades said that the latest attacks were in response to Israel's "targeting of civilians", the BBC reported, citing a statement. Central Israel and Jerusalem came under a rocket attack on Monday afternoon. The sirens alerted of incoming fire, disrupted the opening of the winter session of parliament and sent lawmakers and guests into protected areas, soon after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ended his address, Ynet News reported. In his address, Netanyahu warned Iran and Hezbollah, not to open a second front against Israel in the north. Israel's President Issac Herzog said in the Knesset (parliament) that Hamas targeted the entire Jewish people and if they are not stopped, they will endanger the entire world. He said this is not a complex reality. There is good and there is utter evil, "we are fighting an enemy that is all evil". Path clear for monument at Pune's Bhidewada - where Phule couple started India's first girl school in 1848. Image Source: IANS News Mumbai, Oct 16 : In a major ruling, the Bombay High Court on Monday paved the way for a proposed national monument to come up in historic Bhidewada, the site where Mahatma Jyotirao Phule and Savitribai Phule started India's first girls school on January 1, 1848. Ending a 23-year-long litigation in various courts, the high court rejected a plea made by the current owner and 24 tenants who opposed the takeover plan of the property by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to construct a national memorial dedicated to the Phule couple in Bhidewada. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, PMC Commissioner Vikram Kumar, Legal Advisor Nisha Chavan and others have welcomed the verdict, terming it as ahistorica and appropriate during the ongoing auspicious Navratri festival. 175 years ago, the Phule couple lit the first lamp for girlsa education by starting a small school in Bhidewada, in Budhwar Peth area of Pune, despite strong opposition and protests, at the property then owned by Tatyasaheb Bhide. For the past over three decades, there were demands from various quarters to raze the existing dilapidated structures in Bhidewada and construct a grand monument to honour the Phule couple, and even award them a Bharat Ratna posthumously. From February 2006, the PMC had initiated the process to acquire the small chunk measuring around 3,500 feet (327 square metres), and the District Collectorate even cleared a compensation amount of Rs 1.30 crore. However, the present owners, Pune Merchant Cooperative Bank, and its two dozen tenants had opposed the move, and they challenged it up to the Supreme Court, which transferred it back to the high court which delivered its verdict on Monday. The PMCas legal team said that now, with the judgement in its favour, they would soon revive the process to take over the property and set the ball rolling for building a national monument for the Phule couple there. Leaders of other parties including Congress, Nationalist Congress Party factions, Shiv Sena (UBT), and others have hailed the high court judgement and urged that the work on the national memorial should be taken up on priority. New Delhi, Oct 16 : The Delhi High Court on Monday was informed that Engine Lease Finance Corporation Aviation Services Ltd and cash-strapped SpiceJet airline have arrived at an interim settlement. During the hearing, both partiesa legal representatives informed the court that settlement terms have been agreed and consequently, both legal teams requested an adjournment. The court granted the adjournment, scheduling the matter to be heard on February 8, 2024. As part of the settlement, SpiceJet is required to make a payment of over $2 million to Engine Lease Finance BV by January. Additionally, SpiceJet has committed to returning the disputed engine by January 25. Engine Lease Finance BV retains the right to maintain the termination and pursue legal action if SpiceJet fails to fulfil these obligations. On September 27, Engine Lease BV had taken the matter to the Delhi High Court, seeking the return of the lone remaining engine. The lessor had initially leased nine engines to the low-cost carrier, and according to the terms of the lease agreement, eight engines had been returned as the agreement was terminated. During the previous hearing, senior advocate Rajshekar Rao and attorney Anandh Venkatramani, representing Engine Lease, had requested the court to prevent SpiceJet from using the engine in question. The agreement clearly states that the airline is not authorised to continue using the engine once the lease has been terminated. Jaipur, Oct 16 : BJP's Rajasthan core group meeting will be held in New Delhi on Tuesday to decide the pending names of candidates for November 25 Assembly polls, as per sources. All senior leaders of the BJP including Rajasthan election in charge Prahlad Joshi, state in charge Arun singh, former CM Vasundhara Raje, state President C.P. Joshi, Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore, Deputy Leader of Opposition Satish Poonia, Union Ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Arjun Meghwal, Kailash Chaudhary and General Secretary, Organisation, Chandrashekhar and co in charge Vijaya Rahatkar will be present. Sources said that BJP leaders are quite concerned about strong protests in the state by followers of those leaders who have been denied tickets. Many of these candidates have turned rebels and announced to contest polls as independents. The BJP is brainstorming more for the release of the second list. Party sources said that the first meeting of state workers is scheduled with party chief, J.P. Nadda, BL Santhosh and Prahlad Joshi while second meeting of the Chief Election Committee will be held with PM Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Prahlad Joshi, and B.L. Santhosh. Nadda, in fact, was in Udaipur and Jodhpur where he attended back to back meetings. Sources said that this was more like a damage controlling act before the new list to be announced on Tuesday or day after post the core committee meeting to be held on Tuesday. Nadda in Jodhpur gave tips to party workers to increase the speed and productivity of the workers in view of the upcoming elections. He said that this election of Rajasthan will play an important role in making Narendra Modi the Prime Minister again in 2024 and everyone should get involved in letting the lotus flower bloom. New Delhi, Oct 16 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday virtually interacted with Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, where they discussed Google's plan to participate in expanding the electronics manufacturing ecosystem in India. Modi appreciated Googleas partnership with HP to manufacture Chromebooks in India. He acknowledged Googleas 100 languages initiative and encouraged efforts to make AI tools available in Indian languages. Modi also encouraged Google to work on AI tools for good governance. He welcomed Googleas plans to open its global fintech operations center at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) in Gandhinagar. Pichai informed Modi regarding Googleas plans to improve financial inclusion in India by leveraging the strength and reach of GPay and UPI. He also emphasised Googleas commitment to contribute to the development trajectory of India. Modi also invited Google to contribute to the upcoming Global Partnership on AI Summit, which will be hosted by India in December 2023 in New Delhi. New Delhi, Oct 17 : Congress on Monday slammed Union Home Minister Amit Shah for his "provocative" remarks in poll-bound Chhattisgarh over the killing of Bhuneshwar Sahu, who died in a communal violence in the state, and urged the Election Commission to register a case against the BJP leader. Sahu was killed in communal violence in Biranpur village of Bemetara district in April. The BJP has fielded his father, Ishwar Sahu, from the Sajat assembly constituency. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Congress General Secretary (Communication) Jairam Ramesh said: "Home Minister Amit Shah has given a very provocative statement in Chhattisgarh. Regarding a murder case, he (Shah) in his election rally directly said, 'for appeasement and vote bank politics, Bhupesh Baghel government lynched Chhattisgarh's son Bhuneshwar Sahu. Bharatiya Janata Party has decided that we will bring Sahu's killers to justice and as a symbol of this, his father Ishwar Sahu has been fielded in the elections'." "This statement of Amit Shah is not only objectionable but its sole purpose is to incite communal violence in the peaceful state of Chhattisgarh. The Home Minister has given this statement with the intention of inciting hysteria for electoral gains. What he has said is absolutely false," the Congress leader said. Ramesh said that the reality is that in this case of violence and counter-violence, the government had taken prompt action and arrested the accused and sent them to jail. "But Shah, frustrated by his clearly visible defeat in Chhattisgarh, now wants to take the help of communalism," he said. Ramesh further said that it is the first responsibility of the Election Commission to take cognizance of this "inflammatory" statement and take appropriate action by registering a case against Shah. "If this does not happen, there is a fear that BJP will not desist from spreading communalism in its election campaign in Chhattisgarh in future too," the Congress Rajya Sabha MP said. Shah has blasted the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government in Chhattisgarh over communal violence in Biranpur village of Bemetara district in April. The Home Minister also asked people whether they wanted the state to become a centre of communal riots again. Shah, while pointing at Ishwar Sahu seated on stage, said Bhuneshwar Sahu was lynched for vote bank and appeasement. "We will bring the murderer of Bhuneshwar Sahu to justice. We have given a ticket to his father. Do you want Chhattisgarh to become the centre of communal riots once again? Should Bhuneshwar Sahu get justice or not? If Congress comes to power again, it will continue the politics of appeasement and vote bank," he added. Polling for 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly will take place in two phases on November 7 and 17, and counting of votes will take place on December 3. Washington, Oct 17 : Election denier and right winger Republican Congressman Jim Jordan is working hard under ex-President Donald Trump's shadow to garner the 217 votes required to win the Speaker's gavel when the House of Representatives goes in for yet another vote on Tuesday after Steve Scalise failed to win support to replace ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy. "We think we're going to get 217," Jordan said even as he knows pretty well theRepublicans hold a slim majority of three seats in the House and any Republican holdouts could cause him to fail. Several Republicans have publicly said they remain 'No' votes on Jordan's Speakership. Mike Rogers of Alabama and John Rutherford and Carlos Gimenez of Florida are in this group, according to Politico. The right-wing Congressman, a strong ally of Trump,is seeking to shore up support for his bid for speakership, scheduling an appearance on the House floor early this week to influence Republican members who have clearly indicated in a secret ballot vote they will not support him. Jordan claimed in a brief interview with Politico he believes he will get the 217 votes required to secure the speakership in a vote now set to happen on Tuesday at noon. Former House Speaker McCarthy is to support Jordan's bid to succeed him after a small fraction of eight Republicans under Floridan Gaetz in the House joined Democrats to oust him and plunged the party into utter chaos. McCarthy had sought the Democrat votes earlier to prevent a Republican shutdown of Congress over budget legislation to fund federal agencies. The ghost of a shutdown returns on November 17 when the 45 day deadline extension given by McCarthy before his ouster expires. What if Jim Jordan fails to get the 217 votes to win, yet another potential Republican candidate in Louisiana Congressman Mike Johnson has emerged as he plans to jump into the race if Jordan stumbles, according to NBC News. "If Jordan cannot get to 217, Johnson intends to step up," a source told the television network. "Many members are asking him to do so." "Johnson would seek to be a consensus candidate, attempting to bridge hard-right conservatives and moderates who have been waging a war against one another." Trump has vocally supported Jordan for the speakership role. The stalemate has halted legislative business that includes a bill to provide military and humanitarian aid to both Israel in the Hamas war and Ukraine in the Russian war. Jordan's supporters have taken to the social media asking followers to call Republican holdouts to demand they support Jordan's bid or face ousting efforts of their own in primaries. That is a hard-line tactic that has prompted some dismay even among Jordan's own supporters, media reports said . Texas Congressman Dan Crenshaw slammed some of his fellow Republicans for an online pressure campaign on behalf of Jordan, saying it would likely put people off backing him. "That is the dumbest way to support Jordan but I'm supporting Jordan. I'm going to vote for Jordan. And as somebody who wants Jim Jordan, the dumbest thing you can do is to continue pissing off those people and entrench them," Crenshaw told CNN's State of the Union show. Democrats are wary over Jordan's Speakership bid, as they cite thecongressman's role leading up to the January 6 insurrection. "House Republicans are intent on doubling down and have chosen to nominate a vocal election-denier in Jim Jordan," Congressman Pete Aguilar, chair of the Democratic caucus, told reporters. He is "a man whose rhetoric and partisanship fomented the January 6 attack on this very building, on these very steps." Crenshaw, appearing on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday, was probed by host Jake Tapper on his support for Jordan's bid to be elected House Speaker. Some Republicans, Tapper reminded Crenshaw, are wary of Jordan, given his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election to benefit President Trump. "He defied the congressional subpoena" from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot, Tapper said, "and he was trying to get (Vice President Mike) Pence to overturn the electoral votes." "But a lot of them did that," Crenshaw replied, with a chuckle. "If I held that grudge, I wouldn't have friends in the Republican conference, because a lot of them did that." Chennai/New Delhi, Oct 17 : Users of ride hailing platforms in Tamil Nadu faced major difficulties on Monday with large number of Ola and Uber drivers going on a strike in the state, demanding better remuneration and a ban on bike taxi services, which according to them, is eating up their revenue. The cab drivers are also demanding strict action on certain toll booths operating beyond their contract period. The two day strike was announced by the All India Road Transport Workers Federation and the Tamil Nadu Urimai Kural Driver Trade Union across the state, demanding a ban on bike taxi services. Moreover, the drivers have urged the state government to immediately intervene and regulate the app-based cab aggregators and resolve the issue of the high commission charged by them. The Unions said nearly 80 per cent of the ride hailing platform vehicles will be off the roads. They also demanded that the Transport Department should act against the private vehicles being used for transport purposes. To underline their demands, the cab drivers have announced a similar strike on Tuesday in Tiruchirappalli, with a major protest planned for Wednesday at Egmoreas Rajarathinam Stadium, here. Due to the strike, those who rely on taxis to get to work experienced delays. A commuter stated that due to the scarcity of public transit in his neighbourhood during peak hours, he relied on app-based aggregators to get to work. However, due to the strike, he had to wait over 40 minutes to book a taxi on Monday. According to an official of Tamil Nadu Urimai Kural Driver Trade Union, on Tuesday, they will protest outside the Transport Department offices in different parts of the state. Bengaluru, Oct 17 : Recognising the crucial role of electricity in agriculture, Karnataka Energy Minister K.J. George on Monday said that the government is committed to providing five hours of uninterrupted power supply to farmers. George, after meeting his Department officials, held a press conference on Monday at Belaku Bhavana to detail the government's efforts to ensure a minimum of five hours of uninterrupted power supply to farmers. "We are committed to providing 5 hours of uninterrupted power supply to farmers during either daytime or night time on a rotation basis in three shifts. We will be notifying on the shift timings to the farmers through publications, radio, and TV. Presently, our state faces a shortage of 1,500 MW. However, we are leaving no stone unturned to generate more power in the coming months to meet the ever-increasing demand," he said. Action will be taken to purchase short-term electricity deficit, taking the approval of the KERC, he added. The minister said that Section 11 of the Electricity Act has been invoked under national disaster management provisions to procure electricity from power generators in the state and the power shortage would be overcome. "The demand for power has increased significantly due to a severe drought situation in Karnataka. But the government is trying to meet the increasing demand by purchasing power from both inside and outside the state. An order has been issued asking those generating power in the state to supply it to the government. "The deficit is attributed to natural calamities, including drought, a shortfall in wind energy, and cloud cover. Nevertheless, we have effectively managed this situation by procuring power from the grid. We have taken significant steps, by identifying 400 substations, out of which 230 are in progress. We are on track to procure power from KUDAGI by December 1, and we have also established a barter system with Punjab and UP," he added. From April 23 to October 15, 1,627 M.U. of Electricity amounting to Rs 1,102 crore has been purchased, and similarly, during the same period, a total of 636 MU of electricity has been sold through IEX. "It is essential to debunk the misconception that Karnataka is in darkness. Soon, we are planning to expand the Pavagada Solar Park from its current capacity of 2,300 MW to adding another 2,000 MW in 10,000 acres. We are also actively working on expanding solar power generation in Gadag and Gulbarga. These initiatives are a testament to our deliberate actions in this direction," George said. He said that they are also striving to implement KUSUM B and KUSUM C initiatives aimed at promoting the use of solar energy among farmers. KUSUM B is primarily geared towards incentivising the adoption of stand-alone solar pumpsets by individual farmers availing 80 per cent subsidy. These power plants can be established on agricultural land or barren land, providing an additional source of income for farmers through land leasing. He also laid emphasis on KUSUM - C that involves the installation of solar power plants at substations, as well as on government land, agricultural land or barren land, providing an additional source of income for farmers through land leasing to ensure a continuous and sustainable power supply to agricultural consumers. "During the recent visit, the Union Energy Minister himself said that the demand for electricity has increased not only in the state but also in the entire country. High demand has been recorded in the month of August itself as against during summer. The demand for electricity has increased due to the failure of the monsoon. Due to natural calamities, the production of wind and solar energy has also slowed down. Due to this, there has been a deficit of electricity for a few days," George said. The minister said that blaming the opposition is not his way. "However, due to natural calamities, there is now a power shortage. It is wrong to use this for political gain and say that Karnataka is in darkness," he said, asking the opposition to have a constructive dialogue with him to address these challenges to move forward towards a brighter energy future for the state. Jaipur, Oct 17 : Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat hit back at Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge's remark that it is written in the "red diary" that the Congress will form the government in Rajasthan after winning the Assembly elections. Kharge made the remark while addressing a poll rally in Baran district. The Congress chief was referring to the alleged 'red diary', which Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently said has contained records of 'every corrupt act committed by the Congress'. Talking to the media at Jodhpur Airport, Shekhawat said: "Let the government change; when the investigation starts, different coloured diaries of every scam will come out. Till now only red diaries have come out, now diaries of rainbow colours will come out." "... Well, the (Congress) National President has accepted that there is a Red Diary, otherwise till now everyone was denying it," the Union minister said. Taking jibe at the Congress President, Shekhawat said: "My question is to Kharge Saheb, which line is written first in the red diary -- the lines that Mallikarjun Kharge said today, or those lines which the former minister recited in the Assembly while reading the red dairy. Congress expelled the former minister for raising his voice for the respect of the woman... Congress ministers and MLAs had assaulted him in the Assembly." "This government is the most corrupt government of the century, the account of which is in the red dairy. Let the government change, when the investigation starts, diaries of many colours will come out...," the Union Minister added. New Delhi, Oct 17 : The Defence Ministry has asked Indian armed personnel to create 'Selfie Points' in nine different cities to showcase various schemes of the Union government among the people of the country, officials in the Ministry said. Under this intiative, welfare schemes like the Ujjwala Yojana, Atmanirbhar Bharat ('Self-reliant India'), and Mahila Sashaktikaran ('Women's empowerment') will be showcased before the people of the country. Under the Selfie Point Scheme, 822 selfie points will be made in nine cities where Prime Minister Narendra Modi's photo will also be included in these selfie points. Apart from the three armies, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Border Road Organisation will also make selfie points in these nine cities. According to official information, the Indian Army will create 100 selfie points to showcase various schemes of the Central government, the Air Force and the Navy will also create 75 selfie points each. Both the DRDO and Border Road Organisation will create 50 selfie points each. Apart from these, Sainik School will also make 50 selfie points while the remaining defence-related organisations will create 422 selfie points. Defence expert officials say that this step has been taken so that the general public can get information about the flagship schemes of the Union government. The involvement of the Army through this initiative will inculcate a feeling of pride among the people. All the three armies will make selfie points on self-reliant India, empowerment and women power. An important meeting has been held under the chairmanship of Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh regarding this plan. According to official information, the selfie point theme and location has been communicated to the three armies and other military and defence establishments. The special thing abolut this unique initiative is that all the states where Assembly elections are going to be held have been kept out of this. Delhi, Prayagraj, Pune, Bengaluru, Meerut, Nashik, Kollam, Kolkata and Guwahati have been selected as the nine cities for the selfie points. These selfie points will be made at railway stations, bus stands, commercial places, malls and tourist places. According to the information, artificial intelligence-based digital selfie points will be installed at several places across these nine cities. People taking pictures at the selfie point will also be given the option to upload their selfies on social media. A separate app is being made to upload selfies. Selfies will have to be uploaded by creating a separate profile on social media. By creating a feedback email ID, people will be asked to send their selfies on it. Apart from this, people will be encouraged to send selfies on the WhatsApp number by giving it as feedback. Bengaluru, Oct 17 : The Karnataka Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) held a letter movement campaign seeking immediate implementation of the Mekedatu project in the state. On Monday, the AAP held a letter movement campaign on the MG Road in Shanti Nagar Assembly constituency of Bengaluru. The party leaders personally met the people of all sections of Bengaluru, including workers, auto drivers, office staff, BBMP staff, and held a letter movement at the Church Street and the Museum Cross Road on MG Road. Since October 7, AAP has been conducting a letter movement and public awareness in lakhs from the citizens of Bengaluru to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, demanding the implementation of the Mekedatu dam project. "The Union government should give permission to implement the Mekedatu scheme for permanent drinking water for Bengaluru. The state government should take necessary steps to conserve the water bodies of Bengaluru," said State AAP Vice-President Mohan Dasari. "The Tamil Nadu government unanimously passed a resolution in the recent Assembly session to put pressure on the Central government to drain the Cauvery water. But in our state, we are reluctant to take the decision that water cannot be given in times of distress. An Assembly session should be called immediately and a resolution should be made that we are not able to release water in this drought situation," he added. On this occasion, AAP leaders Jagadish Chandra, Anil Nachappa, Veena Sarao, Sushma Veer, Mahalakshmi, Francis, Shivakumar, Jyoti, Irshad and many others were present. Jerusalem, Oct 17 : Hamas has released a video of a female French-Israeli hostage on their Telegram channel, the first released video of about 200 hostages abducted by the group to Gaza since last two weeks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in a cabinet meeting when the video was released and updated, his office said on Monday in a statement. The hostage was identified as Mia Shem, 21-years-old. In the video, Shem, speaking in Hebrew, said she had gotten medical attention in Gaza and undergone hand surgery. She said, "I returned early Saturday (October 7) morning from Sderot (in southern Israel). I was at a party. I was seriously injured in my hand. I underwent a three-hour surgery on my hand at the hospital (in Gaza). They are taking care of me, giving me medicine, and everything is fine. I only ask them to bring me home as soon as possible to my parents, to my siblings." On October 7, Hamas launched a heavy onslaught on Israeli towns adjacent to the Gaza Strip, firing thousands of rockets. Breaching the land border with Israel, Hamas militants opened fire at the residents and captured some of them, prompting Israel to launch retaliatory strikes on Gaza, Xinhua news agency reported. The Israeli military on Monday updated in a statement that at least 199 hostages were held in Gaza, while Hamas claimed that there are 200 to 250 Israeli captives in Gaza. ASTANA, Kazakhstan, October 16. The Hors Classe Adviser, Directorate-General for International Partnerships of the European Commission, Henrik Hololei, will visit Kazakhstan on October 1821, 2023, said the official representative of the Kazakh MFA Aybek Smadiyarov, Trend reports. "During the visit, the EU representative will hold meetings with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nazira Nurbayeva, Vice Minister of Digital Development, Innovation, and Aerospace Industry Malik Olzhabekov, Chairman of the Civil Aviation Committee, General Director of Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan JSC, and Chairman of Kazakhstan Railways JSC," he said. According to him, the representative of the European Commission will also visit the cities of Aktau and Almaty, where he will meet with representatives of local authorities and businesses and will also get acquainted with the ports of Aktau and Kuryk. "The purpose of the visit is to get acquainted with the development of the transport and logistics sector in Kazakhstan and discuss the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) study on sustainable transport links between Europe and Central Asia, as well as the progress in implementing these recommendations. The visit is a preparatory stage for the Investor Forum, which is planned for January 2024 in Brussels," he added. Gaza, Oct 17 : Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas discussed the latest development in Gaza during a phone call with the UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, according to media reports. Abbas condemned Israel's plan to force more than 1.1 million people to evacuate to the southern parts of Gaza, calling on Britain to prevent Israeli attempts to displace Palestinians, Xinhua news agency reported. He expressed his rejection of the killing of civilians on both the Palestinian and Israeli sides, emphasising the importance of releasing civilians and prisoners detained on both sides. The Palestinian leader said on Monday that both sides must adhere to international legitimacy and previous agreements, stressing the need to stop attacks and create safe corridors for the entry of medical and food relief materials into Gaza and the provision of water and electricity to the enclave. He stressed that peace and security would only be achieved by implementing the two-state solution based on international resolutions and the recognition of the state of Palestine. For his part, the UK Prime Minister extended his condolences to the families of the Palestinian victims. He expressed Britain's commitment to the two-state solution, its readiness to provide urgent humanitarian aid, and to work with all parties to de-escalate the tensions. On October 7, Hamas launched a heavy onslaught on Israeli towns adjacent to the Gaza Strip, prompting Israel to launch retaliatory strikes on Gaza. "About 1,000 Palestinians are still under the rubble of the destroyed houses, and we could not reach them up to now," said the Hamas-run Health Ministry, adding that the Israeli warplanes intensified their attacks on the Gaza Strip. The ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict, now in its 10th day, has killed about 4,000 people on both sides. Ankara, Oct 17 : Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan discussed the possibility of releasing hostages during a phone conversation with Politburo Chief of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), Ismail Haniyeh. Fidan and Haniyeh discussed "the latest developments in Palestine and the possibility of release of civilians," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Monday in a statement. On October 7, Hamas launched a surprise attack by firing thousands of rockets against Israeli targets, prompting extensive airstrikes from the Israeli side. Hamas militants also infiltrated Israeli territory and took a significant number of hostages during the attack, Xinhua news agency reported. Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said on Monday that there are 200 to 250 Israeli captives held in Gaza. The ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, as it entered the second week, has left heavy casualties on both sides. Langimar Airport, Langimar, Papua New Guinea [ LNM / ] If you are planning to travel to Langimar or any other city in Papua New Guinea, this airport locator will be a very useful tool. This page gives complete information about the Langimar Airport along with the airport location map, Time Zone, lattitude and longitude, Current time and date, hotels near the airport etc... Langimar Airport Map showing the location of this airport in Papua New Guinea. Langimar Airport IATA Code, ICAO Code, exchange rate etc... is also provided. Langimar Airport Info: Langimar Airport IATA Code: LNM Langimar Airport ICAO Code: Latitude : -7.21667 Longitude : 146.2 City : Langimar Country : Papua New Guinea World Area Code : 804 Airport Type : Small Timezone : Pacific/Port_Moresby Langimar Airport Timezone : GMT +10:00 hours Current time and date at Langimar Airport is 22:48:42 PM (+10) on Friday, Nov 3, 2023 Looking for information on Langimar Airport, Langimar, Papua New Guinea? Know about Langimar Airport in detail. Find out the location of Langimar Airport on Papua New Guinea map and also find out airports near to Langimar. This airport locator is a very useful tool for travelers to know where is Langimar Airport located and also provide information like hotels near Langimar Airport, airlines operating to Langimar Airport etc... IATA Code and ICAO Code of all airports in Papua New Guinea. Scroll down to know more about Langimar Airport or Langimar Airport, Papua New Guinea. Langimar Airport Map - Location of Langimar Airport Load Map Papua New Guinea - General Information Country Formal Name Independent State of Papua New Guinea Country Code PG Capital Port Moresby Currency Kina (PGK) 1 PGK = 0.265 USD 1 USD = 3.768 PGK 1 PGK = 0.249 EUR 1 EUR = 4.011 PGK More PGK convertion rates Tel Code +675 Top Level Domain .pg This page provides all the information you need to know about Langimar Airport, Papua New Guinea. This page is created with the aim of helping travelers and tourists visiting Papua New Guinea or traveling to Langimar Airport. Details about Langimar Airport given here include Langimar Airport Code - IATA Code (3 letter airport codes) and ICAO Code (4 letter airport codes) Coordinates of Langimar Airport - Latitude and Longitude (Lat and Long) of Langimar Airport Location of Langimar Airport - City Name, Country, Country Codes etc... Langimar Airport Time Zone and Current time at Langimar Airport Address and contact details of Langimar Airport along with website address of the airport Clickable Location Map of Langimar Airport on Google Map. General information about Papua New Guinea where Langimar Airport is located in the city of Langimar. General information include capital of Papua New Guinea, currency and conversion rate of Papua New Guinea currency, Telephone Country code, exchange rate against US Dollar and Euro in case of major world currencies etc... LNM - Langimar Airport IATA Code ASTANA, Kazakhstan, October 16. Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleu will visit Luxembourg on October 23, 2023, Trend reports. "The head of the foreign policy department of Kazakhstan will take part in the Ministerial meeting Central Asia - EU and the 20th anniversary meeting of the Cooperation Council Kazakhstan-EU," he said. According to him, during the visit, bilateral meetings are also scheduled with the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, as well as the foreign ministers of a number of European countries. ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, October 16. Turkmenistan imported mineral products from EU countries totaling 9.28 million euros from January through July of this year, a source at Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, told Trend. These figures for the reporting period are 45.4 percent higher than in the first seven months of last year (6.38 million euros). Turkmenistan imported mineral products from the EU in July 2023 in the amount of 1.63 euros, which is 3.1 times, or more than 1.12 million euros, more than in June 2023 (517,653 euros). Meanwhile, Turkmenistan increased its imports from EU countries by 20.4 percent in the first seven months of this year compared to the period from January through July 2022 (318.43 million euros), reaching a total of 383.5 million euros. The trade turnover between Turkmenistan and the EU countries totaled 1 billion euros in the preceding year, demonstrating a 25.9 percent reduction compared to 2021, when it stood at 1.35 billion euros. On Friday, the U.S. District Court for Montana issued a preliminary injunction preventing Montanas attorney general and superintendent of public instruction from enforcing the states House Bill 359, designed to restrict drag performances throughout the state. Chief district judge Brian Morris granted the preliminary injunction. In his decision, Morris wrote that HB 359 targets protected speech and expression. The statutory text and legislative history evince anti-LGBTQ+ animus. No evidence before the Court indicates that minors face any harm from drag-related events or other speech and expression critical of gender norms. HB 359s terms prove vague and overbroad, chilling protected speech and creating a risk of disproportionate enforcement against trans, Two-Spirit, and gender nonconforming people. Plaintiffs included the organization Montana Pride and the bookstore Montana Book Co. (Helena), along with nine other businesses, theaters, community centers, and individuals. They argued that HB 359 violates the U.S. Constitutions first, fifth, and 14th amendments. In the original action on July 7, the plaintiffs sued Montanas state attorney general Austin Knudsen; superintendent of public instruction Elsie Arntzen; ButteSilver Bow chief executive J. P. Gallagher; and the City of Helena, which evaluates and issues permits for events held within city limits. The plaintiffs filed the lawsuit while Montana Pride was applying for permits for its 2023 summer events. Court documents called Montana Prides permit applications functionally identical to those approved by the city of Helena in 2022, when Montana Pride drew more than 15,000 participants. Leaders of Montana Pride feared HB 359which took effect in Maywould undermine their plans for a parade, drag performances, rally, and educational workshops. No evidence before the Court indicates that minors face any harm from drag-related events or other speech and expression critical of gender norms. According to the ruling, the City of Helena urged the court to block enforcement of HB 359 in time to allow Montana Pride to proceed, and a temporary restraining order was granted on July 28. Montana Prides 30th anniversary festival took place July 30August 6, and one of the counts in the suit was dismissed by the court in September. In addition to businesses advocating freedom of expression, two personal plaintiffs took part in the lawsuit. Adria Jawort, a Two-Spirit member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe and a transgender woman, joined because her scheduled June presentation on Indigenous Montana and trans history had been canceled by the Butte Public Library; the citycounty of ButteSilver Bow decided her lecture posed too much of a legal risk under HB 359. Rachel Corcoran, a Billings public school instructor who wears costumes as part of her teaching, likewise joined the suit out of concern that her educational role-playing could be construed as drag under the law. HB 359 was introduced on January 29 by Rep. Braxton Mitchell, who said in April that HB 359 would protect children from hypersexualized events that are meant for adults, not children and that might give children an inadequate understanding of gender roles and experiences. The state legislature passed the bill on May 11, and HB 359 was signed into law by Gov. Greg Gianforte on May 22. As stated in Morriss order granting the preliminary injunction, the text of HB 359 "criminalizes a wide range of conduct, including drag story hours in schools and libraries that receive any amount of state funding, and prohibits minors from attending certain sexually oriented shows. The judge also wrote in the finding that the Attorney Generals authority to prosecute under HB 359 has not been tested, but the question of whether the Attorney General does indeed possess legal authority to prosecute under HB 359 might remain open until such a case was brought. The judge agreed with the plaintiffs that HB 359s threat of prosecution causes irreparable harm, including the loss of business and the risk of having professional licenses revoked. In addition, if the attorney general or school superintendent were to exercise HB 359, the hassle and embarrassment of even a meritless proceeding presents a potential occupational penalty, such as job loss for the person allegedly in violation. Montana Book Co.s Chelsia Rice, who co-owns the bookstore with spouse Charlie Crawford, celebrated the preliminary injunction. Our bookstore celebrates the diversity that makes Montana special," Rice said. We are a space that will always amplify LGBTQ+ voices, not silence them. The courts order today ensures that we will not be prosecuted for doing so. With the preliminary injunction, four of the five counts in the suit remain unresolved. Two counts related to Jaworts canceled lecture have the potential to proceed to a jury trial, while two counts related to free speech and to due process are to be revisited. Purdue Center for Regional Development and Indiana University Public Policy Institute will examine regional impact of states READI program WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. The Purdue Center for Regional Development, as part of the Office of Engagement, and the Indiana University Public Policy Institute will collaborate on a multiyear project to examine the economic and community impact of Indianas nationally recognized, $500 million Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative. Launched by Gov. Eric Holcomb, the READI program has awarded more than $487 million of the initiatives original $500 million to accelerate strategic investments in 17 regions that represent all 92 Indiana counties. These funds will match additional public, private and nonprofit dollars, totaling an expected $12.2 billion invested in Indiana communities, talent and innovation. The project will assess the first iteration of the READI program, from its inception in 2021 through December 31, 2026, to produce key performance indicators and other program insights, including population growth, per capita income and economic impact analyses, for the Indiana Economic Development Corp. (IEDC), which administers READI. The IEDC will allocate $1.69 million over nearly four years to this project to monitor the states growth in key areas that contribute to the quality of life of Hoosiers. When we announced the READI grant program, we knew it had the potential to have a generational impact across every region and further accelerate population and economic growth throughout Indiana, said David Rosenberg, Indiana secretary of commerce and CEO of the IEDC. This partnership with Purdue and IU will put additional data behind these investments in quality of place, quality of life and quality of opportunity, highlighting the significance of each project and program and the states unprecedented investment as a whole. Together, we can illustrate Indianas commitment to and progress toward creating nationally recognized, vibrant destinations that retain and attract top talent. Additional Information The IEDC announced funding awards December 2021, allocating matching grants to 17 regions ranging in amounts from $5 million to $50 million. These funds will support 361 unique, shovel-ready projects and programs across the state to accelerate community, workforce and economic growth. These investments have the potential to really transform the regions of the grant recipients, said Roberto Gallardo, vice president for engagement and director of the Purdue Center for Regional Development. In this case, the investment is so significant that I think we really need to go beyond dollars and cents. Community engagement in the program is key to its success. Tom Guevara, director of the Indiana University Public Policy Institute, echoed Gallardos sentiments, saying the joint research project will deliver tangible, data-driven insight. Our work, in partnership with the Purdue Center for Regional Development, will give state leaders and local communities detailed insights for the next several years on how these investments have worked to improve the quality of life and economic future for Hoosiers everywhere, Guevara said. Gallardo said the Purdue and IU team will develop a survey to examine the community buy-in for the projects. The research will explore not only how the money is used in the development of capital projects and programs but also how those local efforts are improving the quality of life for residents. We want to know if residents are positive about this, Gallardo said. With our contribution to the evaluation process, well be helping to tell a powerful story of the impact this program is having in regions throughout the state. Gallardo said results will help provide transparency and accountability to state lawmakers, who authorized the $500 million investment, and inform Indiana residents of whats being done to attract, develop and retain talent in Indiana through capital investments. Gallardo and Guevara said both partners offer complementary skills and expertise that will allow them to synchronize data and generate creative analyses for the IEDC that, Guevara noted, can be used for expanding growth and opportunity and providing policy insights that can help leaders make the best decisions for maximum return on public investment. About Purdue University Purdue University is a public research institution with excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities and with two colleges in the top 4 in the United States, Purdue discovers and disseminates knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 105,000 students study at Purdue across modalities and locations, with 50,000 in person on the West Lafayette campus. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdues main campus has frozen tuition 12 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap, including its first comprehensive urban campus in Indianapolis, the new Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business, and Purdue Computes, at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives. About the Purdue Center for Regional Development The Purdue Center for Regional Development (PCRD) seeks to be a leader in innovative and adaptive partnerships empowering regions to find solutions for equitable, sustainable and resilient development. PCRD will collaborate with people to listen, identify and enhance assets unique to their story, resulting in prosperity and quality of life. Learn more at https://pcrd.purdue.edu/. About the IU Public Policy Institute The IU Public Policy Institute (PPI) produces unbiased, high-quality research, analyses and policy guidance to effect positive change and improve the quality of life in communities across Indiana and the nation. As a multidisciplinary institute within the IU ONeill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, PPI supports the Center for Health and Justice Research, the Center for Research on Inclusion and Social Policy, and the Manufacturing Policy Initiative. About the ONeill School of Public and Environmental Affairs The O'Neill School is a world leader in public and environmental affairs and is the largest school of public administration and public policy in the United States. In the 2023 Best Graduate Public Affairs Programs by U.S. News & World Report, the ONeill School ranks first in the country. Five of its specialty programs are ranked in the top-five listings, including nonprofit management, ranked first. About IEDC The Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) leads the state of Indianas economic development efforts, helping businesses launch, grow and locate in the state. Governed by a 15-member board chaired by Governor Eric J. Holcomb, the IEDC manages many initiatives, including performance-based tax credits, workforce training grants, innovation and entrepreneurship resources, public infrastructure assistance, and talent attraction and retention efforts. For more information about the IEDC, visit iedc.in.gov. Writer/Media contact: Wes Mills, wemills@purdue.edu Ken Bikoff, kbikoff@indiana.edu Erin Sweitzer, esweitzer@iedc.in.gov Source: Roberto Gallardo Property details: Offered is one 1.25 Acre Lot in Polk County, Central Florida near Commonwealth Ave. You will own the property and will receive a recorded deed from Polk County Clerk of Courts. You can hold the property as an investment with low annual taxes (about $8 annually) or flip for a profit. Listed at $1 Start, No Reserve, Sells Regardless of Price! Lot Legal Description: The South 330 Ft of the North 2950 Ft of the East 165 Ft of the West 2640 Ft of Section 4, Township 26 South, Range 25 East, Polk Coun... 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Price: $ 1,663 Seller State of Residence: California Zip/Postal Code: 32724 Zoning: Residential City: Deland State/Province: Florida Location: 305**, Cleveland, Georgia You will be redirected to eBay Nearby Florida The owners of a California home day care were arrested after 2 children drown in backyard pool Authorities say the mother-and-daughter owners of a home day care in California home were arrested after two children drowned in the backyard pool earlier this month The University of Georgia is in The Red Zone the period of time when colleges across the nation experience a wave of sexual assault cases between August to November. An estimated 50% of all sexual assaults on college campuses happen during The Red Zone each year, according to the National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments. (Graphic/Abbie Herrin) Indias trade ties with Israel have only strengthened in the years after 2019. The total value of trade rose to $10.5 billion on a rolling four-quarter basis in June 2023 from $5.5 billion in the same month in 2019, shows a Business Standard analysis of data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). A rolling four-quarter number provides a comparable figure across different time periods. The 93 per cent increase has also seen the trade balance, the difference between imports and exports, become more favourable for India. Indias exports to Israel was around $1.9 billion more than imports in June 2019. Exports were $5.7 billion higher than imports by June 2023. Indias imports from Israel have been largely stagnant over the past decade. It was $2.5 billion in the four quarters ended in June 2013, which came in $2.4 billion over a similar period ended June 2023. Trade has largely been driven by exports. Indias rolling four-quarter exports to Israel rose to $8.1 billion in June 2023 from $3.7 billion in June 2013. Much of the rise has happened in the period after the Covid-19 pandemic. It was stagnant at 2013-levels of $3.7 billion in June 2019. The composition of exports shows that not all segments have grown equally. The value of manufactured goods exported to Israel is up 30.5 per cent to $2.6 billion as of June 2023, on a rolling four-quarter basis. The share of agricultural and allied products as well as ores and minerals remain negligible. Petroleum and crude exports have surged. Indias petroleum and crude products exports rose 245 per cent to $5.3 billion in June 2023. The segment accounted for 65.2 per cent of the total exports to Israel as of June 2023. It was 41.8 per cent in June 2019. Key segments with the exposure to Israel include gems and jewellery ($1.2 billion in exports), and engineering goods ($455 million in exports), based on trade for the four quarters ended June 2023. India also exported $127 million worth of textiles to Israel during this period. Drugs, pharmaceuticals, and fine chemicals accounted for $96.8 million in exports while overall chemical and related product exports were worth $282 million. India and Israel have been long negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA). The first round of discussions was held in 2010. There have been at least eight rounds in the subsequent years. The trade agreement is not under consideration as of now. People aware of the matter said the discussions on a trade deal did not make progress since Israel was not willing to offer greater access, especially for the service sector. India was mainly pushing for greater movement of information technology (IT) professionals. Goods were not the main area of focus since the tariffs in the West Asian nations are anyway not too steep, which meant that there wouldnt have been a massive gain for New Delhi from the agreement. According to Ajay Srivastava, the founder of think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), Indian exporters may face higher risk premiums and shipping costs, which may reduce their profits but will not impact trade volumes unless war escalates. The war may lead to higher insurance premiums and shipping costs. "Indias ECGC may charge higher risk premiums from Indian firms exporting to Israel. "Trade may be seriously impacted if operations at the three largest ports of Israel, Haifa, Ashdod, and Eilat are disrupted. "Indias merchandise trade with Israel happens mostly through Eilat port, located on the Red Sea. "Fortunately, so far there is no report of port disruption, Srivastava said in a report, adding that the real impact would depend on the duration and intensity of the war. According to GTRI estimates, the India-Israel bilateral services trade is estimated to be around $1.3 billion. The major services traded between the two countries include IT. India is Israels seventh largest trading partner globally. It is ranked 30th among Indias trade partners, accounting for close to 1 per cent of trade even after the recent rise. ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, October 16. Turkmenistan and Austria expressed a desire to intensify inter-parliamentary cooperation, Trend reports. This opinion was expressed during the meeting of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, Myahri Byashimova with the delegation of the Vienna City Hall, headed by the representative of the Mayor of Vienna, member of the Vienna Provincial Parliament and City Council Omar Al-Rawi, as well as the head of the Austrian-Turkmen Society Neda Berger, who is in Ashgabat on a visit. During the meeting, the sides noted the fruitful partnership between Turkmenistan and Austria, and also expressed their opinion on the intensification of inter-parliamentary cooperation. Furthermore, they stressed effective cooperation in trade and economic cooperation while noting the successful cooperation of the business circles of the two countries. At the same time, special attention was paid during the meeting to the issues of further expansion of ties in the field of culture, which is facilitated by joint events. Meanwhile, the development of cooperation between Turkmenistan and Austria represents an important geopolitical opportunity for both countries. Both sides have extensive potential to strengthen relations in various fields, such as the economy, energy, culture, and education. Its all eyes on the consumer durables sector during the festival season after a weak Q1FY24 and Q2FY24 was impacted by an erratic monsoon. Photograph: PTI Photo from the Rediff Archives Traditionally, this period sees the highest number of purchases. Dealers and manufacturers are complaining about low business-to-consumer (B2C) off-take during the first half. A pickup in consumption demand would be welcome. However, business-to-business (B2B) off-take has been reasonable. Companies like Havells, Blue Star, Voltas and Polycab have seen strong B2B volumes. Some optimism is visible at the dealer level after a reasonably strong pick up of B2C in August. Inventories of items like non-rated fans have been liquidated. Air-conditioner (AC) volumes have been reasonable but not very strong. The industry will be looking at off-take of the newly-mandated energy rated fans for the calendar year 2024 but sales are only anticipated in Q4 of FY24, given the seasonal factor. There may be export opportunities for fans, given the global warming and this could be a new revenue stream. Theres also hope of some margin expansion as raw material costs may ease with inflation levelling off. While B2B has benefited from real estate demand, theres high competitive intensity and price erosion in areas like lighting solutions. Lighting volume remains strong, but prices have dropped 20 per cent or more due to changes in technology. Again, due to the real estate activity and return-to-office norms after Covid, segments like cabling, wiring, switch gear and commercial refrigeration, among others, have been driven by B2B demand. Dealers also said that trends around Independence Day sales indicate revival of consumer demand to some extent in Tier-3 towns and rural areas. Independence Day sales were up 25 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y). And, dealers have managed to liquidate excess inventory despite average selling price being over 6 per cent in many categories. Lower raw material costs may create headroom for discounts in the festival season. A rural pick-up in demand usually translates into more volumes for entry level / mid-level products rather than premium items. Despite these encouraging signs, the electrical segments with their B2B focus could remain a safer bet than the appliance / white goods segment. The B2B demand is more strongly linked to government spending. Consumption demand, especially at the rural / semi urban level is likely to be patchy, due to divergent monsoon trends. However, election-related spending is likely to put money in pockets, due to assembly elections across many states as well as the general elections in April May 2024. So, that could be a reason to bet on a big rebound in B2C demand in H2FY24. From a valuation perspective, the weak first half means a significant pullback in valuations across the consumer durables space. The long-term trends in both B2B and B2C will correlate to GDP growth acceleration, which is on the cards. Theres a case for saying the worst is over in terms of demand weakness and margin pressures. Analysts in this space have positive views on Havells, Crompton Greaves Consumer and Polycab. The beaten-down valuations could also attract interest from value investors if theres a pick up in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) margins and volumes. Disclaimer: This article is meant for information purposes only. This article and information do not constitute a distribution, an endorsement, an investment advice, an offer to buy or sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any securities/schemes or any other financial products/investment products mentioned in this article to influence the opinion or behaviour of the investors/recipients. Any use of the information/any investment and investment related decisions of the investors/recipients are at their sole discretion and risk. Any advice herein is made on a general basis and does not take into account the specific investment objectives of the specific person or group of persons. Opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice. India and Vietnam are vying with each other to woo semiconductor companies to their country. Photograph: Jason Lee/Reuters With the tension between the US and China escalating, and Taiwan getting vulnerable both countries are trying to present themselves as alternative destinations for global players. Vietnam, which started the effort as early as 2010, has got a leg-up after US President Joe Bidens visit last month. The occasion saw the announcement of many semiconductor projects, including a $1.6 billion project by the outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) company Amkor Technology. Amkor has chosen Vietnam to set up its second largest plant in the world, and the first phase of the project rolls out in October. It also announced investments by chip design majors like Marvel and Synopsys. Vietnam has garnered investments of over $5 billion in the semiconductor space, which have been publicly announced or are in various stages of implementation. These include investments from diverse big-ticket players as Intel, Samsung, Hana Micron, Dutch suppliers to chip manufacturers, ASML, Infineon Technologies, Korean giant SKC, and so on. India, which started pitching itself as an alternative to China only a couple years ago, is making an aggressive bid to catch up. It has closed a big $2.75 billion investment from Micron for an advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMP) plant, while the US semiconductor company, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), has announced an investment of $400 million over 4 years in an engineering centre in Bengaluru. Whats more, Applied Materials, another supplier to the semiconductor industry, has tied up with Foxconn to set up a $250-million chip-making tools project. However, neither Vietnam nor India has been able to close a deal with global foundries to set up a fab plant in their respective country, which require investments ranging from $5 to $9 billion. Whichever country manages to pull it off first will have a big advantage. During Bidens visit, the US not only upgraded its relationship status with Vietnam, but also signed an agreement to provide initial funding to improve semiconductor skills in the country. Also, the US has offered Vietnam $100 million a year for five years under the CHIPS and Science Act for building semiconductor supply chains. South Korean companies have been very active in Vietnam. In India, though, only SK Hynix has shown an interest in setting up a packaging plant. That is because with the Chinese market slowing down, Vietnam has become a global hub for electronics, IT and mobile devices as companies shift production from China to that country, which is also a big market for semiconductors. For example, Samsung is setting up the highly complex semiconductor substrate factory in Vietnam with an investment of $850 million. Hanmi Semiconductor, a Korean chip equipment maker, has also set up a local subsidiary to leverage the growing demand from semiconductor companies in Vietnam. And while chip maker Hana Micron is investing up to $1 billion till 2025 (it has already put in major investments) in a chip packaging and testing plant in the country, the SKC Group has signed up to explore potential investments for semiconductors, amongst others. Says a senior executive of a top global auto company, "We have asked Taiwanese OSAT players to diversify their production from China and Taiwan to other countries to avoid possible supply chain disruption. "Most of the top Taiwanese companies have started looking at Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia, But India is still not in their map. 'India is respected by both Israel and Palestine.' 'India can push the international community for the peace process.' IMAGE: Israeli soldiers gather near tanks as violence around the nearby Gaza Strip mounts at the Israeli side of the Gaza border. Photograph: Amir Cohen/Reuters Palestine's Ambassador to India Adnan Mohammad Jaber Abualhayjaa tells Shobha John that India has an important role to play in its ongoing war with Israel. Even as he rues the hypocrisy of the West which makes Palestine feel like it is under apartheid, the envoy says that India is respected by both sides and Prime Minister Narendra D Modi should use his good offices to help end the siege of 2.2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, has been one of the most deadly since Israel was founded in 1948. Has Hamas helped the Palestinian cause or spoilt it? Let us look at history first. The Palestine problem has been a catastrophe for 75 years, or at least since 1967 when the area was under occupation and we used to resist with an armed struggle. Following the Oslo Accords, agreements signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation in 1993 and 1995, a Palestine State was supposed to be formed in 1999. There was a peaceful man called Yitzhak Rabin, then prime minister of Israel, who wanted peace with Palestine. But these Accords have been killed by extreme Israelis as they want both the land and peace. They have no solution to the six million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank (four million) and two million with Israeli nationality. This is probably the sixth war since 2008, and the international community can't find a solution to this. The UN has passed more than 800 resolutions on Palestine, but nothing came of it. So the Hamas war is a reaction to the extreme government in Israel which has killed 260 Palestinians in the West Bank since the beginning of this year, confiscated our land and jailed our people. Are the Palestinians with Hamas and its extremist behaviour? Hamas does have its audience among the Palestinians, a big percentage, but I don't have the statistics. We don't want more bloodshed and civilians killed -- either Palestinians or Israelis. We condemn that. However, the international community has shut its eyes and we feel as if we are under an apartheid regime. Did the scale of the Hamas attack on Israel surprise you? Yes, it surprised everyone. But Israel has been bombing the families of Hamas, but not Hamas members themselves. The US is investigating whether Iran helped Hamas. I don't know. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said there is no evidence yet of Iran's involvement. IMAGE: The ruins of a Palestinian house hit by Israeli strikes at the al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, October 12, 2023. Photograph: Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa/Reuters What does the attack say about Israel's military preparedness and intelligence network? Will this embolden Hamas further? Israel has the servers of phones in its territory and has the Pegasus software, so it can hear conversations on mobiles. Despite such security, it is surprising that Hamas attacked it. Whether it will embolden Hamas, I am not sure. They are still throwing rockets. The Palestine Authority, for its part, is trying to send food and supplies to Gaza. Will the taking of Israeli hostages by Hamas serve the purpose of getting Palestinians released from Israeli jails? I hope so. I am sure they will be released. IMAGE: An Israeli tank fires near Israel's border with the Gaza Stripv in southern Israel, October 12, 2023. Photograph: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters Why did Hamas attack Israel so brutally now? How much of Hamas' activities has to do with the hardline stance taken by Israel's government in the Gaza Strip? Hamas has said the bombings are due to the killings in Gaza by Israel, the raids by it in Jerusalem's Al Aqsa mosque, an important place for us, and the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Will the present situation affect Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's political future? Israel always solves its problems with Palestinian blood. What we have read in Israeli newspapers is that Netanyahu is 94 percent responsible for what has happened in the past week. IMAGE: Palestinians flee their houses and head toward the southern part of the Gaza Strip after Israel's call for more than 1 million civilians in northern Gaza to move south within 24 hours, October 13, 2023. Photograph: Ahmed Zakot/Reuters Has India's position vis a vis Palestine undergone a change under the present government? While Prime Minister Narendra D Modi was the first Indian PM to visit Israel, he also visited Ramallah, the seat of the Palestine Authority, in 2018. Do you think India is doing some tightrope walking between the two? What hopes do you have from India? India is with the two-State solution. It is a very important country and is respected by both Israel and Palestine. We hope it can play a positive role to end this crisis. Prime Minister Narendra Modi can help break the siege of 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza Strip and help them get food, water and electricity. India can push the international community for the peace process. It will be able to play that role. IMAGE: A rally in Amman, Jordan, to express solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Photograph: Alaa Al Sukhni/Reuters Were the Hamas attacks also an attempt to derail ongoing negotiations brokered by the US for normalisation of ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia, which could change Middle East politics? I don't think so. The attacks must have taken years of preparation, it was not sudden. Should the Israeli-Palestine conflict be seen from a historical perspective rather than just a strategic one? According to Biblical times, this was the promised land of the Jews. This is a big lie. It is in the interest of the West to have Israel. In fact, Joe Biden, when he was vice-president, had said that Israel is the best investment America makes. Israel is seen as a military base. The West has been hypocritical in its stance in the Israeli-Palestine conflict. Israel is destroying the two-State solution, but the West is silent. Do you think an independent Palestinian State is no longer a priority for the Arab world? After all, cooperation has opened up between Israel and several Arab countries. That is not true. An independent Palestine is a priority for the Arab world. They don't want war in the area, they want peace. Israel's thinking is that if it normalises relations with other countries, they will forget about the Palestinian issue. IMAGE: An aerial view shows damage caused following the mass infiltration by Hamas gunmen in Kibbutz Beeri. Photograph: Ilan Rosenberg/Reuters What is the future for the Palestinians and is a separate Palestinian State now a chimera? No, the two-State solution is the most practical one and recognised by the international community. If Israel does not want the two-State solution, let us live in a democratic State and the historical land of Palestine. IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra D Modi during the ceremonial welcome at the presidential compound, also known as Muqata'a, in Ramallah -- the Palestinian seat of government, during his visit in 2018. Photograph: Ministry of External Affairs Do you foresee this war spiraling out of control and including Hezbollah in Lebanon, thereby bring Iran and Lebanon into the war? I hope not. We don't want the war to expand and see more killings. The UN is with the people of Palestine. If the US wants peace in the Middle East without finding a solution to Palestine, it cannot happen. What has been the role of the Palestine Authority? Since 2014, Israel has refused to meet the Palestine Authority. This is the most extreme government in Israel in the last 75 years. European countries have their representatives in West Bank and have daily reports about what is going on there. The Palestinians will continue their struggle and can't be destroyed. They can't kill all the Palestinians -- they have a high birth rate. We don't want our children jailed and killed every day, we want them to play like others and see peace. The poverty in Gaza is around 70 percent and hunger is already there without the siege. The siege is a war crime. But we will keep the struggle for an independent state going. Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com 'People coming from the slightly upper section of Palestinian society want to fight and I see vengeance in their eyes.' IMAGE: Gaza resident Sabreen Abu Daqqa reacts before the funeral of her daughter and two sons who were killed in Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, October 8, 2023. Photograph: Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters Nibedita Sen spent three years travelling across Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Syria and other West Asian countries as an independent defence correspondent and a marketing communicator. Nibedita, who returned from Israel in May 2023, tells Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com, "What's terrorism for others is patriotism for Palestinians." Part 1 of the Interview: 'Nobody is scared in Israel' IMAGE: Palestinian search for belongings in the rubble of the Watan Tower, which was destroyed in Israeli strikes, in Gaza City, October 8, 2023. Photograph: Mohammed Salem/Reuters Tell us about your meetings with ordinary Palestinians, their daily lives and how they look at the Israelis... I started a community of travellers in Israel called Happiness Activist through which not only did we travel (through many parts of Palestine) but also promoted the cause of mental health. Hence I initiated attending old age homes in Israel and Palestine for spending time with people. That was my opening move in Palestine. I remember the first day very well as I was dressed in a sari and got questioned five to seven times by normal people if I was from 'Hodu'. The word 'Hodu' comes from Hindu. India is known as Hodu in Palestine. In fact, Palestine is pronounced as Balestine. They don't have 'H' and 'P' in their dictionary. I met a cute little girl who kept admiring me. I didn't notice her. It was my husband who drew my attention to a red-cheeked girl and how she was staring at me. When I smiled at her, she shyly ran away. Then I met people on the bus who enquired if I my husband was a Muslim because I made him wear a Punjabi pajama, traditional Bengali wear. While crossing the road, a group of teenaged boys came forward and stopped by me to see if I was bleeding from my forehead. They mumbled as they weren't very fluent in English and I did not know how to speak Arabic. I told them I wasn't bleeding and that was my sindoor. It was fun strolling around and knowing people. They are also curious people just like us. Did you get to speak with Palestinians whom you have known after Israel launched its offensive against the Hamas in Gaza? Yes I work with them as a marketing communicator. I worked with a software company and later founded 'Happiness Activist' where I help Palestinians in establishing tourism in a better way in Palestine. I work with them closely. I have friends who are primary school teachers turned taxi drivers, political tour guides, students and more. IMAGE: Palestinians carry their belongings as they walk on a debris-strewn street in the aftermath of Israeli strikes at the Beach refugee camp in Gaza City, October 9, 2023. Photograph: Mohammed Salem/Reuters About the death and destruction in Palestine ever since Israeli bombing started in the Gaza... They have two different kinds of opinions. People coming from the slightly upper section of the society are politically aware. They want to fight more and I see vengeance in their eyes. Again, poor Palestinians who are anyway not helped by their government and also mistreated by the upper class are the ones who give me a different perspective. They want a solution to this. They need good governance, good quality food, water, electricity and peace. These are people who I personally find are rational and humble. Personally, I feel these sections of people are too tired to fight anymore. Because of living in the border areas their lives that are at risk. IMAGE: Palestinians inspect the damage in the aftermath of Israeli strikes at the Beach refugee camp in Gaza City, October 9, 2023. Photograph: Mohammed Salem/Reuters What kinds of tragedies are unfolding in Gaza? Do you have Palestinians sharing their plight with you, describing the mayhem and destruction wreaked upon them by the Israeli bombings? Besides turmoil, the only tragic part is the number of constantly decreasing Christian population at the birthplace of Christ. I am connected to people near the border areas. Even though I went inside the country, I was not allowed to move freely everywhere, especially the centre of Gaza, even though I wanted to. I do have videos bytes of Palestinian people, but they live near the borders and there's no sign of destruction as such. The place in Gaza that has rumbled is in the central part where there are banks, mosques, offices etc. The videos circulated in the media are also the ones shared by the Israeli army because they click the footage of places they are bombing. How do Palestinians look at Hamas? As saviours who will help them establish their national identity or a terrorist organisation that is pawning the interests of ordinary Palestinians for their idea of liberation and freedom of Palestine? I have never thrown this direct question at them because they will not talk to me if I do. I took time to understand them. What I understood from their behaviour is that they have no other option than supporting Hamas. Here by 'they' I mean the common people of Palestine, not the rich and powerful ones. I got a chance to visit the Palestinian president's home. It is built in the shape of a ship. There the arms and ammunition are well exhibited. The windows are covered by sacks of sand to prevent any bullet entering their rooms. An AK-47 is neatly kept beside the bed of every security personnel. It was a thrilling experience. They have a museum in the same building where their side of the story is well depicted. Political tours in Palestine have this as the main viewpoint. Both activists and ordinary people want tourists to visit this place. So, yes, what's terrorism for others is patriotism for Palestinians. The opposition Congress in Madhya Pradesh is seemingly facing the problem of plenty when it comes to the number of aspirants keen to contest the next month's assembly elections on the party ticket if veteran leader Kamal Nath is to be believed. IMAGE: Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath (left) welcomes former state home minister Mahendra Baudh as he joins Congress, at party headquarters in Bhopal, October 16, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo According to Nath, about 4,000 people have applied for tickets and underlined that the party is ensuring social justice while picking the nominees for the high-stakes contest against the Bharatiya Janata Party. The MP Congress chief said it is obvious that all poll aspirants cannot get tickets and hoped that "disappointed" leaders would work in favour of Congress. Polling for 230 seats in MP will be held in a single phase on November 17 and votes will be counted on December 3. Nath said Congress believes in social justice during the distribution of tickets and this process should fit into the caste equation. Responding to a query from reporters on how some turncoats from BJP and other parties who joined Congress were given tickets, he said such leaders joined the Grand Old Party only after the consent of local cadres. "About 4,000 people have applied for tickets, but all of them can't get them. We announced candidates after taking opinions from others. There is hardly any unanimity on such things as all those who applied claim their victory," Nath told reporters. A day before, Congress issued the first list of 144 candidates, including 69 sitting MLAs. While 39 candidates are from Other Backward Classes, 22 are from the Scheduled Caste category and 30 are from Scheduled Tribes. As many as 47 candidates in the list are from the general category, six are minorities and 19 are women. "Out of the candidates announced so far, 65 are below the age of 50 years and 19 are women," Nath said. He said the Congress will declare candidates for the remaining seats (out of 230) in two-three days. Underlining the challenge in picking candidates, Nath said, "I never saw a leader in my career who applied for the party ticket and also said he would be defeated. This was a big challenge before us. We will declare the candidates for the remaining seats within two to three days". Nath also took a swipe at chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over the latter's reported statement that he would rise from ashes like the proverbial Phoenix and that Congress is afraid of him. "Chouhan should tell this to the BJP and not Congress. Why is BJP not declaring him as the CM's face? Why is BJP shying away or is it regretting?" Nath asked. He said Chhindwara MP and his son Nakul Nath will declare (candidates) for seats from the district. "Tickets for (seats in) Chhindwara (district) will be declared in Chhindwara first before they will be announced from Delhi," Nath added. In reply to a question about sharing of seats among allies, he said no discussion has taken place with Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati. "This election is the question of the state's future. The state has become 'chaupat' (got ruined) and leading in corruption" the legislator from Chhindwara alleged while targeting BJP. United States President Joe Biden expressed shock and condemned the 'horrific act of hate' that occurred in Chicago where a man allegedly stabbed and killed a 6-year-old boy and seriously wounded his mother, allegedly because they are Muslim tenants, CNN reported. IMAGE: Joseph M Czuba, the accused in the murder of 6-year-old boy in Chicago, US. Photograph: Courtesy Will County Sheriff's office A Chicago-based man, Joseph M Czuba, aged 71, has been arrested and charged with murder and hate crimes after allegedly stabbing and killing a 6-year-old boy and seriously wounding his mother, CNN reported. The victims, a Palestinian family, were targeted due to their religion and amid the ongoing Hamas-Israel war. The sheriff's office said Czuba did not make a statement to detectives but investigators determined the victims were 'targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis', CNN reported. The family is Palestinian and 'came to America seeking what we all seek--a refuge to live, learn, and pray in peace', according to the White House. Czuba faces charges of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of a hate crime, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. The US Justice Department has initiated a federal hate crime investigation into the attack, US Attorney General Merric Garland announced on Sunday The sheriff's office said Czuba did not make a statement to detectives but investigators determined the victims were 'targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis', according to CNN. The family is Palestinian and 'came to America seeking what we all seek--a refuge to live, learn, and pray in peace', according to the White House. The 6-year-old victim, Wadea Al-Fayoume, was fatally stabbed 26 times, while his 32-year-old mother, Hanaan Shahin, sustained over a dozen stab wounds but is expected to recover. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden expressed their shock and condolences for the family, condemning the 'horrific act of hate'. They emphasised that such acts have no place in America and go against the nation's fundamental values of religious freedom and tolerance. 'Our condolences and prayers are with the family. This act of hate against a Palestinian Muslim family has no place in America,' posted Biden on X. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) identified the victims and highlighted the need to combat Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism in society. In a statement on X, CAIR National wrote they were 'shocked and disturbed' to hear of the boy's death, and said, 'The Islamophobic rhetoric and anti-Palestinian racism being spread by politicians, media outlets, and social media platforms must stop', as reported by CNN. The Palestinian foreign ministry also strongly condemned the act of racism and hatred that led to the 6-year-old Palestinian child's death, calling for accountability for those promoting such actions. 'The ministry also condemns the incitement campaigns, attacks, racist statements, and provocative positions that have been directed against Palestinian citizens and several Palestinian embassies and ambassadors in some countries,' it said in a statement, adding that it 'calls on all nations to confront these actions and to hold their promoters and those behind them accountable'. Joseph M Czuba is in custody at the Will County Adult Detention Facility, awaiting his initial court appearance, CNN reported. The Supreme Court told the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate on Monday they cannot keep former deputy chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia in jail for an "indefinite period" in the Delhi excise policy cases. IMAGE: Delhi ex-deputy CM Manish Sisodia being brought to the Rouse Avenue Court in connection with the Delhi excise policy case, in New Delhi, August 25, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti asked additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the two probe agencies, when will the arguments on charges against Sisodia commence in the trial court. "You cannot keep him behind (bars) for an indefinite period. You cannot keep him behind like this. Once a chargesheet is filed in a case, arguments on charge should commence immediately," the bench told Raju. Raju told the bench the cases against Sisodia are at the stage of section 207 of CrPC (supply of documents to the accused) and after that the arguments on charge will commence. "Why have the arguments on charge not yet commenced and when will they commence? Tell us by tomorrow (Tuesday)," Justice Khanna told Raju. The top court was hearing the bail pleas of Sisodia, who was arrested in the excise policy cases being probed by both the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate. During the hour-long hearing, Raju said if a person of the rank of deputy chief minister and holding 18 portfolios, including that of the excise department, accepts bribe then a proper example needs to be set. "Just have a look at the role of this person. The consumers have been deprived of their money due to the policy changes. There are WhatsApp chats and other communications to show conspiracy of money laundering," Raju said while summarising his arguments on why Sisodia should not be granted bail. Raju claimed there was sufficient material to show the offence of money laundering and to buttress the allegation of Sisodia having tampered with evidence by destroying his mobile phones, grounds that are sufficient for denial of bail. "There was also an instance of arm-twisting where a wholesaler was forced to give up his licence while a firm was given the licence despite not qualifying the criteria," he said. Raju referred to the statement of Delhi businessman Dinesh Arora, an accused-turned-approver, and claimed he had told the probe agencies about the bribes Sisodia took. "He (Arora) has stated in his statement why he had not mentioned earlier about the role of Sisodia and has said that he was afraid that he will be harmed," the ASG said. The bench asked whether prior approval has been taken to prosecute Sisodia under section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act to which Raju replied in the affirmative. Section 17A 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. Raju alleged the new excise policy encouraged cartelisation and was designed in such a manner that consumers ended up paying more. The hearing remained inconclusive and will continue on Tuesday. On October 5, the top court had posed a volley of questions to the CBI and the ED about the Delhi excise policy 'scam' and asked the anti-money laundering agency how a case was made out against Sisodia. The top court had said merely because some lobby or pressure groups had sought a certain policy change does not imply there was corruption or commission of crime unless an element of bribery was involved. Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on February 26 for his alleged role in the 'scam'. He has been in custody since then. The ED arrested him in a money laundering case stemming from the CBI FIR on March 9 after questioning him in Tihar Jail. Sisodia resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28. The high court had denied him bail in the CBI case on May 30, saying having been the deputy chief minister and excise minister, he is a "high-profile" person who has the potential to influence the witnesses. On July 3, the high court had declined him bail in the money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the city government's excise policy, holding that the charges against him are "very serious in nature". The Delhi government implemented the policy on November 17, 2021 but scrapped it at the end of September 2022 amid allegations of corruption. The Israeli Defence Forces may be ready to launch a ground invasion of Gaza days after Hamas's horrific 7/10 attack. IMAGE: Religious Jewish men play music from a van and dance to encourage Israeli soldiers near Israel's border with Gaza in southern Israel, October 12, 2023. Photograph: Amir Cohen/Reuters IMAGE: An Israeli tank fires near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, October 12, 2023. Photograph: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters IMAGE: Israeli soldiers take position near Israel's border with Gaza in southern Israel, October 12, 2023. Photograph: Amir Cohen/Reuters IMAGE: Israeli soldiers gather near tanks near the Gaza Strip, October 9, 2023. Photograph: Amir Cohen/Reuters IMAGE: The ruins of a Palestinian house hit by Israeli strikes at the al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, October 12, 2023. Photograph: Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa/Reuters IMAGE: Israeli soldiers gather at the site of the Hamas attack on the Nova music festival, October 12, 2023. Photograph: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters IMAGE: An aerial view shows burnt cars of festival-goers at the site of the Hamas attack on the Nova music festival, October 12, 2023. Photograph: Ilan Rosenberg/Reuters IMAGE: Israeli police secure the scene following reports of gunfire directed at the Shalem police station near the Old City of Jerusalem, October 12, 2023. Photograph: Ammar Awad/Reuters IMAGE: Smoke billows in Gaza, October 13, 2023 following Israeli strikes, here and below. Photograph: Mohammed Salem/Reuters Photograph: Mohammed Salem/Reuters IMAGE: A member of the Flotilla 13 elite unit fires his weapon during an operation at a location given as the Sufa Military Post, Israel, in this screen grab obtained from a video released on October 13, 2023. Photograph: IDF/Handout via Reuters Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com The Centre has accepted the resignation of International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) Director K S James and revoked his suspension for alleged irregularities during his tenure, the health ministry said. IMAGE: Former IIPS Director K S James. Photograph: Courtesy Shrikant Reddy James was suspended on July 28 after the ministry launched a probe into the alleged irregularities in appointments and recruitment of faculty and compliance to reservation rosters during his tenure. The IIPS is an institute functioning under the ministry's administrative control. The statistics division of the ministry issued an order on October 11, stating that the 'competent authority on subsequent review is of the opinion that in view of material changes in the circumstances, the suspension of professor K S James may not be extended further'. 'Now, therefore, the President ... revokes the suspension of Prof James, director and senior professor, IIPS, Mumbai, with immediate effect,' the order read. Another order issued by the division on the same day read: 'Consequent upon tendering of the resignation dated August 7 by Professor James owing to personal grounds, the president is pleased to accept the resignation of Prof K S James from the post of director and senior professor, International Institute for Population Sciences with effect from the date of clearance of his government duties or with immediate effect, whichever is later." In a note on July 29, the ministry had stated that complaints were received regarding irregularities in recruitment and appointments and compliance with the reservation roster. To investigate the charges, a fact-finding committee (FFC) was constituted by the ministry on May 6. 'The FFC found prima facie irregularities in 11 of the 35 complaints received. These irregularities were mainly regarding lapses observed in certain appointments, recruitment of faculty, reservation rosters, dead stock registers etc.,' the ministry had said. 'As the charges are serious and grave in nature, Director, IIPS being the head of the institute is also directly and indirectly responsible for the failure to exercise adequate supervision,' the ministry had said. It was also apprehended that his presence might minimise the required cooperation of the other IIPS officials with the investigating team. 'Therefore, it was felt necessary to prevent this avoidable interference in free, fair and fast investigation to gather sufficient documentary evidence and corroborate facts and circumstantial evidence to frame a firm chargesheet to institute a fair disciplinary proceeding against the Director, IIPS and other officers if required. 'Hence, during the period of further process of investigation, it was decided to suspend Director, IIPS under Rule 10(1)(a) of CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965,' the ministry had said. ***** No place in Modi govt for independent voices: Cong Meanwhile, the Congress hit out at the Centre over revoking James' suspension after he tendered his resignation and said the Modi government has no place for independent and professional voices. In a post on 'X', Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, 'Earlier this year, I had expressed disgust at the way this fine scholar was being treated by the Modi government the only fault of his was the data collected by an independent institution under his leadership was inconvenient to the Modi government.' 'The Modi government first suspended him on July 28 on the flimsiest of charges. Then Dr. James himself resigned on August 7th. Now, the revocation of his suspension three months after is a face-saving charade by the government, although it is welcome that his honour is preserved,' the Congress general secretary said. But his premature and forced resignation is a 'big blow' to the world of demographic scholarship, Ramesh said. The Modi government has no place for independent and professional voices, he added. 'All it wants is drum-beaters. Eventually, the credibility of our institutions and governance suffers,' Ramesh said. Israel President Isaac Herzog revealed a disturbing Hamas booklet found on the body of a Palestinian terrorist killed in one of the Gaza-area communities on Sunday. IMAGE: An aerial view shows the burnt cars of festival-goers at the site of an attack on the Nova Festival by Hamas gunmen from Gaza, near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, October 12, 2023. Photograph: Ilan Rosenberg/Reuters "This booklet is an operating manual, how to enter citizens' yards, kibbutz, city, moshav, how to break in there. And first - and what do you do when you find the citizens? You torture them. This is the booklet that says exactly how to torture them, how to kidnap them," Herzog told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. In a copy of the guide provided for the press, the manual -- titled The Warrior's Guide: Jihadi Version -- outlines tactics, which include creating chaos, intimidating captives, and using tactics such as electric shocks and even live executions. The eight-page guide instructs the kidnappers to utilise captives as human shields if attacked, regardless of their religion, race, or gender. The hostages should be "killed when necessary," especially if there is any sign of revolt among them, it said, while instructed terrorists to document their actions live. Many of the terrorists wore GoPro cameras and their footage was uploaded to social media. The manual also detailed the use of other tactics to assert control over seized territory, including suicide bombings, car bombings, ambushes and sniper fire. The manual also instructed terrorists to seize the identification documents of their captives and accurately document their personal information. It also featured an illustrative chart that laying out the Israel Defense Force's hierarchical structure, along with its armaments and electronic assets in surprising detail. "It's simply an ideology from ISIS that calls for Israel to be wiped off the face of the earth, and therefore Hamas must be wiped off the face of the earth," Herzog said. During the attack on Israeli border communities, the terrorists killed more than 1,300 people, most of them civilians, and took at least 199 hostages. "The story is not Israel versus the Palestinians, or Judaism versus Islam. The story is about where humanity should stand, are we with the good or the evil," Herzog said. "The campaign we are waging now, as a nation rising like a lion, is against evil, and we will uproot evil so that it will be better for the whole region and the world," he added. ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, October 16. Turkmenistan and China held constructive talks, during which broad aspects of strengthening and deepening the strategic partnership between the two countries were discussed, Trend reports. These issues were discussed during Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov's working visit to Beijing, in a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. During the meeting, the sides discussed the strengthening of the strategic partnership between Turkmenistan and China, and also emphasized the importance of pairing and coordinating China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative with Turkmenistan's "Revival of the Great Silk Road" strategy. Rashid Meredov expressed confidence in the long-term perspective and hope for further use of the vast potential of cooperation with China in the context of previously reached important agreements at the highest level between the two countries. Meanwhile, economic cooperation between Turkmenistan and China is an important element of the foreign policy of both countries and has been actively developing for many years. Based on long-term partnerships, it covers various sectors, including energy, transport, trade, and infrastructure projects. Congress Working Committee member Shashi Tharoor on Monday said he feels the party could nominate either its chief Mallikarjun Kharge or former AICC president Rahul Gandhi as Prime Minister if the INDIA alliance comes to power in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. IMAGE: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge exchanges sweets with Rahul Gandhi after the latter's conviction in a defamation case was stayed by the Supreme Court, at the AICC hq, New Delhi, August 4, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo Tharoor said there could be a surprise result in the election next year as there is an opposition coalition and there are chances of the INDIA alliance coming to power at the Centre by trouncing the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance in the general elections. "So we'll have to wait and see", he said while interacting with professionals of a US-based and Silicon Valley-incubated D2C (direct-to-consumer) marketplace Way.com after inaugurating its office at Technopark here. Talking about the post-poll scenario, he said, "I think that once the result comes out, then because it's a coalition and not one party, the leaders of those parties will have to get together and pick someone. But my guess is that from the Congress Party, it's going to be either Mr. Kharge, who then will be the first Dalit prime minister of India, or Rahul Gandhi, since in very many ways it (Congress) is a family-run party." Tharoor, who is a former union minister, said the Prime Minister is the first among equals, and he was confident in his ability to perform whatever responsibilities may be assigned to him. A group of opposition leaders, including Mani Shankar Aiyar, KC Tyagi, and Danish Ali, on Monday expressed solidarity with Palestinians during a meeting with Palestinian envoy Adnan Abu Al-Haija who hoped that India being a friend of Israel and Palestine would exert "pressure" on Tel Aviv to lift the "siege" and allow humanitarian aid to reach civilians in Gaza. IMAGE: Members of SDPI stage a 'Palestine Solidarity Meet' to express their support to Palestine people in view of the ongoing Hamas-Israel war, at the Martyrs' Column, Palayam, in Thiruvananthapuram on October 13, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo In a statement signed by 15 opposition leaders, some of whom met the envoy at the Embassy here, they strongly condemned the "indiscriminate bombing" of Palestinians in Gaza by Israel and said that it amounts to an attempt at "genocide". "We urge an immediate cessation of all hostilities to prevent further loss of innocent lives and the destruction of homes and infrastructure," the leaders said. "We urge the international community to recognise the establishment of an independent Palestinian state along the 1967 borders in accordance with the UN resolution. Such recognition is a crucial step towards ensuring a just and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, providing the Palestinian people with the opportunity to determine their own destiny and live in peace and security," the opposition leaders said. Speaking with PTI after the meeting, the Palestinian envoy hoped that the Indian government would play a "good role" to be a mediator with both sides. "India is a friend of both sides. Hopefully, they will exert pressure on the Israeli government to stop the killing of the civilian Palestinian people, to break that siege and let humanitarian aid of water, food, fuel, medicine and electricity for 2.2 million people," Al-Haija said. Tyagi said it was a decision of like-minded leaders to meet the Palestinian envoy to convey their support for the people of Palestine at a time when they are suffering a lot. By cutting off the water and power supply to the Gaza Strip, Israel is forcing them to death, he said. Bahujan Samaj Party's Ali said the leaders' stand was consistent with that of the Indian government that an independent Palestinian state should be there. "We are against the atrocities being committed. The cycle of violence and counter-violence should stop," Ali said. In their statement, the opposition leaders said they strongly believe in the statement of Mahatma Gandhi that Palestine belongs to the Arabs in the same sense that England belongs to the English or France to the French". The opposition leaders said they believe that violence is never a solution as it leads to a cycle of destruction and suffering. "Therefore, we emphasise the need for increased efforts by the international community in bringing about a peaceful resolution to the conflict. The international community must exert pressure on the state of Israel to abide by international laws and respect the rights and dignity of the Palestinian people," the statement said. "We call for intensified diplomatic efforts and multilateral initiatives to ensure lasting peace in the region," the opposition leaders said. The leaders expressed deep concern regarding the "ongoing crisis in Gaza and the suffering of the Palestinian people". They also called for urgent and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. The dire humanitarian situation demands immediate attention and action, the opposition leaders said, adding that all necessary measures must be taken to ensure that essential supplies, including food, water, and medical aid, reach the affected population without hindrance. Recognising that the Palestinian people have endured "immeasurable suffering" for over 75 years, the opposition leaders asserted that now is the time to end their plight. Besides BSP's Ali, Congress' Aiyar and Janata Dal-United's Tyagi, Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, Communist Party of India's D Raja, Samajwadi Party MP Javed Ali Khan, RLD's Shahid Siddiqui were also among those leaders who visited the embassy. Bhattacharya said they were at the embassy to express solidarity with the people of Palestine in the wake of the war in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis. "In India, everywhere, we are raising our voice with the people of the world. The voice for peace must ring louder now because what is happening in Gaza right now is not just killing of the people there indiscriminately but pushing the world to the brink of the third world war," the CPI-ML leader said. Names of some other leaders, who were not part of the meeting with the envoy, also figured in the joint statement. They included RJD MP Manoj Jha. Violence has escalated in the Middle East after Hamas militants from Gaza attacked Israel and the subsequent Israeli retaliation. Israel has launched a massive counter-offensive in Gaza to avenge the attacks by Hamas. More than 2,600 people have died in the conflict so far. The sudden escalation in hostilities between Israel and Hamas has triggered global concerns. Leading powers like Germany, the United States, France and the United Kingdom have emphasised the importance of preventing the situation from further escalation. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann Monday said his government will accord the status of a martyr to Agniveer Amritpal Singh who died in Jammu and Kashmir last week, amid a row over the Army not according a military funeral to the soldier. IMAGE: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann meets the family of Agniveer Amritpal Singh, who recently committed suicide by shooting himself while on sentry duty in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri sector, in Mansa, Punjab, October 16, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo Mann, who visited the Amritpal Singh's house in Kotli Kalan village in Mansa district on Monday, handed over a cheque of Rs 1 crore as compensation to his family, according to an official statement. Amritpal Singh, who was serving with a battalion of Jammu and Kashmir Rifles in Poonch sector, died on October 11. He was cremated on Friday at his native Kotli Kalan village in Punjab's Mansa district. The Army has said that Agniveer Amritpal Singh committed suicide by shooting himself while on sentry duty and that military honours were not extended to his funeral as deaths arising out of self-inflicted injuries are not given such honours. The Army on Sunday asserted that it does not differentiate among soldiers based on whether they joined the force prior to or after the implementation of the Agnipath scheme. The chief minister, who also paid tributes to the soldier, said that the state government stands firmly with the family during this time of grief. He said the state government recognises the "irreparable loss" to the nation and particularly to the martyr's family. A statue in the memory of the martyr would also be installed in the village, said Mann. Expressing his displeasure over the Army not giving a guard of honour to Amritpal Singh, the CM said this act of discrimination will hurt the morale of Army personnel. Such kind of discrimination will prove to be dangerous in the Army, he said, adding the state government will accord Amritpal Singh a status of martyr. It is truly unfortunate that his sacrifice, in the line of duty, has not been recognized as that of a martyr, setting a concerning precedent, Mann said. Mann said it is shameful that for the first time the body of a martyred soldier was brought in a private ambulance which is an insult to him. It is even more unfortunate that the Army declared Amritpal's martyrdom as a suicide, which he said was like rubbing salt into the wounds of the martyr's family. A courageous soldier who embarks on a duty with the commitment to lay down his life for the country can never commits suicide, said Mann. It is more than an insult saying that he committed suicide. He was taking care of his entire family, said Mann, adding, a person who opts for the Army does not commit suicide. If martyrs were to be treated in this manner, it might dissuade parents from sending their children to the army, he said. Strongly opposing the Agniveer scheme, Mann said it was an insult to the contribution of the brave soldiers and the Central government should reconsider it. He said that jobs of army personnel recruited under the Agniveer scheme should be regularized. No matter what policy the Centre adopts towards the martyrs of the country, the Punjab government is committed to honouring the families and supreme sacrifices of all brave sons of the state, he said. Slamming the Central government for giving a step-motherly treatment to the soldier, he said it is shameful that the Centre adopted an apathetic attitude towards the valiant son of the country. It is completely unjustified and disrespecting the martyrdom of the son of Punjab, said Mann, adding that he would soon take up the issue with the Centre. He said the state government will impress upon the Union government to roll back the Agniveer scheme which is grave insult of the brave soldiers. Mann also visited the house of Parvinder Singh, the soldier who laid down his life at Kargil in Jammu and Kashmir. At Parvinder Singh's residence at Chhajli in Sangrur, Mann handed over a cheque of Rs 1 crore to his family as a mark of respect, the statement said. Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Sunday slammed Islamic countries for not opening up their gates for civilians from Gaza who are seeking to flee their homes in the face of an imminent ground invasion by Israel. IMAGE: A person jumps as Palestinians take part in a protest following Israeli strikes on Gaza, in Nablus, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Photograph: Raneen Sawafta/Reuters She also hit out at former United States president Barack Obama and Joe Biden, the incumbent, over the Iranian nuclear deal and accused Tehran of strengthening Hamas and Hezbollah. "We should care about the Palestinian citizens, especially the innocent ones, because they didn't ask for this. But where are the Arab countries? Where are they? Where is Qatar? Where is Lebanon? Where is Jordan? Where is Egypt? Do you know we give Egypt over a billion dollars a year? Why aren't they opening the gates? Why aren't they taking the Palestinians?" Haley told CNN in an interview. "You know why? Because they know they can't vet them, and they don't want Hamas in their neighbourhood. So why would Israel want them in their neighbourhood? So let's be honest with what's going on. The Arab countries aren't doing anything to help the Palestinians because they don't trust who is right, who is good, who is evil, and they don't want it in their country," she said. Haley anticipated that these Islamic countries would blame America. "They're going to come and blame America. They're going to come and blame Israel. And don't fall for it, because they have the ability to fix all of this if they wanted to. They have the ability to go in and tell Hamas right now to stop what they're doing. They have the ability to tell Hamas to let those people out," Haley said. "But you know what? Qatar is going to continue to work with Hamas and their leadership. Iran is going to continue to fund all of this and not say anything. And who's silent? Every one of those Arab countries are going to be silent. But expect for the finger to point to Israel, and the finger is going to point to America," she said. Haley said Hamas is going to do everything they can to not have them leave, because "they want them all to die". "One, they want to use them as human shields, but, two, they want to blame Israel and show images of dead children and say, look at what Israel did," she alleged. "But don't ever forget what Hamas did. Don't ever forget those girls running for their life. Don't ever forget those babies that were killed in cribs. Don't ever forget the people that they were dragging through the streets. And what were they saying, Jake? They were saying, "Death to Israel, death to America," she said. "That's who we're dealing with. But I dealt with this at the United Nations. You're going to hear all of those Arab countries vilify Israel for what's about to happen. You're going to hear all of them say, how dare you not do more for the Palestinian people?" said Haley, a former US ambassador to the UN. She said right now, they cannot take their eyes off of the terrorists. "I mean, what Hamas did was beyond thuggish, brutal, and sick. What the Iranian regime is doing to help them is terrible. But let's look back at, what did Biden do? Biden turned around and fell all over himself to get into the Iran deal. Obama did it before that," she said. "You gave all of this money. And what did you do? You empowered Iran to go and strengthen Hamas, strengthen Hezbollah, strengthen the Houthis to spread their terrorist activity. We went and strengthened those sanctions and decimated Iran's economy. And what happened? Biden has loosened the sanctions," she said. Palestinian militant group Hamas carried out a barrage of air strikes in Southern Israel last week. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in response launched multiple attacks targeting Hamas' key infrastructure. So far, thousands of people have been killed in Israel and the Gaza Strip in the biggest escalation in decades between the two sides. "Now we have got the fact that he gave USD6 billion in hostage money. OK, now you have frozen it, but we have all these American hostages. Guess what they're going to want? If you gave them USD 6 billion for five people and released hostages, guess what they're going to be asking for all these others that we have?" Halley said. "We have created this scenario where you have given Iran -- the Iranian regime too much power and too much pull and to be able to do this. We have got to be strong. We have got to have Israel's back. And, remember, as awful as these images are, and we have the back of Israel because they have been hit terribly, we have to have the back of them when they hit back as well," Haley said. 'We buried her yesterday.' 'There were so many bodies, they could not fit in the hospital anymore, so they put them in an army base nearby.' IMAGE: Shira Eylon loved trance music. Photograph: Kind courtesy Adar Eylon Shira Eylon was like any other Israeli girl. Only 23, she was wise beyond her years. She loved animals. She would fix everyone's problems and one day, hoped to become a psychologist. She loved trance music, and wanted to spend a Friday night with her best friends Amit and Mey, at the open-air psychedelic trance Nova festival in Israel. It was the last night of her life. Her older sister Adar, 29, recounts that fateful night, even as she passes on a request through Ronjita Kulkarni/Rediff.com: "We need the rest of the world to come and help us." The Morning After IMAGE: The personal belongings of festival-goers are seen at the site of the Hamas attack on the Nova music festival in southern Israel. Photograph: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters On Saturday (October 7, 2023), Shira called my dad at 7 am and told him that the Hamas had sent rockets. This is something that happens a lot, every few months. She wanted to go to her car and go away from there, but was scared to drive because of the rockets. So she decided to wait. Thirty minutes after, she texted my dad and said that she heard gunshots. Ever since then, we tried to call her, but couldn't reach her. Apparently, the terrorists had surrounded the party, then they came inside and just started shooting everyone at zero range. They killed people, kidnapped people, stole equipment. After they finished, they went to the nearest village, killing people in the streets, breaking into houses and killing everyone. They kidnapped babies, children and adults. They chopped the heads of 30 babies. Searching For Shira IMAGE: Israeli soldiers walk through the site of the attack on the Nova Festival. Photograph: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters My friend and I started looking for information on Shira on Tik Tok and Telegram. The terrorists were filming themselves killing people and uploading it. They were proud of it. We saw the killings there, people getting shot in the leg... I managed to speak to a few friends of Shira (who were at the festival), trying to hear as many stories as I could. They told me that the police and army could not reach them. Even though they were all begging for help, no one came to save them. The terrorists would not let anyone in. They shot on the streets, at cars passing by, so nobody could get inside. Some people hid in the forest. They said it felt like they were running away from the Nazis. A terrorist shot one of Shira's friends Mey in the leg and thought she was dead, so he left her there. That's how she managed to escape. She's in a wheelchair now, but recovering. Another friend found an abandoned tank with a dead soldier inside it. So she hid behind it for five hours until a civilian came and picked her up. A friend said that once the shooting started, everyone was running away. He looked back and saw Shira and her friend Amit running. He heard screaming but didn't look, he kept running. So he told me he didn't know what happened to them because he kept running. But apparently, a terrorist shot them (Shira and Amit) at zero range. We managed to locate Shira's phone in Gaza and at first, we believed she had been kidnapped. But actually, the terrorist killed them and stole the phone. 'I did not see the body' IMAGE: The Eylon sisters: Shira, 23, Strav, 27, and Adar, 29. Photograph: Kind courtesy Adar Eylon After five days, the army came to our house. We had given them my father's hair as a DNA sample for recognition and they told us that it matched. Apparently, the body was lying in the forest for five days. I did not see the body. We buried her yesterday. There were so many bodies, they could not fit in the hospital anymore, so they put them in an army base nearby. There were 1,000 people who were murdered, and so many injured. There was so much chaos. 'Shira loved India' IMAGE: Shira on her visit to India. Photograph: Kind courtesy Adar Eylon My parents are not doing too well. My mum is just lying in bed, she fell sick. She didn't take it well. We are three sisters, including Strav. Shira was the youngest. She had just come back from India a few months ago. She loved India. She had gone to a yoga retreat there. She was supposed to start university, do her psychology degree. 'This is not a war' IMAGE: Burnt cars at the site of the attack on the Nova festival. Photograph: Ilan Rosenberg/Reuters Everyone is traumatised and depressed here. No one feels safe. The rockets and air raids are still going on. No one is safe anymore, anywhere (in Israel). The army is asking civilians to join the war but they don't have enough weapons and equipment to give everyone. It's crazy, they can't defend themselves! We weren't prepared for this war. Actually, this is not a war. It is not one country against another country. They attacked civilians in their homes. They didn't attack the army or any army base. It's very important to say that this attack is not war. 'This is not the way to live' IMAGE: A sign reads 'Chill out zone' at the site of the attack on the Nova festival. Photograph: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters I'm living with my parents now, and they have a shelter. I'm going to stay here for a while. The terrorists send rockets every few months, that's why we have shelters. Now, it is mandatory for new buildings to have shelters because these attacks are very common. A few years ago, I had said this place is very safe, safer than any other country. But in the past year, it's become horrible. Every few months, they send rockets on us. Every few months, they attack right in the middle of Tel Aviv, where we live, in the middle of the street. This is not the way to live. 'This will go on for a very, very, long time' IMAGE: An Israeli soldier inspects the burnt car of a festival-goer at the Nova festival Photograph: Amir Cohen/Reuters Right now, nobody is going to work. Everyone is at home. I have not stepped out of the house for a week. The shops, malls, restaurants, everything is closed. The supermarkets are open, but empty. But we have stocked up on food. I believe 200 people have been kidnapped, so I think this will go on for a very, very, long time. I am worried for my friends who have joined the army. I am worried about surviving. Brattleboro, VT (05301) Today Partly cloudy. High around 55F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Mainly cloudy. Low 36F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, October 16. Uzbekistan Railways and Czech Skoda Group automobile company signed a contract for the supply of 30 electric trains worth 320 million euros, Trend reports. The signing ceremony with the representatives of both organizations was held within the framework of a working visit by Uzbekistans Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov and Minister of Transport Ilkhom Makhkamov to Czech Republics Pilsen. The production of four-car trains for the broad-gauge railway will begin in 2024. The production of the main parts will be carried out at the plant in Czech Rebuplics Ostrava, while part of the assembly of cars will be held in Uzbekistan. The cars will be partially low-floor, equipped with Wi-Fi, as well as with indoor and outdoor video surveillance systems. The company produces similar trains for railway operators in Latvia and Estonia. The project is financed by Czech banks with the support of the EGAP Czech Export Insurance Company. "The fact that we have been chosen as a supplier of trains to Uzbekistan is not only proof of the high quality of our equipment, but also a significant step towards strengthening our international partnership," said Zdenek Svata, President of the Skoda Group for the Central and Eastern Region. Meanwhile, a number of documents, including a Memorandum of Understanding between the chambers of commerce of the nations, were signed within the framework of the Czech-Uzbek business forum on October 11 in Czech Republics Prague. The signed document is aimed at developing and strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation between the countries. Mark Justice Mark Justice will bring Fuzzys Taco Shop to Las Vegas with additional Nevada restaurants to follow Fuzzys Taco Shop announces a 20-restaurant agreement with Mark Justice which will expand the brands footprint into Nevada. The Texas-based restaurant group is recognized for its Baja-style fare with 138 franchise-and corporate-owned locations in 19 states. In addition to Fuzzys Taco Shop, Justice owns and operates IHOP restaurants in eight states through the restaurant management company Mr. Stax, Inc. Notably, Justice is the first IHOP franchisee to enter into a franchise agreement with Fuzzys Taco Shop after its acquisition by Dine Brands in 2022. Mark is a highly qualified and experienced restaurant operator, and we are pleased to welcome him to the Fuzzys Taco Shop family, says Paul Damico, President of Fuzzys Taco Shop. His experience with successfully operating and scaling restaurant brands is exactly what we are looking for in a franchisee, and we know he will maintain the integrity of the brand and Fuzzys culture. Justice was introduced to the concept at a Dine Brands conference in Washington D.C., where he had the opportunity to meet Damico. After speaking with Paul, I was immediately impressed by his passion and enthusiasm for Fuzzys Taco Shop, says Mark Justice, COO of Mr. Stax, Inc. After spending time with him and learning more about the brand, it became clear to me what a unique opportunity Fuzzys Taco Shop offers and knew it would complement our existing portfolio nicely. He adds, I was also attracted to the flexible footprint that Fuzzys Taco Shop offers operators. Each location is uniquely tailored to the market and real estate opportunity creating a true neighborhood feel as soon as you step foot into a restaurant. Justice is eyeing Las Vegas for his first Fuzzys Taco Shop location, with expansion into other markets in Nevada over the next seven years. On bringing Fuzzys Taco Shop to Las Vegas Justice says, As a Las Vegas resident I feel very excited to bring Fuzzys Taco Shop to the community. The versatility of the concept appeals to guests from young families to third shift workers and everyone in between. Peng Lifa, seen on the bridge in orange at left, hangs two protest banners off Beijing's Sitong Bridge, Oct. 13, 2022. One year after Peng Lifa was detained for a lone banner protest that called for Xi Jinping's resignation on Beijing's Sitong Bridge, activists in London left a banner on a bridge that read simply: "Where is Bridge Man?" while others gathered outside China's consulate in Los Angeles with banners echoing his original protest. A flash-mob protest by the British-based dissident group China Deviants saw a large banner bearing the words "Where is Bridge Man?" and "Where is Peng Zaizhou?" a reference to Peng's pen name hang from the parapet of London Bridge on Saturday. Meanwhile, protesters at a similar rally outside the Chinese consulate in Los Angeles held up banners and placards that read: "Remove the dictator-thief Xi Jinping," echoing Peng's Oct. 13, 2022 protest, and: "We are all Peng Zaizhou." "End the Chinese Communist Party," read another. A year after his daring show of opposition to the ruling Chinese Communist Party, Peng is still alive, although his whereabouts remain unclear. But his family are under close surveillance, according to Netherlands-based dissident Lin Shengliang, who has remained in contact with people close to Peng. A banner [left] was hung on a London bridge by supporters of Bridge Man Peng Lifa, Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023. At right, Chinese dissident groups protest outside the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles on Saturday. Credit: Shi Shi [left] and Sun Cheng "All of his relatives, including his brother, are under house arrest and are still being monitored," Lin said. "The two daughters are picked up and dropped off [at school] by car, and all of their mobile phones have been provided for them [by the government]." Meanwhile, police are running investigations into anyone who has had dealings with Peng's company, or that of his father-in-law. "Everyone involved [with Peng] is implicated," Lin said. Traitor-dictator Peng, whose pen name references an ancient essay describing the people as the water that holds up the boat of government, and might overturn it if they are unhappy with its rule, hung banners from Sitong Bridge on Oct. 13, just days ahead of the ruling Chinese Communist Party's national congress, at which Xi secured an unprecedented third term as party leader. "Remove the traitor-dictator Xi Jinping!" read one banner, video and photos of which were quickly posted to social media, only to be deleted. A post linked from the account called for strikes and class boycotts to remove Xi. "Food, not COVID tests. Freedom, not lockdowns. Reforms, not the Cultural Revolution. Elections not leaders," read the second, adding: "Dignity, not lies. Citizens, not slaves." Peng Lifas whereabouts remain unclear. Credit: Provided by Human Rights in China The shows of international solidarity came as U.S. congressman Chris Gallagher said he would nominate Peng for the Nobel Peace Prize, crediting him with inspiring the "white paper" protests across China just a few weeks later. "Peng Lifa's act of courage led to the largest protests in China since Tiananmen Square which helped to end the Chinese Communist Partys draconian COVID lockdowns," Gallagher said in a statement on Oct. 13. Zhou Fengsuo, executive director of Human Rights in China, welcomed the nomination. "This is of course the highest level of support for China's resistance from the international community, and it recognizes what Peng Lifa represents the spirit of civil resistance," Zhou told Radio Free Asia, praising Peng as "the hero of the new era." Grabbing sand Lin agreed, saying Pengs bridge protest had a historical significance because he had influenced people all over the world, as well as triggering a movement against Xi Jinpings draconian zero-COVID policy. "What is the Chinese Communist Party afraid of? It worries that countless more like Peng Lifa will keep appearing," Lin said. He said he didnt believe that the Chinese governments current war on dissent would work, however. "It's like trying to grab sand, he said. The tighter you grab it, the faster the sand will leak out [through your fingers], he said. That sand that leaks out represents public opinion." Peng Lifa [in orange] is placed in a police car on Beijing's Sitong Bridge, Oct. 13, 2022. Credit: Screenshot from Reuters video Former Chinese rights lawyer Liang Shaohua has written that Peng's remarks should be protected under the Chinese constitution, and that his banners didnt constitute a crime. Chinese rights lawyer Wu Shaoping agreed. "I think he was exercising the most basic civil rights his right to freedom of speech and to personal demonstration," Wu said. "[His detention] is illegal according to the Chinese Communist Party's own laws." Peng's protest has also reverberated overseas, with his supporters reporting the harassment of their families back home, amid calls from Chinese students for a probe into his whereabouts. Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster. A rescuer salvages a gas canister from the rubble of a building after it was hit by an Israeli strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023. China's foreign minister has said Israels military action in Gaza in the wake of attacks by Hamas militants "goes beyond self-defense and called for an end to the collective punishment of Palestinians as Beijing said it would send an envoy to try to ease the crisis. "China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi says Israel's strategy has gone beyond self-defense and it must cease its collective punishment of the people of Gaza," Beijing's international broadcaster CGTN reported on Sunday. "In a phone call with his Saudi counterpart Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Wang said all parties should refrain from actions that escalate the situation, and return to the negotiating table as soon as possible," the report said. Meanwhile, China will send special envoy Zhai Jun to the Middle East this week in a bid to build international consensus, "cool down the situation and create necessary conditions for political settlement," a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday. Wang had earlier called in a news conference on Saturday for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and for Israel to open up channels for humanitarian aid and the rescue of Palestinian civilians trapped in the enclave. Thousands of people, both Israeli and Palestinian, have died since Oct. 7, after Palestinian Hamas militants entered and bombarded Israel in a surprise attack leading Israel to declare war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip enclave, where 2 million people live. Rockets are fired toward Israel from the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. Credit: Leo Correa/AP "The first [priority] is to stop the fighting as soon as possible, prevent it from spreading endlessly and avoid further deterioration of the situation," Wang told a joint news conference with High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell at the weekend. "Second, it is imperative to observe the international humanitarian law, make every effort to ensure the safety of civilians, open up a humanitarian rescue and assistance passage as quickly as possible, and prevent a severe humanitarian disaster," Wang said. Aerial bombardment Israeli forces kept up their bombardment of Gaza on Monday after diplomatic attempts at brokering a ceasefire allowing foreign nationals to leave and humanitarian aid to enter the Hamas-run territory broke down. Overnight air strikes were the heaviest yet as the conflict entered its 10th day, with many buildings flattened and yet more people trapped under rubble, Gaza residents told Reuters, while Israeli officials have also issued multiple warnings of Hamas rocket fire into Israel. Wang, who also called for an international peace conference brokered by the United Nations, said on Saturday that China backs a two-state solution with an independent Palestine, which he said would also contribute to "lasting security" for Israel. He called for an immediate cease-fire and the resumption of peace talks "as soon as possible." Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Saturday that China backs a two-state solution with an independent Palestine. Credit: Andres Martinez Casares/Pool via AP file photo Wang described the question of Palestine as "a wound that keeps being torn open," blaming "a long delay in realizing the dream of an independent state of Palestine and the failure to redress the historical injustice suffered by the Palestinian people." "Israel has the right to statehood, so does Palestine," Wang said. "The Israelis can safeguard their survival, but who will care about the survival of the Palestinians?" "The Jewish nation is no longer homeless in the world, but when will the Palestinian nation return to its home?" Wang said. "There is no shortage of injustices in the world, but the injustice to Palestine has dragged on for over half a century." Blinken calls on China Wang's comments came after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on China, a partner of Iran, to use its influence to push for calm in the Middle East, amid fears that violence will spread. Blinken had a "productive" one-hour telephone call with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on Saturday. "He thought it could be useful if China could use its influence," Miller told reporters on Blinken's plane from Riyadh to Abu Dhabi. China is sending its special envoy, Zhai Jun, to the Middle East this week in a bid to "cool down the situation, a foreign ministry spokesperson said Monday. Credit: Atta Kenare/AFP file photo China's official statements on the conflict have not specifically named Hamas in their condemnations of violence, leading to criticism from some Western officials who said they were too weak, Reuters reported. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning confirmed on Monday that four Chinese nationals have been killed in the latest Israel-Palestinian conflict, with two missing and six injured. "Relevant Chinese diplomatic institutions are doing everything they can to coordinate efforts to save lives and treat the injured, and make proper arrangements for the deceased, Mao said. 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," she said, adding that commercial flights between China and Israel are still in operation. "We advise local Chinese nationals to fly back to China on commercial flights as soon as possible," Mao said. Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster. With three months to go, a divided opposition are struggling to hold hands for victory. Supporters of the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) rally outside the KMT headquarters ahead of the party's expected announcement of their 2024 presidential candidate in Taipei on May 17, 2023. Updated Oct. 16, 2023, 06:30 a.m. ET. As Taiwan approaches its presidential elections in January, the spotlight falls on candidates leaning towards establishing agreements with China and those favoring the continuation of the Democratic Progressive Partys (DPP) leadership. But amid rising concerns over stagnant wages and affordable housing, no opposition figure currently poses a significant challenge to the DPPs Lai Ching-te, the incumbent vice president. Polls suggest that if the DPP secures a victory, it might not solely be due to their policies but rather because of the divided opposition. Opposition leaders, former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je of the Taiwan Peoples Party (TPP) and Hou Yu-ih of the Kuomintang (KMT), have been reportedly under pressure to potentially unify their bid for the presidency. Last Saturday, efforts towards this collaboration were visible when the campaign managers of both leaders met in Taipei, exploring the formation of a blue-white alliance, reflecting the party colors of KMT (blue) and TPP (white). While Hous team proposed an open primary to determine the leading presidential candidate between the two parties, Kos side suggested determining based on opinion poll averages. The KMT wants for the first time to deploy an open primary system for electing the leadership in the January election, with candidates receiving direct votes at polling stations across the island, which would play to the KMTs long-standing political presence in Taiwan since 1949. This presence began when the party, also recognized as the Nationalists, relocated to Taiwan following their defeat by the Chinese Communist Party. If a vote of some kind were to happen, which most observers consider unlikely, the outcome would determine the order of a joint ticket: whether its Hou-Ko or Ko-Hou, indicating the roles of president and vice president, respectively. Taipei mayoral candidate Ko Wen-je celebrates winning the local elections at the campaign headquarters in Taipei November 29, 2014. Credit: Reuters However, Ko has dismissed the open primary proposal from KMT. Ko thinks the KMT offer was just an attempt to show off their local organizational strength. It wasnt a serious offer, says Taiwan-based Californian lawyer Michael Fahey. Separately, Taiwan watcher and pollster Courtney Donovan Smith noted the challenges faced by the relatively new TPP. Ko and the four-year-old TPP are struggling to establish themselves as a distinct party, and no doubt Ko is mindful of the experience of a similar party, said Smith. The Peoples First Party, which accepted the vice-presidential slot on a unity ticket in the 2004 election but failed to effectively differentiate themselves from the KMT and have slid into irrelevance since. There are other formidable obstacles to a joint ticket. Both Hou, a former police officer and current mayor of New Taipei City, and Ke, a trained doctor popular for his straightforwardness, are not keen on taking a secondary role to the other. A Ko-Hou ticket is impossible, and the chances of a Hou-Ko ticket, I believe, are less than 10% likely, Liao Da-chi, a professor at National Sun Yat-sen Universitys Institute of Political Science, told Radio Free Asia. The KMT, with its 14 mayors and 38 legislators, cannot possibly play second fiddle. Moreover, Hou Yu-ih has only been re-elected as the mayor of New Taipei City for less than a year. It would be a significant risk to give that up for a vice-presidential position. What would be the point? Local issues count The recent Taiwan News weighted poll of polls shows Ko is ahead of Hou by about 5%. Lai from the DPP has an average support of 32%-35%, with Ko at 18%-20% and Hou at 15%-18%. Terry Gou, billionaire and Foxconn founder, polls at around 10%, but he suggests having additional hidden supporters. Observers believe Gou may seek a pivotal role after the election, especially as local issues gain prominence in Taiwanese politics. Foxconn founder Terry Gou and his running mate Tammy Lai speak to the press in front of his signature campaign office in New Taipei City, Taiwan, September 20, 2023. Credit: Reuters Many Taiwan elections in the past have turned on the China issue, said Roy Ngerng, a Taiwanese labor and wages activist who described the January elections as different. While the two major parties still draw voters based on using China as the key campaign agenda, there has emerged a group where other issues take center stage and these seem to be around livelihood issues like Taiwan's high housing prices and stagnant wages, said Ngerng. There are significant numbers of younger voters, argues Ngerng, who are eager for Taiwan's elections to be normalized around local livelihood concerns due to their distrust of KMT which is not seen as committed to Taiwans statehood, and due to the belief that the DPP has broken its promise of improving the livelihoods of Taiwanese over the last two terms. Ngerng added: These voters are gravitating to the TPP, in the hope that Ko Wen-je might refocus, addressing the stagnant economic situation in Taiwan. While this does not mean that Ko is likely to win the presidential election particularly given the unlikelihood of being able to join forces with the KMT it does signal that the DPP, if they do win, will not do so on a strong wave of support. Ngerng said he thinks theres disappointment arising from the fact that Tsai [Ing-wen] was elected on her promise to the youths of improving livelihoods but has failed to do so and Ko has been adept at positioning his campaign to reflect their concerns. Eventually, the DPP cannot be using democracy and human rights as a rallying cry, without meaningfully enhancing the labor rights and livelihoods of Taiwans workers, said Ngern. Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang. Updated to clarify the process of the open primary and to correct the names of Hou Yu-ih and Roy Ngerng. The Mekong Delta, one of the most endangered regions, is sinking and shrinking. Farmers working on boat at the shrimp-rice farming area in Ca Mau, Vietnam in this undated handout photo. The global water crisis poses a significant threat, endangering approximately US$58 trillion roughly 60% of global GDP in annual economic value, food security, and sustainability, an environmental group said in its inaugural assessment of the economic value of water and freshwater ecosystems. Direct economic benefits, such as water consumption for households, irrigated agriculture and industries, amount to a minimum of $7.5 trillion annually, the World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) said in its new report, The High Cost of Cheap Water, released Monday. However, the unseen ecosystem benefits which include water purification, sediment delivery, soil health enhancement, biodiversity conservation, carbon storage and the protection of communities from extreme floods and droughts are seven times higher at around $50 trillion annually, WWF estimated. That figure is equivalent to 60% of 2021 global GDP. The groupIt said the continuous degradation of rivers, lakes, wetlands, and aquifers threatens their economic value and irreplaceable role in sustaining human and planetary health while jeopardizing climate resilience in the 21st century. More than two-thirds of the worlds large rivers are no longer free-flowing, and one-third of wetlands have been lost since 1970, according to a 2021 report by the Secretariat of the Convention on Wetlands. Freshwater wildlife populations have, on average, dropped by 83%. Consequently, half of the worlds population is currently exposed to water scarcity at least once per month, while 55 million people are affected by droughts annually, the United Nations has said. We need to remember that water doesnt come from a tap it comes from nature, said Stuart Orr, WWFs global freshwater lead. Water for all depends on healthy freshwater ecosystems, which are also the foundation of food security, biodiversity hotspots and the best buffer and insurance against intensifying climate impacts. Reversing the loss of freshwater ecosystems will pave the way to a more resilient, nature-positive and sustainable future for all. The WWF report said that agriculture is the dominant consumer of water resources, responsible for nearly 70% of global water extraction. The Mekong Delta is sinking and shrinking The Mekong Delta, one of the worlds largest and most fertile deltas in Vietnam, faces an existential threat from rampant sand mining and dam construction, WWF said in its report. Spanning 41,000 square kilometers (15,830 square miles), the Delta is a linchpin of Southeast Asias economy and international trade, contributing to almost one-quarter of global freshwater fish catches. A fishermen checking the large red and yellow colored fishing nets set on inland waterways, Vietnam in this undated handout photo. Credit: Elizabeth Kemf, via WWF. Favored by nutrient-rich sediment deposits and regular river flooding, the region has become an agricultural powerhouse responsible for producing nearly half of Vietnams rice, accounting for 95% of its rice exports. Additionally, WWF said that the Mekong River, boasting the worlds second-highest fish biodiversity after the Amazon, contributes nearly a quarter of global freshwater fish catches. However, the group said the degradation of freshwater ecosystems often linked to over-extraction of water for agriculture is increasing the pressure on irrigated agriculture in many areas. It added that demand for sand, primarily for construction and landfills, has soared to hundreds of millions of tons annually. As a result, the Mekong Delta has been sinking and shrinking, causing detrimental consequences for the communities that rely on it, global rice production, and biodiversity, WWF explained. According to researchers, sand extraction exceeds natural sediment deposition, alters river dynamics, diminishes water quality, and increases erosion along riverbanks and coastlines. The situation has worsened with the construction of 11 mainstream dams in the Mekong, which could prevent up to 94% of river sediment from reaching the Delta, WWF said, adding that such activities pose a dire threat to biodiversity and fisheries in the region. Annually, over 600 hectares (1,482 acres) of riverside and coastal land vanish due to erosion, while 1,808 homes in the Delta were lost between 2018 and 2020. Furthermore, the shrinking of the Delta exacerbates saltwater intrusion, disrupting ecological balances, freshwater supplies, and agricultural yields, jeopardizing the livelihoods of millions. Climate change intensifies these problems, bringing erratic rainfall patterns, more frequent and severe storms, and rising sea levels. The Mekong Deltas economic and ecological importance makes these threats regional and global threats that demand immediate attention and action, WWF said. Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang. Both sides commitment comes amid reports hundreds of escapees were forcibly sent back to the North from China. The flags of South Korea and the United States flutter outside of the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History in Seoul, South Korea, on April 25, 2023. Both sides have pledged to confront China in the alleged forced repatriation of North Korean escapees. The United States and South Korea issued a veiled warning to China for repatriating North Korean escapees, pledging to collaborate in addressing the human rights situation in the country. The vow came as South Koreas Foreign Minister, Park Jin, met with the U.S. Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues, Julie Turner, in Seoul on Monday. During their meeting, the allies confirmed their commitment to enhancing the human rights situation in North Korea, particularly concerning Chinas return of escapees to the North. The North Korean people are living in extremely dire conditions, Park told Turner, adding that the Kim Jong Un regime is pursuing nuclear weapons at the expense of its citizens basic rights. The foreign minister then indirectly criticized China for sending escapees back to the North. Recent media reports alleged that hundreds of North Korean defectors detained in China have been forcibly repatriated to North Korea, Park said. Under no circumstance should North Korean defectors be forcibly repatriated against their will. That is our governments position. And weve made it clear to the Chinese side, the foreign minister continued. My government is engaging in vigorous diplomatic efforts to ensure that North Korean defectors are not forcibly repatriated to North Korea, but rather in accordance with humanitarian principles. I look forward to a continuous robust engagement and to our active collaboration to bring about real change in the North Korean human rights situation. Parks comments added weight to the announcement from South Koreas Unification Ministry on Friday that it had lodged a protest against China regarding the suspected forced repatriation of numerous North Koreans. The escapees are viewed as a betrayal and a threat to the Kim Jong Un regime, and are often subjected to harsh punishments, including imprisonment, torture, and potentially capital punishment according to testimonies of North Korean escapees. Human Rights Watch reported last week that Chinese authorities had forcibly returned over 500 North Koreans to the reclusive nation. The organization urged governments worldwide to condemn Beijings actions. Most of these North Koreans were civilians and religious figures who were arrested while attempting to travel to South Korea from China, Radio Free Asia has learned. Peter Jung, head of Seoul-based rights organization 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. Turner, who was sworn into office on Friday and began her inaugural three-day visit to Seoul Monday, vowed to work with South Korea in making a difference regarding this issue. I am very much looking forward to working with you and others in the ROK government to further advance North Korea, Turner said, referring to South Koreas formal name. The human rights situation in North Korea remains amongst the worst in the world. The international community must come together to work to expose the regimes human rights abuses and create concrete change to improve the lives of the North Koreans, she added. The U.S. and South Korean collaboration in gathering and disseminating information to provide an unfiltered view of the ground realities, may have the potential, albeit limited, to influence North Koreas human rights situation. As two major international players with vested interests in the Korean Peninsula, their combined diplomatic and political weight could garner a broader international coalition to exert pressure on North Korea to change its practices. The nomination of a U.S. Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues, a post that has been empty for a while, conveys a significant message to the North Korean people, said Ji Seong-ho, who defected from North Korea to South Korea, where hes now a member of the national assembly. Its a message that the allies will actively raise voices to protect basic rights of the ordinary North Koreans. Its particularly crucial for both ROK and the U.S. to intervene and aid North Korean escapees in China, actively working to halt further forced repatriations, Ji added. We hope that such messages persistently resonate from Washington and the global community. Edited by Elaine Chan and Mike Firn. One local was killed and nearly 45,000 people were displaced during military raids in Myanmars northern Sagaing region, local residents told Radio Free Asia on Monday. Junta troops stormed villages across four townships from Thursday until Sunday, detaining nearly 30 people along the way. Most of the internally displaced are from Khin-U, Shwebo, Pale and Kanbalu townships. On Thursday and Friday, five residents remaining in Pale townships Kyar Si village and Kan Gyi village were captured when junta troops stormed the area, Zaw Htet, a leader of the local peoples administration group, told RFA. The villagers told them to flee, he said, adding that they did not know whether the captured people were still alive. The junta troops are still in Kyar Si village. Similarly in Kan Gyi, two people were arrested because they did not flee when the troops entered the village. One was shot dead and another was beaten and released. Zaw Htet identified the dead man as Chan Thar, in his 40s. Nobody has been in contact with the three men taken from Kyar Si village and their status is still unknown. Troops are continuing to destroy villages in Pale township, said Nan Win, a member of the townships Peoples Defense Force. He added that this assault was more violent than ones previously carried out in the township and that troops were still stationed in two villages. Soldiers set up a blockade in Chin Pyit village trapping nearly 30 residents, locals said. The number of women and children is still unknown, as the army has not allowed anyone to enter the village since Thursday. The next morning, 500 soldiers raided two more villages, forcing over 15,000 residents to flee. One woman told RFA the army was shooting people along the route. It seems like they will continue to raid Nyan Inn village, she said, requesting anonymity to protect herself. The people outside the village were chased and shot at with guns and shelled with heavy weapons. The entire village was forced to flee because they were afraid of the [troops]. The convoy was divided into groups to carry out attacks on more villages in Khin-U and Shwebo townships on Saturday, residents said. Residents of Khin-U township fled ahead of army raids on villages on Oct. 15, 2023. Credit: Ko Lu Chaw A group of over 100 soldiers raided four villages, according to the residents. A Khin-U resident who did not want to be named for security reasons told RFA that he had to flee when he heard the convoy was on its way. I was so worried about the heavy rain and had to run, despite bad communication, he said. I had to flee ahead as soon as I heard because I was worried that I would be too delayed by the muddy roads to escape. On Sunday, nearly 30 civilians were arrested when the army raided Tha Yet Pin Wun village and nearby forests in Shwebo township, said an official of Khin-U Special Force Organization. When the army left the village they [civilians] were trapped because they thought that the convoy would not come to the forest where they were fleeing, the official said. We got the information that mothers were among the arrested. We dont know who or how many were arrested. But the junta council troops captured them to use as human shields. Local defense forces attacked the group entering Khin-U township using landmines, leading to speculation that villagers were held hostage in retaliation, a local defense forces official told RFA, asking to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. RFA called Sai Naing Naing Kyaw, the junta spokesperson, seeking comment on the raids, but he did not reply by the time of publication. On Oct. 5 and 6, a raid in Sagaings Pale and Salingyi townships left one man dead, 10 people in police custody, and thousands displaced. More than 800,000 people in Sagaing region have been forced to flee their homes due to violence since the Feb. 1, 2021 coup,, according to the United Nations. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn. The men also had their feet shackled for more than a week. Two prisoners of conscience Trinh Ba Phuong and Phan Van Hai were beaten and had their feet shackled in a Vietnamese prison, the family of one of the inmates told Radio Free Asia. The two were protesting against harsh treatment and human rights violations in Quang Nam provinces An Diem Prison. Phuong is serving a 10-year term for anti-state propaganda under article 117 of the criminal code. Hai is serving a five-year sentence for the same offense. Phuong told his sister Trinh Thi Thao about the harsh treatment during a visit on Oct. 12 and she shared the information with Radio Free Asia the following day. On Sept. 9, 2023, at Division 34, Phuong, Dung Truong [Truong Van Dung], Phan Cong Hai and Pham Van Diep staged a protest holding a banner 'Down with Communists for violating human rights,' Thao told RFA Vietnamese. suddenly Tran Thanh Viet, head of Camp No. 2, accompanied by more than 10 policemen, rushed in to take the banners of Phuong and others. the prison guards rushed into the protesting group, beat them, and then took them away for discipline. This group of policemen also strangled Phuong and pushed him against the wall, beating him and bruising his chest. After that, an An Diem prison warden handcuffed Phuong and took him to the disciplinary area where he was shackled for 10 days. Phuong told his sister that Dung and Hai were also beaten. The story was corroborated by Hoang Duc Nguyer, the younger brother of Hoang Duc Binh who is also being held in Division 34. Binh told his brother he witnessed the protest and the prison wardens response. Phuong told his family that after his leg shackles were removed, he wrote a letter denouncing his beating and sent it to the Procuracy of Quang Nam province. He said he still hasnt received a response. Phuong, Dung and some other political prisoners also staged a protest on Sept. 2, demonstrating against Chinas actions in the disputed South China Sea. While the prison guards confiscated their banners there was no violence on that occasion and no one was disciplined, Phuong said. RFA called the prison to ask about the claims but nobody answered. A reporter also called the Procuracy of Quang Nam province, but was told he needed to come to the agency to meet with officials in person. Article 10 of the Law on Execution of Criminal Judgments prohibits "torture and other forms of cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment, while Article 27 says prisoners have the right to "protected life, health and property, and respect for honor and dignity." In 2015, Vietnam also became a member of the U.N.s Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Mike Firn and Elaine Chan. NORTH MITROVICA, Kosovo -- Shopkeepers are soaking up the sun and people-watching in North Mitrovica's Bosnian Quarter, a section of the city just northeast of the center. Ethnic Albanians, Serbs, Roma, Egyptians, Turks, and Gorans all call this neighborhood home, but the area takes its name from the Bosniaks, a minority from today's Bosnia-Herzegovina, who settled here mostly during the Ottoman Empire. In the years following the 1999 war, Kosovo's Bosniaks, who speak a language similar to Serbian but are overwhelmingly Muslim, were the victims of targeted killings and attacks allegedly by ethnic Albanians who associated them with ethnic Serbs. Today the Bosnian Quarter has lost a distinct measure of ethnic diversity amid newly heightened tensions. According to the Kosovo Police, the number of interethnic incidents in Kosovo in the first half of 2023 jumped by 45 percent compared to the same period last year. Locals told RFE/RL that fewer than 10 percent of the Bosniaks of northern Kosovo who were here before the 1999 Kosovo War remain today. "I don't know where to point you, I can only see Albanians and Serbs," said one of the business owners in the Bosnian Quarter, scanning the street after being asked if he knows any Bosniaks who live nearby. When we find some Bosniaks, they are reluctant to speak, insisting that they "don't want to get involved in politics." Bosniak shopkeepers selling clothes, food, household appliances, and other goods switch between the Albanian and Serbian languages depending on the ethnicity of the customers who approach. Inside a cafe run by one Bosniak, four of the six tables are occupied by a single customer sipping on a drink or eating. The owner is unwilling to talk about the difficulties of life in a neighborhood riven with ethnic tensions. The cafe owner sends me off to another Bosniak in the neighborhood, but he doesn't want to talk either. The reluctance of people to speak doesn't surprise Nedzad Ugljanin, the chairman of the North Mitrovica Municipal Assembly. The Bosniak has lived his entire life in the quarter and has watched his hometown change. "Citizens are still somewhat afraid. You can see that people are reluctant to give interviews because they are scared," he told RFE/RL. "We've overcome different periods of escalation of the situation." As Nedzad speaks, cars passing by display license plates that hint at possible allegiance to either Kosovar or Serbian institutions. Taxis drive past with plates starting with the numerals 02, indicating registration in Kosovo's Mitrovica, while other cars pass with stickers covering Serbian emblems - their owners likely to be Kosovar Serbs who registered their cars with Belgrade's institutions. Here and elsewhere in the north of Kosovo, tensions have frequently flared, largely due to ethnic Serbs pushing back against Pristina's control over the region. In the Bosnian Quarter, the impact of some of these historic tensions are still apparent. In the summer of 2010, ethnic Serbs protested against the opening of a Kosovar government office in the Bosnian Quarter. Amid the unrest, Bosniak doctor Mesud Djekovic was killed in an explosion. A street in the neighborhood now bears his name. Ugljanin says that even in the calm periods between headline-grabbing unrest, citizens of different ethnic communities are somewhat on edge. "Every day is the same. We have neighbors from every ethnicity and we manage to coexist," he said. "But, it's interesting to see when ethnic tensions escalate, they all close their shutters and wait a week until normality returns." Ugljanin says that before the war in 1999, there were about 7,500 Bosniaks living in the north of Kosovo, while now only about 500 remain. They left for security reasons, because "they don't want to live in a place where there are constant escalations and sirens." There are no exact official figures regarding the population in North Mitrovica. Ethnic Serbs boycotted the last population census in 2011. The latest unrest took place on September 24, when a Kosovar policeman was killed in the village of Banjska after an attack by an armed group against the police patrol. In the ensuing shoot-out, three ethnic Serb attackers were also killed. Responsibility for the attack was apparently admitted by Millan Radoicic, the former vice president of Serbian List, a Kosovar Serb political party. The Banjska shooting has led to fewer people seen walking the streets, and less "interaction between communities" in the Bosnian Quarter, Ugljanin said. In the residential streets of the Bosnian Quarter, there are few children outside, except for a handful passing by on rollerblades and scooters. Many children of the non-Serbian communities of the neighborhood travel each morning to South Mitrovica to attend school. Others go to schools in the north that operate under Belgrade's institutions. Muharrem Spasoli, from Kosovo's ethnic Ashkali Egyptian community, was standing next to the burned remains of his house when we met him on October 11. His family home had been gutted by fire the night before. It was unclear what caused the blaze, but the results were starkly obvious. He was now without a home, and his brother had suffered burns. Spasoli has lived in North Mitrovica for 70 years. He and his family remained there through the Kosovo War and the ethnic tensions that simmered afterward. Always, he says, they have tried to avoid trouble. "Weve never had problems with anyone, neither Albanians or Serbs," Spasoli said. "We don't get involved in politics. We have nowhere else to go, we only want to live in peace. Let us all be the same, let no one have problems." He remembers when trucks barricaded streets in the Bosnian Quarter amid tensions over the arrest of a Kosovar Serb policeman on December 27, 2022. Such situations make it hard to simply "avoid problems," Spasoli said. "It's a bit difficult.... There are problems everywhere, everywhere," he said. "We are rather afraid. But we're hanging on, we're staying quiet. What else can we do?!" Pakistan issued an ultimatum to the estimated 1.7 million undocumented Afghans living in the country: leave or face arrest and forcible expulsion after November 1. One of them is Samina Hafizi, an Afghan writer and former journalist who lives with her mother and five siblings in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021, hundreds of thousands of Afghans have fled to Pakistan to escape a devastating economic and humanitarian crisis and possible retribution by the militant group. RFE/RL's Radio Azadi asked the 24-year-old Hafizi to keep a diary amid the mass exodus of undocumented Afghan refugees and migrants from the South Asian nation. October 22 It is 6 a.m. I slept poorly. I had nightmares and anxious thoughts. Why did we become refugees? This question haunts me. Nobody dares to leave their homes. Who wants to postpone their dreams? Now that we are refugees, why should we endure such bad days? If we leave, where can we seek refuge? I have not written anything for a year. I suffer from pain -- the pain of homelessness, the pain of being a refugee, and the pain of helplessness. Wherever I go, I hear that Afghans are being expelled from Pakistan -- drivers, shopkeepers, and cooks. 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. Yesterday morning, the landlords of our apartment building came and checked everyones documents. They gave a deadline to two families to get valid residency papers or they would be evicted. Members of these families once had good lives in Afghanistan. Some were journalists, while others were soldiers. Their daughters attended schools and universities. They now fret over what will happen to them. While visiting the hospital yesterday, I felt that nothing was the same. Anxiety and fear were written over the faces of every Afghan I met. In Islamabad, police were looking for Afghans at security checkpoints across the city. The Afghans they found were questioned and harassed. While waiting for my turn to see the doctor at the hospital, an Afghan woman with her toddler was breathing heavily. I brought her a glass of water. She thanked me and asked whether I had valid documents. She told me that she fled her oppressive husband in Afghanistan to seek a new life in a third country with the help of the United Nations. But the fear of being forced to return to her cruel husband and the Talibans harsh rule has stressed her deeply. Tens of thousands of Afghan families across Pakistan are seeking a miracle. We dont know where fate will take us. October 25 My sisters phone woke me up early in the morning. When she finished talking, she told me that her Afghan friend was told by her landlord to leave her apartment by the afternoon. My sister was trembling. She said her friend and her family would stay with us until they found another place. Later in the day, I went to a nearby market to buy supplies for our guests. The usually cheerful Afghan vegetable seller I go to was distressed. He told me that if he was deported, he would lose the business that enabled him to earn a living for the past 15 years. Around 5 p.m., my sisters friend and her family arrived. Their voices were hoarse from crying so much. We all cried. I felt like a caged bird unable to fly. They were evicted because only one of the eight family members did not have a Pakistani visa. Her visa application was rejected several times. Cruelty and fear have forced Afghans in Islamabad to stop leaving their houses. It is heartbreaking to see dozens of Afghan families announcing the sale of their household items on Facebook daily. October 28 Im always worried. My mental health has gradually deteriorated during the past two years. In the morning today, Hajira, one of our Pakistani neighbors, visited us. We talked about the customs and traditions in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Suddenly, Hajira blamed us helpless Afghans for some of the problems Pakistanis face these days. She said Afghan refugees are bringing polio to Pakistan because our children are not vaccinated against the disease. And she said the price of everything has increased because of Afghan refugees. When we disputed her claims, she threatened to call the police. Thankfully, the police didnt show up. So far, we havent given anyone an excuse to evict us. But I feel nervous. My generation will tell their children the stories of how our homeland, dreams, and hopes were snatched from us. We were defeated and destroyed just as we were ready to prosper. We were broken into pieces and scattered to all corners of the world. All this has broken our hearts. October 31 If someone cannot talk, write, or cry to lessen their sorrows, what else should they do? Die or break? If someone asked me who are the most unfortunate people in the world, I would say refugees. If someone asked what the worst state of existence is, I would say being a refugee. I hate this word. Recently, I asked fellow Afghans living in Pakistan to share their stories on Facebook. Zuhal, 27, wrote that they left Afghanistan last year because her brother and sister worked as prosecutors for the fallen Afghan government. This prompted the Taliban to harass them and repeatedly raid their house to look for the armored car they had already returned to the government. After constant harassment in Pakistan, most of her family members returned to Afghanistan. But she and her sister remain in Pakistan. A 22-year-old young man told me about his ordeal. He was stopped by the police in Islamabad a few days ago. Even though he had all the proper documents, he was detained for several hours, harassed, and threatened. The ordeal was over when he paid a 10,000 rupee ($35) bribe to the police. Hundreds of refugees like him are forced to pay bribes daily. November 2 We are in a bind. Im overwhelmed by the news of Afghans being arrested or forcibly deported. I'm overwhelmed by the videos and photos showing their desperation, dispossession, and anguish. Those who remain are trying to stay invisible. Everyone wants to avoid the humiliation of being forced back to a country many have not seen or, like us, fled because of the Taliban's draconian governance. We are in limbo. We have no real choices. Our efforts to be relocated to a third country through the UN have gone nowhere. Returning to Taliban rule in Afghanistan is not a choice. My two younger sisters still need to go to university. But the Taliban closed that door for all Afghan women last year. As a female-only household, we left Afghanistan because we feared that we would be forced to marry Taliban fighters. We witnessed such cases in Kabul. We had sold everything before coming to Pakistan. We sold all our household items. Now, if we are forced to go back to Afghanistan, we will be forced to begin from zero again. For now, we will stay in Pakistan until we are arrested or deported. Uncertainty defines our lives. It describes the lives of all Afghans in our situation. Diary entries have been edited for clarity; translated by Abubakar Siddique. TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, October 16. President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev will pay an official visit to Chinas Beijing from October 17 through October 18 to participate in the events of the Third One Belt, One Road International Forum, Trend reports. The agenda of the anniversary summit includes issues of further development of trade and economic cooperation, strengthening of transport and communication interconnectedness, promotion of green development programs, digitalization, etc. The program of the visit also provides for holding talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Chairman of the People's Political Consultative Council of China Wang Huning, as well as other bilateral meetings. Meanwhile, China has been implementing a vast number of investment projects in Uzbekistan, including a recent $50 million technopark project in Uzbekistans Syrdarya region, as well as the supply of 2,000 electric buses to the country by a Chinese BYD automobile company. Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik refused to enter a plea on charges related to his efforts to ignore decisions by an international envoy in a court appearance for a trial he called a "circus." Dodik appeared on October 16 in the Court of Bosnia-Herzegovina for a preliminary hearing that he called illegitimate, saying he didn't understand the charges against him because they were written in Latin script and not Serbian Cyrillic. He also refused to stand in front of the judge, saying his back hurt. "This is a political process; this is a circus," he said after the brief hearing. The 64-year-old has emerged as a major force in postwar Republika Srpska, the Serb-majority entity that along with a Bosniak-Croat federation compose Bosnia since a 1995 peace deal followed a bloody war of independence during the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. Dodik, along with the head of Republika Srpska's official legal gazette, Milos Lukic, is charged with criminal offenses in connection with efforts to ignore decisions by Bosnia's Constitutional Court and by the international High Representative Christian Schmidt. The Office of the High Representative is the international community's overseer of civilian, administrative, and other aspects of government stemming from the Dayton agreement that ended three years of intense fighting in 1995. As the international envoy, Schmidt has vast powers, including to fire officials and impose laws. The legislation at the center of the case was approved by Republika Srpska lawmakers in June and signed by Dodik on July 7, before being published in the gazette run by Lukic. It stipulated that the decisions of the Office of the High Representative (OHR) and the Constitutional Court of Bosnia-Herzegovina should not be applied in the territory of the Republika Srpska. The indictment states that Dodik signed the laws "even though he was aware that the decisions of the High Representative in Bosnia-Herzegovina are binding." The prosecution alleges that Dodik did this "with the intention that the afore mentioned decisions of the OHR in Bosnia and Herzegovina are not applied and implemented." Lukic is accused of having "facilitated the implementation of the publication procedure" of the laws. Dodik and Lukic face up to five years in prison and a ban on working in all public institutions and companies if found guilty. Dodik told the court on October 16 that he did not know why he was charged and refused stand up to confirm his details and enter a plea, saying that his "back hurts." After leaving the court, Dodik told reporters that the trial was "political" and that the laws he signed had passed all constitutional procedures in Republika Srpska. He also claimed that the indictment was a product of the "criminal enterprise made by Schmidt and the American ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina." Dodik is a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Republika Srpska officials led by Dodik have questioned Schmidt's legitimacy since Moscow and Beijing opposed his appointment through their roles on the UN Security Council. Dodik is under sanctions by the U.S Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) over alleged corruption and threatening the stability and territorial integrity of the country. He has also been designated for sanctions by the U.K. government because of his attempts to push for "de facto secession of Republic of Srpska." Despite criticism that it has saddled some countries with unsustainable levels of debt since being launched 10 years ago, Chinese leader Xi Jinping is expected to tout the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as a foreign policy success while showcasing it as an alternative development model to the West at a major summit in Beijing. The third Belt and Road Forum will begin on October 17 and is set to be attended by representatives from around the world as China looks to cement the program championed by Xi as a key part of the country's foreign policy. "This is the 10-year anniversary for the first big foreign policy idea that Xi pushed out," Raffaello Pantucci, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, told RFE/RL. "Everyone always focuses on individual projects, but [BRI] is ultimately a Chinese vision for how to engage with the world and Beijing is looking to celebrate that idea." Formally launched in 2013 following speeches by Xi in Kazakhstan and Indonesia shortly after he became China's leader, the BRI has financed the construction of ports, power plants, railroads, highways, and other infrastructure projects and invested hundreds of billions of dollars in dozens of countries to boost trade and investment by improving China's transport links with the rest of the world. Ahead of the upcoming Belt and Road Forum -- the first since 2019 -- the Chinese government released a report praising the program's accomplishments as a sustainable development model and framing it in opposition to the West, with Li Kexin, the Chinese Foreign Ministry's director for international economics affairs, telling reporters on October 10 that the BRI "transcends the old mindset of geopolitical games and creates a new paradigm of international cooperation." Many experts say the BRI has directed much-needed funding to poorer countries, but that this has also come with a cost. Over the past decade it has grappled with scandals over corruption, environmental degradation, and contributing to a rising debt crisis in the Global South. The BRI has seen the amount of financing decline since 2016 and fewer projects being funded following numerous high-profile scandals over soaring debts tied to projects that left host governments unable to make repayments, such as a nearly $1 billion highway in Montenegro and a port in Sri Lanka. Analysts say these problems have led to Beijing becoming more risk-averse. A study earlier in October by Boston University's Global Development Policy Center said the BRI had delivered more than $330 billion in loans to developing countries through 2021, lending more than the World Bank in some years. But the study also noted that many recipients of Chinese loans are now struggling with their overall debt and that many Chinese-funded power plants abroad are greatly adding to greenhouse gas emissions. Despite these obstacles, the BRI is far from fading away, Pantucci said, adding that Xi is likely to use the Belt and Road Forum to respond to these criticisms while enshrining the program as a "foundation within Xi's foreign policy vision" for a "new global order where China is at the center." "The BRI was always a concept with very fluid goals and very fluid goal posts," Pantucci said. "So, Beijing can move the goal posts and redefine what success looks like." What To Look For At The Forum The BRI has been central to Chinese efforts to raise its international stature over the years and experts say Beijing will be looking to carefully manage the optics of the Belt and Road Forum. Central to that will be ensuring a large delegation of attending officials from around the world. Beijing has not released an official guest list yet, but the Chinese Foreign Ministry said "representatives from more than 130 countries as well as many international organizations" will attend. However, it's unclear how senior these officials will be. The first Belt and Road Forum in 2017 had 30 heads of state or government in attendance and the second gathering, in 2019, had 37. Beijing will be looking to grow that figure as it celebrates the BRI's 10th anniversary, but it may face some difficulties, especially as many top officials around the globe find themselves dealing with the crisis between Israel and Hamas. Ensuring strong representation across Europe may also be difficult. While pro-Beijing governments in Hungary and Serbia have said they will send high-profile delegations led by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Serbian President Aleksandr Vucic, it's unclear who else will attend, particularly among European Union members. European countries formed some of the largest contingents of leaders at the previous meetings, but fallout from China's handling of the pandemic, its support for Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and numerous scandals related to BRI projects have seen Beijing's standing fall and ties fray. Italy, which was the only Group of Seven country to join the BRI, announced its intent earlier this year to withdraw from the program. "A lot has happened since 2019 and many countries have been shocked by China's leadership and how it's navigated certain issues," Niva Yau, a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub, told RFE/RL. "This shift has now changed how China can use and market the [BRI]. It's no longer seen simply as this public good that China is providing to the world." One world leader who confirmed his attendance long ago is Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will be making his first trip to China since his February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and is expected to raise a variety of issues with Xi, including the future of the much-sought-after Power of Siberia-2 gas pipeline. In an October 15 interview in Moscow with the state-owned China Media Corporation, Putin praised Xi and the BRI and took aim at the West's own history of development assistance across the world, saying the main difference for BRI is that "no one imposes anything on others" and that the program doesn't have the same "colonialist flavor" as other projects. Adapting For The Future The BRI's official goal since its launch a decade ago has been to boost trade and investment by improving China's transport links with the rest of the world and to build up China's economic and political influence in the process. Yau says that while the BRI's main narrative has been about building and funding infrastructure, the project itself shows that "China feels so confident about its own practices that it is ready to offer them to the world." "The BRI is much more than a global infrastructure and connectivity project. The BRI has instead communicated a clear Chinese conviction that China believes it's ready to articulate its own vision and values to the world," Yau said. This attitude was on display ahead of the Belt and Road Forum, with a new Chinese government report on the BRI saying the program offered a new approach that wouldn't look to "dominate world economic development, control economic rules, and enjoy development fruits." But Chinese officials also looked to respond to criticism against the BRI in the report, saying China would adhere to "the principle of sustainable debt" and work with indebted countries toward "a sustainable and risk-controllable investment and financing system." Christoph Nedopil, director of the Asia Institute at Griffith University in Australia, told RFE/RL that in response to debt crises in multiple countries and also because China has less money to lend as its own economy slows down, Chinese banks have become more selective of projects and partners and are increasingly prioritizing investments in renewable energy and digital initiatives that are seen as more likely to bring a return on investment. Nedopil adds that this shift away from large-scale lending by Chinese policy banks seen in the early years of the BRI has coincided with an uptick of involvement from Chinese private companies in recent years that looks set to continue into the future. "This is partly because Chinese banks might be turning their attention away from developing countries and toward the domestic market," Nedopil said. "But lots of these private companies are now investing because they are far more competitive globally than they were when [the BRI] was originally launched." Welcome to Wider Europe, RFE/RL's newsletter focusing on the key issues concerning the European Union, NATO, and other institutions and their relationships with the Western Balkans and Europe's Eastern neighborhoods. I'm RFE/RL Europe Editor Rikard Jozwiak, and this week I'm drilling down on two issues: In light of Azerbaijan's lightning takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh, what can the EU do for Armenia now? Plus, is Brussels capable of slapping more sanctions on Moscow? Also, last week, I sat down with the European Commission's vice president for values and transparency, Vera Jourova. In the interview, she said that to unblock EU funding, Hungary must meet set conditions on reforming its judiciary and ensuring the protection of fundamental rights. Brief #1: What Now For EU-Armenia Relations? What You Need To Know: On October 18, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian will address the full plenary of the European Parliament. It comes just a month after Azerbaijan's military carried out an offensive that overwhelmed breakaway ethnic Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh. Baku now controls territory that has been under ethnic Armenian rule for decades, forcing up to 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee Karabakh for Armenia. It also comes at a time when the European Union is getting increasingly engaged in a diplomatic settlement between Baku and Yerevan -- while pondering what its relations with Armenia might look like in the future. In the coming weeks, European Council President Charles Michel is expected to host Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Brussels for talks. For Brussels, it is important to get this peace process started, after the failure of the trio to meet in the Spanish city of Granada on October 5, along with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Aliyev backed out, reportedly after his request that Turkey participate in the talks to counter France's supposed pro-Armenian bias was denied. The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, stayed away from Spain altogether, focusing on the congress of his Justice and Development Party that took place a couple of days later. Despite the snag, Michel remains an acceptable interlocutor to both sides and, for the EU and the United States, the ultimate goal would be to have some sort of peace treaty, preferably by the end of the year. Deep Background: EU leaders, officials, and diplomats are now wondering what to with Armenia, especially as Pashinian made it clear that he wants closer ties with Brussels. In a statement issued after the Granada meeting on behalf of the Armenian leader, Macron, Michel, and Scholz, they "expressed their support to the strengthening of EU-Armenia relations, in all its dimensions, based on the needs of the Republic of Armenia." EU officials have told me on background that the European Commission, the bloc's top executive body, now has an "internal reflection exercise" ahead of it on how to best help Armenia. Brussels has already provided 10.5 million euros ($11 million) in immediate humanitarian support and will soon provide another 15 million euros to help support the Armenian government. There has also been talk among EU officials of setting up some sort of macro-financial assistance to Yerevan with regular payment cycles, similar to what Brussels has done to aid Moldova and Ukraine. But what Armenia also needs is security, with Yerevan fearing that Azerbaijan might make more military advances in the future. Earlier this year, the EU began an unarmed monitoring mission in Armenia, along parts of the border with Azerbaijan, and while more people could be added to boost the mission capacity from today's 150 people, they will remain unarmed. Armenia might also explore options of getting money from the European Peace Facility (EPF), the same pot the EU is using to purchase arms and other military gear for Ukraine. Drilling Down: There are, however, two considerable hurdles to pass: Firstly, the EU is wary of antagonizing Azerbaijan and handing over EPF cash could be seen as too much of a risk. And secondly, there is Armenia's relationship with Russia. Yerevan is still a member of the Moscow-dominated Eurasian Economic Area, as well as the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) military alliance. Yerevan's commitment to the latter probably makes EPF funding difficult. Many in Brussels think that Armenia is slowly pivoting away from Russia. Speaking on background as they are not permitted to speak on the record, a senior EU official recently told me, "It strikes me that Armenia has perhaps made a very accurate conclusion that the security guarantees that they have been given in the past by Russia are not worth the paper they are written on." An obvious indicator of that was Armenia's recent decision to ratify the International Criminal Court's Rome Statute, which could obligate the country's authorities to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin if he were to visit the country. More long-term, Armenia could hope to upgrade its current Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the EU to something more like the association agreements that Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine enjoy. An upgraded agreement could also pave the way for Armenian citizens to benefit from the current visa-facilitation agreement with the EU to full visa liberalization. Then there is the question of punishing Azerbaijan. A recent discussion paper, authored by the EU's diplomatic corps, EEAS, and seen by RFE/RL, noted it was possible to enact "sanctions in case serious human rights violations are committed." A European Parliament resolution, passed on October 5, called for the EU to impose sanctions on Azerbaijanis responsible for human rights violations in Nagorno-Karabakh and reconsider the "strategic partnership" with Azerbaijan in the field of energy. Despite the resolution garnering considerable media attention, it's worth noting that the resolution was nonbinding for member countries and EU institutions and the bloc is unlikely to take any significant punitive measures against Baku. Hungary has already indicated as much in public, and countries such as Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, and Romania -- interested in buying Azerbaijani gas or getting access to even more lucrative Turkmen gas through Azerbaijan -- would likely block such a measure. Brief #2: Can The EU Muster Up More Sanctions Against Russia? What You Need To Know: There was a time, not long ago, when a substantial amount of EU diplomats' time was devoted to designing and adopting sanctions against Russia. Immediately after the country's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the bloc imposed its first sanctions package and, to date, another 10 have followed. Those sanctions have targeted the Russian oil, mining, lumber, and coal industries; have closed EU airspace and ports for Russian-flagged flights and vessels; have cut Russian banks off from the international SWIFT bank-payment system; and have imposed asset freezes and visa bans on over 1,800 individuals and firms, including President Putin and many in his closest circle. The period of frenzied sanctions work in Brussels is now over. And it is already slowing down. In 2023, only two rounds have been adopted, with the latest agreed at the end of June. Some diplomats are saying that there isn't that much left to target, whereas others are pointing to the increasing difficulty in getting all 27 member states to come to an agreement -- the most recent package only saw the light of the day after almost eight weeks of negotiations. So, it comes as no surprise that, in her big "state of the European Union" address, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen didn't mention Russian sanctions at all. EU sources -- speaking on the condition of anonymity as they weren't authorized to speak on the record -- told me that only a handful of member states had mentioned more Russian sanctions. Deep Background: The sands are shifting within the European Union. Migration has crept up to the top of the agenda again, with a 28 percent jump in asylum requests in the bloc this year, compared to the same time period in 2022, according to data from the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA). With the populist leftist party Smer winning the most votes in Slovakia's recent parliamentary elections and now looking set to form the next government, Hungary could have a new ally in its fight against further Russian sanctions. On the campaign trail, Smer's leader, former Prime Minister Robert Fico, said no more weapons will be sent to Ukraine and praised Moscow. Despite this reluctance, EU sanctions experts are holding preliminary talks and it's possible that a new package could be presented to member states, most likely some time in November. A lot will depend on what other priorities there are, vis-a-vis Ukraine, which need to be adopted before 2023 is rung in. For example, all the member states need to give the green light in order for Kyiv to start EU accession talks in December. Plus, there will be an EU drive to reach agreement on a 20 billion-euro ($21 billion) fund to pay for military aid for Ukraine over the coming years, and then another proposal of 50 billion euros to finance the country's reconstruction between 2024 and 2027. And on top of that, more sanctions. Not everything will get over the line in 2023. Drilling Down: If there is a new sanctions proposal, what will it contain? The best bet is to look at two sanctions discussion papers, seen by RFE/RL, recently produced by perhaps the two biggest Russian sanctions hawks, Lithuania and Poland. Their proposals are likely the maximum the bloc would go. Perhaps the four most obvious areas for new measures, which are mentioned in both papers, would be liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), steel, and diamonds. The last sector is perhaps the most realistic to target. Raw diamond exports from Russia in 2021 were worth $4.5 billion and amounted to 1 percent of all Russia's total exports. Belgium, home to the European "diamond capital," Antwerp, has long been opposed to clamping down on Russia's diamond business, arguing that it would hurt itself more than Russia. EU action also hinges on whether the Group of Seven (G7) leading economies can find a global solution to the issue. Even if such measures were implicated, there still might be too many loopholes, as Russian diamonds could be rerouted from Antwerp directly to Dubai and the Indian city of Surat. Governments in the United Arab Emirates and India would be unlikely to align with such sanctions. Poland remains the main EU importer of LPG from Russia, followed by the Netherlands. So even if Warsaw has indicated that it is ready to cease LPG imports, the question remains as to whether other countries will be willing. As winter is approaching and energy prices remain high, there doesn't seem to be much appetite within the EU to target LPG and LNG. Russian imports of the latter into the bloc even increased this year compared to 2022, with Belgian, French, and Spanish ports reportedly seeing more trade. Lithuania is pushing for harsher EU measures against the Russian nuclear sector, which would prohibit EU companies from signing contracts with Russian nuclear giant Rosatom, investing in the Russian civil nuclear energy sector, and from importing enriched uranium from Russia. While some member states might be persuaded on halting business with Rosatom or staying out of the Russian nuclear business, stopping uranium imports from Russia would likely be a bridge too far. In the first four months of 2023, the bloc's two biggest member states, France and Germany, imported Russian-enriched uranium worth 134.5 million euros and 12.3 million euros, respectively. And what about steel products? Sanctions were introduced in October 2022, but both Belgium and Italy pushed for wind-down periods lasting two years, something that is unlikely to change. There is some wiggle room, with the possibility that different types of iron products could be added to the sanctions list to tighten existing loopholes, such as with steel sheets and pig iron. So, what might fly? There could be some new sanctions against the Russian laser industry and a widening of the EU ban to provide Russia with IT consultancy services, which for now largely concerns the installation of computer hardware and software. The sale to Russia of European cloud-computing technologies, for example, is not covered by any sanctions. Then there is a whole list of components made in the EU that can be used in Russian military hardware. These parts -- for example, small drones, electric motors, generators, and sensors -- might not often make the headlines, but experts say blocking their export could make it harder for the Russian military to function. Looking Ahead On October 20, European Commission President von der Leyen and European Council President Michel will travel to Washington to meet U.S. President Joe Biden for the first EU-U.S. summit in nearly two years. The wars in Ukraine and Israel will feature prominently on the agenda, although China is likely to grab the headlines, as Brussels is set to announce anti-subsidy investigations against Chinese steelmakers. Also, look out for the Berlin Process summit in Albania's capital, Tirana, on October 16. The Berlin Process was an initiative of yearly summits first launched in 2014 to improve cooperation between various EU member states and the six Western Balkans EU hopefuls (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia). This is, however, the first time the summit is being held in one of the six Western Balkan countries. No big announcements are likely, but there could be an increased push from countries such as Albania and North Macedonia to speed up their EU accession paths. That's all for this week. Feel free to reach out to me on any of these issues on Twitter @RikardJozwiak, or on e-mail at jozwiakr@rferl.org. Until next time, Rikard Jozwiak If you enjoyed this briefing and don't want to miss the next edition, subscribe here. The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. While Russia and Ukraine fight a brutal war, citizens of both countries are serving in on the same side in the conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas. PRAGUE -- For Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Israel-Hamas war is like every other crisis around the world: an opportunity to further Russia's aims in its invasion of Ukraine, says former oil tycoon and Russian opposition activist Mikhail Khodorkovsky. "They are not supporting anyone," Khodorkovsky said of the Kremlin. "They are for chaos. Putin today needs chaos to get what he wants out of increasingly muddy, murky waters. And what they want is not to lose in Ukraine." "Putin is creating chaos wherever he can to distract people, to distract resources, to distract politicians, and to be able to finish his dirty work [in Ukraine]," he said in an interview with Current Time, the Russian-language network led by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA. Putin, he said, "has no personal interest in Hamas." "But there is a personal, a practical interest in destabilizing the situation," Khodorkovsky added. "It doesn't matter if it is Hamas or Hizballah, whether it is the situation in Israel or some mess in the Balkans. It doesn't matter. What does matter is that the attention of the major world players is diverted." 'Illegitimate And Criminal' Formerly Russia's richest man, Khodorkovsky was arrested in 2003 on fraud charges that he says were trumped up by Putin and his allies to punish his political activity, bring influential tycoons to heel, and put the oil assets of his company, Yukos, into state hands. He spent just over a decade in prison before being pardoned and flown out of the country in December 2013. He has since lived in London and funded various projects aimed at promoting democracy in Russia. In April, he was among a group of some 50 leading Russian opposition figures who signed a joint declaration denouncing the invasion of Ukraine and proclaiming Putin's government "illegitimate and criminal." At the age of 60, Khodorkovsky denies he has political ambitions in Russia and describes himself as "a public figure" and an "influencer." "I am a person in this situation who constantly asks, 'Guys, how do you want to live? It is not for me to live here. It is for you,'" he said. 'We Are Literally Months Away' Putin's penchant for chaos, Khodorkovsky argued, has created a "dangerous situation" globally. "What brings us closer to a global war is that there is now such a normalization of international violence," he said. Before Russia waged its brief war against Georgia in 2008, the world could still be appalled by war. Now, Khodorkovsky told Current Time, "public opinion has gotten used to it." "If we stop valuing human life, of course, the clock of a nuclear apocalypse or a world apocalypse in general gets closer to midnight," he said in the interview in Prague on October 13. There has been considerable discussion of "Ukraine fatigue" in the West, with analysts saying Putin's best hope of what he could call a victory in the war he unleashed is the prospect that international support for Kyiv could fade, depriving it of the aid and arms it needs to push back the Russian invasion. But Khodorkovsky said Ukraine fatigue, or war fatigue, is a potential domestic problem for Putin as well. So far, he said, despite the deaths of tens of thousands of Russian soldiers, the impact of Western sanctions, and the economic costs of waging war and occupying swaths of Ukrainian territory, "we don't have this uproar yet." "There is silence," he said. "Why? The reason is that Putin pays money. The fact that he pays money, unfortunately, has been a quite effective communication with the public." Payments to mercenaries and to the families of the killed or wounded, Khodorkovsky said, have made the war "acceptable" to many impoverished Russians. "How soon will it become unacceptable?" he asked. "Historical experience shows that two years or so after the beginning of a war, people start to feel tired. I think we are literally months away from people in Russia starting to feel this fatigue. But it remains a big question whether this will happen faster in Russia or in the West." Putin cannot win the war in Ukraine as he would like, Khodorkovsky said, because even if he defeated Kyiv, he would be left occupying a devastated country whose population overwhelmingly hated him, as well as facing the likelihood of permanent crippling sanctions. One way or another, Khodorkovsky is confident, the war will end with the defeat of "Putinist Russia, the Putin regime." "Strategically, Putin cannot win this war," he said. Lessons From Prigozhin's Mutiny For many years, Putin's hold on power has rested on Russia's military and its security agencies -- the so-called siloviki -- and the perception that a majority of Russians support him, Khodorkovsky said. However, the short-lived mutiny of the notorious Wagner mercenary group and its now-deceased leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, in June showed that both of these pillars could be shaky. "Prigozhin's mutiny showed in real time that the army does not support Putin," Khodorkovsky said. "Do you remember how the Prigozhin forces proceeded toward Moscow like a knife through butter? And all the military units just stepped aside?" "And the people didn't support him either," he continued. "We saw how the people of Rostov-on-Don escorted the Wagner fighters to prevent anyone from defending Putin." Khodorkovsky noted that there was never a moment in Rostov when people came out to support the government or express disapproval of those acting against it. "It would have been understandable if some people had come out with flowers and cameras, while others came out with bricks and bottles," he said. "Then it would have been clear that part of society supported the current authorities and part of it did not. But most people just didn't care at all. Or, rather, were pleased [by the uprising]." Although Khodorkovsky offered no specific predictions for how the end of the Putin era could come for Russia, he did predict the transition would be long and difficult. "It will be at least five years before democratic forces could be in a position to run the country [after Putin's departure]," he said. "Even if Putin leaves tomorrow or the day after, there will be fluctuating processes for some time," Khodorkovsky said. "And what comes [immediately] after him will look very bad." Written by RFE/RL's Robert Coalson based on an interview conducted by Current Time correspondent Igor Sevryugin Moldovan President Maia Sandu has said that she hopes that Moldova will be ready to join the European Union "earlier than 2030." Speaking to RFE/RL's Rikard Jozwiak in Prague, Sandu said Moldovans hope that "the EU will be ready to accept Moldova in the next few years." Sandu reiterated that "the peaceful solution is the only acceptable solution for the Transdniester conflict." Moldovan President Maia Sandu says steps taken by her country -- one of Europe's poorest -- to diversify its gas supplies means Russia can no longer "blackmail" Chisinau "as it used to." Speaking to RFE/RL at its headquarters in Prague on October 16, Sandu said Moldova's move to access gas through purchases on the open market and not directly from Russian energy giant Gazprom has given independence it previously didn't have. "We don't buy Russian gas from Gazprom. We buy gas on the market, which means that Russia cannot blackmail us as it used to blackmail before, like a year ago, when every time they would not like the policies of the government in Moldova, they would just come back and say, 'We cut gas supplies,'" Sandu said. WATCH: Speaking to RFE/RL's Rikard Jozwiak in Prague, Sandu said Moldovans hope that "the EU will be ready to accept Moldova in the next few years." Moldova used to buy Russian natural gas, but in October 2022 Gazprom decided to reduce the volumes of natural gas delivered to Chisinau even though it was in violation of its contract. The former Soviet republic in September proposed paying $8.6 million to settle the debt that Gazprom says is more than $700 million. But an audit showed there was no documentation for some of the debt and another portion of the debt was considered expired because it had accumulated over a long time while not being periodically reconfirmed by Gazprom. The audit also found the Moldovan government can demand compensation for Gazprom's decision in October 2022 to reduce the volumes of natural gas delivered to Moldova in violation of its contract. Currently Gazprom provides gas supplies only to Moldova's Russian-backed breakaway Transdniester region, Moldovan authorities have said, with none going to central authorities in Chisinau. But the Russian gas is being delivered to Transdniester via Ukraine, and the contract that provides for the transit of gas from Russia through the territory of Ukraine expires in 2024. At the same time, Sandu said Moldova also buys electricity from a power plant in Transdniester, so Moldovans shouldn't be at risk of freezing in the winter if gas supplies to Transdniester are halted. "Moldova is in a much better situation today compared to the previous two winters. First, because we have managed to make some stocks of gas. And second, we do believe that we are going to have electricity supply this winter," she said. Wedged between Ukraine, Romania, and the Black Sea, Moldova has often found itself in the center of a struggle for influence between Moscow and the West. The situation has intensified since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, especially with the Kremlin-backed breakaway region of Transdniester on its eastern border. Russia keeps more than 1,000 troops in Transdniester as "peacekeepers." Sandu said Moldova has a connection to other European electricity markets, though that route goes through Ukraine, and is building a direct high-voltage connection line with Romania to ensure electricity supplies. "Every time Russia drops bombs on the electricity network of Ukraine, we have problems. So that's why we need to have a direct connection, and we're working on it," Sandu said, adding the Romanian link would be ready in 2025. Moldova applied for EU membership in March 2022 and was granted candidate status in June 2022. Aleksandr Fedulov, a lawyer of imprisoned Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny, has fled Russia after three other lawyers who defended the Kremlin critic were arrested last week. Fedulov wrote on Instagram late on October 16 that he left the country because "the arrests of our colleagues who defended Navalny have brought significant changes to the work of the lawyers who remain out of jail." Fedulov's Instagram statement came hours after Navalny's team wrote on Telegram that the lawyer did not show up at a hearing in Navalny's penal colony as scheduled and that his telephone appeared to have been switched off. Navalny said during the hearing on October 16 that he was told that another of his lawyers, Olga Mikhailova, also fled Russia recently. As the hearing into Navalny's complaints about his rights being abused inside the penal colony resumed on October 17, the anticorruption crusader said the Investigative Committee had recommended he find new lawyers. "What sort of action can I carry out when I even do not understand what is going on with my lawyers. Nobody is allowed to visit me, I am isolated and cut off from any information," Navalny said, adding that he is "very grateful for my lawyers." "Secondly, I am very much concerned for their families and, of course, I would like to tell my lawyers and their families that they must hold on, they are amazing," Navalny added. Last week, Navalny's current lawyer Vadim Kobzev and his former lawyers Igor Sergunin and Aleksei Lipster were detained and later sent to pretrial detention for at least two months on a charge of taking part in the activities of an extremist group. After the arrests, Russian lawyers groups and associations issued an online petition calling for all lawyers in Russia to hold "a warning strike" from October 25-27 to protest the "systemic persecution" of dozens of their colleagues across the country. Navalny's groups and organization were labeled as extremist and banned in Russia in 2021.The punishment for taking part in an extremist group's activities while using the powers of an official position is up to 12 years in prison. In August, judges at the Moscow City Court found Navalny guilty of creating an extremist organization and more than doubled his term to 19 years, ruling that one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's sharpest critics must be transferred to a harsher "special regime" facility, rather than the maximum-security prison where he currently is held. The charges against Navalny are widely seen as retribution for his efforts to expose what he describes as the pervasive lawlessness, corruption, and repression by Putin and his political system. Navalny's previous sentence was handed down in 2021 after he arrived in Moscow from Germany, where he had been recovering from a poisoning attack he blamed on the Kremlin. Before the most recent conviction, he was serving a combined 11 1/2 years for embezzlement and violating the terms of his parole while he was in Germany being treated for the poisoning. 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 3 Kuzya inspects his weapon. A tall and broad 31-year-old with blue eyes, he declined to say how many Russian soldiers he has killed. He admits that he suffered from nerves the first time he fired a sniper rifle for real, only succeeding on the third shot. But he has not had this problem since. "There can't be any doubt about pulling the trigger," he said. "Hell, as far as I'm concerned, he's the enemy! He came to my home. I didn't go to his." The Ukrainian military said its forces fought 53 combat clashes at the front on October 16 -- the 600th day of Russia's all-out invasion -- and said the operational situation in the east and south "remains difficult." The General Staff said Ukrainian soldiers repelled 12 enemy attacks in areas near Kupyansk in the northeastern Kharkiv region and another four attacks near communities in the Luhansk region. 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. The command also reports on three attacks by Russian troops near Andriyivka, south of Bakhmut, saying it repulsed all of them. Near Avdiyivka in the eastern Donetsk region, which has been at the center of a large-scale Russian offensive in recent days, "the enemy conducted unsuccessful assault operations with the support of aviation" and Ukrainian forces repelled seven of the attacks. In the Maryinka district of the Donetsk region, Ukrainian forces successfully repelled 16 enemy attacks, the General Staff said. In the southern Zaporizhzhya region, the enemy tried unsuccessfully to regain a position west of Robotyne and west of Vervovy, the report said, adding that more than 20 settlements in the region were subjected to artillery and mortar shelling. Russia attacked Ukraine with missiles, drones, air strikes, Ukraine's military reported earlier on October 16. Russia launched 10 missiles and 12 kamikaze drones, with the air force claiming to have shot down two of the missiles targeting Ukraine's north and east. Eleven of the drones, mostly targeting western Ukraine, were shot down, according to the air force. "Unfortunately, there are dead and wounded among the civilian population," the Ukrainian military said, without providing casualty figures. Filip Pronin, the governor of the eastern region of Poltava, said that three civilians had been hospitalized after the region was attacked by drones and missiles. "Fortunately, no civilian or critical infrastructure was hit," Pronin wrote on Telegram. "However, missile fragments damaged several private homes." Russia also carried out air and artillery strikes in the southern Zaporizhzhya region, according to regional authorities. Several residential buildings and infrastructure were damaged and one elderly woman was reportedly injured. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in a report presented on October 16 to President Vladimir Putin that Ukrainian forces have suffered the loss of 1,500 armored vehicles and many troops during their counteroffensive. Shoigu presented the report to mark 600 days since the start of the war, TASS reported. IN PHOTOS: For months, a team of 20 Ukrainian snipers, known as the Ghosts of Bakhmut, has been tirelessly eliminating Russian forces in an eastern Ukrainian city utterly destroyed by intense combat. According to Shoigu, Ukrainian troops have failed to achieve any success during their counteroffensive, while Russian forces have improved their tactical positions. There was no independent confirmation of either side's claims. In central Kyiv, a group of relatives of soldiers who are missing in action or who have been taken prisoner protested in Kyiv on October 16, accusing President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the military leadership of failing to help them. Around 200 protesters, almost all women, rallied on Independence Square and marched to a military checkpoint near Zelenskiy's office. They shouted angry accusations at soldiers and police guarding the checkpoint. "You are taking our guys away to the slaughter," shouted one woman, according to AFP. "Where are they? Bring us back our children!" shouted another. "How long do we have to wait for our children?" They complained that military commanders have given them little information and refused to take their calls. They named numerous units, mainly ones fighting in the Donbas region. The military said that it continued to defend the east and south of Ukraine against Russian offensive maneuvers, while Ukraine's counteroffensive to regain territory occupied by Russian forces continues in the southeast in the direction of Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhya region. Russian drone strikes were reported by the Ukrainian Air Force in four cities located in the central Kirovohrad, Poltova, and Khmelnytskiy regions. Ukraine did not provide information on the extent of damage caused by the attacks. In the southern Kherson region, a local Ukrainian military spokesman said that the onset of rain had somewhat slowed Russian attacks. Oleksandr Tolokonnikov, spokesman for the Kherson Regional Military Administration, told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service on October 16 that "now it's more or less quiet, now it's raining a lot in Kherson and the region. This prevents them from firing." With reporting by dpa, AFP, and TASS TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, October 16. Uzbekistans Air Marakanda and China Southern Airlines have launched direct flights between their respective cities of Samarkand and Urumqi, having achieved the distinction of becoming the premier carriers to inaugurate flight services connecting these two cities, Trend reports. Flights will be operational once a week on Mondays, while return flights from Urumqi International Airport to Samarkand are scheduled for Sundays. The flights will be operated via Boeing 737-800 aircraft, featuring a two-class configuration comprising business class and economy. Within the framework of the event, a press conference was also held with the participation of Director General of Air Marakanda Anton Khojayan, Deputy Director General for Commerce of Air Marakanda Artem Pak, Head of the Samarkand regional branch of the Civil Service Development Agency under the President of Uzbekistan Rustam Kobilov, and Director General of the China Southern Airlines representative office in Tashkent Shen Yi. During the press conference, the participants noted the great potential of the newly launched air service between Samarkand and Urumqi and also discussed further prospects for development in the fields of tourism and trade between the two states. In addition, the participants announced plans to further open new destinations from China to Samarkand in the near future. TCS TCS COO N Ganapathy Subramaniam reveals plans to hire 40,000 campus recruits in the ongoing fiscal year NEW-DELHI: In a commendable display of resilience against the backdrop of a sluggish economic growth marked by hiring contractions and layoffs across various sectors, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has made a bold announcement, revealing plans to create employment opportunities for 40,000 individuals. TCS COO N Ganapathy Subramaniam affirmed the company's intent to ramp up hiring for campus positions within the current financial year, defying the prevailing trend. Ganapathy Subramaniam stated, "We typically hire 35,000 to 40,000 people, and those plans are intact this year as well. There are no massive layoffs. The way we calibrate it, we are always working to improve the utility because we have a good bench." This declaration reinforces TCS's steadfast approach towards recruitment and sustaining a robust talent pool. Advertisement Notably, This Announcement comes at a time when economic uncertainty has left many companies reconsidering their hiring strategies. TCS's commitment to sustaining its recruitment numbers reflects not only its resilience but also its confidence in navigating through economic challenges while continuing to invest in its human capital. In a similar vein, Infosys CFO Nilanjan Roy disclosed that the company had successfully onboarded 50,000 freshers in the preceding year. While, TCS focuses on bolstering its talent base through campus recruitment, the company remains open to lateral additions, albeit with a more pronounced emphasis on discretionary spending, according to COO N Ganapathy Subramaniam. Navkiran Kaur Navkiran Kaur secures the President's Award in scouting, a recognition bestowed upon 120 children annually by Bharat Scouts & Guides FEROZEPUR: In a noteworthy achievement, Navkiran Kaur, a diligent student of Baba Sham Singh Memorial Senior Secondary School, Fatte Wala, Ferozepur, has been chosen to receive the prestigious President's Award in scouting. The President's Award, a highly esteemed recognition, is presented annually to 120 children from various parts of India by Bharat Scouts and Guides. The Accolade, the highest within scouting's three-level wings in the range and rovers wing, marks Navkiran Kaur's exceptional dedication and commitment to the scouting movement. She has displayed commendable effort and enthusiasm in her scouting journey, making her stand out and earn this remarkable honor. Advertisement Navkiran's family proudly attributes her achievement to the invaluable guidance and mentorship provided by India Scouts District Secretary Sukhwinder Singh and District Media Coordinator Charanjit Singh. Their continuous support and mentorship have undoubtedly played a significant role in her success on this notable platform. Expressing their joy and pride, the patron of the school management committee, Sant Baba Shinder Singh ji, and the school management committee chairman, Iqbal Singh, conveyed their heartfelt congratulations to the school principal, dedicated staff, and the entire community. They acknowledged the collective effort of the teachers, students, and parents, underscoring the pivotal role played by their combined support and encouragement in this remarkable achievement. Voter List This Initiative seeks to ensure a transparent and inclusive democratic electoral process CHANDIGARH: The State Election Commission of Punjab has officially released a comprehensive schedule for the meticulous preparation of voter lists ahead of the impending general elections in five crucial Municipal Corporations. The general elections are slated to be held in the Municipal Corporations of Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala, and Phagwara. This pivotal announcement was made through notification no. 06/09/2023-5LG1/1015, dated October 5, 2023. The notification signifies a significant step toward orchestrating democratic processes across these major regions of Punjab. Advertisement As per the latest ward allocation orchestrated by the Local Government Department, the State Election Commission has meticulously devised a structured timetable for the seamless compilation of voter lists. The schedule entails the following key stages: Program for Preparation of Electoral Rolls: -Date of Preparation of Electoral Rolls: Up to October 19, 2023 -Date of Publication of Draft Electoral Rolls: By October 21, 2023 -Last date for filing claims and objections: October 31, 2023 -Settlement of Claims and Objections: Up to November 8, 2023 -Final publication of voter list: November 10, 2023 Advertisement A Spokesperson for the State Election Commission has urged the general public residing within the jurisdiction of these five Municipal Corporations to actively engage in the electoral process. Citizens are encouraged to visit their respective Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) during the stipulated time frame and submit any claims or objections they may have regarding the electoral rolls. This Initiative seeks to ensure a transparent and inclusive democratic electoral process. Air India Express Flight In a humanitarian gesture, Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority allows Indian aircraft into its airspace after 6 years for a medical emergency DUBAI: In a remarkable display of humanity and international cooperation, an Air India Express flight, operating under flight number IX-192, had to make an emergency landing at Karachi, Pakistan, due to a sudden deterioration in a passenger's health. The incident occurred on October 14 during a flight departing from Dubai, UAE, on route to India. The flight crew acted swiftly, identifying Karachi Airport in Pakistan as the nearest available landing spot, leading to a successful emergency landing. Recognizing the gravity of the situation, the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority promptly granted emergency permission for the flight to enter Pakistan's airspace, which had been inaccessible to Indian aircraft for the past six years. This unexpected but vital concession allowed the aircraft to make a safe landing at Karachi airport around 12:30 pm local time. Advertisement The swift response from Pakistan's aviation authorities continued as they facilitated essential medical facilities for the passenger in need. Upon landing, a team of doctors immediately attended to the passenger, ensuring necessary medical attention. Following medical clearance and treatment, the passenger was able to reboard the flight at approximately 2:30 pm Pakistan time, resuming their journey back to India. Notably, This Extraordinary event highlights the importance of international cooperation and adherence to humanitarian principles. Despite past geopolitical tensions, Pakistan's decision to grant access to its airspace during a medical emergency exemplifies a fundamental international norm, emphasizing the necessity of assistance and support in critical situations, transcending political boundaries. Accident Sukhwinder Singh, a native of Hoshiarpur, Punjab, tragically lost his life in a collision in Greenwood near Indianapolis WASHINGTON: In a devastating road accident that occurred on October 12 in Greenwood near Indianapolis, Sukhwinder Singh, a 42-year-old Indian-American, lost his life. The police confirmed this unfortunate event, detailing the collision that took place on that fateful day. Sukhwinder Singh, originally from Hoshiarpur, Punjab, had moved to America at the age of 15 in 1996. Preliminary investigations by the police revealed that the accident unfolded when the car driven by Sukhwinder Singh drifted into the opposite lane, resulting in a collision with an oncoming vehicle. Advertisement The Aftermath of the collision was tragic, leading to Sukhwinder Singh suffering severe injuries. Despite being rushed to the hospital for medical attention, he succumbed to his injuries on October 13. The incident has left his family, including his wife, 15-year-old son, and 10-year-old daughter, shattered and in mourning. Additionally, two individuals from the other vehicle involved in the accident, a 52-year-old man and a woman, sustained serious injuries and were promptly hospitalized for medical treatment. The Indian-American community and the family of Sukhwinder Singh are grappling with this sudden loss, with condolences pouring in from all quarters. Casino Guichard Perrachon SA (0HB1.L,CGUIY.PK), a French retail company, said on Monday that it is executing a pre-agreement with Grupo Calleja, which operates under the Super Selectos brand, to sell Casino's total equity interest in Almacenes Exito S.A., for $556 million in cash. The transaction represents 34.05 percent of Exito's capital stock, which is to be sold in tender offers to be launched by Grupo Calleja in Colombia and in the U.S. for the acquisition of 100 percent of shares of Exito. Grupo Pao de Acucar or GPA, a Brazilian unit of Casino, which holds 13.31 percent of Exito Group's shares is also party to the Pre-Agreement and agreed to sell its equity interest in Exito Group. The price to be offered in the Exito Group is $1.175 billion for all outstanding shares, equivalent to $0.9053 per share, of which $400 million is for Casino Group's direct equity interest and $156 million is for GPA's equity interest. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Logistec Corp. (TSX: LGT.A.TO, LGT.B.TO), a provider of specialized services to the marine community, announced Monday its definitive agreement to be acquired by Blue Wolf Capital Partners LLC for C$67.00 in cash per share. The total enterprise value of the deal would be around C$1.2 billion, subject to customary closing conditions. Logistec has entered into an arrangement agreement with 1443373 B.C. Unlimited Liability Co., an entity owned by certain funds managed by Blue Wolf in partnership with Stonepeak, an alternative investment firm, for the deal. The transaction will be implemented by way of a plan of arrangement and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024, subject to customary closing conditions. Following the deal closure, the company will become a privately held company and its shares will no longer be publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The deal follows the company's review of strategic alternatives available that was conducted by a Special Committee of independent directors at the request of its principal shareholder, Sumanic Investments Inc. The consideration represents a 61.2% premium to the unaffected 20-day volume-weighted average trading price per Class A Common Share on the Toronto Stock Exchange on May 19, the last trading day prior to the announcement of the strategic review process. It also represents a 14.5% premium to the 20-day volume-weighted average trading price per Class A Common Share on the Toronto Stock Exchange on October 13. The company said the Special Committee and the Board of Directors have unanimously concluded that the transaction is fair to its shareholders. The transaction is not subject to any financing condition. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Biopharmaceutical major Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO) announced on Monday that it has agreed to acquire ocedurenone for uncontrolled hypertension from KBP Biosciences for up to $1.3 billion. The deal is expected to close before the end of 2023, subject to receipt of regulatory approvals and other customary conditions. It is not expected to impact the company's previously communicated operating profit outlook for 2023. The transaction will be funded from the company's financial reserves. Ocedurenone is an orally administered, small molecule, non-steroidal mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist or nsMRA. The drug is used for uncontrolled hypertension with potential application in cardiovascular and kidney disease. Ocedurenone is currently being examined in the phase 3 trial CLARION-CKD in patients with uncontrolled hypertension and advanced chronic kidney disease or CKD. Camilla Sylvest, executive vice president, Commercial Strategy & Corporate Affairs at Novo Nordisk, said, "This deal is closely aligned with our strategic focus on expanding from our core in diabetes into other serious chronic diseases, including through novel drug modalities, to help many more patients living with unmet medical needs." Ocedurenone has been investigated in nine clinical trials including the BLOCK-CKD Phase 2b trial, where it met its primary end point by demonstrating a statistically significant improvement in systolic blood pressure from baseline to day 84 in patients with stage 3b/4 CKD and uncontrolled hypertension. The CLARION-CKD phase 3 trial has been initiated in the US, Europe and Asia and will continue as planned with a total of more than 600 patients expected to be randomized by more than 150 sites. Novo Nordisk expects to initiate phase 3 trials in additional cardiovascular and kidney disease indications in the coming years, aiming to maximize the full potential of ocedurenone, the company said in statement. In pre-market activity, Novo Nordisk shares are trading at $101.32, down 0.80% on the New York Stock Exchange. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, October 16. Uzbekistan and the World Tourist Organization of the United Nations (UNWTO) agreed on the adoption of a joint roadmap for the practical implementation of the planned solutions for the development of bilateral cooperation, Trend reports. The announcement came after a meeting on October 16 in Samarkand between Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and UNWTO Secretary General Zurab Pololikashvili as part of the UNWTO's 25th General Assembly. During the discussion, the parties discussed the extension of diverse cooperation for the development of Uzbekistan's tourism potential. It was underlined that the involvement of high-level delegations from over 140 countries in the world in the event demonstrates a growing interest in Uzbekistan as a center of global and regional tourism. Meanwhile, the UNWTO's 25th General Assembly will be held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, from October 16 to October 20. The UNWTO-organized Investment Forum is intended to draw attention to a number of key commercial agreements on the presentation of lands and projects with high investment potential in all areas of Uzbekistan. In the meantime, Uzbekistan has been elected to the UNWTO Affiliate Members Committee for the years 2023-2027. This committee, which includes over 500 private firms and tourism organisations from across the world, offers numerous potential for the growth of this industry in Uzbekistan. Tata Motors saw the highest CV retail sales in September 2023 despite a YoY de-growth Commercial Vehicle (CV) retail sales in September 2023 as released by Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA) saw a 4.87 percent YoY growth. Reasons for its growth could be attributed to emphasis being shown by the Central Government in terms of infrastructure development while a boost in the tourism industry has also led to increased demand for buses. The e-commerce boom has also led to a surge in demand for both delivery vans and smaller commercial vehicles for quick and efficient distribution. Commercial Vehicle Retail Sales September 2023 Total CV retail sales stood at 80,804 units in September 2023. This was a 4.87 percent YoY growth from 77,054 units sold in September 2022 while MoM sales improved by 7.32 percent over 75,294 units sold in August 2023. In this segment, LCV sales dipped by 1.76 percent to 46,213 units from 47,043 units YoY though it was a MoM growth of 5.20 percent from 43,929 units sold in August 2023. The MCV segment saw a YoY growth of 8.45 percent to 5,623 units from 5,185 units though MoM sales dipped 4.61 percent. HVC sales have seen both YoY and MoM growth of 11.11 percent and 14 percent respectively to 25,237 units. Tata Motors was the highest-selling commercial vehicle manufacturer in September 2023 even as retail sales dipped to 29,229 units, down from 30,214 units sold in September 2022. Market share also fell to 36.17 percent from 39.21 percent YoY. Besides Tata Motors, every other manufacturer has posted a YoY growth. At No. 2 was Mahindra with 20,694 unit retail sales last month. This was a growth of over 18,358 units sold in September 2022 with a market share going up to 25.61 percent from 23.82 percent YoY. Mahindra has seen outstanding demand for its Bolero Maxx Pick-up, sales of which touched the 1 lakh unit milestone in September 2023. Mahindra had launched Bolero Maxx Pik-Up City on August 10th, 2022. Ashok Leyland has seen marginal growth in CV retail sales on a YoY basis. Sales increased to 12,690 units in August 2023 from 12,470 units sold in September 2022. To mark the companys 75th anniversary event in Chennai, Ashok Leyland unveiled a hydrogen fuel cell bus. This is Indias first fuel cell bus that will commercially ply on countrys roads. The company will be supplying around 10 such hydrogen fuel cell buses to NTPC, for use in Leh and Ladakh. VE Commercial Vehicles also saw a growth in retail sales to 5,694 units in September 2023 from 4,983 units sold in September 2022. Market share currently stands at 7.05 percent, up from 6.47 percent held in September 2022. Maruti Suzuki, Daimler, Force Motors, SML Isuzu Lower down the list was Maruti Suzuki with 3,486 unit sales in September 2023. This was a growth over 3,179 units sold in September 2022. A leading model in the companys CV lineup is the Maruti Suzuki Super Carry. It is a mini truck available in petrol, and CNG variants used as a mini loading and pickup truck. Retail sales of Daimler India also improved to 1,673 units with a 2.07 percent market share. This was against 1,197 unit retail sales in September 2022 when market share stood at 1.55 percent. It was followed by Force Motors with 1,258 unit sales last month, up from 1,093 units sold in September 2022. SML Isuzu sales also increased to 760 units from 741 units on a YoY basis. There were others on the list that added 5,320 units to total CV retail sales last month to command a 6.58 percent market share. It related to a YoY growth of over 4,819 units sold in September 2022 when market share had stood at 6.25 percent. Words from FADA President Sept23 showcased a resilient CV segment, observing a noticeable demand in coal, cement and general market load sectors, with the passenger carrier segment also experiencing a favourable uptick. This positive trend can be attributed to the adequate deployment of funds from the Central Government towards Infrastructure development, which fostered an environment for bulk deals, especially in Tippers and government sectors. Furthermore, there was a discernible improvement in market sentiment post-Covid, supporting healthy traction in HCVs, Buses and LCVs and signalling a revitalized tourism market. Kia EV2 planned to launch in 2026 or beyond, could very well be a B-segment hatchback with crossover DNA sprinkled all over it The South Korean brand, Kia, has set major goals in electric mobility sector. There is an increasing demand for EVs and Kia intends to achieve 1.6 million EVs per annum sales by 2030. This is a steep goal and the brand needs more affordable EVs to hit that mark. This is where recently unveiled Kia EV3 and EV4 along with confirmed Kia EV2 come into action. Kia EV2 Planned Is this an electric hatchback? At Kias EV Day event, the company showcased EV3 and EV4 concept vehicles that will sit below recently unveiled EV5 electric family SUV. Both EV3 and EV4 are already in concept phase, which the company showcased as well. However, Kia EV2 has still not reached concept phase. At the same stage where Kia showcased EV3 and EV4 concept, Kia also announced Kia EV2, which will be the smallest offering when launched. Until the Kia EV1 follows at a later day, of course. Kias EV line is based on born electric E-GMP platform that Hyundai shares with Kia. Based on this platform, Kia has already launched EV6 crossover and EV9 3-row SUV. Recently showcased EV3 is a small SUV and EV4 is an unconventional saloon-type vehicle. It doesnt have a classic 3-box design, but it does have a sloping coupe-style roofline that lends it a 2-box appeal. Both of these vehicles possess Kias new EV-specific design language that relies heavily on geometrical patterns. Kia EV2 will follow a similar design ethos too. The primary market for Kia EV2 could be Europe and might be manufactured at the companys Slovakia plant. Going by current trends, Kia EV2 is likely to be a hatchback confined within B-segment size constraints with crossover DNA all over the design. A high performance GT version in the mix too Considering it will be a smaller vehicle, Kia is less likely to offer a dual motor AWD setup with EV2. That said, we hope this single motor setup has RWD and not FWD. Unlike the 800V architecture on E-GMP platform with Kia EV6 and EV9 on sale, there can be a new variation with around 400V architecture. This will increase charging time and reduce performance envelope. But will be apt for the size and market positioning that Kia EV2 will slot in. A high-performance GT version is likely to be on the cards, like other E-GMP based EV lineup from Kia. Launch may happen in 2026 or beyond, after the launch of EV3 and EV4. India launch could be a reality, considering Kia has already trademarked EV1 to EV9 wordmarks in India. This may be an indication that Kia holds intentions to introduce all or some of these born electric EV vehicles. TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, October 16. As per Uzbekistan's estimates, a total of 7 million tourists will visit the country this year and there are plans to increase this figure to 15 million by 2030, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev said, Trend reports. He made the remarks during his opening speech within the framework of the 25th session of the General Assembly of UNWTO on October 16 in Uzbekistan Samarkand. The president noted that the number of foreign tourists arriving in Uzbekistan has increased by 2 times in 2023, and the revenues from the export of tourist services increased by 4 times. The number of Japanese tourists visiting Uzbekistan increased by 5 times in 2023. Visitors from India and Italy have also shown a significant interest in the country, with a remarkable 3.5-fold increase in their numbers. The volume of the US tourist influx to Uzbekistan has also seen a twofold increase, he said. Mirziyoyev also noted that more than $1 billion worth of investments have been directed to improve the tourist infrastructure of Samarkand. The Silk Road International Tourist Center, which is currently hosting the forum, represents one of these significant initiatives. Furthermore, to guarantee the security of visitors, a dedicated tourist police force has been established, he explained. Meanwhile, the 25th session of the General Assembly of UNWTO is being held in Uzbekistans Samarkand from October 16 through October 20. The Investment Forum organized within the framework of UNWTO is expected to attract attention to many important business agreements on the presentation of territories and projects with high investment potential in all regions of Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan has also been elected as a member of the UNWTO Affiliate Members Committee for the period from 2023 through 2027. This committee, comprising over 500 private organizations and tourism associations worldwide, presents broad opportunities for the development of this sector in Uzbekistan. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 16. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Trend reports. Returned to Israel and met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog to reaffirm U.S. commitment to provide Israel with the assistance it needs to protect its citizens, Antony Blinken wrote on his page on X. 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. A Saudi Arabia visa is an official document issued by the Saudi Arabian government that allows foreign individuals to enter and reside in the Kingdom for various purposes. These include tourism, business, work, study, or other authorized activities. The Saudi Arabia visa is legal authorization for foreigners to stay in the Gulf country temporarily, specifying the purpose of the visit, the duration of stay allowed, and any specific conditions or restrictions that apply. Read More: Saudi Arabia Introduces New Visa on Arrival for Some Citizens If you don't know how to get a visa in Saudi Arabia or what type of visa you will need, this article is for you. What are the types of Saudi Arabia visas? Tourist Visa: This visa allows individuals to visit Saudi Arabia for tourism purposes, including sightseeing, visiting historical sites, and experiencing the local culture. Business Visa: The business visa is intended for individuals traveling to Saudi Arabia for business-related activities such as meetings, conferences, or contract negotiations. Work Visa: This work visa is required for individuals planning to work in Saudi Arabia. It is usually sponsored by an employer or company in the country. Student Visa: The student visa is granted to individuals who have been accepted into a recognized educational institution in Saudi Arabia. Premium Residency Visa: This visa is issued to individuals who wish to obtain an investment-based residence in Saudi Arabia. Family Visit Visa: This visa is issued to individuals who intend to visit a family member within the Kingdom. Personal Visit Visa: This is one of the e-visa services. It allows individuals without business or family ties in Saudi Arabia to apply for an entry visa. Hajj and Umrah Visas: The Saudi Hajj and Umrah visas are issued to Muslims who wish to visit the Kingdom to perform the pilgrimage rituals of Hajj and Umrah. Residence Visa: This visa is for individuals who plan to reside in Saudi Arabia for an extended period of time. It is sponsored by a Saudi Arabian citizen, a Saudi company, or a family member. What are the Saudi Arabia visa requirements? To apply for a Saudi Arabia visa, you will have to submit several documents depending on the purpose of the trip. However, the general documents required for all visa types include: Passport Application form Personal photo Note: Additional documents may be required, depending on your nationality or the specific visa type you are applying for. Additional documents may include bank statements, sponsorship letters, police reports, or medical certificates. Visa application process The processing time for Saudi Arabia visas can vary depending on the visa type, the country of application, and the current workload of the embassy or consulate. The embassy or consulate will provide an estimated processing time based on your specific visa application. When planning a family trip, you need to take into account the wishes and interests of each family member so that everyone gets an unforgettable experience and is satisfied. We know how difficult it can be to please everyone - from grandparents to the youngest - so we've created a small guide to make your life easier. ADVERTISIMENT We offer you 5 family vacation destinations where everyone will find something to their liking. Yaremche The soul of Prykarpattia and the cultural capital of this picturesque region. It is a cozy town with everything you need to recuperate and escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Start your trip with a walk in the city center - both adults and children will enjoy this activity. Colorful Hutsuls and unique Carpathian landscapes will not let you get bored for a minute. By the way, Yaremche is home to the amazingly beautiful Probiy waterfall, so you don't have to travel kilometers of tiring path to admire its beauty. For outdoor enthusiasts, we recommend going on a hike to Mount Makovytsia, which is only 985 meters high, so even the youngest travelers can conquer the peak. A must-see is the Miniature Museum Park, where you can see the region skillfully recreated in all its glory with waterfalls, architectural structures, and even a working mini-railroad. ADVERTISIMENT Halych The majestic capital of the Galician principality in the past, today it is a provincial town that will be an ideal place for a family vacation. Take a stroll through the historic center, where you can admire a small-scale replica of medieval Halych or walk across the majestic Dniester River. Then go on an excursion to Halych Castle, which stands on a hill above the city. Children will especially enjoy a visit to the ruins of the fortress, where they will imagine themselves as brave knights or beautiful princesses. We also recommend that you do not ignore the open-air museum, where both adults and children will be interested in plunging into the life of our ancestors and learning more about the history of the region. ADVERTISIMENT Be sure to try traditional local cuisine in one of the restaurants to feel the amazing atmosphere of the picturesque region to the fullest. Khust The resort town, surrounded by mountain peaks, fascinates with its beauty and originality. A trip to Zakarpattia will bring positive impressions to the whole family. Start your exploration with an excursion to the ruins of an ancient castle. Its walls hide the secrets of hundreds of years, and according to legend, Count Dracula himself once lived here. Not far from the city is the village of Iza, known for its unique farm where spotted deer are bred. Communication with these amazing animals will give kids an unforgettable experience. By the way, in Khust itself, you can visit an ostrich farm and estimate the size of exotic birds and their eggs. ADVERTISIMENT In addition, the town is surrounded by real natural treasures, including thermal waters in the village of Velyatyno, rapids on the Tisa River, the Gorodyliv Waterfall, and the unique Valley of Daffodils in the Kereshi tract. Ivano-Frankivsk The glorious city, which is the gateway to the majestic Carpathians, is known for its ancient history and grandiose monuments. Take a stroll around the city center and visit its sights: the town hall, the Potocki Palace, the bastion, and the Cathedral of the Intercession. After the tour, we suggest grabbing a bite to eat at one of the many restaurants, each with an interesting concept and atmosphere. ADVERTISIMENT Children will definitely enjoy a visit to the Kinosfera planetarium, which is located in the local history museum. If you want to take a break from the cityscape, we recommend going to the Maniava Waterfall, which is over 18 meters high. The beauty of untouched nature will enchant all members of your family. Lake Synevyr Fabulous panoramas of the Carpathians and fresh mountain air are the reasons to go to this special location. Take a walk along the shore, watch the rainbow trout and enjoy your vacation in the lap of nature. Here you can also go to conquer one of the peaks of the Gorgan massif, which will be within the power of both adults and children. By the way, there is a rehabilitation center for brown bears nearby, where you can observe its formidable inhabitants. ADVERTISIMENT Synevyr National Nature Park is a paradise in the Carpathians. It is a unique place where not only the body but also the soul can rest. By choosing one of these great destinations to travel to, you are guaranteed to have a lot of unforgettable experiences and a vacation that will satisfy all family members. So enjoy your travels and keep these memories forever in your family album and your hearts. Earlier, OBOZREVATEL told you where to spend a weekend in Ukraine. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel and Viber. Don't fall for fakes! Houting, a salmonid fish, was thought to be extinct. However, a new study suggests otherwise after it extracted its DNA and compared it to the European whitefish. Houting Fish Not Extinct The houting, a fish species that inhabited the estuaries of the North Sea and was thought to be extinct, has been discovered to exist still. In a recent study, scientists from the Natural History Museum in London and the University of Amsterdam collected DNA from numerous houtings preserved in the museum, some of which were over 250 years old. They then constructed a phylogenetic tree by comparing the DNA of these fish with DNA from several closely related species that are currently living. The biologists detected virtually no genetic differences between houting (Coregonus oxyrinchus) and European whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus). Similar to European whitefish, houting has been documented. Houting is, therefore, not extinct because it is still widespread. The European whitefish is fairly common in both freshwater rivers and saltwater in Western and Northern Europe. First author Rob Kroes of the University of Amsterdam remarked that they do not consider the houting extinct because they found no difference between the houting of the past and today's European whitefish. How is it possible that in 2008, the houting was formally proclaimed extinct? According to Kroes, it frequently happens that people are unsure whether some animals belong to a single species or not, particularly if fish are involved. Within a species, they frequently show great variety in physical characteristics. Due to the length of the snout and the quantity of gill rakers, biologists have long believed that houting is a distinct species from the European whitefish in this scenario. But it is just not accurate to suggest that houting is a separate species based on these characteristics. Their DNA analysis unequivocally demonstrates that it isn't, per Kroes. The official Latin species name needs to be changed, it seems. However, more investigation on the DNA of the dried fish from 1754 is necessary before the name can be changed. The researchers believe it will be challenging to accomplish this. The IUCN states that the North Sea houting is extinct. However, numerous European nature laws require the protection of both houting and European whitefish. As a result, we are preserving a currently swimming extinct species, Kroes added, pointing out that the status of various coregonids is a mess. ALSO READ: Gargantuan Prehistoric Fish Captured in Texas [See Photo] What Is Houting? Houting belongs to the Salmonidae family. Like other salmon, it spends the earliest part of its life in the same watercourse where it spawns. The North Sea houting is born and raised in the Wadden Sea but migrates to larger waterways in the fall to spawn. Salmonids typically spawn where the bottom width exceeds 4 meters in the lower and middle reaches of the watercourses. According to studies, houting larvae cannot thrive in the salty Wadden Sea water. The fry's physiology does not alter until they are between 30 and 40 mm in length, allowing them to tolerate the transition from freshwater to saltwater. It is believed that the freshly hatched fry must be brought away to locations with stagnant water for the houting to survive. This could be in places like smaller lakes and wide river bends, where the early stages of growth occur. The fry migrates to the Wadden Sea, where it grows up after reaching a length of 30 to 40 mm in April or May. RELATED ARTICLE: Prehistoric Alligator-Like Fish Washed Up Ashore in Singapore 10,000 Miles Away From Its Native Home Check out more news and information on Animals in Science Times. On October 14, millions of people witnessed an annular solar eclipse as it swept through a narrow path spanning eight US states from Oregon to Texas. A View to Behold Many skywatchers turned their cameras to the sky to capture the celestial phenomenon. This includes journalist and science writer David Baron, a veteran eclipse chaser who traveled to northwest New Mexico to view this rare event. In his place in New Mexico, Baron is at a very remote overlook over some badlands. This place has eroded cliffs with striped purple, gray, and beige. During the solar eclipse, these colors changed as the moon moved in front of the Sun, making the landscape dimmer. As the colors got deeper, the contrast was also heightened. The surroundings also got colder since the temperature dropped by 10 to 15 degrees. Baron said he is still looking forward to a total solar eclipse like the one in 2017. Baron is willing to travel to the other side of the world for the next total solar eclipse next year as it will cross the US from Texas to Maine. Other skywatchers shared their experiences as they watched the "ring of fire" eclipse. Brett Tingley witnessed the solar eclipse from Great Basin National Park in Nevada, where the clouds initially threatened to ruin the view. Fortunately, the sky cleared for the actual moment of annularity, with the moon leaving just a ring of sunlight around its edge. At Monument Valley in Utah, a stunning composite image of the annular solar eclipse was captured by Rajat Kumar Pal. The photo was taken right after sunrise, which is seen at the left side of the Sentinel Mesa. It shows a beautiful diffraction of the Sun's rays at the mesa wall while giving an idea of where the Sun will rise that day. One of the strangest effects of solar eclipses is the shadow they cast on the ground. Eclipse watcher Nicole Edwards captured a view of the partial phase of an annular solar eclipse in the shadows of tree leaves in Fort Worth, Texas. Since the annular solar eclipse passed over many large cities across the US, some communities combined the event with other festivals or local celebrations. In Albuquerque, a crowd of spectators watched the eclipse with their glasses as they witnessed it from the 51st Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. READ ALSO: Annular Solar Eclipse 2023: North America's First 'Ring of Fire' To Be Visible From Eight US States; Here's How To Watch Preparing for the Next Eclipse On April 8, 2024, millions of people will have the chance to see a total solar eclipse, with the Moon's shadow crossing the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. This event will only last a few minutes, depending on location. An hour before totality, a partial eclipse can be seen with the Moon taking a larger and larger bite out of the Sun. As more and more of the Sun gets eclipsed, skywatchers might notice some strange lighting effects. Getting closer to totality, a rarer phenomenon can be observed in the form of shadow bands or undulating shadows mostly seen on plain surfaces. As the last rays of the Sun disappear, Earth observers can see what looks like a string of beads along the limb of the Moon. Also known as Baily's beads, they are caused by sunlight slipping through lunar valleys. Eye protection is the most important thing to remember while preparing for the 2024 solar eclipse. Although it may be tempting to look at the Sun directly, it is not recommended since the UV rays from the Sun can burn the retinas and cause permanent damage to one's vision. RELATED ARTICLE: Ring of Fire: Northwestern US to Brazil May Witness the Spectacular Annular Total Solar Eclipse This Month Check out more news and information on the Ring of Fire Solar Eclipse in Science Times. Observing exoplanets, i.e. planets outside the solar system, is a very difficult task. They don't shine as brightly as stars, so you can only see them in the depths of space with the help of very sophisticated equipment. So any discovery related to these celestial bodies is a real event in astronomical science. ADVERTISIMENT Such an event was the discovery of not even the planets themselves, but the fragments of two huge icy objects that orbited a distant Sun-like star and collided with each other. Live Science writes about it. A NASA spacecraft that monitors the sky for asteroid threats was able to detect the traces of the collision. It was he who recorded the bright flash caused by the collision of the planets. Thanks to it, it was also possible to detect the resulting dust cloud. It was so large and dense that it covered the surface of the star and obscured its light. The event took place near a star called ASASSN-21qj. It is about 3,600 light years away from Earth. The intensity of the light from the collision doubled in the infrared range, and three years later it decreased to visible light. An enthusiastic astronomer noticed this. ADVERTISIMENT "An astronomer on social media noted that the star had become brighter in the infrared more than a thousand days before optical fading. That's when I realized that this was an unusual event," said study leader and researcher at Leiden University Matthew Kenworthy. He even called the data a complete surprise. It is known that scientists have been monitoring ASASSN-21qj for two years. Of course, they also recorded its brightness. The results of these observations were published in the journal Nature on October 11. The scientists modeled how such a collision could have occurred. They used a computer to simulate the initial impact and then the scattering of the particles ejected as a result of the collision. This showed that the planets ASASSN-21qj probably merged into a single body after the impact. ADVERTISIMENT The scientists also suggested how the debris cloud could have spread outward from the impact site. It would have taken three years for the star to close in so that it would be dimmed for an Earth observer. "Our calculations and computer models show that the temperature and size of the glowing material, as well as the time for which the glow lasted, are consistent with a collision between two icy giant exoplanets," said co-author Simon Locke, a researcher at the University of Bristol. Scientists also studied the temperature of the planet's debris and this helped them to conclude what the infrared glow created by this catastrophic event might have looked like. Radiation matching this profile was detected by NASA's Near-Earth Object Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) spacecraft, which hunts for asteroids and comets in our solar system. ADVERTISIMENT Currently, observations of ASASSN-21qj and its planet debris are ongoing. Astronomers will collect data for several more years. According to their forecasts, the cloud of debris will spread through the orbits of the destroyed planets. Researchers can try to capture the scattering of light on this dust cloud using ground-based observatories and space telescopes such as the James Webb Space Telescope. Earlier, OBOZ.UA told you about the unique blue sunset, which was captured on Mars by the Perseverance spacecraft. Subscribe to OBOZ.UA channels in Telegram and Viber to keep up with the latest events. US Special Representative for Ukraine's Reconstruction Penny Pritzker arrived in Kyiv on October 16. The visit was her first since she was appointed to this position on September 14, and she had previously visited the Ukrainian capital as Secretary of Commerce. ADVERTISIMENT Penny Pritzker's arrival was announced by U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink. "A very warm welcome back to Kyiv, Secretary Pritzker!" she wrote on social media. Brigitte Brink also posted a photo of the two of them at the Kyiv railway station. As you know, on September 20, Penny Pritzker already met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in New York. On September 14, U.S. President Joe Biden appointed her to the position of Special Representative for Ukraine's Economic Recovery. She will work with the Ukrainian government, the G7, the EU, international financial institutions, partners, and the U.S. private sector to help shape Ukraine's future. ADVERTISIMENT In particular, she will lead the development of priorities through the Interagency Donor Coordination Platform to align them with Ukraine's needs and encourage countries to increase their support for Ukraine. After the appointment, the New York Times reported that the special representative plans to visit Ukraine in the next few weeks to assess the state of the economy and meet with political and business leaders. What is known about Penny Pritzker Penny Sue Pritzker is an American billionaire, entrepreneur, public figure, philanthropist, and the 38th Secretary of Commerce of the United States (2013-2017). In 2011, Forbes named her the 263rd richest person in the United States and the 651st in the world, and in 2009 she was named one of the 100 most powerful women in the world. Penny's ancestors come from the village of Velyki Pritski in Kyiv Oblast. The Pritzker family is one of the richest in the United States and owns the Hyatt hotel chain. ADVERTISIMENT As reported by OBOZ.UA, the Pentagon is creating a new team in Ukraine responsible for monitoring military aid to Kyiv. This is due to the growing calls from Republicans for tighter control over the use of financial resources. Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Pharma giant GSK has announced that European experts recommended the approval of its Jerperli drug for the treatment of a specific type of endometrial cancer paving the way for marketing authorisation by the continent's regulatory body. The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency has adopted a "positive opinion recommending approval" of Jerperli, otherwise known as dostarlimab, which when used alongside chemotherapy can used for patients with mismatch repair deficient (dMMR)/microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) primary advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer and who are candidates for systemic therapy. Hesham Abdullah, senior vice president and head of oncology within R&D at GSK, said: "If approved, dostarlimab plus chemotherapy will be the first new treatment option in decades for these patients in the European Union, offering long-awaited new hope for improved long-term outcomes. "This opinion further reinforces our confidence in dostarlimab's important role in the immuno-oncology treatment landscape." GSK said it is expecting a decision from the European Commission by the end off this year. Jemperli remains under review in Australia, Canada, Switzerland and Singapore, but was approved this summer already in the US and UK. Endometrial cancer, the most common gynaecologic cancer in developed countries, affects 417,000 new cases each year, but incidence rates are expected to rise by almost 40% by 2040, GSK said. 15-20% of people with the cancer will be diagnosed with advanced disease at the time of diagnosis, while approximately 20-29% of all endometrial cancers are dMMR/MSI-H. Every year on October 16, World Food Day provides a global forum for addressing severe problems with hunger, food security, and sustainable agriculture. This year's theme is Water is life, water is food. The phrase Leave no one behind emphasizes water's crucial role in our lives, from sustaining our food production systems to replenishing our bodies. Taking place, World Food Day activities strongly emphasize advancing global food security. The Significance of Water All life on Earth depends on water, commonly called the "elixir of life." It comprises oceans, seas, rivers, and lakes and covers a sizable amount of the surface of our world. The fact that it contains more than 50% of the human body further demonstrates its essential role in maintaining our health. Human food systems and ways of life depend heavily on water, which is also necessary for survival. Equal Access to Food and Water The focus for World Food Day in 2023 emphasizes how important it is to guarantee that everyone on earth has access to food and clean water. Millions of people still experience hunger and food insecurity, and many more have difficulty accessing clean, safe drinking water. We must make every effort to ensure that no one is left behind if we are to establish a future where everyone may benefit from a sufficient quantity of clean water and adequate sustenance. Farmers as Food Producers: The world's food security is greatly dependent on farmers. Their commitment and labor are essential to India's food production because agriculture forms the foundation of the country's economy. Indian farmers continue to strive for excellence in the face of erratic weather, degrading land, and shifting market pricing. We must encourage sustainable farming practices, increase public awareness of water conservation and food security, support international initiatives that support equal access, and give our farmers the tools they need to protect their livelihoods if we are to honor this day and its topic correctly. India still ranks among the top food-producing countries in the world, thanks to their determination and dedication. Action for Change Promote Sustainable Agriculture - Encourage and practice sustainable farming methods that minimize waste, maximize water use, and support efficient resource management. Raise Awareness - Inform local populations on the value of food security, water conservation, and the necessity for fair access to these resources. Support Global Initiatives - Promote laws and programs to ensure everyone can access food and clean water locally and globally. Empower Farmers - Lend farmers assistance and resources to adopt water-saving techniques, diversify their crop production, and safeguard their livelihoods. Ahead of Food Day: The hard work of Indian farmers and the outstanding advancements in the agricultural sector must be honored on World Food Day 2023. Farmers are responsible for providing food for the earth as the planet's population is expected to increase. India's development in embracing contemporary technologies, diversifying its crop base, engaging in sustainable agriculture, and implementing government policies is a testament to the nation's dedication to agricultural sustainability and food security. India is on the right track to satisfy its own food needs and make a significant contribution to the security of the world's food supply. We can effect good change by uniting as a global society and ensuring everyone has access to the fundamental rights of food and clean water. Remember that the dedicated farmers who work tirelessly to put food on our tables are the foundation of food security. Let's work together to build a world where no one is left behind, and everyone has access to food and clean water. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Rite Aid, one of the countrys largest pharmacy chains, officially filed for bankruptcy on Sunday, submitting to the weight of billions of dollars in debt, declining sales and more than a thousand federal, state and local lawsuits, according to a recent report. The company, which operates two stores on Staten Island, has struggled in recent years to compete against larger brands like CVS and Walgreens. According to company filings, deteriorating sales resulted in approximately $3.3 billion in debt. And in March, the Justice Department filed a complaint against Rite Aid, alleging that that the company filled prescriptions for excessive quantities of opioids that had obvious, and often multiple, red flags indicating misuse. The company has denied these claims. In a statement on the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, Rite Aid indicated it has received a commitment for $3.45 billion in financing from lenders, which would support the company throughout the restructuring process. It also announced the appointment of Jeffrey S. Stein as CEO. Also known as a reorganization, Chapter 11 allows a company to stay in business while restructuring its debts through a court-controlled process. Rite Aid has closed hundreds of stores since 2021 and announced in August that it would close hundreds more. The company has not yet released a list of shuttered locations, and both Staten Island stores are still in operation. The New York Times called the bankruptcy filing a dramatic fall for what was once the biggest drugstore chain in the United States. Founded in 1962 as Thrif D Discount Center in Scranton, Pa., the chain changed its name to Rite Aid in 1968, when it became a publicly traded company. The brand expanded quickly over the next decade, and The Times reported that, for a time, Rite Aid was the nations largest drugstore chain and the largest within New York City. In 1998, Rite Aids market value was nearly $13 billion. It closed on Friday with a market value of less than $40 million. The chain now has about 2,000 locations in 17 states, while CVS Pharmacy operates more than 9,500 stores and Walgreens around 8,700. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. More than a dozen firearms were turned in during a gun buyback held by authorities in Tompkinsville on Saturday. The event, hosted by the NYPD, District Attorney Michael E. McMahon and Assemblyman Charles Fall, was held at Mt. Sinai United Christian Church. Community members who brought weapons were able to remain anonymous, with a no questions asked policy in effect. The event was part of the effort to combat gun violence on Staten Island. Despite the rain, over a dozen firearms were turned in at todays Cash for Guns event! 25% of which had defaced serial numbers indicating possible prior use in serious criminal activity, McMahon said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. Thanks to the NYPD, AM Fall & Mt. Sinai United Christian Church for your partnership! Despite the rain, over a dozen firearms were turned in at todays Cash for Guns event! 25% of which had defaced serial numbers indicating possible prior use in serious criminal activity. Thanks to the NYPD, AM Fall & Mt. Sinai United Christian Church for your partnership! pic.twitter.com/1yElhZnAmd Michael E. McMahon (@StatenIslandDA) October 14, 2023 Fall (D-North Shore), who noted that gun violence has doubled in his district, said each firearm turned in is a potential life saved. Gun violence has doubled by more than 112% compared to last year within my district. Grateful to partner with @NYPDstatenIslnd @StatenIslandDA for yesterdays successful gun buyback event. Each firearm turned in is a potential life saved. #SafeStreets #EndGunViolence pic.twitter.com/LPO5G9Wh7m Charles D. Fall (@Charlesdfall) October 15, 2023 The X account for the NYPD of Staten Island, shared similar sentiments. At todays Gun Buy-Back, we received over a dozen firearms, along with strengthening bonds between law enforcement and community, the account said. At todays Gun Buy-Back, we received over a dozen firearms, along with strengthening bonds between law enforcement and community. We would like to thank Bishop Victor Brown, and Mount Sinai United Christian Church for hosting this event. @NYPDchaplains @StatenIslandDA pic.twitter.com/QYRyWO5fxQ NYPD Staten Island (@NYPDstatenIslnd) October 15, 2023 For the varying firearms, different incentives were given to those who turned them in. Each person who returned an operable handgun or assault rifle received a $200 pre-paid card. On a first-come, first-serve basis, these individuals also received an iPad while they were available. For rifles, shotguns and airguns, participants received a $25 pre-paid card. RELATED COVERAGE: Staten Island news >> FDNY shuts down St. John Villa shelter over faulty sprinkler, alarm systems >> Freshkills North Park and its 21 acres of beauty officially open where filth-oozing hills of waste dominated Staten Island >> Why are our children dying? Advocates on front line describe desperate race to reach Staten Island kids STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. A 51-year-old man from New Jersey turned shoplifting into robbery when he brandished a taser at two locations of a home improvement store on Staten Island, authorities allege. Jashone Seller was arrested on Oct. 2 in connection with the two armed thefts, which occurred at the Lowes store at 2790 Arthur Kill Road in Rossville on July 12 at about 7:10 p.m., and the Lowes store at 2171 Forest Ave. in Mariners Harbor on July 17 at about 1:45 p.m., according to the criminal complaint and police. In the first incident, Seller, who lives on Court Street in Newark, allegedly removed three air conditioners, two containers of detergent and a drill from store shelves. He walked past all the checkout counters when a store worker asked him to show proof of purchase, the complaint alleges. Go ask the white boy for his receipt, the criminal complaint quotes Seller as saying while brandishing a taser. A few days later Seller allegedly removed air conditioners from a store display at the Mariners Harbor location and then walked past the registers when he was approached by a victim. Do you want to get tased over this s---? the complaint quotes Seller as saying before he punched the victim, who suffered pain in his face. In connection with the two incidents, Seller, whose last name also is listed in public records as Sellers, has been charged with robbery, grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, criminal possession of a weapon and petit larceny. He pleaded not guilty to all charges and is due back in Criminal Court on Thursday. He is being held at Rikers Island in lieu of combined bail set at $150,000/$50,000 cash, according to public records. Attorney Maria Guastella, who is defending Seller, declined to comment at this time. __ OTHER STATEN ISLAND NEWS: >> NYPD: Death of girl, 17, on Staten Island being investigated as homicide >> NYPD identifies 13-year-old boy who was fatally stabbed on Staten Island; 14-year-old boy arrested >> Gas station worker details stabbing on Staten Island: Kids were crying; 13-year-old boy was lying on floor of MTA bus >> Sources detail burglary at popular restaurant on Staten Island: Window broken, $3,700 and register stolen >> NYPD: Found with 10-inch knife, Staten Island man accused of series of attacks >> NYPD: Pre-dawn raid on Staten Island nets heroin, crack cocaine, oxycodone STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. New York City officials have removed a section of NYPD barricade on Midland Avenue located by a migrant shelter that occupies the former Island Shores senior facility. The section of barricade, which stood between Baden Place and Father Capodanno Boulevard, was taken away Sunday following a conversation between New York City Mayor Eric Adams and two New York State Assembly members representing Staten Island. The removal of the section of barricade allows for improved vehicular access, as motorists may once again turn onto Midland from Father Capodanno. Assemblyman Mike Reilly and I conferred with Mayor Eric Adams and the NYPD today about the barriers along Midland Avenue and the surrounding streets, Assemblyman Michael Tannousis (R-East Shore) posted to social media Sunday. As a result of that conversation, the barriers have been removed. Traffic will now be flowing freely around this location. Barriers still surround the perimeter of the former Midland Beach-based senior facility, and an NYPD presence consisting of several police vehicles are still stationed in the area, as noticed Sunday evening by the Staten Island Advance/SILive.com. Many of the metal barricades are now pulled to the side of the street on Midland Avenue and stacked next to each other on the sidewalk at the corner of Baden Place. An NYPD barricade on Midland between Baden Place and Father Capodanno Boulevard, that limited vehicular access around the former Island Shores senior facility, now a migrant shelter, has been removed as of late Sunday afternoon. (Staten Island Advance/Scott R. Axelrod) An area resident told the Advance/SILive.com she was pleased to see the removal of the barricade that made driving in the area a real inconvenience. She also was pleased with the fact that MTA buses can now access nearby Father Capodanno Boulevard, as vehicles on Father Capodanno were being detoured onto Lincoln Avenue and vehicles on Midland headed toward Father Capodanno were previously forced to turn left at Baden Place. Rachel Norman, owner of Try Hard Fitness, told the Advance/SILive.com that the barricade and the resulting detour were hurting her business. Norman said that the NYPD should have a barricade only on Father Capodanno, where the shelter is located. Why all these detours, for what? Norman said, as reported by the Advance/SILive.com on Friday. I do have clients who have to find a way around. Its stopping and doing a whole bunch of detours for people who need to go to businesses or home, Norman added. So does it really make sense? What is the point of it? They should just take it down. With the intensification of the occupation forces in the area of Avdiivka, the enemy army has suffered increased losses. In Donetsk, where the bodies of the Russian "two hundredth" are being brought from the nearest directions, there is an acute shortage of places in morgues. ADVERTISIMENT This was reported by the Center for National Resistance on its website, citing data from the Ukrainian underground. Employees of morgues in the occupied center of Donetsk region are worried that improper storage of corpses could provoke an epidemic outbreak. "The unsuccessful attempts of the Russian occupation army to assault Ukrainian positions resulted in huge losses for the occupiers. Hundreds of Russians are brought to Donetsk morgues every day, where there is a critical lack of space," the Center for National Resistance reported. Residents of the city said that the bodies of liquidated servicemen of the aggressor country are left in the corridors, in the yards of morgues and in other premises that are not adapted for this. In addition, the enemy suffers losses due to the work of Ukrainian guerrillas, the Center for National Resistance emphasized. ADVERTISIMENT "The underground helps the Defense Forces to effectively hit enemy targets in the rear of the temporarily occupied territories. Each successful artillery strike brings the liberation of our territories from the invaders closer," the press service emphasized. According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, on October 14, the losses of the Russian Armed Forces in the war against our country amounted to 880 people. More detailed statistics can be found here. As OBOZ.UA previously reported: - Earlier, the commander of the 59th Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Vadym Sukharevsky said that the enemy focused on attacks from the flanks and moved three new brigades to the area of Avdiivka. ADVERTISIMENT - The Economist believes that the battle for Avdiivka will affect Ukraine 's offensive regardless of the results achieved by the occupiers. Russian assaults on this section of the frontline will limit the ability of the Ukrainian Defense Forces to make a breakthrough in the south before the onset of winter. Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Migrants left the city shelter set up at the former St. John Villa Academy Monday after the FDNY shut the site down, the Advance/SILive.com has learned. State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton (D-North Shore/South Brooklyn) shared a photo of people with suitcases leaving the shelter boarding a city bus, and an FDNY vacate order citing a failure to provide a sprinkler system and a fire alarm system. From the beginning, we have always stood firm that a migrant shelter at Villa was an issue of safety. Todays closure by the FDNY proves what weve said all along, Scarcella-Spanton said. We hope that this shows the city how critical input is from the elected officials and neighbors who know their community best. As an alumni of St. John Villa Academy, I look forward to its next chapter, being a school that Staten Islanders deserve. A visit to the site by and Advance/SILive.com photographer confirmed that people were leaving the shelter, and the bus they boarded was seen leaving the Island via the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. Mayor Eric Adams administration confirmed the shelter would be closing Monday, but tried to downplay the move as part of routine FDNY inspections. The Villa sites closure followed the Thursday closure of another city shelter set up at the former site of the Richard H. Hungerford School in Stapleton over apparent asbestos concerns. As the city continues to receive thousands of asylum seekers weekly, we immediately work with our agencies to ensure the safety and security of all those in our care, the spokesperson said. Asylum seekers have undergone long and arduous journeys before arriving in New York City, and we are committed to keeping them safe while staying at emergency shelters. When identifying emergency sites, we work with agencies to ensure we are taking the proper fire protective measures. Since spring 2022, more than 110,000 people from around the globe have made their way to the five boroughs. Over 64,000 people still in the citys care have prompted Adams administration to set up more than 210 emergency shelters around the five boroughs. Several shelters set up around Staten Island have drawn large protests, including one outside Villa that drew over 1,000 people in late August. Borough President Vito Fossella applauded the FDNYs closure of the site citing zoning in the area and saying the site was inappropriate for habitation. From day one, we said that this facility was not only a horrible location for a migrant shelter, but also was not viable, he said. We maintained that there were not only locational, but more significantly, safety issues with the site. We are beyond pleased that, finally, our opinions have been validated by the FDNY. Its time for the lives of the people of Arrochar and the students at St. Joseph Hill and P.S. 39 to get back to normal. Fossella along with other local Republican elected officials and Scott Herket, a neighbor who lives directly next to Villa, filed a lawsuit in August seeking to close the shelter raising similar concerns about the sites operation. New York Supreme Court Judge Wayne Ozzi sided with the plaintiffs on Sept. 26 granting a preliminary injunction against the site, but Adams administration notified the court of their intention to appeal citing a portion of state law that prevents Ozzi ruling from being enforced. Todays actions taken by the Fire Department demonstrates what we, the elected officials and residents, have been saying since the beginning of this nightmare, Assemblyman Michael Tannousis (R-East Shore/South Brooklyn) said. This location is the absolute worst possible location for a migrant shelter. Unfortunately, the fire department had to take action before someone became seriously injured. If only we were consulted beforehand, this migrant shelter would not have opened in the first place. Attorneys Mark Fonte and Louis Gelormino are representing the local cases plaintiffs against the city, and on Monday, Fonte credited local elected officials for bringing the lawsuit. Relentless pressure from the community, elected officials, activists, lawyers and even a Supreme Court Judge caused the City to stand down, Fonte said. Much credit should go to our Borough President Vito Fossella for being the tip of the spear. On Friday, most of Staten Islands elected officials gathered outside the Villa site to notify the public of the impending FDNY inspection that they expected would result in the shelters closure. During that Friday press conference, Councilman Joseph Borelli (R-South Shore) tied the impending inspection to an alleged dispute in Adams administration among City Hall, the Office of Emergency Management (OEM), which operates the Villa shelter, and the FDNY over fire safety conditions at several migrant shelters around the five boroughs. The councilman shared a list of several locations around the city that are scheduled for inspections, including the Villa shelter and two others at the former Staten Island Motor Lodge on Hylan Boulevard and the Ramada Inn on North Gannon Avenue. Finally, the pendulum is swinging back, and folks are starting to realize this has been ridiculous from the beginning, he said Monday. When the site initially opened, city officials said the shelter would have capacity for 300 people primarily housing families with children. Scarcella-Spanton, Tannousis, and Councilman David Carr (R-Mid-Island) toured the Villa site shortly before it opened in August, and said at the time that the location was in too poor a condition for migrant housing. Scarcella-Spanton and Tannousis on Friday shed a bit more light on what they saw, saying the location was filled with wall-to-wall cots, and that the conditions were unacceptable for the new arrivals. The former St. John Villa campus was never an appropriate site to be used as a shelter, Carr said. It is about time it was closed, and I appreciate the FDNY refusing to compromise on safety standards. This should send a signal to the City that it is long past time for us to end our open-ended commitment to sheltering migrants. Other elected officials shared the following statements on the closure of the Villa shelter: The residents surrounding St. Johns Villa did not deserve this disruption to their neighborhood of heavy police presence, nightly protests, and smells of raw sewage, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/South Brooklyn) said. St. Johns Villa should have already been made a public school as promised and zoned for, not a migrant shelter. We hope this is the beginning of New York City putting the needs and desires of our citizens and our community first. For well over a month, we have alerted the city and state of the fire and safety violations existing at the building. While it is good the city has finally acted, both the fire and police commissioner need to explain to the people why it has taken so long to act, said State Senator Andrew Lanza. I am glad that the shelter is finally being shuttered and the residents of this community can return to normalcy, said Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo. We all knew there were safety concerns here and the placement of migrants at this site was always improper. The site of former St. John Villa Academy and the events of these past several weeks exposed the hypocrisy of out of touch city bureaucrats whose subversive actions sought to prioritize sanctuary city rhetoric over the safety of our communities, egregiously violating basic fire code in the process and placing thousands of lives collectively at risk, said Assemblyman Michael Reilly. No community, not in this city, state, or country, should be forced to deal with the consequences of this federal governments reckless border policies. MORE LOCAL NEWS New York employers can no longer access private social media of workers, applicants under new law Impending FDNY inspection may force closure of St. John Villa shelter Staten Island migrant shelter at former school to close over asbestos concerns, elected officials say NYC greenway expansion: 10-mile bike path envisioned for Staten Island NYC lays out possible congestion pricing scenarios for tunnel crossing discounts, for-hire charges STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Dozens of horseshoe crabs washed up along the shore of New Dorp Beach recently. Every year, this phenomenon is observed on beaches across Staten Island. Bearing 10 eyes, six pairs of legs, a tail, and tough exoskeleton, horseshoe crabs take the appearance of prehistoric looking animals. Horseshoe crabs are water arthropods that have been around for more than 300 million years, before the emergence of dinosaurs. The crabs typically visit the shores of New York City in late spring through early summer to mate and lay eggs, according to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. In the fall and winter months, horseshoe crabs remain in estuaries or migrate to the continental shelf. Horseshoe crabs found at New Dorp Beach on October 4, 2023. (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel) Like all arthopods, horseshoe crabs have a hard exoskeleton on the outside of their body and to grow, the crab must shed its old exoskeleton and form a new, bigger one. Some of the horseshoe crabs shown above are not dead, but they are possibly shedding. The crabs are more known for their contributions in the medical field. Their blue blood contains a protein called Limulus Amebocyte Lysate (LAL), used by pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers to test their products (including the COVID vaccine) for the presence of endotoxins, bacterial substances that can cause fevers and even be fatal to humans, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. In Aug. 2023, the federal government shut down the harvest of horseshoe crabs during the spawning season to let them reproduce. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a ruling that calls for the end of horseshoe crab harvesting in Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge in South Carolina from Mar. 15 to Jul. 15. On the New York Parks Department website, horseshoe crabs are listed as a vulnerable species by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species because of loss of habitat due to coastal development and pollution, and over harvesting by the pharmaceutical industry, and commercial fishery. RELATED STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Legendary cooking instructor, restaurant owner and executive chef Carol Frazzetta of the former Carols Cafe passed away late last week after a battle with cervical cancer. She was 86. A self-professed Kitchen Bitch, Frazzetta penned her self-published autobiography of the same name in 2019, two years after retiring from her Dongan Hills eatery. Her 359-page, recipe-filled tome details the ups and downs of her career and motherhood with bare-knuckled candor and raw emotion. Carol's 85th birthday at Scarpetta in NYC, May 2022. From left to right: Carol Frazzetta, Maria Giudice, Keith Lewis, Scott Allen, Terri Giudice, Amanda Lewis. (Courtesy of the Giudice family) Early on in her life chronicle she confessed, The affection that I was so hungry for came when people enjoyed my food and acknowledged my cooking abilities. And when folks didnt appreciate her food or straightforwardness, she let them know exactly what she thought. Daughter Maria Giudice shared, My mother was very colorful. Even as a child growing up. She was fiercely loving. You always knew where you stood with her. Carol Frazzetta pictured with Food Network TV chef, Bobby Flay, while they were filming at her restaurant in Dongan Hills. (Advance File Photo)si advance BOBBY FLAY MEETS CAROL Indeed, Frazzetta was notoriously strong-willed, as illustrated by Bobby Flays visit to Carols Cafe in 2004. The Food Network celebrity came to her restaurant with his handlers adamant about a one-hour tour. After three hours in the Dongan Hills kitchen, Frazzetta had schooled Flay in caramelizing garlic and how to cook broccoli rabe trimmed and poached in chicken stock until barely tender. She noted with fondness in her memoir, He signed autographs; he spoke to the whole staff and kissed me many times. In a mans world of professional kitchens throughout the 70s, 80s and early 90s, Frazzetta ruled over her staff and cooking students with an iron fist. At the same time, she showed her bold feminine side with bright nail polish, camera-ready makeup and perfectly coiffed hair and sometimes a fire engine red chef coat. One of the first cooking classes taught at Carols Cuisine on Richmond Road in Dongan Hills. (Courtesy/Carol Frazzetta)Staten Island Advance Giudice said her mom served as a great role model. She explained, She was born into a typical Brooklyn family. The son was revered. The daughters were expected to get married. She was always trying to show to herself and others that she was talented and worthy. That is a gift she has given me to persevere. At the same time, Giudice learned as did Frazzettas customers: do not test the chef. That meant a few things like never a order a well-done filet mignon. Avoid tinkering with suggested presentations and temps (i.e. if the tuna comes with toasted black and white sesame seeds, it cannot possibly be raw like sushi.) And be specific on modifications but be careful on those requests. If a bravado customer asked for a Level 10 amount of spice, Giudice said he got it alright. The smoke would come out of peoples eyeballs when you tested her on hotness. She unapologetically expressed herself through the food, she said. Frazzettas other daughter, Terri Giudice, was Frazzettas frequent sous chef and cooking school cohort. She remembered, My mother had a gift. As a child at P.S. 48 I was so proud that her cakes at the bake sale were looked at with awe and were the first to be sold. My bag lunches she prepared were so big that I often shared them with another student. She taught me everything I know about cooking and baking and I have inherited her artistic view and love of food. It saddens me to know that I will never get to share a meal with her again. Family friend and Frazzetta devotee Vannessa Barone said, Carol influenced me to enter the restaurant business where I remain to this day, still carrying principles she introduced me to when I was 9 years old in her Grasmere kitchen. She also influenced her son, Joe Giudice, enough for him to become a chef as well. He passed in 2020. Carol Frazzetta was tough when she needed to be tough, but decidedly very feminine in her complete makeup, perfectly coiffed hair and bold red chef coat. (Staten Island Advance File Photo) MINGLING WITH JAMES BEARD AND JULIA CHILD Born in Brooklyn, Frazzetta moved to Staten Island to raise her family and begin her 44-year journey as a culinary instructor. She had no intention of opening a restaurant initially. She began with a gourmet shop, catering company and cooking school at Four Corners Road and Richmond Road. Ultimately, she opened Carols Cafe in December, 1992. Frazzettas drive and ambition brought her through famous kitchens under tutelage of the worlds top chefs. She polished her skills through schooling at The Cordon Blue of London and La Varenne of Paris. Further instruction came from John Clancys School of Baking in Manhattan, The Wilton School of Cake Decorating of Chicago, The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, The New School and LAcademie-de Cuisine in Bethesda, Md. She also learned about wines and wine pairing from top wine educator and oenophile Kevin Zraly at the former Windows on the World. Frazzetta was proud to see recipes appear in the James Beard Celebration Cookbook and the International Association of Cooking Professionals Cookbook. She reveled in the spotlight of a 2004-2005 feature in the International Whos Who of Chefs. A few names stand out on her resume as she continued to improve upon her skills and become more confident. She became a student of Marcella Hazan at her cooking school in Italy. Carol's photo from an Advance photo shoot in 2006 featuring her as a top borough chef, one of the only females in those ranks at that time. (Staten Island Advance File Photo) Photographer Bill Higgins recalled of his friend, She and James Beard struck up a long-time friendship. He watched over her. You have to remember he was an imposing guy. He kept her protected from any kind of sabotage in a highly competitive environment which was male-dominated. She persisted and stayed true to form. He recognized the fact that she was talented. She was tough when she needed to be tough. But she had a really big heart. She was a great person. Frazzetta met cooking great Julia Child a few times. In Kitchen Bitch she explains how Child encouraged her to eat her first oyster. The Staten Islander confessed it was a tortuous experience but she appreciated how Child once called her The Little Sicilian. Carol Frazzetta teaching a class at the Italian Culinary Institute in Manhattan. (Staten Island Advance File Photo)Staten Island Advance WHAT MADE CAROLS CAFE SO NOTABLE All of the knowledge learned afar came back to Staten Island in the enormous body of work put forth at Carols Cuisine Cooking School where everything was produced from scratch. Carol and a crew that included daughter Terri baked all the breads for the bread basket. They crafted desserts including made-to-order poofy souffles in peanut butter, vanilla and chocolate flavors. Apple strudel with fresh whipped cream was among the house-made desserts for the cooking school and classes. (Staten Island Advance File Photo)Staten Island Advance Frazzetta gleefully responded to customer satisfaction with special rewards. Those who ordered liver with bacon and onions became part of her Liver Club, certificate included. A finite few, however, became fodder for menu inspiration. Dr. Lou Gianvito not only had a significant friendship status but he also had a dish named for him Dr. Lou Gianvitos Fish of the Day. This favorite of a favorite customer entailed fish filet poached in plum tomatoes and fish stock with extra-virgin olive oil, shallots, garlic, hot vinegar-ed cherry peppers, fresh basil and Italian parsley. She was born for cooking and teaching. That was her whole life. I have a whole book full of her class work, different recipes she taught me over the years, Dr. Gianvito told the Advance/SIlive.com. Foie gras prepared by Carol Frazzetta with a cherry-infused beef stock. (Staten Island Advance File Photo)STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE HONORING CAROL Frazzettas recipes riffed on family dishes with an injection of Asian and Indian flavors. She dabbled in game meats such as ostrich and venison. Although she could masterfully handle delicate product like fois gras and serve exquisite French fare, she believed Italian was the most lucrative, said Terri. It ultimately became the mainstay of the menu at Carols Cafe. Terri added, She had a great life. After she retired, she missed the restaurant. But I said to her, we couldnt have survived COVID. Her cast iron pans went to the firehouses. We took her plants to Clove Lakes where they are in the atrium. We donated any food left to City Harvest. Cooking student Dr. Adrienne Ferretti was introduced to Frazzetta through the late Meryl Efron, an enormous Frazzetta fan. Ferretti said, Carol was a creative, fiesty, knowledgable, successful, self-assured woman-chef-teacher and business owner who carved out her place in the Staten Island restaurant world. Her classes introduced us to famous chefs and recipes from all over. She was a force to be reckoned with a pioneer among women chefs and entrepreneurs. Frazzettas family said food insecurity was a dear cause for their mother. Therefore they request donations to City Harvest in lieu of flowers. The late Frazzetta collected cookbooks. These plus her houseplants will be shared with friends and family at her wake at Matthew Funeral Home at 2508 Victory Blvd., Willowbrook, on Nov. 11 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Carols' cookbooks and plants will be given to friends and family at the wake, held on Nov. 11. (Courtesy of the Frazzetta family) More in food: Remembering Chef Joe Guidice of Carols Cuisine fame Michelin adds 11 restaurants to prestigious guide, but none from Staten Island yet Best global eats on Staten Island: Peruvian food and a famed Pisco sour Staten Island restaurants step up, play ball to raise funds for Staten Island 5-year old fighting cancer Pamela Silvestri is Advance Food Editor. She can be reached at silvestri@siadvance.com. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. New York City business owners will now be able to utilize an artificial intelligence chatbot to access city government information, Mayor Eric Adams announced Monday. The new MyCity Business site will connect business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs to content to help them start, operate, and grow businesses in the five boroughs with information from 2,000 NYC Business web pages, according to the mayors office.. City Halls new tool is the first piece of a larger New York City Artificial Intelligence Action Plan, which lays out how the city will incorporate the new technology into everyday government. While artificial intelligence presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to more effectively deliver for New Yorkers, we must be clear-eyed about the potential pitfalls and associated risks these technologies present, Adams said. I am proud to introduce a plan that will strike a critical balance in the global AI conversation one that will empower city agencies to deploy technologies that can improve lives while protecting against those that can do harm. The larger plan outlines 37 key actions 29 of which are set to be started or completed within the next year that will be rolled out in phases to help city agencies determine if a given artificial intelligence tool is a good fit. Some of the planned actions include establishing a framework for AI governance, creating an external advisory network focused on artificial intelligence, and publishing an annual report on the citys use of artificial intelligence, The new MyCity Business portal will help businesses with information on topics like code and regulation compliance, available business incentives, and best practices to avoid violations and fines, according to the mayors office. Tariq Zaid, operations manager for Staten Island-based The Richmond Hood Company, applauded the city for its new initiative, and said it would help small businesses across the five boroughs. Having everything all in one place is essential for anyone operating a small business. We need to find answers and resources quickly so we can get back to workwhether its information about a permit or a violation, or a new program that can elevate our businesses, he said. This city needs small businesses, and small businesses need the city to support them in as many ways as possible. MORE LOCAL NEWS FDNY shuts down St. John Villa shelter over faulty sprinkler, alarm systems New York employers can no longer access private social media of workers, applicants under new law Impending FDNY inspection may force closure of St. John Villa shelter Staten Island migrant shelter at former school to close over asbestos concerns, elected officials say NYC greenway expansion: 10-mile bike path envisioned for Staten Island 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! 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 Sydney Opera House 50th Anniversary Magazine. See all 9 stories . When Jrn Utzon resigned in 1966 and packed his bags for Europe, never again to set eyes on the Sydney Opera House, it was left to a bright young Australian architect, Peter Hall, to finish the job. Hall was brought on by the NSW Government Architect when the Opera House was a half-finished structure, principally a series of concrete shells missing their glorious interiors. It proved both an opportunity and a poisoned chalice. Over the next seven years Hall walked a tightrope, balancing Utzons vision with a Liberal state government determined to rein in overruns and delays. At the same time he was juggling a brief that was changing to accommodate the wishes of the arts companies for whom this grand cathedral would be home. It would take a huge toll. Hall was ostracised by his colleagues and vilified for the inevitable compromises it took to realise Utzons daring vision for Bennelong Point. Retired Sydney architect Andrew Andersons recalls a party he hosted shortly before the Opera House opened in October 1973 to which Hall, regarded as something of a strikebreaker, had been invited. Some people saw Peter at the other end of the room and walked out and left. Can you imagine that? Andersons recalls. People had this idea that Peter was somehow a traitor by taking on the job. And, yet, I was actually at Yale University when Peter passed through on his way to Denmark in 1966 to try to persuade Utzon to come back. Peter Hall and the engineers who finished the Opera House Those judging Hall misunderstood the immense technical and political complexities he and his team confronted when they took over, says Anne Watson, who believes a reappraisal of Halls reputation is long overdue. Its possible to embrace Utzons great vision, acknowledge the construction hurdles and myriad complexities, and acknowledge Halls hard-fought endeavours to complete the building, says Watson, a former Powerhouse Museum curator and author of the 2017 book The Poisoned Chalice: Peter Hall and the Sydney Opera House. Without both men, there would be no Sydney Opera House as we know it. He felt, out of all the people in the field, he could do it. Peter Halls son, Willy Peter Hall was 34 years old and new to private practice when first approached by NSW Government Architect Ted Farmer to take over from Utzon, who quit over a dispute with the Askin government over payments. Halls prodigious talent had been telegraphed two years earlier when hed been awarded Australias prestigious Sulman Medal for the Goldstein Hall residential college at the University of NSW. Initially, Hall rejected Farmers offer, having signed the petition and joined the public protests calling for Utzons reinstatement. Approached a second time, he phoned Utzon, whom hed once visited in Denmark, who confirmed he would not be back: Its better I go, Utzon had told Hall. Advertisement Halls son, Willy, who as a child would play in the demountable offices on the Opera House site, recalls his mother telling him his father had paced their North Sydney home for two weeks when the job was offered. He kept saying over and over again, If someone doesnt do it, the whole thing will not be finished, recalls Willy, now aged 60 and a builder. He felt, out of all the people in the field, he could do it. Was that a little arrogant? Probably, but given his ability as a scholar and aesthete, I think he did realise he could take it on. But it was a terrible dilemma, and a lot of pressure on him at a young age, with two young children underfoot. Ove Arup (at left) with Jrn Utzon after Utzons arrival in Sydney from Denmark. Credit: Max Dupain Reading Halls personal papers and diaries for the first time in 2007, Anne Watson found a highly committed, ambitious and capable architect, respectful of Utzons vision yet unaware in early 1966 of the challenge that lay in wait. Hall and his partners Lionel Todd and David Littlemore, who formed the consortium Hall, Todd and Littlemore were fortunate to retain the expertise of Ove Arup, the English-born consulting structural engineer selected by Utzon to build his vision. The seminal roles played by Arup and Jack Zunz, his senior partner at the London-based Ove Arup & Partners, have been largely overshadowed by the legend of Utzons genius. Arup had written to Utzon the day after Utzon won the international design competition in 1957, offering his expertise in concrete design. Utzon and the Danish-educated engineer found in each other a like-minded creative collaborator, with Arup spellbound by Utzons architectural audacity and personality. I think it was a meeting of minds that was meant to be, says Peter Bailey, an Arup principal who worked on the Opera Houses 1988 Bicentennial Forecourt upgrades. Ove found in Utzon a soul mate who was imaginative, spatially creative and wanted to push boundaries. He was in his early 60s at the time and someone with a huge reputation himself. It was just a dream job, a dream commission. But like all dreams, it had its challenges. Foremost of these was to turn Utzons free-form shells into a modular, buildable structure. A gigantic computer was harnessed to experiment with complex geometric shapes of ellipsoids and paraboloids for the roof structure, before Utzon famously settled on the curved triangular segments of a sphere. That breakthrough was to unlock a whole construction approach, with the ribs of the main sails fabricated onsite by Hornibrook in segments before being glued and stressed together with steel tendons in a method now commonplace in modern bridge building. Advertisement Loading It took seven years and 350,000 man-hours to make the shells stand. It was stretching architecture to the limit, it was stretching complex geometric design and fabrication to the limit, Bailey says. Everything was right on the edge, needing cutting-edge technology, and thats why I think amazing things happened. But there were tensions between Utzon and Arups Sydney office over delays to the troubled design of the north-facing glass walls and the theatre ceiling, to the point that Arup complained that Utzon had shut down all communications with the engineering team. By then 71, and nearing retirement, Arup flew to Sydney to convince Utzon to stay on but not remain solely in charge. The engineer complained hed come under fire from friends and colleagues for sticking with the project. It is a personal disaster for me, Arup told The Bulletin in 1966 in defence of the companys decision to stay loyal to the project and the NSW government, a client that had treated the company fairly, after Utzons departure. Why should I resign to force Utzons return on his terms if I think that would be wrong? It is the Opera House that is important, not people. According to Bailey, Ove was deeply affected when Utzon left the job deeply, deeply affected. He was shattered. Everybody looks back on that project with fondness but there were scars for everybody along the way. Everyone ran out of time because the government wanted the building. Peter Hall in a 1987 interview In design principles drawn up by Utzon after his 1999 re-engagement, Utzon remarked that it was lucky Ove Arup had stayed on, otherwise the project would not have been finished, and that the team of Hall, Todd and Littlemore had made the building function so well. While theres been debate over the extent to which Utzons interior designs had been resolved by the time of his departure, in May 1966 Arup and Hall found much of the work still to be finalised: the foyers, the performance halls, back-of-house facilities and offices, and the glazing of the northern foyer windows that had precipitated the split between Utzon and the Askin government. Ove Arup, Jack Zunz and Michael Lewis on site in October 1964. Credit: Max Dupain Advertisement Hall said hed been persuaded fairly reluctantly to take up the role, thinking all the design work was done, and that it was a question of being built. As it turned out, Hall had few of Utzons drawings and documents with which to work. The project brief was changed radically. And then, of course, everyone ran out of time because the government wanted the building, Hall recounted in a 1987 radio interview that features in the Opera Houses oral history. It was a political embarrassment if there wasnt progress and so the job turned into a construction management contract in which the design really didnt stop until the last screw was screwed tight. By the time of Halls arrival, the concept of a multipurpose hall fit for orchestral concerts, opera and ballet, central to the competition design specifications, had been proven unworkable in North America. Subsequent radical auditorium design changes recommended by Hall and supported by government triggered a political storm, not least because the art form so central to the title of the Opera House itself was to take up residence in the smaller of the two halls, the larger one being reserved for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, then run by the ABC. What was finally built in 1973 bore in broad terms a resemblance to the 1957 competition entry but in many details was different, and I think in a lot of ways better, Hall said in 1987. For Peter Hall, the Opera House cast a shadow that also affected his personal life and his health. Anne Watson Andersons, who as Assistant Government Architect engaged Hall on the 1988 Opera House Forecourt project, regards the building as a classic meeting of two minds: the inexperienced, single-minded visionary that was Utzon; and Hall, the delegator and pragmatic adherent to functional modernism. The Opera House was great because of Utzon but I also believe the final outcome owes an enormous amount to Peter Hall, who was reviled for most of his life, which contributed to his alcoholism and early death. Its a real tragedy. Architecture is about design and its about function and in the process compromises have to be made, and thats possibly what Utzon was reluctant to do. Returning to private practice in 1972, Hall designed many well-regarded projects, including Sydney Universitys swimming pool and recreation centre, and the award-winning Blue Circle Southern Cement Plant at Berrima, in the NSW Southern Highlands. He was not offered the prime contracts he might have expected though, Watson says, and in any event, no other project would ever remotely approach the challenge of the Opera House. It was a shadow that also affected his personal life and his health, Watson says. Ultimately, financial problems, a stagnating career and the depredations of alcohol contributed to his death from a stroke on May 19, 1995, at the age of 64. Advertisement On the night of October 16, the Russian terrorist army launched another attack on Ukraine using missiles and kamikaze attack drones. In total, the enemy launched 6 missiles and 12 UAVs. ADVERTISIMENT Air defense forces destroyed 13 targets. This was reported by the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The air raid alarm sounded around midnight in a number of regions. The danger spread to the central, southern and western regions. Russian terrorists used ballistic weapons, guided missiles and attack drones. The enemy attacked Ukraine from several directions. The Ukrainian military recorded the use of one Iskander-M ballistic missile, five X-59 guided missiles and 12 Shahed-136/131 attack UAVs. The Russians used the aircraft missiles to shell the northern and eastern regions of Ukraine. The occupiers sent the attack UAVs in different directions, including to the west of the country. As a result of combat operations, the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed two X-59 and 11 Shahed-136/131 guided missiles. ADVERTISIMENT As a reminder, on the night of October 16, Russian occupants launched a missile attack on Ukrainian cities. The explosions were heard in Dnipro, Myrhorod and a number of other localities. The occupiers attacked Poltava region with missiles and drones. Three people, including a child, were injured as a result of falling debris. Explosions occurred in Myrhorod district at night. Earlier it was reported that on the night of October 15, the occupiers struck at Kharkiv region. The enemy dropped a guided aerial bomb on the village of Druzhelyubivka, Izium district. As reported by OBOZ.UA, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that on the eve of winter, there would be more missile attacks by the Russian army, in particular on energy infrastructure facilities. Ukraine must be prepared for this, so there are agreements with Western partners to strengthen air defense. ADVERTISIMENT Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! 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 Martin Scorsese still remembers Robert De Niro calling him in the middle of shooting This Boys Life, where he played Leonardo DiCaprios abusive stepfather. He said Im working with this kid, hes really good. You should work with him sometime. That was Leonardo DiCaprios first movie role; he was 18, fresh out of television and could hardly believe he was working with the star of Raging Bull and Taxi Driver. I didnt have a template of what acting really was. Id taken acting classes, Id read up on it, but until you see that man walk into the room and the respect he commands by his sheer presence and his commitment to his craft the entire generation of actors I grew up with look at him as the gold standard, and here he was. Scorsese laughs, of course, as DiCaprio tells that well-worn story. It would be another nine years before he cast the kid in Gangs of New York but, six collaborations later, their names are welded together. De Niro, who came from his neighbourhood they knew each other well enough to say hello from childhood before making Mean Streets, set in Little Italy, in 1973 was his leading man for the first half of his career. DiCaprio took the baton for the second half. Scorsese, right, on the set of Killers of the Flower Moon with Jesse Plemons and Robert De Niro. De Niro and DiCaprio, however, hadnt worked together again until Scorsese brought them together for his vast new film, Killers of the Flower Moon. To be there, 30 years later, says DiCaprio solemnly, was a very special and meaningful moment for me. Killers of the Flower Moon stands out from Scorseses other work as an angry film. Scorseses characters are habitually tormented, trapped in wrong lives by the expectations of others and in perpetual trouble with God; they are mafiosi or failed sportsmen or men who simply lack the courage to make their own moral choices, like Newland Archer in The Age of Innocence. In Killers of the Flower Moon, however, the director ranges outwards to rub at one of the greatest stains on American history: the crushing of the countrys First Nations people. His antihero here, Ernest Burkhart, is a cold-blooded murderer, but he is nothing like Travis Bickle, the lone-wolf killer; he is just a cog in the wheel. The real target of Scorseses film is systemic racism. Advertisement It is a true story, drawn from David Granns non-fiction book of the same title, which has the secondary title The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI. The Osage tribe were rounded up into a reservation in Oklahoma in 1870. When oil was discovered there almost 50 years later, they became fantastically wealthy - in 1923, the tribe earned US$30 million - which meant they also became magnets for every snake-oil salesman, grifter and conman the Wild West could trick up. JaNae Collins, Lily Gladstone, Cara Jade Myers and Jillian Dion as members of the Osage. Osage women, who, under tribal law, owned their families houses, were not deemed competent under the law, so they needed a white man to sign off on their bank withdrawals. White men who married Osage women acted as agents and were also able to inherit from their wives. They were sitting pretty. They could also get impatient. Ernest Burkhart arrives in town penniless, having been recently demobbed after the First World War. His protector is his uncle Bill Hale, a cattleman and landowner played by Robert De Niro at his gruffest. Hale is considered and considers himself a friend to the Osage, offering his help when the murders start even as it is obvious to us that he is behind them. So when Ernest marries Mollie, it is no surprise that she starts to sicken. What is stranger is that he clearly loves her. And that she loves him, even as she realises he is poisoning her. Leonardo DiCaprio spoke to anyone he could find who could remember the Burkharts. I got to do a lot of research about Ernest and you know, as guilty as he was and as cowardly, almost nobody denied there was a true love between those two characters. I saw one little video of him in his 90s, when he was living in a trailer park, talking about Mollie, and I incorporated one line he said. She was a good one, she was a good one. Even then, he was in denial about what he did. Lily Gladstone, who plays Mollie Burkhart, nods and smiles. It boggled my mind how she stuck with him through that entire tragedy, but it was true and real, she says. The big challenge for both of us was: are we going to make this believable? Advertisement Robert De Niro says Hale was just as much of a puzzle to him. A sociopath, of course, but it still seemed incredible he could have cynically killed off the people among whom he had spent his life. He came to explain it to himself by comparing Hale to an incest perpetrator. Where he feels he has the right to manipulate the situation and that they should almost be grateful to him that he loves them as much as he does, I guess youd say to take advantage of them in this way, he says. But in his case its not taking advantage, its taking what should be his. Martin Scorsese is 80. Given the number of ideas buzzing around his head and desk, that means he is working against the clock. Killers of the Flower Moon took seven years to make, its adaptation a slow process. Lily Gladstone as Mollie and Leonardo DiCaprio as Ernest. After many murders and many petitions by the Osage to federal government to intervene, the newly formed FBI belatedly intervened and a dogged agent, Tom White, played by Jesse Plemons, investigated. An earlier version of the script followed White as he interviewed the townsfolk, turning up clues. Leonardo DiCaprio was set to play that character. He would be both star and hero. Somewhere along the track, they realised that would never play. I said to Marty: once you see De Niro as Hale, youre going to go, I think I know who did it. What are we going to unravel? DiCaprio told The New York Times. But there were other concerns. It read like the story of a white saviour, Western-style: a Wyatt Earp figure who came to town and cleaned it up. But the story wasnt about one good, or at least conscientious, white man. It was a story of a society made up of cruel, conniving white men and their victims. That story clearly belonged to the Osage. With a new version of the script in hand, Scorsese took himself to Oklahoma to consult with Osage Chief Standing Bear and his people. The success of that mission is borne out by the fact that the chief was in Cannes to walk the red carpet with the rest of the films entourage. Advertisement I think it was a two-part process, the first part being shifting it away from being the story of Tom White saving the Osage from these incredibly racist white grifters, says DiCaprio. The second part was Marty going in and sitting with the Osage community and getting an entirely new perspective. I got to do a lot of research about Ernest, says DiCaprio - here with De Niro - of his role. Scorsese admits he didnt find that easy. I was very nervous. Id had some experience with Native Americans in the 1970s at Pine Ridge and I was shocked by how much I didnt know. Growing up in New York, he adds, he lived within a village that might as well have been in Sicily. It had been the effort of years to get over a discomfort with people who were different. Ive tried and it has happened. But this was the most comfortable Ive been, just being there, hanging out with them. It was really hot, like 110 degrees Fahrenheit, and this lady would be sitting there saying Hey, Uncle Mar, are you drinking that water now? You keep drinking! We were just there, everyone together. It reminded him of filming Woodstock, back in 1969, as an Italian kid out of the city. Four days and nights on the stage with all the hippies. I had cufflinks! He gives out his infectiously gravelly guffaw. I just didnt know. What Scorsese knew now was that he still didnt know enough. I looked at the thing and said if were going to deal with the Osage, its going to be with the utmost respect and as much understanding of who they are, who they were then and who they were before then, he says. Director Martin Scorsese attends the Killers Of The Flower Moon premiere in London. Credit: Getty Images Respect for other people is the key, it really is. To be as straight and honest as possible, without being a condescending , and I hate to use this word, because it comes from the 60s and has changed meaning completely, so now I think of myself as this, liberal. That condescending thing of tokenism. No, this is what it is. We deal with it. If I have a problem with it, thats my problem and I have to learn to face it in myself. Advertisement Advertisement Review Eating outMelbourne Where to find absorbingly delicious and affordable southern Thai food in Melbournes CBD You could walk in for ubiquitous dishes such as pad Thai, but its the southern specialities that keep drawing Dani Valent back. Dani Valent October 16, 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 1 / 6 Hokkien noodles stir-fried with prawns, mussels and sliced pork, and topped with dried fish and runny fried egg. Eddie Jim 2 / 6 Yellow curry with sweet picked crab meat. Eddie Jim 3 / 6 Grilled chicken thigh in red curry sauce. Eddie Jim 4 / 6 Inside the split-level regional Thai restaurant. Eddie Jim 5 / 6 Haw mok (curried fish mousse cakes). Eddie Jim 6 / 6 Yellow curry with betel leaves and black freshwater snails. Eddie Jim. Previous Slide Next Slide Thai$$$ Regional Thai food is gaining traction in Melbourne with Pa Tong adding the bold spices and pungent flavours of southern cooking in a casual, easygoing setting. The restaurant was opened in May by a bunch of southern Thai friends who couldnt find the food they were pining for anywhere else in the city. Lets just cook it ourselves, decided Boonruxsa Sangmanee, Farn, Noppanat Pornsombun and Masarat Bumrungpongsinchai. You could come for ubiquitous dishes such as pad Thai and stir-fried chicken with cashew theyre done well but its the southern Thai specialities that keep drawing me back. Advertisement Pa Tong is a casual split-level restaurant in the CBD. Eddie Jim Hanging lanterns, jaunty blue walls and framed photo galleries in the split-level space do part of the job of spiriting diners to Patong, a beach resort in Phuket, but its the food thats truly transporting. Key dishes include grilled chicken thigh bathed in a red curry sauce studded with toasted coriander seeds, and thick yellow curries redolent of turmeric, coconut and fenugreek, swimming with betel leaves and either black freshwater snails (chewy and nuggety) or sweet picked crab meat. Seafood is central to this coastal cuisine: mackerel appears in many dishes, including a beguiling and mild coconut curry with stinky vegetables (acacia stems a little bitter but pleasant, if you ask me) and green almonds. Haw mok is served in a special terracotta dish. Eddie Jim Advertisement Haw mok (curried fish mousse cakes) are served in a two-part terracotta vessel thats heated from underneath. Dainty little lids keep each morsel hot: theyre springy and spicy, bright with chilli and lifted by lemongrass. The Hokkien trader food thats found in Malaysia, Singapore and parts of China is also popular in southern Thailand. That explains the thick egg noodles, stir-fried with prawns, mussels and sliced pork, and topped with chewy dried fish and runny fried egg. This is a mild dish thats a meal in itself: break the yolk, make a nice mess and youll mostly taste sweet, dark soy. The walk-in restaurant is just near Degraves Street, so its an easy stop for commuters and shoppers. The food is built for sharing, but this is also a handy spot for solo diners with keen lunch deals. Not everyone is going to eat a coconut soup with fermented fish entrails then head back to the office; if youre looking for something safer, consider the rice topped with Melbourne fried chicken. Pa Tongs food is legitimately thrilling, but this is a busy spot with a focus on lovely cooking and efficient dispensation rather than customer amenity. Finding the toilet is a bit of a mission, ordering is by QR code and if youre not familiar with southern Thai food, it can be challenging to know what to order. Advertisement Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox. Sign up The Albanese government is likely to come under further pressure to allow thousands of Australians with a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder to join the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Ritalin is the most common medicine prescribed to treat ADHD. Credit: Glen McCurtayne More than 800,000 Australians have ADHD but fewer than 5000 are on the NDIS. In submissions to a Senate committee hearing into ADHD, psychiatrists and psychologists professional organisations have pushed for the treatment to be put on the NDIS, saying assessments and treatments were unreachable for lower-income groups, where there was likely to be a higher prevalence of ADHD. The Heralds Natassia Chrysanthos reports that the number of Australians being prescribed medication for ADHD has more than doubled in five years. New figures show more than 400,000 people are now taking drugs for the common neurodevelopmental disorder as awareness rises among doctors and the public. The drugs help people with concentration, short-term memory and controlling emotions. Pain is consistently among the most common reasons people go to the emergency department, and at least one in five Australians over 45 experience chronic pain. But its possible your doctors biases and personal experiences with pain are impacting your care. Many physicians are wary about over-prescriptions of painkillers and the unnecessary and even harmful procedures that can happen in a quest to find a diagnosis. Many people display subtle physical reactions to intense pain. Credit: iStock This has led some doctors to dismiss serious pain a dangerous mistake that occurs more commonly to women and Indigenous people. Patients can be made to feel its all in their head and ushered away with a mental health diagnosis. Others are forced to plead for relief. Despite being a physician, Ive experienced these interactions myself when Ive been a patient. Within a few hours of giving birth to my son this year, I felt severe pain in my lower back. I alerted my medical team that the pain felt worse than my labor contractions, but I spoke politely. They said it was probably gas and offered me a laxative. The Prime Minister says the government is starting a process to look at false and misleading political advertising, citing an example of a deceptive ad that ran during the referendum campaign. Independent MP for Warringah Zali Steggall has asked whether the government would support her bill or introduce its own to protect Australians from misleading or deceptive political advertising, following a bruising Voice campaign. There is currently no requirement for truth in electoral advertising, and the Australian Electoral Commission only has powers over ads that are deceptive concerning casting votes. Yes supporters waiting for the referendum results at Richmond, in Melbourne, on Saturday. Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui Anthony Albanese said this was a concern, because in some cases those ads could be dangerous. He cited a specific example, which was an image that had the Star of David across eight Australians faces, including Yes campaigner Thomas Mayo, businessman Anthony Pratt, and Attorney General Mark Dreyfus. Albanese quoted one ad that said: All of the major creators, financiers and supporters of the Voice to parliament are Jewish. Ask yourself why 0.38 per cent of Australias population is using three per cent as a battering ram against the rest of the country. He said there were a number of ads along those lines. Everyone in this parliament would find that totally abhorrent, he said. Now when it comes to the challenge that we have of dealing with this, it is complex, you do not want to interfere with freedom of expression but you want to make sure that elections can be held and democratic processes can be held in an appropriate way. The Minister is undertaking appropriate processes to deal with that and I look forward to working with them, with the Member for Warringah. Some farmers are resorting to offering their sheep for free to whoever will take them, as livestock prices plummet ahead of a forecast dry summer they fear could strip paddocks bare. Nearly three years of good rainfall on the eastern seaboard filled paddocks with feed and farmers eagerly rebuilt their flocks after the preceding drought decimated livestock numbers. Victorian farmer Scott Young is concerned about the decrease in lamb prices. Credit: Chris Hopkins That meant fewer lambs and sheep were sent to abattoirs, and the resulting high demand created a favourable market for farmers who were receiving about $9 a kilo for lamb. But with the switch to an El Nino weather system, which is linked to drought and bushfires in eastern Australia, many farmers are rushing to the saleyards. A lesbian community organisation will be forced to keep its events open to men, straight women and transgender women after the Australian Human Rights Commission refused to grant it an exemption from anti-discrimination laws. The AHRCs decision prohibits the group from staging a planned Lesbians Born Female event to commemorate International Lesbian Day. It also challenges traditional notions of sex as a biological concept as the commission concluded that sex is non-binary and changeable. Transgender rights activists demonstrate outside the Victorian Parliament in 2022. Credit: Chris Hopkins The commissioner submits that the word sex is not a biological concept referring to whether a person at birth had male or female physical traits, the AHRC said in its decision. Nor is it a binary concept, limited to the male or female sex. Sex can refer to a person being male, female or another non-binary state. It is also broad enough to encompass the idea that a persons sex can be changed. Fowler was an independent in a council in which Labor had always had a monopoly of power. He initially found it hard to make an impact. A friend, Robert Tait, said: For 10 years he was marginalised by the ruling Labor faction at South Sydney, although he managed to mostly ride above it and establish civilised, even friendly, relationships with his fellow councillors. Fowlers niece, Alison Fowler, said: John was very much opposed to party local government because he did not believe that was in the interests of grassroots people. South Sydney was a Labor stronghold that favoured business interest as opposed to the interests of the residents. There were liberalising trends which appealed to Fowlers sensitivities. As a gay man, Fowler sympathised with those who suffered what he regarded as harassment. There was sympathy for them in council, though Fowler recognised political motivation in some of the councils policies. In 1994, South Sydney City Council advanced plans to turn Oxford Street, Darlinghurst, into an official pink precinct. It called for consultants to look at the needs of the predominantly gay and lesbian community living, working and socialising around Oxford Street. Fowler said that in the past, the council had consistently failed to protect the retail and safety requirements of residents, and he was now sceptical about the new proposals, suspecting the move to be just another ploy by the ruling Labor faction to get votes for the following years local government elections. There were also other moves afoot. In 1994, South Sydney City Council moved to have brothels legalised in NSW. This was endorsed by most councils throughout the state. Fowler said: The recognition of prostitution as an industry can only allow councils to plan better for their communities, and most increase the safety for workers in their industry, bringing it into line with other health and occupational safety legislation. Detectives thought they had found the reclusive mastermind of a crew allegedly scamming vulnerable Australian retirees but at the centre of a maze of fraudulent accounts they found an alleged victim of domestic violence. Now a court has heard the woman deployed her expert knowledge of financial systems under duress so her husband could allegedly pour more than a million stolen dollars into his gambling addiction. Samiuddin Khaja (inset) is allegedly at the centre of a sophisticated scam that siphoned $1.4 million from elderly people to gambling accounts with the help of his wife, who was arrested in Sydney in May (main picture). NSW Police formed Strike Force Artal after an elderly woman, in rural NSW, was scammed out of $7500 over the phone. The elderly woman unwittingly transferred her money to a mule account, opened at a bank using fake identification. From there her money was withdrawn from ATMs in Lakemba, used to buy gift cards and siphoned into a Bet365 gambling account, court documents obtained by the Herald allege. A high-profile man fighting to keep his identity secret is seeking to file an appeal in the Supreme Court in Brisbane after a lower court rejected his application for a suppression order. The man has been charged with two counts of rape in Toowoomba in 2021, and new Queensland laws mean he, and others charged with sexual assault offences, can be named before they are committed to stand trial. On Friday, a magistrate rejected an application for a suppression order to keep the accuseds identity hidden from the public. The man argued an interim suppression order should be made permanent to protect his mental health and the proper administration of justice. Toowoomba Magistrate Clare Kelly later agreed to grant the mans lawyers until 4pm on Tuesday to file an appeal to seek to have this overruled by a higher court. On Tuesday morning, the case was listed before Justice Peter Applegarth to determine the future of the suppression. The mans barrister, Andrew Hoare, told the court part of the judicial review his team sought to apply for would centre on Kellys decision around his clients mental health. Hoare said they were yet to file the review because they had not received written reasons from the Toowoomba court. Applegarth questioned why the mans solicitor had not taken notes in order to file the review by early Tuesday. Youve had since Friday to prepare an application for judicial review. Why arent you standing up now and seeking leave to file an application ... you were there, your solicitor was there, Applegarth said. Hoare apologised to the court. Applegarth adjourned the hearing to later on Tuesday. The Redoubt private military company (PMC) recruits mercenaries under the guise of "volunteers," including former Wagner representatives. The group may number more than 7,000 people. ADVERTISIMENT This is stated in the UK military intelligence report released on October 16. The agency noted that the activities of the Redoubt PMC, including recruitment, are likely controlled and financed by the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU ) of the Russian General Staff. Thus, since the beginning of the invasion, Redoubt has taken part in battles against Ukraine in Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv and Luhansk regions, the report says. Currently, Redoubt is one of several PMCs and "volunteer corps" used by the Russian Ministry of Defense to replenish regular forces. "It is possible that the Russian Ministry of Defense's practice of recruiting through 'volunteer' units has contributed to Russia's avoidance of further unpopular mobilizations," the British intelligence service said. ADVERTISIMENT As reported by OBOZ.UA: - A video interview of a captured mercenary of the Redoubt PMC appeared online, in which he explained his participation in the battles in Kharkiv region by his lack of knowledge of geography. The occupier admitted that before being captured, he had not thought about why Russia decided to seize other territories of Ukraine after Donbas. - Investigative journalists found out that the Russian GRU created the Redoubt PMC as a shadow army. Officially, it is positioned as a volunteer formation, but in reality, mercenaries are covertly recruited there for military intelligence of the aggressor. - Law enforcement officers identified a mercenary of the Redoubt PMC who tortured civilians during the occupation of Balakliya. 34-year-old Sultan Pashtov, together with three occupants, set up a torture chamber on the territory of the seized police station, where dozens of abducted Ukrainians were taken. ADVERTISIMENT Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Muriel Demarcus, wife of former Rio Tinto boss Jean Sebastien Jacques, who resigned after the mining giant blew up sacred Indigenous sites at Juukan Gorge in Western Australia, is no fan of the defeated Voice to parliament proposal. On Sunday Demarcus, who used to publish her feelpinions on a blog called FrenchYummyMummy, fired off a spray on X, formerly known as Twitter, giving her own Gallic take on the referendum. Muriel Demarcus called the Yes campaign an activist feast. Frankly, I have always struggled to understand why belonging to a specific group should be mentioned in the Constitution at all, and why it should give you special privileges, the former first lady of Rio Tinto her words, not ours wrote. There can only be one standard and we are all equal. Thats what my French education taught me. Its drilled in me. Apparently such a position made me a racist and, in some instances, a Nazi. While no statistics are available on the number of drive-by shootings in Victoria, this masthead has been able to identify at least eight separate incidents since the start of 2023. Loading In the most recent shooting, a house and several cars parked along Berry Avenue in the beachside suburb of Edithvale were peppered with bullets early on October 5. A man and woman living at the property were uninjured during the attack, with police investigating whether a torched car found on Thames Promenade in Chelsea Heights was linked to the incident. The attack came two weeks after a 17-year-old boy, who police believe to be an unintended victim, was shot through his Endeavour Hills bedroom window in the middle of the night. Less than 24 hours later, a couple escaped injury when their Craigieburn home was shot at while they slept inside. Investigators suspect the shooters were targeting the owners son, Robert Issa, who was later gunned down and killed in a shopping centre carpark in Craigieburn. Detective Superintendent Jason Kelly from Victoria Polices anti-gangs division said drive-by shootings were largely targeted attacks between criminals involved in the drug trade, but that innocent parties were at risk of getting caught in the violence. Police gather evidence from a home in Endeavour Hills after a sleeping boy was injured in a hail of gunfire. Credit: AAP Any time a firearm is used indiscriminately in a public place, there is enormous potential for the outcome to be fatal or at the very least, life-changing, Kelly said. Weve seen this play out in different ways over the years and sadly, we have seen incidents where completely innocent parties are the ones affected. In the underworld, drive-by shootings are seen as a sign of weakness. Honestly, its usually cowardice, an underworld source speaking on the condition of anonymity said. They cant actually knock someone, and theyre too scared to confront the person, so usually its weakness and hiding the fear. The attacks are often motivated by unpaid debts, a desire to gain criminal clout and revenge. Criminals also use drive-by shootings to cause chaos and traumatise their victims. Another underworld source familiar with the issue said young people from disadvantaged backgrounds were exploited by syndicates for the dirty jobs because of their desire to impress crime bosses and willingness to comply with commands. Those orchestrating are rarely those physically doing the operation, he said. Those doing the misdeeds are often young, troubled and criminally predestined kids that would do whats ordered at a moments notice without a thought of self-preservation. Police photograph a Craigieburn home targeted in a drive-by shooting. Credit: Nine News Police data shows the number of people injured in shootings across the state has almost doubled in the past year, from 25 people in 2022 to 43 people in 2023. However, the number of people dying in such incidents has dropped by half, from 10 in 2022 to five in 2023. Kelly said the enforcement of firearm prohibition orders and the creation of the Viper taskforce were a key part of police efforts to crack down on gun violence. The orders, which were introduced in 2018, allow police to search organised crime figures and their associates at any time, in any place, without a warrant. We are getting results and we are arresting people, both with regards to firearms-related violence such as shootings but also in terms of those trafficking firearms, Kelly said. Rahmanzai, who only moved into his home eight months ago, said his children still woke in the middle of the night crying. He worries the shooters could come back. Shattered glass covers the floor of one of the rooms of Rahmanzais house. Credit: Simon Schluter The family has lodged an application for public housing and requested to be put on the priority list, but is yet to hear back. This place is unsafe, Rahmanzai said. They missed the target. Tomorrow they might come to me. Maybe they are thinking the target is in this house. Major policies for Indigenous Australians have been thrown in doubt after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese would not say whether he would pursue truth and treaty for First Australians despite earlier pledges to set up a commission to hear the truth about their history. Albanese wavered on the two key promises in the wake of the stunning defeat for the Voice in the referendum on Saturday, signalling a shift in thinking while Indigenous leaders called for a week of silence to consider their response to the bruising outcome. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese did not elaborate on his position on Makarrata when he was asked about it in question time. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen In a separate move that added to the uncertainty about the way forward on reconciliation, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton reversed his stance on his key pledge to hold a second referendum to recognise First Australians in the Constitution after the defeat of the Voice. Labor promised $27.7 million for an independent Makarrata Commission before the last election in the hope this would be a new forum to supervise agreement-making between governments and First Nations and truth-telling about the past. Girls as young as 12 and 13 are being strip-searched by NSW Police, with the intervention increasing by 30 per cent for females aged under 17, as experts called for an immediate end to the barbaric act. From July 2022 to June 2023, three primary-school-aged girls and six 13-year-old girls were strip-searched, meaning they had to remove or move clothing because police believed they were concealing drugs or a weapon. New data reveals NSW Police have been targeting girls as young as 12 with strip-search powers. Credit: James Alcock The powers were used on 107 children during 2021-22 and 2022-23, with the youngest boy subjected to the intervention aged 14. More than 20 per cent of the children searched were Indigenous. Associate Professor Liz Scott, from the Brain and Mind Centre Youth Model at the University of Sydney, said forcing children to take off their clothes in front of officers was draconian and totally heavy-handed and may cause long-term harm. Singapore: Indonesias Constitutional Court has cleared the path for the eldest son of President Joko Widodo to run as vice-president in a groundbreaking development ahead of the countrys upcoming election. Widodo, known as Jokowi, cannot contest next Februarys polls as he reaches the end of his second five-year term, the constitutional limit. Indonesian President Joko Widodo (left) and his son Gibran Rakabuming Raka greet supporters in 2019. Credit: AP However, his enduring popularity has afforded him great influence as candidates line up to succeed him and speculation grows about the emergence of a political dynasty that would allow him to retain clout after he has left office. That has gathered pace with his son Gibran Rakabuming Raka touted as a likely running mate of Prabowo Subianto, the defence minister and former special forces commander who heads pre-election surveys with former Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo. The heartbreaking violence in Israel and Palestine has again inflamed bitter partisan divisions that have fuelled this conflict for so long. As victim communities grieve, some politicians and parts of the media pick sides. Civilians on one side become more valued than on the other. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has dismissed tepid calls by the government for Israel to show restraint to protect civilians. International humanitarian law protects all civilians, without discrimination. Forged in the realist crucible of war, it aims to de-escalate spirals of savagery and dehumanisation by insisting on universal human values. As a party to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, Australia must ensure respect for the law everywhere. Much of the law is simple. Atrocious violations by Hamas include genocidally murdering 1300 civilians and wounding 3600, taking 200 hostages and mistreating them, mutilating corpses, and indiscriminately firing thousands of rockets without sparing civilians. Terrorism is not permitted to even up the odds. Hamas should be held accountable for war crimes and crimes against humanity, whether in Israeli or foreign courts, or the International Criminal Court. Israel refuses to co-operate with the court, which thwarts one avenue of justice for Hamas atrocities, as well as for any Israeli crimes. On Israels part, Australias Defence Minister Richard Marles claims Israel is acting within the rules of war. He is poorly briefed. One stark Israeli violation is its medieval complete siege of Gaza, with no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel. Siege can be lawful to degrade an adversary, but it must not excessively harm civilians, impede life-saving humanitarian relief and medical care, or prevent civilians from finding safety. PHILIPSBURG:--- The Sint Maarten Police Force (KPSM) is deeply concerned about several recent in incidents involving minors in our community. On the evening of October 12th, 2023, around 20:00 pm, Central Dispatch received several distressing calls reporting a group of young boys engaged in destructive behavior, throwing rocks and causing damage to a hotel located on Bush Road and other businesses in the area. Responding to the situation, officers patrolled the area and encountered a group of young men near Roses Road. Upon spotting the police, they attempted to flee, seeking refuge in the nearby bushes. Following a brief search, officers apprehended two individuals, both minors aged 12 and 13 years old. When approached by the officers, these young men became confrontational and attempted to engage in a physical altercation. The Sint Maarten Police Force reminds parents and guardians of their crucial role in curbing the unruly behavior of minors. The parents of the apprehended minors were contacted and requested to appear at the Philipsburg police station. At the station, they were informed about their legal responsibilities and the potential consequences of their children's actions. It was emphasized that parents can be held liable for the actions of their minor children. After a thorough discussion, both minors were released into the custody of their parents, with a stern warning about the need for responsible parenting and guidance. The Sint Maarten Police Force urges all parents to be vigilant, engage with their children, and actively participate in instilling positive values within them. KPSM Press Release. PHILIPSBURG:--- Sint Maarten's Law Enforcement and Border Control gained an asset with the appointment of Mr. Jocelyn R. Levenstone as the new Head of Immigration. With a remarkable career spanning nearly 35 years in Law Enforcement, Coastguard operations, safety, and security management, Mr. Levenstone's diverse and extensive background positions him to lead the Immigration department into a new era of efficiency and effectiveness. Levenstones journey began as a dedicated Police Officer at KPNA, where he served for eight years, specializing in law enforcement, crime prevention, investigation, and public safety, and as a key member of the Arrest Team. Following this, Levenstone devoted fifteen years to the Dutch Caribbean Coastguard, where he amassed invaluable knowledge in Maritime Law, security, border control, search and rescue operations, and inter-agency collaboration. His experiences in this role honed his skills in addressing maritime immigration challenges and maritime border enforcement. Having served as the Manager of Safety and Security at Port Sint Maarten for nearly seven years, Mr. Levenstone played a pivotal role in overseeing critical aspects of border control. He was responsible for managing access points, implementing rigorous security protocols, and ensuring strict compliance with international safety standards related to national security. In his previous role as the Head of Coastguard Substation on Sint Maarten for five years, Mr. Levenstone exhibited exceptional leadership skills, demonstrating his ability to effectively manage teams, coordinate complex operations, and make sound decisions even in high-pressure environments. The Honorable Minister of Justice, Anna Richardson, expressed her gratitude to Mr. Levenstone for his years of dedicated service in law enforcement and safety management to the country. She warmly welcomed him to the Justice Department, recognizing his exemplary contribution to national security. Mr. Levenstone's extensive experience in law enforcement, coastguard operations, safety and security management, and demonstrated leadership abilities make him exceptionally well-qualified to assume the role of Head of Immigration. His in-depth understanding of border security challenges, prowess in interagency collaboration, and track record in managing critical operations are poised to bring invaluable contributions to enhancing the integrity and efficiency of immigration processes in Sint Maarten. Under Mr. Levenstone's leadership, the Immigration department is set to benefit from his wealth of knowledge and unwavering commitment to the safety and security of Sint Maarten. Mr. Levenstone's official duty as the Head of Immigration will commence on Monday, October 16, 2023. PHILIPSBURG:--- The call was made during a recent public meeting of parliament requested by members of parliament Wescot-Williams, Heyliger-Marten, and Emmanuel in the presence of Minister Ottley, who was asked about the national health insurance that was touted to be introduced on January 1, 2024. It is during that meeting we learned that the national health insurance will not go into effect per January 1, 2024, as previously announced by the minister, but most other questions regarding the implementation of the general health insurance were not answered. The minister of health requested time to provide answers to all questions posed by members of parliament. The reason I was so adamant about the entering into force date of the national health insurance has to do with coverage of several categories of persons, who presently do not enjoy medical coverage, MP Wescot explained. As per the current sickness insurance law, managed by the SZV, vendors, taxi and bus drivers, and sole proprietors, amongst others are excluded, because they do not fall under the category Employee. In my view, with the current uncertainty about the effective date of the national health insurance, the council of ministers should via a general national decree amend Article 1 of the Sickness Insurance law to include categories that are now excluded, such as vendors, taxi and bus drivers, and sole proprietors. It can be recalled that in 2016, Minister of Health, Emil Lee had negotiated with Nagico a medical insurance for exactly the categories mentioned and others who were excluded from medical coverage, MP Wescot noted. Minister Ottley is supposed to be back in Parliament with his answers next week and MP Wescot hopes that by that time, the Minister will present changes to the present law that will cover a considerable part of the currently uninsured persons. I also asked if there will be a phased implementation of the national health insurance as envisioned. If this is the case, it only strengthens my conviction that amending the current Sickness Insurance law to include the aforementioned persons is an important step in implementing national health insurance by whichever name. The MP during the parliament meeting also addressed the current policy that regulates the requirement of (private) medical insurance for foreign work permit holders, who often do not earn more than minimum wage. Over the past week, Russian troops have become more active in the Avdiivka sector, attempting to storm the city many times. However, there are now signs that the enemy is slowly running out of steam, and there are fewer assaults. ADVERTISIMENT The intensity of the shelling has also decreased to some extent, although the Russians continue to hit the town with various types of weapons. The head of the Avdiivka city military administration, Vitaliy Barabash, spoke about the situation in Avdiivka on October 15 during a telethon. According to him, on the sixth day of particularly intense fighting for Avdiivka and numerous attempts by the enemy to capture the town, it is too early to say that it is completely exhausted. However, certain signs that the degree of tension is somewhat decreasing have been recorded over the past day. "To be honest, the degree has been decreasing since yesterday. Not by much, not very much, but it is noticeable that they are already exhausted. In my opinion, there are 15% fewer assault actions," noted Barabash. ADVERTISIMENT He also noted a certain decrease in the intensity of shelling. However, it is too early to talk about the silence: the Russians continue to use almost all types of weapons they have to attack the city. On October 14, the head of the Avdiivka City Military Administration emphasized, 18 attacks were recorded in the city. At the same time, a few days ago Avdiivka was shelled more than 30 times a day. "They are using everything: a cannon, Grad, mortars, guided aerial bombs. One fragment had a marking dated August 2023," he added. Earlier, Vitaliy Barabash, head of Avdiivka's city military administration, said that the occupiers had set a new date for reaching the borders of Donetsk Oblast. According to him, the Russians are simply wiping Avdiivka off the map. ADVERTISIMENT Meanwhile, The Economist published an article explaining the intensification of the invaders near Avdiivka by Russia's desire to turn the tide of the fighting. The journalists emphasized that the battle for Avdiivka will have an impact on Ukraine's offensive regardless of the results achieved by the occupation forces. The Russian assault on Avdiivka will further limit the ability of the Ukrainian Defense Forces to make a breakthrough in the south before the onset of winter. PHILIPSBURG:--- On Sunday, Oct 15, the airport hall was laden with happy anticipation as a group of VWO 5 students and two teachers were waving goodbye to parents and Milton Peters College representatives: a long-awaited visit to Ahaus, in Germany was about to start. A year ago, in October 2022, a group of German students from the Anne Frank Realschule visited Milton Peters College. This visit focused on language learning: Dutch, English French, and SXM culture. The return visit of MPC students to Germany became possible when MPC managed to get a grant from Erasmus Plus for the bulk of the costs. Local companies and individuals chipped in enthusiastically and with donations from Claudius Buncamper, Grandtner, West Shipping, Liccom, Grisha Heyliger, Nagico, Speetjens, Illidge, Henderson Insurance, CGC, and some student fundraising, the group managed to raise sufficient finances to be able to make the trip. Today Monday the 16th they will arrive in Amsterdam and will visit various faculties of the University of Amsterdam to get more insight about the studies they are interested in doing after graduation. On Tuesday they will go to Munster by train and will be welcomed by the students of Anne Frank Realschule. They will do a scavenger hunt in the city and then retreat to their host families for 3 days. In the mornings they will join the Anne Frank students at school with lessons on sustainability and language learning and in the afternoon, they will visit a waste management facility and learn about how waste management is taken care of in Germany. On Friday afternoon they will travel back to the Netherlands, where a visit to museum Corpus (a travel through the human body) and a meet up with students from Sint Maarten, who will inform them about their experiences of living and studying in the Netherlands, will take place. On Sunday October 22nd they will reunite with their families on St. Maarten with probably lots of stories to tell. An exchange visit with another country is a life-changing event for students. To be able to look over your borders changes your view of the world forever. Building long-term friendships across oceans makes the world smaller and will nurture intercultural skills, which is a must in an ever-globalizing world. SVOBE schools have therefore developed an active internationalization approach and are in the process of attaining Erasmus Accreditation, which will make student exchanges possible for many more student groups. PHILIPSBURG:--- In an effort to continue to assist families who are still recovering from the disasters that hit their nation over the past three years, Tzu Chi Foundation St. Maarten has sent a container of food relief items to help some 1,500 families in St. Vincent. The container sent recently, contained 1,500 1-liter bottles of cooking oil, 3,000 packs of pasta 500g, 3,000 1lb packs of dried peas and 3,000 boxes of milk powder. From the container, each family that was identified for assistance received one bottle of cooking oil, two packs of pasta, two packs of dried beans and two boxes of milk powder. The people of North Windward in St. Vincent and the Grenadines have suffered tremendously from three major disasters over the past two years: the eruption of the La Soufriere Volcano, the passage of Hurricane Elsa, and most recently on June 23, 2023, the passage of Tropical storm Bret. These disasters have caused tremendous disruption to the lives and livelihoods of persons living in this area, which is now referred to as the Red Zone. Tzu Chi had assisted residents after the volcanic eruption. In July, the Park Hill Evangelical Church in St. Vincent updated Tzu Chi on how residents were coping, which resulted in efforts being made to render assistance to those still struggling. The Church said the people living in the disaster area were still in need of support in many ways and would be extremely grateful if Tzu Chi could have assisted in mitigating some of the challenges they were facing. Tzu Chi Commissioner Sandra Cheung said after evaluating the request, the foundation decided to offer assistance in the form of relief items. The church received a 100 per cent tax-free concession on the container when it arrived in St Vincent. Park Hill Evangelical Church Elder Brain Dabreo, Senator Shevern John, and Dr. Mineva Glasgow received the donation in St. Vincent and coordinated the distribution to persons in need. On behalf of the people of the North Windward constituency and myself Shevern John, I wish to extend heartfelt thanks to [Tzu Chi founder] Master Cheng Yen, Sister Sandra Cheung, all volunteers in Taiwan and St. Maarten, bro Brian and Sister Minerva for the hard work you have done to get this shipment to us. We acknowledged your time and effort to get this shipment to St. Vincent. The people of North Windward are happy that you have seen it fit to spear the seed of love in their hearts, a grateful John said. The communities in North Windward also expressed sincere gratitude to Master Cheng Yen, Cheung, donors in Taiwan, volunteers In Taiwan, St. Maarten, and the entire Tzu Chi Foundation for their love and support. Dr. Glasgow was equally grateful. Sincere thanks to you and the Foundation for your kind hospitality and generosity. Many hands make light work. I am expressing gratitude on behalf of the SVG-Tzu Chi Foundation, Master Cheng Yen, sister Sandra and all their associates to these volunteers who ably and willingly helped in loading and offloading the final package to bring relief to needy persons in SVG. Thank you for going above and beyond to help the less fortunate in our society, said Dr. Glasgow. The recipients accepted the donations with humility. One recipient, Ledtina Goodgie, a 79-year-old wheelchair-bound senior from Pembroke, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, lost her husband in 2004. She has three grown children who are married, but they have their own families and they are working hard to make ends meet. Although they reach out to her, they cannot satisfy all her needs. Goodgie is receiving a social welfare payment, but this is used to help with her utility bills and medication. The senior is grateful for assistance rendered to her from charitable institutions such as the SVG-Tzu Chi Foundation and she extended sincere gratitude to the Foundation, Master Cheng Yen, and all the donors and associates for their sacrificial giving and for reaching out to the less fortunate like herself to bring relief in their time of need Another recipient with the last initial C. received the donation with a humble heart. The Campden Park resident is HIV positive and is receiving treatment from the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital. Given his condition, he lives alone because his relatives have abandoned him. He has expressed gratitude to the Tzu Chi Foundation for reaching out to him with this kind gesture of donating food to him. One recipient from the rural village of Diamond in St Vincent said the donation will go a long way in assisting her to satisfy a need. Tzu Chi St. Maarten Commissioner Sandra Cheung is humbled that Tzu Chi was able to spread seeds of love to many lives in St. Vincent. Copper price shows resilience Copper is known as a cyclical metal. The weakening economic trend has only moderately depressed the price. In contrast to copper, many industrial metals had to record more significant corrections. Many construction sites lay idle in China in 2022. Now, the main focus is on completing buildings already under construction. And this is the phase when copper is needed for electrical engineering. Completion of buildings in the first seven months of 2023 has increased by around 20 percent year-on-year, after all. In the wake of the energy transition, the area that is seeing rising and strong copper demand is electromobility and the renewable energy sector. The expansion of wind and solar energy is progressing enormously fast in China. For example, more capacity has already been created in the first half of 2023 than in the whole of 2022, with 2022 being a record year. China\-s copper demand, which is almost half of global demand, has already gone up by eleven percent this year. China\-s copper demand is thus at a record high level thanks to the automotive and infrastructure sectors. Globally, copper demand should therefore increase as a result of the energy turnaround. Increasing copper production, on the other hand, is not easy. This is because low copper prices prevent investment and copper projects are often located in politically uncertain areas. Added to this are the high financing costs. If copper demand really doubles in the coming years, companies with copper in the ground like Aurania Resources or Torq Resources should be on the sunny side. Both have copper and gold in their projects. Torq Resources https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/torq-resources-inc/ has prospective holdings in Chile. Aurania Resources https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/aurania-resources-ltd/ owns The Lost Cities-Cutucu flagship project in Ecuador, among others. Current corporate information and press releases from Torq Resources (- https://www.resource-capital.ch/en/companies/torq-resources-inc/ -) and Aurania Resources (- https://www.resource-capital.ch/en/companies/aurania-resources-ltd/ -). In accordance with A34 WpHG I would like to point out that partners, authors and employees may hold shares in the respective companies addressed and thus a possible conflict of interest exists. No guarantee for the translation into English. Only the German version of this news is valid. Disclaimer: The information provided does not represent any form of recommendation or advice. Express reference is made to the risks in securities trading. No liability can be accepted for any damage arising from the use of this blog. I would like to point out that shares and especially warrant investments are always associated with risk. The total loss of the invested capital cannot be excluded. All information and sources are carefully researched. However, no guarantee is given for the correctness of all contents. Despite the greatest care, I expressly reserve the right to make errors, especially with regard to figures and prices. The information contained herein is taken from sources believed to be reliable, but in no way claims to be accurate or complete. Due to court decisions, the contents of linked external sites are also co-responsible (e.g. Landgericht Hamburg, in the decision of 12.05.1998 312 O 85/98), as long as there is no explicit dissociation from them. Despite careful control of the content, I do not assume liability for the content of linked external pages. The respective operators are exclusively responsible for their content. The disclaimer of Swiss Resource Capital AG also applies: https://www.resource-capital.ch/en/disclaimer/ On the night of October 16, Russian terrorists attacked Poltava region with missiles and drones. Three people, including a child, were injured as a result of the falling debris. ADVERTISIMENT The explosions occurred in Myrhorod district at night. The head of the Poltava regional military administration, Philip Pronin, reported this on Telegram . According to him, the Russian occupation forces sent missiles and attack drones to the region. No hits to civilian or critical infrastructure in Poltava region were recorded. At the same time, the head of the regional military administration said that the fragments of a Russian missile damaged several private houses. According to preliminary information, three people were injured, including a ten-year-old child. The injured were hospitalized at the scene. There is no information about the dead. As a reminder, on the night of Monday, October 16, Russian occupants launched a missile attack on Ukrainian cities. The explosions were heard in Dnipro, Myrhorod and a number of other settlements. ADVERTISIMENT Earlier it was reported that on the night of October 15, the occupiers struck at Kharkiv region. The enemy dropped a guided aerial bomb on the village of Druzhelyubivka, Izium district. As reported by OBOZ.UA, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that on the eve of winter, missile attacks by the Russian army, in particular on energy infrastructure facilities, would increase. Ukraine must be prepared for this, so there are agreements with Western partners to strengthen air defense. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! On October 16, Ukraine managed to return four children who had been illegally taken to its territory by the Russian occupiers. Our state is using all means and resources to remedy the consequences of Moscow's war crimes, including the abduction of young Ukrainian citizens. ADVERTISIMENT Today, three boys aged three, six and nine, as well as a 17-year-old teenage girl, returned to their native land. The head of the President's Office, Andriy Yermak, announced this on his Telegram channel. "An important day. Volodymyr Zelenskyy has set a task to return all our children. We are working on it. Russia must be punished for genocide," the official emphasized. As a reminder, in September this year, the President's Office launched a campaign to return Ukrainian children illegally deported from the territories temporarily occupied by Russia to their homes. The campaign is called Bring Kids Back UA and is aimed at obtaining information from Russian residents about children from Ukraine who are being held on Russian territory. At the same time, dictator Putin personally admitted to the crime for which the court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant. He told tales that Russian soldiers were taking away underage Ukrainians to "save them from harm in the conflict zone." ADVERTISIMENT "Children are a sacred thing, we were taking them out of the conflict zone to save their lives and health, that's what was happening. No one is going to separate them from their families," the Russian president justified himself during a meeting with an African delegation in St. Petersburg. As OBOZ.UA previously reported, according to the head of the GUR Budanov, there are certain obstacles in the negotiation process on the exchange of prisoners under the "all for all" formula, but the situation is not as complicated as it seems. Ukraine is as close as possible to getting Russia to meet us halfway in the near future. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and in Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Zoe Harris, chief customer officer at On The Beach, said: We all know that this summer has been a complete washout and according to our booking data it looks as though holidaymakers are searching for the last bit of sun. Four problems. The first is that in an atmosphere when people are talking about anti-Semitic attacks it may seem to many people unnecessarily risky to put an Israeli flag in their window. You cant read a lack of solidarity into that. The second could be that though wanting to express solidarity with ordinary Israelis, there may be some reluctance to express it with the far-Right government of Benjamin Netanyahu in a way that there wasnt with Volodymyr Zelensky. This could be particularly true as Israel prepares for the ground invasion of Gaza and the horrors that must inevitably accompany it. This cognitive dissonance takes two forms. The Metropolitan Police has already reported a massive rise in anti-Semitic incidents in the capital. Fear is proving very effective indeed. As well as the visible threat, when the leader of Hamas called for a day of global attacks on Jews last Friday, schools closed and families stayed indoors. This is 2023 in what is supposed to be the most welcoming multicultural city in the world. The reason there is a Jewish community here at all is because of Russian pogroms and then the Holocaust. Does this no longer matter? But the obvious question about the offensive, besides the risk to civilians, is what is the aim? If it is for Israel to occupy Gaza, it raises the grim prospect of an Iraq-style situation, dangerous to the occupiers and terrible for the occupied. If it is the replacement of Hamas with the Palestinian Authority, it may not work. If it is simply the elimination of Hamas fighters in Gaza, it may succeed in killing many of its present leaders, but others will be radicalised still further. So much for the special relationship. British prime ministers talk about it a lot, presidents not so much. It is hardly surprising that Rishi Sunak is not a household name in the US. When Joe Biden refers to you as Rashee Sanook and then promotes you to Mr President, you cant really expect anyone else to contradict him. And even though the Biden administrations agenda for the health of democracies (free elections, human rights etc) was always going to find a more natural partner in Labour, its still surprising that Keir Starmer is gaining quite so much traction in the US. I was on the West Coast last week and instead of peoples eyes glazing over whenever I mentioned whats currently happening in Westminster there seemed to be considerable interest in the current Labour leader. Starmer, right? Yeah, its his to lose, right? Well, possibly, even though were probably a year away from an election, there is no Cool Britannia-style upswing to help matters along, and optics, here the cancellation of HS2 has called into question the UKs ability to deliver big ticket projects for international investors. Rafah border crossing is currently the Palestinians only route out of the enclave, with Hamas, Egypt and Israel all having a degree of control over who can pass through it. You name it, we had it come to the shows, Iommi reminisces. The church were outside with banners, Satanists, witches, God knows what else. There are some right nutters out there. One night we got to the dressing room and there was a cross on the door in red. Never thought any more of it. Turns out this bloke had cut his hand and done a cross in blood on the dressing room door. Anyway we go on stage and I was having problems with my amp, so I turned to walk away from it and there was a guy behind me with a dagger, a religious sort of person that thought we were Satanists. Security grabbed him and got him on the floor. This is in the early days. Theyd just shoot us now. They might be best known by many for proving the CSI themes these days, but The Who are, without doubt, one of the best British rock bands of all time. Pete Townshend proved himself to be one of the most expressive British songwriters of the 1960s and 1970s while Roger Daltrey was one of the most commanding frontmen of the era. They were also one of the first British bands to introduce the idea of a concept album, too, with 1969s hugely successful Tommy. Whos Next is one of the great UK rock albums, too, and the band are still talking about their generation five decades on. The decision to move to Smithfield from the previous site on London Wall, an unwelcoming and confusing building, was taken in 2015. When I arrived, two things were apparent. First, that we had an amazing collection and an amazing history of dealing with the stuff of London, Ament says. The second was that the richness and brilliance of that collection was in a building that was impenetrable and not environmentally sound. No one could get in. It was like the most introverted public building in the world and not fit for a museum. She even stuggled to find a way in for her interview, and thats when she really knew moving the site would be crucial for the museum to thrive in the future. TheUkrainian defense forces have made some progress towards the railway north of Klishchiyivka (Donetsk region).The offensive operation of Ukrainian defenders in the west of Zaporizhzhya region is also continuing. ADVERTISIMENT In particular, Ukrainian military observer Kostyantyn Mashovets said that the soldiers took advantage of recent Russian counterattacks to gradually advance near the village of Kopani (5 km northwest of Robotyno), east of Nesterianka (10 km northwest of Robotyno), and near Verbove (18 km southeast of Orikhiv). This was noted by the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in a report on October 15. Analysts said that Ukrainian troops continued their offensive near Bakhmut, where they advanced on the southern flank, and in Zaporizhzhia region over the past day. The gradual advance near the village of Klishchiyivka is evidenced by geolocated footage published on October 15. Russian sources reported the continuation of ground attacks by Ukrainian troops south of Bakhmut on the Klishchiyivka-Kurdyumivka-Andriivka line. ADVERTISIMENT On October 15, Russia also claimed that the Ukrainian Defense Forces continued shelling on the Robotyno-Novoprokopivka-Verbove line. Ukrainian officials have not yet disclosed details of the offensive in this area. ADVERTISIMENT As OBOZ.UA previously reported: - On October 15, about 70 combat engagements took place on the front line in Ukraine. Ukrainian troops continue to conduct defense operations in the east and south, offensive operations in the Melitopol sector and offensive operations in the Bakhmut sector. - More information about the situation at the front can be found in the report of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine here. Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! The new series will not be shying away from the drama: the first part of the show will focus on the last months of Dianas life on the run up to the horrific accident, while the second part (which is being released on December 14) will focus on the fallout of her death and its effect on her family, the Royal family and the public. The theory is that this hybrid tree started life at the nursery of John Tradescant in Vauxhall. Many were then planted throughout the city in the 18th and 19th centuries because of their ability to stand up to challenging urban conditions such as trampled roots, poor soil, a lack of water and pollution. Also unearthed this week, I took a look at the revamped Hush yes, the cosy brand of catalogues-dropped-on-your-doorstep-past has had a chic glow-up. Driven in part by the fact that no one who worked there wanted to wear any of it anymore. Out with the anodyne floral dresses then, and in with remarkably great denim and knits as well as partywear that wont make you cringe (there is a fun tasselled black maxi skirt coming in November, and silver leather trousers if you cant miss out on A Thing right now). The outerwear is great one of the chicest women I know, who tends to be head-to-toe in Saint Laurent, has ordered the black-and-white check coat (239), which frankly sold it for me. She went on: You had planned to burn her body and thereby destroy the evidence of her injuries but very careful investigation and your own inconsistent statements have exposed your crimes and your undoubted responsibility for them. Detective Chief Superintendent James Conway, who leads policing in Hackney and Tower Hamlets said: We have had extra police patrols in the area since the attacks in Israel to provide reassurance. We are working closely with our partners in the Community Security Trust, the Shomrim, Hackney Council and other key local partners. It may have come to nothing but was seriously abusive. Trying to persuade a third state to prosecute one of our nationals is seriously irregular, and to facilitate his extradition there via the UK is also seriously irregular. Defence lawyer Mark Summers KC said in July last year, lawyers in the IS Beatles case in Virginia clarified they were not seeking to bring a prosecution against Davis because the evidence was there were only three members and not four members of that cell. Rossi initially came to the attention of the authorities after he became ill with Covid-19 and was taken to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow in December 2021. Children will be taught how to recognise when someone has suffered a cardiac arrest and how to give chest compressions to keep blood pumping around the body. They will also be shown how to use a defibrillator, which can restart a heart. Repurposing drugs which have already been shown to be safe and effective, such as PCSK9 inhibitors, can dramatically shorten the time it takes for findings to go from discovery to patient trials. While testing in large groups of patients will be needed before these drugs can be recommended, these promising results offer hope to thousands of AAA patients that their long wait for a treatment may soon be over. Almost 260 Ukrainian citizens need to be evacuated from Gaza. Ukrainian diplomats are working to get our people out of the hot spot in the Middle East. ADVERTISIMENT This was stated by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his traditional evening address to the Ukrainian people and the world on Sunday, October 15. However, as the head of state emphasized, the exit from there is blocked for citizens of all countries (to watch the video, scroll to the bottom of the page). As you know, the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip is not working. "We are working with our partners to evacuate our citizens. Ukrainian diplomats are ready to help every citizen who needs it," the President said. At the same time, the evacuation of Ukrainians from Israel continues. More than 200 people have already been evacuated, mostly children and women. They are currently in Romania, a neighboring country of Ukraine. In addition, the President noted that new flights are already being prepared to evacuate Ukrainian citizens from Israel. ADVERTISIMENT "Once again, I appeal to all Ukrainians who may be abroad and need help. At any time, in any way, please contact our diplomatic missions abroad," Zelensky said. Earlier, Dmytro Lubinets, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, said that the Israeli Foreign Ministry had revoked the permission for Ukrainian citizens to leave the Gaza Strip at the last minute. This happened only two hours before the departure. The reasons for this decision are not yet clear. According to him, 243 citizens need to be evacuated, but this number is expected to grow. As reported by OBOZREVATEL, seven Ukrainian citizens became victims of the war between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group. Nine more Ukrainians are still missing. ADVERTISIMENT Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! They are particularly keen to hear from anyone who captured the collision on dash cam, who were in the area around the time of the collision or have any information regarding the driver of the vehicle, the Met said. I was a soldier, now Im a minister in defence. Never once have I celebrated the demise of my adversaries, and so even if those women who were wearing those stickers regard Israelis as their enemy, even if they want to see them remove the state of Israel, the idea that they celebrate and glorify that loss of human life is just despicable to me. I think you have to be clear that international law allows Israel to prosecute a mission that is legal, proportionate and necessary, and that, Im afraid, does not necessarily mean that Israel has to be able to guarantee that there will be no civilian loss of life, he told ITVs Good Morning Britain. Labours victory in the Scottish constituency has led to hopes within the party that it may be able to win back more seats north of the border in a general election. That might be the preparation of documents, command paper documents, or communications products, to explain the decision to the public, obviously all of that is done on the understanding it is done in advance of a final decision being taken. Following charges that he had groped two men at a private members club, Christopher Pincher was expelled from the Conservative Party and lost his government position earlier this year. He acknowledged in his letter of resignation to the PM that he had embarrassed myself and other people. Two hours after the plane departed the woman allegedly became aggressive and hit her face on a seat. After she could not be calmed down, the aircraft operator requested to make an emergency landing due to the safety of other passengers. Communities with Persian ancestry mark the day with the festival of Yalda, which celebrates the victory of light over dark and the birthday of the sun God Mithra. On winter solstice, families come together, stay awake through the night to welcome the morning sun together, and feast. Ms Zin said she had been sent the footage from a Gaza news site. He said he believed that it showed her daughters and the rest of the family at an unknown location in Gaza as she pleaded for their safe return. On the morning of October 7, the Hamas terrorist organization launched a massive missile attack on Israel and infiltrated the country. Since then, the active phase of the Palestinian-Israeli confrontation has continued. ADVERTISIMENT The Israeli Defense Forces during the week carried out massive air strikes on the Gaza Strip, which resulted in the destruction of dozens of Hamas facilities. In addition, the IDF is preparing to launch a ground operation. OBOZ.UA collected key facts about the confrontation between Israel and Palestine. According to the Israeli media, on the night of October 16, the IDF conducted the most massive air strikes on the Gaza Strip since the beginning of hostilities. The most intense bombing was in Gaza City. The IDF said it had destroyed dozens of Hamas facilities in the Gaza Strip. According to preliminary data, Israel struck at least 50 targets overnight, destroying observation posts, command centers, and rocket launchers. At the same time, it became known that Hamas militants themselves fired at Palestinian residents. According to IDF spokesman Jonathan Conricus, the attack on a convoy of civilians fleeing to the southern part of the Gaza Strip was a false flag operation conducted by Hamas. ADVERTISIMENT "If you apply the logic and think about who would benefit from these horrific images of children and civilians evacuating to the south and then obviously being killed, who would benefit from that, only one organization, Hamas," Conricus said. At least 70 people, most of them children, were killed in the strike. Another 200 people were injured. Israel accused Hamas of trying to keep Gazans from moving south to use them as human shields. It is noteworthy that Israel has received a portion of criticism for the blockade of the Gaza Strip. The army was urged to ensure the evacuation of civilians before the ground operation. In particular, US President Joe Biden said that his administration is negotiating with Egypt to create a humanitarian corridor to get children and women out of Gaza. It also became known that Biden is considering a trip to Israel in the coming days. Israel noted that the visit of the American leader would be a powerful symbol of sympathy and support after the brutal Hamas attack. ADVERTISIMENT Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has invited Biden to visit as a sign of solidarity. It is emphasized that if the visit takes place, it will be a chance to personally confirm to the Israeli people that the United States firmly supports them. However, some analysts believe that Biden's trip to Israel could be seen as a provocative step for Hamas' main sponsor, Iran. As a reminder, Israel is going to send 10,000 soldiers to capture Gaza, seeking to conduct the largest offensive since the Second Lebanon War. The IDF aims not just to clear the Strip of terrorists, but especially to eliminate their leader, Yahya Sinwar. ADVERTISIMENT Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the approach of a "new stage" in the war with Hamas. The IDF noted that the preparations are complete, while acknowledging that a number of events could affect the ground invasion of the Gaza Strip: the evacuation of Palestinians and tensions on the country's northern border. Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Since then, other politicians and leaders have been killed or kidnapped, car bombs have exploded in multiple cities, including the capital, Quito, and inmates have rioted in prisons. Earlier this month, seven men whom authorities identified as suspects in Mr Villavicencios slaying were killed while in custody. For now, all they have to go on are the messages and videos contained in a nightmarish group chat of Beeri neighbours who described in real-time as the gunmen went door to door, flushing people from their safe rooms, sometimes by setting their houses on fire, Mr Kipnis said. The United Nations has warned of a growing humanitarian crisis with food and water shortages, with hospitals struggling to cope with the number of casualties, with more than 2,300 people in Gaza reported to have been killed in recent days after Israel launched a wave of air attacks on the besieged strip in retaliation to the Hamas horrors. Halloween in America does not require any embellishment. The states usually see some of the worlds largest and most extravagent celebrations. Festivisties rage on for days with decor (the frenzy does not stop at pumpkins - or Jack-o-lanterns), costumes, pranks and parties. In certain areas of the U.S., there is often oppotunity to partake in different sorts of festivals. Selma Alabama, for instance, has been recognised for centuries as the hub of witchcraft and tends to host the Festival of the Dead. The arrested man, who has mobility issues and is not from Hong Kong, told officials that the wheelchair had been loaned by a friend and that he managed a car rental company, according to local media reports. He added: It is the devils own choice that Israel has got to make but for my money they are balancing correctly the need to preserve innocent human life as best they possibly can while accepting that the adversary that they will soon launch an attack on, uses humans and shields and deliberately seeks to hide within civilian population and infrastructure. Israel said today that no ceasefire had been implemented in southern Gaza, even though security sources in Egypt said a deal had been reached to allow foreigners out of the besieged Palestinian enclave and aid to be brought in through the Rafah crossing. Egyptian security sources said Israel had agreed to a halt its bombardment of southern Gaza as part of a deal which would see the crossing open temporarily. But Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahus office said: There is currently no truce and humanitarian aid in Gaza in exchange for getting foreigners out. There are no such efforts under way at this time. If anything changes we will inform the public. We are continuing our fight against Hamas, this murderous organisation that carried this (the assaults) out, he said. He said: "There's no question we're seeing an increase in reported threats, and we've got to be on the lookout, especially for lone actors who may take inspiration from recent events to commit violence of their own. The seven-year-old boy reunited with his grandmother on Friday had been in Russia at a children's home "as a result of being separated from his mother who was in Russia when the war broke out", the Qatari official said. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced the elimination of another Hamas commander in the Gaza Strip. The head of the group's southern national security district, Muataz Eid, was killed in an air strike. ADVERTISIMENT The elimination of the militant was reported late in the evening on October 15. It is noted that Muataz Eid was eliminated "as a result of intelligence efforts by the Shin Bet security agency and the Military Intelligence Directorate." In addition, the IDF said that its fighter jets and attack helicopters continue to attack terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip. During the day, the Israeli army attacked about 250 military targets, most of them in the northern Gaza Strip, the report said. ADVERTISIMENT As reported by OBOZ.UA: - According to the Israeli media, on the night of October 16, the IDF carried out the most massive air strikes on the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war. Gaza City was the most heavily bombed. - Jerusalem plans to send 10,000 troops to capture Gaza, which could be the largest offensive since the Second Lebanon War. The IDF aims, in particular, to eliminate Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a "new stage" in the war. The IDF acknowledged that the invasion of the Gaza Strip could be affected by the evacuation of Palestinians and tensions on the country's northern border. ADVERTISIMENT Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Mr Putin is expected to attend the Belt and Road Forum in the Chinese capital on Tuesday and Wednesday, his first trip outside Russia since the Hague-based International Criminal Court issued a warrant for him in March over the deportation of children from Ukraine. 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. The elder Noboa is the richest man in Ecuador thanks to a conglomerate that started in the growing and shipping of bananas Ecuadors main crop . The corporation began as a banana trade but now includes more than 128 companies in dozens of countries. This is the bestselling mascara in the bareMinerals and one flick of the wand will prove why. The product has an immediate fluttery effect, upping the length and density of your lashes in the carbon black hue thanks to the 600 bristles on the brush. These are placed in a staggered way to ensure that no lash is left behind as you apply the mousse-like texture. Marthas Rule is essential in empowering patients to speak up on hospital wards. Ultimately, it will enable patients themselves to trigger a critical care review effectively a second opinion if they feel their care is going wrong, their concerns are being ignored or their voice isnt being heard. I know other people go back to their schools and do things," the Black Panther star continued. "Thats how I know my experience in school was very different to other people, because I am not the one to walk through the doors again. Anyone who went to that school? Meet me over here. The choreographer who doesnt have a celebrity partner this year revealed a plan was in place, in case it happened, telling OK! Magazine that he had urged Mills to hold on as long as she can. Extra 100 off holidays under 14 nights using a unique TUI discount code 15% off all orders over 100 using this ASOS discount code 5% off all bookings with this Travelodge discount code 15% of all orders with The Perfume Shop birthday discount - VIP Rewards Members 20% off everything with The Body Shop discount code A new package of military assistance to Israel and Ukraine from the United States will exceed $2 billion. It will include funds for the defense of state borders from both the ultra-Islamist Hamas group and the regular Russian army. ADVERTISIMENT White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said this on CBS. He noted that the adoption of such military aid packages largely depends on the decision of Congress. "President Joe Biden is going to have intensive talks with the U.S. Congress next week," he said. The American official noted that the adoption of laws in the US Congress remains blocked due to the crisis with the election of the Speaker of the House of Representatives after the resignation of Kevin McCarthy. On October 3, 216 congressmen voted in favor of his dismissal, while 210 voted against. Among those in favor were his fellow party members: Andy Biggs, Ken Buck, Tim Burchett, Eli Crane, Matt Gaetz, Bob Goode, Nancy Mays and Matt Rosendale. As reported by OBOZ.UA, on October 7, Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin said that his department would work to ensure that Israel, whose territory was massively attacked by Hamas militants, "had everything it needed to defend itself." ADVERTISIMENT At the same time, Washington is not going to stop the transfer of weapons to Ukraine, which is necessary for its victory over Russia. "We can and will support Israel as well as Ukraine. The United States can do several things at once," Austin emphasized. Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! The effects of the Middle East conflict can already be seen on the market for oil and natural gas market, and the Ministry of Energy will manage this situation using the levers at its disposal, including safety stocks, Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja told a news conference on Monday. "I think anyone has a hard time estimating the impact of the conflict in the Middle East, because we still don't know how much it will extend and to what level. But we, at the level of the Romanian Ministry of Energy, are very concerned with the security state of play in the Middle East. We are already seeing the effects on the natural gas market, on the oil market, of petroleum products. We will manage this situation using the levers at our disposal, including the safety stocks that the ministry manages in the area of petroleum products, in order not to preclude the effect of a lack of resources for consumers," said Burduja. Regarding prices, he added that this "is another discussion," because they depend on many international variables. European natural gas prices declined after rallying more than 40% last week, with traders weighing milder weather forecasts and international efforts to contain the conflict in the Middle East, Bloomberg reported on Monday. Dutch front-month gas, Europe's benchmark, traded 4.9% lower at EUR 51.33 a megawatt-hour by 08:38hrs in Amsterdam. AGERPRES. CHICAGO (AP) An Illinois landlord accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old Muslim boy and seriously wounding his mother was charged with a hate crime after police and relatives said he singled out the victims because of their faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas. In recent days, police in U.S. cities and federal authorities have been on high alert for violence driven by antisemitic or Islamophobic sentiments. FBI officials, along with Jewish and Muslim groups, have reported an increase of hateful and threatening rhetoric. In the Chicago-area case, officers found the 32-year-old woman and boy late Saturday morning at a home in an unincorporated area of Plainfield Township, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) southwest of Chicago, the Will County Sheriff's Office said in a statement on social media. Relatives and a Muslim civil liberties and advocacy group identified the slain boy as the wounded woman's son. The boy was pronounced dead at a hospital. The woman had multiple stab wounds and was expected to survive, according to the statement. An autopsy on the child showed he had been stabbed dozens of times. Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis, the sheriff's statement said. According to the Will County sheriffs office, the woman had called 911 to report that her landlord had attacked her with a knife, adding she then ran into a bathroom and continued to fight him off. The man suspected in the attack was found Saturday outside the home and sitting upright outside on the ground near the driveway of the residence with a cut on his forehead, authorities said. Joseph M. Czuba, 71, of Plainfield was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crimes and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, according to the sheriff's office. WLS-TV reported that Czuba was scheduled for an initial hearing on Monday afternoon at the county courthouse in Joliet, according to the Will County States Attorney Office. Attempts to reach Czuba or a family member were unsuccessful Sunday. His home phone number was unlisted. Messages left for possible relatives in online records and on social media were not immediately returned. The sheriffs office and county public defender's office did not immediately return messages about Czuba's legal representation. Authorities did not release the names of the two victims. But the boy's paternal uncle, Yousef Hannon, spoke at a news conference Sunday hosted by the Chicago chapter Council on American-Islamic Relations where the boy's father was in attendance. There the boy was identified as Wadea Al-Fayoume, a Palestinian American boy who recently had turned 6. The organization identified the other victim as the boy's mother. We are not animals, we are humans. We want people to see us as humans, to feel us as humans, to deal with us as humans, because this is what we are, said Hannon, a Palestinian American who emigrated to the U.S. in 1999 to work, including as a public school teacher. The Muslim civil liberties organization called the crime our worst nightmare and part of a disturbing spike in hate calls and emails since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. The group cited text messages exchanged among family members that showed the attacker had made disparaging remarks about Muslims. Palestinians basically, again, with their hearts broken over whats happening to their people, said Ahmed Rehab, the group's executive director, have to also worry about the immediate safety of life and limb living here in this most free of democracies in the world." In response to the increased threats, the Illinois State Police are communicating with federal law-enforcement and reaching out to Muslim communities and religious leaders to offer support, according to a Sunday press release from Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker. To take a six-year-old childs life in the name of bigotry is nothing short of evil," Pritzker said. "Wadea should be heading to school in the morning. Instead, his parents will wake up without their son. This wasnt just a murder it was a hate crime. And every single Illinoisan including our Muslim, Jewish, and Palestinian neighbors deserves to live free from the threat of such evil. President Joe Biden echoed that sentiment Sunday, saying in a statement: This horrific act of hate has no place in America, and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are. The Justice Department opened a hate crime investigation into the events leading up to the attack, Attorney General Merrick Garland said. FBI Director Chris Wray said on a call with reporters Sunday that the FBI is also moving quickly to mitigate the threats. A senior FBI official who spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Bureau said the majority of the threats that the FBI has responded to were not judged to be credible, adding that the FBI takes them all seriously nonetheless. The official also said that agents have been encouraged to be aggressive and proactive in communicating over the last week with faith-based leaders. The official said the purpose is not to make anyone feel targeted but rather to ask clerics and others to report to law enforcement anything that seems suspicious. Associated Press reporters Jesse Bedayn in Denver and Eric Tucker in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report. Tony Messenger Metro columnist Follow Tony Messenger 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 This is the second in a series of columns about how Taum Sauk recovery money was spent and who benefited. Read the first column at stltoday.com. IRONTON, Mo. Michael Flieg came to Ironton a couple of years ago to build a campground. The longtime St. Louis resident was drawn by the Shepherd Mountain Bike Park. The city of Ironton, in southeast Missouri, was looking for somebody with his skills. The bike park had been partly funded with money from the Iron County Economic Partnership. It was the sort of project the partnership was supposed to encourage, in hopes of luring back tourists and development after the Taum Sauk flooding disaster in 2005. Flieg now leases a small campground adjacent to Shepherd Mountain Lake, on property owned by the city. He has been developing the camping sites, adding platforms and decks, as well as high-end tents with propane heat. His project Arcadia Valley Outdoors is becoming popular with campers and bikers. But late last year, Fliegs campground was in trouble. I started running out of money, he said. At the time, the board of the Economic Partnership, known as ICEP, was considering dissolving and donating the $3 million it had to various nonprofits. But community members, including Flieg, rallied to keep the partnership going. A meeting was held in a local coffee shop in March of this year to save ICEP. About 30 people showed up, Flieg recalled. Various folks agreed to serve on the board. Flieg was one of them. In April, he and other new members were sworn in. Flieg admits he had one motive. I only stepped up because I needed some of the money for my project, he said in an interview. Indeed, he would later receive $127,000 of ICEPs Taum Sauk recovery money for his campground. Flieg insists he was transparent from the beginning. I didnt want to see the fund dissolved, he said. From his perspective, the older suits in the community controlled ICEP for too long, didnt disburse enough money, and hindered the recovery from the Taum Sauk disaster. When they did spend, Flieg said, board members handed out money to their friends. That definitely wasnt the plan when the fund was created. One coffee shop, several warnings In 2007, then-Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon announced a $180 million settlement with Ameren Missouri, the utility that owned the Taum Sauk Reservoir. A wall in the reservoirs dam had collapsed in 2005, causing a massive flood that destroyed parts of Iron and Reynolds counties. Various investigations concluded that Ameren did not properly maintain the hydroelectric power plant and dam on the site. Nixon put $7 million of the settlement into a nonprofit he created, called the Taum Sauk Fund. The original articles of organization were clear on a couple of points: board members could not benefit from the fund; and the nonprofit was subject to the Sunshine Law, the states open-records law. The fund covered both Iron and Reynolds counties and was intended to jump-start tourism and development. But the fund soon stagnated, as board members couldnt agree on how to spend the money or what projects to support. In 2011, the fund split in two, with Reynolds County keeping half the money in the Taum Sauk Fund and the other half, about $3.5 million, going to Iron County. That fund eventually led to the Iron County Economic Partnership (ICEP). In 2015, ICEP hired a Jefferson County man, Erich Jett, on a contract basis to to help raise more money and run the fund. Almost immediately, Jett noticed issues he believed would not pass muster under Internal Revenue Service rules. For example, the president of ICEP at the time, Nathan McKie, formed a religious-based nonprofit called Luke 16. McKie has some interesting views about nonprofits. For instance, he believes they can be a tool for financial reward. He even self-published a book about it, called The Dignity of Profit, in 2018. Taking what I have put forth and pursuing it further through the reading of some of these other sources will give you a perspective that will enable you to profit from doing the work of helping alleviate poverty, McKie wrote. How did McKie go about alleviating poverty? In 2015, he formed Luke 16, named after the Parable of the Unjust Steward in the New Testament. McKie filed paperwork with the state that showed the nonprofits board members were all family members of his. But for the IRS, in documents he had Jett prepare, McKie listed local pastors as board members. Then, in 2018, McKies fellow ICEP board members decided to give $250,000 to Luke 16. The goal was to build a coffee shop on Main Street in Ironton called The Hub. I was never in on any of the discussions to give the grant to Luke 16. I tried to keep as much of an arms length as I could, McKie said in a recent interview. The board wanted me to do it. At the time, the board was mostly making smaller, $20,000 donations to local nonprofits. Those donations were done in open session. Jett even took pictures of them for the local newspaper. But the money from ICEP to McKies nonprofit was awarded in a session closed to the public. Jett complained to other board members, and McKie eventually resigned as president of ICEP. But he didnt give the money back. And the coffee shop, billed as a place to train local workers, failed. Everyone got squeamish about it, McKie said. There was nothing wrong with that grant, but it looked that way to some people. According to IRS forms, Luke 16 eventually donated the coffee shop building back to ICEP. It sold the building in 2021 to local developer Chris Spitzmiller who had served on the ICEP board five years earlier. Jett would notice other issues, and in 2019 he began filing the first of several whistleblower complaints with the Missouri attorney generals office and the IRS. Jetts contract ended in December 2020. He has hired an attorney, arguing ICEP still owes him money from his contract. In March of this year, the old suits on the ICEP board were replaced by new ones, including Flieg, the campground developer. And soon, the new board members would hand over hundreds of thousands of dollars to businesses they owned or had connections to. Flieg didnt serve long on the board, resigning on June 29. But a few days later, he applied for a grant and received $127,000 in August. That money is all going to building up the campground, he says. But he also acknowledges that the timing doesnt look good. For his part, Jett is hoping the IRS forces the companies that received money this year to give it back. There are multiple self-dealing provisions in IRS regulations covering private foundations such as ICEP, including one that makes ex-board members ineligible for grants or loans for five years. Today, after a series of resignations, the board is down to two members. It doesnt have a quorum to meet or take any action. ICEP has only $165,000 remaining. We had no legal advisers Among the questions surrounding ICEP are ones about transparency, with closed board meetings and shaky paper trails. Earlier this month, I filed a Sunshine Law request with ICEP for meeting minutes and contracts and payments made in 2023. Robert Alcorn and Frederick Hall, the last remaining board members, met me and Jett in the Ozark Regional Library on Oct. 5 to inspect the records. Jett still has several outstanding Sunshine Law requests. The minutes from this year are sketchy and limited. There is no record of specific votes on various projects. The contracts with businesses that received grants are short, boilerplate documents with no provisions to retrieve money if it isnt spent properly. Years of past ICEP records appear to be missing. Thats a problem, says David Roland, a director with the nonprofit Freedom Center of Missouri. Requiring organizations like this to be accountable to the people is absolutely necessary to ensure that there is no self-dealing or ulterior motives when it comes to the distribution of the funds to benefit the public, Roland said in an interview. Especially when its written into the founding documents of the organization that they will abide by the Sunshine Laws requirements its difficult to imagine that they just didnt know their responsibility. The former ICEP board president says they indeed didnt know. Earlier this year, in response to records requests from Jett, then-board president Leah Sitzes denied in emails that the board had to follow the Sunshine Law. When Jett pointed it out in the bylaws, she changed her tune but told Jett the documents wouldnt be available until after a yearly audit. Sitzes resigned from the board in September. In an email to me on Oct. 4, she said ICEP board members initially didnt think open-records laws applied to them. In hindsight, she wrote, I can see where we may have misinterpreted the bylaws None of us being lawyers did not work in our favor We had no legal advisers. Previous ICEP boards had been advised by a series of attorneys over the years. One of those attorneys was Brian Parker, whos now the county prosecutor. When the new board formed earlier this year, Parker said, he offered to help. Right before their first meeting, I gave them a few words of wisdom, Parker said. I didnt hear anything more from them. Now Parker finds himself in the center of a small-town storm. And Jett is still trying to draw attention to problems he first spotted years ago. This is some shady stuff, Jett says. Thats the cardinal rule of nonprofits. You cant just give money to board members businesses. You cant do it. KIRKWOOD The man charged with firing shots into the air at an elementary school Halloween event on Sunday is a St. Louis County police officer and the son of a long-time St. Louis County prosecutor. Matthew McCulloch remained in police custody Monday afternoon on a $500,000 cash-only bond and is charged with four counts of child endangerment, five counts of armed criminal action, one count of making a terrorist threat and one count of unlawful use of a weapon, all of which are felonies. He is listed as a county officer in state records and is the son of former St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch. Police said McCulloch, in his late 30s according to court records, was "causing a disturbance" at a trunk-or-treat event for Tillman Elementary School, in the parking lot of North Kirkwood Middle School, just before 5 p.m. Sunday. When he was confronted by other adults at the event, he pulled out a handgun and fired multiple shots into the air before being tackled to the ground. No one was injured. St. Louis County police said McCulloch joined the department Dec. 29, 2017, and was on unpaid administrative leave following the shooting. McCulloch's family has held leadership positions for decades in local law enforcement. His father, Bob McCulloch, served 28 years as St. Louis Countys elected prosecutor before losing his reelection bid in 2018. His uncle Joseph McCulloch is a retired St. Louis city police officer and was appointed earlier this year as the top prosecutor in St. Charles County. His grandfather, Paul McCulloch, was also a police officer and was killed while on duty in a shootout in 1964. Attorney Brian P. Millikan said he is representing Matthew McCulloch in the case and provided a statement from the McCulloch family, who said they have confidence in Kirkwood police to investigate the shooting and that they were grateful no one was hurt. "We are also painfully aware that an incident such as this can and does cause significant emotional trauma to those, especially children and their parents, who witness such an event," the statement read. "Our thoughts and prayers are with those victims." St. Louis County Police Chief Kenneth Gregory also said in a statement he was grateful no one was hurt. "We were disappointed to learn that the actions of one of our officers caused a disturbance in the city of Kirkwood on Sunday," he said. "In a profession where we are called to keep the peace, this display of disregard for safety is concerning." Matthew McCulloch's wife filed for divorce in March. They were married Oct. 12, 2013, and separated in last October, according to court filings. They have two elementary school-aged children. School was canceled Monday at Tillman Elementary, Kirkwood School District officials said. The building was open until 1 p.m. for anyone who needs support from counselors or social workers. "It's sad," Steph Deidrick, a spokeswoman for the Kirkwood School District, said Monday afternoon. "And it is never something we want our families to have to go through. At the same time, our priority very much becomes focused on what resources we can provide to ensure students, families and staff feel safe." She said the school expected to be back to a regular schedule Tuesday. The Post-Dispatch's Erin Heffernan contributed to this report. Cop accused of firing shots at Kirkwood trunk-or-treat said attendees were all going to die A St. Louis County cop told attendees at an elementary school Halloween event they were "all going to die" before firing shots in the air, according to court documents. ST. LOUIS A man who killed a father and his young daughter in the Central West End was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison, prompting a victims mother to say her family was failed by the court system and a judge to question what the definition of justice is. Javonn Nettles, 30, and another man were charged almost three years ago in the deaths of Darrion Rankin-Fleming, 26, and his 7-year-old daughter Dmyah Fleming. But their cases dragged through the courts system and were plagued by the problems that exemplified the dysfunction in former Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardners office. As a result, Fleming and Rankin Flemings families were thrust into the spotlight. Cameras and reporters flocked to hearings. Meanwhile Rankin-Flemings mother, Suketha Rankin, said it felt like everyone focused on the politics and forgot about her son and granddaughter. One of those cases came to a close on Monday when Nettles pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder in exchange for a 10-year sentence. Ten years is not enough for me, Dmyahs mother, Janiece Johns, said in court Monday. Ten years is not enough for my baby. I feel like the judicial system failed my family, said Suketha Rankin. Prosecutor Mary Pat Carl said there were many factors that led the state to offer such a deal and it in no way means that Dmyah and Rankin-Flemings lives were worth a 10-year sentence. Sometimes the state has to make difficult decisions and it impacts people who are already hurting, she said. On Jan. 24, 2021, Rankin-Fleming was getting ready to drop Dmyah off at her grandmothers house in the 4000 block of Laclede Avenue when they were approached by a gunman. Both the father and daughter were shot multiple times. Police found two types of shell casings at the scene. Roughly 10 weeks later, Nettles was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of armed criminal action. Charges said he had been calling Rankin-Fleming up until the moments before the shooting, and investigators found one of Nettles fingerprints on a rear passenger door of Rankin-Flemings vehicle. Andre Anderson, 27, was arrested and charged weeks after that. Charges said cellphone records showed he was in the area at the time of the shooting. But their cases ground to a near halt. Attorneys for Nettles and Anderson complained that they hadnt received key pieces of evidence that prosecutors are required by law to share. In July 2022, prosecutors dismissed and refiled Nettles case just two days before his trial was set to begin. Nine months later, on the eve of another trial, defense attorneys said they still hadnt received multiple items, including search warrant applications or a list of witnesses. They asked a judge to force the state to turn over evidence or dismiss the case altogether. Prosecutors again dismissed and refiled the cases. Meanwhile, outrage mounted over mishandled cases and chronic staffing woes in the city prosecutors office, and the Missouri Attorney General filed a lawsuit seeking Gardners removal. State lawmakers also filed bills to strip her of most of her power. Rankin-Fleming and Dmyahs family expressed outrage in court and stopped talking to reporters, frustrated with the process. Another trial date for Nettles was set for later this month. But he instead pleaded guilty on Monday to two counts of second-degree murder. He did not address the court. Johns and other family members stood before the court and spoke about the smart, talented little girl who was killed next to the father she loved. Johns recalled how Dmyah Facetimed her hours before her death to show off a fresh silk press hairdo. Before she hung up the phone, Johns told Dmyah she would see her later. I love you, she said. The weeks and months since then have been torture, Johns said. She often wakes up in the middle of the night wondering about the moments leading up to her daughters death: Was it instant? Did she even know what was happening? Was she crying out for her mother? I feel like Im not getting justice for my baby, she said. Judge Michael Noble listened to Johns and Rankin, resting his head in his hand. He paused before pronouncing the sentence. I dont know that we would be here today if it wasnt for the strength and dedication from the family, he finally said. Today makes me question what the definition of justice is. Andersons trial is set to begin Nov. 6. From almost the moment he took office, Gov. J.B. Pritzker has championed the state as a sanctuary for immigrants. But in his quest to keep Illinois a welcoming state, the welcome mat is becoming politically frayed as Chicago tries to cope with an influx of more than 18,000 asylum-seekers. What was once altruistic idealism delivered 1,200 miles away from the nations southern border is now colliding with realism in how to temporarily house, provide for and resettle thousands of asylum-seekers in a crisis largely orchestrated by Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to use his states long-standing border issues to paint leaders in Democratic cities and states as hypocrites. As each new bus arrives here from Texas and other locales, more political pressure mounts on Pritzker and on Chicagos new progressive Democratic leadership under Mayor Brandon Johnson. With no firm plans in place and the only concrete advice to incoming migrants being Pritzkers warning that its gonna get cold in Chicago and New York very soon, cracks among the Democratic base, particularly among key ethnic and racial blocs, have emerged over spending taxpayer dollars and housing for migrants. Despite the cold political calculation of using human beings as political pawns in a larger federal game aimed at securing the nations southern border, Abbotts strategy of spreading the pressure on the federal government may be working. We of course are a welcoming state and have been caring for the people whove arrived. But we cant bear the burden only ourselves, Pritzker said on CBS Face the Nation on his calls for assistance from Democratic President Joe Bidens administration. It seems like now is the moment to talk about border security and immigration reform. We want immigrants in the United States, we also want border security. It seems like theres a compromise there, the Democratic governor said. But there has been no serious effort at the federal level to deal with comprehensive immigration reform since 20 years ago, when George W. Bush, a former Texas governor, was president. That effort fell by the wayside as the GOP saw the issue of illegal immigration as a potent one for building the partys political base. Now, with the leadership of the Republican-led U.S. House unsettled, prospects for a comprehensive immigration plan and significant federal aid to Chicago appear unlikely anytime soon. Pritzkers latest comments are in contrast to the boldness he exhibited only 10 days after he was sworn in as governor in January 2019. Then, he issued an executive order declaring immigrants, refugees and asylum-seekers as critical to the fabric of our State, contributing the culture and economy that make Illinois a great place to live and requiring the state to expand welcoming centers. In December of that year, in response to then-President Donald Trump vastly curbing legal immigration and issuing an executive order allowing states and cities to opt out of refugee resettlement programs, Pritzker wrote a defiant letter to then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declaring that Illinois would proudly consent to extending help to refugees. As the governor of Illinois and the great-grandson of refugees, I am committed to ensuring that Illinois is a welcoming state, especially for refugees and those seeking asylum, he wrote. As survivors of persecution, refugees embody the importance of human rights, democracy, and freedom. Refugees resilience in the face of hardship inspires courage, hope, and perseverance. And refugees countless contributions undoubtedly make our states and nation stronger. Fast-forward to earlier this month and a letter to a different administration. Pritzker, a member of Bidens reelection advisory board and the host governor for the Democratic National Convention that will renominate the president in August, wrote to Biden that after 13 months of migrant deliveries by bus, Illinois is overwhelmed and mostly unsupported. Unfortunately, the welcome and aid Illinois has been providing to these asylum-seekers has not been matched with support by the federal government, Pritzker wrote. Most critically, the federal governments lack of intervention and coordination at the border has created an untenable situation for Illinois. Pritzkers letter did get attention in the White House with Biden taking recent actions on immigration, including speeding up work permits for Venezuelan migrants, resuming deportations of border crossers from Venezuela who do not gain refugee status, resuming the building of a border wall in Texas and sending a team from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to Chicago to assess the migrant situation. Reflecting the problems Democrats face over the issue, Democratic U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez who represents a Latino influence district that stretches from several city neighborhoods to the western suburbs, sent out two news releases on Oct. 5 one slamming the Biden administration for resuming the border wall and a second praising the administration for sending the Homeland Security team to Chicago. The White House followed up with an email to reporters that pointed out the Ramirez news release showing appreciation to Biden for sending the Homeland Security team. It made no mention of her other statement that criticized Bidens border wall decision. On Thursday, Democratic U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth joined with 13 of the states 14 Democratic House members in writing a letter to Biden urging the administration to devote more resources to Chicago for the migrant crisis. Central and southwestern Illinois Democratic U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, a first-term legislator from Springfield, did not sign the letter. 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, the letter said, in seeking flexibility in grant funding, waiving fees for temporary work permits for migrants and appointing a federal point person on the migrant issue for Illinois. With Democrats in Illinois acknowledging a lack of early 2024 enthusiasm for Biden among those in the long-underserved Black and Latino communities, the issue of dollars being spent and the search for places to house the asylum-seekers has become an added political problem. On the West Side, Johnson has put on hold plans to use the Amundsen Park field house as a migrant shelter amid residents protests that it would curtail programs and services. On the South Side, Democratic state Sen. Willie Preston hosted a community meeting in the predominantly Black Auburn Gresham neighborhood where he asked residents if they supported Chicago revoking its sanctuary city status. Im telling you all that this is a very serious situation, he said. It is a very controversial situation, and that is why Im one of the first state elected officials to my knowledge to step out (in) front of this issue and say enough is enough, hold the line. We need a cap on migrants because the people dont want it. We cannot afford it, and Im willing to fight. As for using local and state tax dollars to help the migrants, Preston said, I believe our community has sovereignty. I believe our community has paid taxes. Noting that a high percentage of people in Illinois experiencing homelessness are Black, he said he thinks charity starts at home. Andrew Chavez, 32, a downtown office worker who was born in Chicago and raised on the Southwest Side, said he is generally supportive of Democratic causes. But he said he has drawn a line on the migrant issue, believing the money being devoted to serving asylum-seekers should go instead to help the existing homeless population and to restore neighborhoods. This tarnishes the hard work my parents went through when they legally migrated here from Mexico. They didnt get any help. The migrants now coming over here have contributed to the negative stereotypes that people have about people like my family, said Chavez, a first-generation Mexican American. The fact that were spending millions of dollars at this point, money suddenly being found to renovate abandoned buildings and find places for these people, is ridiculous, he said. Democrats privately concede Chavez isnt alone in his feelings another example of Abbotts politically debilitating aim for Democrats in sending migrants to blue cities and states. Charles Wheeler, a retired professor of public affairs reporting at the University of Illinois at Springfield, said sending migrants to Chicago was a strategy aimed at allowing Republicans to portray Democrats as politicians who dont put their money where their mouth is. Wheeler said Republicans are saying, Oh yeah, youre fine with it when you dont have to deal with quote these people unquote. But when they actually arrive, in your communities, you are in an uproar. Wheeler continued: And it gets fed by folks to whose advantage it is to pit one group of marginalized folks against another group of marginalized folks. This past Tuesday, Pritzker acknowledged it was easy to see why Republicans think that this is such a great idea to send thousands of migrants to Chicago and other Democratic cities because they want to cause rifts. Were all doing our best to try to work with the communities where they are challenged to welcome those folks into their communities, he said. I know there are people who are concerned about the continued migration to Chicago and thats one of the reasons why for the last 13 months, Ive been saying to the federal government and to our congresspeople that we need not only dollars to help take care of the people who come here, but also have a better system for (a) distribution of folks around the country if they so choose, he said. Pritzker also repeated a realism that he also views as a deterrent the upcoming winter weather. I can guarantee you that if people at the border understood how cold it will be and that we are having trouble housing the people that are already here, they will not choose to come to Chicago assuming that theyre the ones choosing, he said. JEFFERSON CITY With job vacancies still plaguing many state agencies, Gov. Mike Parsons administration is planning to give state workers a bonus if they help hire more employees. Beginning in January, workers in the various state departments can qualify for $250 or $500 if they successfully refer a new employee to the state workforce. According to documents reviewed at a recent meeting of Parsons cabinet, human resources directors were briefed on the idea Oct. 5, and the governors budget office is working to include funding for the program in the fiscal year beginning next July. A full cost for the program was not immediately available. The bonus program is the latest attempt to bolster the depleted ranks of the state payroll, which has been buffeted by high turnover rates and low pay. But even after raising wages for rank-and-file state workers by more than 20% since 2019, Parson aides continue to scramble to bring employees on board. In addition to raising salaries, officials have lowered hiring standards, allowing more people without college degrees to get jobs. At the Missouri Department of Public Safety, scholarships are being made available for youths seeking jobs in law enforcement. The administration also has held more job fairs and is planning one for Nov. 9 at the Marriott St. Louis West hotel, 660 Maryville Centre Drive, in west St. Louis County. Like other job fairs, officials are conducting onsite interviews and offering jobs on the spot, if feasible. At the Department of Corrections, where turnover has resulted in some prison wings being closed because of a lack of staffing, the state has boosted salaries by $174.8 million since 2018, the administration said. The most recent wage hike of 8.7% has helped. According to prison officials, nearly 240 new officers were hired in the first seven months of the year. But problems persist. To counter vacant positions, the department is deploying mobile teams of guards to address staffing woes at individual prison facilities. Employees on the teams receive pay raises and more flexible hours. Some agencies are finding success in recruiting workers for jobs outside of the capital city region. The Missouri Department of Mental Health plans to move some operations out of its psychiatric hospital in nearby Fulton to more urban areas of the state to account for a lack of workers. Similarly, the state auditor is attempting to open more work space in St. Louis and Springfield. (H)aving staff geographically dispersed around the state saves travel costs, and allows the office to be more nimble in responding to local concerns regarding fraud, corruption, and inefficiency. Additionally, in recent years the (auditor) has had more success recruiting in the branch offices than in Jefferson City, budget documents note. KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip Medics in Gaza warned Sunday that thousands could die as hospitals packed with wounded people ran desperately low on fuel and basic supplies. Palestinians in the besieged coastal enclave struggled to find food, water and safety ahead of an expected Israeli ground offensive in the war sparked by Hamas deadly attack. Israeli forces, supported by a growing deployment of U.S. warships in the region, positioned themselves along Gazas border and drilled for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle the militant group. A week of blistering airstrikes have demolished entire neighborhoods but failed to stem militant rocket fire into Israel. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,670 Palestinians have been killed and 9,600 wounded since the fighting erupted, more than in the 2014 Gaza war, which lasted over six weeks. That makes this the deadliest of the five Gaza wars for both sides. More than 1,400 Israelis were killed, the vast majority of them civilians, in Hamas Oct. 7 assault. At least 155 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza, according to Israel. Its also the deadliest war for Israel since the 1973 conflict with Egypt and Syria. The U.S. State Department said Secretary of State Antony Blinken would return to Israel on Monday after completing a frantic six-country tour through Arab nations aimed at preventing the fighting from igniting a broader regional conflict. President Joe Biden is also considering a trip to Israel, according to a senior administration official, though no plans have been finalized. Fighting along Israels border with Lebanon, which has flared since the start of the latest Gaza war, intensified Sunday with Hezbollah militants firing rockets and an anti-tank missile, and Israel responding with airstrikes and shelling. The Israeli military also reported shooting at one of its border posts. The fighting killed at least one person on the Israeli side and wounded several on both sides of the border. An Israeli drone fired two missiles late Sunday at a hill west of the town of Kfar Kila in south Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency reported. There were no casualties reported in the strikes, which hit near a Lebanese army center. The Israeli army said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that it had hit Hezbollah targets but did not specify what they were. Hezbollah said in a statement that it had fired rockets toward an Israeli military position in the northern border town of Shtula in retaliation for Israeli shelling that killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah on Friday and two Lebanese civilians on Saturday. A Hezbollah spokeswoman, Rana Sahili, said the increased fighting represented a warning and did not mean Hezbollah has decided to enter the war. With the situation in Gaza growing increasingly desperate, the U.S. named David Satterfield, the former U.S. ambassador to Turkey with years of experience in Mideast diplomacy, to be special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues. U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement Sunday that Satterfield will focus on getting humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza. Hospitals in Gaza are expected to run out of generator fuel within two days, endangering the lives of thousands of patients, according to the U.N. Gazas sole power plant shut down for lack of fuel after Israel completely sealed off the 40-kilometer (25-mile) long territory following the Hamas attack. In Nasser Hospital, in the southern town of Khan Younis, intensive care rooms were packed with wounded patients, most of them children under the age of 3. Hundreds of people with severe blast injuries have come to the hospital, where fuel is expected to run out by Monday, said Dr. Mohammed Qandeel, a consultant at the critical care complex. There were 35 patients in the ICU who require ventilators and another 60 on dialysis. If fuel runs out, it means the whole health system will be shut down, he said, as children moaned in pain in the background. All these patients are in danger of death if the electricity is cut off." Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the head of pediatrics at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, said the facility did not evacuate despite Israeli orders. There were seven newborns in the ICU hooked up to ventilators, he said. Evacuating would mean death for them and other patients under our care. Ahmed Al-Mandhari, the regional director of the World Health Organization, said hospitals were able to move some mobile patients out of the north, but most patients cant be evacuated, he said. Shifa hospital in Gaza City, the territorys largest, said it would bury 100 bodies in a mass grave as an emergency measure after its morgue overflowed. Tens of thousands of people seeking safety have gathered in the hospital compound. Gaza was already in a humanitarian crisis due to a growing shortage of water and medical supplies caused by the Israeli siege. An unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding under our eyes, said Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. He said his agency was no longer able to provide humanitarian assistance and that the number of people seeking shelter in schools and other facilities in southern Gaza exceeded capacity. Sullivan told CNN that Israeli officials told him they had turned the water back on in southern Gaza. Israels minister of energy and water, Israel Katz, said in a statement that water had been restored at one specific point in Gaza. A spokesman said the location was outside Khan Younis. Aid workers in Gaza said they had not yet seen evidence the water was back. Israel has ordered more than 1 million Palestinians almost half the territorys population to move south. The military says it is trying to clear away civilians ahead of a major campaign against Hamas in the north, where it says the militants have extensive networks of tunnels, bunkers and rocket launchers. Hamas urged people to stay in their homes, and the Israeli military released photos it said showed a Hamas roadblock preventing traffic from moving south. Nevertheless, more than 600,000 people had evacuated the Gaza City area, said Israels chief military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari. About 500,000 people, nearly one quarter of Gazas population, were taking refuge in United Nations schools and other facilities across the territory, where water supplies were dwindling, said Juliette Touma, spokesperson for the U.N.s Palestinian refugee agency. Gaza is running dry, she said. The agency says an estimated 1 million people have been displaced in Gaza in a single week. The U.S. has been trying to broker a deal to reopen Egypts Rafah crossing with Gaza to allow Americans and other foreigners to leave and humanitarian aid amassed on the Egyptian side to be brought in. The crossing, which was closed because of airstrikes early in the war, has yet to reopen. Israel has said the siege will only be lifted when the captives are returned. Hamas rocket attacks on Israel continued Sunday, spurring a broader evacuation from the southern Israeli city of Sderot. The city of about 34,000 people sits about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from Gaza and has been a frequent rocket target. The kids are traumatized, they cant sleep at night, Yossi Edri told Channel 13 before boarding a bus. The military said Sunday an airstrike in southern Gaza had killed a Hamas commander blamed for the killings at Nirim, one of several communities Hamas attacked in southern Israel. Israel said it struck over 100 military targets overnight, including command centers and rocket launchers. Israel has called up some 360,000 military reserves and massed troops and tanks along the border with Gaza. Israeli officials gave no timetable for a ground invasion. Kullab reported from Baghdad. Nessman reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Julia Frankel and Amy Teibel in Jerusalem, Abby Sewell in Beirut and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report. Updated at 7:10 p.m. Regarding "St. Louis Cori Bush draws fire for statement on Hamas surprise attack on Israel" (Oct. 10): Another big embarrassment from Missouri Congresswoman Cori Bush. As always, she's on the wrong side of everything, whether defund the police or now her thoughtless, divisive remarks and position on the current conflict between Israel and Hamas. Has this woman ever listened closely in history class or actually read a history book? If she ever has, she learned nothing. She also voted against government funding for fighter jets at Boeing here in St. Louis, which would have cost lots of well-paying jobs. Let's hope this wakes up more voters in St. Louis to the serious problem we have that needs to be voted out in 2024. Enough, already. Kevin Glass Clayton ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Cheers erupted among crowds in Oregon and New Mexico on Saturday as a rare ring of fire eclipse of the sun that had millions across the Americas waiting with anticipation began putting on a spectacular show. With the presence of cloudy skies, a NASA livestream of the phenomenon reported it in Eugene, Oregon, shortly after 9:15 a.m. local time. This came over an hour after a partial eclipse set in. For the small towns and cities along its narrow path, there was a mix of excitement, worries about the weather and concerns theyd be overwhelmed by visitors flocking to see the celestial event, also called an annular solar eclipse. Clouds and fog threatened to obscure the view of the eclipse in some western states, including California and Oregon. As totality began in Eugene, Oregon, oohs and ahs combined with groans of disappointment as the eclipse was intermittently visible, the suns light poking through the cloud cover from behind the moon only at times. In New Mexico, the sky was crystal clear, giving tens of thousands of spectators an unfettered view. They got a double treat since the eclipse coincided with an international balloon fiesta that draws close to 100,000 spectators for early morning mass ascensions of hundreds of colorful hot air balloons. Organizers gave out 80,000 pairs of viewing glasses Saturday morning. There were hoots, hollers and yelps as the ring formed and hot air balloon pilots used their propane burners to shoot flames upward. Allan Hahn of Aurora, Colorado, has attended the festival for 34 years, first as a crew member and then as a licensed balloon pilot. His balloon, Heaven Bound Too, was one of 72 selected for the special glow performance as skies darkened during the eclipse. Its very exciting to be here and have the convergence of our love of flying with something very natural like an eclipse, he said. Unlike a total solar eclipse, the moon doesnt completely cover the sun during a ring of fire eclipse. When the moon lines up between Earth and the sun, it leaves a bright, blazing border. Saturdays path: Oregon, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Texas in the U.S., with a sliver of California, Arizona and Colorado. Next: Mexicos Yucatan Peninsula, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Brazil. Much of the rest of the Western Hemisphere got a partial eclipse. The celestial event brought eclipse watchers from around the U.S. to remote corners of the country to try to get the best view possible. At Bryce Canyon National Park in southern Utah, tiny lights could be seen along a well-known trail that snakes through a valley of red rock hoodoos as eclipse enthusiasts hit the trail before sunrise to stake out viewing spots. I just think its one of those things that unites us all, said John Edwards, a cancer drug developer who traveled alone across the country to try to watch the eclipse from Bryce Canyon. I just think its seeing these unique experiences that come rarely is what got me here. This is about as rare as it gets. NASA and other groups livestreamed it. Viewers on the East Coast were prepared to see less of the event close to a quarter eclipse around midday in some areas, such as New York City but were nonetheless geared up to watch the skies. In Maine, viewers expected to see only about 12% of the sun covered, but the Clark Telescope on the grounds of the Versant Power Astronomy Center at the University of Maine was open to the public. The planetarium sold safety glasses for $2 to encourage safe viewing, said Shawn Laatsch, director of the Versant Power Astronomy and the Maynard Jordan Planetarium As the Moon passes between the Earth and the sun, it casts its shadow on our planet, Laatsch said. In a very real sense, solar eclipses are made in the shade of the moon. Colombias Tatacoa desert hosted astronomers helping a group of visually impaired people experience the eclipse through raised maps and temperature changes as the moon blot out the sun. At the Cancun Planetarium, young visitors built box projectors to indirectly and safely view the ring of fire. The ancient Maya who called eclipses broken sun may have used dark volcanic glass to protect their eyes, said archeologist Arturo Montero of Tepeyac University in Mexico City. Towns and national parks in the path braced for huge throngs. Officials in Oregons Klamath County urged residents to stock up on groceries and fill their gas tanks in case traffic backs up on its two-lane highways. Utahs Bryce Canyon expected Saturday to be the parks busiest day of the year, and officials at Balloon Fiesta Park in Albuquerque said it was likely a record crowd. Brazils Pedra da Boca state park, known for its rocky outcrops for climbing and rappelling was also expecting crowds. The entire eclipse from the moment the moon starts to obscure the sun until its back to normal was 2 to three hours at any given spot. The ring of fire portion lasts from three to five minutes, depending on location. Next April, a total solar eclipse will crisscross the U.S. in the opposite direction. That one will begin in Mexico and go from Texas to New England before ending in eastern Canada. The next ring of fire eclipse is in October next year at the southernmost tip of South America. FLEET, UK / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / AZCoiner, a technology solutions provider, proudly announces the launch of an all-encompassing super application (SuperApp) designed to bring the world of cryptocurrency closer to users. AZCoiner has introduced innovative features to redefine the cryptocurrency landscape, fostering learning, and building thriving crypto communities. In a recent development, AZCoiner has seamlessly connected various crypto components within a single decentralized application (dApp). It has introduced users to a wide array of features, including News-Advertising, Airdrop, Web3, and DeSocial, all geared towards simplifying the crypto experience. AZCoiner's News-Advertising feature provides users with a diverse array of crypto-related content. From objective news to in-depth analysis, cryptocurrency price charts, and insightful opinions, AZCoiner's comprehensive news portal bolsters users to be well-informed. In addition, AZCoiner's Web3 component introduces a range of essential tools, including a Digital Wallet, Bridge, Swap Exchange, Perpetual Exchange, and NFT Exchange, offering a complete ecosystem for crypto enthusiasts. DeSocial, which is also a vital component of AZCoiner's recent development, has revolutionized the way users engage with learning and news consumption. With its innovative feature, DeSocial has empowered users to trade while engaging in educational activities and interactions. Furthermore, within the AZCoiner platform, the introduction of Social Pencil is set to redefine the social networking experience. Going beyond conventional self-expression, Social Pencil has emerged as a versatile space where users can connect with colleagues, and friends, and make new acquaintances. It's a global hub that transcends geographical boundaries, bringing people from every corner of the world closer together. The visionaries behind AZCoiner have set their sights on four pivotal objectives. First and foremost, they aspire to construct an all-encompassing cryptocurrency ecosystem, integrating critical elements such as news, airdrops, trading, and a dedicated social networking platform. Secondly, to a commitment to their community by pioneering a business platform, whereby yield generated within the AZCoiner ecosystem will be distributed to its early adopters and pioneers. Furthermore, AZCoiner's creator's goal is to support the broader crypto community by facilitating transparent and open airdrops through their innovative AZCoiner App. This approach will empower new projects within the crypto space, fostering a spirit of collaboration and inclusivity. And finally, AZCoiner is poised to launch a launchpad. Their unique emphasis on nurturing promising crypto projects is underpinned by the development of cutting-edge tools that are designed to amplify the yield of crypto pioneers. For more information about AZCoiner and its features, please visit their website. About AZCoiner AZCoiner is a versatile crypto ecosystem offering news, social networking, and web3 decentralized support. It empowers users with real-time information, a vibrant community, and tools to navigate DeFi, and NFTs, and assist other crypto projects. Media Contact Organization: AZ CAPITAL LTD Contact Person: GRIGORII, Vasile Website: https://azcoiner.com/ Email: [email protected] City: Fleet State: Hampshire Country: United Kingdom SOURCE: AZ CAPITAL LTD View source version on accesswire.com: TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / China Yibai United Guarantee International Holding Inc. (OTC Pink:CBGH) ("CBGH" or the "Company"), in collaboration with its wholly owned subsidiary, TidyCall Inc., is excited to announce its search for a Chief Operating Officer (COO). This strategic move aims to harness market potential and reinforce the leadership of TidyCall's management team. TidyCall, a dynamic and forward-thinking home service on-demand platform, connects users with skilled professionals for a range of household services. Our mission is to simplify and enhance homeowners' lives by providing seamless access to trusted service providers, covering everything from cleaning and repairs to home improvement projects. As we continue to expand our operations, we are now actively seeking an experienced and visionary Chief Operating Officer (COO) to join our team. This individual will play a crucial role in elevating our app-based home service business to new heights. Job Summary: As the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at TidyCall, you will be at the forefront of the company's growth and success. Your core responsibility will be to oversee the day-to-day operations of our app-based home service platform, ensuring the efficient delivery of services to our valued customers. Your primary focus will be on process optimization, driving growth, and enhancing the overall customer experience. Key Responsibilities: Strategic Leadership: Collaborate with the CEO and the executive team to craft and execute the company's strategic vision and growth strategies. Operational Excellence: Lead and oversee all operational aspects, including service quality, customer satisfaction, and cost optimization. Team Management: Assemble and lead a high-performing operations team, covering recruitment, training, and performance management. Process Optimization: Continuously evaluate and enhance operational processes, workflows, and systems to boost efficiency and scalability. Market Expansion: Identify opportunities for expansion into new markets and geographies, crafting strategies for market entry and growth. Technology Integration: Collaborate closely with the technology team to optimize the app and platform for an exceptional user experience. Vendor and Partner Management: Foster and manage relationships with service providers, suppliers, and strategic partners to ensure high-quality services. Customer Experience: Champion a customer-centric approach and drive initiatives to improve satisfaction, loyalty, and retention. Data-Driven Decision Making: Leverage data analytics and key performance indicators to drive informed decisions and continuous improvement. Compliance and Risk Management: Ensure the company's adherence to relevant regulations and standards while effectively managing operational risks. Financial Management: Collaborate with the finance team to establish and manage budgets, control costs, and optimize profitability. Qualifications: Proven experience in a leadership role within the app-based service industry, demonstrating a strong track record in scaling operations. Bachelor's degree in business, operations management, or a related field; an MBA is a plus. Strong strategic thinking and problem-solving abilities. Exceptional leadership and team management skills. Outstanding communication and interpersonal capabilities. A data-driven decision-making approach. An ability to thrive in a fast-paced, high-growth startup environment. Knowledge of home services, on-demand platforms, or the gig economy is a plus. How to Apply: Interested candidates are encouraged to submit their resume and a cover letter outlining their relevant experience and explaining why they are the ideal candidate for the COO position at TidyCall. Please send your application to [email protected] with the subject line "COO Application - TidyCall." TidyCall is an equal opportunity employer, committed to diversity and creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We welcome candidates from diverse backgrounds and experiences to apply. About TidyCall Inc.: TidyCall Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of CBGH, is a Canadian company headquartered in Markham, located in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). We specialize in offering on-demand home maintenance services to mobile-device users through our innovative TidyCall" App, designed to cater to both homeowners and service providers. With two distinct versions available for download, TidyCall User and TidyCall Provider, we aim to revolutionize the way homeowners address their household needs. At TidyCall, we recognize the significance of having a dependable handyman to care for your home. Our company was founded on a mission to deliver affordable and top-notch services that homeowners can confidently rely on. We take great pride in our team of experienced professionals who are dedicated to assisting homeowners in maintaining and enhancing their living spaces. Forward-Looking Information: This news release contains certain forward-looking statements, which include any statements made in this release that are not historical facts, such as statements concerning potential future developments affecting the business, prospects, financial condition, and other aspects of the companies to which this release pertains. The actual results of the specific items described in this release, and the company's operations generally, may differ materially from what is projected in such forward-looking statements. Although such statements are based upon the best judgments of management of each company as of the date of this release, significant deviations in magnitude, timing, and other factors may result from business risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, the company's dependence on third parties, general market and economic conditions, technical factors, the availability of outside capital, receipt of revenues, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the company. The company disclaims any obligation to update information contained in any forward-looking statement. Investor Relations Willie Hsu CEO & President Email: [email protected] Investor Relations Representative [email protected] Phone#: +1 416-838-8010 SOURCE: China Yibai United Guarantee International View source version on accesswire.com: NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2023 / Cisco Systems Inc. by Peter Tavernise What if young people concerned about the effects of climate change had the opportunity to perform hands-on service to mitigate its effects on vulnerable communities? As Service Year Alliance sees it, every youth in America should have that chance, and every community deserves youth service as a resource for combating climate challenges. Since its launch in 2016, Service Year Alliance has embarked on a mission "to make a year of paid, full-time service - a service year - a common expectation and opportunity for all young Americans" to serve communities across the nation. Key to realizing the organization's mission is ServiceYear.org, an online platform where individuals looking for service year opportunities can connect with organizations and programs offering them. Since 2013, Cisco has provided the organization vital technical and financial support, starting with the platform. Later, when events triggered by climate change became more frequent and severe, Service Year Alliance expanded its focus to include climate-related service, which qualified it to receive additional funding from the Cisco Foundation's $100 million USD portfolio, earmarked for supporting non-profit organizations working towards a more regenerative and resilient future climate. In the following Q&A, Kristen Bennett, Service Year Alliance's Chief Executive Officer, discusses its unique mission and how it's changing the landscape of service years. Q: What drew you to the national service space, and how did you become CEO? A: I graduated from college in 2008, as the recession hit. I was already considering a mission-oriented career and found a service year opportunity through AmeriCorps VISTA with the WE Connect initiative, spearheaded by First Lady of California, Maria Shriver. During my service year, I built critical community partnerships and helped to connect low-income families to programs and resources to become more financially stable. I received a modest stipend and health care benefits while other recent graduates around me competed for a few unpaid internships and hourly service-industry jobs. The experience was transformational, placing me on a career path in service that I might not have otherwise reached on my own. I wanted to make an impact beyond my service year, so after it was over, I accepted a position as a program officer at California Volunteers, California's state service commission overseeing service and volunteerism in California. While working there, I learned the ins and outs of the service sector while building my professional network, which included Shirley Sagawa, one of AmeriCorps' founders. I eventually joined her at the National Conference on Citizenship in Washington, D.C. to lead the development of ServiceYear.org, the first technology platform dedicated to connecting the next generation of youth to service years. Over the next nine years, my role evolved into Service Year Alliance's Chief Strategy Officer, Interim Co-Chief Executive Officer, and finally Chief Executive Officer, my current position. Q: How has collaboration with Cisco and the Cisco Foundation been instrumental in advancing and expanding national service programs? A: Cisco's been with us since the beginning - first, in the early days before our organization even existed, offering $2.1M in philanthropic support through the Silicon Valley Community Foundation to launch Service Year Alliance and to create ServiceYear.org, the first technology platform to act as a marketplace matching young people and service year positions. We built the platform from scratch, and we couldn't have done it without a philanthropic partner who had both technology expertise and resources to help us get the work started. Over the years, Cisco has supported everything from our efforts to reach young people, to pandemic and public health response, and now the Climate Project. Our long partnership around helping young people become aware of, learn about, and find the right opportunity for themselves has allowed us to optimize very effectively for specific needs - like how to help young people find the right climate-related service year position. As a result, throughout 2023 our conversion rate from registering on the site to actually submitting an application increased from 23 percent to 36 percent. Climate organizations saw even bigger shifts - Grid Alternatives, which advances resiliency programming, saw a dramatic 360 percent increase in enrollments and a 165 percent rise in applications this past year, reflecting the growing interest young people have in doing climate-focused service years. Q: What does a typical service year look like? A: There is no "typical" service year since opportunities can vary widely. They range from delivering high-dosage literacy tutoring to bring students up to grade level, helping rural non-profit organizations develop strategies for recruiting volunteers, giving tax preparation assistance to low-income families, assisting individuals at a community health center, or installing solar panels in under-resourced neighborhoods. Q: What is the Climate Project, and how does a partnership between Service Year Alliance and the Cisco Foundation power the initiative? A: A poll led by Data for Progress, an American think tank, shows climate change is a major concern for 91 percent of youth, but two-thirds of them aren't sure how to make a tangible difference. In 2022, Service Year Alliance kicked off the Climate Project in a multi-year partnership supported by the Cisco Foundation to specifically address climate-related issues by recruiting the next generation's youth into climate-related service to assist communities in becoming more resilient to climate change and empower them with opportunities to help tackle this daunting crisis. To develop the project, we first hosted targeted conversations with national service programs, green sector employer associations, workforce development partners, and other organizations and agencies working to address problems brought on by climate change. We also formed a cohort made up of eight standout service year programs to take a deeper dive into effective strategies for leveraging service to both further address the impacts of climate change, as well as equip young people with the skills, certifications, and experience they will need to enter into green sector careers. Taking what we learned, we published a suite of three guides for partners to use as "roadmaps" to best leverage human capital in three distinct areas related to climate and environmental resilience: community capacity building, rural resilience, and energy efficiency. They spotlight a diverse assortment of program models throughout the U.S., offering organizations guidance for choosing the best model for developing their own programs and pathways. Q: What are your most valuable partnerships, and how do they further your mission? A: Besides Cisco, the Cisco Foundation, and AmeriCorps, as part of the Climate Project we have worked with a broad spectrum of organizations committed to solving climate issues in under-resourced communities. In January 2023, we launched The Partnership for the Civilian Climate Corps (PCCC), a non-partisan partnership of over 100 national, state, and local cross-sector organizations representing service, workforce, labor, environmental justice, conservation, and youth - all organizations aligned behind shared principles for engaging youth in climate-focused service and workforce development opportunities. The PCCC includes The Corps Network, American Clean Power, Jobs for the Future, Evergreen Action, and Americas Service Commissions, among many others. Additionally, the Interstate Renewable Energy Council was an important link to additional networks such as the National Community Action Partnership, the National Association for State Community Service Programs , and the Building Performance Association. Our relationships with these organizations allow us greater access to national conversations and information essential to promoting national service as a talent pipeline to meet our nation's ambitious climate goals. Q: What are some of the benefits for corps members, including post service? A: At a basic level, service corps members receive a living stipend, health care coverage, and skills training. After completing a service year, corps members are eligible for a Segal AmeriCorps Education Award, which they can use to pay for higher education or pay off student loans. Additionally, those who participate in service year programs without a bachelor's degree are over twice as likely to go on to earn their degree compared to their peers. Following service, we support service year alums by keeping them connected to one another and informed about a variety of career pathways available to them. Among those with bachelor's degrees, 38 percent enter into service-oriented career areas - education, community and social services, and health care - compared to 13 percent of their peers. For climate-focused alums, we are committed to ensuring they are connected to green sector career opportunities and informed about their post-service options during and after their term of service. Q: What are some ways climate-related service benefits communities? A: Corps members dedicated to tackling climate hurdles in local communities have a direct and tangible impact. We selected the focus areas for our roadmaps based in part on a landscape assessment of the impacts of programs. For example, one of the programs we worked with on our Energy Efficiency roadmap, the Mile High Youth Corps' Energy & Water Conservation Program, saved over 101,500 low-income families 620,799 kilowatt hours of energy across Colorado in 2021 - a total savings of $160,000 USD. We are excited to continue to work with service year programs and employer partners advancing energy efficiency to help expand programming and create additional pathways for service year alumni to enter into weatherization and clean energy careers. And in developing the Rural Resilience roadmap, we saw how AmeriCorps programs like Resource Assistance for Rural Environments (RARE) are not only demonstrating how service year corps members can infuse the additional capacity that is needed for more rural communities to participate in the growing green economy, but are also equipping these young adults to serve as the next generation of climate leaders in the communities in which they serve - with multiple corps members from the 2022/23 graduating class obtaining staff positions at the local nonprofits that hosted them during their service years. To help expand these types of results, Service Year Alliance is directly supporting several organizations as they seek to create and expand service year programming in rural communities throughout the Southeast. Finally, we can already see how our Community Capacity Building roadmap is helping to fuel the development of state-based climate corps programming. In North Carolina and elsewhere, we are very pleased to see state-based initiatives really leaning into the belonging and inclusion elements of our resources and placing equity at the center of their program development efforts. By adopting practices that not only support diverse corps members, but also bring corps member host sites and supervisors along on the journey, new opportunities are being created for underrepresented populations to become involved in climate action. 2024 is going to be a big year for expansion of state-based climate corps programming, and Service Year Alliance is ready to help those initiatives grow in a way that will create opportunity for all. Q: Can you share a story about a corps member whose life changed dramatically after a service year? A: While in her early twenties, Geri Lopez, a member of the White Earth Tribe in central Minnesota, was working to bring solar and wind power to her community when governmental funding for it dried up. However, she wanted to continue working in the renewable energy sector. That's when she applied for a service year with Ampact AmeriCorps under the Climate Impact Corps Home Energy Initiative. Geri served alongside an energy-efficiency professional to make homes in low-income communities safer and more energy efficient. She learned how to test and analyze building envelopes, and just about everything else related to home weatherization. Equally important, Geri developed new problem-solving and communication skills, which, along with her training and experience, helped her land a job as a weatherization auditor and inspector at MAHUBE-OTWA Community Action Partnership, hence enabling her to join the green economy. Because of her inspiring service year story, Geri was invited to attend the White House's Summit on Building Climate Resilient Communities, to be held on September 28, 2023. Watch this video to hear Geri speak about her service year experience at the Aspen Institute's Aspen Ideas: Climate 2023 conference in Miami Beach, Florida, on March 8, 2023 - International Women's Day. Visit ServiceYear.org to learn more about how youth can connect to climate-related service year opportunities. View original content here. View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Cisco Systems Inc. on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: Cisco Systems Inc. Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/cisco-systems-inc Email: [email protected] SOURCE: Cisco Systems Inc. View source version on accesswire.com: Support for Sandwich Generation Caregivers Now Provided to Employees NORTHFIELD, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Caring for children and aging parents or grandparents can be challenging, especially while trying to work. Thats why the College of American Pathologists (CAP), the leading organization of board-certified pathologists, has partnered with Homethrive to offer its intuitive caregiving platform to any of their employees who care for a loved one due to age, disability, or a medical condition. Homethrives offering helps employers improve productivity and focus and reduce stress and costs for team members who are responsible for the care of loved ones. They do the legwork, making calls, and following up on care plans for people who are balancing work and family responsibilities. Our employees are either navigating the burden of caregiving now or they may be in the future, said Winifred Williams, PhD, senior vice president, communications, governance, and human resources at the CAP. The wellbeing of our employees is a priority for us, and were thrilled to provide this benefit to staff. We are excited to work with the CAP to support their employee caregivers by giving them back some of their valuable time and helping them manage their stress, said Dave Jacobs, co-founder & co-CEO at Homethrive. Caregiver support pays dividends for organizations like the CAP in terms of increased employee productivity, retention, and wellbeing. Alison Spring Solotoroff, benefits wellbeing and policy specialist at the CAP, understands first-hand the impact Homethrive can have on employees and families. I have a father with Parkinson's and dementia, and it was getting harder and harder, she said. You have to make phone calls about care during the business day. So I knew personally that that this kind of relief and support would help me. I was also the one who was dealing with all of the disabilities and FMLA requests, and I was listening to the stories. [We had] people who were in crisis. Caregiving benefits like Homethrive support the diversity, equity, and inclusion goals of organizations like the CAP. Currently, Black and Asian Americans provide some of the highest percentages of family care in the U.S., and more than 75% of caregivers are women. Homethrive also supports the unique caregiving needs of the LGBTQ community and is available to work with employee resource groups to help caregivers connect, share experiences, and find support. About the College of American Pathologists As the worlds largest organization of board-certified pathologists and leading provider of laboratory accreditation and proficiency testing programs, the College of American Pathologists (CAP) serves patients, pathologists, and the public by fostering and advocating excellence in the practice of pathology and laboratory medicine worldwide. For more information, visit the CAP Newsroom, CAP.org and yourpathologist.org to watch pathologists at work and see the stories of the patients who trust them with their care. About Homethrive Homethrive is transforming the way we care by offering working family caregivers the support they need and deserve to balance work, life, and caregiving responsibilities. Through their high-touch/high-tech caregiver support platform, caregivers can access 24/7 on-demand resources, live chat, and even one-on-one support from their team of expert Care Guides, social work professionals with years of caregiving experience. This highly personalized approach improves outcomes, lowers costs, and saves valuable time. Homethrive is available nationally and offered primarily as an employee benefit through employers and through select health plans. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231016169839/en/ Angela Panateri [email protected] Source: College of American Pathologists TAMPA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- CEA Group (CEA) announced today that David Panton, a global private equity expert and professor, has joined CEAs Advisory Board as Senior Advisor Private Equity. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231016924032/en/ David Panton, Chairman of Panton Equity Partners, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Navigation Capital Partners, joins CEA's Advisory Board as Senior Advisor - Private Equity (Photo: Business Wire) Dr. David Panton is Chairman of Panton Equity Partners, a private family office he founded in 2012. He has 25+ years of experience as a private equity investor, investment banker, and entrepreneur. David is also a co-founder and Managing Partner of Navigation Capital Partners, a private equity firm focused on investing in lower middle market operating companies and special purpose investment companies (SPACs), which was acquired in partnership with Goldman Sachs from the prior owner, Mellon Financial. He serves as an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Finance at Emory Universitys Goizueta Business School, where he has taught a course in Entrepreneurial Private Equity for over a decade. David has been a member of the Atlanta, GA Chapter of Young Presidents Organization (YPO), the largest global community of chief executives, for over a decade, and was a founding member of the Atlanta, GA Chapter of TIGER 21, a global community of entrepreneurs and investors. He has served as a Board Member on over 20 publicly-traded or privately-held companies and led growth investments in several successful platforms, including Secureworks (sold to Dell), Exeter Finance (sold to Blackstone and Warburg Pincus), and Track Utilities (sold to CIVC Partners). David previously served as a Vice President at Mellon Ventures (now Navigation Capital Partners); a co-founder and Managing Director of the Caribbean Investment Fund (a private equity firm focused on investments in the Caribbean and Latin America); and an Associate at Morgan Stanley in mergers and acquisitions. David also served as interim CEO of CMP Industries, a publicly-traded company in Kingston, Jamaica and was appointed as a Senator in the Upper House of Parliament in Jamaica. He is Chairman of the Jamaican-American Chamber of Commerce of Atlanta (JAMCHAM), a former member of the Board of the Michael C. Carlos Museum of the Arts, and is a former Trustee of Holy Innocents Episcopal School in Atlanta, GA. David holds a Master Professional Director Certification from the American College of Corporate Directors. David received a Doctorate in Management Studies from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, a J.D. (with honors) from Harvard Law School, where he was elected President of the Harvard Law Review, and an A.B. (with high honors) in Public Policy from Princeton University. Born and raised in Jamaica, he resides between Atlanta, GA and Kingston, Jamaica. CEA Chairman and Founder Rick Michaels stated, I am honored to have Dr. David Panton, a distinguished global private equity leader, join our Advisory Board. David possesses a plethora of knowledge and achievements, especially relating to global private equity. I consider CEA privileged to have Davids perspectives, insights and expertise which are invaluable to CEAs objectives. We are looking forward to the many opportunities for collaborations with David. About CEA Group Founded in 1973, CEA is a leading provider of investment banking services. With a team of experienced personnel worldwide, CEA has an unequaled depth and breadth of industry knowledge, expertise and long-standing industry relationships. CEA has completed over 1,000 transactions totaling $60+ billion in more than 60 countries. CEAs reputation and track record of success are built on delivering innovative, value-added solutions and services to clients worldwide. CEA Atlantic Advisors, LLC is a FINRA Registered Broker-Dealer and a member of SIPC. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231016924032/en/ J. Patrick Michaels, Jr., Chairman & CEO [email protected] Source: CEA Group Not intended for UK-based media ROCKLAND, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- EMD Serono, the Healthcare business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany in the US and Canada, today announced that 28 abstracts featuring the latest research on the companys oncology portfolio addressing unmet needs across bladder, head and neck, lung, colorectal and other cancers, will be presented at the 2023 European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Annual Meeting, October 20-24, Madrid, Spain. Presentations at the meeting encompass new analyses for the standard-of-care medicines BAVENCIO (avelumab) and TEPMETKO (tepotinib). Additional presentations and activities at ESMO highlight the companys efforts to improve the lives of people with cancer. Key presentations include: BAVENCIO Based on the results of the randomized Phase III JAVELIN Bladder 100 study, the first-line maintenance regimen of BAVENCIO plus best supportive care has become a guideline-recommended standard of care in the locally advanced and metastatic urothelial carcinoma (UC) treatment setting. Previously presented long-term follow-up results have demonstrated median overall survival (OS) from start of chemotherapy of 29.7 months among patients receiving BAVENCIO who had not progressed on first-line platinum-based chemotherapy, establishing a new reference point for treatment outcomes in clinical studies. New analyses and real-world evidence to be presented at ESMO reinforce the role of the JAVELIN Bladder regimen in this setting. Long-term efficacy and safety outcomes from JAVELIN Bladder 100 confirm the prolonged OS, progression-free survival, and tolerability of first-line maintenance with BAVENCIO in patients older than 65 years with advanced UC. Further evidence from France and the United States, including first-time data in patients with advanced UC with histological variants in the French AVENANCE study, support the findings of JAVELIN Bladder 100 in real-world settings. Additional real-world analyses reinforce the use of BAVENCIO as a treatment for advanced/metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), a rare form of skin cancer. After a median follow-up of ~29 months, data from the MCC TRIM study showed a median OS of 52 months for patients with metastatic MCC treated with BAVENCIO in a real-world setting in Germany. Most patients (~86%) received first-line BAVENCIO. BAVENCIO was the first cancer immunotherapy to receive accelerated approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in March 2017 for the treatment of metastatic MCC; the approval was based on the results of the multicenter, international, single-arm, open-label, Phase II JAVELIN Merkel 200 trial. In September 2023, the accelerated approval in the US was converted into full approval for use of BAVENCIO for the treatment of metastatic MCC. TEPMETKO TEPMETKO is the first oral MET inhibitor to have received a regulatory approval anywhere in the world for the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring MET exon 14 skipping alterations, with its approval in Japan in March 2020. Updated findings from the Phase II VISION trial, which is the largest study of a MET inhibitor in this setting and served as the basis for regulatory approvals, continue to show clinically meaningful long-term efficacy in patients with METex14-skipping NSCLC treated with TEPMETKO regardless of line of therapy (2L, 2L+ and 3L+). Head and Neck Cancer Aligned with the companys commitment to addressing the unmet needs of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN), a new analysis of real-world survival outcomes and survival risk factors in elderly patients with locally advanced (LA) disease will be presented. Findings highlight poor survival outcomes, especially in patients aged 70 years and older with advanced disease stage and comorbidities, underscoring the need for innovative effective treatments for this population. The company is investigating the IAP (inhibitor of apoptosis protein) inhibitor xevinapant (formerly known as Debio 1143) in two ongoing Phase III clinical trials in patients with LA SCCHN. The first is the international, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled TrilynX study (NCT04459715) to evaluate the efficacy and safety of xevinapant versus placebo when added to definitive chemoradiotherapy in patients with unresected LA SCCHN. The second is XRay Vision (NCT05386550), an international, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of xevinapant versus placebo when added to adjuvant, post-operative radiotherapy in patients with resected LA SCCHN who are at high risk for relapse and are ineligible for cisplatin. Additional company-sponsored activity at ESMO: Medical Symposia Putting Patients First: Cultivating Care in Bladder Cancer. Chair: Joaquim Bellmunt, USA. Saturday, 21 October 2023, 13:00-14:30, Toledo Auditorium Chair: Joaquim Bellmunt, USA. Saturday, 21 October 2023, 13:00-14:30, Toledo Auditorium Exploring SCCHN: Insight Into an Evolving Treatment Landscape. Chair: Hisham Mehanna, UK. Saturday, 21 October 2023, 18:30-20:00, Oviedo Auditorium Additionally, the company will feature its educational initiative for oncology professionals on the unmet medical need in LA SCCHN, cancers resistance to apoptosis, and the role of apoptosis proteins. More information can be found at www.TheWallinSCCHN.com or at Booth #526. Select EMD Serono-related abstracts accepted for presentation at ESMO 2023 include (all times in CEST): Title Lead Author Abstract Session Information BAVENCIO (avelumab) Avelumab first-line (1L) maintenance for advanced urothelial carcinoma (aUC): long-term outcomes from the JAVELIN Bladder 100 trial in older patients (pts) S Gupta 2371P Session Title: Urothelial cancer Date: 23.10.2023 Session: 09:00-17:00 Presentation: 12:00-13:00 AVENANCE: subgroup analysis of patients (pts) with advanced urothelial carcinoma (aUC) with histological variants from a real-world (RW) study of avelumab first-line maintenance (1LM) P Barthelemy 2379P Session Title: Urothelial cancer Date: 23.10.2023 Session: 09:00-17:00 Presentation: 12:00-13:00 Clinical characteristics and survival of patients with advanced Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) treated with avelumab: analysis of a prospective German MCC registry (MCC TRIM) JC Becker 1145P Session Title: Melanoma and other skin tumours Dat: 22.10.2023 Session: 09:00-17:00 Presentation: 12:00-13:00 Xevinapant Real-world survival outcomes and survival risk factors in elderly patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck L Ember 890P Session: Head and neck cancer, excl. thyroid Date: 22.10.2023 Session: 09:00-17:00 Presentation: 12:00-13:00 TEPMETKO (tepotinib) Treatment (Tx) sequencing with tepotinib in previously treated patients (pts) with MET exon 14 (METex14) skipping NSCLC in the VISION trial S Viteri 1380P Session Title: NSCLC, metastatic Date: 23.10.2023 Session: 09:00-17:00 Presentation: 12:00-13:00 Liquid biopsies (LBx) and tissue biopsies (TBx) for identifying MET exon 14 (METex14) skipping in advanced NSCLC: Analyses from the Phase II VISION study of Tepotinib C Rolfo 1382P Session Title: NSCLC, metastatic Date: 23.10.2023 Session: 09:00-17:00 Presentation: 12:00-13:00 Advancing the Future of Cancer Care At EMD Serono, we strive every day to improve the futures of people living with cancer. Our research explores the full potential of promising mechanisms in cancer research, focused on synergistic approaches designed to hit cancer at its core. We are determined to maximize the impact of our standard-of-care treatments and to continue pioneering novel medicines. Our vision is to create a world where more cancer patients will become cancer survivors. Learn more at www.emdseronooncology.com. About BAVENCIO (avelumab) BAVENCIO is a human anti-programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) antibody. BAVENCIO has been shown in preclinical models to engage both the adaptive and innate immune functions. By blocking the interaction of PD-L1 with PD-1 receptors, BAVENCIO has been shown to release the suppression of the T cell-mediated antitumor immune response in preclinical models. BAVENCIO Approved Indications BAVENCIO (avelumab) is indicated in the US for the maintenance treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (UC) that has not progressed with first-line platinum-containing chemotherapy. BAVENCIO is also indicated for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic UC who have disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy, or have disease progression within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment with platinum-containing chemotherapy. BAVENCIO in combination with axitinib is indicated in the US for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC). In the US, BAVENCIO is indicated for the treatment of adults and pediatric patients 12 years and older with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC). BAVENCIO is currently approved for at least one indication for patients in more than 50 countries. BAVENCIO Important Safety Information from the US FDA-Approved Label BAVENCIO can cause severe and fatal immune-mediated adverse reactions in any organ system or tissue and at any time after starting treatment with a PD-1/PD-L1 blocking antibody, including after discontinuation of treatment. Early identification and management of immune-mediated adverse reactions are essential to ensure safe use of PD-1/PD-L1 blocking antibodies. Monitor patients closely for symptoms and signs that may be clinical manifestations of underlying immune-mediated adverse reactions. Evaluate liver enzymes, creatinine, and thyroid function at baseline and periodically during treatment. In cases of suspected immune-mediated adverse reactions, initiate appropriate workup to exclude alternative etiologies, including infection. Institute medical management promptly, including specialty consultation as appropriate. No dose reduction for BAVENCIO is recommended. For immune-mediated adverse reactions, withhold or permanently discontinue BAVENCIO depending on severity. In general, withhold BAVENCIO for severe (Grade 3) immune-mediated adverse reactions. Permanently discontinue BAVENCIO for life-threatening (Grade 4) immune-mediated adverse reactions, recurrent severe (Grade 3) immune-mediated reactions that require systemic immunosuppressive treatment, or an inability to reduce corticosteroid dose to 10 mg or less of prednisone or equivalent per day within 12 weeks of initiating corticosteroids. In general, if BAVENCIO requires interruption or discontinuation, administer systemic corticosteroid therapy (1 to 2 mg/kg/day prednisone or equivalent) until improvement to Grade 1 or less. Upon improvement to Grade 1 or less, initiate corticosteroid taper and continue to taper over at least 1 month. Consider administration of other systemic immunosuppressants in patients whose immune-mediated adverse reactions are not controlled with corticosteroid therapy. Toxicity management guidelines for adverse reactions that do not necessarily require systemic corticosteroids (eg, endocrinopathies and dermatologic reactions) are discussed in subsequent sections. BAVENCIO can cause immune-mediated pneumonitis, including fatal cases. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of pneumonitis and evaluate suspected cases with radiographic imaging. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 or greater pneumonitis. Withhold BAVENCIO for Grade 2 and permanently discontinue for Grade 3 or Grade 4 pneumonitis. Immune-mediated pneumonitis occurred in 1.2% (21/1738) of patients, including fatal (0.1%), Grade 4 (0.1%), Grade 3 (0.3%) and Grade 2 (0.6%) adverse reactions. Systemic corticosteroids were required in all (21/21) patients with pneumonitis. BAVENCIO can cause immune-mediated colitis. The primary component of immune-mediated colitis consisted of diarrhea. Cytomegalovirus infection/reactivation has been reported in patients with corticosteroid-refractory immune-mediated colitis. In cases of corticosteroid-refractory colitis, consider repeating infectious workup to exclude alternative etiologies. Withhold BAVENCIO for Grade 2 or Grade 3, and permanently discontinue for Grade 4 colitis. Immune-mediated colitis occurred in 1.5% (26/1738) of patients, including Grade 3 (0.4%) and Grade 2 (0.7%) adverse reactions. Systemic corticosteroids were required in all (26/26) patients with colitis. BAVENCIO can cause hepatotoxicity and immune-mediated hepatitis. Withhold or permanently discontinue BAVENCIO based on tumor involvement of the liver and severity of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), or total bilirubin elevation. Immune-mediated hepatitis occurred with BAVENCIO as a single agent in 0.9% (16/1738) of patients, including fatal (0.1%), Grade 3 (0.6%), and Grade 2 (0.1%) adverse reactions. Systemic corticosteroids were required in all (16/16) patients with hepatitis. BAVENCIO in combination with axitinib can cause hepatotoxicity with higher than expected frequencies of Grade 3 and 4 ALT and AST elevation compared to BAVENCIO alone. Consider more frequent monitoring of liver enzymes as compared to when the drugs are used as monotherapy. Withhold or permanently discontinue both BAVENCIO and axitinib based on severity of AST, ALT, or total bilirubin elevation, and consider administering corticosteroids as needed. Consider rechallenge with BAVENCIO or axitinib, or sequential rechallenge with both BAVENCIO and axitinib, after recovery. In patients treated with BAVENCIO in combination with axitinib in the advanced RCC trials, increased ALT and increased AST were reported in 9% (Grade 3) and 7% (Grade 4) of patients. Immune-mediated hepatitis was reported in 7% of patients including 4.9% with Grade 3 or 4 immune-mediated hepatitis. Thirty-four patients were treated with corticosteroids and one patient was treated with a non-steroidal immunosuppressant. BAVENCIO can cause primary or secondary immune-mediated adrenal insufficiency. For Grade 2 or higher adrenal insufficiency, initiate symptomatic treatment, including hormone replacement, as clinically indicated. Withhold BAVENCIO for Grade 3 or Grade 4 endocrinopathies until clinically stable or permanently discontinue depending on severity. Immune-mediated adrenal insufficiency occurred in 0.5% (8/1738) of patients, including Grade 3 (0.1%) and Grade 2 (0.3%) adverse reactions. Systemic corticosteroids were required in all (8/8) patients with adrenal insufficiency. BAVENCIO can cause immune-mediated hypophysitis. Hypophysitis can present with acute symptoms associated with mass effect such as headache, photophobia, or visual field defects. Hypophysitis can cause hypopituitarism. Initiate hormone replacement, as clinically indicated. Withhold BAVENCIO for Grade 3 or Grade 4 endocrinopathies until clinically stable or permanently discontinue depending on severity. Immune-mediated pituitary disorders occurred in 0.1% (1/1738) of patients, which was a Grade 2 (0.1%) adverse reaction. BAVENCIO can cause immune-mediated thyroid disorders. Thyroiditis can present with or without endocrinopathy. Hypothyroidism can follow hyperthyroidism. Initiate hormone replacement for hypothyroidism or institute medical management of hyperthyroidism, as clinically indicated. Withhold BAVENCIO for Grade 3 or Grade 4 endocrinopathies until clinically stable or permanently discontinue depending on severity. Thyroiditis occurred in 0.2% (4/1738) of patients, including Grade 2 (0.1%) adverse reactions. Hyperthyroidism occurred in 0.4% (7/1738) of patients, including Grade 2 (0.3%) adverse reactions. Systemic corticosteroids were required in 29% (2/7) of patients with hyperthyroidism. Hypothyroidism occurred in 5% (90/1738) of patients, including Grade 3 (0.2%) and Grade 2 (3.7%) adverse reactions. Systemic corticosteroids were required in 7% (6/90) of patients with hypothyroidism. BAVENCIO can cause immune-mediated type I diabetes mellitus, which can present with diabetic ketoacidosis. Monitor patients for hyperglycemia or other signs and symptoms of diabetes. Initiate treatment with insulin as clinically indicated. Withhold BAVENCIO for Grade 3 or Grade 4 endocrinopathies until clinically stable or permanently discontinue depending on severity. Immune-mediated type I diabetes mellitus occurred in 0.1% (2/1738) of patients, including Grade 3 (0.1%) adverse reactions. BAVENCIO can cause immune-mediated nephritis with renal dysfunction. Withhold BAVENCIO for Grade 2 or Grade 3, and permanently discontinue for Grade 4 increased blood creatinine. Immune-mediated nephritis with renal dysfunction occurred in 0.1% (1/1738) of patients, which was a Grade 2 (0.1%) adverse reaction. Systemic corticosteroids were required in this patient. BAVENCIO can cause immune-mediated dermatologic adverse reactions, including rash or dermatitis. Exfoliative dermatitis including Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS), drug rash with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS), and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), has occurred with PD-1/PD-L1 blocking antibodies. Topical emollients and/or topical corticosteroids may be adequate to treat mild to moderate non-exfoliative rashes. Withhold BAVENCIO for suspected and permanently discontinue for confirmed SJS, TEN, or DRESS. Immune-mediated dermatologic adverse reactions occurred in 5% (90/1738) of patients, including Grade 3 (0.1%) and Grade 2 (2.0%) adverse reactions. Systemic corticosteroids were required in 29% (26/90) of patients with dermatologic adverse reactions. BAVENCIO can result in other immune-mediated adverse reactions. Other clinically significant immune-mediated adverse reactions occurred at an incidence of BAVENCIO can cause severe or life-threatening infusion-related reactions. Premedicate patients with an antihistamine and acetaminophen prior to the first 4 infusions and for subsequent infusions based upon clinical judgment and presence/severity of prior infusion reactions. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of infusion-related reactions, including pyrexia, chills, flushing, hypotension, dyspnea, wheezing, back pain, abdominal pain, and urticaria. Interrupt or slow the rate of infusion for Grade 1 or Grade 2 infusion-related reactions. Permanently discontinue BAVENCIO for Grade 3 or Grade 4 infusion-related reactions. Infusion-related reactions occurred in 25% of patients, including three (0.2%) Grade 4 and nine (0.5%) Grade 3 infusion-related reactions. Eleven (92%) of the 12 patients with Grade 3 reactions were treated with intravenous corticosteroids. Fatal and other serious complications of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) can occur in patients who receive HSCT before or after being treated with a PD-1/PD-L1 blocking antibody. Follow patients closely for evidence of transplant-related complications and intervene promptly. Consider the benefit versus risks of treatment with a PD-1/PD-L1 blocking antibody prior to or after an allogeneic HSCT. BAVENCIO in combination with axitinib can cause major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) including severe and fatal events. Consider baseline and periodic evaluations of left ventricular ejection fraction. Monitor for signs and symptoms of cardiovascular events. Optimize management of cardiovascular risk factors, such as hypertension, diabetes, or dyslipidemia. Permanently discontinue BAVENCIO and axitinib for Grade 3-4 cardiovascular events. MACE occurred in 7% of patients with advanced RCC treated with BAVENCIO in combination with axitinib compared to 3.4% treated with sunitinib in a randomized trial. These events included death due to cardiac events (1.4%), Grade 3-4 myocardial infarction (2.8%), and Grade 3-4 congestive heart failure (1.8%). BAVENCIO can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. Advise patients of the potential risk to a fetus including the risk of fetal death. Advise females of childbearing potential to use effective contraception during treatment with BAVENCIO and for at least 1 month after the last dose of BAVENCIO. It is not known whether BAVENCIO is excreted in human milk. Advise a lactating woman not to breastfeed during treatment and for at least 1 month after the last dose of BAVENCIO due to the potential for serious adverse reactions in breastfed infants. The most common adverse reactions (all grades, 20%) in patients with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) were fatigue (50%), musculoskeletal pain (32%), diarrhea (23%), nausea (22%), infusion-related reaction (22%), rash (22%), decreased appetite (20%), and peripheral edema (20%). Selected treatment-emergent laboratory abnormalities (all grades, 20%) in patients with metastatic MCC were lymphopenia (49%), anemia (35%), increased aspartate aminotransferase (34%), thrombocytopenia (27%), and increased alanine aminotransferase (20%). A fatal adverse reaction (sepsis) occurred in one (0.3%) patient with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (UC) receiving BAVENCIO + best supportive care (BSC) as first-line maintenance treatment. In patients with previously treated locally advanced or metastatic UC, fourteen patients (6%) who were treated with BAVENCIO experienced either pneumonitis, respiratory failure, sepsis/urosepsis, cerebrovascular accident, or gastrointestinal adverse events, which led to death. The most common adverse reactions (all grades, 20%) in patients with locally advanced or metastatic UC receiving BAVENCIO + BSC (vs BSC alone) as first-line maintenance treatment were fatigue (35% vs 13%), musculoskeletal pain (24% vs 15%), urinary tract infection (20% vs 11%), and rash (20% vs 2.3%). In patients with previously treated locally advanced or metastatic UC receiving BAVENCIO, the most common adverse reactions (all grades, 20%) were fatigue, infusion-related reaction, musculoskeletal pain, nausea, decreased appetite, and urinary tract infection. Selected laboratory abnormalities (all grades, 20%) in patients with locally advanced or metastatic UC receiving BAVENCIO + BSC (vs BSC alone) as first-line maintenance treatment were blood triglycerides increased (34% vs 28%), alkaline phosphatase increased (30% vs 20%), blood sodium decreased (28% vs 20%), lipase increased (25% vs 16%), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) increased (24% vs 12%), blood potassium increased (24% vs 16%), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) increased (24% vs 12%), blood cholesterol increased (22% vs 16%), serum amylase increased (21% vs 12%), hemoglobin decreased (28% vs 18%), and white blood cell decreased (20% vs 10%). Fatal adverse reactions occurred in 1.8% of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) receiving BAVENCIO in combination with axitinib. These included sudden cardiac death (1.2%), stroke (0.2%), myocarditis (0.2%), and necrotizing pancreatitis (0.2%). The most common adverse reactions (all grades, 20%) in patients with advanced RCC receiving BAVENCIO in combination with axitinib (vs sunitinib) were diarrhea (62% vs 48%), fatigue (53% vs 54%), hypertension (50% vs 36%), musculoskeletal pain (40% vs 33%), nausea (34% vs 39%), mucositis (34% vs 35%), palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia (33% vs 34%), dysphonia (31% vs 3.2%), decreased appetite (26% vs 29%), hypothyroidism (25% vs 14%), rash (25% vs 16%), hepatotoxicity (24% vs 18%), cough (23% vs 19%), dyspnea (23% vs 16%), abdominal pain (22% vs 19%), and headache (21% vs 16%). Selected laboratory abnormalities (all grades, 20%) worsening from baseline in patients with advanced RCC receiving BAVENCIO in combination with axitinib (vs sunitinib) were blood triglycerides increased (71% vs 48%), blood creatinine increased (62% vs 68%), blood cholesterol increased (57% vs 22%), alanine aminotransferase increased (ALT) (50% vs 46%), aspartate aminotransferase increased (AST) (47% vs 57%), blood sodium decreased (38% vs 37%), lipase increased (37% vs 25%), blood potassium increased (35% vs 28%), platelet count decreased (27% vs 80%), blood bilirubin increased (21% vs 23%), and hemoglobin decreased (21% vs 65%). Please see full US Prescribing Information and Medication Guide available at http://www.BAVENCIO.com. About TEPMETKO (tepotinib) TEPMETKO is a once-daily oral MET inhibitor that inhibits the oncogenic MET receptor signaling caused by MET (gene) alterations. Discovered and developed in-house at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, TEPMETKO has a highly selective mechanism of action, with the potential to improve outcomes in aggressive tumors that have a poor prognosis and harbor these specific alterations. TEPMETKO is the first oral MET inhibitor to have received a regulatory approval anywhere in the world for the treatment of advanced NSCLC harboring MET gene alterations, with its approval in Japan in March 2020. In February 2021, the US Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval to TEPMETKO, making it the first and only once-daily oral MET inhibitor approved for patients in the US with metastatic NSCLC with METex14-skipping alterations. In February 2022, the European Commission (EC) approved once-daily oral TEPMETKO as monotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring alterations leading to mesenchymal-epithelial transition factor gene exon 14 (METex14) skipping, who require systemic therapy following prior treatment with immunotherapy and/or platinum-based chemotherapy. TEPMETKO is available in a number of countries. To meet an urgent clinical need, TEPMETKO is also available in a pilot zone of China in line with the government policy to drive early access for innovative medicines approved outside of China. Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany is also investigating the potential role of tepotinib in treating patients with NSCLC and acquired resistance due to MET amplification in the Phase II INSIGHT 2 study of tepotinib in combination with osimertinib in MET amplified, advanced or metastatic NSCLC harboring activating EGFR mutations that has progressed following first-line treatment with osimertinib. TEPMETKO Approved Indication in the US TEPMETKO is a kinase inhibitor indicated for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring mesenchymal epithelial transition (MET) exon 14 skipping alterations. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on overall response rate and duration of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials. Important Safety Information from the US FDA-Approved Label TEPMETKO can cause interstitial lung disease (ILD)/pneumonitis, which can be fatal. Monitor patients for new or worsening pulmonary symptoms indicative of ILD/pneumonitis (eg, dyspnea, cough, fever). Immediately withhold TEPMETKO in patients with suspected ILD/pneumonitis and permanently discontinue if no other potential causes of ILD/pneumonitis are identified. ILD/pneumonitis occurred in 2.2% of patients treated with TEPMETKO, with one patient experiencing a Grade 3 or higher event; this event resulted in death. TEPMETKO can cause hepatotoxicity, which can be fatal. Monitor liver function tests (including ALT, AST, and total bilirubin) prior to the start of TEPMETKO, every 2 weeks during the first 3 months of treatment, then once a month or as clinically indicated, with more frequent testing in patients who develop increased transaminases or total bilirubin. Based on the severity of the adverse reaction, withhold, dose reduce, or permanently discontinue TEPMETKO. Increased alanine aminotransferase (ALT)/increased aspartate aminotransferase (AST) occurred in 13% of patients treated with TEPMETKO. Grade 3 or 4 increased ALT/AST occurred in 4.2% of patients. A fatal adverse reaction of hepatic failure occurred in one patient (0.2%). The median time-to-onset of Grade 3 or higher increased ALT/AST was 30 days (range 1 to 178). TEPMETKO can cause embryo-fetal toxicity. Based on findings in animal studies and its mechanism of action, TEPMETKO can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. Advise pregnant women of the potential risk to a fetus. Advise females of reproductive potential or males with female partners of reproductive potential to use effective contraception during treatment with TEPMETKO and for one week after the final dose. Avoid concomitant use of TEPMETKO with dual strong CYP3A inhibitors and P-gp inhibitors and strong CYP3A inducers. Avoid concomitant use of TEPMETKO with certain P-gp substrates where minimal concentration changes may lead to serious or life-threatening toxicities. If concomitant use is unavoidable, reduce the P-gp substrate dosage if recommended in its approved product labeling. Fatal adverse reactions occurred in one patient (0.4%) due to pneumonitis, one patient (0.4%) due to hepatic failure, and one patient (0.4%) due to dyspnea from fluid overload. Serious adverse reactions occurred in 45% of patients who received TEPMETKO. Serious adverse reactions in >2% of patients included pleural effusion (7%), pneumonia (5%), edema (3.9%), dyspnea (3.9%), general health deterioration (3.5%), pulmonary embolism (2%), and musculoskeletal pain (2%). The most common adverse reactions (20%) in patients who received TEPMETKO were edema, fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, musculoskeletal pain, and dyspnea. Clinically relevant adverse reactions in Selected laboratory abnormalities (20%) from baseline in patients receiving TEPMETKO in descending order were: decreased albumin (76%), increased creatinine (55%), increased alkaline phosphatase (ALP) (50%), decreased lymphocytes (48%), increased alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (44%), increased aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (35%), decreased sodium (31%), decreased hemoglobin (27%), increased potassium (25%), increased gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) (24%), increased amylase (23%), and decreased leukocytes (23%). The most common Grade 3 to 4 laboratory abnormalities (2%) in descending order were: decreased lymphocytes (11%), decreased albumin (9%), decreased sodium (8%), increased GGT (5%), increased amylase (4.6%), increased ALT (4.1%), increased AST (2.5%), and decreased hemoglobin (2%). A clinically relevant laboratory abnormality in For more information about TEPMETKO, please see full Prescribing Information, and visit www.TEPMETKO.com. About Xevinapant Xevinapant (formerly known as Debio 1143) is an investigational first-in-class potent oral small-molecule IAP (inhibitor of apoptosis protein) inhibitor for the treatment of LA SCCHN. In preclinical studies, xevinapant restored sensitivity to apoptosis in cancer cells, thereby enhancing the effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Xevinapant, the most clinically advanced IAP inhibitor, improved efficacy outcomes in combination with chemoradiotherapy (CRT), including three-year progression-free survival and five-year survival, compared with placebo plus CRT in a Phase II study in patients with unresected locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (LA SCCHN). In March 2021, Merck gained exclusive rights from Debiopharm to develop and commercialize xevinapant worldwide. Xevinapant is not approved for any use anywhere in the world. About EMD Serono, Inc. EMD Serono - the healthcare business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany in the U.S. and Canada -aspires to create, improve and prolong life for people living with difficult-to-treat conditions like infertility, multiple sclerosis and cancer. The business is imagining the future of healthcare by working to translate the discovery of molecules into potentially meaningful outcomes for people with serious unmet medical needs. EMD Seronos global roots go back more than 350 years with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. Today, the business has approximately 1,500 employees around the country with commercial, clinical and research operations in Massachusetts. www.emdserono.com. About Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, operates across life science, healthcare and electronics. More than 64,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of peoples lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From providing products and services that accelerate drug development and manufacturing as well as discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices the company is everywhere. In 2022, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, generated sales of 22.2 billion in 66 countries. The company holds the global rights to the name and trademark Merck internationally. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, operate as MilliporeSigma in life science, EMD Serono in healthcare and EMD Electronics in electronics. Since its founding in 1668, scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to the companys technological and scientific advances. To this day, the founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231013733574/en/ [email protected] Phone: +1 (781) 427-4351 Source: EMD Serono SPRING, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) will release its third quarter 2023 financial results on Friday, October 27, 2023. The company will issue a press release via Business Wire that will be available at 5:30 a.m. CT at www.exxonmobil.com. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Kathy Mikells, and Vice President of Investor Relations Jennifer Driscoll will review the results during a live conference call at 7:30 a.m. CT. The presentation will be accessible via webcast or by calling (888) 596-2592 (United States) or (786) 789-4790 (International). Please reference passcode 595523 to join the call. An archive replay of the call and a copy of the presentation with accompanying supplemental financial data will be available at investor.exxonmobil.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231016082738/en/ Media Relations (737) 272-1452 Source: Exxon Mobil Corporation FITUR 2024 anticipates occupying more than 140,000 m2 of space across 9 halls and will bring together more than 9,000 companies and 150,000 professional visitors from the world tourism industry from 145 countries. MADRID--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Organised by IFEMA MADRID, the 44th edition of FITUR is set to take place from 24 to 28 January 2024 at Madrids trade fair centre. According to FITURs director, Maria Valcarce, the outlook for the next edition is looking bright and everything points to the trade fair expanding to occupy more than 140,000 m2 of space across 9 halls, bringing together more than 9,000 companies and over 150,000 professional visitors from the world tourism industry from 145 countries. It is also estimated that around 100,000 people will visit FITUR over the weekend. Figures that already placed FITUR at the forefront of the major international tourism fairs at the last edition. According to the Chairman of IFEMAs Executive Committee, Jose Vicente de los Mozos we are immensely proud of FITURs world leadership. It is the only tourism fair that ran uninterrupted during the pandemic, surpassing every other major event on the international circuit, in terms of participation". Last May, IFEMA MADRID presented the keys and business opportunities of the next edition of FITUR to the tourism business sector and various representatives of the city's media in Miami. For his part, the Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Madrid Regional Government, highlighted "the fundamental importance of FITUR for the Madrid Regional Government as a showcase for Madrids tourism throughout the world". He also stressed that "The North American market is the great reference for the industry as it is the leader in arrivals and for its spending power. In fact, we are striving with the Madrid City Council through Madrid Turismo by IFEMA to position the region as a benchmark for quality tourism in America, Asia and the Middle East". Ecuador to be FITUR 2024 Partner Country Ecuador has presented its attractive proposal as a 'FITUR 2024 Partner Country at IFEMA. The connection between Spain and Ecuador remains strong, with almost 75,000 visitors per year up to 2023, and Ecuador's Minister of Tourism, Niels Olsen, stated that "FITUR 2024 offers a golden opportunity to show the world all the wonders that Ecuador has to offer". View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231016623526/en/ Andrea Martinez [email protected] +34915757121 Source: FITUR LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The former head of Vodafone Germany, Dr. Hannes Ametsreiter, has joined the board of the telecommunications company 1GLOBAL as non-executive director following his equity participation in 1GLOBAL. This appointment enables 1GLOBAL to strengthen its corporate governance and to leverage the extensive industry expertise of Dr. Ametsreiter. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231016068652/en/ Pyrros Koussios (Founder and Director), Dr. Hannes Ametsreiter (Non-Executive Director) and Hakan Koc (Founder and CEO) (Photo: 1Global) Dr. Ametsreiter commented: "1GLOBAL is a fast-paced global telecommunications group that benefits from a unique set of favorable industry trends that are fueling its growth. First and foremost, the global emphasis on compliance above all in the financial sector, drives the expansion of recorded communications for compliance purposes. Secondly, the rapid adoption of eSIM - a technology that 1GLOBAL pioneered - enables the seamless provision of communication services to businesses and consumers. Finally, the status of 1GLOBAL as a fully regulated telecom operator in a number of countries enables 1GLOBAL to offer unique communication solutions to globally active enterprises and consumers. This unique combination puts 1GLOBAL in a position to drive rapid growth, as it has recently experienced." From 2015 until 2022, Dr. Ametsreiter served as CEO of Vodafone Germany and was also a member of the Global Executive Board of Vodafone Group. Under his leadership, the company achieved annual revenues of over 12 billion euros and employed over 16,000 people, making it the fastest growing telecommunications company in Germany. Prior to Vodafone, Dr. Ametsreiter worked at Telekom Austria Group, where he started as Product Manager and eventually rose to become its CEO. He held the position of Group CEO for six years and was responsible for a company with a turnover of over 4 billion euros and 16,000 employees in eight countries. During his time there, he was awarded both CMO of the Year in all industries in Europe and CEO of the Year, by Thompson Reuters in 2013. Hakan Koc, Founder and CEO of 1GLOBAL, explains: "We welcome Dr. Ametsreiter to our board and are proud that we could win such a renowned expert to join our mission to enhance the telco ecosystem by a layer of state-of-the-art technology, cybersecurity and rapid development. Our goal is to bring more users, devices and traffic to operators worldwide while saving enterprises and consumers time, resources and money by using our technology stack and our own GSMA accredited eSIM infrastructure." About 1GLOBAL Founded in 2022, TP Global Operations Ltd trading as 1GLOBAL acquired in 2023 a group of telecommunication assets operational since 2006, including an internationally recognized GSMA-accredited global mobile network. Headquartered in London with its R&D hub in Lisbon, the company has grown to over 400 employees across 12 countries and has been granted the status of fully regulated MVNO in the UK, US, Germany, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Hong Kong and Australia. Empowering over 7 million customers to communicate using over 34M devices, 1GLOBAL is an innovator in eSIM-based GSM mobile services, catering to businesses and individuals with products including mobile phone call and SMS recording services for businesses, remote SIM provisioning, IoT solutions, Telco-as-a-Service for travel and consumer companies, and affordable roaming for everyday consumers. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231016068652/en/ [email protected] +49 (0)221 348 038 37 Source: 1GLOBAL DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Gold Resource Corporation (NYSE American: GORO) (the Company) announces its preliminary third quarter results that includes the sale of 3,982 ounces of gold and 208,905 ounces of silver resulting in total gold equivalent (AuEq) ounces of 6,532. Additionally, the company sold 2,571 tonnes of zinc, 245 tonnes of copper, and 947 tonnes of lead. During the nine months ending September 30, 2023, the company sold 24,306 AuEq ounces, 8,772 tonnes of zinc, 904 tonnes of copper, and 3,681 tonnes of lead. Allen Palmiere, President and CEO said The quarter has presented some challenges beyond our control including decreased metal prices and the strengthening of the Mexican peso against the US Dollar. Production during the quarter was on par with the last four quarters, however average grade decreased as was expected in our 2023 mine plan. We continue to identify and implement opportunities for cost reductions and operational efficiencies. We continue to be encouraged by the positive results of our 2023 drill program at the Don David Gold Mine that demonstrate the potential to increase our resources and reserves that could lead to future increased production1. Sales Statistics Three months ended September 30, Nine months ended September 30, 2023 2022 2023 2022 Metal sold Gold (ozs.) 3,982 5,478 14,777 22,605 Silver (ozs.) 208,905 225,012 777,977 722,041 Copper (tones) 245 282 904 976 Lead (tonnes) 947 1,056 3,681 4,450 Zinc (tonnes) 2,571 2,943 8,772 10,892 Average metal prices realized(2) Gold ($ per oz.) 1,934 1,627 1,948 1,823 Silver ($ per oz.) 24 19 24 22 Copper ($ per tonne) 8,185 7,115 8,624 9,015 Lead ($ per tonne) 2,196 1,882 2,166 2,166 Zinc ($ per tonne) 2,195 3,186 2,648 3,828 Precious metal gold equivalent ounces sold Gold Ounces 3,982 5,478 14,777 22,605 Gold Equivalent Ounces from Silver 2,550 2,564 9,529 8,575 Total AuEq Ounces 6,532 8,042 24,306 31,180 Trending Production Statistics For the three months ended: Q2 2022 Q3 2022 Q4 2022 Q1 2023 Q2 2023 Q3 2023 Arista Mine Tonnes Milled 128,884 110,682 116,616 116,721 113,511 116,626 Average Gold Grade (g/t) 2.63 1.98 2.51 2.33 1.59 1.52 Average Silver Grade (g/t) 64 80 109 94 86 73 Average Copper Grade (%) 0.32 0.37 0.45 0.37 0.37 0.32 Average Lead Grade (%) 1.99 1.59 1.58 1.73 1.64 1.29 Average Zinc Grade (%) 4.00 4.21 4.27 3.88 3.72 3.22 Combined Tonnes milled(3) 129,099 110,682 116,616 117,781 113,511 116,626 Tonnes Milled per Day(4) 1,516 1,361 1,389 1,420 1,395 1,557 Metal production (before payable metal deductions)(5) Gold (ozs.) 9,317 5,850 7,767 7,171 4,637 4,443 Silver (ozs.) 249,088 261,257 370,768 322,676 289,816 247,159 Copper (tonnes) 303 296 406 336 334 276 Lead (tonnes) 2,020 1,248 1,323 1,559 1,389 1,048 Zinc (tonnes) 4,282 3,901 4,198 3,837 3,569 3,223 About GRC: Gold Resource Corporation is a gold and silver producer, developer, and explorer with its operations centered on the Don David Gold Mine in Oaxaca, Mexico. Under the direction of an experienced board and senior leadership team, the companys focus is to unlock the significant upside potential of its existing infrastructure and large land position surrounding the mine in Oaxaca, Mexico and to develop the Back Forty Project in Michigan, USA. For more information, please visit GRCs website, located at www.goldresourcecorp.com and read the companys Form 10-K for an understanding of the risk factors associated with its business. www.GoldResourceCorp.com 1 See the press release titled Gold Resource Corporation Reports Continued Positive Drill Results at Don David Gold Mine published September 12, 2023. The press release can be found at www.goldresourcecorporation.com/news. 2 Average metal prices realized vary from the market metal prices due to final settlement adjustments from our provisional invoices. Our average metal prices realized will therefore differ from the average market metal prices in most cases. 3 Combined tonnes in Q1 and Q2 2022 and Q1 2023 includes 1,043, 215, and 1,060 purchased tonnes, respectively, related to a collaborative initiative with a local community to ensure the proper environmental treatment and storage of the material. 4 Based on actual days the mill operated during the period. 5 The difference between what we report as "Metal Production" and "Metal Sold" is attributable to the difference between the quantities of metals contained in the concentrates we produce versus the portion of those metals actually paid for according to the terms of our sales contracts. Differences can also arise from inventory changes related to shipping schedules, or variances in ore grades and recoveries which impact the amount of metals contained in concentrates produced and sold. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231016957262/en/ Chet Holyoak Chief Financial Officer [email protected] Source: Gold Resource Corporation CALGARY, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- (TSE: IMO, NYSE American: IMO) Brad Corson, chairman, president and chief executive officer, and Peter Shaw, vice-president, investor relations, Imperial Oil Limited, will host a 2023 Third Quarter Earnings Call on Friday, October 27, following the companys third quarter earnings release that morning. The event begins at 9 a.m. MT and will be accessible by webcast. During the call, Mr. Corson will offer brief remarks prior to taking questions from Imperials covering analysts. Please click here [https://event.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1638065&tp_key=ebbfaa582e] to register for the live webcast. The webcast will be available for one year on the companys website at www.imperialoil.ca/en-ca/company/investors. In the event that the EDGAR system experiences technical difficulties or the company is unable to successfully complete its Form 8-K earnings press release filing at the intended time, investors and the public should look for this information at that time on Imperials website or on Canadas SEDAR+ system at www.sedarplus.ca. In case of a failed filing, the company intends to furnish the information on EDGAR as soon as possible. Source: Imperial After more than a century, Imperial continues to be an industry leader in applying technology and innovation to responsibly develop Canadas energy resources. As Canadas largest petroleum refiner, a major producer of crude oil, a key petrochemical producer and a leading fuels marketer from coast to coast, our company remains committed to high standards across all areas of our business. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231016338452/en/ For further information: Investor relations (587) 962-4401 Media relations (587) 476-7010 Source: Imperial Twelve promising Korean startups to showcase their products and growth plans to global pharmaceutical companies and investors SINGAPORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- MUST Connect 2023 Singapore, a roadshow that helps Korean life science startups expand overseas by connecting them with global pharmaceutical companies and investors, was held on Oct. 11 (Wed.) and 12 (Thu.) at Singapore Science Park. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231015795263/en/ Sharon Chan, head of innovation at JLabs Asia Pacific is giving a speech at MUST Connect 2023 Singapore (Photo: MUST Accelerator) Twelve Korean startups showcased their innovative products and solutions at the event. Among them were Neurophet, which uses AI to analyze brain structures that vary from person to person; ImmunAbs, an autoimmune treatment that is set to enter Phase II clinical trials in the U.S. next year; and ABLELabs, a manufacturer of bio-lab liquid handling robots that won second place in the Innovator's Pitch Challenge at RESI Boston September. Seoul Biohub, a South Korean government-backed organization, provided support to some of the participating companies. Several pharmaceutical companies including J&J and Sanofi CHC were present to explore investment and collaboration opportunities, as well as SG Innovate, the Singapore venture capital and entrepreneurship support organization, EDB Investments, the country's economic development agency, and Jungle Ventures, a leading venture capital firm in Southeast Asia, and Philips Ventures, which has a strong focus on life sciences. The event kicked off with presentations on cutting-edge industry trends and open innovation initiatives by leading companies and hospitals, followed by investor pitches from 12 Korean startups. It also provided opportunities for startups to network with investors and potential collaborators. Personalized one-on-one meetings were held to facilitate discussions about investment and partnership opportunities. J&J, through its global startup support program JLabs, has recently shown a strong interest in Korean life sciences startups. Innovation has no borders, said Sharon Chan, head of innovation at JLabs Asia Pacific, noting that more than 40% of the 81 startup companies incubated by JLabs at Shanghai are international, including 12 from Korea. J&J also hosted a separate session at the roadshow for 12 participating companies. Korean life science startups have a significant advantage due to Koreas advanced manufacturing capabilities. We hope Korean companies will embrace Singapore, a global hub for innovation and transition, as a launchpad for their global expansion, said Jasmine Qiu, Assistant Director of Health & Biomedical Science at SG Innovate. 'Must Connect' is a roadshow organized by Must Accelerator to introduce Korean life science startups to major companies, hospitals, and investors in Singapore, where the Asia-Pacific offices of global pharmaceutical companies are concentrated. It was held for the second time this year after last year. The Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ), which has been supporting Korean life science startups, participated as a sponsoring organization. "Korean life science startups are gaining increasing attention with each passing year, observed Julia Lee, CEO of MUST Accelerator. "Given the enthusiastic response from attending companies and investors, we can expect to see concrete results emerge soon." Many leading pharmaceutical companies have their APAC headquarters in Singapore and are actively seeking out promising life science startups in Asia. As a result, Korean startups are using the city-state as a bridgehead for international expansion. In 2010, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, TEMASEK, made a groundbreaking investment in Korean drugmaker Celltrion. About MUST Accelerator MUST Accelerator is a startup accelerator with a mission to help early-stage startups grow infinitely. Since 2020, the company has operated the Shinhan Square Bridge Incheon program in partnership with Shinhan Financial Group, and in 2021, it was selected as a global partner of Google Startup Campus, expanding its global network. Since 2022, Must Accelerator has hosted the "Must Connect" event in Singapore. In 2023, the company launched the "Startup School Busan" program in Busan with the city of Busan and Google Startup Campus, in an effort to contribute to the development of the regional startup ecosystem. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231015795263/en/ Media Inquiries Julie Lee, Project Leader [email protected] +82.32.228.1700 MUST Accelerator https://must.ac Source: MUST Accelerator NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- PoetrYY Finance, the neobank, has officially launched, with a mission to transform the banking landscape for startups, small businesses, collegiate athletes, individuals, and underserved communities. PoetrYY Finance leverages Mbanq's cutting-edge Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform to offer innovative, secure, and inclusive financial solutions. PoetrYY is officially live - offering consumer banking products and services with immediate availability. The company stands out as a beacon of financial empowerment with comprehensive financial services and solutions that include debit cards, checking accounts and peer-to-peer payments. PoetrYY seamlessly integrates traditional banking services into an easy-to-use, mobile-friendly platform, equipped with advanced biometric technology for enhanced security. Delon Turner, Chairman of PoetrYY, expressed his enthusiasm about the partnership with Mbanq: Mbanq has been instrumental in helping PoetrYY bring its vision to life. Mbanqs technology, compliance, and operations support have been invaluable in creating and running our neobank efficiently and cost-effectively. We are excited to offer inclusive banking solutions that make a positive difference to the lives of our customers. Mbanq's CEO, Vlad Lounegov weighed in on what sets PoetrYY apart, emphasizing the importance of community: The team at PoetrYY Finance believes in US communities and the people that serve them. PoetrYYs inclusivity and market potential make it stand out in the neobanking space, with huge potential for growth. PoetrYY Finance is deeply committed to unbanked and underbanked communities, aiming to simplify access to money management through mobile and digital technology. Its services cater to startups, small and medium businesses (SMBs), with a focus on disenfranchised and underserved communities. PoetrYY Finance is also a FinTech innovator with several business products currently in the development stage, to pioneer: A collegiate athletes Name, Image, & Likeness (NIL) financial service partnership that serves collegiate athletes with their NIL digital banking needs and helps them transition their collegiate earning power from the gridiron, court, and diamond, into robust checking, savings, and credit card programs. A College & University Endowment Collective that focuses on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), to simplify the financial lives of students and to allow them to donate and monitor contributions to their educational establishment. About Mbanq Founded in 2016, headquartered in the United States, with a global presence, Mbanq is a leading FinTech innovator known for its regulatory prowess, modern technology, and industry-specific solutions. Mbanq is a world-leading Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) provider with a comprehensive 'as-a-service' portfolio, including compliance, lending, back office, and dispute resolutions. Mbanq empowers traditional banks, neobanks, credit unions, and FinTech platforms to create and operate digital finance solutions. Its white-label mobile apps and open banking APIs offer a modern digital experience while ensuring compliance and innovation. www.mbanq.com About PoetrYY Finance New York-based PoetrYY Finance is a groundbreaking neobank founded on the principles of diversity, inclusion, and community engagement. Its mission is to revolutionize the financial services landscape, extending essential financial services to startups, small businesses, individuals, and underserved communities that have been excluded from the financial mainstream. PoetrYY is a portfolio holding of 7even Hills Venture Capital. PoetrYY Finance in not a bank. PoetrYY is a financial technology company. Banking services are provided by Mbanq's Banking partner, Evolve Bank & Trust, Member FDIC. www.poetryyfinance.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231016795679/en/ Alex Player [email protected] Source: Mbanq NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Pathway to Cures (P2C) announced today its investment of $500,000 in Five Liters, a subsidiary of Spark Biomedical, to develop therapies for treating inheritable blood and bleeding disorders. Pathway to Cures, an affiliate of the National Bleeding Disorders Foundation, is a venture philanthropy fund focused on early-stage companies developing cures, therapies, or enabling technologies in support of the inheritable blood and bleeding disorders community. Five Liters, a Dallas-based wearable neuromodulation company, is embarking on a series of groundbreaking first-in-human studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of non-invasive, wearable neurostimulation in reducing blood loss. This significant milestone is made possible through Five Liters' collaboration with Northwell Healths Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research in New York. More specifically, Five Liters is dedicated to exploring the hemostatic effects of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), via transcutaneous auricular neurostimulation (tAN). The focus is on preventing life-threatening bleeding events commonly associated with various conditions, including inheritable bleeding disorders, surgical blood loss, and traumatic bleeding. In a recent New York Times article, Kevin Tracey, M.D., neurosurgeon, inventor, and president and CEO of the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, shares insight on how delivering electricity to the vagus nerve (i.e. bioelectronic medicine) can help fight disease. Dr. Tracey is also a co-author on the Nature Communications article which demonstrated the mechanism of action behind VNS to improve hemostasis. In initial clinical trials, Five Liters will prioritize von Willebrand Disease (VWD), the most prevalent inherited bleeding disorder worldwide, affecting approximately 0.6 to 1.3% of the global population (equivalent to 1 in every 100 globally). VWD manifests with varying degrees of bleeding tendency, such as excessive bleeding from injuries, surgical or dental procedures, persistent nosebleeds, heavy or prolonged menstrual bleeding, and bleeding during labor and delivery. Daniel Powell, CEO of Five Liters and Spark Biomedical, remarked, "Our deep admiration for the bleeding disorders community and the Pathway to Cures organization stems from their unwavering commitment to advancing novel treatments. This investment is not only an honor but a testament to their confidence in our capability to introduce an evidence-based, innovative, non-pharmacological solution in an area where affordable medical options are limited." Investing in Five Liters early-stage research is a critical step in addressing unmet needs of patients living with inheritable blood and bleeding disorders through innovative non-invasive, non-pharmacological treatments said Michael Recht, MD, PhD, MBA. Dr. Recht is Chief Medical and Scientific Officer at both Pathway to Cures and the National Bleeding Disorders Foundation (NBDF) and chairs the Pathway to Cures Scientific Advisory Group. P2C is fortunate to have the scientific and financial expertise of generous volunteers such as P2Cs Scientific Advisory Group that makes recommendations to the P2C Investment Committee regarding promising opportunities. Inheritable blood and bleeding disorders include rare and ultra-rare blood disorders, hemophilia A and B, von Willebrand Disease, sickle cell disease, anemia, clotting disorders, and other hematological disorders, affecting more than 20 million people worldwide. For more information, visit www.pathwaytocures.org or contact Renee Peck at [email protected]. About Pathway to Cures Pathway to Cures (P2C) is a venture philanthropy fund created to accelerate development of cures across all inheritable blood and bleeding disorders. In collaboration with other organizations, P2C invests in innovative therapies and technologies, leveraging the deep resources and scientific community relationships of its parent organization, the National Bleeding Disorders Foundation. By reinvesting proceeds from investments back into the Fund, P2C will amplify investment impact, support promising companies, and build a portfolio of investments that further the mission of the National Bleeding Disorders Foundation. About National Bleeding Disorders Foundation The National Bleeding Disorders Foundation (formerly the National Hemophilia Foundation) is dedicated to finding cures for inheritable blood and bleeding disorders and to addressing and preventing the complications of these disorders through research, education, and advocacy enabling people and families to thrive. For more information, visit hemophilia.org. About Five Liters Five Liters, a subsidiary of Spark Biomedical, is a U.S.-based wearable neurostimulation solution developer leading the way in exploring and providing novel, non-invasive, non-pharmacological treatment options for those suffering from excessive blood loss. For more information, visit FiveLiters.com or follow us @FiveLiters on LinkedIn and Facebook. About Spark Biomedical Spark Biomedical, Inc. is a leading U.S.-based wearable neurostimulation solutions developer devoted to the life-saving work of helping 36.3 million people worldwide overcome withdrawal, heal from addiction, and achieve the better quality of life they deserve. With opioid-related misuse and overdose deaths on the rise, the companys mission is to eliminate opioid addiction by working to address the full opioid addiction lifecycle, including withdrawal management, opioid-sparing, relapse prevention, and PTSD/trauma abatement. Spark Biomedical is helping patients take the first step of overcoming acute opioid withdrawal with its FDA-cleared wearable technology, the Sparrow Ascent Therapy System Transcutaneous Auricular Neurostimulation (tAN) for Opioid Withdrawal Relief. Sparrow Ascent Therapy provides an easy, safe, and effective drug-free treatment option supported by clinical evidence. Next steps are underway with the launch of two NIDA-funded clinical trials to improve adult relapse rates and help infants suffering from Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome (NOWS). Learn more at sparkbiomedical.com or on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231016069653/en/ Pathway to Cures Renee Peck, Senior Development Director [email protected] 212-328-3790 Source: Pathway to Cures NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- SmartMetric, Inc. (OTC: SMME), following over a decade of research and development, is nearly ready to ship its advanced fingerprint activated credit and debit cards to the credit card industry. We are excited that after all these years of product development we are near shipping of not only our standard credit and debit card product as well as our premium version that is made of metal, said SmartMetrics President and CEO, Chaya Hendrick. The SmartMetric metal biometric card is the only one of its kind in the world that has embedded inside the metal the fingerprint scanner electronics at an extraordinary level of miniaturization and component slim height. Creating a metal biometric credit card best fits the needs of the premium credit card market making it an attractive product for the high end credit card consumer who has become used to thinking of metal credit cards as a premium card product they are happy to have in their wallets. As with all new technology products SmartMetric believes that the top end of the market will be the first large scale adopters and therefor having our biometric card in metal makes sense for addressing this market, said Chaya Hendrick. SmartMetric will continue to bring to market its standard plastic biometric credit card but in addition will offer its premium metal biometric credit card to card issuing financial institutions. The SmartMetric biometric credit card is the only advanced biometric payments card product with an internal rechargeable battery that allows the card to be used in all card usage cases such as restaurants and ATMs. Having its own power inside the card allows the SmartMetric biometric card to work prior to the card being inserted into a card reader. The SmartMetric biometric fingerprint recognition technology built inside of the credit and debit card uses embedded biometric technology to positively recognize the card holder and then only after a positive fingerprint recognition, turn on the cards EMV contact and contactless payments chip. Market research has shown that 70% of current credit card users are willing to pay $70.00 for a biometric secured credit card. This is a low pricing limit with higher pricing for the card from banks to consumers very possible. The same research showed that nearly 70% of the existing 100s of millions of credit card users would prefer to use a biometric credit card for the added sense of security that a biometric card brings. According to an article published by Finder.com1 the number of credit card accounts open in the United States is 564,500,000. This is an all-time high for the United States. The average American owns three credit cards. 83% of Americans own at least one credit card. 14% of Americans own at least 10 credit cards. To view the SmartMetric Biometric Card please follow this link - Video of the SmartMetric Biometric Card. To view the company website: www.smartmetric.com 1 2023 Credit card debt and spending statistics in the US | finder.com Safe Harbor Statement: Forward-Looking Statements in this press release, which are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Also such forward-looking statements are within the meaning of that term in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Our actual results, performance or achievements may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "may," "could," "expect," "intend," "plan," "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "continue," "likely," "will," "would" and variations of these terms and similar expressions, or the negative of these terms or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by us and our management, are inherently uncertain. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, among others, if we are unable to access the capital necessary to fund current operations or implement our plans for growth; changes in the competitive environment in our industry and the markets where we operate; our ability to access the capital markets; and other risks discussed in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K, which filings are available from the SEC. We caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which are made as of the date of this press release. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any of these forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, new information or future events, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking statements, except to the extent required by applicable laws. If we update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements. Investors and security holders are urged to carefully review and consider each of SmartMetric Inc. public filings with the SEC, including but not limited to, if applicable, Annual Reports on Form 10-K, proxy statements, Current Reports on Form 8-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231016656873/en/ SmartMetric, Inc. Chaya Hendrick Tel: (702) 990-3687 Mobile: (305) 607-3910 (Pacific Time) [email protected] www.smartmetric.com Source: SmartMetric, Inc. BASEL, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Syngenta Seedcare is strengthening its focus on biologicals and extending its leadership in seed treatment with the opening of its first biologicals service center at The Seedcare Institute in Maintal, Germany. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231015691265/en/ Tomato seedlings just emerged from the soil (Photo: Business Wire) Equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, the center addresses growing farmer demand across the EU for biological seed treatment solutions providing best-in-class service and application support for its customers. Syngenta Seedcare currently operates 18 Seedcare Institutes with more than 120 experts globally. Additional biological service centres are set to be added to more Seedcare Institutes in future. Biological seed treatment solutions ensure healthy crop establishment, by safeguarding plants from pests and improving their ability to access available nutrients right from the beginning of life. Only tiny amounts are necessary to coat the seed, helping increase soil health and protecting biodiversity and the environment. However, the incorporation of living organisms can present new challenges to developing biological seed treatment solutions, which will need to take into account factors such as biological compatibility and on-seed survivability. Our leadership in biological innovation and seed treatment is built on our ability to constantly enhance and adapt our service offers, said Jonathan Brown, Global Head Seedcare. This new biologicals service centre enables the successful use of biologicals as seed-applied solutions through shared practical knowledge and resources. As the industry collaborator of choice, we look forward to launching new solutions together with our partners. Syngenta Seedcare offers a broad portfolio of biological seed treatment solutions, comprising the EPIVIO range of biostimulants for healthy crop establishment; ATUVA to promote nutrient use efficiency for soybean and legume crops, and NUELLO biofertilizers that leverage nitrogen fixation and promote soil health. The biologicals service center in Maintal offers specialized expertise to support the application of new biological seed treatments. These include extensive competence in microbiology from understanding the viability on-seed and in-mixture with other active ingredients, the ability to develop assays for all microbial products, to expertise on the handling of sensitive biologicals throughout the process. It will also provide value-adding services, including advisory on water quality and recipe compatibility, on-seed survivability measurement, guidelines for storage, handling and cleaning, and specialized training on proper stewardship of biologicals. About Syngenta Crop Protection Syngenta Crop Protection is a leader in agricultural innovation, bringing breakthrough technologies and solutions that enable farmers to grow productively and sustainably. We offer a leading portfolio of crop protection solutions for plant and soil health, as well as digital solutions that transform the decision-making capabilities of farmers. Our 17,900 employees serve to advance agriculture in more than 90 countries around the world. Syngenta Crop Protection is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, and is part of the Syngenta Group. Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Syngenta, www.twitter.com/SyngentaUS and on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/syngenta Data protection is important to us. You are receiving this publication on the legal basis of Article 6 para 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interest). However, if you do not wish to receive further information about Syngenta, just send us a brief informal message and we will no longer process your details for this purpose. You can also find further details in our privacy statement. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This document may contain forward-looking statements, which can be identified by terminology such as expect, would, will, potential, plans, prospects, estimated, aiming, on track and similar expressions. Such statements may be subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from these statements. For Syngenta, such risks and uncertainties include risks relating to legal proceedings, regulatory approvals, new product development, increasing competition, customer credit risk, general economic and market conditions, compliance and remediation, intellectual property rights, implementation of organizational changes, impairment of intangible assets, consumer perceptions of genetically modified crops and organisms or crop protection chemicals, climatic variations, fluctuations in exchange rates and/or commodity prices, single source supply arrangements, political uncertainty, natural disasters, and breaches of data security or other disruptions of information technology. Syngenta assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changed assumptions or other factors. 2023 Syngenta. Rosentalstrasse 67, 4058 Basel, Switzerland. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231015691265/en/ Michelle Ng Head, External Communications [email protected] Source: Syngenta Crop Protection On Monday, Bill Ford, the Executive Chairman of Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F), appealed to the United Auto Workers union to cease their 32-day strike and come to terms on a fresh labor agreement. Ford highlighted the escalating repercussions for both the automaker and the broader U.S. economy. "We can stop this now," Ford said of the strike. "I call on UAW colleagues ... We need to come together to bring an end to this acrimonious round of talks." Over 34,000 union members, employed by Ford, General Motors (NYSE: GM), and Stellantis (NYSE: STLA) are currently on strike. In response to the strike's effects, Ford has also placed 2,480 additional workers on furlough. Chairman Ford, said competitors Toyota, Honda, Tesla and other automakers "are loving this strike because they know the longer it goes on, the better it is for them." According to Ford, the UAW's strike at Kentucky Truck "harms tens of thousands of American workers". "If it continues, it will have a major impact on the American economy." Said Ford. UAW President Shawn Fain on Friday accused Ford of attempting to manipulate the negotiations with insufficient offers. Fain emphasized the need for Ford to significantly enhance compensation packages for the workers. On Thursday, a senior Ford executive said the automaker was "at the limit" of what it can spend on higher wages and benefits for the UAW. Shares of F are up 1.14% in mid-day trading on Monday. By Michael Elkins | [email protected] Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE: RAD) said it has reached an agreement in principle with some senior secured noteholders on terms of a financial restructuring plan. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sunday. Rite Aid has received a commitment for $3.45 billion in new financing to support business operations, and announced the acquisition of Rite Aids Elixir Solutions business by MedImpact Healthcare Systems, serving as the stalking horse bidder in a court-supervised sale process. The deal is subject to higher and better offers, court approval, and other customary conditions. Elixir Insurance is not included in Rite Aids Chapter 11 process or proposed deal with MedImpact. Jeffrey Stein has been named CEO and Chief Restructuring Officer, replacing interim CEO Elizabeth Burr, who will continue in her role as a board director. The pharmacy chain had a total debt of $8.60 billion as of June 3. By Senad Karaahmetovic TORONTO, Oct. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Copper Road Resources Inc. (TSXV: CRD) (Copper Road or the Company) is pleased to announce a non-brokered private placement 1,500,000 flow-through units of the Company (each, an FT Unit) at a price of $0.10 per FT Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of $150,000 (the Offering). Each FT Unit will consist of one common share of the Company to be issued as a flow-through share (each, an FT Share) within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the Tax Act) and one common share purchase warrant (each warrant, a Warrant). Each Warrant shall entitle the holder to purchase one common share of the Company at a price of $0.15 at any time on or before that date which is 24 months after the closing date of the Offering. The Company intends to use the gross proceeds of the Offering on the exploration of the Companys Copper Road project near Batchewana Bay, Ontario and for general working capital purposes. The gross proceeds from the issuance of the FT Shares will be used for Canadian Exploration Expenses (within the meaning of the Tax Act) (the Qualifying Expenditures), and that qualify for the federal 30% Critical Mineral Exploration Tax Credit announced in the federal budget on April 7, 2022, which will be renounced with an effective date no later than December 31, 2023 to the purchasers of the FT Units in an aggregate amount not less than the gross proceeds raised from the issue of the FT Shares. If the Qualifying Expenditures are reduced by the Canada Revenue Agency, the Company will indemnify each subscriber of FT Units for any additional taxes payable by such subscriber as a result of the Companys failure to renounce the Qualifying Expenditures. The Offering is scheduled to close on or around the week of October 23, 2023, and is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary approvals including the approval of the TSXV. About Copper Road Copper Road Resources Inc. is a Canadian based explorer engaged in the acquisition, exploration and evaluation of properties for the mining of precious and base metals. The Company is exploring for large copper/gold deposits on the 21,000-hectare Batchewana Bay Project 80 km. north of Sault St. Marie, Ontario, Canada. Further Information For further information regarding Copper Road, please contact: Mr. John Timmons, President/CEO and Director Copper Road Resources Inc. Cellular (416) 931 2243 Email: [email protected] Web: www.copperoad.ca Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Information 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", proposed, "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 relate to, among other things, the completion of the Offering, including receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, the Companys objectives, goals and exploration activities conducted and proposed to be conducted at the Companys properties; future growth potential of the Company, including whether any proposed exploration programs at any of the Companys properties will be successful; exploration results; and future exploration plans and costs and financing availability. 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: the expected benefits to the Company relating to the exploration conducted and proposed to be conducted at the Companys properties; the receipt of all applicable regulatory approvals for the Offering; the completion of the Offering on the terms described herein, or at all; failure to identify any mineral resources or significant mineralization; the preliminary nature of metallurgical test results; uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, including to fund any exploration programs on the Companys properties; fluctuations in general macroeconomic conditions; fluctuations in securities markets; fluctuations in spot and forward prices of gold, silver, base metals or certain other commodities; fluctuations in currency markets; change in national and local government, legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments; risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining (including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations pressures, cave-ins and flooding); inability to obtain adequate insurance to cover risks and hazards; the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on mining and mineral exploration; employee relations; relationships with and claims by local communities and indigenous populations; availability of increasing costs associated with mining inputs and labour; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development (including the risks of obtaining necessary licenses, permits and approvals from government authorities); the unlikelihood that properties that are explored are ultimately developed into producing mines; geological factors; actual results of current and future exploration; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be evaluated; soil sampling results being preliminary in nature and are not conclusive evidence of the likelihood of a mineral deposit; title to properties; and those factors described in the most recently filed managements discussion and analysis of the Company. 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. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information, or the material factors or assumptions used to develop such forward-looking information, will prove to be accurate. The Company does not undertake to release publicly any revisions for updating any voluntary forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable securities law. Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Source: Copper Road Resources Inc. DALLAS-FORT WORTH, Oct. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In an exciting expansion set to transform the local market, HUDU is proud to announce its official launch in the Dallas-Fort Worth area on National Bosses Day, October 16, 2023. This groundbreaking initiative is the ignition of a movement aimed at transforming everyday DO-ers into their own bosses, within an ecosystem that prioritizes their ambitions and efforts. HUDU is more than a platform; it's a community built for DO-ers, providing a space where they can shine by helping LIST-ers tackle their projects, whether at home, the office, or elsewhere. If its legal, you can list it, opening up a world where opportunities to earn are as varied and boundless as your imagination. National Bosses Day, celebrated on October 16th, is the perfect backdrop for this launch. HUDU recognizes the importance of everyones potential to be their own boss, to take charge of their destiny without the fear, risk, and hassle. This launch symbolizes a new era of economic opportunity for Dallas-Fort Worth residents and stepping into a new chapter where opportunities are not just available but are easily accessible. HUDU's impact is set to reshape the Dallas-Fort Worth gig economy, providing DO-ers with a robust platform filled with resources, guidance, and a sea of opportunities to turn their visions into reality. Whether youre hustling on the side or going all in as a full-time DO-er, HUDU has your back, offering support tailored for every kind of journey. "The launch of HUDU in Dallas-Fort Worth marks a pivotal moment," said Eric Plunkett, Chief Operations Officer of HUDU. "We believe in the untapped potential of every individual to carve out their own success story. HUDU is not just providing the means but also sparking the motivation for people to take command of their time and income. Step into a universe of possibilities with HUDU. This is more than a launch; its a call to dream big, work passionately, and achieve the remarkable. As we celebrate National Bosses Day, HUDU invites all to embrace the spirit of entrepreneurship and seize the opportunity to be their own boss. Join HUDU in Dallas-Fort Worth and be part of a movement that's empowering individuals to take charge of their destiny and shape a brighter future. For media inquiries, please contact: Contact:Jennifer FlemingTallGrass PR[email protected]605.376.1308 About HUDU:HUDU is a groundbreaking platform dedicated to empowering individuals to become their own bosses. With a wealth of resources, expert guidance, and networking opportunities, HUDU equips users with the tools they need to turn their dreams into everyday life. Join HUDU today and unlock your potential to succeed on your terms. Learn more at https://info.heyhudu.com/ or download the HUDU app. Source: HUDU Activist hedge fund Elliott Management disclosed on Monday that it has built a 13.8% stake in E2open (NYSE: ETWO) and may seek to acquire the company. Elliott disclosed it acquired a total of 27,250,000 shares of the supply chain management software provider at an average price of $2.55 per share. Further, the fund entered into derivative agreements in the form of cash settled swaps on another 14,526,506 shares. In all, the fund has a combined economic exposure of approximately 13.8%. Shares were being bought in the open market by Elliott as recently as October 12. As of the end of June, the fund held a 6.8% stake. Elliott views the stock as undervalued and represents an attractive investment opportunity. The fund said it will seek talks with the Board about strategic opportunities to maximize shareholder value and may seek to engage in a transaction "as an acquirer, investor and/or financing source." Shares of E2open were down 58.3% year-to-date as of Friday's close. They are up 22% in early trading Monday amid the Elliott news. By StreetInsider.com Staff Dr. Jonathan Milner, the founder and one of the largestshareholders in Abcam plc (NYSE: ABCM) with ownership of 6.16%, today issued a presentation covering the reasons for Abcam shareholders to vote against the $24 per share bid from Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) or its affiliates (Danaher). These include: Data showing that the forward multiple implied by the $24 bid price is below Abcams long-term trading multiple The anticipation of a transformational year ahead with increased EBITDA margins and revenue growth for FY24, not reflected in Danaher's offer The positioning of Abcam to reap the returns of the five-year investment plan, rendering the $24 offer price as the wrong price at the wrong time Details of the selective approach in the fairness opinions included in the Scheme Circular, resulting in the omission of key peer group companies from the analysis which depressed the multiples and the implied value per share Dr. Milner firmly believes that Abcam stands as an exceptional UK asset and should not be undersold to Danaher. However, he is open to selling to Danaher or another suitor at a fair price that genuinely reflects the Companys true value and potential. In the presentation, Dr. Milner unveiled "Abcam 3.0," his strategy for Abcam. Should the "Vote AGAINST" campaign conclude successfully, he intends to convene an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) aimed at overhauling the Company's Board. His strategy focuses on four strategic pillars essential for the Company's three-year growth plan commencing in 2024: Returning Abcam to best-in-class Corporate Governance and Investor Relations Restoring operational efficiency and achieving execution excellence Strengthening leadership in Antibody and Digital Platforms Reestablishing antibodies as the conduit into market adjacencies The full presentation can be found at this link and has been made available on www.abcamfocus.com Zurich, Switzerland--(Newsfile Corp. - October 16, 2023) - Freename AG, a leading provider of Web3 domain name services from Switzerland, and My Commodity SA, a Luxembourg subsidiary of ShortDot SA specializing in Web2 domain extensions, have launched a joint venture, WebUnited. Operating with the ethos "Bridging Web2 with Web3", WebUnited aims to break down barriers between the Web2 and Web3 worlds, opening up new accessibility and distribution possibilities in the Domain industry. WebUnited's Innovative Web2 to Web3 Domain Mirroring Service. This venture offers Internet 2.0 registries and registrars an enhanced bridge to Web3 domains. WebUnited's "mirroring" service provides Web2 registries the option to replicate their Top-Level domains on the blockchain, enabling registries to offer mirrored domains through Web2 registrars, facilitated by WebUnited's robust infrastructure. In collaboration with the operator of the (dot) bond TLD, WebUnited is set to introduce the world's first Web2 TLD mirrored on the blockchain. Efficient Web3 Transition through API Integration. WebUnited presents API integration tailored to mirror the Web2 experience to Web3, ensuring a smooth transition. WebUnited's APIs equip Web2 registrars with the capabilities to register, custody and allow users to set records and interact with Web3 Domains. Similarly, APIs are provided for registries to manage new domain registrations for their Web3 Top-Level domains. The objective remains to offer reliability and usability standards at par with the established Web2 standards, ensuring a dependable user environment. Unlocking New Opportunities for Stakeholders. Participants in the domain industry stand to benefit significantly from this bridging venture, tapping into the burgeoning Web3 market and extending blockchain utilities to their clientele. These features encompass decentralized payments via domains, blockchain application accessibility, and decentralized communication methods. Davide Vicini, CEO of Freename AG, stated, "WebUnited is the result of collaboration between two industry leaders and is poised to revolutionize how we conceive and manage domains. This joint venture allows us to combine the expertise and resources of both companies to provide an innovative and highly accessible service." Lars Jensen, CEO of ShortDot SA, mentioned, "WebUnited signifies a notable progression in the web's evolution, perfectly bridging Web2's security and stability with Web3's visionary capabilities." Domain Industry Expertise Powers WebUnited. Seasoned professionals lead the foundation of WebUnited from the domain name and blockchain industries: Lars Jensen, Davide Vicini, Kevin Kopas, Federico Costa and Eshan Pancholi. The WebUnited team will be available at the ICANN Hamburg annual meeting and has scheduled an event on October 24 at the Radisson Blu Hotel. All domain industry attendees are invited to join us and learn about WebUnited. About WebUnited. WebUnited is on a mission to simplify the digital transition. By merging the pioneering potential of Web3 blockchain technology with the established infrastructure of Web2 domains, it aims to redefine user experiences across the digital landscape. For more information and details, please visit webunited.com. Mattia Martone [email protected] Zrich, Switzerland To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/184002 Phoenix, Arizona and New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - October 16, 2023) - Lytham Partners, a leading investor relations firm, today announced the schedule for its Fall 2023 Investor Conference taking place virtually on October 17, 2023. 50+ companies will be available for virtual 1x1 meetings and select companies will participate in webcast presentations. To view the full announcement, including downloadable images, bios, and more, click here. Key Takeaways: Investors will have the chance to meet with executives from over 50 participating companies for a series of virtual 1x1 meetings. Select companies will be featured in webcast presentations where executives dive deeper into their story, key topics and investment opportunities. This conference will feature 8 KOL panels with special guests discussing industry and market trends. Click image above to view full announcement. About Lytham Partners Lytham Partners is one of the country's leading investor relations firms. With more than two decades of Corporate Access experience, we have built one of the industry's most diverse and effective platforms for connecting small cap companies with high-quality and focused institutional investors. For more information, visit: https://lythampartners.com/ Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lytham-partners/ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/lythamir Follow us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lythampartners Contacts: Robert Blum, Managing Partner 602-889-9700 [email protected] Joe Diaz, Managing Partner [email protected] Joe Dorame, Managing Partner [email protected] Ben Shamsian, Vice President [email protected] Adam Lowensteiner, Vice President [email protected] Roger Weiss, Vice President [email protected] Source: Lytham Partners To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/184193 Princeton, New Jersey--(Newsfile Corp. - October 16, 2023) - Parabole.ai, Knowledge-infused Causal AI to solve the most complex problems in Supply Chain optimization, MES and MOM challenges for manufacturing enterprises, will be participating in The ThinkEquity Conference, which will take place on October 19, 2023 at The Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York. Rajib Saha-CEO and Anthony Sarkis CSO will be presenting at 4:00 pm ET on October 19th. Interested parties can register to attend here. Members of the Parabole.ai management will also be holding one-on-one investor meetings throughout the day. About Parabole.ai Parabole.ai has built the innovative TRAIN Causal AI platform. TRAIN Elevates Enterprise Decision Intelligence beyond Large Language Models and Generative AI solutions to address complex enterprise decision-making and prediction problems. Our platform develops custom frameworks, expanding our Causal Framework library, specifically tailored for manufacturing enterprises, government agencies, and standards organizations. These solutions amplify insights and decision-making across all supply chain and sustainability dimensions. About The ThinkEquity Conference The ThinkEquity Conference will gather industry insiders, investors and leading executives from around the world on October 19th in New York. Attendees can expect a full day of company presentations, one-on-one investor meetings, networking and more. Featured sectors include AI, Technology, Biotechnology, EV/EV Infrastructure, Metals & Mining and Energy. To register to attend The ThinkEquity Conference, please follow this link. For further information: Anthony Sarkis Chief Strategy Officer 5166521333 [email protected] Source: Parabole.ai Follows the previously announced letter of intent around the Ohio Expansion Transaction, on closing of which Vext will have an operating Tier I cultivation facility, an operating manufacturing facility, and four dispensaries in Ohio. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 16, 2023) - Vext Science, Inc. (CSE: VEXT) (OTCQX: VEXTF) ("Vext" or the "Company"), a U.S.-based cannabis operator with vertical operations in Arizona and Ohio, is pleased to announce that it has reached agreement pending a regulatory review period on an asset purchase agreement (the "Asset Purchase Agreement"), together with other definitive agreements (together with the Asset Purchase Agreement, the "Definitive Agreements"), with Big Perm's Dispensary Ohio, LLC ("Big Perm") and the members thereof (the "Members"), to acquire two cannabis dispensaries located in Ohio (the "Dispensaries") owned by Big Perm, as well as all licenses and assets related to the business of the Dispensaries (the "Acquired Assets"), for aggregate consideration of approximately $9.4 million, subject to adjustment in certain circumstances (the "Ohio Expansion Transaction"). The Company currently expects that closing of the Ohio Expansion Transaction will occur in 2024. Unless otherwise noted, all currency references used in this news release are in U.S. currency. Terms of the Ohio Expansion Transaction Under the terms of the Definitive Agreements, in consideration for the Acquired Assets, Vext will pay cash consideration equal to $9.4 million, subject to adjustments in certain circumstances, including, but not limited to, amounts funded, or liabilities assumed, by Vext pursuant to the Loan (as defined below) or for construction costs, and inventory adjustments. Subject to regulatory approval by the Ohio Board of Pharmacy ("BOP"), Vext will fund approximately $3.4 million of construction costs related to the Dispensaries, which are payable upon closing of the Ohio Expansion Transaction. In addition, Vext will provide after regulatory approval certain administrative, operational and support services to Big Perm, in compliance with the State of Ohio rules and regulations with respect to medical marijuana, and has agreed to loan up to $3.0 million (the "Loan") to Big Perm for capital expenditures and working capital needs associated with the Dispensaries. The Ohio Expansion Transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals and other customary conditions precedent. The Company is at arm's length from Big Perm and each of the Members. For further details about the terms of the Ohio Expansion Transaction, see the Company's news release dated October 2, 2023 and the full text of the Asset Purchase Agreement, which will be filed under the Company's SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca. About the Ohio Market The Ohio medical cannabis market continues to grow with a 15% increase in number of patients and 82% increase in number of operating dispensaries over the past 12 months.1 About Vext Science, Inc. Vext Science, Inc. is a U.S.-based cannabis operator with vertical operations in Arizona and Ohio. Vext's expertise spans from cultivation through to retail operations in its key markets. Based out of Arizona, Vext owns and operates state-of-the-art cultivation facilities, fully built-out manufacturing facilities as well as dispensaries in both Arizona and Ohio. The Company manufactures Vapen", one of the leading THC concentrates, edibles, and distillate cartridge brands in Arizona. Its selection of award-winning products are created with Vext's in-house, high-quality flower and distributed across Arizona and Ohio, as well as through Vext's partnerships in other states. Vext's leadership team brings a proven track record of building and operating profitable multi-state operations, with the Company having operated profitably since 2016. The Company's primary focus is to continue growing in its core states of Arizona and Ohio, bringing together cutting-edge science, manufacturing, and marketing to provide a reliable and valuable customer experience while generating shareholder value. Vext Science, Inc. is listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol VEXT and trades on the OTCQX market under the symbol VEXTF. Learn more at www.vextscience.com and connect with Vext on Twitter/X and LinkedIn. For more details on the Vapen brand: Vapen website: VapenBrands.com Instagram: @vapen Facebook: @vapenbrands Forward Looking Statements Statements in this news release that are forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed here and elsewhere in Vext's periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators. When used in this news release, words such as "will, could, plan, estimate, expect, intend, may, potential, believe, should," and similar expressions, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, statements related to the Ohio Expansion Transaction, including the anticipated closing date and receipt of regulatory approvals related thereto, and other statements regarding future developments and the business and operations of the Vext, market projections of the cannabis industry in Ohio, and the Company's business plans in Ohio, all of which are subject to the risk factors contained in Vext's continuous disclosure filed on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. Although Vext has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, there can be other factors that cause results, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, including, but not limited to: dependence on obtaining regulatory approvals; being engaged in activities currently considered illegal under U.S. Federal laws; change in laws; reliance on management; requirements for additional financing; competition; hindered market growth and state adoption due to inconsistent public opinion and perception of the medical-use and adult-use marijuana industry and; regulatory or political change. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate or that management's expectations or estimates of future developments, circumstances or results will materialize. Because of these risks and uncertainties, the results or events predicted in these forward-looking statements may differ materially from actual results or events. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date of this release. Vext disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise such information, except as required by applicable law, and Vext does not assume any liability for disclosure relating to any other company mentioned herein. The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the content of this news release. Eric Offenberger Chief Executive Officer 844-211-3725 For further information: Jonathan Ross, Vext Investor Relations [email protected] 416-244-9851 SOURCE: Vext Science, Inc 1 Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/184102 Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) October call option implied volatility is at 55, November is at 29; compared to its 52-week range of 20 to 51 into the expected release of quarter results before the bell on October 17. Proceeds to fund expansion of retail footprint across Illinois in advance of the opening of state-of-the-art cultivation and processing facility PHOENIX, Ariz. , Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - 4Front Ventures Corp. (CSE: FFNT) (OTCQX: FFNTF) ("4Front" or the "Company"), a vertically integrated, multi-state cannabis operator and retailer, today announced that it has entered into a $10 million senior secured credit facility agreement (the "Credit Facility") with ALT Debt II, LP (the "Lender"), an affiliate of Altmore Capital. The funds will be disbursed in two tranches and are committed to building out the Company's retail operations in Illinois in connection with the imminent launch of its new state-of-the-art cultivation and processing facility in Matteson . "This additional capital will fuel our efforts to establish 4Front as a state leader across both our retail and wholesale channels in Illinois and position our operations for long-term, sustainable growth," said Leo Gontmakher , Chief Executive Officer of 4Front. "With our new flagship facility in Matteson anticipated to power up before the end of the year, ramping up our retail operations will support a more than fourfold expansion of our production capacity in the state over the next twelve months. We currently have two Mission dispensaries in operation, and our goal is to have our full slate of 10 retail stores before the end of 2024. This funding represents an exciting next step in that direction. Matteson 's enhanced capacity, combined with the expansion of our dispensary network to 10 stores, has the potential to profitably double total Company sales." Michael Villapiano , Vice President at Altmore Capital, added "We're excited to partner with 4Front, as they have proven to be one of the most efficient operators in the industry. Altmore is proud to support management's strength of building a successful and sustainable footprint, including their growing retail presence in Illinois , which will complement Matteson 's impressive production capabilities." The outstanding principal of the Credit Facility will bear simple interest at a rate per annum equal to the greater of (i) the WSJ Prime Rate plus 7% and (ii) 15.5%, payable monthly (principal payments postponed until six months after funding). Provided the Company extends the maturity of certain other subordinated debt, the maturity date of the Credit Facility will be September 30, 2026 . Full details of the transaction are in the Company's filings. About 4Front Ventures Corp. 4Front Ventures Corp. ("4Front" or the "Company") (CSE: FFNT) (OTCQX: FFNTF) is a national, vertically integrated multi-state cannabis operator that owns or manages operations and facilities in strategic medical and adult-use cannabis markets, including California , Illinois , Massachusetts , Michigan , and Washington . Since its founding in 2011, 4Front has built a strong reputation for its high standards and low-cost cultivation and production methodologies earned through a track record of success in facility design, cultivation, genetics, growing processes, manufacturing, purchasing, distribution, and retail. To date, 4Front has successfully brought to market more than 20 different cannabis brands and over 1800 products, which are strategically distributed through its fully owned and operated Mission dispensaries and retail outlets in its core markets. As the Company continues to drive value for its shareholders, its team is applying its decade of expertise in the sector across the cannabis industry value chain and ecosystem. For more information, visit https://4frontventures.com/. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this press release may be considered forward-looking, such as statements regarding the use of proceeds of the Credit Facility, the launch of the Matteson facility, the leadership of 4Front in Illinois , the potential for high margin, long-term, sustainable growth, the potential size of the expansion of 4Front's production capacity in Illinois , the potential for several retail licenses, regulatory approval, and other forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words and phrases such as "anticipate," "estimate," "believe," "continue," "could," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "seek," "should," "will," "would," "expect," "objective," "projection," "forecast," "goal," "guidance," "outlook," "effort," "target" or the negative of such words and other comparable terminology. However, the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Any forward-looking statements expressing an expectation or belief as to future events is expressed in good faith and believed to be reasonable at the time such forward-looking statement is made. However, these statements are not guarantees of future events and involve risks, uncertainties and other factors beyond 4Front's control. Therefore, you are cautioned against relying on any of these forward-looking statements. Actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed in any forward-looking statement. Except as required by applicable law, including Canadian and U.S. federal securities laws, 4Front does not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements to conform them to actual results or revised expectations. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/4front-ventures-secures-us10-million-credit-facility-301958038.html SOURCE 4Front Ventures Corp. SHANGHAI , Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE: DQ) ("Daqo New Energy" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of high-purity polysilicon for the global solar PV industry, today announced it plans to release its unaudited financial results for the third quarter of 2023 ended September 30, 2023 before U.S. markets open on Monday, October 30, 2023 . The Company has scheduled a conference call to discuss the results at 8:00 AM U.S. Eastern Time on October 30, 2023 (8:00 PM Beijing / Hong Kong time on the same day). The dial-in details for the earnings conference call are as follows: Participant dial in ( U.S. toll free): +1-888-346-8982 Participant international dial in: +1-412-902-4272 China mainland toll free: 4001-201203 Hong Kong toll free: 800-905945 Hong Kong local toll: +852-301-84992 Please dial in 10 minutes before the call is scheduled to begin and ask to join the Daqo New Energy Corp. call. Webcast link: https://event.choruscall.com/mediaframe/webcast.html?webcastid=s8JS6cPN A replay of the call will be available 1 hour after the conclusion of the conference call through November 6, 2023 . The dial in details for the conference call replay are as follows: U.S. toll free: +1-877-344-7529 International toll: +1-412-317-0088 Canada toll free: 855-669-9658 Replay access code: 6641127 To access the replay through an international dial-in number, please select the link below. https://services.choruscall.com/ccforms/replay.html Participants will be asked to provide their name and company name upon entering the call. About Daqo New Energy Corp. Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE: DQ) ("Daqo" or the "Company") is a leading manufacturer of high-purity polysilicon for the global solar PV industry. Founded in 2007, the Company manufactures and sells high-purity polysilicon to photovoltaic product manufactures, who further process the polysilicon into ingots, wafers, cells and modules for solar power solutions. The Company has a total polysilicon nameplate capacity of 205,000 metric tons and is one of the world's lowest-cost producers of high-purity polysilicon. For more information, please visit www.dqsolar.com View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/daqo-new-energy-to-announce-unaudited-results-for-the-third-quarter-of-2023-on-october-30-2023-301957156.html SOURCE Daqo New Energy Corp. The Founder, Chairperson and CEO of DHGATE Group was recognized for accelerating women's digital inclusion through mentorship and educational programs as well as e-commerce opportunities BEIJING , Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading cross border e-commerce company DHGATE Group and its Founder, Chairperson and CEO Diane Wang have clinched GOLD GLOBEE and SILVER GLOBEE awards at the 2023 Globee Awards for Women in Business. The 16th Annual 2023 Globee Awards for Women in Business celebrate women-led organizations and individuals who have showcased exceptional dedication and innovation across various business categories. This esteemed accolade applauds remarkable customer service, innovation, leadership, and more accomplishments. With participants ranging from pioneering startups to small and medium-sized enterprises and established corporations, this awards program wholeheartedly embraces organizations of all sizes and industries. DHGATE Group stood out among nominees to bag top honors in the "Community Involvement Program of the Year" category with the GOLD Globee award. This accolade, the first that the Group has won for its efforts in uplifting and building communities, recognizes DHGATE Group's ongoing initiatives to support and empower female digital entrepreneurs around the world through the group's pioneering social commerce platform MyyShop and collaborations with international organizations like APEC to mentor and educate women. Since founding DHGATE Group in 2004, Diane has been a trailblazer in female entrepreneurship and transformative community building. The 2023 SILVER GLOBEE award as a "Leader of the Year" under the "Female Achiever" category recognizes her work to support female digital entrepreneurs through capacity building programs and e-commerce opportunities with DHGATE Group and its subsidiaries together supporting women's digital inclusion in the global e-commerce marketplace. Fellow Globee Awards Female Achievers include outstanding women across the globe such as Pooja Ray Chaudhuri from TikTok, who was named "Creative Person of the Year"; Ushalini Raja Gopal from IBM, also a "Leader of the Year" by spearheading business transformation through application modernization and process reengineering; and Dannii Portsmouth from PepsiCo, who was lauded for helping women with her "People Plan" that drove business performance and reduced turnover. "Both myself and DHGATE Group are honored to be recognized by the 2023 Globee Awards," said Diane. "Besides working for years to build one of the world's largest cross border e-commerce marketplaces at DHGATE Group, we've also been on an exciting and meaningful journey to discover new and different ways as to how our company can help female entrepreneurs to build their own businesses and realize their full potential through the world of e-commerce." As a global business leader, Diane is continuously exploring new ways to support and empower female entrepreneurs in different stages of their careers and lives. Most recently in 2023, she founded a global community for women called The Inner Mountain Foundation, which is dedicated to empowering women through the power of community. The Inner Mountain Foundation provides more cross-border resources, management skills and networking opportunities with female entrepreneurs and corporate executives who have aspirations to further grow and expand their businesses overseas. The Inner Mountain Foundation builds on Diane's past projects like APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Women Connect another global community of female entrepreneurs that successfully trained over 100,000 female small and medium entrepreneurs and mentored more than 2,000. In 2020, Diane launched the APEC Women Connect "Her Power" Entrepreneurship Competition to activate women's passion for entrepreneurship in the digital economy, so that more women can start on an equal footing as men. Each year, the "Her Power" Entrepreneurship Competition draws thousands of participants from around the world to participate in educational and competitive challenges that teach them to boost product sales while increasing social awareness across multiple social media platforms. The 4th edition of the APEC Women Connect "Her Power" Entrepreneurship Competition will be launched soon. Since the company's founding, DHGATE Group has advocated for fair trade, diversity and creativity worldwide by connecting micro, small, and medium enterprises as it has grown to include 2.4 million suppliers and 59.6 million customers across 225 countries and regions. The company's corporate vision has been directed by Diane with an eye towards female empowerment and finding new ways to introduce products and services that can create a positive impact on society and particularly women. In addition to her leadership at DHGATE Group, Diane has served as a member of the APEC Business Advisory Council, co-chair of the B20 Indonesia Women in Business Action Council, member of WTO Director-General Business Advisory Group, Chair of APEC Women Leadership Summit, and member of BRICS Women's Business Alliance Chinese National Chapter. In order to better achieve Diane and DHGATE Group's goals of female empowerment in entrepreneurship and business, in late 2020 DHGATE Group launched MyyShop, an all-in-one social commerce solution that provides a comprehensive suite of digitization tools and step-by-step-support to ensure that female entrepreneurs, creators, and influencers can quickly start their own digital storefront and effortlessly and efficiently monetize their social media content. As of 2022, MyyShop has drawn more than 100,000 influencers to its platform who can directly sell products that reflect their unique perspective, personal values, and sense of style. About The Inner Mountain Foundation The Inner Mountain Foundation promotes the empowerment of women through education, community, and outreach. We are led by our Founder and Chairperson Diane Wang , who first articulated the principles of Inner Mountain Thinking in her 2024 book, The Inner Mountain . As a global foundation and women's empowerment community, we invest in impact-making educational resources that we seek to make as broadly accessible as possible. Our goal is to focus the work of the Inner Mountain on the soft skills training that we believe helps equip women to be their greatest, most empowered selves across their most wholly integrated life (connecting the self with work, family, community, and legacy). About APEC Women Connect Founded in 2016, APEC Women Connect is an APEC-endorsed program initiated by Ms. Diane Wang , the China Representative on the APEC Business Advisory Council, Chair of the APEC Women Leadership Forum, Co-Chair of WiBAC of B20 Indonesia , and Founder, Chairperson and CEO of DHgate.com. APEC Women Connect aims to empower women, especially young women, to realize entrepreneurship via digital solutions through inspirational sharing, practical learning, effective recognition, and awards. APEC Women Connect has been included in the annual recommendation to the APEC Economic Leaders for three consecutive years. It has also been included in the annual recommendation to G20 Leaders by B20 for two consecutive years. About MyyShop MyyShop is a pioneering social commerce platform launched by DHGATE Group that provides an effortless selling experience on social media. The platform aims to empower different types of creatorsfrom nano to mega-influencersto turn their social media influence and passion for content creation into thriving online businesses. Equipped with MyyShop's social commerce and online store creation toolkit and resources, creators can quickly identify viral or in-demand products, leverage MyyShop's AI-powered product recommendations based on shoppers' interests and sales trends, build a customized online shopfront and earn commission through social commerce sales. Creators can also efficiently create their own personalized product lines through MyyShop's centralized platform and extensive network of verified cross-border suppliers and manufacturers. For more information, please visit MyyShop.com and follow @MyyShopOfficial. About DHgate Founded in 2004, DHgate has become the leading B2B cross-border e-commerce marketplace in China , boasting over 34 million live listings annually. Through their global operations and offices, including in the USA and UK , DHgate reaches millions of people with trusted products and services. As of December 31, 2022 , DHgate served more than 59.6 million registered buyers from 225 countries and regions, connecting them to over 2.54 million sellers in China and other countries. For more information, please visit DHgate.com and follow @DHgate.com . View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/diane-wang-lauded-as-female-achiever-and-leader-of-the-year-at-2023-globee-awards-for-women-in-business-301957443.html SOURCE DHGATE Group GROTON, Conn. , Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- General Dynamics Electric Boat, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), announced today it was awarded a $217 million contract for long lead time material associated with the construction of Virginia-class submarines SSN 814 and SSN 815. "This contract will enable Electric Boat to begin the acquisition of critical material and components for submarines that require substantial lead time to manufacture and deliver," said Kevin Graney , president of General Dynamics Electric Boat. "Advanced procurement is essential to achieve the high-rate production the Navy requires of the submarine industrial base. A consistent demand signal is necessary for our suppliers to invest in and grow their operations." General Dynamics Electric Boat is the prime contractor and lead design yard for the Virginia class and constructs the ships in a teaming arrangement with HII's Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia . General Dynamics Electric Boat designs, builds, repairs and modernizes nuclear submarines for the U.S. Navy. Headquartered in Groton, Connecticut , the company employs more than 21,500 people. 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. GD), announced today it was awarded a $217 million contract for long lead time material associated with the construction of Virginia-class submarines SSN 814 and SSN 815." alt="General Dynamics Electric Boat, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), announced today it was awarded a $217 million contract for long lead time material associated with the construction of Virginia-class submarines SSN 814 and SSN 815." /> View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/general-dynamics-electric-boat-awarded-217-million-contract-for-virginia-class-submarines-301958015.html SOURCE General Dynamics As Vertical Construction Begins on the 1,300-Acre Site in South Philadelphia , Leaders Gather to Celebrate Redevelopment's Generational Impact PHILADELPHIA , Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hilco Redevelopment Partners (HRP) broke ground today on the first phase of vertical construction on The Bellwether District's 1,300-acre South Philadelphia site. Governor Josh Shapiro , Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon , U.S. Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda , Mayor James Kenney , Senator Anthony Williams , Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson, and Laborers District Council Business Manager Ryan M. Boyer and were among the elected officials and business and community leaders joining HRP to celebrate the continued transformation of the obsolete industrial site into a state-of-the-art innovation, e-commerce, and logistics campus. The project promises to deliver South and Southwest Philadelphia a future with a cleaner environment, more economic opportunity for Philadelphians and, ultimately, a stronger community. Demolition of the former Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery is now substantially complete, resulting in a 16% reduction in emissions in Philadelphia . The former refinery site will be home to a 14-million-square-foot campus, divided into two main areas: 250 acres dedicated to Innovation and 750 acres for Industrial/Logistics facilities. The Bellwether District is now poised to transform Philadelphia's innovation ecosystem, building on the life sciences and research infrastructure in nearby University City and bringing supply chain logistics and advanced manufacturing to this strategically located site near Philadelphia International Airport and PhilaPort. "When our team arrived here in Philadelphia , we did not see a former refinery we saw what I believe to be the most strategic piece of real estate east of the Mississippi, if not in the entire United States ," said HRP CEO Roberto Perez . "We went all-in on Philly and have made a significant investment one we would have not made if it wasn't for the diverse labor force here in Philadelphia , and the history of the Commonwealth's and City's track records of making the necessary investments in its important infrastructure assets. We believe The Bellwether District will expand these capabilities and anchor Philadelphia as the place to do commerce in the region." The development of The Bellwether District is projected to create 19,000 direct permanent jobs and nearly 28,000 direct construction jobs over a 10- to 15-year timeline, serving as a driver of economic stability for South and Southwest Philadelphia , the City, and the entire region. Today's groundbreaking marks the first phase of vertical construction on the site's Logistics campus, where Lots 15 and 16 will be home to two industrial buildings totaling approximately one million square feet. " Pennsylvania has the opportunity to be an economic leader and drive innovation on a global scale and the transformative redevelopment of The Bellwether District is a testament to what we can accomplish when we make strategic investments, harness our skilled workforce, and work together," said Governor Shapiro . "Our Commonwealth is already a leader in growing industries like logistics and biotech and this historic investment to build a new, sustainable community in Philadelphia will cement our position for generations to come while improving the lives of Pennsylvanians in the city and throughout the region. Under my Administration, the Commonwealth will continue to be a partner in supporting developments like The Bellwether District along with our world-class academic institutions and our skilled workforce to plant a flag and position Pennsylvania as a leader for decades to come." " The Bellwether District will act as a driver of stability for one of the most economically vulnerable areas of Philadelphia, transforming an obsolete industrial site into a sustainable clean hydrogen-powered 21st-century economic engine," said Mayor Kenney. "We trust that with HRP's successful track record of mindful, climate resilient and sustainable redevelopment this new campus will contribute greatly to the long-term social, economic, and environmental health of our city and our South and Southwest Philadelphia neighborhoods." "I am excited to see a new day for the former Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery and I want to thank Hilco Redevelopment Partners for transforming this land into the new Bellwether District," said Councilmember Johnson ( Second District ), who represents the South Philadelphia area where The Bellwether District is located. "This is an exciting project that will serve as an economic hub in the Greater Philadelphia Region . The demolition of the former refinery has already created over a thousand union construction jobs and the construction of new buildings on the site will mean even more work for unions in Philadelphia ." Ryan M. Boyer also spoke to the critical role of union labor in the success of the project. "When the refinery closed, more than 1,000 people lost their jobs. HRP Philly's redevelopment of this location will replace that loss in an unimaginable order of magnitude," said Boyer. "It will provide livable wages to our members and their families, creating a more vibrant and stable economy for the City." HRP is investing in local workforce development programs to diversify the workforce pipeline in Philadelphia , helping employers access existing skilled workers and providing training to the workers of tomorrow entering the trades. HRP-sponsored apprenticeship and internship programs are creating a pipeline for young Philadelphians giving them the tools and resources to access job opportunities. "Unlocking the true potential of communities through thoughtful redevelopment, Hilco Redevelopment Partners is a beacon of transformation and progress," said Senator Williams . "With their creative vision and commitment to revitalization, HRP breathes new life into neglected spaces, paving the way for a brighter future. Their innovative approach and dedication to community collaboration makes them an invaluable ally in shaping a better world." Congresswoman Scanlon touted the valuable partnership already forged between The Bellwether District , Philadelphia Works, and the Center for Economic Opportunities reentry program as a result of a $1 million Community Project Funding award she secured in 2022. "As we work to ensure our regional economy grows, it's critical we extend the benefits of this growth to the communities that live and work in rapidly-developing areas," said Rep. Scanlon . "Transitional work programs like the one offered at The Bellwether District are one way to ensure Philadelphia residents are able to participate in the economic growth of our region, and I look forward to seeing Hilco Redevelopment Partners continue to engage the community in Southwest Philadelphia as this project progresses." Representing the Biden-Harris administration, Solicitor Nanda spoke to the importance of the government and the private sector partnering on job-creating initiatives. " The Bellwether District project is a fantastic example of public and private partnerships done right," said Solicitor Nanda. "This is what Build Back Better is all about - creating good jobs with family-sustaining wages right here at home." Also joining The Bellwether District team to mark this milestone were economic development and civic leaders from Philadelphia and officials from all levels of government, including Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development Secretary Rick Siger , U.S. Department of Commerce Regional Economic Development Administration Director Linda Cruz-Carnall ; representatives for U.S. Senators Bob Casey , U.S. Senator John Fetterman and Congressman Dwight Evans ; and leaders from the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and Chambers of Commerce representing Philadelphia's diverse business communities. About Hilco Redevelopment Partners (HRP): HRP is a vertically integrated real estate investment and redevelopment company that re-imagines, remediates, and redevelops obsolete industrial sites across the United States with a uniquely holistic approach to development that prioritizes economic, community and environmental sustainability. HRP's redevelopment expertise ranges from modern logistics and distribution facilities to urban, mixed-use projects, and innovation ecosystems. HRP strives to transform not only properties, but also the communities surrounding them through a comprehensive approach to community engagement, environmental sustainability, and economic development. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hilco-redevelopment-partners-breaks-ground-on-vertical-construction-at-the-bellwether-district-301957969.html SOURCE Hilco Redevelopment Partners LOGISTEC shareholders to receive $67.00 in cash per share pursuant to the transaction Blue Wolf to Maintain Head Office in Quebec With Significant Investment for Future Growth Initiatives MONTREAL , Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - LOGISTEC Corporation (TSX: LGT.A) (TSX: LGT.B) ("LOGISTEC" or the "Corporation") today announced that it has entered into an arrangement agreement (the "Arrangement Agreement") with 1443373 B.C. Unlimited Liability Company (the "Purchaser"), an entity owned by certain funds managed by Blue Wolf Capital Partners LLC ("Blue Wolf") in partnership with Stonepeak, a leading alternative investment firm specializing in infrastructure and real assets, pursuant to which the Purchaser will acquire all the issued and outstanding shares of the Corporation for $67.00 in cash per share, representing a total enterprise value of approximately $1.2 billion , subject to customary closing conditions. The Arrangement Agreement is the culmination of an extensive and robust review of strategic alternatives available to maximize shareholder value that was conducted by a Special Committee of independent directors of the Corporation at the request of its principal shareholder, Sumanic Investments Inc. The consideration offered under the transaction represents a 61.2% premium to the unaffected 20day volume-weighted average trading price per Class A Common Share and a 62.2% premium to the unaffected 20-day volume-weighted average trading price per Class B Subordinate Voting Share on the Toronto Stock Exchange on May 19, 2023 , the last trading day prior to the announcement of the strategic review process, and a 14.5% premium to the 20-day volume-weighted average trading price per Class A Common Share and a 9.9% premium to the 20-day volume-weighted average trading price per Class B Subordinate Voting Share on the Toronto Stock Exchange on October 13, 2023 . "Since my father started this business more than 70 years ago, we have grown into industry leaders," said Madeleine Paquin , President and Chief Executive Officer of LOGISTEC. "As we enter this next phase of our journey, we will continue to build a sustainable future by facilitating trade, handling our customers' goods safely, and protecting our environment as well as our water resources for the next generation. We see significant opportunity to collaborate with Blue Wolf to drive value creation for our people, our customers, and our communities while rewarding our existing shareholders with an attractive cash consideration providing immediate and fair value for their shares." "After a comprehensive and rigorous strategic review process, we are pleased to have agreed terms on a transaction with Blue Wolf that has the full support of LOGISTEC's Board of Directors and Special Committee," said J. Mark Rodger , LOGISTEC's Chairman of the Board of Directors and of its Special Committee. "After careful deliberation, the Special Committee and the Board of Directors have unanimously concluded that the transaction is fair to LOGISTEC's shareholders and is in the best interests of LOGISTEC and its employees and other stakeholders." Logistec will Remain a Quebec Based Business with Significant Blue Wolf Investment "Blue Wolf is excited to enter the Quebec market with this acquisition, which represents excellent prospects for continued growth for both of the Corporation's business segments and throughout North America ," said Bennet Grill, Principal at Blue Wolf. Natalie Marjancik , Partner at Blue Wolf, added, "We are committed to maintaining LOGISTEC's core values of quality and innovative services, respect for people and the environment. We look forward to continued growth and working alongside the current management teams in place in Quebec and elsewhere." Blue Wolf's business plan is anchored in making significant contributions to the business and to the Quebec and Canadian economy, including: Maintaining LOGISTEC 's head office in the Province of Quebec ; 's head office in the Province of ; Working with the current management teams to drive continued growth in the operations and employment of the business; Future investment of more than $200 million in capital expenditures and growth initiatives; and in capital expenditures and growth initiatives; and Continuing contributions to current charitable and social causes in Quebec supported by LOGISTEC . Other Investment Partners Blue Wolf is funding its portion of the purchase price with capital it manages on behalf of its limited partners via private equity fund capital as well as select co-investors, together with an additional preferred investment in the Purchaser by Stonepeak. "The specialized services LOGISTEC provides through its terminal operations to a diversified global customer base make it a quality infrastructure asset," said James Wyper , Senior Managing Director at Stonepeak. "Between its Marine Services and Environmental Services business, which is focused on rehabilitating aging water infrastructure and remediating soil, we believe in the compelling opportunities for growth and in the future success of LOGISTEC. We are excited to support the Corporation, in partnership with Blue Wolf, in its next chapter." "The gouvernement du Quebec through Investissement Quebec is in discussion with Blue Wolf for a potential investment in the Corporation," said Guy LeBlanc, President and CEO of Investissement Quebec ("IQ"). "IQ's potential participation in the Corporation will support Blue Wolf's commitment to maintain LOGISTEC's headquarters and operations in Quebec and to continue to make investments in Quebec . We would like to thank and congratulate the Paquin Family for having built a sector champion solidly anchored in Quebec ." LOGISTEC Board Recommendation LOGISTEC's Board of Directors has evaluated the Arrangement Agreement with the Corporation's management and legal and financial advisors, and following the receipt and review of the unanimous recommendation of the Special Committee, the Board of Directors has unanimously determined that the transaction is in the best interests of LOGISTEC and is fair to its shareholders, and unanimously recommends that LOGISTEC's shareholders approve the transaction. Each of TD Securities Inc., as exclusive financial advisor to the Corporation, and Blair Franklin Capital Partners Inc., as independent financial advisor to the Special Committee, has provided a fairness opinion to the Board of Directors and the Special Committee, respectively, to the effect that, as of the date thereof, and based upon and subject to the assumptions, limitations and qualifications stated therein, the consideration to be received by LOGISTEC shareholders under the transaction is fair, from a financial point of view, to such shareholders. Transaction Details The transaction will be implemented by way of a plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act ( Quebec ) and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024, subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of regulatory approvals and clearances in Canada and the United States , LOGISTEC shareholder approval and Court approval. The transaction is not subject to any financing condition. Required LOGISTEC shareholder approval for the transaction will consist of at least 66% of the votes cast on the transaction by holders of Class A Common Shares and Class B Subordinate Voting Shares voting together as a single class at a special meeting of LOGISTEC shareholders. Concurrently with the execution of the Arrangement Agreement, the Purchaser has entered into a voting support agreement with Sumanic Investments Inc., holding Class A Common Shares and Class B Subordinate Voting Shares representing approximately 77% of the voting rights attached to the issued and outstanding shares of the Corporation, and voting support agreements with each of the directors and executive officers who own shares of the Corporation, pursuant to which they have agreed to vote all shares held by them in favour of the transaction, subject to customary exceptions. The Arrangement Agreement contains non-solicitation covenants on the part of the Corporation, subject to the customary "fiduciary out" provisions. A termination fee of $32 million would be payable by the Corporation to the Purchaser in certain circumstances, including in the context of a superior proposal supported by the Corporation. The Corporation would also be entitled to a reverse termination fee of $59 million if the transaction is not completed in certain circumstances. Following completion of the transaction, the Corporation will become a privately held company and will apply to cease to be a reporting issuer under Canadian securities laws and the Class A Common Shares and Class B Subordinate Voting Shares will no longer be publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Additional information regarding the transaction will be included in an information circular that LOGISTEC will prepare, file and mail to LOGISTEC shareholders in advance of the special meeting to be held to consider and approve the transaction. Copies of the Arrangement Agreement and the information circular will be available under the Corporation's profile on SEDAR+ on www.sedarplus.ca. Advisors TD Securities Inc. is acting as exclusive financial advisor to the Corporation and Blair Franklin Capital Partners Inc. is acting as independent financial advisor to the Special Committee. Rothschild & Co is acting as exclusive financial advisor to Blue Wolf. Stikeman Elliott LLP is acting as independent legal advisor to the Special Committee and Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP and K&L Gates LLP as legal advisors to the Corporation. McCarthy Tetrault LLP and Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP are acting as legal advisors to Blue Wolf. Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP is acting as legal advisor to Sumanic Investments Inc. About LOGISTEC Corporation LOGISTEC Corporation is based in Montreal (QC) and provides specialized services to the marine community and industrial companies in the areas of bulk, break-bulk and container cargo handling in 60 ports and 90 terminals located in North America . LOGISTEC also offers marine transportation services geared primarily to the Arctic coastal trade as well as marine agency services to shipowners and operators serving the Canadian market. Furthermore, the Corporation operates in the environmental industry where it provides services to industrial, municipal, and other governmental customers for the renewal of underground water mains, dredging, dewatering, contaminated soils and materials management, site remediation, risk assessment, and manufacturing of fluid transportation products. The Corporation has been profitable and has paid regular dividends since becoming public and payments have grown steadily over the years. A public company since 1969, LOGISTEC's shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbols LGT.A and LGT. B. More information can be obtained on the Corporation's website at www.logistec.com. About Blue Wolf Capital Partners Blue Wolf Capital Partners LLC is a private equity firm that focuses on value investments in middle market companies in the healthcare and industrial sectors. The firm's integrated team of investment professionals and veteran operating executives work collaboratively to generate returns by driving transformational change using operational and strategic experience. Blue Wolf seeks to invest in businesses that have catalysts for value creation that involve organizational transformation, complex union or human capital issues, significant government presence, or the opportunity to use ESG-informed strategies. For additional information, please visit www.bluewolfcapital.com. About Stonepeak Stonepeak is a leading alternative investment firm specializing in infrastructure and real assets with approximately $57.1 billion of assets under management. Through its investment in defensive, hard-asset businesses globally, Stonepeak aims to create value for its investors and portfolio companies, and to have a positive impact on the communities in which it operates. Stonepeak sponsors investment vehicles focused on private equity and credit. The firm provides capital, operational support, and committed partnership to sustainably grow investments in its target sectors, which include communications, energy and energy transition, transport and logistics, social infrastructure, and real estate. Stonepeak is headquartered in New York with offices in Hong Kong , Houston , London , Singapore , and Sydney . For more information, please visit www.stonepeak.com. Early Warning Disclosure As at the date hereof, Sumanic Investments Inc. ("Sumanic") owns 5,802,578 Class A Common Shares and 6,600 Class B Subordinate Voting Shares, representing approximately 45% of the issued and outstanding shares of LOGISTEC and 77% of the outstanding votes of LOGISTEC, and currently files early warning reports pursuant to the requirements of Regulation 62-104 respecting Take-Over Bids and lssuer Bids and Regulation 62-103 respecting the Early Warning System and Related Take-Over Bid and lnsider Reporting Issues with respect to LOGISTEC. An amended early warning report, stating that Sumanic has entered into a support and voting agreement with the Purchaser pursuant to which it has agreed to vote, at the special meeting of the shareholders of LOGISTEC, in favour of the arrangement contemplated by the Arrangement Agreement will be filed with the applicable securities commissions and will be made available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. Further information, including a copy of the early warning report may be obtained by contacting Madeleine Paquin , director of Sumanic at 514-237-2949 and Nicole Paquin , director of Sumanic, at 514-212-2325. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking information, within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, including statements relating to the anticipated benefits of the transaction for the Corporation and its stakeholders, regulatory, shareholder and Court approvals and the anticipated timing of completion of the transaction. These forward-looking statements express, as of the date of this press release, the estimates, predictions, projections, expectations, or opinions of the Corporation about future events or results, including the ability of the parties to receive, in a timely manner and on satisfactory terms, the necessary regulatory, shareholder and Court approvals, the ability of the parties to satisfy, in a timely manner, the other conditions to the closing of the transaction and the completion of the transaction on expected terms, the impact of the transaction and the dedication of substantial resources from the Corporation to pursuing the transaction on the Corporation's ability to maintain its current business relationships and its current and future operations, financial condition and prospects and statements relating to IQ's potential participation in the transaction and any potential related undertakings in connection therewith. Although the Corporation believes that the expectations produced by these forward-looking statements are founded on valid and reasonable bases and assumptions, these forward-looking statements are inherently subject to important uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond the Corporation's control, such that the Corporation's performance may differ significantly from the predicted performance expressed or presented in such forward-looking statements. The important risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results and future events to differ significantly from the expectations currently expressed include the possibility that the transaction will not be completed on the terms and conditions, or on the timing, currently contemplated, and that it may not be completed at all, due to a failure to obtain or satisfy, in a timely manner or otherwise, required regulatory, shareholder and Court approvals and other conditions to the closing of the transaction or for other reasons; the failure to complete the transaction which could negatively impact the price of the shares or otherwise affect the business of the Corporation; the dedication of significant resources to pursuing the transaction and the restrictions imposed on the Corporation while the transaction is pending; the uncertainty surrounding the transaction that could adversely affect the Corporation's retention of customers and business partners; the occurrence of a material adverse effect leading to the termination of the Arrangement Agreement, as well as the additional risks and uncertainties examined under business risks in the Corporation's 2022 annual report. The transaction contemplated in this press release is not contingent on IQ's participation in the transaction. The reader of this press release is thus cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The Corporation undertakes no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, except as required by law. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/logistec-corporation-enters-into-definitive-agreement-to-be-acquired-by-blue-wolf-capital-partners-301957266.html SOURCE Logistec Corporation Seasoned Healthcare Leader, Kristin Jacobson , Assumes CEO Role at Solve, Focusing on Improving the Lives of ME/CFS and Long Covid Patients Through Health Equity, Advocacy, and Research LOS ANGELES , Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Solve, a national non-profit organization leading research and advocacy for ME/CFS, Long Covid, and other post-infection diseases, is delighted to announce the appointment of Kristin Jacobson as its new President and Chief Executive Officer, effective October 16, 2023 . Kristin succeeds Oved Amitay , who served as President and CEO from June 2020 to October 2023 . A passionate patient advocacy leader and a member of Solve's Board of Directors, Kristin Jacobson brings a wealth of experience and expertise to her new role. She has served on the board since May 2023 , demonstrating her commitment to advancing the organization's mission. Kristin's career spans over 30 years in the healthcare sector, with a strong focus on patient advocacy and healthcare access. She has held executive positions in both corporate and nonprofit sectors and has been a tireless advocate for medically underserved communities. Notably, Kristin has made significant contributions to California's autism community by leading key initiatives to establish coverage, advance health policy, and enforce insurance coverage for autism and mental health conditions. Solve Board Chair John Nicols expressed his enthusiasm for Kristin's appointment, stating, "We are thrilled to have Kristin Jacobson take the helm as our new CEO. Her extensive experience, dedication to patient advocacy, and successful track record in healthcare make her the ideal leader to continue Solve's mission of serving the millions of patients, caregivers, and advocates in our community." As a member of Solve's Board of Directors, Kristin has a unique understanding of the organization's mission and community. Her vision for Solve includes a steadfast commitment to health equity and access, and empowering marginalized communities, communities of color, and socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. In a message to the Solve community, John Nicols also expressed gratitude to Oved Amitay for his leadership and dedication, noting that Oved will continue to support the organization as a strategic advisor through the end of the year. As the incoming CEO, Kristin Jacobson is poised to lead Solve into an era of continued growth, innovation, and progress. Her focus on health equity and advocacy strongly aligns with Solve's mission to provide relief to individuals suffering from these devastating conditions and enhance their quality of life. "We are at a critical inflection point," said Kristin Jacobson . "Our community is growing, and together, we will amplify our voices and catalyze change. I am deeply committed to improving the lives of all individuals experiencing various manifestations of these conditions and bringing attention, focus, and health access to underserved patient populations." To learn more about Solve, visit www.solveme.org. Follow Solve on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Contact: Erin Gary [email protected] About Solve The Solve ME/CFS Initiative (Solve) is a non-profit organization that serves as a catalyst for critical research into diagnostics, treatments, and cures for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), Long Covid and other post-infection diseases. Our work with the scientific, medical, and pharmaceutical communities, advocacy with government agencies, and alliances with patient groups around the world are laying the foundation for breakthroughs that can improve the lives of millions who suffer from various "long haul" diseases. ALL OTHER INQUIRIES, PLEASE CALL THE SOLVE ME/CFS INITIATIVE AT: 704-364-0016 OR EMAIL [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/solve-appoints-kristin-jacobson-as-president-and-chief-executive-officer-301957789.html SOURCE Solve M.E. DALLAS , Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) today announced recent Leadership updates across the Company. These changes are effective immediately and represent a continuation of the organizational structure work that began in September 2022 and has continued into 2023. Total Rewards Lori Winters has been promoted from Managing Director Culture & Employee Experience to Vice President Total Rewards, overseeing Southwest's Compensation, Retirement, Labor, Benefits, Travel, and Perks strategy. Winters' Southwest career began in 2006 as Customer Support & Services Strategy and Projects Director. She developed several new capabilities for the Company, including Change Leadership, Employee Experience, and Employee Insights, and worked on various large-scale projects during her tenure. Most recently, as Managing Director Culture & Employee Experience, Winters led the Employee Experience Strategy and Delivery, Employee Insights, Awards & Recognition, and Culture & Engagement Teams. Winters has a bachelor's degree in education from Baylor University and a master's degree in communication studies from the University of North Texas. Lori is stepping into the role previously held by former Vice President Total Rewards, Danny Collins . Fleet Management Jon Stephens has been promoted from Managing Director Fleet Management to Vice President Fleet Management and provides strategic direction and oversight of the management of the Southwest Airlines Fleet Plan. Stephens has been with Southwest for 24 years. Throughout his 12 years with the Fleet Team, he's led Southwest's aircraft and engine fleet strategy. Stephens played an integral role in building the Fleet Team, beginning in 2012, which now supports a fleet of over 800 Boeing 737 aircraft. He started his Southwest career in the Tax Department before moving into a Leadership role on the Financial Planning & Analysis Team in 2001, followed by the Fleet Transactions Team 11 years later. Prior to Southwest, Stephens held various positions in leadership and operations with Union Pacific Railroad. He has a bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Texas at Austin. Network Planning, Network Operations Planning, & Network Operations Control (NOC) Steve West has been promoted from Managing Director Operations Control to Vice President Network Operations Control (NOC), where he'll focus on day-of operations and support Southwest's safe and efficient flying schedule. Throughout West's 40-year Southwest career, with more than 20 years in a Leadership role, he's been responsible for the daily oversight of the NOC, ensuring a safe, compliant operation of more than 4,300 daily flights to 121 destinations. West began his Southwest career in 1983 as a Ground Ops Employee in Phoenix . Ten years later, in July 1993 , his career in the NOC started as a Flight Dispatcher, then Chief Dispatcher in 2001, and Director Flight Dispatch in 2005. West continued to provide strong Leadership within the NOC as Senior Director Operations Coordination Center in 2006, Network Director in 2014, and Managing Director in 2015. West holds an FAA-Licensed Aircraft Dispatch Certificate. The Vice President NOC role became open with Matt Hafner's retirement and move to an Executive Advisor role. Brook Sorem has been promoted from Managing Director Schedule Planning to Vice President Network Planning, where he's responsible for Network Planning, schedule creation, capacity planning, and airline partnerships. Since joining Southwest Airlines in 1990, Sorem has spent more than 30 years in Network Planning, supporting every function within the department to create and refine innovative solutions that address complex industry challenges. Sorem has bachelor's and master's degrees in finance from the University of Texas at Arlington. Matt Muehleisen has been promoted from Managing Director Network Planning Initiatives to Vice President Network Operations Planning, and he's responsible for ensuring that the plans received by the NOC are fully executable and allow the day-of Team to remain focused on the operation. Muehleisen leads the newly-formed Network Operations Planning Team, establishing a near-term planning function and continuing its strong focus on supporting and enhancing operational performance and Safety. Muehleisen joined Southwest in 2001 in the Schedule & Network Planning organization. His previous roles at Southwest include Future & Current Schedules, Schedule Design, Optimization, Operations Planning, and Network Initiatives. Muehleisen led the Network Initiatives Team within Network Planning as they worked to develop and implement industry-leading Network Planning software in partnership with Amadeus. He has a bachelor's degree in aviation management from Oklahoma State University and is a commercial rated pilot. "Strong Leadership is built upon serving, and Southwest Airlines boasts a longstanding tradition of remarkable Leaders who consistently prioritize the needs of our Employees and Customers over their own," said Bob Jordan, President & CEO at Southwest Airlines. "I extend my sincere appreciation to Matt Hafner for his 35 years of service at Southwest Airlines. I'm also thankful to Lori, Steve, Jon, Brook, and Matt for assuming crucial roles that significantly contribute to our ongoing success." ABOUT SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO. Southwest Airlines Co. operates one of the world's most admired and awarded airlines, offering its one-of-a-kind value and Hospitality at 121 airports across 11 countries. Southwest took flight in 1971 to democratize the sky through friendly, reliable, and low-cost air travel and now carries more air travelers flying nonstop within the United States than any other airline1. Based in Dallas and famous for an Employee-first corporate Culture, Southwest maintains an unprecedented record of no involuntary furloughs or layoffs in its history. By empowering its more than 71,0002 People to deliver unparalleled Hospitality, the maverick airline cherishes a passionate loyalty among more than 126 million Customers carried in 2022. That formula for success brought industry-leading prosperity and 47 consecutive years3 of profitability for Southwest Shareholders (NYSE: LUV). Southwest leverages a unique legacy and mission to serve communities around the world including harnessing the power of its People and Purpose to put communities at the Heart of its success. Learn more by visiting Southwest.com/citizenship. As the airline with Heart, Southwest has set a goal to work toward achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Southwest has also set near-term targets and a four-pillar strategy to achieve its environmental goals. Learn more by visiting Southwest.com/planet. 1Based on U.S. Dept. of Transportation quarterly Airline Origin & Destination Survey since Q1 2021 2Fulltime-equivalent active Employees 31973-2019 annual profitability View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/southwest-airlines-announces-leadership-promotions-301958108.html SOURCE Southwest Airlines Co. ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. , Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Stoneweg U.S., LLC ("Stoneweg US") proudly announces Thomas Stanchak , Director of Sustainability, as a 2023 GlobeSt. Influencer in Multifamily Real Estate. He is being honored as one of the 62 distinguished influencers in the multifamily sector by GlobeSt. Real Estate Forum. This prestigious recognition acknowledges his outstanding contributions, remarkable achievements, and vision for the multifamily real estate investment sector. Stanchak's sustainability initiatives have translated into tangible value for Stoneweg US' investors Since joining Stoneweg US in 2017, Stanchak rapidly ascended from his initial role as an asset manager overseeing 17 assets in the Midwest region. His exceptional leadership skills and commitment to sustainability quickly propelled him to the role of Senior Asset Manager, where he took on operational responsibility for over half of the company's total assets under management before being promoted to lead the firm's corporate and asset level sustainability and Environmental, Social, and Governance ("ESG") efforts in 2021. Stanchak's passion for sustainability and innovation has been at the forefront of his work. His initiatives, including water conservation measures and energy-efficient retrofits, have not only enhanced building performance and improved the resident experience, but have also translated into tangible value for the firm's investors with a positive impact on net operating income. Under his guidance, a 31% reduction in water expenses was achieved at a single asset pilot of shadow metering and machine learning technology that resulted in saving an impressive 2.7 million gallons of water in the first year. This initiative has been scaled to tackle several other locations where the company seeks to improve water savings and expense margins. Furthermore, the company's portfolio now boasts an impressive 17 ENERGY STAR performance certifications since 2021, recognizing high-performance results versus like-kind peers in terms of energy efficiency of individual assets. Stanchak's achievements improved Stoneweg US' GRESB scope by 33% year over year. Beyond his organizational accomplishments, Stanchak actively promotes education to foster sustainability across the multifamily sector. He created 52 short films on ESG subjects to educate his peers and hundreds of individuals collaborating within Stoneweg US' portfolio communities. Stanchak's tireless dedication to sustainability within the multifamily real estate industry has not gone unnoticed. Stoneweg US was honored with the 2023 Sustainability and Innovation Award presented by the Utility Management Advisory due to his accomplishments in advancing sustainable practices. Receiving the 2023 Influencers in Multifamily Real Estate award is a testament to Stanchak's pioneering spirit and unwavering commitment to sustainability. It underscores the vital role of sustainability and innovation in the multifamily sector and highlights the exceptional contributions of individuals like Thomas Stanchak . Patrick Richard , CEO stated, "We are incredibly proud of Tom and appreciate his leadership in our sustainability efforts, which are central to our firm's philosophy. Stoneweg US' approach to ESG and sustainability is accretive. Our firm collaborates to seek out and create innovative environmental solutions that deliver quality resident experiences. We are building a future where multifamily real estate is not just about buildings, but about delivering a more complete value to all our stakeholders." "I really value this recognition from GlobeSt.," said Stanchak, "The key to creating ESG and sustainability value is collaboration. It is a collective responsibility and a continuous activity. Stoneweg US' commitment to ESG and sustainability actions and measurable results is about identifying opportunities for positive change for our communities, residents, and our capital partners. The value in actively shaping a more sustainable future and creating quality multifamily spaces will be the ultimate durability of what we accomplish." About Stoneweg U.S., LLC: Located in downtown St. Petersburg, FL , Stoneweg US has a portfolio valuation of $2.1 Billion comprised of ~12,000 units. The firm leads the industry in optimizing assets through ESG considerations, climate resilience, and value-add strategies, investing in and developing sustainable communities to deliver healthy returns and elevate resident experiences. For more information, please visit www.stoneweg.us Contact: Tara Kassal Ascent 917-406-2162 [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/stoneweg-us-thomas-stanchak-named-2023-globest-multifamily-real-estate-influencer-301958012.html SOURCE Stoneweg US, LLC U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken listens as Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant speaks at The Kirya, Israel's Ministry of Defense, in Tel Aviv, Israel October 16, 2023. Jacquelyn Martin/Pool via REUTERS By Humeyra Pamuk TEL AVIV (Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States and Israel had agreed to develop a plan to get humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza without benefiting Hamas, and that President Joe Biden would visit Israel this week to hear how it would minimize civilian casualties in its war effort. Blinken made the announcement after 9 hours of negotiations with Netanyahu that stretched into the early hours of Tuesday. Their meeting was disrupted by air raid sirens warning of incoming Palestinian rocket fire, forcing them to briefly shelter in a bunker. Blinken, Washington's top diplomat, was on the fifth consecutive day of round-the-clock diplomacy in the region, shuttling back to Israel after visiting six Arab countries in four days. He has sought in part to address the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where Israeli bombardment in response to a deadly Hamas attack in Israel has killed some 2,800 Palestinians while forcing hundreds of thousands to flee their homes. "Today, and at our request, the United States and Israel have agreed to develop a plan that will enable humanitarian aid from donor nations and multilateral organizations to reach civilians in Gaza," Blinken told reporters. Blinken said the U.S. shared Israel's concern that Hamas may seize or destroy aid entering Gaza, or prevent it from reaching people in need. "If Hamas in any way blocks humanitarian assistance from reaching civilians, including by seizing the aid itself, we'll be the first to condemn it. And we will work to prevent it from happening again," Blinken said. Blinken did not provide details on what the aid plan would look like. The top U.S. diplomat also said that Biden would travel to Israel on Wednesday to make clear that the top U.S. ally has the right to defend itself after Hamas gunmen rampaged through southern Israeli towns and military bases on Oct. 7, killing at least 1,300 people. "President Biden will receive a comprehensive brief on Israel's war aims and strategy," Blinken said. "(The) president will hear from Israel how it will conduct its operations in a way that minimizes civilian casualties and enables humanitarian assistance to flow to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not benefit Hamas." Blinken was in Egypt on Sunday, where he said the Egyptian-controlled Rafah border crossing into Gaza would soon reopen, but a deal to allow aid in, and for some foreign citizens to leave, has yet to materialize. Speaking to reporters earlier after meeting Blinken, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said: "This will be a long war; the price will be high. But we are going to win for Israel and the Jewish people and for the values that both countries believe in." Washington has moved an aircraft carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean and is set to move another carrier to the region in coming days, moves Blinken has said are meant as a deterrent, not a provocation. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the Bataan, another warship, was heading near the coast of Israel and would include a Marine expeditionary unit, with a total force of about 2,000 personnel. They have not been given a specific mission but could play a key role in any evacuation. Separately, the United States has told some troops, potentially 2,000, to be ready to deploy within 24 hours if notified instead of the usual 96 hours to the region and could include units that provide assistance such as medical aid if needed, the U.S. official said. (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Writing by Steve Holland, Jasper Ward and Simon Lewis; additional reporting by Idrees Ali and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Howard Goller and Stephen Coates) Leader of Poland's ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party Jaroslaw Kaczynski, holds flowers during a speech after the exit poll results are announced in Warsaw, Poland, October 15, 2023. REUTERS/Aleksandra Szmigiel By Marek Strzelecki WARSAW (Reuters) -Poland could face weeks or months of uncertainty following Sunday's election after exit polls showed the incumbent Law and Justice (PiS) remaining the largest party but losing its parliamentary majority. Exit polls showed PiS, a nationalist party that has clashed repeatedly with the European Union on a range of issues, winning 198 seats in the 460-lawmaker legislature, while the liberal opposition bloc had 248 seats. Opposition leader Donald Tusk has hailed the outcome as marking the end of PiS rule but Poland faces possibly lengthy coalition negotiations before a new government can take power. PRESIDENT'S ROLE The president has 30 days from election day to convene the first session of the new parliament and then 14 days to nominate a candidate for prime minister. President Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally, has said he would pick a person from the winning party, suggesting he is likely to opt for a PiS nominee. That could be outgoing Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki or somebody else whom the party decides might have a better chance of assembling a majority. That candidate then has a further 14 days from the date he or she is nominated by the president to request and win a parliamentary vote of confidence. This means that parliament could end up voting as late as mid-December on a new government. To win the vote of confidence, the nominee needs an absolute majority in the lower house of parliament, the Sejm, meaning the number of supporters must exceed the number of opponents and abstainers, with at least 230 lawmakers in the chamber at the time of the vote. SECOND STEP If the nominee fails to win the vote of confidence, the initiative returns to the Sejm, with lawmakers receiving a further 14 days to nominate another candidate for prime minister. He or she would again need an absolute majority in the Sejm to win the confidence vote. BACK TO THE PRESIDENT If the second attempt fails to produce a government, the initiative returns to the president, who has 14 more days to pick a third candidate for prime minister. Parliament has another 14 days to vote, although a simple majority would be enough to secure confidence. A cabinet appointed in this step might prove to be a minority government. EARLY ELECTION The process could last as long as into the second half of January. If no cabinet is agreed by then, the president would call another parliamentary election. (Reporting by Marek StrzeleckiEditing by Gareth Jones) By Giuseppe Fonte and Gavin Jones ROME (Reuters) -Italy's government on Monday approved a budget for next year with measures worth around 24 billion euros ($25.3 billion) in tax cuts and increased spending, despite market concerns over the country's strained public finances. Under the scheme, Italy will drive up next year's budget deficit to 4.3% of gross domestic product from 3.6% under current trends, due to 15.7 billion euros ($16.5 billion) of extra borrowing mainly devoted to funding tax cuts. An additional 8 billion euros will go to finance a raft of other spending including pensions, the health service and public sector contracts, to be largely funded by savings elsewhere in the budget and higher excise duties on tobacco products. "It is a budget that I consider very serious, very realistic," Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said during a press conference. Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said he was confident it would be well received by markets and European Union authorities. Investors have been demanding a higher premium to hold Italian government bonds since Rome last month raised its budget deficit targets for the 2023-2025 period, setting it up for a possible clash with the European Commission. The gap between yields on Italian 10-year bonds and the German equivalent was stable after the budget's approval, hovering slightly above 2 percentage points (200 basis points). The challenging market environment may continue over coming weeks, when the budget faces scrutiny from credit ratings agencies, with S&P Global, DBRS, Fitch and Moody's all reviewing the euro zone's third largest economy. Giorgetti said Italy's fiscal stance was justified by the need to support activity in the face of international headwinds stemming from the conflicts in Ukraine and, more recently, the Middle East. The budget will extend to 2024 existing temporary cuts to social contributions, in an effort to help middle and low-income workers cope with high consumer prices. The total fiscal package is worth 28 billion euros including a separate decree, approved along with the budget, that sets the rate of income tax (IRPEF) at 23% for people earning up to 28,000 euros per year. This temporarily replaces the current regime in which four IRPEF rates run from 23% on income up to 15,000 euros, to a top rate of 43% on income above 50,000 euros. AGEING POPULATION The budget also earmarks around 1 billion euros for several measures aimed at addressing Italy's demographic crisis. One of these removes social contributions paid by working mothers with at least two children. At the same time, however, Meloni said the government was withdrawing next year a cut in sales tax on baby products which is currently in place. Births last year saw a 14th consecutive annual drop and were the lowest since the country's unification in 1861. The rapidly ageing population means additional budget resources will go on pensions. Giorgetti said that due to difficult budget and economic conditions a temporary regime allowing people to retire if the sum of their age and their years of work totals 103, would be toughened slightly next year. The government had hiked the age requirement but the sum of the age and years of contributions paid was "not 104 in full," Giorgetti said, without providing further details. Italy's state pension bill, already among the highest in the world, is seen reaching 17% of GDP in 2042, from 15.3% in 2022. The government also said on Monday it will implement from next year a 2021 international agreement to introduce a minimum global corporate tax rate of at least 15%, to be applied to multinational groups with annual revenues of more than 750 million euros. This could increase tax revenues in Italy by between 2 and 3 billion euros, a government official said. In addition, from next year companies that locate production in Italy from abroad will have their income tax halved for five years, the Treasury said. ($1 = 0.9492 euros) (Additional reporting by Angelo Amante and Alvise Armellini. Editing by Keith Weir) FILE PHOTO: Crude oil storage tanks are seen in an aerial photograph at the Cushing oil hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, U.S. April 21, 2020. REUTERS/Drone Base/File Photo By Erwin Seba HOUSTON (Reuters) -Oil futures fell more then $1 a barrel on Monday as expectations rose the U.S. and Venezuela could soon reach a deal easing sanctions on Venezuelan crude exports, while traders said the Israel-Hamas conflict did not appear to threaten oil supplies in the short term. Brent crude futures settled at $89.65 a barrel, down $1.24, or 1.4%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) fell $1.03, or 1.2%, to finish at $86.66 a barrel. Venezuela's government and opposition will return to political negotiations this week after nearly a year, the two sides said, while sources said the U.S. has reached a preliminary deal to ease sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry in return for a competitive, monitored presidential election in Venezuela next year. "The reported deal ... would help to raise the country's oil output from very depressed levels," said William Jackson, chief emerging markets economist for Capital Economics. "But the sector requires enormous investment to return output to the levels seen only a decade ago," Jackson added. "And this wouldn't materially affect the deficit in the global oil market in the near term." Both oil benchmarks had surged last week on fears the conflict in the Middle East could widen, with global benchmark Brent gaining 7.5% in its highest weekly gain since February. Monday's falling prices appeared to "a breather to take in events in the Middle East" as opposed to expected production increases in Venezuela, said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates. "Negotiations with Venezuela could lead to a surge in exports of crude oil that is already in inventory," Lipow said. "But a surge in production is a ways off given the decrepit state of the Venezuelan energy infrastructure." Traders said the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas so far remained focused in the Gaza Strip. "It's more of the same on Monday in terms of the conflict in the Middle East being contained from affecting crude oil supplies," said John Kilduff, partner with Again Capital LLC. Israeli air strikes on Gaza intensified on Monday, after diplomatic efforts by the U.S. to arrange a ceasefire in southern Gaza failed. Russia has also entered the diplomatic fray, with President Vladimir Putin set to hold talks with Iran, Israel, Palestinians, Syria and Egypt. Heightened tensions in the Middle East may have compounded other risk factors to push prices higher last week, market sources said. The U.S. last week imposed the first sanctions on owners of tankers carrying Russian oil priced above the Group of Seven's price cap of $60 a barrel, an effort to close loopholes in the mechanism designed to deprive Moscow of revenue for its energy sales. "The sudden decision on tightening up of sanctions on ship owners carrying Russian crude over the $60/barrel limit by the U.S. started to niggle and so did the Russian/Saudi meeting concluded by President Putin stating that OPEC+ were achieving 'stability,'" said PVM analyst John Evans, referring to the price rises at the end of last week. (Reporting by Erwin Seba in Houston; additional reporting by Robert Harvey in London, Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo and Emily Chow; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Paul Simao) By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When British naturalist Charles Darwin sketched out his theory of evolution in the 1859 book "On the Origin of Species" - proposing that biological species change over time through the acquisition of traits that favor survival and reproduction - it provoked a revolution in scientific thought. Now 164 years later, nine scientists and philosophers on Monday proposed a new law of nature that includes the biological evolution described by Darwin as a vibrant example of a much broader phenomenon, one that appears at the level of atoms, minerals, planetary atmospheres, planets, stars and more. It holds that complex natural systems evolve to states of greater patterning, diversity and complexity. "We see evolution as a universal process that applies to numerous systems, both living and nonliving, that increase in diversity and patterning through time," said Carnegie Institution for Science mineralogist and astrobiologist Robert Hazen, a co-author of the scientific paper describing the law in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Titled the "law of increasing functional information," it holds that evolving systems, biological and non-biological, always form from numerous interacting building blocks like atoms or cells, and that processes exist - such as cellular mutation - that generate many different configurations. Evolution occurs, it holds, when these various configurations are subject to selection for useful functions. "We have well-documented laws that describe such everyday phenomena as forces, motions, gravity, electricity and magnetism and energy," Hazen said. "But these laws do not, individually or collectively, describe or explain why the universe keeps getting more diverse and complex at scales of atoms, molecules, minerals and more." In stars, for instance, just two elements - hydrogen and helium - were the main ingredients in the first stellar generation following the Big Bang about 13.8 billion years ago that initiated the universe. That first generation of stars, in the thermonuclear fusion caldrons at their cores, forged about 20 heavier elements such as carbon, nitrogen and oxygen that were blasted into space when they exploded at the end of their life cycles. The subsequent generation of stars that formed from the remnants of the prior generation then similarly forged almost 100 more elements. On Earth, living organisms acquired greater complexity including the pivotal moment when multicellular life originated. "Imagine a system of atoms or molecules that can exist in countless trillions of different arrangements or configurations," Hazen said. "Only a small fraction of all possible configurations will 'work' - that is, they will have some useful degree of function. So, nature just prefers those functional configurations." Hazen added that "function" might mean that a collection of atoms makes a stable mineral crystal that can persist, or that a star maintains its dynamic structure, or that "a life form learns a new 'trick' that allows it to compete better than its neighbors," Hazen added. The authors proposed three universal concepts of selection: the basic ability to endure; the enduring nature of active processes that may enable evolution; and the emergence of novel characteristics as an adaptation to an environment. Some biological examples of this "novelty generation" include organisms developing the ability to swim, walk, fly and think. Our species emerged after the human evolutionary lineage diverged from the chimpanzee lineage and acquired an array of traits including upright walking and increased brain size. "I think this paper is important because it describes a view of the cosmos rooted in function," said Carnegie Institution astrobiologist and planetary scientist Michael Wong, the paper's lead author. "The significance of formulating such a law is that it provides a new perspective on why the diverse systems that make up the cosmos evolve the way they do, and may allow predictions about how unfamiliar systems - like the organic chemistry on Saturn's moon Titan - develop over time," added co-author Jonathan Lunine, chair of Cornell University's astronomy department, referencing a world being scrutinized for possible extraterrestrial life. (Reporting by Will Dunham; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) FILE PHOTO: Tether logo is seen in this illustration taken March 31, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo By Elizabeth Howcroft and Tom Wilson LONDON (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency issuer Tether has frozen 32 crypto wallet addresses containing a combined $873,118 it said were linked to "terrorism and warfare" in Israel and Ukraine, the company said on Monday. Israeli police said last week they had frozen crypto accounts used to solicit donations for Hamas on social media. Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel killed 1,300 people. Tether's first Israel-related freeze was on March 16, 2023, while the first Ukrainian-related freeze was on June 16, 2021, a Tether spokesperson told Reuters via email. TRM Labs, a major U.S. blockchain analysis company that works with law enforcement agencies, said in a blog in February that Tether was a "currency of choice" for terrorist financing. Tether said that it is committed to "working closely" with law enforcement agencies globally "to combat cryptocurrency-funded terrorism and warfare." Crypto operates mostly outside of the traditional financial system and wallet addresses are pseudonymous, which makes those behind transactions difficult to track. Tether, whose stablecoin is the third-largest cryptocurrency by circulation, said it was working with Israel's National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing (NBCTF) "to counter cryptocurrency-funded terrorism and warfare". The Tether spokesperson declined to give any details about this work. A stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency usually underpinned by assets such as dollars to hold steady value. Tether did not provide details of the owners of the wallet addresses or the nature of their activity. It did not provide a breakdown of the split between Ukraine-related and Israel-related addresses. The NBCTF, which has previously seized crypto accounts it said were linked to militant groups including Hamas, did not respond to a request for comment. Crypto has been widely used in Ukraine since Russia's invasion last year, with Kyiv raising over $100 million in crypto after appealing for donations. Pro-Russian groups have used crypto for funding in eastern Ukraine, blockchain researcher Chainalysis said last year. TRM said in February there was a 240% increase in the use of Tether last year among the terrorist-financing entities it tracks, with some using the stablecoin exclusively. That increase compared to a rise of almost 80% for bitcoin, the world's biggest crypto token. Firms such as TRM gather information on the owners of crypto wallets via techniques such as open-source investigations and collaboration with law enforcement. Tether's popularity was due to bitcoin's volatility as well as Tether's lower transaction fees, TRM added. Tether did not respond to a request for comment on the TRM blog. (Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft and Tom Wilson; Editing by Mark Potter, Rod Nickel and Louise Heavens) FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump waves at the Club 47 USA event in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. October 11, 2023. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo By Nathan Layne and Tim Reid CLIVE, Iowa (Reuters) - Donald Trump promised on Monday that if elected president again he will bar immigrants who support Hamas from entering the U.S. and send officers to pro-Hamas protests to arrest and deport immigrants who publicly support the Palestinian militant group. On a campaign stop in Iowa, Trump was responding to the Hamas killing of at least 1,300 Israelis that triggered a war in which Palestinian health officials say Israel has killed more than 2,800 Palestinians in Gaza. Trump, president from 2017-2021, said that if elected to a second White House term he will ban entry to the U.S. of anybody who does not believe in Israel's right to exist, and revoke the visas of foreign students who are "antisemitic." He also vowed to step up travel bans from "terror-plagued countries." He did not explain how he would enforce his demands, including the one requiring immigrants to support Israel's right to exist under what he called "strong ideological screening." Many of Trump's immigration policies were challenged in court during his presidency and his newest pledges could also face challenges. A ban he imposed on immigrants from some Muslim-majority nations was struck down in lower courts but ultimately upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. Biden ended that ban when he took office. Trump said on Monday he would ban immigrants from Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen "or anywhere else that threatens our security". Trump also read a poem that he used to liken immigrants to deadly snakes. Jaime Harrison, chair of the Democratic National Committee, described Trump's pledges as Islamophobic, extreme and designed to exploit "fear and anxiety." Iowa is one of the earliest states to hold a Republican presidential nominating contest. A tough approach to immigrants was a cornerstone of Trump's first term as president. He is the frontrunner to win his party's White House nomination and take on Democratic President Joe Biden in the November 2024 election. Promising to drastically tighten U.S. immigration laws, Trump said: "If you want to abolish the state of Israel, you're disqualified, if you support Hamas or the ideology behind Hamas, you're disqualified, and if you're a communist, Marxist, or fascist, you are disqualified." Most of Trump's Republican rivals have condemned Hamas and offered full-throated support for an expected Israeli invasion of Gaza, but none has laid out such a tough series of proposals to keep people out of and expel Hamas sympathizers from the U.S. The United States along with several other countries have designated Hamas a terrorist organization. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, one of Trump's Republican rivals for the presidential nomination, said on Monday he favored the deportation of foreign students who support Hamas and would bar Gaza refugees from the U.S. if elected president. Trump last week accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of being unprepared for the Hamas attacks and called Hezbollah - the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group - "very smart." His Iowa remarks appeared to be an effort in part to blunt that criticism. "We will aggressively deport resident aliens with jihadist sympathies," Trump said. (Reporting by Nathan Layne in Clive, Iowa, and Tim Reid in Los Angeles; Editing by Howard Goller) Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg listens as U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about the airline industry and consumer protections from the South Court Auditorium on the White House grounds in Washington, U.S., May 8, 2023. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg met on Monday with his Mexican counterpart to discuss a number of sticking points regarding Mexico's aviation industry. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has increasingly exerted control over the industry and handed over civilian aviation duties to the armed forces, causing frictions between the two countries. Buttigieg and Mexican Transportation Minister Jorge Nuno discussed Mexico's plan to maintain a recently recovered U.S. air safety rating, given back to Mexico in September after it spent more than two years on a lower rating, Mexico's transportation ministry said. Aviation analysts have said that several issues, including a legal challenge of a major overhaul to Mexico's aviation law, could put the recovery at risk. The two also discussed Mexico's move of cargo flights out of the Mexico City International Airport (AICM) to the military-run Felipe Angeles International Airport (AIFA), which opened last year and sits farther away from the capital. The U.S. government had previously expressed concern over the move - appearing to pause a tie-up between U.S. carrier Allegiant and Mexico's VivaAerobus as a consequence - and meeting with cargo carriers to hear their worries. Buttigieg and Nuno also talked about strategies to reduce flight saturation at the AICM, the busiest in the country, the ministry said. Lopez Obrador has exhorted commercial airlines to move flights from the AICM to the AIFA. Government-mandated flights cuts at the AICM are set to take effect in January, slashing slots from 52 per hour to 43 per hour despite outcry from airlines. (Reporting by Kylie Madry; Editing by Sarah Morland) A view of the U.S. Supreme Court building on the first day of the court's new term in Washington, U.S. October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo By Andrew Chung (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday barred two Texas-based manufacturers from selling products that can be quickly converted at home into firearms called "ghost guns," granting a request by President Joe Biden's administration to once again block a federal judge's order that had sided with companies. The justices lifted Fort Worth-based U.S. Judge Reed O'Connor's Sept. 14 injunction barring enforcement of a 2022 federal regulation - a rule aimed at reining in the privately made firearms - against the two manufacturers, Blackhawk Manufacturing and Defense Distributed. The rule was issued by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to target the rapid proliferation of these homemade weapons. It bans "buy build shoot" kits that individuals can get online or at a store without a background check or the usual serial numbers required by the federal government. The kits can be quickly assembled into a working firearm. The decision marked the second time that the justices acted against an order by O'Connor in the case. In August, they halted the judge's previous decision blocking the regulation, reinstating the rule while an appeal proceeds. The administration had said O'Connor's decision to grant an injunction favoring ghost gun kit makers despite the prior intervention by the justices "openly flouted" the Supreme Court's authority. The rule expanded the definition of a firearm under a 1968 federal law called Gun Control Act to include parts and kits that may be readily turned into a gun. It required serial numbers and that manufacturers and sellers be licensed. Sellers under the rule also must run background checks on purchasers prior to a sale. The administration has said that ghost guns are attractive to criminals and others prohibited from lawfully buying firearms, including minors. There were about 20,000 suspected ghost guns reported in 2021 to the ATF as having been recovered by law enforcement in criminal investigations - a tenfold increase from 2016, according to White House statistics. The United States, with the world's highest gun ownership rate, remains a nation deeply divided over how to address firearms violence including frequent mass shootings. Plaintiffs including the parts manufacturers, various gun owners and two gun rights groups - the Firearms Policy Coalition and Second Amendment Foundation - filed suit to block the ghost guns rule in federal court in Texas. They portrayed the policy as a threat to the long history of legal private gunsmithing in the United States. Rejecting the administration's concerns, O'Connor in July invalidated the rule, finding that the administration exceeded its authority under the Gun Control Act. The congressional definition of a firearm "does not cover weapon parts, or aggregations of weapon parts, regardless of whether the parts may be readily assembled into something that may fire a projectile," the judge concluded. Biden's administration then asked the justices to halt O'Connor's decision while it appeals to the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Even though the justices on Aug. 8 granted that request, the manufacturers asked O'Connor for an injunction while the appeal plays out, which the judge issued. The 5th Circuit declined to pause that order. (Reporting by Andrew Chung in New York; Editing by Will Dunham) As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 16, 2023 Registration No. 333-272500 Registration No. 333-257007 Registration No. 333-232002 Registration No. 333-230256 Registration No. 333-225871 Registration No. 333-219387 Registration No. 333-210312 Registration No. 333-202069 UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, DC 20549 POST-EFFECTIVE AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO FORM S-8 REGISTRATION STATEMENT NO. 333-272500 POST-EFFECTIVE AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO FORM S-8 REGISTRATION STATEMENT NO. 333-257007 POST-EFFECTIVE AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO FORM S-8 REGISTRATION STATEMENT NO. 333-232002 POST-EFFECTIVE AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO FORM S-8 REGISTRATION STATEMENT NO. 333-230256 POST-EFFECTIVE AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO FORM S-8 REGISTRATION STATEMENT NO. 333-225871 POST-EFFECTIVE AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO FORM S-8 REGISTRATION STATEMENT NO. 333-219387 POST-EFFECTIVE AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO FORM S-8 REGISTRATION STATEMENT NO. 333-210312 POST-EFFECTIVE AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO FORM S-8 REGISTRATION STATEMENT NO. 333-202069 REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933 BELLEROPHON THERAPEUTICS, INC. (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter) Delaware 47-3116175 (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) 20 Independence Boulevard, Suite 402 Warren, New Jersey 07059 (Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code) Bellerophon Therapeutics, Inc. 2015 Equity Incentive Plan Bellerophon Therapeutics, Inc. 2014 Equity Incentive Plan Inducement Stock Option Award for Fabian Tenenbaum Assumed Ikaria Holdings, Inc. 2007 Stock Option Plan Assumed Amended and Restated Ikaria Holdings, Inc. 2010 Long Term Incentive Plan (Full title of the plans) Peter Fernandes Chief Executive Officer Bellerophon Therapeutics, Inc. 20 Independence Boulevard, Suite 402 Warren, New Jersey 07059 (Name and address of agent for service and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service) Copies to: Jeffrey Schultz, Esq. Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, PC 919 Third Avenue New York, New York 10022 (212) 935-3000 Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging 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 (Do not check if a smaller reporting company) Smaller reporting company x 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 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. DEREGISTRATION OF SECURITIES This Post-Effective Amendment No. 1 ( Post-Effective Amendment No. 1 ), filed by Bellerophon Therapeutics, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the Company ), removes from registration all shares of the Companys common stock, par value $0.01 per share (the Common Stock ) registered under the following Registration Statements on Form S-8 filed by the Company (each a Registration Statement , and collectively, the Registration Statements ) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission ), pertaining to the registration of shares of Common Stock offered under certain employee benefit and equity plans and agreements: All of the share numbers set forth above reflect a 1-for-15 reverse stock split effected on February 7, 2020. As previously disclosed in a Form 8-K filed with the Commission on October 13, 2023, the board of directors of the Company (the Board ) approved a plan of liquidation and dissolution of the Company (the Plan of Dissolution ), subject to the approval of the Companys stockholders. As a result of the proposed dissolution, the Company has terminated all offerings of its securities pursuant to its existing registration statements, including the Registration Statements. The Company hereby terminates the effectiveness of the Registration Statements and removes and withdraws from registration all securities of the Company registered under the Registration Statements that remain unsold as of the date hereof. SIGNATURES Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing this Post-Effective Amendment No. 1 to the Registration Statements on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Post-Effective Amendment No. 1 to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the Township of Warren, State of New Jersey, on this 16th day of October, 2023. BELLEROPHON THERAPEUTICS, INC. By: /s/ Peter Fernandes Name: Peter Fernandes Title: Chief Executive Officer(Principal Executive Officer) Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this Post-Effective Amendment No. 1 to the Registration Statements on Form S-8 has been signed by the following person in the capacity and on the date indicated. South Korean F-15K Slam Eagles fly alongside U.S. F-16 Fighting Falcons and a B-52H Stratofortress bomber during an air drill near South Korea, July 13, 2023. (South Koreas Ministry of National Defense) SEOUL, South Korea A B-52H Stratofortress will make a rare landing on the Korean Peninsula this week to showcase an ironclad commitment to the U.S.-South Korea alliance, the U.S. military announced Monday. The Air Force bomber will also conduct a pair of flyovers during the Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition, between Tuesday and Sunday, according to a statement from U.S. Forces Korea. These flyovers, air demonstrations and static displays, including the landing for the B-52 on the peninsula, is part of our continued pledge to promote peace, stability and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula, Maj. Rachel Buitrago, spokeswoman for 7th Air Force at Osan Air Base south of Seoul, said in the release. The landing will mark the first time a B-52 has touched down in South Korea in at least 30 years, Buitrago told Stars and Stripes by phone Monday. A B-1B Lancer out of Andersen Air Base, Guam, landed at Osan on Sept. 21, 2016. USFKs release did not specify where in South Korea the B-52H will touch down; however, multiple South Korean news outlets, citing unnamed military sources, reported Monday that its scheduled to land at an unidentified South Korean air base later this week. The bomber announcement comes four days after the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan steamed into Busan, South Korea, following joint drills with South Korea and Japan. North Koreas state-run Korean Central News Agency responded to the port call by calling it an undisguised military provocation in a report Friday. U.S. bombers, including B-52s, have flown over South Korean airspace several times this year as shows of force following North Korean missile tests. A B-52H flew alongside four U.S. F-16s and three South Korean F-15K Slam Eagles for an escort drill on July 13, a day after the North fired an intercontinental ballistic missile that flew for 74 minutes, a flight record for the communist regime. A U.S. B-1 Lancer bomber also flew with F-35B Lightning IIs, F-22 Raptors and South Korean F-35As over the Yellow Sea during a joint airpower drill on Feb. 1. KCNA has accused the U.S. and South Korea of destabilizing the region with nuclear assets after past bomber flights. A day after a U.S. B-52H flew with South Korean F-35As on April 5, KCNA published an article threatening the allies with offensive action and accused them of fueling the crisis to the brink of a nuclear war. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol agreed to deploy strategic U.S. military assets in a timely and coordinated manner during a White House summit on May 21. The two leaders cited the deployments as a means of addressing Pyongyangs evolving threat. North Korea has fired 21 ballistic missiles in 14 separate days of testing so far this year. The two presidents share the view that [North Koreas] nuclear program presents a grave threat not only to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula but also the rest of Asia and the world, Biden and Yoon said in a joint statement at the time. Both leaders condemn [North Koreas] escalatory ballistic missile tests this year, including multiple launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles, as clear violations of United Nations Security Council resolutions Two months after Biden and Yoons agreement, the USS Kentucky, a U.S. submarine capable of launching nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles, was dispatched to Busan in the first port call to South Korea by an American nuclear-capable submarine in 42 years. Taylor Saniel dances during a Hispanic Heritage Month celebration at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Oct. 13, 2023. (Jonathan Snyder/Stars and Stripes) MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan Food, music and dancing from traditional folk steps to salsa highlighted a Hispanic Heritage Month celebration that drew scores of people at this base south of Hiroshima. Hispanic Heritage Month, observed annually between Sept. 15 and Oct. 15, honors the cultures and contributions of both Hispanic and Latino Americans. Its a good opportunity to let the community know and the little kids know where their parents come from, event coordinator and Department of Defense employee Arsenio Pabon told Stars and Stripes during Fridays celebration. The event, held on MCAS Iwakunis northside track and field, placed a special emphasis on dancing, including salsa, a Latin American dance associated with music of the same name; bachata, from the Dominican Republic; and bomba, from Puerto Rico. We like food, music and dance, Pabon said. So, thats our top three things we do as Latinos. Middle school art teacher Emilio Baez hangs a Puerto Rican flag during a Hispanic Heritage Month celebraton at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Oct. 13, 2023. (Jonathan Snyder/Stars and Stripes) People decorate a Dia De Los Muertos mask during the Hispanic Heritage Month celebration at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Oct. 13, 2023. (Jonathan Snyder/Stars and Stripes) Yarelis Coss and Aaron Ferguson perform a dance demonstration during a Hispanic Heritage Month celebration at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Oct. 13, 2023. (Jonathan Snyder/Stars and Stripes) And those famished from dancing could reenergize with a variety of cuisine, including arroz con gandules, which is considered Puerto Ricos national dish. The Marine Corps has the largest percentage of Hispanic active-duty service members of all the military branches, according to a Department of Defense demographics report from 2020. Among those is Sgt. Maj. Jorge Cedeno-Tulloch, who was born in Santa Maria, Panama. The Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron sergeant major said his family left Panama for New York when he was 4 years old looking for better opportunities. Eventually, I joined the Marine Corps and went off to boot camp, he told eventgoers. And if it wasnt for that experience, I would not have formed the relationships that I have today. Space Force Capt. Daniel Reynolds, on the right in front of the flag, graduated Oct. 13 from the Army-run combat leadership course, earning the coveted Ranger Tab and marking the Space Forces first completion of the weekslong combat leadership course. (Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade/Facebook) Space Force Capt. Daniel Reynolds tackled a new frontier where no guardian has gone before when he recently completed the Armys grueling Ranger School course. Reynolds graduated Oct. 13 from the weekslong combat leadership course and earned the coveted Ranger Tab, a first for the fledgling military service, Space Force officials said Monday. A photo shared on social media by the Ranger School showed Reynolds posing with other guardians, a Space Force flag and his new Ranger Tab after graduating from the course last week at Fort Moore, Ga. Reynolds, a satellite communications test director stationed at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado, has become a pioneer in the Space Force. In 2021, just months after transferring from the Air Force to Space Force, Reynolds became the first guardian to graduate from the Armys Air Assault School. Last year, the captain completed the Armys Sapper Leader Course, becoming the first guardian to earn a Sapper Tab, according to the Defense Department. Reynolds has also completed the Armys Airborne course. Reynolds, 29, was commissioned into the Air Force in 2017 after graduating from the Air Force Academy with a bachelors in astronautical engineering, according to the service. He then attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a second lieutenant and earned a masters in aeronautics and astronautics while working in a fellowship with NASA, according to the Air Force. In an interview with the Air Force before attending Ranger School, Reynolds said the combat-focused Army schools have helped him improve in his day-to-day job of developing satellite communications tools for service members, including front-line fighters. One of the biggest challenges that I think Ive faced in my work [in the Space Force] is we design a system that doesnt meet the intent of the warfighter, and that comes from a lack of communication and a lack of understanding, Reynolds said in the interview published Aug. 30. At courses like this, we take individuals who are working in space, and we get them together with individuals who are the tip of the spear, executing these missions, engaging the enemy face-to-face. Thats where we learn how to design better systems and capabilities. Space Force Capt. Daniel Reynolds (Lekendrick Stallworth/U.S. Space Force) The Space Force, which was created in 2019, is responsible for developing and defending most of the U.S. militarys space-based infrastructure and programs, which includes communications satellites that ensure American troops on the front line can communicate among themselves and with higher headquarters. Reynolds job is to test the latest technologies in tactical satellite communications, according to the Air Force. Reynolds is the first guardian to complete Ranger School, and the Armys course is open to all the military services and some members of partner nation militaries, according to the Army. About 350 airmen have earned a Ranger Tab since 1955, according to the Air Force. The Army bills Ranger School as its chief and most difficult combat leadership course. The school spans three locations Fort Moore, Camp Merrill in the mountains of north Georgia and in the swamps of Floridas Eglin Air Force Base. Service officials have said historically less than half of those who begin Ranger School complete the course. Sending airmen and guardians to Ranger school is important no matter what their day job might be because it allows them to develop leadership in extremely difficult situations that troops could find in combat, according to Air Force Capt. Daniel Mack, a Ranger Assessment Course instructor for those services. Troops face sleep and food deprivation, difficult weather conditions and different environments through the 62-day course. Anyone can lead in good conditions, but can you lead when you are hungry, tired, and fatigued? Mack said in an Air Force release in August. Additionally, can you get others to perform when they are in the same conditions? Completing the course or not, airmen and guardians go back to the Air Force and Space Force as better leaders. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Vladivostok during a visit on April 25, 2019. (Presidential Administration of Russia) TOKYO Russian ships linked to military transport networks have collected cargo from North Korea and delivered it to an apparent Russian military port on multiple occasions over the past two months, according to new satellite images providing the clearest evidence yet that Pyongyang may be helping Moscows war effort. The two ships had no record of running this route between North Korea and Russia until August, when high-level meetings between North Korean and Russian officials began, paving the way for Kim Jong Un to meet Vladimir Putin last month. U.S. intelligence assessments at the time suggested that Russia was looking to get North Korean weaponry to replenish its dwindling supplies for the war in Ukraine. White House officials said Friday this now appears to be happening and named one Russian vessel, alleging that North Korea has transported as many as 1,000 containers with equipment and munitions from North Korea to Russia in recent weeks. But new satellite images, analyzed by the London-based Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) and provided first to The Washington Post, suggest this operation is more regular, extensive and ongoing than the White House revealed. Not one but two ships have been plying the route between the northeastern North Korean port of Rajin and a secure port facility in Dunai, in Russias Far East, making at least five round trips beginning mid-August through Saturday, according to the RUSI analysis. (Jarrett Ley/The Washington Post) Although it is impossible to tell what is being transported, the new images show ships linked to the Russian military logistics network, which strongly suggests these commercial vessels are carrying military equipment, RUSI analysts and U.S. officials say. This will have a very serious effect on the trajectory of the war [in Ukraine], said Jack Watling, senior research fellow for land warfare at RUSI. North Korea has the ability to manufacture a lot of ammunition, and it has significant stockpiles. North Korea makes two of the types of munitions that Russia has used heavily in the war Soviet-era 122mm Grad rockets and 122mm howitzer artillery rounds and desperately needs more of as it wages its grinding war of attrition against Ukraine. Around the time the shipments began, munition pits were rapidly expanded at an ammunition depot near the Ukrainian border, which U.S. officials identified as the ultimate destination for the shipments. U.S. officials and experts have said North Korea has Soviet-designed munitions and other conventional weapons, including artillery platforms and rocket launchers, that the Russians are seeking. The new satellite images show that two Russian-flagged cargo ships, the Angara and the Maria, began traveling between Rajin and Dunai in mid-August. They have made at least five trips since, moving hundreds of containers, according to the images. The latest delivery from North Korea to Russia took place on Saturday, when the Maria was spotted in Dunai offloading cargo, according to RUSIs analysis. Shortly before they began operating along this route, the two vessels went dark, turning off the signal of their automatic identification system, according to data from ship-tracking site Marine Traffic. This allows the Maria and Angara to hide their position as they transit between ports. Around the same time, there was a rapid expansion of munition pits at an ammunition depot near Tikhoretsk, about 180 miles from the Ukrainian border, images show. These pits have been filled with munition boxes in recent weeks as rail cars arrived, offloading containers that were lined next to the pits. The color and size of those containers matched the shipments arriving at Dunai from Rajin, according to RUSI. U.S. officials alleged last Friday that these munition boxes originated from North Korea, and the characteristics of the ships appear to support U.S. allegations that North Korea has delivered weapons to Russia for the war using this route. The White House last week released satellite images of what it said were 300 shipping containers delivered by the cargo vessel from Rajin to Dunai by sea, and then transported by rail to an ammunition depot near Tikhoretsk. This transfer was made between Sept. 7 and Oct. 1, U.S. officials said. This expanding military partnership between the DPRK and Russia, including any technology transfers from Russia to the DPRK, undermines regional stability and the global nonproliferation regime, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, using the abbreviation for North Koreas official name, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. Since the Korean War ended in a cease-fire in 1953, the two Koreas have been developing huge amounts of conventional weapons in case war breaks out again on the peninsula. North Korea is believed to have a large stockpile of artillery shells and rockets that would be compatible with Soviet and Russian weapons systems used against Ukraine. It also has production capacity to manufacture new weapons that would help Russia maintain its high ammunition burn rate as the Kremlin seeks to scale up domestic production. This is widely thought to have been the catalyst for Kims trip to far-eastern Russia for a rare in-person summit with Putin last month, his first trip abroad since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Kim called his countrys relations with Russia his top priority and pledged full support for Putin and his government amid their war in Ukraine. Analysts say in return for supporting the Kremlin, North Korea may be interested in advanced technologies from Russia for its weapons and nuclear program. During his trip, Kim toured a Russian fighter jet factory that is under Western sanctions, as well as a key Russian spaceport. Neither the Russian Embassy in the United States nor the North Korean mission to the United Nations responded to a request for comment sent Sunday. Analysis by RUSI found that the operation may have started at the end of August and appears to have involved a second vessel, Maria, which followed a similar path as the Angara, the ship identified by U.S. officials. The images show the two vessels making multiple trips between Dunai and Rajin, picking up and delivering cargo at each location. At the Rajin port, the two ships typically load and unload containers at different docks. In Dunai, the ships have unloaded their cargo while next to a military vessel. Kirby said Russia may have responded in kind by shipping weapons of its own to North Korea. He did not specify the types of arms that the United States believed were shipped. Russias use of civilian ships to covertly carry out military activities has been well documented. Military analysts recently spotted signs that Russian merchant vessels are probably transporting suspected military equipment from Syria to Russia. The Angara is owned by M Leasing, which has been sanctioned by the United States, the United Kingdom and Ukraine for transportation of weapons and military equipment in the interests of the Russian government. It is managed by Marine Trans Shipping, another maritime shipping company sanctioned for transporting weapons for the Russian government. Registration documents for the Maria show a company called JSC Sovfracht is associated with the vessel, RUSI found. In 2019, the United States named Sovfracht as a company behind a sanctions evasion conspiracy to aid Russian forces operating in Syria in support of the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Joyce Sohyun Lee reported from Washington. A resident watches a live broadcast of Vladimir Putin, Russias President, delivering his annual address on a television in Moscow on Dec. 17, 2020. (Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg) KYIV Russia has agreed to free four Ukrainian children ranging in age from 2 to 17 and allow them to return to their families in Ukraine after Qatar intervened as a mediator, according to a government official briefed on the matter. Two of the children are now back with relatives and two others are expected to be reunited with their families in the coming days, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic negotiations. Qatars role in the negotiations, which lasted several months, came at the request of the Ukrainian government. The Ukrainian children passed through Qatars Embassy in Moscow and took different routes home. Some traveled or were scheduled to travel from Russia to Ukraine via Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. Others went through Belarus. The travel arrangements involved several types of transport, including diplomatic convoy, train and a privately chartered plane through Qatar, the official said. We welcome todays positive news, about the reunification of children with their families in Ukraine through Qatari mediation efforts, Lolwah Al-Khater, Qatars minister of state for international cooperation said in a statement. In recent weeks, Qatari officials have been in continuous dialogue with our Ukrainian and Russian counterparts, she said. The reunifications mark a major development in what has become one of the most contentious and sensitive issues since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. They also shine a diplomatic spotlight on Qatar. The small Gulf country has often served as a key negotiator in global crises and could play an outsize role in negotiations regarding the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, the militant group that controls the Gaza Strip. In March, judges of the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russias commissioner for childrens rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, and accused them of war crimes, saying the two bear individual responsibility for the unlawful deportation and unlawful transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denounced the arrest warrants as outrageous and unacceptable but also irrelevant for Russia as a matter of law because Russia is not a party to the International Criminal Court. At that time the warrants were issued, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said Ukraine was investigating some 16,000 cases of forced deportations of children. Putin approved a decree in May 2022 making it easier for Russian families to adopt Ukrainian children taken from the war zone and Lvova-Belova was among the Russians to do so, adopting a boy from the besieged city of Mariupol. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, who also serves as foreign minister, visited Moscow in June, where he met with Putin and other high-ranking officials. The following month, he visited Ukraine, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and pledged $100 million of humanitarian aid for health, education and demining efforts. During that visit, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal publicly thanked Qatar for its willingness to mediate the return of Ukrainian children from Russia. The full scope of the transfer of children to Russia is not clear. The official said a Ukrainian list contains the names of thousands of children while a Russian list merely has hundreds a discrepancy that may make it difficult to find and return all of the children sought by Ukraine. Forcibly moving children or stripping them of their identity is generally considered to be a war crime, but the ICC warrants are unlikely to result in any court appearances unless Putin or Lvova-Belova travel to a country willing to arrest them. Putin skipped a summit meeting of leaders of the BRICS countries in South Africa in August because of concerns he might be detained. Last week, he made a rare trip abroad to Kyrgyzstan. The four Ukrainian children returning home this week are the first to be released as part of Qatars negotiations because all parties agreed they found their parents, documents all matched [and] they could be reunited, the official said. If all goes smoothly, the official added, it could pave the way for other returns. Qatar News Agency photos reviewed by The Washington Post ahead of publication showed a young boy, his face blurred, sitting between his grandmother and Lvova-Belova. Other photos showed him hugging and shaking the hand of a Qatari diplomat. The 2-year-old, who will return to the Zhytomyr region of Ukraine, was in the hospital and just 6 months old when Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, and lost contact with his mother, according to the official. The two have since been reunited in Russia and are expected to travel to Ukraine this week. Details of how or when the then-infant was transferred to Russian custody are unclear. Russian forces occupied some parts of Zhytomyr region in the first weeks of the war before being forced to retreat. A 7-year-old boy, who has been staying in a childrens home in Russia, was recently reunited with his grandmother, who traveled to Russia through Estonia, the official said. The pair is now on their way back to Ukraine. The boys mother, who was arrested in Russia, remains in custody there. It was not clear when or why she was detained. The group also includes a 9-year-old boy who was staying with his grandparents in Ukraines southern Kherson region when Russia invaded and occupied the area, including the regional capital. The boy is expected to travel back to Ukraine on Wednesday. The 17-year-old, whose family was unable to come to Russia to retrieve her, is also expected to reunite with her relatives on Wednesday. Some other Ukrainian children held in Russia have also been released to their parents on a case-by-case basis, usually after a relative traveled to Russia and personally escorted them home, a task that can be difficult, dangerous and financially impossible for many Ukrainian families. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen attends the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG), in Marrakesh on Oct. 13, 2023. (Fadel Senna, AFP/Getty Images/TNS) (Tribune News Service) U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urged a gathering of European finance chiefs to move ahead with plans for 50 billion ($52.4 billion) in fresh aid to Ukraine while pledging the White House, and a majority in Congress, will fight to provide new U.S. assistance for the embattled Eastern European nation. President [Joe] Biden and I, along with a bipartisan majority of the U.S. Congress and the American people, will fight so that our support is not interrupted and sufficient funding is in place, Yellen said, according to the text of remarks shes scheduled to deliver Monday in Luxembourg to the Eurogroup, a body comprised of euro-area finance ministers. Yellens remarks nodded to growing worries on either side of the Atlantic that efforts to continue offering substantial aid to Ukraine are coming under threat and may depend, in part, on the others ability to extend its commitments. In the U.S. a group of Republican hardliners, many of whom oppose more Ukraine aid, recently deposed House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and pitched the chamber into a disruptive leadership struggle. Biden is planning to make a formal request for additional foreign aid this week, including for Ukraine and Israel, but its unclear whether the House can act without a permanent speaker in place. We have been united in holding Russia to account for its illegal, unjustifiable and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine, said Paschal Donohoe, who chairs the Eurogroup. And in recent days we are united in our horror and grief due to the heineous attack against Israel. Donohoe highlighted that the current geopolitical pressures require transatlantic cooperation. We face challenges of a magnitude that no country, no region, can face alone, he said. Europe and the United States are pillars of the global economy, which makes working together so very important. European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said that its important that the U.S. provide clarity on Ukraine funding as soon as possible. European Union leaders are slated later this month to take up the 50 billion proposal, but resistance to the size of the package has been growing on the blocs eastern fringe. Hungary recently proposed halving the amount and re-evaluating the plan part way through the three-year disbursement period. Slovakian authorities this month froze military aid to Ukraine as they await formation of a new government by Robert Fico, who won elections on promises to stop supplying weapons to Kyiv. Without referring directly to any of those developments, Yellen said its vital, not just for Ukraine, for the U.S. and the EU to continue their support. We cannot allow Ukraine to lose the war for economic reasons when it has shown an ability to succeed on the battlefield, Yellen said. Our assistance is crucial to our collective national security interests and to our shared goal of a free and prosperous Europe and world. In addition to addressing the so-called Eurogroup, Yellen is also slated to hold talks with other senior European Union officials. Shes expected to press them on ways to harmonize economic policies toward China. The Biden administration has been seeking ways to reduce the reliance of U.S. supply chains on China by building trade ties with countries seen as more reliable, while also denying Chinas access to advanced technologies by limiting certain investments into the country by U.S. firms. A senior Treasury official, speaking with reporters en route to Luxembourg, said they expect extensive discussions on outbound investment restrictions. Yet Yellen also emphasized in her speech that such policies should be targeted and aimed at safeguarding our national security interests, and not at disrupting broader economic ties. We do not seek to decouple our economy from Chinas, she said. We seek to diversify, to de-risk. Yellen hailed ongoing work between the U.S. and the EU to strike a so-called critical minerals agreement. The pact which could be finalized at a U.S.-EU summit in Washington later this month would allow minerals mined or processed in the EU to be used in the production of electric vehicles made in the U.S. that qualify for tax credits. This joint work to fortify the supply of the digital economys most essential input will mitigate shocks like the one we experienced during the pandemic, and it will bolster the resilience of our economies for years to come, Yellen said. With assistance from William Horobin, Kamil Kowalcze and Alessandra Migliaccio. 2023 Bloomberg News. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Smoke rises from buildings, viewed from the Israeli side of the border, as the Israeli military conducts a bombardment in northern Gaza on Oct. 15, 2023.. (Alexi J. Rosenfeld, Getty Images/TNS) JERUSALEM (Tribune News Service) It was Tuesday, three days after Hamas militants launched the deadliest attack on Israel in over 50 years, slaughtering hundreds of civilians and sparking a ferocious Israeli response, that Nabil Al Shurafa realized that helping his mother leave Gaza was going to be a difficult task. Until that morning, the American-born Al Shurafa, a 39-year-old medical researcher in Chicago, thought his 66-year-old mother, Naela, naturalized in the late 1990s and a 20-year resident of Camarillo, would be able to leave the enclave, despite the relentless Israeli bombing campaign. Shes a U.S. citizen, he said. Everyone was saying, No way would they keep U.S. citizens here. Hours earlier, his mother, who had been visiting Al Shurafas sick grandmother in Gaza since the beginning of the month, had made her way to the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. There, she and dozens of other dual passport holders hoped to escape before Israels anticipated ground incursion. She received an exit stamp on the Palestinian side and was about to depart when four missiles landed in the no-mans land between Gaza and Egypt, severing the last feasible escape route from the 25-mile-long strip which has long been under a strict blockade by both Egypt and Israel. She needed 10 minutes, thats all, and she would have been out, Al Shurafa said. For an agonizing hour, he thought his mother was dead. But then she was able to call family members and she told them she was returning to her familys house in Gaza. She kept telling me, Nabil, call your representatives, call everyone. I have to get out, he said. I knew then my work was cut out for me. Al Shurafas mother is one of reportedly hundreds of Palestinian Americans stranded in Gaza, frantically seeking ways to leave amid an Israeli counteroffensive and siege that has left Gazans with no fuel or electricity and little water. Meanwhile, the death toll from Israels air attacks increases. On Sunday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza reported 2,670 dead and 9,600 wounded. For Al Shurafa, its been a series of days and nights with little sleep, dialing embassies and consulates in the Middle East during his nighttime hours, and a frenetic series of daytime calls to the offices of senators, congressmen and anyone else who might be able to help. Its getting to the point where I have to ask her if she has enough food, Al Shurafa said. Israeli Americans too have found themselves stranded in Israel because of canceled flights and disruptions to travel from the ongoing conflict. But while the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem has facilitated charter flights to European destinations and a ship transfer from the Israeli port of Haifa to Cyprus, Palestinian Americans say they have received little guidance, even as the threat of an all-out invasion in Gaza appears imminent. My brother, hes now in Gaza, and hes called the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, in Cairo, everywhere, said Mohammad Yaghi, a 60-year-old IT engineer and business owner in North Carolina. They barely answer, and if they do they tell him no one knows anything, or to wait, or they just hang up. Yaghi once had a similar experience himself. In 2006, when Israel launched its offensive to retrieve Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier kidnapped by Hamas, it took 11 days to be evacuated from Gaza, he said. We suffered back then with the embassy, he said. In general, they always handle Palestinian Americans like were third-class citizens; not even second class. When Hamas militants on Oct. 7 crossed the border into Israel and massacred civilians or abducted them in kibbutzes, towns and at an outdoor music festival, the casualty and kidnapping list included U.S. citizens. With Israel seeking to retaliate and the U.S. calling for the return of American citizens held captive, officials have now also begun stepping up their public mention of the dangers facing Palestinian Americans. In remarks to the press after meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sissi on Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken reiterated what he called Israels right to defend itself, but also said, The way that Israel does this matters. It needs to do it in a way that affirms the shared values that we have for human life and human dignity, he said, taking every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians. Egypt was the sixth country Blinken has traveled to in the last three days as he has urgently sought to enlist Arab support to contain the war and secure the freedom of hostages. He has also added the escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza to the agenda. Reaching Palestinian Americans in the besieged Gaza Strip, though, is far more complicated than helping out Americans and Israeli Americans seeking to leave Israel. In his talks, Blinken has urged the opening of humanitarian corridors to help Palestinians who have been ordered by Israel to flee the northern half of the Gaza Strip. Because of the Israeli siege, the only available route out of Gaza is through Rafah in the south. The corridors could also be used to funnel humanitarian aid into Gaza after Israel cut off supplies from the region of 2.3 million Palestinians. Those safe passages, however, have yet to materialize. U.S. officials have told Palestinian Americans in Gaza to attempt to reach the Rafah border crossing. But that crossing so far has not been opened. Egypt, which usually keeps it sealed, claimed it did open it from its side but that the other side was being blocked by Hamas and as the result of Israels air campaign. Egypt is generally reluctant to permit the entry of Palestinians because it fears a refugee crisis and also doesnt want to be seen as an accomplice to Israels forced displacement. But Sissi is under U.S. pressure to allow Palestinian Americans and other foreign nationals through. U.S. officials have repeatedly insisted American citizens, many stranded when U.S. air carriers canceled flights, should sign up through a State Department internet portal to indicate their desire to leave the region. U.S. citizens are also routinely encouraged to sign up with a government website ahead of travel so that they can be contacted in case of emergency. But it was only a few days ago that the option to register as a citizen in Gaza on crisis intake forms was even offered, Al Shurafa said. Youre the U.S. government. Were supposed to be allies with Israel. You cant tell them to just stop bombing for few hours and get our citizens out? Al Shurafa said. Our own people are running from our allies. Such feelings of neglect have fed into a complicated attitude many Palestinian Americans have toward their adopted home and its Middle East policy. Many feel shunned because of the U.S. governments ongoing support for Israel, including some who immigrated to America before Israel was founded in 1948. That feeling has only increased in the last eight days, said Jenan Kawash, a 32-year-old event producer and public relations specialist in New York City whose cousin is a U.S. green card holder visiting Gaza and who also has two other relatives who are U.S. citizens. There will never be a collective American effort to help Americans with hyphenated Arab identity, specifically a hyphenated Palestinian identity. Thats pretty clear, she said. She and other Palestinian Americans have taken to social media, she added, to raise awareness of what is happening in Gaza. Though she appreciated the freedoms afforded to her by being in the U.S., she nevertheless said that it could never feel like home. I know that I have the ability to say these things, that my parents stayed quiet so as to assimilate, she said. But now we realize that the sense of safety is an illusion, so we have the willpower to be vocal about it. Bulos reported from Jerusalem and Wilkinson from Washington. 2023 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. The White House said Sunday it plans to try this week to win congressional approval of a new weapons aid package for Ukraine and Israel that would total significantly more than $2 billion. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CBS's "Face the Nation" show that President Joe Biden will lobby Congress this week on the need for the package to be approved as Ukraine's 20-month war with Russia slogs on with no end in sight and Israel appears set to launch a ground invasion of Gaza in response to the Oct. 7 shock attack on Israel by Hamas militants. Biden also could lump in aid to support Taiwan and control migration at the southern U.S. border with Mexico in hopes of winning passage. Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday in Jerusalem after meeting with Israeli officials that the Senate would move quickly to approve more aid for Israel. "We will work to move this aid through the Senate ASAP, and the Israeli leaders made it clear to us they need the aid quickly," Schumer said. One of the UNRWA schools housing displaced people in Gaza on Oct. 8, 2023. (Loay Ayyoub/for The Washington Post) Amid a spiraling crisis in Gaza, where deadly Israeli strikes have forced more than 1 million residents from their homes, one key U.N. agency in the enclave has been working and now struggling to protect and support civilians. The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, warned that it is no longer able to provide humanitarian assistance in Gaza. We are on the verge of collapse, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said Sunday. Gaza is being strangled and it seems that the world right now has lost its humanity, the agencys commissioner general said. The Israeli siege of the enclave has sapped its essential resources, Lazzarini said, adding that not one drop of water, not one grain of wheat, not a liter of fuel has been allowed into the Gaza Strip for more than a week. Without those supplies, the agency cannot continue its operations, he said. Almost 2,700 people have been killed in Gaza, and about 9,600 have been injured in Israeli strikes, following the deadly Oct. 7 rampage by Hamas that killed more than 1,400 people in Israel. In Gaza, nearly a million have been displaced with 400,000 sheltering in overwhelmed and ill-equipped UNRWA school buildings, the agency said. Here is what you should know about the U.N. agency vital to Gaza: What is UNRWA? Officially titled the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA was established in 1949 by a U.N. resolution to carry out direct relief for Palestinian refugees following the Arab-Israeli War of 1948. The agency is unique in terms of its long-standing commitment to one group of refugees, it notes on its website. It provides education, health care, social services and other humanitarian aid to registered Palestinian refugees. It also runs schools for more than half a million students. The agency has specific eligibility guidelines for who can register: A person whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948, and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict. The descendants of male Palestinian refugees are also eligible, according to the agencys website, which says about 5.9 million Palestinians are eligible for its services. UNRWA aid and services are available in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan and Lebanon. There are about 2 million people in the Gaza Strip and 3 million in the West Bank, according to a 2022 U.S. estimate. Most of the funding for UNRWA comes from voluntary contributions from U.N. member states, with a small portion of its financing coming from the U.N.s regular budget. Its mandate has been repeatedly renewed in the absence of a solution to the Palestine refugee problem, it says. The U.N. renewed the mandate in December until June 2026. Some 1.7 million people received lifesaving humanitarian assistance in 2021, the agency said. Where are UNRWAs schools? UNRWA operates 706 schools in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Around 543,000 Palestinian refugee children were enrolled in UNRWA schools for the 2021-22 year. The U.N. schools provide Palestinian refugees with free basic education that follows the host authorities curriculums and textbooks supplemented with UNRWA-materials on human rights, the agency says on its website. The schools aim to ensure students become confident, innovative, questioning, thoughtful, and open-minded, to uphold human values and tolerance, proud of their Palestinian identity and contributing positively to the development of society and the global community, the agency says. The schools also provide mental health and psychosocial support to students in Gaza who are directly exposed to life atrocities in the area, it said. Since the conflict broke out, at least 400,000 displaced people in Gaza are now sheltering in UNRWA schools and buildings, Lazzarini said in a statement Sunday, adding that the buildings are not equipped as emergency shelters. We have reports in our logistics base, for example, where hundreds of people are just sharing one toilet, he said. On Oct. 8, the UNRWA reported that one of its schools sheltering displaced families was directly hit by a strike. What is UNRWA saying about the war? Giving an update to raise the alarm on his agencys inability to fulfill its mission on Sunday, Lazzarini said, an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding under our eyes. The way the siege in Gaza is being imposed by Israel is nothing else than collective punishment, he said, criticizing the bombing of civilian infrastructure in densely populated areas and the lack of access to essential resources such as fuel, food, electricity and water in Gaza. Unless essential supplies can move into Gaza, aid workers will not be able to continue humanitarian operations, Lazzarini said. The agency said in a Saturday statement that its shelters in Gaza were no longer safe. It called on Israel to protect all civilians sheltering in UNRWA premises across the Gaza Strip, including in northern Gaza, where Israels military has told more than a million Palestinians to evacuate south though doing so has proved difficult and dangerous for many. UNRWA said that many Gazans will not be able to flee the area, particularly women, children, and the elderly and disabled. They have no choice and must be protected at all times, it added. Wars have rules, the agency said. Civilians, hospitals, schools, clinics and United Nations premises cannot be a target. Lazzarini said that the agency has lost 14 staff members in the conflict, including teachers, engineers, guards, psychologists, an engineer and a gynecologist. More than 13,000 staff members were displaced, and the team relocated to Rafah, in southern Gaza, after the evacuation directive. He called for a suspension of hostilities for humanitarian reasons without any delay to spare the loss of more lives. I beg you, save Gaza. Its dying. ... There are children, elderly and adults for whom I cannot provide, Rawya Halas, a UNRWA staff member, said in a video released by the agency Sunday. I am UNRWA. Im the head of this shelter, and I cant offer them anything. Migrants walks along the border fence before surrendering to U.S. Border Patrol agents in Yuma, Ariz. (Eric Thayer/Bloomberg) The Biden administration on Monday agreed to a court settlement that would bar U.S. authorities from referring migrant parents traveling with children for criminal prosecution for illegally entering the United States, a largely condemned practice used by the Trump administration. If approved by a judge, this provision in the proposed settlement would remain in effect for eight years, preventing an administration during that time from restoring a zero tolerance prosecution policy. That Trump policy forced the separation of thousands of parents and children at the southern border in 2018. The proposed settlement, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in San Diego, would wrap up a class-action lawsuit that compelled the Trump administration to reunite thousands of family members forced apart during his term. The settlement also would grant temporary benefits to separated families such as housing aid, work permits, health care and a fresh start for their asylum claims. The fact that someone enters the United States unlawfully is not a basis for future separations, a senior Department of Justice official said, speaking on condition of anonymity before the final settlement was filed. Its only if somebody has committed a serious felony offense that future separations will be permitted. And a mere immigration offense doesnt qualify. U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw, a Republican appointee who declared the separations unlawful in 2018 and has overseen family reunifications, would determine whether to approve the settlement after a hearing, possibly in December. The number of separated families has varied over the years because Trump officials separated parents and children without a plan to reunite them, and some were deported. The Biden administration created a task force with the goal of reuniting any families who remained apart, and said they found at least 700 of them. In all, officials said Monday, more than 4,000 children were separated from parents, including 290 U.S. citizen children. Government officials had earlier said as many as 5,500 children were taken from their parents during President Donald Trumps term, which ended in 2021. Trumps zero-tolerance policy has been widely viewed as a fiasco. Federal agents said they separated families to prosecute parents for the misdemeanor crime of crossing the border illegally, but many were never charged. Parents were sent to immigration detention facilities and children as young as 6 months old were placed in shelters. Some were separated for months, some for years. The zero-tolerance policy unfolded in a chaotic few weeks from May to June 2018, but later investigations determined that families were separated throughout Trumps term. The proposed settlement filed Monday would cover his entire tenure as president. The San Diego lawsuit is separate from about 40 other suits and hundreds of administrative claims that some families have filed against the federal government seeking compensation for their ordeals. Negotiations that would have paid parents and children $450,000 each to settle those cases imploded in 2021 after the amount was leaked to the media, and critics said families should not be paid for breaking the law. President Joe Biden abhorred the family separations and upon taking office created a special task force to reunite those who were still separated, but he considered that amount excessive, the White House later said. The Justice Department has agreed to settle some of those cases in recent weeks, including a federal lawsuit in Florida that paid $315,000 in total to a father and son from Honduras who were separated for two months. The amounts for the other lawsuits have not been disclosed. Under the terms of the San Diego settlement, migrant families would be eligible for three-year work permits, six months of government-paid housing assistance, plus medical care and counseling. Their deportation orders would be wiped clean, and they would have a new chance to apply for humanitarian protection via an asylum officer instead of in the more adversarial U.S. immigration courts. The government will provide legal aid through nonprofits. Migrant families who were deported or returned home voluntarily would be allowed to travel back into the United States and would be allowed to ask if they can bring other household members with them, according to the proposed settlement. Under the settlement some families may still be separated in the future, in extreme cases, such as if the parent posed a danger to the child or national security, has a medical emergency or an outstanding criminal warrant. But the settlement would set rules for how those separations should occur, ensuring the children cannot get lost in the system and that migrants lawyers are notified about the separations so they may challenge the decision. Although nothing can make these families whole again or erase from history the harm our government intentionally inflicted on little children, even babies, the settlement is a critical step forward, said Lee Gelernt of the American Civil Liberties Union, the lead counsel in the 2018 lawsuit, in a statement. The settlement looks both backward and forward, providing benefits to families separated under the Trump administration as well as safeguards barring a future administration from reenacting this barbaric policy, Gelernt said. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland called the family separations under Trump shameful. This agreement will facilitate the reunification of separated families and provide them with critical services to aid in their recovery, Garland said in a statement. Advocates for immigrants expect the proposal to cover approximately 3,900 families involved in the lawsuit. Officials were unable to determine the precise number because the government separated the families without a tracking system in place to reunite them. The proposed settlement opens the lawsuit to include families excluded from the reunification effort for other reasons, such as because they were legal guardians, not parents, or suspected of crimes. The Trump administration had argued the zero-tolerance policy was necessary because parents were crossing the border illegally with children in hopes of winning quick release into the United States. Courts have generally limited the time the government may detain minors to 20 days, so most families are released to await an asylum hearing in the backlogged immigration courts, which can take years. Trump, the front-runner in polls for the Republican nomination for president in 2024 despite facing multiple criminal charges, has said he would not rule out restoring his zero-tolerance policy for families, if reelected. When you say to a family, that if you come, were going to break you up, they dont come. And we cant afford to have any more, Trump told journalist Kaitlan Collins at a CNN town hall in May. Nick Miroff contributed to this report. Joseph Eaton, born in Alabama in 1847, joined the U.S. Naval Academy in September 1863, in the midst of the Civil War. Eatons 40-year military career sent him around the world on a variety of naval assignments. (Facebook) DRACUT, Mass. (Tribune News Service) Though decorated Naval officer, Rear Adm. Joseph Eaton, served his country for four decades during the late 1800s and early 1900s, he was laid to rest in Dracut without military honors following his mysterious death in April 1913. After recently learning this troublesome fact, members of the Dracut Historical Society including Kent Varnum, the groups president and Eatons distant relative decided to finally give Eaton the recognition he deserves. Its a wrong we can right, said Varnum, who shares a sixth great-grandfather with Eaton. On Sunday, 110 years after Eatons death, his gravesite at the Oakland Cemetery off Mammoth Road was surrounded by people who gathered to give Eaton the military honor he never received. It really is tragic that a man of that stature did not have a military honor, State Rep. Colleen Garry said while addressing ceremony attendees. I think with this final military honor he truly will be able to rest in peace. Eaton, born in Alabama in 1847, joined the U.S. Naval Academy in September 1863, in the midst of the Civil War. Eatons 40-year military career sent him around the world on a variety of naval assignments. Among his duties was serving as the commanding officer of the USS Resolute during the Spanish-American War, where he fought in the battles of Santiago Harbor and Manzanilla Bay. Varnum said Eaton also served as a scientist and was involved in the Darien Expedition, a survey in Panama, commissioned to plot a route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Eaton retired in 1905, having earned a variety of medals, including the Civil War Campaign Medal, the Spanish Campaign Medal, and the Sampson Medal with Bronze Bar for his actions as a commander of the USS Resolute. Varnum said the highest active duty rank Eaton attained was captain, but he was promoted to rear admiral upon his retirement based on his meritorious command of a ship at war. So how could such an accomplished Naval officer be skipped over for a proper military burial? The answer rests in Eatons personal life, which was shrouded in tragic and bizarre happenings that would tantalize any true-crime enthusiast. To help paint a picture of the story, Varnum references the Strange Company blog, titled The Admiral Faces a Mutiny. Varnum said the information in the blog can be found in a book about Eatons ill-fated post-military life by John Gallagher, titled Arsenic in Assinippi. The blog states Eaton married Mary Ann Varnum in 1871. Their only child died at the age of 13. The tragedy continued in 1906, about a year after Eatons retirement, when Mary Ann Varnum grew ill and passed away. Following her death, Mary Ann Varnums nurse, Jennie May Ainsworth and her two children, moved in with Eaton. Eaton was led to believe that Ainsworth was a widow, but in reality she was still married. It was only when she obtained a divorce that Eaton learned the truth. Despite a rocky start to the relationship, Ainsworth and Eaton tied the knot only weeks after the divorce was finalized. The newlyweds then settled in Assinippi. Theirs was no happy home though. As Dracut School Committee Member Rebecca Duda said on Sunday, it was a tumultuous marriage. In August 1909, the couple announced the birth of their son. It was later learned the child was not biologically theirs, but was an illegitimate newborn the Eatons had secretly adopted. The baby died shortly after birth, and Ainsworth proceeded to accuse Eaton of poisoning the infant. The claims against Eaton were eventually dismissed after an autopsy displayed no signs of poison or foul play. The harsh accusations made against her husband resulted in Ainsworth moving out for a period of time. Despite their troubles, the couple eventually reconciled and Ainsworth returned home. The relationship continued to sour though, as Ainsworth spread rumors publicly about Eaton, describing him as a murderous drug addict and womanizer. On March 7, 1913, Eaton began suffering intense stomach pains and vomiting. The next day, his wife called their doctor to say he was dead. A tremendous amount of arsenic was uncovered in Eatons body. Playing on her claims that Eaton was a drug addict, Ainsworth insisted her late husband had killed himself with the poison. Despite the claims, she was arrested for her husbands murder. Following a trial, a jury returned a verdict of not guilty, and Ainsworth walked free. As a result, a hitherto highly-respected Naval officer not only suffered an agonizing death, but was posthumously branded a libertine, a drunkard, a drug addict, a murderer, and finally a suicide, the blog states. Kent Varnum and his wife, Barbara Varnum, explain that Eaton did not have any biological family around to request a military burial, and Ainsworth seemingly had no desire to pursue one. The person who was burying him is going to be arrested for his murder, Barbara Varnum said. It makes sense that she didnt really want to advertise it. Kent Varnum added it was a very hasty funeral. Moving him from Assinippi to Dracut, by way of Boston, was a logistical nightmare, he said. And nobody notified the military authorities he died. As a result, Eaton was laid to rest in the Oakland Cemetery, and there were no military honors, no flag for the casket, and not even a prayer by a minister, as Roy Corbeil, of the Dracut Historical Society pointed out. Though a lifetime has passed, the Dracut Historical Society and members of the Dracut community proved its never too late to right the ship when it involves honoring a member of the military. During the ceremony, St. Joseph the Worker Shrine Sacristan David Lazu provided a prayer, and blessed Eatons gravesite. The event concluded with a 21-gun salute by the American Legion. During the ceremony, Kent Varnum, who also served in the U.S. Navy, provided a thorough history of Eatons service. This is so overdue, Kent Varnum said afterward. (Eaton) kind of got lost in the shuffle with the trial and all the allegations. He didnt really get to have a say for himself. ... I think its good that everybody got to hear what kind of guy he really was and what kind of things he did. (c)2023 The Sun, Lowell, Mass. Visit https://www.lowellsun.com/ Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Caretaker Finance Minister Dr Shamshad Akhtar on Sunday underlined Pakistans commitment to promoting economic prosperity and fostering global financial cooperation. The minister participated in a high-profile meeting of IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva with the finance ministers from the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan (Menap), as well as state bank governors in Marrakesh, Morocco. During the meeting, the discussions revolved around critical global economic matters and the collaborative initiatives aimed at enhancing financial stability. Dr Akhtar also met the senior managing director of the World Bank, Axel van Trotsenburg, during her visit to Morocco for the annual meetings of the World Bank and IMF. The discussion focused on financial stability, revenue generation and economic progress, signifying a commitment to bolstering economic cooperation. She also met officials of Moodys and S&P credit rating agencies and reiterated the governments commitment to transparency to foster investor confidence and maintain a positive credit rating for Pakistan in global financial markets. Economic ties with UAE Separately, Dr Akhtar and UAE Minister of State for Financial Affairs Mohamed bin Hadi Al Hussaini pledged to enhance economic cooperation and investment between the two countries. In a meeting between the ministers of Pakistan and the UAE on the sidelines of the global event, the discussion centered on enhancing economic ties, exploring opportunities in finance and revenue, and promoting investment for mutual economic growth. Both sides expressed optimism regarding the potential for working together to advance bilateral economic ties. In another blow to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Monday, former federal minister Farrukh Habib announced that he was parting ways with the party. He also announced joining the Jahangir Khan Tarin-led Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP). Habib, who was one of the pioneer members of the PTI's student organisation, announced the decision during a press conference at the Jahangir Tareen-led Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party's (IPP) head office in Lahore alongside the party's top leadership on Monday. According to details, the former federal minister was arrested from Gwadar along with his four brothers and as many other people. Farrukh Habibs brother approached the Lahore High Court (LHC) following his arrest for his recovery. Three-year suspended sentence for sibling who had stash hidden in duvet Gardai laon in an operation seizing drugs that were linked to Barry Young The brother of a notorious gang boss has escaped prison after being caught with drugs worth over 8,000 and nearly 6,000 in cash. Lee Young, whose brother Barry was jailed at the Special Criminal Court this year, had previously pleaded guilty after the money and drugs were found at his home. While Lee got a suspended sentence after sticking to his bail conditions, his younger brother Barry got 11 years last July. Lee Young (41) was described in Sligo Circuit Court as being a drug addict who had no assets of his own and occasionally sold drugs to fund his own habit. The garda said in court he was at a low level in the drugs trade and that was very remorseful and motivated to sort out his drugs addiction. He had begun drinking as a teenager and a stint in prison had exposed him to heroin which had been addicted to for several years. Barry Young is serving 11 years for drug offences His defence counsel Eugene Deering said Young did not have the trappings of wealth that one would normally associate with the supply of drugs. He did not have a car and lived in his aunts house and had no assets, according to a Garda witness. While the cash and drugs were found at the house, there were no other items such as tick-lists or weighing scales to suggest Young was dealing drugs. It was also heard how Young had been on a detox programme, with a Garda witness saying in court it was the best he had seen Young looking. Members of his family, including his parents, had come to court to support him. Young previously admitted two counts of possession of drugs for the purposes of sale or supply at Garavogue Villas, Sligo, on January 31, 2019. Gardai found 751g of cannabis resin worth 4,506, 47.62g of cocaine worth 3,334 and 548 of heroin at his home. Drugs haul Cash with a total value of 5,745 was found in a duvet and Young immediately admitted responsibility for the drugs but denied selling. During the case, Youngs counsel pointed out how he had done everything asked of him, completed 200 hours of community service and produced clear urine samples. Judge Keenan Johnson imposed a three-year term, suspended for five years with a number of conditions. The seized cash was divided between Social Ground Force, Sligo Cancer Support Centre, SVP and Sligo Tidy Towns. Judge Johnson said that drugs were a vicious circle and were a scourge on the community. The gang of Lees younger brother, Barry, was also described as a significant scourge in the Special Criminal Court last July. Gardai laon in an operation seizing drugs that were linked to Barry Young Barry Young manipulated other people into moving drugs and cash and then called in dangerous criminals to terrify anyone who defied him. It was referred to in court how Barry Young used household names to enforce debts but that he preferred to sort things out through negotiations. It was heard Barry Young had been looking for a way out of the drugs trade and was servicing his debt after getting in too deep, but he was using the same tactics to force others to carry out his dirty work. Barry Youngs criminal gang had been targeted by a Garda operation since 2019, which ended in his arrest in January 2022 at Dublin Airport as he was about to take a flight to Spain. The operation identified 20 gang members some of whom have already being through the courts and led to 500,000 worth of drugs and 110,000 in seized cash. His attempts to move cash through a Madrid bank account were uncovered and raids were carried out at properties in Alicante involving officers from the Criminal Assets Bureau targeting his operation. While in prison, Barry Young became aligned to group which in turn allowed him to grow from a local drugs gang to one with national and international connections. His time in prison effectively allowed him to make more contacts to expand his business and take over business from the Irwin gang in Sligo. By the time of his arrest, however, it is believed his debts to the Dublin-based criminal Mr Big, meant he was completely at the mercy of that gang boss. Ms Murphy died while out jogging along the Grand Canal in Tullamore, Co Offaly on January 12, 2022. A 33-year-old man accused of killing primary school teacher Ashling Murphy has pleaded not guilty to her murder. Jozef Puska replied "not guilty" in Slovakian, when the charge was put to him this afternoon. A jury will now be sworn in before Mr Justice Tony Hunt. Ms Murphy died while out jogging along the Grand Canal in Tullamore, Co Offaly on January 12, 2022. The 23-year-old was a teacher at Durrow National School at the time of her death. She was also an accomplished traditional Irish musician. Mr Puska, with an address at Lynally Grove in Tullamore, Co Offaly, appeared before the Central Criminal Court shortly before 4pm this afternoon when he was formally arraigned. With his black hair slicked back into a ponytail, and wearing a grey jacket, open necked white, striped shirt and grey chinos, Mr Puska stood in the dock for the arraignment. The interpreter stood in the dock beside him. The clerk of the court read out the charge, which was then translated into Slovakian by the interpreter, and the accused pleaded "not guilty" in Slovakian. Judge Hunt said a jury will now be selected for the trial, which is expected to last four weeks. The case will be prosecuted by senior counsel Anne-Marie Lawlor, while defence counsel is Michael Bowman SC. He has been charged and will appear before Dun Laoghaire District Court this morning, according to the Garda Press Office Gardai arrested a man in his 40s today in relation to an alleged aggravated burglary and false imprisonment and he is due before a court sitting later today. He will appear before Dun Laoghaire District Court this morning, according to the Garda Press Office. Another man previously appeared in court on 29 September charged in connection with the alleged break-in. Michael Royal, 47, who has an address in Meath Place in Dublin 8, was charged with aggravated burglary that took place on August 21 in Monkstown in which an elderly man also injured during the incident. He appeared on Dun Laoghaire District Court on September 29. A third man in his 20s was arrested on 28th September 2023 as part of this investigation and was released without charge. Indigenous Voice campaigners were flying Aboriginal flags at half-staff across Australia on Sunday as a mark of their disappointment. Proponents had hoped that the Voice's advice would lead to better government service delivery and improved outcomes for Indigenous people. "In terms of exactly what the precise steps forward are from here is a matter that we need to take some time to work through and I think people can understand that," Marles told Australian Broadcasting Corp. "Coming out of this referendum there is a greater call for action on closing the gap," Marles added. Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said his government remained committed to improving Indigenous welfare to close the eight-year gap in average life expectancies between Indigenous Australians and the wider community. Every state and mainland territory apart from Australian Capital Territory voted against a proposal to enshrine in the constitution an Indigenous Voice to Parliament to advocate on behalf of the nation's most disadvantaged ethnic minority. Australia will look for new ways to lift Indigenous living standards after voters soundly rejected a proposal to create a new advocacy committee, the deputy prime minister said Sunday. Accounting for only 3.8 percent of the population, Indigenous Australians have a suicide rate twice that of the national average, are more likely to be incarcerated than other Australians and suffer from diseases in the remote Outback that have been eradicated from other wealthy countries. Latest counting on Sunday found more than 60 percent of voters had opposed the Voice. There was majority support for the Voice in Outback polling booths in the Northern Territory. That part of the country has Australia's highest proportion of Aboriginal residents and the result suggests the Voice was popular among Indigenous Australians. Many Voice supporters accused opposition lawmakers of spreading misinformation and disinformation about the Voice. Marcia Langton, an Indigenous academic who helped draft the Voice proposal, said opposition leader Peter Dutton through his "no" campaign had "cemented racism into the body politic." "The nation has been poisoned. There is no fix for this terrible outcome," Langton wrote in The Saturday Paper. Dutton accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of dividing Australians by holding the referendum. "This is the referendum that Australia did not need to have. The proposal and the process should have been designed to unite Australians, not to divide us," Dutton said. Albanese blamed Dutton's campaigning against the measure for the failure. No referendum has ever succeeded without support of the major parties. "When you do the hard things, when you aim high, sometimes you fall short," Albanese said after conceding defeat. Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney, who is Aboriginal, told Indigenous people that the recent months of referendum campaign had been "tough." "But be proud of who you are. Be proud of your identity," a tearful Burney said after conceding the referendum had been rejected. "Be proud of the 65,000 years of history and culture that you are a part of. And your rightful place in this country. We will carry on and we'll move forward and we will thrive," she added. It is the second time that Australians have rejected a referendum that would have included recognition of Indigenous people in the constitution. When a referendum was last held in 1999, Australians rejected adding a preamble to the constitution -- an introduction that carried only symbolic and no legal significance -- acknowledging that Indigenous Australians had inhabited the country "since time immemorial" and were "honored for their ancient and continuing cultures." Australians have now rejected 37 referendums since the constitution took effect 122 years ago. Only eight have succeeded and none since 1977. Mother-of-three Rebecca McEnroe (44) was sentenced after she admitted another four thefts at stores in south Dublin The Swan Centre in Rathmines was targeted by Rebecca McEnroe A serial shoplifter with more than 100 prior theft convictions has been jailed for six months. Mother-of-three Rebecca McEnroe (44) was sentenced after she admitted another four thefts at stores in south Dublin. Judge John Hughes imposed the sentence at Dublin District Court. McEnroe, of New Court Apartments, New Street South, Dublin 8, pleaded gulity. The court heard she stole 552 worth of cosmetics from Hickeys, Harolds Cross Road, in two incidents, alcohol worth 204 from Tesco, Terenure Road North; and another 103 worth of products from a shop at Swan Centre, Rathmines. The offences happened between July 2022 and June this year. McEnroe had 129 prior convictions 110 for theft. The accused had suffered from addiction issues for many years and this was a catalyst for her offending, her solicitor Aoife McNicholl said. She was now making efforts to get on top of that and hoping to get into treatment. The judge gave her a nine-month sentence but suspended the final three months for two years. The conditions are she completes rehab and any aftercare and stays out of the premises on the charges. The operation was led by France and involved a wide range of law enforcement authorities. A Europol operation enlisted in Irelands help as it identified more than a thousand victims of agricultural labour exploitation. Last month, Europol and the European Labour Authority supported Europe-wide coordinated action days against human trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation on farms. The operation was led by France and involved law enforcement authorities, including police, immigration and border guards, labour inspectorates and tax authorities from 17 countries. Spain, Italy, and Romania were co-leaders of the operation, while it also involved Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, Albania, Moldova, United Kingdom, and Ukraine. Some 6,847 officers from national authorities took part in operational activities on the ground. The action week resulted in 38 arrests, with 43 human traffickers identified and 20 new criminal investigations initiated. Of the 1,583 workers found to have been subjected to exploitation and labour violations, more than 350 of them were identified as possible victims of human trafficking. Meanwhile, the operation identified 687 employers committing labour violations and 156 new inspections by labour authorities were initiated. Speaking about the operation, Europol said: Behind the figures reported by the participating law enforcement and labour authorities are an equal number of persons affected by this ruthless exploitation. Workers in the agricultural sector, especially those in low-skilled and informal roles, face a substantial risk of exploitation, which is even higher for those working in seasonal jobs. It said that possible examples of labour exploitation could include violating laws on minimum wages or working hours, mismatches between payments and the employees actual working hours, to the employment of minors and practices such as debt bondage or the withholding of identity or travel documents. It also warned jobseekers to be aware of fake job advertisements, adding: These deceptive schemes involve posting enticing job listings, often from fake companies, or misrepresenting working conditions to attract victims. The targets are usually people in precarious economic situations seeking to improve their financial situation, with many advertisements offering opportunities abroad to further isolate victims. This scam typically unfolds in three steps: the publication of attractive job adverts on social media and recruitment websites, followed by contact with applicants via messaging apps, and finally, the arrival of victims at workplaces with poor conditions that do not even remotely resemble what was promised. To protect themselves, jobseekers are advised to conduct background checks on the company and recruiters, scrutinise job details for unrealistic claims, and look out for grammar and spelling errors in the adverts. Jack Guiney, who has a previous conviction for drink-driving from Wexford District Court, allegedly drove the wrong way down a California highway A former Wexford hurling star is currently in custody in California after an alleged drink-driving incident which allegedly saw him drive on the wrong side of a highway resulting in a collision with an oncoming car near the Golden Gate Bridge. Jack Guiney (30), with a current address in Berkeley, California, was arrested and brought to Marin County Jail where he was remanded in custody in lieu of $50,000 bail. Guiney was detained on felony counts of intoxicated driving and causing injury and driving the wrong way on a highway causing injury. The incident got under way at around 12.15 am (local time) on Friday morning. The California Highway Patrol received a report of a Land Rover driving erratically on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. A short time later, the Land Rover is alleged to have travelled south in the northbound lane and crashed head-on into a Honda CRV. Paramedics rushed to the scene and the driver of the Honda was taken to hospital for treatment of what are understood to be minor injuries. Guiney was arrested and currently remains in custody at Marin County Prison. The former hurler has a previous conviction for drink-driving from Wexford District Court, arising from an incident at Parnell Street in Wexford town in November 2017. Judge Brian OShea handed the Rathnure man an 800 fine and a three year driving ban. This conviction was subsequently appealed, but Guiney did not turn up at court for proceedings on at least six separate occasions having moved to San Francisco where he works in sales, resulting in the appeal being struck out on November 15, 2022. In sporting terms, Guiney had continued to play hurling with Tipperary GAA Club in San Francisco and in August of 2022, he sensationally returned and was named in the starting 15 for Rathnures crucial relegation battle with Cloughbawn. The ex-UDA men met up and became good friends when they spent time behind bars together in HMP Maghaberry Julie-Ann Osborne was found stabbed to death two days after Christmas Sue Ellen Clifford was murdered by her uncle John Clifford in June 1988 Loyalist knife-killer Andy Robinson was best buddies with child-murderer and rapist John Clifford, the Sunday World has learned. The ex-UDA men met up and became good friends when they spent time behind bars together in HMP Maghaberry, having both been convicted of heinous offences. Robinson was recruited into the UDAs notorious Hallion Battalion based on Belfasts Shankill Road by UDA boss Gary Smickers Smith, while sex pervert and child killer Clifford had joined the loyalist terror group in Coleraine. A former prisoner who served time for firearms offences alongside the UDA pair said this week that they loved boasting and swapping stories about which of them had committed the most evil acts. Robinson and Clifford were the most hated men in the jail. They were detested by other prisoners. And Robinson was suspected of keeping himself right with the screws, he said. On one occasion he complained that a top loyalist was stealing his medication and he got the man moved over it, although there wasnt a word of truth in it, said the former loyalist prisoner. But their close jailhouse friendship in Braid House came a cropper when a man, mopping the floor in the cell block, threw a bucket of boiling water over Robinsons back. Known as The King of the Sex Perverts, a screaming Robinson was rushed to the prison hospital before being transferred to Bann House, a special wing for at risk prisoners. Andy Robinson is confronted on the street A former loyalist prisoner who witnessed the attack told us this week: Andy Robinson was badly scalded in an attack which was ordered by a loyalist lifer from mid-Ulster. Boiling water ripped the skin off him, leaving blisters all over his back. Prison officers came running to Robinsons assistance, but there wasnt a single prisoner who lifted a finger to help him. They were all disgusted at what he had done to that young woman, he said. At that time, Robinson and Clifford were the most despised prisoners in Maghaberry, but they were really well suited to each other and spent a lot of time together. Last week the Sunday World revealed how evil Robinson (45) who spent 20 years behind bars for stabbing his fiancee nearly 50 times was back on the streets. Julie-Anne Osbornes cousin, Jennifer Osborne, was furious that killer Andy Robinson was released Julie-Anne Osborne (22) the mum of Robinsons baby daughter was savagely attacked by the UDA man while she slept in her bed two days before Christmas, while recovering from a previous beating he had given her just days before. At his trial in 2002, a jury heard how Robinson had stabbed Julie-Anne so severely he severed her spinal cord. Judge Michael Nicholson sent Robinson to jail for life, recommending he spend a minimum of 20 years behind bars. Robinsons release from prison was confirmed last week after he was spotted waiting for a bus on Belfasts Woodstock Road. The killer was filmed by Jennifer Osborne, a cousin of his young victim. She asked him: Do you remember me Robinson? And she added: We meet again. Julie-Ann Osborne was found stabbed to death two days after Christmas Later Jennifer revealed how she last saw Robinson on the day he was sent to jail for life for murdering her cousin. I spat on him as he stood in the dock and I knew Id never forget his evil face, she said. Robinsons jailhouse buddy Clifford is still behind bars. In 1989, Clifford was jailed for life for abducting and raping his eight-year-old niece Sue-Ellen. He later murdered the youngster before dumping her body on a railway track. Sue Ellen Clifford was murdered by her uncle John Clifford in June 1988 Clifford later appeared in court again charged with sexually abusing a boy two years before he murdered his niece. The trial judge told Clifford the boy who was then an adult had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Along with Robinson, Clifford liked to boast to other prisoners that they were both senior members of the UDA and other loyalist prisoners suspected them of taking heroin. Five years ago, Clifford was allowed out of prison to attend an appointment, but was posted missing when he was due to return. He was arrested by police a few days later. Octogenarian serving time in the Dochas Womens Prison for sickening abuse of animals despite ban An 89-year-old persistent abuser of animals is now Irelands oldest female prisoner after she was finally jailed over a shocking litany of cruelty offences. A series of horrific images show the inhumane conditions in which Mary Kelly, from Boley, Co Laois, kept her dogs in her run-down farmhouse. The pensioner had been banned for life from keeping animals in October 2021 after ISPCA inspectors found nine dogs stacked in crates at her home soaked in urine and faeces two of which had a broken jaw and a broken hip. But instead of complying with the order, when inspectors visited the property in June 2022 they found seven more dogs covered in faeces and urine. On that occasion, inspectors initially found two dogs, one tied to a chair and another in a cat carrier with no food and water. They were alerted to the others by barking. The dogs at Mary Kellys home were caged in terrible conditions On entering the property, they found five more dogs in an unlit room full of faeces ... and mouldy food. Kelly was described as confrontational, and when her pre-existing ban was explained she said it didnt matter to her. In September 2022, she was sentenced to 10 months in prison but avoided serving a single day after filing an appeal and being hospitalised for ill health. She later publicly cursed sentencing judge Desmond Zaidan, saying: Im cursing him day and night thats all, but whether my curses will catch up with them, I dont know. At her latest appearance on September 26, prosecutor Senator Barry Ward, SC, told the court that two officers from the ISPCA would testify to a further 19 breaches of Judge Desmond Zaidans banning order, and further cruelties to animals. ISPCA officer Fiona Conlon told the court: Weve had a lot of dealings with her and have had 15 years of contact over concerns about animals. The dogs at Mary Kellys home were caged in terrible conditions There were fractured jaws, broken legs, [dogs] covered in urine, and they had to be kept at the vets for a number of days. She tends to keep the dogs in small cages, and we had to take seven horses in 2020, she said, as she handed in a sheaf of photographs to the court. Honestly, these photographs, exclaimed the judge. We also took hens that were emaciated and full of lice, said Ms Conlon. The dwelling house is not suitable there is a failure to clear rubbish, and you cant even move in the house, she added. Have you ever come across worse conditions? asked the judge. Mary cant stop, said Ms Conlon, who then listed the six dates between February 2021 and August this year when the ISPCA removed a total of 18 dogs and an unspecified number of hens. Judge Zaidan responded: Its a credit to the ISPCA and the accompanying gardai who have kept an eye on this persistent re-offender. Shes had no respect for the law, the ISPCA, the gardai and, more importantly, for the animals, he said. As far as this court is concerned age is not a bar to go to prison, particularly when this person has no regard for the law, he said. This is serious abuse, and when the officer was describing the conditions I was wincing up here, and I had the disadvantage of seeing the photos as well seriously, looking at these photos is enough to give you post-traumatic stress, he said. The dogs at Mary Kellys home were caged in terrible conditions There are continuous aggravating features, and Im left with no option but a custodial sentence is the only way to protect animals from her abuse, he said. The judge then sentenced Kelly to five months on four of the sample breaches of the Animal Welfare Act (S58), and ordered they be served consecutively. He set bail at 500 but also ordered an independent surety of 5,000, to be approved by a superintendent, and also banned a male, who was described in court as enabling her, from entering her land or house, and directed he stay at least one mile away. Sources have since confirmed to the Sunday World that Kelly has not taken up bail and has been remanded in the custody of the Dochas Womens Prison for the past two weeks. She is not due for release until December next year when she will be 90-years-old. Reflecting on the case, ISPCA Senior Inspector Fiona Conlon commented: This has been a prolonged and frustrating case due to the defendants ongoing refusal to comply with instructions, including a court order, to stop keeping animals. But the ISPCA, Gardai, and Ann Cooke (from Kildare Animal Foundation) have persevered because many animals have suffered at the hands of this woman and she needs to be stopped. Regardless of her age, she has to comply with the law just the same as anyone else. I was asked in court by the defence solicitor whether I thought their client should be living in those conditions, my response was that she had a choice but the animals did not. "My MND is changing fast. I am now using a feeding tube and will soon have to use a mobility travelator to get out and about. Charlie Bird extends hand of friendship 'to all those in dark places' Charlie Bird has said today he is now using a feeding tube as he issued an update on his health. The former RTE news correspondent was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease in 2021. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, he wrote that he is now using a feeding tube. "My MND is changing fast. I am now using a feeding tube and will soon have to use a mobility travelator to get out and about. Mr Bird also announced that he is to be honoured by the community in Murrisk, the village in Co Mayo lying at the foot of Croagh Patrick. In April 2022, Mr Bird famously climbed Croagh Patrick for Climb with Charlie. The charity event raised more than 3.6m for the national suicide prevention charity Pieta House and the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association. A permanent home in Murrisk is being given to a stone to mark the success of Climb with Charlie. He said in a video posted to X, alongside his dog Tiger, that his goal now is helping Elephant In The Room, a project organised by broadcaster and former rugby player Brent Pope. It encourages people and organisations across the country to support mental health charities and address the elephant in the room by having open conversations about mental health. "This great project is about mental health and raising awareness for people in dark places, he said. Mr Bird said a sculpture of an elephant decorated and signed by U2 bass guitarist Adam Clayton raised more than 14,000 for Samaritans Ireland at auction and one signed by the Irish mens rugby team had raised more than 16,000. His own elephant is also set to be auctioned off and was designed by Dublin artist Niall OLoughlin, who drew a picture of Mr Bird and Vicky Phelan together on the summit of Croagh Patrick ahead of Climb with Charlie. My lovely elephant painted by Niall OLoughlin is a tribute to the work of the Samaritans, has an image of Vicky Phelan and is signed by President Michael D [Higgins]. "I would love if some corporation or person put in a big bid. Remember all funds raised go to Samaritans. On November 4, my elephant along with Samaritan volunteers will be greeted by the Lord Mayor of Dublin at the Mansion House. "All my efforts now will focus on extending the hand of friendship to people in dark places. I love you all, he said. Mr Drennan was a final year student of Journalism and New Media at the University of Limerick Tributes continue to be paid to journalism student Joe Drennan (21) who died following a hit-and-run incident in Limerick on Friday as his funeral details have been announced. Mr Drennan was a final year student of Journalism and New Media at the University of Limerick and he was also the Editor-in-Chief of Limerick Voice, the student paper. Gardai continue to appeal for witnesses to the collision which occurred on the Dublin Road in Castletroy, Co Limerick on Friday at approximately 9.50pm. The collision involved two cars and a pedestrian Mr Drennan who was later pronounced deceased at University Hospital Limerick. The driver of one car failed to remain at the scene, while the driver and passenger of the other car were treated for non-life threatening injuries at University Hospital Limerick. Joe Drennan Mr Drennan will lie in repose at his home in Knocknagad, Mountrath, Co Laois on Monday and Tuesday evening before his funeral takes place at 3pm on Wednesday afternoon at St Fergals Church Camross. He is described in a death notice shared to RIP.ie as the beloved son of Tim and Marguerite, much loved brother to his adoring sisters Sarah, Ava and Marie, brother to Richard, John and Kieran, uncle to Ben and Evie. "Joe will be sadly missed by his nannie Vera Bennett, and all his wonderful aunts, uncles and cousins, and Joes very wide circle of friends. Tributes continue to be paid to the talented student who was destined for a bright future. He has been described as someone with a smile that could light up a room, with one mourner writing: It is the worlds loss that he has been taken too soon. Another said Mr Drennan was such a wonderfully bright light. Dr Kathryn Hayes, the course director of the BA in Journalism and New Media programme at University College Limerick, today told Morning Ireland that Mr Drennan had just turned 21 and had his whole life ahead of him. "Joe Drennan was such a popular, much-loved member of our student body here in UL, she said. "His journalism colleagues are absolutely devastated. I have been meeting with the over the weekend, many of them have been gathering together in Limerick. "Theyre a very tight-knit group, theyre in their final year and they work on a number of projects together. She said Mr Drennan was the Editor-in-Chief of the student paper and described him as an incredible leader and great colleague. He was an inspirational student really, so creative and had so many ideas. He was very passionate. Dr Hayes said there is such shock and sadness in the community. "He only recently turned 21, he had his whole life ahead of him and a really bright career. Dr Hayes said: Were all just really, really devastated in UL for Joe, for his family and for all his friends in the journalism class. We will be supporting them today and counselling will be offered, of course." Dr Hayes said academic staff have been meeting with Mr Drennans classmates throughout the weekend. Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris has said the University of Limerick community is grieving after receiving such devastating news this weekend. "Sending my sincere sympathy and thoughts to all in UL and to Joes family and friends on this devastating news, Mr Harris said. "I know the university community is grieving and we grieve with them at this very sad and difficult time. Alan Walsh, (26), from Rhebogue Meadows, collapsed and died in the compound of a lithium mine in Perth, Western Australia Alan Walsh, (26), from Limerick, who collapsed and died in Australia on September 28th this year The mother of a young Limerick man, who died suddenly in Australia, thanked two charities who are helping to arrange to repatriate her sons body home to the Treaty City. On September 28th last, Alan Walsh, (26), from Rhebogue Meadows, collapsed and died in the compound of a lithium mine in Perth, Western Australia, where he had been working. Mr Walshs heartbroken mother, Anne Walsh, said she wished to thank the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust and The Claddagh Association Inc, which is based in Australia, for assisting them in arranging for her sons remains to be brought home to his family. Alans remains are expected to be repatriated back to Ireland tomorrow, Tuesday October 17th. Only for them it would be a rollercoaster of stress, and anything I can do to help them, I will, Ms Walsh said. Alan Walsh, enjoying a recent fishing excursion in Bali, Indonesia A number of online fundraisers have been established to accept donations to help with Mr Walshs funeral costs, and funds will also go directly to the charities helping the Walsh family. Everyone wants to help, which is nice to see. Once the charities get most of it, I will be so glad because they are brilliant, so so brilliant...You dont think you need them until you are thrown into this nightmare that we are in now. A phone call in the early hours of the morning which informed her of her sons death filled her with the biggest dread. Its awful, its a call you think you're never going to get at 3am in the morning. We are in the nightmare now and we just have to get through it. Alan was only 26, and he was due to meet me in Tenerife in four weeks time for my 60th birthday, he had his flights booked and I was counting down the days, Ms Walsh said. Her only son had ventured off with a group of friends to Australia in the hope of work and adventure in March 2020 just before the lockdown. They worked on farms in Brisbane and Sydney, before Alan went to work in a lithium mine in Kalgoorlie. He was out in the compound where they (workers) stay and he didn't feel well for three days, one of his friends told me, Ms Walsh explained. He went to the medic and he collapsed and they did CPR on him for about 90 minutes before they got a doctor to him. He died on the compound. I still don't believe it, its like a nightmare that Im waiting to wake up from. Ms Walsh praised her family, neighbours and friends, who have rallied around us, and we are blessed for that. She described Alan as someone who got on with everyone he met, he was a harmless messer. Ms Walsh said her family is waiting for answers about Alans death, which they hope will come with the results of an autopsy: We don't know how he died yet, because we have to get the coroners report. A GoFundMe page established by Mr Walshs boss, Derek Hall, and his cousin, Amy Lynch, has so far raised over $85,000 AUD (51,000 Euro). Anther fundraiser organised by Mr Walshs neighbour Geraldine Kirwan has so far raised 1,420. And, a third GoFundMe page, established by a partner of one of Mr Walshs siibings has so far raised 1,520. Paying tribute to Mr Walsh, his boss Derek Hall said he had been a much-loved family member, loyal friend and work mate. He was 26 years old, surrounded by the best group of mates on-site and living his best life, with the world at his feet, Mr Hall added. Funeral arrangements will be announced later. Mr Walsh is survived by his parents Anne and Mike, and sisters, Grace and Michelle. Weather Eye with John Maunder The following data sets and comments are from the climate4you.com website developed by Professor Ole Humlum who is a Danish Professor Emeritus of Physical Geography at the University of Oslo, and Adjunct Professor of Physical Geography at the University Centre in Svalbard. The website climate4you.com which he edits endeavours to provide an ongoing climate data website which is updated monthly. It uses data from significant national and global sites such as NASA, WMO, NOAA, UEA, NCDC, IPCC, BoM, SIDA, UAH, NIWA. The objective of the website is to provide information on meteorological and climatological issues of general and specific interest. All temperature diagrams shown below have 1979 as the starting year. This roughly marks the beginning of the recent period of global warming, after termination of the previous period of global cooling from about 1940. In addition, the year 1979 also represents the starting date for the satellite-based global temperature estimates (UAH and RSS). For the three surface air temperature estimates shown (HadCRUT, NCDC and GISS) the reference period differs. HadCRUT refers to the official 'normal WMO period 1961-1990, while NCDC and GISS as reference instead uses 1901-2000 and 1951-1980, respectively, which results in higher positive temperature anomalies. For all three surface air temperature records, but especially NCDC and GISS, administrative changes to anomaly values are quite often introduced, even for observations several years back in time. Some changes may be due to the delayed addition of new station data, while others probably have their origin in a change of technique to calculate average values. It is clearly impossible to evaluate the validity of such administrative changes for the outside user of these records. In addition, the three surface records represent a blend of sea surface data, moving ships or by other means, plus data from land stations of partly unknown quality and unknown degree of representativeness for their region. Many of the land stations have also moved geographically during their existence, and their instrumentation changed. The satellite temperature records also have their problems, but these are generally of a more technical nature and therefore correctable. In addition, the temperature sampling by satellites is more regular and complete on a global basis than that represented by the surface records. It therefore is realistic to recognise that the temperature records are not of equal scientific quality. At the same time the big efforts being put into all five temperature databases should be gratefully acknowledged by all interested in climate science. On this background, the present website has decided to operate with three quality classes (1-3) for global temperature records, with 1 representing the highest quality level: ******* Global monthly average lower troposphere temperature since 1979 according to University of Alabama at Huntsville (UAH), USA. This graph uses data obtained by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) TIROS-N satellite, interpreted by Dr. Roy Spencer and Dr. John Christy, both at Global Hydrology and Climate Center, University of Alabama at Huntsville, USA. The thick line is the simple running 37 month average, nearly corresponding to a running 3 yr average. The cooling and warming periods directly influenced by the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo volcanic eruption and the 1998 El Nino, respectively, are clearly visible. Reference period 1991-2020. Last month shown: August 2023. Last diagram update: 12 September 2023. The satellite records (UAH MSU and RSS) Global monthly average lower troposphere temperature since 1979 according to University of Alabama at Huntsville (UAH), USA. This graph uses data obtained by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) TIROS-N satellite, interpreted by Dr Roy Spencer and Dr John Christy, both at Global Hydrology and Climate Center, University of Alabama at Huntsville, USA. The thick line is the simple running 37 month average, nearly corresponding to a running 3 year average. The cooling and warming periods directly influenced by the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo volcanic eruption and the 1998 El Nino, respectively, are clearly visible. Reference period 1991-2020. ********************************************************** For further Infomation about a wide range of weather/climate matters see my new book "Climate Change ... A Realistic Perspective The fall of the weather dice and the butterfly effect". Google "Amazon" Global monthly average lower troposphere temperature since 1979 according to Remote Sensing Systems (RSS). This graph uses data obtained by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) TIROS-N satellite, and interpreted by Dr. Carl Mears (RSS). The thick line is the simple running 37 month average, nearly corresponding to a running 3 yr average. The cooling and warming periods directly influenced by the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo volcanic eruption and the 1998 El Nino, respectively, are clearly visible. Click here for a description of RSS MSU data products. The HadCRUT surface record The NCDC and GISS surface records Global monthly average surface air temperature since 1979 according to the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), USA. This time series is calculated using land surface data from the Global Historical Climatology Network (Version 2) and sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies from the United Kingdom MOHSST data set and the NCEP Optimum Interpolated SSTs (Version 3). The thick line is the simple running 37 month average, nearly corresponding to a running 3 year average. Base period: 1901-2000. Global monthly average surface air temperature since 1979 according to the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), at Columbia University, New York City, USA. GISS is a laboratory of the Earth-Sun Exploration Division of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and a unit of the Columbia University Earth Institute. The thick line is the simple running 37 month average, nearly corresponding to a running 3 yr average. Discussions of reasons why the GISS temperature estimate differs from other estimates can be read by clicking here, here and here. Base period: 1951-1980. Global monthly average surface air temperature since 1979 according to Hadley CRUT, a cooperative effort between the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research and the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit (CRU), UK. The thin line represents the monthly values, while the thick line is the simple running 37 month average, nearly corresponding to a running 3 year average. An introduction to the dataset has been published by Brohan et al. (2005). Base period: 1961-1990. According to Sung, China has made such intentions "crystal clear" through official statements released over the last few days. During a call with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing is "ready to work with Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries to support the just cause of restoring Palestinian national rights." "Beijing will try to project the image of a diplomatically active China without playing a leading role in the peace talks," Wen-Ti Sung, a political scientist at the Australian National University, told VOA by phone. But rather than taking concrete steps to facilitate a potential ceasefire, some experts characterize Zhai Jun's upcoming trip as a "listening tour," during which Beijing will try to prove that it is participating in efforts to promote a ceasefire but in reality, it has no intention to "add more stakes to the outcome." Some analysts say the Chinese envoy's trip to the Middle East shows that Beijing is doing what it thinks international powers should do during major global conflicts. "China is essentially copying what other big powers have done, which is to engage regional countries and travel around the region," said Raffaello Pantucci, senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. "The only way to create the necessary conditions for a political settlement is to put an end to the violence as soon as possible and to promote a cooling of the situation," Zhai said, adding that he will focus on coordinating with all parties since the conflict erupted. In an interview with CCTV, Zhai said China has reiterated that "force is never the way to solve problems" and responding to violence with violence will only create a vicious cycle of revenge and create more obstacles to a political solution. Zhai didn't offer further details about his travel plans. In a sign of possibly deepening its involvement in the ongoing conflict between Israel and militant group Hamas, China's special envoy for the Middle East, Zhai Jun, will visit "relevant countries in the region" next week to facilitate a ceasefire and potential peace talks, China's state broadcaster CCTV reported on Sunday. No itinerary was released. And in the CCTV interview, China's Zhai said the UN has "an irreplaceable and important role to play" in the question of the Palestinians, and China will "support the United Nations in taking the lead" in providing humanitarian assistance. "China wouldn't play a leading role in the peace process but it wants to provide support in a very ambiguous way," Sung said. Apart from lacking the willingness to mediate a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, Pantucci thinks China also doesn't have the leverage to fulfill the task. "China is not forcing any country to come to the table for a peace talk because they don't have the leverage to do that and also because they don't want to," he told VOA. "It's difficult to tell other countries to sit down and make peace. This could create enemies and the Chinese don't want to do that." The Chinese envoy's trip comes as Israel prepares for a massive ground assault in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, where the deadline for more than one million residents in northern Gaza to evacuate to the south has expired. Israel has vowed to retaliate against the deadly rampage carried out by Hamas fighters on Oct. 7, killing at least 1300 civilians and abducting dozens of Israelis and foreign nationals as hostages. Israel has carried out airstrikes against targets in Gaza, killing around 1,900 people. China's Sympathy for Palestinians While China tries to play a more visible role in the Israel-Hamas conflict, some analysts say the Chinese foreign minister's latest statement reflects Beijing's sympathy for the Palestinians. "China has become slightly more direct in demonstrating sympathy for the Palestinians," Sung from ANU told VOA, pointing to the readout of Wang's call with his Saudi counterpart. In the official readout, Wang emphasized that "China believes that the historical injustice against Palestine, which has lasted for more than half a century, cannot continue." "When China only mentions justice be done to the Palestinians and make no mention of Israel's sufferings, this is Beijing signaling that their sympathy lies mainly with the Palestinians," Sung noted. Some Israeli observers view China's statements as proof of their biased stance on the conflict. "Beijing is proactively anti-Israel at our darkest hours," Tuvia Gering, a researcher for the Diane and Guilford Glazer Israel-China Policy Center at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, told VOA by phone. "On the bilateral level [with Israel,] they are friendly, but on the international level, China joins the Arab world." Sung says he thinks China's supposed sympathy for Palestinians may damage its relationship with Israel. To Pantucci, it remains unclear how Israel might react to Beijing's "slight tilt" toward the Palestinians. "There is the risk of China alienating the Israelis a bit more, but I think the big question is how much the Israelis will want to keep engaging with the Chinese," he told VOA. "My guess is that they will because Israel is very pragmatic at the end of the day." China Tries to Maintain a Balance Despite Beijing's repeated emphasis that "injustice to Palestine" needs to be resolved and that implementing the "two-state solution" is crucial to peace in the Middle East, Pantucci says he thinks China is still trying to uphold its non-intervention policy in public. "The world is currently torn between countries saying Israel is doing terrible things in Gaza and countries saying Hamas is evil," he told VOA. "The Chinese are trying to tread a line between [ the two sides,] and the approach is probably appreciated by large parts of the world. If Beijing decided to stick their oar in, it doesn't necessarily help to resolve the conflict." While many countries might welcome China's non-intervention approach toward the Israel-Hamas conflict, Sung says he thinks Middle Eastern states will also observe whether China's actions match its promises. "Judging from the repeated statements from China about how the UN and the Arab League should be taking the lead, I think it's not very likely that Arab countries will find Chinese involvement to be significant enough to truly endear them to the Arabs," he said. There are now 4000 more native plants in the ground thanks to a recent native bush restoration effort around Katikati. Hundreds of worms were counted recently by western BOP students on Katikati farms, with 400 sausages consumed during the project. A collaborative initiative by Project Parore and Bay Conservation Alliance - BCA - saw local students involved in planting and other soil and conservation related activities during educational field trips. The trips ran over seven days on private land where farmers are restoring areas of native bush and also included a site behind the Western Bay Museum. Project Parore is a catchment group that works in partnership with funders, community and landowners on projects to enhance the environment from Aongatete to Athenree. This year, Project Parore will plant approximately 100,000 native plants to stop erosion and sediment from reaching Tauranga Harbour. Alongside the planting, the students rotated through activities on the impact of sediment and pest trapping on our natural areas and waterways. The students also learned how to carry out a simple visual soil assessment, checking the porosity and structure of the soil and counting the worms to show how healthy it is. These assessments were done on different parts of the farm to compare muddy areas, paddocks compacted by animals and under fencelines. The students found that healthy soil with more worms were mainly on the edge of paddocks or less used parts of the farm. Of the 171 native earthworms in New Zealand, many are endangered or completely missing from areas they once thrived in. Restoring biodiversity on farms with more native bush areas will help to enhance habitat for our underground native creatures. Supporting Project Parore with their planting was a great way to share with our schools the great work that is happening out there in the conservation space on farms," says BCA education manager Janie Stevenson. "When students have the chance to take part in it, they know they have a role to play in the big environmental issues. It can be as easy as setting a trap and planting a tree." More than 400 students from local schools attended, including Pahoia, Whakamarama, Omokoroa No.1, Omokoroa Point, Te Puna, Waihi Beach Schools and Katikati College. The senior primary and intermediate students are part of the BCA Conservation Education Programme which provides an in-class lesson and field trip on a different ecosystem each term. A highlight of the field trips for some students was a visit to the Western Bay Museum, nibbles from eels at the Silson property and a quick look at Ray Thompsons prized hot rod at his farm. This programme will run again next year with a special focus on wetlands. Astonishing tales of love, loss, and regret, an artist's unwavering sacrifice for their magnum opus, a vengeful bride seeking justice, and a mysterious, red-eyed creature lurking in the shadows of a darkened bedroom. These are just a handful of the captivating stories awaiting audiences when the top 16 films of the International Youth Silent Film Festival - IYSFF - New Zealand National competition premiere at the NZ Awards Final which returns to Baycourt Community & Arts Centre in Tauranga on Thursday, November 2. Organisers are also delighted to announce that for the first-time ever admission to the annual awards ceremony will be free but you must register to secure your spot. To reserve up to 10 seats at the final simply register online at www.baycourt.co.nz/iysff The task of selecting the finalists from a remarkable pool of 34 submissions fell on the shoulders of an illustrious judging panel, made up of six current and former film industry professionals. With deliberations now done and dusted, the Kiwi organisers are proud to announce the top 16 films for 2023 are: Atelophobia Zoe Samson (Tauranga Girls' College, Tauranga) Be Careful What You Wish For Heidi Korhonen, Clair Atkinson, Charlotte Tanner, Iris Williams (Christchurch Rudolf Steiner School, Christchurch) Crowded Thoughts Savahna Munro (Tauranga Girls' College, Tauranga) Crystals in the Shadows Ella Lambert (Tauranga Girls' College, Tauranga) Elf on the Shelf Katy McLeod, Lucy Rout, Faenza Ricardi (Otumoetai College, Tauranga) Girl in Canvas Maea Wikohika (Tauranga Girls' College, Tauranga) Her Tearani Wikohika, Yasmin Austwick, Sienna Burns (Tauranga Girls' College, Tauranga) I Didn't Do It! Finn Nicholson, Isaac Ussher, Isaac Upreti, Mila Goodwin, Harvey Oemcke, Billy Sadd, Indie Woolsey, Isla Mills, Pippi Cleland, Temaia Ihaia (Pahoia School, Tauranga) Lover's Waltz Leah Swindells (Tauranga Girls' College, Tauranga) Mother's Day Surprise Daisy Cooper (Homeschool, Te Puke) Mums Star Malachi Steel (Home school, Whakatane) Red Eyes Shakeel Roa, Corey Bates (Tauranga) Shelf Life Amelia Walshe, Sophie Hampson, Esther Schubert, Max Norwood (Te Herenga WakaVictoria University of Wellington, Wellington) The Journey Ben Spies, Toby Holwill, Loki Wardlaw, Lachlan Muriwai (Kapiti College, Paraparaumu) The Last Goodbye Jayden Dent, Drew Bryan, Benji Wallis, Zen Miyanami (Otumoetai College, Tauranga) The Swap Bede Miller (St Andrews College, Christchurch) Taking on the mantle of this years head judge is filmmaker, producer, and the first-ever IYSFF NZ winner Micah Winiata - Ngati Ranginui, Ngati Porou - who was tasked with the responsibility of selecting this years top three films. The annual IYSFF competition challenges Kiwi filmmakers, aged 22 and under, to create a three-minute silent film set to one of 10 musical scores specifically composed for the festival. This unique fusion of music and visuals takes viewers on an unforgettable journey, relieving filmmakers from the pressure of recording dialogue and audio. This year's finalists are all competing for a cash prize pool of $3,000, which will be awarded to the top three films. These awards are generously sponsored by Priority One Tauranga (first place), Tauranga City Council (second place), and Bay of Plenty Actors Studio (third place). Additionally, there are also six 'Best Of' category awards up for grabs. In an exciting twist, the New Zealand competition organisers have also introduced the new Kohungahunga Fledgling Filmmaker Award, which celebrates the artistry of filmmakers aged 12 and under and is proudly sponsored by Film Bay of Plenty. The top two films, along with the new Kohungahunga Fledgling Filmmaker winner, will all automatically represent New Zealand at the annual IYSFF Global Awards in Portland, Oregon, USA, scheduled for June 2024. Experiencing the NZ Awards for the first time live in 2022 helped cement for me what an incredible opportunity this competition provides for young Kiwi creatives. The IYSFF is an important date in our annual program, and we're delighted to continue our support into its eighth year and beyond, said Baycourt manager Reena Snook. Since its Aotearoa debut at Baycourt in 2016, five Kiwi films have received international acclaim at the Global Awards. Notable victories include Crash, The Climb, and Overexposed," clinching first-place awards in 2023, 2022, and 2019, respectively. "The Chase" secured second place in 2018, and "A Random Act of Kindness" claimed third place in 2019. With such a rich history, Reena is confident the 2023 IYSFF NZ National Finalists will continue this tradition of excellence. Get ready for an exhilarating night as we announce all of this years awards live at finals ceremony, hosted by The Breeze Tauranga morning show stars, Jolene James and Max Baird, and IYSFF NZ 2022 first and second place winners Ben Young and Sveta Hackett. We cannot wait to share our filmmakers incredible stories and creativity with everyone. It will be a night of pure excitement, so don't miss this opportunity to witness the next generation of filmmaking talent in New Zealand! added Reena. The IYSFF NZ Nationals 2023 is proudly delivered with the generous support of major sponsors Priority One Tauranga, Tauranga City Council, and Bay of Plenty Actors Studios, and major media partner MediaWorks. The International Youth Silent Film Festival New Zealand National Awards Final 2023 is on at Baycourt Community and Arts Centres Addison Theatre on Thursday, November 2, 7pm. Entry is free, but registrations are essential. To reserve your seats - 10 max - please register online at www.baycourt.co.nz/iysff A pawfect Christmas gift is on its way. The Police Dog Trusts annual calendar - starring some of the New Zealand Polices canine talent - is open for pre-orders now, with deliveries from early November. Proceeds from sales of the $20 calendar go to support the work of the Police Dog Charitable Trust. The calendar also acknowledges the talented officers behind the lens - entries for the calendar are a competition for Police forensic photographers. Senior Constable Alex Stammers from Tamaki Makaurau Police is this year's winning photographer with his stunning photo of Auckland patrol dog Primo swimming on the trail of a suspect during a training session (pictured above). Inspector Todd Southall, chair of the Police Dog Trust and national coordinator of New Zealand Police Dogs, says the image conveys more than simply a dog in water. "Alex captured Primos wide-eyed focus and sense of purpose. The track doesnt stop when an offender reaches water. Depending on circumstances, a police dog and handler will at times follow. Alex is pleased Primos photo is a winner, and that several other images of his also feature in the calendar. A police officer since 2004, he started relieving as a forensic photographer in 2011 and became a full-time photographer three years later. I had some ideas of what Id like to create for the calendar and worked with our local dog section to make it happen, he says. A Highly Commended certificate is awarded to Senior Constable Jane Dunn, Wellington, for her creative and technically challenging image of six very attentive Dunedin-based dogs. Eco, Leo, Wrex, Vann, Paikea and Harlie are this year's calendar cover stars and also feature inside, along with several other images by Jane. A second Highly Commended certificate is awarded to Senior Constable Charlotte Dyndul, from Christchurch, for her photo of happy Labrador detector dog Rivet, surveying the view from the Port Hills. Rivet by name and a riveting photo for March of Christchurch detector dog Rivet atop Canterburys Port Hills. A Highly Commended photo by Senior Constable Charlotte Dyndul, Christchurch. More than 200 entries were received from 12 photographers. The chosen photos feature dogs training in a variety of situations from high country search and rescue and tactical work through to training sessions detecting drugs and firearms. Naturally there are also some puppies at play. In addition to the 13 main month images (January 2024-January 2025) there are 26 smaller images spread throughout the year, and a pullout poster featuring the winning shot of Primo on one side and a unqiue puppy image on the other side. All the money raised from calendar sales goes to provide extra support to New Zealand Police Dog Section, including buying imported genetics or helping buy imported dogs to strengthen the diversity and genetic breeding lines of the New Zealand Police Dog Section. Calendars can be bought online through The Cop Shop for $20 - click on the calendar cover below to order yours (link is external) Six attentive Dunedin patrol dogs wait with baited-breath for the next 'commandment' outside a local Taieri Church. This creative and technically challenging cover image resulted in a Highly Commended certificate for Senior Constable Jane Dunn, Wellington. -Police Ten One Magazine. What am I going to do with my life? This is a question that not so many people have to ask themselves. But what would you do if the circumstances take you to that position? SunLive brings you the story of a person who lost everything in a country not so far from here and whose life decisions brought him to start over. Despite all the circumstances, after a couple of months of living homeless, and thanks to the support of organisations like Takitimu House, and StudyLink, He is now studying, living on his own and giving a bit back, helping other men facing the same situation he used to be in. For security and privacy purposes, we will call him Mike, and this is his story. Mike was a guy, who after living in Tauranga, decided to explore new opportunities overseas and with his family made their move to Australia 25 years ago. Friends, his own business and quality time with his mum and sister were part of Mikes life in that country. Unfortunately, wrong decisions took Mike to explore the world of illegal substances with no idea of what is going to happen. Mike arrived in New Zealand on September 22 last year after being deported for drug position charges. Remembering all the things he lost is probably the most difficult thing, he says, even when he has the chance to start over here in Tauranga. Everything I worked for during 25 years, all that I used to call home, my family, all my life, I lost absolutely everything the day I was deported to New Zealand, just with a backpack and the clothes I was wearing, and all those memories are probably my biggest nightmare. Is not easy to rebuild your life from scratch when you are a man in your 50s, but Mike is a good example that never is too late, and after living in hell you can reach paradise again. I came here with nothing but a couple of clothes a small backpack and some money I received from Immigration Australia. In the beginning, it was so confusing, I stayed one night in Auckland and then I caught a flight into Tauranga, and then I spent four days in a hotel. After that, a girl from probation came and helped me to get my IRD, my drivers licence, and finally, she found me a place at Takitimu House. His time at Takitimu House was not long and after six months of sharing the space with other men and the team led by Annemarie Angus, he found his track and started building a life again. He is a really good guy and after all his experience we feel really lucky to having him back but this time helping the guys who still here, says Takitimu House operations manager Annemarie Angus. After losing everything, and leaving behind a dark part of his life, Mike starts walking through a new pathway and he has some accomplishments to share with his mates at Takitimu House, one of those is a two-year Diploma he is advancing at Toi Ohomai, and starting living by his own again. Thanks to My Forever Home programme through accessible properties I have a place to call home again, and at this moment I am halfway through my Mental Health Management Diploma at Toi Ohomai, says Mike. When SunLive interviewed Mike, he was preparing to start work and sharing his process with the guys at Takitimu House. On a weekend basis, Mike is developing a way to help other people like himself find their track to a life in society. Despite Mike's not being allowed to go back to Australia, he keeps constant communication with his mum and sister and waits for the day to see and hug them again. Five MPs who will serve communities across Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty are in Wellington or heading there, as the wheels of Parliament slowly start to turn again. Tauranga Citys Sam Uffindell, Bay of Plentys Tom Rutherford, Coromandels Scott Simpson and Rotoruas Todd McClay all National candidates elected on Saturday nights results will be at this mornings caucus meeting, followed by a lunch to reunite, after being in their electorates for the campaign. ACT List MP for the Bay of Plenty at large, Cameron Luxton, has already joined Tom in Wellington to start the induction process for new MPs. Sam Uffindell, who spoke SunLive before heading to Wellington, says the plan is for all elected member of the National Party to assemble in Wellington for tomorrow mornings caucus meeting and for a caucus lunch to catch up with everyone after the election as everyone hasnt seen everyone for a while as weve all been back in our electorates working hard [campaigning]. Ive never come in after a General Election it was a by-election my first time, says Sam, who is not sure on what to usually expect at the start of an election term, but says it will be good to see everyone again and to welcome in a whole bunch of new faces as well. Newly-elected MP for BOP Tom Rutherford told SunLive hes been busy today getting security tags, understanding what the arrangements are for MPs and how they work, how the parliamentary and electorate offices work and just really getting greater understanding of the machine that is Parliament. Tom Rutherford is all smiles after the big win on October 14. Photo: Merle Cave/SunLive. How does the 26-year-old feel? Its very surreal this a huge privilege. I know Ive got high expectations from the Bay of Plenty community for me to be a strong representative here theyve given me strong support to be here so Im going to be working incredibly hard both here in wellington and locally in the BOP to ensure we can be the best place in NZ to live. ACTs Cameron Luxton told SunLive the induction process is three weeks long, with some of the process done remotely online after this week. Theres a lot to learn and to understand. My feeling is one of gratefulness that people have put their trust in ACT to get us here to deliver on what weve been campaigning on. Asked what hes aiming to achieve in the Beehive, Cameron says he first needs to wait until ACT has cemented a coalition agreement with National before going into that topic. We need to cement that agreement ...but we have got things we have campaigned on which we are sticking to, which we need to ensure we can get done. ACT's Cameron Luxton. Sam and Tom will be joined Scott Simpson, who won the Coromandel electorate for the fifth consecutive term for the National Party. Hes been snapped holding a Thank you sign, acknowledging the Coromandel electorate and thanking them for the result. The Coromandel electorate covers the Coromandel Peninsula, and stretches down into the Western Bay of Plenty district, encompassing Waihi Beach, Katikati, Omokoroa and Matakana Island. Meanwhile, Todd McClay has retained his position as MP for Rotorua for the National Party for a sixth term with his electorate win on Saturday night, after taking the seat in 2008, 2011, 2014, 2017 and 2020. The Rotorua electorate takes in both Rotorua and Te Puke, which is part of the Western Bay of Plenty district. Todd McClay. Todd was already hard at work yesterday sitting around a table of the National Partys top delegates at leader Christopher Luxons house in Auckland for a strategy meeting. As such, Sam says the wider Bay of Plenty region has a strong and united voice heading to Parliament. Youve got a strong and united voice. Tom and I are good friends and will work very closely. All are good a good bunch As of this morning, the Electoral Commission results show the National Party has won 875,234 votes or 38.99 per cent in Saturdays General Election. This equates to National having 50 seats in Parliament so at this stage National will need form a coalition with ACT New Zealand which won 11 seats in the election, and still possibly pull NZ First into the collation agreement if either National and/or ACT cannot secure another two seats by November 5, when all special votes will be counted. Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell with his family on election night. A 19-year-old is facing charges after being arrested for allegedly doing vehicle burnouts in the Bay of Plenty. On Saturday, October 14, police received a number of calls about the incident on West End Road, Ohope Beach around 7am. A man was located near the vehicle and blew well over the legal limit for breath alcohol, says a police spokesperson. "The vehicle has been impounded by police and the man has been charged with sustained loss of traction and driving with excess breath alcohol. "Thanks to the members of the public that reported this incident, police were able to respond quickly and hold the person responsible to account." Whakatane Police encourage anyone that sees this type of behaviour to report it to police immediately by calling 111. "This offending will not be tolerated by Police and the community can be reassured that those engaging in this activity will end up before the courts. "The man will appear before the court in due course." Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram At the age of 16, students join us from other British schools, Spanish schools, and increasingly, schools all over the world. More and more families are relocating to Malaga and looking for schools for their children: other students move to us after completing GCSEs or 4 ESO or equivalent here on the Costa. Why choose Phoenix College Malaga? It depends what youre looking for. Phoenix isnt for everyone. Located on the Plaza de Uncibay, were not a big, busy school with lots of regulations. Being owned and administrated by teachers who work in the College gives us the liberty to make decisions solely for the benefit of students and staff. Our focus is on providing a more relaxed, informal learning environment with small classes (max. 12) where we can help each young person strive for their individual potential. Students enjoy more freedom, with which comes more responsibility for their studies, while we are here to support and guide where necessary. This has the added advantage of helping young people to mature more quickly, preparing them better for university. The British International A-level system also has its strengths. Taught entirely in English, students only need to choose three subjects, and the exams are in January and June of each of the two years, rather than all at the very end. Our graduates have gained university places to study courses including Medicine, Engineering, Business & Administration, at universities in Spain, Ireland, the UK, Holland, Denmark, Sweden. And this summer 2023, with more students than ever, we expanded! We acquired additional premises across the corridor from us, adding greatly-needed extra classrooms & study rooms for our growing Sixth Form College. And for students who worry about making new friends dont. Everyone is new in Year 12, so everyone is in the same situation and ready to get to know new people. And of course, these days, its easy to stay in contact with friends at current schools. When to make the change? Families are already enrolling their sons and daughters for September 2024, and we suggest that students and parents contact us to arrange a visit between October - January, with the aim of completing Matriculation by mid-February. This gives time to visit, above all think things through, perhaps attend a Taster Day (where prospective students join us for a day to attend classes and chat to other young people already studying at Phoenix) or assess and support a students English, if needed. It also avoids possible disappointment due to subjects filling or reduced subject combination flexibility. Europa Press Malaga Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram A man who allegedly shot another several times following a number of business disputes in Torremolinos could face 26 years behind bars. The trial kicked off this Monday in Malaga for the individual who is accused of murder. The incident took place in April 2021 following several business disputes between the pair. According to court documents, the suspect decided to "end the life of his competitor" who resided in a hostel in Torremolinos, and allegedly "meticulously" planned how he wanted to carry it out. The victim left the hostel at around 5am and got into his vehicle to go to work at the Marbella flea market. The suspect who took advantage of the empty streets as it was during a Covid-19 curfew, parked his van 500 metres away and carrying a gun and wearing dark clothes walked to the scene. He then "suddenly appeared and... pulled the trigger six times" and returned to his vehicle where he drove to his home in Benalmadena. The prosecution team is asking for the man to be jailed for 25 years, plus an extra year and a half for possessing an illegal weapon. They also want the man to pay the victim's family 100,000 euros in compensation. Irene Quirante Malaga Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram A newborn baby has been found abandoned on a street in Malaga city. The baby girl was found about 8.30am in Cruz de Humilladero on Saturday 14 October. The person who made the discovery took off their sweatshirt and wrapped the baby in it to keep her warm before phoning 112 Andalucia. According to the person who raised the alarm, they found the little girl, who was only a few hours old, alone and on the ground at the end of Calle Actriz La Tirana, near the Parque del Duende. Police rushed to the scene and transported the baby to the city's Hospital Materno-Infantil. Health sources told SUR the baby is in good health, but will remain in hospital while tests are being carried out. Pilar Martinez Malaga Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram United Airlines has once again committed to serving Malaga. The American airline will continue the operation of its first high season summer route at the Costa del Sol airport and will offer the direct connection with New York again from next year from 30 May 2024 until some time in September, sources in the sector have confirmed to SUR. The good news was eagerly being awaited by the local and regional governments and tourism entrepreneurs who were keeping their fingers crossed that the only route that links Andalucia with the United States would be renewed next year. The North American company will resume flights between Malaga Airport and Newark airport on the 30th of May until the end of September, without yet detailing the exact date, according to the same sources. During this period the route will be operated three times a week, which means maintaining the frequency of its debut year on the Costa del Sol. Specifically, Malaga Airport will have a direct flight to New York every Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday. During the summer of 2023, United Airlines offered 17,000 seats in its first high season on the Costa connecting Malaga directly with the Big Apple. The flights scheduled this year began on 1 June and continued until 28 September. In total, it operated 52 flights operated with a Boeing 757-200 aircraft with a capacity for 169 passengers on each flight, 16 of them in its Polaris business class. United Airlines has always said it was satisfied with the data from this first season and emphasised on numerous occasions that the airline's expectations had been met. Expectations However, with this announcement, the flight programme planned for Malaga is far from the local travel sector's aspirations for it to be extended to the whole year. However, it is following step-by-step in the wake of Palma de Mallorca and Tenerife, which have already operated two high seasons with routes to New York and are already heading towards the third with plans to increase the number of seats available and the period of operation. What's more, expert aviation sources have said on X that, in the case of Palma de Mallorca, United Airlines will increase air capacity in the summer of 2024 by planning to operate with a Boeing 767-400ER aircraft, which has around twenty more seats than the Boeing 767-300ER used until now. In addition, the company has in recent days speeded up its expansion plan which may benefit the destinations where it is beginning to consolidate, such as the Costa del Sol. The airline has announced that by 2032 it will have 800 new aircraft. We have just placed a firm order for 50 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and 60 additional Airbus A321s, which in combination with previous orders is expected to add 800 new aircraft to our fleet by 2032, it said on X social media. Tickets for non-stop flights from Malaga to New York are already on sale in travel agencies and on the company's own website. About half of the Koreans were on short-term visits and half were on longer stays in Israel when the war erupted, but fewer than expected agreed to evacuate, so there was plenty of room on the 230-seater military transport plane. A government official said the crew allowed Japanese and Singaporeans to get aboard "as seats were available after all Koreans had boarded." A Korean Air Force plane carrying 163 Koreans as well as 51 Japanese and six Singaporeans from Israel arrived at Seoul Air Base last Saturday night. Some Koreans in Israel complained that they had not been fully informed about the flight. "The Korean government announced the dispatch of the aircraft on KakaoTalk or by phone, but it didn't make it clear that it was a military transport plane," one passenger said. "Some Koreans seem to have believed that it would cost them money." The government apparently did not make it clear that the evacuation would be free for fear of too many people rushing on board. "Some Japanese who had been desperately waiting at the airport for dozens of hours boarded at the last minute," a Korean in Israel said. "The decision to allow them on board was made right before it took off." A Foreign Ministry official here said, "Just as Korean nationals were helped by the UAE during the civil war in Sudan in April, it's natural in an urgent situation for the international community to cooperate with each other." "We will send another aircraft to bring Korean nationals home if many of them want to evacuate," another ministry official said. Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa called her Korean counterpart Park Jin to thank the Korean government for helping the Japanese evacuate. The Japanese government also dispatched a charter flight to Tel Aviv a day later but only eight Japanese boarded it. Juan Cano / Europa Press Malaga Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram The widow of the doorman who died while trying to break up a brawl at former Towie star Elliot Wright's restaurant Olivia's La Cala in Mijas has been found dead. Romina, who had been married to Jose Rafael Pisani Pardo for five months before his death in April, was found dead near her apartment in Mijas on Saturday 14 October under suspicious circumstances. Related news British man arrested after doorman dies following brawl at Towie star Elliot Wright's Mijas restaurant Juan Cano According to sources close to the investigation, Guardia Civil arrested a 36-year-old British man who was allegedly having a relationship with Romina and had a previous record of domestic violence, Europa Press reported. The 33-year-old's death is being treated as a case of domestic violence, but suicide has also not been ruled out. Authorities first received the alarm about 8.40am about a woman who had fallen from the fifth floor of a building in the Riviera Sol de Calahonda residential development. Police and medics rushed to the scene, but she was dead. Mijas town hall told Europa Press that Romina was a registered victim in the Viogen domestic violence system. Romina had also phoned 112 Andalucia emergency services the night prior to her death after allegedly being assaulted by her partner and required treatment at hospital, but she did not wish to make an official report, sources told Europa Press. The council condemned Saturday's incident which, if confirmed, would be the fifth case of domestic violence in Malaga province this year and the second in as many weeks. "From Mijas we will continue to work tirelessly to eradicate gender violence and provide all kinds of support to the victims of this terrible social scourge," they said. It comes after the bodies of a husband and wife were found in a house in Benalmadena last week. That case is also being treated as a domestic violence incident. There have been 17 victims of domestic violence in 2023 in Andalucia and 52 across Spain. Editors note: A company official Monday clarified the substance in the fire was sodium nitrite, not sodium nitrate as originally reported by firefighters. The story has been updated. Solvay, N.Y. A fire that sent a large plume of orange-colored smoke seen for miles over parts of Solvay Sunday afternoon started in two large dumpsters, causing a shelter in place order for residents in the area, firefighters said. The fire -- burning in two 40-yard dumpsters and spreading to a third dumpster -- started outside of a building at ChemTrade in Solvay, said Capt. Matt Craner, a spokesperson for the Syracuse Fire Department. Around 1:36 p.m., the Solvay Fire Department was called to the facility at 24 Industrial Dr. off Willis Avenue for a report of a possible fire, Craner said. When firefighters arrived, they found the dumpsters containing products from the facility were on fire, he said. Solvay firefighters identified the burning product as sodium nitrate. A company official on Monday clarified the substance in the fire was sodium nitrite. It is commonly used as food preservative but also can be used in metal treatment and in pharmaceuticals. Solvay firefighters requested the Syracuse Fire Department HazMat Response Team, Craner said. On scene, firefighters applied large amounts of water in an effort to contain the flames, he said. Syracuse firefighters used Syracuse Engine 5s elevated waterway to hit difficult to reach areas, Craner said. The fire was extinguished in about 45 minutes. Craner said Solvay units activated a reverse 911 call to warn neighbors in the area to stay indoors and shelter in place. The shelter in place order was out of an abundance of caution for people to avoid potential hazards from the fire, he said. There were no calls to Onondaga County 911 for medical issues from the smoke. Solvay Mayor Derek Baichi said people took the shelter in place order seriously and stayed indoors, and that there was not a lot of traffic on the streets. [People in the area] saw this discolored smoke and they wanted to make sure it wasnt anything to be of concern, he said. The fire sent a large plume of orange-colored smoke over parts of Solvay that could be seen for miles. Air monitoring at the scene confirmed that there was no further hazard and the shelter in place order ended, Craner said. ChemTrade representatives and the state Department of Environmental Conservation are on scene to determine what caused the fire and to clean-up the debris. No one was injured during the fire, Craner said. Baichi said he wanted to make sure the citizens were safe and that the air quality was good. He and his office plan to follow up with the community with updates on Monday. 4 1 / 4 Solvay chemical fire Staff writer Darian Stevenson covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? You can reach her at dstevenson@syracuse.com Join NY Cannabis Insider for our next full-day conference on Nov. 16 at the Sonesta White Plains. Paul Suits, Jr., is the co-founder and CEO of LakeHouse Cannabis, a cannabis dispensary that hopes to open and operate in Cortland, NY. Suits answered eight simple questions for NY Cannabis Insiders People to know series. Should you or someone you know be featured as a Person to Know? Fill out this form and we may publish your story. What is your position and what do you/your company do in the cannabis space? Im the co-founder and CEO of retail at LakeHouse Cannabis. How long have you worked in the cannabis space? We founded the company in May of 2021. What did you do before you were involved in the cannabis industry? I was in construction project management, building commercial and office spaces. What led you to the cannabis industry? We had an interest in the medical industry, but were not able to get involved at the time. I left my job in NYC and moved back to Homer/Cortland, and within a month New York had legalized recreational cannabis. My brother came to me, and we then went to our father with the idea. Since then, we have been fully invested. Do you have any advice for someone looking to get into the NY weed industry? Be prepared for for constant change. What do you think the NY cannabis ecosystem will look like in five years? I dream that the cannabis ecosystem in New York has the true ability to grow. There should be dispensaries operating in each of the 14 regions, but more specifically they should be operating in each market where there is the need or demand. Consumers should not have to drive 30+ minutes to legally purchase their product, similar to what I am required to do now as a medical cannabis patient/consumer. Do you use cannabis? If so, whats your favorite method? Yes. My preferred consumption method is flower. Smoking a joint has always been my favorite way to wind down, and I think it brings a small sense of the stereotypical stoner impression. Who should contact you, and whats the best method? Potential suppliers cultivators and processors that would like to see their product in the CNY region. Potential employees its a little early for us to start hiring, but were hoping to open up additional positions come April or May. Solvay, N.Y. A fire at a plant near Solvay that included old chemicals in large dumpsters caused no health problems for people nearby, according to state and company officials. The fire released a large plume of orange-colored smoke visible for miles. Local officials urged residents to shelter in place as a precaution. On Monday, a vice president for the company, Tim Montgomery, said there were no health impacts from the fire that included sodium nitrite. A spokesperson for the state Department of Environmental Conservation said Monday there have been no reports of any negative health impacts from the fire. A local professor said the weather would have helped reduce any health risks. The winds were blowing at 16 mph so anything coming out of the fire wouldnt have stayed in the same area very long, said Dr. Huiting Mao, a chemistry professor at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse. Sodium nitrite is water soluble, so the rain that day also would have helped wash it out, she said. The fire at 1:40 p.m. was in two 40-yard dumpsters filled with food-grade sodium nitrite, a chemical used as a food preservative or rust inhibitor, among other uses. Emergency officials originally identified the chemical as sodium nitrate. Solvay firefighters called in the Syracuse Fire Departments Hazardous Materials Response Team to help fight the fire. The plant, located at 24 Industrial Drive, is operated by the Canadian firm ChemTrade Logistics. Sodium nitrite is not combustible, but can accelerate a fire caused by other substances, according to a fact sheet prepared by the New Jersey Department of Health. Montgomery said the fire department did monitoring and they did not see any issues from a health impact. Plus, we didnt have any issues with on-site employees. No injuries occurred from this incident. A DEC spokesperson said its spill response team determined all water and solid material runoff was contained to the site. Montgomery said his current understanding is that most of the water used in fighting the fire pooled inside the dumpsters, with only minimal runoff of contaminated water. Well obviously do a full evaluation of whats left in those containers after the fire and well make sure that they are disposed of properly, he said. If the water needs to be treated thats inside the containers, well pump out the water and get that disposed of correctly. Montgomery said the company had found a supply of sodium nitrite that had been around for a while during a recent warehouse cleaning. Finished chemicals are typically sent to customers soon after production, he added, and are not stored for an extended amount of time. It was very old, probably not quite suitable from a specification perspective, he said. Its either a powder or more of a solid material. ChemTrade decided it wanted to dispose of the sodium nitrite. It was likely placed into large, two-thousand-pound bags called super sacks, Montgomery said, which were contained within dumpsters that had plastic lining on the top and bottom. The dumpsters that caught fire were sitting outside longer than expected, Montgomery said, due to delays with the vendor hired to haul them away. It wasnt a long period of time, but I dont want to guess whether it was days or weeks, he said. Officials are continuing to investigate what caused the fire. Staff writer Jon Moss covers breaking news, crime and public safety. He can be reached at jmoss@syracuse.com or @mossjon7. As a grandparent and parent, how can I explain how I, and others of my generation and before, failed to act to curb climate change that will inexorably lead to a greatly diminished life that Ive enjoyed? It was reported that this past summer was Earths hottest summer on record by a large margin, and the Secretary General of the United Nations warned that Climate breakdown has begun, And Our climate is imploding faster than we can cope with extreme weather events hitting every corner of the planet. James Hansen, a NASA scientist, had warned in his congressional testimony in 1988 about the dangers of climate change. He recently said we are damned fools for not heeding those warnings. Some climate scientists claim that this past summers heat wave was possibly the hottest in the last 125,000 years. Ocean water off of Miami was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit and the Southwest blistered with days of temperatures over 100 and even 115 degrees, with pavement melting and outside metal guard rails and metal doorknobs so hot that they burn to the touch. It was so hot that working or playing out-of-doors was extremely dangerous. Europe, as well, experienced hazardous heat and wildfires that disrupted normal summer activities. In addition, South Korea, Japan and India also reported extremely high temperatures, and in India and Pakistan dangerous flooding. In the Iraqi desert, the temperature registered over 150 degrees Fahrenheit. And most recently, unprecedented rainfall in Libya has caused the collapse of two dams that has led to catastrophic flooding killing 11,000 with many still missing. The impact of climate change will be disruptive and life-threatening a life characterized by increasingly record-breaking heat; more frequent and uncontained wildfires; more frequent violent weather, including hurricanes, tornadoes and record-breaking flooding; and more deaths caused by weather-related causes. In the summer of 2022, Europe reported that 61,000 people died in the heat wave. Charred remains of homes are visible following a wildfire in Lahaina, Hawaii, Aug. 22, 2023. The number of people still missing following wildfires that destroyed the historic community of Lahaina a month ago has dropped, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, while the number of confirmed deaths has remained at 115. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)AP The catastrophic fires resulting from climate change have reduced parts of the island of Maui to piles of ash and dust. To see aerial photographs of the devastation on the island you might mistake the pictures to be of a heavily bombed city in Ukraine. If a foreign enemy would wreak the same amount of destruction and death on the United States as climate change has done, and will surely do in the future, we would have mobilized all of our resources and taken decisive action against the perpetrator. How did we arrive at this cataclysmic point in the history of our planet? Why, once we began to identify the magnitude of the problem, didnt we take steps to preserve as much of what we hold dear about our lives today? David Wallace-Welles, in his brilliant, but depressing book, The Uninhabitable Earth, argues that American refusal to adopt meaningful measures to combat climate change and its consequences is because we had too much faith in the teleological shape of history and the arrow of human progress to countenance the idea that the arc of history would bend toward anything but environmental justice, too. A controlling assumption was that we had unlimited natural resources to be exploited and expand our nations wealth. Few, if any, had the view that there was a finite limit to natures bounty. Groundwater that has been in underground aquifers for perhaps thousands of years, is the source for 40% for public use and 30% for agriculture. But as the New York Times has reported, the over-pumping of aquifers endangers the water supply. One expert argued, There will be parts of the U.S. that run out of drinking water. In the Tucson and Phoenix areas, groundwater levels have declined between 300 and 500 feet and in Chicago, 900 feet. In 2015, at the world summit in Paris on climate change, world leaders signed an agreement to keep the rise of global temperature below 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050, which required that carbon emissions be cut in half by 2030. Last year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported that the risks of global warming were greater than expected in 2015 and that the new understanding of an increased level of risk underlines the absolute necessity to keep below 1.5C if we are to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Yet, despite the development of green sources of energy and the expanding demand for electric vehicles, we still have a long way to go to significantly reduce emissions. Recently, BBC reported that the worldwide demand for oil this past summer was at an all-time high. Political polarization also is an obstacle to action. Pew Research polls show that 54% of Americans believe that climate change is a major threat 78% of Democrats and only 23% of Republicans. Yet there are some hopeful signs. Forty-eight percent of young Americans, ages 18 to 29, believe that fossil fuels should be phased out entirely. And Al Gore, who earlier warned us of the dangers of climate change in his film An Inconvenient Truth, recently said in a New Yorker interview that once we stop net additions to the overburden of greenhouse gases ... then temperatures on Earth will stop going up almost immediately. It will be a formidable political challenge to stop the use of fossil fuels, but the enthusiasm of young Americans, and their commitment to save the planet, just might save us all. Related: Climate activist Andrew Fagerheim on leadership: Young people, your time is now Syracuse, N.Y. Republican Julie Abbott is running for a third full term to represent the Onondaga County Legislatures 6th District. Shes facing a challenge from Blake Carter, a Democrat and campaign worker whos running for public office for the first time. The district includes Skaneateles, Marcellus, Spafford and parts of Camillus. Abbott has raised about $8,600 and spent nearly half of that, according to campaign records filed earlier this month. Carter isnt far behind. Carter raised a little more than $6,000 and has spent about $1,700. County legislators serve two-year terms. Next years salary will be $37,619, according to the 2024 budget. Election Day is Nov. 7. Early voting starts on Oct. 28 and ends on Nov. 5. Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard asked each candidate questions about their goals as county lawmakers. Their answers have been edited lightly for clarity and space. Julie Abbott Age: 50 Address: Skaneateles Political party endorsements and ballot lines: Republican and the People First party lines. Experience: Has been a Onondaga County Legislator for District 6 since 2018 when appointed by County Executive Ryan McMahon. Abbott ran unsuccessfully for state Senate in 2022. Former News Anchor and journalist for LocalSyr NewsChannel 9, former Skaneateles School Board of Education Vice President. What is the biggest problem facing Onondaga County and how will you tackle it? We have several exciting things that are not necessarily bad problems, including with Micron coming. That means really having to work with our town, village elected officials and our community members on housing solutions, affordable housing solutions. So, comprehensive planning is key and for the first time in 25 years, we as county leaders have done that. We have our Plan On, which is a comprehensive planning tool that all of our towns and villages can use and when theyre looking at the impact that Micron is going to have. I am deeply motivated to continue to preserve our drinking water sources, our environment and our ag and farm lands. Skaneateles Lake is an unfiltered drinking water source. That is very rare. It saves a lot of money not having to have a filtration plant. It services the entire city of Syracuse. We have an onus to make sure that we protect and preserve this gem. Otisco Lake services OCWA, which is the Onondaga County Water Authority. That services pretty much the rest of the county. We need to protect our farmlands because theres a potential for development coming but its important in order to have good healthy food in our communities to preserve our agriculture and farm lands. Because if you dont value these resources, it can be disastrous for the food supply, the economy and quite frankly, our quality of life. What action should the Legislature take involving the fatal shooting of two teens by Deputy John Rosello? I lost my son when he was 2. This is just an absolutely horrific, all around tragedy. Those families, the school communities, the police community, nobody wins here. I cant even think about it without my heart in my throat because I lost at that level myself. I am really confident that the Attorney General (Letitia James) is going to come in here and get to the bottom of what happened. There are no winners. Either way these lives are lost. All of the lives are devastated. And once that happens, if Sheriff Toby Shelley wants to come and ask for items from the Legislature, I can tell you personally I will be listening intently because we know about the body cameras. We funded that because we thought they were important and the protocol with how to use that, thats not our prerogative. That sits squarely in the sheriffs department. But, I can tell you you have a whole team of legislators who are willing to listen and want to make sure that nobody suffers again. Name one thing the county could do to improve efforts to keep children safe from lead poisoning. Workforce is the first thing because its a problem. Its no different than not having drivers, not having nurses. Its an absolute problem. We can throw more money and we are, but it doesnt matter if you cant spend it. You have to be able to have a workforce. The second piece, we roll out a mobile lead testing van so we can come out and meet you in your neighborhood where the most serious concentrations are, which we all know is the city of Syracuse. Your zip code should not determine your success in life, your level of success. Every child should have the same level playing field, access to quality education, and a safe home. We need to get the word out. We need to break down barriers. We need to be able to partner with community leaders in those pockets of the city where this is a super severe crisis so we can build trust and we can get people to test their children, to come to the van. So it goes down to the workforce and I believe trust building and also enforcing and holding landlords accountable. Those are the three problems and approaches that I see. Blake Carter Age: 38 Address: Camillus Political party endorsements and ballot lines: Democratic Experience: First time running for office. Campaign worker on local, statewide and national campaigns, including for New York State Senator Rachel May. From 2017 to 2021, worked as a constituent liaison for Assemblywoman Pamela Hunter. (Editors note: An earlier version of this story had incorrect dates for Carters employment with Hunter.) What is the biggest problem facing Onondaga County and how will you tackle it? The biggest issue that I think for our country is how its going to be changing over the next 50 years or so. One of the reasons that Im running is that with my experience and education, I feel that I am best able to handle these projects that are going to be happening. So, with Micron coming in, with (the construction of) I-81, with all these big projects, its going to completely change what this county is going to look like 50 years from now. I feel thats what my strength is, in getting my degree from Syracuse University in economics and political science and dealing with economic policies. As soon as I heard that Micron was coming in, I literally was messaging all the people I could find for Micron on LinkedIn, because Im like, I want to be a part of them being successful here. Because our success is theirs and their success is ours. What action should the Legislature take involving the fatal shooting of two teens by Deputy John Rosello? If anything, training. I think that anything has to be done with research. It hasnt been long enough for anyone to do adequate research into what should be done yet, but I think that the Legislature, starting next year should, or even before then, it should look at all possibilities. But, I think country-wide, nationally, I think that training for officers should always be at the top of the list and I think that more needs to be done with training. Name one thing the county could do to improve efforts to keep children safe from lead poisoning? The best thing that you have to do is to get rid of the lead entirely. But, the cost of that is so, so big, that financially, to really make a difference, it would be just covering up the lead paint. Like, allocating the money, and going through the process of the most basic kind of remediation, which is just painting over the old paint with new paint without lead in it. I think that while its not the No. 1 best way of handling it, we dont have the funds across the country, even here, to actually solve the issue. At least we could use the money that we have to affect as many people as possible. I think that should be the measure of that, putting programs in place and putting the money in to actually do the work to cover up the lead paint. Police officers in Upstate New York will not face criminal charges in connection with the death of a man who doused himself with hand sanitizer and then caught on fire when one of the officers shot a stun gun at him, the state attorney generals office said Friday. Jason Jones, 29, was taken off life support in December 2021 after having spent six weeks in intensive care following the fire at the Catskill police station. Attorney General Letitia James office released a report on Jones death and the officers actions, concluding that a prosecutor would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the officers committed crimes. The report also recommended that police officers receive new training on using stun guns safely. Officers attempted to subdue Mr. Jones with a device that is not usually lethal to take him to a hospital, believing he was a danger to himself or others, James office said in a statement. The investigation showed that their training did not warn them against using a Taser around hand sanitizer. Jones family disputes the reports findings and has a pending lawsuit against the town of Catskill and three officers, according to their lawyer. On Oct. 29, 2021, police in Catskill, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Albany, responded to a local bar for a 911 report about an unruly patron. When officers arrived, they escorted Jones outside and he ran to the police station, authorities said. Jones became unruly in the police station lobby too, pounding on windows, overturning a table and removing some of his clothes as three officers talked to him to try to calm him down, police said. Jones then took alcohol-based hand sanitizer that was in the lobby and spread it on his head and upper body, authorities said. The officers determined Jones could be a danger to himself or others and decided to take him into custody, according to James office. One officer shot Jones with a stun gun, and his head and upper body burst into flames for about 25 seconds. Officers appeared startled and ran out of the lobby to find a fire extinguisher, the report said. Graphic video shows Jones putting out the flames himself and later being taken away to a hospital. Kevin Luibrand, a lawyer for Jones family, said Jones father is upset by the reports conclusions, and Jones mother had been inconsolable over how long the investigation was taking before she died of natural causes Tuesday. Luibrand said he and the family believe it could be proven in court that the officers committed crimes, and parts of the report are inconsistent with the video. Luibrand took issue with the reports findings that before the stun gun was used, there was a discussion among the officers about taking Jones into custody because he appeared to be a danger to himself or others. There was no conversation. There was no discussion, he said, adding the stun gun use was reactive and wholly unnecessary. Hyundai's luxury brand Genesis has earned the highest safety rating in the U.S. with its flagship Genesis G80 sedan. The G80 was included among the winners of this year's Top Safety Pick+ as rated by the U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently. The G80 was the winner in the large luxury cars segment along with the G90, while the GV60 was included in the small SUVs segment and the GV70 in the midsize luxury SUVs segment. With the latest ratings, seven of the eight Genesis models sold in the U.S. are now recognized as among the safest cars by the IIHS. The Wonderful World of Disney: Disneys 100th Anniversary Celebration premieres on Sunday, October 15 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. A live stream of the celebration can be found on fuboTV (free trial) and Hulu + Live TV. Kelly Ripa will host a two-hour show, which will begin with an episode of Americas Funniest Home Videos. Following this, there will be segments showcasing exclusive content with Kelly Ripa and previews of upcoming Disney projects, as disclosed by ABC. The special will also include the world premiere of Walt Disney Animation Studios new animated short film, Once Upon a Studio, and the Oscar-winning feature film Encanto. Stream The Wonderful World of Disney: Disneys 100th Anniversary Celebration on fuboTV (free trial) When is Once Upon a Studio premiering? Once Upon a Studio premieres on Sunday, October 15. What time is Once Upon a Studio premiering? Once Upon a Studio will air at 8 p.m. ET. Where can I stream Once Upon a Studio for free? Once Upon a Studio can be streamed for free on fuboTV (free trial) and Hulu + Live TV. What channel is Once Upon a Studio on? Once Upon a Studio airs on ABC. Channel Finder: Verizon Fios, Comcast Xfinity, Spectrum/Charter, Optimum/Altice, DIRECTV, Dish. What is Once Upon a Studio about? According to the specials official synopsis, An all-star ensemble of beloved characters from Walt Disney Animation Studios come together in Once Upon a Studio for a joyful, entertaining and emotional reunion as they assemble for a spectacular group photo to mark Disneys 100th anniversary. What is fuboTV? FuboTV is a live TV streaming service focused on live sports, including U.S. and international soccer, the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL and more. It also includes its own fubo Sports Networks with exclusive programming. It offers 150 channels starting at $74.99, including 1,000 hours of DVR, and streams on most devices. Right now you can try fuboTV free for 7 days. Americas colleges aspire to be places where ideas meet and common ground emerges. As the death toll rises in the Israel-Hamas war, they have become seats of anguish. Many Jewish students and their allies, some with family and friends in Israel, have demanded bold reckonings and strong condemnation after the attacks by Hamas militants, who stormed from the blockaded Gaza Strip into nearby Israeli towns, killing and abducting civilians and soldiers. Meanwhile, some Muslim students have joined with allies to call for a recognition of decades of suffering by Palestinians in Gaza, plus condemnation of the response by Israel. After the Hamas attack, Israel launched a total blockade of Gaza; airstrikes have flattened buildings and homes, killing civilians and forcing hundreds of thousands to evacuate. On many campuses, these students agree on one thing: Their colleges, which are increasingly staking out positions of neutrality, have not done enough to support them. College officials, already under pressure to allow conservative opinions on campus, have been trying to preserve free speech and open debate. But the conflict has presented an excruciating challenge. This is an incredibly difficult free speech moment on campuses, where both sides have deeply passionate, entrenched, intractable views, said Alex Morey, director of campus rights advocacy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which is recommending that colleges try to remain institutionally neutral. We want to create an ideal climate for debate and discussion on campus, and the only way we can do that is if we step out of the debate, Morey said. Yet staying neutral is not always easy. Students for whom the conflict is intensely personal want their administrations to recognize how they are affected by traumatic events and use their stature to denounce what they see as moral wrongs. Colleges across the country have put out statements on the war. Many have faced criticism for not going far enough in condemning Hamas attack, or for failing to condemn civilian deaths in Gaza, or for leaving out context and history from the region. As of Saturday the death toll was more than 2,200 in Gaza and over 1,300 on the Israeli side many of those civilians and roughly 1,500 Hamas militants killed in the fighting, according to authorities. Stanford University, for one, has shifted more toward neutrality as events unfolded. On Monday, officials at the California school said they were deeply saddened and horrified by the death and human suffering in Israel and Gaza and hoped for thoughtful opportunities for sharing knowledge on campus. In response, dozens of faculty signed a letter demanding unambiguous condemnation of the Hamas attacks. On Wednesday, Stanford sent an update explaining its position on neutrality. Faculty and students should not expect frequent commentary from us in the future, college officials said. The letter from interim President Richard Saller and Provost Jenny Martinez did note an incident in which a lecturer reportedly singled out Jewish students in an undergraduate class, asked them to stand in a corner and told the room that was what Israel does to the Palestinians. The lecturer also reportedly called an Israeli student a colonizer. The incident is under investigation and the lecturer has been removed, Saller and Martinez said. Academic freedom, they said, does not permit identity-based targeting of students. At Columbia University, the campus was closed Thursday as a safety measure as hundreds attended dueling pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian rallies. Some students were angry that a statement from the university president did not go far enough to acknowledge Palestinian deaths. Clearly were all against violence, but were just asking for the lives of Palestinians to be acknowledged as well, said Nadia Ali, who demonstrated alongside hundreds of peers. Many were dressed in the green, red and black of the Palestinian flag and wearing medical face masks. Across the Manhattan campus main lawn, demonstrators draped themselves in the blue-and-white Israeli flag and held prayer and song circles. One demonstrator, Yola Ashkenazie, said some Jewish students feel unsafe: The rise in anti-Semitism on our campus has been abhorrent. A day earlier, a 19-year-old woman was charged with assaulting a student in a dispute over posters bearing the names and images of hostages being held by Hamas. At Yale University, Free Palestine messages were written in chalk around campus one night. The following night, some students put up posters of Israelis taken hostage with the word Kidnapped. There was also controversy over social media posts by a professor of American studies, Zareena Grewal, who wrote after the Hamas attack: Settlers are not civilians. This is not hard. A petition circulated demanding her removal; Grewal did not respond to a request for comment. In a statement, the university said it is committed to freedom of expression and Grewals comments on personal accounts represent her own views. Eytan Israel, a 21-year-old sophomore, said that response fell short. Just seeing that, and Yale not doing anything, does feel like a betrayal, even if the statements theyve been making have been supportive, said Israel, who is Jewish. Talking politics is inevitably sensitive on campuses with diverse populations, said Hussam Ayloush, CEO of the California branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. But if colleges choose to issue official statements, Ayloush said, then do it morally. Dont be selective about which lives are more valued than others. Every innocent life is important. Do it accurately, so were not just commenting on actions but were also commenting on the root causes of the actions, he said, pointing to Israels treatment of Palestinians during decades of conflict. Some of the most notable recent disputes have come at Harvard University, where the Palestine Solidarity Committee student group released a statement holding Israel entirely responsible for all unfolding violence, cosigned by a few dozen other student organizations. At least one student had a job offer rescinded as a result of the statement. Then Accuracy in Media, a conservative group, arranged for a billboard truck to drive around campus showing the faces of students associated with the groups. Harvards leading anti-Semites, it called them. Former Harvard President Lawrence Summers, who is Jewish, was critical of university leadership for appearing at best neutral towards acts of terror against the Jewish state of Israel. In nearly 50 years of @Harvard affiliation, I have never been as disillusioned and alienated as I am today, Summers said on X, formerly known as Twitter. A day later Harvard President Claudine Gay condemned terrorist atrocities perpetrated by Hamas and said that while students have the right to speak out, no student group not even 30 student groups speaks for Harvard University or its leadership. Summers joined the universitys Hillel student group later in the week in opposing efforts to vilify, as he put it, signers of the anti-Israel statement. Such intimidation is counterproductive to the education that needs to take place on our campus at this difficult time, Harvard Hillel said. The Middle East conflict has been contentious on campuses for decades, but this time it feels more volatile and polarizing, said Amy Spitalnick, leader of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, who was president of the Hillel student group at Tufts University, where she graduated in 2008. When she was a student, there was real disagreement but it was done constructively. Today, much like U.S. politics, the Israel-Hamas war has become a divisive, us-versus-them issue, she said. It shouldnt be hard to support Palestinian rights and dignity ... while still condemning what Hamas did to Israeli civilians, Spitalnick said. The fact that there are some who refuse to do that has been a heartbreaking, mask-off moment for many in the Jewish community who expected more. Korea has finalized negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with the UAE, the first free trade agreement with an Arab nation. It will lead to the elimination of tariffs on major products such as cars and oil within the next 10 years, while economic cooperation in sectors like energy, resources and advanced industries will increase substantially. CEPA also includes exchanges and cooperation in various areas. The Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy in a meeting in Seoul last Saturday gave its blessing to the results of negotiations that began in April 2021 and were sped up after President Yoon Suk-yeol's visit to the UAE this January. TusharK Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2017 Location: Pune Posts: 5,711 Thanked: 50,724 Times Re: Royal Enfield 650cc Scrambler spied testing in the UK ahead of unveil Royal Enfield 650cc Scrambler could be called Sherpa Royal Enfield is working on several models based on the 650cc platform. One of the models in the new range will be a Scrambler-style bike. The 650cc scrambler has already reached the road trial phase. The bike was first spotted in the UK. The prototype was later caught testing in India. Recent reports suggest that the production version might be called 'Sherpa'. The Royal Enfield Sherpa is expected to share its underpinnings with the Interceptor 650, albeit with a few modifications. The test bike was seen sporting an upside-down fork suspension at the front and dual shock absorbers at the rear. The bike had wire spoke wheels shod with dual-purpose tyres. In terms of its design, the Sherpa is likely to get a round headlamp with a short windscreen, a teardrop-shaped fuel tank and a flat seat. The is also expected to get a short, upswept exhaust. The Sherpa is expected to be powered by the same 649cc parallel-twin engine offered on the Continental GT 650 and Interceptor 650. This engine develops 47 BHP and 52 Nm and is paired with a 6-speed gearbox via a slipper clutch. Source: Link to Team-BHP News Royal Enfield is working on several models based on the 650cc platform. One of the models in the new range will be a Scrambler-style bike.The 650cc scrambler has already reached the road trial phase. The bike was first spotted in the UK. The prototype was later caught testing in India. Recent reports suggest that the production version might be called 'Sherpa'.The Royal Enfield Sherpa is expected to share its underpinnings with the Interceptor 650, albeit with a few modifications. The test bike was seen sporting an upside-down fork suspension at the front and dual shock absorbers at the rear. The bike had wire spoke wheels shod with dual-purpose tyres.In terms of its design, the Sherpa is likely to get a round headlamp with a short windscreen, a teardrop-shaped fuel tank and a flat seat. The is also expected to get a short, upswept exhaust.The Sherpa is expected to be powered by the same 649cc parallel-twin engine offered on the Continental GT 650 and Interceptor 650. This engine develops 47 BHP and 52 Nm and is paired with a 6-speed gearbox via a slipper clutch.Source: Bikewale Last edited by TusharK : 6th January 2023 at 12:23 . hornokplease Newbie Join Date: Jul 2023 Location: Pune Posts: 5 Thanked: 20 Times Re: Mahindra Scorpio-N Review Hello fellow ScorpioN owners, Prologue: I have been a long term (non-member) reader of the TeamBHP blogs for all my wheels including a Ford Figo, Suzuki Ertiga, Yamaha R15 and BMW 310GS as well as casual reading on travel and reviews. A heartfelt thanks for all the good reads and all the previous posts in this thread that helped me zero in on the ScorpioN. So here I am, as a member, writing my first post to share my experience. I will tell you this, I was not in the market for a bulky rowdy SUV, and ScorpioN was the last car on my mind. So here goes the roller coaster of events that landed me on ScorpioN.. With the aging 2010 petrol Ford Figo due for a replacement, I was out looking for the next family car. I was initially open to a pre-loved car but my family managed to convince me to go for a brand new one. The criteria that I had set for the car hunt was - Budget of ~18-20 Lacs. Maximum possible safety features I can afford in the budget (high on priority). Non-demanding driver friendly car (Im not a regular commuter but my father and sister are. So, a car with ease of drivability was a must). Preferably 7-seater or a spacious 5-seater. Good ASC support and network. Good ground clearance (Got traumatized due to my Figo scraping the bottom at every speed breaker and pothole... So much so that the gearbox had chipped off on a horrible patch). Should not run out of breath on bad roads and hills (Some traveling to my native place with broken roads). Good highway stability and acceptable fuel efficiency (Lot of family road trips planned around India). Should give a premium experience for the passengers (the reason for targeting mid to top variants... Base variants were out of question) As I wanted to be well informed before walking into any of the showrooms, after a lot of research, peer discussions and quite a lot of man-hours spent on YT & TBHP, I stepped out one fine weekend with my wife for some showroom visits. Below is a list of all the cars considered in the sequence of which test drives were taken (going to try and keep this short): MG Astor I was absolutely and blindly in love with this car and was sure I will end up buying this for its very stylish design, class-leading premium interiors (esp. the panoramic sunroof), sturdy build quality. But the test drive of the CVT & MT variant was very disappointing, it simply lacked the punch for a 1.5L inline-4. Additionally, my wife felt the cabin was narrow as it tapered towards the front. Also, the rear row was not suitable for 3 adults. MG Hector Great premium SUV design and spacious on the inside. User FE reviews were very discouraging, and the center console was not easy to use to say the least, I prefer physical toggles and dials. VW Taigun / VW Virtus Loved both the cars in Curcuma Yellow and test driving the GT DSG variants slapped a huge stupid smile on my face. Rejected the VWs as rear row for Taigun was not suitable for 3 adults and Virtus was not roof rack compatible (if ever needed a top box). Skoda Kushaq / Slavia Liked Kushaq over Taigun for its design. I did not bother with a test drive as the engine was already tested in VW counterparts. Rejected for similar space issues in the rear row like VWs, and anyways liked the VWs better for their design. Hyryder/ Grand Vitara The design and true hybrid drivetrain was very appealing at first. However, in reality it was a rude shock to see how poor the quality of interior was for a 20 lac+ SUV. Further, the test drive of the hybrid wasnt doing it any favors.. I could hear every small pebble hitting the underbody. Final nail in the coffin was the horrible shrill noise the 3-cylinder made during quick overtakes. Absolutely disappointing when compared with the beautiful Honda City Hybrid. Hyryder in comparison did not seem worth at all. Kia Seltos / Hyundai Creta Liked Seltos facelift over the outgoing Creta for design. Rejected both by family for safety concerns and design preference. Note: At this point we were leaning more towards Taigun and werent seriously considering D segment SUVs. Thar Rejected for not being truly a family friendly car ScorpioN Just a quick look around of the show vehicle had us hooked, keeping aside the obvious size and commanding seating, what was really impressing was the quality/fit & finish of the relatively premium interior as well as comparatively softer design language compared to the classic. I was astonished after test driving the diesel AT & MT and Petrol AT. Having driven the classic on road trips in the past... I had little expectations from this one. However, in reality I was impressed with how easy it was to drive despite its size. The power, the confidence to drive without a care for bad roads, amazing suspension for rear passengers as well (unlike classic), very little body roll, stability at high speeds, short gear lever, smooth gear shifts, very light clutch, adaptive steering and low NVH levels were some of the many positives this car brought to the table. Most of all, I truly believed it truly suited all my needs with some of the most value for money mid variants. XUV700 A very premium car with better fit/finish than ScorpioN although the monocoque was not so great on the bad patches. By this time after a lot of TDs over 2/3 weeks, we shifted our stance from C-SUVs that were only just squared up hatchbacks/coupes and almost all of them had abysmal rear row space. As well as decided to go for a MT just for the sheer pleasure of it, as most probably will have to buy another small EV to replace Ertiga in the near future anyways. Tata Harrier / Safari - At onset we realized these two were the only true competitors to the ScorpioN. Boasting great design, interiors, build quality and the gem of a monocoque chassis there was no reason to not go for these. Except, during the test drive I realized the ORVMs were way too small for a car this size. Also, the overall view from the drivers was a bit hindered due to the tad bit low seating comparatively. Also, seemed overpriced considering facelift was due soon, and the dealership wouldnt budge on any kind of discount. So these were eventually dropped. ScorpioN Booking Experience After doing a lot of back and forth.. whether to go for a diesel or a petrol, finally decided to book Z4 D MT (E) i.e. variant with ESP, Hill descent and traction control. ESP was a must for me as a safety feature due to the higher center of gravity of this beast. Interesting thing is none of the dealers across India (Pune, Mumbai, Nashik, Chandigarh, Delhi) that I called had the E variant listed in their price lists. Surprisingly, none of them were even aware that such a variant exists. A couple dealers also tried to sell me the Non-E Z4 variant saying that ESP is now standard on Z4. I tried confirming this with Mahindra customer care and found that the Z4 (E) variant should be technically available with dealers as it was available to book online. An email complaint was lodged, although I got no response. However, this was a blessing in disguise as I would realize later. Next best VFM option was Z6 D MT which I booked and had it delivered (non-intro price). The increased power, driving modes and Adrenox were all worth the premium over Z4. Have been thoroughly enjoying driving the car since I got the delivery last month. Much is to like about the ScorpioN so here are some misses / niggles that I feel are bugging me in the Z6 MT Rear washer wasn't working from Day 1 (waiting for 1st service to resolve) Vanity mirror and Auto IRVM are petty omissions. Sorely miss the telescopic adjustment for steering. The middle seat of the 2nd row is way too stiff to be comfortable. Much has been said about the 3rd row already in this thread. Zip mode seems to do little to increase FE in urban jungle, dont understand the point of it, except for stop-n-go traffic maybe. Rear camera that I bought as an official accessory is pathetic. OEM/Aftermarket Accessories Installed - Genuine Alloy Wheels (such a waste of good steel wheels though) Official Rear Camera (useless) Illuminating scuff plates (looks cool) 3M flooring (carpets are nightmare to deep clean) 3M underbody rust coating (Rust is car cancer, cannot go overboard with this) Aftermarket (though Genuine) fog lamps having weird issues where the fog lamp doesnt turn off even after locking the car.. However, turning on the follow-me-home low beam from the key and then turning it off the same way seems to do the trick. I had a real panic attack with this one where I thought it was going to drain the battery. Also, with fog lamps being installed aftermarket I cannot find the option to turn the DRLs off/on through the infotainment system. Has anyone else faced this? Aftermarket 75W LEDs, halogens were not good enough for the nighttime non-illuminated roads. Aftermarket 70mai TPMS Aftermarket parking sensors Planning to get PPF done on the white ScorpioN soon, against very well-intentioned suggestions in the respective threads. More on this and car detailing later in a different post. Seat covers and interior work pending Note: The aftermarket work was done by Poona Motors in Pune (goes without saying I'm in no way affiliated), a bit overpriced but job well done. PS: So happy to be a part of this engaging community and hope to learn more. Will be sharing few pictures soon. Driving Z6 D MT So far..Hello fellow ScorpioN owners,: I have been a long term (non-member) reader of the TeamBHP blogs for all my wheels including a Ford Figo, Suzuki Ertiga, Yamaha R15 and BMW 310GS as well as casual reading on travel and reviews. A heartfelt thanks for all the good reads and all the previous posts in this thread that helped me zero in on the ScorpioN. So here I am, as a member, writing my first post to share my experience.I will tell you this, I was not in the market for a bulky rowdy SUV, and ScorpioN was the last car on my mind. So here goes the roller coaster of events that landed me on ScorpioN..With the aging 2010 petrol Ford Figo due for a replacement, I was out looking for the next family car. I was initially open to a pre-loved car but my family managed to convince me to go for a brand new one.The criteria that I had set for the car hunt was -As I wanted to be well informed before walking into any of the showrooms, after a lot of research, peer discussions and quite a lot of man-hours spent on YT & TBHP, I stepped out one fine weekend with my wife for some showroom visits.Below is a list of all the cars considered in the sequence of which test drives were taken (going to try and keep this short):Much is to like about the ScorpioN so here are some misses / niggles that I feel are bugging me in the Z6 MTOEM/Aftermarket Accessories Installed - WTF?! We're used to reading about problems affecting the RTX 4090, but in all fairness to Nvidia, this latest incident could hardly be blamed on Team Green. It seems the culprit was a bug; the literal kind. A winged insect had made its way inside the graphics card, borking the expensive Lovelace product. YouTube channel NorthWestRepair explained that they were contacted by a customer who wanted a repair for their "brand new" RTX 4090 Founders Edition that was bought at resale without a warranty. Testing the card revealed that although the fans were blowing and reaching their max speed, no image appeared on the monitor. What followed next were the standard checks for any obvious problems. It was then time to open up the card and conduct an in-depth examination of the PCB, looking for short circuits, cracks, and faults, checking the BIOS chip for activity, and so on. Finding no apparent issues, NorthWestRepair moved on to the GPU itself. Desoldering the AD 102 chip revealed something unexpected: the carcass of a winged insect, which appears to have found itself trapped in the unfortunate, and unusual, position between the GPU and PCB pads while the RTX 4090 FE was on the assembly line. The body presumably affected some of the ball grid array (BGA) contacts. Having discovered what was wrong, NorthWestRepair proceeded to clean and re-ball the GPU before refitting it. He completed the repair process by testing the now fully working card and running some 3Dmark benchmarks. One might imagine that finding an insect inside a graphics card is a rare occurrence, but NorthWestRepair discovered the same thing inside a Zotac GeForce RTX 3080 Ti AMP Extreme Holo he was repairing just three months ago. The repairer found "what was left" of the insect after it tried "to urinate on a powered device." Nvidia can't blame bugs of the many-legged kind for every RTX 4090 problem. Last week brought news that one of the cards had self-immolated after proper installation and only one year of use for no obvious reason. When we evoke ancient Rome, we tend to imagine the Romans in a permanent orgy, in which eating, drinking and loving defined the days and nights of the aristocracy and plebeians. As the courtier Petronius said, the best thing was to go directly from bed to the table. One cannot help but think of the thousand kisses that Catullus gave his lover Lesbia, of Venus dissolving our bodies through the violence of enjoyment, of the frescoes depicting brothels in Pompeii, or of Ovids poetry about the art of love. Spanish historian Patricia Gonzalez Gutierrez is a scholar of gender and sexuality in the classical world, particularly ancient Rome. She has several publications on contraception and abortion in Roman society, as well as essays that deal with the role of women. Gonzalez Gutierrez, who teaches at the Complutense University of Madrid, doesnt shy away from the scandalous images and language that surround these subjects. Her work demands our attention when it comes to studying the intimate elements of ancient history. Its never easy to know what really happened in ancient Rome, but the historian thinks its fair to doubt that the extreme sexuality and sensuality, considered obscene or offensive from the perspective of prudish Christian morality, was really prevalent. She offers up the possibility that the supposedly ubiquitous eroticism in ancient Rome is, perhaps, more symbolic of how weve projected our own repressed desires and supposed sexual liberation onto an imagined past. The authentic and true Roman sexuality and sensuality may not match what modern times have depicted. All that glitters isnt necessarily sexuality. From Gonzalez Gutierrezs publications, we learn that, where we see pure sexuality in ancient Roman society, the Romans may have seen religiosity, fertility, or amulets to ward off bad luck or the evil eye. She uses a strong theoretical framework recalling Michel Foucault and the recently-deceased French historian Paul Veyne to narrate the coercion of desire, the constructions of the body and a conception of sexuality in which power prevailed over pleasure. In ancient Rome, the sexual was also political: not a dialogue between equals, but a monologue of patriarchal rationale. Extreme caution must be exercised so as not to make the mistake of seeing Roman sexuality as the liberating nature of an uninhibited sexuality. Similarly, one must not see Roman morality as an apology for carpe diem (seizing the day). The myths of Messalina the third wife of Emperor Claudius, who had a reputation for promiscuity or Marcus Aurelius, who was rumored to have been transgender, cannot be taken at face value, as their character traits may have been manipulated by their enemies. Its easy to make such mistakes from a decontextualized reading of Ovid or Marcus Valerius, from the amatory graffiti and the Priapean poems, or from using a purely sexual interpretation when looking at iconography of Pompeiis erotic frescos, amulets, mirrors or skylights, which are filled with representations of satyrs, hermaphrodites and sex positions. Gonzalez Gutierrez emphasizes that we must put things in their correct place and refute the cliche of a Rome dominated by banquets and orgies. Where our gaze only sees eroticism and sexuality, there is also religion, superstition, magical thinking, humor, and fear. Another kind of caution must also be observed: sexuality, heterosexuality, homosexuality, and bisexuality are all categories of analysis that arose in the 19th century. While theyre useful for us in contemporary times, theyre hardly applicable to Roman sexuality. This is because, among other reasons, sexuality in ancient Rome wasnt articulated merely through biological sex. Rather, other factors played major roles, including social status, age, as well as the active or passive role represented in the sexual act. Depending on the specific context, sexual activity was applauded (or condemned) and passivity was censored (or encouraged). There were also varying places for women or lovers within the possessive morality of the men of ancient Rome. The sexual is political, but above all, the sexual is moral. Rome was no exception in this: through the institution of marriage, or the uses and abuses of sexuality, a privileged place for men and a subordinate place for women was established in Roman morality. Of course, one must not lose sight of the fact that one thing is morality and another is reality. Theres available data that reveals to us how, in certain cases, Roman women had sovereignty over their sexuality and their bodies. Perhaps its excessive to subscribe to the Pompeian inscription that proclaims: Long live the one who loves; may he die he who does not know how to love, may he who puts obstacles in the path of love perish twice. So, instead, long live the one who loves and may he continue to enjoy the pleasure of reading works as suggestive and evocative as Patricia Gonzalez Gutierrezs latest book, Eros and Cupid in Ancient Rome. Let us agree with Virgil and affirm that love conquers all. And let us give in to love. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition In a nutshell: Uber Eats' online delivery platform was scammed by two young men from Florida's coastal city of Fort Lauderdale. The resourceful duo abused the system to siphon hundreds of thousands of dollars from the company, until a long investigation unveiled their modus operandi. Trayon Morgan and Roy Blackwood were arrested by Broward County Sheriff's Office after an eight-month-long investigation uncovered a costly scam against the grocery delivery service provided by Uber Eats. The two Florida men are suspected of scamming Uber out of more than $1 million, Broward County Sheriff said. The fraud started in January 2022, the investigators stated, and took place mainly in Broward and Palm Beach counties. Morgan was the main star of the operation, as he opened several accounts on the Uber Eats platform acting both as the customer and the courier. He would place a fake order as a customer, and then "accept" the same order as a courier. Uber Eats provides a preauthorized and preloaded credit card that can be used to purchase up to $700 in a single transaction. Morgan would cancel the fake "consumer" order, and then he would purchase a gift card with Uber's prepaid card. Blackwood seemingly acted as the "driver" of the fraudster duo, escorting Morgan to different Walgreens stores to spend the previously purchased gift cards. Broward County Sheriff's surveillance operation uncovered 27 different Walgreens locations visited by the scammers in a single day, causing Uber a loss of $5,013.28. Morgan would use stolen or completely fabricated identities of Uber drivers, putting his own photo on their (legit) license information. Detectives said that they worked together with Uber to discover and investigate the scam, using unspecified "investigative techniques" to confirm Morgan's involvement with the fake accounts. Broward County Sheriff issued arrest warrants on August 7, finally capturing Blackwood on August 16 and Morgan on August 22. The two suspects are now charged with organizing a scheme to defraud and grand theft. An Uber spokesperson said that the company is grateful for the efforts by law enforcement in the case. Uber continues to invest in "robust anti-fraud systems" and technology, the spokesperson said, which allowed the company's Global Investigations Team to "proactively alert" law enforcement about the scam. Fighting fraudulent activity is a priority for Uber. What just happened? It's unusual for a company to single out one of its partners for blame over a delayed product, but that's what GPD has done. The handheld/ultraportable PC maker has named AMD as the reason why some GPD Win Max 2 models have been delayed, claiming Team Red breached its contract by not supplying enough Ryzen 7 7840U APUs for the machines. As spotted by VideoCardz, GPD apologized on its crowdfunding page to customers who ordered its Win Max 2 but have yet to receive the devices. The company says that the problem is due to its upstream supplier violating their agreement. It's claimed that the Ryzen 7 7840U, used in the more powerful version of the Win Max 2, was delivered in batches, but the upstream supplier was unable to deliver the second batch. The note goes on to specifically state that AMD breached the contract and could not deliver the second batch of APUs to GPD's upstream supplier, leaving it unable to make production. All versions of the Win Max 2 with Ryzen 7 7840U chips have been impacted. Shipments of handhelds powered by the 7640U have not been affected as GPD has that configuration in stock. Unsurprisingly, several less-than-happy backers responded to the post. One asks for an estimated delivery time and whether GPD will offer expedited delivery, otherwise, they will cancel their order. Another person said to cancel their order if it still hasn't shipped, while one backer requested that both their orders be canceled. The GPD WIN Max 2's crowdfunding goal of $3 million was smashed last year by 5,655 backers who pledged just over $5.5 million. Back in March, AMD announced that the Zen4 and RDNA 3-based Ryzen 7040HS Phoenix APU series launch date was being pushed back from that month to April. There have also been availability issues with the Phoenix U series. The last major news we heard about GPD was in June when the Shenzhen-based company said it was working on a pocket-friendly eGPU dock that could boost the graphics performance of many of its devices. In a nutshell: Italian supercar maker Ferrari now accepts cryptocurrency as a form of payment in the US and plans to expand the program to Europe. Enrico Galliera, Ferrari's chief marketing and commercial officer, told Reuters the company's decision to accept crypto came at the behest of wealthy clients. Some of Ferrari's customers are young investors that have built substantial fortunes around crypto, Galliera said, adding that others are more traditional investors looking to diversify their portfolios. Dipping their toes into crypto could also help the company cater to folks that might not yet be clients but can afford a Ferrari. Ferrari sold 13,200 vehicles in 2022, but has only shipped just north of 1,800 vehicles to the Americas in the first half of this year. The executive did not share how many cars they expect to sell via crypto, but did reveal that they are booked well into 2025. Ferrari has partnered with BitPay and will accept payments in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDC, a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar. Galliera said there will be no added fees (or discounts) for those paying with crypto. BitPay will immediately convert the crypto into traditional currency to protect dealers from wild price swings, and ensure that funds are not being derived from criminal activity. Most dealers in the US have already signed up for the new crypto program, Galliera said, or are close to finalizing plans to accept digital currency. Ferrari aims to roll out a similar program in Europe by the first quarter of 2024 followed by other regions where crypto is legal. Ferrari is not the only automaker to experiment with crypto. Back in early 2021, Tesla started accepting Bitcoin as a payment method in the US. A few months later, however, CEO Elon Musk reversed the decision, citing the environmental impact of Bitcoin mining. Musk said Tesla would consider accepting Bitcoin again once it cleans up its act. As of writing, the only cryptocurrency Tesla accepts is Dogecoin. Image credit: Etkin Celep, Casper Somia Apple's foray into augmented reality (AR) has been making headlines for a while now, with the much-anticipated Vision Pro headset set to launch early next year. However, it seems that the tech giant is already thinking ahead, as recent reports suggest that Apple is gearing up for the release of an affordable Vision Pro headset. While this cheaper model might sacrifice a few features, it aims to bring AR technology closer to the masses with a more accessible price point. The Quest for Affordability As reported by Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, Apple's development teams are putting their focus on creating a more budget-friendly version of the Vision Pro headset by reportedly dropping its outside screen and Mac-grade chip. With the original model's price tag reaching a staggering $3,500, it is clear that a more cost-effective option is needed to appeal to a broader audience. The target price range for this more accessible headset is expected to be between $1,500 and $2,500. To achieve this price point, Apple is making several strategic decisions. Goodbye to EyeSight Feature 9to5Mac tells us that one significant cost-cutting measure Apple plans to take is removing the EyeSight feature. This external OLED display projects a rendering of the user's facial expression to others in the room. While EyeSight offers the Vision Pro a unique social interaction aspect, it does not directly benefit the wearer's AR experience. When the user is immersed in a virtual world, the display clouds over, and the EyeSight feature helps those around them understand their actions and expressions. Removing this feature would reduce the headset's production costs, making it more affordable. Read Also: Apple Watch Series 1 Now a Vintage Product, Limited Support-Not the OG Smartwatch A Closer Look EyeSight works by projecting a three-dimensional rendering of the user's face and eyes onto an externally curved OLED panel framed in lenticular glass, creating the illusion of depth. The Vision Pro continuously tracks the user's position in relation to others in the room, providing a lifelike perspective of the user's eyes. While it may sound like a substantial loss, users primarily using the headset in isolation would not miss this feature. By cutting EyeSight, Apple can significantly lower the bill of materials, making the headset more attainable for consumers. Other Cost-Cutting Measures In addition to eliminating EyeSight, Apple plans to include fewer external cameras and sensors in the more affordable Vision Pro model. These reductions in hardware will further help bring down the overall cost. Apple is not just stopping at a more budget-friendly Vision Pro headset; they are also working on a second-generation high-end Vision Pro, intending to make it lighter and more comfortable to wear. This upgraded version is also expected to receive a boost in chip specifications, potentially switching from Mac-grade chips to an iPhone processor. The company is exploring ways to integrate prescription lenses directly into the device to simplify the design, offering a seamless experience for users who require corrective eyewear. While the official launch date for the first Vision Pro headset is still "early next year," the exact release window remains somewhat elusive in typical Apple fashion. Stay posted here at Tech Times. Related Article: Meta Quest 3 vs. Apple Vision Pro: Early Reviews Call it Cheap, 'Hardly' Mixed Reality 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The last iPhone 15 event was not the last the world would see of Apple this year, as new iPads are coming this week with the company unveiling these devices via an announcement. Instead of a dedicated Apple event, the Cupertino tech giant will center on delivering the news via its announcements and press releases, similar to what it did for the iPads and Macs before. It is not new for Apple to announce its devices, mainly centering on refreshes or slight updates to a device, with various models of the iPad lineup seeing its debut. New iPads Coming This Week, with Apple's Announcement (Photo : Best Buy) Supercharged News released a report that there would be various Apple announcements coming this week, centering on the new iPad models that would introduce its latest refresh to the lineup. The report claimed that this was from sources familiar with Cupertino's media plans, with the company set to brief "select media personnel" focusing on its iPads. First off, the much-awaited upgrade of the iPad Air that will bring an M2 chip is coming, a massive upgrade from its current M1 chip version available. Alongside this, the Cupertino giant will also allegedly feature a new iPad mini-series that will bring the A16 Bionic chip. While there are no significant upgrades for the iPad lineup this year, this refresh would offer updated experiences with minor hardware upgrades. Read Also: You Can Make Live Stickers on iPhone in iOS 17: Here's How What to Expect from 2023's New iPad Lineup? The minor upgrades would center on several improvements for the iPad's use, but hardware and experiences would not change much for Tuesday's unveiling of the new devices. One significant change here would be the iPad Mini issue known as "jelly scrolling," with Apple addressing the matter in this year's release. Apple's iPad Development The latest and most advanced iPad in the world now is the iPad Pro M2 which was unveiled last year, in October 2022, giving the world the professional large tablet paired with its renowned Silicon chip. Many are already expecting the arrival of the M3 this year, but sadly, there were no appearances in the majority part of the year, also signaling that M3 Macs or iPad Pros are not coming. With everything that has happened, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claimed that there would be no new iPad models this year, and the renowned insider claimed this ahead of the recent Wonderlust Apple event. According to Kuo, new iPad models will not arrive until next year, claiming that the company has a new hardware strategy, with the Mac lineup also not seeing a drop this 2023. Many iPad lineups are expected by the world, and one centers on the much-awaited upgrade of the iPad Air to the M2 chips, following the lead of the iPad Pro from last year. That being said, Tuesday, October 17 is close for the world to see if there would be new releases for the iPad lineup from Apple, unveiling the latest refresh to the smart tablet, alongside massive experiences. Related Article: This Apple Patent Will Give New Cooling System to Future iPhones, iPads 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Indian government looks to lessen AI misinformation within WhatsApp through a "controversial" law, revealing its first source ahead of the country's Lok Sabha elections in 2024, as reported by the Indian Express. The government is believed to be in the process of sending an order to the messaging service under the Information Technology (IT) Rules. A provision was implemented in 2021, seeking the identity of the individuals who first shared the videos on the platform. The order is proposed following various deepfakes of politicians that the government believes to be problematic and harmful to its upcoming elections. (Photo : Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) SAN ANSELMO, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 06: In this photo illustration, the WhatsApp application is displayed on a iPhone on April 6, 2016 in San Anselmo, California. A senior government official stated in the report that the reason for the possible controversial law is election integrity. The government was able to view deepfake videos showing leaders from several political parties that prompted them "to send a first originator notice to WhatsApp," according to the report. Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar stated in the report that the anonymity used by people to propagate fake videos and audio is a significant problem that a traceability provision can help in establishing some accountability and possibly stop the "practice." He also noted that the government will remain open to sending the order to WhatsApp. India Draws Criticisms BNN reports that the move has been criticized by privacy advocates, claiming that this action creates a dangerous precedent that might allow governments to snoop on citizens' private lives. On the other side, those in favor of the change stress the significance of responsibility. The possible provision is supported by India's Information Technology (IT) Rules, which was previously challenged by various social media platforms, including WhatsApp, in 2021, when it was argued to be unconstitutional and a violation of the right to privacy. WhatsApp further questioned the law and its requirement to reveal details of the originator by stating that end-to-end encryption and its advantages are "at risk" in India, considering the law's provisions. Additionally, the challenge to the provision described it as "bad in law" that imposes "arbitrary, vague, and unreasonable" limitations on media freedom, thus undermining media independence. India's IT rules are reportedly created to give internet users improved rights to have their complaints heard by tech companies and to make it simpler to identify and punish people who spread offensive content online. IT rules merits were first described by IT and Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw as a guarantee of a secure and responsible social media environment in India by empowering and safeguarding users. Read Also: VPN Companies Plug Out Servers in India as New Data Rules Are Imposed AI DeepFakes on U.S. AI deepfakes have long been a concern globally, not just in India, U.S. has also attempted at regulating AI misinformation before its elections by reminding Big Tech companies to ensure safeguards and policies are imposed. Last October 6, it was reported by the Hindu following Google's declaration of new regulations on false political adverts created by AI, American senators have also asked Facebook, Instagram, and X to justify why they aren't following suit. The letter to Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, and Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X expressed some of the lawmakers "serious concerns" about the rise of AI-generated political ads while requesting an explanation regarding any rules the platforms may be developing to limit the harms to free and fair elections. Related Article: Humans Fail to Identify Quarter of Deepfake Speech Samples, According to Study 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Canadian government is supporting the Philippine National Coast Watch Center's satellite monitoring efforts, which is a key step toward combating unlawful fishing in the developing country. According to Reuters, through this collaboration, Canada's cutting-edge "Dark Vessel Detection System," which uses satellite technology to follow illegal fishers even when they make an effort to turn off their location-tracking gadgets, will be accessible to the Philippines. Combating illegal fishing is extremely difficult to do all around the Philippine archipelago, especially in disputed South China Sea zones. In recent months, the Philippine Coast Guard has issued reports that Chinese fishing and coast guard ships turn off their location-tracking technology to escape inspection. Enforcing Marine Security Officials from Canada and the Philippines signed the agreement in Ottawa, the capital of Canada. It aims to improve marine security and address the problem of illegal fishing. While the agreement's terms are unknown, it is a vital step in strengthening relations between the two nations. Since numerous governments claim the South China Sea, disagreements have persisted. An arbitration tribunal dismissed China's historical claims to a large South China Sea territory in 2016. Despite the Philippines' request, China refused to arbitrate because it considered the ruling illegal. Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Brunei claim the South China Sea, one of the world's busiest maritime routes, together with China and the Philippines. Canada is one of several Western nations that have pushed China and others to follow the 2016 arbitration ruling to resolve South China Sea disputes. Read Also: Dominica's Mountain Chicken Frog Vanishes in Record Time, Revealing Shocking Ecological Crisis Illegal Fishing is a Grave Problem in The Philippines The Philippines' fishing sector still struggles, but the Canada pact is a positive start toward eliminating unlawful fishing in the region. Philippine experts and fisherfolk leaders had raised concerns over overfishing, uncontrolled fishing, fisheries law, and regulatory enforcement, including vessel monitoring device installation. The vice president of Oceana, a global advocacy group for ocean preservation, Atty. Gloria Estenzo Ramos underlined the need for safeguarding and maintaining the Philippines' marine resources. "While the Philippines is endowed with rich marine and aquatic resources - making us 'the center of the center of marine biodiversity in the world,' in a study among scientists, led by Dr. Kent Carpenter - we have not been very good stewards in ensuring the protection, preservation, and sustainability of our fish and marine resources and habitats," she noted, per Oceana's news release. Dr. Wilfredo Campos, a University of the Philippines Visayas fisheries specialist, supported Ramos' statement and blamed overfishing and illegal fishing for the 1990s fish population decline. Recent Philippine Armed Forces observations of Chinese fishing vessels within the South China Sea's Philippine Economic Exclusion Zone have sparked concerns. USNI reported that on June 30, a Philippine Navy patrol plane saw 48 Chinese fishing vessels near the Iroquois Reef. From prior observations, there has been a noticeable rise in this, pointing to an increasing trend in the number of Chinese fishing boats in the region. Related Article: Elon Musk's X Hit with $386,00 Fine in Australian Child Abuse Probe 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. US Securities and Exchange Chairman Gary Gensler has warned that unless the government regulates artificial intelligence (AI), a terrible economic disaster could take place within the next 10 years. To promote his agency's planned restrictions on AI, SEC Chair Gary Gensler, usually regarded as the stock market's head regulator, has been speaking out against unregulated AI. He emphasized that without government involvement, the impending AI catastrophe is "nearly unavoidable" and may have an effect on both homeowners and shareholders. "It's a hard financial stability issue to address because most of our regulation is about individual institutions, individual banks, individual money market funds, individual brokers; it's just in the nature of what we do. And this is about a horizontal [matter whereby] many institutions might be relying on the same underlying base model or underlying data aggregator," Gensler said in the interview with the Financial Times. According to the SEC head, an excessive dependence on one AI model might cause issues in a variety of markets, including the mortgage industry and some equity market segments. New Regulations Needed to Address AI Artificial Intelligence usage in finance has expanded as more companies base their business models on data analysis. AI has evolved from a technology for computer scientists to an inexpensive and adaptable tool for many organizations in the past year, according to Gizmodo. Current regulations are unprepared for this fast transition. Although the SEC has the power to oversee financial markets, tech corporations generally dictate how AI technologies are used, operating outside of their purview. Since the SEC suggested new rules for the technology in recent months, Gensler's concerns about AI and its potential to cause financial instability have intensified. In July, the SEC recommended guidelines for broker-dealers and investment advisors' use of predictive analytics and other innovations. When using new technology, the regulations urge investment firms to put the interests of investors ahead of their own profits. Read Also: Funding Your Business Growth: Smart Strategies for Financial Success State financial officers from 15 states signed a statement voicing objection to these new regulations, adding to their growing criticism, according to the Washington Times. The State Financial Officers Foundation was responsible for putting together the letter. They contend that concrete data is insufficient to support their fears and that the SEC's proposed restrictions would be expensive and inhibit the use of new technologies. Governments Are Struggling Calls for more regulation have been made in response to Gensler's gloomy prediction of AI's contribution to upcoming financial crises. Regulators worldwide are struggling to regulate AI, but the EU has drafted comprehensive AI legislation. On the other hand, the United States is evaluating technology to determine which components require new restrictions and which are already subject to existing laws. Wall Street already uses AI in several ways, including robo-advisors, account opening procedures, and brokerage applications. Washington legislators and regulators are concentrating on AI market stability, data privacy, and antitrust issues amid growing scrutiny. In July, the FTC began reviewing ChatGPT producer OpenAI for consumer damage and data security vulnerabilities, while antitrust regulators have voiced concerns about AI's structural dependency on scale and ability to enable tech monopolies. Related Article: LinkedIn Implements Workforce Reduction, Focusing on Future AI Priorities 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Water shortages in Gaza are raising worries about health and sanitation. According to Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations agency for Palestinians, the potable water supply in the Gaza Strip is "running out." "Gaza is running out of life," Lazzarini said, as quoted in an AP News report. Gaza gets its water from wells, an Israeli pipeline, and Mediterranean Sea desalination plants. However, Israel shutting off water, fuel, and power after Hamas strikes has drastically reduced these supplies. The United Nations considers clean water a human right as good health requires drinking adequate water as the body needs it to survive. Columbia University emergency physician Dr. Tsion Firew stressed the need for hydration and said that water is the most significant thing that the body needs to maintain health "next to air." Lack of clean water amid the Israel-Hamas War increases dehydration and health concerns. Children, seniors, and medical patients are most at risk. Dizziness, fatigue, confusion, organ failure, and mortality can result from dehydration. Unclean water causes cholera and dysentery and hinders sanitation. Polluted water causes diarrhea, the leading cause of mortality for children under five worldwide. Moreover, clean water is needed in hospital wards, operating rooms, and emergency departments. The WHO emphasizes the use of water in lowering outbreaks and diseases linked to hospitals. Gaza Already Facing Water Problems Before Israel-Hamas War Gaza, which has one of the densest populations on earth, experiences water problems with no clear solution. Moreover, Reuters reported that Gaza's border with Egypt has prohibited refugees from fleeing the war, making the situation worse for civilians. Read Also: AI-Driven Financial Collapse Looms, Warns US SEC Chair Already contaminated, 90% of Gaza's water was undrinkable before the fighting and Israel's water shutdown. Sewage, chemicals, and saltwater have contaminated the only aquifer in the area. Some inhabitants found a lifeline in desalination plants and public faucets; however, even the 10% of clean aquifer water is sometimes mixed during distribution with subpar water, making it only adequate for washing. There is rising worry about the possibility of infections and pandemics as a result of the accumulation of waste in the streets and displaced persons' shelters. Medical professionals are having a difficult time caring for the growing number of patients, including youngsters injured in airstrikes, at packed hospitals that are experiencing fuel and medication scarcity as a result of the blockade. Due to a lack of resources, only the most serious cases are treated surgically. Tech Companies Raise Funds for Orphaned Children In related news, the Israeli Children's Fund aims to raise $100 million for children who lost one or both parents in Hamas's strikes on southern Israel. According to The Times of Israel, Israeli technology company founders, business owners, and venture capitalists established the fund. The group is comprised of Amit Rosenzweig, founder of Ottopia; Tomer Levy, CEO of AI startup Logz.io; and Michelle Latzer, co-founder and CEO of fintech company Tweed. Other partners include Tom Livne, CEO of tech unicorn Verbit, and Eyal Niv, a partner in Israeli venture capital firm Pitango. The Israeli Children's Fund demonstrates the coordinated effort in the tech sector to help the children impacted by the Israel-Hamas war. Related Article: Cell banks in drug development - how frozen cells drive medical progress 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Ami Ayalon, at a protest in Haifa against Benjamin Netanyahus policies, in April, in a photo provided by the interviewee. Israels doves, the champions of peace with the Palestinians, speak the same language as the hawks, those who reject a two-state solution. The attack unleashed by Hamas on October 7, which claimed the lives of more than a thousand people and resulted in the kidnapping of nearly 200, has roused all Israeli Jews, 80% of the countrys population, in the face of what they believe to be a common threat. This is also the case among the so-called Guardians, former senior commanders of the security forces who advocate democratic values and the creation of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders. Ami Ayalon, a 78-year-old former chief general of the elite naval commandos, former head of Shin Bet, the internal security service, and former Labor minister, was the epitome of the retired leftist military figure who dreams of an Israel at peace after a lifetime of warfare against enemies. But the rumblings of war have now roused him. The reality of Israel today can be perceived from various angles, but what I see is the horror. I speak now not as a military person, but as a citizen. I see the collapse of virtually all of our security and, more importantly, the collapse being felt by the younger generation. We are afraid. This is an earthquake that can alter the face of Israel. We face many questions, he says of his bewilderment in a telephone conversation from his home in a moshav, an agricultural settlement, in Mount Carmel, in the north of the country. We are afraid. This is an earthquake that can alter the face of Israel From a military point of view, we face the collapse of a security policy, which Benjamin Netanyahus governments have implemented over the past 15 years, supported by many citizens with their votes, he argues. We are witnessing the collapse of a concept: that of basing our security on the division of Palestinian society, between those who reside in Gaza and those who live in the West Bank. Netanyahus goal has only been to avoid having to negotiate with the excuse what do you want from us if you dont even have a single government? explains Ayalon. In order to achieve the goal of dividing the Palestinians, Israel strengthened Hamas, which was a minority group among the political forces 30 years ago, and allowed it to rule in Gaza through the financial support of Qatar. We pay a price for this regularly, with episodes of violence in which Israelis and many Palestinians are killed, he says in reference to the 2008-2009, 2012, 2014 and 2021 wars. It was a price we were willing to pay as part of the policy of conflict management, rather than conflict resolution. It was a failure. Like other Shin Bet officials [his tenure ran from 1996 to 2000], I warned the government that Hamas only seeks to destroy Israel and create a Palestinian state governed by Sharia [Islamic law], he recalls now as a politician in the opposition. Ayalon points out that Hamas is the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, a politico-religious group established a century ago in Egypt. But the behavior of its military wing has now resembled that of the Islamic State, the barbarism of ISIS. Thats what we have seen in the attacks on the Gaza border with the killing of women and children. It was not an act of war, but of radical terrorism, he adds, adopting a view that has become predominant in the Jewish state. He believes it is obvious that Hamass armed wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, must be fought: It is unacceptable that they still control a border where Israeli children live just a few hundred meters away. The veteran soldier, honored for his courageous military exploits; the former head of counter-espionage who rehabilitated the Shin Bet after the fiasco surrounding the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1955; the politician from Labors pacifist faction who challenged another former general, Ehud Barak, in the partys leadership contest; the Guardian does not hesitate to answer the question. The objective of the war? We have to go into Gaza and do whatever is necessary from a military point of view to ensure the destruction of all of Hamas military strength. It will take time. A lot of people are going to die. Israeli soldiers and many more Palestinians, he says. But we have no other choice. When asked about defensive errors that allowed the large-scale attack by Hamas, he replies: It was the result of a big failure. The belief that, thanks to technological superiority, we are invincible. But this is a system based on digital communications, cellphones, the internet. If an enemy knows how it operates, it can disable it, and our units will become uncoordinated and in the dark. It stems from a wrong premise. Ayalon also stresses that the government firmly believed that Hamas had no reason to launch an attack in recent months, while the Islamist leaders were focusing on the economic reconstruction of the Palestinian territory and on easing their unemployed (50% of the working population) into the Israeli labor market, through cross-border work permits. The May 2021 offensive brought devastation to the Gaza Strip, and destroyed a great deal of what had been rebuilt since the 2014 war, he explains. Indeed, it was probably not understood at the time that Hamas would eventually seek revenge. He recalls that in recent months several units had been deployed from the Gaza border to the West Bank, in the face of the intensity of the conflict with armed groups in Jenin, in the north of the other Palestinian territory. Everything is calm in Gaza, was the governments message at the time. I dont know if there was a lack of intelligence information, Im not currently active, but my impression is that there were clearly major failures, he concludes. But for Ayalon, the current armed conflict doesnt compare to the 1973 Yom Kippur War. From a military point of view, it cant be compared to the combined attack by Egypt and Syria in 1973. But that isnt the only possible perspective to gauge a conflict. This war is going to create a long-lasting impact, especially among the younger people, who havent yet experienced such a threat in their lives. Nobody knows for sure when the military ground operation in Gaza will be launched, he continues. Its difficult to know how large it will be, how long it will last, how deep it will go into the Gaza Strip, he responds, in light of the array of scenarios that are opening up for the Israel Defense Forces in the event of an invasion of the Palestinian coastal enclave. When asked if the armed wing of Hamas could be defeated for good, he replies: Yes, it is possible. It is always possible to destroy the enemys military capacity. We can do it and we must do it. But the cost to human lives will be very high. Moving on from the military and intelligence strategy he exercised in the past, the veteran Labor leader turns to a political analysis. Hamas is not only a military force, but also an ideology. And you cant use the army to kill an ideology, he stresses. To defeat an ideology you have to counter with stronger ideas. If we dont offer a better future to the Palestinians, a political horizon that involves an end to the Israeli military occupation of their territories, with a Palestinian state, we will never defeat Hamas. In five or ten years it will have rearmed again, he concludes. We lost hundreds, thousands of soldiers in 1973, but shortly after, in 1977 and 1979, Egypt agreed to sign a peace agreement with Israel. That is the lesson we have to understand now, he adds, stressing the need for a political solution through the two-state solution and the 2002 Arab peace initiative, initiated by Saudi Arabia. We have to understand the Palestinians. They voted for Hamas not because they all believe in Sharia, but because Hamas showed them that the only way to achieve a state of their own is to use military force against Israel. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition 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 More than 8 sets of cultural relics from 260 provinces were unveiled in Henan to show the Chinese ritual and music culture Before the Koto Ward mayoral election, cash from Mr. Kakizawa's side was explained by the ward councilor "Jinchu Visit" (m+) Top Managers on Road Bikes: Why Cycling Is the New Marathon Seven Top Managers on Tour Johnny's former talent "A lot of slander on the Internet" reports damage to the police Appointment of 6 Chief Engineers to Focus on 6 Major Fields Sichuan Tianfu New Area Explores the "Chief Engineer System" for Urban Construction Britney Spears: Will the singer soon release a second volume of her memoir? 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Matthew Perry's Estate: His Parents and Five Siblings, the Possible Heirs to His Million-Dollar Fortune Equatorial Guinea has offered itself as a platform for the next Russia-Africa summit Habeck stands up to German anti-Semitism from both the right and the left Grant to Defeat: How Kasparov Intends to Lobby for Anti-Russian Sanctions in the European Parliament Communities 2019 - Privacy The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them. The specter of death is hanging over Gaza. With no water, no power, no food and no medicine, thousands will die. Plain and simple. Thats how Martin Griffiths, U.N. under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, warned on Sunday of the looming humanitarian crisis facing Gaza, where one million people have been displaced. Meanwhile, hundreds of tons of desperately needed aid are piling up in Egypts Sinai peninsula. After meeting in Cairo with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the Egyptian crossing into Gaza will be reopened this morning for the passage of humanitarian aid. According to Egyptian sources, a truce of a few hours has been agreed for this purpose, although the Israeli government later denied such an agreement. On Sunday, Israel declared that Gazas main highway would be a safe corridor, but for only three hours. The deadline shorter than the one announced on Saturday by the Israeli army as well as the official evacuation of the city of Sderot a regular target of rockets from the Palestinian militias suggest a land invasion is imminent. Almost half of the population in Gaza has already abandoned their homes, according to calculations by UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, which says the number is likely to rise. Hundreds of thousands of people are in other homes, hospitals or UNRWA schools, which has admitted that for the first time that they cannot guarantee their safety. In some case, they have moved out of fear of the bombings, in other cases, they no longer have a home to return to, with 1,300 building in Gaza destroyed. The rest of the population accounting for hundreds of thousands of people has been fleeing to the south since Friday after Israeli issued its ultimatum. The flight south is dominated by confusion and desperation, amid frequent bombings that increased Sunday from mid-afternoon, as could be heard from Sderot. These attacks have caused 2,670 deaths in eight days, with hundreds of the victims children, according to Palestines Ministry of Health. The figure exceeds the death toll from the 2014 offensive the largest until now which lasted seven weeks and included a ground invasion. UNRWA warned that the Gaza population is being forced to use contaminated water from wells, with the consequent risk of disease. It is calling for the immediate supply of fuel to generate drinking water. It has become a matter of life and death. It is a must, said Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, in a statement. Gaza which has been under an Israeli blockade for almost two decades, with Egypt also taking part in the hardest period only has 21% drinking water. Attack everywhere As the situation deteriorates, Israel warned that a ground intervention was approaching. Our responsibility now is to enter Gaza, to go to the places where Hamas is preparing, acting, planning, launching [missiles]. Attack them everywhere, every commander, every operative, destroy infrastructure. In one word: win, Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said while visiting soldiers, which includes more than 300,000 reservists. Our responsibility now is to enter Gaza, to go to the places where Hamas prepares, acts, plans and launches [projectiles]. Attack them anywhere, any command, any operation, destroy the infrastructure. In a word, win, said the Chief of the General Staff, Herzi Halevi, in a speech Sunday to the troops, among which there are more than 300,000 mobilized reservists. Were going to do something big, important, to change the situation for a long, long time. This is a great mission, a great privilege. Do it with excellence On Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked soldiers: You ready for the next stage? The Egyptian executive reported that it is negotiating the entry of humanitarian aid through Rafah, its border crossing with Gaza, where it fears an avalanche of refugees. Israel is keeping Gaza under complete blockade: without food, water, electricity or fuel. Fuel is needed to power Gazas only power plant, which also powers the water extraction pumps. But it has stopped working, and only sites with generators have electricity. Blinken, who is on a regional tour that will take him to Israel on Monday his second visit since the Hamas attack said on Sunday in Cairo that Rafah will be open for aid to enter. It is also where the exit of foreigners or Palestinians with dual nationality is being negotiated. We are putting into place with the United Nations, with Egypt, with Israel, with others the mechanism by which to get the assistance in and to get it to the people who need it, said Blinked, according to the Associated Press news agency. Two Palestinian men remove the body of a victim of Israeli bombings from under the rubble in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza Strip, on Sunday. MOHAMMED FAEQ (AFP) IDF international spokesperson Richard Hecht said Sunday that the evacuation of the north of Gaza is due to the fact that the army is acting in stages, not because it is focusing its objectives in the north, where Gaza City is located. Israel has set itself the goal of destroying and overthrowing Hamas, the Islamist movement that has governed Gaza since 2007. On January 7, the group killed 1,300 Israeli people, mainly civilians, and kidnapped nearly 200. After the Hamas attack, when a few of the armed men who had infiltrated were still in Israeli territory, Israel began to evacuate about 20 small towns, such as the kibbutzs Beeri and Kfar Aza, the scene of massacres. Most of Sderots 30,000 inhabitants have also fled. Sderot was already a ghost town on Sunday, with businesses closed and more police cars than citizens, but Israeli authorities wanted to evacuate it completely and began the official, voluntary relocation. Buses left at noon from the citys now empty school and traveled to hotels in Eilat, a tourist city at the tip of the Red Sea, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The evacuation is nearly complete, according to authorities. The perimeter will now be extended three and five miles from Gaza. A ground invasion could lead to an increase in rocket fire, which has been significantly reduced in recent days. Israels national channel 12 estimates that 60,000 Israelis have had to leave their homes. The invasion could also trigger a broader conflict. Washington has sent military support (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 last Thursday in Tel Aviv), also in a bid to show its muscle against Iran. The Lebanese militia Hezbollah, backed by Iran and fighting in the Syrian war on the side of forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, was involved in clashes last week. Given this context, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian issued a warning on Sunday: If the Zionist aggressions do not stop, the hands of all parties in the region are on the trigger. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Close Trump claims he wasnt referring to clerk when he violated fraud trial gag order 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 fifth week of Donald Trumps civil fraud trial is underway in New York but another Trump trial has begun in Colorado. The latest legal action concerns a lawsuit seeking to block Mr Trump from the 2024 presidential ballot based on the 14th Amendment and its ban on insurrectionists running for office. Denver District Court Judge Sarah B Wallace will hear arguments on the Civil War-era federal constitutional amendment throughout the week. Meanwhile, in New York, Mr Trumps sons Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump are expected to testify in the fraud trial this week, with the former president and Ivanka Trump taking the stand the following week. And in Washington, DC, the judge in the former presidents federal election interference case has reinstated a gag order on him in the federal case brought by special counsel Jack Smith. US District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued a gag order in the case in early October, banning Mr Trump from making statements about prosecutors and potential witnesses in the case. The order was briefly paused on 20 October before being reinstated on Sunday. Mr Trump lashed out at the ruling on Truth Social fuming that it is NOT CONSTITUTIONAL! The thin droplets that fall slowly trickle into the pool of blood without diluting the dark red color. It was here, says Shalev Hatan, a 22-year-old serviceman, in the rain despite the clear evidence. He points to the spot where a missile hit the Israeli village of Shtula, in the Upper Galilee region, from across the neighboring border with Lebanon. The attack that took place just after 9 a.m. on Sunday morning took the life of one person and wounded three others. It was claimed by the Lebanese Shia guerrilla group Hezbollah, supported by Iran, which acknowledged firing some 20 missiles. The four victims were Arab construction workers of Israeli nationality who were hit while building a new house. At the site, the van they had gone to work in remains half destroyed by the bombing. The spot attacked is certainly not an Israeli military base, as claimed by Hezbollah. In quantitative terms, it is impossible to compare this incident in Shtula with the number of victims who have lost their lives around the Gaza Strip in the last eight days, since Hamas unleashed its deadly attack and Israel embarked on an indiscriminate bombardment of the Palestinian territory. Yet the construction worker was killed in an area considered to be a powder keg, and the rocket fired by Hezbollah was much more than a mere match. The risk of an escalation in these border hills stands at its highest and, as Gaza and its surroundings descend into an inferno, it could open a new front in the war. Indeed, tension and gunfire from both sides has escalated since October 8, the day after Hamas perpetrated its massacre. There are at least 16 dead so far, most of them on the Lebanese side. The Shia militants claimed on their television channel on Sunday that their men had successfully planted their flag and seized an Israeli checkpoint. I fear another escalation, says Shlomi Hatan, the 54-year-old father of Shalev. Both of them are part of the bunch of uniformed men defending the village, stationed in front of the yellow metal gate lining the access road that winds down the hillside. We have no choice but to defend ourselves, he says. The previous escalation he is referring to was in the summer of 2006, which left more than a thousand dead in Lebanon and over 150 in Israel. All the men guarding Shtula comprise part of the corps of more than 300,000 reserve troops mobilized in recent days by Israel amid the escalating violence. In the early afternoon, the village is pervaded by silence, stillness and emptiness. Nearby, a few meters away, is the border known as the Blue Line, around which the U.N. peacekeeping mission (UNIFIL) is striving to maintain the calm from Lebanon. On Sunday, one of the missiles crashed into the headquarters and its origin is being investigated by the Blue Helmets. The few remaining residents of Shtula of some 300 inhabitants were virtually all evacuated after the latest attack. This eerie calm is only interrupted by the sound of Israeli artillery fire towards Lebanese territory. They are ours, stresses one of the soldiers. Hezbollah acknowledged that one of its members was killed in the area on Sunday. Ora Hatan (center) is among the few civilians remaining in Shtula after the Hezbollah attack from Lebanon on Sunday. Luis de Vega Meanwhile, Shalev Hatan scans the horizon and then points to the spot where Aita al-Shaab stands, towards which the Israeli counterattack is directed. Shortly after the Shtula bombardment, the authorities established a 2.5-mile closed security zone south of the border. Military radios alert of a new attack from Lebanon, this time against the Hanita kibbutz, in the same area. On the Lebanese side, a projectile from Israel killed a Reuters reporter on Friday. According to Hezbollah, Sundays missile launches came in response to that fatality. Two other Lebanese people were killed on Saturday around the Sheba farms, a Syrian-Lebanese enclave occupied by Israel since 1967. Next to the gate that leads to the village, a concrete hut serves as a shelter. All this is very simple, says 35-year-old Gilad Samipur, brandishing his rifle, as he adopts the tone of an analyst to underscore the importance of the dead construction worker in a strategic place. This is the beginning of World War III. The spark ignited in Gaza. The United States supports Israel. The conflict will spread here, in the north. And opposite, Iran, Syria, Russia, China, concludes Samipur, who describes himself as an Iranian Jew, since his parents were forced to flee to Israel at the end of the 1970s under pressure from the Ayatollah regime. However, he does not place too much importance on the fact that the enemy in front of him is precisely the militants supported by Tehran. Im not here to attack, but to defend my homeland, Israel, he concludes. The road that practically runs parallel to the dividing line between the two countries is a non-stop stream of troops moving back and forth. Dozens of tanks and armored vehicles could be seen among the trees on Sunday. Near Hanita, the other border enclave on the Israeli side bombed from Lebanon, dozens of soldiers arrive on two buses. Behind them, there is a huge convoy of military vehicles. Hatan is the prevailing surname in Shtula, points out Ora Hatan, a 58-year-old woman who is one of the few remaining civilians. Missiles are striking everywhere. Tel Aviv, Haifa... This is our land and no one will remove us, even if the war reaches our home, she says. If we are attacked from the south, from Gaza, and from the north, from Lebanon, only God can save us, she adds. Next to her, Shlomi Hatan indignantly makes the gesture of slicing his neck. The Palestinians are animals who want to do away with us. Why do some people in Spain support them? he asks angrily and insistently. Not animals at all. Show compassion, Ora tries to stop him in vain. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition The Miriam Walmsley Cooper tugboat passes under the Crescent City Connection twin spans as it heads down the Mississippi River as the sun rises on the first day of fall in New Orleans Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023. (Staff Photo by David Grunfeld, The Times-Picayune | NOLA.com) The slave trade to Brazil and the rest of the Americas was a business as inhuman as it was gigantic and extremely lucrative. It involved investors and insurers, as well as ship captains who did the perverse accounting. In 1762 after docking with the human cargo in Rio de Janeiro one of these captains calculated the income from the sale of the group of Africans who had been captured and brought overseas by force. He deducted the value of the captives killed during the voyage, while, in the expenses column, he included maritime transportation, his salary, the payment to the priest who baptized five captives and the feeding of the slaves for 76 days, at [a cost of] 60 reales a day and the sales commission, 6%. This was all reported in Escravidao (Slavery) an award-winning trilogy by Brazilian journalist Laurentino Gomes about that horrific period. The slave trade became one of the pillars of the Brazilian economy. A century-and-a-half after abolition, the Brazilian Public Prosecutors Office has just opened a case to investigate the responsibility of the Bank of Brazil (BB) in the sale and purchase of human beings. As the fourth-largest savings entity in Brazil, BB is one of the best-known brands in the country. Its omnipresent: the government owns 70% of the shares, it has 75 million clients (a third of the population) and it has branches in almost every corner of the country. Meanwhile, more than half of the 215 million Brazilians are descendants of the five million human beings who were kidnapped in Africa and transported in chains to the other side of the Atlantic aboard slave ships. In the United States, by comparison, about 13% of Americans have ancestry stemming from enslaved Africans. The initiative to analyze this chapter in the banks history came from a group of historians. Scholars have been examining the phenomenon of slavery within this financial entity, which was founded in 1808, the year after the Portuguese royal court retreated from Lisbon to the Portuguese colony of Brazil, as a result of the French invasion. Many of those who first contributed funds to create the BB were slave-traffickers who in exchange for their financial support received noble titles. It was especially after 1830 when Brazil, under pressure from England, prohibited the sale and purchase of Africans that the business became more lucrative and increased its size exponentially, with the consent of the Portuguese empire. A drawing published in London, depicting sections of a Brazilian slave ship, in 1830. R. Walsh (Arquivo Nacional do Brasil) The Public Prosecutors Office which, in Brazil, also exercises the functions of ombudsman, with the mission of ensuring human rights, preserving memory and combating racism immediately picked up the gauntlet. After analyzing the historians request at the end of September, it opened an investigation a step that was widely-publicized and summoned the leadership of the Bank of Brazil to a meeting. The ministers of Racial Equality and Human Rights serving in the government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and the historian were also invited. The Bank of Brazil quickly made itself available to investigators to accelerate the process of reparations. One of the historians is Thiago Campos, a researcher at the Oral History Laboratory of the Fluminense Federal University in the state of Rio de Janeiro. He explains to EL PAIS on the phone that any Brazilian institution of the 19th century was directly or indirectly related to human-trafficking or slavery. He adds that the bank was chosen because its one of the few institutions born at that time that still exists although it has undergone several refoundations throughout the past two centuries. This is a debate that already exists in other countries. Were very far behind, he points out, before adding that, in Brazil, the chapter of slavery was normalized, without questioning during all this time that the bank that bears the name of our nation was founded on slavery. The historian details that, in 1853, the main private shareholder of the Bank of Brazil was one of the largest traffickers of Africans: Jose Bernardino de Sa. This slave trader forcibly brought more than 20,000 people [to Brazilian ports] in more than 50 trips. These were times when a single voyage could translate into a fortune as long as the majority of the human cargo survived the journey. To save money, traffickers limited the slaves food rations during the sea voyage and increased it in the final days. They also covered the bodies of Africans with oil. All with the aim that, upon docking, those men and women would appear stronger, look better and be sold at a higher price, according to what is documented in the Escravidao trilogy. The magnate De Sa became one of the richest men in the empire, owning several estates. The headquarters of the Bank of Brazil, in Brasilia, in October 2019. Adriano Machado (Reuters) Julio Araujo one of the members of the Public Prosecutors Office who signed the decision to open this investigation explains that the principal objective is to open the discussion. This is a very important, crucial issue that has to enter the public agenda, the public debate, he says over the phone. After contact was made between the BB, the public authorities and the historians, the researchers objectives are now to broaden the focus of their investigation and include Black activist movements and the rest of Brazilian society. Araujo emphasizes that the end of this process hasnt been written: We dont know if the bank is going to recognize violations, if its going to ask for forgiveness, if its going to deepen the investigation into its history. The priority now is to put the issue on the agenda. The historian Campos has been pleasantly surprised by the speed and disposition with which the financial entity responded to the opening of the case. The Bank of Brazil has the capacity to recount its history, to investigate its archives and thus participate in the reconstruction of that past that has been erased from our history. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition 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. A magistrate handling the case of struck-off surgeon William Mooney, who was caught with cocaine in a Bondi drug bust last year, was not told that Mooney had tested positive to cocaine usage on five previous occasions, a tribunal has heard. Mooney gave evidence before the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) on Monday in an attempt to be reinstated as a doctor. Dr William Mooney exiting the hearing on Monday. Credit: Dion Georgopoulos In April 2022, the celebrity nose surgeon was stripped of his medical licence after a tribunal found his negligence had resulted in the deaths of two patients. Mooney also lied about a relationship with a third patient and provided a false medical certificate to cover up his failure to attend mandatory drug testing for cocaine use. Six months after his banning, Mooney was arrested after collecting a bag of cocaine from a Corolla-driving dial-a-dealer outside his Bondi apartment. THE FORUM Gracious in victory Its such a relief to have confirmed that we are not a racist country. Id been worried that a No vote would make us look like we didnt care about the rights of our First Nations people. But Peter Dutton put my mind at ease when he told us in his gracious victory speech that all Australians are equal and that the Yes campaign had been the brain child of inner-city elites and black activists. No wonder all those decent non-racist Australians voted No. Malcolm Morgan, Brunswick Please explain Now that the votes are in and it is evident that nearly every remote Indigenous community overwhelmingly voted Yes, can senators Price and Thorpe please explain again why these communities didnt need a Voice? Graeme Gardner, Reservoir Forewarned is forearmed I wonder how many would have changed their vote from No to Yes had they realised the level of support for the Yes case from the Indigenous population, and whether this will cause them to question their sources in future. Marina Dobbyn, Glen Waverley Same old Jacqueline Maleys piece (Devastating verdict, 15/10) says it all. The Australian No voters have told Indigenous Australians that they are not special. The proportion of No voters of 97 per cent of the population has this message for the 3 per cent of First Nations people. And what about the disinformation that the Voice did not have support in remote communities? Only one remote polling station out of 20 recorded a No vote. The Tiwi Islands voted 84 per cent in favour. And what will these remote First Nations people think, now they have seen the results? That nothing has changed. David Fry, Moonee Ponds Refuse all lobbyists Peter Dutton says it is divisive for 3 per cent of Australias most marginalised people to have a representative voice to federal MPs. Like the Business Council of Australia, the Pharmacy Guild, the AMA, the AFL, the ACTU, private schools, churches and others. Even Gina Rinehart has a direct voice to the top. She was at the No party on Saturday night. The opposition leader and co have no choice but to refuse to meet with these groups or individuals or their lobbyists. No more tickets to sports events, or seats in the Qantas chairmans lounge. They would not want to appear hypocritical. Andrew Taylor, Merricks Beach Hope sabotaged My heart lifted when Anthony Albanese declared in his victory speech following the 2022 election that the Voice would be a top priority; finally we had a politician who would work to seek recognition and justice for our First Peoples. However the erosion of his good intentions by an opportunist Opposition sabotaged any hope of progress. The use of algorithms, targeting wavering voters, spreading lies and misinformation via social media, proved effective tools in producing a negative outcome, but at what cost? Other correspondents have likened this result to Brexit and the elevation of Trump, with similar damage to our democratic process. It is difficult to see the future for our democracy as other than bleak, whilst progressive ideals can be degraded so comprehensively by the sinister use of social media. Maurie Trewhella, Hoppers Crossing Make them accountable The governments proposed suite of electoral reforms intend to address spending caps and truth in advertising. Social media content should also be a priority; without platforms being forced to exercise control over misinformation/disinformation, a Trumpian erosion of faith in our democracy is inevitable. Lucy Niu, Mount Waverley Mind the gaps There are, in truth, four gaps to be closed. The first is the capitalism gap that leaves more than 5 million Australians always embedded in poverty and economic insecurity. Then the Indigenous gap adds to the impact of colonisation to leave our 1 million Indigenous Australians much worse off. The education gap leaves too many Australians without the information, knowledge, understanding or empathy about the past, present or future of Australia to make good choices. Finally, the political gap leaves us with a revolving door of elected governments with policies that are with rare exception too little, too late to make a real difference. So, yes, lets close the gaps, all of them. Stewart Sweeney, Adelaide Violence must end The Israeli armys warning of a Gaza Strip offensive should strike a chill into the hearts of us all. The Hamas attack on Israeli citizens was horrific; now Israels disproportionate retribution is horrific as civilian populations are being killed and driven out of their homes. Prime Minister Albanese has no business to offer support for Israels ongoing war. The violence must stop: the West must intervene and negotiate a just peace for both populations. Bill Mathew, Parkville Monstrous demand Hamas massacre is monstrous and demands condemnation in the strongest terms. Israel has the right to respond as your Editorial (14/10) notes. It does not have the right to impose a siege on 2.2 million people, cutting off electricity, food, fuel and clean water to the whole of Gaza. The elderly, the sick, the injured and children will die. This is collective punishment of Palestinian citizens and a violation of international law. Where is the condemnation in this regard? Susanne Pearce, Southbank Who is oppressing whom? Your correspondents analogy, comparing the French Revolution and the overthrow of the Russian tsars to the current situation in Gaza may have merit (Oppressed, Letters 14/10). However, the real question is who is truly oppressing the Palestinian people? Israel, who withdrew completely from the entirety of Gaza in 2005, or Hamas who has, since they took power nearly 20 years ago, used billions of dollars of international aid to build missiles and tunnels rather than housing, infrastructure and industry for the Gazan population? Robert Friedman, Caulfield Keep politics out of it I agree with Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore who criticised the recent illumination of the Sydney Opera House in the colours of the Israeli flag. The Sydney Opera House is a place of entertainment and should never be used to promote a political agenda. Sure, show the Australian colours when we are playing the All Blacks, Wimbledon and others, but leave politics out of it. If politicians do feel compelled to make visual political statements then there are plenty of Houses of Parliament, both state and federal, available for use as canvases if they must. Veronica Levay, Colac Child stars I read Kerrie OBriens article about past Australian childrens TV shows with interest (Like comfort food: Kids TV shows Skippy and Round the Twist have enduring legacy, 16/10). But I was surprised she didnt mention the old childrens television series that featured child actors who went on to become well-known adult actors many years later. I refer to the shows Secret Valley, Runaway Island, Professor Poopsnagles Steam Zeppelin, Butterfly Island, Platypus Cove, Run Rebecca Run, Island Trader and Five Mile Creek. An example of child actors featured in these old Australian TV shows who went on to become well-known in the adult film and television industry are Justine Clarke, Rebekah Elmaloglou, Mouche Phillips, Miles and Simone Buchanan, Asher Keddie, Marianne Howard and Nicole Kidman. We have Hector Crawford and Reg Grundys production companies to thank for these shows that were much loved and which also became successful overseas. Jo Buchanan, Northcote Inner child As a wizened 30-year-old who regularly watches childhood favourites on VHS tapes, Kerrie OBriens article strikes a chord. Twenty years ago, long after my peers had grown up (we were in grade 5 after all) and shifted to soap operas, I found myself stricken. Should I follow suit to avoid the routine humiliation by my friends for my viewing habits, or did I want to keep in touch with my childhood and the kinder world therein? Happily, the answer came from my teacher, Mrs Hamer, who told me she still enjoyed childrens television. From the sensitive child I was then to The Age letter writer I am today, I often recall that moment, especially when I watch programmes such as Mustangs FC or Round the Twist. Anders Ross, Heidelberg Luxury goods I had to smile when reading the article Gorgeous Georges ... (16/10), and the facade of it having been a store of luxe wares. My father, a migrant of the late 50s, was a tailor of impeccable workmanship. I cannot recall how it came about, but he plied his needles at home, in St Kilda, creating magnificent suede ladies coats, finished off with fox and other fur collars for Georges. I guess the store did not want to highlight the fact that their expensive apparel was made locally, so supplied my father with labels that clearly stated that they were in fact produced in either Italy, or France. In other words, price equated value. A clever ploy to this day, leading consumers to believe that the more you pay for something, the more exclusive it is. Eva Millane, Box Hill North Mining The ruling that the environment minister does not have to take CO2 emissions into account is bizarre at best. If a mine emitted significant amounts of sulphur dioxide or ammonia, both gases that cause widespread harm, it would not be allowed to continue. Why is it that coal mines that emit gases that cause just as much harm but with slower and more widespread effects are OK to continue? David Moore, Kew AND ANOTHER THING Credit: Illustration: Matt Golding The Voice Negotiated and presented properly, the referendum would have succeeded. Sadly, this was not the case. Peter Venn, East Bentleigh No may have won you a referendum, Mr Dutton, but it will never make you a prime minister. Lindsay Donahoo, Wattle Glen So Dutton is not going through with his promised referendum. Im sure theres a positive policy somewhere, sometime, somehow. Ross Hosking, Blackwood It wouldnt have hurt to vote Yes, it really wouldnt have. Ian Macdonald, Traralgon Peter Duttons vision for Australia lacks any detail. Andrew Taylor, Merricks Beach As has been the case for almost 240 years, stale pale males have led White Australia down the easy path of negativity. Sandra Kay Patton, Talbot Will 60 per cent of Australians ever accept the truth of our history? Randall Bradshaw, Fitzroy Thank god for the bush. Martin Newington, Aspendale My Yes badge now has Sorry over it. Jane Sullivan, Kew East Unfortunately many Australians sympathise with our Indigenous population but cannot empathise. Robin Jensen, Castlemaine Middle East Hamas leaders are directing their murderous plans from the safety of Qatar and Iran. Brings leading from the rear to a new level. Ruja Varon, Malvern The sheer power of the public verdict on the Indigenous Voice has left Australian leaders stumbling in the dark on the meaning of the referendum and the way forward on entrenched disadvantage. What next? Nobody knows. The truth is that the seismic defeat for the Yes campaign cannot be met with instant answers on how they should proceed on the lasting challenges of truth, treaty and closing the gap. And the winners in this referendum have no plan at all. Peter Dutton proved that point in his very first move when parliament resumed on Monday morning. The opposition leader dumped his plan, aired only six weeks ago, to hold a second referendum on recognition for First Australians if the Voice was rejected. The idea was always a gust of political hot air, but Duttons remarks on Monday were important because they offered public confirmation of the policy vacuum on the No side of the referendum. Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has claimed her parents and their Northern Territory home were attacked as a result of her high-profile advocacy against the Voice to parliament. Price said on Monday that her father, David Price, had an egg thrown at him during a TV interview on referendum day. The Alice Springs home he shares with her mother, former NT politician Bess Price, had paint thrown at it at an unspecified time. Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price with her mother, Bess, a former Northern Territory government minister. Credit: Jeff Tan During their interview on Sky, someone has thrown an egg at my father, and some people, at some point, have thrown paint at their home, she said on radio station 2GB. So, you know, theyre a target now. Theres some pretty nasty individuals in Alice Springs who obviously dont like the outcome, so I guess my concern now is their safety. They shouldnt have to put up with that kind of nonsense. Jacinta Allan has announced senior public servant Matt Phelan will become her chief of staff as the newly installed Victorian premier attempts to put her stamp on her office. Phelan, 52, comes to the job following a stint in a senior management role within the Department of Premier and Cabinet. He worked for a short time as a Herald Sun journalist before becoming a public transport bureaucrat. Premier Jacinta Allan and deputy Ben Carroll. Credit: Getty Senior government sources, who confirmed the appointment, said Phelan had developed a close working relationship with Allan and other senior government ministers as a top public transport bureaucrat with Victorias major transport infrastructure program, and within the former Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources. Phelan will replace Daniel Andrews chief of staff, Lissie Ratcliffe. She and the former premiers deputy chief of staff Jessie McCrone will leave their roles following Andrews resignation last month. 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. All opinion articles written by individuals from outside the staff of EL PAIS shall feature, along with the authors 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 Manuel Chaves Nogales (1897-1944) would have been very happy to work at the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. He was always a fiercely independent journalist, whose criticism acquired all its value because it didnt coincide with the majority sentiment of the moment (the Spanish Civil War) and because his gaze never turned away when he encountered the cruelty and obstinacy of human beings. Chaves died young, without his profession ever having paid him the tribute he deserved. But today, we all have ample time to pay tribute to the extraordinary work carried out by the editors, contributors and directors of Haaretz. The Israeli newspaper has been defending the human and civil rights of Palestinians and Israelis for years, without looking away for a moment from the cruelty and stubbornness of the rulers. Even now in these days of great suffering those responsible for Haaretz dont waver, as they continue to demand that the Israeli government put an end to the humanitarian crisis it is causing in Gaza. For the past 28 weeks, the editorial team had been supporting the thousands of Israeli protesters, who have been demonstrating against Benjamin Netanyahus government and its attempt to suppress the Supreme Courts right to examine the rationality of executive actions. The appointment of Ben Gvir as minister of national security, stated a recent editorial, is enough to lead to the conclusion that the lives of Arab citizens are worth nothing to Netanyahu. Turning Israel into a theocratic state, Haaretz argued in which no one but the Jews can claim rights condemns its two million Arab inhabitants to misery and distances any hope of negotiation with the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. The attack carried out by Hamas last week with its high number of civilian victims has not weakened the Israeli newspapers criticism, despite the anguish suffered by its journalists. Its first editorial following the operation began like this: The disaster that befell Israel on the holiday of Simchat Torah is the clear responsibility of one person: Benjamin Netanyahu. The prime minister, who has prided himself on his vast political experience and irreplaceable wisdom in security matters, completely failed to identify the dangers he was consciously leading Israel into when establishing a government of annexation and dispossession, when appointing Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir [both settlers previously convicted of supporting terrorist groups] to key positions, while embracing a foreign policy that openly ignored the existence and rights of Palestinians. Haaretz has opened a debate on several occasions about one of the great problems raised by the analysis of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Does international law recognize the Palestinians right to resistance? And by what means? Obviously, terrorism whose fundamental objective is to cause civilian casualties can never be one of them. Hamas practices it, without a doubt. But is armed resistance legal against an army that, less than 50 years ago, occupied a territory by force, an occupation that has been rejected by the United Nations? Some Haaretz contributors have explained that, if the Palestinians are denied the possibility of peacefully obtaining a state and denied respect for their human and civil rights in a possible binational state, they cannot be required to renounce their right to freedom. Resistance is legitimate, as long as it doesnt include terrorism. Thats why its so important that all types of protest actions arent classified as such, as many NGOs denounce the actions of the Israelis today. If everything is classified as terrorism and not exclusively the intentional harm to innocent people by a non-state actor, according to the accepted definition (a strange one, written by American diplomat Richard Haas, which leaves out the intentional harm to civilians caused by a state) the concept and condemnation of the concept weaken and disappear. The Achilles heel of the West on the international level has always been the accusation that it practices double standards. Chaves Nogales would tell us that Israel has the right to defend itself, but not to systematically and intentionally bomb civilians. He would also say, while Palestine shouldnt fall into terrorism, Palestinians should be able to organize their resistance. And, since he would be on the ground, in Gaza, he would write that the important thing now is to save the wounded who are now crowded into Palestinian hospitals, without water or electricity and prevent the hostages from being killed. Perhaps he would quote Shakespeare: Hell is empty and all the devils are here. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Loading For what? America opened Pandoras Box. The Middle East was destabilised. Consequences included the creation of Daesh, or Islamic State. US credibility was left in tatters. Probably the biggest winner were the ayatollahs in Iran, who took advantage of the chaos to emerge as de facto rulers of Iraq. Only America was strong enough to inflict so massive an injury on itself and its interests. It was one of the gravest strategic blunders of the century, with George W. Bush aided and abetted by Tony Blair and John Howard. And it was entirely avoidable. As a national security adviser to Barack Obama, Ben Rhodes wrote this week: The US should have learnt from 9/11 the profound cost of being guided by anger and fear. I hope that is what we are telling the Israeli government. If Netanyahu deploys Israels military effectively, he has the opportunity to damage and perhaps dismantle Hamas. It wont be simple. Hamas is dug in, literally, under Gaza. It operates from a complex network of tunnels built by the same man who led last weeks terrorist attack, commander of Hamas military wing Mohammed Deif, a nom de guerre. An undated picture shows Palestinian military leader of the radical Hamas movement, Mohammed Deif, at an unknown location. Credit: AFP Deif means guest, for his practice of sleeping in a different home every night to evade detection by Israel. Hes so careful that there exists in the public domain only one photo of him, a grainy one. Deif has been preparing for an Israeli incursion into Gaza for years. Now that he has provoked it, the Israelis are on their way. Hamas will have fortified its lairs with booby traps and snipers. Its exact number of armed militants is unknown but there are Israeli estimates of around 30,000. And it holds about 125 hostages whom it has threatened to kill. But while Netanyahu has a duty to kill Hamas terrorists, he has no licence to kill the innocent in Gaza. To his credit, Israel has warned civilians to leave the intended combat zone. This already sets Israel above its enemy as a more just and moral force. Hamas gave no warning to the families it tortured and butchered last week. But, even before the full-scale Israeli attack, too many Palestinian civilians are dying. By cutting off food and water and power supplies to an entire population of 2 million, Israel is indeed guilty of collective punishment. Loading The 30,000 or so Hamas terrorists have been preparing for this moment and will have ample water and food. The only real victims will be ordinary Palestinians. Its welcome news that, under pressure from the US, some water is to be supplied outside Israels intended target zone. Netanyahu should take care to be both effective and judicious in the use of force. Israels allies are urging him to protect innocent life. Joe Biden publicly has called on Israel to observe the laws of war, and Australia has echoed the call. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says that we continue to discuss with Israel the importance of taking every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians. As he should. The military correspondent for Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Amos Harel, writes that Israel knows the window for action open to it is not unlimited. Soon a humanitarian disaster may begin in the Gaza Strip, and reservations in the West will increase commensurately with the number of dead Palestinian civilians. Loading Israels rare moment of international sympathy and support would be squandered. Israels enemies would be emboldened. Iranian proxy forces already are moving into position. Hezbollah, so far conducting only ritual rocket fire on Israel, is poised to attack in force across the border from Lebanon. Iran-backed militia forces are preparing for possible strikes on Israel from Syria. The West Bank is on fire. It doesnt take much imagination to see Israel fighting for survival on multiple fronts. And Vladimir Putin this week is due to meet Xi Jinping in China. Russia and China would be delighted to see their shared great rival, America, entangled once more in a fruitless Middle East war. Israels allies have been reluctant to use the r word, urging it to restraint. Hamas deserves no sympathy from anyone and no Israeli restraint. But no Palestinian civilian deserves to die for the crimes of Hamas. Israel has a duty to act with military effectiveness. And an opportunity to impress with humanitarian restraint. 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 6 Review By Larry Nutson 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 6 Electrified Streamliner By Larry Nutson Executive Editor and Bureau Chief Chicago Bureau THE AUTO CHANNEL Hyundai pulled the wraps off the second model in its IONIQ dedicated all-electric-vehicle lineup brand in June 2022. The Ioniq 6 5-passenger 4-door midsize sedan follows in the path of the Ioniq 5 small crossover utility vehicle. Both the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6 are powered by Hyundais exclusive Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP) that allows for dual motors, maximum interior space, and optimized performance. Ioniq 6 is already receiving awards. The powertrain was named one of the 2023 Wards 10 Best Engines & Propulsion Systems. The annual awards from WardsAuto recognize compelling powertrain advancements that are all-new or significantly improved. The Ioniq 6 was selected for its performance, charging capability, range, and price. You might question a car maker bringing a new sedan to market in this age of the sport utility vehicle (SUV) or the more car-like crossover utility vehicle (XSUV). Well, there are indeed sedan buyers out there. Some auto analysts say the new vehicle market will continue with sedans being 20% to 25% of the overall mix. Ioniq 6 is quite striking in its design. Its sleek frontal design with a low hood, sculpted side profile, to the sharply sloping rear with its elliptical wing-inspired spoiler with winglet and slight boat-tail structure attracts lots of head-turns and long glances. The aerodynamic coefficient of drag (Cd) is a very low 0.22. Inside, the modular touchscreen dashboard integrates a 12-inch full-touch infotainment display and 12-inch digital cluster. A steering column-mounted shift-by-wire transmission selector and a bridge-type center console allow for convenient and generous in-car storage. Theres good front seat comfort, however the sloping rear roof compromises rear seat headroom a bit. Ioniq 6 rides on a 116.1 inch wheelbase and is 191.1 inches longnicely sized for urban travels. The trunk lid is hinged below the rear backliteits not a big hatch, with a trunk capacity of 11.2 cu.ft. Up front under the hood is a small 0.5 cu.ft. storage space. Yes, a Frunk (front trunk). Hyundai refers to it as a Front Under Hood Storage Area, so perhaps it can be called a FUHSA. Ioniq 6 is offered in SE, SEL and Limited trims. Rear-wheel drive (RWD) or all-wheel drive (AWD) is available. Power output and driving range varies depending on trim and drive setup. SE standard range is RWD with 111kW (149 HP), a 53.0 kWh battery and a 240 mile range rating. SE long range is RWD with 168kW (225 HP), a 77.4 kWh battery and a 361 mile range rating. SEL and Limited trims in this configuration have a 305 mile range rating. The SE is fitted with 18-inch wheels mounted with 225/55 tires, whereas the SEL and Limited are fitted with 20-inch wheels mounted with 245/40 tires. The wider tire affects driving range due to increased rolling resistance. SE, SEL and Limited with AWD have a 74kW front motor and a 165kW rear motor for a total of 320 HP. SE has a 316 mile range rating and SEL and Limited have a 270 mile range rating. Again, due to wheel/tire combo. A note on driving range ratings. These are a combined city/highway rating determined following an EPA laboratory test procedure with a full battery charge. Your actual driving range will vary depending on driving conditions, ambient temperature, how you drive and maintain your vehicle, battery pack age/condition, and other factors. EPA MPGe (an equivalent to compare to MPG of an ICE-powered vehicle) City ratings are from 111 to 153 mpg depending on the various above mentioned vehicle configurations. Highway MPGe EPA ratings are from 94 to 127 mpg. Youll observe, BEVs get better mileage in city-type driving. The other all-important item with a BEV in addition to driving range is battery charging. Ioniq 6 is equipped with a battery heating system to precondition the battery to proper temperature for charging. Charging time can increase in cold temperatures. For road trips the Ioniq 6 can be charged using a DC fast charger in as little as 18 minutes to 80% charge with a 350kW charger. For routine weekly at-home over-night charging I recommend the installation of a Level 2-240 volt charger at your residence. Its key to a good ownership experience. If you live in a cold climate area it is best to be able to garage a BEV. Ioniq 6 is equipped with Hyundai SmartSense ADAS that includes a long list of collision warning, collision intervention, and driving control assistance features. An innovative Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) function allows customers to freely use or charge any electric device, such as electric bicycles, scooters or camping equipment. It serves as a charger on wheels. It is ideal for powering necessities during a power outage, tailgate parties, camping or outdoor projects. You also can charge laptops, phones and other devices on the Limited trim. 2023 Ioniq 6 became available at US Hyundai dealers in the Spring. 2023 MSRPs for Ioniq 6 range from $41,600 to $56,100 plus the $1,115 freight and handling charge. Pricing for the 2024 has not yet been released. My drive experience for this review was in a 2023 Limited AWD. The 2024 model is unchanged. Ioniq 6 driving range rating is quite good and in real-life driving it delivers close to them. Its among the better BEVs on the market today. It certainly can serve very well as a secondary vehicle in a household, and for some as the primary vehicle. With range rating over 300 miles longer road trips are within reason. However, your needs for your typical driving pattern must be considered in determining if a BEV is right for you as well as how much driving range you actually do need on a daily basis. More info can be found at www.hyundaiusa.com. Hyundais award-winning, all-electric Ioniq 6 was named Favorite Plug-In Vehicle by the Midwest Automotive Media Association (MAMA) at the organizations 2023 Spring Rally event in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Its interesting to compare the Ioniq 6 to the Ioniq 5, with both built on the same platform. Each have their own design characteristics suited for different lifestyles. The hatchback Ioniq 5 rides on a bit longer wheelbase, is noticeably shorter, has a half-inch more ground clearance and offers increased versatility. Which one is right for you? The future is electric. Happy motoring! 2023 Larry Nutson, the Chicago Car Guy if the people of Biafra want Republic of Biafra, it will be a reality during my administration. ----Donald Trump Donald Trump I wi... Since the 1980s, actor Sam Neill has been well known to the general public, thanks to films such as The Hunt for Red October, The Piano, Thor and especially the mid-1990s Jurassic Park movies. His passion for his craft has made him a respected name in the industry, and he has 150 titles under his belt. At 76, he has no intention of slowing down, despite the fact that he is facing a rare late-stage blood cancer. Now, in an interview, he says that he is prepared to die, but not to retire. Neill disclosed his diagnosis in March in his memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This?, which became a bestseller in Australia and New Zealand. In his book, Neill explained that a year before he had been diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare cancer that affected his blood and was quite advanced. The thing is, Im done. Possibly dying, he wrote at the time. But, happily, his self-assessment was not entirely accurate. The actor gave an interview to Australian Story from his New Zealand ranch in which he explained that he tries to forget about his illness whenever he can. I know Ive got it, but Im not really interested in it, he says of his cancer. Its out of my control. If you cant control it, dont get into it, he adds, explaining that he leaves everything to his doctors and tries to think about it as little as possible. But he acknowledges that the disease obviously occupies much of his thoughts. Still, hes grateful to wake up every morning, he says. During the interview, the British-born actor explains that when he was diagnosed with cancer, his doctors tried to treat him with chemotherapy for three months, but it stopped working and the tumor continued to grow, so they decided to switch to an experimental treatment. It seems that they got it right, and he has been in remission for the past year. But that is not permanent. The doctors have explained to him that, at a certain point, still to be determined, the medication will stop working. His hematologists are looking for a third approach to a cure. One of his doctors observes that waiting for the experimental treatment to stop working is a difficult thing to carry around, day in, day out, waiting for that to happen. Hence, he assumes his fate. Im prepared for that, the actor says calmly. Hes living happily among his animals, his Pinot Noir vineyards and his children and grandchildren on his farm in Otagos Gibbston Valley. He is divorced from New Zealand actress, environmental activist and author Lisa Harrow, to whom he was married between 1978 and 1989; they share a son, Tim. Neill was also married to actress Noriko Watanabe, whom he met while filming Dead Calm in 1989 and with whom he has a daughter, Elena; the couple separated in 2015. He doesnt have a partner now and admits that he sometimes finds it hard to deal with loneliness. I had some very lonely times last year, he says. And, although he has been on a few dates, he doesnt want to look too far ahead: Im in a very uncertain world at the moment. Very uncertain. Nothing is assured. But Neill is not anxious about death; he accepted it after learning of the diagnosis. Yes, he finds it annoying, because he has many things left to do, but he says he is not remotely afraid of dying. However, he doesnt want to retire. He says that it fills me with horror. In 2022, Neill released The Twelve, a 10-episode TV miniseries in 2022 (which he also produced), adapted from the Belgian show of the same name, and this year, hes already been involved in three films. He has a series and a movie coming out and is also directing and will co-star in another, Apples Never Fall, based on the book by best-selling author Liane Moriarty. Every two weeks, Neill has to go to the hospital for transfusions. For now, he is continuing with his treatment indefinitely. The after-effects are very grim and depressing, he says. But after that, he spends another 10 days during which he could not feel more alive or pleased to be breathing and looking at a blue sky He has also recovered his appearance; after the first months of chemotherapy he was bald. I wasnt a pretty sight: I had no hair, no beard, he says; over the past few months, he has been recovering and can now work, either as an actor or in his vineyards, which he couldnt do when he was undergoing chemotherapy. I started to look at my life and realise how immensely grateful I am for so much of it, he notes. I started to think I better write some of this down because Im not sure how long I have to live. I was running against the clock. In addition, writing, as something he could do at the time, gave him purpose, and put his life and mind in order. When his book reached 50,000 words, Neill decided to publish it. That way, he was leaving something for his children and grandchildren: I thought it would be great for them to have some of my stories, he says. I mightnt be here in a month or two. Well leave something for them. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition On Tuesday, October 17, Jada Pinkett Smiths memoir Worthy hits bookstores. The 52-year-old American actresss autobiography is packed with confessions about her youth, her relationship with her parents, the mental health problems she has endured over the years and the intricacies of her marriage to actor Will Smith, as she revealed in a preview last week. One of the most striking details that caught the attention of the couples followers was revealed in an interview with People magazine on the occasion of the books launch. Jada confessed that she has been separated for more than seven years from the man she married in 1997 and with whom she has had two children. Were still figuring it out. Weve been doing some really heavy-duty work together. We just got deep love for each other and we are going to figure out what that looks like for us, she said in the interview, where she acknowledged that at the 2022 Oscar Awards ceremony, which made history for Will Smiths slapping of Chris Rock after a joke about Jadas alopecia, they had already been separated for more than six years. The 55-year-old actors response to his wifes revelations came this weekend through an email that the star of I Am Legend, The Pursuit of Happyness and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air sent to The New York Times. When youve been with someone for more than half of your life, a sort of emotional blindness sets in, writes Smith, who claims that Pinketts confessions about their marriage in her memoir made him wake up. You can all too easily lose your sensitivity to their hidden nuances and subtle beauties, adds the Oscar winner for best actor for King Richard. Smith says in the email, published in an article by the U.S. outlet on Saturday, that learning about the life of the woman who has officially been his wife for the past 26 years from Worthy made him realize that he had lived a life more on the edge and that she is more resilient, clever and compassionate than hed understood. In the book, Pinkett Smith reveals things like how her parents were frequent drug users and how she herself sold drugs in her youth, and how she has struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts. Will and Jada tied the knot on New Years Day 1997. A year later their first son, Jaden (now 25) was born, and in 2000 his sister Willow (22) arrived. The couple has been the talk of the town for more than two decades, particularly in the last few years, when they began to be more open to the public. In 2018, Will Smith spoke on Red Table Talk, in front of his mother-in-law, his wife, his daughter and thousands of viewers, about the point he called the worst moment of their marriage. There was a period where mommy woke up and cried 45 days straight, I started keeping track, said the actor to Willow. I think thats the worst I ever felt in our marriage. I was failing miserably, he added. That same year, the actor also revealed in an interview with Tidal that he preferred not to use the word marriage when talking about Jada. We refer to ourselves as life partners, where you get into that space where you realize you are literally with somebody for the rest of your life, he explained. There have also been some notorious extramarital affairs that both have acknowledged. Although it was initially a monogamous relationship, it no longer is, said the actor in an interview with GQ in 2021, when the memoirs being promoted were those of Will Smith himself. The married pair of actors have not even lived in the same house for two years, as Pinkett has her own residence close to the marital home. In recent years, theyve lived separately. As a 50th birthday present to herself, she bought her own place, moving out of their Calabasas compound, explains The New York Times in an article recounting the actors personal story. However, Pinkett said in her recent interview with People that their relationship is still being worked out and that she is not considering divorce. I made a promise that there will never be a reason for us to get a divorce. We will work through whatever, she confessed: And I just havent been able to break that promise. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Whisky Club toasts 40 year anniversary with world record tasting A whisky club has celebrated its 40 year anniversary by setting a Guiness World Record for the most participants in an online whisky tasting event. Formed in Edinburgh in 1983, the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) has grown to almost 40,000 members across 20 countries, with 447 of its members across 15 countries gathering for the world record attempt on 30 September. Overseen by an adjudicator from Guiness World Records, the whisky tasting featured three drams of whisky. These included Cask No. 55.78 What a Spread! From Speyside distillery, Cask No. 39.224 Tutti Frutti in a Wooden Bowl from the SMWS juicy oak & vanilla flavour profile and Batch 15 Smokus Fruticosus, a blended malt from the islands of Islay and Orkney. Beginning at 2pm BST, the timing of the event meant that SMWS members in New York tasted their three drams at 9am, while those in Australia were tasting at midnight. The 45-minute event was live streamed from a refurbished The Vaults in Leith, Edinburgh. The first whisky was introduced by master ambassador John McCheyne, the second from senior director Tom Smith, and the third from SMWS Australia director Matt Bailey. All 447 participants had to assure they attended on an individual device with the camera on and no other person visible on screen with them, as well as being present for the full duration in order to break the record. Event host and SMWS UK social media and community manager Madeleine Schmoll commented: We are delighted to announce that The Scotch Malt Whisky Society has set the world record for the most participants in an online whisky tasting event. Its amazing to see how far the Society has come since the club was founded in Edinburgh by Pip Hills and a group of friends in 1983. With the Society turning 40 years old, we felt this would be the perfect way to share in a very special simultaneous tasting. We are the pioneers of cask strength, full flavour whisky that creates conversation thats why people become members and the world record tasting worked across time zones and countries to bring our members together. Its a great example of what we are all about. The event was witnessed by Whisky Magazines editor-at-large, Christopher Coates, who said: It has been a joy to be a part of this momentous event, and to see people connecting with other whisky lovers from as far afield as Japan, or Australia, to celebrate some truly exceptional drams. This is something that wouldnt have been possible 10 years ago, and its a testament to how technology and whisky can bring people together. 16 October 2023 - Bradley Weir Either way, we are glad to see Anna enjoying her life as a single lady, enjoying new experiences and reconnecting with her besties. And if that means a few more trips to NZ, were defs keen to see her here again soon! 2.3 million GAZA civilians STRUGGLE FOR FOOD WATER SAFETY DEIR AL-BALAH : GAZAS 2.3 million civilians faced a deepening struggle for food, water and safety on Sunday and braced for a looming invasion a week after Hamas militants launched a deadly assault on Israel. While hundreds of thousands sought to heed Israels order to evacuate the North, others huddled at hospitals there. Israeli forces, supported by a growing deployment of US warships in the region, positioned themselves along Gazas border and drilled for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle the militant group. A week of blistering airstrikes have demolished entire neighbourhoods but failed to stem militant rocket fire into Israel. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,329 Palestinians have been killed since the fighting erupted, more than in the 2014 Gaza war, which lasted over six weeks. That makes this the deadliest of the five Gaza wars for both sides. More than 1,300 Israelis have been killed, the vast majority of them civilians killed in Hamass October 7 assault. This is the deadliest war for Israel since the 1973 conflict with Egypt and Syria. Israel dropped leaflets over Gaza City in the North and renewed warnings on social media, ordering more than 1 million Palestinians almost half the territorys population to move South. The military says, it is trying to clear away civilians ahead of a major campaign against Hamas militants in the North, including in what it said were underground hideouts in Gaza City. Hamas urged people to stay in their homes. The military said on Sunday that it would refrain from targeting a single route South from 10 am to 1 pm, again urging Palestinians to leave the North en masse. The military offered two corridors and a longer window the day before. The UN and aid groups have said that such a rapid exodus, along with Israels complete siege of the 40-kilometre-long (25-mile-long) coastal territory would cause untold human suffering. The World Health Organisation said the evacuation could be tantamount to a death sentence for the more than 2,000 patients in northern hospitals, including newborns in incubators and people in intensive care. Gazas hospitals are expected to run out of generator fuel within two days, according to the UN, which said that that would endanger the lives of thousands of patients. Gaza was already in a humanitarian crisis due to a growing shortage of water and medical supplies caused by the Israeli siege, which has also forced the enclaves sole electrical plant to shut down. With some bakeries closing, residents said they were unable to buy bread. In Gaza City, Haifa Khamis al-Shurafa crowded into a car with six family members, fleeing to the south in the darkness. We dont deserve this, Shurafa said, before leaving her home city. We didnt kill anyone. The Israeli military said hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had heeded the warning and headed South. It gave Palestinians a six-hour window that ended on Saturday afternoon to travel safely within Gaza along two main routes, but has not set a firm deadline for the evacuation. The US has been trying to broker a deal to reopen Egypts Rafah crossing with Gaza to allow Americans and other foreigners to leave and humanitarian aid amassed on the Egyptian side to be brought in. The crossing, which was closed because of airstrikes early in the war, has yet to reopen. Hundreds of relatives of the estimated 150 people captured by Hamas in Israel and taken to Gaza meanwhile gathered outside the Israeli Defence Ministry in Tel Aviv, demanding their release. This is my cry out to the world: Please help bring my family, my wife and three kids, said Avihai Brodtz of Kfar Azza. Many expressed anger toward the Government, saying they still have no information about their loved ones. In a televised address on Saturday night, Israels chief military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, accused Hamas of trying to use civilians as human shields. We are going to attack Gaza City very broadly soon, he said, without giving a timetable for the attack. Israel said it struck over 100 military targets overnight, including command centres and rocket launchers. Israel has called up some 3,60,000 military reserves and massed troops and tanks along the border with Gaza. Israelis living near the Gaza border, including residents of the town of Sderot, continued to be evacuated. Militants in Gaza have fired over 5,500 rockets since the hostilities erupted, many reaching reaching deep into Israel, as Israeli warplanes pound Gaza. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meanwhile met with Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh as the Biden administration scrambles to prevent a wider regional conflict. Prince Mohammed is the sixth Arab leader Blinken has met since he arrived in the Middle East on Thursday. Hamas remained defiant. In a televised speech on Saturday, Ismail Haniyeh, a top official based abroad, said that all the massacres will not break the Palestinian people. Hamas spokesperson Jihad Taha told The Associated Press in Beirut that Israel does not dare to fight a ground battle, because of the captives. He alluded to the possible entry of Hezbollah and other regional players in the battle should Israel launch a ground invasion but declined to say whether they had made any concrete commitments. An Israeli airstrike near the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza killed at least 27 people and wounded another 80, Gaza health authorities said. Most of the victims were women and children, the authorities said. Doctors from Kamal Edwan Hospital shared footage of charred and disfigured bodies. It was not clear how many Palestinians remained in northern Gaza by Saturday afternoon, said Juliette Touma, a spokesperson for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. An estimated 1 million people have been displaced in Gaza in one week, she said. At Gaza Citys main hospital, al-Shifa, a crowd of men, women and children that medical officials estimated at 35,000 crammed into the hospitals lobby and bloodied hallways and under the trees on the hospital grounds, hoping the facility would be spared in the coming attack. People think this is the only safe space after their homes were destroyed and they were forced to flee, said Dr. Medhat Abbas, a Health Ministry official. Basic necessities were running out because of the siege, which Israel has said will only be lifted when the captives are returned. Cong releases first list of 144 candidates for Assembly polls Staff Reporter On the first day of Navratri, the Congress has announced candidates for a total of 229 seats in three States for the ensuing Legislative Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana. The first list of 144 candidates has been released for Madhya Pradesh. The list includes the names of several prominent leaders including former Chief Minister Kamal Nath, who will contest from Chhindwara. The party has provided an opportunity to both experienced and young candidates. However, the majority of seats in the first list were single-named. In the first list, the Congress has announced the candidate for 6 seats out of total 8 seats in Jabalpur. The names for Jabalpur Cantonment and Panagar seats have been keep on hold. In the first list, the party has fielded incumbent candidates for 5 seats in Jabalpur. However, for the Sihora constituency, the Congress party has given ticket to Ekta Thakur, a new face. Hamas commander Billal eliminated Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza Strip. (AP/PTI) TEL AVIV : A SENIOR Hamas commander, who led multiple murderous attacks was killed during the Israeli airstrike, the Israel Defence Forces said on Sunday, the Times of Israel reported. The IDF says Billal Al-Qedra, the commander of the so-called Nukhba units southern Khan Younis battalion, was killed in an airstrike following Intelligence efforts by the Shin Bet security agency and Military Intelligence Directorate. He had led the murderous attacks on the southern communities of Nirim and Nir Oz last weekend, Times of Israel reported. Alejandra Espinosa, Disneys cultural consultant on Encanto, in Barichara, Colombia Camilo Rozo When Alejandra Espinosa read the script for the first time her hands trembled when she saw her name written in a watermark. The plot told the story of a Colombian girl and her grandfather. No, she said to herself as she reading, this story should be about women. Espinosa was at the Walt Disney Studios in Los Angeles, sitting in front of Jared Bush, the co-director and writer of Disney hits Zootopia and Moana. Now Encanto, the latest production from the famous animation stable set in Colombia, has won an Oscar (best animated feature). Alejandras say-so removed that awkward grandfather and gave life to Alma Madrigal, Mirabels grandmother and a key character in the movie. There would be many more differences of opinion, but lets start at the beginning, where the story really began, in a Colombian village where the locals are known as yellow feet because of the hue the soil turns the soles of their feet. The story was born in Barichara. Espinosa was tired of Bogota. It was 2016, she had recently finished a Literature degree and she wanted to write and paint watercolors far from the vast city in which she had grown up. A trip to Barichara, in Santander Department, seven hours from the capital, had been on her to-do list for several years. I can paint and you can open a hostel, she said to her partner at the time. A year later Espinosa, who was born in 1992, had made watercolors of all of the houses in Barichara, as well as every corner of this earth-colored, cobble-stoned town, which has escaped the advance of neon, cement and noise that covers much of the rest of Colombias urbanizations. Day trippers, lured by its tag of the most beautiful town in Colombia, can buy one of Espinosas postcards as a souvenir for a few pesos. History runs through Espinosas veins. Daughter of the historian Diana Uribe, she decided to immerse herself in the culture and tradition of Barichara and Santander, from which she had gained so much. I was quite shy, I had a kind of incapacity for social skills, and here I felt very confident. I blossomed when I arrived. Soon she had become the most respected tour guide in the area. And that was what she was doing in 2017 when a phone call changed her life. Several Disney employees wanted to do a four-day tour of Barichara and were looking for a local guide versed in history and culture. Espinosa signed a confidentiality agreement that said something along the lines of she should forget everything she heard during the visit. She didnt even Google their names to keep her nerves under wraps and so as not to appear starstruck. But when they arrived, they were the ones who were blown away. There were five of them, among them Bush and Byron Howard, who directed Bolt and Tangled and worked alongside Bush on Zootopia. They asked Espinosa a thousand questions and an instant connection was forged. Her passion for the subject was overwhelming and she steeped them in the kitchens of the townsfolks houses, alongside the stonecutters who crafted the streets and among the women of Velez who for six months of the year sew the colorful skirts whose Made in China replicas are now sold in toyshops across the world under the Disney trademark. It was love at first sight. I told them: Dont ruin all of this, says Espinosa. It needed to be treated with a lot of respect, its very important because there is a huge stigma attached to Colombia, it is viewed as of little worth, like Mirabel [the movies hero]. We dont know who we are, we are always looking for foreign cultural models to define ourselves. I always placed identity at the center of the debate. Espinosa also told them to forget it when they started talking about magical realism, asking them instead to consider Cuban author Alejo Carpentiers lo real maravilloso (the wonderful real). Magical realism does not consist of taking gratuitous magic and putting it in the context of a jungle, she told them. As Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez once said: I dont invent anything, Ive seen it all or Ive been told about it. It is about understanding the cosmovision of the Afro and indigenous worlds. She told them water is sacred for indigenous people. She told them that the miracle that forms the basis of the movie should come from the river. Espinosa took the Disney tour to a small forest enveloping a few houses, to see the bougainvillea on the balconies and to photograph the best view. When they left, she was exhausted. They promised they would speak to her again soon. She thought it was simply a nice way of saying goodbye. She went back to her happy life in Barichara, proud to have added a small contribution to what was about to be developed by the animation giant, which has given so many generations of children blond princesses to imitate. Alejandra Espinosa in front of the door that inspired the family home in the movie. Camilo Rozo Disney contract A month later, a contract arrived in Barichara from Disney in Los Angeles, in which Espinosa was described as Encantos cultural consultant. Sometimes I was nervous after taking their calls, thinking to myself: Theyre not going to call me again. I think that was my value to them. I wasnt afraid to tell them: I dont like this, it doesnt work, it has to be changed. It was important what message the movie was going to transmit to Colombians, which is to see yourself as you are. Mirabels search [in the movie] is our own search for self-worth and self-acceptance, she says. Espinosa was not on her own. A team of around 10 people, as well as a group known as La familia (the family), which included all of Disneys Latin American employees, contributed to the making of Encanto. It was an open, collective process with very receptive directors. The original idea had already been based on a large family taking center stage, a metaphor for the wider Colombian family that would create a story of diversity and represent Afro-Colombians through the characters of Antonio, Dolores and Felix, and the countrys indigenous peoples through Mirabels uncle, Bruno. The indigenous people are there, they have been made invisible and nobody talks about them, but they are the sacred part of Colombia. It has become fundamental to understand this, and it is very well-represented in Bruno, says Espinosa. In the middle of her four years of work for Disney, for which Espinosa does not reveal her salary It didnt make me a millionaire in 2019, she opened the first bookstore in Barichara, called Aljibe. As such, she became the towns bookseller, but her secret remained safe. While she continued to receive new books, the plot started to take shape. Encanto is not set in a specific time, but is based more or less at the beginning of the 20th century. The movie opens with Mirabels grandparents fleeing a conflict, during which her grandfather, Pedro, dies. From there, and from the river of course, comes the miracle that forms the basis of the story. The grandmothers journey is that of recognizing her own trauma and letting it go. We are a traumatized society that is still moving forward. Sometimes it is necessary to stop, think and accept the trauma in order to let it go, says Espinosa. Her imprint on the move is almost all-encompassing. She even asked that the idea of the famous Disney Castle, seen in so many other movies, be eschewed, as it is so far-removed from ordinary people. In Encanto, the castle is a small house that forms part of the community, the doors to which are always open. The coronavirus pandemic disrupted work on the movie and prevented the Disney animators from traveling to Colombia, at which point Espinosa became a YouTuber, heading to a kitchen or a traditional home with her cellphone and relaying the images of every nook and cranny back to Los Angeles, with English commentary for the animators. Those who witnessed her progress through Barichara thought she was mad. She held the camera close to her face to show every muscle movement and every gesture of her hands. They said the characters had to be expressive, not with wooden faces. She even sent Disney a skirt from Velez so they could feel the texture, the weight and its movement. She also asked that an already finished scene in which a wedding takes place in the house be amended: No, she said again. Here people get married in churches. When Espinosa had already seen over a thousand images of Mirabel, her boyfriend (not the same one with whom she arrived in Barichara, but thats a different story) told her: Theyve made a doll out of you. She couldnt see it, but the likeness is amazing. I identify with Mirabel not because of the hair and the glasses, but because of her attitude; frank, honest, determined but at the same time excited. Mirabel has a little piece of my spirit, she says. Espinosa asked several times that we did not say that the character is based on her, although the directors of the movie confirmed in a Zoom meeting that she was part of the inspiration for Mirabel. I felt that this association with her was something intimate, internal, but everybody calls me Mirabel anyway. People ask to take pictures with me. I feel proud of my cultural contribution, but I dont think its valuable to be told that Im Mirabel, Espinosa says. When she finally saw the finished movie for the first time, alone at home in Barichara, Espinosa could not stop crying. She applauded when she saw Mirabel gesticulating with her hands in conversation with Bruno, when the children ran around making a racket at a party or when the main character points to a gift with a movement of her lips. I did it! Espinosa went to the premiere of the movie wearing a skirt made by the women of Velez, like the one worn by Mirabel. I had this dream of going to Hollywood like that, to turn a peasants skirt into a princesss dress. A still from Encanto. DISNEY Life goes on in Barichara At 10am on any given weekday, Espinosa opens the doors of Aljibe. Immediately the bookstore is filled with people sitting at its tables, surrounded by coffee and books. She nips to a store across the street and orders an arepa with cheese and avocado. She proudly walks every stone of the streets of the town that is she is even more a part of now. It is a pride shared by the residents of Barichara, who see their homes, their doors, and the flowers that adorn them reflected in the huge US movie. And not only them: Encanto reflects many other places in Colombia. Many visitors to the bookstore are hoping to catch a glimpse of the person who isnt Mirabel, but who carries a little of her. She always responds although she doesnt like the attention that much with the huge smile that captivated the Disney executives four years ago. A few days ago, a family was visiting Barichara. Look, its her, they pointed. A small girl approached Espinosa to say hello. See? Princesses do exist, her mother whispered. I have never been particularly pretty. I am a literary person. I have a bookstore. That this could provide the material for a princess, that really touched me. Heavy rains lash Kerala, orange alert in 4 districts THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, AS HEAVY rains continued to batter Kerala, landslides and flooding were reported from many parts of the state, especially its southernmost district of Thiruvananthapuram, which was severely affected by waterlogging in several areas on Sunday. According to visuals shown on TV channels, the heavy rains since Saturday led to waterlogging and flooding of streets, roads and low-lying areas of Thiruvananthapuram district. The Technopark colony in Kazhakootam, a suburban area in the district, saw water entering homes leading to people being evacuated from homes, as per the visuals. Water entered hundreds of homes in the district and in some areas there were also incidents of landslides, according to the visuals. Visuals also showed cars almost submerged while rescuers evacuated people from homes in inflatable boats to camps in some parts of Thiruvananthapuram. Meanwhile, on Sunday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an orange alert in four -Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha -- and yellow alert in 8 districts of the State for the day. State General Education Minister V Sivankutty, who visited the flooded areas, said in a Facebook post that the rains since the previous night have created an unusual situation in the city of Thiruvananthapuram. He said there was waterlogging in many places and the non-receding of the rising sea water has also aggravated the situation. The Minister said the district administration was conducting relief operations on a wartime basis and all kinds of the aid and assistance would be provided to those affected. State Revenue Minister K Rajan also visited some of the flood affected areas, according to his Facebook post. After a ministerial level meeting was held, Sivankutty, at a press briefing, said many parts of Thiruvananthapuram, especially the capital city, have been seriously affected by floods and waterlogging. Rajan said that over 100 mm of rainfall was received in the capital city and nearly double that in the area around the international airport since Saturday night. It is one of the major reasons for the waterlogging and flooding, he said. The Minister said that his Cabinet colleagues -- state Transport Minister Antony Raju and Civil Supplies Minister G R Anil -- were also monitoring the situation and concerned Government officials have been asked to report for duty. Additionally, 17 relief camps have been operationalised in the district and 572 people are presently sheltered there, he said. Though the situation is under control, more water needs to recede.., he added. Many residents of the district and the State capital told channels that even in the 2018 floods, such a situation was not seen. The flooding and water entering homes began post midnight suddenly. It was unexpected, a resident said. Waterlogging of roads and water entering homes were also reported from various parts of Ernakulam district on Saturday. Insufficiency Of Material By Adv. R. S. Agrawal IN THE judgement of the case Ravindra Dattaram Waikar, Maharashtra MLA belonging to the Shiv Sena (UBT) from Jogeshwari, Mumbai, against State Government and others, delivered on October 13, 2023, Justice Sunil B. Shukre and Justice Rajesh S. Patil at the Principal Seat of the Bombay High Court, have declined to examine the larger issue relating to manner of allocation of State funds to the State Legislators raised by the Opposition Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) MLA, considering absence of sufficient material enabling it to do so, keeping in view the principle of fairness and transparency in such matters. However, the High Court has kept the issue open. The petitioners grievance is about the discriminatory attitude adopted by the State of Maharashtra in allocation of Government funds to different constituencies for development of infrastructure and basic civic amenities in the slums situated in those constituencies. There is a fund called Maharashtra Local Development Fund (MLDF) to ensure development of infrastructural facilities in local areas. The respondents allocated Rs. 11,420.44 lakh under slum dwellers Re-allocation and Rehabilitation Plan 2022-23 in various constituencies of MLAs and MLCs. A further sum of Rs 26,687.2 lakh was allocated under the head of Development of Slums in Other than Backward Class. There is allegation in the petition that the funds allocated under the head of Development of Slums for developmental works in the slums situated in constituencies represented by Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) is much more than the funds allocated for developmental works in the constituencies represented by the petitioners party. According to the petitioner that there are number of slums in his constituencies which are in need of civic amenities but he and other members of the Opposition party have been denied these funds and thus there is arbitrariness and discrimination, not based on any intelligible diiferentia. Therefore, the petitioner was seeking a direction to the State Government for allocation of funds in equal proportion for carrying out Slum-dwellers Re-allocation and Rehabilitation Plan 2022-23 and for providing basic infrastructure facilities with a view to develop slums in other than backward class areas. The grievance of the petitioner is about his constituency being singled out for allocating sparse funds as against constituencies of ruling alliance which have received larger funds, which according to him is arbitrary and an instance of impermissible discrimination on the part of the State Government. In the case of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. & others v. Shashi Prabha Shukla & Another-(2018) 12 SCC 85, it is held that a public authority in its dealings has to be fair, objective, non-arbitrary, transparent and non-discriminatory and while distributing funds or a largesse, the Government must discharge its obligation in the larger interest of beneficiaries for whom the distribution of largesse has to be made. It has been further held that whenever discretion is vested in the State, it comes with a duty to exercise the discretion in a reasonable and non-discriminatory manner and if it is not so, the Court would have the power to interfere and issue necessary directions for correcting the wrong that has resulted from such arbitrariness. There can be no dispute about this principle of law and therefore, the decision taken by the Government regarding allocation of funds for various public works in different constituencies of suburban areas of Mumbai would have to be tested on the anvil of this principle. When the HC examined the documents, which in the opinion of petitioners counsel exemplify arbitrariness and discrimination made by the State Government without there being any intelligible diiferentia, its finding is that in reality, these documents do not exemplify the allegations made. The document at Exh. C on its superficial examination would of course create an impression that the Government has allocated more funds to the constituencies represented by BJP MLAs/MLCs, but on a deeper consideration of the matter in its entirety , one would find that it is not so. The Courts finding is that there are instances, as seen from other documents at Exh. C-3, where substantial funds have been allocated for carrying out different works in constituencies belonging to parties other than BJP. For example in Constituency No.30, represented by a Congress MLC funds of Rs 1025 lakh have been sanctioned for carrying out 34 works. This document further shows that different number of works have been sanctioned in the constituencies mentioned therein and it appears that it is because of this that the difference has appeared in sanctioning of funds for carrying out various works. The trend generally shown by this document is of more the number of works to be carried out, higher is the allocation of funds. It is also seen that for equal number of works, generally equal amount of funds have been allotted. There are also instances where the number of works sanctioned in the two different constituencies is same, but allocation of funds is different. But the different here is only minor in nature. Broadly speaking, the allocation of funds made by the State Government appears to be having a reasonable co-relation with the number of works sanctioned and the document Exh. C does not show that even though the number of works sanctioned were less, the allocation of funds was more. Similar is the picture emerging from documents at Exh B-1 and C-1. Therefore, from these documents, the Court did not see any arbitrariness or any instance of impermissible discrimination on the part of the State Government in allocation of the funds. The HC has expressed the view that if the exercise of according sanction to different works to be carried out in different constituencies is to be examined for its transparency and fairness, detailed material on the basis of which comparison between two different areas can be made, is required to be placed before the Court. That material has not been made available to the Court or has been placed before it by the petitioner. The HC has observed that as according sanction to works and allocation of funds for execution of those works relate to administrative function guided by the State policy, the judicial review of such an administrative function can only be made by applying the doctrine of Wednesbury unreasonableness and it cannot be fruitfully applied in a case like this unless sufficient material is placed before this Court to enable it to test the reasonableness and fairness of the decision of the Government through the process of comparative analysis. But that is not present here. Hence petitioners arguments of arbitrariness and discrimination by the Government have no merits. The HC has observed that the petition has no substance and dismissed it. Residents of BSP Township still await implementation of Half Bijli Bill scheme Staff Reporter BHILAI, Residents of the Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) Township have expressed their dissatisfaction as the promised Half Bijli Bill Scheme, announced by the State Government in August, is yet to be implemented, despite the promised start date of September 1. This delay in delivering the schemes benefits has raised concerns. Its worth noting that all the required approvals for transferring power supply responsibilities to the Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Limited (CSPDCL) remained pending at the SAIL level. This delay, along with power theft and encroachments, has negatively impacted the living conditions in the township. The Half Bijli Bill Scheme for BSP Township residents was announced on August 11, with the intended implementation date of September 1. This scheme aimed to extend benefits to township residents, previously excluded due to BSPs direct electricity supply. However, as of now, the scheme has not been put into action, leading to growing discontent among township residents. In response to these concerns, Devendra Yadav, Bhilai MLA, cited technical delays as the cause of the implementation delay. He assured that the scheme would be enacted within a day or two, ensuring benefits to all domestic consumers in the township. He emphasized that the State Government has a track record of implementing various schemes for the betterment of the populace without discrimination, and there is no need to worry about political competition. Mukesh Chandrakar, president of Bhilai Jila Congress, also attributed the delay to technical issues and expressed confidence that the scheme would soon be implemented for the residents benefit. He urged people across the State, including BSP Township, to have faith in the Congress government, considering its development works. However, Prem Prakash Pandey, a former Cabinet Minister, accused the Congress government of playing politics with the announcement of the Half Bijli Bill Scheme during election time. He called for the immediate implementation of the scheme to benefit the residents. To the ongoing issues of power theft and encroachment in the township, Pandey suggested the need for measures to combat these malpractices and a strategy for the proper settlement of these issues. Brijesh Bichpuriya, president of BJP Bhilai Jila, criticized the Congress government for allegedly neglecting the welfare of BSP Township residents and claimed that BJP representatives have consistently worked for their betterment. DVS Reddy, Vice President of the Hindustan Steel Employees Union (CITU), expressed disappointment with the delay in implementing the Half Bijli Bill Scheme. He noted that government representatives, regardless of their party affiliation, have often occupied residences in the township but have failed to genuinely address the issues faced by its residents. V B Singh, General Secretary of the Steel Employees Union (INTUC), acknowledged the technicalities involved in the schemes implementation and expressed hope for its realization in the near future. As the residents of BSP Township continue to await the promised Half Bijli Bill Scheme, concerns regarding power theft and encroachments persist and it will also have an implication of the election in Bhilai constituency RNTU Chancellor Choubey feted with Vaatayan Intl Award-2023 in London Staff Reporter Rabindranath Tagore University Chancellor Santosh Choubey was honoured with Vaatayan International Shikhar Samman 2023 for his significant contribution in the field of literature, culture, education and technology. In Bharopiya (India-Europe) Hindi Mahotsav organised in London on October 13. This award was given to him by former Education Minister of India Ramesh Chandra Pokhriyal Nishank, British MP Virendra Sharma, Cooperative Minister of Indian Embassy Deepak Chaudhary in the presence of representatives of Britain and many countries. Santosh Choubey said that Indian-European Hindi Conference is a commendable effort for international promotion of Hindi. He said, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the entire group of Vaatayan and the selection committee for their respect. Also, I would like to say that I will keep trying to take the journey of publicity of Hindi language forward with this same energy. Guests also inaugurated the book Contemporary Overseas Literature published under the editorship of Choubey. Dr Jawahar Karnavat presented details of great creative achievements of Santosh Choubey. Famous litterateur Anamika Professor of Uppsala University, Heins Werner Wessler and Rekha Sethi were also honoured. The programme was coordinated by Padmesh Gupta, Founder of UK Hindi Committee. Divya Mathur, Founder President of Vatayan, Anil Joshi, President of Global Hindi Parivar and many dignitaries of Britain were present. Santosh Chaubeys multifaceted creative work: Poet, story writer, novelist, editor and translator Santosh Choubey is one of those rare litterateurs who has global recognition for his innovative creative projects and innovations. His six story collections Light colored shirt, Restaurant Mein Dochhar, Nine Bindu Ka Khel, Beech Prem Mein Gandhi, But remembering Shakespeare and Representative Stories, three novels - Rag Kedar, Kya Pata Comrade Mohan and Jaltarang, four poetry collections - Kahin Aur Sach Honge Sapne, Kona Dharti Ka, Iss Akavi Samay Mein and Ghar-Bahar were published and discussed. His translations of Schumacher, published under the titles Author and Commitment, Moscow Diary and Bhramit Aadmi Ke Liye Ek Kitaab, have been widely read and appreciated. He has also edited Vanmali Samagra in two volumes focusing on Kathakar Vanmali and three books of ideological prose focusing on stories and novels, Internal crisis of narrative, New tradition of novel and Kahani: Swapna aur Yatharth. Along with this, his two criticism books Kala Ki Sangat and Apne Samay Mein have also been published. Support to Israel, aid to Palestine WASHINGTON, PRESIDENT Joe Biden reiterated the US unwavering support for Israel and emphasised the need for humanitarian aid for the people of Palestine as he held separate phone calls with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders amid escalating tensions in Gaza, the White House has said. In his first call with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas since Hamas unprecedented assault on Israel a week ago, Biden stressed that the militant group does not stand for the Palestinian peoples right to dignity and self-determination. Biden discussed with Abbas US efforts to work with the United Nations, Egypt, Jordan, Israel and others to ensure humanitarian supplies reach civilians in Gaza. The President also called Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his fifth such call Hamas assault last week. In both calls, Biden stressed the need to prevent the conflict from expanding. He spoke to both leaders about coordination with the United Nations, Egypt, Jordan and other countries in the region to ensure access to water, food and medical care for all civilians. Thousands could die in Gaza hospitals as supplies run low By Najib Jobain, Samya Kullab and Joseph Krauss KHAN YOUNIS (Gaza Strip), MEDICS in Gaza warned Sunday that thousands could die as hospitals packed with wounded people ran desperately low on fuel and basic supplies. Palestinians in the besieged coastal enclave struggled to find food, water and safety ahead of an expected Israeli ground offensive in the war sparked by Hamas deadly attack. Israeli forces, supported by a growing deployment of US warships in the region, positioned themselves along Gazas border and drilled for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle the militant group. A week of blistering airstrikes have demolished entire neighbourhoods but failed to stem militant rocket fire into Israel. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,329 Palestinians have been killed since the fighting erupted, more than in the 2014 Gaza war, which lasted over six weeks. That makes this the deadliest of the five Gaza wars for both sides. More than 1,300 Israelis have been killed, the vast majority of them civilians killed in Hamas October 7 assault. An estimated 150 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza. This is the deadliest war for Israel since the 1973 conflict with Egypt and Syria. The US State Department said Secretary of State Antony Blinken would return to Israel on Monday after completing a frantic six-country tour through Arab nations aimed at preventing the fighting from igniting a broader regional conflict. Staff Reporter Justice Rohinton F Nariman, former Judge, Supreme Court of India, shared profound insights on the historic Nuremberg and Tokyo Trials on Sunday. He suggested that the United Nations (UN) must establish a charter that outlines what constitutes war crimes and stressed the importance of involving judges from neutral countries to prevent inherent bias in the decision-making process. Justice Nariman also suggested that victors should not solely determine these matters. The lecture by Justice Nariman shed light on the enduring significance of these trials and their implications for justice, war crimes and the pursuit of universal peace in the future. Justice Nariman, while addressing the legal fraternity, highlighted three key trends that emerged during these landmark trials. He underscored that Italians and the head of the Japanese Government were not arraigned due to what he referred to as completely arbitrary prosecution. He also suggested that pragmatic reasons might have played a role in this omission and pointed out a significant flaw in the process. Justice Nariman further stressed that the victims of these war crimes were not given the opportunity to present their cases. He went on to express a utopian hope for the future and suggested that the ideals of universal world peace might become a reality. He thanked the efforts of great persons like Justice Radha Vinod Pal, who was one of three Asian judges appointed in the Tokyo Trials. During his lecture, Justice Nariman provided a comprehensive historical overview of both the Nuremberg and Tokyo Trials. He highlighted the pivotal role played by Justice Jackson in the Nuremberg Trials, mentioning that one year of his justiceship was dedicated to these trials. Justice Jackson was not only known for his dissent but also for his landmark judgments and the literary quality of his legal language. Justice Nariman discussed the formation of the Nuremberg Trials Charter, which was unprecedented in its approach. This charter established a military tribunal consisting of judges from each victorious country. The judges were responsible for determining the fates of the accused and cross-examination was allowed during the proceedings. In the Nuremberg Trials, 12 accused received the death penalty, three were sentenced to life imprisonment, and three were acquitted. The Tokyo Trials, on the other hand, saw 16 accused sentenced to life imprisonment and seven receiving the death penalty. Despite dissenting judgments, they were ultimately signed as majority judgments. Justice Nariman also noted two dissenting opinions, one from a Dutch judge and another from Indias own Justice Radha Vinod Pal, who authored a 1,200-page judgment. Justice Pal argued that Japan may have been waging a war against colonialism imposed by Western powers and pointed out the use of atomic bombs by the victors themselves. In his closing remarks, Justice Nariman questioned the presence of justice and the rule of law when the victors ultimately dispensed justice. The lecture was organised by HCBA Nagpur under Late Vinod Bobde Senior Advocate Memorial HCBA Study Circle. Chief Justice of Bombay High Court Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya presided over the event while Justice Atul S Chandurkar, Senior Administrative Judge, Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court and Justice Bhushan Dharmadhikari, Former Chief Justice of Bombay High Court and Patron in Chief of Study Circle; HCBA President Adv Atul Pande and others were present in the event. Colony Ridge, a sprawling neighborhood 40 miles north of Houston, is wrongly portrayed by conservative Republicans as a hotspot for illegal migrants. Baseless allegations fueled by conservative media outlets falsely link it to drug trafficking. Surprisingly, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis support this narrative. Colony Ridge has become a popular residential area for two main reasons: the abundant availability of land and the need to escape the high crime rates found in other Houston neighborhoods. Trey Harris, a prominent Colony Ridge developer, has emerged as a central figure in the controversy. Harris has donated generously to Abbotts campaigns, raising concerns about his motives. In response to all the criticism, he has invited authorities to visit the neighborhood and witness the reality firsthand. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Just before Hamas surprise assault on Israel on October 7, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said: The Middle East region is quieter today than it has been in two decades. Less than two weeks later, the United States is mixed up in a region that threatens to burst into flames. The U.S. has had to put on hold its goal of gradually shifting the focus from the Middle East to Asia and the war in Ukraine. As Israel prepares for what is feared to be a bloody ground invasion of Gaza and the situation in the territory further deteriorates, Washington which has closed ranks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government is concentrating its efforts on containing the Israeli response and preventing the conflict from spreading. U.S. President Joe Biden who immediately expressed his support for Israel after the Hamas attack said on Sunday that he was against an Israeli occupation of Gaza. I think itd be a big mistake, he said in an interview broadcast on the CBS program 60 Minutes, in his clearest attempt to contain Israel since the beginning of the crisis. Biden has said he supports Israels goal of defeating Hamas, but clarified that this must be achieved with a path to a Palestinian state. According to Axios and other U.S. media, which cite senior officials in the administration, Biden is considering traveling to Israel after receiving an invitation from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But nothing has been confirmed: a spokesperson for the National Security Council, said we have no new travel to announce. The position of the United States, Israels main ally, has shifted slightly since the October 7 attack. While support for Israel remains unwavering it has not criticized, at least publicly, Israels impossible evacuation order for 1.1 million Palestinians in northern Gaza. But, as conditions in Gaza worsen and opposition grows, the United States has argued that Hamas does not represent all the Palestinian people, that Israels response to the radical militants should not entail the suffering of the civilian population and that humanitarian aid into Gaza needs to be facilitated. U.S. sources maintain that, behind the scenes, the pressure on Israel has increased. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stated on CNN that his counterparts in Israel said that the water supply to southern Gaza which was cut off, along with electricity, in response to the Hamas attack had been restored. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is on a tour of the U.S. main allies in the region, has extended his trip and will return to Israel on Monday his second visit in less than a week. In Washington, Biden pointed out: We must not lose sight of the fact that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do with Hamas appalling attacks, and are suffering as a result of them. On Saturday, the U.S. president spoke by phone with Netanyahu for the fifth time in eight days and he also talked with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for the first time since the crisis broke out. While Blinken completed his tour of Israel, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, he also spoke by phone with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, calling on Beijing to use its influence to prevent other countries from becoming involved in the conflict. Yi, in turn, warned him that the situation could get out of control. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who also made a lightning visit to Israel, has been speaking daily with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant. The events of last week have upturned U.S. foreign policy, just as the country is about to enter the 2024 presidential campaign. An administration that upon arrival did not prioritize the Middle East, and believed that the United States should reduce its presence [in the region], finds itself with a crisis that forces it to confront these issues, noted Brian Katulis, from the Middle East Institute in a talk in Washington. Over the past two and a half years, the Biden administration has prioritized the rivalry with China and the war in Ukraine. In the Middle East, it tried to reach agreements that would resolve, or stabilize, regional conflicts. On the one hand, it mediated for Saudi Arabia and Israel to normalize relations. And on the other hand, it was trying to smooth relations with Iran, its great nemesis in the region. Last month, it reached a prison swap agreement with Iran. Now, the United States priority is to prevent an escalation that could leave the region in flames. It is seeking to dissuade other entities in the area such as Iran, and its protege, the Lebanese militia Hezbollah from getting involved in a bid to take advantage of the situation. Dispatching the aircraft carriers Eisenhower and Gerald Ford was intended to send a strong warning. Blinkens tour was also aimed at this goal: one of its objectives was for allies such as Qatar, which have good relations with Tehran, to make it clear to the Islamic regime that it should not take any steps that could aggravate the crisis. Meanwhile, despite having aligned itself with Netanyahus government, Washington is trying to ensure that the predictably virulent Israeli campaign is contained with measures to protect civilians in Gaza. In Qatar, a visibly haggard Blinken maintained that the goal is to establish safe zones in Gaza and ensure that civilians can receive humanitarian aid. Normalization with Saudi Arabia on hold The new reality has already claimed what should have been the crown jewel of U.S. policy in the Middle East. Coinciding with Blinkens visit, sources close to the Saudi government indicated to the AFP agency on Saturday that Riyadh has decided to pause discussion on possible normalization and has informed U.S. officials. Washington had hoped that the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel would help stabilize the region and create a pincer over Iran. But that agreement definitively condemned the two-state solution to the IsraeliPalestinian conflict to the trash bin by removing the last remaining incentive for the Netanyahu government to engage in talks with the Palestinians. Indeed, some analysts believe that Hamas launched its attack precisely to disrupt negotiations between Riyadh and Israel. A consequence of the crisis is the reminder that the unresolved issues surrounding the Palestinian people cannot be ignored. They need to consider and prioritize greater U.S. participation in the region, Katulis noted. Although the pause in negotiations may only be temporary, Arab governments absolutely share Israels assessment of Hamas, seeing it as an armed group with a political vision of Islam that emanates from the Muslim Brotherhood, said Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East Institute. They also see him as a puppet of Iran, their other great nemesis. From the governments point of view, they have a great interest in helping to create a situation in Gaza where Hamas is removed from power. This may lead to new rounds of negotiations in the future, which could include some type of solution for the Palestinians, according to Alterman. The time for diplomacy will come, and what Secretary Blinken is doing right now in the Middle East is planting the seeds for that diplomacy, he said. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Photo: On Stanton Street by Shalom Stavsky In the news this past week: Rep. Dan Goldman, who represents the Lower East Side, recounts his familys experiences being in Israel during the Hamas attack. [NY1] The citys plan to close Rikers Island and open new borough-based jails, including an enormous new prison in Chinatown, is not going well; the plan to shutter the penal complex is faltering with no clear fix in sight construction on the new facilities is already years behind schedule (and) the reaction of government officials has mostly been finger-pointing. [Politico] The signage in the window of the Turkish kabob spot at East Houston and Orchard streets announces, Bereket is Back, and, signals a rarity in the landscape of New York real estate: A beloved restaurant that shuttered when its neighborhood was gentrified, against incredible odds, actually returned to the block. [The New York Times] Dimes, the restaurant that inspired, Square, turns 10. Co-owner Sabrina De Sousa talks about the restaurants place in the over-hyped micro-neighborhood, saying, Were just one piece of the whole pun. Right from the start, writer Jason Diamond explains, the owners, were not trying to cultivate any kind of scene at Dimes they just wanted a place where they could hang out with their friends. [Grub Street] On October 22, the Chinatown community will celebrate the co-naming of Masco Street as Corky Lee Way, in memory of the photographer and community activist who dedicated his life to documenting the Asian American experience. [Facebook] Artist Carlos Irijalba has partnered with city agencies for a three-part installation along the East River addressing the climate change crisis. [Architects Newspaper] How the restoration of the Eldridge Street Synagogue became a reality. [My Modern Met] Victory Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE Free Report) by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 179,499 shares of the industrial products companys stock after selling 7,541 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $72,731,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. grew its stake in Deere & Company by 1,475.0% in the 1st quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 63 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Lansing Street Advisors boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 1,725.0% in the 1st quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 73 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new stake in Deere & Company in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.27% of the companys stock. Get Deere & Company alerts: Insider Buying and Selling In related news, insider Ryan D. Campbell sold 6,073 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.19, for a total transaction of $2,302,820.87. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 18,519 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $7,022,219.61. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Deere & Company news, insider Ryan D. Campbell sold 6,073 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.19, for a total value of $2,302,820.87. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 18,519 shares of the companys stock, valued at $7,022,219.61. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Cory J. Reed sold 4,680 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $449.75, for a total transaction of $2,104,830.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,563 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,444,209.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of analysts have weighed in on DE shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $383.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, August 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a buy rating to a hold rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $530.00 to $400.00 in a report on Friday, September 22nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, July 18th. Credit Suisse Group reduced their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $560.00 to $551.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $398.00 to $407.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Monday, August 21st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $447.93. View Our Latest Stock Report on DE Deere & Company Stock Down 0.4 % Shares of NYSE:DE opened at $380.66 on Friday. Deere & Company has a one year low of $345.55 and a one year high of $450.00. The company has a 50 day moving average of $400.97 and a 200-day moving average of $396.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The stock has a market cap of $109.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.09. Deere & Company (NYSE:DE Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 18th. The industrial products company reported $10.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.22 by $1.98. Deere & Company had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 46.15%. The company had revenue of $14.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $14.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.16 EPS. Deere & Companys revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 33.91 earnings per share for the current year. Deere & Company Increases Dividend The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, September 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This is a positive change from Deere & Companys previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 28th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. Deere & Companys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.96%. About Deere & Company (Free Report) Deere & Company manufactures and distributes various equipment worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Production and Precision Agriculture, Small Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Production and Precision Agriculture segment provides mid-size tractors, combines, cotton pickers and strippers, sugarcane harvesters, harvesting front-end equipment, sugarcane loaders, pull-behind scrapers, and tillage and seeding equipment, as well as application equipment, including sprayers and nutrient management, and soil preparation machinery for grain growers. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Deere & Company (NYSE:DE Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Deere & Company Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Deere & Company and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Berenberg Bank reissued their buy rating on shares of Centamin (LON:CEY Free Report) in a research report report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. Berenberg Bank currently has a GBX 147 ($1.80) target price on the mining companys stock. Centamin Trading Up 6.3 % LON CEY opened at GBX 88.05 ($1.08) on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 3.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Centamin has a twelve month low of GBX 77.70 ($0.95) and a twelve month high of GBX 127.60 ($1.56). The company has a market cap of 1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,761.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -1.53 and a beta of 0.47. The businesss fifty day moving average is GBX 86.49 and its 200 day moving average is GBX 83.25. Get Centamin alerts: Centamin Cuts Dividend The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 31st were issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 31st. Centamins dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8,000.00%. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centamin About Centamin A hedge fund recently bought a new stake in Centamin stock. OLD Mission Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centamin plc ( LON:CEY Free Report ) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 31,143 shares of the mining companys stock, valued at approximately $579,000. OLD Mission Capital LLC owned approximately 6.23% of Centamin as of its most recent SEC filing. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.39% of the companys stock. (Get Free Report) Centamin plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, mining, and development of precious metals in Egypt, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Jersey, the United Kingdom, and Australia. It explores for gold deposits. The company principal asset is the Sukari Gold Mine project, which covers an area of approximately 160 square kilometers located in the Eastern Desert of Egypt. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Centamin Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Centamin and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Kendall Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK Free Report) by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,145 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 1.0% of Kendall Capital Managements investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Kendall Capital Managements holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,209,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 102,675.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,860,147,936 shares of the companys stock worth $214,642,470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,858,338,022 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 103,159.7% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 39,327,490 shares of the companys stock worth $4,363,385,000 after acquiring an additional 39,289,404 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $2,736,293,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.2% in the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 35,734,925 shares of the companys stock worth $3,801,839,000 after acquiring an additional 8,281,942 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 68,563,817 shares of the companys stock worth $7,294,504,000 after acquiring an additional 6,546,946 shares during the last quarter. 74.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Merck & Co. Inc. alerts: Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance NYSE:MRK opened at $104.01 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average of $106.90 and a 200 day moving average of $110.09. The company has a market capitalization of $263.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.25, a PEG ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.34. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.74 and a 1-year high of $119.65. Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend Merck & Co., Inc. ( NYSE:MRK Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The company reported ($2.06) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of ($2.18) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 16.29% and a net margin of 5.34%. The business had revenue of $15.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $14.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.87 EPS. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Merck & Co., Inc.s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 239.34%. Insider Activity In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 4,250 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.01, for a total transaction of $463,292.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,935 shares in the company, valued at $2,500,144.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.20% of the companys stock. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In MRK has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $102.00 to $113.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 18th. HSBC started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, July 14th. They issued a hold rating and a $123.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an overweight rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, October 2nd. StockNews.com started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a buy rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $116.00 to $115.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $124.68. Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Merck & Co., Inc. Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile (Free Report) Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes, as well as vaccine products, such as preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MRK? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Merck & Co. Inc. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Merck & Co. Inc. and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shore Capital reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Oxford Instruments (LON:OXIG Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on OXIG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Oxford Instruments from GBX 3,100 ($37.94) to GBX 3,000 ($36.72) and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and set a GBX 350 ($4.28) price objective on shares of Oxford Instruments in a research note on Tuesday, July 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of GBX 2,414 ($29.55). Get Oxford Instruments alerts: View Our Latest Stock Report on Oxford Instruments Oxford Instruments Price Performance Insider Buying and Selling at Oxford Instruments Shares of OXIG stock opened at GBX 1,920 ($23.50) on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.76, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of 1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,920.00, a P/E/G ratio of -3.56 and a beta of 0.89. The companys 50-day simple moving average is GBX 2,181.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is GBX 2,480.92. Oxford Instruments has a one year low of GBX 1,800 ($22.03) and a one year high of GBX 2,884.80 ($35.31). In other news, insider Ian Barkshire bought 1,443 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 2,504 ($30.65) per share, for a total transaction of 36,132.72 ($44,226.10). Insiders bought a total of 1,456 shares of company stock worth $3,642,306 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 10.75% of the companys stock. Oxford Instruments Company Profile (Get Free Report) Oxford Instruments plc provides technology products and services in Europe, North America, Asia, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Materials & Characterisation, Research & Discovery, and Service & Healthcare. The company offers atomic force microscopy products; tools for use in research and development across a range of applications, including semiconductors, renewable energy, mining, metallurgy, and forensics; etch and deposition processing equipment and solutions for use in power and RF devices, VCSELs/lasers, 2D materials, augmented reality, biomems, failure analysis, HBLEDs, infrared sensors, MEMS and sensors, and quantum; and low temperature systems comprising wet systems, dry systems, magnets, cryogenics, and accessories. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Oxford Instruments Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Oxford Instruments and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump rallies with supporters at a "commit to caucus" event at the National Cattle Congress event space in Waterloo, Iowa, U.S. October 7, 2023. By the time Donald Trump returns to Iowa on Monday, the Republican former president will have drawn more than 10,000 people to his events in the state in less than a month. Theres no guarantee his crowds will translate to support in the states Jan. 15 caucuses, which will launch the 2024 nominating cycle. But unlike his seat-of-the-pants campaign in 2016, he has a more sophisticated organization to capitalize on his high-wattage events and often emphasizes in his remarks how to participate in the caucuses. Trump isnt downplaying expectations that he will win Iowa this time. His advisers want to lock in a blowout that discourages talk of a second-place finisher consolidating support and taking on the former president directly. A traditional measure of campaign organization in Iowa is the caucus pledge card. People who attend Trumps events are asked to sign a commitment that they will attend the caucuses and support him, providing their contact information so the campaign can inquire about them volunteering and finding others to attend. After Trumps second-place 2016 finish behind Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, a ragtag effort of big crowds but little organization, state GOP staffers cleaned out his caucus campaign office to find thousands of signed pledge cards that had never been logged. This time, his campaign aims to enter each card into its database within a day and to call each signee within two days. It collected 1,200 cards from two events on Oct. 7 out of about 4,000 people who attended. I can promise you there is no backlog, said Alex Latcham, a senior Trump adviser and early-state coordinator. Trump plans to headline a central Iowa caucus organizing event in booming Dallas County, west of Des Moines, and a speaking event in the citys GOP-leaning western suburbs on Monday. When he launched his candidacy for president, Trump memorably was unsure what a caucus even is. The quirky contests more than 1,600 simultaneous, neighborhood-level political meetings at which party members register their presidential preference publicly are not state-sanctioned primary elections and require intense organization to have supporters in place at each location. During a campaign stop in Cedar Rapids this month, Trump pivoted from attacking New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is pursuing a civil trial against him, to remind his audience of the fundamentals of participating in the caucuses. You have a very big, powerful election coming up. Its called a caucus here, Trump told about 2,500 inside a hotel ballroom. And you have to get out at 7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 15. Were asking you to commit to caucus and bring five or seven or 10 maybe, as many as you can, because we have to win big. He has netted thousands of commitments. But not every supporter equals a caucus vote. Rick and Nancy Anderson, of Ottumwa, are devout Trump fans, particularly wed to his ideas on energy and maximizing U.S. oil production. But asked if theyll caucus for Trump, Rick Anderson said, Nope. We live in Florida in the winter. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, one of Trumps main rivals for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, is betting that despite a sluggish late-summer campaign and organizational shakeup, an all-out focus on Iowa and the potential benefits of reaching every county could allow him to stress more populated counties down the stretch, perhaps trimming Trumps potential margin. Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, having sparked renewed interest after two solid GOP presidential debate performances, plans to return to Iowa next week for the fourth time within the past month. There is little doubt that Trump has the advantage, said David Kochel, who has advised Republican presidential candidates, including their caucus campaigns. But Kochel says Trump also still has something to prove. How far apart Trump is from the No. 2 person, assuming Trump wins Iowa, is important, and how far apart the second-place person, assuming its not Trump, and the rest of the field is also important, he said. Those are things we cant know yet. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Jada Francis, a graduate of Queens College, has finally been announced as the 2023 All Bahamas Merit Scholarship (ABMS) runner-up. Shane Gibson delivers a tribute to Obie Wilchcombe during a memorial service at Bishop Michael Eldon Auditorium in Grand Bahama on Friday. BIS photo The National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) has cleared the air over the proposed Top-Up program in foreign offshore accredited universities for Nigerian HND holders, saying the program is entirely beyond the jurisdiction of the National Universities Commission (NUC). The Executive Secretary NBTE, Professor Idris Bugaje stated this in a letter to the Hon Minister of Education in response to questions bordering on the newly initiated HND Top-Up Program using offshore credit transfer admission. According to Bugaje, HND holders who choose to pursue an academic career, at the moment, have no progression path except through the Postgraduate Diploma and anytime they wish to switch to Universities as lecturers after their Ph.D., they are always queried to produce their first degree. Proffering a lasting solution to the HNDBSc crisis, therefore, Bugaje has implored the Minister to convince President Bola Tinubu to sign the Anti-Dichotomy Bill into law, assuring that it will bring an end to the unwarranted and undeserved discrimination against HND holders in Nigeria. The top-up or credit transfer admissions by foreign universities is being mooted as an alternative to the PGD. According to reports, six Nigerian Universities have shown interest in joining the Top-Up program but the Board has not responded to their request as NUC may not give them approval. The letter reads in part: I write to update you on the media response last week of the National Universities Commission (NUC) of Nigeria to an NBTE-initiated progression for HND holders through the Top-Up program in foreign (offshore) accredited universities. Only the FME Division of Evaluation and Accreditation has the power to assess the foreign degrees (not NUC) after the students have graduated and may seek that. NBTE only provides HND Curricula content for credit mapping and eventual credit transfer admissions. The admissions are done by foreign universities and their Senates make awards of degrees not NBTE. In fact, the entire process is designed to operate seamlessly without NBTE. NBTE also has no financial benefit in the whole exercise though we requested low tuition of a maximum of about 10% of regular fees since course delivery is online. NUC, from its press release, seems to dislike online programs, attempting to take us back to the 20th Century. Online programs are today a globally accepted mode of Education delivery, especially in the 21st Century. Nigerian educational policy has accommodated that with an Open University approved by the Federal Government and NBTE-approved Open Distance Flexible and e-Learning (ODFeL) Centres being operated by 36 Polytechnics at the moment, and the number is growing. Nigerian HNDs are much respected globally. Many European countries give them direct admissions for Masters. Last year, a shining example was Miss Islamiyat Ojelade, HND Distinction in Science Lab Technology (Biochemistry) graduate from the Federal Polytechnic Ilaro, who last year received PhD admissions and Scholarships from seven (7) top US Universities, without the BSc. and not even MSc. Let us therefore start respecting our HNDs here at home and stop this discrimination by NUC and others with this mindset. Mrs Fatima Abubakar is the Head, Media Unit, NBTE The apex Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has charged Biafra agitators to stop all offensive aggressions and hostilities against the Nigerian-state for 40 days in order to secure the release of Nnamdi Kanu from detention. The group expressed optimism about the possible release of the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra before the end of 2023, following ongoing confidential negotiations between the body and relevant authorities. This was made known in a statement on Sunday by its Secretary General, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, urging all Biafra agitators to stop hostilities against the Federal Government for 40 days, starting from October 31 and exercise discipline during the period to facilitate the possible release of Kanu. The Ohanaeze acknowledged the pain and hardship endured in South-East since Nnamdi Kanus incarceration and assured that positive outcomes are anticipated after the November 2023 Imo State governorship elections. The group added that it was confident that Kanus release would undoubtedly serve as a resounding surprise to the South-East people while appealing to Nigerians whom Kanu might have offended to embrace forgiveness and prioritise their outstanding interests of Nigeria. The statement reads, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the preeminent socio-cultural organisation representing the Igbo people, is pleased to announce its foresight regarding ongoing confidential negotiations that indicate the possibility of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of IPOB, regaining his freedom by the end of the year 2023. However, in order to facilitate progress in this matter, Ohanaeze Ndigbo urges Biafra agitators to uphold a ceasefire for a period of 40 days, abstaining from any offensive aggression commencing on October 31, 2023. It is imperative that Biafra agitators exhibit discipline during this crucial period. The primary challenge we currently face is ensuring that the Biafra agitators cease all offensive aggression for 40 days, as this will pave the way for the desired solutions to secure the release of Nnamdi Kanu. Ohanaeze Ndigbo firmly believes that engaging with all relevant authorities through diplomatic channels remains the most effective approach to achieve the desired results. We implore Ndigbo to exercise patience and understanding throughout this critical period. We acknowledge the pain and hardship endured by the people of the South-East since Nnamdi Kanus incarceration, and as custodians of our land, we assure you that positive outcomes are anticipated after the November 2023 Imo State governorship elections. Ohanaeze Ndigbo remains committed to working behind the scenes, rallying and mobilising all relevant parties to achieve this crucial objective. We humbly beseech Biafra agitators to remain calm and observe a ceasefire for 40 days. This period of abstinence from offensive aggression will significantly contribute to ongoing negotiations and enhance the prospects of Kanus release. Life has taught me that good sense about trivialities is better than nonsense about things that matters. Progress in life is mans ability to complicate simplicity and this minimalism does not exist in the hearts of some political leaders hence progress is hitherto inhibited. A man who desires to say the truth about our society today (as the Reformer does) is a radical with both feet planted firmly in the air. When you are more successful is when you become vulnerable, and that is when you make your biggest mistakes in life. Politics is the same story told many years by the same but different people. Nelson Mandelas experience made him to infer thus In my country we go to prison first and then become president. If in South Africa, according to Mandela (we understand what he means) people go to prison before becoming president, in Nigeria a politician therefore is a person who may have nothing to say but says it anyhow, provided he opens his mouth. In Nigerian democracy, you can say what you like as long as you do what you are told in as much as what you are told brings food on your table. Political insanity! When you consider the depleting level of our values which is hitherto in tandem with our political system, one will be compelled to conclude that democracy in Nigeria before now especially in Imo, is like four wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Our political leaders have not been able to offer yesterdays solution to todays problems as a result the modern youths think that politics is a game of deception bereft of values or morals as Maureen Potter would say Politicians are like nappies. They should be change often-and for the same reason. The reason for proper application of Maureen Potters philosophy in our society is so obvious. Politics is a reality that touches almost all aspect of human existence. It pervades much of human life: family life, social, religious, economic and cultural life. Also national and even international activities belong to its proper domain. It is to be noted however that political ethics has to do with the moral principles at the basis of the political society. The Christians who are in politics ought to be guided by Christian political ethics which is a set of ideas derived from Christian principle in connection with the way to enhance the realization of the goal of life in a political society. To David Konstant this ethics is more like a set of signposts, suggesting the way forward, or a set of question by which we can examine the way we live in a political society. In our local context, the need for political ethics is obvious. The manner some political candidates are playing with serious issues lives much to be desired. Insecurity in Imo has been used by some political leaders to whittle down the political dome of the incumbent governor. They accuse the governor of being responsible for insecurity. The governor too, who is very privy to some vital security information has always replied based on knowledge that some top political leaders are also responsible for insecurity in Imo. Many people may believe the governor as a result of several endorsements which is yet to be translated into victory at our various polling unit on the 11th of next month. The careless abandon with which our modern youths in politics go about their assignment and the consequent nonchalant to things political on the part of the masses are causes of concern to many of us. It was consequent upon the above that made Mel Brooks to conclude, If politicians dont do it to their wives, they do it to their country. Could the various misunderstanding of the word politics have its negative effect on the psyche of our modern politicians? Besides the common concept and meaning of the term, there are also etymological and socio-philosophical notions of the term which varies from one scholar to another. Pope Paul VI confirms the above in his Apostolic letter Octogesima Adveniens (1997) to the said various meaning of the term when he said, It is true that in the term politics many confusions are possible and must be clarified. Today in Nigeria almost every youth sees politics as a dirty game to be practiced by dirty people. The Nigerian modern youths are not alone in this assertion. Leonardo Boff stressed this point in the observation that not a few people regard politics (as) something dirty, a lie, demagoguery. C.I Ejizu makes the same point that some Christians see politics as dirty, devilish and only fit for crooks, cheats and liars. Why this obnoxious notion about politics? I may be forced to conclude that this obnoxious view is informed by the undesirable attitudes of our politicians. The answer to the above question was given by Leonardo Boff thus, a prejudice that results from bad political experiences involving corruption, manipulation and struggle of special interest groups. To Fredrick the Great, the said obnoxious notion of politics is traced to deception and misuse of power which is an accepted practice among politicians. In the words of Cardinal Arinze, If, however, the politician takes and gives bribes, assassinates other peoples characters exploits women and embezzles government and party funds, then it is he (or she), not politics that is dirty. The above distinction by cardinal Arinze only suggests that it is the task of the well-meaning citizens of our land to cleanse and sanitize our politics. Therefore those who are morally fit should be allowed to effect the changes that everybody is yarning for. Among many great scholars that have various views about politics (Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Thomas Hobbes, John Lock, Karl Max, Jaen Jacque, Rousseau, Carl Schmitt, and Max Webber) Niccole Machiavelli singled himself out from the long list by separating politics and morality. For Niccole Machiavelli politics is purely a mechanical play of forces without ethical values. What counted for him was success at whatever cost and by whatever means. The great scholar Jacque Maritain after studying the political philosophy of Machiavelli wrote, politics became by definition non-moral and successful politics: art of conquering and keeping power by any means whatsoever-even good, should an opportunity offer, a rare opportunity-on the sole condition that they be fit to ensure success. Adebayo Adediji the former executive secretary of the Economic community for Africa like many others agrees with Jacque Maritains evaluation of Machiavellianism when he wrote, The tactics of governance which combines the artfulness of a fox with the savagery of a lion and which put in the forefront, as overarching governance objectives, personalized power and fame; and moral political expediency instead of justice, temperance, wisdom, courage and the promotion of public good. The above is a total rejection of Machiavellianism. Machiavellis political philosophy is unhealthy to the principles of morality such animalistic political philosophy erodes morality and true political ethics and values. The practice of this ignoble philosophy is the anti-thesis of Aristotelians view that the true purpose of politics is the achievement of the common good, thus it is not an end in itself but rather a means to an end. To the adherent of this ignoble theory Man is for the state and not state for man. To sacrifice all that the human person stands for on the altar of success is to have ones priorities right. It is the philosophy that promotes immediate success no matter how and therefore should be regarded as an animalistic approach to leadership. The Bible upholds politics as a good thing willed by God for the well-being of humanity. It was for this good reason that St.Paul affirms that all government comes from God and that The state is there to serve God for (peoples) benefit (Rom. 13:1-7). It is hitherto obvious that the Christian concept of politics is founded on the common good and is opposed to separation of politics from morality. This is further confirmed by a South Africa Theologian T.S.N Gqubule thus, The Christian religion teaches that God is lord of the whole life and the lord of all creation. There is no sphere of life such as politics, economics education which is not under his lordship. The decayed value system is affecting our growth. Values give direction and firmness to life and they bring to life the important dimension of meaning which adds joy, satisfaction and peace to life. Values identify a person, giving him a name, a face and character. Without values one would be floating like a piece of driftwood in the swirling waters of a river. Values bring quality to life. The philosophical study dealing with the nature of value and the types of value, as in morals, aesthetics religion, and metaphysics is known as axiology. Morality which is part of our value system is gradually eroding away thereby making politics a do or dies affair. All hands must be on deck to resurrect our values to enable us stand the taste of future civilization. Articol sustinut de Mediastandard.ro Mediastandard.ro: Cum ar arata Romania daca pe sticlele de alcool ar fi mesaje precum cele de pe pachetele de tigari? The absence of Hon. Farah Dagogo and High Chief Sobomabo Jackrich (Eberipapa), two critical stakeholders of the Niger Delta struggle in Rivers State, have continued to elicit mixed reaction in the state and beyond, as the Supreme Leader of the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (NDPVF) Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo Asari, Alabo Edi-Abali of Kalabari Kingdom led a delegation comprising of some frontline leaders of the struggle from Bayelsa and beyond like Chief, Bibopiri Ajube a.k.a Gen Shootaside, Hon. Victor Ben Ebikabowei a.k.a Gen Boyloaf among others to the Palace of His Royal Majesty King Michael Ateke Tom, the Amanyanabo of Okochiri Kingdom and Sekuro 1 of Niger Delta for a very crucial meeting, and deliberations on the highly sought after petroleum pipelines security surveillance among others . Apparently, when it comes to frontline stakeholders of the struggle in Rivers State, High Chief Ateke Tom, Alhaji Mujahid Asari Dokubo, High Chief Sobomabo Jackrich (Egberipapa) and Hon. Farah Dagogo completes the Rivers Big Four. These four have worked closely as a unit, even from 2012 when this contract was first awarded by the Yaradua administration on state to state basis. However, newsmen who covered the Okochiri event are worried that the absence of the likes of Hon. Farah Dagogo and High Chief Egberipapa may have once again confirmed the alleged growing sentiments, bickering and crack among the Big Four in Rivers state, and leaving unanswered question if Hon. Farah Dagogo and High Chief Egberipapa are working for Tantita Security Service Nigeria, a company owned by former militant leader and commander of the defunct Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) Tompolo. According to a source close to one of the ex-militant leaders who spoke on condition of anonymity said the meeting was convened to strategise ways to oversee the pipeline surveillance contract with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL). According to the source, the ex-agitators also discussed the need for the surveillance contract to be shared or decentralised. said the meeting was premised on the fact that the pipeline surveillance job achieved so much success when it was awarded to each of the Niger Delta states where the pipelines were domiciled. According to him, the leaders of the struggle in each of the states who benefitted from the 2012 contract by the Late President Yaradua were familiar with their terrain hence they successfully carried out their jobs. Like in Rivers State, High Chief Ateke Tom, Mujahid Asari, I Chief Egberipapa and Farah Dagogo worked in unity, so was others in other states. The Okociri meeting may not be unconnected with strategies to see how this pipeline surveillance contract can be more efficient through establishment of a more decentralized system to allow each state to handle their terrain for more efficacy, instead of handing the bulk job to a sole company to manage for the entire Niger Delta. Expectations is that the Ijaw Nation is a decentralized ethnic nationality, hence it is expedient to ensure that diversity becomes the strength rather than a beacon of divisiveness, as such collective understanding geared towards reasonable unity, peace, and security is expected to be the utmost priority. While speaking to newsmen about this development in Akwa-Ibom State, a critical stakeholder of the struggle in the state General Ofon Ette lashed out at Tompolo for entrenching sentiment and not carrying along some of the frontline leadership in Akwa Ibom, Edo, Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross River, Imo and even Anambra along in the scheme of things. He said in the year under review, there have been complaints from critical stakeholders in the struggle from these states. While I commend the federal government who are now abreast with the fact that they lack the strength to manage the security of our pipelines, and consequently gave it to Tompolo, I want to congratulate Tompolo for winning the contract, but he should know that he cannot do it alone but must as a priority reach out to some of these leaders in each of the struggle across other states, instead of working with a few and applying the divide and rule tactics. One million Gazans displaced as Israel readies for ground attack GAZA STRIP: More than one million people have been forced from their homes in the northern Gaza Strip since Israel began its bombardment against Hamas, the UN said yesterday (Oct 15), warning of dire conditions on the ground. politicsviolencedeathmilitary By AFP Monday 16 October 2023 02:57 PM More than one million people have been displaced in the Gaza Strip since last week, the UN says. Photo: AFP Israel declared war on the Islamist group last Sunday (Oct 8), a day after waves of its fighters broke through the heavily fortified border and shot, stabbed and burned to death more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians. The relentless bombing since against those who masterminded the attack have flattened neighbourhoods and left at least 2,670 people dead in the Gaza Strip, the majority ordinary Palestinians. But as Israel seeks to avenge the worst attack in its history, the Arab League and African Union warned the invasion could lead to a genocide of unprecedented proportions. It also faced a grave warning about the wider security implications of putting boots on the ground in the densely populated enclave. No one can guarantee the control of the situation and the non-expansion of the conflicts if Israel sends its soldiers into Gaza, said Irans foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. Those who are interested in preventing the scope of war and crisis from expanding need to prevent the current barbaric attacks... against citizens and civilians in Gaza, he added. Iran is Israels number one enemy and as well as funding Hamas also backs Hezbollah in Lebanon to the north, where cross-border fire has intensified in the last week, prompting Israel to shut the area to civilians. The UN peacekeeping mission UNIFIL yesterday said its base was hit by a rocket but no one was hurt. Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel had no interest in a war in the north, we dont want to escalate the situation. If Hezbollah chooses the path of war, it will pay a heavy price... but if it restrains itself, well respect the situation, he added. Escalation risk The United States, which has given unequivocal backing to Israel, is concerned about violence spreading, and has sent two aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean as a deterrent. In Washington, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said they feared the prospect of Iran becoming directly engaged, after it praised the Hamas attack but insisted it was not involved. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has in recent days toured Middle Eastern capitals in a frantic round of diplomacy to try to avert a wider crisis in the volatile region. Yesterday, he pointed to determination in every country I went to make sure that this doesnt spread, as he left Egypt. Blinken has appealed to China to use its influence in the region to ease tensions. But yesterday Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Israels response had gone beyond the scope of self-defence. He called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his emergency government to cease its collective punishment of the people of Gaza. Evacuations Israel has massed thousands of troops and heavy weaponry in the desert south of the country, waiting for the green light to go in to northern Gaza. The army has told 1.1 million Palestinians in the north of the Gaza Strip - nearly half of its 2.4mn population - to head south to safety. But there were still Israeli air strikes in the south, including in Rafah, where one resident said a doctors house was targeted. All the family was wiped out, said Khamis Abu Hilal. Military spokesmen Lieutenant Richard Hecht and Daniel Hagari said any ground offensive would be triggered by a political decision. Netanyahu visited frontline troops on Saturday, telling them more is coming but without specifying when any ground operation would start. Hecht singled out Yahya Sinwar, the chief of Hamas in Gaza blamed for the Oct 7 attacks, calling him a dead man walking. Aid agencies, including the UN and ICRC, as well as foreign governments have repeatedly criticised Israels request for Gazans to leave their homes. The UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees said yesterday that some one million Palestinians had already been displaced in the first week of the conflict - but the number was likely to be higher. UNRWA commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini said Gaza was facing an unprecedented human catastrophe because of the blockade and bombings. Raise the alarm that as of today, my UNRWA colleagues in Gaza are no longer able to provide humanitarian assistance as I speak, he told reporters. Palestinians carrying whatever belongings they can, in bags and suitcases, or packed onto three-wheeled motorbikes, battered cars, vans and even donkey carts have become a common sight in recent days. They have had to find shelter wherever they can in the increasingly crowded south of the Gaza Strip, including on the streets and in UN-run schools. Israel had cut off water, fuel and food supplies to Gaza for the duration of the conflict. Local hospitals are becoming overwhelmed with increasing numbers of dead and injured. Health officials said yesterday some 9,600 people had been wounded. Israeli energy minister Israel Katz said water supplies to southern Gaza had been switched back on. This will push the civilian population to the southern Strip, he said. But power outages threaten to cripple life-support systems, from sea water desalination plants to food refrigeration and hospital incubators. Even everyday functions - from going to the toilet, showering and washing clothes - are almost impossible, locals said. I feel humiliation and embarrassment, said Mona Abdel Hamid, 55, who fled Gaza City to Rafah and is having to stay with strangers. No electricity, no water, no internet. I feel like Im losing my humanity, she told AFP. In Rome, Pope Francis called for humanitarian corridors in Gaza and urged that children, the sick, the elderly, women and all civilians should not fall victim to the conflict. Gazans are effectively trapped, with Israeli-controlled crossings closed and Egypt also having shut the Rafah border in the south. Blinken said he was confident the crossing will be open for aid into the strip, amid reports that Egypt was blocking the passage of Gazans with foreign passports until relief supplies are allowed in. Hostages The mood in Israel has swung between collective grief, fury and a strong desire to punish Hamas, which Netanyahu has likened to the Islamic State group and is proscribed as a terrorist group by several Western governments, including the US. There are also deep fears about the safety of 155 hostages taken to the Gaza Strip. We must bring them back home alive, said a tearful Yrat Zailer, the aunt of children aged nine months and four years who were abducted with their mother. Israel pushed on with its evacuation of southern towns close to Gaza that were targeted in the Hamas attacks. Packed buses were taking families to hotels in Jerusalem and the Red Sea resort city Eilat. Its hard, Im crying, said Helen Afteker, 50, an evacue from the town of Sderot. Its terrifying every time theres a warning, we have to leave. Its better for the children. Planeloads of Israelis have returned from around the world to join the latest of the many wars in their countrys 75-year history. Phuket Vegetarian Festival underway PHUKET: The Phuket Vegetarian Festival is underway, with the first of the street processions taking place today (Oct 16). Chineseculturetourism By The Phuket News Monday 16 October 2023 09:21 AM Thousands turned out for the raising of the Go Teng pole at Jui Tui Shrine on Saturday evening (Oct 14). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Thousands turned out for the raising of the Go Teng pole at Jui Tui Shrine on Saturday evening (Oct 14). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Thousands turned out for the raising of the Go Teng pole at Jui Tui Shrine on Saturday evening (Oct 14). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Thousands turned out for the raising of the Go Teng pole at Jui Tui Shrine on Saturday evening (Oct 14). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Thousands turned out for the raising of the Go Teng pole at Jui Tui Shrine on Saturday evening (Oct 14). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Thousands turned out for the raising of the Go Teng pole at Jui Tui Shrine on Saturday evening (Oct 14). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Thousands turned out for the raising of the Go Teng pole at Jui Tui Shrine on Saturday evening (Oct 14). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Thousands turned out for the raising of the Go Teng pole at Jui Tui Shrine on Saturday evening (Oct 14). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Thousands turned out for the raising of the Go Teng pole at Jui Tui Shrine on Saturday evening (Oct 14). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Mah Song and devotees take part in the Naka Shrine street procession this morning (Oct 16). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Mah Song and devotees take part in the Naka Shrine street procession this morning (Oct 16). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Mah Song and devotees take part in the Naka Shrine street procession this morning (Oct 16). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Mah Song and devotees take part in the Naka Shrine street procession this morning (Oct 16). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Mah Song and devotees take part in the Naka Shrine street procession this morning (Oct 16). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Mah Song and devotees take part in the Naka Shrine street procession this morning (Oct 16). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Mah Song and devotees take part in the Naka Shrine street procession this morning (Oct 16). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Mah Song and devotees take part in the Naka Shrine street procession this morning (Oct 16). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Mah Song and devotees take part in the Naka Shrine street procession this morning (Oct 16). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Mah Song and devotees take part in the Naka Shrine street procession this morning (Oct 16). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Mah Song and devotees take part in the Naka Shrine street procession this morning (Oct 16). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Mah Song and devotees take part in the Naka Shrine street procession this morning (Oct 16). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub The festival began with thousands of people turning out for the raising of the Go Teng poles at participating shrines across the island on Saturday evening (Oct 14). Phuket Governor Sophon Suwannarat and other leading provincial figures, such as Phuket Provincial Police Commander Maj Gen Sermphan Sirikong, joined the first official event of the festival at the Jui Tui Shrine in Phuket Town, one of the largest Chinese shrines in Phuket, at sunset on Saturday. The rituals continued with ablutions and paying tribute to the Jade Emperor and the Nine Emperor Gods yesterday. The street processions began with the Jchoor Su Gong Naka Shrine, better known as the Naka Shrine in Wichit, this morning. Devotees and Mah Song spirit mediums departed the Naka Shrine at 7:30am, making their way to the Naka Intersection in Kathu, where the procession continued eastbound along Wichit Songkram Rd into Phuket Town. From there the procession will make its way to Saphan Hin before retuning to the Naka Shrine in Wichit. Traffic delays are expected. The street processions will continue for the nine days of the festival. For a full list of the street processions to be held, click here. Pita hears issues in Phuket PHUKET: Former Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat was in Phuket yesterday (Oct 15) to conduct several site inspections and speak with local residents and officials about key issues affecting them and projects they wanted to see move forward. tourismconstructioneconomicspolitics By The Phuket News Monday 16 October 2023 06:42 PM Joining Mr Pita were Phukets three MPs, all representatives from the Move Forward Party, elected to office in the national election earlier this year: Somchart Techathavorncharoen for Phuket District 1; Chalermpong Saengdee for Phuket District 2; and Thitikan Thitipruethikul for Phuket District 3. Of note, Move Forward candidates won all three Phuket seats for Members of Parliament by strong margins during the national election in May. Mr Pita visited the Phuket City Municipality Waste Incinerator at Saphan Hin, and the adjoining landfill, to hear about the need to cope with the islands growing volume of waste generated, and delivered to the landfill, each day. If measures were not taken soon, Phuket would soon need to send its solid refuse off-island, Mr Pita was told. Mr Pita then joined Phuket Irrigation Office Director Krirksak Leenanon at the Klong Kata reservoir in Chalong to discuss projects underway there. One project that began on June 20 is to expand the reservoir capacity. The project is due for completion on Feb 14 next year. Mr Pita also inspected the road around the reservoir, sections of which collapsed into the water during heavy rains last year. Mr Pita was shown that some temporary repairs have already been made in some areas, but was told the Phuket Irrigation Office was still waiting for budget approval in order to proceed with permanent repairs to the road. Mr Pita then headed north to Ratsada, stopping at the Guan Yu Shrine in Chalong along the way. At Ratsada, Mr Pita joined Ratsada Mayor Nakarin Yosangrat on a tour of the Tha Jeen Canal, separating Koh Siray from Phuket, to see the mangroves there firsthand and to hear Mayor Nakarins plans to develop the area into an eco-tourism attraction. Mr Pita joined local officials and residents at the Saphan Yao Pier at Laem Hin, where Kueakiat Jitkuea, President of the Koh Kaew Tambon Administrative Organisation (OrBorTor) and his staff explained the plans they have for developing the pier to something more like Chalong Pier to help develop the area and generate incomes for local people. While in Phuket, Mr Pita visited both the Kathu Shrine and the Jui Tui Shrine in Phuket Town to make merit and observe the Phuket Vegetarian Festival currently underway. Police investigate apparent gun suicide in Phuket Town PHUKET: Police are investigating the death of a 43-year-old manager of a car detailing centre in Phuket Town by apparent gun suicide on Saturday night (Oct 14). deathsuicidepolice By The Phuket News Monday 16 October 2023 10:04 AM Photo: Phuket Info Centre Police were called to the scene, on Viraponghongyok Rd, north of the Nimit Circle (also called the Seahorse Circle) on the east side of Phuket Town, at about 8:10pm, reported Phuket Info Center. Pol Lt Surachai Watitsuphaphol of the Phuket City Police soon arrived at the scene, joined by Phuket City Police Chief Pol Col Pratuang Pholmana and rescue workers from the Kusoldharm Foundation. Officers arrived to find the body of the man, Supachai Panya, 43, on the floor of the bathroom at the centre. He had suffered a single gunshot to the head. A .45-calibre Glock handgun was found on the floor nearby. Officers found no sign of a struggle at the scene, and no signs of theft. Mr Supachai was believed to have died no more than one hour before officers arrived. His body was taken to Vachira Phuket Hospital. From their preliminary investigation, police said that Mr Supachai had been drinking beer. He had an argument with his girlfriend and left his house to go to the car detailing centre, where he worked as manager, alone. The shop was closed for the day, but Mr Supachai let himself in as he had keys to the workplace, officers said. His girlfriends younger brother had come to see Mr Supachai at the shop, but found him dead on the floor, officers said. Mr Supachai was reportedly known for suffering from depression, police added. However, police noted they are continuing their investigation. If you or anyone you know is in need of emotional support and counseling, please contact the Samaritans of Thailand at their 24-hour hotline at 02-113-6789 (English & Thai), or the Thai Mental Health Hotline at 1323 (Thai). Thai death toll in Israel rises to 28 BANGKOK: Four more Thais working in Israel are confirmed to have been killed during the Hamas attacks, bringing the Thai death toll to 28, with 16 wounded and a further 17 abducted. Safetypoliticsviolencedeath By Bangkok Post Monday 16 October 2023 07:32 AM The third group of 90 Thai returnees from Israel arrive at SC Park Hotel in Bangkok to meet their waiting family members. Buses were arranged to take them from U-tapao airport in Rayong to the Bangkok hotel after they returned home yesterday morning (Oct 15). Photo: Labour Ministry via Bangkok Post Labour Minister Pipat Ratchakitprakarn yesterday (Oct 15) said reports from a councillor for labour affairs at the Thai ambassy in Tel Aviv showed that the Thai death toll is now 28 with 17 abducted Thais and 16 wounded, reports the Bangkok Post. A total of 7,540 Thais have filled forms at the ambassy, with 7,446 intending to return home and 94 wanting to stay in Israel, accoridng to the reports. Mr Pipat led senior ministry officials to meet the third group of 90 Thai workers at SC Park Hotel in Bangkok. The workers - 88 men and two women - returned home from Israel on a commercial flight yesterday morning. They arrived at U-tapao international airport in Rayong province before boarding chartered buses to the hotel in Wang Thong Lang district, where they warmly greeted by their waiting relatives. Mr Pipat said another group of 137 Thais will return home at around 5-6am this morning by Air Force aircraft. They will arrive at Don Mueang airport, said the minister. Prime Mnister Srettha Thavisin has expressed concern about how to find more aircraft for the repatriation plan in addition to the flights that the government has coordinated with some airlines, said Mr Pipat. Noke Air and Thai AirAsia have each agreed to help arrange two repatriation flights. Thai Airways International and the air force will arrange one repatriation flight each. So far only 200 Thai workers have been able to be repatriated because many lost their passports while fleeing to seek refuge in bunkers, said the minister. The Foreign Affairs Ministry has been preparing 8,000 reserve passports. In the next 3-4 days, authorities would be able to repatriate 400 Thais a day, said Mr Pipat. The Labour Ministry has sent five more officials who used to live in Israel to help Thai workers there while the Foreign Affairs Ministry has sent another 10 officials to that country. Mr Pipat said about 7,000 Thais who have registered to return home could be repatriated next month. Justice Minister Thawee Sodsong said yesterday that he was saddened that the Thai death toll has risen to 20 and almost 20 people were wounded in the Hamas attacks. The government wanted to see Thai workers return home safely and would try its best to help those abducted, said Pol Col Thawee during a meeting with Thai returnees at SC Park Hotel. Tourists warned not to bring pork into Thailand PHUKET: Tourists planning a visit to Thailand have been reminded of the ongoing prohibition on unregulated imports of pork products into the country including for personal consumption. Sniffer dog, collectively known as Inspector Beagle, continue to conduct baggage inspections at international airports to detect any meat products that may potentially contain viral strains of African Swine Fever (ASF). tourism By The Phuket News Monday 16 October 2023 08:00 AM Around 31kg of pork sausages were sniffed out by Inspector Beagle at Suvarnabhumi Airport on Friday (Oct 13). Photo: DLD Quarantine and Inspection K9 Unit Around 31kg of pork sausages were sniffed out by Inspector Beagle at Suvarnabhumi Airport on Friday (Oct 13). Photo: DLD Quarantine and Inspection K9 Unit Around 31kg of pork sausages were sniffed out by Inspector Beagle at Suvarnabhumi Airport on Friday (Oct 13). Photo: DLD Quarantine and Inspection K9 Unit The warning was published by the Phuket Info Center on Saturday (Oct 14), aiming to inform tourists and local residents about the ban on pork imports. Supporting the thesis, the page shared images of the most recent sausage bust by Inspector Beagle at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok and corresponding posters by the Department of Livestock Development (DLD). Details of the bust were not disclosed by the Phuket Info Center but can be found on the DLD Quarantine and Inspection K9 Unit (D-QIK 9) page on Facebook. According to the DLDs K9 Unit, one of Inspectors Beagles found approximately 31kg of undeclared pork sausages in the baggage of a passenger who arrived in Thailand from the Philippines on Oct 13 via a Cebu Pacific Airlines flight. The passengers flight, 5J 929 from Manila, landed in Bangkok at 11.05 am. The potentially dangerous pork products were confiscated. This was not the only incident reported by the DLDs K9 Unit this week. Another report mentioned the seizure of an unspecified quantity of assorted meat products from a passenger arriving from Manila on an undisclosed day via PR 730 flight performed by Philippines Airlines. Photos show several kilograms of sausages, bacon, and beef being seized. All DLDs reports show inspectors standing next to a banner warning about the prohibition of uncontrolled pork imports into Thailand, even for personal consumption. Phuket Info Center shared a copy of this banner in five languages, namely Thai, English, Chinese, Lao, and Vietnamese. Attention. Do not carry pork! ASF African Swine Fever. Do not carry pork, sausages, bacon, or any other meat products into Thailand without permission from the DLD. Violators who bring these products into Thailand without permission could face prosecution, says the English version of the poster. The posters mention that violators can be charged with a breach of the Animal Epidemic Act B.E. 2558 (2015), although they do not specify the penalties or other consequences for tourists found guilty. The ban on pork imports was introduced four years ago in response to an ASF outbreak abroad, with Phuket playing a significant role in justifying the prohibition on unregulated pork imports into Thailand. In late 2019, the World Organisation for Animal Health reported an ASF outbreak in 15 countries across Europe and Africa as well as Russia and China. As a response, on Dec 25, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of Thailand issued an advisory to quarantine all pork imported from the listed countries. Three weeks later, the implementation of this measure led to the confiscation of pork sausages from a Chinese tourist at Phuket International Airport on Jan 16. The sausages were confirmed to contain a viral strain of ASF in laboratory tests. Strict inspections of processed pork products from overseas are now in place to prevent an outbreak. If left unchecked, ASF could severely impact our swine farming industry, said Sorawit Thaneto, Director-General of the DLD at that time. The ban on undeclared imports of pork products, including any salamis and sausages for personal consumption, has been in effect since then. At Suvarnabhumi International Airport, sniffer dogs, collectively known as Inspector Beagle, routinely check the luggage of international passengers. Specific information about the intensity and methods of inspections at Phuket International Airport is not publicly available. KYODO NEWS - Oct 16, 2023 - 10:39 | All, Japan Japan's economy minister Yasutoshi Nishimura visited Tokyo's war-linked Yasukuni shrine on Monday, a day before its autumn festival. After offering prayers at the shrine, which honors convicted war criminals along with the war dead, Nishimura told reporters he made a ritual offering, paid for out of his own pocket. "I prayed for the spirits of those who died in war to rest in peace, with the country and families in mind," the economy, trade and industry minister said. Past visits by Japanese leaders and lawmakers to the Shinto shrine have riled Japan's Asian neighbors as they view it as a symbol of the country's past militarism. In an apparent attempt to avoid confrontation with China and South Korea, recent Japanese prime ministers have only sent offerings to the shrine for its biannual festivals in spring and autumn, as well as on the anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II on Aug. 15. Related coverage: Japan's economy minister visits war-linked Yasukuni shrine Japan PM Kishida sends offering to Yasukuni shrine on WWII anniv. Japan marks 78th anniv. of WWII end as PM reiterates war opposition Village fired upon | IMPHAL, Oct 16 : Armed Kuki militants fired several rounds of bullets towards Thamnapokpi today. Thamnapokpi falls under Lamlai Assembly Constituency in Imphal East. Kuki militants first fired 4-5 rounds of bullets towards Thamnapokpi at around 4 am and later fired several rounds of bullets at around 6.33 pm. Although there has been no major escalation, Kuki militants have intermittently fired at civilian settlements in the fringes of Imphal East and Imphal West districts. Notably, three villagers were hurt in firing at Sabungkhok Khunou on October 12. Then, a gun fight had ensued between the armed militants and security forces. KYODO NEWS - Oct 16, 2023 - 11:14 | World, All North Korea on Monday rapped Japan's plan to move the deployment of domestically made long-range missiles forward to an earlier date, with its state media saying Tokyo's military moves for a "reinvasion" have reached a very grave phase. Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said at a press conference last week that his ministry has been studying the feasibility of deploying all types of the Japan-made long-range missiles sooner than the original schedule of fiscal 2026. The missiles would have the "capability of attacking enemy bases" and directly striking a blow on North Korea, China and other neighboring countries, the official Korean Central News Agency said in a commentary. "War state Japan's reinvasion is not a fiction but a reality," KCNA said, adding "Japan's arrogant choice will create new challenges to its security and will result in escalating tension" on the Korean Peninsula and in the region. Pyongyang urged Tokyo not to "act rashly," the report said. Japan ruled the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945 and invaded a vast swath of China before the end of World War II. Kihara, who assumed the ministerial post last month, made the remarks after announcing on Oct. 4 that Japan will start procuring Tomahawk cruise missiles from the United States in fiscal 2025, a year earlier than initially planned, following a meeting with his U.S. counterpart Lloyd Austin. The Japanese minister cited the need to respond to the worsening Asian security environment amid growing challenges presented by China, North Korea and Russia. As part of preparations to acquire "counterstrike" capabilities, or the ability to hit enemy bases should the need arise, Japan plans to purchase 400 Tomahawks, which have a strike range of about 1,600 kilometers. 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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 Senior BJP leaders sat down today for discussions to assess the ongoing internal rivalries within the party, which have been causing embarrassment to senior party members. Amidst this situation, former BJP national president and Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, will visit the city tomorrow to inaugurate a puja. BJP leaders, including the Leader of the Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, general secretary Jagannath Chattopadhyay, MP Locket Chatterjee, and other leaders, gathered for a meeting to address the current situation. Interestingly, the president of the state unit of the party and MP, Sukanta Majumder, along with former national vice president Dilip Ghosh, did not attend. Mr. Majumder stated that he is in Balurghat, his own parliamentary constituency, and Mr. Ghosh mentioned he was unaware of Mr. Shahs visit to the city tomorrow. Sources indicate that Mr. Advertisement Shah might meet with state leaders at NSCBI Airport, where the state party could present a report to him. In the meantime, the BJPs national general secretary, Anupam Hazra, raised concerns about powerful figures within the West Bengal BJP misusing their positions. Without naming anyone, Mr Hazra alleged that these leaders view their roles as a form of personal inheritance. He stressed that these issues could significantly impact the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Mr Hazra advised the disgruntled BJP workers to engage in discussions to address these grievances. He also expressed concerns about the anger and frustration among party members, noting that peoples patience has its limits. Recent incidents outside the BJP office in Salt Lake and the state BJP headquarters on Muralidhar Sen Lane featured dissatisfied party workers and supporters demanding the removal of senior leaders from their organisational roles within the state party. Moreover, there has been discontent directed towards the state BJP president, Sukanta Majumdar, with slogans raised against him. The Leader of the Opposition in the Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday evening led a massive rally in Arambagh in protest against corruption in the state. Mr Adhikari, speaking at the rally, lashed out at the TMCled government for corruption. He said the common people have been deprived of the benefits of the central government schemes while the funds sent by the central government for the MGNREGA work, Awas Yojana and other beneficiary schemes have been looted and misused and the natural resources of the state are being smuggled including coal, sand and livestock. The chief minister is to be blamed for the every year flood that takes place in Arambagh Sub-Division, he said, claiming that the Lower Damodar valley project and the Ghatal master plan to check the recurring flood situation in Arambagh Sub-Division have not been implemented by the state government. The Central government has not withheld any one of this projects. Advertisement The TMC to hide its corruption is put all the blame on the BJP-led central government, she said. Jobs have been sold, educated candidates have been deprived, poor people have been deprived of their livelihood, lakhs of fake job cards have robbed people of their constitutional right to work. Awas Yojana funds have been looted, many poor people are still homeless, he said. The TMC looted the panchayat votes with the help of Police and BDO, nearly 1 crore were deprived of casting their votes in panchayat areas, he further charged The Opposition leader gave a call to all those who have been deprived to gather in Kolkata on 21 November to protest against the TMC government. KYODO NEWS - Oct 16, 2023 - 18:15 | World, All Russian President Vladimir Putin will take part in an upcoming two-day international forum in Beijing on China's signature Belt and Road infrastructure initiative and hold talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, Russia's Tass news agency and the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Monday. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who arrived in the Chinese capital earlier in the day ahead of the forum starting Tuesday, said in a meeting with Chinese top diplomat Wang Yi that Putin and Xi will discuss "every aspect of bilateral relations" at their upcoming talks, according to the Tass report. It will be Putin's first visit to China since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February last year. The two leaders are also expected to talk about the fierce conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas. The forum on the global infrastructure initiative is expected to draw representatives from over 140 countries, with the leaders of countries such as Cambodia, Chile, Ethiopia, Hungary and Kenya arriving in Beijing on Monday, according to China's official Xinhua News Agency. In an interview with state-run China Media Group held ahead of his China visit, Putin lauded the Belt and Road initiative, which marks its 10th anniversary this year, saying it is "developing well" with a focus on uniting the capabilities of many countries to achieve common development goals. Putin said some people consider the initiative as an attempt by China "to put someone under its thumb, but we see otherwise," adding "no one imposes anything on anyone, no one forces anything on anyone, but only gives them opportunity." Critics of Xi's mega infrastructure project often point out the scheme has drawn recipient nations into a Chinese debt trap, with developing countries saddled with huge debts that allow Beijing to leverage control over them. Japan is not a member of the Belt and Road initiative and will not send any government representatives to the forum. Italy, the only Group of Seven major industrial nation to be part of the project, reportedly intends to exit the scheme as it has not reaped the economic benefits it expected through joining. Meanwhile, Pyongyang said Monday that Lavrov will pay a two-day official visit to North Korea from Wednesday. His trip follows summit talks between Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last month in Russia's Far East, during which is thought they discussed military cooperation. Related coverage: Xi shows eagerness to improve Sino-U.S. ties in talks with lawmakers Putin confirms China visit in Oct., supports infrastructure project North Korea's Kim attends paramilitary parade to mark founding anniv. It was a momentous occasion for the Indian Parliament on October 13 as it hosted delegates from G20 countries for the Parliamentary Speakers Summit in the lavish surroundings of the Yashobhoomi conference facility in New Delhi. The three-day summit, opened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, drew in over 350 attendees, including 50 members of parliament, 14 general secretaries, 26 vice presidents, the president of the International Parliamentary Union, and the president of the Pan-African Parliament. Parliaments for One Earth, One Family, and One Future was suggested as the subject for the ninth P20. The Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Om Birla, presided over the summit. Advertisement #WATCH | Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla welcomes delegates at the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers Summit (P20) in Delhi pic.twitter.com/xe6h8o2dg9 ANI (@ANI) October 13, 2023 The 9th P20 summit featured four sessions on topics including women-led development, accelerating the SDGs, sustainable energy transition, and transforming peoples lives through public digital platforms. A pre-summit gathering, the Parliamentary Forum on Lifestyle for the Environment, took place at Yashobhoomi on October 12. Indias long-standing and participatory democratic traditions were also celebrated with the organization of the Mother of Democracy exhibition. The speaker held a cultural event and dinner for the P20 delegates, after which they were given a tour of the recently constructed Parliament House. Paid Floral Tributes with #P20 delegates to father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi at his statue in Parliament House Complex. Reaffirmed Gandhi Jis timeless values of peace, service, compassion and non-violence as guideposts for an inclusive and prosperous global future. pic.twitter.com/hpvVUwnI7i Om Birla (@ombirlakota) October 13, 2023 Throughout the occasion, they danced as well. Noteworthy is the fact that Speaker of the Lok Sabha Om Birla attended three prior meetings: the sixth in Tokyo in November 2019, the seventh in Rome in October 2021, and the eighth in Jakarta on October 67, 2022. While the Congress has executed a well planned ideological stroke by fielding Vikram Mastal onscreen Hanuman against the BJPs one of strongest and the longest serving Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, it has attempted to corner the state home Minister, Narottam Mishra also through an the RSS old guard, Avdhesh Nayak. With fielding rebel Avdhesh Nayak, a strong Brahmin face with RSS background, against Narottam Mishra, who has established himself as firebrand Hindutva leader in Madhya Pradesh, the Congress has made the Datia Assembly seats electoral fight the most interesting. Nayak joined the Congress in August this year in style when his convoy of around 100 vehicles reached Bhopal. He joined the Congress in the presence of Kamal Nath and Digivijaya Singh. Advertisement Nayak contested the 2003 Assembly election from Datia on BJPs ticket but lost to Congress Ghanshyam Singh by 2,904 votes. The former RSS leader was then accused of fanning communal tension to consolidate majority votes. But the trick did not pay off. Importantly, the rift between the two BJP leaders Nayak and Mishra started in 2008 when Mishra moved to Datia after Gwaliors Dabra seat was reserved for the Scheduled Caste (SC). The rift between these two leaders continued to get larger behind the political curtain as Mishras supporters looked at Nayak with suspicious eyes and accused him of hatching a conspiracy to weaken the leader of his own party. The internal rift between these two leaders was visible in the public domain after Mishra managed to win a breathtaking contest in 2018 against Congress Rajendra Bhart with a margin of 2,600 votes. Later during a pomp and show after the election in 2018, Avdhesh Nayak, approached Mishra in the crowd and garlanded him. Mishra, on the contrary, humiliated Nayak, pulled the garland apart and moved away. Four and half years later, the two have become arch-rivals now. Both leaders belong to the Brahmin community and have established themselves on the same hard-Hindutva path. Sources told IANS that Mishra has been facing the resentment of the people because of his controversial statements, growing crime against women across the state, and huge corruption. Notably, in the past three and half years, whenever, CM Chouhan government faced wrath from the opposition in and outside the Assembly, Mishra stood as a shield. Sources said that Mishra was among those BJP leaders who were found performing very poorly in the partys survey before the ticket distribution; however, he is trying to convince people by highlighting developments of Datia in the past few years, especially medical college and airport. As per the reports, CM Chouhans government has invested huge amounts for the development of Datia. More importantly, Mishra has been a tough political rival of the opposition Congress as he had played a crucial role to topple the Kamal Nath-led Congress government in 2020. And therefore, in a bid to defeat Mishra in Datia, the Congress envisaged an aggressive campaign highlighting the rampant corruption, abuse of power and 18-years of misrule of the BJP government against Congress promises of farm loans and power bill waiver, LPG at Rs 500, Rs 1500 under Nari Samman and others. Surrounded by lush greenery, temples and ponds, the agrarian Datia was a part of the Bundelkhand region before Independence. In 1956, when Madhya Pradesh came into existence, Datia was merged with the Gwalior-Chambal region. Upper caste-dominated Datia Assembly seat has a total of 1,90,905 votes, with 1,02,632 male and 88,261 female voters, according to the election commissions 2018 data. Brahmans and Thakur account for 22 per cent of the total voters, while OBCs voters are estimated to be 50 per cent. Minority, SC and ST voters accounted for the remaining 28 per cent. In the 2018 Madhya Pradesh elections, Datia recorded a voter turnout of 76.77 per cent. In 2013, the turnout was 75.31 per cent, and in 2008, it was 75.39 per cent. A student of Delhis Jawahar Lal Nehru (JNU) University was killed while three others were injured in an accident inside the campus involving a two-wheeler, police said on Sunday. According to officials, in the early morning of Sunday, information regarding an accident in JNU was received from the All Indian Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) at Vasant Kunj police station (located in North Delhi). Upon receiving the information, the police reached the spot. It was learned that two men, including the deceased, were on a two-wheeler when they rammed into two pedestrians near the Godavari Bus Stop on the JNU campus, the police said. The student, identified as Anshu Kumar, was declared brought dead by the doctors at AIIMS. While, the deceaseds friend, Vishal Kumar, who was riding pillion, is undergoing treatment at the hospital. Two pedestrians, Sachin and Mrigank Yadav, were also injured in the accident and are also undergoing treatment, the police said. As per the police, the deceased, Anshu Kumar, was a first-year student of the Russian language at JNU. He was residing at Satluj hostel. Meanwhile, a case has been registered into the matter under the relevant sections of the law, said the police. Advertisement Further probe is underway. Renowned journalist and Sahitya Akademi award winner, Ghulam Nabi Khayal, breathed his last at the age of 85 at his residence in Rawalpora, Srinagar. His passing marks the end of a significant chapter in the world of Indian literature and journalism. Ghulam Nabi Khayal was not just an acclaimed journalist but also an Indian Kashmiri poet and essayist. His literary journey encompassed three languages: Kashmiri, Urdu, and English. Throughout his illustrious career, he penned an impressive collection of over 30 books, each contributing to the rich tapestry of literature in these languages. One of the defining moments in Khayals literary career was his recognition by the Sahitya Akademi, Indias premier literary institution. In 1975, he was honored with the Sahitya Akademi Award for his outstanding work, Gashik Minaar (Luminaries). This achievement signified his profound impact on the literary world, especially in his native Kashmir. Advertisement However, Khayals commitment to his principles and the socio-political climate of the time led him to make a significant statement. In a gesture of protest, he chose to return the Sahitya Akademi Award, becoming the first Kashmiri to do so in the valley. This courageous act spoke volumes about his unwavering commitment to the causes he believed in. Khayals professional journey was as diverse as his literary pursuits. He embarked on his career as a newsreader at Radio Kashmir during the 1950s. This set the stage for a lifelong association with journalism. Over the years, he lent his formidable talents to some of the most prominent news organizations in India and beyond. His bylines found their way into publications like the Illustrated Weekly of India, India Today, and The Associated Press. Additionally, his resonant voice and storytelling prowess were heard on various broadcast radio stations, including the renowned Voice of America. Among his many literary contributions, Khayals translation of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam into Kashmiri remains a noteworthy achievement. This translation brought the timeless verses of the Persian polymath to a new audience, bridging cultures and showcasing the universality of poetry. Ghulam Nabi Khayals life and work exemplify the power of the written and spoken word. His enduring legacy will continue to inspire future generations of writers, journalists, and poets, reminding them of the impact that literature and journalism can have in shaping the world and making a statement. Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly VD Satheesan, on Monday, alleged that that the state has become a haven for tax evaders and that the state is being ruled by looters. Speaking to media persons here, Satheesan said the ruling CPI-M and its leaders are looting the state in the garb of governance. The senior Congress leader said the Left Front Government was immersed in corruption. The government and its leaders are indulging in corruption wherever it is possible, he said. Advertisement They did it in the installation of AI cameras and KFON projects as well as the financial transactions of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayans daughters firm, Exalogic Solutions with a private mining company, which is referred in the Income Tax Interim Settlement Board (ITISB), he pointed out. He alleged that the recent provisional attachment order of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Karuvannur bank scam case indicated that the CPI-M and its leaders were behind the bank fraud. The Opposition leader further said that UDF volunteers and workers from across the state would block the state secretariat on Wednesday against the ruling LDF government which was immersed in corruption. The UDF will also hold a public trial of the government in all 140 assembly constituencies in the state, he added. Satheesan alleged that Chief Minister Pinaryi Vijayan had consulted a Mumbai-based public relations agency for an image makeover ahead of the 2021 Assembly elections with the aim to get a second term in Kerala. His allegation was in response to Pinarayi Vijayans criticism of political strategist Sunil Kanugolus presence at the KPCC political affairs committee meeting. PR professionals had studied his body language and trained him to improve his public speaking skills. This agency also prepared the content for CMs daily press conferences during the COVID-19 outbreak. CMs claim that people can feed monkeys and dogs amid the lockdown was actually provided by PR guys, said Satheesan. As regards political strategist Sunil Kanugolus presence at the KPCC political affairs committee meeting, Satheesan said, Pinarayi Vijayan should not teach Congress how conduct an election campaign. Sunil Kanugolu is a Congress member. Congress will sit him down and discuss. NewsClicks founder and editor in chief, Prabir Purkayastha, and its human resources head, Amit Chakraborty moved the Supreme Court on Monday challenging their arrest under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) over the alleged Chinese funding to promote anti-national propaganda. A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra asked senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for both Purkayastha and Chakraborty, to circulate the papers of the case and he would take a call on listing the matter. This is the NewsClick matter the journalists are in police custody a 70-year-old plus man is in custody, Sibal told the bench while making a mention for an urgent listing. Advertisement Purkayastha and Chakraborty have approached the Supreme Court challenging the Delhi high courts order upholding the trial court order remanding them to police custody. They have since been remanded to judicial custody. The two were arrested by the special cell of the Delhi Police on October 3 after it searched 30 locations connected with the digital news organization and its journalists in a case registered under the UAPA in the wake of a New York Times report alleging that NewsClick received money for pro-China propaganda. Both had moved the high court challenging their arrest as well as the 7-day police custody and sought immediate release as an interim relief. As per 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. The Delhi Police has also alleged that Purkayastha had conspired with a group Peoples Alliance for Democracy and Secularism to sabotage the electoral process during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Rejecting their plea, the high court had, on October 13, 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 favourable orders. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah greeted the National Security Guards (NSG), popularly known as the Black Cats, on their raising day on Monday. On the occasion, Narendra Modi lauded all the brave personnel of the force who, in the course of their duty, displayed unwavering professionalism, a deep love for our nation and indomitable courage. In a X post, he wrote, The @nsgblackcats have firmly established themselves as a distinguished force, safeguarding us from various threats. Lauding the contribution of the Black Cats to the nations security, Amit Shah said the said true to their motto, the force has evolved into Sarvatra Sarvotta Suraksha (omnipresent all-powerful protection), and built themselves as the nations bulwark against all big threats. Advertisement The NSG, or the Black Cats, was founded on October 16, in the year 1984, as a counter-terrorism unit of the country falling under the Ministry of Home Affairs. On the occasion, the home minister commemorated all those fallen soldiers of the elite contingency deployment force, who made supreme sacrifices in the line of duty upholding professionalism and love for the country. Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, Shah said, My heartfelt congratulations to the NSG personnel on their raising day. Standing true to its motto Sarvatra Sarvotta Suraksha, the @nsgblackcats has built itself as the nations bulwark of security against perils. On this auspicious occasion, commemorate all the soldiers of the force who made supreme sacrifices in the line of duty proving their immaculate professionalism, love for the motherland and steely courage with their lives. Director General of the NSG MA Ganapathy also greeted his forces soldiers on the 39th Raising Day, calling upon them to renew their dedication to nations service on the occasion. Ganapathy had recently said the NSG was focussing on building better coordination among all the Special Forces of the state and anti-terror agencies in view of tackling unprecedented situations like what happened. The federal contingency agency force chief said there were lessons to be learned from extreme terror situations and the need is to have a framework in place with regard to crisis management response at the national level and highly skilled personnel who are at the peak of their skill at the same time, along with technology. We should always remember this lesson that ultimately its the man and the weapon, which makes the final difference, the DG had said. He had also said that the NSG, in coordination with state special forces, will work on preparedness for scenarios that can have multiple attacks at multiple places at the same time. The NSG had organised a two-day seminar on October 12, 13 titled Sub-conventional threats: challenges and prospects for definite and enduring solutions, that took place in Delhi at the DRDO Bhawan, aimed at building better coordination among anti- terror agencies and state special forces to upgrade the anti- terror approach and actions during unprecedented scenarios. The seminar is being organised as part of the NSG raising day events and will conclude on Friday, and is taking place at DRDO Bhawan in Delhi. The NSG played a vital role in several anti-terror operations, including the 2002 Akshardham temple attack in Gujarat, the 26/11 Mumbai attack, and the Pathankot Airbase attack in 2016, among others. Martyrs like Lt Col Niranjan EK, Major Sandeep Unnikirushnan, Suresh Chand Yadav and many others were the NSG commandoes who sacrificed their lives in the fight against terror displaying great valour. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday tore into the BJP-led Centre for fostering violence across the country and accused it of dividing Manipur into two states. Gandhi, who is on a two-day visit to poll-bound Mizoram, also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was more concerned about the events in Israel than the turmoil in Manipur. Addressing a rally, he accused the BJP of disrupting the concept of Manipur and transforming it from a single state into two separate entities. Advertisement Taking a swipe at Modi for prioritising international affairs over domestic troubles, the Gandhi scion said, They (BJP) target various communities and religions, promoting violence within the country. This approach exudes arrogance and a lack of understanding, which goes against the very essence of India. We believe in an India that respects and protects everyone. When I visited Manipur months ago, I was shocked by what I witnessed. The BJP has dismantled the essence of Manipur, turning it into two separate states. Lives have been lost, women have been subjected to assault, and innocent children have been killed. However, the prime minister appears uninterested in visiting the state. It amazes me that his government is more concerned about events in Israel than the turmoil in Manipur, he said. Gandhi also emphasized his long-standing connection with the people of Mizoram, recalling the transformation brought about by a peace accord that marked the transition from a violent Mizoram to a peaceful one. He noted his extensive travels across India, advocating for the idea of Bharat Jodo, a united India that is tolerant, respectful of diverse ideas and religions, and cherishes its unity. He warned that this idea of India is under threat from the BJP. Gandhi also hit out at the Union government for neglecting the concerns of minority groups, tribal communities and dalits, saying the countrys leaders are engaging in divisive politics instead of addressing pressing issues. He also talked about the upcoming assembly elections in various states and the BJPs performance over the past five years. He criticised the government for failing to address the growing drug problem among the youth and accused the BJP of attacking the culture, traditions and religions of the north east region. The former Congress chief also pointed out the lack of job creation, deteriorating infrastructure, and the adverse economic impact of the BJP and its ally Mizo National Front (MNF) on the state of Mizoram. Elections to the 40-member Mizoram Assembly will be held on November 7 and counting of votes will take place on December 3. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday arrived on a two-day visit to Mizoram on Monday. Upon his arrival, Rahul Gandhi also took part in a Padyatra from Chanmari (Aizawl) to Raj Bhawan. Speaking to ANI, Congress spokesperson Mathew Antony said, It was a long-awaited visit of Rahul Gandhi to Mizoram. Mizoram has fond memories of the visit of his father Rajiv Gandhi in 1986. People are sharing their excitement over his (Rahul Gandhi) visit. Another significance of this visit is he is carrying out a Bharat Jodo Yatra at a time when there is polarization and the country is divided on ethnic issues. On the election preparations for the upcoming Assembly polls in Mizoram, Antony said, We are hopeful that we will form the government. Tomorrow he (Rahul Gandhi) will meet the party leaders and will address a public gathering. The announcement for the party candidates can be expected anytime from now. On Congress leader Rahul Gandhis Mizoram visit, Mizoram CM Zoramthanga said, Rahul Gandhis visit may be good for the partys (Congress) people. But that will not have much influence on Mizorams population as a whole. So, I dont think it will have much meaning. In a 40-member Mizoram assembly, Mizo National Front bagged 26 seats with a vote share of 37.8 per cent to emerge victorious in the 2018 polls. Congress secured five seats and BJP won one seat. Advertisement 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. The elections to five states are crucial as they are being held months before the Lok Sabha elections in April-May next year. Former BJP national president and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday promised to make a corruption free Bengal. Shah, who inaugurated the Ram temple-themed Durga Pandal at Santosh Mitra Square in north Kolkata, said that the change will come in Bengal and all efforts will be made to bring change here. I want to congratulate the people of North Kolkata that they have inaugurated the Ram temple before the unveiling of actual construction of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya, he said. Advertisement Shah said: I have come to Bengal today only to seek the blessings of Mother Durga. These nine days are a significant celebration for West Bengal, even bigger than Diwali. Today, Amit Shah does not wish to make any political comments during the inauguration of Durga Puja. I will come to West Bengal, and I will talk about politics too, he said. KYODO NEWS - Oct 14, 2023 - 23:30 | All, World, Japan Three Air Self-Defense Force airplanes left Japan for Djibouti in East Africa on Saturday to prepare for the possible airlifting of Japanese nationals from Israel, where tensions are rising following Palestinian militant group Hamas's massive attack a week ago. The ASDF's KC767 refueling and transport airplane departed from Komaki Air Base in central Japan and two C2 transport planes left Miho Air Base in the western prefecture of Tottori to stand by at an SDF base in Djibouti. A number of countries have launched operations to evacuate their citizens from Israel, with the violence already claiming thousands of Israeli and Palestinian lives since Hamas conducted its surprise assault Oct. 7. The government plans to deploy the SDF plane if it becomes difficult to evacuate Japanese citizens by a chartered commercial flight from Tel Aviv to Dubai. Tokyo announced the evacuation operation Friday, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida telling reporters that his government would "take all possible measures to ensure the safety of Japanese nationals." Defense Minister Minoru Kihara has indicated that the government might also try to evacuate Japanese citizens by land. Separately, the South Korean government said Saturday it airlifted 163 South Koreans along with 51 Japanese and six Singaporean citizens from Israel using a military transport aircraft. The transport plane landed at an air base outside Seoul later in the day. In 2011, the SDF set up a base in Djibouti, a tiny country in the Horn of Africa about 2,000 kilometers south of Israel, as part of an anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia. Japan used the same SDF foothold in Djibouti when it carried out an evacuation operation for nationals in nearby Sudan in April, where fighting between the Sudanese military and a paramilitary force had escalated. Related coverage: Japan to send SDF plane to Djibouti to evacuate citizens in Israel G7 "unequivocally" condemns Hamas attack on Israel as markets wary Japan, Thailand foreign ministers vow to boost economic ties The increase in the number of senior citizens in India has been rapid ~ 24.7 million in 1961; 104 million in 2011; 138 million (preliminary estimate) in 2021 and a projected 194 million in 2031, with the percentage share in total population in these years being 5.6, 8.6, 10.1 and 13.1 respectively ~ whereas the governments support for the old age social security has not been moving in tandem; rather, it is tangibly on the wane. The new pension scheme for its employees, inferior to the existing one, is a case in point. More disturbing is the denial, due to some flimsy objections, of the higher pension right to a large number of employees already covered under the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) scheme, not to speak of the total exclusion of a category of employees recruited after 1 September 2014. The grounds, as we will see later in this article, though technically accurate and perfectly legal are nothing but the devices to deny the higher pension, an afterthought of the government to withdraw what was introduced with so much enthusiasm in 1996. Advertisement A quick review of the scheme first. The EPF, the Old Age Social Security Scheme for providing provident fund to workers in factories and other establishments, was introduced in 1951 through a presidential ordinance, which itself speaks of the urgency the government of the day felt for workers welfare; the ordinance was converted later into a central enactment in 1952. The employees pension scheme was added in 1995 with a modest pension benefit engineered through a ceiling on pensionable salary. It was Rs. 5,000 when the pension scheme came into force and remained so till 2001 when it was hiked to Rs. 6,500 and to Rs 15,000 from September 2014. These were the sums on which both the PF contributions were made and the pension calculated. For instance, a person who has completed the full pensionable service, say, 35 years, and had paid during the service time the requisite contribution together with her or his employer on the statutory wages of Rs. 5,000 would get the monthly pension of Rs 2,500 as per the pension formula: Pension = Pensionable Service X Pensionable Salary/70. The pensionable salary means the salary on which the contribution is paid which is the statutory ceiling of Rs. 5,000 or less if the actual salary is lower than the ceiling. The subsequent increased ceilings of Rs. 6,500 and Rs 15,000 entail a maximum pension of half these sums. This, the ceiling, is exactly the reason why those with high salaries, maybe more than a lakh rupees get paltry pension sums like Rs 1,500 a month. Since the pension sum was too insignificant, disproportionately lower than the last drawn salary, the government brought a change effective 16 March 1996 allowing the EPF contribution on the actual salary above the ceiling like Rs.5,000, etc. which facilitated the higher pension proportionate to actual salary instead of ceiling amounts. In response, a large number of employees and employers made higher contributions to receive higher pension. But that was denied when it became due on the ground that they did not file their options for a higher pension although they had paid extra money. This led to the employees waging a long legal battle in different high courts, Delhi, Rajasthan Kerala, etc. and finally in the Supreme Court. The threejudge bench of the Supreme Court gave its judgment on 4 November 2022. Unfortunately, the ordeal of the senior citizens continues with the impractical eligibility conditions of the government. Paying the higher contributions alone is not sufficient for the EPF Organization but it should be backed by the exercise of the option for higher pension within the timeframe and style it wanted; the very payment of higher sums itself is not accepted as proof enough for the employees intent for higher benefits including pension accruing out of it. Not only that, there are several other peculiar norms. Just one example in a particular situation on options: the direction implies like the authorities saying if you did not exercise the option, you are not eligible. If you have exercised it and I rejected it then you are eligible, but, it is your responsibility to show the proof of your application and my rejection; the wrongful rejection and the wrong interpretation is my exclusive right, not yours. While the Supreme Court gave its verdict on 4 November 2022 the process is continuing and the EPFO has recently extended time till the year-end for employers to submit their part of the information on the higher pension applications; some 17.5 lac persons applied. All this suggests that the government has found the higher pension scheme not feasible and wants to minimize the burden to the extent possible. In fact, the higher pension scheme has been totally withdrawn for post-September 2014 recruits. The non-feasibility argument of the government is based on its actuarial evaluations. But the available data and the need for old-age security and common sense suggest that it is not at all difficult to implement since the pension is contribution-based and higher pension is higher contributionbased. The latest available EPFO data shows that the accumulation in one year of 2021-22 pension corpus is Rs. 57,526.18 crore and interest in one year on the accumulated corpus is Rs. 50,613.95 crore. Add to this, the unclaimed funds, which it calls the deposits in inoperative accounts, is more than Rs.30,000 crore. The accumulated corpus is Rs.689,210.72 core. Against this heavy amount, pension payment in one year to 72.74 lac pensioners is just Rs.12,933.12 crore. Together with withdrawal benefit of another Rs. 7,989.01 crore the total payout in a year is Rs. 20,922.14 crore, that is, 19.34 per cent of the annual receipts into the pension fund. So, there will never be a cash problem for allowing higher pension because more funds will be accruing year after year, much more than the need; the EPFO already has a member base of 7.74 crore and the number will keep increasing in the expanding economy. Even assuming, though most unlikely, that some shortfall ever occurs, it will be the duty of the government to come to the aid of the EPFO to meet its social obligation. So, the dearth is not of money but of the will; a decent EPF Pension equal to half the last drawn salary can be given to all the members, to ensure their dignified life after retirement. (The writer is a development economist and commentator on economic and social affairs) In a world marked by ever-evolving geopolitical dynamics, the recent report from the US Strategic Posture Commission urging a transformation in Americas military strategy presents a sobering call for action. While the notion of preparing for simultaneous wars with both Russia and China may seem daunting, the need for such a shift is not merely an exercise in preparedness but a reflection of the new realities that the United States faces on the global stage. The reports central argument, calling for the expansion of conventional forces, strengthening alliances and enhancing the nuclear weapons modernisation programme, demonstrates the multifaceted nature of contemporary security challenges. It is a wake-up call that emphasises the vital importance of adaptability and foresight in safeguarding the USAs interests. At its core, the report suggests a transition from the existing strategy of win one conflict while deterring another to one that envisions readiness to deter and defeat both adversaries simultaneously. This is not merely an academic exercise but a response to the dynamic geopolitical landscape, where China and Russia have increasingly shown assertiveness on the global stage. The concern about potential coordination between China and Russia in their nuclear capabilities underscores the urgency for this shift. While the report cannot confirm such coordination, its apprehension is legitimate. In a world where global power dynamics are shifting, the prospect of these two major powers aligning even partially should not be dismissed lightly. Advertisement What is evident is that the report recognizes the challenges this proposed strategy poses in terms of budget constraints. The price tag attached to such a transformation is indeed substantial and the US Congress willingness to allocate the necessary funds is uncertain. However, in the face of these challenges, the report argues that America must be willing to make the investments. It is a testament to their belief in the paramount importance of safeguarding US national security interests. This stance contrasts with President Joe Bidens position that the current US nuclear arsenal is sufficient to deter both Russia and China. This divergence in views underscores the complexity of the issue. It prompts us to question whether the existing nuclear arsenal is genuinely adequate to address the evolving threat landscape. It also raises the crucial issue of credibility would the mere possession of nuclear capabilities suffice as a deterrent against increasingly assertive global powers? The report prepared by a panel, comprising six Democrats and six Republicans, demonstrates that this issue transcends party lines. The fact that this bipartisan group could reach a consensus on the necessity of such a strategy shift underscores its significance. It is a rare instance of unity in an era of partisan division. The report emphasises that the Chinese and Russian threats will become acute in the 2027-2035 timeframe, necessitating immediate decisions and investments. It is a call to invest in the future of Americas security as a safeguard for generations to come. The unanswered question, of course, is whether America should invest equally in peace. Kolkata and its suburbs are now witnessing a change. There is a great demand for women priests to perform community Durga Pujas and the demand is only increasing. The women priests explain that this demand is for the unique style they bring into the proceedings. The rise in demand has also led to the growth in numbers of women priests. One of the foremost women priests in the city, Dr Nandini Bhowmick says she has expanded her group Shubhamastu to sixteen from the initial of just four. One of her students and group member Lily Biswas (Kanyakumari) will be travelling to Netherlands to officiate in a community Durga Puja there. Someone, who taught Sanskrit at Hiralal Mazumdar Memorial College for Women, Dakshineswar and at Jadavpur University as guest lecturer for many years, Dr Bhowmick gave up teaching to take up her calling as a priestess. She says she took leave from teaching to devote more time to the profession, listening to her inner urge. Our culture, religious heritage is so enriching. Yes there was a dark phase, when there was no women education, child marriages were a reality. During the period a lot of restrictions were imposed on women but we need to come out of it in this time and age. It is the only way we can bring religion closer to people. Advertisement This determination drew me more into this profession, she said, adding, I study the Vedas, Puranas and Upanishads just as others read literature. I have a nat- ural affinity for them. So, I have learnt a lot. It has taken me almost 10 years to bridge the gap. I urge people to ask priests questions and clear their doubts. She offers reg- ular orientation courses and refresher courses for her group members and tries to do puja her own way rather than follow the age-old traditions. She says during Gita path (reading from Bhagavad Gita) and Chandi path, she explains it to her audience for people to understand. Zinia Sen, scriptwriter, who scripted for the film Brahma Janen Gopon Kommoti, where she highlighted the life of a woman priest, the increase in popularity in women priests is, Better late than never. Another priest, Lily Biswas (Kanyakumari), who is part of the women brigade officiating at various occasions like marriages, shraddh and thread ceremony, among others is much in demand. A teacher in philosophy at Kalyani University, she is pursuing her post doctoral studies at RKM, Gol Park. She will be travelling to Almere in the Netherlands for the Durga Puja ceremony there. People welcome me and now there is a positive mindset in men, she said. But, the gender bias still remains in society and she senses it when male professional priests adversely comment on social media. During my Sanskrit Sahitya Parishat training, where I was the only female trainee in my batch, I was told by my teachers that it is good that you learn the mantras and the rituals but to keep it restricted within the family, said Kanyakumari. Many are not ready to accept that a woman from a non-brahmin caste can take up this profession. But Im no less qualified than them in dealing with the profession. Then why cant I be accepted as performing jajan, jajan, adhyapana and sadhyay, the four main responsibilities of a priest? she questions. Ahead of a full-scale ground assault in Gaza, Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli has said that while Hamas has zero human values, Israel may still show mercy to the Palestinian militants if they laid down their weapons and surrendered. Speaking to news agency ANI, Chikli said, My recommendation for Hamas militants lay down your weapon, raise up your hands, come from your tunnel and maybe there will be mercy. The big statement from the Israeli minister comes amid the countrys plans to launch a coordinated ground, air and sea assault on Hamas militants in Gaza. Israel has asked nearly 1.1 million Gazans to flee their north and move to areas south of the Wadi Gaza for their safety. Advertisement The Israeli minister, however, noted that Hamas has no mercy or human values and they dont even expect the Gaza-based militant outfit to show any of that. As far as I know, we have more than 120 confirmed hostages. We will make every effort to bring them back home. It wont be simple. As you know, Hamas has absolutely zero mercy, zero human valuesSo, we have no expectations from Hamas. Still, we believe we might, with Intelligence, with efforts, maybe we can rescue some of them, he added. Earlier today, the Israeli military has confirmed 199 hostages are being held by Hamas militants in Gaza. The military said that while they are trying to pinpoint their exact location, they do have some idea about their whereabouts. The minister further thanked the government and people of India for their support to Israel in its war against Hamas militants. I want to tell the people of India we share the same values, we cherish life, we cherish goodWe believe in human values. I want to thank the leadership of India, the people of India for being with us shoulder-to-shoulder in this fight against brutal jihadist barbaric Islamist. This is not just our war, this is your war too and we will win it together with your support, he added. Israel has declared a war against Hamas and vowed to wipe out it off the face of the earth following their brutal invasion to Israel on October 7. The militants entered Israel by land, air and sea and rampaged through Israeli communities, killing more than 1,300 people, most civilians. As millions of Gazans face unprecedented humanitarian crisis due to war, Hamas militants have allegedly stolen fuel and medical equipment kept for them from a UN compound in the war-torn Gaza City. According to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA, people claiming to be from the Health Ministry of the de facto authorities in Gaza stole fuel and medical equipment kept strictly for humanitarian purposes. Hamas is the de facto authority in Gaza, controlling the Strip since 2009. Advertisement The incident took place on Sunday in a UNRWA compound. The cameras of the UN centre were not working after sustaining damages in the Israeli air strikes. The UN has condemned the incident, saying the fuel and medical equipment were kept strictly for humanitarian purposes. UNRWA received reports that yesterday a group of people with trucks purporting to be from the Ministry of Health of the de facto authorities in Gaza, removed fuel and medical equipment from the Agencys compound in the Gaza City, the UN said. The Gaza Strip, with a population of more than two million, has been facing a severe power, fuel, water and food shortage due to an Israeli siege. Israel declared a complete siege, cutting off water, fuel, food and electricity supply to the blockaded region in response to a deadly October 7 attack by Hamas militants in which more than 1,300 Israelis were brutally murdered. The Jewish State has declared a war against Hamas and has been carrying out air strikes since October 7. Israeli military has also announced to carry out a coordinated ground, air and sea assault to root out Hamas. They have ordered nearly 1.1 million Gazans to leave north and move to safer areas south of the Wadi Gaza. While the water supply to southern parts of the Strip has been allowed, siege remain on fuel and power supply. Israel has said that the supply will resume only after Hamas releases nearly 200 hostages it has been holding since the their brutal attack. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief has made a resolute declaration, stating that the army is preparing to enter the Gaza Strip with the intent of eradicating the Hamas terror group. As the Israel-Hamas conflict entered its tenth day on Monday, tensions continued to mount, and the situation is anticipated to escalate further. The Israeli Army has pledged to take decisive action against Hamas, following the groups violent incursions into Israeli border towns, which have sent shockwaves worldwide. In response to these provocations, the Israeli troops are gearing up to move into the Gaza Strip to confront the Hamas militants responsible for these attacks. Simultaneously, the international community, including high-ranking U.S. officials, has expressed growing concerns about the potential for an escalation in the conflict. The United States has dispatched warships to the region, further underscoring the seriousness of the situation. The proximity of the conflict to Lebanon has also sparked increased clashes. Advertisement Tragically, the ongoing hostilities have resulted in a dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Reportedly, Israeli airstrikes have left more than 1,000 Palestinians unaccounted for beneath the rubble of decimated buildings. Rescue efforts are underway, but the scale of the devastation is immense. U.S. President Joe Biden has issued a stern warning to Israel against any attempt to occupy Gaza, emphasizing that such a move would be a big mistake. President Biden has expressed his support for the establishment of a humanitarian corridor to provide aid and assistance to the beleaguered population. Its important to note that the Gaza Strip is already considered part of the occupied Palestinian territory, with Israel exercising effective control over the enclave and imposing restrictions on the rights of its residents. This context adds to the complexity of the situation. Meanwhile, the United Nations has reported that more than 400,000 Palestinians have sought refuge in its schools and other facilities across the Gaza Strip. The situation on the ground is dire, with vulnerable groups such as the elderly, children, pregnant women, and people with disabilities enduring significant hardships. The UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has condemned the conditions, describing them as a total disgrace. The Israel Defense Forces and Defense Ministry have announced plans to evacuate civilians living in towns located within a two-kilometer radius from the Lebanese border. This decision follows a series of rocket and missile attacks by Hezbollah and allied Palestinian factions in recent days, posing additional challenges and threats to the region. The situation remains highly fluid and fraught with complexities, and there is a pressing need for diplomatic efforts to halt the violence and address the humanitarian crisis. As the conflict rages on, the world watches with deep concern, hoping for a peaceful resolution to this long-standing and deeply painful conflict. In a deeply distressing incident, a 71-year-old man from Illinois stands accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old boy and seriously wounding a 32-year-old woman in what has now been charged as a hate crime. Authorities believe the victims were singled out due to their Islamic faith, marking a disturbing manifestation of intolerance and violence that has recently gripped some parts of the United States. This heinous act, occurring in the Chicago area, shocked the local community and law enforcement. The tragic events unfolded in an unincorporated area of Plainfield Township, situated approximately 40 miles southwest of Chicago. Police responded to a distressing 911 call, made by the 32-year-old woman, who reported that her landlord had violently attacked her with a knife. The attack was unrelenting, but the woman displayed immense bravery and resilience. She managed to escape her assailant and seek refuge in a bathroom, where she continued to fend off the attacker until help arrived. Her strength and courage played a crucial role in her survival. Advertisement Tragically, the young 6-year-old boy was not as fortunate. He sustained a horrific number of stab wounds, and despite swift medical intervention, he succumbed to his injuries. The autopsy revealed the extent of the brutality, with the child experiencing multiple stabs. Motive of the Illionois man: What makes this incident even more distressing is the alleged motive behind the attack. Law enforcement authorities have stated that the suspect specifically targeted the victims because of their Islamic faith. This act of violence was a response to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in the Middle East. It highlights the deeply concerning rise in hate crimes and bias-driven violence that has recently gripped the United States. In response to the growing threat of hate-motivated violence, police in various U.S. cities, as well as federal authorities, have been on high alert. Organizations like the FBI, along with Jewish and Muslim groups, have reported a significant surge in hateful rhetoric and threats, with antisemitic and Islamophobic sentiments on the rise. The Illinois man, Joseph M. Czuba of Plainfield, now faces a slew of charges, including first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crimes, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. He is currently in custody, awaiting a court appearance. (With input from agencies) Israel-Hamas war latest update: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Iran and Lebanon-based Hezbollah not to test Israel even as they threatened expansion of war fronts. In his address to the Knesset, which was disrupted after rockets were fired at Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has started learning from the failures that led to Hamass deadly infiltration on October 7. The reasons for the disaster that occurred will be investigated and we have started drawing conclusions, he said. Advertisement During his address, Netanyahu issued a stern warning to Lebanons Hezbollah terror group and Iran, saying, Dont test us, you will be severely harmed. Even with the passage of 75 years, the war of independence hasnt ended, the prime minister told the Knesset. We will win, because our existence here is at stake, he said and likened Hamas to Nazi Germany. He further termed the ongoing conflict, a war between forces of light and forces of darkness, between humanity and animalism. Iran threatens to open more war front Meanwhile, Iran has once again threatened Israel to open more war fronts if it didnt stop its attacks on Gaza. Israel has declared a war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip in response to the October 7 terrorist attack, in which more than 1,300 people were killed. Iran cannot stand idly by and watch this situation unfold, Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said, adding that every hour, the possibility of a new war front opening is increasing. The Gaza-based Islamic militant group Hamas is funded by Iran. The country also provides weapons and training to Hamas militants. Similarly, Lebanon-based Hezbollah also has Iranian backing. Israel-Hamas war latest update: The Israel Defence Forces or IDF Monday said that 199 people are being held hostage by Hamas militants in Gaza, revising up the earlier number of 155 it gave yesterday. Addressing a media briefing, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said that the Israeli military has updated the families of all hostages. Hamas militants had killed more than 1,300 people, including women, children and foreign nationals and kidnapped 199 people during their brutal invasion in Israel on October 7. Hamas has claimed that 22 hostages have been killed in Israeli air strikes since their brutal attack. However, Israel has rejected their earlier claim and said that it has its own information. Advertisement Hagari said the IDF also has some information about the location where hostages are being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and that they are managing their attacks accordingly. We are making valiant efforts to try to understand where the hostages are in Gaza, and we have such information, the IDF spokesperson said in response to a question at a press conference. We will not carry out an attack that would endanger our people, he added. Earlier on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met family members of the hostages and assured them that efforts are being made to ensure their safe evacuation. Meanwhile, the Israeli Health Ministry has informed that as of October 16, at least 351 wounded people are undergoing treatment in several hospitals. Of them, 89 are said to be in serious condition, 181 are in moderate condition, and 81 are in soon to be discharged. A total of 3,968 sustained injuries during the deadly October 7 terrorist attacks. Israel has denied reports that it has agreed to halt fire in southern Gaza to allow humanitarian aid and allow evacuation of foreign nationals from several countries through Rafah border crossing in the Gaza Strip. At the moment there is no ceasefire for humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip and the exit of foreigners, a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyaus office said. Earlier, reports citing Egyptian officials claimed that Israel has agreed to halt fire in the Gaza Strip from 9 am in order to allow foreign nationals to exit Gaza and humanitarian aid to enter the blockaded territory through the Rafah border crossing. Advertisement Hundreds of foreign passport holders have gathered near the Rafah crossing on Egypt-Gaza border in hopes of crossing over to Egypt amid Israeli bombardment of Hamas targets in the Strip. Dozens of trucks carrying humanitarian aid for Gazans have been waiting on the Egyptian side of the border for the last two days. Earlier last week, the United States asked American passport holders to reach near the Rafah crossing, saying the border may be opened soon for a brief period to facilitate their evacuation. Israel has asked nearly 1.1 million Gazans to flee their home in the north and move to a safer area south of the Wadi Gaza ahead of their planned ground assault. According to reports, more than one million people have been displaced due to Israels war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli counter offensive came in response to a brutal October 7 terrorist attack in the country. Tens of hundreds militants from Hamass military wing al-Qassam Brigades invaded Gaza and rampaged through Israeli towns near the Gaza border, killing more than 1,300 people, mostly civilian children, women and elderly. The militants also kidnapped more than 155 people, including some foreign nationals and took them to Gaza. In response, Israel declared a war against Hamas and launched unprecedented air strikes on militant hideouts in the Gaza Strip. Since October 7, more than 2,650 Palestinians have died in Israeli air strikes. KYODO NEWS - Oct 16, 2023 - 18:50 | All An Air Self-Defense Force airplane arrived in Djibouti in East Africa on Monday, the Japanese Defense Ministry said, in preparation for the possible evacuation of Japanese citizens from Israel amid the country's war with Palestinian militant group Hamas. The C-2 transport aircraft, which left Japan on Saturday morning along with another C-2 and a KC-767 refueling and transport plane, will remain on standby at a Japan Self-Defense Forces base in Djibouti, around 2,000 kilometers south of Israel. The other two planes will arrive at the base at a later date, ministry officials said without elaborating. With the military conflict in the Middle East escalating after a surprise attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 triggered large-scale Israeli retaliation, many nations have been rushing to evacuate their nationals in the area. On Saturday, 51 Japanese were evacuated from Israel on a South Korean military transport aircraft to an air base outside Seoul, and eight more were evacuated on a Tokyo-chartered flight from Tel Aviv to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday. To conduct an evacuation operation using SDF airplanes, the SDF has formed a joint task force consisting of about 420 personnel from its air and ground forces. Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa has said some 1,000 Japanese remained in Israel as of Saturday. Related coverage: 8 Japanese evacuated from Israel on government-chartered flight to Dubai Japan SDF planes head for Djibouti to prep for Israel evacuation Japan to send SDF plane to Djibouti to evacuate citizens in Israel Israel-Hamas war latest update: As Israel Defence Forces or IDF gears up to launch a full-scale ground, air and sea assault on Gaza to wipe out Hamas and capture the blockaded territory north of its border, US President Jo Biden has issued a warning for the Jewish state. In an interview to CBS News, Biden said that while Hamas should be destroyed, Israels move to capture Gaza would be a big mistake. He said that instead of Israel capturing it, Gaza should be governed by a Palestinian authority. I think itd be a big mistake, Biden said. Look, what happened in Gaza, in my view, is Hamas and the extreme elements of Hamas dont represent all the Palestinian people. Advertisement Bidens warning comes a day after the US dispatched its second aircraft carrier near Israel in order to support the country in case the war against Gaza spirals into a much bigger regional conflict. Iran has already warned Israel its hands are on trigger and a similar warning was issued by Lebanon-based Hezbollah. A US aircraft carrier and few naval ships are already in the Mediterranean near Israel to to keep a check on third-party involvement. Earlier last week, Israel asked nearly 1.1 million Gazans to flee their home in the north and move to a safer area south of the Wadi Gaza. According to reports, more than one million people have been displaced due to Israels war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli counter offensive came in response to a brutal October 7 terrorist attack in the country. Tens of hundreds militants from Hamass military wing al-Qassam Brigades invaded Gaza and rampaged through Israeli towns near the Gaza border, killing more than 1,300 people, mostly civilian children, women and elderly. The militants also kidnapped more than 155 people, including some foreign nationals and took them to Gaza. In response, Israel declared a war against Hamas and launched unprecedented air strikes on militant hideouts in the Gaza Strip. Since October 7, more than 2,650 Palestinians have died in Israeli air strikes. Saint-Laurent, CA (H4T1V6) Today Cloudy with rain ending for the afternoon. High 53F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Cloudy with periods of light rain. Low 46F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%. 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. By Yuki Yamaguchi, KYODO NEWS - Oct 16, 2023 - 19:37 | All, Japan Artificial intelligence and virtual reality took center stage as Japan's major annual electronics show opened to the media on Monday, with NEC Corp., Sony Group Corp. and other major tech companies demonstrating their latest technologies. A total of 684 companies and organizations, up from 562 last year, are participating in this year's Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies, scheduled to open to the public from Tuesday through Friday in the Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba, near Tokyo. It is the first CEATEC to be held after coronavirus restrictions were fully removed. The event was held partly or fully online for the past three years. Overseas participants have increased to 195 from 146 last year, with a pavilion to showcase Ukrainian companies set up for the first time. NEC Corp. is displaying generative AI software, which it says has a high ability to cope with the Japanese language and is more suited for businesses that deal with confidential information compared with its rival services overseas. "Our product is easy to install on customers' servers directly, unlike other services that rely on cloud computing," said Kazuya Ishikawa, evangelist at NEC Generative AI Hub, adding, "That makes it easy for our customers to handle sensitive information on our AI." Sony Group Corp. is exhibiting a series of products that are designed to be easily handled by people with or without disabilities through virtual reality technologies. One of the exhibits is a game utilizing cross-reality, or XR, technology that allows visually impaired people to play virtual catch with smartphones that emit the sound of an imaginary flying ball. Players throw and catch the virtual ball, taking their cue from the sound of the ball that changes its tone depending on the imagined distance from the players, Sony said. "This can be also played between people who are physically apart utilizing the combination of real and virtual technologies. It is very popular at nursing homes," a Sony official said. The maker of PlayStation 5 also unveiled a new controller of the console specifically designed for disabled people while also showcasing a smart monocle for people with impaired hearing that displays what other people have said in letters in real time. Mitsubishi Electric Corp. showcased a system where users can move small robots through a smartphone interface. The system can be used to allow robots to do hazardous tasks in place of humans, among other duties, it said. The company is also exhibiting a system that makes factory work more enjoyable using augmented reality technology. Specially designed glasses allow the user to see virtual animals that assist them with certain tasks, it said. "We hope this technology helps companies attract more workers by making factory work more fun at a time when a labor shortage has become such an imminent issue," a company official said. The Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association, the event's organizer, said it expects more than 100,000 people, up 20,000 from last year, to visit the venue over the four days. Related coverage: Japan chipmaker Kioxia, Western Digital close to merger: sources 2 tril. yen Toshiba takeover bid succeeds, Japan investor group says Sony raises FY 2023 net profit view amid robust PlayStation growth Known for his bureaucratic prowess, pragmatic approach and tireless work, former IAS officer, Radheshyam Mopalwar has emerged as a solution man in the War Room of Maharashtra government, with his pivotal contributions in completion of various infrastructure projects being lauded across the administration and political circles in the state. Whenever there is a War Room meeting to hold a discussion on one project or the other, the parley is incomplete without Mopalwar being heard out. Every single officer and minister is said to be keen to have Mopalwars perspective on the project. When he speaks during the meeting on any project, Mopalwar demonstrates tremendous command over the nitty-gritty of every single project that is taken up for discussion. Mopalwar, who is a retired IAS officer of 1995 batch, was given the charge of War Room Infrastructure Projects in capacity as the units Director General in August 2022. He was reappointed as MSRDC VC and MD in 2018 after his retirement. When the War Room team approaches Radheshyam Mopalwar with one issue or the other, it remains confident that a simple solution to the complex problem will definitely come up. Mopalwar explains the ideas and solutions in such a simple way that anyone with relatively little command of the subject can understand it. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde recently held a meeting in the War Room to review infrastructure projects that are either underway or are waiting to be started. Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis was also present in the meeting. Shinde issued a host of directions to the administrative officials who are members of the war room on completing various on-going projects. He also asked the War Room officials to work out solutions to various issues that are blocking the projects. While seeking solutions to the deadlocked projects, the CM in fact wanted Mopalwar to intervene effectively. The veteran bureaucrat reportedly shared his views and perspective to the satisfaction of the chief minister. He suggested several ways to give a speedy push to the pending projects. It may be noted that the war room, with secretaries from several departments as members, has been set up by Shinde to regularly monitor the progress of infrastructure projects in the state. The role of Mopalwar is quite significant and crucial in the entire operation of the war room, thanks to his rich background in execution of infrastructure projects over the past several years. Mopalwars perspective on what the action plan should be for the Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link, the Bullet Train, redevelopment of BDD chawls, Dharavi redevelopment, Bandra colony re-development and the project of Pune international airport were appreciated. The veteran bureaucrat is said to have shared his views on how to deal with Mumbais traffic congestion issues. Mopalwar suggested several solutions to the problems facing the projects such as connecting the Western Expressway and Eastern Expressway. Mopalwar is expected not only to give solutions but he is also expected to share the ways to execute the plan in a speedy manner. This is what he successfully does as DG of War Room Infrastructure Projects. He keeps sharing a well drafted and comprehensive plan for future course of action. Under his strict guidance, the team of War Room then closely monitors the various phases from implementation to launch of the project. As MD of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), Mopalwar has been associated with several infrastructure projects involving expanding the road network across various regions of Maharashtra. He faced a lot of problems in the process of land acquisition, coordination among different government machinery and handling the administrative officials in different districts. But Mopalwar could tackle every single issue successfully. Solutions are at his beck and call. He kept sharing the solutions with the staff working under him, as a result of which the projects took off smoothly. All the road network projects under him were completed on time as well. Mopalwar dealt with every single challenge that came his way while working on the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Mahamarg project. He dealt with the issue of land acquisition with ease. As CEO of Rural Development at Hingoli, Mopalwar ensured development in villages. He established a straight connection with the rural public to understand the crux of the issues. This shows that Mopalwar has tremendous experience of field working down to grassroots level as well. He did not believe in giving commands sitting in air conditioned offices. As Director of Water Resources at Pune, Mopalwar gained a lot of experience in the fields related to irrigation and drinking water. With this experience, Mopalwar keeps guiding the team in the War Room on the projects related to irrigation as well. Noida woke up to 'poor' air quality on Monday morning as its Air Quality Index (AQI) hit 204. But, things were looking better for Delhi after four days after its AQI improved from 'poor' to moderate'. The AQI for Delhi on Monday morning was 199. An AQI between 0-50 is considered 'good', 51-100 'satisfactory', 101-200 'moderate', 201-300 'poor', 301-400 'very poor', 401-500 'severe' and above 500 'severe plus'. Other parts of the NCR region, including Ghaziabad, also saw 'poor' AQI. According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (Safar-India) the AQI at the Loni area in Ghaziabad has been recorded at 229. The IMD has also forecasted a partly cloudy sky with a possibility of very light rain or thundershowers in Delhi on Monday. The maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to settle around 32 degrees Celsius and 20 degrees Celsius respectively. The current rise in temperature is also owing to an approaching western disturbance, which has made the sky cloudy and might bring rain on Monday and Tuesday, the IMD said. This comes as early harvest triggered farmers to resort to stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana, despite the efforts of the state governments to rein them in. According to the data from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, an increase in farm fires was witnessed in the states of Punjab and Haryana this year from September to October compared to the same time in 2022. This hints that an early withdrawal of the southwest monsoon resulted in early harvest this year, thereby advancing the dates of stubble burning as well, Hindustan Times quoted experts. The situation forced Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena to write to the chief ministers of Punjab and Haryana, urging them to take remedial measures to protect the national capital from increased air pollution during the winter season. In his letter to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Saxena said it is "extremely worrisome" that the incidents of stubble burning between September 15 and October 11 have reached 1,063 -- 300 more than the figure for the corresponding period last year. "I am sure that you are seized of the matter and urge you to galvanise all available resources and make the farmers willing partners in defeating this deadly menace and help the capital as indeed the entire NCR breath easy," he wrote in the letters. The paddy stubble (parali) left in the fields after harvest is set on fire by the farmers in many states primarily Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh leading to a smoke cover shrouding Delhi in winter when the temperatures plummet. Though the state governments of Punjab and Haryana provided subsidized stubble management machines to farmers in these districts, reports indicate most of these machines are not being used. Amid row over the Army not giving a guard of honour during the last rites of Agniveer Amritpal Singh who died in Jammu and Kashmir on October 11, the Indian Army has released a statement clearing the air. A statement posted on Twitter by ADG-PI Indian Army said that there have been some misunderstandings and misrepresentation of facts on the issue. It added that Singh committed suicide by shooting himself while on sentry duty and that military honours were not extended to his funeral as deaths arising out of self-inflicted injuries are not given such honours. "It is a grave loss to the family and the Indian Army that Agniveer Amritpal Singh committed suicide by shooting himself while on sentry duty," the Army said. "In consonance with the existing practice, the mortal remains, after conduct of medico-legal procedures, were transported under Army arrangements along with an escort party to the native place for the last rites," it said. The Army said the Armed Forces do not differentiate between the soldiers who joined prior to or after the implementation of the Agnipath scheme as regards entitled benefits and protocols. "Unfortunate instances of death arising out of suicide/self-inflicted injury, irrespective of the type of entry, are accorded due respect by the Armed Forces along with deep and enduring empathy with the family," it said. "Such cases, however, are not entitled to military funerals as per the extant Army Order of 1967, in vogue. Policy on the subject has been consistently followed ever since, without any discrimination," it said. The clarification comes as Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday expressed anguish over the Army not giving a guard of honour for Singh. Mann added that he would raise the issue with the Army officials. Mann who will visit the family on Monday said the government will provide the soldier's family a compensation of Rs 1 crore. He also alleged that the Army sent Amritpal's body in a private ambulance. He also questioned why the Army could not give Amritpal a guard of honour. "Why not? You gave him the uniform and he is a martyr of the country," Mann said, adding that the Punjab government considers any soldier who lays down his life for the country a martyr. "If any soldier suffers a heart attack or a brain haemorrhage at minus 40 degrees temperature, he should be regarded as a martyr as he was serving the nation," he added. "It is not necessary that he be killed by an enemy bullet," Mann stressed. Singh, who was serving with a battalion of the Army's Jammu and Kashmir Rifles unit in the Poonch sector, was cremated on Friday at his native village in Punjab's Mansa district. BJP President J.P. Nadda took a dig at Congress and said the party can guarantee loot and corruption is in the DNA of Congress. Nadda accused the Congress party of using Karnataka as an ATM. The BJP Presidents comments come in the backdrop of recent IT raids at multiple places in Karnataka, in which over Rs 50 crore was recovered including from residences of some civil contractors in the state. Nadda tweeted, The Congress Party has mastered the art of making promises and now this party has gone a step ahead and has started giving guarantees in return for promises. It has recently been revealed that cash worth more than Rs 100 crore has been found in the houses of some contractors in Karnataka, which is extremely shameful and a disgusting joke on the voters. Nadda said it was just a small sample of the corrupt DNA of Congress. With Congress coming to power, corruption has spread like the mouth of Surasa in Karnataka. These same Congress-backed contractors were active in serving lies against the BJP during the Karnataka Assembly elections, Nadda added. Commission allegations made by a section of contractors were the major campaign theme of Congress in the recent Assembly elections in the state. It is the misfortune of Karnataka that the Congress government has made it an ATM for money laundering, corruption and raising money for the upcoming elections. Obviously, the guarantee that Congress can give is always the guarantee of corruption, the BJP president tweeted. Nadda charged that the Congress governments in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan have turned the states into ATMs of corruption and want to loot the people's hard-earned money by making Telangana and Madhya Pradesh similar ATMs. The BJP President charged that Congress is dreaming of coming to power in Madhya Pradesh and Telangana so that it can loot peoples money. The Enforcement Directorate on Monday opposed the bail application of Tamil Nadu minister Senthil Balaji, arrested in a money laundering case, in the Madras High Court, saying his is stable and healthy. The agency also denied the ministers claim that he had fully cooperated with the investigation while in custody. After hearing both the sides, Justice G. Jayachandran reserved the order without specifying any date. The respondent vehemently denies the averment of the petitioner (Senthil Balaji) that he is sick or for that matter that petitioner has any sort of medical issues, which can be qualified to be not-normal, the Investigation Officer (IO) of the Enforcement Directorate Karthik Dasari told the high court. Furthermore, the respondent vehemently denies the claim made by the petitioner that he has extended full cooperation during the departmental custody for detailed reasons, the officer further said in an affidavit. Balaji had filed a bail petition in the high court on October 11, seeking relief on medical grounds. The court had instructed the ED to file its counter affidavit on or before October 16. In its affidavit, the central agency said Balaji was completely non-cooperative even during the nascent stage of the investigation by disregarding the summons issued by it. On June 14, 2023, after the agency conducted a search under Section 17 of PMLA, the minister did not cooperate and behaved in evasive and threatening manner towards the officers, the ED said. The agency also alleged that when it tried to record his statement with two other witnesses, the minister did not respond to any of the questions posed. And since, the ED said, the minister was not explaining any of the incriminating documents confronted and not substantially answering any of the questions posed. He has conveniently evaded the response by simply stating that he has answered to the extent he knows. It is clearly evident that the accused chose to not cooperate with the Directorate by refusing to respond to the queries or for that matter, at multiple times even acknowledge the queries. Hence, the contention of the minister that he has suffered incarceration for 117 days is an unnecessary over emphasis, the agency said. The ED further said that the minister is habitual of influencing the witnesses and even the victims. Hence the contention that he will not tamper with witnesses is false and incorrect and stoutly denied. It is evident that he is a very influential and powerful person and if he is granted bail, there is a high probability that the accused will misuse his liberty to influence, derail or hamper the investigation as well as threaten the witnesses. The past record of the accused and his brother Ashok Kumar clearly establishes he is a highly influential person and known for their notorious acts, the agency said in its affidavit. As per the medical reports themselves, there is nothing of any sort which would qualify the petitioner as sick or for that matter there is nothing which can be called as not-normal. Rather, the Directorate strongly contends that the petitioner, with an intention to get bail, is attempting to create a smokescreen of some sort of illness again now using his distant old past heart surgery, which happened more than three months back. And he is now very stable, hale and healthy, the ED informed the court. Balaji, a minister without portfolio, was arrested by the ED in June this year in a 2011 cash-for-job scam case. He is now lodged in the Puzhal prison in Chennai. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi arrived in Aizawl on Monday on a two-day visit to poll-bound Mizoram to campaign for party candidates for the November 7 assembly elections in the northeastern state, party officials said. Gandhi arrived in Aizawl aboard a helicopter from Tripura's capital Agartala, Mizoram Congress media cell chairman Lalremruata Renthlei said. He will undertake a padayatra (march) from Chanmari junction to Raj Bhavan, a distance of around 4-5km, and address a rally near the governor's house, he said. Gandhi will also interact with students in the evening. On Tuesday, he will meet party leaders and address a press conference in Aizawl, Renthlei said. He will also visit Lunglei town in the southern part of the state and hold a public meeting there. Gandhi will leave for Delhi via Agartala by a chopper from Lunglei on Tuesday, he said. Elections to the 40-member Mizoram assembly will be held in a single phase on November 7 and counting of votes will take place on December 3. Political parties, churches, civil society organisations and student bodies have urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to reschedule the vote counting date as it falls on Sunday, which is a sacred day for the Christian community of the state. Christians account for around 87 per cent of Mizoram's population, according to the 2011 census. The ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) and main opposition party Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) have already announced the names of their candidates for all 40 seats. Congress said that it will also contest all the seats and is likely to release the candidate list during Gandhi's visit. The BJP said that it will announce the names of its candidates for 40 assembly seats in the next two to three days. Former Telangana Congress president Ponnala Lakshmaiah joined the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) on monday, days after he resigned from the grand old party. Lakshmaiah was inducted into the BRS at a public meeting in Jangaon in the presence of party president and chief minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao. Lakshmaiah quit the Congress on Friday citing unjust environmentin the party. In his resignation letter to party national president Mallikarjun Kharge, the senior politician alleged that when a group of 50 leaders from the backward classes (BC) in Telangana went to Delhi to request prioritisation for BCs, they were denied even a meeting with AICC leaders, which is an embarrassment for the state that prides itself on self respect. He further alleged that the grand old party has seen a shift in its core ideology and individualism seems to have taken precedence over our collective strength within the party. On Saturday, BRS leader and Telangana minister K.T. Rama Rao met Lakshmaiah at the latters residence in Hyderabad and invited him to the party. "We invite Ponnala Lakshmaiah to BRS. We will give him a suitable position in the party. He will meet the CM tomorrow. He might join BRS in a public meeting to be held at Jangaon on October 16," Rama Rao had said while talking to reporters after the meeting. The resignation of Lakshmaiah has come as a major setback to the Congress ahead of the Telangana assembly elections due on November 30. The state will witness a three-pronged fight between the ruling BRS, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party. KYODO NEWS - Oct 16, 2023 - 14:05 | All, Japan, 3/11 Fukushima The International Atomic Energy Agency and experts from China, South Korea and Canada on Monday collected seawater samples near the crippled Fukushima nuclear complex in northeastern Japan following the release of treated radioactive water from the site, the Japanese government said. The team is visiting Japan through Oct. 23 to corroborate the country's marine monitoring amid safety concerns over the water release, which began late August. China has sharply reacted to the discharge by imposing a blanket ban on Japanese seafood imports. In addition to seawater, the team will collect samples of seabed sediment and fish and compare the levels of tritium and other radioactive substances from those taken last year, according to Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority. The NRA said the experts from China, South Korea and Canada have been nominated by the IAEA and their activities are expected to provide "further transparency" for Japan's sea monitoring efforts. The water discharge is seen as a key step to advance the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, which suffered triple reactor fuel meltdowns following a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in 2011. The wastewater has gone through a liquid processing system that removes most radionuclides except tritium. The Japanese government has pledged the safety of the water release, to continue for three decades, noting it is diluted to reduce the tritium levels to less than one-40th of the concentration permitted under national safety standards before being released into the Pacific Ocean. No abnormal levels of tritium and other radioactive substances have been detected in seawater or fish samples collected from around the nuclear plant since the first round of water discharges running from Aug. 24 to Sept. 11, according to monitoring by the Japanese authorities, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. and the IAEA. Still, some countries and local fishermen in Fukushima Prefecture have criticized the Japanese government's decision. Beijing has repeatedly urged Japan to halt the plan, calling the water "nuclear-contaminated." Related coverage: Japan begins 2nd round of Fukushima treated water discharge Chinese tourists in Japan eat sushi amid Beijing's seafood import ban Japan PM's Cabinet support rate at record low 32% ahead of by-elections The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a womans petition seeking permission to terminate her 26-long pregnancy, noting that there is no immediate threat to the mothers life and this is not a case of foetal abnormality. "Pregnancy is 26 weeks and 5 days. Allowing termination of pregnancy will be a violation of Sections 3 and 5 of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act as there is no immediate danger to the mother, and this is not a case of foetal abnormality," Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said. "We cannot stop the heartbeat," he said. The top court bench which also included Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra noted that allowing the petitioner to carry on with abortion would violate provisions of the Under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act. Under the MTP Act, the upper limit for the termination of pregnancy is 24 weeks for married women, special categories including survivors of rape, and other vulnerable women such as the differently-abled and minors. The Supreme Court had October 9 permitted the woman to proceed with the medical termination of her pregnancy after she claimed that she was suffering from post-partum depression and was not in a position to raise a third child, emotionally and financially. The central government, however, filed a separate petition seeking a recall of this order, citing the advice of a panel of doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) against abortion in such an advanced stage. "The child is ready to be born. It won't be right to abort because the foetus shows signs of life. The order to abort must be recalled," Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, had said. Following this, the court directed the premier hospital to defer the abortion procedures and heard the matter again. On October 11, a two-judge bench of the apex court delivered a split verdict, with one judge voicing her disinclination to allow abortion and the other asserting that the woman's decision "must be respected". While Justice Hima Kohli wondered which court will say "stop the heartbeat of a foetus" and made it clear she was not inclined to permit the 27-year-old woman to terminate her pregnancy, Justice B.V. Nagarathna said the court should respect the decision of the woman who has remained determined to abort it. A new three-judge bench constituted by the chief justice began hearing the case on Thursday. In its latest order, the apex court relied on a report by the AIIMS that said there is no abnormality in the child and there is no immediate threat to the mothers life. Israel denied reports that it has agreed to a ceasefire in southern Gaza as hundreds queue up at the Rafah border, hoping to flee the strife-torn region. Earlier on Monday, Reuters, quoting Egyptian security sources, reported that the ceasefire will begin at 6am (GMT), to coincide with the opening of the Rafah border crossing. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, however, denied the reports of Tel Aviv agreeing to this ceasefire, AP reported. With Gaza, home to over 2 million people under siege, the Rafah crossing is the only possible exit from the Hamas-governed territory. Why is Egypt concerned? Controlled by Egypt, Rafah is on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. However, as per a 2007 agreement, supplies coming into Gaza through Rafah crossing require Israeli approval. Though Egypt has been in discussion with the US to allow humanitarian aid through the border, it has rejected moves to set up evacuation corridors for refugees from Gaza. Egypt has kept the border closed to restrict the flow of Gazans into its territory even during previous Israeli bombardments in Gaza in 2008, 2014 and 2021, the Guardian stated. Countries like the US and UK have been mediating with Egypt to get the Rafah border opened to allow the safe passage of its nationals stranded in the region which plunged into crisis after the deadly attack by Hamas militants, and the subsequent Israeli retaliation. The US is also focused on getting Palestinians with dual nationality out through Rafah if they wish. Egypt has so far been reluctant to open the crossing for civilians, unless Israel allows aid to enter the Gaza Strip. Videos by international media outlets showed trucks, carrying aid to Gaza, stranded near the Rafah crossing. Aid flights from Jordan, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the World Health Organisation, and the Red Cross have arrived in the Egyptian city of El-Arish, approximately 45 km away from Rafah, CNN reported. Egypt is concerned that an opening of the crossing could lead to the mass influx of Palestinians into Sinai as Israel pounds Gaza with airstrikes and gears up for a full-scale ground incursion. According to Egyptian media, the country is under international pressure to accept refugees amid speculations that western countries could offer economic incentives for the deal. Earlier this week, Egyptian President Abdel Fateh el-Sisi said he 'sympathised' with Gazans, but added that we must reach peace and safety in a manner that does not cost us so much. Egypt, in the throes of a financial crisis, is already home to 9 million migrants already from Sudan, Syria, Yemen and Libya. Israel's call for evacuation had already triggered fears of the repeat of 'Nakba' or catastrophe of 1948 when thousands of Palestinians fled towards Egypt amid the Israel war. As Palestinians continue to flee towards north Gaza, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) are expediting measures for the crucial ground incursion. On Sunday, the Israeli Air Force flew top ground forces commanders for sorties over the Gaza Strip to familiarise them with the territory. Brigade and battalion commanders, many of whom have never been inside the Strip which Israel left in 2005, were shown from combat helicopters where ground troops are expected to enter and advance during the looming ground offensive, reported The Times of Israel. IDF chief of staff told troops on Sunday that the army will soon enter the Gaza Strip to decimate the Hamas terror group. "Our responsibility now is to enter Gaza, to go to the places where Hamas is preparing, acting, planning, launching. Attack them everywhere, every commander, every operative, destroy infrastructure," IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said while visiting soldiers in southern Israel. However, US President Joe Biden, who reiterated his support for the Jewish nation, said occupying Gaza would be a big mistake. The President also added Hamas must be destroyed but that there also must be a "path to a Palestinian state." "Israel is going after a group of people who have engaged in barbarism that is as consequential as the Holocaust... Israel has to respond," says Mr. Biden. More than 2,000 have been killed, by Gazas count, in Israel's largest bombardment of Gaza ever. https://t.co/9VX3lMi847 pic.twitter.com/wXcfS9ev9P 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 15, 2023 On whether he would support Israeli occupation of Gaza, President Biden: said: "I think it'd be a big mistake. Look, what happened in Gaza, in my view, is Hamas and the extreme elements of Hamas don't represent all the Palestinian people. And I think that...It would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza again," he said. He added that taking down Hamas down south is a "necessary requirement". "Israel is going after a group of people who have engaged in barbarism that is as consequential as the Holocaust. I think Israel has to respond. They have to go after Hamas. Hamas is a bunch of cowards. They're hiding behind the civilians. They put their headquarters where civilians are and buildings and the like. The Israelis are gonna do everything in their power to avoid the killing of innocent civilians," Biden added. The President added that there needs to be a Palestinian authority. "There needs to be a path to a Palestinian state," he added. The US policy for decades has been the "two-state solution" which would create an independent nation next to Israel for 5 million Palestinians who live in Gaza and on the West Bank of the Jordan River. Palestinians flee from northern Gaza to the south after the Israeli army issued an unprecedented evacuation warning | AP Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts to ensure aid to suffering civilians have yielded fruits with plans afoot to reopen an Egyptian-controlled border crossing into Gaza. Though a date has not been set for its reopening, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed the same after a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday. "Rafah will be reopened. Were putting in place with the United Nations, with Egypt, with Israel, with others, a mechanism by which to get the assistance in and to get it to people who need it," Blinken added. Hundreds of metric tons of aid from several countries have been held up in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula for days pending a deal for its safe delivery to Gaza and the evacuation of some foreign passport holders through the Rafah crossing. Wang Yi, China's top diplomat, met with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday, Chinese state media CGTN reported. China and North Korea support Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Hamas disruptions in Israel. China and North Korea have been sending weapons to Russia and Hamas. According to an AFP report, the two met at Beijing's Diaoyutai State Guesthouse for talks ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Beijing. The duo also met in September, in Moscow. At the time, Wang Yi hailed strategic cooperation between the two countries and their shared commitment to a more just world order. And emphasised the importance of Russian-Chinese cooperation for ensuring justice in world affairs, for ensuring a balance of interests in the processes that are developing in a variety of directions, Al Jazeera reported. According to TASS news agency, the duo on Monday discussed the conflict in the Middle East. They also discussed the war in Ukraine and its possible resolution by "political and diplomatic methods". Lavrov, after meeting Wang, said China's Belt and Road Initiative would help promote cooperation in the Eurasia region. Putin's upcoming visit to China aims at fostering a 'no limits' partnership between Russia and China. This is Putin's first visit outside Russia. He will also attend the Belt and Road Forum on October 17 and 18. Owing to an arrest warrant issued by the International Court of Justice against Putin for allegedly deporting children of Ukraine and other war crimes, he has missed a few global events this year including the BRICS summit and the G20 Summit. As the tensions along the border for Israel intensifies, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday warned Iran and Hezbollah to not test' them. Netanyahu was speaking in Israeli Knesset on Monday in which he said the world needed to unite to defeat Hamas. This war is also your war, he said. While addressing the Knesset, Netanyahu also said "we will triumph because it's about our very existence in this region, which is fraught with dark forces." "Hamas is part of the evil axis of Iran and Hezbollah. They aim to plunge the Middle East into an abyss of chaos," he added. He also compared the Hamas to the Nazis. "Now, many around the world understand who Israel is facing. They comprehend that Hamas represents a new version of Nazism. Just as the world united to defeat the Nazis and ISIS, so it must unite to defeat Hamas," said Netanyahu adding that the nation is committed to bringing their brothers and sisters back. Meanwhile, Israel's President Isaac Herzog said that dangerous voices are attempting to sow seeds of division and hatred. "Many in the Israeli public are experiencing a crisis of trust. The state and its institutions must align themselves with the standards set by the people," he said. Netanyahus warnings come amid tensions rising along the Lebanon border with Hezbollah intensifying the attacks and Iran threatening to join the conflict. Israel was forced to evacuate its resident within 2km close to the Lebanon border. In a statement by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and the ministry of defence said the plan had been approved by the defence secretary, Yoav Gallant, and included the evacuation of 28 settlements. According to authorities, the residents will be moved to state-subsidised guest houses. Also, Hezbollah said that they have destroyed surveillance cameras placed on five points along the Lebanon-Israel border, including one outside the Israeli town of Metula. Hezbollah added that it has targeted five Israeli positions in northern Israel, reported Reuters. Tensions along the Israel-Lebanon border intensified since the October 7 Hamas attack. Also read: 'Netanyahu should go': Ido Dissentshik, former editor-in-chief, Ma'ariv Ten days after the blitzkrieg assault by Hamas militants from the narrow Gaza Strip on Israel from land, sea and air, Tel Aviv has been issuing threats of mounting a pulverising operation in Gaza, but is yet to embark on one. It is because Israel faces a daunting task in deciding the time and form of offensive it would mount even as there has been an increase in skirmishes with the Hezbollah group in the north on Sunday and Monday morning. While there were indications of preparations for a no-holds-barred Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) offensive amid mobilisation of soldiers, reservists, tanks and other armour, what would hold them back would be the presence of around 199 hostages believed to be positioned by the Hamas in human shield positions. By mobilising its forces, the IDF is largely following a classical military strategy of conducting heavy bombardment of Gaza with targeted aircraft strikes and artillery fire by 150 mm guns, before ground forces actually move in. What will determine Israeli operational tactics in Gaza Strip and elsewhere is the difficult and challenging battlefield in case the IDF crosses over to the Hamas-controlled area. Also read: 'We are eager to live in peace with Israelis': Palestine's ambassador to India Gaza is a very densely populated area with big urban concentrations. Moreover, the entire area sits above tunnels that have been in the making for longsince 1999. In Gaza, it would be an urban guerilla battle both above in the city and townships and in the intricate network of tunnels undergroundsome more than 200 feet below. It would be guerilla warfare that is best fought by highly mobile small infantry units with light weapons. However, this is one area where the Hamas militants would have an upper hand as they would be significantly be more familiar with the urban terrain and tunnel network than the IDF. Well-lighted and ventilated, the tunnels are well-concealed and camouflaged from drones and satellites. They are the operational bases of the Hamas fighters, the storehouses of ammunition and war-like equipment, weapons, jail to keep hostages, and act as entry and exit points. Another aspect that Israel may be apprehensive about is the possibility of new fronts opening upespecially in the West Bank and the Golan Heightswhich will open up chances of interference by foreign nations like Iran and Syria. Therefore, with its forces mobilised near the Gaza Strip, Israels endeavour would be to not open up new fronts. The military strategy would undoubtedly be influenced by the latest positioning by Iran and China. While Iran is asserting that the Israel-Hamas conflict could expand geographically into a multi-front conflict, Chinaslipping into a mediating rolehad its foreign minister Wang Yi saying on Saturday that Israels military action in Gaza has gone beyond the scope of self-defence. With the Hezbollah strikes intensifying, Israel announced evacuation of residents within 2km zone close to Lebanon. In a statement by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and the ministry of defence said the plan had been approved by the defence secretary, Yoav Gallant, and included the evacuation of 28 settlements. According to authorities, the residents will be moved to state-subsidised guest houses. Lebanon's militant group Hezbollah said it has started destroying surveillance cameras on several Israeli army posts along the border. Meanwhile, humanitarian efforts in Gaza has suffered a big blow with hospitals getting flooded with patients and nearing breaking point. Hospitals will soon run out of basic supplies if aids do not reach soon. The Rafah crossing, Gazas only connection to Egypt, is a vital opening for supplying aid to Palestinian enclave. Egypt blamed Israel for failure to reopen Rafah border crossing. Egypt said that crossing is inoperable due to Israeli air strikes on the Gaza side. Hundreds of people are waiting outside the crossing to enter Egypt seeing refugee ahead of the Israels ground attack. "There is an urgent need to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza," Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told reporters. "Until now the Israeli government has not taken a position on opening the Rafah crossing from the Gaza side to allow the entrance of assistance and exit of citizens of third countries," he said. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin talked over with Syria's president Bashar al-Assad about the Israel-Hamas war and providing aid to Gaza, reported Russia's news agency Tass. Also read: 'Hamas caught us by complete surprise': Brig Gen (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser Severe water shortage Despite Israel agreeing to partially restore water supply in Gaza on Sunday, civilians and aid agencies said that the supply has not been restored yet. Spokesperson for the Hamas interior ministry Eyad Al-Bozom said Israel had not permitted water supplies to be turned back on in Gaza. Also, leaders of all 27 countries in the European Union have called for the "immediate and unconditional" release of all the hostages. Israel claimed that Hamas has taken 196 hostages. Even as diplomatic efforts with the Middle East is going on, the United Statess military assistance to Israel was questioned by Iran. United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been visiting the leaders of the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, UAE and Bahrin, since the Israel-Hamas conflict intensified. Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said on Monday in a televised press conference that "Iran considers that the US is already militarily involved in the conflict". UN aid cheif Martin Griffiths would be travelling to the Middle East on Tuesday to support negotiations to get aid into the blockaded Gaza Strip. Amid Israel-Hamas war intensifying and death toll rising, more nations have joined in the diplomatic fray in an attempt to secure a ceasefire in the ongoing battle. World powers including Russia and China are making efforts with the Middle East leaders to avoid the bloodshed and protect the civilians getting crushed in the conflict. Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Arab powers including Iran, Israel, Palestine, Syria and Egypt on Monday, said Kremlin. Kremlin said that Putin spoke over telephone with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. "We believe that the main thing right now in this situation is to immediately cease the fire and begin the process of a political settlement," Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov was quoted by state news outlets. "The Middle East conflict is old of character but now it is necessary to take active, sharp steps in order to stop this escalation which is unprecedented," Ushakov said. Earlier, Russian news agency TASS reported that Putin spoke with Assad and agreed on more humanitarian aid delivered to Gaza. Though China remained silent initially, it has now started making diplomatic efforts to end the war. Both Russia and China are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and has good relations with the Middle East. Both nations had pointed out that the fundamental issue at the heart of the conflict is the lack of justice for the Palestinians. China's foreign minister on Monday called for a ceasefire to halt the bloodshed in Israel. China has also suggested a meeting with its Russian counterpart and other major world powers to work on strategies to avoid a catastrophic event. Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed the Israel-Hamas conflict with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing ahead of a visit by President Vladimir Putin to China. Also, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi discussed possible steps the countries can take to end the fighting. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Erdogan's office said the president had told Raisi that Turkey was working to get humanitarian aid into Gaza and repeated his call to refrain from steps that could exacerbate the situation. With the Israel-Lebanon border tensions escalating, Canada has advised citizens in Lebanon to leave the country while the commercial flights are available. The Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel has been exchanging fire across the Lebanese-Israel border since the Hamas attack on October 7. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Iran and Hezbollah not to test Israel. The Palestinian death toll on Gaza rose over 2,800 as per the Gaza Health Ministry. Hezbollah on Monday had said that it has targeted five Israeli positions in northern Israel. They also claimed to have destroyed Israels surveillance camera set up along the border. Meanwhile, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is in Israel, reiterated USs deep commitment towards Israel. Israel defence minister Yoav Gallant has said a long war lies ahead of them. Gallant said the price will be high, but we are going to win for Israel, for the Jewish people, and for the values that both countries believe in. Canada Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said "Canadians in Lebanon should consider leaving while commercial flights remain available." As the crisis in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel continues to unfold, the security situation in the region is becoming increasingly volatile. Canadians in Lebanon should consider leaving while commercial flights remain available. Melanie Joly (@melaniejoly) October 16, 2023 Canada has been using two military planes to airlift people who needed help leaving Israel, and earlier on Monday, Joly said the first group of Canadians had safely crossed from the West Bank into Jordan. There are also about 300 people in Gaza that Canada is seeking to bring out through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt. Also, five Canadians were killed in the Hamas attack on Israel, said a Canadian official. While, United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that six Britons lost their lives in the attack. Ahead of the Israels ground attack, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will make an official visit to Lebanon on Tuesday. Fidan will visit Lebanon at the invitation of his Lebanese counterpart. Rayagada (Odisha), Oct 16 (PTI) The administration in Odishas Rayagada district on Monday held a public hearing for Vedanta Limiteds proposed Sijimali bauxite mining project, amid protests by those opposed to it. While more than 150 armed police personnel were guarding the venue at a school at Sunger under Kashipur block, hundreds of men and women assembled to participate in the hearing. Though several people alleged that they were denied entry into the venue, the Rayagada district administration claimed that the views of both sides were taken and their grievances redressed during the meeting. There was no law and order situation at the public hearing venue though several hundred people participated in the meeting. There was some noise at the meeting venue, but many villagers were allowed to speak their minds, Rayagada collector Swadha D Singh told PTI. While some of the people supported the mining project, others opposed it, he said. We have recorded all the views. The peoples opinion will be sent to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Singh said. The public hearing was attended by the officials of the Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB), Bhubaneswar, district administration officials and project proponents. People who are opposed to the project raised slogans and allegedly broke a police barricade during a protest. The police, however, controlled the situation. Anti-displacement activist and advocate Biswapriya Kanungo termed the public hearing as an arbitrary procedure claiming that people attended it in an atmosphere of fear and anxiety. Therefore, the very purpose of holding the public hearing is defeated, Kanungo said. Another activist Narendra Mohganty said as many as 21 people have been arrested and sent to jail for opposing the mining project while more than 95 people are booked in fake cases for not supporting the project. Sources said that the proposed bauxite mining at Sijimali area is likely to displace 100 families from 18 villages and also affect the livelihoods of an additional 500 families. About 80 per cent of the people to be displaced due to the proposed project are tribals, Kanungo said. The proposed mining lease area where 18 villages are located is classified under Schedule V in the Constitution due to the preponderance of the Adivasi population. Earlier, the Maoists on Sunday had asked people people to boycott the public hearing. On October 6, nearly 25,000 people of 24 gram panchayats in Kashipur and Thuamul Rampur blocks, held a rally in Kashipur, supporting the proposed bauxite mining. KYODO NEWS - Oct 16, 2023 - 19:00 | All, Japan, World Russia is restricting Japanese seafood imports as a "precautionary measure" in the wake of the release of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, Russian authorities said Monday, triggering a strong objection from Tokyo. The Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance, in a statement, said Russia has joined China's temporary restrictive measures regarding the import of fish and other seafood from Japan. On the same day, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said it "strongly demands" that Russia withdraw the restriction, calling the decision "extremely regretful" as it lacks scientific grounds. The Russian government said the measures went into effect Monday and will remain in place until it can verify that the seafood meets Russian safety standards and those of the Eurasian Economic Union, a grouping of post-Soviet states. The executive body under Russia's Agriculture Ministry announced in September that it was considering implementing the same restrictions as China over concerns regarding the potential radioactive contamination of Japanese seafood. The Japanese government held a videoconference with the body, also known as Rosselkhoznadzor, earlier this month to explain its methods for safety inspection and testing for radioactive substances including tritium. The water discharge from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, damaged in 2011 by a massive earthquake and tsunami, began in late August, following the International Atomic Energy Agency's determination in July that the plan adhered to global safety standards. China imposed a blanket ban on Japanese seafood imports after the first round began. The second round of water discharge began in early October despite persistent concerns from some countries, including China, and local fishermen. As of Sept. 22, Japan has exported a total of 118 tons of seafood to Russia this year, according to Russian authorities. Related coverage: IAEA team joined by China takes samples after Fukushima water release About half of Chinese worried about Fukushima water release: poll Japan stresses safety of Fukushima water release at ASEAN-plus-3 meet New Delhi, Oct 16 (PTI) State-owned GMDC on Monday said that it has paid a dividend of Rs 269.44 crore to the Gujarat government. The dividend cheque was handed over to Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel. The Gujarat government owns 74 per cent stake in Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC). The dividend amount is equivalent to 30 per cent of the public sector firm's net profit for FY23. "The increased dividend reflects our commitment to creating enduring value for our shareholders. This strategic move exemplifies our dedication to fostering economic growth and prosperity in collaboration with the visionary policies set by the government of Gujarat," GMDC's managing director Roopwant Singh said. ~ A higher percentage of individuals are moving into later stages of hair loss, given the lack of awareness around the root causes and delayed treatment~ Mumbai, 16th October 2023: Traya, Indias first-ever health-tech brand to help treat hair loss internally, unveils noteworthy findings from its expansive study involving over 500,000 men. The data highlights that 50.31% of Indian men experiencing hair loss are under the age of 25. As per the study, 25.89% men below the age of 21 are already at Stage 3 and beyond. As the age bracket shifts to 21-25 years old, this number further increases to 33.35%. With the average Traya customer age being 28, it is an evident indication that hair loss has become a serious concern in this demographic. Hair loss can be triggered by a singular primary factor or a combination of multiple underlying root causes. The study highlights that one of the major causes of male hair loss is dandruff. Findings indicate that 65% of Indian men under 25, experiencing hair loss, suffer from dandruff. This scalp condition leads to itching, inflammation, and irritation, ultimately causing hair loss. Stress and anxiety emerge as another leading cause of hair loss in men. The pressures of modern life expose young Indian males, with 6 out of 10 who experience hair loss being under heightened stress levels. Traya's study has brought to light a lesser-known fact: among various health concerns, young men dealing with gastrointestinal issues such as bloating, gas, and related problems are also prone to experiencing premature hair loss. The study reveals that 37% of men across ages, experiencing hair loss have compromised gut health. Furthermore, the study delved into the impact of sleep on hair loss and disclosed that irregular sleep patterns contribute to hair loss in 3 out of every 10 young Indian men under the age of 25. Hair loss can affect mens physical appearance, self-esteem, as well as hamper their confidence. Dealing with it can cause added stress & anxiety however early interventions can help address the underlying issues, potentially reverse hair loss, and prevent emotional distress. Speaking of the findings of the study, Saloni Anand, Co-Founder of Traya, said, Hair loss is often seen as a cosmetic concern but it is a symptom of internal health issues. Given our modern lifestyle, many young people are facing premature hair loss, however, they begin seeking solutions only after consistently facing it for a couple of years. Lack of knowledge about the various stages of hair loss, awareness regarding its root causes and numerous misconceptions around treatment are the reasons why people do not seek help sooner. Delay in addressing hair loss early may allow it to progress to Stage 5, making reversal challenging especially for hairlines. Hence, our primary aim is to create as much awareness as possible and encourage people, especially the youth, to seek treatment early on. For more details on the study, please check: https://traya.health/blogs/hair-care/survey-of-5-lakh-indian-men-by-traya-health-reveals-whats-working-to-prevent-hair-fall-in-2023 About Traya Established in 2019, Traya is Indias first-ever hair fall solutions brand to help treat hair fall internally by identifying the root cause of hair fall. With the growing burden of hair fall issues in India, the brand has developed a unique doctor-backed solution where customers can take a free hair test that helps them understand the root cause of their hair fall. Through this unique model, and harnessing the power of the three sciences; Ayurveda, Nutrition, and Dermatology, there are more than 2,50,000 customers who have chosen Traya. 93% of the users have seen results. Today the brand has a workforce of about 400+ employees and strong brand tie-ups with leading e-commerce brands, Flipkart and Amazon. Website: https://traya.health/ As per an internal study conducted in December 2022. (Disclaimer: The above content is a press release and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWR PWR New Delhi, Oct 16 (PTI) YouTube on Monday said it did not detect materials related to child sexual abuse on its platform despite multiple probes and also has not received evidence of such content on the video streaming platform from regulators. The statement from YouTube spokesperson came after the government issued notices to social media platforms, including YouTube, X (formerly Twitter) and Telegram, earlier this month asking them to takedown child sexual abuse material from their platforms in India. In a statement, YouTube spokesperson said: "We have a long history of successfully fighting child exploitation on YouTube. Based on multiple thorough investigations, we did not detect CSAM on our platform, nor did we receive examples or evidence of CSAM on YouTube from regulators." The video platform owned by Google further said that "no form of content that endangers minors is allowed on YouTube, and we will continue to heavily invest in the teams and technologies that detect, remove and deter the spread of this content." "We are committed to work with all collaborators in the industry-wide fight to stop the spread of child sexual abuse material (CSAM)," the YouTube spokesperson added in an e-mailed statement. YouTube has submitted its formal response on the issue. In Q2 2023, YouTube removed over 94,000 channels and over 2.5 million videos for violations of child safety policy. According to YouTube, in India it shows a warning at the top of search results for specific search queries related to CSAM. This warning states child sexual abuse imagery is illegal and links to the national cyber crime reporting portal. The government, on October 6, said notices have been issued to social media platforms X (formerly Twitter), YouTube and Telegram to remove child sexual abuse material from their platforms in India. Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar had warned that if social media intermediaries do not act swiftly, their safe harbour status under section 79 of the IT Act would be withdrawn, implying that the platforms can be directly prosecuted under the applicable laws and rules even though the content may have not been uploaded by them. "Ministry of Electronics and IT has issued notices to social media intermediaries X, YouTube and Telegram, warning them to remove Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) from their platforms on the Indian internet. "The notices served to these platforms emphasise the importance of prompt and permanent removal or disabling of access to any CSAM on their platforms," the statement by the government on October 6 had said. The notices also called for the implementation of proactive measures, such as content moderation algorithms and reporting mechanisms, to prevent the dissemination of CSAM in the future. Colombo, Oct 16 (PTI) Twenty-seven Indian fishermen, arrested for allegedly poaching in Sri Lanka's territorial waters, were provided material and legal assistance, the Indian mission in Jaffna said on Monday. Last week, the Sri Lankan Navy held two Indian trawlers with 15 Indian fishermen aboard while three Indian trawlers with 12 fishermen aboard were apprehended near the Delft and Kachchativu Islands, local officials here said. "Consular officials of @CGJaffna provided material & legal assistance to Fifteen Indian fishermen detained today in Jaffna District. Consular officials sought the welfare of fishermen & facilitated phone calls to their family in India," the Consulate General of India in Jaffna said in a post on X on Monday. On Sunday, the Consular officials provided material and legal assistance to 12 fishermen detained in Jaffna district, the Indian mission said. In a separate post, the mission said that the Consular officials sought the welfare of fishermen and facilitated phone calls to their families in India. On Monday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin asked the central government to take immediate steps to get the Indian fishermen freed and secure the release of fishing vessels. The fishermen issue is a contentious one in the ties between India and Sri Lanka, with the Lankan Navy personnel even firing at Indian fishermen in the Palk Strait and seizing their boats in several alleged incidents of illegally entering Sri Lankans territorial waters. The Palk Strait, which is a narrow strip of water separating Tamil Nadu from Sri Lanka, is a rich fishing ground for fishermen from both countries. There have been periodic instances of Indian fishermen being apprehended by Sri Lankan authorities for allegedly crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line and fishing in Sri Lankan waters. Jerusalem, Oct 16 (AP) More than a million people have fled their homes in the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected Israel invasion that seeks to eliminate Hamas' leadership after its deadly incursion. Aid groups warn an Israeli ground offensive could hasten a humanitarian crisis. Israeli forces, supported by US warships, positioned themselves along Gaza's border and drilled for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle the militant group. A week of blistering airstrikes have demolished neighbourhoods but failed to stop militant rocket fire into Israel. The war that began on October 7 has become the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides, with more than 4,000 dead. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,670 Palestinians have been killed and 9,600 wounded. More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed, and at least 155 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza, according to Israel. Currently: 1. Water has run out at UN shelters across Gaza and overwhelmed doctors at the territory's largest hospital struggled to care for patients they fear will die once generators run out of fuel. 2. Israel's military said it would not target a specific route south for several hours, again urging Palestinians to leave the north en masse. The military offered two corridors and a longer window the day before. It says hundreds of thousands have already fled south. 3. An urban battle during Israel's 2014 war against Hamas offers a glimpse of the type of fighting that could lie ahead. Here's what's happening in the latest Israel-Hamas war: FLIGHT OF 130 THAI EVACUEES ARRIVES FROM ISRAEL A Thai Air Force plane carrying 130 evacuees from Israel arrived early Monday in Bangkok. The evacuation flight on an Airbus A340, carrying 127 men, two women and a girl, was the first of of a planned six flights by Thailand's air force. Small batches of evacuees had previously arrived on commercial flights. As of Saturday, 7,058 Thais in Israel had registered for voluntary repatriation, while 83 indicated their intention to remain in Israel, according to the Thai Foreign Ministry. Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said on Sunday that 28 Thais are reported to have been killed in the attack on southern Israel by Hamas, and another 17 abducted. There are about 30,000 Thai workers in Israel, mostly employed as agricultural labourers, and some 5,000 had been working in the area that was affected by the violence. CANADA CONFIRMS DEATH OF FIFTH CITIZEN The Canadian government has confirmed the death of a fifth citizen in Israel after a series of attacks by Hamas militants. Separately, Canadians in the besieged Gaza Strip have no way to leave. Global Affairs Canada says three other Canadians who were in Israel when the attacks happened October 7 are still missing. Officials did not provide details of the fifth person who died or those who are missing, citing privacy considerations. Julie Sunday, an assistant deputy minister with Global Affairs Canada, says the government is still working to get up to 300 Canadians and their relatives out of Gaza as Israel gears up for an expected ground invasion. UN SAYS GAZA IS BEING STRANGLED The UN's Palestinian refugee agency says Gaza is being strangled and the number of people seeking shelter at their schools and facilities in the south of the territory is overwhelming. If we look at the issue of water we all know water is life Gaza is running out of water, and Gaza is running out of life, said Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of UNRWA at a news conference in Jerusalem on Sunday. Soon, I believe, with this there will be no food or medicine either, he said. Last week's attack on Israel was horrendous, he said. The attack and the taking of hostages are a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law. But the answer to killing civilians cannot be to kill more civilians. At least 1 million people were forced to flee their homes in northern Gaza. At least 400,000 displaced people are crammed into UNRWA schools and buildings, and most are not equipped as emergency shelters. Conditions are unsanitary and appalling. Most of the agency's 13,000 staff in the Gaza Strip are now displaced or out of their homes, said Lazzarini. US SAYS 30 AMERICANS KILLED IN ISRAEL, 13 ARE MISSING The US State Department says the number of Americans killed since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas has risen to 30. At this time, we can confirm the deaths of 30 US citizens. We extend our deepest condolences to the victims and to the families of all those affected," the State Department said in a statement released on Sunday. The US is also aware of 13 missing citizens and has been in contact with their families. Hamas militants stormed into Israel on October 7 and murdered more than 1,400 Israelis, the vast majority of them civilians. The militants also kidnapped at least 155 people a number that includes babies and the elderly and are holding them hostage in Gaza. Their whereabouts are not publicly known, but their families have been urgently pressing for their release. The US government is working around the clock to determine their whereabouts and is working with the Israeli government on every aspect of the hostage crisis, including sharing intelligence and deploying experts from across the United States government to advise the Israeli government on hostage recovery efforts, the statement said. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,670 Palestinians have been killed so far. UN CHIEF PLEADS FOR WATER, FOOD AND MEDICINE FOR GAZA UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Sunday that the Middle East is on the verge of the abyss and repeated his entreaties for Hamas to release hostages and for Israel to allow humanitarian aid and workers into besieged Gaza. Each one of these two objectives are valid in themselves. They should not become bargaining chips, the UN chief said in a statement. He said the UN has food, water, fuel and medical and other supplies stockpiled in Egypt, Jordan, the West Bank and Israel, ready to be mobilised to Gaza if it can be done safely. The goods can be dispatched within hours, he said. CROSS-BORDER ATTACKS INTENSIFY BETWEEN ISRAEL AND LEBANON An Israeli drone fired two missiles late Sunday evening at a hill west of the town of Kfar Kila in south Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency reported. There were no casualties reported in the strikes, which hit near a Lebanese army centre. The Israeli army posted on the X social media platform that it had hit Hezbollah targets but did not specify what they were. Cross-border clashes between armed factions in Lebanon and Israel intensified Sunday, with Hezbollah firing rockets and Israeli forces responding with shelling. The Israeli army also reported a shooting at one of its border posts. The fighting has killed at least one person on the Israeli side and wounded several on both sides of the border. Hezbollah said in a statement on Sunday that it had fired rockets towards an Israeli military position in the northern border town Shtula in retaliation for Israeli shelling that killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah on Friday and two Lebanese civilians on Saturday. (AP) PY PY Helsinki, Oct 16 (AP) Martti Ahtisaari, the former president of Finland and global peace broker awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008 for his work to resolve international conflicts, died Monday. He was 86. The foundation he created for preventing and resolving violent conflicts said he died Monday. Its statement said the foundation was deeply saddened by the loss of its founder and chair of board. In 2021, it was announced that Ahtisaari had advanced Alzheimer's disease. Among his most notable achievements, Ahtisaari helped reach peace accords related to Serbia's withdrawal from Kosovo in the late 1990s, Namibia's bid for independence in the 1980s, and autonomy for Aceh province in Indonesia in 2005. He was also involved with the Northern Ireland peace process in the late 1990s, being tasked with monitoring terrorist group IRA's disarmament process. When the Norwegian Nobel Peace Committee picked Ahtisaari in October 2008, it cited him "for his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts." Ahtisaari who was the Nordic country's president for one six-year term 1994 until 2000 later founded the Helsinki-based Crisis Management Initiative, aimed at preventing and resolving violent conflicts through informal dialogue and mediation. (AP) GRS GRS Moscow, Oct 16 (AP) Russia's foreign minister will visit North Korea this week, the Foreign Ministry said Monday, days after the United States claimed Pyongyang had delivered munitions and military equipment to Russia for use in the fighting in Ukraine. Sergey Lavrov will be in North Korea on Wednesday and Thursday, the ministry said in a brief statement that did not specify whom he would meet or the aims of the trip. The White House said Friday that more than 1,000 containers of equipment and ammunition have been sent to Russia from North Korea. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un travelled to Russia last month to meet President Vladimir Putin and visit key military sites, triggering speculation about a possible North Korean plan to refill Russia's munition stores that have been drained by the protracted conflict with Ukraine. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the US believes Kim is seeking sophisticated Russian weapons technologies in return for the munitions to boost North Korea's military and nuclear programme. 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, according to the White House. (AP) SCY SCY Jerusalem, Oct 16 (AP) More than a million people have fled their homes in the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected Israeli invasion that seeks to eliminate Hamas' leadership after its deadly incursion. Aid groups warn an Israeli ground offensive could hasten a humanitarian crisis. Israeli forces, supported by U.S. warships, positioned themselves along Gaza's border and drilled for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle the militant group. A week of blistering airstrikes have demolished neighborhoods but failed to stop militant rocket fire into Israel. The war that began Oct. 7 has become the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides, with more than 4,000 dead. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,670 Palestinians have been killed and 9,600 wounded. More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed, and at least 155 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza, according to Israel. Currently: 1. Water has run out at U.N. shelters across Gaza and overwhelmed doctors at the territory's largest hospital struggled to care for patients they fear will die once generators run out of fuel. 2. U.S. President Joe Biden is considering a trip to Israel in the coming days, though no travel has yet been confirmed. 3. An urban battle during Israel's 2014 war against Hamas offers a glimpse of the type of fighting that could lie ahead. Here's what's happening in the latest Israel-Hamas war: ISRAEL SAYS 199 HOSTAGES ARE BEING HELD IN GAZA JERUSALEM The Israeli military says Hamas and other Palestinian militants are holding 199 hostages in Gaza higher than previous estimates. Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, a military spokesman, said Monday that the families have been notified. He did not specify whether that number includes foreigners, or say who is holding them. Most are believed to be held by the Hamas militant group, which rules Gaza. NORWAY SAYS IT HAS 170 NATIONALS WHO WANT HELP TO LEAVE GAZA COPENHAGEN, Denmark The Norwegian government says that as of Sunday evening there are 170 of their nationals who want assistance from Norway to leave Gaza. Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said that the situation in Gaza is unclear and is getting worse with every passing hour. Speaking of leaving Gaza via the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, Huitfeldt said we cannot guarantee that it will be possible for Norwegian citizens to cross (there). The border can be both opened and closed at short notice. The possibilities to leave the area via Lebanon have been limited in a short time, Huitfeldt said because several airlines have stopped their flights. ISRAEL ORDERS PEOPLE NEAR LEBANON BORDER TO EVACUATE JERUSALEM The Israeli military has ordered people living in 28 communities near the Lebanese border to evacuate. The order Monday comes as there's been increasing cross-border fire between Israel and the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah. The military order affects communities that are within 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) of the border. Hezbollah has said the increased strikes were a warning and did not mean Hezbollah has decided to enter the war. WHO SAYS LIFESAVING AID IS AWAITING ENTRY AT RAFAH CROSSING BAGHDAD The World Health Organization said lifesaving assistance, including health supplies to serve 300,000 patients, is awaiting entry through the Rafah crossing into Gaza. The crossing was closed because of airstrikes earlier in the war, and U.S. has been trying to broker a deal to reopen the crossing to allow foreigners to leave and allow in humanitarian aid amassed on the Egyptian side. The WHO, in comments to The Associated Press, reiterated calls for the immediate and safe delivery of medical supplies, fuel, clean water and food, and other humanitarian aid into Gaza through Rafah crossing. It expressed concern about limited water and sanitation in the territory, particularly at hospitals where patients' lives can be lost due to infection and disease outbreaks. WHO said four hospitals in northern Gaza are no longer functioning as a result of damage and 21 hospitals are under an Israeli evacuation order. FLIGHT OF 130 THAI EVACUEES ARRIVES FROM ISRAEL BANGKOK A Thai Air Force plane carrying 130 evacuees from Israel arrived early Monday in Bangkok. The evacuation flight on an Airbus A340, carrying 127 men, two women and a girl, was the first of of a planned six flights by Thailand's air force. Small batches of evacuees had previously arrived on commercial flights. As of Saturday, 7,058 Thais in Israel had registered for voluntary repatriation, while 83 indicated their intention to remain in Israel, according to the Thai Foreign Ministry. Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said Sunday that 28 Thais are reported to have been killed in the attack on southern Israel by Hamas, and another 17 abducted. There are about 30,000 Thai workers in Israel, mostly employed as agricultural laborers, and some 5,000 had been working in the area that was affected by the violence. CANADA CONFIRMS DEATH OF FIFTH CITIZEN OTTAWA, Ontario The Canadian government has confirmed the death of a fifth citizen in Israel after a series of attacks by Hamas militants. Separately, Canadians in the besieged Gaza Strip have no way to leave. Global Affairs Canada says three other Canadians who were in Israel when the attacks happened Oct. 7 are still missing. Officials did not provide details of the fifth person who died or those who are missing, citing privacy considerations. Julie Sunday, an assistant deputy minister with Global Affairs Canada, says the government is still working to get up to 300 Canadians and their relatives out of Gaza as Israel gears up for an expected ground invasion. UN SAYS GAZA IS BEING STRANGLED JERUSALEM The U.N.'s Palestinian refugee agency says Gaza is being strangled and the number of people seeking shelter at their schools and facilities in the south of the territory is overwhelming. If we look at the issue of water we all know water is life Gaza is running out of water, and Gaza is running out of life, said Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of UNRWA at a news conference in Jerusalem on Sunday. Soon, I believe, with this there will be no food or medicine either, he said. Last week's attack on Israel was horrendous, he said. The attack and the taking of hostages are a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law. But the answer to killing civilians cannot be to kill more civilians. At least 1 million people were forced to flee their homes in northern Gaza. At least 400,000 displaced people are crammed into UNRWA schools and buildings, and most are not equipped as emergency shelters. Conditions are unsanitary and appalling. Most of the agency's 13,000 staff in the Gaza Strip are now displaced or out of their homes, said Lazzarini. US SAYS 30 AMERICANS KILLED IN ISRAEL, 13 ARE MISSING WASHINGTON The U.S. State Department says the number of Americans killed since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas has risen to 30. At this time, we can confirm the deaths of 30 U.S. citizens. We extend our deepest condolences to the victims and to the families of all those affected," the State Department said in a statement released Sunday. The U.S. is also aware of 13 missing citizens and has been in contact with their families. Hamas militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7 and murdered more than 1,400 Israelis, the vast majority of them civilians. The militants also kidnapped at least 155 people a number that includes babies and the elderly and are holding them hostage in Gaza. Their whereabouts are not publicly known, but their families have been urgently pressing for their release. The U.S. government is working around the clock to determine their whereabouts and is working with the Israeli government on every aspect of the hostage crisis, including sharing intelligence and deploying experts from across the United States government to advise the Israeli government on hostage recovery efforts, the statement said. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,670 Palestinians have been killed so far. UN CHIEF PLEADS FOR WATER, FOOD AND MEDICINE FOR GAZA UNITED NATIONS U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Sunday that the Middle East is on the verge of the abyss and repeated his entreaties for Hamas to release hostages and for Israel to allow humanitarian aid and workers into besieged Gaza. Each one of these two objectives are valid in themselves. They should not become bargaining chips, the U.N. chief said in a statement. He said the U.N. has food, water, fuel and medical and other supplies stockpiled in Egypt, Jordan, the West Bank and Israel, ready to be mobilised to Gaza if it can be done safely. The goods can be dispatched within hours, he said. (AP) MRJ MRJ Lahore, Oct 16 (PTI) Pakistan's self-exiled former prime minister Nawaz Sharif will give a road map to pull the cash-strapped country out of the economic mess during his gathering here in the capital of Punjab province on October 21, a media report said on Monday. The Lahore district administration on Sunday allowed the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party to hold a gathering at the Minar-e-Pakistan after the former ruling party sought permission in a bid to whip up support for its supreme leader's return later this week, Dawn news reported. Speaking to workers at a party convention in Mustafabad, PML-N Vice President Hamza Shehbaz said Pakistan will restart its journey towards progress and prosperity with the return of the PML-N supreme leader later this week. In his address at Minar-e-Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif will give a road map to pull the country out of the economic mess, Hamza Shehbaz, the nephew of Nawaz Sharif, said. He said the PML-N and its allies saved the country while risking their political capital. Had there been no agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Pakistan would have gone bankrupt, Hamza said, adding that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government led by its chief Imran Khan brought the country to the verge of default. Hamza, the son of former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, said while the politics of the PML-N revolved around development, jailed former prime minister Khan-led PTI indulged in politics of hate. He referred to the May 9 incidents to back his point. PML-N leader Malik Ahmed, who was a former aide to ex-premier Shehbaz Sharif, said October 21 would not be an ordinary day in fact this would be the day when the country would start its journey towards glory and prosperity. The PML-N is all set to hold the mass public meeting not only to welcome Nawaz Sharif but also to give a befitting reply to the PTI that used the venue to show its massive popularity among the masses, the report said. In response to the request for holding a public meeting at Minar-e-Pakistan and the submission of an affidavit by PML-N leader Bilal Yasin to take full responsibility for the public gathering in case of any untoward incident, the deputy commissioners office issued a no objection certificate (NOC) to the party. The organisers have been instructed to ensure stage security, security of ladies and gents enclosures, emergency exits, measures for avoiding/ controlling stampedes and adequate parking through the hiring of private security and volunteers. Security near and around the pandal (arena) shall be the responsibility of the organisers, said the NOC. The NOC further said objectionable and offensive slogans shall be prohibited. On the other hand, there has been no decision regarding a request by the PTI for a public rally in the provincial capital, the report said. PTI Central Punjab's additional general secretary told Dawn that the civil administration was fiercely following and arresting party leaders, workers and supporters as the crackdown on the PTI continues while the party chairman Khan languishes in jail. Washington, Oct 16 (AP) President Joe Biden is considering a trip to Israel in the coming days but no travel has been finalised, a senior administration official said on Sunday. It would be a powerful symbol of sympathy and support following the brutal attack by Hamas. A trip would be a chance for Biden to personally affirm to the Israeli people the US is standing firm behind them. But it would come amid growing fears that a looming Israeli move into Gaza could spark a wider war with devastating humanitarian consequences. And Biden's presence could be seen as a provocative move by Hamas' chief sponsor, Iran, or potentially viewed as tone deaf by Arab nations as civilian casualties mount in Gaza. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has already been travelling around the Mideast this past week trying to prevent the war with Hamas from igniting a broader regional conflict. The official could not publicly discuss internal deliberations about the potential presidential travel and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Biden also made his strongest public statements yet to restrain Israel after the October 7 attack that killed more than 1,400 people including at least 30 US citizens, warning in an interview with CBS' 60 Minutes that aired on Sunday that Israel should not reoccupy Gaza. I think it'd be a big mistake, Biden said. Look, what happened in Gaza, in my view, is Hamas, and the extreme elements of Hamas don't represent all the Palestinian people. And I think that it would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza again. Israel left Gaza in 2005; Hamas won the elections the next year. Still, Biden said, taking out the extremists ... is a necessary requirement. Biden and his administration officials have refused to criticise Israel or its bombing campaign that has killed civilians in Gaza. But they've urged Israel, Egypt and other nations to allow for humanitarian aid and supplies into the worsening conflict zone. I'm confident that Israel is going to act under the rules of war," Biden said in the interview. There's standards that democratic institutions and countries go by. And I'm confident that there's going to be an ability for the innocents in Gaza to be able to have access to medicine and food and water." Blinken, meanwhile, heard criticism of Israel's military operation from Egypt President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. After Cairo he travelled on to Jordan and planned to return to Israel on Monday, carrying to Israeli leaders the feedback he received in a rush of meetings with leaders throughout the Arab world. Egypt's state-run media said el-Sissi told Blinken that Israel's Gaza operation has exceeded the right of self-defense and turned into a collective punishment. Blinken told reporters before leaving Egypt that Israel has the right, indeed it has the obligation to defend itself against these attacks from Hamas and to try to do what it can to make sure that this never happens again. Mindful of the potential human cost in Gaza, Blinken said the way that Israel does this matters. It needs to do it in a way that affirms the shared values that we have for human life and human dignity, taking every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians". Earlier on Sunday, the envoy met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, talks that built upon earlier sessions with the leaders of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. Blinken said that what he heard in every meeting with Arab leaders was a determination of shared view that we have to do everything possible to make sure this doesn't spread to other places, a shared view to safeguard innocent lives, a shared view to get assistance to Palestinians in Gaza who need it and we're working very much on that. The White House also appointed David Satterfield, a former ambassador to Lebanon and Turkiye, to lead US efforts to get humanitarian assistance to vulnerable people through the Middle East. Satterfield was expected to arrive in Israel on Monday. From Washington, Biden's national security adviser said the US was not making requests or demands of Israel with respect to its military operations. Jake Sullivan, making the rounds of the Sunday TV news shows, said the administration was simply stating our basic principles the principles upon which this country is based and all democracies, including Israel, are based. It's what makes us different from the terrorists, that in fact we respect civilian life. He said the US was not interfering in their military planning or trying to give them instructions or requests specific. Sullivan said the US is conveying the message in public and in private that all military operations should be conducted consistent with law of war, that civilians should be protected, that civilians should have a real opportunity to get to safety and have access to food, water, medicine and shelter. Those remarks marked a shift in the US administration's comments in recent days as officials have heard concerns from Arab leaders. Those leaders expressed the consequences of what a humanitarian catastrophe resulting from an Israeli ground offensive would do not only to Palestinians but also in inflaming public opinions in Arab nations and potentially destabilizing relatively friendly countries. Sullivan also said the US has been unable so far to get American citizens out of Gaza through Egypt's Rafah crossing with Gaza. Blinken made clear in Egypt that the US will not waver in supporting Israel, saying, We will stand with it today, tomorrow and every day and we're doing that in word and also in deed". In his roughly hourlong meeting with Prince Mohammed at the de facto Saudi leader's private farm outside Riyadh, Blinken highlighted the United States' unwavering focus on halting terrorist attacks by Hamas, securing the release of all hostages, and preventing the conflict from spreading, the State Department said. The two affirmed their shared commitment to protecting civilians and to advancing stability across the Middle East and beyond, according to a department statement. The Saudi description of the meeting focused primarily on Palestinian civilians, echoing the sentiments that the other Arab leaders with whom Blinken has met. It said Saudi Arabia would object to the targeting of civilians in any way or disrupt(ing) infrastructure and vital interests that affect their daily lives. The prince stressed the need to work to discuss ways to stop the military operations that claimed the lives of innocent people", the Saudi Press Agency said in a report about the meeting. (AP) PY PY KYODO NEWS - Oct 16, 2023 - 14:14 | World, All A U.S. B-52 strategic bomber is scheduled to land at a South Korean air base later this week, U.S. forces in South Korea said on Monday, amid heightened tensions over the threat posed by North Korea's ongoing nuclear and missile programs. The bomber will arrive during the six-day Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition, which will start on Tuesday, U.S. Forces Korea said in a statement. The deployment of a U.S. strategic bomber to the region for reasons other than participating in joint military drills is considered to be rare. USFK said that the deployment shows the United States' commitment to its alliance with South Korea is at an all-time high, in recognition of the 70th anniversary of the alliance. The aircraft will conduct two flyovers during the biennial event, according to the USFK. Maj. Rachel Buitrago, the 7th Air Force's spokeswoman, said the B-52's deployment and planned flyovers are "part of our continued pledge to promote peace, stability and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula," according to the USFK statement. Last Thursday, the U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan docked at the South Korean port city of Busan for a five-day visit. The aircraft carrier left Busan on Monday, according to South Korean media. Related coverage: U.S. aircraft carrier arrives in South Korea amid North Korea threats U.S. says North Korea made large arms shipment to Russia for Ukraine war North Korea raps Japan's plan to move missile deployment forward Islamabad, Oct 16 (PTI) A top court in Pakistan on Monday rejected a plea by Imran Khan against holding his trial in the cipher case in jail, saying in-prison hearing was in favour of the former prime minister keeping in mind security-related matters. The case pertains to a secret diplomatic document that Khan used to criticise his opponents for allegedly orchestrating his ouster from power in April last year. The document reportedly went missing from his possession. A special court is hearing the case against Khan, 71, in Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi where he was shifted on September 26 from the District Jail Attock. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman in a petition filed in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on October 4 sought to stay the jail trial. The IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq announced the reserved verdict, dismissing the plea against the holding of the cipher case trial in Adiala Jail while directing Khan to approach the special court instead for the same. The verdict stated that the jail trial was in favour of the former premier keeping in mind security-related matters. There is no ill will apparent on the matter of jail trial, it observed. The court in its order recalled that Khan had voiced his reservations relating to his security numerous times. If the PTI chairman has reservations about the jail trial, he may approach the trial court, the order stated. Earlier this month, the court declared that Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi would be indicted during the next hearing on October 17, which would mark the official start of the trial. Khan was ousted through a vote of no-confidence in April 2022. He was incarcerated on August 5 this year, after an Islamabad court sentenced him to three years in prison in the Toshakhana case. The PTI chief was lodged in the Attock District Jail to serve his prison term. Later, his sentence was suspended by the Islamabad High Court, but then he was arrested in the cipher case. London, Oct 16 (PTI) Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday visited a Jewish school here and reiterated his government's commitment to protect Britain's Jews from antisemitic attacks amid the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict. The British Indian leader also stressed that Israel's operations must centre on the terrorist group Hamas to avoid an escalation of conflict in the region. He pointed to the spy planes deployed by the UK to the eastern Mediterranean region to monitor and prevent arms shipments from landing in terrorist hands. "I'm determined to ensure that our Jewish community is able to feel safe on our streets, that there is no place in our society for antisemitism, and we will do everything we can to stamp it out and where it happens," said Sunak during his visit to the Jewish school in north London. He attended an assembly at the secondary school before answering a few questions from those present. "I stand with all of you, the Jewish community, not just today, tomorrow but always, and I really mean it. Like many of you, I am different; I come from a different background, and our society is strongest when that diversity is respected. There are people who are trying to stir up hatred and division, and I will always strive very hard to protect that diversity," he said. "We've already sent surveillance aircraft to the eastern Mediterranean last week. They will be able to, as I said, make sure that no arms shipments, for example, have been sent to other terrorist organisations in the region. That's a practical step that we can take to help ensure that this remains contained to dealing with Hamas and does not spread more broadly in the region," he added. "Today I met students and staff at a Jewish school in London to show my solidarity with the community. I am doing everything in my power to keep Jewish people in the UK safe, including through extra @CST_UK funding," Sunak said in a post on social media platform X. "Antisemitism will not stand," he added. The UK prime minister reassured the gathering that the government had handed the police "all the tools, powers and guidance" needed to police pro-Palestinian protests. Over the weekend, 15 arrests were made during such protests, and three people have since been charged with criminal offences. Three others have been referred to Youth Offending Teams, the Metropolitan Police said. In a message on social media thanking the police force for its policing operation, UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman issued another stark warning to anyone displaying support for Hamas or anti-Jewish sentiments. "Numerous arrests were made as a result of pockets of disorder, violence and hate. To all those who saw fit to promote genocide, glorify terrorism and mock the murder of Jewish people, including women and babies the police are coming for you," she said. Sunak also reiterated that support for Hamas, which is recognised as a terrorist organisation by the UK government, is illegal and could be punishable by up to 14 years in jail. Last week, he chaired a roundtable meeting with police chiefs and announced GBP 3 million in additional funding for the Community Security Trust, a charity that works to improve the security of the Jewish community, amid a spike in antisemitic attacks in the country since the conflict flared up earlier this month. As part of diplomatic efforts, Sunak hosted King Abdullah II of Jordan at Downing Street on Sunday. "The Prime Minister [Sunak] reiterated the UK's support for Israel's right to defend itself following last week's terrorist attack and said Hamas' abhorrent actions should not undermine the just cause of the Palestinian people," Downing Street said in a readout of the meeting. Sunak is scheduled to hold further talks with international partners, including Middle Eastern leaders, in the coming days. Rafah (Gaza Strip), Oct 16 (AP) Palestinians in besieged Gaza crowded into hospitals and schools on Monday, seeking shelter and running low on food and water. More than a million people have fled their homes ahead of an expected Israeli ground invasion aimed at destroying Hamas after its fighters rampaged through southern Israel. As the enclave's food, water and medicine supplies dwindled, all eyes were on the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, where trucks carrying badly needed aid have been waiting for days as mediators press for a cease-fire that would allow them to enter Gaza and allow foreigners to leave. Rafah, Gaza's only connection to Egypt, was shut down nearly a week ago because of Israeli airstrikes. Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Israel has not taken a position to open the crossing from the Gaza side. The Israeli government did not respond to a request for comment. With a ground invasion of Gaza expected, Israel was preparing for the potential of a new front opening on its northern border with Lebanon, where it has exchanged fire repeatedly with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group. The military ordered residents from 28 Israeli communities to evacuate. Speaking to the Israeli Knesset on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Iran and Hezbollah, "Don't test us in the north. Don't make the mistake of the past. Today, the price you will pay will be far heavier, referring to Israel's 2006 war with Hezbollah. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians sheltering in UN facilities are on less than 1 litre (1 quart) of water per day. Hospitals warn they are on the verge of collapse, with emergency generators that power machines like ventilators and incubators down to about one day of fuel and supplies of medicine almost exhausted. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,750 Palestinians have been killed and 9,700 wounded since the fighting erupted, more than in the 2014 Gaza war, which lasted over six weeks. That makes this the deadliest of the five Gaza wars for both sides. More than 1,400 Israelis have died, the vast majority civilians killed in Hamas' Oct. 7 assault. The Israeli military said Monday that at least 199 hostages were taken back in Gaza, higher than previous estimates. The military did not specify whether that number includes foreigners. Israeli airstrikes have pulverized entire neighbourhoods as Palestinian militants continue to fire rockets into Israel. Israel is widely expected to launch a ground offensive in order to kill Hamas leaders, recover captives and destroy the group's military infrastructure, much of which is in residential areas. Street-by-street fighting would likely cause mounting casualties on both sides. Israel has ordered more than 1 million Palestinians almost half the territory's population to leave Gaza City and the surrounding area for the enclave's south. The military says it is trying to clear away civilians ahead of a major campaign against Hamas in the north, where it says the militants have extensive networks of tunnels and rocket launchers. Hamas has urged people to stay in their homes, and the Israeli military on Sunday released photos it said showed a Hamas roadblock preventing traffic from moving south. For a third day, Israel's military announced a safe corridor for people to move from north to south between the hours of 8 am and noon. It said more than 600,000 people have already evacuated the Gaza City area. Hospitals in Gaza are expected to run out of generator fuel in the next 24 hours, endangering the lives of thousands of patients, according to the UN. Gaza's sole power plant shut down for lack of fuel after Israel completely sealed off the 40-km (25-mile) long territory following the Hamas attack. The World Health Organisation said hospitals are overflowing as people seek safety. "We are concerned about disease outbreaks due to mass displacement and poor water and sanitation, it said. Four hospitals in northern Gaza are no longer functioning and 21 have received Israeli orders to evacuate. Doctors have refused, saying it would mean death for critically ill patients and newborns on ventilators. The WHO said water shortages caused by Israel's decision to cut off water supplies, combined with a lack of fuel for pumps and desalination stations, put thousands of hospital patients at risk. Water is needed to ensure sanitary conditions on inpatient wards, in operation rooms, and emergency departments. It is essential for the prevention of hospital associated infections and for the prevention of outbreaks in hospitals," the WHO said. The UN health agency said life-saving assistance for 300,000 patients is currently awaiting entry through Rafah. On the Gaza side, crowds of Palestinians with dual citizenship waited anxiously, sitting on suitcases or crouched on the floor, some comforting crying infants. They are supposed to be a developed country, talking about human rights all the time, Shurouq Alkhazendar, whose two kids are American citizens, said of the United States. You should protect your citizens first, not leave them all alone suffering and being humiliated in front of the crossing. Over 1 million people about half of Gaza's population have left their homes in a little over a week. Some headed to the south, while tens of thousands are still sheltering in hospitals and UN facilities in the north, according to the UN. Travel within Gaza is difficult and dangerous, with roads destroyed and Israel offering only short windows for civilians to travel without the threat of strikes. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said it has been forced to ration water in schools and other facilities that have been turned into shelters, giving people just 1 litre (1 quart) a day to cover all their needs. Israel has said the siege won't be lifted until Hamas releases all the captives, but the country's water ministry said water had been restored at one specific point in Gaza, at a location outside the southern town of Khan Younis. Aid workers in Gaza said they had not yet seen evidence the water was back. An Israeli military spokesman said the evacuation of communities in the north would allow Israeli forces to operate with greater latitude in the area. The order affects towns within 2 km (1.2 miles) of the border. Israel is ready to operate on two fronts, and even more, the spokesman, Rear Adm Daniel Hagari, said. "If Hezbollah makes the mistake of testing us, the response will be deadly. Hezbollah released video showing snipers shooting out cameras on several Israeli army posts along he border, apparently to prevent Israel from monitoring movements on the Lebanese side. In the northern Israeli port city of Haifa, the US government began evacuating some 2,500 American citizens by ship to Cyprus. Commercial airlines have largely stopped flying into Israel's Ben-Gurion International Airport, making it extremely difficult to get out of the country. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned to Israel for a second time in less than a week after a six-country tour through Arab nations aimed at preventing the fighting from igniting a broader conflict. President Joe Biden is also considering a trip to Israel, though no plans have been finalized. Biden postponed a planned trip to Colorado on Monday to talk about his domestic agenda and instead will hold meetings with top aides on the Israel-Hamas conflict. In a television interview Sunday night, Biden, who has repeatedly proclaimed support for Israel, said he thought it would be a big mistake for the country to reoccupy Gaza. Israel's ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, told CNN the country does not want to occupy Gaza but will do whatever is needed to obliterate Hamas' capabilities. Israeli forces, supported by a growing deployment of US warships in the region and the call-up of some 360,000 reservists, have positioned themselves along Gaza's border and drilled for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle the militant group. Israel said it has already struck dozens of military targets, including command centres and rocket launchers, and also killed Hamas commanders. (AP) SCY SCY Khan Younis (Gaza Strip), Oct 16 (AP) Medics in Gaza warned on Sunday that thousands could die as hospitals packed with wounded people ran desperately low on fuel and basic supplies. Palestinians in the besieged coastal enclave struggled to find food, water and safety ahead of an expected Israeli ground offensive in the war sparked by Hamas' deadly attack. Israeli forces, supported by a growing deployment of US warships in the region, positioned themselves along Gaza's border and drilled for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle the militant group. A week of blistering airstrikes have demolished entire neighbourhoods but failed to stem militant rocket fire into Israel. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,670 Palestinians have been killed and 9,600 wounded since the fighting erupted, more than in the 2014 Gaza war, which lasted over six weeks. That makes this the deadliest of the five Gaza wars for both sides. More than 1,400 Israelis were killed, the vast majority of them civilians, in Hamas' October 7 assault. At least 155 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza, according to Israel. It's also the deadliest war for Israel since the 1973 conflict with Egypt and Syria. The US State Department said Secretary of State Antony Blinken would return to Israel on Monday after completing a frantic six-country tour through Arab nations aimed at preventing the fighting from igniting a broader regional conflict. President Joe Biden is also considering a trip to Israel, according to a senior administration official, though no plans have been finalised. Fighting along Israel's border with Lebanon, which has flared since the start of the latest Gaza war, intensified Sunday with Hezbollah militants firing rockets and an anti-tank missile, and Israel responding with airstrikes and shelling. The Israeli military also reported shooting at one of its border posts. The fighting killed at least one person on the Israeli side and wounded several on both sides of the border. Several Hamas officials have been killed in the fighting while about 360,000 reservists have been called up in Israel, divided between the south around Gaza and the northern border with Lebanon, according to Israeli military spokesman Jonathan Conricus. An Israeli drone fired two missiles late Sunday at a hill west of the town of Kfar Kila in south Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency reported. There were no casualties reported in the strikes, which hit near a Lebanese army centre. Conricus told reporters that the Israeli military had hit Hezbollah targets along the border known as the Blue Line and destroyed some. Hezbollah said in a statement that it had fired rockets toward an Israeli military position in the northern border town of Shtula in retaliation for Israeli shelling that killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah on Friday and two Lebanese civilians on Saturday. A Hezbollah spokeswoman, Rana Sahili, said the increased fighting represented a warning and did not mean Hezbollah has decided to enter the war. With the situation in Gaza growing increasingly desperate, the US named David Satterfield, the former US ambassador to Turkiye with years of experience in Mideast diplomacy, to be special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues. US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement on Sunday that Satterfield will focus on getting humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza. Hospitals in Gaza are expected to run out of generator fuel within two days, endangering the lives of thousands of patients, according to the UN Gaza's sole power plant shut down for lack of fuel after Israel completely sealed off the 40-kilometer (25-mile) long territory following the Hamas attack. In Nasser Hospital, in the southern town of Khan Younis, intensive care rooms were packed with wounded patients, most of them children under the age of 3. Hundreds of people with severe blast injuries have come to the hospital, where fuel is expected to run out by Monday, said Dr. Mohammed Qandeel, a consultant at the critical care complex. There were 35 patients in the ICU who require ventilators and another 60 on dialysis. If fuel runs out, it means the whole health system will be shut down", he said, as children moaned in pain in the background. All these patients are in danger of death if the electricity is cut off." Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the head of pediatrics at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, said the facility did not evacuate despite Israeli orders. There were seven newborns in the ICU hooked up to ventilators, he said. Evacuating would mean death for them and other patients under our care. Ahmed Al-Mandhari, the regional director of the World Health Organisation, said hospitals were able to move some mobile patients out of the north, but most patients can't be evacuated, he said. Shifa hospital in Gaza City, the territory's largest, said it would bury 100 bodies in a mass grave as an emergency measure after its morgue overflowed. Tens of thousands of people seeking safety have gathered in the hospital compound. Gaza was already in a humanitarian crisis due to a growing shortage of water and medical supplies caused by the Israeli siege. An unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding under our eyes, said Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. He said his agency was no longer able to provide humanitarian assistance and that the number of people seeking shelter in schools and other facilities in southern Gaza exceeded capacity. Sullivan told CNN that Israeli officials told him they had turned the water back on in southern Gaza. Israel's minister of energy and water, Israel Katz, said in a statement that water had been restored at one specific point in Gaza. A spokesman said the location was outside Khan Younis. Aid workers in Gaza said they had not yet seen evidence the water was back. Israel has ordered more than 1 million Palestinians almost half the territory's population to move south. The military says it is trying to clear away civilians ahead of a major campaign against Hamas in the north, where it says the militants have extensive networks of tunnels, bunkers and rocket launchers. Hamas urged people to stay in their homes, and the Israeli military released photos it said showed a Hamas roadblock preventing traffic from moving south. Nevertheless, more than 600,000 people had evacuated the Gaza City area, said Israel's chief military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari. About 500,000 people, nearly one quarter of Gaza's population, were taking refuge in United Nations schools and other facilities across the territory, where water supplies were dwindling, said Juliette Touma, spokesperson for the UN's Palestinian refugee agency. Gaza is running dry," she said. The agency says an estimated 1 million people have been displaced in Gaza in a single week. The US has been trying to broker a deal to reopen Egypt's Rafah crossing with Gaza to allow Americans and other foreigners to leave and humanitarian aid amassed on the Egyptian side to be brought in. The crossing, which was closed because of airstrikes early in the war, has yet to reopen. Israel has said the siege will only be lifted when the captives are returned. Hamas rocket attacks on Israel continued Sunday, spurring a broader evacuation from the southern Israeli city of Sderot. The city of about 34,000 people sits about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from Gaza and has been a frequent rocket target. The kids are traumatised, they can't sleep at night, Yossi Edri told Channel 13 before boarding a bus. The military said Sunday an airstrike in southern Gaza had killed a Hamas commander blamed for the killings at Nirim, one of several communities Hamas attacked in southern Israel. Israel said it struck over 100 military targets overnight, including command centres and rocket launchers. Israel has called up some 360,000 military reserves and massed troops and tanks along the border with Gaza. Israeli officials gave no timetable for a ground invasion. (AP) PY PY London, Oct 16 (PTI) British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday announced GBP 10 million in humanitarian aid funding for civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) in response to the escalating Israel-Gaza conflict, as he confirmed that six British nationals have been killed and 10 remain missing in the region. Addressing members of Parliament in the House of Commons, Sunak delivered a statement to reiterate the UKs condemnation of Hamas actions in both Israel and Gaza, and called for immediate access for humanitarian organisations to be allowed to deliver life-saving aid. He described the Hamas strikes on Israel on October 7 as a "pogrom" an act of organised torture or killing of a large group of people on the basis of their race or religion. "We should call it by its name: it was a pogrom," Sunak said. He said the UK is also exploring options for moving humanitarian supplies closer to the region and is liaising with aid agencies in the region to ensure relief supplies can be distributed as quickly and effectively as possible. Im proud that we are a longstanding and significant provider of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people. And I can announce today that we are increasing our aid by a third, with an additional GBP 10 million of support, said Sunak. An acute humanitarian crisis is unfolding, to which we must respond. We must support the Palestinian people because theyre victims of Hamas too, he said. The UK government said the funding will allow trusted partners, including key United Nations (UN) agencies to provide essential relief items and services. These could include food, water and emergency shelter, depending on the needs on the ground. We are committed to supporting the Palestinian people they are victims of Hamas too. This funding will provide vital, lifesaving support to Palestinian civilians who are caught up in this conflict and are in desperate need of help, said UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly. Downing Street said both Sunak and Cleverly have spoken to Israel, Egypt and other international partners about opening the Rafah crossing to allow urgent humanitarian aid into Gaza and stressed that all UK aid funding targeted at Palestinian civilians undergoes rigorous oversight to ensure no funding goes to Hamas a banned terrorist organisation in the UK. Relatives of some of the missing Britons were in Parliament watching Sunaks statement, during which he said the UK government is working with Israel to establish the facts and support them through their "unimaginable pain". He asserted the UKs stated stance that it would "support absolutely Israel's right to defend itself" in targeting Hamas and rescuing hostages from Gaza within international law. The British Indian leader said that Hamas is using Palestinians as human shields and 2,600 Palestinians have been killed since the fighting started, with Israel retaliating with airstrikes. We mourn the loss of every innocent life," added Sunak. Opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer agreed that an "acute humanitarian crisis" is unfolding and Israel's defence "must be conducted in accordance with international law", as he noted that the Commons stands united in the face of this international crisis. Jabalpur, Oct 16 (PTI) A man was caught with 5.274 kilograms of gold jewellery worth over Rs 3 crore in Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, a police official said on Monday. Sourabh Jain (38), a resident of Indore, was held on a tip off on Sunday night as he was about to hail an autorickshaw at Tripuri Square, Garha police station in charge Brijesh Mishra said. "He has told police he is a gold trader and had come to meet local jewellers. However, he did not have supporting documents. The matter has been handed over to the Income Tax department for further probe," the official informed. Thane, Oct 16 (PTI) Four persons received burn injuries when crackers were burst after a quarrel between two groups during a procession carrying an idol of Goddess Durga as part of the Navratri celebration in Maharashtra's Thane city, police said on Monday. Another person was injured when a stone was hurled during the incident which took place at around 9 pm on Sunday, they said. The nine-day Navratri festival began on Sunday. Some people were carrying the idol in Hanuman Nagar area of Wagle Estate in a procession when a quarrel took place between two groups over the bursting of crackers, an official from Srinagar police station said quoting the FIR. At that time, someone carelessly burst the crackers which hit the people around. Four persons received severe burn injuries and were rushed to a hospital for treatment, the official said. Besides, a man was injured when someone hurled a stone during the quarrel, the police said. Following complaints by the victims, offences were registered against 12 unidentified persons under Indian Penal Code sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 283 (danger or obstruction in public way or line of navigation), they said. No arrest has been made so far, the police added. Mumbai, Oct 16 (PTI) A graphic designer and three others were arrested for allegedly making fake passes for two dandiya events in Mumbai and equipment worth Rs 35 lakh was seized from them, police said on Monday. The police on Sunday nabbed Karan Ajay Shah (29), a graphic designer, Darshan Pravin Gohil (24), Paresh Suresh Nevrekar (35) and Kavish Bhalchandra Patil (24), an official said. The accused were nabbed from Virar, Kandivali, Malad and Manori localities, he said. The accused allegedly distributed entry passes for Durgadevi Navratri Utsav Samiti's dandiya event and BJP MLA Sunil Rane's Rangratri Dandiya, the official said. The police formed a special team and raided prime accused Shah's residence in the western suburb of Virar, he said, adding that 1,000 entry passes, a laptop, printer and other materials worth Rs 35 lakh were recovered. The accused have been arrested under sections 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the official said. Indore, Oct 16 (PTI) BJP MLA from Indore Akash Vijayvargiya has requested party chief J P Nadda to not consider his candidature for the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections as the party has given a ticket to his father and senior leader Kailash Vijayvargiya. This was disclosed on Monday by senior Vijayvargiya, the BJP nominee from the Indore-1 seat. He said Akash had written a letter to Nadda at his discretion. Polling for 230 seats in MP will be held in a single phase on November 17 and votes will be counted on December 3. After BJP picked 67-year-old Vijayvargiya as a contestant, speculation was doing rounds that Akash (39), who represents the Indore-3 assembly constituency, may be dropped this time. The BJP has not yet announced the candidate for the Indore-3 seat. "Our prime minister is against nepotism," Kailash Vijayvargiya told reporters at the local BJP office. As soon as I was given a ticket, Akash wrote a letter to the party president, saying since I (Kailash) have been picked as a contestant, his (Akash's) candidature should not be considered, he said. He said Akash wrote this letter at his discretion without asking him. "This is Akash's greatness. I appreciate this move, Kailash Vijayargiya said. Queried on the demand of Akash's supporters to field him again from the Indore-3 segment, the senior Vijayvargiya said this means that his son is "very popular" in the region. "Even today, when Indore-3 residents meet me, they ask if they should go to the prime minister demanding a ticket for Akash. I tell these people that there is no need for them to do this as we will accept the decision of the party and work for whichever candidate gets a ticket from Indore-3, he said. When asked if the BJP has sidelined Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan by not declaring him as the CM face, the senior Vijayvargiya said it is the BJP's strategy in all five election-bound states, including MP, to contest under the leadership of PM Modi on the backing of the BJP organisation. "There is no reason to question this strategy," he said, adding that Chouhan is his old friend. The Congress has fielded Vikram Mastal, who played Lord Hanuman in the TV serial Ramayan 2, to challenge Chouhan in his traditional Budhni seat. When asked for his reaction, Kailash Vijayvargiya said, "We are devotees of the original Lord Hanuman and we have faith in him. In a swipe at Congress, he termed the 144 candidates declared by the opposition party in the first list as "fused bulbs". "A series of such bulbs does not light despite all efforts, he added. He expressed apprehension that Congress might scrap the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government's flagship the 'Ladli Behna Yojana' aimed at empowerment of women if it is voted to power. When asked about the possibility of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee coming to Indore to campaign against BJP, Vijayvargiya, who has worked in the eastern state as poll-minder for the saffron party, said unlike West Bengal, politics of hitting below the waist is not played in Madhya Pradesh". "If Banerjee comes here (Indore) and speaks something about me, will the people believe her?" he asked. KYODO NEWS - Oct 16, 2023 - 20:30 | All, Japan, World Bucha, a city in Ukraine where civilians were massacred under Russian occupation in the early days of the invasion, is seeking to build ties with the atomic-bombed city of Hiroshima in western Japan to learn from its experiences of recovery, officials from both cities said Monday. Despite the different situations of the two cities, they have both become "symbols of war," said Alina Saraniuk, chief international officer for Bucha, adding that Hiroshima has "experience that would be very, very valuable for us." An official from Hiroshima has expressed the city's willingness to cooperate, saying, "We hope to accumulate exchanges and work together for lasting peace, including through Mayors for Peace conferences." Hiroshima, devastated by the U.S. atomic bombing on Aug. 6, 1945, is the president city for Mayors for Peace, a nongovernmental organization comprised of over 8,000 cities in 166 countries and regions. A number of Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, are among its members. A letter sent to Hiroshima in August under the Bucha Mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk's name stressed the value of Hiroshima's experiences for Bucha as it embarks on rebuilding following the Russian occupation. Hiroshima responded in writing this month with an intent to cooperate. While the two cities have not had any noteworthy exchanges to date, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, whose family is from Hiroshima, visited Bucha during his surprise trip to Ukraine in March and expressed "strong anger" over the massacre. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also visited Hiroshima for the G7 summit in May. Saraniuk has expressed the desire for Bucha to become a "sister city" of Hiroshima in the future. The city on the outskirts of Kyiv already has several sister-city relationships, primarily in Europe, many of which were established after the Russian occupation. Hiroshima became a sister city with Volgograd in southern Russia in 1972 but suspended exchange programs to mark the 50th anniversary of relations last year over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. The western Japan city also maintains friendship ties with five other cities, including Chongqing in southwestern China. It signed a Declaration on the Exchange of Experiences and Cooperation with the city of Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2017. Pune, Oct 15 (PTI) Former Pune police chief Meeran Chadha Borwankar has claimed in a book that the then district minister had insisted in 2010 that she complete the process of handing over an auctioned plot belonging to her department to the winning bidder, who was later cited as an accused by the CBI in the 2G scam. Though the name of the district minister is not mentioned in the book, Madam Commissioner, the retired IPS officer apparently points to NCP leader Ajit Pawar, the present deputy chief minister of Maharashtra. Pawar held the post of guardian minister of Pune district at the time, when the state had a Congress-NCP government. Borwankar was the Pune police commissioner between 2010 and 2012. She later assumed the charge as Additional Director General (Prisons) in Pune. According to the book, the minister insisted that she complete the handing over of the auctioned 3-acre police land in the citys Yerawada area to the top bidder in 2010, but the police officer refused to relent by stating that the land would be useful for building new offices and residential quarters for the police department. PTI tried to contact Borwankar for her comments. However, calls and text messages to her remained unanswered. In the book, Borwankar said that the divisional commissioner called her one day saying that the district minister wanted to meet her in connection with the police land. I learnt that the land, measuring around three acres, had been auctioned and we had to hand it over to the highest bidder who would, in return, construct five hundred residential quarters for policemen in the existing police headquarters, she said in the book. Borwankar wrote that she found the auction had throughout been led and supervised by the divisional commissioner. It was very surprising as the land belonged to the police department, she wrote. As per schedule, the retired IPS officer wrote, she met the district minister in the divisional commissioners office. He (district minister) had a huge paper map of the area with him. He explained that the auction had been successfully concluded and I should proceed to hand over the land to the top bidder. I replied that as Yerawada had become literally the centre of Pune, the police would never get such prime land in future. And that we needed it to construct more offices as well as residential quarters for the police, says the book. Borwankar submitted that she had recently taken over and giving the police land to a private party would be perceived as the new police commissioner having sold herself out. But the minister simply overruled me and insisted that I complete the process, which he declared was over, as per excerpts from the book. The ex-IPS officer claimed that she, unhappy with the instructions, asked the district minister why her predecessor the previous police commissioner had not handed over the land if the auction had already concluded. I even said that the process, itself was flawed, in my opinion, and against the interest of the police department. It would just not be possible for me to relinquish such a prime piece of police land to a private party when we ourselves needed it, I told him gently but with finality. The minister lost his cool and hurled the map at the glass table, she wrote in the book. The minister then made many remarks against her to the then home minister R R Patil, as per the book. Realizing that she had no intention to part with the land, the highest bidder filed a case in the Bombay High Court. To his bad fortune and my good luck, the CBI had in the meanwhile cited him as an accused in the 2G scam, says the book. Borwankar said she wrote a very strong to the home department, pitching to nullify the "whole deal". Mr Patil had always supported my transparent policies, but this time he seemed to have his hands tied as the 'district minister' was undoubtedly more mighty. In fact, a senior police officer told me, 'No one, neither the officers nor the media, dares say no to dada, she claimed in the book. The then divisional commissioner, Dilip Bund, said that Ajit Pawar was not at all linked to the issue and that the proposal was from the home department. He, however, said that the NCP leader had summoned Borwankar over the matter. Bund said that Borwankar had an objection to handing over the land, and he tried to explain to her that it would be good for the police department as it would be getting quarters for the staff. Mumbai, Oct 16 (PTI) A key accused in the Mahadev betting app case, Mrugank Mishra, was detained at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai by security personnel on his arrival from Dubai, an official said on Monday. Mishra is accused of helping Mahadev betting app promoters open hundreds of dubious bank accounts to divert money generated by the scam. His custody was later taken by a police team from Rajasthan, where he faces a cheating and forgery case related to the Mahadev app matter, the official said. The 25-year-old was apprehended by security personnel at the airport after his arrival from Dubai on Saturday and handed over to the Sahar police in Mumbai. A team of the Pratapgarh police in Rajasthan came to Mumbai on Sunday and took his custody and placed him under arrest, he said. Mishra is wanted in connection with a cheating and forgery case registered at the Pratapgarh police station related to the Mahadev betting app case and a look out circular (LOC) was issued against him, the official said. An LoC is used by authorities to restrict the movement of a person accused of a crime. Mishra allegedly helped Mahadev app promoters open hundreds of dubious bank accounts to divert money generated from betting. He opened these bank accounts in the name of common people after promising them that they will get money from various government schemes, he said. Originally from Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh, Mishra was hiding in the Gulf city for the last few months, said the official. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has previously said the Mahadev Online Book App was used to enrol new users, create IDs and launder money through a layered web of benami bank accounts. Large-scale hawala operations were done to siphon off the proceeds of betting to off-shore accounts, the ED had said, adding the company owning the app was running operations from Dubai. Puri, Oct 16 (PTI) The Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) on Monday took out a protest rally here for immediate reopening of all the four gates of Shree Jagannath temple for devotees. Holding banners and party flags and beating cymbals and mridang, Congress workers led by OPCC president Sarat Pattanayak took out the protest march from Saradha Bali to the office of the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) on Puri Grand Road. OPCC campaign committee chairman Bijay Patnaik, former OPCC presidents Jaydev Jena and Prasad Harichandan, Jeypore MLA Taraprasad Bahinipati, Mohana MLA Dasarathi Gamango and several other senior Congress leaders participated in the rally. The party leaders submitted a memorandum to SJTA chief administrator Ranjan Das addressed to the Odisha Governor. Pattanayak said all four gates of the Puri temple should be reopened for devotees before the beginning of the holy Odia month of Kartik (begins from October 29). "Puri is one of the four Dhams of India and lakhs of devotees from across the globe come here for a darshan of Lord Jagannath. However, they face a lot of problems while visiting the temple. A devotee died recently while standing in a queue to visit the temple, which brought bad name to the state," he alleged. Alleging that the BJD government failed to do anything for the development of the temple despite remaining in power for almost 24 years, the Congress leaders said now the government has closed three out of four gates of the shrine for the general public for which devotees are facing immense problems, Patanayak said. The party also demanded the government to reopen the Ratna Bhandar of the temple for repairs and inventory of ornaments and valuables stored at the temple treasury. The Congress leaders also urged the state government to hand over land acquired for the Vedanta university project back to farmers as the Supreme Court has quashed the land acquisition. "The Ratna Bhandar has not been opened for a long time. No one knows whether all the valuables stored inside the treasury are safe or not. So, the Bhandar should be reopened and a detailed inventory of gold and other ornaments of the Lord should be made," demanded Bahinipati. The party warned to intensify stirs across the state if the government fails to address the issues before the beginning of the holy month of Kartik. SJTA chief administrator Ranjan Kumar Das said the memorandum will be forwarded to the governor. Das also assured to take appropriate action after going through the demands. Meanwhile, BJP leader Samir Mohanty in Bhubaneswar criticised the state government for not forming any committee till now for the opening of Ratna Bhandar and the conduct of inventory. The temple managing committee had submitted a resolution to the high court as well as the state government on the issue on August 4 but nothing has been done yet. BJD leader Amar Satpathy said the three gates of Puri temple have been closed for the Srimandir Parikrama project. The government has no intention to put devotees in trouble, he added. On the reopening of Ratna Bhandar, he said the government will follow the court directions in this regard and added that the law department was examining the court order. Notably, entry of devotees to the temple through the four gates was closed on March 20, 2020 due to Covid-19 restrictions. Later, when the Covid situation improved, the Singhadwar (Lions Gate) was reopened for devotees. In July this year, the government reopened the Paschim Dwar (west gate) only for Puri residents for performing daily rituals. However, all three gates (excluding the Lions Gate) of the temple have remained closed for the general devotees in view of the Parikrama project going on around the temple. Aizawl, Oct 16 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday charged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was more concerned about happenings in Israel than in Manipur, which has been riven by an ethnic conflict since May this year. Addressing a rally near Raj Bhavan here after undertaking a 2-km-long padayatra through the city roads, he said that neighbouring Manipur is no longer a unified single state, but has been divided into two states on ethnic lines. Gandhi, who began a two-day visit to poll-bound Mizoram, also asserted that the Congress ushered in peace in the insurgency-hit northeastern state, with the signing of a peace accord in 1986. "It is amazing to me that the PM and the Government of India is so interested in what is happening in Israel (Israel-Hamas conflict), but not interested at all in what is happening in Manipur, where people have been murdered, women molested and babies killed," he said. It is something to be ashamed of that the leader of our Union has not travelled to Manipur after what has happened there, and Manipur is the symptom of the problem. You can see the same problem in a smaller form in many different parts of the nation. People from minority communities, tribals and dalits are feeling uncomfortable. There is an oppression being carried out on the people of India, the former Congress president alleged. Elections to the 40-member Mizoram assembly will be held in a single phase on November 7, and counting of votes will take place on December 3. The Congress released a list of 39 candidates for the polls, with the party's state unit chief Lalsawta fielded from Aizawl West-III (ST). Gandhi also said that the idea of India is under attack by the saffron party, which targets different communities, religions and languages. "The idea of India that respects each other, is tolerant, learns from other ideas, religions and languages and that loves itself as a whole... That is the idea of India which is under attack by the BJP. They spread hatred and violence in the country. They spread arrogance, lack of understanding and this is completely against the idea of India," he said. Gandhi criticised the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) over job creation, the drug menace and infrastructure, and accused it of destroying the states economy. While the BJP attacks your culture, religion and tradition, the MNF supports them in Delhi... Over the last five years, the MNF government has created only 2,000 jobs. Infrastructure and the roads here are in shambles, and they are destroying the economic future of the state. Drugs are spreading rampantly across the future generation, and 250 young lives have been extinguished because of this, the Congress leader claimed. It is a shame that the people running your government are in cahoots with the government of Delhi, he added. Gandhi urged people to vote for the Congress, arguing that it provides not empty words but a vision for Mizoram, as he cited examples of good governance in states like Karnataka, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, where the party is in power. He asserted that Karnataka has developed a social safety infrastructure that is among the best in the world, while in Rajasthan people with heart diseases and cancer are being treated free of cost. Gas cylinders that cost Rs 1,000 each in BJP-ruled states cost Rs 500 in Rajasthan. In Chhattisgarh, farmers get the highest remuneration for rice in the country (Rs 2,500 per quintal)... So, while we are developing states, protecting farmers, labourers and small businesses, the BJP is busy attacking them, alleged Gandhi. We will defend your culture, religion and tradition... because if Mizo culture, tradition and language is attacked and destroyed, then India is attacked and destroyed. We love your diversity, perspective and way of looking at the world and at life. This is our most valuable asset, as it is the heart of Mizoram, he said. Dhanbad, Oct 16 (PTI) The administration in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district is constituting a team to probe into the collapse of an abandoned coal mine, following the claim of a local MLA that two persons were killed in the incident, police said on Monday. The incident occurred at Kapasara colliery of the Mugma area under the jurisdiction of Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL), about 35 km from Dhanbad town, Nirsa legislator Aparna Sengupta and eyewitnesses claimed. Sengupta and some locals also claimed that two bodies were recovered and many others were trapped after the abandoned mine caved in, while illegal mining was going on. However, ECL spokesperson Arpan Ghosh said so far the authorities don't have any information in this regard. "It should be enquired by the district administration as we have no such information so far," he said. "The administration is constituting a team to enquire into the incident as a report from ECL management has not mentioned any loss of life," Dhanbad SSP Sanjiv Kumar told PTI. The Nirsa MLAs alleged that illegal mining in the area is a "regular affair but neither the local administration nor ECL management pays attention to stop such activities". Bhubaneswar, Oct 16 (PTI) Brown sugar worth Rs 50 lakh has been seized and one person arrested in Odisha's Keonjhar district, police said on Monday. Acting on a tip-off, the Special Task Force (STF) of Odisha Police along with local law enforcers conducted a raid in Silun Chhak in Keonjhar town police station area on Sunday night and apprehended a 37-year-old man identified as Debananda Samal. A total of 520 gm of brown sugar worth around Rs 50 lakh was seized from his possession, an STF officer said. The accused was handed over to Keonjhar Police for further legal action and a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 was registered, he said, adding further investigation is underway. New Delhi, Oct 16 (PTI) The CBDT Monday said the Income Tax department has seized Rs 94 crore cash, gold and diamond jewellery worth Rs 8 crore and 30 luxury watches of foreign make after raiding some government contractors and real estate developers in Karnataka and some other states. The searches were launched on October 12 and a total of 55 premises were covered by the department in Bengaluru and some cities in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Delhi. "The search has resulted in seizure of unaccounted cash of approximately Rs 94 crore and gold and diamond jewellery of over Rs 8 crore, aggregating to more than Rs 102 crore," the Central Board of Direct Taxes said in a statement. "Further, a cache of about 30 luxury wristwatches of foreign make were unearthed from the premises of a private salaried employee, not engaged in the business of wristwatches," it said without identifying the accused entities. The Central Board of Direct Taxes frames policies for the Income Tax department. New Delhi, Oct 16 (PTI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday took part in the Navratri puja at the Sharda temple in Kashmir, where it was held for the first time since 1947, saying it signifies the return of peace in the valley. The minister said the puja at the temple marks the rekindling of the nation's spiritual and cultural flame under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On Monday, Navratri Puja was held at the newly built Sharda temple located along the LoC in Teetwal in Kashmir. The temple was inaugurated by the home minister on March 23 this year on the same piece of land and on the same pattern where the temple existed in pre-partition days. "It is a matter of profound spiritual significance that for the first time since 1947, the Navratri pujas have been held in the historic Sharda Temple in Kashmir this year. "Earlier in the year the Chaitra Navratri Puja was observed and now the mantras of the Shardiya Navratri puja resound in the shrine. I was fortunate to reopen the temple on 23rd March 2023 after restoration," Shah said on X. "This not only signifies the return of peace in the valley but also marks the rekindling of our nation's spiritual and cultural flame under the leadership of PM @narendramodi Ji," he added. A large number of pilgrims from all over the country attended the puja. New Delhi, Oct 16 (PTI) Top commanders of the Army Monday began deliberations on national security challenges along the borders with China and Pakistan and ways to boost the force's overall combat capability while kick-starting a five-day conference. Being chaired by Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande, the commanders are delving into a range of issues, including the ongoing reform process in the 1.3 million strong force, matters relating to jointness among the three services and key geopolitical developments. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is scheduled to address the conference on October 18. Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan and Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari are among those addressing the Army commanders. Ajay Kumar Sood, the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, will also deliver a talk on "Leveraging Technology for National Security". "The apex leadership will brainstorm current or emerging security scenarios besides reviewing the operational preparedness of the Indian Army," the Army said on Saturday. "They will also delve into pivotal subjects including review of the ongoing transformation process, training matters, HR management aspects and issues impacting serving personnel and veterans," it said. The regional security situation and geopolitical developments, including the Hamas-Israel conflict and the Russia-Ukraine war, may also figure at the conference. The overall situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China as well as along the frontier with Pakistan will be discussed, the officials said. The Army commanders' conference is an apex-level biannual event that is held in April and October every year. The conference is an institutional platform for conceptual-level deliberations, culminating in making important policy decisions for the Indian Army. Anti-terror operations in Jammu and Kashmir as well as the overall situation in the Union territory will also be deliberated upon at the conference, the officials said. New Delhi, Oct 16 (PTI) The National Investigation Agency on Monday arrested a person in Assam in connection with a car bomb blast that took in Manipur in June, an official said. An improvised explosive device-laden vehicle parked on a bridge went off on June 21 in the Kwakta area of Manipur's Bishnupur district, resulting in injuries to three people. The bridge, along with a few houses nearby, was also damaged in the blast. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) said Md Noor Hussain was arrested on an intelligence-based joint operation with the Assam Police from Silchar, in Cachar district, in connection with the blast. The case was initially registered by the Manipur Police on June 21 at the PGCI police station in Moirang sub-division of Bishnupur and re-registered by the NIA two days later in Imphal, the official said. Investigation revealed the involvement of Hussain in the bomb blast, the official said, adding that further probe in the case is in progress. Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, visits Pengcheng Laboratory during an inspection tour in Shenzhen of south China's Guangdong Province, Oct. 13, 2023. Ding made an inspection tour in Shenzhen from Friday to Sunday. (Xinhua/Wang Ye) SHENZHEN, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang has stressed the significance of thoroughly implementing the innovation-driven development strategy and strengthening efforts in core technology breakthroughs in key fields. Ding, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during an inspection tour in Shenzhen of south China's Guangdong Province from Friday to Sunday. When visiting the exhibition and exchange center of Hetao zone for sci-tech innovation cooperation, Ding said that sci-tech innovation should be built on institutional innovation. Ding called for efforts to create an international scientific research and institutional environment which boasts openness at a high level. While listening to a briefing on the tech research and development progress and the business performance report from SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd., he demanded efforts to push for the coordinated innovation of the upstream and downstream industries and of the large, medium-sized and small enterprises. He also visited Pengcheng Laboratory, where he urged the lab to conduct strategic, forward-looking and fundamental researches in key fields. He stressed efforts to improve vocational education system to meet the needs of building a modern industrial system in a visit to the Shenzhen Polytechnic University. Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, visits SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd. during an inspection tour in Shenzhen of south China's Guangdong Province, Oct. 13, 2023. Ding made an inspection tour in Shenzhen from Friday to Sunday. (Xinhua/Wang Ye) New Delhi, Oct 16 (PTI) Delhi wishes to become a 'sister city' with Brisbane, Mayor Shelly Oberoi said on Monday, asserting that she has conveyed this to her counterpart in the Australian city. The mayor, who represented the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) at the recently held Asia Pacific Cities Summit and Mayor's Forum in Brisbane, told PTI that she was impressed by the city's "sanitation and cleanliness management and preservation of built heritage". The urban summit took place from October 11-13 and was attended by over 1,000 delegates, including more than 100 mayors and deputy mayors. "During the Summit, I interacted with the Lord Mayor of Brisbane (Adrian Schrinner), and mayors and deputy mayors from several other cities," Oberoi said. Brisbane, located on the banks of the Brisbane river and named after it, is one of the largest cities in Australia and the capital of Queensland province, and the Brisbane City Council is the local government authority. The Brisbane City Council is the largest local government in Australia with 26 wards and 27 councillor positions, according to its official website. "During an introduction session, we were told about the 'sister cities' concept that they have. They have such tie-ups with multiple cities from many countries. Hyderabad is also in it. During my interaction with him, I told the Lord Mayor of Brisbane that we (Delhi) want to become a 'sister city' with Brisbane," Oberoi told PTI. The Delhi mayor added, "We have shown our interest, and now, we will wait to learn about the formalities from their side." "Soon, as we get to know the formalities, we will work on it... In Brisbane, I also had a word with someone from India's mission in Australia and an adviser to the mayor of Brisbane, they will also help us in taking this forward," she said. "The thought came to me when I visited there and met people at the conference and definitely why shouldn't we bring our MCD to an international platform? This is a very good opportunity to place our model there," Oberoi further said. "I had a conversation with the mayor of Brisbane on this subject, and I told him that we want to become a 'sister city' of Brisbane, and he said that they will see...," she added. Brisbane's 'sister city' programme provides for developing commercial, cultural, sporting and other mutually beneficial exchanges for Brisbane-based businesses and its sister cities. According to the website of the Brisbane City Council, Brisbane's 'sister cities' are Abu Dhabi (the UAE), Auckland (New Zealand), Chongqing (China), Daejeon (South Korea), Hyderabad (India), Kaohsiung (Taiwan), Kobe (Japan), Semarang (Indonesia) and Shenzhen (China). "They already have nine 'sister cities'. So, we have requested them to consider a seat for us in this programme," the mayor added. Delhi's MCD governs an area spanning 250 wards. After unification, it was the first time that a Delhi mayor took part in an international summit. The erstwhile MCD, set up in 1958, was trifurcated into three civic bodies in 2012 and merged again into one municipal corporation in 2022. New Delhi, Oct 16 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a plea by Congress leader Pawan Khera challenging the Allahabad High Court's refusal to quash criminal proceedings against him for allegedly making objectionable remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Prashant Kumar Mishra sought responses, including from the state of Uttar Pradesh, on Khera's plea challenging the August 17 order of the high court. "Issue notice," the bench said. Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Khera, told the bench that proceedings in the matter be stayed. The bench also issued notice on the interim relief sought in the plea. On August 17, the high court had dismissed Khera's plea saying the evidence collected by the investigating officer of the case cannot be evaluated in petition filed under section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) for quashing the case. It had observed that since the top court had asked Khera to raise all the contentions before the jurisdictional court at Lucknow, it would be appropriate if he raises all his grievances before the said court. On March 20, the top court clubbed three FIRs lodged against Khera in Assam and Uttar Pradesh for allegedly making objectionable remarks against Prime Minister Modi and transferred the matter to the Hazratganj police station in Lucknow while extending his interim bail. The Lucknow court had granted him bail in the case. Khera has tendered an unconditional apology in the court for the alleged remarks. The Congress spokesperson was arrested from the Delhi airport on February 23 after he was de-boarded from a plane that was supposed to take him to Raipur. However, he was granted interim bail by the top court the same day, which was extended from time to time. He was arrested by the Assam Police in connection with his alleged remarks against PM Modi made at a press conference in Mumbai on February 17. New Delhi, Oct 16 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Monday referred to a five-judge Constitution bench a batch of pleas challenging the validity of the electoral bond scheme for political funding of parties. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said they have received an application that the matter being urgent be sent to a larger bench for a conclusive judgement. The bench said the matter will be taken up on October 30, the date of hearing fixed earlier. Earlier, the bench had taken note of the submissions of lawyer Prashant Bhushan that the matter needed adjudication before the electoral bond scheme opens for the 2024 general elections and had decided to fix it for final hearing. There are four PILs pending on the issue. One of the PIL petitioners had said in March that so far Rs 12,000 crore has been paid to political parties through electoral bonds and the two-third of the amount has gone to one major political party. Electoral bonds have been pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring in transparency in political funding. Bengaluru, Oct 16 (PTI) Defying the Janata Dal (S) supremo H D Deve Gowdas decision of his partys alliance with the BJP for the Lok Sabha elections, the partys Karnataka unit president C M Ibrahim on Monday said the JD(S) will not join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. Hinting at a possible split in the party, the former Union Minister claimed that his faction is the original JD(S) for being secular and that being the state president he can take a decision about the outfit in Karnataka. He appealed to former PM Gowda not to give his consent to the tie-up with the BJP because many people have quit the party in the neighbouring states. Our first decision is that the JD(S) will not go with the NDA. The second decision was a request to Deve Gowda that he should not give his consent to this alliance", Ibrahim told reporters after a meeting with some party leaders. He pointed to JD(S) leaders having quit the party in Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu after the BJP-JD(S) pact. In Karnataka, however, we still have affection for you. You are a father figure. We will tell him (Gowda) that we should not have any relation with the BJP, Ibrahim said. Ibrahim added that he would be forming a core committee, which will meet Deve Gowda and convey the decision taken at today's meeting. Calling his faction as the original JD(S), Ibrahim, who had served as Civil Aviation Minister in the H D Deve Gowda-led government at the Centre, said his faction is secular. To a question on his future course of action if Gowda and his son H D Kumaraswamy did not agree with his decision, Ibrahim said, I am the state president. I have to decide about my party in the state, which I will take. Already we have decided that we will not go with the BJP. What else is there more than this? "If Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy have decided to go with the BJP then let them go", he said. We are asking them (Gowda and Kumaraswamy) not to go. If they go then we cannot bind them. Regarding (JD-S) MLAs, please wait and see who, how many and where these MLAs will take a decision. We will intimate you when time comes, the JD(S) state president said. He claimed that many MLAs are in touch with him but declined to give their names. It will create pressure If I disclose their (MLA) names. I will also hold one-on-one meetings with the MLAs, Ibrahim said. Former Chief Minister Kumaraswamy, who is JD(S) second-in-command, on September 22 agreed to be part of the NDA after meeting the Union Home Minister Amit Shah and party president J P Nadda in New Delhi. Kannur, Oct 16 (PTI) A police jeep veered out of control on Monday and crashed into a car that was refuelling at a petrol pump in this district. The jeep drove off the road and went into the gas station in Kannur city. It then allegedly hit the car and damaged the petrol dispenser, police said. According to staff at the petrol bunk, two officers in civil dress were in the jeep during the accident. Fortunately, the passenger in the car sustained only minor injuries. FILE - A pro-Israel demonstrator shouts at Palestinian supporters during a protest at Columbia University, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, in New York. As the death toll rises in the Israel-Hamas war, American colleges have become seats of anguish with many Jewish students calling for strong condemnation after civilian attacks by Hamas while some Muslim students are pressing for recognition of decades of suffering by Palestinians in Gaza. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File) Westerly, RI (02891) Today Plenty of sunshine. High around 55F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. Low near 45F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Following the tragic events of October 7, thousands of Americans who had been in Eretz Yisroel for Sukkos found themselves stranded, as most airlines cancelled their flights to and from Israel. Governor Ron DeSantis announced last week that the State of Florida will bring home as many Floridians as possible. On Friday morning, Hatzalah South Florida received a request from the State of Floridas Director of EMS at the request from the Governor, to provide the medical resources for the hundreds that will be arriving, many who have been without proper medical care for over a week including many suffering from serious medical conditions. Since then, Hatzalah of South Florida has been preparing, along with state and federal resources, to greet the passengers disembarking from the emergency evacuation flights as they arrive in Florida. Approximately 300 people were on the charter flight, traveling from Tel Aviv to Portugal to Tampa. Gov. DeSantis said he anticipates hundreds of Floridians will fly back in the next few days. He announced on X Thursday that he approved an executive order authorizing rescue operations in Israel. DeSantis said the operations will bring Floridians home and transport supplies to our allies. A 71-year-old Illinois man accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old boy and seriously wounding a 32-year-old woman was charged with a hate crime Sunday. Police allege he singled out the victims because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas. In recent days, police in U.S. cities and federal authorities have been on high alert for violence driven by antisemitic or Islamophobic sentiments. FBI officials, along with Jewish and Muslim groups, have reported an increase of hateful and threatening rhetoric. In the Chicago-area case, officers found the woman and boy late Saturday morning at a home in an unincorporated area of Plainfield Township, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) southwest of Chicago, the Will County Sheriffs Office said in a statement on social media. The boy was pronounced dead at a hospital. The woman had multiple stab wounds and was expected to survive, according to the statement. An autopsy on the child showed he had been stabbed dozens of times. Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis, the sheriffs statement said. According to the Will County sheriffs office, the woman had called 911 to report that her landlord had attacked her with a knife, adding she then ran into a bathroom and continued to fight him off. The man suspected in the attack was found Saturday outside the home and sitting upright outside on the ground near the driveway of the residence with a cut on his forehead, authorities said. Joseph M. Czuba of Plainfield was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crimes and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, according to the sheriffs office. He was in custody Sunday and awaiting a court appearance. Attempts to reach Czuba or a family member were unsuccessful Sunday. His home phone number was unlisted. Messages left for possible relatives in online records and on social media were not immediately returned. The sheriffs office and county public defenders office did not immediately return messages about Czubas legal representation. Authorities did not release the names of the two victims. But the boys paternal uncle, Yousef Hannon, spoke at a news conference Sunday hosted by the Chicago chapter Council on American-Islamic Relations. There the boy was identified as Wadea Al-Fayoume, a Palestinian American boy who recently had turned 6. The organization identified the other victim as the boys mother. We are not animals, we are humans. We want people to see us as humans, to feel us as humans, to deal with us as humans, because this is what we are, said Hannon, a Palestinian American who emigrated to the U.S. in 1999 to work, including as a public school teacher. The Muslim civil liberties organization called the crime our worst nightmare and part of a disturbing spike in hate calls and emails since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. The group cited text messages exchanged among family members that showed the attacker had made disparaging remarks about Muslims. In response to the increased threats, the Illinois State Police are communicating with federal law-enforcement and reaching out to Muslim communities and religious leaders to offer support, according to a Sunday press release from Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker. To take a six-year-old childs life in the name of bigotry is nothing short of evil, Pritzker said. Wadea should be heading to school in the morning. Instead, his parents will wake up without their son. This wasnt just a murder it was a hate crime. And every single Illinoisan including our Muslim, Jewish, and Palestinian neighbors deserves to live free from the threat of such evil. President Joe Biden echoed that sentiment Sunday, saying in a statement: This horrific act of hate has no place in America, and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are. FBI Director Chris Wray said on a call with reporters Sunday that the FBI is also moving quickly to mitigate the threats. A senior FBI official who spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Bureau said the majority of the threats that the FBI has responded to were not judged to be credible, adding that the FBI takes them all seriously nonetheless. The official also said that agents have been encouraged to be aggressive and proactive in communicating over the last week with faith-based leaders. The official said the purpose is not to make anyone feel targeted but rather to ask clerics and others to report to law enforcement anything that seems suspicious. (AP) Gaza, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- The number of Palestinian deaths has risen to 2,670, with more than 9,600 injuries reported, according to the Gaza-based Health Ministry. Ashraf Al-Qudra, a spokesman of the ministry, said the Israeli attacks "continue with all brutality," noting that the attacks have targeted residential neighborhoods and destroyed homes "on the heads of the residents." He added that rescue operations "are facing great difficulties" as a result of the massive destruction in residential neighborhoods and the roads leading to hospitals. The Gaza-ruling Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) launched a surprise attack on Israeli towns adjacent to the Gaza Strip a week ago, killing more than 1,300 people in Israel and prompting Israel to launch retaliatory strikes on Gaza. A lawyer for Donald Trump told a London judge Monday that the ex-president plans to prove that a discredited report by a former British spy that contained shocking and scandalous claims that he was compromised by Russians in his first bid for the presidency was wrong and harmed his reputation. Trump has sued the company founded by Christopher Steele, who created a dossier in 2016 that contained rumors and uncorroborated allegations about Trump that erupted in a political storm just before he was inaugurated. Trump is seeking damages from Orbis Business Intelligence for allegedly violating British data protection laws. Steeles company is seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed during two days of hearings at Londons High Court. The lawsuit comes as Trump is the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination while facing legal problems on the other side of the Atlantic. Trumps lawyers are currently fighting a civil fraud trial in New York alleging he and company executives deceived banks, insurers and others by overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth to secure loans and make deals. He also faces four separate criminal cases for allegations including mishandling classified documents, trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and paying hush money to a woman. His attorney noted in court Monday that Trump is a controversial figure who expresses himself in strong language and has faced criticism from judges in the U.S. However, he said none of that is relevant in the current case. Trump is claiming he suffered personal and reputational damage and distress because his data protection rights were violated. Steele, who once ran the Russia desk for the Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6, was paid by Democrats to compile research that included allegations that Russians could potentially blackmail Trump for salacious activity in a Moscow hotel. Trump said the dossier was fake news and a political witch hunt. Tomlinson said it contained shocking and scandalous claims about the personal conduct of President Trump and included allegations he paid bribes to Russian officials to further his business interests. Trumps case is that this personal data is egregiously inaccurate, he said. Tomlinson said Trump plans to vindicate himself in court by providing evidence that the reports claims were false. Orbis wants the lawsuit thrown out because it said the report was never meant to be made public and was published by BuzzFeed without the permission of Steele or Orbis. It also said the claim was filed too late. Orbis attorney Antony White said Trump has a deep and intense animus against Steele and the firm and a a long history of repeatedly bringing frivolous, meritless and vexatious claims for the purpose of vexing and harassing perceived enemies and others against whom he bears a grudge. Trump had called for Steele to be extradited, tried, and thrown into jail and has called him a lowlife and sleazebag involved in the Russian collusion hoax who produced a total phony con job dossier, White said in a court filing. In two previous High Court cases, a judge ruled Orbis and Steele were not legally liable for the consequences of the dossiers publication. (AP) by Rabbi Yair Hoffman Ron Dermer, Israels minister of strategic affairs and now a member of Israels war cabinet, just held an interview in Tel Aviv with CBS NEWS regarding which particular depraved Hamas leaders conceived of this vile despicable act of evil. Its Sinwar and Deif.. Theyre the ones who are responsible specifically for this attack. The storyno doubt will be posted on the major Jewish websites, and some will ask, How can a Torah website post a picture of a Rasha? Dont Chazal tell us, asur lehistakel bipnei rasha? CAN THEY? So what is the answer? Can a Torah-observant website post a picture of Sinwar? Is it clearly forbidden? Is it entirely permitted? Or is it a machlokes? Also, what is the source and the reason for this prohibition? And also, if it is a prohibition, then why does the Shulchan Aruch not cite it? And does it matter or not if one briefly glances at the picture? SOURCE The Gemorah in Megilah explains that Rebbe once inquired of Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Karcha as to how he merited to long life. He said that he had never looked upon the face of an evil-doer. He quoted Rabbi Yochanan that it is forbidden to look at the face of a rasha. REASONS It seems that the meforshim present three rationales for the prohibition. The first is that there is a force of Tumah that is on the face of the evil-doer and looking at his face could actually draw out this Tumah toward this person. This explanation seems to have been put forward by the Maharsha on the Gemorah and also author of the Kav HaYashar (chapter II). Rav Elya Lopian ztl (Lev Eliyahu parshas Noach) also espouses this view. Rabbi Yitzchok Meir Goldstein attributes this view to Rav Scheinberg ztl as well as the mashgiach of Kamenetz, Rav Moshe Aharon Stern. A second reason, suggested by Rabbeinu Yonah in his Shaarei Teshuvah (Shaar III #193) is that one can be influenced by the person and perhaps come, chalila, to befriend him. This is also the view of the Meiri in Megillah. The Maharsha provides another answer as explained by the Pri Magadim in his sefer Rosh Yoseph. Man was created in the Divine Image. When and if he reduces himself to act in an evil fashion, it is tantamount to a disgrace of the Divine stamp, heaven forbid. Thus looking at the face of a rasha is like seeing someone disgracing Hashem chalilah. This author would like to suggest a fourth possible reason. Chazal were aware that there is a certain percentage of the population that are rebellious and do things bedafka. If society holds something to be anathema this small percentage would likely end up doing it. It could very well be that Chazal were attempting to place logistical impediments to this small percentage of rebels in limiting their exposure to such people in the first place. The fact that so many moderate Muslims gave up their western tolerance and became radicalized is an example of this underlying idea. IS A PICTURE DIFFERENT? When the sources discussed the prohibition, they were referring to the actual person. They did not discuss a drawing or a picture. The Poskim have actually discussed whether or not one can look at a picture. Rav Azriel Auerbach shlita cited in a journal entitled BeNesivus Hahalacha (Tammuz 5772) distinguishes between real life and a picture and permits looking at a rasha through a picture. In his work, Om Ani Choma (page 40), Rav Mordechai Gross, one of the leading Poskim in Eretz Yisroel, likewise permits looking at a photograph of a rasha. The Halichos Chaim (2: 362 p. 171) cites Horav Chaim Kanievsky ztl as answering that there is no prohibition in looking at the picture of a rasha. Likewise, lhavdil bain clc, Rav Shlomo Miller was cited by that source permitting it. Rav Nissim Karelitz ztl, however, forbids it in his Chut Sheini (Vol. III page 260). As an interesting aside, my parents, aleihem haShalom, went to the Adolf Eichman ymach shmo trial after he was captured and put on trial in Jerusalem. While on trial, he was held in a glass cage. Rav Mordechai Gross permits gazing upon a rasha in a glass cage. QUESTION ON THE ORIGINAL SOURCE One can pose an interesting question on the source of the halacha. What is being added by Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Karcha exactly above and beyond the quote of Rabbi Yochanan? One possibility is that Rabbi Yochanan is speaking figuratively and that it is not a full-fledged halacha. Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Karcha is thus adding that one should follow this advice, notwithstanding any social difficulties such an approach may have. This would explain why the Shulchan Aruch does not quote the halacha. Another possibility is that Rabbi Yochanan is speaking only of looking directly at the face of a Rasha. Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Karchas specific behavior which granted him longevity was having nothing to do with the Rasha even beyond the letter of the law. If this is the correct understanding of the Gemorah then it might be a midas chassidus to avoid having anything to do with such a rasha even beyond the letter of the law. DOES IT MATTER IF HE IS DEAD? According to the reason espoused by Rabbeinu Yonah, it would seem that if his movement is also dead then one would be able to look at him, because there is no concern that he will become a follower. If, however, there is a developing neo-ISIS movement then it would still apply. DOES IT MATTER IF ONE BRIEFLY LOOKS BUT DOES NOT GAZE EXTENSIVELY There are Poskim who translate the word lehistakel as meaning intensely gazing. There is a debate between Rav Moshe Feinstein and the view of the Bach regarding the exact meaning of this word when it comes to looking at women. The Bach for bids it entirely, but Rav Feinstein permits looking but forbids gazing. The Mogain Avrohom (OC 225:20) makes this point explicitly in regard to looking at a rasha and thus permits it if one does not gaze intensly. WHY TO PLACE A PICTURE There are two reasons in which a Jewish website would place a picture next to an article. The first reason is to attract more people in reading it. There is no question that a good picture attracts the attention of the reader. There is another reason, however. In the past few years there have been heart-wrenching incidents after heat-wrenching incidents. When and if he is killed, it gives chizuk to us seeing that this evil rasha is now dead. If the picture helps us see the strict hand of justice more vividly, then that is a worthy endeavor. CONCLUSION It would seem that since there is a debate in halacha about the matter, and that there are so many other factors at play here if there is reason to do it then one may certainly follow the lenient view. This is especially true since the Mogain Avrohom permits looking at the Rasha if one does not intensely gaze at him. May we all merit to see the era of redemption of ki saavir memsheles zadon min haaretz. The author can be reached at [email protected] JOIN THE TENS OF THOUSANDS WHO ALREADY ARE ALERTED OF BREAKING NEWS LIKE THIS IN LIVE TIME: YWN WHATSAPP STATUS UPDATES: CLICK HERE to join the YWN WhatsApp Status. YWN WHATSAPP GROUPS: CLICK HERE to be added to an official YWN WhatsApp Group. MAKE SURE TO CHECK THIS PAGE FREQUENTLY AS UPDATES WILL BE PUBLISHED IN LIVE TIME THERE IS NO NEED TO REFRESH THIS PAGE AS UPDATES WILL APPEAR AUTOMATICALLY Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said the United States should not take in any Palestinians if they flee the Gaza Strip because they are all antisemitic and he dismissed international entreaties for Israel to provide clean running water and utilities to the 2.3 million civilians in the territory. DeSantis comments were a striking departure from the public stand taken by U.S. officials, including some of his fellow Republicans, who draw distinctions between the aims of the Palestinian people and those of Hamas. DeSantis endorsement of such tactics comes as he has advocated hard-line policies as a White House candidate. He suggested that not providing water or other services would persuade Hamas to release the hostages it has taken during its incursion. You have Israelis being held hostage, as well as Americans being held hostage, but I dont think they are under an obligation to be providing water and these utilities while those hostages are being held. Hamas should return those hostages before any discussions are had, DeSantis told CBSs Face The Nation. The United Nations, aid groups and Israeli human rights groups have beseeched Israel to allow water and emergency deliveries of fuel to flow into the Gaza Strip. Medics in the region are warning that thousands could die as hospitals run low on fuel and other basic supplies, and desperate Palestinians are trying to escape northern Gaza before a potential Israeli ground campaign. DeSantis comments underscored how the Florida governor is embracing hard-right rhetoric as he tries to gain ground on former President Donald Trump, the GOP front-runner for the 2024 presidential nomination. DeSantis first suggested the U.S. should not accept refugees from Gaza while speaking at a campaign event in Iowa on Saturday and argued that they are all antisemitic. Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, a GOP candidate, said on CNNs State of the Union that there are so many of these people who want to be free from this terrorist rule. They want to be free from all of that. And Americas always been sympathetic to the fact that you can separate civilians from terrorists. And thats what we have to do. Israels ambassador to the U.S. Michael Herzog, also drew distinctions between the Palestinian people and Hamas. Our enemy is Hamas. Its not the Palestinian people. Its not the innocent civilians, he said on CNN. DeSantis defended his remarks during the TV interview, suggesting that Hamas rule of Gaza opposed by many Palestinians meant none should be accepted as refugees into the U.S. The U.S. should not be absorbing any of those. I think the culture so they elected Hamas, lets just be clear about that. Not everyones a member of Hamas, most probably arent. But they did elect Hamas, he said of people in Gaza. He described what he said is a toxic culture in Gaza. I think if we were to import large numbers of those to the United States, I think it would increase antisemitism in this country, and I think it would increase anti-Americanism in this country, DeSantis said. (AP) The situation on Israels northern border heated up considerably on Sunday, with five incidents of Hezbollah terrorists firing anti-tank missiles at Israeli targets near the border. Tragically, one missile took the life of Lieutenant Amitai Granot, Hyd, the son of Rosh Yeshivas Orot Shaul in Tel Aviv, HaRav Tamir Granot. Another missile that hit the moshav of Shtula killed an Arab construction worker a resident of a village in northern Israel and wounded three others. A total of seven Israelis, one civilian and six IDF soldiers, have been killed defending the northern border since the start of Operation Iron Swords over a week ago, and Hezbollah terrorists have fired a large number of rockets at Israel, including nine on Sunday alone. Additionally, Hezbollah destroyed a number of IDF surveillance cameras at several points along the border. On Shabbos, Hezbollah launched about 30 mortar shells toward Har Dov, some of which crossed into Israel, and the IDF eliminated three terrorists who tried to infiltrate Israel near the moshav of Margliot. Overnight Friday, the IDF shot down three drones over northern Israel as well as a missile that was launched toward an IDF UAV. The videos below show Hezbollah terrorists destroying cameras on the border: The IDF on Sunday carried out strikes against a number of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. On Monday morning the IDF announced that it is evacuating 28 yishuvim near the northern border. The National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) and the IDF announce the operation of a national initiative to evacuate Israeli residents living within two kilometers of the Israeli-Lebanese border in 28 yishuvim to guesthouses subsidized by the state, the Ministry and IDF said in a joint statement. The implementation of the program was approved by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The IDFs Northern Command recently notified the heads of the local municipalities regarding the decision. The program will be managed by the local municipalities, the Interior Ministry, and the Defense Ministry. The 28 yishuvim included in the plan are: Ghajar, Dishon, Kfar Yuval, Margaliot, Metula, Avivim, Dovev, Maayan Baruch, Baram, Manara, Yiftach, Malkia, Misgav Am, Yiron, Dafna, Arab al-Aramsha, Shlomi, Netua, Yaara, Shtula, Matat, Zarit, Shomera, Betzet, Adamit, Rosh Hanikrah, Kfar Giladi and Chanita. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) In an interview with CNN on Sunday, Israeli President Issac Herzog revealed a frightening discovery made by Israeli security forces when clearing the dead bodies of Hamas terrorists who rampaged Israeli communities in southern Israel last Shabbos. Many of the terrorists had Hamas guidebooks in their possession called The Warriors Guide Jihad Version. The booklets contained instructions on how to take Israelis hostage, torture them in various ways such as via electric shocks, and execute them. The terrorists were also instructed to use captives as human shields if necessary and livestream their executions [which, in fact, at least some terrorists did]. Additionally, the guidebook had instructions for the terrorists to control the areas they conquered with snipers, car bombs, suicide bombings, and ambushes. We are faced with an extremely cruel, inhumane ending enemy which we have to uproot with no mercy, Herzog said. This was found on the body of one of the terrorists, this booklet is an instruction guide, how to go into a civilian premises, into a kibbutz, a city, a moshav, how to break in. And first thing what do you do when you find the citizens you torture them. This is the booklet it says exactly how to torture them, how to abduct them, how to kidnap them. So, therefore, the story is not Israel versus Palestinians or Judaism versus Islam the story is about humanity, are we with good or with evil. Thats where humanity should stand in the battle that we are carrying out now, as a nation rising up as a lion against evil, and we will uproot evil so that there will be good for the entire region and the world. Herzog also spoke about the civilian hostages Hamas abducted to Gaza: Who are these hostages? Babies, pregnant women, elderly people with dementia, even with caretakers, families, innocent civilians, from 36 nations people were killed or abducted from 36 nations. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) As of Monday, the IDF has informed the families of 199 individuals that their loved ones are currently held in the Gaza Strip, following their abduction during the Hamas-led terror attack in southern Israel on October 7. Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the IDF spokesman, disclosed that the military possesses some information regarding the whereabouts of these hostages in Gaza. He emphasized the determined efforts being made to ascertain their locations, emphasizing that any actions taken will prioritize the safety of Israeli citizens. Hagari stated during a press conference, We are making valiant efforts to try to understand where the hostages are in Gaza, and we have such information. He reiterated that the military would refrain from actions that might jeopardize the safety of its people. While the majority of these hostages are under the custody of Hamas, its worth noting that Palestinian Islamic Jihad has asserted its own claim to holding 30 hostages, further complicating efforts to secure their release. The status of the hostages, including their well-being, remains unknown at this time. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with representatives of the hostages families on Sunday and pledged to work tirelessly to secure the prompt return of the captives. (YWN World Headquarters NYC) Prior to Rosh Hashanah, which fell out this year on Shabbos and Sunday, several Gedolim, including HaGaon HaRav Moshe Shternbuch and HaGaon HaRav Yitzchak Zilberstein, spoke more than once about the fact that when the shofar isnt blown on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, the din for Klal Yisrael could be more severe. Both Gedolim emphasized the importance, especially this year, of being mechazeik in shemiras and kavod Shabbos, including learning hilchos Shabbos every day. HaRav Zilberstein even promised that anyone who is mekabeil to learn hilchos Shabbos on a regular basis will be decreed for a good year. Additionally, the Ravs talmidim say that in recent months, Rav Zilberstein constantly stresses during his drashos, shiurim, and sichos about kedushas haShabbos and the terrible punishment for those who are mechallel Shabbos or lend a hand to chillulei Shabbos by not acting against them. More recently, the Rav often asks for the song - to be played at simchos. As YWN reported, the residents of two communities near the Gaza Strip that are Shomer Shabbos were largely spared from the carnage that occurred last Shabbos. A video [as seen below] even shows the Hamas terrorists arriving last Shabbos morning at the gate of Kibbutz Saad, which was locked to traffic in accordance with the request of its Shomer Shabbos residents, and moving on. Another amazing story that was confirmed from a reliable source by YWN is that of M., a 22-year-old from a Chareidi home who has been struggling with his Yiddishkeit. He and his friends, also struggling, drove to the Negev on Thursday night of Chol Hamoed to attend the music festival. They partied late into the night, slept for a few hours in a tent, and the next day decided to remain for Shabbos/Simchas Torah but resolved to be shomer Shabbos the best they could. But at 4 p.m. on Hoshanah Raba, M. and his friends went into their tent for a break. The quiet inside the tent had an effect the excitement of the partying and loud music outside dissipated and their moods changed. They looked at each other and remembered past years when they were mekabeil Shabbos/Simchas Torah very differently in their homes and yeshivos. Each could see the yearning in each others eyes no words were necessary. Silently, they began packing up their belongings, headed to their car, and drove toward their homes in Yerushalayim, arriving right before Shekiyah. The massacre that they avoided by their last-minute decision does not need to be repeated here. Hashem should send all of those who were wounded a refuah sheleimah bnefesh uvaguf and a yeshuah to those who were abducted. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) Royal Mail is delivering post less than once a week in some towns and cities across Britain, it has emerged. Hospital appointment letters, birthday cards, parcels and important bills have all gone missing in delays caused by a staffing crisis. In one city, households say theyre receiving mail as infrequently as just once a fortnight. Postal workers say delivery rounds have been axed and letters are piled up at sorting offices, as they are told to prioritise the more lucrative tracked and signed for deliveries. They have branded the situation diabolical and say they are facing an angry backlash on the doorstep. Missing deliveries: Hospital appointment letters, birthday cards, parcels and important bills have all gone missing in delays caused by a staffing crisis One resident in Brighton said: Its absolutely atrocious. Im getting my post every 10 days or so and ended up missing a hospital appointment. The postal service in this city is not fit for purpose. Another said that after post failed to arrive they went to the sorting office and found they had seven letters and a parcel waiting for them. Caroline Lucas, Green MP for Brighton said: My constituents are experiencing very real problems with post deliveries, causing them to miss hospital appointments because letters do not turn up in time, as well as the delays compounding grief and heartache. This was the case for the mother who received beautiful letters meant for her adult son. He never got to see them because they arrived after he had died. Tim Loughton, Conservative MP for Worthing, said his constituents are seeing major problems with delivery. Deborah Bennett, of West Sussex, said a hospital appointment letter sent 1st class by her local hospital arrived a full 12 days after it was posted by the hospital. She tweeted: Weve not been receiving our mail, once per two weeks if we're lucky. Where's our mail? Complained three times to Royal Mail months ago. Ofcom has launched an investigation into delivery failures and has the power to issue a financial penalty to Royal Mail. The delivery delays come after Royal Mail recently caused outrage when it raised the price of a first class stamp 14 per cent from 1.10 to 1.25. The crisis is replicated in towns and cities across the UK with residents and businesses complaining service has dropped off as cliff. In Bath, one customer said: My wife celebrated her birthday without several cards and gifts which arrived a full fortnight afterwards despite being posted a week before her birthday. The system is broken. One resident in Widnes, Lancs, said there were two-hour queues outside the sorting office just to receive post, which should have been delivered. Low priority: Postal workers say rounds have been axed and letters are piled up at sorting offices, as they are told to prioritise the more lucrative tracked and signed for deliveries Social media platform X - formerly known as Twitter - has been awash with complaints about the frequency of deliveries overt the last fortnight. David Marsh in Newbury said: Has Royal Mail completely given up deliveries in my part of Newbury? We used to get 4-5 a week. For the last couple of months, its been one delivery a week. This week: nothing at all. Anna Arnone said: Royal Mail letter delivery services appear to be disintegrating. It feels like the service is being destroyed. Another angry father, John Bridgman said: No mail delivery all week when its my daughters birthday. Royal Mail your level of service is terrible. The fact you still sell stamps is a joke, people might as well tape their cards to a pigeon and cross their fingers. Jamie Derrick said: Can someone explain to me why 14 days after packages were posted to me Im still waiting for them to be delivered? No post for a week. Amazing that a service I pay for takes so long to deliver. Not good enough. Another resident said: My postal delivery has dropped off a cliff. I now get post once a week if Im lucky. Some of these letters are very important to me - things like hospital appointment letters. Royal Mail is bound by the universal postal service which requires it to deliver letters six days a week (Monday to Saturday) and parcels five days a week (Monday to Friday) to every address in the UK, at affordable prices that are uniform throughout the UK. These minimum requirements are set out in legislation, and any changes to them can only be made by the UK Government and Parliament. Ofcom, whose job it is to ensure the universal service is provided, said Royal Mail was failing to meet delivery targets. A spokesperson said: We know how frustrating and disruptive it can be when your post is delayed. We assess Royal Mails performance every year against annual delivery targets, and we are currently investigating its failure to meet its targets for 2022/23. Ofcom has the power to impose a financial penalty if Royal Mail fails to provide a proper service. A Royal Mail spokesperson said: We have dedicated teams responsible for identifying delays at our delivery offices and taking immediate action. This includes extensive recruitment 6,000 new postmen and women have been hired in the last 12 weeks and detailed plans to improve quality and provide a reliable service moving forward. These measures add to the extensive plans we have in place to ensure a successful festive period. We are hiring 16,000 seasonal workers, increasing our vehicle numbers, and boosting our operational capacity with extra parcel sorting sites to manage the expected demand. These actions and others are already making a difference. We are confident they will continue to improve our service, limit delays, and help deliver for our customers. The price of bitcoin spiked by 10 per cent this afternoon in response to false rumours the US regulator had approved the launch of a new Blackrock fund. The US Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) was rumoured to have given the greenlight to the long-awaited Blackrock Bitcoin Spot ETF, clearing the way for the launch of a vehicle capable of revolutionising how investors gain exposure to the cryptoasset. But the rumours, first published by crypto news outlet Coin Telegraph, were later denied by Blackrock which said: 'The iShares Bitcoin ETF application is still under review by the SEC.' This caused a rapid reversal of bitcoin's price, which stabilised around 2 per cent higher for the day by 4pm. The SEC is yet to comment. Bitcoin boom: The price of the crypto rocketed on unconfirmed Blackrock rumours An exchange traded fund tracking bitcoin's spot price would give investors a chance to invest in the world's biggest cryptocurrency without having to own it directly, which can be both risky and technically challenging. The SEC and Blackrock are yet to confirm the reports, but nonetheless, it rocketed from $22,500 a coin this morning to beyond $24,000 this afternoon. It is now sitting at $23,000 a coin after losing most of the gains but is still up nearly 4 per cent. The price of Bitcoin briefly spiked on the unconfirmed rumours In theory, the ETF would offer easier and safer exposure than buying crypto through unregulated platforms, as it trades on regulated markets. The SEC is yet to approve a spot bitcoin ETF and Blackrock is not alone in seeking approval, with rival asset managers Fidelity and Invesco also filing application. The regulator has so-far argued, however, that the fund managers have yet to prove they can protect investors from market manipulation. Bitcoin ETFs are available in Canada, for example, but a green light from the US regulator opens the door for billions of dollars in inflows. A recent US court ruling found the SEC was wrong to reject an application from Grayscale Investments to create such a fund, and reports suggest the regulator will not appeal the decision. Grayscale sued the SEC, arguing that because the agency previously approved certain surveillance agreements to prevent fraud in bitcoin futures-based ETFs the same setup should be satisfactory for Grayscale's spot ETF, according to the Reuters news agency. The investor argued that since both spot and futures funds rely on bitcoin's price, they should be treated the same. Futures-based bitcoin ETFs differ from spot ETFs because they hold futures contracts instead of the underlying bitcoin asset. The appeals court ruled that the SEC arbitrarily denied Grayscale's application because it never explained why the two arrangements were materially different. Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, meets with Chilean President Gabriel Boric in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 16, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan) BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislator Zhao Leji met with Chilean President Gabriel Boric here on Monday. The meeting took place ahead of the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, slated for Tuesday and Wednesday in Beijing. Zhao, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, said that although China and Chile are far apart from each other, the two countries enjoy profound traditional friendship. The development of the friendship has been firmly supported by the two governments and all sectors of society, setting a good example of solidarity and cooperation between developing countries. Zhao added that Chile is the first Latin American and Caribbean country to establish a legislative cooperation mechanism with China. The NPC is willing to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with the National Congress of Chile, implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, deepen friendly exchanges at all levels, provide legal guarantees for the high-quality Belt and Road cooperation between the two countries, and push the China-Chile comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level. Boric said Chile admires China's great achievements and cherishes the sincere friendship between the two countries. Chile is willing to actively participate in the joint construction of the Belt and Road, deepen cooperation with China in various fields, intensify exchanges between legislative bodies, and push for the leapfrog development of bilateral relations. Hao Mingjin, vice chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, also attended the meeting. Cornish Tin has been granted permission by the King to search for gold and silver as part of a revival of Cornwalls mining industry. The company said the Crown Estate, the monarchys land holdings portfolio, has granted it exclusive exploration rights to search for the precious metals across 123,447 acres or 14 per cent of Cornwall for six years. The county was historically a global leader in copper and tin production. The revival of its mining industry could boost employment in one of the UKs most deprived regions. Cornish Tins primary purpose is to look for lithium and tin, which are crucial in the shift to renewable energy and the production of mobile phone and electric car batteries. The discovery of gold and silver would boost funds available for its projects. Approval: King Charles's Crown Estate has granted Cornish Tin exclusive exploration rights to search for precious metals across 123,447 acres of Cornwall for six years The firm already has exploration and extraction rights to search for tin and lithium in a 3,900 acre zone within the larger area announced today, including its flagship Great Wheal Vor project in the historical mining district of Breage. The UK imports all its tin and lithium and companies are scrambling to secure a domestic supply of the minerals. Cornish Tin chief executive Sally Norcross-Webb said: Our world is one of conflict and disruptions of supply chains of the critical minerals essential for British industry. All the UKs tin and lithium is imported and its crucial that the UK gets its secure supply. Rivals including Cornish Lithium, Cornish Metals, Imerys-British Lithium and Tungsten West are all focused on boosting the UKs mining sector. In August, Cornish Lithium secured 53.6million of investment from the UK Infrastructure Bank. In June this year, meanwhile, British Lithium announced it has teamed up with French firm Imerys to open a mine in Cornwall which it says could extract enough lithium to power 500,000 electric cars by 2030. Norcross-Webb, a mining and corporate finance lawyer, founded the company in 2017, making Cornish Tin a relatively new player in the burgeoning sector. It is likely to be five years before it produces anything, with more fundraising and exploration on the agenda. It has raised 2.8million and aims for 3million more to fund a second drilling programme next year. Britain stands ready to provide aid for a humanitarian crisis in Gaza but will ensure no taxpayers money goes to terrorists, the international development minister has told the Mail. Andrew Mitchell said it would be imprudent not to plan for being involved in relief for the unfolding disaster. But he said the UK would not have any direct contact with Hamas. Mitchell said: When these awful humanitarian difficulties take place, Britain is always one of the first and most effective to bring relief to those who are suffering. We want to make sure that whatever happens following this appalling tragedy in Israel, we are able to play a part in helping. Taxing times: UK foreign aid minister Andrew Mitchell, in Marrakech (pictured), vowed that the UK will help bring relief to Gaza He was speaking during a visit to Marrakech in Morocco for the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings, which were overshadowed by the murderous attacks on Israel. The violence has sparked renewed conflict in which many Palestinians have also died, and further military action looks certain. Britain is considering moving humanitarian supplies into the region so that it can make the contribution that British people would expect us to be able to make, Mitchell said. It will mean that whatever happens and if the humanitarian situation deteriorates, we are able to play our part in mitigating it, he said. The generosity stands in contrast to the carping by the World Banks second-in-command in a BBC interview last week about the UKs reduced contribution to its aid programme. But helping innocent people in Gaza will be complicated by the fact that the territory is controlled by the terrorists of Hamas and Mitchell was quick to insist they would not benefit. What your readers will want to know is the same as what we want to know which is first of all that no money is being taken corruptly or by terrorists, he said. Britains work in the region is already heavily circumscribed. Whitehall stopped giving money two years ago to the Palestinian Authority which controls the West Bank, separate from Hamas-controlled Gaza and does not even talk to Hamas. We watch like a hawk everything, everywhere, every penny that is being spent, Mitchell said. That was true before this tragedy and we continue to do so. Mitchell insists, however, that Britain must stand ready to help. The MP for Sutton Coldfield said: It would be imprudent not to be planning for any eventuality because it is possible that a humanitarian crisis is going to escalate. We have identified funding money for all eventualities, what Britain can do to help. We have pre-positioned supplies in Dubai. We may need to increase them, we may need to put them somewhere else. These are things we are actively looking at, at the moment. Terror state: Helping innocent people in Gaza will be complicated by the fact that the territory is controlled by the terrorists of Hamas The aid would be provided via UNOCHA, the United Nations arm which coordinates relief efforts during humanitarian emergencies and is led by Martin Griffiths, a Briton. Britains status as a donor to poor countries has come into focus since it reduced its commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of GDP on aid to 0.5 per cent. Last week, Axel van Trotsenburg, the World Banks number two, said Britains reduced funding had caused real pain. He was referring to Britain halving its contribution to the International Development Association (IDA) the arm of the World Bank which provides low interest loans and grants to the worlds poorest countries to 500million. Mitchell said van Trotsenburgs comments failed to take account of all of the support Britain provided and insisted the view was not shared by his boss, World Bank president Ajay Banga, who Mitchell said would agree that Britain punches above its weight. He added: Its important to recognise that while in Britain following Covid we did rein back some of our spending on the IDA programme, we were previously spending more than the Americans that doesnt feel right. 'We are the third biggest supporter of IDA and we are behind the Americans and the Japanese. As a backbencher, Mitchell led the rebellion against the reduction in the aid budget but came back into government last year. He said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had asked him to make sure we got the best possible value for money out of spending. And Mitchell said that other efforts by Britain from guaranteeing loans to using Londons financial expertise effectively dwarf the cut in the 0.7 per cent. He added: We are doing our best. Needs must. So faced with this, we have been ingenious in financial engineering, in finding new, and clever ways, to augment the spending and what we do with the spending. Mitchells comments came before Chancellor Jeremy Hunts warning last week that difficult decisions on spending would be needed at the autumn statement. Yet the minister will no doubt continue to make the case for the value of Britains aid commitments and its practical impact on those at home. The argument for a robust aid and development budget is that it is designed to create safer and more prosperous, less conflict-ridden societies over there so that people dont feel the need to migrate and come to Europe and the prosperous world, said the 67-year-old minister. Every penny of the British international development budget is spent in Britains national interest. Why? Because if its safer and more prosperous over there that tends to come back to us in making us safer and more prosperous too. A cryptocurrency issuer has frozen a number of accounts linked to terrorism. Tether which controls stablecoin, a digital currency designed to have a consistent value of $1 to avoid the wild price swings of other cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin yesterday it said it had frozen accounts worth 718,305 due to what it said were links to terrorism in Israel and Ukraine. A spokesman revealed that the company has frozen 32 crypto accounts because of illicit activity. Tether said it has been working with Israels National Bureau for Counter-Terror Financing (NBCTF) to counter cryptocurrency-funded terrorism and warfare. The company did not provide details of the owners of the frozen accounts, or the split between those connected to Ukraine or Israel. Terror threat: Tether which controls stablecoin - said it had frozen accounts worth 718,305 due to what it said were links to terrorism in Israel and Ukraine Tethers decision is likely to further fuel criticism of the cryptocurrency sector. Many have previously argued that the ability to use anonymous crypto wallets strings of numbers and letters that identify a user to send and receive digital currency makes it much easier for terrorists and other criminals to transfer money undetected. Last week, Israeli authorities said they had frozen cryptocurrency accounts that were being used to solicit donations for Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group which earlier this month launched attacks on the country that killed around 1,400 people. The country has seized crypto accounts linked to Hamas in the past, as well as others tied to militant groups such as Islamic State (ISIS). Tether boss Paolo Ardoino said his firm is working with authorities to track and trace the illicit movement of funds. Supermarkets are rushing to hire tens of thousands of temporary workers to deal with what looks likely to be a bumper Christmas. Some of the largest grocers in the country have so far said they are looking for at least 74,000 extra workers to help them cope with demand. Marks & Spencer became the latest business to announce it was recruiting thousands of extra staff for retails all-important golden quarter. The High Street stalwart said yesterday it is taking on 10,000 temporary workers for the festive period more than 40 per cent more than last Christmas. M&S, which last month rejoined the FTSE 100 after a four-year absence, said it needs more staff to help customers on the shop floor. Hiring: M&S has been boosted by rising sales in both its food and clothing departments, with actress Sienna Miller (pictured) brought in to front the latest womenswear campaign The temps will begin their jobs on November 19. M&S operations director Sacha Berendji said: This year were recruiting even more colleagues to ensure theres always someone on hand to offer support and recommendations. The Christmas period is a busy but exciting time for M&S and no two days are the same. Tesco, Britains largest supermarket, last week said it was hiring 30,000 temporary staff. Sainsburys has said it will take on an extra 22,000. Waitrose, Morrisons and Aldi are also beefing up their workforces. Jonathan De Mello, an analyst at consultancy JDM Retail, said grocers recruitment campaigns are starting earlier than before. This is because retailers have cut permanent staff hours over the past year to save money, he said. At the same time, shoppers are getting ready for Christmas early to spread the cost. And pressure is mounting on retailers to ensure they start their recruitment drive early enough to secure the workers they need. Amazon is bringing in 15,000 temps for the Christmas period. Kate Shoesmith, deputy chief executive of professional body, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, said that labour and skills shortages meant thousands of seasonal roles went unfilled this summer. She added: If they dont get their hiring plans right, many shops, stores and showrooms will be unable to provide the necessary customer service at this critical time in their business cycle. Supermarkets are in a fierce battle for business as traditional chains such as Tesco, Sainsburys, Asda and Morrisons face competition from Aldi and Lidl. The German discounters have seen their sales soar as the rising cost of living hits customers in the pocket, forcing them to seek cheaper alternatives. Tesco has led the fightback and earlier this month said shoppers are stocking up on frozen food and beginning to think about Christmas. M&S has also been boosted by rising sales in both its food and clothing departments, with Layer Cake and American Sniper actress Sienna Miller brought in to front the latest womenswear campaign. It is thought shoppers will pick up more Christmas gifts at supermarkets this year as they trade down from other retailers. With incomes being squeezed, a lot of that gifting will be done well in advance, De Mello said. The recruitment drive is coming at a price, he warned, with grocers paying over the odds for temps as wages soar. They are also using perks such as discounts, voucher codes and the promise of free food on shift to entice potential employees. A lot of festive workers are very much living on the breadline and a seasonal job at a supermarket will represent a second, third or even fourth job for many people, he said. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is facing calls to cut the tax levied on insurance premiums. The plea from the insurance industry's trade body comes as insurance premium tax (IPT) receipts hit record levels on the back of the soaring cost of cover. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) says a cut in next month's Autumn Statement would help businesses and households cope better with the cost-of-living crisis. In the last financial year, the Government raised a record 7.3 billion from IPT, which is charged at 12 per cent on mainstream insurance policies such as household, motor, private medical and pet cover. Some cover, such as travel, attracts a charge of 20 per cent. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) is calling on Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to cut the tax levied on insurance premiums This tax take compares with 6.6 billion in the previous financial year. Already this year, IPT receipts have totalled nearly 2.8 billion in the first four months a 27 per cent increase compared to the same period last year. This suggests another record-breaking year with the amount of IPT raised likely to exceed the 7.6 billion forecast by the Office of Budget Responsibility in March. The ABI said: 'Insurance Premium Tax penalises people for being responsible. 'With businesses and households facing continuing difficulties with the cost-of-living crisis, now is the time for the Government to relieve some of that pressure and consider cutting the tax.' The MoS has highlighted the huge increases in insurance tax, reporting the experience of readers, for example, who have seen motor renewal premiums jump from 371 to 2,215 The MoS has regularly highlighted the huge increases in insurance tax, reporting the experience of readers, who, for example, have seen motor renewal premiums jump from 371 to 2,215. There is concern that Ministers have been reluctant to challenge insurance firms' big increases because the Treasury benefits richly from the extra take 7.3billion is more than the amount the Government would lose if it cut the basic rate of income tax by one per cent. The tax was introduced in 1994 with a single rate of 2.5 per cent. A second higher rate was implemented three years later on travel, household appliances and some motor vehicle cover. The result has been steadily inflated premiums. The Taxpayers' Alliance lobby group has called for reforms, with the 20 per cent rate scrapped. The ABI's call is not universally backed. Although the increase in Government revenue from IPT is in part a result of an increase in sales of private medical insurance against the backdrop of a stretched NHS, the main driver is insurers pushing up prices. On Friday, comparison website Confused.com said car insurance prices had risen on average by 58 per cent over the past year, with the typical policy now at 924. Dennis Reed, head of Silver Voices, a campaign group representing the elderly, said a reduction in IPT was not the priority. He pointed the finger at insurers he says are taking customers especially the elderly for a 'ride' with unjustifiable hikes in premiums. Mr Reed said: 'Premiums are rising for people when they have an exemplary no-claims record. 'Prices should be related to risk and not rising for some spurious reason for example, because a driver has hit age 70 or 80 and suddenly deemed to be a danger to other motorists. 'Insurers should be striving to reduce prices, which in turn would reduce the IPT take.' The Treasury said: 'Revenue from Insurance Premium Tax contributes towards vital public services, such as the NHS, social care and defence.' StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Crestwood Equity Partners (NYSE:CEQP Free Report) in a research report released on Friday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the pipeline companys stock. A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Crestwood Equity Partners from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $26.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Citigroup lowered Crestwood Equity Partners from a buy rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $28.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Raymond James downgraded Crestwood Equity Partners from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, August 25th. Truist Financial cut Crestwood Equity Partners from a buy rating to a hold rating and cut their target price for the company from $31.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Crestwood Equity Partners from a neutral rating to an underweight rating and lowered their price target for the company from $30.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Crestwood Equity Partners presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $28.13. Get Crestwood Equity Partners alerts: View Our Latest Stock Analysis on CEQP Crestwood Equity Partners Stock Performance Shares of CEQP opened at $29.20 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $28.26 and a 200-day moving average of $26.84. Crestwood Equity Partners has a one year low of $22.11 and a one year high of $31.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of 31.40 and a beta of 2.39. Crestwood Equity Partners (NYSE:CEQP Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The pipeline company reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.90. Crestwood Equity Partners had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.11%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.14 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Crestwood Equity Partners will post 2.1 EPS for the current fiscal year. Crestwood Equity Partners Dividend Announcement The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.655 per share. This represents a $2.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 20th. Crestwood Equity Partnerss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 281.72%. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crestwood Equity Partners Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Crestwood Equity Partners by 7.5% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 19,494 shares of the pipeline companys stock worth $570,000 after purchasing an additional 1,355 shares in the last quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON boosted its holdings in Crestwood Equity Partners by 85.1% in the 2nd quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 803,586 shares of the pipeline companys stock worth $21,279,000 after buying an additional 369,554 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Crestwood Equity Partners by 39.3% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 260,854 shares of the pipeline companys stock valued at $6,908,000 after buying an additional 73,641 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in Crestwood Equity Partners by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 342,360 shares of the pipeline companys stock valued at $9,066,000 after acquiring an additional 13,158 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Crestwood Equity Partners by 33,944.8% during the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,516,383 shares of the pipeline companys stock worth $119,594,000 after acquiring an additional 4,503,117 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.64% of the companys stock. Crestwood Equity Partners Company Profile (Get Free Report) Crestwood Equity Partners LP develops, acquires, owns, controls, and operates assets and operations in the energy midstream sector in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Gathering and Processing North; Gathering and Processing South; and Storage and Logistics. The Gathering and Processing North segment offers natural gas, crude oil, and produced water gathering, compression, treating, processing, and disposal services to producers in the Williston Basin and Powder River Basin. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Crestwood Equity Partners Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Crestwood Equity Partners and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com lowered shares of Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Friday morning. Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $69.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 11th. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $59.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $67.92. Get Coca-Cola alerts: Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on KO Coca-Cola Price Performance KO stock opened at $52.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.14. Coca-Cola has a 52-week low of $51.55 and a 52-week high of $64.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $228.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.77, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $58.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.57. Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.06. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 23.81% and a return on equity of 43.06%. The business had revenue of $12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.70 EPS. The businesss revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Coca-Cola will post 2.63 EPS for the current fiscal year. Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. Coca-Colas dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.72%. Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 92,029 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.09, for a total transaction of $5,345,964.61. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $25,707,497.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 92,029 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.09, for a total transaction of $5,345,964.61. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares in the company, valued at $25,707,497.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO John Murphy sold 156,290 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.10, for a total transaction of $9,705,609.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 228,830 shares in the company, valued at $14,210,343. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 319,393 shares of company stock worth $19,467,980. Company insiders own 1.00% of the companys stock. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coca-Cola Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Coca-Cola by 16.7% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 12,227 shares of the companys stock worth $758,000 after acquiring an additional 1,754 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Coca-Cola by 41.4% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 149,275 shares of the companys stock valued at $9,255,000 after acquiring an additional 43,680 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC lifted its holdings in Coca-Cola by 385.3% in the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 19,032 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,180,000 after acquiring an additional 15,110 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,840,557 shares of the companys stock worth $176,115,000 after purchasing an additional 301,804 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.96% of the companys stock. Coca-Cola Company Profile (Get Free Report) The Coca-Cola Company, a beverage company, manufactures, markets, and sells various nonalcoholic beverages worldwide. The company provides sparkling soft drinks, sparkling flavors; water, sports, coffee, and tea; juice, value-added dairy, and plant-based beverages; and other beverages. It also offers beverage concentrates and syrups, as well as fountain syrups to fountain retailers, such as restaurants and convenience stores. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Coca-Cola Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Coca-Cola and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS Free Report) by 164.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 392,139 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 243,754 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NVs holdings in Otis Worldwide were worth $34,904,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its position in shares of Otis Worldwide by 76.4% during the second quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 7,137 shares of the companys stock valued at $635,000 after buying an additional 3,091 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Otis Worldwide by 5.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 25,474 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,267,000 after buying an additional 1,272 shares during the last quarter. Selway Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Otis Worldwide by 1.5% during the second quarter. Selway Asset Management now owns 17,205 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,531,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Core Alternative Capital lifted its position in shares of Otis Worldwide by 91.1% during the second quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 302 shares of the companys stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horan Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Otis Worldwide by 42.0% during the second quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 1,360 shares of the companys stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. 85.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Otis Worldwide alerts: Insider Transactions at Otis Worldwide In other news, insider Fernandez Bernardo Calleja sold 3,992 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.70, for a total transaction of $362,074.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 42,097 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,818,197.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Fernandez Bernardo Calleja sold 3,992 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.70, for a total transaction of $362,074.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 42,097 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,818,197.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael Patrick Ryan sold 6,372 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.50, for a total transaction of $576,666.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the companys stock. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several analysts have commented on OTIS shares. TheStreet raised shares of Otis Worldwide from a c+ rating to a b rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Otis Worldwide from $92.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Monday, October 9th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Otis Worldwide from $80.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 7th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Otis Worldwide from $96.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Finally, HSBC increased their price objective on shares of Otis Worldwide from $81.00 to $88.00 in a research report on Friday, June 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $86.75. Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Otis Worldwide Otis Worldwide Trading Down 0.5 % Shares of NYSE:OTIS opened at $80.00 on Monday. Otis Worldwide Co. has a twelve month low of $63.83 and a twelve month high of $91.33. The companys 50 day moving average is $82.99 and its 200 day moving average is $84.52. The company has a market cap of $32.94 billion, a PE ratio of 25.24 and a beta of 0.98. Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.06. Otis Worldwide had a net margin of 9.59% and a negative return on equity of 28.62%. The company had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.86 EPS. Otis Worldwides quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Otis Worldwide Co. will post 3.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Otis Worldwide Announces Dividend The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 8th. Investors of record on Friday, August 18th were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 17th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. Otis Worldwides dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.90%. Otis Worldwide Company Profile (Free Report) Otis Worldwide Corporation engages in the manufacturing, installation, and servicing of elevators and escalators in the United States, China, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, New Equipment and Service. The New Equipment segment designs, manufactures, sells, and installs a range of passenger and freight elevators, as well as escalators and moving walkways for residential and commercial buildings, and infrastructure projects. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding OTIS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Otis Worldwide Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Otis Worldwide and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG 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 2,020,000 shares, an increase of 12.8% from the September 15th total of 1,790,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 719,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days. Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 30,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.99, for a total value of $6,779,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 164,371 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $37,146,202.29. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 3,300 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.14, for a total transaction of $746,262.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 10,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,445,930.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 30,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 164,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,146,202.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 75,688 shares of company stock valued at $17,388,097 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.60% of the companys stock. Get Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. alerts: Institutional Trading of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 89.9% during the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 131 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter worth about $30,000. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the companys stock. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of brokerages recently commented on AJG. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, September 14th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $220.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 20th. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $232.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $262.00 to $266.00 in a research report on Friday, October 6th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $250.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $241.07. Get Our Latest Report on AJG Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 0.4 % Shares of AJG traded up $1.02 on Monday, reaching $234.90. The stock had a trading volume of 13,472 shares, compared to its average volume of 830,447. 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. has a 12-month low of $169.01 and a 12-month high of $237.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $228.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $216.59. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 18.65% and a net margin of 12.11%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 8.7 EPS for the current year. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 1st were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 31st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.s payout ratio is 42.88%. About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (Get 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. See Also 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. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF (BATS:GOVT Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 24,697 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $566,000. iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF accounts for approximately 0.6% of Kingdom Financial Group LLC.s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF by 169.7% during the 1st quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 182,350 shares of the companys stock worth $4,263,000 after purchasing an additional 114,738 shares in the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 18,922 shares of the companys stock valued at $442,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Simplicity Solutions LLC acquired a new position in iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF during the first quarter worth $597,000. WBH Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,677,000. Finally, ONE Advisory Partners LLC raised its position in iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF by 2.7% during the second quarter. ONE Advisory Partners LLC now owns 315,942 shares of the companys stock worth $7,235,000 after acquiring an additional 8,236 shares during the last quarter. Get iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF alerts: iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF Price Performance Shares of GOVT stock traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $21.99. The companys stock had a trading volume of 8,149,823 shares. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $22.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.79. iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF Cuts Dividend iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF Profile The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 3rd were issued a $0.0486 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 2nd. (Free Report) The iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF (GOVT) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the ICE U.S. Treasury Core Bond index. The fund tracks a market-weighted index of fixed-rate nonconvertible U.S. Treasury securities with a remaining maturity of one year or more. GOVT was launched on Feb 14, 2012 and is managed by BlackRock. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with Turkmen Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 16, 2023. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing) BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Turkmen Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov in Beijing on Monday. Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that the two heads of state announced this year the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Turkmenistan, opening a new era for bilateral cooperation. China is willing to work with Turkmenistan to comprehensively deepen bilateral cooperation and push the comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level, Wang said. Wang added that Turkmenistan is a key partner in jointly building the Belt and Road, and Turkmenistan's participation in the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will inject new impetus into bilateral cooperation and push forward landmark cooperation projects. Meredov said the two heads of state attach great importance to mutually beneficial cooperation. Turkmenistan hopes to further tap the potential of cooperation in various fields and push forward the comprehensive strategic partnership, he said. Turkmenistan actively supports and participates in the Belt and Road Initiative, Meredov said, adding that the Turkmen side hopes to strengthen the alignment of its initiative to revive the Great Silk Road with the Belt and Road Initiative. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with Turkmen Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 16, 2023. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing) Kingdom Financial Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF (BATS:EFG Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 37,262 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,555,000. iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF accounts for approximately 3.5% of Kingdom Financial Group LLC.s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EFG. Prosperity Planning Inc. grew its stake in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF by 4.6% in the second quarter. Prosperity Planning Inc. now owns 2,378 shares of the companys stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC increased its holdings in iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF by 0.3% in the first quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 36,136 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,385,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Group Inc. now owns 11,802 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,106,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Benedetti & Gucer Inc. increased its stake in iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF by 1.0% during the first quarter. Benedetti & Gucer Inc. now owns 12,114 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,135,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its holdings in iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF by 0.3% in the second quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 46,751 shares of the companys stock worth $4,461,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Get iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF alerts: iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF Stock Performance Shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF stock traded down $0.87 on Monday, reaching $86.12. 532,087 shares of the company were exchanged. iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF has a 1-year low of $67.58 and a 1-year high of $85.81. The firm has a market cap of $11.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.69 and a beta of 0.89. The companys 50-day moving average is $89.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.13. iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF Company Profile iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF (the Fund), formerly iShares MSCI EAFE Growth Index Fund, is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the MSCI EAFE Growth Index (the Index). The Index is a subset of the MSCI EAFE Index and constituents of the Index include securities from Europe, Australasia (Australia and Asia), and the Far East. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Trust Co. of Virginia VA decreased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG Free Report) by 24.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,158 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Virginia VAs holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $693,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Carderock Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter worth about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the companys stock. Get Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. alerts: Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 30,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.99, for a total value of $6,779,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 164,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,146,202.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 4,588 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.92, for a total value of $1,050,284.96. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 127,942 shares of the companys stock, valued at $29,288,482.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 30,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.99, for a total value of $6,779,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 164,371 shares of the companys stock, valued at $37,146,202.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 75,688 shares of company stock worth $17,388,097. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $262.00 to $266.00 in a research report on Friday, October 6th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $220.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 20th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research report on Monday, September 18th. Argus upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $232.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $233.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $241.07. Read Our Latest Report on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance NYSE AJG traded up $3.22 on Monday, hitting $237.10. 109,774 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 830,889. The firms 50-day moving average price is $228.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $216.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.16 billion, a PE ratio of 45.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $169.01 and a 1-year high of $237.63. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $2.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. The firms quarterly revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 8.7 EPS for the current year. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 1st were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 31st. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.88%. 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. Recommended Stories 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. The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW Get Free Report) shot up 6.2% during mid-day trading on Monday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $54.60 and last traded at $54.53. 8,957,994 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average session volume of 15,988,722 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.33. The financial services provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 27.54% and a net margin of 33.15%. The firm had revenue of $4.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. The companys quarterly revenue was down 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. Get Charles Schwab alerts: Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 25th. Investors of record on Friday, August 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Charles Schwabs dividend payout ratio is presently 29.15%. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In SCHW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $69.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, July 20th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $81.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Charles Schwab from $66.00 to $62.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $70.03. View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Charles Schwab Insiders Place Their Bets In other Charles Schwab news, Director Charles A. Ruffel purchased 833 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $60.55 per share, with a total value of $50,438.15. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,386 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $205,022.30. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Charles A. Ruffel acquired 833 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $60.55 per share, for a total transaction of $50,438.15. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,386 shares in the company, valued at $205,022.30. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 72,047 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.66, for a total value of $4,802,653.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 59,748,538 shares in the company, valued at $3,982,837,543.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 159,599 shares of company stock valued at $10,542,469 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 6.60% of the companys stock. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Charles Schwab Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC IL increased its holdings in Charles Schwab by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC IL now owns 18,901 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,038,000 after purchasing an additional 1,271 shares during the period. LexAurum Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the third quarter valued at approximately $570,000. Herbst Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.8% during the third quarter. Herbst Group LLC now owns 47,350 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $2,600,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab in the third quarter worth $428,000. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 4.9% in the third quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 11,875 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $652,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. 81.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Charles Schwab Trading Up 5.4 % The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.80 billion, a PE ratio of 15.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.93. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is $57.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.00. Charles Schwab Company Profile (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. Further Reading 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. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC reduced its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY Free Report) by 16.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,592 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after selling 704 shares during the quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLCs holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $230,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.6% in the second quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC now owns 49,112 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $3,141,000 after buying an additional 797 shares during the period. Plancorp LLC lifted its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.2% during the second quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 8,973 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $574,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Security Asset Management lifted its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 20.3% during the first quarter. Security Asset Management now owns 9,230 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,558 shares during the period. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc lifted its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.5% during the second quarter. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc now owns 22,040 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $1,409,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the period. Finally, Mcdaniel Terry & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 6,915 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $442,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.98% of the companys stock. Get Bristol-Myers Squibb alerts: Bristol-Myers Squibb Trading Up 0.9 % Shares of NYSE:BMY opened at $56.98 on Monday. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 52-week low of $55.69 and a 52-week high of $81.43. The company has a market capitalization of $119.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.39. Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement Bristol-Myers Squibb ( NYSE:BMY Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.99 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.81 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a net margin of 17.62% and a return on equity of 50.51%. The firms revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 7.42 earnings per share for the current year. The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 6th will be given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 5th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.00%. Bristol-Myers Squibbs dividend payout ratio is currently 60.64%. Analysts Set New Price Targets Several research firms recently weighed in on BMY. Daiwa Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Wednesday, June 28th. They issued an outperform rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 11th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $62.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Monday, October 2nd. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a buy rating for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an overweight rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Monday, October 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bristol-Myers Squibb currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $69.29. View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Bristol-Myers Squibb Insider Buying and Selling at Bristol-Myers Squibb In related news, EVP Robert M. Plenge sold 732 shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.14, for a total transaction of $44,754.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,584 shares of the companys stock, valued at $402,545.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Ann Powell sold 17,986 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.25, for a total transaction of $1,101,642.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,868 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,706,915. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Robert M. Plenge sold 732 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.14, for a total transaction of $44,754.48. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,584 shares of the companys stock, valued at $402,545.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.09% of the companys stock. About Bristol-Myers Squibb (Free Report) Bristol-Myers Squibb Company discovers, develops, licenses, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It offers products for hematology, oncology, cardiovascular, immunology, fibrotic, and neuroscience diseases. The company's products include Eliquis, an oral inhibitor for reduction in risk of stroke/systemic embolism in NVAF, and for the treatment of DVT/PE; Opdivo for anti-cancer indications; Pomalyst/Imnovid indicated for patients with multiple myeloma; Orencia for adult patients with active RA and psoriatic arthritis; and Sprycel for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia. Read More 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. Strs Ohio lessened its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE Free Report) by 5.9% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,254,992 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after selling 142,482 shares during the period. Strs Ohios holdings in Pfizer were worth $82,713,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 98,197.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,948,438,709 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $71,468,732,000 after acquiring an additional 1,946,456,532 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 445,384,893 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $18,171,704,000 after acquiring an additional 2,516,132 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 218,931,933 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $8,932,423,000 after acquiring an additional 19,602,359 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 89,592.7% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 161,143,638 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $8,257,000,000 after purchasing an additional 160,963,976 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 109,852,779 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $4,472,433,000 after purchasing an additional 577,201 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.05% of the companys stock. Get Pfizer alerts: Pfizer Stock Up 3.9 % Shares of Pfizer stock opened at $33.36 on Monday. Pfizer Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.77 and a 12-month high of $54.93. The company has a market cap of $188.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.54, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $34.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.94. Pfizer Announces Dividend Pfizer ( NYSE:PFE Get Free Report ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $12.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.36 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 27.55% and a return on equity of 28.36%. The firms quarterly revenue was down 54.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.04 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 3.33 EPS for the current year. The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 9th. Pfizers dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.62%. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PFE. Credit Suisse Group cut Pfizer from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $40.00 in a report on Thursday, June 29th. TheStreet lowered shares of Pfizer from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research report on Monday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Pfizer from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Pfizer from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Pfizer from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $45.41. Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Pfizer 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. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PFE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE Free Report). 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. Chinese Premier Li Qiang holds talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 16, 2023. Orban is here to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation and pay an official visit to the country. (Xinhua/Liu Bin) BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Monday held talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Beijing. Li said the mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Hungary has achieved fruitful results in recent years and set a good example for fostering a new type of international relations. Li pointed out that China is willing to align the Belt and Road Initiative with Hungary's "Opening to the East" policy more closely and make joint efforts to promote the continuous upgrade of pragmatic cooperation in trade, investment, finance and other fields. China will step up the Budapest-Belgrade Railway project and expand innovative cooperation in the fields of new energy, digital economy and artificial intelligence, the premier said. China stands ready to work with Hungary to make global governance more just and equitable, Li said, adding that China's development is an opportunity rather than a challenge, and a driving force rather than a risk for Europe. Orban said Hungary will continue to actively participate in Belt and Road cooperation, support connectivity and open cooperation, and oppose decoupling and isolation. After the talks, Li and Orban witnessed the signing of a number of bilateral cooperation documents in sectors including Belt and Road cooperation, education, supply chains, development policies, digital economy and green development. Chinese Premier Li Qiang holds a welcoming ceremony for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban prior to their talks at the Northern Hall of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 16, 2023. Orban is here to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation and pay an official visit to the country. (Xinhua/Liu Bin) BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been a key force in driving global growth over the past decade when the world economy faces mounting challenges, including a sluggish recovery and rising protectionism. Remarkable achievements have been made in boosting trade and investment, improving global industrial and supply chains, and promoting more balanced development since the BRI was proposed in 2013, according to experts. Infrastructure investment and the facilitation of trade and investment are two major drivers of faster global economic growth, and the BRI has made enormous contributions to both aspects, said He Weiwen, an expert with the China Association of International Trade. From 2013 to 2022, the cumulative value of imports and exports between China and BRI partner countries amounted to 19.1 trillion U.S. dollars, with an average annual growth rate of 6.4 percent, according to a white paper released by China's State Council Information Office last week. Cumulative two-way investment between China and partner countries came in at 380 billion U.S. dollars during the period, including some 240 billion U.S. dollars from China, the white paper said. Over 3,000 BRI cooperation projects have been launched in the past decade, involving close to 1 trillion U.S. dollars of investment. Many of these projects, such as railways, bridges, and pipelines, have helped build an infrastructure network that connects subregions in Asia as well as the continents of Asia, Europe, and Africa. By improving infrastructure connectivity, BRI cooperation can reduce international trade costs and enable underdeveloped countries, especially those inland ones, to participate in global trade and seek economic development, said Liu Nanxing, an expert on international cooperation at the National Development and Reform Commission. Interconnected infrastructure under the BRI framework has played an important role in maintaining the stability and smooth flow of global industrial and supply chains, said Hu Biliang, executive director of the Belt and Road School at Beijing Normal University. Moreover, it has provided the energy and transport facilities much needed by underdeveloped and developing countries to allow them to participate in global industrial and supply chains, Hu noted. By the end of June 2023, China had signed agreements on industrial capacity cooperation with more than 40 countries. More than 70 overseas industrial parks have been built by Chinese enterprises together with governments and enterprises in partner countries, according to the white paper. "Projects for industrial capacity cooperation have helped BRI partner countries upgrade their industries for stronger competitiveness," Liu said. Citing research results from the World Bank, Wang Lei, a scholar with the School of Government at Beijing Normal University, said the proposed BRI transportation network and the resulting increases in foreign direct investment can increase BRI countries' GDP growth by 0.09 percentage points, including a rise of 0.23 percentage points in Sub-Saharan Africa. "This is truly remarkable. These are real tangible contributions made to global sustainable development," Wang said. By involving countries in different regions, at different development stages, and with different cultures, the BRI has pursued open and inclusive growth at a time when globalization dominated by only a few developed countries has led to imbalanced economic development, experts say. "The BRI is a key platform for galvanizing the world economy," said Wang Fan, president of China Foreign Affairs University, who pointed to a throng of challenges facing the global growth prospects, including rising protectionism and volatility in the international landscape. The BRI does not target any party or seek to form cliques, nor does it attempt to decouple or sever supply chains, Wang said, noting that it pursues common development of humanity instead, with great vitality and influence. By June 2023, China had signed more than 200 BRI cooperation agreements with more than 150 countries and 30 international organizations across five continents. The World Bank has estimated that by 2030, BRI-related investments could lift 7.6 million people out of extreme poverty and 32 million out of moderate poverty. "By advancing modernization for all countries, the restructuring of global value chains, and mutually beneficial co-existence of all parties, the BRI has invigorated a new model of international development," Liu said. Tipperary TD Jackie Cahill has spoken out in support of Section 39 workers and called for pay-parity for the sector. The Fianna Fail TD has urged the relevant Ministers in the Department to act immediately to restore pay-parity and avert hugely disruptive industrial action which is due to commence tomorrow. S39 workers deserve equal treatment and pay-parity. The work they do in our communities for those who need it most is clear and will really come into focus in the coming weeks if industrial action is not averted. Thousands of individuals and families will face significant hardship over the coming weeks if talks are not successful over the coming days. I am calling on the Minister to intervene and ensure that pay-parity is restored for these vital workers in our communities. It is essential that the vital work that S39 workers do is recognised and that they receive the appropriate renumeration for the work they do. This dispute has been going on too long now and must be fairly resolved," he said. Meanwhile, Enable Ireland, which has a number of centres in Tipperary, said in a statement this Monday that following the notice of industrial action by Forsa, SIPTU and INMO members at Enable Ireland locations nationwide, they anticipate that there will be substantial disruption to Enable Ireland services, including the closure of many services, from this Tuesday onwards and to continue indefinitely. For many years, Enable Ireland had advocated for a return to pay parity and alignment for our staff and they fully support staff demands for equal pay with HSE and Section 38 staff, the service said in a statement. "While we support the requested pay increase, we are not in a position to fund it directly. As of October 1, the pay parity gap in Enable Ireland is currently costed at 5.7m per annum. Enable Ireland do not have the funding to pay for this," they said. "We are calling on the Government to urgently intervene in this dispute and provide the funding required for equal pay now and in the future for Enable Ireland staff." They said that they were very aware of how difficult this situation was for the thousands of families and individuals who rely on their services. "Our valued employees are essential to deliver these critical services to children and adults and their families. This pay inequity has created a recruitment and retention crisis for Enable Irelands services resulting in significant vacancies in our services for children and adult. High vacancy and staff turnover rates negatively impact the quality and quantity of services we can offer to children, adults and their families. Unless it is resolved, this issue will continue to impact the long-term sustainability of Enable Ireland," they said. Irish President Michael D Higgins has criticised Ursula von der Leyens comments on the Israel-Hamas war. Mr Higgins said the EU Commission president was not speaking for Ireland and she wasnt speaking for the opinions that they hold. He was speaking at the World Food Forum in Rome, where he joined criticism of Ms von der Leyens comments on the Middle East conflict where she did not urge Israel to ensure its retaliation for the Hamas attacks to conform with international law. There is no justification for Hamas heinous act of terror. Israel has the right to defend itself. At the same time civilians in Gaza are also victims of Hamas. This is why we are tripling our humanitarian aid for Palestinians in need. pic.twitter.com/x0zlUOKdb8 Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) October 15, 2023 More than 4,000 people have been killed in Israel and Palestine since Hamass action on October 7. In retaliation, Israel cut off food, fuel and electricity to the Gaza Strip, an area inhabited by 2.3 million people, around half of whom are children. Mr Higgins has previously said that Israels response must respect international law, while Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said Israel is engaging in collective punishment in the region. As well as the thousands killed in Israeli counter-attacks, at least 9,700 have been wounded in the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestine health ministry, with hospitals nearing collapse due to lack of resources. In the past week France has ordered a ban on pro-Palestinian demonstrations, and Germany has offered military help to Israel. Ms von der Leyen was criticised for failing to urge Israel to protect Palestinian civilians and stay within the bounds of international law. She has said: I know that how Israel responds will show that it is a democracy. President Higgins said a better performance was needed from EU leadership. I dont know where the source of those decisions was. I dont know where the legitimation for it was and I dont know where the authority for it is and I dont think it was helpful, he said. It may not have been meant to have malevolent consequences but certainly we need a better performance in relation to European Union diplomacy and practice. As a result of air strikes, rapidly diminishing supplies, and a mass evacuation order from Israel, more than a million people have fled their homes in the north of the Gaza Strip. According to the UN, 60% of them are in the approximately eight-mile area south of the evacuation zone. Mr Higgins said Israels stated intentions for future action in Palestine reduced international law designed to protect civilians to tatters. Its one thing, when we look at historic breaches of international law, that is incredibly bad, but to actually announce in advance that youre going to break international law, and that you announce it again and again, and that you do so on an innocent population, he said. I have thought about it and I think that it really reduces all that code that was there from the Second World War through the Geneva Conventions about the protection of civilians, it reduces it to tatters. One has to bear in mind how important it is to retain and insist on the veracity and the cogency of international law. Hamas is a militant group which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007 and has sworn to destroy Israel. October 16, 2023 Remote work is not new and has been practiced many times in multiple businesses. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of remote work for the health and safety of employees. Remote work has now become one of the preferable working styles which suits the maximum number of employees. Today, organizations can accept remote work and allow employees to share their expertise and skills for their company's growth. By enabling businesses to manage customer relationships and interactions efficiently, CRM software facilitates this shift to remote work. Interestingly, IT and Mobile app development companies are among the biggest beneficiaries of this trend towards remote work. These sectors often require high levels of collaboration and expertise that can be effectively managed through remote tools and CRM software. As the demand for software solutions continues to grow, remote capabilities enable these companies to tap into a global talent pool, thereby elevating their competitive edge in the fast-paced tech landscape. Best Remote Working Software And Tools: Remote working style offers many benefits, and ensuring effective communication among team members can be challenging. There are businesses like Wishup who help you create remote working teams in a few hours. There are specific necessary tools that help in remote work, such as sharing work, keeping everyone updated, managing virtual meetings, and promoting teamwork within a dispersed team. Here is the list: 1. Microsoft (News - Alert) Tools: Microsoft Teams is a versatile tool that combines communication and collaboration features. It allows users to share files and establish dedicated chatrooms for different departments or subjects. Its integration with Office 365 enables seamless linkage of files, meetings, conversations, and applications within a single program. It helps to work in real-time on content that is being presented on the screen. All participants in the meeting can contribute by adding text, sticky notes, reactions, or digital ink. 2. Bit.ai: Bit.ai is a modern platform for managing and collaborating on highly effective documents for team collaboration. By using intelligent documents, it allows you to combine digital content collaboratively. You can improve team communication and knowledge sharing by integrating file attachments, code blocks, and various media types from over 100 applications such as Google (News - Alert) Sheets, Typeform surveys, Airtable databases, and Figma designs into your documents. 3. DSers DSers is not only a valuable tool for dropshipping businesses but also a remote work solution for teams operating from home. The automation features of DSers significantly reduce the time and effort required for order processing. As team members adjust to remote work, DSers become an indispensable ally, automating repetitive tasks and minimizing errors. Furthermore, DSers' compatibility with various e-commerce platforms ensures that remote teams can easily integrate it into their existing systems. This flexibility makes it a suitable solution for different businesses. 4. Document360 Document360 serves as a powerful knowledge management software to optimize remote team management by centralizing essential information. It fosters collaboration and lets you build an extensive library of critical information like processes, procedures, and policies in a central hub. In a remote team, it's essential to have a structured repository for institutional knowledge to promote knowledge sharing. This approach eliminates organizational silos and enhances interactions with customers, ensuring that everyone is on the same page even when working remotely. This solution offers a user-friendly interface, advanced search capabilities, integration with popular apps, and support for a wide range of file formats. As a result, the remote support team can find solutions in record time and deliver excellent customer service. Document360 not only improves overall productivity and performance but also reduces the need for extensive training and supervision of remote support agents. 5. Zonka Feedback Zonka Feedback is powerful software that helps businesses collect feedback from customers and employees. It allows you to create custom surveys and send them via various channels like emails, SMS, on the website, in-product, and more. You can gain actionable insights and generate comprehensive reports to measure team performance. It is perfect for capturing customer feedback while working from home and offers real-time analytics and alerts to improve experiences. It is also ideal for employee feedback to identify and address remote work challenges, boosting productivity and performance. 6. HackerEarth HackerEarth is a global company that helps large enterprises recruit, evaluate, and upskill developers based on specific skills. The companys platform enables recruiters to make the most accurate and informed decisions about candidates, screen developers, improve hiring efficiencies, facilitate continuous learning and development, and ensure the right developers are matched with the right positions. HackerEarth is also a leading facilitator of online hackathons and coding challenges, where its community of over 7 million developers can upskill and practice for employment interviews. The company was founded in 2012 with offices in San Francisco and India. Free Trial - 14 days free trial available G2 (News - Alert) - 4.4/5 Capterra - 4.7/5 Pros: - Extensive library of 16000+ exclusive questions across 18+ roles and 900+ skills - Services 40+ roles and 10+ frameworks. - Automated evaluation and benchmarking of candidates - AI-driven platform designed and tested for bias-free assessments - Integrates with major ACTS like Lever, ZOHO, JobVite, JazzHR, TalentHub - Trusted by over 4000+ global tech companies 7. Zoom: Zoom is a preferred remote working tool by numerous enterprise organizations because of its ability to scale. Businesses can start with free accounts, which still permit 40-minute meetings that can be recorded and upgraded to a plan that enables up to 1,000 video participants and 10,000 viewers. Users can quickly initiate, join, collaborate, and schedule meetings from any device. Zoom ensures continuous virtual meetings through encryption, role-based security, passcode protection, and waiting rooms. 8. HyperContext: Hypercontext is a collaborative software that helps managers, and their teams excel by integrating quarterly goals, weekly meetings, and measures of engagement into a single platform. By using Hypercontext, teams can work together on creating meeting agendas for various types of meetings. It includes one-on-one sessions, team meetings, and cross-functional gatherings. The platform includes interactive prompts and goal examples to help users lead effective, focused meetings. 9. Jira: JIRA is a robust and flexible project management software primarily used by product, technology, or engineering teams. It helps to organize and optimize their work effectively. The software offers valuable functionalities such as task tracking boards, real-time reports for immediate insights, and work assignment capabilities through roadmaps, accelerating efficient team management. 10. Google Drive: Google Drive offers a secure and collected cloud storage platform for the accessible storage and organization of all your files. It allows remote workers to store and share files like documents, spreadsheets, and slide presentations. Additionally, it can be used for quickly reporting weekly metrics. Moreover, Google Drive supports file syncing across multiple devices, which helps remote teams access and edit them from anywhere. 11. Skype (News - Alert): Skype is the top choice for remote working communication as it allows free voice calls, video calls, text messages, and screen sharing, keeping people connected globally. It also facilitates global calling to mobile and landline numbers, even for individuals without a Skype account. It enables individuals to participate in audio and video calls across various devices with features like call recording, real-time subtitles, and strong encryption. 12. Blink: Blink is a modern software that empowers and improves communication for remote teams, increasing productivity. It improves the employee experience by providing a responsive team communication platform on mobile devices. It offers various features such as managing calendars, engaging in discussions, accessing an employee directory, and updating news feeds. Blink can easily create a digital work environment that promotes productivity and strengthens team unity. 13. Dropbox (News - Alert): Dropbox is a modern platform designed for remote teams to professionally handle their workforce. It provides a range of functions to assist the team synchronization, sharing, and document collaboration among remote workers. With its API capabilities, this cloud storage system proves highly beneficial for remote collaborators by enabling seamless sharing of large files, including PowerPoint presentations, Photoshop designs, and sketches. 14. LearnUpon: LearnUpon software offers features for constructing, dealing with, supervising, and examining employee training and learning initiatives within a single centralized platform. This platform allows organizations to establish internal knowledge bases and wikis. With this software, employees can access information regarding company policies and frequently asked questions. 15. NAKIVO: NAKIVO Backup & Replication is a specialized data protection solution designed specifically for Microsoft 365 environments. It provides comprehensive backup coverage for Exchange Online, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint Online, and OneDrive for Business, ensuring the safety of crucial business data. This reliable and efficient tool empowers businesses to effortlessly secure their critical information. Featuring advanced functionalities, seamless integration, and robust automation, NAKIVO Backup for Microsoft 365 presents a holistic solution that reduces the likelihood of data loss and guarantees uninterrupted business operations. 16. PowerDMARC Powerdmarc is a crucial email security and authentication tool designed to protect organizations from email-related threats and phishing attacks. Remote teams heavily rely on email for communication and collaboration, making it essential to maintain the integrity and trustworthiness of their email channels. Powerdmarc offers a comprehensive suite of features, including robust email authentication, DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) implementation, and real-time email threat monitoring. This heightened level of email security not only protects sensitive information but also ensures that remote teams can communicate confidently and securely, regardless of their physical locations. Conclusion: Managing a remote workforce can be challenging as employees may feel inaccessible and difficult without the physical office environment. However, leveraging the right technology allows for effective management of remote teams and keeps them productive in their roles. Integrating digital software simplifies training for remote employees, offering personalized onboarding, software training within applications, and 24/7 support. It improves employee efficiency and overall productivity, ultimately benefiting the company's growth and market position. [October 16, 2023] Fapon and Halodoc Forge Strategic Partnership to Drive the Development of Indonesia's In-Vitro Diagnostics Industry Tweet JAKARTA, Indonesia, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On October 12th, 2023, Fapon, a leading life-science organization, signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Halodoc, the largest telehealth platform in Indonesia. This partnership brings together Fapon's expertise in in-vitro diagnostics (IVD) technologies and integrated solutions with Halodoc's strong sales channels and local service provisions. The partnership aims to enhance the healthcare standards in Indonesia, benefit local communities, and propel the country's IVD industry. Under the agreement, Fapon will partner with Halodoc in the IVD field by establishing a joint venture to grow the IVD business, and deliver high-quality and user-friendly diagnostic products and health solutions in Indonesia. With 22 years of IVD experience under its belt, Fapon boasts a solid technological foundation and a comprehensive and innovative product portfolio. Through this collaboration, Fapon will support Halodoc in local IVD product research and manufacturing by providing essential raw materials, reagent solutions, and open-instrument platforms. As the largest telehealth company in Indonesia, Halodoc will leverage its strengths in channels, academia, and industry connections to expedite market expansion, drive consistent business growth, and achieve a win-win result. Jielun ZHU, the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Fapon, stated that Indonesia's large population, coupled with its sustained economic growth, has resulted in increased demands for IVD products, technologies, and services. Leveraging its technological advantages, Fapon will collaborate closely with Halodoc to grow Indonesia's IVD sector. By integrating innovative diagnostic technologies with the power of online sevices, the partnership aims to address the diverse healthcare needs of the local population. In a further demonstration of its commitment to the Indonesian market, Fapon has already established an office in Indonesia, dedicated to providing efficient services, and technical support to its local partners. Jonathan Sudharta, CEO & Co-Founder Halodoc said, "We are delighted to join hands with Fapon in a strategic partnership that combines our commitment to innovation with Fapon's expertise in IVD technologies to answer the need for advanced diagnostics and healthcare services. This collaboration epitomizes our dedication to providing accessible healthcare solutions for Indonesians. Together, we're creating a healthier and brighter future for the people of Indonesia, in alignment with the vision of Golden Generation 2045." About Fapon Fapon is a global leading life sciences company dedicated to providing integrated solutions and services for diagnostics, biopharma and biotherapy. Integrating a one-stop solution on raw materials, reagents and innovative open instrument platforms, the Company has grown into a leading supplier in in-vitro diagnostics. Fapon boasts advanced innovations in therapeutics technologies and AI algorithm platforms with data insights that contribute to a better and healthier world. Supported by its strong global R&D, manufacturing, sales and service network, Fapon's products have established presence in 68 countries and regions, serving more than 2,500 business partners worldwide. Follow us on LinkedIn (Fapon) or visit our website www.faponbiotech.com. About Halodoc Halodoc is the pioneer of a digital health ecosystem with a mission to simplify access to healthcare, by addressing users' pain points for accessible, reliable, and affordable healthcare services. The company is also committed to promoting wellness by offering comprehensive health solutions, ranging from preventive to curative approaches, all within a single application. Since 2016, Halodoc has been enhancing health literacy in Indonesia by providing user-friendly healthcare Communication, Education, and Information (KIE). Alongside this, our ecosystem has expanded, offering a range of services that facilitate convenient access to healthcare, starting from Home Lab as a preventive care feature enabling users privately and securely carry out health tests from the comfort of their homes; My Insurance that enables users to access the benefits of cashless outpatient services in a more seamless way; Chat with Doctor which allows users to consult with 20,000+ licensed doctors and health workers via chat, video or voice call; as well as Health Store features that provide users access to purchase medicines, supplements, and various health products from our network of 4,900+ trusted partner pharmacies. Halodoc has been recognized as one of the telehealth platforms making a positive impact on the healthcare sectors and honored to have received the "supervised" status in the Regulatory Sandbox program by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia (MoH). This reflects the strong commitment and partnership between Halodoc and the MoH, ensuring participatory supervision to safeguard Digital Health Innovation (IDK) organizers, consumers and healthcare workers as the partner of digital innovations. Throughout its development, Halodoc has racked up a string of prestigious awards at the scale of national and international, such as: selected to be the only Southeast Asian health technology start-up to feature on CB Insights' Digital Health 150 list in 2019-2020 and given the Indonesian government's 2023 PPKM Award. The Halodoc application is available for download via iOS and Android. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/fapon-and-halodoc-forge-strategic-partnership-to-drive-the-development-of-indonesias-in-vitro-diagnostics-industry-301957157.html SOURCE Fapon [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 12, 2023] NordPass' client companies can now store their data in the EU Data Center Tweet LONDON, Oct. 12, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On Thursday, the password management company NordPass announced that its Business and Enterprise clients can now choose where they want to store their data in the United States (US) or the European Union (EU) Data Center that the company just launched. In addition, NordPass passed new audits and introduced a new business subscription plan. The EU Data Center to benefit clients in Europe With European companies required to comply with distinct privacy laws and regulations under EU jurisdiction, NordPass launched the EU Data Center, where its Business and Enterprise clients can securely store their data. Organizations newly onboarding with NordPass can now indicate their preference for data storage location, be it the US or the EU. To date, companies' data was stored solely in the US Data Center. However, with ever-stricter compliance requirements, this option rarely serves companies operating in the EU. To address this, NordPass offered a solution to choose a location that best aligns with a business's operational and privacy requirements. "More than ever, we feel that many companies are concerned about consequences for non-compliance. Therefore, due to the complexity of the legislative landscape, they tend togo for service providers that help address privacy policy requirements without much effort. We believe that the introduction of the EU Data Center adheres to our clients' peace of mind," says Karolis Arbaciauskas, head of business development at NordPass . Introduces new subscription plan for businesses In addition to its Business and Enterprise tiers, NordPass introduced a new subscription option called NordPass Teams. The plan includes 10 seats with the pricing starting at 1.79 per user a month. NordPass Teams partly covers the Business tier features, ensuring easier credential management, offering password policy enforcement, and password-related activities monitoring within the team. Moreover, NordPass Teams customers can use the platform to create, securely store, manage, and share passkeys, considered the most promising authentication technology to replace passwords. The company's passkey solution works across devices and operating systems, regardless of an ecosystem. Passed new independent audits NordPass Business recently successfully passed a SOC 2 Type 2 audit. Furthermore, independent auditors concluded that NordPass Business meets the security objectives outlined in the The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy and Security rules, meaning it can ensure protection of health information. These achievements complement the prior companys efforts that resulted in receiving the ISO 27001 certificate. In addition, NordPass has been independently audited by Cure53. ABOUT NORDPASS NordPass is a password manager for both business and consumer clients. Its powered by the latest technology for the utmost security. Developed with affordability, simplicity, and ease of use in mind, NordPass allows users to access passwords securely on desktop, mobile, and browsers. All passwords are encrypted on the device, so only the user can access them. NordPass was created by the experts behind NordVPN the advanced security and privacy app trusted by more than 14 million customers worldwide. For more information: nordpass.com . Contact: Emilija Gaivenyte [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) will be held in Beijing from Tuesday to Wednesday. The high-profile forum 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 (BRI). The following is an overview of what to expect from the upcoming forum, which is centered around the theme of "High-quality Belt and Road Cooperation: Together for Common Development and Prosperity." CHARTING NEW BLUEPRINT Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the opening ceremony of the third BRF, deliver a keynote speech, and hold a welcome banquet and bilateral events for the guests attending the forum. To date, representatives from over 140 countries and 30-plus international organizations have confirmed their attendance at the third BRF. More than 4,000 delegates have registered for participation. Xi will work with all participants to draw a new blueprint for high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. In 2013, Xi unveiled his proposal to jointly build a Silk Road Economic Belt and a 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, dubbed the Belt and Road Initiative. The BRI was proposed by China, but it belongs to the whole world, Xi said during the first BRF in May 2017. Since its launch 10 years ago, the BRI has evolved from ideas into actions, from a vision into reality. By June 2023, China had signed more than 200 BRI cooperation agreements with over 150 countries and 30-plus international organizations across five continents, yielding a number of signature projects and small-scale yet impactful projects. FRUITFUL RESULTS EXPECTED 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. Additionally, 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. A Chair's Statement will be issued 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. 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, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu told Xinhua in an interview. Wang Wen, executive dean of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at the Renmin University of China, believes that these new gains will continue to support participating nations in overcoming connectivity bottlenecks, eradicating poverty, improving people's lives, and increasing employment. FOR BETTER FUTURE Based on the solid results that have been achieved over the past decade, high-quality BRI cooperation will be imbued with greater innovation and vitality, marked by increased openness and inclusivity. It is poised to open new channels of opportunity, prosperity, and happiness for both China and the rest of the world. The focus of the third BRF on common development and prosperity would greatly enhance international expectations for economic globalization, said Hu Biliang, executive dean of the Belt and Road School at Beijing Normal University. In advancing BRI cooperation, China will adhere to the "golden principles" of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, stay committed to open, green and clean cooperation, and aim at high standards, sustainability, and better lives, said Ma. "Together with our partners, China will advance the high-quality development of the BRI on a larger scale, at a deeper level, and to a higher standard to progress continuously toward the goals of common development and prosperity," he added. The forum will demonstrate to the world that the BRI will be a long-term, transnational and systematic global project of the 21st century, and demonstrate China's confidence and determination in the comprehensive success of the BRI and the building of a community with a shared future for humanity, said Wang. [October 15, 2023] HEALTHSCOPE : AI ENABLES PATIENT EMOTIONS TO BE ANALYSED IMPROVING HOSPITAL EXPERIENCE. Tweet MELBOURNE, Australia, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A new way to capture patients' emotions is being pioneered by Healthscope to improve how they deliver patient experience following a 3-year study, in what is believed to be a world first by a private hospital. Hospitals rely every day on data such as numbers on a heart or blood pressure monitors to understand the vitals of patients. Anita Hodge National Manager Reported Experience and Outcomes for Healthscope says going beyond numbers to "understand patient emotions and each individual story" now plays a key role to better understanding how to improve patient experience. Patient experience includes everything from admissions processes, to the food patients eat, to the bedside manner of clinicians to patients being discharged. By improving factors such as these, evidence from clinical studies have shown this leads to better patient outcomes. Healthscope have been partnered with Adoreboard, a tech spin out from Queen's University in the UK, since 2019 to quantify the drivers of human emotion like Trust and Anger in patient feedback using Artificial Intelligence (AI). To date over 400,000 surveys from patients have been collected in real-time with almost 50% of all surveys contain a feedback comment. To eliminate the significant task of manually reading each patient comment, Adoreboard's technology automatically analyses the text and links the emotional intensity of what is being communicated to a theme such as the food and meal experience. The AI platform then makes a prediction if Healthscope resolves such issues. of the likely improvement in patients' perception of the quality of treatment and care. Results fom a 3-year deployment evidence that individual hospitals could see as much as a 13.9% improvement in operational metrics that measure patient perception of care received. The technology is now being used across all 38 Healthscope hospitals in Australia to target most benefit from a range of interventions designed to improve patient experience. Anita Hodge National Manager Reported Experience and Outcomes, Healthscope who is presented the results of the innovation at the largest gathering of customer experience professionals known as 'The Customer Show' at Sydney's ICC last week says that insights from deploying predictive insights provide lessons in best practice for other industries including healthcare providers. "Before deploying the predictive insights platform, we had a significant challenge of manually reviewing patient comments. Not only has this been removed, but we can also now link emotions like Joy, Trust to Anger to themes that matter most to patients. In this way we can prioritise what we action and the likely impact of this improvement on the patient experience. Understanding the next best action to improve patient experience has been most impactful." Adoreboard which is a Gartner Cool Vendor in Customer Analytics using Artificial Intelligence is used by some of the world's most well-known brands including Procter and Gamble, Allstate and Amazon. Damien Lloyd, National Director Clinical Governance at Healthscope added that understanding emotion is critical for the patient relationship and application of Adoreboard have taken this to a new level of insight. "To enable patient centred care, it's important we capture crucial moments for enhanced experiences. The results on improving operational indicators from deploying Adoreboard have been both impressive and impactful to the business and frontline clinical staff." Background: About Healthscope Healthscope is Australia's only national private hospital provider, operating 38 hospitals across the country, and employing over 18,000 people. Healthscope offers world-class patient care, including medical and surgical services, mental health treatment and rehabilitation services. About Adoreboard Adoreboard is a leading text analytics SaaS platform for customer and employee experience teams. Originating as a spin out from Queen's University, Belfast, their experience management experts provide companies with emotion analytics to inform them of their next best action using predictive insights. Customers include Amazon, Allstate and P&G, with Allstate Insurance experiencing improved customer satisfaction by 16.6%. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/healthscope--ai-enables-patient-emotions-to-be-analysed-improving-hospital-experience-301956362.html SOURCE Healthscope [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 15, 2023] ImCheck to Present New Positive Data on ICT01 Monotherapy in Hematological Cancers at ESMO 2023 Tweet ImCheck to Present New Positive Data on ICT01 Monotherapy in Hematological Cancers at ESMO 2023 Interim data from Phase I dose escalation portion of EVICTION Phase I/IIa trial show strong safety profile and encouraging clinical activity for ICT01 monotherapy in relapsed/refractory hematological malignancies Marseille, France, October 16, 2023 ImCheck Therapeutics announced today that updated data from its ongoing Phase I/IIa clinical trial EVICTION will be presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in an oral session on October 22nd in Madrid. The presentation (822O) entitled: Activation of ?9d2 T Cells by ICT01 as a Novel Immunotherapeutic Approach for Relapsed/Refractory Hematologic Cancers (EVICTION Study) will provide safety and patient response results from the Phase I dose escalation portion of the EVICTION trial of ImChecks lead antibody, ICT01, administered as a monotherapy to relapsed/refractory patients with hematological cancers, primarily Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). The positive safety profile, consistent with previous data in solid tumor patients, together with the promising clinical activity underscores the potential of ICT01 in hematological malignancies. These results in last-line patients further support the initiation of the ongoing Phase IIa cohort expansion study of ICT01 in combination with standard of care in first-line AML patients, commented Sylvain Garciaz, M.D., Ph.D., member of the Department of Hematology, Institut Paoli-Calmettes, investigator in the EVICTION study, and presenter of the data at ESMO 2023. We continue to generate highly encouraging clinical signals in both solid and hematological tumors. We remain focused on rapidly advancing ICT01 into late-stage clinical evaluation in combination settings as a unique clinical approach to boost the anti-tumor immune response in cancer patients, commented Pierre dEpenoux, Chief Executive Officer of ImCheck Therapeutics. EVICTION is an open-label Phase I/IIa trial assessing ICT01, a humanized anti-BTN3A monoclonal antibody that selectively activates ?9d2 T cells, as a monotherapy in solid and hematological tumors, and as a combination therapy with pembrolizumab in solid tumors. The Phase 1 dose escalation study in relapsed/refractory hematological cancers included 26 patients who failed all available standard of care, 24 of which had acute myeloid leukemia, 1 with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and 1 with follicular lymphoma. ICT01 was administered at doses ranging from 200 g to 75 mg every 21 days and primary endpoints consisted of the incidence of treatment-adverse events (AE) and the disease control rate (DCR) defined as the sum of complete response (CR), CR with incomplete recovery (CRi), partial response (PR) and stable disease (SD). Secondary endpoints included circulating ?9d2 T cell measurements as well as pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic analyses. The reported data did not reveal any dose-limiting toxicities and demonstrated a DCR of 30% among the 10 evaluable patients at week 8. Notably, ICT01 treatment safely induced the activation and migration of ?9d2 T cells from the blood within hours of dsing, suggesting effective target engagement. Based on these results, the company has started evaluating ICT01 in combination with Venetoclax/azacitidine in a Phase IIa expansion cohort in first-line AML patients. Details of the presentation are: Abstract title: Activation of ?9d2 T Cells by ICT01 as a Novel Immunotherapeutic Approach for Relapsed/Refractory Hematologic Cancers (EVICTION Study) Session title: Proffered paper sessions Haematological malignancies Abstract number: 822O Authors: Sylvain Garciaz (presenter), Stephane Champiat, Pierre Peterlin, Katrien Lemmens, Aude De Gassart, Patrick Brune, Emmanuel Valentin, Celine Leparquier, Marina Iche, Daniel Olive, Norbert Vey, Paul Frohna Date/Time: Sunday October 22nd, 2023, 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM CET Location: Toledo Auditorium - Hall 3 The ESMO presentation will be available starting October 22, 2023, at 4:30 pm CET on ImChecks corporate website. *** About the EVICTION Trial EVICTION is a first-in-human, dose escalation (Part 1) and cohort expansion (Part 2) clinical trial of ICT01 in patients with various advanced relapsed or refractory solid or hematologic cancers that have exhausted standard of care treatment options. Part 1 is a basket trial designed to characterize the preliminary safety, tolerability, and pharmacodynamic activity of ICT01 as monotherapy (Group A: solid tumors; Group B: hematologic tumors) and in combination with pembrolizumab (Group C: solid tumors). Group A includes bladder, breast, colorectal, gastric, melanoma, ovarian, prostate, and pancreatic cancer patients, Group B includes acute myeloid leukemia, acute lymphocytic leukemia, follicular lymphoma, and diffuse large B cell lymphoma patients, and Group C includes bladder, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, melanoma, and non-small cell lung cancer patients. Basket trials are a clinical trial design that allows new drugs to be tested rapidly in a range of indications, providing initial data on multiple parameters that can contribute to an accelerated development timeline. Part 2 of the trial is a Phase II cohort expansion study in selected indications as both monotherapy and in combination. First indications selected for the Phase II monotherapy expansion cohorts are relapsed/refractory ovarian cancer and metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer. More information on the EVICTION trial can be found at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT04243499). A second clinical trial, EVICTION-2, evaluating the combination of ICT01 plus low dose subcutaneous IL-2 to selectively expand the number of ?9d2 T cells in patients with solid tumors (prostate, pancreatic, ovarian, or colorectal cancer) is also ongoing (NCT05307874). About ICT01 ICT01 is a humanized, anti-BTN3A (also known as CD277) monoclonal antibody that selectively activates ?9d2 T cells, which are part of the innate immune system that is responsible for immunosurveillance of malignancy and infections. The three isoforms of BTN3A targeted by ICT01 are overexpressed on a number of solid tumors (e.g., bladder, colorectal, melanoma, ovarian, pancreatic, lung) and hematologic cancers (e.g., leukemia & lymphoma) and also expressed on the surface of innate (e.g., ?d T cells and NK cells) and adaptive immune cells (T cells and B cells). BTN3A is essential for the activation of the anti-tumor immune response of ?9d2 T cells. As demonstrated in EVICTION data presented at past AACR, EMSO and SITC conferences, ICT01 selectively activates circulating ?9d2 T cells that leads to migration of ?9d2 T cells out of the circulation and into target tissue (e.g., tumors), while also activating the tumor-resident ?9d2 T cells to directly kill malignant cells, which is accompanied by secretion of two key inflammatory cytokines, IFN? and TNFa, that contribute to the expansion of the anti-tumor immune response. ICT01 has been shown to have anti-tumor activity against a range of cancers in in vitro and in vivo tumor models. About IMCHECK THERAPEUTICS ImCheck Therapeutics is designing and developing a new generation of immunotherapeutic antibodies targeting butyrophilins, a novel super-family of immunomodulators. As demonstrated by its lead clinical-stage program ICT01, which has a mechanism of action to simultaneously modulate innate and adaptive immunity, ImCheck's first-in-class activating antibodies may be able to produce superior clinical results as compared to the first-generation of immune checkpoint inhibitors and, when used in combination, to overcome resistance to this group of agents. In addition, ImChecks antagonist antibodies are being evaluated as potential treatments for a range of autoimmune and infectious diseases. Co-founder of the Marseille Immunopole cluster, ImCheck benefits from support from Prof. Daniel Olive (INSERM, CNRS, Institut Paoli Calmettes, Aix-Marseille University), a worldwide leader in ?9d2 T cells and butyrophilins research, as well as from the experience of an expert management team and from the commitment of leading US and European investors. For further information: https://www.imchecktherapeutics.com/ and @ImCheckThx Press contacts: US and EU Trophic Communications Gretchen Schweitzer +49 (0) 172 861 8540 [email protected] France ATCG PARTNERS Celine Voisin +33 (0)9 81 87 46 72 / +33 (0)6 62 12 53 39 [email protected] Attachment PR in English [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 15, 2023] Sir Anthony Seldon Launches AI in Education - Britain's First School-Led Initiative To Harness AI For The Benefit of All Learners Tweet "Schools themselves must seize the initiative to ensure rapidly developing generative AI technology is in the interests of learners, because schools cannot rely on or trust anyone else to do it for us. We slept on social media; teachers must help to shape AI," he says. LONDON, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- AI in Education is Britain's first, and a globally pioneering, cross-sector body committed to ensuring AI benefits everyone involved in education from students (especially the most vulnerable), teachers and governors to parents and the wider society. It is independent, not for profit, and has been developed by teachers themselves to ensure the interests of young people will always remain central as AI develops and advances at a quicker rate of technological change than we have ever seen in education. AI in Education is launched by Sir Anthony Seldon, Head of Epsom College and Alex Russell OBE, CEO of the multi-academy Bourne Education Trust. It is borne of the belief that if schools are to optimise the benefits of AI, they need to seize control of the conversation themselves and provide real time, specific and informed advice to the sector. The body that runs AI in Education is composed of leading teachers in schools from all sectors and levels and the Heads of the UK's examination boards, chaired by filmmaker and Parliamentarian Lord David Puttnam. Our work is guided by a panel of independent digital and AI experts and a cross-party group of senior politicians who will advise schools on which AI developments are most likely to be beneficial, and which damaging. AI in Education's 100 founders also comprise some of the UK's leading scientists and technologists, including the Astronomer Royal, Lord Martin Rees plus AI specialists from Google, Cambridge University, the Alan Turing Institute, the British Academy and Accenture. World-first "This nprecedented coming together of leading figures from across education is on a scale never seen before," says Sir Anthony Seldon, Head of Epsom College. "The launch of AI in Education is highly significant. It is a world-first and will ensure that we maximise the vast benefits of AI across education while minimising the very real and present hazards and dangers." "Schools are bewildered by the fast rate of change in AI, and seek secure guidance and counsel on the best way forward. But whose advice can we trust? The truth is that AI is moving far too quickly for government or parliament alone to provide the real time advice that schools need." With AI in Education, the education sector itself - guided by some of the sharpest minds in politics, business, technology and psychology - will offer schools, teachers, parents, students and governors the very best advice on how to ensure that AI technologies are in the interests of all, but particularly the least advantaged, the disenfranchised, and those with learning difficulties. "It will be a fight," says Sir Anthony, "and it will be a fight teachers have to win in the interests of the young, and society at large. For too long, we have passively allowed the tech industry ruthlessly to pursue market penetration at all costs under the guise of advancing young people's opportunities and interests. Global tech companies have competitively bid against each other to gain young people's attention and have exploited them and - in the absence of the industry's willingness to regulate itself, or parliament's and government's ability to keep ahead of it this has laid waste to a generation of young people. Never again. AI in Education will help ensure AI will be far more sensitive to young people's mental health, wellbeing, and genuine educational interests and opportunities. This initiative is an uprising by educators to wrest control from the tech companies in the interests of all." AI in Education will seek to mitigate the risks which include cheating, infantilisation, and abuse by providing guidance, advice, real life case studies, political lobbying, and commentary to ensure that AI supports deep learning, the growth of human intelligence, the development of curiosity and respect for truth and for others. AI in Education launches today with a website (www.ai-in-education.co.uk) offering advice, resources and cases studies for those working in all educational settings. The website will be updated regularly as new products, issues and opportunities arise in this fast-moving climate. A conference, to be held at Epsom College on 22 November 2023, will then be followed by a rolling programme of activities that provides focused support and guidance to all those working within the sector. NOTES TO EDITORS The work of AI in Education is guided by five groups, the membership of which includes some of the foremost names in UK education, science, technology and politics. For a complete overview of the groups and their membership please visit: www.ai-in-education.co.uk/panels View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/sir-anthony-seldon-launches-ai-in-education--britains-first-school-led-initiative-to-harness-ai-for-the-benefit-of-all-learners-301955243.html [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 15, 2023] Prestigious grant to help Agronomeye bring digital twins to more farms Tweet SYDNEY, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Australian agtech company Agronomeye, which develops interactive 3D digital twins of farms, has been awarded a prestigious Accelerating Commercialisation grant under the AusIndustry Entrepreneurs' Programme. The $750,000 grant, which will be matched by Agronomeye, will support the business to ramp up work on its key product, AgTwin, believed to be agriculture's first digital twin. Delivering actionable and marketable insights at the farm scale, AgTwin enables landowners to make decisions that drive profitability, sustainability and resilience across the landscape. Importantly, it also enables verifiable reporting to meet the needs of financiers, insurers, customers and supply chain partners. CEO and co-founder Stu Adam says the technology is transforming the way landholders make on-farm decisions, and the grant funding will enable the business to scale more rapidly and develop key capabilities, including a companion app to help capture more data about the farm more often to enrich the digital twin. "We are very proud to have been awarded this grant, not only because of what it will unlock for us as a business, but because we know that this programme has always been incredibly rigorous. It's a testament to the potential of the work we are doing and the dedication of our team, and a real vote of confidence." The funding will be used to support the development of fit-for-purpose reporting functionality as AgTwin furthes its commercial applications. To make the most of the insights AgTwin can generate, it must be able to meet the reporting needs of farmers and those who will need information out of the system, right across the supply chain. "For some, that might be a simple PDF, for others it will be a dynamic integration with their supply chain partners This funding will enable us to invest in the solutions that will make reporting simple and valuable to key stakeholders. It's an important and big step towards full commercialisation," Stu says. He says government funding programs play an important role in supporting innovation in agriculture. "This kind of support is critical for businesses like ours which are addressing important needs in essential sectors. High value data insights bring much needed integrity and transparency to this evolving part of agriculture, and we are really excited to be helping address that challenge." "We're excited to have some major projects underway, including a recently announced partnership with RegenCo, which is using AgTwin to provide transparency and integrity for regulators, farmers and investors in the carbon market. It's an exciting time for us and the industry." About Agronomeye www.agronomeye.com.au Agronomeye is an Australian agtech company, advancing the use of digital twins in agriculture. Using highly-detailed imaging technology combined with advanced data modelling, the goal is to enable farmers, land managers and their many stakeholders to make informed, risk-free decisions that are both nature-positive and profitable. Agronomeye's proprietary platform, AgTwin, delivers on-farm insights that are actionable and marketable across the spectrum of an ag business, including erosion control, carbon farming, biodiversity, animal welfare and sustainable land management. This rich and dynamic stack of data offers integrity and transparency to a supply chain that is starved of meaningful and reliable sustainability metrics at the farm scale. Agronomeye, co-founded by Stu Adam and Tim Howell in 2015, collaborates with major organisations including Microsoft and CSIRO. In addition to being awarded an Accelerated Commercialisation Grant, Agronomeye was a finalist in KPMG's Nature Positive Challenge 2022. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/prestigious-grant-to-help-agronomeye-bring-digital-twins-to-more-farms-301956995.html SOURCE Agronomeye [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 15, 2023] The 134th Canton Fair Opened with Optimized Structure and Upgraded Scale Tweet GUANGZHOU, China, Oct. 15, 2023 /CNW/ -- The 134th China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, kicks off on October 15, 2023, in Guangzhou, China. This prestigious international trade event, held twice a year, will run in three phases until November 4, with the online platform continuing to operate as usual. The Canton Fair aims to optimize structure, enhance quality, and improve services. This event is set to showcase new highlights and features, drawing in thousands of global buyers to explore potential business opportunities: The exhibition's scale has soared to new heights, covering a massive area of 1.55 million square meters. It features 74,000 booths and 28,533 exhibitors, including 650 international exhibitors from 43 different geographical locations. Several notable measures have been implemented to enhance the Fair's quality, including an optimized structure of exhibition sections, a focus on brand enterprises, and an overall improvement in exhibitio quality. Following these adjustments, the number of exhibition sections has grown to 55, and brand booths have expanded to 14,500. The Fair has drawn over 4,600 top-tier enterprises, including specialized and new businesses, manufacturing industry leaders, national high-tech firms, customs AEO advanced certification companies, national enterprise technology centers, and traditional Chinese brands. The Fair has fortified its capacity of targeted marketing, centering on BRI countries, RCEP, ASEAN, Europe , and the United States . Invitations have been extended to the Fortune global 500 and top 250 global retail companies. Moreover, the exhibition facilitates trade matchmaking between suppliers and buyers through a series of promotional activities, hosting over 60 "Trade Bridge" events, Global Trade Promotions, and 8 "Discover Canton Fair with Bee and Honey" activities. , and . Invitations have been extended to the Fortune global 500 and top 250 global retail companies. Moreover, the exhibition facilitates trade matchmaking between suppliers and buyers through a series of promotional activities, hosting over 60 "Trade Bridge" events, Global Trade Promotions, and 8 "Discover Canton Fair with Bee and Honey" activities. The Canton Fair's online platform has seen significant improvement, with the optimization of 101 functions. Currently, the platform boasts 28,653 companies, showcasing around 2.72 million products, of which about 700,000 are new. The Canton Fair will host over 200 new product launch events onsite and online. It will also stage two specialized forums on green trade and trade digitalization, along with five industry forums. Furthermore, a trade service zone will be established to coordinate financial and insurance services from 200 companies in logistics, warehousing, and other sectors for both domestic and international businesses. https://www.cantonfair.org.cn/en-US/posts/646531331412942848, or reach out to Cai Yiyi , [email protected] . View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-134th-canton-fair-opened-with-optimized-structure-and-upgraded-scale-301957000.html SOURCE Canton Fair [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 16, 2023] Global Cybersecurity Leader eSentire Extends its Award-Winning 24/7 Security Operations Center as a Service (SOCaaS) Protection to Organizations Across the United Arab Emirates Tweet GITEX GLOBAL--eSentire, the Authority in Managed Detection and Response (MDR), today announced it has extended its award-winning, 24/7 Security Operations Center as a Service (SOCaaS) protection across the United Arab Emirates (UAE), adhering to federal data compliance requirements and prioritizing localized cybersecurity service support. By combining its open Extended Detection and Response (XDR) platform technology, 24/7 threat hunting, and proven security operations leadership, eSentire provides an all-in-one solution that helps organizations anticipate, withstand, and recover from cyberattacks across their entire attack surface, whether on-premises or in the cloud. eSentire has differentiated itself from other MDR providers through: Rapid time to value with service onboarding in only 14 days on average Unlimited incident handling and 24/7 threat hunting as foundational service offerings vs add-ons Complete attack surface coverage driving deep, multi-signal investigation across network, endpoint, log, cloud and identity sources with over 300 technology integrations supported Expertise of its Threat Response Unit (TRU), a dedicated team of researchers and hands-on experts who perform threat sweeps and hunts to inform new detection rules and Machine Learning models to constantly harden customer defenses Leadership in Generative AI, with its Insight Portal eSentire Investigator application, empowering every eSentire customer with investigation, response, and remediation tools through simple natural language interaction Flexibility to bring your own technology subscription or partner with eSentire for a fully managed license and service, as organizations consolidate their service protection 24/7 support, delivering a Mean Time to Contain active security threats of only 15 minutes, to reduce risk of downtime eSentire's SOCaaS capability has been celebrated across the UAE with multiple regional awards including KuppingerCole's May 2023 SOCaaS Market Compass Report for the United Arab Emirates, where eSentire was recognized for its outstanding functionality and high levels of support. In its July 2023 Worldwide Leadership Compass Report, KuppingerCole also named eSentire the Overall Leader for Managed Detection and Response, as well as Product Leader, Innovation Leader and Market Leader. At the April 2023 Cyber Strategists Summit and Awards, hosted by CXO Insight Middle East, eSentire was designated "Best MDR Provider" for its efforts in protecting critical infrastructure organizations including healthcare providers, financial services firms, manufacturers, and utility suppliers. Most recently, eSentire was named CrowdStrike's 2-time Global MSSP of the Year (22, 23) recognizing that more organizations globally choose eSentire to manage CrowdStrike EDR than any other service provider. "We are excited to be extending our award-winning SOCaaS capabilities with localized support in the UAE," said Bob Layton, eSentire Chief Channel Officer. "Together with our e3 ecosystem partners, we serve businesses seeking proven, resilient, cybersecurity services that are easy to consume, engage with, and truly add value. When you partner with eSentire you can trust that we're the Authority in this space and personally committed to ensuring your business' protection from the most advanced cyber threats." To learn more about eSentire's Managed Detection and Response, Exposure Management and Digital Forensics and Incident Response services, available across the UAE, contact us at [email protected]. About eSentire eSentire, Inc., the Authority in Managed Detection and Response (MDR), protects the critical data and applications of 2000+ organizations in 80+ countries across 35 industries from known and unknown cyber threats by providing Exposure Management, Managed Detection and Response and Incident Response services designed to build an organization's cyber resilience & prevent business disruption. Founded in 2001, eSentire protects the world's most targeted organizations, with 65% of its global base recognized as critical infrastructure, vital to economic health and stability. By combining open XDR platform technology, 24/7 threat hunting, and proven security operations leadership, eSentire's award-winning MDR services and team of experts help organizations anticipate, withstand and recover from cyberattacks. For more information, visit: www.esentire.com and follow @eSentire. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231015199703/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 16, 2023] Ugreen unveils power solutions and personal data storage at the Gitex Trade Show in United Arab Emirates. Tweet BEIJING, Oct. 16, 2023 /CNW/ -- Ugreen, a leader in the electronic and accessory charging industry, is adding to their expertise with the release of the 300W GaN Desktop Charger, Ugreen Network Attached Storage (NAS) device and the PowerRoam 2200W portable power station. Ugreen has vocalized its commitment to greener, renewable energy with the recent releases of the PowerRoam 600 and 1200-watt power stations. With these entries into the portable power industry, Ugreen quickly realized users had aspirations to provide sustainable power to larger appliances, and even homes. In response, Ugreen is unveiling the PowerRoam 2200W power station, a most power-packed product to be unveiled in its history. For those looking for a more subtle way to charge, Ugreen is releasing the Nexode 300W GaN Desktop Charger, a most powerful USB-C charger to date. It boasts charging capability for up to 5 devices simultaneously, with four USB-C ports and 1 USB-A. Additionally, the Nexode 300W GaN Desktop Charger provides a dedicated 140-watts of charging power to one designated port. In an effort to appeal to small business owners, homeowners with security cameras, and professionals who need to share files between colleagues securely, Ugreen is releasing their own Network Attached Storage (NAS). Ugreen NAS devices allow users to save large amounts of data and documents, share digital information between authorized members, and store large security video files locally without the need for 3rd-Party cloud-based platforms. Company Quotations "Our desire is to provide a complete office ecosystem to our customers. Whether it's connecting HD displays, getting optimal internet speeds, connecting multiple peripherals, or charging all your devices, we want customers to know everything connects properly and it works." states Ugreen Sales Manager Stephen Guo. With the release of the 300-watt desktop charger and NAS, Ugreen will further solidify its reputation as the premiere choice for powerful charging products and efficiency-increasing workplace devices. " Shifting to portable power solutions, Stephen emphasizes that "with the PowerRoam Series, we want it to be the answer to questions surrounding alternative, off-grid sustainable energy sources." About Ugreen Founded in 2012, Ugreen has been dedicated to building consumer electronic devices and accessories with leading technological innovations, and making them accessible to everyday consumers. Ugreen has steadily grown into a trustworthy brand with over 40 million users in more than 100 countries worldwide. Media Enquiries: Lexi Liu UGREEN PR Manager [email protected] +8613612963070 View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ugreen-unveils-power-solutions-and-personal-data-storage-at-the-gitex-trade-show-in-united-arab-emirates-301950114.html SOURCE UGREEN [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 16, 2023] Puya Semiconductor and IAR Join Forces to Provide Exceptional Experience for Embedded Developers Tweet IAR Embedded Workbench for Arm Fully Supports Puya Semiconductor's 32-bit Arm Cortex - M0+/M4 MCUs. SHANGHAI, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- IAR, the world leader in software and services for embedded development, is pleased to announce its comprehensive support for Puya Semiconductor's 32-bit Arm Cortex - M0+/M4 MCU family. With IAR Embedded Workbench for Arm, developers can take advantage of maximized performance, assured code quality and functional safety when working with Puya's 32-bit Arm Cortex - M0+/M4 MCUs. Puya Semiconductor is a leading provider specializing in low-power non-volatile memory solutions (Flash and EEPROM), as well as cutting-edge MCUs. Its 32-bit Arm Cortex - M0+/M4 core harnesses high-performance Flash technology and places a strong emphasis on ultra-low power design. With a rich history in developing solutions, Puya boasts a dedicated technical support team, ensuring clients receive comprehensive technical support. Moreover, Puya has established an extensive network of sales channels across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, with branch offices in Japan and South Korea. Puya also collaborates with representative channels in Vietnam, Singapore, India, Israel, Thailand, and other locations to provide localized, top-notch technical support to local customers. Cao Yuxin, Vice President of R&D at Puya Semiconductor, stated, "We are delighted to collaborate with IAR. IAR Embedded Workbench for Arm is widely recognized as a leader in embedded integrated development solutions in the industry. This partnership will undoubtedly bring comprehensive development support to Puya's MCU product series. Puya Semiconductor's MCU product series finds extensive applications across various sectors, including consumer wearables, small appliances, industrial IoT, healthcare, motor control, and instrumentation." Currently, Puya has launched a diverse range of MCU products, encompassing the 32-bit Arm Cortex - M0+/M4 series. These products are widely applicable across various sectors, including consumer electronics, Internet of Things (IoT), healthcare, industrial control, and more. They serve as a solid technological cornerstone for fostering innovation and progress in diverse industries. IAR Embedded Workbench for Arm stands as the preferred choice for embedded software development among tens of thousands of developers globally. It includes highly optimized compilers that generate efficient executable code to maximize MCU performance. It also offers advanced debugging and tracing features, such as flexible code and data breakpoints, runtime stack analysis, and call stack visualization. Code analysis tools, C-STAT and C-RUN can help developers identify potential issues at an early stage and improve code quality. Furthermore, IAR Embedded Workbench for Arm provides a functional safety version certified by TUV SUD, helping users accelerate the certification of their functional safety products. Kiyo Uemura, Vice President of IAR Asia Pacific, said, "The collaboration between IAR and Puya Semiconductor will not only strengthen the supply chain of the semiconductor industry but also actively drive the development of the ecosystem at the embedded system market. We will leverage our regional resources to fully support the efficient growth of the domestic semiconductor industry. By providing professional development tool support, we are not only assisting our customers in achieving success, but also actively promoting the prosperity of the ecosystem. Together, we are leading the wave of industry innovation and contributing more power to the vibrant development of the embedded system sector." For more information about Puya Semiconductor's 32-bit Arm Cortex - M0+/M4 series microcontrollers, please visit: www.puyasemi.com. For more information about IAR Embedded Workbench for Arm, please visit: www.iar.com/arm. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/puya-semiconductor-and-iar-join-forces-to-provide-exceptional-experience-for-embedded-developers-301957130.html SOURCE IAR [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 16, 2023] POSCO Group Devotes Its Full Resources to Support Busan's Bid for World Expo 2030 Tweet With the commitment to serve as ambassadors supporting Busan's bid for World Expo 2030, all POSCO Group employees actively contribute to the group's daily efforts to attract this global event. bid for World Expo 2030, all POSCO Group employees actively contribute to the group's daily efforts to attract this global event. Chairman Jeong-woo Choi of POSCO Group reached out to global society for support, and the group's top management is actively engaged in promotional activities leveraging global networks. POSCO Group harnesses available resources, including domestic and international facilities, media, and advertising, to actively promote the attraction of World Expo 2030. SEOUL, South Korea, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- POSCO Group, a leading global eco-friendly future materials company in Korea, is leaving no stone unturned in its efforts to support Busan's bid for World Expo 2030 through a wide range of promotional activities, making the most of its domestic and international business facilities and global network. All POSCO Group Employees Actively Contribute to Attracting World Expo 2030 to Busan in Their Daily Work With the shared ambition of being ambassadors promoting Busan as the next host city for World Expo 2030, virtually all employees are proactively contributing to the group's daily endeavors to attract this global event. They have incorporated the Busan World Expo promotional logo into their business cards, naturally highlighting the significance of attracting the Expo to their business contacts. Moreover, when sending emails, they include the Busan Expo logo and the group's message of support in the email footers, ensuring that Busan Expo is seamlessly integrated into their everyday internal and external communications. In addition, the group has infused messages of support for Busan Expo into various business documents produced internally, as well as in calendars for both internal use and as gifts, maximizing their promotional efforts. POSCO Group's Top Management Channels Their Full Capabilities as Private Diplomats to Attract World Expo 2030 to Busan Drawing on the networks and expertise cultivated through global business activities, POSCO Group's top management is actively engaged in promotional efforts to bring World Expo 2030 to Busan. As a member of the Civilian Committee for World Expo 2030 Busan, Chairman Jeong-woo Choi personally visited Argentina in March of the previous year and held discussions with Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez on potential cooperation in the secondary battery materials business. During this meeting, he sought Argentina's support for Busan Expo. Following this, the group has been actively engaging with political and business representatives from seven major negotiating countries, including Argentina, Indonesia, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Thailand, Mexico, and Chile. In July 2022, the group established a task force team and conducted negotiations and promotional activities with ambassadors from key countries where the group's overseas facilities are located. These efforts continue in full swing. Vice Chairman Tak Jeong of POSCO INTERNATIONAL leads the task force team and serves as an Executive Councilor of the Civilian Committee for World Expo 2030 Busan. He held meetings with Santiago Cafiero, Argentina's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, in September of the previous year and accompanied Prime Minister Duck-Soo Han on his official visit to three South American countries, including Chile, Uruguay, and Argentina, in October 2022. In March of this year, Vice Chairman Jeong also visited Uzbekistan and met with Hayrulla Bozarov, the Governor of Fergana, Oybek Khamraev, the Vice Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade, and Kakhramon Yuldashev, the Vice Minister of Agriculture, to solicit their support for Busan Expo. Additionally, Vice Chairman Jeong held discussions with diplomatic officials from various countries, including Alfredo Carlos Bascou, the Argentine Ambassador to Korea; Carlos Penafiel, the Mexican Ambassador to Korea; and Dmytro Ponomarenko, the Ukrainian Ambassador to Korea. POSCO Group's Global Business Facilities Serve as the Launchpad for Winning World Expo 2030 Furthermore, POSCO Group has transformed its facilities located in various countries worldwide into launchpads for garnering support and interest from local residents for Busan World Expo 2030. Since its acquisition of Hombre Muerto Salt Lake in Salta Province, Argentina, in 2018, POSCO Group has actively collaborated with Argentina to secure lithium, a key material for secondary battery electrode materials. The group has been promoting Korea's bid for World Expo 2030 not only to local residents but also to international visitors. The group installed promotional banners in various high-traffic areas in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, as well as public places in Salta, where the lithium business is situated, to widely publicize its support for Busan Expo. In Uzbekistan, where POSCO INTERNATIONAL engages in cotton cultivation and processing, tailored promotional activities for Busan World Expo are ongoing. In August of the previous year, the company sponsored a local performance of the opera "Chunhyang" to celebrate the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Uzbekistan. In October, it promoted Busan Expo during the groundbreaking ceremony for a youth education center in Fergana Province. Furthermore, POSCO INTERNATIONAL placed banners on major buildings in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, to raise local awareness and foster a friendly image for Busan World Expo. POSCO Group Executes Advertisements and Media Collaborations for Busan World Expo 2030 POSCO Group is also actively engaging the general public through media channels to encourage their participation and support. To mark the 50th anniversary of the completion of first phase of Pohang Steelworks on July 3, POSCO Group placed advertisements in major newspapers and regional publications. These advertisements showcased POSCO Group's efforts to lead humanity towards a sustainable future and included a message of support for Busan World Expo 2030. In August, POSCO Group produced a new brand slogan video advertisement, which was released in theaters nationwide and on YouTube. The video begins with an exotic view of the lithium salt lake in Argentina, where POSCO Group pursues its lithium business, and concludes with a message of support for Busan World Expo. This video advertisement is scheduled to reach audiences during peak cinema seasons, around the summer vacations. POSCO Group has used the exteriors of its domestic offices, outdoor billboards, and electronic displays for placing advertisements supporting Busan World Expo 2030 in Pohang, Gwangyang, and Seoul. Additionally, the group shared a message of support through its official website and POSCO Newsroom, as well as through online platforms and media outlets. Furthermore, at the construction sites of POSCO I&C, soundproof walls have been transformed into promotional spaces for Busan Expo, and banners have been displayed on streetlights along major roads in Songdo, Incheon, to increase the involvement of local residents and the general public. POSCO Group is committed to dedicating its efforts to support Busan until the final decision on the host city is reached at the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) General Assembly, scheduled for late 2023. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2247922/Chairman_Jeong_woo_Choi_POSCO_Group__second_left_row__met_Argentina_s.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2247923/Vice_Chairman_Tak_Jeong_POSCO_INTERNATIONAL__right__held_discussions_Santiago.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2247924/1.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/posco-group-devotes-its-full-resources-to-support-busans-bid-for-world-expo-2030-301957188.html [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 16, 2023] Former Vodafone Germany CEO Dr Hannes Ametsreiter Joins Board of Technology Telco 1GLOBAL Tweet The former head of Vodafone Germany, Dr. Hannes Ametsreiter, has joined the board of the telecommunications company 1GLOBAL as non-executive director following his equity participation in 1GLOBAL. This appointment enables 1GLOBAL to strengthen its corporate governance and to leverage the extensive industry expertise of Dr. Ametsreiter. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231016068652/en/ Pyrros Koussios (Founder and Director), Dr. Hannes Ametsreiter (Non-Executive Director) and Hakan Koc (Founder and CEO) (Photo: 1Global) Dr. Ametsreiter commented: "1GLOBAL is a fast-paced global telecommunications group that benefits from a unique set of favorable industry trends that are fueling its growth. First and foremost, the global emphasis on compliance above all in the financial sector, drives the expansion of recorded communications for compliance purposes. Secondly, the rapid adoption of eSIM - a technology that 1GLBAL pioneered - enables the seamless provision of communication services to businesses and consumers. Finally, the status of 1GLOBAL as a fully regulated telecom operator in a number of countries enables 1GLOBAL to offer unique communication solutions to globally active enterprises and consumers. This unique combination puts 1GLOBAL in a position to drive rapid growth, as it has recently experienced." From 2015 until 2022, Dr. Ametsreiter served as CEO of Vodafone Germany and was also a member of the Global Executive Board of Vodafone Group. Under his leadership, the company achieved annual revenues of over 12 billion euros and employed over 16,000 people, making it the fastest growing telecommunications company in Germany. Prior to Vodafone, Dr. Ametsreiter worked at Telekom Austria Group, where he started as Product Manager and eventually rose to become its CEO. He held the position of Group CEO for six years and was responsible for a company with a turnover of over 4 billion euros and 16,000 employees in eight countries. During his time there, he was awarded both CMO of the Year in all industries in Europe and CEO of the Year, by Thompson Reuters in 2013. Hakan Koc, Founder and CEO of 1GLOBAL, explains: "We welcome Dr. Ametsreiter to our board and are proud that we could win such a renowned expert to join our mission to enhance the telco ecosystem by a layer of state-of-the-art technology, cybersecurity and rapid development. Our goal is to bring more users, devices and traffic to operators worldwide while saving enterprises and consumers time, resources and money by using our technology stack and our own GSMA accredited eSIM infrastructure." About 1GLOBAL Founded in 2022, TP Global Operations Ltd - trading as 1GLOBAL - acquired in 2023 a group of telecommunication assets operational since 2006, including an internationally recognized GSMA-accredited global mobile network. Headquartered in London with its R&D hub in Lisbon, the company has grown to over 400 employees across 12 countries and has been granted the status of fully regulated MVNO in the UK, US, Germany, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Hong Kong and Australia. Empowering over 7 million customers to communicate using over 34M devices, 1GLOBAL is an innovator in eSIM-based GSM mobile services, catering to businesses and individuals with products including mobile phone call and SMS recording services for businesses, remote SIM provisioning, IoT solutions, Telco-as-a-Service for travel and consumer companies, and affordable roaming for everyday consumers. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231016068652/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] SYDNEY, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- A drive-by shooting injured a man in the Australian state of Victoria on Sunday evening, local police reported on Monday. Victoria Police said in a statement that a 50-year-old man was shot at outside his property on Fourth Avenue in Altona North, a suburb in Melbourne's southwest, at around 7:30 p.m. local time on Sunday. According to police, the man took himself to the hospital later that evening with non-life-threatening injuries. A burnt-out Mitsubishi Pajero was located by investigators on Gill Street in Reservoir, about a 35-minute drive from the injured man's house, at around 8:20 p.m. local time last night, which is believed to have links to the incident. At the current stage, police regarded the shooting as a targeted case, but the exact circumstances of the incident were yet to be determined. While the investigation remained ongoing, Victoria Police called on members of the public to provide related information or dashcam footage. [October 16, 2023] Delish Local: Kingston's Homegrown Food Delivery App Offers Unbeatable Benefits Tweet KINGSTON, ON, Oct. 16, 2023 /CNW/ - Delish Local, Kingston's very own food delivery app, is taking the culinary scene by storm, and residents are reaping the rewards! In a world where convenience meets compassion, Delish Local stands out for its dedication to the community, unmatched benefits, and unwavering support for local businesses. Here are just a few of the fantastic benefits Kingstonians can enjoy when they order through Delish Local: No 10% Fees: Say goodbye to the additional 10% fees that the other guy's charge. Delish Local believes in transparent pricing, ensuring you get the best value for your money. Expanded Delivery Areas: We're proud to serve areas that the other guys won't reach, ensuring that everyone in Kingston can enjoy their favorite local eats delivered to their doorstep. Fair Treatment for Drivers: Our drivers keep 100% of the delivery fee, unlike billion-dollar corporations that take a cut. By choosing Delish Local, ou're supporting local drivers. Restaurants Thrive: "We don't burden restaurants with hefty 20%-30% commissions the other guy's charges, on each order. Delish Local believes in empowering local eateries to flourish." $15 Off Your First Order: Every new customer is welcomed with a generous $15 discount on their first order. It's our way of saying thanks for choosing Delish Local! Exciting Prizes: Delish Local offers chances to win cash or enjoy free food and delivery for up to 12 months. We believe in giving back to our loyal customers. Beyond these unbeatable benefits, Delish Local is deeply committed to the Kingston community. We proudly support local food banks by donating a portion of our proceeds, ensuring that our success directly contributes to those in need. Furthermore, Delish Local is all about keeping it local. We employ Kingston residents and ensure that our revenue stays within Canadian communities, providing opportunities and supporting the local economy. Founded and managed right here in Kingston, Delish Local is more than just a food delivery app; it's a community-driven initiative that brings great food, convenience, and compassion together. About Delish Local: Delish Local is Kingston's homegrown food delivery app that is redefining convenience! Founded and managed in Kingston, Delish Local offers a range of benefits, including transparent pricing, expanded delivery areas, fair treatment for drivers, restaurant support, new customer discounts, exciting prizes, and a commitment to supporting the local community. SOURCE Delish Local [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 16, 2023] SAFEbuilt Announces New Partnership with the City of Berkeley, Missouri, Uplifting Local Building Department Services Tweet BERKELEY, Mo., Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SAFEbuilt, a leading provider of community development solutions, proudly announces its new partnership with the City of Berkeley, Missouri. This strategic alliance is set to deliver a comprehensive suite of building department services, including plan review, next-day building inspections, and state-of-the-art online permitting softwareall directly from the city hall. SAFEbuilt announced a new partnership with the City of Berkeley in Missouri to provide full department services. The immediate advantage for the city residents is clear: they no longer need to navigate county services or share resources with other communities. Instead, they can tap into SAFEbuilt's vast national expertise, complemented by a keen understanding of local needs. Furthermore, for all local inquiries concerning Building Department services, residents are encouraged to contact the appointed Chief Building Official, Mr. Nel Fick, directly at [email protected]. This ensures that residents and developers have a dedicated representative exclusively for the City of Berkeley, guaranteeing personalized, high-quality and efficient service. Nathan Mai-Lombardo, City Manager, commented, "Choosing to collaborate with SAFEbuilt is about placing our residents and the development community at the forefront. It's vital for Berkeley to partner with a firm that understands and prioritizes the unique needs of our community. SAFEbuilt has showcased their dedication, and we're excited about the benefits this partnership will yield." From the SAFEbuilt side, Steve Nero, Vice President of Sales, echoed the enthusiasm: "It's not just about bringing our services to a new cityit's about becoming an integral part of that community. The City of Berkeley is vibrant and filled with potential. Our team is thrilled to elevate building department services to unprecedented levels of quality here." Joe DeRosa, President of SAFEbuilt, also emphasized the broader commitment of the firm, stating, "This latest partnership with Berkeley underscores SAFEbuilt's unwavering commitment to supporting thriving communities across the U.S. We're here to make them safer, stronger, and more prosperous." By harnessing SAFEbuilt's renowned proficiency with Berkeley's inherent community strength, this collaboration promises to bring a transformative impact on local building department processes. The future looks brighter and even more promising for Berkeley residents and its development community. About SAFEbuilt SAFEbuilt is a community development services company offering multi-disciplinary building and professional expertise in 37 states. The company employs approximately 1,700 employees serving more than 1,900 customers nationwide. SAFEbuilt offers the broadest array of community development services anchored by a sophisticated technology stack that is built to fit each customer's needs, including stabilizing budgets, maximizing building department efficiencies, improving the customer experience, and accelerating both the speed to revenue for both municipalities and developers. To learn more, visit SAFEbuilt.com. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/safebuilt-announces-new-partnership-with-the-city-of-berkeley-missouri-uplifting-local-building-department-services-301956784.html SOURCE SAFEbuilt [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 16, 2023] Louis Allis, a WorldWide Electric Company, Granted Preliminary Injunction Against Ideal Electric Power Company Over Trademark Infringement Tweet Federal court issues order against Ideal Electric Power Company, immediately halting Ideal's infringement of the Louis Allis trademarks WARRIOR, Ala., Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Louis Allis, LLC, a leading specialty motor manufacturer based in Warrior, Alabama, obtained a preliminary injunction order from a federal court in Delaware on October 13, 2023 that immediately prohibits Ideal Electric Power Company from using or displaying Louis Allis's federally registered trademarks for its brand name and stylized LA logo. The preliminary injunction order will continue until the court has ruled following a trial in this matter, which is anticipated to be scheduled for 2025. In addition to precluding Ideal from using and displaying the Louis Allis trademarks, the court's preliminary injunction order forbids Ideal from claiming to own or in any way be associated with Louis Allis. Ideal cannot offer o sell any goods or services bearing the Louis Allis trademarks, and Ideal cannot take any steps that create the impression that Ideal's products or services are connected to Louis Allis, which they are not. The judge also ordered Ideal preliminarily to remove any references to the Louis Allis trademarks from its corporate website, social media postings, and other marketing and promotional materials. At the end of June 2023, Louis Allis learned that Ideal claimed to own certain Louis Allis trademarks and business lines. Ideal was also falsely trying to pass itself off as the real Louis Allis and the heir to Louis Allis's more than 100-year customer service history. Ideal set up display booths at industry events such as the 2023 Electrical Apparatus Service Association (EASA) Annual Convention, where it prominently displayed the Louis Allis name and logo, and it falsely claimed in press releases and through social media that it had acquired the Louis Allis large motor business. Louis Allis promptly responded by filing a lawsuit against Ideal for trademark infringement on September 6, 2023 in federal court in Delaware. The caption of the litigation is Louis Allis, LLC v. Ideal Electric Power Co. (D/B/A The Ideal Electric Company), 1:23-CV-00980 (CFC) (D. Del.). About Louis Allis Louis Allis, a WorldWide Electric Company, manufactures a wide variety of AC and DC electric motors and generators for large and specialty applications in our ISO 9001 certified manufacturing facility located in Warrior, Alabama. In addition to manufacturing new motors, our dedicated team of highly skilled motor experts with decades of motor experience, can inspect, evaluate, repair, or overhaul motors from any manufacturer. About WorldWide Electric Corporation WorldWide Electric Corporation, headquartered in Rochester, NY, is a leading manufacturer and distributor of high-quality electric motors, motor controls, gear reducers, and generators. For 25 years, we have been responding to customer needs with a shared sense of urgency and customer-centric philosophy - providing quality products, a large selection of in-stock inventory, and fast shipping, all backed by exceptional customer support. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/louis-allis-a-worldwide-electric-company-granted-preliminary-injunction-against-ideal-electric-power-company-over-trademark-infringement-301956919.html SOURCE Louis Allis [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 16, 2023] Joining hands with the "Belt and Road" to share the light and travel together in the future Tweet BEIJING, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Indonesia is the initiator of the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road". China Energy has continuously cultivated in the docking of China's "Belt and Road Initiative" and Indonesia's "Global Marine Fulcrum" concept, which has promoted the win-win cooperation between China and Indonesia, but also valued the cultures of each other, vividly demonstrating the profound connotation of the "community with a shared future for mankind". The project is co-built. China Energy is the largest Chinese-funded company investing in Indonesia's power sector, with total assets of US $3.184 billion and a total installed capacity of 3,100 megawatts, accounting for 8% of Indonesia's total installed coal power capacity. The Nansu Power Plant has been running for 11 consecutive years without any faults, and Unit 1 has the world's longest continuous operation of coal-fired power units. The project 7 in Java is the largest thermal power unit with independent intellectual property rights that Chinese companies have invested overseas. The project 1 in Nansu is expected to achieve commercial operation by 2024. Three projects have provided Indonesia with safe and stable electricity and created more than 7,000 jobs. Technology sharing. China Energy actively promotes the application of advanced and mature safe, clean and environmentally friendly power generation technologie to convert lignite into clean and efficient electricity, setting an international precedent. The Nansu Power Plant successfully responded to grid failures, protecting equipment and grid safety with professional expertise and rapid response. The main economic and technical indicators of the project 7 in Java save about 850,000 tons of fresh water every year. The vice president of the National Power Company of Indonesia (Perusahaan Listrik Negara) said that China's power technology has important reference significance for the development of Indonesia's power industry. Ecological symbiosis. China Energy is deeply rooted in the concept of harmonious coexistence between man and nature. The Nansu Power Plant converted the old coal water sedimentation tank into a lotus viewing fish pond, and added a silencing device to achieve a "silent mode". An earth dam was built in the planning area of the project 7 in Java, which increase the mangrove area in the construction area by 30% after the completion. China Energy and Indonesian partners have in-depth discussions on new energy development, comprehensive utilization of conventional energy and green transformation, signed a memorandum of understanding for the 50MW grid-connected photovoltaic project in Serang and the 5MW rooftop photovoltaic project in Java, and actively promoted the bidding for the 100MW floating photovoltaic project in Kalang Kades, Indonesia. Humanities are valued. China Energy pays attention to the improvement of Indonesian employees' technical and management capabilities, builds an innovative talent development platform. In order to cultivate local talents in Indonesia, the first university simulation machine laboratory in Indonesia was established with an investment of 1.45 million RMB. China Energy builds long-term aid relationships with local welfare agencies and improves infrastructure. During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, $267,000 in supplies were donated to Indonesia. The "Anna's Wish" student aid fund was established to support the education of the children of poor Indonesian employees. More than 5,500 Chinese colleagues have responded, donating more than 360,000 RMB. The love story of Fang Bing, a Chinese employee, and Hana, an Indonesian girl, was made into the film "Love at Zero Latitude". The successful practice of the China Energy in Indonesia shows that China has built a world of lasting peace, universal security, common prosperity, openness, inclusiveness, and cleanness and beauty. Contact: Cao Yuanyuan Tel: 008610-58685336 Email: [email protected].cn Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2248014/China_Energy.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2246072/4342321/China_Energy_Logo.jpg View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/joining-hands-with-the-belt-and-road-to-share-the-light-and-travel-together-in-the-future-301957382.html SOURCE China Energy [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 16, 2023] Medigene to present new pre-clinical data for pipeline TCR-T therapies at the ESMO Congress 2023 Tweet Planegg/Martinsried, October 16, 2023. Medigene AG (Medigene, the Company, FSE: MDG1, Prime Standard), an immuno-oncology platform company focusing on the discovery and development of T cell immunotherapies for solid tumors, will be presenting at the ESMO Congress 2023 being held on October 20-24, 2023, in Madrid, Spain. The data to be presented shows that optimal affinity T cell receptors (TCRs) when combined with Medigenes PD1-41BB costimulatory switch protein (CSP), provides strong protection of T cell receptor engineered T cells (TCR-T) against multiple mechanisms of solid tumor microenvironment immunosuppression, including CSP-enhanced poly-cytokine secretion, proliferation and mitigation against exhaustion of the TCR-T in vitro. The abstract has been published online here . Details on the poster presentation are as follows: Abstract and title: Mitigation of Tumor Microenvironment-Mediated Immunosuppression Using a PD1-41B Switch Protein with Optimal Affinity TCRs for First-In-Class, 3rd Generation TCR-T Therapies. Authors: Kirsty Crame, Giulia Longinotti, Mario Catarinella, Petra U Prinz, Stefanie Tippmer, Kathrin Mutze, Andrea Coluccio, Melanie Salvermoser, Julia Bittmann, Maja Buerdek, Barbara Loesch, Christiane Geiger, Kathrin Davari and Dolores J Schendel Final presentation number: 2249P Date/time: Saturday October 21, 2023, Poster lunch session from 12 to 1 pm CEST, poster will be on display from 9 am to 6.30 pm CEST Category: Translational Research (Agnostic) --- end of press release --- About Medigene AG Medigene AG (FSE: MDG1) is an immuno-oncology platform company dedicated to developing T cell therapies to effectively eliminate cancer. Its End-to-End Platform, built on multiple proprietary and exclusive TCR generation and optimization, as well as product enhancement technologies, allows Medigene to create best-in-class, differentiated T cell receptor engineered T cell (TCR-T) therapies for multiple solid tumor indications that are optimized for safety, efficacy and durability. This platform provides product candidates for both its in-house therapeutics pipeline and partnering. For more information, please visit www.medigene.com This press release contains forward-looking statements representing the opinion of Medigene as of the date of this release. The actual results achieved by Medigene may differ significantly from the forward-looking statements made herein. Medigene is not bound to update any of these forward-looking statements. Medigene is a registered trademark of Medigene AG. This trademark may be owned or licensed in select locations only. Medigene Pamela Keck Phone: +49 89 2000 3333 01 E-mail: [email protected] In case you no longer wish to receive any information about Medigene, please inform us by e-mail ( [email protected] ). We will then delete your address from our distribution list. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 16, 2023] ProStar Announces Ohio Cumberland Gas Company Adopts PointMan to Enhance Their Gas Line Operations Tweet GRAND JUNCTION, Colo., Oct. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ProStar Holdings Inc., (ProStar or the Company) (TSXV: MAPS) (OTCQX: MAPPF) (FSE: 5D00), a world leader in Precision Mapping Solutions, is pleased to announce that Ohio Cumberland Gas Company (Ohio Cumberland), has adopted ProStars precision mapping technology, PointMan to enhance the management of their gas service and distribution lines. Knowing the location of our assets is critical to the success of our operations and servicing our customers, stated Austin Stritmatter, VP of Ohio Cumberland Gas Co. We believe PointMan will be an ideal solution to help transition us from paper maps, which have serious limitations, to precise digital mapping records of our entire utility infrastructure. Established in 1906, Ohio Cumberland is a privately owned natural gas public utility. Ohio Cumberland currently has over 300 miles of gathering and distribution lines servicing parts of Knox, Ashland, Coshocton, Holmes, Licking, Morrow, and Richland counties. They serve about 2400 residential, commercial, and industrial customers. As a public utility, Ohio Cumberland is subject to the supervision and jurisdiction of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio and the United States Department of Transportation. PointMan is specifically designed to help transition companies like Ohio Cumberland Gas away from paper maps to a cloud and mobile digital mapping solution, which aims to improve operations and address safety and environmental concerns, stated Page Tucker, CEO of ProStar. The Company is also pleased to announce that it has engaged Independent Trading Group (ITG), Inc. (ITG), an arms length party to the Company, to provide market making services with the objective of maintaining a reasonable market and improving the liquidity of the Companys securities. Under the agreement dated April 1, 2023, ITG will trade the common shares of ProStar on the TSX Venture Exchange (the TSXV). The engagement has an initial term of three month and will renew for subsequent one-month terms, unless either party provides 30 days written notice prior to the end of a term. The Company will pay ITG a $5,000 fee plus applicable taxes on the first business day of each month, for as long as the agreement is in force. At the time the parties entered into the agreement ITG did not own any securities of the Company; however, ITG has since acquired a direct interest in the securities of the Company. There are no performance factors contained in the agreement between ITG and the Company and ITG will not receive any shares or options from the Company as compensation for services it will render. The capital used for market making will be provided by ITG and will be done in accordance with TSXV policies and securities laws. The agreement is subject to acceptance for filing by the TSX Venture Exchange. Finally, the Company announces it has agreed to issue an aggregate of 241,006 common shares of the Company(the Settlement Shares) at a price of C$0.34 per share in settlement (the Debt Settlement) of payment owed pursuant to a production and broadcasting agreement with New to the Street Group LLC, totaling USD$60,000 (C$81,942). The Debt Settlement is subject to TSXV approval. The Settlement Shares will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months from the date of issuance, in accordance with applicable securities legislation. About Ohio Cumberland: Ohio Cumberland is a privately owned natural gas public utility that was established in 1906. Originally known as the Upham Gas Company, underwent an ownership change in 1944, and subsequently was purchased in 1980 by the Ramser family. As a public utility, Ohio Cumberland is subject to the supervision and jurisdiction of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio and the United States Department of Transportation. About Independent Trading Group (ITG), Inc. ITG is a Toronto-based CIRO dealer-member that specializes in market making, liquidity provision, agency execution, ultra-low latency connectivity, and bespoke algorithmic trading solutions. Established in 1992, with a focus on market structure, execution and trading, ITG has leveraged its own proprietary technology to deliver high quality liquidity provision and execution services to a broad array of public issuers and institutional investors. About ProStar: ProStar?is a world leader in Precision Mapping Solutions?and is creating a digital world by leveraging the most modern GPS, cloud, and mobile technologies. ProStar is a software development company specializing in developing patented cloud and mobile precision mapping solutions focused on the critical infrastructure industry. ProStars flagship product, PointMan, is designed to significantly improve the workflow processes and business practices associated with the lifecycle management of critical infrastructure assets both above and below the Earths surface. ProStars PointMan is offered as a Software as a Service (SaaS) and seamlessly connects the field with the office and provides the ability to precisely capture, record, display, and manage critical infrastructure, including roads, railways, pipelines, and utilities. Some of the largest entities in North America have adopted ProStars solutions, including Fortune 500 construction firms, Subsurface Utilities Engineering (SUE) firms, utility owners, and government agencies. ProStar has strategic business partnerships with the worlds leading geospatial technology providers, data collection equipment manufacturers, and their dealer networks. The Company has made a significant investment in creating a vast intellectual property portfolio that includes 18 issued patents in the United States and Canada. The patents protect the methods and systems required to digitally capture, record, organize, manage, distribute, and display the precise location of critical infrastructure, including buried utilities and pipelines. ProStars Executive management team has extensive experience in the management of both early-stage and Fortune 500 technology companies in the private and public sectors. For more information about ProStar, please visit www.prostarcorp.com . On behalf of the Company, Page Tucker on sales / corporate news releases, CEO and Director Contact: Joel Sutherland Investor Relations 970-822-4792 [email protected] Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Such information includes, without limitation, information regarding the terms and conditions of the Companys future plans. Although the Company believes that such information is reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking information is typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by the Company is not a guarantee of future results or performance and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking information as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to: the state of the financial markets for the Companys securities; the state of the technology sector; recent market volatility; the COVID-19 pandemic; the Companys ability to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies; and other risks and factors that the Company is unaware of at this time. The reader is referred to the Companys recent Annual Managements Discussion & Analysis filed on SEDAR + on April 21, 2023, for?a more complete discussion of applicable risk factors and their potential effects, copies of which may be accessed through the Companys issuer page on SEDAR+ at?www.sedarplus.ca. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 16, 2023] Vecima Supports Blue Ridge Communications' Video Expansion Tweet Vecima Networks Inc. (TSX: VCM) today announced that Blue Ridge Communications, one of the first broadband internet providers in the US, has engaged its Professional Services team to support the continued expansion of its video streaming experience. Blue Ridge tapped Vecima's Professional Services team for its Assisted Operations support which uses proprietary tools to remotely monitor Blue Ridge's IP video network for issues and maximize system up-time and operational efficiency. Vecima provided a dedicated Vecima customer success engineer to ensure seamless operations. "Our goal at Blue Ridge is to always provide the best viewing experience for our subscribers," said Mark Maisenheimer, Vice President of Operations at Blue Ridge. "As a trusted partner, Vecima's Professional Services team has the depth of experience and understands our network completely, so we rely on them to help us and act as part of our team, especially as we grow and expand." "Vecima's Professional Services team has more than 100 years of combined experience in deploying and managing video systems," said Brian Brown, Senior Vice President, Customer Operations and Professional Services. "Our depth of experience, tenacity for problem-solving, and unwavering commitment to customer success set us apart. Our Assisted Operations Program, and the technology that supports it, enables our field technicians o see issues before they impact the video stream, helping Blue Ridge enhance its video services while reducing costs." For more information about Vecima Professional Services, visit https://vecima.com/professional-services. About Blue Ridge: For nearly three decades, Blue Ridge Communications has been a driving force in advancing connectivity across Pennsylvania. With high-speed internet and cutting-edge fiber services, Blue Ridge ensures that families stay connected and small businesses remain at the forefront - now, and well into the future. Its unwavering commitment is centered on the relentless pursuit of innovation, coupled with its role as an active community partner, where it continuously strives to enhance the quality of life within the regions it proudly serves. For a more comprehensive understanding of Blue Ridge's mission and a detailed look at its product offerings, you're invited to explore its website at brctv.com, where the pursuit of excellence meets the spirit of community engagement. About Vecima Networks Vecima Networks Inc. (TSX: VCM) is leading the global evolution to the multi-gigabit, content-rich networks of the future. Our talented people deliver future-ready software, services, and integrated platforms that power broadband and video streaming networks, monitor and manage transportation, and transform experiences in homes, businesses, and everywhere people connect. We help our customers evolve their networks with cloud-based solutions that deliver ground-breaking speed, superior video quality, and exciting new services to their subscribers. There is power in connectivity - it enables people, businesses, and communities to grow and thrive. Learn more at vecima.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231016879905/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 16, 2023] Venerable Announces Partnerships With Russell Investments and Franklin Templeton Tweet Venerable Holdings, Inc. ("Venerable") today announced that Venerable Investment Advisers, LLC ("Venerable Advisers"), its new wholly-owned subsidiary, intends to engage investment advisory subsidiaries of Russell Investments and Franklin Resources, Inc. ("Franklin Templeton") to provide sub-advisory services with respect to Venerable Variable Insurance Trust ("VVIT"). As previously announced, the mutual funds will serve as investment options for insurance company separate accounts and, over time with the creation of additional mutual funds, will bring the management of the mutual funds underlying Venerable Insurance and Annuity Company's variable annuity business in-house. "It was important to select partners with the right capabilities and expertise as we establish Venerable Advisers. The deep investment management expertise of Franklin Templeton combined with the leading investment solutions of Russell Investments will be a tremendous asset to us and our policyholders," said Tim Brown, President of Venerable Advisers. "We appreciate the collaborative nature of the work done thus far and look forward to continued work with these partners as we continue to grow and optimize our business." VVIT has filed a registration statement on Form N-1A with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") for Venerable High Yield Fund, Venerable Large Cap Index Fund, Venerable Moderate Allocation Fund, Venerable Strategic Bond Fund, Venerable US Large Cap Core Equity Fund and Venerable US Large Cap Strategic Equity Fund, each an initial series of VVIT. "We are proud to partner with Venerable to create an efficient operating model as they launch this important new initiative and look forward to helping them drive enhanced outcomes for the company and their policyholders," said Kate El-Hillow, President and Chief Investment Officer for Russell Investments. Jacob Armstrong, Franklin Templeton's Head of Insurance Strategic Distribution, noted, "With more than 75 years of investment management expertise, Franklin Templeton has a long history of managing insurance assets. We are thrilled to partner with Venerable to bring our distinct specialist investment managers and extensive multi-asset capabilities to deliver better plicyholder outcomes." A registration statement relating to VVIT has been filed with the SEC but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. This communication shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state. Investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses, and other important information about a fund are contained in the prospectus. It is important to read and consider the prospectus carefully before investing. Copies of the preliminary prospectus are available online in the SEC's EDGAR database under the name "Venerable Variable Insurance Trust" at www.sec.gov. Please note that the preliminary prospectus is subject to change. About Venerable Venerable is a privately held company with business operations based in West Chester, Pennsylvania, Des Moines, Iowa and New York, NY. Venerable owns and manages legacy variable annuity business acquired from other entities. Created by an investor group led by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, Inc., Crestview Partners, Reverence Capital Partners, and Athene Holdings, Ltd., Venerable is a business with well-established, strategic investors, experienced in successfully building and growing insurance businesses with patient, long-term capital. For more information, please visit www.venerable.com. About Russell Investments Russell Investments is a global investment solutions firm providing a wide range of services to institutional investors, financial intermediaries and individual investors. The firm has $292 billion in assets under management (as of 9/30/2023) for clients in 30 countries. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, Russell Investments has 17 offices in major financial centers, including New York, London, Paris, Toronto, Tokyo and Shanghai. For more information, please visit www.russellinvestments.com. About Franklin Templeton Franklin Resources, Inc. [NYSE: BEN] is a global investment management organization with subsidiaries operating as Franklin Templeton and serving clients in over 150 countries. Franklin Templeton's mission is to help clients achieve better outcomes through investment management expertise, wealth management and technology solutions. Through its specialist investment managers, the company offers specialization on a global scale, bringing extensive capabilities in fixed income, equity, alternatives and multi-asset solutions. With more than 1,300 investment professionals, and offices in major financial markets around the world, the California-based company has over 75 years of investment experience and approximately $1.4 trillion in assets under management as of September 30, 2023. For more information, please visit franklintempleton.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231015617031/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 16, 2023] True Tickets and Overture Center for the Arts Join Forces to Elevate Patron Experience and Ticketing Security Tweet BOSTON, Oct. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- True Tickets, a leader in secure digital ticket delivery, is excited to unveil a partnership with Overture Center for the Arts, a cultural beacon and one of the Midwest's largest performing arts centers. This monumental collaboration marks True Tickets' expansion into the vibrant arts scene of Madison, Wisconsin, and poses Overture Center to revolutionize its ticketing landscape. The integration of True Tickets' cutting-edge digital ticketing solution will enhance the overall patron experience, bringing a new level of security, convenience, and customization to the ticketing process. Overture Center for the Arts stands as an artistic cornerstone in Madison, featuring a constellation of seven remarkable venues and proudly hosting nine resident companies. With an unwavering commitment to fostering the arts and cultural enrichment, Overture Center plays host to an impressive array of performances, exhibitions, and events that captivate and inspire audiences across the region. This partnership will see True Tickets seamlessly integrate its state-of-the-art digital delivery ticketing service into Overture Center's existing platform. The collaborative effort promises to redefine the ticketing journey for patrons and the venue alike. Notable features of True Tickets' secure, contactless digital ticket delivery include the convenience of mobile access, eliminating the need for physical tickets. Additionally, the platform's innovative rules-based ticket sharing functionality empowers ticket holders to effortlessly transfer tickets to friends and family, while affording the venue control and minimizing unauthorized resale. This partnership comes on the heels of True Tickets' unveiling of Phase 2 of its rules-based ticket sharing functionality, enabling venues like Overture Center to tailor ticket rules to an even greater degree. Starting with November performances, Overture Center patrons will be able to experience True Tickets digital delivery at all Overture and resident company shows, including: Clydes, Forward Theater Company, Nov. 2-19 DakhaBrakha For Ukraine, Nov. 2 Tosca, Madison Opera, Nov. 3-5 Innovation, Madison Ballet, Nov. 3-5 Craig Ferguson: The Fancy Rascal Tour, Nov. 5 Masterworks I Majestic Brahms, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Nov. 10 Ken Cowan, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Nov. 11 Jim Brickman HITS LIVE, Nov. 12 Symphony Gems, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Nov. 17-19 Daniel Tigers Neighborhood LIVE, Nov. 19 My Fair Lady, Nov. 21-26 Christmas with C.S. Lewis, Nov. 24-26 Christmas with Lorie Line, Nov. 27 Winter Fantasia: Reimagined, Kanopy Dance, Nov. 30-Dec. 3 Ken Lesnik, Head of Business Development at True Tickets, expressed, "Our entrance into the Madison arts community alongside Overture Center is a pivotal milestone for True Tickets. As advocates for reimagining the ticketing industry, this collaboration provides us with the exceptional opportunity to introduce our innovative technology to the Madison audience. We eagerly anticipate partnering closely with Overture Center to deliver convenient and secure ticketing to their patrons." About True Tickets True Tickets is a secure contactless digital ticketing service that puts venues and event organizers in control of their tickets and in communication with their true audience. True Tickets' business-to-business solution easily integrates with Tessitura, the unified enterprise system for arts and cultural institutions, empowering performing arts centers, theatres, ballets, orchestras, and more to leverage the power of digital-native tickets to ensure extraordinary live experiences for their guests. With True Tickets, these institutions can set rules and track ticket custody, limit the excesses of the secondary market, and restore direct relationships between their audiences and the live events they love. For additional information, please visit True-Tickets.com or follow True Tickets on Twitter or LinkedIn . About Overture Center for the Arts Overture Center for the Arts in Madison, Wis., is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts organization that features seven state-of-the-art performance spaces and four galleries where national and international touring artists, nine resident companies, and hundreds of local artists engage people in nearly 700,000 educational and artistic experiences each year. With the vision to provide extraordinary experiences through the arts, Overtures mission is to support and elevate our communitys creative culture, economy, and quality of life through the arts. www.overture.org Media contacts: True Tickets Crystal Henderson [email protected] Overture Center for the Arts Shari Gasper [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 16, 2023] Nokia and Mila bring 10G broadband to Iceland with fiber network upgrade Tweet Press Release Nokia and Mila bring 10G broadband to Iceland with fiber network upgrade Nokias multi-PON fiber broadband solution helps Mila bring new multi-gigabit services to residential and enterprise customers across Iceland. Network upgrade represents first comprehensive multi-PON solution in Iceland. Mila becomes first provider to deploy next-generation XGS-PON services in Iceland. Nokia solution allows Mila to seamlessly upgrade to 25G PON using its existing fiber network. 16 October, 2023 Espoo, Finland Nokia today announced it has been selected as the sole supplier by Mila to upgrade its fiber network to support new multi-gigabit services it plans to offer its more than 60,000 customers across Iceland. Nokias multi-PON solution will initially be deployed in the capital city of Reykjavik before being expanded to other cities and regions. As Icelands leading telecommunications provider, Mila has built an extensive access network that connects nearly every company and household in the country. Currently more than 90% of the homes have access to 1Gb/s internet services. However the growth of homeworking, gaming, enterprise applications and the digital economy is pushing the need for new multi-gigabit services. Leveraging Nokias multi-PON fiber broadband solution, Mila will establish a future-ready network that is capable of addressing growing consumer demand for more capacity and enhanced broadband services. The deployment, which includes the upgrade of existing Nokia fiber access nodes and optical line terminals, will be completed in 2024 Nokias fiber access solution is powered by its Quillion chipset, which currently supports three generations of PON technologies including GPON, XGS-PON and 25G PON. With Nokias Quillion chipset at the heart of the solution, Mila will be able to quickly upgrade its network to the next generation PON technology when it wants to add more capacity. It will also help Mila lower its power consumption by 50% and establish a smaller carbon footprint due to energy efficiency gains thathelp reduce operational expenses. Johanna Gumundsdottir, Chief Commercial Officer at Mila, said: Were dedicated to delivering a world-class network that empowers our users with the high-speed broadband necessary to fuel their home and work applications. Leveraging Nokias multi-gig fiber broadband solution, were equipping our users with the essential broadband capacity they require in their daily lives, ensuring each can enjoy the ultimate connectivity experience. Geert Heyninck, General Manager of Broadband Networks, at Nokia, said: We are thrilled to have been chosen by Mila to introduce 10G broadband to Iceland. Our multi-gig and multi-PON solution offers exceptional flexibility and scalability. Mila has ambitious goals to make multi-gig broadband a reality for its 60K+ customers, and we are honored to be a part of their journey. Resources and additional information The Quillion chipset now has more than 250 operator customers around the world.. According to DellOro, Nokia is the largest provider of XGS-PON globally. Web page: Next-generation PON Webpage: Accelerate into Gigabit with fiber Image library: Nokia Quillion Chipset 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 Facebook YouTube [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) will be held in Beijing from Oct. 17 to 18 as 2023 marks the tenth anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). In the autumn of 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping unveiled his proposal to jointly build a Silk Road Economic Belt and a 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, dubbed the Belt and Road Initiative. Over the past decade, it has become a popular global public good and international cooperation platform. Throughout the years, Xi has articulated the essence and distinctive features of the initiative through a multitude of captivating catchphrases. These phrases serve as windows into the profound insights that underpin this transformative endeavor. A BIG FAMILY, NOT AN EXCLUSIVE BLOC Xi made it clear, at the first BRF in 2017, that the BRI was not driven by outdated geopolitical maneuvering. Instead, he emphasized, the initiative aims to create a new model of win-win cooperation and "a big family of harmonious coexistence," rather than forming "a small group detrimental to stability." Over the past decade, the BRI's circle of friends has continued to expand, involving countries in different regions, at different development stages, and with different cultures, ideologies and social systems. By June 2023, China had signed more than 200 BRI cooperation agreements with more than 150 countries and 30 international organizations across five continents. DEVELOPMENT AS MASTER KEY "Development holds the master key to solving all problems," said Xi while addressing the opening ceremony of the BRF in 2017, stressing the need to focus on the fundamental issue of development, release the growth potential of various countries, achieve economic integration and interconnected development, and deliver benefits to all in pursuing the BRI. Over the past decade, Belt and Road cooperation has galvanized up to 1 trillion U.S. dollars of investment globally and created more than 3,000 projects and 420,000 jobs for participating countries, facilitating the delivery of an array of national landmarks, livelihood projects, and milestones of cooperation. As its scope expands, the BRI has become the world's largest platform for international cooperation, with the broadest coverage. CONNECTIVITY AS ARTERIES & VEINS Xi has highlighted the compatible and mutually reinforcing nature of the BRI and relevant connectivity endeavor, saying, "If the Belt and Road are likened to the two wings of a soaring Asia, then connectivity is like their arteries and veins." To promote greater connectivity through BRI cooperation, China has continued to strengthen "hard connectivity" in infrastructure, "soft connectivity" through harmonized rules and standards, and people-to-people bonds. EXPANDING PIE OF COMMON INTERESTS At the second BRF in 2019, Xi called for continued efforts to enhance the complementarity and synergy between the Belt and Road cooperation and the development strategies and agenda at national, regional and international levels. "Through bilateral, tripartite and multilateral cooperation, we need to encourage the full participation of more countries and companies, thus expanding the pie of common interests," he said. BROAD STROKES PAINTED, TIME TO REFINE DETAILS Xi has described the progress of the BRI as akin to creating a painting "with meticulous care." He said, "The outline has been sketched; now we must fill in the fine details." Aiming at high standards, sustainability, and better lives, the BRI has been raising cooperation standards, investment effectiveness, supply quality, and development resilience in the subsequent years, delivering real and substantive results for all participants. A ROAD TO HAPPINESS Xi has emphasized that the ultimate goal of the BRI is to explore new avenues for countries, near and far, to achieve common development. He envisioned the initiative as a "path to happiness" that would bring benefits to the entire world. China actively promotes small-scale yet impactful projects through foreign aid, benefiting people's lives. From Asia to Africa, Latin America to the South Pacific, the construction of roads, railways, schools, hospitals and agricultural facilities contributes to poverty reduction and improves the people's well-being in participating countries. Over the past decade, the BRI has helped lift about 40 million people out of poverty in participating countries. [October 16, 2023] Hartford Funds Launches Hartford Quality Value ETF, After Completing Mutual Fund-to-ETF Conversion Tweet Hartford Funds, a leading global asset manager, announced today the expansion of its exchange-traded funds (ETFs) offerings with the launch of Hartford Quality Value ETF (Ticker symbol: QUVU). QUVU is the result of Hartford Funds' first mutual fund to ETF conversion and will be an actively managed fully transparent equity ETF. Hartford Quality Value ETF maintains the same philosophy, process, and portfolio management team as Hartford Quality Value Fund, the mutual fund from which it converted. It is a traditional large cap value fund that focuses on investing in high quality, undervalued companies believed to be in out-of-favor industries with less downside risk than the overall market. "At Hartford Funds, we seek opportunities to make our investment solutions lineup as compelling as possible, including converting strategies to take advantage of efficiencies for shareholders such as the many offered in the ETF structure and we believe that QUVU can provide the marketplace with an attractive value investing strategy," said Tom McConnell, Head of Product Innovation and Implementation at Hartford Funds. QUVU is sub-advised by Wellington Management, which has been a trusted Hartford Funds sub-adviser for over 25 years. The Fund's portfolio management team consists of Matthew G. Baker, Senior Managing Director and Equity Portfolio Manager, Nataliya Kofman, Senior Managing Director and Equity Portfolio Manager, and Brian J. Schmeer, CFA, Vice President and Equity Research Analyst. Collectively, they bring 64 years of industry experience, 43 of which at Wellington. QUVU is listed on the CBOE BZX Exchange, Inc. and its current expense ratio is 0.45%. For more information about the Hartford Quality Value ETF and the firm's broad product suite, please visit hartfordfunds.com. About Hartford Funds Founded in 1996, Hartford Funds is a leading asset manager, which provides mutual funds, ETFs, and 529 college savings plans. Using its human-centric investing approach, Hartford Funds creates strategies and tools designed to address the needs and wants of investors. Leveraging partnerships with leading experts, Hartford Funds delivers insight into the latest demographic trends and investor behavior. The firm's product line-up includes more than 50 mutual funds and ETFs in a variety of styles and asset classes. Its mutual funds (with the excepion of certain fund of funds) are sub-advised by Wellington Management or Schroder Investment Management North America Inc. The strategic beta ETFs offered by Hartford Funds are designed to help address investors' evolving needs by leveraging a unique risk-optimized approach, which identifies risks within each asset class and then deliberately and systematically re-allocates capital toward risks more likely to enhance return potential. Excluding affiliated funds of funds, as of June 30, 2023, Hartford Funds' investment advisory business had approximately $129.9 billion in discretionary and non-discretionary assets under management. For more information about our investment family, visit http://www.hartfordfunds.com. About Wellington Management Wellington Management is one of the world's largest independent investment management firms, serving as a trusted adviser to over 2,400 clients in more than 63 countries. The firm manages more than US$1.1 trillion for pensions, endowments and foundations, insurers, family offices, fund sponsors, global wealth managers, and other clients. Wellington aspires to provide excellent service to clients through a unique combination of independence enabled by its distinctive private partnership model, diverse perspectives through its unified, multi-asset investment platform, and relentless curiosity and intellectual rigor fostered by its enduring collaborative culture. HIG-W Some of the statements in this release may be considered forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We caution investors that these forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results may differ materially. Investors should consider the important risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ. These important risks and uncertainties include those discussed in The Hartford's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, our 2022 Annual Report on Form 10-K and the other filings The Hartford makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We assume no obligation to update this release, which speaks as of the date issued. From time to time, The Hartford may use its website to disseminate material company information. Financial and other important information regarding The Hartford is routinely accessible through and posted on our website at http://ir.thehartford.com. In addition, you may automatically receive email alerts and other information about The Hartford when you enroll your email address by visiting the "Email Alerts" section at http://ir.thehartford.com Important Risks: Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. The net asset value (NAV) of the Fund's shares may fluctuate due to changes in the market value of the Fund's holdings which may in-turn fluctuate due to market and economic conditions. The Fund's share price may fluctuate due to changes in the relative supply of and demand for the shares on an exchange. The Fund is actively managed and does not seek to replicate the performance of a specified index. ? Different investment styles may go in and out of favor, which may cause the Fund to underperform the broader stock market. ? For dividend-paying stocks, dividends are not guaranteed and may decrease without notice. ? To the extent the Fund focuses on one or more sectors, the Fund may be subject to increased volatility and risk of loss if adverse developments occur. ? Integration of environmental, social, and/or governance (ESG) characteristics into the investment process may not work as intended. In certain instances, unlike other ETFs, the Fund may effect creations and redemptions partly or wholly for cash, rather than in-kind, which may make the Fund less tax-efficient and incur more fees than an ETF that primarily or wholly effects creations and redemptions in-kind. Investors should carefully consider a fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. This and other important information is contained in the fund's prospectus and summary prospectus, which can be obtained by visiting hartfordfunds.com. Please read it carefully before investing Expenses as shown in the Fund's most recent prospectus. ETFs are distributed by ALPS Distributors, Inc. (ALPS). Advisory services are provided by Hartford Funds Management Company, LLC (HFMC). Certain funds are sub-advised by Wellington Management Company LLP. HFMC and Wellington Management are SEC registered investment advisers. Hartford Funds refers to Hartford Funds Distributors, LLC, Member FINRA, and HFMC, which are not affiliated with any sub-adviser or ALPS. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231016291135/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 16, 2023] Nexcella Completes 3rd NXC-201 Engineering Batch at its U.S. CAR-T Manufacturing Site Tweet Successful completion supports expansion of its ongoing NEXICART-1 (NCT04720313) NXC-201 CAR-T clinical trial to the U.S. NXC-201 is manufactured at our state-of-the-art cellular immunotherapy manufacturing facility in California LOS ANGELES, Oct. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nexcella, Inc. (Nexcella, Company, We or Us) today announced the successful completion of its 3rd engineering batch of BCMA-targeted chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy NXC-201 at its U.S. manufacturing site. NXC-201 will be manufactured for each individual patient using the patients own T cells at our state-of-the-art cellular immunotherapy manufacturing facility in California. We believe the completion of our 3rd U.S. engineering batch represents an important threshold to demonstrate our U.S. manufacturing capability for NXC-201 IND submission in the United States, said Ilya Rachman, M.D. PhD, Executive Chairman of Nexcella. NXC-201s 100% observed overall response rate across 9 relapsed/refractory AL Amyloidosis patients, where NXC-201 has received orphan drug designation from the FDA, makes this an important milestone in bringing NXC-201 to U.S. patients. Today, CAR-T cell therapies generate greater than $3 billion of annualized sales, even though due to neurotoxicity and side effects, they are dosed in only 5% of U.S. hospitals, said Gabriel Morris, President of Nexcella. NXC-201 has been dosed in a large number of patients across released/refractory AL amyloidosis and relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. We believe NXC-201 could offer hope to those on waiting lists for CAR-T cell therapies, and potentially become the first out-patient CAR-T expanding into to the remaining 95% of U.S. hospitals. About Nexcella, Inc. Nexcella, Inc. is a Los Angeles, California based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of novel cell therapies for oncology and other indications. Our lead candidate, next generation BCMA-targeted CAR-T NXC-201 for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma and relapsed/refractory AL amyloidosis, has produced 95% and 100% response rates in each indication, respectively, as of July 17, 2023, across 72 patients. NXC-201 has been awarded Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) by the FDA inboth multiple myeloma and AL Amyloidosis. We believe NXC-201 has potential to be the worlds first outpatient CAR-T. Our N-GENIUS platform allows us to discover, develop, and manufacture cutting-edge cell therapies for patients in need. To learn more about Nexcella, Inc. visit us at www.nexcella.com Forward Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements reflect our current view about future events. When used in this press release, the words anticipate, believe, estimate, expect, future, intend, plan, or the negative of these terms and similar expressions, as they relate to us or our management, identify forward-looking statements. Such statements, include, but are not limited to, statements contained in this press release relating to our business strategy, our future operating results, continuing development of our product candidates, including development timelines, timing of FDA submissions and expected endpoints, long-term visions and strategies, evaluations and judgements and beliefs regarding potential efficacy and safety of our product candidates, future clinical development of our product candidates, including any implication that results or observations in initial data, data observed to date, or earlier clinical trials will be representative of results or observations in later data or clinical trials, the expected timing of such results and the potential market size and benefits for our product candidates. Forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and assumptions regarding our business, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Our actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. They are neither statements of historical fact nor guarantees of assurance of future performance. We caution you, therefore, against relying on any of these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, without limitation, our ability to raise capital to fund continuing operations; our ability to protect our intellectual property rights; the impact of any infringement actions or other litigation brought against us; competition from other providers and products; our ability to develop and commercialize products and services; changes in government regulation; our ability to complete capital raising transactions; that our product candidates may not realize the anticipated responses discussed in this release or that their development may suffer delays that materially and adversely affects future commercial viability; that the market for our product candidates may not grow at the rates anticipated or at all; and other factors relating to our industry, our operations and results of operations. Actual results may differ significantly from those anticipated, believed, estimated, expected, intended or planned, including: the uncertainties related to market conditions and other factors described more fully in the section entitled Risk Factors in Immix Biopharmas Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, and other periodic reports subsequently filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and we specifically disclaim any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. We cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Contacts: Mike Moyer LifeSci Advisors [email protected] Company Contact: [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 16, 2023] Windstream Wholesale Partnerships Empower Cross-Border Connectivity as CanAm2 Route Progresses Tweet Windstream Wholesale, an optical technology leader in fast and flexible advanced solutions, continues to make great progress with its CanAm2 fiber build, a 440-mile, long-haul route comprising 432 new fibers from Montreal, Canada, through Albany, New York, and on to New York City. A major construction milestone between the New York state border and Montreal, Canada, is now complete and open for business. Windstream Wholesale's CanAm2 employs a distinctive cross-border architecture that offers increased availability of dark fiber, meets the growing demand for high-capacity transport from customers, and has already been purchased by several major hyperscalers to gain a competitive advantage. CanAm2 provides a new and unique route design that will link Montreal and New York City while also providing access to networks in Boston, Massachusetts, via Albany, another critical network junction supporting the westbound corridor to Buffalo, New York, and connection points west. Windstream Wholesale credits its progress on the CanAm2 route to leveraging two key qualified partnerships: Telecon, an industry-leading North American telecom infrastructure turnkey solutions provider, for the route build within Canada, and HYLAN, a leading provider of full-service turnkey communications solutions, for the route build within the U.S., from the Canadian border to New York City. "The Windstream and Telecon teams have been collaborating very efficiently on the CanAm2 project, always seeking ways to innovate to ensure the delivery of a high-quality network. Telecon built the Canadian part of the conduit used to deploy fiber on this project in prior years, so this partnership felt particularly natural. Our seasoned long-haul construction team has been highly engaged and proud to be part of this important initiative. We look forward to pursuing our collaboration," said Jason Garner, vice president of Infrastructure at Telecon. "Telecon has long-standing expertise as a North American construction firm and has prove to be key in ensuring the success of the Canadian portion of CanAm2," said Karl-Arne Hegewald, senior vice president of network infrastructure and operations at Windstream Wholesale. "Their local expertise has guided key construction decisions, making them a natural and essential partner for a smooth build process." "We are truly honored to serve as Windstream's partner in this critical network build from New York to the Canadian border. It's a historic and important route that will continue to change the landscape of fiber optic connectivity and telecommunications infrastructure across North America," added Robert Bianco, chief commercial officer of HYLAN. "Our partnership with HYLAN for the build of CanAm2 is invaluable. As a seasoned construction leader with extensive experience across New York's landscape, HYLAN brings expertise in navigating the intricacies of building within the city. Their teams' deep understanding of local topography and community connections is crucial," said Joe Scattareggia, chief revenue officer at Windstream Wholesale. "Beyond serving as partners, they've also been instrumental in shaping the critical design aspects of our long-haul builds." Windstream Wholesale has embarked on a series of construction projects to overbuild select routes and build new network routes with high-count fibers across Windstream's Intelligent Converged Optical Network (ICON). CanAm2 is a key route within this build strategy. Another important route is the Beach Route, an 864-count fiber route from Raleigh, North Carolina, to cable landing stations in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Jacksonville, Florida. The Beach Route is already 70% complete, with the northern route from Raleigh to Savannah, Georgia, at 90% completion and expected to be turned over to customers later this year. To view the Windstream Wholesale network, visit https://www.windstreamwholesale.com/network-expansion/. About Windstream Windstream Holdings is a privately held communications and software company. Windstream Wholesale is an innovative optical technology leader that creates deep partnerships with carriers, content and media providers, federal government agencies and Fortune 100 companies to deliver fast and flexible, customized wave and transport solutions. Additional information is available at windstream.com or windstreamwholesale.com. Follow us on X, formerly Twitter, at @Windstream. Category: Wholesale View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231016332715/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 16, 2023] Jonathan Milner releases presentation to Abcam plc shareholders, outlining reasons to reject Danaher's bid and strategic vision for the Company Tweet Jonathan Milner releases presentation to Abcam plc shareholders, outlining reasons to reject Danaher's bid and strategic vision for the Company CAMBRIDGE, England, 16 October 2023 Dr. Jonathan Milner, the founder and one of the largest shareholders in Abcam plc (Abcam or the Company) (NYSE: ABCM) with ownership of 6.16%, today issued a presentation covering the reasons for Abcam shareholders to vote against the $24 per share bid from Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) or its affiliates (Danaher). These include: Data showing that the forward multiple implied by the $24 bid price is below Abcams long-term trading multiple The anticipation of a transformational year ahead with increased EBITDA margins and revenue growth for FY24, not reflected in Danaher's offer The positioning of Abcam to reap the returns of the five-year investment plan, rendering the $24 offer price as the wrong price at the wrong time Details of the selective approach in the fairness opinions included in the Scheme Circular, resulting in the omission of key peer group companies from the analysis which depressed the multiples and the implied value per share Dr. Milner firmly believes that Abcam stands as an exceptional UK asset and should not be undersold to Danaher. However, he is open to selling to Danaher or another suitor at a fair price that genuinely reflects the Companys true value and potential. In the presentation, Dr. Milner unveiled "Abcam 3.0," his strategy for Abcam. Should the "Vote AGAINST" campaign conclude successfully, he intends to convene an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) aimed at overhauling the Company's Board. His strategy focuses on four strategic pillars essential for the Company's three-year growth plan commencing in 2024: Returning Abcam to best-in-class Corporate Governance and Investor Relations Restoring operational efficiency and achieving execution excellence Strengthening leadership in Antibody and Digital Platforms Reestablishing antibodies as the conduit into market adjacencies The full presentation can be found at this link and has been made available on www.abcamfocus.com Jonathan Milner https://abcamfocus.com/ Investor contact Alliance Advisors (Europe) T: +44 7733 265 198 / E: [email protected] Michael Roper Alliance Advisors (US) T: +1 917 414 4766 Thomas Ball Peel Hunt LLP T: +44 (0) 20 7418 8900 Christopher Golden / James Steel Sohail Akbar / Jock Maxwell Macdonald International PR advisers ICR Consilium (Europe) T: +44 (0)20 3709 5700 / E: [email protected] Mary-Jane Elliott / Matthew Neal / Davide Salvi IC (US) [email protected] Dan McDermott IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN ISSUED BY DR. JONATHAN MILNER ("DR. MILNER"). DR. MILNER HAS PUBLISHED A PROXY STATEMENT AND ACCOMPANYING WHITE PROXY CARD TO BE USED TO SOLICIT VOTES AGAINST THE PROPOSED ACQUISITION OF ABCAM PLC (THE "COMPANY") BY DIADEM HOLDCO LIMITED, A WHOLLY OWNED INDIRECT SUBSIDIARY OF DANAHER CORPORATION, AT $24 PER SHARE, AT A MEETING OF THE SHAREHOLDERS CONVENED PURSUANT TO THE COMPANIES ACT 2006 (THE COURT MEETING). DR. MILNER STRONGLY ADVISES ALL SHAREHOLDERS OF THE COMPANY TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT AND OTHER PROXY MATERIALS AS THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. SUCH PROXY MATERIALS WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE AT NO CHARGE ONLINE ON THE WEBSITE OF THE U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION AT WWW.SEC.GOV AND ON A WEBSITE HOSTED BY DR. MILNER TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO SHAREHOLDERS ABOUT THE COURT MEETING AT WWW.ABCAMFOCUS.COM. HOLDERS OF COMPANY SECURITIES ALSO SHOULD RECEIVE COPIES OF THE PROXY STATEMENT AND PROXY CARD BY MAIL, AND COPIES WILL BE PROVIDED AT NO CHARGE UPON REQUEST MADE TO DR. MILNERS PROXY SOLICITOR, ALLIANCE ADVISORS, BY EMAIL TO [email protected] OR BY PHONE TO 877-777-8211 FROM NORTH AMERICA OR TO 0800-102- 6998 FROM ELSEWHERE. THIS DOCUMENT IS FOR DISCUSSION AND INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THE VIEWS EXPRESSED HEREIN REPRESENT THE OPINIONS OF DR. MILNER AS OF THE DATE HEREOF. DR. MILNER RESERVES THE RIGHT TO CHANGE ANY OF HIS OPINIONS EXPRESSED HEREIN AT ANY TIME AND FOR ANY REASON AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY OBLIGATION TO CORRECT, UPDATE OR REVISE THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN OR TO OTHERWISE PROVIDE ANY ADDITIONAL MATERIALS. SUBJECT TO THE FOREGOING, AND AS SET FORTH BELOW, DR. MILNER INTENDS TO MAKE AVAILABLE AT AN APPROPRIATE TIME ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE COURT MEETING INCLUDING HOW TO VOTE AT SUCH MEETING. DR. MILNER HAS INVESTMENTS IN THE COMPANY WHICH ARE DISCLOSED IN THE PROXY STATEMENT AND OTHER PROXY MATERIALS, AND CONSEQUENTLY HAS A FINANCIAL INTEREST IN THE PROFITABILITY OF HIS POSITIONS IN THE COMPANY. ACCORDINGLY THIS DOCUMENT SHOULD NOT BE REGARDED AS IMPARTIAL. NOTHING IN THIS DOCUMENT SHOULD BE TAKEN AS ANY INDICATION OF DR. MILNER 'S CURRENT OR FUTURE TRADING OR VOTING INTENTIONS AND/OR ACTIVITIES WHICH MAY CHANGE AT ANY TIME. CERTAIN INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT IS BASED ON PUBLICLY AVAILABLE INFORMATION WITH RESPECT TO THE COMPANY, INCLUDING PUBLIC FILINGS AND DISCLOSURES MADE BY THE COMPANY AND OTHER SOURCES, AS WELL AS DR. MILNER'S ANALYSIS OF SUCH PUBLICLY AVAILABLE INFORMATION. DR. MILNER HAS RELIED UPON AND ASSUMED, WITHOUT INDEPENDENT VERIFICATION, THE ACCURACY AND COMPLETENESS OF SUCH INFORMATION, AND NO REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY IS MADE THAT ANY SUCH DATA OR INFORMATION IS COMPLETE OR ACCURATE. DR. MILNER RECOGNISES THAT THERE MAY BE CONFIDENTIAL OR OTHERWISE NON-PUBLIC INFORMATION WITH RESPECT TO THE COMPANY THAT COULD ALTER THE OPINIONS OF DR. MILNER WERE SUCH INFORMATION KNOWN. NO REPRESENTATION, WARRANTY OR UNDERTAKING, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IS GIVEN AND NO RESPONSIBILITY OR LIABILITY OR DUTY OF CARE IS OR WILL BE ACCEPTED BY DR. MILNER CONCERNING: (I) THIS DOCUMENT AND ITS CONTENTS, INCLUDING WHETHER THE INFORMATION AND OPINIONS CONTAINED HEREIN ARE ACCURATE, FAIR, COMPLETE OR CURRENT; (II) THE PROVISION OF ANY FURTHER INFORMATION, WHETHER BY WAY OF UPDATE TO THE INFORMATION AND OPINIONS CONTAINED IN THIS DOCUMENT OR OTHERWISE TO THE RECIPIENT AFTER THE DATE OF THIS DOCUMENT; OR (III) THAT DR. MILNER'S INVESTMENT PROCESSES OR INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES WILL OR ARE LIKELY TO BE ACHIEVED OR SUCCESSFUL OR THAT DR. MILNER'S INVESTMENTS WILL MAKE ANY PROFIT OR WILL NOT SUSTAIN LOSSES. PAST PERFORMANCE IS NOT INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RESULTS. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, DR. MILNER WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY LOSSES, WHETHER DIRECT, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL, INCLUDING LOSS OF PROFITS, DAMAGES, COSTS, CLAIMS OR EXPENSES RELATING TO OR ARISING FROM THE RECIPIENT'S OR ANY PERSON'S RELIANCE ON THIS DOCUMENT. EXCEPT FOR THE HISTORICAL INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN, THE INFORMATION AND OPINIONS INCLUDED IN THIS DOCUMENT CONSTITUTE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS, INCLUDING ESTIMATES AND PROJECTIONS PREPARED WITH RESPECT TO, AMONG OTHER THINGS, THE COMPANY'S ANTICIPATED OPERATING PERFORMANCE, THE VALUE OF THE COMPANY'S SECURITIES, DEBT OR ANY RELATED FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS THAT ARE BASED UPON OR RELATE TO THE VALUE OF SECURITIES OF THE COMPANY (COLLECTIVELY, "COMPANY SECURITIES"), GENERAL ECONOMIC AND MARKET CONDITIONS AND OTHER FUTURE EVENTS. YOU SHOULD BE AWARE THAT ALL FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS, ESTIMATES AND PROJECTIONS ARE INHERENTLY UNCERTAIN AND SUBJECT TO SIGNIFICANT ECONOMIC, COMPETITIVE, AND OTHER UNCERTAINTIES AND CONTINGENCIES AND HAVE BEEN INCLUDED SOLELY FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES. ACTUAL RESULTS MAY DIFFER MATERIALLY FROM THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN DUE TO REASONS THAT MAY OR MAY NOT BE FORESEEABLE. THERE CAN BE NO ASSURANCE THAT THE COMPANY SECURITIES WILL TRADE AT THE PRICES THAT MAY BE IMPLIED HEREIN, AND THERE CAN BE NO ASSURANCE THAT ANY ESTIMATE, PROJECTION OR ASSUMPTION HEREIN IS, OR WILL BE PROVEN, CORRECT. THIS DOCUMENT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE (A) AN OFFER OR INVITATION TO BUY OR SELL, OR A SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY OR SELL, ANY SECURITY OR OTHER FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT AND NO LEGAL RELATIONS SHALL BE CREATED BY ITS ISSUE, (B) A "FINANCIAL PROMOTION" FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS ACT 2000, (C) "INVESTMENT ADVICE" AS DEFINED BY THE FCA HANDBOOK, (D) "INVESTMENT RESEARCH" AS DEFINED BY THE FCA HANDBOOK, OR (E) AN "INVESTMENT RECOMMENDATION" AS DEFINED BY REGULATION (EU) 596/2014 AND BY REGULATION (EU) NO. 596/2014 AS IT FORMS PART OF U.K. DOMESTIC LAW BY VIRTUE OF SECTION 3 OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018 ("EUWA 2018") INCLUDING AS AMENDED BY REGULATIONS ISSUED UNDER SECTION 8 OF EUWA 2018. THIS DOCUMENT IS NOT (AND MAY NOT BE CONSTRUED TO BE) LEGAL, TAX, INVESTMENT, FINANCIAL OR OTHER ADVICE. EACH RECIPIENT SHOULD CONSULT THEIR OWN LEGAL COUNSEL AND TAX AND FINANCIAL ADVISERS AS TO LEGAL AND OTHER MATTERS CONCERNING THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN. THIS DOCUMENT DOES NOT PURPORT TO BE ALL-INCLUSIVE OR TO CONTAIN ALL OF THE INFORMATION THAT MAY BE RELEVANT TO AN EVALUATION OF THE COMPANY, COMPANY SECURITIES OR THE MATTERS DESCRIBED HEREIN. NO AGREEMENT, COMMITMENT, UNDERSTANDING OR OTHER LEGAL RELATIONSHIP EXISTS OR MAY BE DEEMED TO EXIST BETWEEN OR AMONG DR. MILNER AND ANY OTHER PERSON BY VIRTUE OF FURNISHING THIS DOCUMENT. DR. MILNER IS NOT ACTING FOR OR ON BEHALF OF, AND IS NOT PROVIDING ANY ADVICE OR SERVICE TO, ANY RECIPIENT OF THIS DOCUMENT. DR. MILNER IS NOT RESPONSIBLE TO ANY PERSON FOR PROVIDING ADVICE IN RELATION TO THE SUBJECT MATTER OF THIS DOCUMENT. BEFORE DETERMINING ON ANY COURSE OF ACTION, ANY RECIPIENT SHOULD CONSIDER ANY ASSOCIATED RISKS AND CONSEQUENCES AND CONSULT WITH ITS OWN INDEPENDENT ADVISORS AS IT DEEMS NECESSARY. DR. MILNER HAS NOT SOUGHT OR OBTAINED CONSENT FROM ANY THIRD PARTY TO USE ANY STATEMENTS OR INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN. ANY SUCH STATEMENTS OR INFORMATION SHOULD NOT BE VIEWED AS INDICATING THE SUPPORT OF SUCH THIRD PARTY FOR THE VIEWS EXPRESSED HEREIN. ALL TRADEMARKS AND TRADE NAMES USED HEREIN ARE THE EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 16, 2023] The Voice of the Martyrs Releases Sejun: Nepal Short Feature for 2023 International Day of Prayer for Persecuted Christians Tweet BARTLESVILLE, Okla., Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Voice of the Martyrs has released a new short feature film about a Nepali boy's journey from life in a Buddhist monastery to finding new hope in Christ. Sejun: Nepal was released by VOM for the International Day of Prayer for Persecuted Christians on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023 . Sejun: Nepal will inspire viewers to join in the International Day of Prayer for Persecuted Christians (IDOP)a global prayer movement on Sunday, Nov. 5 on behalf of Christians who boldly witness for Jesus Christ at any cost. Over his nine-year stay in the monastery, Sejun experienced the darkness of Buddhism. When he ran away from the monastery at age 13, his family did not welcome his return. His father enrolled him in first grade since his only schooling had been studying Buddhist texts. There, Sejun met a godly teacher who shared the gospel. Sejun: Nepal wasreleased, along with other free prayer resources, to equip individuals and families, small groups, Sunday School classes and churches to pray for persecuted Christians on IDOP. "The first thing persecuted Christians ask us to do for them is pray," said Todd Nettleton, host of VOM Radio. "IDOP is a direct response to their #1 request, and it is our fervent desire that every church and every Christian pray for persecuted members of our spiritual family." VOM's 2023 Global Prayer Guide designated Nepal a "hostile" nation. Christians in hostile nations are routinely persecuted by family, community members and/or extremist groups because of their Christian witness. VOM's free IDOP resources, available at vom.org/idop , include a: Download or DVD of Sejun: Nepal , , Facilitator's guide, Promotional videos, Church bulletin inserts, Guided prayer slides, Questions for reflection and discussion, Sermon-builder resource for pastors and teachers. VOM will also host a special 24 Hours of Prayer event on social media. Every hour, a new prayer request from persecuted Christians will be shared on the ministry's social media channels. Nettleton said his hope is that, "this year's IDOP resources will inspire tens of thousands of Christians all around the world to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters." About The Voice of the Martyrs Founded in 1967 by Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, The Voice of the Martyrs is a nonprofit, interdenominational missions organization serving persecuted Christians in the world's most difficult and dangerous places to follow Christ. For more information, visit VOM.org . View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-voice-of-the-martyrs-releases-sejun-nepal-short-feature-for-2023-international-day-of-prayer-for-persecuted-christians-301957695.html SOURCE The Voice of the Martyrs [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 16, 2023] Intrepid Fiber Networks Extends High-Speed Internet to Greater St. Cloud, Minnesota Tweet Intrepid Fiber Networks, a leading provider of fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) solutions, is proud to announce its expansion into Greater St. Cloud servicing St. Cloud, Sauk Rapids, Waite Park, and Sartell. This strategic move represents the company's second major initiative in the North Star State, bringing fast and reliable symmetrical multi-gigabit Internet to over 44,000 households and businesses. Building upon its fruitful partnerships with top-tier Internet Service Providers (ISPs), Intrepid Fiber maintains its unwavering commitment to delivering FTTP services through an open-access model. Construction is underway, with Greater St. Cloud residents expected to enjoy best-in-class FTTP services by the end of 2023. Multi-gigabit speeds will have the potential to elevate the quality of life and economic prospects of residents and boost efficiency, foster innovation, and expand the market reach of businesses. This milestone marks an exciting chapter in Intrepid Fiber's journey as it ventures beyond its initial markets in Pueblo and Northglenn, Colorado, and its first Minnesota market in Bloomington. Intrepid Fiber will empower residents and businesses with multiple ISP choices on its Greater St. Cloud network as part of its vision. This choice reflects Intrepid Fiber's core belief in offering flexibility and customized solutions to meet the unique needs of the community. "Our expansion into Greater St. Cloud, following closely after Bloomington, is just the start of our plans for Minnesota," said Jack Waters, CEO of Intrepid Fiber. "Intrepid Fiber is dedicated to making high-speed Internet accessible and empowering communities throughout the state. We look forward to continuing our growth and helping even more Minnesotans connect, innovate, and thrive in this digital age." About Intrepid Fiber Networks Intrepid Fiber Networks collaborates with municipalities to offer last-mile fiber connectivity, enabling consumers to access a wide range of Internet services through its wholesale open-access network. The company's goal is to deliver world-class fiber to communities throughout the United States to meet the broadband demands of the future. Intrepid Fiber is well-positioned for growth as a part of the Brookfield Infrastructure portfolio. For more information about Intrepid Fiber Networks, please visit Intrepidfiber.com. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements contained herein or made by management constitute forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements reflect our current expectations about our plans and future performance and speak only as of the date of this press release. We do not undertake to update these statements. Our expectations (or the underlying assumptions) may change or not be realized, and you should not unduly rely on forward-looking statements. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231016169512/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 16, 2023] To mark Child Care Worker & ECE Appreciation Day, Early Childhood Educators will be at Queen's Park to discuss a new report showing Ontario is falling behind on child care Tweet October 17th is the 23rd Annual Child Care Worker and Early Childhood Educator Appreciation Day. This year the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care and the Association of Early Childhood Educators will be at Queen's Park to discuss their new report, which shows Ontario is falling behind other provinces on child care worker wages. Who: Alana Powell, Executive Director, RECE, Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario; Carolyn Ferns, Policy Coordinator, Ontario Coalition for Better Childcare; Jess Tomas, RECE, CUPE 2484; Rachel Neville, RECE. Where: Queen's Park Media Studio When: Tuesday October 17, 10:00 a.m. JM:lf/cope 491 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231016413524/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 16, 2023] QKEx First Announces the Establishment of an Ecosystem Centered around the "Exchange + Community Economy" Tweet Victoria, Seychelles, Oct. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In October 2023, the cryptocurrency trading platform QKEx announced through its community that it will invest more energy and financial support in the decentralized social field, and will create an 'exchange + community economy' ecosystem to realize the uplinking of users' community behaviors and the financialization of the social ecosystem. QKEx is not the first project to come up with the concept of social economy, before that many decentralized social concept projects have been quite successful. On August 10, 2023, Friend.tech, a SocialFi protocol based on the BASE chain, was officially launched, and no one would have expected that in just 12 days, Friend.tech attracted nearly 100,000 users to join, with more than 363,300 ETH, or about $62.2 million, in capital inflow. Only on August 22nd, Friend.tech created nearly 2,000 ETH in protocol fees by itself, becoming the second highest fee-generating platform on the whole network that day, second only to Ethereum. It is the nature of investors to chase ups and downs, and the huge capital effect generated by Friend.tech has made countless users rush to try to catch up with the SocialFi craze. New social outlet Data shows that as of 2022, the number of global online social media users has exceeded 4.5 billion, accounting for about 70% of the total global population. When the crypto track is combined with the social field, it may burst into a huge capital and user effect, bringing stronger topic and wealth creation effect for crypto products. As of now,decentralized social networking has shown strong power to attract money in the market, and Friend.tech and Tipcoin are among the leaders. With the emergence of popular applications in the social sector, and Friend Techs popularity has remained high, even Friend Techs imitation disk has attracted many users to participate. Many people describe the current social sector as having the explosion of DeFi at the end of 2020. Trends, social economy also seems to be becoming a new trend in the cryoto industry. Exchange + Community Economy It is undeniable that social products are one of the most valuable application scenarios in the Internet ecosystem. However, in essence, Friend.tech and Tipcoin are not decentralized social in the true sense, and they basically do not have social scenarios and 'Social needs'. Friend.tech andTipcoin's gameplay is more like 'play to earn' in the chain tour, need to rely on a constant flow of traffic to maintain the heat, but we all know that the market enthusiasm and user funds are not a cornucopia. Decentralized social networking wants to achieve Long-term development requires application scenarios that can retain users. In contrast, the core value of the entire decentralized social field lies more in the community economy, that is, the exchange of private domain traffic, mutual exchange of assets, and knowledge dissemination. These are all parts that can create circulation scenarios and behavioral economies. But the question is how to convert community behavior into a social economy? QKEx Exchange seems to have given the answer. At present, QKEx for the first time has proposed the concept of community economic ecology, that is, to realize the financialization of community behavior and the profitability of social value, that is, to create a COMMUNALFI ecology that can restore the entire community system to the chain. QKEx, known as QK Exchange, is a global crypto-asset comprehensive service platform independently developed by QK Group in 2020, which has created a unified trading account and trading system, and can provide multi-sector businesses such as Spot contract, contract, Financing, HashRate mining. Its parent company QK Group's business covers QK Mining, QK Hot and Cold Wallet, Risk Control and other business segments, among which, QK Mining Center has provided processing and verification of cryptocurrency ecosystem transactions and mine derivative services to customers in many countries around the world. , full custody and overall operation and other mining-related services , and successfully won the honor of "Best International Service Provider for Russian Mining" in 2017. The biggest difference between QKEX exchange and other exchanges currently on the market is that the platform proposes the new concept of CommunalFI for the first time in the industry. The platform advocates the implementation of community behavioral economy on the chain and creates a decentralized community economy and trading ecology. It is worth noting that QKEX has very rich regional encryption resources around the world, and currently has independent operation centers in the United States, Canada, Russia, Australia, Estonia, Indonesia, Thailand and other countries, which means QKEXs community resources are spread almost all over the world, enabling the large-scale implementation of decentralized social network. Economizing Community Behavior Of course, although QKEX already has community resources and sufficient financial strength, it is not a simple matter to realize the community behavioral economy on the chain and create a decentralized community economy and trading ecology. It is understood that QKEX is currently targeting the community The economic sector has made a two-step plan: Step 1: add an independent social section and invite a large number of trading communities to join. In order to encourage more communities to join the QKEX trading ecosystem, the platform will launch various community competitions from time to time and display monthly community rankings on the exchange. The higher the ranking of the community, the higher the value of its team leaders rights. At the same time, in order to encourage users to participate in community ecological construction, QKEX will implement user behavior economy. When users perform all social behaviors in the QKEX community map, including but not limited to chatting, posting, commenting, likes, transfers, rewards, etc., they can earn corresponding value return. Step 2: Launch the COMMUNALFI functional section This function will allow community team leaders to issue personal rights based on their own social value. The rights will be displayed in the form of limited NFTs. Once issued, the community leader's interests will be automatically shelved on the trading market, and users can obtain community access qualifications by purchasing the community leader's interests in the form of NFTs. QKEx is the first trading platform in the industry to propose the concept of COMMUNALFI. Its platform aims to expand the future value and development space of the combination of exchanges and community economies, and become a pioneer in the new generation of trading and community platforms. 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. Website: https://www.qkex.com Media Contact Company Name: QKEX Limited Contact Person:Alan Liu Email: [email protected] Country: Seychelles Website: https://www.qkex.com/#/home [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 16, 2023] UC Berkeley, SKS Partners Unveil Proposed 36-Acre R&D Hub in the Heart of Silicon Valley at NASA's Ames Research Center Tweet A joint venture between The University of California, Berkeley ("UC Berkeley") and San Francisco-based SKS Partners ("SKS"), today unveiled Berkeley Space Center at NASA Research Park ("Berkeley Space Center"), a planned 36-acre innovation hub in the heart of Silicon Valley. As envisioned, the multi-phase development would accelerate the area's existing innovation ecosystem, catalyzing deeper collaboration between the private, academic and governmental sectors. The joint venture is dedicated to identifying, incubating and launching technological breakthroughs across a diverse set of fields including astronautics, quantum computing, climate studies and the social sciences. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231016799243/en/ An overhead view of the 36-acre Berkeley Space Center. Located within NASA's Ames Research Center's NASA Research Park, Berkeley Space Center would be designed from the ground up to foster a collaborative environment with the critical mass and infrastructure needed to expand the frontiers of knowledge and develop tomorrow's defining technologies. Overall, the development is expected to generate considerable employment opportunities, including more than 6,000 advanced R&D positions. With a focus on high-growth, high-impact sectors, Berkeley Space Center aims to further cement the State of California as a global innovation leader. "California's innovation and drive is not limited to Earth," said California Governor Gavin Newsom. "Berkeley Space Center will help lead the state's space tech development by bringing together top space leaders in academia, government, and industry to foster new technologies and breakthroughs." BUILT FOR DREAMERS AND DOERS Berkeley Space Center's proposed master plan1 currently features 1.4 million square feet of Class-A office and R&D space, including wet and dry labs; as well as conference space, academic facilities and retail amenities. The site's current plans would also offer nearly 18 acres of open space, including outdoor working yards and a central green area which would serve as a flexible platform for community gatherings, activations and exhibitions. Later phases of the project would include short-term stay facilities, and student and faculty housing. The site plan prioritizes density, efficiency, and diversity of uses for tenants, with all designs geared to ensure a high level of environmental sustainability. Final leasable space is dependent on the final resolution of the master plan and environmental approvals. Beyond on-site features, users of Berkeley Space Center - including established and start-up companies, researchers and scientists, as well as students and faculty - would benefit from proximity to NASA's Ames Research Center. Focused on conducting world-class research and development in aeronautics and exploration technology since 1939, NASA's Ames Research Center features the world's largest wind tunnel, which is capable of simulating gusts up to 100 knots, as well as The NASA Advanced Supercomputing Division, Arc Jet Complex and NASA's Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS). ENVISIONED BY A WORLD-CLASS TEAM Berkeley Space Center would build on and advance the University's three-part mission of edcation, research, and public service, while taking advantage of the campus' academic excellence and leadership in emerging fields of inquiry and exploration. "This planned expansion of Berkeley's physical footprint and academic reach represents a fantastic and unprecedented opportunity for our students, faculty and the public we serve," said UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ. "We are thrilled by the prospect of new collaborations that can speed the translation of discoveries by our world-class research enterprise across a wide range of disciplines into the inventions, technologies, and services that will advance the greater good. This is a prime location and a prime time for this public university." From NASA's perspective, the Berkeley Space Center development would fulfill a nearly 20-year vision for an interdisciplinary innovation hub on-site at NASA Research Park. "For NASA, this partnership has the potential to advance world-class research in aviation and space, thus helping improve life here on Earth," said Eugene Tu, Center Director at NASA's Ames Research Center. "More importantly, Berkeley Space Center could also help inspire the next generation of explorers through future collaborations with the University's students, faculty and partners." In addition to UC Berkeley and SKS Partners, the development team includes the following firms as co-master planners: HOK , a global design, architecture, engineering and planning firm known for its high-profile, large-scale projects, such as NOAA Daniel K. Inouye Regional Center in Pearl Harbor, HI and Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL. , a global design, architecture, engineering and planning firm known for its high-profile, large-scale projects, such as NOAA Daniel K. Inouye Regional Center in Pearl Harbor, HI and Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL. Field Operations, an interdisciplinary urban design and landscape architecture firm, known for the High Line and Cornell Tech Campus in New York City and the Presidio Tunnel Tops in San Francisco. UC Berkeley has, to date, contributed approximately $1 million to the Berkeley Space Center joint venture, in the form of salary for faculty, staff, and students working on the project and the academic planning related to the new research park. If the project is approved, Berkeley Space Center would likely incur annual expenses of approximately $750,000 to support the salaries of faculty, staff and students working on the project and at the site. In return for its investment and partnership, the university would receive a portion of the revenues the real estate development is projected to generate. All told, the university estimates annual revenues of at least $40 million from multiple project-related sources, including grants, research funding, philanthropy, industry partners, fees and the income earned from the real estate revenue. The priority for university revenues will be the funding of those expenditures needed to ensure Berkeley Space Center is self-sustaining, with any ancillary or secondary financial benefits extending to the core campus, its departments and colleges, and faculty and students. There is also likely to be additional financial benefits derived from the incubation and commercialization of emerging companies born from translation research and technology created at the site. BUILDING A LOW-CARBON FUTURE For the joint-venture partnership, Berkeley Space Center is an opportunity to redefine how large-scale developments are designed, constructed and managed not just from the ground up, but from the underground up. The grounds and the buildings would serve as a testbed to pioneer and advance novel low-carbon design and construction practices. The development team of Berkeley Space Center has a growing list of ambitious environmental sustainability goals, which at present include: Pursuit of rigorous building certifications, both LEED and other Installation and use of alternative low-carbon energy sources, such as photo-voltaic panels for power generation in place of natural gas Diversion of the majority of on-site waste On-site treatment and retention of stormwater Use of recycled water for both landscaping and within buildings themselves Multiple modes of movement and transportation to and within the site, with a focus on pollution-free mobility Phytoremediation, whereby Berkeley Space Center's landscape design and maintenance will heal groundwater aquifers "Similar to how innovations in aerospace research pushed the physical boundaries of where humans can go, Berkeley Space Center aspires to establish new standards for how buildings are designed, constructed and operated to minimize the carbon impact," said Dan Kingsley, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of SKS Partners. "UC Berkeley and SKS Partners share a commitment to building a carbon-free future for humanity, and Berkeley Space Center is the ideal incubator to develop new ideas to achieve that goal." PROJECT TIMELINE The environmental entitlement process has commenced and is expected to last approximately two years, with construction tentatively scheduled to begin in 2026. The joint-venture partnership has selected CBRE to market the R&D space for lease. The leasing team is ready to initiate discussions with prospective tenants interested in built-to-suit opportunities. To learn more about Berkeley Space Center at NASA Research Park, including potential tenancy opportunities, please visit BerkeleySpaceCenter.com. For more on academic and research initiatives set to take place at the center, please click HERE. About Berkeley Space Center at NASA Research Park Berkeley Space Center at NASA Research Park ("Berkeley Space Center") is a Bay Area innovation hub that was envisioned and will be developed by UC Berkeley and SKS Partners. The advanced research and development hub hopes to set a new sustainability standard for large-scale developments and serve as a birthplace for tomorrow's breakthroughs. Located within NASA Research Park at NASA's Ames Research Center, the 36-acre mixed-use development will accelerate and expand the Bay Area's innovation ecosystem, catalyzing advancements across diverse sectors - from aeronautics and quantum computing, to climate studies and the social sciences. To learn more, please visit BerkeleySpaceCenter.com. About University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley, consistently rated the world's top public university by Times Higher Education, is the flagship of the 10-campus University of California system, chartered in 1868 with a mission to excel in teaching, research and public service. Enrolling more than 42,000 undergraduate and graduate students, the campus has more than 1,500 full-time and 500 part-time faculty members in more than 130 academic departments that offer more than 350 degree programs. The faculty's outstanding research achievements and scholarship so far have led to 26 Nobel Prizes, and an additional 35 Nobel Prizes have been won by alumni. To learn more, please visit Berkeley.edu and SpaceCenter.Berkeley.edu. About SKS Partners San Francisco-based SKS Partners is an investor in and developer of commercial real estate properties in the western United States. Since its founding in 1992, the firm has acquired, entitled, developed and operated over 10.5 million square feet of office, R&D, medical office, life science, mixed-use and multifamily projects. Through its focus on making a positive impact on the built environment and its track record of innovative developments, including California's first multi-story, full mass timber development, SKS Partners has established a reputation for its consistent ability to identify emerging demographic and market trends in advance of other market participants. ____________________ 1 The agreement with NASA currently provides for up to 1.4 million square feet of development, subject to CEQA and NEPA review. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231016799243/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 16, 2023] National Safety Council Work to Zero Initiative Releases New Research to Help Prevent Lone Worker Incidents Tweet From fatigue observation to fall detection, white paper shows how employers can use monitoring technologies to save lives WASHINGTON, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Lone worker practices have increasingly become more common in modern workplaces, with an estimated 15% of today's employees reportedly working by themselves. However, working in isolated environments may also increase individuals' risk for serious injuries and death on the job. Recognizing the emergence and severity of this issue, the National Safety Council released a new white paper through its Work to Zero initiative, Using Lone Worker Monitoring Technology to Protect Workers, to help employers identify and implement new solutions to keep their workers safe. "Lone work can be beneficial for both organizations and employees, allowing for more flexibility and a greater utilization of resources, but this practice also comes with heightened risk for workers. According to a 2021 survey, nearly 70% of organizations reported a safety incident involving someone working by themselves in the past three years, and 1 in 5 of these incidents were described as 'quite or very severe,'" said Katherine Mendoza, senior director, workplace programs, NSC. "Every employee deserves to work in an environment where safety risks are minimized, and this white paper helps business leaders do just that by providing a playbook for understanding the unique hazards isolated workers face and how industry-specific technology can be used to save lives and prevent injuries." The report evaluated findings from several academic databases, as well as two case studies, to specifically assess the use of worker monitoring technologies, ranging from fall detection devices and proximity sensors to mobile apps and panic alarms, in remote settings. In addition to concluding these types of technologies can be ideal for lone workers in high-risk industries, such as construction, mining or agriculture, NSC identified three key benefits for any isolated work environment, including: Enabling two-way communication . The majority of lone workers report frequently working outside of cell phne coverage areas. Monitoring devices, many of which are equipped with GPS capabilities, address this gap enabling employers to stay connected to their workers to take immediate action in the event of an emergency. . The majority of lone workers report frequently working outside of cell phne coverage areas. Monitoring devices, many of which are equipped with GPS capabilities, address this gap enabling employers to stay connected to their workers to take immediate action in the event of an emergency. Enhancing safety capabilities . Many monitoring devices available to employers are packaged with additional EHS functionalities that can detect and alert the wearer to hazardous situations, such as gas emissions, thermal exposure and proximity to dangerous machinery. . Many monitoring devices available to employers are packaged with additional EHS functionalities that can detect and alert the wearer to hazardous situations, such as gas emissions, thermal exposure and proximity to dangerous machinery. Increasing cost-savings. Monitoring devices may help streamline the otherwise cumbersome task of checking in with lone workers through email, phone calls or calendars, and ultimately increase overall efficiency. Identify the type of industry and associated risk of the workflow . For example, healthcare employees, who may be susceptible to workplace violence incidents while working alone, may benefit from discreet duress alarms to avoid escalating a hazardous situation, while audible alarms may be more suitable for those working outdoors. . For example, healthcare employees, who may be susceptible to workplace violence incidents while working alone, may benefit from discreet duress alarms to avoid escalating a hazardous situation, while audible alarms may be more suitable for those working outdoors. Consider the ease of scalability . In addition to assessing the number of potential users, organizations should consider how new devices will integrate with pre-existing technology. While mobile applications are a turnkey, cost-effective way for larger organizations to incorporate lone worker monitoring, smaller companies should assess the benefits and cost effectiveness of adopting additional capabilities. . In addition to assessing the number of potential users, organizations should consider how new devices will integrate with pre-existing technology. While mobile applications are a turnkey, cost-effective way for larger organizations to incorporate lone worker monitoring, smaller companies should assess the benefits and cost effectiveness of adopting additional capabilities. Use technology holistically. Off-the-shelf technologies can help employers quickly implement new safety solutions into their workplaces but may not offer the customization leaders need to successfully integrate the new technology into other parts of the organization or address a range of hazards. Despite its many benefits, limitations with current lone worker monitoring technology still exist. Namely, NSC found these monitoring capabilities do not eliminate workers' exposure to hazards and called on employers to conduct a thorough audit of their operations to mitigate the root causes of employee risk. Organizations are also encouraged to participate in regular drills to ensure lone workers and leaders are adequately trained and informed on emergency responses. Another challenge affecting widespread adoption of monitoring technology is an enduring concern over worker and data privacy. While monitoring devices can equip employers with potentially lifesaving data related to worker activity levels and location, some employees may feel they are being surveilled while on the worksite. To mitigate these concerns, experts recommend involving workers in the adoption process and educating employees on the benefits and limitations of the new safety technology, while maintaining transparency on how their data will be used, stored and encrypted. This white paper builds on the NSC Work to Zero Safety Innovation Journey to help organizations assess risks, identify technology solutions and ready workplaces for implementation. Funded by the McElhattan Foundation, the Work to Zero initiative aims to eliminate workplace fatalities through the use of technology. To learn more about creating a safer workplace, visit nsc.org/worktozero, or sign up to attend the world's largest annual gathering of safety professionals at the 2023 NSC Safety Congress & Expo in New Orleans, October 20-26. To register, visit congress.nsc.org/. About the National Safety Council The National Safety Council is America's leading nonprofit safety advocate and has been for nearly 110 years. As a mission-based organization, we work to eliminate the leading causes of preventable death and injury, focusing our efforts on the workplace, roadway and impairment. We create a culture of safety to not only keep people safer at work, but also beyond the workplace so they can live their fullest lives. Connect with NSC: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube Instagram View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/national-safety-council-work-to-zero-initiative-releases-new-research-to-help-prevent-lone-worker-incidents-301957775.html SOURCE National Safety Council [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 16, 2023] YMCA of Metro Chicago Launches Joyful New Brand: The Power of Play Tweet Backed by science, the brand platform reflects the Y's commitment to its communities CHICAGO, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago today announced the debut of its new brand: The Power of Play. The launch follows a multi-year process that included multiple rounds of stakeholder interviews, intensive evaluation of programs and services, and assessment of community and partner needs. In addition to showcasing the Y's purposeful commitment to progress and joy, the resulting brand reflects the Y's unique position and purpose as a vital community resource for individuals and families throughout Chicagoland and across the Midwest. "'The Power of Play' is all about the ability of fun and joyful actions to bring us together, inspire hope and opportunity, and move our communities forward," said Dorri McWhorter, President & CEO, YMCA of Metro Chicago. "Play is beneficial for people of all ages, and the Y's capacity to empower play for all members of our communities aligns closely with our mission to strengthen those communities by connecting all people to their purpose, potential, and each other." Scientific research demonstrates correlation between playfulness and the ability for idividuals to experience contentment, practice emotional intelligence, and cope with stressful situations, among other benefits. In youth, short breaks for play and leisure translate to significant increases in learning and academic performance. In adults, play has been shown to correlate with intrinsic motivation, creativity, spontaneity, and leadership. "More than just colors and slogans, a brand represents an organization's identity, aspirations, and values, which for the Y include progress, growth, and yes! playfulness," said Brandon Davis, Vice President of Brand Engagement, YMCA of Metro Chicago. "The debut of 'The Power of Play' reflects not only the Y's commitment to the communities we serve, but also our organizational agility and expertise in leveraging that commitment to meet the needs of our members, partners, friends, and communities in an ever-evolving marketplace." It's time to play! For more information about how the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago plays both for fun and for progress, please visit ymcachicago.org. About the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago The YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago is the leader in accessible, inclusive programming for more than 300,000 individuals each year, strengthening community by connecting people to their purpose, potential, and each other. The YMCA of Metro Chicago is evolving to become a 21st-century social enterprise for the region, through an association of 14 centers, 5 overnight camps, and 100 extension sites throughout Chicagoland and the Midwest. Learn more about the Y's locations and programming at ymcachicago.org. MEDIA CONTACT Katy Broom Director, Public Relations & Communications YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago 312-932-1171 [email protected] View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ymca-of-metro-chicago-launches-joyful-new-brand-the-power-of-play-301958005.html SOURCE YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 16, 2023] Neobank PoetrYY Launches with Mbanq to Provide Digital Finance Solutions Tweet PoetrYY Finance, the neobank, has officially launched, with a mission to transform the banking landscape for startups, small businesses, collegiate athletes, individuals, and underserved communities. PoetrYY Finance leverages Mbanq's cutting-edge Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform to offer innovative, secure, and inclusive financial solutions. PoetrYY is officially live - offering consumer banking products and services with immediate availability. The company stands out as a beacon of financial empowerment with comprehensive financial services and solutions that include debit cards, checking accounts and peer-to-peer payments. PoetrYY seamlessly integrates traditional banking services into an easy-to-use, mobile-friendly platform, equipped with advanced biometric technology for enhanced security. Delon Turner, Chairman of PoetrYY, expressed his enthusiasm about the partnership with Mbanq: "Mbanq has been instrumental in helping PoetrYY bring its vision to life. Mbanq's technology, compliance, and operations support have been invaluable in creating and running our neobank efficiently and cost-effectively. We are excited to offer inclusive banking solutions that make a positive difference to the lives of our customers." Mbanq's CEO, Vlad Lounegov weighed in on what sets PoetrYY apart, emphasizing the importance of community: "The team at PoetrYY Finance believes in US communities and the people that serve them. PoetrYY's inclusivity and market potential make it stand out in the neobanking space, with huge potential for growth." PoetrYY Finance is deeply committed to unbanked and underbanked communities, aiming to simplfy access to money management through mobile and digital technology. Its services cater to startups, small and medium businesses (SMBs), with a focus on disenfranchised and underserved communities. PoetrYY Finance is also a FinTech innovator with several business products currently in the development stage, to pioneer: A collegiate athletes Name, Image, & Likeness (NIL) financial service partnership that serves collegiate athletes with their NIL digital banking needs and helps them transition their collegiate earning power from the gridiron, court, and diamond, into robust checking, savings, and credit card programs. A College & University Endowment Collective that focuses on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), to simplify the financial lives of students and to allow them to donate and monitor contributions to their educational establishment. About Mbanq Founded in 2016, headquartered in the United States, with a global presence, Mbanq is a leading FinTech innovator known for its regulatory prowess, modern technology, and industry-specific solutions. Mbanq is a world-leading Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) provider with a comprehensive 'as-a-service' portfolio, including compliance, lending, back office, and dispute resolutions. Mbanq empowers traditional banks, neobanks, credit unions, and FinTech platforms to create and operate digital finance solutions. Its white-label mobile apps and open banking APIs offer a modern digital experience while ensuring compliance and innovation. www.mbanq.com About PoetrYY Finance New York-based PoetrYY Finance is a groundbreaking neobank founded on the principles of diversity, inclusion, and community engagement. Its mission is to revolutionize the financial services landscape, extending essential financial services to startups, small businesses, individuals, and underserved communities that have been excluded from the financial mainstream. PoetrYY is a portfolio holding of 7even Hills Venture Capital. PoetrYY Finance in not a bank. PoetrYY is a financial technology company. Banking services are provided by Mbanq's Banking partner, Evolve Bank & Trust, Member FDIC. www.poetryyfinance.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231016795679/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 16, 2023] SHIFT4 PAYMENTS 72 HOUR DEADLINE ALERT: Former Louisiana Attorney General and Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC Remind Investors With Losses in Excess of $100,000 of Deadline in Class Action Lawsuits Against Shift4 Payments, Inc. - FOUR Tweet Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, the former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until October 19, 2023 to file lead plaintiff applications in securities class action lawsuits against Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE: FOUR), if they purchased the Company's securities between June 5, 2020 and April 18, 2023, inclusive (the "Class Period"). These actions are pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. What You May Do If you purchased securities of Shift4 and would like to discuss your legal rights and how the case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or via email ([email protected]), or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/yse-four/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action by overseeing lead counsel with the goal of obtaining a fair and just resolution, you must request this position by application to the Court by October 19, 2023. About the Lawsuit Shift4 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. A subsequent case was filed, Baer v. Shift4 Payments, Inc., et al., 23-cv-3969. About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC KSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nation's premier boutique securities litigation law firms. KSF serves a variety of clients - including public institutional investors, hedge funds, money managers and retail investors - in seeking recoveries for investment losses emanating from corporate fraud or malfeasance by publicly traded companies. KSF has offices in New York, California, Louisiana and New Jersey. To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231016203901/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Tonight's peek at the downfall of Western Civilization as American politics has ALWAYS been a silly popularity contest decided often decided by low info plebs. Check-it: "Brian Donovan, a University of Kansas sociology professor and Hannah Wing, assistant professor of communications at Wichita State University, said during a Dole Institute program sponsored by KU student groups that Swift was a rare cultural phenomenon with special appeal among young women. It was reasonable to expect Taylor to rely on her broadening allure to speak now and in the 2024 election cycle about her perspective on political causes and candidates, they said. Well see her feel more comfortable as an advocate, Wing said. She has a lot of potential in her role as an advocate. I look forward to seeing how she grows into that in the future. Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . . Allow us this brief juxtaposition after two differing gatherings concerning war in Israel . . . A unity rally in Johnson County offered an outpouring of sympathy, unity and good vibes from the Heartland to the Holy Land. Meanwhile, even the newspaper was forced to acknowledge antisemitic rhetoric appearing in a recent KCMO rally. Check the brighter side of this story . . . Hundreds met for the Stand Together with Israel Community Gathering after the culture festival. The service included music, prayer, and fellowship for members of the Kansas City community impacted by the war overseas. Weve never seen anything like this in our lifetimes, to have the magnitude of that kind of terrorist attack in Israel, said Jay Lewis, the President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City. Its not just mourning the loss of life, but there are a lot of people that are still in immediate danger. Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . . Hundreds meet in Overland Park for "Stand Together with Israel Community Gathering" The Jewish Community Center in Overland Park hosted the 11th Jewish Culture Fest on Sunday. The event highlights the best of Jewish culture, but also featured a special service on Sunday evening in light of the situation in Israel. 'We need to be with each other': KC Jewish Culture Fest concludes with solidarity gathering for Israel Those in attendance at the Stand Together With Israel gathering Sunday at the KC Jewish Culture Fest said "it's hard" to fathom the violence taking place in the Middle East. Jewish Kansas Citians find solace at Overland Park festival: 'We thrive as a community' The Jewish Culture fest - typically held every three years - came at a pivotal moment for many community members, many of whom have family in Israel. Developing . . . Durham Regional Police Services have arrested and charged three suspects following a series of commercial break-and-enters. The police said the suspects were primarily targeting businesses associated with the auto industry and allegedly stealing auto parts and vehicles. Three residents of Toronto were arrested and charged as a result of the investigation, which was conducted in May 2023. The first suspect, 30, is facing 32 charges, including four times with break-and-enter to commit a place other than a dwelling, five times with the possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000, two times for possessing identity documents of another, failure to comply with prohibition. The next suspect, 33, of Toronto, is facing 26 charges, including possessing identity documents another seven times, breaking and entering to commit a place other than dwelling five times, theft of a motor vehicle two times, and failing to comply with release order. The third suspect, 32, of Toronto, is facing 12 charges, including break and enter to commit a place other than dwelling two times, possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000 two times, failure to comply with probation order two times, and fail to comply with release order. Police added all the suspects were held for a bail hearing. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Det.-Const. Aselton of the West Division Criminal Investigations Branch at 1-888-579-1520 ext. 2535. Anonymous information can be sent to Durham Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or online at durhamregionalcrimestoppers.ca and tipsters may be eligible for a $2,000 cash reward. A search is underway for a 37-year-old woman last seen in Toronto on Oct. 6. Toronto police are looking for Nisa, who is described as five-foot-four and 135 pounds with long, dark curly hair and sometimes wears glasses. Police say they are concerned for Nisas safety. The Toronto force also stressed that a person can be reported missing at any time and that there is no 24-hour waiting period. Anyone with information about Nisa can call police at 416-808-5100. Oct. 17 is "Child Care Worker and Early Childhood Educator Appreciation Day," which celebrates child-care educators and the vital work they do every day. As the largest not-for-profit child-care provider in Ontario, the YMCA of Greater Toronto recognizes the commitment, skills and hard work of educators. Child-care educators do meaningful work and often support their own families as well. They ignite the potential in our youngest learners, providing enormous social and developmental advantages. Child-care educators make it possible for many Ontario parents to meaningfully participate in the workforce. People can go back to work after parental leave to support their family. Parents can rejoin the workforce for personal and professional fulfilment or to pursue additional training to increase their earning potential. Educators are especially important to women because child-rearing responsibilities continue to fall predominantly on women, impacting their participation in the workforce. When primary caregivers go to work to support their family or pursue continuing education, the child-care educators who keep their children safe and provide foundational life skills are an essential part of their support system. Educators, including thousands at the YMCA of Greater Toronto, play an important role in the early years of a childs development, and in doing so, help them shine. They deliver evidence-based curricula and set a strong foundation for young learners that they take with them through the rest of their lives. Child-care services are essential to families, the economy, and to our collective prosperity. But despite the critical service that child-care providers play, many are leaving the field because of inadequate pay. Highly qualified child-care educators are struggling to make ends meet with their current wages. Theyre forced to exit an industry they love or take on a second job to supplement their earning, because work at child-care centres is no longer meeting their basic financial needs. The increased cost of living and looming recession challenge the child-care sector to retain, attract and recruit educators. Children thrive in environments where meaningful relationships are developed and sustained. Too many amazing educators have walked away from this profession and the sector cannot afford to lose more talent. But child-care space demand continues to increase. For many families, that means a parent or guardian must stay home from work or reduce working hours. Its clear that early childhood educators provide life-changing benefits to Ontario families, so how can we better support them? The federal and provincial governments are working together to provide an average of $10-a-day child care for families in Ontario and across the country by 2026. Weve already seen initial reductions benefit currently enrolled families to address issues of affordable child care. But for more families to benefit, we must provide better support to those providing that care, including comparable pay to staff in school boards doing similar work, appreciation for the incredible work they do day in and day out and the impact they have on children and their families. The current and projected demand for child care in Ontario cannot be met with the current child-care workforce. This years appreciation day theme coincides with the ongoing implementation of the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) agreement, which should include a comprehensive workforce strategy to support educators. This strategy must include government funding for increased compensation. Because they are worth more. Affordable, quality child care is important for all, but its implementation is reliant on the success of CWELCC and a comprehensive workforce strategy. Without our educators, only a lucky few who already have care will benefit from $10-a-day child care. Educators provide comprehensive and invaluable education for children. And they ensure affordable, quality child care for all exists. Child-care educators need our support, not only on Early Childhood Educator Appreciation Day, but every day. Lesley Davidson is president and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Toronto. Ghada Waly, executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), speaks during an interview with Xinhua in Vienna, Austria, Oct. 13, 2023. (Xinhua/He Canling) VIENNA, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as "a massive project" with "immense potential," can help accelerate efforts to achieve the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Ghada Waly, executive director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said in a recent interview with Xinhua. Waly is going to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF), which will be held in Beijing from Tuesday to Wednesday. She said she looks forward to attending the forum. It will be her first trip to China since she took the helm at UNODC in February 2020. Calling the BRF a platform for enhancing international cooperation, she told Xinhua that "there will be many opportunities to exchange best practices, to learn more about the BRI, and to explain to the participants and the attendants the work that we (UNODC) do under the UN Convention against Corruption." Waly noted that the BRI, with its focus on connectivity, poverty reduction and job creation, has been contributing to a number of the UN SDGs. "It (BRI) has been successful in creating jobs in a number of countries, and it is contributing to reducing poverty," she said. 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. "This is a large number, and the Chinese experience in helping people get out of poverty has a lot to offer to other countries," she commented. The UNODC chief also spoke highly of the "strategic partnership" between her office and China, saying that her office will contribute its knowledge, such as its know-how in addressing corruption and improving project efficiency, to help achieve the BRI objectives. According to her, the UNODC and China have been working together on a number of areas, including anti-corruption, the fight against drugs, trafficking and organized crimes, as well as countering terrorism. "With the (financial) support of China, we have been able to finance 40 countries with training and capacity building in the area of legal aid. We also collaborate with China in addressing drug trafficking and synthetic drugs through the Mekong memorandum of understanding on drug control," she noted, adding that she hopes the upcoming visit to China will further strengthen this partnership. Waly, who also serves as the director-general of the United Nations Office at Vienna, praised China's support for multilateralism. She said the country has been an important partner of the UN at large by contributing to the UN's various intergovernmental processes, dialogues and networks. As many global challenges are of transnational nature, "the only way forward is for the world to work together, to increase international cooperation and to increase dialogue among countries," she added. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), marriage laws are primarily based on Islamic Sharia law, but there are some provisions that allow Muslim women to marry non-Muslim men. However, there are certain conditions and requirements that must be met, and these conditions can vary based on the emirate within the UAE. It's essential to consult with local authorities or religious scholars for the most up-to-date and accurate information as rules and regulations can change. What is the process of marriage certification in UAE? The process of obtaining a marriage certificate in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) can vary depending on the emirate in which you plan to get married. The general steps to obtain a marriage certificate in the UAE are as follows: Preparation of Required Documents: Both parties should prepare the necessary documents. These typically include passports, residence permits or visas, and pre-marital medical certificates. For Muslim marriages, you may need a certificate of no objection from the respective embassies or consulates. If either party is a UAE citizen, they will need to provide a family book or a certificate of single status. Visit the Marriage Section: You will need to visit the Marriage Section or the relevant authority in the emirate where you plan to get married. This may be a Sharia court, the Marriage Department, or another government office. Submit Application: Fill out an application for marriage. Pay the necessary fees. Contract and Documents Review: Your documents will be reviewed to ensure they are in order. You may be asked to sign a marriage contract. Marriage Ceremony: In the presence of two witnesses (male for the groom, female for the bride), the marriage ceremony will take place. The details can vary based on your cultural and religious preferences. Marriage Certificate Issuance: After the ceremony, you will be issued a marriage certificate. This certificate is proof of your marriage and will be required for various legal and administrative purposes. Translation and Attestation (if applicable): If you are a foreign national, you may need to have the marriage certificate translated into your home country's language and attested at your embassy or consulate for it to be recognized internationally. Please note that this is a general overview, and the specific requirements and procedures can vary by emirate. It is advisable to check with the relevant authorities in the specific emirate where you plan to get married for the most up-to-date and accurate information on the marriage certification process. Additionally, it's important to ensure that you meet all legal and cultural requirements specific to your situation, whether it's an interfaith marriage or other special circumstances. In general, a Muslim woman in the UAE who wishes to marry a non-Muslim man may be required to: Obtain the permission of her guardian: In Islamic tradition, a Muslim woman typically requires the consent of her guardian (usually her father, grandfather, or a male relative) to marry. If her guardian approves of the marriage to a non-Muslim, it may proceed. A non-Muslim man may be required to convert to Islam: In some cases, authorities may require the non-Muslim partner to convert to Islam before the marriage can take place. The specific requirements can vary between emirates. Obtain legal documentation: Both parties must provide the necessary documentation to get married legally. This can include passports, residence permits, and other relevant paperwork. Follow the legal procedures: The marriage process may involve several legal procedures, including submitting an application to the relevant authorities and obtaining a marriage certificate. For any general commercial and corporate advice, kindly contact us at Law & Order UAE. Disclaimer: The information provided in this article does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available in this article are for general informational purposes only. The information outlined in this article may not constitute the most up-to-date legal or other information. Readers of this article should contact an attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular legal matter. No reader, user, or browser of this article should act or refrain from acting on the basis of information from this article without first seeking legal advice from counsel in the relevant jurisdiction. 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The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia, Bujar Osmani, said this during a joint press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Kyiv on Monday. He said that he also reaffirmed unwavering support for the brave people of Ukraine - that our courage, our dedication deserves support and respect. He also added that he is inspired by our example and is confident that we will win and Ukraine will win. As the current OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Osmani called on the Russian Federation to "end the war and withdraw from Ukraine, and to return to the principles and values of the OSCE and return to peace". Qatar is indeed involved in the process of returning Ukrainian children illegally taken to Russia. Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said this on the air of the 'United News' telethon, answering a question about the information that four children are returning to Ukraine and that this happened thanks to the support and agreements with the Qatari government, an Ukrinform correspondent reported. "As a person who is directly involved in this, I start commenting when Ukrainian children are already on the territory of Ukraine. As of now, I can only confirm that it is true that Qatar is involved in these processes. But I will give details when all four children will be on the territory of Ukraine. As of now, this operation is still ongoing," he said. As reported, according to Reuters, three Ukrainian children who were illegally taken to Russia will be handed over to Qatari diplomats in Moscow this week in accordance with a mechanism established by Qatar to return a significant number of children abducted by Russia to Ukraine. Qatar also facilitated the return of another 7-year-old Ukrainian child, who was united with her grandmother and is traveling to Ukraine via Estonia. DAMASCUS, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Syria's Transport Ministry announced Sunday the resumption of air traffic at the airport of the northern province of Aleppo after the damage caused by the latest Israeli missile attack was fixed. In a statement carried by the state news agency SANA, the ministry said the airport will resume its operation on Monday after being repaired from the damage caused by the Israeli missile strike on Saturday. Meanwhile, the ministry said it would allow airlines to reschedule their flights by either using the Aleppo International Airport or the still functional Latakia airport as alternatives to the Damascus International Airport, which is still undergoing extensive repairs after being hit by an Israeli missile attack on Thursday. Both the airports in Aleppo and Damascus went out of service following the Israeli forces' attacks on Thursday. Syria's Transport Ministry announced to fix the runway of the Aleppo airport on Saturday, when its runway was again struck by Israeli forces. The repeated Israeli strikes came amid escalating tensions in the region as Israel is preparing for a massive ground operation in Gaza after a surprise attack launched by Hamas prompted Israel's retaliatory attacks. The ongoing conflict, now in its ninth day, has killed about 4,000 on both Israel and the Gaza Strip. The United States is planning to encourage European officials to take concrete steps to capture the interest generated on the Russian assets that had been frozen. The relevant statement was made by Axios, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. In Luxembourg this week, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen plans to encourage European officials to take concrete steps to capture the interest generated on some $200 billion in Russian assets held in European accounts, the report states, referring to a U.S. official. According to the publication, the Biden administration is exploring and implementing creative ways to achieve its goals in Ukraine without signoff from Capitol Hill. At the same time, the White House is preparing to send a new supplemental spending request to Congress this week, asking for more money for border security, Ukraine, Israel and potentially Taiwan. OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani arrived on a visit to Kyiv. Witnessing the impact on children's & education in a school in Kyiv targeted by Russias attacks. Its a stark reminder of urgent need for peace. Every child deserves safety, education & bright future, Osmani posted on X. Witnessing the impact on children's & education in a school in #Kyiv targeted by RF attacks. Its a stark reminder of urgent need for peace. Every child deserves safety, education & bright future.@OSCE #SPU provides psycho-social help to affected children. #ItsAboutPeople pic.twitter.com/Fle8sxeZUI Bujar Osmani (@Bujar_O) October 16, 2023 The OSCE extra-budgetary Support Programme for Ukraine (SPU) provides psycho-social help to affected children, he added. During the visit to Kyiv, the incumbent OSCE Chairman-in-Office will meet "with high-level government officials, parliamentarians, civil society and staff of the OSCE Extra-budgetary Support Programme for Ukraine." "The discussions will focus on the most pressing challenges faced by civilians due to Russias ongoing war against Ukraine, and the OSCEs continued role in supporting Ukraines people, institutions and civil society," reads the statement on OSCEs website. As reported, Osmani announced his visit to Ukraine speaking at the third summit of the Crimea Platform on August 23. He noted that the OSCE continued cooperation with Ukraine in many areas: humanitarian demining, the rule of law and reducing the consequences of armed aggression. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky had a phone conversation with President of Finland Sauli Niinisto. As the Head of State posted on Telegram, he thanked Niinisto for the 19th security assistance package from Finland and effective participation in the implementation of the Peace Formula, particularly in the area of radiation and nuclear safety. In addition, the President spoke about this year's continuation of the #GrainFromUkraine initiative. The parties also discussed security challenges in the Middle East and the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine. As reported, President of Finland Sauli Niinisto, on the basis of the government's proposal, approved the decision to provide the 19th security assistance package to Ukraine worth 95 million. In a phone conversation with Justin Trudeau, Volodymyr Zelensky discussed the implementation of the agreements reached during his visit to Canada, as well as the continuation of defense cooperation. "I am in constant contact with Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau. During a phone conversation, the implementation of the agreements reached during my visit to Canada was discussed, in particular, regarding the development of our hydroelectricity generation and the completion of construction of the Holodomor-Genocide museum," the Head of State posted on Telegram. In addition, the leaders touched upon continued defense cooperation and global security challenges. "I thank Justin for his willingness to help with the evacuation of our people from the Gaza Strip. I am also grateful to Canada for supporting the Peace Formula," the President noted. As reported by Ukrinform, Canada provided a new security assistance package to Ukraine for conducting military operations in the cold season. Photo: Presidents Office The second evacuation plane with 155 citizens of Ukraine on board took off from Israel to Romania. The Embassy of Ukraine in Israel reported this on Facebook, according to Ukrinform. "Today, on October 16, the second evacuation plane carrying 155 citizens of Ukraine, including 107 women and 23 children, took off from Ben Gurion Airport (Tel Aviv) on a HiSky flight to Cluj (Romania)," the report says. It is noted that the embassy provided assistance to Ukrainians with the preparation of necessary procedures and documents for departure. As reported by Ukrinform, the first evacuation flight with 207 Ukrainian citizens on board took off from Tel Aviv to Bucharest on October 14. On the morning of October 7, the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas launched an attack on Israel. Militants stormed into the country, simultaneously launching a massive rocket attack. Nearly 1,300 people have been killed in Israel since then, and hundreds of people have been taken hostage by the militants. Israel officially declared a state of war and mobilized 300,000 reservists to respond to the terrorist attack and invasion of Hamas, and began to destroy the military facilities of this movement. The USA, the EU, Ukraine, and a number of other countries have condemned the attacks on Israel. Photo credit: Ukraines Embassy in Israel SHANGHAI, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai now has 940 regional headquarters of multinational corporations and 551 foreign-funded research and development (R&D) centers in the city, according to a press conference of the 2023 International Business Leaders' Advisory Council for the Mayor of Shanghai (IBLAC) on Sunday. Among them, 49 regional headquarters and 20 R&D centers were launched in 2023. Since the beginning of this year, Shanghai's economy has continued to recover, and it has generally maintained a stable and positive trend, reflecting strong resilience and vitality, said Gong Zheng, mayor of Shanghai, at the press conference. "A good business environment is key for Shanghai to attract foreign companies. We will plan and implement a number of new measures to continuously improve the business environment," Gong added. Chinese Premier Li Qiang holds a welcoming ceremony for Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea James Marape prior to their talks at the Northern Hall of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 16, 2023. James Marape is in Beijing to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation and pay an official visit to China. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling) BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Monday held talks with Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea James Marape, who is in Beijing to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation and pay an official visit to China. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties 47 years ago, China-Papua New Guinea relations have developed rapidly and are at the forefront of development and cooperation between China and Pacific island countries, Li said. China is ready to continue to consolidate mutual political trust with Papua New Guinea, further synergize development strategies and expand cooperation in infrastructure, special economic zones, and processing industries involving agriculture, forestry and fishery, he noted. Li said efforts will be made to achieve more practical results within the framework of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, which will play an exemplary role in the Belt and Road cooperation between China and Pacific island countries. China is willing to work with Papua New Guinea for the early convening of a new round of joint economic and trade committee meeting and accelerate a joint feasibility study on a bilateral free trade pact, Li said. The two sides should deepen South-South cooperation on climate change and jointly promote peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world, he added. Lauding China for its role in leading the development of countries in the Global South and as an important partner of Papua New Guinea, Marape said his country is willing to actively participate in Belt and Road cooperation to promote the continuous development of bilateral ties. After the talks, Li and Marape witnessed the signing of multiple bilateral cooperation documents on Belt and Road cooperation, the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, economy, energy, education, climate change adaptation and sustainable development. Chinese Premier Li Qiang holds talks with Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea James Marape at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 16, 2023. James Marape is in Beijing to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation and pay an official visit to China. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei) UNODC Hands Over Equipment and furniture to Support Regional departments of the Drug Control Agency under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan Equipment worth USD 143.380,00 was handed over to the Drug Control Agency under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan on 12 September 2023. The equipment and furniture were procured as part of technical assistance rendered within the Capacity building of the Drug Control Agency Tajikistan (DCA) component of Sub programme 1 of the UNODC Programme for Central Asia 2022-2025. The component focuses on capacity development of DCA in combating illicit drug trafficking, which is in line with the National Drug Control Strategy of Tajikistan. This equipment will increase the capacity of DCA activities at the national level. Major General, Mr. Vohidzoda Habibullo, Director of the Drug Control Agency under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, and Mr. Shah Salman Khan, the OiC UNODC Programme Office in Tajikistan, signed the official equipment handover documents. Mr. Brian Gillespie the INL Director and Ms. Meekyoung Yi, INL Foreign Officer, were also present at the handover ceremony. Forensic equipment and IT equipment were provided with a purpose of improving the capacity of the forensic laboratories to test new synthetic drugs and psychotropic substances. The handover will be followed by the organization of training courses on the use of this equipment at the DCA headquarters in Dushanbe and in the field. Mr. Shah Salman Khan expressed gratitude to the DCA for the good level of cooperation with UNODC including its effective coordination role in counter narcotics related areas at the national level and supporting the implementation of relevant UNODC projects/programme initiative. He noted the critical role of Tajikistan and DCA, in fighting the illicit drugs, especially in view of deterioration of the security situation in Afghanistan, and stressed that UNODC will further strengthen the DCAs capacity through the Sub-programme 1 of the Programme for Central Asia. Major General, Mr. Vohidzoda Habibullo, expressed appreciation on UNODC continuous cooperation with the DCA and its achievements on enhancing DCA capacity. Parties discussed security situation in Afghanistan and reiterated the importance of enhancing the capacity of the Tajik law enforcement officers. The IT equipment will be distributed among all provincial and regional departments/units of the DCA. The first province to receive equipment, furniture and training courses was the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO). UNODC Programme Office in Tajikistan expresses its gratitude to DCA for the warm welcome and exceptional readiness to cooperate for the safer future. The implementation of the Capacity building of the Drug Control Agency Tajikistan (DCA) component of Sub programme 1 of the UNODC Programme for Central Asia 2022-2025 is funded by the U.S. Department of States Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 16th Oct, 2023) Oman and Etihad Rail Company (OERC), the developer and operator of the UAE-Oman Rail Network, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Emirates Steel Arkan, the UAEs largest steel and building materials manufacturer, to facilitate the export of raw materials from the Sultanate of Oman to the UAE. Under this agreement, OERC will provide logistics solutions to manage the transportation of raw limestone, which Emirates Steel Arkan plans to import from Oman to its cement factories in Al Ain, UAE. The MoU was signed by Ahmed Al Musawa Al Hashemi, CEO of OERC, and Saeed Khalfan Al Ghafri, CEO of Emirates Steel, an Emirates Steel Arkan company. Commenting on the MoU, Al Hashemi said, This agreement represents the vision for this project, which was launched to link the Sultanate of Oman and the United Arab Emirates and aims to enhance cross-border trade between the two countries, linking centres of manufacturing and production, and connecting import/export points. As a result, this will create promising and sustainable business opportunities for the mining industry and construction materials production sector in Oman and the UAE. Al Ghafri remarked, Our collaboration with OERC enhances our supply chain capabilities by leveraging the railway network that connects both countries. This agreement paves the way for integrated logistics solutions for the transportation of raw materials to and from our cement plant in Al Ain, boosting our operational efficiency and cost-effectiveness, and reducing environmental impact. Furthermore, this enhances our transport infrastructure and reinforces cross-border supply chains. Oman and Etihad Rail will provide logistics solutions for Emirates Steel Arkan through annual transportation of 4 to 6 million tonnes of high-quality raw materials to Al Ain. This ensures Emirates Steel Arkan can produce and export 2-3 million tonnes of finished goods to regional markets each year. The collaboration between OERC and Emirates Steel Arkan creates several benefits, most importantly driving the revenues of the mining industry and increasing investments in Omani quarries. By connecting ports and manufacturing hubs, the railway network will provide quarrying companies in Oman with direct shipping solutions to export their products to regional markets. This contributes to achieving the Oman Vision 2040, which aims for a diversified, competitive, and sustainable economy that features unified, modern frameworks. The agreement showcases the significance of the rail network as a crucial link in the transport and logistics chain spanning the region, which will attract businesses in both countries and international companies in the region and build long-term commercial partnerships to achieve sustainable economic growth. As the joint railway network will reduce dependence on cars and trucks, it will also drive transformation towards a low-carbon future, supporting both countries objectives to achieve net neutrality by 2050. ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 16th Oct, 2023) H.H. Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, has visited the Tarahum - for Gaza campaign centre in Abu Dhabi. His Highness Sheikh Theyab, accompanied by Reem bint Ebrahim Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Cooperation, Her Excellency Shamma bint Suhail Faris Al Mazrui, Minister of Community Development, Noura bint Mohammed Al Kaabi, Minister of State, and a number of officials, toured the first collection centre at Abu Dhabi Ports Hall in Mina Zayed, which was opened on Sunday 15 October. Other centres will also be opened across the UAE at later dates. During his tour, His Highness met with volunteers at the centre and commended the efforts of community members in donating humanitarian relief packages to provide urgent assistance to the Palestinian people impacted by the war in Gaza. Tarahum - for Gaza is part of the UAEs efforts to mitigate the humanitarian crisis for the Palestinian people affected by conflict. The aid aligns with the UAEs policy to provide urgent relief and assistance to those in need in times of crisis, and as an embodiment of the established humanitarian values of the leadership and people of the UAE. The UAE is at the forefront of countries that have placed the needs of the brotherly Palestinian people among the priorities of its foreign aid, out of its belief in the importance of providing support and relief to alleviate suffering, especially for children and women. The campaign is being supervised by the Emirates Red Crescent in cooperation with the World Food Programme, and in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Community Development. The campaign attracted a large number of volunteers from the people of the UAE, who participated in preparing the relief packages. More than 4,500 volunteers took part in preparing 13,000 relief packages, which included food baskets and packages for children, mothers and women, with the assistance of more than 20 relief and humanitarian institutions. Caretaker Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training Madad Ali Sindhi Monday visited Islamabad Model College for Girls (IMCG) Shah Allah Ditta and inspected basic facilities there ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Oct, 2023) Caretaker Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training Madad Ali Sindhi Monday visited Islamabad Model College for Girls (IMCG) Shah Allah Ditta and inspected basic facilities there. Senior officials of the ministry were also accompanied by him. Madad Ali Sindhi said that his vision was to make Islamabad a role model in education sector for other parts of the country. He encouraged all the stakeholders to make efforts to ensure Islamabad zero out of school children city as soon as possible. The minister said that the purpose of education could not be fulfilled without basic facilities. He directed to construct new classrooms to manage the increased number of students. Madad Ali Sindhi asked questions from the students of Pakistan Studies and encouraged them on their correct answers. "It is a very good thing that the students have an understanding of the Pakistan Studies" he added. (@ChaudhryMAli88) Minister for Foreign Affairs Jalil Abbas Jilani on Monday telephonically spoke to his counterparts from Iran and Egypt and discussed the crisis in Gaza including the killing of civilians ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Oct, 2023) Minister for Foreign Affairs Jalil Abbas Jilani on Monday telephonically spoke to his counterparts from Iran and Egypt and discussed the crisis in Gaza including the killing of civilians. The foreign minister, in the conversation with Iranian counterpart Hossien Amir Abdollahian also discussed the large-scale displacement of the Palestinians from their homes. Both sides agreed that urgent steps were needed to prevent conflict from escalating and the provision of humanitarian assistance As part of efforts for a coordinated response to the ongoing conflict in Gaza, Foreign Minister Jilani also spoke to the Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri. In the conversation, they stressed to prevent the conflict from escalating, besides protecting civilians from collective punishment, starvation and displacement. The foreign minister also assured of Pakistan's humanitarian assistance. (@FahadShabbir) ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Oct, 2023) Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has expressed the countrys commitment to jointly building the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), saying the project has transformed the socio-economic landscape of Pakistan. The CPEC has transformed the socio-economic landscape of Pakistan, upgrading modern infrastructure, enhancing regional connectivity, ensuring energy security, and creating jobs, the prime minister wrote in his article published in Global Times China. PM Kakar, who is set to participate in the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in China on October 17-18 which marks the completion of a decade of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), said Pakistan endorses Chinas vision of CPEC as a corridor of growth. As the flagship project of the BRI, he said, CPEC marks a milestone in Pakistan-China relations by placing "economic cooperation and connectivity at the very center of the bilateral agenda", making the two countries more interconnected. We fully endorse China's proposal of developing the CPEC as a corridor of growth, livelihood, innovation, greenness, and openness - representing our two countries' preference for a human-centric approach, inclusivity, and green development, he said. The prime minister said Pakistan and China as close friends, strategic partners, and iron brothers, are moving forward toward a destiny of shared future. The tale of China-Pakistan relations is not an ordinary one. It is an account of brotherhood, friendship, and trust, the foundations of which were laid more than 70 years ago, he said. Kakar said the timeless Pakistan-China partnership and deep-rooted friendship serve the interests of both countries and remain the cornerstone of Pakistans foreign policy. He said Pakistan and its people, with absolute confidence, value the relationship greatly, and proudly call China as best friend. It is heart-warming that in China, the term "Ba Tie" meaning Iron Brother is reserved only for Pakistan, he added. He termed the historical evolution of the Pakistan-China relationship amid the evolving regional and global developments as an exemplary model of inter-state relationship. "The unique relationship of more than seven decades, underpinned by the rationale of strong political support, mutual trust, and all-round practical cooperation, has matured into a strong strategic partnership, he said. The prime minister paid tribute to the vision and statesmanship of President Xi Jinping who propounded the vision of building a global community of shared future, a new idea for global governance and cooperation, and a fresh approach toward international exchanges, thus drawing up a new blueprint for a better interconnected world. He quoted Zhou Enlai, China's first premier, who once said that "the friendly interactions between the peoples of China and Pakistan date back to the dawn of history" and mentioned in this regard the historic links such as the Silk Road and Gandhara civilization. The prime minister said Pakistan was a pioneering member of the Group of Friends of the Global Development Initiative (GDI) proposed by President Xi Jinping and played an active role in giving it a more concrete shape. As the first one to ink a Memorandum of Understanding on the GDI, Pakistan stands ready to benefit from this cooperation in areas of education, healthcare, climate change, and poverty reduction, he said. He said Pakistan's foreign policy objectives were based on "peace within and peace without," as outlined by the founding father Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Kakar said in a world marred by multiple challenges like conflicts, economic recessions, food insecurity, social inequalities, and climate change, the salience of the Pakistan-China all-weather strategic cooperative partnership assumed great importance. He expressed gratitude to China for its support for Pakistan's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and economic security, and its principled support on the issue of Kashmir. Pakistan, he said, was committed to the one-China principle and extended its support to China on its core issues related to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xizang (Tibet), Xinjiang, and the South China Sea. Secretary General of Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), Paris Dimitri S. Kerkentzes on Monday said that Pakistan had immense potential for investment that required more projection on various platforms including Expos ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Oct, 2023) Secretary General of Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), Paris Dimitri S. Kerkentzes on Monday said that Pakistan had immense potential for investment that required more projection on various platforms including Expos. While expressing his gratitude to the contributions made by Pakistan in the Rules Committee of BIE emphasized that Pakistan offered multiple opportunities regarding trade and the same needed to be fortified effectively. The Embassy of Pakistan France held a special event to mark the accomplishments of the outgoing Members of the Rules Committee of Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) of which Pakistan is a very active member. Trade & Investment Officer Arooj Mehwish Rizvi in the presence of Ambassador of Pakistan Asim Iftikhar Ahmad welcomed the Secretary General of BIE Dimitri S. Kerkentzes together with the Representatives of Belgium, Angola, Romania, USA, Columbia, Haiti and Malta, to the Embassy. The officer said that Pakistan was elected as a Member of the Rules Committee in 2019 and was re-elected for a subsequent term of two years in 2021 - which now stands completed, a press release said. The Ambassador of Pakistan Asim Iftikhar Ahmad in his address appreciated the role of BIE in facilitating Pakistan's participation in international events and Expos. He said that effective trade diplomacy together with international players (BIE) plays a significant role in projecting the businesses and finding new avenues/markets. He thanked BIE for extending its support to Pakistan as a Member State regarding the promotion of its exports and further added that BIE is playing a lead role in bridging developing countries with developed ones in the areas of trade and investment. It is worth mentioning that BIE is the intergovernmental organisation in charge of overseeing and regulating all international exhibitions that last more than three weeks and are of non-commercial nature (Expos). Starting from 31 countries that created the BIE in 1928, the Organisation has grown to 182 Member States, as a result of the success and the appeal of Expos. Four (4) types of Expos are organised under its auspices: World Expos, Specialised Expos, Horticultural Expos and the Triennale di Milano. The headquarters of the BIE is located in Paris. Pakistans first Expo participation as an independent state dates back to Expo1951, the International Textile Exhibition in the French city of Lille, and it has had a presence at most Expos since the 1960s. In 2007, Pakistan joined the BIE in order to strengthen its involvement in Expos. At Expo 2020 Dubai, its pavilion received a Silver Award in its category for Exhibition Design. The event was also attended by the officers and officials of the Embassy. (@FahadShabbir) Gaza Strip, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Oct, 2023) Aid agencies on Monday called for vital humanitarian supplies to be allowed into the Gaza Strip, warning time was running out to save millions of people as water supplies dried up and food and fuel stocks dwindled. Israel has been bombing targets in Gaza as part of its war on Hamas, whose fighters broke through the heavily fortified border on October 7 and killed more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians. It was the worst attack in the country's 75-year history. Israel's relentless series of retaliatory air strikes have flattened neighbourhoods, killing at least 2,750, most of them ordinary Palestinians. It has requested some 1.1 million Gazans -- nearly half the population of 2.4 million -- to leave the north of the densely populated enclave, in anticipation of a ground offensive against Hamas. But in doing so -- and cutting off water, food and fuel supplies until the conflict is over -- it has heaped extra pressure on a territory already struggling under a years-long blockade. As thousands massed on the Rafah border crossing with Egypt -- the only one in the Gaza Strip not controlled by Israel -- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ruled out a temporary ceasefire to allow aid supplies in or foreigners out. On Monday evening, strikes hit an area near the crossing, an AFP reporter said. UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths is heading to the middle East Tuesday, in the latest effort of frantic diplomacy to prevent the crisis worsening. "We need access for aid," he said in a video statement. The regional director of the World Health Organization, Ahmed Al-Mandhari, gave a stark warning about the situation, which he said was barrelling towards a "real catastrophe". "There are 24 hours of water, electricity and fuel left" in Gaza, he told AFP in an interview in Cairo. If aid is not allowed in, doctors will have to "prepare death certificates for their patients", he added. Hamas's military wing said later the group was holding 200 people, with about 50 more held by other "resistance factions and in other places". A video on the group's official Telegram channel purported to show "one of the prisoners in Gaza" -- a young woman speaking Hebrew and receiving treatment to an arm injury. According to the caption, she was abducted on October 7. The video has not been verified by AFP. - 'Smell of the dead' - Entire families, young children and the elderly have packed what belongings they can to flee to the southern Gaza Strip, bedding down in any available space, indoors and out. The city of Khan Yunis, which is usually home to some 400,000 people, has more than doubled its population in days. The UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees UNRWA said Sunday that one million people had already been displaced in the first week of the conflict -- but the number was likely to be higher. There are fears, too, that more bodies could lie under the rubble of collapsed buildings, as hospital mortuaries are overstretched and bodies have even been stored in an ice-cream truck. The Hamas government in Gaza has recommended burying them in mass graves, while UNRWA said even body bags were in short supply. Israel on Sunday said it switched water supplies back on in the south to encourage Gazans to leave the north. The focus is now on the Rafah crossing, where a convoy of trucks with supplies is waiting on the Egyptian side. "The situation is catastrophic beyond what I could have imagined," said Jamil Abdullah, a Palestinian-Swede who is hoping to leave after being force to sleep on the street. "There are corpses in the streets. Buildings are crashing down on their inhabitants. Blood is everywhere. The smell of the dead is everywhere." - Diplomatic effort - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been shuttling between Middle Eastern capitals in recent days, hoping to coordinate efforts against Hamas while finding ways to alleviate Gaza's humanitarian crisis. A Gulf Cooperation Council meeting of foreign ministers is to be held Tuesday, while another summit on the situation "and the future of the Palestinian cause and peace process" will take place in Cairo on Saturday. President Joe Biden, who has given unequivocal US backing to Israel, is reportedly weighing an invitation from Netanyahu to visit. Blinken said he was hopeful about getting the Rafah border open soon, as he headed back to Israel. But Gazans themselves are effectively trapped, with neighbouring Arab nations fearful that if Palestinians leave the Strip they could be permanently exiled. Lynn Hastings, UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, accused Israel of linking aid with the release of 199 hostages it says were taken by Hamas. "Neither should be conditional," she said. The presence of hostages is complicating any ground offensive involving tens of thousands of regular Israeli troops and reservists, who are massed at the border waiting for the order go in. In Israel, where rocket alert sirens blared and several blasts were heard in Jerusalem, Merav Leshem Gonen is anxiously waiting for news of her daughter, who was kidnapped at a music festival on October 7. "We don't know anything else. She's missing. That's all we know, and we want her back alive. We want her to come back healthy," she said. Veteran right-winger Netanyahu has vowed to crush Hamas, likening it to the Islamic State group, and anger is widespread in Israel about the attack. Harrowing testimonies from survivors and horrific scenes of devastation have bolstered such fury against the group, which seeks the destruction of Israel and is proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the US and Europe. "I have seen babies, women and men beheaded," said Rabbi Israel Weiss, one of the leaders of the grim task to identify the victims using DNA samples, fingerprints and dental records. With the country on high alert, Israeli police announced they would begin arming civilians to serve as first responders in cities nationwide. Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said: "This will be a long war, the price will be high, but we are going to win -- for Israel, for the Jewish people and for the values that both countries believe in." - 'Time running out'? - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that the entire Middle East region was "on the verge of the abyss", as Israel faces a potential second front on its northern border with Lebanon. Exchanges of fire have increased in the last week with Iran-backed Hezbollah, prompting the border area to be closed and civilians to be moved out. Iran, which also backs Hamas but has denied involvement in the October 7 attack, has warned Israel about the potential for the conflict to spread in the volatile region. That has prompted Western governments, including Germany whose chancellor heads to Israel on Tuesday, to urge Tehran not to fan the flames of the conflict. "Lebanese officials have a responsibility... to do everything possible to prevent Lebanon from being dragged into" a war with Israel, France's Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said in Beirut Monday. But Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said "time is running out for political solutions". A man searches the rubble of destroyed buildings for rescue after Israeli airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis on Oct. 16, 2023. The ongoing conflict, which entered its ninth day on Sunday, has killed about 4,000 on both Israel and the Gaza Strip. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday called for rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza and for the release of hostages kept by Hamas. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua) UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday called for rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza and for the release of hostages kept by Hamas. "In this dramatic moment, as we are on the verge of the abyss in the Middle East, it is my duty as secretary-general of the United Nations to make two strong humanitarian appeals," he said in a statement. "To Hamas, the hostages must be immediately released without conditions; to Israel, rapid and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid must be granted for humanitarian supplies and workers for the sake of the civilians in Gaza," he added. "Each one of these two objectives are valid in themselves. They should not become bargaining chips," the UN chief said. The United Nations has stocks available of food, water, non-food items, medical supplies and fuel, located in Egypt, Jordan, the West Bank and Israel. These goods can be despatched within hours. To ensure delivery, UN staff and partners on the ground need to be able to bring these supplies into and throughout Gaza safely and without impediment to deliver to those in need, said Guterres. People search the rubble of destroyed buildings for rescue after Israeli airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis on Oct. 16, 2023. The ongoing conflict, which entered its ninth day on Sunday, has killed about 4,000 on both Israel and the Gaza Strip. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday called for rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza and for the release of hostages kept by Hamas. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua) People search the rubble of destroyed buildings for rescue after Israeli airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis on Oct. 16, 2023. The ongoing conflict, which entered its ninth day on Sunday, has killed about 4,000 on both Israel and the Gaza Strip. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday called for rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza and for the release of hostages kept by Hamas. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua) People search the rubble of destroyed buildings for rescue after Israeli airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis on Oct. 16, 2023. The ongoing conflict, which entered its ninth day on Sunday, has killed about 4,000 on both Israel and the Gaza Strip. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday called for rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza and for the release of hostages kept by Hamas. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua) Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis on Oct. 15, 2023. The ongoing conflict, which entered its ninth day on Sunday, has killed about 4,000 on both Israel and the Gaza Strip. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday called for rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza and for the release of hostages kept by Hamas. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis on Oct. 15, 2023. The ongoing conflict, which entered its ninth day on Sunday, has killed about 4,000 on both Israel and the Gaza Strip. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday called for rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza and for the release of hostages kept by Hamas. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) People gather on the rubble of destroyed buildings for rescue after Israeli airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis on Oct. 16, 2023. The ongoing conflict, which entered its ninth day on Sunday, has killed about 4,000 on both Israel and the Gaza Strip. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday called for rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza and for the release of hostages kept by Hamas. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua) People search the rubble of destroyed buildings for rescue after Israeli airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis on Oct. 16, 2023. The ongoing conflict, which entered its ninth day on Sunday, has killed about 4,000 on both Israel and the Gaza Strip. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday called for rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza and for the release of hostages kept by Hamas. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua) People stand next to the bodies of their relatives at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central Gaza Strip city of Deir al-Balah on Oct. 15, 2023. The ongoing conflict, which entered its ninth day on Sunday, has killed about 4,000 on both Israel and the Gaza Strip. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday called for rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza and for the release of hostages kept by Hamas. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) (@FahadShabbir) Gaza Strip, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Oct, 2023) More than one million people have been forced from their homes in the northern Gaza Strip since Israel began its bombardment against Hamas, the UN said on Sunday, warning of dire conditions on the ground. Israel declared war on the Islamist group last Sunday, a day after waves of its fighters broke through the heavily fortified border and shot, stabbed and burned to death more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians. The relentless bombing since against those who masterminded the attack have flattened neighbourhoods and left at least 2,670 people dead in the Gaza Strip, the majority ordinary Palestinians. But as Israel seeks to avenge the worst attack in its history, the Arab League and African Union warned the invasion could lead to "a genocide of unprecedented proportions". UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Hamas to release all hostages and for Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, warning that the region was "on the verge of the abyss". Israel also faced a grave warning about the wider security implications of putting boots on the ground in the densely populated enclave. "No one can guarantee the control of the situation and the non-expansion of the conflicts" if Israel sends its soldiers into Gaza, said Iran's foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. "Those who are interested in preventing the scope of war and crisis from expanding need to prevent the current barbaric attacks... against citizens and civilians in Gaza," he added. Israel has massed thousands of troops and heavy weaponry in the desert south of the country, waiting for the green light to go into northern Gaza. The army has told 1.1 million Palestinians in the north of the Gaza Strip -- nearly half of its 2.4-million population -- to head south to safety. But there were still Israeli air strikes in the south, including in Rafah, where one resident said a doctor's house was targeted. "All the family was wiped out," said Khamis Abu Hilal. Israeli military spokesmen Lieutenant Richard Hecht and Daniel Hagari said any ground offensive would be triggered by a "political decision". Hecht singled out Yahya Sinwar, the chief of Hamas in Gaza blamed for the October 7 attacks, calling him "a dead man walking". World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Sunday urged Hamas to release all civilian hostages, and also expressed concern at the price Palestinians civilians and children were paying in the Israeli attacks on Gaza. Foreign governments and aid agencies, including the UN and ICRC, have repeatedly criticised Israel's call for Gazans to leave their homes. The UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees said Sunday that some one million Palestinians had already been displaced in the first week of the conflict -- but the number was likely to be higher. UNRWA commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini said Gaza was facing an "unprecedented human catastrophe" because of the blockade and bombings. "Raise the alarm that as of today, my UNRWA colleagues in Gaza are no longer able to provide humanitarian assistance as I speak," he told reporters. Palestinians carrying whatever belongings they can, in bags and suitcases, or packed onto three-wheeled motorbikes, battered cars, vans and even donkey carts have become a common sight in recent days. They have had to find shelter wherever they can in the increasingly crowded south of the Gaza Strip, including on the streets and in UN-run schools. Israel had cut off water, fuel and food supplies to Gaza for the duration of the conflict. Local hospitals are becoming overwhelmed with increasing numbers of dead and injured. Health officials on Sunday said some 9,600 people had been wounded. Israeli energy minister Israel Katz on Sunday said water supplies to southern Gaza had been switched back on. "This will push the civilian population to the southern Strip," he said. But power outages threaten to cripple life-support systems, from sea water desalination plants to food refrigeration and hospital incubators. Even everyday functions -- from going to the toilet, showering and washing clothes -- are almost impossible, locals said. "No electricity, no water, no internet. I feel like I'm losing my humanity," said Mona Abdel Hamid, 55, who fled Gaza City to Rafah and is having to stay with strangers. In Rome, Pope Francis called for humanitarian corridors in Gaza and urged that "children, the sick, the elderly, women and all civilians should not fall victim to the conflict". Gazans are effectively trapped, with Israeli-controlled crossings closed and Egypt also having shut the Rafah border in the south. Blinken said he was confident the crossing "will be open" for aid into the strip, amid reports that Egypt was blocking the passage of Gazans with foreign passports until relief supplies are allowed in. Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas said Sunday that the policies and actions of Hamas "do not represent the Palestinian people". The Palestinian Liberation Organisations (PLO) was the only legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, he added, Wafa news agency reported. The mood in Israel has swung between collective grief, fury and a strong desire to punish Hamas, which Netanyahu has likened to the Islamic State group. It is proscribed as a terrorist group by several Western governments, including the US. There are deep fears about the safety of 155 hostages taken to the Gaza Strip. "We must bring them back home alive," said a tearful Yrat Zailer, the aunt of children aged nine months and four years who were abducted with their mother. Israel said last week it had found the bodies of 1,500 Islamist militants in southern towns near the Palestinian enclave recaptured by the army. Israel pushed on with its evacuation of those towns, packed buses taking families to hotels in Jerusalem and the Red Sea resort city Eilat. "It's hard, I'm crying," said Helen Afteker, 50, an evacuee from the town of Sderot. "It's terrifying every time there's a warning, we have to leave. It's better for the children." Extroverts More Likely to Resist Vaccines, Study Shows Scientists examine big five personality traits and association with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, refusal EL PASO, Texas (Aug. 2, 2023) Which types of personalities were more hesitant about COVID-19 vaccination during the pandemics peak? Extroverts according to a new study on more than 40,000 Canadians. The findings of a UTEP study, published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, can help with future public health messaging and vaccination campaigns, according to the team of scientists, based at UTEP and the University of Toronto. It also offers a unique perspective in vaccine hesitancy research, a field that has largely focused on political affiliation. We expected that people who were especially high in extroversion would be more likely to get the vaccine, said Melissa Baker, Ph.D., lead author and assistant professor at The University of Texas at El Paso. We figured those people would want to get back out in the world and socialize, right? Its actually the opposite. The findings, published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, can help with future public health messaging and vaccination campaigns, according to the team of scientists, based at UTEP and the University of Toronto. It also offers a unique perspective in vaccine hesitancy research, a field that has largely focused on political affiliation. We wanted to look at vaccine hesitancy a different way, said Baker who is a member of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration. Of course, politics can help explain some of it, but there are personal differences between people, too and that led us to this personality aspect. The study is based on surveys of more than 40,000 Canadian adults, taken between November 2020 and July 2021. Online questions evaluated each participants personality, based on a model known as big five, which gauges an individuals openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and emotional stability. Additional questions probed how respondents felt about vaccination. One question, for example, asked, When a COVID-19 vaccine becomes available, will you be vaccinated? As the vaccine rollout began, questions were altered to reflect their availability. Most of the teams hypotheses were supported. For instance, people who were more open and agreeable were more likely to get the vaccine. Those are the kind of people who are open to new things, new information and just like to go with the flow, Baker said. We also expected that for people with high conscientious because they are detail-oriented and big planners. On the other hand, those with low emotional stability or those who experience extreme emotions were less likely to be vaccinated. And extroverts, to their surprise, were 18 percent more likely to refuse the vaccine. While the pandemic is over, the team said the findings could help with future public health messaging strategies for vaccination from various diseases, not just COVID-19. Baker explained, If we know you need to reach a certain type of personality, we can think about the message that will actually reach and persuade that person. ### About The University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso is Americas leading Hispanic-serving University. Located at the westernmost tip of Texas, where three states and two countries converge along the Rio Grande, 84% of our 24,000 students are Hispanic, and half are the first in their families to go to college. UTEP offers 169 bachelors, masters, and doctoral degree programs at the only open-access, top-tier research university in America. Last Updated on August 02, 2023 at 12:00 AM | Originally published August 02, 2023 By MC Staff UTEP Marketing and Communications 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. People attend a rally to voice solidarity with Palestinians in Ankara, Turkiye, on Oct. 14, 2023. (Mustafa Kaya/Handout via Xinhua) by Burak Akinci ANKARA, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The raging Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a stress test for the normalization process between Turkiye and Israel and has the potential to hurt delicate bilateral ties, experts said. Initially, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was noticeably more measured in the latest crisis unlike previous escalations, where he had rallied against Israeli aggression. This time around, he has advised both sides to exercise restraint and "act reasonably," and also offered his country's mediation. However, following the siege and heavy bombing of the Gaza Strip, the Turkish leader switched to a stronger tone, describing Israel's latest actions as "not a war, but a massacre" of civilians. "Israel's "disproportionate and unfounded" attacks on Gaza may lead it to international disrepute, Erdogan said. Hamas' surprise attack against Israel on Oct. 7 came at a time when Ankara is seeking to deepen its rapprochement with Israel, eyeing economic cooperation, particularly in the energy field. Analysts believe that the Turkish leader is stuck between a rock and a hard place and that maintaining a moderate tone will be challenging. "I feel that Erdogan is engaged in a delicate balancing game," Batu Coskun, an Ankara-based political analyst, told Xinhua. On one side there is the Turkish people's sympathy for the Palestinian cause. On the other side is Turkiye's recently proliferating relationship with Israel, expected to include major energy cooperation on the transfer of Israeli gas into Turkiye and then Europe, he said. In Coskun's view, "there is indeed a risk" that the Israeli-Gaza crisis may harm the newly found stability in the Turkish-Israeli relationship. "If the crisis in Gaza becomes politically costly for Erdogan, particularly as local elections are scheduled for March 2024, he could choose to once again downgrade relations," this analyst added. After years of frayed relations, Turkiye and Israel fully restored their diplomatic ties in 2022, months after Israeli President Isaac Herzog met with Erdogan in Ankara. Last month, the Turkish leader and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly amid plans for the latter to pay an official visit to Ankara possibly at the end of this year. Turkish-Israeli relations have warmed as part of an effort by Erdogan to repair damaged relations with rivals in the Middle East. According to Murat Yesiltas, a scholar at Ankara's Social Sciences University, the reconciliation efforts of Arab states and Turkiye with Israel may be affected by the scope of the latter's military operations in Gaza. "The normalization efforts between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco might be adversely affected, and the already strained normalization between Turkiye and Israel could face further challenges," he said in a recent opinion piece on Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah. Media reports said Saudi Arabia has also paused its normalization drive with Israel. Yesiltas further argued that if Turkiye succeeds in negotiating the release of Israeli hostages and de-escalates the conflict, the situation could improve. "Conversely, if these efforts fail and Israel's occupation of Gaza intensifies, Ankara and Tel Aviv may need to reconsider their ongoing diplomatic process," Yesiltas added. Unlike its Western NATO allies, Turkiye doesn't consider Hamas a terrorist organization and sees it as a legitimate political actor. Erdogan hosted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh in late July in Ankara, urging internal reconciliation. Turkiye's public opinion is largely pro-Palestinian. However, this time, many Turks also showed solidarity with Israel on social media following the killings of Israeli civilians. "Pro-Israel sympathy will weaken as long as Palestinians suffer in Gaza, and this could push Erdogan to review relations with Israel," Serkan Demirtas, a foreign policy analyst and Ankara-based journalist, said to Xinhua. People attend a rally to voice solidarity with Palestinians in Ankara, Turkiye, on Oct. 14, 2023. (Mustafa Kaya/Handout via Xinhua) A Somali television journalist was killed Monday evening in a suicide bombing at a restaurant in Mogadishu, police said. Abdifatah Moalim Nur Qeys, who worked for Somali Cable Television, was fatally injured in the explosion at Blue Sky restaurant near the national museum. At around 21:00 a Khawarij suicide bomber detonated explosives on people who were having tea outside the Blue Sky restaurant in Bondhere district, police in Mogadishu said in a brief statement. Khawarij, or "deviants, is a term the government uses to refer to al-Shabab. Four other people were injured in the explosion, according to police. Security forces provided assistance to those impacted by the attack, police said. There is an ongoing investigation, and any updates will be shared with the public. The station Qeys worked for confirmed his death in a Facebook post. It said Qeys was the director of the stations branch in Mogadishu. He was pronounced dead after we brought him to Recep Tayyip Erdogan hospital, said Abdishakur Mohamed Mohamud, who was among the journalists who took Qeys to the hospital. He had shrapnel on the upper part of his body, he told VOA Somali. In a Telegram message, the al-Shabab militant group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. In the message, al-Shabab said a suicide bomber was behind the blast. The local media watchdog, Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) condemned the violence. SJS strongly condemns this atrocious attack targeting our colleague Abdifatah Qeys. Our hearts go out to other community members whose loved ones were affected by this heinous attack, SJS said in a statement. The attack comes as Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud welcomed home new troops who had been training in Eritrea. Speaking at Mogadishu airport, Mohamud told the soldiers to take one-month leave before returning to join other soldiers engaged in the military operations against al-Shabab. The Amazon River fell to its lowest level in over a century on Monday at the heart of the Brazilian rainforest as a record drought upends the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and damages the jungle ecosystem. Rapidly drying tributaries to the mighty Amazon have left boats stranded, cutting off food and water supplies to remote villages, while high water temperatures are suspected of killing more than 100 endangered river dolphins. The port of Manaus, the region's most populous city, at the meeting of the Rio Negro and the Amazon River, recorded 13.59 meters (44.6 ft) of water on Monday compared with 17.60 a year ago, according to its website. That is the lowest level since records began in 1902, passing a previous all-time low set in 2010. After months without rain, rainforest villager Pedro Mendonca was relieved when a Brazilian NGO delivered supplies to his riverside community near Manaus late last week. "We have gone three months without rain here in our community," said Mendonca, who lives in Santa Helena do Ingles, west of Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state. "It is much hotter than past droughts." Some areas of the Amazon have seen the least rain from July to September since 1980, according to the Brazilian government disaster alert center, Cemaden. Brazil's Science Ministry blames the drought on this year's onset of the El Nino climate phenomenon, which is driving extreme weather patterns globally. In a statement earlier this month, the ministry said it expects the drought will last until at least December, when El Nino's effects are forecast to peak. The drought has affected 481,000 people as of Monday, according to the civil defense agency in the state of Amazonas. Late last week, workers from Brazilian NGO Fundacao Amazonia Sustentavel fanned out across the parched region near Manaus to deliver food and supplies to vulnerable villages. The drought has threatened their access to food, drinking water and medicines, which are usually transported by river. Nelson Mendonca, a community leader in Santa Helena do Ingles, said some areas are still reachable by canoe, but many boats have not been able to bring supplies along the river, so most goods are arriving by tractors or on foot. "It's not very good for us, because we're practically isolated," he said. Luciana Valentin, who also lives in Santa Helena do Ingles, said she was concerned about the cleanliness of the local water supply after the drought reduced water levels. "Our children are getting diarrhea, vomiting, and often having fever because of the water," she said. Jerusalems Old City, one of the most visited sites in the world, is empty. Since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas, tourists and pilgrims have fled, fearing an escalation of violence, especially as Israel prepares for a possible ground war in Gaza. As Yan Boechat reports from Jerusalems Old City, shops are closed, churches are empty, and locals are avoiding leaving their homes In the first week of the Israel-Hamas war, media covering the conflict are caught in the crossfire with at least a dozen reporters killed and others injured or harassed. Among the casualties is Reuters video journalist Issam Abdallah who was killed Friday while reporting live near the border in southern Lebanon. Six other journalists were injured in the same strike including two each from Reuters, Al Jazeera and Agence France-Presse, or AFP. A United Nations spokesperson said, If the situation continues to escalate, we will most likely see more such tragedies. More than 4,000 people on both sides have been killed since Hamas militants launched an October 7 attack in Israel. Twelve of those, including Abdallah, were journalists covering the attack and counter-offensive, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ. Of the cases the CPJ has documented so far, 10 journalists were Palestinian, one was Israeli and one Lebanese. The New York-based organization says at least two other reporters are missing. Reuters has said that Abdallah was providing a live video signal for broadcasters when he was killed. His camera was pointed at a hillside at the time of the explosion. One of the journalists injured in the attack was cited as saying the crew had been filming incoming Israeli fire at the time, and that one strike hit Abdallah and a second hit a vehicle used by the media. The U.N. envoy to Israel, Gilad Erdan, said Friday that Israel typically investigates civilian deaths. He said that Israel would never want to hit or kill or shoot any journalist but that in a state of war, things might happen. Reuters and AFP have both called for an investigation into the incident, and the Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera has said it holds Israel legally and morally responsible. Israels targeting of the Al Jazeera team is a blatant disregard of international safety standards that clearly distinguish the press, the outlet said in a statement. The broadcaster noted the 2022 killing in the West Bank of its correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot while on assignment. Investigations into the case by media and rights groups concluded she was almost certainly hit by an Israeli sniper. Israel later apologized for shooting the American-Palestinian journalist but press freedom advocates have called on the White House to ensure accountability. In a separate incident, the BBC has said that some of its journalists were harassed while on assignment in Israel. Police in Tel Aviv on Thursday stopped a vehicle used by a BBC Arabic team. The journalists identified themselves and the vehicle was marked as TV in red tape, but the crew were ordered out the car and held at gunpoint, the BBC reported. Police searched the journalists and prevented one of the reporters from filming the incident, the BBC said. In a statement local police said the vehicle looked suspicious and indicated the reporters were searched for fear of possession of weapons. Journalists must be able to report on the conflict in Israel-Gaza freely, a BBC spokesperson said. Alongside the safety risks, Israels communications minister Shlomo Karhi said Sunday he was seeking a possible shutdown of Al Jazeeras local bureau. Karhi accused the Qatari state-owned news outlets of incitement and of exposing Israeli soldiers to potential attack from Gaza, Reuters reported. This is a station that incites, this is a station that films troops in assembly areas [outside Gaza] ... that incites against the citizens of Israel a propaganda mouthpiece, Karhi said in an interview on Israels Army Radio. The minister said he would bring the move to the cabinet for consideration. Al Jazeera did not immediately reply to VOA's request for comment. International humanitarian law protects journalists from direct attacks. But reporting on conflict in a densely populated area brings increased risk, analysts say. "The main challenge for journalists covering military confrontation in Gaza is their own safety being killed while covering airstrikes or clashes," CPJs Middle East program coordinator Sherif Mansour told VOA. After the fatal strike on Friday, a U.N. spokesperson said, "Journalists need to be protected and allowed to do their work." Some information in this report is from Reuters. Three Australian government evacuation flights carrying 255 people have left the Israeli city of Tel Aviv bound for Dubai. The government in Canberra has reiterated its support for Israel and the right for it to defend itself following attacks by Hamas militants more than a week ago Most of the passengers onboard two military planes and a commercial aircraft were Australian citizens and their family members who left Sunday for Dubai. Two flights that had been planned for Saturday were canceled because of fears of worsening violence in the region. Australia has upgraded its travel advice for the Middle East and is urging its citizens to defer non-essential travel to Lebanon. A similar warning about travel to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories was issued last week. A massive Israeli military buildup is continuing near the coastal enclave of Gaza ahead of an expected ground assault against Hamas militants, who crossed the border with Israel more than a week ago to attack civilians and soldiers. Officials have said that 1,600 Australian citizens are registered in Israel or the West Bank, and 19 in Gaza. Australias Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. Monday that not all the evacuation flights from Tel Aviv were full. "There were actually empty seats on the flights," Marles said. "So, we would really encourage Australians who are in Israel now who want to leave to take the opinions that are being made available to them." Australian police say that 10,000 people turned out for a pro-Palestinian rally in Melbourne Sunday, while another 6,000 attended a gathering in Sydney. There was a heavy police presence at both events, but the authorities say the rallies were mostly peaceful. Large rallies have also been held in Australia in the past week by Jewish groups and other supporters of Israel. The Australian government has reiterated its support for Israel and its right to defend itself following what Deputy Prime Minister Marles said were the "appalling terrorist attacks" by Hamas fighters on Israeli civilians and troops. Politically, Canberra is committed to a two-state solution in which Israel and a future Palestinian state coexist within internationally recognized borders. For years, China has been seeking to expand its influence in Latin America, a region that is rich in natural resources and considered to be within the U.S. sphere of influence. Since the launch of its Belt and Road Initiative a decade ago, Beijing's reach has expanded through loans, trade agreements and investments in infrastructure as well as the extraction of minerals. As of 2023, 21 Latin American countries have joined the BRI including Nicaragua and Argentina last year. After the launch of the BRI in 2013, China's investment in the region surged, but analysts and data show it has decreased in recent years. Meanwhile, trade between China and Latin America continues to expand, although the United States is still the region's biggest trading partner. China's growing presence in Latin America has been met with mixed reactions. Some countries have welcomed the investment and trade opportunities that China offers. Others have expressed concerns about China's growing influence and its potential to undermine U.S. interests in the region. Juan Pablo Cardenal, an expert in Chinese politics and economy and co-author of "The Silent Chinese Conquest," says Beijing's influence in the region varies by country, social and political conditions, and the availability of the natural resources that the Asian giant needs to meet the demands of its manufacturing sector. "China uses its loans and its money as a penetration strategy throughout Latin America and in other parts of the world," said Cardenal. Venezuela: BRI model flop When China first turned its attention to Latin America, Venezuela was a key target, given its status as a major oil producer with close ties to the United States prior to Hugo Chavez's rise to power, says Parsifal D'Sola, founder and chief executive officer of the Bogota-based Andres Bello Foundation China Latin America Research Center. However, Venezuela's disbursal of vast sums of state-owned bank resources from Beijing, calculated at around $65 billion, has served as a cautionary tale for China. "By 2023, after more than $60 billion in loans, neither China nor Venezuela has anything to show for it, not a single project," D'Sola told VOA. He added that China has since shifted to work more behind the scenes to recover the loans from Venezuela and stopped putting money into the country. "Venezuela was supposed to be the first country with the first bullet train in the region, but it never happened. The bulk of that money was supposed to be used for the country's oil and gas infrastructure, which imploded," D'Sola explained. "From Beijing's perspective, Venezuela failed to uphold its end of the deal. This was supposed to be the model for China-Latin America cooperation, but it turned out to be the opposite." Defying U.S. sanctions, Venezuela has used its oil to pay off billions of dollars in debt to China. Millions of barrels of Venezuelan oil have been rebranded and shipped to China, according to a 2022 Reuters report based on sources familiar with the matter. Despite China's experience in Venezuela, the BRI model continued to attract the interest of Latin American countries. One simple reason, experts say, is because signing up is not difficult. Joining the initiative is made through a "memorandum of understanding" that does not legally require the parties to deepen trade or investment, but does represent "a gesture of approval" of China's policies by the participating country, according to D'Sola. Participation in the BRI does not necessarily involve large loans or donations from China, D'Sola said. He added that based on tracking of participating countries, there is typically a slight increase in interaction or investments in the months following the signing of an agreement, but after that the relationship resumes its normal course. Observers note that recent developments including China's tense relationship with the United States and Europe, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and China's own economic slowdown have led to less big BRI spending and a more strategic approach by Beijing. White gold Cong Liang, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, says that one area of focus is on more environmentally friendly projects, according to a recent report from China's state backed Xinhua news agency. "China will continue to boost the green development of the Belt and Road, better protect the environment, and bring benefits to the people of all Belt and Road partner countries," Cong was quoted as saying. China has stepped up its search for minerals used in green technologies. Beijing's interest in Latin America includes the region's vast lithium reserves, often referred to as the new "white gold." Three South American countries Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina make up the "Lithium Triangle," which holds 68% of the world's reserves of this key mineral needed for batteries and the green energy transition, according to the Bueno Aires-based think tank Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales. Chinese companies are already involved in dozens of lithium extraction projects, especially in Argentina and Chile, said Juliana Gonzalez, a China and Latin America expert at Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales. "The lithium reserves are very important in Bolivia, but they are not being extracted at an industrial level. In the case of Chile, yes, as well as in Argentina, which has witnessed an important boom in the last five years," Gonzalez told VOA. According to Gonzalez's research, there are approximately 35 lithium extraction projects in various stages of development in Argentina. Of those projects, China has invested in nine, and Chinese investments primarily come into play when the deposits are ready for extraction. China is also interested in other natural resources found in the South American region, including significant deposits of copper, iron and zinc. Analysts say Peru, a key Chinese ally, is heavily influenced by Beijing because of its export dependence and trade agreements. It also has the most productive copper, zinc and iron mines in the region. Bargain partner Felix Maradiaga, a Central American researcher and public policy expert who has studied the differences in China's relations with countries, says Beijing adapts its approach based on the nuances of each country's government. China's relations with Costa Rica and Maradiaga's native Nicaragua illustrate Beijing's varied approach. While China has a non-ideological relationship with Costa Rica, Nicaragua has aligned itself with Beijing under the banner of "anti-imperialism," he said. "In the case of Costa Rica, China's strategy has been primarily commercial, lacking the deeper political undertones that exist, for instance, in the case of Nicaragua, which I've dubbed 'a bargain partner' because establishing a relationship with Nicaragua came at a very low cost for China," he explained. Analyst Hernan Alberro studies the complexity of China's relationship with Latin American countries and says it is challenging to understand the different strategies Beijing applies to each country in the region. China clearly knows what it is doing, he says. "China knows much more about Latin America than Latin Americans know about China," he said. And while China's overall investments in the Belt and Road have slowed, experts say Beijing will continue to grow its ties with Latin America to access raw materials to sustain its economy and to help realize its vision of a green BRI. Chad's exiled pro-democracy opposition leader Succes Masra said increasing threats to civil liberties by Chad's Transitional Military Council make it impossible for him to return from exile on October 18 as announced. He said hundreds of citizens arrested for protesting against the military should be released as an indication of good faith before his return. Masra, president of Chad's main opposition party, The Transformers, said the political and security situation in his country remains tense and he plans to delay his trip to Chad until November to avoid any risk to those who were preparing to greet him on his arrival. On Monday, Masra said he has asked Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi to tell Chad's Transitional Military Council to stop human rights violations, including arbitrary arrest, detention and torture of opponents. Central Africa's regional bloc, the 11-member Economic Community of Central African States, or CEEAC, appointed Tshisekedi as a facilitator for the political transition process in Chad in October 2022 after scores of civilians were killed in protests against Chad's military leader Mahamat Idriss Deby. Announcing his decision to delay, Marsa's message was shared on social media, including Facebook and Whatsapp, and broadcast by several media outlets in Chad. He said by violating resolutions of the August 2022 to October 2022 Inclusive and Sovereign National Dialogue, Deby is openly indicating his unwillingness to hand power to civilian rule by November 2024 as decided during the dialogue. Masra said by not releasing several hundred civilians arrested in October 2022 for protesting Chad's military leadership, Deby indicated he has a disregard for human rights. Masra fled Chad to the United States in October of last year, through neighboring Cameroon. He fled after the central African state's security forces killed 50 people, injured 300 and arrested several hundred during pro-democracy protesters. Chad's state TV for several weeks showed videos of thousands of supporters preparing to welcome Masra. The government of the central African state said Masra was to arrive in Chad on October 18 and take part, along with civil society groups, government ministers, the military and opposition leaders, at commemorative activities marking the first anniversary of the Inclusive and Sovereign National Dialogue on Oct. 20, 2023. The dialogue ended on October 20 last year. Secondary school teacher Mahamat Ali, who is 32 years old, is a Masra supporter. He said Masra's return from exile in the U.S. should have encouraged many scared civilians to protest in towns and villages across Chad for the military junta to respect promises of providing water, electricity, and good roads as it develops Chad while preparing a return to constitutional rule in 2024. The exiled pro-democracy opposition leader said he is calling on civilians to come out in Chad's capital N'Djamena from October 18 to 20, for what he said will be a true national dialogue. His message was broadcast on his Facebook page and over several radio and TV stations in Chad. He did not give details on what the dialogue would look like, but said it will indicate how unpopular Chad's military government has become since Mahamant Idriss Deby took over from his father Idris Deby Itno on April 21, 2021, and continued impunity and violation of democratic norms. Last week, Deby said he was preparing a return to democratic rule and congratulated the military government he leads for providing drinkable water, constructing and equipping hospitals and primary schools, and dismantling many armed groups for a gradual return to peace in Chad. Deby called on all opposition leaders, rights groups and disgruntled civilians wherever they are to have confidence in the peace process and join the military government to build peace for a return to democratic rule. Restoring trust will not be easy. In 2022, rights group Amnesty International reported that an end to violations and transition to democratic governance in Chad will require strong international pressure from Chad's regional and international partners and countries like the United States, France, Germany, Qatar and institutions such as the European Union, the African Union and the Economic Community of Central African States, or ECCAS. Press Release October 14, 2023 Sen. Tolentino: 'The world is local, everything is local' to extol LGUs' initiatives in health, education and crisis management MANILA -- Recognizing their important role in the everyday lives of its citizens, Sen. Francis "Tol" Tolentino, on Saturday, Oct. 14, tipped his hat to the local government units (LGUs) in their initiatives to improve education and health situations and undertake crisis management in their localities. "If the world is flat, according to book author Thomas L. Friedman, for me, the world is local, everything is local," Sen. Tolentino pondered after he interviewed his guests in his Saturday radio program in DZRH. He interviewed Mayor Alfredo Coro of Del Carmen, Surigao del Norte, whose initiative to make their community-based health program more responsive and efficient during health crises and calamities received the 2023 Galing Pook Award, Seal of Health Governance. Mayor Coro shared that because of the established community-based health program, they were able to mitigate the effects of Category 4 Typhoon Odette when it pummeled their town in December 2021 and efficiently handled the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the same radio program, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration Administrator Arnel Ignacio updated the lawmaker regarding the ongoing repatriation of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) killed in the Middle East and Gaza and assistance to those trapped in the war between Israel and Hamas. Sen. Tolentino lauded the initiatives of local government officials who talked to the families of killed OFWs, such as the governor of Negros Occidental. In providing education to their constituents, the lawmaker was one of the local chief executives who initiated the establishment of the locally-funded colleges and universities when he founded the Tagaytay City College in 2002 when he was the mayor. Sen. Tolentino said the number of local colleges and universities when he founded the Tagaytay City College was about 100, and it has grown to 134 at present. Dr. Raymundo P. Arcega, president of the Association of Local Colleges and Universities, also shared in the radio program the importance of the locally-funded tertiary institutions that respond to the needs of the localities. Dr. Arcega said local colleges and universities are now performing at par with state colleges and universities that the national government funds by topping licensure examinations. Russian buyers learn about vehicle components at the 134th session of the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, Oct. 15, 2023. The 134th session of the China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, has attracted exhibitors and buyers from across the globe. About 60 percent of the exhibitors attending the import exhibition are Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries, and the number of buyers from BRI partner countries has witnessed an increase of 11.2 percent compared with last session of the Canton Fair. (Xinhua/Deng Hua) A buyer from Iraq visits a booth at the 134th session of the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, Oct. 16, 2023. The 134th session of the China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, has attracted exhibitors and buyers from across the globe. About 60 percent of the exhibitors attending the import exhibition are Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries, and the number of buyers from BRI partner countries has witnessed an increase of 11.2 percent compared with last session of the Canton Fair. (Xinhua/Deng Hua) Participants from Qatar visit the 134th session of the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, Oct. 16, 2023. The 134th session of the China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, has attracted exhibitors and buyers from across the globe. About 60 percent of the exhibitors attending the import exhibition are Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries, and the number of buyers from BRI partner countries has witnessed an increase of 11.2 percent compared with last session of the Canton Fair. (Xinhua/Lu Hanxin) This photo taken on Oct. 15, 2023 shows the booth of enterprise from Turkiye at the 134th session of the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province. The 134th session of the China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, has attracted exhibitors and buyers from across the globe. About 60 percent of the exhibitors attending the import exhibition are Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries, and the number of buyers from BRI partner countries has witnessed an increase of 11.2 percent compared with last session of the Canton Fair. (Xinhua/Deng Hua) Participants from Peru visit the 134th session of the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, Oct. 15, 2023. The 134th session of the China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, has attracted exhibitors and buyers from across the globe. About 60 percent of the exhibitors attending the import exhibition are Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries, and the number of buyers from BRI partner countries has witnessed an increase of 11.2 percent compared with last session of the Canton Fair. (Xinhua/Deng Hua) An exhibitor (R) from Thailand negotiates business with a visitor at the 134th session of the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, Oct. 16, 2023. The 134th session of the China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, has attracted exhibitors and buyers from across the globe. About 60 percent of the exhibitors attending the import exhibition are Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries, and the number of buyers from BRI partner countries has witnessed an increase of 11.2 percent compared with last session of the Canton Fair. (Xinhua/Deng Hua) Participants from Italy visit the 134th session of the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, Oct. 15, 2023. The 134th session of the China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, has attracted exhibitors and buyers from across the globe. About 60 percent of the exhibitors attending the import exhibition are Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries, and the number of buyers from BRI partner countries has witnessed an increase of 11.2 percent compared with last session of the Canton Fair. (Xinhua/Deng Hua) This photo taken on Oct. 15, 2023 shows the scene of the 134th session of the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province. The 134th session of the China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, has attracted exhibitors and buyers from across the globe. About 60 percent of the exhibitors attending the import exhibition are Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries, and the number of buyers from BRI partner countries has witnessed an increase of 11.2 percent compared with last session of the Canton Fair. (Xinhua/Deng Hua) A buyer from the United Arab Emirates visits a booth at the 134th session of the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, Oct. 15, 2023. The 134th session of the China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, has attracted exhibitors and buyers from across the globe. About 60 percent of the exhibitors attending the import exhibition are Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries, and the number of buyers from BRI partner countries has witnessed an increase of 11.2 percent compared with last session of the Canton Fair. (Xinhua/Lu Hanxin) A buyer from Pakistan visits a booth for window cleaning machines at the 134th session of the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, Oct. 15, 2023. The 134th session of the China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, has attracted exhibitors and buyers from across the globe. About 60 percent of the exhibitors attending the import exhibition are Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries, and the number of buyers from BRI partner countries has witnessed an increase of 11.2 percent compared with last session of the Canton Fair. (Xinhua/Lu Hanxin) A buyer from Egypt visits a booth for kitchen wares at the 134th session of the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, Oct. 15, 2023. The 134th session of the China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, has attracted exhibitors and buyers from across the globe. About 60 percent of the exhibitors attending the import exhibition are Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries, and the number of buyers from BRI partner countries has witnessed an increase of 11.2 percent compared with last session of the Canton Fair. (Xinhua/Lu Hanxin) Participants from Argentina visit the 134th session of the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, Oct. 15, 2023. The 134th session of the China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, has attracted exhibitors and buyers from across the globe. About 60 percent of the exhibitors attending the import exhibition are Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries, and the number of buyers from BRI partner countries has witnessed an increase of 11.2 percent compared with last session of the Canton Fair. (Xinhua/Lu Hanxin) A Sudanese buyer negotiates business at a booth for smart speakers at the 134th session of the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, Oct. 15, 2023. The 134th session of the China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, has attracted exhibitors and buyers from across the globe. About 60 percent of the exhibitors attending the import exhibition are Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries, and the number of buyers from BRI partner countries has witnessed an increase of 11.2 percent compared with last session of the Canton Fair. (Xinhua/Deng Hua) Participants from Vietnam visit a booth for cleaning machines at the 134th session of the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, Oct. 15, 2023. The 134th session of the China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, has attracted exhibitors and buyers from across the globe. About 60 percent of the exhibitors attending the import exhibition are Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries, and the number of buyers from BRI partner countries has witnessed an increase of 11.2 percent compared with last session of the Canton Fair. (Xinhua/Lu Hanxin) This photo taken on Oct. 15, 2023 shows the scene of the 134th session of the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province. The 134th session of the China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, has attracted exhibitors and buyers from across the globe. About 60 percent of the exhibitors attending the import exhibition are Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries, and the number of buyers from BRI partner countries has witnessed an increase of 11.2 percent compared with last session of the Canton Fair. (Xinhua/Deng Hua) U.N. officials warned Monday that community hostility in Chad is rising as thousands of refugees from conflict-ridden Sudan continue to arrive, putting pressure on limited resources Chadians depend on for their livelihoods and survival. "People in Chad have been displaced from their own communities because the pressure of the many refugees that have arrived has even pushed them further into the country and displaced them from their natural homes," said Madeleine Alingue, secretary of state for economic prosperity and international partnerships in Chad. "We really think that if we do not take care of the host communities, this hostility, the tension can be brought up and we can have instability in that region," she said. Eastern Chad is facing an unprecedented new influx of refugees and returnees from Sudan. The U.N. refugee agency reports nearly 490,000 Sudanese have sought refuge in Chad since April 15, when armed clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces plunged the country into a catastrophic war. The UNHCR projects more than 600,000 Sudanese refugees and Chadian returnees will arrive in eastern Chad before the end of the year. "Chad is living in an unstable regional situation, bordered by countries in a state of crisis," said Alingue. "Our border with Libya is in crisis, so is Niger, the Central African Republic and Sudan," she said, noting that Chad, with its open-door policy, has received many refugees fleeing these surrounding countries in crisis. "This is putting enormous pressure on our resources, which are limited," she said, noting that only one-fourth of the more than $920 million needed for lifesaving operations in the country has been received. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, reports 5.7 million people are food insecure, with 2.1 million suffering from acute hunger. "People have just gone through the worst lean period in a decade," said Violet Kakyomya, U.N. resident coordinator and humanitarian coordinator in Chad. She said that the lean period, the time before the next harvest, is when food stocks are at their lowest and "people have been unable to meet their basic food needs." She said people in Chad are living in one of the countries in the world most vulnerable to climate change. "We have suffered from floods and drought, affecting more than 7 million people out of a population of 18 million." Despite the many challenges, Kakyomya said Chad has always been welcoming to refugees. Over the past two decades, and during periods of violence and the arrival of new refugees, she said Chad still managed to engage in a vibrant trading relationship with Sudan. Since Sudan has become a war zone, she said trade between the two countries has stopped, creating great difficulties for both the refugee and local host communities in Chad. "The local population is turning up more and more at food distribution sites," she said. "They want food for themselves. They are expressing their needs. We cannot just watch them standing by while we assist the refugees. We need to assist them as well," she said. U.N. officials have been meeting with international donors in Geneva to describe the dire humanitarian situation in Chad. The U.N. is also seeking to persuade them to fill the large funding gap threatening the ability of aid agencies to respond to the food, forced displacement, health and climate change emergencies facing the population. Resident coordinator Kakyomya said, "The response to eastern Chad must be multi-dimensional. It is not just a response to the refugees, but a response to the needs of the host community is crucial. "This is very fertile ground for social instability and conflict," she warned. With a vote set for Tuesday afternoon in the U.S. House of Representatives, the latest Republican candidate for House speaker, Jim Jordan, is making progress in flipping detractors in his efforts to shore up Republican support. Jordan, a right-winged representative from Ohio, has gained the support of several more Republicans, but it is still unclear whether he will be able to get enough members of his party to back him in his quest for the speakership. "I feel real good about the momentum we have," Jordan told reporters outside his office Monday. "We're going to elect a speaker tomorrow." Jordan, who is backed by former U.S. President Donald Trump, will meet with Republican colleagues Tuesday in another closed-door meeting in an attempt to fully unify his party behind his candidacy. Some Republicans have expressed concern that Jordan is too extreme for the position of Speaker of the House. The House has been without a speaker for two weeks after Republicans ousted former speaker Kevin McCarthy. Republicans first put forward Representative Steve Scalise as their candidate, though he was unable to secure enough Republican votes to reach a majority and overcome Democrats who were unified in support of their Democratic candidate, Hakeem Jeffries. Scalise later withdrew his name from consideration. Jordan can afford only four Republican detractors in the vote. He needs 217 votes, or a majority of the chamber, which Republicans control by a slim 221-212 majority. With Democrats expected to unify around representative Jeffries again, Jordan is vowing to "bring all Republicans together" so the party can use its narrow majority to elect a speaker. Republicans who ally with Trump, including Representative Matt Gaetz and Fox News anchor Sean Hannity, have been mounting pressure on Republicans to throw their support behind Jordan. Though Jordan has been gaining support, the vote could see multiple rounds as some Republicans are still refusing to back the candidate. Some information in this report came from The Associated Press. A technology, innovation and entrepreneurship summit sparked imaginations in Ethiopia last week. The inaugural Enkopa summit a collaboration between the Ethiopian Ministry of Labor and Skills and other partners brought in speakers and exhibitors from across the world to Addis Ababa to discuss technology, innovation and entrepreneurship. Speaking at the two-day event, Ethiopian State Minister of Labor and Skills Nigussu Tilahun emphasized the important role of the government in clearing a path for job creation in the country. Nigussu said governments role in building the entrepreneurship ecosystem is to create and facilitate a conducive environment for it. The event, which was October 12 and 13, had 150 speakers from sectors like fintech, health care and agriculture. Feven Tsehaye, founder and CEO of Chakka Origins which sources natural ingredients in biodiversity hotspots said land management is crucial to the work the company does in Ethiopia. She said working with small holder farmers is essential. It makes sense to work with them and more efficiently utilizing their space instead of engaging in land clearing or displacing people, Feven said. Sessions during the two-day summit also explored the role of AI in agriculture, and sustainable farming in Ethiopia. Abrhame Endrias leads Lersha, which provides digital services to farmers. He said making technology accessible to farmers encourages tech adoption. Lersha provides climate and pest control advisories, farming inputs and options for mechanization. Abrhame said Lersha translates information into local languages so farmers can understand the information and make decisions. The information comes to the farmers via text message. While Lersha focuses on small holder famers, there were startups at the summit that focused on Ethiopias commercial farmers. Semegn Tadesse, CEO of ARMADA AgriTech, said working with commercial farmers promises to deliver a more radical change. If you want to show progress, here is a big room for improvement in commercial farmers, Semegn said. They are also underserved even though they have financial capacity. The summit, funded by the United Nations Development Program, and other partners is expected to be held every year. European Union heads of state will hold an emergency meeting Tuesday on the conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza, following the cross-border attack by Hamas gunmen on October 7 that killed at least 1,400 Israelis. Health authorities in Gaza say at least 2,750 Palestinian civilians have been killed by Israeli bombings. EU Meeting Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, said he had called an urgent video conference of EU leaders to address the many consequences that conflict would have for the bloc. First, we must work towards urgently providing assistance for the basic needs of the most vulnerable civilians, and it must be done in full accordance with the humanitarian law. Second, everything must be done to avoid regional escalation and strong engagement with regional actors is thus key. We must continue to work towards a sustainable peace based on a two-state solution and this should be based on renewed efforts in the Middle East peace process, such as the Peace Day initiative. Third, the conflict could have major security consequences for our societies. It has the potential to worsen tensions between communities and to feed extremism. Finally, there is a major risk of migration and movements of a large number of people to neighboring countries, Michel said in a televised statement Monday. Coherent policy Its vital that Europe formulates a coherent policy on the Middle East conflict, said analyst Andreas Krieg, an associate professor at the Department of Defense Studies at Kings College London. It is, I would say, the most important neighborhood region for the European Union. And so a lot of what Europe does in this region is not based on the luxury of having a choice but of pure necessity, he told VOA. Mixed messaging European nations gave Israel their full support in the days following the Hamas attacks. However, critics say there has been mixed messaging from EU leaders as the Israeli assault on Gaza intensifies and the mounting Palestinian death toll exposes divisions in the European response. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited the Kfar Aza kibbutz in southern Israel Friday, where Israeli forces say Hamas tortured and murdered dozens of civilians. She offered unequivocal support for Israel in its response to the attacks. Israel has a right to defend itself. In fact, it has the duty to defend its people. And we must call by their name the atrocities committed by Hamas. This is terrorism. This is an act of war, von der Leyen said at a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Hamas' despicable actions are the hallmark of terrorists and I know that how Israel responds will show that it is a democracy. Humanitarian law Von der Leyens speech sparked criticism from some senior European politicians. Nathalie Loiseau, a French MEP and chair of the European Parliaments security and defense committee, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that the EU commission president was forgetting an important message: Israel must respect international humanitarian law. Meanwhile the EUs foreign policy chief Josep Borrell last week said that Israels siege of Gaza is against international law, following a meeting of EU foreign ministers. The political narrative is becoming more nuanced, said analyst Krieg of Kings College London. I think we're already seeing some of the Western policymakers backtracking and trying to put things into context and saying, well, we stand with Israel, we also have to make sure that the lives of Palestinian civilians have to be secured and protected, he told VOA. European public opinion That view is echoed in European public opinion, says Andreas Bohm of the University of St Gallen in Switzerland. There is a significant part of the public today that acknowledges, recognizes the Palestinian struggle. They do have solidarity for Israel, I think, due to the nature of the attack. But in the long run, if we see these pictures of, say, thousands or tens of thousands of people killed in Gaza, well that might change it, Bohm told VOA. For Hamas, such an outcome is desirable, Bohm added. They want to weaken Israel. And so for them, any large scale ground invasion, with say thousands or tens of thousands of casualties that would be a major success for them, because it hurts Israel. It tarnishes Israel's reputation both in the region and globally with Western audiences, he said. Krieg, however, said Israel is unlikely to change course. I think the Israelis also will be more resilient in sustaining criticism and sustaining also the leverage of Western policy makers, because they're saying, This is our war. Look at these atrocities and we'll do whatever is necessary to eradicate Hamas, Krieg told VOA. EU Aid Meanwhile, the European Union Monday announced a tripling of humanitarian assistance to Gaza, to $79 million, despite suggestions in the days following the Hamas attack that all aid to Gaza could be suspended. With Israel maintaining a complete siege of the territory, it isnt clear how or when the assistance might reach those in need. The UN says civilians are suffering the most from Russias war on Ukraine and the Middle East, we learn about the unseen impacts. Ukraine is working to evacuate hundreds of its citizens from Gaza. The US says North Korea is providing weapons to Russia to support its depleted supplies. The fighting continues as Secretary of State Antony Blinken urges regional powers not to escalate the conflict; the U.S. also appeals to Israel to protect Palestinian civilians. The latest from Afghanistan after another deadly earthquake and election results in Poland. Latest developments U.S. President Joe Biden will head to Israel Wednesday, according to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, following his marathon meeting with Israels prime minister that ended in the early hours Tuesday. He's coming here at a critical moment for Israel, for the region and for the world, Blinken said. In Washington, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that Biden would visit Tel Aviv and continue the same day to Amman, Jordan, where he will meet with King Abdullah, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The White House said President Biden will reiterate that Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian peoples right to dignity and self-determination and discuss the humanitarian needs of civilians in Gaza. Blinken also said that a possible breakthrough in getting humanitarian assistance to besieged Palestinians in the Gaza Strip was reached in his seven-and-a-half-hour meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Today, and at our request, the United States and Israel have agreed to develop a plan that will enable humanitarian aid from donor nations and multilateral organizations to reach civilians in Gaza and them alone -- including the possibility of creating areas to help keep civilians out of harms way, Blinken said in a brief statement to reporters. He said it is critical that aid begin flowing into Gaza as soon as possible, but expressed concern that Hamas militants may try to seize supplies or prevent their distribution. Grave humanitarian crisis Palestinians in Gaza have been without electricity and under a complete Israeli siege with no food, fuel or water allowed into the Hamas-controlled territory since last Monday (Oct. 9). Israel says it imposed the blockade in response to the deadly terrorist attack Hamas launched on Israeli towns on October 7, which killed more than 1,300 Israelis. Nearly 200 others were taken hostage by the terror group. Israel has amassed 300,000 troops on Gazas border poised for a likely ground invasion, vowing to wipe out Hamas. Hundreds of thousands of Gazans have heeded Israels orders to evacuate northern Gaza for the southern half of the Strip ahead of the expected offensive. There continues to be no water for the vast majority of the population in Gaza, said Juliette Touma, spokesperson for the U.N. agency that assists Palestinians, UNRWA. We're talking about 2 million people in the Gaza Strip who do not have water, and water is running out, and water is life, and life is running out of Gaza, Touma said. UNRWA said Monday that there are not enough body bags for the dead in Gaza. Touma said an estimated 1 million Palestinians have fled toward the south and nearly 400,000 of them are sheltering mostly in UNRWA schools. One group is being housed in an UNRWA warehouse, which Touma said is not equipped to be a shelter. UNRWA has deployed an advance team to Egypt to prepare for the possible opening of a humanitarian corridor to bring aid supplies into Gaza. The United Nations said humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths will head to Egypt on Tuesday for several days. He also plans to visit Israel. At the United Nations, the Security Council voted late Monday on a Russian-drafted resolution seeking a humanitarian cease-fire and the release of all Israeli and foreign hostages. The measure, which Russia did not negotiate with council members, failed to receive the necessary support. Only five of the 15 council members supported the measure, four voted against it and six abstained. The United States was among those who did not support it. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said civilians should not have to suffer for Hamas atrocities, but said the proposed text failed to condemn the terror group. By failing to condemn Hamas, Russia is giving cover to a terrorist group that brutalizes innocent civilians, she said. It is outrageous, it is hypocritical, and it is indefensible. Meanwhile, the death toll stemming from the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the retaliatory strikes by Israel on Gaza is mounting. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,808 Palestinians have been killed and more than 10,000 wounded. More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed, and at least 199 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken as hostages into Gaza, according to Israel. "The efforts on the hostages are a top national priority," military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said. "The army and Israel are working around the clock to bring them back." Northern front There are fears that the fighting could expand to Israels border with Lebanon, where the Iranian-supported militant group Hezbollah said its fighters targeted five Israeli posts along Lebanons southern border. Speaking to the Israeli Knesset on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu warned Iran and Hezbollah, "Don't test us in the north. Don't make the mistake of the past. Today, the price you will pay will be far heavier," he said, referring to Israel's 2006 war with Hezbollah. Following a series of cross-border attacks in northern Israel by Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, Israel announced Monday the evacuation of residents from 28 villages within two kilometers of the border. The United Nations has a peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon that monitors the border with Israel. It said Monday that its headquarters in the Lebanese town of Naqoura was hit; no one was injured. A spokesperson said the U.N. is investigating to see who fired at the facility. Margaret Besheer at the United Nations contributed to this article. Some information for this article came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. A U.S. landlord was charged with murder and hate crimes Sunday after allegedly stabbing a Muslim woman and 6-year-old boy dozens of times in an attack that police linked to the war between Israel and Hamas. The child, who was stabbed 26 times, died at a hospital, but the 32-year-old woman, believed to be his mother, is expected to survive the "heinous" Saturday attack, according to a statement from the Will County sheriff's office in Illinois. Late Sunday, U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement that he and his wife were shocked and sickened to learn of the murderous attack. This horrific act of hate has no place in America, and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are. As Americans, we must come together and reject Islamophobia and all forms of bigotry and hatred. I have said repeatedly that I will not be silent in the face of hate. We must be unequivocal. There is no place in America for hate against anyone." The sheriff's office did not give further details or the victims' nationality, but the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) described the child as Palestinian-American. "Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis," said the statement, which located the killing about 64 kilometers west of Chicago. Authorities said the woman managed to call 911 as she fought off the landlord, named by the sheriff's office as 71-year-old Joseph Czuba. "Deputies located two victims inside the residence in a bedroom. Both victims had multiple stab wounds to their chest, torso, and upper extremities," the sheriff's statement said. A serrated military-style knife with a seven-inch blade was pulled from the boy's abdomen during the autopsy, the statement said. When police arrived, they found Czuba sitting on the ground near the driveway of the residence with a laceration on his forehead. He was taken to the hospital for treatment before being charged with murder, attempted murder, and two counts of hate crimes. "He knocked on the door and attempted to choke her, and said, 'you Muslims' must die," Ahmed Rehab, head of CAIR's Chicago office, told reporters, citing text messages sent by the woman to the murdered boy's father from her hospital bed. The attack was "our worst nightmare," CAIR said in a statement. Israel declared war on Hamas Oct. 8, a day after waves of the militant group's fighters broke through the heavily fortified border and shot, stabbed and burned to death more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians. The subsequent relentless bombing by Israel has flattened neighborhoods and left at least 2,670 people dead in the Gaza Strip, the majority ordinary Palestinians. Business heir Daniel Noboa on Sunday won Ecuador's presidential election, vowing to rebuild the South American country, which is struggling with a weak economy and rising crime and violence. Thirty-five-year-old Noboa, a surprise qualifier for the run-off in the early election, has pledged to improve the economy and create jobs for young people, as well as to house dangerous criminals on prison ships. "Tomorrow we start work for this new Ecuador, we start working to rebuild a country seriously battered by violence, by corruption and by hate," Noboa told supporters during brief remarks in the seaside town of Olon. "From tomorrow Daniel Noboa starts work as your new president," he added. Noboa will face the significant challenge of righting an economy - which has struggled since the coronavirus pandemic and motivated many thousands of Ecuadoreans to migrate - and sharply rising crime, including increases in murders, robberies and prison riots. The violence, which the outgoing government blames on drug gangs, reached a crescendo during the campaign with the murder of anti-corruption candidate Fernando Villavicencio, who was shot dead while leaving a Quito campaign event in August. Ecuador has all the elements needed to be a global example of progress, Noboa has said. He will have just 17 months to govern, serving a truncated term from December this year until May 2025. Noboa, who has said he will be Ecuador's youngest-ever president, would be able to run again in the regularly scheduled 2025 contest. His victory fulfills a long-held family ambition - he grew up accompanying his banana baron father Alvaro during the latter's multiple failed attempts to become president. Noboa had won more than 52% of the vote, while his leftist adversary Luisa Gonzalez won about 48%, with more than 90% of ballot boxes counted. Gonzalez congratulated Noboa on his victory. "Daniel Noboa, our profound congratulations, because this is democracy," Gonzalez told supporters in Quito, calling on Noboa to fulfill his promises to students and the elderly. Noboa's win marks a rebuke by voters of Gonzalez's mentor, former President Rafael Correa, who has continued to wield considerable political power since he left office, despite a corruption conviction. Gonzalez had pledged to bring back many of Correa's social programs, boost the economy with international reserves and fight crime. New blood Noboa supporters celebrated in the streets of Guayaquil as final vote tallies came in. "We need new blood and not the old politics that have done us so much harm," said student Eduardo Chavez, 23. "Our president should waste no time and work very hard to put the brakes on insecurity." Noboa made a special point of wooing young people, as did Gonzalez, with events at universities toward the end of the campaign. About a quarter of the 13 million Ecuadoreans obliged to vote are between the ages of 18 and 29. Noboa has said he will balance meeting Ecuador's foreign debt obligations with the needs of the population and pledged to beef up security at ports and airports, hot spots for drug smuggling. Analysts have said a Noboa victory initially could be perceived as positive by investors, but the longer-term outlook will depend on his cabinet appointments. Polls had shown the contest would be much closer, with several putting the two candidates within the margin of error of each other. Noboa formed his own party, National Democratic Action, ahead of the election. It won the third-highest number of seats in August legislative elections. National electoral council president Diana Atamaint said the trend toward Noboa's victory was irreversible. Authorities will look into a social media video showing a person marking multiple ballots in the province of Sucumbios, she said in the afternoon. About 825 Ecuadoreans in Nicaragua, Russia, Belarus and Israel were not able to vote either because of a lack of consular presence or war, in a move criticized by Correa on social media. Outgoing President Guillermo Lasso called the election early to avoid impeachment on charges he disregarded warnings of embezzlement at a state company. He has denied the charges. Latest developments Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows to "demolish Hamas" as Israel masses troops on Gaza border for likely invasion. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to return to Israel Monday after talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem will begin evacuating U.S. nationals by sea from Haifa to Cyprus. U.S. says 30 Americans killed, 13 unaccounted for. Israeli military says 199 hostages were taken to Gaza, raising previous figure. The United States says a border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt will be reopened, but the timing remained unclear as the United Nations warned of dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza and Israel told Palestinians living in the northern part of the enclave to leave ahead of a military operation. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who returned to Israel Monday after visits to several other countries in the region, said the United States was working with Egypt, Israel and the U.N. to ensure aid can enter Gaza and reach those in need. "Over the past few days, Ive traveled to Israel, Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt," Blinken said Monday on X. "What Ive heard from every partner is a shared view to prevent the conflict from spreading, to safeguard innocent lives, and to get assistance to those in Gaza who need it." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office said in a statement Monday there was no agreement in place for a cease-fire to allow aid into Gaza and for foreigners to exit. The head of the U.N.s Palestinian refugee agency said Sunday that Gaza is "being strangled" and that soon supplies of water, food and medicine will run out. "Last weeks attack on Israel was horrendous," he told reporters. "The attack and the taking of hostages are a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law. But the answer to killing civilians cannot be to kill more civilians." Israels military said Monday the number of hostages taken to Gaza after the October 7 Hamas attack was 199, a jump from the previously released figure of 155. "The efforts on the hostages are a top national priority," military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said. "The army and Israel are working around the clock to bring them back." U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on Hamas to immediately release the hostages without conditions. He also urged Israel to allow for unimpeded access for humanitarian supplies and workers to Gaza. U.N. humanitarian relief chief Martin Griffiths said he will travel to the region Tuesday to try to help in the negotiations, to try to bear witness and to express solidarity with the extraordinary courage of the many thousands of aid workers who have stayed the course and who are still there helping the people in Gaza and in the West Bank. The U.N. Security Council is set to vote Monday on separate draft resolutions, submitted by Russia and Brazil, on humanitarian access to Gaza. Netanyahu vowed Sunday to demolish Hamas as 300,000 Israeli troops massed on the border of the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected ground invasion to find and attack Hamas militants. The Hamas attack has killed 1,300 Israelis and foreign nationals. Israel, in turn, has launched hundreds of airstrikes and missile attacks on Gaza and killed 2,750 Palestinians. "Hamas thought we would be demolished," Netanyahu said. "It is we who will demolish Hamas." He said the show of political unity "sends a clear message to the nation, the enemy and the world." Thirty Americans have been killed in the fighting and 13 others remain unaccounted for. U.S. President Joe Biden expressed support for Israels response to Hamas, saying in an interview on CBS 60 Minutes broadcast Sunday night that Israel is going after a group of people who have engaged in barbarism that is as consequential as the Holocaust. Biden said Israel would do everything in their power to avoid the killing of innocent civilians. He also said it would be a big mistake if Israel were to occupy the Gaza Strip. Following a series of cross-border attacks in northern Israel by Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, Israel on Monday announced the evacuation of residents from 28 villages within two kilometers of the border. Some information for this article came The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe's tourism sector is poised for a major boom, following the upgrading of the country's major airports with enhanced passenger handling capacity. The country's tourism and aviation officials shared their hope at the just-ended Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo, which took place from Thursday to Saturday in Bulawayo, the country's second-largest city. "Aviation is an enabler, a catalyst in the development of Zimbabwe's economy, more so tourism," said Passmore Dewa, manager of Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport in Bulawayo. During the three-day Expo, stakeholders highlighted that Zimbabwe's tourism sector was poised for further growth, following the upgrading and modernization of the country's two major airports, the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport (RGMIA) and Victoria Falls International Airport in partnership with China. The upgrading has boosted the country's total airport passenger handling capacity to 9.5 million from 5 million, and given foreign tourists wide options of direct landing at the main airports in Harare, Bulawayo, and Victoria Falls, Tarirai Musonza, chief director for Tourism and Hospitality Management, said. "The opening-up of the new airport which is capable of landing wide-boarded aircraft has been a game changer within the Zimbabwe destination," she said, as the upgraded RGMIA will be able to handle over 6 million passengers compared to the 1.5 million before. The upgrading projects are already bearing fruit, with more international airlines flying in, Musonza said. The upgraded RGMIA was officially commissioned in July by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who hailed the new-look airport as "magnificent" and matching international standards. African budget airline Fastjet said it has managed to position Victoria Falls, the country's prime tourist destination, as a national and regional tourism hub now that the airport is modernized. Fastjet has developed new routes connecting Victoria Falls to previously unserviced domestic tourist destinations such as Hwange National Park and Kariba, and to South Africa and Botswana. "As Fastject our business model is based on robust air connectivity and our focus has been on positioning Victoria Falls as a tourism hub," Vivian Ruwuya, the airline's chief commercial officer, said. Andrew Makona, Air Zimbabwe's chief executive, said their thrust was on reviving the troubled national airline into a viable entity that can adapt to the changing environment. He added that the airline's goal is to make RGMIA the country's business hub and Victoria Falls the tourism hub. Wengayi Nhau, president of the Tourism Business Council of Zimbabwe, emphasized the need for more airport infrastructure development. "We need airport infrastructure that speaks to our Vision 2030, world and international best practices. We need to have more airlines coming into the country and to develop new routes to grow our tourism," he said. Vision 2030 refers to the country's long-term development vision of becoming an upper-middle-income society by 2030. Zimbabwe's tourism is on a positive trajectory after the pandemic, with both tourist arrivals and investment on an upward trend as the government seeks to grow the sector into a 5-billion-dollar tourism economy by 2025. Following the attack by Hamas on Israel last week, and Israels bombardment of the Gaza Strip, protesters around the world have held demonstrations showing support for both Israelis and Palestinians. In Los Angeles, members of the Palestinian and Jewish communities took to the city streets in response to the unfolding situation in the Middle East. Genia Dulot has the report. An operation by Russian forces to storm the strategically important city of Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine appears to be running out of steam, Kyiv officials said Monday. Ukrainian forces repelled 15 Russian attacks from four directions on Avdiivka over the previous 24 hours compared with up to 60 attacks a day in the middle of last week, according to Vitalii Barabash, head of the city administration. The slackening suggests the Russian effort to capture Avdiivka has "deflated," Barabash said. The Institute for the Study of War echoed Barabash's sentiment in a report late Sunday. According to the Washington-headquartered research group, "Russian forces continued offensive operations aimed at encircling Avdiivka but have yet to make further gains amid a likely decreasing tempo of Russian operations in the area." Before the onset of winter, both sides have been seeking battlefield breakthroughs that could invigorate their efforts and raise morale. Russia hopes to break through Ukrainian defenses in the Kupiansk-Lyman sector of the front line in northeastern Ukraine, the commander of Ukraine's ground forces warned Monday. Video footage released by the ground forces showed Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi telling soldiers, whom he met in an undisclosed location, that the situation on Ukraine's northeastern front line had "significantly escalated" in recent days. "The enemy is preparing, seriously preparing for offensive actions, bringing in staff," Syrskyi said in the footage posted on the Telegram messaging app. "The main goal is to break through our troops' defenses and recapture our territory." Ukrainian officials have repeatedly said Ukrainian troops are holding their positions in the east but so far, Ukraine's counteroffensive in the east and south since the beginning of June has yielded only minor gains. Ukraine's military said Monday that Russia attacked overnight with six missiles and 12 drones. The Ukrainian air force said it downed two of the missiles, which targeted the northern and eastern part of Ukraine, as well as 11 of the drones. Russia also carried out artillery shelling and airstrikes in the Zaporizhzhia region, damaging several residential buildings and infrastructure and injuring one elderly woman, the governor there said. Russia will spend around $618 million to develop drone manufacturing, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told lawmakers Monday. "The task is that 41% of all drones by 2025 should have the label 'Made in Russia,'" Siluanov said. He added that, so far, its drones are mostly sourced from China. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will visit North Korea this week, the foreign ministry said Monday. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un traveled to Russia last month to meet President Vladimir Putin and visit key military sites, triggering speculation about a possible North Korean plan to refill Russia's drained munition stores in return for sophisticated Russian weapons technologies to boost North Korea's military and nuclear program. The White House claims Pyongyang delivered munitions and military equipment to Russia for use in the fighting in Ukraine. On Friday, the White House released satellite images showing more than 1,000 containers being loaded onto a Russia-flagged ship before transport via train to southwestern Russia. The containers were shipped between September 7 and October 1, the White House said. Ukraine aid Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Monday in Kyiv with U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine's Economic Recovery Penny Pritzker for talks focused on infrastructure reconstruction. "We managed to discuss all the issues that directly affect life in Ukraine," said Zelenskyy in his nightly video address. "Protection of our energy sector, especially this winter. Macro-financial support. Reconstruction. Protection of investments from the war risks. Attracting private business," he added. Zelenskyy also talked about the need for more air defense for Ukraine to "give more protection to our cities, so that they can maintain life, including economic life. Plus, the development of our industries, including defense production," he said. "All of this together keeps us resilient. All of this together adds to Ukraine's strength," he noted. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Monday that support for Ukraine remains a "top priority" for the United States and Europe, calling it crucial to sustain Ukraine's military battle against Russia's invasion. "We cannot allow Ukraine to lose the war for economic reasons when it has shown an ability to succeed on the battlefield," Yellen said in remarks prepared for her third meeting with the Eurogroup finance ministers. She said the Biden administration is committed to supporting Ukraine "for as long as it takes" and would fight to ensure a bipartisan majority in the U.S. Congress enacted "robust" and uninterrupted assistance for the war-torn country. Her meeting with the Eurogroup in Luxembourg comes as the Biden administration prepares to push through a new military assistance package worth well over $2 billion for Ukraine and Israel. The latter is preparing a ground invasion after a deadly October 7 attack by the militant Hamas group that rules Gaza. Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko told the Reuters news agency on Saturday that Ukraine is finding it harder to secure financial support. Some Republicans in Congress have questioned funding for Kyiv, including Ohio Representative Jim Jordan, who has been nominated to be House speaker and leads a hardline Republican party caucus backed by former president and likely 2024 nominee Donald Trump. Ukraine children Qatar announced Monday the reunification of a group of Ukrainian children with their families, a start on the return of some of the thousands of children whom Ukraine says Russia forcibly took after launching its invasion in February 2022. The repatriations took place after months of talks brokered by Qatar. Officials familiar with the matter said four children, ages 2 to 17, were being reunited under an arrangement that could lead to more repatriations. "We are bringing home four Ukrainian children illegally deported to the Russian Federation," Andriy Yermak, head of the presidential office, said on X, formerly known as Twitter. He gave no further details. Kyiv says the abduction of about 20,000 children from Ukraine to Russia or Russian-held territory is a war crime that meets the U.N. treaty definition of genocide. Some information for this report came from Reuters and The Associated Press. Russia's foreign minister will visit North Korea this week, the Foreign Ministry said Monday, days after the United States claimed Pyongyang had delivered munitions and military equipment to Russia for use in the fighting in Ukraine. Sergey Lavrov will be in North Korea on Wednesday and Thursday, the ministry said in a brief statement that did not specify whom he would meet or the aims of the trip. The White House said Friday that more than 1,000 containers of equipment and ammunition have been sent to Russia from North Korea. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un traveled to Russia last month to meet President Vladimir Putin and visit key military sites, triggering speculation about a possible North Korean plan to refill Russias munition stores that have been drained by the protracted conflict with Ukraine. 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 Koreas 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, according to the White House. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday confirmed media reports he would travel to Israel and Egypt this week in the wake of the deadly attack by Hamas militants. "It is important to me to also express my solidarity with Israel very practically with my visit," he told reporters, while confirming a "later trip" to Egypt. German media had earlier reported that Scholz would travel to Israel on Tuesday as the first visit by a foreign head of government since the assault, which has sparked a war between Israel and Hamas. The fate of German nationals kidnapped by Hamas during the attack 10 days ago is expected to be among the topics of discussion, according to the reports. Scholz said he wanted to address "practical questions, particularly in terms of the security situation" in his talks "and how we can prevent an escalation of the conflict into further regions." Scholz added he wanted to discuss "how humanitarian aid can be organized" while stressing that "Israel has every right to defend itself." Israel's ambassador to Berlin, Ron Prosor, welcomed Scholz's announced trip. "It is truly a show of solidarity," he told broadcaster Welt TV, describing the visit as "incredibly important." Prosor said that he hoped Scholz would be successful in mediation efforts during a subsequent stop in Egypt, calling for Cairo to open the border crossing from the Gaza Strip to protect Palestinians before a looming Israeli ground offensive against Hamas. The Egyptians "have a responsibility," Prosor said. "If Egypt opens this border crossing, then they [Palestinians] have a place where they can go." German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock already traveled to Israel on Friday. At a press conference with her Israeli counterpart in Jerusalem, she condemned Hamas for using residents as a "shield." Israel declared war on the Islamist group a day after waves of its fighters broke through the heavily fortified Israel-Gaza border on October 7, shooting, stabbing and burning to death more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians. Israel responded with a relentless bombing campaign of the Gaza Strip that has flattened neighborhoods and killed at least 2,670 people, mainly civilians. More than 1 million people have fled their homes as Israel prepares a major ground operation in Gaza. A poll published on Monday by the daily Bild showed strong support for Israel in the conflict among Germans. According to the survey by the INSA independent opinion research institute, more than 70% agreed when asked if Israel "has the right to defend itself militarily" against Hamas. U.S. volunteer Shana Aufenkamp is busy round the clock she brings animals that have been rescued from bombed Ukrainian cities to Washington, D.C. Some of the animals were left behind when their owners evacuated to safer places, and now the cats seek new loving families in America. Mariia Ulianovska has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Camera: Oleksii Osyka Latest developments Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows to demolish Hamas as Israel masses troops on the Gaza border for likely invasion. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned to Israel Monday after talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem will begin evacuating U.S. nationals by sea from Haifa to Cyprus. U.S. says 30 Americans killed, 13 unaccounted for. Israeli military says 199 hostages were taken to Gaza, raising previous figure of 155. Israel launched a new barrage of airstrikes Monday on Gaza as it vowed to wipe out Hamas militant control of the narrow strip of Palestinian territory along the Mediterranean Sea. With 300,000 Israeli troops stationed on the Gaza border and poised for a ground invasion, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told visiting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, This will be a long war. The price will be high, but we are going to win for Israel, for the Jewish people and for the values that both countries believe in. The top U.S. diplomat assured Gallant of continued American support. You know our deep commitment to Israel's right, indeed its obligation, to defend itself and to defend its people, Blinken said. But as an estimated 500,000 Palestinians have adhered to Israeli orders to flee northern Gaza for the southern half of the Gaza Strip, a humanitarian crisis is fast enveloping the territory, with Israel shutting off delivery of food and new fuel supplies, even as it reopened a water pipe in the south. A Palestinian child, wounded in Israeli strikes, lies on a bed while getting medical attention at a hospital in Khan Younis in Gaza, Oct. 16, 2023. Trucks full of humanitarian goods are blocked at the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, with the United Nations warning of a dire situation. Palestinians said they are fast running out of food, with hourslong lines at bakeries. "I have been waiting for 10 hours to get bread ... and of course, this amount is not enough," said Ahmad Salah in Deir al-Balah, where he said he had to feed 20 to 30 family members. "This is a painful suffering for us." Oil tankers bearing United Nations flags have crossed into Egypt from Gaza to pick up fuel supplies for the besieged enclave. Blinken, who returned to Israel on Monday after visits to several Arab countries in the region, said the United States was working with Egypt, Israel and the United Nations to ensure aid can enter Gaza and reach those in need. Over the past few days, Ive traveled to Israel, Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, Blinken said Monday on X, formerly known as Twitter. What Ive heard from every partner is a shared view to prevent the conflict from spreading, to safeguard innocent lives, and to get assistance to those in Gaza who need it. U.S. President Joe Biden is considering a trip to Israel, officials said, but no travel plans have been announced. Biden expressed support for Israels response to Hamas, saying in an interview on the CBS 60 Minutes broadcast Sunday night that Israel is going after a group of people who have engaged in barbarism that is as consequential as the Holocaust. Biden said Israel would do everything in their power to avoid the killing of innocent civilians. He also said it would be a big mistake if Israel were to occupy the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, the death toll stemming from the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the retaliatory strikes by Israel on Gaza is mounting. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,750 Palestinians have been killed and 9,700 wounded. More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed, and at least 199 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken as hostages into Gaza, according to Israel. "The efforts on the hostages are a top national priority," military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said. "The army and Israel are working around the clock to bring them back." U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on Hamas to immediately release the hostages without conditions. He also urged Israel to allow for unimpeded access for humanitarian supplies and workers to Gaza. Each one of these two objectives are valid in themselves. They should not become bargaining chips, Guterres said in a statement Sunday. There are fears that the fighting could expand to Israels border with Lebanon, where the Iranian-supported militant group Hezbollah said its fighters targeted five Israeli posts along the border in the country's south. Speaking to the Israeli Knesset on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Iran and Hezbollah, "Don't test us in the north. Don't make the mistake of the past. Today, the price you will pay will be far heavier," he said, referring to Israel's 2006 war with Hezbollah. Following a series of cross-border attacks in northern Israel by Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, Israel announced Monday the evacuation of residents from 28 villages within two kilometers of the border. Some information for this article came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. One person is dead and four others injured following a crash in west central Minnesota on Sunday afternoon. A Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, driven by Curtis Olson, 35, of Appleton, was traveling southbound on Highway 59 southeast of Appleton, while a Jeep Commander, driven by Presley Boogaard, 31, of Odessa, was traveling northbound on Highway 59 when two vehicles collided. Olson was reportedly killed in the crash. Every war gives rise to manipulation. The three most flagrant examples currently are: the fiction that the attack by the United Palestinian Resistance was carried out only by Hamas (the primary information source is the Israeli Prime Ministers office) the fiction according to which German tattoo artist Shani Louk was killed during a nearby rave party. Videos show Hamas parading her naked body around in a van. the fiction according to which 40 babies were beheaded by Hamas jihadists (the primary source is Revisionist Zionist settler David Ben Zion as reported on i24 News, and later relayed by United States President Joe Biden). According to the official version, the Hamas attack caught Israel by surprise. However, a series of inexplicable facts do not make the official version credible. How is it possible that the Gaza barrier was breached with bulldozers without anyone noticing? The 64-kilometre barrier surrounding Gaza is made of an underground wall equipped with sensors to prevent tunnelling, and a 6-metre high fence with sensors, radars, cameras and automatic weapons systems connected to a command, and is manned by soldiers. How is it possible that on that very day, a music festival was taking place involving thousands of young people, and located in the desert a few kilometres from Gaza, in an area already considered dangerous because it was within range of Hamas rockets, and moreover left without any security force? How is it possible when Hamas militants attacked over 20 Israeli population centres, killing (according to official figures) 1300 people, the Israeli special forces, considered among the best in the world, did not immediately intervene with helicopters and only intervened with police force? How is it possible that Mossad, considered one of the most efficient Secret Services in the world, did not realize that Hamas was preparing its attack? The essential answers come from an article, published on October 8 by the Israeli newspaper The Times of Israel: For years, the various governments led by Benjamin Netanyahu have adopted a policy that has divided the Gaza Strip and the West Bank between two different powers, bringing Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to his knees and favouring Hamas. Hamas was treated as a partner to the detriment of the Palestinian Authority to prevent Abbas from moving towards creating a Palestinian State. Hamas was promoted from a terrorist group to an organization with which Israel conducted negotiations through Egypt, and which was allowed to receive suitcases containing millions of dollars from Qatar through the Gaza crossings. All these facts outline a scenario similar to the terrorist attack on New York and Washington on September 11, 2001, when the entire US intelligence and Defence System was caught by surprise by an alleged Al-Qaeda attack. Irrefutable evidence (officially ignored or dismissed as conspiracy) demonstrates that 9/11 was not carried out by Al Qaeda, as a means to trigger the global war on terrorism with the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq and subsequent wars. Something similar is happening today in Israel, whose entire Intelligence and Defence system was apparently caught by surprise by the Hamas attack. The strategic aim of the operation is, on the one hand, to put an end to the Palestinians (so far there have been over 1,500 dead, including 500 children, and over 7000 injured) and to take over their territories. The Israeli command has ordered the evacuation of over one million inhabitants, over half of the entire population, from the northern half of Gaza. On the other hand, the strategic aim of the operation is to trigger a chain reaction of wars in the Middle East, targeting Iran, where the United States, Israel and the European powers are losing ground. This photo taken on Oct. 15, 2023 shows a colored mummy coffin unearthed at a cemetery in Minya Governorate, Egypt. A cemetery dating back to the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt was unearthed at Tuna El-Gebel necropolis in southern Egypt's Minya governorate, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on Sunday. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai) MINYA, Egypt, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- A cemetery dating back to the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt was unearthed at Tuna El-Gebel necropolis in southern Egypt's Minya governorate, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on Sunday. The cemetary, dating back about 3,400 years to ancient Egypt's New Kingdom, belonged to senior officials and priests, said Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA). The cemetary was discovered in the Al-Ghuraifa area of Tuna El-Gebel necropolis in Minya by an Egyptian archeological mission led by the SCA. It consists of a large quantity of rock-cut tombs, and hundreds of other archaeological finds, said Waziri. It is the first cemetery finding of the New Kingdom in the 15th nome, a territorial division in ancient Upper Egypt. The region was previously known for cemeteries belonging to the Old Kingdom, the First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom. "We have been looking for this New Kingdom cemetery for seven years and we finally found it in this excavation season," Waziri told Xinhua at the necropolis. Among the finds was a complete, well-preserved papyrus that is approximately 16-18 meters long, according to preliminary studies, with texts about the Book of the Dead, and an engraved, colored wooden coffin of a daughter of a high priest of Djehuti, an ancient Egyptian god. The team also found amulets, jewelry, stone and wooden coffins containing mummies, and a group of ushabti figurines made of pottery and wood, according to the SCA chief. The mission started its work in 2017 in the Al-Ghuraifa area. This photo taken on Oct. 15, 2023 shows artifacts unearthed at a cemetery in Minya Governorate, Egypt. A cemetery dating back to the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt was unearthed at Tuna El-Gebel necropolis in southern Egypt's Minya governorate, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on Sunday. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa) This photo taken on Oct. 15, 2023 shows a papyrus unearthed at a cemetery in Minya Governorate, Egypt. A cemetery dating back to the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt was unearthed at Tuna El-Gebel necropolis in southern Egypt's Minya governorate, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on Sunday. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa) This photo taken on Oct. 15, 2023 shows a colored mummy coffin unearthed at a cemetery in Minya Governorate, Egypt. A cemetery dating back to the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt was unearthed at Tuna El-Gebel necropolis in southern Egypt's Minya governorate, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on Sunday. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai) This photo taken on Oct. 15, 2023 shows a colored mummy coffin unearthed at a cemetery in Minya Governorate, Egypt. A cemetery dating back to the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt was unearthed at Tuna El-Gebel necropolis in southern Egypt's Minya governorate, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on Sunday. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai) People look at a colored mummy coffin unearthed at a cemetery in Minya Governorate, Egypt, on Oct. 15, 2023. A cemetery dating back to the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt was unearthed at Tuna El-Gebel necropolis in southern Egypt's Minya governorate, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on Sunday. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai) An archaeological worker cleans a mummy inside a rock-cut tomb at a cemetery in Minya Governorate, Egypt, Oct. 15, 2023. A cemetery dating back to the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt was unearthed at Tuna El-Gebel necropolis in southern Egypt's Minya governorate, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on Sunday. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa) This photo taken on Oct. 15, 2023 shows artifacts unearthed at a cemetery in Minya Governorate, Egypt. A cemetery dating back to the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt was unearthed at Tuna El-Gebel necropolis in southern Egypt's Minya governorate, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on Sunday. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa) This photo taken on Oct. 15, 2023 shows artifacts unearthed at a cemetery in Minya Governorate, Egypt. A cemetery dating back to the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt was unearthed at Tuna El-Gebel necropolis in southern Egypt's Minya governorate, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on Sunday. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa) This photo taken on Oct. 15, 2023 shows a mummy coffin inside a rock-cut tomb at a cemetery in Minya Governorate, Egypt. A cemetery dating back to the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt was unearthed at Tuna El-Gebel necropolis in southern Egypt's Minya governorate, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on Sunday. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa) This photo taken on Oct. 15, 2023 shows a colored mummy coffin unearthed at a cemetery in Minya Governorate, Egypt. A cemetery dating back to the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt was unearthed at Tuna El-Gebel necropolis in southern Egypt's Minya governorate, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on Sunday. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai) Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), poses for photos with an artifact unearthed at a cemetery in Minya Governorate, Egypt, on Oct. 15, 2023. A cemetery dating back to the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt was unearthed at Tuna El-Gebel necropolis in southern Egypt's Minya governorate, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on Sunday. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai) This photo taken on Oct. 15, 2023 shows the painting on a colored mummy coffin unearthed at a cemetery in Minya Governorate, Egypt. A cemetery dating back to the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt was unearthed at Tuna El-Gebel necropolis in southern Egypt's Minya governorate, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on Sunday. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa) This photo taken on Oct. 15, 2023 shows a colored mummy coffin unearthed at a cemetery in Minya Governorate, Egypt. A cemetery dating back to the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt was unearthed at Tuna El-Gebel necropolis in southern Egypt's Minya governorate, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on Sunday. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa) This photo taken on Oct. 15, 2023 shows painting on a colored mummy coffin unearthed at a cemetery in Minya Governorate, Egypt. A cemetery dating back to the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt was unearthed at Tuna El-Gebel necropolis in southern Egypt's Minya governorate, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on Sunday. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa) Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), introduces a colored mummy coffin unearthed at a cemetery in Minya Governorate, Egypt, on Oct. 15, 2023. A cemetery dating back to the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt was unearthed at Tuna El-Gebel necropolis in southern Egypt's Minya governorate, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on Sunday. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai) This photo taken on Oct. 15, 2023 shows artifacts unearthed at a cemetery in Minya Governorate, Egypt. A cemetery dating back to the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt was unearthed at Tuna El-Gebel necropolis in southern Egypt's Minya governorate, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on Sunday. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai) Photo: Netflix Lydia Velez Gonzalez may just be Love Is Blinds most unexpected success story. The 32-year-old geologists journey on the show dealt her an ex-boyfriend, a friendship breakup, and a relationship that looked to many like it could crumble at the altar. Instead, she and now-husband Milton Johnson emerged victorious, both in the wedding episode, where they were the only couple to say I do, as well as the reunion a year and a half later, where they seemed the sanest and most put-together duo. I think everyone handled it the best way that they could, she says when asked about her unique experience at the reunion. It was unfair to Aaliyah, it was unfair to Uche, it was unfair to Milton, and it was unfair to me, and I think the public is a little too quick to judge. Gonzalez remains loved-up but still sensitive to the drama between her, Uche Okoroha, and Aaliyah Cosby (Okoroha skipped the reunion while Cosby attended to let Gonzalez apologize to her). However, shes totally unbothered by the social-media speculation about her intentions on joining Netflixs famous dating experiment. Even though she lays it all out to the cast and hosts Nick and Vanessa Lachey in the reunion, we had a few more questions for the Lydia hive about Uche, Aaliyah, and Milton. I was so pleased to see that you had emerged victorious from all this in the reunion because I feel like you did have to go through a lot of I went through hell. [Laughs.] What was the most difficult thing to watch back, and what was the most exciting? The most difficult thing to watch is definitely my scene with Aaliyah, and the most exciting wedding day. Your conversation with Aaliyah is one of the more powerful parts of the reunion. You were both hurt by the same person, and the worst part of all of it is that he took away this blossoming friendship. Have you and Aaliyah connected since? Do you think theres a chance that youd be able to resume that friendship? Everything that we both went through was really hard and hurtful. A lot of people have not seen the full story of what really happened with Aaliyah. All I can say is I wish her the best, and its really unfortunate to see it back because it wouldve been a great friendship. Is there anything you can share that we didnt see? One of the things that I want to clarify is it was not a five-minute conversation where I was just blabbing my mouth, because even while I was watching, I was like, Sh! This did not happen like this. First, we reunited. We calm down, we stand up, we tell the rest of the girls, we come back to the couch, like all of these things happened, and she had questions. She wanted to know my perspective. So thats what I was trying to do, first and foremost as a friend that I had bonded with really early on, even before the whole Uche thing. I didnt know who he was gonna end up with. Come on, people. At the end of the day, it is what it is. Uche wasnt at the reunion, but he has been vocal on Instagram Stories. If he had been there, is there anything you wouldve wanted to say to him? I dont have anything else to say to him. He can form his own conclusions. He can spread lies, cause golly, I dont know how you sleep at night saying so many lies! But at the end of the day, that scene you all saw with me at the barbecue saying, This is the last time youll ever see my face, I kept to my promise. Its the last time he saw my face. And I wish that that was the last time he had my name in his mouth. I dont wanna be there. What was going through your head during that conversation with Uche when he was showing you screenshots? Is there anything you want to clarify? First of all, I wanna clear this out about the Lydia driving to his house thing. We were having a conversation that day, like I was in a bar that was really near his house, and this was right after we split up it was kind of really messy. We were having a conversation and I was like, Hey, can you make it out? Because I was hanging out with some girlfriends. The parking of the bar is like an L, so his house is right here, and the bar was right here. You perform this whole plot against me, but you didnt care the 25 million times we see each other after that. The filming of the show took place a year and half ago. Was there anything during that waiting period that you were nervous about people watching? I felt excited. My husband, he was like, I dont think its gonna be that good. Im like, Its gonna be exciting. Our love storys gonna be there. We are the only ones that get married. Its gonna be so awesome! And my hopes and dreams [Mimics an explosion.] What was that like? Did you realize right away like, Uh-oh, this is not going how I wanted it to go? Yes. The first batch of episodes. I was like, what is this? I dont have anything against production. They have a job, they have to present entire peoples stories. They dont know me. At the reunion, you and Miltons relationship seemed even stronger. Would you say your relationship has changed since filming, and how so?I dont think it has changed. I think its evolved. I always say that our relationship matured. And we are there for each other in every aspect, and its unfortunate because you cannot really see that in the small snippets of our love story. I feel like our love storys not completely told. I feel like we just grew to love each other even more. Like were almost two years into our marriage. You two had an additional wedding. Why was it important to you to do that, and what are some of the things that you made sure to have or do differently? Netflix put on a gorgeous wedding. I loved it, but it was not truly representative of all my family. It was really short notice, and people cannot fly in. The people that flew in paid a lot of money to get there last-minute. A lot of people were not able to go, and in that case, it was my grandparents. So we decided to have the wedding in Puerto Rico because of my family and friends, cause I grew up in Puerto Rico. And they were all there. I wasnt nervous at the Netflix wedding, but I was nervous at my I call it my real wedding. This is in front of the family and friends that I have grown up with. So the show airs and youre excited. Did you and Milton sit and watch it together? We did watch it together. He didnt really care. My husband doesnt love reality TV. You guys can tell by his poor outfit choices, he really doesnt care. He is way, way, way wiser beyond his years. Where do you see yourselves in the next few years? We are both really focused on our careers. Right now, thats our main focus. I have a new job, so does he. Were career-oriented people as well. We take a lot of pride in our degrees, what we studied, because we loved it. Thats what we are focused on before we start thinking about having a family. Whats something about your relationship, now that youve watched the show back, that you think maybe people might not know from just watching the show? We always have great communication. People are so stuck on our last date because thats one of the times that you actually see us really talk. We had a conversation all night about that. His concerns, my concerns. And theyre valid at both ends. He was watching it back and hes like, I agree that I could have handled that differently. We have learned our way to really communicate with each other. You guys didnt get to see every night before falling asleep, we had a conversation. And every night we were like, Im so excited to get married to you. This is amazing. I love you. And he always and Im saying this because Ive seen a lot of comments he always said I love you back. Photo: Marie NDiaye in Paris. Marie NDiaye does not seek clarity. She is nearsighted, but you wont find her in glasses. Born and raised in France, for years the writer lived in Berlin, where she enjoyed the fact that she did not speak perfect German it produced, she told me in French, a haziness that suited me. In her novels, she plunges her characters, usually women, into a visceral experience of difference, often without naming what that difference is. Their worlds are inhospitable and uncanny, their families estranged or indifferent. While their internal landscapes overflow with guilt and shame that can feel racially coded, their traits are blurred, leaving readers with an interpretive gap to fill. Although her later novels allude more directly to color and class anxiety, her texts still inspire a paranoia about how to read her protagonists, catching us in a game of complicity. When I told the writer that it was often mysterious why the characters are so alienated, she was pleased. Staying in an ambiguity, even in a form of discomfort that suits me very well, she said. This week, NDiaye will publish her 12th novel, Vengeance Is Mine, in an English translation by her primary translator, Jordan Stump. At 56, shes a former wunderkind; after publishing her first novel at 17, she has produced a body of work that includes plays, short stories, childrens books, and screenplays for Claire Deniss 2009 White Material and for Alice Diops Saint Omer from last year. In France, she is among the countrys most famous living authors. While some readers find her work inscrutable, critics and academics delight in her hyperliterary texts, ripe for the picking apart. NDiaye herself avoids labels. When she became the first Black woman to win the Goncourt, Frances biggest prize in literature, in 2009, she said she had never thought of it in those terms: black woman and Goncourt, before adding, I dont represent anything or anyone. I have met many French people raised in Africa who are more African than I am. Vengeance Is Mine begins with a troubling encounter. Maitre Susane, a middle-aged lawyer, has just opened her own practice when shes visited by Gilles, a man she believes she knows from her childhood but who doesnt seem to recognize her. He asks her to defend his wife, Marlyne, who has drowned their three children. At once disturbed and fascinated by Marlynes act, Maitre Susane agrees to take on the case, while obsessively trying to defog her memory: Was Gilles really the well-to-do teen she met during her mothers days as a housekeeper, the one who initiated her in some significant, perhaps sinister way? When we spoke this summer, NDiaye was serene in her French-girl getup mariniere, cardigan, red lip, chignon. She lives in Paris, where she settled in 2021 as a divorcee. After years on the move with her ex and three children, from Normandy to Gironde to Berlin, this is the first time shes had the great joy of living in the capital alone. She projected warmth while revealing very little about herself, and spoke of her work in the most humble of terms with a tendency to downplay complexity and disavow difficulty. Her process? Simple she writes two to three hours a day. She has never had writers block. There are many things she claimed not to know: how many books shes written (around 20), how her work has been received in the English-speaking world (she reads a bit of press but doesnt remember what it says), or how to write about herself directly (I wouldnt have the courage!). In the early aughts, a publisher invited her to write a memoir. In 2005 she published Self-Portrait in Green, a beguiling quasi-autofictional work. Although the first-person narrator has much in common with the author, NDiaye gave herself an out: The narrator has four children, while NDiaye herself only has three. (Not to mention the fact that the characters do things like die, then come back for a coffee.) The real Marie NDiaye was born in 1967 in Pithiviers and spent her high-school years in Bourg-la-Reine, a middle-class banlieue a half-hour train ride south of Paris city limits. Her white French mother and Senegalese father met in the capital as students. When Marie was a baby and her brother, Pap, was 3, their father left for Senegal, ostensibly to prepare for the four of them to move there together, then disappeared for over ten years. NDiaye would only see him a handful of times, including on a visit to Dakar at age 20. Her mother, a middle-school biology teacher, raised the siblings on her own. NDiaye, a precocious reader of Proust and Joyce Carol Oates shed stumbled upon her mothers library copy of Them started writing around age 11 as a way of making the problems of maladjustment to normal life acceptable, she said. A monstrously bored high-school student, she began working on what would become her first novel during and after class. It wasnt until Jerome Lindon, legendary editor at avant-garde publisher Editions de Minuit, called NDiayes mother that she realized her 16-year-old daughter had submitted a (handwritten) manuscript. I was confident, but in the way you can be when youre young, NDiaye said. The book, Quant au riche avenir, published in 1985, is a complex and witty portrait of an preternaturally intelligent, orphaned teen who struggles to authentically relate to his unfeeling aunt, absent girlfriend, and mediocre classmates. Critics declared her a literary prodigy of staggering brilliance. After high school, NDiaye worked briefly as a server in Paris and kept writing. Her second novel, Comedie classique, was a 100-plus-page sentence. (NDiaye would later admit that she had been afraid of banality.) Her next few novels conjured the fantastical amid the commonplace: Characters transform into logs, are stalked by dogs they believe to be their lost relatives, and cry tears of blood. In her acclaimed 1991 book Among Family, a young womans extended kin suddenly ceases to recognize her and she endures humiliating, dreamlike trials to prove that she belongs to them. She married the writer Jean-Yves Cendrey, and they had their first child when she was 23 and he 33. As NDiaye became a parent, her characters transformed from teen prodigies to parents themselves, grappling with raising children in the shadow of their own deficient caregivers; her prose, circuitous and sibylline, turned less showboaty. The novel Rosie Carpe, which won the Prix Femina in 2001, describes perhaps the most explicit example of intergenerational family neglect in her oeuvre, centering a white mother. The Goncourt that she won for Three Strong Women, a tripartite novel about three loosely connected women with varying attachments to Senegal, made NDiaye a household name. Throughout her career, critics have attempted to read her works fantastical intrusions within African or postcolonial traditions. Some have attempted to classify her as not a French writer but a Francophone one a category reserved for those from outside France, often from formerly colonized nations. NDiaye has remained unyielding in her self-identification as French. She thinks about Senegal, where she has been only twice, in a dreamlike way. Its like if you asked me what I think of India or Ukraine. I have no legitimacy to have any feelings about that country whatsoever. In France, a supposedly colorblind nation that prides itself on its universal values, claiming Blackness as a public figure could be seen as an invitation to be classified as marginal or as an open espousal of wokisme, a catchall used by the French right wing to vilify those most-dreaded of American imports: political correctness and identity politics. NDiaye has mostly refrained from discussing politics, save for denouncing Sarkozys monstrous France after moving to Germany and winning the Goncourt. Her brother, Pap Ndiaye they style their last name differently tried to go another way. A scholar of Black American history, he condemned profiling and the 2018 erasure of the word race from Frances constitution before becoming the countrys first Black education minister in 2022. In a country where national identity and migrants are hot-button topics, the stakes of speaking out are high; Marine Le Pen said that his appointment as minister represented the last stone in the deconstruction of our country, while others accused him of being a race-obsessed Islamo-leftist. (This summer, he was ousted from the post as part of a larger reorganization then appointed Frances ambassador to the Council of Europe.) NDiaye has publicly defended her brother against his critics as a man of consensus and compromise. But the unsaids in her own work reveal much about how difference might be felt in a world where, as reflects the shame-riddled protagonist of her 2013 novel Ladivine with interesting hair and a fear of being outed as Black by her mother the thing itself could not be spoken of. The seed for Vengeance Is Mine was planted while NDiaye was co-writing Saint Omer, a courtroom drama inspired by the real-life drowning of an 18-month-old girl by her French-educated, Senegal-born mother in the north of France. Diop and the editor Amrita David attended the mothers trial and wrote much of the script on their own, then enlisted the author to help transform fact into fiction. Herself a big news reader, NDiaye had followed the story in real time; in the script, she was struck by the paradox between manifested love and the decision to kill the object of that love, the fact that the mother breastfed her child one last time before drowning her, which Marlyne repeats in Vengeance Is Mine. Although infanticide appears in some of her earliest work, NDiaye has said that she would never have written this book if it hadnt been for her work on Diops film, which won the best debut film and Silver Lion Grand Jury prizes at Venice. One major difference between Saint Omer and Vengeance Is Mine is that this time, the mother does not appear to be Black. While Maitre Susanes housekeeper is explicitly identified as an undocumented Mauritian immigrant with golden brown children, its precisely the lack of context around Marlynes dark blonde hair, dull green-grayish eyes, and working-class origins that codes her as white. When I asked NDiaye why she decided to deviate on this detail, she seemed caught off guard. While insisting that there was no particular reason to assume that Marlyne is white, she allowed that she may not have made the character explicitly Black so as to not add anything further to the situation. If she had been a Black mother, that could have brought the thinking about her motives to other problems that I didnt feel like tackling here. I would have had to talk about her origins, her presence in France, the problems she might have encountered. She did not want to imply that the hardships faced by a Black mother motivated the act of violence. When I later spoke to her again, she doubled down on Marlynes racial blankness, as written. I am well aware that when you dont clarify, the first idea is that shes white. I dont know how to deal with that, she said, then steered the conversation to herself. I live in a white world, and I never saw myself as different. It may be difficult to understand in the Anglo-Saxon world, but in France, when I was a kid, I was nothing. I was neither white nor Black. I was just me. The first time I spoke to NDiaye this summer was just a few weeks after Nahel Merzouk, a 17-year-old boy of Algerian descent, was killed by police during a traffic stop in Nanterre, a banlieue northeast of where the writer grew up. A harrowing video circulated, provoking protests and fiery riots of a ferocity France hadnt seen in response to a police killing in almost two decades. When I asked NDiaye about the unrest, she said growing up in the banlieue didnt give her any personal insight about the uprising or the injustices fueling it; she understood protesters anger, but was saddened to see libraries and schools burned. During her childhood, she said, the banlieue had different problems. What were they? I dont think we had any, actually, NDiaye laughed. I would feel like an imposter if I said I had problems. Whether strategically or unconsciously, in conversation, NDiaye can seem to uphold the idea of universal values that her fiction destabilizes. Where some readers note in her works strangeness an homage to her white modernist forefathers, others see otherworldly tales about racialization and the imperative to assimilate. Both seem true, depending on whos looking. I suggested to her that her preoccupation with difference and the fate of foreigners in France could be more radical than she thinks. I have no desire to be radical, she said. Its my impression that radicalism is, precisely, the enemy of ambiguity. At the very beginning of this episode, Brynns psychic Dante tells her that she is going to be in the middle of two people fighting over their own shit. As so often is the case with psychics on Housewives (see: the guy who caught Brooks Ayers lying about cancer and the long road of redemption for Allison DuBois), he was absolutely right, because most of the episode and most of the party, really was Jessel and Sai working out their differences, with Erin Mew Mew Lichy as a sort of proxy warrior. What he didnt account for is that Brynn herself would be the cause of the biggest drama of the night. The episode starts with some dynamic duos hanging out. Sai and Brynn go to Central Park to find a tree to dedicate to Brynns late grandmother. Jessel has a photo shoot for her fashion platform how is this the first were hearing of this, and also how did we hear more about this than Brynns job? in Jennas house, and she gets some bonus photo direction from Jenna. We learn that Jenna has allowed about 50 people to do photo shoots in her apartment. Oh, baby, no. If there are two things you should never do, they are let people film anything in your domicile and eat egg salad on the bus. Both are sure to leave a mess and absolutely stink. Speaking of Jenna, there is an excellent scene where she is shopping her closet with her teen Beckett and he is giving her styling advice and she is listening. Brooks Marks could never. The best part is when she pulls out this amazing jumpsuit and he says that it is too wacky to wear to a party. Wacky? Jenna asks in disbelief. Its Celine! Ubah and Erin go to bumper cars on ice in Bryant Park, and all I can think of is when Jill Zarin had a skating exhibition there and fell on her ass. Erin tells Ubah that when Pavit was asked why Jessel is the one, he said, Because she lets me do what I want. First of all, thats not what he said. He said, and Im paraphrasing, I just want to travel, eat, have fun, and its great to have someone to do that with me. Its not, Jessel lets me go to Vietnam for sex tourism and sandwiches and thats why I love her, its, Shes the best person to do all of my favorite things with me. Thats my problem with Erin and Sai and their whole demeanor to the Taank-Randhawas; there is a complete lack of generosity to how they view the whole situation. Ubah has to bring that generosity to the table, saying she thought what he was saying was that she loves me for me, and I think thats a pretty good summation. If you think about it, Ubah has pretty much been right the entire season. It happens again later when Sai accuses Jessel of being a liar and brings up the stupid Vietnam thing again. Ubah says, Why do you care about this? Exactly! Why do they care? Why do they care about any of it? If Pavit wants to have a shitty answer (which he didnt, but lets go with Erins logic here) and Jessel doesnt care, just let him have a shitty answer. There is no reason you need to go poking around in someone elses marriage unless that person is your boss and hes an asshole. Then expose that fucker for who he is. Erin and Sai meet up at the costume shop because they need to buy masks for Brynns birthday party. Mostly they bitch about how much they hate Jessel. Theres one moment when Sai says Jessel called her a mean girl, which she is, but whatever. Im not mean, Sai says. Yes, Im abrasive and straightforward. Being nice is all about finding a roundabout way of saying things and making them go down smoothly, so yes, being abrasive and straightforward is exactly being mean. Erin brings up something Ubah told her from bumper cars, which is that Sais husband David asked Ubah, How is it possible you dont have a man? and she was a little offended by that. I totally get both sides of this. I think David saw it as a compliment, like Youre so amazing, how has no one scooped you up? but Ubah heard it as a bit of an indictment, like, What is wrong with you that you dont have a man. Im with Ubah; that is a question you shouldnt ask, but what matters is not the question, its the intention. Sai must have said something to David, because at Brynns party he comes up to her, explains himself, acknowledges that it was a shitty question and he never should have asked it, and the pair hug it out and go on their merry ways. I love a swift conflict resolution, but what I love even more is a man who listens and can learn from his mistakes. Erin should take notes. Anyway, this talk of Ubah in the costume shop leads Sai to say, I think shes fine. You can see her tense up and get upset with herself when she leaks the info only she knows: that Ubah has a man shes seeing. She immediately tells Erin that it is none of their business, that shes not even supposed to have told anyone this, and gives Erin as little info as she can while explaining the situation and trying to defuse it. I think she made an honest mistake and handled it admirably. Well get back to this, but now we have to talk about Brynns birthday party. Im just going to say it: Masks suck. Theyre horrible. They make your head hurt, your eyes strain, your forehead sweat, and you end up taking them off 20 minutes into Halloween. This is what every single person does: They show up in their mask, see no one at the party is wearing theirs because they suck, and then rip it off. The only one to leave hers on is Jenna Fucking Lyons, because she likes to get an A+ on every assignment, including wearing a gorgeous mask with black-and-white butterflies all over it. I love Jenna for so many reasons, but the biggest two are her dedication to a theme and that she will do everything within her power to avoid Housewives drama. Its difficult at this party since Jessel shows up ready to bring it to Sai and Erin. She goes over to say hi to them and then walks away, and even that gets Erins panties so wadded up that she has to spit them out into someone elses Champagne flute. Anyway, Erin tries to talk to her about it and Jessel is just like, Well, I heard you talked all this shit about my husband. Erin says that she just says what she thinks. Yeah, thats the problem. You said what you think and you think shitty things about Jessels husband. Then Erin accuses Jessel of lashing out. Lashing out? She spoke calmly, firmly, and accurately. Now Erin is accusing her of lashing out when she is the one who got caught talking shit about someone elses husband. After that discussion, Brynn gathers everyone around by everyone, I mean the cast and spouses, because who cares about the muggles at the party and says, This is what I learned from my producer Brice over there. Then she gets out the worlds biggest pot, a pot so big that its basically a cauldron, and she just stirs it. Not with a spoon or a ladle or even a broomstick. She stirs it with her arm and then flings the pot juices on everyone around her. Basically she asks everyone to air their grievances, and it soon devolves into fighting. Its another retread of the Sai/Jessel/Erin thing, and you all know how I feel about that, so getting back into it is sort of like putting on a wet bathing suit. However, there is one thing Sai says that I think we need to investigate. She says that Jessel lies, so many white lies that she flicks away. When Jessel asks, again, what she lied about, the only thing Sai can come up with is the Vietnam thing, which isnt a lie at all. Jessel is a lot of things lacking self-awareness, unable to tell a decent story but she is not a liar, and I hate that Sai keeps using this. Then Sai starts yelling at Jessel again that Jessel cant understand what shes talking about. Thats because Sai has no point. She just hates Jessel, but she cant say that. Then theres a whole bit where Erin comes out as Sais pet parrot, in a parrot mask and a boa, and Jessel just laughs and laughs and laughs. I didnt think it was that funny, more like mean-spirited bullying from our resident mean girls, but if Jessel laughs, Ill let her have this one. The three of them sit down and Sai tells them both that they can be fucking annoying, but Sai seems annoyed with everyone. I think the only things we didnt see this season are Brynns apartment and Sai not being annoyed with someone. After this, Brynn is cutting her cake or something and shouts across the room that she heard Ubah has a man in Connecticut. First of all, I am a proud Connecticutian along with the likes of Countess Luann de Lesseps, Dorit Kemsley, and Kim Zolciak-Biermanns original lips. No one better be shading the Nutmeg State. Second of all, Brynn is totally out of line here. It turns out what happened was, Sai had dinner with Erin and Brynn after the costume shop, and when the cameras were off, she downloaded everything she knew about Ubahs man but told them not to say anything. This is normal behavior that any group of friends would engage in. The difference is this group of friends is making a reality show, and I love that they kept this whole fight in, including the difference between what was said on-camera and off. Im not a huge Sai fan, but Im with her on this one. Brynn shouldnt have said anything, period. You have to wait for Ubah to bring it up, especially when filming is happening. However, I also agree with Brynn a little bit. Ubah brought up that shes dating someone on-camera to Sai, so I think that level of information is completely fine to bring up again. The only new detail is that he lives in Connecticut. Its not like that is some dead giveaway of who that person is. Based on what little we know, Ubah could be dating my father. But its not the information that is so bad, its the betrayal, its the breaking of trust between Brynn and Sai. The little title cards at the end of the episode make it sound like Brynn and Sai arent on speaking terms over this. That seems a little extreme. Yes, what Brynn did was a lapse, but its not a never-talk-to-her-again lapse. Its a Girl, you better learn to shut your mouth lapse. The party ends on this note, the women lumbering off into their respective Ubers as they shiver and their husbands dont offer them their coats. But as this reboot season comes to a close, I want to draw attention to something Jenna said that I think is a good thesis for all of the drama this season. I think being open has everything to do with the landing pad, she says. You cant be open in an environment that doesnt feel safe. So much of this season was about the women opening up, forming bonds, finding new friendships, but I dont think the landing pad was there for everyone. It certainly wasnt for Jessel, and it wasnt for Jenna at the beginning, either, but she says shes starting to feel it. Brynn brings her landing pad with her, so shes set, but I dont think Sai has ever seen a landing pad. I dont think Sai is ready to let anyone in, at least anyone on the other end of the camera. Its Erin, though, that were all worried about, all thinking about. As she leaves the party to get her Uber, Abe stays behind to gather their coats. She hustles out to a black SUV sputtering exhaust into the night, like a whole group of kids waiting for the Rockefeller tree to be lit. Shes rubbing her naked arms as she reaches out and opens the door. Inside the car she sees a redhead in a purple ice-skating costume, complete with stockings and nude skates propped right on the floor of the car. Get in, Jill Zarin says. We have so much to talk about. Photo: Adult Swim Our companion list of the most soul-crushing episodes of Rick and Morty can be found here. Rick and Morty season seven kicked off on October 15 with a raucous party starring Hugh Jackman, and the party will keep going for 93 more years if Rick Sanchez has any say in the matter. The groundbreaking Adult Swim animated series is equal parts sci-fi brilliance and lowbrow humor loosely modeled on Back to the Future. Youve got an old mad scientist, who looks like he shouldnt be allowed out in public, taking a youngster on wacky adventures. Except rather than whatever Doc and Martys weird dynamic was, its a teenager and his estranged grandpa. This grandpa hates time travel, though, and hes a brilliant enough scientist to do literally anything he wants, including travel anywhere in the multiverse in an instant. To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand Rick and Morty, but anybody can find the antics of its alcoholic, abusive grandpa and his hapless grandson to be pretty amusing. Even middling episodes have one-liners youll randomly chuckle about in bed years later (e.g., You keep your awesome friends away from my canapes!). For a time, the show mostly focused on the sci-fi gimmick of the week and only seldom explored more serialized and serious canonical story lines. These days, Sanchez is able to have his booze and drink it too, adding a soul-crushing emotional depth to the multiversal antics. One thing thats been consistent since the early days? This stuff is just plain funny. Rick and Morty is full of absurdist wit with charming characters in a chaotic, endless, meaningless void of a multiverse. These are the funniest episodes ever to revisit now that season seven has begun. 15. Oh boy! Here I go, killing again! says Krombopulos Michael in this brilliant, chaotic episode of Rick and Morty. Rick selling an anti-matter gun to a cheery hitman is somehow the tipping point for Morty realizing grandpa might be a terrible person. Yet instead of validating Mortys sense of morality, the story pulls out all the stops to prove to us that Morty is the fool and that Ricks belief in the meaningless chaos of the multiverse is, and always will be, the truth. Every time Morty stubbornly tries to take the moral high ground, he makes things so much worse. Just to spite Rick for being an arms dealer, Morty helps the sentient gas cloud that Krombopulos Michael is trying to kill. Yet we later learn that Fart, as Morty calls him, seeks to destroy all carbon-based life. Watching Morty get a comeuppance in dramatic fashion is as satisfying as it is funny. Every scene in this episode brings the laughs, whether its Rick taking Jerry to an inter-dimensional day care for Jerrys called Jerryboree where they have a lovable Beth mascot, or the crisp action sequence of K-Michael infiltrating a facility to assassinate his mark only to be accidentally squished by Morty driving Ricks car. The episode also features the debut of Roy: A Life Well Lived, a video game so convincing in its simulation of life as a regular guy that Morty thought it was real. 14. Who is Rick? What is Morty? How do they truly relate to one another? The series plays with these very basic questions, often jokingly and occasionally canonically. Rest and Ricklaxation is Rick and Morty at its most philosophically comedic, offering heaps of character development in the process. The pair utilize a psychological detox machine at a spa that removes all your cognitive toxins. These manifest as a Toxic Rick and Toxic Morty with all of their worst traits, who are banished to a swampy nether-realm. Naturally, the belligerent egomaniac that is Toxic Rick harnesses the science/magic of this place to escape and threaten the real world. (Somebody get this guy a Surviving Purely Out of Spite T-shirt.) Equally amusing are the amicable and sober nontoxic Rick and the Uber- confident nontoxic Morty, who becomes a veritable Wolf of Wall Street and tiny American Psycho, as Rick puts it. Its funny both in how it breaks down its core characters and as a delicious thought experiment to imagine for ourselves: What are my toxic traits? Who am I without them? 13. This was probably the episode that made most Rick and Morty fans realize Jerry was the most amusing character on the show, thanks to his naive obliviousness. Hes too much of a simpleton to realize hes trapped in a simulation, even when Rick saturates the RAM to cause severe glitches that Jerry barely notices because he was accidentally abducted. Jerrys sector of the simulation gets capped at 5 percent processing power, and he really digs the lame human music bopping through his radio on the way to an advertising pitch. Somehow, he doesnt realize that every human being he encounters behaves like a Skyrim NPC on launch day, glitching through inanimate objects and repeating the same lines over and over. The most cringeworthy part is how much he adores being married to 5 percent of Beth. Like all the apple farmers of America, she says yes to everything (to a cringeworthy extent). As Prince Nebulon on the Zigerions, David Cross remains one of the funniest guest stars to this day. Funnier still is the reference to Crosss best-known role. His entire species is terribly uncomfortable with nudity. Tobias Funke could definitely relate. 12. A stunning and baffling snowball effect of absurdity, Rick & Mortys Thanksploitation Spectacular is one of those episodes that takes its premise far beyond the point where sanity stops. Rick hatches a plan to receive a pardon from the president of the United States by transforming himself into a turkey for Thanksgiving. Just like in The Rickchurian Mortydate, Rick and the president compete with each another against all reason, transforming into turkeys alongside a squad of marines out of sheer spite. After a regular turkey swallows the presidents tracker, however, it takes over the Oval Office, sells states, and buys off Congresss loyalty. It all culminates into an all-out war against Turkey Presidents budding army of humanoid turkey mutants with the help of the ancient aliens that helped create America. The episode celebrates the absurdity of Thanksgiving specifically, and America more broadly, in spectacular fashion. 11. If you think old men ripping off their shirts to reveal chiseled abs is hilarious, then this is the episode for you especially when one of those men is Jesus Christ himself. Morty and Rick are stuck in a literal anthology aboard the Story Train, powered by narrative potential, and theyre trying to find the engine while random characters keep generating potential stories. After the conductor gets sucked out a cracked window and cut in half, train cops ask, Is that the tickets please guy?! Rick has the audacity to say, Well, just the stub You have to imagine that show co-creator Dan Harmon and this episodes writer, Jeff Loveness, were well aware of the memed copy pasta about Rick and Morty viewers having a high IQ. Because this bonkers and extremely meta episode deconstructs the very nature of storytelling before our eyes and does it with a sci-fi concept, all while gently ribbing its fan base. Rather than bounce randomly around the multiverse with a zero through-line like Interdimensional Cable, this anthology diverts from the core narrative tracks for each of the vignettes. The back-half of the episode shows us the Story Lords engine that tracks levels of Marketability, Broad Appeal, and Relatability. These are inane yet important factors that go into producing any show or movie, even this one. The only way that Rick can save them from smashing the Fifth Wall is to pray to Jesus Christ himself. The only thing funnier than Ricks shamelessness in this moment is the fact that it works. 10. Jerry eats contaminated ice cream that Rick was using to brew some nasty bacteria, so the family winds up at a special hospital in space. Its here that doctors realize Jerrys, erm, unit is the only thing that could save Shrimply Pibbles, a dying intergalactic space Gandhi with a failing heart. Is it funnier that the galaxys most important civil rights leader has a name like something a stoner might mumble in their sleep? Or that hes voiced by Werner Herzog, a man so iconically serious that he would only ever speak French with a gun to his head? Actually, the only correct answer is that this episodes funniest bit happens when Beth immediately erupts in outrage when the doctors explain the plan to transplant Jerrys penis, only for her jaw to drop when she looks at the catalogue of sophisticated prosthetics. Meanwhile, Rick hacks the hospital TV for some Interdimensional Cable, streaming bonkers shows and commercials from across the multiverse. All of them are absurd, some of them are dumb, but theyre all over so quickly that its worth it. 9. Ricks misery stems from being the smartest man in an infinite universe, but hes still human. Seeing him indulge the mortal impulse to be stupid and stubborn is as satisfying as it is funny. Nowhere is that on display more than in this episode where he doggedly commits to staging his and Mortys deaths in a fake vat of acid. Plenty of Rick and Morty episodes take a stupid pitch and extrapolate the concept out to its most ridiculous potential, and it doesnt always work (looking at you, Get Schwifty). But here, a silly concept reaches its full potential. After a huge fight, Rick builds Morty a device that creates save points, essentially letting him hit the reset button at any moment. The dumb, violent, and perverted stuff Morty does with it is just funny. The fact that the device creates alternate timelines condemning all of these various Mortys to the consequences of his actions is hilarious in its cosmic justice. 8. The bond between man and dragon is magical, tangible, and inexplicably erotic. The Morty gets a dragon episode is the closest thing well ever get to full-on fantasy, and it really delivers. Few would call it one of the best, but the snappy writing and cavalcade of zingers are wickedly funny if you can look past all of the dragon slut-shaming. Rick gets Morty a dragon but then accidentally Soul Bonds with it himself, compelling a wizard to put the dragon on trial for slutty behavior. Rick, Morty, and Summer defeat the wizard by channeling the power of the All-Slut Phoenix Dragon via a ten-slut soul orgy. This ones so, so fun, if only for a few memorable one-liners: Are you gonna slay it? Summer asks grandpa Rick in a coy way. First off, I always slay it, queen, he replies. And never forget: Shadow-Jacker! You havent come out of your masturbation cave in eons! 7. Rick and Morty has a bizarre attachment to incest jokes, but the one where Jerrys fortune cookie warns him that he might have sex with his mother is oddly brilliant and almost makes all the bad ones worthwhile. Jerry gets a fortune cookie at Panda Express telling him hell have sex with his own mother. Jerry, youre making this funny by taking it seriously, Beth says. The first few minutes is a hilarious montage of the kids ruthlessly making fun of their father. Jerry even starts dressing like Morty as if the fortune-based probability field might make him have sex with Mortys mom instead (his own wife). But theres a bona fide sci-fi mystery here that only Jerry and Rick can solve. The company Fortune 500 has a monopoly on fortune-cookie production, and CEO Jennith Padrow-Chunt manipulates an alien that feeds on chaos into producing fixed fortune cookies. She controls fate for profit. (A Gwyneth Paltrow parody manipulating pseudoscience to make money?!) I sleep on a bed of loose grains and begin every morning by dragging my perfect vagina across Chinese silver grass, she says. The aliens whistly handler is also in love with the beast, which is somehow funny in an episode thats one prolonged incest joke. It all culminates in an explosive battle with Jerrys mother, where Jerry accidentally creates a singularity that sucks his pants right off and then pulls him toward her. Her innocent obliviousness makes it work. The only thing missing from this episode is an exploding vagina-candle grenade. 6. One of the all-time classics, Meeseeks and Destroy sees Rick distract the rest of the family with the Meeseeks Box while he and Morty go on an adventure of Mortys choosing. The best bit of the A-plot happens when Morty and Rick accidentally kill a giant who slips and smacks his head, and they have to go to court, but its back on earth, with the Meeseeks, where the episode is the funniest. The Meeseeks Box can generate a seemingly infinite number of Mr. Meeseeks, bright blue humanoids with a tuft of orange hair and loud, shrill voices whose only purpose is to complete whatever task is given to them before evaporating in a puff of smoke. What would you have your Meeseeks do? simmers in the back of your mind while Beths Meeseek takes her out for wine and a heart-to-heart. The dissonance between the seriousness of their conversation (which makes her realize she needs to leave Jerry) and the Meeseekss ridiculous expression as it shouts genuinely sound advice is the funniest moment in a nearly perfect episode. 5. Vindicators 3 implies two previous team-ups for Rick and Mortys equivalent of The Avengers, the second of which, its inferred, the team left Rick out of because hes a jerk. As revenge, he gets so drunk that he poops all over their command center (delivering one of the seriess funniest single frames ever) and then sets up a series of grisly games to murder them all just like Jigsaw from the Saw movies. I never forget a kid! sticks out as a memorable line from a Star-Lord knockoff called Starsoldier. This episode lampooned our cultural obsession with superheroes long before it began to wane, but the way it dramatizes the formulaic nature of hero origin stories is forever timeless and hilarious. The Vindicators are somehow kind of cool despite being mostly rip-offs, making it that much more entertaining! One guy is powered by ghost trains, and another is just a million sentient ants. Watching anybody do anything in this episode is funny as a result, even when they suffer a gruesome, over-the-top death. 4. After a particularly troubling adventure, Rick offers to remove the memory from Mortys mind. Rick has a whole lab designed for this purpose: Whenever something horrid happens to Morty, or Rick makes a fool of himself, he wipes the memory and stores it in a glass vial. The absurdity of it all increases exponentially and draws the two into conflict. So many episodes emerge when the writers room comes up with a ridiculous idea and tests how far they can run with it. Interdimensional Cable offers an alternative path where even the most over-the-top ideas can be executed in short skits. Mortys Mind Blowers splits the difference in a way that channels the fun-loving mania into scattershot canonical memories with outrageous outcomes. The plot about a warrior alien doubting his faith only to wind up dragged to hell by demons gets elevated when a well-meaning Morty is the cause of his damnation. Even learning that Rick sometimes makes utterly stupid mistakes makes the entire concept a delight. 3. For a while Im Pickle Rick! was an inescapable echo in the zeitgeist. If you hadnt seen any of the show, you thought it was dumb. If you had, you knew it was dumb. But by taking the gimmick super-seriously, Pickle Rick becomes Emmy Awardwinning funny. It could have been any noun really, but a pickle makes it funnier because of the alcoholic connotations for as much as he drinks, it is plausible that Rick could pickle himself. Like many of the best and funniest episodes, here we see Rick bury himself in problems of his own design rather than face the biggest problem of all: himself. Every moment Rick spends using sewer science and tiny bits of trash to enhance his pickle body, were reminded that he willingly put himself here just to avoid therapy. Who wouldve thought that rocketing out of a toilet bowl would be awesome instead of disgusting? It has the retro feel of a dazzling, epic action movie thats so perfectly executed you almost forget the ridiculousness of whats happening entirely. The stakes and characters are telegraphed that well. Danny Trejos Jaguar is the perfect nemesis turned comrade-in-arms for Rick. Their battle definitely peaks when Rick staples a pickle slice to his hip as a bandage. Some of the more outrageous Rick and Morty episodes eek into unfunny territory, but Pickle Rick earns its more complex level of comedy. 2. Widely regarded as one of the smartest, funniest, and all-around best episodes of Rick and Morty ever, Total Rickall is a mind-boggling nesting doll of fun. The cold open perfectly sets the stage as we meet Uncle Steve, Jerrys friendly older brother who thanks the family for letting him stay there. No red flags here. Its totally plausible for Jerry to have a brother. But then Rick shoots Uncle Steve dead, exposing him as an alien parasite that implants fake memories to propagate. The stampede of wacky, zany characters that follows include Jerrys lover, Sleepy Gary; Mrs. Refrigerator; Duck With Muscles; and so many more. The whole family is present, so because there are no side stories to eat up time, breakneck pacing does a lot of the heavy lifting as the amusing memories emerge in quick succession. Before you can interrogate the unhinged silliness too much, youre on to the next bit. Even the storys climax, when Morty realizes Rick is real because he has bad memories of him, has a comedic payoff. Beth shoots Mr. Poopybutthole in the final scene only to realize that hes real. Sometime later, he turns down visitors in physical therapy, saying, He told me to tell you hes sorry you didnt have bad memories of him. Youd be hard-pressed to find a funnier bit of irony. 1. The confident and content look on Ricks face as he sucker punches Morty for one of his biggest blunders never gets old, especially when its wrapped up in more time loops than Tenet. The kid always means well, but after he replaces an astronaut Space Snake with an Earth Snake to prevent a war, he instead starts a much bigger one involving time travel and Nazi snakes that Rick has to set right. Hence the sucker punch. But the real highlight in this underrated episode is on the Space Snake planet that parodies Arrival and The Terminator. Every bit of dialogue is a hiss, but the meticulous level of detail that goes into body language, costumes, and even environmental design makes everything easily comprehensible. Have you ever seen a snake fire a shotgun, then coil around it to pump in the next shell? What about a snake Terminator shoddily made to look like a human to put the Smith family at ease? Were subject to hundreds of years of societal development on the Snake planet with overlapping timelines, and Ricks brilliant solution is to introduce time travel earlier so it becomes a big enough mess to attract the attention of the 4th Dimensional Time Cops. It makes for a fun callback to A Rickle in Time that solves an impossible problem. You dont need a case of ophidiophobia to appreciate all of the anti-snake humor, but you do need to love watching Rick and Morty take a concept beyond the breaking point in clever ways. This episode has every piece of what makes Rick and Morty work: clever parodies of well-known pop-culture movies, stupid jokes taken to their extreme, Mortys self-righteousness losing to Ricks arrogance, excellent action, and a heaping dose of intelligent sci-fi all of it in the service of comedy. Chinese Vice President Han Zheng meets with former British Prime Minister and former Labour Party leader Tony Blair, in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 16, 2023. (Xinhua/Yan Yan) BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Han Zheng called for stronger cooperation between China and Britain as he met with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Beijing on Monday. As permanent members of the UN Security Council and major global economies, China and Britain have upheld, contributed to, promoted, and benefited from multilateralism, economic globalization, and free trade, Han said. Against the backdrop of increasing uncertainties and destabilizing factors in the international landscape, stronger cooperation between China and Britain not only serves the interests of the two countries but also benefits the whole world. Han added the two countries have broad space for cooperation in clean energy, biomedicine, finance, education, people-to-people exchanges, and other fields. The two sides should strengthen cooperation in international affairs, jointly meet the challenges of climate change and biodiversity, and safeguard world peace and security. Blair, also the former Labour Party leader, said the world today faces many challenges. China has a significant international status, and it is essential for Britain and China to maintain friendly relations. Blair said that the British side is willing to engage in candid dialogue with China and carry out constructive cooperation in a wide range of areas to address global issues jointly. Fundraising exhibit will be held at Palazzo Velli Expo. Together We Art Rome presents its second art exhibition in the Italian capital from 18-23 October as part of a joint initiative to assist youth living in extreme poverty worldwide. The exhibition will be held at Palazzo Velli Expo, in Rome's Trastevere district, and will feature paintings, sculptures and other works donated by 41 leading artists from Italy and other European countries, the UK and the US. The artists will collaborate with collectors, organisations, entrepreneurs, and businesses for the second consecutive year and showcase their works in Rome. The event is being organised by Together We Art Rome, and the public will have the opportunity to bid for the artworks in an online auction via the platform Givergy. The art exhibition will directly support Life Project 4 Youth (LP4Y), an international movement changing the lives of young adults living in less developed countries through job training and network opportunities. TWA Rome is part of a global initiative, Together We Art, with partners in Paris, New York, and London. All four promote art to raise awareness about marginalized youth and fund LP4Y projects. As TWA Rome prepares for its second exhibition, New York is about to host its sixth edition and Paris its third. TWA London will soon host its first exhibition to showcase the work of emerging international architects and multi-disciplinary artists. Laure and John Delaporte, who come from France, founded LP4Y after they traveled the world several years ago with their five children. They encountered many young people in various countries where poverty and exclusion from education impeded their access to professional development. The Delaportes founded LP4Y with the belief that all youth have potential. Their ambition was to provide these youth with professional training and entrepreneurial programs. "When creativity becomes one of the key elements for vulnerable young people to imagine a better future, they are exposed to an infinite universe of possibilities. This is a fundamental element of LP4Y's commitment, inspiring generous artists to rally behind the youth and offer their support. Together, they breathe life into dreams, transform perspectives, and create a future filled with beauty and hope, says Laure Delaporte in response to the TWA initiatives. LP4Y works directly with 17 organizations abroad and has training and development centers in the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Nepal, Myanmar, Lebanon, and Bangladesh. With a focus on youth aged between 17 and 24, opportunities are provided to help them learn and have experiences that offer them a place in the professional world, providing them with the confidence and ability to take control of their lives. Funds from this years TWA events will be dedicated to an LP4Y Green Village in Calauan, Philippines, to assist vulnerable young women in the Professional Training for Entrepreneurs program. Green Villages have been established in regions away from larger cities and offer programs specially tailored for youth in rural communities. There are also Green Villages in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, India; Godawari, Nepal; Surat, Lebanon; and Tushbhander, Bangladesh. As a returning artist participating in our second event, it is inspiring to see the names of other artists whose generosity last year will be repeated, says Lovisa Stephenson, a Swedish-American sculptor based in Rome and one of the event organizers. We are grateful for the sponsors and volunteers making this possible. This is a great opportunity to move this forward so that our annual event generates the recognition it deserves in Rome, she said. For full details see Together We Art Rome website. Share Comment on this story Comment Add to your saved stories Save Since the militant Islamist group Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, the small, overcrowded enclave has been the focal point in Israels military conflict with the Palestinians. On Oct. 7, Hamas militants in Gaza pulled off a shocking air, sea and land invasion of southern Israel, killing more than 1,300 people, mostly civilians, and taking dozens of hostages. Palestinian officials say Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 2,650 people in Gaza since then. Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to crush Hamas, which the US and European Union have designated a terrorist group. 1. What is Gaza? Also known as the Gaza Strip, its a territory about 25 miles (40 km) long and 7.5 miles wide bounded by Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea. Once a part of the Ottoman and later the British empire, it became a refuge for an estimated 200,000 Palestinians uprooted by the Arab-Israeli war of 1948. Gaza now has a population of more than 2 million, a majority of whom are those refugees and their descendants. Egypt ruled Gaza until it lost it to Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. In 2005, Israel withdrew troops from Gaza and abandoned settlements of Israeli citizens. Today Gaza is one of two territories, along with the West Bank, where Palestinians exercise limited self-government. Israel maintains control of Gazas airspace and maritime territory and, along with Egypt, has long enforced a blockade of the territory. While Hamas controls security in Gaza, funding for health, power and other services comes mostly from the United Nations and foreign countries. The sole power plant runs on diesel that is usually supplied by Israel and paid for by Qatar. Advertisement (For more on the Israel-Hamas war click here.) 2. Why is Hamas based in Gaza? Hamas was founded in Gaza. It emerged there in 1987 during the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising, against Israeli occupation. For about a decade, until 2006, Gaza was governed by the Palestinian Authority, the body that also administers the West Bank. The authority is dominated by Fatah, the main faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which in 1993 signed a peace deal with Israel. In 2006, Hamas, which rejects Israel, defeated Fatah in legislative elections. After months of fighting, Hamas took control of Gaza. Israel responded by imposing a blockade, saying it needed to protect its people. There have been no legislative elections in the Palestinian territories since 2006. Understanding the Roots of the Israel-Hamas War: QuickTake Advertisement 3. How does Hamas get its weapons? Share this article Share It smuggles some weapons into Gaza and makes others there. Israel and Egypt control their official border crossings with Gaza, and Israel controls Gazas airspace and patrols the territorys Mediterranean coastline. Still, busts of smugglers have made it clear that there is a pipeline of weapons, weapons parts and weapons-making equipment into Gaza from Iran, notably via Egypt. The groups ability to produce its own rockets and drones has improved over time. 4. What is Israels full siege of Gaza? Israel cut water, electricity, fuel and supplies to the area. Canned food quickly disappeared from stores as people rushed to stockpile supplies. The only beef slaughterhouse in the territory was closed. Vegetables, grown near the border, were in short supply. Gazan hospitals were working beyond capacity to care for thousands of wounded people. People were unable to leave the territory as the sole exit and entry point not officially controlled by Israel, the Rafah crossing on Gazas southern border with Egypt, was closed. Advertisement 5. Why is the Rafah border crossing closed? Egypt has restricted movement across the border with Gaza for years as a way to contain the threat from Islamist militants active across its sparsely populated Sinai region. The limited movement there came to a halt when Israels latest counter-offensive began. Israels forces have bombed the area near the border crossing as part of its response to the Hamas attack. Egypts government has been reluctant to open the Rafah crossing for people fleeing Gaza unless Israel allows deliveries of aid into the territory. 6. What is life like usually in Gaza? An isolated territory devoid of natural resources with a long history of poverty and a refugee majority faces enormous challenges under any circumstances. Most Gazans are refugees, and many of them live in refugee camps that were set up more than seven decades ago to house Palestinians displaced in the 1948 war. With economic activity limited, many of them still rely on UN rations. A report in 2021 from the advocacy group Euro-Med Monitor stated that nine out of ten children in Gaza were suffering some form of conflict-related trauma. Israel had taken limited steps in recent years to ease Gazas plight, including issuing permits for 20,000 Gazans to work inside Israel, where they earned 10 times what they would at home. Power outages have occurred daily for several hours. Most tap water is undrinkable, forcing households to buy desalinated water from private vendors. Open criticism of Hamas is dangerous, but many Gazans complain in private. --With assistance from Michael Gunn. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com 2023 Bloomberg L.P. US chemicals giant Albemarle has abandoned its proposed takeover of Liontown Resources in the face of a series of raids on the miners share register by Australias richest person, Gina Rinehart. The mining magnate has spent nearly $1 billion building a blocking stake in the lithium miner over the past month, with her company Hancock Prospecting picking up a strategic 19.9 per cent holding in Liontown. Hancock Prospecting chairwoman Gina Rinehart. Credit: Nelson Ching Rineharts raids came even as Albemarle was sifting through Liontowns books ahead of its $6.6 billion takeover. Albemarle had asked last Thursday for a week-long extension to its four-week due diligence period, but on Monday it notified Liontown that the deal was off. Albemarle has now advised that it has withdrawn its indicative proposal, and that it will not be proceeding with its proposed acquisition of Liontown, the fledgling miner said in a statement on Monday. The head of Qantas loyalty division Olivia Wirth has resigned from the job and will depart in February to pursue other opportunities, the airline announced on Monday. The news comes one week after retailer Myer announced Wirth was being nominated to join its board of directors. Qantas Loyalty chief executive Olivia Wirth will leave Qantas in February. Credit: Qantas Wirth has spent the past 14 years of her career at Qantas and has been chief executive of Qantas Loyalty, which includes its frequent flyer program, since 2018. Before this, she held roles including chief customer officer and group executive for brand, marketing and corporate affairs. Qantas chief Vanessa Hudson said Wirths contribution over many years had been enormous. Forensic experts check bodies of the people killed in a surprise attack by the Gaza-ruling Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), at the National Center for Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Oct. 16, 2023. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. (Tomer Neuberg/JINI via Xinhua) DAMASCUS, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held a phone conversation Monday to discuss the pressing situation in the Gaza Strip, according to Syria's state news agency SANA. The two leaders highlighted the urgency in the immediate delivery of humanitarian aid to the besieged, densely-populated enclave, and discussed ways to stop Israeli shelling and the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza, it reported. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. Forensic experts work at the National Center for Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Oct. 16, 2023. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. (Tomer Neuberg/JINI via Xinhua) Forensic experts work at the National Center for Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Oct. 16, 2023. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. (Tomer Neuberg/JINI via Xinhua) Forensic experts check bodies of the people killed in a surprise attack by the Gaza-ruling Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), at the National Center for Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Oct. 16, 2023. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. (Tomer Neuberg/JINI via Xinhua) Forensic experts work at the National Center for Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Oct. 16, 2023. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. (Tomer Neuberg/JINI via Xinhua) Forensic experts check bodies of the people killed in a surprise attack by the Gaza-ruling Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), at the National Center for Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Oct. 16, 2023. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. (Tomer Neuberg/JINI via Xinhua) People search for survivors among the rubble of a building destroyed in Israeli airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on Oct. 16, 2023. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua) People search for survivors among the rubble of a building destroyed in Israeli airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on Oct. 16, 2023. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua) People stand among the rubble of a building destroyed in Israeli airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on Oct. 16, 2023. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua) Photo taken on Oct. 16, 2023 shows a building destroyed in Israeli airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua) People mourn their relatives killed in Israeli attacks at a hospital in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on Oct. 16, 2023. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua) People wait to collect bodies following Israeli attacks at a hospital in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on Oct. 16, 2023. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua) People inspect a building destroyed in Israeli airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Oct. 16, 2023. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) People walk past a building destroyed in Israeli airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Oct. 16, 2023. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) People wait to collect bodies following Israeli attacks at a hospital in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on Oct. 16, 2023. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua) Children walk past a building destroyed in Israeli airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Oct. 16, 2023. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) A man walks past a building destroyed in Israeli airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Oct. 16, 2023. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) Children walk past a building destroyed in Israeli airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Oct. 16, 2023. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) Children walk past a building destroyed in Israeli airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Oct. 16, 2023. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) People are seen in darkness in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Oct. 16, 2023. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) A man waits for customers in darkness at a store in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Oct. 16, 2023. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) People are seen in darkness in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Oct. 16, 2023. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) People are seen in darkness on a street in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Oct. 16, 2023. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) A barrage of rockets are fired from Gaza toward Israel over the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Oct. 16, 2023. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) A man waits for customers in darkness at a store in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Oct. 16, 2023. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) A vendor waits for customers in darkness on a street in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Oct. 16, 2023. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) A barrage of rockets are fired from Gaza toward Israel over the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Oct. 16, 2023. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) Lee had previously ruled the articles, read together as one composite article because they were linked online, conveyed a range of defamatory meanings including that Russell, as commander of the November platoon, was involved in shooting and killing an Afghan prisoner in mid-2012. Under the Geneva Conventions it is unlawful to kill a prisoner. Loading The ABC indicated in court on Monday that it might seek to appeal against that previous ruling. The ABC sought to rely on the public interest defence in the case, which requires a publisher to show the matter concerns an issue of public interest and it reasonably believed that the publication of the matter was in the public interest. The reasonableness of the ABCs belief was the key issue in the trial. Lee did not accept a submission by Russell that the ABC had no subjective belief that the reports were in the public interest. However, he said the defence wasnt established because the ABC had not shown its belief was reasonable in the circumstances. He said the article published in November 2021 overstated the cogency of the evidence in the ABCs possession and was published following several missteps, including the failure to procure fairly and consider a response from Mr Russell. While Lee said that aspects of the ABCs conduct were worthy of criticism and caused him concern, he was not satisfied this warranted an award of aggravated damages. Heston Russell and his lawyers Rebekah Giles and Sue Chrysanthou, SC, outside the Federal Court in Sydney on Monday. Credit: Edwina Pickles He said Russell was no shrinking violet in drawing attention to himself and the defamatory reports, and had embraced the public controversy and used it to further his personal causes and profile. Lee also said that Russell gave false evidence, albeit on a somewhat peripheral matter in the case, when he was questioned about a document he had given an ABC reporter researching a separate story on a different topic. This was relevant to the question of aggravated damages but not general compensatory damages, the judge said. The articles at the centre of the case reported that a former US marine, given the pseudonym Josh, had alleged soldiers from Australias 2nd Commando Regiment shot an Afghan prisoner dead in 2012 after they were told there were too many prisoners to fit on a US aircraft. It was reported that he did not see the alleged killing but said he heard a pop over the radio and Australian soldiers advised there were now six prisoners instead of seven. Loading ABC journalist Mark Willacy accepted during his evidence that it was wrong to assert that Josh had told the ABC that the 2nd Commando Regiment was involved because Josh had not identified specific Australian special forces soldiers. Willacy said he had deduced that Josh could only have been referring to the 2nd Commando Regiment, but Lee said that the basis for drawing this conclusion was infirm. The first article included comments from unnamed commandos in the regiments Oscar platoon suggesting their comrades from November platoon had a bad reputation among Americans. Russell, who was not named in the first article, was commander of November platoon during its deployment to Afghanistan in 2012. The second article included a denial from Russell, who was named and pictured. Both stories were the subject of post-publication changes, including a correction to the second article. Lee said that after the first article was published Russell embarked upon a media campaign by which he identified himself as commander of November platoon and denied the helicopter allegation. Russell was supported in court by 2GB presenter Ben Fordham. Credit: Edwina Pickles But it was not an approach apt to dispel some suspicion of wrongdoing, however speculative such suspicions may be, the judge said. Lee noted that in response to a question by a Network Ten presenter in November 2020 about whether he was saying that no prisoner was ever summarily executed that you saw, Russell replied: So, were responding to the direct allegation that this marine on a mission heard seven detainees turn to six and heard a pop and that that was the execution, and that never happened. The judge also criticised the ABC for issuing a press release in July that was, at best, misleading, which suggested the broadcaster intended to drop its public interest defence to avoid complying with a court order to identify a key source, Josh. Lee said it was the ABCs own editorial choices that prevented its journalists being able to rely on Commonwealth laws giving journalists a privilege against identifying a source. WHAT THE JUDGE SAID About senior ABC journalist Mark Willacy : A prominent but not exclusive motivation for the November 2021 story, which he helped draft, was an eagerness for Mr Willacy to prove wrong those who, in his terms, had come after [him] and his reporting. : A prominent but not exclusive motivation for the November 2021 story, which he helped draft, was an eagerness for Mr Willacy to prove wrong those who, in his terms, had come after [him] and his reporting. About ABC journalist Josh Robertson: It may have been understandable that Mr Robertson took his direction from his editor, but in communicating with Mr Russell, he did not discharge his independent responsibility to elicit and consider a properly informed response to the November 2021 story. It may have been understandable that Mr Robertson took his direction from his editor, but in communicating with Mr Russell, he did not discharge his independent responsibility to elicit and consider a properly informed response to the November 2021 story. About ABC Investigations editor Jo Puccini: I stress I do not consider Ms Puccini set out to mislead the court, but her defensiveness meant she was chary about giving any answer she considered would amount to a concession. I stress I do not consider Ms Puccini set out to mislead the court, but her defensiveness meant she was chary about giving any answer she considered would amount to a concession. About Heston Russell: He gave false evidence on a somewhat peripheral matter, relating to a document he gave Robertson in relation to a separate story on a different topic. Russell was generally not an impressive witness; he was regularly non-responsive and was unwilling to make concessions he regarded as contrary to his case. All in all, I do not consider it safe to place any reliance upon his evidence. Russell said outside court: When I say Ive had to fight harder the last three years, mentally and emotionally, than I ever had to fight physically in combat, I do not exaggerate. This whole ordeal has traumatised me and some of my soldiers more than any enemy we ever faced overseas. How Australians voted and reacted to the Voice referendum result read our expert analysis. Some will tell Australia to feel ashamed for rejecting the idea of an Indigenous Voice. But it neednt. After all, a majority of respondents supported it in opinion polls consistently for five years. Australians instinctively welcomed the idea. But we should probably feel a bit embarrassed. Because we allowed politics to erode Australians inherent goodwill. The moment a political campaign set out to wreck the Voice, Australia started to doubt itself. Within two months of the Coalitions decision to oppose it, majority sentiment deserted the Voice. And never returned. Coalition MPs have suggested Jacinta Nampijinpa Price could be a future leader of the Nationals, after she drove the No campaigns defeat of the Voice to parliament. Price, a first-term senator from the Northern Territory, was instrumental in thwarting Prime Minister Anthony Albaneses signature promise to Indigenous Australians with her arguments that the proposed amendment was divisive, bureaucratic and impractical. Artwork: Credit: Marija Ercegovac She has been a lightning rod for much of the campaigns controversy since stepping into the Coalitions Indigenous Australians portfolio in April with her contested views on the benefits of colonialism, Indigenous support for the Voice and even the length of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Prices views have been denounced and refuted by many other Indigenous leaders, including Voice architects Noel Pearson and Megan Davis, the Central Land Council, who denounced her views on what she called the benefits of colonialism as disgraceful, and Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney, who described Prices National Press Club speech in September as offensive. A policy that has been on the books for years but never delivered: is there a greater symbol of the hollowness at the heart of the supposed goodwill of Australians towards Indigenous people? We want to help, we say, just tell us how! Oh, thats not a good option. No, not that either. Your people are dying, you say? Lets wait a while. Perhaps the most telling moment of the entire campaign came early, when Peter Dutton said the Coalition would hold a referendum on recognition alone: We went to the last election and a number of elections before that with that as our policy and that will be our policy going into the next election as well. The size of the ask, the depths of the problem and the scale of defeat cannot be ignored in any reasonable analysis of the referendum. Asked to support a non-binding advisory body, to improve the life chances of an overwhelmingly disadvantaged people, we issued a decisive No. As Marcia Langton, descendant of the Yiman and Bidjara people, said on Saturday night, a majority of Australians said no to an invitation with a minimal proposition. Or as novelist Melissa Lucashenko, of Goorie and European heritage, said, white Australia doesnt want to give blackfellas anything, even when its nothing. I came across that quote in a piece by journalist Lorena Allam, descended from the Gamilaraay and Yawalaraay nations. Having refused to give Indigenous Australians a formal Voice, the least we can do in the immediate aftermath is listen to their voices now. But this points directly to the complexity of the problem. Unfortunately, what non-Indigenous people say and do is at the heart of the disastrous lack of fairness in this country. Stupid, damaging solutions are imposed on people who know they wont work, and who then suffer the consequences. The massive disadvantage faced by our First Peoples can only be fixed if the rest of us change the way we do things. This is what the Voice was about, of course: but we did not want to change. Many Australians take comfort from the idea that they are not the ones to blame for the plight of Indigenous Australians: they were not here when the country was invaded. In 2023, we had our chance to act and did not take it. We are now undeniably complicit in the pain suffered by Indigenous people. The great problem is that too many of us do not believe this pain even exists. This is an absurd denial of reality. As Nova Peris put it, the suffering in this country is disgusting. To this, she said on SBS on Saturday, Australia had pulled the shutters down, saying, We choose not to hear you. We choose not to see you. In Britain, the two major parties have just held their last major set-piece events ahead of next years general election. October is party conference season, and in the past fortnight both the Conservatives and Labour have used their conferences to profile their leaders and showcase their policy wares. The small parties have been doing the same; naturally, however, all the interest has been in the big parties and the two men who will next year vie to lead Britain beyond 2024: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Opposition Leader Keir Starmer. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the recent Conservative Party Conference in Manchester. Credit: Getty Party conferences in the UK are different from those in Australia. Here, they are deadly dull affairs, closely choreographed to avoid controversy. Although sometimes a rebellious spirit breaks out at Labor conferences, in recent years that has been rare enough to be remarkable. It never happens in the Liberal Party, whose federal councils I have been attending them on and off for over 40 years are unremittingly dull; stage-managed to make them as boring as possible. (It is one thing the Liberal Party always succeeds at.) In Britain, by contrast, while the official conference proceedings consist of a series of set-piece speeches by frontbenchers, there is an enormous penumbra of political activity around the conference fringe, where hundreds of events all listed in the conference program take place. There are seminars, debates, panel discussions, briefings, book launches, receptions and, of course, dozens of late-night parties. Israels Energy Minister said on Sunday that a decision to renew water supplies to parts of southern Gaza was agreed on between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden. An injured Palestinian child is seen in an intensive care unit at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, Gaza. Credit: Getty Energy Minister Israel Katz said that the decision to partially renew water supplies was in line with Israeli policy, which is to tighten a blockade on the Hamas-ruled territory. Fighting along Israels border with Lebanon, which has flared since the start of the latest Gaza war, intensified on Sunday with Hezbollah militants firing rockets and an anti-tank missile, and Israel responding with airstrikes and shelling. With the situation in Gaza growing increasingly desperate, the US named David Satterfield, the former US ambassador to Turkey with years of experience in Mideast diplomacy, to be special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues. US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement Sunday that Satterfield will focus on getting humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza. Hospitals in Gaza are expected to run out of generator fuel within two days, endangering the lives of thousands of patients, according to the UN Gazas sole power plant shut down for lack of fuel after Israel completely sealed off the 40-kilometre- long territory following the Hamas attack. Loading In Nasser Hospital, in the southern town of Khan Younis, intensive care rooms are packed with wounded patients, most of them children under the age of 3. Hundreds of people with severe blast injuries have come to the hospital, where fuel is expected to run out by Monday, said Dr Mohammed Qandeel, a consultant at the critical care complex. There are 35 patients in the ICU who require ventilators and another 60 on dialysis. If fuel runs out, it means the whole health system will be shut down, he said, as children moaned in pain in the background. All these patients are in danger of death if the electricity is cut off. Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, the head of pediatrics at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, said the facility did not evacuate despite Israeli orders. There are seven newborns in the ICU hooked up to ventilators, he said. Evacuating would mean death for them and other patients under our care. Ahmed Al-Mandhari, the regional director of the World Health Organisation, said hospitals were able to move some mobile patients out of the north, but most patients cant be evacuated, he said. Smoke rises from buildings, viewed from the Israeli side of the border, as the Israeli military conducts a bombardment in northern Gaza. Credit: Getty Shifa hospital in Gaza City, the territorys largest, said it would bury 100 bodies in a mass grave as an emergency measure after its morgue overflowed. Tens of thousands of people seeking safety have gathered in the hospital compound. Gaza was already in a humanitarian crisis due to a growing shortage of water and medical supplies caused by the Israeli siege. An unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding under our eyes, said Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. Loading Sullivan told CNN that Israeli officials told him they had turned the water back on in southern Gaza. Israels minister of energy and water, Israel Katz, said in a statement that water had been restored at one specific point in Gaza. A spokesman said the location was outside Khan Younis. Aid workers in Gaza said they had not yet seen evidence the water was back. Israel has ordered more than 1 million Palestinians almost half the territorys population to move south. The military says it is trying to clear away civilians ahead of a major campaign against Hamas in the north, where it says the militants have extensive networks of tunnels, bunkers and rocket launchers. Hamas urged people to stay in their homes, and the Israeli military released photos it said showed a Hamas roadblock preventing traffic from moving south. Nevertheless, more than 600,000 people had evacuated the Gaza City area, said Israels chief military spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari. Loading About 500,000 people, nearly one quarter of Gazas population, were taking refuge in United Nations schools and other facilities across the territory, where water supplies were dwindling, said Juliette Touma, spokesperson for the UNs Palestinian refugee agency. Gaza is running dry, she said. The agency says an estimated 1 million people have been displaced in Gaza in a single week. The US has been trying to broker a deal to reopen Egypts Rafah crossing with Gaza to allow Americans and other foreigners to leave and humanitarian aid amassed on the Egyptian side to be brought in. The crossing, which was closed because of airstrikes early in the war, has yet to reopen. Israel has said the siege will only be lifted when the captives are returned. Hamas rocket attacks on Israel continued Sunday, spurring a broader evacuation from the southern Israeli city of Sderot. The city of about 34,000 people sits about a mile (1.6 kilometres) from Gaza and has been a frequent rocket target. The kids are traumatised, they cant sleep at night, Yossi Edri told Channel 13 before boarding a bus. The military said Sunday an airstrike in southern Gaza had killed a Hamas commander blamed for the killings at Nirim, one of several communities Hamas had attacked in southern Israel. Israel said it struck over 100 military targets overnight, including command centres and rocket launchers. Jerusalem: Israel is prepared to fight a war on two or more fronts, its chief military spokesman said on Sunday, adding that the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement was launching attacks on the Lebanon border to hinder Israels offensive in Gaza. Admiral Daniel Hagari said more than 600,000 Gazans had moved south following Israels announcement last week, ahead of an expected ground offensive, that residents should evacuate Gaza City. Palestinian children look at the building of the Zanon family, destroyed in Israeli airstrikes in Rafah, Gaza Strip. Credit: AP He said Israeli authorities had informed the families of 155 people held captive in Gaza, and said at least 289 Israeli soldiers were killed when Hamas launched a devastating attack on communities around the Gaza Strip eight days ago. Israeli forces, supported by a growing deployment of US warships in the region, positioned themselves along Gazas border and drilled for what Israel said would be a campaign by air, land and sea to dismantle the militant group. TEHRAN, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Sunday warned of the expansion of the conflict if Israel continues its attacks on the Gaza Strip. "If the Zionist regime seeks to pay for its defeat through the continuation of these crimes (against Palestinians), the dimensions of the developments will expand," said Raisi in a phone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron. Raisi strongly condemned Israel's attacks on the Palestinians over the past few days and criticized the French government for preventing a rally in support of the Palestinian people, according to a statement published on the website of the Iranian president's office. The French president, for his part, voiced concern over the escalation of the crisis in the Gaza Strip and called on Iran to play its influential role in controlling the situation in the region. However, Raisi said that "resistance groups can decide for themselves." The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) launched a surprise attack with thousands of rockets and the infiltration by scores of militants on Israel on Oct. 7, prompting extensive Israeli airstrikes on Gaza. The ongoing conflict, now in its ninth day, has killed about 4,000 on both sides and wounded even more. From 25 to 29 September 2023, the World Customs Organization (WCO) Secret ariat organized a five-day regional workshop on the Compendium of Customs Operational Practices for Enforcement and Seizures (COPES) in Lome, Togo, as part of a collaboration between the WCO COPES and Environment Programmes. This event was aimed at helping Customs administrations not only improve their evidence collection standards in support of case finalization, but also develop cooperation links between Customs and other law enforcement agencies in the fight against the illegal wildlife trade. This training was delivered under the INAMA Project, with the financial support of the United States Department of State. The workshop content was based on the COPES concept, originally developed to meet the need identified by WCO Members to improve their capacities in managing evidence collection, so as to incorporate Customs activities more fully into the fight against organized crime and into border security issues. The training brought together 15 participants from five Customs administrations, namely Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, Republic of the Congo, and Togo. It was facilitated by two WCO accredited experts from France and Benin. One of the key outcomes of the training was raising participants awareness about Customs administrations roles and responsibilities in the areas of evidence gathering, seizure handling, and Customs investigation and criminal prosecution procedures when dealing with illegal wildlife cases. The workshop sessions consisted of modules on exploring how to ensure border security as a whole, handle illegal wildlife seizures, and develop passenger targeting and profiling techniques. They also underscored the importance of notetaking, and of applying forensic investigation, evidence management, and interviewing techniques that are critical to achieving law enforcement outcomes. In addition, participants were encouraged to interact with each other and exchange views on good practices through group work and practical exercises. The INAMA Project and the COPES Programme wish to express their deep appreciation to the Office Togolais des Recettes (OTR) and, in particular, to Mr. Kwako Atta-Kakra Essien, Commissioner of Customs and Indirect Duties, for his support, cooperation and warm welcome. On 13 October 13 2023, Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, the Secretary General of the World Customs Organization (WCO) met with Dr. Akihiko Tanaka, the President of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) at the JICA Headquarters in Tokyo. Acknowledging the history of successful collaboration between the two organizations, Dr. Mikuriya and President Tanaka held an in-depth discussion. Their dialogue covered pressing issues in international trade, revenue collection and global security, contemplating strategies for further contributions to address these challenges by leveraging the combined strengths of their organizations. Both parties reaffirmed their commitment to bolster their partnership. This includes continuing the Master Trainer Program (MTP), aimed at collaborating with Customs administrations to establish a more sustainable and autonomous training capacity on key Customs topics. This is achieved through the development of a pool of top-tier trainers and the development of tailor-made training materials suited for the needs of the participating regions. BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Some 147 companies listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange had disclosed third-quarter business forecasts as of Sunday, and over 80 percent predict a year-on-year growth in net profits from January to September, the bourse said Monday. Of the 147 companies, a total of 139 companies are expected to achieve profitability in the first three quarters, accounting for nearly 95 percent. Meanwhile, nearly 70 percent of the companies said their profits are expected to exceed 100 million yuan (13.93 million U.S. dollars) during the nine-month period. Innovation, demand growth, and cost reduction were among the main reasons cited by the companies for their performance growth, the bourse said. TEHRAN, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said on Monday the U.S. government must be held to account for Israeli "crimes" against Palestinians. He made the remarks at a weekly press conference in the Iranian capital Tehran, while commenting on the U.S. support for Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip, including sending carrier strike groups to the eastern Mediterranean near Israel to boost deterrence. "Sending military fleets to regional waters is nothing but supporting the oppressor," Kanaani said, adding any party that would support Israeli attacks against Gaza should be held accountable. Rejecting U.S. media claims about Iran's possible involvement in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, he noted that the military operation by the Palestinian resistance groups against Israel was their own measure. He stressed that making such claims against Iran is a bid to divert public opinion from the "U.S. unconditional support for Israel against the oppressed people of Palestine." He said Israel's full siege of the strip and ban on the entry of water, food, medicine, and medical equipment supplies to the enclave are still in place. Kanaani reaffirmed Iran's continued and unwavering support for the people of Palestine and their right to resist, saying "supporting Gaza is a humanitarian issue." The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) launched a surprise attack on Oct. 7, launching thousands of rockets and breaching land border with Israel, prompting extensive Israeli airstrikes on Gaza. The ongoing conflict, now in its 10th day, has killed more than 4,000 people on both sides and wounded even more. 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. QUITO, Ecuador (AP) Daniel Noboa, an inexperienced politician and an heir to a fortune built on the banana trade, won Ecuadors presidential runoff election Sunday held amid unprecedented violence that even claimed the life of a candidate. With more than 97% of the votes counted, electoral officials said Noboa had 52.1%, compared to 47.9% for Luisa Gonzalez, a leftist lawyer and ally of exiled former President Rafael Correa. Gonzalez conceded defeat during a speech before supporters in which she also urged Noboa to fulfill his campaign promises. Noboa, 35, will lead the South American country during a period that drug trafficking-related violence has left Ecuadorians wondering when, not if, they will be victims. Their uneasiness has prompted them to continuously watch their backs and limit how often they leave home. After results showed him victorious, Noboa thanked Ecuadorians for believing in a new political project, a young political project, an improbable political project. He said his goal is to return peace to the country, to give education to the youth again, to be able to provide employment to the many people who are looking for it. To that end, Noboa said, he will immediately begin to work to rebuild a country that has been seriously hit by violence, corruption and hatred. The incoming presidents term will run only through May 2025, which is what remains of the tenure of President Guillermo Lasso. He cut his term short when he dissolved the countrys National Assembly in May as lawmakers carried out impeachment proceedings against him over alleged improprieties in a contract by a state-owned company. Ecuadorians young and old, rich and poor, city and rural dwellers had a universal demand throughout the campaign: safety. Noboa is now expected it to meet it, but the magnitude of the problem coupled with the brevity of the upcoming presidential term might prove an impossible task for the U.S.-educated man who will become Ecuador's youngest president. I think there would be a very slim chance that even the best equipped president could reverse Ecuadors security crisis within 18 months its such a short period of time and neither of these candidates was the best equipped. Noboa certainly not, said Will Freeman, a fellow on Latin American studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. His proposals on security were erratic, and they gave the sense that he was improvising. Violence erupted in Ecuador roughly three years ago with a rise in criminal activity linked to cocaine trafficking, and the government's inability to tackle it was laid bare in August with the assassination of presidential candidate and anti-corruption crusader Fernando Villavicencio. Since then, other politicians and political leaders have been killed or kidnapped, car bombs have exploded in multiple cities, including the capital, Quito, and inmates have rioted in prisons. Earlier this month, seven men whom authorities identified as suspects in Villavicencios slaying were killed while in custody. Noboas political career began in 2021, when he got a seat in the National Assembly and chaired its Economic Development Commission. The U.S.-educated businessman had opened an event organizing company when he was 18 and then joined his fathers Noboa Corp., where he held management positions in the shipping, logistics and commercial areas. His father, Alvaro Noboa, is the richest man in Ecuador thanks to a conglomerate that started in the growing and shipping of bananas Ecuadors main crop and now includes more than 128 companies in dozens of countries. The elder Noboa unsuccessfully ran for president five times. The younger Noboa's party will not have have enough seats in the National Assembly to be able to govern on its own. Garnering support from opposing lawmakers will be key to avoid the difficulties that plagued Lasso's term. Lasso, a conservative former banker, clashed constantly with lawmakers after his election in 2021 and decided not to run in the special election. On Sunday, he called on Ecuadorians to have a peaceful election and think about what is "best for their children, their parents and the country. Under Lasso's watch, violent deaths soared, reaching 4,600 in 2022, the countrys highest in history and double the total in 2021. The National Police tallied 3,568 violent deaths in the first half of 2023. The spike in violence is tied to the trafficking of cocaine produced in neighboring Colombia and Peru. Mexican, Colombian and Balkan cartels have set roots in Ecuador and operate with assistance from local criminal gangs. I dont expect much from this election," Julio Ricaurte, a 59-year-old engineer, said Sunday near one of the voting centers in northern Quito. First, because the president will have little time to do anything, and second because the (National) Assembly in our country is an organization that prevents anyone who comes to power from governing. Noboa and Gonzalez, both of whom have served short stints as lawmakers, advanced to the runoff by finishing ahead of six other candidates in the elections first round on Aug. 22. The replacement of Villavicencio finished in third place. A large group of military and police officers as well as private security guards protected Noboa when he voted in Olon, a community on the country's central Pacific coast. He wore a bulletproof vest. Gonzalez was unknown to most voters until the party of Correa, her mentor, picked her as its presidential candidate. She held various government jobs during Correas decade-long presidency and was a lawmaker from 2021 until May. At the start of the campaign, she said Correa would be her adviser, but she recently sought to distance herself a bit in an effort to court voters who oppose the former president, who remains a major force in Ecuador despite being found guilty of corruption in 2020 and sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison. He has been living in his wifes native Belgium since 2017. Rosa Amaguana, a 62-year-old fruit and vegetable vendor, said Sunday that safety is the first thing that must be solved by the next president. I'm hopeful the country will change, Amaguana said. "Yes, it can. The next president must be able to do even something small. Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela. WARSAW, Poland (AP) The majority of voters in Polands general election supported opposition parties that promised to reverse democratic backsliding and repair the nations relationship with allies, including the European Union and Ukraine, near-complete results showed Monday. The result was a disappointment for the Law and Justice party and its leader Jarosaw Kaczynski, who have governed Poland for eight years with a conservative, nationalist and sometimes anti-EU agenda. Though it remains Poland's biggest party, Law and Justice lost its majority in parliament, putting a centrist opposition led by former EU president Donald Tusk in a strong position to take over power, official results indicated, with over 99% of districts counted. It was among the most important elections in an EU country this year, and the results have been anxiously awaited in Brussels, Berlin and other capitals by observers hoping that a step-by-step dismantling of checks and balances could be halted before a turn toward authoritarianism that would be hard to reverse. I am really overjoyed now, Magdalena Chmieluk, a 43-year-old accountant, said Monday. She predicted that the opposition will form a government and we will finally be able to live in a normal country, for real. After a bitter and emotional campaign, turnout was projected at over 74%, the highest level in the country's 34 years of democracy and surpassing the 63% who turned out in the historic 1989 vote that toppled communism. In the city of Wroclaw, the lines were so long that voting continued through the night until nearly 3 a.m. Young voters particularly came out in force to flood polling stations. The official ballot count, which matched the results of an exit poll released Sunday night, suggested voters had grown tired of the ruling party after eight years of divisive policies that led to frequent street protests, bitter divisions within families and billions in funding held up by the EU over rule of law violations. Another term for Law and Justice would have been seen as a bad omen in Brussels, which has to contend with Hungary, where democratic erosion has gone much further under Prime Minister Viktor Orban. New concerns arose after the leftist pro-Russia and Orban ally Robert Fico won an election in Slovakia. The outcome could also affect ties with neighboring Ukraine, which Poland has supported in the war against Russia's full-scale invasion. Good relations soured in September over Ukrainian grain entering and affecting Poland's market. As the vote count neared the end, Law and Justice had nearly 36% and the far-right Confederation, a possible ally, 7%. Three opposition parties led by Tusk's Civil Coalition together had more than 53%, enough for a comfortable majority in the 460-seat lower house of parliament, or Sejm. On Sunday evening, Tusk declared the end of Law and Justice rule and a new era for Poland. However, Poles were possibly facing weeks of political uncertainty as Law and Justice said it would still try to build a new government led by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. President Andrzej Duda, an ally of Law and Justice, must call the first session of the new parliament within 30 days of the election and designate a prime minister to try to build a government. In the meantime, the current government will remain in a caretaker role. Duda, during a visit to Rome on Monday, declined comment pending final results, telling reporters that he was happy about the large turnout and the peaceful nature of the election at a time of war across the border in Ukraine and hybrid attacks from Belarus. A limited international observation mission led by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe said the historic high turnout demonstrated the commitment of citizens to upholding democracy in Poland. But it also pointed to the problem of bias by taxpayer-funded public television, which it said demonstrated open hostility towards the opposition." Douglas Wake, the head of the mission, called it troubling that "the ruling party and its candidates gained a clear advantage from the misuse of state resources, undermining the separation between state and party. The governing party also mobilized other state resources to help itself, including an unfair division of votes in electoral districts, said Jacek Kucharczyk, president of the Institute of Public Affairs, a Warsaw think tank. The electoral system was really tilted toward the government, Kucharczyk said. "You could say that the opposition had to fight this election with one hand tied behind its back and they still won. Supporters of the ruling party were downbeat about the result. I am disappointed with the results, but I accept the democratic choice," said Elzbieta Szadura-Urbanska, a 58-year-old psychologist who voted for Law and Justice. I think my party is also democratic. Others were concerned about possible obstacles to a smooth transfer of power. Cezary Tomczyk, vice chairman of Tusks party, urged the ruling party to accept the election result, saying it was the will of the people to give power to the opposition. The nation has spoken, Tomczyk said. Even if the opposition parties take power, they will face difficulties in putting forward their agenda. The president has veto power over laws, while the constitutional court, whose role is to ensure that legislation doesn't violate the basic law, is loyal to the current governing party, Kucharczyk said. Fixing the relations with the EU in particular will require domestic changes, namely restoring the independence of the judiciary, restoring the rule of law, which is a condition for the EU to release the funding for Poland, Kucharczyk said. It will be a very, very prolonged and difficult process." Associated Press journalists Pietro De Cristofaro, Kwiyeon Ha and Rafal Niedzielski in Warsaw and Raf Casert in Brussels contributed to this report. WYOMISSING, Pa. A Berks County rabbi said services will continue as usual at a Wyomissing Synagogue after it received a bomb threat. He tells 69 News the bomb threat was deemed non-credible. Rabbi Brian Michelson with Reform Congregation Oheb Shalom in Wyomissing said it was around 3 p.m. Friday when an email came in. "About 3:00 on Friday afternoon, we received an email that a bomb had been planted at our Jewish Center and Jewish centers throughout Pennsylvania," said Rabbi Michelson. Police said the Reading bomb squad and the Berks County Sheriff's Department's bomb-detecting K9 searched the building. The alleged threat came at the same time a former Hamas leader called for a "day of rage." We are told by the Cantor with the Kesher Zion Synagogue, which shares the same building, that a service was held Saturday morning. "Services will continue as usual. We are constantly evaluating the security situation and adapting to deal with the needed security situations," said Rabbi Michelson. And Rabbi Michelson is sharing this message following the alleged threat. "Make sure you can help us keep the lights on because whether it's a threat or whether it's an actual act, they're trying to close us down and make us afraid and that while we want to make sure we're being responsible, we also need to keep living. That's one of the ways we defeat them because they want our fear," said Rabbi Michelson. Anyone with information is asked to contact Wyomissing Police. BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is transforming the global agenda, offering developing countries a new path to prosperity, as observed by British scholar Martin Jacques. In an exclusive interview with Xinhua's China Chat Show, Jacques described the BRI as an "epic project, epic narrative, and epic reflection on Chinese history." This grand project is made possible by China's ability to draw upon its history as a great nation as well as its unmatched ability to think on a grand scale. "No other country would think of something like this, because China thinks big," he said. The BRI was initiated by China in 2013 to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa on and beyond the ancient Silk Road trade routes. This year marks its 10th anniversary, and the eagerly anticipated third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will be held in Beijing from Oct. 17 to 18. China's ambitious vision for a new global paradigm is also a reflection of its identity as a developing country itself, argued Jacques. The developing countries, representing about 85 percent of the world's population, only made up one-third of global GDP in the 1970s. Today the figure has reached 60 percent, with the BRI contributing to this transformation. The developing world is "overwhelmingly signed up to the idea," as the benefits of joining the initiative are clear for all to see, while the BRI has made development "one of the central priorities on the global agenda," Jacques noted. Crucially, he said, such a paradigm shift would never have come about were it left to the West, whose relationship with the developing world has been built upon a foundation of colonial exploitation. This inability to view the developing world in more equal terms has meant that the West was "caught completely flat-footed on the Belt and Road," he added. While the West continues to view the world in terms of competing blocs, China is putting forward an entirely different vision for international relations. This alternative path reflects an increasingly globalized world, one with "wider, broader interests that bring sections of humanity and ultimately the whole of humanity together," he said. Of course, with such an ambitious and monumental project, there will be bumps in the road, for as Jacques noted, "If there are no problems at all, then excuse me, but there's no project." Looking at the entirety of the project, the BRI has been remarkably successful, and there is no sign of it slowing down anytime soon. As Jacques put it simply, "I think it's here to stay, and it will stay." WERNERSVILLE, Pa. A 49-year-old woman from Wernersville, Berks County, was "defrauded" out of $90,000 over a two-year period, Pennsylvania State Police said. According to police, the woman was a former Wernersville State Hospital employee who said the suspect defrauded her "deferred compensation plan" from July 2020 to December 2022. Some of the money has since been paid back, police said. Other hospital employees could have been scammed as well, the victim told police. Police believe the suspect left the company last December, and could now be residing in Pennsylvania or Oklahoma. Pennsylvania State Police in Reading are investigating. BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority says the Bethlehem Transportation Center which serves as LANTAs major transfer point in the city is closed for renovations. A media release writes that both EBS Rapid Transit routes will continue to serve the area at Broad and Guetter Streets with no schedule changes. However, there will be no access for the public until the projects completion this winter. A release sent on Monday continues to say that the long-planned renovation will include major changes to passenger waiting areas, as well as the addition of modern technology amenities like real-time displays, and ticket vending machines. In addition to the office and waiting areas there will be new bus shelters on Guetter Street. This renovation is part of our plan to improve the rider experience in Bethlehem in the heart of the LANTA service area, said Executive Director Owen ONeil. Bus passes can continue to be purchased online or on the bus, and riders can reach out to LANTA customer service at 888-253-8333 or www.lantabus.com. Also, the LANtaBus Transit App provides real-time route and schedule information. WILSON, Pa. Police in Wilson Borough, Northampton County, said they arrested a man Sunday night for carrying a firearm without a license. Police said they were dispatched to the 1500 block of Washington St. for a report of shots fired around 10:15 p.m. Sunday. There, they found 26-year-old Wilson resident Alex Holmes. According to police, Holmes said he was assaulted by an unknown man while in Lancer Hotel, a bar located at 1600 Washington Street. Police said the man pointed a firearm at Holmes after he exited the bar, to which Holmes responded by brandishing his own weapon and firing a single round back. Holmes suffered minor injuries, and it is unknown if the other man was struck, police said. Because Holmes did not have a license to carry his firearm, he was arrested and transported to Northampton County Central Booking for arraignment, police said. The incident remains under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Peterson at (610) 258-8542. WASHINGTON, D.C. Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Pa.) has endorsed Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) to become America's next Speaker of the House ahead of Tuesday's vote. "We have an opportunity to elect the most conservative Speaker in the history of the U.S. House of Representatives and that is Jim Jordan," Meuser said. "Jim has my full support." "We need to elect him ASAP, and we need to get back to work," Meuser added. House Republicans have yet to elect a new leader since the Oct. 3 removal of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). That removal effort was led by conservative Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) several other GOP hardliners. Meuser was not a part of the effort to remove McCarthy and publicly supported Rep. Steve Scalise (R.-La.) to succeed him. Scalise withdrew from contention last week, citing concerns that he would not have enough votes to become speaker. BUTLER TWP., Pa. A New Jersey man with multiple drug-related warrants was arrested Monday in Butler Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania State Police said. According to police, 48-year-old Derrick Gary of Newark, N.J., was stopped for speeding near Mile Marker 267 of Interstate 80 West. Gary was pulled over around 10:20 p.m. for driving 83 mph in the 65 mph zone, police said. According to police, a records check of Gary found that he had multiple extraditable felony warrants for "dangerous drugs" out of Essex County. Gary was arrested and transported to Luzerne County Jail to await extradition to New Jersey, police said. The case remains under investigation by Pennsylvania State Police. DOYLESTOWN TWP., Pa. - Emergency officials in Bucks County urged residents in the area of an overturned propane truck to evacuate for their safety for hours Monday. Officials said residents near Ferry Road and Old Iron Hill Road in Doylestown Township had been advised to evacuate Monday morning. As of 6:30 p.m. Monday, Doylestown Township Police said the evacuation order was lifted and all displaced residents could return home. All surrounding roads have since fully reopened. The township's social media page states that an overturned propane truck created a hazardous situation in the area, and all people within a 2,000 foot radius of the incident were asked to evacuate. NORTH COVENTRY TWP., Pa. - A jury convicted a Pottstown woman of 21 charges relating to massive fire in Chester County. The Chester County District Attorney's Office says Toni Kirk, 33, was convicted on charges of aggravated assault, causing and risking a catastrophe, recklessly endangering another person, and related offenses for setting fire to the Ashwood Apartment Complex, in North Coventry Township on July 30, 2020. As a result of the fire, the building was destroyed, over 100 people lost their homes and personal belongings, animals were trapped inside, many were injured, and there was over $6 million dollars of damage. A media release says that during the fire investigation, officers located Kirk outside of the building in the parking lot area. They observed that she was uninjured but was under the influence of drugs. Officials say that Kirk eventually told police that her ex-boyfriend lit her bed on fire. Evidence clearly showed that her ex-boyfriend was not present at the time of the fire. The Chester County Chief Fire Marshal determined that the area of the origin of the fire was in the living room of an apartment, on the bed. The fire was ruled incendiary. There were multiple victims who suffered injuries that required hospitalization. officials report. Two people were seriously injured and rescued by the Norco Fire Chief and Norco officers. They dragged a woman out of the building who was moments away from dying. One woman was flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital where was in a coma due to severe carbon monoxide poisoning for seven weeks. Over 200 fire and EMS personnel responded to the scene to assist including 16 fire companies from Chester, Berks, Montgomery, and Delaware counties. Several firefighters were treated for burns, heat exhaustion, and chest pain. The Red Cross and numerous other nonprofits helped those displaced and injured. Kirk will be sentenced at a later date, the DA's office confirms. BETHLEHEM TWP., Pa. Three big Bethlehem Township developments are on the planning commission's agenda for Monday, Oct. 23. The plans for a convenience store, apartments, houses and a huge warehouse cover about 100 acres total. Agendas are subject to change, but as of Monday, the apartments and Wawa proposed for 4457 Easton Ave., along with the Fields at Farmersville housing development and the warehouse planned for 1600 Freemansburg Ave. are on the list. The Easton Avenue plan is listed as the Paxos Wawa; George Paxos owns the adjacent Blue Grillhouse. The convenience store would go between the Blue and Farmersville Road, on land near Notre Dame High School and across the street from Bethlehem Skateaway. Plans presented in May include a 60-unit four-story building with 60 apartments, characterized as "boutique living," at the rear of the property. The plan is still in discussion phase. To the south on Farmersville Road, Kay Builders is seeking a waiver from street-width requirements at "The Fields at Farmersville." The most recent plan includes 108 homes, down from the 166 originally pitched. Kay's plan to develop the Miller farm at 3107 Farmersville Road set off protests among neighbors when it became public, but the land is zoned for residential use. Across the street is a township park and the Bethlehem Township Community Center, but nearby homes cover land that was once farmland. Residents attended meetings to object, citing concerns about traffic, flooding, wildlife and a change in the character of their neighborhood. While nobody in authority said they wanted to see cows evicted from the 52 acres, Planning Commission Chairman Les Walker noted to residents, "When you bought the home, you didn't buy the view." Kay is also developing the nearby Fields at Riverhill, priced from $407,400 to $681,400. While the first two sites are probably only up for discussion, there is the potential for a vote on the plan for an 866,350-square foot 20-acre warehouse at 1600 Freemansburg Ave. That project straddles the border of Bethlehem Township and Freemansburg. The development, presented by Trammell Crow Co., drew fire from the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission. Much of the truck traffic would head east on Freemansburg Avenue, which is already crowded, to Route 33. The 45-acre tract is privately owned and warehouses are a permitted use there. The site has been used a dump for trees, stumps and other materials. Trammell Crow is also developing two warehouses at the site of the former Dutch Springs aqua park. The company is part of CBRE Group Inc., the world's biggest commercial real estate company. CBRE's 2022 revenue was $30.8 billion. If the planning commission votes on the warehouse plan, the next step would be a vote by the Bethlehem Township Board of Commissioners. The Borough of Freemansburg is also reviewing the proposal. The Bethlehem Township Planning Commission will meet at 7 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 23 at the municipal building, 4225 Easton Ave. The meeting will also be available via Zoom. Anyone planning to attend should check the agenda the day of the meeting for changes. LONDON (AP) A lawyer for Donald Trump told a London judge Monday the ex-president plans to prove that shocking and scandalous claims about him in a largely discredited report by a former British spy were false and harmed his reputation. Trump has sued the company founded by Christopher Steele, who created a dossier in 2016 that contained rumors and uncorroborated allegations about Trump that erupted in a political storm just before he was inaugurated. Trump is seeking damages from Orbis Business Intelligence for allegedly violating British data protection laws. Steeles firm is seeking to have the case thrown out and a judge said she would rule at a later date after hearing arguments in London's High Court. The lawsuit comes as Trump is the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination while facing legal problems on the other side of the Atlantic. Trump's lawyers are currently fighting a civil fraud trial in New York alleging he and company executives deceived banks, insurers and others by overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth to secure loans and make deals. He also faces four separate criminal cases for allegations including mishandling classified documents, trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and paying hush money to a porn actress to cover up an affair. His lawyer noted in court Monday that Trump is a controversial figure who expresses himself in strong language and has faced criticism from judges in the U.S. However, he said none of that is relevant in the current case. Trump suffered personal and reputational damage and distress" because his data protection rights were violated, attorney Hugh Tomlinson said. Steele, who once ran the Russia desk for the Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6, was paid by Democrats to compile research that included salacious allegations that Russians could potentially blackmail Trump for sexual activity. Trump said the dossier was fake news and a political witch hunt. Tomlinson said it contained shocking and scandalous claims about the personal conduct of President Trump and included allegations he paid bribes to Russian officials to further his business interests. Trumps case is that this personal data is egregiously inaccurate, he said. Tomlinson said Trump plans to vindicate himself in court by providing evidence that the reports claims were false. In a written witness statement, Trump said that despite Steele's assertions the allegations have not been disproven, they were wholly untrue. Trump said he had not engaged in perverted sexual behavior including the hiring of prostitutes ... in the presidential suite of a hotel in Moscow, taken part in sex parties in St. Petersburg, bribed Russian officials, or provided them with sufficient material to blackmail me. He also said he had not bribed, coerced or silenced witnesses. Orbis wants the lawsuit thrown out because it said the report was never meant to be made public and was published by BuzzFeed without the permission of Steele or Orbis. It also said the claim was filed too late. Orbis attorney Antony White said Trump has a deep and intense animus against Steele and the firm and a a long history of repeatedly bringing frivolous, meritless and vexatious claims for the purpose of vexing and harassing perceived enemies and others against whom he bears a grudge. Trump had called for Steele to be extradited, tried, and thrown into jail and has called him a lowlife and sleazebag involved in the "Russian collusion hoax who produced a total phony con job dossier, White said in a court filing. Trump said in his witness statement that he was not trying to harass or seek revenge or drive Orbis into financial ruin but wants to establish that the information in the dossier was false. Until there is such a judgment, I continue to suffer damage and distress as a result of people wrongfully believing that the data in the dossier is accurate, he said. In two previous High Court cases, a judge ruled Orbis and Steele were not legally liable for the consequences of the dossier's publication. A federal judge in Florida last year dismissed Trumps lawsuit against Steele, 2016 Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and former top FBI officials, rejecting his claims that they helped concoct the Russia investigation that overshadowed much of his administration. BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- China's centrally administered state-owned agricultural enterprises have vowed to ensure grain security through innovation and industry-chain integration. China's growing consumption of oil, sugar, meat, eggs and milk has boosted demand for feed ingredients and oil crops, said Luan Richeng, president of COFCO Corporation. Over the past two decades, China's corn and soybean consumption both expanded markedly. To increase the supply of feed and reduce dependence on imports, COFCO said it will develop eco-friendly feed ingredients including plant protein, cell-based protein, microbial protein and insect protein. Sinochem Holdings, COFCO and China National Machinery Industry Corporation Ltd. have formed a coalition to promote the industry-chain development of cash crops and develop intelligent agricultural machinery. China has pledged the implementation of a "Greater Food" approach to food security, which entails focusing on the entire natural ecosystem and adopting a comprehensive approach for food production, with the utilization of various resources including land and sea. NEW YORK (AP) Venezuela's government and opposition have reached an agreement on new electoral conditions that once signed Tuesday will trigger relief from U.S. energy sanctions on President Nicolas Maduro's administration, according to a person familiar with the outline of deal. Venezuelas government agreed to open up the electoral process, including allowing European Union observers and creating a process for lifting bans that have blocked his top opponents from running for president, to level what is widely seen as an unfair playing field, the person said Monday. If Maduro doesnt live up to his end of the bargain, the sanctions will be imposed again, according to the person, who insisted on not being quoted by name as a condition to discuss the agreement before it was signed. Venezuela's government and opposition were scheduled to resume their Norway-mediated dialogue in Barbados on Tuesday, the Norwegian Embassy in Mexico said. But it appeared an agreement was already within reach because a signing ceremony was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. Mexico hosted multiple rounds of talks in 2021 and 2022. When the sides last met, in November 2022, they agreed to create a U.N.-managed fund to finance health, food and education programs for the poor while the U.S. government agreed to allow oil giant Chevron to pump Venezuelan oil. Colombia and other countries have tried in recent months to restart negotiations between the sides, but Maduro has demanded that the U.S. drop economic sanctions and unfreeze Venezuelan funds held overseas as a condition of resuming talks. Norways statement Monday said the two sides had decided to resume the dialogue with the objective of reaching a political agreement. On Monday evening, Maduro said on Venezuela's national television that we are going to move ahead with sanctions or without sanctions. If we manage to get them lifted, great, if they're kept in place, we move foward and we will overcome. U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller welcomed the announcement of negotiations in Barbados and said in a statement that the U.S. government would continue its efforts to unite the international community in support of the Venezuelan-led negotiation process. Earlier Monday, a U.S. official who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive negotiations said there was no deal between the U.S. government and Venezuela. The official said the Biden administration supported Venezuelan-led negotiations and was prepared to provide relief from sanctions in response to concrete actions toward holding competitive elections. The dialogue formally began in September 2021, but President Maduros delegates walked away from negotiations in October 2021 after Colombia-born businessman Alex Saab was extradited on money laundering charges from Cape Verde to the U.S. Maduro conditioned a resumption on the release of Saab. The political, social and economic crisis that has come to define Venezuela has evolved since it began a decade ago as a result of a global drop in the price of oil, Venezuelas most valuable resource, mismanagement by the self-proclaimed socialist administration and government repression of its opponents. A brief period of relative economic stability has again been shaken by jumping food prices, business closures and another wave of emigration. Some members of the Venezuelan opposition celebrated Norways announcement. Luis Florido, a former exiled opposition lawmaker, said on X that only through negotiations would Venezuelans be able to restore democracy through the ballot box. You wont get everything you want, but you will make progress, he said of the negotiations. The presence of election observers, however, has not seraved as discouragement for the government to carry out old tactics. The EU deployed dozens of observers to Venezuela for the 2021 regional elections, which many remember for the governments move to disqualify an opposition gubernatorial candidate when results showed he was ahead of one of Chavezs siblings. The talks were scheduled to take place in Bridgetown, Barbados. Garcia Cano reported from Caracas. Associated Press writers Fatima Hussein and Josh Boak in Washington and Christopher Sherman in Mexico City contributed to this report. KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) Water has run out at U.N. shelters across Gaza as thousands packed into the courtyard of the besieged territorys largest hospital as a refuge of last resort from a looming Israeli ground offensive and overwhelmed doctors struggled to care for patients they fear will die once generators run out of fuel. Palestinian civilians across Gaza, already battered by years of conflict, were struggling for survival Sunday in the face of an unprecedented Israeli operation against the territory following a Hamas militant attack on Oct. 7 that killed 1,300 Israelis, most of them civilians. Israel has cut off the flow of food, medicine, water and electricity to Gaza, pounded neighborhoods with airstrikes and told the estimated 1 million residents of the north to flee south ahead of Israels planned attack. The Gaza Health Ministry said more than 2,300 Palestinians have been killed since the fighting erupted last weekend. U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN on Sunday that Israeli officials told him they had turned the water back on in southern Gaza. But the spokesman for Israel's energy and water ministry, Adir Dahan, said it was only flowing at a single location in southern Gaza. Aid workers in Gaza said they had not yet seen evidence the water was back and a Gaza government spokesperson said it was not flowing. Throughout the day, Gazans lined up for hours outside bakeries and jostled to buy bread, as fears of food shortages loomed. Umm Abdullah Abu Rizq had come at 7 a.m. hoping to buy food to feed her family and the others sheltering in her home. Is this enough for seven families and their children? she asked, holding a small plastic bag with bread. She was not able to buy more. In Khan Younis, residents rushed to mosques where clean water supplies were still available, for now. Eyad Aqel, a resident, said widespread electricity outages meant water could not be pumped up to replenish his tank. He held a small plastic water container he said would be his familys supply for washing and cooking. Relief groups called for the protection of the over 2 million civilians in Gaza urging an emergency corridor be established for the transfer of humanitarian aid. There was no indication that such a corridor will be opened anytime soon, said Ahmed al-Mandhari, the regional director of the World Health Organization. The agency has supplies over the Rafah border in Egypt, but no permission from either Egypt or Israel to deliver them. The difference with this escalation is we dont have medical aid coming in from outside, the border is closed, electricity is off and this constitutes a high danger for our patients, said Dr. Mohammed Qandeel, who works at Nasser Hospital in the southern Khan Younis area. Doctors in the evacuation zone said they couldnt relocate their patients safely, so they decided to stay as well to care for them. We shall not evacuate the hospital even if it costs us our lives, said Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the head of pediatrics at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia. If they left, the seven newborns in the intensive care unit would die, he said. And even if they could move them, there is nowhere for them to go in the 40-kilometer-long (25-mile-long) coastal territory. Hospitals are full, Abu Safiya said. The wounded stream in every day with severed limbs and life-threatening injuries, he said. Following the evacuation order, around 22 hospitals with 2,000 patients in northern Gaza managed to move mobile patients south, said al-Mandhari. But most cant be evacuated, he said. Over 60% of hospital beds in the strip are located in northern Gaza, he said. Other doctors feared for the lives of patients dependent on ventilators and those suffering from complex blast wounds needing around-the-clock care. Doctors worried entire hospital facilities would be shut down and many would die as the last of fuel stocks powering their generators came close to running out. United Nations humanitarian monitors estimated this could happen by Monday. At Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the heart of the evacuation zone, medical officials estimated at least 35,000 men, women and children crammed into the large open grounds, in the stairways and corridors of the hospital building, hoping the location would give them protection from the fighting. Their situation is very difficult, said hospital director Mohammed Abu Selmia. Still, hundreds of wounded continue to come to the hospital every day, he said. The violence has not spared the health workers. Plastic surgeon Medhat Saidam was killed along with 30 members of his family in an airstrike Saturday when he returned home from work, said Ghassan Abu Sittah, a doctor at Shifa. At least three Shifa doctors and 15 medics were killed so far, Selmia said. Gazas Health Ministry issued an urgent appeal to the international community to send replacement medical workers. About half a million Gaza residents have taken refuge in U.N. shelters across the territory and are running out of water, said Juliette Touma, a spokesperson for the U.N.s Palestinian refugee agency, known by the acronym UNRWA. Gaza is running dry, she said, adding that U.N. teams have also begun to ration water. Touma said a quarter of a million people in Gaza moved to shelters over the past 24 hours, the majority of which are U.N. schools where clean water has actually run out, said Inas Hamdan, another UNRWA spokeswoman. Across Gaza, families rationed dwindling water supplies, with many forced to drink dirty or brackish water. Many resorted to going to dirty wells and the sea, increasing the risk of dehydration, water borne diseases and more deaths. I am very happy that I was able to brush my teeth today, can you imagine what lengths we have reached? said Shaima al-Farra, in Khan Younis. Kullab reported from Baghdad. Associated Press writer Sam Magdy contributed from Cairo. J-11 fighter jets take off in formation China Military Online) 08:01, October 16, 2023 A J-11 fighter jet attached to an aviation brigade with the air force under the PLA Western Theater Command taxis on the runway during a flight training exercise on September 21, 2023. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Yong Biao) Two J-11 fighter jets attached to an aviation brigade with the air force under the PLA Western Theater Command take off in formation during a flight training exercise on September 21, 2023. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Wang Shiying) (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) Press Release October 16, 2023 Senator Mark Villar Urges Philippine Government to Exhaust All Means to Secure Filipinos' Safety Amid Israel-Palestine Conflict Senator Mark A. Villar expresses his utmost concern regarding the safety of Filipino migrants in the areas of conflict, particularly Israel and Gaza. "In times of conflict, our priority should be the safety of our people. I am urging all concerned government agencies of the Philippine government to exhaust all available means to secure the safety of Filipinos in the affected areas of conflict," Senator Mark Villar said. Currently, the DFA already raised the conflict to Alert Level 4 over Israel and the Gaza Strip due to the heightened airstrikes and a deepening crisis. This level signifies the mandatory evacuation of Filipinos from the areas. However, DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega stated that the "mandatory evacuation" does not mean that they can help Filipinos inside the area as there is "no way in and no way out" of Gaza because of the complete siege of the area, but they are ready to do so once opportunity permits. "Considering this pronouncement from the DFA that there is no way in and no way out, it should still be our utmost priority to heed the call for help of the Filipinos in Israel and the Gaza Strip. Let us exhaust all diplomatic means possible to have our resources be readily available for the affected Filipinos so that we could help them as soon as the situation permits. Huwag po nating pabayaan ang ating mga kababayan sa Israel at Gaza," Senator Mark added. The DFA reported that there are two Filipinos killed amid the fighting between Israel and Hamas-- one is a 42-year-old male from Pampanga who got abducted by Hamas and the other is a 33-year-old female from Pangasinan. The Philippine Embassy in Tel Aviv reports another Filipino killed as the conflict intensifies. "These reported deaths of Filipinos are enough for us to consider the conflict as an urgent concern for our countrymen in the areas of conflict. I am urging the Philippine government to utilize all available means and resources to locate the missing Filipinos, safely repatriate all affected Filipinos, and exhaust all available diplomatic channels for the release of abducted Filipinos, particularly those sealed off in the enclave," Senator Mark said. "Nananawagan din po ako sa ating mga kababayan sa Gaza to first prioritize your safety and direct all efforts on safely leaving the area of conflict. Gagawin po ng ating government ang lahat to safely extract all of you from the situation," Senator Mark added. At present, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reports that there are over 30,000 Filipinos residing and working in Israel while there are 150 Filipinos in the Gaza Strip. The agency also recorded at least 92 Filipinos in the Gaza Strip who signified their intention to be repatriated. Further, the Philippine Embassy in Tel Aviv has received reports of Filipinos allegedly kidnapped by Hamas while others remain missing and unreachable through their mobile numbers and social media accounts. SUVA, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Fijian government is now focusing on improving the work of the immigration department by easing the work permit process, as well as assisting the private sector, to bring back more workers for needy areas. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Biman Prasad said this while participating in the 2023 Human Capital Ministerial Conclave's plenary session during the margins of the 2023 Annual meeting for the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) held in Marrakech, Morocco, reported Fiji Broadcasting Corporation on Monday. Prasad said that migration is a significant issue for Fiji. In the last 18 months, around 10 percent of Fiji's formal workforce has left for greener pastures in neighboring developed countries. Prasad said there is significant value in technical, vocational, and enterprise education and training (TVET) programs in schools and tertiary institutions in Fiji. He said TVET programs are the modern-day solution toward transforming the Fijian economy to greater heights through the expansion of its human capital by creating an opportunity for skilled workers. Prasad said the government was rebuilding the technical education system as well as addressing the skills gap and working together with existing service providers, including the newly-established Pacific Polytech. He said Fiji is focusing on skills development and training at all levels of its educational system, and the private sector will be playing an important role in this. ICESCO Chair for Innovation and Futures in Africa launched at Wits The Chair will be located within the Tayarisha Research Group that focuses on the effects and implications of digital transformation and governance in Africa. Wits University, through the Tayarisha Research Group, based at the Wits School of Governance, signed an agreement with The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) to host the ICESCO Chair for the Study of Innovation and Futures in Africa. This chair, led by Associate Professor Geci Karuri-Sebina, will result in collaborations between high-level researchers, as well as the development of educational programmes and policy dialogues with societal actors on issues of innovation, futures literacy and foresight. In this age of fast-changing technologies and digitalisation, it is crucial that we are ensuring that our governance and socio-economic systems are learning systems that can ensure that we are meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals and building positive futures for Africa, for humanity, and for our planet, said Professor Jason Cohen, Dean of the Commerce, Law and Management (CLM) Faculty at Wits University. The Chair will be located within the Tayarisha Research Group, a new, and fast-growing initiative at CLM/WSG which seeks to focus on the effects and implications of digital transformation on Africas future and its governance. The concept of anticipatory governance is at the core of this work as we explore possible African digital futures and how we can be both more innovative, but also better prepared to govern adequately as technologies emerge and co-evolve with societal changes, continuously shifting the very conditions of change, said Karuri-Sebina. This ICESCO Chair at Wits will be the key driver for research, training, programming and partnering in this field of Anticipatory Governance. Within Wits, this stream is consistent with the work of the Wits Innovation Centre and strategy, where there is a University-wide effort to encourage, facilitate, and support the connection between research and innovation, said Adjunct Professor Themba Maseko, Acting Head of the Wits School of Governance. In addition to enhancing African innovation ecosystems and the commercialisation of research, WIC serves as a conduit between Wits and both the private and public sectors to help develop solutions to real-world industry and development problems. WIC is working with the Tayarisha team to develop Africas first Gov-tech Incubator which is poised to become a flagship for impactful innovation in governance. The ICESCO Chair on Innovation and Futures in Africa will be integrally linked into this Wits-wide innovation agenda and its emerging offerings. Karuri-Sebina said there are also important external platforms and opportunities already on the horizon, for example, the African Engineering and Technology Network (Afretech) is an innovation platform that Wits is already involved in which ICESCO member states are already well represented. This network of technology-focused universities includes Egypt, Senegal, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and the United States, and it seeks to drive inclusive digital growth through higher education and the power of collaboration working together to build engineering and technology capacity in education, knowledge creation, and entrepreneurship. Maseko said that South Africa, through Wits and its government partners, has been invited to host the 17th annual United Nations global ICEGOV conference which is the premier global convening of governments, scholars and digital governance stakeholders (More information to follow). Professor Karuri-Sebina will hold the inaugural Chari that will share the many linkages and opportunities as this initiative progresses. For more information email: Geci.Karuri-Sebina@wits.ac.za Cushman & Wakefield plc (NYSE:CWK Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of Hold from the six analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $10.50. A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CWK shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a neutral rating and issued a $10.50 target price on shares of Cushman & Wakefield in a report on Monday, September 18th. Raymond James dropped their price target on Cushman & Wakefield from $18.00 to $12.00 and set a strong-buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 4th. Get Cushman & Wakefield alerts: Get Our Latest Analysis on CWK Cushman & Wakefield Trading Down 3.0 % Shares of CWK stock opened at $7.35 on Monday. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $8.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.78. The company has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a PE ratio of -91.88 and a beta of 1.38. Cushman & Wakefield has a fifty-two week low of $6.64 and a fifty-two week high of $15.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE:CWK Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 31st. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Cushman & Wakefield had a positive return on equity of 15.14% and a negative net margin of 0.18%. The companys revenue was down 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Cushman & Wakefield will post 0.87 EPS for the current fiscal year. Institutional Inflows and Outflows A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CWK. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Cushman & Wakefield by 108.3% during the 1st quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,500 shares of the companys stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in Cushman & Wakefield by 181.0% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,182 shares of the companys stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 3,338 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. raised its position in Cushman & Wakefield by 3,128.2% during the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 2,292 shares of the companys stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 2,221 shares during the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in Cushman & Wakefield during the 1st quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Cushman & Wakefield by 47.5% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,861 shares of the companys stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 2,852 shares during the last quarter. 90.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Cushman & Wakefield Company Profile (Get Free Report Cushman & Wakefield plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides commercial real estate services under the Cushman & Wakefield brand in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates through Americas; Europe, Middle East, and Africa; and Asia Pacific segments. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Cushman & Wakefield Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Cushman & Wakefield and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd purchased a new position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 18,926 shares of the business services providers stock, valued at approximately $1,865,000. Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Costello Asset Management INC grew its stake in Global Payments by 41.7% in the second quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 7,398 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $729,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 7,496 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $739,000 after buying an additional 642 shares in the last quarter. Talbot Financial LLC increased its holdings in Global Payments by 17.2% in the second quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 40,938 shares of the business services providers stock worth $4,033,000 after buying an additional 6,006 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Global Payments by 8.0% during the second quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,766 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $568,000 after acquiring an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Global Payments by 1.8% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,383,196 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $333,312,000 after acquiring an additional 59,368 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the companys stock. Get Global Payments alerts: Insider Buying and Selling In other news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 2,016 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.47, for a total transaction of $240,851.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,045 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,992,126.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Global Payments news, CFO Joshua J. Whipple sold 37,096 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.28, for a total value of $4,721,578.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 39,772 shares of the companys stock, valued at $5,062,180.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 2,016 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.47, for a total transaction of $240,851.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,992,126.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. Analysts Set New Price Targets GPN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. B. Riley initiated coverage on shares of Global Payments in a report on Friday, June 23rd. They set a buy rating and a $179.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James decreased their price target on Global Payments from $156.00 to $155.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Global Payments from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a report on Thursday, August 10th. Stephens boosted their target price on Global Payments from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Global Payments from $208.00 to $211.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twenty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $148.84. Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Global Payments Global Payments Stock Performance NYSE:GPN opened at $113.04 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.39 billion, a PE ratio of 37.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Global Payments Inc. has a 12-month low of $92.27 and a 12-month high of $129.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $121.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.96. Global Payments (NYSE:GPN Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.19. Global Payments had a return on equity of 10.98% and a net margin of 8.65%. The business had revenue of $2.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.23 EPS. Global Paymentss revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Global Payments Inc. will post 9.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Global Payments Announces Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 15th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 14th. Global Paymentss payout ratio is 33.33%. Global Payments Profile (Free Report) Global Payments Inc provides payment technology and software solutions for card, check, and digital-based payments in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific. It operates through three segments: Merchant Solutions, Issuer Solutions, and Consumer Solutions. The Merchant Solutions segment offers authorization, settlement and funding, customer support, chargeback resolution, terminal rental, sales and deployment, payment security, and consolidated billing and reporting services. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GPN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Global Payments Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Global Payments and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Banco Bradesco S.A. (NYSE:BBD Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of Hold from the eight brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $7.68. Separately, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Banco Bradesco in a research report on Monday. They issued a buy rating and a $3.50 price objective on the stock. Get Banco Bradesco alerts: Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on BBD Banco Bradesco Stock Performance NYSE:BBD opened at $2.88 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.70 billion, a PE ratio of 11.52, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.77. The stocks fifty day moving average is $2.97 and its 200 day moving average is $3.10. Banco Bradesco has a fifty-two week low of $2.34 and a fifty-two week high of $4.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.70. Banco Bradesco (NYSE:BBD Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The bank reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.49 billion. Banco Bradesco had a net margin of 7.80% and a return on equity of 9.53%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Banco Bradesco will post 0.36 earnings per share for the current year. Banco Bradesco Cuts Dividend The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 11th. Investors of record on Friday, November 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.0038 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 2nd. This represents a $0.05 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. Banco Bradescos payout ratio is 12.00%. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Bradesco Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Banco Bradesco by 27.6% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 15,319 shares of the banks stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 3,312 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC raised its position in Banco Bradesco by 31.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 14,329 shares of the banks stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 3,422 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Banco Bradesco by 21.4% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 20,501 shares of the banks stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 3,610 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Banco Bradesco by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 60,093 shares of the banks stock worth $208,000 after buying an additional 3,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Banco Bradesco by 51.0% during the first quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 10,984 shares of the banks stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 3,712 shares during the period. 1.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. About Banco Bradesco (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. Recommended Stories 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. by Zhang Na, Zhang Jianhua CANBERRA, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government has conducted three "classified studies" over the past eight years regarding its ties with China, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post recently cited sources as saying. The conclusions of these non-partisan independent research reports are nearly unanimous in stating that Australia is "unlikely" to decouple from China. In fact, even without the "classified studies," the mutually beneficial relationship between Australia and China, as well as the long-established framework of mutual interests, is evident. Open statistics from Australia show that the bilateral trade volume was 113 million Australian dollars (71 million U.S. dollars) in the second year of diplomatic relations in 1973. The bilateral goods trade volume exceeded 220 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, according to China's official data. Such significant growth would be hard to achieve without a basis of mutual benefit. In terms of services trade, mainland Chinese students accounted for 25 percent, ranking first, of some 620,000 international students in Australia in 2022. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, China was Australia's "largest and most valuable" inbound tourism market. Even though flights between the two countries have not been fully restored to date, China became Australia's second-largest source of international tourists in July. In August of this year, China resumed outbound group tours to Australia, providing a boost to the local tourism industry. The "classified studies," open data, and the half-century of experiences all clearly demonstrate that cooperation benefits both China and Australia and the essence of their relations is one of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation. It will continue to be the mainstream in the bilateral relationship as China has consistently viewed and developed the bilateral ties from a strategic and long-term perspective, maintaining policy continuity and stability, and upholding the important position of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Australia. China opposes the politicization of economic and trade issues and strives to find win-win solutions to concerns and disagreements in bilateral trade through dialogue and communication. China is committed to friendly exchanges and cooperation with Australia, and this policy remains unchanged. Looking at the overall trajectory of China-Australia relations over the past 50 years and the broader trends in the international political landscape, mutual respect and mutual benefit are the best ways to safeguard the interests of both countries. The difficulties and setbacks of the past few years should not define the essence of the bilateral relationship, nor should they impede cooperation between the two countries. This understanding is simple and fundamental. Currently, China-Australia relations are at an important stage of stabilization and improvement. President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reached an important consensus on continuing to develop the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership during their meeting in Bali, Indonesia last year. High-level interactions have increased mutual trust and generated positive expectations for bilateral relations. In terms of mutual understanding, it is important to view each other in an objective, calm, and friendly manner. Moreover, it is crucial to remember that China and Australia are partners, not adversaries. For Australia, it is of particular importance to recognize that China's development is an opportunity, not a threat. To safeguarding mutual interests, it is key to promote China-Australia bilateral relations independently, free from third-party influence or interference. A healthy and stable China-Australia relationship serves the fundamental interests of both countries and contributes to the peace, stability, and development of the Asia-Pacific region and the world. As long as both sides adhere to the principles of mutual respect, mutual benefit, peaceful coexistence, and seeking common ground while maintaining differences, China and Australia can jointly achieve sustained improvement and development of their relations, thus bringing more benefits to the two peoples. Arbor Trust Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC Free Report) by 13.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,742 shares of the financial services providers stock after acquiring an additional 1,134 shares during the period. Arbor Trust Wealth Advisors LLCs holdings in Bank of America were worth $280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Old North State Trust LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 23,584 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $675,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares during the period. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.8% during the second quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. now owns 25,847 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $759,000 after buying an additional 446 shares during the period. Lavaca Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 7.3% in the first quarter. Lavaca Capital LLC now owns 12,216 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $373,000 after buying an additional 828 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its stake in Bank of America by 14.2% during the 2nd quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 16,685 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $479,000 after acquiring an additional 2,075 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Bank of America in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,288,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.06% of the companys stock. Get Bank of America alerts: Bank of America Price Performance Shares of BAC traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $26.94. 5,797,653 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 48,474,133. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.86. Bank of America Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.47 and a fifty-two week high of $38.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.08 billion, a PE ratio of 7.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. Bank of America Increases Dividend Bank of America ( NYSE:BAC Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $25.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.98 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 19.97% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.73 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.39 EPS for the current fiscal year. The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 1st were paid a $0.24 dividend. This is a positive change from Bank of Americas previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 31st. Bank of Americas dividend payout ratio is presently 27.59%. Insiders Place Their Bets In related news, insider Dean C. Athanasia sold 77,806 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.48, for a total transaction of $2,449,332.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 353,971 shares of the companys stock, valued at $11,143,007.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 75,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.53, for a total value of $2,364,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 185,108 shares in the company, valued at $5,836,455.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Dean C. Athanasia sold 77,806 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.48, for a total transaction of $2,449,332.88. Following the sale, the insider now owns 353,971 shares of the companys stock, valued at $11,143,007.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Analyst Ratings Changes BAC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $35.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a report on Tuesday, September 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Bank of America from $31.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $35.32. Read Our Latest Analysis on BAC Bank of America Company Profile (Free Report) Bank of America Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial products and services for individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, institutional investors, large corporations, and governments worldwide. Its Consumer Banking segment offers traditional and money market savings accounts, certificates of deposit and IRAs, noninterest-and interest-bearing checking accounts, and investment accounts and products; and credit and debit cards, residential mortgages, and home equity loans, as well as direct and indirect loans, such as automotive, recreational vehicle, and consumer personal loans. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Bank of America Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bank of America and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.02, MarketWatch Earnings reports. The business had revenue of $4.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.62 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 33.15% and a return on equity of 27.54%. Charles Schwabs revenue was down 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. Charles Schwab Price Performance Shares of SCHW stock traded up $2.38 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $53.71. The company had a trading volume of 20,505,598 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,050,530. Charles Schwab has a 52-week low of $45.00 and a 52-week high of $86.63. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $57.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $95.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.93. Get Charles Schwab alerts: Charles Schwab Announces Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 10th. Charles Schwabs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.15%. Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab Institutional Investors Weigh In On Charles Schwab In other news, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 72,047 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.66, for a total value of $4,802,653.02. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 59,748,538 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,982,837,543.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link . In related news, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 72,047 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.66, for a total transaction of $4,802,653.02. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 59,748,538 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,982,837,543.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website . Also, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 75,760 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.60, for a total transaction of $5,045,616.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly 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 . Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 159,599 shares of company stock valued at $10,542,469. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Charles Schwab by 1.5% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,050,168 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,413,244,000 after acquiring an additional 391,238 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Charles Schwab by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,255,649 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,853,005,000 after acquiring an additional 8,563,389 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter worth about $1,325,555,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 10.9% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,495,161 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $969,896,000 after purchasing an additional 1,322,868 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 28.4% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 8,159,696 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $427,405,000 after purchasing an additional 1,804,315 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.61% of the companys stock. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 11th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, July 20th. Finally, Argus boosted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $81.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $69.53. Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on SCHW Charles Schwab Company Profile (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. Further Reading 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. Dorian LPG Ltd. (NYSE:LPG Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,660,000 shares, an increase of 12.9% from the September 15th total of 1,470,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 716,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days. Currently, 4.9% of the companys shares are sold short. Dorian LPG Stock Performance NYSE LPG opened at $30.77 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $27.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.03. The firm has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 2.47. Dorian LPG has a 1 year low of $15.21 and a 1 year high of $31.41. Get Dorian LPG alerts: Dorian LPG (NYSE:LPG Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The shipping company reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.64 by ($0.43). The firm had revenue of $111.56 million for the quarter. Dorian LPG had a return on equity of 22.93% and a net margin of 46.96%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.56 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Dorian LPG will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year. Dorian LPG Announces Dividend Insider Transactions at Dorian LPG The firm also recently disclosed a Variable dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 20th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 19th. Dorian LPGs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.01%. In related news, EVP Alexander C. Hadjipateras sold 5,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $140,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 81,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,295,976.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Alexander C. Hadjipateras sold 5,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $140,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 81,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,295,976.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Jason Coleman sold 40,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.60, for a total transaction of $1,024,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 49,786 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,274,521.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 203,000 shares of company stock valued at $5,685,360. Corporate insiders own 15.90% of the companys stock. Institutional Trading of Dorian LPG A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. American International Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Dorian LPG by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 17,202 shares of the shipping companys stock valued at $441,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Dorian LPG by 43.8% during the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,412 shares of the shipping companys stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Dorian LPG by 4.1% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 12,235 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 478 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Dorian LPG by 2.1% in the third quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,192 shares of the shipping companys stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 537 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Dorian LPG by 63.2% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,413 shares of the shipping companys stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.01% of the companys stock. Analyst Ratings Changes Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. DNB Markets lowered Dorian LPG from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $26.90 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Dorian LPG from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Dorian LPG from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Dorian LPG currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $26.98. Read Our Latest Stock Report on LPG Dorian LPG Company Profile (Get Free Report) Dorian LPG Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the transportation of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) through its LPG tankers worldwide. It owns and operates twenty-five very large gas carriers (VLGCs). The company was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Dorian LPG Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Dorian LPG and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. FOXO Technologies (NYSE:FOXO Get Free Report) and Bioqual (OTCMKTS:BIOQ Get Free Report) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, profitability, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations and valuation. Profitability This table compares FOXO Technologies and Bioquals net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Get FOXO Technologies alerts: Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets FOXO Technologies -17,129.32% -1,962.97% -250.46% Bioqual 1.33% 2.15% 1.31% Earnings & Valuation This table compares FOXO Technologies and Bioquals gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation. Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio FOXO Technologies $457,000.00 13.69 -$95.25 million N/A N/A Bioqual $62.66 million 0.86 $840,000.00 $0.94 63.83 Risk & Volatility Bioqual has higher revenue and earnings than FOXO Technologies. FOXO Technologies has a beta of 2.05, suggesting that its stock price is 105% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bioqual has a beta of -0.35, suggesting that its stock price is 135% less volatile than the S&P 500. Institutional & Insider Ownership 31.6% of FOXO Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. 16.9% of FOXO Technologies shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 39.2% of Bioqual shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth. Analyst Ratings This is a breakdown of current ratings for FOXO Technologies and Bioqual, as reported by MarketBeat. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score FOXO Technologies 0 0 0 0 N/A Bioqual 0 0 0 0 N/A Summary Bioqual beats FOXO Technologies on 6 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks. About FOXO Technologies (Get Free Report) FOXO Technologies Inc. engages in epigenetic biomarker underwriting technology and consumer engagement platform service business in the United States. It operates through two segments, FOXO Labs and FOXO Life. The company applies automated machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies to discover epigenetic biomarkers of human health, wellness, and aging. It offers FOXO Labs, a commercializing proprietary epigenetic biomarker technology enables the adoption of saliva-based health and wellness biomarker solutions for underwriting and risk assessment; and FOXO Life, a sales and distribution platform focused on recruiting independent life insurance agents to sell life insurance with the Longevity Report. The company was founded in 2020 and is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. FOXO Technologies Inc. is a subsidiary of FOXO Management LLC. About Bioqual (Get Free Report) Bioqual, Inc. provides in-vivo and in-vitro pre-clinical research services to commercial and government clients in the United States. The company provides research services in the areas of COVID-19, AIDS, influenza, RSV infection, and flavivirus infections, including zika, dengue, malaria, hepatitis, and cancer. Its services also include sample processing, virus stock generation, quantitation of infectious virus, virus neutralization assays, hemagglutination inhibition assay, quantitative PCR, antigen and antibody ELISA detection assays, flow cytometry, lymphocyte proliferation, and other cell-based assays. In addition, the company provides animal research model related services. Bioqual, Inc. was founded in 1981 and is based in Rockville, Maryland. Receive News & Ratings for FOXO Technologies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for FOXO Technologies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown trimmed its position in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM Free Report) by 2.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,517 shares of the companys stock after selling 377 shares during the quarter. First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtowns holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Strs Ohio increased its position in Philip Morris International by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 1,081,413 shares of the companys stock valued at $105,567,000 after buying an additional 29,179 shares in the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 1,219.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 13,125 shares of the companys stock worth $1,281,000 after purchasing an additional 12,130 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Philip Morris International by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 30,987 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,025,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the period. Key Financial Inc increased its stake in Philip Morris International by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 2,388 shares of the companys stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Shilanski & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 3.7% during the second quarter. Shilanski & Associates Inc. now owns 24,486 shares of the companys stock worth $2,390,000 after buying an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.70% of the companys stock. Get Philip Morris International alerts: Philip Morris International Stock Up 0.5 % Shares of Philip Morris International stock traded up $0.45 during trading on Monday, reaching $92.71. 253,975 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,224,752. The firm has a market cap of $143.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.71. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.44 and a 1 year high of $105.62. The stocks fifty day moving average is $94.41 and its 200 day moving average is $95.64. Philip Morris International Increases Dividend Philip Morris International ( NYSE:PM Get Free Report ) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $8.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.76 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.48 EPS. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current year. The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 27th were paid 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.61%. Philip Morris Internationals payout ratio is presently 100.58%. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of research firms have issued reports on PM. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $111.00 to $105.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday. Barclays reduced their target price on Philip Morris International from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 21st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Philip Morris International from $116.00 to $112.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a buy rating and issued a $114.00 price target on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Monday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $109.42. Read Our Latest Stock Report on PM About Philip Morris International (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. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM Free Report). 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. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY Free Report) by 3.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,919 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLCs holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $900,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Trust Co. of Virginia VA grew its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Trust Co. of Virginia VA now owns 24,648 shares of the companys stock valued at $11,559,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 2,314 shares of the companys stock worth $1,085,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown boosted its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter. First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown now owns 4,484 shares of the companys stock worth $2,103,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Dividend Assets Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 14.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dividend Assets Capital LLC now owns 1,814 shares of the companys stock worth $851,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 1,089 shares of the companys stock worth $511,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the companys stock. Get Eli Lilly and Company alerts: Eli Lilly and Company Trading Up 1.3 % NYSE LLY traded up $8.12 on Monday, hitting $617.32. 1,021,636 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,032,184. The companys 50 day moving average price is $556.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $472.43. 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 $586.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.33. Eli Lilly and Company has a twelve month low of $309.20 and a twelve month high of $629.97. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Eli Lilly and Company ( NYSE:LLY Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 8th. The company reported $2.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $8.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.58 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a return on equity of 65.00% and a net margin of 22.01%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 28.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. Analysts predict that Eli Lilly and Company will post 9.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Several equities research analysts have issued reports on LLY shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $385.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $500.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. Argus raised their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $470.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 5th. 22nd Century Group restated a maintains rating on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Tuesday, June 27th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group raised their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $490.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, Eli Lilly and Company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $540.09. Read Our Latest Report on Eli Lilly and Company Insider Buying and Selling at Eli Lilly and Company In related news, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 37,660 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546,751.75, for a total value of $20,590,670,905.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 100,275,279 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $54,825,684,274,988.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 600 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 21st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $2,939,130.78. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 37,660 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546,751.75, for a total value of $20,590,670,905.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 100,275,279 shares of the companys stock, valued at $54,825,684,274,988.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 908,246 shares of company stock valued at $21,078,990,577 in the last 90 days. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. Eli Lilly and Company Profile (Free Report) Eli Lilly and Company discovers, develops, and markets human pharmaceuticals worldwide. It offers Basaglar, Humalog, Humalog Mix 75/25, Humalog U-100, Humalog U-200, Humalog Mix 50/50, insulin lispro, insulin lispro protamine, insulin lispro mix 75/25, Humulin, Humulin 70/30, Humulin N, Humulin R, and Humulin U-500 for diabetes; and Jardiance, Trajenta, and Trulicity for type 2 diabetes. 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. Shares of InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (NYSE:IHG Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of Hold by the eight analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $2,750.00. A number of research analysts have commented on IHG shares. Bank of America started coverage on InterContinental Hotels Group in a report on Tuesday, September 19th. They issued a buy rating on the stock. Kepler Capital Markets lowered InterContinental Hotels Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, June 23rd. BNP Paribas lowered InterContinental Hotels Group from a neutral rating to an underperform rating in a report on Wednesday, October 11th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on InterContinental Hotels Group in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Get InterContinental Hotels Group alerts: Read Our Latest Analysis on InterContinental Hotels Group InterContinental Hotels Group Price Performance InterContinental Hotels Group Cuts Dividend Shares of NYSE IHG opened at $72.91 on Monday. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $75.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.72. InterContinental Hotels Group has a one year low of $49.73 and a one year high of $79.41. The firm has a market cap of $12.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.20. The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 5th. Investors of record on Friday, September 1st were paid a $0.483 dividend. This represents a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 31st. InterContinental Hotels Groups dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.47%. Institutional Trading of InterContinental Hotels Group Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CWM LLC boosted its stake in InterContinental Hotels Group by 621.2% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 375 shares of the companys stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in InterContinental Hotels Group in the first quarter valued at about $82,000. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in InterContinental Hotels Group by 22.0% in the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,211 shares of the companys stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in InterContinental Hotels Group by 1,067.0% in the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,194 shares of the companys stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 2,006 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its position in InterContinental Hotels Group by 103.7% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,448 shares of the companys stock valued at $167,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755 shares during the last quarter. 5.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. About InterContinental Hotels Group (Get Free Report InterContinental Hotels Group PLC owns, manages, franchises, and leases hotels in the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Greater China. The company operates hotels under the Six Senses, Regent, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Vignette Collection, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, Hotel Indigo, voco, HUALUXE, Crowne Plaza, Iberostar Beachfront Resorts, EVEN, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn, avid, Atwell Suites, Staybridge Suites, Holiday Inn Club Vacations, and Candlewood Suites brand names. Read More Receive News & Ratings for InterContinental Hotels Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for InterContinental Hotels Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com cut shares of Koninklijke Philips (NYSE:PHG Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Friday. A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on PHG. TheStreet upgraded Koninklijke Philips from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a research note on Monday, July 24th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Koninklijke Philips to 19.00 ($20.00) in a research report on Friday, July 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Koninklijke Philips in a research report on Wednesday, July 12th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Koninklijke Philips has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $16.10. Get Koninklijke Philips alerts: Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Koninklijke Philips Koninklijke Philips Stock Down 0.6 % Koninklijke Philips stock opened at $18.82 on Friday. Koninklijke Philips has a 1-year low of $11.75 and a 1-year high of $23.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $17.48 billion, a PE ratio of -8.04 and a beta of 0.93. The stocks fifty day moving average is $20.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.53. Koninklijke Philips (NYSE:PHG Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Sunday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.08. Koninklijke Philips had a positive return on equity of 11.92% and a negative net margin of 10.84%. The company had revenue of $4.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.15 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Koninklijke Philips will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Koninklijke Philips Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PHG. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its position in Koninklijke Philips by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 16,411 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $501,000 after acquiring an additional 771 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Koninklijke Philips by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 62,767 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $1,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,414 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC purchased a new stake in Koninklijke Philips in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $311,000. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in Koninklijke Philips by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 36,882 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $1,126,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in Koninklijke Philips by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 94,798 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $3,002,000 after purchasing an additional 8,515 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 6.64% of the companys stock. Koninklijke Philips Company Profile (Get Free Report) Koninklijke Philips N.V. operates as a health technology company in North America, the Greater China, and internationally. It operates through Diagnosis & Treatment Businesses, Connected Care Businesses, and Personal Health Businesses segments. The company provides diagnostic imaging solutions, includes magnetic resonance imaging, X-ray systems, and computed tomography (CT) systems and software comprising detector-based spectral CT solutions, as well as molecular and hybrid imaging solutions for nuclear medicine; echography solutions focused on diagnosis, treatment planning and guidance for cardiology, general imaging, obstetrics/gynecology, and point-of-care applications; integrated interventional systems, and interventional diagnostic and therapeutic devices to treat coronary artery and peripheral vascular disease; proprietary software to enable diagnostics and intervention; and enterprise diagnostic informatics products and services. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Koninklijke Philips Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Koninklijke Philips and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Mueller Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MLI Free Report) shares are scheduled to split on the morning of Friday, October 20th. The 2-1 split was announced on Tuesday, September 26th. The newly created shares will be payable to shareholders after the market closes on Thursday, October 19th. Mueller Industries Trading Down 0.5 % Shares of MLI stock opened at $72.57 on Monday. Mueller Industries has a 1-year low of $58.16 and a 1-year high of $91.93. The stock has a market cap of $4.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.37 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $75.12 and a 200-day moving average of $77.23. Get Mueller Industries alerts: Mueller Industries (NYSE:MLI Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The industrial products company reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $897.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Mueller Industries had a net margin of 17.46% and a return on equity of 33.92%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was down 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Mueller Industries Dividend Announcement Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 1st were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 31st. Mueller Industriess payout ratio is 10.54%. Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Mueller Industries in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Read Our Latest Analysis on MLI Insider Activity In other news, Director John B. Hansen sold 2,500 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.33, for a total transaction of $195,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 59,681 shares in the company, valued at $4,674,812.73. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Mueller Industries during the second quarter worth $40,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mueller Industries by 54.9% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 841 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Mueller Industries in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $52,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mueller Industries by 192.7% in the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,203 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Manhattan CO. LLC. increased its position in shares of Mueller Industries by 25.0% during the first quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 1,500 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 94.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Mueller Industries Company Profile (Get Free Report) Mueller Industries, Inc manufactures and sells copper, brass, aluminum, and plastic products in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, South Korea, the Middle East, China, and Mexico. It operates through three segments: Piping Systems, Industrial Metals, and Climate. The Piping Systems segment offers copper tubes, fittings, line sets, and pipe nipples; PEX plumbing and radiant systems; and plumbing-related fittings and plastic injection tooling. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Mueller Industries Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Mueller Industries and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com cut shares of NiSource (NYSE:NI Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Friday. Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on NI. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on NiSource in a report on Friday, October 6th. They issued a buy rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on NiSource from $31.00 to $30.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 21st. Bank of America decreased their price objective on NiSource from $32.00 to $31.00 in a report on Thursday, June 22nd. Guggenheim reduced their price target on NiSource from $30.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday, October 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on NiSource from $31.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $29.00. Get NiSource alerts: View Our Latest Analysis on NI NiSource Stock Performance Shares of NI opened at $25.78 on Friday. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is $26.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.21. NiSource has a 52-week low of $22.86 and a 52-week high of $28.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.45. NiSource (NYSE:NI Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.02). NiSource had a net margin of 12.00% and a return on equity of 10.90%. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.12 EPS. Research analysts forecast that NiSource will post 1.58 EPS for the current fiscal year. NiSource Dividend Announcement The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 31st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 30th. NiSources payout ratio is presently 69.44%. Insider Activity In other news, EVP William Jr. Jefferson sold 4,875 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.80, for a total value of $130,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 30,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $828,254. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Lloyd M. Yates acquired 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.44 per share, for a total transaction of $1,057,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 131,242 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,470,038.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP William Jr. Jefferson sold 4,875 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction on Friday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.80, for a total value of $130,650.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 30,905 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $828,254. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Institutional Inflows and Outflows A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NI. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 161.0% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,099 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 678 shares during the last quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the first quarter worth $33,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 897.5% in the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,197 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,077 shares during the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of NiSource by 182.9% in the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,372 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 887 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.91% of the companys stock. NiSource Company Profile (Get Free Report) NiSource Inc, an energy holding company, operates as a regulated natural gas and electric utility company in the United States. It operates through two segments, Gas Distribution Operations and Electric Operations. The company distributes natural gas to approximately 859,000 customers in northern Indiana, as well as approximately 2.4 million residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, and Maryland. See Also Receive News & Ratings for NiSource Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for NiSource and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. People vote during the second round of the presidential elections in Quito, Ecuador, Oct. 15, 2023. Daniel Noboa, a presidential candidate of Ecuador, consolidated his position as president-elect, the National Electoral Council (CNE) said, citing the preliminary official results of the presidential runoff held Sunday. (The National Electoral Council of Ecuador/Handout via Xinhua) QUITO, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Daniel Noboa, a presidential candidate of Ecuador, consolidated his position as president-elect, the National Electoral Council (CNE) said, citing the preliminary official results of the presidential runoff held Sunday. With 88.42 percent of the votes counted as of 7:40 p.m. local time (0040 GMT), Noboa, from the right-wing National Democratic Action alliance, had obtained 52.29 percent of the valid votes compared to 47.71 percent for his rival, Luisa Gonzalez from the Citizen Revolution movement led by ex-president Rafael Correa. Later in the day, with 90.78 percent of the ballots counted, the CNE announced that Noboa won the presidential elections in Ecuador. CNE President Diana Atamaint affirmed that the results were "irreversible," declaring Noboa to be president-elect of the South American country. Gonzalez conceded her defeat to Noboa, 35, a five-time presidential candidate who is the son of a banana magnate. Surrounded by supporters in a hotel from the capital Quito, she commented, "We have made history, it is the first time that a woman reaches the second round of the presidential elections and has the opportunity to become the president of the republic." Gonzalez expressed the support of her political organization for the new president-elect to move forward in Ecuador. Military and police officers patrol on a street during the second round of the presidential elections in Quito, Ecuador, Oct. 15, 2023. Daniel Noboa, a presidential candidate of Ecuador, consolidated his position as president-elect, the National Electoral Council (CNE) said, citing the preliminary official results of the presidential runoff held Sunday. (The National Electoral Council of Ecuador/Handout via Xinhua) People vote during the second round of the presidential elections in Quito, Ecuador, Oct. 15, 2023. Daniel Noboa, a presidential candidate of Ecuador, consolidated his position as president-elect, the National Electoral Council (CNE) said, citing the preliminary official results of the presidential runoff held Sunday. (The National Electoral Council of Ecuador/Handout via Xinhua) StockNews.com cut shares of RB Global (NYSE:RBA Free Report) (TSE:RBA) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Friday morning. A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on RBA. National Bank Financial raised their target price on shares of RB Global from $61.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of RB Global from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, August 8th. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of RB Global from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and raised their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, July 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $66.25. Get RB Global alerts: Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on RBA RB Global Stock Performance Shares of RBA stock opened at $66.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.32. RB Global has a one year low of $48.72 and a one year high of $67.77. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $62.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.30, a PEG ratio of 14.51 and a beta of 0.91. RB Global (NYSE:RBA Get Free Report) (TSE:RBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.17). RB Global had a return on equity of 4.77% and a net margin of 5.94%. The company had revenue of $1.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that RB Global will post 0.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. RB Global Announces Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. RB Globals dividend payout ratio is presently 117.39%. Insider Activity at RB Global In other RB Global news, insider Megan Anne Cash sold 13,596 shares of RB Global stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.78, for a total value of $839,960.88. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,330 shares in the company, valued at $947,087.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other RB Global news, insider Baron Concors sold 6,800 shares of RB Global stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.11, for a total value of $442,748.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,658 shares in the company, valued at $1,019,492.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Megan Anne Cash sold 13,596 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.78, for a total transaction of $839,960.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,330 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $947,087.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have purchased 6,911 shares of company stock worth $412,150 over the last quarter. 4.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Hedge Funds Weigh In On RB Global A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RBA. Independent Franchise Partners LLP boosted its stake in RB Global by 203.8% in the 1st quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 14,851,085 shares of the business services providers stock worth $835,968,000 after purchasing an additional 9,962,297 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in RB Global by 286.9% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,479,856 shares of the business services providers stock worth $388,791,000 after purchasing an additional 4,804,923 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP acquired a new position in RB Global in the 1st quarter worth approximately $197,481,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in RB Global by 241.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,983,676 shares of the business services providers stock worth $178,932,000 after purchasing an additional 2,109,713 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can acquired a new stake in shares of RB Global during the 2nd quarter valued at $124,851,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.24% of the companys stock. RB Global Company Profile (Get Free Report) RB Global, Inc, an omnichannel marketplace, provides insights, services, and transaction solutions for buyers and sellers of commercial assets and vehicles worldwide. Its marketplace brands include Ritchie Bros., an auctioneer of commercial assets and vehicles offering online bidding; IAA, a digital marketplace connecting vehicle buyers and sellers; Rouse Services, which provides asset management, data-driven intelligence, and performance benchmarking system; SmartEquip, a technology platform that supports customers' management of the equipment lifecycle; Xcira that provides live simulcast auction technologies; and Veritread, an online marketplace for heavy haul transport solution. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for RB Global Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for RB Global and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com cut shares of Park Aerospace (NYSE:PKE Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning. Park Aerospace Stock Performance NYSE PKE opened at $14.74 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $298.49 million, a P/E ratio of 28.35 and a beta of 0.51. Park Aerospace has a one year low of $10.59 and a one year high of $16.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $14.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.89. Get Park Aerospace alerts: Park Aerospace (NYSE:PKE Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $12.48 million during the quarter. Park Aerospace had a return on equity of 7.14% and a net margin of 19.01%. Park Aerospace Announces Dividend Institutional Trading of Park Aerospace The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, October 2nd will be given a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 29th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. Park Aerospaces dividend payout ratio is presently 96.15%. A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PKE. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Park Aerospace by 60.2% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,028 shares of the semiconductor companys stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 762 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in Park Aerospace by 277.2% in the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,139 shares of the semiconductor companys stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,572 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky purchased a new stake in Park Aerospace in the third quarter worth $28,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in Park Aerospace by 542.8% in the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,709 shares of the semiconductor companys stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 3,132 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in Park Aerospace by 20,907.1% in the second quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 5,882 shares of the semiconductor companys stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 5,854 shares during the period. 77.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Park Aerospace Company Profile (Get Free Report) Park Aerospace Corp., an aerospace company, develops and manufactures solution and hot-melt advanced composite materials used to produce composite structures for the aerospace market in North America, Asia, and Europe. It offers advanced composite materials, including film adhesives and lightning strike protection materials that are used to produce primary and secondary structures for jet engines, large and regional transport aircrafts, military aircrafts, unmanned aerial vehicles, business jets, general aviation aircrafts, and rotary wing aircrafts. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Park Aerospace Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Park Aerospace and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. decreased its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT Free Report) by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,523,506 shares of the retailers stock after selling 588,343 shares during the quarter. Walmart accounts for about 0.6% of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.s holdings in Walmart were worth $711,005,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Carl Stuart Investment Advisor Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart in the 1st quarter valued at $4,210,753,000. Sageworth Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2,414.3% during the 1st quarter. Sageworth Trust Co now owns 176 shares of the retailers stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 58.3% during the 1st quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 190 shares of the retailers stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 387.8% during the 1st quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 200 shares of the retailers stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.18% of the companys stock. Get Walmart alerts: Insider Buying and Selling In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 4,375 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.24, for a total value of $696,675.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 277,868 shares in the company, valued at $44,247,700.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 9,708 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.58, for a total transaction of $1,549,202.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,480,924 shares in the company, valued at $236,325,851.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 4,375 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on 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 $44,247,700.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 31,166 shares of company stock valued at $5,011,557. 46.51% of the stock is owned by insiders. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $162.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, August 18th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Walmart from $166.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Walmart from $159.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Walmart from $175.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, September 8th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Walmart from $169.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $177.22. Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Walmart Walmart Stock Up 0.6 % WMT traded up $0.88 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $159.83. 4,603,628 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,895,723. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.05 and a 1 year high of $165.85. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $160.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $155.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $430.19 billion, a PE ratio of 30.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.83. Walmart (NYSE:WMT Get Free Report) last announced 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. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.47% and a net margin of 2.23%. The firm had revenue of $161.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.77 EPS. The companys revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 6.44 EPS for the current year. Walmart Company Profile (Free Report) Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, and other units worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com, walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, and samsclub.com; and mobile commerce applications. Recommended Stories 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. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. cut its stake in shares of EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG Free Report) by 12.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,517,252 shares of the energy exploration companys stock after selling 218,413 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned approximately 0.26% of EOG Resources worth $173,634,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EOG. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of EOG Resources during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of EOG Resources in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of EOG Resources in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Kalos Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of EOG Resources during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in EOG Resources by 1,136.4% during the 1st quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 272 shares of the energy exploration companys stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. 89.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get EOG Resources alerts: Insider Activity In related news, COO Lloyd W. Helms, Jr. sold 4,551 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.76, for a total value of $595,088.76. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 145,259 shares of the companys stock, valued at $18,994,066.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the companys stock. EOG Resources Trading Up 0.9 % Shares of NYSE EOG opened at $135.02 on Monday. EOG Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $98.52 and a fifty-two week high of $150.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a current ratio of 2.39. The company has a market cap of $78.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.02, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.55. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $128.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.87. EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The energy exploration company reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $5.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.74 billion. EOG Resources had a return on equity of 28.52% and a net margin of 33.58%. The businesss revenue was down 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.74 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that EOG Resources, Inc. will post 11.36 earnings per share for the current year. EOG Resources Announces Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 17th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 16th. EOG Resourcess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.24%. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of EOG Resources from $115.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Monday, July 10th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of EOG Resources in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a hold rating for the company. TD Securities lifted their target price on EOG Resources from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on EOG Resources from $143.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on EOG Resources from $164.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, October 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, EOG Resources currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $150.04. Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on EOG EOG Resources Profile (Free Report) EOG Resources, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, explores for, develops, produces, and markets crude oil, and natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its principal producing areas are in New Mexico and Texas in the United States; and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The company was formerly known as Enron Oil & Gas Company. Read More Receive News & Ratings for EOG Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for EOG Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Means Investment CO. Inc. lessened its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO Free Report) by 1.1% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 18,166 shares of the utilities providers stock after selling 196 shares during the period. Means Investment CO. Inc.s holdings in Southern were worth $1,276,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SO. Wayfinding Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 10.7% during the second quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC now owns 3,920 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $283,000 after acquiring an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the second quarter valued at about $209,000. First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown increased its holdings in Southern by 7.2% in the second quarter. First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown now owns 5,815 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $409,000 after buying an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Satovsky Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 7.7% in the second quarter. Satovsky Asset Management LLC now owns 3,233 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Southern by 5.1% in the second quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 67,427 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $4,737,000 after buying an additional 3,263 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.85% of the companys stock. Get Southern alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes Several analysts recently weighed in on SO shares. Scotiabank raised Southern from a sector perform rating to a sector outperform rating and set a $78.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday. Bank of America raised Southern from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and upped their target price for the company from $67.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 13th. StockNews.com started coverage on Southern in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a sell rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Southern from $75.00 to $74.00 in a report on Friday, August 4th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $72.00 in a report on Monday, October 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $73.00. Insider Activity In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.00, for a total transaction of $330,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 116,284 shares in the company, valued at $7,674,744. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.00, for a total transaction of $330,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 116,284 shares in the company, valued at $7,674,744. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,490 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.05, for a total value of $99,904.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 72,756 shares in the company, valued at $4,878,289.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,490 shares of company stock worth $2,911,455 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the companys stock. Southern Price Performance Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.87 during trading on Monday, hitting $67.42. The company had a trading volume of 1,864,156 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,115,329. The company has a market cap of $73.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.52, a PEG ratio of 4.58 and a beta of 0.53. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $58.85 and a 52 week high of $75.80. The businesss 50-day moving average is $67.69 and its 200 day moving average is $70.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.83. Southern (NYSE:SO Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.05. The company 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 for the quarter was down 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.07 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Southern Dividend Announcement The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 20th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.15%. Southerns payout ratio is currently 98.94%. About Southern (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. Further Reading 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. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its stake in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY Free Report) by 0.6% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,406 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc.s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $2,536,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Silicon Valley Capital Partners purchased a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 193.3% during the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 88 shares of the companys stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Laffer Tengler Investments purchased a new position in Eli Lilly and Company during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 156.4% in the first quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 100 shares of the companys stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company during the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Eli Lilly and Company alerts: Eli Lilly and Company Trading Up 1.8 % Shares of NYSE LLY traded up $11.18 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $620.38. The stock had a trading volume of 1,327,382 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,033,993. The businesss fifty day moving average price is $556.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $472.43. The firm has a market cap of $588.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.33. Eli Lilly and Company has a 52-week low of $309.20 and a 52-week high of $629.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Eli Lilly and Company ( NYSE:LLY Get Free Report ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The company reported $2.11 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $8.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $7.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.25 EPS. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 28.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Eli Lilly and Company will post 9.83 EPS for the current fiscal year. Several research analysts recently weighed in on LLY shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $490.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Eli Lilly and Company from $565.00 to $633.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Eli Lilly and Company from $640.00 to $673.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 11th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $500.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eli Lilly and Company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $540.09. Read Our Latest Analysis on LLY Insider Transactions at Eli Lilly and Company In related 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 transaction of $678,445.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,760 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,586,004.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Eli Lilly and Company news, EVP Alonzo Weems sold 1,148 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $590.98, for a total transaction of $678,445.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,760 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,586,004.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 591 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.62, for a total value of $275,772.42. Following the sale, the insider now owns 101,028,219 shares of the companys stock, valued at $47,141,787,549.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 908,246 shares of company stock valued at $21,078,990,577. Company insiders own 0.13% of the companys stock. 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. Read More 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. This photo taken on Oct. 15, 2023 shows a pattern on cloth at a textile exhibition in Tehran, Iran. Iran's international textile exhibition kicked off in the capital Tehran on Sunday with the participation of textile companies from 11 countries and regions. (Xinhua/Shadati) TEHRAN, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Iran's international textile exhibition kicked off in the capital Tehran on Sunday with the participation of textile companies from 11 countries and regions. A total of 160 domestic and 180 foreign firms joined the 29th IRANTEX International Exhibition that runs until Oct. 18 at the Tehran Permanent International Fairgrounds. Textile machinery, spare parts, sewing and embroidery machines, as well as different textiles, are exhibited at the event. Fifteen scientific workshops and two specialized conferences will also be held during the exhibition. Also on Sunday, the 11th International Apparel Exhibition and the 10th International Exhibition of Footwear, Bag, Leather, and Related Industries also took place at the same venue. People visit a textile exhibition in Tehran, Iran, Oct. 15, 2023. Iran's international textile exhibition kicked off in the capital Tehran on Sunday with the participation of textile companies from 11 countries and regions. (Xinhua/Shadati) This photo taken on Oct. 15, 2023 shows a pattern being made by a textile machine at a textile exhibition in Tehran, Iran. Iran's international textile exhibition kicked off in the capital Tehran on Sunday with the participation of textile companies from 11 countries and regions. (Xinhua/Shadati) People visit a textile exhibition in Tehran, Iran, Oct. 15, 2023. Iran's international textile exhibition kicked off in the capital Tehran on Sunday with the participation of textile companies from 11 countries and regions. (Xinhua/Shadati) People visit a textile exhibition in Tehran, Iran, Oct. 15, 2023. Iran's international textile exhibition kicked off in the capital Tehran on Sunday with the participation of textile companies from 11 countries and regions. (Xinhua/Shadati) A woman looks at cloth at a textile exhibition in Tehran, Iran, Oct. 15, 2023. Iran's international textile exhibition kicked off in the capital Tehran on Sunday with the participation of textile companies from 11 countries and regions. (Xinhua/Shadati) BEIJING, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) During a recent inspection trip to east China's Jiangxi Province, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the Yangtze River National Cultural Park, a historical and cultural block, and an ancient village. The three places all bear notable hallmarks of Chinese culture. The visit came after Xi Jinping Thought on Culture was formally put forward at a recent national meeting on the work of public communication and culture. Rooted in China's 5,000-year civilization, the Thought places a profound emphasis on the preservation and development of fine traditional culture. During his sojourn in the city of Jiujiang, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspected an urban section of the Yangtze River National Cultural Park, which was officially launched in late 2021 for the revival of the rich historical culture along the mother river stretching over 6,300 km long. National cultural parks serve as a concrete embodiment of Chinese culture. The CPC Central Committee, with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, has made the decision to build national cultural parks dedicated to the Yangtze River, the Great Wall, the Grand Canal, the Long March, and the Yellow River, all of which epitomize Chinese culture and national ethos. The parks under construction will provide the public with more destinations to experience the legacy of Chinese culture and enhance their understanding of Chinese civilization. Since becoming general secretary of the CPC Central Committee in November 2012, Xi had visited multiple places along the basin of the Yangtze River, stressing the importance of cultural preservation and inheritance. In Jiujiang, he emphasized that all work to protect the Yangtze River must be undertaken from the perspective of a community of life featuring harmony between humanity and nature and the sustainable development of the Chinese nation. To Xi, preserving the mother river is a way to leave a visible, tangible, memorable, and narratable Chinese civilization for future generations. While inspecting Jingdezhen City, known as the "porcelain capital," Xi visited a historical and cultural block, where he learned about the efforts to maintain the inheritance of ceramic culture. Noting that fine traditional Chinese culture has survived uninterrupted since ancient times, Xi stressed that porcelain is both a treasure and a calling card of the Chinese nation. The fire from kilns in Jingdezhen has burned for some 2,000 years, serving as a testament to the enduring legacy of Chinese civilization. Inspecting the block, Xi learned about the craftsmanship and procedures of porcelain making and talked with the inheritors of intangible cultural heritage, encouraging them to pursue their craftsmanship with dedication and devote themselves to passing down their craft and making innovations. Similar interactions had taken place in his previous inspection tours. Today, the porcelain city is also a window for the world to perceive China and understand Chinese culture. The cultural industry it has formed achieved prosperity in both improving people's lives and promoting Chinese culture. As the third stop in his trip to Jiangxi, Xi visited an ancient village in Wuyuan County in Shangrao City to learn about ecological conservation at a local wetland park and progress in rural revitalization. Over the years, Xi had inspected multiple traditional villages in the country, making instructions on the preservation of such villages. In Xi's eye, rural civilization is the mainstay of the history of Chinese civilization, and villages are carriers of the civilization. Prominent hallmarks of Chinese culture, such as the solar terms, the ethics of harmony between humanity and nature, and folk customs in rural areas, are brought together in China's traditional villages. The village retains a large number of Huizhou-style mansions, with every household having a classic on family instructions. It is a gathering place for local culture. Upon departure, Xi expressed the hope that villagers could protect nature, integrate the flavor of traditional villages with modern elements, maintain the aesthetic taste of the Chinese nation, and make the countryside even more beautiful. The Yangtze River rolling for thousands of miles, the colorful ceramic culture, the ancient village that has stood for thousands of years.... They all carry the codes of Chinese civilization in different forms. Xi has called for efforts to build stronger cultural confidence and promote the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture. In doing so, solid ideological guarantees, powerful inspiration, and favorable cultural conditions can be formed for building a modern socialist country in all respects and advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts. (Source: Xinhua) QUITO, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Daniel Noboa, a presidential candidate of Ecuador, consolidated his position as president-elect, the National Electoral Council (CNE) said, citing the preliminary official results of the presidential runoff held Sunday. With 88.42 percent of the votes counted as of 7:40 p.m. local time (0040 GMT), Noboa, from the right-wing National Democratic Action alliance, had obtained 52.29 percent of the valid votes compared to 47.71 percent for his rival, Luisa Gonzalez from the Citizen Revolution movement led by ex-president Rafael Correa. Later in the day, with 90.78 percent of the ballots counted, the CNE announced that Noboa won the presidential elections in Ecuador. CNE President Diana Atamaint affirmed that the results were "irreversible," declaring Noboa to be president-elect of the South American country. Israeli armored personnel carriers (APCs) maneuver at an area along the border with Gaza, southern Israel, 15 October 2023. Trump does not have the right to say and do exactly what he pleases, Judge Chutkan says, issuing gag order Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with a high-level delegation of Turkmenistan in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 16, 2023. The Turkmen delegation includes Ashirguly Begliev, Advisor to the President of Turkmenistan, and Deputy Prime Minister Rashid Meredov. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei) BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- China and Turkmenistan on Monday pledged to deepen cooperation in the field of energy and push forward bilateral relations. Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang met with a high-level delegation of Turkmenistan in Beijing on Monday. The meeting took place ahead of the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, slated for Tuesday and Wednesday in Beijing. The Turkmen delegation includes Ashirguly Begliev, Advisor to the President of Turkmenistan, and Deputy Prime Minister Rashid Meredov. Ding, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that China is willing to work with Turkmenistan to fully implement the important consensus reached by the heads of state, deepen cooperation in the field of energy and push forward bilateral relations. The visiting delegation said fruitful results have been realized in Turkmenistan's cooperation with China in the field of natural gas, adding that Turkmenistan is willing to continue to deepen bilateral energy cooperation and push forward the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries. The Labour Party has issued a directive to all party branches warning that any public expression of opposition to Israels war against Gaza will be met with disciplinary action, including expulsion. General Secretary of the Labour Party David Evans contacted secretaries of Constituency Labour Party (CLP) and local branches Friday, ahead of mass protests in defence of the Palestinian people. Evans warned, Elected representatives have been given strong advice not to attend any of these events, and I would urge you to exercise similar caution. This outrageous edict was to ensure party members did not share a platform with, or stand close to, individuals that threaten to undermine the values and principles of the labour party. Londons mass protest on Saturday, March for Palestine End the violence End Apartheid, was joined by more than 150,000 people, with thousands more demonstrating across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. A section of the protest in London against Israel's assault on Gaza, attended by over 150,000 people on Saturday October 14, 2023 Evans wrote, I ask that no Labour Party banners be taken along. Labours venom toward global protests in defence of the Palestinians did not stop there. Evans announced that any motions tabled at CLPs or local branches against Israels war crimes will be ruled out of order. He declared, The partys leadership has been clear that Labour fully supports Israels right to defend itself, rescue hostages, and protect civilians, in line with international law. But Israels collective punishment against Palestinian civilians is in naked violation of international law. Gazas population of 2.3 million people faces destruction as Israels militaryarmed and financed by the US and Britainpummels civilian targets amid a genocidal blockade depriving Palestinians of water, food and electricity. Israel has severed all internet connections in Gaza, preventing Palestinians from speaking to the world. The Labour Party has announced its own information blockade. Evans declared that social media accounts must not be used to promote statements or events that are likely to bring the party into disrepute and that abusing someone online is completely unacceptable. He left no doubt about the meaning of Labours diktat, directing secretaries to the partys code of conduct that defines opposition to Zionism as anti-Semitism, providing a trigger to expel members who publicly oppose Israeli war crimes. He urged CLP and local secretaries to report any breach of party rules to Labours witch-hunting compliance unit. Evans letter stated that any instance of anti-Semitism (as defined by Labours compliance unit) should be reported to the Community Security Trust (CST), a body he described as a charity that protects Jews from anti-Semitism and which is recognised by police and government as a unique model of best practice. The CST is in fact a front group for the Zionist state. Young Labour leader resigns over Starmers support for war crimes Labours call for a crackdown on internal dissent was given its head by leader Sir Keir Starmer who used media interviews over the past week surrounding the party conference in Liverpool to demand full support for Israels genocidal war. British Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer tells LBC radio he supports Israel's collective punishment against 2.3 million civilians in Gaza [Photo: LBC radio screenshot] On Wednesday, Starmer told LBC radio that Israels military response to action by Hamas fighters was proportionate, declaring, Israel has the right to do everything that it can to get those hostages back safe and sound, therefore Im very clear Israel must have, does have that right to defend herself and Hamas bears responsibility. LBCs Nick Ferrari asked, A siege is appropriate? Cutting off power? Cutting off water? To which Starmer replied, I think that Israel does have that right. On BBC Newsnight, Shadow Attorney General Emily Thornberry backed Starmer to the hilt. Asked, Do you think cutting off food, water and electricity is within international law?, she replied, I think that Israel has an absolute right to defend itself against terrorism. Challenged by the BBCs Victoria Derbyshire, who insisted, Thats not the question that I asked, Thornberry was unwavering: It is an appropriate answer to the question that youve asked. Labours embrace of crimes comparable to those of the Nazis during World War II is fuelling mass opposition, even among previously loyal Labour members. On Thursday, Lubaba Khalid, Young Labours National Executive BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) officer, resigned from the party. Khalid published her resignation letter on Twitter/X on Thursday. She wrote: As a Palestinian, with direct family in Gaza, I am absolutely appalled by the comments made to LBC by the leader of the Labour Party and my local MP, Keir Starmer, who said that Israel has the right to withhold water and electricity. Collective punishment is a war crime under international law. This position was then reaffirmed by Emily Thornberry. I have spent the last few days worried about the safety of my family and with electricity now cut off and communication limited these worries are only exacerbated. I have received zero support from the Labour Partya common theme experienced by other Muslim and Palestinian members. She concluded, The comments from the leadership this week have been the last straw. I can only conclude that the Labour Party is no longer a safe space for Palestinians and Muslims. Khalids resignation letter has been viewed more than 3 million times and liked by more than 41,000 people. Her family is from Gazas Nuseirat refugee camp, struck repeatedly by Israeli missiles. Khalids resignation raises fundamental political issues. She was voted to Young Labours national executive last year, part of a slate of candidates from campaign group Momentum, named Socialist Future. She said in her election statement, I have long considered the Labour Party my political home. She continued, Im standing to build an empowered, campaigning socialist youth wing that is unafraid to stand up for the communities we represent, insisting, Our organising must be anti-racist, anti-imperialist, and committed to global liberation. But Khalids resignation will instead reinforce the conclusions being drawn by millions of workers and young people about the real character of the Labour Party. Between 2015 and 2016, more than 180,000 workers and youth joined Labour to support Jeremy Corbyn who promised a fight against the pro-war and austerity policies championed by the Blairites. The Momentum group played a key role in promoting Corbyn. As WSWS explained in 2015: Momentum is perpetrating a fiction: namely that the Labour Party can transform our society for the better, rather than being an obstacle to such a change. Corbyn betrayed his thousands of supporters, ceding to the Blairites on every issue. On becoming leader he resigned as Chairman of Stop the War Coalition, backed a free vote in parliament to bomb Syria, reaffirmed Labours support for NATO, endorsed Trident nuclear weapons and instructed Labour-run councils to enforce Tory budget cuts. Momentums founder Jon Lansman backed the bogus campaign against left-wing anti-Semitism used to remove Corbyn as party leader. Corbyn opposed any mobilisation of the membership to defeat the Blairites witch-hunt, insisting that the right-wings attack dogs were part of Labours broad church. The Socialist Equality Party solidarized itself with the leftward sentiments in the working class in 2015, but explained that those hoping Corbyn would provide an alternative to austerity will be cruelly disappointed. The real measure of his campaign must be judged not on stated intentions, but on the essential criterion of the class interests served by the party and the programme he defends. Labour is a right-wing bourgeois party. It is complicit in all the crimes of British imperialism and has functioned as the principal political opponent of socialism for more than a century ... [What does the Jeremy Corbyn phenomenon represent? (August 15, 2015)] The ruthless crackdown on support for the Palestinians against Israels genocidal warpart of an expanding imperialist war encompassing NATOs proxy-war against Russia in Ukraine and military confrontation against Chinarepresents the collapse of all efforts to reform the Labour Party and pressure it to the left. Its essential role as a party of imperialist war and political reaction is being confirmed in the eyes of millions. As well as a national demonstration of over 150,000 people in London, protestors in their thousands joined local rallies across the UK, in an outpouring of opposition to Israels war on the Palestinians. World Socialist Web Site reporters spoke with demonstrators in Manchester, Sheffield, Huddersfield, Bradford, and Leeds. Manchester Zahra said, Theyve cornered the people in Gaza, theyre doing a clean out of helpless people. And America and England sending warships, its a genocide. My bottom line is, its World War Three, and anything could trigger it. America could drop something, and Russia will do the same. People have to do something. Zahra and her daughter at the Manchester demonstration Young lawyer Khalid explained, I am upset and terrified for the children getting bombed in Gaza. Civilians are being killed on all sides. We should be getting together to save the planet. Who suffers? Its always the people! Its Palestinians today, and everyone tomorrow. School student Myra said, Its not an invasion by Hamas, its a rightful resistance to a brutal occupation by a racist, apartheid regime. Its genocidethe people cant evacuate. Myra Malaak, a Macmillan welfare rights worker, said, The gap between the Tories and Labour has never been so narrow. Keir Starmer used to be a human rights lawyer! But he apparently doesnt know that killing children is not self-defence. College student Zina from Iraq said, This conflicts been going on for 70 years plus. Its about basic human rights, seeing videos of children being murdered. We have to be the voice of people with no electricity. They are condemning Palestinians to genocide, bombing safe routes. Zina Sheffield A section of the rally in Sheffield Yasser, an Amazon worker, said, Theres an outcry for Ukraines defence, but nothing for Palestine, where the situation has been going on for 75 years. These wars are geopolitical. The US and most European governments have got a problem with Russia. Theyre friendly with Israel. This is a worldwide struggle against the corrupt powers-that-be. If the majority gets together then well have the power. Were standing up for the human rights of all people, regardless of race or religion. We want freedom for the people of Palestine whove been under siege for generations. The politicians of Israel are switching off the gas, electricity, and food supply for 2.3 million people in Gaza. That is collective punishment and a war crime. Im absolutely disgusted that the Labour leader Keir Starmer supports that. Israel has a free pass to commit atrocities. Theyre not answerable to anyone. The politicians are turning a blind eye to war crimes in the 21st century. I definitely support uniting the working class internationally! The majority are on the right sidesupporting freedom for Palestine. Im disgusted that Home Secretary Suella Braverman has called for the flying of the Palestinian flag to be banned. This country likes to champion freedom of speech, but how can this be a criminal offence? The Palestinian flag is a symbol of the struggle of the people. Abdallah, a teacher, said, I am Palestinian. What I see in the Gaza strip is a crime against humanity and all international laws. It is a collective punishment for children and women, not for Hamas. The Israeli military is destroying hospitals. The Israelis told hospital managers to leave and empty the hospitals, but where can they go? Abdallah This has been going on in Gaza for 17 years. It is a concentration camp. I received a message yesterday from a friend in Gaza who lost his eight-year-old niece. She was playing in her house by the window when the house was attacked. The girl fell from the window. They could not recognise her afterwards. The Palestinians are supported by people around the world, but not from the governments. The US government is sending its warships there. The British government is sending warships. They all support Israel. Frank said, The actions that the UK government are supporting are abhorrent. Theyre not in the name of any working-class person of Britain. Theyre done in the name of imperialism. Theyre done in the name of genocide. The Labour Party are the same imperialist party that theyve always been. Theyve always supported NATO. Theyve always supported US interests. Theyve always supported intervention in other peoples business. Working-class people have got to stand against this sort of torment. What happens to Palestinians theyre the same class as me. It could easily happen to me. Its about time working-class people stood together, whatever religion, creed, sex, race, it doesnt matter. Yosuf, a student, said, No-one in the world is supporting Israel other than the big powers and their allies. It is mass genocide. For years the Palestinians have been robbed of basic human necessities. I know the Palestinians are not terrorists. I know friends who have family who have been killed in Palestine. I have relatives that have been victims. Yosuf Aaamer said, The Palestinians are fighting for one thing, to get their homeland back. This has nothing to do with Judaism. It is the state of Israel that is Zionist. It is terrorism. Daniel Bustamante said, I come from Chile, the country upon which the West imposed a military dictatorship in 1973. The Israeli government provided weapons for that Nazi dictatorship to kill the Chilean people. Daniel Bustamante Humanity is being destroyed around the world by war after war. Israels actions are enticing the Arab countries to react, risking launching us into a third world war. Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour Party, has announced his support for the Israeli blockade of supplies into the Palestinian Occupied Territories. We should have our own strategy and culture. The elite can say whatever they want through the fake news media, which they own, to push us towards war. We dont have our own method of communication. The so-called left is pro-war and against the working class. Daniel said, America and Britain are completely hypocritical in giving Israel a blank cheque to attack the Palestinians. Its disgusting how theyre promoting ignorance of the historic oppression of the Palestinian people. Daniel Ive got friends there and have visited many times. The media propaganda is so different from reality on the ground. The headlines are of Israeli deaths and ignore Palestinian casualties in Gaza, who have been bombed. Im disgusted how the Tories and Labour Party support the siege of the Palestinians. It doesnt reflect the opinion of most British people. It puts the witch-hunt against a whole wing of their party into a new light. Theyve cast out anyone who opposes this foreign policy. Alan said, The US and European countries have given Israel permission to commit war crimes because of geopolitical reasons. They want to maintain a power base in the Middle East. The Israeli, Saudi, and Gulf states are carving up the regiontheres no room for the Palestinians. The poor buggers deserve a proper homeland, not just a camp. Huddersfield Ayesha said, They are giving a rerun of what the Nazis did. Even when they, the Israeli government, say you can leave by this route they then bomb them. The support by all the western governments is disgusting. Gopal and Raja from Kashmir, India explained, The situation in Gaza is like what is happening in Kashmir. It is illegally occupied. There are no human rights there. There is no such thing as democracyyou dont have the right to protest or do a lot of things which a democratic country should enjoy. We are not allowed to leave our homes, to move freely on the streets. If we travel you will be asked, where are you going and why, to show our ID cards. They have special powers where if they suspect you of anything they can kill you without being asked to explain. Bradford Isabelle a hairdressing student, said, I think the support for Israel and propaganda being pushed out is totally wrong, no one should be bombing anyone. I have told everyone I know about what is happening in Gaza and why. Isabella Issy, 16, said, There is a massive double standard, Ukraine is getting praised, and Palestine is getting demonised. The people of Palestine should be able to fight back. People need to fight for Palestine, they cant fight for themselves. Issy Mariam, a university student, said, What is going on is a genocide and apartheid. This has been going on for decades. The fight is one-sided. I dont think it is a fair fight at all. Hundreds of children and adults are being killed in Gaza right now. It is time for Palestinian people to fight back and get their rights. Leeds Haleema said, Everything that youve seen in the media is twisted. The Palestinians are the ones who are burning. They have barely survived and have got nothing left. Haleemah They told people to leave Gaza City and then theyre killing them on their way. It reminds me of what happened to the Jews during the Second World War, like in Poland. Its the same kind of techniques. Giving them false hope about the Warsaw ghetto. The violence of the oppressor and of the oppressed are not the same thing. Thats what the media arent looking at. They are not seeing that the Palestinians are just fighting for survival. The Canadian parliament gave a standing ovation to a veteran from Hitlers Waffen SS. That is shocking. It just shows that the world hasnt changed as much as we thought it had since the Holocaust. And a Palestinian life is not worth enough compared to a Ukrainian. But a life is a life, a child is a child. What is the reason for the [Wests] support for Ukraine and for Israel, what is the ulterior motive behind it? Sarah, a student said, My sign says End the Genocide because what were seeing now is that the Palestinians face a siege by air, by land and by sea. Theres no way for them to get out. Sarah Weve had almost 2,000 Palestinians killed by Israel in the last week, and Im here just to call for an end to that. Politicians and government leaders are calling what happened in Israel absolutely awful but they wont condemn the crimes of the Israeli government against the Palestinians. There are politicians here saying that waving a Palestinian flag should be a crime. Theres been the occupation of Palestine for 75 years now. There have been war crimes committed through the entirety of that time. Western leaders dont call for an end to that, but when they said Russia was committing war crimes on Ukrainians they were up in arms. Power is with the people at the top, and they dont care about people like us, ordinary people. America has blood on its hands, and the United Kingdom as well. Ahmed, originally from Morocco, said, Israel is pretending that they are targeting Hamas, but it is so clear that they are targeting innocent people. Everyone knows that its the land of the Palestinians, its not the land of Israel. For them, the blood of Israelis is valuable but the blood of the Palestinians is not. Really they want to kill all Palestinians. Jasmine said, Israel was created illegitimately though ethnic cleansing and terrorism, genocide and massacres. Ever since it was created, it has been maintained through apartheid and racism and human rights abuses and they get away with their crimes with complete impunity. They have an extreme right-wing, fascist and Zionist ideology, based on a superiority complex. They operate a system of apartheid based on discrimination and human rights abuses against the Palestinians. Palestinians are being held in concentration camps. We believe in human rights for people all over the world of all faiths and no faith. The resources of the world should be used to benefit people and not be used to support Israels terrorism. They are using white phosphorus on innocent people. The Palestinians are left with no other choice because they are facing a brutal military occupation. Half the population of Gaza are children. The US and other big powers have always supported Israel because its their terrorist base in the Middle East. They give billions of dollars to Israel even though the housing in America is appalling and the health system doesnt support millions of people. People on the ground are suffering in terms of health and education while the rich are getting richer. Its a war on two fronts. On Friday, French police arrested Jean-Claude Meyer, a member of the French Jewish Union for Peace (UJFP), for carrying a Palestinian flag at a Strasbourg protest. Another UJFP member, Perrine, was also arrested and held for an additional 24 hours on Saturday evening. As of Sunday night, it appeared she had not been released. A total of 13 people were arrested at the Strasbourg rally organised in defence of Palestinians as the Israeli state prepares a ground invasion of Gaza. The rally was banned by the local prefecture in line with the memorandum to police chiefs issued by French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin. It states: Pro-Palestinian demonstrations, as they are likely to generate disturbances to public order, must be prohibited, and the organization of these prohibited demonstrations must give rise to arrests. A UJFP statement after the arrest of Meyer and other protesters pointed to Macrons murderous role in backing Israels onslaught on Gaza, and the popular anger this has unleashed: Faced with the legitimate emotion which pushes a large part of the populationincluding many young peopleto show solidarity with Palestine, which has once again been put under fire since the spiral of murderous violence to which has left civilians once again facing bombing and expulsion out of the Gaza Strip, a distraught power [France] which seems to have lost all measure aligns itself with the Israeli extreme right, refuses to allow the voice of the suffering Palestinians to be heard, and even forbids the slightest sympathy to be publicly expressed for the oppressed! The collective also criticized the role of French media in whitewashing the Israeli onslaught and official French support for it. It noted that there is Not a word in the official media, not a gesture from the authorities in the direction of de-escalation, but on the contrary the expression of contempt for a solidarity movement which is not limited to pro-Palestinian organizations alone. By Sunday evening, the only French media outlet to have reported on the arrest of members of the Jewish Union for Peace was France3s Grand-Est regional news page. In pro-Palestinian protests across France at the weekend, hundreds were fined and dozens arrested, although the interior ministry has not yet released official statistics. At another solidarity protest for Gaza Saturday, police arrested well-known left-wing journalist and former Unsubmissive France (LFI) member Taha Bouhafs. They dragged Bouhafs away from the protest, though he showed them his press credentials and passport. Bouhafs was later released and fined for attending the protest. In a press conference on Saturday, Darmanin seized on a Chechnyan youths horrific murder of Domnique Bernard, a teacher at his old high school, to impose more measures to repress political opposition in France, particularly amongst foreign residents. After the attack Friday, the French terror threat level was raised to emergency attack, the highest level. Thousands of additional police officers are posted across France. Darmanin pledged to carry out the systematic expulsion of any foreigner considered dangerous by the intelligence services. He stated that state agents will be allow[ed], across all State services, to evaluate people [foreigners] who are in the country, to classify them as being dangerous, and obviously to proceed with their expulsion. Darmanin also claimed 189 antisemitic acts had taken place in France since last Saturday, which led to 65 arrests. He also said Pharos, the French government website where online content can be anonymously reported, has received 2,449 complains relating to alleged antisemitic statements or apology for terrorism online. Since anyone publicly expressing solidarity for the Palestinian people can be arrested and classified as an antisemite, it is impossible to know how many of these incidents are genuinely antisemitic, and how many are part of state crackdown on pro-Palestinian opposition. It is unclear whether these figures include those arrested at pro-Palestinian protests. The escalation of the French states crackdown on political opposition over the weekend reflects the extreme nervousness in ruling circles that their full-throated support for the Israeli massacre of Gazans will reignite the class struggle in France. Next week, further planned protests, including the commemoration of the 200-300 Algerians killed by police in the massacre of Paris in 1961, have been banned by the Interior Ministry. A protester holds a Palestinian flag during a rally in solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza, in Paris. [AP Photo/Thibault Camus] Jean-Claude Meyer and other arrested pro-Palestinian protesters are political prisoners. They were not committing any crime and were arrested only for peaceful political expression. A domestic situation in which Jews are transformed into political prisoners for speaking out against genocide points to the extremely advanced preparations in the ruling class to impose a fascistic police state. Meyers arrest exposes the reactionary political lie that the Israeli state represents the interests of all Jews around the world. On the contrary, principled expressions of Jewish solidarity for the Palestinian people in Israel, the United States and France have shown the broad opposition in the Jewish population to the brutal policies of the Israeli regime. In the last two decades and under successive governments of all political colorations, the French ruling class has systematically built up a fascistic police state. One facet of this campaign has been the promotion of the far-right National Rally (RN) of Marine Le Pen, a party that descends from the Nazi-collaborationist Vichy-French regime. Another has been the emergence of a unanimous official consensus in favor of police repression. Macrons interior minister, Darmanin, a sympathiser of the far-right royalist Action Francaise, personifies the fascistic evolution of the French ruling class. His sympathies for the Action Francaise, founded in 1899 to support the jailing of innocent Jewish officer Alfred Dreyfus and that became a key ideological backer of collaboration with Nazism in World War II, led him once in office to denounce kosher and halal food. In a televised debate before last years presidential election, he attacked neo-fascist leader Marine Le Pen from the right, as soft on Islam. In 2021, Darmanin led the state campaign for the Anti-Separatism law, which amongst its other anti-democratic provisions, requires Frances 8 million Muslims to abide by national cohesion and public order. This is being extended to anyone who opposes Macrons support for the Israeli state as it massacres the Gazan population before the entire world. French police arrests of Jews opposed to the Israeli states genocidal onslaught on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip exposes the lie that its banning of Gaza solidarity protests aims to protect Jewish people. Rather, it aims to protect the French police state from mounting popular opposition, including to its support for the Israeli regimes policies of mass murder. Macrons massively unpopular government is maintained in power through imperialist war abroad and police repression at home. It has devoted billions of euros to supporting a fascist-infested regime in Ukraine in a war with Russia, and an unprecedented program of rearmament in France itself. It rules against the people, weathering mass strikes against his overwhelmingly unpopular pension cuts only through a combination of police violence and the support of a compliant union bureaucracy. Ruling circles clearly fear that the eruption of opposition to genocide in Gaza can blow this rotten political edifice apart. The arrest of Meyer amid the onslaught against Gaza must serve as a warning to all workers, youth and socialist-minded intellectuals who remember the crimes of the French collaboration with Nazism. As in the 1940s, the capitalist system has entered into a mortal political crisis. Opposition to it must take the form of an international, revolutionary movement of the working class, acting independently of corrupt national labor bureaucracies, in a struggle for socialism. Over 150,000 people protested in central London Saturday to demand an end to Israels war on the Palestinians. The March for Palestine, End the Violence, End Apartheid was a collective act of defiance of the relentless pro-Israeli propaganda campaign of the media, the Conservative government and the Labour Party and the threats of mass arrests made by the Metropolitan Police. After years of unrelenting propaganda and witch-hunting portraying opposition to Israeli war crimes as left anti-Semitism it was a powerful demonstration of genuine popular sentiment. A section of the March for Palestine protest at the rally outside Downing Street The march set off from Broadcasting House, the Portland Place headquarters of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), and proceeded through central London to a rally near the 10 Downing Street residence of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Masses of Palestine flags were waved, in a courageous snub to Home Secretary Suella Bravermans demand that this be made a criminal offense, as well as sounding the chant, From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. As the march assembled, protesters chanted BBC, shame on you. Londons Metropolitan Police mounted a massive intimidation operation, involving more than 1,000 officers. On Friday evening the Met announced on X/Twitter that a Section 12 order under the Public Order Act 1986 had been authorised from midday Saturday, warning that Any person participating in or associated with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign protest must not deviate from the route below [Portland Place to Regents Street, Piccadilly, Trafalgar Square and Whitehall] or they may be subject to arrest. Part of Kensington High Street, where the Israeli Embassy is located, was locked down entirely with the Met warning, Any person assembling here in order to participate in or associate with the London Palestine Protest or Palestine Solidarity Campaign may be subject to arrest. Sky News reported, Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) also ensured additional staff are available on call this weekend to provide charging advice to police if needed. The police made 15 arrests on the day. Police guarding a barricaded Downing Street during the March for Palestine rally On Sunday, the government stepped up its intimidation. Braverman wrote on X/Twitter, To all those who saw fit to promote genocide, glorify terrorism and mock the murder of Jewish people, including women and babiesthe police are coming for you. Organisers of the demonstration said another protest will take place next Saturday, October 21. Featured speakers were associated with the Stop the War Coalition. Jeremy Corbyn, the former leader of the Labour Party, gave a typically anodyne speech that did not even mention the Labour Partys war crimes-supporting leader Sir Keir Starmer. He concluded with a bankrupt appeal to unnamed political leaders in this country. Do not condone war crimes, do not condone the starvation and the denial of medicine to desperate people in Gaza or anywhere else. If you believe in international law, if you believe in human rights, then you must condemn what is happening in Gaza by the Israeli army. Jeremy Corbyn speaking at the March for Palestine rally Stop the War Coalition convenor Lindsay German, introduced as the leader of anti-war movement in Britain today, insisted that the main task of those attending was to go away and enlist the support of Labour MPs. Not a single Labour MP among the supposedly left Socialist Campaign Group attended the demonstration. While describing Starmer as a disgrace and complicit with Sunak in Israeli war crimes, German declared that while the people in Gaza and the people in the West Bank and all the Palestinians are showing tremendous bravery, I wish the same could be said of our politicians. Even the people who say they support Palestine, where are the Labour MPs on this demonstration theyre not here and that makes it harder for people to demonstrate. So, I would say to Labour MPs, get a backbone and get on the next demonstration. During the protest, World Socialist Web Site reporters spoke to Katy, from Hastings, who said, Im here to protest against genocide. Im here because I dont want a million children to be starved in my name. I dont want a population of 2.3 million to be punished and a genocide to happen without raising my voice. Katy, front left Im Jewish. I was brought up in the shadow of the Holocaust, and we were told never again and that means never again for anyone. The root cause of this is the occupation, is apartheid. We must stop it now. I have friends in Gaza right now, who still have their lives, thank God. But many dont, its a terrible situation. They are sheltering in their homes, but theyve got no food, no water. And every night the bombing comes, children are terrified. Their friends and family are buried under rubble. What were witnessing is an atrocity on an unimaginable scale. Im shocked at our media, that we havent come out and protested this. Im shocked at our leaders, so-called leaders. The people have to rise up and speak out and demand a ceasefire, demand humanitarian aid, demand an end to the occupation because nobodys security is gained through more violence. Nobody is safe so long as the apartheid state still exists. Can you imagine, 2.3 million people, theyve been in a concentration camp for 16 years. Now theyre in an extermination camp. This will be a stain on all of us as human beings unless we do something to stop it. Protester Stan denounced Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer for supporting Israel's war on the Palestinians. See below. Angela, who is retired, said, Ive been pro-Palestinian since childhood, seeing these youngsters throwing rocks at IDF [Israel Defense Forces] tanks. I was horrified and I asked my parents what was going on, thinking that World War II had ended all wars and realising that theres this constant battle going on in Palestine for people to get their land back. Theyve been swept into a concentration camp in Gaza. The average age is extremely young. And for all their years theyve seen horrific scenes. Angela We have an International Criminal Court, but it seems some countries are exempt. Theyll probably deem us all antisemitic because the Zionists portray the situation as if all people that stand up for the Palestinians are antisemitic or anti-Jewish, which is not true. The press put out the same ideas. Israel is carrying out war crimes. What is the point of the United Nations, of the International Criminal Court, if their government is not held accountable? If the truth comes out and people see the context in which the conflict has arisen then people arent going to go around supporting the oppressor. The media want us to support the oppressor and the aggressor every time. A lot of money is made from war and there are people like the US and ourselves who are very much invested in the Israeli state, Israeli intelligence. So obviously they want the UK population to be flying Israeli flags when theyre war criminals. The only way is for the truth to get out, like Julian Assange said, to get through to the population the history, the context of the situation. So that you dont just believe what the media is coming out with because the media is so controlled now. It doesnt serve the public interest. It serves foreign policy and the governments decide foreign policy. Samal, a mother of two, said, There are so many children in the hospitals. No one can help them, there is no water, no electricity, no food. They are not allowed to move. No one is allowed to help anyone. We have to stand and watch them die. Now they are demanding the Palestinians go to Rafa and Egypt. Why? This is their land and you are killing them. No way! We are not moving, we are not going anywhere. We would rather die in our land. Enough is enough. You are calling Hamas killers but Israels hands are covered in blood. Little childrens blood. Alamandur held up a poster with an excerpt from the WSWS International Editorial Board statement, US, European powers fully implicated in Israeli mass murder, which reads, The only viable perspective is not a 'mythical two state' solution but a unified socialist state of Jewish & Arab workers. He said, Im feeling sad and upset that the killing is not going to change things. We have to join these demonstrations and if large numbers of people do so the government will have to listen. Many people are now talking about this and its changed consciousness. Just look what they have done to Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. They have destroyed these countries, to make money out of war. I remember the mass demonstrations against the Iraq war and I know this did not stop the war, but its important that we make sure we can change this today. Riley said, I have made this sign saying Peace as it is the most important message. Because there is so much money in war the powers that be are not interested in peace and not interested in us, the people. The definitions of things are all dependant on what suits them and their agenda, not the truth. War crimes are things done by others, not by those they support. Indias Narendra Modi-led, far-right government is targeting internationally acclaimed author Arundhati Roy and former Central University of Kashmir international law professor Sheikh Showkat Hussain for criminal prosecution for remarks that they made at a conference held 13 years ago. This flagrant attack on free speech is part of the Modi governments ever-escalating assault on basic democratic rights and non-stop campaign of Hindu communalist incitement. Arundhati Roy was awarded the Booker Prize in 1997 for her novel The God of Small Things. In addition to other works of fiction, she has penned numerous articles and essays over the past quarter century scathingly critical of Indias capitalist rise under Modis Hindu supremacist BJP and the previous Congress Party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. Hussain is well-known as a human rights activist in Indian-occupied Kashmir. The attempt to jail Roy and Hussain for remarks they made in 2010 underscores that the Modi government is on an anti-democratic rampage. It is using the police and courts to systematically harass and try to silence all opposition, especially from the left, while mobilizing the BJPs far-right cadre to intimidate and seek to split the working class through the promotion of Hindu supremacism. This is unfolding in the run-up to the five state assembly elections that are to be held before the years end and the national parliamentary elections slated for the spring of 2024. The strong support accorded the BJP government by Indian big business and by the US and other Western imperialist powers, which are cynically touting India as a democratic antipode to China, is feeding Modis sense of impunity. But his governments actions are above all rooted in its awareness that there is seething, if as of yet inchoate, social discontent born of ever-widening social inequality, mass joblessness and hunger. According to a recent report authored by multiple UN agencies, including UNESCO and the World Health Organisation, a staggering 75 percent of Indias population cannot afford proper food. On Oct. 10, Delhi Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxenaacting on instructions from the Modi government which appointed himgave police authorization to lay criminal charges against Roy and Hussain. This was one week after police mounted numerous raids targeting the left-wing website NewsClick and its personnel on spurious foreign funding charges, and then detained NewsClicks editor-in-chief and its Human Resources manager under a draconian anti-terrorism law. Roy and Hussain now stand accused of multiple criminal offences for speeches they gave at an October 21, 2010 conference organized by Kashmiri separatist groups, under the title Azadithe Only Way Ahead. Azadi, which means liberation in several Indian languages, is employed by Kashmiri separatist groups as a slogan to denote their call for the regions independence from Indian rule. Representatives of several ethno-nationalist groups from northeast India that advocate secession from the Indian Union also attended the conference. In her speech, Roy called for self-determination for Kashmir, which was bifurcated into rival Indian and Pakistan-held Kashmirs in 1947-48 as part of the bloody communal partition of the subcontinent. In making this argument, she noted that India had agreed before the United Nations that Kashmir was disputed territory and not an integral part of the Indian Union. Over the past three-quarters of a century, both New Delhi and Islamabad have run roughshod over the democratic rights of the Kashmiri people while placing the Kashmir dispute at the centre of their reactionary strategic rivalry, which has led to three declared wars, numerous border skirmishes and today threatens to ignite a nuclear clash. Pointing to a journalists demand the week before that she clarify her stand on Kashmir, Roy told the 2010 conference, Kashmir has never been an integral part of India. However aggressively and however often you want to ask me that. Even the Indian government has accepted in the UN that its not an integral part of India. So why are we trying to change that narrative now? In her speech, Roy condemned the ferocious repression of the Kashmiri masses, who ever since mass protests erupted in 1989 against a sham state election have been surveilled and suppressed by a massive half-million-strong deployment of Indian military and paramilitary forces. These forces have committed atrocities akin to those perpetrated by the Israel Defence Forces against the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. Roy and Hussain are being charged under three sections of the Indian Penal Code153A, 153B and 505and face possible multiple three-year prison sentences. The first charge is for purportedly promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, etc.; the second for making imputations [and] assertions [which are] prejudicial to national-integration; and the third is for making remarks conducing to public mischief. These charges are based upon a 2010 police complaint filed by Sushil Pandit, a BJP electoral communication strategist, against four prominent persons including Roy and Hussain who took part in the conference. The two others named in the complaint have since died. The police, in addition, recommended charging Roy and Hussain with the crime of sedition. However, Delhis lieutenant governor declined to sanction this explosive move, noting that the BJP government has pledged to forgo further use of Indias current colonial-era sedition law, pending a revision made necessary by a Supreme Court ruling that it is far too sweeping and being laid far too indiscriminately. The Modi government is dredging up this 13-year-old event because Roy is a longstanding trenchant critic of its pro-big business, communalist agenda. She was well aware that she was in the governments cross-hairs, having been repeatedly slandered and vilified by BJP spokespersons, as well as by sections of the corporate media and opposition. In an op-ed Roy wrote for CNNs website in June 2022, she noted that people like myself are on the A-list of anti-nationals for the things I write and say. Particularly about Kashmir. Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and other BJP leaders routinely denounce their critics, even on the parliamentary opposition benches, for being anti-national and supposedly abetting Indias enemies, from Pakistan to China. In her CNN piece, Roy pointed to the vile, murderous sentiments harbored within the BJP towards her. A Bollywood actor and BJP member of parliament suggested that I be tied to an army jeep and used as a human shield by the Indian Army in Kashmir. Following the 2010 conference, Indias then Congress Party-led UPA government seriously considered arresting Roy and other participants and even laying sedition charges against them. But when it equivocated, the BJP was apoplectic. BJP General Secretary Ananth Kumar issued a murderous statement, demanding the immediate arrest of Roy and the now deceased Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Anyone speaking against India, Kumar declared, should be hanged. It was within this context that the BJPs advertising strategist Sushil Pandit filed his 2010 complaint before a Delhi magistrate. Despite the seriousness of the charges against Roy and their implications for democratic rights, including freedom of the press, the reaction from the corporate media, as in the NewsClick case, has been muted. In August 2019, Modi and the BJP carried out a constitutional coup abolishing the semi-autonomous constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir, Indias only Muslim-majority state, and reducing its status to that of a Union Territory under the central governments thumb. This action has been touted by the ruling class and its media mouthpieces as a masterstroke. One of those who has raised objections to Arundhati Roys prosecution is P. Chidambaram, the Congress Party leader who was the UPA Home Minister in 2010. This is a case of Chidambaram covering his own tracks. According to the Times of India, when he was in charge of the Home Ministry, it initially greenlighted the Delhi police charging Roy and Geelani with sedition. Roy is politically aligned with various middle-class protest groups and the Stalinists and Maoists in advocating a broad alliance with the centrethat is, a right-wing led alliance of capitalist partiesto defeat the fascist BJP in the coming national elections. Nevertheless, she has garnered a great deal of animosity in Indias political establishment and corporate boardrooms for her limited, but often biting denunciations of the crimes of the ruling class. In the 2010 speech for which she is now being prosecuted, she noted that when India realigned itself following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, it did two things, it opened two locks. One was the lock of the Babri Masjid [the mosque razed by BJP-led Hindu communalist fanatics in Dec. 1992, sparking a horrendous wave of communal violence] and one was the lock of the Indian markets and it ushered in two kinds of totalitarianismHindu fascism, Hindutva fascism and economic totalitarianism and both these manufactured their own kinds of terrorism. New Zealands Labour Party government suffered an historic defeat in Saturdays election. According to preliminary results, Labours support virtually halved from more than 50 percent in the 2020 election to 26.9 percent. This is the biggest swing ever recorded against a ruling party and Labours second-worst result since 1928. About one in five votes are yet to be counted, including those cast by voters outside their electorates, so the final result due on November 3 could change slightly. Contrary to headlines in the Guardian, CNN and other corporate media outlets in New Zealand and internationally, the result does not represent a popular shift to the right. Rather, it reflects growing anger and disillusionment with the right-wing program shared by the entire parliamentary establishment. The conservative National Party, led by former Air New Zealand chief executive Christopher Luxon, received only 39 percent. National and its preferred coalition partner, the far-right ACT Party, with 9 percent, together have a precarious one-seat majority: 61 seats in the 121-seat parliament. They will likely need support from the right-wing nationalist New Zealand First (6.5 percent) to form a government, which will take weeks of negotiations. The Electoral Commission estimates turnout among enrolled voters was 78.4 percent3.8 points lower than 2020. Actual turnout is closer to 73 percent, taking into account about 7 percent of eligible people who did not enrol. If one adjusts for more than 1 million eligible voters, one in four, who did not vote for anyone, Nationals support falls to only 22.6 percent. National, ACT and NZ First received just 31.6 percent combined. This will be an extremely unstable coalition government with no mass support. ACT and NZ First are widely despised; the latter, in particular, ran a Trump-like campaign full of racist dog-whistles, climate change denial, anti-vaccination pseudo-science and anti-transgender bigotry. The plans of all three parties include deep cuts to public services, thousands of layoffs, cutbacks to welfare, and the diversion of more funding to the military, police and prisons. This agenda will fuel a resurgence of working class opposition, as is taking place internationally. Labours landslide loss does not indicate support for this agenda, but rather the opposite. It is the end product of six years of a Labour-led government which presided over soaring social inequality and a profound and worsening social crisis. Like social democratic parties throughout the world, Labour transformed decades ago into an open instrument of the corporate and financial elite. It responded to the economic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic by funnelling tens of billions of dollars to big business, through subsidies and bailouts, and monetary policies that pushed up rents and house prices. Widespread anti-war sentiment likely contributed to the partys crushing defeat. The Labour government has strengthened ties with US imperialism, which is seeking to redivide the world at the expense of Russia and China. Labour, supported by the entire parliament, has sent troops to the UK to train forces for the US-NATO proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, and has made clear that New Zealand is prepared to support a US war against China. During the final week of the election campaign, Labour and National joined the rest of the imperialist powers in backing Israels brutal war against the people of Gazawhich is widely opposed among ordinary people in New Zealand. Under the fraudulent banner of Israels right to defend itself, Luxon and Labours prime minister Chris Hipkins backed the genocidal onslaught, aimed at crushing a popular uprising by the Palestinian masses. On the day of the election, thousands of people rallied in Auckland to protest against the siege of Gaza. Chris Hipkins after conceding defeat in the New Zealand election on Saturday, October 14, 2023 [AP Photo/Mark Tantrum] In his concession speech on Saturday night, Hipkins was incapable of giving any explanation for the partys historic collapse, saying lamely: When the tide comes in big, it goes out big. He stated that no government has replaced a prime minister in an election year and carried on to win. In fact, Labour was on track to lose well before the resignation of Jacinda Ardern as prime minister in January. Hipkins touted the fact that New Zealand recorded the lowest number of COVID deaths in the developed world, without mentioning that this was due to an elimination policy that Labour scrapped at the end of 2021 on the orders of big business. Contrary to claims in the corporate media, the elimination policy was overwhelmingly supported and was the main reason Labour was re-elected in 2020. The governments support fell sharply in 2022 as COVID-19 spread unimpeded, infecting millions of people, with the trade unions enforcing the unsafe reopening of all workplaces and schools. More than 3,400 people have died from the coronavirus, and tens of thousands have been hospitalised. Many are living with debilitating Long COVID which can impact every organ in the body. During the election campaign the corporate media and the parliamentary parties conspired not to discuss the public health disaster caused by the governments criminal policy of mass infection, even after Hipkins himself was infected for the second time. Hipkins sought to portray the Labour government as a champion for working people, claiming that Labour had raised 77,000 kids out of poverty and built 13,000 new public homes. Official figures show that as of 2022, 16.3 percent of children were living in poverty, defined as households making less than half the median income after housing costs. While this is lower than 22.8 percent recorded in 2018, it does not take into account soaring living costs over the last year, which have eclipsed median incomes and led to unprecedented demand for food parcels. The housing crisis has, in fact, worsened under Labour. House prices and rents have increased dramatically, pushing thousands of families into homelessness and emergency housing. The waiting list for public housing has increased fivefold from 5,000 to 25,000 since 2017. Arderns 2017 pledge to build 100,000 affordable homes was a sham: the Kiwibuild scheme has produced just 1,854 homes to date, which are being sold at unaffordable market rates. Hipkins declared that Labour in opposition would fight for those who stand to lose from [the new governments] proposed cuts. This is another fraud. Austerity measures are already well underway and the Labour Party promised to slash 2 to 4 percent from government agencies budgets if re-elected. Hundreds of jobs are being lost in universities across the country and there is a staffing crisis in hospitals and schools, caused by successive budgets starving these essential services of funds. Labours biggest losses were in working class areas, which have been worst affected by the social crisis, driven by low voter enrolment and turnout. In Mangere, South Auckland, the party got 24,167 votes in 2020 and just 12,077 in 2023; in nearby Manurewa, Labours vote more than halved from 22,137 to 10,409; in Mana, north of Wellington, it collapsed from 25,271 to 13,718. Many other examples could be given. A significant factor in the election outcome is the alienation of young workers from the entire parliamentary set-up. As of September 30, only 66 percent of people aged 18 to 24 were enrolled to vote, compared with 90.5 percent for the overall adult population. In some working class electorates, less than half of young people were enrolled. A number of Labours stronghold electorates have been lost or are under threat. Labours foreign minister Nanaia Mahuta lost her seat in the Maori electorate of Hauraki-Waikato to Te Pati Maoris 21-year-old candidate Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke. In Mount Albert, the electorate held by Ardern until she resigned, the National Partys Melissa Lee is just 106 votes behind Labour MP Helen White. In the capital, Wellington, Green Party candidates won two seats previously held by Labour. The Green Party increased its support nationwide from 7.9 in 2020 to 10.8 percent, while Te Pati Maori (TPM) went from 1.2 to 2.6 percent. Both made gains at Labours expense after campaigning for modest taxes on wealth and increased welfare benefits, among other limited reforms, none of which would ever be agreed to by Labour. The Greens have been part of the Labour-led government for the past six years and are complicit in all its right-wing policies, while TPM was part of the National Party government from 2008-2019. Some of Labours supportersincluding The Daily Blogs Martyn Bradburyhave already begun to slander the population as racist and reactionary for failing to return the party to power. Such claims cover up the fact that Labour and the Greens formed a coalition government with the overtly racist and anti-immigrant NZ First from 2017 to 2020, with the support of the pseudo-left groups and The Daily Blog. Several predominantly immigrant areas of Auckland voted against Labour, undoubtedly based on its record of promoting anti-immigrant chauvinism. The election result, despite superficial appearances, points to increasing class polarisation and a movement to the left, particularly among young people. In the absence of a genuine socialist party, this is mainly expressed in the low voter turnout, with the political vacuum filled by deeply unpopular right-wing parties. The task facing socialist-minded workers and youth in the wake of the election is to prepare for the revolutionary struggles that will erupt against war and austerity, by taking up the struggle to build the socialist and internationalist alternative to all the capitalist parties. This means joining the Socialist Equality Group and fighting to build it as the New Zealand section of the International Committee of the Fourth International, the world Trotskyist movement. Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan Zhao Xing (L) signs handover certificates of supplies from the Chinese government and the Red Cross Society of China with Mohammad Abas Akhund, acting minister for Afghanistan's National Disaster Management Authority, during the handover ceremony for China's first batch of quake-relief materials for Afghanistan, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Oct. 15, 2023. On Oct. 7, two 6.2-magnitude earthquakes shook west Afghanistan, followed by a series of aftershocks, killing more than 2,400 people and destroying thousands of houses. Another 6.3-magnitude earthquake occurred in the region on Oct. 11. The Chinese government immediately decided to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. On Sunday, the first batch of quake-relief materials provided by the Chinese government arrived in Herat City, the capital of Herat Province, with the relief supplies from the Red Cross Society of China delivered at the same time. (Photo by Sabawoon/Xinhua) KABUL, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The handover ceremony for China's first batch of quake-relief materials for Afghanistan was held on Sunday in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. During the ceremony, Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan Zhao Xing signed handover certificates of supplies from the Chinese government and the Red Cross Society of China respectively with Mohammad Abas Akhund, Acting Minister for Afghanistan's National Disaster Management Authority, and Abdul Latif Sabit, Deputy President of the Afghan Red Crescent Society. Zhao said that to help the people in the quake-stricken areas of Afghanistan tide over the difficulties, the Chinese government decided to provide aid materials. This fully reflects the friendly sentiments of the Chinese people towards the Afghan people. With the joint efforts of the Afghan interim government and all sectors of society, the affected people will be able to overcome the difficulties and rebuild their homes, Zhao added. Akhund said that relevant Afghan authorities are carrying out emergency relief and reconstruction work in Herat Province, distributing relief materials to the affected people and building temporary shelters. China's supply of humanitarian aid is very timely, and Afghanistan is deeply grateful for it and will always remember it, Akhund said. Sabit introduced the situation in the western Herat Province since the quakes as well as the quake-relief efforts of the Afghan Red Crescent Society, and sincerely thanked the Chinese government, the Red Cross Society of China and the Chinese people for their selfless and valuable assistance during the most difficult period of Afghanistan. On Oct. 7, two 6.2-magnitude earthquakes shook west Afghanistan, followed by a series of aftershocks, killing more than 2,400 people and destroying thousands of houses. Another 6.3-magnitude earthquake occurred in the region on Oct. 11. The Chinese government immediately decided to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. On Sunday, the first batch of quake-relief materials provided by the Chinese government arrived in Herat City, the capital of Herat Province, with the relief supplies from the Red Cross Society of China delivered at the same time. Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan Zhao Xing (L) shakes hand with Mohammad Abas Akhund, acting minister for Afghanistan's National Disaster Management Authority, during the handover ceremony for China's first batch of quake-relief materials for Afghanistan, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Oct. 15, 2023. On Oct. 7, two 6.2-magnitude earthquakes shook west Afghanistan, followed by a series of aftershocks, killing more than 2,400 people and destroying thousands of houses. Another 6.3-magnitude earthquake occurred in the region on Oct. 11. The Chinese government immediately decided to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. On Sunday, the first batch of quake-relief materials provided by the Chinese government arrived in Herat City, the capital of Herat Province, with the relief supplies from the Red Cross Society of China delivered at the same time. (Photo by Sabawoon/Xinhua) Tens of thousands of people joined protests around Australia over the weekend to oppose the Israeli onslaught on the people of Gaza. Rallies or marches were held in the main cities, including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Canberra, defying threats by Labor state governments and police commanders to ban or shut down demonstrations. A section of Melbourne protest on October 15, 2023 against Israeli military assault on Gaza. Among the largest demonstrations, up to 10,000 people rallied and marched through Melbourne on Sunday, at least 8,000 gathered in Sydneys Hyde Park on the same day, and about 5,000 marched through Brisbane on Friday night. Those participating included members of the Palestinian community and immigrant families from the Middle East, as well as broad layers of working-class and young people. Chants included Occupation is a crime, free, free, Palestine free, end the siege on Gaza and In our thousands, in our millions, we are all Palestinians. Many held placards denouncing the Zionist assault and condemning the Albanese Labor governments unconditional support for it. Some home-made banners made comparisons between the Netanyahu governments operations and those of the Nazi regime in Germany in World War IILeningrad = Gaza (referencing the murderous siege of the Soviet city between 1941 and 1944), Gaza = Warsaw Ghetto, and One Holocaust does not justify another. Protesters at the rally in Sydney There was intense hostility toward the Albanese government. At the rallies, cries of shame rose when speakers mentioned its blanket defence of the Israeli military bombardment of Gaza. In interviews with the WSWS, people denounced the governments hypocrisy in backing the mass killing of Palestinians, while claiming to address the appalling conditions of indigenous people in Australia by holding a referendum to entrench an advisory body called the Voice in the countrys constitution. In Sydney, there was anger toward the state Labor government of Premier Chris Minns, which had urged people not to join the protest and backed the police in refusing to authorise a march. The police threatened to use special powers to conduct searches and identity checks on participants. A heavy police presence extended to very visible deployments at train stations to and from the protest, and a police helicopter circled low over the event in an intimidating display. However, no arrests were reported. In Sydney, Zizi, a community activist, told the WSWS: My heritage is Palestinian but Im actually here as a human opposed to the absolute injustice that is happening in Palestine. And it hasnt been happening since 1948 when people think it has, it is 100 years of the British-backed Zionist project which is what we call Israel today. Im here because I cant be silent and I cant be at home just accepting that my government is basically complicit because they are showing their support for Israel, but also look how we treat own indigenous people here in Australia. Shame! Shame on them! So I am here to speak up and to be in solidarity with my brothers and sisters in Palestine. The government talks about self-determination and indigenous rights but in the same breath it is supporting the genocide of Palestinians. How do they justify that? How do they reconcile that? It is pure hypocrisy and I believe we should not be silent. We need to speak up against our government to withdraw their unequivocal support. It is not a war; it is the longest occupation in history. It is unfathomable that one million humans are kicked out of their homes, carrying mattresses and whatever clothing they have on their backs. People say to me arent you upset about Israeli lives lost? My response is that no Israeli lives should be lost but unfortunately under occupation this is going to happen. It is a natural response to a people suffocating and denied human rights. What did they think? That they would just sit back and accept it? My question is to people out there, What is the natural response to a brutal occupation? Zizi commented that governments around the world are giving the Israeli state carte blanche to go in and collectively punish people whose only crime was to be born in Palestine. My question is has a Palestinian invaded anywhere? They lived there. Hamas and the groups that are being criticised are a byproduct of a brutal occupation. There was no such thing as Hamas before the colonisation of Palestine. It was a secular society. Jews, Muslims and Christians lived side by side. There was no such thing as sectarianism. This is a byproduct of a brutal occupation and people must connect the dots. Sam said what is happening in Gaza is genocide. The genocides been going on for 75 years, he said. This is just another chapter in the book. He commented: World leaders are just toeing the line and accepting what Benjamin Netanyahu is saying. There are a lot of serious accusations hes making, with no proper evidence. I know the UNs been on the ground in Palestine for years. They have a group that can verify all those claims that Netanyahu is making, but he just wont allow them to actually go in and verify From what I can see, he probably wants the war to expand across the Middle East. That is going to have ramifications all around the world, and nobodys putting him in check. Sam They are a band around the world, the capitalists, and they do protect each other and their interests. And unfortunately, it comes at the cost of innocent human beings, whether its in Ukraine, in Gaza, in Russia, in Afghanistan, it could be anywhere around the world. Sam added: The Israeli people, I feel like they are victims in this too. Mr Netanyahu has called up 360,000 Israelis. They are taken away from their families, from their jobs, to go fight a war thats really not going to achieve anything. I think this is a Palestinian-Arab issue, an Israeli issue, but its also an issue of injustice. Im glad that its a big turnout. Ive seen other protests around the world over the weekend. And it puts your faith back into humanity. Theres people that actually care out there. In Melbourne, Kafa explained: I came today because Im a Palestinian. Im Palestinian, born and raised in Australia. My husband is Greek, I have a four-year-old daughter and it just makes my heart bleed because if we lived in Palestine, in Gaza right now, theres no difference between us and them. My daughter could be killed. Just for being Palestinian. Myself as well. Our family was kicked out decades ago. We still have the key to our home and we have family friends who are in Palestine. We just heard from them on the phone, and the mother was saying to her daughter, If I dont talk to you again, goodbye, and please forgive me. Its horrible. Kafa and Tahsin Asked about the attempted suppression of demonstrations against the Israeli government crimes, Kafa replied: In every rally there is always a push to try and ban things, shut them up. Weve been silenced for decades, but we wont be silenced now. I dont want the message to be lostthe message is to free Palestine. I think we can all agree that killing children, innocent people is wrong. Our country needs to put an end to it and put pressure on the Israeli government to stop their siege on Gaza. Tahsin, Kafas father, stated: All I can say is that the oppression after 75 years, the oppression and humiliation of Palestinians, led to what has happened. I blame that as the reason for creating Hamas. The reason for Hamass creation is occupation, oppression, discrimination, you name it, it is there. If I want to talk about Zionism, it is equal to Nazism. They are the Nazis of this world and unfortunately protected by the Western world, led by America. David, a tradesman, said: I want to stand in solidarity with the Palestinians who have been living under Israeli occupation for the last 75 years. I think the media hasnt really explained the full story. I think the Palestinians have been living under human rights abuses for a number of years, for decades now, and that has been shown by Amnesty International. David They reported early last year the constant human rights abuses that the Palestinians are facing. Prior to the weekend, which was abhorrent and disgusting, 288 Palestinians had died at the hand of the Israeli military, 40 of them were children. From 2008, 6,400 Palestinian civilians have died at the hands of the Israeli government. He continued: Im not Muslim, Im not Palestinian, Im just a human being who sees injustice in the world. This is a small way for me to show my support for the Palestinian people. Ive never been to a protest before in my life, neverbut this has just compelled me because it is so wrong what is happening. Ill never again vote for any of those parties now supporting the Israeli government. In Brisbane, Sadra, a student and tutor, said he came to the demonstration to support the Palestinian case, and the right to resist and the right to self-determination. He said what occurred the previous weekend was an uprising of the Palestinian population. There are people born in Gaza who have never seen anything outside of Gaza. And their grandparents were living in the areas surrounding Gaza. They were forced out as refugees and now this is the first time they ever got to see those lands. While a lot of violence was very ugly, its the Israeli governments fault for killing every other opportunity for Palestinians to resist. They have been peaceful in the West Bank for ever, but they have got nothing for it. There are just ghettos of Palestinians and they look nothing like a country. They have a right to resist, and it wasnt just Hamas involved. There were other organisations that took part in this and you cant blame them because they have no other choice. Sadra Asked about a struggle by Jewish and Palestinian workers together for a unified socialist state, Sadra commented: I couldnt agree more. Even now I feel like a lot of people propose a two-state solution but the two-state solution has been dead. And the one-state solution cannot be imposed because of basic demographics. The Israelis dont want to allow two million in Gaza, two million in the West Bank and five million refugees to come back and vote. So basically, they have an ethno-state thats being supported. Now they are cutting off water and electricity and its a war crime. And every Western state is saying thats like, OK, they can do whatever they want. Theyre not even trying to call for calm or for peace. They are saying Israeli can go and bomb as many people as they want. Last week, 1,500 healthcare workers struck at St. Francis Medical Center and three other Southern California medical facilities run by Prime Healthcare. Their strike comes on the heels of the strike by 85,000 Kaiser Permanente workers across the country, the largest healthcare workers strike in US history. Like their counterparts at Kaiser, they are striking for better wages and higher staffing. Prime is a major healthcare conglomerate that is notorious for its ruthless cost-cutting and slashing in the pursuit of profit, often at the expense of patients. With its 45 hospitals and some 300 outpatient clinics, it has a history of aggressively going after patients for unpaid bills, turning away those without insurance and buying and gutting floundering hospitals to make a quick profit. This summer, 300 healthcare workers struck at St. Michaels in New Jersey, a facility also owned by Prime. Prem Reddy, the CEO of Prime, made his fortune off looting the healthcare system. When hospitals or other healthcare facilities go bankrupt, Prime sweeps them up at bargain prices and sells off assets while preserving the more lucrative services. After buying hospitals, it has previously suspended chemotherapy treatments, mental health care and birthing center services while continuing elective surgeries. St. Francis itself was acquired by Prime in August 2020 after the hospitals former parent company, Verity Health, filed for bankruptcy. One of Primes first acts was to carry out layoffs at the hospital, something that a number of strikers spoke about with World Socialist Web Site reporters. An OB-GYN nurse who wished to remain anonymous described this process: This facility has always made money, but it supported the other facilities in our complex, and we always provided for the other ones to sustain. When it wasnt sustainable anymore, then they sold us independently, and everybody wanted St. Francis, because St. Francis has always made money. So Prime took over, they decreased the salary by 12 percent. When they took us over in 2020, they cut out 20 percent of the nurses, the high senior nurses. Of course, they were the highest paid, but theyre all specialty. Theyre all very, very well-educated and trained in their department. So they got rid of them. Then they kept us in a freeze for three years. The language that they have in the contract is a bankruptcy contract language. It wasnt negotiated between the union and Prime. The courts gave it to them. Whatever they wanted, they got. While these workers are fighting to improve their own conditions, the well-being of patients is always at the forefront of their mind. In particular, the staffing crisis has hurt patient outcomes and well-being, and this weighs on those who work to help them. Rene, a respiratory therapist of ten years, commented: The number one reason were out here striking is because we need better patient care. Since Prime Healthcare bought this facility three years ago, the patient care has suffered. We see the nursing staff where you know theyll give them three or four patients in ICU (Intensive Care Unit), and thats too much. Those patients are very critical, and its unsafe. Even on the floors, theyre constantly understaffed, and they have more patients than they should. So then that patient doesnt get the care that they need. We have lost patients. Were very overworked, and theyve continued to keep us understaffed, because then, you know, that puts money in their pockets, but it takes away from the patient care. Healthcare workers confront the same problems everywhere that strikes are breaking out, whether at St. Francis, Kaiser Permanente or at the now months-long strike at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Jersey. Their common conditions, and the common rapacity of their employers, are both products of the profit-driven healthcare system under capitalism. When asked about profit in healthcare, Rene remarked, As far as the idea of for-profit medical care, its not a good thing. Its impossible, including with a trauma center. You dont know if those patients have insurance or not, but we still have to care for them. Anhthai, an ER tech of three years, asked, How can this be for profit? That seems to be the way of most American healthcare hospitals and clinics these days. Family practices are getting bought out all over the place by these, you know, megacorps. As if the pandemic didnt show us enough, how many people have to die for us to realize that hey, maybe healthcare shouldnt be about making money? Anhthai concluded by calling for a common struggle with Kaiser workers, saying, What were asking for here is definitely what a lot of other places are asking for as well. I dont see why we shouldnt get together because were all being exploited. You know, I feel like we would definitely have more power together. The Kelaniya University Student Union (KUSU) has tried to sabotage an International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) campaign to discuss the US-led NATO war against Russia in Ukraine and Israels murderous war on Gaza. The KUSU leaders are members of the Inter University Student Federation (IUSF) which is controlled by the fake left Frontline Socialist Party (FSP). The IYSSE and the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) are campaigning for an anti-war public meeting under the theme The war in Ukraine and how to stop it to be held at 3 p.m. on October 19 at the Colombo Public Library Auditorium. On October 12, members of the IYSSE/SEP were distributing their leaflets and speaking to students on a public road through the university premises. At around 4.15 p.m., a group of students rushed up, saying they were members of IUSF and KUSU, and demanded the IYSSE/SEP campaigners leave immediately. A group of KUSU-IUSF representatives try to disrupt IYSSE anti-war campaign The KUSU representatives claimed the road belonged to the campus then declared there was no room for party politics at the university, only student politics, by which they mean IUSF/FSP politics. At most campuses, IUSF leaders use outright thuggery against other political tendencies to maintain their dominance. The IYSSE/SEP members refused to leave insisting it was their democratic right to engage in politics at universities and in public places like Wewalduwa Road. They pointed to the longstanding democratic traditions of universities allowing free political discussiontraditions that have been trampled on by the IUSF. IUSF activists declared that if such rights were permitted, there would be clashes. They said they didnt care care what happened in the past and threatened: If you dont leave here within five minutes, you will see what will happen. There was substantial interest among students in the IYSSE's campaign The KUSU leaders had already informed university security officers. To avoid a physical clash, IYSSE/SEP members shifted the campaign to the highway near the campus entrance. We urge students at Kelaniya and other campuses to condemn the IUSFs anti-democratic actions and to defend the right of our members and students to discuss the critical political issue of imperialist war. The incident recalls the arrest of a member of the Revolutionary Communist League (RCL), the SEPs predecessor, on the same spot in 1990. The police claimed that RCL members selling the partys newspaper, Kamkaru Mawatha, were trespassing into university premises. The RCL insisted on its democratic right to campaign in a public place, which was backed at the time by many lawyers who were outraged. The court ruled in favour of the RCL member. Now, the IUSF leaders have assumed the role of the police in suppressing democratic rights. This was not the first time the IUSF threatened physical violence against the IYSSE. On October 5, a KUSU/IUSF mob menaced IYSSE and SEP members campaigning for the October 19 meeting at the same place. On February 23, 2023, a group of IUSF activists at Jayawardenepura University threatened an IYSSE member, Sakuntha Hirimuthugoda to hand him over to the universitys disciplinary authority. When two SEP members came to his defence, the same thugs tried to physically attack them. The campuss disciplinary officer threatened to call the police. A student speaks with an IYSSE campaigner IYSSE convener, Kapila Fernando wrote an open letter to the IUSF, the Jayawardenepura Student Union and the FSP, condemning this action. It stated: Your organisations, which claim that there is no space for party politics at the universities, are engaged in definite party politics, both on and off the universities. Students and everyone else, including yourselves, know very well that it is the FSPs politics. While your organisations are involved in party politics at the universities, you forcefully prevent other parties from doing so, especially the SEP and IYSSE which are based on proletarian internationalism. This is completely anti-democratic and deceitful. The letter emphasized that by banning SEP/IYSSE politics in universities, the IUSF had violated the fundamental democratic right to freedom of speech. This anti-democratic intervention reveals not the strength of your organisations but their weakness. What you fear is that the international socialist perspective of the IYSSE will gain ground among the students as your bankrupt policies are exposed by the deepening crisis of capitalism, it stated. The threats of physical violence at Kelaniya University demonstrates the IUSF and its FSP mentors have not backed away. Their anti-democratic methods flow from their pro-capitalist anti-working class politics. The FSP represents the interests of the upper middle class and is hostile to the development of an independent political movement of the working class against capitalism. An SEP member campaigning among students The SEP/ IYSSE advances a program that represents the interests of the working class. During the campaign at the Kelaniya University, we were distributing an ICFI statement Down with Netanyahus government! Stop the imperialist-backed Zionist onslaught against Gaza! The ICFI statement declared: The uprising in Palestine is itself part of a developing eruption of anger and opposition in the form of mass strikes and protests throughout the world. It is this social movement, guided by a consciously socialist and revolutionary program and perspective, that must be mobilized to put an end to imperialist war, inequality and all forms of oppression. This is the perspective and program of the Trotskyist Fourth International, led by the International Committee. Students cannot go forward under the pro-capitalist IUSF/FSP leadership. The only way to defeat the IMF-dictated Wickremesinghe governments attacks on social rights, including public education and healthcare, and to defend democratic rights, is for students to turn to the working class and fight for socialist policies. Building an international anti-war movement of the working class is a crucial part of this struggle. We urge students to form IYSSE branches in their respective universities to lead the struggle for this program. We urge students, youth and workers to attend the IYSSEs anti-war meeting in Colombo on October 19 as part of joining this struggle. Many of you have reached out in recent days inquiring about Biobots future with CDC NWSS. The contract Biobot held with CDC NWSS for the last few years was up for rebid this summer, and was recently awarded to Verily, an Alphabet precision health technology company. While we are disappointed with this news, we are incredibly proud of the work weve accomplished with CDC to date, and we know that this decision had nothing to do with our past performance. This is just the reality of how government works.October 6, 2023, Biobot Analytics As of September 27, 2023, one of the few reliable sources of information on the real state of the COVID pandemic in the US was halted. The contract between Biobot Analytics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to provide extended data for the public health agencys National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) ended. Instead, the CDC awarded the $38 million contract for up-to-five years to Verily (formerly Google Life Sciences) on September 26, 2023. However, a glance into Verilys COVID dashboard, WastewaterSCAN, offers little in terms of comprehensible data in regional or national terms. It simply states, Medium: Downward trend and medium concentration in the last 21 days. The last Biobot report indicated the levels of SARS-CoV-2 nationally were rising again, with the Northeast accelerating and the rest of the country seeing levels plateau. Last update from Biobot Analytics on SARS-CoV-2 virus concentration in wastewater. [Photo: Biobot Analytics] The available graphics and trends in SARS-CoV-2 wastewater levels are limited to the wastewater site and have not been aggregated to provide a coherent picture. And reviewing the CDCs limited graphics, as of September 28, there has been a precipitous drop in the number of sites reporting. Last update from Biobot Analytics on SARS-CoV-2 virus concentration in wastewater. [Photo: Biobot Analystics] It appears that the disruption in wastewater data is another deliberate attempt by the CDC to further dismantle any semblance of organized real-time data on the state of the pandemic. Such shifts in contracts usually take place over a span of time to assure a seamless transition on the data being presented. It was known in February 2023 that Biobot had been given a six-month extension to ensure data continuity for the NWSS program. The scope of the contract included data from more than 400 locations from over 250 counties across the entire United States, covering 60 million people. On top of this, Biobot also conducted genomic sequencing to identify the latest variants in circulation. At the time of the contract extension, Newsha Ghaeli, Biobot president and co-founder, released a statement, As the availability of clinical data decreases, wastewater monitoring has become a more reliable indicator of COVID-19 prevalence and provides local officials with a better understanding of viral spread in their communities. Were excited to continue our partnership with CDC and lay the groundwork for future program expansion into other infectious disease and beyond. Since the beginning of summer, after the Biden administration declared the end to the pandemic in May, a new wave of infections began rapidly spreading across the country, driving up hospitalization rates and deaths. Many schools actually closed for one to two weeks to mitigate infection spread and some hospitals and businesses even went as far as to mandate masks again. Even the most recalcitrant were begrudgingly acknowledging another wave of infections with COVID. The fraudulent pandemic is over was dealt a further blow in early September when the White House acknowledged that Jill Biden had been reinfected with COVID and was isolating at the Bidens Delaware home. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden was flaunting his open hostility to even the most limited public health measures to protect himself and others around him. At a press briefing on September 6, before traveling to India, Biden walked to the podium during a press briefing unmasked and holding his KN95 in hand. He said, I want to explain to the press, Ive been tested again today. Im clear across the board. But they keep telling me, because this has to be 10 days or something, I got to keep wearing it. But dont tell them I didnt wear it when I walked in. The week of that sick joke, more than a thousand people in the USpredominantly the elderly and immunocompromiseddied from COVID. Biobot Analytics was alone in tracking the entire course of the summer wave, enabling an appreciative public to take what self-protective measures they could and providing vital information to medical science and public health efforts. The hostility of the CDC and its political and corporate masters to this effortthey evidently regarded data collection on COVID as more dangerous than the lethal disease itselfno doubt accounts for the decision to award the wastewater data monitoring contract to a different company. As JP Weiland, a scientist and infectious disease modeler who regularly updated and translated Biobot data into clinical terms, recently noted, Im concerned the loss of @BiobotAnalytics contract with the CDC (transferred to Verily) will temporarily interrupt wastewater calibration. Biobot has been a fantastic data source, and tie most closely to other non-wastewater data sets. Hopefully Verilys new data will live up to Biobots quality. Dr. Mike Hoerger, the founding director of Louisianas health psychology PhD program at Tulane University, and an expert in weighing medical evidence, compared Verily and Biobots analysis to data from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington from January 2021 to April 2023. While Biobots data correlated very strongly, Verilys data correlated moderately. As Hoerger noted, Either Biobot is much better, or Verily knows something we dont. He added, Once Verily brings on Biobots former CDC-contracted wastewater sites, that should help. Case estimation will be easier if they fold in the historic data to more accurately represent the nation. If Verily does not fold in historic data, case estimation will be much harder, and likely noisier. On his October 2, 2023, X (formerly known as Twitter) thread, Hoerger noted that US wastewater levels are higher than during 58 percent of the pandemic. This translated to one in 64 people infectious, with more than 745,000 COVID cases per day and 37,000 Long COVID cases per day expected. Although there is an expected decline by the end of October, the trough should be reached by November 1 after which these modelers expect levels of COVID to increase again. Six-month view: US SARS-CoV-2 wastewater levels, COVID-19 case estimates, and four-week forecast. [Photo: Mike Hoerger, PhD MSCR MBA] Meanwhile, the US Department of Health and Human Services said last Thursday that just over 7 million Americans have received the latest iteration of the COVID vaccine boosters since receiving the green light on September 12 for those age six months and older. Notably, the updated Novavax boosters are now available too. But because of the commercialization of these lifesaving treatments and deplorable state of large chain pharmacies in regard to staff shortages, the current figures are far below the deployment of last years COVID-19 bivalent boosters. For most health systems, while flu vaccines are mandatory, COVID boosters are not compulsory, even though lethality with COVID remains higher than the flu and COVID is a magnitude of order more infectious. Indeed, Pfizer, which had made billions on its mRNA vaccines, announced it had slashed its full-year revenue forecast by 13 percent and anticipates it will cut $3.5 billion worth of jobs and expenses because of lackluster sales of its COVID vaccines and treatments. Currently in the US, the HV.1 subvariant is outpacing EG.5 which has begun to recede. However, the Pirola variant (B.2.86.1) and its progeny are raising alarms. In Particular, JN.1 (BA.2.86.1 plus escape mutation L455S) appears to be showing a growth advantage compared to others despite only a few sequences. This speech was given by Johannes Stern, Editor-in-Chief of the German edition of the World Socialist Web Site, at the rally of the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party, SGP) on 14 October at Hermannplatz in Berlin-Neukolln. The SGP is holding weekly rallies to explain its socialist perspective and program and to gather the necessary 4,000 signatures for its participation in the European elections 2024. This weekend the rally centered on the Israeli onslaught against Gaza. The Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei condemns in the strongest terms the massacre of the Palestinian population in Gaza by the right-wing Netanyahu government. And we condemn the complicity of the imperialist powers and, above all, the ruling class here in Germany. It not only forbids any protest against it but is fully involved in this historical crime. Johannes Stern speaking at the SGP's anti-war rally in Berlin (the video includes English subtitles). All government and opposition partiesfrom the Social Democrats (SPD) to the Greens to the Left Party and the fascist Alternative for Germany (AfD)have thrown their weight behind Netanyahu and given his extreme right-wing government carte blanche to take vicious revenge on the Palestinian population for the uprising in Gaza. The scale of the violence is already beyond imagination. More than 6,000 bombs have been dropped on the Gaza Strip in the last few days. Whole neighbourhoods have been completely destroyed, and there have already been more than 2,000 deaths, including hundreds of women and children. Tens of thousands more will follow. The Israeli government ordered the population of the northern part of the Gaza Strip to leave North Gaza by 3:00 p.m. Sunday. A ground offensive, for which more than 300,000 soldiers have been assembled, is imminent. On Monday last week, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant had already threatened, There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel. We are fighting human animals, and we will act accordingly. It needs to be spelled out clearly: This is reminiscent of the rhetoric and methods of the Nazis, who responded to resistance with savage collective punishment. For example, in occupied Poland, Nazi forces brutally crushed the Jewish uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1943 and the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, razing entire neighbourhoods to the ground and killing tens of thousands. When politicians and the media now cite these Nazi crimes and the Holocaust to justify the massacre of the Palestinians, it is the height of cynicism and criminality. Let me also say this clearly: When the entire ruling class in Germany stands behind Netanyahus scorched earth policy and supports the blockade and destruction of the Gaza Strip, they are continuing their own criminal traditions. And the same applies to the question of antisemitism. It is not the oppressed Palestinians and the hundreds of millions of people worldwide, who express solidarity with them, who promote antisemitism but the imperialist powers. The very attempt to collectively associate Jewish people with the criminal policies of the Netanyahu regime is deeply antisemitic. At the same time, the ruling class in Germany is once again building a fascist party with the AfD and defending academics like Humboldt Professor Jorg Baberowski, who publicly trivialises Hitlers and the Nazis crimes. And now, the same politicians and mediawho defend this man and his statement Hitler was not vicious or like AfD leader Gauland, who called the Nazi era as just so much bird shit on historycome and speak of antisemitism. What a mockery! The stench of fascism and the complicity of the ruling classes with openly antisemitic forces is most evident in Ukraine. In order to defeat the nuclear power Russia, Berlin and the other leading NATO powers are arming a regime in Kiev that celebrates Nazi collaborators like Stepan Bandera and openly mobilises fascist army units like the Azov Battalion. Many people are not only horrified by these developments but are asking the question: What is driving the ruling class towards world war and fascism again, and how can this deadly spiral be stopped? As in the 1930s, the barbarism we are now witnessing is an expression of the deep crisis of capitalism. The governments in the US, here in Germany, all over Europe and also in Israel are hated by the people and are responding with brutal violence. But this will not save them, it will only fuel the opposition among workers and youth. This is shown by the worldwide mass protests against the massacre in Gaza. The SGP supports these protests. The working class must intervene to stop the massacre. We demand an immediate stop to the supply of arms to Israel and an end to the murderous attack! And we fight for the unity of the international working class on the basis of a revolutionary socialist programme. Workers worldwide depend on each other for this. The Israeli working class cannot defend its own democratic rights without fighting for the democratic rights of the Palestinian people. And the Palestinians cannot lead their struggle for democratic rights and social equality without an alliance with the Israeli working class. And similarly, the workers here in Germany cannot win the struggle against militarism, fascism and war without rushing to the aid of the Palestinian masses and mobilising against the massacre in Gaza! The urgent need of the hour is the development of a united mass movement of the international working class against the capitalist warmongers and for socialism. This is what the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei and its sister parties of the Fourth International are fighting for, and this is the significance of our participation in the European elections. On October 8, the Texas Tribune reported that officials of Republican-aligned political action committees (PACs) hosted a multi-hour meeting on October 6 near Fort Worth, Texas with Nicholas J. Fuentes, leader of the America First groypers and an admirer of Adolph Hitler. Joining Fuentes at the meeting was fascist killer and right-wing celebrity Kyle Rittenhouse. In November 2021, Rittenhouse was acquitted of murdering two Black Lives Matter protesters while injuring a third in Kenosha, Wisconsin in 2020. Fuentes, 25, is well-known for his fascist politics. He helped organize the deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017, which ended with a neo-Nazi ramming his car into a group of counter-protestors and murdering Heather Heyer. Following the fascist rampage, then-President Donald Trump defended the Nazis, claiming there were very fine people on both sides. Throughout Trumps presidency, Fuentes and his followers supported the aspiring dictator, including in his failed coup. In November 2020, Fuentes, along with InfoWars founder Alex Jones, led a Stop the Steal rally at the Georgia state capitol. On January 6, 2021, Fuentes and his followers were photographed outside the Capitol in Washington D.C. Last November, Trump invited Fuentes and fellow antisemite Kanye West (now known as Ye) to dine with him at his home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. Nazi Nick Fuentes. center, speaks in front of flags that say, "America First," at a "Stop the Steal" march, November 14, 2020, in Washington. [AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin] For killing anti-racist protesters three years ago, Rittenhouse has been richly rewarded by the fascist right. He has been courted by the Trump family, favorably interviewed by former Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson, and is a regular special guest at Talking Point USA conferences. Since his acquittal on murder charges, Rittenhouse has become more active in Texas. The Rittenhouse Foundation registered with the Texas Secretary of States office in July, ostensibly as a firearms rights group. Earlier this year, Rittenhouse attended a rally in Conroe, Texas, slightly north of Houston, which was also attended by members of the Proud Boys militia group. Fridays meeting between Fuentes, Rittenhouse and Republican politicians and operatives was held in an office-building that serves as the headquarters for Pale Horse Strategies, a far-right consulting firm owned by Jonathan S. Strickland, a former member of the Texas state legislature. In choosing the name Pale Horse, Strickland, a Christian nationalist, was making a specific reference to an apocalyptic end time prophecy. In the Book of Revelation, the pale horse is the personification of death: And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. Since retiring from the state legislature in 2021, Strickland has led the Defend Texas Liberty political action committee, which is a major donor to Republicans, including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. Before presiding over Paxtons recent impeachment trial, in which Paxton was acquitted by his fellow Republicans on charges of corruption and unfitness for office, Patrick received $3 million in loans and donations from Defend Texas Liberty PAC. Since 2020, Defend Texas Liberty PAC has spent over $9.4 million on political campaigns in Texas, virtually all of the money going to Republicans and far-right non-partisan candidates. In 2023 alone, Defend Texas Liberty PAC has paid Pale Horse Strategies over $800,000, the Texas Tribune reported. Both Strickland and Matt Rinaldi, chair of the Republican Party of Texas, have received generous financial backing from a small group of West Texas oil billionaires, including Tim Dunn and the brothers Farris and Dan Wilks. These men have donated over $100 million to various campaigns, political groups and media companies to push their extreme right-wing views. Previous beneficiaries of the Wilks largess include Ted Cruz and the right-wing propaganda outfits The Daily Wire and PragerU. On October 6, the Texas Tribune reported that Rinaldi entered the Pale Horse office building after Fuentes was already inside. In an interview with the paper, Rinaldi claimed that he was merely using an adjacent conference room and did not know that Fuentes was in the building. We were just borrowing a conference room, Rinaldi told the Tribune. Asked if he would condemn his associate Strickland and Pale Horse Strategies for hosting a racist Nazi, Rinaldi refused, telling the paper he would disavow Fuentes, but was not going to make assumptions. The Texas Tribune reported that Fuentes acolyte Ella Maulding, who has previously praised Fuentes as the greatest civil rights leader in history, was observed for several hours at the Friday meeting with Fuentes. Maulding, per the Tribune, moved from Mississippi to Fort Worth, Texas earlier this year to work as a social media coordinator for Pale Horse Strategies. At one point during the seven-hour meeting between Fuentes and Strickland, reporters saw Maulding recording a video for the Texans for Strong Borders PAC. Chris Russo, the founder of the Texans for Strong Borders PAC, was photographed by Texas Tribune reporters driving Fuentes to and from the building. Seeking to provide political cover for the increasingly fascistic Republican Party, Dade Phelan, speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, issued a public statement following the initial report condemning the meeting. Phelan called on those who have received money from Defend Texas Liberty to donate it to charities, and specifically called on Patrick to lead the way in redirecting these funds. Phelan is concerned that such an open association with a known Nazi will provoke opposition from the working class. For his part, Patrick has called on Phelan to resign, saying, For anyone to try to use these invectives for their own political gain is below contempt. I am calling on Dade Phelan to resign his position before the House gavels in this afternoon. The divisions within the GOP between the the MAGA elements and the old-line Republicans, led by the Bush family, have not lessened since Paxtons acquittal. But whatever their disagreements, neither faction defends the democratic rights of the population and both are willing to break bread with fascists. Texas has long been a stronghold of the far right, but following January 6, 2021 and the refusal of the Democratic Party to hold Trump and his co-conspirators accountable, the most extreme elements have been emboldened. On July 8 of this year, members of the fascist group Patriot Front marched through downtown Austin near the state Capitol. This group notably held a march in Washington, D.C. earlier this year in which police protected them from counter-demonstrators. Patriot Front has frequently targeted LGTBQ people, disrupting drag shows and Pride events. In 2022, 31 members of the group were arrested in Coeur dAlene, Idaho for conspiracy to riot at an LGBTQ parade. As part of its centenary celebration of the emergence of Trotskyism, the World Socialist Web Site is publishing the Declaration of 46 Old Bolsheviks, which was submitted to the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party on October 15, 1923. With this document, 46 of the most eminent leaders of the Bolshevik Party indicated their political support for the positions of Leon Trotsky in the inner-party struggle, initiated with Lenins last struggle, against the Stalinist faction in the Politburo. It is, therefore, considered the founding document of the Left Opposition, which led the struggle by the Marxist and internationalist wing of the Russian Communist Party (RCP) and the Communist International against the Stalinist betrayal of the October Revolution. As the biographical details provided by the WSWS show, almost all of the signatories of this declaration were murdered in Stalins Great Terror of 1936-1938. Members of the Left Opposition in 1927. Sitting (left to right): Serebryakov, Radek, Trotsky, Boguslavsky and Preobrazhensky. Standing (left to right): Rakovsky, Drobnis, Beloborodov and Sosnovsky The Declaration of the 46 was submitted a week after Trotsky laid out key aspects of his political differences with the majority of the Politburo in a letter dated October 8, 1923 to the Central Committee and the Central Control Commission of the RCP. While this letter was not published in full until May 1990, the contents of the Declaration of the 46 were better known. It was published in full in English but with inaccuracies in E. H. Carrs The Interregnum 1923-1924 (London, 1954, pp. 367-373). In Russian, it was first published in full abroad in 1988, in the book Kommunisticheskaia oppozitsiia v SSSR, 1923-1927. Iz arkhivov Lva Trotskogo [Communist Opposition in the USSR, 1923-1927. From the Archive of Leon Trotsky], Volume 1 (1923-1926), compiled by Y. Felshtinsky (pp. 83-88). The original of the document consists of two typewritten texts with minor differences (not altering the meaning). The first text includes 34 signatures, the second includes 12. This translation was first published on the pages of the International Workers Bulletin of October 25, 1993, as part of the celebration by the International Committee of the Fourth International of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Left Opposition. We are republishing it here with minor edits and a more comprehensive list of biographical notes on the signatories. The first publication of this translation of the Declaration of the 46 on the pages of the International Workers Bulletin on October 25, 1993. Declaration of the 46 to the Politburo of the CC RCP(b) 15 October 1923 Top Secret TO THE POLITBURO OF THE CC OF THE RCP The extreme seriousness of the situation forces us (in the interests of our party, in the interests of the working class) to tell you openly that continuation of the policy of the majority of the Politburo threatens the entire party with grave misfortune. The economic and financial crisis beginning at the end of July this year, with all the political consequences flowing from it, including those within the party, has mercilessly revealed the inadequacy of the party leadership, both in the economic realm and especially in the area of inner-party relations. The haphazard, poorly thought through, and unsystematic decisions of the CC, which has not made ends meet in the economy, have led to a situation where, given the presence of undoubtedly major successes in the realm of industry, agriculture, finances and transportsuccesses which were achieved by the economy of the nation spontaneously, not thanks to but in spite of the inadequate leadership, or, to be more precise, the absence of any leadershipwe are faced not only with the perspective of the halting of these successes but with a severe crisis of the economy as a whole. We stand before the approaching breakdown of the chervonets currency, which spontaneously turned into the basic currency before the liquidation of the budget deficit; we face a credit crisis in which the State Bank cannot, without the risk of severe shocks, finance not only industry and the trade of industrial goods, but even the purchase of grain for export; we face the cessation of the sale of industrial goods because of high prices, which can be explained, on the one hand, by the complete absence of planned, organizational leadership in industry and, on the other, by incorrect credit policy; we face the impossibility of carrying out the grain export program because of the inability to purchase grain; we face extremely low prices for food products, which are ruinous for the peasantry and which threaten massive cutbacks in agricultural production; we face the interruption of wage payments, which evokes the natural dissatisfaction of the workers; we face budget chaos, which directly creates chaos in the government apparatus; revolutionary means of cutbacks in drawing up the budget and new, unplanned cutbacks during its realization have gone from being temporary measures to a permanent phenomenon, which relentlessly jolts the state apparatus and, as a result of the absence of planning in the cutbacks, causes accidental and spontaneous shocks to it. All these are elements of an economic, credit and financial crisis which has already begun. If we do not immediately take extensive, well thought out, planned and energetic measures, if the present lack of leadership continues, we face the possibility of unusually sharp economic shocks, inevitably bound up with domestic political complications and with the complete paralysis of our foreign activity and capability. And the latter, as everyone understands, is now more necessary than ever before; upon it depends the fate of the world revolution and the working class of all countries. In precisely the same way, we see in the realm of inner-party relations the same incorrect leadership, paralyzing and demoralizing the party, which is particularly clearly felt during the crisis we are passing through. We explain this not by the political inability of the present party leaders; on the contrary, no matter how much we differ with them in evaluating the situation and in choosing the methods to change it, we think that todays leaders under any conditions could not help but be appointed by the party to leading posts in the workers dictatorship. Rather, we explain it by the fact that, under the guise of official unity, we actually have a one-sided selection of personnel, who can adapt to the views and sympathies of a narrow circle, and a one-sided direction of activity. As a result of the party leadership being distorted by such narrow considerations, the party to a significant degree is ceasing to be that living, independent collective which is sensitive to the changes in living reality, precisely because it is connected with thousands of threads to this reality. Instead of this, we observe an ever progressing, barely disguised division of the party into a secretarial hierarchy and into laymen, into professional party functionaries, chosen from above, and the rest of the party masses, who take no part in social life. This is a fact which is well known to every member of the party. Members of the party who are dissatisfied with this or that directive from the CC or even a provincial committee, or who are plagued by doubts, or who have noted to themselves various mistakes, things out of line or disorder of some sort, are afraid to speak about it at party gatherings; even worse, they are afraid to talk to one another unless they consider their interlocutor to be absolutely reliable, in the sense of not being talkative; free discussion within the party has virtually disappeared, party public opinion has been stifled. Now it is not the party, it is not the partys broad masses who nominate and choose provincial conferences and party congresses, which in turn nominate and choose provincial committees and the Central Committee of the RCP. On the contrary, it is the secretarial hierarchy, the party hierarchy which to an ever greater degree chooses the delegates to the conferences and congresses, which to an ever greater degree are becoming the executive conferences of this hierarchy. The regime which has been established within the party is absolutely intolerable; it is killing the independence of the party, replacing the party with a selected bureaucratic apparatus which functions smoothly during normal times, but which inevitably misfires during moments of crisis, and which threatens to become absolutely helpless when confronted with the serious events which lie ahead. The situation which has developed is explained by the fact that the regime of fractional dictatorship within the party which unfolded after the Xth Congress [March 1921] has outlived itself. Many of us consciously chose not to resist such a regime. The about-face of 1921 [with the introduction of the New Economic Policy] followed by Comrade Lenins illness, demanded, as far as some of us were concerned, a dictatorship within the party as a temporary measure. Other comrades from the very beginning reacted to it skeptically or opposed it. In any case, by the time of the XIIth Party Congress [April 1923] this regime had become obsolete. It began to show the other side of the coin. The inner-party bonds began to weaken. The party began to wither. Extreme oppositional, even openly unhealthy, tendencies within the party began to take on an anti-party character, for there was no inner-party, comradely discussion of the most acute questions. And such a discussion could have revealed, without any difficulty, the unhealthy character of these tendencies, both to the party masses and to the majority of their participants. As a result, we have seen the formation of illegal groupings, which draw party members away from the party, and we have witnessed the party losing contact with the working masses. If the situation which has developed is not radically changed in the very near future, the economic crisis in Soviet Russia and the crisis of the fractional dictatorship within the party will strike heavy blows to the workers dictatorship in Russia and to the Russian Communist Party. With such a burden on its shoulders, the dictatorship of the proletariat in Russia, and its leader, the RCP, cannot enter the field of the impending new international shocks in any other way than with the perspective of failure along the entire front of proletarian struggle. Of course, it would at first glance be easiest of all to resolve the question in the following sense: in view of the situation, there is not and there cannot be any place for raising the questions of changing the partys course, of placing on the agenda new and complex tasks, etc., etc. But it is absolutely clear that such a point of view would be a position of officially closing ones eyes to the actual situation, since the entire danger lies in the fact that there is no genuine ideological or practical unity in the face of exceedingly complex domestic and foreign situations. In the party, the more silently and secretly the struggle is waged, the more ferocious it becomes. If we raise this question before the Central Committee, then it is precisely in order to find the swiftest and most painless resolution of the contradictions which are tearing the party apart, and to rapidly place the party on healthy foundations. We need real unity in discussions and in actions. The impending ordeals require the unanimous, fraternal, absolutely conscious, extremely energetic, and extremely unified activity of all the members of our party. The fractional regime must be eliminated, and this must be done first of all by those who have created it; it must be replaced by a regime of comradely unity and inner-party democracy. In order to realize all that has been outlined above and to take the necessary measures to extricate ourselves from the economic, political and party crisis, we propose that the CC, as the first and most urgent step, call a conference of members of the CC with the most prominent and active party cadres, in order that the list of those invited include a number of comrades who have views concerning the situation which differ from the views of the majority of the CC. E. Preobrazhensky S. V. Breslav L. Serebriakov Leonid Serebriakov, Old Bolshevik and signatory of the Declaration of the 46 While not agreeing with certain points in this letter explaining the causes of the situation which has developed, and feeling that the party has come up against problems which cannot fully be resolved by the methods employed up until now, I fully endorse the final conclusion of the present letter. A. Beloborodov 11 October 1923 Aleksandr Beloborodov, a signatory of the Declaration of the 46 and Old Bolshevik and close co-thinker of Trotsky I am in complete agreement with the proposals, although I differ with several points concerning motives. A. Rozengolts M. Alsky In general, I share the thoughts of this appeal. The need for a direct and open approach to all our sore points is so overdue that I fully support the proposal to call the indicated conference in order to choose the practical ways that can lead us out of the accumulated difficulties. Antonov-Ovseenko A. Venediktov I. N. Smirnov G. Piatakov V. Obolensky (Osinsky) N. Muralov T. Sapronov A. Goltsman Georgy Piatakov, a signatory of the Declaration of the 46 and one of the most influential figures in the Soviet economy of the 1920s. The situation in the party and the international situation are such that they demand the extraordinary concentration and unity of party forces more than ever before. While ascribing to the declaration, I view it exclusively as an attempt to create unity in the party and to prepare it for upcoming events. Naturally, at the present moment there can be no talk of inner-party struggle in any form whatsoever. It is necessary for the CC to soberly assess the situation and to adopt urgent measures to eliminate dissatisfaction within the party, as well as within the non-party masses. 12 October 1923. A. Goltsman 11 October 1923. V. Maksimovsky L. Sosnovsky Danishevsky P. Mesyatsev G. Khorechko Lev Sosnovsky (on the left) with Vladimir Lenin in 1920. Sosnovsky was one of the leaders of the Opposition and closest co-thinkers of Trotsky in the 1920s. I do not agree with a number of assessments in the first part of the declaration; I do not agree with a number of characterizations of the inner-party situation. At the same time I am deeply convinced that the state of the party demands the adoption of radical measures, for things are not well in the party at the present time. I fully share the practical proposal. Bubnov 11 October 1923 A. Voronsky V. Smirnov Ye. Bosh I. Byk V. Kassior F. Lokatskov Aleksandr Voronsky, a leading figure in Soviet literary criticism of the 1920s and signatory of the Declaration of the 46 I am in complete agreement with the evaluation of the economic situation. I consider the weakening of the political dictatorship at the present moment to be dangerous, but things must be aired out. I find a conference to be absolutely necessary. Koganovich Drobnis P. Kovalenko A. E. Minkin V. Yakovleva I am in complete agreement with the practical proposals. B. Eltsin I sign with the same reservations as Comrade Bubnov. M. Levitin I sign with the same reservations as Bubnov, sharing neither the form nor the tone, which all the more convinces me to agree with the practical part of the given declaration. I. Poliudov O. Shmidel V. Vaganian I. Stukov A. Lobanov Rafail S. Vasilchenko Mikh. Zhakov A. Puzakov N. Nikolaev Vagarshak Ter-Vaganian, one of the signatories to the Declaration of the 46, in 1925 Since during recent times I have been somewhat removed from the work of the party centers, I abstain from the judgements of the two leading paragraphs of the introductory part; I agree with the rest. Averin I am in agreement with the part outlining the economic and political situation of the country. I feel that, in the part which depicts the inner-party situation, a certain exaggeration has been allowed. It is absolutely necessary to immediately take measures to preserve the unity of the party. M. Boguslavsky Mikhail Boguslavsky, an Old Bolshevik and signatory to the Declaration of the 46 I am not fully in agreement with the first part, which speaks about the economic situation of the country; the latter is indeed very serious and demands great attention, but up until now the party has not advanced people who would have been able to lead better than those who have been leading until now. Regarding the question of the inner-party situation, I feel that there is a significant portion of truth in everything which has been said, and I consider it necessary to take emergency measures. F. Dudnik Glossary of Names: Signatories to the Declaration of the 46 Averin, Vasily Kuzmich (1885-1945), member of the Bolshevik Party from 1904; Central Committee in Ukraine 1921-23. From 1923, worked in the aviation industry, was then chairman of the board of the Moscow-Kazan railway. Arrested in 1937 and sentenced to 8 years in Corrective Labor Camps [ITL]. Freed in November 1945 but killed in his office by unknown persons on 28 December 1945. Alsky, Arkady (M.) Osipovich (1892-1936), member of the party from March 1917; from 1921, Deputy Narkom [Peoples Commissar] of Finances of the RSFSR; from 1923, of the USSR. Arrested 4 February 1936; shot 4 November 1936. Antonov-Ovseenko, Vladimir Aleksandrovich (1883-1938), member of the party from June 1917; in the revolutionary movement from 1901; from 1922, head of the Political Directorate of the Workers and Peasants Red Army (RKKA) and member of the Revolutionary Military Council (RVS) of the Republic. Arrested 12 October 1937; shot 10 February 1938. Beloborodov, Aleksandr Georgievich (1891-1938), member of RSDRP from 1907; Bolshevik Party from 1917; from 1923, Narkom of Internal Affairs of the RSFSR. Arrested 15 August 1936; shot 9 February 1938. Boguslavsky, Mikhail Solomonovich (1886-1937), member of the Bolshevik Party from 1917; from 1921, deputy chairman of the Moscow Soviet. Arrested 8 August 1936. Defendant at Second Moscow Trial in January 1937. Shot 1 February 1937. Bosh, Yevgenia Bogdanovna (1879-1925), member of the party from 1901; professional revolutionary; from 1922, in connection with severe illness (cancer), was ordered by the CC to go to Italy and Germany for treatment. Died by suicide 5 January 1925. Breslav, Boris Abramovich (S. V.) (1882-1938), member of the party from 1903; from 1922, head of the Political Directorate of the Moscow Military District. Arrested 31 October 1937; shot 21 April 1938. Bubnov, Andrei Sergeevich (1884-1938), member of the party from 1903; from 1922, head of the Agitation and Propaganda Department of the CC RCP(b). Candidate member of the CC RCP(b). Member of the CC, 1924-1937. Arrested 17 October 1937; shot 1 August 1938. Byk, Iosif Moiseevich (1882-1936), member of the Bolshevik Party from 1918; from 1923, chairman of the Auditing Commission of the Sugar Trust of the Supreme Council of Peoples Economy (VSNKh). Arrested 10 July 1936; shot 5 October 1936. Vaganian, (Ter-Vaganian) Vagarshak Arutiunovich (1893-1936), member of the Bolshevik Party from 1912; 1922-23 editor of the journal Under the Banner of Marxism. Defendant at Trial of the 16, the first Moscow Frame-up Trial; shot 26 August 1936. Vasilchenko, Semyon Filippovich (1884-1937), member of the party from 1901; from 1920, chairman of the board of the publishing house Moscow Worker. Worked at Gosizdat. Arrested 28 March 1936; shot in 1937. Venediktov, Aleksandr Georgievich [Abrosimov] (1884-1932), member of the party from 1904; from 1923, headed the editorial section and economic department at the State Publishing House. Died 21 August 1932. Voronsky, Aleksandr Konstantinovich (1884-1937), member of the party from 1904; from 1921, editor of the journal Krasnaia nov [Red Virgin Soil]; simultaneously from 1922, editor of the journal Prozhektor [Beacon]. Arrested 1 February 1937; shot 13 August 1937. Goltsman, Abram Zinovievich (1894-1933), member of the party from 1917; from 1922, member of the presidium and head of the Main Electrotechnical Directorate of the VSNKh. Died in an airplane crash. Danishevsky, Karl Yuli. Khristianovich (Julijs Karlis Danisevskis) (1884-1941), member of the party from 1900; from 1921, head of the Central Directorate of the Timber Industry; chairman of the board of the trust Northern Forest. Arrested 16 July 1937; shot 8 January1938. Drobnis, Yakov Naumovich (1890-1937), member of the party from 1906; from 1923, member of the Administrative-Financial Commission under the Council of Peoples Commissars of the USSR. Arrested 6 August 1936. Tried at Second Moscow Trial in January 1937. Shot 1 February 1937. Dudnik, F. [Akim Minovich] (1881-1934), member of the Bolshevik Party from 1917. In 1923, member of the collegium of the Peoples Commissariat for Agriculture in Soviet Ukraine. From 1924, member of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine. Died 14 March 1934. Zhakov, Mikhail Petrovich (1893-1936), member of the party from 1911; from 1923, student at the Institute of Red Professors. Taught at Sun Yat Sen University in Moscow, 1925-27. Arrested and shot in 1936. Kassior, (Kosior) Vladislav Vikentievich (1891-1938), member of the party from 1907; editor of the newspaper Trud [Labor]. In 1921, member of the Democratic Centralism group. In 1925-26, representative of Vneshtorgbank in Paris. Sentenced in 1936 to five years imprisonment at Ukhpechlag in Vorkuta. Sentenced to death on 11 January 1938; shot with other Oppositionists on 30 March 1938. Kovalenko, P.A. (1889-1937), member of the party from 1911; from 1920, writer for the newspaper Pravda. Arrested and shot in 1937. Koganovich, Pyotr Kirillovich (1887-1937), member of the party from 1905; from 1921, member of the board of Tsentrosoiuz. Arrested and shot in 1937. Levitin, Mark Filippovich (1891-1938), member of RSDRP from 1909; member of the Bolshevik Party from 1916; economic work in the agencies of the VSNKh and STO (Council of Labor and Defense). Arrested 10 November 1937; shot 8 February 1938. Lobanov, Mikhail (A.) Ivanovich (1887-1937), member of the party from 1904; party work in the Moscow Committee of the RCP(b). Shot 9 March 1937. Lovatskov, Filipp Ivanovich (1881-1937), member of the party from 1904; in 1923, chairman of the Presidium of the Ural Regional Council of the Peoples Economy. Arrested 2 July 1937; shot 30 October 1937. Maksimovsky, Vladimir Nikolaevich (1887-1941), member of the party from 1903; from 1922, deputy narkom of enlightenment of the RSFSR; professor and dean of the Timiryazev Agricultural Academy. Arrested 27 July 1937, sentenced to five years of exile. Died in exile. Mesyatsev, Pavel Aleksandrovich (1889-1938), member of the party from 1906; from 1921, member of the collegium, then plenipotentiary of the Peoples Commissariat of Agriculture of the RSFSR. Arrested 21 August 1937; shot 8 February 1938. Minkin, Aleksandr Eremeevich (1887-1955), member of the party from 1903; from 1922, worked at the Executive Committee of the Comintern; from 1923, member of the collegium of the Narkomtorg. Member of Glavkotsesskom, 1924-26. Sentenced to Corrective Labor Camp [ITL] for eight years in 1939; re-arrested in 1948 and sentenced to 10 years ITL; died while imprisoned on 13 January 1955. Muralov, Nikolai Ivanovich (1877-1937), member of the party from 1903; from 1921, commander of the Moscow Military District. In presidium of Gosplan 1925-26. Arrested 17 April 1936; defendant at the Second Moscow Trial; shot 1 February 1937. Nikolaev, Nikolai Ilyich (Bezchetvernoi) (1895-1937), member of the party from 1914; editor of the newspaper Communist. From 1922, deputy chairman of the board of the publishing house Krasnaia nov. Arrested 4 September 1936; shot 29 May 1937. Osinsky, N. (Obolensky, Valerian Valerianovich) (1887-1938), member of the Bolshevik Party from 1907; in 1920-21, one of leaders of Democratic Centralists; from 1921, deputy narkom of Agriculture RSFSR; deputy chairman of the VSNKh; from 1923, USSR ambassador to Sweden. Arrested 14 October 1937; shot 1 September 1938. Poliudov, Evgeny Venediktovich (1887-1937), member of the party from 1907; from 1923, member of the collegium of the Peoples Commissariat of Finance. Arrested 30 April 1937; shot 9 September 1937. Preobrazhensky, Evgeny Alekseevich (1886-1937), member of the party from 1903; secretary of the Central Committee 1920-21; editorial boad of Pravda 1921-27; from 1921, chairman of the Finance Committee of the Central Committee and the Council of Peoples Commissars; important figure in the Peoples Commissariat of Enlightenment of the RSFSR. Preobrazhensky was one of the most influential figures in Soviet economics in the 1920s. Arrested in December 1936; shot 13 July 1937. Puzakov, Aleksei Mikhailovich (1884-1937), member of the party from 1905; from 1922, secretary of the Kursk Regional Committee of the RCP(b); from 1923, secretary, then chairman of the District Control Commission. Arrested 31 May 1934, sentenced to five years ITL. Sentenced to death on 1 October 1937 and shot 8 December 1937. Piatakov, Yury (G.) Leonidovich (1890-1937), member of the party from 1910; from 1922, deputy chairman of Gosplan; from 1923, deputy chairman of the Supreme Council of the Peoples Economy of the USSR. At the time of the Declaration of the 46, he was a member of the Central Committee RCP(b). He was one of the most influential figures in the Soviet economy in the 1920s. Arrested 13 September 1936; defendant at Second Moscow Trial; shot 1 February 1937. Rafail, (Farbman Rafail Borisovich) (1893-1966), member of the party from 1910; from 1922, head of the Moscow Department of Peoples Education. Arrested 14 January 1933; sentenced on 16 April to three years ITL. In camps from 1935 to 1956. Several times refused rehabilitation from 1956-66. Rozengolts, Arkady Pavlovich (1889-1938), member of the party from 1905; from 1922, member of the commission of the Peoples Commissariat of Finance of the RSFSR; from 1923, head of the Main Directorate of the Air Force; member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR. Arrested 7 October 1937; defendant at the Third Moscow Trial; shot 15 March 1938. Sapronov, Timofei Vladimirovich (1887-1938), member of the party from 1911; from 1922, secretary and member of the Presidium of VTsIK [All-Russian Central Executive Committee]. Arrested in 1935, sentenced to ITL. In Verkhne-Uralsk Isolator 1935-August 1937; shot 28 September 1937. Serebriakov, Leonid Petrovich (1888-1937), member of the party from 1905; member of Central Committee from Eighth Congress; secretary of Central Committee 1919-21; from 1922, deputy narkom of transportation. Arrested 17 August 1936; defendant at Second Moscow Trial; shot 1 February 1937. Smirnov, Vladimir Mikhailovich (1887-1937), member of the party from 1907; from 1921, member of the collegium and chairman of the finance section of Gosplan of the USSR. Arrested 1930; in Suzdal isolator, then Verkhe-Uralsk isolator 1930-May 1937. Shot 26 May 1937. Smirnov, Ivan Nikitich (1881-1936), member of the party from 1899; from 1923, narkom of post and telegraph of the USSR. Arrested 1 January 1933. In central OGPU-NKVD prison from 1 January 1933 to August 1936. Defendant at First Moscow Trial; shot 25 August 1936. Sosnovsky, Lev Semyonovich (1886-1937), member of the party from 1904; from 1918, chief editor of the newspapers Bednota and Kommunar. On editorial board of Pravda 1923-27. Repeated arrests and imprisonment; last arrested 23 October 1936; shot 3 July 1937. Stukov, Innokenty Nikolaevich (1887-1936), member of the party from 1905; from 1923, chief editor of the publishing house Moskovskii rabochii. Member of Gosplan. Arrested 21 March 1936; shot 4 November 1936. Kharechko, Taras (G.) Ivanovich (1893-1937), member of the party from 1914; from 1922, member of the board of Leningrad University, head of the regional department for press affairs, member of the collegium of the Leningrad department of Tsentrokhim. Arrested 1936, in ITL 1936-1937. Sentenced to death 18 September 1937; shot 27 November 1937. Shmidel, Oskar Karlovich (1889-1937), member of the party from 1917; from 1922, secretary of the party cell of the RCP(b) and bursar of the factory Kauchuk of the Khamovnichesky region of Moscow. Arrested 17 June 1937; shot 7 October 1937. Eltsin, Boris Mikhailovich (1875-1937), member of the party from 1897; from 1921, chairman of the collegium and member of the board of Glavpolitprosvet. He was the general secretary of the Soviet Left Opposition in 1928. His three children were members of the Opposition as well. Arrested January 1935, sentenced to five years ITL; shot 27 November 1937. Yakovleva, Varvara Nikolaevna (1884-1941), member of the party from 1904; from 1920, secretary of the Moscow Committee of the RCP(b); from 1921, secretary of the Siberian Buro of the CC RCP(b); from 1922, Deputy Peoples Commissar of Enlightenment in the RSFSR. Arrested 27 September 1937; shot without trial in Orlov NKVD prison, 11 September 1941. This image shows two US aircraft carrier strike groups on patrol in the South China Sea in 2020. [AP Photo] Amid a genocide against the people of Gaza by the Israeli military, the United States is threatening to unleash a war throughout the Middle East targeting Iran. Over the weekend, bombs continued to rain down on Gaza, killing hundreds of people each day. A population of two million is being systematically murdered through starvation and thirst, while one million people in Northern Gaza are being forced on a death march in advance of an imminent ground invasion. This genocide has the full support of the Biden administration, which has given Israel a blank check to carry out war crimes. Operationally, Israels actions are being overseen by the United States. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Israel last week, and Blinken is scheduled to return this week. Israels war on Gaza has been accompanied by a massive expansion of the US military presence in the region, led by the deployment of two aircraft carriers and their associated battle groups. The dispatch of an armada of over a dozen warships to the Middle East is not simply to threaten Hamas, which has no navy. The United States is preparing for a much broader conflict in the Middle East, including war with Iran. The US is using the present crisis to put into effect long-standing plans for a war with Iran, as the Middle Eastern front of the US war with Russia and war plans against China. On Saturday, Austin announced that the US would double its military assets deployed in the Middle East, sending a second carrier strike group, led by the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, to the region. Austin said the strike group includes the guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea, guided-missile destroyers USS Gravely and USS Mason, and Carrier Air Wing 3, with nine aircraft squadrons. The Eisenhower will join the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group, which has already been deployed to the region. Austin noted, The Ford CSG includes the USS Normandy, USS Thomas Hudner, USS Ramage, USS Carney, and USS Roosevelt. Earlier in the week, the US Air Force announced deployment to the region of squadrons of F-15, F-16 and A-10 fighter aircraft. A map of Israel, the Palestinian Territories in green and Israeli occupied Golan Heights [AP Photo] Each nuclear-powered carrier strike group has a total personnel of up to 8,000 sailors, airmen and Marines, meaning that over 15,000 troops have been deployed to the Middle East in the span of just over one week, alongside dozens of other aircraft and thousands of support personnel. These plans could not have been put into practice at the drop of a hat. There are indications that the Netanyahu government and US intelligence agencies had some degree of advance knowledge of an attack from Hamas, though they were shocked by the scale of the rebellion. In any case, the Israeli regime had planned for an all-out war against the Palestinians, in part to deflect from its escalating internal social and political crisis. The United States, for its part, has used the crisis to put into effect its own plans for escalation against Iran. US officials have made clear that the aircraft carriers are targeting Iran. On Friday, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said, There is a risk of an escalation of this conflict, the opening of a second front in the north, and, of course, of Irans involvement Its why the president moved so rapidly and decisively to get an aircraft carrier into the Eastern Mediterranean, to get aircraft into the Gulf, because he wants to send a very clear message of deterrence. In an editorial Sunday night, the Wall Street Journal wrote, The Ayatollahs in Tehran need to understand that more than their terrorist proxies are at risk. They need to know that their nuclear sites and oil fields are also on the target list. Echoing these points, Senator Lindsay Graham raised the prospect of a declaration of war against Iran, which he said he had discussed with the White House. Ill introduce a resolution in the United States Senate to allow military action by the United States, in conjunction with Israel, to knock Iran out of the oil business, he said. Iran, if you escalate this war, were coming for you. In an interview on 60 Minutes, Biden seemed to imply support for opening a second front in the war and attacking Lebanons Hezbollah political party. Going in and taking out the extremists, Hezbollah is up north but Hamas down South, is a necessary requirement, Biden said, adding, Iran constantly supports Hamas and Hezbollah. In this context, there is the possibility that the US will stage some sort of provocation to justify a war against Iran. Significantly, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said he would not rule out deploying US troops in combat in the present crisis, ostensibly to save hostages held by Hamas. The deployment of US troops on the ground would not be about saving hostages, whose lives are of no significance to American imperialism, but at directly involving the US military in a developing conflict with Iran. The United States has planned for a war against Iran for decades. In January 2002, following the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, then-President George W. Bush called Iran part of an Axis of Evil that included Iraq, which the United States invaded and occupied the next year. Inside the White House, Bush administration officials were fond of the saying, Boys go to Baghdad, but real men go to Tehran. The US conflict with Iran was massively intensified under the Trump administration. Following the 2018 US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, Iran shot down a US drone over the Strait of Hormuz in June 2019. That month, then-President Donald Trump ordered a series of airstrikes on Iranian targets, which he called off at the last minute while the planes were already in the air. In January 2020, the US murdered Qasem Soleimani, the commander of Irans Quds Force and a major figure in the Iranian military establishment. The development of a full-scale war in the Middle East is a continuation of the same policies that have led to the protracted and escalating US-NATO war against Russia over Ukraine. The US instigated the conflict with the aim of militarily defeating Russia and orchestrating a regime-change operation. The war against Russia is seen as preparatory to a military conflict with China. The free rein given to Israel to commit mass murder against the population of Gaza, and the intensifying US war plans against Iran, must be seen in the context of the eruption of what is, in effect, the initial stages of a third world war. The war plans of US imperialism are being disrupted by a growing movement of the working class, which is intersecting with a global movement against imperialist war. Over the weekend, millions of people marched in the Middle East, Europe and the United States in opposition to Israels genocide in Gaza. The massive escalation of war will be paid for through an escalation of the assault on the working class, which has already sparked a growing strike wave in the US and all the major capitalist countries. The eruption of popular opposition to Israeli genocide must be connected to the developing class struggle over inequality and exploitation. This requires the building of a socialist leadership in the working class, fusing the fight against war with opposition to the capitalist profit system. BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) has ordered the arrest of Liu Liange, former chairman of the board of directors of the Bank of China, for suspected bribe-taking and illegal loan-issuing, the SPP said Monday. The case was transferred to procuratorial authorities for examination and prosecution following the conclusion of an investigation by the National Commission of Supervision. Further handling of the case is currently underway. This photo taken on Oct. 15, 2023 shows an Israeli military base near the Israel-Gaza border. Israel on Sunday continued its preparations for a massive ground operation in Gaza, mobilizing forces near the Gaza border, as its bloody conflict with the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) entered the second week. (Xinhua/Chen Junqing) JERUSALEM/GAZA, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Israel on Sunday continued its preparations for a massive ground operation in Gaza, mobilizing forces near the Gaza border, as its bloody conflict with the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) entered the second week. "Our responsibility now is to enter Gaza, locate where Hamas prepares, plans and launches attacks, and strike hard everywhere -- targeting every commander, every operative, and dismantling their infrastructure," Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi told soldiers near Gaza, according to a video released by the army. At least 1,284 individuals in Israel were killed in the onslaught by Hamas militants since Oct. 7, according to the official figures released by the Israeli Interior Ministry on Sunday. Among the fatalities, at least 368 have not yet been identified. The Israeli military has also issued official notifications to at least 155 families to inform them of the abduction of their loved ones. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday met for the first time with the families of hostages, and promised to bring the abducted Israelis back. Speaking at a press conference, IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari again urged residents of the northern Gaza Strip to evacuate southward, adding that Israel has opened humanitarian corridors and "hundreds of thousands" have already fled to the south. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, prior to Israeli warnings, more than 400,000 Palestinians had been internally displaced due to the conflict. So far, 2,670 people have been killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, with more than 9,600 injuries reported, the Gaza-based Palestinian Health Ministry updated on Sunday. Responding to reports of a looming humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz stated that water is provided "at a specific point" in southern Gaza, without elaborating on the exact location. However, Mazen Ghoneim, head of the Palestinian Water Authority, denied reports that Israel resumed water supply to the Gaza Strip. Ghoneim told Xinhua that "even if the water supply is resumed, the power outage has made the Water Authority incapable of pumping the water into taps and pumps to finally supply it to Gaza residents." Israeli evacuation warning has caused confusion and panic among many Gazans, who rushed to flee from their houses by vehicles, carts pulled by donkeys or horses, or just on foot. Meanwhile, the conflict between Lebanon's Hezbollah military group and Israeli forces in the border area has shown no sign of abating amid fears of a war on the second front, Palestinian eyewitnesses said. In a northern Israeli community, a man was killed and three others were wounded when anti-tank missiles were fired from Lebanon across the Blue Line into Israel. The IDF reported that it struck the area in Lebanon from where the missiles were launched. The IDF said it intentionally disrupted GPS operations in northern Israel near Lebanon to thwart Hezbollah's attempts to target Israel. In the afternoon, eight people were injured in northern Israel as Hezbollah fired nine rockets, and Israeli fighter jets struck Hezbollah military infrastructure in Lebanon in response, according to the Israeli military. Also on Sunday, Hezbollah confirmed in a statement that it had bombed several Israeli border sites and settlements, causing several casualties among Israeli troops. This photo taken on Oct. 15, 2023 shows an Israeli military base near the Israel-Gaza border. Israel on Sunday continued its preparations for a massive ground operation in Gaza, mobilizing forces near the Gaza border, as its bloody conflict with the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) entered the second week. (Xinhua/Chen Junqing) This photo taken on Oct. 15, 2023 shows an Israeli military base near the Israel-Gaza border. Israel on Sunday continued its preparations for a massive ground operation in Gaza, mobilizing forces near the Gaza border, as its bloody conflict with the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) entered the second week. (Xinhua/Chen Junqing) This photo taken on Oct. 15, 2023 shows a road leading to the locked city of Sderot in southern Israel bordering the Gaza Strip. Israel on Sunday continued its preparations for a massive ground operation in Gaza, mobilizing forces near the Gaza border, as its bloody conflict with the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) entered the second week. (Xinhua/Chen Junqing) Staff members clean ruins of the Sderot police station destroyed in the conflict in southern Israeli city of Sderot bordering the Gaza Strip, Oct. 15, 2023. Israel on Sunday continued its preparations for a massive ground operation in Gaza, mobilizing forces near the Gaza border, as its bloody conflict with the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) entered the second week. (Xinhua/Chen Junqing) A vehicle of Israeli military patrols near the Israel-Gaza border, Oct. 15, 2023. Israel on Sunday continued its preparations for a massive ground operation in Gaza, mobilizing forces near the Gaza border, as its bloody conflict with the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) entered the second week. (Xinhua/Chen Junqing) This photo taken on Oct. 15, 2023 shows an Israeli military base near the Israel-Gaza border. Israel on Sunday continued its preparations for a massive ground operation in Gaza, mobilizing forces near the Gaza border, as its bloody conflict with the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) entered the second week. (Xinhua/Chen Junqing) A Israeli military helicopter lingers in the sky near the Israel-Gaza border on Oct. 15, 2023. Israel on Sunday continued its preparations for a massive ground operation in Gaza, mobilizing forces near the Gaza border, as its bloody conflict with the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) entered the second week. (Xinhua/Chen Junqing) Israeli soldiers are seen on a military vehicle near the Israel-Gaza border in southern Israel, on Oct. 16, 2023. Israel on Sunday continued its preparations for a massive ground operation in Gaza, mobilizing forces near the Gaza border, as its bloody conflict with the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) entered the second week. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. (JINI via Xinhua) Israeli military vehicles run near the Israel-Gaza border in southern Israel, on Oct. 16, 2023. Israel on Sunday continued its preparations for a massive ground operation in Gaza, mobilizing forces near the Gaza border, as its bloody conflict with the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) entered the second week. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. (JINI via Xinhua) An Israeli military vehicle runs near the Israel-Gaza border in southern Israel, on Oct. 16, 2023. Israel on Sunday continued its preparations for a massive ground operation in Gaza, mobilizing forces near the Gaza border, as its bloody conflict with the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) entered the second week. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. (JINI via Xinhua) Israeli soldiers are seen near the Israel-Gaza border in southern Israel, on Oct. 16, 2023. Israel on Sunday continued its preparations for a massive ground operation in Gaza, mobilizing forces near the Gaza border, as its bloody conflict with the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) entered the second week. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. (JINI via Xinhua) An Israeli military vehicle runs near the Israel-Gaza border in southern Israel, on Oct. 16, 2023. Israel on Sunday continued its preparations for a massive ground operation in Gaza, mobilizing forces near the Gaza border, as its bloody conflict with the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) entered the second week. At least 2,750 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, while in Israel, the death toll was at least 1,284 as of Sunday, according to official figures from the two sides. (JINI via Xinhua) Juliet Gachago, a Chinese language translator, teaches Chinese in Nairobi, Kenya, Oct. 13, 2023. (Photo by Chrispinus Omar/Xinhua) by Chrispinus Omar, Li Hualing NAIROBI, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The reality for many Kenyans who graduate from school is the "tarmac," a popular term used to describe a long period of searching for a job. It is usually characterized by despondency and countless rejections. But that was not the case for Ruth Sarah Achieng, 36, who enrolled for a Certificate in Chinese Language and Culture and landed a job shortly after graduating and returning to Kenya. "Since I started working, I have never been without a job. The opportunities for those with Chinese proficiency are everywhere you look," Achieng told Xinhua during a recent interview in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. The amiable senior university administrator is among a growing number of Kenyans who are finding financial success using the Chinese language amid a flourishing relationship between Kenya and China. The deepening ties between the two countries have led to increased Chinese investment in Kenya, resulting in a greater need for translators and interpreters for the Chinese-speaking community. Opportunities for a person speaking Mandarin (standard Chinese language) are extensive and inexhaustible, Achieng said as she broke into a gleeful narration of how she immersed herself in the Chinese language and culture. After finishing her degree in information science, Achieng was at home awaiting graduation when she came across an advertisement in the newspaper calling for students to enroll in a Chinese language certificate program at a local university. Her innate interest in art and culture drove her to apply, and she was accepted. "That was in 2007, and after completing the program, I performed well and was sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Education to continue my studies in China's Shandong Province," Achieng said. There is a huge demand for people with Chinese proficiency in the job market; however, the need is yet to be satisfied. Achieng said there are constant calls for Chinese language translators and interpreters from East African countries such as Uganda. She added that young people need to be educated about the importance of learning foreign languages as a viable career option. "More students are still not convinced that languages can help you succeed. You can still be a doctor and a lawyer, and knowing a foreign language gives you an advantage." Juliet Gachago, a Chinese language translator, went to China in 2010 after receiving a scholarship from the Confucius Institute. Gachago stumbled upon the Chinese language at Kenyatta University, where she was taking a tourism course. The major required her to pick one foreign language, and she had initially chosen German. "I was fascinated by the Chinese language, so I took classes in my spare time," Gachago said. She excelled and was able to secure a scholarship to study in China. The Chinese language is one of the optional foreign languages introduced by the Ministry of Education in Kenya's new competency-based curriculum. There are four Confucius Institutes in the country. Gachago said the translation career has enabled her to travel numerous times in and outside the country. "The market is never too full. I urge you to learn something new every day. Don't be afraid to make mistakes and learn from them." Ruth Sarah Achieng reads a Chinese textbook in Nairobi, Kenya, Oct. 13, 2023. (Photo by Chrispinus Omar/Xinhua) A mugshot of 6ix9ine has surfaced following the rappers arrest in the Dominican Republic on assault charges. According to a social media post by criminal lawyer Felix Portes Nunez on Saturday (Oct. 14), the Brooklyn native was detained while attempting to depart the island on a private jet. Authorities arrested 6ix9ine on a warrant related to accusations of causing physical injuries and sending threats to two alleged victims who claim he assaulted him over a dispute involving his girlfriend. Nunez later revealed that the rapper had been placed on the Dominican Republics MIGRATION ALERT and that his whereabouts were unknown at the time of the post. On Sunday (Oct. 15), DJ Akademiks posted footage of 6ix9ines arrest on Instagram, which saw a mob of islanders gathered outside of a building the 27-year-old was being led out of by police. Hours later, Akademiks posted a mugshot of the rapper taken in what appears to be a police station in the Dominican Republic. The rapper has had numerous run-ins with the law since emerging on the rap scene in 2017 with his breakout single Gummo, which peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified double platinum. In 2018, he was arrested on racketeering, weapons and drug charges in connection to a federal investigation against the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods, whom 6ix9ine was publicly affiliated with. In 2019, 6ix9ine struck a plea deal in exchange for his testimony against multiple members of the gang, resulting in a two year prison sentence. The hitmaker was released from prison on early release in April 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to his latest run-in with the law, 6ix9ine was arrested in Florida for failing to appear in court. That arrest, which occurred in August, stemmed from a traffic stop back in June, during which he was ticketed for speeding, not having proof of insurance and driving an unregistered vehicle. Bodycam footage of the incident also surfaced on social media and other platforms. More from VIBE.com Click here to read the full article. Jasmine is unimpressed with Gino's "dusty" house saying, "I do believe there are living organisms that haven't been discovered yet in the world" TLC Daniele and Yohan try to turn their marriage around during a life coach session. The 90 Day Fiance season 10 couples are saying hello to America! Sunday nights episode featured lots of airport arrivals, a proposal and a few first-time arguments on U.S. soil. As exciting as it is for the couples to finally be one step closer to American citizenship, jet lag and cultural differences led to tension for many of the pairs. From witchcraft to toilet habits and how many cans of soup are in one Americans cabinet, the global lovers have questions but they might not get the answers they want to hear. Heres where the couples left off on Sunday night. Ashley and Manuel TLC Ashley and Manuel reunite at the airport. A panic attack for Ashley was quickly relieved when Manuel stepped foot in America for the first time. A sweet airport reunion showed the Ecuador man reunite with his fiancee (and meet her sister) and it was one of the only peaceful moments for the pair. As soon as Manuel arrived at Ashleys home, he was disappointed by some of her habits and values. He also didn't feel any immediate fondness for her cat Lyra and her dog Rico Suave. The cats I see here in New York are simply a pet that must be fed and fed and fed and how does that benefit me?" Manuel asked cameras. Though he admitted Ashley has a right to have pets, he wasnt prepared for how cozy the critters were. The first argument sparked when Manuel said hed have to put a door on Ashleys bedroom so the pets sleep outside. This wasnt going to fly for Ashley. "Rico Suave has been with me through a ton of partners, and they leave and guess who stays? Rico motherf---ing Suave, she told cameras. So as far as I'm concerned, Rico Suave can sleep where he wants whether that's in the [living room] or whether it's in the bedroom." TLC Ashley's dog, Rico Suave. Manuel's demands about Ashley's home made her uncomfortable especially given they came just minutes after he arrived. "I come from a family of strong, independent women of color. We dictate in our family line. He's got to figure that out, she said. Later, she added, "My dog is a god. He does what he wants." The dog was just the start of it. Manuel, who is traditionally religious, has long known Ashley practices witchcraft as a career. Upon arriving in America, though, he began to challenge her witch identity. I don't think she's a witch because in Ecuador, witches are people who do harm. But she's not that, he told cameras. After Ashley told Manuel his understanding is incorrect, and "a witch is a person who uses and works with spirituality to have a life that is much better, he spent the evening Googling to prove Ashley wrong. It put a bad taste in Ashleys mouth. "I'm a motherf---ing witch, hoe, she told cameras. How are you not getting that?" "I'm not OK with being judged that way by my partner. My partner shouldn't judge me, period, she concluded. I would be going everything I believe in by marrying someone who doesn't understand, or respect, what I do." Related: 90 Day's Armando Admits He Is 'Invested' in Jasmine and Gino's Relationship: 'She's Madly in Love' (Exclusive) Nikki and Justin TLC Nikki speaks with her mother about her expectations for Jusin. Nikki might still have been skeptical about her future with Justin but her mom wasnt. The women bonded on Sunday nights episode as Nikkie's mother helped her pack and contemplate what a marriage with Justin would really look like. My mother is supportive in my relationship with Justin, Nikki told cameras. I think it's a little bit funny and ironic because 15 years ago, when Justin came to the United States under the K-1 visa, she was like 'kick his ass to the curb and send his ass back.' It's funny how the tables turned and I'm more doubtful of what's gonna happen in the relationship and she's more hopeful." Nikkis mom was just hoping her daughter would find unconditional love, which had been a hurdle in their own relationship. The mom admitted she didnt accept Nikki as transgender for some time, which temporarily ruined their relationship. The mother harbored concerns that Justins family in Moldova wouldnt be kind and loving about her transition. I didn't understand, the mother said of when she learned Nikki was transitioning. I regret it, and I will regret it for the rest of my life. I hope Justin's parents, and Justin, will love her and accept her." So far, things hadnt been totally positive. Nikki told cameras that Justins friends still had a ways to go toward acceptance. "Justin told me that he's getting a lot of rejection and pushback from his friends, she said. It makes me feel sad. It makes me feel sometimes like a disease like, Why are they treating him like this for his choice to be with me?" The episode also featured Justin speaking with his friend about Nikkis identity. I feel nervous because she's trans, and the people in our country they think, like, narrow-minded, he said in an interview. Every time Nikki goes out like lots of makeup and dresses. I'm more think about her safety." The friend was immediately dumbfounded when he first learned of Nikkis transition, saying, "I haven't met any transgender people in Moldova. That's why it's a big shock to me. Rob and Sophie TLC Rob pops the question to Sophie at a Los Angeles airport. Rob and Sophie officially got engaged again! Sophie arrived at the airport on Sunday nights episode after 25 hours of travel and walked into a sweet proposal from Rob. The American man even did a choreographed dance in baggage claim and presented Sophie with a ring as they were leaving. (The couple had already gotten engaged, but Sophie was just waiting for some bling to seal the deal.) That said, Sophie did wonder in a couples confessional moment "why he chose the airport." Rob explained. "Well, I already, technically we were already engaged, but the actual proposal, I felt like that needed to happen and it needed to happen as soon as she got to L.A., he said. Like, I come with this. You have to say yes before you become a U.S. citizen and go enjoy L.A." It wasnt all engagement bliss, though Rob and Sophie got stuck in an elevator shortly after she said yes (again). It may have been Robs fault for pressing the door close button repeatedly. Either way, Sophie nearly had a panic attack waiting for the doors to open again, and the whole situation made the spouses-to-be tense. When they were finally freed, Rob did very little to ease Sophie's nerves as he described his hometown of Inglewood: "It's not that bad. There's some nonsense that happens, but a gunshot every now and again ... not very often. The couple drove through a police standoff before arriving home and it made Sophie certain that "I don't want this to be where I live. She said in the confessional, Im just hoping this is where we're at right now, and then we'll move to somewhere nicer that I can feel like, 'This is my home.'" Related: 90 Day Fiance Is Back with a Panicked Witch, a Closeted Bisexual, and a Justin Timberlake Doppelganger Gino and Jasmine TLC Gino and Jasmine are all smiles as their reunite in America. Jasmine was finally in America! An airport reunion for Gino and Jasmine led to some PDA and one giant promise of "no more fights ever. The legacy couple who are known for being hot-headed didnt hold their promise too long, but, to be fair, this new phase of simply bickering was nothing compared to their blowout arguments past. When Jasmine arrived at Ginos home she was stunned and not in a good way. She said Ginos Michigan home "smells kind of like garbage dusty and that it's like the ruins." Of course, that wasnt her only complaint. Jasmine was at a loss for words when she snooped through Ginos kitchen. She found cabinets full of soup cans and a freezer full of TV dinners. Picking up a gallon of chocolate milk, Jasmine criticized Ginos eating habits. "That's why you have farting problems, and why your farts smell, she said. I don't know how you've made it to 54 so far. You are lucky. You should be dead." Then came her candid thoughts on Ginos cleaning skills: "If the health minister comes to this house and sees this kitchen, we are gonna be all in quarantine. I do believe there are living organisms that haven't been discovered yet in the world." The worst moment went down when Jasmine entered the primary bathroom and found the toilet had not been flushed. What's wrong with Gino?" she asked cameras. "The log it was very very big it was just there floating. Though the pair were able to laugh off the household squabbles, Jasmine soon became homesick. "I didn't have high expectations about this house, but it's worse than I thought," she admitted. "If he doesn't start making changes, I'm never going to feel at home, and I don't know if I'm going to be able to stay here. Jasmine's loved ones back in Panama weighed on her mind. "Yesterday I wasn't sure I was going to get on the plane," she said. "Even though I try really hard explain all of the sacrifices I'm making to be with him, nothing compares to saying goodbye to your family, your roots, to the place where you belong. He doesn't understand that. But Gino and I have overcome a lot of hardships and I believe that there is nothing we are not able to overcome as a couple." 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. Season 10 of 90 Day Fiance airs Sunday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on TLC. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. (Diana Ramirez / De Los; Photos by Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) Glamour has named actor and activist America Ferrera as one of this years global Women of the Year for her dedication to social justice advocacy. Ferrera joins a list of other Latinx women who have been honored with this award, including Selena Gomez, Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera, Salma Hayek and Lupita Nyong'o. "I cant remember a time when I didnt want to fight injustice to incite change in this world," Ferrera said. Read more: L.A. libraries are supporting the next generation of Latino authors Every year Glamour celebrates women who are game-changers in their field and who have had a positive impact on their communities. Ferrera will be honored in multiple ceremonies, including ones in the U.S., Germany, Mexico and Latin America, Spain and Britain. "With so many incredible women who have stepped up, raised their voice and challenged the status quo in 2023, there is plenty to celebrate at this years Glamour Women of the Year," said Deborah Joseph, European editorial director at Glamour. "We cant wait to bring together the change-making women from all walks of life for our annual celebration of feminism in all its forms." Ferrera has starred in some of Hollywoods biggest movies, including her recent role in the "Barbie" film. She explained how her humble beginnings of growing up with a single mother and five siblings in the San Fernando Valley, taught her important life lessons. Her dreams as a child were to be a professional actor and become a human rights lawyer. When she was 17, she got the opportunity to start her acting career. She booked back-to-back movies and it seemed like she was achieving a dream that very few thought was possible. In 2017, following Donald Trumps election as president, Ferrera spoke at the Womens March in Washington. After that, she felt motivated to take action and do more. Read more: Traitor, ghost, feminist icon: Reclaiming the stories of La Llorona Along with her husband, Ryan Piers William, and actor Wilmer Valderrama, she helped create Harness, a nonprofit aimed at building community between activists, artists and leaders. In 2020, Ferrera also helped co-found, Poderistas, a nonprofit that serves as a digital community created by and for Latinas. Through events and networking, members build a positive community to support each other. She has also been a leading voice in the #MeToo and Times Up movements. "I realize now that I helped build the kind of organizations that I wish I'd had when I was a young artist looking to use my platform for change," Ferrera said. Ferrera said that when she was younger it was easy to recognize that her family was different from others because they sometimes struggled to have money for food and bills. Read more: Latinidad is inspiring these nail artists' intricate designs "When I was in fifth grade, we lost our assistance with meals at school, Ferrera said. Even at that age and even without the wider context of the worlds inequalities I understood that it wasnt because of anything I did or deserved." She decided to pursue her education at USC while continuing her acting career. Ferrera felt that her acting career wasnt having a significant impact until a beloved professor told her one of her movies helped another student. She then realized the power that storytelling had, and how her platform could help advocate for change. In 2008, during the presidential primary election, Ferrera joined the Hillary Clinton campaign and thats when her confidence grew. "So I became very passionate about democracy and elections, and thats how I got proximate to the issues of environmental racism and access to education, reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy," Ferrera said. "My commitment is to keep fighting and showing up in beloved community where women find strength and courage in each other, to continue the work toward the change that we all deserve." Read more: Essay: Being a Barbie girl in a first-gen immigrant world The mother of two is dedicated to protecting democracy and human rights and is preparing for the election next year. One of her biggest hopes is that the future for all women and immigrants looks safer. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Megyn Kelly and Candace Owens got into a war of words Sunday over whether college students should be blacklisted by potential employers for taking part in protests against Israel. It started with Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy writing on X that he thought Harvard student groups who co-signed the anti-Israel letter are simple fools, but its not productive for their members to face blacklisting. Youve got to be kidding me, Kelly replied. Doxxing Truck Circles Harvard After Students Sign Pro-Palestine Letter They sided with terrorists who murdered children and old women, Kelly added, referring to the Harvard groups that signed a letter saying Israel was entirely responsible for the Hamas attacks that led to more than 1,400 Israelis being killed. Youre not clear on this as someone who wants to be president? Kelly asked. Ramaswamy wrote in response that what the student groups said was dead wrong but that he doesnt think its productive to hunt down individual members of college student groups for the purpose of blacklisting them. Persuasion is better than force, lets stick to principle. If they are not persuaded that murdering babies is wrong, there is no persuading them, former Fox News host Kelly hit back. We dont hire those who do the killing & we dont hire those who applaud the killers while the savagery is underway. If you are open to hiring one of these lunatics, tho, good to know! Oh stop it, Daily Wire commentator Owens wrote, chiming in on the row. This is incredibly disingenuous, Megyn. You know that many of those students are not out there because they want babies to be murdered. Owens went on to say that college kids are stupid and said she used to be radically pro-choice herself and was now glad I didnt get put on a conservative black list for wanting babies murdered. Being liberal is not the same as taking to the streets to cheer murdered babies and blame said murders on the victims, Kelly retorted. But you go ahead and hire as many of them as you want Candace. Im sure the @realDailyWire will love that. Megyn Kelly Is Very Mad That Joe Rogan Drank a Bud Light Owens and Kelly continued their spat, with Owens arguing that students are misguided, believing they are taking part in a righteous cause. K I look forward to seeing them intern on your show and your reeducation of them, Kelly wrote. Youre attempting snark, but as a matter of fact, I almost exclusively hired reformed BLM activists to work for my charity, BLEXIT, Owens replied. They actually proved to be the most dedicated employees to the cause because the mission was personal to them. She added that she is living proof that students can change their beliefs. Cultural propaganda coupled with educational brainwash has proven potent, but not irreversible, Owens wrote. Awesome! Keep it rolling! Kelly sarcastically replied. Students for Justice in Palestine will love your thoughtful lessons on how its bad to murder Jews. Cant wait to see you turn their lives around. 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 State Security Service stated that Archil Basanidze, who was illegally detained near Russian-occupied Tskhinvali, is now free and on the territory controlled by the Georgian government."For the immediate release of Archil Basanidze, the central government actively employed both the 'hotline' mechanism and all available tools.The Russian Federation bears responsibility for all destructive actions conducted in the occupied regions of Georgia and along the occupation line," the State Security Service stated.According to the Security Service, the Georgian government, along with international partners, actively works to secure the release of all illegally imprisoned Georgian citizens in the Russian-occupied territories.Russian President Vladimir Putin, responding to media inquiries after the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit in Bishkek, stated that the relationship between Georgia and Russia is currently 'peaceful', and Georgia shows a strong interest in collaborating with its neighboring countries.The journalist inquired about the future of the CIS, given that Georgia has left the organization, Ukraine is not cooperating, Moldova is in the process of withdrawing, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was absent from the last meeting."As for Georgia, you know that all this happened after the provocation of the former leadership of Georgia towards South Ossetia. This was followed by events, about which it is probably out of place to talk now, but it led to the deterioration of relations with the CIS. It is not clear what the CIS has to do with it. In my opinion, they themselves are to blame, although it is their choice. However, our relations with Georgia are currently peaceful. They also have a strong interest in cooperating with their neighbors. It is difficult to imagine, but perhaps everything can be imagined. Despite this, within the framework of good-neighborly relations, they have more economic benefits than outside of these boundaries, that's all," stated Vladimir Putin. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 16, 2023. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing) BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Beijing on Monday. The meeting took place ahead of the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, slated for Tuesday and Wednesday in Beijing. Wang said this year, which marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping, is of great significance for connecting the past with the future. China appreciates Russian President Vladimir Putin's high appreciation of and support for Belt and Road cooperation, Wang said, extending the welcome to Russia for continuing its active participation in the initiative to make further contribution to boost common development and prosperity. Lavrov said Russia and China have kept a good momentum in developing bilateral relations. Russia expects to maintain close strategic communication with China and deepen practical cooperation across the board. Lavrov noted that President Putin is very much looking forward to meeting President Xi in China and participating in the forum, expressing confidence over the success of the event. The two sides conducted strategic coordination concerning the efforts to strengthen cooperation within the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BRICS and other multilateral frameworks. The two sides exchanged views on the tension between Palestine and Israel. Wang said China condemns all forms of actions that harm civilians and opposes any act that violates the international law. The UN Security Council needs to take measures and major countries should play active roles, Wang said. The most pressing need at the moment is to cease fire and stop war, Wang said, stressing the importance of pushing the two sides back to negotiation and setting up emergency humanitarian channels to prevent a larger-scale humanitarian crisis. The fundamental approach is to activate the two-state solution, strive for an even broader consensus and promote the establishment of the timetable and roadmap for restoring the legitimate rights of the Palestinian nation, he said. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 16, 2023. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing) Leer en espanol. A Spanish language version of this story is available online at www.News-Leader.com. Luis Sulbaran wants to bring a taste of Venezuela to everyone in Springfield. He's doing just that with his food truck, Caracas House. The truck is at Metro Eats, 2463 W. Sunshine St., from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Sundays. Sulbaran grew up in Caracas, Venezuela, but moved to Springfield when he was 16 years old. After a couple years in Miami, he returned to Springfield to be with his family, and started the food truck because he wanted to do something no one else had. "It's something different," Sulbaran said. "I love doing it for the people (of Springfield)." Don't want to miss out? Stay in the loop with the News-Leader's Restaurant Roundup newsletter While Springfield has many food trucks and restaurants representing other Latin American cuisines, Sulbaran is the first to serve Venezuelan food. "Like every Venezuelan, I miss my food. I miss our customs. Were far from our homeland. I miss many things, but the thing I miss most is the food, without a doubt," Sulbaran said. "And I know that there are more Venezuelans or Latinos who are settling here in Springfield." He wants to give everyone the opportunity to try a different flavor. So, where should people start? Caracas House has a vast menu, complete with breakfast, some American staples like hot dogs and burgers, and traditional Venezuelan dishes. The menu at Caracas House, a new Venezuelan food truck that offers authentic food, at Metro Eats in Springfield on Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. But their specialty is the arepas, a rounded corn cake stuffed with the customer's choice of filling. "Its hard to say which is my favorite dish. But I believe that the arepas are the most famous (Venezuelan dish) in the world," Sulbaran said. "I believe our dish is special because we make a very simple corn dough into something magical." Sulbaran hopes to share Venezuelan culture with everyone who visits. "I would like, to all the people who are going to read (this article), to invite them to have the opportunity to try something different and to play a little bit with the Venezuelan culture and flavor," Sulbaran said. Susan Szuch is the health and public policy reporter for the Springfield News-Leader. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @szuchsm. Story idea? Email her at sszuch@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Venezuelan native hopes to share food, culture with Springfield Channel 4 Takes Another JFK Doc The UKs Channel 4 has acquired a doc on the late U.S. President John F Kennedy. The network has struck a deal with Espresso Media International for the hour-long doc on the first day of Mipcom. JFK: 24 Hours That Changed The World comes from Coleman Television and follows the final day of Kennedys life, before he was assassinated in November 1963. The doc also follows the aftermath, as gunman Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested and charged with the murder. Espresso says ten other deals have been struck with buyers in Europe and Asia. Channel 4 previously bought Espresso sold doc VE Day in Colour: Britains Biggest Party and recently pre-bought Sinatra, Kennedy and the Mob from Abacus Media Rights. More from Deadline RTL Buys Maxima Upcoming Dutch royal doc Maxima has found a home in Germany. RTL has bought the six-part drama series, which follows the life of the Argentinian-born Maxima Zorreguieta, who later became Queen Maxima of the Netherlands. A sneak peak of the show will be unveiled here at Mipcom during distributor Betas traditional brunch event. Shot in New York, Spain Netherlands and Belgium, the series stars Argentinian actress Delfina Chaves (The Secret of the Greco Family), Martijn Lakemeier (The East). Sebastian Koch (The Lives of Others, Your Honour) and Elsie de Brauw (The Death of My Mother). The show is from Millstreet Films in coproduction with Beta Film and FBO and based on Maxima Zorreguieta: Motherland, a book by Marcia Luyten. Binge Opens Billion Dollar Playground Australian streamer Binge has ordered structured reality series Billion Dollar Playground from local indie Ronde Media. Announced at Mipcom this morning, the show is billed as a unique peak into the multi-million dollar holiday homes, personalities, and thrilling adventures of the super-rich, seen through the eyes of an elite concierge team that make their clients dreams come true. The show will go into production in Sydney this summer for broadcast in 2024. We are delighted to be working with Ronde Media to create a new Australian format, bringing together the popularity of workplace reality series, luxe living, and a tantalising slice of Australian life, said Alison Hurbert-Burns, Executive Director of Binge. 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. In late September, Cinespace Studios announced that it had purchased the EUE/Screen Gems Studios complex in Wilmington. Screen Gems had run the studios, first built in 1984, since 1996. How the sale will impact the film industry in Wilmington and the town as a whole will become clearer as time goes on. For now, the industry remains largely shut down due to the ongoing strike by the Screen Actors Guild, which is seeking better pay, among other demands, from the studios and streaming services. Here's what we know right now about Cinespace's plan for the Wilmington complex on 23rd Street and what the global company's presence in Wilmington might mean, both short-term and long-term. What is Cinespace? The former EUE/Screen Gems Studios will be now be called Cinespace Wilmington. Cinespace is one of the world's biggest operators of sound stages and studio facilities, essentially renting space to major production companies. Cinespace, which was founded in Canada in 1988, has facilities in Toronto, Chicago, Germany and now, with the purchase of the Screen Gems properties, Wilmington and Atlanta. "They're a global player, and they're the largest company that's ever owned the facility," said Johnny Griffin, director of the Wilmington Regional Film Commission. He added that he wouldn't be surprised to see Cinespace "add some additional inventory over time" in other cities. What are Cinespace's immediate plans for Wilmington? One big change locally, said Catherine Shin, head of marketing and communications for Cinespace, is a new face in a leadership role. "Chris Crowder is now serving as head of client services and operations (in Wilmington) and Bill Vassar will consult through the end of the year during the transition," Shin said. Bill Vassar, executive vice president of EUE/Screen gems studios, speaks at the State of the State discussion at the Cucalorus Film Festival in 2013. Vassar, who was an executive vice-president with Screen Gems, ran the Wilmington studios for 25 years, initially with the late Frank Capra Jr., who passed in 2007. Vassar came to Wilmington from Screen Gems' New York headquarters, and he ran the studios in Atlanta for a time as well. "I've been so involved it's hard to give it up, but I know it's time," Vassar said, adding that he will retire at the end of the year but plans on staying in Wilmington. "It's a good chance for me to make the break, which I've been thinking about for a long time." He called Cinespace "a great company" and said, "I think it'll be very good for Wilmington. They've got a lot of resources and top-notch management." Beyond staffing, Shin said, "The studio will be rebranded as Cinespace Wilmington and we will be replacing signage in the coming months." Griffin said he's heard "no discussions of major improvements or additions, or construction," at least in the short term. How will Cinespace interact with the community? Screen Gems was well-known in Wilmington for being a community partner, helping to sponsor such events as the Cucalorus Film Festival and even inviting the public into its gates over the years for studio tours and the occasional screening or fundraising event. How things play out along those lines with Cinespace remains to be seen, but the company does have an arm called CineCares that works directly with the communities where it's located. "Were looking forward to supporting the community," Shin said. "Michael Scott Jr. will be leading our programs in Wilmington for CineCares and working to identify partners to develop workforce training and education programs." What's the long-term outlook? Director and executive producer Len Wiseman (center) sets up a scene during the pilot episode of "Swamp Thing" on the expansive swamp set at EUE/Screen Gems Studios in Wilmington, 2018. Griffin is bullish about what Cinespace could do for the future of Wilmington's film industry. He's known Ashley Rice, president and co-managing partner of Cinespace, for many years, and said "she's got deep roots and a lot of connections in the industry." With multiple studios hosting projects all over the world, Griffin said, Cinespace could potentially steer business here if, say, space is full at one of its other studios. "We're dealing with a company that has a full-time presence in Los Angeles," Griffin said. "They are having high-level conversations with people they can really market Wilmington to." "I think it's pretty impressive that Wilmington, North Carolina, is in there with these big, international cities," he added. "If (Cinespace) thought North Carolina had no future in film, they wouldn't have come in here. Instead, they looked at us and said, 'Hey this is a place we should be.'" Griffin said he's heard people say, "'Oh, Screen Gems is selling because the business is off'" due to the strike, but he sees the current production downturn more as "a bump in the road. When it's all over, business is going to be back," and potentially in a big way, like the production explosion that followed the pandemic lockdown. Plus, with the independent Dark Horse Studios in Wilmington expanding, Griffin said, "All of that brings more attention to Wilmington." This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: How Cinespace Studios buying Screen Gems will impact Wilmington NC El Paso located in the former Iron Factory downtown location is now open in Athens serving up Tex-Mex and a range of margaritas. To paraphrase an old saying, when it rains, it pours tacos. That's a great way to describe two recent restaurant openings in downtown Athens. Taco Mama, which replaced Fuzzy's Tacos on the corner of Lumpkin Street and Washington Street, opened on Sept. 13. Less than one month later, another taco place opened on Washington Street within a two-minute walking distance. El Paso Tacos & Tequila opened on Oct. 4 in the 255 W. Washington St. space previously occupied by The Iron Factory Korean barbecue restaurant. Other than the fact that El Paso opens earlier and closes later than Taco Mama, is there any difference between the two? Since the Banner-Herald paid a visit to Taco Mama not long ago, we decided to stop by El Paso to compare them. That's fire: Oconee County barbecue restaurant Jim 'N Nick's opens with 'ribbon torching' The large dining room inside the new El Paso restraint in downtown Athens serving up Tex-Mex and a range of margaritas. The first thing locals will notice is that El Paso did away with the dark and cavernous ambience of The Iron Factory. The patio dining area is still there, complete with the stage for outdoor performances, but the interior is a night-and-day difference. Large windows allow for a view of the shaded patio and of the historic buildings next door, and a massive, colorful mural adorns the inside wall. It's easy to forget that it's the same structure. A host gave us a choice of sitting outside, inside, or at the bar. Ordering is done from the table, and service was fast and breezy for the afternoon on a Tuesday right beside the ever-popular Clocked burger joint. El Paso might just have the largest seating capacity of any downtown restaurant, which could make it a destination for diners looking for somewhere to get a late drink or a bite on Friday and Saturdays, when El Paso stays open until 11 p.m. A house margarita and steak chimichanga from El Paso in downtown Athens. The food options at El Paso Tacos & Tequila are fairly standard Mexican and Tex-Mex fare, with lunch combos, dinner plates and specialties that most guests will recognize. When the Banner-Herald visited, we ordered the vegetarian chalupas and shrimp ceviche. The tortilla chips that came out first were accompanied by a pleasantly spicy salsa and a dish of mole, a traditional Mexican sauce that tastes similar to refried beans. The chalupas were nice and fresh, but the ceviche was just chopped-up shrimp cocktail with tomatoes and onions. Though the fact that El Paso has an advantage over several area restaurants in that they offer zero-alcohol Heineken beer in the bottle, the menu nor our sever made us aware that El Paso offers mocktails (cocktails made with alcohol-free spirits). Instead, the bar prepared a frozen "virgin" margarita that was pretty to look at but mostly tasted like a less sugary Icee. In that regard, Taco Mama and El Paso are near-interchangeable, especially compared to Five Points' el Barrio Tacos & Tequila, which offers on-the-rocks mocktails made with alcohol-free tequila. The giant mural inside the new El Paso restraint in downtown Athens serving up Tex-Mex and a range of margaritas. Photo gallery: New and anticipated Athens restaurant openings for 2023 This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Eat Athens: El Paso Tacos and Tequila opens one month after Taco Mama Standing Rock Sioux Tribal citizen Kayla Lookinghorse-Smith will compete this weekend in the Phoenix Fashion Weeks Emerging Designer of the Year program amongst nine other global brands. (Photo/Getty Images) PHOENIX Hunkpapa Lakota fashion designer Kayla Lookinghorse-Smith is in the midst of a tremendous year, as she prepares to showcase her brand K.Lookinghorse in the Phoenix Fashion Weeks Emerging Designer of the Year program next weekend. The popular fashion event will take place on October 20-21, at the Chateau Luxe in Phoenix, Arizona. The Phoenix fashion show attracts some of the most ambitious fashion models and designers throughout the country. Participating in the Phoenix Fashion Weeks emerging designer bootcamp has given me so much inspiration and fire to continue to push myself and brand forward, Lookinghorse-Smith, the owner of K.Lookinghores, said to Native News Online. Never miss Indian Countrys biggest stories and breaking news. Click here to sign up to get our reporting sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Lookinghorse-Smith is an enrolled citizen of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Currently, based in Southampton, New York with her family on traditional Shinecock Indian Territory, she considers her brand contemporary that honors her Lakota and Dakota heritage and extended family, or tiospaye in Lakota. Lookinghorse-Smith strives to create intriguing, wearable art and statement jewelry pieces and she has several collaborations including Generation One by LXL, a Native American and African American women owned clothing collaboration. Lookinghorse-Smith has prepared an entirely new look for her showcase at the PFWs fashion show on Saturday evening. 224_MSD_BrandonWoller.jpg "Empowerment Piece" by Kayla Lookinghorse-Smith (Photo/K.Lookhorse) I started a totally new design, mid-summer, Lookinghorse-Smith said. I felt I wanted to focus on my ready-to-wear clothing. Lookinghorse-Smith found out about the Phoenix Fashion Weeks designer of the year program earlier this year from the organization, when they reached out to encourage her to apply for its competitive fashion designer bootcamp. Their interaction led to virtual meetings, to being accepted as one of ten fashion designers chosen for its Emerging Designer of the Year program. The bootcamp teaches a rigorous curriculum aimed at strengthening business acumen, writing press releases and interaction with media, developing a brand and so much more. Phoenix Fashion Weeks ten brands that are competing for Emerging & Accessory Designer of the Year for 2024, are Aloha Glamour from Gulf Port, Mississippi; Frequency Collection of Phoenix, Arizona; Gemifly of Phoenix, Arizona; K. Lookinghorse based in South Hampton, New York; Luebbert Swim from Portland, Oregon; Olivia Noire from Gilbert, Arizona; RAINE from Phoenix, Arizona; Sloane Design from Scottsdale, Arizona; The Lost Cove Co., Los Angeles, California; and Throne of Grace Clothing, based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Phoenix Fashion Week is considered the leading fashion event in the Southwest and over the last several years, Indigenous talent and skill have wowed crowds and has gained popularity. Phoenix Fashion Weeks last designer of the year was Norma Baker-Flyinghorse, a Dakota and Hidatsa fashion designer from the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota. Baker-Flyinghorses fashion brand Red Berry Woman was awarded a $10,000 cash prize and commercial partnership. Beyond the Phoenix Fashion Week, Lookinghorse-Smith is preparing for an international showing at the Vancouver Fashion Week, scheduled for November 2023, where she was preparing for a full 10-piece couture release. Preparation for a fashion show varies from show to show, and designer to designer, and in this case, Time constraints and commitments to other fashion shows were her reasoning for choosing ready-to-wear items to showcase in the Phoenix Fashion Week competition. Phoenix Fashion Week was that fire I needed to just go, and it created a creative spark to create a new collection, she said. K. Lookinghorse will introduce The Timeless Collection at the Phoenix Fashion Week this weekend. The Timeless Collection for K. Lookinghorse stands out amongst designers for its authentic Indigenous designed garments with an aesthetic specific to her family, the Phoenix Fashion Week organization said in a statement of Kayla Lookinghorses designs. The patterned dresses and statement jackets are the cornerstone for her fast-growing brand. A brand where storytelling meets comfort and glamor to naturally empower women. Her prior commitments this year included the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Developments fashion show scheduled at its Reservation Economic Summits 40 Under 40 Celebration, the Black Hills Fashion Show, Minneapolis Fashion Week, and IllumiNatives Inaugural Indigenous House in Hollywood this past Friday, October 13. This new collection, I rushed the order, and I received the last samples last week, she said. Its been rush, preparing for Phoenix Fashion Week. She thanked her graphic designer, Chad Yellowjohn, for getting her prepared to compete for PFWs Emerging Designer of the Year. He helped complete my vision, she said of Yellowjohn. He made the vision come to life. The tools that I have gathered throughout the summer, from Phoenix Fashion Week, I'm already completely happy with where I am, Lookinghorse-Smith said. To become the Emerging Design of the Year would be absolutely amazing, but its not the icing on the cake for me. I have built so many relationships by utilizing the tools that the Phoenix Fashion Week gave me and thats everlasting. Beyond this coming weekend at the Phoenix event, Lookinghorse has an additional full-couture line she has prepared for her international showing at the Vancouver Fashion Week later this November, a Red Carpet appearance for Jhane Myers Emmy nomination in January 2024, and showcasing at the Indigenous Fashion Arts Festival in Canada in April 2024. For more information on the Phoenix Fashion Week, or this weekends schedule of events, visit their website at www.phoenixfashionweek.com. About the Author: "Darren Thompson (Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe) is a staff reporter for Native News Online who is based in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. Thompson has reported on political unrest, tribal sovereignty, and Indigenous issues for the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, Indian Country Today, Native News Online, Powwows.com and Unicorn Riot. He has contributed to the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Voice of America on various Indigenous issues in international conversation. He has a bachelor\u2019s degree in Criminology & Law Studies from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. " Contact: dthompson@nativenewsonline.net Mario Tama/Getty Images Montanas unprecedented drag ban has been struck down once again. On Friday, October 13, federal judge Brian Morris ruled to continue blocking enforcement of House Bill 359, a law that would make Montana the first state to explicitly ban drag kings and queens from reading to children in schools and libraries that receive public funding. Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed the bill into law in May. It would also ban minors from attending sexually oriented shows, defined as performances that are intended to appeal to a prurient interest in sex and feature the complete or partial exposure of body parts like genitalia, the butt, or a female breast. While granting the latest injunction, Morris who had previously granted a temporary restraining order against the law in late July, per Politico wrote that the way the law was written would disproportionately harm not only drag performers, but any person who falls outside traditional gender and identity norms. No evidence before the Court indicates that minors face any harm from drag-related events or other speech and expression critical of gender norms, Morris said. Morris original temporary restraining order was issued in July after 10 plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against the law while Montana Pride was applying for permits for its 2023 summer events, arguing that the law violates the First, Fifth, and 14th U.S. Amendments. Although Fridays decision extends the injunction blocking the drag ban from taking effect, it doesnt represent a final ruling in the case, per the Montana Free Press. However, its one of several other drag bans that have been temporarily blocked or deemed unconstitutional in states like Texas, Tennessee, and Florida. Last Wednesday, October 11, Floridas 11th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked an anti-drag law that was signed by Governor Ron DeSantis back in May, ruling that it cant be enforced. Senate Bill 1438, also known as the Protecting Childrens Innocence bill, would allow the state to revoke business licenses if they let minors attend adult live performances such as drag performances. Shortly after its passage in May, queer restaurant chain Hamburger Marys filed a lawsuit against the state of Florida over the law. U.S. district judge Gregory Presnell sided with Hamburger Marys in June, placing a temporary injunction against the law and calling it vague and overbroad. Texas Drag Artists Are Fighting a Law That Would Push Queer Artistry Out of Public Spaces Texas State Bill 12 would effectively criminalize drag shows if minors are present. DeSantis and his fellow anti-LGBTQ+ lawmakers appealed Presnells ruling and requested a partial stay of the injunction following Presnells decision, but their attempts were denied last week in a 2-1 decision, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Throughout 2023, a slew of anti-LGBTQ+ laws have been deemed unconstitutional not just in relation to drag bans, but to gender-affirming care bans for minors. In June, a federal judge ruled that Arkansas ban on transition-related care for trans youth was unconstitutional because it violates trans kids and their families equal-protection rights. Similar laws in Florida, Kentucky, and Tennessee were also blocked by federal judges, although the latter two states laws were later able to go into effect after federal judges lifted previous injunctions. Get the best of whats queer. Sign up for Thems weekly newsletter here. Originally Appeared on them. Amanda Hickey, 48, pleaded guilty to multiple charges DeKalb County Sheriff's Office, Gofundme Amanda Hickey, Charlie Cronmiller The owner of an in-home Georgia daycare center has been sentenced to 30 years in prison in connection with the death of a 4-month-old and the abuse of other children in her care. On Sept. 22, Amanda Hickey, 48, of Dunwoody, pleaded guilty to seven counts of first-degree cruelty to children, seven counts of reckless conduct, one count of second-degree cruelty to children and three counts of simple battery, DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston said in a statement. Hickey took an Alford plea to the charge of second-degree murder in connection with the death of 4-month old Charlie Cronmiller, Boston said in the statement. (An Alford plea allows defendants to plead guilty while maintaining their innocence.) gofundme Charlie Cronmiller On Friday, a DeKalb County Superior Court judge sentenced Hickey to 35 years in prison, serving 30 in confinement and the remaining 5 years on probation. DeKalb County Sheriff's Office Amanda Harris Hickey Once she is released, conditions of her probation include that she may not have any contact with the victims or their families, she may not have any contact or work with any children under the age of 13 and may not gain financially from the case. Related: 3-Month-Old Baby Found Dead at In-Home Daycare, 6 Others Allegedly Left Alone, as Owner Is Charged The case began to unfold on Feb. 3, 2021, when Hickey called 911 to report that a child in her care at Little Lovey home daycare center, which she operated out of her basement, was unresponsive. Hickey told police she placed the child, later identified as Charlie, on his back in a Pack n Play for a nap, according to the arrest warrant, Fox 5 Atlanta reports. She told authorities he must have rolled over onto his stomach, the warrant says. Video footage obtained by police showed that she placed the baby on his stomach against recommended medical guidelines for safe infant sleeping positions, Boston said in the statement. The baby was left unattended for more than two hours before he was found unresponsive, Boston said in the statement. He was rushed to a local hospital where he died. 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. I wish I could erase that day, Stephanie Cronmiller, the deceased babys mother, said in a prepared statement, Atlanta News First reports. I wish I had Charlie in my arms. Further investigation revealed physical abuse against six other victims in the daycare center ranging in age from 6 months to 16 months old, Boston said in the statement. According to the indictment, Hickey was accused of slamming a child on the floor, pulling the hair of another child, forcing her face-first into a playpen, picking up a child by one leg and swinging the child by the leg into a playpen onto her head, shaking a child, and carrying a child in a negligent manner causing him to bump his head and cry, Atlanta News First reports. In court on Friday, Atlanta News First reports, Hickey apologized to the families of her victims, saying, There are no excuses. I failed everyone. I failed myself. I failed my family, parents, clients, previous clients. I broke everyones hearts with my conduct that day, and I take absolute responsibility for everything. The daycare center was licensed for a maximum of six children, but was at nearly double capacity on Feb, 3, 2021, the statement said. Todays plea and sentencing put to rest what has been a painful chapter for the families who once trusted Amanda Hickey to watch over what they hold most dear, their children, Boston said in the statement. While her decision to plead guilty to her crimes will not undo the harm she inflicted, it does spare these families the pain of re-living their worst days at trial," the statement added. Hickeys attorney did not immediately respond to PEOPLEs request for comment. If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Connor Cato received the most expensive speeding ticket of his life for driving 90 mph on his way home in September, he says Getty Talk about a shock. A Georgia man was reeling after he was hit with a $1.4 million ticket for speeding in September. On Sept. 2, Connor Cato was driving home at 90 mph in a 55-mph zone in Chatham County when he was pulled over by Georgia State Patrol, he told WSAV. When he saw the mind-boggling amount on the e-ticket $1.4 million he thought it must be a mistake. $1.4 million, the lady told me on the phone, he told WSAV. I said, This might be a typo and she said, No sir, you either pay the amount on the ticket or you come to court on Dec. 21 at 1:30 p.m.' Savannah, it turns out, has a unique way of getting alleged speedsters to court. 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. A spokesman for the City of Savannah explained in a statement to WSAV that, The balance reflected in the e-citation is a placeholder, not a fine. The fine for a super-speeder ticket can only be set by a judge at the court appearance and cannot exceed $1,000 plus state mandated costs." Since super speeders are required to go to court, the software automatically puts in a $999,999.99 base amount plus state mandated costs," the statement continued. "Recorders Court is adjusting the language in e-citations in order to avoid future confusion. Criminal defense attorney Sneh Patel told WSAV that this is a new one, even for him. I have never seen something like this, ever, he told WSAV. I mean I cant imagine someone would have to pay $1.4 million for not showing up for a speeding ticket. Cato could not immediately be reached for comment. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Supermodel Gigi Hadid has found herself in hot water after posting a meme that the Israeli Government is claiming as antisemitic. They are also accusing the Victoria's Secret model of co-signing the murder of innocent civilians. Gigi Hadid Shares Israeli Meme On Social Media Instagram Stories | Gigi Hadid Trending: Love Is Blind Season 5s Only Married Couple Is No Longer Living Together Kevin Spacey Makes Comeback With Rousing Ovation At Oxford Following Sexual Assault Charges Christina Aguilera Breaks Silence On Britney Spears Memoir The Woman In Me Maren Morris Files For Divorce After 5 Years Of Marriage, Prenup Is In Place Britney Spears Breaks Silence On Unplanned Pregnancy With Justin Timberlake Yesterday, Gigi Hadid shared a meme to her Instagram Story that read, "There is nothing Jewish about the Israeli government's treatment of Palestinians. Condemning the Israeli government is not antisemitic and supporting Palestinians is not supporting Hamas." Hadid's post did not sit well with the Israeli government as they shared their own version of the meme, tagging Hadid and slamming the supermodel. Israeli Government Blasts Gigi Hadid On Social Media Instagram Stories | State Of Israel The official State of Israel page then clapped back, putting Gigi Hadid on blast as they shared their own version of the meme, this time reading, "There is nothing valiant about Hamas' massacre of Israelis. Condemning Hamas for what it is (ISIS) is not anti-Palestine and supporting Israelis in their fight against barbaric terrorists is the right thing to do." They also tagged Hadid adding, "Have you been sleeping this past week? Or are you just fine turning a blind eye to Jewish babies being butchered in their homes? Your silence has been very clear about where you stand." Israeli Government Claims Gigi Hadid's 'Words Mean Nothing' Instagram Stories | State Of Israel The Israeli Government did not stop there as they then shared a graphic photo of children's toys and clothing spread out on a bloody floor. The account added, "If you don't condemn this your words mean NOTHING." Gigi Hadid Breaks Silence On Hamas Attack MEGA Last week, Gigi Hadid broke her silence on the Hamas attacks, sharing on social media, My thoughts are with all those affected by this unjustifiable tragedy and every day that innocent lives are taken by this conflict too many of which are children. I have deep empathy and heartbreak for the Palestinian struggle and life under occupation, its a responsibility I hold daily." She went on, "I also feel a responsibility to my Jewish friends to make it clear, as I have before: While I have hopes and dreams for Palestinians, none of them include the harm of a Jewish person. The terrorizing of innocent people is not in alignment with & does not do any good for the Free Palestine movement. The idea that it does has fueled a painful, decades-long cycle of back & forth retaliation (which no innocent civilian, Palestinian or Israeli, deserves to be a casualty of) and helps perpetuate the false idea that being Pro-Palestine = antisemitic. Instagram | Gigi Hadid If you are hurting as I share my condolences today with my loved ones, both Palestinian and Jewish, Im sending you my love and strength whoever and wherever you are," the Victoria's Secret model added. She concluded by expressing, There are a lot of complex, personal, and valid feelings, but every human deserves basic rights, treatment, and security; no matter their nationality, religion, ethnicity or where they were born. I know my words will never be enough or heal the deep wounds of so many, but I pray for the safety of innocent lives, always. Authorities tracked down Tekashi 6ix9ine in the Dominican Republic on Sunday night, arresting the Brooklyn-born rapper on a warrant for allegedly beating up a crew of music producers for hanging out with his girlfriend, TMZ reports. Police said they found Tekashi at the Hotel Balcones del Atlantico in Sanchez, then hauled him off to a local jail, where screaming fans cheered his arrival. Tekashi, who reportedly tried to flee the country after the arrest warrant was issued, allegedly beat up the producers in their studio with a group of pals. He was jealous the producers had been hanging around his new girlfriend, Yailin, according to TMZ. The arrest comes years after the rapper was released from federal prison for gang robberies and shootings. Read it at TMZ Read more at The Daily Beast. BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- In the collection of gifts that Chinese President Xi Jinping has received from foreign friends over the years, a commemorative plaque made of steel witnessed the firm commitment of China to an iron-clad friend. The rounded plaque, inscribed with the silhouette of a steel mill and depicting the outlines of the blast furnaces, exhaust chimneys, and workshops, was tailor-made by workers of the Smederevo Steel Mill using its own steel. The plaque was presented to Xi as an expression of their heartfelt gratitude and welcome during his visit in 2016. Situated in the city of Smederevo located by the Danube, the Smederevo Steel Mill, Serbia's largest steel factory, boasts a history dating back to 1913. Local workers remember its glory days, when it was "a pride of Serbia" -- a pillar state-owned enterprise, supplying around 40 percent of the city's fiscal revenue and sustaining nearly one-third of the city residents. However, during the late 1990s, declining competitiveness and poor management pushed the plant to the verge of closure. In the following two decades, it went through bankruptcy, privatization, a government buyback for 1 U.S. dollar, and foreign management. But nothing seemed to work. The wheel only started to turn in 2016. At a point when the plant had been running at a loss for seven consecutive years, China's HBIS Group purchased Smederevo Steel Mill for 46 million euros (about 48.64 million U.S. dollars) under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It was later renamed Hesteel Serbia. Aside from investment in advanced technology and management systems, the HBIS Group also found ways to help the plant significantly cut the cost of raw material procurement and open up the European market. In a couple of months, the steel mill began to make profit. It had transported quality products to over 30 countries and regions by 2018, and became Serbia's leading exporter for three consecutive years in 2020. Two months after the Chinese acquisition, Xi visited the plant. He went to the workshop and the staff canteen to talk with the workers. Reminiscing about Xi's visit, Vladan Mihailovic, chief operating officer of the steelworks, said "I assured President Xi that everyone here would work hard and make every effort to make this project a success by using the experience accumulated in the over 100-year history of this factory." The local people's livelihood was on top of Xi's mind. "With the close cooperation of the two sides, the Smederevo Steel Mill will surely be revitalized and play a positive role in creating jobs, improving people's lives and helping Serbian economic development," Xi said during the visit. After the acquisition, the HBIS Group drew up a development plan with the interests of the workers and local people as a priority. It also focused on developing supporting industries such as the cement and glass sectors and built a new industrial park. In addition to making a profit, Hesteel Serbia is also focused on being socially responsible, committing over a million dollars to the welfare of local people in recent years, and helping to build roads, support education and supply drinking water to villages. "The revival of the Smederevo steel plant served as strong evidence that the BRI contributed to an increase of jobs and economic growth in Serbia," Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said during a meeting with Xi in 2018. "China and Serbia are iron-clad friends," Xi said in another meeting between them in 2022, adding that the two sides should continue advancing high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and bringing into play the economic and social benefits of projects such as Hesteel Serbia, thus translating the traditional friendship between the two countries into more pragmatic cooperation results. On Monday, Vucic arrived in Beijing to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, which will be held in Beijing from Tuesday to Wednesday. It is widely believed that the iron-clad friendship will be further strengthened during his visit, so will the two countries' cooperation under the BRI framework. UPDATE, Sunday: President Biden told 60 Minutes that it would be a big mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza but said that the country had to respond to the Hamas attack last weekend. Asked by Scott Pelley whether it was time for a ceasefire given the loss of life, Biden said, Look, theres a fundamental difference. Israel is going after a group of people who have engaged in barbarism that is as consequential as the Holocaust. And I think Israel has to respond. They have to go after Hamas. Hamas is a bunch of cowards. Theyre hiding behind the civilians. They put their headquarters where civilians are and buildings and the like. But to the extent they can separate out the Israelis are gonna do everything in their power to avoid the killing of innocent civilians. More from Deadline Biden also said that were going to do everything in our power to find Americans missing or being held hostage there. Im not gonna go into the detail of that, but were workin like hell on it, Biden said. He also said that there was no clear evidence that Iran was behind the Gaza war, but Iran constantly supports Hamas and Hezbollah. I dont mean that. But in terms of did they have fore knowledge; did they help plan the attack theres no evidence of that at this point. The president also said that the dysfunction in Congress, in which Republicans have been unable to pick a new speaker and the lower chamber has ground to a halt, increases the danger to the world. Look, this is not your fathers Republican Party. Thirty percent of its made up of these MAGA Republicans who are maybe- they dont look at the same way you and I look at democracy. The full interview transcript is here. PREVIOUSLY, FRIDAY: Joe Biden told 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley that the Hamas attack on Israel was pure barbarism, while the president also plans to meet virtually today with family members of missing Americans. In a clip that aired on CBS Mornings, Pelley asked Biden, Why do you feel so strongly about speaking to these families personally on Zoom? Biden answered, Because I think they have to know that the president of the United States of America cares deeply about whats happening. Deeply. We have to communicate to the world this is critical. This is not this is not this is not even hum human behavior. Its pure barbarism. And were going to do everything in our power to get them home if we can find them. PREVIOUSLY, October 12: President Joe Biden plans to sit down with 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley for an interview to air Sunday, with the war in Israel expected to be the main topic. CBS News and Stations CEO Wendy McMahon announced the interview at an Axios event on Thursday. Biden last sat down with Pelley for a 60 Minutes interview just over a year ago. Biden has spoken several times since the Hamas attack to stress the U.S. strong support for Israel. Earlier this week, he said, We must be crystal clear: We stand with Israel. We stand with Israel. We will make sure it has what it needs to take care of its citizens, to defend itself, to respond to this attack, he said. He said that Israel has a right to respond, and indeed has a duty to respond, to this vicious attacks. The president said that Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian peoples right to dignity and self-determination. Its stated purpose is the annihilation of the State of Israel and the murder of Jewish people. They use Palestinian civilians as human shields. Hamas offers nothing but terror and bloodshed with no regard to who pays the price. 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. On Sundays Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, the host cold-opened the show to briefly discuss the Israel-Hamas war while calling for peace. Similar to how Pete Davidson opened Saturday Night Live the day before, Oliver appeared on camera before any sort of music, lights or fanfare had begun to deliver his message. He pointed out the terrible week that has just taken place with the immense suffering in Israel and Gaza being sickening to watch. But he said that he wouldnt be covering it during the main portion of the show because of how horrific it all is in nature, and because they taped the episode on Saturday afternoon and a lot could change between then and Sunday night or Monday morning. With that said, Oliver then delivered some broad thoughts that he felt would still apply. They have to do with sorrow, fear and anger, he said. Sorrow is the first and most overwhelming feeling. The images that weve seen this week from last Saturday onwards have been totally heartbreaking, thousands now dead in Israel and Gaza. It would be devastating, not just to those in the region, but to diaspora communities across the world. He added that whatever thoughts people have about the history or current state of affairs in the region including thoughts he has shared before on his show it should be impossible to see grieving families and not be moved. For fear he pointed to the possibility of further attacks in Israel along with those taken hostage and what is yet to come in Gaza. And speaking of what is to come, Oliver understands the feelings of anger. I dont know where things stand in Gaza as you watch this right now. But all signs seem to be pointed toward a humanitarian catastrophe. Israeli officials announced plans to cut off food, water, fuel and power. Hospitals are running on generators. This has all the appearances of collective punishment, which is a war crime. And I think many Israelis and Palestinians are feeling justifiable anger right now, not just at Hamas, whose utterly heinous terrorist acts set this weeks events in motion, but also at the zealots and extremists across the board who consistently thwarted attempts at peace over the years. Oliver also said that Israelis and Palestinians have been repeatedly let down by their leadership and he doesnt see the current leaders steering anyone toward peace. But I do still have some hope. Because the easiest thing to do in the world after a week like this is engage in bloodthirsty rhetoric, and there has certainly been plenty of that from those in power, he said. But I will say that I have been struck by the many ordinary citizens, both Israeli and Palestinian, who called for restraint this week and not revenge. Oliver referenced CNN's interview with the brother of a terror attack victim. (HBO) (MAX) Oliver then played a CNN interview with Noi Katzman, whose brother Chaim was killed last weekend in the Hamas terrorist attacks. Katzmans closing sentiment was that he didnt want his brothers death to be used to kill innocent people, adding, I dont want anything to happen to people in Gaza like what happened to my brother, and Im sure he wouldnt have any either. So thats my call to my government to stop killing innocent people. And thats not the way that brings us peace and security to people in Israel. On that topic of peace, Oliver agreed with Katzman and expanded on what he thinks needs to happen. People want and are entitled to peace, and Im not going to tell either side how to get it certainly not in this [British] accent, which has frankly done enough damage in that particular region to last a f***ing lifetime, Oliver said. But just know in the long term, all the people who want to live in that region are going to keep living there. So peace is not optional and will require some tough decisions. And I cant say where a peace process ends, but it just has to start with that kind of ability to recognize our common humanity. Viewers reacted to Olivers statements on X, formerly Twitter, with one person calling it a bold choice and another saying that Oliver represented their thoughts, to go along with other all-around praise. John Oliver just gave one of the best editorials I've seen for the events of the last week @LastWeekTonight jhwygirl (@jhwygirl) October 16, 2023 John Oliver did an opening monologue about Palestine/Israel that was so good. Arturo Dominguez (@ExtremeArturo) October 16, 2023 John Oliver put together a good and moving statement on the Isreal-Palestine situation. Glad he mentioned it before the show. madpooper (@scoopacoop) October 16, 2023 After the cold open, Oliver proceeded with the show as usual and put most of his focus into the ongoing struggles on Capitol Hill and the Republican party trying to pick a new speaker. And then also what was the main story of the night about food safety, aka the reason some viewers are now avoiding salad for the rest of their lives. Last Week Tonight With John Oliver airs Sundays at 11 p.m. on HBO. You cant fix crazy, but you can document itwhich is fortunate for Jordan Klepper. The MAGA magnet is celebrating Mondays at-long-last return of The Daily Show with a new edition of Fingers the Pulse, which was recorded at last weeks Donald Trump rally in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. While five-plus months aways from a job might leave even the most seasoned pro a little rusty, the Daily Show correspondent proved that he hasnt missed a beatand that sparring with MAGA morons may, in fact, be the role he was ultimately born to fill. For better or worse, Klepper admitted. So he didnt waste any time in getting back to the business of desperately trying (and ultimately failing) to understand the highly confusing mindset of Trumps most clueless ride-or-dies. Since May, when TDS and its fellow bastions of late-night TV went dark due to the recent writers strike, Trump has been keeping busy, both with his 2024 presidential campaign and juggling certain legal commitments, Klepper noteda not-so-subtle nod to the ex-POTUS various indictments and courtroom appearances. When Klepper asked about some of the key Trump moments he might have missed during his TDS hiatus, one rally-goers mind first went to the breaking news that the former POTUS recently changed up Crooked Hillary to Crooked Biden. Oh, so he is focusing on the issues, Klepper remarked. Sadly, the Donalds campaign appearances arent the only thing on his schedule, Klepper said. Hes also facing 91 felony charges that could ultimately see him sentenced to 641 years in prison. But Trumps supporters dont seem worried even if they cant keep his legal woes straight. Jordan Klepper Has Big Plans for His Week as Daily Show Host I think theyre just trying to throw him in jail, offered one attendee who channeled his own inner orange-tinged warrior and declared it all a witch huntjust as the former president had said so many times before. Unfortunately, this particular MAGA couldnt remember exactly when Trump had used this phrase, but hes pretty sure it was right around the time the lady charges were brought against him. Lady charges: Is that Stormy Daniels lady charge or sexual assault, Klepper asked. And while the guy wasnt totally sure, he thinks it was the latterand also thinks Trump was found guilty in that particular lawuit, but again wasnt sure. Nor does it matter. Because what he is 100 percent positive about is that hell yeah hell be on Team Trump in 2024. Ultimately, I wondered would these MAGA faithful ever care about any of these criminal charges, Klepper explained, then answered his own question with Probably not. Exhibit A: Just ask what their favorite rally was! Jordan Klepper Is Begging You, America: Be More Like the McCloskeys One Trumpified couple didnt hesitate when choosing January 6 as the ex-presidents shiningest of shining moments, Apart from all the violence that was planned by the FBI and such. When pressed further on exactly who the perpetrators of the attack on the Capitol were, he had the full list ready: Antifa, Black Lives Matter, ISIS, and MS-13. (And yep, he was there.) Another attendee, draped in a Trump capesuperhero-stylealso picked Jan. 6 as his favorite Trump event. He, too, was there, though he wouldnt confirm whether he stepped foot inside the Capitol at any time (for legal reasons). Well, have fun, Klepper told him. Try not to overthrow any duly elected officials! For more, listen to The Daily Shows Jordan Klepper on The Last Laugh podcast. 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. Lara Parker , known for her role as the witch Angelique in the ABC gothic soap opera Dark Shadows, died in her sleep on Oct. 12 at her home in the Topanga Canyon neighborhood of Los Angeles, her daughter confirmed. She was 84. From 1967 to 1971, the Memphis native starred in Dark Shadows as the central antagonist Angelique Bouchard. Set in the fictional setting of Collinsport, Maine, the series follows the towns founding family, the Collins family. In the show, Barnabas Collins ( Jonathan Frid ) spurns the besotted Angelique after a brief dalliance with her, unaware that she is a witch. More from Variety An angry Angelique vows revenge and curses Barnabas into becoming a vampire, which precipitates a volatile love-hate relationship that lasts over multiple centuries. Parkers role as Angelique ended after her characters death, but she continued appearing in the series in another role as Collins family member Catherine Harridge Collins. After the end of the daytime serial, Parker starred in other films and television shows, including the film Save the Tiger (1973), drama television series Jessica Novak (1981) and two Doctor Mabuse films in 2013 and 2014. A graduate from Antioch University with a masters in creative writing, Parker also wrote fiction expanding upon the Dark Shadows world. She published four books: Dark Shadows: Angeliques Descent (1998), Dark Shadows: The Salem Branch (2006), Dark Shadows: Wolf Moon Rising (2013) and Dark Shadows: Heiress of Collinwood (2016). Parker later starred in the film Night of Dark Shadows (1971), based on the series, and made a cameo in the 2012 film Dark Shadows, a remake of the original TV series starring Johnny Depp as Barnabas and Eva Green as Angelique. Speaking to the Los Angeles Times in 2013, Parker expressed that she had only played the heroine before her role as Angelique. She had approached Angelique the same way, only to be told by co-star Frid that she needed to stop crying and be the villain. That made me realize I had a really good character to play who could be ruthless and strong and resilient, said Parker. Parker is survived by her second husband, Jim Hawkins; children Caitlin, Rick and Andy; and a grandson. 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. We know we will have some challenges ahead but are ecstatic for our new life with the girls," the proud parents tell PEOPLE of daughters Claire, Ella and Lily Courtesy Haley and Matthew Cordaro Claire, Ella and Lily Codaro A Louisiana couple recently welcomed rare "spontaneous triplets" and they couldn't be happier. Matthew Cordaro and wife Haley welcomed triplets daughters Claire Elizabeth, Ella Katherine and Lily Caroline on Aug. 28 at Willis-Knighton South & the Center for Womens Health, according to a press release by the hospital. Their daughters were born prematurely after Haley went into labor at 31 weeks. At the time of their birth, the triplets all weighed 3 lbs. or less, their mom said in a Facebook post at the time. We were so fortunate and blessed to have made it 32 weeks and to have delivered three healthy babies considering all the potential risks when pregnant with multiples, the couple tells PEOPLE. We know we will have some challenges ahead but are ecstatic for our new life with the girls." Related: Miss. Couple Celebrates as First Quintuplet Comes Home: 'Even Better Than We Could Have Imagined' Matthew and Haley, who are also parents to a 3-year-old daughter, were surprised" when they first learned they were expecting triplets during an ultrasound visit, hospital officials said, noting that there's no family history of multiples on either side. The hospital shared that the odds of having "spontaneous triplets," which they described as "the term used for naturally conceived identical triplets" is one in 1 million to 1 in 200 million." Courtesy Haley and Matthew Cordaro Haley and Matthew Cordaro with daughters Matthew tells PEOPLE that when they first learned the news, they "were in absolute disbelief." "Our feelings then shifted towards worry due to the pregnancy being very high risk in nature," he says. "Once we got to the second trimester and on, our doctor visits continually brought great news. 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 Since their births, the girls have been in the NICU at Willis-Knighton South, where Dr. Gerald Brent Whitton and the entire NICU team have been caring for them, per the hospital. The family hopes to go home next week, but first the triplets have to pass three tests: they need to resolve any breathing issues, keep their temperature stable in their crib, and eat consistently. They have done very well. It has been a straightforward and uncomplicated stay, Dr. Whitton said, in a statement. As we get closer to the babies release, we will get the parents up here and get them used to taking care of all three at the same time. Courtesy Haley and Matthew Cordaro Claire, Ella and Lily Codaro Related: Couple Welcomes Quadruplets 4 Years After the Birth of Their Twins: Its Been a Joy (Exclusive) While they've been in the hospital, the family has made sure to celebrate some happy milestones. Happy one month to these little angel babies! Haley wrote on Facebook in September. They have been working on bottle feeds & gaining weight and should be able to come home in a few short weeks! In a follow-up post, the proud mom wrote that their 3-year-old daughter Kennedy is just smitten with her little baby sisters!" Related: Twins Born at 22 Weeks Who Both Weighed Less Than 1 Lb. Don Cap and Gown at NICU 'Graduation' As for having a house full of girls, the couple tells PEOPLE they can't wait to see what life has in store. "We already have a 3-year-old girl so adding three more will make for a blast as they all grow up together as best friends," Matthew says. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. A tenured professor at Louisiana State University said Sunday that he was resigning in response to the outcome of the states recent gubernatorial election, explaining he would step down in an effort to avoid putting the school he loves in the crosshairs of the new governor-elect, a hard-line Republican who bayed for his blood in a skirmish over a critical tweet two years ago. Robert Mann, who chairs the universitys journalism department, announced in a thread on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he plans to wrap up his long career at LSU next summer. My reasons are simple: The person who will be governor in January has already asked LSU to fire me, he wrote. And I have no confidence the leadership of this university would protect the Manship School [of Mass Communication] against a governors efforts to punish me and other faculty members. Mann was referring to Jeff Landry, Louisianas attorney general, who was declared the winner of a fierce gubernatorial race on Saturday after securing more than 51 percent of the vote. He had already gotten the seal of approval from former President Donald Trump during his campaign. Landry, who flipped the seat held for the last eight years by his Democratic predecessor, said in a victory speech that his success showed we the people in this state are going to expect more out of our government from here on out. In an interview with The Daily Beast on Sunday night, Mann called himself the biggest irritant on my campus to conservative officials like Landry. Im proud of that; Ive tried to be that, he said. Ive done it because I have tenure, because Im protected under the First Amendment. But this is not going to be a governor who I think has any respect for that. Thats whats changed. Landry, 52, has been a staunch champion of a number of controversial Louisiana laws in recent years, including its near-total abortion ban with no exceptions for rape and incest, and a bill banning gender-affirming health care for transgender minors. Along the campaign trail, he railed against the woke agenda, particularly on college campuses, and pushed to restrict access to sexually explicit books in schools, which critics have said could result in LGBTQ+ literature being banned. During the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, a skeptical Landry also took steps to challenge the efficacy of masking and vaccines, including by filing a number of lawsuits over vaccine mandates. In December 2021, he sent an aide to an LSU Faculty Senate meeting where vaccine requirements were being debatedleading Mann to tweet disparagingly about Landry sending some flunkie [sic]... to read a letter attacking covid vaccines. The letter called vaccine mandates problematic for violating peoples right to religious freedom, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. Mann said in his tweet that it was quite the move for someone who considers himself pro-life. A day later, Landry announced that hed reached out to William F. Tate IV, LSUs president, to personally request he punish Mann. This type of disrespect and dishonesty has no place in our societyespecially at our flagship university by a professor, he tweeted. I hope LSU takes appropriate action soon. His office then sent a letter to Tate formally demanding the school take disciplinary action. In a statement issued shortly after, Tate neither condemned nor defended Mann, but instead noted that LSU was committed to free and open scholarship and the freedom to debate ideas and principles without interference. The school didnt move to punish Mann, the professor told The Daily Beast. But Tate and the school had waited nearly a full day to comment on the attorney generals public demands. Before the statement was released, Mann said, there was just total radio silence from university leadership. No one called me to say, Hey, we got your back, he said. I think the only reason they even bothered to finally make any comment was that there were just too many reporters hounding them to say something, he added. A LSU spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Even at the time, too, it was already evident that Landry was eyeing higher office. In a December 2021 interview with The Advocate, Mann observed, This is a guy whos clearly running for governor. When he calls the president of the university, hes talking to someone he understands could be governor in two years. Now, should Landry choose to come after him again, or his department or the university, Mann said, he has doubts that hed be met with much of a fight. If Landry really wants to stick his fingers in the pie, I dont expect that the people who run LSU or any other higher education institute in the state will have the courageor even really the abilityto defy him for very long, if at all, he said. Landrys push to get LSU to punish Mann had the potential for a much more chilling effect on faculty beyond me, the professor told The Advocate, a phrase he echoed on Sunday night. I think that he and his allies are avowed enemies of tenure and academic freedom, Mann said. And thats going to continue to have a chilling effect on campuspeople are just going to be more careful about what they say, maybe a little more tentative about their research and how they talk about it. It could also severely impact the universitys ability to attract new talent to the faculty in the future, he added. A representative for Landry did not respond to The Daily Beasts requests for comment. In his Sunday tweet thread, Mann said that, given the cowardice and appeasement hed already seen from top LSU officials, its clearly best to remove myself from the equation to avoid any harm to the school I love. Mann told The Daily Beast that the 18 years he spent at LSU have been some of the best of his career. I love my work. I love my students, he said. The school has supported my research, the books Ive written since Ive been here. I wont have that anymore, and Ill miss that. Still, the choice to step down isnt about making himself a martyr, he emphasized. I can retire. Im going to be fine, he said. Im certainly not falling on my sword. He added that he likely would have retired within the next few years regardless; the election just expedited those plans. Mann also wanted to leave on his own terms. Would I win a fight to keep my job if Landry and his people came after me? Probably, he wrote in a later email. But I didnt want my last year or two or three to be about an ugly fight to keep my job. That wouldnt be good for my school or my students. Still, Mann remains concerned that the state, under a Landry administration, will neglect or even actively try to dismantle higher education. Hes long suspected it. The minute that I knew Landry wanted me fired and willing to call the president to demand it, he tweeted on Sunday, I knew there would be dark days for LSU if he won. 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. Rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine was arrested in the Dominican Republic on Sunday night after being accused of assaulting two music producers. Tekashi, 27, arrived at a studio early Friday morning with five other men, according to witnesses who spoke with Dominican newspaper Diario Libre. The group entered the studio and attacked two producers, the witnesses said. Surveillance video captured the crew leaving on foot. The Brooklyn-born rapper, whose legal name is Daniel Hernandez, attempted to book a charter flight out of the country after the attack, TMZ reported. However, the charter company checked with police and learned there was a warrant for Tekashis arrest. Tekashi was transported to a police station in Sanchez, according to TMZ. He arrived at a chaotic scene, as people mobbed the police cruiser and officers had to shove them aside to get Tekashi safely into the station. According to reports, Tekashi was jealous that the producers were spending time with his girlfriend, Dominican artist Yailin La Mas Viral. She was reportedly recording songs at the time. Yailin had just left, producer Diamond La Mafia told Diario Libre in Spanish. (Tekashis crew) lost it on my producers, though they were not at fault, and they did not know them. Tekashi has been arrested multiple times before. In 2018, he was detained on racketeering charges for his connection with the Nine Trey Gangsters in New York. Tekashi infamously flipped on his gang and testified for the prosecution, earning himself a lenient two-year sentence. More recently, Tekashi was arrested in Florida in August for failing to appear in court for a traffic violation. He was accused of driving 136 mph in a 65 mph zone. TIGER LEAPING TO HOLIDAY FRAME Indias Yash Raj Films has set a mid-November release date through the Diwali holidays for Tiger 3, its anticipated spy-action film starring Salman Khan , Katrina Kaif and Emraan Hashmi. Holiday complexities have caused the company to devise what it called a strategic and unique release plan. Having previously only released teaser footage, YRF has now also unveiled a full trailer. More from Variety Unusually, the film will open in Indian and international theaters on a Sunday Nov. 12 the first day of Diwali. 2023 is the year of Adhik Maas which has led to complications regarding festival dates. This year, Monday, Nov. 13 is New Moon/Amavasya and the Govardhan Pooja/Gujarati New Year falls on Nov. 14. Bhai Dooj is on November 15, giving the film an extended run in this crucial holiday period which will aid in collections through the week, said YRF. Directed by Maneesh Sharma ( Band Baaja Baaraat ), the film is the latest instalment in producer Aditya Chopras spy universe. The spy universe kicked off with the Tiger franchise, starring Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif, beginning with Ek Tha Tiger (2012) and Tiger Zinda Hai (2017) and continued with War (2019), starring Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff . Pathaan, starring Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone, released in January and is the second biggest Indian hit of the year with $130 million. The four films have together grossed some $300 million. In Tiger 3, Tiger is in peril after being framed as enemy number one and goes on a life-threatening mission to hunt down his enemies. Tiger wants to clear his name for his country, for his family and he wont stop at anything. Watch the trailer here. OZUS UNIVERSAL APPEAL The Tokyo International Film Festival, which gets under way in a week from now, is releasing two specially-commissioned short films about legendary Japanese filmmaker Ozu Yasujiro. This year is the 120th anniversary of Ozus birth and the 60th anniversary of his death and is being marked by film festivals around the world. Tokyo will release Wenders Discusses Ozu in which director Wim Wenders talks about the allure of Ozus works. It explores why everyone is so drawn to Ozu as well as why his narratives, often considered typically Japanese, have been embraced worldwide. Wenders is also set as the festivals jury president. The shorter, second film is a collection of clips of Ozu films called Shoulders of Giants Universal, aspiring to convey much the same message about Ozus universal appeal. It is directed by Tsujikawa Koichiro, with narration by Yakusho Koji (best actor at Cannes this year for Wenders Perfect Days) and music by Ovall. IFFLA WINNERS The 21st Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) on Sunday revealed Aatam (aka The Play) directed by Anand Ekarshi, as the winner of its feature grand jury prize. An honorable mention went to Rapture, directed by Dominic Sangma. The jury said: Aattam, is a stunningly written and acted ensemble film set amid a Kerala theater troupe that manages to provoke, question and interrogate the politics of gender as an utter revelation. The prize was decided by a jury that included actor Karan Soni (Deadpool, Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse); journalist and critic Bilal Qureshi; and screenwriter Utkarshini Vashishtha. The 2023 audience awards went to feature title The Golden Thread, by Nishtha Jain and short film Tall Dark And Handsome, by Sam Baron. The jury prize for best short went to Men in Blue, directed by Sachin Dheeraj. The festivals opening and closing events took place at the Harmony Gold Theater in Hollywood while all other screenings, masterclasses, and panels were held downtown at the Regal LA Live. BMW WINNER We Collide, written and directed by Jason Bradbury and produced by Cheri Darbon has been named the winning film of the BMW Filmmaking Challenge in partnership with the BFI. The winner was revealed at the closing night of the 67th BFI London Film Festival where it premiered alongside Kibwe Tavares and Daniel Kaluuyas The Kitchen. The filmmakers were asked to bring their stories to life in 90 seconds, through their interpretation of the theme Evolving Perspectives. Five shortlisted teams received a 10,000 ($12,200) production budget, access to 8K camera technology, support from the BFI through executive producer Caragh Davison and mentorship from Michaela Coel. The contest was judged by Ncuti Gatwa, Terri White and Asif Kapadia. Blades, directed by Christopher Chuky and produced by Tony Longe, with a script by Eno Mfon, received a special mention. MAIDEN MAKE PLANS Iconic British rock band Iron Maiden will tour in Australia in September next year, their first visit Down Under since 2016-17. They are currently scheduled to play five dates (Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney) between Sept. 1 and Sept. 12, 2024. Tickets go on sale on Wednesday. Iron Maiden in Ljubljana 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. Prince Christian of Denmark 's 18th birthday gala ended with a mystery after a single heel was found following the celebrations at Christiansborg Palace Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Prince Christian of Denmark's 18th birthday gala on Oct. 15, 2023 Prince Christian of Denmark's 18th birthday gala was straight out of a fairy tale and there's even a real-life Cinderella missing a shoe! Royals from around Europe (including a number of fellow future monarchs!) gathered on Sunday for the celebration at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen. The guests sported tiaras, ballgowns, military uniforms and sashes showing their honors but one attendee left the dinner minus an important accessory. On Monday, the Danish royal palace had some fun on Instagram by posting a photo of a single sparkling shoe that was found after the festivities wrapped. "Is it Cinderella who forgot her shoe last night?" courtiers captioned the snap. "When the guests at Her Majesty the Queen's gala dinner yesterday had gone home, this lonely stiletto shoe was left at Christiansborg Castle," they continued. "The owner is welcome to contact us to get it back." Related: 5 Future European Monarchs Pose for Epic Photo at Prince Christian of Denmark's 18th Birthday Gala Although it was a formal gala, there was still plenty of fun, which may have prompted some guests to take off their shoes for some better comfort. The night included a special performance that Queen Margrethe set up behind the scenes to surprise her grandson, who is currently second in the line of succession to the Danish throne. "The dancefloor was lit when Benjamin Hav & the Family gave a concert after the gala table," the palace shared with a video on Instagram. "The concert was Her Majesty the Queen's surprise to all the guests." The clip showed Prince Christian clapping along to the music and his little brother, Prince Vincent excitedly jumping up and down! One person who certainly didn't leave her heel behind was Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands. The 19-year-old heir to the Dutch throne paired her royal blue caped gown with Queen Emma of the Netherlands' sapphire tiara and a recognizable pair of shoes: Manolo Blahnik's satin pumps featuring a silver buckle adorning the pointy toe. It's the same style that Sarah Jessica Parker's character, Carrie Bradshaw, wore in Sex and the City for her wedding to Mr. Big as her "something blue" for the walk down the aisle. Princess Amalia isn't the only royal who has the shoes in her closet. Kate Middleton sported the same pair in green for her first official joint portrait with Prince William. Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Princess Catharina-Amalia of The Netherlands and Princess Elisabeth of Belgium on Oct. 15, 2023 Prince Christian's birthday gala doubled as a royal reunion, and five future European monarchs posed together for a group picture. Prince Christian was all smiles beside Princess Estelle of Sweden, 11, Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway, 19, Princess Catharina-Amalia and Princess Elisabeth of Belgium, 21, in the snap that the Danish Royal House shared on Instagram. Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more! The guest list also included Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, Princess Ingrid Alexandra's parents. Princess Estelle of Sweden similarly attended alongside her parents, Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel. The Scandinavian royal families are extremely close in both their royal duties and their personal connections. It's not rare to see the Swedish, Norwegian and Danish royal families vacationing together or attending significant events like weddings, funerals and christenings. They also often act as godparents to each other's children in fact, Princess Victoria, Prince Haakon and Princess Mette-Marit are all godparents to Prince Christian! Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Crown Princess Victoria, Princess Estelle and Prince Daniel of Sweden attend the gala diner to celebrate the 18th birthday of Prince Christian's on October 15, 2023 Related: Future Queens of Europe! Meet All the Female Heirs Set to Take the Throne Prince Christian's birthday gala also welcomed representatives from some of Denmarks youth organizations plus young people who have distinguished themselves in the world of sport, art and culture. Extending the guest list, the palace invited around 200 young people from the Danish Commonwealth, allowing each of Denmarks municipalities, Greenland and the Faroe Islands to invite two 18-year-old guests to the party. In addition to the gala dinner, Prince Christian's milestone birthday will again be marked on Nov. 14, when he attends a meeting of the Council of State (which is comprised of government ministers) and declares that he wishes to comply with the Danish constitution. Prince Christian will then be able to be appointed as head of state. Prince Christian will not get a seat in the Council of State until a change of throne has taken place, the Danish Royal House said. Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Prince Christian of Denmark marks his 18th birthday on Oct. 15, 2023 For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. During Sunday's episode, Christine Brown said a get-together with friends, including her former sister wife Janelle, was the "perfect way to celebrate" her former wedding anniversary TLC (L-R) Christine Brown and Kody Brown are pictured. Christine Brown couldn't have been less concerned about her ex-husband Kody Brown on the latest Sister Wives. Sunday's episode saw Christine, 51, celebrating the "ex-anniversary" of her 1994 wedding to Kody, 54. While joined by Kody's newly separated ex-wife Janelle Brown and some of her local girlfriends in Flagstaff, Arizona, the group discussed the demise of her marriage as they enjoyed a special dinner. "Celebrating the day of our divorce isn't enough," Christine said in an interview about the intimate gathering. "I also need to celebrate our old anniversary, our ex-anniversary." Calling it the "perfect way to celebrate" the once-meaningful day, Christine added that it was "awesome" to be joined by "like-minded people" who have also been through divorce. Related: Sister Wives Star Mykelti Says Gwendlyn Didnt Attend Their Mom Christine Browns Wedding As the ladies were mingling and enjoying themselves, Kody suddenly called Christine. She remarked that the occurrence was "weird." "It's, like, Kody of all people, but I'm not answering that right now," Christine told her friends. She later noted in an interview that she had "no idea" why he reached out. Kody, meanwhile, claimed there was an actual purpose for his call. "I found out that Christine was in town, so I called her because I wanted to see if [our daughter] Truely was available," he said in a confessional. TLC Christine Brown (C) while surrounded by friends on 'Sister Wives'. Back with the group, Christine recalled an interesting tidbit on their anniversary last year where she asked Kody to do "nothing." However, she alleged that Kody suggested they "post a picture of ourselves," which she had no interest in doing. "It's hard to leave a marriage. It's really hard," she acknowledged. "It is hard to know when you're done. It's hard to show your kids when you're done. It's hard to show the world that you're done. It is hard to leave a marriage, but it sure feels good on the other side." "I'm a big fan of divorce, I'm just saying. If people are thinking about it, I say go for it. ... Do it. You're already miserable. Stop pretending to [not] be miserable and pretending to be happy," she adds. "It might be terrible advice but I'm not a therapist or a psychiatrist or anything. I just know how it feels on the other side, and it's awesome." Related: Sister Wives' Christine Brown Shares the 'Final Clinch' When She Knew David Woolley Was The One (Exclusive) As the ladies' conversation continued, Christine and Janelle, 54, explained the inner workings of the Brown family's polygamous arrangement and where things stand today. The pair mentioned the shift toward Kody now only staying at Robyn Brown's house while his relationship with Meri Brown from whom he's since split remained nonexistent. Christine then admitted her "tipping point" was Kody not "being the greatest dad to my kids." "I think if people wanna live [plural marriage], fine. But I just, to be honest with you, I don't see it as a great family structure and I really have a hard time with it," she admitted in a confessional. "But I think once a guy finds the love of his life, the other women are screwed." Kody then hurled some allegations against Christine about how she came into the family. "Christine forced herself into my life. She basically just insisted that we be married," he claimed. "I don't care that she's leaving. It hurt initially, but I'm. It's just stop trash-talking me to my children." TLC Kody Brown is pictured on 'Sister Wives'. Looking back, Christine is admittedly "jaded" and "a little bit frustrated" by her experience with polygamy. "I'm doing my best while not having a good day, believe me, but it still was a failure," she shared. "I just wish he would have sat us all down and said, 'Look, I found the love of my life. I found Robyn. She and I are soul mates, and we want to live together for the rest of our life. So let's figure out how to make the other three of you work in this scenario.'" The group concluded the "ex-anniversary" gathering by toasting "new beginnings" for Christine. Fortunately, her next chapter has already begun she wed David Woolley last weekend. 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. Sister Wives airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on TLC. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed arrives in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 16, 2023. Abiy Ahmed will attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. (Xinhua/Lyu Shuai) BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Monday arrived in Beijing to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. An airplane carrying Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed lands in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 16, 2023. Abiy Ahmed will attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang) Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed arrives in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 16, 2023. Abiy Ahmed will attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang) A University of Washington student held up a sign Saturday on ESPNs College GameDay that read Kicking is easy, and got an extended chance to prove it. (Watch the video below.) ESPNs Pat McAfee, a former Indianapolis Colts punter and kickoff specialist who also placekicked at the University of West Virginia, offered Greyson Wilhelm $60,000 to make a 33-yard field goal. McAfees been putting cash on the line weekly for fans to feel the difficulty of kicking under pressure. Wilhelm, who camped out overnight in Seattle for the opportunity, may have felt the weight of the moment. He hooked the ball wide. As the crowd chanted, One more kick! McAfee cut the prize money to $30,000 to give Wilhelm another shot. "ONE MORE KICK! ONE MORE KICK!" Greyson redeemed himself and is taking home $30K from @PatMcAfeeShow after making the kick #CollegeGameDaypic.twitter.com/uFGSt7gBdm College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) October 14, 2023 This time, Wilhelm nailed it and got a hug from host Kirk Herbstreit. McAfee, however, gave the young man a reality check. Youre kicking at a .500 clip. Youd be fired from every single team, McAfee said. Kicking isnt easy, but youre $30,000 richer. Wilhelm also got to watch his Huskies beat the visiting Oregon Ducks to stay undefeated in part because the Ducks kicker missed his game-tying field goal attempt as time ran out. Related... Viaplay Content Distribution has partnered up with German broadcaster ARD Degeto to co-produce Ronja the Robbers Daughter, an epic adventure series. ARD Degeto will join the series existing co-production partners, Filmlance International, Film i Vast and Ahil Films. Along with co-producing, ARD Degeto will also premiere Ronja in Germany in addition to other Viaplay series including the psychological thriller Veronika, the drama Limbo and dark comedy-drama Below, which were acquired as part of the deal. More from Variety A modern adaptation of Astrid Lindgrens world-famous story, Ronja the Robbers Daughter is written by Hans Rosenfeldt (The Bridge) and directed by Lisa James Larsson (Britannia, Victoria). Astrid Lindgrens books have sold over 165 million copies worldwide. Ronja the Robbers Daughter follows the enchanting adventures of a young girl born into a band of robbers set in and around a fortress in medieval Scandinavia. As Ronja grows up, she learns that the surrounding forest can be magical and dangerous, filled with strange creatures. Comprising two seasons, the series is produced by Bonnie Skoog Feeney and Mathias Arehn at Filmlance International and executive produced by Sara Askelof, Hanne Palmquist and Johan Palmberg. Vanda Rapti, Viaplay Group EVP Viaplay Select and content distribution, said the adaptation of Ronja, the Robbers Daughter boasts groundbreaking visual effects, breathtaking locations and relatable characters. Together with the licensing of three additional Viaplay series, the deal shows how Viaplay Content Distribution offers a diverse mix of must-see, critically acclaimed titles that global audiences will enjoy from fantasy family action to psychological thrillers, heart-wrenching dramas and dark comedies, Rapti said. Christoph Pellander, editor-in-chief at ARD Degeto, paid tribute to Viaplays output of scripted originals. We are excited that we could partner with Viaplay on such diverse and entertaining projects, Pellander said. First and foremost, we are proud and happy to be able to present German audiences with the truly spectacular series Ronja the Robbers Daughter that will delight both Astrid Lindgren fans and many new viewers. 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. As war broke out in recent days with a Hamas attack and an Israeli response that has left an estimated more than 4,100 people dead in Israel and Gaza, gruesome images and disinformation spread widely on major social media platforms. From repurposed video game footage masquerading as videos showing military engagements to imposter accounts spreading false information about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to violent and graphic footage flooding newsfeeds -- the fast-moving conflict and the volume of such posts have posed a challenge for social media platforms as they attempt to enforce rules against false or violent content. False or horrifically graphic posts have spread across X and Meta-owned Instagram and Facebook, as well as TikTok. URL" target="_blank">MORE: Israel-Gaza live updates: Convoy of fleeing civilians struck in Gaza European Union Commissioner Thierry Breton wrote public letters to TikTok, X and Meta in recent days warning them of the indication that their respective platforms had been used for the spread of "illegal content" in violation of the EU's data regulations around hate speech and disinformation. Financial penalties could result from the possible offenses, Breton added. In a post on X, on Monday, the company said it had paid close attention to the outpouring of content on the platform related to the Israel-Hamas war. There had been over 50 million posts globally on the Hamas attack on Israel in the two days after the attack began on Oct. 7, X said. "As the events continue to unfold rapidly, a cross-company leadership group has assessed this moment as a crisis requiring the highest level of response," the company said. "This means we're laser focused and dedicated to protecting the conversation on X and enforcing our rules as we continue to assess the situation on the platform." In response to the letter from Breton, X CEO Linda Yaccarino said on Wednesday that the company had labeled or removed tens of thousands of pieces of content related to the Israel-Hamas war. "We continue to respond promptly to law enforcement requests from around the world," Yaccarino added. In response to a request for comment from ABC News, Meta pointed to a statement released by a company spokesperson after receipt of the letter from Breton: "Our teams are working around the clock to keep our platforms safe, take action on content that violates our policies or local law, and coordinate with third-party fact checkers in the region to limit the spread of misinformation. We'll continue this work as this conflict unfolds." PHOTO: Smoke plumes billow during Israeli air strikes in Gaza City on October 12, 2023 as raging battles between Israel and the Hamas movement continue for the sixth consecutive day. (Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images) In a blog post on Friday, Meta said it had removed or marked as disturbing more than 795,000 pieces of content in Hebrew and Arabic for violating its content moderation policies over a three-day period following the Hamas attack last Saturday. Responding to ABC News' request for comment, a TikTok spokesperson said the company uses automated tools as well as 40,000 content moderators in order to police posts on the platform. In response to the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas, the company has increased the content moderation resources that it devotes to related posts as well as posts in Hebrew and Arabic, the spokesperson added. Each of the platforms -- X, Meta and TikTok -- has a policy banning accounts tied to Hamas, since the group has been labeled a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government. MORE: Doctors say Gaza hospital situation dire Under an EU law called the Digital Services Act, or DSA, social media platforms are required to combat misinformation. Fines resulting from violations of the law can total up to 6% of each company's global revenue. On Thursday, the EU took an additional step toward enforcement against X, opening an investigation of the alleged spread of illegal content and making a formal request for information from the company. The EU called on X to provide the relevant information no later than next Wednesday. The order follows indications of "the alleged spreading of illegal content and disinformation, in particular the spreading of terrorist and violent content and hate speech," Breton said. X did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment about the investigation, nor has the company responded publicly to it. Israel-Hamas war: Tech platforms under scrutiny over spread of false, graphic posts originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Judge grants limited gag order in Trump's federal election interference case In a decision that could affect the way Donald Trump campaigns against his political opponents as he seeks to reclaim the presidency, the federal judge in Trump's federal election interference case has granted part of the government's request for a narrowly tailored gag order against the former president. In a hearing on Monday, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled that Trump is prohibited from making statements or "reposting" statements "publicly targeting" special counsel Jack Smith and his staff, as well as Chutkan's staff and the staff of other D.C. district court personnel. She is additionally barring him from making statements about potential witnesses in the case and the substance of their potential testimony. MORE: Citing Trump's social posts, special counsel asks for juror protections election interference case The decision represents a stunning moment in Trump's pursuit of reelection, placing a court-ordered restriction on much of the rhetoric that is central to his campaign. Among the attacks Trump has made that could be restricted by the order: calling Smith "deranged" and a "thug," and saying that then-Vice President Mike Pence did the wrong thing on Jan. 6 -- which has been his main line of attack against the former vice president. Still to be determined is whether Trump will even abide by the order and, if he doesn't, what lengths Judge Chutkan will go to in order to enforce it. The judge said her ruling will not prohibit Trump from publicly attacking Pence, now his political rival in the 2024 presidential race, as part of their campaign against one another -- but that Trump is now barred from making statements about Pence's actions related to the Jan. 6 certification of the 2020 vote and events leading up to the attack on the U.S. Capitol. Judge Chutkan said she will not impose additional restrictions on statements Trump might make about Washington, D.C., or its jury pool, or statements made criticizing the government, including the Justice Department or the Biden administration. However, Chutkan said, "His presidential candidacy does not give him carte blanche to vilify and implicitly encourage violence against public servants who are simply doing their job." PHOTO: Former U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks at a rally hosted by Club 47 USA at the Palm Beach County Convention Center, October 11, 2023, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Alon Skuy/Getty Images) "Mr. Trump can certainly claim he's being unfairly prosecuted, but I cannot imagine any other criminal case in which the defendant is permitted to call the prosecutor 'deranged,' or a 'thug,'" she said. "And I will not permit it here, simply because the defendant is running a political campaign." While she said Trump "may still vigorously seek public support" as a presidential candidate and criticize the Biden administration, his First Amendment rights as a criminal defendant do "not allow [Trump] to launch a pretrial smear campaign against participating government staff, their families and foreseeable witnesses." "No other criminal defendant would be allowed to do so, and I'm not going to allow it in this case," she said. Trump in August pleaded not guilty to charges of undertaking a "criminal scheme" to overturn the results of the 2020 election by enlisting a slate of so-called "fake electors," using the Justice Department to conduct "sham election crime investigations," trying to enlist the vice president to "alter the election results," and promoting false claims of a stolen election as the Jan. 6 riot raged -- all in an effort to subvert democracy and remain in power. Special counsel Jack Smith's team had urged the judge to impose restrictions on Trump in order to protect potential jurors, citing the former president's conduct on social media regarding people involved in his various legal battles. MORE: Trump moves to dismiss federal election interference case, citing 'presidential immunity' The judge pushed back during Monday's hearing after attorneys for Trump called a proposed gag order on the former president "censorship." "We are in here today because of statements that he's made," Judge Chutkan said before calling for recess. Earlier, after Judge Chutkan went through different categories of statements Trump has made -- including a social media post in which Trump that called D.C. "a filthy and crime ridden embarrassment to the nation" -- Trump attorney John Lauro pushed back, saying Trump's statements were simply criticizing the Biden administration, and were about "public policy." "Those statements can be a double-edged sword," Chutkan replied. Lauro, who kept referring to the proposed gag order as censorship, was then interrupted by Chutkan, who said, "Mr. Lauro, you keep saying censorship. There is no question that a court is entitled to draw restrictions." "We're talking about restrictions to ensure there is a fair administration of justice," the judge added. The judge specifically asked Lauro about a Truth Social post Trump made during his ongoing fraud trial in New York City, in which he posted a false statement about the judge's law clerk, prompting the judge in that case to issue an oral order restricting all parties from speaking publicly about his court staff. Chutkan said she was less concerned about Trump's attacks targeting herself, but said the post "deeply disturbed" her and she asked Lauro repeatedly to say whether he believed such conduct was appropriate. Lauro, who appeared uncomfortable, said that if he were advising Trump, he would not tell him to do something similar again. When the judge asked whether she should implement an order similar to the one posed by the judge in New York that bars Trump from public posts about court staff, Lauro replied that such an order wouldn't be necessary because if Chutkan were to directly admonish Trump for his statements he would follow her directions. "I will instruct my client along with what you've just suggested," Lauro said. Judge Chutkan also read a social media post by Trump that suggested General Mark Milley could have been executed in the past for conduct in office. "To write in all caps 'DEATH,' about someone who is a potential witness -- doesn't that go too far?" Chutkan asked Lauro. Lauro defended the statements, saying Trump was clearly referencing the fact that that Milley's conduct fell within the legal definition of treason, and that, historically, the punishment for such a crime was death. "If you suggest that someone is deserving of execution, then it's not a far stretch to imagine a situation when one of the millions of followers of this person decides to go ahead and do that," Chutkan said. MORE: Trump asks judge in federal election interference case for 2-month extension to file pretrial motions Chutkan also asked prosecutors whether the proposed gag order would prevent Trump from making public attacks on the Biden administration, such as calling President Biden "Crooked Joe Biden," to which prosecutor Molly Gaston Gaston answered that such statements would not violate the order. On the other hand, said Gaston, Trump's attacks calling the Justice Department "The Department of Injustice" would present some concern, given the influence it could ultimately have on the jury pool. When Judge Chutkan asked Gaston whether an unfounded statement by Trump on the prosecution being directed by President Biden would be barred by the order, Gaston said it would not because Biden is not a witness. "I'm sitting here thinking George Orwell would have a field day" with what the government is proposing, Lauro said of the proposed order at one point. "George Orwell would definitely have a field day," Chutkan responded back, sarcastically. The judge then asked Lauro, a former career prosecutor himself, answer whether such statements would be appropriate from any defendant in a criminal case. "What I want you to do is answer my question as to why a criminal defendant should be allowed to call a prosecutor a "thug," she said. "Tell me how the word 'thug' is justified here." MORE: Judge sets start date of March 4 for Trump's federal election interference trial "It may not be the word that you like, but he's entitled under the First Amendment to make those statements," Lauro said. Earlier , after Lauro began his remarks by accusing the government of mounting a political operation to silence Trump as he runs for president in 2024, the judge said, "Let me stop you right there, Mr. Lauro." "Mr. Trump is a criminal defendant. He's facing four felony charges," she said. "He must comply with conditions of release. He does not have the right to say and do exactly as he pleases." Lauro pushed back against the proposed order, saying Trump's statements and posts are about "news of the day" and about issues related to his campaign. "I understand you have a message you want to get out," Chutkan said in a later exchange. Lauro continued to press forward, arguing that President Joe Biden would not be barred under such an order to speak publicly about the case. "[Biden] is not a party to this case," Chutkan said. "He's not subject to conditions of release." MORE: Judge sets start date of March 4 for Trump's federal election interference trial She later added, "Politics stops at this courthouse door." Chutkan also questioned the special counsel's office on what punishments should be in place should Trump violate any order, should she impose one. Gaston answered that penalties could include home detention, financial penalties, an admonishment from Judge Chutkan herself or even a reconsideration of his pretrial release. Lauro responded that enforcement of the order would be "impossible." He also argued Trump has not, to date, violated his conditions of release as previously imposed by the court. "There's been no threats, no accusations against any witnesses," Lauro said. Trump's federal election interference trial is currently scheduled to begin in March. Judge grants limited gag order in Trump's federal election interference case originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Mississippi River water levels have reached new record lows from Missouri to Arkansas, preventing shipments of grain and other important goods from making their way downriver during one of the busiest times of year, according to data from the National Weather Service (NWS). The phenomenon is a repeat of last year, when hundreds of barges sat idle along the Mississippi River because of shallow waters. On Monday morning, Mississippi River surface levels in both Memphis, Tennessee, and Osceola, Arkansas, were recorded at -11.67 feet below normal levels, according to the NWS. We have broken historical low water levels (based on preliminary Low Water Marks) at all Mississippi River sites within our CWA. Little, if any, improvement is expected for the foreseeable future moving up the Mississippi River. #mowx #arwx #tnwx #mswx pic.twitter.com/RwmnzGBh4d NWS Memphis (@NWSMemphis) October 16, 2023 By Monday afternoon, water levels had dwindled even lower to -11.85 feet in Memphis and -11.8 in Osceola. Low stage for both locations is -5 feet. MORE: Saltwater in Mississippi River moving toward New Orleans much slower than expected: Officials A long stretch of hot, dry weather has caused record-low water levels on the Mississippi River for two years in a row an extremely rare consecutive-year phenomena, data shows. Much of the region surrounding the Mississippi River is experiencing moderate to severe drought, with exceptional drought recorded in the lower basin states, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. In the past, extremely low river levels on the Mississippi typically only occurred once every 10 years or fewer, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hydrologist Jeff Graschel told ABC News. PHOTO: The Diamond Lady rests with smaller boats in mud at Riverside Park Marina in Martin Luther King Jr. Riverside Park along the Mississippi River, Oct. 19, 2022, in Memphis, Tenn. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) Last year, hundreds of water vessels, including shipping containers, recreational boaters and even cruise ships, ran aground on the Mississippi in mud and sand that was previously covered. Water levels were so low that hundreds of barges were stuck for weeks as they attempted to transport crops down the river. MORE: Louisiana governor requests Federal Emergency Declaration for saltwater intrusion PHOTO: Low-water restrictions on the barge loads make for cautious navigation through the Mississippi River as evidenced by this tow passing under the Mississippi River bridges, Oct. 11, 2022, in Vicksburg, Miss. (Rogelio V. Solis/AP) To make the river navigable, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers routinely dredges the Mississippi, removing sediment and debris from the riverbed and making the navigation channel deep enough for barges. But periods of intense drought require more dredging. Earlier this year, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Mississippi Valley Division started dredging at known spots that need more frequent maintenance, as well as contracting extra dredges to assist with the work. MORE: Bodies of water all over North America are drying up due to drought, climate change: Experts In dire situations, the Corps can also release water from upstream reservoirs to replenish the waterway. The Mississippi River is one of the most important trade routes in the continental U.S., with September and October marking the start of the prime time for grains to move down the river to be shipped through New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico following the fall harvest. PHOTO: A water depth gauge stands in the Mississippi River, Oct. 12, 2023, in New Orleans. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Jeff Worsham, the Osceola port manager for Poinsett Rice and Grain, an Arkansas-based farming company, told ABC News that though harvests are about 90% complete, farmers are still "struggling along" to move their harvests down the Mississippi. MORE: Barges idling along Mississippi River sign of supply chain woes to come should drought worsen: Experts Barges are not being filled to capacity because they are hitting the bottom of the river at the loading dock, Worsham said, adding that partial loads are being added to the barges once they hit deeper waters. PHOTO: This aerial photo shows shows a tugboat with barges navigating around a sandbar during a period of low water level in the Mississippi River near the Louisiana State Penitentiary, July 21, 2023, in West Feliciana Parish, La. (Gerald Herbert/AP) In addition, the power plant in Osceola has not been able to generate hydropower for three weeks because insufficient water is passing through the intake pipes, Worsham said. It does not appear that the Mississippi River watershed will see any relief in the next week, forecasts show. Some rain is possible in the Ohio Valley and the upper river, but it likely won't be enough to end the drought and replenish water levels. Record-low water levels recorded along the Mississippi River during prime season to ship grain originally appeared on abcnews.go.com With the eyes of the world glued to Israel and Gaza, Russia is waging a major new offensive in eastern Ukraine, mounting the largest push it has attempted since last winter. Thousands of Russian troops and hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles have been sent into the offensive operations, which began around a week ago and have seen Russia suffer severe casualties while making minor gains, according to Ukrainian officials and independent researchers. The Russian offensive operations are focused mainly on two areas in eastern Ukrainethe strategic city of Avdiivka and further north near Kupiansk, a city Ukraine liberated in a counteroffensive last year. MORE: Russia mounts largest assault in months in eastern Ukraine Russia has stopped its new offensive in part of Ukraines northeast after suffering heavy casualties in the face of strong Ukrainian resistance there, Ukraines forces there said. Ilya Yevlash, a spokesman for Ukraines Eastern Group of Forces, said Russias offensive targeting the Lyman front in northeast Ukraine has stopped. However, he said it may begin again in a few days. A similar situation was described around the key attack on the strategic city of Avdiivka. Ukrainian officials there said the Russian assault had dramatically dropped off today after severe losses but that they believed Russian forces were regrouping and preparing to try again. Local Ukrainian officials on Monday said the intensity of the Russian assaults on Avdiivka had fallen sharply, likely due to the heavy losses, but that they expected they would resume again and that Russia still had substantial forces. "The air has come out of them," Vitaliy Barabash, the head of Avdiivka's military administration, told Ukrainian television on Monday. But other Ukrainian officials said they believed the Russian forces were regrouping despite their heavy losses and were still capable of mounting large attacks. The scale of the new offensive appeared to suggest the Kremlin is seeking to turn the tide of the war after months of defending against Ukraine's counteroffensive. Despite the new Russian attacks, Ukraine is also continuing that offensive, focused in the south. PHOTO: Local resident Grigory Samarin, 71, stands inside his house damaged by recent shelling in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, Oct. 15, 2023. (Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters) Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an interview aired Sunday, claimed the new offensives were part of an "active defense" aimed at improving Russian positions in the face of Ukraine's counteroffensive. The assault on Avdiivka began around a week ago when dozens of tanks and armored vehicles attacked Ukrainian positions from the north and south. Ukrainian officials have said Russia has moved up roughly three brigades, consisting of around 10,000 troops, to support the operation. Russia is attempting to encircle Avdiivka, which is one of the most heavily fortified areas of the frontline, bordering the Russian occupied regional capital, Donetsk. Russian forces tried to take Avdiivka back in 2014, and the network of deep bunkers and trenches Ukraine has constructed there in the eight years since means since Russia has not been able to advance there since its full-scale invasion last year. MORE: Detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich loses appeal in Russian court Some Ukrainian officials have said they believe Russia's goal is to try to achieve a victory with Avdiivka and seize more of the Donbas region before next year when Putin will have to manage an election. But Russia's initial mass assaults involving large numbers of armored vehicles appear to have fared badly, repeating failures from other attacks earlier in the war. Videos released by Ukrainian units near Avdiivka appear to show Russian tanks and armored personnel carriers, sometimes advancing in columns, facing withering Ukrainian fire. Ukrainian military officials said the Russian attacks had run afoul of minefields and been pummeled by artillery, kamikaze drones and anti-tank missiles. The videos appeared to show dozens of destroyed tanks and armored vehicles, with the bodies of Russian soldiers scattered around them. PHOTO: Ukrainian servicemen from the 'Donbas' battalion take a break during military training at a position near the frontline, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Oct. 16, 2023, amid the Russian invasion. (Yakiv Liashenko/EPA/Shutterstock) Ukraine's general staff and other Ukrainian military officials have claimed Russia has lost over three thousand soldiers since the offensive began, as well as hundreds of vehicles. Although those numbers could not be independently verified, the videos circulating of the attacks suggested Russian casualties had been heavy. So far Russia has only been able to advance a few hundred meters, according to Ukrainian military officials, with Ukrainian lines largely holding. Ukrainian soldiers and officials near Avdiivka have said Russian forces have changed tactics since their initial losses, withdrawing their armor further back and now sending in smaller groups of soldiers to probe Ukraine's defenses. Russia is also again using convicts recruited from prisons, in so-called 'Storm Z' detachments. MORE: Satellite images show Russia moved military ships after Ukrainian attacks Andriy Serhan, commander of the drone platoon from the 59th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade near Avdiivka told Radio Svoboda that there was a lull in the attacks but they were digging in for more attempts. "We are preparing for the fact that there will be another assault. They are quite strong, powerful," Serhan told Radio Svoboda. The Russian offensive further norther near Kupiansk was also continuing on Monday, according to Ukrainian officials. Yevlash said roughly 50,000 Russian troops were concentrated in the region near Kupiansk. There Russian forces were also attacking in smaller groups of 10-20 men, supported by heavy armor and frequent airstrikes, he said. Ukrainian forces are continuing their own grinding offensive in the southern Zaporizhzhia region and around the key eastern city of Bakhmut, claiming to make minor gains there in recent days. PHOTO: Servicemen of Ukrainian first presidential brigade 'Bureviy' walk together after taking part in military exercises in the Chernihiv region on Oct. 13, 2023, before deployment on the front line, amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine. (Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images) Russia waging major new offensive in eastern Ukraine originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Dotdash Meredith and Yahoo Inc. may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. Brides / Kristin Kempa Once upon a time, wedding signage was as simple as two last names and perhaps an arrow or room designation. Now, bold, beautiful signs steal the show. They can be a fun design element to delight guests, as well as a festive backdrop for photos and a way for a couple to show their personality. Neon signs are an easy way to add a fun and personalized touch to your wedding, says Michelle Angelosanto, event designer at Modern Rebel in Brooklyn, New York. Between custom or pre-made, there's no shortage of options to fit your style, she continues, adding that many couples choose to have their names in neon, while others opt for a witty slogan. Lia Bancroft, owner of luxury wedding planning firm Lia Bancroft Events in Boston, Massachusetts, echoes Angelosantos sentiment that neon signs can be a nice way to set the mood on your wedding day. Whether it's your new last name, a fun saying, or something that is so you, a neon sign can become a focal point over your bar or on a backdrop in front of which guests can take fun photos, she says, noting that you can repurpose the sign in your home after the wedding. As for where to place the sign for the biggest impact? Likely wall-mounting is the way to go. Signs can often be hung from the wall, but make sure you check on your venue's policies and hanging points, urges Sarah Narcus, owner of Olio Event Space in Peabody, Massachusetts. Alternatively, smaller signs might be propped against a bar or wall, or could be hung from a stand or on a table. Read on for the best neon signs that will add a glowing pop of color to your nuptials. Yellowpop Custom Neon Sign Buy at Yellowpop.com So many choices! With Yellowpop, the world is your glow-ster. Choose your text, font, color, tube color, size, backing, and if you want a sign suitable for the outdoors. Plus, the site has a helpful preview functionality that lets you see how your sign looks in multiple settings. But dont just take our praise of Yellowpop, consider the nearly 1,000 positive reviews from customers who note that the prices are reasonable and that the customer service, quality, and construction are all excellent. Price at time of publish: $159+ PRODCAA LC Custom Neon Sign Buy at Amazon.com Amazon aficionados, heres a goodie for you. You can choose your font, one or two rows of text, light color, and add on a dimmer or gold or silver backer color for additional fees. If you decide to get a backer to your sign, you can also have it cut to the shape of the text or choose for it to be rectangular with a round corner. Narcus calls signs from this brand a fabulous custom option at a wonderful price. She has used this vendor for custom Welcome sign for wedding venues. Price at time of publish: $136+ Radikal Neon All You Need Is Love Buy at Shop.radikalneonsigns.com Sometimes, you just want a Beatles quote on display when its time to say I do. We love this high-quality version of the timeless quote from Radikal Neon Signs, a brand that counts Lynne Kennedy, a wedding planner and owner of The Gilded Aisle Weddings in Chicago, Illinois, among its boosters. Its especially helpful if your sign has a remote control like these from Radikal Neon Signs. As the mood of the night shifts you can program your sign to pulse, flash, brighten, or dim, she says. The remote is also very handy if the plug is difficult to reach. We also love Radikal Neon Signs Lets Party neon sign ($441) and Je taime neon sign ($303). Price at time of publish: $349+ Echo Neon Custom Neon Sign Buy at Echoneon.com Bancroft is a fan of this sign company for neon displays tailored to your design preferences. You can choose the size, backboard color, font, and more. You can also add on a splash-proof treatment to safeguard the sign if its going to be outdoors and the weather is rainy and a remote neon dimmer to change the brightness settings or make the neon sign flash. Check out their collection of wedding neon signs here from a crystal chandelier neon light to better together here. Price at time of publish: $165+ CustomGiftKing Neon Sign Buy at Etsy.com Another pick of Bancrofts, we love the fully customizable signs from this Etsy shop. Here, choose your font, the color of your light, and the size for a one-of-a-kind sign that makes a statement. To make things easier for the customeror your wedding planner or designated tech-savvy BFF on the day of your nuptialsthe sign also comes with a remote controller, power adapter, plug, and chain and screw set. Price at time of publish: $78+ SELICOR Personalized Neon Sign Buy at Amazon.com Denniston urges sign purchasers to keep in mind that true neon signs can be somewhat costly (depending on where they are sourced) and that many of the options you can find on places like Amazon are actually LED lights made in a "neon" style. There is nothing wrong with thisit's just something to keep in mind as you make your purchase, she says, elaborating that she has had much success with the SELICOR shop on Amazon, bearing in mind that this is an LED light-up sign. You can choose your color, size, and length so it is completely customized for you. It arrives in a well-packaged box so the contents are fully protectedand it's plug and play from there! adds Denniston. Price at time of publish: $40+ HandMadingGift Neon Wedding Sign Buy at Etsy.com A word for the neon wise: Today, many neon signs aren't actually made of neon, says Narcus. They are almost always LED made to look like neon, which makes them safer, lighter, cheaper, and easy to operate. They also need power or a strong battery pack that can last for 10+ hours, she continues, noting that this Etsy shop is a great option for those looking to add some illumination to their wedding ceremony or reception. Choose from a variety of colors, font, and sizes to make your dream neon sign and take comfort in knowing the wedding sign comes with a power adapter, plug, and the option of receiving screws or hinges for mounting and a dimmer or a remote controller. Price at time of publish: $60+ NeonTea Custom Wedding Table Sign Buy at Etsy.com If youre looking for something to place on dinner tables, bars, or by the dj stand, this Esty seller is for you. Standard sizes run from 10 inches to 40 inches, and you simply decide on your text, color, and font and let the experts take it from there. Best of all, these LED neon signs stand on their own, so you simply plug them into outlets with the included power cord to turn on, unless you want to mount on a wall or hang it, which you can also do if you please. Price at time of publish: $38+ DIDALIFE Custom LED Neon Sign Buy at Amazon.com If youre open to an LED neon sign, we love the products from DIDALIFE. In addition to words or your name, the company also designs logosif you have a symbol thats important to you and your better half, let the design gurus go at it with their creativity. Even better: If your wedding date is approaching and you didnt check neon sign off of your to-do list, you can let this Amazon seller know and you can upgrade to expedited service with delivery in five-to-eight days. This custom sign also comes with a hanging chain installation kit, a plug, dimmer and remote, power adapter, and multiple types of screws for displaying. Price at time of publish: $47+ Sewpring Custom Neon Sign Buy at Amazon.com Another winner from Amazon, these customized neon signs let you choose the font, color and backplane shape. Customers also have the option to wall mount their signs or go for the suspension installation method and hang the piece by a cord. FYI: There are only five sizes on offer: three sizes which allow one line of text and one each for two or three lines of text. Price at time of publish: $50+ What to Look For in a Neon Sign Something that isn't too bright: Bancroft advises avoiding a neon sign that is too bright. Many of the signs come with dimmers or options for less brightness , she notes. The reason being is that bright white lights get washed out in photography, and that is the point of you having it! Simple installation: What good is a neon sign if you or your wedding planners cant electrify the room when it comes party time? If you are planning to display your light-up sign at your wedding, be sure to plan ahead how it will be affixed or displayed and that it will be close enough to an outlet for power, says Alexandra Denniston, owner and lead planner of Eventlightenment Planning in Newport, Rhode Island. Her insider tip: If you opt for a boxwood wall to display your sign, you can attach it fairly easily with small, clear zip ties. Angelosanto comments that many venues won't let you nail into the wall, so it's important to look over the finer details of assembly for your sign. Avoid anything that requires a permanent fixture or is too heavy. Look for a sign that is light and can be hung with something temporary like Command Strips, she says, adding that you can also get a sign that can sit on a tabletop, like this add-on item from Brite Lite Neons. The appropriate zize: When searching for a neon sign, you'll need to make sure the size is appropriate for the space you intend it to place it, advises Bancroft, who stresses that you'll also want to make sure it can easily be hung and comes with holes in the backboard or hanging supplies. Like Bancroft, Angelosanto urges clients to consider the scale and location of your neon wedding sign. If it'll be a backdrop to your sweetheart table or photo booth, then it should be at least two-to-three feet wide. she says. Always make sure that this special decor item fits the space that you are displaying it in. Neon Yard has tons of customization options and will ensure your sign fits perfectly. A simple design: When in doubt, keep it simple (a good motto for life, too). When thinking about a neon sign for your wedding, avoid having too many colors and fonts, says Narcus. Neon signs are bright and fun, but can be difficult to read when using too many clashing colors or font options. Instead, stick to one-to-two colors and one-to-two fonts in order to optimize the guest experience. Frequently Asked Questions How Much Should a Neon Sign Cost? If you want a neon wedding sign for your wedding, be sure to factor the cost into your budget as it may be more than you think. Smaller, simple signs start at $100-$300, while larger custom signs can cost up to $800-$1,200, says Angelosanto, noting cost depends on size and design complexity. Affirming this, Bancroft states that neon signs can range from $200 to $1,000+, with factors affecting the cost including the size of the sign, the number of letters/words, and where you source the sign. On the low end, you can find a sign online from a mass production store, or you can work with a custom sign maker for a high-end sign. Can You Rent Neon Signs? With neon signs being on the pricier side, not everyone wants to make the splurge. As we mentioned previously, you might hang your neon wedding sign in your home after your big day which for some might make the sticker shock more worth it. Still, renting might be a better option, especially if you dont have the space or interest in displaying your sign at home after your wedding For couples who're interested in some neon flair but want to keep it cost-effective, there are rental shops like Lite Brite Neon that allow you to rent pieces by the hour, says Angelosanto. Plus, they handle installation and break down. One less thing to worry about finding an outlet for and setting up before we walk down the aisle? Sign us up, folks. Does a Neon Signs Have to Include Our Names? No! Don't be afraid to think outside the box, counsels Angelosanto. You can get a cursive neon sign of your names, she says, but your neon sign can be a giant lightning bolt because your love is electric and you connected over David Bowie on your first date or whatever your heart desires. Angelosanto has also seen couples embrace displaying wry quotes on their neon sign like Until Death. Why Trust Brides Perri Ormont Blumberg is a travel and lifestyle writer who has written countless product reviews. To write this article, she consulted with industry experts and scoured customer comments all over the internet. A former freelance editor and writer for The Knot, shes also covered wedding trends for the New York Post and the New York Times. Michelle Angelosanto is an event designer in Brooklyn, New York. She works as the in-house designer at Modern Rebel, also based in Brooklyn, New York. Lia Bancroft is the owner of bespoke full-service luxury wedding planning firm Lia Bancroft Events. She's based in Boston, Massachusetts and specializes in coastal weddings along the Eastern seaboard. Alexandra Denniston is the owner and lead planner of Eventlightenment Planning in Newport, Rhode Island. Lynne Kennedy is a wedding planner and owner of The Gilded Aisle Weddings in Chicago, Illinois. Sarah Narcus is the owner of Olio Event Space in a historic building north of Boston in Peabody, Massachusetts. She has planned over 400 weddings in the last 10 years through her coordination company Without A Hitch. Read the original article on Brides. Gildan Yarns will shut a North Carolina manufacturing facility by the end of the year, citing efforts to balance production and inventory levels. The vertically integrated Canadian activewear company expects to wind down the Salisbury 1 facility on Dec. 8, human resources director Jim Powers told the state in a letter dated Oct. 11. The 258 Gildan employees impacted by the closure can move to the companys second Salisbury facility or another plant in Mocksville nearly 17 miles away. Gildan notified the state of the permanent closure in a WARN Notice filed on Oct. 10. More from Sourcing Journal Powers added that the closure will help Gildan drive an efficient and competitive manufacturing platform. The move comes after the company downgraded its full-year outlook when it reported second-quarter results for the three months ended July 29. It now expects revenues to come in flat at best or down in the low single digits. Gildans original guidance projected a low single-digit increase. While our activewear sales volume was better than expected in the first half, we saw the macro environment impact our activewear product mix unfavorably as we moved through the first half, according to an Aug. 3 report from Gildan, which owns American Apparel, Comfort Colors, Goldtoe and Peds. International sales of $118 million were down 10 percent versus the prior-year period. In the hosiery and underwear category, we observed notable strength with sales totaling $264 million, up $18 million over the prior year, or 7 percent, driven by both underwear and sock volume growth. We are benefiting from the expansion and the roll-out of mass retail programs for these products, following a period of inventory adjustments at retailers. Earlier this year, basics rival Hanesbrands also announced plans to close an Arkansas facility before Oct. 1, bringing an end to its U.S. cut-and-sew operations. The North Carolina-based owner of brands including Wonderbra, Playtex, Hanes and Maidenform is also shopping the Champion activewear label, though its unclear who would want to acquire the struggling hoodies purveyor given the challenging economic climate. Hanesbrands said it was putting Champion under strategic review after an activist hedge fund attacked the companys high debt and questioned its leadership under CEO Stephen Bratspies, a Walmart merchandising veteran. It also reorganized and relocated approximately 250 corporate roles as part of an effort to save $15 million after cutting jobs earlier this year. Click here to read the full article. As Paris prepares to host the 2024 Olympic Summer Games, locals are losing their cool over bedbugs amid fears a recent surge could hamper attracting spectators, with consequences for the economy and the countrys reputation. Reuters reported that the French government was holding an emergency meeting last week on how to tackle a crisis borne out of anecdotes and viral posts on social media and which is now filling talk show airtime even if pest-control experts remain largely nonplussed. Pest-control experts are among those who say the problem is being exaggerated. The New York Times, for instance, used this headline: The problem with pests may be in Parisian heads, not their beds. The subhead is equally soothing: Exterminators in France are playing the role of therapist to an anxious post-pandemic population that they say is panicking over recent bedbug outbreaks. The outbreaks are real. But it seems the fear they engender and the degree of the problem are probably out of sync. Related The reported bedbug invasions havent just hit Paris, either, as a 2023 study in the Annual Review of Entomology found. Years ago, harsh chemicals which might actually be more dangerous than bedbug bites, which just produce itchy welts were used to control the wingless bugs. Those arent used anymore and populations have swelled. The result is a global resurgence, per the study, which notes that it has been widespread, affecting virtually every sector of society. Ask Orkin, a pest control company that said its leading U.S. bedbug cities are Chicago, New York and Philadelphia, based on treatment data from Dec. 1, 2021, to Nov. 30, 2022, in both residential and commercial property. Its not a French or European problem. As Vox noted this week, Its a bedbugs world now. Were just sleeping in it. What is a bedbug? Per Orkin, a pest control company, Typically, bedbugs are 3/16 of an inch long, red to dark brown in color and are mostly nocturnal insects that come out of hiding to take blood meals from sleeping humans. These pests are hematophagous, which means blood is their only food source. They can travel from place to place with ease, clinging to items such as luggage, purses and other personal belongings. Bedbugs typically hide in mattresses and bedding, but can be found on clothing and in luggage, too. The female bedbug can lay one to five eggs a day and may lay up to 500 eggs in a lifetime. They are described by experts as nuisance pests because they are more gross than they are dangerous. They bite and make people their favorite food source itch. But as Reuters reported, no scientific study has found that they transmit disease. But again, gross. Per Reuters, the French response has been a mixture of media hysteria, political opportunism and national anxiety over whether the tiny critters might ruin the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Calming the panic Paris has reportedly employed sniffer dogs, as a separate Reuters story details. The canine handlers say the dogs havent confirmed any public transportation infestations. The Associated Press reported on government efforts to calm down the locals in France. There is no resurgence of cases, the countrys transport minister, Clement Beaune, told reporters, noting that the 37 cases that had been reported from the bus, metro and train systems proved to be unfounded. Same with viral videos on social media of tiny creatures supposedly burrowing in the seat of a fast train. The researchers said that in the 1800s, London hotels were so infested that, as Vox reported, lodgers were advised to become half-drunk to obtain some sleep. Vox noted one method of control back then was burning down buildings. Besides the approach of a large international spectacle, the Olympics, why are bedbugs getting so much attention? Vox asks, then answers that the problem really has gotten worse, on a worldwide scale. More people live in cities now and bedbugs love densely packed warm bodies. Were also traveling more than ever before, giving bedbugs an opportunity to spread. But mostly, according to the scientists, the bugs have developed resistance to many pesticides. What they cant escape seems to be temperatures that are high or low above 113 degrees Fahrenheit or freezing. Related Preventing tiny hitchhikers Regardless, there are some steps people can take to avoid transporting the pests. Orkin has come up with an acronym to help travelers remember how to travel without bugs: SLEEP. Survey the hotel room, looking for tiny, ink-colored stains on mattresses, soft furniture and elsewhere. Lift the mattress, box springs, etc., even pictures, and look for signs of the creepy little critters. Elevate luggage away from the bed and walls. Orkin recommends putting suitcases in the bathroom or on counters. Examine everything carefully while repacking. And do it again when you get home. Also, store your luggage far from beds. Place dryer-safe clothes in the dryer for 30-45 minutes on a high setting when you get home. Do all that and theres a good chance your bon voyage wont be the bedbugs. Bolos levedos are a type of Portuguese bread that, from the outside, look very similar to English muffins. They're shaped like a circle, measure around an inch tall, and have a toasted top and bottom. One difference is that bolos levedos are a couple inches larger in diameter, and won't have that familiar dusting of cornmeal like English muffins do. This circular bread is also very different on the inside. It's moist, fluffy, and slightly sweet. Yet it has a certain density and pleasant chewiness about it. Bolos levedos originate in the Portuguese Azores island. They famously come from Furnas, a small town on the island of Sao Miguel. Their name translates to yeast cakes, which is very representative of what they are: a leavened bread with a cake-like sweetness and hybrid texture. Although they aren't completely widespread in the United States today, they have a larger presence in Massachusetts, where Portuguese immigrants settled around Cape Cod and enjoy a familiar favorite. Unlike English muffins that have a very airy crumb with nooks and crannies, bolos levedos' lack big air pockets and have a softer texture due to their higher egg and butter content. Bolos levedos also have a higher sugar content. Whereas a standard English muffin recipe will call for a couple of tablespoons of sugar at most, a batch of eight to ten bolos levedos can have around 1 cup of sugar. This subtle sweetness is one of the defining qualities of a bolos levedos that merits its 'yeast cake' name. Read more: US Foods You Surprisingly Can't Find In Canada Making Bolos Levedos Is A Piece Of Cake adding flour to wet dough in a bowl - Miniseries/Getty Images Although bolo levedo is a unique bread recipe that you may have heard of before, it is quite simple to make. Bolos levedos contain basic ingredients including flour, salt, sugar, eggs, milk, butter, and yeast. Their preparation is very similar to that of any other enriched and leavened bread, involving kneading, rising, and proofing. First, all the ingredients should be combined into a very wet dough, kneaded, and then given the chance to rise so that the dough nearly doubles in size. After rising, the dough can be given another quick knead before being shaped into disks about three inches in diameter. These disks will be proofed once more to get a chance to expand a couple more inches before cooking. Similar to English muffins, bolos levedos are cooked on the stovetop. Although they can also be thrown into the oven for a combination of cooking methods to ensure they are cooked through, but still the stove is the traditional way. The circular rounds of dough should be cooked on medium-low heat to ensure that they don't burn. The goal is a dark golden-brown crisp on either side of the bread and an interior that is fully cooked. Tearing it open should reveal a soft and fluffy bread with a density reminiscent of a cake. Enjoy Bolos Levedos From Breakfast To Dinner breakfast sandwich with bolo levedo - Facebook The best thing about bolos levedos is their pleasant texture and flavor, which sets them up to be enjoyed in meals throughout the day. Bolos levedos are tasty and satisfying to eat completely on their own when they're fresh and warm, they're even more of a delight. To level up, you can enhance the flavor of bolos levedos with a bit of butter and jam (they're often cut in half like a bagel, toasted, and topped with these condiments). Paired with a cup of coffee, bolos levedos are representative of a typical breakfast in Portugal. Yet, bolos levedos also make for interesting sandwich bread, too. Their fluffy texture and slight sweetness provide balance to salty and savory meats and cheeses. For instance, they can be used to house a breakfast sandwich with a fried egg, ham, and cheese or a lunchtime meal with some turkey and Swiss inside. Alternatively, when used as a burger bun, bolo levedos have a similar effect to brioche that complement the richness of beef. Read the original article on Mashed. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Kao Kim Hourn in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 16, 2023. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- China is willing to work with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to build a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday. Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks while meeting with ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn in Beijing. The meeting took place ahead of the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, slated for Tuesday and Wednesday in Beijing. Wang noted that China has always taken ASEAN as a high priority in its neighborhood diplomacy, and will continue to be a strategic partner that ASEAN can trust and rely on. China is ready to work with ASEAN to make the China-ASEAN Expo a grand event for all-round and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two sides, he said. Kao Kim Hourn said that over the past decade, ASEAN countries have benefited a lot from the Belt and Road Initiative and will continue to actively participate in the initiative. The digital cookbook is available for download right now. Chick-fil-A's recipes are typically closely-guarded secrets, but now, for the sake of raising awareness for issues important to them, the Atlanta-based restaurant chain is releasing some of their favoritesalong with other recipes designed to show you how to use up your leftover Chick-fil-A favorites. Chick-fil-A just launched Extra Helpings, their first-ever cookbook. This release is in part an effort to raise awareness of the restaurant's ongoing work to fight food insecurity and reduce food waste. In the U.S. alone, food insecurity impacts 34 million Americans, of which 9 million are children. What's more, 160 billion pounds of food is wasted in American homes and kitchens every year. Reclaiming even a small bit of that could go a long way toward easing the food insecurity issues facing so many people today. Getty Images Chick-fil-A's food donation program called Shared Table connects restaurants with local non-profits to donate surplus food to soup kitchens, shelters, and other organizations so that those groups can turn around and give that food to people with need. Now, those community partners are sharing their favorite "leftover" Chick-fil-A recipes in the new cookbook, which is available at extrahelpings.com. In addition to five classic Chick-fil-A recipes (like their Chicken Salad and Coleslaw), you'll find 11 recipes from the nonprofit partners, including Chicken Nachos from Boca Helping Hands in Boca Raton, Fla. and Ice Cream Sandwiches from FeedNC in Charlotte, N.C. Courtesy of Chick-fil-A Shared Table has helped organize these meal donations across 47 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and Canada. The program helps Chick-fil-A fulfill its corporate social responsibility goal to divert 25 million pounds of food waste from landfills by the year 2025. To date in 2023, they've reclaimed 4.8 million pounds of restaurant food waste. In addition to the cookbook release, Chick-fil-A is donating $1 million to organizations that are doing the work of addressing food insecurity across the U.S. and Canada. Of that total, seven current Chick-fil-A Shared Table partners will get $100,000, with $150,000 going to both Feeding America and Second Harvest. The great thing about these recipes is that they can inspire you to get creative with your own leftovers. Did you order too many chicken strips? First Baptist Church of Apopka in Apopka, Fla., turned those strips into a sweet-and-spicy dinner with the addition of barbecue sauce, adobo sauce, and a bit of honey. Courtesy of Chick-fil-A Currently, 2,000 Chick-fil-A restaurants participate in the Shared Table program, but as communities become aware of this opportunity, and as customers learn more about the benefits of it, hopefully that footprint will expand, and Chick-fil-A will continue to find ways to keep bringing delicious food out of the food waste category and into breakfast, lunch, and dinner for people looking for a delicious meal. Down the cookbook at extrahelpings.com, and enjoy trying these new and delicious recipes. For more Southern Living news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on Southern Living. The locks and their keys have become a health hazard for the park's condors. Nature, food, landscape, travel/Getty Images The Grand Canyon wants travelers to stop leaving so-called love locks on fencing in the park, warning the trend endangers animals. The love locks, which have become a popular and often overwhelming trend across the world where travelers leave a small padlock as an eternal sign of their visit, are posing a health hazard for the Grand Canyons condors, according to a Facebook post from the National Park Service. According to the post, the birds are curious animals and love shiny things, and much like a small child, they will put any interesting objects in their mouths (discarded padlock keys included). People think putting a lock on fencing at viewpoints is a great way to show love for another person. It's not," the National Park Service wrote. "Leaving [padlocks] like this is littering and a form of graffiti. But because people will throw their padlock key into the canyon the scenario becomes worse and more dangerous specifically for a rare and endangered animal of the canyon. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Condors who eat inanimate objects, like padlock keys or coins, may not be able to pass them on their own. They then need surgery to remove the obstruction and risk dying if they eat too many objects. The Grand Canyon is home to the California condor, which is one of the rarest birds in the world and was once nearly extinct and now classified as endangered, according to the NPS. The species is the largest land bird in North America with a wingspan of up to 9 1/2 feet and weighing up to 23 pounds. In 1982, the NPS said there were only 22 California Condors left in the world. Today, there are nearly 500 with more than half of those considered wild. Currently, there are three wild populations of condors: in Arizona/Utah, in California, and in Baja California. For more Travel & Leisure news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on Travel & Leisure. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In recognition of the American Cancer Society's "Making Strides Against Breast Cancer" campaign during Breat Cancer Awareness month, Gun Lake Casinon, located in one-half way between Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo, Michigan at the US - 131's Bradley exit, is hosting a series of events to raise money for the the worthy cause. Every year we come upon this month it is very special for all of us here at Gun Lake Casino, Jose Flores, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Gun Lake Casino said. We know that our team members and community members have been impacted by this disease, which makes our breast cancer awareness campaign one of our most important events of the year. We encourage everyone to donate, educate, and volunteer. Never miss Indian Countrys biggest stories and breaking news. Click here to sign up to get our reporting sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Throughout the month, GLC is offering several ways for team members and guests to donate to the American Cancer Society in support of the cause to prevent, detect, treat, and survive cancer. Every Monday in October guests can donate to the American Cancer Society to receive a dollar for-dollar match, up to $20, in free slot play. Guests must redeem at the Cashiers Cage. More information is also available at the Rewards Center. Additionally, every day in October, Breast Cancer Awareness t-shirts are available at the Appliques Gift Shop with all proceeds going directly to the American Cancer Society. Thoroughout October, Gun Lake Casino is offering food and beverage specialty items as part of the fundraising effort. Guests can purchase a pink lemonade, Bahama Mama, and/or a pink cupcake all proceeds go directly to the American Cancer Society. These items are available at any of the following places: Crossroads, Chill Bar, 131 Sportsbar & Lounge, and Grab & Go. The American Cancer Society will be present every Monday from 11am 2pm inside the casino, at the south entrance to distribute eucational materials are available to all guests. Finally, Gun Lake Casino is again the presenting sponsor for the American Cancer Societys Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk at Calder Plaza in downtown Grand Rapids. The event will take place on October 21, 2023. Last year, Gun Lake Casino raised over $23,000 for the American Cancer Society during October. ### 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 On Nov. 9, Halo, the nonprofit organization that helps homeless and at-risk children around the world, will host its Handbags for Halo auction benefit in New York at the Crosby Street Hotel. In addition to raising money through the auction, the event, notably sponsored by Moroccanoil, will serve to bring awareness to the work being done through Halo and the premiere of the Halo documentary short film Caylin. For nearly two decades the Halo organization has provided housing, healing and education to thousands around the world, with locations in the U.S., Mexico, Kenya and Uganda. Halos efforts include providing the foundation of a family by providing homeless children a safe place to sleep and fulfilling a spectrum of needs, from helping them survive the night to making it through first job interviews and, ultimately, preparing them to become successful adults. More from WWD The story told in the Caylin documentary tells the 10-year journey that one woman has experienced through Halo. Originally coming to the organization at 15 years old in search of a safe place to live and stability for herself and her baby, Caylin has now graduated college, has a secure job and just bought her first home. Halo alum Caylin and her daugher. Every person who comes to Halo has a different experience and journey to go through and Halo founder, Rebecca Welsh, believes that every child should have the support of a family. The lessons gleaned from Halo range from learning how to make a bed to balancing a checkbook, and finding the support to do it. Caylin dreams of creating the best life for her 10-year-old daughter Avalynn to provide her with the opportunities she never had. When we invest in the youth of our communities, great things happen. Caylin just needed some support, and she absolutely deserved it. She has broken the cycle for her daughter Avalynn and generations to come. So it is about hope and family and what like family means is surrounding kids with, with volunteers and with you know, community members who can really rally behind them and teach them. Notably, Caylins is the third story that Halo will be sharing in the short-documentary format, with a previous film featuring Oprah as the interviewer. Welshs message has resonated with many including celebrities like Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Oprah and Salma Hayek, who have donated over the years, and Moraccanoil, who in 2013 selected Welsh for its Inspired by Women short-film series. Caylin was featured in the film. Rebecca Welsh, founder of Halo. Welsh told WWD that the community that has rallied around Halo and the children being helped by Halo are incredible and eager to help. She shared a recent story of having a meeting with a Halo donor when she received a text that one of Halos girls was looking for advice on how to handle a broken refrigerator in her new house. Welshs donor conversation quickly turned to paying to replace the appliance quickly, showing just one of the ways the community acts swiftly to provide for those in need. While Halos Nov. 9 event is its first to focus solely on handbags, the idea comes from the success that Halo has seen in raising money from handbags in previous auctions. Our key supporters have always been willing to help us because I feel like they are drawn to the family aspect of Halo, Welsh said. Everybody loves handbags and theyre easy for people to donate. Most of the handbags being auctioned are from either celebrities or notable people. Were also asking purse companies, or luxury handbag brands if they are interested in donating. Those interested in purchasing a handbag at auction can do so both in person at Halos event as well as virtually from their phone or at home. The funding thats raised from the event goes to support kids, Welsh said. We always say our mission is to help one more child spend one less day alone and the funding raised will help us do that. For those donating, theyll get a luxury handbag which is a total bonus. The great part about it is that youre changing a life. Ive had people tell me from years past that they love their Halo bag because it reminds them that while maybe they spent more than they typically would it was for a great cause and theyre proud of it. Tickets for the Handbags for Halo event are on sale now. Best of WWD Click here to read the full article. Nobody does a birthday bash quite like royalty. This weekend, many of the ruling families from all over Europe gathered together at a gala dinner at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen to celebrate the 18th birthday of Prince Christian of Denmark. The son of Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary, Christian is second in line for the Danish throne behind his father and grandmother, the current reigning Queen Margrethe. While the British royal family was absent from the celebration, the heirs and future heirs of many of the Scandinavian royal houses, including Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway, Princess Estelle of Sweden, and Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands, joined in the festivities. And fortunately for lovers of all things royal, the formal dresscode for the evening also meant that there were plenty of glamorous gowns and tiaras in attendance. Here, we take a look at some of the best photos from Prince Christian's birthday. Christian arrived at the event with his family in towhis parents, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary, and his younger siblings, Princess Isabella, Prince Victor and Princess Josephine. Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images Naturally, Christian's grandmother, Queen Margrethe, was also in attendance. Along with her royal honors, the queen wore the Pearl Poire Tiara, which was made in 1825 and contains 18 dangling pearls. Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images Christian's cousin, Princess Athena, joined the party with her parents Princess Marie and Prince Joachim . Last year, Queen Margrethe made the controversial decision to discontinue the titles of her younger son Joachim's branch of the family, meaning that future generations of his descendants will no longer be princes or princesses. Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, his wife, Crown Princess Mette-Marit and their daughter Princess Ingrid Alexandra were also guests. The ladies opted for complementary ice blue gowns. Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images Mette-Marit wore a diamond bandeau tiara, while her daughter opted for the Pearl Circle tiara which was given to her from the royal collection for her own 18th birthday. Like Christian, Ingrid Alexandra is second in line to her country's throne. MADS CLAUS RASMUSSEN - Getty Images Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria, her husband, Prince Daniel, and their eldest child, Princess Estelle joined in on the event. Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images In another mother-daughter moment, the Swedish royal heirs celebrated the occasion in shades of blush. 11 year old Princess Estelle, who is second in line for the throne behind her mother, eschewed a tiara (as a rule, royal ladies don't wear the jeweled headpieces until they're 18) but Victoria wore the Laurel Wreath tiara. Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images Crown Princess Marie Chantal of Greece got in on the pink trend, along with a diamond topper as she entered the gala with Crown Prince Pavlos. Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images Princess Amalia of The Netherlands, daughter and heir to King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima attended alongside the Belgian first-in-line Princess Elisabeth, daughter of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde. Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images Amalia accented her sheer-sleeved purple gown with a tiara set with indigo stones. Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images Elisabeth, meanwhile, paired her shimmering taupe gown with a delicate diamond tiara and matching drop earrings. Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images You Might Also Like Photo: Joannis S Duran/Getty Images The construction industry is notoriously bad for the environment. According to RMI, an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to research, publication, and consulting in the field of sustainability, new home construction in the United States creates the same amount of embodied carbon emissions annually as 138 natural gas-fired power plants. At over 50 million tons per year, this is also the same annual emissions that entire countries produce, such as Norway, Peru, and Swedenand this is just one section of one industry. Its for these reasons and more that many sustainability experts and activists recommend building less or building smaller. However, a new home in the Bahamas hopes to change this narrative by claiming to absorb carbon from the atmosphere. Photo: Ronnie Archer Partanna Global, a technology company that creates carbon-negative concrete, recently unveiled Home for the Worldwhich it says is the Earths first climate resilient, carbon negative home. Other projects have also made claims that they are carbon negative, such as a prototype developed by Node, a prefab construction company, that was designed with the intention to create more renewable energy than it consumes. However, Partannas home, located in the Bahamas, works differently. According to the company, its 1,250-square-foot dwelling will actively remove carbon from the atmosphere, similar to a tree or plant. Based on its calculations, the house will remove and avoid 182.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide over its lifetime, which is equivalent to the work that about 5,200 mature trees would do. Photo: Ronnie Archer Standing on the forefront of climate peril, we Bahamians have always been bound by resilience and innovation, Philip E. Davis, K.C., M.P., prime minister and minister of finance of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, said in a statement. Today, as we unveil the world's first carbon-negative concrete home right here in Nassau, it is a testament that the answers to our global crises often come from those most affected. Traditional concrete is made with water, aggregates like sand, and cement. Its the manufacturing of this last material, which binds everything else together, that produced such significant carbon emission. Home for the World substitutes cement for its own binder, which is made from natural and recycled materials activated by brine. This process forms chemical compounds that interact with and capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. And because of its dependence on brine, a high concentration solution of salt in water, the unique material strengthens when exposed to seawater, making it an attractive option for coastal communities. Photo: Ronnie Archer The world is forecast to build an area equivalent to the size of the Bahamas every three years. The need to disentangle development from pollution has never been more pressing, Rick Fox, former LA Laker and cofounder of Partanna, said in a statement. Our Home for the World is the answer to this challenge, and the Bahamas, having experienced the devastation of Hurricane Dorian firsthand, is the symbolic birthplace for our movement to change the way the world buildsfor good. The inaugural Home for the World is the first of 1,000 planned properties constructed in partnership with the Bahamian government. The houses are planned primarily for first-time homeowners in the country who have been pre-qualified by the government. While limiting construction may still be the most eco-friendly option out there, Partannas prototype offers a new perspective on ways homes can be more sustainable. In addition to resources like solar panels, composting systems, or water collection systems, perhaps innovations like those prototyped in the Home for the World will become another useful tool in the sustainable building arsenal. Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest A woman has gone viral after she ate a whopping amount of oysters on a date. Now, the internet believes her date was in the right for sneaking out the bathroom and leaving her to foot the bill. The woman, who goes by EquanaB on TikTok, shared her experience of the date gone wrong in a video that has been viewed more than one million times. She met up with her date at Fontaines Oyster House in Atlanta, Georgia, where they offer a dozen oysters for $15. She proceeded to order a plate of a dozen oysters, followed by three more. By the end of the date, she consumed a total of 48 oysters and didnt hold back from loudly slurping each one. When the fourth one came out he was looking at me crazy, I didnt give a f***, she said in the viral video. I had to. It was so good. However, the 48 oysters didnt stop her from also ordering an entree of crabcakes and red potatoes. But when the check came, her date - who she said only ordered one drink - told her that he was going to the bathroom but he never returned. Why the f*** [he] say he was going to the bathroom and never come back? Im like, hold on. Its been 10, 20, 30 minutes, she told her followers. Although she paid the check, which came to a total of $184 before tip, she still confronted her date for leaving over text and shared a screenshot of their conversation. Running out on a tab is crazyyy, she texted him, to which he replied: I offered to take you out for drinks and you ordered all that food. I can Cash App the total for the drinks. While the woman was appalled by her date for leaving her with the bill, the entire internet seemed to take the side of her date, mainly citing her large order and filming herself loudly eating the oysters. I dont know whats worse, the 48 oysters as an APPETIZER or the insane slurping and smacking, commented one user on TikTok. He literally said can we meet for drinks then you proceeded to slurp down half the ocean, another person wrote. This embedded content is not available in your region. I would have bounced too and the tab would have been the least of my concern, a third user wrote, while someone else said: I could barely LISTEN to you slurping so I can imagine how bad it was to actually watch it. However, others didnt blame the woman for enjoying herself and the 48 oysters on her date. I keep coming back to this video because them oysters look so good, said one person. Another wrote: Im not mad at either one of yall, like I see both sides. I love oysters but also could not imagine someone smacking on them for 10+ mins. In a follow-up video, others criticised her for leaving a $26 tip, which was about 14 per cent of the bill. Yall didnt even tip 20 per cent after all that, said one user. This embedded content is not available in your region. While many people on the internet were stunned by her ability to eat 48 oysters in one sitting, the general manager of Fontaines Oyster House in Atlanta says the womans date etiquette was actually quite typical for the restaurant. In an interview with Rolling Stone, general manager Kelcey Flanagan, who was working that night, said: This is nothing new for us. It was just quite funny. Ive had two ladies order six dozen [oysters] each, she added. Thats not even the cherry on top - they were drinking white Russians. I didnt know how to personally feel about that. I was just like, this is insane to me, but okay. Flanagan has also seen competitive oyster-eaters come in on special nights, saying: I had this one guy that was in an oyster-eating competition order 15 dozen. I will say, it had been a minute since I had a single female eat that many, she said. But then, you know, she was eating crackers and things like that. But yeah, she put it away. Its pretty impressive. MILAN Giorgio Armani is rewarding fidelity. The designer is appointing Izumi Sasano chief executive officer of Giorgio Armani Corporation, effective Dec. 1. He will be responsible for the United States, Canada, Mexico and Brazil. More from WWD Sasano was previously CEO of Giorgio Armani Japan, a role he held for nearly two decades, and he will relocate to New York. He succeeds Gaetano Sciuto, who had joined Armani in January 2019 from his role as president of Fendi Americas. Last July, Sciuto was named CEO of Maison Margiela in Paris. The Armani Group is built on long-term relationships. Loyalty and competence are important to me, just as it is important to reward hard work and human qualities and to encourage growth within the group, said Armani. Izumi Sasano has excelled in Japan and the Pacific area, and I am sure he will continue to do so in this new, broader role, to which he will also bring a different cultural perspective. This type of exchange is fundamental for the constant progress and enrichment of the Armani Group, values that are at the core of my philosophy. Kazumasa Tsuchihashi will take on the role of CEO of Giorgio Armani Japan. In his new position, Sasano will continue to report to Giuseppe Marsocci, deputy managing director and chief commercial officer of the Armani Group. The executives of Giorgio Armani Corporation and the general managers of Mexico and Brazil will report to Sasano. After covering executive positions at Sony Corporation in Europe and at Chanel in Japan, Sasano joined the Armani Group in 2006, and was tasked with managing other countries in addition to Japan. There are a total of 314 directly operated stores in the four markets under Sasanos purview. Last year, sales rose 19.5 percent in America. As reported, in the 12 months ended Dec. 31, the Armani Group reported revenues of 2.35 billion euros, up 16.5 percent compared with 2.02 billion euros in 2021. Sales including licenses exceeded 4.5 billion euros, while retail sales turnover is estimated to exceed 6.5 billion euros. Armani, who turned 89 in July, holds the roles of chairman, chief executive officer and creative director of the company, and in May, commenting on the performance of his namesake company, he said: In an increasingly difficult and competitive context, I am proud to have been able to maintain my independence and the stability of the group, also thanks to the work and commitment of my collaborators and employees. In 2022, pre-tax net profits amounted to 218 million euros, up 16.4 percent compared with 187.3 million euros in 2021. Compared to 2019, they rose 24.5 percent. Among recent initiatives in the U.S., after a six-year absence, Emporio Armani returned to Manhattans SoHo neighborhood with a flagship that opened in July in the heart of the historic cast-iron district. The one-level flagship, located at 134 Spring Street, covers a total area of about 4,500 square feet. Its housed in an early 20th-century building with an eye-catching trompe loeil eagle design on the side of the building. Emporio Armani in SoHo was originally opened in February 2000 at 410 West Broadway, but that store closed in January 2017. More than 30 years after A|X Armani Exchange opened its first store in Manhattan in 1991, the brand returned to SoHo with a new flagship in May. Marking the second unit in New York, the 4,951-square-foot space is located at 536 Broadway, between Prince and Spring streets. Most recently, the 260 Residences by Armani/Casa in Miami, in a 60-story oceanfront tower designed by architect Cesar Pelli in Sunny Isles, have been completed and have sold out. Armani is also redeveloping his four-level, 16,000-square-foot Madison Avenue store in Manhattan into a 96,000-square-foot building that will house a flagship and 19 luxury Armani/Casa residences, a project to be completed in 2025. The group is advancing ahead of schedule toward the objectives set for 2025, when it will celebrate its 50th anniversary. As reported, the goal Armani set in 2021 was to return to pre-pandemic levels by 2022, with more than 4 billion euros in revenues that include licenses and more than 2 billion euros in directly consolidated revenues. Best of WWD Click here to read the full article. How old is too old for a child to sleep in a crib? The answer may surprise you. NBC / Getty Images Fact checked by Sarah Scott Some mornings, I walk into my 2-and-a-half-year-old sons room, see him in his crib, and think, Hmmyou look kinda giant in there. Still, neither one of us is even remotely ready for him to transition to a big kid bed. The biggest reason is that he has not shown any resistance to sleeping in his criband besides, Im not convinced hed be safe outside of the crib. Im picturing him roaming around our house at night, and maybe even trying to leave, out of pure curiosity. So no, were not there yet. I know one day my little guy will be at the point where a big boy bed makes sense for him, and while I dont know when the day will come, Ill admit to being slightly surprised when Jenna Bush Hager recently admitted on Today that her 4-year-old son Hal still sleeps in his crib. I want to stress that Im 100% on board with doing what you have to do to make things work in your family, so no judgment on Bush Hager! However, since I already feel like my toddler is starting to outgrow his crib, its hard to imagine him being in there for another year and a half. To be fair, the morning show host did ask viewers for our take on her childs sleep situation. She also talked about how Hal is her "last child, and although Bush Hager claims she is ready for her son to make the transition to a bed, it seemed like she is somewhat disinclined to go there. Hal also isnt in favor of saying farewell to the crib and has told his mom he doesn't want to move until next Christmas, and hopes to be the only kindergartner in a crib. When Should I Move My Child to a Bed? To gain perspective on the issue, and find out more about when the right time is to transition from crib to bed, I turned to the experts. Eran Magen, PhD, a psychologist who is also the CEO of Early Alert, and founder of Parenting For Humans, shares important advice with Parents. Kids develop at different rates, and are ready to move out of a crib and into a bed at different ages, Dr. Magen says. He notes little ones typically transition from a crib to a bed between the ages of 1 and a half, and 3 and a half (some kiddos will be ready earlier, and some later). Meanwhile, Ari Brown, MD, an Austin, Texas-based pediatrician and founder of the Baby 411 book series and parent education tells Parents, I always encourage families to keep their kids in a crib for as long as possible! It is a safe sleep space and they aren't going anywhere. Indeed, safety is the top consideration for kids at this stage. If your child will be safer in their cribas long as they cannot or do not want to climb outthat is the better option than being in a big kid bed, especially if you are not able to trust them to stay in one place, Dr. Brown says. "If your child will be safer in their cribas long as they cannot or do not want to climb outthat is the better option than being in a big kid bed." Ari Brown, MD According to Dr. Magen, having a childs support for moving to a bed is another crucial element to think about, and will add up to an easier transition. Because, no, we dont want to battle our child at every turn during this time, especially if were already weary from fighting a million other fights (potty training, sitting in a car seat, getting dressed, putting on shoes, brushing teeth, eating, existing). Just me? According to both Drs. Magen and Brown, theres nothing wrong with keeping a child in a crib if its working for both of you, again, as long as there arent any safety concerns. Just note that according to Brown, If your child is night-time toilet trained, they should probably not be in a crib anymore as they need to be able to use the bathroom at night. Otherwise, as Magen notes, Eventually the child will transition to a bed. So, barring safety issues, whats the rush? Sometimes, there is a rush, of course, like when we had a new baby on the way and needed the crib from our older child. But in many cases, theres no real urgency involved in a child vacating their crib in favor of a bed. In fact, as Brown notes, there are even benefits to tots staying behind bars for longer. For lots of kids, the crib is their kid cavea quiet place of their own to play and have alone time. If they love it, they can certainly keep being there until they exceed the height and weight requirements, adds Dr. Brown. Making the Transition from Crib to Bed One day, the time will come for kids to say goodbye to the comfort of the sleep space theyve always known, and move on to a bed. This milestone can feel overwhelming not only for little ones but for us parents as well. Sniff. Because, does moving a child into a bed mean theyre not our baby anymore? At this emotional time, you want to ask yourself if the resistance is coming from the childor from you. Is it about wanting their child to stay a baby and delay the painful growing apart that comes with growing up? questions Dr. Magen, who also encourages parents and caregivers to be kind and loving to both our little ones and ourselves during this potentially tricky transition. Transitions can be hard for kids and for parents, who want to cling to those wonderful moments when our kids are little. They don't stay little for long so it's bittersweet, Dr. Brown says. Acknowledging that your child is growing up, but will always be your baby, and finding ways to continue preserving those emotional bonds as they grow, is the key. If you do determine that your child is ready and willing to move to a bed, Dr. Brown advocates for making the childs room their crib. Here are some tips to make the transition easier for both of you. Secure their sleep space by ensuring kids cannot reach places in the home that are dangerous. Safety-proof the room by removing bookshelves or things to climb up or pull down, as well as cords. Make sure electrical outlets are covered, and doors are secure. Incentivize and praise kids for cooperating with the transition. Ideas include introducing a new big kid teddy bear to the one who lived in the crib. Include the child in decision-making around the transition, like allowing them to pick out sheets for the new bed. In the end, Brown shares some inspiring advice I find very comforting: Instead of grieving over old rituals and the loss of having a little one, start some new rituals as your child grows. For more Parents news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on Parents. Over the summer HGTV stars Erin and Ben Napier announced the launch of Osprey (short for "Old School Parents Raising Engaged Youth"), which offers resources for parents who are working to help their kids have "social media-free childhoods until they graduate high school," according to its website. The Osprey community encourages like-minded parents to band together in nests to support one another and stay accountable in restricting social media, the thinking being that having fewer peers who are active online reduces the pressure to follow suit. In August, as kids headed back to school, Erin Napier who has been vocal about wanting to keep the couple's two young daughters tech-free told Osprey subscribers in a newsletter that she had emailed the parents in her older girl's class and invited them to join her family's "low-tech circle." But what does that look like, and how worried should parents be about letting their children use social media? Here's what experts say, and why some parents are pledging to keep their families away from screens as much as possible. What experts say about social media The Advisory on Social Media and Youth Mental Health issued this year by U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy who considers 13 too young for kids to join social media warns that excessive and problematic use of social media can harm children and adolescents by disrupting important healthy behaviors. This can include a childs sleep, mental health, academic performance and social skills. While the latest recommendations from the American Psychological Association (APA) noted that some teens and tweens such as those who identify as LGBTQ and lack support at home can find community on social media, the organization also urged parents to monitor their child's online activity, teach them media literacy and be vigilant for signs of problematic use or exposure to harmful content. "Other than climate change, this is the fight of this generation," Emily Cherkin, a parent and former middle school teacher whose book The Screentime Solution: A Judgment-Free Guide to Becoming a Tech-Intentional Family will be published next year says of young people's reliance on screens, social media and smartphones. Known as the "Screentime Consultant," Cherkin describes herself as "tech-intentional" rather than "anti-tech" and stresses the importance of parents' relationship with their child while they navigate the challenges of social media. If you dont have a healthy relationship with your kid, none of this works," she says of implementing social media restrictions that are "in alignment with your family's values." Dr. Adriana Stacey agrees. She is a psychiatrist and medical adviser for ScreenStrong, a nonprofit that educates families on how to prevent and address screen problems. From my perspective as a psychiatrist who has been in this arena for a decade, the best way to do this is to have parent connection in combination with education," she says. For some parents, that means pushing back against the widespread use of social media and smartphones by joining movements like Osprey and the similarly minded Wait Until 8th (as in, no smartphones until eighth grade, though Stacey maintains that "you should not have a smartphone before you learn to drive a car") to delay and minimize social media. Here's what it's like. We all have some level of addiction to our phones. But it's absolutely destroying our children." Leslie M., who asked to not share her last name, tells Yahoo Life that she attended an Osprey panel discussion, which also included Stacey, at the University of Mississippi this summer and was inspired by the event to form a nest" with other parents. I got with a couple of my mom friends, Leslie tells Yahoo Life, and we all made a vow to limit what our kids are exposed to. Were active in our churches and that plays a role in what our kids experience. Social media had a negative impact on her stepdaughter, she says, recalling "watching it turn kids into unfeeling zombies and then rage when parents took their cellphones away." She's determined to help her son avoid that. Born and raised in California, Leslie now resides on Mississippis coast, where her son attends a low-tech private school that doesnt allow smartphones. As the organizer of her own "nest," she intends to plan play dates for the kids that include activities like playing in the mud. She also wants her nest to expand. I want my son to have a community of kids who have parents with shared ideas," she says. "This is the hill I will die on and I won't back down. Does she think the parent-led Osprey model will work? I hope it will," Leslie says. "We all have some level of addiction to our phones. But it's absolutely destroying our children. It's taking away their creativity. It's taking away their ability to be kind. "There have been times where she was frustrated and disappointed to not have a smartphone." Tiasha L., a mother in Columbus, Ohio, has opted to not give her daughter a smartphone, wishing to prioritize her daughters academics, extracurricular interests and friendships outside of texting and social media apps." She admits that this was initially a hard and unpopular decision. There have been times where she was frustrated and disappointed to not have a smartphone, so there are ups and downs," Tiasha tells Yahoo Life. "But ultimately, she understands and isn't left out that much, so we haven't caved." But her daughter, who is 12 years old and often walks or bikes to school independently or with friends, is allowed to use a smartwatch for safety reasons. "It can only receive or send calls and messages to approved contacts, and only preprogrammed messages, with no photos or videos," says her mom, who used Wait Until 8th resources for guidance in choosing the right kid's smartwatch and implementing parental controls on her tablet. "It doesn't have any apps that can be downloaded or internet access. Tiasha isnt concerned about her daughter falling behind with technology because she has developed skills in robotics, coding and computer science. She has mentioned, on more than one occasion, how a lot of her peers are being negatively impacted by interactions via social media or inappropriate messages they've received from other students," she notes. "That sort of thing cements our decision even more to wait. Tiasha also tries to lead by example, which means organizing an annual "tech-free" weekend where "we all unplug as a family" and enforcing blanket rules at home. That includes no devices at the dinner table or in the bedroom before bedtime. Keeping "open lines of communication" has also been key to fostering a healthy attitude toward social media. "She tells us whenever she sees anything inappropriate online, because she knows she won't get in trouble," Tiasha says. "[I'm] hoping that continues. "His friend became a phombie." Carlos Valdez, a Gen X parent in Northern California, similarly decided early on to limit his kids' access to technology. We would see families just handing over devices to kids in restaurants to keep them quiet and the ensuing meltdowns when the parents tried to take it back, says Valdez, who admits that "we had also been taking the path of least resistance at home. As his kids got older, Valdez noticed their peers getting smartphones and using social media in fifth grade. They were shaming other kids because they didnt have at least 500 followers, says Valdez, who says he was "shocked" by the behavior. He began reading articles about social media and came across Wait Until 8th. The campaigns resources led him to talk to his son about smartphones and explain why he would not receive one until he was older. But Valdezs son learned a hard lesson when his best friend got a smartphone for his birthday. His friend became a phombie," says Valdez, referring to a term used to describe people fixated on their phone, "and didnt want to talk anymore." Because smartphones weren't welcome in the Valdez home, the friend stopped coming over, and eventually the boys lost touch. [My son] got his first real exposure to how the smartphone changes people," Valdez says. Valdezs son is now 15 and got a smartphone when he started high school, but still isnt allowed social media. His close friends know that he can text or use other types of messaging apps if they want to talk," his dad says. Guests from China and abroad attend the launch ceremony of the multiple language editions of The Belt and Road Initiative by Xi Jinping in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 16, 2023. A book of Chinese President Xi Jinping's discourses on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been published in Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, German and Japanese. (Photo by Chen Jian/Xinhua) BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- A book of President Xi Jinping's discourses on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been published in Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, German and Japanese. The launch ceremony of the multiple language editions was on Monday hosted by the State Council Information Office and the China International Communications Group and joined by more than 100 attendees, including envoys from BRI partner countries, experts, scholars, and translating and publishing sector representatives. Noting that this year marks the BRI's 10th anniversary, attendees of the event said that over the past decade, the BRI cooperation has evolved from a proposal by China to a global practice, from an idea to actions, and from a vision to reality, delivering concrete and fruitful results. This collaborative endeavor has created new space for world economic growth and actively contributed to the healthy progress of economic globalization and the resolution of global development challenges, they said, adding that the BRI has been welcomed by the international community both as a public good and a cooperation platform. The book incorporates Xi's 42 articles between September 2013 and July 2018 on jointly advancing BRI cooperation and records in detail how the BRI has been proposed, enriched, and developed. It also elaborates on the BRI's principles, connotations, and objectives, providing authoritative interpretations for readers at home and abroad to increase understanding of the initiative. The book's English, French, and Russian editions were published by the Foreign Languages Press. As summer fades into the embrace of autumn, nature puts on a spectacular display of colors, transforming the landscape into breathtaking works of art. National parks offer the perfect canvas for this seasonal masterpiece. Showcasing a kaleidoscope of vibrant hues, they offer some of the best opportunities to witness the breathtaking beauty of fall. Whether you find yourself on the rocky coast of Acadia National Park, the majestic mountains of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the awe-inspiring canyons of Zion National Park or the charming Blue Ridge Mountains of Shenandoah National Park, the panoramic views will leave you awe-struck. Embrace the magic of fall and embark on a journey through some of the most enchanting national parks. Here, the sights and sounds of natures seasonal symphony await. These are the best places to immerse yourself in the beauty of nature during this magical time of year. Great Smoky Mountains National Park Nestled between Tennessee and North Carolina, Great Smoky Mountains National Park becomes a mesmerizing wonderland during the fall season. As the home of maple, oak and hickory trees, the park explodes into a tapestry of reds, oranges and yellows. Take a scenic drive along the Newfound Gap Road, where youll be treated to panoramic views of the mountains covered in a sea of colorful foliage. Embark on hikes, like the Alum Cave Trail, through shaded forests or explore the serene valleys and cascading waterfalls. Cades Cove, an 11-mile loop road, allows for wildlife sightings amidst the picturesque landscape. Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a must visit for those seeking a sensory overload of breathtaking fall views. Acadia National Park A treasure trove of fall beauty, Acadia National Park is located along the rugged coast of Maine. The parks diverse landscape has a captivating mix of mountains, forests and shore line. It offers an array of colors during the autumn months. Hike to the top of Cadillac Mountain, the highest peak on the eastern seaboard, to witness an incredible sunrise painting the foliage with warm golden tones. Explore the parks iconic carriage roads, lined with maple and oak trees that burst into fiery shades. Be sure to visit Jordan Pond, where the reflection of the nearby mountains and creates a truly mesmerizing display. Zion National Park Known for its majestic canyons and dramatic rock formations, Zion National Park takes on a new level of splendor in autumn. The landscape comes alive with the hues of cottonwood trees, aspens and maples, contrasting against the parks towering sandstone cliffs. Hike Riverside Walk is a quiet trail that follows the Virgin River and offers opportunities for close up views of bright foliage. For a more challenging adventure, hike to Angels Landing, where youll be rewarded with sprawling views of the canyon embellished with a vibrant fall palette. The Weeping Rock Trail and the Emerald Pools Trail also offer stunning views with the added bonus of beautiful waterfalls. Shenandoah National Park Tucked away in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, Shenandoah National Park presents a breathtaking showcase of fall hues. The park boasts over 300 square miles of wilderness. The leaves of oak, maple and dogwood trees turn into a vivid display of reds, oranges and golds. Skyline Drive, a scenic roadway that winds through the park, provides unparalleled views of the surrounding mountains adorned with foliage. Stop by the numerous overlooks along the drive, including Marys Rock Tunnel, to capture the immensity of the fall utopia. Take a hike along trails, like Dark Hollow Falls or Old Rag Mountain, where youll be immersed in a kaleidoscope of fall colors against a backdrop of moss covered rocks and flowing falls. Shenandoah National Park promises an enchanting fall experience filled with panoramic vistas and the magic of Mother Natures artwork. Where in the world are Prince Harry and Meghan Markle? Accumulating passport stamps has been the theme of this past month, as both were in Dusseldorf, Germany in September for Harrys Invictus Games; both flew through the U.K. on their way there and back; and they took an under-the-radar romantic trip to Portugal before heading back to the U.S. and their two kids, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. Now the pair are traveling again, visiting an exclusive Caribbean island and being spotted walking hand-in-hand during the romantic getaway. Meghan Markle at the 2023 Invictus Games Per The Mirror , The couple were snapped strolling hand-in-hand on the tiny island of Canouan in St. Vincent and the Grenadines after a busy week for the pair on the promotional trail in New York, the outlet reports. (Harry and Meghan were in New York City this week for their nonprofit Archewells first in-person event, held in support of World Mental Health Day.) Harry and Meghan were photographed in Canouan by a passerby who spotted them exiting a gourmet food store at the Sandy Lane Yacht Club and Marina in Glossy Bay. Meghan wore a white maxi dress and a Panama hat, and Harry wore navy shorts, a white t-shirt, and flip flops. The passerby said that the couple appeared to be without their children for the trip, The Mirror reports. Meghan Markle at the Invictus Games 2023 They looked happy, they told The Daily Mail . As Harry walked out of the shop, he slightly bumped into one of the barrels [outside] and they both giggled and Meghan reached for his hand. They just looked very happy to be having a holiday together. Harry and Meghan had been shopping at exclusive grocery store Faye before they took a walk on the bougainvillea-festooned promenade and subsequently boarded a luxury tender boat to Canouans north shore, The Mirror reports. The intimate island is known as the place billionaires go to escape millionaires, spanning just three miles wide. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in love at the Invictus Games 2023 In addition to the Sussexes, Canouan is a favorite destination of celebrities like Amal and George Clooney, Robert Downey Jr., and Leonardo DiCaprio. The British royal family is weighing in on the ongoing crisis unfolding in Israel and Gaza. After a Buckingham Palace spokesperson spoke on behalf of King Charles, saying, "His thoughts and prayers are with all of those suffering, particularly those who have lost loved ones, but also those actively involved as we speak," a spokesperson for Prince William and Kate Middleton issued a statement, conveying their distress and devastation at the events. Now, the United Kingdom's Chief Rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis , has shared a letter Prince William wrote him before those statements were made public. Rabbi Mirvis posted on X, "Thank you to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales for this message of solidarity with the Jewish Community and wishes for a better future for all," tagging Kensington Royal's account. Thank you to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales for this message of solidarity with the Jewish Community and wishes for a better future for all.@KensingtonRoyal pic.twitter.com/9rBWCN8XXu Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis (@chiefrabbi) October 16, 2023 In the letter, Prince William reflected on his 2018 trip to Israel, where he was accompanied by Rabbi Mirvis. "It was a profoundly moving experience," the Prince of Wales writes. "I was struck by how many Israelis and Palestinians wanted one and the same thing: a better future. In present circumstances, it seems unobtainable as their respective communities will be absorbed by grief, anger, and shock." Yet, he adds, "I do hope though that in time, voices calling for peace, common understanding and co-existence can once again come to the fore." Pool - Getty Images King Charles met with Rabbi Mirvis at Buckingham Palace last week, and the rabbi shared afterwards that "At a time when Jews around the world are grieving following the unspeakable evil perpetrated against loved ones in Israel, I want to thank His Majesty King Charles III for expressing in person his deep concern, and his support for the Jewish community. His words of comfort and solidarity give us strength at this dark time." Rabbi Mirvis has been chief rabbi of the UK since 2013, and attended King Charles's coronation earlier this year. Read Prince William's full letter to Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis: Dear Chief Rabbi, I am writing to express my solidarity in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attacks that began on Saturday. As you have said publicly, this is truly a traumatic time for the Jewish community in the United Kingdom. So many will have loved ones directly affected by this terrible violence. I want to add my voice to those who condemn the attacks unreservedly. My thoughts are with you all. At this difficult time, I've been reflecting on my visit to the region in 2018. It was a profoundly moving experience. I was struck by how many Israelis and Palestinians wanted one and the same thing: a better future. In present circumstances, it seems unobtainable as their respective communities will be absorbed by grief, anger, and shock. I do hope though that in time, voices calling for peace, common understanding and co-existence can once again come to the fore, so that such human suffering can be consigned to the past. With my sincerest wishes, [Signed by Prince William] You Might Also Like Regina, Saskatchewan, has the lowest cost of living and the most affordable housing out of all Canadian cities. With universal healthcare, a thriving economy, stunning natural landscapes, and a diverse society, Canada regularly ranks as one of the best places to live in the world. It is also home to some of the happiest people, as the country moved two places to No. 13 on the annual list of happiest nations. So, it's not surprising that Canada is also an excellent option for retirees seeking a lower cost of living and affordable housing. How affordable? Well, a recent GoBankingrates.com study of the best places to retire north of the border found that in Regina, the capital city of Saskatchewan, the average apartment rents for less than $1,000 per month or $989.69, to be exact the lowest in the country. Additionally, the report found the cost of living there to be $1,919.89, including rent. ronniechua/Getty Images This south Saskatchewan city has a little over 226,000 residents and is a two-hour drive from Montana's border. While Regina is about 120 years old, its land is rooted in Indigenous history, having been home to Indigenous tribes for thousands of years. European settlers named it "Regina" in the 19th century after the Latin word for "queen" in honor of Queen Victoria. Nowadays, "the Queen City" is a sought-after place to retire because it offers many urban amenities without other metropolitan areas' hectic pace. While the average age of residents is 39, about 18 percent of Regina's population is 65 and over, so the city has a large retirement community, encouraging networking and social events. Another reason for retirees to flock here? Regina is known as the sunniest capital of Canada, with 322 days of sunshine per year, enabling residents to spend time outside enjoying the city's amenities, including Wascana Centre, a 930-acre park nestled in its heart. (For comparison, New York City's Central Park is 843 acres.) The city also has a bustling downtown area with shops, restaurants, theaters, and museums, with a thriving year-round events calendar. The Regina Senior Citizens' Centre also offers many art classes and other leisure activities for free or for a minimal fee. Staying active at Wascana Trails, a 9-mile network of hiking trails, and fishing at Regina Beach along Last Mountain Lake are among the favorite pastimes here. Kington, Ontario, and Fredericton, New Brunswick, are second and third on GoBankingrates.com's survey, where retirees need $2,568.54 and $2,105.38 per month, respectively. (Kingston is placed higher because even though it is more expensive, it has a higher quality of life than Fredericton.) You can read the complete report on GoBankingrates.com. For more Travel & Leisure news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on Travel & Leisure. More than six decades old at this point, Jack in the Box has survived a tumultuous and competitive fast-food landscape that it helped create. Emerging from a small San Diego drive-in chain in the 1940s, Jack in the Box evolved into one of the most visible and lucrative of the fast-food brands. Much of that growth can be attributed to innovation. Never an institution to rest on its laurels, Jack in the Box seems to always be changing something, whether it's adopting new technology, trying out a quirky advertising campaign, or developing its menu to include a wider variety of offerings than its competitors. The chain is just about the only place where on-the-go diners can order tacos, egg rolls, and churros to accompany their burgers, fries, and shakes. On the other hand, Jack in the Box's willingness to try almost anything in terms of menu items, streamlining practices, business concepts, and marketing ideas, has also led to major missteps, unmitigated disaster, and full-on tragedy. Here's the full story of Jack in the Box the highs, the lows, and every novel chapter in between. Read more: The Most Overrated Chain Restaurants In The US, According To The Mashed Staff Jack In The Box Helped Popularize The Drive-Through jack in the box drive through - Bloomberg/Getty Images After working as a traveling milkshake mixer salesman, San Diego-based entrepreneur Robert Oscar Peterson opened a drive-in restaurant in 1941 called Topsy's. Following a stint in naval intelligence during World War II, Peterson returned home, changed the name of Topsy's to Oscar's, and installed a novel device that made the hamburger stand even more profitable. He licensed the rights to an intercom system from George Manos, who had installed the technology at a Chatterbox drive-in in Alaska. Diners pulled up to a lane and spoke into a two-way communication device connected to the kitchen inside. Because customers could take their food and leave, it allowed for rapid turnover and high sales volume and so the fast food drive-through was born. In 1951, Peterson converted an Oscar's Drive-In into the first Jack in the Box, incorporating clown imagery and placing the drive-through speaker inside an oversized clown head. It Was An Early Pioneer In Fast Food Breakfast Jack in the Box breakfast sandwich - YouTube It took a few decades for the United States' top purveyors of burgers and fries to establish themselves as attractive options for lunch and dinner before they even attempted to revolutionize the way Americans ate breakfast. The Egg McMuffin hit the national McDonald's menu in 1976, less than five years after it debuted in test markets. Around the same time that McDonald's was making inroads into breakfast, Jack in the Box was too. In 1969, two years before the Egg McMuffin arrived, individual Jack in the Box restaurants tested earlier opening hours to sell a small breakfast menu, anchored by two items: the Breakfast Jack (eggs, ham, and cheese on a hamburger bun) and an Eggs Benedict-inspired sandwich. The two items were the first chain fast-food breakfast sandwiches in America and sold well. In fact, in 1976, Jack in the Box expanded its breakfast menu to include omelets. By the 21st century, the chain's best-selling menu sector was breakfast, which it sells all day long, unlike the competition. Jack In The Box Expanded So Quickly In The '60s But Faltered In The '70s Jack in the Box by hills - Bauer-Griffin/Getty Images In the 1960s under founder Robert Oscar Peterson, Jack in the Box, rapidly expanded throughout Southern California. It grew to 24 outlets by 1961 and to 182 just five years later. By the end of the decade, Jack in the Box was 870 units strong. At this point of robust and lucrative growth, the multi-tiered food-based corporation Ralston Purina purchased the entirety of the Jack in the Box parent company, turned it into a subsidiary, and made efforts to convert the restaurant from a west-coast favorite into a nationally known fast-food competitor. Hundreds more Jack in the Box outlets opened throughout the Midwest and into the Northeast. But those Jack in the Boxes didn't prove to be especially popular or as profitable. Shortly after opening its 1,000th restaurant in 1980, Jack in the Box announced plans to close 225 financially underperforming locations in the east. It reallocated resources spent on keeping those money-losing restaurants alive into opening dozens of new locations back west. More than 40 years later, Jack in the Box has stuck to that plan. About 43% of its restaurants are situated in California, with most of the rest in Oregon, Washington, Arizona, and Texas. It's not a major player in the east, with only a few outposts in the Carolinas and a single restaurant in New Jersey. Jack In The Box Underwent A Massive Menu Overhaul In The 1980s Jack in the Box chicken salad - Carl Bryant/Facebook Along with the early 1980s shutdown of 200 restaurants, Jack in the Box approached the new decade with a series of aggressive business and culinary moves. It alerted the public of changes to come with a TV commercial in which restaurant employees use dynamite to blow up one of the clown heads that adorned the chain's drive-through speaker boxes in the 1970s. "The food is better at the Box," a newly adopted slogan intoned. Realizing it couldn't "out-McDonald's McDonald's," as chairman Jack Goodall told the Los Angeles Times, the chain redecorated its restaurants to downplay the clown imagery and brought in new items to attract a wealthier, more mature clientele. Throughout the '80s Jack in the Box introduced a ham and cheese sandwich, the fajita pita (made with steak), and fast food's first to-go salad. By 1987, Jack in the Box boasted an extensive, 40-item menu, and half of it had made its debut within the past five years. The plan to steer clear of the McDonald's-Burger King fight to dominate the burger industry worked. By reinventing itself as a western-U.S. chain in pursuit of a specific, niche customer base, Jack in the Box was able to open 400 new stores in the late 1980s. In its core markets of Los Angeles, San Diego, Dallas, and Phoenix, it ranked as the #1 or #2 fast-food chain. The Chain Accidentally Sold Horse Meat horse looking back - Rita Kochmarjova/Shutterstock The notion of which animals are acceptable for consumption varies across cultures and nations. In the United States, for example, eating horse or kangaroo isn't widely practiced or accepted. That's only part of the reason why Jack in the Box sustained some controversy in the early 1980s: The chain likely served ground horse in its American stores, but unknowingly. At the time, imported beef comprised 7% of the American beef supply, and Jack in the Box got some of its meat from a company called Profreeze, which sourced from Australia. In the summer of 1981, Profreeze found that some of the Australian product designed for distribution to Jack in the Box wasn't just from cows it was partially made up of horse meat, too. Back in Australia, inspectors found that more shipments of ground beef intended for the U.S. were also not 100% beef, but contained some kangaroo meat. It all probably meant that ground horse and minced kangaroo had perhaps already made their way into Jack in the Box hamburgers, according to Secretary of Agriculture John R. Block. After the discovery, the Department of Agriculture confiscated and held back 270,000 pounds of boneless meat and 275,000 pounds of ground meat and patties from distribution to fast-food outlets because all of it included at least a trace of horse meat. A Change To Monterey Jack's Flopped Hard Monterey Jack's ad - YouTube In the first half of the 1980s, Jack in the Box gave itself an extensive image and menu overhaul so as to differentiate itself from middle-of-the-road burger chains. After eliminating the juvenile clown imagery and introducing new food items to appeal to more sophisticated customers, Jack in the Box took an additional, even bolder step toward rebranding. Corporate parent Foodmaker Inc. changed the name of the chain from Jack in the Box to Monterey Jack's. "This is kind of a last step in the process," Foodmaker VP of marketing Richard A Pearce told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 1985. Executives decided on the name Monterey Jack's because it market-tested better than about 200 other "Jack"-based ideas. That same consumer research determined that customers preferred wood-and-brass decor and a blue color scheme over Jack in the Box's shiny, red facades. The food at Monterey Jack's was a bit different, too the new restaurant still offered burgers and fries but emphasized the recently adopted Jack in the Box additions like deluxe breakfast sandwiches and salads. Monterey Jack's rebirth arrived just as Foodmaker's owner, Ralston Purina, sold the Jack in the Box portfolio to an investment group for $500 million. The new owners approved the overhaul but were so unhappy with the results that less than a year after the transformation into Monterey Jack's, they ordered a reversion to Jack in the Box. A Food Poisoning Outbreak Left A Body Count And The Company In Shambles man in hazmat suit - D-keine/Getty Images In January 1993, Washington State's Department of Health noticed a sudden uptick in cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) characterized by diarrhea, blood clots, and kidney failure, per the Mayo Clinic in Seattle children. An investigation revealed that patients had eaten hamburgers at Jack in the Box, and had suffered HUS after contracting the food-borne E. coli bacteria. Within weeks, more cases of E. coli were reported in Nevada, Idaho, and California, and more than 700 seriously ill individuals were found to have dined at one of 73 Jack in the Box outlets. Four people died all children. Federal-level health investigators determined that the meat had been contaminated by animal waste at the slaughterhouse level, specifically at six facilities operated by the Von Corporation. It also emerged that numerous public health departments in the western U.S. had previously warned Jack in the Box outlets about their refusal to cook beef to a state-recommended internal temperature of 155 F, preferring the federal figure of 140 F, on account of how the extra cooking made patties unpalatable. Cooking at a higher temperature kills E. coli bacteria. In the months following the outbreak, Jack in the Box's sales cratered by 35%. Hundreds of employees were laid off, and the company halted all advertising in Washington state, delayed plans to open new stores, and asked landlords for a 25% rent reduction for one year at 400 outlets, citing economic hardship. Its Ads Were Game-Changers Jack Box at Lakers game - Noel Vasquez/Getty Images In its first couple of decades of life, Jack in the Box's mascot was a stylized clown, with a round white head and a painted-on face. In an ongoing marketing campaign launched in the mid-1990s, following a deadly and devastating tainted meat scandal, Jack in the Box reimagined its advertising character as a hands-on, eccentric corporate executive, company CEO Jack Box human from the neck down and topped with a big cartoonish clown head. Launched by Dick Sittig at the Chiat agency, the ad executive took Jack in the Box on as his first client when he started his own firm, Secret Weapon Marketing. The ads are purposely off-kilter, a little dark, and humorous, all in pursuit of a young male customer demographic. "Young men like irreverent humor," Sittig told the Los Angeles Times. One commercial revealed that Jack's aim is "to rule the fast food world with an iron fist." Another consists mostly of Jack and a boardroom full of executives giggling over the company's almost-dirty-sounding "Angus" burgers. The commercials successfully reworked the tarnished image of Jack in the Box, and inspired a lot of burger purchases, too. In 1995, Jack in the Box took in $1 billion. After Sittig's quirky ad campaign was established, annual revenues grew to $2.9 billion in a little over a decade. The JBX Grill Spinoff Didn't Work Out toppled Jack in the Box sign - Bloomberg/Getty Images In a move that harkened back to its company-wide Monterey Jack's rebranding project in the mid-1980s, Jack in the Box once again tried to cater to a perceived market niche of fast-food customers who wanted something a little bit fancier and more expensive than the usual burgers and fries on offer. In 2004 and 2005, Jack in the Box's parent company converted a handful of preexisting restaurants into new ones operating under the name JBX Grill. After two test locations in San Diego showed some promise, five more JBX Grills opened in Boise, Idaho, and four more around Bakersfield, California. Dining rooms were designed and decorated more like those of a higher-priced sit-down eatery, with wood floors, overstuffed chairs, and fireplaces. That environment encouraged diners to stay and consume not just hamburgers but ciabatta bread sandwiches loaded with carne asada, Greek-style chicken, ham and vegetables, or Thai spice and poblano lime chicken salads. Converting just one Jack in the Box into a JBX Grill cost as much as $400,000. In 2005, when JBX Grills hadn't made up for those expenditures and it began to hurt the entire company's bottom line, Jack in the Box ended the experiment. The company opted not to open any more JBX Grills and chose to change the test outlets back into regular Jack in the Box restaurants. It Went For The Stoner Niche Jack in the Box Munchie Meal ad - YouTube Non-medicinal use of cannabis was forbidden across the U.S. until 2012, when Colorado and Washington legalized purchase and consumption. Two dozen states have since relaxed cannabis laws, but long-held taboos take longer to disappear. That's why it was a bit daring for Jack in the Box to openly embrace an underserved demographic hungry marijuana users experiencing the side effect colloquially known as "the munchies." Jack in the Box recognized its audience. According to data analyzed by Foursquare in 2016 (per QSR Magazine), it's the second-most-visited fast-food chain during overnight hours when inebriation tends to occur (White Castle is first). In 2007, anti-drug groups weren't pleased with an ad that implied a dazed, giggling character orders 30 Jack in the Box tacos because he's high on marijuana. Nevertheless, six years later, Jack in the Box introduced Munchie Meals: heaping boxes filled with burgers, tacos, fries, and snack items. To commemorate California legalizing recreational marijuana use in 2018, Jack in the Box offered the Merry Munchie Meal locally, priced at $4.20 a nod to "stoner" lore, and a date (April 20) and time of day (4:20) at which many consume the drug. The Munchie Meal was a huge success and remains part of the permanent Jack in the Box menu nationwide. In 2023, the chain celebrated the 10th anniversary of the offering with a special edition -- Snoop's Munchie Meal -- promoted by outspoken marijuana advocate Snoop Dogg. It's Had Mixed Results Buying Up Mexican-Style Fast Food Chains Del Taco restaurant exterior - Jet City Image/Getty Images In 2003, Jack in the Box expanded its fast-food footprint by purchasing a moderate, still-growing chain in a different culinary sector that showed a lot of financial promise. It acquired the fast-casual Mexican-inspired Qdoba for $45 million at a time when it consisted of 85 restaurants in 15 states that generated $65 million in annual sales. The new owner blew up Qdoba into a 700-unit chain with a presence in 47 states and revenues of $830 million in the year 2017. But traffic at established stores fell so abruptly that within a year, Jack in the Box unloaded the suddenly money-shedding Qdoba to Apollo Global Management for $305 million. One big cause of the financial troubles at Qdoba was a 50% spike in the wholesale price of avocado. Just five years after getting out of the business of selling Mexican-style fast food, Jack in the Box re-entered the arena, paying $585 million to wholly acquire all 600 or so Del Taco locations. It's In The Middle Of A Big Expansion Plan Jack in the Box exterior - Jet City Image/Getty Images Throughout its history, Jack in the Box occasionally experimented with franchising out handfuls of stores to independent operators, but until 2004, the vast majority of its 2,000-plus stores had been company-owned. That year, Jack in the Box transitioned into a franchise model. By 2019, about 95% of its U.S. restaurants were run by franchisees. The year 2019 also marked a demanded regime change, and in December, Jack in the Box chief executive officer Lenny Comma resigned, following a two-year period of financial instability and efforts by an organized network of multi-unit franchisees to get the CEO to step down. While Comma and other Jack in the Box executives cut company expenses at the corporate level, hundreds of restaurants reported negative income for 2018. About 300 out of 2,200 Jack in the Box locations (half of which were based in Texas) cited yearly revenues of under $1 million and negative cash flow, losing about $36,000 each on average. Jack in the Box emerged from that dark period with a two-year development plan. In late 2022, it brought in the first new multi-unit franchisees in more than 10 years, signing up 72 entities to open 303 new restaurants. Under those plans, Jack in the Box will open its first stores in Arkansas and head back into Florida after leaving the market in the 1990s. Read the original article on Mashed. Saving some change here and there isn't going to make you a millionaire. But when everything is so gosh darned expensive, every little bit helps. Even spending, like, $5 less each month adds up to $60 in a year. Urbazon / Getty Images So when u/maximum-gas-3491 asked people on Reddit to share their little money-saving tricks that add up over time, I was right there taking notes. Here are some of the top replies: 1."When you see something you want on Amazon (or Sephora or any other online shopping site), put it on a wishlist and don't look at it for 48 hours. Ninety-eight percent of the time you wont go back to buy it." 2."Similarly, if I get an email telling me about a sale, I immediately delete it, and I almost always forget about it completely." u/mozzarellafitzgerald 3."I only buy out-of-season clothes. I have a $700 coat that I bought brand new for $100, and it will last me for life with proper maintenance. Helps, too, that I'm a man. We don't really do fashion trends, lol." u/franklinsuglydolphin 4."I refuse to pay for 12-cent bags at Aldi. I keep reusable bags in my car, and if I forget one, then I will just throw things in my trunk and grab a bag from the house to carry everything in. If I dont buy bags each week, I save a little less than $19 a year (12 cents per bag times three bags a week times 52 weeks per year). Seems insignificant, but it adds up." u/maximum-gas-3491 Steven Puetzer / Getty Images 5."Buy your cellphone outright and then use a prepaid month-to-month plan." u/quadrophonicdaydream 6."Every few days, I take stock of the odds and ends in my freezer and fridge, and I come up with ways to incorporate into meals. A favorite way to deal with random veggies is to make a stir fry. A favorite way to deal with random bits of bread is to freeze them and make bread pudding when Ive accumulated enough." u/saveswhatx 7."Selling things we don't use. Selling a $10 item here and there really does add up. It takes pretty low effort, and we save the money for vacation. The benefit of less stuff is even better than the money, to be honest." u/spenceandcarrie David Sacks / Getty Images 8."I carry tea bags with me to school. It's $1 for a cup of tea, but $0 for a cup of hot water. If I get tea on campus three times a week for a 14-week semester, that's $42 (minus the cost of the tea bags I bring) I can save each semester." u/themonkeydidntdoit 9."When I feel like having something sweet, which is often, I make a mug cake (~$0.36 each) instead of going out and spending $7 on ice cream." u/magicxcg 10."When something you use regularly is on sale, stock up. My family likes to make Starbucks espresso at home, and a small bag is now $10. When its on sale for its pre-COVID price, I buy two or more extra and start to build up a stock pile. Eventually, you will have a lot of the staple foods you use so your weekly grocery bill will be just fresh foods." u/southern-yam-1811 Shannon Fagan / Getty Images 11."Stack savings when you can, as well. The big jug of laundry detergent we use is regularly $9.48 at Walmart, and more expensive anywhere else. One other grocery store here recently had it on sale for $6.99, plus a $1 digital coupon in their app, bringing it to $5.99 per jug. In Ibotta, I had an offer for $3 back on each with a limit of five, so naturally, I bought five of them at essentially $2.99 per jug. At the rate we use it, we likely won't have to buy laundry detergent for a decade or more." u/gofunkyourself69 12."When any container seems empty, I used to throw it away. Now I cut it open and get four or five more uses out of it. The amount of shampoo I was wasting was shocking." u/seasoned7171 13."Not eating meat at every meal has really saved a significant dollar amount for me. Also, challenging myself to use recipes with, like, two to four ingredients so I buy less overall. I dont sacrifice a good meal either; I know how to make it taste good." u/whatsinthebox72 Lacaosa / Getty Images 14."I learned that I can use half, or even a quarter as much shampoo, toothpaste, body wash, hand soap, as I used to. Its a very little thing, but I really do think it adds up, especially because when I go to CVS or Walgreens to get shampoo, I always end up getting a bunch of other crap I dont need." u/rumtiger 15."I have an 80-pound dog, and before we were flying through various stuffed hoofs, bones, etc., and I was spending at least $50 a month on treats alone. Now I stuff a large Kong with peanut butter, some dog food, or treats, freeze it, and call it a day! Its saved a lot of money over the past year and a half." u/meltink745 16."If your vehicle has the ability to show your MPG [miles per gallon], pay attention to it. Driving faster burns more fuel. Leave a little earlier and drive a normal speed instead of rushing around." u/smilefirstthenspeak "My dad keeps a notebook in his car to track his MPG over time. Every time he fills up with gas, he writes down the number of gallons and odometer reading. It also helps him know if theres something going on with the car if the MPG suddenly drops." u/necalifornian25 Paul-briden / Getty Images/iStockphoto 17."I noticed the grocery store I shop at has digital coupons, and you 'clip' them in their app. I usually save about $15$30 when I go, depending on what I'm getting. Yesterday, our groceries were on track to be over $100, but had $18 of coupons so only spent $88. Digital coupons mean I don't have to track those little slips of paper (though I've done that!)." u/merry_pippins 18."I pick up fast food receipts off the ground and enter the receipt code into my fast food apps for the reward points. Then I get free food items and spend nothing. That has added up to 187 free food items on just the app that keeps track of full history. The redemption value so far has been $925 since I always take the most expensive food item reward offered each time. Also, if I see someone waiting for food and they spent a lot without using the app, I will ask if I can scan their code for the reward points. They usually have no idea that it is a free item for about $24 worth of spend, so sometimes I get a free item by scanning the receipt some guy is holding for a big order." "I pick up discarded hardware store receipts and send them in for the 11% rebate so I get the rebate without spending anything. I do the same for the stores that price match. That has added up to well over $2,500 since I started doing that. Then I buy tools and hardware that I want or need for my side hustles." u/inkseep1 19."Menstrual cups. I'm straight up not having to buy pads/tampons anymore (aside from keeping an emergency stash stocked). Saves me around $10 a month." u/heliantherne Coolpicture / Getty Images 20."I bought a used yogurt maker on Facebook Marketplace, and it was the best $15 I ever spent!! One gallon of milk makes six large servings (for me, your mileage may vary), which is much cheaper than buying yogurt. Also, it's fresher, tastes better, has no preservatives (never lasts long enough to go bad!), and I can mix in whatever I want. Lately, I've been buying bulk hazelnuts from Whole Foods, roasting them, and putting them in the yogurt with chocolate chips. Delicious!!" u/neuroundergrad 21."I buy less than one roll of paper towels a year. Fifteen years ago, I bought a king size flannel sheet at a thrift store for $3. I cut it into 1-foot squares, put two together, and finished the edges on my serger. I keep them in a basket in my kitchen and use them for everything most people use paper towels for, including draining bacon and wiping up spills. I have about a dozen of them and wash them several times a week." "At a conservative estimate of $3 per roll of paper towels and one roll per week, I save $156/year. Over 15 years, I have saved $2,340, enough to buy five sergers and a tall stack of used sheets, even considering the laundry expenses." u/lafayettejefferson 22."Switching to a safety razor, the blades are SO much cheaper. Its been so long I cant remember the exact savings, but I think I saved about 80%90% of the cost of razor blades when I made the switch." u/automatic_bug9841 Olena Ruban / Getty Images 23."I do a thing I call 'piggybacking.' As much as possible, I only drive when I can hit two spots on one roadtrip. If I need to go to Costco, I wait until I also need to stop at Whole Foods to drop off an Amazon return, pop into Home Depot for a needed tool, or visit the library. A drive that is 10 miles roundtrip seems short, but if you do the math, using the federal rate for mileage, which accounts for wear and tear, that's a $6.55 trip. Why would I spend that twice when I can spend it once AND help the environment?" u/ill_drop1135 24."We started saving lots of money during the pandemic when we used Walmart grocery pickup. I buy a lot less when Im not wandering the aisles, and I stick to a meal plan that I then select through the app." u/mango_38 25."Vinegar as fabric softener. It's cheaper to buy a gallon of distilled white vinegar, it's better for your machine, and it's better for your clothes. Takes only about 1/41/2 cup in the liquid softener dispenser. No smell, clothes feel less 'coated,' and it has significantly reduced the amount of mildew/musty smell in our washer. Our towels absorb waaaay more water now, too!" u/derprah Anastasiia Krivenok / Getty Images 26."The Ibotta app and the Rakuten app combined over the last three years have netted me over $1,500. Sometimes it seems so insignificant to get change amounts back on purchases, but they add up, and I use them consistently." u/knaimoli619 27."I make about $5 a month using Bing instead of Google (through Bing Rewards), 11 cents a day for my kids college fund through Upromise, and a couple other similar things." u/crystalishappy 28."I pay with everything using cash back credit cards and pay my statement in full every month." u/lepetitporc Javier Zayas Photography / Getty Images 29."I rent DVDs and stream shows through the library instead of having a streaming service subscription. Each month, I go through Rotten Tomatoes and make a list of things I want to see, then request them from my library. It meets my needs, and saves me roughly $30 a month." u/ok-fact7320 30."I stopped buying everything in bulk. We would make ourselves use up the bulk item before it went bad, so the kids would eat through their snacks because there's so many, or sometimes we couldn't go through it fast enough. Now I decreased the amount of items I buy in bulk, and I get smaller portions even if they're slightly more expensive. The kids eat more food than snacks, we have more variety, and less goes bad. Oddly, the amount I spend on food decreased." u/5aaccount Do you have a little habit that adds up to big savings in the long run? Or do you have ~opinions~ about any of these tips? Tell us all about it in the comments! Indonesia is the most wave rich zone in the world. But it's also the most crowded. At least that's the case in Bali, and at many of the other well-know zones between the Mentawais and Lombok. Still, it is possible to score empty slabs you just have to dig a little deeper, drive a little further, and stray from the 5-star accommodation, world class food, nightclubs, and health spas. Like Sheldon Simkus above. "Earlier in the year we traveled to South Sumatra in Indonesia for a QS event, after not progressing we stayed and found some unbelievably fun waves to surf," says Simkus in the description with this clip. "Here's a few minutes of some of the better surfs we had on the trip. Good fun surfing with some very talented surfers from Aus and a massive thanks to my good mate Owen Milne behind the camera filming us all surf. Huge thanks to Dean Fergus @ Secret Sumatra Resort for getting us into some world class waves." While these waves aren't exactly a brand new discovery, they are still fairly hush hush, and you probably won't immediately recognize them. Sure looks fun to get slabbed with 5 friends, rather than 50. Better get on it soon, though. *** Don't miss another headline from SURFER! Subscribe to our newsletter, follow us on Instagram, and stay connected with the latest happenings in the world of surfing. We're always on the lookout for amusing, interesting and engaging surf-related videos to feature on our channels. Whether you're a professional surfer or just an amateur, we want to see your best footage and help you share it with the world. Submit your video for a chance to be featured on SURFER and our social channels. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch high-quality surf videos. It's never been a better time for a more sessionable, sociable version of this iconic cocktail. Matt Taylor-Gross The first time I asked for a 50-50 Martini to accompany my preferred nightcap of well-salted fries with a dollop of ketchup, I watched as my server registered my order with a mix of confusion and doubt a Martini, sure, but 50-50? Most bars and restaurants are well-equipped to make the classic cocktail bone dry, dirty, or even filthy, and also know to ask whether youd like to enjoy it with olives or a twist, shaken or stirred. Even the choice of base spirit gin or vodka is up for discussion. But of all the Martini riffs Ive ordered, the 50-50 is the one Ive had to clarify the most often, and I have to wonder: Why arent more people drinking what I consider to be the perfect Martini? Related: Our Best Martini Recipes With the rise of thoughtfully crafted low-alcohol cocktails and spirits, the 50-50 Martini, which calls for one part gin and one part vermouth, is right on trend. While most places with a full bar will technically be able to make one without issue, Ive noticed it featured on cocktail lists by name at spots like Layla, a new bar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, as well as at the Commerce Inn, an homage to Shaker cuisine from chef-restaurateur duo 1993 F&W Best New Chef Jody Williams and Rita Sodi. The 50/50 Martini has a lower ABV and more savory notes making it more of an aperitivo style, Williams explains to me. While devoted Martini drinkers have their preferences from bone-dry to dirty, the 50/50 becomes an entirely new religioncrisp yet less dry, with more flavorful top notes from the additional vermouth. At the Commerce Inn (and other spots that know a thing or two about a good Martini, like Bemelmans Bar at the Carlyle Hotel) orange bitters are also part of this simple equation, as is a lemon twist. Related: Here's How to Make the Best Martini in NYC Like so many classic cocktails, the 50-50s origins lead back to The Savoy Cocktail Book, a cocktail guide from 1930 that features a simple recipe for a Medium Martini that calls for 1/4 ounce of Italian vermouth, 1/4 ounce of French vermouth, and 1/2 ounce of dry gin. Roughly 75 years later, New York Citys now-shuttered Pegu Club featured the drink under a more playful title the Fitty-Fitty a move that cocktail writers like Robert Simonson credit with putting the cocktail back on the modern day map. The [classic] Martini did begin life as an equal-parts drink. But those parts, in the late 19th century, were Old Tom gin, a sweeter form of the spirit, and sweet vermouth, writes Simonson for PUNCH. It wouldnt be until after 1900 that a 50/50 Martini with dry gin and dry vermouth would appear. Nonetheless, for history-conscious young bartenders who were bent on returning every classic cocktail to its former glory, the 50/50 was a revelation. Related: Our Favorite Martinis of 2022 As someone who isnt always looking for the boozy punch of a Martini but still craves its refreshing simplicity, the 50-50 is my version of a beautiful compromise. I still get to enjoy the flavors of my go-to gin (Fords, if youre wondering, though Im also partial to the wonderfully botanical-forward Forthave Blue, which I swear I discover a new layer to every time I make a drink). The 50-50 Martini also lets me taste the citrusy, herbaceous notes that I love in vermouth, and discover one I might later use to make a Vermouth Spritz. As I enter my thirties, the reality is that Im excited about a more reasonable, more responsible Martini, one that accepts how much worse my mornings feel now compared to how they used to feel, especially if Ive had one more drink to keep the company and conversation going. After Ive drained the last drop of my 50-50 Martini, Im not only in better shape to try another cocktail, but I might also order a glass of wine or amaro. The 50-50 makes for a more social, less dehydrated, better rested version of myself, and well, what doesnt sound appealing about that? For more Food & Wine news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on Food & Wine. Yellow Corp.s $173.3 million legal battle with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters will stay put in Kansas, dashing the insolvent less-than-truckload (LTL) companys hopes of moving the case to a Delaware bankruptcy court. U.S. District Court Judge Julie Robinson said the issues in Yellows suit were not essential to administering the bankruptcy estate, which includes the companys terminals and rolling stock, among other assetsand therefore should stay in Kansas. More from Sourcing Journal Yellow sued the Teamsters in June, contending that the union breached contract by preventing the company from implementing the second phase of its One Yellow restructuring plan. The trucking company has insisted that this ultimately accelerated its demise, noting that the plan could have driven upwards of $675 million in additional annual revenue. Sourcing Journal reached out to Yellow for comment on the legal decision. The Teamsters, which represented 22,000 of the 30,000 employees that were out of a job when Yellow shut down, has denied any blame for the trucking companys financial problems. The union cited years-long mismanagement as the reason for Yellows problems. The union has often pointed to the $700 million Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan that Yellow received during the Covid-19 pandemic as an example of its inability to pay off debts. Additionally, the 1.2-million-member union claims it conceded more than $5 billion in wages and benefits cuts over the past 14 years to keep Yellow in business. After the unions strike threat over the summer due to $50 million in missed pension and payments benefits, major customers including Walmart and The Home Depot began to divert their freight to other carriers, resulting in a rapid loss of liquidity that effectively forced Yellow out of business. The union filed a motion to dismiss Yellows lawsuit on July 20, days before the company ceased operations. Yellow was supposed to respond by Aug. 24, but the judge issued a stay on Sept. 11 when the trucking firm countered with a motion to transfer the case to bankruptcy court. In denying the transfer motion, Judge Robinson ordered Yellow to respond to the Teamsters motion to dismiss by Nov. 1. The Teamsters have appealed to the U.S. Senate to reform national bankruptcy law in the wake of the Yellow collapse. The union called for new regulations to protect existing collective bargaining agreements, and to guarantee that contracts will be honored even after a company goes bankrupt. One such issue the Teamsters had was with Yellows approval of $4.6 million in executive retention bonuses, which were initially made despite the missed benefits payments. The union wants lawmakers to establish legal safeguards protecting earned pension credits and retirement benefits and ensuring workers get the severance theyre owed. While Yellow and the Teamsters continue to draw out their litigation, the trucking business still has to find a home for its assets. On Friday, Yellow extended both the bidding and auction deadlines for its rolling stock, which consists of roughly 12,000 trucks and 35,000 trailers, to a later date and time to be determined. The bid deadline for when companies must submit their offers for the assets was initially set for Friday at 5 p.m. ET. The rolling stock auction was slated to take place on Oct. 18 before the pushback. Judge Craig Goldblatt, who has resided over the Yellow bankruptcy case, will oversee the hearing for approval of the winning bid and auction, if necessary. Allyson Smith, legal counsel for Yellow, told Goldblatt in a September hearing that the trucking company had garnered significant interest in the rolling stock. At the time, the company said in a court filing that 540 potential buyers contacted the company asking about the equipment and property assets. The rolling stock hasnt gotten as much attention as Yellows approximately 170 terminals. These are currently under the control of Estes Express Lines, which last month earned the right to set the floor price when it won a $1.525 billion stalking horse bid. But an Estes victory is not guaranteed. Bankrupt Yellow can accept offers higher than the Estes price as the process unfolds, with its terminal portfolio going either to a higher bidder, or carved up into bundles and sold to several bidders if multiple companies join forces in a bid. The deadline to bid for the terminals is Nov. 9, and the auction is scheduled for Nov. 28 if needed. Click here to read the full article. The states three Black Lives Matter chapters are merging to form a single statewide nonprofit: Black Lives Matter New Hampshire. The consolidation, leaders say, will allow the organization to build its collective power, as well as boost organizing and outreach efforts throughout New Hampshire. The chapters in Manchester, Nashua, and the Seacoast region have already been frequent collaborators and share much of the same mission, though there are nuances in their different communities. The message is that were still here and were now bigger than before, said Tanisha Johnson, of Exeter, co-founder and board chair of Black Lives Matter Seacoast. Were still working on causes in a greater demand and the initiatives are not just when something happens and were being reactive about it. We are taking a proactive approach, and now were doing that statewide. Ronelle Tshiela is a co-founder of Black Lives Matter Manchester, which is merging with other chapters in the state to create Black Lives Matter New Hampshire. Ronelle Tshiela, who co-founded Black Lives Matter Manchester and served on the states Commission on Law Enforcement Accountability, Community, and Transparency, said the chapters work has shifted since 2020, when organizers across the country took to the streets in protest after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Black Lives Matter was front and center in political conversations then. In June 2020, Black Lives Matter Manchester, Nashua, and Seacoast put out seven demands for gubernatorial candidates in response to the killing of Floyd. Those included requiring implicit bias training for all state and government employees, creating a new racial equity task force, and prohibiting the use of rubber bullets and tear gas by police. In 2021, the chapters were also active in advocating against the divisive concepts bill that is now state law, as well as legislation they deemed anti-bail reform that could disproportionately impact people of color. More recently, Tshiela said, the chapters are shifting their focus to real-time community needs, rather than testifying at the State House, for example, which used to be at the forefront of their mission. Those more immediate needs include youth education and scholarships, Black maternal health, diversity and inclusion training, and mutual aid support for people of color. Theyre also celebrating Black joy and success, too, and creating gathering spaces for communities. The Seacoast chapter holds an annual Black Excellence Gala and a Black Excellence Weekend at the University of New Hampshire, where they honor award winners in business, art, community impact, and academics. New Hampshires Black Lives Matter chapters are merging into one. Pictured are members of Black Lives Matter Seacoast. From right, Clifton West Jr., co-founder and executive director; Tanisha Johnson, co-founder and board chair, and Jamie Grogan, board secretary. I think people still want that energy from 2020 to continue, and they still want these Black organizations to thrive and for Black people to have these spaces where they feel valued, said Clifton West. Jr., of Barrington, executive director and co-founder of Black Lives Matter Seacoast. We definitely still get that feeling. Its still needed. Now is the perfect time Discussions about merging the chapters began last winter. Logistically, Black Lives Matter Seacoast, a standalone registered nonprofit that formed in the summer of 2020, is changing its name to Black Lives Matter New Hampshire. Their work is funded entirely by grants and donations. Talking to the other leaders, it was just like, now is the perfect time, said West Jr. The chapter leaders said while there are certainly differences among their communities from demographics to geographic location to socioeconomic status they were doing much of the same work with aligning missions. Tshiela sees the merger as cementing the longevity of a movement she helped launch in New Hampshire back in 2016, as a teenager in the states largest city. The new Black Lives Matter New Hampshire logo. It also means this is an opportunity to make it even more sustainable and make sure it lasts beyond our involvement in the organization, she said. Johnson is most excited about expanding the organizations board, seeing it double in size to include members from across the state with new perspectives and thoughts. Mutual aid, youth, and Black maternal health Mutual aid has become a staple of the Black Lives Matter movement in New Hampshire, and the demand for assistance is expected to grow as the new statewide organization expands its reach. Mutual aid, Johnson described, is funding given to those in need without any question, without any barriers or restrictions. Both the Seacoast and Manchester chapters have robust mutual aid programs. Last year, the Seacoast chapter doled out more than $60,000 to help neighbors with everyday needs across Strafford and Rockingham counties in New Hampshire, York County in Maine, and Essex County in Massachusetts. Manchesters mutual aid relief fund primarily helps Black households in the city who need help paying utility or wifi bills, rent, or car payments. To meet the expected increase in mutual aid fund requests, West Jr. said the new organization will launch with a monthly donor drive if they gain 50 new monthly donors, the Resource Organizing Project will provide a $5,000 match. Saniyah Bolton, an Exeter High School student who is a member of the Black Lives Matter Seacoast youth division. Black Lives Matter New Hampshire anticipates expanding its youth division, which connects biweekly to discuss current events, personal lives, and create safe spaces for youth. Participants have, for example, addressed a lack of inclusion and equity within libraries for youth, held supply drives and created fun social spaces, and served as a resource for students looking to have their voices heard by administrators and teachers. Initiatives around Black maternal health are also expected to be a major focus. The U.S. maternal mortality rate has gotten worse in recent years, and according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, maternal death rates remain the highest among Black women. Last April, Black Lives Matter Seacoast, Reproductive Freedom Fund of New Hampshire, and Lovering Health Center held an event at UNH titled, Beyond Roe: Black Abortion and Maternal Health Experiences. Tshiela was a panelist and Johnson moderated the event, which featured a keynote speech from Dr. Ndidiamaka Amutah-Onukagha, the Julia A. Okoro Professor of Black Maternal Health in the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine and founder of the Center for Black Maternal Health and Reproductive Justice. One of the new ventures we are really working towards is programming in regards to Black maternal health and resources, Johnson said. This story was originally published by New Hampshire Bulletin This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: New Hampshire Black Lives Matter chapters merge Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, meets with former British Prime Minister and former Labour Party leader Tony Blair in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 16, 2023. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, met with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Beijing on Monday. Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, said that as two major countries with global influence, China and Britain should strengthen cooperation for global development. Noting China's development is a strengthening force for world peace and stability, Wang said it is hoped that the British government will pursue a rational, pragmatic, and positive China policy and enhance the connotation of the times in China-Britain relations. The CPC is willing to strengthen exchanges with the British Labour Party, he said. Blair, also a former Labour Party leader, said the world today faces many challenges, which requires Britain and China to strengthen coordination and joint response. The Labour Party is willing to strengthen dialogue with the Chinese side to promote bilateral relations. Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, meets with former British Prime Minister and former Labour Party leader Tony Blair in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 16, 2023. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) NAGUABO, Puerto Rico (WXIN) A body has been found by authorities searching for a missing Indiana teacher in Puerto Rico. Amanda Webster, 44, was vacationing in Puerto Rico when she was reported missing last week. Webster is an Indianapolis resident and art teacher at Thompson Crossing Elementary School in Franklin Township. Puerto Rico Police Commissioner Antonio Lopez Figueroa activated an Ashanti Alert an alert issued for those who dont meet the criteria for an AMBER Alert or Silver Alert, according to the Department of Justice on Friday asking residents to help search for Webster. Suspect in custody after shooting at Texas State Fair leaves 3 wounded Amanda Lynn Webster was reported missing on Wednesday by the landlord of the place she is staying at, after realizing she failed to leave the home as agreed upon and left her belongings and a rented car on the property, an English translation of a post from police read. Saturday afternoon, Puerto Rico police confirmed they had found a body in a river in the Rio Blanco neighborhood while searching for Webster. At this stage, it is not possible to identify the gender of the body or conclude if it shows signs of violence, police said in a Facebook post. Though there has been no official confirmation, sources close to the womans family tell Nexstars WXIN and WTTV they believe the victim is Webster. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com. The City Council of Hillsboro, Kansas population just north of 2,700 voted earlier this month that it would no longer publish legal notices in local newspaper The Hillsboro Star-Journal. Instead, the information will get posted to the citys own website. No big deal, right? People who live in the small town about 50 miles north of Wichita can still read about resolutions, calls for bids on public projects and other city business at cityofhillsboro.net. Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach has backed up the citys decision, with a legal opinion stating that cities with fewer than 15,000 residents are exempted from statutes requiring them to publish notices in the paper. So whos harmed by cutting out the local free press? The public which has the right to know what officials are up to, and not just by taking their word for it. The contracts, minutes and other documents that make government work belong to the people not the politicians and bureaucrats who write them. And its one of journalists most important jobs to make sure elected and appointed officials dont secret those documents away from taxpayers eyes. Public notices, published independently from the government, are a vitally important part of the checks and balances that keep public servants accountable to the people. A mental exercise: Think of an elected official you particularly distrust. Imagine that person is given the key to disseminate any and all information about what he or shes doing on the job or keep it from you. Remember, a former Kansas City communications director alleged in a lawsuit earlier this year that City Manager Brian Platt directed him to lie about public projects to The Star and other local media. Requiring legal documents to be published by a third party, where they cant be altered once theyre released, provides a valuable layer of transparency. Because if government can publish and control its own records, it can change them. Independent proof Obama birthers are wrong The ludicrous Barack Obama birther controversy is a perfect example of the power and necessity of independent publishing. Would a president have the power to insert a phony birth certificate into Hawaiis health department records? Its plausible. But birthers could never explain how contemporary Obama birth announcements appear in hundreds of extant copies of The Honolulu Advertiser and Honolulu Star-Bulletin, as well as on microfilm duplicated and archived in libraries across the country. Third-party publication is verification. If anything, we should require more printed legal notices not fewer, and certainly not none. We fully realize what constitutes publishing has evolved radically since the advent of the internet. In the days before the World Wide Web existed, classified advertising made up a sizable chunk of a newspapers revenue. In the mid-1990s, it wasnt unusual to see a Kansas City Star Sunday edition with job and want ads sections that stretched to 40 pages or more. Craigslist and the uncountable other ways everyday people can get the word out about garage sales, employment opportunities or lost dogs have altered the world of print classifieds forever. Some of that change is for the better you can update an online posting in an instant. And some is much worse. The Star, like all publishers, takes its credibility seriously. If we discover someone supposedly renting an apartment or selling a car is actually running a scam, we pull the ad and take steps to make sure the fraudster cant use our pages to deceive anyone else. Online? Good luck getting Facebook to help out when a crook hiding behind a fake profile photo passes a broken phone off on you. Of course, The Hillsboro Star-Journal has a financial interest in those public notices, which are an important source of revenue especially for smaller papers, many of which continue to struggle with the worlds move online. But newspapers still matter. Kansans have made it clear that they prefer public notices in newspapers, Emily Bradbury, executive director of the Kansas Press Association, told us in an email. Eighty-two percent of Kansas adults read a Kansas newspaper either print or digitally each week. The reach of a newspaper website and print product is, on average, four times more than that of a city website. Can this toothpaste be put back into the tube? Of course, the Legislature could update statutes to clarify what publishing means as we reach the one-quarter mark of the 21st century. Public notices belong in an independent, verifiable forum, outside the governments control. Newspapers offer accountability, transparency and reach, wrote Bradbury. A city website doesnt. Kansans from towns of all sizes should demand independent verification from their elected officials and that means showing their work to the people. I am no longer a convicted person. And I will fight with my lawyers to prove my innocence once and for all, Knox wrote on social media, explaining that she is seeking to drop her slander conviction VINCENZO PINTO/AFP via Getty Amanda Knox Amanda Knox is going on trial again in Italy but this time, shes happy about it. The 36-year-old who, along with former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, was found guilty of murdering her roommate Meredith Kercher in 2007 and later exonerated in 2015 revealed on Friday that she is going on trial in Italy again to seek a full acquittal on related charges. She explained in a lengthy Instagram post why the legal development is actually a good thing, writing that while she was exonerated for Kerchers murder, the 2015 ruling upheld her conviction for slander. The slander charge was handed down after Knox wrongfully accused Perugia bar owner Patrick Lumumba of committing the crime, though he was released two weeks later after someone came forward with an alibi for him, according to The Guardian. Related: A Brief Guide to the Amanda Knox Legal Saga At the time, Knox's lawyers argued that she made the accusation against Lumumba because she was under police duress and didnt have an interpreter or legal assistance at the time, per the outlet. Though I was exonerated for murder, I remained wrongly convicted of slander, Knox wrote on social media. She said the Court of Cassation, which is the highest court of appeal or the last court of resort in Italy, sentenced her to serve time for the slander charge, and she had served three out of the four years of imprisonment for that charge. However, she said that the European Court of Human Rights vindicated her in 2019 and ruled that her rights to a lawyer and interpreter were violated during her interrogation. Paula Lobo/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty Amanda Knox on 'Good Morning America' in 2018. She said thanks to a recent reform, the Court of Cassation also acknowledged the European Court of Human Rights ruling. Related: Amanda Knox, Four Years After Acquittal: Her Life Today Patrick Lumumba suffered 10 days of wrongful imprisonment, and Raffaele and I nearly four years. One day in prison as an innocent person is one too many, Knox wrote. I am no longer a convicted person. And I will fight with my lawyers to prove my innocence once and for all, she added. Kercher was murdered in the home she shared with Knox in the university town of Perugia in November 2007, and Knox and Sollecito were arrested five days later for the crime. After a high-profile, 11-month trial, Knox and Sollecito were convicted in Kercher's murder, though they won an appeal and were freed and cleared of most charges in October 2011. A second appeals trial was initiated in 2014, and Knox was once again found guilty of murdering Kercher, and sentenced to 28 1/2 years in prison, while Sollecito was sentenced to 25 years. 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. However, in March 2015, Italy's highest appeals court overturned the second conviction, once again exonerating Knox and Sollecito of the charges, citing glaring errors in the underlying fabric of the sentence in question." Rudy Guede was convicted of Kercher's murder in a separate 2008 trial and was sentenced to a reduced sentence. He was eventually released from prison in November, 2021, per The Guardian. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. The executive chairman of Ford Motor Company broke his silence on the monthlong auto workers strike on Monday and said the work stoppage could devastate local communities if it continues. Bill Ford, the great-grandson of Henry Ford and the companys chairman since 1999, also criticized the United Auto Workers union for recently shutting down the companys Kentucky Truck Plant, where it produces highly profitable large pickups and SUVs. Workers walked out of the Louisville facility, which employs 8,700, in a surprise strike last Wednesday. Shutting down that plant harms tens of thousands of Americans right away workers, suppliers and dealers alike, Ford said in his speech at the Rouge, the companys historic manufacturing facility in Dearborn, Michigan. It hurts the communities that depend on these local economies. Ford said the acrimonious bargaining would only benefit the companys lower-paying, nonunion rivals in the auto industry. It should be Ford and the UAW versus Toyota and Honda, Tesla, and all the Chinese companies that want to enter our home market, he said. He called his company the strongest partner the UAW has ever known. The comments drew a sharp rebuke from UAW President Shawn Fain, who said in a statement Monday that the chairman knows exactly how to settle this strike. He should call up [Ford CEO] Jim Farley, tell him to stop playing games and get a deal done, or well close the Rouge for him, Fain said, threatening to strike another truck plant. Its not the UAW and Ford against foreign automakers. Its autoworkers everywhere against corporate greed. He added that workers at Tesla, Toyota, Honda and others are not the enemy theyre the UAW members of the future. Bill Ford, the chairman of Ford Motor Company, said the Bill Ford, the chairman of Ford Motor Company, said the "acrimonious" bargaining benefits foreign-owned auto companies. The UAW has been on strike against Ford, General Motors and Jeep parent company Stellantis since Sept. 15 after failing to reach new four-year agreements with the companies. It is the first time the union has waged a concurrent work stoppage against all of the Big Three U.S. automakers. Workers have walked out at only select facilities, using an unpredictable playbook thats left the companies guessing where the next strike might be. The union contracts for the three automakers cover roughly 150,000 workers; so far around 34,000 workers have gone on strike at six vehicle assembly plants and dozens of parts distribution facilities. But because the auto supply chains are interconnected, the targeted strikes have led to the additional layoffs of thousands of workers at other facilities. The unions decision to hit Fords Kentucky plant last week marked a significant escalation in the standoff, since the Super Duty trucks made there are among its most profitable vehicles. And unlike the previous walkouts, the one in Kentucky came without any warning from the union. Fain said the union leadership called for the strike after Ford failed to improve its most recent economic counter proposal in a bargaining meeting. You just cost yourselves Kentucky Truck Plant, Fain said he told the companys negotiators. The Bibb County Sheriffs Office in Georgia is calling on the public to assist in locating four inmates who escaped from the county jail at 3:00 a.m. Monday morning. The men exited the facility through a damaged window and then a hole cut in the surrounding fence, before fleeing the scene in a blue Dodge Challenger. According to WGXA News, the missing men include Joey Fournier, 52, who was imprisoned for murder, Marc Kerry Anderson, 24, who was being held for aggravated assault, Johnifer Dernard Barnwell, 37, who was detained by the U.S. Marshals, and Chavis Demaryo Stokes, 29, who was sentenced on firearm possession and drug trafficking charges. The Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force, FBI, and U.S. Marshals Office have joined Bibb County in their search for the four inmates. All Bibb County schools have been placed on lockdown. The sheriffs office stated, Anyone with information in reference to the location of any of the inmates or the vehicle are urged to contact the Bibb County Sheriffs Office at 478-751-7500 or you can call Macon Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-877-68CRIME. Read it at WGXA News Read more at The Daily Beast. A Palestinian woman is consoled by a man as she mourns the loss of loved ones killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip on Friday. Said Khatib/Getty Images Under the complete siege ordered by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the situation in the Gaza Strip has deteriorated significantly, resulting in what Palestinian medics describe as complete paralysis. Prior to the conflict, the humanitarian conditions in Gaza were already dire, likened to an open-air prison. The current crisis has worsened to the extent that the United Nations has issued an appeal for nearly $294 million in aid to provide for urgent needs. With continuous and devastating airstrikes and an order for the northern half of the already densely populated strip to move south, there are ominous signs of an imminent ground invasion by the Israeli army. The enormity of the challenges faced by ordinary Gazans is already difficult to fully grasp. Donatella Rovera, who has been investigating war crimes and human rights abuses for two decades as a senior crisis investigator with Amnesty International, has experience in conflict zones across the globe, from Ukraine to Libya, Syria, Sudan, and beyond. Due to the restrictions on movement in and out of Gaza, she is closely monitoring the situation from France. Rovera emphasizes that the current unfolding crisis, compounded by the preexisting challenges in Gaza, represents one of the most severe situations she has ever monitored. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity. Aymann Ismail: What have you observed so far? Donatella Rovera: Obviously, there has been the attacks that were carried out by Hamas. Those attacks that were directed at civilians were clear violations of international law. There is no need to investigate it. There is no debate; its crystal clear. And then there are the attacks that Israel has been launching against the Gaza Strip. And those, of course, need to be investigated on a case-by-case basis. There are legitimate military objectives in Gaza, and it is not unlawful for Israel to strike those. The question is, of course, how the attacks are carried out. This is where it gets difficult. The civilian population is being absolutely pounded from every direction even by Gazas standard, which has become worse and worse over the years. The level of destruction, the level of disproportionate and indiscriminate attacks that have leveled entire streets this is really unprecedented. The humanitarian situation is absolutely disastrous because nothing is getting into Gaza, and we are talking about a situation that was not normal to start with. Gaza was already in a coma situation before last Saturday because Gazans endured 16 years of blockade and a significant number of military attacks which have destroyed homes and infrastructure over the years. Its one of the most densely populated territories in the world, where people cannot leave and cannot receive what they need where they are at the best of times. Now its absolutely disastrous. How have things on the ground shifted since the Israeli army asked half the population to evacuate northern Gaza? It makes it unimaginably worse. Moving more than 1 million people from the north to the south wouldnt be possible even in the most developed and well-resourced places on the planet. And it certainly cannot happen in Gaza. To give more than 1 million people 24 hours to move is just an impossibility. Those who have got vehicles dont have fuel because there isnt any anymore. There are bombardments all around. There are entire roads that vehicles cant even access because theyve become piles of rubble. There are people with disabilities who cannot move. There are people in hospitals in the north. So such an order is just unthinkable. Can you describe any particular experiences that you think highlight the situation? Somebody I was talking to this evening, like, 3 hours ago, 12 members of their family were killedthree children, five women, and four menbecause the neighbors house was bombed without warning. The whole family was wiped out. And another guy who lived across the road who was downstairs because he was going to get a haircut. There had been no warning. In total, 16 people were killed in the span of a second. This was a three-story building where their whole extended family lived. When I spoke to them tonight to follow up on their cases, they were rushing to leave Gaza City. They have no idea where to go. They dont have people they can stay with in the south. Some of the people that also had to move are people who were injured in a bombardment and are in a very delicate situation. They couldnt even be kept in the hospital because the hospitals are really only keeping the most serious cases. And this is like the fate of hundreds and hundreds of families, in terms of having lost loved ones and their home just in the past six days. And then now the people are being told they have a few hours to leave. They have every reason to fear that while they are gone, those homes that had not yet been bombed will be bombed. If we look at the nature of how indiscriminate and wide-ranging the scale of the bombardments has been over the past six days, what will it be like when over 1 million civilians are no longer there? The loss that has already happened is off the charts. And the loss that is going to happen in the coming days, there is every reason to fear thatI mean, apocalyptic is the term that comes to mind when I see the images and videos that our fieldworkers are sending from Gaza and what other people are posting. And we may not see those images anymore because, as of two hours ago, Ive lost contact with a lot of people. Its absolutely terrible. [Editors note: Ismail interviewed Rovera on Friday night.] Have you heard from anyone who will not be evacuating the north? Ive spoken to older people who dont want to leave their home because thats where they have lived all their lives. That house is what they have worked their whole lives to build, and they fear that if they leave, it will be destroyed. And this time, there is very good reason to fear that. And, of course, they have nowhere to go. People are in the street. Some hours ago, I spoke to a woman, the wife of somebody I know. I was trying to find him, and she and her two children were sheltering in the courtyard of the main hospital in Gaza City, where thousands and thousands and thousands of civilian residents took shelter. And they are literally on the floor, on the ground in the open area, right next to piles of dead bodies, because hundreds and hundreds of people have been killed in the past six days. Oh my God. And many are still under the rubble. Its not been possible to get them out because there arent enough bulldozers. There is so much rubble that in many streets the bulldozers cant even reach the houses where the people are buried. And because fuel has now become in very short supply, there isnt enough fuel for the bulldozers. And even those bodies that have been recovered from under the rubble, not all of them have been identified. In some cases, the entire family was killed, so its a question of finding people from the extended family to come and claim the bodies. So, there are piles of bodies and there is no longer room in the morgue, which is absolutely overflowing. Bodies are outside because the hospital is completely full. People are being treated on every square inch of floor space in the hospital, on the floors of wards and corridors. So, the dead bodies are outside right next to where people are sheltering because there is nowhere else. The kind of trauma that this is inflicting, especially on the young oneschildren are the majority of the population in Gaza. The consequences that this will have on these kids will be for years to come. Its frightening to think about. Do the children even know what is happening? Or why its happening? A child is somebody whos below age 18. Gaza has been under a blockade for 16 years, during which there has been Israeli military operation after Israeli military operation. So, children who are 7, 8, 10, and more, this is not the first war that they have experienced. But this is far worse than anything theyve experienced before. Do they know what is happening? They certainly know that theyre being bombed, that their homes are being destroyed, that everything around them is being destroyed, that their relatives are being killed, that they may be killed. I was talking a couple of days ago to a woman who has two young children, and she was saying, I hold my children tight, and Im aware that my body really isnt enough to protect them from bombardments. So I keep thinking, Should I send them to separate relatives so that if there is a bombardment in one place, then they dont both get killed? A mother shouldnt have to think about making those choices. It really is among one of the worst situations that Ive seen people trapped in. Ive been working in wars all over the world for sort of the past 25 years. And the extent to which so many civilians are so trapped with so little option, its really among the worst that Ive seen. You used the word apocalyptic. Is there any hope left at all? There has to be hope because there are more than 2 million people who live in Gaza. And there has to be some hope. The reaction of the international community so far has been shameful. That is the word that comes to mind. Of course, the attack that Hamas militants carried out against civilians inside Israel is unacceptable. It has to be condemned in the strongest terms. But that cannot be something that is used to give carte blanche for all-out revenge, because the civilian population of Gaza cannot, should not, must not be made to pay for crimes that they have not committed. Its not as if they can choose to stay in Gaza or leave because they cant leave. They cant choose who governs them and what they do. If the Israeli army cannot stop Hamas militants carrying out the sort of attack and atrocities that they did last week, how can the civilian population of Gaza stop them? But there has to be hope and there is hope. And you know where the hope is coming from? From ordinary Palestinians and ordinary Israelis. We have seen Israeli relatives of people who were killed and who were kidnaped by Hamas militants come out and say, Not in my name. There is suffering on both sides. We need peace. And, likewise, weve seen ordinary Palestinians saying, Of course, we condemn the fact that Israeli civilians were killed and kidnapped. Among the people who have suffered the most, we are finding voices of reason. But there is every sign that the situation is worsening. And that is when you know the voices of reason should be heard. This is the time to make the difference between all-out revenge and respect for international law, because no country is above the law. How can humanitarian organizations get help to Gaza if everything is shut down and closed? Right now? There is nothing. There is no help going into Gaza. We just have to watch as everything falls apart for these people? Thats what the world has been doing for the past six days. Yes. Unfortunately. The leaves are changing color, the temperature is dropping and Rhode Island is in full "fall mode." From corn mazes to leaf peeping and fall festivals, autumn in Rhode Island has something for everyone. Of course, at the end of October, Halloween has folks searching out hayrides, ghost stories and hauntings. Use this guide for all your fall-inspired activities! Halloween stories Murders, vampire, mass grave: Here's the history and lore behind 5 of RI's haunted spots Going all the way back to the first Colonists, people have mixed the historical truth with the paranormal to try to make sense of the world, or perhaps to deal with the guilt of a wrong. Ghosts have become a part of humble factories and mansions endowed with greater wealth than most can imagine. Here are five stories, with roots in historical records, for you to read. Whether its ghosts or history that haunts these places, well, thats for you to decide. The Old State House in Providence The Ramtail Factory in Foster Seaview Terrace in Newport Smiths Castle in North Kingstown Mercy Brown's grave in Exeter Murders, vampire, mass grave: Here's the history and lore behind 5 of RI's haunted spots Rebellion? Murders? Here are four of the most haunted restaurants in Rhode Island As a New England state with more than its fair share of Colonial-era buildings still in use, it's not surprising that Rhode Island has a handful of haunted restaurants. Rebellions, murders and ghosts that have never explained themselves have been reported at these four Ocean State restaurants. Rebellion? Murders? Here are four of the most haunted restaurants in Rhode Island How haunted is Rhode Island? 30 plus places to hunt for ghosts. There are haunted colonial taverns with guests who never left. Mansions the dearly departed decided not to depart. There are rumors of vampires and witches. There's the legend of a haunted boat that keeps coming back to Block Island. And of course, there's one very famous movie about about The Conjuring House. The Old State House on Benefit Street in Providence. Many of these real-life places can be visited by those who know where to look. Here are some of the more popular haunted tales from around the Ocean State. How haunted is Rhode Island? 30+ places to visit ... if you dare Lights, frights, and hayrides Get into the Halloween spirit at the House of 1000 Pumpkins in Cranston. Where to see it. Against the black of the October night, more than 1,000 carved pumpkins flicker to life. There are towers of jack-o-lanterns stacked as high as dogwood trees, rows lining the ground, shelves stacked with the faces of entire casts of characters, and a few larger-than-life skeletons and other creatures of the night mixed in for good measure. This is not the Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular at Roger Willaims Park Zoo, this is the House of 1000 Pumpkins in Cranston. "It is my passion," said Tim Perry, the man behind the display. More: House of 1000 Pumpkins in Cranston RI open nightly Rhode Island's most famous Halloween event: Roger Williams Park Zoo's Pumpkin Spectacular Thousands of pumpkins illuminate the trail at Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence to create a Halloween experience like no other. This year, the wanderlust theme will take attendees on a European vacation, a safari, to the Pyramids of Giza and down Route 66. More: Pumpkins Around the World opens at the Roger Williams Park Zoo 10 pumpkin patches to visit If you're looking to carve out some time to pick out your jack-o-lantern from a farm instead of the grocery store, there is no shortage of pumpkin patches to explore in the Ocean State. And many of them have corn mazes, apple picking, farm animals, and even, at one location, axe throwing. Halloween is just around the corner: Here are 10 Rhode Island pumpkin patches to visit These haunted RI Halloween attractions aren't for the faint of heart You dont have to go to Salem to find Halloween frights, or wait for the full moon to feel chills running up and down your spine. Several local haunts promise plenty of shrill screams and heart-thumping horror. You can enjoy being scared at indoor locations (great for rainy nights!) or wandering the woods or other outdoor venues. There are crazed clowns, werewolves and other frights to find along the path while on a hay ride or in a corn maze. Want a good scare? These haunted RI Halloween attractions aren't for the faint of heart Check out these Rhode Island corn mazes Theres more than just corn in the local fields this time of year there are wanderers toting flashlights against the darkness, trivia buffs in search of questions to answer and even ghouls leering from behind the stalks. 2018 - Johnston, RI - A new corn maze in Johnston is raising awareness of hemophilia and other blood disorders. [Courtesy of Salisbury Farm] Corn mazes are a favorite fall pastime as farmers transform their fields into winding mazes that can keep adventurers of all ages busy for hours. More: Ready for Halloween? Check out these Rhode Island corn mazes Getting into the fall spirit Nothing beats a good ghost story! Here are the best movies to watch At Halloween, our annual festival of fear, ghosts will always have a place of honor if only because their costume is a gift to the lazy. White sheet, two holes, done. Coincidentally, ghosts are also among the simplest of Hollywood's special effects. Double exposure is as old as film itself. Maybe that's why ghosts have haunted movie theaters for 120 years ever since Georges Melies made "The Apparition" in 1903. And Halloween is a great time to catch up with the best of them. Here are some of our favorites. More: Hollywood loves a ghost movie. These are the best ones to watch this Halloween Is it really fall if you haven't had a cider doughnut? Apple picking had a long season this year, but you can still pick up local apples, and a last-minute pumpkin, at farmstands across the state. But is that all you crave? For a sweet taste of fall, there's nothing like an apple cider doughnut. The best have crunchy parts from the frying and a good coating of cinnamon sugar to satisfy any craving. Here's a bonus: Many of these farms have started taking their orders for Thanksgiving pies and other treats. Phantom Farms in Cumberland has introduced apple cider doughnuts to the menu for fall. The farm is on the Blackstone Valley Food Trail. RI Food Fix: Six farms to satisfy your apple cider doughnut cravings + bonus locations 14 things to do to put you into the fall spirit When the kids head back to the classrooms and the first leaves start to change on the trees, its time to start daydreaming about fall in New England. In Rhode Island, there's plenty of fall charm to go around, with farms to visit, woods to hike, Colonial neighborhoods to stroll through and quite a few seasonal events. Looking to get in the fall spirit? These 14 things to do in RI will put you in the mood This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI Halloween Guide: Best haunted houses, haunted hayrides and more House Republicans are barreling toward a floor vote on their Speaker nominee Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) this week, even as the Judiciary Committee chairman remains far from the 217 votes needed to win the gavel on the House floor. Jordan clinched the nomination for Speaker in a 124-81 vote Friday, beating his last-minute challenger, Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.). But when the conference members were asked if they would support Jordans nomination on the floor, the vote was 152-55 leaving Jordan well short of the 217 votes needed to win the Speakership on the House floor. The planned vote Tuesday is setting the stage for another public clash over the gavel, similar to the four-day, 15-ballot election that former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) went through in January. Some Jordan backers are hoping that bringing his nomination to the floor and forcing Republicans on the record will increase the Ohio Republicans support and put him within reach of the gavel. Jordan will be up against House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), whom Democrats unanimously nominated to be Speaker. On Wednesday, all senators will receive a briefing on the situation in Israel and Gaza, after Hamas launched an attack on Israel earlier this month. House GOP eyes Tuesday floor vote on Speaker The office of House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) advised members Sunday that the first floor votes of the week are expected at noon Tuesday despite Jordan having fallen short last week of the 217 votes needed to win the Speakership on the floor. Some Republicans had aimed to ensure that the conference had enough support behind their Speaker nominee before a floor vote in order to avoid another public, drawn-out floor fight like McCarthy now ousted from the post endured in January. But the conference rejected internal proposals to require 217 votes for nomination, and last week, it saw its first Speaker nominee, Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), drop out a day after getting the nomination, when it became clear that holdouts would not give him the support he needed to win on the House floor. Now, hard-line GOP supporters of Jordan say the House should move on to a floor vote without delay and some have been urging voters to call their congressmen to support Jordan. Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) said on CNNs State of the Union that while he is supporting Jordan, the high-pressure campaign is the dumbest way to get people to support Jordan. And as somebody who wants Jim Jordan, the dumbest thing you can do is to continue pissing off those people and entrench them, Crenshaw said. There is some bad blood and hurt feelings in the GOP conference over Scalise not getting swift universal support last week. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), who had been whipping votes for Scalise, pointed to Jordans hard-line conservative allies withholding support for Scalise despite Jordans public endorsement last week as a reason to not support him. If you cant get your own people to follow you, on a very simple thing like this, then I think you have an issue of leadership, Diaz-Balart said. Politico reported Sunday night that a group of House Republicans who do not support Jordan are vowing to have a challenger up against the Judiciary Committee chairman Tuesday, which they say will deny Jordan the gavel. The House GOP conference is scheduled to meet behind closed doors at 6:30 p.m. Monday. Supporters of Jordan are aware of the reality that the Ohio Republican, as things currently stand, does not have the votes to win the gavel on the House floor. But they are hopeful that work over the weekend will help get him to the subsequent 217 votes needed. McCarthy told Fox Newss Sunday Morning Futures that Jordan has been speaking with holdouts to try and get them on board. As we walked away, he did not, McCarthy said when asked if Jordan had the votes Sunday morning. But thats why we have time, walking away this weekend. I talked to Jim last night. Hes talking to every single member, assessing what their challenges are. I think Jim Jordan can get the can get the votes, he later added. But some members are already eying other nominees if Jordan, like Scalise, cannot secure the votes or even options such as empowering Speaker Pro Tem Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) to move legislation or cutting a deal with Democrats to pick a Speaker. I think hell be able to get to 217. If not, we have other leaders in the House. And certainly, if there is a need if the radical, you know, almost just handful of people in the Republican side, make it unable to be able to return to general work on the House, then I think obviously, there will be a deal [that] will have to be done, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-Ohio) said on CBSs Face the Nation. Potential next-round GOP candidates include Republican Study Committee Chairman Kevin Hern (Okla.), or House Republican Conference Vice Chairman Mike Johnson (La.) who is supporting Jordan but has been getting calls from colleagues about a Speaker bid if Jordan cannot win. But McCarthy shot down those two names. I dont I dont think either of them could would come very short, McCarthy told Sunday Morning Futures when asked about Hern and Johnson. Biden administration officials to brief Senators on Israel/Gaza Biden administration officials will brief all senators on the situation in Israel and Gaza on Wednesday from 3:30-5 p.m., a Senate source confirmed to The Hill, as the upper chamber reconvenes in Washington this week for the first time since war broke out in the Middle East. Briefers include Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. C.Q. Brown. At least 30 U.S. citizens have died in Israel since war broke out Oct. 7, a State Department official told CNN on Sunday. Thousands more have died amid the airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, according to CNN. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the highest-ranking Jewish official in U.S. history, traveled to Israel in recent days and pledged that Washington would continue to support Tel Aviv. We say this to the Israeli people: We have your back. We feel your pain. We ache with you. And we and our country will stand by you in these difficult times. Israel is a strong nation, and at this moment we say to Israel: You are not alone. The United States stands alongside you as an unrelenting partner, Schumer said at a press conference in Israel. But Congresss ability to support Israel amid its battle against Hamas has come into question as the House remains without a Speaker. Without a permanent Speaker in place, the House is unable to conduct legislative business. That fact has added to the increased focus on the Speakers race. We want to reopen the House and get to a place where we can tackle the challenges that are in front of us domestically as well as make sure that we can stand with our close friend, Israel, during her time of need in terms of ensuring Israels ability to decisively defeat Hamas, a brutal terrorist organization, Jeffries told NBCs Meet the Press on Sunday. Jordan, for his part, is emphasizing the need for the House GOP conference to unite so Congress can support Israel. Chairman Jordan has made it clear that he wants to unite the conference in order to pass the bills that the American people expect by giving Israel the resources they need to destroy Hamas, securing the border, and reforming FISA. He is looking forward to working with the entire conference to do so when hes Speaker, Jordan spokesperson Russell Dye said in a statement Sunday night. Al Weaver contributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The passenger list totaled 270 people, including 91 children, all but one of whom was a U.S. citizen. There were four dogs in tow, as well. They spent 17 hours in the air traveling from Tel Aviv to Portugal to Tampa on a chartered EuroAtlantic Airways jet adorned with the motto anytime, anywhere. Sunday night, they departed the plane to walk a gauntlet of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol security. Standing further back on the tarmac at Tampa International Airport were the official greeters: Gov. Ron DeSantis shook hands and posed for photographs. His wife, Casey, offered hugs. Positioned behind them were American and Israeli flags. The passengers were among the first evacuees to arrive in Florida from Israel after DeSantis signed an order Thursday directing the Florida Division of Emergency Management to charter flights for stranded Florida residents. A separate flight took seven people to Orlando earlier Sunday. At the time of the executive order, the governor estimated 20,000 U.S. citizens remained in Israel. Sunday night, he said the number of Floridians might be 700 to 1,000. They were stranded because of canceled commercial flights amid the latest Israel-Hamas war that has already claimed the lives of thousands. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis greets passengers arriving from Israel on a chartered flight organized by Project Dynamo on Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023 in Tampa. The flight landed at Tampa International Airport with 270 evacuees rescued by Project Dynamo from Israel including 91 children and four dogs. The state partnered with Project Dynamo on the evacuation. The nonprofit agency has conducted 602 rescue missions to relocate 6,700 people since it formed in 2021 amid the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. Founder and CEO Bryan Stern of Tampa spoke with DeSantis last week shortly before he issued the executive order. Stern said that the governor told him, I buy. You fly. Floridas financial assistance, the amount of which wasnt available Sunday night, is the first government subsidy Project Dynamo has received, Stern said. And DeSantis appearance marked the first time a public official had been on hand to greet evacuees. It is not a Republican thing. It is not a Democratic thing. Its a respect for America thing, Stern told reporters. The bottom line is these are American citizens. I dont care if theyre Jewish or Christian or Muslim. We rescue everybody. Project Dynamo CEO Bryan Stern talks to the press after bringing 270 evacuees from Israel including 91 children and four dogs to Tampa International Airport on Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023. Additional flights are planned over the next several days. All will land at Tampa International Airport, DeSantis said. The state of Florida stepped up and answered the call, DeSantis said Sunday. Some of the evacuees who landed in Tampa are from Florida, Stern said. One woman, who walked her beagle named Kai near a gaggle of reporters, said she was originally from New York, but now lived in Israel. DeSantis repeated his prior criticism of the federal government for not moving fast enough to evacuate Americans to the U.S. Future flights could include stops in Greece to pick up evacuees who had been relocated there instead of to the U.S., the governor said. We want to be helpful. I think everybody there felt very relieved. ... They were telling me ... bombs were going off. Rockets are going off, DeSantis said. They were saying, We want to go to Florida. We want to go to Florida. Well, now theyre in Florida. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis greets passengers arriving from Israel on a chartered flight organized by Project Dynamo on Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023 in Tampa. The flight landed at Tampa International Airport with 270 evacuees rescued by Project Dynamo from Israel including 91 children and four dogs. Iran has told Israel through the UN that it will intervene if the countrys operations against Hamas in Gaza continue, a report has claimed. Israel has warned 1.1 million people living in the north of the enclave to evacuate ahead of an expected ground operation in Gaza with the IDF planning to strike the territory from land, sea and air. Irans involvement could be through a militant group from Syria or by backing Hezbollah to join the conflict, diplomatic sources told Axios. Meanwhile, Irans foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said that Israels operations could cause fighting to expand to other areas of the Middle East which would cause Israel to suffer a huge earthquake, reported the Associated Press. Hezbollah has thousands of fighters and an estimated 150,000 rockets and missiles capable of hitting anywhere in Israel, according to the outlet. I know about the scenarios that Hezbollah has put in place, Mr Amirabdollahian said from Beirut on Saturday. Any step the resistance (Hezbollah) will take will cause a huge earthquake in the Zionist entity. And he added: I want to warn the war criminals and those who support this entity before its too late to stop the crimes against civilians in Gaza, because it might be too late in few hours. Mr Amirabdollahian said that he would be contacting UN officials in the region as there is still an opportunity to work on an initiative (to end the war) but it might be too late tomorrow. At least 1,300 people were killed in the Hamas terror attacks on 7 October, including 260 people at a music festival near kibbutz Reim. More than 2,000 people have been killed in Hamas-controlled Gaza since Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes, the Palestinian health ministry said on Saturday. Following the Hamas attacks, Israel announced a complete siege on the enclave and tens of thousands have now left their homes in Gaza to get away from the combat zone. And on Saturday Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu told troops in southern Israel that The next stage is coming Meanwhile, Joe Biden held separate phone calls on Saturday with Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, statements from the Israeli and Palestinian leaders offices said. Mr Netanyahu told Mr Biden that unity and determination were needed to achieve Israels combat goals against Gazas Hamas rulers, Mr Netanyahus office said, adding that he thanked the president for his support. Mr Abbass office said the Palestinian leader told Biden he completely rejects the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, as Israel retaliates for a deadly Hamas attack on its territory. A US official confirmed the two calls but no details were immediately available from the White House. CAIRO, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and visiting French Minister of Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna discussed here on Monday the current situation of the Israel-Hamas conflict and its threat to the region's security and stability. According to a statement from the Egyptian presidency, Sisi highlighted the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip and the need to provide urgent humanitarian and relief aid to the Gazans. He also stressed the need for de-escalation and expressed rejection of exposing civilians to collective punishment, such as siege, starvation, or displacement. Exchanging views on the military escalations in the Gaza Strip, the French minister praised Egypt's key role in dealing with this issue. Following the meeting, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said in a joint press conference with his French counterpart that "since the beginning of the conflict, Egypt attempted to keep the Rafah crossing bordering with Gaza open to deliver aid in coordination with the United Nations." Shoukry added that "the Israeli government has not taken any measure from the side of Gaza to allow access to aid." For her part, Colonna stressed that France backs the principles of international law in terms of protecting the civilians in the coastal enclave, describing the situation there as "threatening the whole region." She added France will allocate ten million Euros (about 10.5 million U.S. dollars) for humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip. Egyptian Minister of Health and Population Khaled Abdel Ghaffar inspected later on Monday the readiness of the hospital in Bir al-Abed of North Sinai, and the trucks loaded with aid near the Rafah crossing. TV footage showed hundreds of foreigners and Palestinians stranded at the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing while aid trucks were staying on the Egyptian side waiting to pass. This story contains a graphic image. The Israeli government and many of its high-profile supporters have falsely claimed that Hamas published footage of a doll and suggested it was a child killed by Israels military, according to a Palestinian journalist who published the video. Hamas accidentally posted a video of a doll (yes a doll) suggesting that it was a part of casualties caused by an IDF attack, Israels main Instagram page claimed Friday. That post received more than 52,000 likes, and a similar post from the countrys page on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, received more than 1.3 million views, according to both sites public-facing metrics. Other social media accounts controlled by Israeli officials, including those for the Israeli embassies in France and Austria, have made similar claims. However, Momen El Halabi, the journalist who published the video on Oct. 12, says the footage did indeed show a dead child. In messages to HuffPost, El Halabi said he filmed the scene himself, and that his footage showed a child victim and not a puppet like the occupation claims. On Sunday, El Halabi posted an Instagram Story that included a link to the Jordan-based website Misbar, which had confirmed with him that the video showed a childs body and not a doll. The post was written in Arabic and translated by HuffPost. El Halabi separately told the Indian website Alt News that the child in the video was a 4-year-old boy named Omar Bilal Al-Banna who had been killed in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City. Alt News published further footage and photos that it said El Halabi had provided to back up the claim. The video the Israeli government posted which they claimed had been published by Hamas included a watermark of El Halabis name. Alt News pointed to photos from the Agence France-Presse photographer Mohammed Abed, published on the same day, that appeared to show the same childs body outside the morgue of al-Shifa hospital, in Gaza City. One of those photos appears below. Neither El Halabi nor the Israeli government returned HuffPosts requests for comment. Abed directed HuffPost to an AFP corporate email address, which did not immediately respond to questions. A photo by Agence France-Presse photographer Mohammed Abed shows a Palestinian man in Gaza City holding what appears to be a child wrapped in a shroud, Oct. 12, 2023. The website Alt News has cited the photo as evidence that contested footage posted last week by journalist Momen El Halabi is authentic. A photo by Agence France-Presse photographer Mohammed Abed shows a Palestinian man in Gaza City holding what appears to be a child wrapped in a shroud, Oct. 12, 2023. The website Alt News has cited the photo as evidence that contested footage posted last week by journalist Momen El Halabi is authentic. More than 2,700 Gazans have been killed since Hamas launched a surprise military incursion in southern Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel responded with heavy airstrikes in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials. The claim that Hamas, the militant group with governing power in the Gaza Strip, had suggested that a doll was a dead child has spread across the internet since El Halabi posted the original footage on Thursday. The next day, the Israeli activist Yoseph Haddad appeared to post the same footage on X, claiming, Its not a real baby; its a doll. Haddad also claimed that his source for the footage was Hamas, and that Hamas had deleted the footage. But his video carried El Halabis watermark, and El Halabi has not deleted the footage. As of Monday afternoon, Haddads post had 3.7 million views. Several other high-profile accounts including those of Israel War Room, the pro-Israel group StopAntisemitism, Israeli historian and journalist Edy Cohen, Saudi journalist Abdul Aziz Al-Khamis, Israeli author Hen Mazzig and Saudi-based Indian writer Zahack Tanvir all shared the same footage with El Halabis watermark, and all claimed that the footage showed a doll. Some referred in their posts to Pallywood, the concept that some footage of the deaths and injuries of Palestinian people is actually faked to engender sympathy. Altogether, their posts received more than 5 million views, according to metrics on X. StopAntisemitism told HuffPost in a statement, We cant comment further on the doll story. And Tanvir told HuffPost that hed seen the doll claim from a Saudi researcher. [I] trust their research, not the journalist from Gaza, as Hamas has been infamous for such propaganda tactics, added Tanvir, referring to El Halabi. None of the other accounts responded to HuffPosts request for comment on El Halabis assertion that the video shows a human child. Brian Krassenstein, an X user with some 785,000 followers, published a post about the footage that declared FAKE BABY CONFIRMED. Krassenstein appears to have since removed that post. An archive of the post captured by Alt News shows that it received more than 3 million views. Rowaida Abdelaziz contributed reporting. Related... Palestinians with dual citizenship gather outside Rafah border crossing with Egypt in the hope of getting permission to leave Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict. (Reuters/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa) (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa / reuters) For the latest news on the conflict, follow our live coverage here Crowds of Palestinians are waiting by the Rafah border crossing from Gaza into Egypt, amid hopes a humanitarian corridor into the enclave will open. Despite hopes the crossing would open on Monday, Egypt said its discussions with Israel over the border crossing had not been productive. "There is an urgent need to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza," Egypt's foreign minister Sameh Shoukry told Reuters. "Until now the Israeli government has not taken a position on opening the Rafah crossing from the Gaza side to allow the entrance of assistance and exit of citizens of third countries." The US said it was hoping for the border to open, despite a White House spokesperson earlier saying its hopes for the Rafah crossing to open up had been "dashed". There is currently no ceasefire and humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip in exchange for the expulsion of foreigners, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahus office said in a translated statement. Gaza has been under near constant bombardment over the past week, after Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel that left more than 1,300 dead. More than 2,700 people in Gaza have been killed in Israeli air strikes over the past week, while over 1 million Palestinians have been told to evacuate the north of Gaza ahead of the ground invasion. Eight days before Hamas launched its deadly attack on Israel, national security adviser Jake Sullivan had described the Middle East region as quieter than it had been in two decades. He defended the remarks Sunday on NBC News' "Meet the Press." Jake, why was your assessment there so far off the mark? NBC News' Kristen Welker asked. Sullivan said he made those comments in the context of developments in the wider Middle East region over the last few years. He cited two decades that involved a civil war in Yemen and a massive humanitarian catastrophe, a civil war in Syria and a massive refugee crisis and invasion and insurgency in Iraq, a NATO military operation in Libya, Iranian-backed attacks on both Saudi and the UAE, as well as many other steps, including the rise of a terrorist caliphate that actually occupied a huge amount of territory. Speaking at The Atlantic Festival eight days before Hamas attacked, Sullivan said: "The Middle East region is quieter today than it has been in two decades now. Now challenges remain Iran's nuclear weapons program, the tensions between Israelis and Palestinians but the amount of time that I have to spend on crisis and conflict in the Middle East today compared to any of my predecessors going back to 9/11 is significantly reduced." Sullivan noted that, in the sentence before the clip of his remarks aired on "Meet the Press," he said that the situation in the Middle East "could all change" and that the two threats he had identified at the time were tensions between Israelis and Palestinians and the threat from Iran which has historically backed Hezbollah. "And so, yes, it is true that those two threats remained a real challenge to the long-term stability of the Middle East region, and weve just seen this absolutely tragic attack," he said. "But at no point did the Biden administration take its eye off the ball of the threats to Israel. "In fact, President Biden saw Prime Minister Netanyahu just weeks before this attack to discuss the security challenges facing the state of Israel, and weve continued to support them to as significant or greater an extent than any previous administration," he said. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Washington on September 15, 2023. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP - Getty Images) Hamas launched the terrorist attack on Israel with plans to target elementary schools and a youth center, NBC News reported. Hamas brutal attack has prompted an all-out war with Israel, which has continued to hit the Gaza Strip with airstrikes. Gaza is experiencing a humanitarian crisis as hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians flee to the south amid the Israeli militarys airstrikes. More than 2,300 people have been killed in Gaza and 9,000 have been injured. In Israel, 1,400 people have been killed and 3,500 have been wounded. Twenty-nine Americans were also killed, and 15 remain missing, according to the State Department. Asked whether any U.S. citizens have been killed in Gaza, Sullivan said that the administration cant offer confirmation but that it is working around the clock to help Americans leave Gaza safely. We are working actively to determine the fate of Americans in Gaza, both those being held hostage, and we are also working actively to try to help American citizens who want to leave Gaza have safe passage out through the border crossing with Egypt, he said. It has been difficult to execute that operation to facilitate their passage out. President Joe Biden's highest priority is to secure the safe return of "Americans being held hostage by the brutal and vicious terrorist group Hamas," Sullivan said. Asked whether any U.S. citizen or otherwise has been able to leave Gaza, he said: So far we have not been able to get American citizens through the border crossing, and Im not aware of anyone else being able to get out at this time. Though I cannot fully confirm that, because its a dynamic situation, he continued. Like I said, were trying to create the circumstances where American citizens are in Gaza and are looking to leave to get into Egypt and ultimately to the United States or elsewhere that they are able to do so. Were working on that as we speak." Welker also asked Sullivan whether there's "a red line for the U.S. when it comes to Israels actions." For example, is the use of phosphorus bombs off the table for the U.S.? she asked. Sullivan said he had seen reports of the Israel Defense Forces saying it wasn't using phosphorus bombs before he added that it's not his job to publicly "draw red lines." Its my job and the job of the U.S. government to have detailed, extensive conversations with our Israeli counterparts and to continue to stand behind the basic principles of the laws of war and the rule of law," he said. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., recently called for Sullivan to resign over his foreign policy efforts and strategy in the Middle East. Mr. Sullivan has routinely misled the entire government about the status of security threats around the world, Blackburn said in a letter to Biden last week, citing Sullivans remarks before Hamas attack that the Middle East is quieter today than it has been in two decades. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com The full-court press by Rep. Jim Jordan to strong-arm his never Jordan detractors into backing his bid for House speaker has been met with some raised eyebrows in recent days, but the aggressive play seems to be working, with several holdouts announcing on Monday they would throw their weight behind the Ohio Republican. On Sunday, at least 55 House Republicans remained opposed to Jordans nominationfar from a majority of the caucus, but more than enough to effectively kill his hopes of winning the speakership. By Monday, however, four key lawmakers who trumpeted their opposition to Jordan last week indicated they were changing course. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), the chair of the Armed Services Committee, said in a statement that he planned to support Jordan after having had two cordial, thoughtful, and productive conversations over the weekend about Rogers legislative priorities, including defense spending, funding levels, and agricultural policy. Rogers told reporters last Friday that there was nothing Jordan could do to secure his vote, The Hill reported at the time. Pence Confronted Over Support for Jim Jordan Despite Jan. 6 Views Also performing an about-face was Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO), who previously called Jordan a non-starter. On Monday, Wagner said in a statement that too much was at stake to hand control of the House over to radical liberal Democrats, which is why we must elect a conservative as the next Speaker. Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) and Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) both announced on X they would fall in line behind Jordan. Calvert said Jordan had swayed him after a conversation about national security and appropriations, while Buchanan explained the need for Republicans to move forward united was greater than ever. I feel real good about the momentum we have. Its real close, Jordan told reporters, according to The Wall Street Journal. Were going to elect a speaker tomorrow. However, after the Ohioan addressed his caucus in a closed-door meeting designed to bring the party to a final consensus on Monday evening, several House members apparently emerged unconvinced. With several lawmakers walking out of the room in silence, however, it remained unclear how many were still dead set against Jordans ascension. Jordan will need to shore up 217 of the 221 GOP votes in a closely divided chamber during an expected vote at noon on Tuesday to win the speakership. His nomination last week came after his predecessor in the endeavor, Rep. Steven Scalise (R-LA), abandoned his own bid late Thursday when it became clear he wouldnt be able to convince enough of his colleagues to vote for him. The Hill and ABC News named five holdouts, which would leave Jordan a single vote short of the ayes he needs to seize the gavel: Reps. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL), Don Bacon (R-NE), Ken Buck (R-CO), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) and Mike Lawler (R-NY). Diaz-Balart said he had made up his mind to vote for Scalise, intimating that Jordans pressure campaign had cemented his opposition. If anybody is trying to get my vote, the last thing you want to do is try to intimate or pressure me, because then I close out entirely, he said, according to CNN. Both Lawler and Bacon said they planned to vote for Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), with Bacon allowing for the possibility that he might change his vote in subsequent rounds, according to Punchbowl News. Buck told reporters he was a lean no. He said he planned to meet with Jordan later on Monday with several questions, including whether the Ohioan believes that President Joe Biden legitimately won the 2020 election. I think Jim, at some point, if hes going to lead this conference during a presidential election cycle is going to have to be strong and say Donald Trump didnt win the election, Buck added. Several other lawmakers appeared to be wavering or undecided, including Rep. Mariannette Miller Meeks (R-IA), Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR), and Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR). Other members, like Rep. Young Kim (R-CA) and Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ), remained mum on the subject, refusing to answer reporters questions about which way they planned to vote. Earlier in the day, an unnamed House Republican told Axios that the number of holdouts was believed to be down to 7. My bet is Jordan will pull this off, the lawmaker added. The vote could bring to a close a fortnight of scrambling to find someone to replace McCarthy, the previous speaker ousted by eight hardline Republican members of the House Freedom Caucus on Oct. 3. The 212 Democrats in the House have refused to bail out their colleagues across the aisle, and continue to back Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY). Jeffries raked Jordan over the coals on the steps of the Capitol on Friday, telling reporters he was the chairman of the chaos caucus, a defender in a dangerous way of dysfunction, and an extremist extraordinaire, according to NBC News. Until a speaker is picked, the House will remain paralyzed, unable to pass legislation or deal with Bidens requests for security aid to Ukraine and Israel. Jordan and his allies spent the weekend privately bashing the phones and publicly shaming holdout representatives. You want to explain to your voters why you blocked Jordan? Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) tweeted on Friday. Then bring it because from the calls Im getting, they are asking me whats going on. Several lawmakers on Jordans side also posted the phone numbers of House members considered to be probable naysayers, encouraging constituents to call and browbeat them, according to The New York Times. The strategy was received coldly by moderate and swing-district Republicans, one of whom complained to The Washington Post that Jordans team has the knives out. Ill vote my conscience, which is a no, but I dont want to be a punching bag for the next three days, the anonymous legislator said. Right now, Jordan is woefully short on votes, and his team wants to beat folks into submission. Even some of Jordans most avowed backers blanched at the play. Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), while reiterating that he planned to vote for the Ohioan, told CNN on Sunday that it was the dumbest way to whip up support. We need to have cool heads prevail, he said. In a slight recalibration, Jordan took a more diplomatic tack in a Dear Colleague letter sent out on Monday, making it clear he would work to bring all Republicans together if elected speaker. Youve been honest and open, and I appreciate the candid conversations, he said. In these conversations, weve also discussed your thoughts on how we can best move forward. And we must move forward. 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. WASHINGTON The judge overseeing the federal election interference case on Monday issued a partial gag order forbidding former President Donald Trump from making statements about potential witnesses or disparaging comments about the prosecutors. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said she would not impose restrictions on Trump's statements about Washington, D.C., and its residents, nor on statements criticizing the government or the Justice Department generally. But she imposed a restriction on all parties, including Trump, that banned them from making or reposting any statements publicly targeting the special counsel or his staff, as well as court staff members or personnel. Mr. Trump may still vigorously seek public support as a presidential candidate, debate policies and people related to that candidacy, criticize the current administration and assert his belief that this prosecution is politically motivated, Chutkan said. But those critical first amendment freedoms do not allow him to launch a pre-trial smear campaign against participating government staff, their families and foreseeable witnesses. "Mr. Trump can certainly claim he's being unfairly prosecuted, but I cannot imagine any other criminal case in which a defendant is permitted to call the prosecutor 'deranged' or 'a thug,' and I will not permit it here simply because the defendant is running a political campaign," Chutkan added. "His presidential candidacy does not give him carte blanche to vilify and implicitly encourage violence against public servants who are simply doing their job." She went on to say that Trump could make statements about one of his 2024 Republican rivals, former Vice President Mike Pence, but could not speak about his role in the case. Chutkan said Trump did not have a right to launch a smear campaign against witnesses, prosecutors and court staff members. Speaking at a campaign rally in Iowa, Trump said he would appeal the order. "Ill be the only politician in history that runs with a gag order where Im not allowed to criticize people. Can you imagine this?" he told the crowd. "Well appeal it and well see. But its so unconstitutional." Special counsel Jack Smith, who brought the federal election interference case against Trump in August, was seeking a narrow gag order against Trump to "protect the integrity of the trial and the jury pool." Trump's team, without evidence, has argued that the Biden administration is trying to silence his speech during the presidential campaign. Prosecutors and Trump's defense attorney appeared before Chutkan at a hearing in Washington on Monday morning. Trump was not present. The trial is scheduled for March. Chutkan laughed after Trumps lawyer John Lauro argued that the current conditions are working, saying she disagreed before she went through some of Trump's statements. Chutkan said that Trump "doesnt" have unfettered First Amendment rights and that there's "no question" that the court is entitled to impose restrictions to ensure the fair administration of justice. Chutkan said she had concerns about the breadth of the proposed order presented by Smith's office. But Molly Gaston of the special counsel's office said Trump "can criticize President Biden to his hearts content" because Biden had nothing to do with the case. Trump posted on his Truth Social platform during the hearing, The TRUMP GAG ORDER that the CORRUPT Biden Administration is trying to obtain is totally Unconstitutional! A Trump campaign spokesperson called the order "an absolute abomination and another partisan knife stuck in the heart of our Democracy by Crooked Joe Biden, who was granted the right to muzzle his political opponent, the leading candidate for the Presidency in 2024, and the most popular political leader in America, President Donald J. Trump. President Trump will continue to fight for our Constitution, the American peoples right to support him, and to keep our country free of the chains of weaponized and targeted law enforcement." Within hours, the Trump campaign also sent out a fundraising email claiming the order had been imposed "at the request of Joe Biden." Two notable people appeared at the courthouse Monday to watch the hearing: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a close Trump ally, and defense lawyer Stanley Woodward, who represents Walt Nauta, Trumps valet and co-defendant in the separate classified documents case. Woodward appeared to be in court just as an observer but could be seen talking to Trumps legal team during a break in the proceedings. During the break, Greene could be heard disputing that Trump would ever say some of the hypothetical statements Chutkan presented during arguments. Trump, prosecutors said in a filing before the hearing, wants "special treatment, asserting that because he is a political candidate, he should have free rein to publicly intimidate witnesses and malign the Court, citizens of this District, and prosecutors." But in this case, they wrote, he should be treated like any criminal defendant. Trump's team had argued that the gag order sought by prosecutors was politically motivated. At bottom, the Proposed Gag Order is nothing more than an obvious attempt by the Biden Administration to unlawfully silence its most prominent political opponent, who has now taken a commanding lead in the polls, Trumps lawyers wrote in a brief filed last month. Trumps team sought to delay the trial until 2026, and Smiths team wanted jury selection in the case to begin this year, but Chutkan set a trial date for March 4, the day before Super Tuesday, when primary voters in several states cast their ballots. Chutkan, who has received threats in connection with her oversight of the case, previously warned Trump about talking about the case in a way that could intimidate witnesses or affect the proceedings. In a separate civil trial in New York, a judge ordered Trump to delete a disparaging post about a member of the judge's staff. Personal attacks on members of my court staff are unacceptable, inappropriate and I wont tolerate it, said Judge Arthur Engoron, who is overseeing the New York attorney general's fraud lawsuit against Trump, his company and his two adult sons. Consider this a gag order on all parties with respect to posting or publicly speaking about any member of my staff." This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Kentucky State Police are investigating after a man was seriously injured in a shooting that involved law enforcement. The shooting occurred Sunday around 6:30 p.m. on Twin Fork Road in Boyd County, according to state police. KSPs Critical Incident Response Team responded to the scene at the request of the Boyd County Sheriffs Office and the investigation into the incident was ongoing Monday. A man was transported to a hospital for treatment of life-threatening injuries, according to a news release. The news release did not include information about what led up to the shooting, or what officer was involved in the shooting. State police do not release details early in the investigation to ensure the integrity of the investigation. To protect the integrity of an ongoing investigation, it is KSPs standard operating procedure not to release specific details until vital witnesses have been interviewed and pertinent facts gathered, state police said in the release. Timelines to complete investigations vary based on the complexity of the case. KSP Captain Paul Blanton was not immediately available for comment Monday afternoon. This was the second shooting from Sunday under investigation by KSPs Critical Incident Response Team. A Monroe trooper was placed on leave Sunday following an off-duty driving DWI arrest. According to authorities, shortly after 3 a.m. Sunday, the Madison Parish Sheriff's Office contacted Louisiana State Police Troop F in reference to a single-vehicle crash involving an off-duty LSP trooper. Upon arriving at the scene, the driver was identified as 33-year-old David Hamm of Rayville. Authorities suspected that Hamm was impaired and took him into custody. Hamm voluntarily submitted to a breath test and was over the legal limit, authorities said. Hamms was booked into the Madison Parish Detention Center and charged with driving while under the influence. Currently assigned to the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division in Troop F, he has been placed on administrative leave pending the investigation with all law enforcement property recovered by the department. Hamms has been employed with LSP since 2014. Follow Ian Robinson on Twitter @_irobinson and on Facebook at https://bit.ly/3vln0w1. Support local journalism by subscribing at https://cm.thenewsstar.com/specialoffer. This article originally appeared on Monroe News-Star: LSP: Monroe trooper placed on leave following off-duty DWI arrest Prominent North Jersey developer Fred Daibes who is linked with Sen. Bob Menendez 's bribery charges withdrew his guilty plea in the bank fraud charges filed against him in 2018, a week after a judge rejected the agreement. Daibes is one of five people indicted in an alleged corruption scheme involving Menendez and his wife, Nadine Arslanian Menendez, in a separate case. Daibes pleaded not guilty to the charges. United States District Judge Susan D. Wigenton posted a text order for Daibes last week saying that after reviewing the presentence report in the bank fraud case, the court rejected the plea agreement. The rejection came after Daibes was charged in the Menendez indictment. The indictment shed light on Menendez's alleged interference with Daibes' bank fraud charges, saying Menendez nominated a U.S. attorney he believed he could influence in Daibes' favor. Why did Daibes withdraw his guilty plea? Fred Daibes (right) exits the U.S. District Court, on Pearl Street in the Southern District of New York, Wednesday, September 27, 2023. The rejected plea agreement comes from charges filed in 2018 against Daibes when he was indicted on multiple counts for alleged conspiracy to circumvent lending limits set by Mariner's Bank, which he founded in 2001. In 2022, Daibes admitted to receiving more than $1 million in gross receipts from Mariner's Bank and pleaded guilty to making false entries in a loan memorandum. His sentencing hearing was delayed four times since and had been scheduled for Oct. 26. Daibes' attorney Lawrence Lustberg sent a letter to Wigenton saying Daibes withdrew his plea and asked the court to schedule a status conference to discuss future proceedings. Lustberg filed the withdrawal paperwork on Friday and declined to comment further when reached on Monday. Kelly: What are the 'forces behind the scenes' Bob Menendez is blaming? After Daibes rejected his plea, attorney Vikas Khanna for the United States sent a letter to notify the court that the government had withdrawn the plea agreement and also requested a status conference. "The Court is not required to adhere to the terms of the plea agreements, and the cases may be disposed of less favorably toward the Defendants than the plea agreements contemplated," Wigenton wrote in a letter that rejected the plea agreement. The original indictment Fred Daibes enters a vehicle after leaving federal court in lower Manhattan on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. Daibes, along with Sen. Bob Menendez, Nadine Arslanian Menendez and Jose Uribe, pleaded not guilty to federal bribery charges. Daibes and Michael McManus, the chief financial officer of Daibes Enterprises, allegedly used others not named in the indictment to secure millions of dollars in loans which were used for Daibes' benefit without the knowledge of the bank or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The activity occurred from 2008 through 2013. The plea agreement was also rejected for McManus. Daibes pleaded guilty to a single count of the original 14-count indictment, which included a 2008 memo for a $1.8 million nominee loan that falsely stated the borrower and the source of repayment. The line of credit was actually for Daibes, who funded the repayment. Daibes' ties to Menendez Last month, corruption and bribery charges were filed against Menendez by the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. The unsealed indictment said Menendez accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from three New Jersey businessmen, including Daibes, in exchange for helping them enrich themselves and trying to get them out of trouble. The indictment said Menendez had recommended that President Joe Biden nominate someone as New Jersey's U.S. attorney he believed could be influenced to disrupt the federal criminal prosecution of Daibes over the bank fraud charges. More: Edgewater developer indicted along with Menendez in corruption scheme. Who is Fred Daibes? Before Daibes pleaded guilty, Menendez allegedly pressed Philip Sellinger, before and after he became the U.S. attorney for New Jersey, to go light on Daibes. In December 2020, Menendez met with Sellinger to consider whether he would support Sellingers nomination to the U.S. attorney post. At the meeting, Menendez criticized the prosecution of Daibes and asked Sellinger to look into the case if he was nominated, the indictment reads. In early 2022, Menendez had short phone calls with the first assistant U.S. attorney. At the time, Daibes unnamed driver had called Nadine Menendez twice on Jan. 24. Later that day, Nadine Menendez texted Daibes: Thank you. Christmas in January. The drivers fingerprints were later found on an envelope containing thousands in cash at the Menendez home. Several days later, the senator Googled the phrase kilo of gold price. In March, Nadine Menendez met with a jeweler and showed him two 1-kilogram gold bars that were worth more than $120,000, according to the indictment. Serial numbers showed that the gold bars had been owned by Daibes, the indictment reads. The next month, Daibes pleaded guilty to a probationary sentence in the bank fraud case. This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Fred Daibes withdraws guilty plea in 2018 bank fraud case All four of Iowa's U.S. House representatives voted Tuesday for Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, to become the new House speaker. However, Jordan did not receive enough support to secure the position after the first round of voting. Jordan is a co-founding member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus. He's a close ally of former President Donald Trump, and he did not vote to certify President Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election. As chair of the powerful Judiciary Committee, Jordan is one of the few key lawmakers spearheading House Republicans' impeachment inquiry into Biden. All four of Iowa's representatives had indicated some support for Jordan ahead of the vote, although Miller-Meeks was hesitant to say definitively that she would vote for Jordan on the House floor. U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn and U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, while speaking at a fundraiser for Gov. Kim Reynolds Saturday evening, said on stage they would support Jordan's bid for speaker. Nunn was most enthusiastic about Jordan's candidacy on Saturday: He said he was "proudly supporting Jim Jordan to make sure we have a speaker who is committed to moving the important things forward that are happening in our world right now. Oct 13, 2023; Washington, DC, USA; Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, speaks to reporters after departing from a GOP caucus meeting working to formally elect a new speaker of the House. On Wednesday, House Republicans as a conference formally nominated House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La. for the speaker of the House position. The House still has to formally elect a new speaker on the House floor, and lawmakers are free to nominate other candidates. Hinson said House Republicans need to elect a speaker "so we can continue to hold the Biden administration accountable." I think its time that we get back to work and select a speaker, so whoever that person is Im supporting Jim Jordan," Hinson said, noting that she supported House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., when he was a candidate for the position. More: Jim Jordan wins nomination in House speaker election, defeating late challenger Austin Scott In her speech, Miller-Meeks did not say whether she would vote for Jordan on the House floor. Instead, she delivered a spirited defense of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted by far-right members of his party earlier this month. She praised McCarthy for sacrificing his speakership to keep the government open, averting a shutdown late last month. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks speaks during Gov. Kim Reynolds Harvest Festival at the Elwell Family Food Center at the Iowa State Fairgrounds on Saturday, October 14, 2023 in Des Moines. "Can you just imagine what would've happened last Saturday if our government had been shut down?" Miller-Meeks asked, referring to the Hamas attack on Israel. "If our military, if our state department would have been unable to act?" In an interview with the Des Moines Register after the event, Miller-Meeks said she supported Jordan in closed-door votes among the Republican caucus and she had supported Scalise and McCarthy in prior votes, she said. "(Jordan) has to convince 55 people who didnt vote for him on Friday to vote for him," Miller-Meeks said. "Im sure hell narrow that gap, but youve got members who are in very strong Biden districts that are very concerned about his speakership." When asked if she was prepared to vote for Jordan again if he sways enough Republicans over the weekend, Miller-Meeks said: Hes got to get his remaining votes. However, Miller-Meeks told news outlets on Monday that she needed to have more conversations before deciding whether she would support Jordan on the floor. She voted for Jordan on Tuesday. U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra tweeted Monday that he supports Jordan. "We must stop Bidens radical agenda, secure our border, and stand up for Israel!" Feenstra wrote. Katie Akin is a politics reporter for the Register. Reach her at kakin@registermedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @katie_akin. This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa reps vote for Jim Jordan, but he lacks support to win speakership MERIDIAN TWP. When the war between Russia and Ukraine was unfolding in March 2022, Ody Norkin of Okemos was reminded of his grandparents, who were born in Ukraine and died during the Holocaust in 1941. This new war felt personal to him. He knew he needed to help. So with a great desire and a little bit of direction from a rabbi in Odessa, Ukraine, Norkin headed to Romania and then Ukraine to deliver a much needed ambulance to transport injured people to safety. It was a tumultuous, dangerous and successful five-week journey. Ody Norkin unloads medical supplies to be used in Ukraine. That was the spring of 2022. Fast forward to today and Norkin has been back to Romania eight times and crossed the border into Ukraine on six occasions. He has developed a strong team, both locally and abroad, to help with his mission. Lansing area businessman Steve Linder raised money for the project and accompanied Norkin on one trip. Lawyer David Mittleman raised funds and linked Norkin with U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Lansing. While Norkin was away on the first trip, the Greater Lansing Jewish Federation was raising money for the project. Norkin said when he returned, Amy Shapiro, executive director of the federation, told him enough had been raised for a second ambulance. "It was inappropriate for me to say that I was done when there was money available," Norkin said. In the 18 months that has transpired, about $200,000 has been raised and used for medical supplies and ambulances. Norkin has spoken at Rotary clubs, retirement centers and other community groups to raise funds. But most of the resources came from an email newsletter from the company Norkin founded, Michigan Flyer, that trumpeted his exploits. The newsletter goes out to 180,000 email addresses. Ody Norkin of Okemos stands outside homes that were bombed in Irpin, near Kyiv, in Ukraine. The U.S. government gives military support, but humanitarian funds come from private organizations and faith-based organizations, Norkin said. So far, Norkin has purchased and delivered four ambulances, secured from Italy, France and Romania. One went to Odessa, two to Dnipro and one to Kyiv. The need is for trauma level C ambulances, Norkin said. We are usually purchasing, class A ambulances, called ambu-cabs here in the states. Not only did we have to buy the vehicles, but we also had to outfit them with lifesaving equipment such as breathing tubes, wound care, defibrillators and so on. When ambulances are purchased by local fire departments, they are all decked out with equipment, and the cost is about $300,000. "All of the ambulances purchased were used, and we pick up the equipment wherever we can find it. Before I knew it, I was getting requests for lots of medical supplies from many places in Ukraine. One of his partners in this mission is Raj Wiener, who was public health director for the state of Michigan. Norkin at one time worked as a buyer for the state. Weve known each other through the state and then through Rotary," Wiener said. "I was president of the Williamston chapter and Ody was president of the East Lansing chapter. We connected on a Michigan Flyer trip to Detroit when he casually mentioned what he was doing in Ukraine. 'Tell me more,' I said. I was all in by the time he finished his story. I told him that I wanted to be useful. Wiener used her contacts and began collecting supplies from hospitals. There was nothing glamorous about this," she said. "I matched up needs and organized Rotarians and loaded the supplies in containers. But it had to be precise because we will cross two borders. We received donations from Munson, Sparrow and Covenant hospitals and a nursing school in Saginaw Valley. Ody Norkin has delivered four ambulances to Ukraine since Russia attacked the country in February 2022. Norkin said the DeWitt and Meridian Township fire departments also donated tools to remove people from burning buildings. Norkin said Slotkin has been an asset throughout the process, cutting diplomatic red tape. Slotkin activated her Romanian connections," he said. "When I call the Romanian ambassador, he views me as a Slotkin worker, and that is invaluable. Because Norkin served as a tank commander in the Israeli 1973 war, he is aware of the dangers that are right around the corner in Ukraine. The Russians target Americans crossing the border over to Ukraine," he said. "One way is they track the American SIM card in our cell phones. I dont think the trips are dangerous, but my family is concerned. In Dnipro during his last trip a surgeon pleaded with Norkin for a CT scanner with a surgical scope. "They are using Czech, Soviet-era X-ray machines built in 1951. The surgeon said he needed a CT machine to help him with amputations. The old x-ray machines just did not do the trick. Ody Norkin unloads medical supplies to be used in Ukraine. Norkin described the world of international humanitarian support as "unlike what I have been trained for in the business world, where you sign a contract with performance dates and delivery specified. When you rely on donations, you are watering down expectations from donors who can change the magnitude of their donation at any time. I was promised three Hummer ambulances, but the donor later reversed himself. How long will Norkin continue his life saving and dangerous missions to Ukraine? How long? he said. "As long as we can continue to get support. Weiner said, Ody is very focused and intense. No wasted time. You just cant sit back and watch this. Hes the right person. The logistics are very complicated. This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Ody Norkin of Michigan Flyer delivers ambulances to Ukraine JERUSALEM, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Hamas released on Monday a video of a female French-Israeli hostage on their Telegram channel, the first released video of about 200 hostages abducted by the group to Gaza since Oct. 7. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in a cabinet meeting when the video was released and updated, his office said in a statement. The hostage was identified as Mia Shem, 21 years old. In the video, Shem, speaking in Hebrew, said she had gotten medical attention in Gaza and undergone hand surgery. She said, "I returned early Saturday (Oct. 7) morning from Sderot (in southern Israel). I was at a party. I was seriously injured in my hand. I underwent a three-hour surgery on my hand at the hospital (in Gaza). They are taking care of me, giving me medicine, and everything is fine. I only ask them to bring me home as soon as possible to my parents, to my siblings." On Oct. 7, Hamas launched a heavy onslaught on Israeli towns adjacent to the Gaza Strip, firing thousands of rockets. Breaching the land border with Israel, Hamas militants opened fire at the residents and captured some of them, prompting Israel to launch retaliatory strikes on Gaza. The Israeli military on Monday updated in a statement that at least 199 hostages were held in Gaza, while Hamas claimed that there are 200 to 250 Israeli captives in Gaza. Hi there OnPolitics readers! Last week, voters questioned five Republican presidential candidates in a series of town halls in Exeter, New Hampshire, hosted by Seacoastonline and the USA TODAY Network. Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former Vice President Mike Pence and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy all spoke at the historic Exeter Town Hall, but it was clear Granite State voters werent going to let the candidates get away with simply delivering their stump speech. Instead, voters made their priorities and worries clear, pressing 2024 White House hopefuls on their vision for the nation, USA TODAYs Phillip M. Bailey reports: Climate change, social security and concerns for the future: Those who showed up to speak with the candidates face-to-face wanted answers on how they would tackle America's long-term problems. Compassionate conservatism: The candidates repeatedly emphasized how the voters who aren't paying attention yet want a solutions-oriented leader seeking common ground in 2024, not a bombastic style. Haley and Ramaswamy's contrasts pack the house: Haley and Ramaswamy's forums had standing room only attendance, which could indicate they're on a collision course in the Granite State. Pence praised after the Capitol attack: Voters told Pence that they wanted to specifically thank him for refusing to cave amid pressure from former President Donald Trump and threats from supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Voters are skeptical about moving on from Trump: Many voters who attended the forums this past week, said they fear former President Donald Trump has the primary wrapped up. Read more here: Republican candidates flock to N.H. town halls, as voters search for Trump alternative Stay in the know on politics: Sign up for the OnPolitics newsletter Want to keep up with the Israel-Hamas war? USA TODAY has launched a special edition newsletter to stay informed on the conflict, from the latest developments to contextual deep-dives on the repercussions of the war. Sign up here to get the headlines delivered straight to your inbox. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hutchinson, Haley, Burgum, Pence and Ramaswamy make their NH pitches There was a time when hospitals were located smack-dab in the middle of Rochester neighborhoods, and the old Park Avenue Hospital is a perfect example. The hospital opened at the corner of Park Avenue and Brunswick Street way back in 1894. The first venture lasted a decade before it closed, and the building was then used by a private boys' school. A doctor resurrected the hospital in 1907, and it lasted until the 1970s; the building, coincidentally, has been used since then by a private boys' school. Space crunches and age finally did in the Park Avenue Hospital, which moved to Greece and became Park Ridge Hospital after a push by a Greece citizens' group that lasted more than a decade. The current hospital, now called Unity Hospital and part of the Rochester Regional Health, is, of course, much bigger and much different than its early predecessor. The front of Park Avenue Hospital in 1965. The original Park Avenue Hospital was built as a three-story, 25-bed facility under the direction of Dr. John F.W. Whitbeck, "a respected Rochester surgeon and physician at the (former) Rochester City Hospital," according to a document titled "Rochester's Early Hospitals" on the website rochestergeneral.org. Known as "Dr. Whitbeck's Hospital," it closed in 1904 and was converted to a boys' school. By 1907, Dr. Charles Barber purchased the building and remodeled it into a 40-bed hospital and the school moved. A year later, the Park Avenue Training School for Nurses was chartered by the state and graduated its first class three years later. "Many of the graduates remained at Park Avenue Hospital and other local hospitals during their nursing careers," the "Rochester's Early Hospitals" document states. Hundreds of young women (not men) got their nursing degrees at the school. "Guest lectures included young physicians from City Hospital, who taught in exchange for patients' admittance to Park Avenue Hospital," states a document about the history of Unity Hospital. A hospital auxiliary group organized in 1929 and raised money to remodel Park Avenue hospital's maternity ward. The nursing school closed in 1948. By the late 1950s, it became clear that a hospital was needed for the "rapidly growing" west side of Monroe County. Greece was selected as the site, and thus began a long crusade to get it done. Park Avenue Hospital established the first intensive care unit in Monroe County in 1960. Expansions had increased the hospital size over the years, but problems were brewing. The place was old and aging and further growth was difficult. Meanwhile, the Northwest Hospital Committee tasked to find a west-side hospital site raised $450,000 to buy former farmland on Long Pond Road. After the committee presented a deed to the land to Park Avenue Hospital's board of directors in 1965, the board voted to move to Greece. That still took time, of course. Construction of the new Park Ridge Hospital had its problems, as outlined in a 1974 Times Union story by Patrick Boyle. "I'm going to write a thesis someday, and I'm going to call it 'Park Ridge Hospital A Study in Frustration," said Park Avenue Hospital Administrator William Woods. The story listed skyrocketing costs and construction-supply delays among the issues. "Government red tape has twined around every hand that touched the project, and almost strangled it last summer," Boyle wrote. The price tag had ballooned to $23 million. Water was seeping up from the ground-water basin, prompting the project manager to say, "It's been a swamp down there from day one." The newly minted Park Ridge Hospital in Greece back in 1975. The former Park Avenue Hospital relocated to this spot on Long Pond Road to address the need for a hospital on the growing west side of Rochester. Park Ridge is now called Unity Hospital. Vice President Nelson Rockefeller attended the dedication of Park Ridge Hospital in spring 1975. By Sept. 7 the same year, the last patients and staff left the Park Avenue Hospital. The place sat vacant for more than two years while developers pitched plans for apartments, shops and offices. Yeshiva of Rochester, formerly known as the Talmudical Institute of Upstate New York, has been there since 1977 and occupies much of the property. It's a Jewish school for boys. Morrell is a Rochester-based freelance writer. This story was originally published August 2014 as part of the Whatever Happened To series. This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Park Avenue Hospital in Rochester NY became Unity in Greece NY Reuters Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni on Thursday called on the Israeli government to investigate the death of video journalist Issam Abdallah. Abdallah, a photographer for the outlet, was killed last week during fighting in Lebanon, the outlet said. He was part of the Reuters crew that was providing a live signal and images from the ground. In a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, just hours before his death had been reported, Abdallah published a video showing plumes of smoke and loud bangs amid heavy bombing and shelling in the area. Eyewitnesses at the scene said the shell that killed Abdallah came from Israel, Galloni said, noting the Israeli authorities have said they are investigating the incident. Our newsroom is reporting out the details of what happened, she said. And so I am reiterating my call for the Israeli authorities to conduct a swift, thorough and transparent probe into what happened. By transparent, Galloni said she means an investigation with clear evidence and explanation. And I also reiterate my call to the IDF for clarity as to the terms of engagement for this conflict, she said, referencing the Israel Defense Forces. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. [Source] Joseph Harrell, a 17-year-old teen who was arrested in connection to a violent robbery in Houston, Texas, that left a Vietnamese mother paralyzed, was sentenced to three decades in prison. Harrells sentence: On Thursday, Harris County District Court Judge Kristin M. Guiney sentenced Harrell to 30 years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated robbery causing serious bodily injury to 41-year-old Nhung Troung. In a plea deal, Harrell agreed to plead guilty to the robbery charge. In return, prosecutors agreed to dismiss two other charges related to the robbery, including an initial charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. About the attack: On Feb. 13, Harrell was captured on surveillance footage physically attacking Truong, 44, during a robbery at the 9800 block of Bellaire in Houston, Texas. Truong, who had withdrawn a large amount of cash for an upcoming trip to visit her family in Vietnam, suffered broken ribs and a severe spinal cord injury that has left her unable to walk. Trending on NextShark: S. Korean star Song Joong-ki reveals why he's had no success landing Hollywood, UK roles Authorities said Harrell observed Truong withdrawing from a bank in Chinatown before following her for more than 20 miles to Bellaire. Harrells jailhouse confession: Harrell was previously caught on jailhouse phone calls confessing to the crime. We were snatching purses, Harrell confessed. I hopped out, snatched the purse, the lady ran with the money, I grabbed her, slammed her and she was paralyzed. The lady probably wants justice and some more (expletive). Theyll try to max me out 20 years basically. That (expletive). I aint going for it. The (expletive) already ran up $230,000 off GoFundMe. (Expletive) better run on with her life. Trending on NextShark: TikToker reacts to tasting Indian food for first time: 'That should be a crime' Eligibility for parole: District Attorney Kim Ogg noted that Harrell must serve at least 15 years of his sentence before he is eligible for parole. People should feel safe in our community and not have to worry about looking over their shoulders whenever they go to the bank or run errands, Ogg said in a statement. Our organized crime division was ready and willing to go to trial and that is why this defendant decided to plead guilty. Trending on NextShark: [Update] Chinese woman missing after her US tour guide found dead in California state park More on NextShark: Angelina Jolies Vietnamese-born son, Pax Thien, spotted assisting her on set Watch: Korean mom responds to son asking if he could marry a man WASHINGTON Donald Trump s efforts to use his presidential campaign as an excuse to attack witnesses got a stern rebuke Monday from the federal judge presiding over the criminal case over his attempted coup: not in my courtroom. No other criminal defendant would be allowed to do so, and Im not going to allow it in this case, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said as she imposed an order prohibiting the former president from attacking prosecution staff, court staff and witnesses associated with the four-count felony indictment. If Trump violates her order, she would consider sanctions as may be necessary, the judge told prosecutors and defense lawyers in her fourth-floor courtroom. Such sanctions could include admonishments, fines or even Trumps incarceration. Chutkans order applies to the case accusing Trump of conspiring to defraud the United States and block the Jan. 6, 2021, congressional ceremony certifying his election loss to President Joe Biden . He has separately been ordered by a New York state judge not to attack court personnel in a civil fraud case there after he posted a photo of the judges law clerk. Trump lawyer John Lauro spent most of his time during Mondays two-hour hearing arguing that a gag order, even a limited one, would violate Trumps First Amendment right to free speech and his ability to campaign for his old job back. We have to tolerate a bit of colorful, vituperative speech, he said during a discussion of Trumps attacks on former Attorney General Bill Barr, former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Mark Milley, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and others. Lauro told Chutkan that any order even slightly limiting Trumps ability to disparage potential witnesses and prosecutors would hamper his ability to push a major theme of his campaign: that he is being targeted specifically to block his return to the White House. Lauro repeatedly launched into diatribes that the prosecutions of Trump were evidence of tyranny and that Trump had no choice but to speak out. What does someone to in the face of oppression? he asked. Lauro even said that Trumps depiction of Washington, D.C., as a crime-ridden, rat-infested place was appropriate because it was true. Certainly Mr. Trump is going to change that in 2024 and take the rats off the streets, he said. Chutkan, who herself has been a frequent target of Trump in public remarks and on social media, frequently had trouble hiding her astonishment at Lauros assertions. I dont need to hear any campaign rhetoric, she said at one point. Obviously you have an audience other than me in mind, she said at another. When Lauro occasionally argued that the only way Trump could get a fair trial would be to postpone it until after the election, Chutkan reminded him of her previous rejection of that request. This trial will not yield to the election cycle, she said. And when Lauro argued that no new censorship was needed because Trump was abiding by her initial terms of pre-trial release that included language that he not engage in witness intimidation, Chutkan literally laughed out loud. Prosecutors from special counsel Jack Smiths office had wanted Chutkan to prohibit Trump from attacking the District of Columbia and its residents who will make up the coming jury pool, along with President Joe Bidens administration generally and the Department of Justice specifically. They also requested he be banned from attacking court and prosecution staff and witnesses. Trump calling the Justice Department the Department of Injustice and claiming that Biden had ordered the prosecution would taint the jury pool, prosecutor Molly Gaston argued, adding that Trumps attacks on high-profile witnesses also have the effect of intimidating less-known witnesses. If you come after the defendant, he will come after you, she said. Chutkan, though, said that such a broad order was inappropriate and that any potential tainting of potential jurors could be weeded out during jury selection. But she said she would not allow Trump to endanger either prosecutors or courtroom staff for simply doing their jobs. I will not permit it here simply because he is running a political campaign, she said. Trumps campaign responded to the ruling in a statement attributed to a spokesperson: Todays decision is an absolute abomination and another partisan knife stuck in the heart of our Democracy by Crooked Joe Biden, who was granted the right to muzzle his political opponent, the leading candidate for the Presidency in 2024, and the most popular political leader in America, President Donald J. Trump. President Trump will continue to fight for our Constitution, the American peoples right to support him, and to keep our country free of the chains of weaponized and targeted law enforcement. In addition to the four-count federal indictment Trump faces in the District of Columbia, Trump is also under indictment in Georgia for trying to overturn his election loss in that state. He further faces a federal indictment in South Florida for charges related to his refusal to turn over classified documents he was holding at his country club there and a New York state indictment for allegedly falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 hush money payment to a porn star. If convicted on the most serious offenses, Trump could be sentenced to decades in prison. Despite this, he remains the favorite to win the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, with large polling leads over his rivals. Iran views the United States as already being militarily involved in Israels conflict with Hamas, an Iranian official said Monday. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani was asked if Tehran would engage if the U.S. weighed in on the conflict. Iran considers that the United States is already militarily involved in the conflict between Israel and Palestinians, Kanaani said at a news conference. The crimes of the Zionist regime are carried out with the support of the United States, and Washington must be held accountable. He also said Hamaswhich is backed by Iranis ready to release hostages but is unable to do so because of Israeli airstrikes. Kanaani said freeing the captives would require preparations that are impossible under daily bombardment by the Zionists against various parts of Gaza, according to The Wall Street Journal. Israel believes 199 people are being held hostage by Hamas. Read it at Reuters Read more at The Daily Beast. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Monday the U.S. can certainly afford to provide military aid to Israel in its war against Hamas and Ukraine in its war against Russia. America can certainly afford to stand with Israel and to support Israels military needs, and we also can and must support Ukraine in its struggle against Russia, Yellen said in an interview with Britains Sky News. Yellen reaffirmed the U.S.s support of Israel, while urging caution over civilian deaths as Jerusalem prepares for a major counteroffensive into the Gaza Strip. America has also made clear to Israel, were working very closely with the Israelis, that they have a right to defend themselves, Yellen told Sky News. But its important to try to spare innocent civilian lives to the maximum extent possible. Yellen said both Israel and Ukraine were a priority and the U.S. need[s] to come up funds, both for Israel and for Ukraine. President Biden in a recent 60 Minutes interview dismissed the idea that the U.S. could not simultaneously support both Israel in its war against Hamas and Ukraine in its war against Russia. Arguing both conflicts impact the safety of the American people, Biden said the U.S. can take care of both of these and still maintain our overall national defense. While much of Washington agrees on the need to continue arming Ukraine, House Republicans have become increasingly skeptical of support for Kyiv, with chaos over the Speaker further complicating matters. Some Republicans have pushed back on the White Houses request for billions in additional Ukraine aid, arguing the money should be spent on domestic issues. Israels war with Hamas, the militant group that controls the Gaza Strip, has already claimed more than 4,000 lives on both sides after Hamass bloody surprise assault on Israel last week. More than 1,400 Israelis were killed, and at least 199 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza. Israel has pounded Gaza with air strikes in response. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,750 Palestinians have been killed and 9,700 wounded. Yellen called upon the U.S. House to choose a new Speaker after former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was ousted nearly two weeks ago. Its really up to the House to find, seat a Speaker and to put us in a position where legislation can be passed, Yellen said. In the chaotic days since McCarthys historic ousting, no Republican has been able to pull together the 217 votes needed to take the top spot. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (La.) won the Republican nomination vote last Wednesday against Rep. Jim Jordan (Ohio), but he dropped out later Thursday when it became apparent he would struggle to get the necessary votes. Jordan put his name back in the ring and went on to clinch the nomination in a second vote last Friday, beating challenger Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.). However, it is still unclear if Jordan can shore up the necessary votes. Jordan has emphasized the need for the House GOP conference to unite to allow Congress to support Israel. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told NBCs Meet the Press Sunday that Democrats want to reopen the House to tackle domestic issues as well as make sure that we can stand with our close friend, Israel, during her time of need in terms of ensuring Israels ability to decisively defeat Hamas, a brutal terrorist organization. Meanwhile, in a press conference Sunday from Tel Aviv, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the Senate will not wait for the House to assemble the most generous package for Israel. We believe if the Senate acts in a strong, bipartisan way, it may indeed improve the chances that the House, even with its current dysfunction, will act, Schumer said, alongside a bipartisan delegation of Senate lawmakers who are visiting Israel. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. French President Emmanuel Macron will travel to Albania on Monday to attend the latest Berlin Process Summit, focusing on closer cooperation between the European Union and the Western Balkan countries. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Brussels is eager to strengthen its ranks, but significant barriers remain. The Berlin Process was initiated in 2014 as a platform for high-level cooperation between six Western Balkan countries Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia and EU member states' governments. The aim: to strengthen integration between Western Balkan nations and, eventually, achieve full EU membership. After years of stagnation, Brussels' push for enlargement of the EU gained new momentum after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. During the 2023 Bled Strategic Forum in Slovenia last August, EU Council President Charles Michels called for 2030 to be the deadline for a new EU expansion, in which the Berlin Process would play a substantial role. For now, the Berlin Process has resulted in a series of joint projects in the fields of economy, security, social cooperation and ecology, which, according to the Berlin Process website, "brought the region closer to the EU". Stalled progress But according to German think tank Stiftung Wissenshaft und Politik (SWP), implementation of the agreements by the Western Balkan states "has often stalled". In spite of that, Pristina applied in December 2022. Kosovo-Serbia dispute Read more on RFI English Read also: EU agrees to give Bosnia candidate status EU leader tours Western Balkans and Serbia to seek more influence EU refuses to give Balkan nations 'firm' membership timeline You are the owner of this article. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump, talks with reporters as House Republicans meet again behind closed doors to find a path to elect a new speaker after House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., dropped out of the race Thursday night, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Oct. 13, 2023. ALGIERS, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Salah Goudjil, speaker of Algeria's Council of the Nation, the upper house of parliament, met with a senior Hamas official on Sunday and reiterated his country's "unwavering support" for the Palestinian cause, the council said in a statement. Goudjil and Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official living abroad, discussed in Algiers the latest developments in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has been carrying out airstrikes and "forced displacements" of Palestinians, the statement noted. Goudjil urged the international community to protect the Palestinian people in accordance with international law and humanitarian norms, it added. Abu Zuhri thanked Algeria for its "steadfast backing of the Palestinian cause," the statement said. The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) launched a surprise attack with thousands of rockets and the infiltration by scores of militants on Israel on Oct. 7, prompting extensive Israeli airstrikes on Gaza. The ongoing conflict, now in its ninth day, has killed about 4,000 on both Israel and the Gaza Strip. From the right to left, Gary McLaren and Mike Bonneville help guide Jim Borst with the placement of the new Kiwanis emblems on the benches at West Valley Community Park in Yakima, Wash. Saturday, April 2, 2016. (MASON TRINCA/Yakima Herald-Republic) Cum o cheama, de fapt, pe Dana Marijuana. Putini sunt cei care stiu numele real al celebrei rapperite Dana Marijuana este una dintre cele mai cunoscute artiste din lumea rap, fiind si una dintre primele femei care au cantat acest gen de muzica in Romania. Cu toate acestea, putini sunt cei care [citeste mai departe] Stiri pe aceeasi tema - Oil prices edged up in Asian trade on Wednesday ahead of key meetings of global central banks this week, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, while the market closely watched the latest developments in the Israel-Hamas conflict, according to Reuters. Brent January crude futures rose 0.8%, or 66 cents, - European natural gas prices jumped after a halt in Egyptian imports raised the risk of LNG flows from the country while the Israel-Hamas conflict intensified, according to Bloomberg. December futures surged as much as 7.1% on Monday before paring some of the gains. Prices are about 30% higher than - The effects of the Middle East conflict can already be seen on the market for oil and natural gas market, and the Ministry of Energy will manage this situation using the levers at its disposal, including safety stocks, Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja told a news conference on Monday."I think anyone - The outbreak of military conflict in the Middle East may leave central bankers battling new inflationary trends as well as deal a blow to economic confidence at a time when they had expressed growing hope about containing the price surge sparked by the pandemic and Russias 2022 invasion of Ukraine, - China has complained to Germany after its foreign minister labelled President Xi Jinping a dictator, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday, calling the title absurd and an open political provocation, according to Reuters. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock made the remarks in a live interview - Gov't to upload latest tax measures on its website for public transparencyPrime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said on Monday that this week the tax measures he is going to take responsibility for in Parliament will be published on the government's website. Ciolacu was asked when he will take responsibility - Air France has suspended flights to and from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso and Bamako in Mali until August 11, the company said on Monday, after Nigers junta closed its airspace on Sunday, with longer flight times expected in the west African region, according to Reuters. The disruption adds to a band - Basarab Panduru s-a declarat uluit de ultima decizie a lui Gigi Becali. Fostul international roman a spus ca nu intelege de ce Andrea Compagno nu a fost titular. Fostul international roman a mai spus ca daca nu ii place de golgheterul italian, atunci ar trebui sa il vanda. Panduru nu a inteles nici The way for cities today to protect their values is by tearing down walls and building bridges, Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony on Wednesday told an international conference focusing on democracy-building. In his remarks to the event entitled Budapest Forum 2023 Building Sustainable Democracies, the mayor said: Preserving our planet and sustaining a society built on mutual respect and dignity is not solely the task of urban progressives. He called for opportunities that create unity between us all to be explored in practice. Karacsony also called for dialogue and establishing contact with one another which required rejecting hatred and division. He said the main topics on the conferences agenda included the future of democracy at a time when authoritarian populism was on the rise and fundamental democratic values were waning. Karacsony called Budapest one of the last bastions of liberal democracy, adding that liberal-led democratic cities such as Budapest were a target of authoritarian populists seeking to make its operation impossible through financial and legal measures. The Budapest Forum is a celebration that we can resist such attacks, he said. While populist regimes, he said, attacked liberal democracy, immigrants and minorities, they also attacked climate science and vegetarianism. Populists, the mayor said, sought out and attacked groups in society for whom the EUs long-awaited and ambitious green transition would cause difficulties. Karacsony highlighted the importance of genuine debate and real dialogue in a world where social media have reduced our attention span to only seconds and our interactions to likes and dislikes. At the conference, a video interview was shown with Canadian author Margaret Atwood who discussed the issue of a states power of control. The two-day conference is being attended by 81 speakers from 24 countries, the director of Political Capital Institute, one of the organisers, said. The event has been co-hosted by CEUs Democracy Institute. Police have arrested a Moldovan man who crashed a minivan full of illegal migrants near Matraszolos last Thursday. Seven were injured in the accident, the Nograd County Prosecutors Office said in a statement on Friday, noting that the man is under investigation for human trafficking and causing a road accident. In the early hours of Oct 5, the 40-year-old suspect was driving 12 people claiming to be Syrian from the Serbia-Hungary border towards Slovakia. The Polish-registered van had no seats, windows or air vents. Police spotted the van on highway 21 near Matraszolos, north-east of Budapest, and the man tried to evade them. At a speed of around 180kph, the vehicle crashed into a barrier and plunged into the roadside drainage ditch. Police caught him after his attempt to flee. One of the seven injured suffered serious injuries. Photo: Police.hu Prime Minister Viktor Orban, in Beijing on Sunday taking part in the third Belt and Road summit, held talks with Chinese leaders. Orban also previously addressed two such summits held in 2017 and 2019, the statement noted, adding that Hungary is committed to long-term cooperation in the future. China is Hungarys ninth top trading partner as well as its largest foreign direct investor, with companies of Chinese ownership employing close to 20,000 people in the country. Orban met counterpart Li Qiang and President Xi Jinping, and he is scheduled to meet the heads of the largest Chinese companies and banks, the statement added. A court in Kecskemet, in central Hungary, has ordered the arrest of a Pakistani national who crashed his car while fleeing police early on Thursday, killing two people. The 20-year-old man was transporting seven illegal migrants, who said they were Afghans, when police tried to stop the car for a routine inspection. He fled and crashed into a nearby ditch. Two people died and the other five were injured in the accident. MTI Photo: Ferenc Donka The Budapest Police Headquarters (BRFK) said on Friday that demonstrating in support of a terrorist organisation was not permitted, and Budapest police will not allow a rally in support of Hamas to take place in the capital during the day. A statement on the police.hu website notes that a private individual announced the intention of holding a rally in Budapests 2nd district in connection with the war between Israel and Hamas. The police said the rally was prompted by a call by the terrorist organisation on its followers around the world to demonstrate anger. The 2018 law on the right of assembly, it said, prohibited holding any assembly that directly imperilled public safety, and punitive action would be taken against anyone taking part in a prohibited assembly. Orban: Terror 'Unacceptable' Terrorism "is unacceptable", Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday in an interview to public radio, adding that "Hungary is on Israel's side". Speaking about the attack carried out by Hamas, Orban said it was shocking to see the mark left by terrorism. Orban said the situation in Israel was a stark reminder of the value of peace and stability, and elected leaders had a duty to protect this. Hungary, he said, had always opposed terrorism irrespective of which country was being targeted. If a country is hit by a terrorist attack, its leaders in this case Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu no doubt think about their duty to their people and the need to do everything to prevent this, Orban said. A country that is the victim of terrorism has the right to take steps to prevent such an attack from happening again and its citizens from becoming victims of terrorist strikes, he said. The conflict in the Middle East must be contained, Orban said, adding that though there was a war going on, Israel was fighting terrorism like the Americans did. Theres no interstate war yet, and the danger is Israel getting into a war with one of the neighbouring Arab countries, he said. Orban: Arab-Israeli War Would Destabilise Region Prime Minister Viktor Orban, in an interview with public radio on Friday, said an Arab-Israeli war would destabilise the region, shaking global politics to the extent that the shockwaves would also be felt in Hungary. Though Hungarian diplomacy recognises Israels right to self-defence, it must pursue a de-escalation policy to prevent an interstate war, he said. Meanwhile, he said the government trusted it would manage to evacuate every Hungarian who wants to leave Israel, adding there were so far no Hungarians known to be among the victims of the terror attack. Things were just starting to go well in that corner of the world, Orban said, noting the improvements in Arab-Israeli relations under Donald Trumps US presidency. There were even improvements in some of the Arab-Israeli relations which no one would have thought possible just a few years prior, he added. Whether the terrorist attack was committed to thwart this process, he said, was for now only speculation on which Hungary has no intelligence reports yet. But it is important to save every element of the peace process possible in spite of the attack, the prime minister said. Orban called it shocking that rallies were planned or held in support of the terrorists across Europe. There were attempts to organise such rallies in Hungary too, he said, but demonstrations in support of terrorist organisations cant be held, because that in itself would pose a terror threat. We wont therefore allow this in any way, he added. The fact that several European countries were failing to prevent such pro-terror rallies meant that there were many living in those countries who supported such attacks, the prime minister said. Because western European countries had allowed an uncontrolled influx of migrants during the migration crisis, Hamas agents are among them now, which poses a direct threat to every western European country, he added. Lets thank God that our mind and heart was in the right place in 2015, and we built the border fence and implemented the legal entry restrictions which has helped us keep the terror threat that goes hand in hand with migration away from Hungary, Orban said. He said the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and now the terrorist attack in Israel showed that we are living in a dangerous era, and the Hungarian state must stand firm and wont tolerate any lessening of security in the country. Orban noted that Hungary has one of Europes largest Jewish communities. Of course its a diverse world just as in Israel, he said, adding that whereas people held different political views, they were all citizens of Hungary. They are Hungarian citizens, and the Hungarian state must protect them, he said. Hungarian citizens must not be allowed to feel in peril because of their origin or religion, he added. No Place for Pro-Terrorism Demonstrations in Budapest, Says Mayor Karacsony There is and will be no place for any kind of demonstration in Budapest in support of terrorism, including the Hamas group responsible for the bloodshed in Israel, Gergely Karacsony, the citys mayor, said on Facebook. Karacsony said he had consulted on Monday with Budapest police chief Tamas Terdik, and they confirmed that they were in agreement on the matter. This is not a matter of debate or consideration, its a conviction, the mayor said. Budapest says no to terror and no to those seeking to relativise terror in any way. Community endows Budapest with its strength, not the citys administration alone, Gergely Karacsony, the citys mayor, said on Saturday, summing up the municipalitys past years and future plans in a speech. Budapest is extremely strong because the city is a community, he said. To move forward, the city leadership must harness the power of the community. The people of Budapest, he said, were boss, and his administration would not forget that if they won a new mandate from Budapesters to lead the city again. Referring to the crises of the past few years such as the pandemic, the energy crisis and government cuts, he said it was a hugely serious political achievement that we are sitting here now, able to plan ahead and operate the capital in tough circumstances. The mayor insisted that the capital had managed the pandemic well and that Budapest had been ahead of the government in managing Covid, adding that the death rate in facilities such as care homes operated by the capital was 50 percent below that in those run by the state. Also, measures to protect the homeless were among the best in Europe, he added. Regarding energy, the Budapest model, he said, was working, and the budget had saved 70 billion (EUR 180.4m) forints by buying energy at the daily spot rate. Government austerity, Karacsony said, was the third crisis, insisting that the government had stripped Budapest of 227 billion forints in four years in an attempt to bring the capital to its knees. Altogether, the various crises had cost Budapest 358 billion forints, he said. On the topic of protected bicycle lanes in the capital, he said disputes on the subject were political in nature, adding that he was proud to have made travel safer in Budapest. The metropolitan leaderships safety strategy goal is to ensure that no one dies in a traffic accident in Budapest by 2050. Further, the Budapest Mobility Plan adopted in 2019 aims for motor vehicle traffic to be halved in 15 years while increasing bicycle traffic fivefold. The idea, he added, was to reduce traffic not eliminate it. Karacsony said the most extensive programme to replace public transport vehicles was under way, with 285 new buses introduced to the capital in the past year alone. Also, the third metro line has been renovated, which he termed a joint success of the country as a whole, of the previous and current city administration, the government and the European Union. Noting an EU study, the mayor said there were now fewer traffic jams in Budapest than in 2019. Fully 33,000 new trees have been planted in the city, he said, adding however that Budapests resilience to climate change must be strengthened. In times of war, the skills of women to make peace are indispensable, President Katalin Novak said in a discussion at Fehervarcsurgo, in western Hungary. We do not seek conflicts: we have been coded to smooth conflicts out as we do as mothers in our families, the president said at the event dubbed Talks in the Sandor Palace, this time held in Fejer County. Answering a question, Novak said it was regrettable that there are hardly any women serving as heads of state, citing fewer than 20 worldwide. Novak said all other female presidents around the world had accepted her invitation to meet in Budapest next autumn. We may have different world views and religions, but there are things in common; and we can lend other women hope that there are no insurmountable obstacles and no glass ceiling that cannot be shattered, she said. She added that she would work to make the female presidents conference a regular event. Novak said she was motivated to demonstrate to other women that they should not be afraid to start a family because this and a career could go hand in hand. She said she supported fulltime mothers as well as those mothers who also sought success in their careers. Novak Holds Talks With Fejer County Leaders President Katalin Novak held talks with leading politicians and officials of Fejer County, in central Hungary, on Thursday, beginning a two-day visit to the county. At the talks at the Karolyi Castle in the village of Fehervarcsurgo, Novak said she had got from her German counterpart the idea to briefly move the presidential office outside Sandor Palace. The same is being done in Hungary now, with the presidential office relocating to different counties, she said, noting that Fejer County was the sixth such location. Novak said the purpose of her visits to the various counties was to personally learn about the challenges of the given region, the issues faced by locals and things they are proud of. Budapest has been included in the program of Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox world tour, on October 17, 2023, at 8:30 p.m., they will give a concert in the MVM Dome. The American band, which covers the world's timeless hits in a unique way, is already well known to the Hungarian audience, as they have given sold-out concerts in the Budapest Arena several times. This year, PMJ is preparing new surprises and real classics for the audience. The American band will perform at the MVM Dome on October 17, 2023. New York City's pop-jazz sensation, Postmodern Jukebox, are set to return to BUDAPEST. Bringing their innovative twist on classic sounds, performing 'today's hits yesterday', on an unforgettable show in October 17, 2023. "Times change and trends come and go, but - like a 1961 Jaguar XK-E - the classic sounds of the past only appreciate with age. Whether you're a vinyl aficionado or a TikTok fashionista, catch a ride with us for an unforgettable trip through 100 years of timeless music." Scott Bradlee Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox's 'Life In The Past Lane' Concert Tour is a celebration of the greatest 20th-century musical genres, uniquely fused with the recognisable hits of our own modern era, for the perfect patina of vintage and modern. This musical time machine will be landing in the UK next spring, taking the audience on an extraordinary journey through bygone music eras! Commencing in April 2023, the 'Life In The Past Lane' tour is the latest tour from Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox who are currently thrilling American audiences up and down their home country. Next year, they will be delighting cities across on our side of the pond. PMJ are set to debut the show in the UK at Cambridge's Corn Exchange on 26th April, as well as visiting York, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Sheffield, Manchester, Brighton, Norwich, Nottingham, Liverpool and many more. The tour will also include London's iconic Royal Festival Hall on the capital's landmark South Bank on 28th April. As always with PMJ's outstanding live performances, 'Life In The Past Lane' will feature an ensemble filled to the brim with some of today's most exciting vocalists, instrumentalists, and tap dancers. Surprise special guests often join the core line-up, ensuring each concert experience is tremendously incomparable making for an electrifying live music experience, of this and any other time period. Tickets: https://www.eventim.hu/en/tickets/postmodern-jukebox-budapest-mvm-dome-601799/event.html A Dubai-Amritsar flight made an emergency landing at Karachi airport on Saturday after an onboard guest had a sudden medical complication during the journey. The Air India Express flight departed from Dubai at 8:51 a.m. (local time) and landed in Karachi at 12:30 p.m. (local time). According to an Air India Express spokesperson, the crew opted to divert the flight to Karachi as it was the closest location to provide the guest with immediate medical assistance. Also read: Air India Express To Expand Fleet With 50 New Boeing 737 Max Aircrafts By 2025 "A guest on board our Dubai-Amritsar flight had a sudden medical complication in flight, and the crew opted to divert to Karachi, given that it was the closest location to provide immediate medical assistance," he said. The airline closely coordinated with the airport and local authorities, and the guest was provided with immediate medical services after landing in Karachi. The spokesperson further said that the airport doctor in Karachi administered the required medication and after a medical assessment, the passenger was allowed to fly by the airport medical team. Later, the flight departed from Karachi at 2:30 p.m. (local time) on its way to Amritsar. Following the incident, the airline spokesperson further extended gratitude to the local authorities at Karachi airport for their help. "We would like to extend our gratitude to the local authorities at Karachi airport for their immediate response and help," the spokesperson added. The globally recognized Acer brand, known for its laptops, will enter the Indian e-scooter market with the Acer MUVI 125 4G with a starting price of Rs 1 lakh. This electric scooter, designed and manufactured by Think eBikeGo Private Limited is focussed on revolutionising urban commuting. With a top speed of 75 km/h and a range of 80 km, it stands in its price range. Also, Acer claims that it comes out as a perfect fit for office goers, college students, daily commuters, and can be custom-built for B2B use-cases such as hyper-local food delivery or grocery delivery. Key highlights of Acer MUVI 125 4G Swappable Batteries: Ensuring continuous rides and hassle-free charging. Sleek Design: A lightweight chassis for a seamless ride. 16-inch Wheels: Providing stability across terrains. Data-Driven Efficiency: Incorporating the latest tech for optimal performance. Customizability: Personalize your scooter to match your style. Available in three distinct color options: White, Black, and Grey. Moreover, the Acer MUVI 125 4G qualifies for both Central and state-level government subsidies, promoting EV adaptation in India. Its easy-to-replace accessories and low maintenance cost ensure that the total cost of ownership remains affordable in the long run. Jade Zhou, VP, Global Strategic Alliances, Acer Inc., expressed, "Sustainability and innovation are two important principles that the Acer brand is known for. The Acer MUVI 125 4G represents both and we are excited to see it coming to market in the near future." Also Read - Mahindra To Launch Three New SUVs Next Year: Thar 5-Door To XUV300 Facelift Dr. Irfan Khan, CEO, Think eBikeGo Private Limited (Acer - official licensee), added, "The Acer MUVI 125 4G represents our vision for a greener future. We believe it is set to become the preferred choice for urban commuters." The MUVI 125 4G is the first EV model to be launched under the Acer brand in India. In the near future, they plan to introduce multiple 2 and 3-wheeler EVs, such as e-bicycles, e-bikes, e-trikes, etc. Pre-bookings for the Acer MUVI 125 4G will be available soon. Additionally, those interested in dealership opportunities can also express their intent now. For both pre-bookings and dealership inquiries, please visit the official website: acerelectric.in. All orders will be processed exclusively through authorised dealers, ensuring customers receive top-notch service, maintenance, warranty & support. The establishment of a robust distribution and dealership network across India's major cities is underway, reinforced by an attractive dealer remuneration structure and a rewarding incentives model. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today launched a blistering attack on the Narendra Modi government while speaking in poll-bound Mizoram. Addressing a rally in Aizwal, Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP of destroying Manipur. He said that the government is concerned more about Israel and not at all about Manipur. Mizoram is going to the polls in November this year and the counting of votes will take place on December 3. "Some months ago, I went to Manipur. The idea of Manipur has been destroyed by the BJP. It is no longer a state, but two states. People have been murdered, women have been molested and babies have been killed but the PM doesn't find it important to travel here...It's amazing to me that the government and the prime minister are showing interest in what is happening in Israel but not interested at all in what is happening in Manipur," said Rahul Gandhi. Gandhi said that the idea of 'Bharat Jodo' won India, promoting mutual respect, and tolerance, learning from others' ideas, languages, and religions, and embracing love as a unifying force. "However, this is the idea that the BJP is currently challenging as they target different communities, religions, languages, and cultures, promoting violence, arrogance, and a lack of understanding. This stance is entirely contrary to the idea of India that we hold dearone that values respect for all and the protection of everybody," he said. The Congress leader said that the people of Mizoram are gentle, kind, affectionate and represent powerful values in the 21st century. The 40-member Mizoram assembly will vote in a single phase on November 7. The Model Code of Conduct has come into force with the announcement of poll dates. NEW DELHI: In a significant development, the Allahabad High Court on Monday acquitted Surendra Koli and Moninder Singh Pandher in all cases related to the infamous 2006 Nithari murders. The high court also annulled the death sentences previously imposed on Koli in 12 cases and on Pandher in two cases. While Pandher is lodged in a Noida jail, Koli is in a Ghaziabad prison. Reacting to the court's order, Manisha Bhandari, lawyer of Nithari case convict Moninder Singh Pandher, said, "Allahabad High Court has acquitted Moninder Singh Pandher in the two appeals against him. There were a total of 6 cases against him. Koli has been acquitted in all appeals against him here." #WATCH | Manisha Bhandari, lawyer of Nithari case convict Moninder Singh Pandher, in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh "Allahabad High Court has acquitted Moninder Singh Pandher in the two appeals against him. There were a total of 6 cases against him. Koli has been acquitted in all pic.twitter.com/BYQHeu3xvz ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) October 16, 2023 Verdict A Setback For CBI The verdict dealt a major blow to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), as the High Court overturned the death sentences initially handed down by Ghaziabad's CBI court. A division bench, comprising Justice Ashwini Kumar Mishra and Justice Sha Rizvi, delivered the ruling. Death Sentence Commuted To Life Imprisonment While upholding the death sentence for Koli in one case, the court commuted the sentence to life imprisonment in another due to procedural delays. No Evidence, Says HC The acquittal was based on the absence of direct evidence and credible witnesses in the cases. Rimpa Haldar Murder Case Notably, in the Rimpa Halder murder case, the High Court and the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for Surendra Koli and Moninder Singh Pandher, considering the available evidence. Long Legal Battle The accused had filed 14 applications in the high court, challenging their convictions. The court's decision came after an extended legal battle that lasted several years. Nithari Case Recap The Nithari case, which shocked the nation, first came to light in 2006, revealing a series of heinous crimes. Surendra Koli's first appeal against his death sentence was lodged in 2010. Over the years, the High Court heard and considered multiple petitions related to the case. In his appeal, Koli contended that there were no eyewitnesses to the incidents in question, and his conviction and death sentence were solely based on scientific and circumstantial evidence. On October 16, Israel marked the 10th day of its conflict with the Palestinian terror group, Hamas. The conflict began on October 7 when Hamas initiated an attack on Israel. Since then, Israel has been fully engaged in a military campaign to eliminate the Hamas militant group, utilizing military aircraft and vehicles. In today's DNA, Zee News anchor Sourabh Raaj Jain delved into the ongoing 10-day war between Israel and Hamas. The conflict was triggered by a devastating attack by Hamas on October 7, resulting in the loss of approximately 1,400 Israeli lives. In retaliation, Israel has been carrying out military operations for the past nine days. Sadly, the Gaza Strip has witnessed significant casualties, with over 2,450 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks, including more than 724 children and more than 370 women. Over the course of these ten days following the initial Hamas attack, the Israeli military has severely damaged Gaza through missile and bomb strikes. The conflict has forced approximately one million people in northern Gaza to evacuate their homes after receiving evacuation warnings. Gaza's hospitals are overwhelmed with the injured, and mass burials have become necessary in various locations in Gaza. According to the United Nations, there is a growing risk of starvation among the people in Gaza. However, Israel remains resolute and is not heeding calls for a ceasefire. The Israeli army, comprising one lakh soldiers and hundreds of tanks, is prepared to enter Gaza and is awaiting government orders to completely eradicate Hamas. On the tenth day of the conflict, another front of war is emerging. Israel has evacuated an area up to two kilometers from the Lebanon border. On Sunday, the terrorist organization Hezbollah launched rocket attacks on Israel from the Lebanese border, prompting a retaliatory response from Israel. My general vintage computing projects, mostly microcomputers, 6502, PalmOS, 68K/Power Mac and Unix workstations, but that's not all you'll see. Be kind, REWIND and PLAY.Old VCR is advertisement- and donation-funded, and what I get goes to maintaining the hardware here at Floodgap. I don't drink coffee, but the Mr Pibb doesn't buy itself. :-) Thanks for reading. KHARTOUM, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- The devastating conflict in Sudan entered its sixth month on Sunday without showing any signs of peaceful resolution, creating one of the worst crises the country has ever faced. The conflict began on April 15 when the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) clashed in Sudan's capital Khartoum and other regions. The violence has killed thousands of civilians, displaced millions more, and destroyed much of the country's infrastructure, especially in Khartoum. It has also worsened Sudan's economic woes. As the war dragged on, Sudanese politicians and international humanitarian organizations warned of more suffering and violence if no political solution was reached. "If we fail to reach a political settlement to the current military conflict, Sudan will turn into a center and source of disasters in the world and the region," Siddiq Al-Mahdi, acting chairman of the Sudanese National Umma Party and a member of the Forces of Freedom and Change Alliance (FFC), a civilian political coalition in Sudan, said in a statement. Yasir Arman, chairman of Sudan People's Liberation Movement - SPLM Democratic Revolutionary Current and an FFC leader, expressed his concern that both sides in the Sudanese conflict lack a clear strategy to manage the crisis and arrive at a political resolution. "The SAF and the RSF will not accept each other's demands, and both will indulge in a search for more gains," Arman said, urging national, regional, and international actors to push for a lasting humanitarian ceasefire. Arman urged a joint decision by the African Union, the Arab League, and the UN Security Council to implement a no-fly zone and halt attacks on residential areas, emphasizing the importance of addressing humanitarian concerns and protecting civilians. The UN mission in Sudan said on X platform that about 5.6 million people have been displaced inside and outside Sudan since the start of the conflict. It said humanitarian partners have reached about 3.6 million people with life-saving assistance, but noted that the revised 2023 Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan was only 33.5 percent funded. The war has also disrupted vital sectors such as education, as schools and universities have been closed. Also on Sunday, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on the X platform that "six months into the Sudan crisis, UNICEF fears disruption of basic services can cost the future of 24 million children." It said there were 19 million children in Sudan who did not have access to education, while 14 million others did not have access to basic services. "Sudan is on the brink of becoming home to the worst education crisis in the world," said Mandeep O'Brien, UNICEF country representative in Sudan. "Now, forced away from their classrooms, teachers, and friends, they are at risk of falling into a void that will threaten the future of an entire generation," she said. At the economic level, the war has caused severe shortages in food supplies and a spike in prices of essential goods. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said in a statement that the six-month-long hostilities in Sudan threatened food security across the country. The World Bank said in its latest report that economic activity in Sudan was expected to contract by 12 percent because of the internal conflict which was halting production, destroying human capital, and crippling state capacity. Unofficial reports indicate that more than 400 facilities in Khartoum in the food, pharmaceutical, and various other industries went out of service due to extensive damage caused by the conflict. Production and agricultural projects throughout the country have also suffered due to a lack of funding and administrative instability. NEW DELHI: In a bid to mend strained diplomatic relations with India after recent allegations, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has extended his warm wishes to the Hindu community on the auspicious occasion of Navratri. This gesture followed earlier claims by Trudeau suggesting Indian involvement in the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Trudeau conveyed his wishes via an official message: "Happy Navratri! I'm sending my warmest wishes to members of the Hindu community and all those who are celebrating this festival." He highlighted the importance of Navratri in the Hindu faith, signifying the victory of the goddess Durga over the buffalo-headed demon Mahishasura and the triumph of good over evil. Trudeau recognized the festival as an occasion to learn about Hindu culture and appreciate the community's contributions to Canada. Happy Navratri! Im sending my warmest wishes to members of the Hindu community and all those who are celebrating this festival. https://t.co/ISCjvJqnKJ Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) October 15, 2023 An official press statement released by the Canadian PM said that over the next nine nights and 10 days, members of the Hindu community in Canada and around the world will gather to celebrate Navratri. "Navratri is one of the most important and sacred festivals in the Hindu faith, commemorating the victory of the goddess Durga over the buffalo-headed demon Mahishasura and the triumph of good over evil. Often seen as a celebration of feminine energy, it is a time for friends and family to come together and honour century-old traditions with prayers, joyous performances, special meals, and fireworks," the statement quoted the Canadian PM as saying further. Earlier, Trudeau's assertions regarding Indian involvement in Nijjar's killing had strained diplomatic ties. The Hindu Forum of Canada urged the Canadian government to take immediate action against designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who had allegedly endorsed Hamas and threatened Indian Consulates in G7 nations. India vehemently denied Trudeau's claims and urged Canada to take legal action against anti-India elements operating within its borders. This diplomatic tension resulted in tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats and the suspension of visa services for Canadian citizens by India. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar highlighted Canada's permissive attitude towards terrorists and extremists, citing safety concerns for Indian diplomats in Canada. India also issued a travel advisory urging its citizens to exercise caution due to growing anti-India activities and politically condoned hate crimes in Canada. In the midst of these strained ties, reports surfaced of India requesting Canada to withdraw a significant number of its diplomats, further highlighting the diplomatic rift between the two nations. NEW DELHI: Amid a row over no Guard of Honour at the funeral of Agniveer Amritpal Singh, the Indian Army has issued a statement addressing the circumstances surrounding the unfortunate passing of the soldier from Punjab. In its statement, the Indian Army shed light on the reason why military honours were not accorded during his funeral. The Army revealed that Singh tragically took his own life while on sentry duty, resulting in the absence of military honours as per the established rules which withhold such honours for self-inflicted injuries. The Army emphasized its commitment to treating all soldiers equally, irrespective of whether they joined the force before or after the initiation of the Agnipath scheme. Clarifying allegations that the lack of military honours was linked to Singh's association with Agniveer, the Army provided an accurate account of the events leading to Singh's passing. He lost his life due to a self-inflicted gunshot injury while on duty in the Rajouri sector, an event deeply regretted by the Army and a significant loss for both his family and the force. "It is a grave loss to the family and the Indian Army that Agniveer Amritpal Singh had shot himself," the Army said on Sunday. "Armed Forces do not differentiate between the soldiers who joined prior to or after implementation of the Agnipath Scheme as regards entitled benefits and protocols," read a statement by the army. Following medico-legal procedures, Singh's mortal remains were respectfully transported to his hometown under Army arrangements, accompanied by an escort party, for the last rites. The Army outlined its policy, reiterating that deaths resulting from suicide or self-inflicted injuries, regardless of entry type, do not warrant military funerals based on the Army Order of 1967. However, the Armed Forces ensure these cases receive the appropriate respect and empathize with the affected families. The Army shared data indicating an unfortunate yearly loss of soldiers due to suicide or self-inflicted injuries, emphasizing that the policy has been consistently upheld without discrimination since 2001. The Army further highlighted the provision of financial assistance and relief to the affected families for conducting funerals, acknowledging the weight of such losses on both the families and the armed forces as a whole. In a plea to society, the Army urged the upholding of respect, privacy, and dignity of the grieving family during these challenging times. The statement underscored the Armed Forces' commitment to adhering to established policies and protocols, seeking the support of all sections of society as they navigate these sensitive situations. Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann took to X, formerly Twitter, and stated whatever the Army policy, his government's policy will remain the same for a martyr and it will give Rs 1 crore to the family of the soldier. Amritpal Singh had served with his unit, 10 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles in the Poonch area of Jammu and Kashmir when he died of a gunshot wound to the head on October 10. The absence of a military guard of honour for Agniveer Amritpal Singhs funeral in his native village of Kotli Kalan in the Mansa district of Punjab on October 13 attracted criticism from the Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), and others. Sharvari Wagh Dazzles in Vibrant Yellow Swimwear: Sharvari Wagh, known for her passion for travel, frequently shares glimpses of her vacations on social media. Her preferred destinations often involve beach getaways, and she often reminisces about past trips by sharing throwback photos on her Instagram account. Her recent post showcasing her beach vacation received admiration and applause from friends and fans alike. Taking to her Instagram, Sharvari posted a snapshot from her beach retreat accompanied by the caption, "Monday blues". In the photograph, she exudes charm in a striking yellow beach attire, complete with sunglasses and a cap. The actress strikes a stunning pose, barefoot, at the enchanting locale in Thailand during a boat ride, leaving no doubt that she has caused a sensation on the internet with this alluring photograph. Sharvari graced her Instagram with three bikini-clad pictures, each captivating and enticing. The Bunty Aur Babli 2 actress looked absolutely stunning in her sizzling yellow bikini. The first image highlights her hourglass figure as she relaxes on a boat after a sea dive. In the second photo, Sharvari is captured in a seated position, joyfully engaged in conversation. The third bikini picture showcases her sporting a cap bearing the inscription 'OFF TOPIC'. Her post is accompanied by the caption, Monday blues . Sharvari's pictures add the perfect touch of allure and sensuality, leaving internet users breathless and captivated. Sharvari initiated her acting journey with the web series 'The Forgotten Army Azaadi Ke Liye' in 2020, starring alongside Sunny Kaushal and created by Kabir Khan. Additionally, she appeared in the movie 'Bunty Aur Bubli 2'. Sharvari has also been associated with films like Munjha and Maharaja. In her upcoming project, she is set to feature in a Yash Raj spy movie, sharing the screen with Alia Bhatt. Amid the fear of escalation with Hezbollah, Israel's joint ministry of defence today announced plans to evacuate citizens from the 2km areas bordering Lebanon. In a statement, the IDF said that the decision was approved by the Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant and the residents would be shifted to the state-funded guest house. "The National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) of the Ministry of Defense and the IDF are announcing the implementation of a plan to evacuate residents of northern Israel who live in the area up to 2 kilometers from the Lebanese border to state-funded guesthouses. The implementation of the plan was approved by Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant. A short while ago, the Northern Command updated the heads of the local authorities on to the decision. The plan will be implemented by the heads of the local municipalities, the Ministry of Interior and the National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) of the Ministry of Defense," said the IDF. The IDF further said that there are 28 communities in the area that will be shifted to the guest houses. Joint Ministry of Defense and IDF announcement: The National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) of the Ministry of Defense and the IDF are announcing the implementation of a plan to evacuate residents of northern Israel who live in the area up to 2 kilometers from the October 16, 2023 Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has chaired an emergency meeting ahead of the Israeli Defence Forces's ground attack on Gaza. Over 10,000 IDF soldiers and tanks have lined up at the Gaza border as they wait for the Gazans to evacuate southwards to Wadi Gaza. On the other hand, United States President Joe Biden has said that while Israel should finish Hamas, it should not recapture Gaza as it would be a mistake. Biden also said that there is a fundamental difference between Israelis killed in the Hamas attack and Palestinian civilians and Hamas terrorists killed in Tel Aviv's counter-attack. The US president said that Hamas has engaged in barbarism that is as consequential as the holocaust. TEL AVIV: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office has denied there are any arrangements for the opening of the Rafah Border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. "At the moment there is neither a ceasefire nor humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip in return for the exit of foreigners," CNN cited the Israeli PM's office as saying. Taking to X, Israel's Prime Minister's office stated, "The Prime Minister's Office, this morning: There is no ceasefire." The Prime Minister's Office, this morning: There is no ceasefire. Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) October 16, 2023 It was earlier reported that Israel has activated a plan to evacuate residents within 2km (1.2 miles) of Lebanon. The report, which cited the Israeli Defense Forces, followed exchanges of fire with Hezbollah in parallel to the conflict in southern Israel with Hamas. In a statement, the Israel Defence Forces and the Ministry of Defence said the plan had been approved by the defence secretary, Yoav Gallant, and included the evacuation of 28 settlements. Residents will be moved to state-subsidised guest houses. Meanwhile, the Palestinian terror group Hamas also issued a statement noting it had not received confirmation from Egypt about the possible opening of the Rafah border crossing. A security alert from the US Embassy in Jerusalem earlier on Monday cited media reports saying the Rafah crossing will open at 9 a.m. local time (2 a.m. ET) on October 16. We anticipate that the situation at the Rafah crossing will remain fluid and unpredictable and it is unclear whether, or for how long, travellers will be permitted to transit the crossing, the embassy statement said. US Embassy in Jerusalem citing media reports issued a security alert that the Rafah crossing will open at 9 am (local time) on Monday, according to CNN. The US Embassy in Jerusalem said, "We anticipate that the situation at the Rafah crossing will remain fluid and unpredictable and it is unclear whether, or for how long, travellers will be permitted to transit the crossing," CNN reported. The Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt is the only remaining outlet to move people out of Gaza and send supplies into it. Notably, Israel has closed two border sites and the Rafah crossing has remained shut for much of the past week, according to an NBC News report. Tons of vital humanitarian supplies for people in Gaza have been piling up on the Egyptian side of the border. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced confidence in his recent conversation with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi regarding the delivery of aid to people in Gaza and said that the Rafah crossing will be reopened. He made the remarks to media persons at Cairo Airport on Sunday and added that the measures are being put in place with the United Nations, Egypt, Israel, and others to get assistance and to get it to people who need it. "With regard to Rafah, I had a very good conversation with President El-Sisi. We have put in place - Egypt has put in place a lot of material support for people in Gaza. And Rafah will be reopened. We're putting in place with the United Nations, with Egypt, with Israel, with others, a mechanism by which to get the assistance in and to get it to people who need it," Blinken said. Israel To Restore Water Supply To South Of Gaza Strip Meanwhile, Israel's Energy and Infrastructure Minister Israel Katz announced Israel's decision to open the water to the south of the Gaza Strip after it was shut off following Hamas's attack on October 7. In a statement posted on X, Katz stated, "The decision to open the water to the south of the Gaza Strip, which was agreed upon between Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Biden, will result in pushing the civilian population to the south of the Gaza Strip and will make it possible to tighten the general siege on Gaza in the areas of electricity, water and fuel, and will make it easier for the IDF to operate and destroy the Nazi Hamas infrastructure." IDF Ready For Ground Invasion On Sunday, the Israel Defence Forces chief said that the army will soon enter the Gaza Strip to decimate the Hamas terror group, reported The Times of Israel. IDF Chief of Staff Lt General Herzi Halevi told troops in Southern Israel on Sunday, "Our responsibility now is to enter Gaza, to go to the places where Hamas is preparing, acting, planning, launching. Attack them everywhere, every commander, every operative, destroy infrastructure." "In one word, to win," he added. The IDF Chief further said that this is a great mission and a great privilege. He added, "We're going to do something big, important, To change the situation for a long, long time... This is a great mission, a great privilege. Do it with excellence." We Will Crush Hamas: PM Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reiterated Israel's determination to defeat Hamas and expressed gratitude for the resilience and unity displayed by the nation. PM Netanyahu highlighted the nation's unity and its support for front-line warriors, portraying a strong and determined stance against the violent attacks by Hamas. The ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict has also taken a heavy toll, with a significant number of casualties and injuries reported from both sides, necessitating urgent humanitarian aid and peace efforts. The Israeli military has amassed armoured vehicles on the outskirts of Gaza in preparation for a ground-based assault. Israel says it is striking back at Hamas and targeting its operatives and operational centres in retaliation to the October 6 attacks that saw over 1,400 Israelis dead and hundreds kidnapped. Over one million people in the northern Gaza Strip have been driven from their homes since Israel began its bombing campaign against the Palestinian group Hamas, the United Nations has said. Tel Aviv: In the midst of the ongoing conflict with Hamas, Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have released crucial satellite images showcasing the impact of Hamas's attacks on October 7. The IDF highlighted the extent of Hamas' willingness to commit war crimes, making it visible even from space. Israel Defence Forces took to X to post satellite images portraying the alterations in Israel's landscape before and after the Hamas attacks on October 7. The stark contrast in these images underscores the impact of the assault. The lengths Hamas is willing to go in order to commit war crimes are visible even from outer space. pic.twitter.com/7c3oLeUeVQ Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 16, 2023 Hamas' Arsenal Revealed Alongside the satellite images, the IDF displayed confiscated weapons used by Hamas to target Israelis. The IDF emphasized their commitment to neutralize Hamas' terrorist infrastructure and weapon manufacturers in Gaza. In a video shared on X, an Israeli soldier provided insights into the weapons confiscated, revealing the extensive armaments brought by Hamas. He stressed the homemade nature of these items, shedding light on the group's preparedness for prolonged engagements. These confiscated weapons are only 20% of the ones used by Hamas to kill Israelis. In order to prevent further attacks, the IDF will see to the removal of Hamas terrorist infrastructure and weapon manufacturers in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/T0MLLgYrAw Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 16, 2023 Hamas' False Flag Operation Addressing recent events, IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus debunked an incident where Hamas seemed to stage a tragic event for propaganda purposes. Conricus emphasized Hamas' potential gains from such actions. Escalation And Retaliatory Measures The conflict escalated with anti-tank guided missiles fired towards Israeli territory from Lebanon. This provoked a response from the IDF, targeting Hezbollah's "military infrastructure" in Lebanon. International Warnings & Deterrence The United States and its allies cautioned Hezbollah against escalating the conflict further. A carrier strike group deployment to the eastern Mediterranean sends a strong message, urging all parties to exercise restraint. Hezbollah is a highly trained, well-armed and sophisticated military force that also receives Iranian support, so its entry into the conflict would mark a significant escalation. UN Secretary-General's Humanitarian Appeal UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made a heartfelt appeal for immediate actions to alleviate the suffering in the Middle East, calling for the release of hostages and unimpeded humanitarian aid access in Gaza. "As we are on the verge of the abyss in the Middle East, I have two humanitarian appeals: To Hamas, the hostages must be immediately released without conditions," he posted. "To Israel, rapid & unimpeded access for humanitarian aid must be granted for the sake of the civilians in Gaza," he added. "Each one of these two objectives is valid in themselves. They should not become bargaining chips and they must be implemented because it is the right thing to do," Guterres said in a statement, adding that "Gaza is running out of water, electricity and other essential supplies," The Times of Israel reported. 'Will Crush Hamas' Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated Israel's determination to defeat Hamas and expressed gratitude for the resilience and unity displayed by the nation. Netanyahu highlighted the nation's unity and its support for front-line warriors, portraying a strong and determined stance against the violent attacks by Hamas. PM Netanyahu yesterday convened Israel's expanded emergency cabinet, which includes former opposition lawmakers. "Hamas thought we would be demolished. It is we who will demolish Hamas," he said. Toll On Lives The ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict has taken a heavy toll, with a significant number of casualties and injuries reported fro both sides, necessitating urgent humanitarian aid and peace efforts. The Israeli military has amassed armoured vehicles on the outskirts of Gaza in preparation for a ground-based assault. Israel says it is striking back at Hamas and targetting its operatives and operational centres in retaliation to the October 6 attacks that saw over 1,400 Israelis dead and hundreds kidnapped. Over one million people in the northern Gaza Strip have been driven from their homes since Israel began its bombing campaign against the Palestinian group Hamas, the United Nations has said. Tel Aviv: In a major blow to Hamas, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) claimed to have successfully eliminated at least six prominent commanders of the Palestinian militant organization amid an escalation of war which entered its tenth day on Monday. The action follows a violent assault by Hamas on Israeli border regions, resulting in the loss of numerous innocent lives and the abduction of several individuals. The IDF has been actively conducting "localized" aerial operations in Gaza over the past 24 hours, aiming to eliminate Hamas terrorists and remove weaponry while searching for missing persons, as declared by the IDF. In their statement, the Israeli military highlighted their efforts to cleanse Gaza of terrorists and their weaponry through targeted raids. The IDF said that based on precise ISA and intelligence, Muetaz Eid the Commander of the Hamas Southern District of National Security - was killed in the latest air strikes. Throughout the day, the IAF struck approximately 250 military targets - mostly in the northern Gaza Strip. Based on precise ISA and IDF intelligence, Muetaz Eid the Commander of the Hamas Southern District of National Security was killed. Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) October 15, 2023 During these operations, the IDF executed an airstrike that resulted in the death of a senior Hamas commander responsible for overseeing the group's aerial activities in Gaza CityMurad Abu Murad, a key figure within Hamas. Billal Al Kedra, a top Hamas commander, responsible for the Kibbutz Nirim massacre in Israel, was also killed in an Israeli airstrike, the Israel Air Force (IAF) said in a statement earlier. Israeli intelligence pinned Billal Al Kedra's location in Khan Yunis, a city in the south of the Gaza Strip. Al Kedra was a commander of the Nukhba force, a naval commando unit under Hamas' special forces unit of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. Additionally, Israeli fighter jets targeted a Hamas operation centre, further disrupting the group's activities. In a retaliatory response to a recent attack from Lebanon, Israeli forces also struck Hezbollah's "military infrastructure" in Lebanon. As part of the extensive IDF strikes of senior operatives and terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, the IDF and ISA killed the Nukhba commander of the forces in southern Khan Yunis, who was responsible for the Kibbutz Nirim massacre pic.twitter.com/7QJE1LWQXf Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) October 15, 2023 This retaliatory measure was a response to an incident where anti-tank-guided missiles were fired towards an Israeli town and military posts near the Lebanon border, resulting in the loss of civilian life. - , () . pic.twitter.com/Qe1dYx2LFb Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) October 15, 2023 Warning To Hezbollah Amid Escalating Tensions The United States and its allies have issued warnings to Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant organization, advising them against escalating the conflict in Israel. The US has taken strategic steps, including the deployment of military assets, to prevent the potential widening of the war. There have been coordinated efforts to communicate the message to Hezbollah through various channels, emphasizing the necessity for them to refrain from engaging in the ongoing conflict. France, at Israel's request, has also communicated to Hezbollah that any further escalation would provoke a significant response from Israel. Hezbollah's involvement in the conflict would represent a significant escalation due to its well-trained, well-armed, and sophisticated military capabilities, supported by Iran. Barrage Of Rockets Targets Central & Southern Israel A relentless barrage of rockets was launched from the Gaza Strip towards central and southern Israel late on a recent Sunday night, as reported by The Times of Israel. The alarms sounded in several neighbourhoods along the Gaza border, as well as in Ashkelon, Ashdod, Rehovot, and Ramle. The Iron Dome missile defence system intercepted a considerable number of incoming rockets, generating loud explosions, though immediate reports do not indicate direct hits or casualties. The Iron Dome system, a crucial tool in Israel's defence arsenal, plays a significant role in intercepting incoming projectiles. It rapidly assesses potential threats and launches missiles to destroy rockets posing danger, effectively minimizing the impact of the attacks. International Involvement To Prevent Full-Scale War US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has ordered the deployment of a carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean as a deterrent message to Hezbollah and its supporters in Iran. The intention is to discourage these entities from entering the ongoing conflict. The movement of the carrier signifies a clear message of deterrence to any state or non-state actors considering widening the war beyond its current boundaries. Hamas Holding 199 Hostages In Gaza: Israel The hostages were seized on Saturday 7 October when Hamas fighters broke through the Israeli border fence in southern Israel, and attacked a music festival and multiple settlements killing more than 1,300 Israelis. The army said that at least 291 Israeli soldiers have been killed so far in the conflict, and reiterated the statement from the prime ministers office that there is no temporary ceasefire in place in southern Gaza. Israel has strongly responded to the terror group's attack and has bombarded Gaza with airstrikes, and it is anticipated that it will soon begin a land offensive there. Israeli Defence Minister Gallant said that the estimated 150-200 hostages are being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, adding, "We are making every effort to locate them even in this great complexity.'' At least 2,750 Palestinians have been killed and 9,700 wounded in Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip since 7 October, Reuters reports that the Gaza health ministry said on Monday. Tel Aviv: In the wake of continued hostilities between Israel and Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared his resolve to defeat the Palestinian armed group Hamas, which launched attacks on Israeli border areas, resulting in the loss of hundreds of innocent lives on October 7. Speaking about the ongoing conflict, Prime Minister Netanyahu expressed that Hamas had underestimated Israel's resilience, stating, "Hamas thought Israel would break, but we will break Hamas," as reported by The Times of Israel. During the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu and his ministers observed a moment of silence to pay tribute to those who lost their lives in the devastating Hamas attack. He reiterated his determination to work in unity, sending a clear message both to Hamas and the world. Netanyahu emphasized, "We are working around the clock as a team, with a united front. Our unity conveys a clear message to the people, the enemy, and to the world." He also acknowledged the unwavering support for the front-line warriors of Israel, stating, "I saw our wonderful warriors who are now on the front line. They know that the entire nation is behind them. They understand the magnitude of the task. They are ready to act at any moment, to exterminate the bloody monsters that rose up against us." Netanyahu Meets Families Of Hamas Attack Victims In a significant move, Netanyahu met with the families of those who went missing or were held captive during Hamas' assault on Israel. His office shared images of the Prime Minister consoling the relatives, as the families called for the return of their loved ones. This visit followed previous criticism from the families, who accused the government of abandoning those detained in Gaza. In response to a statement by National Security Council chief Tzachi Hanegbi, where he indicated that negotiations with Hamas would not occur, Netanyahu clarified his stance during the meeting with the families. IDF Targets Military Post On Lebanon Border Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces reported that another military post on the Lebanon border was targeted with an anti-tank guided missile. The IDF intercepted some of the rockets fired from Lebanon and struck the launch site. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant pledged a "deadly" war against Palestinian terror groups in Gaza, vowing to change the situation permanently in southern Israel. Humanitarian Crisis Deepening In Gaza: UN Regarding the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), expressed deep concerns. He noted the dire situation with critical shortages of water, electricity, food, and medicine, as well as an overwhelming number of people seeking shelter in UNRWA facilities. Lazzarini emphasized that Gaza is running out of water and facing severe hardships, and he called for an immediate end to hostilities, the lifting of the siege, and the establishment of a humanitarian corridor to provide essential supplies. TEHRAN: In the midst of Israel's preparations for a potential ground invasion of Gaza, Iran issued a stark warning, demanding an immediate halt to aggressions against Palestinians. The Iranian Foreign Minister singled out the United States for steadfastly supporting Israel following the devastating Hamas attack that claimed over 1,400 Israeli lives. "If the Zionist aggressions do not stop, the hands of all parties in the region are on the trigger," warned Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, according to Reuters. The relentless Israeli bombardment of Gaza has resulted in the loss of more than 2,670 lives, including over 700 children. Israel severed all essential supplies to the densely populated coastal enclave but recently restored water access to the southern region. Iran emphasized the precariousness of the situation, cautioning that no one can guarantee control and non-expansion of conflicts. They urged those interested in preventing the war's escalation to act against the ongoing brutal attacks targeting citizens and civilians in Gaza. Half a Million Flee to Southern Gaza: IDF Reports In response to Israel's evacuation notice on Friday, approximately half a million people have fled northern Gaza for the south, reported the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson. This estimate accounts for roughly half of the population of northern Gaza, where the IDF is gearing up for the next stages of the conflict with Hamas. The evacuation advisory followed a complete siege imposed by Israel on Gaza. The IDF has allowed safe movement for residents from the northern city of Beit Hanoun to Khan Yunis in the south, a distance of approximately 20 miles through rubble-strewn streets. However, the influx of people has strained southern Gaza's capacity. Shelters are overwhelmed, and the region is grappling with shortages of food, water, and fuel. Israel 'Has No Interest' in Occupying Gaza: UN Ambassador Israel's UN ambassador, Gilad Erdan, affirmed that Israel has no intention of occupying Gaza but is committed to doing whatever is necessary to eliminate Hamas. He emphasized that Israel does not seek to rule over the lives of over 2 million Palestinians. Rafah Border Crossing Set to Reopen, Says Blinken US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed that the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza is set to reopen to facilitate humanitarian aid. This decision followed a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Details of the reopening mechanism were not provided, but it is expected to enable aid to reach those in need. Gaza Hospitals Face Imminent Fuel Shortage, Warns UN Hospitals in Gaza are on the verge of a fuel crisis, with fuel reserves expected to last for only about 24 hours, according to the UN's humanitarian office (OCHA). The shutdown of backup generators due to the fuel shortage jeopardizes the lives of thousands of patients. OCHA also highlighted the heavy and almost uninterrupted Israeli bombardments of Gaza, as well as the ongoing mass displacement of Palestinians. Netanyahu Meets Families Of Hamas Attack Victims In a significant move, Netanyahu met with the families of those who went missing or were held captive during Hamas' assault on Israel. His office shared images of the Prime Minister consoling the relatives, as the families called for the return of their loved ones. This visit followed previous criticism from the families, who accused the government of abandoning those detained in Gaza. In response to a statement by National Security Council chief Tzachi Hanegbi, where he indicated that negotiations with Hamas would not occur, Netanyahu clarified his stance during the meeting with the families. Israel has sent soldiers and tanks to its northern border with Lebanon, which is patrolled by the UN. It has also closed a four-kilometre (2.5-mile) wide area to civilians after deadly fire across the border with the Iran-backed Hezbollah group. TEL AVIV: The Israeli military has intensified its efforts to locate and neutralize Yahya Sinwar, the No. 2 in the Hamas leadership, labelling him a dead man walking and a ''direct enemy of the State of Israel.'' Amidst preparations for a ground incursion into Gaza, the hunt for Sinwar has escalated. Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a spokesperson for the Israeli military, strongly condemned Sinwar, stating, He chose to send the butchers into our bedrooms to kill our babies, according to NBC News. And when they chose to go full front against Israel, they signed their own death warrant. A dead man walking. We will get to that man. Sinwar, responsible for the day-to-day governance in Gaza, is believed to be hiding within the intricate network of tunnels utilized by Hamas militants to conceal arms, combatants, and hostages, as disclosed by Israeli officials. However, he had been a marked man long before the coordinated terrorist assault by Hamas militants on kibbutzim, music festivals, and city streets on Oct. 7. As Israel readies for a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, a spokesperson for the Israeli forces emphasized that Sinwar and his team "are in our sights." Israel holds Sinwar accountable for orchestrating the attacks that claimed the lives of 1,300 Israelis. 'Butcher Of Khan Younis' Born in a Gaza refugee camp in the early 1960s, Sinwar joined Hamas soon after its establishment in 1987, gaining notoriety for his involvement in forming the militant groups internal security force, according to a European Council on Foreign Relations profile. Sinwar, born in 1962, was raised in Khan Younis city in southern Gaza, then under Egypt's control. The Israeli forces often refer to him as the "butcher of Khan Younis" due to his association with the town. He holds a bachelor's degree in Arabic studies from the Islamic University in Gaza. Yahya Sinwar is a direct enemy of the State of Israel and his genocidal terrorist organizationHamasis a threat to the entire world. pic.twitter.com/mYCgcOgjpX Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 16, 2023 Time In Israeli Jail Sinwar has spent a cumulative 24 years in prison, commencing with his initial arrest in 1982 for subversive activities. Over the subsequent years, he collaborated with Salah Shehade to form a unit targeting Israel's spies within the Palestinian movement. Following Shehade's death in 2002, Sinwar's unit became a consolidated arm within Hamas. In 1988, Sinwar was arrested for his role in the murder of two Israeli soldiers and four suspected Palestinian collaborators. He was later sentenced to four life sentences. The Release & Rise To Power Have you ever Googled "Who is Yahya Sinwar"? pic.twitter.com/wrhc4q0FsB Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 13, 2023 In 2006, Hamas' military wing Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades carried out a daring attack into Israeli territory, resulting in the capture of an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit. Sinwar, having spent 22 years in prison, was among the prisoners released in a swap deal in 2011 for Shalit's freedom. Post his release, Sinwar rapidly ascended through the ranks of Hamas, particularly within its military wing. He was designated a terrorist by the US in 2015 for his foundational role in the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades. In 2017, Sinwar was elected as the head of Hamas in Gaza. Leading Gaza In Armed Struggle Against Israel Sinwar holds the position of Number 2 in the Hamas hierarchy after Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the organization's political bureau. Operating as the de facto ruler of Gaza in Haniyeh's absence, Sinwar staunchly advocates for armed struggle against Israel and rejects any compromise formula. Renowned for his impassioned speeches, he commands unwavering loyalty from Hamas ranks and is known to be meticulous in overseeing the conduct of Hamas operatives. 2023 Israeli Attacks & Israeli Response Israel has accused Sinwar of masterminding the recent attacks on Israeli cities. Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, the Israel Defense Forces spokesperson, categorically stated, "Yahya Sinwar is the face of evil. He is the mastermind behind this like [Osama] bin Laden was (for 9/11)." Hecht reiterated Israel's determination not to spare Sinwar and confirmed that Sinwar and his team are under their radar, emphasizing a potentially prolonged campaign. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reiterated Israel's determination to defeat Hamas and expressed gratitude for the resilience and unity displayed by the nation. Netanyahu highlighted the nation's unity and its support for front-line warriors, portraying a strong and determined stance against the violent attacks by Hamas. The ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict has taken a heavy toll, with a significant number of casualties and injuries reported from both sides, necessitating urgent humanitarian aid and peace efforts. The Israeli military has amassed armoured vehicles on the outskirts of Gaza in preparation for a ground-based assault. Israel says it is striking back at Hamas and targeting its operatives and operational centres in retaliation to the October 6 attacks that saw over 1,400 Israelis dead and hundreds kidnapped. Over one million people in the northern Gaza Strip have been driven from their homes since Israel began its bombing campaign against the Palestinian group Hamas, the United Nations has said. ASMARA, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a major global initiative that is "responsive to the times," a senior Eritrean government official has said. "When it comes to the arrangements (BRI), you can envisage various projects and programs that are responsive to the times," Eritrean Minister of Information Yemane Gebremeskel told Xinhua in a recent interview. With the growth of its relations with China, the Red Sea nation signed a Memorandum of Understanding with China in November 2021 to join the initiative. Gebremeskel said cooperation under the initiative will further lift bilateral relations to new heights. "The Belt and Road Initiative will only add to existing relationships," the information minister said. "This is the relationship that has been flourishing for the last three decades, and it will continue." Proposed in 2013, the initiative aims to build trade and infrastructure networks on and beyond the ancient Silk Road routes. It comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. Gebremeskel highlighted the importance of cooperation in infrastructure development under the initiative. "Investments in infrastructure (and) support in infrastructure is good because it creates an enabling environment," he said. "Africa does not need a lot of handouts. It needs support at a critical juncture, for a limited period of time. Africa has its own potential, its own contributions to global trade, to global investment, (and) to global growth," Gebremeskel said. "We have to recognize that there is potential everywhere, and we can devise cooperation arrangements that can catalyze domestic growth; can tap the domestic potential, so there can be synergy (and) complementarity," he said. Navratri, a vibrant and auspicious Hindu festival, is celebrated with great zeal and fervor across India. In South India, the festival is marked by unique customs, vibrant decorations, and artistic expressions that add a special charm to the festivities. Let's delve into the distinctive ways in which Navratri is celebrated in the southern regions of India. 1. Kolu Doll Display In South India, Navratri is synonymous with the traditional Kolu display, where intricate and artistic dolls are arranged on steps. These dolls depict mythological stories, religious themes, and daily life scenes. Families open their homes for visitors to come and admire the beautifully arranged Kolu, fostering a sense of community and culture. 2. Classical Dance Performances Classical dance forms like Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, and Mohiniyattam are an integral part of Navratri celebrations in South India. Dancers adorn themselves in exquisite costumes and perform intricate routines, narrating mythological stories and celebrating the divine feminine energy that Navratri symbolizes. 3. Golu Pujas During Navratri, families conduct Golu pujas where they invoke blessings from the goddesses. Various rituals are performed to honor the divine feminine, seeking prosperity, happiness, and peace for the family and community. 4. Traditional Music Concerts Carnatic music concerts and devotional singing are an essential part of Navratri festivities in the south. Renowned musicians and vocalists come together to offer melodic renditions dedicated to the goddesses, adding a spiritual essence to the celebrations. 5. Sarvajanika Navratri Celebrations Many communities organize grand Sarvajanika Navratri celebrations. Elaborate stages are set up, and cultural performances, music, and dance events take place. These events bring people from diverse backgrounds together to revel in the joy of Navratri. 6. Sundal Distribution Sundal, a traditional South Indian snack made from lentils or legumes, is a staple during Navratri. Families distribute this delicious and nutritious dish to friends, family, and neighbors as a symbol of togetherness and unity. Navratri in South India is a delightful confluence of art, culture, spirituality, and community bonding. The rich traditions and customs associated with this festival reflect the deep-rooted reverence for the goddesses and the vibrant cultural fabric of the region. (This article is intended for your general information only. Zee News does not vouch for its accuracy or reliability.) New Delhi: The cast of 'Khamoshi' along with other Bollywood celebrities recently assembled under one roof to celebrate the remarkable 45-year journey of filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra Films in the industry. Among the luminaries who paid tribute to the acclaimed director-producer, Raju Hirani, a renowned filmmaker himself, shared insights into working with Chopra, shedding light on the valuable lessons he learned from their collaboration on 'Munna Bhai MBBS.' Reflecting on his partnership with Vidhu Vinod Chopra during the making of 'Munna Bhai MBBS,' Raju Hirani spoke eloquently about the wisdom he gained from the experienced filmmaker. "From 'Munna Bhai MBBS,' I did learn a lot from him on perseverance. How you keep slogging, slogging, and tirelessly work till you get it right on the paper," Hirani noted, highlighting Chopra's dedication to perfecting the craft of storytelling. Hirani went on to emphasize the importance of artistic integrity, adding one more important thing that Vidhu Vinod Chopra said that helped him in his filmmaking journey, he added, "Make the film that you want to make and not the one they want you to make." This nugget of wisdom is a testament to Vidhu Vinod Chopra's commitment to telling stories that resonate with authenticity, a value cherished by both accomplished filmmakers. Vidhu Vinod Chopra's illustrious career has left an indelible mark on the Indian film industry, influencing generations of filmmakers. His enduring legacy continues to inspire, as his colleagues and mentees gather to celebrate his immense contribution to the world of cinema. Meanwhile, on the work front, he is gearing for '12th Fail' starring Vikrant Massey. As the Israel-Hamas conflict pressed into its ninth day, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) made a significant revelation about the weaponry and communication systems employed by Hamas. Evidence has emerged of a connection between the Palestinian militant group and China, shedding light on the use of Chinese-manufactured weapons and communication technology by Hamas fighters. Israeli military intelligence has been meticulously examining the origins and specifications of the weapons and communication systems used by Hamas. This analysis has uncovered a concerning association between Hamas and China, suggesting the utilization of Chinese-made arms and mobile communication systems in the ongoing conflict. The IDF's findings indicate that Hamas has been deploying rockets equipped with advanced Chinese systems, which include communication capabilities integrated into the rockets themselves. These systems are believed to enhance the precision and targeting capabilities of the rockets, posing an increased threat to Israeli civilians and military infrastructure. The Chinese mobiles and communication systems found within the possession of Hamas operatives indicate a clandestine network facilitating the acquisition and distribution of these advanced tools. Israeli authorities have raised concerns over the potential international implications of this revelation. The discovery of a link between Hamas and China raises questions about the role of external actors in fueling the Israel-Hamas conflict. Meanwhile, Israel is preparing to launch a massive ground attack in Gaza to eliminate Hamas targets. So far, over 280 Israeli soldiers have lost their lives while around 2500 Gazans including Hamas militants have been killed in Israeli Air Strike. WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden has said that it would be a big mistake for Israel to reoccupy Gaza, but that Israel has to respond and go after Hamas after last weeks terror attacks which he compared to the Holocaust in an interview that aired Sunday. Asked by 60 Minutes if he agreed with a total siege of Gaza, Biden said he was confident Israel would act within the rules of war and there would be an ability for the innocents in Gaza to be able to have access to medicine and food and water. Biden calls for humanitarian aid supplies to Gaza Addressing concerns about a potential "total siege" of Gaza, President Biden voiced confidence in Israel's adherence to rules of war and stressed the importance of ensuring innocent civilians in Gaza have access to essential provisions such as medicine, food, and water. President Biden urged the provision of aid supplies into Gaza and advocated for the establishment of a humanitarian corridor, allowing civilians to leave the enclave. He emphasized the necessity of a Palestinian Authority and a path to a Palestinian state. US Intelligence: No Clear Evidence Linking Iran To Recent Attacks President Biden clarified that there is currently no clear evidence linking Iran to the recent terror attacks in Israel carried out by Hamas. He reiterated that the administration continues to assess intelligence, but as of now, specific evidence connecting Iran to the attacks has not been identified. Palestinian Authority President Condemns Hamas Attacks Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned Hamas' attacks on Israel, emphasizing that they do not represent the Palestinian people. Abbas urged Israel to halt its aggression in Gaza and to protect Gazan civilians by facilitating the provision of essential supplies through a humanitarian corridor. Israeli PM Meets Families of Missing Israelis, Vows Action Against Hamas Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with the families of Israelis missing and held captive by Hamas. The meeting comes amid criticism from family members who claim the administration has not adequately addressed the detainment issue. Netanyahu assured the families of his commitment to work towards their safe return and reaffirmed the intention to act against Hamas. IDF Chief Outlines Strategy To Counter Hamas Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lt. General Herzi Halevi outlined a strategy to confront Hamas. He expressed the IDF's responsibility to enter Gaza, target Hamas operations, and destroy infrastructure to neutralize the terror group effectively. The chief emphasized the objective to achieve victory and ensure the safety of Israeli citizens. WASHINGTON: In a harrowing incident, a Muslim woman and her six-year-old son, believed to be Palestinian-American, were brutally stabbed multiple times in an attack linked to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. The child tragically succumbed to his injuries after being stabbed 26 times, while the 32-year-old woman, likely his mother, is expected to survive the horrific assault. The attacker, a 71-year-old landlord named Joseph Czuba, was charged with murder, attempted murder, and two counts of hate crimes. This savage act was closely linked to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, as revealed by the Will County sheriff's office in Illinois. The victims were deliberately targeted due to their Muslim identity amid the escalating tensions in the Middle East. The woman bravely managed to call 911 during the attack. Upon arriving at the scene, authorities found both victims in a bedroom with multiple stab wounds to their chest, torso, and upper extremities. Shockingly, a serrated military-style knife with a seven-inch blade was recovered from the boy's abdomen during the autopsy. Ahmed Rehab, head of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Chicago office, provided further insights into the horrific attack. Czuba had reportedly knocked on the door, attempted to choke the woman, and spewed hate-filled words, stating, "You Muslims must die." Biden Condemns Incident In light of this appalling incident, US President Joe Biden condemned the killing of the boy as a "horrific act of hate." The attack underscores the tragic consequences of hate-fueled violence amidst the escalating tensions and violence in the Middle East. It emphasizes the urgent need for unity and understanding to combat bigotry and hate, particularly in the context of the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. Israel declared war on Hamas last Sunday, a day after waves of Hamas fighters broke through the heavily fortified border and shot, stabbed and burned to death more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians. The subsequent relentless bombing has flattened neighbourhoods and left at least 2,670 people dead in the Gaza Strip, the majority ordinary Palestinians. NAIROBI, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese-built Nairobi Expressway in Kenya emerged as the top performer in two categories at the Afrika Mashariki Transport Awards 2023, MOJA Expressway Company that runs the toll road said Monday. The road's electronic toll collection (ETC) system clinched the "Best Technological Innovation in Transport" award, and it also secured the "Sustainable Transport" award. The ETC system is an innovation that enables drivers to conveniently pay for using the expressway, ultimately saving time. To use the service, drivers register by providing their details and vehicle information. A chip is then fitted to the vehicle, allowing them to top up cash for the service. The ETC system has gained popularity among Kenyan drivers due to the time savings and discounts provided by the MOJA Expressway Company. As a result, the average daily traffic volume has increased to a record 65,000 vehicles, according to the company. The 27-km road is an integral part of sustainable urban transportation in Kenya. It significantly reduces travel time from the south to the west of Nairobi, cutting it from two hours to just 20 minutes, resulting in fuel savings and reduced emissions. "Our mission is to revolutionize urban transportation. Our core goal is to provide not only affordable but also sustainable transportation options," said Jeanne Ong'iyo, the public relations manager of MOJA Expressway Company. The transportation awards represent a significant milestone as they are the first of their kind in East Africa, designed to acknowledge excellence in the industry. The organizers include various Kenyan government agencies. KIGALI, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Eight years ago, a Rwandan woman named Francine received the devastating diagnosis of stage-four breast cancer. Thanks to an early diagnosis, she underwent a successful mastectomy and is now on the path to recovery. Today, she frequents a wellness center in Kigali, Rwanda's capital, where she connects with fellow cancer patients for support and explores ways to maintain a healthy lifestyle. "I felt anger, anxiety and hatred towards myself but I have since adapted and gained confidence again in my life," Francine said. Francine was one of the hundreds who took to the streets of Kigali last Sunday to raise awareness about breast cancer. "Raising awareness about cancer is crucial because people not only need to understand the nature of the disease but also the potential for positive treatment outcomes," she said. The Ulinzi Walk, organized by the voluntary group Breast Cancer Initiative East Africa (BCIEA), sought to dispel myths about breast cancer and promote early detection. This annual event is part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, observed in October to raise awareness about the disease, its symptoms, risk factors, prevention measures and the significance of early diagnosis. Phillipa Kigubu-Decuir, the founder of BCIEA, considered the event a significant success in terms of enhancing awareness of preventive measures. She stressed the importance of educating women about the disease to ensure early detection before it becomes life-threatening. Kigubu-Decuir noted that early diagnosis plays a pivotal role in saving lives. Following the Ulinzi Walk, various related activities took place, including free clinical breast exams, sharing of testimonies, and screening for non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, blood pressure, and body mass. The event drew participants from various age groups, and Kigubu-Decuir believes that the youth can serve as catalysts for change by encouraging their parents to undergo regular check-ups. She underpinned the importance of dispelling myths and taboos surrounding breast cancer, saying that ignorance and lack of awareness are significant contributors to the disease's impact. Notably, breast cancer patients in Rwanda now have access to treatment at various healthcare facilities. Community health workers are actively engaged in awareness campaigns, educating women about breast cancer self-examination and screening. Kigubu-Decuir, who tragically lost her sister to breast cancer, stressed the need for continued efforts to reduce the cost of treatment and drug transportation. She summarized her message in three key points: "Love yourself, know yourself, and prioritize regular checkups." by Abdul Haleem HERAT, Afghanistan, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The quake-affected families and those who survived the recently devastating natural disaster that swept through west Afghanistan have been looking forward to receiving aid and building shelters as the chilly winter is nearing in the war-ravaged Asian country. "Our utmost need is to rebuild our home as the winter is getting closer. We cannot live in tents in winter as the night in winter is cold," an injured woman in the regional hospital of Herat Province told Xinhua. The woman, unwilling to give her name, said she had lost her one-year-old baby in the quake, a misery she has yet to recover from. "My one-year-old son was taking breast milk. Suddenly the quake jolted the area. I attempted to escape, but the house was razed to rubble, and my son was under debris for about one hour. He died, and I am in hospital," she recalled, with sadness. She said she was a resident in Sarbland, one of the worst-hit villages in the Zindajan district of Herat. "We had a four-room house, but have nothing now. Everything has gone. Now winter is around the corner and we live in a tent." Two deadly quakes, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center, each with a magnitude of 6.2 followed by several aftershocks, rocked west Afghanistan on Oct. 7, leaving thousands dead and injured. Between 1,200 to 1,500 residential houses, according to acting Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, were destroyed during the quakes hitting Herat. Fresh tremors followed by aftershocks also rocked Herat on Oct. 15, leaving at least two dead and more than 150 others injured. The number of residential houses damaged or destroyed, according to locals, could be higher than reported. Corroborating a similar feeling, a man who survived the deadly quake called Hajji Mohammad Ismail said the quake was horrible, noting his village was turned to dust in seconds. "It was 11:10 a.m. local time, and we were sipping tea, but suddenly a powerful blast threw us down from the top of a mosque, and when we stood on our feet, we saw big smoke and within seconds found our village turned to dust," said Ismail, who lives in the Naib Rafi village. "About 300 families with 2,000 people used to live here in this village but a majority of them including women, children and elderly people have died, about 80 or 90 percent of the village's population were killed in the quake," he added. "We need everything, but above all, our shelters must be built as a priority," the man said. SEOUL, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's export of information and communications technology (ICT) products fell for the 15th consecutive month in September amid continued weakness in global demand for locally-made tech products, government data showed Monday. ICT products shipment sank 13.4 percent from a year earlier to 18.06 billion U.S. dollars in September, continuing to slide since July last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Semiconductor export declined 14.4 percent to 9.99 billion dollars last month on the back of lower chip prices. Display panel shipment added 1.0 percent to 2.0 billion dollars on demand for OLED panels used for mobile devices, but mobile phone export reduced 5.2 percent to 1.37 billion dollars. Shipment for computers and peripherals dived 48.0 percent to 800 million dollars, and communications equipment export decreased 17.2 percent to 220 million dollars. ICT products shipment to the United States, the European Union (EU) and Japan retreated in double digits, but export to Vietnam gained ground last month. Import for ICT products dropped 16.8 percent over the year to 10.76 billion dollars in September, sending trade surplus in the ICT industry to 7.3 billion dollars. Import for chips, computers and mobile phones all declined in double figures last month. WELLINGTON, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's dairy giant Fonterra's focus at this year's China International Import Expo (CIIE) is sustainable development and cheese nutrition, as the China market is showing strong signs of recovery post-pandemic, with dairy consumption growing significantly over the years. Fonterra is always looking at innovative ways of using dairy products in local cuisine, such as cream cheese tea macchiatos, cheese lollipops and even cheese dumplings, Teh-han Chow, Fonterra's Greater China CEO, has told Xinhua. "Other examples include our 'Cheese Pro' products which are a mix of cream and cheese that help customers to save time when making tea macchiatos," Chow added. At CIIE 2023 to be held on Nov. 5-10 in Shanghai, Fonterra is promoting sustainably produced, high-quality and nutritious dairy products from New Zealand with locally driven innovative solutions to meet the needs of Chinese customers, he said. Fonterra has participated in CIIE for six consecutive years as China is one of Fonterra's most important strategic markets. Over the years, Fonterra has increased both its booth area and the number of contracts it has signed at CIIE, he said. "We are seeing an increase in demand for health and wellness related products in China," he said, adding that key products to be introduced at CIIE 2023 reflect Fonterra's nutrition advantage that meets the increasing demand in China for health and wellness products," he said. Looking to the future, Fonterra plans to expand its foodservice business to more tier two and tier three cities in China, enhancing its products through investment in innovation, and strengthening its offerings in Chinese cuisine and continuous menu development, he said. Owned by New Zealand farmers, Fonterra has benefitted greatly from healthy bilateral relationship between China and New Zealand, Chow said, adding that there is strong alignment between Fonterra's priorities and those of the Chinese government, such as nutritional targets for dairy consumption and China's emission reduction targets. Earlier this year, Fonterra opened its fifth Fonterra Application Center in Shenzhen, and recently upgraded its application centers in Shanghai and Beijing. SIEM REAP, Cambodia, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese-invested Siem Reap Angkor International Airport (SAI) here in northwest Cambodia's tourist hub commenced operations on Monday, raising hope for tourism revitalization. The first commercial flight operated by Bangkok Airways landed at the airport on Monday morning, receiving a warm welcome from Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Cabinet Minister Vongsey Visoth. Speaking at the event, Visoth said the SAI, with a 3,600-meter runway, is a 4E-level international airport that can accommodate long distance flights from across the globe. "The new airport will give a boost to the development of tourism in Siem Reap province in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era," he said. "It is a testament to the fruitful cooperation between Cambodia and China under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)." Visoth said the SAI will contribute to the development of Cambodia's tourism, trade and economy in the long term, and local people in Siem Reap province will reap maximum benefits from this airport. The SAI has been invested by the Angkor International Airport Investment (Cambodia) Co., Ltd., an affiliate of China's Yunnan Investment Holdings Ltd. Mao Havannall, minister in charge of the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA), said the airport will be able to handle 7 million air passengers per annum from 2024 and up to 12 million passengers annually from 2040. "It is a historic milestone in the development of the aviation industry in Cambodia," he said. "This is also the fruit of the ironclad friendship and the Diamond Hexagon cooperation framework between Cambodia and China." Covering a parcel of 700 hectares, the SAI is located in Sotr Nikum district, about 40 km from the UNESCO-listed Angkor Archaeological Park and 50 km from Siem Reap provincial town. With the commencement of SAI operations, the old Siem Reap International Airport was entirely closed, as all commercial flights of air passengers and cargo were transferred to the SAI, according to the SSCA. BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- With 669 deaths from cardiovascular diseases in Brunei last year, compared to 416 in 2021, cardiovascular diseases have become the second leading cause of death in the Southeast Asian country, a medical expert has said. Md Nadzir Juanda, president of Cardiac Society Brunei Darussalam, made the remarks at the society's 10th annual scientific meeting. Cardiovascular diseases continue to be the leading cause of death globally and Brunei is no exception, the expert was quoted as saying by the local daily Borneo Bulletin in a report on Monday. "It is through conferences and meetings such as this that we can update ourselves with the latest development in cardiology with regards to prevention and treatment of cardiac-related conditions, and reduce mortality, and make a meaningful impact on the health and well-being of our community," he said. Nearly 600 doctors, nurses, health professionals and students participated in this year's event. CANBERRA, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Indigenous Australian leaders have called for a week of silence after voters defeated a referendum to recognize First Nations people in the constitution. In a statement issued on Sunday, a coalition of Indigenous organizations from across Australia who supported the referendum said they would take a week to "grieve" the result. As of Monday morning, with 78 percent of votes counted by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), more than 60 percent of Australians had voted "no" to changing the constitution to recognize Indigenous Australians by establishing a Voice to Parliament that would have advised politicians on all matters affecting Indigenous people. The referendum, Australia's first since 1999, required a national majority of voters and majorities in at least four out of six states to pass. All six states rejected the proposal. "This is a bitter irony. That people who have only been on this continent for 235 years would refuse to recognize those whose home this land has been for 60,000 and more years is beyond reason," leaders said in Sunday's statement, "We are calling for a week of silence to grieve this outcome and reflect on its meaning and significance." They asked every Australian to "reflect hard" on the outcome of the referendum and to consider the role of "racism and prejudice" against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the result. According to AEC data, regions with a high proportion of Indigenous Australians overwhelmingly voted in favor of the referendum. Of the 21 mobile polling booths sent by the AEC to remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory (NT), only one recorded a majority "no" vote and 17 returned "yes" votes exceeding 60 percent. Beijing Daily: Special Envoy Zhai Jun of the Chinese Government on the Middle East Issue said in an interview over the weekend that in the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict, four Chinese citizens have been killed and two are missing. Can you give us more details? Mao Ning: As weve learned, it has been confirmed so far that four Chinese nationals have been killed, two are missing and six are injured in the conflict. We mourn deeply for the victims and offer our heartfelt sympathy to their families and those who are injured. Relevant Chinese diplomatic institutions are doing everything they can to coordinate efforts to save lives and treat the injured, 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. Commercial flights between China and Israel are still in operation. We advise local Chinese nationals to fly back to China on commercial flights as soon as possible. We will continue to carefully assess the security situation in Palestine and Israel, closely track air and ground accessibility and safety conditions and exert every effort to provide assistance to Chinese nationals. CCTV: At the 54th session of the UN Human Rights Council concluded in Geneva a few days ago, the Chinese delegation made several initiatives. Can you share more information with us? Mao Ning: The 54th session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) was held in Geneva from September 11 to October 13. The Chinese delegation engaged deeply in the work of the session to share Chinas views, present Chinas proposals and contribute Chinas ideas, and played a constructive role in advancing the Councils work. First, we briefed on Chinas vision and the progress on human rights. Putting the people front and center, we have found a human rights development path that fits our national realities. During the UNHRC, China actively shared our human rights vision and achievements, and called on all parties to engage in constructive dialogue and cooperation, which won extensive support. Second, China took an active part in global human rights governance. A draft resolution on promoting and protecting economic, social and cultural rights within the context of addressing inequalities, of which China is the major initiator, was adopted with consensus for the first time, which represents a strong response to the international communitys call for greater emphasis on and input into economic, social and cultural rights, and will help better promote and protect human rights. China also made important proposals for protecting the rights and interests of specific groups including women, people with disabilities and the senior population. Third, China upheld international fairness and justice at the UNHRC. We firmly upheld the UN Charter and the basic norms governing international relations, supported developing countries just proposals, opposed individual countries interference in other countries internal affairs under the pretext of human rights, opposed politicizing human rights issues and applying double standards, and supported countries efforts to explore human rights development paths that combine the principle of the universality of human rights and their own national realities. We also expressed concerns over human rights issues in some Western countries such as racial discrimination, hatred towards other religious beliefs, infringement on the rights of indigenous people, and abuse of unilateral compulsory measures, and urged those countries to take concrete steps to address them. China has been elected Member of the Human Rights Council for the 2024-2026 term. Going forward, we will continue to uphold the common values of mankind, take an active part in global human rights governance, champion the vision of protecting human rights through upholding security and promoting human rights through development and cooperation, and make greater contribution to promoting the sound development of the global human rights cause and building a community with a shared future for mankind. Reuters: It has been reported that the US will take steps to prevent American chip makers from selling semiconductors to China that circumvent government restrictions. The move aims to tackle loopholes as part of the Biden administrations upcoming actions to block more AI chips exports. How does China respond to the US expanding these restrictions on chips exports to China? Mao Ning: We have made our position clear on US restrictions of chip exports to China. The US needs to stop politicizing and weaponizing trade and tech issues and stop destabilizing global industrial and supply chains. We will closely follow the developments and firmly safeguard our rights and interests. Sky News: My question relates to the stabbing of an Israeli citizen in Beijing on Friday. I know it was confirmed that the attacker was a foreigner. Are you able to offer more information about where the attacker was from and whether its believed that anti-semitism played a role in the attack? Mao Ning: Beijing police has released relevant information. To my knowledge, the police is investigating and handling the matter. China will continue to take effective measures to protect the security and safety of foreign institutions and personnel in China. Bloomberg: Wang Yi called his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian over the weekend after speaking with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. How much of a role will China play in solving the Gaza crisis peacefully? How much is it willing to work with the US on this issue? Mao Ning: Over the weekend, Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs Wang Yi had conversations with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other parties. Weve released readouts, which you may refer to. China is closely following the current tensions between Palestine and Israel. We believe that the pressing priority is to promote deescalation, enable ceasefire and cessation of violence, protect civilians and avert a humanitarian disaster. In dealing with international and regional hotspot issues, major countries need to be objective and just and exercise calm and restraint. We stand ready to work with relevant parties of the international community to continue to play our role and make efforts for peace and stability in the Middle East. Sky News: Are you able to offer any more information about which countries from the Middle East might be sending delegations to the Belt and Road summit due to start tomorrow? Are you able to clarify whether any delegates from Israel might be attending and are you able to offer information about whether there will be any additional meetings on the sidelines of the Belt and Road that might not have been previously planned to try and help diplomatic efforts in the Middle East? Mao Ning: Thank you for your interest in the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. All interested countries are welcome to participate in the forum. There will soon be information about countries that will participate. We have stated our position on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on multiple occasions. China calls on relevant parties to immediately cease fire and restore peace. We will keep working with the international community to that end. AFP: Its reported that special envoy Zhai Jun will visit the Middle East this week. Can you give us more information about which countries he plans to visit and whom and what groups or governments will he meet with? Mao Ning: Special Envoy Zhai Juns visit aims to pool international consensus, urge relevant parties to stop hostilities, cool down the situation and create necessary conditions for political settlement. On the specific plan of the visit, we will release information in due course. Please check back for updates. NHK: How many countries and which leaders will attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation? Mao Ning: The third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will be held starting from tomorrow, so please keep following the latest updates and specific information about the forum will be available very soon. AFP: Foreign Minister Wang Yi just met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov today. Could you offer more information about their meeting, in particular, discussions about Ukraine and the current crisis in the Middle East? Mao Ning: Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov this morning. We will release information in a timely manner. Please check back for updates. Reuters: May we know how many foreign leaders or heads of state are coming to Beijing to attend the Belt and Road forum? Mao Ning: There is a great deal of attention and focus on the BRF right now. The forum will open soon. There will be relevant information in due course. Reuters: The Philippine military has called out China to stop what it calls unsafe actions in the South China Sea after a Chinese navy ship shadowed and attempted to cut off a Philippine navy vessel conducting a resupply mission near Thitu Island around the Spratly Islands late last week. Did the Chinese side attempt to disrupt the resupply mission and will the Chinese side continue to try to disrupt these resupply missions by the Philippines? Mao Ning: Zhongye Dao is Chinas territory. The Philippines has illegally occupied Zhongye Dao, which seriously violates Chinas sovereignty. The Chinese warships navigation and patrol in waters of Zhongye Dao is lawful and legitimate. NHK: When will President Xi Jinping and President Putin hold bilateral summit talks? Mao Ning: Well release information in due course. Please check back for updates. NHK: Japanese singer Shinji Tanimura passed away. Does China have any comment? Mao Ning: We express our condolences over Mr. Shinji Tanimuras passing. YANGON, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed and four others injured as an ambulance crashed into a truck in Myanmar's Yangon, an official from a local rescue organization said on Monday. The crash took place near a junction in Shwepyitha township in Yangon at around 7:45 p.m. local time when an ambulance swerved to avoid a pedestrian crossing the road but ended up colliding with a truck, the rescue official said. The rescue official from the Kanaung rescue organization told Xinhua that the dead included a male volunteer and a female patient on the ambulance, and the injured included three people on the ambulance and a pedestrian. "The volunteer died on the spot and the patient died at the hospital," he said, adding that his rescue team helped shift victims to the hospital. A man casts votes at a polling station in Warsaw, Poland, Oct. 15, 2023. Poland's ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) took a lead in Sunday's parliamentary elections with 36.8 percent of votes, according to an exit poll. (Photo by Aleksy Witwicki/Xinhua) WARSAW, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Poland's ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) took a lead in Sunday's parliamentary elections with 36.8 percent of votes, according to an exit poll. The exit poll by global polling research firm Ipsos showed that PiS, running in coalition with smaller partners, gained 200 seats in the lower house of the parliament, short of a majority in the 460-seat Sejm. The Civic Coalition dominated by the Civic Platform party was in the second place with 31.6 percent of votes, and the Third Way alliance gained 13 percent, according to the exit poll, which is reported to have a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points. At more than 31,000 polling stations across the country and overseas, Poles cast their ballots on Sunday to elect 460 members of Sejm and 100 senators for a four-year term. Over 29 million Poles aged 18 and above are eligible to vote. According to Ipsos, the voter turnout hit a record high at 72.9 percent. A referendum with four questions about privatization of state assets, retirement age, immigration and Polish-Belarusian border control was also held on Sunday. However, the Ipsos poll suggested that the referendum turnout was 40 percent, lower than the 50-percent validity threshold. The official results of the elections are expected by Tuesday noon. A woman casts votes at a polling station in Warsaw, Poland, Oct. 15, 2023. Poland's ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) took a lead in Sunday's parliamentary elections with 36.8 percent of votes, according to an exit poll. (Photo by Aleksy Witwicki/Xinhua) People wait to cast votes outside a polling station in Warsaw, Poland, Oct. 15, 2023. Poland's ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) took a lead in Sunday's parliamentary elections with 36.8 percent of votes, according to an exit poll. (Photo by Aleksy Witwicki/Xinhua) People wait to cast votes outside a polling station in Warsaw, Poland, Oct. 15, 2023. Poland's ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) took a lead in Sunday's parliamentary elections with 36.8 percent of votes, according to an exit poll. (Xinhua/Chen Chen) A man reads the list of candidates outside a polling station in Warsaw, Poland, Oct. 15, 2023. Poland's ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) took a lead in Sunday's parliamentary elections with 36.8 percent of votes, according to an exit poll. (Xinhua/Chen Chen) Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (R) speaks at a press conference following the 2024 budget bill's approval in Rome, Italy, on Oct. 16, 2023. Italy's Council of Ministers on Monday adopted the country's 24-billion-euro (25.3 billion U.S. dollars) budget for 2024, which includes funding for a new bridge connecting the mainland to Sicily. (Photo by Alberto Lingria/Xinhua) ROME, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Italy's Council of Ministers on Monday adopted the country's 24-billion-euro (25.3 billion U.S. dollars) budget for 2024, which includes funding for a new bridge connecting the mainland to Sicily. The budget bill also streamlines the Italy's tax code by reducing the number of tax brackets, provides free daycare for families with more than one child, and raises the workers' salary in the state health care system. The next step is for the bill to be submitted to the European Union watchdogs for approval and for it to clear both houses of Italy's Parliament. By law, all these must happen by the end of the year. Funding for the Messina Bridge project had been in doubt up until the final negotiations and the initiative is yet to win a thumbs-up from European regulators or from Parliament. But its inclusion in the budget is a significant step forward for the project. If ultimately constructed, the bridge connecting the Sicilian city of Messina with Reggio Calabria near the toe of Italy's boot-shaped peninsula would be the longest suspension bridge in the world, measuring 3,666 meters. The case in favor of the bridge includes promoting economic development of both sides of the bridge by reducing transport costs and times. But critics of the project worry about cost overruns, vulnerability to earthquakes and adverse environmental impacts. The project is reportedly to cost around 12 billion euros spread over 15 years. The budget also reduces the number of income tax brackets to three from the current four, combining the lowest two income categories into one and increasing the cap for tax-free income by nearly 4 percent. In addition to providing free childcare for families with at least two children, the budget would also allow mothers of at least two children to stop paying social security contributions on their income starting next year. The measures are part of a wider plan to help slow the decline in Italy's population. "We want to dismantle the narrative that says having children is a disincentive to work," Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told a press conference following the bill's approval. The budget earmarks over 2 billion euros for salary increases for state health care workers. If passed, it would be a major blanket salary hike for the sector since 2020. (1 euro = 1.05 U.S. dollars) Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (L) speaks at a press conference following the 2024 budget bill's approval in Rome, Italy, on Oct. 16, 2023. Italy's Council of Ministers on Monday adopted the country's 24-billion-euro (25.3 billion U.S. dollars) budget for 2024, which includes funding for a new bridge connecting the mainland to Sicily. (Photo by Alberto Lingria/Xinhua) MOSCOW, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Russia is ready to coordinate efforts with all constructively minded partners to bring an end to the violence in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and stabilize the situation. The Russian leader made the statement during separate telephone conversations with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi on Monday, in which the leaders discussed the recent escalation in the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Putin stressed the unacceptability of any form of violence against civilians, adding that Moscow is ready to provide all necessary humanitarian assistance. He noted that Russia's draft resolution, recently proposed to the United Nations Security Council, calls for the implementation of an immediate humanitarian truce, adding that the resolution is not politicized in any way. Putin reiterated that a long-term fair solution to the conflict should provide for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state coexisting in peace and security with Israel. The leaders further expressed extreme concern over the escalation in hostilities between Palestine and Israel, particularly the "catastrophic increase" in the number of civilian casualties and the deepening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. All presidents agreed on the need to implement an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian truce to provide assistance to those in need, particularly considering the serious concern that the conflict could escalate into a regional war. NICOSIA, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Twenty-six countries have requested Cyprus' assistance in repatriating their nationals from both Israel and the Gaza Strip, Konstantinos Letymbiotis, spokesman for the government of Cyprus, said here on Monday. "We are responding to the best of our abilities," Letymbiotis said. Earlier on Monday, Cyprus' National Council examined the situation in the region and possible developments that could affect Cyprus. Cyprus has activated a national emergency plan and mobilized government services and non-governmental organizations to provide assistance to thousands of people who are expected to arrive in Cyprus. Portugal, the United Kingdom and Denmark have already evacuated aboard military transport planes from Tel Aviv to Cyprus around 600 people, of whom 447 have already departed from Cyprus on commercial flights. Cypriot authorities have also provided assistance to another 2,500 people, mostly Israelis, who arrived on commercial flights. The number of people arriving aboard commercial flights has dropped sharply, as TUS Airways and Cyprus Airways have suspended their flights to and from Tel Aviv since the end of last week, citing security considerations. "We are following the developments closely, and we expect the next few days to be critical," Letymbiotis said. He added that the president of Cyprus will raise the issue at an extraordinary meeting of the European Council on Tuesday, with an emphasis on the need to protect civilians. BERLIN, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Germany has notified the European Commission of temporary controls at its borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland, set up to fight illegal migration, the country's Interior Ministry said on Monday. "The business of traffickers is becoming increasingly brutal and unscrupulous," said German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, adding that the deaths of seven people in a van, which crashed last week while fleeing police, have "shaken us deeply." By the beginning of October, Germany had already detected 98,000 unauthorized entries, 6,000 more than in the whole of last year. Police estimated that around one in four third-country nationals from outside the European Union (EU) who enter the country without permission are trafficked. In order to reopen borders within the EU as quickly as possible, stepping up the protection of the bloc's external borders is necessary, Faeser said. "We need to finalize EU legislation on this now." EU member states recently agreed to tighten asylum laws with a reform, which would allow for the extension of detention-like conditions at times of particularly high migration. The reform still has to be approved by the European Parliament. Far-right ideologies have gained an increasing foothold in Germany since record numbers of migrants began arriving in the country in 2022. A recent survey conducted by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES), a German political foundation, indicates a significant rise in the proportion of Germans with a "clear right-wing extremist orientation," which now stands at 8 percent. Meanwhile, 16 percent have a negative attitude toward foreigners, FES said. These results are "not only frightening, but also demand consistent action -- from politicians, but also from society itself," stressed FES Chairman Martin Schulz last month. The relationship between India and Israel is characterized by unwavering cooperation and mutual support. Throughout the years, this enduring partnership has witnessed several pivotal moments that have cemented their friendship. Beyond the well-known instances previously mentioned, there are other remarkable episodes where Israel offered assistance to India, underscoring their commitment to regional security and the common values they share. The 1971 War: Amidst the Indo-Pak War of 1971, Israel played a critical role by providing significant military support to India, despite the absence of official diplomatic relations between the two nations at the time. India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, had initially opposed the formation of Israel, citing concerns about creating a nation based on religion. However, Israel's contributions during the war included the supply of essential arms and ammunition, which played a vital role in India's military efforts and ultimately contributed to the creation of Bangladesh. Kargil War (1999): The Kargil War serves as another testament to Israel's unwavering support for India. Israel provided essential military equipment such as aerial drones, ammunition, and laser-guided missiles, which significantly aided India's efforts to reclaim territory from infiltrating Pakistani forces. 26/11 Mumbai Attacks (2008): In the wake of the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, Israel extended its support further. Israeli officials offered to assist India in neutralizing the Pakistani terrorists who had infiltrated vital installations, highlighting the deep friendship shared between the two countries. Israel offered its intelligence support to gather information about the terrorists. Notably, during the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the Jewish place of worship, Chabad House, was also targeted. It is crucial to mention that during this time, some attempts were made to label the attacks as Hindu terrorism, but the capture and confession of terrorist Ajmal Kasab, who revealed he was sent by Pakistan to wage jihad in India, dispelled such notions. Combating COVID-19 (2020): During the global COVID-19 pandemic, Israel once again stood by India's side. The nation provided crucial medical assistance, including oxygen concentrators, which underlined Israel's unwavering commitment to India's well-being. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Proposal: In a less-known but pivotal chapter of this partnership, Israel reached out to India to prevent Pakistan from becoming a nuclear-armed state. A report disclosed that in 1987, Israel approached India with a proposal to jointly attack Pakistan's nuclear reactor, Kahuta, located outside Islamabad. Israel argued that a nuclear-armed Pakistan would pose a significant threat to India's security. Israel even provided espionage documents and satellite photographs obtained from the United States for this operation. Regrettably, the Indian government, led by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi at the time, declined Israel's proposal. It is essential to note that some of the intelligence shared by Israel with India was leaked to Pakistan, alerting them to the imminent threat. As a result, Pakistan conducted nuclear tests and continued to maintain a nuclear arsenal, posing an ongoing challenge to India's security. The enduring partnership between India and Israel is marked by numerous instances of unwavering support and cooperation, showcasing the strength of international alliances. From their collaborative efforts during times of war to initiatives addressing global health and security, this relationship transcends political boundaries. While certain opportunities were missed in the past, these episodes reflect the profound bond shared between the two countries, based on shared values and a commitment to regional stability. Telangana's BRS Unveils Welfare-Focused Election Manifesto with Promises of Increased Benefits Mild Earthquake Shakes Delhi and NCR, No Damage Reported Gaganyaan: ISRO Gears Up for Human-Based Mission: Crew Escape System Test In a latest incident that has raised tensions in the hotly disputed South China Sea, the Philippines has accused China of engaging in what it deemed "dangerous maneuvers." The allegation comes after a Philippine naval vessel was shadowed and obstructed by a Chinese navy ship. The encounter, which occurred on October 13 in the vicinity of Thitu Island, known as Pag-asa Island in the Philippines, involved the BRP Benguet, which had issued a radio warning to China's Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Ship 621. Subsequently, the PLAN ship followed the Benguet, which was on a resupply mission, and made an attempt to cross the ship's path at a proximity of 320 meters (approximately 350 yards), as disclosed in a statement by the Philippines Armed Forces via Facebook. Thitu Island, a part of the Spratly Islands chain, has been under Philippine occupation since the 1970s and currently accommodates as many as 400 residents. Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos, the chief of the Western Command, expressed concern over these "dangerous maneuvers," emphasizing that they present substantial risks to maritime safety, collision avoidance, and the lives of those at sea. He urged China to promptly cease these unsafe actions and adhere to international law in a professional manner. This incident is just the latest in a series of encounters between the Philippines and China in areas located within Manila's 200-nautical-mile (370-kilometer) exclusive economic zone (EEZ). In the preceding month, divers from the Philippine Coast Guard removed a floating barrier that had been installed at Scarborough Shoal. This shoal had been seized by Beijing from Manila after an extended standoff in 2012. General Romeo Brawner, the chief of staff of the Philippines Armed Forces, issued a strong appeal to China, urging it to desist from such "dangerous maneuvers" and aggressive actions towards Philippine vessels. He emphasized the potential for collisions and the endangerment of lives of maritime personnel on both sides. Incidents have also been reported near Second Thomas Shoal, particularly during resupply missions to the Sierra Madre, a Philippine vessel intentionally grounded on the reef in 1999 to bolster its claim to the waters. Second Thomas Shoal is situated about 195 kilometers (approximately 121 miles) northwest of the Philippine province of Palawan. It's important to note that the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled in 2016 that China's claim to the South China Sea had no legal basis. Despite this ruling, China has continued to disregard it, further expanding and developing military outposts in the disputed waters, along with deploying its fishing fleets, maritime militia, and coast guard to assert its territorial claims. Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam also lay claim to various parts of the South China Sea. The Philippines' statement labeled Beijing's presence near Thitu Island as "illegal" and highlighted that China's actions constitute a breach of international law. What's Impact of Israel-Hamas Conflict on UA: FBI Cites These Concerns Indian-Origin Security Officers Killed in Israel-Hamas Conflict: Report Israel: Elderly Man Faces Charges for Fatal Stabbing of 6-Year-Old, Accused of Hate Crimes Abbas Ganbay The Ambassador of Italy to Azerbaijan, Claudio Taffuri, recently spoke at a joint event to mark the launch of ADA University School of Agricultural and Food Sciences and World Food Day held in Baku. During his speech, Taffuri highlighted Italy's potential to contribute to bringing technologies in the field of food and agriculture to Azerbaijan, Azernews reports. "Efforts are being made to increase collaboration between the two countries in various fields. There are also opportunities for cooperation in the fields of food and agriculture. The activities of government institutions, private sectors, and civil societies related to food safety can also play a special role in this issue," the ambassador noted. According to a report from the World Economic Forum, digital agriculture can reduce food waste throughout the supply chain. In Italy, 4.0 technologies are already being used to support agricultural processes. In 2019, the main digital technologies used in the agriculture and food industry in Italy included mobile technologies, remote sensing, distributed computing, and Artificial Intelligence. In addition, FAO has identified five ways in which science, technology, and innovation can help transform the world's agrifood systems. These include using digital applications in agrifood systems, such as mobile phones and the internet, to access information, inputs, markets, and finance. Italy is well-positioned to contribute to bringing these technologies to Azerbaijan. By providing training and ensuring access to the newest technology, Italy can help ensure that small-scale producers in Azerbaijan do not miss out on any advances in this fast-evolving domain. Description Bens Kosher Deli (www.bensdeli.net), with locations through Queens and Long Island, is celebrating kids in October. With the purchase of any sandwich or entree in one of Bens dining rooms, select an item from the kids menu for $5. Kids menu items include: Hebrew National beef frank, classic chicken tenders, lil steakburger and junior deli sandwich. This offer is available for kids 10 and under throughout the month of October and only applies to dining in, not takeout. On Bens Kosher Deli Bens Kosher Deli is a family-owned and operated restaurant and delicatessen that has been serving up the finest authentic New York Kosher delicatessen and eastern European comfort foods since 1972. Customers love Bens homemade soups, hot pastrami, fresh-cut coleslaw, baked knishes and crunchy all you can eat pickles. All of Bens soups, salads, sandwiches and dinners are freshly prepared. Bens has seven convenient locations: Three on Long Island in Carle Place, Greenvale and Woodbury, and one each in Midtown Manhattan; Bayside, Queens; and in Boca Raton, Florida. Delivery service available to many communities near the stores. Bens Kosher Deli www.bensdeli.net 211-37 26th Avenue, Bayside, New York 11360, (718) 229-2367 59 Old Country Road, Carle Place, New York 11514, (516) 742-3354 140 Wheatley Plaza, Greenvale, New York 11548, (516) 621-3340 7971 Jericho Turnpike, Woodbury, New York 11797, (516) 496-4236 Facebook: @benskosherdelifanpage Instagram: @bensdeli In this article, well take a look at the 12 Best Clean Laundry Detergent Brands, with detailed insights into the trends in the global detergent market and top players in the industry. For a quick overview of the top 5 brands, read the 5 Best Clean Laundry Detergent Brands. In today's global market, the laundry detergent industry is more significant and influential than ever before. With an estimated global value of over $120.7 billion as of 2021, this industry is marked by fierce competition, constant innovation, and a deep understanding of consumer needs and preferences. From 2022 to 2031, the laundry detergent market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.3%, with an anticipated value of approximately $176 billion in 2031. This growth can be attributed to various factors, such as increased urbanization, rising disposable incomes, and the continuous demand for cleaner and more efficient laundry solutions. A trend shaping the industry is the rising interest in organic detergents. The organic laundry detergent market was valued at around $40 billion in 2021 and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 3.4% between 2021 and 2027, reaching around $51.5 billion by 2027, per Business Research Insights. Consumers now prefer organic brands and products, which has led companies to invest heavily in research and development, aiming to produce detergents that not only clean effectively but also have a reduced environmental impact. Also see 25 Most Environmentally Friendly Companies in the World. The Key Players in the Laundry Detergent Industry A report by Transparency Market Research shows that major players in the laundry detergent industry account for around 40% to 45% of the total global market share. When it comes to the top players in the industry, brands like Procter & Gamble Co (NYSE:PG), Church & Dwight Co Inc (NYSE:CHD), Unilever Plc (NYSE:UL), Biokleen, and Dropps have established themselves as leaders. These companies have achieved their positions through a combination of extensive research, an understanding of consumer behavior, and effective marketing strategies. Story continues Procter & Gamble Co (NYSE:PG), for instance, boasts an impressive portfolio of laundry detergent brands, with Tide being one of the most recognized names worldwide. Its continuous innovations, such as the introduction of Tide PODS, have kept it at the forefront of the industry. Reports show that Procter & Gamble Co (NYSE:PG) dominates the U.S. laundry market, holding nearly 60% of the liquid detergent segment and a whopping 80% share in single-dose laundry pods. Procter & Gamble Co (NYSE:PG) is also one of the worlds biggest consumer-products companies by sales. In the third quarter of its fiscal year 2023, the company reported a year-over-year surge of 4% in its net sales, reaching $20.1 billion. Simultaneously, Procter & Gamble Co (NYSE:PG) witnessed a 3% increase in its Earnings Per Share (EPS), jumping to $1.37 in Q3 FY2023 compared to $1.33 in the same quarter of the previous year. The fabric and home care sector accounted for 5% of the companys net sales, making a 9% increase compared to a year earlier. Unilever Plc (NYSE:UL) is another prominent brand that has a significant share in the laundry detergent market with its brands like OMO (Surf Excel) and Seventh Generation dominating the market. With total sales of around INR 8,200 crores, Surf Excel became the first brand in the Indian home care market to beat the $1 billion mark in annual sales. Unilever Plc (NYSE:UL) has also successfully tapped into the eco-friendly market with the acquisition of the organic laundry detergent brand Seventh Generation. The company acquired Seventh Generation for an estimated $700 million. Unilever Plc (NYSE:UL)s financial reports show its stronghold in the global consumer products market. In the first half of 2023, Unilever reported a 44.6% increase in sales compared to a year earlier. The company also reported a 55.2% growth in EPS, reaching 814.67 from 524.86 in the same period in 2022. Church & Dwight Co Inc (NYSE:CHD) is another leading manufacturer of household products that has established a significant presence in various consumer goods markets, including the laundry detergent market. Particularly renowned for its iconic "Arm & Hammer" brand, Church & Dwight Co Inc (NYSE:CHD) has successfully penetrated households across various demographics by providing efficient and innovative laundry solutions. In Q2 2023, Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD)s US product range witnessed growth in 11 of 17 categories. ARM & HAMMER liquid detergent saw a rise in demand and market share due to the ongoing trend toward value laundry products. The company also observed an increase in global online sales, which constituted 18% of total consumer sales for the quarter. Biokleen and Dropps are some of the top players in the organic laundry detergent industry. These brands are admired by consumers for their commitment to eco-friendly and health-conscious formulations. They capitalize on the use of natural and sustainable ingredients while eschewing the use of artificial fragrances, preservatives, and colors in their laundry detergents and other home cleaning products. Most Toxic Laundry Detergent Although numerous laundry detergent options exist in the market, laundry detergents from several brands have received an "F" rating (highly hazardous to health and environment) from the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a non-profit organization committed to advocating for improved health and environmental practices. Laundry detergents by notable brands such as Ajax, Boulder, Cheer, Woolite, Persil, Era, and Wisk, among others, have found a place on this list. Tide, a highly recognized laundry detergent manufactured by Procter & Gamble, is also categorized among the most toxic laundry detergent brands. A safer approach is to opt for organic laundry detergents from trustworthy brands, some of which are highlighted in this article. 12 Best Clean Laundry Detergent Brands Copyright: serezniy / 123RF Stock Photo Methodology For our list of the top 12 best clean laundry detergent brands, we focused on brands that make non-toxic and natural detergents. For this purpose, we looked through various articles that talked about or ranked non-toxic and natural detergents. We counted how often each brand was mentioned in our research, and the ones mentioned most frequently made our list. This way, we chose brands that are widely recognized for being safe and eco-friendly. Below is our list of the 12 best clean laundry detergent brands. 12 Best Clean Laundry Detergent Brands in the World 12. Earth Breeze Earth Breeze presents an eco-friendly laundry solution with its Liquidless Eco Sheets, aiming to provide an alternative to conventional liquid detergents in plastic bottles. Containing ingredients like glycerol and primary alcohol ethoxylate, these sheets are claimed to be hypoallergenic, vegan, and free from parabens, phosphates, bleaches, and dyes. The company has also donated detergent for more than 100 million laundry loads and claims to have saved over 25 million liters of water by offering eco-friendly solutions. 11. Biokleen Biokleen was established in 1989 with a vision to offer safe and effective cleaning solutions. The brand focuses on producing plant- and mineral-based cleaners, ensuring its products are free from phosphates, chlorine, ammonia, and other harsh chemicals, safeguarding both the environment and users alike. The use of organic and allergen-free ingredients in their products also makes Biokleen one of the best clean laundry detergent brands for sensitive skin. 10. Rebel Green Rebel Green is a women-owned brand that offers a line of USDA-certified organic laundry products, showing its commitment to innovative, eco-friendly solutions. Their products are free from synthetic fragrances, phosphates, phthalates, parabens, and dyes and contain pure essential oils, making them effective and gentle on sensitive skin. Its products are also available both unscented and in various scents including peppermint and lemon, lavender and grapefruit, and pink lilac, ensuring that you can get non toxic laundry detergent that smells good too. The company is certified with WBENC, B-Corp, and Leaping Bunny. 9. Dropps Dropps offers laundry detergent pods with a focus on sustainable and safe practices, making it a clean laundry detergent brand. The company ensures the use of bio-based and vegan ingredients while minimizing water usage in its operations. Dropps claims it has conserved around 6.1 million liters of water since 2018. Additionally, the company claims to have prevented the use of 5.1 million single-use plastic bottles through its practices. It also offers zero-waste shipping labels along with recyclable packaging materials to customers. As a certified B Corporation, Dropps is recognized for meeting stringent social and environmental standards. 8. Puracy Puracy is an award-winning clean laundry detergent brand, gaining recognition from media outlets like The New York Times, FOX, Business Insider, Forbes, and more. It has also won the Best of Baby Awards in 2018. Having reportedly sold over 8 million products, Puracy claims to be one of Amazons #1 best sellers in its category. According to the company, its products are composed of 98.5% natural ingredients and are free from sulfates, DEA, bleach, perfumes, phosphates, and more. Puracy ensures its products are both cruelty-free and dermatologist-tested. 7. Dirty Labs Dirty Labs is a cleaning innovations lab with a team of dedicated environmentalists and chemists to offer sustainable, safe, and biodegradable cleaning solutions. Its products are EWG-certified and free from synthetic preservatives, sulfates, fragrance allergens, and chlorine-based bleaches, making Dirty Labs one of the best non-toxic laundry detergent brands. The company uses enzyme-driven technology to ensure powerful stain removal and eliminate odor from clothes. You can use its detergent with traditional and HE machines. 6. Branch Basics Branch Basics is another clean laundry detergent brand that offers non-toxic, all-natural products. Branch Basics laundry detergent and cleaning products are non-GMO, hypoallergenic, fragrance-free, and free of preservatives. With vegan- and mineral-based ingredients like organic chamomile, decyl glucoside, sodium bicarbonate, and sodium citrate, the brand ensures its products are gentle to the skin and environment. Click to continue reading and see the 5 Best Clean Laundry Detergent Brands. Suggested Articles: Disclosure. None. 12 Best Clean Laundry Detergent Brands is originally published on Insider Monkey. Gas stations often have a large variety of everyday items, such as basic food supplies, sunglasses and other accessories, generic medications, auto supplies, and lottery tickets. While you might be tempted to pick up some of these things whenever you stop for gas, a lot of them are either overpriced or of lower quality than what youd get elsewhere. Read: Robert Kiyosakis 6 Passive Income Ideas Discover: How To Get Cash Back on Your Everyday Purchases Unless youre in dire need of a specific item and dont have time to get it from somewhere else, here are the top things you should skip when hitting the local gas station. Perishable Foods Many gas stations stock their shelves with a basic selection of food items, such as boxed goods and various sauces. Thats not to mention the wide assortment of snacks you can pick up while youre there. But when it comes to perishables, gas stations arent generally known for their quality or even their affordability. This is even the case when you visit gas stations like Sheetz that have a full-service kitchen in the back. Im a Financial Advisor: 7 Ways To Get Rich in Your Later Years Find Out: 5 Best Places To Sell Rare Coins and Paper Money There are definitely a few things Id avoid buying at a gas station, said Peter Fischer, CEO of LV Casino in Liechtenstein. First on my list would be fresh food items like sandwiches or sushi. Gas stations arent really known for their gourmet kitchens, and these items may not be as fresh or safe as youd hope. Mercy Lilian, a financial expert at FlexiPCB, said, I avoid sandwiches, wraps, and other perishable foods sold in gas stations, no matter how glazed they seem. In 2016, an investigation by a food safety inspector found that many gas stations did not store food properly. Any perishable foods stored in anything above 39 degrees Fahrenheit is a breeding ground for bacteria and viruses. If I have to buy any perishable foods at a gas station, the fridge thermometer must read below 39, and I only pick the items closest to the cooling element. Story continues Fruits and Vegetables Some gas stations sell basic fruit like bananas or apples. They may also have packages of vegetables. But while some of this produce may be fresh, its usually not. Fresh produce is another item to avoid, said Nikita Sherbina, co-founder and CEO of Aiscreen.io. Gas stations dont have the same turnover as grocery stores, so the fruits and veggies might not be as fresh as youd want them to be. More: 19 Dangerous Scam Phone Numbers and Area Code To Avoid Bottled Beverages When picking up bottled water or soda, quality might not be an issue, but price certainly is. Many bottled drinks are marked up at the gas station, especially compared to what youd get at a place like Walmart, Safeway, or Harris Teeter. Many gas stations have a convenience store. And thats the key word convenience. Thats what youre paying for, said Todd Stearn, founder and CEO of www.TheMoneyManual.com. Typically, gas stations mark up the price compared to supermarkets. So with that expectation, choose wisely. Sherbina also recommended passing on the overpriced bottled water at gas stations. Its usually marked up significantly, and you can save money by carrying your own reusable bottle and filling it up at a tap or fountain. Soda Fountain Drinks Soft drinks at the gas station may be more reasonably priced than bottled ones. However, the quality can vary significantly depending on the gas station itself and which drink you choose. Oftentimes, drinks you could get from the soda fountain are watered down or flat not what you probably want if youre looking for something carbonated and fresh. rblfmr / Shutterstock.com Dairy Items Dairy is another thing to avoid purchasing at the gas station. Not only are prices often higher, but quality is often questionable. Dairy items will be marked up in price and be sure to check the expiration date on the package, suggested Stearn. Kalabi Yau / Shutterstock.com Electronics At the gas station, electronics are another hit-and-miss item when it comes to quality. Its one thing to pick up an extra phone charger if youre on a long trip and forgot yours at home. Its another to plan your shopping around a trip to the gas station. Lilian suggested avoiding batteries, cables, and chargers. These items are expensive to begin with. Gas stations sell them at a premium price because they know the chances of urgency are high. I prefer buying them at a local store, even if it is an emergency purchase. Another no-go for me is tech accessories. USB cables, phone chargers, or headphones at gas stations tend to be overpriced and of lower quality compared to what you can find online or at tech stores, added Fischer. Steps: Robert Kiyosaki Shares 7 Steps To Reach Your Financial Goals Headphones Headphones deserve a special mention due to the fact that they often come at a much lower quality than what youd expect even if the higher price tag doesnt reflect that. Once, on a road trip across the country, I found myself at a gas station, and out of sheer curiosity, I purchased a pair of headphones, said Vova Even, consumer trends analyst, shopping expert, and founder of Vova Even. Big mistake! Not only did they give out within hours, but they were also thrice the price of what theyd cost online or in specialized stores. Over-the-Counter Medications Weve all been there. Youre on a road trip and suddenly you feel a headache coming on, or your allergies start acting up, and the only place nearby is a gas station. You know you can find some basic medications there, so you turn in and pick something up. If its an emergency, this makes sense. Otherwise, youre probably better off waiting until you find someplace else to buy even basic medicine. These may not be stored properly and could have expired, making them ineffective or potentially harmful. Its better to purchase medication from a pharmacy or seek medical advice if needed, said Christian Miller from Italien Entdecken. Skincare or Beauty Products Like OTC medications, many skincare and beauty products arent properly stored or could even expire at the gas station, making them another purchase to avoid. Plus, you never know when someone might have already opened up one of these products to test it, but then put it back on the shelf. Skincare and beauty products are another thing I avoid while making purchases at the gas station, said Lilian. Not only are the prices skyrocketed, but the chances of someone else having opened and stuck their dirty fingers in it are very high. For such sensitive products, I prefer buying from a pharmacy. Some personal care items might be okay to purchase, depending on where you go. Personal care items such as toothpaste, deodorant, or hand sanitizer can be useful in a pinch if you happen to run out at home, said Miller. Money: Jaspreet Singh Shares 5 Ways To Grow $10K to $100K in 3 Years Car Supplies Certain basic auto parts might be worth buying, especially if youre in a rush and need something now. But be careful as the prices can still be higher than what youd find at an auto parts store. Another item I would avoid buying at the gas station is car maintenance supplies such as oil, windshield wiper fluid, or antifreeze, said Miller. While they may seem convenient to grab while filling up gas, its better to purchase these items from a trusted auto store or have your car serviced by a professional. On the other hand, you could get some basic accessories like windshield wipers, air fresheners, or tire pressure gauges, added Miller. Just be aware that these might not last as long. Icatnews / Shutterstock.com Lotto Tickets Many gas stations sell lottery tickets at the counter. While it might be tempting to pick up one or two as you check out, chances are youre spending your money on something that wont provide any real value. And the last one that comes to mind: the lottery tickets. While its tempting to grab one for a chance at a big win, the odds are typically not in your favor, said Fischer. zoranm / Getty Images Snacks From chips to candy bars to jerky sticks, gas stations are a treasure trove of different road trip snacks and quick pick-me-ups. If you must buy something, check the expiration dates on any snacks before adding them to your basket. Otherwise, you could end up with something thats due to expire soon if not already. As for things like jerky, keep in mind that these are likely to be marked up in terms of pricing. So, while you can still grab a bag for the road, just know that its probably overpriced. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 12 Things You Should Never Buy at Gas Stations In this article, we will list and explore the 15 easiest countries to get permanent residency in Europe without investment. You can skip our detailed analysis and go directly to our list of 5 Easiest Countries to get Permanent Residency in Europe Without Investment. Obtaining permanent residency in Europe offers foreign nationals the privilege of residing and working in a European country indefinitely, sparing them from the hassle of renewing temporary visas or permits. This status provides long-term stability and the advantages of living in a foreign nation without necessitating full citizenship. Permanent residency in Europe, or getting a blue card, is often regarded as a stepping stone towards eventual citizenship. For more insights on European citizenship, read our article 10 easiest countries in Europe to get citizenship. The specific eligibility requirements for European permanent residency can differ from one country to another. Nonetheless, typical criteria encompass a residency period of 5 to 10 years, a requirement to maintain a valid visa or residence permit, potential language proficiency prerequisites, a clean criminal record, and a demonstration of financial stability. European Immigration: An Overview As reported by Euronews Travel on April 25, the European Union is considering reducing the minimum residency requirement for non-EU nationals from five years to three. Individuals may also combine residency periods in different EU member states to meet the three-year threshold. During this period, they must not leave the host country for more than six months in any given year, nor for a total of 10 months over the five-year period. Once achieved, residents would be free to move to other member states without work-related restrictions. The proposal extends this status to their children. However, these changes are pending approval by EU member states and are expected to be finalized by February 2024. Permanent residency in Europe can be pursued through various avenues. Marriage to a European citizen is the most straightforward method, provided the union is genuine and not for residency purposes alone. Employment opportunities can lead to permanent residency, with some countries offering pathways after meeting specific time requirements. Entrepreneurship presents an option if your business is successful and generates jobs. Educational pursuits may lead to permanent residency, with enrollment at a European university and specific study durations varying by country. Additionally, retirees with financial independence and retirement age can explore securing a retirement visa in Europe as an option for residency. Story continues Investment Opportunities in Europe Investment prospects in Europe remain promising, with the region's stable economic environment and ongoing commitment to innovation and sustainability. As the European Union continues to prioritize renewable energy, digital transformation, and green initiatives, opportunities abound for forward-thinking investors. Additionally, the resilience of European economies and the potential for growth in emerging markets within the continent make it an attractive destination for those seeking long-term returns. Some prominent stocks to consider in Europe span a range of industries and can align with various investment strategies. A few examples of European companies that have been attracting investors' attention include Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO), Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN), TotalEnergies SE (NYSE:TTE). On September 5 BBC reported that Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO), the maker of the weight-loss drug Wegovy, surpassed French luxury conglomerate LVMH to become Europe's most valuable firm with a stock market valuation of $428 billion (339 billion) after launching the drug in the UK. Wegovy, an obesity treatment, has gained popularity, even among celebrities like Elon Musk, but experts caution it's not a quick fix. The NHS in the UK offers Wegovy to significantly overweight individuals with weight-related health problems, as nearly one in three UK adults is obese according to the OECD. A recent trial suggests Wegovy can reduce the risk of a stroke or heart attack, pending further review. On October 10, Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN) reported that it invested in Aliro Quantum through Accenture Ventures to support the development of secure quantum networks. This partnership will enhance secure data and communication capabilities. Aliro's solutions automate quantum network management for secure communication, quantum computing scalability, distributed quantum sensing, and the quantum internet. They use entanglement-based quantum cryptography to ensure shared knowledge and outcomes while minimizing third-party risks. As reported by Gas World on July 25, TotalEnergies SE (NYSE:TTE) has publicly announced its intention to acquire the shares of Independent Power Producer (IPP) Total Eren, increasing its ownership from almost 30% to a full 100%. This development follows a strategic agreement formed between the two companies in 2017, granting TotalEnergies the right to purchase all of Total Eren, previously recognized as EREN RE, after a five-year period. The acquisition of the remaining 70.8% signifies a net investment of almost 1.5 billion, approximately $1.6 billion, for TotalEnergies SE (NYSE:TTE). Post-integration, TotalEnergies' Integrated Power Net Operating Income is expected to increase by an estimated 160 million, approximately $168.8 million, along with a projected CFFO boost of around 400 million, approximately $422 million, in 2024. Now that we have discussed recent developments in the European market, let's take a look at the 15 easiest countries to get permanent residency in Europe without investment. 15 Easiest Countries to get Permanent Residency in Europe without Investment TTstudio/Shutterstock.com Methodology To determine the 15 easiest European countries for obtaining permanent residency without investment, we focused primarily on work visas as the most accessible pathway. Work visas offer a practical and cost-effective route to permanent residency. We relied on data from the Migrant Integration Policy Index 2020, taking into account metrics for permanent residency prospects for foreign workers, labor market mobility, and family reunion scores in each nation. By averaging these three scores, we identified countries that facilitate smoother relocation without investment. A higher average score indicates a more favorable ranking. Lets now move to our list of 15 Easiest Countries to get permanent residency in Europe without Investment. 15 Easiest Countries to get Permanent Residency in Europe Without Investment 15. Albania Labor Market Mobility: 46 Family Reunion: 61 Permanent Residence Certainty: 54 Average Score: 53.6 According to Fragomen, individuals from the European Union, the United States, and Western Balkan nations, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Serbia, now have the opportunity to live in Albania for a maximum of five years through the Unique Permit. In contrast, the previous regulation only allowed them to obtain a one-year Residence Permit, which could be renewed twice for two-year extensions on each stay. Subsequent to this five-year period, they become eligible to apply for a Permanent Residence Permit in Albania. Furthermore, the Unique Permit will serve as a replacement for the Certificate of Exemption, which was formerly required for these nationals. This certificate granted an exemption from the work permit requirement for those who were employed for up to 90 days within a 180-day period. Existing exemption certificates will remain valid until their specified expiration date. 14. Czechia Labor Market Mobility: 54 Family Reunion: 63 Permanent Residence Certainty: 50 Average Score: 55.6 Gaining permanent residency in Czechia allows individuals to reside and work in the country indefinitely, along with access to the nation's social benefits and healthcare system. To initiate the application process for permanent residency, foreign nationals are required to exhibit a basic proficiency in the Czech language by successfully passing an A2-level language test. Applications should be submitted in person at the appropriate Ministry of the Interior office, corresponding to the registered place of residence, and include original or certified copies of the necessary documents. These documents encompass a travel document, evidence of accommodation, proof of adequate funds for residing in the country, and a recent photograph. 13. Romania Labor Market Mobility: 46 Family Reunion: 67 Permanent Residence Certainty: 56 Average Score: 56.3 Obtaining permanent residency in Romania is a lucrative option for those seeking long-term residence in the country and is one of the easiest countries to get permanent residency in Europe without investment. The process typically involves demonstrating financial stability, a clean criminal record, and a continuous legal stay in Romania for a specified period. Permanent residency provides a pathway to access the country's excellent healthcare and education systems, making it an appealing choice for expatriates and investors alike. 12. Iceland Labor Market Mobility: 33 Family Reunion: 62 Permanent Residence Certainty: 77 Average Score: 57.3 Iceland provides opportunities for long-term residency through permanent residence permits. Two primary routes include obtaining permanent residency through work and residence permits, which requires approximately four years of legal employment in Iceland, and family reunification, which is available to family members of Icelandic citizens or permanent residents. 11. Slovenia Labor Market Mobility: 26 Family Reunion: 72 Permanent Residence Certainty: 77 Average Score: 58.3 To acquire permanent residency in Slovenia, individuals from abroad who have maintained uninterrupted residence in Slovenia for a continuous period of five years are eligible to apply for a permanent residence permit. This permit, once granted, remains valid for ten years and can subsequently be extended. Certain prerequisites must be satisfied in order to be eligible for a permanent residence permit, which encompass having a legitimate motive for relocating to Slovenia, such as being in possession of a work permit or a student visa. Alternatively, permanent residency can be attained through other means, which include having Slovenian heritage, being accorded refugee status, or being a relative of a foreign national who holds a permanent residence permit or refugee status. 10. Hungary Labor Market Mobility: 37 Family Reunion: 58 Permanent Residence Certainty: 81 Average Score: 58.6 Hungary offers permanent residency through work visas to skilled individuals and their families, allowing them to live and work in the country. Family reunion programs are also available for reuniting with immediate family members who are already residents or citizens. 9. Germany Labor Market Mobility: 81 Family Reunion: 42 Permanent Residence Certainty: 54 Average Score: 59 Germany's work visa program can lead to permanent residency for qualified professionals, with options for family reunification. Spouses and dependent children can join the primary visa holder, making it easier to establish a long-term life in the country. For investors looking to enter into the European market, some of the top stocks to consider investing in include Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO), Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN), and TotalEnergies SE (NYSE:TTE). 8. Belgium Labor Market Mobility: 56 Family Reunion: 48 Permanent Residence Certainty: 75 Average Score: 59.6 Belgium provides pathways to permanent residency for those holding work visas. Family reunion policies are in place to facilitate the reunification of families with their loved ones already residing in Belgium, fostering a sense of belonging. 7. Italy Labor Market Mobility: 67 Family Reunion: 64 Permanent Residence Certainty: 67 Average Score: 66 In Italy, work visa holders have the potential to attain permanent residency, and family members can often join them through family reunion programs, fostering a sense of unity and togetherness. The country with its ease of granting permanent residency in Europe without investment, ranks 7th on our list. 6. Spain Labor Market Mobility: 67 Family Reunion: 69 Permanent Residence Certainty: 75 Average Score: 70.3 Spain's work visa programs can lead to permanent residency, making it an attractive option for those seeking long-term opportunities. Family reunification processes allow loved ones to join their family members in Spain, creating a supportive and stable environment. Some of the top European stocks to buy according to hedge funds include Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO), Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN), and TotalEnergies SE (NYSE:TTE). Click to continue reading and see the 5 Easiest Countries to get Permanent Residency in Europe Without Investment. Suggested Articles: Disclosure: None. 20 Easiest Countries to get Permanent Residency in Europe Without Investment is originally published on Insider Monkey. In this article, we look at the 15 most powerful militaries in Africa, their defense spending and where their military equipment comes from. You can skip our detailed analysis on the subject and head over directly to the 5 Most Powerful Militaries in Africa. Global military spending was estimated to be $2.2 trillion in 2022, according to figures released in April this year by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), of which $39.4 billion was spent by African countries dropping 5.5% compared to the previous year. Nearly half of this military expenditure was incurred in North Africa, primarily in the Western Sahara region due to the conflict between Morocco and Algeria that has been ongoing since 1975. Ethiopia, in East Africa, has also witnessed an 88% increase in its defense related expenditure since 2020 after the launch of an armed offensive against Tigray rebels. On the other hand, Egypt continues to remain a heavy spender and a military might in the region, in line with President Sisis vision for Egypt to have a global posture as a powerful state. The Arab Spring in the early 2010s and terrorism in the Sinai peninsula have also ensured that the Egyptian state raises a strong military force. Russia is the largest arms exporter to Africa, particularly in the Sub-Saharan Africa region. According to a report, Russias military exports to Africa increased 23% between 2016-2020 compared to 2011-2015. Putins government has for a long period focused on the continent to foster strong ties with African governments, facilitate economic opportunity, and build presence on NATOs southern flank. That being said, recent sanctions placed on Russia by the West have impeded several countries from trading with Moscow, and that has created a boon for Chinese armament manufacturers. A publication by the Atlantic Council citing SIPRI reported that between 2017 and 2020, China exported three times as many arms to Sub-Saharan Africa than the United States. Between 2010 and 2021, Chinas arms exports to the region totaled $2.04 billion, which were only second to Russias export volume of $2.24 billion. In contrast, the United States only exported arms worth $473 million during that time period. Story continues Things are different, however, when it comes to North Africa, with American armament manufacturers playing an active role in the arms race between Morocco and Algeria, as well as Egypts quest to be a major regional power. Earlier this year in April, the US government approved the potential sale of HIMARS artillery rocket systems and related equipment to Morocco for a deal worth $524 million. The primary contractors of HIMARS deal will include Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT), RTX Corporation (NYSE:RTX), and L3Harris Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:LHX) among others. In addition to this, the Pentagon also gave the green signal for the sale of Joint Stand Off Weapons to Morocco at a cost of $250 million, for which the primary contractor will be RTX Corporation (NYSE:RTX). Morocco has also been scrambling to secure Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT)s F-35 fifth-generation fighter jet to enhance its aerial capabilities vis-a-vis Algeria which recently upgraded its air force with the acquisition of Russian combat jets like the Su-30 and MiG-29 and signed an agreement in 2020 to buy 14 Russian SU57 stealth fighters. Rabat is hopeful that its strong relations with Israel, which has seen Tel Aviv recognising Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, will help secure a deal with the US for the F-35 fighter jets. The Moroccan air force already has an active fleet of 15 F-16 fighter jets. Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) Egypt has also been looking to strengthen its defense systems with American air radars. The US government in January 2022, approved the sale of three SPS-48 land-based radars to be produced by L3Harris Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:LHX) at a cost of $355 million. The radars offer excellent jamming immunity and are capable of detecting even extremely small targets. A year earlier in February 2021, it was reported that the US sold Egypt Rolling Airframe Missiles made by RTX Corporation (NYSE:RTX) for a deal valued at $197 million. Methodology We have ranked the 15 most powerful militaries in Africa using a variety of key metrics covering ground forces, air force, and naval capabilities. Moreover, we have also weighed in factors that are often overlooked, such as GDP, defense spending, and technological advancement levels of countries, all three of which are critical for military success. Only a strong economy is able to raise and sustain a potent military force. On the other hand technological advancement coupled with defense spending often give a key edge to certain militaries over others. Therefore, we have assigned 40% weightage to GDP, defense spending, and technological advancement levels in our analysis. while the remaining 60% is made up of militaries strengths in manpower, tanks, armored fighting vehicles, aircrafts including fighter jets, and naval fleet. We listed countries based on how well they rank on each individual metric and then applied these weights in our calculations to get an average ranking score for each country. The 15 most powerful militaries in Africa are ranked in descending order of these average ranking scores. Data to generate this list has been sourced from Yahoos recent articles, 50 Largest Economies in the World in 2023, 25 Most Powerful Militaries in the World in 2023, and 12 Most Advanced Countries in Africa. We also consulted Insider Monkeys recent piece, 15 Countries that have the Best Economy in Africa, Global Firepower Index 2023, Flight International 2023, and Global Innovation Index 2022. 15 Most Powerful Militaries in Africa LMspencer / Shutterstock.com Lets now head over to the list of the most powerful militaries in Africa. 15. Ghana GDP: $73 billion Defense Spending: $289 million Technological Advancement: 95/132 Manpower: 14,000 Tanks: 0 Armored Fighting Vehicles: 1,656 Aircrafts including Fighter Jets: 20 Naval Fleet: 20 Average Ranking: 16 While the Ghanaian military has no tanks or self-propelled artillery, it still manages to make it among the 15 most powerful militaries in Africa. This is largely due to its aerial and naval fleets, which aid in enhancing the mobility and operational capabilities of Ghanas military. 14. Tanzania GDP: $77 billion Defense Spending: $749 million Technological Advancement: 103/132 Manpower: 26,000 Tanks: 42 Armored Fighting Vehicles: 1,424 Aircrafts including Fighter Jets: 40 Naval Fleet: 19 Average Ranking: 13.7 Tanzania spent a little over 1% of its GDP on defense expenditure in 2022. Much of the countrys military strength is derived from its aerial fleet, which also includes 3 F-6 and 11 F-7 combat aircrafts. Tanzania also has several home-grown small ammunition factories, which supply weapons to the Tanzanian military. 13. Uganda GDP: $49 billion Defense Spending: $934 million Technological Advancement: 119/132 Manpower: 47,000 Tanks: 180 Armored Fighting Vehicles: 4,384 Aircrafts including Fighter Jets: 50 Naval Fleet: 8 Average Ranking: 12.6 Uganda has one of the most powerful militaries in Africa with a sizable manpower and strong fleet of tanks and armored fighting vehicles. Its air force is equipped with 50 aircrafts, which includes Russian fighter jets Mig-21 and Su-30 five each. 12. Democratic Republic of the Congo GDP: $63 billion Defense Spending: $299 million Technological Advancement: N/A Manpower: 140,000 Tanks: 214 Armored Fighting Vehicles: 3,728 Aircrafts including Fighter Jets: 46 Naval Fleet: 16 Average Ranking: 11 The Democratic Republic of the Congo has the fourth largest standing army in Africa, with a manpower of 140,000 troops. Despite having a large army, the country spends less than 1% of its GDP on defense. Congo is among the 20 Countries with Highest Rate of Economic Growth in 5 Years, and can certainly look to leverage its economic potential to upgrade its military. 11. Ethiopia GDP: $120 billion Defense Spending: $538 million Technological Advancement: 117/132 Manpower: 150,000 Tanks: 468 Armored Fighting Vehicles: 6,240 Aircrafts including Fighter Jets: 89 Naval Fleet: 0 Average Ranking: 10.1 Russia and China are the two primary arms suppliers to Ethiopia. The countrys air force is equipped with 23 Russian combat aircrafts, Mig-23 and Su-27. This year, Ethiopia purchased SH15 wheeled self-propelled howitzers (SPH) from China, of which 32 were delivered in January. 10. Sudan GDP: $49 billion Defense Spending: $287 million Technological Advancement: N/A Manpower: 100,000 Tanks: 170 Armored Fighting Vehicles: 6,976 Aircrafts including Fighter Jets: 191 Naval Fleet: 18 Average Ranking: 10 Sudan has one of the most powerful militaries in Africa, most notably famed for its fleet of fighter jets which includes 20 F-7 and 8 F-6 jets. When it comes to ammunition, Russia and China are the major arms suppliers to Sudan. The country also has at least three weapons factories, built outside Khartoum, with assistance from the Chinese. 9. Libya GDP: $44 billion Defense Spending: $3.57 billion Technological Advancement: N/A Manpower: 100,000 Tanks: 325 Armored Fighting Vehicles: 4,076 Aircrafts including Fighter Jets: 127 Naval Fleet: 7 Average Ranking: 10 Libya has the fourth largest military budget in Africa. The country, however, has descended into violence since the collapse of the Gaddafi regime in 2011, after which a number of home-grown militias seized power in different parts of the country, creating a challenge for the national military to ensure law and order. 8. Tunisia GDP: $47 billion Defense Spending: $1.18 billion Technological Advancement: 73/132 Manpower: 90,000 Tanks: 145 Armored Fighting Vehicles: 23,200 Aircrafts including Fighter Jets: 152 Naval Fleet: 40 Average Ranking: 9.3 Tunisia has one of the strongest militaries in Africa with sizable manpower and a large fleet of armored fighting vehicles. Its air force is well equipped with several combat aircrafts and helicopters. The national navy has a fleet of 40 ships, with over 4,800 personnel, and bases at Bizerte, Kelibia, La Goulette, and Sfax. 7. Kenya GDP: $116 billion Defense Spending: $1.18 billion Technological Advancement: 88/132 Manpower: 35,000 Tanks: 111 Armored Fighting Vehicles: 5,800 Aircrafts including Fighter Jets: 156 Naval Fleet: 23 Average Ranking: 8.7 The Kenyan military has access to modern military equipment, including tanks, artillery, and fighter jets, and is a key peacekeeping force in the continent, most notably in Somalia and South Sudan. Kenya is fourth among the most technologically advanced countries in Africa and has a self sufficient defense industry when it comes to the production of submachine guns and ammo. 6. Angola GDP: $121 billion Defense Spending: $1.06 billion Technological Advancement: 127/132 Manpower: 107,000 Tanks: 156 Armored Fighting Vehicles: 5,500 Aircrafts including Fighter Jets: 302 Naval Fleet: 40 Average Ranking: 8.5 Angola is widely considered to be one of the most powerful military powers in Africa. In addition to its active manpower of 107,000 troops, it also has another 500,000 reserve soldiers. Moreover, its military is well-equipped with fighter jets like the Su-30, Su-25, and MiG-21. Angolan soldiers are battle-hardened due to their involvement in regional conflicts with Congo, as well as the Angolan Civil War which ran from 1975 through till 2002. Click to continue reading and see the 5 Most Powerful Militaries in Africa. Suggested Articles: Disclosure: None. 15 Most Powerful Militaries in Africa is originally published on Insider Monkey. Key Insights Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, Bursa Malaysia Berhad's stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions A total of 7 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership Analyst forecasts along with ownership data serve to give a strong idea about prospects for a business A look at the shareholders of Bursa Malaysia Berhad (KLSE:BURSA) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 41% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk). Since institutional have access to huge amounts of capital, their market moves tend to receive a lot of scrutiny by retail or individual investors. As a result, a sizeable amount of institutional money invested in a firm is generally viewed as a positive attribute. Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Bursa Malaysia Berhad, beginning with the chart below. View our latest analysis for Bursa Malaysia Berhad What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Bursa Malaysia Berhad? Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing. As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Bursa Malaysia Berhad. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Bursa Malaysia Berhad's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story. Story continues We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Bursa Malaysia Berhad. The company's largest shareholder is Capital Market Development Fund, with ownership of 19%. With 12% and 11% of the shares outstanding respectively, Employees Provident Fund of Malaysia and Kumpulan Wang Persaraan are the second and third largest shareholders. We also observed that the top 7 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent. While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily. Insider Ownership Of Bursa Malaysia Berhad The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO. Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group. Our information suggests that Bursa Malaysia Berhad insiders own under 1% of the company. But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven't picked up on. It's a big company, so even a small proportional interest can create alignment between the board and shareholders. In this case insiders own RM2.0m worth of shares. It is good to see board members owning shares, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying. General Public Ownership The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 38% stake in Bursa Malaysia Berhad. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run. Private Company Ownership We can see that Private Companies own 19%, of the shares on issue. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company. Next Steps: It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Bursa Malaysia Berhad better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Bursa Malaysia Berhad that you should be aware of before investing here. If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts. NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Seven activists representing the Sami Indigenous people arrive at the Royal Castle in Oslo for a meeting with Norway's King Harald and Crown Prince Haakon, in Oslo, Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. Seven of the activists who repeatedly have demonstrated against a wind farm in in central Norway they say hinders the rights of the Sami Indigenous people to raise reindeer, were Monday received by the Norwegian king. At the center of the dispute are the 151 turbines of Europes largest onshore wind farm. (Gorm Kallestad/NTB Scanpix via AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) Seven of the activists who repeatedly have demonstrated against a wind farm in central Norway that they say hinders the rights of the Sami Indigenous people to raise reindeer met with the Norwegian king on Monday and his son who is heir to the throne. It was a very strong moment for us emotionally charged, activist Ella Marie Htta Isaksen told the VG newspaper after the meeting with King Harald and Crown Prince Haakon at the royal palace in Oslo. We experienced not only being believed, but a human meeting with someone who really meets people with compassion and sympathy. It makes a world of difference in the face of this state, which is so strong and arrogant and difficult to talk to, she told the daily. Before the meeting, another activist told Norwegian news agency NTB that we have nowhere else to go. We hope his majesty will listen to us and remind the responsible state of its responsibility, Elle Nystad said. At the center of the dispute are the 151 turbines of Europes largest onshore wind farm, which is located in Norways Fosen district, about 450 kilometers (280 miles) north of the capital, Oslo. The activists say a transition to green energy shouldnt come at the expense of the rights of Indigenous people. They have protested several times since the Supreme Court of Norway ruled in October 2021 that the construction of the turbines had violated the rights of the Sami, who have used the land for reindeer for centuries. The activists, many dressed in traditional colorful garments, have sat down inside parliament, outside the building in Oslo of the state-owned company that operates 80 of the wind turbines at Fosen, outside the offices of Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stre and the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy for four days in February. They also have temporarily blocked the entrances to 10 ministries. They had asked for the meeting with the Norway's monarch, who has a ceremonial role as the country's head of state. They said they know that the king has no political power. But they have said that we just want to be listened to." The palace confirmed the meeting took place and they presented their view" to the monarch and his son. Key Insights Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, Ecora Resources' stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions The top 8 shareholders own 51% of the company Insiders have been buying lately Every investor in Ecora Resources PLC (LON:ECOR) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 71% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company. Given the vast amount of money and research capacities at their disposal, institutional ownership tends to carry a lot of weight, especially with individual investors. Hence, having a considerable amount of institutional money invested in a company is often regarded as a desirable trait. Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Ecora Resources, beginning with the chart below. Check out our latest analysis for Ecora Resources What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Ecora Resources? Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing. Ecora Resources already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Ecora Resources' historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story. Story continues Since institutional investors own more than half the issued stock, the board will likely have to pay attention to their preferences. Hedge funds don't have many shares in Ecora Resources. South32 Limited is currently the company's largest shareholder with 17% of shares outstanding. With 7.9% and 7.1% of the shares outstanding respectively, Aberforth Partners LLP and Schroder Investment Management Limited are the second and third largest shareholders. We did some more digging and found that 8 of the top shareholders account for roughly 51% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat. Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too. Insider Ownership Of Ecora Resources While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves. I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions. Our most recent data indicates that insiders own less than 1% of Ecora Resources PLC. It appears that the board holds about UK1.6m worth of stock. This compares to a market capitalization of UK244m. Many tend to prefer to see a board with bigger shareholdings. A good next step might be to take a look at this free summary of insider buying and selling. General Public Ownership With a 11% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Ecora Resources. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies. Public Company Ownership It appears to us that public companies own 17% of Ecora Resources. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together. Next Steps: It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Ecora Resources better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 1 warning sign for Ecora Resources you should be aware of. If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts. NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Qabil Ashirov In cooperation with FAO, the opening of the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science at ADA University and World Food Day was marked, Azernews reports. The Partnership and Coordination Office of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Azerbaijan, in cooperation with ADA University, celebrated the opening of the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science and World Food Day. The event held on October 16 was attended by representatives of the ministry and state institutions, university student-teachers, representatives of international organizations, and people registered for the event. At the exhibition organized within the framework of the event, the tasting and presentation of the food products of the "Taste of the Homeland" brand, which was created with the support of FAO, including the products of about 10 companies, the companies represented by the participants of the certificate program of the Italy-Azerbaijan University project, Italian brands, and FAO took place. Product presentation is an example that food is more than just a daily requirement, everyone working in agricultural production has a role in food security, and they are food heroes as individuals. FAO's role in this field is aimed at making the daily agricultural work done by those heroes more efficient and further increasing its role in food security and security. At the event, ADA University Rector Hafiz Pashayev made an opening speech and said that agriculture is one of the most important sectors of Azerbaijan's economy. This field is not only about the production of food products. Agriculture ensures the country's food security. "Our goal in establishing this faculty is to train competitive personnel in the agricultural field, prepare professionals who can bring scientific and technical progress and innovation," the Rector added to his speech. The Minister of Agriculture Majnun Mammadov emphasized in his speech that the establishment of the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science will create a foundation for the application of different experiences and comparative analysis. "I am sure that the opening of the new faculty will help us to deepen our analyses on ensuring food and food safety, efficient management of water resources and other important areas of agriculture, expand our scientific research potential in relevant fields, and achieve the set goals and will make an exceptional contribution by increasing the effectiveness of our efforts," said Minister Majnun Mammadov. Zakiya Mustafayeva, deputy head of the Food Safety Agency, said in her speech that today's climate changes, changing consumer habits, reduction of water resources, scientific and technical innovations, new food sources and production processes are among the serious challenges ahead in ensuring food and food safety. This taking adequate measures against challenges is possible only with the personnel potential with high indicators. In this regard, Z. Mustafayeva called the creation of the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences at ADA University a commendable event. The Deputy Chairman of the Agency assessed this step as an unparalleled contribution to the agriculture and food system of Azerbaijan, and in order to effectively establish the work of the faculty, it is necessary to prepare educational programs, exchange mutual knowledge and experience, involve students in scientific research and experience programs, scientific research works, joint projects and noted that AQTA is ready to cooperate with ADA University in organizing events. Nasar Hayat, representative of FAO in Azerbaijan, spoke about the global factors affecting sustainable agriculture, water and food security, and emphasized the importance of proper use of water to protect our future. In addition, congratulating the International Rural Women's Day celebrated by the UN on October 15, he said, "When rural women have fair access to resources and education, they become powerful agents of change." In the end, he congratulated everyone on the joint celebration of World Food Day, the opening of the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science, and the International Day of Rural Women. At the end of the speech, the Director General of FAO Dr. Gu Dong Yu's video appeal was published. After the speech of the Italian ambassador to Azerbaijan, Mr. Claudio Taffuri, and the video address of the Rector of the University of Bologna, Mr. Giovanni Molari, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science, Matteo Vittuari, informed about the faculty. In his speech, the dean touched upon a number of issues related to bachelor's and master's degrees to be taught from 2024. Specialists representing the state agency, international organization and ministry operating in the relevant direction talked about the mechanisms of measuring food loss and waste, and the measures implemented to reduce their impact. The event continued with a seminar. It should be noted that October 16 is the FAO World Food Day, focusing the world's attention on food safety and sustainable food development. The theme for 2023 is "Water is life, Water is food". In addition, let's note that the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science was founded as a result of cooperation with the University of Bologna within the initiative of Italy-Azerbaijan University. Undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs in the field are offered through this faculty. The bachelor's and master's degrees, which will be opened in 2024, will be taught at the Baku campus of ADA University, regional centers in Gazakh and Ganja. RSPO appoints Agridence to lead the development of a new traceability system for enhanced trade and regulatory compliance. Agridence successfully leverages its platform experience in Natural Rubber to enter the Palm Oil sector, proving its cross-commodity strategy. SINGAPORE, Oct. 16, 2023 /CNW/ -- Agridence Pte Ltd ("Agridence"), is proud to announce a landmark achievement to lead the digital transformation for a unified digital infrastructure that will integrate the Certification, Trade and Traceability System (CTTS) as a streamlined end-to-end system for The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil ("RSPO") and its stakeholders. This award marks a significant milestone for Agridence, and recognition for its innovation and excellence in developing solutions for sustainable procurement successfully across multiple agri-commodities. Agridence Chairman, Ian Potter, expresses his delight: "RSPO has been a leading actor in the drive to make Palm Oil more sustainable and will be a great partner. With the impending requirement for traceable supply chains that starts with EUDR, digitalisation is imperative for all operators in the space. We're delighted with the opportunity to be part of this important process and are honoured that our team and tech has been recognised in this way. This project builds on our progress with traceable Rubber and we look forward to demonstrating our agri-commodity experience and product excellence building soft commodity traceability applications for Palm." The challenges faced in palm oil and natural rubber are notably similar due to their shared cultivation landscape and market structures. With insights gained from addressing similar challenges, Agridence has been tasked to spearhead a tripartite consortium of global Agri-Tech firms for RSPO's digital transformation, amalgamating the best minds in technology and sustainability that will deliver an unparalleled step change in efficiency, reliability and technological advancement to this bespoke CTTS, tailored to meet the specific needs for the sustainable palm oil stakeholders. Story continues Gerald Tan, CEO of Agridence, declared: "This is a unique accomplishment that is significant on multiple fronts. It demonstrates our capabilities to collaborate and synergise our resources with domain experts and innovators to develop a unified and optimised system for the sustainable palm oil industry. This extension into palm oil affirms the recognition and trust in Agridence, our track record in natural rubber that has delivered a robust and secure B2B trading platform, integrated sustainability dashboard, and traceability tools. As we embark on this exciting venture, Agridence remains committed to driving innovation, fostering collaboration, and delivering unparalleled value to our clients towards a sustainable future." Chief Strategy and Digital Transformation Officer for RSPO, Ms Nikki Gee shared, "The decision to appoint Agridence as the lead to manage and maintain RSPO's systems is driven by a combination of best-in-class solutions that will be able to meet current demands and anticipate the future needs of a sector that is fast-evolving in line with tightening global regulations. We are confident that Agridence will deliver a seamless experience for RSPO and our Members." The digital transformation project is expected to have far-reaching impact, not only in the palm oil sector but also in setting a precedent for other industries seeking to enhance sustainability and meet regulatory requirements. Agridence will be present at the RSPO Annual Roundtable Conference (RT2023) in Jakarta from 20 to 22 November, where they will participate in the panel - The Future of Certification, Trade and Traceability in the Next 20 - which will address the project rollout and its implications for the sustainable palm oil industry in the future. - End - About Agridence Pte Ltd : Founded and based in Singapore, Agridence brings you the future of commodities trading. We are at the forefront of digitalising the agri-commodities supply chain across the globe to create a data-enriched and technology-powered ecosystem. This digital transformation enables deeper analysis of the supply chain to uncover environmental, social and financial risks allowing targeted interventions. At Agridence, we use technology to enable data transparency and strengthen trust. We provide industry intelligence and insights to empower our customers to make smarter decisions. We strive to identify issues and deliver solutions that will redefine how commodities are produced and traded. For more information, please visit www.rubber.agridence.com Media Contact: info@agridence.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/agridence/ Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/agridence-to-spearhead-digital-transformation-for-rspo-301957634.html SOURCE Agridence Cision View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/October2023/16/c0771.html (Bloomberg) -- Billionaire Patrick Drahi said he was shocked and disappointed when he learned last summer that a handful of business associates, including his right-hand man, had been arrested as part of an expanding corruption probe that threatens to unravel his Altice telecommunications empire.Even so, staff, unions and outside consultants had voiced concerns for years about the companys relationships with some of its biggest vendors, according to more than a dozen people, including current and former employees, as well as meeting transcripts, correspondence and an audit report reviewed by Bloomberg. Altice executives at the highest levels were informed of loose governance, potentially rigged bidding on contracts and alleged nepotism linked to Armando Pereira, according to the documents and the people, many of whom asked to remain anonymous to discuss private information. Most Read from Bloomberg Pereira, who co-founded Altice with Drahi in 2002, is at the heart of the three-year long Portuguese investigation that was made public last July, and its fallout has spurred internal investigations throughout the company, touching executives around the world. So far, four people have been arrested and about 15 employees have been suspended by the company as a result of the probe, which centers on alleged efforts to rig the groups local procurement process. Pereira has been accused by prosecutors of laundering money, accepting kickbacks and committing tax fraud, and is currently under house arrest. His lawyers have said hes the victim of a trial by the media which has found him guilty in public opinion and that the reality is not so simple, according to a statement issued in July. They declined to give further comment for this story. Story continues The investigation comes as Drahi has put large swaths of the Altice empire up for sale as it struggles to finance $60 billion of debt accumulated through years of acquisitions. The Portuguese probe has weighed further on Altices bonds and stalled the sale of assets including European data centers. The investigation is ongoing in Portugal and could take years to resolve. French and US authorities could potentially also open similar probes, people familiar with the matter have said. Read more: All About the Corruption Probe Rocking Altice, Billionaire Drahis Telecom Empire Pereira, a former chief operating officer of Altice Europe, has long held influential roles in the business, including responsibilities for the technical side of operations and heading procurement. Concerns about Pereira first started emerging shortly after Drahi installed him as executive vice president of French wireless carrier SFR, which Drahi bought in 2014 and eventually became Altice France. Members of the CFDT trade union confronted Pereira in 2017 at an official works council meeting, attended by the companys chief executive officer and human resources representatives, about allegations that he awarded contracts to companies he or family members owned in decisions that bypassed the usual chain of command, according to a transcript of the meeting. They also described Pereiras systematic interference in decision-making, financial opacity and confusion between personal interest and the companys social purpose, according to the transcript. "We asked him if he was going to work in the interest of the company or his own interest," recalled CFDT representative Olivier Lelong in a recent interview. An Altice representative declined to comment on the meeting. Fraud Risk Auditor Deloitte raised additional concerns in 2019 in an annual report for Altice Europe, which included the French and Portuguese operations and was publicly traded until Drahi took it private in 2021. The report pointed to fraud risk related to how management could override internal controls put in place to prevent corruption, including the ability to make manual adjustments to transactions outside of the established billing system. Deloitte emphasized this in a letter to the board the same year, without mentioning specific executives, describing significant deficiencies in internal control, including the ease with which individuals could manipulate accounting records. Altice said these are common risks identified by auditors and that Deloitte ultimately gave a clean opinion on the financial statements. The company later replaced Deloitte as its auditor with KPMG International. The decision was questioned by shareholders, with one asking in a meeting whether it was because of how pointed Deloitte was in its assessment of governance issues at the company, according to minutes from the meeting. Altice USA On the other side of the Atlantic, employees at Altice USA also raised concerns about the companys procurement process long before the Portuguese probe began. A handful of vendors kept winning contracts to build new fiber networks despite not always offering the best value or quality of work, according to people familiar with the matter. Some senior employees who complained to managers about the unfairness of the procurement process were pushed out of the company, the people said. Altice didnt respond to the specific allegation. The Long Island City, New York-based company was formed from Altices 2015 acquisitions of Suddenlink and Cablevision, which created the fourth-largest US cable operator and helped fulfill Drahis vision of a cross-Atlantic cable giant. The company was publicly listed in 2017 and the following year was spun off, although Drahis holding company maintains a stake. In response to the Portuguese investigation, Altice USA launched its own internal probe, suspended some supplier and vendor relationships and sidelined several executives with ties to the parent company. Yossi Benchetrit, who is Pereiras son-in-law and was head of procurement at Altice USA, was fired in August after he declined to engage with the companys investigation. Senior vice president of procurement Roberto Martinez was suspended, while Chairman Alexandre Fonseca, who ran the Portuguese business at the time of the alleged criminal activity, stepped down. Some of the vendors, including Excell Communications Altice USAs largest network construction supplier and Genesys USA, were allegedly financed or run by individuals named in connection to the probe by the Portuguese prosecutors office or in local media reports. Benchetrit and other senior members of Altice USAs procurement team pressured employees to pick Excell over other suppliers, including in states where it didnt have experience, after it was bought by Portuguese holding company Dunas de Contrastes in 2018, according to people familiar with the matter. Dunas is owned by Hernani Vaz Antunes, a businessman and close associate of Pereiras who is also under house arrest as part of the Portuguese corruption probe. Antunes told prosecutors in July that he made payments to individuals including Benchetrit, Fonseca and Hakim Boubazine, former chief operating officer of Altice USA, to ensure that his own companies won contracts, according to Portuguese newspaper Publico.A lawyer representing Benchetrit declined to comment, but pointed to a previous statement highlighting that his client hadnt been summoned for questioning in any jurisdiction. Boubazine and Fonseca didnt respond to requests for comment. Antunes lawyer declined to comment.Jack Martins, independent legal counsel for Excell, said the company won business with Altice USA on merit and had successfully installed about 25,000 miles of cable over the last three years. We are currently reviewing our supplier and vendor relationships and proactively pausing some capital spend until we have completed the investigation, said Lisa Anselmo, an Altice USA spokeswoman. We believe that we have taken the prudent and necessary steps, and the findings from our internal investigation and the investigation itself have not had a meaningful impact on our business, she added. She declined to name the suppliers with whom Altice USA had cut ties.In February, Altice senior director of procurement, Glenn Cisek, wrote an email to construction suppliers, which was seen by Bloomberg News, telling them they could no longer work directly with Altice. Instead, the suppliers were required to subcontract with Excell or one of two companies owned by Genesys USA. Little Experience Genesys was set up by Boubazine after he resigned from Altice in September 2021 with a $500,000 separation payment, according to a securities filing. He and business partner Denis Ryzhikov bought two of Altice USAs construction suppliers, AM Communications and Scott Fennell Inc., and incorporated Genesys USA in October 2022 just months before it became a prime contractor to Altice. The decision to award prime contractor status to a company with so little experience was unexpected and confusing to the employees building out the network, said people with direct knowledge of the situation. Boubazine and Ryzhikov didnt respond to several requests for comment. Despite not holding an executive role at Altice USA, Pereira was very hands-on with the fiber rollout, said people familiar with the matter. He would show up to construction sites across the US and order teams to use a specific figure-8 technique for attaching cables to poles that is common in Europe but not typically used in the US.In a 2018 presentation about Altice groups structure, Pereira is listed on a slide titled Altice USA Dedicated Management Team in the role of strategic advisor for all operations. Altice USAs Anselmo said Pereira had never had an active role with any executive responsibilities at the company. Crisis as Opportunity In 2020, a senior employee at Altice France invited five companies to bid for a contract to supply data center containers. It was something hed done many times before for larger contracts, but this time he was reprimanded by his boss and by one of the potential suppliers, Huawei Technologies Co., according to people familiar with the matter.The Chinese company, which had been placed on a US blacklist in 2019 that curtailed its access to critical US suppliers, had already been promised the job, the people said. The employee considered the deal unfair and the following month was fired for serious misconduct, which human resources attributed to his organizing of the competitive procurement, according to the UNSA union, which supported the case. The employee sued Altice France unfair dismissal and they settled out of court, according to UNSA. An Altice representative declined to comment on the case. In September, the French union CFDT wrote a letter to Drahi, seen by Bloomberg News, outlining how its members had warned of the dysfunctions caused by the use of service providers directly or indirectly linked to shareholders since Altice took over SFR eight years ago. This crisis is an opportunity to completely rethink corporate governance, management methods, social dialogue and value-sharing mechanisms within the group, in order to restore meaning and recognition, the union said.Drahi will respond to union representatives in person for the first time since the probe was announced at Altices Paris office on Tuesday. --With assistance from Joao Lima and Henrique Almeida. (Updates to add union meeting in final paragraph. A previous version corrected the title of Glenn Cisek in Altice USA subsection.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. LONDON, October 16, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AM Best will sponsor the International Conference on Inclusive Insurance, which will be held 23-27 October 2023 in Accra, Ghana. The International Conference on Inclusive Insurance is organized by the Munich Re Foundation in collaboration with the Microinsurance Network and is focused on identifying ways to accelerate growth and economic viability in microinsurance and other inclusive insurance products. This years hosts are the National Insurance Commission of Ghana, the Ghana Insurers Association and the Insurance Brokers' Association of Ghana. AM Best is a bronze sponsor. "Innovative approaches aimed at closing the protection gap and creating more-inclusive insurance markets are gaining momentum thanks to the efforts of global insurance providers and other committed organizations," said Andrea Keenen, executive vice president and chief strategy officer, AM Best, as well as vice chair of the Microinsurance Network. "Insurers and other stakeholders use this meeting as a way to share experiences and best practices toward the common end of increasing access to protection in support of economic growth. This is consistent with AM Bests purpose as well." Dr Edem Kuenyehia, director, market development and communications, and in his capacity as AM Bests director for market development in Africa, will be in attendance and conducting bilateral meetings with industry stakeholders. To arrange a meeting, please email edem.kuenyehia@ambest.com. For more information about the conference, which will be held at Movenpick Ambassador Hotel Accra in Ghana, please visit the official event page. AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specialising in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com. Copyright 2023 by A.M. Best Company, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231016275970/en/ Contacts Edem Kuenyehia Director, Market Development & Communications +44 20 7397 0280 edem.kuenyehia@ambest.com (Bloomberg) -- The push by employers to get American workers back into the office appears to be working. Most Read from Bloomberg Fewer than 26% of US households still have someone working remotely at least one day a week, a sharp decline from the early-2021 peak of 37%, according to the two latest Census Bureau Household Pulse Surveys. Only seven states plus Washington, DC, have a remote-work rate above 33%, the data shows, down from 31 states and DC mid-pandemic. The reversal reflects the continued push by many employers to get staff to return to offices. Remote employees have been blamed for dwindling profits and costing cities billions, and fears of a recession have eroded their ability to demand the telework perks they won early in the pandemic, when the labor market sat squarely in their favor. Some companies, like Goldman Sachs Group Inc., now expect a return to five days in the office, though boardroom disagreement abounds nearly three of out four organizations see RTO as the topic most likely to foment leadership conflict. At the state level, the data shows all 50 have seen work-from-home rates drop from their pandemic highs. But the unevenness in their rates of decline suggests the trend doesnt have one cohesive explanation, and is instead the result of a hodgepodge of migration, socio-economic, gender and race factors, and possibly even politics Democratic states tend to have higher remote-work rates than Republican ones. Illustrating the complexity: States whose remote-work rates have fallen by as much as half to around post-pandemic lows include Mississippi and Louisiana, which werent able to widely embrace remote work due to a reliance on in-person industries like manufacturing and oil and gas, but also more white-collar states that did welcome it, like California and Connecticut. Story continues New York City workers fled during the pandemic to towns like Greenwich, Connecticut, driving a boom in home sales and remote-work rates. Now, they may not be moving back, but theyre commuting to the city. As Connecticuts work-from-home rate has fallen to 28% from its early-2021 peak of 46% average ridership along the Metro-North train lines that link the state to New York City and its offices has risen to a peak of about 70% versus pre-pandemic levels, up from just 20% in early 2021. People exited New York City, theyre not selling their homes to go back, Bill Raveis, founder of Connecticut-based William Raveis Real Estate Inc., said in an interview. Theyre staying here and theyre making their adjustments to the community. The latest Census data also underlines that employees demand for remote jobs is outpacing the number of companies offering them. In 157 of the largest metro areas in the US, more than half of job applications were for fully remote or hybrid roles in August, according to LinkedIn data generated for Bloomberg, but postings for those jobs have been falling since early 2022, data from Indeed Inc. shows. In Colorado widely seen as a work-from-home haven and one of the few states that has maintained a rate above one third 76% of job applications in Colorado Springs were for fully remote or hybrid roles in August, the LinkedIn data showed. Some areas are capitalizing on that scarcity. Alabama, with a work-from-home rate of just 15% according to the Pulse data, offers $10,000 to remote workers who move to the states northwest Shoals area. The program has attracted about the same number of applications so far this year as in all of 2021 and 2022 combined, about 3,400. All 50 states pale in comparison to their largest cities metro areas. In Washington, DC, where government bureaucrats are loath to go back to their offices, the remote-work rate is above 50%, the data shows. Similarly, Seattle, Boston and San Francisco all had rates near or above 40%. Average office attendance across ten big US cities remains about 50% of pre-pandemic levels, according to security firm Kastle Systems International LLC, no higher than where it was early in 2023. --With assistance from Gabriel Sanchez. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. The Finstable Group Thailand's "Digital Token and National Blockchain Infrastructure" symposium, hosted by The Finstable Group, brings global leaders to discuss blockchain's role in the nation's digital transformation, highlighting Thailand's commitment to blockchain adoption and innovation. BANGKOK, THAILAND, Oct. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Thailand is poised to host a groundbreaking international event in December, uniting the global blockchain community to chart the course of the nation's digital future. This two-day conference will serve as the inaugural platform for the "Thailand Digital Token and National Blockchain Infrastructure" symposium, delving deep into Thailand's Digital Currency Policy. This exclusive event, hosted by The Finstable Group, will convene influential leaders in blockchain technology, alongside government representatives from Thailand. It is designed to cultivate crucial dialogues concerning the integration of blockchain technology in the development of digital currency and the national blockchain infrastructure. Notable participants include prominent names in the blockchain industry, such as Ethereum, BNB Chain, EOS Network, Polkadot, Cronos, Klaytn, TON, Solana, Cardano, Tron, Flare, HashKey, and Bitkub Chain. Organized by The Finstable Group, a prominent figure in Thailand's blockchain ecosystem, this high-profile conference will unfold at the state-of-the-art Blockchain Technology Center (BTC) located in the heart of Phuket, Thailand. This facility features cutting-edge amenities, including one of Thailand's largest VR Gaming Parks, underscoring Thailand's dedication to blockchain adoption and its aspiration to become a global tech hub. Transforming Thailand's Digital Landscape The Thai government's bold introduction of a digital wallet initiative has garnered worldwide attention. This initiative aims to engage an estimated 40 million users in its digital undertaking, supported by a substantial budget of 560 billion baht (approximately 15.5 billion USD) earmarked for distributing 10,000 baht (about 279 USD) in digital currency to every citizen over 16 years old. Experts project that this initiative has the potential to invigorate the economy, with an expected return on investment exceeding fourfold and a substantial cash flow boost surpassing 2 trillion baht (around 55.3 billion USD). Story continues Addressing Blockchain Challenges While the potential of blockchain technology in government systems is substantial, it is not devoid of challenges. Issues encompassing security, transparency, scalability, and payment infrastructure require careful consideration. These challenges present opportunities for innovation, as experts explore the potential of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) and Oracle system integration to enhance security, scalability, and operational efficiency. The Gateway to Thailand's Digital Future This significant event will center on promoting the Thai Digital Wallet Scheme as a gateway to a more digitally-focused Thailand, delivering concrete benefits to its citizens. As Thailand modernizes its economy, blockchain technology is emerging as a transformative force, reshaping established notions of trust, security, and decentralization. About Finstable The Finstable Group stands as Thailand's largest integrated blockchain solution provider, celebrated throughout Asia. The company is guided by a clear mission: to lead innovation by crafting cutting-edge blockchain solutions and applications that redefine traditional processes and foster the widespread adoption of blockchain technologies. Its conglomerate of companies offers an innovative portfolio of comprehensive solutions powered by expertise, resources, and state-of-the-art infrastructure. With a strong focus on sectors such as fintech, greentech, and realtech, The Finstable Group serves as a gateway for investors seeking access to leading projects in Thailand and the region, unlocking fresh financial opportunities in the digital era. The group is also renowned for hosting the sole annual blockchain conference in Southeast Asia with a beachside retreat titled "Block On The Beach" (BOB), a platform where distinguished leaders, renowned speakers, and international companies come together for an exclusive and memorable experience. Join the Dialogue Parties interested in participating in the discourse between blockchain industry leaders and the Thai government can reach out to The Finstable Group. Your involvement could have a significant impact on shaping the future of blockchain technology and accelerating its adoption. For more information about The Finstable Group, please visit: Website: https://finstable.co.th/en Event Bookng: https://events.finstable.co.th Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Finstable For media inquiries, please contact: pr@finstable.co.th By Mathieu Rosemain (Reuters) -Banking big-shot Jean-Pierre Mustier is taking over the helm of Atos' board of directors, the crisis-hit French IT consulting group said on Monday, driving the shares up as it seeks to secure a contested deal with Czech tycoon Daniel Kretinksy. Mustier, a former CEO of Italian bank UniCredit, is replacing Bertrand Meunier, who has recently been the focus of criticism by several minority shareholders after Atos dropped an initial plan to split up the company into two listed entities in favour of selling its largest division to Kretinsky. Mustier, credited with restoring UniCredit's capital strength, will be tasked to revive investors' trust after a governance crisis and a series of setbacks pummelled Atos' shares, now trading at near record lows. Atos shares jumped by more than 20% in early Paris trading but reversed course in the morning. They were down by 1.6% at 0749 GMT. The planned sale of Atos's loss-making legacy IT operations, dubbed Tech Foundations, to Kretinsky is opposed by some minority shareholders and several French politicians. Critics of the deal with Kretinsky, who would secure more than half of Atos' activities in terms of sales, have said the transaction was too favourable to the Czech billionaire because it shielded Tech Foundations from Atos' total 2.3 billion euro ($2.42 billion) debt. The two-part transaction, which also comprises a 900 million euro share sale for the remaining part of Atos, dubbed Eviden, would make the Czech tycoon the number one shareholder of Eviden, deemed a strategic asset by the French state. Kretinsky has promised to remain a passive shareholder in Eviden. He has also said that he is open to selling part or all the 7.5% stake he would gain in Eviden, a source close to the matter said. Kretinsky's aides have also insisted that the deal would transfer 1.9 billion euros worth of on-balance sheet liabilities from Atos as it stands now. Story continues Atos on Monday reiterated the plan to sell Tech Foundations to Kretinsky under the terms announced in August, although it signalled some of the financial terms could change. It said it now expected to complete the deal in the second quarter of 2024. In the event of a failure of the deal with Kretinsky, Atos would have to consider the sale of additional assets or "access the debt and equity capital markets" to safeguard the liquidity of Atos, the company added. The group, which secured a 2.7 billion-euro short term debt package to finance its transformation, said it was in active discussions with its financing banks to obtain loan waivers as 1.5 billion euros worth of the debt mature in January 2024. ($1 = 0.9499 euros) (Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain and Pierre John Felcenloben; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Shri Navaratnam and Louise Heavens) Szabolcs Fekete initially said he had consumed the two sandwiches, two pasta dishes, and two coffees by himself. Alexandr Spatari/Getty Images A Citibank employee tried to claim several dishes on expenses, saying he had eaten them all himself. The banker later admitted he had shared the food with his partner and was fired by Citibank. A judge ruled in the bank's favor in a wrongful-dismissal lawsuit. The banking giant Citibank has won an employment lawsuit against an employee who was fired after claiming expenses for food and drink for his partner during a business trip and misleading the bank about it. London-based former analyst Szabolcs Fekete had sued the bank, accusing it of unfair dismissal after being fired last year over the expenses claim, according to an east London employment tribunal. He initially said he had consumed two sandwiches, two pasta dishes, and two coffees by himself during a business trip to Amsterdam but later acknowledged his partner had shared some of the food. In an email exchange with his supervisor, the Citibank employee said he had "checked the receipt and did not see anything out of order," adding: "I was on the business trip by myself and I had 2 coffees as they were very small." In response, Fekete's senior manager wrote that the receipt "appears to have two sandwiches, two coffees, and another drink," going on to ask: "Are you advising that this was all consumed by you?" Fekete said that this was the case and that all his expenses were within Citibank's daily spending allowance, arguing he should not "have to justify my eating habits to this extent." The bank also questioned whether he had shared two dinners of pesto pasta and pasta Bolognese with his partner, but Fekete said this wasn't the case. He later admitted he had shared the food that he had expensed to his employer with his partner and was ultimately dismissed by the bank. Fekete argued that there were mitigating factors, including that his grandmother had died recently and that he was on strong medication when he replied to the emails. Story continues Judge Caroline Illing, presiding over the case, concluded that his dismissal was fair, as Fekete was not initially honest about the misclaimed expense. "In considering the substantial merits of this case, I have found that this case is not about the sums of money involved," he said. "It is significant that the claimant did not make a full and frank disclosure at the first opportunity and that he did not answer questions directly." A spokesperson for Citibank told Insider: "We are pleased with the decision." Read the original article on Business Insider Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 16, 2023) - BASIN URANIUM CORP. (CSE: NCLR) ("Basin Uranium" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into an option agreement (the "Option Agreement") with Golden Independence Mining Corp. (CSE: IGLD) ("Golden Independence") for Golden Independence to acquire up to a 90%-interest in the Wray Mesa uranium project in Utah, USA. Under the terms of the Option Agreement, Golden Independence will contribute cash, share and exploration expenditure consideration totaling over $4,700,000 CAD during the Option Agreement period. "With Basin Uranium's focus firmly shifted towards it's Chord project in South Dakota, this agreement allows the project to advance while still providing the Company exposure to an exciting uranium district in Utah," commented Michael Blady, CEO of Basin Uranium. "We look forward to working with the Golden Independence team as the project operator under the initial earn-in agreement to advance the understanding of the project and better define the areas of historical mineralization. Given the significant appetite for advanced-stage uranium assets in safe jurisdictions combined with support from the US Government in advancing clean energy security, this allows both companies to benefit from this pivotal time in the global energy transition." Under the terms of the Option Agreement between the Basin Uranium Corp. and Golden Independence Mining Corp. (CSE: IGLD), Golden Independence will have the right to acquire up to a 90%-interest in the project through staged cash, share and work commitments. To earn an initial 51% interest in the project, Golden Independence must pay C$50,000 in cash and issue 300,000 shares within five days of approval of the Canadian Securities Exchange and incur US$250,000 in exploration within the first year, in addition to paying C$100,000 in cash, issuing C$250,000 worth of stock and incurring US$500,000 of exploration by the end of the second year. Once the 51% earn-in has been completed, Golden Independence has the option to earn an additional 20% interest (for a total of 71%) through an additional payment of C$75,000 in cash plus issuing C$250,000 worth of stock and incurring US$1,000,000 in exploration by the end of the third year. Assuming the completion of a 71% earn-in, Golden Independence can earn a further 19% interest (for a total of 90%) through the payment of C$75,000 in cash plus issuing C$250,000 worth of stock and incurring US$1,000,000 in exploration by the end of the fourth year. Once Golden Independence has earned a 90% interest in the project, Basin Uranium will have a free carried 10% interest in the project. Story continues About Basin Uranium Corp. Basin Uranium is a Canadian junior exploration company focused on mineral exploration and development in the green energy sector. The Company has two advanced-stage uranium projects located in the United States, namely the Chord project in South Dakota and the Wray Mesa project in southeastern Utah, both of which have seen extensive historical exploration and located in prospective development areas. The Company also has the Mann Lake uranium project, located in the world class Athabasca Basin of Northern Saskatchewan, Canada in addition to the CHG gold project in south-central British Columbia. For further information, please visit https://basinuranium.ca or email info@basinuranium.ca. On Behalf of the Board of Directors Mike Blady Chief Executive Officer info@basinuranium.ca Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its regulation services provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This news release includes certain statements and information that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts, including statements regarding future estimates, plans, objectives, timing, assumptions or expectations of future performance are forward-looking statements and contain forward-looking information. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "intends" or "anticipates", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should", "would" or "occur". Forward-looking statements are based on certain material assumptions and analysis made by the Company and the opinions and estimates of management as of the date of this news release. These forward-looking statements are 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 statements or forward-looking information. Important factors that may cause actual results to vary include, without limitation, uncertainties affecting the expected use of proceeds. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, forward-looking information or financial out-look that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/183998 Last week, Sam Bankman-Frieds criminal trial heated up as his ex-girlfriend, Caroline Ellison, took the stand in what was the most-anticipated, and arguably most explosive, testimony of the trial thus far. Ellisonthe former CEO of Bankman-Frieds hedge fund, who like other top FTX lieutenants Gary Wang and Nishad Singh took a plea deal with the governmenttestified on both Tuesday and Wednesday, revealing that Alameda Research had propped up FTXs native cryptocurrency, FTT, from the beginning and at Bankman-Frieds direction. Theres more: Ellison testified that Bankman-Fried told her that he gave himself a 5% chance he would become president someday, as my colleague Ben Weiss detailed. Ellison also laid out SBFs utilitarian belief system, including how he thought the only moral value that mattered was whatever would maximize utility, which she described to mean the greatest good for the greatest number of people or beings. Rules like dont lie or dont steal didnt fit into that framework, Ellison testified. She also testified that, in the fall of 2022, Bankman-Fried had tried to encourage Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud of Saudi Arabia to invest in FTX as his hedge fund allegedly was withdrawing customer capital from the exchange, as Weiss reported from the courthouse. Then there are allegations that Alameda created several accounts on a Chinese crypto exchange called OKX using the IDs of different people who I believe were Thai prostitutes as part of an effort to retrieve funds that were stuck on the exchange, Ellison said. She also testified that Alameda later bribed a Chinese official with $150 million to retrieve funds on OKX and another crypto exchange. Ellison wrote in a document she sent to Bankman-Fried that Alameda had paid $150 million for the thing. We also learned that Ellison was given surprisingly little equity compensation compared to Bankman-Fried and his other top lieutenants, Wang and Singh. Ellison had no equity in Alameda, and she was only given a half-a-percentage-point stake in FTX. Comparatively, FTX cofounder Gary Wang, had a 16% stake in FTX and 10% stake in Alameda. (Michael Lewis new book states that Singh owned a 5% stake, and Bankman-Fried himself owned 90% of Alameda and more than half of FTX.) Story continues Apparently, it was Ellisons testimony that prompted the most reaction out of Bankman-Fried in trial. One of the prosecutors argued to Judge Lewis Kaplan during the trial that Bankman-Fried had laughed, visibly shaken his head, and scoffed during Ellisons testimony on Wednesday, as Weiss reported (Weiss couldnt see for himself, as media were allotted three benches in the back of the courtroom). Paradigm investor Matt Huangs emails Last week, a few reporters in the Fortune newsroom were parsing through an email exchange between Paradigm investor Matt Huang and Bankman-Fried that was entered into evidence during Huangs examination a couple weeks ago. The emails themselves offered some interesting insight into the skewed power dynamic between FTXs venture capital investors and its founder, where SBF had leverage to set the terms. We really like you and the FTX business, but feel $20B+ is mismatched with the scale of the current business. We gather that many other high quality investors may feel similarly, Huang wrote to SBF in an April 2021 email. Would you entertain an offer around $10B if we can aggregate a super high quality syndicate? Eg perhaps it is Paradigm, Tiger, Coatue, Ribbit, MFN, etc? This would still be low (~4%) dilution, while getting a bunch of premium names on the cap table ahead of any plans to go public / make inroads into the US. A few days later, Bankman-Fried sent a somewhat accusatory email to Huang: I was wondering if you could give more context on conversations youve been having with other VCs. I suspect that a somewhat garbled version of those is leaking out and being reframed as coming from us In a later email, SBF specified that word on the street was that FTX was asking for a $12 billion valuation, and that SBF was 90% sure its coming from those conversations. Not super appreciative of that, though no reason to think its you guys in particular, could be coming from any one of them. Frankly a pretty bad look given the Coinbase holdings many of that group have, makes us wonder what the motivation behind it is. Im not sure what your guys thoughts are on the raise but maybe to be more explicit about this: its totally fine if you want a $12b val, but we dont, and we would rather just not raise, which is totally fine with us! Also lots of others are happy with 20b, and FTT implies a much higher val, so would be kinda weird for us to raise a 10-12 from a group of people who have not historically been very aligned with us. Despite Huangs expressed concerns in emails of price and that FTX was owned and controlled by SBF rather than a "more traditional corporate governance model," FTX would go on to close a $900 million round at an $18 billion a few months later. We all know the ultimate outcome. Paradigm, in full, put $278 million into FTX between its failed U.S. and international FTX exchanges. Huang testified that has been marked down to zero. You can read the full email exchange here and look at the pitch deck SBF used to fundraise here. More crypto chaosLast week, the Federal Trade Commission said it had settled with the now-bankrupt crypto trading firm Voyager. As part of the settlement, Voyager is permanently banned from ever handling consumers assets again, and the FTC filed a suit against the companys former CEO, Stephen Ehrlich, for falsely claiming that customers accounts were insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and were safe. (Ehrlichs wife, Francine, is named as a relief defendant, too.) In tandem, the CFTC charged Ehrlich with fraud and registration failures. In a statement to Bloomberg, Ehrlich said he was outraged and deeply dismayed by the allegations from the CFTC and FTC and that he was being used as scapegoat for the bad actions of others. See you tomorrow, Jessica Mathews Twitter: @jessicakmathews Email: jessica.mathews@fortune.com Submit a deal for the Term Sheet newsletter here. Joe Abrams curated the deals section of todays newsletter. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com By Michael Erman, Ludwig Burger and Manas Mishra (Reuters) -Pfizer set off a fresh round of concern about the size of the U.S. COVID-19 vaccine and treatment market in the long term, driving down shares on Monday of its German partner BioNTech and smaller rival Moderna. Vaccine makers are depending on the U.S. market as many countries have more limited yearly campaigns for giving updated shots. For BioNTech, Moderna, and Novavax, COVID vaccines remain their only approved products. BioNTech shares dropped 7.2% in Frankfurt trading while Moderna was down 5% and shares of Novavax, whose new shot is only approved in the U.S., were off 7% in New York. Shares of Pfizer were up nearly 5%, however, buoyed by a $3.5 billion cost-cutting plan the drugmaker announced late on Friday alongside its new COVID sales outlook. Pfizer reduced its full-year forecast for sales of its antiviral COVID treatment Paxlovid by about $7 billion, and for the vaccine it developed with BioNTech by about $2 billion due to a plunge in use of pandemic-related products. It said it would make cuts this year and next and take a write-down. On an early Monday call with analysts, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said he expects around 17% of the U.S. population will get updated COVID shots during the current vaccination campaign, in line with last year, but far below rates seen when vaccines first emerged in the spring of 2021. Going forward, Bourla said the company expects this year's demand to be the base rate but it was still watching the current campaign to be sure. The U.S. is "in the middle of COVID fatigue, where everyone wants to forget about the disease," he said. Moderna, in a statement on Monday, maintained its current revenue forecast of $6 billion to $8 billion for its COVID vaccine for 2023. Leerink analyst Mani Foroohar, who has an "underperform" rating on Moderna, said it is difficult to have confidence in the company's market forecast given the pace of vaccinations. So far this fall, about 7 million of the updated COVID shots have been given in the U.S. Story continues Foroohar said he is concerned with Moderna's rate of spending and that the drugmaker is at risk of ending this year with less than $10 billion of cash on its balance sheet, adding that it may need to increase cost cutting. Jefferies analyst Michael Yee said Pfizer's new COVID outlook implies lower vaccine sales for Moderna than it had forecast. Moderna was not immediately available for comment. BioNTech, which relies on vaccine-related profit-sharing payments from Pfizer for much of its revenue, said it would take a write-down of up to 900 million euros ($947 million), the same size charge Pfizer announced for it on Friday. BioNTech added that it had been told by Pfizer that most of the write-offs relate to raw materials, as well as to inventories of vaccine versions that are older or different from the updated one currently in use. Pfizer's total non-cash charge of $5.5 billion in the third quarter also includes $4.6 billion in inventory write-offs for its antiviral Paxlovid. A BioNTech spokesperson on Monday declined to comment on the company's current 2023 outlook. It reports earning on Nov. 6. Pfizer's shares, which are down about 37% this year, trade at 9.8 times their 12-month forward earnings estimate, while BioNTech trades at 26.7, according to LSEG data. ($1 = 0.9498 euro) (Reporting by Ludwig Burger and Rachel More in Frankfurt, Michael Erman in New York, and Bhanvi Satija and Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Caroline Humer and Bill Berkrot) Qabil Ashirov The trickeries of Armenia and France have no borders. Armenian media outlets circulated a statement and presented it as if a joint statement by 34 countries. However, according to the official webpage of the Human Rights Council, it has been delivered virtually on behalf of France and Armenia only. Moreover, on the one hand, the statement speaks about the rights of separatists, on the other hand, it points out that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of both Armenia and Azerbaijan should be fully respected. Supporting the separatist movement in Azerbaijan and expressing full respect for Azerbaijans territorial integrity are two totally different notions. Even the idiots can understand it easily, but France and Armenia do not. It is worth noting that the words in the statement remind me of the rhetoric of the Garabagh clique which usurped power in Yerevan and robbed the country over twenty years. Like the statement, the clique, which had invaded 20 percent of Azerbaijani territories, used to say that they respected the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. By the way, the statement should have condemned those who forced Armenians to leave Garabagh, not to accept Azerbaijani citizenship, but not Azerbaijan. They again removed a group of Armenians from Garabagh and made them a tool for their political game - as if they thought that they could put pressure on Pashinyan. They tried to overthrow Pashinyan several times but failed. At last, they resorted to playing with the demography of Armenia. As is known, when the clique was in power, the economy of Armenia stagnated. The GDP ebbed and flowed between $13-18bn for 10 years from 2008-2018. Armenian economy managed to overpass the psychological point of $18bn during Pashinyan. Thus, Pashinyan challenged the Garabagh clique with the economy. So, the clique aims to strike back Pashinyan with his own weapons. Thus, pointing to Azerbaijan as the reason for the migration of Armenians from the Garabagh is groundless and slanderous. Meanwhile, it should not be forgotten that it is not only the clique but also Yerevan and France, the architects of the heinous statement, who are keen to take advantage of the calamities of civilians. Otherwise, they would have helped Azerbaijan on reintegration. However, Armenia had propagated hatred against Azerbaijan for 30 years and after 2020 France started to continue the propaganda, let alone assisting Azerbaijan. France intends to increase tension in the region and disrupt the peace process by discriminating against Azerbaijanis and baseless accusations against Azerbaijan. Because the more conflict continues, the more fruitful conditions be developed for Paris to station in the region. In addition, keeping in mind that half a million Armenians live in France, the ongoing conflict will also help to recruit votes for good. Another proof that France is not interested in peace and is biased, is the stance of Paris. For example, France has never voiced the fate of one million refugees and IDPs, of different origins who found shelter in Azerbaijan, dispelled by Armenia. As a matter of course, the heinous document initiated by the two sister countries is not excluded and the fate of these refugees and IDPs was not touched on. Meanwhile, they incorrectly called Armenian migrants "refugees" in abundance in the statement. We say incorrectly because these people cannot be "refugees" thanks to the shortsightedness of Armenian politicians. As is known, a refugee is a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster. Since Yerevan granted citizenship to the Armenian residents of Garabagh, they cannot be considered refugees but ordinary Armenian citizens returning to their motherland. Secondly, Azerbaijan proclaimed that Armenian residents of Garabagh are its citizens and it will provide all basic needs for these people. These people left Garabagh on their own desire. So, if a person leaves one country on his/her own desire, he/she is not considered a refugee but a migrant. Otherwise, given that dozens of Hayk leave Armenia every year, in this case, the world, including France, should accuse Armenia of ethnic cleansing. To top it all off, France, Armenia, and other countries who endorsed the heinous statement are the last countries to accuse Azerbaijan of something. The world has not and will not forget the atrocities conducted by several of these countries. Take Japan, for example. A country that buried hundreds of Chinese alive in the first half of the last century cannot teach us anything about human rights. As for the United Kingdom, it is well known that local people of former British Colonies were exterminated. The number of Indigenous people in the USA, Australia, and New Zealand is tantamount to roughly zero. They are not represented in the economy, politics, art, and so on. Belgium's concerns over human rights are another comedy. It had better to pay compensation to the forechildren of the Congolese rather than being obsessed with the fate of Armenians for Belgium. As is known, during the dark colonial period in accordance with the order of greedy and bloodthirsty Belgian king Leopold II, a quota was determined for all Congolese to harvest natural rubber. Hands of any Congolese who failed to harvest the proper volume of rubber were chopped off and this bloody inhuman policy continued until the initiate of the last century. Spanish vandalism of the Latin American Indians does not lag behind Belgium's atrocities in Congo. Bartolome de las Casas's book gives detailed information about the Indian Massacres conducted by the Spanish. The atrocities extended to such a degree that even Spanish clergyman Bartolome de las Casas could not endure. To give it its due, none of the vandalism and atrocities conducted during the dark colonial period, cannot be compared with deeds conducted by France. French atrocities in Africa, the Far East, and the Caribbean can be called the epos of atrocities. Since its inception 15 years ago this month, Bitcoin has become the star around which the rest of the blockchain industry revolves. It remains the most widely known and best-understood project in the broader crypto ecosystem, and it continues to galvanize interest in digital currencies across the world. One thing that unites all Bitcoin holders is trust in unchangeable code. Every day, the networks miners convert real-world energy into a scarce digital asset that exists on an immutable public ledger. But one place where this trust has yet to take hold is traditional finance, where many big players are unwilling to hold Bitcoin outside of a familiar investment instrument. There are any number of reasons for this state of affairs. Though the process of buying, storing, managing and transferring Bitcoin has gotten much simpler, its still easy to misplace private keys or send Bitcoin to the wrong address to say nothing of persistent concerns regarding its regulatory prospects. Ultimately, what this means is that traders operating within institutions beholden to restrictive investment rules have effectively been locked out of a promising and potentially highly profitable new arena. The most obvious solution to this problem would be an exchange-traded fund specializing in Bitcoin. An ETF is a basket of investments that can be traded on a stock exchange. A spot Bitcoin ETF, therefore, is effectively the same thing as making Bitcoin tradeable on such an exchange. While self-custody is preferable for some folks, this would furnish a straightforward way for other investors to gain exposure to Bitcoin without needing to directly manage it themselves. Absent an ETF, investors particularly institutions that arent allowed to own Bitcoin directly are limited to instruments like the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. While GBTC indirectly grants exposure to Bitcoin, it doesnt allow for immediate redemptions. This means that at various times it has traded at either sizable premiums or sizable discounts to Bitcoin, leading to incredibly inefficient cryptoasset markets. An ETF would allow many more investors to get direct exposure to Bitcoin, including major institutions that will bring an air of legitimacy to the broader digital asset space. Story continues How close are we to a Bitcoin ETF in the United States? The short answer is: much closer than we were even a few months ago. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. recently sided with Grayscale in its attempt to overrule the Securities and Exchange Commissions denial of their earlier request to establish a Bitcoin ETF. A few months before that the largest asset management company in the world, BlackRock, submitted its own proposal for a Bitcoin ETF, with many other blue-chip institutions following suit. Outside of the U.S., recent efforts in this direction have included the introduction of Europes first spot Bitcoin ETF, along with multiple successful approvals of Bitcoin ETFs in Canada over the past two years. In addition to various other legal and economic justifications, global analysts offer these two examples as proof of the inevitability of a spot Bitcoin ETF in the U.S. JPMorgans Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou recently stated that the SEC would either be forced to approve GBTCs Bitcoin ETFs or would have to suffer the embarrassment of retroactively withdrawing a prior approval of similar ETFs based on futures contracts. Bloombergs James Seyffart, in addition, predicted that spot Bitcoin ETF approvals would be a done deal by 2024. At this point, the destination is inevitable; how much longer it takes to get there remains to be seen. As for the question of why now, two core reasons stand out as especially important. First, in a world marked by a growing distrust of authority, Bitcoin represents a comforting mathematical certainty. A core tenet of Bitcoin is that its supply is capped at 21 million, making it one of the only assets whose supply is completely unaffected by demand. Given that increasing Bitcoins supply ahead of its pre-programmed emissions schedule is impossible, the only way to address an increase in demand is to make it more accessible with instruments like ETFs. The second reason stems from the fact that more and more people are building on top of the underlying Bitcoin network. Earlier this year, NFTs and fungible tokens were introduced to the Bitcoin blockchain, causing demand for network capacity to skyrocket. Though were no doubt in the early stages of these developments, they are nevertheless glimpses into a future where Bitcoin contributes to the governance of complex systems with uniquely credible neutrality. As things stand, Bitcoin is now attempting to gain access to the traditional financial system, but there is the intriguing possibility that it will compete with that system in a much more fundamental way. Rather than an ETF being a basket through which investors hold Bitcoin, for example, tokenization the issuance of scarce digital tokens representing shares of ownership could eventually be the means by which traditional assets are held in a decentralized way. This would increase transparency and available liquidity while simultaneously reducing the prevalence of fee-extracting intermediaries. As an asset, Bitcoin is only the beginning. Its second-order effects will be truly vast. (Bloomberg) -- An erroneous news report that sparked a brief 10% rally in Bitcoin is shining a spotlight on a crypto industry thats waiting with bated breath for the arrival of mass-market ETFs to revitalize its fortunes. Most Read from Bloomberg On Monday morning, a rally in the token was quickly reversed after a news report incorrectly asserted that BlackRock Inc. had received the green light to launch a spot exchange-traded fund in the cryptocurrency. While the news may have been bogus, the money at stake was very real. Data from tracker Coinglass shows that more than $85 million worth of trading positions, mostly from traders who were betting on lower prices, were liquidated over the past 24 hours. While misinformation is par for the course for an industry beloved by fraudsters and digital advocates alike, the episode adds to the raging debate on whether the market has actually priced in the arrival of an exchange-traded fund tracking the largest digital coin. It also underscores concerns held by regulators that retail investors lack basic protections in the crypto Wild West a sticking point that has in the past fueled the Securities and Exchange Commissions reluctance to broaden market access. The fake news about the Bitcoin ETF being approved highlights the challenge of protecting investors in an unregulated space that attracts shady operators and rampant speculation, said Michael ORourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading. Bitcoin jumped above $30,000 to its highest level since July after a handful of tweets propagating the unfounded news pushed the price up. The coin then pared those gains to trade around $28,300 just about where it had been before the incident after BlackRock said its ETF application was still under review by regulators. Story continues This particular instance comes at a time of heightened expectations that a spot-Bitcoin ETF will indeed soon be available to American investors. Issuers have been trying to get a US spot-Bitcoin ETF launched for about a decade now, with no luck. Regulators have cited market manipulation and scams as some of the reasons for past denials. But that hasnt deterred companies from trying to tap into what potentially and ultimately could amount to billions of dollars of inflows. Many issuers have over the years worked on their applications or on ways to appease regulators with the hopes of getting such a fund off the ground. There are currently more than 10 outstanding applications for a spot Bitcoin ETF, and because BlackRock and other heavyweights including Invesco and Fidelity are part of the current race, many analysts believe the chances of approval are stronger. Mondays frenzy also showcases that any potential approval hasnt yet been priced into the market, given the swift 10% rise for Bitcoin. The crypto market is ripe for false starts given that whats at stake is the opening up of crypto to a greater base of investors, says Todd Sohn, ETF and technical strategist at Strategas Securities. Bitcoin is still flat since March, so Id guess its not fully priced in, said Sohn. If a fake headline was worth 6-10%, the real deal should equate to more. Roxanna Islam, associate director of research at VettaFi, agrees. Well see a stronger, more sustained rally once spot-Bitcoin ETFs are actually approved, she said. This mornings move was based on very uncertain news that was disproven soon after its release, so the market did not have adequate time to react. --With assistance from Muyao Shen. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Key Black Dragon team members and Advisors participating in several events during week-long engagement BOCA RATON, Fla., Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Black Dragon Capital ("BDC," "Black Dragon"), a multi-phased investment firm focused on advanced technologies in high growth segments that strengthen economic stability within communities, will be hosting several events at Money 20/20 and the California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues happening this October in Las Vegas. Multi-phased investment firm Black Dragon Capital will be hosting several events at Money 20/20 and the California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues happening this October in Las Vegas. Black Dragon Capital is known for its unique operations-led approach to investment, made possible by its team's deep domain expertise as both operators and investors within the industries they focus on. Its principals have been recognized members of the banking technology and operational landscape for decades who have led some of the most recognized financial institutions and FinTech companies in the industry. Driven by the goal of creating market-leading businesses that can contribute to strengthening the economic stability within their communities, Black Dragon actively takes part in different industry events to get to know the different leaders in financial and operational technology and investing in the community. The team's desire to keep their finger on the pulse of the community better has culminated in Black Dragon Capital hosting several events as part of Money 20/20, happening October 22-25, 2023, and the California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues, happening October 22-26, 2023, in Las Vegas. The firm will be hosting social and business discussion events while invitation-only events will allow for opportunities to catch up with industry friends and discuss possible collaborations that will leverage industry trends. Prominent attendees of these events include Kirk Kordeleski and Benson Porter credit union industry veterans who both recently joined Black Dragon Capital as advisors. Through their consistent presence in both events, the Black Dragon team hopes to be able to show their support to the community, spend time with friends from credit unions and financial services companies, and connect with promising FinTech companies who may be seeking financial sponsors with a thorough understanding of what it means to run a business. Story continues The upcoming events demonstrate Black Dragon's continued engagement with the community on two important industry events and its ongoing collaboration and involvement with the financial services industry and community based financial institutions. "As Chair of the newly formed FinTech CUSO Fund, Louis Hernandez Jr. and I are eager to continue our involvement with the community and participate in important strategic discussions", said Benson Porter, Chair of the BDC FinTech CUSO Fund. "We look forward to meeting the leaders in our industry and the future entrepreneurs who will share the Financial Technology landscape." About Black Dragon Capital Black Dragon Capital (BDC) is a multi-phased investment firm focused on advanced technologies in high growth segments that strengthen economic stability within communities. The firm was founded and led by a diverse team with a combination of intense operating experience, community impact focus, and a track record of successful investing. They work closely with entrepreneurs to build market leading companies using their proprietary Black Dragon Toolkit and focus on high potential early stage, and mid-market technology companies in growth sectors disrupted by digitization. Federico Biquard Senior Marketing Manager, Black Dragon Capital fbiquard@blackdragoncap.com Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/black-dragon-capital-to-host-several-events-at-money-2020-and-the-california-and-nevada-credit-union-leagues-in-las-vegas-301957603.html SOURCE Black Dragon Capital (Bloomberg) -- The Bank of England is reviewing its rules that determine when international banks are required to set up a formal subsidiary after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank showed it was easier to seize control of such operations in the event a bank fails. Most Read from Bloomberg Silicon Valley Bank operated as a branch in the UK for a decade before regulators finally required it to subsidiarise, Sam Woods, chief executive officer of the Bank of Englands Prudential Regulation Authority, said in prepared remarks during the City Banquet at Mansion House. Thats left regulators worried that their existing criteria might not catch another bank branch that offers similar deposit and transactional services to small- and mid-sized UK companies. For that reason, we are thinking about our approach to branching, he said. This is not about fundamental reform, but about whether there are any targeted areas for improvement. Woods added that the vast majority of branch business would be unaffected. The UK is home to more than 150 branches with about 6.3 trillion in assets. Its typically more costly for international banks to set up separately capitalized subsidiaries rather than operating as a branch and Woods noted that offering the branch model is key to the UK remaining a financial center. They significantly reduce the barriers to international banking business, are important for competitiveness and part of the Citys lifeblood, Woods said. That is not going to change. In the wide-ranging speech, Woods also weighed in on the latest global reforms governing capital requirements known as Basel III because theyre tied to an international overhaul that started more than a decade ago in response to the financial crisis of 2008. Story continues Top US regulators unveiled their plans for implementing the rules in July. The proposed changes would mean the eight largest US banks would have to increase capital by about 19%, leading executives from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. to push back against the plans. In contrast, Woods said he doesnt expect the reforms in the UK to move the dial in a meaningful way on aggregate capital levels. In other prepared remarks, Nikhil Rathi, chief executive officer of the UKs Financial Conduct Authority, said the regulator was starting to see more banks offering higher savings rates to consumers after the agency warned in July it would take robust action against firms that didnt. We are starting to see improvements better value products, communications and customer journeys, better deposit competition and faster pass through of rate rises, Rathi said. We are being proportionate, focusing on the most serious harms. Read more: Europes Banks Dangle 5% for Deposits in Fight for Clients In a separate speech on Monday, Nicholas Lyons, the Lord Mayor of London and a veteran financier, encouraged government officials, regulators and the financial industry to consider developing a secondment program that would encourage collaboration between the three sides. Secondment programs typically allow a company to assign an employee to go work for another company temporarily as a way to improve relations and share knowledge. Lyons also said regulators should encourage more pensions to invest in unlisted asset classes like infrastructure, real estate, private debt and private equity to help ensure the UKs savers are getting better returns. With a renewed partnership between regulators, government and industry, we can unlock investment, Lyons said. (Updates with comment from Nikhil Rathi in 10th and eleventh paragraphs.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Quite a few insiders have dramatically grown their holdings in Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) over the past 12 months. An insider's optimism about the company's prospects is a positive sign. While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. See our latest analysis for Bank of Montreal The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Bank of Montreal In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Independent Chairman of the Board George Cope bought CA$2.2m worth of shares at a price of CA$129 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of CA$110. While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company's future. To us, it's very important to consider the price insiders pay for shares. It is generally more encouraging if they paid above the current price, as it suggests they saw value, even at higher levels. Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 25.82k shares worth CA$3.3m. But they sold 500.00 shares for CA$58k. In total, Bank of Montreal insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction! There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. So if that suits your style you could check each stock one by one or you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them). Insider Ownership Of Bank of Montreal Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. It appears that Bank of Montreal insiders own 0.04% of the company, worth about CA$28m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders. Story continues So What Does This Data Suggest About Bank of Montreal Insiders? The fact that there have been no Bank of Montreal insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. Insiders do have a stake in Bank of Montreal and their transactions don't cause us concern. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. For example - Bank of Montreal has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of. Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies. 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. Soon after issuing a carefully worded statement of support for Israel in the wake of a terrorist attack by Hamas, a business school dean received a flood of hate mail from pro-Palestinian students and alumni. Like so many university and school leaders, the deanwho requested anonymitywas thrown into the dilemma that many face: should school leadership comment at all on social and geo-political events. The University of Chicago thinks it should stay mum, believing that the very taking of a position might chill the environment for free expression and academic freedom. But students, alumni, and faculty often demand such statements. A prominent alum of the Wharton School has taken to task the leadership of the University of Pennsylvania for not speaking up in support of Israel. Apollo Management CEO Marc Rowan, who along with his wife donated $50 million to Whartonl in 2018, was so incensed by the silence that he is demanding that UPenn President Liz Magill and Scott Bok, chair of the board of trustees, step down. Rowan is chair of the Wharton School Board. Hes not alone. Jon Huntaman Jr. has told Penn it will close its checkbook on future donations to the university. Huntsman, whose family has donated at least $50 million to Wharton, wrote that the university had become almost unrecognizable due to administrators response to antisemitism. At Harvard University, Bill Ackman, who earned his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1992, asked for the names of students who signed on to a letter blaming Israel for Hamas deadly attack so that he and other business leaders could make sure they are never hired by their companies. At least a dozen business executives have endorsed the call by the founder and chief executive officer of Pershing Square Capital Management, a hedge fund. STATEMENTS ISSUED BY B-SCHOOL DEANS AT HARVARD, WHARTON, INSEAD AND HAAS Despite the controversial nature of such statements, deans at many business schools from Harvard Business School and INSEAD to the Wharton School and UC Berkeleys Haas School of Business, have waded into the highly polarizing unrest in the Middle East. What they have often found, however, is that the schools are damned if they do, and damned if they dontregardless of what is said in a statement. Story continues INSEAD Dean Francisco Veloso wasted not time in taking a clear, unequivocal and morally powerful stand against terrorism. I am writing to you in response to the shocking bloodshed in the Middle East, he began his letter. INSEAD strongly condemns the horrific terrorist assaults committed by Hamas in Israel. We are sickened by the barbaric acts of terror carried out indiscriminately against innocent civilians. We firmly condemn the atrocities against humanity causing such pain to the victims, their families, and communities. At Harvard Business School, Dean Srikant Datar noted that he has spoken with students, faculty, staff, and alumni who have been deeply affected by Hamass violent attack on Israel and its devastating consequences. Terrorist actions against civilians are not only unconscionable, they are inconsistent with our most fundamental values; as humans, we must condemn them. They are especially troubling coming at a time of rising antisemitism globally. NO MATTER WHAT IS SAID, THE REACTION IS OFTEN INTENSE Business school deans acknowledge that such statements can lead to a backlash. Frankly, no matter what is said, the reaction is often intense, says Susan M. Fournier, dean of Questrom School of Business. In an emotionally charged situation, your comments will be appreciated and respected and at the same time highly scrutinized and challenged. Nonetheless, she adds, many stakeholders expect some sort of statement from leadership. There is increasing social pressure for leaders to issue a public statement, most often during a crisis, that takes a moral or perceived political stand, adds Fournier. A leaders comments are almost always considered political, no matter the intent. What a university needs to keep in mind are the guiding principles of free speech, and respect for diversity and diverse opinions among stakeholders and students, and acknowledgment of the impact of the crisis on individuals closest to the incident In so doing, deans need to create a barometer and filter which is based on the organizations cultural values. Consider what transpired in the past week at Berkeleys Haas School of Business. Acting Dean Jenny Chatman sent out two community messages on Hamas attack on Israel. On Monday, she put out the first message of support for all who were hurt or impacted by the violence. I am saddened that my first message to you as acting dean comes as the world reacts to new bloodshed and fear in the Middle East, wrote Chatman. I am heartbroken by the loss of life and outraged by civilian casualties. AFTER FIRST FAILING TO CONDEMN HAMAS, STUDENTS CLAIMED THE UNIVERSITY WAS ANTI-SEMITIC What she didnt do, however, was condemn Hamas for the attack nor refer to the attackers as terrorists. Some students were outraged as a result. The acting dean received a large volume of emails sent from current students and alumni as well as a letter campaign asking her to amend her statement. On Wednesday evening, two days after Chatmans first email, she sent a second message, signed by a group of deans and senior leaders. In it, Chatman invited students, faculty, staff, and alumni to a community conversation, which took place on Thursday. Since the terrorist attack Hamas launched on Israel on Saturday, we have spoken with many of you who have been deeply affected by its horrific consequences, she added. We see that our community is hurting, afraid, and exhausted. Terrorist actions against innocent people are indefensible; they are inconsistent with our fundamental humanity, and we must condemn them. We are all bracing for how the violence will reverberate in the immediate future and over generations to come in Israel, Gaza, and around the world. Hannah Schlacter, a full-time MBA student at Haas, and Danielle Sobkin, an undergraduate student at Cal, penned an op-ed piece, broadly decrying what they believe is antisemitism at the university. They also singled out Chatmans amended second statement. Students at the University of California, Berkeley feel terrified and isolated following interactions with campus administration, they wrote. The administration refuses to condemn Hamas terrorists for the murder of innocent civilians. This lays bare Berkeleys desire to avoid controversy rather than support students affected by the tragedy in Israel. The University has failed its students, failed to stand up against terrorism, and failed to acknowledge the hate which continues to grow not by the day, but by the hour. HOW BUSINESS SCHOOL DEANS RESPONDED TO THE CRISIS IN THE MIDDLE EAST Heres how different deans reacted to the events in Israel: Harvard Business School Dean Srikant Datars Statement Harvard Business School Dean Srikant M. Datar Dear members of the HBS community, I wanted to follow up on the message I joined with Harvards leadership in sending last evening, and on the statement issued by President Claudine Gay earlier today. Over the past few days, I have spoken with students, faculty, staff, and alumni of Harvard Business School who have been deeply affected by Hamass violent attack on Israel and its devastating consequences. Terrorist actions against civilians are not only unconscionable, they are inconsistent with our most fundamental values; as humans, we must condemn them. They are especially troubling coming at a time of rising antisemitism globally. Members of our community have experienced loss, are fearful for family and loved ones, or worry about the escalating tensions in the region. I share their heartbreak, their shock, and their horror. In moments like this, we gain strength from our community values. Conflicts exacerbate divisions of nationality, faith, culture, and identity, and harden divergent points of view. We cannot fall prey to this division, nor can we condone words or actions that intend to incite or inflame. As an academic institution, we instead must strive to deepen the connections that are the foundation of our community. We must ensure we foster free expression and robust dialogue, even as we respect the rights, differences, and dignity of others and workalwaysto create a culture of inclusion. Our sense of community is one of Harvard Business Schools greatest assets, and I hope we might draw on it now to extend our empathy and care to those who are suffering, and to deepen our understanding. The world needs leaders who will make a difference now more than ever. Over the weekend we began reaching out to and meeting with members of our community to offer support. We are committed to providing every member of our community with the resources they may need. Students can reach out to SAS staff (617.495.6087 or sas@hbs.edu 8 am-5 pm weekdays) or CAMHS Urgent Care (617.495.5711 weekends and evenings). Staff and faculty can contact the Employee Assistance Program (877.327.4278), with counselors available 24/7. The Harvard Chaplains are available to serve students, staff, and faculty. Additionally, the HBS Chapel offers a quiet place for reflection. At this very difficult time, I urge you to reach out to and support one another, listen to those who are hurting, and be generous with each other and kind to yourselves. With hope, Srikant Datar INSEAD Dean Francisco Velosos Statement INSEAD Dean Francisco Veloso INSEAD Dean Francisco Veloso I am writing to you in response to the shocking bloodshed in the Middle East. INSEAD strongly condemns the horrific terrorist assaults committed by Hamas in Israel. We are sickened by the barbaric acts of terror carried out indiscriminately against innocent civilians. We firmly condemn the atrocities against humanity causing such pain to the victims, their families, and communities. The full extent and horror of the acts are beyond what any of us could have imagined. Over the past few days, I have taken the time to engage and speak with many members of our community to understand the magnitude of what is happening and the suffering inflicted on so many people, as well as to offer our support. I have also been touched by the many acts of kindness and generosity that are taking place across our community. I want to express my gratitude to our students, alumni and colleagues for sharing their personal and often painful experiences with me. I know that many people in our community have been affected in profound ways and I want you all to know that I and the INSEAD community are with you and your loved ones in these trying times. I encourage those in need of help to contact the schools Psychological Services team for support. We are very concerned for the safety, security, and well-being of our own community, as well as many others who are suffering and fearful as further escalations unfold in Israel, Gaza and the broader region. We will continue to dialogue with all our community to find ways to aid and support all of those in need. INSEAD was founded after the Second World War to bring together people from different countries and backgrounds to foster mutual understanding and collaboration, and ultimately promote peace. Our commitment to this mission is unwavering. We stand together for humanity. We will continue to firmly stand against terrorism, against violence, and against racist narratives, including antisemitism. Given the very difficult times ahead, now more than ever it is imperative that we support one another. We are a diverse global community, and we must continue to prioritise solidarity and respect. Lets take care of each other. Francisco Veloso Dean of INSEAD Stanford Graduate School of Business Dean Jon Levins Statement Stanford GSB Dean Jonathan Levin Dear GSB, I write with profound sadness over the attack by Hamas and the violence and death in Israel and Gaza, and to express solidarity with each of you whose family and friends are suffering. My heart goes out to colleagues and classmates whose lives will be personally and irreversibly impacted by the escalating conflict. Let us be united in supporting them and each other in this moment of grief and loss. I hope and believe that as an academic community, in the coming weeks and months, we can find ways to engage in discussion and thoughtful dialogue about these unfolding events, as befits the members of one of the worlds great institutions of learning. I know many of us will want to hear from scholars and experts who have made the region their lifes work. I encourage those in need to reach out for help from the school or other university resources, and I encourage everyone to remember our collective responsibility to engage with each other in ways that are grounded in empathy and compassion. Jon Wharton Dean Erika James Statement Wharton Dean Erika James Wharton Dean Erika James Wharton community As you likely are aware, on Saturday morning, Israel was attacked by Hamas. Over the next 48 hours, the unsettling assault has led to escalating death tolls, fear, and devastation. The sorrow and concern so many of us are feeling on behalf of those affected is palpable. Wharton unequivocally condemns the atrocious assault against Israel and declares our solidarity with those suffering in the wake of such violence. It is our hope that all impacted communities can find refuge quickly and safely, for themselves and their loved ones during these troubling times. Wharton is a diverse, vibrant community more than 100,000 strong, existing within a worldly society of growing, complex interconnectedness. In educating student leaders to be engaged, global citizens, we acknowledge the instability and distress such incidents cause, and stand alongside those in need as the severity of this situation continues to unfold. The University is working with Penn Global, University Life, and the Office of the University Chaplain to provide support resources for Penn students at home and abroad in Israel. Plans for a number of University-led convenings are in the works with information forthcoming, but we encourage anyone seeking immediate assistance to utilize Penn Wellness or other student and faculty/staff services. Sincerely, Erika James Berkeley Haas Acting Dean Jenny Chatmans Statements Sent Monday: Acting Haas Dean Jennifer Chatman To the Haas community: I write from the Deans Office, where I am serving while Dean Harrison is on sabbatical. I am saddened that my first message to you as acting dean comes as the world reacts to new bloodshed and fear in the Middle East. I am heartbroken by the loss of life and outraged by civilian casualties. While these events are taking place far from our campus, they impact many in our community who have close ties to this region. For everyone directly affected by these events, our hearts go out to you. If you are in need of support, please make use of the resources available to you through campus. They are listed at the end of this message. As this conflict escalates to formal war, I invite you all to embrace our Defining Leadership Principles. We must be students always as our fellow humans experience vulnerability and trauma. We must listen to each other, learn from each other, and seek out expertswhether we agree with them or notwho always have something to teach us. I am humbled to be serving as acting dean through the end of December. I remind you (and myself) to lean into our core values and the Haas communitythey are our superpowers. My very best, Jenny Chatman, Acting Dean Sent Wednesday: Dear Haas Students, Faculty, Staff, and Alumni, Since the terrorist attack Hamas launched on Israel on Saturday, we have spoken with many of you who have been deeply affected by its horrific consequences. We see that our community is hurting, afraid, and exhausted. Terrorist actions against innocent people are indefensible; they are inconsistent with our fundamental humanity, and we must condemn them. We are all bracing for how the violence will reverberate in the immediate future and over generations to come in Israel, Gaza, and around the world. As we grieve the loss of life, and as we continue to process the escalating war, we would like to offer a space for our Haas community to come together to understand and support one another. We invite you to join us online on Thursday, October 12, at 12:30 p.m. PT, for a community dialogue and healing space. (Zoom registration required.) It will be facilitated by Katrina Koski, Director of Inclusion & Belonging, and Emma Hayes Daftary, Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Programs. Professor Omri Even-Tov has kindly agreed to help open the conversation and share his perspective. Finally, echoing messages from Haas and across campus, we want to direct you to two important messages from University of California Board of Regents Chair Leib and UC President Drake; and Chancellor Christ. As Chancellor Christ wrote, we encourage you to seek out support services if you are impacted. With care and in community, Jenny Chatman, Acting Dean The post Business School Deans Face Controversy Over Statements On Hamas Attack On Israel appeared first on Poets&Quants. Byline ranked No. 1 SBA lender in Illinois for the 15th year CHICAGO, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Byline Bank once again ranked fifth among lenders nationwide in loan volume for SBA 7(a) lending by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) at the close of the SBA's fiscal year on September 30, 2023. Byline also earned the top spot among Illinois lenders in SBA 7(a) loan volume and ranked first nationally for International Trade Loans. Byline Bank ranked #1 SBA lender in Illinois and #5 nationally. This marks the 15th consecutive year that Byline has received recognition as the top SBA 7(a) lender in Illinois, delivering $139 million in Illinois SBA-backed 7(a) loans in FY2023 to small business borrowers. Byline also ranked second for Third Party Lenders for SBA 504 loans in Illinois during FY2023 with $35 million in SBA 504 loans. "Byline Bank as an SBA Lender continues to play an instrumental role in delivering funding to fuel the aspirations and growth of small businesses across Illinois," said Bob Esquivel, Supervisory Lender Relations Specialist, Illinois District Office of the U.S. Small Business Administration. "Their consistency as a top SBA lender in Illinois is truly commendable, ensuring these businesses have the financial partners and resources required for their journey to success and job creation. We are grateful to have dedicated lending partners like Byline." "Small businesses are the lifeblood of our communities, and Byline is proud to have supported small business owners in securing the vital capital they need to pursue their dreams and grow their businesses," said Tom Abraham, President, Small Business Capital, the SBA lending division of Byline Bank. "A significant portion of Illinois' private workforce is employed by small businesses, which is one of the many reasons we're committed to nurturing entrepreneurship and economic growth in Illinois." "We know that Byline Bank is more than a financial institution to our customers; it's a lifeline for many of our community's small businesses," said Brogan Ptacin, Byline's Executive Vice President, Head of Commercial Banking. "The SBA 504 loan program promotes business growth and job creation, and we're proud to be a part of that. Being recognized as a top lender for both SBA 7(a) and 504 loans once again reaffirms our commitment to empowering local entrepreneurs." Story continues SBA Lending Beyond Illinois Nationally, Byline Bank ranked fifth for SBA 7(a) loan volume in FY2023 with nationwide loans totaling $536 million. Byline also remained the number-one lender of SBA International Trade Loans (ITL) nationally for the third consecutive year, providing $31 million in vital SBA-backed export financing loans to small businesses in FY2023. Additionally, Byline ranked second for SBA 7(a) lending by volume by the Wisconsin District Office of the SBA, with $28 million worth of loans granted in Wisconsin in FY2023. About Byline Bank's Small Business Capital Group Byline Bank's Small Business Capital team specializes in government-guaranteed lending, providing SBA financing throughout the country, with a primary focus in the Midwest, Florida, Colorado, Utah and California. Byline is distinguished by the SBA as an SBA Preferred Lender, and also specializes in USDA lending nationwide. About Byline Bank Headquartered in Chicago, Byline Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE: BY) is the parent company of Byline Bank, a full service commercial bank serving small- and medium-sized businesses, financial sponsors, and consumers. Byline Bancorp, Inc. completed its acquisition of Inland Bancorp, Inc. on July 1, 2023, with the combined entity operating as Byline Bank and as a result has approximately $8.8 billion in assets and operates 48 total branch locations throughout the Chicago and Milwaukee metropolitan areas. Byline Bank offers a broad range of commercial and retail banking products and services including small ticket equipment leasing solutions and is one of the top Small Business Administration lenders in the United States. For more information, visit www.bylinebank.com. Byline Bank is a member of the FDIC and an equal housing lender. Byline Banks SBA 7(a) lending ranked 5th nationally for fiscal year end 2023, fueling the growth of small businesses across the country. Pictured here (from L to R): Bob Steiner of the U.S. Small Business Administrations Illinois District Office, with Rehman Valliani and Michael Knazur of Byline Banks SBA lending team and Geraldine Aglipay, Katie Frost and Bob Esquivel of the SBA. Headquartered in Chicago, Byline Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE: BY) is the parent company of Byline Bank, a full service commercial bank serving small- and medium-sized businesses, financial sponsors, and consumers. Byline Bank is a member of the FDIC and an equal housing lender. For more information, visit www.bylinebank.com. Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/byline-bank-ranked-5th-nationally-for-sba-7a-lending-301956719.html SOURCE Byline Bank Key Insights The projected fair value for Hartalega Holdings Berhad is RM1.77 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity With RM2.07 share price, Hartalega Holdings Berhad appears to be trading close to its estimated fair value Our fair value estimate is 3.5% lower than Hartalega Holdings Berhad's analyst price target of RM1.83 Today we'll do a simple run through of a valuation method used to estimate the attractiveness of Hartalega Holdings Berhad (KLSE:HARTA) as an investment opportunity by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to today's value. The Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model is the tool we will apply to do this. Don't get put off by the jargon, the math behind it is actually quite straightforward. 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. Check out our latest analysis for Hartalega Holdings Berhad The Calculation We use what is known as a 2-stage model, which simply means we have two different periods of growth rates for the company's cash flows. Generally the first stage is higher growth, and the second stage is a lower growth phase. To begin with, we have to get estimates of the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years. Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, so we need to discount the sum of these future cash flows to arrive at a present value estimate: Story continues 10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF (MYR, Millions) RM172.4m RM137.4m RM214.0m RM242.0m RM329.0m RM392.7m RM450.1m RM501.0m RM545.9m RM586.0m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x2 Analyst x4 Analyst x4 Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Est @ 19.36% Est @ 14.62% Est @ 11.30% Est @ 8.97% Est @ 7.35% Present Value (MYR, Millions) Discounted @ 9.6% RM157 RM114 RM163 RM168 RM208 RM227 RM237 RM241 RM240 RM235 ("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St) Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = RM2.0b The second stage is also known as Terminal Value, this is the business's cash flow after the first stage. The Gordon Growth formula is used to calculate Terminal Value at a future annual growth rate equal to the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield of 3.6%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 9.6%. Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033 (1 + g) (r g) = RM586m (1 + 3.6%) (9.6% 3.6%) = RM10b Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= RM10b ( 1 + 9.6%)10= RM4.0b The total value is the sum of cash flows for the next ten years plus the discounted terminal value, which results in the Total Equity Value, which in this case is RM6.0b. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of RM2.1, the company appears around fair value at the time of writing. The assumptions in any calculation have a big impact on the valuation, so it is better to view this as a rough estimate, not precise down to the last cent. dcf Important Assumptions Now 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 Hartalega Holdings Berhad as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 9.6%, which is based on a levered beta of 0.882. 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 Hartalega Holdings Berhad Strength Debt is not viewed as a risk. Weakness Expensive based on P/S ratio and estimated fair value. Opportunity Expected to breakeven next year. Has sufficient cash runway for more than 3 years based on current free cash flows. Threat No apparent threats visible for HARTA. Next Steps: Valuation is only one side of the coin in terms of building your investment thesis, and it ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize for a company. DCF models are not the be-all and end-all of investment valuation. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" For instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. For Hartalega Holdings Berhad, we've put together three fundamental items you should look at: Financial Health: Does HARTA 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 HARTA'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 Malaysian stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Dropbox DEO Drew Houston Matt Winkelmeyer and Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images Dropbox CEO Drew Houston told Fortune his company used a 90/10 rule for remote work. This means 90% of the year is spent on remote work, and the remaining 10% is dedicated to employee off-site events. "If you trust people and treat them like adults, they'll behave like adults. Trust over surveillance," said Houston. Drew Houston, the CEO of the file-storage company Dropbox, is continuing to tout a predominantly remote work culture, even as business leaders increasingly call for their workers to return to the office. He told Fortune in an interview published Sunday that Dropbox was using a 90/10 rule, with 90% of the year spent on remote work and the remaining 10% spent on a handful of employee off-sites. Houston added that his company first started using the 90/10 approach in 2021. The San Francisco-based company which had more than 3,000 employees before a round of layoffs doesn't require its workers to be present in the office. The company announced it was becoming a "virtual first" company in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, making remote work the default for workers. "I'd say, 'your employees have options. They're not resources to control,'" Houston told Fortune when asked about what message he had for CEOs who believed in return-to-office mandates. "You need a different social contract and to let go of control. But if you trust people and treat them like adults, they'll behave like adults. Trust over surveillance," he added. Houston cofounded Dropbox in 2007 and is estimated by Forbes to have a net worth of $2.1 billion. His approach marks a significant contrast to other business leaders, such as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon. Dimon whose company requested some employees to be in the office five days a week and was tracking attendance by monitoring ID swipes told the Economist in July: "I completely understand why someone doesn't want to commute an hour and a half every day, totally got it. Doesn't mean they have to have a job here either." Story continues To be sure, Dropbox's transition to a virtual-first work culture hasn't been all positive. Former employees told Insider in 2022 that it meant the loss of perks that were seen as key to employee retention such as the company's famously posh cafeteria. "Obviously the company wants to spin it really positively," a former employee who left in 2021 told Insider, adding that virtual-first meant fewer options for people who enjoyed going into the office. A Dropbox spokesperson told Insider on Monday, "Since our transition to becoming a Virtual First company, staff retention is at an all-time high and 70% of recently hired employees cite Virtual First as the main reason they applied for a role at Dropbox." October 16, 10.16 p.m. EDT: This story has been updated with a Dropbox spokesperson's comment. Read the original article on Business Insider By Lewis Jackson SYDNEY (Reuters) -Unions at Chevron's liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in Australia reaffirmed their plan to resume strikes this week as mediated talks continued on Monday, sparking angry comments from the company saying workers were being unreasonable. An in-principle deal that ended weeks of strikes in September fell apart earlier this month after unions said Chevron had reneged on commitments and vowed to resume strikes at the Gorgon and Wheatstone sites, which supply around 6% of the world's LNG. Australia's industrial arbitrator, the Fair Work Commission, mediated three days of talks last week and asked the Offshore Alliance to withdraw the strike plan while talks continued, Chevron said. As a fourth day of talks began, a union representative who declined to be named, told Reuters the parties were apart on key issues and Chevron would need to change its position to avoid strikes restarting. The Offshore Alliance, a coalition of two unions, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Chevron said unions continued to introduce new matters into the dispute and were withholding agreement on other issues pending member votes. At Chevron's request, the Offshore Alliance said it held a ballot over the weekend and 91% of members reaffirmed an earlier decision to resume strikes from Oct. 19, according to a social media post on Sunday. "Members have made it clear that they want Chevron to stop twisting the draft terms of our EBA's (enterprise bargaining agreements) and are prepared to ramp up PIA (protected industrial action) until our EBA's are properly sorted," the post read. Chevron said late on Sunday it was "extremely disappointed" by the vote to stick with the strike plan, against the arbitrator's request. "The union's decision to ignore the recommendation ... while discussions are continuing is very concerning, unreasonable and undermines the considerable progress made prior to Chevron requesting the Commission's assistance last week," a spokesperson said in an emailed statement. (Reporting by Lewis Jackson; Editing by Sonali Paul) The Community of Western Azerbaijan called on the Pope to put pressure on Armenia to restore the cultural and religious heritage of Azerbaijan destroyed by Armenia, Azernews reports. It was reported that in his statement of 15 October 2023, Pope Francis called for the protection of Christian religious monuments in the Garabagh region of Azerbaijan. In this regard, it should be recalled that after the liberation of the Garabagh region from the occupation of Armenia, the Azerbaijani State took under protection all religious buildings and other monuments, regardless of their religious affiliation, and began to rebuild those destroyed by Armenia. In this sense, the Pope has no reason to make an appeal regarding the Christian religious monuments in Garabagh, which are not threatened at the moment. On the contrary, there is a great need for the Pope to express his opinion on the destruction of 65 mosques in the Armenian-occupied territories of Azerbaijan, as well as more than 200 mosques and numerous other cultural and religious monuments in Armenia. At this level, the Community of Western Azerbaijan once again recalls its unanswered appeal to the Pope of 12 June 2023 to help Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenia to visit Azerbaijani religious places of worship and the graves of their relatives in the territory of Armenia. The Community of Western Azerbaijan once again appeals to the Pope as a defender of interreligious dialogue, urging him to put pressure on this state to restore the cultural and religious heritage of Azerbaijan destroyed by Armenia. (Bloomberg) -- Chinas latest investments in South Americas lithium triangle show the challenges for US efforts to counter the dominance of the worlds second-largest economy in key parts of battery metal supply chains. Most Read from Bloomberg On Monday, Chile unveiled a deal that gives Tsingshan Holding Group preferential lithium prices for a project to make value-added products in the South American nation. It was announced as part of President Gabriel Borics trip to China, where he met with Xiang Guangda, the metal groups billionaire owner. On the same day, Argentine President Alberto Fernandez was also in China, where he met with the head of Tibet Summit Resources Co. to discuss the firms $2.2 billion in lithium investments in Salta province. China is making further inroads into the so-called lithium triangle of Argentina, Chile and Bolivia, which accounts for more than half of global resources. In doing so, the Asian giant is helping those countries propel themselves further down the electric-vehicle supply chain by leveraging their vast mineral wealth. The race to unearth more South American lithium is throwing open a new front in the global tug of war between China and the US. Washington is pushing EV makers globally to produce more vehicles in North America and secure the key minerals for them outside of the worlds second-biggest economy. But while Chile and Argentina are keen to participate, they continue to woo Chinese investors. Read more: Chile Looks to China to Upgrade Its Economy Beyond Commodities Tsingshan agreed to invest $233 million in a plant in Chiles Antofagasta region to produce as much as 120,000 tons a year of lithium iron phosphate for rechargeable batteries. Yongqing Technology, Tsingshans new energy unit, will source feedstock for its plant from Chiles biggest lithium producer, SQM, at preferential prices through 2030. Work will start in 2025. Story continues Chile entered into a similar arrangement with Chinese EV juggernaut BYD Co. in April. Additional lithium offtake from Albemarle Corp.s mine in Chile will become available next year. Meanwhile, Chinas Zijin Mining Group Co. is looking to develop a similar project in Argentina as it completes construction of a mine there. Among other Chinese investments in Argentina, Ganfeng Lithium Group Co. is the majority owner of Minera Exar SA, which recently became the South American countrys first lithium project in years to enter production. Ganfeng also spent almost $1 billion last year to acquire another Argentine project. Read More: Lithium Heavyweight Chile Woos Japan to Develop Local Industry Argentina authorities are drawing up a proposal to implement a similar incentive program to the one used in Chile, where producers set aside a portion of output for local value-added projects. Tsingshans cathode plant in Chile will also source lithium carbonate from the firms venture with Frances Eramet SA in Salta, Argentina. Earlier this month, BYDs chairman and founder Wang Chuanfu met with President Boric in Chile, where they discussed accelerating electrification and developing the local lithium industry. In Bolivia, a Chinese consortium led by Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. plans to spend $1.4 billion to build lithium extraction plants. --With assistance from Eduardo Thomson and Jonathan Gilbert. (Adds details on Mondays meetings starting in third paragraph) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. The expense claim related to a three-day work trip to Amsterdam last July - Sylvain Sonnet/The Image Bank RF A banker at Citigroup was sacked for expensing his partners lunch and then lying about it. Szabolcs Fekete, a senior analyst at the Wall Street giants London office, was dismissed after claiming that an order of pasta pesto and a bolognese was all consumed by him during one meal. The expense claim related to a three-day work trip to Amsterdam last July. In addition to the double pasta order, Mr Fekete also expensed two coffees and two sandwiches during one meal. The banker initially said he had eaten all the food himself claiming he had skipped breakfast on the day of the double sandwich order but later admitted that he had expensed food for his partner, who was not a Citi employee. Following an internal investigation, Mr Fekete was fired last November for gross misconduct. The Wall Street giant last month won an employment lawsuit against Mr Fekete, who was seeking to challenge the banks decision to oust him. Documents released as part of the tribunal show that a senior manager at Citi told Mr Fekete that his expense claim would be rejected as he was concerned that the meals on the receipt had been for two people. Mr Fekete claimed that the amounts expensed were well within the banks 100 (87) a day allowance and replied by email saying: I was on the business trip by myself and that I had 2 coffees as they were very small. The senior manager questioned his response, saying: The receipt appears to have two sandwiches, two coffees, and another drink Are you advising that this was all consumed by you? Mr Fekete replied: Yes that is correct On that day I skipped breakfast and only had 1 coffee in the morning. For lunch I had 1 sandwich with a drink and 1 coffee in the restaurant and took another coffee back to the office with me and had the second sandwich in the afternoon Which also served as my dinner. He added: All my expenses are within the 100 daily allowance. Could you please outline what your concern is as I dont think I have to justify my eating habits to this extent. Story continues In early August 2022, the manager escalated the case to Citis ethics department, which launched an investigation. During the investigation, Mr Fekete also denied that he had shared a meal of pasta pesto and a bolognese. However, later in August he confirmed that some of the food had been consumed by his partner. Last month, an employment judge ruled that Citi breached no rules in dismissing Mr Fekete who was employed in a position of trust in a global financial institution. The judge said the case was not about the sums of money involved. The judge added: I have accepted that the expense report may have been submitted in error. However, I am satisfied that a dismissal in relation to the misrepresentation allegation alone would fall within the band of a reasonable response by a reasonable employer. I am satisfied that even if the expense claim had been filed under a misunderstanding, there was an obligation upon the claimant to own up and rectify the position at the first opportunity. I accept that the respondent requires a commitment to honesty from its employees. A spokesman for Citi said: We are pleased with the decision. In 2020, Citi also suspended one of its most senior bond traders in London after alleging that he stole food from the office canteen. The man left the bank soon after the suspension. 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. (Bloomberg) -- The Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday that evidence gleaned from a warrant for Googles search data could be used in a murder case, sparking concerns the decision may encourage more police to embrace the controversial technique. Most Read from Bloomberg After a 2020 fire that killed five people in the Denver area, police were scrambling to identify suspects. They asked Alphabet Inc.s Google to provide information about people who searched for the address of the house that went up in flames, using a novel approach known as a keyword search warrant. After some initial objections, Google shared data that enabled detectives to zero in on five accounts, leading to the arrest of three teens. Lawyers for one of the defendants, Gavin Seymour, who was found to have Googled the homes address 14 times in the days before the fire, argued that the keyword warrant constituted an illegal search and that any evidence from it should be suppressed. His motion is the first known challenge to the constitutionality of keyword search warrants. The case is ongoing. In its 74-page decision, the court found that law enforcement had acted in good faith when it obtained the warrant for the teens search history. Still, it stressed that the findings were specific to the facts of the case, and it refrained from weighing in about the use of Googles search data more broadly. Our finding of good faith today neither condones nor condemns all such warrants in the future, the court wrote. If dystopian problems emerge, as some fear, the courts stand ready to hear argument regarding how we should rein in law enforcements use of rapidly advancing technology. Story continues The case divided the court. In a fiery dissent, Justice Monica Marquez wrote that the ruling gives constitutional cover to law enforcement seeking unprecedented access to the private lives of individuals not just in Colorado, but across the globe. After todays decision, I anticipate that reverse-keyword warrants will swiftly become the investigative tool of first resort, she wrote in a dissent that was joined by Justice Carlos Samour. Because, why not? Its a tantalizingly easy shortcut to generating a list of potential suspects. The Denver District Attorneys office said it was very pleased with the ruling and would move forward with its cases. Google said that it was important that the court recognized the significant privacy and First Amendment interests implicated by keyword searches, and noted that it has a rigorous process designed to protect the privacy of our users while supporting the important work of law enforcement. A representative for Seymour didnt respond to a request for comment. The keyword search warrant is profoundly different from traditional search warrants seeking data belonging to a suspect, the defense argued in a court filing. Instead, the process operates in reverse search everyone first, and identify suspects later. In the ruling, the judges grappled with the inherently sensitive nature of peoples Google search histories, which serve as a portal into some of their most private thoughts and quandaries. The judges noted that there are plenty of innocuous reasons why people search for addresses. Yet they found the warrant to be sufficiently particularized, or tailored to the case at hand, and determined that law enforcement took reasonable steps in using a cutting-edge technique. There are few known examples of keyword search warrants, but the practice has come under scrutiny in the wake of the US Supreme Courts decision to overturn the right to abortion. Privacy advocates have warned that keyword search warrants and geofence warrants, in which police ask Google to produce data about users whose devices were present near the scene of a crime, could be used to prosecute women who obtain abortions in states where its illegal. Marquez fretted about that very possibility in her dissent. If any address corresponding to the location of a crime is sufficiently narrow to meet constitutional muster, one can imagine any number of keywords that would satisfy this standard, she wrote. What about a search for the IP addresses of all Google users who searched for mifepristone or gender-affirming care or Proud Boys or AR-15? Each of these search queries could be potential evidence of criminal activity under some states laws, depending on the circumstances. A Bloomberg Businessweek investigation found police across the US were increasingly using warrants to obtain location and search data from Google, even for nonviolent cases and even for people who had nothing to do with the crime. Since geofence warrants began coming under judicial scrutiny, some police departments have been more cautious in seeking the orders. Keyword search warrants may follow a similar arc, according to Andrew Crocker, the surveillance litigation director for the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation. I do think that courts will chip away at them and will narrow them, and that law enforcement will have to get more conservative in how they use them, Crocker said. Nevertheless, Jake Laperruque, deputy director of the security and surveillance project at the Center for Democracy & Technology, a think tank, said it was frustrating to see the court pass up an opportunity to give more decisive guidance on the practice to police, legislators and the public. In the absence of clear rules, he said, that ambiguity always ends up leaning in the governments favor. (Updates with response from District Attorney and Google) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Transparency Market Research Concrete blocks are prone to water seepage and have a lower appearance. Producers should raise awareness of its benefits, such as compliance with high building requirements and insulation from noise, which lowers energy bills. Wilmington, Delaware, United States, Oct. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Transparency Market Research Inc. - The concrete block and brick manufacturing market is expected to reach 3,051,172 units by 2030 . The market will be projected to expand at a CAGR of 5% during the forecast period. The concrete block and brick manufacturing market plays a pivotal role in the construction industry's growth globally. These products are fundamental building materials used in residential, commercial, and infrastructure projects. The market has witnessed substantial expansion owing to urbanization, population growth, and increased construction activities. Concrete blocks and bricks are preferred for their durability, energy efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. Download Sample PDF Brochure @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=1100 In recent years, there has been a shift towards sustainable practices, leading to the development of eco-friendly concrete blocks and bricks, promoting environmental conservation. Technological advancements lead to the production of innovative products, including interlocking blocks and bricks, enhancing structural stability and reducing construction time. The market is also influenced by stringent regulations promoting energy-efficient and environmentally friendly construction materials. The construction industry's rapid evolution, coupled with a growing emphasis on aesthetic appeal and architectural flexibility, drive the demand for diverse designs and colors of concrete blocks and bricks. As the construction sector continues to grow, the concrete block and brick manufacturing market is expected to expand, catering to the increasing demands of modern infrastructure and sustainable building practices. Story continues Competitive Landscape The concrete block and brick manufacturing market exhibits intense competition with major players, including Celanese Corporation, BASF SE, 3M, Dow, and Alphagary. These industry leaders operate globally, ensuring a strong market presence. Regional and local players also contribute significantly, catering to specific market demands. Market players focus on eco-friendly practices and customized solutions to gain a competitive edge, ensuring a vibrant and challenging landscape in the concrete block and brick manufacturing industry. Brickworks Limited stated in April 2022 that it would develop a foothold in North Queensland. To maximize revenue, the business chose to expand its production as well as distribution operations. In January 2022 - CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. announced a sale agreement with Breedon Group plc of the United Kingdom. This type of contract is intended to increase market revenue. Key Takeaways from the Market Study Europe held a market share of 19% in 2021. In 2021, North America held a market share of 30%. The market in North America is estimated to expand at a CAGR of 5.1% until 2030. The market in Asia Pacific is expected to expand at a CAGR of 5.6% until 2030. Asia Pacific accounted for the highest share of 36% of the global market in 2021 Enquiry Before Buying this Report: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=EB&rep_id=1100 Global Concrete Block and Brick Manufacturing Market- Key Drivers and Trends Rapid urbanization and increased construction activities, particularly in developing countries, drive the demand for concrete blocks and bricks. Growing populations necessitate infrastructure development, boosting the market for construction materials. Architects and builders are increasingly exploring creative and unique designs using concrete blocks and bricks. Textures, colors, and shapes are being customized to enhance aesthetic appeal, catering to a diverse range of architectural styles and preferences. Governments and organizations worldwide are focusing on affordable housing initiatives. Concrete blocks and bricks are cost-effective building materials, making them essential components in affordable housing projects, thereby driving market growth. Large-scale infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, and public facilities require substantial quantities of concrete blocks and bricks. The increasing investment in infrastructure development by governments globally directly contributes to the demand for these construction materials. Regional Landscape of the Concrete Block and Brick Manufacturing Market In North America, particularly in the United States and Canada, the concrete block and brick manufacturing market benefits from a robust construction industry and high demand for residential and commercial spaces. Stringent building codes and regulations ensure a consistent market for high-quality construction materials. Sustainability and energy efficiency are also significant concerns, leading to the adoption of eco-friendly manufacturing practices. European countries like Germany, United Kingdom, France, and Spain have well-established construction sectors. The market here is driven by innovative construction techniques, sustainable practices, and a focus on architectural aesthetics. Strict environmental regulations push manufacturers toward eco-friendly materials and production methods, resulting in a growing market for environmentally conscious consumers. Asia-Pacific, especially China and India, represents a rapidly growing market due to urbanization, population growth, and infrastructural development. The demand for affordable housing solutions in countries like India fuels the use of concrete blocks and bricks. The region experiences significant industrialization, leading to increased construction activities and a rising need for construction materials. Key Segments Covered Product Type Concrete Block Hollow Cellular Fully Solid Others Brick Clay Sand Lime Fly Ash Clay Others AAC Block Region North America Latin America Europe Asia Pacific Middle East & Africa Place an Order Copy of Concrete Block and Brick Manufacturing Market Report at: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/checkout.php?rep_id=110050%: 14% and 0%, for CS-PHP and SIRT, respectively). Tumor responses were evaluated by consensus reading by two experienced radiologists. Disease control rates (DCR) were 30% and 18%, for CS-PHP and SIRT, respectively. Median overall survival (mOS) was 516 days for CS-PHP and 300.5 days for SIRT. In a Cox regression model, there was a significant difference between SIRT and CS-PHP treatment, HR = 0.46, CI 95% (0.23; 0.93), p = 0.030. Story continues Descriptive Survival by Treatment. An adjusted Cox regression analysis, including the variables age, sex, presence of extrahepatic metastasis and hepatic load at baseline, also showed a significant effect of choice of treatment, HR = 0.32, CI 95% (0.14; 0.73), p = 0.006. Adjusted Conditional Survival by Treatment. Median progression-free survival (mPFS) was 408.5 days for CS-PHP and 127.5 days for SIRT; the adjusted Cox regression analysis showed a trend favoring CS-PHP (p=0.090). When initially presented at the 2023 CIRSE Annual Meeting held in Copenhagen, Denmark, presenting author Prof. Dr. Med. Gerd Groezinger, stated "Liver directed treatment, including transarterial radioembolization and CS-PHP, is a critical treatment modality for patients with metastatic uveal melanoma, given the longer overall survival seen in the CS-PHP cohort, we conclude that for metastatic uveal melanoma patients, CS-PHP might be the superior liver directed treatment option." "There is a scarcity of comparative studies between liver directed therapies. This peer reviewed publication authored by experienced investigators, supports that the PHP procedure, whether utilizing melphalan delivered by Delcath's CE marked Chemosat or the FDA approved HEPZATO KIT, may be the preferred liver directed treatment option for patients with liver-dominant metastatic uveal melanoma," said Dr. Vojo Vukovic, Delcath's Chief Medical Officer. "We remain committed to making this treatment option available to patients in the US by the end of this year." The full article can be viewed by clicking here. About Chemosat and HEPZATO KIT CHEMOSAT Hepatic Delivery System for Melphalan percutaneous hepatic perfusion (PHP) is designated under the medical device regulation for use in Europe and the United Kingdom. The Hepatic Delivery System (HDS) is designed to administer high-dose chemotherapy to the liver while controlling systemic exposure and associated side effects during a PHP procedure. The use of the HDS allows a healthcare provider team to surgically isolate the liver while the hepatic venous blood is filtered during melphalan infusion and subsequent washout during a PHP procedure. PHP, which can only be performed with Delcath's HDS, results in loco-regional delivery of a relatively high melphalan dose. For more information regarding CHEMOSAT and its use, please visit Chemosat.com. HEPZATO KIT (melphalan for Injection/Hepatic Delivery System), approved for use in the United States by FDA, is a combination drug/device product which administers HEPZATO (melphalan) directly to the liver through the HDS, which permits higher drug exposure in target tissues while limiting systemic toxicity. HEPZATO KIT is approved in the United States as a liver-directed treatment for adult patients with uveal melanoma with unresectable hepatic metastases affecting less than 50% of the liver and no extrahepatic disease, or extrahepatic disease limited to the bone, lymph nodes, subcutaneous tissues, or lung that is amenable to resection or radiation. HEPZATO KIT Important Safety Information Patients eligible for HEPZATO should NOT have any of the following medical conditions: Active intracranial metastases or brain lesions with a propensity to bleed Liver failure, portal hypertension, or known varices at risk for bleeding Surgery or medical treatment of the liver in the previous 4 weeks Active cardiac conditions including unstable or severe angina or myocardial infarction), worsening or new-onset congestive heart failure, significant arrhythmias, or severe valvular disease History of allergies or known hypersensitivity to melphalan or a component or material utilized within the HEPZATO KIT including natural rubber latex, heparin, and severe hypersensitivity to iodinated contrast not controlled by antihistamines and steroids Most common adverse reactions or laboratory abnormalities occurring with HEPZATO treatment are thrombocytopenia, fatigue, anemia, nausea, musculoskeletal pain, leukopenia, abdominal pain, neutropenia, vomiting, increased alanine aminotransferase, prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time, increased alkaline phosphatase, increased aspartate aminotransferase and dyspnea. Severe peri-procedural complications including hemorrhage, hepatocellular injury, and thromboembolic events may occur via hepatic intra-arterial administration of HEPZATO. HEPZATO is available only through a restricted program under a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy called the HEPZATO KIT REMS. Myelosuppression with resulting severe infection, bleeding, or symptomatic anemia may occur with HEPZATO. Additional cycles of HEPZATO therapy will be delayed until blood counts have improved. Please see the full Prescribing Information, including BOXED WARNING for the HEPZATO KIT. About Delcath Systems, Inc. Delcath Systems, Inc. is an interventional oncology company focused on the treatment of primary and metastatic liver cancers. The Company's proprietary products, HEPZATO KIT (melphalan for Injection/Hepatic Delivery System), approved for use in the United States by FDA, and CHEMOSAT Hepatic Delivery System for Melphalan percutaneous hepatic perfusion, designated under the medical device regulation for use in Europe and the United Kingdom, are designed to administer high-dose chemotherapy to the liver while controlling systemic exposure and associated side effects during a PHP procedure. Forward Looking Statements The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a safe harbor for forward-looking statements made by the Company or on its behalf. This press release contains forward-looking statements, which are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, that can cause actual results to differ materially from those described. The words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "target," "will," "would" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Factors that may cause such differences include, but are not limited to, uncertainties relating to: the Company's commercialization plans and its ability to successfully commercialize the HEPZATO KIT; the Company's successful management of the HEPZATO KIT supply chain, including securing adequate supply of critical components necessary to manufacture and assemble the HEPZATO KIT; successful FDA inspections of the facilities of the Company and those of its third-party suppliers/manufacturers; the Company's successful implementation and management of the HEPZATO KIT Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy; the potential benefits of the HEPZATO KIT as a treatment for patients with primary and metastatic disease in the liver; the Company's ability to obtain reimbursement for the HEPZATO KIT; and the Company's ability to successfully enter into any necessary purchase and sale agreements with users of the HEPZATO KIT. For additional information about these factors, and others that may impact the Company, please see the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those on Forms 10-K, 10-Q, and 8-K. However, new risk factors and uncertainties may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible to predict all risk factors and uncertainties. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they are made. Contact: Investor Relations Contact: Ben Shamsian Lytham Partners 646-829-9701 shamsian@lythampartners.com Delcath Systems, Inc. (PRNewsfoto/Delcath Systems, Inc.) Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/delcath-systems-announces-a-comparative-study-of-chemosat-and-sirt-published-in-the-journal-cancers-301957002.html SOURCE Delcath Systems, Inc. The Jewish community of Azerbaijan showed their solidarity and support for the victims of the recent massacre in Israel by gathering at the Mountain Jewish Synagogue in Baku, Azernews reports. Hundreds of representatives of the Jewish community and people of Azerbaijan came together to express their condolences and support for the tragic Hamas terrorist attack that killed more than 1,300 innocent civilians in Israel. Israeli Ambassador George Deek spoke at the ceremony, saying: It may be a long and difficult road. But one thing is certain, one thing is undeniable and inevitable: We will win. A prayer ceremony was held to commemorate the 1,300 Israelis who tragically lost their lives, and candles were lit in their memory. The Jewish community of Azerbaijan has a long and rich history, with the first Jewish settlement in the area dating back to the 7th century. Today, Jews in Azerbaijan mainly consist of three distinct groups: Mountain Jews, the most sizable and most ancient group; Ashkenazi Jews, who settled in the area during the late 19th-early 20th century, and during World War II; and Georgian Jews who settled mainly in Baku during the early part of the 20th century. The Jewish population in Azerbaijan is estimated to be around 6,400 people, with the majority of them being Mountain Jews. The only town in the world where Mountain Jews constitute the majority is Q?rm?z? Q?s?b?, which is also the only fully Jewish town outside of Israel. The Jewish community of Azerbaijan has shown their commitment to standing in solidarity with the victims of the recent massacre in Israel and their commitment to peace and justice. Bigger and better are the words on everyone's mind when it comes to the new terminal at the Des Moines International Airport. The expansion promises more gates and holds out the prospect of more flights and more destinations as the airport prepares to double its capacity in the coming years. "This is the heart of the heartland, right here in Des Moines, Iowa," Mayor Frank Cownie said at a groundbreaking ceremony earlier this month. "To have a 21st century airport; to support all of our visitors, residents, businesses; to be a place that has more destinations; to have direct flights with this new expansion, there will only be more." The airport is promising improvements including expanded security screening, enhanced gate operations, more efficient baggage handling systems, and "elevated" dining and retail options. And it's hoping Polk County voters to show their support for the upgrades by approving a $350 million bond issue to help pay for the construction. The airport board could issue aviation revenue bonds. But it's asking voters instead to give their OK so the county can issue its own, lower-interest-rate general obligation bonds, which would save nearly $76 million. The Polk County supervisors on Sept. 19 approved placing the bond issue on the Nov. 7 general election ballot. What changes will the traveling public see? The airport's 70-year-old terminal is near capacity and is on the path to handle a record 3 million-plus travelers this year, completing its recovery from a COVID-19 pandemic slowdown that began in 2020. The new terminal will have 17 gates plus eight remote aircraft parking spots to accommodate rising passenger traffic, up from the 12 gates the airport currently has. The check-in, baggage claim and security checkpoints will be built to support 4 million annual passengers. Airport officials say the savings made possible by using county-issued bonds would position the Airport Authority to pay back its debt faster, which in turn could help the airport keep operating costs down for the airlines. Story continues From right, Gov. Kim Reynolds and Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie applaud during a groundbreaking ceremony for a new terminal at the Des Moines International Airport on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023, in Des Moines. That would aid the airport in staying competitive when seeking new air service, airport spokesperson Kayla Kovarna said. By increasing gate capacity 50%, Des Moines International will be able to court additional service, including new destinations, increased flight frequency and new airlines. Without expansion, it would only be able to offer new off-peak service slots, which aren't as attractive to airlines. "We cannot definitively say that increasing gate capacity will lead to growth in new service," Kovarna said. "However, we can say that without it, we will prohibit air service growth and likely impact future economic development efforts that will benefit the region and the state." Where is the cash coming from? The airport received some federal money from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help with the expansion cost. But its share of $100 million package for eight Iowa airports amounted to $10.8 million, far short of the total cost. It will use state and local grants, federal program, its own reserves and the bonds to cover the bulk of the cost. Airport Assistant Executive Director Brian Mulcahy said the airport considered other funding mechanisms, including a public-private partnership. But there were some major drawbacks. More: Des Moines Airport plans to raise parking prices. Heres what it will cost you "What we found was, through our due diligence, we were going to have to give up an operating asset to pay the investor, like parking. We turn over our parking to the investor and they make money," Mulcahy told the Polk County supervisors in September. "Or, the cost of capital was going to be much higher than the rate we could pay ourselves." Funding sources for the project's first stage are: Airport reserves and bonds ($296 million). Municipal grants ($28.6 million). A grant from revenues of the county owned Prairie Meadows casino and racetrack ($5 million). A state infrastructure grant ($58.7 million). Federal Community Funded Projects funds ($10 million). Airport Improvement Program entitlement funds ($28 million). Airport Improvement Program discretionary funds ($38.6 million). Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Airport Terminals Program, awarded and anticipated ($16 million). Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Airport Infrastructure Grant ($27 million). The groundbreaking site is seen during a groundbreaking ceremony for a new terminal at the Des Moines International Airport on Wednesday, October 4, 2023 in Des Moines. In total, the airport anticipates having $508 million in funding secured for Phase 1A, a parking garage expansion and other smaller projects. As of October, there is a $54 million gap in financing, according to Airport Executive Director Kevin Foley. The total project, with phases 2 and 3, could cost upwards of $770 million. The airport says it is still seeking funding and plans to apply for Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Funds and collect a payment from the federal Transportation Security Administration for the new terminal's bag system. How will the project impact Polk Countys bonding authority? If voters approve the bond referendum, plans call for the bonds to go on sale next summer, with funds distributed in time to meet construction costs. The first round of bonds would amount to $100 million, with a second sale scheduled in 2025 to meet the remaining costs between $200 and $250 million. A municipal advisor and bond attorney would have input in the county's loan agreement with the airport. Finally, an independent financial advisor familiar with the airport industry will conduct a study to ensure that the airport is prepared to pay back the debt the county is taking on. The study will take two to three months to complete and can be done any time before the bonds are issued, though airport officials point to January as the ideal time to initiate it. More: See new facial recognition technology at Des Moines airport in action "The longer we wait, the better," Mulcahy told the county supervisors. "That gives us more actual data to plug in to the model. If we can complete this year, 2023, they can see what our expenses were like for the year and our cash position." The airport will pay back its loan with its own reserves and revenue generated from the expansion. According to Mulcahy, it already has about $100 million on hand, with no other debts. All airport revenues will be pledged to service the debt. Airport officials said the county's bond rating, and the property taxes it charges, shouldn't be affected. What are the proposed terms of the loan? A loan agreement will be negotiated between Polk County and Airport Authority if the referendum passes, and the terms of that agreement will likely be similar to what the authority would be subject to through its own debt covenant if it were selling bonds itself. Timothy Oswald, a public finance specialist with consulting firm Piper Sandler, which assists Polk County as well as Dallas and Boone counties, told the county it could require the airport to carry a debt service reserve the amount needed to make payments to the county for up to one year at all times. The agreement could also be crafted in a way that would prohibit the airport from offering a security interest in its property to any other lender. Even if the airport isn't already legally prohibited from mortgaging its assets, the county will aim to prevent any future lenders from "stepping in front" of it to collect payment, Oswald said. In fact, the airport could be disallowed from holding any other debt with a claim to airport revenues greater than the counties. It would still be able to take on subordinate debts, he said. "There might be others that share your place in the pecking order, but you'd be highest," Oswald told the county. Currently, the loan is proposed to come with a 20-year payment schedule. Rates and charges would be adjusted annually to allow the airport to operate, pay debts and conduct maintenance. Does the county assume any risk? Oswald noted that there are several market changes that could affect the airport and its ability to pay back the loan, some of which are demographic trends that change how people move to, live or do business in central Iowa. Lower demand for air travel in times of a recession or pandemic is also a concern. Should the airport fail to see the anticipated climb in the number of passengers it serves and force Polk County to take on its debt load, the county's general obligation bond rating could decline, he said. Des Moines Airport Authority Board Chair Jake Christensen, Gov. Kim Reynolds, Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie, and Des Moines International Airport Director Kevin Foley stand among airport staff and board members during a groundbreaking ceremony for a new terminal at the Des Moines International Airport on Wednesday, October 4, 2023 in Des Moines. It's anticipated that with the amount the airport is requesting, the county could see its top-notch Aaa rating dip one to two notches on the Moody's credit rating scale, or it could be completely unaffected. That could raise borrowing costs, though even if the county's rating took the hit, it would still be designated as having a low credit risk. "There's a threshold where the rating doesn't go down, and that's between $100 and $200 million," Oswald said. "But at $350 (million), when we calculate it out, the rating does tend to fall to the Aa category." Ratings are adjusted annually, and when the debt is paid down, the county could reclaim its Aaa status. Oswald added that the county voted similarly to back $40 million in bonds for the Prairie Meadows Racetrack, and although Prairie Meadows did default on its loans, the county recovered its bond rating after the casino stabilized. "And the county's status has stayed at the Aaa since then," he said. Addison Lathers covers growth and development for the Des Moines metro. Reach her at ALathers@registermedia.com and follow her on Twitter at @addisonlathers. This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Des Moines airport's $350 million bond issue: what to know The benchmark diesel price used for most fuel surcharges fell even as broader markets have been higher. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves) Retail diesel prices continued to slide last week, per the Department of Energy/Energy Information Administration retail weekly diesel benchmark, with the broader market still trying to figure out whether tensions in the Middle East are going to lead to tighter oil supplies. The DOE/EIA price fell 5.4 cents per gallon to $4.444 per gallon Monday. With recent declines, its the lowest price since Aug. 21, when the number was posted at $4.389/g. Most fuel surcharges are based on the weekly DOE/EIA diesel price. There have been six trading days since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 6. The overall trend has been higher; ultra low sulfur diesel on the CME settled Oct. 6 at $2.9008/g and settled Monday at $3.1492/g. But it has been an up-and-down road to get there, with four days of increases (including a 16.68 cents-per-gallon gain Friday) and two days of declines, including Mondays 6.25 cents-per-gallon fall. The big move on Friday wasnt even attributed by most market analysts to the presumption of a wider war in the Middle East; instead, it was mostly because the U.S. took action against two shipping companies for violating the price cap on Russian oil shipments. S&P Global Commodities Insights (SPGCI), in one of its online Factboxes, recently spelled out the actual disruptions to energy supplies so far minimal and what may lie ahead. Most of its findings were on natural gas, as shipments from an offshore Israeli oil field to Egypt have been disrupted and rerouted. But SPGCI also quoted Jim Burkhard, its vice president and head of research for oil markets, energy and mobility, as warning that 500,000 b/d of Iranian exports could be at risk if the US tightens sanctions. According to the Factbox, Burkhard said in a note last Wednesday, Biden will be under pressure to enforce sanctions and curtail Iranian export revenue. Rising Iranian production has been a key factor in slowing the march of crude oil to $100 per barrel, which seemed destined to occur just a few weeks ago. Brent crude, the international benchmark, settled Monday at $89.65. Its recent high was Sept. 27, when it settled at $96.55/b. Story continues SPGCI estimated that Iranian production in April was 2.62 million barrels per day. In its most recent report, the group estimated Iranian output in September at 3.1 million b/d, up from 2.95 million b/d a month earlier. One notable development in markets in the past weeks that could impact diesel, with acceleration in recent days, is that the margin for producing gasoline from crude has fallen, by some measures, to less than zero. And the spread between the futures price of RBOB gasoline, the unfinished gasoline product used to establish the futures price of gasoline, and ultra low sulfur diesel on the CME has blown wide open. It recently has been at about 90 cents per gallon, with ULSD priced that much above RBOB, while that spread averaged 47 cents per gallon between the start of August and the end of September. How that could impact diesel is that refiners will look to maximize their diesel output going forward, as the margins to make diesel remain healthy. That could provide the opportunity to build inventories that have been below historic norms in all the key markets of the world. The possible negative impact for diesel consumers from that trend of weak gasoline is that diesel margins cant overcome the lack of profitability for making gasoline and that could lead to run cuts. The 3:2:1 spread a basic indicator for refining profitability by comparing the price of three barrels of crude to two barrels of gasoline plus one barrel of diesel was above $35/b from roughly mid-June to the end of August. On Monday, it stood at about $18/b at the close of trading. More articles by John Kingston Once again California tells a court AB5 isnt disrupting trucking in the state Truck transportation employment ranks rebound XPOs Jacobs on his next venture: Wait and see The post Diesel at pump still sliding as futures, wholesale mostly trending higher appeared first on FreightWaves. SINGAPORE, October 16, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--TDCX Foundation, the social impact arm of TDCX (NYSE: TDCX), an award-winning digital customer experience (CX) solutions provider for technology and blue-chip companies, celebrated its first anniversary with the completion of projects aimed at helping youths in Southeast Asia enhance their digital literacy. TDCX Foundation collaborated with World Vision in the Philippines and Thailand on the projects. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231015187843/en/ Mr. Ramir Adrian Clim Ciriaco, Customer Experience Specialist, TDCX provided a class on digital communication etiquette to youths on the second day of the program. (Photo: Business Wire) Helping Filipino out-of-school youth gain essential workplace skills Digital literacy is a key focus for TDCX Foundation as the company believes strongly in the ability for technology to equalize access to basic needs such as education, financial and healthcare services and economic opportunities. To help out-of-school youth in the Philippines better their employment opportunities, TDCXs team of 14 volunteers set out to mentor 21 youths from Project HOPE1. For four weeks, TDCX employees planned and organized the sessions, from preparing the content to engaging with the youth. They supported the youth in acquiring essential skills, from using digital communication tools to presentation techniques. In addition to digital competencies, TDCXs employees shared their experience of being part of the Philippines outsourcing services sector to spark the youths interest. The sector is a key employer in the Philippines, providing employment for an estimated 1.3 million people2. With the Philippines battling a shortage of skilled talent3 and the need to upskill its workforce as the sector continues to transform digitally4, it is hoped that TDCXs efforts would contribute to addressing this issue. Story continues One of the beneficiaries, 24-year-old Kaya, shared her gratitude for this program, "I have learned so much in just three weeks. The TDCX volunteers were patient and supportive, and I am now confident in my ability to communicate effectively and to handle tough interactions. This program has provided us with much-needed skills that will benefit our future endeavors." Ms. Christine Mae Escabal, Customer Experience Specialist, TDCX, said, "We are grateful to have played a part in empowering these young individuals with digital skills. Our aim is to make a positive difference in the communities we're a part of, and we see imparting digital skills as a meaningful way to do that. The initiative also goes beyond giving back to the youth but working with my colleagues to achieve a sense of fulfilment and purpose." Providing Thai youths from rural communities with online learning resources To support its Thai community, TDCX embarked on a project with World Vision where it contributed US$15,000 for the digitization of a school library in rural Thailand. The beneficiary was Pupan Wittaya School in Udon Thani Province. Its former library was old and dilapidated and did not have any IT equipment for the students to increase their digital proficiency. As a result, the library had low usage rates. With TDCXs support, the school was able to transform the library, modernizing and brightening the premises. The library is now equipped with computers and other digital resources for students, creating an engaging learning environment. Launched in October 2021, TDCX Foundation predominantly drives social impact for disadvantaged communities, particularly by providing funding for initiatives that give access to technology, connectivity, IT equipment and the skills needed to thrive in a digital economy. In the last year, TDCXs employees worldwide have dedicated nearly 5000 hours to volunteering with organizations across the globe. TDCX Foundation aims to continue closing the digital divide and to collaborate with partners that align with its Corporate Social Responsibility focus. These are 'Be Greener' to address climate change, 'Be Happier' to support its employees, and 'Be Kinder' to uplift local communities. These efforts have already positively impacted more than 54,000 beneficiaries to date. For more information about the TDCX Foundation and its initiatives, please visit https://www.tdcx.com/about/csr/. About TDCX Singapore-headquartered TDCX provides transformative digital CX solutions, enabling world-leading and disruptive brands to acquire new customers, to build customer loyalty and to protect their online communities. TDCX helps clients achieve their customer experience aspirations by harnessing technology, human intelligence and its global footprint. It serves clients in fintech, gaming, technology, travel and hospitality, digital advertising and social media, streaming and e-commerce. TDCXs expertise and strong footprint in Asia has made it a trusted partner for clients, particularly high-growth, new economy companies, looking to tap the regions growth potential. TDCXs commitment to delivering positive outcomes for our clients extends to its role as a responsible corporate citizen. Its Corporate Social Responsibility program focuses on positively transforming the lives of its people, its communities and the environment. TDCX employs more than 18,700 employees across 30 campuses globally, specifically in Brazil, Colombia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mainland China, Philippines, Romania, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, Turkiye, and Vietnam. For more information, please visit www.tdcx.com. ___________________________ 1 Project Hope is an initiative by World Vision and stands for Helping Out-of-School-Youths Pave Towards Employment and Engaging in Business. 2 Source: Future Of BPO Industry in The Philippines 2023 3 Source: AI, Talent Shortage Pose Threats to Philippine Call Centers, Bloomberg 4 Source: Chatbots, AI news readers: Asia embraces automation despite job loss fears, The Straits Times View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231015187843/en/ Contacts For enquiries, please contact: media@tdcx.com Evan Guido Many people dont put a lot of thought into their life insurance. They choose it, pay the premiums, and tend to think of it only in terms of providing financial security for the policys beneficiaries. But it might be worth your while to be more strategic and think of your life insurance as part of estate planning. Some people set up whats called an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT) to hold the policy. If properly set up, an ILIT can help maximize the benefits of their policy. One of the main reasons for setting up an ILIT is asset protection. When the policy is in an ILIT, its protected from creditors and potential legal claims. If you have a higher risk for being sued because of your profession think attorneys, doctors, brokers, contractors, and so on this might be an important aspect. Of course, its also an important benefit if you have a lot of debt. Another main reason for having an ILIT is to reduce potential estate taxes. Thats because with this type of trust, the IRS doesnt consider the proceeds from the life insurance policy part of your estate for federal estate tax purposes as long as you dont retain certain rights or control over the trust. A third benefit is that it gives you control over the distribution of the death benefit. You can specify, for example, that you want the funds to go toward education. But I think one of the more important reasons to control the death benefits distribution through an ILIT is so that the death benefit doesnt interfere with the beneficiaries access to important government benefits such as Social Security or Medicaid. Without an ILIT, when the beneficiary receives the proceeds, they might become ineligible for these benefits and can only access these programs after spending all the money from the policy. Because an ILIT is irrevocable, you cant change it easily. So make sure you have a good team working together to make sure the ILIT is set up and functions properly. Story continues The attorney you use should have the proper experience drafting these types of agreements and be familiar with the language required for detailing the trusts terms. Besides the terms, the agreement will include the beneficiaries, the distribution schedule, and any conditions you want to specify. It's also important to have a trustee youre confident will manage the ILIT and distribute the proceeds properly. After creating the ILIT, you transfer your policys ownership to the trust. Youll also need to make sure the ILIT has funding to pay the policy premiums. One way to do this is to make annual gifts to the trust. If you might be a good candidate for an ILIT, talk to your financial team about it. Theres a lot of other regulations I didnt go into here, including the legalities covering the payment of premiums and something called a three-year lookback period that could cause the death benefit to be included in your estate. So creating and managing ILITs require some expertise, but they can be a smart way to help make sure your life insurance policy meets your intentions for the people you want to take care of. Evan R. Guido is the founder of Aksala Wealth Advisors LLC, a 2018 Forbes Next-Gen Advisors List Member, and Financial Professional at Avantax Investment ServicesSM. Evan heads a team of retirement transition strategists for clients who consider themselves the Millionaire Next Door. He can be reached at 941-500-5122 or eguido@aksalawealth.com. Read more of his insights at heraldtribune.com/business. Securities offered through Avantax Investment ServicesSM, member FINRA, SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Avantax Advisory ServicesSM, insurance services offered through an Avantax-affiliated insurance agency. 6260 Lake Osprey Drive, Lakewood Ranch, FL 34240. This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: EVAN GUIDO: What are the advantages of an irrevocable life insurance trust? In recent years, environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing has surged in popularity, reflecting a global shift toward responsible and sustainable financial decisions. As concerns about climate change, social justice and corporate governance continue to grow, many are turning to ESG investments like renewable energy companies, not just as an ethical choice but as a smart financial one. Like all stocks, ESG equities can exhibit volatility based on market dynamics, industry trends and global events. But some ESG-focused companies, especially established ones in sectors like renewable energy or sustainable infrastructure, regularly pay dividends to their shareholders. This means that even in periods of price fluctuation, investors can still realize a return on their investment through dividend payouts. Such consistent dividend distributions can provide a cushion against short-term market uncertainties and enhance long-term total returns for investors. Don't Miss: Investing in real estate just got a whole lot simpler. With as little as $100, average investors are becoming landlords thanks to this Jeff Bezos-backed startup. Elon Musk has reportedly bought 6,000 acres of land just outside of Austin. Heres how to invest in the citys growth before he floods it with new tech workers.Miss Section] To illustrate how this dynamic operates in the ESG world, here's a look at NextEra Energy Inc. (NYSE:NEE). NextEra Energy is a global leader in the renewable energy sector, with a diversified portfolio that includes a substantial emphasis on wind and solar power generation. Based in Juno Beach, Florida, the company operates through multiple subsidiaries, including Florida Power & Light Co., which serves millions of customers in Florida, and NextEra Energy Resources LLC, which is the world's largest producer of wind and solar energy. Shares of NextEra Energy have not been hot commodities lately they are down 20% over the past month. Story continues But Morgan Stanley analyst David Arcaro sees a rebound on the horizon. The analyst recently reiterated an Overweight rating on NextEra Energy with a price target of $91. Considering that shares currently trade at $54.78, the price target implies a potential upside of 66%. With NextEra Energy, investors can also collect dividends. Passive Income From ESG On Friday, NextEra Energy's board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of 46.75 cents per share. At the current share price, that gives the stock an annual dividend yield of 3.4%. If you want to collect $1,000 per month from the company, you are looking at $3,000 per quarter. And that means you would need 6,417.11 shares of the company. This is calculated by dividing the $3,000 by the per share quarterly payout of $0.4675. And because NextEra Energy currently trades at $54.78 per share, 6,417.11 shares would mean about $351,529 worth of the stock. If you aim for a smaller target of earning $200 per month or $600 per quarter you would need 1,283.42 shares ($600/$0.4675) or $70,306 worth of NextEra Energy stock (1,283.42 x $54.78). Remember, stocks can fluctuate wildly, and even top analysts arent right 100% of the time. So always conduct comprehensive research and due diligence before diving in. Read Next: This REIT just teamed up with the company that built Elon Musk's tiny house to develop affordable housing communities. Here's how you can be among the first to buy shares. Warren Buffett once said, "If you don't find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die." Here's how to collect $1,000 per month from Buffett's favorite dividend stock. Don't miss real-time alerts on your stocks - join Benzinga Pro for free! Try the tool that will help you invest smarter, faster, and better. This article How To Earn $1,000 Per Month From ESG Investing originally appeared on Benzinga.com . 2023 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. (Bloomberg) -- Elliott Investment Management is considering making a proposal to take supply-chain software company E2open Parent Holdings Inc. private, according to people familiar with the matter. Most Read from Bloomberg Elliott reported a nearly 14% stake in E2open in a 13D filing Monday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission converting its position to active from passive. The firm said the stock is undervalued and it will seek to engage with the companys board and management about strategic opportunities to maximize shareholder value, the filing showed, confirming a Bloomberg News report. The activist hedge fund is evaluating its next steps, the people added, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. E2open shares plummeted by a record 50% and touched an all-time low on Oct. 11 after the company cut its earnings forecast and ousted longtime chief executive officer Michael Farlekas. Board member Andrew Appel was named interim CEO. The stock rose 22% to $2.98 at 9:57 a.m. in New York trading Monday, giving E2open a market value of about $904 million. Deliberations are at an early stage and Elliott could still decide against pursuing a buyout, the people said. A representative for E2open didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. Elliott participated in the original buyout of E2open in 2015 when Insight Venture Partners led a deal to buy it. Elliott is among its top 10 shareholders, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Other major investors in the company include private equity firm Francisco Partners, Neuberger Berman, Temasek Holdings Pte and Insight. The Austin-based company went public in 2021 through a merger with a blank-check company backed by Chinh Chus CC Capital and Neuberger Berman that valued it at more than $2.5 billion when it was announced. Story continues Former targets of special purpose acquisition companies have started to draw takeover interest from private equity firms. Blackstone Inc. acquired events software platform Cvent earlier this year, while car insurance software provider CCC Intelligent Solutions Holdings Inc. has private equity buyers circling, Bloomberg News previously reported. Less healthy former de-SPACs are filing for bankruptcy or looking for a rescue. E2open has grown through acquisitions over the past few years, including the takeover of software company Amber Road in 2019 for $425 million and a buyout of Francisco-backed BlueJay for $1.7 billion, including debt, in 2021. One of its major customers is Dell Technologies Inc. Elliott, while best known as an activist investor, has been involved in private equity deals for nearly a decade. It was part of a consortium that acquired Syneos Health Inc. earlier this year for about $4.4 billion. Its also exploring a sale of Gigamon, a technology company it acquired in 2017, Bloomberg News previously reported. (Updates with details from filing in third paragraph, investors in sixth paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. An In-depth Look at the Dividend Performance and Sustainability of EOG Resources Inc EOG Resources Inc (NYSE:EOG) recently announced a dividend of $0.83 per share, payable on 2023-10-31, with the ex-dividend date set for 2023-10-16. As investors eagerly anticipate this upcoming payment, it's crucial to assess EOG Resources Inc's dividend history, yield, and growth rates. This article, using GuruFocus data, provides an in-depth analysis of EOG Resources Inc's dividend performance and its sustainability. What Does EOG Resources Inc Do? Warning! GuruFocus has detected 5 Warning Sign with EOG. High Yield Dividend Stocks in Gurus' Portfolio This Powerful Chart Made Peter Lynch 29% A Year For 13 Years How to calculate the intrinsic value of a stock? EOG Resources Inc is a prominent oil and gas producer with vast acreage in several U.S. shale plays, including the Permian Basin, the Eagle Ford, and the Bakken. At the end of 2022, the company reported net proved reserves of 4.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent. In 2022, net production averaged 908 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day, with a 73% oil and natural gas liquids and 27% natural gas ratio. EOG Resources Inc's Dividend Analysis A Glimpse at EOG Resources Inc's Dividend History Since 1990, EOG Resources Inc has maintained a consistent dividend payment record, with dividends currently distributed on a quarterly basis. The company has increased its dividend annually since 2001, earning it the status of a dividend achiever. This honor is bestowed on companies that have consistently increased their dividend for at least the past 22 years. Below is a chart showing the annual Dividends Per Share for tracking historical trends. EOG Resources Inc's Dividend Analysis Breaking Down EOG Resources Inc's Dividend Yield and Growth As of today, EOG Resources Inc has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.41% and a 12-month forward dividend yield of 2.47%. This suggests an expectation of increased dividend payments over the next 12 months. Story continues Over the past three years, EOG Resources Inc's annual dividend growth rate was 43.50%. Extended to a five-year horizon, this rate decreased to 33.40% per year. However, over the past decade, EOG Resources Inc's annual dividends per share growth rate stands at an impressive 20.90%. Based on EOG Resources Inc's dividend yield and five-year growth rate, the 5-year yield on cost of EOG Resources Inc stock as of today is approximately 10.18%. EOG Resources Inc's Dividend Analysis The Sustainability Question: Payout Ratio and Profitability To assess the sustainability of the dividend, one needs to evaluate the company's payout ratio. The dividend payout ratio provides insights into the portion of earnings the company distributes as dividends. A lower ratio suggests that the company retains a significant part of its earnings, thereby ensuring the availability of funds for future growth and unexpected downturns. As of 2023-06-30, EOG Resources Inc's dividend payout ratio is 0.21. EOG Resources Inc's profitability rank, offers an understanding of the company's earnings prowess relative to its peers. GuruFocus ranks EOG Resources Inc's profitability 8 out of 10 as of 2023-06-30, suggesting good profitability prospects. The company has reported net profit in 7 years out of past 10 years. Growth Metrics: The Future Outlook EOG Resources Inc's growth rank of 8 out of 10 suggests that the company's growth trajectory is good relative to its competitors. The company's 3-year EPS growth rate showcases its capability to grow its earnings, a critical component for sustaining dividends in the long run. During the past three years, EOG Resources Inc's earnings increased by approximately 41.10% per year on average, a rate that outperforms than approximately 68.83% of global competitors. Conclusion Given EOG Resources Inc's consistent dividend payments, impressive dividend growth rate, low payout ratio, high profitability, and robust growth metrics, it stands as a compelling dividend stock. However, as with any investment, potential investors should conduct their due diligence before making a decision. GuruFocus Premium users can screen for high-dividend yield stocks using the High Dividend Yield Screener. 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. New Era Cap LLC has hired Oofos veteran Steve Gallo as its GM for North America. The headwear company said in a statement today that Gallo will lead product, marketing and commercial efforts in North America from its Buffalo, N.Y., headquarters. New Era Cap said the region, which is comprised of the U.S. and Canada, is its largest. More from Footwear News Gallos appointment to the GM for North America role, according to New Era Cap, is critical in executing its new strategic vision under the leadership of co-presidents Jim Grundtisch and Jim Patterson. This plan, according to the company, is focused on three strategic pillars brand, e-commerce and apparel which have each been identified as drivers of growth and customer expansion. New Era Cap said Gallo, who most recently served as president of the active recovery footwear brand Oofos, began his tenure in September. Throughout my career, Ive always wanted to associate myself with brands that have high consumer advocacy and an enormous amount of growth potential. New Era Cap has both of those foundational elements, Gallo said in a statement. I was fully bought in after meeting with company leadership. Chris Koch, Jim Grundtisch, Jim Patterson and the team are building something very special here, and Im excited to oversee and help shape the success of its blueprint across North America. Gallo has 20 years of sportswear industry experience. Prior to serving as president of Oofos, a position he held for nearly six years, Gallo held leadership roles at Adidas and Reebok. We are thrilled to add a leader of Steve Gallos caliber to our ranks. His arrival as general manager for North America speaks to New Era Caps renewed commitment to attracting top-tier talent, Grundtisch said in a statement. We concentrate on our people, from customers to employees to partners, because they are the heart of our brand. It was clear from our first conversation that Steve not only has the expertise and acumen for the job, but he also gets what makes New Era Cap so special and iconic. Story continues Patterson added, Steve is the right leader at the right time for our North American business. Hes one of our industrys biggest thinkers and most effective executives. We couldnt be more enthusiastic about the impact he will undoubtedly make as we work together to accelerate New Era Caps ongoing growth. Best of Footwear News Key Insights Using the 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity, IDP Education fair value estimate is AU$27.78 Current share price of AU$22.47 suggests IDP Education is potentially trading close to its fair value Analyst price target for IEL is AU$26.81 which is 3.5% below our fair value estimate Today we'll do a simple run through of a valuation method used to estimate the attractiveness of IDP Education Limited (ASX:IEL) as an investment opportunity by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to today's value. We will take advantage of the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model for this purpose. Don't get put off by the jargon, the math behind it is actually quite straightforward. We would caution that there are many ways of valuing a company and, like the DCF, each technique has advantages and disadvantages in certain scenarios. For those who are keen learners of equity analysis, the Simply Wall St analysis model here may be something of interest to you. View our latest analysis for IDP Education Step By Step Through The Calculation We are going to use a two-stage DCF model, which, as the name states, takes into account two stages of growth. The first stage is generally a higher growth period which levels off heading towards the terminal value, captured in the second 'steady growth' period. To start off with, we need to estimate the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years. A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, so we discount the value of these future cash flows to their estimated value in today's dollars: Story continues 10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF (A$, Millions) AU$206.6m AU$246.3m AU$294.4m AU$359.5m AU$361.7m AU$365.2m AU$369.9m AU$375.5m AU$381.7m AU$388.5m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x5 Analyst x5 Analyst x4 Analyst x3 Analyst x2 Est @ 0.99% Est @ 1.29% Est @ 1.51% Est @ 1.66% Est @ 1.76% Present Value (A$, Millions) Discounted @ 6.1% AU$195 AU$219 AU$246 AU$284 AU$269 AU$256 AU$244 AU$234 AU$224 AU$215 ("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St) Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = AU$2.4b The second stage is also known as Terminal Value, this is the business's cash flow after the first stage. The Gordon Growth formula is used to calculate Terminal Value at a future annual growth rate equal to the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield of 2.0%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 6.1%. Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033 (1 + g) (r g) = AU$388m (1 + 2.0%) (6.1% 2.0%) = AU$9.7b Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= AU$9.7b ( 1 + 6.1%)10= AU$5.3b The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is AU$7.7b. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of AU$22.5, the company appears about fair value at a 19% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Valuations are imprecise instruments though, rather like a telescope - move a few degrees and end up in a different galaxy. Do keep this in mind. dcf The Assumptions The calculation above is very dependent on two assumptions. The first is the discount rate and the other is the cash flows. You don't have to agree with these inputs, I recommend redoing the calculations yourself and playing with them. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at IDP Education 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 0.820. 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 IDP Education Strength Earnings growth over the past year exceeded the industry. Debt is not viewed as a risk. Dividends are covered by earnings and cash flows. Weakness Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Consumer Services market. Opportunity Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the Australian market. Good value based on P/E ratio and estimated fair value. Threat Revenue is forecast to grow slower than 20% per year. Next Steps: Although the valuation of a company is important, it is only one of many factors that you need to assess for a company. 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. If a company grows at a different rate, or if its cost of equity or risk free rate changes sharply, the output can look very different. For IDP Education, we've compiled three relevant elements you should further examine: Financial Health: Does IEL 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. Management:Have insiders been ramping up their shares to take advantage of the market's sentiment for IEL's future outlook? Check out our management and board analysis with insights on CEO compensation and governance factors. 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 Australian stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta ATLANTA, Oct. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta (FHLBank Atlanta) today announced the results of the 2023 director election. The Bank conducted an election to fill the member directorship for South Carolina, and two independent directorships representing members across the FHLBank Atlanta footprint. All of the directors-elect will serve a four-year term commencing on January 1, 2024, and ending December 31, 2027. Thornwell Dunlap was re-elected to serve as the member director representing the state of South Carolina, John Rucker was re-elected to serve as an independent director, and Kim Casiano was elected to serve as an independent director. We are excited to welcome Kim Casiano to the board as an independent director. Ms. Casianos wealth of experience and leadership will be a great benefit to the board and the Bank, said FHLBank Atlanta chair of the board of directors, Thornwell Dunlap. We are also pleased to have director Rucker return to the board, and I am grateful to continue representing my home state of South Carolina as director, added Dunlap. Mr. Dunlap has been a director at FHLBank Atlanta since 2016 and is currently chair of the board and the executive committee, and an ex officio member of all other board committees. He previously served as chair of FHLBank Atlantas Governance and Compensation Committee from 2017-2021. He has served as president and chief executive officer of Countybank since 1995 and chair of its holding company, TCB Corporation, since 2001. He has served as chair for the following organizations: South Carolina Bankers Association, South Carolina Bankers School, Greenwood Chamber of Commerce, Greenwood Partnership Alliance, Partnership for a Greater Greenwood County, Greenwood Economic Alliance, Greenwood Rotary Club, Self Regional Healthcare, Self Regional Healthcare Foundation, and YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly. He has served as president for the following organizations: Independent Banks of South Carolina, Greenwood Chamber of Commerce, Greenwood Rotary Club, and Lakelands Region YMCA. He also has served as a director for Piedmont Technical College Foundation and was a founding director for Ten at the Top. His past achievements include being named Greenwood County Small Business Person of the Year, South Carolina Ambassador for Economic Development, and South Carolina Outstanding Young Banker of the Year. Story continues Ms. Casiano is currently a director of the Ford Motor Company, where she was elected to the board of directors in 2003, and a director of Mutual of America, where she was elected to the board of directors in 2006. She is a former director of Mead Johnson Nutrition Company and Scotiabank of Puerto Rico. Ms. Casiano has experience in financial, organizational, and risk management, having served on the audit committees of Ford Motor Company, Mutual of America, Mead Johnson Nutrition Company, and Scotiabank of Puerto Rico. Ms. Casianos responsibilities on the audit committee at Ford Motor Company include oversight of Ford Credit, a financial entity with over $140 billion in assets. From 2010 to the present, Ms. Casiano has been a pro bono consultant to non-profits, small companies, and C-Suite executives of major corporations on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) topics, including diversity, equality, and inclusion, board governance, and business strategies, further contributing to her knowledge of organizational management. In the area of project management, Ms. Casiano helped lead Ford Motor Company through the restructuring of its business units and substantial technology changes, resulting in a customer-centric focus. Ms. Casiano has been a speaker at the White House, Detroit Inforum, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Orlando Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and Harvard Business School. She has been a contributor to KPMG Board Leadership Center publications, including a recent article on ESG, climate change, and corporate governance, and she is a contributor to an upcoming article by the Harvard Business School on climate change and ESG. Ms. Casianos role as an Executive Fellow in the Harvard Business School involves teaching in both the MBA and Executive Education programs on topics such as Women in Boards, Board Preparedness, Board Dilemmas, and Board Governance. Ms. Casiano has over 20 years of experience in media, marketing, targeted marketing, and communications, leading and managing two large companies during remarkable shifts in the ways media was delivered and consumed. Ms. Casiano received her MBA from Harvard Business School and her undergraduate degree from Princeton University. Mr. Rucker is the national managing director for affordable housing of Stifel Nicolaus & Company, a full-service brokerage and investment banking firm, in its Montgomery, AL office. He has served as a director of FHLBank Atlanta since 2017 and currently serves as chair of the Banks Governance and Compensation Committee. He previously served as chair of the Banks Housing and Community Investment Committee from 2019-2022 and was a member of the Banks Affordable Housing Advisory Council from 2012-2016, serving as its chair for 2016. Mr. Rucker has experience in derivatives and the law, having practiced as an investment banker and attorney since 1977, with a focus in financing alternatives in the affordable housing sector. In the area of project management, he led Stifel in becoming the leading underwriter of affordable housing bond issues for the last eleven years. Mr. Rucker has been involved in rural development affordable housing, pooling multiple projects in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Mr. Rucker has experience in organizational management and risk management as a founding partner of Merchant Capital, LLC and subsequently as managing director of Stifel Nicolaus & Company, following the merger. His board service includes Fannie Maes Southeast Regional Housing Advisory Council, Fannie Maes National Housing Impact Advisory Council, and the National Housing and Rehabilitation Association. He is also on the board of CAHEC, a leading non-profit tax-credit syndicator. He has spoken regularly at affordable housing conferences on the use of financial derivatives and project finance. He holds an undergraduate and law degree from The University of Mississippi. About FHLBank 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 Banks membersits shareholders and customersare 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. For more information, visit our website at www.fhlbatl.com. CONTACT: David McCaw Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta DMcCaw@fhlbatl.com 404.888.5652 Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Fariz Rzayev visited Croatia on 11-13 October. This was reported by the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. It was reported that the deputy minister took part in the International Donors' Conference on Humanitarian Demining in Ukraine, which was held in Zagreb on 11-12 October, Azernews reports. Speaking at the conference, Rzayev gave the conference participants detailed information about the mine problem facing Azerbaijan and its serious consequences. During the visit, F. Rzayev held bilateral meetings with Dino Mihanovic, Advisor to the Croatian Prime Minister on International Affairs, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Davorko Vidovic, and Deputy Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Frano Matusic. In the course of the meetings, the sides discussed relations between Azerbaijan and Croatia, the current state, and prospects of cooperation in political, economic, energy, and humanitarian spheres, including international organizations, and strategic energy and transport projects implemented on Azerbaijan's initiative. The visit also focused on regional security and the post-conflict situation. During the visit, a meeting was held with representatives and experts of influential analytical centers of Croatia, and foreign policy priorities of Azerbaijan, Croatian-Azerbaijani relations, the post-conflict situation in the region, as well as reconstruction and reintegration issues, were discussed. At the meeting, the works carried out in the liberated territories were reported, the situation in the region was discussed and opinions were widely exchanged. Federal Housing Finance Agency FHFA United States Washington DC Regarding lenders vociferous complaints about increased loan buybacks from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, FHFA Director Sandra Thompson said the regulator expects originators to deliver loans consistent with the guidelines. But, she added, the Enterprises must implement a fair, consistent, and predictable process for identifying loan defects and the appropriate remedies. After multiple years of record-high loan volume, we have seen an increase in the absolute number of repurchase requests which is to be expected, Thompson said at the Mortgage Bankers of Association conference in Philadelphia on Monday. The good news is that there has been a large decrease in repurchase requests since their peak in early 2022, as the Enterprises have worked through loans originated during the refinance boom. Thompson said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have closely examined their existing processes and practices, including efforts to improve language in the selling guidelines and provide more consistent feedback to lenders on buybacks. The goal is to lead to less ambiguity in underwriting. In addition, the FHFA is open to additional options that would ensure alternatives to repurchases are available and offered regularly. However, work on this front remains ongoing, according to Thompson. While many of the details remain in development, we are considering initiatives to test and learn from various options for performing loans with defects, Thompson said. Taken as a whole, we believe these are meaningful improvements to uphold quality control while ensuring high-quality underwriting. Freddie Mac on Monday said its research shows that purchase mortgages have 35% more incidence of defects than refinancings. It cited loans missing key documents or those with inaccurate income calculations as the top factors. To address these issues, Freddie Mac committed to enhance our communication, collaboration and feedback with our lenders and industry partners. We also committed to enhancing our own processes. We did both, and it is working, the GSE said in a prepared statement Monday. Non-Acceptable Quality rates on our incoming loans are approximately 30% lower than their peak. With it, repurchase requests are trending down to approximately 60% lower than their peak. Within that 60%, repurchase requests to vitally important small and community lenders are even lower, down 68%. Story continues Freddie said it has made strides for three reasons: because loan file quality from lenders has improved; the GSE itself has improved the quality control review function; and Freddie has also advanced policy changes that will minimize instances where judgment must be applied in the underwriting process. In a statement following Thompsons remarks on Monday, the MBA said it has advocated strongly for FHFA to address the rise in loan repurchase requests, especially for performing loans and those with relatively minor issues underwritten during the pandemic. We share FHFA and the GSEs goal of high-quality underwriting and will continue to work with them to ensure the rep and warranty framework is being applied in a balanced way, and that there are appropriate alternatives that lead to outcomes short of a repurchase request. Another trade group, the Community Home Lenders Association, weighed in on Thompsons remarks. More balance in repurchase demands is needed to reduce disincentives for lenders to originate mortgage loans to underserved borrowers, said Scott Olson, the groups executive director. It is also necessary to avoid steep and unnecessary losses lenders are experiencing from selling off performing loans in a market with skyrocketing mortgage rates. Transparency Market Research FEP resins are progressively substituting perfluoroalkoxy alkanes (PFA) owing to their moderate melting points. Such benefits are assisting companies in expanding their operations using FEP resins in wire insulation, tube extrusion, and molding for lining element usage. Wilmington, Delaware, United States, Oct. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Transparency Market Research Inc.- The global fluorochemicals market is expected to exceed US$ 53.1 billion by the end of 2031. The market is anticipated to expand at a 6% CAGR during the forecast period. The global fluorochemicals market is a dynamic and diverse sector encompassing a range of compounds containing fluorine, known for their versatile applications. These chemicals are used in various industries, including automotive, electronics, construction, and more. Fluorochemicals include fluorocarbons, fluoropolymers, and inorganic fluorides. Fluorocarbons, such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), have historically been used as refrigerants and propellants. The industry has been transitioning toward more environmentally friendly alternatives due to their negative impact on the ozone layer and the environment. Hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs) and other low global warming potential (GWP) compounds are emerging as substitutes. Download PDF Brochure @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=1089 Fluoropolymers, like polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), are well-known for their nonstick and heat-resistant properties, making them essential in the manufacturing of cookware and industrial applications. Inorganic fluorides, such as hydrogen fluoride and aluminum fluoride, have applications in aluminum smelting and the pharmaceutical industry. The fluorochemicals market is influenced by environmental regulations, technological advancements, and the increasing demand for energy-efficient and sustainable products. As the world transitions toward more eco-friendly alternatives, the fluorochemicals market continues to evolve, reflecting changing industry dynamics and consumer preferences. Story continues Competitive Landscape The fluorochemicals market is highly competitive, featuring major players such as: 3M, DuPont de Nemours, Inc. DAIKIN INDUSTRIES, Ltd. Solvay SA Asahi Glass Company Arkema Honeywell Pelchem Mitsui Chemicals Inc. The Chemours Company The 3M Company These industry leaders invest significantly in research and development, focusing on sustainable alternatives and innovative applications. With a growing emphasis on green technologies, companies are striving to develop fluorinated products, meet regulatory standards, and intensify competition in the Fluorochemicals industry. Gujarat Fluorochemicals Ltd revealed goals to increase its AHF capacity from 120 tpd to 220 tpd in November 2022, which will enable it to deliver important starting ingredient supplies for fluoropolymer, cooling gas, and battery compounds. Gujarat Fluorochemicals Ltd. recently contacted ICICI Securities in September 2022. GFL is bullish on the future of fluoropolymers and battery chemistry over the following 5-10 years. Key Takeaways from the Market Study The global industry was expected to value at US$ 4.69 billion in 2021. The fluoropolymers segment is assumed to expand at a CAGR of 7.2% during the forecast period. The market in North America is estimated to expand at a CAGR of 6.8% until 2031. The market in Asia Pacific is expected to expand at a CAGR of 6.2% until 2031. North America accounted for the highest share of 40% of the global fluorochemicals market in 2021. Enquiry Before Buying this Report: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=EB&rep_id=1089 Global Fluorochemicals Market- Key Drivers and Trends Fluorochemicals find applications in diverse industries, including automotive, electronics, and pharmaceuticals. The expansion of these sectors, especially in emerging economies, fuels the demand for fluorochemical products driven by their unique properties. Ongoing research and technological advancements are leading to the development of innovative fluorochemical products with improved efficiency and reduced environmental impact. Advancements in production processes, materials, and applications are significant trends shaping the market. Fluorocarbon refrigerants are crucial components in air conditioning and refrigeration systems. The increasing demand for cooling systems, driven by global urbanization and climate change-related temperature fluctuations, boosts the market. Fluorochemicals are used in various medical devices and pharmaceutical applications due to their inert and biocompatible properties. The expanding healthcare sector, coupled with advancements in medical technologies, drives the demand for fluorochemicals in medical applications. Due to concerns about environmental impact and regulations like the Montreal Protocol. There is a shift toward developing and adopting alternative technologies and products that do not rely heavily on fluorochemicals which is impacting market dynamics. Regional Landscape of the Fluorochemicals Market North America, particularly the United States, is a significant market for fluorochemicals. The region is driven by robust demand from industries like HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning), automotive, and electronics. Stringent environmental regulations and a focus on sustainable products shape the fluorochemicals market landscape in this region. Countries in Europe, including Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, have well-established industries utilizing fluorochemicals. The market here is influenced by stringent environmental regulations, emphasizing the need for eco-friendly alternatives. Research and development initiatives are prevalent, focusing on sustainable fluorochemical products and applications. Asia-Pacific, particularly China, Japan, and South Korea is a rapidly growing market for fluorochemicals. The region's industrial expansion, coupled with a booming automotive sector and increasing demand for consumer electronics, drives market growth. The rise in disposable income contributes to the growing demand for products containing fluorochemicals. Key Segments Covered Product Fluorocarbons HCFC HFC Others (including Teflon) Fluoropolymers Fluoroelastomers Others (including Inorganics) Application Refrigerants Aluminum Production Plastic Foams Electricals & Electronics Others (including Paper & Pulp and Water Filtration) Region North America Latin America Europe Asia Pacific Middle East & Africa Buy this Premium Research Report : https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/checkout.php?rep_id=1089